#im less particular about people commenting and interacting with my stuff than maybe i should be tbh

[pennyserenade]

telling myself the zero interactions i've gotten on fics beyond likes the past two years is sorta like being a real author and its good practice for the future just to get myself through the day

[theintelligentfool]

heyyyy im trying my hand at writing romance-ish stuff and posted the results! lmk what you think :)

“Oh, for the love of-” Ajax groaned, quietly, under his breath. The elevator door had opened to let someone in. And it was a face he’d recognize anywhere, even in civilian clothes.

It was none other than his archnemesis, Professor Sinister, the most dastardly supervillain in the city. His jet-black hair and cool blue eyes were the same as in-costume, as were his sharp facial features that his domino mask didn’t cover. His distinctive black cape and tuxedo-esque costume were gone, however, and in its place was a plain grey turtleneck and cream-colored jeans.

It was odd, seeing the Professor in casual civilian’s clothing, though Ajax had to admit it looked good on him. Not that the costume didn’t, but it was... oddly humanizing to see his archnemesis dressed like a normal person. Ajax had heard other people refer to the Professor as attractive before, and while he hadn’t disagreed, he felt like he understood those people a little better now. Not that it meant anything, of course. The Professor was his sworn enemy, evil, and all that.

The Professor didn’t seem to recognize Ajax, which was good, though it was uncomfortable standing right next to him in the small elevator. Ajax didn’t know what he’d’ve done if the Professor had recognized him. Have a fight, maybe? That’s what usually happened when they interacted. But the elevator was a small, confined space, and he was in civilian clothing. And also on the way to a job interview, though if Professor Sinister worked here, Ajax was fairly certain he didn’t want to anymore. He’d still go to the interview, of course, but if he could find anything else, he’d decline to work there.

The elevator stopped. Ajax checked the buttons. It was his floor. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the Professor doing the same thing. The doors opened. There was nothing but a wall in front of them. Ajax didn’t dare speak, for fear of getting recognized, but internally he was cursing up a storm.

The Professor groaned. He pressed the ‘call’ button on the elevator.

“Hello? Can anyone hear me? The elevator is stuck between floors, assistance required.” 

It took a couple of minutes- a couple awful, agonizing minutes that stretched like hours- but there was a response. “Remain calm. The elevator is being repaired. It should be freed within five hours.” “Thank you.”

The elevator beeped again, signaling the call was over. Ajax could no longer contain his rage. “No! No, no, no, for Christ’s sake! I can’t be trapped here!” He started pounding, futilely, against the walls of the elevator.

The Professor looked at him, raising a single eyebrow. “Claustrophobic, are you? Anyway, don’t forget, you’re not the only one trapped here.” “I’m not claustrophobic at all, actually. And I am well aware that I’m trapped in here with you, of all people, by the way.” Confusion and concern flickered across the Professor’s face for a brief moment, an expression Ajax was usually thrilled to see. “Rude,” he said, after a brief pause. “What on earth do you mean, me of all people?” “Forget it.” Ajax huffed, sneering, before he sat down against the wall. “We’re gonna be trapped here for a while. I want to interact as little as possible in that while, if you wouldn’t mind.” “...Sure.” The Professor sat down as well, rolling his eyes.

A few minutes passed. Ajax was very pointedly not looking at the Professor. The Professor, however, kept glancing at him.

“I’m sorry, you just- you seem very familiar to me. Do I know you? Have we met before?” Ajax suddenly laughed. “You could certainly say that, Lefty.” The Professor suddenly stiffened. “But the only person who calls me th-” “It’s me, Teach. Now the big reveal’s outta the way, can you please shut up? Bad enough I’m stuck here with you and you’ll probably use my civilian identity against me, but can we at least not make it any worse than it has to be.”

The Professor sneered, his entire demeanor changed. “Whatever you say, Cap’n.”

Ajax didn’t even comment on the Professor’s mockery of his name. It’s Captain, and he knew it, as he would often point out. Captain Incredible, and don’t you dare forget it. But he just was not feeling up to a banter. “Listen, if you want to have a fight, go for it, but we’re both in civilian clothes and this elevator has barely enough room for the two of us to sit. Anything more than slapping is going to end up badly for the both of us.” The Professor blinked in surprise, another expression Ajax would have loved to see on him at any other time. “What, that’s it? No correction? No banter? Are you sure you’re actually Captain Incredible…?” He furrowed his brows. 

“Yes.” Completely deadpan, Ajax shut his eyes. He rubbed his forehead in a way he rarely felt the need to do in the presence of his nemesis, or while in costume at all. He felt a headache coming on.

Slightly stunned, the Professor went quiet. Thank God for that, Ajax thought. 

A few more minutes passed, when finally the Professor couldn’t take it. “Really? No banter at all? None? Not a single witty joke or sarcastic remark or flippant one-liner?” “Fine, here’s a one-liner: I’m really not in the mood for banter. Or, for that matter, conversation.” “Technically, that’s two lines.” “Listen, lefty, I told you- I’m not in the mood today.”

