#in his mind he can't be 'perfect' if he has mobility issues
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so, i got to thinking about my life + the headcanons i have about the vk family. i have one i'd like to share with you (safe)
let me preface this by saying that i'm not physically disabled, but i have had issues with my legs for as long as i've been able to walk (so basically my entire life) which has led me to limp when i walk. more recently, i've experienced pain in my legs more frequently than i used to, and it got me thinking that i might need some type of mobility aid in the future. of course, i don't necessarily want that to happen, but if it does, i won't cry over it (probably).
***
anyway, that got me thinking.
a lot of people believe that manfred began to use his cane after some injury, or they believe that he just has it for vanity's sake. i personally don't see either of those making sense (though if you do, that's totally cool! i'm not the authority on any characters, especially not him).
personally, i feel as though if he had the cane as a walking stick purely to show off his wealth, he would've gone for something a bit more... ornate? it's not as though my guy's a minimalist by any stretch of the imagination; if he does something, it's big and dramatic, which is all well and good. cheers.
as for the injury headcanon, i honestly can't say i personally see it. it does make a lot of sense, but i feel like canon somewhat restricts this from being possible? since he never took vacation days besides after dl-6 (and probably rarely took days off for injury or illness. the only times i imagine he took days off were the births of his children, and legally he basically would have had to with leave and all that).
getting injured, especially the most common way i see people hc that he would've gotten injured, from an accident while riding horseback, would definitely be something that doesn't particularly fit with his characterization, imo, considering that he would most likely take as many safety precautions as humanly possible to avoid getting hurt. (in my mind, he's actually quite anxious and just a generally neurotic person and as a result tends to consistently think worst-case scenario, leading to him over-preparing for just about everything.)
so what exactly is my headcanon?
**
i believe his cane usage was the product of hereditary chronic pain.
in my mind, the vks all kind of have this chronic hip and leg pain that starts manifesting as young as 20 or so and really kicks in around the mid 30s to early 40s. ultimately, this pain requires the use of mobility aids or (worst-case scenario) surgeries that may not actually be effective. of course, i don't actually know much about surgeries, so i am taking a small liberty with this aspect, but nevertheless:
in manfred's case, i think the chronic pain kicks in when he's about 38, and it absolutely wrecks him for the the first six months or so. he rarely goes anywhere other than work (sometimes church, which i also have other hcs about. maybe i'll post about those one day.) and home. he spends a lot of time sitting and debating with himself on whether or not he wants surgery, ultimately to decide that he doesn't because the success rate is too low for his tastes (perfectionism) and recovery time is awful.
because he has to use the cane for the rest of his life, he experiences a lot of internalized ableism. this leads him to do many things that were unsafe for him, and generally caused more angst than anything he might've thought it "solved".
for example (and i'm aware this is a movie specific thing), after being caught for his crimes in dl-6 and after his meltdown, instead of using his cane to walk out of the courtroom, which probably would have been more comfortable and more safe, he walks without it, opting instead to carry it: "maintaining his dignity", so to speak.
***
of course, with this problem being genetic and passed down from generation, his biological kids (for the most part) are affected by it. since only franziska is named in the series, i'll focus primarily on how this affects her. (i debated making this section a separate post, but honestly, fuck it)
as we know, franziska basically disappears from the aa series after aa3/aai2. (capcom please let her out of the basement... that's my daughter and i miss her) this plays perfectly into my headcanon, actually. since we get no information about her whereabouts beyond a very basic "she works with interpol and stuff", i can't help but feel that explanation is incomplete.
so, that also made me think: what if she was affected a bit earlier than most? earlier in this post i mentioned that the chronic pain can manifest as young as 20 years old... which happens to be around the age she is when she all but vanishes from the narrative. basically, i think that the pain, which she inherited from her father, caught up to her.
now, there are other implications to this. after deliberating with a mutual and friend of mine, @bucket-of-hyperfixations i concluded that she would most likely want/prefer to use traditional crutches. (i did also consider that she might use a wheelchair, but then i thought about how wheelchair users are treated and thought hard about how that'd be a no-go)
this is what i ultimately landed on mostly because considering her character and the distance she wants to create from her father (using a cane would probably remind her as well as other people of him, which was a huge thing that she railed against, especially in the third game), as well as the fact that she would most likely want to maintain the freedom to use her arms so she could use her whip, which forearm crutches, another option i considered for her, wouldn't provide.
***
of course, there's a lot more i could add to this, but i think that this is enough for now. i personally like talking about the vk family and making up headcanons about them, considering how little information we actually get in canon. that being said, i accept criticisms of my headcanon and don't think that other interpretations of what we are presented with are inherently wrong, even if i sometimes disagree with them.
#yo it's d :)#my emotional support geezer#aa#ace attorney#manfred von karma#franziska von karma#i also think (+ i didn't include this in the post because it's technically not super relevant) that manfred has three bio kids.#that's part of the reason i said 'for the most part' when referring to how the leg pain would be passed down. only 2/3 got affected.#in case you're wondering. it's the middle child (his only son) who didn't get affected. there's a lot i could say about the son but i won't#and on the part about internalized ableism. it negatively impacted his self image because he'd already formulated his 'perfect' persona.#in his mind he can't be 'perfect' if he has mobility issues#though he never passed that negative mindset onto his kids. some part of him knew it wasn't good or healthy.#if y'all want them and if this post is well received i'll release a bunch of my other (generally more serious) hcs about him/the family#wouldn't queue like to know weatherboy?
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writeblr positivity tag
my wonderful morbo @serenanymph tagged me <3 gently tagging @lyssa-ink @lena-rambles @zmwrites @winterandwords and under a cut because it's long. blank questions at the bottom <3
1. What motivates you to write?
the thought of holding the finished book in my hands and being able to reread it and share it. also spite
2. A line/short snippet of your writing that you are most proud/happy of. If not maybe share a line of someone else's work you love (just please credit them)
y'all wanna see maura be a little bit fucked up and evil
“My father said something to me often,” Maura interrupts, her eyes narrowing. “The law is the law. None are exempt.” She tosses a disdainful look at the duchess. “Those who have no respect for the law will always have excuses for breaking it.” She bends down and tips the duchess's chin up with a finger. Keelan's fingers tighten around his sword. Maura tilts her head to the side. “Your Grace,” she says. “You asked for mercy. You shall have it.”
