What's something you added to your story on a whim that ended up having a lasting effect on the story

Leyelle 2024-02-06 17:11:33 UTC #1

Alicia's love for old music was originally just added to give some scene setting in one scene, but it ended up adding more depth to her character and is going to come up even later as something that spawned some tension between her and her sweetheart.
Alicia's parent's divorce, wasn't = originally a part of the plot. I'm not even sure when I started weaving it into her character, and now the story would be totally different without it.
And lastly, the most shocking reveal:

Mrs Moon

She wasn't even in the original draft of the story

seriously, I just added her in for the hospital scene, and from there the entire story shifted. I mean, I think she existed, but she had very little relevance. Now she's one of the three most important characters and again, without her, the story wouldn't even exist. It's actually pretty crazy in retrospect, considering how much she affects LITERALLY everything, but it's like she just wrote herself into the story, and she did as such a clearly designed character that I didn't even have to draft her in or what she's like much, she just was what she is from day one, and everything she does just made sense.

(art by Mariel Leister)

MaxFF 2024-02-06 17:59:28 UTC #2

On a whim I put in a dragon as an enemy to add more danger, and then after he was defeated the dragon switched sides and joined the heroes, so now he's a main character. Didn't plan this out in advance or anything just decided to do it.

KevinReijnders 2024-02-06 18:30:57 UTC #3

That would be these motherfuckers!

They started out as a single line of dialogue, just Zack referencing Kyara hanging out with "dangerous bandits".

Then I decided, "wouldn't it be fun to meet this colorful bunch" and proceeded to give them designs, way too unique for a set glorified extras.

So now they and their community have wormed their way to the core of the worldbuilding and certain character histories, making them vital to the architecture. Not only that, we'll now spend roughely half the story in their nook of the world 🤣

Did I mention all of this started because I just because I had a line that said "Oh come on, the Buntha Raiders aren't that bad once you get to know them."

Well fuckers, we're getting to know them!

skidiggy 2024-02-06 18:47:15 UTC #4

Ho boy, so many details about people, their habits, and mannerisms. For example, so much of Byxx's dialogue was meant to be one-off statements, but several of his phrases stuck. I needed him to say something like "GD it," but that's not something he would say, so it became "Old gods and new," instead. Anytime he's frustrated or stymied, he says either that or his go-to of "blast!"

I'll write an offhand comment about something and be like, "ah, that's a great addition for the Department of Backstory" and it'll stick. Remembering the detail and returning to it is key though.

Leyelle 2024-02-06 18:54:05 UTC #5

definitely key. I'll often add little details and then they become of relevance later. I didn't mention above, but Alicia's little brother is one of the details that was mentioned off hand and now he's a full fledged character with HIS own supporting character. As is the whole mess with Kattar's dad, which is now being planned as very relevant details for books two (in progress now) and three (just roughly planned)

skidiggy 2024-02-06 18:56:20 UTC #6

Ooh, that's a good one. Adding collateral relatives or new family members happens a lot.

sevenstarsofeightIam 2024-02-06 19:43:36 UTC #7

On a whim, I added the character of Heaven Langley as an incidental character. I could have written her out at any time, but I kept her, and it was she that witnessed critical secrets of the main character, Besh. She was present to see him walk through solid rock at the end of the first book, and by the end of the third book, they had fallen in love.

Leyelle 2024-02-06 19:58:09 UTC #8

seems like a lot of us added more characters than we had planned to

Leyelle 2024-02-06 19:59:32 UTC #9

yes, and I had to specifically make sure I hadn't already written details differently so I could add the new details that I thought up, about the divorce, Kattar's parents, Alicia's childhood living situation, etc.

MK_Wizard 2024-02-06 20:46:03 UTC #10

For me, it was the creation of Carla Cameron (Astra's chambermaid, nanny and mother figure). She was meant to be a one off character, wound up having a long lasting effect and role on the story.

UnTalAugustus 2024-02-06 20:47:56 UTC #11

I made the detective in charge of the case in Chapter 1 the brother of Ulises "The UltraViolent" (one of the main characters and responsible of the incidents he was investigating).