“Wow. I know I’ve always said you need to shut up and stop making jokes, but it’s honestly really weird not hearing them from you. Are… Are you okay, Cap?” The Professor looked extremely uncomfortable as he asked. Ajax laughed humorlessly. “Wow, lefty, asking your sworn enemy if he’s okay? Are you going soft? One wonders what that will do for your reputation.” He carefully dodged the question, not really feeling like lying, even to the Professor. “It’s just the two of us trapped in an elevator. My reputation is irrelevant right now. And if you try and tell anyone it even happened, I’ll deny it ‘till the day I die.” 

Ajax rolled his eyes, but he was feeling a little bit better. Their banter always seemed to lift his mood. “Can I ask a question?” “Go for it, teach,” Ajax said flatly. He wasn’t feeling that much better, though.

“Why do you call me ‘lefty’? Literally no one else does and I have always wondered. I’m not even left-handed!” The Professor gestured as he spoke, pointing at his left hand. “Oh, easy question. I thought you already knew. I looked up synonyms for ‘sinister’ online one day, and apparently it also means ‘left-handed.’ Who knew?” “That… that answer makes more sense than I thought it would,” admitted the Professor.

To this, Ajax simply shrugged. He didn’t really have enough energy to continue the conversation.

About an hour passed in silence far more comfortable than sitting practically right next to your sworn enemy should be. After a while, the Professor even brought out his phone. 

“You know there’s no real signal in here, right?” “I know, I’m just playing Tetris.” “Shut up, there is no way in hell that you, the officially most dastardly supervillain in the entire city according to a recent census poll, literal evil incarnate, genuine public nuisance, disruptor of the peace, actual literal supervillain, child kidnapper, the world’s worst jerk, the guy-”

“You done?” “-with the literal worst score in the history of ratemyprofessor, horrible interrupter of sentences, frequent guest star in children’s nightmares, plays freaking Tetris.” “I have hobbies outside of evil, you know.” The Professor seemed vaguely miffed. “Sure you do.” Ajax over-exaggeratedly rolled his eyes. 

A few more moments of comfortable silence passed, marked only by the very faint Tetris theme playing from the Professor’s phone. Ajax resisted humming along, for the most part.

“Okay, wait, hang on, what’s your high score?” He had to ask. “Eh?” The Professor paused his game and looked up, tilting his head slightly to the right. “On Tetris. Your high score.” “378,067. Why?” Ajax checked his own phone and compared scores. “Oh, damn it!” “Oh? Do you happen to have a lower high score than I do?” The Professor did a full-on evil cackle, at least partially for comedic sake. He was really good at the manic cackle.

“By literally thirty points. I swear to God-” “Ha! This is great. You’ve practically admitted your inferior intelligence to me.” Ajax went bright red. His intelligence was a sore subject. “Thirty points is almost nothing, and you know it.” “But do you? That’s the real question. Can your tiny monkey brain comprehend numbers properly?” Ah, yes, the most antagonistic side of their banter, usually where the Professor mocked some trait of Ajax’s, and Ajax would respond with a rude comment of his own. It was always about as good-natured as the rest, but for this particular topic, Ajax was a little less willing to crack jokes or put up with harsh comments. “I don’t know why I’m even talking to you.” “Exactly: you don’t know. You’re incapable of using logic and reasoning. Something unsurprising to anyone who’s known you for more than ten minutes.” The Professor grinned, all teeth. “Just… Just shut up, alright? I really don’t need to hear any more comments about my intelligence or lack thereof today, okay? Please?” His voice cracked a little, and internally, he cursed himself for it. The Professor blinked in surprise. This was not a usual occurrence. Usually, the two would match each other, comment for comment, attack for attack. It rubbed on them both the wrong way whenever the dynamic became unbalanced in either direction, Ajax knew that much. It always made him feel guilty, somehow, when it was unbalanced in his favor. He wasn’t sure about why the Professor disliked it, though. Ajax liked to think the Professor also felt bad when the dynamic was unbalanced in his favor, though that was just wishful thinking.

The Professor, in a surprising turn of events, shut up.

“...Thank you.” Ajax mumbled, quietly.

The Professor nearly jumped in response to the thanks, looking startled, and then like he finally had the last piece of a puzzle.. “You’re not Captain Incredible! You’re some sort of clone! That explains the lack of proper banter, too… You’re an insult to his name!” The Professor leaped to his feet, seemingly ready to attack. Ajax raised an eyebrow. “Since when do you care when my name is insulted? Half the time, you’re the one that’s insulting it.”

“It’s not your name, it’s the Captain’s name.” The Professor wrinkled his nose in distaste.

