This post was originally written for Patrons on the Backstage Blog in January 2021! With Chapter 2 complete, I wanted to unlock some of my development and thoughts on it for everyone to ponder and enjoy.

You can see much more behind the scenes stuff like this by supporting Obelisk on Patreon!

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I was breaking in a new sketchbook for the year and trying to get back into the right mindset to continue the current scene - which means spending some time with Dean!

 When you just wanna get groceries but you have vampires in your brain...

My notes, if you can read them, are mostly thoughts on how to handle Dean's wardrobe - as one of the few prominent male cast members, he provides an important contrast to Margot in terms of the eccentricity, timeliness and personality of her masc fashion choices.

That is, even if you don't know much about 1900s fashion at a glance, ideally you would still be able to see a difference between his clothing and Margot's! Especially since hers can be a bit... outdated... 

Fashion aside, chapter 2 really focuses on the characters' inner conflicts and anxieties around their interpersonal relationships - what's expected of them, what they expect of themselves, and how they feel they might fall short of those expectations. Dean has been a tough character for me to get to know in earlier stages of Obelisk - he lives very selflessly, even to his detriment, and only in working on this chapter did I realize... why. It's a complex thing for him, and one that the coming pages will just start to touch on.

But whatever he might be shoving to the side in favor of all that people pleasing, I'm sure his strange connection to a certain monster won't get in the way... ;) 

"The ultimate horror is a failure to connect."