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mvalentine · 2 years

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I loved your last fic. The fluff 🥺. Ethan paying so much attention? Sir please stop 😫 kidding don't ever stop please.

I love how you describe Lana being so meticulous with what she shares about herself and at the same time wanting to tell Ethan more and more.

Now I'm wonder, do you have a back story for her? I would love to know her more :)

hi hellooo <33 im so so glad you enjoyed it!! and we all know that man is perceptive as ever so of course that translates into his love life.

and yes oh my god i DO have a backstory for her and it is excessive and traumatizing and honestly i feel a little bad for putting my fav girl through so much but dhjjss here it is *gets up on my soapbox*:

TW: mentions of abuse, drug overdose & death

Lana's surname at birth wasn't actually Brooks, it was Hernandez. She was born into an extremely wealthy family, we're talking Swiss Bank Account levels of rich.

Her father Mateo is Spanish while her mom Nicola was English. They met as work colleagues and had a torrid love affair which resulted in them getting married after about 6 months of knowing one another (Red Flag #1 - very love-bombing vibes). While the beginning of the relationship was almost close to perfect, the longer it went on the more Mateo's temper & anger issues started to rear its ugly head. And then, 6 months after their marriage- Lana was born.

Mateo & Nicola were both over the moon. It wasn't exactly a planned pregnancy, but both were extremely happy albeit for different reasons. For Nicola, it was in the hope that a child would mellow Mateo out, while for Mateo it was due to the fact that he would have an 'heir' of sorts to takeover his skyrocketing success in the business world.

But alas, a child cannot save your marriage; it doesn't change a person. Mateo was extremely abusive, both physically and verbally. At first, Nicola didn't leave him because she loved him and kept giving him second chances. But after that, she didn't leave because he was a successful, rich, narcissistic man who taunted and threatened her whenever they had their massive blowouts.

Lana absolutely loathed her father- he was cruel, abusive and extremely demanding. He would swing wildly from one spectrum to another- showering her with love and praise whenever she did well one minute and then berating and hitting her when she deigned to disagree with him the next. He would never actually apologize - saying "I'm sorry I hit you but if you hadn't done xyz it wouldn't have come to this" is not an apology.

When Lana was around 14 years old, her mom started doing drugs- heroin. She became a drug addict, her work and happiness started slipping. Lana would often have to clean her up and get her sobered before Mateo came home otherwise she knew it would lead to another massive fight where he would call her words like "junkie whore". The roles basically were reversed- with a 14 year old having to take care of her own mother instead of the other way around.

And then, when Lana was 16- she found her mom's body on the floor- she had overdosed on drugs and didn't make it (it pretty much played out like that gut-wrenching scene in Euphoria where Gia finds Rue on the floor after she overdosed). As you can imagine, that was pretty fucking traumatising.

Lana had already decided from a young age that she would distance herself from her father as soon as she could, but this just solidified the idea in her mind- she was not going to have any connection with her father as soon as she turned 18.

Lana was already exceptionally smart, but after that she knew what she had to do- she had to work her ass off and get at-least a partial scholarship for med school. Her goal was Harvard, which of course was extremely difficult- but she was determined (I know getting even a partial scholarship to Harvard sounds INSANE but i literally have two friends who got scholarships for Harvard & Yale because they were extremely smart and determined so it's definitely possible).

She started studying even harder, getting top grades and participating in a myriad of extracurriculars to pad her resume. Then, when she turned 18 and had graduated high school- she took a chunk of the money her dad had left for her in her trust fund for when she turned 18 and never looked back. She changed her last name to Brooks.

She got into med school but of course even with the trust fund money financial stability is hard - she has to get two jobs - a bartender and a waitress while also being in med school. It's difficult, it's challenging - but she has to do it. Also her father never bothered contacting or looking for her as well- it was too big of a bruise to his ego.

It's also one of the reasons she never really dated in med school. It was always one night stands or friends with benefits. She just didn't have the time. But also, she just didn't want to let people in which given her backstory makes a lot of sense HSSJSK

Life was difficult in her 20s, but she also met two of her best friends- Dominik & Isabella. Dominik was your quintessential sarcastic fuckboy- very charming, never taking anything seriously. But god his friendship with Lana is my favorite thing- they're polar opposites but work so well together. That man secretly has a heart of gold and honestly him & Lana are platonic soulmates. The only person she trusts wholeheartedly- the only person she opens up to. Apart from Isabella, of course. Isabella reminds me a lot of Sienna, very soft-spoken and kind and gentle. Once again, very opposite to Lana but they worked.