Ajax rolled his eyes. “Is this the part where I’m supposed to answer a question only I would know the answer to?” “Very funny, clone. What have you done to the real Captain Incredible?!” “Again, since when do you care what anyone’s done to me? You’re the one to... do things to me, for lack of a better way to phrase it, well over half the time.” “I’ve done nothing to you, clone. That accusation might be fair game if you were the Captain. But, as you are not, that accusation is null and void and meaningless.” The Professor glared. “I swear to god, lefty. This is getting old fast. I’m the real me, the real Captain Incredible, you got me to admit it live on the elevator camera that may or may not exist and the microphone that may or may not exist. Well done, you did your evil scheme, but jokes on you, I have stopped caring.” The Professor seemed a little startled. “What evil sch- Oh, actually, that would have been fairly clever…” The Professor paused for half a moment, considering it, before snapping out of it. “But no, I wasn’t planning on anything like that. And that’s another proof you’re not the real Captain, you don’t care about his secret identity. I once saw him nearly- key word, nearly- kill a lower-level villain for even implying he knew his name. At least stand up and fight me or something instead of just sitting here.” Ajax did not stand up. “Wasn’t my proudest moment.” He shrugged.  “Listen, Prof, I’m telling the truth. I’m me!” He exclaimed, exasperatedly. “If you wanna know so bad why I haven’t been bantering or what have you and don’t really care about my secret identity even half as much anymore, you could've just asked! God, you’re so dramatic.” Ajax was not always against his nemeses’ tendency to err on the dramatic side of things, being a fair bit dramatic himself. But it was rather annoying at times. 

Ajax took a deep breath. “My girlfriend found out about my secret identity about a month ago and broke up with me. It was messy. It was horrible. My heart was broken. And to make it worse, she pulled some strings and got me fired from my job. I’ve been officially unemployed for the last three weeks because she was mad about me keeping a secret from her even though the secret could have cost her life. I’ve been a mess! She kicked me out of our apartment, too, and now I’m living with my old college roommate and trying desperately to get another job. I’m here to apply, actually.”

Ajax took another deep breath. “Today in particular’s been really rough because almost the entire time I was there at the apartment this morning, my roommate kept making passive-aggressive comments, mainly about my intelligence, which has always been a bit of a sore spot for me anyway.”

“What a complicated backstory for a clone.” The Professor narrowed his eyes. “Lefty, I swear to whatever god is listening, I’m not a clone. You know what, I’ll even tell you something to prove it, something I’ve never willingly told anyone who’s met Captain Incredible. My name is A-” “No.” The Professor shook his head vividly.

“Eh? It’s what you always wanted, isn’t it? Know my name, go after my family, make life a living hell for everyone I’ve ever loved? I don’t care anymore. I’ve got no real friends outside the Heroes’ League, my family disowned me years ago, and ‘everyone I’ve ever loved’ is a list that seems to be shortening itself.” “Look, clone, I don’t know how much of what you said is true, and I don’t care to find out. I owe the real Captain Incredible at least that much respect. I’m not interested in uncovering his identity, name or other details aside. And what’s more, I don’t want a clone of him telling me anything he doesn’t want me to know.”

Now it was Ajax’s turn to blink in surprise. “That was… honestly surprising to hear. And kind of nice, if I’m being honest. It’s nice to hear you hold me in such positive regard, lefty. I think I kind of needed to hear that at least someone does. That, and I think that’s the actual nicest thing you have ever said to me.” Why did he want to smile at that? It wasn’t that nice of a comment, and surely he couldn’t be that desperate for praise- from the Professor, of all people.

The Professor seemed to soften a little, before immediately hardening again. He sat back down. “I still don’t think you’re the real Captain, but you don’t seem immediately hostile.”

“Well jeez, real sweet. Not immediately hostile. This whole clone thing is driving me nuts, teach. How can I prove to you I’m the real me?”

“Well, obviously, you can’t. Any personal secrets, I wouldn’t be able to verify, and most of our interactions show up regularly in news articles.”

“Seriously? Nothing I can do? At all?”

The Professor thought for a moment. “Fine. A question only you and I would know the answers to. I thought of one.” “Well? Get on with it.” “Where did our real first battle take place? Not the one that got published and shown on TV, but the one with just the two of us where you called me a lily-livered cur.” A ghost of a smile seemed to flicker across the Professor’s face at the memory, but it was gone before Ajax could be sure. “Uh, hang on. I know it was somewhere by Central Park, I think, ‘cause there was that mugger and it was right by my apartment… Ha, that was when we still had our first costumes. Gosh, we looked so stupid. Anyway, final answer, Central Park, by the hydrangea bush. I remember it almost fondly, truth be told.” He probably shouldn’t remember it fondly. It was a battle with his archnemesis. But it was his first battle with him, and they’d both been so stupid about the whole thing, and it was funny to think about and somehow incredibly nostalgic. Which made it a pleasant memory, despite his knowing better. “Well, damn. It really is you. I mean, unless whatever pretending to be you is able to see your memories… Or you told someone and I didn’t know…” “Lefty. I’m warning you.”

“Fine, fine. Paranoia off.” The Professor mimed flicking a switch off, to prove his point. Ajax tried not to smile at that.

Ajax took a deep breath. “Does that mean you believe me about everything else now, too?” “Yeah, I guess so. Sorry to hear it, by the way. That sounds like it really sucks.” “You’ve got absolutely no idea, Teach.” Ajax chuckled humorlessly, but still managed to crack a small smile. And at that, silence fell over the two of them. Once again, it was a far more comfortable and companionable silence than any silence between two sworn enemies has a right to be.

