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hi-i-love-u-bitch · 1 year

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Feral AU

A Rottmnt AU where everything is the same except the turtle boys turn out a little more animalistic then usual because Draxum wanted warriors not children. They’re a bit more reminiscent of the turtle species they once were; adding in sharper teeth and claws, and a much more limited range of speech.

Like Splinter is still able to save them and raise them in the sewers and they’re still much more intelligent than an average turtle but they heavily rely more on instinct. Splinter tried teaching them to talk and they can a little but their main form of communication is a series of chirps, clicks, and growls. Which is fine, the most important part is that they UNDERSTAND and are aware of what Splinter is saying. He had a better time teaching them sign language as they seem to better excel in things involving physical movement and motor skills.

SPEAKING OF WHICH!! They are able to learn and pick up Ninjutsu much faster than average and were able to access their Ninpo at an early age. It should be noted that Splinter did NOT teach them Ninjutsu as a means to train them in the ways of the Hamoto clan life mission but as a way to expel all the restless energy those boys had. Draxum had designed them to be warriors so they can’t be idle for too long or they’ll get bored and wreck the den. Splinter needed something physical enough to tire them out as well as something to focus on instead of just mindless destruction.

They are proficient in BOTH hand to hand combat and combat with their weapons.

The boys themselves behave a lot more animalistic, though they still keep some of their distinct personalities:

Raphael

He is an ABSOLUTE UNIT of a boy! You thought he was big before but now he’s an absolute MONSTER of a guy reaching at about 9ft by the time he’s 16yrs! And he’s still growing!

Communicates mainly in growls and deep rumbling churrs, sounds like a fucking motor enginee.

Obviously since he’s the biggest he is the self appointed guardian of the family and he takes his job VERY seriously! Super over protective! Nobody will ever hurt his family on his watch!

He is still very sweet though and a total cuddle bug! Basically the mind set of those HUGE dogs that think they’re a lap dog. Kind of sort of behaves like one as well not gunna lie. His favorite place to nap is atop Splinter’s lap but poor boy is too big so only his head can rest comfortably. Which is fine, Papa still coos and awes at him anyways, always making sure to give him some nice scratchies under his chin.

The best way to know what he’s feeling is to look at his tail, a large scaley, spiky thing that wags when he’s happy!

Still has his stuffed animal collection and enjoys being surrounded by warm soft things. He’s still a little rough when playing with his toys so most often than not they have to be patched up or fixed. He doesn't have as delicate a touch as Mikey does to be able to sew his own things back together so he usually asks Splinter to do it. He has been trying to learn knitting though, it’s a bit slow going due to his massive hands trying to hold regular size knitting needles but he’s getting the hang of it.

Despite that he is very self aware of how big he is and always makes sure to be extra careful when roughhousing with his brothers, especially Donnie.

If any of his brothers get too rowdy and wander off where they’re not supposed to he’ll pick them up like a mama cat with her kittens by the lids of their shells.

He is not above biting people when in a fight, and trust me when I say you do NOT want to be anywhere near those chompers. But he also gives affectionate little nips when playing with others.

The back of his shell is THE best spot to lie atop of when sunbathing! All his brothers plus Splinter can nap atop his shell comfortably and he quite enjoys the comfortable weight they provide as he sleeps.

Not adverse to wearing clothes but then again not a lot can fit his enormous frame and when it does it gets torn up fairly quickly by how rough and clumsy he is. He absolutely loves to wear ribbons though and has an extensive collection of them he keeps in a shoe box. They’re a bit dirty as he’s found them all in the sewers but still quite colorful and pretty. He let’s Mikey and Splinter tie them around his wrists, tail, and neck in cute bows.

As an alligator snapping turtle he is mainly carnivorous but he’ll eat mostly anything really. His favorite being, ironically, fresh fruit especially watermelon.

Still absolutely HATES Miss. Cuddles!

Donatello

The second largest of the group though that’s mainly by height then by build, almost 7ft tall. Long and slender with a thin whip-like tail he can use similar to Splinter when fighting.

Second most protective next to Raph but definitely much more ruthless. If you are not part of his immediate family/clan he could care less of what happens to you.

Also not above biting people, especially his brothers. Though he definatlly has the weakest bite force when compared to the rest of his brothers it still hurts like a mother fucker.

A Lot more cat-like in nature compared to Raph. The key to Donnie's mood is in his body language, seemingly ever calculated and graceful, and in his eyes. All the turtles have slit-like pupils that can narrow and expand depending on their environment but Donnie's seem to function a lot more with his emotions as well.

He’s definitely still the smartest amongst his brothers, ever curious about the world around him and is the only one Splinter was able to teach how to read successfully. Though quite like Raph, Donnie prefers to communicate through clicks and chirps, though he’s more fluent in ASL then the rest of his siblings.

He’s still quite a talented engineer though his inventions tend to look quite rough as they are mainly scraped together using whatever junk he finds laying around. He isn’t all that bothered by how things look so long as they work how they’re supposed to.

Unfortunately, safety in science is not his first priority which has led to quite a lot of injury. Burns scars form electricity and harsh chemicals as well as cuts from shap tools and raw metal edges. Splinter had to practically force him into wearing at least gloves and goggles while he worked by threatening to take away his tool box.

He hissed and growled and snapped at Splinter for a full week and a half but eventually caved.

(Still just as stubborn and hardheaded)

His favorite thing to make is bombs because we all know that every iteration of Donnie ever is a pyromaniac.

Donnie does have a battle shell (made out of scrap metal and memory foam to cushion the inside) but he rarely ever wears it, unless absolutely necessary. Splinter has always been wary of Donnie and his most vulnerable area but aside from keeping his middle child constantly wrapped in bubble wrap the only other thing Splinter could think to do was teach Donnie how to defend himself as a regular human would.

Though they aren’t completely cold blooded Donnie HATES being cold and is usually wearing either large hoodies or sweaters. But he absolutely despises pants!

He still loves to dance! Especially to groovy 80s jams and electro pop!

He’ll eat about almost anything you put in front of him though he seems to enjoy more soft and mushy foods as well as any kind of seafood.

Still terrified of beach balls.

Leonardo

He’s a little more normal in height though that still leaves him at 6ft and growing. A stockier built around the shoulders with long sturdy legs that can deal pretty powerful blows.

His tail is pretty thin, almost boney in texture, flat too, and only about 10in long. It moves a lot like Raph’s tail does, wags when happy, tucked between when scared, and droopy when tired.

He talks the most out of all his brothers though it's quite choppy and sounds a lot more like warbling chirps then words. His “turtle speak” involves a lot more clicks and high pitched chirps, almost sounding quite bird like.

He and Raph are neck in neck when it comes to their skills in ninjutsu, though Raph excels more in defense while Leo is obviously more offensive.

He’s not much of a biter but he will claw a mother fucker’s eyes out if need be.

Though he is a lot more easily distracted and can be quite lazy at times, preferring much more to play than train. Splinter has to constantly find ways to keep Leo focused on the task at hand which usually involves turning things into puzzle games.

Donatello may be the smartest among them but Leo is a scarily good stradagest when given proper motivation.

Definitely still the most confident and charismatic. He’s always the leader of things whenever mischief is afoot. That usually involves reckless stunts Leo wants to try out after seeing it on tv or during one of their many Lou Jitsu marathons.

His ability to create portals does not help Splinter in his endeavor to stop Leo’s trouble making.

He and Donnie spend the most time in water, to the point where Splinter had to build a large shallow pool in the middle of the lair for the boys to soak in. It isn’t a bad thing if they’re dry but if they so happend to get sick it’s best to keep them in water to help them heal faster.

He has slept in the pool before and it scared the shit out of Splinter the first few times it happened because he thought Leo had drowned.

Is the most adversed to wearing clothes, it restricts him too much and he doesn’t like that. The only “clothing” he tolerates are the straps for his weapons and a blue cloth he uses as a bandana for his head. He’s okay with certain hats and neckerchiefs so long as they don’t get in the way.

Again, will eat literally anything though he likes a lot of water based veggies or anything with a good crunch to it.

Not a lot seems to frighten Leo though Splinter isn’t sure if that’s due to bravery or naivety on Leo’s part. That boy seems to not have any self preservation skills what so ever.

Michelangelo

The smallest amongst his brothers though that’s mainly due to him being the runt of the clutch he originally hatched from. Has more of a lean and limber build which makes him a great climber and the fastest out of all of them.

Has the sharpest claws of the group, which really help out a lot with the whole climbing aspect. Mikey is always atop of something, swinging down from seemingly out of nowhere. His favorite perch however is atop of his brothers’ is shoulders, especially Raph since he’s the biggest.

You’d think with the claws he’d be more prone to scratching but that is not entirely true. Either way once he latches on there is very little you can do to get him off unless he wants to.

The cutest little stubby tail you’ve ever seen! It wags like a little bunny rabbit!

He and Leo are the most hyper and energetic of the four, with Raph and Donnie being a bit more low energy. If they don’t have something to focus on they’ll cause all kinds of mayhem, running around all over the lair causing chaos and destruction.

He’s just as fluent in ASL as Donnie is and also just as talkative as Leo is, though still choppy due to limited range in vocal cords. His chirps and clicks in “turtle speak” sound a lot more monkey like though less high pitched “ooo’s” and more tenor based trills.

Definitely the most empathetic amongst his brothers when it comes to outsiders. He’s still weary, don’t get him wrong, but he’s a lot more curious. Even in this universe Mikey still very much wants to make friends!

Still the very creative; loves to draw and paint, and is very messy about it. His favorite place to paint is on his brothers’ shells! They don’t mind of course and they really do enjoy how colorful and bright Mikey decorates them. (Always make sure to use washable, hypoallergenic paints kids!)

Mikey LOVE clothing! He thinks it's so fun to dress up and will sometimes even make his own clothes out of cloth scraps that he finds. Has delicate enough motor skills that Splinter was able to teach him how to crudely sew and stitch things together.

