just found some Valiant AU development sketches and notes in my old OLD sketchbook
I really thought it would be a webtoon
long post warning! And I mean long looooooooong post. If you get to the bottom and go "I'm not reading allat" I do not blame you
more under the cut:
^^^ OC
General notes:
This Valiant AU was meant to be a solarpunk superhero slice of life that slowly reveals a heavier plot, mostly focusing on character interactions and personal growth
White Hat Incorporated is a struggling, newbie business and clients are rare
The episodes can range from domestic shenanigans like fixing a leaking pipe or getting dinner, to running their business by defeating the villain of the week
The villains and heroes stay in their roles from canon. The only ones with major changes are our main 4 guys
All major information about White Hat would be discovered from the point of view of Lumencia and Zug as they realize that not only is PEACE corrupt, but that their boss is neither human nor demon nor alien
Now onto the characters themselves:
Dr. Zug Gleis
Like his name suggests, he likes trains. His train is also a drill that was an attempt to burrow out of government's arrest
Which he then modified into a laboratory, each train cart being a unique kind of laboratory for surveillance, medicine, etc. He sleeps very uncomfortably in cramped spaces and likes it that way
V.I.R.U.S is now a software he created and repurposed into his bratty computer assistant, now Cambot. She's also the one recording all their commercials and making his coffee. Basically Zug doesn't get along with ANY of his children
He doesn't like to leave his laboratories, so he set up a network of tunnels through White Hat's mansion that send and receive messages, inventions, food, etc. There's one little chute for these in most parts of the place
His arc was focusing on his inability to accept help from others because he sees any kind gesture as a possible way to control him. Even worse if the kind person genuinely means it, because he also sees accepting kindness as a handicap, a debt
His villainy was an easy way to make money and show the world his capability without any assistance from any hero or villain organization
Really, he just wants to be able to do whatever he wants, but his need to be the best or else he's the worst is tiring for him. Anger issues don't help
This stemmed from a past of constantly being bullied and compared to his brother, Goldheart
After dropping out of hero college, Zug became his own supervillain's known as The Mad Condoctor, whose theme was, you guessed it, trains. He stole trains, modified scrap metal, targeted stations and trade centers, held hostages, prepared puzzles for heroes to solve, etc
The Mad Condoctor was notorious for being uncooperative and a backstabber. He operated at night and was an expert in secret missions, spyware and tech-based combat and the likes
By the first season finale he would have genuinely cared for his coworkers but still didn't value his own life, so he let himself be taken in by PEACE. The crew have to go retrieve their idiot and many things about White Hat Incorporated are revealed to the public after they clash with their local PEACE headquarters
He finds authority annoying and hates seeing people kiss up. Mostly shameless in his actions and doesn't much care for other people's opinions. Can be honest to the point of hurting
So he is a terrible liar. It's like he's allergic to it or something. Prefers to lie by omission
Will only call White Hat 'sir' and 'jefecito' sarcastically or to get a point across. Unfortunately hopelessly devoted to him at the end of the series whoops
Lumencia
A superwoman with horse-like powers that decided to choose unicorns as her motif because that's way cooler. She has kicks and punches that convert her diet into energy, which is great because she loves eating
Changed it up so that Lumencia is the resident prankster and WH tells puns, not the other way around
She has a room with a slanted ceiling which she can climb out the window of to lie and chill on the roof. She's also converted that space, where flat roof meets slanted roof, into an outdoor cinema/gym, decorated with christmas lights. The mansion is a three-way clash of decorative styles from afar
She doesn't have a license to be a hero, but she helps out wherever she can anyway, stopping purse snatchers and helping lost children find their parents and such
In fact, she is actually one of the most beloved people in the little town they live near, with many residents familiar with her buffoonery but affirming her as a reliable source of help
She's also relatively well-known online, as she posts videos of her playing the guitar and well-intentioned but nonsensical 'Lumencia Tips', filled with terrible puns and comic-like ballpoint pen doodles
Her arc would have focused on letting herself acknowledge her strengths that aren't related to fighting
Shes very buddy-buddy with petty criminals and shop owners alike, able to strike up a conversation and make pals no matter who they are. Once she deems you chill, you can chill, yknow? This isn't on purpose.
