HP's Secret Stuff (comic title TBD)

Hello!! Welcome to the blog where I'll be posting official information and art relating to my (currently untitled) webcomic-in-progress!! How about you sit down and enjoy some music by the fire? There's nothing quite like living in the moment... I'll probably change this profile picture eventually, but it's kind of funny so I'm keeping it for now lmao

[hp-cecropia-comics]

Hey there!

Come, take a seat! The night is young, and I have a story to tell... [INTRO POST]

Welcome to my comic sideblog! I'm HP (my main blog for fandom stuff, shitposts, and concept art for this comic is @hyliaphora-cecropia!), and this is where I'll be posting official pages and information regarding my currently untitled hobby comic! I've been working on this world and these characters for well over 6 years now, and I'm very excited to start sharing this passion project!

UPDATE SCHEDULE:

As a university student, the time I have for art varies widely throughout the year, so...my current upload schedule will be far from consistent. However, a perk of using Tumblr as a platform is that you won't have to remember to periodically check in with a comic website--just follow for updates, and any posts should appear on your dash as they show up here.

That being said, while I have a lot of work done with world- and character-building the comic already, I am still outlining the main plot. So for now, this page will mainly be updated with lore pages (canon background information about the world written from an in-universe perspective) and minicomics (small 'practice' comics to introduce the characters and help myself learn more about the comic-making process). Once I'm in the groove of the actual primary comic, though, I will most likely set some kind of biweekly upload schedule.

TAGS AND STRUCTURE:

#hp's secret stuff - general tag for everything relating to the project. Once I have an official name for the comic, I'll probably tag things with that alongside the secret stuff tag.

Additionally, if you're interested in more casual/conceptual art regarding the comic, you can search this tag on my main blog (or tumblr in general). I'm hesitant to muddy the official sideblog with doodles, so be sure to check those out on my main if you're interested in bonus content!

#character intro - intro pages for relevant characters, these will contain art and background information relating to them. I plan on releasing character intros for each of the four protagonists before their minicomics come out, with other key characters getting intro pages in interim periods

#lore page - in-universe documents about the history, creatures, and setting of the world. While these pages are considered to be reputable, one can't help but wonder whether the author's personal biases offer an incomplete view of their subjects... As the pages may not be objectively true in their entirety, perhaps it is best to view them more as a window into how some people of this universe interpret the world around them than as pure fact.

#minicomics - the minicomics are short (10-20ish page long) comics that I am using to figure out my comic-drawing workflow and introduce the main characters/settings! These will be self-contained canon stories set in the universe and are my current big undertaking! I'm hoping to release one for each of the protagonists, but may do more as I see fit. Minicomic 1 and 2 are now complete, with Minicomic 3 currently in development! Check them out!

#asks - I'll tag any asks I receive with this for search purposes

Additionally, I'll be tagging characters using '#firstname lastname' for now, but may also tag them '#firstname comic acronym' when I decide on a title

⚠️CONTENT WARNINGS⚠️:

While this comic doesn't include gratuitous violence or graphic material, I am telling a story that deals with some more serious topics. For filtering purposes, I will be marking the individual pages containing this material with warnings in the tags. For those who would like to know the comic's content warnings ahead of time, this story will contain the following:

Weapons like guns and knives

Discussions about death and grieving

Discussions about war and violence

Implied suicidal ideation

Child endangerment

Blood & injury

Body horror (the sequences with this will be clearly marked)

Alcohol use (in one or two scenes)

Additionally, this comic will include:

Swearing

Characters who are giant moths/spiders (cute cartoon style)

Bugs and spiders (stylized, but more realistic)

Creatures with big prominent eyeballs as shown in the banner

Freaky construct monsters

Romance (this is not a romance comic, but there is a romantic sub-plot between two characters)

Mild sexual innuendo (there is no other sexual content, but innuendo is used in a handful of scenes)

I will try to mark the more serious items with the typical warning tags for the subject (#cw guns, #cw death mention, #cw alcohol, #cw blood), but if I miss one, just ask and I will add it! Additionally, if you would like me to tag any additional content as the comic comes out, or if you want clarification on the extent of any of the above warnings, send me an ask! As a comic artist using Tumblr as a platform, I want to be respectful and considerate to my audience while also telling the story that I am setting out to tell. Please let me know about any concerns that you have! This is my first time making a comic that will be shared with the public, so as long as your concerns are of good faith, I am open to corrections and criticism.

ASKS:

Ask away!! I am a professional yapper and have been working on this project's worldbuilding for...over 6 years at this point. Feel free to ask about anything you want! That being said, if you worry that an ask pertaining to the story or characters could be going into spoiler territory, rest assured that I will not spoil anything with my answer. If something's part of a big reveal, I'll be sure to keep that to myself.