“Attention, passengers of elevator 7B! There have been delays in attempts to fix the elevator. The projected time for your rescue is now ten hours. Over and out.” “WHAT?!” Ajax screamed. “No! No no no! Come on!”

“What, can’t stand any more time in my company? I’d rather thought we’d been starting to get along.” “We’re still sworn enemies, you know. And I still don’t like being trapped for ten hours with anyone.” Ajax sighed. “Besides, you’re still evil.” He said that as much to say it to the Professor as he did to remind himself of the fact. “And what exactly is that supposed to mean?” The Professor asked, clearly upset. Ajax briefly regretted his comment, but did his best to ignore it.

“You’ve still hurt people, stolen from people, committed heinous crimes against the citizens of this city. A villain’s a villain, teach. You were voted the official single most dastardly supervillain in the city for a reason.” Again, Ajax was speaking to the Professor as much as he was saying it to remind himself. This man is not your friend, Ajax, he reminded himself. “Hey, y’know what? I’m the only prominent supervillain in this city, probably in this continent, even, without a death count. That’s gotta count for something.” The Professor almost looked genuinely hurt, but Ajax hadn’t seen him with that vulnerable of an expression before enough to tell. “I hurt people mainly when it is unavoidable. I’m mostly just about teaching everyone a lesson, you know that better than anyone. It’s not like there was any other way to get my message heard, and to get people to listen.” “Oh yeah? And what message exactly is that, huh?”

“The rich have done nothing for our city. Our country. The lower classes suffer, straining under the weight of the upper class, the 1%, and so does the climate. But apparently, pointing that out and trying to actually do something about that is villainy.” “No, that’s activism. Honestly, it's a great ideology, in theory, and I could respect you for it, but that’s not exactly what you’ve been doing. Kidnapping the mayor’s son, however, and holding him hostage? That is villainy.”

The Professor gave a shrug. “It’s the only way he would listen, and the only reason I did that was so I could get him to pass a law restricting pollution here in the city. But before I could even send the ransom note- and really, is it even ransom since I wasn’t asking for money?- you and several other quote-unquote “heroes” showed up to take the little brat back. I didn’t hurt a hair on that kids head, despite what you seemed to think, and I even went as far as going out of my way to prevent injury to him during his, however brief, stay. I didn’t even knock him out!” “I… I didn’t know that you weren’t asking for money,” Ajax said after a minute. He bit the inside of his cheek, trying to recall what the mission briefing had been like. All the director had said was that the Professor was holding the mayors son hostage. On one hand, it was still definitely evil to kidnap a child, but on the other, the Professor did kind of make a point. “Or what you really were asking for. And while I suspected, I guess I didn’t actually know that you also were going out of your way not to hurt him. The other heroes rationalized it by saying you hadn’t begun torturing him yet, or whatever, but I wasn’t quite sure. It’s a nice confirmation, I guess.”

“I’m sure it is.” There was little warmth in the Professor’s gaze. He seemed irritated at the subject having been brought up. “That’s not my only plot for a better life that you and the other quote-unquote “heroes” have foiled. It gets frustrating, sometimes. I mean, I have to keep up appearances and reputation, now, because if any other supervillain in the city gets the notion I’m not as sinister as my name suggests, or on the side for a better future at any cost, or what have you, I’ll be fed to the sharks. And I mean that literally.”

“Sounds gruesome.” “Oh, you think? I hadn’t noticed,” the Professor said, sarcastically. “Being an official villain has its perks, though. I get my message out, some people listen, and I get the resources of the Villain’s League. I mean, it’s not easy having everyone in the city who doesn’t live under a rock hate everything about you, but I have a decent disguise- though I’m not really surprised you recognized me- and no one’s figured out my identity yet. I’ve never really been one to care about others' opinions of me anyway.” 

Ajax didn’t really know what to say. The Professor was trusting him a lot with this information, and he didn’t know what to do with it. Mostly, he was trying to make peace with the fact that just about everything he thought he knew about his archnemesis was wrong. Practically the only accurate things he actually knew about him prior to this encounter were that he looked good in spandex (not that Ajax would ever admit this to anyone), he had a wry sense of humor that was sharp enough to cut, and he had a hell of a right hook. Almost everything else was a dumb assumption about ethics. Ajax honestly kind of felt like he owed him an apology, at this point, but didn’t know how he’d take it. 

But he couldn’t just not say anything. 

“That… Honestly sounds really rough. I’m sorry to be one of the people that made it rougher.” The Professor seems thoroughly surprised. “The Captain, apologizing? Are you sure you’re not a clone?” After one look at Ajax’s expression, he chuckles. “Kidding, kidding.” 

“I may not agree with all of your decisions, and I’ll still try to stop you when you’re plotting to take over or what have you, but I can understand your intentions are noble. I’ve made too many assumptions about you, I think, and your villainous title.” 