Is the most picky eater out of all of them, though that happened after he learned how to cook. Once he figured out that food could actually taste GOOD when you put effort into it he could never go back to just eating whatever. This was both a blessing and curse with Splinter because on one hand they couldn’t exactly be picky about what they ate with their circumstances. But on the other hand they had a lot more variety and nutrition when Mikey was in charge of cooking.

Before meeting April and her mom (more on them later) as they could not exactly go out shoping for beef and chicken, a lot of the turtles’ protein came from bugs. And as picky an eater Mikey is now he still actually prefers eating bugs over regular meat. His favorites are grasshoppers and earthworms.

He is afraid of the dark and does not like sleeping alone.

Splinter/Lou Jitsu/Hamato Yoshi

Splinter has obviously gone through the most change out of everyone, going from human to mutant rat overnight is definitely not good for your mental health. To physically lose your humanity is one thing but psychologically as well is just a whole other can of worms.

He’s still himself, mentally and personality wise, but sometimes he gets these “episodes”. They usually happen when he’s under stress or backed into a corner (both physically or emotionally). He’ll revert into a more animalistic and primative mental state, somewhat like his boys if a little more “savage”. He’s hostile and aggressive, he can’t talk or even properly communicate at all, possibly not even understanding how to do so. Thankfully he’s never hurt his boys in that state, as even then he still sees them as his children who he must protect.

Has a chunk missing from his left ear courtesy of Raph from when he was a baby and teething. He has a lot of bits and scratch marks from his kids, mainly from rough housing and temper tantrums.

If he had the funding he would absolutely spoil these boys rotten, though as it is the boys aren’t very materialistic and hardly even understand the concept of money.

He’s kept every single gift his sons have made for him. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.

Out of all of his boys Donnie is the clingiest, even as a teen. Splinter doesn’t mind though he insists that one day Donnie will grow out of it eventually. (He won’t, he’s a complete daddy’s boy!)

Though all the turtles are bipedal, more often than not they’ll be running around on all fours, which is fine, whatever makes them comfortable. What Splinter does mind though is that he’ll catch himself doing the same thing, like if his body is unconsciously mirroring what is “natural” to him. He doesn’t like to think about the implications of what that means.

As a rat, Splinter has a lot anxiety and awareness of his surroundings do to his heightened senses. Perhaps its from the fact that he is naturally considered prey in the food chain of the animal kingdom. Either way, sometimes he’ll have really bad days of extreme anxiety. He’ll feel like he’s in danger and needs to hide himself and his boys someplace safe. They cannot leave the lair at all during those days and the boys need to stay within Splinter’s line of sight at all times or he will absolutly freak the fuck out.

He lives in constant perpetual fear that either Draxum is still alive (Spoiler: he is) and looking for them or that Big Mama will discover them and force them to fight in the Battle Nexus.

Splinter is face blind. He already had ATROCIOUS eyesight when he was a human, it got even worse when he became a rat. Which is why he color codes the boys cuz if not they’d all just be green blobs. This is also an excuse for cutesy nicknames!

Leo: Baby blue, Little blue moon, My tiny Blueberry boy, Blue Jay/Blue bird

Raph: Little Robin, Rose bud, Big Red, My precious little flame

Donnie: Little violet, My brilliant amethyst, Tiny storm cloud, Sweet plum

Mikey: Sunshine, My shining star, Baby tangerine, Little goldfish

All: My Precious Treasures, My beautiful boys, Little ones

[[Let me know if you guys wanna know more about this AU]]

[[To be Continued….]]

#rottmnt #save rottmnt #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt raph #rottmnt leo #rottmnt mikey #rottmnt splinter #feral au #bunny writes

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grollow · 2 years

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grimm + battle!

OH BOY OH BOY I am SO glad you asked me this because I have been thinking about this a LOT lately for Red Sky.

I'm going with the most literal interpretation of this ask because I don't want to give too much away about what is coming in Red Sky, but:

My belief is that Grimm's physical capabilities are actually on the lower end. This is why he doesn't fight with weapons but his claws; it is easier to imbue magic into his fighting style without extra steps. This is also why you get stronger magic in the Nightmare Realm where he's at his best. Speed is his strong suit (lol speed demon boss) and he plays to his advantages.

I do not imagine he was a natural at learning to fight either. I fully picture him getting knocked around a LOT while he was learning, and relying heavily on magic more than anything else. He eventually learned to treat it more like dancing with extra steps and that made him better at combat.

#headcanon ask meme #thethrillof #thank you for letting me ramble about my favorite

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mercysought · 1 year

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If we're talking about fighting styles, the priestess is, of course, a blood mage which is her main speciality but the two others that have a huge impact are both: force magic and nature (what the wiki calls it and what most keepers technically specialise themselves in)

There are two main ways that she usually acts during a fight:

One that relies most heavily on blood magic, and this is especially used against people that have the ability (be them templars or mages) to attempt to remove her mana or any other magic means and, most often, mages themselves.

Most often she is a physical fighter and will be in melee, having twisted her body with her own blood to form something closer to claws (which I feel would very likely look like an abomination of sorts if one was to look in a glance). However, she also uses that blood magic as a way to affect other people's minds by taking them over and also to twist spirits if it becomes necessary (the latter it's not so much that she feels any sort of reverence towards spirits as Solas might, it is because they become unruly and chaotic quickly)

Force magic is particularly important when she is in melee since it helps her get the upper hand in combat, either by knocking people off their feet or to have them move in a way that she wants them to.

In others, though less frequently, especially during Inquisition, she uses a combination of blood magic and nature magic. This allows her to become a sort of nature abomination, almost like a mech that she can have her body protected from. The reason why she doesn't use it during the Inquisition is both her body is not quite ready for such things, and the fact that she is paranoid. she doesn't want to draw any more attention than she has already

Now, keep in mind, most of these are incredibly taxing. Physically and mentally. The physical part is the main part that holds her back in the beginning of Inquisition and why she was so hellbent in returning to her peak physical shape.

It took her years and a lot of training to get to where she is, brutal but restrained, while someone might look from the outside and think that she is vicious (and she is) there is also pure discipline behind it. She was after all a general once. I think that anyone that paid close attention or trains with her might be able to discern that for someone that is "dalish" or a "tevinter runaway" she has a lot of fighting experience.

It took her even longer to get used to the life of not having a group of healers at her disposal which she had during the Evanuris war :')

#the priestess ( headcanon )#blood magic tw

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bringerofplagues · 1 year

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The Bizarre Masterpiece of JoJos Bizarre Adventure Part 4

My goal with this essay will be to illustrate why I found Stardust Crusaders disappointing and how i think Diamond Is Unbreakable managed to fix everything wrong with part 3 and became my favorite JoJo part. I will mention that the only part of the manga that i have read is stone ocean, which means i will not be taking Steel Ball Run and JoJolion into account.

Now in order to understand the problem with Stardust Crusaders we have to understand Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency. Phantom Blood focuses on Jonathan Joestar and his battle with his evil vampire adopted brother Dio Brando. Jonathan's ability to fight Dio and his underlings comes from his mastery of Hamon, a sun energy that is controlled through the breath. Phantom Blood is by far the shortest JoJo part and as such it lacks a lot of character work and interesting fight choreography, and really it should be understand as backstory for the rest of the story. One important part is that Jonathan is capable of using a sword to conduct Hamon, thus introducing the theme that certain materials can be used to contain Hamon and sent it into an opponent. The second part of JoJos is Battle Tendency, following Joseph Joestar, Jonathan's grandchild. During Battle Tendency a group of 4 ancient beings known as the Pillar Men awaken. It is revealed that they were the ones who made the stone mask that turned Dio into a vampire, and that they are weak to the sun and Hamon. It is now up to Joseph and his friend / rival Ceasar to master Hamon and defeat the Pillar Men. While Ceasar starts out being adept at Hamon, Joseph instead focuses on analyzing his opponents moves, almost always being able to predict what they are going to say, and uses trickery to win his battles. Where Jonathan relied heavily on his strength to win battles Josephs specific fighting style allows for much more interesting fights. Every battle ends up feeling unique, Joseph will almost always come up with a new trick to counter his specific opponent and seeing him figure out how to outsmart his opponent is a delight.