Even though she has gross taste in food and is messier than Zug, her handwriting is very pretty and neat. She also is very good at graffiti and sticks to an aesthetic, with glitter and y2k stickers and denim-clad wizards on skateboards, all the works
She has a very straightforward view on heroics and is not big on plans, preferring to punch her way out of situations or annoy her enemies to tears. In fact, her main goal is to become an official part of one of the many PEACE-brand hero leagues.
There's other hero corporations too but PEACE is the number one in America
So one day she just showed up on White Hat's doorstep and never left because it would 'look good on her resume'.
Previously, she bounced from place to place, relying on connections and the occasional tip from her halfway-illegal heroism efforts to get by. She also doesn't remember where her powers are from, only that her parents worked at PEACE and where killed by 'villains' when she was a little girl
Her favourite place is the funfair because that's the last nice memory she had
By season two she would have started another arc where she learns that she was an experiment and her parents were killed by their own higher ups in PEACE to silence them, and she has to come to terms with why she even wants to be a hero as well as stand her ground when her optimism is challenged.
Lumencia's music is like whatever Equestria Girls and Electric Mayhem have going on. I think the genre is power pop? Either way it sounds like those elaborate 80s radical van murals look
Is an effortless liar in the sense that she says the most batshit things with utmost confidence and treats consequences like an afterthought.
Only calls White Hat 'White Hat' and not 'boss' when she feels the situation calls for it. Also unfortunately hopelessly devoted to him by the end of the series
624
An extra set of hands that cleans the place and helps out with their little business. Does not like being interuppted when listening to music
Goes from 'fucking hate these guys' to 'they give me food therefore they are mine' in the span of the entire series
Quite lazy, plays the winning side. Which is usually the heroes here
Dunno if I'd call his arc an arc. All I know is there's an episode where his spoilt teenager-ismd hits their peak and Zug and Lumencia have to reach an understanding with him by respecting his boundaries and helping him feel secure
And after that episode, 624 stopped being a total catalyst for disaster plotwise
White Hat
He is one of the comic reliefs and manages White Hat Incorporated, often making really stupid decisions because profit is not on his mind
The final voice I settled on for him was fucking Australian Markiplier
His "growth" would be the characters and readers seeing him to actually be a caring, experienced-in-heroics-but-not-business individual who gives really sound advice and becomes a source of comfort for his close friends
But is still a MEGA-PRICK. Every time he gets beat up it's for a valid reason
In canon, villainy triumphs because Black Hat is there. In the Valiant AU, the story is in the heroes' favour because White Hat is in his place.
I wanted him to be (mostly) opposite to Black Hat in many ways! BH's office is huge, minimalistic, corporate and cold, while WH's office is small, maximalistic, filled with sentimental items and like a warm cabin.
BH basks in hellfire and while WH does use fire, he prefers the ocean. BH enjoys golf, WH enjoys dancing. BH takes himself seriously, WH very much doesn't. BH detests everything, WH has an appreciation for everything. And etc...
They're still horrible creepy eldritch monstrosities, the fish theme for WH is just because he likes ocean shit and fish are scary
BH has made himself known globally and universally, he has statues and monuments and paintings
WH has nothing; White Hat is five years old. This is his first time being White Hat
But he's been around since the beginning of time, taking many forms and names, learning the wonders of the universe and giving all of his time to help however he could
He believed this to be natural, he's the one of a kind who doesn't need rest or food. He can't die or get really hurt, and would later learn he couldn't bear to love either
Some of the things he was included many plants and animals before the humans, then farmers and warriors, witches and politicians, an entertainer vigilante, a writer, a parent, a fur-clad warrior in the snow, guiding forces of nature, and a female pirate.
I wanted him to cycle through the entire alignment chart in terms of morality as he exhausted everything he could do to make a difference
After World War 2 on earth, his psyche gave out and he collapsed into a long, long nap; a shadow pooling in a lake, his favourite
Finally woke up and decided to take his own form not based on any species or star or tree, chose his own outfit and everything
And made his debut as White Hat, forged documents to start a small business for heroes support
He doesn't have an arc, but if he did, he would be in the midst of learning to let himself get attached again and be properly selfish. Maybe identity issues.