The duchess sobs. “Thank you, Your Majesty—”
“Do not thank me, wretch.” Maura's lip curls. “Your mercy is the mercy allotted by law. Tell me. Which foot do you value more?”
The duchess's lip trembles. “I beg you, Your Majesty, mercy—”
“You shall have it.” Maura's eyes are unforgiving. “Which foot?”
The duchess's eyes dart around the throne room, wide and terrified. “I—I don't know.”
“Hm.” Maura releases her and stands. “She can have more time to decide. Until she does, get her out of my sight.”
3. Which OC makes you smile every time you think/talk about them and what are they like?
i love all my children equally this is a mean question. currently my favorite chew toy is Jack, who is a minor character in my current wip. Jack is a pathetic disaster bisexual who was left to die as an infant but still managed to survive to adulthood and is using that luck to cause problems on purpose. he steals for a living and flirts for fun and profit. he is in love with his best friend/accomplice Arthur, but can't handle real emotions and is being really thickheaded about it. Arthur is too busy pining for him to notice. Jack is just a little guy. gay boy disaster man. also he killed like 20 people.
4. What process of writing do you enjoy the most?
working out plot/worldbuilding issues. i love sitting down and going "ok how am i going to make this make any gddamn sense" and then bouncing ideas around until i hit one that fits perfectly. yeah sex is great but have you ever found the perfect answer to your plot hole that ties together all the recurring themes and arcs in the story AND has an opportunity to use your overcomplicated worldbuilding?
5. What part of writing do you think you are the best at? (Yes stroke your own ego it's okay)
mainly dialogue. i love imagining conversations and i've been working on dialogue for a long time. my dialogue used to be so cringey so glad i learned from it
6. What is something in the writeblr community is most enjoyable?
we're all a little unhinged about our own writing so nobody minds when you get a little unhinged about their writing. safe space to be unhinged about people's writing
7. A writing tool/device you use that helps you with writing? (It could be speech to text, a writing program etc)
i use campfire write and i love it for keeping worldbuilding organized. it has a lot of visual tools which is great for me personally and it's very customizable. highly recommend it, there is a free desktop version that still gets you quite a bit of usage and the mobile app is free
8. A piece of worldbuilding that you like in your own story? (It could be the magic system, a particular place in the story, a law etc)
i've really enjoyed fleshing out the countries outside of Raedora and how their political systems and cultures are different. for example Guildi also is monarchical, but they have an emperor and their law is absolute, followed exactly as written based on the judgment of the emperor. Fierodia, by contrast, is the homeland of the dragons, so they have two governments--one for the humans, and one for the dragons--and both are a little more democratic in nature, with a Council of the Wise (elders) ruling the dragons while the most powerful magical human families sit on another council that takes petitions from representatives sent by villages and cities.
9. What piece of advice would you say to encourage others to write if they are having a rough patch?
open a blank document. i do this in a simple text editor (.txt) because it forces me to look at the words more (idk how else to explain it). write the dumbest thing you can think of. literally. if you get stuck, hit enter a few times and start writing something else. yes even if you get stuck in the middle of a sentence. do NOT let yourself sit there staring at a blank document, just write. even if it's bad and stupid and doesn't make sense. ESPECIALLY if it's bad and stupid and doesn't make sense. write the stupid little plot bunnies that you came up with in line at starbucks. bullet point a short story you'll never write. purposefully write the most gd-awful purple prose. have some silly little fun with it. rewrite snl episodes that you think would be funnier if you were in charge. anytime you are stuck for more than like 30 seconds hit enter three times and try something else. rinse and repeat until the gears start turning for the thing you actually want to work on.
save these files (i have a little dedicated spot on my drive) so that you don't lose your funky little experimental stuff. you never know what you'll find there later.
10. Tag some people whose works you love/have been your biggest supporters
i adore @serenanymph's wip beast and all the blorbos found within and how much she supports lacuna. @lyssa-ink's wips my beloved. @zmwrites has some incredible wips and an amazing writing style. i love the worldbuilding from @akindofmagictoo's dragonsong and @oh-no-another-idea is one of the biggest sweethearts on this website.
blank questions:
1. What motivates you to write?
2. A line/short snippet of your writing that you are most proud/happy of. If not maybe share a line of someone else's work you love (just please credit them)
3. Which OC makes you smile every time you think/talk about them and what are they like?
4. What process of writing do you enjoy the most?
5. What part of writing do you think you are the best at? (Yes stroke your own ego it's okay)
6. What is something in the writeblr community is most enjoyable?
7. A writing tool/device you use that helps you with writing? (It could be speech to text, a writing program etc)
8. A piece of worldbuilding that you like in your own story? (It could be the magic system, a particular place in the story, a law etc)
9. What piece of advice would you say to encourage others to write if they are having a rough patch?
10. Tag some people whose works you love/have been your biggest supporters
#writeblr community#writeblr#writeblr positivity#tag game#it’s my morbo 🥺🥰#lacuna#anyway this got even longer than i expected but i had fun#oh jack...he technically has a higher body count than keelan#there is a longer version of the maura snippet where she goes a bit feral and keelan thinks 'oh boy hope this doesn't awaken anything in me#rb original#original fiction#maura#keelan#jack
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The Unknown Journey Continues
Part 1
I know it's been a while... but I've been going down a rabbit hole with @starlight-samurai regarding time loops, Jenova, Minerva, and more fun. So I figured I'd try to put it into one post to get the insanity out of my head. Everything in here is based on things we've found by either going through more obscure Ultimanias, learning more about Dirge of Cerberus and trying to decipher what the hell Jenova is by putting together various sources - including other Square Enix games - and how they handled freakishly similar scenarios.
Did you know there is a companion mobile game for it that was out on the good old flip phones? Did you know there was an online mode in Dirge of Cerberus only available in Japan, but had story elements that were not in the main game?
The sad part is, there's still so much to go through...
(I've also had various discussions with @ourfinalheaven, Manu, who doesn't have Tumblr, so here is her Twitter. and Somebody's Nightmare (here is her Twitter). So I wanted to tag them here, as it's much more fun to discuss these ideas as a group, since it'll only help you build on and strengthen your own ideas.)
