Velveteen vs. The Aftermath.: seanan

Velveteen vs. The Aftermath.

So it's done: the story is told, and we've all had time to sit back and digest it. There was a lot of evolution, growth, and change between "Velveteen vs. The Isley Crawfish Festival" and "Velveteen vs. The Epilogue," and I like to think that was a good thing.

The character of Velveteen has been with me for a long time; there are sketches of her dating back to high school, which puts her in about the same era of inception as Toby Daye. That may explain some of their similarities: the parental issues, the trust issues, the perpetual poverty and fear of going hungry. These are all things that I was struggling with during high school, and for several years after. While I don't base my characters off of myself intentionally, there's an aspect of "write what you know" that is simply unavoidable. She didn't have a civilian name for years, but when the time came to start writing her story down, I named her Velma, after a friend of mine who needed a pick-me-up. And thus was Velma Martinez properly born.

The first "Velveteen vs." story had a weird genesis. See, I was getting ready to go to Worldcon in Melbourne, Australia, and I realized that going to Australia is expensive. Like, it costs a lot. So I started doing things to save money. I cut back on caffeine and new book purchases, and I began selling blog sponsorships. I did the math on how many dollars I would need to save every day, and said "pay me this much money and that day is yours." And people did!

My very first sponsorship was for an anonymous group called The Crawfish Minions. Wanting to start the sponsorships off with a bang, I decided I'd write them a little story about crawfish. Velveteen seemed like the perfect character to fight river-dwelling crustaceans, and somehow my "little story" grew into the first Velveteen adventure. This is also the reason for the early installment weirdness in that one: I hadn't paused to think things through just yet. The shape of the world was there, but there's more snark in the narration (the characters would always remain snarky, I wrote them), and Velveteen monologues at the Claw for no apparent reason (something which she thankfully never did again). Still, people liked it a lot, and it was fun, and things progressed from there. As they always do. To quote Amy: "Where'd those 10,000 words come from? Did you trip?"

I did at least sit down to figure out a bit more of the shape of the setting before the second story. I knew who Sparkle Bright and Action Dude were, their relationships to Velveteen, and what had really caused their falling-out before I wrote "vs. The Coffee Freaks," although it wasn't until "vs. The Flashback Sequence" that I realized just how deeply Sparkle Bright had been, and still was, in love with Velveteen. You can see the signs if you go back to Yelena's early appearances; she's very clearly dealing with a crush, and very clearly has no idea how to handle it. Whereas poor Aaron was just clueless from day one.

A lot of the secondary characters were unplanned, including several who became incredibly important. Jackie Frost and the Princess were intended as one-offs, showing that Velveteen had friends outside of The Super Patriots, but once I'd allowed them into the story, they refused to leave. The Princess was always transgender; it's part of her origin story. I honestly wasn't sure I'd be able to reveal that on screen until the scene with Jolly Roger's ship, which gave me an opportunity to force everyone into stating their birth names. Tag was introduced because otherwise Velveteen's inevitable reunion with Action Dude would be too easy. Um. Sorry, Action Dude. Didn't mean to break your happy ending.

Maybe the most important of the accidental characters was Victory Anna. I knew that Polychrome needed to have a girlfriend, and I knew that I wanted her to be a gadgeteer, because we didn't have one in the main cast. I wanted to show that power set, even if it was only for one story. So I introduced a time-traveling steampunk gadget-girl, and just sort of ran with it. Because Yelena is described as looking a lot like my friend Torrey, I described Victoria as looking a lot like Vixy. Yes. I just built in the opportunities for cosplay.

Victory Anna was supposed to be a one-off. She absolutely wasn't supposed to become the first character other than Velveteen to have a story focusing on just her (and remains one of only two who have been given their own narrative: the other was Jackie Frost). And she definitely wasn't supposed to turn into a member of the "core team."

Whoops.

