FAQ - pt.1

First part of the FAQ !  It's about... writing, music, the Boy's name, romance and their relationship ! 

Hope you'll enjoy it! I spent the day trying to make my answers clears (I think it's a mess lol), cut off some parts... and not to spread myself too thin. 

Do you write the script far ahead of drawing it ?

Script: actual scenes and dialogues.

It depends! I had most of the scenes of chapters 1- 6 planned for a while, and I kinda have the second half of the story too, because that's the most important and inspiring part for me. Now I’m focusing on “foreshadowing” all of it, which means giving you hints of what it is all about and what will happen next.

Do you already have an ending in mind for the comic?

Yes! I’ll be honest I think writing stories is mostly having an opening (initial situation), an ending and then ask yourself : what happened?? And connect these two points. You better know what's the point of your story.

The ending never really changed over time, tho I have two epilogues in my head and I can’t decide which one to pick… (both means the same to me honestly). I don’t pressure myself about that, I still have so much time todecide what's best!

If you get a new idea, will it influence you ?

I'd say never close yourself off from new ideas, that would be a bad idea and pretentious. So, yes! I have new ideas pretty often that I note on post-it. And actually I keep being surprised by some connections that I wasn't seeing before between different parts of the story or characters. So thank god it's not drawn yet.

About influence itself, I'd say it's more like a mood impact: if I watch funny stuff, I'm gonna want to work on the funny parts of my comic. When I watch/read emotional things, I'm going to focus more on the sad parts of the story.

Will Tera and the Boy get to go stargazing at some point?

Haha, lets say I really racked my brain to make it more than just stargazing and kinda surprise you!

Do you fear that people start s*xualizing your characters too much?

I think they already do, mostly because of what the #BL means and is used for currently, I can tell by reading comments on tapas. And maybe because shirtless-Tera is hot and because the Boy’s legs and stomach are SNATCHED- Haha

To make it short: it doesn’t necessarily make me mad, you're completely free to ship them! I just feel that overtime, it was pressuring me to go for it, when that’s not what I want for them. Drawing these two for years now, they got such strong personalities for me that I never doubt about how they would react to a situation. It just comes naturally, like it would for relatives or friends. I’ve known them for so long!

What’s make me sad (but it’s the beginning, I get it) is that I have so much more to do with them, that seeing people just expecting them to f*ck is just sad -

Will you ever reveal the Boy's name?

Nope, and that question make me think that you THINK Tera is the Wolf’s actual name: it’s not, it’s just a name for Black Death! Actually you’ll notice later that none of the main characters have their name said even once. What’s the granny’s name? Did someone heard about the uncle’s name too? And you’re thinking « but we know that Joris is Joris! »… well. Be patient.

Now the question is:     why?

What inspires you the most ?

(I'll talk about books and more in another part, this one is already getting too long).

Music is a huge inspiration for me. Sometimes it just kinda sets the rhythm of a scene I already have in mind. And sometimes it just inspires me a scene from scratch. It's pretty strong, it sets up an  atmosphere,  a feeling, and I wonder "what would it be about, it that song was for The Boy and the Wolf ?".

If I could resume my story or at least my intentions with one song instead of words, that would be this one. (Listen to it, really) 

That's what I hear when I think of the downfall of the story. That moment when characters feel like they can't succeed. Not grandiloquent, nor theatrical. More like a disillusionment, the end of a dream. They're exhausted. Defeated. Those very first notes, it's the realization. An awakening. Something hits the character. And from this realization comes pain. A very intimate pain, there's nobody around, just him, just silence, like the whole world just shut up for a sec. Or maybe it's because he can't hear it anymore. It's slow, and dense, and sad. It illustrates helplessness, it's too late, there's nothing left but grief. That's what I hear. 

There is a lot of disillusion in this story, I keep getting message begging me not to kill my characters. And I'm like: oh, but you know pain doesn't come from death itself. It comes from all the hopes you put in a character as a reader, learning to love them and sharing their journey for months, maybe years, and then seeing them fail. 

There will be romance between those two?

Funny cause yesterday I was telling to someone “I call it a BL but they don’t actually date “on screen”.

If you’re that worried that there’s no romance between them, then don’t. Even if it seems like there will be a lot of action, there will also be tenderness, a lot of tenderness, I especially want to show that Tera’s not affected by that « toxic masculinity » thing toward the Boy. And that the Boy really cares for Tera. The Boy is the Lover, he loses himself in Tera. They get closer and closer over time, and a lot of moments will make your heart melts! I bet in the end, you won’t even notice it’s not an actual BL (or at least not like you’re used to)

About the relationship itself,

To me it’s just more than a romance. On tapas a while ago I summed up the story as “two boys met, and for the first time they deeply feel like they exist for someone else.” I assume it sounds boring for most of the BL readers. We’re so used to Love that shows, to s*x, characters existing just to play these roles (uke and seme).

I wanted to break those rules, and come up with a story that brings two boys in an actual deep story/drama just like every other stories/Hollywood movies would do. What I mean is: the fact that it’s 2 boys doesn’t matter. I’m telling a story.

If I should describe their relationship I’d say... Just think of two boys, thinking they’re in the right place, comfortable in their everyday life. Nothing to break their plans for the future. And suddenly they crash on that other one, who is so different and far away from what they know that it blows up their world. But now someone is looking at them. Seeing them for the first time. And they are so moved and overwhelmed by that feeling that they are ready to give up on everything else, and escape from, they realize it now, what was a prison. 

Because they’ve met each other, their respective worlds have come apart, it's like a collision. And now they are an anchor for each other, the only compass in this new world where they are lost.

That’s basically the plot of a romance. Lovers are the only ones who see beneath each other’s persona (literally: Tera’s wearing a mask) They meet and HAVE to meet to put things back in the right place and find peace. To find themselves.

So.. Maybe they’re in love, after all.

❤