#concept scraps

[lmelodie]

Chance and Choice BTS

Behind the scenes stuff! I have A LOT of notes about the making of Chance and Choice from unreleased Beta to the latest chapter! Please enjoy the notes that simply cannot keep to myself anymore.

Pre CC (Runner-up):

Originally originally, the very first almost beta version of CC was just going to be Jack's origin story lol. Like straight up in chronological order, a series of events spanning his entire life as a closer look into his fall from grace. Really heavy handed on the psychology aspects of how his mind works (because I love nothing more than psychoanalyzing people/characters)

I had a whole idea about if i ever dropped this fic that the accompanying art would just be Jack himself promoting the story as if it was his own autobiography. Celebrity biopic release vibes. Buy my book!

This rough beta version was called Runner-up. And I got all the outlining done when I realized that by the end of the story Jack still would’ve been a villain (and in banishment) and I ended up thinking that the aftermath of his banishment with Lucy would've been a more attention-grabbing story.

As much as I enjoy hurting this man, I also want to see him heal, so Runner-up was promptly scrapped (but somewhat currently still used as a rough guide for any of Jack’s inner machinations/past experiences)

In the tail end of planning Runner-up, when Killian was starting to come more into his own and not just a background character, apparently, I wrote it down that him and Jack were only supposed to have romantic tension and for their official relationship to start way later after he’s already reformed. 

I think the idea was to have them just hate flirting with each-other while the whole story goes on around them? But you can also do that AND be bitter exes at the same time. Very glad I changed this little bit.

A concept that also did not survive the Runner-up days was the idea of Jack having some kind of Ice based healing powers! Most akin to the water bender healers from Avatar. 

He would've had this whole thing about swearing off using the healing powers for whatever reason and ends up burying the lead that he ever had them in the first place. Until a situation comes up where he’s forced to use them in front of people, unearthing the secret. This idea was cool, but then I reworked the whole magic system so this idea had to go.

Chapter 4:

Fun Fact! This meeting where Jack and Mother Nature actually talk for the first time since banishment will be the last time they directly speak to one another until the very finale. They will be going another two weeks without talking before reconciling at New Years.

I've had the idea for the Bypass for a while, but the way it looks is closest to The Great Exhibition hall of 1851. Just way bigger and with portal arches and FIVE MORE FLOORS. This place is HUGE you guys it's like a whole town in of itself.

I wanted the teleporters to accommodate a full-sized dragon because as a species they would be very limited in available airspace without getting spotted by humans. So, to quick travel they mostly use the teleporters.

I am going to be very honest with you guys. I really did only give Jack a journal of sorts so that I could maybe spin that off into The Misadventures of Exile kinda thing. Because nothing really physically happens to him (besides the polar bear) but he goes through a lot of mental wear and tear, and I thought I should give myself a little window into his head for possible future use. 

Chapter 5:

The flashback scene with MN and Jacks fight, these exchanges:

“When all the realms turned against me, what did you do? Nothing!”

“You were not meant to have a holiday that is not my fault!”

“Not your FAULT!?”

Is directly taken from Kung Fu Panda, the first movie where shifu and tai lung recount their falling out as they fight. Tai Lung (and his and shifu’s dynamic) is so interestingly complex and served as a HUGE inspiration for Jack’s character and his relationship with MN.

ANOTHER line that I kinda ripped off was this remark from Jack:

“How could you possibly bring me lower than this? What more can you take away from me?!”

That one I got from The Incredibles when Bob threatens Mirage when he thinks his family is dead :)

A line that I also really REALLY wanted to include but didn't was from Steven Universe. Where Amethyst and Pearl are fighting in the kindergarten and amethyst says:

“I never asked for it to be this way! I never asked to be made!”

I wanted to give that line to Jack as he was fighting MN SO BAD! But I just couldn't find anywhere to fit it.

Originally Jack’s visceral injury would have been a single very sharp root straight through the shoulder. Literally clean through him; just one major puncture wound. But I ultimately thought that was lacking something, so i ended up changing it to something way more violent.

That whole fight scene I’ve had in the chamber for A WHILE, before most of the plot of CC was ironed out. And like I’ve said before, legendary fisticuffs are COOL AS SHIT so I have a lot to say about that passage in particular.

