ChibiSunnie tried to help me out with some advice.
Chibi: Maybe do the Miraculous fic while you're so excited about it and so you can continue to gain more followers. Then when you see the Varekai show at the end of Nov, that can motivate you for working on that story in Dec so you avoid the "NaNo is over now what?" writers block and keep your writing momentum going. Plus you'll have more possible people to read that story since you will have the new followers from Miraculous, and, like you said, most people wouldn't be searching for Varekai stories.It's really good advice. So good I was all set to follow it. Then the writers block decided to kick in.
I battled for two or three days to work on some of the key elements of the story, mainly what Adrien is going to do with the information that Marinette is Ladybug, as well as coming up with original Akumatized Villains while still holding true to the mechanic the show presents for them.
Namely, they can't just be superpowered baddies for Ladybug and Cat Noir to take down. Through my own observation I noted a few key things about Akumatized Villains that seem to be "rules" to their powers/creation. I want to stay true to them.
First of all, Hawkmoth can't just go around and turn everyone who is depressed into a villain. He seems to be able to only Akumatize one person at a time, and that person has to have a specific set of negative emotions. Namely, they must be wronged and want at least one of two things: the power to correct the wrong and/or simple revenge against the person who wronged them.
The Miraculous wiki states that Hawkmoth goes after people who are overwhelmed with negative emotion because, canonically, Hawkmoth's "victims" only become his supervillain minions after agreeing to a contract, and people are more likely to agree to his terms if they are upset. I have a personal theory that the moth miraculous holder actually seeks out "like minded" people, which is why he's specifically targeting people who want power and/or revenge. It's not just because they make great villains with drive and goals. I think it's also because Hawkmoth's main driving force is also to gain power to correct a wrong and/or seek revenge, at least I'm assuming as much based on Gabriel Agreste's mysteriously missing wife. I'm getting a bit off topic here, though.
My point is that I'm trying to come up with new villains who are generally good people who were wronged and wish to have the power to correct the wrong and/or seek revenge on the one who wronged them. I'm not sure why, but this is actually SUPER hard for me. I should be able to come up with a ton of ways a person can be wronged, but without bringing full-on prejudice into it - racism/sexism/ageism/religious prejudice/homophobia, etc - I'm hard pressed to think of a reason someone needs strength to correct a wronging against them. The show makes it seem so easy.
Oh, you're mad that all adults seem to keep kids from having fun. Man, it sucks that you lost that competition. Wow, kicked out of your first leading role? The school bully picked on you? Geez, that kid really disrespected your job. It's a shame no one gave you a true chance. Woah, she called you a liar in the harshest way possible, huh? So on and so forth. I know that the writers didn't hit every possible case of this kind of non-prejudicial wronging. They have a whole second season and a third one on order, so they clearly have more to work with. I just don't know why I can't think of anything new.
The only thing I have is one out of the two I showcased last week: Headline. Nadja is the reporter consistently depicted on the show. I came up with the idea that she was yelled at because "a simple high school student" seems to be out-scooping Nadja all the time in regards to Ladybug. The student in question being Marinette's best friend Alya who runs the Ladyblog: all things Ladybug all the time in the pursuit to figure out who Paris' masked superhero is. To a lesser extent Alya focuses on Cat Noir as well, but she's really driven by a strong and smart female superhero.
Anyway, Alya being Marinette's best friend is sort of coincidental. No one in Paris knows who Ladybug is, so Alya isn't getting any sort of inside info. If anything, because she's Marinette's friend, Ladybug tries to keep the action as far from Alya as possible to keep the teen out of danger. However, Marinette does know how important it is to Alya, so she does tend to give as many interviews exclusively to her friend as she can.
Also, Alya's sole purpose in life, outside of school work, is to get as much information about Ladybug as possible. Meanwhile, Nadja must report on ALL bits of the news: crimes, politics, natural disasters, community events, etc. She can't just focus on Ladybug, and so she tends to just report on the Akuma attacks themselves instead of doing any investigative reporting on the subject. She's just spread too thin to do that as well.
So, there is a lot of justification as to how Alya is able to get more information and out-scoop on all things Ladybug. There's also justification as to why Nadja isn't focusing more on the investigation of who Ladybug is. Yet, the news is the news, and the person/organization who has more information is top-dog when it comes to the news. So Nadja gets yelled at for something that isn't really her fault, and she falls into despair, wondering if she should remain a reporter.
In comes the Akuma to turn her into Headline, which brings me to the second half of the Akumatized Villains portion that I'm having trouble with.
I figured out what key factors I need to follow for creating a villain, but the second fold is figuring out their powers. All of the canonical villains have a small set of powers, or one multi-use power, that can be used offensively in their battle with Ladybug and Cat Noir, but, more importantly, the power(s) can be used to right the wrong against them and/or take out the revenge they crave.
