#havenleigh

First off, if yall didn’t notice, this drawing I did is a direct callback to the first proper comic page of Wax’n’Wane’s story! That’s to say, not including the prologue mission stuff, hehe.

I uploaded this page June 1st, 2014, so it really has been almost exactly four years!! That’s wild to me haha - it seems all at once like it’s been way more time, and way less. 

Design

When I was first drawing the concepts for Prince and Havenligh, I didn’t know much about them. I immediately got the idea, however, that Prince was: foreign, wealthy, and a scardy cat. As you can see, his curling/fidgety tail has been there since the beginning, and my decision to have this represent his Pick Up ability had a chance to be showcased in at least a few instances, which makes me happy.

When I was drawing Havenleigh in the beginning, I don’t think I had a good read on her personality at all until I drew her sitting with Prince, telling him a story. I got the idea that she sort of became his night light/nanny, which in turn reestablished a lot of traits about Prince. 

I never got the chance to evolve Havenleigh, which is a shame, because I did draw her as a Lanturn and really loved the design!

Also never drew her as a chandelure, which I had decided would happen as an end-goal. 

I drew Prince as a persian in the above picture, but that was just off-the-cuff. I’m surprised to see I hadn’t drawn him evolved at any other point, but only somewhat. I’m not a huge fan of persian’s design at all! I find it so boring compared to meowth (which is probably why I love Alola Persian so much haha). 

Prince’s rings should also be noted; they’re something I liked as part of his design, and wanted to keep despite them not being eligible to stay on his design due to the group’s limitations. Though I came up with the neck rings on my own, I knew they were used in some cultures and so I tried to do some research to supplement their meaning/Prince’s heritage. 

Of course most people know of the Kayan people (seen in this wiki article), who’s women were jewelry which gives the illusion of stretching out their necks. I found that some celtic cultures also had gold or bronze neck-ware. This information wasn’t exactly necessary, but I wanted to be at least somewhat informed since I was borrowing the imagery, and it later informed aspects of Prince’s parents’ designs. 

Backstory

I knew a lot of details of Wax’n’Wane’s backstory at the very beginning of things, and hinted at it in their prologue comic: 

So, it goes like this: Prince was born to a very wealthy family of merchants. He had a mother, father, and two siblings, who were twins. Prince was the youngest, and was born very weak and sick. However, he survived, and as he grew up his father Bailee began to exploit Prince’s shiny coloration. More on that later though. 

Long story short (I’ll explain more later), Prince’s siblings got jealous of how much attention his shiny nature afforded him. When they were a little older, they hired this character, an NPC which was meant to be included in the arc following the end of the Geoda missions:

She’s skilled in creating aromas which can be used for many applications, but the twins hired her to put Prince in a trance and lead him into the fog so he would be lost/forget his way home. 

Havenleigh, however, is able to use the guiding lights of her Will-O-Wisp to help herself and Prince retain most of their memories. At the start of their story, Prince doesn’t remember how he got into the fog, but Havenleigh remembers enough to know it had to do with Prince’s siblings. 

Family

Bailee and Kha weren’t explicitly shown in any ‘canon’ material, though there are a few asks on the blog which have been answered by them. I wanted them to have a royal, somewhat African look to their designs, for reasons I mentioned above. 

These two were... an interesting set of parents to write. I’m a little sad I wasn’t able to explore them even more than I did, because it’s their influence which ultimately caused Prince’s disappearance in the first place. I’ll try to explain these two and their importance as briefly as possible.

Kha was born into a merchant family, and learned from a young age how to trade, bargain, travel, etc. She was extremely skilled in such things by the time she met Bailee, and when the two decided to wed, Kha was satisfied helping Bailee start a bloodline while she continued on doing what she did best. 

It’s my first time writing a neglectful mother. I tried to convey Kha’s earnest disinterest in motherhood in the ask linked above, regarding Prince’s health as a child. I find it most interesting that Kha’s neglect of her children is not borne from any sort of malice - she simply doesn’t believe her role as a mother extends to providing emotional support or presence. I think in some way, deep down, Kha might have one day liked to know her children as people... but she didn’t have the capacity to regard them as her children, beyond a point. She honestly believed they didn’t need her and would be fine without her. 

Bailee, on the other hand, is entirely selfish in his desire to raise children. He was born to a very poor family, always resenting his past and filled with a hunger to put it behind him and achieve status and wealth. It is through Kha that he achieved this. I don’t believe there is no love between them, but it is a very professional sort of love, one that works only as a foundation for both parties to achieve their own, separate goals. 

Bailee fully intended to have his children set up to take his place in any way he deemed necessary. The oldest son, Alistair, was to take his place as figurehead; Attolia, his daughter, was to be married off at some point and marry into a rich family; Prince was only ever regarded by Bailee as a symbol of his prosperity, a testament to the remarkability of his genes and a superficial way of reinforcing his own need to be seen as something special. 