JoJos next and third part is the widely popular Stardust Crusaders, following Josephs grandchild Jotaro Kujo, a Japanese high school student. This part introduces stands, which are probably the most famous thing from the entire series. These ghost like figures are representations of a persons fighting spirit and each comes with a series of stats describing its physical fighting ability as well as what is known as a stand ability, an ability which is unique to each stand. Jotaro suddenly gets a stand, and Joseph reveals that Dio is back, all though now refered to as DIO in all caps. It turns out that during the end of Phantom Blood Dio was able to steal Jonathans body and he has now used a mysterious arrow to give himself a stand. But since DIO has Josephs body this action has also given every member of the Joestar bloodline a stand due to the spiritual connection between them. Jotaros mother and Holly, who is the daughter of Joseph, is dying from her stand and so Jotaro must team up with the group that will be known as the stardust crusaders in order to defeat DIO and save Holly. This group consists Muhammad Avdol whose stand Magicians Red can throw fire at people, Jean Pierre Polnareff with the sword wielding stand Silver Chariot, Noriaki Kakoyin who can fire emeralds from his stand Hierophant Green and Josephs whose stand Hermit Purple has little to no combat strength but can be used to show him visions of what he wishes to see using different mediums (mainly destroying cameras). Magicians Purple has also been confirmed by the series’ creator Araki to be a representation of Josephs Hamon. The gang later gets joined by the dog Iggy whose stand the Fool can morph sand into different shapes. The problem with Stardust Crusaders, at least for me, is that all though all of the crusaders have their own interesting abilities they are almost never used and a large majority of fights ends with Jotaro punching someone. Gone are the days where a battle was about finding different and unique ways to defeat your opponent, now it’s just about getting Jotaro into punching range. The reason for this is that Jotaros stand ability is only revealed during the last fight against DIO. DIOs stand The World has the ability to stop time, and only those who can stop time can move while it is stopped. Early on in the fight Jotaro notices how similar The World and Star Platinum are, and it is hinted at that this is when he realizes his stand ability. The fight continues and Jotaro tries to hide his power to stop time from DIO, at one point using magnets to trick DIO into believing that he couldn’t actually stop time and was just using the magnets to trick DIO. While this fight and the twist of Jotaros stand ability are great and worth the set up, they come at the price of all of Jotaros prior fights having to be without the use of a stand ability, thus making it a lot harder to making them feel unique and interesting. And this wouldn’t have been a problem if this part of JoJo had better utilized the other members of the Stardust Crusaders. Noone embodies this problem more clearly than Jospeh. See Joseph has what i consider the best fight in the entire season, when he fights the stand user Nena, whose stand the Empress attaches itself to his arm and threatens to kill him, but because it is attached to him if he tries to hurt it he will hurt himself. This leads Joseph to having to run around the town trying to minimize the damage he does to it’s inhabitants while he figures out how to defeat his enemy. At one point he rolls around in some dust while fighting the Empress, and it is later revealed that he used his stand Hermit Purple on the dust in order to show him the route some coal tar, which would allow him to fossilize the Empress stand, get it off his arm and destroy it. This fight perfectly utilizes Joseph as a character, he runs away which is a technique he used a lot in Battle Tendency and he ultimately wins by tricking his opponent. The sad thing is that this is the only time in Stardust Crusaders we get see Joseph like this, despite there being 2 perfect opportunities for Joseph to do something interesting. The first one is during a fight against a Stand known as the sun. This Stand doesn’t fight opponents directly but instead slowly raises the heat coming from the sun thus killing its enemies from heat exposure. As such the point of this battle is not to defeat the stand but to find the stand user and beat them before the gang dies. It turns out the stand user was hiding behind a mirror, which the gang noticed because part of the dessert was perfectly mirrored. The problem is that Joseph is the only person not to notice. Joseph, a fighter who has time and time again used his ability to notice the smallest of details to predict his opponent, even to the point of knowing what they will say, is the only person who doesn’t notice. This straight up doesn’t feel in line with his character. And then there is the fight against Alessi,which many fans have wanted Joseph to participate in. Alessis stand allows him to age down his opponent, weakening them and their stands to the point of being unable to fight. This fight mainly just includes Alessi trying to hunt down and kill a child Polnareff before getting beaten up by a child Jotaro using Star Platinum. Now i want to state up front that Araki has said that the reason Joseph wasn’t in this fight is because he doesn’t like doing things just because of fan service. While i agree with this sentiment, i do think there is a legitimate good reason for Joseph to be in this fight instead of Polnareff and Jotaro. Remember before he had Hermit Purple, Josephs main weapon was his Hamon, and while it can’t directly hurt someone who is not a vampire or Pillar Man, it can be used to manipulate objects. For example Joseph uses it to make a bottle of cola bubble over so he can launch bottle cap into the face of a racist police officer. There is also the fact that non stand users can’t see stands, which means Joseph would have to find another way to avoid getting attacked by Alessi. We could have had a fight where a young Joseph has to find creative ways to use his Hamon to indirectly harm Alessi, all the while he has to use his ability of prediction to avoid getting killed. Yes, this fight would have been fan servicy, but it would also have been a completely unique fight for the series, the most creative and interesting Hamon user against a stand user. It was a perfect opportunity to break the monotony of Stardust Crusaders, and instead we got another fight where Jotaro wins by punching someone really hard.

So, how does Diamond is Unbreakable fix this? To answer that i am gonna give you a short introduction to this part. Here we follow Josephs young son Josuke, whom he had with a woman during a business trip to Japan and who is a lot younger than Jotaro. Josuke doesn’t know his father and instead grew up with his mother and grandfather in the small town of Morio. Early in his life Josuke got sick because of the Joestar family stand shenanigans that DIO started just like what happened to Holly and he ended up getting saved by a man with a pompadour, which is why he mimics that hairstyle and gets very mad if someone makes fun of it. At the start of the series Josukes granddad gets killed by a stand wielding serial killer named Angelo, partly because Josuke doesn’t bother looking after Angelo after imprisoning him. Feeling guilty for the death of his grandfather, who was a police officer, Josuke swears to take up his mandle as the defender of Morio, and together with his friends he forms the Morio defenders protecting the city from malicious stand users. As it turns out there is another serial killer in town, named Kira, who uses his stand Killer Queen to blow up women and steal their hands which he will then date until they rot. The series has a large focus on the city of Morio, as well as its community of stand users and tracking down Kira. In one of the earliest scenes of the series Josuke is showed trying to help a turtle get to safety, establishing him as kind and caring, a fact which is referenced by his stand. His stand is named Crazy Diamond and while it is physically a lot weaker than Star Platinum it can fix any object after punching it, but if Josuke doesn’t concentrate the object will be fixed wrong. He can also use Crazy Diamond to heal people, but he can’t heal himself and he can’t bring people back from death. And this is the fist improvement from Stardust Crusaders, Josuke is by no means weak but he is no where near as strong as Jotaro and his stand power forces him to think of how he can creatively use it to defeat his opponents. Another great fact about Diamond Is Unbreakable is that a lot of the time after defeating a foe, said foe will join the Morio Defenders. See most enemies in Stardust Crusaders would be permanently “out of action” and only a select few villains would return. But in Diamond Is Unbreakable most villains get to appear again and you get to see them in another fight or two, and everyone gets their fair share of fights. Yes Josuke is the main character and gets the most attention, everyone else still gets a satisfying amount of fights. The stand abilities are also a lot more interesting than in part 3. In part 3 we had stand abilities like “it lets its user control bullets from his gun” or “it kills people with fog”. In DIU we have a stand that takes the form of an electric pylon, its user can’t leave the pylon unless someone else enters it and then they get caught inside of it until someone new enters. Also if you attack the pylon it reflects the damage back at you. But, i didn’t call DIU a masterpiece just because it has fun battles, so i am now gonna start talking about themes and characters.

Like i said, one of the themes of part 4 is community, the Morio defenders all come together to stop Kira and each contributes in their own way, but the one character who does the most in order to track down Kira is Rohan Kishibe. Rohan is a mangaka and he has the stand Heavens Door, allowing him to turn peoples faces into books, and anything he writes in them will happen. See, the defenders fist find out about Kira because Rohan wants to visist an alley haunted by ghosts, and there he meets a girl named Remi who is the ghost of Kiras first victim. Later in that same episode, while visiting her grave, Rohan finds out that not only was he friends with Remi, he was in her home on the night that she died and he only survived because she hid him in a bush. It is after this that Rohan starts looking for Kira. At one point, after having been found by Josuke and Jotaro Kira forces another stand user to swap his face with another mans, before killing the two of them and escaping with his new identity. It is Rohan who manages who finds a kid named Hayato, the son of the man whose face Kira stole. Hayato want’s to stop Kira but can’t since Kira has unlocked a new part of his stand, this allows him to plant a bomb inside Hayato that will explode if he tells anyone about Kira which will kill the person he told before turning time back to a specific point, and only Hayato will be able to remember what happened. Even tho he dies, Rohan does manage to tell Hayato that he is waiting on someone, a fact that will be important when i discuss Hayatos character. Now it is never stated explicitly but i chose to interpret Rohans actions after learning about his past with Remi as stemming from a feeling that now it is personal. See Rohan isn’t exactly a good guy, hell he starts out as a villain, but finding out that Remi was his friend, finding out that something so traumatic happened to him, i think this angers the deeply selfish Rohan which is why he works so hard to find Kira. But this is also part of his character ark, Rohan starts out being very eccentric and while he still is at the end of the series, him joining the hunt for Kira allows him to befriend a lot of people, mainly the highly reliable Koichi Hirose, and when Remi leaves Morio, finally being able to go to the afterlife Rohan is able to admit that he will miss her. It is through the hunt for Kira that Rohan can join the community.

The next character i want to discuss is Hayato along with the theme of denying fate. Hayato is a lonely and sad kid, who realizes that his dad is no longer acting like himself and finds out that his dad has been replaced with a serial killer. Now like previously stated non-stand users can’t see stands so Hayato has no idea what is going on or how Kira does the things he does. Another trait to Kira is his incredible luck, whenever it seems something is about to go wrong for Kira he gets lucky and finds a way out, so to Hayato it seems like Kira is destined to win. And yet he persists, he keeps trying to find a way to beat him and each time the time loop resets, each time he fails he tries again. In the end he manages to use Kiras pride against him. Since Hayato can’t tell others about Kira, he gets him to say his name out loud in a spot where Josuke will hear out, thus leading to the final Confrontation between the two. Since Kiras ability to reverse time only triggers if Hayato is the one to reveal his secret it doesn’t go into effect at this point, and when Josuke begins to ponder whether it was fate or coincidence that led him to find Kira, Hayato proclaims that it was neither, and was instead a gamble. Despite only getting introduced late in the season Hayato is an incredibly important character, it is only through his determination, willingness to go against fate and will to do good that Kira is defeated. Thus Hayato inhabits many of the themes of the season.

