I miss it (the weird and complex relationship between Ada & Wesker)
I love that in their Teppen encounter cards they are both smiling and so entertained by going up against one another, and even mentally reminisce about 'days gone by'. And I love how much Wesker just... lets her go, because she is valuable to him and frankly he seems to find her shenanigans a bit amusing, judging by his words/expressions at certain points.
I am *really* not a fan of how he keeps aggressively threatening her in 4's remake. He was always very matter-of-fact about her either being useful to him or being dead, but he still treated her as a fellow professional and showed respect for her skill.
Yeah, he still lets her get away and when he rescues her, hilariously, brings her to the comfiest possible place in the area, but overall he comes off very, well, off to me, especially in comparison to how aloof he is in the og version.
I also often think of the 'we were both used to being backstabbed and manipulated' line and about just how much they know about each other. This is long before the Project W reveal and it's incredibly unlikely Ada was aware of it, while Albert wasn't. So, it makes me wonder what they might have either experienced together or know of each other.
I was thinking about something Sunny posted the other day and I think it's a really good thing, a really important thing for Inara that she does A Paragon of Her Kind dead last. Even after healing Eamon. It's the last thing she does before she goes to Denerim.
I don't think that she would have been as steady or made as good choices if she saw the Broodmothers before the end. I think the panic, the rancid and devouring fear she would feel every time a darkspawn overtook her or knocked her down, would make her much more frantic. She wouldn't have been nearly as willing to enter into long or dangerous encounters with the beasts. Return to Ostagar probably would have been thrown out the window.
It also turns her sex drive into something she sort of fears, knowing how darkspawn are made, how they're born, what must happen in order to turn a woman into... that. Hespith's poem sticks with her, feels like it seeps into her bones. She has a really hard time dealing with it, and she has to talk to all of her female companions at length about if they even want to continue to be with her.
In dual-Warden verses it doesn't really matter because there's someone else there to temper her choices anyway. But in her lone verses, I think it's incredibly important that she does that quest last. I think it would have made her a worse person and a worse "Hero" if she had done it some other way.
PLEASE REMEMBER THAT HUNTRESS’ REVENGE AGAINST THE MAFIA IS IN THE PAST FOR HER. SHE STARTED OUT HUNTRESS AT NINETEEN TO HUNT DOWN THE MAFIA TO AVENGE HER FAMILY — AND GROWING DISILLUSIONED WITH THE IDEA OF “BLOOD BEING THICKER THAN WATER”, HELENA CHOSE TO DECENTER HER LOYALTY TO HER FAMILY AND INSTEAD EXPAND HER VIGILANTISM EFFORTS FOR HELPING PEOPLE IN GENERAL. NOT JUST THE VICTIMS OF THE MAFIA, NOT JUST GOTHAM, BUT AS A WHOLE, BECAUSE SHE IS A HERO AND HAS BEEN FOR YEARS EVEN WHEN SHE DOESN’T FEEL LIKE ONE. THANK YOU!
𝐈. primarily but not exclusively based on comics outside of the new 52 and rebirth continuities; i deeply highlight post crisis, as well as a little bit of infinite frontier — namely, mariko tamaki’s 2016 detective comics run. i also vibe with the animated show, justice league: unlimited.
𝐈𝐈. my helena has nothing to do with:
helena wayne: they’re distinct, different characters and both my favourite darlings. please be informed that crossbow at the crossroads is actually a waynetress comic.
the birds of prey 2020 film. loved it, but that’s not my helena. i only steal the crossbow killer joke from it.
the new 52 & rebirth: i do not acknowledge the grayson / spyral / matron arc at all, not in my portrayal, not ever. helena would never be a spy, she’s a vigilante at heart. also, helena’s mom is not secretly alive; the point is that helena is the only & last living survivor of the entire bertinelli lineage. i do however respect that helena bertinelli was redepicted as a black woman during this time and it is true in my portrayal, while i acknowledge that the majority of her comics depict her as not.
arrow the show: stabbing me with a rusty forker is more preferable than ever reminding me of that show’s existence, thank you.
