#jean-paul; apex verse

[playedbetter]



"Ya. I've always wondered," Hyeon stirs his bowl of dry conflakes around with his spoon, then takes a bite. He chews, working out the sentence in his mind, but goes for it anyway. "Do you think people ate this stuff for breakfast centuries ago?" Follows it up with a long drink of orange juice. It isn't like him to socialise. Or strike up conversations like this. Eating in the vacant apartment dining hall was rare for the usually unseen Crypto. Even rarer was that he actually had a companion this time. (For JPV)

Random Asks | Always accepting, also welcome back Duke!!!

Jean-Paul looked up from his plate, where an apple, some toast, a scrambled egg, and yogurt sat in the process of being ate. "Hm?" He did notice the... odd? way that Hyeon was eating his cornflakes, but maybe he was only finding it odd due to how sheltered he was. He would try to avoid asking, just in case it'd reveal how utterly at loss he was when it came to normal stuff.

"..." He knew the answer to this, The Order of St. Dumas were pretty detailed in their history records. If he dived in deep enough into their records he would probably find things from a thousand years ago. He had no reason to know this though, he wasn't a historian or anything. "I'd think so, they probably had the technology to make it. Kind of like how you can find old art work and photographs of people in t-shirts."

He took a sip of his coffee. "Are you interested in history?"

[playedbetter]

Starter for @simulamortem

Ever since managing to get through their first game Jean-Paul has been trying to get to know his new surroundings, and the people that would surround him for the foreseeable future. He’d be the first to admit it’s been an... awkward endeavor for him, but it did feel important to him at least.

He has already gotten trough the more sociable ones, which just left the most intimidating of the bunch. People like Caustic, Ash, or Revenant. People who’s motives as far as they could tell for being in the game had less to do with what they’d get out of it and more about what they could get away with while in it. Not that he’d admit it, but they scared him. Maybe even just for the reason that he was scared that Azrael was like them.

Anyways, today he was just going to try and seek one of them out to get it over with. It can’t go that badly. The campus area is about as good a place to start as any and it would seem luck is on his side as quickly he spots Revenant, who didn’t look busy with anything.

“Excuse me, hi.” He kinda waves, with his nerves on clear display. “You’re Revenant right? I’m Jean-Paul, or Azrael in the arena, a new Apex Legend.”

[playedbetter]

Jean-Paul Valley & Azrael | Apex Verse Info

Behold an information post for JPV & Azrael’s crossover verse with apex legends, cause boy have my thoughts about this have gotten out of control. The info is under the cut cause this ended up being 2000+ words.

This is subject to change as I learn more about the lore of the game, think of new things, and as events occur that I feel are worth mentioning. If/when I edit this post I will include ‘patch’ notes at the bottom of the post.

Also, please take the TWs in the tags seriously as this post does go over a lot of the childhood and cult abuse which they have gone through along with themes of violence, death, and mental illness.

Without further ado, here is the info:

Background

Jean-Paul originally is from Gaea, having lived in a version of Gotham City (here leaning more into neon noir than gothic, with it’s corruption coming from top execs and the like draining the city of it’s resources leaving the poor of the city to fend for themselves.)

His early life was spent alone or under the care of his tutor for the most part, because as far as he was away his father was a respectable mercenary frequently busy with work thanks to the politically unstable-ness of the outlands. They did not attend public school, instead being taught by a private tutor his father hired.

Unknowingly to JPV they were a member of The Order of St. Dumas who in addition to their warped teachings about the universe was also mentally abusing, brainwashing, and grooming JPV to become the next Azrael, resulting in JPV developing OSDD-1b and the beginnings of Azrael forming. JP would be unaware of this for years to come.

In his spare time they developed an interest in technology and how it works, specifically computers. On the rare times that his father was present the man did encourage this interest and exploring it, secretly hoping it would lead JP away from the order.

