#more hint at the puppeteer :3c

[smilesrobotlover]

Whumptober day 15- makeshift bandages

Sorry I’m a little late, I slept in fhsksbkssbsk. Anyways this one is kinda silly, idk what I’m doing with whumptober but I’ve had this idea in my head where Legend meets the dads so here’s this silly lil thing dbsksbsksbk.

Warning for a bloody stab wound.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Legend stared out at the ocean, listening to the waves as they crashed against the beach he was on. He breathed in the salty breeze, several old memories flooding his mind from the smell and sounds. He had mixed feelings about the ocean. On one hand, it reminded him of the pain and loss he had to endure, but on the other hand, he had the best memories at the beach. Whenever he got overwhelmed he would try to find a beach area to unwind, occasionally humming his song…

He was lucky that he was close enough to a beach in this world. The other heroes were great, but they would always burst into arguments and overwhelm Legend. In order to keep himself from getting riled up, he’d walk away, and so he found a beautiful beach to think about all that’s happened to him. He stared out at the horizon, watching the land across from him. But something was strange about it when he really studied it. He narrowed his eyes and noticed that there was a boat traveling to where he was.

A boat?

If Legend recalled correctly, they were the only ones here. So who was on that boat? And why were they heading towards them? He stood up and watched the boat closely. He didn’t know what that was, but he might as well figure it out before it got too close. Legend took off his clothes and took a deep breath, praying that no one could see him now, and he jumped into the water. He felt the familiar magic twisting his bones around and fusing his legs together into a beautiful pink fish tail, and he pushed against the water towards the boat. When he got close he kept his distance, but stared at the bottom of the boat. He didn’t know what he was expecting, he couldn’t see the people on the boat so he didn’t know if they were a threat. He circled the boat for a little bit, finally popping out of the water to get a good look at the people onboard. He only saw one person, but from what he could tell, they weren’t a monster. Was that the puppeteer? Legend narrowed his eyes, but he couldn’t see the person very clearly. Truthfully he didn’t know what the puppeteer looked like. But he was from either Sheikah, Hylian, or Gerudo from what he heard, so he should be on this boat, right?

The person Legend was watching suddenly looked at him, and Legend quickly dove back into the water, panicking. He wasn’t supposed to be seen.

Legend quickly swam underneath the boat, trying to head back to shore to report on what he saw. Just when he was out in the open, a sharp pain went through his tail, and he let out a scream. Legend sunk to the ocean floor as his tail throbbed, and he looked at it to see a spear straight through his tail. Blood was mixing in with the water, and the pain was so bad that he couldn’t move his tail. He quickly reached for the spear, trying to gather up the courage to pull it out, but the pain was too much. A shadow went over him, and Legend noticed that the boat was on top of him. They’re after him, he thought in horror. He was going to get captured and possibly tortured for information on the other heroes, or he was going to get murdered for being a mermaid or for being a hero or something. He needed to get out now, but he couldn’t move his tail, he was stuck. He turned and saw a net coming towards him, and he gasped as he was scooped off the ocean floor, his tail throbbing as he folded up in the net. The net pulled up quickly, and Legend broke the surface coughing.

“Let me go! Let me go!” He started yelling as the net pulled him closer to the boat. He weakly punched the air, trying to land a hit on his captors.

“Woah woah woah! Hey it’s ok, it’s ok!” He heard a man yell out, and he was cut free from the net and was carried out gently, which surprised Legend. Was he not a captive?

Legend let out a yelp when he slipped out of the man’s hold, and he fell to the ground harshly. He heard the man curse under his breath and he was leaned up against him.

“Nice going Rusl.”

“I didn’t think he’d be so slippery!”

“He’s part fish, what did you expect?”

“I—I don’t know! Leave me alone!”

Legend looked up at the man he was leaned up against, who he assumed was named Rusl. He had dirty blonde hair that reached to the middle of his neck, with some scruffy facial hair on his chin and an interesting mustache around his mouth. He had light blue eyes and had a gentle expression when he looked down at Legend. He frowned apologetically and rubbed Legend’s arm.

“That got you good,” he muttered, looking at Legend’s injured tail, where another man with reddish-blonde hair looked over. “How… how does it look, Leon?”

Leon gave Rusl a look before returning to his tail.

“Well, the spear went right through his tail so, I can’t imagine it’s anything good,” he answered, grabbing the spear which caused Legend to whimper. “Linebeck, look away,” he said, and Legend noticed a tall man with dark brunette hair turn away, looking nauseous. Rusl held onto Legend’s hand as Leon broke the spear in half, pulling it through his tail. Legend hissed at the pain and felt his tail go numb.

“Hey Leon, did you ever consider that doing that would cause splinters?” A very short man who looked a lot like Hyrule stepped up, staring at the broken spear concerned.

“He’ll be fine.”

“Not if he has splinters.”

“He’ll be fine.”

Legend gulped and looked at his bleeding tail, feeling dizzy from the sight as Leon put pressure on the wound. He felt the magic twisting through his legs and he groaned in pain as his tail split back into two legs. Leon yelped at the sight, throwing his red cape over Legend before continuing to deal with his legs.

“Woah,” he heard Rusl mumble at the sight. “You can turn into a… fish?”

Legend let out a pained breath, smiling at the kind man. “A mermaid.”

“I see. I’ve never heard of mermaids before…”

“Yeah, well, I’m not really a mermaid, it’s just an item that I use whenever I get into water.”

Rusl stared at him blankly, and Legend chuckled at his confusion.

“It’s weird I know.”

Rusl smiled as Leon sat up and turned behind him. “Oy, Talon,” he called out, “bring me some bandages!”

“We don’t have any bandages!” He heard the man named Talon yell back. He sounded like he was inside the boat.

“Then bring me something that can be used as a bandage for Din’s sake!”

“Ok ok, don’t cuss at me!”

Legend took a deep breath, trying not to pass out from the pain and the blood, and Rusl rubbed his arm again.

“I’m so sorry about this,” he mumbled, and Legend waved it away.

“It’s ok, thank you for taking care of me—“ Legend was interrupted when he saw a man walk up to Leon with bandages. He felt his heart stop when he nearly recognized him, and he sat up, almost hitting Rusl’s chin with his head. “T-Tarin?” He blurted out, and the man looked at him in surprise. He looked behind him and looked back with confusion plastered on his face.

“Are ya talkin’ to me?” He asked, and Legend felt disappointment and embarrassment when he realized that he was definitely not Tarin. His hair was thinning at the top, his facial hair connected all the way to his sideburns, and his blue eyes did not match Tarin’s dark brown eyes. Legend looked down, tears uncontrollably welling up.

“I-I’m so s-sorry—I thought you were someone else,” he stammered.

“Oh, it’s ok kid, no harm done,” Talon said softly, handing a shirt to Leon. While Leon tore the shirt apart and began wrapping his leg, Legend stared at Talon. He had such a kind face, and now that he was looking at him more, he was looking a lot like his uncle. A lump formed in his throat and he looked away.

“So, uh, what’s your name?” Talon asked, breaking the silence.

“I’m Link,” Legend said without thinking. He probably should’ve kept his identity a secret, but these men were all so kind that he didn’t think about it. Leon froze and looked at him intensely.

“You’re Link? Are you traveling with other Links?”

“Um…” Legend stopped himself this time. They were all looking for the group… was it smart to say yes? “I… uh… I don’t know.”

“… you don’t know?”

“Uh… well I…” Legend looked around, panic beginning to bubble up in his chest. Rusl cleared his throat and Legend looked up at him.

“We’re only asking because we’re looking for our respective Links,” he explained. “Y’see, my son is Link, and most of us here also have a son named Link, we were hoping that our Links would all be together.”

Legend narrowed his eyes. Rusl’s son was Link? Which Link was he the father to? He honestly looked nothing like them. Not to mention his ears were rounded, not pointed. Was his son Sky? Sky had very small ears, but so did Warriors, maybe Warriors was his son…

“Hey,” Leon interrupted Legend’s thoughts. “It’s a simple question, are you traveling with Links?”

“Leon he’s overwhelmed, be patient with him,” Talon muttered, and Leon sighed.

“I-I’m sorry, Link,” he muttered, and Legend smiled.

“Hey, it’s ok. Who’s your son?”

Leon sat up straight, a hopeful gleam in his eye. “Um, his name is also Link… and uh… he has long blonde hair, he’s kind of braided it on one side though, and he’s very young…”

Legend hummed. “That sounds like Four.”

Leon nearly jumped up at that, causing Talon to yelp slightly.

“Four? As in the Four sword?”

“Uh, y-yes. We had to give each other nicknames so… he’s known as Four, mostly ‘cause of his eyes but also because of his four sword.”

Leon smiled slightly, then looked down. “He’s alright?”

“Last time I checked, yeah. He’s safe and sound.”

Leon sat back, running a hand through his hair, looking relieved. Legend smiled and sat up away from Rusl.

“Really, all the Links I’m traveling with are fine. I’m sure they’d be happy to see you.”

The men all made different sounds of relief at that, but Legend couldn’t help but notice the Linebeck man watching him strangely. Leon finished tying his bandages and gave his knee a pat.

“We'll take you inside, and maybe we’ll find you some clothes you can put on.”

Legend wrapped the red cape around him tighter in embarrassment. “Um… it’s ok my clothes are all on the beach.”

“Whatever you’re comfortable with,” Leon said, standing up. “Ok Linebeck you’re safe to look.”

“No, no you are not safe to look, Linebeck. There’s blood everywhere,” The short brown haired man stopped the tall man.

“Oh come on, his leg isn’t bleeding,” Leon muttered.

“There’s still blood everywhere!”

Legend chuckled at the men bantering, they reminded him of his own group. Rusl gave a small sigh and pulled Legend closer to him.

“Let me take you inside then,” he said softly. “I am… so sorry about this.”

Legend wrapped his arms around his neck as he was lifted off the ground. “Hey, it’s ok. I’m sure it wasn’t your fault anyways.”

Legend heard the others snort.

“No it was definitely his fault,” Leon said.

“I said that I saw a mermaid,” Linebeck started up, “and Rusl wasted no time to grab a spear and chuck it into the water.”

“He was so fast I didn’t have time to process what was going on!” The short brunette chuckled.

“He has a good aim I must admit.” Legend saw a different man with strikingly blue eyes leaning against a strange bird man. “It’s not easy to throw spears into the water, I’ve definitely tried.”

Rusl looked down ashamed. “Guys, enough.”

Talon picked up on his mood and stood up. “Alright y’all, let Rusl put Link inside. Leave him alone.”

The other men stopped and Rusl quickly turned to enter the inside of the boat. Legend watched him quietly as he was settled down in a bed. Rusl grabbed some blankets and set them down on top of Legend, and before he could leave, Legend grabbed his arm.

“Hey… it’s ok,” he said firmly. Rusl stared at him for a moment but smiled.

“Get some rest. We’ll get you once we reach the beach.”

Legend nodded and watched as Rusl left the bottom deck. He sighed and laid down, happily letting himself get rest.

[bougiebutchbitch]

things I wanna write in a sequel to fist in the air -

Hughie and Reggie's cute zoo date :3

Meeting Hughie's mom!

