Steatoda
patreon
Favorite Mini-Arc Poll
🕑 Added 2025-08-27 23:54:01 +0000 UTCAs I'm planning how I'll wrap up Rogue over the next two arcs, Arc 10 will need to have several mini-arcs. This is nothing new; I've been doing mini-arcs in the stories as side-quests for a while. What I'm wondering is which one did you guys think I did well? That way, I can look at them and see how I can recreate that magic and fold them into the overall story to create the best climax for Rogue possible.
Rogue Arc 5 (Ch 48-67): Arc 5 was itself a collection of mini-arcs. The first was Iron Man 2, then Thor, and The Incredible Hulk. With Tyson's relationship drama, the glue between them. The downside here was the stories for the mini-arcs were all prebaked. Taking all the Tyson/Natasha romance parts and looking at it as a storyline, I think, is stronger than any/all of the mini-arcs. Looking at this relationship and how it threads through the different mini-arcs is definately something I'm going to aim for in Arc 10.
Star Jumper Season 2 - Where No One Has Gone Before (Ep 18-19): This was Star Jumper's only real mini-arc. The KOTOR plot in S1 was most of the season, and likewise, the Mirror Universe plot in S3 was half of the season. I thought this was fun, but it was very low effort, since, like Rogue Arc 5, the plot was already pre-written. Also, S2 was mostly episodic, but this mini-arc didn't tie into the other episodes well and didn't have any impact on resolving the D'Lavina plot, which was the climax.
Rogue Arc 7 - Tyson Smith's Day Off (Ch 100): While only one chapter, Ch 100, was a novella in itself.
Rogue Arc 8 - Dead Reckoning (Ch 11X): While also only a single chapter, and somewhat rushed on the production side, I like the way Dead Reckoning was done. A little mystery, decent character development, emotional climax, and a cliffhanger thread that could lead to a larger story.
Rogue Arc 8 - Sin City (Ch 114-116): This three-chapter side quest was really fun to write. I'm on the fence with how good it was. On one hand, we get to see some character development with the underdeveloped Maki, and some character interactions that hadn't been explored previously. While introducing a big bad. On the other, I question how well this was executed from a reader's perspective, since it really didn't advance the overall plot of the story at all, and could be seen as just a way to tie up the hanging Killgrave and replacing it with a hanging Mephisto one.
As usual with the polls, I'll share my thoughts.
Dead Reckoning and Tyson Smith's Day Off are both originals, so they stand above the others. While TSDO has more emotional weight and impact on the story, I think Dead Reckoning was structured better. I could scrub the Marvel from it, and it could stand alone as its own work.
However, I think that Sin City is the best example for me to build off for Arc 10. It is a Marvel plot concept, adapted for the story, which is what Arc 10's mini-arcs will be. It ended up being a good mix of existing lore, retold in a different way.
The Natasha romance of Arc 5 was my favorite. So much so that I didn't want to give it up. It just fit and flowed so naturally for me.
My vote will be for Arc 5. For me, it's the closest thing to what I'd like to see with Arc 10. A series of linked mini-stories with a romance thread running through them. You, as the readers, may disagree, but I thought that Arc 5 was when the story got good.
Comments
Zarek21
Shame I can only pick one. I liked and enjoyed them all.
Steatoda
I get you. Again, I'll throw it out again, if you haven't read Soul Taker, try that out. I think it's aligned with what you're looking for since it's a highly retooled fantasy retelling of the early parts of Rogue. I know you liked the struggle of the early Arcs, and we'll see more of that in Arc 10. But I gather you have two main gripes: 1. You don't like the harem aspects of the story. 2. You think Tyson is OP and there's no challenge left, since you compare him to Chinese protagonists. I get that the harem stuff can be excessive, but it's fun to write. I'd say that some of it is earned. The Illyana, Natasha, and Jubilee relationships felt earned. But they were also developed over a long, long period. I would also say Jessica was pretty well earned despite it being quick (I know you disagree, which is fine). Also, I'd say that Tyson's strength is earned. Jason and Healer were low-hanging fruit. Sabertooth was admittedly plot-driven, but it was the introduction and basis for the story. Magneto is the big one, but it cost Tyson a lot. I know you don't like that he has that power, but looking at the Rogue story overall (meaning from my perspective since I know how the story should go in its completeness), that is the mid-point reversal. While I don't always strictly adhere to story structure, I do keep it in mind as a general guideline. Chapter 88 was the chapter I spent the most time brainstorming of all the chapters in the story, by a wide margin. I went back into my notes. I outlined the concept of that chapter in December 2023, while the chapter wasn't posted until January of this year. For context, I was drafting Chapter 49 at the time. That's how important I thought it was. (I hadn't settled it would be Magneto at the time, but the power poll the following month, Jan '24, settled that.) I wholeheartedly disagree with the idea that power was just given.
ROBOGAMER699
Whatever you wrote before Rogue arc 5 is way better, clearly arc 7 and especially how things are going in arc 8, it's just too pathetic. The last arcs seem like the story of a girl on onlyfans; as it starts with decent videos and goals, time passes and due to social pressure and fanservice she starts adding senseless sex only, due to quantity ending up making challenge videos of having sex with 1000 men in one day. (I have faith) :v
