#wayra

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5. Favourite Character?

My fav's changed a lot but for the past while it's pretty solidly been Lam. She's got a lot of relatability points in her favour: her describing that she's a Wunsoc because she used to get terrible headaches + all of the ways she seems coded to have autism, i could probably go to a random Lam scene and 9 times out of 10 I would go "yeah, I'd do that too" Plus, the entire idea of her being a Sang princess at Wunsoc is so fascinating. Not even getting into the fact that the House of Ra is basically a puppet monarchy but just the fact that Lam is the only person from the Wintersea republic who actively has plans to go back, everyone else (Mog, Bertram, Wayra) seem to have no plans to ever return, which makes sense considering the government, but Lam does and that's so interesting to play around with. And like, even with Lam's royalty status, she is still just a teenager. She hates putting up her hand in class, she tries to find whatever time she can to nap during exam season, she's just so adorable and I love her <3.

6. Favourite Minor Character (if your fav isn't already one)?

ooooh, tricky. Right now, I'd say it's a tie between Wayra and Dr. Valerie Bramble.

Wayra has a lot of the same appeal Lam does, in that all of the implications surrounding him are so fascinating to me. I'm so intrigued by how on earth he became Lam's patron, did the Ra Family know who he was before Wunsoc? If not, how did they find and contact him? Who brought him over the border? I have so many questions and he's not going to answer them because he hasn't spoken a single line. On that topic, I kinda love how quiet he is. Mog describing that she doesn't know if he's just like that or if it's because Lam's a princess and he doesn't want to risk revealing that (smth smth like patron like scholar). He's just so intriguing and i can't wait to see if we find out more about him!

Dr. Bramble is also very compelling to me (you might be noticing a pattern here), because she keeps making such understandable bad decisions. Hollowpox really does put like every character at their most miserable and she's no exception, she spends the entire book doing (what we later find out) is functionally a Sisyphean task of trying to cure the Hollowpox and getting "closer every day". Even when she does get told the (correct) theory of it being a monster rather than a disease, she brushes it off and says "if it acts like a disease, it can be cured like a disease." Not to mention the fact she's apart of the trio that goes to Steed to tell him to accept the deal that Wintersea wants to make with him and within that trio she's described as being the one who reasons with him (to Jove's raging and Inspector River's negotiating) which is so interesting to me. That little line tells us so much about all 3 of their characters at this point but I especially like what it says about Dr. Bramble. Yes, she has been working tirelessly for like half a year; yes, she is a representation of the entire medical staff at Wunsoc (some of whom are children!) who have also been worked to the bone; yes, I would say she has every right to be angry at Steed for denying the entire state access to a cure for the pandemic that has taken numerous lives. But she's reasoning with him instead of raging and that is so interesting to me. Also, the very minimal role she plays in Wundersmith is fun, the way she treats her magnificat vs. the way Fen seems to hate those ideas in concept is very interesting!

Did I mention Dr. Bramble has a grand total of 5 lines? (I counted)

8. Favourite Character based on design/description?

Went to Lima’s International Book Fair 2019, bought some cool comics about this incaican girl called Wayra. Highly recommended.

A sketchbook dump.

First of all, my sketchbook was 100% handmade by rame.cuadernos on instagram. I don’t know if she delivers outside of Argentina, but feel free to check out her awesome creations!

First page is the cover, with my version of Hiccup’s first drawing of Toothless. Then is God AKA Freddie Mercury.

Second set are OC Ciruelo drawn during the blood moon eclipse. Will probably post later as a comparison with Toothless. Then there’s “Portrait of Eugenia and Roma dancing to a salsa tutorial video, while I sat with an ice pack on my mouth because I laughed too hard at a chilean imitator and dropped the phone on my face” 

Then, there’s a dream I had a while back about kids who could bond with and understand orcas. I was one of these kids. And then, with fellow kid-trainers, we decided to set the orcas free. That’s me saying goodbye to mine. Next page is Nala from The Lion King.

Fourth page is a sketch from a scene of the movie “Mi Mejor Amigo” by argentine director Martin Deus. (He actually reposted this to his instagram account!). Next are a sketch of OC Catalina, the protagonist of Wayra, and a random girl I drew.

Last but not least, Catalina and Ciruelo, Venom and Coma from Mad Max.