directors commentaryyyy plssss
okay i have a lot to say about this one here goes
i really like hiding war's face from u :D
there's like an underlying not-quite-argument Lana and Impa are indirectly having here lol, but talking to War instead of each other. Lana trying to remind War that his Hyrule's jurisdiction (and by extension its power over him) doesn't extend on the other side of that rift, while Impa reminds him that actually it does, because God Is Always Watching you.
obviously the nobles in this panel are whispering about him, but the other implication of this panel is like. War Is In This Picture. This is the exact kind of face he pulls while being snide to Lana in the last update. So it's one part, wouldn't it be nice to escape court (because they're awful to you) but also wouldn't it be good for you (because they're making you awful)
Is War just lying because Impa's in earshot here? Is he making it clear to Lana which side he's on? telling her to back off? you tell me. anyway I was really excited to draw this specific expression. like. the one you pull when you know exactly what someone is talking about but you want to make them feel crazy for actually voicing it. here are the notes for it in my script lol
bringing this screenshot out again. invoking farore at a spring for din, smh. also again we do not see whatever his reaction to this is untillll
he puts the Hero face on! i like the idea that war inside his head was like. oh fuck I looked too much like i was having a terrible time. quick turn the face on. say the little speech. THE DEPTHS OF MY DEVOTION ARE IMMEASURABLE, ETC.
the thing is. the depths of his devotion Are immeasurable. that part is real
because of the direction we read comments i'm able to pull off a little illusion of forward momentum even though we've actually gone backwards in page space. i mean. hopefully. ANYWAY YIPPEEE SPIRIT TRACKS FIRE TEMPLE!!! also baby's first dungeon for war lol
ooooh big shiny object symbolizing power. surely this means nothing
okay two things here. 1) when war is around other people he has his good boy face on but when he is alone he gets to look as irritated or simply Nothing At All as he wants. 2) Lana knows what she's doing by telling War that she can't actually see him, or tell where he is. i mean she does want him to help solve this problem but she also wants him to maybe live a little
one of the things i'm fascinated with is like. the evidence that the links must leave behind in the temples/dungeons after they leave. like, no one's there to clean up after them. broken pots are an obvious way to do that lol but I also meant to draw things like stray arrows and other equipment and i just like. straight up forgor. i think i drew one arrow in the corner there. anyway we can see some of spirit's old dried blood on the ground here too. guess he was injured before the boss fight and was looking for something to heal
I LOVE THIS PANEL it was so fun and I'm really happy with how it turned out :D i like getting to show how war moves as well? He can jump far enough to clear a gap spirit would have needed the whip for, he points his toes, etc. he also moves through the space very efficiently.
seems like all the dungeon exploring was tiring lol. rip war u haven't slept in over 24 hrs and ur about to have to hike down another mountain. godspeed
AND FINALLYYYYYY THE SPIRIT TRACKS. the implication here is that war recognizes the tracks because spirit either described them or had photos during the war of ages. i was going to make them look like more functional train tracks but like. come on. they're magic and they're fun :D
hm. so it seems like things may have gone poorly during the war of ages. seems like spirit wasn't very nice to him. wonder what that's about. anyway the intention here was like. if the first update had all those paintings of the idealized version of what happened, this is a photo reel of the true events, or at least war's memory of them. and also like. even a photo is an image that had to be framed by someone, not a neutral representation of reality. and so on and so forth.
i somehow did not realize spirit smoking was going to be a shock to people at all. I think i am just really used to @wutheringmights' spirit, which once again i must always give frankie her flowers for how her work has influenced mine. actually even though it's become incorporated into my personal headcanons for ST link i associate it so strongly with that version of spirit that I debated whether I was gonna include it in the comic at all
what ultimately convinced me was like. okay imagine u have been smoking since u were like 15 because everyone u know does and then u get zapped into a magical time war with no notice and u have like maybe 4 precious precious cigarettes left in ur pocket. could u imagine. well that happened to my friend Link Spirit Tracks. and also jokes aside it ended up really working for the overall motifs of this update. fire theme->lit cigarette->the smoke of memory->something something. u know.
anyway. i'm going to show my work on how we ended up here i promise. very excited for more of spirit :D
oh is he reaching for the necklace because he figured out where he is? oh nope. flask. guess he's just not going to make a report then. also this is a full circle gag with impa stealing the champagne glass from him earlier. he actually gets to take a sip this time lol #thesubstanceabusebrothers
"farore preserve me" extremely hilarious response to this situation. sorry brother farore isn't preserving shit
ALSO ALSO his flask has been on him this whole time lol
i just realized via doing this commentary that i forgot to add a flush from the heat to war's face for this whole update. literally a crime i'm so upset.
i think that's all i got for now. thanks for reading!
gracieabrams
blakekathryn
