πͺ Top left: A moment from ππͺπ¨π©π΅ π°π§ ππ’π΅π€π©π΄π΅πͺπ€π¬π΄ that has remained largely the same from a decade ago. Except Jack has become a little less grumpy. A little. π
πΊ Center: The working title for the first part of the HoM series was “The Matchstick House”. I changed it to the more YA-sounding ππ°πΆπ΄π¦ π°π§ ππ’π΅π€π©π΄π΅πͺπ€π¬π΄ during drafting. Below that, you can see part of a map of Benemourne my teenage self drew (the rumors are true … my drawing has not improved lol). It includes Ar, Vision (which later became Sunrest), and the Caves of Passage (later, the Shute).
π Bottom right: A 2011 excerpt from a semi-deleted scene in ππͺπ¨π©π΅ π°π§ ππ’π΅π€π©π΄π΅πͺπ€π¬π΄ where Jame takes Isaline thieving. Parts of it may or may not show up later in NoM π
π Scattered: My teenage selfβs sketches of Ar, the mountain city youβll encounter in ππͺπ¨π©π΅ π°π§ ππ’π΅π€π©π΄π΅πͺπ€π¬π΄ and throughout the whole series. If you zoom in, you can see teeny tiny stick figures of Isaline and Jame standing atop a building (this was before Isalineβs debilitating fear of heights). Scene ideas from these exercises roughly translated into Isaline and Nalissaβs rooftop hangouts in HoM.