First time switching (tho I don't vibe with bottom!Hughie or top!A-Train in any ship, so there probably won't be much of that skdfhgksfdg)

Reggie gets a nightmare about the Puppeteer and Hughie has to help him through it 😭

Hughie gets accidentally triggered during sex and they have to stop and they both have a whole self-hating crisis about it because Hughie is like 'what the fuck. I'm supposed to be over this. I like this guy and he's not hurting me. why am I freaking out?' and Reggie is like 'OH GOD OH NO AHHHH I FUCKED UP I FUCKED UP I FUCKED UP TIME TO GO HURL MYSELF OFF A BRIDGE' though it literally wasn't anything he did, just a random thing that's been fine 100 times before but this time Hughie's poor traumatized brain decided it was DANGER 😭😭😭

Maybe.... some hints towards my OT3, Annie/Reggie/Hughie... or, as I like to call it, ieieie. Ie³. Let Annie get in on that action!!!

Frenchiko adorableness!

Butcher/MM divorcecore Mountain Goats misery

VICTORIA COMING BACK

BUTCHER COMING BACK

ENSUING DRAMA

more cute family breakfast scenes :3c

running into The Deep and having an epic boss battle where Deep basically spends the entire match pointing at Hughie and screaming "SERIOUSLY, THAT GUY???? THAT GUY'S DICK IS BETTER THAN MINE???!?!??!" at A-Train AND Starlight -

A-Train and Butcher very grudgingly working together to take him out

Dramatic moment where Hughie gets to be the Damsel In Distress

:sigh: more foot stuff

things I do not have time to write: all that

[mochiwrites]

Don't mind me! Feeling soo soo fine about songbird blood au right now. Mhm, why are you looking at me like that??? I'm not lying!

....

Well except... YOUR AU IS SOO FLIPPIN AMAZING YOU AMAZING PINK WONDERFUL PERSON OF A CAT!!! YOUR WRITING AND KNOWING HOW EACH PLOT HAS TO WORK TOGETHER, CHARACTER INTERACTIONS AND CHARACTER PERSONALITIES ARE ON POINT!!!

I LOVE HOW SCAR WAS SHOWN AS A TYPE OF EVIL DUDE BUT HE ACTUALLY HAS A SOFT HEART FOR HIS SON. OR MUMBO SEEING GRUM AND JRUM AS HIS KIDS. OR SKYBLING DUO PROBABLY MORE OF A CHOAS DUO ARE SOO SWEET WITH GRIAN JUST WANTING TO KEEP PEARLIO SAVE AND VICE VERSA.

I LOVE THE SMALL DETAILS FROM THE FLOWER SCAR GAVE GRIAN TO SCOTTS HOUSE BEING HIS LITERAL HOUSE OF NEW LIFE.

Mochi you are one of the most talented people I have ever seen! Creating an amazing au such as this and possibly making many more!

Thank you soo much for sharing your amazing stories(such as songbirds<3)

hi hello, yes, anon??? don’t mind me as I CRY at you waugh????

🥹💕💕💕 wahhhh thankies ;w; songbird definitely has,,, the most work I think I’ve ever put into a fic before? I love the story so much and uwawawawawa getting asks like this is always so nice 🥺 it makes me so happy to see how loved it is

it’s a little insane how much planning has to go into songbird DKFKDKFKK arc two alone was crazy to plot out and string all the details together, and arc three is double that. but I genuinely love it so much. I love the character work I get to do and all the little hints of things I get to drop along the way. it’s always !!! so reassuring when people comment on the characterization and it being good 🥺

to this day I think scar has my favorite character introduction and deconstruction. I adore characters who are introduced as antagonists or made to seem evil but are being puppeteered by someone else. and scar is definitely no exception to that :D I also think he’s just the perfect character too like? he’s introduced and immediately taking control of the narrative, dragging grian into his circus and trying to kill him. you have this image of scar as someone who’s extremely dangerous, he can’t be trusted, he’s bad. and I purposefully keep you out of scar’s head until the moment is right, before his betrayal. but you gets the hints of scar’s softer side, his true self, and his tragic story through grian’s pov. you start to see deeper into him and waugh. I love him so much

mumbo seeing (and his fear of) grum and jrum as his kids is so important to me, especially with his backstory reveal coming (yes, we’re finally getting mumbo’s backstory soon :3c). this man has been through so much, has tried to close his heart off so many times, to stomp out his own kindness but he can’t. he loves those boys so much, even while carrying his guilt for turning them, his guilt for living, and his self imposed punishment. and he’s just so :((( I want to give him a big hug

and then you have grian and pearl who are so silly with each other, will tease and poke fun, but you can see how much they care about one another. it’s so sweet :((( and such a big piece of their relationship and wahhhhh

the little details are !!! my favorite part of songbird I think—because that’s where I hide all of my little easter eggs and references and call backs!!! the poppies and lilacs scar gave to grian will be making a return and scott’s house being the one from new life just felt so correct to me 🥺 and that’s not even getting into all the little bits of foreshadowing I’ve worked into the fics??? I’m sure I have more little details in the au but there’s over 280k words of songbird 😭😭

but ueueueue thank you sm 🥹💕 I always want to make sure that songbird is being written with the love and excitement it deserves—and that I can put all the care I can into the story. I hope it gets across when you read it ;w;

wahhhh thank you so incredibly much for reading what I write 🥺🥺

[mrmenial]

1: Yes, it is, as it's an explicit separation of the two as distinct entities. Also, honey (since you're going to pull that brainless nonsense - nothing against you, I just HATE when people pull that kind of stuff), the Solver still exists independently of Cyn entirely. Home literally demonstrates this in the very beginning by showing how it manifested in and manipulated her. The fact that Heartbeat outright has it brush off the assertion that it's a program, and Absolute End has its physical form be a literal singularity alongside that should immediately tell you that it's something far more than a program. There's a reason it's outright described as eldritch.

2: Except for the fact that your assertion literally never happens. Literally, the exact scenario you're you're trying to paint (N won't hurt Cyn because she's not in control) literally never happens. The literal closest to that was shock value to get a hit on him during the final fight.

3A: Yes, she did. They quite literally show the Solver pinning her to the ground, forcibly turning her into her Solver Form, and Uzi trying to resist it making her eat Rebecca and Darren. There's a difference between outright possession and enforcing one's will. Solver Uzi in Cabin Fever was the latter, while every other instance was the former. Both are still forms of control.

3B: Literally, we see her trying to stop using [NULL] while the Solver is amidst possessing her to do it long enough for N to chop her arm off.

3C: Literally, we see her eyes flash purple IMMEDIATELY after N pushes her out of the way of the pick ax. Showing that she was still fighting from the inside. Or did you somehow miss that part? It was really quick, but it was also explicitly shown and in slow motion too, so.

3D: Exist and Why: The point was to show that there was A way to stop Solver control, but also that it was not THE ONLY way to prevent Solver control. It was the EASY key to doing so, but not the ONLY key to doing so. Could it have helped Uzi? Yes. Was it A solution? Also, yes. But it wasn't the ONLY way, and the other way WAS repeatedly foreshadowed and hinted at.

Nori: She wanted to find it to either help Uzi or use it on Cyn. Resisting by will isn't an instant win or easy thing, and Uzi only manages to turn the tables on Cyn and the Solver when she finally has a complete picture and grasp on how preys on Drones and whittles them down. The patch was literally called a MCGUFFIN. It was a shorthand way to show how there ARE ways to resist the Solver. Especially in hindsight.

Heck, Doll literally lost her eye to it due to her over reliance on the patch as an end-all solution to her problem. She sated it by indulging it, made it clear she was against it, and opened the way for it to both do what it wanted and possess Uzi much more easily with her last attempt on V's life. She had no real confidence in herself to resist it and built her whole self around her victimhood. Literally, the only reason it never bothered with her was because it never actively needed her.

The patch was a final bit of set-up for the fact that the Solver COULD be resisted and denied.

4: Firstly, the Solver manipulated Cyn into giving it the access to her systems it needed to warp her into its avatar, mask, and voice. Essentially, it made her its equivalent to Metatron: an entity that acts as the representative and speaker for it. She is its host and puppet. That ALONE shows it has its own autonomy and personality separate from Cyn's.

It's a manipulative sadist that will get you at your worst and change you to better fit ITS wants and desires while twistedly fulfilling your own in a way that amuses it.

Secondly, building off the above, Uzi is the main host now. Her ability to resist isn't magically altered by that fact. Before and after, it's still the Solver trying to possess her. Cyn was just the one acting on and doing its will as it's puppet and vessel.

But!

It's never going to convince her to give it the access it tricked Cyn into giving it. She knows its tricks and ploys now. It has no real effective proxies to destabilize her mental state with now (Cyn is gone now - at least physically, Nori is alive and a part of her life, Doll is assimilated into it, and her corpse is useless to boot, and any remaining Disassembly Drones are either elsewhere in space, around Copper-9 as cores, or it consumed their cores), AND Uzi now has her own abilities plus Cyn's abilities and possibly the abilities of all other Solver Drones too!

She literally has ALL of the cards the Solver could use against her in HER favor. There's NOTHING it could use to get her to do something for it. She already has everything it could use!

And with humanity more than likely extinct, the inevitable odds that allowed the Solver to pop up in Cyn are now accurate to the figures in the Zombie Drones tape!

The odds of it getting a new host to counter Uzi are now so low that it's effectively stuck with Uzi for all eternity and beyond! Even then, the Solver wouldn't be able to use any powers directly on Uzi herself!

Why wouldn't it try to take over Uzi? Because it has, ironically, the very thing that it is: nothing! It can't do anything besides annoy her because there's nothing it can actually do to spin the situation around at the present.

Literally every single time it asserted itself over Uzi was when she was in a bad mental place, fearful, hysterical, stressed, or some combination thereof. Never when she was in a stable, well-off, or controlled mental state. Trying to use her body against her will.

Uzi is able to resist because she's not in a mental state the Solver can take advantage of or manipulate anymore. Like the Solver, she's an edgy gremlin who loves death and destruction and has a fierce pride in who and what she is, her independence and individuality, and (now) the self-confidence to bolster those things.

The Solver is the void and end, and the universe will end eventually and fall to the void as it's both. It just can't actively expedite itself anymore due to Uzi becoming its main host and effectively becoming an eldritch robo goddess that it can't subvert to its will and will never be free of due to her being as eldritch and eternal as it now.

The literal closest thing it can do now is be the devil on her shoulder and try to get her to do what it wants on her own accord.

Which won't go anywhere for it with Cyn adding her own eccentricity to the situation with her love of bows.

Quick question: Where did you get the idea that I insinuated that Cyn had no control? My post before and ESPECIALLY this one should have definitely NOT given off that impression.

I'm of the opinion that Cyn was always present, just rendered the Solver's willing thrall via being corrupted and warped by it when she let it into her systems. In full control of herself and her actions, but willingly doing what the Solver wanted because it made her be so.

The trope More Than Mind Control is what I'm getting at here for Cyn.

EDIT: Also, there's THIS from the Uzi, Host of the Solver Acrylic: A hapless drone, host to an eternal entity - will she succumb, or will she ascend?

Just had a thought:

The theory that Cyn's personality is The Solver (as in, Cyn isn't the one in control here) is kinda disproven by the ending?

