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Poll

More Romance?

  • I prefer more romance, drama, & lighter stuff 386
  • I like the world building/dark crime stuff, but a bit more condensed. 302
  • 2021-01-26
  • 688 votes
{'title': 'More Romance?', 'choices': [{'text': 'I prefer more romance, drama, & lighter stuff', 'votes': 386}, {'text': 'I like the world building/dark crime stuff, but a bit more condensed.', 'votes': 302}], 'closes_at': None, 'created_at': datetime.datetime(2021, 1, 26, 9, 51, 43, tzinfo=datetime.timezone.utc), 'description': None, 'allow_multiple': False, 'total_votes': 688}

Content

Based on the stats of recent EPs, I was thinking of going back and trimming down the conversation between Grave and Mr. Wolfe. 50 panels of exposition seems too dense, so maybe I can have Grave sum up their convo thru narration and or sprinkle it in later EPs. I'm also considering letting Grave and Ellie date a few times before the kidnapping. So that way, Grave feels much stronger about Ellie and saving her. 

The reason why I'm progressing things at break neck speed is because I want to see how people react to the overall story and fix anything that takes way from reader enjoyment. Hopefully, when my audience is satisfied with the story, I'd like to revamp it in full color & flesh things out more with the confidence of knowing that people will stick around.

I was also planning for action scenes where a lot of the violence is either off screen or drawn with black silhouettes. Would you be okay with that or prefer it toned down?

Lastly, I already hinted at it, but would you be opposed to a serial killer playing a prominent role as one of the major antagonists? I don't plan to show any morbid details (their methods are actually unique), but the concept may be too heavy for some. Your thoughts?

Comments

AriesSloan

I love a bit of both. The darkness in Grave and the light in Ellie. I'm new to your story. And didn't know about a kidnapping or anything else. But I'm so down for both kidnapper and serial killer. And the romance with them. I love the sweetness she brings out in him. This is a story I just happened upon. And I'm in love with the little I've read. I can't wait to see where you go in your creative style.

Ally Lambert

I absolutely love the balanced mix of romance and darkness

ajoji_comic

Hello, please don't be shy to leave a comment 😊

Alexis

Dear author I do see your reasons behind listening to the people's voices, and that are many ways in which a story is told. However this story is about the underworld, which from what I know is dark. When you talk about mafia, bad boys, sindicates and what not, I believe there are certain aspects and situations, that if removed the entire story won't feel realistic. And when I saw that first picture of Grave with a freaking gun, with his scars and wounds I knew what I'm getting myself into. Of course the level of violence and the way is presented can be varied, however, removing it and the backstory of the underworld would probably take away some charm. This is my personal opinion. 🍒❤🍒❤

Mireya Rivera

This is hard. I voted for the dark things ect, but also I love a lot of romance, jealousy, cuteness and all those things romance bring. I don't know 🤷‍♀️

Alexis

Why can't we have both? It's not like they are mutually excluding each other. I believe both main characters to have multiple lairs, complex personalities, as we all do. Showing the good and the bad and how they change, learn, grow and try to do things better. I guess it's all down to the message that the entire story wishes to convey.

ajoji_comic

Thank you Alexis for your input!! I was thinking the same thing too. Like how can I write a story about a guy involved in crime that isn't too dark and simple enough to follow when the nature of most crimes are violent and complex? It also surprised me when I began bleeding patrons after introducing the crime aspects, despite as you said, the cover of Grave with wounds and a huge ass gun between his thighs xD it's tough to find a balance, but I want to be able to do this full time so I'm trying to put the desires of my patrons first.

ajoji_comic

Ye, it's very tough 😥 I planned for all those things, but if people don't read past the bits of crime and worldbuilding, then all that work would be for naught.

ajoji_comic

We can, but I'm trying to find the right balance of both. I thought I wasn't leaning too heavily into the crime aspect, but looking at the lack of growth compared to how I started out, it seems I may have been wrong and too heavy handed with the monologues on crime and whatnot. Maybe I just need a more exciting way to present the information? 🤔