But he doesn't have an arc
And so really only serves to help out Zug and Lumencia. He's comfortable with no one knowing these things about him ever, because what would they even do if they did?
Wouldn't change anything, they wouldn't understand the full scope even, so he's at peace with himself right now, grateful that he's alive for once
He uses manipulation to direct conversations away from himself and get people to spill their feelings, or burrow into their trauma without using magic
if he wants he can let loose to trigger some kind of indescribable primal instinct within a person, that cripples them with terror and despair and love for the sublime face of something divine, bigger than the observable universe. He doesn't like doing this.
He's a fan of ice and shadow manipulation, he thinks the colours go well with his coat
Most animals hate him and he cries about it
He also cries when he tries to download an app on a laptop
He is a competent medical doctor, babysitter, and waiter. In fact, he seems to have infinite patience and calm when he isn't whining over dessert like a toddler
The human skeleton hanging in his office is real
Hopelessly attached to Lumencia, Zug and 624 by the end of the series but they don't need to know that
This AU will forever make me warm and fuzzy inside I love them so much, I had so many locations planned, started Pinterest boards and shit
Instead I think I'll take some of these things and apply them to my OCs instead! HUGE thanks to everyone who enjoyed this version of this AU while it lasted! Maybe it'll come back one day, maybe not. Likely not
63 notes
·
View notes
What No One Tells you about Writing #3
Opening this up to writing as a whole, because it turns out I have a lot more to say!
Part 1
Part 2
1. You don’t fall in love with your characters immediately
But when you do, it’s a hit of serotonin like no other. I’d been writing a tight cast of characters for my sci-fi series since 2016 and switched over in a bout of writer’s block this year to my new fantasy book. I made it about ⅓ through writing the book going through the motions, unable to visualize what these new characters look like, sound like, or would behave like without a ‘camera’ on them.
Then, all of a sudden, I opened my document to keep on chugging with the first draft, and it clicked. They were no longer faceless elements of my plot, they were my characters and I was excited to see what they could accomplish, rooting for them to succeed. Sometimes, it takes a while, but it does come.
2. Sometimes a smaller edit is better than a massive rewrite
Unless you’re changing the trajectory of your entire plot, or a character’s arc really is unrecoverable, sometimes even a single line of dialogue, a single paragraph of introspection, or a quick exchange between two characters can change everything. If something isn’t working, or your beta readers consistently aren’t jiving with a character you yourself love, try taking a step back, looking at who they are as a person, and boil down what your feedback is telling you and it might demand a simpler fix than you expect.
Tiny details inserted at the right moment can move mountains. Fan theories stand on the backs of these minutiae. One sentence can turn a platonic relationship romantic. One sentence can unravel a fair and just argument. One sentence can fill or open a massive plot hole.
3. Outline? What outline?
Not every book demands weeks upon weeks of prep and worldbuilding. I would argue that jumping right in with only a vague direction in mind gives you a massive advantage: You can’t infodump research you haven’t done. Exposition is forced to come as the plot demands it, because you haven’t designed it yet.
Not every story is simple and straightforward, but even penning the first draft with your vague plan, *then* going back and adding in deeper worldbuilding elements, more thematic details, richer character development, can get you over the writer’s block hurdle and make it far less intimidating to just shut up and write the book.
4. It’s okay to let your characters take the wheel
I’ve seen writing advice that chastises authors who let their characters run wild, off the plan the story has for them. Yeah, doing this can harm your pacing and muddy a strong and consistent arc, but refusing to leave the box of your outline greatly limits your creativity. I do this particularly when writing romantic relationships (and end up like Captain Crunch going Oops! All Gays!).
Did I plan for these two to get together? No, it just happened organically as I wrote them talking, getting closer, getting to know each other better in the circumstances they find themselves in. Was this character meant to be gay? Well, he wasn’t meant to be straight, but you know what, he’d work really well with this other boy over here. None of that would have happened if I was bound and determined to follow my original plan, because my original plan didn’t account for how the story that I want to tell evolves. You aren’t clairvoyant—it’s okay if it didn’t end up where you thought it would.