Prince was taught the bare minimum required to have him understand the family business, but Bailee allowed Prince to do what his siblings could not: indulge in activities, hobbies, interests, that did not directly benefit his ability to fit into the role Bailee wanted him to fit in. To be well-rounded, talented, and educated was to be aristocratic, so having Prince learn all sorts of skills - sewing, painting, cooking, music, etc. - would always benefit Bailee. This ended up being something the twins heavily resented, because they were old enough to understand what was happening and why, and it turned any affection they had for their little brother into a fierce bitterness. 

One of my biggest regrets with not finishing Wax’n’Wane’s story is that I wasn’t able to at least introduce the twins properly. I find them to be extremely interesting characters, and they were meant to receive a lot of development. 

They were very close, each believing they only had the other a true partner or friend in the world, given their parents’ treatment and Prince’s ignorance of the situation. They both felt some duty and ambition, enough to try fitting into their respective roles (if only to gain their father’s favor and approval), but the story was meant to guide them both into fighting for their own desires and interests in the end. 

Future Plans

I’ve gone on for a long time about the foundations of Wax’n’Wane, so now I’ll try to get along with the really interesting stuff: the story overall!

Since the beginning, Prince’s plan was always to find some way to regain his memories and find his way home, not necessarily in that order. Havenliegh was always reluctant to accept this plan but she had no intention of ever preventing Prince’s ability to reach his goal. 

When the teams were to return from Geoda, Prince’s siblings were going to appear. They got lost in the fog, but not in a way which took their memories (they’d had a guide and a means of combating that effect). Prince learns that the twins had been sent by their father to somehow find Prince and bring him home. Of course, Prince has no idea his siblings are the reason he got lost in the first place, so he’s happy to see them. The twins are clearly not happy with the situation, but Bailee won’t allow them to come home until they find Prince and take him back.

This was meant to be a major turning point for Prince, and was probably going to be how I wrapped up the ‘main’ story arc for him. Prince finds he’s actually quite torn between going home with his siblings and staying in Andalusst. He’s built himself a home here, and has made friends, and he’s grown a lot as a person by being out on his own, with Havenleigh’s help. 

In the end, Prince decides to go with his siblings - how can he not? He misses home, and they can’t go back without him, so... it just seems like the right thing to do. However, before they leave, Prince and Havenleigh meet someone in town: Memford Rose, who recognizes Prince and ends up telling him that his siblings hired her to lure him away into the fog. 

When Prince learns this, he immediately runs home and confronts his siblings. He actually finds the strength to tell them off and to have them leave, and that he’s not going home with them. Alistair and Attolia eventually do leave. 

Reflection and End Goals

My favorite thing about writing Wax’n’Wane was how there was so much room for Prince to develop and become a better person. I feel like redemption arcs are common with characters who are ‘bad’ people, or villains, or characters who already start in a very low place. Prince, on the other hand, was a good person who simply hadn’t learned a lot about himself. He was extremely sheltered as a child, and though he had many talents, they were all frivolous... until he learned he could use them to provide for himself, or to his advantage in the face of adversity or to work around obstacles. 

Prince comes to Andalusst with very little money, and is mostly broke at the start of the story. It’s the first time he’s been without finances to support his hobbies, so he has to go out and find a job.

I never DID get to show him working there, but it was a little offhand decision which ended up informing a lot of Prince’s character... He’s someone who starts off shy, uncertain, lacking confidence and even ability, but he does so much to work towards becoming better.

He works with a friend to become a better fighter.

He uses the skills he’s accrued through his studies multiple times throughout the story, in useful/constructive ways.

I really loved writing Prince, because he had such potential, I think is what I’m trying to say. I loved to have him find new ways to better himself. He changed so much from the way he was in the prologue comic!! It was a treat seeing him become gradually more confidant, better at socializing, and being able to support himself. 

In the end... I think I wanted Prince to become a teacher (of music, most likely, and some other forms of art). He was going to evolve at some point, and then reconnect with his siblings, who retained some of the family wealth despite going against their father’s ultimate plan for them. They help Prince establish a small school in Andalusst.

At that point, Havenleigh was meant to a chandelure and I liked the idea of her hanging in the foyer of Prince’s school building. She stays there for a long time, watching over the building and students and Prince. But, at some point, her fire finally goes out, leaving a beautiful - but ordinary - chandelier where she once was. She originally died in a fire as an Ursaring, trying to protect her child and never knew for sure if she succeeded in that - it’s why she came back as a ghost. Now, seeing Prince as being secure and happy and knowing she helped guide him to this place in his life, Havenleigh finds contentment. 

It was going to be a very sad moment, because Prince isn’t around when it happens. He’s able to accept that Havenleigh finally found the peace to move on, though. He is long past the point of needing a nanny, a night light, someone to sing him lullabies. But he loved her, and he’ll miss her. 

... That’s it I think. That’s how I wanted their story to end. And, y’know, even if it never got drawn or told ‘properly’, I’m at least glad I was able to tell it here.