ABOUT.

Q: Okay, okay. So what’s with all these Latin names?

A: Aw, but don’t you like them? XD I think that Latin names rock, personally. Beyond just allowing certain names to have certain meanings, it sort of denotes where Celestina is geographically. Even though it’s an alternate universe-type deal, Amadis’s kingdom still shares the same linguistic roots as western Earth.

Q: That brings something else to mind. Where the heck is Celestina? How big is it? Why are all of its citizens better looking than regular people on Earth and why is it that some of its people can freaking levitate?

A: Slow down! :D I purposely kept some of the facts behind Celestina a mystery, because I want you to think of everything that it could be and form your own conclusions. However, there are certain facts about Celestina and its people that remain indisputable, such as their peculiar fashion sense and customs, and all of these I will compile on their own page for easy reference.

Q: How did you get the idea for WRW, and why did you make it?

A: At its core, WRW is a mother-daughter story. In the end no matter how you cut it, all of the other relationships just serve to ameliorate and further explore the dynamics of that mother-daughter story. And the inspiration from that could’ve come from anywhere. It’s difficult to remember these things now. X) But it wasn’t until I’d rediscovered the story and reworked it a little bit that I remembered why I made the story, what I was really trying to say with it back when I was...twelve XD...and that was, of course, how to overcome change, how to accept what it does to the relationships between two people. Amadis and Alda are separated by generations, time, places. How they choose to patch up their relationship is what is most important in the story. In a way, I think I made it for my own mother. :) Or, perhaps, for my unborn daughter...? Who knows. Who knows...aaand now you know I can’t possibly be a guy, oops! Hehe.

Q: What do you use to draw WRW?

A: Usually I use a regular brush pen because I enjoy seeing the depth of line that it gives my work. (Plus it’s all I’ve got. XP LOL, art supplies are hard to come by.) I usually draw roughs using a regular mechanical 0.5 on printer paper, if I draw them at all, and I would outline the pics later and erase the mess underneath. Then, I would scan it in and use PSP6 and OpenCanvas 1 in combination order to edit the lineart and add in the blue shading that you see on each page. Without a tablet, it’s more difficult than it needs to be, but without markers, there isn’t much of an alternative. ;) Plus drawing my other comics has helped me through the initial strangeness of drawing with a mouse.

Q: How do you plan the story?

A: The story itself is not hard to write because I did a lot of the preliminary planning years ago, when I first thought of the idea for WRW. Of course, a lot of that has had to be refined, but overall, the most difficult work has been done. Usually, I think of lines and page layouts as I go along, or as I assemble them. I make some character sketches as well, always, and they’re totally helpful.

Q: Why do the people of Celestina call Amadis...well, “Amadis”? Why not “queen” or “lady”, something more formal?
A: Actually, “Amadis” is the formal title that is commonly used to denote a queen, princess, or lady of the royal family in Amadis’s culture. (The Princess herself could be called Amadis but is instead referred to as Alda because of her unique circumstances.) In contrast, a male in the royal family, like Amadis’s former husband, would’ve been called “Amadeus” in public. Typically, this title is followed by the name of the territory or principality that the person in question is associated with. Therefoer, “Amadis Gloria” might as well mean “Queen of the Gloria Principality”. Which means of course that no one really knows Amadis’s real name. ;D

Q: Why do Amadis and Alda have blue hair and blue eyes, and not any of the other characters in the story?

A: Without getting heavily into genealogy (in which case I’d have to make up even more stuff :D ), suffice to say that it’s a royal bloodline thing. I originally settled on it because I wanted the main characters to be distinctive in all scenes, and the blue somewhat enhances their mystique, the fact that they’re not normal human beings.

Q: Is it just me, or do Vavay and Giuliano look...different from the rest of the Celestinians? I mean, not just the fact that you empty out your pen for their hair, but...

A: Vavay and Giuliano, as hinted throughout the story and explained somewhere in the body of it, are lower class Celestinians. They and the rest of their bloodline (who seem to share their hairtype) are generally designated dangerous and/or menial work by the royal family. This is why Vavay is working at a station on one of the most crowded areas on Earth and Giuliano has to fix everything that breaks in the damn castle. They are the lucky ones of their kind, and have suffered twice as much as regular Celestinians to get half as far. Hence, even when dressed up in royal garb by Amadis – who disregards class types and has always been sort of confused – they tend to look a little bit scrappy and out of place.

Q: There are very few masculine men on Celestina, I see.

A: True that. It’s on purpose. Yeah. Most of them tend to look like Sibley up until they’re about 20 or 30 years old. Must be something in the water, I reckon. Maybe all of those mouldy rock columns. X) Hey, look, a butterfly!!

Q: Where does Amadis work when we first see her?

A: “Brooks & Sorby”. A place I made up, which is larger than it looks on the outside. It mostly specializes in coordinating volunteer activities and charity events throughout the city, as well as accepting money and donations for the used book store upstairs, which is also a part of the main building. Amadis knows nothing about volunteers so she mostly deals with the prank callers and the faxing machine, which she doesn’t understand one bit but likes to watch anyway.

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