Kira is the second to last character i want to discuss, and i want to argue that he is the dark mirror to Josuke and the Morio Defenders. First of all, during the part of the season where the Defenders are looking for Kira the song “Chase” is used as the intro song. The musician MasakoXtreme has made an excellent English cover for this song that i highly recommend you listen to, and it is the version i will be using.The song discusses how the POV characters has lost all they know to some evil force and how they are now finding themselves in a world that seems unknown to them. This character proclaims that they will chase the person who took all of this from them no matter what, and that the monster tenacity will be their doom. The reason i bring this song up is because it can be understood as being both from the perspective of Kira and Josuke. While Josuke has lost a friend to Kiras murders (more on that in the next paragraph) but one of Kiras main traits is his desire to live a normal life without too much attention. This simple life was taken away from Kira when the Morio defenders started investigating and forced him to change his face. Then there is the idea that a persons tenacity will be their doom, as i have stated one of the main themes of the heroes of this story is their determination, they are all very tenacious. And then there is the idea of chasing the monster, this references the cat and mouse game between Kira and the Defenders, both trying to chase down and defeat the other. Kira shares many of the traits that define someone like Josuke. He is willing to keep fighting no matter how bleak the situation is, but since he doesn’t have Josukes kindness and so what he fights for is the ability to continue killing people. Kira is also very conventionally attractive. I bring this up because there is a tendency within character design to use attractiveness to show off a characters morality, the idea being that a their outside reflects their inside. So an ugly character would reflect and ugly an evil personality, while a handsome character would be good and kind. But Kira is attractive which means he takes on a trait typically associated with a hero. This also plays together with his desire to live a simple life without attention, given how many successful serial killers in real life are able to seem like normal people, putting on a mask of someone who is well functioning and often very charming. By being handsome it is easier for Kira to fit in and gain the trust of people around him. And while on this topic it would be a mistake not to bring up the famous “I am Yoshikage Kira” speech, in which Kira describes his daily routine to one of Josukes friends who found the hand Kira was dating at that time. While i won’t present it here, and i do recommend you look it up, all you really need to know is that this speech presents and utterly normal routine with nothing that seems odd or out of place, yet the way Kira and his voice actor deliver it it still manages to feel truly unsettling.

Now it is time for us to finally go into depth with the protagonist of the story: Josuke. First of all i want to expand on my point that Josuke has taken up the mantle of the defender of Morio from his grandfather. See, as i have mentioned Kira kills one of Josukes friends, a child named Shigechi, and this is what motivates Josuke to begin hunting down Kira. The thing is he knew about Kira before Shigechi died, Rohan had already met Remi at this point and told the rest of the Defenders about the serial killer, yet Josuke had done little to nothing to find Kira, he hadn’t even warned his friends that they might be in danger, so Shigechi didn’t know about Kira. Much like how Josukes dad died because Josuke had not taken the job of guarding Angelo seriously, Shigechi died because Josuke had not taken the threat of Kira seriously. This represents a pivotal moment in Josukes character arc. While he does genuinely want to defend his city and the people he cares about, Josuke is still by large the kid he was when his grandfather died, it is only when Shigechi died that Josuke realizes how big a threat Kira is and that when dealing with someone like Kira one can not simply wait around for them to make move, you have to take the situation more seriously than that. Another interesting thing about Josuke is his relationship to the name of the season “Diamond is unbreakable”. Josukes stand is named Crazy Diamond, and as stated a stand represents the fighting spirit of its owner. So if Crazy Diamond is the diamond the title references, that would mean Josukes fighting spirit can not be broken. Again, one of the main characteristics of the heroes of this story is their tenacity and Josuke fully embodies this. Then there is his kindness. When Jotaro finds out how Josukes stand ability he refers to it as “kinder than anything else”. It is this kindness that allows Josuke to form the Morio Defenders who help him protect his city, instead of putting his foes out of action he befriends them and adds them to his team. The sense of community that matters so much to the themes of DIU can only exist because Josuke spares his enemies whenever he can. An example of this in practice is Josuke sparing and agreeing to help the Nejmura brothers and befriending Okuyasu Nejmura. During the final battle Okuyasu willingly sacrifices himself (all though he doesn’t die don’t worry) to aid Josuke, and if he hadn’t done that it is likely that Josuke would have been unable to defeat Kira. While Josuka takes on his grandfathers role as the defender of Morio, it is also not a role he must play alone, and through the connections he makes he crafts a powerful bond, a bond that is as unbreakable as diamond.

#jjba #jjba part 4 #jojos #diamond is unbreakable

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meteor752 · 1 month

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Who of the kids would win in a life series?

OOOOOOOOOOO

I actually haven't thought about this, but like I'm having just all the thoughts right now

Cause they all know the ins and outs of the series, every little loophole you'd be able to abuse, so knowledge-wise they're all on the same wavelength.

Liana has the Scar-licensed Silver tongue, but considering all the other kids know her and her tricks that ability wouldn't help her for too long. She does have the long-range advantage, being the only one skilled with the bow, but that's her only combat experience. Her odds are low

Wes is physically tanky, so he can both deal a lot of damage and take a lot of hits, but he’s also extremely anxious and would probably be afraid to hurt people. He also relies on his bulk, so heavy armor and shields isn’t his priority, meaning weak spots can easily be exploited. I doubt he’d win, but he’d make it a bit, possibly top three

Gertrude is a redstoner which means she’s capable of complicated traps, she’s a good physical fighter, and she has the advantage of being a fricking werewolf. Her biggest weakness is her own intelligence, mainly when it comes to logic reasoning, and let’s be honest here, trust. She’s quite easy to fool this one. So while she could possibly win the whole thing, she could also be the first one out lol.

Johnny is the son of two curses, so you know that’s not great. I mean, those curses are broken (was Tango’s curse broken? I can’t remember lol) but it’s still a disadvantage. Johnny is thought a fire demon, and can inflict second degree burns just by biting someone, and he’s also an animal wrangler and talented with both the lasso and whip. He does have the same problem as Wes, in that he doesn’t really wanna kill people. I don’t think he has the worst odds (unless he has the canary curse), so he could possibly make it to the top three.

Jassy wins. Just, no question, she wins. She’s a ninja and expert in many forms of combat, and she’s stealthy like it’s nobody’s business. And while she does care for her friends, she’s not afraid to kill them in cold blood to win. Jassy is the winner. Congrats anime girl

Jekiv is where things get complicated, because a very important question is posed. Does he get to keep his magic or not? Because if Jek has fricking necromancy, he’s winning. Like no shot. Jassy can be as talented as she wants, she’s not fighting an army of undead. But if he doesn’t have his magic, then Jekiv’s only option is an alliance with Wes, and even then he’s on thin ice.

Novo is not getting far. He’s small, frail, with negative charm and no self preservation. The only thing he’s got going for him is his unpredictably, something that will not get him very far. If Jekiv can’t use magic, then he might be the second one out, but if not then he’s out first, no doubt.

So the most probable order would be either

Jekiv-Novo-Liana-Gertrude-Johnny-Wes-Jassy

Novo-Liana-Gertrude-Johnny-Wes-Jassy-Jekiv

It is a little funny how Jek, Novo, and Liana are the children of the six winners, yet they’d be completely awful in these games lol

Also I am, heavily considering making actual traffic designs for them, like color indicators and all, so you know we’ll see if I get around to doing that

#double life smp #dlsmp #dlsmp fankids #dlsmp children #double life fankids #liana no last name given #Wes Double-Sv #Gertrude Statz-Diggity Dawg #Johnathan ‘Johnny’ Tek #jassy smallishbeans #Jekiv Inthelittlewood #Novo Major-Moon #Life series au #Life game au

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xlmains · 2 years

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Lugaru mods

Lugaru mods mod#

Loading times are also quite long, as the loading consists of rendering a large field as well as the option to instantly load. There are a lot of scenes in the two story modes, but each scene lasts a few minutes at the most (excluding screw ups). The story portrays itself as scenarios where Turner must defeat all the enemies in the area, or accomplish platforming through the use of parkour. With a ten-year development cycle, I did expect more from the story mode. Making your own game engine is an impressive feat for any developer. The wolves are a unique set of enemies that have clear distinct advantages over Turner, but a knowledge of the combat system can make quick work of these supposedly overwhelming foes. The enemy variety is small and contains others like rats, cats, dogs, and terrifying wolves. In a way, this evens out the playing field. The most interesting aspect about the combat system is that almost every attack and weapon that Turner can use, his enemies can use as well. Damage by hand-to-hand combat can be rather inconsistent at times, but in a way, it feels like real life, and I personally like that aspect, as it adds a uniqueness to Overgrowth that very few games have. Turner can use weapons to dispatch his enemies, such as knives, swords, and rapiers. In most situations if there are simply too many enemies to fight, one can take a stealthy approach to eliminate them one by one. Rolling and jumping play an important role in combat as well. As stated previously, attacking is dependent on how close or far your enemies are, and if you are unarmed or not. Even though the game only uses one button to attack, it has such an attention to detail that it never feels repetitive. The combat of Overgrowth is nothing I’ve ever experienced in a game. I would very much like to see a parkour based platform game use this engine one of these days. The sense of weight carried is utilized masterfully and I found myself in many cases simply just jumping around in the world. Characters will move faster and slower depending on the trajectory of the terrain, and jumping cannot be altered once the motion is carried. Everything, from the fighting to the way movement is used is tied to the engine. Phoenix relies very heavily on physics for both its movement and combat system, and both are woven together wonderfully in a grand display. The Phoenix Engine is the engine used by the developers, and one that was developed in-house. Moral Warnings: Blood, violence and murder fantasy racism

Lugaru mods mod#

Weak Points: Long loading times huge levels not used to their full advantage too reliant on mod support Strong Points: A simple, yet intricate combat system and physics engine Steam Workshop support All the actions can rebind to something else if the default controls are too weird or uncomfortable. It takes some time getting used to the odd scheme, but it really does make sense once everything starts to click together. The camera is operated by the mouse or right control stick, and most of your actions such as attacking, jumping, and rolling are used by the mouse buttons or bumpers and triggers on the controller. As Turner is a rabbit, most attacks will use his feet, but he sometimes uses his fists as well.Ī strange set of controls, Overgrowth is operated similar to a first or a third-person shooter rather than a typical 3D action game. Depending on how you move, and how close you are to the enemy, you will use different attacks. What separates Overgrowth from other action games is that your attacks are all context-sensitive. The story is merely an excuse to have situations where our rabbit friend can lay the smackdown on whoever happens to be in the way of his ignoble journey. Overgrowth (a sequel to Lugaru) stars an anthropomorphic rabbit named Turner who, after he witnessed the murder of his friends and family, and went on a quest to avenge them, is now trying to find a new purpose in his life in the corrupt world he lives in. It took them a long time, but they finally managed to release Overgrowth. During that time frame, the developers of Wolfire Games decided on quite the ambition: to create a context-sensitive action game based on their previous game, Lugaru (Loo-Gah-Roo). In 2008, I was just getting out of middle school and going into high school, and now far past the days of college. Thank you Humble Bundle for sending us this game to review.

