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summerwritesfics · 2 years ago

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🔥❄️Walk With Me, Would You Stay Awhile And Talk With Me

Pairing: Hanzo Hasashi/Kuai Liang Length: 11493 Words Rating: Explicit 🔞 Warnings: God AU, God!Hanzo Hasashi, Mortal!Kuai Liang, Healer!Kuai Liang, Mild Violence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Tea, Mahjong, Implied Past Abuse, Bad Societal Hierarchy, Sparring, Anal Sex, Anal Fingering, Gentle Sex, Gentle Kissing, First Time, Roof Sex (Sex is just sexier when it’s on a roof idk what to tell you), Fluff, Some tiny bits of angst this is me lmao, Pining, Size Difference, Hand Job, Mentioned Homophobia, Plot With Porn, Porn With Feelings, Not really an arranged marriage but a relationship as part of a deal idk, Hanzo gets stabbed in the chest and has no coping mechanism except to court the person responsible, Hanzo falls for Kuai fast and hard SubScorp Week Day 7: God AU

SubScorp Week 2022 Masterlist

Notes: Welp, looks like this is it once again! ;_; This is probably the longest one shot I’ve ever written lmao, so I mean, a good end to the week I guess :) Hopefully it’s actually good and not just a big bunch of waffle XD I’m 100% sure I’ve probably missed a lot of typos but tbh I’ve been editing this for hours and I just want it out there, so if you see any please let me know TT_TT Title is from “Chivalry Begins” by Big Giant Circles.

Hanzo was really starting to tire of this.

There was a village, not too far from his temple, inhabited by people who preferred to be known as The Lin Kuei. They had been coming before him on this day every year for the last few decades, begging the God of Fire for his protection. He had only ever offered his protection to one village, but that had been enough to make every village within the vicinity come before him hoping he would choose them too. Most had taken no for an answer many moons ago and stopped trying.

Not the Lin Kuei however.

Every year, as if by clockwork, there was one of their kin in his throne room, trying to convince him to help them. He would admire their persistence if it wasn’t such an annoyance. Having to deal with this every year meant he was taken away from potentially more pressing matters, and it didn’t help that ever single one tried to argue against him, eating up more of his time.

At least this years poor fool had the sense to bow and show his respect before making demands.

“Can I help you mortal?” He asked, bored already.

“Lord Hasashi, I have been sent on behalf on the Lin Kuei, to request your protection of our village.” The man’s tone was uneven, clearly nervous about his role in this.

“Have you indeed?” Hanzo pushed himself up and off his throne and ambling towards his visitor. The man seemed to get even more nervous when he realised just how big Hanzo was, he was at least a couple of feet taller, towering over the still nervous man.

Upon closer inspection, this man looked different than the ones usually sent by the village. Usually they sent nobles, generals, people in positions of power. This man was in a far less flashy affair, a simple blue Hanfu, no jewellery or even armour, he had a sword strapped to his back but that was it. It seemed the village had finally realised that Hanzo did not respond to the arrogant pricks they usually sent.

“What is your name?” Hanzo questioned, staring the man up and down. He’d been cordial so far, and while Hanzo had no intentions of negotiating any sort of deal with the village, we was willing to at least do this man the kindness of listening.

“Kuai Liang, my Lord,” he replied, bowing his head slightly.

“Well, Kuai Liang, give me one good reason why I should protect your people?” He knew what the answer was already, it was the same answer every year. And this man seemed so woefully unprepared he doubted it would be a different one.

“We offer our worship and-“

“That is the same thing that is offered to me every year,” Hanzo interrupted, and Kuai flinched at his harsh tone. “Why would I accept it this time?”

“I-“ Kuai hesitated. Clearly they’d just coached him to say what they always said. He had no real answer. “I don’t know, my Lord.”

“Then I will bid you adieu,” Hanzo smuggly said in return, turning on his heel and returning to his throne. He expected Kuai to give up, given the man was clearly not a warrior and wracked with anxiety.

Except he heard the sword being unsheathed.

Hanzo turned back. Kuai was standing with the sword, gripping it tightly with both his hands. His stance was slightly off, not proper at all but not completely wrong. Clearly someone had taught him a few basics, but there was no sign of formal training.

“Do you really want to do this, Kuai Liang?” He asked, narrowing his eyes, hoping his threatening presence would be enough to make Kuai back down.

“I will do anything for my village,” Kuai announced, breathing uneven and hands unsteady.

How adorable. Hanzo felt bad for him, he’d likely not been given any real guidance on what to expect. In that respect, it would be wrong for Hanzo to fight back like he would anyone else. He’d just dodge the attacks until Kuai got bored and gave up.

“Very well,” Hanzo replied with a smirk. “Give it your best shot, Kuai Liang.”

Without much warning Kuai surged forward, swinging his sword at Hanzo with all his might. Hanzo chuckled as he sidestepped the attack. Kuai skidded to a halt, before turning on the balls of his feet. He ran toward Hanzo again, and once more he moved away. Again and again, this pattern repeated, and Hanzo had to admit, he admired Kuai’s stamina. For someone clearly lacking training, he was showing a lot less exhaustion than some of his more battle skilled peers had.

“It helps if you actually hit your target,” Hanzo taunted, rather enjoying the way Kuai bared his teeth in anger. He really was quite precious. This was the most fun he’d had with a mortal outside of his worshipers for a long time.

Kuai swung and missed again. Hanzo got to a point where he was just slowly backing up with every time Kuai went to hit him. Kuai had something about him, there was no denying that. Some would call it foolishness, but Hanzo saw it as determination. Maybe he had judged the man too quickly.

“Are you not getting tired?” Hanzo questioned, really rather amazed that Kuai didn’t seem to have even begun running out of breath.

Kuai swung his sword again, and Hanzo went to easily dodge once more.

Except…

He didn’t.

Hanzo felt the tip of the sword just about catch his cheek and he drew back in surprise. As he touched the area that had been hit, he was surprised by the sting and the wetness on his fingertips. He held his hand in front of his face, blood on his hand. Kuai Liang had managed to land a hit on him. He’d been challenged to battle by every Lin Kuei who had entered his temple, and yet in all those years, not one person had actually managed to hit him.

Unfortunately, he was so distracted by his shock, he stopped paying attention to what Kuai Liang was doing until it was too late. He felt a sharp pain in his chest, looking down, he found the sword buried to the hilt.

He looked to Kuai’s face, tight with valour. Hanzo couldn’t bring himself to feel angry that his momentary lapse of awareness had been taken advantage of. If anything it was only natural for Kuai to capitalise on such a moment. Hanzo was almost proud of him for doing so, but not as proud as him actually managing to get that first hit.

Hanzo brought his hands up to the hilt of the sword, wrapping them around Kuai’s as he still gripped it for dear life. Kuai looked down at Hanzo’s hands, before looking at Hanzo questioningly.

“I hate to be the barer of bad news,” Hanzo started, tightening his grip of Kuai’s hands. “But you can not kill a god.”

Kuai tried to not look alarmed by this revelation, but he was betrayed by the way his eyes widened slightly. It seemed either no one had ever told him or he’d just never really considered it. It was endearing in a strange way. He was so completely out of his depth, Hanzo was almost furious the the Lin Kuei would send someone so unprepared to face him.

Kuai tried to pull away but Hanzo made sure to take a strong hold of his wrists. Kuai let go of the sword, desperate to try and get away. Holding Kuai’s wrists with one hand, he held him in place as he reached for his chains. Despite how hard Kuai was trying to free himself, Hanzo’s grip was strong, no doubt he would leave bruises. Hanzo would heal them later, when Kuai had calmed down, but for now, he wrapped the chains around his wrists and pulled.

He held the end of the chains, making sure Kuai wasn’t going to find a way to free himself. Satisfied that no matter how much Kuai thrashed he wasn’t going anywhere, Hanzo turned his attention to the sword still buried inside himself. He grabbed it, gently coaxing it free. It didn’t hurt anywhere near as badly as it probably would have if he were mortal. Once out, he stared at the blade stained with his blood before throwing it across the floor. Kuai stopped struggling to watch his only defence leave his reach.

Hanzo lit a fire in his hand, taking notice in how still Kuai became. The fire wasn’t meant to hurt however, this was meant to heal. He held it to his wound, feeling a tingling as the fire worked it’s magic and began to stitch his flesh back together. Despite the size of the wound, his work was quick, and he was able to fix himself easily. He could heal the small scratch on his cheek as well, but he decided against it. The hole in his chest had come from an underhanded tactic, the scratch on his face had been a legitimate hit. He decided he could let Kuai have that one.

Speaking of Kuai, he still wasn’t moving, just wearily eyeing up the fire still in Hanzo’s hand. Clearly he was expecting the fire to be wielded against him. Hanzo smirked as he extinguished the fire, seeing Kuai’s shoulders relax at the action.

He didn’t give Kuai chance to begin struggling again, yanking on the chain hard and causing Kuai to stumble forward. Hanzo pulled until Kuai was flush with his chest, and he wrapped his arm around Kuai’s back, grasping onto the fabric of his hanfu and holding him close. Kuai made a strange squeak, his face going bright red as he squirmed slightly.

“You are an interesting one, Kuai Liang,” Hanzo commented, rather delighted by how Kuai’s previous defiance seemed to have been replaced by shyness. “You are the first from your village to actually manage to strike me.” Kuai pursed his lips at that, looking like he didn’t believe it. Hanzo supposed the Lin Kuei he usually dealt with weren’t the types to admit defeat. “You are clearly not a trained warrior, what exactly is your position?”

“I’m a healer,” Kuai admitted, and Hanzo couldn’t help raise an eyebrow. “My brother and Grandfather refused to let me join the armies, but my brother did, and he taught me some basic self defence.” The idea that Hanzo had been taken down by basic self defence was a little insulting, but wasn’t that why Kuai was catching his interest? He did wonder why Kuai had been sent rather than his brother however. As if sensing the unasked question, Kuai added, “my brother came before you last year.”

“Oh that arrogant fool?” Hanzo hissed before he could stop himself. He hadn’t paid much attention to the man who’d come last year. He’d been all bark and absolutely no bite in the end. Threatening Hanzo and claiming he could win with absolute certainty only to have his ass handed to him.

Hanzo was a little surprised when Kuai chuckled under his breath and mutter, “he is pretty arrogant.” His mouth twitched slightly. “I suppose that’s why he told me he had defeated you, and you still refused his requests.”

Hanzo rolled his eyes and commented, “given your reaction, it sounds like that is much the same story everyone tells.”

“No one has never mentioned being defeated by you,” Kuai admitted, squirming slightly again. He stilled when Hanzo squeezed him slightly.

“Of course they didn’t,” Hanzo sighed dramatically. He pulled of the chain slightly. “But for now, the question is, what am I to do with you?”

“I assumed you’d send me back to the village with my tail between my legs,” Kuai said looking down. “It won’t surprise anyone for me to have failed.”

That last statement bothered Hanzo, but he couldn’t place why. He chose to ignore it for now.

“Now why would I do that when you’re so very interesting?” Hanzo moved his hand from Kuai’s back, bringing it to cup his chin instead. “In fact the most interesting thing that’s walked into my temple for centuries.”

Kuai’s eyes looked to one side, Hanzo’s grip on his chin stopped him from turning away completely.

“I fail to see what makes me so interesting to you,” Kuai muttered, chewing on his lower lip.

“Being a healer who managed to get a strike on a God is not enough?” Hanzo teased, and Kuai’s eyes shot back to him to give him an unimpressed look. “You are not like the others that have come before me, and that makes me curious about you.” He pulled on the chains again. “If I undo the chains, are you going to try and run from me?”

Kuai was silent for a few seconds, looking like he was considering it. Finally, he replied with “no, Lord Hasashi.”

Hanzo decided to trust him, reaching to pull the chains away from his limbs. With the chains gone, Hanzo could see that Kuai’s wrists had already begun bruising and there were slight cuts from the chains. He lit a fire in both of his hands and went to take hold of Kuai’s wrists. Kuai pulled his hands away lightning fast, staring at Hanzo’s hands wearily.

“These flames will not hurt you,” Hanzo promised. He felt his hands out flat, deciding to let Kuai take the initiative.

Kuai really didn’t look like he trusted it, and Hanzo almost wondered if he was about to go back on his word of not running. Eventually, Kuai held his arms out, resting his wrists on Hanzo’s hands. He grimaced as the flames touched him, eyes screwing shut bracing himself for pain that would never come. His eyes blinked open in surprise when he realised the burning agony he was expecting hadn’t happened. He watched in awe as the flames licked at his skin, and slowly the bruised skin began to clear, and the small cuts began to close up. When Hanzo was satisfied the healing was complete, his flames died down, and Kuai lifted his arms to stare at the spot the injuries had just been.

He looked back across at Hanzo, conflict written on his face. “Thank you,” he whispered, before adding, “but, what exactly is it you want from me?”

Hanzo tilted his head, staring Kuai up and down. His outfit might have been plain, but he himself was anything but. It had been so long since Hanzo had found himself fascinated by a mortal in such a way. In fact he could only think of one person who had ever fascinated him like this.

“There has only been one other to captivate me the way you have,” Hanzo began, as he slowly began to circle Kuai. “Her name was Harumi, she came to me very much as you have, requesting protection for her village. We made a deal, and I granted that protection.”

“So, what was it she offered you?” Kuai asked, looking apprehensive.

“She offered me her hand in marriage.”

Kuai made a strange noise between a squeak and a whine. He covered his mouth as his face went bright red. It was as adorable as it was endearing.

“Are- Are you suggesting we-“

“Not if you do not want to,” Hanzo replied. As cute a husband he was sure Kuai would make, he wasn’t that cruel a god as to force an unwilling participant into marriage. “But I do ask that you stay with me a while. I would like to get to know you.”

“If I stay, will you consider protection for the Lin Kuei?” Kuai asked, holding his head high despite how flustered he looked.

“You have my word,” Hanzo replied with a bow. Kuai looked at him like he was considering it.

“Okay,” he said in a loud and long breath. “I will stay. But I should let the village know, before they send someone thinking I am dead.”

“I will have one of my acolytes relay a message.” Hanzo held out his hand. “Now, come, allow me to give you a warmer welcome than you initially received.”

Kuai actually gave a small smile, before taking Hanzo’s hand.

----------------------------------------------------

Hanzo was making every effort to not become overbearing.

Kuai was still skittish, and Hanzo worried that bombarding him with queries would both frighten him and frustrate him. He had left Kuai to his own devices for a day or so, deciding to let the man approach him in his own time while hopefully becoming more comfortable with his surroundings.

It was very different from how Harumi had been. She had been the one to suggest marriage, and as such was very enthusiastic and open to talking with him. Kuai was not Harumi, but he was equally as intriguing. He just had to remind himself that this man required a different approach to his late wife.

The message to his village had been sent, Hanzo’s acolyte had stated the Grandmaster had laughed and made some sort of derogatory comment. The acolyte did not elaborate on the comment, even as Hanzo had pushed for what it was. All he was told was that the actual comment would have made Hanzo burn the village to the ground.

As he sat down at a table to make himself a cup of tea and ponder that reaction, from the corner of his eye he saw a head peering around the doorframe. Upon further inspection, he realised it was Kuai Liang, watching him like he was trying to spy on him.

“Good afternoon,” he greeted, trying not to grin when Kuai jumped and realised he had been spotted. “Would you care to have some tea with me?”

Kuai slowly stepped into the doorway, staring at the table with the tea. He glanced around, as if checking they were alone, before he finally made his way over and sat down opposite, and Hanzo began to pour out the drink.

“How are you settling in?” Hanzo asked, as he pushed the cup of tea towards Kuai Liang.

“I’m fine.” He accepted the cup, taking it in his hands but didn’t try to drink it yet. “Your temple is very beautiful.”

“Thank you, though I can not take much credit for that,” Hanzo admitted, taking his own tea and sipping it. “My acolytes are the one who take care of the upkeep.”

Kuai hummed, finally taking his own sip of tea. Hanzo didn’t miss the way Kuai’s eyes widened, before he very quickly took another couple of sips. He quickly asked between his drinking, “speaking of your acolytes, did they send the message?”

“They did.” Hanzo was hesitant to say anymore. Kuai didn’t need to know the cruel way his Grandmaster had reacted. Kuai was staring at him expectantly however, and Hanzo knew he had to say a little more. “My acolyte mentioned your Grandmaster was not kind with his wording, although would not tell me what was said.”

“It’s okay, I have an idea what the nature of the comments might be,” Kuai admitted lowly, closing his eyes as he did. “The Grandmaster doesn’t exactly have the highest opinion of me, he’s probably angry that I would take more than one day to negotiate with you.”

Hanzo scoffed, “nothing worthwhile is built in a day. It takes time to build a sturdy foundation, and build from there. Your Grandmaster is a fool to think otherwise.”

Kuai just stared at Hanzo silently, looking alarmed. His eyes darted around the room, like he was expecting someone to reveal themselves from the shadows.

“There is no one here but us,” Hanzo clarified, wondering if Kuai was worried about his acolytes overhearing or someone else.

“This is a test,” Kuai said. A statement, not a question. He was certain of this. “He has asked you to test my loyalty.”

Hanzo couldn’t help but screw his face up in disgust, “even if he had, I would not have approved of such a thing.” There was something concerning about this reaction. Why would this even be something he would be afraid of? “What makes you believe this is a test?”

“We are not supposed to speak poorly of our Grandmaster,” Kuai told him, still wearily eyeing up the room. “We do not question his will, and we certainly are not supposed to criticise his ways.”

