Detective Noir AU
Alright, this au has been sitting around, waiting for me to finish it but chances are, I never will :((
So instead, I'll just post what I have so far
This was inspired by that one comment on the au post the author made(at this point you could consider me a stalker for the amount of hours I've scrolled through her feed💀)
First things first, none other than our main character himself, Detective Hollow!
I made him the detective in this one mainly because I was basing it off of the theory that if there was no heroine the keyholder would simply become the hero instead(don't remember where I read this but I'm guessing it was the webtoon comment section).
I also my have just really wanted to draw him in an overcoat
gonna be honest, I did little to no research going into this AU, the thing I most tried to learn about was the femme fatale so I could get a good view on how to design Buddy
Speaking of the femme fatale:
Seems like someone got caught in the spotlight!
And before you ask, yes, those are pants. Weird ones, but pants nonetheless. I swear, I hate lighting when it's from the front. Frontal lighting can go fuck itself. Please ignore the little help lines I put in
Honestly, Buddy's outfit was probably the hardest part of this one. I wanted him to look slutty, but I didn't want to make it TOO slutty, but I feel like I may have added WAYY too many folds in his pantsuit and I kinda messed up on the overcoat lol. The diamond on his chest was inspired by the diamond on the villainess key more than anything and I tried to incorporate that into his gloves too.
Anyway, have some potential outfit sketches I made:
the two I thought might come off as too slutty and
the ultimate winner of the outfit ideas
As you can see the diamond chest window and fur coat were a mut in this outfit and I'm pretty happy with the end result
Y'all know how the femme fatale usually has to seduce the main character a.k.a. the detective?
Well, y'all know me so have an extra just for you <33
But I'm not done just yet!
Remember how I said that I made Chase the hero because of the lack of a heroine in the story? Well...
I did some more surface level research(and I mean very surface level) and decided to adapt the trope of the girl-next-door archetype for him!!
Don't think it suits him, since they usually just sit pretty and wait for the detective to notice them, but they do have badass roles once in a while and I live for those!!!
The one Chase has taken on doesn't though sadly :')
I decided to go with Charlie Hollow for this one because it sounded more like something the timid and 'pure'(yuck I know, but sadly film noir movies often prop up comparisons between the femme fatale and the girl-next-door, this being one of them) girl next door would have
Overall I tried to make this one as cutesy as possible because, why not lol
Lastly(I apologise, I made this in a rush because I was running out of motivation)
The distance between Buddy and the detective sure did close QUICK-
Originally I was planning on adding Deacon as a police officer and now that I think about it I could technically fit Prunella in here as well, but I just don't have any willpower left to keep this thing alive
My art blocks been acting up recently and I can't even pick up the pencil without immediately wanting to put it down :((
I wish I could have continued this and maybe I will someday, but until then this'll just stay in my drafts
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one more thought. watcher isn't entirely comparable to netflix or other streaming services. unlike netflix, watcher tv exclusively hosts content that they've made. watcher isn't limiting any access to content that isn't their own. the closest thing to what watcher is doing is when streaming services have content exclusive to their platform, like netflix originals, tubi original movies, disney+ aninated shorts... it can be frustrating to not be able to access content because it only exists on one paywalled platform, but when it's literally created, owned, and funded by the platform itself, it doesn't really make sense to expect that content in any other way. you can want the content to be free or hosted on another platform. but the creator has the final say.
(and yeah at that point, maybe it's expected for things to get pirated. but unlike other media where sometimes the creators don't exactly discourage piracy bc their hands are tied and otherwise there's no way to access their work except through this larger entity, watcher is both creating the content and providing the means to access it. they have control over their own work. they can choose to do with it as they please.)
again i think it's normal to feel shocked, overwhelmed, upset, sad, disappointed, frustrated, etc. but if you specifically view this move as a betrayal against you, i'm personally inclined to think that you thought you were entitled to watcher's creations all along. you weren't. you aren't. you're not entitled to anybody's art, creations, or passions. and if you want to combat all of that by saying watcher doesn't make art in your opinion and thus shouldn't be allowed to treat it as such.... you and i have drastically different viewpoints and i don't think we can have productive conversation here lmao
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Very, very slowly chipping away at this chapter. Haven't had as much time to write as of late because of Real World ™️. So have some mid-shenanigan fluff for the wait:
Gravity dragged her down and V was too late to stop the dizzying fall back into reality, but the crash never came. Someone solid held her up.
Hands were suddenly on her face, one warm and one cool, tracing over her features. Over her. “V?”
She looked up, brows furrowed as she tried to find her bearings. A brown eye moored her. “River?”
“Thank the ancestors you’re back.” He lifted her up into a swift kiss and a smothering hug, her feet dangling off the floor as she was picked up around the waist. “You okay?”
V’s vision blurred as River buried his face in the crook of her neck. In the moment, it didn't matter where they were; her world blanketed in safe and whole and sound. She nuzzled into the shearling of his collar, into the scent of worn sweat infused leather and the heated incense of desert earth. The weight of his touch squeezed her back together piece by piece. Reaching around him to return the embrace, her fingers threaded on the fabric of his coat to hold him and stitch him back together too.
Not gonna tag anyone this round because I've dropped all my beans and have to pick them up off the floor, but feel free to tag me and share what you all are cooking!