The Professor paused for a moment, searching for the right words to respond with. “...Thanks, Captain. I’ll be honest, I still disagree with how you’re going about heroism, but I can also sort of see how you’d think that I can respect what you do.” Ajax was surprised not to detect the expected note of condescension in that last remark.

“And what more could I really hope for?” Ajax smiled, one of the few genuine smiles he’d ever shown to his nemesis.

“A higher score on Tetris, maybe?” Ajax’s expression very quickly became a comical, over-exaggerated scowl. He retained composure for about a minute before he burst out laughing. The Professor joined in laughing too, and for once, it wasn’t a maniacal cackle. Ajax decided he very much liked the sound of it.

A few hours later, filled mostly with silence and partially with a comfortable conversation and banter, Ajax checked his watch. It was nearly 11 at night. So that’s why he was so tired. He leaned against the elevator wall. “So, how much longer should it be, now?” “Maybe an hour and a half. Are you really comfortable sleeping right here in the elevator?” “That should be enough time for some shuteye. I’m very, very tired. I think I’m comfortable with most sleeping positions and places right now.” “Fair enough, I suppose. But still, with another person right there? Your sworn enemy, no less? There’s no way you trust me that much.” “Don’t be ridiculous. If you were going to try and attack me, you’d’ve done so already. Admittedly, though, if you’d asked me this morning if it was even a possibility, I’d’ve laughed in your face and called you an idiot.” Ajax shrugs. “The elevator rules seem to be different than normal fight rules.” 

The Professor nodded in agreement. “Oh, and speaking of normal fight rules, are we ever going to be acknowledging this? Whether vaguely in public ‘something happened’ or by simply agreeing to go a little easier on each other?”

Ajax paused for a moment. “That’s a good question. Well, I don’t think we can acknowledge it to the public or any news outlets, that just feels like a violation of privacy. And if we go easier on each other, are we still archnemeses? Do we have to get new archnemeses?” The Professor scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. I could never be happy with another archnemesis. You’ve spoiled me for anyone else. None of them will have the same banter.” “Honestly, I feel much the same.” And more besides. Their rivalry was a relationship he didn’t really want to lose. Even before the elevator, he’d considered them to be very good rivals. They knew each other, shared a sense of humor, and had enough respect for one another that neither evil schemes nor heroic plans ever went too far. That was more than what he could say about most archnemeses. Of course, they still hated each other, or had hated each other, but there’s a very special kind of hate for an archnemesis. Sure, you’re against everything they stand for and they could say the same of you, but you just sort of clicked together and, on special occasions, could almost be like friends. Friends who hate each other, sure, but still. “Couldn’t get the same theatrics from Molerat, now could I?” That, and somehow, the idea of the Professor fighting someone else the same way the two of them fought made him uneasy. He’d almost say jealous, but that’d be ridiculous. Possessive, even more ridiculous.

But not unaccurate in either case, not entirely. Ajax chuckled inwardly at the thought. “Ugh, don’t even speak his name to me, Captain. He is the worst. He threw dirt at everyone at our last Villain League dinner party.” “Oh? Do I have a competition for my rivalry?” Ajax joked. He did his best to sound casual, but honestly he really hoped not. Sure, probably not, he trusted the Professor at least that much, but, well, still. He was too tired for this.

The Professor put his hand to his chest, miming a scandalized expression. “Why of course not, Captain. Besides, didn’t I just say you’d ruined me for anyone else?” Ajax laughed, before trying to get back into character to finish the joke. “A filthy liar like you’d say anything to fool me, Professor. How can I trust a word out of your mouth?” The Professor gasped, trying to hide a grin. “How could you say such a thing? I’d never lie! Not to you, Captain, never to you.” Ajax made a show of softening his expression. “Oh, Professor, you know I didn’t mean such harsh words. My rage got the better of me again. I know you’ve been faithful.” They both burst out laughing. “Well, I don’t know what that was, but that was fun.” The Professor said, miming wiping a tear from his eye.

“I think it counts as improv. Hey, wasn’t I about to go to sleep?” “Oh, I suppose you were. Still, there’s only an hour left before we get rescued. Is that enough time to sleep?” “Enough time to try, at least.” Ajax yawned and stretched his arms- difficult, due to the cramped nature of the space, only narrowly missing the Professor- and leaned into the corner of the elevator. He shut his eyes.

Next thing he knew, the elevator was moving. They reached their floor. “Haha, yes!” Ajax pumped his fist excitedly, tired as he was. He stood up, slowly, stretching his legs. The Professor stood up as well, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

“Ready to go to your job interview, Captain?” “Eat sh-” Ajax cut himself off, suddenly remembering they were in an office workspace he’d been about to apply to. “Language!” The Professor gasped again in mock scandal. 

