Val vs. V.A.L.
A rundown of the minibot Val from the #Con AU vs the AI V.A.L. in canon.
V.A.L., from Canon
Val, from the #con AU
Species / Nature
An AI liaison from the Autobot Network. She seems to run on Hashtag's hardware given she's still able to talk to her when they're offline.
A Terran minibot originating entirely from Hashtag, who never connected to the Autobot Network.
Name
Full name is Virtual Assistant Liaison, shortened to V.A.L.
Full name is Val, derived from the initial nickname "VA" short for "virtual assistant". She got that nickname because of her voice and her general desire to be helpful, and Hashtag wanted something to call her. The 'l' has no set meaning.
Design
Comes from the buttons in Hashtag's Cyberspace, possibly suggesting she either didn't come with a built-in graphic design and instead developed one based on Hashtag's mind somehow, or that those buttons were somehow connected to Teletraan-1 even when they controlled the GHOST Network.
Comes from the buttons in Hashtag's Cyberspace, which was just how she envisioned various signals she could send. Entirely in her mind.
Personality
Seems to be fairly typical for a Virtual Assistant, including the typical snark they give them for some reason.
Shy and polite with everyone except for Hashtag, who she's much more open with. She can be a bit of a tease with her, even.
Age
It's unclear whether she is a copy of an existing AI, which could be thousands of years old, or an entirely new AI made specifically to keep an eye on Hashtag, which would be around a year or two younger than her.
Having split off from Hashtag, it could be argued she is the same age as her. Otherwise, she is around maybe half to one year younger.
Relationship with Hashtag
Unclear, but likely platonic.
Complicated, but leaning romantic.
My Perspective
As in, where it comes from
I think the idea of a robot having a virtual assistant as a headmate is interesting, so I've always thought of her more like that.
I have a fictive of her in my system. I am a fictive of this AU version of Hashtag.
I love her. A lot. And I feel very protective of her.
Okay, and?
This is mostly to establish why I consider my Val essentially an OC, and yet why she still resembles the canon character with a similar name. They come from different backgrounds, but get a lot of aesthetics from the same place [Hashtag's sensibilities & mind].
It's also to establish that whatever may be true about canon V.A.L. means absolutely nothing about my Val.
And for the FAQ:
Canon V.A.L. being confirmed to be three million thousand cycles old would not effect my Val or my willingness to "ship" my Val and her Hashtag.
Canon V.A.L. turning out to secretly be evil would not effect my Val or my willingness to "ship" my Val and her Hashtag.
Canon Hashtag getting a different love interest would not effect my willingness to "ship" my Val and her Hashtag. They're poly anyway.
"Ship" is in air quotes because this "ship" is just me and my girlfriend. The fictives thing, remember?
I'm not breaking up with my girlfriend because you think we're a "darkship" or some shit.
Our fictive memories can't tell you anything about canon because we're from an AU, sorry.
If it makes my relationship with Val seem less abhorrent, I also had a crush on the much much older Skywarp and on Twitch, so it could've been worse. <3