This lead him to attending Gotham U as a young adult, majoring in computer science. He really did love the program and was planning a future career as a Computer Systems Analyst.

They did notice in this time that he had periods of time where he;d just end up staring off into space, or missing what people were saying to him, or just feeling a disconnect with his body, but he dismissed those things as just stress from uni.

He couldn’t examine his life too closely, it wasn’t that he didn’t want to, they just couldn’t. Any mental road that started going that direction just left him feeling disoriented, anxious, or sick. So he just didn’t.

At least not until his father arrived at his back door, bleeding out in a strange costume. His father, Jean-Paul Ludovic Valley Sr. was the Azrael before JP, the personal assassin of The Order of St. Dumas. His father gave him a number to call for body removal, spoke of a secretive place on Psamathe away from it’s civilization, and of JP’s inheritance before dying in JP’s arms.

Not sure what else to do he called the number, which resulted in strange people coming and taking the body away without a word. Even now he has no idea what ended up happening to his father’s body.

He also received his inheritance, it was enough money to do pretty much anything he wanted. However, the mystery over what his father spoke of, and what had happened that lead to his death meant that he departed Gotham and Gaea to investigate.

Searching the recesses of Psamathe eventually lead him to Nomoz and to The Order of St. Dumas who were quick to activate the brainwashing they had done to him as a child and unleash Azrael.

Azrael was born of internalizing the Order’s teachings as a survival method, and due to just how intense their brainwashing and abuse was. Now in the hands of The Order of St. Dumas that brainwashing was only strengthened and he quickly was ready to be their assassin.

The stress on both Azrael, and internally Jean-Paul along with further brainwashing lead to them fracturing more, however the headmates who formed from this have not made themself(s) known to JP or Azrael.

This all however did reveal a few truths of their past namely; Their body had been genetically engineered by the Order to be an ideal fighter.

 It did eventually become apparent that Jean-Paul was still around, and the attempts to wipe out his identity completely had not worked, so the Order begrudgingly had to just deal with it, and make sure that JP would never begin to feel empowered enough to leave, get help, or stop Azrael from carrying out his tasks and duties.

So long as he behaved and obeyed his superiors, he was safe. That was his world now.

Azrael was sent on many different missions to benefit The Order of St. Dumas, assassinating their enemies and rivals, stealing things of use to them, and investigating things of interest to them. In this he honed his skills and found some sense of fulfillment. In his mind he was following holy orders after all, and what else is an angel to do?

The leash on both of them got a little longer, a little less tight as it became clear to the Order that both JP and Azrael would stay on their own. They could be allowed to spend an afternoon doing what they wanted before carrying out a mission if the timeline worked out. They didn’t just have to be on standby unless on a mission.

There still was a leash though, JP still had to live in their sanctuary and couldn’t regularly have conversation with outsiders. Azrael didn’t even bother to see how far the rope around his neck went, they didn’t care to, staying right by their commanders side.

They could live with this...

Something changed tough. The Order saw an opportunity to fill their coffers and increase their standing with the Syndicate. Having Azrael compete in the Apex Games and letting the Syndicate know that they could call in a favor or two to get rid of one or two people, something they’ll keep in their back pocket for sure.

Both JP and Azrael were rather confused when they were given the order, but could do little to argue against it. Winning funds for the Order, and gaining some glory for them, was a reasonable enough goal they guessed? They had to accept it.

So soon they were sent off to join the ranks of the Apex Legends, the leash around their neck gaining even more slack thanks to the circumstances, but the dangers of disobeying the Order ever present.

The Order of St. Dumas

The Order of St. Dumas is a christian cult which started after the crusades on earth. They were slow to move off of earth when space travel started to become available however eventually realized that any luxury or glory they could find for the their sect would be on other planets.

They’ve operated in the shadows, trying to gather strength and sway like what they once ad in the very very old days. And given just how wide the universe had became, there were plenty of dark corners to dig their claws into and establish a good foothold.