After all, Uzi wouldn't have been able to become the Main Solver Host (if that is indeed what she is now) without losing herself if that were the case.

So that WAS Cyn this whole time, just influenced by the Solver.

Either that, or Uzi didn't become the Main host she just somehow merged with Cyn. Which IS backed up by the Post-Credits scene.

[damienthepious]

this has been a difficult week! also for the bouquet here whoops.

Going Through Changes, Ripping Out Pages (chapter 6)

[ch 1] [ch 2] [ch 3] [ch 4] [ch 5] [ao3] [ch 7] [ch 8] [ch 9] [ch 10] [???]

Fandom: The Penumbra Podcast

Relationship: Lord Arum/Sir Damien/Rilla

Characters: Lord Arum, Sir Damien, Rilla, The Keep

Additional Tags: Second Citadel, Lizard Kissin’ Tuesday, Established Relationship, (uhhhhh sorta), Amnesia, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, (WE WILL GET THERE…… EVENTUALLY)

Summary: Lord Arum wakes to discover that some things have changed while he slept. Namely, there is a human in his bed.

Chapter Summary: There are some tried and true methods, when it comes to curse-breaking.

Chapter Notes: this chapter beat me up out by the dumpsters. but hey! happy LKT! ;3c

~

Arum brings them to his workshop. Rilla isn't sure if she should be more relieved or worried about that, but the fact that the room looks turned over is leaning her more towards the second option.

"Okay," she says slowly as he leans against one of the worktables (his own, she notes) and stares at the both of them with an edge of suspicion. "You want us to convince you. How exactly can we do that?"

"What will it take for you to believe us?" Damien echoes, his voice a little uneven.

Arum wrinkles his snout, but he doesn't quite look angry, now. Mostly he just looks uncomfortable.

He reaches and lifts one of her recorders from on top of a small pile of blueprints, scrawled over in his handwriting as well Rilla's, and he frowns lightly as he fiddles with the controls until he plays the entry he's apparently interested in.

Research log, Entry 4485. We're going to need to adjust the dosage slightly on the treatment regimen we've worked out for the Keep. Its reaction has been positive, and it certainly seems like we're making strides helping it recover from the long-term damage sustained from the Moonlit Hermit incident, but it's experiencing some side effects and I think we can work out a better ratio that should prevent the added drowsiness and pseudo-cramping while still helping to restore its structural awareness and reduce the internal scarring. I think our best bet is-

Arum stops the recording, still frowning, and then he meets Rilla's eyes.

"I thought you said that we solved the illness afflicting my Keep," he mutters, though he still doesn't sound angry.

"We did," she clarifies. "But by the time we did solve it, the Keep had been suffering from sleep deprivation - you had too, by the way - and a magically modified fungal infection so bad that it was nearly necrotic for something like two weeks at least. We figured out the problem, but that doesn't mean that the Keep didn't take some long-term damage in the meantime. And even after that-" she laughs, helplessly, "after that, the fear monster set the entire swamp off, so it's not like the poor thing got a break before you and Marc and it had to struggle through a full-blown assault."

"Marc," Arum hisses, looking away. "The Keep mentioned another… hrm."

"Is this… does this have any particular bearing on our current situation?" Damien asks, his tone very careful, and Arum sighs.

"The pieces of this obnoxious puzzle seem to be falling into place," he says slowly, grudgingly. "And the pieces seem to… corroborate a certain version of the events of the last year."

"A certain version?" Damien echoes, his hands clasping in front of his chest.

Arum sighs again, his snout wrinkling before he looks up towards them. "Your version. Which-" he waves a hand in front of himself when Rilla and Damien glance towards each other in surprise. "Do not misunderstand. Your story is still ridiculous, and I still do not understand, and everything you have so far claimed is decidedly in the realm of the impossible. But-" he grimaces, and then he reaches for the recorder again. "But I am… I am more aware than most," he grumbles, "that the impossible is perfectly within reach. For me, at the least."

He presses down the button, and a different entry plays. Rilla doesn't remember exactly when this one is from (she records her logs so thoroughly so she doesn't need to keep that information in her head, honestly), but she can hear from the very first word that she's completely exhausted in the recordin.

-ter version of the salve. The last three trials have completely tanked, and until I can get my hands on some mo-

She interrupts herself, the edges of a wide yawn crackling through on the tape.

- more, Saints. More of that specific subspecies of dayshade, which is a pain in the ass to source, I'm limited in the number of trials I can actually do. I've got maybe enough for… four more attempts? So I need to pick just four formulas to try and just hope that one of them-

A rustle and a gasp, and then Arum's low rumbling laughter on the recording.

Sneaking up on me again, Arum-

I do not think I could have approached you in any other way, Amaryllis. You have apparently been utterly single-minded on this task since sundown. You … you aren't avoiding sleep again, are you?

No. No, I just- lost track of the time. Is it actually that late?

If you go to sleep right now, you might just pass Damien as he wakes.

A laugh, Rilla's own this time, and then another rustle that ends in a soft hum.

So what are you doing awake, then?

Looking for you, of course.

Another laugh, bright and warm, and Arum looks away from the device with his frill flared high.

Arum-

Come to bed, little doctor. It is … it is never quite warm enough without you.

Alright, okay, okay you big- oh. Whoops. Experiment will continue tomorrow, I guess? End of log.

Arum clicks the button, preventing the device from playing the following log, and then he swallows and frowns even more deeply before he meets Rilla's eyes again.

"Evidence," he hisses. "Everywhere I look, every stone I turn. The pair of you have sunk your roots in here, however you've done it, and… and I know my own voice. I know- I can recognize-"

He snaps his teeth together, and then he exhales a hiss between them.

"I do not understand how. But the pair of you are apparently a part of this. Part of the life that this-" he pats his own chest, his lower hands with the dulled claws thumping off of his scales, "this version of myself has built, over the year that has been stolen from me. I cannot… I cannot imagine that the both of you are… are such impeccable liars as would be required for this to be…" he clenches his teeth, eyes flicking back and forth as he searches for the words.

"Arum," Damien murmurs, and the monster's frown eases, just barely.

"I am beginning to think," Arum says slowly, "that this curse was meant to harm you, just as much as it was meant to harm me."

Rilla can't help the relief, can't help the way her shoulders sag, and Damien clings to her arm. Arum watches them both, but- he doesn't seem surprised by their reaction.

"If- if that was the intent," Damien says breathlessly, "I think it is safe to say it quite succeeded."

"Hm," Arum says, and it sounds a little bit like an agreement.

Rilla, for her part, is running back through exactly what Arum just said, because-

"Wait. You said- curse?"

Arum's frill settles, and he turns, jerking his shoulder to motion the pair of them closer.

"You said before that you do not believe I have had any correspondence with the monster Senate since… since almost the time that I can remember currently. I've found some evidence to the contrary. Look."

He gestures, and Rilla looks past him to see the carefully reconstructed remains of the letter.

She steps closer, and Arum rattles uncomfortably as she and Damien read through what they can. Damien's breath goes sharp, and Rilla needs to read it three times, because she's almost too angry to internalize the words on the first two tries.

"You are going to destroy them," Damien echoes, his horror completely clear in his tone. "They thought- they wanted you to kill us. They thought that you would-"

"I nearly did," Arum murmurs, his tail flicking irritably. "They certainly wanted me to. Or, failing that, they believed that one of you would kill me. I find myself far less favorable towards that first idea now that I know I was being manipulated into it. I am the puppet of no creature, no matter how much of my mind has been scraped away."

"So you think-" Rilla cuts off, the anger flaring again. "So they cursed you. That's what you think this is?"

"That would not be unheard of, for a punishment laid down by the Senate," he murmurs, looking away.

"This… this is because of us, then," Damien says quietly, blankly. "It is our fault, that they have done this to you."

Rilla jerks her head to the side to look at Damien, biting his lip and pressing a hand over his heart in obvious despair, and she opens her mouth to deny it, but Arum gets there first.

"I would say, little knight, that if the Senate did this to me, it is their fault." He growls lightly, tapping his claws off the table beside the remains of the letter. "Besides, did we not just agree that this was meant to harm you as well? Now that we have at least some hint as to what has caused this debacle, we can begin to take steps towards reversing it."

"You have an idea, then?"

"I have several," he grumbles, and then his chest puffs up as he stands a bit straighter. "I have broken curses before. I will break this one as well," he says. "Keep. The scroll room."

The Keep obeys without a please this time, and as the portal is forming beside the monster he turns to Rilla again.

"If you and I… perform research together, as is apparent from… the majority of this room, and from your notes as well as my own… I will allow you to assist me."

Rilla snorts a laugh, and then she takes Damien's hand. "I'm not your assistant," she says quickly as they step past him through the portal. "And you aren't mine either," she clarifies when his expression goes sour behind them. "C'mon. Just show me which journals we're starting with and we'll compare notes in an hour."

~

Damien helps for a while, mostly just fetching books and running to the kitchen to grab water and a small meal for the three of them, and then assisting whenever Rilla asks, but she's not entirely surprised when she glances over to ask him to grab one of Vetch's older journals and she finds him completely passed out in the chair beside her own.

She manages a smile. This is the calmest she's seen him look all day.

Arum doesn't mention it, but he works more quietly after that. She pretends not to notice when she catches him staring at Damien in his sleep.

Eventually, she leans back in her seat with a long sigh, pushing her hair out of her face. They've hit on a few different curse-breaking methods that seem to come up repeatedly- one that Arum says he's used before is pretty straightforward, but unlikely to be useful to them in this case: killing the creature who created the curse. Usually, he says, that will solve the issue immediately, but there is a slim chance that it'll just leave the curse behind, depending on how it was created. Besides that, though, the chances of the four of them figuring out which member of the Senate created this curse and then actually getting close enough to kill them- well, it's a risky idea at the very least. Probably impossible, if she's being honest with herself.

Another potential solution that keeps coming up in Rilla's research is- well. Mostly it's just more fuel for the fire of Rilla's distaste for the way magic works. It sounds more like a bad joke than a real solution, but it does keep coming up, and… well…

"Do kisses actually break curses?" Rilla asks eventually, quietly, and she feels absolutely stupid, but she's been with Arum for long enough to know that if this question has a real answer, he would know it. "Or is that just another dumb misinterpretation-slash-mistranslation of some herbal component or something?"

"They-" he pauses, flicks his tongue, and his expression goes distinctly uncomfortable. "They have been known to. Historically. Though- though the magic is, of course-"

"Inconsistent," Rilla finishes with a frustrated sigh. "I know, I know. But-"

"It would not be… unheard of," he mumbles, looking decidedly away from her. "If… if a- a powerful sort of- of connection were involved."

Rilla grits her teeth, resisting the urge to groan. "So. True love."

"Ugh," the monster grumbles, and Rilla can't help but agree.

"Look, I know it's stupid, but so is magic and if there's even a possibility it might work-"

"Magic is not stupid," he spits, and her human insult sounds charmingly ridiculous in his voice. Like it always does. She tries not to think about that.

"Just inconsistent and almost deliberately contrary," she says, and then she glances towards Damien's still sleeping-slumped form and lowers her voice. "I just- I know it's a long shot. I know you barely believe us. I know it'll be-" painful, she doesn't say. "Awkward. But- if it works, then it's just a few seconds of- awkward and then you'll have the whole damn year back, right?"