Please be aware, there will be Spoilers for FFVII - Almost all Compilation titles, Xenogears, and NieR Automata throughout this.
So let's go on a journey where we explore what actually already exists in the compilation - including the idea of the whispers and timeloops - how Minerva may play into everything, and what exactly Jenova is capable of doing.
I asked Sesi if he'd ever played any of the NieR games, because he'd said something that made me wonder if they were going to take a similar approach. As a very, very quick high level summary: NieR Automata deals with a time loop type of idea. The androids will be rebooted and repeat the same things over and over again. This is broken when 2B is killed by A2 because she becomes infected with a virus. That being said, you have the option after Ending E to either erase all of your data and end the cycle OR you can try again. The Pods have a discussion, and one asks, "But won't they just do the same thing again?" and the other replies with "Maybe. But it could also be different this time."
Here's Sesi's message back to me when I asked him about this (cleaned up a bit since we were having a casual conversation over Discord):
Maybe I could just guess based comparatively on the Dirge storyline, because that was sort of SE's first flirtation with “robots and androids” since they’re all programmed and locked behind like task managers and shit that can shut them down. The story of the online mode for DoC that came out in Japan, we never got to see it, you’re basically an Android OC and you have to get to “the end of the level” and then essentially die, and a new one takes its place. This keeps happening until Weiss is essentially freed from being able to be task managed by the guys who are suppose to be able to control them and I know from tons of years with Square games that they’re verrrrry bad at differentiating their narratives they tend to just keep “ripping themselves off” so is it anything close to that?
Cuz if so I think I kinda know what you’re saying and yeah, I agree, I think with CC bringing in its poetic symbolism and LOVELESS, and DoC bringing back the cyclic nature of the lore, whispers, premonitions and future visions, proto-Materia and the perversion of this next cycle since the planet can no longer cleanse and protect itself and its will is weakening lesser and lesser to the point where it’s fate is “in a true sense of jeopardy This time essentially it’s all tied in together and sort of played as though it's a fated track; a cycle of events and something has hitched it, thus the whispers manifesting and Sephiroth's higher implied control over his destiny.
Of course, even all that is just their new red herring game, but it’s definitely a part of the lore they want to play with, in order to go back and reMAKE the OG with the comp inserted from inception. Also gut punch a lot.
Time Loops
I was somewhat surprised to find out that this concept is NOT new to FFVII's universe. It's discussed in Dirge of Cerberus... probably one of the least played and least understood of the compilation. (Trying to sell a third person shooter with terrible controls to a market of mostly people used to turn-based combat wasn't going to go well.)
On top of it, we didn't even get all of it, since online mode was never released outside of Japan, and the Dirge of Cerberus Lost Episode was on Amp'd Mobile and Verizon flip phones back in 2006. Were you around for the cell phones in 2006? I had the ones on the list, and how somebody could play a game on those blows my mind.
Square has a tendency to reuse themes from their other titles. Probably one of the most blatant is the similarities between Xenogears and Final Fantasy VII. They were both being developed at the same time and a lot of ideas that didn't make it into FFVII ended up in Xenogears.
NieR
So how does this work? In NieR (both Replicant and Automata), you play the same path multiple times. Each time, it's slightly different depending on what side quests you did your first and second playthrough, but there's also other subtle differences throughout the story. In Automata, you get to play as 2B your first playthrough and 9S for your second. They follow the same path, but you get it from his perspective the second time and it reveals a bit more of what is going on. However, even with some slight differences, the main plot points stay the same and the ending result it also the same.
Then on your third playthrough, you wake up in the Bunker, and you're getting ready to go on a new mission. This time, though, 2B is killed and shit hits the fan. Things get crazy, you play as a new character: A2. In the end, pretty much everyone "dies", but you can choose to "reboot" and try again. You also can say you are done and let them all rest and delete your save data (the game gives you the option for both Automata and Replicant, and with Replicant, it actually leads to a new ending).
The striking thing for me is... There are certain events that will always happen, no matter what.
Fixed Points in Time
It's been years since I've watched Doctor Who, but there was something that stuck with me, and that was the fixed points in time. You can read about all of them here, but here's the basics:
Now, of course Doctor Who goes into this with much more detail and it's a recurring theme. However, as you read through that page, you'll probably find many aspects that have been used in various JRPGs that you've played. And Doctor Who most likely pulled some of the idea from classic Science Fiction novels. Each story puts its own spin on it.
How does this relate to FFVII Remake? Well, when they say that the major plot points will stay the same, it reminds me of this. No matter what, Cloud must fall into the Sector 5 Church, the Sector 7 Plate must be dropped, Aerith and Zack both must die, and Meteor has to be summoned, to name a few. So, with a time loop, those things would still have to take place in order to prevent a complete collapse of reality (at least in how Doctor Who uses it).
Therefore, the Whispers are ensuring that the Will of the Planet is followed.
One of the major themes in FFVII is that of loss. People die and they do not come back. Yes, other FF games do allow this to happen (FFX, FFXIII, FFXV), but VII is not those games. It was written with that idea in mind, that once a person dies, they, just like in real life, are dead and cannot be brought back.
I've previously written that I think they'll make us believe we are able to change fate, but we will eventually be slammed with the reality that we can't. That is because the planet has determined that certain events are fixed points.
Xenogears
Xenogears takes a bit of a different approach to the loop idea. Instead of repeating the same time period over and over, it has the characters reincarnated, and the same outcome happens each time: Elly dies. However, each time it's different. After all, they're in various time periods, in some cases thousands of years apart.
In all of the lives of Fei (who will have a different name in each time period) and Elly (who is always Elly/Elhaym), Elly will end up dying trying to protect Fei and the others. In one life, she is a religious figure at a totally not Catholic church, in another she's the wife of a scientist who was working to create children from nanomachines due to mass infertility issues. But she is ALWAYS with Fei, even if his name changes.
In her Mother Elhaym time, this is when Lacan (Fei) finally snaps. Though he's not fully aware of his past lives, he becomes aware, the anger consumes him, and he becomes Grahf. Fei is then reborn into the time period you play the game in.