The three of them were inseperable- all polar opposites from one another but somehow... it just worked. But then, Isabella got pregnant at quite a young age- 22. Her and her boyfriend Damien decided to keep the baby- and that's when little baby girl Alana was born. Bella named her daughter after Lana and asked her to be her godmother. Dominik was all pouty about the fact that Bella didn't name her kid after him DHJSJS but she promised that if she ever had a boy, Dominik would be next in line LMAO. Alas, that never happened. Isabella tragically passed away in a horrible car accident when Alana was only 2 years old. Lana & Dominik were absolutely devasted. Dominik was her only family after that (I actually HC that in the Dolores chapter Lana opens up to Ethan about Alana and Bella and gives him advice on how to cope with the grief I need to write it out someday).

There's so much more I can say I can literally sit here and rant all day but this is already INCREDIBLY long I am so sorry. But now I think it's crystal clear why Lana is the way she is HSJSJS

#OOOF i really said trauma baby <3 #this is SO long shjskss but it was good to get it all out and have it in one place #lana brooks #asks

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silver-wield · 2 years

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As another massive tifa and cloti fan and ffvii in general, I admire your collection of books and merchandise! Do you have any ranking or top recommendations for someone who wants to start collecting? I mainly mean books of all sorts but feel free to reference anything else!

Thank you 💖☺️ I love my books too ❤️

There's a lot of new merch coming out that's on the high price tag side, so if you want to start a collection I think the first thing you should do is decide what you want to collect.

Aside from my OG Tifa and dissidia Cloud I don't have any big play arts Kai dolls and I decided when I started collecting I wouldn't go into the play arts Kai side because those get really expensive and there has to be a limit when you're buying merch or else you just spiral into hoarding and trying to build the biggest collection you can imo.

I'm fussy about fanmade merch too. I only buy good quality ones that I really like. I have a couple of lamps, some pins and a bracelet.

With my official merch, I hunt most things on eBay or cdjapan.co.jp does proxy sometimes and they find it if it's not too old. My theatrhythm statics were really hard to get hold of, but I wanted a set because Nojima has them too 🤣

With the new lines it's best to hunt around and not just go with the first price you see. My Cloud statuette I got a little bit cheaper than retail but I almost forgot to check SE direct and nearly paid more than they were selling it for, so definitely definitely double check before buying. With things that come in sets you should decide if you want the entire set or if you just want a couple of characters. One of my Cloud and Tifa minis has a set of twelve and I also wanted the set that had Balthier and Fran in it, but Fran's one was super expensive at the time and in the end I gave up. I probably would buy all of those eventually but I'm saving my money for remake merch for now. I'm betting they do a grunt Cloud and cowgirl Tifa statuette.

As for the books, the shipping cost on them usually costs at least half what you pay for them, and SE direct is always late. I think the only book I got on time that didn't come from eBay was my world preview book. The older ultis I got off eBay and haggled for when I could.

With those I think it depends what info you wanna learn more about. The AC reunion files is already translated, but the others aren't in English except for the archive books, world preview, material ulti and ulti plus.

The archive books are really nice if you wanna read more about all the games. They're a set of three, although I only have the one for 7,8,9 atm. Most of the books repeat the same info, so unless you're into collecting books (I am 🤣) it's really only the art style ones like the material ulti that have all the concept artwork that are worth buying. They're really pretty ❤️

The AC reunion files, material ulti, world preview book and archives are the prettiest and have info in English you can read. The others need Google lens to read but they have some nice info if you put the effort in.

The novels are harder to get now than when I bought them. I got the kids are alright and otwtas from Amazon for £20. Picturing the past is in the world preview book and it'll be in the translated version of trace of two pasts when it comes out, so it's up to you if you get the JP version as well. ToTP is supposed to be out in November 🤞

I think it comes down to deciding what you wanna see on your shelves and then searching for it. I have things bookmarked for ages and if I lose out on something I wanted I just wait a while and then look again. Patience is really important. I never impulse buy. I always check my budget and never go over it.

I lost out on a few Tifas I wanted, but I got them eventually. My heroines set took ages to get, so did my OG Tifa mini play arts Kai. I hadn't even planned to collect until I saw that and decided I wanted her, then I had to get Cloud. I got Cloud, lost out on Tifa, found another one and two years later I have two display cases full of stuff 🤣

I also don't have the full of from the 10th anni, but I don't want them. So, don't feel like you need all of one set if you don't want them all. It's your collection.

