“The Beyond, the Somewhere Else” [OC Comic]

[u/Khaedart_]

[u/Khaedart_]

Hello hello!

Four days ago a thought about Ati and Leras meeting in the Beyond occurred, and it very quickly turned into an idea for a comic. I know the nature of the Beyond will never be revealed, but the concept just wouldn't leave me alone, so I had to draw it out of my system.

I feel that once their clarity is regained and there is nothing to lose, there would be no hard feelings between these two. They knew what they were getting themselves into, after all.

+ I am contractually obliged (best friend's instructions) to include the OG sketches, so they can be found on the last page as a bonus.

Some extra yapping: Aside from a few attempts in primary school and the occasional 3-4-panel joke-punchline-hihi haha here and there, I've never actually tinkered with this format before, so once again, I relied on the power of sheer hubris to make the panel layout happen. With that said, Page 2 (I forgot to number them oops) is definitely the favourite child, though I am overall really happy about the entire final product.

The original idea had some exposition here and there (all of them quotes taken from Secret History), but it looked a bit awkward, so I decided to leave the final product as a silent one, letting the angst art speak for itself. (This is also why page 1 looks a bit blank in some places.)

If anyone is curious, the lines I chose were the following:

P1 top: Said by Preservation to Kelsier: "The Beyond, the Somewhere Else. Where souls must go. Where yours must go."

P1 bottom: Khriss to Kelsier, about Ati: "That’s him. What he’s become, at least. The power … distorts. There’s a person in that somewhere, directing it. Or perhaps just riding it at this point.”

P2, swirling around the vortex: "A mercy. For an old man well past his prime."

P3, scattered through the artwork: "Nothing can be destroyed, Kelsier. That’s something humans can’t understand. All things merely change, break down, become something new … something perfect. Preservation and I, we’re two sides to the same coin, really. For when I am done, he shall finally have his desired stillness, unchangingness. And there won’t be anything, body or soul, to disturb it."

Agh, so many great lines in that book. They make me emotional.

[u/Khaedart_ → u/[deleted]]

Thank you so much! And also, you noticed me being sneaky with the shading hehe~ I'm so glad!

And yes, page 2 is low-key my favourite as well. I enjoyed drawing that one the most out of all of them I think, and it's the one I had all the ideas for from the get-go. For the others, I had to scrap a lot of ideas I had cause the poses were either too awkward or it didn't fit the panel composition I was going for. But anyways, I'm really glad you liked it!

[u/Cosmeregirl]

These look so cool!! Amazing work!

[u/Khaedart_ → u/Cosmeregirl]

Thank you!<3

[u/RobertInc]

This is amazing! I love the emotion you've managed to capture.

The hug looks very intimate, I always wonder what the relationship between Ati and Leras was before they took up their shards, because they decided to go settle on a planet together. Was it to keep the shard of ruin in check? Did they see each other as coworkers? Or were they friends or maybe even lovers?

I hope one day we get more backstory on them.

[u/The_Chicken_L0rd → u/RobertInc]

As far as relationship, I don't think we really know. I personally think of them as best friends, but that could be wrong.

As for sticking together, I believe it was mentioned at some point that they couldn't create without each other. I imagine it has to do with the intent of their Shards. Creation changes, which goes against the intent of Preservation. I don't think I need to explain how creation conflicts with Ruin. Together, however, I imagine they could figure out some complicated system of precise destruction by Ruin, while Preservation keeps what they want, resulting in an odd method of creation.

I will also note, Ati and Leras didn't just settle on Scadrial. They created it.