5. Fight. Scenes. Suck.
Which is crazy because I love fantasy and sci-fi, the actiony-est genres. Some authors love battle scenes and fistfights. It comes naturally to them and I will forever be jealous. I hate fight scenes. I hate blocking and choreographing them. I hate how it doesn’t read like I’m watching a movie. I hate how it could take me hours to write a scene I can read in 5 minutes. I hate that there’s no way around it except to just not write them, or put in the elbow grease and practice.
Whatever your writing kryptonite is, don’t be too hard on yourself. It won’t ever replicate the movie in your head, but our audience isn’t privy to that movie and will be none the wiser of how this didn’t fit your expectations, because it’s probably awesome on its own. It could be a fight scene, sex scene, epic battle, cavalry charge, courtroom argument, car chase—whatever. Be patient, and kind to yourself and it will all come together.
6. Write the scenes you want to write first
And then be prepared to never use them. It can be mighty difficult working backwards from a climax and figuring out how to write the story around it, but if you’re sitting at your laptop staring at your cursor and watching it blink, stuck on a tedious moment that’s necessary but frustrating, go write something exciting. Even if that amazing scene ends up no longer working in the book your story becomes, you still get practice by writing it. Particularly if you hate beginnings or the pressure of a perfect first page is too high, you’re allowed to write any other moment in the book first.
And with that, be prepared to kill your darlings. Not your characters, I mean that one badass line of dialogue living rent free in your head. That epic monologue. That whump scenario for your favorite character. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out anymore, but even if it ends up in the trash, you can always salvage something from it, even if that’s only the knowledge of what not to do in the future.
7. “This is clearly an author insert.” … Yes. It is. Point?
No one likes Mary Sues, because a character who doesn’t struggle or learn to get everything they want in life is uncompelling. The most flagrant author inserts I see aren’t Mary Sues, they’re nerdy, awkward, boring white guys whose world changes to fit their perspective, instead of the other way around—they don’t have anything to say. I’m not the intended audience to relate to these characters and I accept that, but I don’t empathize with the so-called “strong female character” who also doesn’t have flaws or an arc either.
A good author insert? When the author gives their characters pieces of themselves. When the “author insert” struggles and learns and grows and it’s a therapeutic experience just writing these characters thrown into such horrible situations. They feel human when they’re given pieces of a human’s soul. They have real human flaws and idiosyncrasies. I don’t care if the author wrote themselves as the protagonist. I care that this protagonist is entertaining. So if you want to make yourself the hero of your book, go for it! But make sure you look in the mirror and write in your flaws, as much as your strengths.
37 notes
·
View notes
The Boxleitners AU (WordGirl)
Basically a Becky Boxleitner AU but I give Steven himself more character development and plot relevance before ultimately being fused to a mouse.
Before Squeaky (Season 1-2-3)
●•• Steven Boxleitner's fusion with Squeaky occurs much later than in the show in order to give him a much more in-depth character development to show his relationship with his daughter and his positive impacts on the people of fair city as a whole before his descent and transformation into Dr. Two Brains.
●•• With her identity as a superhero with an advanced vocabulary that's only know by her companion and sidekick, Captain Huggy Face. Becky Boxleitner is unable to talk much about her problems and difficulties with her own father because of the fear that all her hero-ing would get him hurt one day if he did find out.
|
└ • Though during somewhere between Season 3 and before it's finale, Steven does manage to figure out her identity and tries to be helpful by providing help whenever she needs it.
●•• The Boxleitners live in a fairly nice neighborhood that's located near the outskirts of the city that is also coincidentally the same neighborhood that a decent amount of WordGirl's enemies inhabit, Their house is right next to the Butcher and Granny May's houses with Maria the Energy Monster secretly living in one of the powerlines across the street.
|
└ • Steven has become friends with many of his definitely not villains in their civilian identities neighbors, Examples are:
|
└ ✧ The Butcher (Jerald T. Butcher) - Jerald is surprisingly great friends with Steven as they'd met when Jerald had decided cook some bbq but unfortunately broke his own barbecue grill on accident though he ultimately met up with Steven when he'd heard that the man was inventing a machine that cooked meat much faster, This little interaction had then led to become the thing many of the neighbors look forward to every week, The Weekly Neighborhood Barbeque.