Hanzo knew there was a reason he didn’t like the village. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to get Kuai’s true feelings on his Grandmaster without first assuring him that his words would not make their way back to the Lin Kuei. So, baby steps. Make Kuai feel more comfortable, and then later figure out how long the Lin Kuei Grandmaster would burn for.

“I see this is an uncomfortable topic for you, so we should move on.” Hanzo lent across the table and offered a sly smile. “Besides, it is you that I would prefer to speak of.”

“I am not sure what else there is,” Kuai said quietly, grabbing his wrist with his hand and rubbing it. “I am not really as interesting at you seem to think.”

I vehemently disagree. He did not voice that thought, it was often hard to convince someone of their own worth. Instead he just lent his head on his hand, trying to think of a topic to help coax Kuai into talking more freely about himself.

“I am sure you must have some stories to tell from your work as healer,” Hanzo pointed out. It was a topic he’d talked about before, and always found everyone he asked had different stories to tell. “For instance, how exactly did you come to walk that path?”

“Like I mentioned, my Grandfather and Brother refused to let me join the armies.” Kuai finally let go of his wrist, but it wasn’t the end of his nervous fidgeting. He now just seemed to not know what to do with his hands. “I still wished to be of use however, which is when my Grandfather took me to the healers and requested they take me under their wing.”

“Do you like being a healer?” He questioned. It seemed almost like he’d been forced out into the role. He could imagine that could foster some form of resentment.

“I do,” Kuai said, the most chipper he’d sounded since he’d arrived, so Hanzo was inclined to believe this was true. “I enjoy helping people, even if my patients in particular are not always so grateful.”

“Some people do not appreciate these things until they are gone,” Hanzo commented, a sad truth he had learnt from millennia of watching the lives of mortals. He’d seen entire societies ban utilities they considered wrong or useless, only to discover how much they did for them after. “I do hope you do not receive too much backlash.”

And if he did, Hanzo would very much like the names of the perpetrators so he could have a word with them.

“Backlash, not so much, snide comments, maybe,” Kuai said somewhat deadpan. “I don’t really care, the other healers are kind to me, and I know they appreciate me, so that’s all I need.”

Hanzo was glad to hear that at least Kuai’s colleagues weren’t so dismissive. It did make him wonder what Kuai’s other relationships were like though. And whatever people thought of his work, there was no denying that Kuai was a very good looking man. Hanzo could imagine he had many suitors fighting for his affections.

“Do you have many other relationships with your fellow villagers?” Hanzo went to pour himself a second cup of tea, noticing Kuai’s cup was also now empty he went to fill that too. “I can imagine you have numerous people enamoured with you.”

Kuai let out a strained laugh, as he replied “oh, no, not really.” Hanzo didn’t believe that for a second. “I have friends, but no one interested romantically.” Kuai pursed his lips and looked like he was thinking. “I mean, I always suspected my best friend had feelings for me, but when I asked him for a relationship, he turned me down, so I suspect I misread his intentions.”

Hanzo wondered if that was really the case, or if this friend had instead turned Kuai down in a panic or for fear of judgement from their peers.

“I am a bit of a black sheep, I suppose,” Kuai continued. “Not many people really care for me, except my healer brethren, my brother, and my best friend.” Kuai looked away, staring out the window. In the distance, you could just about make out his village. “Our village values fighters, above all things. Those who do not take that path are seen as outsiders and generally regarded as useless or cowardly.”

“That seems an unfair judgement towards you for something you did not choose for yourself.” Hanzo watched as Kuai continued to look wistfully out the window.

“That doesn’t really matter, it is just how our culture is, I guess.” Kuai finally turned back to him. “I think part of why they sent me this year was a form of punishment and humiliation. They expected me to come back with nothing so they could use me as an example of why no one should be like me. Despite the fact no one else has succeeded either.”

Hanzo had no idea how he kept his composure. The idea they might have sent him here to fail was despicable. It made him wonder just what the Grandmaster had said to his acolyte. Bastard does not deserve my protection.

But refusal put Kuai in a bad position. It would “prove” he was as useless as they seemed to think he was. Damn them. This had nothing to do with the village itself at this point, and everything to do with what Kuai Liang wanted from him. If Kuai asked him to kill them all, he would do so without hesitation.

But he hadn’t.

So Hanzo silently resolved that he would earn Kuai’s trust, and he would stand by his word to offer the village protection.

And he would make sure those ungrateful wrenches knew exactly who had brought such a gift to them.

----------------------------------------------------

Kuai was slowly becoming more comfortable around Hanzo.

It was little things that Hanzo noticed. Kuai no longer traversed the temple like he was trying to remain unseen. He walked into rooms without sticking his head around the door frame before entering. He stopped acting paranoid that some omnipresent force would swoop in and reprimand him for speaking poorly of the Grandmaster.

He was being more open with his interests as well. He didn’t have much outside of his healing, more out of lack of availability than want however. One of the first true times he felt Kuai had begun to bond with him, was when they sat down and Kuai tried to teach him how to play mahjong.

Even if the game did frustrate Hanzo a little, given he kept getting into situations where he had no more valid moves, Kuai was patent with teaching him how to play. If Hanzo was honest, he was more captivated by watching Kuai play. He looked so relaxed as he paired up the tiles with ease. He left the table set up should Kuai decide he wishes to play during moments where Hanzo was busy.

His acolytes had needed advice on an issue, meaning that so far today, he had not yet been able to speak with Kuai. When he was finally done, seeking out his guest was his first priority. As understanding as Kuai was of Hanzo’s position, it still felt rude to leave him unattended for long periods of time.

He made his way to the room they’d had their tea in, it seemed to be Kuai’s favourite place in the temple and thus the first place he would check. Indeed, when he walked in, there Kuai was, sat at the mahjong table. However, he wasn’t alone, two of Hanzo’s acolytes were sat with him. They hadn’t noticed Hanzo yet, so he stood and observed the interaction. Kuai seemed to be listening intently to what the acolytes were saying, occasionally nodding, smiling and laughing.

Hanzo hadn’t realised before that he was worried how his acolytes would treat Kuai and vice versa. The relief that they were getting on well was immeasurable.

Hanzo coughed lightly, making his presence known. All three men turned their heads to see who was there. When Kuai saw Hanzo, a blush came across his face.

“Are things well?” Hanzo questioned, walking towards them. The two acolytes stood up as he approached.

“Yes, Lord Hasashi,” one of his acolytes replied with a bow. “Kuai Liang was just teaching us how to play Mahjong.”

Hanzo chuckled at that. Seems he was not the only person Kuai was going to rope into this. He wasn’t going to complain, he definitely liked to encourage his worshipers to take time for themselves, a nice fun game to play would be beneficial to moral.

“Do you need anything Lord Hasashi?” The other acolyte questioned.

“Not right now,” Hanzo replied, walking past them to settle opposite the table to Kuai Liang. “You do not have to leave solely because I am here, you may join us, if you wish.”

The two acolytes shared a strange knowing look between them, before the first one replied with, “it’s quite alright Lord Hasashi, there is work we should be doing anyway.”

The two acolytes bowed again before excusing themselves. Hanzo turned back to Kuai, who thankfully wasn’t upset that his conversation had been cut short. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to check.

“I do apologise if I interrupted your conversation,” he offered with a smile. Kuai smiled back, before turning his attention to the Mahjong table.

“No, it’s okay, I’m glad you’re here.” Hanzo tried not to scream from the sheer joy that sentence brought him. I’m glad you’re here! He’s happy to see me! It was a big sentiment from a man who only a few weeks ago was scared to enter a room without being invited first. “Your acolytes are very interesting.” Kuai took a pair of tiles, before looking expectantly at Hanzo. Ah. Hanzo stared at the board, realising that it was his turn. “They talk very highly of you.”

“A lot have given up much to assist me, it is only right for me to provide them a good life in return,” Hanzo replied, taking two of the tiles, still unsure if he was playing this game right. He did smirk though as he looked across at Kuai and said “so, you were talking about me then?”

Kuai squeaked and his face went bright red and he looked away, while stammering “I- I- Well- I- You see-“

Hanzo cut him off with a laugh and commented, “you’re adorable when you’re flustered.” Kuai shot him an unimpressed looked. “Relax, it is only natural that you would ask questions to those who know me well.”

“Grandfather always told me, that the way to check the heart of a God was to check those of their followers.” Kuai took two more tiles from the board. He’d barely even looked at what he was doing, Hanzo was in awe at how he was able to memorise where tiles were with such certainty.

“Your Grandfather was a wise man,” Hanzo noted. “There are many deities who rule with fear, but that does not inspire loyalty.”

“There are many humans who rule with fear too,” Kuai stated sadly, looking through the window, in the direction of his village. Hanzo had no need to question who he was talking about. “You are right. It inspires obedience rather than loyalty. The second that things are bad, those you tried to lead will leave you to be eaten alive.”

“Precisely.” Hanzo turned his attention back to the board. He was determined to win this game, if only in an attempt to impress Kuai Liang. “Loyalty is earned, not given.”

“Out of curiosity,” Kuai began, turning back in time to watch Hanzo staring intently at the Mahjong board. From the corner of his eye, he could see Kuai’s amused smile. “Is this the sort of thing that would be expected of me?” Hanzo made a confused huff, not sure what he was actually asking. “Loyalty, and worship.”

“Loyalty, yes, but as I already said, that is earned. Though you should know you already have mine,” he commented as he took two more tiles. “As for worship. No.” He looked Kuai in the eyes. “I would never expect that from someone I am equals with.” Hanzo felt his mouth split into a grin, as he figured another way to fluster Kuai further. “If anything, I intend to be the one to worship you.”

It worked, Kuai looked away in embarrassment, although to Hanzo’s surprise he was softly laughing this time.

“You truly are audacious,” Kuai commented, pushing some hair behind his ear. He quietly took another couple of tiles without looking at the board. “I’ve never heard of something so preposterous. A God worshiping a mere mortal.”

“Not a mere mortal,” Hanzo replied, realising that there were only a few tiles left, and it looked like they would be able to clear the board. “You are not a mere anything.” Hanzo watched as Kuai turned back to the board and seemed to realise they would clear it. The first time since Hanzo had begun to learn how to play. “Besides, if it were not for mortals, the Gods would have nothing.”

“How so?” Kuai asked genuinely. Hanzo didn’t miss the small smile as he continued to take the tiles.

“They are the ones who chose to give us their time, they built our temples and tend to our world.” Hanzo saw the way Kuai’s face scrunched up. “Is there a problem?”

“I am curious, if you truly feel that way, how come you so seldom offer your protection?” Kuai asked, tilting his head.

“Despite being a god, I still can not be in multiple places at once.” He reached to take the last pair of tiles. “I can not offer protection to every village that requests it, and I’ve found offering it at all lends to arguments as well as feelings of favouritism and unfairness.” Despite himself he smirked at the empty board. He felt a heat in his chest when he saw the look of pride Kuai was giving him. “Individuals who come to worship me are free to do so, and they are free to make requests of me, within reason.”

“So, why are you willing to consider protecting my village?”

“Because you are not like anyone else they have sent. Similar to Harumi before you, you did something that surprised me.” It was strange. Harumi and Kuai were different people, in terms of personality at least, but very similar in ways that mattered. Their opinions, their beliefs, their intelligence, their determination. Hanzo wondered if it was possible that Kuai Liang was her reincarnated and brought back to him. “Granted what she did to surprise me was very different.”

“Well, you can’t tell me that and not say how she won you over?” Kuai said with a cheeky grin.

“She walked into my temple, looked me straight in the eye and demanded that I marry her.” He felt justified in the giggle that came from Kuai. Honestly, it still made him laugh thinking back. She had come in so confident and so sure, and yet seemed surprised that her plan had actually worked. “It was such a bold move I naturally had no choice but to comply.”

“Naturally,” Kuai said with a smirk. “I think I understand why you liked her.”

“Yet you can’t seem to understand why I like you?” Hanzo pointed out, and Kuai sighed softly in return.

“Like I said, I have never had anyone really express interest in me, it has been surprising that the first person who has is a God.” To Hanzo’s surprise Kuai reached over to take his hand. “But… I also think I understand why she liked you too.”

Hanzo tried not to completely loose all composure. He was sure he was failing given the look Kuai was giving him.

“You’re adorable when you’re flustered,” Kuai parroted back at him, and there was something about the smug grin Kuai had on his face that was making Hanzo’s heart race.

“Now who’s the audacious one,” Hanzo countered, trying to remain impassive, although he knew he was absolutely failing. “And after I cleared the Mahjong board.”

“Yes, you did,” Kuai said, finally retracting his hand. Hanzo stopped himself from reaching for it again. “I’m quite proud of you for picking it up so quickly.”

“Well, I had an excellent teacher.” The modest laugh from Kuai only fuelled his admiration for the man. Hanzo picked up one of the tiles, and held it up. “Care for another game, Kuai Liang?”

“I think I have another round in me, Lord Hasashi,” Kuai replied, accepting the tile from Hanzo.

Hanzo passed the rest of his tiles over, and watched eagerly as Kuai set up a new game.

----------------------------------------------------

Kuai was getting bolder.

A lot bolder. Hanzo was genuinely pleased with how far out of his shell Kuai had come. Everyday, he got more and more open, begun to smile more, laugh more, flirt with Hanzo more.

He was even getting more bold with requesting things.

Even so, Hanzo hadn’t expected the words that came from Kuai’s mouth when he entered the throne room that morning.

“Lord Hasashi,” Kuai addressed, as he approached the throne. Hanzo was surprised, Kuai had barely been in this room since their first meeting. It was yet another sign of how comfortable Kuai Liang was getting, feeling more at ease with traversing the temple. “I was wondering if you could help me practice sparring.”

Hanzo blinked in surprise.

“Of course, but, may I ask what brought this on?” He was curious, aside from when they’d first met, Kuai hadn’t really shown much interest in fighting.

“I just wish to get better, should I ever be in another situation where I need to defend myself,” Kuai admitted, bowing his head slightly. “And I have seen the way you teach your acolytes to fight. You are a far more patient teacher than my brother was.”

Ah. Hanzo could understand that, and depending on how their relationship went, Kuai had a very valid reason for wanting a way to shield himself. Consort’s and spouses of deities tended to be targeted by those with grudges, and Hanzo wouldn’t always be able to save him. He had taught Harumi how to fight all those years ago, it would make sense for him to do the same with Kuai Liang.

It also somehow was not surprising to him to know that Kuai Liang’s brother wasn’t too good a teacher.

Kuai had potential though, Hanzo had seen that for himself already. With a little more honing Kuai could be a very fearsome warrior.

“Very well,” Hanzo replied, pushing himself off his throne. It felt like a strange repeat from only a few weeks ago, except there was a lot less at stake this time. He mentally compared how Kuai looked now compared to their first meeting. In the beginning he’d been so rigid, on edge and unsure, and now he was stood relaxed but head held high. It was wonderful to witness.

He walked over to where he kept the training weapons. While he wouldn’t be hurt by any strikes, the same couldn’t be said for Kuai Liang. He figured that injury would be quite counter productive to his current goal. He took two wooden training swords, and made his way back to Kuai.

First things first, he needed to try and correct Kuai’s form slightly.

“Here,” he handed a sword to Kuai, who accepted it without question. “To start with, your form was good, it just needs a bit of refining. Can you get into position for me?“

As Kuai positioned himself, Hanzo came up behind him. Kuai made a small huff when Hanzo touched him, but didn’t voice any complaints. Hanzo nudged Kuai’s feet with his own, making the gap between them slightly bigger. He gently pushed on Kuai’s back, straightening him out rather than hunched over like he had been.

“I know it seems like the best idea to hunch up, and make yourself small,” Hanzo explained as he grasped Kuai’s wrist to fix his hands. “But you loose a lot of movement that way.”

“I see.” Kuai made no complaints as Hanzo stepped away. He moved in front of Kuai, bringing up his own sword into a position.

“First, I’d like to see how you block,” Hanzo stated. “Your offence can only be as good as your defence, knowing when to strike is key.”

“I always wondered about that,” Kuai spoke as Hanzo went to strike. Kuai just about brought up the sword to block him. “Bi-Han always encouraged me to be more aggressive.” Kuai managed to block another attack, and Hanzo had to admit his reflexes were extremely sharp. “But I always thought just rushing someone wasn’t the best strategy.”

“What strategy would you use?” Hanzo asked, silently getting into a defensive stance and seeing if Kuai would take the chance. He did, bringing his sword down against Hanzo’s.

“Stealth, if I’m being honest,” Kuai replied, as he chanced another strike. Hanzo managed to push back, and Kuai stumbled slightly. Hanzo took another swing, feeling very pleased when Kuai managed to bring his sword in time to block the attack. “Use the element of surprise to get an upper hand in the beginning, and then use a mix of blocks and strikes to hopefully keep up the advantage or attempt to disarm my opponent.”

“Not a bad idea,” Hanzo commented, watching as Kuai tried to do a similar push back move. It didn’t work as well, mostly because Hanzo was a lot heavier than any man Kuai was used to. “It is a shame your family did not allow you to become a warrior, I get the feeling you would have been a magnificent tactician.”

Kuai laughed at that, once more trying to push Hanzo away when their swords collided. It was at this point his eyes narrowed, and Hanzo could practically see the his mind working out a new way to get the sword off his sparing partner. He was curious what Kuai would do, how he would come up with a plan in the heat of the moment.

So Hanzo just continued to alternate between attacking and defending, giving Kuai chance to practise both and come up with his plan to disarm Hanzo. Granted, this wouldn’t happen on the battlefield, but if Kuai could think and adapt his plans in the middle of a fight, it would give him an invaluable skill.

