The Book of Three

She’s got his number.

Yes I’m looking forward to exploring a bit more of the realm on their way out!

😉

Me too!

...OK, I've regained enough composure to comment. I love Eiddileg's slightly fearful look as Eilonwy approaches, and his total shock - how hard must it be to shock Eiddileg?? And her little half smile as she leaves, knowing what she did to him, haha, she's so dangerous to males. Fflewddur's little knowing smirk - well done my dear girl! And Taran's little look back - maybe a little jealous? And yeah, that's what fondling your head happily looks like.

Hehe.

I waffled on whether Taran’s expression should be bewilderment or disdain. It’s too soon for jealousy - except maybe subconsciously. The disdain won out, mainly so I could smugly think...boy, the day will come. 😆

Correct decision. They are currently in a brother-and-sister-relationship with friendship just emerging; no place yet for hidden desires.

We may wonder how Eilonwy knew about this gesture at all. Certainly there was no one in Spiral Castle who would ever have shown her how it works?

Because she lived with her parents until she was kidnapped - yet another piece of evidence for my theory. ;)

Give him three years. He’ll know. 😂

I have to say, I read your "Princess Diaries" fanfic, and enjoyed it very much. It also gave me a deeper insight into your take on Eilonwy (and her relationship with Taran), and I think it is much closer to my own than I had been assuming all along. It was a little odd to get an older E's perspective on things--obviously, she comes across as much more vulnerable, less prickly, and more honest or candid.

And Diaries is really the oldest and weakest of all my stories. I don’t know quite what to do with it! But yes, Eilonwy is certainly, in my mind, far more complex than she appears in canon, and I hope that shines through a bit in my graphic work.

Oh, it does, and especially in all the discussion that happens here.

I've never thought of her as not complex, but even though she speaks her mind, since everything is from Taran's POV, we rarely see into the minds of others, unless they lay them bare (as, for instance, Gwydion does at points--and even there I am sure he says a lot less than he thinks), and, as I recall, this doesn't quite happen with her very often.

True! Which is why I so enjoy writing from other perspectives, but especially hers. So much untapped material!

I appreciated getting to see your take on [SPOILERS BELOW]




















When it was that E first realized she loved Taran. I actually thought it came much later in TBC, though (obviously) with knowledge that he particularly vexed and interested her in a way no one else did.

I don't even remember exactly how I handled that in this particular story. It's so old, my views on it have probably evolved somewhat - IMO it wasn't necessarily a single moment's revelation as much as a gradual realization that took place between TBC and CoL, and by the beginning of CoL she knew it but was still sort of fighting it - similar to Taran.

Enjoy your air of superiority, Taran. 😏

It was magicked away by a cold river nymph.

Ladies and gentlemen, opening for Aerosmith, put your hands together for Cold River Nymph!!!

I have wondered a time or two if those cat irises were the right call, but they seem practical in a guy who lives underground, haha. He's been a lot of fun and I'm sorry to leave him.

That's the truth - I will miss the realm itself but not this throne room, which seemed such a great idea at the time! :D Next time I am going to be spending this much time in one setting, I think I'll just build it in miniature so I can photograph it at every angle for reference. I have enough little bits of crystal and fake moss to have done this in this scene and I wish I had, just for maximum cool factor.

There's a reason I've never done that.

Disney owns copyright to all visual representations of the Chronicles. This comic itself exists upon their, and the publisher's, good pleasure. if they know about it at all, which is unlikely. I have been very careful never to profit from or even appear to profit from anything related to this work for that reason.

Lots of people get away with selling copyright violations, of course. But I recommend sticking with things that are in the public domain, for reasons both practical and ethical.

Huh. Well, okay; thanks anyway!

"Disney owns copyright to all visual representations of the Chronicles."

This made me a little sick to learn. I'm not so much concerned with their hoarding of rights to such a wonderful series, but it's been 35 years since the one animated film, and they're still just SITTING on it? Spoiled entertainment juggernauts and their toys, PFAH.