On the whole, this series of stories evolved into something larger, more complex, and more honest than I could ever have intended. It's about figuring out who you are and being willing to fight for it, because nothing comes free; it's about forgiving people who hurt you, and sometimes even letting them back into your life; it's about love. Because love is good, and we need more of it.

It took me a long time to tell Velveteen's story.

I think it was worth the wait.

soberloki

March 9 2013, 00:25:00 UTC 4 years ago

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I love this whole universe. Velma shares a lot of fears with me from that age - poverty, parent issues, inability to trust - and I've been so pleased to read each story, even if most of them half broke my heart. She's tough and vulnerable and smart and sometimes oblivious, and I really, really liked her.

seanan_mcguire

March 13 2013, 18:06:37 UTC 4 years ago

Thank you!

sleightedge

March 9 2013, 00:43:10 UTC 4 years ago

Toby lured me into your crazy, wonderful carnival, but Velveteen stole the show for me. I've loved every bit of her story, from the snark to the honesty and the tears. Especially the little details. Sparkle Bright crushing on Velveteen stunned me, but it also fit perfectly and made me understand the flashback so much better once I found out.

I also love how my favorite characters were all one-offs who just wouldn't leave. Because, really, who's going to tell Torrey and her improbably big laser what to do?

And it's so cool to hear how far back the roots of this story go. I'm so glad you got the chance to tell it to us. Thank you.

March 13 2013, 18:06:59 UTC 4 years ago

You're so welcome.

anna_sinistra

March 9 2013, 00:58:55 UTC 4 years ago

Totally worth the wait!

March 13 2013, 18:07:07 UTC 4 years ago

vincentursus

March 9 2013, 02:04:35 UTC 4 years ago

I think it was worth the wait.

Agreed.

Thank you. My life was enriched by getting to meet Vel and her ensemble.

March 13 2013, 18:07:17 UTC 4 years ago

skelody

March 9 2013, 02:18:54 UTC 4 years ago

What a lot of fortuitous (and fantastically capitalized-upon) unintended things :)

March 13 2013, 18:07:27 UTC 4 years ago

Yes!

wfw_sj

March 9 2013, 02:53:07 UTC 4 years ago

Thanks for the free goodness. It was a stone gas!

March 13 2013, 18:07:37 UTC 4 years ago

You're quite welcome.

liddle_oldman

March 9 2013, 03:21:47 UTC 4 years ago

Again, thanks. :)

March 13 2013, 18:07:47 UTC 4 years ago

Very welcome.

taraljc

March 9 2013, 04:39:50 UTC 4 years ago

Velma makes me SO HAPPY OMG.

March 13 2013, 18:08:08 UTC 4 years ago

Me, too.

LOOK NATALIE I WROTE YOU A SUPERHEROINE NOW COME PLAY HER OKAY.

seabhac_mhor

March 9 2013, 05:41:43 UTC 4 years ago

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

I love every single one of the characters in so many different ways (and thank you so incredibly much for Princess), the setting is astounding and terrifying, and I am beyond grateful to you for bringing these stories out of your head and into the world.

*slow, appreciative applause*

March 13 2013, 18:59:09 UTC 4 years ago

Aw, yay.

:)

bercilakslady

March 9 2013, 06:12:46 UTC 4 years ago

I've adored Vel since the day we met. Thank you so much for sharing her with us.

March 13 2013, 18:59:17 UTC 4 years ago

You are very welcome.

gwyd

March 9 2013, 06:43:03 UTC 4 years ago

Thank you for writing them.

March 13 2013, 18:59:30 UTC 4 years ago

You're welcome!

greyduck

March 9 2013, 07:08:30 UTC 4 years ago

Thank you for giving us Vel and her friends (and enemies). Those stories were my gateway drug into your storyspace and I adore them greatly.

March 13 2013, 18:59:40 UTC 4 years ago

That makes me happy.

kellyjelly33

March 9 2013, 11:39:59 UTC 4 years ago

Thank you for the stories. I've really enjoyed them.