It didn’t take Kuai long to set his plan into motion, when as Hanzo sliced forward, Kuai ducked. The sword just went over Kuai’s head, missing him by a hair. Once it had cleared Kuai’s head, he jumped back to his feet, and struck a hit at Hanzo’s hand. There was no pain but the surprise of the move was enough for Hanzo unclenched his hand and let go.

Hanzo watched the wooden sword fall to the floor, and before he could even think about going to grab it, he found the point of Kuai’s at his neck. He looked over, not even bothering to hide how elated he was.

“Do you yield, Lord Hasashi?” Kuai asked, and he looked as serious as he had that first day they met. He looked so handsome when he meant business.

Hanzo broke out into a grin as he said “you’re so beautiful.”

“I’m starting to think you might have a thing for getting your ass handed to you,” Kuai commented, taking Hanzo’s compliment to mean an admittance of defeat.

“Only when it’s you,” Hanzo replied, because it was true. Sure he had been defeated in the past, but absolutely none of those defeats felt fulfilling. That was a feeling reserved solely for Kuai Liang. “I am serious though, with some more training, you would make a formidable foe.”

“Well, it’s a good job I have an excellent teacher.” It seemed Kuai’s favourite way to flirt was throwing Hanzo’s compliments back at him. “Would you care for another round, Lord Hasashi?”

Hanzo walked over to where his sword lay on the floor, picking it up and holding it out.

“It would be my honour.”

----------------------------------------------------

The comfort of night was soothing to Hanzo. As a god he did not need to sleep, so he often went to watch the sun set and then rise again. The majority of his acolytes were asleep, as well as Kuai Liang, and there had only ever been a handful of nighttime emergencies over the years.

He liked to sit on the roof of his temple and look up at the moon and stars, the lunar gods and goddesses took such good care of them. It was sad that only the most dedicated of mortals ever got to see them. Hanzo appreciated them though, and often let them know by way of gifts from his temple to theirs.

“So, this is where you hide at night.”

Hanzo turned in surprise at the voice, to see Kuai clambering up to the roof himself.

“You should be sleeping,” Hanzo commented, although really, he would not argue against spending more time with Kuai.

“I couldn’t sleep, I’ve been thinking too much,” Kuai explained as he carefully made his way over the tiles to sit next to Hanzo. “I was hoping I could talk to you.”

“Of course.” Hanzo worried if it was too cold out here for Kuai. He wasn’t wearing his usual hanfu, instead donning a kimono one of the acolytes had lent to him. “Is there something wrong?”

Kuai cleared his throat, “it has been a month since I came here.” Ah. It has, hasn’t it? To Hanzo that was barely any time but he acknowledged that for Kuai it was a lot longer. “I think soon my village will want an answer.”

“I see,” Hanzo hummed. He agreed, the Lin Kuei would start to get impatient. If Hanzo had his way, Kuai would stay indefinitely without fear of having to go back, but he knew that was not to be. “Well, the answer does depend on what you want.”

Kuai opened his mouth, before quickly closing it. He smiled shyly, before reaching his hands to Hanzo’s face and cradling his cheeks careful, as Kuai lent forward so their faces were directly in front of each other. Hanzo wondered for a moment what he was doing.

And then Kuai’s lips met his.

Hanzo gasped in surprise, it took a few seconds for him to really take in what was happening. His own hands worked on instinct, one wrapping around Kuai’s back and pulling him close while the other cradled the back of his head. He tried not to feel disappointed by Kuai pulling away.

“Does that explain what I want?” Kuai said, suddenly looking shy and biting his lip. Hanzo wanted nothing more than to bite it for him.

“Hm, it might need a bit more explanation,” Hanzo teased, and it was completely worth it when Kuai lent in to kiss him again. This time, Hanzo opened his mouth, using his tongue to encourage Kuai to do the same. As Kuai silently agreed to the request, Hanzo let his tongue slip inside. It was clear Kuai did not have as much experience as Hanzo, but it didn’t matter, it was still wonderful. Hanzo pulled away long enough to whisper “Will you allow me to make love to you?”

“Yes, but-“ Kuai shifted back slightly, brow furrowed and lips tights. “I’ve- uh- I’ve never been intimate with anyone before.”

“That’s okay,” Hanzo assured, using his grip on Kuai’s back to guide the man to straddle his lap. “We will go at whatever pace you find comfortable, and nothing will continue if you do not wish it to.”

“Thank you,” Kuai said gently, settling himself on Hanzo’s lap. “I- Ah- I guess this is the part where I start to take off my clothes?“

Hanzo’s hand reached for the Obi cinched around Kuai’s midsection, pulling it off. Kuai’s own hands went to Hanzo’s armour, trying to unclasp the various clasps holding it in place. Kuai huffed in annoyance as he struggled to figure out how to do it. Hanzo took pity on him, taking his hands to his chest armour and unclipping everything. As the armour fell away, he discarded it, before taking the fabric of his undershirt and removed it too. Hanzo tried not to have an ego, but god the way Kuai’s eyes widened at his bare chest, particularly his abs, definitely stroked it.

“You seem impressed,” Hanzo noted, gently taking Kuai’s hands in his and placing them on his chest. Kuai’s face went that beautiful shade of red it tended to go. “You were so bold moments ago, it’s cute that you can go from that to so shy.”

Kuai’s hands began to explore his chest, squeezing his muscles, fingers brushing against Hanzo’s nipples. Hanzo’s hands reached for the kimono, pulling it away but letting it remain over Kuai’s shoulders. The weather was mild after all, and at least this would Kuai would have something other than Hanzo’s body heat to keep him warm.

Kuai’s body was beautiful, a work of art. He’d suspected Kuai had some sort of muscle, given how powerful his strike could be, but he didn’t expect them to be quite as defined as they were.

As if sensing the silent question, Kuai explained with, “being a healer requires me to carry the injured.”

“I see,” Hanzo purred, reaching his own hands forward to start to feel for himself. His hands squeezed at Kuai’s pecs, before his thumbs went to circle Kuai’s nipples. Kuai immediately groaned and arched his back. “So sensitive.”

Kuai made a cute whimper as Hanzo pinched lightly. This was definitely something Hanzo wanted to explore more, but it might be a bit much for a first time. He let his hands go lower, fingers trailing along Kuai’s skin. His hands hooked into Kuai’s underwear and began to pull them down, enough for Kuai’s cock to spring free. Kuai looked flustered by the fact he was already half hard.

“Don’t feel embarrassed,” Hanzo tried to gently assure, wrapping his hand around Kuai’s cock and giving it a slow stroke. “This is a compliment.” Just Hanzo’s hand seemed to be overwhelming for Kuai, if the way his hands reached for Hanzo’s shoulders was anything to go by. “Are you well?”

“Y-yes,” Kuai replied with a groan. “Please don’t stop.”

“I won’t,” Hanzo whispered, pressing another kiss to Kuai’s lips as he begun to pump his hand in a steady rhythm, the lovely feeling of Kuai getting harder with every stroke. Kuai gave a gasping moan. “Does that feel good?”

“Yes,” Kuai whispered, his hips thrusting in jerky unsure movements. “Ah. No one’s ever touched me before.”

“Have you ever touched yourself?” Hanzo questioned, twisting his hand and enjoying the way it made Kuai shudder.

“No. We were discouraged. Too high a chance at being caught,” Kuai said between laboured breathes while shaking his head.

“A shame,” Hanzo grumbled. Exploring ones own body was such a natural urge, Hanzo had no idea where mortals got the impression the gods disapproved of such things, but he cursed whomever spread that misinformation.

Hanzo pulled out a vial of oil from his lower pocket, and with one hand still on Kuai’s cock he undid the lid with his other, trying to apply some to his fingers.

“I see you’re prepared,” Kuai said with a sly smiled. “Did your godly powers tell you I was coming?”

Hanzo chucked, he knew how it looked. Truth was, the oil tended to come in useful for other emergencies, it just happened to also be safe to use as a lubricant.

“Maybe,” Hanzo snorted, happy that he’d gotten at least one of his fingers coated in the oil. He reached behind Kuai, using the digit to search for his entrance. As he pressed against it, he felt Kuai stiffen a little. “Relax, and let me know if I’m hurting you.”

Kuai nodded, as Hanzo slowly began to press his finger in. Kuai clenched his hands, fingernails digging into Hanzo’s skin.

“I’m okay,” Kuai stated before Hanzo could ask. “It just feels strange.”

“It will at first,” Hanzo replied, pressing a kiss into Kuai’s neck and starting to pump his cock a little harder, hoping the sensations would help distract from the unusual feeling of the finger. “But I have to open you for me, otherwise I could hurt you.”

“I understand.” Kuai’s body began to settle again, Hanzo slowly began to push his finger in and out, trying to spread the oil and encourage Kuai’s entrance to relax. “My brother explained some things to me, but with women.” Kuai’s face screwed up a little, but not from discomfort. “He doesn’t know I…”

Kuai’s voice trailed off, but Hanzo had a feeling he knew how the sentence would have ended.

“He doesn’t know you are attracted to men?” Hanzo questioned, as he realised Kuai was probably ready for another finger.

“No,” Kuai said with a shake of the head. Hanzo slipped his finger free, reaching for the oil to apply some on a second finger. “Our village doesn’t think it’s proper. If my friend hadn’t turned me down, we would have had to keep our relationship secret.” Hanzo wondered now if that had been the true reason for the rejection. “But I’m not scared of their reactions with you.”

“Oh?” Hanzo prompted, pushing his two fingers back inside Kuai. Kuai jolted slightly in surprise, but to Hanzo’s astonishment seconds later he was pushing himself down, trying to take more of Hanzo’s fingers inside him.

“You are a god, who are they to refuse your desires?” Kuai sighed, his voice starting to sound blissed out. “If those that made our world what it is do not find it shameful, then can it really be as wrong as the Grandmaster says?”

“You should never have felt ashamed of your feelings,” Hanzo hummed, gently pressing a third finger inside. “I will make sure you never experience those fears again.” He used his thumb to circle the head of Kuai’s cock, causing the man to buck in his lap. “Anything you want can not be wrong.”

Kuai made a small content purr, leaning in for another kiss, as his hands continued to explore Hanzo’s body. They made their way to Hanzo’s biceps, and lingered their for a lot longer than anywhere else. He could feel Kuai smiled against his lips, and those fingers traces the definition lines.

Hanzo chanced a forth finger, Kuai showed no resistance. It was soon after that Hanzo decided Kuai was ready for him. He pulled his fingers free and let go of Kuai’s cock, holding in a laugh when Kuai made a short needy sound at the loss. He brought his hands to his own belt, pulling his trousers down just enough to bring out his own cock. Kuai gasped and bit his lip.

Hanzo took one of Kuai’s hands off his bicep, bringing it up to his mouth before kissing the knuckle, before guiding it down. Kuai immediately got the assignment, and once his hand was low enough, he wrapped it around Hanzo’s cock. His inexperience showed, as he didn’t seem sure what to do, but Hanzo was more than happy just having his hand on him.

He grabbed the oil again, pouring a generous amount over his cock. This prompted Kuai to begin to move his hand, using it to spread the oil over. Hanzo groaned, the feeling was pure bliss, but he knew it would be nothing compared to being inside Kuai.

When he was satisfied, he went to grab Kuai by the waist. Kuai moved both his arms around Hanzo’s shoulders, as Hanzo lifted him and brought him closer. He lowered him again, reaching down to his own cock and guiding it toward Hanzo’s entrance.

“Stay relaxed, and tell me if you need to stop at any point,” he instructed, before slowly letting Kuai sink down onto his cock. Kuai let out a breath as he was penetrated, causing Hanzo to pause with just the tip inside. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yes,” Kuai said in shaky voice, “just, slowly, please?”

“Of course,” Hanzo assured, kissing Kuai’s forehead. “Just let me know when you’re ready.”

It was a slow process, every so often Kuai would tell Hanzo to keep going, before asking to take a pause. This was fine, the last thing Hanzo wanted to do was hurt Kuai Liang. It took a few minutes, but finally he bottomed out, Kuai comfortably sitting on Hanzo’s thighs with his cock buried deep inside him. Hanzo kept him there, letting him get used to the feeling, rubbing circles in Kuai’s hips to reassure him.

“I’m ready,” Kuai finally confirmed.

“Okay, we’ll take it slow,” Hanzo assured, moving his hands slightly to grab Kuai’s ass.

He used his grip to encourage Kuai to lift himself using his knees. It was only a few inches, before he guided him back down. Kuai shuddered slightly, and Hanzo knew he had probably just brushed up against Kuai’s prostate. To his surprise, Kuai took in initiative to lift himself up again.

“That’s it,” Hanzo encouraged, “just do what feels right.” Hanzo squeezed his hands, Kuai’s ass was wonderful to just knead and play with. “Do what makes you feel good.”

“Hanzo,” Kuai breathed out. Hanzo had to hold back his joy. He called me Hanzo. Not Lord Hasashi. Hanzo!

It was amazing how quickly Kuai took to this. Soon he had started a rhythm, lifting himself up and down, his breaths coming out in quick pants and moans. Hanzo took a chance to buck his hips up as Kuai dropped, and the loud groan that came from Kuai’s lips was heaven.

Hanzo finally let go of Kuai’s ass, one hand reaching for his chin and the other going down to his cock again. He kissed Kuai once again, stroking his cock in time to the thrusts. He eagerly swallowed every desperate sound that came from Kuai’s lips. He could feel the other man trembling, and he knew he wouldn’t last much longer.

His assessment was proven correct when minutes later, Kuai made a particularly loud noise, and Hanzo began to feel his hand growing wet. Kuai clenched around him, and Hanzo brought Kuai all the way down before allowing himself to reach his own climax. He kept stroking Kuai’s cock, making sure his love was fully satisfied before anything else.

Hanzo let himself gently fall back, pulling Kuai with him. Kuai lay atop him, not yet bothering to remove his cock, the connection feeling too nice to break from for now. He wrapped his arms around, holding him close.

“Are you well, my love?” Hanzo asked. If there was anything he could do to please Kuai Liang, he would in a heartbeat.

“I am better than I’ve ever been,” Kuai whispered, his eyes closed and nuzzling into Hanzo’s chest. “You are wonderful.”

“You are the wonderful one,” Hanzo assured, trailing his hand along Kuai’s spine. “I am blessed that you graced the walls of my temple.” The smile of Kuai’s face was beautiful. “How are you feeling about our courting?”

“I love you, and I would love to be your husband one day,” Kuai admitted, “but the prospect of rushing into it still scares me.”

“That is only natural,” Hanzo assured, “like with everything, we can go at your pace. I would be honoured, however, if you agreed to be my consort.”

“I would like that,” Kuai said, sounding half asleep.

Hanzo kissed Kuai’s forehead again, feeling him begin to fall asleep in his arms. He lay back and gazed at the stars, the flames of his love ignited to a degree he had not felt since Harumi.

I truly am blessed.

----------------------------------------------------

Hanzo couldn’t help smirking to himself as he followed behind Kuai. He had never actually been to the Lin Kuei village, and given everything he knew about how Kuai Liang was treated, he couldn’t wait to see the other villagers faces when they saw the two of them together.

He could see the gates to the village, two guards stood out on post. Hanzo decided to hold back a few seconds. He wished to observe the interaction first. Kuai glanced behind him, sensing that Hanzo had stopped, and just nodded. He loved how Kuai just instinctively knew his plan.

“Well, well, well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” the one guard started, his tone harsh and mocking.

“Can’t help but notice you’re alone,” the other taunted, crossing his arms and looking so very smug. “It took you a month to come back empty handed. Looks like the Grandmaster was right, you are useless.”

Kuai said nothing, just turned his body to look behind him. Hanzo took the queue to walk out of the shadows. Oh, the way those smug looks dissolved from their faces was so satisfying. The two men stared at him with open mouths, before they looked at Kuai again.

“Hanzo would like to speak with the Grandmaster regarding the terms of our agreement.”

The two guard’s didn’t move a muscle, their eyes had widened when Kuai had referred to him as Hanzo however. As much as their reaction was amusing, Hanzo was growing impatient with their incompetence. He made a circle motion with his hand, and this warning seemed to be enough to snap them into action.

They led the way through the village, Hanzo always staying a few steps behind Kuai Liang. It was customary usually for a consort to follow their God, but Hanzo wanted to make a point. That Kuai had earned his loyalty, where all others had failed, and as such, Hanzo would follow him to the edge of the earth.

As they made their way, passers by stopped what they were doing to watch. He could hear disbelieving whispers that Lord Hasashi had finally graced their village. Some even followed them, clearly hoping to be witness to what was about to happen.

As they came to a village square, a crowd began to form around them. Two men in particular pushed their way to the front. One Hanzo recognised as Bi-Han, the other was unfamiliar but given he had grey hair, Hanzo matched it to a description of Tomas that Kuai had given him. Both men were looking at Kuai like he’d just accomplished an impossible feat. On the other side, a few people gathered who wore similar hanfu’s to Kuai had worn. One in particular, a man with dark skin and wearing yellow, looked at him with a proud smile on his face. They must have been Kuai’s fellow healer’s and Hanzo made note to get Kuai to introduce them later.

It wasn’t long before the Grandmaster was approaching, and his face was the most delicious of them all. He looked like he had seen a ghost.

“Lord Hasashi,” he started, sounding like his mind was scrambling to make sense of what was happening. “You have actually heeded our calling.”

“I have,” Hanzo answered, waiting for the excited and surprised mutterings from the crowd to go down. “I think you will find that Kuai Liang has negotiated a very fair deal.”