It's rather worse than that. From what I know, their re-negotiations of it all back in 2016 seem to have been done purely to prevent any other interested parties (there were some) from touching it, even though it is apparent at this point that they have no intention of doing so themselves. It's infuriating.

The hints have been there in film titles ... they're frozen into inactivity by cultural-political considerations.
Those in The Mandalorian don't attract enough fo the scolds who presently inhabit humanities faculties throughout North America to inhibit action, but Lloyd Alexander's! Heavens to Murgatroyd!

Since when has Disney allowed cultural-political anything to stop them doing what they wanted?

I mean yeah I can think of a couple mild examples of toning down implications. But I can’t think of anything in Prydain that should set off anybody’s controversy radar, except possibly the underutilization of Eilonwy as the books progress, which is fixable under skillful adaptation.

He's probably been in Eiddileg's shoes here a time or two with other young ladies, lol... knows the effectiveness.

Ha! It’s Daughter of the Sea I consider my best, at least insofar as plot and story are concerned, but maybe that’s because it’s largely original and also gave me free rein to indulge the romantic tendencies I never quite can within the series. 😆Sunrise is good but there are things I would change now, mostly minor. From a perspective of sheer craft, the drabble collection is probably the best since that’s where I have to edit the most ruthlessly.

But no matter what order you read, I am not going to tell you not to read! So hope you enjoy all of it! 😆

Woops! That's what I get for posting a comment while I was still half asleep and in a rush for work--I WROTE "Sunrise" but I MEANT "Daughter of the Sea". :p I think I read "Sunrise" first; it was good, the drabble was good, it was ALL good! :)

You say that you consider "Daughter of the Sea" your best in part because it's largely original; do you do any completely original writing?

Not yet. I have written one children's picture book that is awaiting my time to finish illustrating it so I can pitch it to a few publishing houses. :P I don't know why it's so hard for me to come up with an original idea for a novel. But DotS is so far removed from canonical Prydain that I have some thoughts about changing names and a few details and passing it off as original. Later, though. I have to finish it first, lol.

Hi Saeriellyn! I just wanted to let you know that I finished reading "The Princess Diaries" (which I thoroughly enjoyed despite its lack of a complete ending) AND "Daughter of the Sea", to which I can give you no greater compliment than this: I just binge-read it instead of doing other things I really ought to have been doing, and when I fully intended to read it slowly to make it last. :p

Thank you again for sharing your talents for art, writing, and storytelling with all of us. :)

I don't know how I missed this comment yesterday but WHOOT! I'm so happy you're enjoying yourself, my apologies for pulling you away from your other duties. This is a struggle I know well, haha.

I also suffered withdrawal symptoms all last night because I had no new Saeriellyn to read, no more "Daughter of the Sea" universe to occupy my headspace. :(

I guess I should actually thank you for starting a new creative project instead of getting back to "Daughter", so I can actually get other stuff done now instead of spending all my time reading it. :p

It’s tough; I can draw in short spurts, and get a lot done over the course of a day, but writing requires hours of uninterrupted silence, and that has been nonexistent here since school closures happened. Hence, far more prolific output in the art category than the literary. I have finally just put my foot down and insisted on a couple of hours a day where I lock myself in my room with threats of dire consequences to anyone who comes in to complain of hunger, thirst, boredom, or any other problem they could solve themselves. 😝 And that’s when I’ve been able to write again. I’ll get there!

All interpretations are valid. 😉

Oh yes. I don't think Taran's emotions here can really be untangled. He's got too much going on at once.

It amuses me to think that a fairy king is just as susceptible to feminine wiles as a human one. Takes him down a peg, doesn't it?

It amuses me to think that a fairy king is just as susceptible to feminine wiles as a human one. Takes him down a peg, doesn't it?