#Lugaru mods

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kicktwine · 3 years

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do you have more thoughts on keyblade fighting that you need to put somewhere, because i have two hands ready to catch Should The Need Arise

anon: hey I heard you mention you’d analysed the combat styles in KH and what you said in the tags was already alluding to really neat stuff, but I for one would love to hear more of what you came up with!! so if you ever wanted to share any of your analysis then the floor is yours

aHAH, MY EXCUSE!!

Okay, so first some words on “standardized wielding styles”. These are styles shared by Terra, Aqua, Vanitas, Riku, and Xehanort and every other scala and daybreak kid. I will make the argument that the red style is the fanciest standard style, while the purple is seen often to make it easier on the little chibi sprites. BUT, I cannot discredit Eraqus, who uses the purple variant in bbs, nor can I discredit half of the Foretellers (Gula and Ava, at least, use this. Invi and Aced use the first type). So, two standard styles. For simplicity, let’s say one for primary offense, one for primary defense. The standard offensive style really wasn’t popular before Scala-era society.

check this difference out, specifically between ava invi and gula:

then between eraqus, hermod, and xehanort, and eraqus and terra.

These two were likely popularized and standardized for education in Scala ad Caelum for their predominant lack of obvious weak spots.

After this, we have unique styles. Those include Sora Kairi and Xion’s (similar to standard defense, but more mobile at the expense of form — Kairi takes after Sora but less confident, she hasn’t been hit that heavily yet), Ven’s (backhand, heavy range and mobility), Roxas’ (modified for two keyblades, but takes after Sora), and Axel’s (taught himself, comfortable with chakrams).

So! Let’s go.

Standard (offensive)

All styles have sub-variations, of a sense. Different wielders can choose where their keyblade points, and how they hold it exactly, based on what makes them most comfortable. Terra and Aqua point theirs downward, while Vanitas and Riku hold theirs above their head. What is recognizeable to this style is a hand for the sword, and a hand for guarding/blocking/items/magic.

It’s incredibly efficient. With only one hand on the weapon, you not only free up a hand for other things, but increase your range of movement with said weapon. Test it out yourself! The keyblade hand is always your dominant hand, held behind you for increased power when attacking (since you lose a significant amount of it by choosing not to grip with both hands). This style also decreases the speed of the defense you have, but with that increased mobility and swing power, along with a hand free to brace against the keyblade (defense strength up!), it makes up for it. Many people who use this also have strong barrier spells — both a testament to their preference for coverage and an acknowledgement that any directional block will take a little longer and be weaker if they try it with one hand.

The pointy end, though. What difference does it actually make, the height it’s at?

I think it’s half a matter of attack style preference and half intention. Riku, Vanitas, and Xehanort stab quite a bit. Aqua and Terra slice more. Not that they don’t do both, but it’s the first instinct. Aqua and Terra are also likely taught to hold their keyblade neutrally, in a safe position, until someone starts attacking. It’s polite! Eraqus also holds his one-handed, neutrally, until he gets into position. Riku and Vanitas learned to fight assuming everyone was out to fight them. Invi and Aced may like this style because of range (i hc she’s blind and strikes very very quickly, and he’s already very powerful with just the one arm and wants better motion).

and on character specifics: Terra often switches to two-handed, to copy his dad and add extra power to his hits without always sacrificing the empty hand. Vanitas likely was forced to relearn how to fight, as instead of solely being trained to be better at withstanding, he was constantly being made to better his own attacks. The moves Xehanort uses would best be replicated in the same style. Vanitas is wild for holding the massive spiky x-blade like that.

Now, what‘s good on this style does not correlate to what’s bad in the other. The two standard styles simply have different ways of dealing with each con they create or taking advantage of each pro.

(Here’s an interesting side note — Gula uses standard defensive, but in this instance, swaps. One hand… likely to display confidence! Wrong move, but hey. He got cocky. He’s also doing it wrong, and swaps back to two-handed to take Aced’s attack.)

Standard (defensive)

The main detriment of this style is the lack of ease of long range movement. Hold a wrapping paper tube out in front of you with both hands, then run. It goes to the side, or tucks in to your stomach, right? Dodge. Your legs will get in the way unless you know where to move that sword. It requires, interestingly, a little more discipline. You’d think Aqua would like that, but no, she wants movement and practicality, and she loves magic, and remember that you must take a hand off this style to grab a potion. You’d think young Eraqus wouldn’t, but remember that he’s a fancy royal lad.

The main draw, though, is tankiness, readiness, and power. You don’t need to move as much if nothing dares hit you! Ava and Gula might be attracted to this style because they’re not as physically strong, but want protection in close-quarters fighting. Using this style when your muscles aren’t as big but you still want to Hit Things Good, or when you want to be a boy you can’t knock over with a pail of water (horse stance rules), is probably solid advice.

Traditionally, this is a lot less like fencing, and a lot more like a samurai sword or kendo. Your blade is held in front of you, giving you very easy access to blocks and frontal attack/defense. In losing some twirly spinniness, you gain power and minimize your opponent’s ability to parry and block.

you gotta dodge master Eraqus so mcuh

All styles will swap between one and two hands for different moves. Eraqus, notably, swaps to a stance very similar to Xehanort when channeling a metric ton of magic.

Both of these styles require a degree of upper body/core strength, as does all swordfighting. I would be interested to see someone whose keyblade style relies on leg strength.

Sora, Xion, and Kairi

please look at the difference between the foretellers’ or eraqus’ two-handed grip and Sora’s. Do this with your shoulders and a top-heavy object.

They’re both in a hard stance, but hon. What are you, a gremlin? Anyways, a traditionally taught master would have… better form, even if it’s harder to learn at first. It’s habitual. Sora nearly crouches, and holds his keyblade back-pointed with two hands, which makes it easier for him to dodge roll, push off his feet quickly, and pull off those spinning combos he loves. It‘s really gonna hurt his muscles, in the future, though, since he’s doing a squat for like…. hours. Pulling on those shoulderblades and neck. Xion, too. Replicas had better have correct muscle dynamics. Kairi is brand new, so… maybe Aqua can teach her how to hold a sword so it doesnt hurt you.

Okay, now look at the grip itself. Held in front versus held to the side-back. They’re really attempting to combine both standard styles subconsciously, giving themselves more attack power while really wanting to keep that hard defensive parry, wanting to prevent all attacks to the front while also wanting mobility. It’s working for them really well, they fight like an anime character, and manage to get the best of both, with a minor sacrifice of length range that they don’t care about. We’re flexible and full of magic, baby! Holding the blade like this makes it pretty easy to let go with one hand without sacrificing that crouched defense position.

Now, Sora, specifically, is very adaptive. He’s had two keyblades, claws, guns, yo-yos, and a giant shield, to name a couple. He retains a bit of that alert crouch no matter where he goes, but Sora knows how he wants to attack and how to balance that with the most effective way to use his current weapon. He’s a smart kid! Sora has the most ridiculous shotlocks, which are also probably due to not always wanting to go standard for it. He also prefers to keep his focus on the enemy, which is evident in his reprisals and lack of very many effective “escape” moves.

Xion is very similar to Sora, but she does have some moves that are all movement. She switches to one handed for strikes a lot — using two for defending, one for smacking. In her data battle I’d swear some of those heavy hits are claymore-like. But anyways, since we’re magic, Xion cares not for the laws of exhaustion, and will ping about as a ball of light everywhere. Short range? Up in your business. Mid-range? In your business with one hand. Long range? Throws a boomerang. Hit her? No you dont. Ball of light. She’s above you and wants to bash your head in. (Vanitas also does this! A lot. It’s an easy way to catch someone off-guard. I’ll argue that the soras are very tough and strong, but not tanky. they want to avoid being hit a lot)

Another interesting note about Kairi. I say “unconfident” not because she doesn’t hit hard, but because her stance is also often tilted back, ready to dodge. It’s two handed, but almost all her moves are one. She does love spinning and throwing the thing! It looks like she’s been taking notes from the wielders she knows. It would be easy to teach her a standard style, I think. See here, she lets go on the strike, and by trying to do both, actually ends up with an advantage (being confusing) and disadvantage (losing both the power of two handed and versatility of one handed).

A counter to Sora and Xion is difficult to pin down. Time? Probably. Lack of heating pads. Something that takes all their attention is about the only way to get a sneak attack in, and then you have to hit hard. A counter to Kairi would be anyone who can knock her off balance. She needs a sturdier stance. .

Roxas

Roxas is interesting. He takes after Sora for the one blade. Wielding two, however, nets him a totally different way of fighting. Roxas’ clavicle muscles n… deltoids and stuff must be Ironclad. Also, two handed means you are very fast and sharp all the time. He has the advantage of standard defense (horse stance), and the advantage of offense (range of one sword, but twice).

Roxas generally attacks in two ways — simultaneous hits, and follow-up hits. Either he hits with both at once, or hits hard with the first one, and adds the second one as a bonus smack. He can attack by hitting in opposite directions with the two, like a drum, but that will be a little awkward and leave him prone to being tangled. That established, the follow-up hit method means he spins a bunch. As do we all.