Chapter 6:

I had three separate ideas for Jack’s beginning nightmare sequence for this chapter (mostly because i’ve really liked coming up with very metaphorical and emotionally poignant scenarios for Jack to be in (psychoanalyzing yet again) ).

The final one of the following voices was my personal favorite and was planned to be put somewhere far later in the story, but i ultimately decided to treat myself and write in prose about Jack’s internal struggle :)

The other two nightmares I think I will keep mostly a secret if I ever choose to use those for future sequences. But! The other two (in the vaguest of terms) are

Mother Nature Lapis Lazuli inspo

Playing very weird chess and loosing horribly.

The main note that I’ve had for this, and the next few following chapters is just: EMOTIONAL LABOR! And that’s literally it lol. Thats the only note I need for this next stretch of the story lol.

Fun Fact! The weight of Lucy’s staff is actually different depending on the personal harmony of the one who’s holding it! It always maintains a level of heaviness that Lucy doesn't experience, but depending on someone’s inner balance the staff will be lighter or heavier depending on who’s holding it. Charlie has little difficulty holding for its weight in Chapter 5, because he has little to no internal struggle. He’s very confident in who he is and where he’s going in life and all that jazz. 

Whereas Jack in this Chapter, is nearly taken down by the thing because he is all kinds of out of whack internally. Banishment has been nothing but one big internal seven-year struggle and it shows in the weight of the staff. He’s way-out synch and therefore the staff is way heavier than it should be.

Chapter 7:

I had to rewrite the beginnings of this chapter a fair few times with how exactly Lucy finds out more about Frostmas as a thing.

One of the times she would've found herself in the hall of timelines to learn about Frostmas that way. It was a huge room of clouds and different clock faces representing all the major alternate universes. I had a whole convoluted way the books updated themselves by pulling straight from the clocks to double check the series of events that have technically never happened.

But this was WAY too complicated of an idea to execute without having it feel overly clunky. So, it must be scrapped.

AND I KNEW that THIS was the most opportune time to name drop everyone else’s amazing work! As mostly a treat to myself, but I had it penned down to AT LEAST mention CS here. Because I was dying to do that at some point and NOWS THE TIME! THERE YA GO BITCHES! Technically canon? But actually, not really.

Killian and Chimera’s intro was A BITCH AND A HALF to nail down. I went back and forth on the logistics of this scene a lot. Where it was gonna fit in the story and if I'm introducing this new character/element too early or too late. This one was a thinker.

BUT THEN I remembered that there's an actually seven-year-old at the north pole that he could scare! Keep it closer to the main cast and switch it to full nighttime hours at the end of the day and BOOM! He’s here! In the story! Jack and Luce are gonna run into him later for the confrontation OF A LIFETIME. Very hype about that

For Killian’s intro I had an idea for Chimera to call him on the crystal ball, but he accidently left the sound on so it flashes colors AND Toxic by Brittney Spears would start playing very loudly in the middle of the night. This was really funny to me, but ultimately undermined the whole buildup of him being scary and threatening so I had to scrap it.

Misc:

Whenever I get to the redlining stage in the editing process, I try and do it physically as often as I can. I literally print out all the pages, staple them together, get a red pen and go to town! Usually with a lined sticky note as well for when a passage really needs to be deconstructed. I do this because it gives my eyes a break from staring at a screen and helps me spot mistakes easier. I keep them all in a little accordion folder and save them as sweet little mementos :)

(I don't do this for any of the snowdrifts because those are relatively low stakes, but I did do it for Solstice just because it directly ties into CC in a somewhat more important way.)

A couple of key inspo’s for Jacks character in exile (as I imagine him anyway) were Tai Lung (as previously stated), Loki and a touch of Bojack Horseman. I rationalize any out of character things he does with “Oh but he’s in exile, he’s been banished for seven years now, I think he’s bound to act just a little different.”

Some of the names that were in the rotation between Runner-up and CC include:

Polar Opposites

Vice Versa

Hope and Heartless

Flip Side

[hinamie]

ṇ̵̛̱͌̅̃͛̔o̴̮̓̀͂́̃_̴̛̲́s̷͈̋̈́̄̋͠ị̶͔̗̐͐̐̒̕g̵̛̱̘̣̑͂ņ̴̰͔̘͇̏̒̓̇͠͝a̸̜̥̩̭͋̌ḷ̶͔̖͗͋͛͛̃͆

[soosoosoup]

scrapped snowzone

[shummthechumm]

YOU'VE GOTTA LET IT GLOW ?!