“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, what were you here for? I know I was here for the job interview, but were you? Or do you work here?” “Oh, I work here. I was on my way to my cubicle. But, as it’s past midnight and no fault of mine I wasn’t able to get anything done, I’m just going to go home.” “Yeah, that seems reasonable. If you were anyone else, I’d tell you to be careful, shady stuff happens to people who walk around the city after dark.” “But you wouldn’t tell me? I’m wounded, Captain. Do you not care about my health?” “Somehow, Professor, I don’t think you’re in any danger from anything shady this city has to offer. Most dastardly villain and all. You’re practically half the shady stuff that goes on after dark, no?” “No, actually. I’m usually at home after dark, and at this time of night I’d be asleep. With very few exceptions for very special schemes.”

“Fair enough,” Ajax conceded. They walked together, talking all the while, until they reached the doors.

“Good night,” The Professor said, smiling.

“See you tomorrow, maybe?” Ajax offered. 

“Oh, I dunno. None of my proper evil schemes will be ready by then.” “Aw, that’s a shame. See you when your schemes are ready, then.” “Oh, I might think of something for tomorrow. Maybe I’ll rob a bank, that’s a classic.” “I look forward to stopping you.” And he honestly did. Ajax grinned, not entirely intentionally.

“See you then. Be careful, by the way. I heard shady stuff happens to people who walk alone at night after dark...” The Professor said, cryptically.

“Ha, ha.”

And so, the two of them parted ways. They’d both agreed to never speak of the incident to anyone, and Ajax trusted that neither would.

[comicteaparty]

January 11th-January 17th, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from January 11th, 2020 to January 17th, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

What’s an unplanned idea you had through your story part way through that forced you to change things?  How did everything go?

eli [a winged tale]

After my beta feedback there were some characters that needed further fleshing out with stakes and relationships. Therefore I had to change some backstories to make certain interactions impactful. Thankfully im at the start so nothing i had to go back and fix. I did think of some alternative openings should the comic goes to print but that can be future me’s worries

snuffysam

simultaneously very little and a huge amount, lol. in terms of big story beats, they've pretty much all stayed the same since i first started planning the comic. the twists have been set up and paid off and the like. but there's a bunch of things i've improv'd at the last minute. one notable example that was pretty well-received - in book 2 chapter 4, taci has a fear of puns (basically only shown in facial expressions and a single comment from mizuki towards the end of the fight). this was added because... otherwise the fight at the end of that chapter is just a bunch of walking around in near-identical dark tunnels. the way the fight ends is fun, but the fight itself isn't really anything. with taci having a reason to be afraid of coruby, the fight has more stakes & entertainment value, and it makes coruby feel much more interesting as a character. another huge example is the love triangle in book 1 - in that in the script, it was non-existent. mizuki being into girls was originally only gonna be introduced in book 2 (guess where), and the relationship between cahe and pejiba was going to advance with no real competition (besides bullets). it was gonna be mentioned in like book 3 that she had a thing for pejiba, but nothing in book 1 itself. (similarly to the pun thing, you may notice that mizuki being into pejiba isn't referenced at all in the dialogue besides pejiba saying "i know what mizuki thinks of me" which is kinda vague. i... don't like changing scripts last-minute lol.)

Mei

Not gonna lie, everything I do is entirely unplanned. I focus a lot on improvised comedy and what feels right 'at the moment', and considering I write scripts way in advance, sometimes it leads to jokes falling flat when I read them again a few months later. Which is all fine, honestly, it's part of the process. The main unplanned idea for My Husband is a Cultist was turning it from a 12 page one-shot into a fully fledged webcomic, now with 3 chapters and more to come. It was very 'on a whim', and from that very first chapter I came up with more silly ideas. And the more I talked to friends, the more ideas I had for chapters. So the biggest change personally was going from a pure slice-of-life comedy and spending time actually building the world around it so that there was structure to the chaos. I'm still working on it all. I now have an underlying plot that I'm hoping to explore, and I have the arcs planned out way in advance. So it's wild that I went from 'random ideas spewed on a document' to 'I now have a plot and several arcs to cover'. That being said, I still come up with a lot of things on the fly, so I'm changing things constantly as I go and hoping that there aren't too many inconsistencies!

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

One of the most important story elements of Phantomarine (http://www.phantomarine.com/) came up early in the second chapter, when I was asking myself some more questions about the world - and came upon a crucial opportunity. Luckily I didn’t have to change too much to make it work, and while it didn’t really change the plot, it upped the emotional stakes 100-fold. Which is just what I wanted. In this world, I have a big naval force, of which my heroine is (was?) the future leader - but with relative peace and cooperation between the different island nations, who the heck does the navy fight? Pirates? Eh, maybe. But vanilla pirates have been done to death, and while they can be awesome, I wanted to do something different. I wanted to tie them into the world’s supernatural element - while strongly avoiding the Pirates of the Caribbean cursed-buccaneer aesthetic. I decided to tie them to a particular blight that affects some of the characters - so as to up their stakes and better convey why they’re societal outcasts. And finally, I wanted to give them a freaking awesome name, something both nautical and supernatural. Thus, for those reading - the Fata Morgana. What didn’t even exist at the beginning of the second chapter is now an absolutely crucial story element, and I’m so happy they came into the picture. They’ve changed everything for the better. This is one reason why I resigned myself to revealing the world in bits and pieces - I’m revealing it to myself as I go along, too. It helps to be slow sometimes

eli [a winged tale]

The Fata Morgana introduction in the story was A W E S O M E! I’m so glad you have them in the story and looking forward to that amped up stakes!