As war gripped the universe they did their best to stay out of it, it could could pull too many of their secrets into the light, and they wanted to hedge their bets given just how much was at stake. So each time a war was over and a winner was clear they spent a lot of time kissing ass and making connections with the winners.

They established their main base/sanctuary on Psamathe for the comfort and convenience of the richest and most powerful members of the Order. Placing it far enough out of the way that they could be reasonably assured that they would not be bothered.

Azrael & The Order

Since the Order’s creation they have had an assassin whom they call Azrael, the angel of death. The first few were zealots who had joined the Order of their freewill, but as the Order closed itself off it became a hereditary role, and that meant that each first born son of the last Azrael had to be made into an ideal assassin and weapon, which quickly turned them towards abusing and brainwashing their future Azrael’s.

As time progressed their methods for indoctrination and the creation of Azrael became more and more refined, starting to pick out the partners for their Azrael’s to have better control over the next generation. Learning more of psychology and mental tricks to use to help weaken the child’s willpower. And drugs and genetic enhancements to make their body more dangerous.

Publicly Available Information

Jean-Paul/Azrael was publicly announced when they joined the games as such:

“Jean-Paul Valley, better known as Azrael, is a warrior on a holy mission. Having originally came from a small religious group known as The Order of St. Dumas. He’s joined the games thanks to what he’d call a divine calling. Wielding flame and blade he is a dangerous and unique Legend to face on the battlegrounds.”

The Order of St. Dumas is known to be a small Christian sect who rarely if ever accept new members. It’s members list is private and little is known about their traditions or practices. Most assume they just have a few fringe beliefs that lead to being an off-shoot of Catholicism.

Digging through his social media, public records, and interviews can reveal the following

He once attended Gotham U majoring in Computer Science before leaving in his first year for unknown reasons.

They were privately trained. Unknown where.

They seem to follow a form of Christianity which on the surface seems similar to Catholic Christianity

He is single

They do not fill out a lot of information on social media or use it much, really only to share stuff related to the games and the ever so occasionally picture of interesting places he has came across.

He is familiar with Psamathe given his reactions during games set in Olympus.

Things that are not publicly known

The Order of St. Dumas is an abusive cult which tampers with events through conspiracy and assassination to benefit themselves. And that Azrael is their assassin and a victim of them

That Jean-Paul and Azrael are not the same person, but instead two people in a system with each other.

For that matter any of their mental health issues. While of course it’s been impossible to hide all their symptoms it has never been publicly addressed and the notice telling ones have been as well hidden as they possibly can be.

That there have been any prior Azraels.

They are not public about being queer in any way.

Apex Games Kit

Unless something goes terribly wrong Azrael is always the one fronting while on the battlegrounds of the game. Azrael is an Offensive Legend with the following abilities

Grappling Hook - Tactical

A grappling hook that when activated pulls him quickly towards where he targeted it, it is built into his gauntlets. This is meant to give him the ability to catch up to people or reach them if the have the high ground. In game it would have no effect if they targeted a person with it, however in writing it would have the sort of effects you would expect.

Death’s Blessing - Passive

For each killing blow he gets with a melee attack his damage increases and he receives a short (1-3 second) regeneration effect to his health. This means they ramp up significantly in danger the longer he is been in the match and able to get kills.

Angel’s Wraith - Ultimate

Azrael unsheathes the sword on his back and lights it ablaze. In this state any melee damage they deal leaves a damage tick on it’s victim and after getting a kill from either melee damage or fire tick damage he receives a short speed buff.

The effects of death’s blessing are still in effect and fire tick kills also activate it’s effects.

Melee

He uses retractable blades from his gauntlets instead of punches or kicks unless otherwise stated.

Other Differences

Azrael is familiar with what we would call modern technology but what would be terribly out of date by the standards of this universe. So he can handle guns, phone calls, email, and stuff like that but more advance things like how the shields work he doesn’t understand.