Bubbler's bubble sword created bubbles that trapped the adults and sent them into the sky so the kids could be "free." Stormy Weather's parasol could create whatever weather she wanted as she battled the heroes and take revenge on Paris for not choosing her to be the winner of the young weather girl competition. Mime's ability to invisibly manifest whatever he pantomimed again largely allowed him to battle the heroes while also trying to destroy the acting troupe that fired him. Evillustrator's tablet pen created whatever he drew, which he used to attack the bully who picked on him, but also allowed him to set up a beautiful setting in his attempt to win Marinette's heart. So on and so forth.
Again, I think I have this for Headline. She's kind of an homage to Wonder Woman with a bit of a 1920's American reporter flare. Her weapon is her microphone. It can extend into a baton like Cat Noir's, but she can also extend a retractable mic-cord in order to use it as a whip like Ladybug's yo-yo. Most importantly, she can wrap people in the mic-cord and force them to confess secrets, much like Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth.
This power helps her overall goal by making sure she has all the information she can gather in order to not be out-scooped again. Obviously she's aiming to figure out who Ladybug is, but some other off-mark confessions will be amusing to come up with. Headline's main target is going to be Alya in order to see how the girl manages to find out as much as she does.
She's going to be a key villain in my story because she will show up after Cat Noir knows who Ladybug is. This forces him to realize how dangerous that information truly is, and that Marinette was right in having them hide their identities from even each other. Especially since Cat Noir has a history of being brainwashed or otherwise subdued by the Akuma Villains.
I'm loving what I'm doing with Headline, except for two things. The first is that I fear that she's too similar to the canonical villain Lady WiFi. When Alya herself was unjustly suspended from school she became Akumatized. She used her powers to seek revenge on Chloe for getting her suspended, and then used her powers to try to figure out who Ladybug truly was; a feat she nearly accomplished. So, is having another reporter's hunger to know who Ladybug is too similar? Does it feel like a rip-off?
The second issue I have with Headline is, while I like her to be a key villain for the overall Ladybug/Cat Noir love-square dynamic, the main story is too large for just one villain. I need at least three, possibly more, and I'm stalled.
Last week I introduced Vocalizer as my potential second villain. I had to shelf her. Mainly because I couldn't figure out what her goal was, and therefore I wasn't sure how her powers would be able to accomplish those goals. I came up with a vocal attack similar to Banshee and Siren from the X-Men universe. It was neat and all, but what good is it? In Guitar Villain the titular villain-of-the-week used his guitar for attacks. He had two. The first one forced all he hit with it to uncontrollably dance, which basically was him forcing people to "enjoy" his music after being knocked out of the #1 spot on the charts, and called a has-been. The second guitar attack was a simple force push that he used offensively to slam poor Cat Noir repetitively against a wall, and also to nearly push Guitar Villain's revenge victim off the top of the Eiffel Tower.
I can't have her voice force people to "enjoy" her music, nor could I have it be a force to push against the heroes. It would be a vocal interpretation of Guitar Villain's powers. I also didn't want her voice to be siren-like and create brainwashed minions out of those she hit with it. There have already been far too many villains who had the "brainwashed minions" power. Darkblade could "knight" citizens to transform them into his faithful soldiers. Princess Fragrance could convert anyone she sprayed with her perfume into mindless servants. Pharaoh could use the power of Anubis to transform citizens into mindless mummy minions. Simon Says could "hypnotize" anyone he hit with his cards to do whatever he said, and they would keep doing that action until he told them otherwise. Guitar Villain had the dancing victims I already talked about. Kung Food transformed those who ate his soup into "loyal sous chefs" who followed his orders to attack the heroes. There are also four more minor cases of this "power of dominion" showing up.
I also couldn't figure out how that would help. I had her as a music teacher at Marinette and Adrien's school, but the music program had to be cut due to budget issues. This may be a purely American issue and not something that would ever happen in Paris, which is another issue I have with this character. Regardless, I have her program - and to a larger extent, her job - cut, and she wants the power to save it while also seeking revenge on both the superintendent for making the cut and the principal for following through with it instead of fighting to save the program.
Neat. I have all the preliminary stuff built. Still can't figure out what her powers should be and how they would help her with her goal. Going back to the similar villain Guitar Villain, as I mentioned, his offensive power was used to attack Ladybug and Cat Noir, but it was also used to threaten the man who called him a has-been; the focus of Guitar Villain's revenge. I can easily have the same thing for Vocalizer. Whatever I decide on for her offensive vocal power, it can be used both to stop Ladybug and Cat Noir and to enact revenge on the superintendent. Perhaps she truly is like banshee and has a deafening scream. It would be interesting to see Ladybug and Cat Noir try to battle when they can't hear each other. Not entirely sure how it's "revenge" for cutting the music program, though. Maybe a "you don't think music is important? Then you shouldn't mind never hearing it again?" sort of thing?