There's a lot to unpack with this, so I won't go into it. Grahf wants to destroy God (Deus) because he thinks if he does, then it'll stop the suffering (his suffering).
If you do want to read more about Grahf, you can do so here, but it probably won't make much sense unless you've played Xenogears up to that point... Since it's much later in the game that this is all explained.
Lacan's desire was to stop the cycle of Elly always sacrificing herself for his sake. Though Grahf is not a perfect existence - he's not fully "The Contact", he sacrifices himself in order to let Fei move forward, and hopefully stop the cycle, by destroying the Deus system. (Elly also tries to sacrifice herself here, but Fei goes after her and stops her.)
Now, some people may think I'm saying that Cloud or somebody is going to do this in order to save Aerith or Zack (or his village or mom), but in FFVII if they do the loop method, I don't think Cloud, Tifa, Barret, and the others are aware of it. Most likely, it's only 'Sephiroth' and Aerith who are aware of it.
How this Could Be used for Final Fantasy VII
I'm stressing could because there's so many different possibilities on how they use this (if they are using this), so please, don't take this as fact. This is based on speculation based on what we know.
A time loop is a great way to explain away the differences in the story that we've seen: Biggs being alive, Wedge living for longer than he should have, etc. Since these are not major plot changes, they can simply say that this time it'll be slightly different... but your fixed points (major plot points) will remain the same.
It's a way to pull in some of the more obscure themes from Dirge of Cerberus and also play with the LOVELESS lore.
It could all simply be a big red herring and it's really just a remake of OG, but with the compilation tied together nicely... since it works much better when it's combined and not in 50 different games, books, movies, etc.
I don't think it's a "sequel" per say, not in the way I generally perceive a sequel. It's more of a loop of the same thing. The question is, when is the loop started and what will cause it to end? When will the planet (if it even is the planet) determine that it's good enough to begin moving forward?
JENOVA, Sephiroth, Genesis, and Minerva - Oh My!
Let's be real... Genesis isn't exactly the most popular character in the FFVII Compilation... but what if they make him one of the most important to the story? //Ducks as various fruits and vegetable are thrown in my direction//
I think what Genesis is probably most known for is his love of LOVELESS. He has the entire thing memorized and randomly says lines from it throughout Crisis Core. LOVELESS lore is still something I'm trying to grasp, so I am not going to comment much on it. Once I understand it more, I'll update this.
...And then this happens. The secret ending for Dirge of Cerberus, where Genesis picks up Weiss. Weiss, who has now been introduced along with Nero in FFVII INTERmission and is an optional ridiculously hard boss in the Shinra battle simulator in chapter 17 of the main story. There is some lore associated with the battle sim - so if you don't plan on beating it or you just can't, you can look up the pre-battle and post-battle cut scenes on YouTube. They're very short, but interesting. (I beat this asshole last night - it's a hell of a fight.)
....To Be Continued because apparently Tumblr won't allow more than 10 images per post now.... Next will be more on JENOVA and Sephiroth along with Minerva.
#ffvii#ffvii genesis#ff7 genesis#ff7 intergrade#ff7 intermission spoilers#FFVII intermission spoilers#FFVII Intermission#Final Fantasy VII#Dirge of Cerberus#FFVII Weiss#Xenogears#nier automata#final fantasy vii#ff7r#final fantasy 7#timey wimey
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As for the guys in the Sky City ?
Elysia is the most powerful ice user out there, has trained herself so hard she can resist Val's powers 50% of the time, and she has not only ice powers, but a *shield* that she can use to 1) stop any kind of thrown things from hitting her 2) stop all kinds of magic, and she trains daily to get it to perfection. The only thing it doesn't stop is people trying to punch her. Or stabbings. She gets stabbed at some point. Her third and last power is... Talking to animals. She hides that one carefully, because it's the one she uses to blackmail literally anyone ever. Mice, birds, any animal, she'll ask them for information and give favors in return. They know secrets that people don't realize. She however generally dislikes talking to cats, on account of this power needing touch, and being allergic to cats. Yeah thats why she and Patch aren't really in good terms before Vincent dies, she's hurtful for no reason.
Melyane knows people are nearby and their intentions. She can't exactly predict everything they'll do, but she can absolutely tell if someone is lying, saying half truths, friendly or hostile to her and/or her friends... That said, this power could have applications to control other people's reactions about her, but she never attempted to turn it into that. She just knows what people generally feel and attempts to go with the flow. She's the one who gets to stab Elysia, albeit clumsily, because she knew when Ely would be defenseless by figuring out what move she tried to pull next. She also was partly raised by glowing, mutant dogs, and her best dog bud is also often doubling as a seeing eye dog.
Mark is literally a Dark element user, but that classification has no bearing in Lonna. He can do anything a high level mage from anywhere else in the universe can do, although he's currently specialized in mobility (short range teleportation) and exploding people's faces (yes, any magic can be explosive). Huge balls of purple/black stuff are bad news and will explode in your face. It's his version of the fireball i guess. [The Mage, Mark from the Before Times, was so exceptionally skilled that he could almost have qualified for a Guardian transformation. He could do pretty much anything with the element and attempted to gather as much knowledge about magic as he could. The Guardians didn't manage to get to him fast enough, and now he's a teen with issues and no recollection of his past powers]
Ava "only" has super strength and wings. Wings that have been broken and badly healed so many times over that even gliding is painful, and she doesn't know how to fly. She'll only glide if it's a necessity (like that time she flees with Mark, although he does use his teleportation to get her to rest and stop hurting herself). She is also extremely fast and a huge danger in close combat, you do NOT want to fight her, no stop it's not worth having every single bone of your body being broken. [Ava of the past, Justice, was an adventurer renowned to get to the bottom of every weird problem she was given. Think DnD party + Sherlock Holmes. She once swore to destroy the Emperor. And, yes, she could fly back then !]
Val has that puppeteering power that, worked to it's greatest extents, can become literal mind control instead of just using other people's bodies to do what he wants instead of what they want. Val has not achieved this yet. He can also... Change bodies, not in a shapeshifting way. In a theft way. In a you die and I am inhabiting your dead body way. Killing him is extremely tedious because of that. [The Emperor, of course, has had thousands of years to hone his powers and reach for perfection. Unkillable, immortal, bored as hell, extremely dangerous. Everything had to be Perfect and To His Command, but his powers do have a range after which they stop working. Even at perfection. And the way his Empire worked is actually what Dawn modeled her own version of the government after.]