“I… See,” The Grandmaster said, straightening out as he looked towards Kuai with a very disbelieving look. Disgusting, even with the evidence in front of him, he doesn’t think Kuai capable. Hanzo was going to enjoy making him squirm with his conditions. “What exactly is this deal?”

“I will offer your village the protection you have been craving,” Hanzo began, reaching to place his hand on Kuai’s shoulder. “And in exchange, Kuai Liang shall be my consort.”

There were a few shocked gasps throughout the crowd, and the Grandmaster’s face looked somewhere between disgusted and scandalised. Hanzo glanced around the crowd, looking towards the healers just in time to see the man in yellow whisper to his colleagues “that’s our Kuai”. The other healers seemed happy. On the other side however, neither Tomas or Bi-Han looked happy with this news. Tomas looked devastated, and while Hanzo had some sympathy regarding his situation, the other bitter part of him couldn’t help thinking, good, you lost your chance.

Bi-Han though. Bi-Han looked furious. It looked like he was using all his strength to hold himself back from just walking over and punching Hanzo in the face.

“Is there a problem with this proposal, Grandmaster?” Kuai asked innocently, tilting his head. Hanzo couldn’t quite see his face, but he could imagine the faux smile on his face.

“I-“

“I would like to establish, that the protection is your choice Grandmaster,” Hanzo began, his voice low and threatening, “Kuai Liang has agreed to be my consort, regardless of if you take my deal or not, so it really matter’s little to me what you decide. I would however advise you to make the right decision, Grandmaster.”

The Grandmaster stared at Hanzo in stunned silence, although there was another ripple of whispers surrounding them. It seemed to be sinking in that Hanzo was serious, and that none of this really matter to him. The only reason he was here was because of Kuai Liang.

“Okay,” The Grandmaster finally spoke in a resigned voice, looking like he also realised that if he didn’t take this deal, then Hanzo would never offer another chance. “I agree to your conditions, Lord Hasashi.”

“Excellent. I will send some of my acolytes to make the arrangements of my protection.” Hanzo brushed his hand like he was done with it, but there was one more condition he needed to make clear. “Of course Grandmaster, you do realise that as Kuai Liang is now my consort, I expect him to be treated as such.” He reached down to stroke Kuai’s cheek, enjoying the purr that came from Kuai’s throat at the contact. “He is to be given the highest level of respect. If I even so much as think that he is being disrespected or mistreated in any way, by you or any of your followers, then I will revoke my protection, and you will rue the day you invoked my wrath.”

Hanzo did not give chance for reply, he bent down lifting Kuai into a bridal carry, as he turned on his heels and began to walk away. Kuai softly giggled in his arms, and once again he thought of how this man had brought the light back to his life.

He was complete again.

----------------------------------------------------

“Hanzo!”

As Kuai entered the temple, Hanzo felt his mouth turn up into a smile. Two nearby acolytes giggled and cooed softly over how lovesick Hanzo was. Sometimes he wasn’t sure who was more enthusiastic about the relationship, Kuai Liang and himself or the acolytes.

It had been a few months since they had made their conditions clear with the Lin Kuei, and things had only gotten better. Kuai had so much more confidence, it allowed everyone around to truly take in what an outstanding person he was. They had no more troubles with the Lin Kuei, although Hanzo got the feeling Bi-Han was still not happy about things.

But he didn’t matter. Only Kuai did.

And Kuai was flourishing!

“My love,” Hanzo greeted warming, getting off his chair to go and greet his consort. It still felt so unreal to call this man that. He gave him a peck on the lips. “How was the Lin Kuei?”

“They are doing well,” Kuai said with a smile, while he went into his satchel and pulled out a glass bottle of red liquid. “Cyrax sends his thanks for the ointments,” Kuai began, giving the bottle to Hanzo. He frowned at it. “Apparently, he has taken up brewing alcohols in his spare time, this is his first attempt at wine. He thought being the first to taste it was a fair gift in return.”

Hanzo chuckled, he hadn’t intended to recieve anything in return, but well, who could say no to a glass of wine?

“Well, why don’t we taste it together,” Hanzo offered his arm, and Kuai gladly linked up with him. “Say, over a game of Mahjong?”

Kuai’s face lit up even further, “I couldn’t possibly say no to such a tempting offer.”

And off they went, arm in arm, and Hanzo knew that he had made the right choice in asking Kuai Liang to be his own.

#subscorpweek #subscorp #mortal kombat #kuai liang #sub zero #hanzo hasashi #scorpion #🔥❄️subscorp week 2022

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comicteaparty · 5 years ago

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April 20th-April 26th, 2020 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from April 20th, 2020 to April 26th, 2020. The chat focused on Only In Your Dreams! by Tuyetnhi Pham.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Only In Your Dreams! by Tuyetnhi Pham~! (http://oiydcomic.com/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace until April 26th, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Discussions are freeform, but we do offer discussion prompts in the pins for those who’d like to have them. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic! Whether you finish the comic or can only read a few pages, everyone is welcome to join and chat with us!

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 1

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic?

2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)?

3. Who is your favorite character?

4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most?

5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it!

6. What is a theme you like that the comic explores?

7. What do you like about the comic’s story or overall related content?

8. Overall, what do you think the comic’s strengths are?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

5. I like how distinctive the character designs are! The mcs are both very unique and recognizable

8. It doesn't take itself too seriously, but it also explores some real neat concepts

the story is full of personality

carcarchu

the comic's not loading for me shakes fist at wifi, gonna try again tomorrow but i just wanted to say the look of the site is really cute!

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Got the chance to read it So here are some of my thoughts: 1. I like the romantic atmosphere that the comic starts off with warm colours and it gives a vacation ad sensation? 2. My favourite moment is in the pink strange dream world, the colours contrast to the reality of Cara. 4. Fave moment: When that mystery guy shows up and he had corny lines like a romantic parody. It seem so fantastical. 5. I like the colour palette choice of brown tones, shades of pinks. 6. I think the theme is about expectations (it's not clear atm), how Cara is distancing from real relationships and prefer to indulge. 7: I like how the creator shows Cara looking scared of confronting things. It sets an interesting tone of uncertainty. Is she hiding something?(edited)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I'm super curious about the situation of Cara not remembering her past dreams with Richie, and how that ties into the theme.

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

1. I like how I don’t know what to expect. I also like how the premise is relateable; the idea that you are scared of imperfection making you have high standards in life hit close. 2) Every single time we’re treated to....Tuyetnhi’s lovely use of expression. Also the end part of episode 2, because that’s when I realized it’s going to get dark. 3) A tie between Ana and Richie. Ana because she makes me laugh with her blunt assertions (which...aren’t wrong) and Richie because he’s so flamboyant and extra. I love how much personality they all have. 4) Hands down Richie and Cara. They have a really hilarious dynamic going on. 6) The idea that people seek perfection through their dreams instead of facing reality. Also I really liked how it tackles society’s fixation on everyone to find someone....maybe Cara doesn’t need that and needs to focus on herself first? 7) That I won’t know what to expect. I came into this thinking it was going to be a classic romcom, and then I get hit with implicit horror and trippyness. I have a feeling Tuyetnhi is hinting at some darker aspects of the story we have yet to see. 8) Good lord the expressions. They really do the story justice and make me turn the page every time. Also the colours are beautiful.(edited)

(Whoops sorry keiiii)

7) two moments actually!

The fact that their wide eyed sweaty expressions matched made me laugh really hard

And also Cara’s quick acceptance of the situation was so unexpected and hilarious I took a double take. Also props to the colour dissonance; that looks like meme material right there!

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

yeah. I want to make it clear that Cara is like "This is really not my day." lol

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Well....you portrayed that sentiment perfectly

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Omg yes the wide eyed expressions were also making me laugh! Well that was an expression I didn't expect coming into the story(edited)

I was wondering if that was suppose to be serious or humorous?

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

both LOL

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

I see the horror you got going there Tuyetnhi Reminds me of...I dunno Jojo?

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

well............ yes and no lol

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

But I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen

Although...if we’re going by the silhouette....is she scared of herself?

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

I like that sense of not knowing what's happening? :)(edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

that will be coming up in Ch. 3 soon

so please wait till then thank u lol

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

So far it's tough to choose a fave character right now since I feel the story has just started its first segment. I would like to wait until more content is shown before I can make a firm choice? (I'm analytical, I like to go over OCs flaws and strengths once I know more about them)(edited)

I'm curious to learn about her ex crush, since we only get a glimpse of how Cara precieve him. But what is Dean really like? *Drum rolls(edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

you got.... good questions

it will be rewarded.... later on LOL

mariah (rainy day dreams)

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic? I really liked the colors and island vibe. And this was even before Animal Crossing came out and I started hardcore living that island life I just love a good, soft pink to purple gradient generally speaking so the opening of the story was like falling into a comfy brain pillow for me. 2-4 I'm just gonna answer these ones kind of all together because they thoughts on then are all kind of threaded together into one big thought. After having read through the archive I really liked the scene with Ana and Cara. When I first read it I was like "dang, she's giving Cara such a hard time," but after having read the scenes where Cara just refused to admit to Richie she doesn't know what's going on I really retroactively appreciated Ana's willingness to call Cara on her bullshit XD I think it's a really good foil trait to have for a protagonist who seems dead set on avoiding confrontation even though it seems like doing so is most likely just gonna come back to bite her later. I imagine we aren't going to see Ana for a while though unless Cara is able to use her Phone A Friend card in the dream realm XD I am also looking forward to seeing more of the Cara doppelganger and how she and Cara interact with each other going forward. That feels like an exciting and drama filled mystery

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic? I also love the atmosphere. The color choices are just so beautiful. 2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)? Ana pointing out Cara's BS hahahaha. 3. Who is your favorite character? Definitely Ana. She's so down-to-earth from what I can tell, someone I'd want to be friends with. 4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most? Probably Ana and Cara. I like to see good friendships depicted, especially in a romance. 5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it! In general, everything is so soft and pretty. I also really appreciate the fact that all the characters have larger noses. If I had a favorite panel, it would be at the beginning, the sunset beach waves. 6. What is a theme you like that the comic explores? So far, I'm not sure about themes, but I like the talk about the pressure parents give to their children to get married. 7. What do you like about the comic’s story or overall related content? There's a lot of mystery, so I'm looking forward to learning about Cara's dreams, Richie, and the key. 8. Overall, what do you think the comic’s strengths are? The visuals are really nice. I can't stop gushing about the color choices and the pretty atmosphere.(edited)

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

The way Cronaj sums up their thoughts on OiYD, I'm agreeing with the statement on Ana and Cara! Esp friendship part

Deo101 [Millennium]

I'll answer the questions hopefully later this week, but this song reminded me of the comic!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4z5ecLCvSQ(edited)

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

@Deo101 [Millennium] damn that’s a good song

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Oooo

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

He's definitely hot and extra

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

lmao

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

My joke idea is that Cara is secretly in a reality show starring Richie and her and the bonds they play out is meant for a live broadcast. But she's clearly not agreeing to this(edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

oh god. i don't think that's good for Cara's mental state lmao

Feather J. Fern

Also I have to say, I do love how the first cover is literally Cara being the meme of "Oh no he's hot"

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

fjdkalfdjdklfj

Feather J. Fern

Also I finally started it, while a bit late, I have to relate to Cara being an accountant.

Also I think my favourite panel is "Welp that worked"

Also I have to appreciate picking a pink that doesn't grate on the eyes.

https://gyazo.com/71fe22ea6ac2ebf6b3d85531c66bf8ed Another really good panel

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I enjoyed making that one LOL

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

that face is one of my favourites not gonna lie

Feather J. Fern

I really like the surrealness of the story, can't wait to see what happens next

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

same! I feel like something is about to happen

I'm also wondering how Richie would react to the real world

like....the ex. And her parents.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

soon™️

Feather J. Fern

More like everyone reacting to Richie XD

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Yeah pretty much

Like can Richie handle the world?

More like

Can the world handle RICHIE

RebelVampire

I like that the beginning really contrasts the dream and Cara's reality pretty quickly. I kind of feel it catches that feeling of coming out of a dream to face reality which kind of sucks, and also plays into the themes of dream vs. reality and expectation vs. reality. It's very easy to idealize things, whether as a route of escapism or just because it sounds appealing. But the reality of things generally is always different, and I like that we're seeing this full force in the comic through Cara's perspective. And the contrasts between the two really enhance those topics. My favorite moment in the comic so far is probably when Cara meets what I assume is Dean. Cause I really loved that both parties were kind of at fault, and I also liked how quickly that convo devolved into a grumpfest, because that felt very realistic. My favorite character right now is definitely Richie, because he is ridiculous and sympathetic at the same time. I adore his exaggerated personality, while at the same time feel sorry for him since for him the memories are clearly there and like...I would not want to be in the shoes of someone where the person they loved no longer remembered them. As for character interacting the most, Cara and Richie because that entire premise of one person remembering and the other not makes for a really tense and awkward situation. It's hard to tell where it's going to go. What I like about the art is the palettes of color chosen, since there's some beautiful scenery as well as fantastic contrasts when needed to make certain moments pop (like dream vs. reality).

As for the story content, what I actually like the most is that Cara is a flawed protagonist. I've read a lot of stories where the protagonist is always 100% right in the relationship and is just eternally the victim because society pressure. But Cara has a lot more going on, since she's clearly been at fault in some interactions, and while we can sympathize with people pressuring her into relationships, she also maybe takes it too far by being avoidant of basically every relationship. However, since she has these traits, I'm more invested into her personal dilemmas since she'll actually make mistakes when dealing with stuff. Which I think this is the overall strength of the comic. Cara is just a damn good protagonist who is easily likeable but isn't perfect and whose imperfections are not just brushed off so easily.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

;_; .... thank you.

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

I love the story so far! When I first started, I figured it would be some sort of awkward story where Richie comes into the real world and he has to figure out how to, like, act natural, and hilarity ensues. But holy cow, Cara losing her memories, and the slide into somewhat of a horror angle - it's not something I expected (though admittedly I could have read the synopsis lol), but it's definitely something I like!(edited)

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 2

9. Do you think the people around Cara were right to try and pressure her into a relationship? Overall, what do you think the comic has to say about relationships and the themes regarding relationship pressure?

10. Is what Cara experiencing dream or reality, and where is the line between them in this case? Additionally, why do you think her dreams have the potential to become reality as opposed to other people? Also, what is the overall message underlying these themes?

11. Is Richie really just a dream Cara dreamt up, or is there something more to him? If he somehow makes it to Cara’s world, do you think he’ll be able to adjust to that reality? Also, can he win Cara over?

12. What do you think the Cara imposter is about, and what does this have to do with the entire situation? Do you think Cara will eventually remember her dreams? Lastly, what do you think Cara has in store for her as the story continues?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

9. I personally don’t think it was great of the people in Cara’s life to pressure her like that. Sure, they mean well, but it’s most likely bringing Cara’s self esteem down by a lot. I have a feeling that her dreams/reality colliding together is partially motivated by that; the pressure of pleasing society has made her....subconsciously take drastic measures?

10. I’m actually not sure! Maybe there’s a supernatural explanation to it, or it could all just be a dream. Dreams have a way of showing a person’s innermost desires or fears, so maybe Cara’s desires and fears are coming alive in response to external stress factors. So perhaps she opened a portal of sorts between the realms in some way (there’s a key!!!!).

11. Oh I’m thinking they might end up together. But the realist inside me thinks...perhaps what Cara needs isn’t romantic love, but more independent love and being able to love herself. What DOES worry me, however, is the fact that Richie seems...a bit desperate for Cara to like him. Is there a condition to his love after all? If so, that means that it’s possible he’s forced in some way to love her or make her love him. And that’s not really conducive to romance, is it?

12. Ah...the thing that makes me mystified the most. Cara seems to have a negative view of herself, since she told her to get out in the end of chapter two. However, Cara #2 seems to be pretty helpful; knocking on the door to tell her to get out of the house (which Richie has her in), so in a way letting her out. While our Cara seems to dislike her a lot, I think the key to the story would be our Cara needing to accept this double Cara to be really free. Maybe she will, maybe she won’t! But from what I can see from the story and like I’ve said earlier...maybe Cara needs to be able to find love within herself. Love for that Cara double, and enough love to become independent and not bend to society’s overwhelming pressure for outside romance. I hope she finds that as the story comes along, and know that it’s okay to not be ready for love.

As for Richie...hmm. He’s dealing with an amnesiac heroine, and adjusting to the real world. I’m sure it’s going to lead to some hilarious hijinks, but hopefully he can manage! He seems up to the task

RebelVampire

I think whether people were right to pressure Cara is a tricky gray area. On the one hand, no, they were wrong. Nobody should be forced into a relationship. But on the other hand, if you know a person is actively self-sabotaging, isn't it more correct to speak up? So to me this is maybe a situation of good intentions with bad execution. However, I do think overall the comic does say pressuring people into relationships sucks and plz don't do that cause that's how you make ppl run further away. I think it's both, because a dream is reality in a sense. I think many of us have had dreams that caused real emotional affects, whether negative or positive. So the line between them is merely the fact effects are limited. Cara have may have just found a way to cross that line and make a dream a tangible thing that has more consequences. As for why her dreams, I don't know. Maybe she's just super good at dreaming. I do think as the overall message though is that dreams are good but not when we get lost in them, because then we idealize and reject "reality" in ways that aren't healthy. I do think Richie is primarily something Cara dreamt up, but kind of not maybe. Like sure maybe Cara is idea creator, but something else was involved in making the physical reality of that idea. As for Richie adjusting to Cara's world, I'm sure it will be laughably hilarious. I do think he can sort of win Cara over, at least in the sense of being friends. Cause how can you hate Richie? I'm taking a shot in the dark and saying Cara imposter is the embodiment of Cara's missing memories but since they're just memories, all they can do is imitate. As for Cara remembering, I feel like it will be yes but I kind of want it to be no. I like the idea of them having to reform a relationship entire from scratch.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Oo good impressions! I wish I have more to say but it would affect the story LOL. Enjoyed reading everyone's theories tho!