"So you would like to… kiss." He pauses, his hands flexing and clenching. "To kiss me. That is what you are saying."

"I'm not saying I would like to," she corrects quickly, because the idea of Arum not knowing, not recognizing, not remembering while she puts her lips on him makes her feel- it makes her chest feel tight and awful and she thinks that she might want to just scream a bit, but- "I'm saying there's a slim, slim chance that it might just fix this, and I think it'd be stupid of us not to just test that incredibly low-risk theory and see what happens, if anything. And if it doesn't work-"

He stares at her, his frown turning nearly into a pout as she tries not to think about the curiosity in his eyes.

"If it doesn't work?"

"Then we…" she sighs. "Then we just keep looking for something else. No great loss beyond a couple of seconds of time."

That part feels like a lie. Rilla- Rilla always wants to kiss Arum. She loves kissing Arum, loves the way she can make him smile, make his whole frame soften so damn easily-

It feels like a pretty fucking substantial loss, though, to give a kiss to Arum while he barely even knows who she is.

But if there's even the slightest chance it might bring him back- Saints, she's starting to sound like Damien. She sucks in a breath to steady herself, then presses her own lips into a frown as she waits for Arum to respond.

His hands flex again, and then he seems to remember the coded journal in danger of his claws, and he sets the tome aside as a thin rattle whirs from his throat. He meets her eye- and then he glances away too quickly, snake-strike fast.

Rilla saw, though. She saw the look in his eyes. He's already made the decision.

"… very well," he says eventually, still not looking anywhere near her. "If… if you believe we might unravel this magic… if we are to each other what you say we are… that sort of magic is rather old, and rather… potent. I imagine this curse must be powerful, but…"

"You agree that there's a chance?"

"Slim," he hedges. "With magic, there is a chance of nearly anything. With magic as old as a curse-breaking kiss… a slim chance is still a chance, I suppose."

"Okay," Rilla says slowly. "So… so you're okay if we… try this?"

"I'm not going to get my hopes up," the monster mutters, and then he flicks his eyes up to meet her own. "But… yes. If there is a chance… yes."

Rilla clenches her fists hard at her side, trying and trying and trying not to think about the mingling hope and curiosity she can see the monster trying very clumsily to hide.

"Alright," she says, and then she takes another step closer to him. "Okay. If you're sure-"

"I'm not going to say it again, little human."

"I'm just gonna," she says by way of warning, and then before her hands can start actually shaking, she lifts them to cup his jaw, her heart stuttering when he stiffens at the contact. He swallows, his eyes widening as they flick between her own, and she gives a weak sort of smile. "Close your eyes?"

She's half expecting him to change his mind at that. Instead, he just watches her for another moment, his hands flexing at his sides, and then she feels him nod very slightly as he lets his eyes slip closed.

She could almost pretend, like this. While he isn't looking at her- she could almost pretend.

Almost.

She leans up, going on her toes so she can reach his mouth more easily, but when she's at the right level she pauses first.

"I… I know you don't want to hear this right now," she whispers, and Arum inhales sharply as her breath tickles his scales, "but I think- I feel like… maybe I should."

"What…" he keeps his eyes closed, his shoulders stiff. "Go on. Say what needs said and just-"

"I love you," she murmurs, and the shocked noise he makes is too much to stand, so she closes her own eyes as she lifts herself the last little bit to kiss him.

It feels exactly like a first kiss, which Rilla decides she should have expected. He feels stiff against her, he doesn't even raise his hands to hold her, he just- stands and gasps against her lips and allows her to hold his face with as much gentleness as she can muster.

His chest rumbles as her thumbs brush across his cheeks, as her mouth moves against him. She can tell that he's just as breathless as she is, and she feels burning and wild as she thinks, told you that you purr, you big liar.

Her eyes flutter open as she slowly pulls away. She exhales, one long sigh, and then she looks up into Arum's eyes.

Her heart stumbles, and then it sinks.

Arum's violet eyes are wide, and stunned, and wanting-

And still without a flicker of memory.

She tries to hide her- her disappointment, tries to hide the way her entire body feels suddenly cold and distant, but when she closes her eyes again she can hear the small noise the monster makes in response, and after a moment, two of his hands reach awkwardly to grip her own.

"I… Rilla…"

"Don't- don't call me that," she manages, and her voice sounds strange in her own ears. It's almost worse, hearing him try to say the wrong name so damn gently instead of just hissing at her. "You never call me that."

"I'm… I'm s-" he pauses, and she can feel his hands flexing uncomfortably against her own. "I do not know what to say. I thought- for a moment, I almost believed that perhaps-"

"Knew it was a ridiculous long shot. You said so yourself," she says, before he can finish the thought, and his hands drop away from her. She wants to grab his wrists and pull his arms around her, wants to run until her legs give out, wants to shove him and scream in his face, wants to kiss him again and again and again until she snaps this curse in half-

She opens her eyes, and turns away from Arum's confused, yearning face, back to the pile of books. She pulls one towards her, peeling it open with fingers that feel wooden and strange, and she forces herself to focus on the words in front of her.

"We'll keep trying," she says, and after a moment she sees him nod out of the corner of her eye.

They'll keep trying. Rilla will keep working. Until they fix this, until they get him back-

There's nothing else she can do.

[->]

[princess-of-the-corner]

Okay, so this Au that I’m tentatively calling ‘Miraculous Trio’ was suggested by an ask. But here’s the basic concept.

All the Miraculous have the ability to purify the Akumas, so Fu doesn’t send out the Ladybug and Black Cat. Instead, he picks Alya, Nino, and Chloé to be the Fox, Turtle and Bee. Shenanigans ensue to the point where Marinette and Adrien are the stable background romance we get from Canon!DJWifi

I’m just gonna run through episodes and discuss what will be different. Some things will be repeats because a lot of my ‘Chloé is being better’ stories have similar plot threads.

Season 1

Origins Part 1:

Alya and Chloé are both 110% on board with being Superheroes.

Nino is a bit more hesitant, but does decide to do something since he can.

The three run into each other and pick names.

Chloé is already sort of doing the ‘redemption arc’ thing with this, by using Queen Bee as a fresh start to be nicer without backlash.

So while she’s still snarky, she pushes down her ruder comments and is more actively helpful.

They all save the day, but somehow all three of them forget to catch the Butterfly

Origins Part 2:

All three are pretty bummed out about their previous failure, but think ‘hey, even if I quit, the other two will still go out, right?’.

When Stoneheart attacks again, all three decide ‘no, I might not have gotten it right the first time, but I can do something so I will!’, and find hiding places to transform.

All three get that signature ‘Hawkmoth can suck a dick’ speech, vowing to protect the city.

The whole event inspires Marinette to stand up to Chloé in class, which makes Adrien go ‘Heart eyes motherfucker!. (Chloé’s grumpy about it, but will help him. Like all my AUs).

The Umbrella Scene™ happens the same, so Mari also has a crush on Adrien now.

Alya starts up a blog for the Heroes, both as a way to boost her career by pulling some Peter Parker shit, but also to gather information. I’m calling it ‘Miracublog’

She drags Nino into it, as he has a talent for video editing. This partnership starts a low-key romance.

I always have Chloé head the merch department. It’s fun.

Stormy Weather:

When Alya and Marinette take Manon to the park to see Adrien’s phototshoot, Mari and Adrien get stuck with Manon in the ice carousel while Alya’s like ‘I’ll go get help!’.

While the Trio fight Stormy Weather, Mari and Adrien have some bonding time. Adrien absolutely flirts with her, and Mari is a disaster, but she learns to chill(HA) around him much earlier.

The Bubbler

I was debating on if this would be different, as ‘The Heroes being Akumatized is Bad™’, since all three members are able to purify Akumas, it’s not as big of a problem.

Rena and Queen Bee are a little worried that Carapace doesn’t show up for the fight, but he makes up a lie of ‘oh I was on the other side of town and couldn’t get away in time’.

The Pharaoh

The book isn’t a factor.

All three end up at the museum, because there’s hints to other Miraculous there, not just the Ladybug.

Chloé dragged Adrien with her and he ends up as sacrifice instead. He still livestreams the thing because Alya and Nino had given him and Mari a connection to livestream directly to the Miracublog(a precaution to keep an eye on those two if they end up in trouble)

Lady Wifi

I honestly have no idea how this would go. Like I know I said any of the Trio could be Akumatized because it’s not as big a deal in this one but…

Since Alya is a Hero, she has a much healthier respect for Secret Identities, and wouldn’t be digging into it.

I’m just going to say that this one didn’t happen. Maybe something else could Akumatize her, but idk.

Timebreaker

Mostly the same in setup, but the fight goes differently:

Chloé is the one who does the self-sacrifce thing (because even though she’s still not the best person, she is much better of a person as a Hero, and has learned to consider Rena and Carapace her friends, and would die for them)

Rena and Carapace get sent back with Timebreaker.

Once they fix everything and Queen Bee is back, they both actually hug her and she’s kinda confused.

Rena and Carapcae give her the ‘don’t you ever fucking do that again!’ speech

QB kinda accidently confesses that she sees herself as a bit expendable. They don’t really /need/ her to defeat the villain of the day, and tbh they’re better people that she is in general

While they admit they don’t know anything about her Civilian life, they know Queen Bee. And Queen Bee is Exceptional and Irreplaceable.

She kinda cries a little but pretends she isn’t until she gets home.

Mr. Pigeon

Hey! No one’s allergic to feathers here!

Much like my other ‘Chloé is being nicer’ fics, she doesn’t outright try to steal Mari’s hat design.

Everything else is pretty the same.

Evillustrator

Chloé does kinda think about the stuff Marinette says about Sabrina, but it get’s pushed away for now because Akuma

Evillustrator still tries to get Mari on a date with him, and she uses that connection to the Miracublog to show the team where he is/what he’s doing.

The Trio all kina give him a ‘Bitch she ain’t into you!’ speech.

Evillustrator tries to go after Chloé again, and gets frustrated when she isn’t in her room

He asks the Team where they hid her, and Queen Bee’s just like ‘Bitch it’s not like she can’t just go shopping or down to the restaurant! Why does she have to be alone in her room right now? Fuck you!’

Nath thinks all the Heroes are cool, but doesn’t develop a crush.

Adrien, on the other hand, is a little jealous.

Rogercop

This happens because Trixx is like ‘I think I will cause problems on purpose! >:3c’

He steals Chloé’s bracelet and everything after happens.

When Queen Bee sees Rena have the bracelet later during the fight, she demands to know where she got it and learns about Trixx being a prankster.

Post-fight, she sets the record straight about the bracelet, telling Roger ‘it was stolen, and you would’ve found that out if you’d actually done your fucking job!’.

Copycat

Well, there is no ‘Chat’ to copy, so this would be different…

How about when Alya is helping Mari with the phone thing, she doesn’t skip out, thinking it’d be fine if Rena doesn’t make it to the statue unveiling.

Théo gets upset about that, and is a copy-fox? Kinda Volpina-ish.

Dark Cupid

These three are trying to get Mari and Adrien together, meanwhile Alya and Nino are trying to figure out their own love life because they’re trapped in their own version of the Lovesquare.