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I think the biggest example would be the last-minute inclusion of Jonathan as a main character in my comic Dark Wings: Eryl (https://www.flowerlarkstudios.com/dark-wings-2/). I had originally planned for him to be a temporary character that we said goodbye to at the end of Chapter 5. But the more I thought about it, the more I realised the main travelling party needed another character to balance things out. I was really struggling with planning future scenes because the pool of characters felt too small. I also realised that I had developed Jonathan’s character quite a lot for him to be dropped so early. So halfway through drawing chapter 5, I rewrote the second half and he’s now a major part of the cast.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

A second example is Anor in my other comic, Children of Shadow: Ashes (https://www.flowerlarkstudios.com/cos/). He was originally written as a far less sympathetic character. In fact, he was going to be a borderline antagonist who only became sympathetic close to the end. But my characters often do things I don’t expect, and as I was planning the story, he and one of the other main characters, Rava, started falling for each other. I honestly loved this, and so I reworked the entire story to make Anor part of the main cast and much more sympathetic. He’s still a tsundere, and at the point where the story is now, still in constant friction with Rava, but I feel he’s now a much stronger character and is contributing a great deal more to the story than when he was a vaguely ominous frenemy in the original draft.

varethane

ooooo I am intrigued by this factoid about Anor

re: unplanned story elements, in Chirault..... [spoilers obviously] Ridriel and Trillia being sisters was something that hit me out of the blue about halfway through the story, and I immediately reworked a lot of things to make it happen http://chirault.sevensmith.net/(edited)

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

In ghost Junk... We actually avoided a major character death and had revised it literally a chapter before it happened!! We had everything written out right the the very end, but were seeing the readers reactions and reflected on the importance/and if it was absolutely necessary! So with that said, we saved the character, and kept the necessary impact and growth that it was to bring, and honestly- I'm so happy we did it

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

@varethane Yeah, Anor’s character has evolved a LOT since the first draft.

Phu

With Blackblood, we actually created the 2nd and 3rd chapters and then thought we wanted a chapter ahead of those as sort of a prologue to give some world building and lore elements haha. Worked out well i think! https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/blackblood/list?title_no=300252(edited)

Erin Ptah (BICP 🎄 Leif & Thorn)

This is kind of the opposite, since I did the "include a new thing in the story" part first, and that's what forced me to come up with a previously-unplanned idea to explain it... In Leif & Thorn, I had a character drop a reference to "that country doesn't allow interspecies marriages" before there's any canon reference to nonhuman species that human characters might want to marry. ...and even I didn't know what that species was going to be. Had some vague idea about revealing that mermaids existed, but in my head I never managed to integrate them with the rest of the plot or the worldbuilding real well. A few months later, I finally remember that I like drawing Tiny People (not like hobbit-size, think Borrowers-size), and realize this is the perfect setting to have a Tiny People Species! Now I get to come up with plot-based excuses to draw them wherever/however I want. Plus it opens up a whole new mine of jokes: https://leifandthorn.com/comic/somethings-cooking-26-29/

Can't for the life of me remember where I got this quote from, but there's an author who, when readers would ask for details about future developments in her books, would only give answers with the disclaimer "I reserve the right to have a better idea." Words to live by.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Damn, I love that quote.

DanitheCarutor

Admittedly there isn't a whole lot I've changed, maybe a couple small things here and there, but major stuff has been the same since I started. During the very beginning of the planning phase Daniel wasn't even going to be in the story and Julian was going to be homeless, but I wasn't quite satisfied with it. The story would have been too short, contrived and the resolution didn't feel satisfying. After some brainstorming and reflection on my feelings on certain experiences I've had, I added Daniel and 'The Guide to a Healthy Relationship' as it is kinda fell into place. It's weird thinking about how important Daniel is in spite of how new a character he is. Usually it takes me a little time to build one up before throwing them into a story, they gotta age like a fine wine first, but he popped out all ready to use like one week hooch.

Not sure if it counts, but I've also made changes to future parts of my comic. Like recently, even though I know what the ending is, I put a more final image in my head on what the final frame will look like. Also I changed an event that will happen at some point revolving around Apollo and his friends. Originally something skeevy was going to happen with Brandon and Apollo involving video uploads, and a homemade contract that was signed with Apollo was drunk. I thought it was too... I dunno, stupid? impractical? So I changed it to Julian was going to (unwillingly) attend a party at Brandon's (Apollo's friend) apartment, then some big, jealousy induced fight happens where Julian gets kicked out and Apollo feels bad. I didn't like that either, felt too reaching, so I'm going with another event that is a little out there but does happen in real life and something I have done some good research on.

Gonna be as vague as possible because it's spoilers.

keii4ii

Surprising myself is pretty much every step of my writing process. For good or bad.