𝐈𝐈𝐈. regarding teams and affiliations:
helena bertinelli is NOT a part of the batfamily and never has been, do not address her as such. she is friendly with many of the members — usually tim, stephanie, cass, damian, jason, duke, but on and off with barbara, dick, and kate — but clashes with bruce / batman. depending on our roleplay, i’m open to them being frenemies, reluctant friends, bitter co-workers, or straight up personal enemies. also happy to change dynamics with her and the other bats for our roleplay and plots.
to hell with spyral.
i don’t like the outsiders affiliation for her, personal preference.
although huntress has been notably a part of the birds of prey and the justice league, she is predominantly a solo act in my portrayal and not tethered down to any one particular team. i do have her collaborate with other capes often even in places outside of gotham city and i generously reference the birds in my portrayal, i just don’t feel confident tying down my helena to a particular team or affiliation and i’d rather choose flexibility.
𝐈𝐕. regarding various arcs & comic book events:
DURING NO MAN’S LAND, helena was the bat to unambiguously stand in for bruce wayne’s batman when he left the city. SHE WAS NEVER BATGIRL and she did not try to replace barbara gordon. during this time, she had been shot in the stomach several times by the joker.
DURING HUSH I, helena had been attacked by the fear toxin. ever since then, she keeps antidotes and formulae for that stuff, as well takes other precautions such as an additional gas mask she may put on underneath her purple mask.
FROM AFOREMENTIONED THE 2016 DETECTIVE COMICS RUN: these events happened & are acknowledged in my portrayal sometimes:
she was attacked by the mind controlling parasites from hue vile and said parasite has been fully removed from her system.
however, it had a weird side effect in the aftermath: huntress gained crime sight, an ability that allows— makes her to perceive a sadistic act of violence being committed through the eyes of the assailant committing the crime in question within a particular radius. this is not a superpower, it is a living nightmare for her as she does not enjoy violence in any capacity. i explore these visions sometimes for the metaphorical significance of it.
she checked herself into the arkham tower — a temporary substitute for the arkham asylum at that time — and sought therapy there briefly.
she failed to save her unconventional civilian friend, mary knox — but sought to avenge mary and adopt mary’s cat doug to look after him for her.
presently, helena still attends counselling at a much more reputable clinic in gotham, and she secretly pursues art therapy, cbt, and a mild prescription for managing her depressive episodes, paranoia, and tendency to bottling up stress.
𝐕. some notable headcanons of mine:
my hel is more of a smoker than a drinker, she's chiefly bilingual but is variably skilled in multiple languages, she's named her motorbike seraphim and it is the love of her life, and she teaches a variety of subjects — english primarily, but can fill in for teachers of history, creative writing, foreign languages, and biology — at a public highschool in gotham city. i also headcanon that helena volunteers at a variety of places in her limited free time, mainly dr. leslie's medical clinic, the local church, foster homes, orphanages, juvenile detention centers, and the arkham asylum, where she generally works as another employee or privately teaches younger people.
I mentioned this earlier but Nathaniel x Anora is one of my Beloved Dragon Age Rare-pairs. I have a fic for it even.
When I first started writing for Inara, of course, she and Alistair stayed together and Anora took the throne alone (as it should be). Nathaniel then, through a visit to the capital with Inara, reconnected with Anora, and the two began a years-long affair. I never had them marry because, well, Nathaniel is a Howe and a Grey Warden.
However, if I extended that timeline out to now, knowing what we all know, I think that after the Mess in the South (the extent of which I mostly choose to ignore tbh, that's silly), they could probably get married after the defeat of Elgar'nan. The country would be shattered, and I'm sure Nathaniel would make himself a hero.
(Inara would still be alive in that timeline as well, if she didn't die in the turmoil in the VG timeline).
But by then, Nathaniel would have redeemed himself, saving Fergus Cousland's life after Awakening and earning Delilah an estate of her own. Then, after the Combo Blight, I think everyone could move on and some of the Grey Wardens would be granted leave from the Order. Nathaniel could marry Anora and be King.
I think the two of them would vibe really well. Nathaniel is straight-laced, ruler-minded, but respectful. I think he would be more than happy to let Anora take the lead, and he wouldn't overshadow her in name. Forgiving Rendon's crimes, he carries noble blood from the Rebellion that's just a shade less powerful in line to the throne than the Couslands.
And he fucking loves a woman with a fire in her. The woman he romances at the Tourney and Velanna prove that pretty well. Plus, Rendon and Loghain were pals, and so they probably at least vaguely knew of each other or had some kind of report at some point. He clearly didn't care much for Cailan.