Roxas gets a little complicated because we are not in the real world. We have magic and turning into light and physics that let you become a circular saw. So, typically, disadvantages would include: being unable to let go of a weapon to grab something or use an item, having just a very big silhouette to attack on, having difficulty with close-range attacks because Oathkeeper and Oblivion are kinda long, and convenience. Roxas gets to dodge #1 (keyblades can be unsummoned) and #4 (keyblades can be unsummoned). Speaking of dodging, he also gets to skirt the difficulty of dodging and rolling with two swords because he turns into a beam of light. But he can’t dodge how difficult it is to use two swords effectively — he needs to concentrate on fighting, and nothing else, or he risks messing up. He has to be very, very coordinated, and undistracted. Luckily he’s pretty good at making his opponents shut up, most of the time. Blocking is another thing — theoretically his blocks could be strong, but Roxas has no real brace: crossing your blades and taking a hefty stab might smack one of them back into your face. He mostly uses reversals and dodges, because of this.

The takeaway to this is Roxas is built for speed and power, and he is very strong. He’s a mid- to far- range fighter who if you’re not careful can snap you in half if you’re too close (be SO careful of that cross blade scissor).

A perfect counter to Roxas would be a tank that can grapple, and also be very distracting. If you can take hits, be talkative, and get close enough to stop his blades, you have a chance.

Ventus

This is a bizarre choice, my guy, but I get it.

Backhanded weapons are very impractical for a lot of... attacking, mainly in mid-range combat, and Ven likes to either fight very close or throw the keyblade like a boomerang (and hey, backhand gives it a good whip for throwing). His attacks aren’t meant to one hit KO, but they do come with a bit of power to them, especially on the backslash. Like holding a knife for gouging. It’s for very close defense — pretty good when Wayward Wind and Missing Ache have hooks.

Backhand also, while retaining that empty hand for potions and guarding, gives you an extreme coverage boost. By which I mean Ven’s sword hand now has a nearly 270 degree sweep of “I see you, don’t touch me”, very quickly, based on just flicking his wrist. It sacrifices a ton of strength/sturdiness, but you don’t need that if you’re dodging. You also don’t really need to block, which is slower, but relatively sturdy when Ven does it, as he blocks with mostly the chunky hilt between crossed arms. He sacrifices (again) a bit of strength for coverage — an attack would hurt his arms, not his chest, if he were hit head-on.

His attacks often have him flip the blade around in his hand, too. Quick swaps between standard moves and backhand ones. Basically, Ventus is built for moving, protecting himself, and quick attacks that wear down the enemy, not outclass it. Likely because he’s good at fighting, but everyone he’s fought hits harder than he can! It doesn’t matter how he holds it, getting hit will hurt. So he just. Doesn’t. He’s not a buff little guy — but he is a persistent one. Ven very likely made this up on his own, in Daybreak, and it was too hard to fix his whole style, but it was enough to correct most of his form so he doesn’t hurt himself too much. He is going to have to really stretch that shoulder and wrist (maybe get a brace), though. At least his neck is ok. … not sure about his knees tho dang boy that crouch

A perfect counter to Ven would be someone big and fast, who hits hard mid-range. He’s already been sparring with Terra, though, so when in doubt, try scruffing him?

Axel

Theres not a ton to say about him — he‘s not a swordfighter. He uses his keyblade like it’s a frisbee. Because that’s what he’s used to! His neutral is behind his back on his shoulder, which is terrible for readiness, but okay for chucking the thing. It’s good it has a sort of… ripstik like… boomerang quality.

Axel’s fighting style is completely made up, like most of the self-taught wielders’. His strengths lie in some of the benefits of standard offensive style (one-handed), and some of the same coverage stuff as Ven, having a cocked wrist most of the time so no one can sneak up around him without risking getting whacked very quickly, and having an interesting range due to the pointy end being basically on a spinny swivel wherever his hand moves. He’s not going to be good at close-range and he knows it — his attacks are mostly distance. And the guy has ZERO defense, combined with zero coverage when idle, so it’s for the better.

Distance-wise, though, he rocks. Treating the blade like it’s a flaming throwing weapon means his idle is actually great for sudden flick-tossing and attention-guiding for sneakier attacks, and his stance itself (…nonexistent) serves a different purpose: bait. Basically a big "come hit me". Fun, when you have a lot of fire magic and two friends who are beasts and love to take advantage of a distracted enemy — distance on the blade, proximity on the burning.

A perfect counter to Axel would be someone pinging around very close <—> very far and circling him incessantly. Like, data Xion could wreck him, as he has to wait for the boomerang to come back -- he no longer has two spinny wheels. Also someone with water magic.

SO! In conclusion! Having a teacher who teaches you correct sword usage rather than instinct may detract from overspecific styles that benefit you most but leave weak spots, but your muscles and your oversights will thank you. Everyone is glad we have the power of the Mouse and anime on our side.

Keep in mind again that I have done cursory research, and have had minimal actual sword instruction, I am not an expert and this is all for fun anyways :]

#I ran out of images which is homophobic #KH #ask #mojimallow #THANKS MOJI #If you’re wondering what the counter would be to Terra and Aqua; in terms of counters there are no counters #not style-wise anyways. That’s why they’re standard.#Terra can’t react very fast and Aqua needs more mp but that’s individual #and we are mostly talking BASE COMBAT here #of course lingering will can use keyblade transformations and there’s magic strategies — but that would make this post… much longer #brrrrrrr #kh analysis #kh meta #thanks to the handful of other people who asked me to expand on the same thing <3<3<3 #REALLY wanted to include one of Invi blocking — just go watch invi and aced fight for two standard offense #it Shows off their strengths and weaknesses #… no living adults do the two handed grip. Watch Sora and Xion’s data battle for an approximation I guess??#you. Hey you. Look in the notes rn #metazone

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izusun · 3 years

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Alright so the LOV attack Mamadoriya because they want to get back at Izuku, so they attack on the day that she's visiting the Bakugous. Of course Izuku is contacted immediately and him and Katsuki get over there almost as fast as the police get there. Imagine the surprise when they find the LOV sprawled all over the floor and Inko and Mitsuki laughing about the good ol days

Turns out that back in the day, Inko and Mitsuki were a famous vigilante duo back in the day. Katsuki is on the floor having an existential crisis while Izuku's just glad his mom and Auntie are okay.

- Goblin anon

GOBLIN, IM CONVINCED THAT IK YOU IRL BECAUSE MY FRIEND AND I ALREADY MADE SM BRAINSTORMS ABOUT THIS

once again, i love love your au dumps <3

and since you set up the ground frame for the plot bunny, i’d like to dabble on inko and mitsuki’s past vigilantism.

inko:

inko’s quirk doesn’t have an official name but it’s basically attraction of small objects, as such we saw her quirk at work when she pulled izuku’s figurine from the floor. but without disclosure of how small she can attract, i’d love to think that she can attract even smaller materials. materials like atoms, compounds—matter.

or, even at a frightening scale, cells.

not that she’s purposefully pull at someone’s cell/s to reshape or disturb the flow of the body. also i’m not a science major and i don’t have much interest in science so idk how accurate this is BUT pushing past irl semantics, imagine:

inko’s quirk is more than a surface-level quirk; it can fix or ruin an object’s construction, often by remodelling its foundation. it used to fuck with villains (and heroes pursuing her alike) back in the day because no one knows how her quirk works, and so they don’t know how to fight her back. next thing they know is that the gun in their hands is falling apart, or their car is swivelling off the road.

outside of her quirk, i see inko mastering judo. idk much about martial arts but my friend (who studies them) basically described judo as a martial arts that uses the opponent's strength against the artist. it teaches ground work and prioritizes drilling techniques. in judo, striking hard is not a necessity. and it fits inko! because her quirk is very versatile, she doesn’t need much physical prowess to win, often utilizing techniques with her quirk.

she was dangerous so no wonder the heroes wanted to apprehend her because if she slips into the dark side, they’re in trouble.

of course she didn’t, but the heroes never caught her too. just one day, she retired and no one knew where she went. there were talks in the underground saying that she settled and had a kid, but how real are underground talks?

mitsuki:

mitsuki’s quirk is glycerin which basically gives her the ability to secrete glycerin from her skin. tbh we had a hard time brainstorming about mitsuki but alas we persevered because bamf mitsuki is something we all need.

because glycerin contains antimicrobial and antiviral properties (which approved it to treat burn and wound injuries), it usually helped mitsuki heal and treat her burns because she often found herself getting exploded at whenever she was out fighting villains.

and since she can’t fight with her quirk, best believed she’s heavily armed and trained with multiple martial arts. mitsuki has greater connections than inko (really because of her job which gives her more flexibility in meeting these people), and basically has a trusted small team where she can get her armoury.

my friend imagined mitsuki taking more than one martial arts (i.e. taekwondo and jiujutsu) because her tenacity relied on the punches she could give. as much as she is armed, she’s more in-tuned with her body, thus combat fighting with the mix of martial arts make her very dangerous.

the heroes thought she was quirkless so they were never able to create an accurate profile of her. it fucked with heroes a lot because they don’t know how to approach her. she was quiet, strong, quick, and efficient, thus the heroes sent to apprehend her always lost her trail.

she was very different from inko. wherein inko was feared but loved by the underground, mitsuki was a friend of the police and even daylight heroes. not that mitsuki ever really teamed up with hero agencies in times of dire, but there wasn’t the presence of uncertainty in terms of her moral stance that many had with inko.

which was why it was fitting that when mitsuki officially retired, she sent a telegram to the closest police station she knows and they never got to hear from her after.

present:

imagine seeing your mom and your boyfriend’s mom just battling it out against the most dangerous villains and winning?

izuku probably would’ve asked for tips, especially from mitsuki because mitsuki basically fought quirkless.

