They Who Hide Under Top Hats - ONE YEAR ANNIVERSERY

 

One Year of They Who Hide Under Top Hats

It has been officially a year since the first part of They Who Hide Under Top Hats (TWHUTH) was posted on October 2nd 2023. Since then the story has slowly but surely expanded beyond what I originally planned. Everything from the main plot, the extended lore and the core cast.

But aside from the expansion of the story. There has also been quite a considerable expansion in the people who have engaged with it. Though we had a slow start in the first few months it is safe to say the TWHUTH community has entered slow but continuing growth thanks to the people who engage with it. Which is more than I could've ever dreamed of.

With all that being said, it is safe to say that TWHUTH as a story would've never come to fruition if not for the continued support of its readers. And with it now having gained thousands of views across various platforms it is safe to say that it will not be ceasing any time soon.

 

Teasers for TWHUTH

Among the many things planned for TWHUTH itself, the most chief among them is what comes next in the story. As of October 2nd 2024 there are 15 chapters of the story. These chapters cover only the first act with the upcoming Chapter XVI marking the end of said act. I do have many things planned for act 2, such as the introduction of the Fire Folk, resolving the mystery of Mr. Cunnington and some more building up for the climax. As for act 3, it is still in the early stages of planning as of the moment. But certain conclusions and events have already been mapped out. Now the challenge is getting there.

 

 Fire Folk- 1st Concept

Fire Folk- 2nd Concept

Another part of my process which has improved over the last year is definitely my art.

As of the beginning of this year my abilities of sketching were admittedly very primitive and amateurish. And I feel like over time that has changed.

 

 

Anna and Caroline

It seems like everything from my character design to my backgrounds to my use of shading as improved drastically over the past twelve months. And while the current state of all TWHUTH art is still very crude, colorless and rudimentary it is clear that it has moved forwards by quite a bit.

The Main Cast - Lucian's Story

In terms of more specific improvements that have occurred in my artstyle I can say for certain that while most of it has decreased in relative scale it has increased in complexity. And the random nameless figures which I used normally in my older art have been replaced by actual named characters within the story.

Lucian and Benjamin - Character Designs

Laura and Charlotte - Character Designs

As for the the future of what I plan to do regarding the art side of things the most obvious one is the expansion of the existing character designs as well as broadening the style to include things like fauna in order to create a more complete and realistic artstyle. But of course such thing are as of now quite a ways off. 

The Extended Lore of TWHUTH

And finally, perhaps the part of TWHUTH I am most fascinated with, the extended lore. So far I have a extended the timeline to roughly 600 years for the era in which the story takes place and more than a 1000 years for the era before it. There are many specific parts of the lore I would like to expand, such as the years before the founding of the Circle, an era dubbed The Red Century, the early years of the House of Montgomery beginning at around the 3rd generation and the stories of slightly more relevant characters like Allison Demon. All in all there is a lot of potential progress to be made in this part of TWHUTH. And I can't wait to keep going.

And to finally conclude this blog post (which in retrospect I should've done more frequently, monthly? No, maybe) I would like to once again extend my sincerest thanks to all the readers of TWHUTH and their support in the continued existence of this story and this world.

Thanks and cheerio for now!