#crafycorn

most of the nightmare critters are a bit older than the smiling critters

Contemplating whether to make some of the Smiling Critters attend different schools (like that of other magical girl shows) or should they ALL attend the same school... I don't know yet, tbh. But for now? making them attend the same school

Similarly, I'm contemplating whether to make the nightmare critters attend in the same school the smiling critters go to or not. For now I'm making them attend a rival school. They'll all meet during a big field trip or city festival

The nightmare critters are mean-spirited teens, but they're more likely to keep to themselves if left unbothered. They're only cruel because it's their defense mechanism of being mistreated and bullied by more popular/well-known students

[I have more but this'll become more about information between each character and man, I already typed too much here already. Let me know if. you want that. I will make a post about it. or pm you.]

---LORE FLOW [timeline on when they received and used miraculouses + other lore context] ---

Subtle akumatizations have been occurring but they're not public knowledge yet

Theodore and Edgar first receive their miraculouses. Both decide to test out their powers and do the "mystery" person's bidding in secret

Weeks later, Dennis receives his miraculous in his locker. A few minutes later the first public akumatization (Huggy Wuggy) occurred. When Dennis first turned Dogday, that's when Theodore started to publicly show himself and intervene as Catnap

Dogday and Catnap are the only ones to be actively use the miraculous in public. Edgar still works in secret, but Theodore knows this. This occured for months

In between, a special trio (they function similarly to Master Fu in this au) introduce themselves to Dennis. He starts learning stuff about the miraculous, and how they have a few and are searching for the others, especially the Ladybug's. Dennis wanted to tell Catnap about them but they prohibited him, so Catnap is still clueless about their existence (remember - Theo and Dennis still don't know each others' identities!)

In Halloween, Jolyne finds a miraculous, which was actually found by her mom. She steals it to gift it to Elizabeth. Elizabeth eventually discovers its use and at first, used it to keep everyone at bay, but then later used it to try to beat Dogday to shut him up (she fails) (she gets away with the miraculous though)

A day later, Elizabeth is approached by Harley Sawyer (via akuma maybe), who gives her promises w/ being free from her "suffering" and honing her powers... typical manipulation stuff. Elizabeth first resists but eventually after a few weeks gives in

Plot reveal that Sawyer actually have some of the other miraculouses, he just didn't see any point on risking in using them until he witnessed the halloween incident

One by one, the others got their miraculous, and soon the Nightmare Critters were now becoming an active threat (well, not too active. They join in when they feel like it. They're teenagers after all)

Edgar was eventually offerred a miraculous, which they refused - giving off the impression that they found the superpowered ability to be lame and overrated. Deep down, it's giving Edgar a dilemma

Not prepared to fight multiple users for long, Dennis went to the special trio for help. That's when they started to trust Dennis to choose miraculouses to help them fight

Naturally, Dennis chooses his friends bc he knew them best, but they do return it to him after each fight. Some get to keep it for a few days when the fights get worse

When Dogday starts doing this, Catnap became suspicious of him. Catnap is then surprised that Dogday refuses to tell him about where he got the miraculouses (Dogday never kept things other than his identity to himself). Likewise, Dogday started wondering why Catnap is getting more interested on the miraculouses he's giving away temporarily for aid. A rift of trust is starting.

In one of the fights, one of the nightmare critters eventually gets defeated. Dogday and Catnap were about to confiscate the miraculous when Covert intervenes and stops them, giving the defeated critter time to escape. Catnap had to pretend he didn't know who they were

Catnap and Edgar eventually meet up in secret, where they usually meet w/ their "mystery" guy. Edgar ends their dedication to the "mystery" person, unfazed of the threats.