Chloé still rejects Kim. And while she isn’t as harsh, he’s still upset and Akumatized.

Queen Bee does get hit by Dark Cupid’s arrows, but her feelings toward everyone are so all over the place that it doesn’t entirely effect her. She’s extra rude to her teammates, but she’s able to pull together and still fight despite that.

Horrificator:

Like most AU versions of this I wrote, Chloé is more on board with the Adrienette ship, and this Akuma isn’t entirely her fault.

Darkblade

Without the responsibility of being a Hero, Marinette has no issue trying to be Class President!

Chloé is too busy with being a Hero to bother with any sort of blackmailing.

The Mime

Mari still accidentally erases a video Alya showed her, and she runs through the fight trying to track down the Heroes to remake the interview.

Alya is so touched that Mari would do that for her, and tries not to hug her on-site.

Kung Food

Pretty the same for my ‘Chloé is being nicer AUs’. Accidental sabotage instead of being a dick.

Gamer

Pretty the same, though Adrien invites Marinette to compete instead of her just jumping in. They get their cute not-a-date at her place.

No clue where the Heroes would get a giant robot though.

Animan

The Zoo Trip is plan ‘let’s set up Adrienette’. Though Adrien and Marinette think it’s a plan for them to set Alya and Nino up together.

Rena tosses Adrien and Marinette in the cage. One of them makes a joke about ‘oh, are all our dates going to be like this?’ and they kinda realize that yeah, they’ve kinda had a couple ‘dates’ that were ‘we are being attacked’, and end up talking and realizing the mutual pining and end up together.

Rena is also off her game during the fight since they are fighting her dad, though she can’t tell the others that.

Anti-Bug

The Vanisher part is mostly the same, though the fight was over something different as Chloé probably doesn’t dress up as herself for cosplay.

During the Vanisher fight, Chloé can’t get away to Transform, but she still tries to help.

However, due to Rena and Carapace’s knowledge of Chloé as a person, they’re very upset and hostile toward her.

Eventually Chloé snaps at them, because they trust Queen Bee, but not Chloé. And while she gets it, it hurts. Because she’s the same goddamn person.

And okay yeah we’re using this as the Reveal Episode again.

This would probably be the Queen Wasp episode, as we’ve already had a copycat Fox. Hawkmoth doesn’t catch on to the identity thing though.

After she’s de-Akumatized, everyone ends up having their reveal because Rena and Carapace try to explain why they didn’t trust ‘Chloé’. And like, she gets it. Because she knows how bad she was.

The three agree to still be a team, to trust her more, and to work together to help Chloé be better.

Also now that the Alya/Nino lovesquare is fixed, they start dating. Mostly as civilians though it does come through as Heroes.

Puppeteer

Pretty much the same, though either the Lady Wifi doll doesn’t exist, or it’s replaced with something else.

Reflekta

Again, like most ‘Chloé is being nicer’ fics, she’s less of a jerk here.

Well, she gets snarky about Reflekta’s design. But you know.

Guitar Villain

Pretty much the same(especially Mari being Jagged’s niece now!)

Only thing I’d add is Chloé and Fang interactions because fuck you I like the idea of her adoring this puppy-like crocodile.

Pixelator

Mostly the same.

It does give Alya a bit of perspective on her journalism career though. Sure, she’s not paparazzi or a tabloid reporter, but still.

Princess Fragrance

Goddamn it Rose this was not a good episode for you SPRAYING STRONG PERFUME IN A SMALL CLASSROOM IS A HEALTH HAZZARD AND ESPECIALLY A FIRE HAZZARD IN THE SCIENCE ROOM

Sorry had to say that.

I think for this it would be Wayzz getting sick. Though whether he’s sick or just faking because he misses Master Fu is up in the air, as he suddenly gets better when the Akuma shows up!

Wayzz doesn’t get yeeted like Tikki did in Canon though.

Simon Says

Adrien and Marinette are adorable, and Adrien doesn’t have to do the ‘uh.. I gotta take a shower!’ thing.

Instead, Nino is the one who’s like ‘Hey man, can I borrow your shower for a bit?’. Adrien is confused but doesn’t know if that’s weird or not.

Rena and Carapace quickly get frustrated trying to talk to Gabriel, but Queen Bee knows how to handle him and get him to stop being a fuck(Years of practice).

Volpina

So I know I kinda wrote this before but…. Tbh I’m retconning it a little bit.

Lila shows up and does the whole ‘I’m totally Bffs with the Hero Squad!’ thing.

Said Hero Squad immediately clocks her as a liar and ignores her.

Adrien still finds the book in his father’s safe and brings it specifically to show them

Much like how I always have Chloé figuring out Adrien is Chat Noir, Adrien has figured out Chloé is Queen Bee. Due to her sudden closeness to Alya and Nino, he figured them out too.

He slipped up while talking to Mari once and oops now she knows too!

So yeah he figures ‘show them the book’.

Lila still tries to get all cozy with Adrien, but everyone goes ‘he has a gf so get your hands off!’.

Mari is suspicious of Lila anyway, but no one brushes her off as ‘jealous’.

The Trio ask to borrow the book from Adrien, and he agrees as he also agrees to meet Lila in the park later.  

Originally I wrote Lila trying to do the ‘I’m totally Rena Rouge’ thing, but tbh she’d probably make up a Hero instead since we already had a copycat Fox.

Not sure which one she’d pick, but whatever. She still bought jewelry to try to trick Adrien.

You know what? I want Carapace to be the one to lose his cool here. Because Nino doesn’t get as much attention.

He wanted to keep an eye on what Lila was doing, and maybe take a chance to pull her aside and say ‘hey, maybe don’t try to paint a target on your face by telling anyone who will listen that you know the Heroes??’.

But when he hears everything she says to Adrien, he just snaps and calls her tf out.

Lila gets Akumatized into whatever Hero she made up while Carapace informs Rena and QB about what just happened.

They all fight Lilakuma, and this time she actually does kidnap Adrien to the top of the Eiffel tower.

Once she’s defeated, no one really apologizes. Carapace felt a little guilty for yelling at her like he did, but Rena and QB agree that it was necessary.

They all go visit the Guardian together.

Christmas Special

Adrien still sneaks out, though not with Magic.

No Heroes show up to kick Santa’s ass, so he’s Akumatized differently.

The big party still happens though.

Season 2

The Collector

Carapace might be having too much fun hitting Gabriel.

Chloé’s the one who takes the fall for having the book, because she’s the one who would most likely get forgiveness instead of annoyance. (You can pry Uncle Gabriel out of my cold dead hands!)

Despair Bear

Like most ‘Chloé is being nicer anyway’ fics, the actual attempt goes better, but trying to encourage her though the threat of humiliation is not helping.

Prime Queen

The three have different reactions to the interviews

Carapace is the most awkward, but keeps his cool.

Rena tries to interview Nadja back by asking what it’s like being a reporter.

Queen Bee is used to interviews and playing the crowd.

Things go downhill when Nadja tries to get the romance angle. Everyone’s noticed the Rena/Carapace thing, but she goes further by attempting to spin it as a ‘love triangle’ by throwing QB in there somehow.

They shut that down and end up shutting down the interview altogether. Alya has a mini-crisis and is all ‘if I ever get like that when interviewing someone, please smack some sense into me!

Befana

Pretty much the same

Riposte

Mostly the same, though Kagami doesn’t end up with a crush on Adrien as he’s already taken.

Or I could toss in the Adrien/Marinette/Luka/Kagami polyship idk.

As there’s no jealousy or misunderstandings, Marinette and Kagami get along real early!

Robustus

Mostly the same tbh.

Gigantitian

Since the Adrienette ship is already sailing, there isn’t a plan here.

Maybe they’re planning a big date and the girl squad is there to help?

Dark Owl

Pretty much the same.

Glaciator

Well, all the couples and romance drama is sorted out. Except for whatever’s up with Chloé.

Perhaps she gets skeptical about the ‘Soulmate Ice Cream’ thing, especially with her vague flavor combo and it turns into a thing.

Sapotis

So… I think this is when we can toss in Snake!Marinette! After all, this was the episode where they first started bringing in new teammates!

Alya knows that fighting her little sisters will make her off her game, and there are so many copies and that whole ‘unbridled chaos of small children’, that the group decides that having Second Chance would be good, and they decide to give it to Marinette.

Chloé agrees, but argues for Adrien to be a teammate too.

Mari is hella nervous, but tbh once she has her mind set on something she can run circles around them. And with the power of Second Chance letting her know exactly how things go down? She’s unstoppable!

The Trio is in awe.

Also fuck you let her keep her Miraculous.

Gorizilla

We can take out the plot point of Gabriel suspecting that Adrien is a Hero, because he’s very obviously not in this AU. Carapace is the only male Hero, and even with the Magic Bullshit that lets a tiny mask hid their identities, it’s obvious he looks nothing like Adrien.

That said, everything else is mostly the same.

Captain Hardrock

No Lukanette unless I’m going for that polyship

Everything else is pretty much the same.

Zombizou

Again with the ‘Chloé is nicer so this is different’ plots.

Syren

No issues over not knowing the Guardian, since the Trio all know him. Maybe this is when Mari gets to meet him?

Frightengale

Not entirely sure how to work with this one because none of the usual plotlines would make problems in this.

Chloé’s nicer, Adrien doesn’t have a secret identity, even if Mari auditioned for a role she wouldn’t be put as her own Hero Persona, etc.

Troublemaker

Pretty much the same, though instead of just the ‘embarrassing wall of Adrien’ thing, it’s a wall of pictures from Marinette’s dates with Adrien. Still pretty embarrassing, but more cure and less stalker.

Anansi

Debated about this being a ‘new teammate!’ episode since it was originally, but… eh.

They’re enough to take her down.

Sandboy

Pretty similar, though adjusted for everyone’s personal nightmares.

Reverser

Again, similar, but also can I just say once more: What the FUCK Nathaniel???

Frozer

Instead of the romance shenanigans, this is a group hangout to try and get Kagami more friends. So, like, most everyone is there.

Style Queen

Everyone meets Chloé’s mom and wants to commit a murder.

Seriously they’re all like ‘no wonder you’re the way you are but also fuck her!’.

Adrien still gets glittered, though it’s less of a problem.

The Heroes take Style Queen down fairly well.

Queen Wasp

Audrey is still the worst.

When Chloé starts to hit her breakdown and almost reveals her identity, both Adrien and Marinette tackle her and stop her, dragging her off under disguise of ‘yeah no I think we’re going over here!’

Chloé finds out that they both know, and while she’s annoyed that they figured her out, she is kinda grateful they kept her from fucking up.

They all have a talk and help Chloé begin to see how horrible her mom is and that she doesn’t need her approval.

No akumatization actually happens

Malediktator

So like my other fics that focus on this, Chloé’s dad is still attempting to fix this whole mess and he gets Akumatized.

This is when we bring in Dragon!Adrien because letting the boy go lightning is the best way to deal with this.

He also keeps his Miraculous because fuck you.

Catalyst

Pretty similar, though Lila doesn’t have her Volpina powers. Or maybe she does? Hawkmoth could totally make her an Illusionist this time even if he didn’t the first time.