I do plan things in advance, but find that sometimes things aren't what they seemed from 15 chapters ago.

I think what it is is this particular comic is such a visual story. I could plan out my previous comic with far greater accuracy. That comic was more dialog-driven; you could convert it into an audio drama with minimal changes, and it would still make sense. Whereas my current comic, you can't turn it into an audio drama without very VERY extensive changes (not even sure if possible... Many silent scenes). So I need to actually draw the pages to feel it out. And I can't draw out of order. Brain just won't that way.(edited)

carcarchu

totally agree with you @keii4ii sometimes u have to actually draw it out to get a feel for it. when i write out all the dialogue for my chapters i feel like it always ends up coming out so stiff, thats why i prefer to let it flow naturally and if something happens that i didnt account for just roll with it and adjust the story accordingly

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I'm kind of weird about always needing to know exactly how many pages a chapter is going to have, so I script right down to the panel. It can create flow problems on occasion, so I wish sometimes I could plan my pages more visually, but my brain just doesn't work that way. >< It's a good thing my stories mostly rely on dialogue because they're pretty much novels in comic form.(edited)

Cronaj

When planning a scene at the end of Chapter 3 of Whispers of the Past (https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/whispers-of-the-past/list?title_no=191366), I was having a hard time writing the dialogue. I had the images of my lead characters, Agatha and Izrekiel, talking by the docks in the moonlight, and I knew generally what they talked about, but I couldn't script it. And then, one day while walking to work, my characters straight up had the conversation in my head! And as the dialogue unraveled, the characters (mostly Izrekiel) did something completely unplanned (which I won't reveal because spoilers). This unplanned change has completely upped the drama and sexual tension for the entirety of the future story. The second event of this is in Chapter 2, where Izrekiel is helping out on Kelan's farm. Initially, there was going to be some dialogue that mostly served as world-building, but when actually writing the scene, it occurred to me that they would likely not talk too much, too absorbed by the work of harvest. And then, I suddenly visualized/heard Kelan and the other farmhands SINGING. I don't know why it popped in my head that way, but they began singing a working song. Now, I am not a musician, but I used to sing in choir and do musicals and such, and like half my family members are musicians, so I have a bit of a musical background. Anyway, all this to say that the characters started singing, and in response, Izrekiel (who has amnesia) has a flashback to some repressed memory of men marching and singing the same song, with altered lyrics. This can get extra spoilery, so I won't delve too deep into what his memory means, but.... The lyrics go as such: Oh earth, oh rain, Oh sun in the sky, You grant me with your fruit In this land. And they are directly mirrored in the flashback with: Oh strength, oh grace, I'll raise my sword, With victory in mind In this land.(edited)

Deo101

For me, I totally changed the ending! I was going to make it a tragedy, and then at some point I realized I didnt NEED to... that a story can be happy and good. So, I rewrote a ton of stuff, and actually ended up adding in some new characters! I'd say It's gone very well ^^ I'm much happier with everything now (for one, I can think about the ending without crying!!) I've changed a lot of other little things as i've gone along too. too many things to count, really.

Tuyetnhi

Initially I was writing the story timeline to 5 days but it spanned to something about a year. Which means I had a chance to develop it further than trying to rush plot points. Used to be like 3 chapters originally but now its like ....I guess 20 chapters? I don't remember the full count but lmao I'm ready to endure.(edited)

varethane

most of the biggest changes to Chirault were decided on during the first 3 years of me making it..... I completely threw out the first plan I had made, lol. There was no specific trigger for this, except maybe for 'I don't like this, actually'

keii4ii

Oh! I remembered something specific. My tiger character used to have a 'generic lean-ripped' build. Kinda like the rabbit from Juuni Taisen. Then I posted a random beach day picture, and someone (who wasn't used to seeing characters with visible leg muscles... A lot of comics they read have characters who suffer from Skipped All The Leg Days syndrome) pointed out how insanely muscular his legs were. I ran with it. Today his legs are 2x bigger than they were in that beach day pic, and it's all muscle. Also while this character stays very lean throughout the story, I as the author guarantee you that if he were to put on fat, his thighs will be the first to expand, and the most. 8)

Tuyetnhi

omg

Cronaj

@keii4ii I'm so glad for this change. Lu's legs are majestic

Capitania do Azar

Interesting replies here

In o Sarilho https://www.sarilho.net/en/, I have avoided one major character death in the first part of the story because I grow super fond of them and also because it wasn't really going to build up to anything... Which felt really unfair. So now I had to come up with narrative lines for them and I'm quite enjoying that. Furthermore, I was halfway through chapter 3 when I figured out Eurico's looks but especially his role in the story. It involved drawing a lot of trucks (and there will be more trucks in the future) but I'm really excited for him as a character

Desnik

As I was writing my comic I was trying really hard to keep the POV limited to one character, but that character doesn't have enough perspective to set up the plot very well at the beginning. This meant hopping POVs to some other characters and now I'm gently trying to squash a lot of these subplots before they go completely out of control...