The Sky City bunch is incredibly overpowered compared to the other guys, especially Val, Mark and Elysia actually.
It's funny to look at, because... I mean, most of what they do after leaving the Institute, is just hanging out (except Elysia, still pulling strings behind the scenes). While the others in Lonna are constantly fighting for their lives.
Well. That's until they have to get to Lonna too, obviously.
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Issue 30 came out today, so I'll be talking about it (minimally) and also about solicits for upcoming Issues. Also, I've decided to try out uploading images on mobile, so this post is also kind of a test for that (for that reason, I'll also be keeping images to a minimum).
Like I said, I'm not going to be talking about Issue 30 too much since not a lot actually happened, but there are some key points I'd like to mention, including Gemerl and Omega (or what's left of him) getting kidnapped by Metal Sonic and Eggman, most of the Deadly Six going missing, and us also learning where Sonic went...
Hey, we were right! He did get sent to Blaze's dimension! They also brought in the Koala dudes from Rush Adventure, so I wonder if that means Marine will show up next Issue or soon.
That's pretty much it for what I wanted to bring up regarding Issue 30's contents, but there is one interesting piece of trivia I'd like to say about one of it's covers. As it turns out, in the A Cover for this Issue, that reoccurring side character Lanolin the Sheep was actually originally going to be on the cover, but was later edited out. The version with her lineart in it was released online though, so here's a comparison of the two versions. The one with just lineart has Lanolin hanging out at the bottom, but the final has her completely cut out.
I'm not completely sure why they decided to cut her out, but maybe it was to maintain her status as a background character (you know, despite her already being on one of the covers for Issue 2 and actually showing up quite a bit).
On the topic of covers, we also have this finished (I think?) panoramic cover for the Issue 29 and 30 Retail Incentive covers...
We also have a few covers already for upcoming Issues, but some of them I might have covered already (although I can't actually remember because of how long we've had the Issue 30-33 solicits), so I'll just be showing two that I find noteworthy. First up, we have this really nice Jon Gray cover for Issue 31...
"MISSING! Please don't find them. Seriously, they're awful and they smell."
Never change Jon Gray and Reggie Graham, never change :3
We also have this really cool Diana Skelly cover for Issue 2 of Bad Guys, and I really like this one because it looks like it's going to be part of a panoramic cover (which I hope it is because I wanna see Rough and Tumble hanging out at this bar :3)...
That'll be it for covers for now, but it's time to look at release dates and solicits! Some of these I might have already put on here months ago, but some of them are completely new.
Issue 31 (September 2nd) - It's all led to this... the thrilling two-part epilogue to the Metal Virus Saga. The world has changed. Heroes and villains plan for the future as reconstruction begins. But one hero remains missing...
Issue 32 (September 30th) - The second half of the Metal Virus Saga epilogue. With all the chaos of the recent past still fresh in everyone's minds, Dr. Eggman launches a new assault-determined to take down his enemies once and for all.
Issue 33 (also September 30th? That may be wrong) - Hold onto your chili dogs, Sonic fans! Long-time artist Evan Stanley takes over as writer with an action-packed, friendship-fueled new arc: "Chao Races and Badnik Bases!" The perfect jumping-on point for new readers! The Metal Virus is gone, but things aren't quite back to normal. Omega is damaged and his allies turn to Tails and Sonic for help. The only way to rebuild him is to trade parts with a mysterious champion Chao racer... but things aren't what they seem.
Issue 34 (October 14th) - It's off to the races with Cream, Cheese, Amy, and Rouge! They have to keep up their winning streak or surrender Cheese to Clutch's evil...clutches! Meanwhile, Sonic and Tails are being watched by a mysterious figure in Eggman's seemingly abandoned base and Shadow investigates a mystery!
Bad Guys Issue 1 (September 16th) - The mastermind behind the Metal Virus isn't done yet. Ian Flynn returns to answer: What happened to Dr. Starline? The Shadowy Scientist is back to his evil antics in Bad Guys! And what better place to concoct nefarious plans than one of Dr. Eggman's abandoned bases? But that is easier said than done when badniks are guarding the entrance! Dr. Starline knows he can't do it alone, so he decides to recruit some familiar and not so friendly faces.
Bad Guys Issue 2 (October 28th) - From Sonic veterans Ian Flynn and Jack Lawrence comes "Smash & Grab," an exciting story jam-packed with bad guys and badniks! Some of Sonic's worst enemies are back and badder than ever! Dr. Starline, Dr. Eggman's former-right hand, has brought together Mimic, Rough, Tumble, and Zavok and promised them even more incredible power... if they can stop fighting each other and start fighting badniks to get to it!
The only really noteworthy stuff I want to bring up about these solicitations is the stuff in Issue 33 and 34 regarding a new character, presumably a Chao racer named Clutch. Nothing is known about this character other than his (I'm just kinda he's a dude, but he might not be) name and what he does for a living, so stuff like his species and whether or not he's like a hero or a villain or whatever is kind-of unknown. The Issue 34 solicit also mentions that Shadow leaves to investigate something, and at the end of Issue 30 he actually does leave to follow Eggman, so him leaving then could be what leads up to whatever happens in Issue 34.
Anyway, that's all I have to say for now. The next date we have set for a release is September 2nd, so I guess I'll see you all then!
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unsteady
an: this doesn’t have a read more bc i don’t know how to do them tbh AND i’m posting from mobile. any errors present are yet again my own. i tried to give my dumbass, baby boy javier what i took away in timing is everything. i suggest listening to this version of the song that inspired the title and i hope that you guys enjoy it, i’m proud of this one. i left this with a possiblity for more, if that’s something you’d like to see let me know! feedback is welcome! //// tagging: @spacedadheadcanons, @bonkybaaarnes, @callingmrsbarnes, @buckywiththegoodglare, @drakecaggiula91, @thatsonehellofajedi, @mando-vibes, @i-like-those-odds, @i-am-forever-a-fan, @fvckingavengers, @ikeatwins776
You found becoming a DEA agent to be an easy task, falling into the training and field work like they were second nature. You made a name for yourself, eager to the fight and quick to solve the issues presented to you. So, when the opportunity came for you to take an open post in Colombia, in Bogotá, you took it. Transportig your life to the new country seemed easy enough but finding your place amongst the senior agents proved troublesome, especially when Javier Peña seemed to be involved. You'd been placed with him and his partner, Steve Murphy. Where Steve had warmed up to you quickly, Javier stayed distant and cold. Every bit the asshole you had been warned he would be.