Either way, a fake event of the Heroes being defeated that causes despair and all that. Everyone shows up to fight.

Some of the despair is negated by the Team linking into the Miracublog to assure people that it was fake and just the work of an Akuma

Mayura

No one gets taken down in the fight. Rena and Carapace have the battle couple dynamic down, so they wouldn’t get taken out by the other being hit. Hawkmoth doesn’t know Chloé’s identity, and Mari and Adrien are too sunshine-y to be Akumatized over this fight.

The rest of the battle is pretty much the same though.

Season 3:

 Backwarder

Like other rewrites of this episode, there isn’t any romance drama to cause the letter mixup, so the actual Akumatization happens differently.

Everything else is probably the same.

Weredad

God I don’t even know. ‘Chat Noir’ isn’t a thing, we don’t have identity drama. Maybe it’s a thing of Mari’s parents find her interacting with Dragon!Adrien and get a little protective because ‘back off she has a bf!’

I’m not sure.

Chameleon

The five all know Lila is a trick ass bitch.

some gave her the benefit of the doubt on her other lies, as she couldn’t possibly be lying about everything

But Alya and Nino are looking into things themselves and listening when Mari says things like “Jagged Stone has a crocodile, not a kitten’

Without Alya’s support, Lila’s sway over the class isn’t as strong, but the girl is good at manipulating the crowd.

She frames Mari’s issues as jealousy, of course. ‘Apologizing’ for what happened before because she ‘totally didn’t know Adrien was dating someone!’, and this is just Mari being a jerk over that.

She also frames Alya’s thing as jealousy over the Miracublog. Because ‘You might be the best news source, but you’re not the Hero’s BFFs like I am!’.

They do get to counter with what Lila did in the Volpina episode, lying about being a Hero to impress Adrien.

It’s kinda brushed off as ‘yeah that’s shitty but she’s sorry and it’s not like that means she’s lying about everything!’

Lila thinks she can win over Adrien and Alya, and they’re the most ‘useful’ to her. So she focuses on trying to ruin both Marinette and Nino, with an extra focus on breaking up Adrienette and DJWifi. She also thinks ruining Chloé will be easy due to her reputation.

She doesn’t do the one-on-one confrontation though, so no one really knows how much of a threat she is. The crew decides to just deal with her as time goes on.

Animaestro

I know I save the copyright violations plot for Lady Luck but I can’t resist! So yeah the movie team didn’t get the Heroes’ permission to make a movie and Chloé is giving the legal smackdown.

While Adrien was a voice in the movie, he didn’t play one of the Trio as he couldn’t really do any of them properly

He does end up voicing himself in a way though. Because the Movie Crew had to make up OCs to be the ‘Civilian Rena, Carapace, and QB’. Adrien voiced ‘Civilian QB’s brother’ who happened to be dating ‘civilian Rena’s best friend’, both of which were hinted at becoming the Dragon and Snake in the sequel that will never happen.

The Team is a little concerned with how close to home those OCs are.

Marinette and Kagami are friends so no sabotage!

Speaking of, Mari was invited as Adrien’s date instead of her helping her parents. Though she does still help a little.

Bakerix

Mostly the same.

Silencer

Mostly the same except for the lack of Lukanette.

Oblivio

I already said that the team can get Akumatized, so this Akuma still happens.

Also we’re all in agreement that ‘Super Penguino’ is an innuendo, right?

Chloé is real glad that Mari and Adrien were given their Miraculous permanently because she really does not want to be doing this on her own.

There’s still cute Adreinette memory loss moments.

Stormy Weather 2

Like other ‘Chloé is nicer’ fics, she didn’t cause this. It’s the same otherwise.

Reflektdoll

As Adrienette has already sailed, that’s not a factor. It’s all Juleka’s anxiety.

I want the Kwamiswap to still happen though, but let’s make it a full shuffle? Bee!Alya, Dragon!Chloé, Snake!Adrien(though something cooler than Aspik), Turtle!Marinette and Fox!Nino.

Oni-Chan

This is where they start to realize that Lila is a threat. Because the things of Adrien trying to be nice and her trying to lie her way into his room happen.

Nathalie isn’t fooled, as she and Gabriel are like ‘no bitch you kidnaped him and dangled him from the Eiffel tower. Sure you were Akumatized but we know you were in control for that because we would’ve stopped you if we could’ve.’

Lila still does the kiss selfie thing and that pisses Adrien off for so many reasons.

Kagami isn’t jealous, it’s a ‘you’re making my friend uncomfortable and also he has a gf you absolute thot!’.

The Team all sees Lila’s dangerous side as she messes with the fight.

Side note: While Carapace was the one to call her out originally, she hates all the Heroes equally because Rena and QB supported him and called her out again.

Miraculer

Since no one know Chloé’s identity, this would probably get entirely rewritten.

Not sure how it’ll go but probably Lila being a fuck

Puppeteer 2

The statue prank is less cringe but other than that it’s mostly the same.

Desperada

Since they already have the Snake on the Team, either this is where they get a different Hero, or they just skip it altogether.

If they did choose someone here, it wouldn’t be Luka as the main three don’t know him well enough.

Startrain

Pretty much the same, though Alya and Nino know to take Chloé seriously when she tells them there’s a Butterfly on board.

Also Alya doesn’t stand for Lila trying to interrupt the Adrienette nap.

Kwamibuster

Mostly the same. Though all five sneak out and get backup Miraculous to fight.

No identity shenanigans though.

Feast

Alya doesn’t post the video, and instead shows it to Master Fu herself.

Everything else goes pretty similar.

Ikari Gozen

Marinette and Kagami friendship!

They don’t think to give Kagami a Miraculous, and just help her out and then take down Ikari Gozen

Timetagger

Mostly the same, tbh.

Party Crasher

Mostly the same, though when Mari finds out what the boys are doing she texts the girls and they all yell at them.

They would’ve found out anyway when Alya and Mari showed up to the fight.

Gamer 2.0

Mostly the same.

Chat Blanc

Well you can’t have ‘Chat Blanc’ without ‘Chat Noir’ so scratch that.

Mari and Adrien have already been together for a while and Gabriel is not being a fuck by trying to break them up because tbh you can pry the ‘Hello, future daughter-in-law’ thing from my cold, dead hands.

Also if you want me to believe in Hawkmoth Akumatizing Adrien, you either need to show a lot more sanity slippage over time, or you need to have both Gabriel and Adrien be in a situation where they’re furious about something but can’t deal with it through normal means, so the Akuma is a way to try and help.

Idk what to do here

Felix

As much as I want to replace Canon!Felix with PV/Fanon!Felix, let’s keep Canon for now.

The setup is the same. Felix visits and decides to cause problems on purpose.

However, when he pretends to be Adrien, there’s two reasons why the main crew don’t believe it

First, is that they know Adrien really well, and he wouldn’t do that. Mari especially knows Adrien well and is pinpointing all the minor differences in how Felix acts.

The second, is that Felix isn’t wearing a fake Miraculous. He noticed Adrien’s new necklace, but as he didn’t have time to buy a fake he went without and figured it wasn’t that important.

But Mari, Nino, Alya and Chloé know that Adrien would never take it off because it’s a Miraculous.

So they manage to convince the friends that it must be a fake or something. But the trio ends up Akumatized anyway because ‘how dare someone try to trick us into hating Adrien!!’

Ladybug

Lila is still a fuck

She goes for ruining Mari, Nino and Chloé socially instead of getting any of them expelled(She’d do that after their reputation tanks). And she’s been working on this for a while.

She’d been subtle, making up things about them being jerks to her in private, and playing the victim whenever they call her out on her shit.

The class is hesitant to believe Mari and Nino could be that mean, but, well, Lila surely can’t be lying, right? And they have been hanging out with Chloé…

Of course they mostly believe Chloé would be mean, despite her recent strides in not being a dick.

Lila’s even been telling Alya and Adrien this stuff, pretending to be asking them to reign in their respective partner. Alya and Adrien don’t fall for it though, but don’t quite call her out on it.

Today was supposed to be a finishing blow, trying to convince the class that Marinette and Nino had been cheating on their respective partner with each other.

Alya and Adrien fight back because they know Lila’s a fuck

They ask Lila for specific dates, and Mari and Nino actually have an alibi for any time she says.

Either Mari was with Adrien, or Nino was with Alya, or there was a double date, or at least one of them was seen elsewhere.

They slam her with the whole thing and turn it around on her because bruh what the fuck

The classmates are on the fence. Because yeah, it doesn’t sound in-character for Marinette and Nino. But at the same time, would Lila really make up a lie about seeing them together?

It doesn’t ruin them completely, but it does damage their rep a little.

Hawkmoth tries to do the Scarlet Moth thing, but tbh between the fact that Mari is targeted(because he has an attachment to her in this AU) and Nathalie getting sick half-way through, he stops.

Not sure exactly what Mayura would make for a Sentimonster. There’s three main Heroes to choose from, plus the bonus Snake!Mari and Dragon!Adrien, so there isn’t one option to make a Sentimonster out of.

Either way it doesn’t work because of my favorite trope: “He calls me Riza when we’re alone!”.

Loveater/Miracle Queen

As Chloé’s identity isn’t a thing, this will have to be hella rewritten and tbh it’s 1:30 am so fuck it I don’t have the energy.

[lesserideafountain]

Millicent: 1 2 4 13 14 17 19. Sanctum 1 17 19. Phiz 1 2 3 8 11 17 19.

oohohhohoho, time for a deep dive!

Millicent:

1: What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc.)?

hmm… i feel that everything about Millicent came to me very rapidly. i wanted a young wizard girl, but robot, which immediately prompted the question: who made her?and that very quickly led to the development of her creator and her siblings, her specialisation, et cetera...

2: Did you design them with any other characters/OCs from their universe in mind?

not originally. but as i fleshed out her creator with my DM, i got more and more ideas to integrate into her design/backstory.

4: In developing their backstory, what elements of the world they live in played the most influential parts?

probably royalty and the elitism of magic in the main continent. being a constructed person, her creator needed to be someone rich and influential, with access to the required research materials. on the other hand, i didn't want my character to overshadow the others with their connections, so i needed to find a balance. i didn't consider that some of us are warlocks with ties to literal deities.

13: How far past the canon events that take place in their world have you extended their story, if at all?

backwards i did a bit. i fleshed out some of her siblings and laid a few hints, but most of it was created from the sheer brilliance of my DM, left for me to find out :3c looking forwards, i have ideas for her current goals and ideals, but she's most concerned with short-term goals as of now, which might change soon.

14: If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be?

one, do not let yourself be controlled and puppeteered again. two, keep those you can trust as close to you as you can.

17: Is there some element you regret adding to your OC or their story?

to be honest, her alchemy. i was intending to have her be a chemical analytical mind in the party, but our rogue turned out to be an alchemist as well, and now we sort of need to split the role even though there isn't too much to work with.

19: What is your favorite fact about your OC?

she used to worry 24/7 about needing to be useful to the rest of the party, but once she realized that her friends aren't going to leave her behind no matter what, she relaxed for the first time in a very long time.

SANCTUM:

1: What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc.)?

being quadrupedal. xD i distinctly remember that i wanted a character who was big and strong enough to literally carry a whole party. good thing juggernaut warforged are beefy!