Imo best books are:

Material ulti

Material ulti plus (that's not out in English until Feb 2023 but it's the same as the JP one)

Archive ultimania vol 2

AC reunion files

Best Tifa:

Statics (although they're not out yet either)

Trading arts vol 2

Mini play arts kai

Best Cloud:

10th anniversary

Remake static

Remake mini

One thing to check is the faces on them. Cause of you don't like the face there's no point getting it 🤣

Top left: Tifa trading arts vol2

Top right: mini play arts Kai (these have changeable faces)

Middle: 10th anni.

Bottom left: remake static

Bottom right: remake mini (these are a set of five that shouldn't cost more than £50)

Hope all my rambling helps ☺️

Happy collecting!

#final fantasy 7 remake #ff7r #ffviir #cloud strife #final fantasy 7r #final fantasy viir #cloti #tifa lockhart #merch hoarder

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famous-aces · 5 years

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Joan of Arc

Who: Jehanne Darc (often modernized as Jeanne d'Arc) (Joan of Arc is the Anglicization of her name)

What: Soldier and Saint

Where: French, active in France

When: c. 1412 - May 30, 1431

(Image Description: an engraving of Joan of Arc from 1903 by Peruvian artist Albert Lynch. It was featured in Figaro Illustre. It looks more like a painting than an engraving. It shows Joan in the center. In the background is Notre Dame. In the mid and foreground is a field of white flowers. Joan is front and center from the thighs up. She is in full plate mail but without the helmet or gloves. The armor has gold accents. She has pale skin and a round face. Her hair is black and cut into a bob with high bangs. One hand holds a flag and one hand rests on the hilt of a huge sword. She looks stoically and proudly out at the viewer. End ID.)

Joan of Arc is more legend than woman at this point, but she was very real. She is in part responsible for turning the tide of the Hundred Years War in France's favor. Now she is both French cultural heroine and canonized Catholic saint. Joan is an icon and inspiration and to millions be they French, Christian, woman, queer, or all of the above.

Joan's story is fairly well known. She was an illiterate peasant girl who, when she was 13, was visited by the visions of several saints. From that point forward she claimed to have been following God's instructions. At the time, France and England were still locked in the heat of the Hundred Years War (1337-1453) and the English occupied swaths of France. Eventually God told Joan to topple the English occupation and save France. She convinced the Dauphin to give her command over troops and dressed in men's armor Joan lead French victory after victory.

Although there were understandably doubts about what this untrained teenager could actually do she was able to convince naysayers quickly. She won first success at the Siege of Orléans. After the city was sieged for more than six months, Joan was able to turn away the English in only nine days. She was involved in more than a half dozen battles, many victories, between 1429 and 1431. These included the French success at the Battle of Patay and the March to Reims. During the latter she helped siege and reclaim several French cities and ensured the coronation of King Charles VII, at which she was in attendance.

She continued her campaign despite being injured in the Siege of Paris and was ultimately captured during the Siege of Compiègne. Her troops were outnumbered and her attempted surprise attack was rebuffed by English reinforcements, at which point she was overwhelmed and pulled from her horse.

She was captured, tried for witchcraft (although crossdressing was listed among her crimes/charges), and ultimately, horrifically, burned at the stake. Because she was so well loved the English made sure her body was very publicly destroyed both to avoid rumors of her escape and to make sure no relics could be made from her remains (as was very common for holy people at the time). Although English propaganda and court proceedings claimed Joan was a witch who spoke not to God and saints but to the Devil, her executioner still "greatly feared to be damned.". She was only 19 at the time of her death.

Joan has become a larger-than-life figure. Her story has been told and retold countless times over the centuries. Movies, books, plays, operas, songs, pieces of visual art. Nearly every medium that exists has depicted Joan of Arc in some capacity. For example, the first celluloid movie camera was invented in 1895, the first filmed depiction of Joan of Arc was made in only 1898. Mark Twain was very proud of his oft forgotten novel Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc. Voltaire wrote the poem "La Pucelle d’Orléans" (link goes to English translation) and there was a dramatic rebuttal by Die Jungfrau von Orleans (German) by Friedrich Schiller. Tchaikovsky wrote an opera The Maid of Orléans. George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan is perhaps his magnum opus. Robert Southey and Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote the epic "Joan of Arc". She is included in Shakespeare's Henry VI Part 1. The likes of Peter Paul Rubins, Paul Gauguin, John Everett Millais, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, among others have rendered Joan. She has been used for awards and propaganda.

Joan of Arc even impacted real life fashion, the Bob hairstyle's inventor based the now iconic look off Joan's haircut. It makes sense since the Bob was originally associated with the rebellious women of the 1920s. In 1920 she was canonized and is now the patron saint of France, soldiers, women in the WAVES and WAC, prisoners, among many others.