#goblin anon #ask #GOBLIN THIS IS SO GOOD THANK U SM #my brain did another dancey dance because of this #head empty. just bamf inko and mitsuki beating this shit out of LoV and other past villains #bakudeku is called wonderduo because their mom and mom-in-law were the baddest mfs out there #bnha #midoriya inko #bakugou mitsuki #midoriya izuku #bakugou katsuki #bakudeku #mha #long post

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ladyartemesia · 3 years

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Out of curiosity do you think jimin would ever compel the luna for her safety or what not.. I guess like in an emergency situation? Because I for one cannot imagine him using it for mundane things bc it seems like a really harsh think to endure. Dhdb but also hypothetically how would the luna react if jimin were to compel her in like a safety scenario, bc I also don't see her wanting to sit locked away somewhere considering how she almost attacked people bc they were near jimin post alpha fight with namjoon 😩😩 also feel free to ignore if you've already answered or it spoils the plot djdn my mind is just like this story go into so much depth for my small brain to handle... OM WAIT what would happen if another alpha were to compel the luna im assuming it would work as usual unless the alpha were to have a weak compelling strength... ok I'm leaving now djd

No don’t leave! I like questions! I welcome them!

Ok so. First off—just want to reestablish that these are not humans and that the rules and expectations (etc.) of their world are different.

1. Jimin would definitely compel the Luna for her safety—or for the safety of others—basically if he deemed it necessary. He did once already when she attacked the elder’s council members.

2. The command isn’t harsh to endure—not even for another alpha—if you are willingly submitted to the wolf compelling you. It’s like a chain of command thing. This is a pack so those dynamics are important. It’s not about being told what to do. Pack social structure relies on the chain of command but it does not VALUE any one in the chain more or less. All three designations are valued equally and are seen as having vital roles to play in pack society. Abusing an alpha command is a serious crime. Like EXTREMELY serious. It is a tool to facilitate pack wellness and aid in leadership—it is not to be used for personal gain or to cause harm.

2. In an intimate sense the compel has some beneficial implications. Alphas can use the compel to help their mates (or children) to sleep, to calm them in frightening or tense situations (which can be mutually beneficial because the alpha might still be scared but if they can ensure the omega is clearheaded then it helps both of them), and even to aid their focus. This type of interaction is done consensually. The command can also be used consensually in sexual situations. As previously mentioned it is impossible to compel sexual acts without the consent of the compelled. It physically cannot be done. This phenomenon is called the “sword of the goddess” because it is believed that even the attempt to do so will bring a curse upon you.

3. In a broad leadership sense the alpha command streamlines many things in combat scenarios. It is also good for settling disputes. Humans may see this as slightly autocratic but pack society relies heavily on the alphas to maintain order. That is their purpose. It is the role they serve. Their abilities aid them in leading their clans and families or groups or whatever. Betas and omegas are capable of being leaders, but many times they...just don’t really care to be. They more often excel as invaluable advisors and strategists. The Luna is a clear exception however. She is born a leader.

4. A lot of these dynamics rely on trust. Abusing an alpha command is an almost sacrilegious offense. You cannot just use it to get your way or exert control over another person. When this happens it is a serious crime and the punishment is severe.

5. An example in the story of alpha command being used really well is when Tae subdues Yunli when she is about to run into the circle. Her instincts were out of control. He saved her, but he didn’t overstep his bounds. Wolves are more volatile in general than humans. The command—especially when given by The Alpha—can often bring focus and calm to a situation where emotions are running high. You will see a bit of this in the coming chapters.

6. The society is not matriarchal or patriarchal really and it’s not really *ruled* by alphas in general. An Alpha and a Luna hold equal authority and rule as a unit. Most leadership positions are undertaken jointly by mated pairs regardless of gender or designation. The chief of the elder’s council is always a beta or an omega and the other council members must include one beta, one omega, and one (non-clan leader) alpha from each of the clans (if available—not all clans have all three—though all clans have betas).

7. (Added later because I forgot to answer it) 🙈 Another alpha would not dare compel the Luna (outside of her father when she was a little girl) and if they tried it probably wouldn’t work. Lunas are very special and hard to compel in general.

#about the alpha #pack society #designation dynamics #via💋viola

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funkymbtifiction · 3 years

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Thanks a lot for answering! I wonder could you please give examples of everyday deeds/types of behavior of different primaries and secondaries? Like what are they like when there's a school test or when they need to visit a doctor? The more the better. Something more down-to-earth than the situations from the fantasy movies listed on the website that may never take place in the real world, something found in everyday life that will help someone identify themselves and mb others around them

I’m not sure I can do that, because frankly, your Primary House is a state of mind. It’s what you want and how you feel about things (or do not feel, in the case of Ravenclaws, ahem). But I can talk about a few things, particularly in response to Harry Potter, that can shed light on the state of mind of the Primary.

What I have most noticed about people in general is that we all have a built-in bias, and in order to find our true type—whether that is our MBTI type, our Enneagram core and tritype, or our Hogwarts House combination—we must abandon our ego defenses. What does that mean? We have to overcome our biases and want to know our true self, and own it, more than we want to fight against an answer that might not please us. In the Enneagram, I’ve noticed particular biases against being a 2 or a 6. Everyone wants to be the more “glamorous” 4 or the elusive, bookworm 5.

Harry Potter, for better or worse, introduced us to the concept of Hogwarts Houses, but also introduced us to a bias, because it made Gryffindor the most glamorous House, due to all the main characters (however unrealistically) hailing from that House. Or, at least, all the main characters we like. Ravenclaw is full of wise weirdos like Luna Lovegood, who irrationally believes in things no one can prove. Slytherin is host to mostly back-stabbing, snobbish cheaters. And Hufflepuff is an “afterthought” where all “the boring, nice people are.”

What I like about Sorting Hat Chats is… they made the entire system more interesting and a lot fairer. Now, Slytherin isn’t the only House with villains automatically placed in it: their villains have to be specific in their love (and not betray their family, because it is the house of My Family is My Life). This also means people, fictional or real, who prioritize their loved ones, are Slytherins. Such as Mr. Darcy, or Katniss Everdeen. Suddenly, being a Slytherin doesn’t seem so bad, right? Not if you are loyal to the ones you love! That alone will appeal to the mindset of a Slytherin, because they will think, “Of COURSE I am. Of COURSE my loved ones come first! They SHOULD!”

I have friends in all four Primary Houses, but I will use myself as an example of the Ravenclaw. When I was reading the books, having all the main characters in Gryffindor bothered me, because not only did it show a bias, but I felt some of the main characters ‘belonged’ in other Houses—such as Remus Lupin being a Hufflepuff rather than a Gryffindor. I also felt like Hermione belonged in Ravenclaw. But that is neither here nor there… my objections to the system came from the logical flaws in how she arranged it. It wasn’t realistic to have everyone ‘important’ or ‘admirable’ within the story come from Gryffindor. It was easier to have them share Common Rooms, but people don’t isolate like that and only befriend someone from their House. They look for like-minded friends who share interests, and would make them all over the place. It was my little Ravenclaw brain, pulling away at her system and finding flaws in its logic, but reacting from a place of logical reasoning rather than moral indignation.

When I took the SHC test, it placed me in Slytherin. And I was not opposed to that. In fact, I explored it for a long time, as I thought about how I respond in various situations. Slytherin appealed to me, because… I wish I could stand up for my family automatically. I wish I could prioritize my loved ones all the time. But I kept hitting upon the fact that – I like to think about things in a detached manner, and come to what I feel is a rational consensus. It’s more clinical and less emotional than Slytherins are—and it helped at the time that I knew a Slytherin, and could easily see both how possessive she was of people (they are “mine to protect” – she always reminded me of Slytherin Sam Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings, with his “MY MR. FRODO”) and how, without fail, her sister came before even me, her best friend. Through comparison, I knew I had to be something else. So in typical Ravenclaw fashion, I went through and considered them all. Because, as a Ravenclaw, I want to be RIGHT more than protect my ego. I am always looking for the truth, even when it hurts. And I am always measuring the world against an ideal in my head, built up of my belief system. I do not go against my beliefs; I mold myself to them. And it shocks me to find others who do not, but who claim to be the same as I am. I take, for example, my Christian faith seriously—so what do you mean you are ignoring what your faith says, and doing whatever you want??? YOU MOLD TO YOUR BELIEFS, DON’T YOU? Well, yes, if you are a Ravenclaw, you do. If you are any other House, you do not.

The Hufflepuff Primary I know has a far more ‘felt’ opinion of the books and their sorting system. She got livid reading them, and thinking about how constantly unfair it all was, how biased Rowling was, and how Dumbledore was clearly playing favorites constantly with Gryffindor House. She developed a bad attitude about him as a result… which, of course, is coming from her being a Hufflepuff. To a Hufflepuff, people come first. They are all treated fairly and seen as equals. You do not discriminate, you do not alienate, you do not give unfair favors to Harry and his friends, just so Gryffindor can win the House Cup over and over again. She was actually so angry about this, from a Hufflepuff perspective, that she was willing to be a Slytherin in defiance of ‘The System’ until she realized that kind of mindset is… pure Hufflepuff. “You are not being fair about this, I will oppose you.” It’s all instinctual, it’s all emotional, and it’s all loyalty to the human race, which includes Slytherins. (This caused us some friction for awhile, until I realized it was “just a Hufflepuff” objection, because... how can you be mad at Dumbledore for that? It’s just a convenient plot device in the book! ... says the Ravenclaw who isn’t getting too emotionally involved. ;)

The Slytherin I know, by the way, denied being a Slytherin at first, because she felt ashamed of it. She has been taught to act like a Hufflepuff, that she SHOULD care about everyone all the time, but… she does not. She cares about her loved ones the most, and she would protect them above other people, every time. I pointed out to her that Hufflepuff fits her less than Slytherin, because “You ARE Katniss. You told me that once. That you identified so heavily with her, because you would go into the arena for your Prim.” And then she admitted it, and saw the gloriousness that is being a loyal Slytherin.

The Gryffindor I know is always looking for a Cause, and… as a Ravenclaw, I find that exhausting. She wants to be mad about things, because that anger gives her the fire she needs to do something about it. She has taken on big Causes by financially supporting the Causes she cares about, and done physical things about smaller Causes. For example, as a teenager, she came upon three guys tormenting a dog. It made her so livid, she charged straight at them, swearing and screaming at them to leave the animal alone, and it scared them all so much, they turned tail and ran. She just knew it was the right thing to do, and she and I often butt heads a lot, because she expects everyone else (meaning me) to be as passionate as she is about doing the ‘right thing.’ My more detached “well, let’s look at both sides of this issue” has no place in her black and white Gryffindor mind (no, that is WRONG).

