Wow, this episode (?) gave me a lot to think about! The chapter was good - but the additional commentary was gold. I'm probably going to have to re-listen to get everything.
My thoughts, not necessarily in order of how you talked about things:
Finn. Oh, Finn. I'm glad you loved him and gave us so much more Finn.. but also I kinda hate you for how much I love Finn and how much that hurt. 😭
AI generated images as a personal reference tool: As an artist I have used Midjourney the same way, to help build and refine a concept. I appreciate your candidy about how you're using AI and your commitment to using himan artists for all your official art. I don't think you talked about that in the Chapter 3 podcast, but maybe I missed it- I had a very stressful week so wouldn't be surprised if my brain jusy quit processing stuff for a bit. I guess I'll have to give that a re-listen too.
In a somewhat related note, I had guessed the character art was Caleb because hes so symmetrical, refined, and has a bit of a fae spritely-ness feeling. I had invisioned a wall of a guy with more of a block head I guess 😅. Good to know who it actually is.
Now on to actual Sketchbook story thoughts:
Those little world building details that aren't spoilers but haven't had a place to fit into the storyline yet have given me SO MUCH to think about!
Sybils were created as part of the accord that hid the aetherion?! What is this magic system- who has that kind of power or can manipulate thay kind of power to not only change fae appearances but also create a new type of magic, with its own rules, that can supercede other magics?!
Which leads to: Blackstone territory. Kate Blackstone. The Dae's were werewolves .... And yet Ella seems unfamiliar with the local "community" practices, events, etc. She mentions rembering Caleb from when they were young, but there hangs an implication that she and her family then moved away or somehow otherwise distanced themselves from the others in that area. Which of course we knew it was her first day at a new school, but this feels bigger than just a change of address; for her to not know the local protocols for aetherion kids, even ones she'd met before, suggets her experience were quite separate experiences. It also makes the werewolf in class much more intriguing.
Aetherion seem to be able to recognize each other and what fae type(?) they are. Can they tell Ella is a werewolf sybil, or just a sybil??
Let's see, what else? The avoidance of her truck, and the water are interesting; I'm going to speculate her parents died in a car crash off a bridge or something like that.
Caleb alludes to the fact that a lot of the aetherion students approach school from the same direction, so they try to space out their comings & goings. Thats interesting too. We haven't had any indication that humans recognize the aetherion yet, but this suggests there might be some whispers about the people from "that side of town" or something of the sorts- that others them already and they don't want to draw more attention to.
The Watcher. This was a fascinating and unexpected switch in Ch 3. I actually read that chapter before I was able to listen to the podcast and the transition threw me off; l had to reread a few times to get what was going on with the perspective switch. And then in this podcast you mentioned they were recording Ella (uhh, I think you did anyway) which adds a whole other layer of mystery.
Hmmm.
Non-story related related comment - Best wishes or whatever theater related saying is appropriate for Pippin! It sounds like you guys are having a lot of fun 😊.
Oh! Very loosely story related: I had a dream last night inspired by this, apparently. Specifically on sybils having special skills based on their fae background. In my dream there was a generic werewolf seer girl- and when she had vision on her own it was like her watching bits of what was happening, but if ahe shared something with another person that triggered the vision, she actually experienced it the same as them. I think in the dream it actually had to do with sharing a werewolf kill or drinking blood or something, that part is really fuzzy, but I did think it was cool that you've clearly wormed into my brain enough for a something to pop up in my dreams. And I thought you might enjoy that.
Wow, this episode (?) gave me a lot to think about! The chapter was good - but the additional commentary was gold. I'm probably going to have to re-listen to get everything.
My thoughts, not necessarily in order of how you talked about things:
Finn. Oh, Finn. I'm glad you loved him and gave us so much more Finn.. but also I kinda hate you for how much I love Finn and how much that hurt. 😭
AI generated images as a personal reference tool: As an artist I have used Midjourney the same way, to help build and refine a concept. I appreciate your candidy about how you're using AI and your commitment to using himan artists for all your official art. I don't think you talked about that in the Chapter 3 podcast, but maybe I missed it- I had a very stressful week so wouldn't be surprised if my brain jusy quit processing stuff for a bit. I guess I'll have to give that a re-listen too.
In a somewhat related note, I had guessed the character art was Caleb because hes so symmetrical, refined, and has a bit of a fae spritely-ness feeling. I had invisioned a wall of a guy with more of a block head I guess 😅. Good to know who it actually is.
Now on to actual Sketchbook story thoughts:
Those little world building details that aren't spoilers but haven't had a place to fit into the storyline yet have given me SO MUCH to think about!
Sybils were created as part of the accord that hid the aetherion?! What is this magic system- who has that kind of power or can manipulate thay kind of power to not only change fae appearances but also create a new type of magic, with its own rules, that can supercede other magics?!
Which leads to: Blackstone territory. Kate Blackstone. The Dae's were werewolves .... And yet Ella seems unfamiliar with the local "community" practices, events, etc. She mentions rembering Caleb from when they were young, but there hangs an implication that she and her family then moved away or somehow otherwise distanced themselves from the others in that area. Which of course we knew it was her first day at a new school, but this feels bigger than just a change of address; for her to not know the local protocols for aetherion kids, even ones she'd met before, suggets her experience were quite separate experiences. It also makes the werewolf in class much more intriguing.
Aetherion seem to be able to recognize each other and what fae type(?) they are. Can they tell Ella is a werewolf sybil, or just a sybil??
Let's see, what else? The avoidance of her truck, and the water are interesting; I'm going to speculate her parents died in a car crash off a bridge or something like that.
Caleb alludes to the fact that a lot of the aetherion students approach school from the same direction, so they try to space out their comings & goings. Thats interesting too. We haven't had any indication that humans recognize the aetherion yet, but this suggests there might be some whispers about the people from "that side of town" or something of the sorts- that others them already and they don't want to draw more attention to.
The Watcher. This was a fascinating and unexpected switch in Ch 3. I actually read that chapter before I was able to listen to the podcast and the transition threw me off; l had to reread a few times to get what was going on with the perspective switch. And then in this podcast you mentioned they were recording Ella (uhh, I think you did anyway) which adds a whole other layer of mystery.
Hmmm.
Non-story related related comment - Best wishes or whatever theater related saying is appropriate for Pippin! It sounds like you guys are having a lot of fun 😊.
Oh! Very loosely story related: I had a dream last night inspired by this, apparently. Specifically on sybils having special skills based on their fae background. In my dream there was a generic werewolf seer girl- and when she had vision on her own it was like her watching bits of what was happening, but if ahe shared something with another person that triggered the vision, she actually experienced it the same as them. I think in the dream it actually had to do with sharing a werewolf kill or drinking blood or something, that part is really fuzzy, but I did think it was cool that you've clearly wormed into my brain enough for a something to pop up in my dreams. And I thought you might enjoy that.
Tl:dr - this is a mess of thoughts, sorry.