There is now speculation that Joan of Arc may have been mentally ill or had epilepsy.

(Image Description: a drawing of Joan of Arc by Clément de Fauquembergue found in the margins of a parliamentary document from 1429. That makes this the earliest drawing of Joan we have. It is a brown ink drawing, slightly crude, very simple, of a woman drawn in profile. It ends just below her midsection. She wears a dress and carries as sword in one hand and a banner in the other. She is scowling. Oddly she does not have the short haircut that would become her trademark look, then again I have no idea how true/untrue to life this is. End ID)

Probable Orientation: Aroace (and obviously GNC. Crossdressing was one of the many crimes for which the English tried her.)

This is already a very long entry because of Joan of Arc's extensive legacy but it is going to get even longer, because I mentioned in Mary Eliza Mahoney's entry that there was another figure I was struggling with in my speculation, here she is. My biggest issue here was more moral than anything else.

Joan was only 19 when she died, that is hardly a full life to determine what her sexual orientation was. I do not object to a teenager self-identifying as any gender/sexual orientation, but it is quite another matter to impose one on them, especially when they died before being able to live a full life.

I thought a lot about the discourse presently surrounding Anne Frank. On my personal blog I have made my opinion abundantly clear (she is not your Bicon, she is a victim of a horrific genocide). So why is Joan different to me? I did some deep soul searching on this. So before going into my evidence as to why Joan of Arc may have been aroace.

The circumstances of their deaths are different. Anne was killed because of her ethnoreligious background in a campaign to wipe out the Jewish people. Joan was brutally killed for her gender and wearing men's clothing as much as she was for being an enemy general. Indeed, she would not have been burned alive had she been a young man doing exactly what Joan did and not a young woman. But her death is not representative of a larger narrative. There were no other Joans of Arc.

Yes, she is now a Catholic Saint, but unlike Anne Frank Joan was not killed for being Catholic and was killed by other Catholics. Also I should add Judaism is much larger than just a religion. It is an ethnicity as well. Joan was the same ethnicity (if not the same nationality) as her captors.

Anne was also a 20th century girl and 15 when she met her horrible demise. Joan's era and age are something I will expand on.

And importantly I am not the first person to ascribe queerness to Joan's story. She has been a queer figure for the better part of a century by now. Some scholars argue she was a lesbian*. Others say she was nonbinary**. Joan has long been important to the queer community, but that wouldn't necessarily make me right for adding to the debate.

But for Joan of Arc queerness is baked right in to the narrative. She wore men's clothing and broke gender norms, actions so taboo they were part of what cost her her life. Whether or not this crossdressing had anything to do with her gender or sexual orientation or just done for ease in battle is a subject of debate and boy howdy there is a lot of it. Plus, the actual act of going to war as a woman was an act of gender nonconformity.

Anyway now I am going to tell you why I believe Joan of Arc was an aroace, because it is another piece of the queerness of her narrative that she touted.

Here is one of the most important pieces of evidence to me, her name. Joan's birth name was Jehanne Darc (or a similar spelling), that was her father's surname and it was technically hers. In life she didn't use it. She called herself Jehanne la Pucelle (Joan the Maid) as in Joan the Virgin. That was the name she rallied her troops under. That was how her (dictated) letters were often signed. I have seen the argument made that she was asserting her purity, but it also would remind her troops of her age. Just like today "virgin" held a connotation of childishness. You were not married and inexperienced. Why would a military general want to point out how young she was? She had another name, she could have just been Jehanne Darc. It also told everyone she was a woman, including the enemy, who might use that against her. If she wanted to go with a nickname based on piousness it did not have to be "la Pucelle". There are many that did not imply either gender or age.

Her age is also important. Much like Wang Zhenyi she opted to break convention and do something else when it came time to get married. She was at war at the time when she should have been getting married, French women were generally married between 18 and 25. Her chasteness was noted in that she was only interested in carrying out God's Will. Nothing kept her on the battlefield except her dedication to her cause. She could have retired at any point. Indeed in September of 1429 she was badly injured by a crossbow bolt to the thigh, she had to be dragged from the battlefield and it was only by the king's orders that she did not return to it. She had a mission and marriage did not seem to factor into it. And that, being of marriageable age and not seeking it, would be odd even given her religiousness.

