[atlas] muted graphic novels

SALTA (or rather say ATLAS) is a story about a human girl who is abandoned on a desert planet called Nebra. There's a lot about this sort of children's book but that's for the reader to hopefully enjoy while reading it. For now, I want to focus on why I have this love for muted graphic novels. FYI, I recently learnt on Reddit that they are called wordless graphic novels. So there's that.

Have you ever experienced a dialogue only through the eyes? I mean, have you ever known something just by looking someone in its eyes? I have, more than once. That kind of experience then becomes discovering why my eyes saw as if my subconscious caught it and now I'm learning what it was, you know? 

Maybe this is only me. I have met all kinds of people with incredible skills. For me, this has been my way so far. 

I remember when I was a kid I was very into my mind. My parents recall since an early age I never cried in front of people. They were so amazed by that because nobody taught me to do that. I just did. I didn't cry. I didn't do baby talk. I just left the room, went to a space where I'm alone and cried. After crying, I went back like nothing happened. Go figure.

Years happened and I went in the other direction. I started to understand that my body feels a lot, like a butt load. My parents were worried about me and how I will survive a ruthless world so certain traumas were caused. One of those traumas was not much, or at all, of physical contact. Verbal expressions of love were very little or nothing. Most of the appreciation or love, if you will, came through actions, gestures and looks.

One of the major events in my life was an interaction I had with my dad. I hacked his email account. He noticed that but we never talked about it. He knew I knew what's going on in his life. He was pissed obviously since I violated his privacy but we both knew he was more pissed at himself and he couldn't deal with his shame. Days passed and we didn't talk at all. No words. No gestures. No looks whatsoever. One day we were having dinner and there it was. We were across from each other. He looked at me and I looked back. And everything was said with just a second of interaction. He knew it. I knew it. And after that everything went back to normal. 

It has been decades since that moment and I still remember the sensation like it was yesterday.

Maybe that's also the reason why I love languages. They have so many interesting things in them. Did you know that there is a language that depends on where the Sun is at the moment of talking? 🤯🤯🤯

All of that made me think the following: what if language is actually a limitation? What if language is limiting the way you perceive and analyze reality? What if telepathy is actually real?

Once that idea got into my mind. I went batshit crazy. There is no other way to describe it. I literally want all my illustrated stories to be wordless. I believe that the artist (hopefully me too after re-learn to draw) is the medium who will translate my words into a different language. A language of images. A language that is sort of universal (assuming you have eyes to sense photons 😬😬😬). Actually, have you ever wondered what a blind-born person dreams about? They dream sounds! 

Thus... I decided SALTA, and any future illustrated stories, will be wordless.