[Patron-Only Feed] A Recent Development: FemLink Comics down the line?

So… THIS happened

It's not quite minimum wage yet, but since this is a big number by comparison to what I'm used to, I suppose that's an indication that we're entering a new "era" of brell, so to speak. I know this value isn't inherently representational of the value of my work, but it feels like I should be trying to produce even stronger content to mirror this value.

So I guess I need to get to delivering upon that promise for Female Link web comics, huh?

Before I can commit to starting, I need to give some thought towards pre-development; questions that need answering: Where are these comics going to be hosted? What will the tone of the work be? What will the update schedule be like?

In order to craft the optimal experience, these are questions that I'll need to have obtained clear answers for. I gave some thought to these questions on Twitter earlier in the week, so you may have seen some of that.

Web Hosting

I think there are 3 pillars of design that I'm looking for in regards to WHERE I'm going to host these comics.

• Accessibility
• Total Control
• NSFW content allowed

First & foremost, the interface needs to be something I can understand. I need to be able to control the elements of the website and easily upload content. I can't be struggling with the platform itself. This isn't Dark Souls.

These comics won't be particularly pornographic, but I'd like a platform that offers me that freedom, especially should I ever get to creating content for Elayne Beaumont, as that WILL have pornographic content. Female Link web comics, however, should be fairly clean. I will allow myself room for mature themes, nudity, and a LITTLE gratuity… but I do wish to create a comic that is both inclusive to readers and fairly respectful of the intellectual property. But I don't want to be controlled.

(Though those NSFW female Link comics should also exist, just elsewhere. A separate canon, as it were.)

Building a website on WordPress.org seems like an easy direction to point in, but the restrictions for the type of content may differ depending on the host, so I will have to research that -- this does go a bit beyond my realm of knowledge. 

I don't know of very many alternatives, however, so if you have worthwhile knowledge to contribute concerning this subject, by all means, please do share it with me. Like I implied, I don't have much experience with this.

Tone

Like I said earlier, the tone of these comics should not be of an overly gratuitous nature. That means they should not too closely resemble THESE comics. Although they were fun, and I still plan to create those kinds of comics, they are just not considered part of the primary canon. They're goofy side-comics.

We should be seeing THIS style of Link (left) more than THIS (right) one.

It's all about the handling of the character. The first one can be sexy and silly some times, but is portrayed in a much different manner than the second. The latter is purely for fun.

That means the stories should feel like genuine ones more closely inspired by the games themselves; with actual writing and a stronger focus on the emotional sensation of the scene. I imagine reading through them may feel somewhat like an anthology of stories. 

This is useful for a number of reasons.

• Allows for mundane stories; slice of life, cooking, quiet moment between adventures, etc.
• Can include some longer narratives; dungeon crawling, side-quests, etc.
• They can feel like individual adventures in a larger world. They don't have to connect too linearly.
• Each story can be self-contained and not inherently reliant on everything before it.

The premise of Link's adventure is always a simple one: Link has to journey the world in search of the Triforce to stop the evil Ganon. There is no surprise there, so the individual adventures must contain the most weight. Furthermore, making them accessible, so anyone can jump on at any time, also means the story can probably END at any time if needed.

If I had to select a collection of works that I see myself drawing inspiration from, this is what I'm CURRENTLY thinking:

Inspiration:

• Question Duck 
• Legend of Zelda (Classic & Breath of the Wild)
• Hayao Miyazaki
• Secret of Mana (Seiken Densetsu 3)
• Katsuya Terada (Zelda illustrations)

I think there's something nice about the simplicity of Question Duck. It's pages are of rather mundane situations; the characters aren't necessarily living profoundly exciting lives. I think there's a simple pleasure in quietness and characters taking a moment to reflect. Perhaps there is something almost beautiful about it. I think this would blend nicely with the tone of Breath of the Wild, and even classic Legend of Zelda, where I imagine Link spent quite a lot of time alone. 

Not every story should be that, but I feel that emotion should be a substantial element of the product.