And Anora... Anora deserves an adult with a sharp mind and a strong capacity for actually doing his job and doing it with honor. Nathaniel has the blood, the brain, and the heart to make him an asset. And he's a good man, and would treat her like she deserves for once.
He was born in Puerto Rico to a young, single mother. He didn't see her much and his grandmother raised him completely. The two of them moved to the The Bronx, New York in his twenties. He died from an overdose in the 1970s.
Valentino is 10ft 3in without shoes on, but he often wears heeled boots.
He has moth paws. There is tapered white fur with red hearts, the same as his neck ruff, from his knee to his feet that resemble some fuzzy rave boots. He has two elongated curved claws on each foot.
Prior to meeting Vox, he had given his soul to an Overlord, that is now dead, for a sense of safety. He danced in a club called TEMPTATION where he used his drug-like saliva to procure an abundance of fans. His Overlord would often prostitute him out to these same fans. It was a dynamic heavily reminiscent to how he treats Angel today.
Valentino, having died from drug addiction, now perpetually produces a substance that mocks the very thing that killed him. His saliva works in a similar way to amphetamines, giving whoever ingests it an incredible boost of energy. He uses it against his employees as a way to keep them working long hours without needing to sleep or eat. It is an addictive substance. Nothing gives quite the same high as his venom and it keeps people returning to him. He often uses this as a form of manipulation to get people to sign soul contracts.
He has a tendency to drool because of the venom secretion. He drools more when he's upset or angry.
Alongside being the owner of a p.orn studio/distribution company, Valentino also works within the drugs and weapons trade. Seeing as he can't leave Pride, he contracts Hellborn's to help get his products in all the rings of Hell.
His full-demon form is one of the largest out of all the all of the Overlords, seeing as he is one of the larges Sinners in general. His venom becomes incredibly potent and he grows a third set of arms. Due to his sheer size, the flapping of his wings causes winds that are strong enough to topple entire buildings if they are close enough and it causes a shockwave that breaks all glasses structures within miles. He'll often bite the heads off of victims in his state.
Valentino is incredibly near-sighted and refuses to address it.
Is smoking NEAR constantly.
Valentino can no longer comfortably fly and it's a big point of insecurity for him. No one is aware of this other than Vox and Velvette. Moth's use their antennae for stability, they're used as gyroscopic sensors to combat things such as wind to keep them being pushed around. With his damaged antennae and poor eyesight, he is not confident to fly without getting hurt. His wings are perfectly healthy, he can if the need absolutely arises but it's something he avoids because he just cannot stay steady.
Quick Disclaimer: I’m not exactly intending on writing him, (although there may be some Shenanigans), but he is a prominent member of Blue Pegasus – therefore is relevant to my Jenny and Lisanna. And I want him to be a good character, and more importantly, a good man. Honestly? The potential is there, and he has even had more moments to sparkle Shine than most side characters in the manga (including Lisanna). So, I’m going to retcon a few things and establish some headcanons to develop his character further.
Canon Divergences:
He does not get in people’s personal spaces and sniff them.
He has not made any advances or comments towards Erza, there is no ‘my honey’ here, he has never implied or allowed implication of anything between them.
He is not lecherous or perverted (these terms have been used in canon and in spin offs but I don’t recall him actually displaying these traits aside from maybe the stuff with Erza and sniffing people, which I’m removing anyway)
History:
His mother was a mage and a hard-working woman running an apothecary business in a small village. She did her best to raise him on her own after her husband left her, it was a difficult but rewarding life. Young Ichiya helped out around the store and learnt a great deal about the medicines she crafted.
When Ichiya was around 8 years old, a nobleman (of the Vandalay-Kotobuki family) who had been travelling the area needed urgent medical assistance and stopped at the apothecary. Ichiya’s mother helped the man and the two fell quickly in love and eventually married.
Ichiya and his mother moved into Lord Vandalay-Kotobuki’s estate, adapting to the different lifestyle and enjoying a happy life together. Ichiya was adored by his adoptive father.
Due to his parents being overprotective of him (and also wanting to fuel the idea that Ichiya was a secret, legitimate heir that had been protected on the estate the whole time), he did not leave the Vandalay-Kotobuki estate until around his 18th birthday, when he insisted on doing some travelling to experience the world.