Over the coming months, you saw small breaks in the persona the man presented. Whether it was when you joined he and Steve for drinks after a particularly rough day or at the "family dinners" that Connie held once a week. You, even in the briefest of moments, got to see a different side of him. One that showed the crinkle of his face as he laughed at one of the jokes Steve shared, the warmth of his smile as he watched Connie with the Murphy’s little girl and even the lingering glance he'd give you as you told stories about your early days as an agent. A smirk played on his lips every time he saw you home safely and bid you goodnight.
"You know if you keep this up I may think you actually like me or something, Peña." A smile spreads across you face as you lean against the doorway of your apartment.
"Now what would give you that idea?" Javier has a smile of his own as watches you, arms crossed over his chest and head tilted upward ever so slighty.
You chuckle and roll your eyes, turning to disappear into your quiet home. "Goodnight, Javier."
A brief wave of somethig like sadness fills his chest as he watces you turn away, his arm aching to reach out and grasp yours but instead he is met with the soft click of your door. "Yeah.. goodnight, cariña." He mumbles, sighing and rubbing his jaw before he backs away to head to his own place just a floor below.
In the coming weeks, you saw more of that change in Javier. Once in him lingering near the entrance of the office long after finishing his cigarette, fresh cup of coffee in hand for the both of you. You hid the soft smile that crept on to your face at the gesture behind your cup, walking along with him as he explaied yet another lead in the hunt for Escobar. You saw it again in him seeking you out after another raid had failed and your team had lost four men. You'd be alone, gathering your own thoughts when the knocking at the door had pulled you from your silence. Wiping your face quickly, you opened the door to him standing there looking no better than you felt. His jaw clenched and eyes tired as he took your appearance in slowly.
"Mind if I come in?" The softness of his request betraying the way his features held such frustration. You gave a slight nod and made your way back to the chair you'd previously occupied. When he speaks again there's something in his tone you can't quite place, concern maybe. "I couldn't find you when we got back. You disappeared and nobody saw where you went. I thought you'd left. I needed - wanted to make sure you were okay."
You were silent a few seconds before you brought your gaze to his, fresh tears threatening to spill. "Would you be? I lost men, Jav. I lost four good men because of a fucking raid I planned." There's a bite to your words, not at the man in front you but at the pain in knowing you'd cost someone their life for something you believed in, something you trusted. A wave of nausea brought you to your feet, the emotions overwhelming. You let the tears fall, not noticing the gentle pressure of Javier's hand on your arm as he pulled you close. You didn't fight him, instead you turned into him and gave yourself over to the sobs that racked your body.
"Easy, cariña. Easy." Javier rubbed the small of your back, holding you close and letting you cry. His heart broke for the pain you felt and the thought of the guilt you carried. "What happen.. What happen today, it wasn't your fault. The best laid plans fall apart every fucking day and I know that better than anyone else. So does Steve. But this, this raid and what happen to those men wasn't your fault. You want someone to blame, you blame me. Not yourself, me. Understand?"
You listened to him, your tears slowing as spoke to you. Firm but gentle. When you did't respond he said your name softly, repeating his question. "Blame me, no one else. Understand?" He gave you gentle squeeze, words slightly muffled by your hair as he rested his chin against you.*You nodded slowly, pulling away from his tear strained shirt, and answering. "I understand but - "
"No buts. You did your job well today and thats what matters for now. Losing men is never easy but we recover, come back harder the next time and you can bet we will. Harder and faster than this time. We'll avenge the fallen and take that bastard Escobar down a peg or two when we do." Javier looks over your face, absentmindedly reaching to brush a stray tear from your cheek. He lets his hand linger before he shakes his head a little and steps back. "You should take the day. I'll get your reports done. Just go home and rest, yeah?"
You don't stop him as he pulls away, don't reach out fo him the way you want, instead you nod slowly and wrap your arms around yourself to savor the bit of his warmth left. "Are you sure, Jav?"
"Positive, miel. Go home, rest and I'll check on you when I get done here." He gives you a soft smile, not hesitating to reach out and brush your hair from your face. "Maybe I'll bring food too."
"Nothing you cook though because I want to survive the night." You smirk, laughing at his look of shock. "Sorry, you're a great agent but a shit cook." When he grumbles a response, you just shake your head and press a gentle kiss to his cheek. "Thank you, Jav." You squeeze his arm and smile, glancing back at him before you step out into the hallway.
He feels it then, the unsteady beating of his heart as he watches you leave. The feel of your lips still on his cheek and your scent lingering on his shirt, he knows what it is but he won't say it, at least not aloud. He just sighs, "Shit..."
The month that follows is different, you can't place it but something is different between you and Javier. He's more attentive, checks in on you more frequently. Lingering touches, soft smiles and few too many quiet moments shared for you to keep ignoring whatever may be there growing between the two of you. You don't get to bring it up to him, address the elephant in the room, before another wave of information comes in. Leads you needed to help the raid you, Javier and Steve were planning. Though leery to go out again, your partners encouragement had you eager to finally put a dent in the armor Pablo Escobar thought he wore.
"We've get every possibly scenario covered. Too many guards, too few guards. Nothing in the lab, something in the lab. Civilians present, no civilians present. I'm not saying it's perfect but its about the best damn plan we've had in a while." Steve looks up from the map to the small gathering of men, including you.
"Doesn't mean we shouldn't be careful. Expect the unexpected, I don't want another repeat of last time." Your arms cross over your chest as you look at everything spread across the table. “Everyone gets a vest, everyone has a partner. You watch each others back. We work quickly, we get home faster."
"Well you heard her. Date prisa, go get the gear and be out front in ten." Javier gives your arm a firm squeeze and winks before he joins the other men leaving the room.