For transparency, as a general rule, I don't respond publicly to asks regarding political polls or fundraisers, no matter my opinion on the cause or topic. I am not comfortable asking my followers for money, and Tumblr as a platform is home to many, many blogs who are better equipped to help you spread awareness for your causes. Thank you, and good luck!

CONCLUSION:

That should be about everything! This intro post will be a living document, so I may edit it more in the future to add sections or clarify things as needed. Again, if you've read this far, thanks for taking the time to be interested in my little project! I am at the very beginning of my comic-making journey, so if you want a comic to hop onto early, you're in the right place!

Now, though...I've talked enough. Close your eyes, and listen closely...the insects of the evening are singing their ancient song. If you care to hear it, you may catch snippets of an age-old tale...

[hp-cecropia-comics]

MINICOMIC #2 — The Legend of Alisira

(part two)

<< Previous (part one)

[hp-cecropia-comics]

MINICOMIC #2 — The Legend of Alisira

(part one)

>> Next (part two)

[hp-cecropia-comics]

"The Stare"

(Wherever Val goes, she is watching...judging.)

OC RAMBLING & MINICOMIC UPDATE BELOW!

The script for the second minicomic is now officially complete! (and 'better than the first one' according to my sibling lmao) While we technically already met him in the first minicomic, I figured that now would be a good time to formally introduce our second protagonist--the kind-hearted but deeply troubled merchant and fisherman, Valrou!

As one of few individuals to have escaped with his life from the geographically isolated and perpetually infighting Belourobor region, Val has taken up residence deep in the southern bayous of New Riona far, far away from his homeland. Ekeing out a simple, lonely life on his small houseboat, Val is resigned to living the remainder of his days out of sight and mind, viewing the long stretches of isolation on his trade route and the tormentous nightmares that plague him as karmic punishment for squandering what he believes to have been his one real opportunity to change the world for the better.

Considering himself to be of poor moral fortitude and undeserving of personal happiness, Val has dedicated himself to the service of others. Living for little more than the smiles on his customers' faces, he strives to bring small kindnesses to the people of South Lantern with goods from the city, low prices, and a big smile, even if that kindness is something that he feels he will never deserve to receive in return.

TRIVIA AND BONUS LORE!

-Since Belourobor has an Earthfolk population of zero, the first time Valrou saw one was when he was 17 and looking for work at the Fabanian ports. Since nobody else reacted to the terrifying giant moth creature diving down from the sky, he assumed that it was a punisher demon visible only to him. While many Earthfolk would have found his reaction of abject terror offensive, this moth-type was sympathetic to the poor kid and took him under her wings when he was contracted to work on the merchant vessel that she was the lookout for. Despite profusely apologizing to her about it multiple times over his employment, he still feels horrible about the interaction.

-Despite Fabanian being his second language, Val has been speaking it for seven years and tries...maybe a little bit too hard to sound like a native speaker. His voice is generally very controlled as he tries to pin down the subtle inflections of the language, which can lead to him seeming overly formal. It also doesn't help that he started learning the language using a 300 year old Belourob/Fabanian dictionary authored before the 40 Days Earthquake, causing some of his vocabulary to be a bit...outdated. However, many of his older customers find this formality charming and indicative of high-quality service

-While Val would go to the ends of the earth just to make a stranger feel happy and cared for, having any sort of fun for his own sake saddles him with INCREDIBLE guilt, to the point where he feels dirty just cooking himself a nice meal or purchasing non-essentials for his own use. This results in him turning down a lot of opportunities that he actually does want, such as attending festivals or participating in culinary events. However, this guilt can be alleviated if he convinces himself that doing the fun thing is 'For the Sake of Someone Else'. Juno has picked up on this and frequently pulls the "I'd be really happy if you did this fun thing with me" card to manipulate him into having a good time. It usually works.

-Sylvain and Lily Lumière are both customers of Val's shop and both approve highly of his friendship with Juno, citing him as a 'polite, hard-working, and positive role model' for their son. Val doesn't really consider himself to be an ideal role model, but he's generally just happy that Juno's parents like him. The Lumières have tried multiple times to get Val to come over for dinner, but neither Juno nor Val really want that to happen for...various reasons

-Despite being one of the more popular dock merchants, he turns very little profit due to underpricing his wares and frequently giving samples away for free. Any extra money he makes is either given away or spent on the lowest-quality whiskey he can find...it's like he doesn't even want to save for his future at all.