I did it as a revelation, in chapter 2!! Why? because they looked alike haha. Luis (the name of the detective) was supposed to be just a generic detective character without relevance. And now he is an important character.
Chapter 11 is when I delved a little more into the relationship of the brothers and there will be more. It has to now, I can't rewrite it haha.

A page from chapter 2 and 11 respectively

Glofernwolfe 2024-02-06 22:49:26 UTC #12

Whatt !! That last point about Alicia! I can't believe it haha

Well for my novel, I'd say it would be Marana.

She was supposed to be someone Zov'ha was hunting because Marana had a bounty on her head. In fact I've still kept that story in the first part of the episode called "Marana":

“Wanted: Marana Skjavok
Former member of Mechanov Association of Research and Technology (M.A.R.T)
Psychotic serial killer and body-part collector. Collects unique mutations.
Victims found near X13 and X14 stations.
Scouts reported that she lives in Lüstravyr. Watch out for traps.”

However, I decided to add a little twist to it. Still. [SPOLIERS] Even after Marana was found and it turned out she wasn't the psychokiller, I had no plan to make her a prominent character. She just walked into our lives and stole our hearts.

Leyelle 2024-02-06 22:51:09 UTC #13

wait which fact shocked you? wow, cuz Marana's too pretty a design to just be a sometimes character

Glofernwolfe 2024-02-06 23:54:03 UTC #14

This one

Ah yeah thanks about Marana, these arworks were made recently when Marana embedded herself into my story sigh

Leyelle 2024-02-06 23:55:11 UTC #15

Why is that something to sigh about?

And yeah, i thought the one about Mrs. Moon would shock most people, it shocks me in retrospect as half the story wouldn't exist without her.

PenguinAngel 2024-02-08 00:38:36 UTC #16

I guess that was the odea to put some historical figures and some more religious and folklore aspects on iut

Leyelle 2024-02-08 02:04:07 UTC #17

so what was the story going to be before then? isn't the whole thing about the monkey king?

2DLenzy 2024-02-08 15:40:06 UTC #18

Ooh, there's a lot I've added since I started drawing the comic(few years ago), and since I've started publishing (over one year now).

-One major change was including the "human" side of the story. They were originally meant to get phased out by a few episodes, because I couldn't draw them, but I felt like I didn't have enough of a cast (now I have a lot, lol), and despite having their owns separate arcs and plots, their minor interactions with the chickens is going to have more impact later on.

Prepare to get phased out... .....Congrats, you're a protag!

-There is also a character that I will have to introduce as a minor character, for odd reasons. Originally, I wanted there to be one worker on the chicken farm, so I wouldn't have to worry so much about bg characters, but I made a mistake in the last panel of "The Pestilence" arc, where Carl -the lone farmer- is talking to another silhouette (who was needed for a punchline).

So I'm now having to introduce an extra minor character, kinda in a retcon sort of way, but I'm counting on it to be laughable and ridiculous (you'll see him at the end of "The Intern" arc, which I'm hoping releases in March/April, or when I begin drawing it, lol) It also gives me a chance to explore a different character dynamic (he's gonna be one of the a-holes of the series, so yay, conflict!)

I beginning to think my mind loves chaos over order, and I don't think that's entirely a bad thing...
We shall see...

Edit: forgot link, but I'm sure y'all know what the comic's called...

ThunderChicken 2024-02-08 17:02:12 UTC #19

Jake (blue hair) was supposed to be a one-off, throwaway character. I liked him, though, so he becomes a major plot element, especially in the as-yet-unwritten Book Two.

michellemaclean94 2024-02-10 21:23:56 UTC #20

So I have been working on my story since 2020. I just started to recently post my graphic novel on Tapas because I have no idea how to start publishing it. A twist I added towards the middle of my story is I have my main character get hospitalized. I feel like it throws the reader off completely. You can see this part yet, but please like and subscribe to my story! I will do the same to your story as well.