Romulus and Tallis

Romulus and Tallis are proving to be as much fun as Terence, if not more. I can't seem to stop drawing them or thinking about what I could add to their story.

Like I said in my last post, Romulus has always felt that need to protect his younger brother. Which, of course, is well and good; I'm as big a believer in family loyalty as anybody. But at what point do you "draw the line"? When do you stop helping your family and start hindering them? How far should you truly go just for your blood relative's sake?

Such questions, you'll have to figure out for yourselves. But this makes for an excellent plot point.

I like Romulus much better in this image; he looks less grandfatherly, and you can really sense his smoldering resentment toward the blissfully unaware Tallis.

Tallis, as aforementioned, is not a bad guy. Most of the time, his heart is indeed in the right place. But he's always been one for taking "the easy way out," trying to make everybody happy (even if it has negative consequences later) and getting things done with as little effort on his part as possible.

And Romulus has always been known as the dependable one, so people can sort of relax knowing Romulus is there to "take care of it." Sometimes it's just easier for Romulus to do it himself and get it over with. But once again, at what point do you decide that enough is enough? You can tell Romulus is asking himself that very question at that very moment.

On a lighter note, Romulus does find happiness with a woman named Kyla, with whom he sires three children, Tracy, Ren, and Opal. In fact, I finished my first "family portrait" just today.

You see that? Romulus isn't such a grump or a total stick in the mud after all. Of course, he's far from a flawless husband or father, but he tries his best and you can just sense the family love in this. When all is said and done, he absolutely loves his wife and children (and brother) to pieces, and they reciprocate.

Tracy, the oldest, is about 19 years old; Ren is 15 or 16, and little Opal is 11. I personally think Tracy turned out the best. And one of my buddies gave me the suggestion to make Ren's hair gray/silver. Silver hair or intensely blue eyes are just those unique traits in Terence's family. That's one way you can sense a biological connection.

Hard to believe that the main villain of this story comes from their own family, eh? I'll show more of Tyrell and his side of the family another time, when I get the chance.

But I will say it again: this story is showing tremendous promise, and my enthusiasm for this project keeps on growing. I have a feeling that when NaNoWriMo comes around, I'll have a lot to write about. That's not to say I'm abandoning Terence's story. Far from it! But this provides me with an awesome change of scenery while still maintaining some familiarity.

It's amazing how far you can go with one story, the possibilities that open up once you start probing them. In the words of Tumnus from C.S. Lewis's The Last Battle, it's "like an onion: except that as you continue to go in and in, each circle is larger than the last."