However, Guitar Villain's second power was to force people to dance. It was his way of saying "You are going to enjoy my music whether you like it or not!" which was helping his goal of proving that he's not a has-been; that people will still "enjoy" his music.
Aside from following suit and having her voice also somehow forcing people to "enjoy" the music program, I don't have anything for this bit.
I think I might have the makings of a good villain here, but I just can't quite break through to a legit Miraculous villain yet. So she's on the back burner. Probably shelved until another Miraculous fanfic.
Which brings me back to needing other villains. In the version of Peeping Tomcat I already have written, Adrien is even more hesitant than before to confess to Marinette that he's been spying on her after Ladybug basically had to deal with an Akuma Villain by herself. Cat Noir was distracted with his newly discovered feelings for Marinette, and either is little to no help against the villain, or he is again dominated by the villain; I haven't decided which. After failing to help stop an Akuma, he really doesn't want to fail further as a superhero by confessing that he's been abusing his powers. So I KNOW I need at least one more villain, and I know it needs to be someone other than Headline because Cat Noir won't know who Ladybug is yet.
I also feel like there will be more story to tell after Headline is defeated, so I'll need at least one more villain then too so the story isn't just "here, have some teenage angst over who loves whom for what reasons."
Gaaaaaaaah! Not figuring this out is frustrating. Being just as confused as Adrien as to what he'll do with the knowledge of Ladybug's identity is equally frustrating.
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| Tanuki Facebook Sticker by Yanare Ku |
Wrong.
The trick with Varekai is that I need to come up with a plot. The "story" of the show is that Icarus falls into the mysterious forest of Varekai - Romani for "wherever" - and falls in love with La Promise, AKA The Betrothed. The other characters of Varekai are showcased in the many acts, La Promise is kidnapped, no one really does anything, La Promise undergoes metamorphosis thanks to her love for Icarus, she escapes and reunites with Icarus, they get married in a big celebration where other Varekai residents perform for the couple, and then the show ends.
It's a neat story concept, but it's not a novel. There's no plot. There's no true character development. Aside from La Promise being captured for some unknown reason, there really isn't much tension. Well, maybe Icarus trying to acclimate himself with the new environment of Varekai counts? But probably not, there isn't really much of a conflict aside from "this is strange; I have to wrap my mind around how things are here."
To start with my plotting and character development, I'm trying to think of why she's called La Promise because I need her to be more than simply Icarus' betrothed. I really need to think of a name for her and have La Promise be a title she gets. I also want her to be a promise for more than just Icarus. Is she royalty? Is she a "chosen one", a sort of messiah for Varekai, and only she can keep the forest thriving? Is she somehow the key to all the different races/species of Varekai inhabitants coming together as one community instead of conflicting tribes? Is she the last of her species and/or a sort of "queen bee" in which she's the only fertile one and the only way for the species to continue?
The problem I'm having with La Promise being so special and crucial to Varekai, which she's presented as being due to her being one of five named characters in the show, is the confusion as to why no one tried to go rescue her after being captured. She doesn't seem to have any sort of bodyguards either.
The problem with her only really being crucial to her own race also kind of falls flat because Icarus is still, presumably, human. Even if they could mate, La Promise's children would only be half of her species. It still sort of kills them off if she's the last reproducing female.
It could just be that she's like that one kid every neighborhood knows where everyone loves her and watches her grow. She's sort of the "child of the community" and everyone is protective of her. This brings us back to the "why doesn't anyone rescue her" question, though. I think I really need to figure that out.
I need to figure out why she's captured in the first place as well. Is she captured in order to stop her from the destiny the name/title La Promise saddles to her? Is she captured because the tribe that stole her thinks she could help them instead; keep the "messiah" to themselves? Is she simply captured because others want a crack at wooing Icarus so they need to get her out of the way first?
I can't figure it out! So now I'm staring at two brick walls and I'm no closer to being ready for NaNo.
This is going to be a frustrating October, isn't it?
On the plus side, even though I haven't added any narrative, I have done a lot more research for both stories, spending HOURS on each. I've also added three pages of notes to my Varekai notebook, and a bunch of additional "helpful observations" notes to my Miraculous one.
There are also worse ways to enjoy the unseasonably warm weather on my front porch. I'm hoping anyone affected by Hurricane Nate - now tropical depression Nate - is alright and not much damage was done. Me, on the other hand, I'm enjoying the warm weather it blew up my way.... If only my hair would enjoy the humidity.....
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| Basically me... Merida from Disney's Brave |
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