The outside world was too overwhelming for him, and he returned home after just a month, but he was inspired by what he’d seen and decided to dedicate himself to learning more about his mother’s old craft. He also began to host parties at the estate, as it seemed easier to bring the world to him than to go out himself.
After a couple of years, he did begin to venture out himself some more, for several months at a time. But he still loved having parties.
At one of his parties, he met some mages from Blue Pegasus and Master Bob himself. Ichiya was immediately taken by the noble idea of being a guild mage and becoming someone who could help others even more (he was already donating generously to charities at that point but wanted to be more actively involved in helping others).
He joined Blue Pegasus in X780 (when he was 25, believe it or not), after studying magic and honing his own unique gifts.
Portrayal Notes:
He is incredibly generous and kindhearted, always willing to help others. He spent his early years watching his mother working hard to provide for them both and to help others. She has always inspired him to take care of others and do whatever he can for them. Joining a wealthy family showed him the power of money and what it can do for people as well, and he did not develop an attachment to wealth himself – he gives very generously to charities. He is always one of the first to offer assistance if someone seems in need of help in any way.
Spending the majority of his life within a noble family, he was taught the values of good etiquette and respectability. He is a total gentleman and holds himself to a high standard of decorum. Having a unique mix of noble and ‘commoner’ influences from his parents, he does his best to treat all people with equal respect.
In line with his gentlemanly behaviour, he does tend to view it as his duty to protect other people – particularly women and children, in whatever way he can. (reminder of a point earlier – we are removing instances of him being weird with Erza and sniffing people, my Ichiya is not a creep)
People outside of Blue Pegasus might still view him as eccentric character and a weirdo (or yes, a creep, because people are mean), however, within his guild, he is highly respected and beloved (this is a canon fact. I mean I know its for a sort of comedy factor but still). He is popular within the guild as he is very caring and genuine, always helpful, and is actually a very skilled and knowledgeable mage.
To some people, he might seem like he is the type that loves the sound of his own voice and would talk for hours (and sometimes this is true), however he is a very good listener and is always willing to lend an ear to anyone who needs it. He also gives very good advice and usually only offers his advice/opinions when asked for it.
Trivia:
He has a lot of thoughts buzzing around in his mind, and quite often he will have entire scenarios and conversations in his head and then start talking about it out loud or ask about something, and anyone around would likely be completely confused about what he’s talking about (an example being where he asked the band at the ball to play “That song” forgetting he hadn’t actually said his prior thoughts explaining what ‘that’ song was). There are few within the guild that are able to follow his half-internal conversations, and most are quite used to the seemingly random jumps in topics and simply go along with it.
Mentioned above, he is a very good listener, however…truth be told, sometimes he is only a good listener because he’s not actually listening, he’s daydreaming or thinking about something totally random that was sparked in his head while listening.
Pisces sun, Gemini moon, Leo rising
He loves music, theatre, and dance.
While a great deal of Blue Pegasus mages tend to have a certain type of ‘persona’ of sorts, he doesn’t really, he’s just himself 100% of the time. There have only been a few times where he has felt the need to conceal his true thoughts/feelings and present himself differently – and in these cases it was usually a matter of him not letting his sadness or worry show, as to not give his guildmates cause for concern.
He’s really quite gullible for the most part, he is open minded and likes to believe the best in people, so falls for things quite easily.
He has a highly successful perfume business – he’s not business minded at all so the actual running of it is left to a recently appointed trusted friend (as above, he is gullible and trusting, and so had to learn a hard lesson after a rather serious incident with his previous business manager’s dodgy dealings). Ichiya designs and crafts the perfumes and leaves everything else to his loyal employees to handle. Most of the profits are donated to charities.
He is typically quite emotional and easily moved, and he is a very empathetic and loyal sort (canonically, for the 7 years the Tenrou group was gone, he never gave up the search for them and would often cry endlessly at the thought that they would never return, as he was so saddened by their disappearance)
He struggles with back pain and other body aches frequently, and this is due to the toll using his Power Perfumes takes on him – the intense change in body type and stature is not an easy thing to deal with and it takes a while for him to recover.