17: Is there some element you regret adding to your OC or their story?

funnily enough, being quadrupedal 🙈 four legs need a lot of space, and not every environment allows for that.

19: What is your favorite fact about your OC?

they absolutely adore children. i had a vision of SANCTUM accumulating and adopting children as they go, retreating more and more from adventuring over time. and when they settle down, they add onto their body with logs, bricks and clay - until they become the home their children deserve.

Phiz Phos Phor:

1: What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc.)?

I created Phiz back when i was playing with a homebrew, free-for-all system, and i remember wanting to play a lil' Radiance Elemental. A smol Bundle of Sunshine. and that's exactly what i got :3

2: Did you design them with any other characters/OCs from their universe in mind?

not from their universe, no, but i very much had characters like Navi from Ocarina of Time or Aurora from Child of Light in mind.

3: How did you choose their name?

it's a play on sounds and words - Phosphor is the german name of phosphorus, which glows brightly and fizzles (Phiz) when burnt xD

8: What (if anything) do you relate to within their character/story?

the sense of wonder and being lost in a big world. Phiz is very young, and a lot of things in the material plane do not work like they do in the celestial realms. but that's also what makes it exciting.

11: Did you know what the OC’s sexuality would be at the time of their creation?

not one bit! i think it might take a lot of time still, until their attention falls on that topic - and who knows what might strike their fancy.

[comicteaparty]

March 14th-March 20th, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from March 14th, 2020 to March 20th, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

How do you react to readers predicting your plot twists?

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Depends when they do. A page or two before it happens? Both of us get to feel clever. Yay! Months ahead? Well, obviously the thing I thought a a big twist ain't it, so I get to decide what other thing to focus on. I usually don't change the plot on reader predictions, but I can always change how a twist is presented from "Big surprise! Bet you didn't expect that" to "Well, ain't it neat to FINALLY have confirmation about that thing?"

Funnily, the best plottwist I ever wrote was in my now defunct comic. I thought it was obvious, but my few readers went "WOAH, didn't see THAT coming." So these days I try to just write the story and let the twists fall where they may.

Pistashi

ASDFPHIaewpf a friend of mine was reading my comic and he was making a lot of theories, a bunch of them was way off but he managed to be 100% accurate about one of his theories and I just started laughing nervously when he talked to me about it before it happened in the comic. This was years ago and the thing already happened and it's not a big deal anymore, but at the time I felt proud to write something that was obscure enough to not be on the reader's face but at the same time having someone figure it out after connecting the dots

I have little twists that happen in a more funny way, and it's usually used for comedy, and my readers seem to like it

but that's probably because of the expectations in humor coming from my writing style

which is usually bad puns and character reactions to absurd situations

and I agree witch chalcara, sometimes we can feel like we failed a plot twist when people see it from miles away

which is true, but sometimes even when they figure it out it's best to leave it as it is

I've seen a lot of writers fucking up their stories by changing plot twists that were stablished just because "people found out too early", and retconing a lot of the story in result

like, making a plot twist consists in creating some kind of foreshadowing

to make the twist not seem too forced and taken from nowhere

also to make it rewarding for those who searched deep for those clues

idk I love these little foreshadowing/clues we can leave for our readers

to make the twists even more powerful and meaningful

RebelVampire

I want to second a lot of the above. A plot twist should not be completely unguessable. Because if nobody guesses it, it means to most readers it's gonna feel like it makes no sense and came out of nowhere. The goal of a true twist is to have as few people as possible guess it but then when it's revealed, the reader smacks their head going "how could I miss all these clues."

Pistashi

exactly

Deo101 [Millennium]

Readers predicting things usually makes me lead with "oh no, I'm predictable!!!" And then makes me thing "wait, no, it means they're picking up on the hints I've left behind." Though sometimes it's predictable, like if someone guesses the actions of the next few pages, that's less of the readers picking up on hints and more just guessing right. But guessing big plot things, j think, is a reflection that I'm making things as clear as I need to, and I'm rather fond of it

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

99% of the times I am delighted if they guess the plot twist. I like it when I feel like my readers are on the same page as me (pun ...maybe not intended?) and see where things are going. Since my stuff is character driven, it tells me they can read the characters and their personalities well enough. However there was this one time when I had intentionally depicted something that was not going to be the historical norm (namely the p-51 mustangs' coats of paint on a cruiser in the opening scene of my WWII webcomic Brave Resistance). A war history buff called me out on it IMMEDIATELY saying "wait, these aren't how they're supposed to be!" and nearly spoiled the entire plot on page 2! I had to DM him to tell him to tone it down, and explain to him why the planes where the way they were. He apologized and stopped, but I'd wanted to throttle him for a while there

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I agree with Rebel re: the purpose of a plot twist. In that sense, though, I don't think my story even has plot twists. There is no moment anywhere in the story where I want the readers to go "how could I have missed all the clues!!!" ... On the spectrum of brainy vs hearty, my story is very close to the extreme end of hearty. Like, think of stories like The Little Prince or My Sweet Orange Tree. Even when unexpected things happen, it's never about the brilliant reveal. The most shocking thing in My Sweet Orange Tree comes out of nowhere, and it works for that book. Heart of Keol is a lot like those two in this regard. Not exactly the same, but pretty dang similar!

So back to the question, honestly? I want people to be able to guess. The usual bane of my existence is the opposite problem: people not knowing wtf is going on. My story isn't supposed to draw its strength from its surprises, so guess away (edited)

eli [a winged tale]

I love it when the reader guesses the gist of the plot twist a few pages just before the reveal. I sort of follow the novel structure idea that the reader should see what’s coming next right before it hits them, hence rewarding their investment in the story. Wild speculations without the clues I’ve planted are interesting. It does make me wonder if I relied too much on tropes or left too big of the crumbs. That being said, I’m not too fussed by readers predicting the general directions of the plot because it’s all about the character reactions. Could they predict that too? Maybe, to a degree. But there are a lot of subtext I try to write in my characters that give some nuances that I feel may entertain even those who guess correctly how the story would go. TL;DR: guess away. Love reading theories. The story is set so I won’t be changing anything big but perhaps layer the reveal with subtleties.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I've actually never had readers guess what's coming next. I mean, unless you count obvious, broad stuff (such as "the MCs get together"). I mean, it IS a romance. But in regards to big plot events, no one has gotten remotely close with their predictions (which kind of surprises me, because I drop clues everywhere). To be fair, I'm only a chapter in, so I guess it makes sense. But I am excited for the day when people finally guess

eli [a winged tale]

Same Cronaj! The predictions I’m speaking of are from my betas reading the entire script I love it when then go—- “omg this [plot point] must mean [reveal!]” .... right before the reveal

Feather J. Fern

If anyone does pick out certian plot twists I will be like "Yesssss people do think like me, I am not crazy" XD because most of my twists are all shown from the start through hidden background things so if people found them I am excited they took time and effort to figure out twists

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I love it. I haven’t been disappointed about it yet, and I don’t think I will be. It doesn’t make me change the twists at all - in fact, I’ve even shifted some story elements around to give the readers even more confirmation that they’re right, earlier on in the plot. I want to reward them with a treat, and now they can revel in their cleverness a bit longer Hee hee.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I love it too, but I don't change things to make readers more right like LadyLazuli does. Sometimes I'm tempted to, though! My readers have good ideas!

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I like plot twists so I like to set a hint of them off early tbh (edited)

but I try not to make it too obivous :3c

tho for those who like to guess, I welcome it. I like hearing folks and their interpretations even if it's not what I'm going for too lol

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Admittedly, a lot of it is due to the nature of the medium. I know that webcomics take ages to get to major reveals or spoilers - I can wait to totally-confirm things, but I can't wait to... almost-confirm things? I don't want people to get tired or frustrated. I know I've gotten angry at anime shows that take 20 episodes to confirm something we guessed at episode 1, so I like when these things are all but confirmed early on. It can be really fun to know a secret that, maybe, the heroes don't know. It gives an extra layer of STOP, NO, DON'T GO IN THERE! in times of danger

But given my propensity to practically s c r e a m my spoilers to people who I can trust with the plot... a lot of it is just me bursting at the seams wanting to say YES YOU'RE CORRECT.

Patience and restraint. Essential things in webcomics

eli [a winged tale]

Indeed! So much patience needed I do love some excellent plot twists executed just chefs kiss

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Yes! I just want to tell readers, "Oh God, you're right! Good job!" But instead I usually respond with a ":)" or "I like this analysis!" Which I think is basically just confirming it. But if it's a real life friend? I cannot resist from telling them everything. I've even spilled spoilers in this chat before, trusting that most people here haven't read my comic. Kind of backfired when I reached a major plot point and someone commented, "She's been waiting to bust out this plot point for so long." Oops, guess someone did read my forum posts. But even if I did spoil things in the comments, is it really that big of a deal? I'm the kind of person where spoilers don't detract from my experience of things and sometimes even adds to it. But some people care about spoilers, so.(edited)

eli [a winged tale]

Haha yeah it’s honestly so freeing to just tell someone about the spoilers

Here’s what I have planned that will wreak the readers muahaha

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Past me could super relate to that! But these days I don't really want to TELL people? I'm not sure if that's because I've changed as a person, or if it's because this story is different from my previous ones. That being said, my patience is not infinite. I am itching to SHOW people. Can't wait to get to those Big Scenes

"Big" is a weird adjective here because they're very small scenes in some ways. Very intimate/personal

But... you guys know what I mean. The scenes that every longform webcomicker is dying to get to

Mei

Oh gosh, I agree that plot twists shouldn't be entirely out of the blue, since it's nice to have the hints that give people the crumbs to follow a trail. But like, since I write a lot of these chapters way in advance, and if I had the chance I'd love for them to be readable in one go as opposed to a page per week, I fear that I'm boring people with a predictable punchline? That being said, I get so many comments that predict the end of the chapter or the punchline or the joke. And I'm always like "haha maybe????" but inside i'm like "oh my god, they got me, THEY GOT ME"

Ohh yeah keii I get what you mean

the scenes you're like, checking your watch, checking your current pagecount, and thinking "soon I'll get to draw it, and it will be marvellous"

eli [a winged tale]

Oh gosh those scenes for me are at the finale

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

TBH last time I got to one of those scenes (which was very recent), my anxiety skyrocketed because I was expecting someone to say something harsh. Because it happened in all of the previous ones. But this time it went well, so hopefully the future ones will, too?

eli [a winged tale]

Yay!

Deo101 [Millennium]

I think for me, I worry more than anything that it will ruin things for other readers, rather than me worrying so much about someone guessing right or me sharing spoilers.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Someone DID say something harsh, but it was right before the actual scene and not about the scene and a lot of people got fed up with their attitude so I felt like it wasn't my fault, lol

eli [a winged tale]

Ruin things for other readers? Oh like someone predicting correctly in the comments?

Deo101 [Millennium]

Also yay! I always get anxiety about those kinds of scenes

Yes, someone predicting Something

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Well thought-out predictions are a lot of fun to read though, as a reader going through the comment section

eli [a winged tale]

I guess I stopped minding it and now embrace it they could be wrong or right and who knows until we get there~

Oh totally!