Well, there's no fairy queen that we know of, so maybe he's not as pliable as we might think? Then again, I have no idea how the fae operate, only that they are beyond our understanding. As for taking him down a peg, I dunno, my reaction was more that he was responding to Eilwony personally than women in general. After all, she is rather a special case and a future high Queen. I am biased in her favor though, so take that opion for what it's worth. ;)

Heh, yes, Eiddileg is yet one more in a series of Alexandrian kings without queens. But in my mind, he’s got a harem. 😏

In any case, I think he knows who she is and probably has some thoughts of his own regarding Angharad that make him particularly sympathetic to her.

But in my mind, he’s got a harem.

HA! Okay, talk about NSFW, that notion leaves me laughing and cringing at the same time! I'm glad I wasn't taking a drink when I read that, otherwise I'd have been scrubbing down my whole workstation. :)

Hey, man, the fae don't live by our rules. XD

Impulsive and amused! I do too. It's so rare to see her smile.

Also, I love the artwork. Thanks for giving us so many beautiful illustrations!

Thanks for dropping in!

I think he probably knows who she is and wonders what she is capable of - hence that look of slight alarm in panel 4.

I suppose he could yet have her immobilized at an instant, like he did with Taran and Fflewddur. So she was no physical threat to him. Still, the names she had called him before have visibly shaken him, and he does not know what to expect - certainly not this!

Oh I think she is grateful. She’s just also enjoying flustering him, after all he’s put them through.

That’s an interesting observation on the FF. While they obviously have adult responsibilities, their emotional expression could be said to be as...unfiltered...as children’s? Their standards of what constitutes civil discourse is different from humans’, their opinions and preferences more unapologetic and frank, and less tactful, by human standards, and their methods more likely to be justified by their ends. It’s a pretty good comparison!

Those questions are so good, we should call Jim Butcher in for a consult.

Naaah, we’ve got all the expertise necessary. 😝

Hi Peter - I'm good, but my updating here is inconsistent. I have professional work , not to mention a host of other responsibilities, that take priority over this hobby, so don't ever despair if you see a long break here. There have been hiatuses of several months in the past. I try to avoid it, or at least give warning when they happen - but in any case sometimes I just fall behind and it can't be helped. I'm currently working on a children's book, so it's going to be a few weeks before I get back to this.

Yes we've been discussing this at the fan page on Facebook.

I haven't yet seen anything from a source I find credible, though. This article along with the handful of others spreading this seem all to be based on info from someone who claims to be an "insider" but whose information is behind a patreon paywall. There is no new information, just a reiteration that they plan a film (now a "remake" of The Black Cauldron which is an absolutely terrible idea), with even less information than the announcement three years ago.

In short, until Disney itself makes a statement, I remain skeptical!

:)

Welcome to the fan club! I'm only sorry you're all the way through it now and have to wait for a new page like everyone else, haha. I'll get back to it soon - just have a pro project to finish up in the next couple of days.

😊😊I’m so happy you’re enjoying it! I’ll be posting again soon - meanwhile check out my other comics (you can click my user pic to go to my bio where you’ll see all of them) because I’m currently working on a quick side project, also Prydain related.

Welcome! Glad you found me!

I saw that most recent blurb but I have yet to see it confirmed by a source I trust - it appears to be based on hearsay from a Patreon artist who claims insider information. I also have a bit of insider information however and can confirm that there has not yet been any statement by Disney within at least its broader creative team that this is in the works. I don’t know how to feel about it all any more, except to hope that if all they intend is a “remake” of The Black Cauldron they will abandon the property altogether.

My understanding is that they own all visual rights to the material, so a comic would also fall under their jurisdiction. Sadly I suspect that means they are more likely to force me to take it down than come to a publishing agreement, but maybe I’m too cynical.

Well, it makes me all the happier that I found your wonderfully faithful adaption - I can imagine the "film" version in my head while reading your version. :)

That was my goal! :) It's definitely satisfied my own craving.