Jean-Paul has never adopted his cat Georgie due to still being with the Order.

They are still in deep with The Order of St. Dumas and since becoming aware of them, have never been able to leave them. As such they are both in far worse mental state than they are in other verses. Though they have still manged to figure out that they are plural just to avoid confusion in writing.

They lack most of his canon connections due to the impossibility of making any of them make any sense in this setting. Should a batfam rper ever wanna rp in this verse with me this can be subject to change.

[playedbetter]

"can we get out of here ?" it's huffy, very hyeon kim of him to feel like their afterparty for their win had overstayed its welcome (rather than the other way around). hyeon tended to get antsy by the third or fourth drink. jury's out to why the hacker threw them back like it's tap water in the first place, but perhaps something weighed heavier in that mind of his. there was an unusual swagger in his step. an early drunk's lurching disguised as confidence. (to jpv)

Meme | Still accepting!

"Absolutely." In all honesty he had wanted to leave even sooner, only not bringing it up to avoid spoiling the atmosphere of the event. Everything is just so loud, and crowded, and people kept looking at him or trying to talk to them. Each glance only makes the anxiety bubbling in him grow bigger and bigger, and only gives him even more reason to hide it. So Hyeon's question comes as a relief, even if his reasoning for wanting to leave is a mystery to Jean-Paul.

They get up out of their seat. “You feeling steady there? If you start stumbling feel free to grab my shoulder or something.” He asks and offers, maybe fretting a little too much. Jean-Paul has been far less affected by his alcohol intake than Hyeon, probably a result of his less daring choices in drink mixed with being of a heavier weight class

The evening, while one he wants to get away from right now, has been really nice. Sitting down and chatting and getting introduced to the Legends who he expects he’ll be around a lot for the next while.

“Do you wanna start heading for the apartments?”

[playedbetter]

'I'm sorry about what I said earlier.' (Hyeon to JPV :3c)

Meme / Always Accepting! / @v1r4l

His head perks up from the little work he is getting done on his laptop. Truth be told, they haven't been expecting an apology, it had been a small, honestly probably stupid thing that had upset him. Just got him at the wrong time he supposes. Usually they'd be... normal about being asked about what he'd be up to between seasons but the knot of dread in his stomach was at an unmanageable size and the less he could think about it the better, so claming up and fleeing the scene as quickly as possible had been the result instead.

"It's alright I- sorry about being so odd about it, you were just trying to be conversational," Their voice is sheepish and he rubs the back of his neck, trying to play it off. He doesn't want this to be a thing, he doesn't want any questions, they just want to pretend nothing at all is happening. "Really, water under the bridge,"

There's an awkward pause from Jean-Paul, trying to reach for the right words, cause he doesn't want things to be weird with Hyeon, Hyeon was frankly one of the few people he feels normal around. Finally: "Actually are you free right now? Like, have an hour or two? I want to make use of the training grounds while we're here still and... admittedly it's not much fun on my own,"

[playedbetter]

"Yeah, that's not creepy at all." Hyeon to JPV :)

Meme / Accepting! / @v1r4l/@ko3ak

It was a quiet day, no games were scheduled and no press appearances either. He had found himself drifting around the campus, eventually at the small café like space they had where he had bumped into Hyeon and entered a chat with him. It was nice honestly, even as it had managed to veer into the topic of youth.

He'd been in the midst of explaining how he had spent a lot of time home alone in his youth, and how his father would occasionally and randomly pop in just to hear a report of how they were doing; Like some kind of pop quiz; When Hyeon had interjected.

"It's not that creepy-" His eyes darted away from Hyeon down to his cup of coffee which he idly was stirring. "-Is it? I think that was just his... admittedly a little weird, but not creepy, way of showing he cared? That he wanted to know what was happening in my life?"

Sure it had been disturbing when he found his father going through his computer and notebook, but that was his substitute for conversation, and oh how he longed to have had an honest conversation with his father.