diff --git a/qhtcp-workflow/apps/r/calculate_interaction_zscores.R b/qhtcp-workflow/apps/r/calculate_interaction_zscores.R
index c1bf42e0..65e2ffb1 100644
--- a/qhtcp-workflow/apps/r/calculate_interaction_zscores.R
+++ b/qhtcp-workflow/apps/r/calculate_interaction_zscores.R
@@ -391,20 +391,13 @@ generate_and_save_plots <- function(output_dir, file_name, plot_configs, grid_la
     #   "delta_bg_tolerance", "delta_bg", "Gene", "L", "K", "r", "AUC", "NG", "DB"))), n = 5)
 
     # Plots are testy about missing aesthetics, so handle them here
-    aes_mapping <- if (is.null(config$color_var)) {
-      if (is.null(config$y_var)) {
-        aes(x = !!sym(config$x_var))
-      } else {
-        aes(x = !!sym(config$x_var), y = !!sym(config$y_var))
-      }
-    } else {
-      if (is.null(config$y_var)) {
-        aes(x = !!sym(config$x_var), color = as.factor(!!sym(config$color_var)))
-      } else {
-        aes(x = !!sym(config$x_var), y = !!sym(config$y_var), color = as.factor(!!sym(config$color_var)))
-      }
-    }
+    aes_mapping <- aes(
+      x = !!sym(config$x_var),
+      y = if (!is.null(config$y_var)) !!sym(config$y_var) else NULL,
+      color = if (!is.null(config$color_var)) as.factor(!!sym(config$color_var)) else NULL
+    )
 
+    # Start building the plot
     plot <- ggplot(df, aes_mapping)
 
     # Use appropriate helper function based on plot type
@@ -428,7 +421,7 @@ generate_and_save_plots <- function(output_dir, file_name, plot_configs, grid_la
 
   # HTML saving logic
   plotly_plots <- lapply(plots, function(plot) {
-    config <- plot$labels$config
+    config <- plot$config
     if (!is.null(config$legend_position) && config$legend_position == "bottom") {
       suppressWarnings(ggplotly(plot, tooltip = "text") %>% layout(legend = list(orientation = "h")))
     } else {
@@ -440,28 +433,24 @@ generate_and_save_plots <- function(output_dir, file_name, plot_configs, grid_la
 }
 
 generate_scatter_plot <- function(plot, config, interactive = FALSE) {
-  
-  # Determine the base aesthetics
-  aes_params <- aes(
-    x = !!sym(config$x_var),
-    y = !!sym(config$y_var),
-    color = as.factor(!!sym(config$color_var)))
 
   # Add the interactive `text` aesthetic if `interactive` is TRUE
   if (interactive) {
-    if (!is.null(config$delta_bg_point) && config$delta_bg_point) {
-      aes_params$text <- paste("ORF:", OrfRep, "Gene:", Gene, "delta_bg:", delta_bg)
+    plot <- if (!is.null(config$delta_bg_point) && config$delta_bg_point) {
+      plot + geom_point(aes(text = paste("ORF:", OrfRep, "Gene:", Gene, "delta_bg:", delta_bg)),
+        shape = config$shape %||% 3, size = config$size %||% 0.2)
     } else if (!is.null(config$gene_point) && config$gene_point) {
-      aes_params$text <- paste("ORF:", OrfRep, "Gene:", Gene)
+      plot + geom_point(aes(text = paste("ORF:", OrfRep, "Gene:", Gene)),
+        shape = config$shape %||% 3, size = config$size %||% 0.2, position = "jitter")
+    } else {
+      plot + geom_point(shape = config$shape %||% 3, size = config$size %||% 0.2)
     }
+  } else {
+    # For non-interactive plots, just add `geom_point`
+    plot <- plot + geom_point(shape = config$shape %||% 3, size = config$size %||% 0.2,
+      position = if (!is.null(config$position) && config$position == "jitter") "jitter" else "identity")
   }
 
-  # Add the base geom_point layer
-  plot <- plot + geom_point(
-    aes_params, shape = config$shape %||% 3,
-    size = config$size %||% 0.2, 
-    position = if (!is.null(config$position) && config$position == "jitter") "jitter" else "identity")
-  
   # Add smooth line if specified
   if (!is.null(config$add_smooth) && config$add_smooth) {
     plot <- if (!is.null(config$lm_line)) {
@@ -788,7 +777,7 @@ main <- function() {
       {
         non_finite_rows <- filter(., if_any(c(L), ~ !is.finite(.)))
         if (nrow(non_finite_rows) > 0) {
-          message("Removed the following non-finite rows:")
+          message("Filtering out the following non-finite rows:")
           print(non_finite_rows %>% select(any_of(print_vars)), n = 200)
         }
         filter(., if_all(c(L), is.finite))