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Ok my turn, let's see what my head theories are: 9: I felt the same annoyance as Cara but it's a mixed feeling, Even though, people shouldn't pressure a lady on her love life, she also has a problem with being in relationships. Or I remember one quote from the story was how she 'ditched her dates by rushing to the bathroom.' although I don't know her circumstance, I do know she has issues to settle too. Relationship pressure is real, especially as a young person grows older. 10. From the comic visuals, it feels much like it's her escapism dream. The only clue I got, is that her holding a literal 'key' connecting both worlds, is evidence that both world could collide. So far, we haven't seen other people's dreams, or whether this is an unusual occurrence in the world? It seems to be a message about idealistic relationships. Since Cara seem to turn away real ones, it manifested? 11. I'm curious about Richie's character too. He seems like a powerful imagination, enough to sway the lead, so he's more than a simple figment. I wonder if his submissive, flirtatious (?) personality was build in him. He doesn't seem to have a 'life' outside his dream house, or so far. 12. I'm not sure whether the 'Other Cara' might be trying to help her or is that.. actually a shadow side? I don't want to say too much, but it's interesting to see where the story goes.(edited)

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Oh! You make a good point about Richie; I never thought about that! Do you think maybe he's simply a part of Cara and eventually gains his own sentience/personality?

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Hehe I like analyzing dreams :3 In dream theory, I feel he could be? I was more skeptical whether he should be treated as a real character or something else.(edited)

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

man this does make me want to look up dream psychology

i have a feeling...Tuyetnhi is using some theories from that

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Hmmmm dream psychology you say?

I guess you can say there's some elements of that, but it's not a major chunk of it if that makes sense lol

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 3

13. What are you most looking forward to seeing in regards to the comic?

14. Any final words of encouragement for the comic?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

13. Maintaining the will power to finish OIYD! so I can see it as its end lmao. As a passion project but also something that I want to invest in when I have the time, I hope ya'll looking forward in reading Ch. 3 very soon lol.

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

13. I really want to see how both Cara and Richie will develop as characters. Whether Cara will figure out for herself what being both independent means....and whether she does want a relationship for herself and not for other people. Likewise with Richie, I want to see if he'll be able to be his own person...and whether he's real or not. I have a lot of questions that I want to be answered, and I can't wait to keep reading.

14. Tuyetnhi, good luck on the webcomic. It's hard to start one and even harder to pull off a good one, and I know yours is a good one. I really look forward to reading more from you. You're amazing (edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

thank you

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

13. I'm interested in learning more about Cara's conflicts, why she is hesitant about having a real relationship vs her dream one? I love the unexpected dark twist that the story seems to be going. 14. I want to say, no pressure and take your time to complete the chapter. Just know you have my support and willing to read when it is ready. Good luck

RebelVampire

I'm looking forward to more Richie being Richie. Because he is an adorable person. And also because I'm waiting for some 'reality' culture shock. My final words are that this comic has a strong themes game going on and an intriguing premise, so it'll be fun to see where the comic is in a few more chapters since I'm pretty sure we're in for a wild ride.

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Only In Your Dreams! this week! Please also give a special thank you to Tuyetnhi Pham for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Only In Your Dreams!, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: http://oiydcomic.com/

Tuyetnhi’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/oiydcomic

Tuyetnhi’s Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/tuyetnhip

Tuyetnhi’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/tuyetnhip

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #book club #bookclub #webcomic bookclub #webcomic book club #comic tea party #ctp #only in your dreams #only in your dreams!#tuyetnhi pham

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ghostlyangelwhispers · 7 years ago

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Tumblr User Questionaire

I was tagged by @kenna-effin-rys, thank you so much for the tag, love!💕

Imma add a ‘’Keep reading’’ thing here in case you want to know more about me bc let’s be real this thing is really long and I don’t wanna spam or take over your dash jsjhdkjg

Nickname(s): Marie, Ally, María, Reyna; at this point I go by whatever people wanna call me lmao

Gender: Female

Sign: Capricorn!

Height: last time I checked, around 5′5/1.67cm

Time: 09:40 PM

Fave Bands: One Direction and Five Finger Death Punch not even i know how i can go from one to another tbh

Fave Solo Artists: hmm... Demi Lovato and Ed Sheeran, those are the only ones I can think about rn

Song Stuck In My Head: Summer Love by One Direction TvT

Last Movie I Saw: I... don’t really watch movies??? the last movie I remember watching is Spiderman: Homecoming LOL

Last Show I Watched: I don’t watch shows either T_T im sorry maybe Drake & Josh?? yee

When Did I Create My Blog: Literally two days ago lmao.

What Do I Post: I’ve been mostly reblogging, but believe me, I am going to shitpost a lot. I’ll also post edits every now and then. I love editing. uvu

Last Thing I Googled: ‘’métodos de resolución de ecuaciones lineales’’ math making my life impossible as always smh

Do I Have Any Other Blogs: Yup! I haven’t used the other one in a while though, it was originally meant for another otome. It’s @iminlovewithmyduck, so if you see Choices memes there, they’re mine LOL

Why Did I Choose My URL: Honestly? I couldn’t think of anything and chose one of Tumblr’s suggestions. y’all out there with great and well chosen urls and welp then theres me

Following: 264 blogs! no regrets at all

Followed By: 115 FOLLOWERS OML GUYS I LOVE EACH AND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU SO MUCH IM-

Average Hours of Sleep: Usually 5-6, and 7-8 if I’m lucky lol

Lucky Number: 7 and 14

Instruments: None. I swear I tried many: guitar, piano, violin, singing, and nope, nada. It’s a talent I just don’t have.

What am I wearing: pajamas 24/7. yup yup

Dream Job: special ed. teacher!💖

Dream Trip: Japan and England!

Fave Foods: Chinese food and any kind of dessert as long as it doesnt have strawberries

Nationality: Mexican🌟

Fave Song: I Wish and They Don’t Know About Us, both by One Direction :’)

Last Book I Read: ‘‘Nefilim’’ by Leah Cohn.

Three Fictional Universes I Want To Join: if we’re talking about Choices universes, then tbh all of them, though I’d say Endless Summer gimme my baby sean, The Royal Romance imagine having a prince drool over you but u choose his commoner friend instead ajgshjhgd and The Sophomore i want a irl zig dammit

Tagging:

@istanglorygirl @manbearpigsightingcentral @garlickk @choices-ily @monsterluv4layton (i see y’all liking my posts ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)) and whoever wants to do it! As Faith said, sorry if you already did this and I tagged you! >_<

#personal #not choices stuff #tumblr user questionaire

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briteboy · 7 years ago

Photo

MORE ASKS I’VE BEEN IGNORING!!!!!!!

GET ‘EM WHILE THEY’RE HOT

P.S. ALL OF U WHO SENT ME THE CHAIN THINGY ILYSOMUCH

Why is her step-douche such a foken piece of shit? omg i hate him

some mysteries are never meant to be explained tbh. why is he so ugly and evil? who wronged him? but also who cares he’s in jail forever now good riddance ugly

I know this is probably really bad, but after I saw the newest molly posts, I thought of that video where the little girl is yelling "MISS KEISHA, MISS KEISHA, oh my fukin gosh she fukin dead"

OMFGFD I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT THAT VIDEO WAS SO I JUST WATCHED IT AND I’M LAUGHIN

i don’t blame u i bet when it happens i’m gonna be like “u know she ded”

(To the previous anon) i agree with you so, so much! In Poland, these dumbass politicians are letting shooting pregnant bisons (?? Im not sure how they're called) become legal. Like BITCH WHAT. Can you imagine??? A fucking pregnant lil' cow getting shot????? I feel Molly's pain on an emotional level rn (sorry if this is too nsfw, just needed to get that outta my system...)

i think this was in response to someone saying that hurting pregnant women is one of the worst crimes but um WTF shooting animals at all makes me itchy but pregnant ones..............nah that’s......nah

it’s ok get it outta ur system i’m here 4 u

the first thing I check in the morning is your account.... you have me whipped! ;|

OMG WHA LMAO REALLY that’s wild. i feel like i’m the only one who looks at my page which is dumb but like idk i still feel like a little kid that no one cares about lmao. but then you guys exist and amaze me with your responsiveness every day and i just ;____________; ily all

hi Sunny. first of all i'm gonna say i love your story and your editing style so much! your blog is goals like literally. i need an advice if you don't mind. you always find such amazing angles for your pictures while mine are so boring. any tips or tricks you can share?

HI thank you so much ;-; sooooo i’ve been thinking about this question the past couple of times i went in game, trying to figure out how to describe how i take pictures. for one thing i live in tab mode lmao. meaning you press the tab button on your keyboard to go into camera mode and get all these sexy angles and super zoom and stufffff. i almost always zoom in super far idk why. so there’s one tip. i honestly just play around with going up and down with the q and e keys (i think?) until i find angles i like. i take a lottttt of pictures with so many different angles just so i have a lot to choose from. basically i try to focus on different things in each picture in order to get a mix of the most diverse and dynamic shots possible. you just need to experiment and get creative. i know that’s the most vague advice ever but really just try a new angle that you’ve never considered before and i bet you’ll get cool results. an interesting setting is also the biggest factor, because certain objects and their placements will give you interesting results.

i honestly want to print out your reaction pic to that one post and just hang it on my wall, put it in my heart locket necklace, stamp it on people's faces, start an email thread with it. i love it.

an add on to the last ask i sent about your reaction pic. i've been looking at it religiously since it was posted, and i dont regret a minute of it. LMAO I'LL STOP NOW.

SAKJDLJKGKSDAF STOPPPP LMAOOO i looked so ugly but that was my pure unadulterated reaction to that question and i trust you all to not judge my ugliness and instead share this reaction with me. i’m glad u liked it that much, i just printed it out and i’m cutting it into a small heart to put inside ur locket ok

everytime i hear cigarette daydreams by cage the elephant i think of a serious case of the novembers like its so fitting and then i get all emo when i listen to it lmao rip

OMMMMGGGGGGG YESSSSS how have i never made that connection before honestly. cage the elephant is one of my faves and i’ve seen them perform twice actually!! i’m watching the music vid for that song now and even that reminds me of my story ;-; i cry

thank you for sending this, and also i cry @ the fact that you used the actual title *dies* now this song is gonna make me emo til the end of time thx

i might sound like some crazy stalker fan but i just want to say you are so freakin awesome and nice and funny and cute and (i can go on forever) so caring! i love your blog so much and all the hard work and care you put into all your posts and followers. thanks for making my day and making me smile so much. you have no clue how much i look forward to seeing your posts and your hilarious hashtags and answers from asks and AMAZING story posts. im sorry i just wanted to let you know ur awesome ily

OFMG WHAT!!!!!! I AM ONLY AN EEL!!!!!! but no you don’t sound like a crazy stalker, i actually love this, you’re too sweet, thank you ;-; i’m just blushin so much reading this omg. YOU EVEN LIKE MY TAGS WOW that’s true love. ily ;-; <333

how do you get your sims' facial expressions to line up with your scenes? I feel like my sims' faces are never right :(

tbh i just use a lot of the same neutral poses...my go-to’s are @helgatisha‘s poses lol. they’re the easiest to work with when i do just plain talking scenes, and often i tweak my sims’ eyebrows and mouths with the liquify tool if i want them to look a bit more concerned, sad, mad, happy, etc., it works like a charm!! i also tend to play around with angles, you’d be surprised how much a different angle can enhance a scene.

Hey smol bean, I'm sent you an ask and now I feel bad that it probably made you feel anxious because you didn't answer it. It was the one about you not liking my posts, I have anxiety too so I'm sorry If I made you feel sad. I think I'm just looking for validation from people I look upto you get me? Anyway sorry again, don't worry about it! Love you!

hiya bb, i know you saw my answer to your original post (and i’m sorry it got some negative attention, i didn’t mean for that to happen by any means) anyway don’t sweat it, and i really appreciate this follow-up message. you didn’t make me feel sad, i just wanna know what i can do. it’s just a hard question y’know. i understand what you mean, i think everyone wants validation to some degree. tbh you can just come off anon and message me, i promise it’s not as nerve-wracking as it seems! ily

How did you make Santi's tattoos? I want some like that for my Sims but idk how to do it

boop

I HAVE A FEELING THAT MOLLY IS GOING TO DIE DURING THE BIRTH OF THE BEAN OR IT HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH HER STEPFATHER FINDING OUT ABOUT THE BEAN

WELP U WERE RIGHT ABOUT ONE THING

how did you make your characters page on your blog like that?

uoohhh like what?? i used this theme (monolog) if that’s what you mean aheh. here’s a guide on how to use custom page themes

okay so THIS IS MY THEORY: they might keep the baby and molly might actually carry it to full term, but then the kid dies in childbirth and either molly also dies or maybe kills herself or gets killed later? or maybe she's still alive but just won't speak to santi anymore cause she like can't look him in the eye after all of that or idk?? since ppl were sending theories i wanted to add mine lmao. another possible theory is that the stepdad finds out and kills her but thats TOO DARK omg

TOO DARK U SAY...WELL!!! it’s not AS dark as you guessed but only marginally

If Molly turns out to be alive and raising their kid alone (though from what I'm seeing in response to most questions I think that may not be the route) am I allowed to slap Santi (unless Molly didn't give him the option to help) because raising a child alone is not easy I've watched my mom do it for years.

YEAH i would give you permission to slap him lmao he would be a grade A piece o’ shit if that were the case. i would never ever write that tho because santi does own up to his actions if they’re that detrimental. his altruistic nature, no matter how backwards, would never allow him to do that.

There will be complication with the abortion so she will not be able to carry a baby anymore and she's going to kill herself OR her step dad is going to find out and he'll beat her to death. And in both situation Santi his blaming himself because he wasn't there at the right time... Okay I really really hope I'm wrong now !

I don't even follow your story very closely but every time I see your posts my heart hurts.

OMFG...that’s how u know the pain is real

but like wow my stuff is really so visceral that even my apathetic followers can feel the hurt...that’s real...that’s real my guy

omg!! you should 100% play or at least watch a playthrough of life is strange! legit the best game ever made, its so beautiful. the storyline kills you a thousand times over (much like your beautiful story) <3333

yaaaa i’ve heard lots of good things about it!! my bf played it actually, maybe he’ll revisit it again someday and i’ll watch him do it (i’m only a fan of video games if i can watch them like a movie lmao) thank you btw <3

I am shook and I worship you and your story and you are amazing WOW BYE

WORSHIP LMAO WHAT!!! PLS I AM UNDESERVING...ily tho don’t worship false gods

Do you let Molly and the younger versions of your characters frolic around your main save or do they have a separate one?

UM YES LMAO because i didn’t even know you could have separate saves until after i started the flashbacks lmao i’m...a noob. i don’t want separate saves anyway because 1) it’s too much of a hassle switching back and forth and 2) it gets too confusing for me and i’d be afraid of overwriting one save with another and NOPE too much anxiety for that soooo yeah there’s three santis in my game: child, teen and adult lmfao (fun fact: teen santi’s name is literally just Lil Santi)

I made it to my senior year with 6 A's and 1 B ... Be proud of me too? 😂 Lmao I told this to people and some of them were just like .. okay cool?! LMAO it's so funny but also kinda sad

I AM PROUD OF YOU TOO!!!!!!!!! my smart childrens

“okay cool” UM PLEASE that’s a feat...at my school if you got an A in a class in senior year you were allowed to be exempt from the final. so yeah that rules. ily

#nonsims #saviorhide #anonymous #THEY ARE DONE #FINALLY #EXCEPT WCIFS LOL DON'T...don't hate me #i try

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harryspaceshipmchale · 7 years ago

Note

I'm very emotional right now. I've just watched the series finale of community and o gosh. What are your thoughts about the goodbye kiss? I mean, if the movie really happens, what do you think we gonna have about jeff/annie storieline? ~Also your reblog about jeff/annie engagement just gave me major feels.

WELP, AN ANON ABOUT J/A. I am very happy about this, I wish more people would come to chat about them with me. Also, congrats on finishing the show!!

[All thoughts below this smoochy GIF]

In terms of the kiss, I don’t see it as a goodbye kiss at all. I see it as the start of something. I actually like to focus more on their goodbye at the airport which I think is often overlooked. It said so much more to me than the kiss in the study room because that was obviously more scripted. The way they leave each other at the airport is just so casual and so much lighter (does that make sense?) than any other moment between them. There’s no real angst, the angst is only on Jeff’s side because he’s dealing with both Annie and Abed leaving.

I also like to focus on it because there was a week between the study room scene and the airport scene (why we don’t have more fic about it, I don’t know!) which surely would have meant they talked things through. I really don’t see them just not talking about it. I don’t think Jeff would let himself do that after expressing how he feels and I don’t think Annie would have let that happen either.

In terms of a movie, I honestly don’t know. There’s part of me which thinks Dan would 100% have them together in it but there’s also a part of me which thinks he wouldn’t because he’d want the movie to be for everyone and there’s of course part of the fandom who doesn’t ship/agree with J/A. But he did say that he left them on a “to be continued” so it would be devastating if he didn’t follow through with that.