As someone with great knowledge of natural remedies and such, he crafts his own skin care products and actually has incredibly soft and smooth skin. In the same way, he takes very good care of his hair and makes his own products for that as well. His hair is very thick and soft, and it grows (unusually) fast and has a healthy shine to it.
Magic, skills, abilities:
Most of his abilities (as well as his general appearance) are a result of magic and other influences he was unintentionally exposed to during his younger years when helping out his mother at her shop.
Heightened Sense of Smell: Of course, this is a notable ability for him. His sense of smell is so well honed that he can easily distinguish individual elements within a particular smell and recognise people as well. He can determine a mage’s strength and base affinity/type of magic based on smell alone. In terms of tracking via scent, he could be on par with the dragon slayers.
Emotions, particularly strong ones, in others can also register as scents to him, allowing him to be aware and attuned to the emotions of those around him. Along with his empathetic nature, this gives him great emotional intuition and good skill in reading other people (for the most part).
Related to the above, he has the ability to limit his sense of smell or ‘turn it off’ if he needs to, otherwise he would be constantly overloaded by everything around him.
Perfume Magic: he is noted as having ‘perfume magic’ which is described as a Holder type magic that relies on the user having a variety of perfume vials on their person. Ichiya does carry a myriad of vials with him at all times, however there is more to the magic than most people know. (and I will eventually do a post getting into the specifics, as soon as I work it all out)
Although his magic is most used for support or for ranged/distance attacks and spells, he has had training in hand-to-hand and more direct fighting styles. Without aid from his perfumes however, his physical capabilities are quite lacking. That being said, his knowledge of the human body and pressure points has come in handy a few times in battles.
Somehow, while he doesn’t have great endurance for fighting, he does have it for dancing. He knows various styles of dance and is surprisingly skilled, enough so that he beat a mage that specialises in Dance magic during the Grand Magic Games one year.
Ichiya and Jenny:
(This is of course based on my own Jenny muse and can be adjusted for other interpretations of her character.)
Ichiya joined Blue Pegasus the year before Jenny did. Always welcoming of new members, he was friendly to her and offered to help her if she needed anything. At the time, Jenny was dismissive of him, as her focus was on her idol, Karen. After Karen was killed and Master Bob talked some sense into Jenny, there was a shift for Jenny herself. She took more notice of her guildmates and began to make an effort with them, including Ichiya.
She apologised to him for the way she had treated him, and he waved it away, assuring her it was fine. She had thought him a strange man, yet after spending some time getting to know him, she found herself becoming fond of him.
They have been guildmates for over ten years now and their friendship and fondness for each other has grown over those years. Jenny knows he is someone who will always listen to her, regardless of topic, and that he will give good advice if she asks for it. She goes to him for recommendations on anything hair, skin, or health related and she trusts his judgement. He knows she is much smarter and more skilled than she lets on, and while he believes she should embrace that part of herself openly, he respects her decision to keep her cards close to her chest (as it’s a benefit for the guild as well, Blue Pegasus does well from not revealing too much and being selective about what is known).
Having known him for such a long time, she is particularly protective of him and will throw hands defend him if anyone was to give her cause.
jack sparrow in canon was born jack teague, his father being edward teague. being that i headcanon him as mexican--he is born juan argider to eduardo argider. the reason for this is simple: juan is the spanish equivalent of john, which jack is a derivative of. being that there is no spanish equivalent of jack, once he defeats salazar by leading him into the devil’s triangle, he adopts a more white sounding name as his fame starts to grow. teague roughly translates to beautiful--and so does argider in the spanish language. see? simple.
i keep everything johnny depp brought to the character except depp himself--diego luna’s accent in place of depp’s, of course. but the movements, characteristics and speech patterns are all the same.
there will be no overt pirate speech on my blog, i.e.: arr, shiver me timbers, walk the plank, and other hollywood idioms that weren’t actual historical phrases. i’ll keep a select few, but things like bonnie lass, mate, and the like aren’t exclusively pirate phrases.
i accept everything in canon as canon until otherwise stated--for example, until my rewatch of the movies is finished and i feel like there’s something that needs to be changed. apart from that, this portrayal is going to have major historical influences as well as influences from robert louis stevenson’s treasure island, which i am also in the process of rereading.
captain jack sparrow isn’t straight and there’s more than enough canonical evidence to support this. if you have a problem with this, i don’t care. leave.