You feel his gaze on you before you speak, sighing as you look at Steve. “What Murph?"
"You gonna tell him?" Steve quirks an eyebrow as he pops his gum and rocks on his heels.
Your breath catches and you brush it off as a cough as you start to speak again. "I don't know what you mean. There's nothing to tell anyone."
Steve scoffs, shaking his head as he gathers things from the table. "Uh huh. You keep telling yourelf that, darlin.” He smiles and squeezes your shoulder, "If it helps, he feels the same way. I've been that asshole's partner long enough to know when he's fallen for someone and that someone happens to be you." He heads towards the door, glancing back once more. "Just... Just don't wait too long to tell him. With our job, we aren't always promised tomorrow. But I told him the same thing and so far no one has made a move.”
You hesitate in the now quiet room and let Steve's words sink. Whatever you felt, Javier felt it too. You wouldn't wait past today, you'd tell him as soon as you could. "I'll tell him tonight." With vocal confirmation, you nodded to yourself and went out to join your men.
Javier had been right that day in the office as he held you close, the best laid plans really do fall apart and its usually in the worst of ways. There had been an ambush waiting, a leak from your own department tipping the guards off. You were all outnumbered before you even got there, but when you did you gave them hell. Losing two of your own men as they worked to stop the assault. When the man you'd paired yourself with was taken down, you felt the fear of not making it set in. It make you hyper aware, but not enough. Javier had covered your six after your partner went down, keeping an eye on Steve as well. That's how he saw him, lurking just out of your peripheral vision and coming up fast. The solid body crashing into you was enough to distract you from the shots but when the body didn't hurriedly move, you knew something was wrong. You shifted enough and the body of your protector landed beside you, causing him to groan lowly. You could see the blood pooling slowly, panic rising as your eyes traveled up to his face. Javier.
"Steve, fuck! Steve, get some medic here. Javi is shot, he's bleeding out!" You look around for Steve, locking eyes with him as he brings his walkie to his mouth.
"Necesito abulancia. Oficial de policía abajo." He listens to the feedback and curses. "Goddamnit! They're ten minutes out, he got that long?"
You survey the area of the pooling blood, grimacing at the pained sound Javier produces. "Maybe.. I can't be sure. He took a couple rounds, looks like they went through but its not good. It doesn't look good, Murph." You feel the familar burn of tears as they start to form. Steve's voice fading away as you look down to the soft call of your name. "Jav? Take it easy for me, okay? Try not to move."
Javier blinks softly, the vision of you him above edged in darkness. "Mi sol.." He winces, grasping at your hand as you press it against the wounds. "Oh mi sol, I'm sorry."
His sun. You blink back tears as you look him, cupping his face carefully with your free hand. "Javier, why? Why would you do this?" You don't hold back, letting the tears fall freely. The sound of the ambulance outside not pulling you from the moment. "Javi, why? I don't - I can't lose you now."
Javier smiles, its weak and fading but he smiles as he squeezes you hand and starts to lose consciousness. "This.. This is about keeping you alive." When he starts to drift off, he hears hurried spanish and your cries.
A week. Javier Peña lays in a drug induced coma for a week before he starts to become aware again. Its slow at first, a groan that has you gathering a nurse then a few mumbled curses as starts to fully wake up. You watch him drink slowly from the cup of offered water. Closing his eyes again before he slowly opens them once more to scan the room, you hear his breath catching softly as he looks at you. You don't hear the nurse leave, you don't feel yourself move until your close to his side and his hand is in yours. The warm, tan skin familiar and welcome in your grasp.
You get choked up as you start to speak, the reassuring squeeze of his hand in yours bring the words forward. "I.. I thought I lost you."
Javier's voice comes out soft, raspy from lack of use. "Can't kill me if they wanted to, miel. I'm too fucking stubborn to die." He laughs and grimaces, shifting in the bed for you to have room to sit.
You reach up, rubbing his cheek gently once you finally join him. "Well you at least got the stubborn part right." You tease, wiping your eyes as you look at him. Stubble lines his jaw and chin, his hair unkempt and you know he's never looked better. Never looked more alive.
"What's on your mind?" He questions, running his thumb over your knuckles as he watches your eyes shift over him.
"Do you remember what you said? Before you blacked out?" You work your lip between your teeth before he slowly reaches up and pulls it free.
"Si." He cups your cheek, no hesitation in his movements. "Por qué?"
"What did you mean? 'This is about keeping you alive.' What does that mean?" You lean into his hand, savoring the feel of him against your skin.
Javier shifts, taking his hand from your face and wincing he sits up more. When he's finally up and stable, he leans in presses a soft kiss to your lips. Sighing against your mouth as you return his affection, he breaks the kiss and rest your foreheads together. "It means that I can't picture my life without you in it and I don't want to. I'm sorry I waited so long to tell you that, to tell you I love you."
You smile, matching his own as you kiss him again. "Glad to know it takes almost dying to get you to confess your feelings." You joke, closing your eyes and basking in the moment with Javier. "I love you too and I'm not going anywhere."
#*unsteady#javier peña x reader#javier peña#javier pena x reader#javier pena#narcos#pedro pascal#pedro pascal character x reader#pedro pascal character#ash writes
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Best of DC: Week of October 23rd, 2019
Best of this Week: Batman: Curse of the White Knight #4 - Sean Murphy, Matt Hollingsworth and AndWorld Design
A Darkness has fallen over Gotham.
Jim Gordon has always been one of the most trustworthy police officers in the cesspool known as Gotham City. Under his tenure as Commissioner, he cleaned up Gotham PD as much as he possibly could, brought up great officers like Harvey Bullock and Renee Montoya and even formed a long lasting partnership with Gotham's protector, Batman. His role gained him allies and enemies alike and he put his life on the line every day he out a badge on.
Unfortunately for him, his number came in the last issue when Azrael impaled him with his sword, leaving him for dead in an alley for Batman and the Gotham PD to see. This issue follows what happens immediately after.
Gordon is rushed to the hospital and the doctors do their very best to keep him alive. The shots are tense and heartbreaking as we get no dialogue except for the words of the flashback that occurs simultaneously. Barbara is frantic, pushing through Renee and Harvey Bullock. We don't hear what she's saying, but her pain is palpable. She doesn't have the cool calmness she maintained as Batgirl, she's just a girl terrified of losing her father.