Lyubov

I hope that the most interesting and exciting will be ahead 😉

ajoji_comic

I have so much in store that I'm super excited about...I'm just a bit sad that engagement has plummeted recently and I'm not sure why other than I moved the focus away from Grave and Ellie for a little bit 😥

Lyubov

Thank you for your fascinating story, I chose the second option, I love stories with crime, I would really like to see the main characters from different sides of their lives (in a peaceful and insanely dangerous) but the final word, of course, you have 😉😘👍

Alexis

Then, excuse my boldness but I do believe probably a vast majority of patrons are here for the smut 😳😳😳 or not? Maybe seeing what Patreons want to see in terms of general content? We do love the story but what makes it exclusive is those NSFW pages. This is without diminishing the various content that is posted on this Patreon. Again just stating my opinion 🍒❤🍒❤

Lady LaVey

Don't change anything....😉

ajoji_comic

I thought so too, but more often than not, I've lost patrons after main comic updates. So even if people are satisfied with the NSFW, if they're not invested in the main story, they will still leave. Like I lost quite a bit of support after Episode 11, which is when the crime aspect was introduced. I remember being confused that people wanted to read a story about a guy involved in crime, but without mentioning any crime...😅 maybe the crime has to be implied or less severe? I'm doing my best to figure that out.

ajoji_comic

The Fuck You Say: "This is a story you've had in your head a long time right? I dont think its worth it for you to change something that you care for, for anyone else. I get that can be so stressful to see readership down, because chicks show up for romance, but I don't think the story is headed in the wrong direction. Grave and Ellie clearly have a connection and maybe saving her comes down to his principles and not wanting a woman hurt. Especially a woman he's attracted to. But I think if your that worried about how it will go over give it two more updates and then go back to the drawing board. I love the story personally I prefer a bit of violence with my romance, but I know a lot that just want sticky sweet love.. But this is for you first and foremost, this is your story, your world, let it build up the way you see it in your head. And then maybe... maybe cave to a demand or two the audience is clamoring for... Maybe... (I mean don't) 😂 You've mentioned your doing this all alone, do you have anyone you talk to about ideas, anyone you can throw thoughts at outside of here, because maybe that will help. I keep thinking maybe if you could talk to someone about it as a rough draft idea... you would be able to sus out what you feel isn't working... I dont know.. as an artist I know it's hard and I'm one of those if I need clarity I want til it hits me or I ask someone who will know more then me about a subject. Or even just strick up a random conversation with someone and see what they say and go from there.. I think no matter what you've got a fan in me for forever and I'm sure everyone else here feels the same. But do what and only what feels right to you.🖤🖤🖤"

ajoji_comic

Luckily I had the tab open so I could copy the message. I think Patreon deletes comments if they're long. Anyway, I appreciate the in depth commentary! I wanna keep most of what I planned out in tact since I didn't dwell much on the crime stuff anyway, I just tried to establish it early on so that it would make sense when Grave gets involved with the syndicate. There's a lot of other crazy stuff that Ellie and Grave get caught up in that I needed to set things up for so it doesn't just happen out of the blue, but I realize I need to be cautious with the info dumping. So I still wanna go back and fix some things...I just won't reveal it all in one go and I'll condense it a bit. That way we can still have the interesting romance and stuff, while also giving the readers enough information to prepare them for all the events that happen later on.

ajoji_comic

I do have people that I've bounced ideas with, but they aren't romance readers. Finding someone who reads a lot of romance webtoons that I can trust is hard. I will do my best to find someone though.

Sarah R

More dates before kidnapping, maybe shorten their convo and sprinkle it out through episodes. I think that helps pull plot lines together and really build up the seriousness. So all the fighting would only be far away or with blacked out figures? Hmm. That’s be diff though 🤔 . This is all personal preference though. This is your story, you write it however you’d like and well all still be here. I wouldn’t worry about losing people b/c you always will no matter what you do but majority will stay b/c the story base is solid and awesome. Just do what you want ☺️. You don’t have to do big rewrites for us.