March 13 2013, 18:59:48 UTC 4 years ago

lysystratae

March 9 2013, 14:21:09 UTC 4 years ago

It was definitely worth the wait :)

March 13 2013, 18:59:58 UTC 4 years ago

Good.

gothicsparrow

March 10 2013, 05:41:14 UTC 4 years ago

Thank you for giving us a Vel, she was magnificent, and I am so glad that her story became so much bigger than you had imagined it, because Torrey is awesome and everything was getting better and more awesome as the plot started rolling faster at the end.

March 13 2013, 19:00:06 UTC 4 years ago

Yay!

thedragonweaver

March 10 2013, 21:45:46 UTC 4 years ago

I've enjoyed these ever since stumbling in to the middle of the series and then finding out "but wait, there's MORE." While it's sad there isn't any MORE now, it's very nice to have the complete arc.

I hope for a more comfortable life for Vel from here on out, even though that means no more stories about her. :)

March 13 2013, 19:00:19 UTC 4 years ago

Sometimes that's the best way to find a thing.

traveller_blues

March 11 2013, 20:18:21 UTC 4 years ago

Thank you for writing a heroic tale that was less about the powers and more about the characters. For writing something that was about people rather than paragons, and for making them human despite their otherworldly state. I want to go back and read it from the beginning, and if you turn this into a book form, do let me know. :)

March 13 2013, 19:01:02 UTC 4 years ago

The first volume, Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots, is available now from IsFic Press: http://www.isficpress.com/velveteen.php

jenk

March 11 2013, 23:02:02 UTC 4 years ago Edited: March 12 2013, 00:48:33 UTC

Because Yelena is described as looking a lot like my friend Torrey, I described Victoria as looking a lot like Vixy. Yes. I just built in the opportunities for cosplay.

The funny thing, for me, is that I always imagined Velma as a brunette Vixy. I realize that's not really possible, since Velma is brown-skinned and Vixy isn't, but Velveteen=Vixy got into my head, and it's stuck there.

Meanwhile, I see Victoria as

inaurolillium, aka, "redhead with curly hair and a penchant for steampunk"

Not that this really affects anything, just amused. ;)

March 13 2013, 19:01:36 UTC 4 years ago

I'm very, very firm on Vel needing to be Hispanic, so I never considered any of my Caucasian friends as models, really.

sylviamcivers

March 13 2013, 17:15:21 UTC 4 years ago

Thank you for creating Vel, all her friends, and opportunities for cos-play.
Who said grown-ups can't dress up?

March 13 2013, 19:01:49 UTC 4 years ago

Not me.

weasel_of_d00m

March 13 2013, 21:15:52 UTC 4 years ago

Thank you for the wonderful story, Seanan!

March 14 2013, 15:00:33 UTC 4 years ago

todaythesamesky

July 8 2013, 00:05:44 UTC 3 years ago

Thank you so, so, so much for this story. I'm super late to the party, but I zoomed through the stories in a weekend, and I loved them and the characters so much. Thank you for making them such people and for making them so diverse-- as a queer POC lady I don't get to see very much of myself in, gosh, anything, but here was Velma, and Yelena, and all the other amazing women, so thank you, thank you, thank you so much. (Oh! And Tag! There are no words for how jazzed I was about a dude-in-distress for once.) Basically, this was super awesome, and you rock for making it and for sharing it with us. :)

July 28 2013, 16:45:40 UTC 3 years ago

You are so very welcome.

Thank you for reading.

spectralbovine

May 8 2014, 16:33:02 UTC 3 years ago

Oh, this was a fascinating read. I love things like this. Victory Anna was supposed to be a one-off?! Glad she didn't stay that way.

Velveteen was totally worth it.

May 11 2014, 20:56:51 UTC 3 years ago

I'm glad too, but yeah: she was originally supposed to vanish when the reality she was marooned in popped. She refused to go.

Pushy girl.

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Velveteen vs. The Aftermath.

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