-Valrou is an avid enjoyer of melodramatic dime novels, particularly the variety popular among middle aged women. The more romance, scandal, and heartbreak the better. The only reason he sells them is so that he doesn't have to feel ashamed buying them for himself, though they have become a surprisingly popular item in South Lantern since he started stocking them

-Believe it or not, Val is one of the only double allo individual in the ENTIRE main cast. I am not kidding when I say that everyone but him and one other major character is aspec. I didn't set out to do this, it just...kind of fell into place that way. This fact is only slightly plot relevant

-Despite having never been in a committed relationship, Val considers himself a ''''''''''''romantic soul'''''''''''' and loves to give unsolicited relationship advice.

His advice isn't always very good.

-Val has picked up on a variety of different cuisines during his travels, and as a result, he's a pretty good cook! He usually just...eats some of whatever he is selling (literally eating into his bottom line), but again, saving up for the future isn't something that is really on his mind. As a result of this, his diet is mostly based on rice, fish, and whatever dry goods he is transporting at the time.

-He has a hard time justifying making any kind of complicated dishes if he's eating alone, but has discovered that Juno coming to visit is a great excuse to prepare delicious meals guilt-free. He really enjoys preparing food for others and harbors a secret pride for the quality of his culinary work. Juno, of course, is very pleased with Val's insistence on feeding him every time they meet, citing Val's cooking as being "almost as good as Mom's!" High praise...

-Val has terrible memories of some of the things that he ate as a sailor and is horrified that Kina (the next protagonist!) would CHOOSE to carry hardtack with her to eat. Kina's hardtack is weevil-free and mainly for emergencies...but ever since she found out about how much he hates it, she's made sure to scrape away on it with her teeth when he's around just to bother him a little. Is it an asshole move? Yes. Is pushing the few buttons that Val "Friendliest-Guy-Ever" Alnavar has funny? Also yes (according to Kina, anyway)

-Val has a general problem of being overly considerate to others and worries extensively about his prominent facial scar making the people around him uncomfortable. (IT IS LITERALLY NOT HIS PROBLEM IF THEY'RE UNCOMFORTABLE. HE SHOULDN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THIS) While he never had high self-esteem before his injury, losing an eye has taken a definite toll on how much he thinks he should be interacting with others. To an extent, he prefers dealing with the Earthfolk over other humans because he doesn't think that his injury will be as viscerally disturbing to non-biological creatures. Again, he shouldn't have to worry about this, but...he's a worrier. About everything.

-While Val has adjusted many of his behaviors over the years to accommodate for the missing eye, it still physically impairs him with lack of peripheral vision on that side, headaches, and occasional phantom pain. Since he spent most of his life with full eyesight, he still 'sees' with the eye that isn't physically there anymore when he is dreaming, which can cause even worse flare-ups of the phantom pain when he wakes up

-He has taken to positioning his face in a slightly turned and tilted way to better align his sight when reading/writing/talking to people, which has put repetitive strain on his neck over time. He has developed unfortunate neck pains as a result of this.

-He doesn't like to bring up the origin of his injury, and not even Juno knows what exactly happened. When they first met, he chalked it up to "oh, Val used to be a sailor, sailors have eyepatches sometimes"--and three years of friendship later, this assumption was never re-evaluated. Maybe Val was right that the moth-types just don't think much about the appearances of humans...or maybe, deep down, Juno doesn't really want to know the answer. Either way, Val's thankful that the question never got brought up

-He is especially fond of puns and clever wordplay, but most of his favorite ones don't translate well from Belourob to Fabanian. Nobody will ever know how funny (he thinks that) he is...

poor fellow.

-The Watsonian explanation for his name is that in southern Belourobor, Valrou means 'brave warrior' and is a relatively common name there. The Doylist explanation is that I stole it from an entirely unrelated minor Zelda OC I had as a kid. In all my old Secret Stuff notes, Val is just referred to as 'the altruist' since it took me AGES to figure out what to finally call him. If one good thing came out of my early Zelda fic days, it was this...

-Val really just needs a hug. And a vacation. And a hot bath. And some new pillows. But mainly a hug. He'd appreciate that.

BONUS (featuring the bisexual crisis):

(also featuring sigma nitke and kina hartfield)

[hp-cecropia-comics]

MINICOMIC #1 — A Listening Ear

(part two)

<< Previous (part one)

[hp-cecropia-comics]

MINICOMIC #1 — A Listening Ear

(part one)

>> Next (part two)

[hp-cecropia-comics]

SUBJECT: Oculus terribilis

[hyliaphora-cecropia]

"With You"

(Like any normal teenager, Juno likes to spend quality alone time hanging out at the family mausoleum.)

