Blackbirds Fly!

I can’t shake the name. So I won’t. I can’t shake the characters. So I won’t. Blackbirds will fly again, for sure. Let’s talk it through.

So, picture my original concept for Blackbirds: three brothers receiving the blessings of their ancestors, empowering them with various magical abilities that they use to protect themselves and the folks of their city from direct magical threats that emerged once their powers came to them. In a way, they are taking responsibility for their power and trying to live their own lives. But there are also their friends who all underwent similar changes because they were there at the original moment when it happened to the brothers, so now there’s this team of folk with magical powers running themselves around the city, being hero stuff.

Then I said, “No, I want to just focus on the brothers. So we’re going to focus on them and their relationship and what it means to be them, their story, and how they cope with how the world is now that magic is there and their destiny as a family. Total family book, but their friends are still there with them.” I guess that team thing went out the window, and I think this is what I was struggling with for the longest with the rename of the series and the new script.

I like going back in time with my stories and bringing up historical moments and world lore and bringing that to the foreground because of how important it all is to the folks of the world. But also, those old stories influence how the new stories get told, from their places, people, and objects, to the outright themes. There were other people on the original “team” who do have place and presence, agency and power in this story, and what happens to them is just as important because they live in the same world and the same city, and also interact with the brothers in a real way, and I want to show them off.

So, those characters, that team, will get their day and their chance to be actual heroes in the world. I have no real plan for them but once I feel good about a concept, I’ll get started with some scripting and draft an issue 0 to get me started. It starts with a thesis: what do I want to say about these characters? Their story? What are they doing and why are they important right now? There are other characters who will be added to this team, and they’re important for the full history of the world and other “around-town” happenings. Those characters were what gave life to a lot of the world as I know it, many years ago when I was first creating stories in high school. Back then, I pitched these ideas to my cousin and we kinda fleshed things out through role-play. Now, I pitch to myself and say, can this be a great story? I hope so.

But even that’s just a start! Knowing that there are so many stories and ideas floating around in my head that I want to give life to means that I can just do that. I can start off with some basic things like an “Issue 0” where I can draft out some designs and concepts to get the story off the ground. It’ll be fun. When that story drops, though, is where the real planning happens.

Anyway, that’s it. Thanks for letting me go.