As the doctors use their defibrillators, Gordon flat lines and Barbara doesn't even acknowledge Batman as she runs into the night, tears in her eyes. Interspersed between the operation are panels showing a flashback between Barbara and Jim. It acts a bit of foreshadowing as Jim tells Barbara to fight back and hit harder after she tells him that a boy bullied her at school. These two scenes play out in perfect opposition to each other.
Murphy is really good at Panel to Panel storytelling and conveys the happiness and absolute destruction with little dialogue, body language and facial expressions. He wants you to feel the despair that Barbara feels. Pulling in close to Gordon's short breaths as she bangs on the window in the background as he kisses her little forehead in the next panel, it's almost too much.
Hollingsworth colors the operation scenes with cool colors, making everything seem sterile aside from the blood on Gordon's chest. It's bleak and lacks the warmness of the muted pink/purple hue of the flashback. Murphy also does his best to depict how much Jim meant to Barbara by showing her childhood innocence and happiness opposite the fear that she faces as an adult. Barbara is absolutely devastated by what happens to her father and later on, it will drive to her make a reckless decision that will change her life forever.
Tensions are high when the Gotham Terrorism Oppression (GTO) unit meets in the aftermath of Gordon's death. Barbara blames Batman and calls him a coward for operating in the shadows while her father stood at the forefront. Dick Grayson wants to console her, but Renee tells him to stay focused and when he tries to question her authority, she snaps that Jim put her in charge before his death.
Bruce leaves in the middle of the GTO's planning, frustrating Renee as she gets a taste of what Gordon dealt with for years. He goes to visit Leslie Thompkins who's taking care of Harleen Quinzel after she's given birth to twins. They converse and Leslie reveals to Bruce that she and Alfred had known about the journal of Edmond Wayne.
What's interesting about this section is the manner in which they retrieved it. Shortly after Bruce had put on the cowl, Alfred and Leslie found a letter addressed to Bruce and Batman, telling them to go to the oldest part of Gotham. The scene is drawn and colored in a style reminiscent of what I think of when I hear Victorian Era England. There's a lot of smoke, greys, muted colors and vibrant yellows from lamps and fire. The building they enter is very old timey and they meet someone surprising upon their arrival.
While his name is never stated, I believe the Librarian of the New Order of St. Dumas to be Jason Blood. He maintains Blood's red hair with a white streak and his brazenness when speaking to Alfred and Leslie and his lack of care when Alfred levels a rapier to his throat is characteristic of a man that has lived for centuries and the knowledge he has attained up that point. He tells Alfred to give the journal to Bruce when he thinks the boy is read and then he just suddenly disappears. Alfred and Leslie have been guarding the secret ever since.
While all of this is going on, Barbara tries to find anything she can about the man who killed her father. Dick tries to talk to her, flipping their roles from the first White Knight series. Dick was angry the entirety of that series, blaming Bruce for the destruction of Gotham City, but now Barbara sees what he was talking about back then. Murphy makes the decision to not have Barbara don her mask, but still wear the ears, signaling that she can no longer hide behind her mask while Dick still wears his.
(From Batman: White Knight #6)
She's rapidly removing herself from the world of capes and cowls, saying it's not working, while Dick reminds her that she chose this life, same as him. She gets a hit on the vehicle Azrael used and sets off after him. She removes the bat ears, heads to the armory, grabs a gun and almost takes a tumbler before Harvey Bullock meets her there. Their relationship doesn't need too many words as both of them want revenge, not justice.
It's wonderful to see because there's no pretense between them. Harvey wasn't exactly the best policeman before he was under Gordon, but he eventually learned to respect his higher up. He became a better officer and person because of Jim, he'd obviously be in the same mindset as Barbara, knowing that there's only one way for this to end. As they race off in the Tumbler, the background is colored in a beautiful shade of light brown, insisting that the fight is on and blood is boiling.
Dick informs Batman that Barbara and a tumbler are missing, so Batman tracks it and catches up to her and Harvey just as they've ambushed Azrael and his crew. Barbara levels a gun to Azrael's head and cries tears of anger as she goes to pull the trigger. Batman wraps a grapple around the muzzle of the gun and rips it away before Azrael's brain is scattered all over the street. The distraction of Batman's arrival allows the rest of Azrael's crew to get their bearings as they begin to shoot at the Bat and Harvey. Azrael lunges at Barbara.
With fire spreading all around them, the next few pages are coated with an intense orange and the action is impactful. Harvey screams at Batman to shoot Azrael as he overpowers Barbara. Bruce stands there, not knowing what to do and drops the gun, going for his grapple again. His inaction, however, allows Azrael to knee Barbara in the spine, breaking it with an unsettling "CRACK" sound effect.
Batman retaliates in anger, pleading with Azrael to leave the rest of them out of the fight. Azrael responds by saying that God must have spared Bruce for this moment, for this fight and begins to turn the tables on Batman. He manages to cut the cowl off of Batman before one of his crew pulls him away from the fight, saying that they need to leave as one of their men is lost and they escape. In the aftermath, Batman walks out of the fire with Barbara, his facial expression giving it away that he knows he has utterly failed.
One of the best characteristics of this version of Batman is his inability to recognize or change his ways following his failures. He failed to see how his increasingly dangerous battles with the Joker were destroying Gotham City, he failed to see that his protegés were slowly losing their trust and faith in him and only got worse over time. He tries his best to change throughout this series, but he's always stopped by his own mind.
It was heavily implied that his aversion to firearms is what caused this timeline's original Robin, Jason Todd, to be killed and now it's cost Barbara her mobility. Batman doesn't often face adversity this much, so it's great to see him continually broken down by the circumstances that absolutely could have been prevented. On the flip side, maybe this is exactly what he needed to actually solve the problem of Azrael. Not by killing him, but by using his motivation and willingness to change as a driving force to defeating the Knight and the remainder of his order.
He can't flinch in the face of danger, not anymore.
#comics#dc comics#dc black label#curse of the white knight#batman#batgirl#azrael#sean murphy#matt hollingsworth#jim gordon
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