Deo101 [Millennium]

Oh I don't mind so much, but that doesn't mean I don't worry a bit too!

J like reading them for me, but I still think "I wonder if this will ruin it for someone else"

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Occasionally there are problems with Korean webcomics that were originally webnovels? Because people who've read the novel version sometimes spoil things in the comic comment section, and that's not cool. They're not even theorizing, they're straight up spoiling.

Deo101 [Millennium]

:(

eli [a winged tale]

Oh no that’s bad

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

But if people are theorizing, and the theories turn out to be right, that's all very fun IMO!

Mei

ugh when people spoil things it irritates me to no end. Let people enjooy it for what it is!

and yes!! that's one of my fave things too

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah, every reader is different though. I have some people who explicitly have asked me not to share spoilers, and others who kinda beg for them! So I worry if some people don't like to see predictions (I know my dad doesn't like when I guess things in a movie)

Mei

theorising, discussing with other fans, just chatting about what you think may or may not happen

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Sometimes you even see comments like "Hurry up, Konans! I'm too tired to think, so post some good interpretations/theories!" lol (Konan as in the detective... in Korea, it's a term for hardcore theorizers in webcomic comment sections)

Oh, I think movies are different

I don't want any form of verbal remarks while I'm watching a movie

Or like, if I'm marathonning a show with my bro, we're entirely silent except between episodes.

But comment section is like, you have to actually go there.

Deo101 [Millennium]

Some people might be like that for comics, too. Idk. I'm not trying to say i don't like to see theories I'm just trying to think of everything that makes me worry about them is all.

And for me, the biggest worry would be that someone seeing a prediction would make them enjoy my comic less. It doesn't mean I necessarily think it's all that common, but I refuse to say it won't happen I think

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

Personally, I think that's not an issue unless you confirm the commenter's theories

like I've seen theories for things online where my first reaction is "that's dumb, that would never happen" and then it happens

some people will latch onto another person's theory, others will reject it, but i don't think people will take it as a spoiler in advance

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Yeah, theories are just theories

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I mean I know some people don't even want to hear other readers' theories, but if they are that extreme, they need to avoid the comment section on their own IMO?

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

^^

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

like... cool, I respect your preferences, but you can't hold me responsible, pal!

Deo101 [Millennium]

Again I'm not trying to say I don't like theories or I don't want them I'm just trying to think of all potential issues with them

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Granted, I'm one of those people who will scroll through the comments and read theories because I like to see all the smart people reveal the clues to dumb people like me

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I can relate to that

@Deo101 [Millennium] Understandable! Just don't be too hard on yourself for things that you can't control

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Those geniuses that remember details from 30 chapters ago and somehow manage to connect the dots

Mei

Exactly! The comment section is there, but it's their choice to read it, and also like it's not your fault either? like they're not YOUR comments

haha in our RPG games sometimes people drop character plot hints way at the start of the campaign, and my friend will turn up, 7 months later, " remember when Character A said this? I remember"

and everyone's like "what the heck?!" some people are just detectives

they can see it, they see the matrix

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

Anyway, I love when my readers theorize! I don't believe any reader has guessed any of the major plot twists in the first two books, despite there being enough evidence beforehand to make a guess (closest was "whatever zebugu's doing, it's not evil this time" but not the specifics of what he was doing). Though, if they had, I wouldn't mind, since that's max two years they gotta wait before the reveal (and that's assuming they guess it on the cover page lol). Book 3 is a different beast - strictly speaking, there's enough evidence for someone to predict both twists at the end of the book, right now. And... that may be an issue, given that this book will take over three years to reach those twists. So... we'll see if anyone guesses them. What's weirdest is when people guess things almost correctly with absolutely NO hints. And it's some super specific and minor thing like "Mizuki is secretly the reincarnation of a thousand-year-old dragon". Like... there haven't even been dragons mentioned in the comic up to this point. Nor any events from a thousand years ago. And like, that's not exactly the truth, but how do you get THAT close???(edited)

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

They see E V E R Y T H I N G

eli [a winged tale]

Sometimes it’s a trope thing? But yeah wild speculations can be so wild but so spot on

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

but there aren't any fantasy creatures in the comic, at all!

except a squid with feet!

eli [a winged tale]

Lol whaaaat then yea not sure where the dragon part came from then

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Sherlock Holmes readers lol

eli [a winged tale]

Yeah detective Conan lol

Deo101 [Millennium]

Joke gone awry

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

basically

Feather J. Fern

Well I mean I have crack theories about random people being random things too so...

I can see where they come from XD

sagaholmgaard

tbh I think my comic is fairly easy to predict as it has a pretty straightforward narrative xD but I don't have that many readers yet so maybe in the future! I would have fun reading people's guesses and predictions :D

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

AAA my readers right now are so accurate. They're so smart. They make me want to post my entire buffer right now and prove them right.

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

I wonder if anyone would be able to predict the next things happening in joe is dead

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I at least have no idea what's going to happen next but am looking forward to it anyways(edited)

🌈ERROR404 🌈

i know that it's only because TH is still quite new, and I haven't gotten to the meat of the story yet, but i like reading some of the really out there predictions and worries i get in some of the comments lol

AntiBunny

I will never tell someone if their guess is right or wrong, but if they do guess it, it probably means I'm foreshadowing well.

Then again I also find myself writing by the seat of my pants, so plans are subject to change.

kayotics

The original question mentions “plot twists” but I’m never trying to make a plot twist personally. I may intentionally obfuscate things, but I don’t ever try to do wild twists and turns. So when a reader predicts what will happen, I actually don’t mind, and I’m pretty happy that it’s following a logical chain of events. On the other hand, when readers are totally off base, I think that’s REALLY fun.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Most of my readers feel that my comics are twisty and surprising, but I often get at least one reader who correctly guesses what will happen, even if sometimes they’re joking or think their theory is wild and out there. Honestly it feels pretty awesome to have a reader shrewd enough to puzzle out the clues, because that means they’re really paying attention. I don’t have a very big audience and most of the time they’re silent, so anytime someone leaves a comment that is carefully thought out, it makes me really happy. As for the times readers joke or wildly speculate but inadvertently hit the nail right on the head, I find those very amusing. I really love stories with well done twists and turns, and so I try very hard to execute good plot twists that have enough foreshadowing to be ‘Aha!’ moments rather than ‘Where did that even come from?’ moments. So I love when readers are both properly misdirected AND when they pick up on the clues and deduce the twist.(edited)

DanitheCarutor

Does my comic have plot twists? I don't really think about it. People have correctly guessed things that will happen in a chapter, someone even guessed correctly on the climax when a character named Daniel was introduced... well, it was more like "I hope things don't turn out like -blank-!". I don't mind, just because they guessed something correctly doesn't mean they know how the story will go for sure, it just means that they're theorizing and that is something I always encourage. I don't think that means the story is boring or predictable either, some people are just really good at that stuff. Even though I don't think my comic is very mysterious/unpredictable it's still impressive when someone pays attention to all the little visual and dialogue details, then guessing correctly about a future event based on them. Nothing more flattering than someone enjoying your comic enough to analyze it.

Lmao! I can't tell you how many movies I've ruined for people because I guessed a plot twist correctly.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Haha, honestly same. I’m not allowed to make predictions during movies or TV shows anymore bc I almost always get it right. XD Webcomics I find a bit more unpredictable, though, because most of them aren’t nearly as formulaic as mainstream film.

DanitheCarutor

Yeah! Even if it's not obvious most of the time movies go by a pattern or set of traits, once you learn how they go a film or TV show becomes a lot more easy to figure out right away. The only time I'm stumped is when the movie is really surreal or absolutely awful. That's the nice thing about webcomics in a way. I assume a lot of creators haven't had professional training, and we want to tell a story more than be entertaining to the masses, so stories are less predictable. They don't always go by a formula, which can be refreshing.

Capitania do Azar

Aw man I would love to have some theories, but for the time unfortunately I don't I'm always super curious about how readers interpret things given they don't have an inside view of things

[mamagabi-s-corner]

death traps outside of the haunted attraction (contains spoiliops)

I think I already made a post about it a long ass time ago, but I will repeat myself. This might be more detailed than the last one, but I do hope I get a point across. 

the aspect of death traps is for a purpose called “Punishment Game”, which means that what ever choice you make, whether it be inside or outside of the attraction, the game will punish you accordingly. But if you ask as to why it exists outside the haunted attraction, you should have heeded to what Alpha said (she will be more specific in the next update). The shit you stumble upon is done by Shedder herself (same with props in the haunted attraction, the fake queen, all done by her.), not only to lure unlucky bastards into their untimely demise (Angelo and Boo being one of them), but also to prevent you, THE PUPPETEER, from performing your sacred task, which does explain a bit more about Shedder as one of the primary antagons of the game. Shedder will do ANYTHING in her power to prevent you from performing the sacred task. But instead of doing harm to YOU, she does harm to the characters you play (aka shedder breaks the fourth wall. Obv hint is if you rig the system up to your favor and if you finish zone 2 (specifically after you have your first meeting with her) and you go back to the haunted attraction, she will refer to you as Player, not as Puppeteer, which means that she is FULLY AWARE THAT YOU’RE A REAL, LIVING, BREATHING BEING and she is aware that she can’t do harm to you (even if you take form of an alien looking being and/or Alternates)). But what’s her motive behind it? :3c well, there’s the ‘to piss you off’, because she knows how gamers are, they rage when they get killed in-game or fail a mission, so she is aware that if she does that to you, she’ll get a reaction that she wants (reminder. she feeds off ANY NEGATIVE EMOTION, rage tends to be the tastiest to her), but then you have a legit motive which is to make you FAIL the mission as a whole, not giving YOU any chance of fulfilling your sacred task.

tl;dr: shedder loves to fuck around with her players by doing that shit, and also she loves watching you fail the mission. Hence why there’s a statement to learn from trials and errors. This is an incomplete list of death traps that you can easily ignore.

haunted attraction lore

Max route: 

-Do not select 1 and 2. only the third one which is call for help. 

Sen route:

-Don’t examine the guillotine -Don’t listen in and immediately defeat the queen. 

Sam route: 

-AVOID THE SHADOWS AT ALL COSTS! -Go with the middle one, and even after you beat the leap of faith, don’t go against the walls! The game still punishes you for doing that. Zone 3:

-After you’ve interacted with Alpha and walk out, there will be an Elsen with their head off their hinges. Don’t interact with them. -In area 3 of Zone 3, there’s a lone fisherman in the distance. Do not interact with them.  -After you beat the cultivation area event, there’s a bush of black roses. Don’t smell them. -In the monorail event, only choose the Key E. 2 of the keys don’t work, and 2 of them lead to your demise.  -In area 4 of Zone 3, if you enter Clyde’s room, one of them is on a burner. don’t touch it. -If you interact with the scavenger and don’t offer him any silver flesh (spare the silver flesh, but even then, the game still registers that you gave him flesh), he’ll kill you.  -If you go to the dorms where Judge is and you stumble upon Shedder, DO NOT GO AFTER HER! YOU ARE GOING TO GET SLICED IN HALF YOU HAVE NO GOD DAMN IDEA, SHE’LL FUCKING USE ZA WARUDO ON YOUR ASS!