#kylewysiwyg

[odybee]

Remember that list of assorted Piper quirks? Well, I've been meaning to get back to writing Kyle again, so here's a list of little details about the big, buggy lad!

Was a super outgoing kid contrary to his current demeanor.

Played every Pokemon game up to Sun and Moon as a kid, including Red on his Mom's Gameboy. His teams always included Scyther.

Can't see past the tip of his nose without glasses.

His favorite bug of all time, which is also the one that got him interested in entomology to begin with, is the humble ant. More specifically, fire ants.

Caffeine makes him feel fatigued and sleepy.

Miraculously has a small friend group. He was introduced to it by the only friend he ever made all the way back in elementary school, but he barely ever hangs out with any of them unless prompted.

Doesn't like sugar/sweets.

Despite being a medical entomologist, he has managed to avoid being stung or bitten by anything more painful than a fire ant.

Maintains a garden of berries and flowers along the back and side of his house purely to attract more bugs.

Has put a lot of effort in maintaining steady, gentle hands. He must to properly do his job, which involves handling a lot of extremely delicate specimens.

Major Breaking Point spoilers after the divide!

That final fact may also be one of the reasons why Kyle latches onto Piper so hard, because his ability to hold back is a defense mechanism he's developed since very early in his life. He's always loved holding and studying invertebrates, and as mentioned before, he used to be super open about it. Excited, even, about showing his interest to everyone that would pay attention, because who wouldn't find bugs as cool as he did? Could they not see how beautifully lethal the dragonfly's design is, how the beetle's carapace glistens like a sparkling emerald? He'd proudly present his finds to anyone he could, which most often was another kid on the playground during recess. In doing this, he identified two core problems. One, sometimes he would get too excited and squish or otherwise injure his find. Two, this same excitement seemed to scare people away. So after countless uneasy pep-talks from adults without ever making a single friend, he came to a conclusion.

People, like insects, were easily overwhelmed. The only way he could possibly connect with either would be to first restrain himself, and the safest way to do so was to reduce contact. To listen and observe while minimizing his own personal input, lest they get too close and see or feel something they don't like.

Fast forward fifteen years, and this mindset has led him into a friend group as 'the quiet one' when he desperately wishes to be something more to someone else. Someone that he can be open with, that he can express his excitement around without fear of causing harm. At the very least, someone he could handshake without the nagging feeling that he was somehow doing something wrong.

So imagine how lucky he feels when Piper, the witty little marvel of science with the resilience to survive seemingly anything and the strength to resist absolutely nothing, falls right into his grasp.

[odybee]

Finished Kyle’s sketch page! Breaking Point spoilers ahead!

As you could also see from the top left corner, there are two more characters that I have yet to mention by name! Grey is the third caretaker that I’d mentioned before the Scuttle post, and Sarah is someone else entirely (ooooo intrigue!) They’ll get their own sketch pages eventually, but that won’t be for a while yet. I was just so excited about Alec’s part of the story that his existence was divulged really early. My bad!

I think the hardest part of this sheet by comparison to Alec’s is how much more touchy Kyle is since him constantly grabbing Piper means I have a lot of hands to draw. Hands are.. kind of difficult, I think! But my *gosh* do I feel great about drawing them properly when they turn out. I’m especially happy with Kyle’s pointing hand in the lower right sketch, because I tend to avoid lateral/medial views of the hands a *lot,* and I think that one turned out pretty good!

Also don’t mind the sketch with really scratchy shading, I got carried away in the zone ;.)

[odybee]

I've been spending some time writing and re-reading Breaking Point since, heaven help me, chapter 4 is published and chapter 5 is in the works. In the process, I've spackled a few minor plot holes and dialed back on the exposition to generate a little more tension and give me some opportunities to have our current active characters learn about each other organically. It has been interesting to look back on my earlier chapters since there are months between each wave of motivation, which causes little changes in my writing style and workflow between each one, aheha.

Also, I've almost finished a sketch sheet for Piper's current caretaker, Kyle! He's a nerdy weirdo that likes bugs and lacks basic social skills, so he replaces them with info dumps about his favorite crawlies (just like me for real). 'Tis a lonely but productive existence he leads until Piper crashes into his life, and though he won't show it beyond the cold lenses of his eyes, he can barely contain his excitement at seeing what the future could hold for the two of them.

Here's a sneak peak of the sketch sheet, the full version of which will include some more info about him:

There is one more caretaker that I have yet to draw or even speak of, but he will have to wait for a later date. I said I would talk more about Scuttle ages ago, and I've made you all wait long enough!