If I were to dream, I’d hope that they would just be continuously happy during the movie and that they don’t have any tension/problems to face as a couple. I don’t even need them to like, kiss and hold hands in every scene or like have sex or something, I just need it to be acknowledged - have Britta make fun of them and Shirley roll her eyes at them being smitten. Just give me soMETHING. (((If I was really pushing it, the final scene of the movie would be Jeff sat on the steps like at the end of the Pilot episode, but Annie’s resting her cheek on her shoulder and it cuts to the credits with some cute music because LBR the whole show was about Jeff’s emotional progression somewhat, so it would make sense if it ended with him and the love is life??? No??? lmao)))

BUT YAY I’m glad you liked my Instagram edit. I really wanna make more but I need like, prompts or themes because finding pics of Joel/Alison which fit are really difficult.

ANYWAY WOWZAs, look at this rant and ramble.Send me more anons and questions, ma peeps!

#asks #answers #anon #jeff x annie #anonymous

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comicteaparty · 5 years ago

Text

March 7th-March 13th, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from March 7th, 2020 to March 13th, 2020. The chat focused on the following question:

What is your overall marketing/promotion strategy for your webcomic?

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I don't know if this counts as a strategy, but these are some of the things I do to promote my comic or my work in general. 1. Most important from what I've noticed (which I have been failing at due to stress and self-doubt lately) is to post updates to your comic frequently and consistently. It seems somewhat silly that simply putting your work out there is the best way to grow an audience, but it really is. Newly posted chapters frequently get shown on more pages and thus detected by the algorithms and potential readers. It also helps to establish trust with current and returning readers. 2. Participating in art/comic events, forums, and other comicking communities (such as this one). In a way, this isn't really marketing directly, but it is good to build connections with other creators! 3. Conventions! I actually have gotten a several new readers/followers from attending cons. It's also nice just to talk to people, get your name out there locally, and to make a little bit of money while at it. 4. Social media promotion. Tbh, this hasn't been super helpful to me, but more eyes is always a win in my book. I try to post almost every day, even if it isn't art or comic related. Having some kind of social media presence at all, even if it's small, shows people that you are working hard to connect to others. Also finding the right hashtags definitely helps with visibility.

kayotics

Overall, my strategy for marketing is to be authentic and just keep plugging my stuff. People will come if they like it. I work as a marketer for my day job, so I know what I COULD do, but I really don’t do that much since a whole marketing plan would take a lot more time than I have available to me. Some of the stuff I do otherwise: - regular updates. This ones pretty important for retaining viewers I already have. Any good marketing strategy is thinking about retaining people, not just getting new ones - self promo: this usually is on top webcomics or on social media. I get a LOT of traffic from top webcomics, and I get a good handful of people from social media. - conventions, like mentioned before, can be a great way to get people’s eyes on your stuff. I have a postcard that I hand out to people if they come by or they purchase something. - the thing I don’t do enough is post more art outside of the comic, or even just little previews. If I were dedicated to marketing, I’d be sharing sketches or illustrations on social media to grow my audience.

DanitheCarutor

Ah you know, I don't really have much of a strategy. At some point I promoted as much as I could on Twitter, adding my comic to those share/promo thread, getting in on relevant hashtag events, participating on WebComic Chat (whenever I remembered to). I've done a little promotion on forums, but there is really only so much you can do since only so many people hang out there and if your work is super niche like mine, they will pretty much avoid your promos at all cost. Lmao Other than those I don't really do much, at some point I attempted to use Instagram but the site/app is very stingy about offsite links. I also started a Facebook page, although if you don't have the money to boost your promos and don't usually have a lot going on with your comic outside of weekly updates, it won't get a whole lot of attention. I've also tried to be more active, but I'm not a good conversationalist, and I tend to be kind of a thread/conversation/mood killer so I try to avoid talking outside of Q&A prompts like this.

eli [a winged tale]

Same Dani, I used Instagram for a while too and I just don’t think the platform is a good fit for my vertical scroll comic (see exhibit 1) Twitter is a mixed bag as well and I think unless you have a solid following already, it’s hard to gain traction. What really helped was being on Webtoon’s staff pick for a couple days. I’m not sure how Tapas picked up but it’s reassuring that there’s a couple of followers gained every week when I posted regularly. So it really does sound like the first step is to have a steady update schedule (working on the buffer! Got a month’s work down today). It’s just challenging because while I could upload one page a week but on the vertical scroll sites it seems like a longer episode (6-7 pages) is valued more as a solid update. Love hearing everyone’s thoughts and hope to learn from y’all! (edited)

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Consistency and con attendance were big ones for me, but something I learned worked well (and was really fun to do) was creating really fun, really dumb, non-canon bits of art every now and then. Following meme prompts or funny ideas from other people. If your comic can afford some humor being thrown its way, making people laugh is a great way to get some attention. No one needs to know the details of your story - they just need to relate to the characters/humor somehow. I had more than one person come across my dumb, meme-y ancillary art and go “Welp, I want to read your comic now.”

eli [a winged tale]

Memes to the rescue! What has been your favourite to do? And which one has surprised you in its relatability/popularity?

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Two shots of vodka.

Also that terrible sweater meme. Everyone is required to do the terrible sweater meme. People eat it up.

eli [a winged tale]

Too good

Ahh I can’t wait till I can actually write silly adult characters

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Now that you mention it, the nice thing about the terrible sweater meme is it works with a WIDE variety of comics.

eli [a winged tale]

I would love to do a meme with y’all

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

"Came for the story, staying for the sick memes"

Spring-heeled Jack

I try to post updates every friday when my new pages go up on Patreon. And then I make my big post when my tapas and website update at the end of the month. Between all that, I have little flyers that I carry with me and if I'm ever in a shop that has a little self promotion section, I plan on tacking up a flyer. I do conventions, and this will be my first convention season while actively making a comic, so flyers will be handed out then as well.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

My comic isnt very comedy-heavy, and even for the funny scenes, my sense of humor isn't compatible with most people's. So a lot of the memes out there just don't work. But terrible sweater meme doesn't have to be hilarious. It can be just cute, or even weird.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

For me, uh lmao. I sometimes make some funny strip panels and it was received well even though it's not polished for my liking lmao

Spring-heeled Jack

Keii, I feel you. I'm not good with comedy and my comic isn't meant to be funny, either, so I don't know how well a comedy meme will help me.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

overall, I try to be honest with just self promo and asking when I have a chance "Hey pls check out my comic lol"

eli [a winged tale]

Or maybe just something relatable? Seen a couple caption this on tumblr

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I think instead of memes, what I'm gonna do is my characters cosplaying more well known characters from works that have some tonal similarities with my own. This isn't just for advertising purposes; it's something I've been wanting to do for a long time for myself. But I'm realizing it can serve some of the same purposes that memes do.

Spring-heeled Jack

That's extremely cute!

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Keyword being "SOME" Tonal similarities... Some of them aren't very similar but have a couple of parallels, etc.

Spring-heeled Jack

Oh for sure. Even if you could find that 'perfect match', it might not be a great cosplay for them, and give too much away

Are "draw the squad" prompts still a thing? I love those

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

The One White Dude and the Tiger Dude in my comic will definitely cosplay Calvin and Hobbes at some point.

Spring-heeled Jack

LOL

omg please, Keii

eli [a winged tale]

YES

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Yeah, not every comic will have super memeable humor - but whatever you can do to break down that wall between you and a potential reader and go “Hey! Look at this. Is this relatable? Do you get the reference? Etc” Is a very good bet

Also yes squad memes are PERFECT

You can boil down your comic’s relationships so simply.

Spring-heeled Jack

I have four couples in my comic so those "ship dynamic" posts might be fun

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

What are squad memes?

eli [a winged tale]

I also need to be educated about squad I mean all the memes

Spring-heeled Jack

OH MAN!! They are fun as heck. You can find templates and it's a very simple character design in the template, but the poses are super silly. And then you just draw your characters in place of those simple figures(edited)

If you google "Draw the squad" you will find a bunch

renieplayerone

Oh! Ill have to try that! These squad bases look fun!

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I still have one of those I need to finish Back when I first started sharing my work, I was surprised and delighted at how quickly people shoved it through a meme filter.

Maybe that’s another thing! If marketing opportunities present themselves as a surprise, try running with them and see where they take you Within reason, of course. Never feel forced to follow anything that people respond to in a particular way. Just take it into account and see how you feel about it.

renieplayerone

(Im here to lurk on this week's question, i have no strategy and need ideas haha)

eli [a winged tale]

Omg draw the squad looks

too many to choose

mariah (rainy day dreams)

I love draw the squad poses so much TuT I wish I had more time to draw within more of them. I think I always get a little dishearten about making memes because I feel like I need to make my jokes full illustrations but I never have time for much extra content beyond ballpoint pen sketches :T

Mei

Honestly I don't have a marketing or promotion strategy for my webcomic. I make updates every week, and I post it on my twitter and kinda plug it there. I'm actually god awful at trying to make people read my comic because I'm a little bit nervous about it, to be honest. So I just sort of leave it there and see if people find it, half the time. That being said, I tried to promote it pretty hard at conventions last year. But that didn't go as well as I'd hoped. I'm hoping to make flyers with QR codes so that people can scan it, and it'll take them to the landing page/tapas for the comic. That might be a bit easier than getting them to just search the title, plus having a flyer is a nice bit of promotion if I get the opportunity?! Making memes and drawing characters in different clothes or in squad things sounds like super fun tho and I might look into that in the future

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

It's nice to hear everyone talk about this topic. TBH I had completely stopped promoting my comic because I got too scared of backlash, being a disappointment, etc. (Initially I'd attracted a number of people who weren't actually my target audience, and that led to some less than ideal results.) But some time last year, it occurred to me that 1) I'm making this comic for my reader self (or my "hypothetical taste twin" as I like to call it)... which means 2) I only have to appeal to people like me. So I started asking myself, "What would I have to say/do to get me to read this comic?" and that made it significantly less intimidating. I haven't actually started doing self promo (though I did start plugging my updates on Twitter at least). But most future self promo I do will be based on that ^ question.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

(oh god, I was just checking out the latest update for one of the Korean webcomics I read, and the new episode is about a hikikomori... who says "I want to change, but I can't step outside because... maybe there isn't a single person out there who will understand me." THAT WAS ME but with comic promo. Well, I'm getting better and I also hope this character will, too, though knowing this comic his chances aren't so great lol...)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I hope that wasn't too awkward to share! Tl;dr I really think the "what would I have to say/do to get ME to check out my comic" is a good approach for anyone else feeling intimidated about doing self promos.

In the same vein, but on the opposite side of the coin: I'm curious to know, what were some things that got YOU to read someone else's comic?

Some of my own answers to that aren't very relevant to what we can do for our own comics: e.g. I'm Korean and when Naver has a new comic in their pro comic lineup, I may check it out. I'm also a member of SpiderForest and I check out the applicants' comics during the app season. Stuff like that aren't really good promo options that we can take. But things that may be relevant: - 'Evocative scenery shot that doesn't show the face/ doesn't focus on the face.' MY WEAKNESS. That kinda pictures feel subtle and kind of lonely to me, even if it's a group shot. And I like stories with those vibes. -Promo includes an evocative quote. Could be from the comic itself, or from something else like a classical literature or whatever. The creator of Ark (https://www.arkcomic.com/) does this sometimes and even though I'm already following Ark, those promos get my attention.

eli [a winged tale]

Definitely the art promo now that I think of it! Merch, posters, banners etc. If the art intrigues me, I definitely take a look at the site/blurb/first chapter

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I wonder if we can semi-workshop promo art at some point? Not really intensive like "change xyz" because that's not always feasible with art, but just impression feedback like, "this pictures gives me these vibes, and makes me expect this kinda story"

I would be curious to see everyone's even if we don't workshop

eli [a winged tale]

YES

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Yesssss

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Yes please. I don‘t promo besides update notices simply because I have no clue to start.

Mei

Sometimes I get really attracted by the style of the story? I immediately started reading Wolfsbane because the art was cool and different from a lot of whta I'd seen on Webtoon up until that point. And then the story was perfect for me. What keii said about writing for yourself is right. Patrick Ness once said you should write the stories your younger self would have loved to pick up on a shelf

and I think that's a pretty evocative thing. At the end of the day, you should be enjoying what you're writing (hopefully). And if you enjoy it and you're having fun making it, that can rub off on the people reading it, or you find the people who like that similar vein of story?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

(It's also 100% legit to write stories for your current self )

Mei

(oh yes 100% that's what i'm doing HEHE)

Tolkein wrote LOTR because he was like

in love with worldbuilding

was there a market for such a strange type of novel at the time? No. Definitely not. Did he write it anyway? YEAH HE DID

Deo101 [Millennium]

I really wanna do an art workshop yes.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Aight, anyone who wants an impression feedback from me, post your promo art in #art_help

Warning, my impressions may be totally off lol

Deo101 [Millennium]

Also I don't do much marketing. Mostly I try to get in with communities and learn about making comics, I just want to improve my craft. All I really do is make my updated every week, and share whatever art Ive made on my Twitter or whatever

Okay! I think I only have my cover on my phone, but on my computer I also have my banners and icon. So I'll share all those in a bit when I'm at my computer

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

(off topic but I'm sick, and when I'm sick or very tired I constantly misread words. I read "my banners" as "my bananas" and I was very confused for a couple seconds.)

Deo101 [Millennium]

My bananers

Feather J. Fern

I am terrible at marketing my own work, but I am very good at marketing other people's work. I use the "you would like it for this reason" to grab people. Unfortunately I can't do it for my comic because I am bad at seeing the good in my own work oof. I am getting better at it though.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

That's a really good way to do it!

And I can relate. My own hangup is a little different, but it can be extremely difficult to be brave for sure, whether in front of other people, or just in front of your own brain that constantly judges you.

Feather J. Fern

Yeah I was talking about a friend's comic and then the person I was talking to was like "Don't you write comics" and I was like "ahfoofjw yeah but don't look at them"

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I was thinking a lot about the whole "it's like [well known work] meets [another well known work]" approach that was discussed earlier. And I think that could be relevant here. Like, think of something that has either influenced your comic significantly, or just happens to have some core similarities. How would you market that thing? Could you market your own thing using a similar approach -- since there are similarities?

I'd thought of a really good example to compare HoK to. Then I got sad because the said example is extremely obscure outside of Korea. But now I'm like, hey, people don't have to KNOW that work. I can do this differently. I can talk about HoK the way I could talk about it.

('it' as in the other work that's obscure outside of Korea)

Feather J. Fern

I do think that's a good fast shortcut but I don't like using it becuase the shortcut sometimes makes people angry when they don't get what they like out of those two things

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

That's why I said to NOT actually bring up the comparison work

Don't name it

Just list the traits that are shared in common

Feather J. Fern

Oh sorry

I miss read

(And my name changed colours all the sudden?)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

It's a confusing topic, so no worries

It means you leveled up

Feather J. Fern

OWO!

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Say you want to compare your work to... I dunno, DBZ, because it's got super strong aliens duking it out barehanded, blasting ki-like energy attacks, etc. Don't name DBZ. Talk about your work the way you'd talk about your favorite aspects of DBZ. "My comic has super strong aliens duking it out hand-to-hand! YEEEAH!"

OH MY GOD I NEED TO DO THIS NOW.

Feather J. Fern

Yeah! That's what I would do. (But it also helps for me that my comic has no hard reference points) but for my new comic, people are gonna compare it to Zach Bell, and Angelic Layer i think

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I'm gonna write up some drafts that I will revise and tweet at a later time

Feather J. Fern

So I jsut got to you know, not promo it as such XD

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I want to do this too for a quick pitch

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Do it (shop talk or story help maybe?)

I'm writing a vomit draft for mine

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Yee

Feather J. Fern

I think I will do it for Story help

(Also so I can help flesh out my new project lol lol)

eli [a winged tale]

Kei I might be suuuuper off since I read only the beginning but I sort of thought inuyasha but Korea and handsome boys

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Sometimes you don't even realize your story can be marketed as "blah meets blah" until much later down the line - I've only started realizing the number of existing properties I've absorbed unintentionally into my comic. It's not how I'd market it on a serious front, but to a friend for story help, heck yes.

But a lot of people on Twitter seem to do that strategy for PitMAD and it works great for them, so... shrug

I guess it still belongs in a "pitch arsenal," as it were

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, the one "blah" I just thought of is something I hadn't realized for all these years. But it makes so much sense now that I look at it.

eli [a winged tale]

See that’s where I got confused but I think this is what I’m gonna aim to do: - pitch to readers: inspiration but this awesome unique thing in the comic - pitch to other comic makers: the Logline - pitch to agents: comparison works if requested and longer pitch depending on their format - pitch to family: just read it plzthanksbye

renieplayerone

or alternative pitch to family: Please dear god never read this

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

That's me

Oof... Writing the 'promote your comic by talking about the traits it shares with Another Person's Work,' I made myself cry, and that is definitely a sign I'm on the right track.

eli [a winged tale]

Right track is good!

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

It took me years to even think of an 'other more popular work' comparison for Children of Shadow. XD But at the same time, it's really different from the works I compare it to, so it's hard to say 'Read this if you like X or X because it has a few similarities in theme and tone, but is still very much its own thing'.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah which is why I'm not even gonna namedrop my X.

