A Heist in little odessa
romance ✧ drama ✧ comedy ✧ action ✧ 🔞A crooked accountant and a high-profile thief team up. What could possibly go wrong?[This page is a WIP! I hope to eventually add character profiles over time.]
AHILO is a passion project of mine that's been in the works for roundabout a year and a half or so. The story follows Mikhail and Naomi as their relationship evolves from co-workers to friends to lovers as criminals in NYC.This comic will take a long time for me to make. I have a full-time job, and so have to juggle my free time as best I can. I would desperately love to just work on the various things I want to do for this project, which include introductory pages for characters and such. Unfortunately, as I've gotten older, it's become harder and harder for me to consistently draw like I did as a teen. I'm not particularly fast. If you think you're impatient, try being the one with all the stuff in your head that you can't apply to paper fast enough. It sucks, and it's frustrating. But I've learned from experience that forcing myself on a deadline actually makes my production worse, to the point I avoid doing it. If it feels like a requirement, I lose the desire to work on it. So this will be at my pace, which I also hate, but this project has been a piece of freedom and happiness among current events for me. So I'll stick with doing it that way for that sake.That being said – I make sure to work on it at least every monday. Maybe in the future I can convince myself to work on it on other days, and even stream, but for now that's the goal I've set myself. (I can and have continued to work on it even after Monday, I just don't make it a strict rule.)I am untrained in this area. I ended up not going to college, and I don't regret that decision, but I do wish I had the time and energy to take the education and learn more about art. In this timeline I just have to make do. I don't really know what I'm doing, I'm going purely off vibes lol. So I'm completely open to any resources given to me! I'm not looking for a lot of critique though, since I'm doing this for myself and not with the intention of making it some big thing. If it takes off, great! But I just wanna do this for myself. I will ask for critique where I want it though.AHILO is aimed at an adult audience. While a lot of it pretty light-hearted and funny, the characters are all high profile criminals, and the story ended up being more of a drama than I originally intended. Violence, drug use, some nudity, even death will eventually be present. I also intend to have NSFW scenes, but these will be structured in a way that the “main” comic will “fade to black” and the events following will have a separate posting. While I think that they will be more towards the “intimacy and vulnerability” side (because that's the content I want baybeeee), some of it is smut, and I know some people prefer to not read all that. I may also end up chickening out on this prospect, who knows!With that in mind, I would appreciate minors not attempting to read these parts at the very least. I know I have very little control over that, but I believe I would not be able to put them behind a paywall and I lack the following to bother anyway. So. If I find out a minor has tried to do so, I will block them permanently (even after they turn 18) for breaching this.While the main two are white, a lot of the other characters are of different races and creeds, and Mikhail himself is an Eastern Orthodox Christian. I've tried my best to do research and respectfully portray these aspects, so if something is said or done that could be misconstrued or is in some way disrespectful or bigoted I would Very Much Like To Know so I can correct it. I'd just like to ask that you bear in mind this is in a criminal setting, so characters are going to do objectively bad things. I'm being mindful of what those things are so as not to paint a caricature, but otherwise there will be. Yknow. Not Upstanding Citizen Activities for sure.Honestly the only other thing is that I hope people don't try to ship the main pair with other characters, though I acknowledge that this is also beyond my control. The rest of the cast though, I say go ham! I love multishipping for the most part, so most of my ocs don't even have a canon partner. However Mikhail and Naomi are deeply more personal to me and my own spouse, and that's what makes them different. And after all, the whole point of this thing is smooshing them together!
Me, making a thank you page as if this is some renowned story instead of a silly little project to keep my spirits up? More likely than you think.I want to thank my husband (RedZedd), who's co-writing this with me, and has been nothing but helpful and encouraging. He's literally the reason any of this exists, and I'm so glad he's not only humored me but willingly adds more for me to work on. With his help I intend to do this for as long as possible! You're the best, I love you sooo much!!Thanks to Des (mintykaorti) for a handful of character designs present in the story. I'll credit them as they are introduced, but it means a lot that my friend made me these designs so I could focus more on how to apply them to the story and not fuss on designs as I am wont to do. If you want excellent character designs please hit her up here!!Thank you to BARKZIM on toyhou.se for designing my first two logos. I desperately needed the help (I am no graphic designer!) and they did a PERFECT job capturing the ideas I gave. I intend to try and design my own for future chapters, but these are so cute and special to me. If you need a logo design I HIGHLY recommend commissioning them!!At all my friends who have continued to encourage this endeavor: I figure you don't all wanna be name dropped, but your support nonetheless has been appreciated and helped me keep pursuing it despite the days depression kicks my ass instead. Y’all are the best. I hope everyone has friends like you.An extra thank you to @bifurious69 on tumblr for Jaelin's design. It was originally that of a fantroll, so I have made alterations for his human design, but he was originally created by this user and I have come to love him dearly.
Webcomics I Like!
These are some of the webcomics I keep up with! Genre and theme are all over the place, as I just like interesting stories regardless of its setting.Beanstalked - After learning he's a living fairy tale, Jack tries to figure out what his true happy ending is in a world where Happily Ever Afters are disappearing.