OC RAMBLING & MINICOMIC UPDATE BELOW!

The script for the first minicomic is done!! So it's time to officially reveal the first of my protagonists--musician and mythology enthusiast Juno Lumière! A little moth with big dreams, Juno is hindered not only by his terrible communication skills and introverted nature, but by the fear that his family's larger-than-life legacy will always overshadow any identity he can carve out for himself. As the youngest grandson of renowned war hero Rose Lumière and part of the expansive and VERY INVOLVED founding family of South Lantern, Juno dreams of the day when he can fly upriver and make a name for himself playing music in the big cities up north.

Also, his war-hero grandma let him in on some top-secret information that REALLY SHOULD HAVE died with her. oopsie! Surely this won't drag poor Juno into the overarching plot!

Will anything ever be truly his and his alone? Can the "Juno" ever come before the "Lumière"? Should he feel guilty for wanting something just for himself when he has a comfortable life and a family full of people who love him? Did grandma seriously fuck up by telling him secrets that, for the safety of all their kind, she swore to let die with her?

TRIVIA AND FUN FACTS!!

-His favorite food is eel pie, which his mom makes for him every birthday. Eel (and lots of other seafood but ESPECIALLY eel) is SUPER popular in South Lantern. It sells out in seconds. The way the moths talk about it you'd think it's crack

-Not only was the multi-level treetop city founded by Rose Lumière, the entire bayou that South Lantern was built on is named THE LUMIERE BAYOU after her. Juno finds this extremely embarrassing

-The Lumières are known for having massive amounts of kids, and Juno is the youngest of 7 siblings. While he likes to think in moments of melodramatic self-indulgence that his parents forget he exists half the time, this isn't the case at all and they do, in fact, worry about him extensively

-In moth-type culture, you wear the colors of the first-generation moth-types that you are descended from. When a marriage happens, you typically combine these colors into a new family color scheme (for example, if a moth with blue and white colors marries a moth with orange and yellow colors, they and their children will wear blue and yellow. Think of it like how they name racehorses except with clothing colors and patterns). However, since Rose was such a big deal, the Lumières all continue wearing pink and yellow, and anyone who marries into the family also has to wear these colors. Even if it doesn't look good.

-Juno has over 40 cousins who all live within a minute's flight of his home. There is no privacy. At any moment an aunt or uncle or cousin could come barging in making themselves at home (which they do very frequently). Every day is a family reunion!

-This is of course hell for the quiet-loving Juno, hence why he spends so much time at the mausoleum with the statue of his grandmother. Is it morbid? Maybe to an outsider, but it's very relaxing for him to sit next to her, practice his concertina, and enjoy nature

-The only person Juno feels like he can confide in 100% honestly about his teenage angst is his best friend, a human fisherman. This friend is the subject of the second minicomic (though he's officially introduced in the first), so I can't talk too much about him yet. But he is my favorite! And he is coming!!! (eventually) At least there is one person who Juno believes sees him as an individual...

-He has an...interesting relationship with his parents. Obviously they love each other a lot, but he doesn't feel like he can actually talk about his interests with them because he's worried that they'll involve themselves too much. And then, well, it'll become another "event for the whole family!" thing and no longer be something that's "his". Lily and Sylvain have no idea about this issue and chalk the secrecy and question-dodging up to Juno being an edgy teen. In reality, their son is scared to talk to them about the real problem because he feels like they'll take it personally and overreact.

Poor communication runs in the family, it seems.

-His favorite cousin, Sophie Lumière, is the organizer of the music at the Rose Festival (a massive citywide festival celebrating Rose's role in ending the Awakening War--think about it like moth-type fourth of july). Juno really, REALLY wants to break into the music scene by performing with her band, but every year Sophie says he's too young. Maybe this year...

-He can play the accordion, violin, and concertina very well, and having four arms means that he can play multiple instruments at once! He prefers the accordion/violin combo for actual performances, but plays his concertina the most since it's more convenient to pack around

-Moth-types, having clawlike hands, have to wear rubber corks on their fingertips in order to play the violin. Juno HATES how these tips feel when he touches anything other than the fingerboard with them on. It's like nails on a chalkboard to him. He is constantly losing these things much to the annoyance of his violin teacher

-Since earthfolk don't need to (and physically can't) breathe, he will never be able to play a wind instrument. This is incredibly heartbreaking since he is in love with the sound of the pan flute but can never learn it himself

BONUS (ft. Sigma)

[hyliaphora-cecropia]

SUBJECT: Oculus videntis

[hyliaphora-cecropia]

SUBJECT: Oculus viventi