YOU'VE GOTTA LET IT SHINE ?!

(available as stickers on shop)

[courfee]

it's been exactly a year since the last chapter of Operation Walburga's Arbitrary No Kissing Ever Rule and I still miss it. This scene is probably one of my favourite things I've ever written and I've wanted to draw it for forever, so now seemed like an appropriate time

[spooky-pop]

Introducing Ivy, my design for Poppy & Branch's daughter. I can't wait to share more about her! I have so many plans for my ParentAU :) She is a wild child and def a dad's girl.

[moremaybank]

being nervous when rafe cameron wants you to sit on his face. you've never sat on anyone's face before, and now he's lying flat on his back, his head resting on his silk-covered pillow. rafe's always been gorgeous, you've never been crazy enough not to notice that. but right now, he looks angelic. shimmering blue eyes and sharp features and bravado. his hands urge you to come to him, and you keep resisting. not because you don't want what he's dying to give. no, that's not the reason at all. there are just too many insecurities swirling around in your brain, each one louder and louder, drowning out all the promises he's made about bringing you to heaven. and you're crawling more and more into your shell. rafe notices, though. he knows your little mind, how it turns on you. and he's going to shut it up whenever it dares to give into your doubts. "what don't you get, sweetheart?" he's stern, but you know it's coming from a place of love. he just wants you to let go, to trust him. "come put that pretty pussy on my face. i don't care about suffocating, or whatever lame ass excuse you're about to give me next. you're beautiful, you taste like fucking heaven, and honestly, princess, that pussy's mine whenever i want it. now get over here." once you oblige, hovering over him carefully and gripping at his headboard with a strong hand, he pulls you down, encouraging you to ride his face by pushing at your hips. quickly erased are all the negative thoughts that had you shying away from the experience. the ecstasy is much too strong, and you're left wondering how you ever talked yourself into denying yourself, and rafe.

[kukuzard]

Yknow those skin concepts qwel made?

Well . . . I made fanart of goob's and scraps' skin concepts!!!

I LOVE how colorful these two were

[quibbs126]

These are all the unused Golden Cheese update cookies designs from the beginning

I haven’t actually gotten a good look at them or what the people were saying, because I was taking screenshots literally one right after the other so I could get them all. But they seem neat from what little I saw

[kintsugikalliope]

someone get this woman away from it all, heaven knows she needs a vacation

character description i wrote for Elsa below the cut since she doesn't have her own:

"With hooded river eyes that hold the weight of a bygone war, Elsa is the resident doctor for any gangsters, bootleggers, and rumrunners passing through. She runs a liquor trafficking operation with her brother and husband in Defiance, Missouri, providing her medical expertise and no-nonsense demeanor to the trio. Elsa was a former nurse in the Great War where she would wed the gregarious Bobby Bastion. Opposites attract, this is true, but she would later on build a perhaps deeper bond with Viktor Vasko while he stayed in Defiance, as the two found silent solace in the other for their shared, lingering trauma of the war, in contrast to her husband's cheery nature despite being a veteran himself.

When Elsa is not sewing up brains back in heads or poking needles in scaredy cats, the world-weary woman probably likes to garden, tolerate her husband's yapping, and suffer no fools."

[ridiculouslyaverageguy]

During the production of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, Mystery Inc. was envisioned as five humans and a dog. But the final guy, described as a rich, snooty hipster, was cut from the show. These come from Van Partible, the creator of Johnny Bravo. They are two of several, physical drawings that he got his hands on while working at Hanna Barbera.

This character was likely Mike Andrews mentioned in the initial pitch. (Geoff, Kelly, Linda, and W.W. are Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy respectively)

[columbojumpscare]

Got the MHW:IB artbook and made myself very mad over how good the original Safi'Jiiva concept art was. I genuinely don't know what they were thinking when they made it what it is ingame.

[rassicas]

I'm not counting a player character that you made and never thought about further. i mean like. It can be your player character but at least one that has a name (or you intend to name) and some semblance of a story that you've thought about. bonus points if you've been continuously using this character for several years

[mttonex]

joanfucius if one of them was a zombie and they killed people for body parts (lisa frankenstein au)

bonus doodles :3

[jvnart]

Quick team gai doot between coms today

[wigglebox]

Suptober - Day 13 || Flirt [x]