I'm just straight up gonna talk about 'My comic has [this trait]' (and X shares that trait, but no one needs to know for the purpose of that pitch)

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

To answer the weekly question... I really don't have a marketing strategy. Marketing is my achilles heel, so I generally just throw pages up and hope someone sees them. I don't really understand social media nor do I have the energy to sink tonnes of time into it, which seems to be one of the biggest requirements for being picked up by algorithms. So my marketing strategy is just.., keep making comics and talking to other creators and hope for the best

eli [a winged tale]

I think that’s still solid Capn

Ultimately you need a product to promote

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

It's something that helps me, because while I can talk about my favorite works done by others, I feel stuck when trying to do the same with my own. So it's basically telling my brain, 'hey, you already know how to do it with other stories. Do the same thing with your own.'

eli [a winged tale]

So true Kei

renieplayerone

thats my strategy too. best case you market it great, worst case you've made a new friend so win win :3

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

My incredibly low numbers after 14 years of making webcomics beg to differ but... maybe someday I can hire someone to help me market.

eli [a winged tale]

I’m using the comic platforms rather than my own site so... sort of relying on their algorithms. I imagine it can be harder if you just post on your own website?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Sometimes the platforms don't help much if their audience isn't into the type of comics you make

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I post on both my own website and on platforms, but the algorithms for WT and Tapas don’t seem to like me, haha.(edited)

renieplayerone

yeah same

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

One of my top favorite webcomics got a front page feature on Tapas once, but it wasn't the kind of a story that gets a lot of traction there, so it still didn't get very popular. And that was in no way a measure of its quality. It is an excellent comic, just not a good fit for that particular place.

renieplayerone

I get far more views on my site, but I get way more engagement on Tapas and WT

I actually treat those two mirrors AS marketing for the main site(edited)

eli [a winged tale]

Exactly renie! Good perspective!

I never know what different platforms tailor to...

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Yeah, what Keiiii said. I make dark fantasy comics and both WT and Tapas favour romance, especially comics geared towards a female audience and drawn anime style. My comics aren’t particularly feminine and romance isn’t much of a focus, so they’re just not what that demographic is into.

eli [a winged tale]

I’ve been trying to remember how I came across my favourite comics and usually it’s through the art (interesting characters, unique dynamic style that I enjoy) and the first chapter holding promise (able to see what the character wants/will have to change into)

Romance has always been the best seller in the story world I think

Oh and most recently hiveworks and other web publishers have great recommendations too per genre

And comic conventions are always fun to meet creators. Sometimes If I feel I jive with someone I’m an instant fan

renieplayerone

I absolutely need to get better at having confidence enough to make friends at conventions x_x

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I have noticed my audience grow a bit since joining Spiderforest. They’ve helped me get a bit better at promotion, though marketing just isn’t my talent, lol.

renieplayerone

im always terrified haha

eli [a winged tale]

It’s a big step for sure renie! It took me like... three years going to VanCAF as an attendee before actually exhibiting and making friends(edited)

Mei

I know i'm late but i personally detest the 'this book is X meets Y!!', even though I get why people do it. I just wish they'd describe it to me like what if I'd never read either of those books......

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I would really love to get out to cons, they sound like a great opportunity for connecting with other creators. One of these years I’ll be able to get to one!(edited)

Deo101 [Millennium]

yeah im usually kinda like "okay, well are you doing anything new or are you just doing those things :/"

renieplayerone

I exhibit with the Boston Comics Roundtable and I still havent gotten the courage XD

Mei

yeah, cons are really fun even to attend or to make friends! I find it really tough though, I'm so intimidated;;

yeah Deo... same... it's like

sure, I could pitch a story as two things. Like I don't know "The Walking Dead meets Shaun of the Dead" which is semi redundant anyway

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I only use it to give people a framework for the kinds of tones and themes they can expect from my work when I have to keep my explanation short and sweet.

renieplayerone

they should have badges that say "Hi i want to make friends but you are all so awesome its intimidating be kind"

Mei

or you know... use those words to just describe the story? It may be a personal preference, some agents LOVE comparisons

Yes renie, yes!

i'd love a badge like that like

pls talk to me i'm scare

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Sometimes a few words can’t fully describe a story as well as saying: ‘It’s a little bit like X meets X but if you add [insert unique thing your story does]’

Mei

I personally find that it depends a bit too much on people having read those books or stories before. BUT if you're pitching to an agent, they've usually read those books

so then they get a sense or vibe of like, what the genre is

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

It’s all down to preference, really. Your own and the person you’re pitching to. If you don’t want to use comparisons to describe your own work, that’s valid, but try not to dismiss people who do.

Mei

so I get it, I just don't like it personally xD I think a lot of the times it takes away from your own voice and story

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

That too is part of the reason why I'm not namedropping the works

Just having my self-promo self learn from my 'promo other people's stuff' self

Mei

yeah for sure, it adds that level of excitement to your own work that you'd give to others?

eli [a winged tale]

I think a cool exercise might be to check out someone’s work here and see how you would promote it

It’s always good to see from someone else’s perspective

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

yessssss, all of my friends have been much better at promoting than I am

mostly because they have no shame regarding it but they also just... know what sounds cool

Mei

Oh i'm very good at promoting my friends' work

I sold his DnD book to a kpop stan who doesn't like DnD and doesn't play, and it was a crowning achievement

eli [a winged tale]

Like for yours I’d probably say... Manta Ray princess finds herself very much dead but is given a second chance to revive her friends and save her kingdom... just need to find someone very much living and very much not afraid of the seaghosts they have become

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

SOLID

though now I imagine Phaedra as a Manta Ray in a dress which is... not entirely untrue

eli [a winged tale]

LOL omg I haven’t even thought of that! Just thought manta Princess is a hook

Mei

Me, pointing at Cheth "I mean look at him, LOOK AT HIM and tell me you don't want to read this"

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I guess for my work I market it from four potential angles: 1) The princess is cool and has a sword, 2) The villain is the best character, 3) The environments ain't bad, and 4) THERE'S A DOG

again, you gotta know who you're talking to and what they already like

eli [a winged tale]

In a world where a fallen god became trapped in the sea, a dead princess is given a second chance to fight for her life with a mysterious sea-bitten boy and undo the sea ghost curse that plagues the world.

Dammit I repeated world

Mei

hey... the environments are GREAT

eli [a winged tale]

Yeah Lady your environment shots are

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

ok I do try BUT BACK TO MARKETING

The number of times I see someone marketing their comic with very epic-sounding descriptors or broad generalizations... then that one day where they're finally like "oh, I have a character who turns into a hamster at nighttime" and people are like 'I'M SOLD'

And then they go ".... THAT'S WHAT YOU ALL WANTED???"

often it's those little weird details that get people interested

Deo101 [Millennium]

I wanna read about the were hamster please

Mei

sometimes I think the simplest and maybe slightly silly lines are what grabs people?

when things sound TOO epic i feel a bit intimidated

eli [a winged tale]

takes notes

Mei

but if someone were to sell me a big adventure epic as "it's hamsters and they fight the forces of evil" i'd read it

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

god yes

"Four small creatures band together to defeat a great darkness overwhelming their homeland."

No.

"Hamsters fight evil."

YES

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I.... I have no idea how to snappily describe my comics. XD

eli [a winged tale]

Same... I got to kids with wings for hair then my brain short circuits

Mei

i'd say it's the way you'd tell the story to a close friend

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

The best I came up with was 'Teenagers with supernatural powers team up with woodland critters to defeat monsters' but it sounds more adventure-y and doesn't really get at the fact that it's a dark story with horror elements and everyone's mentally ill.

Mei

like they come up to you and go "what's your comic about" "oh you know, my stupid comic's about mutant hamsters that take over the world" or something

(don't call your comics stupid none of your comics are stupid they are great)

Deo101 [Millennium]

"plant man and his goth boyfriend babysitting a ton of bozos" would probably be mine then

Mei

BEAUTIFUL

i'm sold

Deo101 [Millennium]

ghsakgjhgkhkgahgk my target audience...

Mei

i do think tho like this form of comedic one-lining may not work for something dark?

Unless you go "Spooky horror about cats that become humans at night!"

would need experimentation

eli [a winged tale]

It’s a balance I think.

Kids stranded on an island with weapons explore the darkness in human nature - Lord of the Flies

Mei

ooh yeah that's a good one!

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

A space explorer stranded on a foreign planet must join forces with the indigenous population and save his ship before his life support runs out.

Alternately

Small man goes to war with small carrot people

Pikmin

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

@Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios) I wonder if one could describe CoS the way how people might describe Evangelion, but with magical powers instead of mechs.

Teens, monsters, mental illnesses

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Probably. Though I've never seen Evangelion, but those three words work very well.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

The relationship dynamics are way different, but yeah, those three things...

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Also add trauma and cute lil animals and you have Children of Shadow. XD

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Evangelion also has trauma (though I don't know if you'd like it; this isn't a rec, just a promo discussion!) and it was refreshing to see at the time

A teen trying to fight huge monsters, even if he was doing it inside an equally huge mech, could lead to traumatizing experiences, and it was the first time I saw that seriously explored

Hmm, so I guess "teens, talking animals, monsters, mental illnesses feat. trauma" ?

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I don't know if it's similar at all, but that description reminds me strongly of Eureka 7. Wow, was that series intense,

🌈ERROR404 🌈

I really liked how the end happened - it was a nice solution to the lack of budget issue and told the story of his psyche reall well

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Though Eureka 7 was intense in a good way. I found the ending kind of unsatisfying, but admittedly I find the endings of 90% of animes unsatisfying (probably a cultural clash). But I enjoy them for the journey more than the ending.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I haven't watched Eureka 7, but the storyboard artist (one of the storyboard artists maybe?) for that anime is one of my favorite artists.

DanitheCarutor

Ah, a little late, but regarding the snappy promos I'm in the same boat as Cap'n with not knowing how to make one. At least one that would be ridiculous and totally not fitting the darker themes. I agree with all the people who have a generally hard time coming up with a pitch for their work, while having an easier time promoting other people's comics. Honestly my comic can be super boring to people who don't like pretentious, non-fantastical, angsty, character study types of stories. So it's really hard to think of a way to make it sound interesting without spoiling anything. Man! That thing when people come up to you, asking what your comic is about! Me: "Oh! Ah, it's uh, kinda sad and it has uh mental illness" -trails off with uncomfortable laughter- Them: Oh cool. -has a look of complete disinterest- Someone was actually extremely enthusiastic about the vague description of my comic, which somehow made me a mix of uncomfortable and excited.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I saw the conversation about blurbs and I just thought of one for a comic I'm working on! "An ecologist and a bird have a conversation about ethics"

I haven't started the comic yet so please send your critiques(edited)

and first impressions

(of the blurb)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

"Angsty character study with a heavy dose of mental illness" <--- Could this descriptor work? @DanitheCarutor

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

kei said exactly what I was just typing

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Great minds

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

oh, i just realized i've read dani's comic

I think your description is fine?

The artsy, angsty comics I follow all have kind of short, tongue in cheek descriptions

it's hard to capture the tone of an emotional comic in one sentence so they either joke about it or make it intentionally misleading

for example Drop Out's description is something like "two friends go on a road trip" and Fritz Fargo's description is "a human dumpster fire in the 90s"

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

The dumpster fire one is insta-effective

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Dani, maybe make your description shorter if anything?

Something like, "An emotionally stunted alcoholic attempts to make amends"

and then follow it up with kei's line about it being an angsty character study

RebelVampire

Im not gonna stop the convo cause it is on topic. However, i do want to remind ppl these #creator_babble chats are permanently archived. So thats something to keep in mind if youre gonna workshop.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I asked before in this discord about making my own blurb better. The main critique I got was that I included too many things that I thought were interesting and unique that a new reader probably wouldn't care about. Like how the mc's powers work. But though it's unique and important to the story, it's not going to be a main reason someone reads the comic. I revised the blurb to remove extraneous info and make the tone of the comic more apparent, and I think now I didn't lose anything and made it more concise.

I think maybe agtahr could also be summarized a bit more succinctly

DanitheCarutor

Yup, you did once upon a time but said you stopped reading it a while ago. (which is totally fine, the reason is understandable.) The mix of yours and Keii's descriptions do sound a lot better than mine. Lol Thank you Fish and @keii’ii (Heart of Keol)! I've noticed people really like the word 'angst' when you describe heavy stuff. At least when I was a teenager everyone found it appealing. I'll tinker with it a bit and use Drop_Out and Fritz Fargo as a reference. Anyways, I'm going to stop talking now, don't want to bog down the main topic.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

That's a good point; 'the best things about this story' and 'things that should go in its blurb' have an overlap, but they aren't always the same.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Yeah, I did but I'll probably pick it up again eventually. I remember enjoying it. If you do want to keep talking, we can move to shop talk?

mirandalorian

babbling I have the first three episodes of my webtoon ready to post tomorrow and I’m really excited and feel kinda proud that I made it this far...even though it’s not very far. It’s far for me without posting immediately end babbling

Feather J. Fern

I forgot to ask, but if people are tabling at cons, do you guys have promo stuff at your con tables for your comics?

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Mostly a business card, but yes

carcarchu

i never did but my table partner one year had free postcards she gave out with purchase / to passerbys with her comic info and an illustration on it

kayotics

I always keep free postcards to advertise my comic on the table right next to my business cards.

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Yep, the free postcards did wonders for me last year. They disappeared quickly!

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Buisness cards and postcards~

Feather J. Fern

Seems like Business and Postcards are the way to go.

Mei

business cards!!

i might be making flyers/postcards for my comic next time though! :D

sagaholmgaard

I haven't done much to promote my comic but I've gotten some good ideas reading through this, thanks! I currently plug my updates in twitter and instagram with a cool/fun panel from the new page. I do also share WIPS and try to engage through my instagram stories (Asking things like, 'what type of benders would the Reclaim squad be in an avatar au' and making doodles for the answers), but that only reaches those who follow my IG. its good fun tho. I've done memes with the characters a few times but I didn't get much attention, LOL. But it's fun so maybe worth trying again

Spring-heeled Jack

Today I went into a locally owned comic shop and went to the guy that owns it and said "I'm a local artist and I'm writing a comic. Could I give you some small flyers to let people take?" And he said yes, and then asked if I have any physical copies. I don't yet but told him I'll bring some by when I have them. He then let me know he carries other local artists! Something cool to think about if you have a local comic shop.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

ooo that's good to know

I droped off my zines at my local comic shop but maybe I'll drop flyers of my webcomic too lmaooo

Spring-heeled Jack

I also just ordered a business card carrier so I can tote some around with ease. I carry my flyers in my sketchbook. You should totally ask, it never hurts! Carry a few extra just in case you find yourself in a new area and find another cafe or comic shop.

I ran mine off on my at home printer on some nice quality but regular weight paper. I might need to get some more professionally done.

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

I keep a handful of business cards in my wallet -- that way, any time someone says "hey, that looks cool, what are you drawing?" they get a card with the title and URL. Slowly but steadily burns through the supply.

DanitheCarutor

Seeing if my local book shops will carry copies of my comic when I print them eventually is something I'm kind of excited about! My town is hardcore into supporting local artists and writers, so that'll be something neat to try out. Although I'm a little nervous that the rating might be a little too mature for what the vendors want on their shelves.

I know of using postcards to advertise, but never heard of fliers. Maybe I'll give that a try.(edited)

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I use double sided business cards, so on one side, it showcases some of my art, and the other side has contact info, a link to my comic website, and a QR code. It's been pretty helpful so far at conventions.

Nutty (Court of Roses)

You guys have all these sophisticated answers to this and my answer is just "scream on every social media platform I can reach and every person I meet about my comic."

Though I may not scream at people irl,,,

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

Let's see... I have a twitter where I repost my comic pages, and a couple mirrors that help reach different audiences. I've also carried around business cards that have my comic's URL on it. One fun strategy I've used is doing review-exchange things, in an I-critique-your-comic-if-you-critique-mine way (with the assumption that most people who read all the way through Super Galaxy Knights end up liking it). Though, that isn't really viable anymore now that the comic is 600+ pages, cuz nobody would ever agree to that trade lol. And... that's pretty much it? Though, I should note that my goal with Super Galaxy Knights isn't to make the most popular comic I can so that I can make a living off ads or patreon or print sales or whatever. If I ever do manage to make money off the comic, it'll be in "spinoff tech" (basically, video games or other media based off it). (it's the reason why a bunch of early Starstuff Stories fleshed out the abilities of the characters they focused on) I would like people to read the story because I think people would like the story, but it's not like my future depends on its popularity.

Holmeaa - working on WAYFINDERS

We (me and Q) are gonna (hopefully) tabeling at cons this year! I thought about doing free non permenant tattoos with our comic things. Also we have beautiful zines of the first chapter to sell. but a free postcard is also good

Desnik

promotional strategies...ah...the biggest thing I did for my first webcomic, RAWR! Dinosaur Friends, was simply update on a general platform (tumblr), using a consistent schedule and the same tags every time. That allowed some of the bigger biology/humor/critter blogs on tumblr to find me and I got a lot of people reading from their generous reblogs. I found some more niche crossover from sci-comm blog comments and dinosaur toy collector forums, because sometimes I'd have a comic that would coincide with paleontology news. It was mainly about finding my niche and bringing my stuff to that niche. To those struggling with finding readers, I would recommend distilling the contents of your comic and then reaching out to people who buy/read things like your comic. I've definitely made friends from general 'webcomic' forums and discords, but in terms of building a readership it's all about finding the niche and catering to it in a human way

In general I highly recommend shopping around for stuff like hobby blogs/forums/groups/discords that have some relation to the content of your webcomic. Those people DO want new content related to their hobby, but they don't really deal well with salesy pitches. Just be human and also a nerd for that hobby, too (nerdy enough to make webcomics about it)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, it's like fan comic for an existing IP with an existing fandom, except it's a fan comic of a 'thing' rather than an IP (e.g. you make a pirate comic? Great! Nobody owns pirates, but there are lots of pirate fans out there!).