I'm a sucker for people putting new takes on well-known fairytales. Having the characters sort of fourth-wall-break by learning they are predestined fairytales is already really cool, and the fact that it's not always a 1:1 retelling as they make their own fates is just fun. The character designs and personalities also are [chefs kiss]
ComicFury Webtoon
Tapas Own siteGlitter & Guilt - Sweetheart is a magical girl. Bitterbat is her archenemy. They both are dating.
From the same creator of Beanstalked, this is a genre I considered doing but haven't the foggiest on where to start - adult magical girls! Not in the adult content way, but in exploring how such heroes tackle their job when they grow up. This one is in hiatus I believe while the author focuses on Beanstalked, but is just as fun to read!
ComicFury Tapas Own siteGolden Shrike - Something has shifted in the world. Sheltered deer twins, Runi and Nero, will get to see it all unfold.
Mayhaps a strange deviation from these other tales, as the characters are all wild deer. The lore is BONKERS though and it's just really good ok, trust.
ComicFuryEden Complex - Kari is abruptly cast out of his life of playing wife in Eden and is now on a quest to find out whether his emotionally-stunted husband Marc is the culprit, or if other forces are at play.
This story has a LOT of cool lore to it, and I also think that it's both really interesting and awesome that the trans ML has had a child pre-transition. Kari is super doting on his son and it's SO cute! I also really need Marc to stop being SO SUS!!! All of the supporting cast are also super cool and interesting too, this is a whole thought out world y'all.
ComicFury Webtoon TapasFrom Possessed To Possession - When the morally grey wizard Szelek agrees to help a winsome, debaucherous bard Ferris with his possession problem, he’s well aware that relocating an eldritch demigod may be impossible. But when Ferris begins to help Szelek heal from his own traumatic past, Szelek may be willing to doom the world to return the favor.
Who doesn't love D&D fantasy settings? Ferris is SO casual about his demon problem which is honestly hilarious. We haven't seen much of Szelek in canon yet, but considering how much the author has drawn of the two together I am excited to see their dynamic come into play!
Tapas Own siteGrand Sol - Jang Gunwoo, heir apparent to the crime syndicate Grand Sol, is killed.
Jang Sunwoo swears to avenge the death of his older brother, and in doing so takes Gunwoo's place (quite literally) by entering a strange contract with the family's patron demon.
If you like angst, you'll love this story. My god I'm a big angst lover, gimme that sad shit lmao. Sunwoo immediately being unknowingly manipulated into a contract with the family demon to avenge his brother sets the tone so well. Fair warning for a lot of homophobia and transphobia, I actually had to take a breather after chapter 5 because it hits really hard.
TapasKeeping Time - In the mid-2000s, Daniel returns to his hometown for the first time since his twin sister, Alex, died. Resigned to living his life in the colorless grief he’s accustomed to, he is unprepared for his estranged friend and former bandmate, Denver, to burst back into his life. Denver convinces Daniel to rejoin the band, and the act of creating music together brings them closer than they’ve ever been. Just as their band seems headed for brighter future, Denver and Daniel realize falling in love in the scar that Alex left behind might prove to be their undoing.
I am once again just a sucker for good ol’ angst and slowburns AUGH. And also bandmates. I have band AUs and actual band characters for a reason alright music is good. I so want to see the two MLs reconcile proper and also learn more about what initially drove them apart!
Own siteA Spell for a Smith - A shy witch in her quiet forest cottage. A surly dwarf in his blacksmith's forge. Both seeking solace in their respective refuge, but both aching for more. Though drawn to each other's kindness, they can't deny the gentle chemistry simmering beneath their every interaction... just as their secrets do.
Honestly one of the biggest draws to me was the fact that you've got a short king wooing his lady, as someone whose husband is shorter than her 🥰 HOWEVER they both have clearly traumatic and mysterious pasts and are learning how to heal and be honest with each other. Also another high fantasy D&D esque setting!
WebtoonNevermore - There is nothing definitive about life after death, except the involuntary enrollment at the mysterious Nevermore Academy. Now Lenore and Annabel Lee must begin their curriculum to recover the memories of their tragic demise. Between the Dean's macabre demeanor and the tell-tale dangers of Final Exams, both girls must learn to rely on one another and their newly acquired ghost forms, or Spectres, to not only graduate from the academy… but to earn a second chance at life.
Lesbian amnesiacs in a crazy afterlife set up like a school with lots of Edgar Allen Poe references. They get cool super powers based on how they died. Its NEAT idk how else to explain it. This tag team also did a webcomic called Shiloh and I recommend it as well, however it is on hiatus while they focus on Nevermore for now.
WebtoonSchool Bus Graveyard - Ashlyn is a loner in high school with no friends. But when a fateful visit to a haunted house causes her and her classmates to see monsters at night, she'll be forced to forge bonds to survive.
It's not listed as one but I'd consider this a horror story. If anything fair warning that the monsters are EXTREMELY unsettling to see but damn is it cool. I love fucky parallel worlds intercepting our own and the gang of kids are all unique and interesting!
Webtoon
Our "Heroes"
"STOLI" || MIKHAIL KARLOV
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"FUSE" || NAOMI WILSON
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BEE