Alex Tomaso

Something that drew me into this comic was I knew it was going to be darker than others. Not a lot of creators go that route or their story doesn’t flow that way. Definitely follow your heart, I think the idea of them going on a few dates before the kidnapping is brilliant but I also love the idea of the dark underworld/syndicate/serial killer.

Lady LaVey

So where you thinking of dumping everything thats been up and starting super fresh or just doing little tweaks? Because I seriously understand how you feel, I will demolish everything and start fresh. But do you think that would work better. Would pages suddenly go missing.. or would you condense the last few updates into one or two. See now I have questions. Sorry haha. Would you feel it would flow better if you set up Graves backgrown first and then rolled into the story, like you mentioned with narration....

Lady LaVey

Ugh I have questions 😂 oh and I'm just gonna say, I can offer my services, I read romance and I write romance, though I know nothing 😂 seriously though, would you have new pannals ready to go if you dropped what you have up now? Okay im done...

ajoji_comic

Yeah, I think that would be best to help pull it all together without leaving out too much. I wanted to draw the fight scenes similar to Jujutsu Kaisen where you see some bits implied with lighting, but most of it in black brush like silhouettes and a stark red or white background to contrast. That way you know exactly what he's doing, but you don't have to see all the gritty details. I feel better reworking this part of the story. I think it can be done better and I was just rushing to get to the next part, but inevitably making it too long and wordy anyway xD

ajoji_comic

I still want it to have an edge, but I need to be more creative with how I present it so I don't scare a large part of my audience off. I'm actually excited for this mini revamp! I hope I can make you all proud 😊

Alex Tomaso

Either way I love your style! I’m sure you’ll kill it (no pun intended) and I’m always super excited when my phone notifies me of an update. As a writer myself I totally get the toughness of the balance, but that’s what rewrites and revamps are for! Looking forward to it!

ajoji_comic

Thanks Christina! I think it's possible to do both, but weaving it in a way that maintains excitement and a thirst for more is very challenging...Even though I did put a lot into the recent episodes, I'm happy to go back and make something possibly even better!! 😁

ajoji_comic

I already got rid of episodes 11-17. I'll let my readers know what's going on so they're not confused. I'm going to do a little montage of Grave and Ellie sending cute messages to each other, like Grave proudly sending pics of his cooking to impress our little flower and Ellie showing off her plant collection. Then the date will happen and we learn more about the characters. I'll insert a condensed version of Grave and Mr. Wolfe to give some context, then, after enough bonding, she fails to show up to their date and that's when he tracks her down and fucks shit up 😂

Scrummycat

I'm fine with the darker elements. I see what you are saying about letting them date a few times before the kidnapping. Assuming that the men who kidnapped her are going to use her as leverage against Grave somehow (and I realize this is an assumption on my part), then it seems odd that they would target her based on her just having a few conversations with Grave. How would they know he has any attachment to her other than a casual acquaintance at this point? Regarding losing patrons, For myself, I have signed up with some creators expecting a certain amount of NSFW content, but then left after a couple of months when I realized it was not as much smut as I was hoping for. I have a set budget for myself ($30/month), so if I find someone else posting more NSFW content, I take a look at my list and often drop someone to make room in my budget. I don't switch around a lot, but it does happen.

Lady LaVey

I went to read the episodes and they where gone... haha beat me to it...😂 I like that! Can't wait to re-read what goes up

Brianda Moon

Love where you are heading with the story. I do see what you mean with letting them go on a few dates. It keta both characters build emotions... and I love the DARKNESS with the romance... it's a thriller ❤

ajoji_comic

My reasons for letting them date a bit first isn't related to the kidnapping, but that is a good point though. Nothing wrong with shopping around. I do it myself so it's totally understandable.

ajoji_comic

Yeah I was moving a bit too fast honestly. I'm gonna slow it down a bit...and I do like darkness with my romance as well. Just gotta find a happy balance 😄

andrea

I do love me a feel good romance but what good would that be without the thrill and darkness that could make it an even better story.

DanielleM

I like a good balance of both!