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

The very first customer I had at the first con I tabled at, came over and said "I like ghosts! I like the ocean! I'll take it!" And wrote me later saying it was exactly what they were looking for.

And honestly it's all because I make sure every cover has something spooky and something watery, and the genres are in the title I make it very easy for people to understand what it might be like.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

omg the genres are in the title

that's genius

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Definitely not planned But it helps so much!

I think if authors have a rule on certain symbols/motifs they MUST make sure come across on covers/posters/etc, that can be a good marketing strategy. With some wiggle room, of course.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I... I feel like I can barely even describe what my comic is, which makes it so hard to market. 'Do you like comics with cute animals and eldritch horrors and angsty teens that have superpowers and hidden religious symbolism everywhere?!? Then my comic is for you!' What even is that demographic, because I sure don't know.(edited)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

@Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios) If you take away the cute animals part, that actually sounds like stuff a lot of teens are into/ a lot of people were into when they were teens. And most people love cute animals, so adding that to the mix, in theory, shouldn't reduce the accessibility too much. Buuuuut CoS has its unique flavor that's decidedly different from all the "angsty teens, eldritch horrors, religious symbolism" stuff I consumed when I was younger. I don't know how to describe that flavor, nor how to utilize it for marketing. But yeah, maybe some food for thought?

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I've used short phrases that are sort of representative to describe my comic. Examples include "consensual mind control" "a guy whose ideal life is not being entirely alive" "friendship" and "anticlimactic conversations"

I have no idea how effective any of those are

someone tell me pls

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

As someone who just started reading your comic last night I think consensual mind control is a really cool descriptor. I haven't heard that too much before.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

that makes me happy

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

@keii’ii (Heart of Keol) Heh, I'm not sure what that unique flavour is, either, but it might have something to do with me avoiding the typical 'chosen one' structure that most teen fantasy literature has. The characters are all (except Fawna) a part of the hidden world already rather than discovering it, and everyone's pretty much running around like chickens with their heads cut off rather than having any power over their situation (which is kind of a huge part of the theme of the comic). It's definitely different than the typical urban fantasy, so it's been really hard to find which audience that appeals to. From what I've gathered based on the people who comment on my website, it's mostly academics in college or beyond, for whatever reason. XD

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Honestly I think for almost all comics their first pages were what convinced me to keep reading. Even with Phantomarine I was ambivalent about the description but then I saw the first page, and though, yeah, I'm into this.

Maybe my own comic can be the same way

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Exactly the same with me and your comic - I was also all about that first page It's a powerful thing! I think for anyone about to delve into a comic - which is, by nature, a very visual thing - it's going to be that visual that ultimately pushes them over the edge.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

maybe my description should just be ascii art of my main character O-O | -(edited)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

^ It's why I tinkered with the first page of HoK soooo many times even after it went live. But it wasn't enough; it still gave off the wrong impression as to what kind of a story one should expect. Finally, more than a year after I started posting it, I redid like 1/4 to 1/3 of chapter one from scratch. Even though it will never be perfect, I can live with it now. chapter 2 on the other hand... It's an imperfect intro to the right story, rather than an intro (good or not) to the wrong story.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

To be honest, my intro probably doesn't hit the right notes to explain what my comic is about, which may be part of my problem. It starts out seeming more like an anthropomorphic fantasy than a dark urban fantasy / horror story. That's just something I think I'm going to have to live with, because I'm tired of reworking old pages (I already do it far too much). I think my best solution is drawing a new cover that showcases the tone and subject matter better than the one I'm using now.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

oh god, you reminded me of the 3 cover pages I spent hours on only to later scrap. Then my current cover page I did in one hour after it came to me at 4am(edited)

and it was perfect

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

and my page redoings were after the reboot.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Cap, I don't know how representative it is of the story but I looked up the Ashes cover page and it's very impressive

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Yeah, I already redrew my intro once.... and this is the third iteration of this comic. And I'm currently redrawing the first two chapters of my other comic. I'm so sick to death of starting over. -_-

@Eightfish (Puppeteer) Oh, thank you!! I like to go all-out on covers, heh.

Kabocha

Promotion... ... is that a thing you can eat? ... A few things I've tried is business cards -- tweeting about it -- posting about it on dA... I try to stay away from services like Tapas and Webtoon because I'm not formatted for those sorts of things, and I fear I'll probably just frustrate myself. It's a delicate balance right now between remaining happy with my work and getting it seen, but overall, I guess I'm not too stressed about it since it's not a source of income for me... I just... like making comics. I've also done conventions -- Conventions are fun, don't get me wrong, but nowadays they're a really low return on interest for many shows for original stuff (except slice of life and "oh no I did a bad" types of zines -- people seem to really enjoy things like that since it's often pretty easy to relate to). They feel like they used to be easier for selling original work, but the market's gotten rougher because there's so much competition and only so many dollars. if I ever print, I'm probably going to have to lean on some marketing-savvy friends for help... Hopefully things haven't changed too much by then. I think the tool that's worked best for me in the past few years has been doing guest comics here and there, as well as using topwebcomics, oddly enough. TWC was pretty good for referrals when I started doing comics way back in 2006~2007...

sagaholmgaard

Since the topic is about promotion... Do yall know if there are any twitter hashtag events for webcomic creators? My friends in the indie game industry have certain hashtags that people can post in during specific times every week - do we have anything similar?

Kabocha

#Webcomicchat!

https://webcomicchat.com/for-creators You may also find this page helpful

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

#webcomicchat is great because you get to talk shop while talking about your own work! It's not just "look at my comic"

sagaholmgaard

Ahh!! Thank you!

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I know some people do #WebcomicWednesday - not sure how official it is, but it gets some attention!

sagaholmgaard

I'll check that one out as well!

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

There's also #comicartistsunite too

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

webcomicchat always looked like fun, but I definitively am on the wrong side of the globe for the times it's going on

mirandalorian

Promotion is difficult. I always feel like I'm being too pushy, even for something that's free. I also feel like I built up a following that had nothing to do with comics or art and so when I switched directions to head that way, i don't get the response I would like. Reading all the thoughts here has been really helpful tho. Just got to put them into practice

Feather J. Fern

I think my current attempt for promotion is at least being more willing to promote. I have to force my fear of "I shouldn't tell people because it's not as good as (blank)" and just shove my comic into a spotlight

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

If anyone is worried about bothering people, putting variety into your promotions will make things more palatable for people for sure. I have one person on my timeline spamming the same exact post over and over again, almost daily, and it doesn't seem to be doing them any favors There's no need for a promotion every day. The people I see that do a more-obvious promotion tweet, like, weekly, or every two weeks, seem to get good results from that Sometimes less is more

mirandalorian

I need to get to that point Feathery. And ya, daily is a bit extreme imo. But I have to figure out the good balance

Feather J. Fern

Even weekly I don't do it because I feel like I am spamming and I feel awkward

Oh! Speaking of promotions, one way I found I got my comic promoted was by doing guest comics for other people! I got lots of viewers after each guest comic I did

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, for social media promo, e.g. on Twitter, you want to make your actual tweets have value -- not just things being linked off the tweets. (This is where gag-a-day kinda comics have an advantage, because each strip has entertainment value and you can just post the whole strip in a tweet.) Obviously this doesn't apply to every promo tweet; so like, weekly promo tweet that's solely about the links, as mentioned by others, is fine. But yeah, aside from those, you wanna make your promo tweets fun to read.

Feather J. Fern

Also cameos! Cameos are a great promo

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Not gonna lie, I am lowkey paranoid about doing cameos. Someone I know had to remove their cameo of someone else's character, because that other person objected to their character being in the print version of the comic.

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Uff

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

oh rip

Feather J. Fern

Oh man, that's rough.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I'll never even print HoK but I can still imagine someone being all "NOPE, I CHANGED MY MIND" at a later time

Feather J. Fern

I am planning to do some cameos for other people, not that Go Figure will ever be in print but I can see that problem. I think what I would say is that if you want a cameo you have to be 100% certain

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Might be a good idea to have a very simple agreement thing you can have them sign

Feather J. Fern

Yeah I was going to have a written consent form

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

"I agree to let you do a cameo of my character, and to not be a jerk about it at a later time. Signed"

Feather J. Fern

Signed and dated by both parties XD

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

There's also the broad hashtags like #webcomics and even things more geared to genres like #drama and #fantasy and so on. Doing art memes helps sometimes, too.

mirandalorian

What do you think the best hashtags to use are? Is webcomics too saturdated?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I'm not sure about the best hashtags, but my biggest thing about hashtags on Twitter : don't use a bunch of hashtags in a single tweet!

For broad hashtags like #webcomics or #fantasy, I gotta wonder if anyone's actually checking those out...

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Yeah, I usually tag my update posts with #webcomic and my comic's name, but honestly I have no idea if #webcomic has ever helped out my post ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

mirandalorian

Ya, I typically keep it to two or less, but i always wonder if webcomic is actually useful lol

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

takes note to use something more specific than #webcomic in my next update tweet

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I think it may potentially be useful as a label for someone who's just found you on that platform, and is not sure what you're promoting. But beyond that...

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

I usually use #historicalfiction and #webcomic. Not sure which one helps more, but well, there it is.

mirandalorian

Ya, I should use the genre tag too.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Do people even search genre tags for that matter lol (a bit pessimistic, but still a genuine question)

like, I'll be the first to admit, I don't hashtag search to look for new comics to read. I don't think I ever hashtag search ANYTHING, unless it's like..... a very active trend that I am interested in (e.g. an upcoming video game that I'm looking forward to)

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

Well, the tags are popular enough to be suggested by twitter so I'd think some use them, probably likeminded folk.

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Same keii. I mostly use hashtags to look for fan art, exclusively on Instagram.

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

There's also a trend of "art sharing" tweets. I have found a couple of artists and webcomics through that kind of event, but again, the turnover isn't anything to write home about.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I wonder if readers make use of the search more than us creators do?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I doubt it, Lee

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I never use it as a reader, at any rate, though I don't know if others are like that.

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Though, actually that's not true, I have used hashtags to look at more things being posted within art events. So inktober, mermay, hourly comic day, etc.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

But art event hashtags are useful, because -- like I mentioned before -- those tweets provide entertainment value without anyone having to click on offsite links. e.g. the #StartToFinish tag that's hot right now.

mariah (rainy day dreams)

I have followed new artists from those tags though and then checked out their off-site stuff. It's definitely a more round about way than someone specifically looking for comics to read via hashtag

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

From my limited observation, when people are looking for comics to read, they tend to ask for recs rather than do hashtag search?

"Anyone know of some good magical girl webcomics?" etc

which is a bit of a bummer for us creators, because that is completely outside of our control. Nothing we can do about it.

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

here's the popularity for the #webcomics tag

So SOME people use it.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

@Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight) I'm gonna guess it's mostly creators using them to promote, rather than readers using them to search.

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

Also it seems to be peak in popularity in the USA

@keii’ii (Heart of Keol) the graph implies interaction, really.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

What counts as interaction?

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

tweeting it and searching it

what I'm saying is we can't know.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I don’t so much in Twitter, but I personally DO search hashtags on Insta to find new art.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

It's true, we can't know. I just personally can't imagine anyone searching for #webcomics to find stuff to read

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Insta is definitely hashtag game city.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, IG is a different beast

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Comics don’t generally gel so well with Insta’s format, though, so I’m usually seeking art and not comics.

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

just to be safe, occasionally use it

To be honest, I'm probably more likely to find and become a fan of webcomics here on this server than any social media

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, I wouldn't say "don't use #webcomics" -- use it if you have no other, more specific tags to put. But on Twitter, you don't want too many hashtags, so if you got more specific ones... use those instead!

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

I feel somewhat self conscious in getting an instagram. But I'll get one most likely.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

It might be a good idea to switch up your tags regularly? Choose two or three from a relevant list each update and see if any of those tweets get a noticeable boost in engagement.

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

Yeah that sounds a good strategy

speaking of, any other creators into historical webcomics?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I don't seek them out, but there's some that I read.

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

yours is touching upon the historical keii with the joseon-style elements.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

It's definitely not historical but yeah, got the aesthetics going for it!

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

Yeah!

I must admit, I'm a bit starved for like-minded creators. I mean people that create historical webcomics. I know and follow a few but that's not nearly enough.

(if I'm babbling too much for creator babble please tell me!)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Babbling is fine! But this might be better for #general or possibly shop talk as it's not related to this week's topic?

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

oh sorry, there's a specific topic here too?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, all the channels under CTP Activities have a... topic thingie that changes weekly

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

okay got it. I'll take it there. Sorry :/

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Don't be sorry, be glad to chat about this stuff in another channel

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

With insta please be mindful that if you‘ll always post with the same hashtags, their algorythmn likely will assume you‘re a bot.

mirandalorian

Oh really?

I definitely did not know that.

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Yup, it‘s a big annoyance. At least it was that way half a year ago, how is the algorythm now? Nobody knows.

I kinda hate insta, but it‘s the platform with the most interactions for me, although I don‘t know if it goes beyound liking my panel cutout.

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Instagram does it‘s darnest to lock the user into theor own ecosystem.

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Yeah, hard same. I definitely get the most likes there, but I get very few referrals from insta.

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Funnily, the only social media where I KNOW I got at least one reader from is pillowfort and their teeny-tiny webcomic comunity!

mariah (rainy day dreams)

I keep wanting to hop over there, but also starting a new social media sounds exhausting TuT one day.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I need to start using PF

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

It‘s pretty chill, reminds me of the hey-day of livejournal, with great filtering - more intended to create many small communities than one giant pot like twitter.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I don’t think any platform’s algorithms like me. I get very low engagement no matter where I post. I’m just not good at figuring out what these platforms pick up.(edited)

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

I still have three invites left for this week.

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

Does cross promotion work for you guys at all?

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

A little bit? But I think my comics are a hard sell, so I generally don’t get a lot of referrals when I cross-promote with other creators.

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

It‘s how I found this community; but otherwise, nope.

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

Now I need to check out your comics Lee. I'm intrigued!

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Haha, if you want to! If they’re not your cup of tea that’s a-okay.

mariah (rainy day dreams)

I still have three invites left for this week.

@chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa] if you don't have plans for those invites, I would definitely take one and follow you first

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

About the hashtag thing on Twitter..... I have found the hashtags #webtoon #webtooncanvas and #celebrateCANVASday to be particularly useful for those of us publishing on Webtoon Canvas. I have gained a few new readers from this, and the official Webtoon Canvas page often retweets when these hashtags are used.

mariah (rainy day dreams)

That's good to know. I'm planning to start mirroring on Webtoon so I'll have to be sure to remember to use those tags.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I need to fix my series on WT first. But I'll give those hashtags a try once that's been done

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I tried using webtoon hashtags a few times, but their page never retweeted me. It seems either random, or there’s some hidden requirement for getting a rt.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

i use the tag sometimes but I found it more responsive if you have a vertical scrolling format comic

then they're more likely to respond to you

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Oh, yeah.... I use a traditional page format.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

same rip

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I do combine all my pages into long episodes at the ends of chapters, so it’s kinda scrolling, but they’re just traditional pages stacked on top of each other, lol. WT definitely doesn’t like that, but I don’t have the time to reformat hundreds of pages.

Feather J. Fern

Also promo thought, I randomly joined people's streams before and then got hooked on their comics after seeing them draw on twitch or something like that

Pistashi

I struggle a bit with promo stuff, because I get too self-conscious about self-promoting and I'm the type of person that ends up doing too much of it or none of it

at the moment I'm working on making a press kit and sharing it with some blogs and networks about comics

but still, what I usually do is join groups and try to talk with people that works with art and comics

this is kind of more inclined to networking and meeting new people to talk about what we like than promoting my work to potential readers

nothing wrong with that, but looking with a more critical eye I still have a lot to learn about building an audience and reaching people who could become future readers

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

I wonder HOW much a large social media following is worth. Insta‘s shown me that it isn‘t necessarily translating into readers.

carcarchu

in my experience followings on different platforms are non-transferable. same goes with having a large following on your comic itself, doesn't necessarily mean having a lot of followers on your art accounts. that's why they say "don't build your sandcastle in someone else's sandbox"

Pistashi

that makes a lot of sense

kayotics

If you’re building your following around your own content (original art, comic updates, etc) then the likelihood that the following is transferable is higher, but it’s still not 100%. You’re competing with everything else on their timeline too.

RebelVampire

i think a thing to consider with webcomics especially when it comes to social media is that a good portion of people who follow comic creators on social media are other comic creators, not people who are just readers. and the good majority of comic creators do not have a lot of time to read other webcomics. While there are certainly exceptions, I see those very few and far in between. So the conversion rates for social media right now are super low until the dynamic of the communities on the platforms changes.

kayotics

I’d agree with that, but also having a social media presence has definitely opened up some doors to being seen by other creators, many of whom are professionals. It’s good for networking, might not be the best for gaining and retaining readers.

RebelVampire

Oh yeah for sure. My point was about conversion factor

its factor in networking is a whole other matter entirely

and is indespensible

kayotics

One thing that I didn’t mention for myself is that networking has helped a LOT with getting new readers. Word of mouth, is always the best way to advertise, and other webcomic people giving you a plug can see some really strong results

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #comic tea party #ctp #creator interview #comic creator interview #creator babble

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