(Image Description: a 1504 painting of Joan on horseback. It is a bright painting on parchment. She is wearing shining armor with a yellow feather in her helmet. She carries a red banner. The horse is white with red and gold accoutrements and is prancing. There are fields and a castle behind her. Joan looks calm. End ID)

The argument could be made that it is impossible to untangle Joan's chastity from her religiousness. But I would argue that there is a way to tell and a way that hers is unique from that of other saints.

Within Catholicism chastity is about sacrifice and self-denial, by being sexless you are giving something up. That is why you will often see saints who are hermits, giving up sex along with everything else. Even saints who die as virgin martyrs (i.e. dying defending their virginity) are generally fending off rape or a marriage that would come between them and God. Unless they are willingly giving themselves up to God Himself chasteness is not supposed to last. Indeed, you are supposed to go forth and multiply and all that.

Officially in Catholic doctrine asexuality does not exist because sexual attraction (to the "opposite sex") is one of God's Gifts. It is impossible to not feel sexual attraction and be human in their eyes. As per an FAQ on religious life "Question: What do you call a person who is asexual? Answer: Not a person. Asexual people do not exist. Sexuality is a gift from God and thus a fundamental part of our human identity.". Or even more sinisterly as put by former Priest*** and Ugandan Ethics Minister Simon Lokodo when he said he approved of heterosexual child rape more than consentual gay sex "it is men raping girls. Which is natural" the implication being that hetero sex is the only "natural" thing, because even denial is unacceptable. Yes, Lokodo is an extreme example, but it reflects a mindset about heterosexual sex.

Chastity is only venerated in Christianity insofar as you are giving something up for God. The Christian faith has engineered the acceptable circumstances for sex and you are expected to have it and want it within those circumstances. Joan's maidenhood is traditionally viewed much the same way a nun's is, that she was driven by her love of God and her desire to fulfill His instructions and thus neglected her own desires. It is unthinkable that maybe she just didn't care, that she would rather be a warrior than a wife. She would be far less beloved if that was the widely agreed on conclusion, I assure you.

(Image description: Jeanne D'Arc (1874) a gilded bronze statue by Emmanuel Frémiet now at the Place des Pyramides, Paris. Commissioned by Napoleon III and standing 13 feet tall. It shows a triumphant Joan of Arc on horseback with her banner held high. Both she and her horse wear armor. End ID)

*The argument for this is actually pretty weak. The one thing I have seen used as evidence of her being definitively a lesbian is that she shared her bed with women. But this was the 15th century, bedsharing was extremely common, there weren't many beds to go around, whole peasant families might share a bed. Yes, it could mean something, but Occam's Razor, in an era when nonsexual bedsharing was common this is not proof this is was for sexual reasons, there is no reason Joan would be an exception. Without any other evidence she was a lesbian this is not enough to prove she was attracted to women. I am not saying it isn't possible, I am just saying that is not enough to go on.

**In her being GNC. Again, a possibility, but not definitive. Of course this stuff rarely is.

***He was removed from the priesthood when he entered politics as it is against Vatican law to hold both positions, it had nothing to do with his horrific stance on Queer Rights.

(Image Description: Jeanne d'Arc écoutant ses voix by Léon François Bénouville [done before 1859]. It is a painting that shows Joan when she first was visited by Saints/Angels. It shows Joan in layered but undecorated clothing. She is clutching what appears to be part of a loom or other wool working equipment in one hand. The other holds her wrist. She is white and pale and barefoot. Her hair is dark and partially pinned back, starting to come free. She has a round face and looks shocked, her doll like mouth agape in a gasp and her light eyes wide. She is seated on a rock with a field behind her, dotted with sheep and a horse. Far beyond her in the distance is a burning city. In the air around her in an immense sky are the flying and translucent forms of angels. They have their mouths open, calling to her. One offers her a sword another carries a flag/banner. End ID.)

Quotes:

"Jehanne la Pucelle"

-How Joan signed her dictated letters and referred to herself, "Joan the Maid".

"Alas! that my body, clean and whole, never been corrupted, today must be consumed and burnt to ashes!"

-Joan of Arc after being condemned to death, quoted by Jean Toutmouille

(Image Description: a still from La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (The Passion of Joan of Arc) a silent film from 1928. It is widely regarded as a masterpiece and a landmark of early cinema. Renée Jeanne Falconetti (Joan) is still hailed for her performance. In this image we see Joan kneeling in front of the stake. She is wearing a wool robe and clutching a cross. The anguish on her face is indescribable. Behind her is an armed guard. End ID)

#lgbtq #queer #asexual #ace #history #aromantic #aro #soldiers #Europe #French #15th century #Joan of Arc #France #bio

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