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Hi there! I absolutely love your works and, having followed you for a while now, I also really admire you as a person and an author in general. Every update on AO3 and Tumblr is always such a delight. I'm sorry if this ask is coming out of the blue or if it's something you've been asked before, but how did you take the plunge from writing predominantly fanfic to posting original fiction in serial form and also self-publishing novels? I'm currently in the process of drafting two original works after writing/posting fanfic regularly for years, and I'm just lost as to how to set everything up. I have a general idea (post chapter-by-chapter on AO3 and offer early access and some exclusive content on patreon or some other subscription service), but it all feels so daunting right now. Any bit of info or advice on how you got started would be immensely appreciated <3
Hi anon,
Tbh, I went from writing fanfic to original fiction because I had original characters in my fanfiction and readers asked me about them.
I had no kind of...dreams of being an original author in this way, I was published via other pathways already, and fanfiction was really an escape for me, a chance to break with all the conventions of standard writing and just do what I wanted.
But I needed a broader cast than what the movie gave me re: my first fanfics, and I added my own OCs, and left them in the background as much as possible, but even back while writing that fanfic, even the OCs were getting fanart. Sometimes readers would send me anons about them, or ask me more details about them.
Finally, I decided to write some hatesex between them, just something to kind of...idk get it out of my system? Answer what the readers were looking for?
The flow through therefore felt natural. Game Theory flows very naturally on from From the Darkness We Rise & Into Shadows We Fall. And from there, moving into other original works has been easy, in part, because I've often being doing alternate universes from a core of original characters.
If I want to introduce new original characters, I introduce them in stories where pre-existing original characters have already been established.
I didn't even start writing original works with a view to making money off that. In fact I thought it was a very foolish thing to do. A lot of people on AO3 don't want to read original works on AO3 and refuse to do it or only do it if it's PWP / pornography.
I started my Patreon account because readers asked me to. I got asks from very very generous people who wanted to know my Paypal, or asked if I'd start a Ko-Fi, and finally a few people just asked if I'd start a Patreon. I said I didn't think it was a good idea, and they said it was up to them if they wanted to pay me or not, but I should at least consider giving them the choice.
From there, I found it all very overwhelming. I made lots of mistakes. I had to go on hiatus for a year because I promised too much and couldn't deliver on many of those rewards. And for many years I only offered one early access chapter per week for one story, and my main stories were never early access (and still aren't, Underline the Black goes up for everyone at the same time - and while that may change in the future, it's definitely unconventional).
I've always been transparent with my readers that with very few exceptions, if they just wait, they eventually get everything for free. But if they want to support this kind of writing and/or enjoy it, and can comfortably afford to send some dollars my way, they can ensure that I can keep writing this way.
I have for a long time offered no exclusive content at all, I believe that can do well, but it's not my preferred way of doing things.
This career has been incredibly reader driven, anon. I would not personally attempt it cold, without a really fantastic readerbase who encouraged me every step of the way in the first place, because I am a cautious, insecure writer who doesn't like to take risks. So I can't give you advice on how to build this career without the support of the readers there in the first place, and I believe the only reason why I had their support was, in part, because of the actual strength of the writing itself. Which isn't to say it's the best, it's not, it's what I needed at the time and it's what a few other people needed, and that's basically how this works.
If you turn up with the writing, and the audience comes, and they want the story, you have the career.
In terms of practical advice - you can introduce original characters in fanfiction, just be aware that readers tend to be hostile by default if they pull any significant 'screen time' away from the fandom characters (and readers are extremely savvy to authors trying to build a financial business through AO3)
It IS daunting, but the good news is you can do a soft launch. You can open a Patreon or Ream account tomorrow and tell no one. You can mess with your graphics and your tier rewards to your heart's content when you don't have any subscribers. Build a buffer of early access/chapters, and make sure you don't overpromise on anything. Whatever you think you can realistically deliver to readers, cut it in half, because the stress of chapter update deadlines every month can really add up and it's a very different landscape to novel releases.
You can take your time, you can build interest slowly.
Remember you can never ever mention any kind of site where you're getting paid inadvertently, sneakily, or directly on AO3. You can't mention Ream, you can't mention Patreon, you can't mention Ko-Fi, you can't go 'learn more about my writing here' and link to those places. You can't mention buy links. You can only mention sites like Tumblr, Linktree, Twitter etc. Places where the point of sale isn't happening. Not doing so risks AO3's Not For Profit status and risks your entire account, and it's not worth it.
I did an interview with Subscriptions for Authors where I actually talk about many of these things so you can watch (or listen to) the podcast here if you're inclined! It also talks about the importance of community-building, gratitude to the readers, and generosity.
I am here because my readers wanted me to be. So I'm very concerned with making sure I can give them the best writing possible within my abilities. This makes me not very suited to offering 'how to start in this career' advice because it was a happy accident. It's hard to teach something I have never done your way myself, anon, because I worry I'd give bad advice. My writing had people turning up, but I'm not sure anything else I did, added much! I think responding to Tumblr asks and replying to every comment helped too! But...I don't know for sure.
But this career path does make me pretty well suited to offering 'how to keep this going' advice, because I've been doing this for ten years. <3333
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