|
└ ✧ Granny May ( Granny May) - May has always treated the Boxleitners as close family ever since the day that they'd started visiting her when during one of the neighborly bbq she'd let slip that she felt alot more lonely since her family and grandkids were off on vacation with even her own mom being busy aswell and that she wished more people visited her more often, the next day Steven brought his daughter and their pet monkey over and chatted which eventually turned into them baking cookies and listening to Granny May's childhood stories every Friday after Becky gets home from school. (Colonel Mustard, Granny May's cat has also taken a liking to them)
|
└ ✧ Mr. Big (Shelly Smalls) - With Wordgirl being able to foil his plans quickly he went under a fake name (Dr. Small) to seek the help of Steven Boxleitner to make a mind control bunny button which he ultimately used on Steven after the man found out about his true identity. Although even after being mind-controlled Steven still forgives Mr. Big and still do business with eachother like the time Shelly requested for a perfume that naturally causes bunnies to follow him.
➜ This leads to an episode that centers around Mr. Big using the bunnies against Wordgirl with steven on the other hand wasn't told what the perfume was for.
|
└ ✧ Energy Monster (Maria the Energy Monster) - Though their interaction was short, Maria had managed to convince Steven that teenage girls turn into large Electrical Monsters when they hit puberty after he'd given her a device that turned certain Electrical charges into sounds that then let her communicate.
➜ In an altered version of "Dinner or Consequences" Maria doesn't have the device removed and is able to communicate throughout the show permanently.
★ Becky is aware of their true identities but ultimately keeps quiet so her dad's new found friendship with them wouldn't end.
●•• Steven's assigned government owned lab and Becky's school that's just a few blocks away is located near the epicenter of the city so he normally just drops her off there when he's going to do some experimentation in the laboratory and if ever Becky gets out of school early she'll just walk to her dad's workplace to see and make sure that Steven hasn't accidentally blown himself up because of being too distracted and wait for him to finish so he can drive both of them back home. (On occasions, she'll just turn into wordgirl and fly back to their house if her dad was just at home.)
|
└ • Becky had once been in the presence of a dozen miscoloured mice on one faithful afternoon when she'd decided to visit Steven, Each cage had been surprisingly lavish and contained three mice each plus everything their little mouse sized hearts desired, When asking about the indoor mouse zoo she was told that they were rescued from an illegal smuggling case in the far north of the city with the smuggler subjecting the mice to harsh living conditions to which made Becky automatically angry at herself for being unable to help these poor creatures as WordGirl.
|
└ • Upon noticing his daughters clear reaction and the regret plastered all over her face, Steven placed his hand on Becky's shoulder and added that the mice were only temporarily in his care so they could be relocated to a place where all their needs will be met and that earlier today a nice elderly couple had generously donated over a pound of fruits and cheese for the poor mice which seemed to make his daughter's mood lift. He failed to mention how the perpetrator hadn't been caught yet and is probably roaming the city doing illegal smuggler things.
|
└ • At one point, Steven had introduced Becky to a little lab mouse that he'd affectionately named "Squeaky" in the count that the little mouse was the most noisiest and the most likely to bite her fingers if given the chance. He'd mentioned aswell that squeaky was one of the mice that was rescued from the smuggler incident so the hostility to humans was understandable.
➜ On a side note, Her dad had shown her how squeaky could break down walls and walls of drywall to get to a singular piece of cheese, It's unsure if Squeaky was experimented on by the Smuggler or if the small mouse was always like this.
●•• Steven still makes the mind-reading device but for different reasons such as to read squeaky's mind to figure out the smuggler's identity and if more animals were being illegally brought to fair city and maybe be able to help the authorities catch the criminal but with a lot of things happening here and there the mind-reading device didn't get to the testing phase until season 3.
----
The timeline is pretty messed up but basically any episode that's set in Season 1-3 that contains Dr. two brains as a main character is instead placed into Season 4 or tweaked so that it's Steven instead, The invasion of the bunny lovers is also put into Season 2 rather than 6.
This post is prone to being edited due to me always getting ideas on how to improve an AU so don't expect this to stay the same :D
(If you saw the sudden style change between images, Image 1 was drawn directly on CapCut while Image 2-3 was sketched on paper then placed into Capcut)
29 notes
·
View notes