There's still a lot of room for mystical whimsy, as well as action, but I think capturing an emotional feeling is the most important thing to me. Whether that's communicating how I feel about something, or evoking the reader's own unique emotional response to a situation. I think I'll also draw a lot of inspiration from old fantasy doujins I got my hands on when younger too. (That's probably where the gratuity will come in, hehe.)

The visual expression of the comic will still need to be decided, so I will be spending the time to explore that very concept in the near future with my Patrons. Perhaps some of the next Concept Art & Discussion posts will focus on that.

Upload Schedule

One of the first questions that comes to mind with a web comic is the upload schedule.

I haven't maintained a web comic before, but I have seen the development of comics like Cassiopeia Quinn (which I often help with) that update weekly. I've seen comic creators set up a buffer, but still allow the production of their work to consume the entirety of their week in the name of regularity.

What happens when your buffer runs out? What if you're sick and you miss a day? What if you have to rush a page to make that next update? What if a page is complex? That's a lot of stress, and it compromises the quality of the work.

So how long should THIS comic take to make? How often should it update? What do I think?

The pages should take as long as they need to take to ensure a quality reading experience. As one might assume, this makes for an unreliable update schedule; you can't update consistently every week if certain pages might take longer than others.

Cucumber Quest (another webcomic) once operated on a weekly schedule, but updates now take as long as the creator feels they need. 

Here are her thoughts on that: [1] [2]

This is a comic that's gone on for 8 years, and several of those were with a weekly schedule. Gigi DG is confident that the newer upload schedule has made the comic better, and why wouldn't it? When you squeeze a single page of progress into less than a week's worth of time, you run the risk of compromising the quality of your work AND your health.

Some more thoughts on this matter:

• I have other things I want to do; other responsibilities.
• I don't want to work my entire week away on a single page.

That being said, it IS an unreliable schedule, which isn't great for the consumer -- you -- the reader. So maintaining a strong level of transparency will be of vital importance, I think. I've long wanted my Patreon built around the idea of bringing you closer to my work & I, so you should be constantly kept informed on the development of said comic.

Upload Weight

As a consumer, I often find it difficult to keep up with weekly updated content AS they come out. There is a lot in the world competing for our attention, so it's easy to forget some of those things. Heck, I only keep up with Cassiopeia Quinn BECAUSE I'm so closely connected with it's development that it's easier for me to do so.

What's more, it's essentially waiting an entire week for only a few seconds of content. That doesn't sound ideal.

Rather than share the story one page at a time, I'd like several pages per update. Sure, you're waiting a bit longer for each update, but… Each of those updates will provide you a much richer experience, with a greater sense of narrative substance per session. At least, I think this should be how it should USUALLY operate.

Batch Updates also give me greater control over the flow of the story. I'm in more direct control of the narrative pacing as well as the level of suspense. Scenes can feel slower or faster depending on how many pages are available to read, so the pacing of the story is easier to dictate by design rather than purely the update schedule. 

Furthermore, comic development is more than just drawing a page and shoving it online. The process is comprised of writing, designing visual concepts, composing the page, rendering, colour design, double checks, triple checks, etc. I may think a page is done, but I should probably run it by you (my patrons) and artists I trust too before posting. Additionally, because I'm not directly making money from the comic itself, there's less of a need to update X times a month, or obtain Y visitors every week. This should be a labor of love, so shouldn't the priority be making it as good as I can?

Closing

The recent rise in my pledges may be short-lived; prompted by a spontaneous desire for Female Link content since it became a meme worthy subject as of this month. Or maybe many of my newest patrons will have financial difficulties and have to drop off. In either case, I understand.

Perhaps spending so much time on these comics won't be financially feasible, but there is a clear interest in Female Link comics, so I should dedicate the time into setting that up. I've drawn Female Link content for a great many years, and have often wanted TO make dedicated comics. So it would be nice to make that real.

I hope you enjoy what I have to offer, and I hope it turns out good. 

Thank you for supporting me: old & new patrons alike. If you have any thoughts that you want to share with me, please make sure to do so, as I'm always interested in hearing from you.

I'm sure there will be another, proper Patron-Only Feed update in a couple of days (though not yet sure what there is to talk about), but I thought I'd spend some time writing this one up since this is a development many of you may be interested in.

Don't forget to eat & sleep.