also by the MotA team
  • Golden Dames Project
  • Red Nebula Studios
  • Lovefeast
Commission Keith W!

Theresa

JGray
JGray
Mysteries of the Arcana began in its present form as Chrys's story. As I began developing it, however, I realized the story needed two things. First, it needed a love story. Second, it needed a point of view character.

An point of view character serves as a proxy for the reader. When a story universe has a complex history and rule system it is helpful to make one of the major characters an outsider. Someone to whom the universe has to be explained. Harry Potter's a perfect example of this. He knows nothing about the wizarding world and, so, it doesn't seem out of place when absolutely everything needs to be explained to him. If Harry were raised with a full wizard family, it would feel stilted and awkward if someone explained Quiddich to him. Since Harry is an outsider he needs to be educated and as a result the reader is educated as well.

Having decided to introduce a love interest/point of view character, I began brainstorming. I didn't need to do so for long. Theresa, like Athena from Zeus's head, emerged fully formed. Short dark hair. Army jacket. Love of guns. Somewhat short tempered personality. Deciding she was Catholic came after realizing that love at first sight was boring. There needed to be struggle and conflict along the road for Theresa and Chrys's relationship.

I also knew I wanted to start off with her marching to her doom and finding a reason to live. The reason for Theresa's desire to kill herself evolved over time but was firmly in place by the time the comic debuted. I'm very glad. In a lot of ways, Theresa has overtaken Chrys as the "star" of Mysteries of the Arcana. She's a great character.

Add Comment


Pseudo
*Guest*
 

 Quote  Reply     

Guest post by "Pseudo"
Still want a peek under her bonnet...

Submitted January 23, 2012 at 9:22PM




Jasae Bushae
*Guest*
 

 Quote  Reply     

Guest post by "Jasae Bushae"
oh lordy....an old jalopy of a truck with tank treds and a 'beast' liscenece plate...
that looks totally awesome! XD
and i know that song~


ah this is interesting ^^ though to nitpick a little bit, while it is harder to use in comic form there is a method around making a point of view character and that is making the reader themself the point of view character and have the main explain things to the reader.
though for obvious reasons it works better in written form XD

neat to know what brought about our favorite gun toting arcana character!

Submitted January 23, 2012 at 11:27PM



Fairportfan
*Guest*
 

 Quote  Reply     

Guest post by "Fairportfan"
So Theresa'a a motorhead, too, huh?


She needs to meet Ash over at Misfile.

Submitted January 24, 2012 at 5:56AM



JGray
 

 Quote  Reply     

Theresa knows how to work on cars and enjoys it but she's not the budding professional that Ash is. A Misfile/MotA crossover would be fascinating but I suspect people would have trouble telling Ash and Theresa apart. They're visually quite similar.






Submitted January 24, 2012 at 9:59AM



TC
*Guest*
 

 Quote  Reply     

Guest post by "TC"
^____________^  I now have this song stuck in my head.  I see Theresa can appreciate a classic.

Submitted January 24, 2012 at 4:47PM



adamas
*Guest*
 

 Quote  Reply     

Guest post by "adamas"

Quote from JGray:
Theresa knows how to work on cars and enjoys it but she's not the budding professional that Ash is. A Misfile/MotA crossover would be fascinating but I suspect people would have trouble telling Ash and Theresa apart. They're visually quite similar.


The color Misfile pages has Ash as a sandy blond and I always picture her a bit shorter then Theresa

Submitted January 24, 2012 at 8:09PM



JGray
 

 Quote  Reply     

True. In color, they are visually different. Theresa has black hair and darker skin than Ash. In black and white, which is Misfile's preferred format, she and Ash would be visually similar. Shorter, yes. About the same build, though.






Submitted January 25, 2012 at 9:09PM



JSmith
*Guest*
 

 Quote  Reply     

Guest post by "JSmith"
Are those Legos or Duplos?

Submitted January 26, 2012 at 4:12AM



Fairportfan
*Guest*
 

 Quote  Reply     

Guest post by "Fairportfan"
Ash is rather larger up top. 36C.

Submitted January 26, 2012 at 6:10AM



JGray
 

 Quote  Reply     

Theresa is a 32C, so Ash is larger.

JSmith, those aren't either. We don't violate trademarks here at MotA. Nope! Smile


Last edited by JGray
Edited 1 time(s).






Submitted January 26, 2012 at 10:40AM



Quick Reply

Name *Get an Avatar*
Email *Will not be displayed.
Website *Optional - May cause your post to be moderated.

Cat resides among the buttons.
Please check the proper button (from the phrase above) before submitting.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image