Secondary Houses are… something that may take a little more time to figure out, as you think about how you handle the ‘unexpected.’

Gryffindors… have to speak up if they see an injustice, or hear something they disagree with. They are they person who cannot keep their mouth shut, they need to voice their opinion. They don’t care if you don’t like it or don’t agree, to not state their views would be antagonistic to their central self. My Hufflepuff friend is a Gryffindor Secondary. Not only did she get mad about the biases in Harry Potter, she complained loudly about it, to me, and to other people, and even in a blog post, because the injustice of it needed drawn-attention to, and dealt with, and she doesn’t really care if you disagree. That’s just how she rolls, about EVERYTHING. Because Gryffindor Secondaries state their views. They see an injustice, and they rush toward it. (My Gryffindor friend is also a Gryffindor Secondary: see dog being abused, rush in to do something about it!)

Ravenclaws… want to prepare for everything, and then rely on their own skill set to handle problems as they arise. They are the person who, when their bike breaks down halfway home, consider what they know about bikes (can they fix this easily?), and what they know about public transportation (am I going to be able to catch a bus home?), and make decisions from there. Or who study for a test in advance and show up, only to panic because they found out they read the wrong chapter in the book and know nothing about it. My father is a Gryffindor with a Ravenclaw Secondary, and he over-prepares himself with any useful knowledge he thinks he might need to combat a wide variety of situations—and then is stumped if confronted by something he did not prepare for, and knows nothing about. He is always trying to think ahead and prepare so that he doesn’t have to improvise anything at the last second—because he sucks at it.

It was a comparison with him that actually shifted me away from assuming I had a Ravenclaw Secondary, because… I don’t suck at improvising. I’m actually quite good at it. And I don’t over-prepare, because in true Hufflepuff Secondary position, I figure I can ask someone for help. And they always give it to me. But what really cemented the deal for me, in terms of recognizing my Puff Secondary House, were two—no, make that three, truths from my life. 1) Ravenpuffs distill complex information and put it back out into the world for others to enjoy (hello, Funky!). 2) Puff Secondaries show up and do the tireless work, clock the hours, and are highly reliable, which is… me. I have run this site day in and day out for years. I am punctual, fastidious, I put my responsibilities ahead of all else (even turning down fun occasions because I need to work), and I will painstakingly work on perfecting something, finishing something, improving something, or polishing something (even when I’m bored). In short, I show up and do the work. And 3) the truth that Puff Secondaries have friends to stand up for them, because they have proven themselves reliable and trustworthy, is no joke. A few years ago, I had trouble with someone online and, without being asked, three of our mutual friends came to my defense. Proof of the Puff.

Lastly, Slytherin Secondaries are highly adaptable. It’s no problem for them to shift their approach given the needs of the situation. It’s the equivalent of a friend you admire, but who puzzles you (if you don’t share their Slytherin Secondary trait) because… it seems like they are a different person everywhere you go, because whatever is needed, they can become it. They are the person who has no trouble with change and no need to plan, because they just trust that it’s all going to work out fine, based on their ability to adapt. It’s the person who shows up at a friend’s birthday party expecting it to be formal, finds out it’s casual, sneaks into the bathroom to rearrange their attire, and emerges ready to play Twister. Or who will be serious with you, joke constantly with your brother, and behave like a saint around your mom, according to whatever works and appeals to you the best.

Hope some of that helps, though it wasn’t explicitly what you asked for. Best this ENFP can do, since in-depth sensory specific examples require a heck of a lot more Si than I’ve got. :P

#question #hogwarts houses #ravenclaw #gryffindor #slytherin #hufflepuff #submission

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visionsofus · 3 years

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Wanda and Vision's Mixtape

track #3: Rescue my Heart by Liz Longley

| read on AO3 here | mixtape playlist | send me an ask with your song/prompt request |

synopsis: In which Vision arrives to help break the Cap’s team out of Raft prison post-Civil War. Wanda recalls fond memories of the compound and comes to terms with the idea of living on the run.

CW: depiction of imprisonment

The hum of electricity was the only warning that Wanda Maximoff had before fluorescent white lights impaired her vision. For 15 seconds she was effectively blind as her eyes frantically tried to adjust to the harsh lighting. That was the 9th time she had been abruptly awoken in such a way and the panic never lessened.

Her day at Raft prison started the same as every morning that had preceded it, the door to her cage was opened and she was led to the bathroom to freshen up before being returned for a meagre breakfast. Sometimes she would walk past the rest of the team, they all looked just as battered and exhausted as she felt.

Wanda wasn’t let out of her straitjacket for breakfast and was spoon fed whatever mush they deemed nutritious enough for the day from a metal tray. It was a humiliating experience. It was made worse by the drugs they mixed into her meal each morning that were so strong she would fall asleep an hour later and often not be conscious again until the following morning. She supposed it was their way of trying to keep her under control, little did they know that it was only serving to make her angrier, more dangerous. Walking past her bruised teammates each morning filled her with rage, sitting and being spoon fed by a guard filled her with rage, but underlying it all was a sense of hopelessness, an acknowledgement that maybe she deserved to be in here. Clint had been wrong, getting up off her ass hadn’t fixed anything.

Each morning after eating her vibranium glass door was locked once more and Wanda lied back on the stiff bed that took up most of the space in her cell as she waited for the sedatives to kick in.

In the few hours she’d been conscious in the last week she’d mostly spent her time thinking. Wanda was sure that Steve had to have some sort of plan – she knew that he hadn’t been at the compound when they’d all been taken in – so she didn’t trouble herself with obsessing over a plan to get out. That would just make her panic and she didn’t want to let her powers get out of control, not in such an enclosed space as this. In the meantime, she had decided to bide her time and wait for a sign from Steve.

Instead, her thoughts were consumed with what had happened before her imprisonment. Some of the memories were painful but overall, her time at the compound had been pleasant. She was living in a better space than she had most of her life and while the empty place of her twin brother would never be filled… she was starting to heal. Working more on controlling her powers had been by far the best part of her year. The training made her feel strong, it made her want to protect people. Vision had helped a lot with training, he was one of the only ones who would last long in a fight against her, and their sparring practice had always been a great workout. Not for the first time in the last ten days did she cast her mind back to the last time they had fought.

"Don't go easy on me, Vis," Wanda said raising her hands before her and stepping into a defensive stance.

"If I had been 'going easy on you' Captain Rogers wouldn't have made us fight outside this time," Vision replied his cape fluttering in a non-existent breeze. He was right, the last time they had fought in one of the training rooms the roof had almost caved in. So, they had been forced to relocate outside where the only breakables were themselves.

"Physical combat first?" Wanda suggested. "No magic tricks."

"I am not sure that 'magic tricks' is the most suitable-" Vision began waving a hand lightly between them.

"Too slow,” she cut in, lunging forward and grabbing Vision’s arm, kicking his leg out from beneath him. Her leg swung right through him as he phased without hesitation.

Hand to hand combat without the fire power of their respective powers had always been their weak point in training, they had both come to rely so heavily on the magic of the stone that was so intrinsic to both their identities that it was difficult to not depend on it. Nonetheless, they needed to be ready for a situation where close quarter combat meant explosive power wasn’t an option.

Wanda took Vision’s next oppening to try and unbalance his other leg, but he was prepared for the kick this time and managed to dodge. They sparred for what felt like half an hour but in reality was only a few minutes, neither gaining any traction aside form a few hits to the ribs each.

In a desperate attempt to land a blow Wanda side-stepped Vision’s throw, ran for the wall at her back, kicked off it with one well-placed foot (aided in force by a little bit of her power) and launched herself at Vision. She would have landed a significant hit in the chest if he hadn’t turned and caught her just at that moment.

Wanda slammed into him and Vision was left supporting her effortlessly with one hand around her waist, she in turn pressed a steadying hand against his shoulder, immediately aware of how close they were. She was breathing heavily; her hair likely a mess about her face from where it had come loose from the ponytail she had tried to gather it up in. Vision’s eyes were focused wholly on her own, wide and darting across her face and for a moment she was tempted to reach into his mind and feel what was running through it. His mind was sometimes… difficult to navigate, even when he did let her in to communicate.

Vision slowly lowered her to the ground.

“I—” he began but didn’t have the chance to continue because Wanda had pressed her hands against his chest and sent an almighty wave of psionic energy through her palms. Before Vision could continue, he was launched into the air, flipping once before using his own powers to stop himself in mid-air. “I thought you said physical combat?” His brow was furrowed at her trick, but there was something shadowing his eyes beyond that and it made Wanda want to tease him more.

“Oops,” she said and launched herself at him again as he reached the ground. Vision hadn’t expected the fight to continue so Wanda managed to dive cleanly for his waist, hitting his chest with all the force thrown behind her shoulder in an attempt to take him down. It wasn’t a pretty or graceful move, but she’d thought she’d chosen the right moment to catch him sufficiently off guard. He twisted them in mid-air, and they fell to the ground together, his powers softening their landing.

“This is supposed to be a fight, Vis,” Wanda said content to fold her arms in mock disapproval, gazing up at him.

“I know,” he said, and they were close enough she could feel his breath flutter against her face from where he was, holding himself above her. “I’m just using the same cheat techniques of seduction that you’ve been using on me.”

A laugh bubbled up despite the embarrassment that was making her cheeks flush. Perhaps Wanda had teased him too much?

“Is it really cheating if it works?” Wanda asked deciding to push him that little bit further. She lifted one hand to his chin and trailer a single finger down his throat, she could’ve sworn his eyes started to glow a little. He lowered himself a little more until their noses were brushing and right when he closed his eyes she acted.

Taking advantage of his surprised state she lifted her leg and kneed him squarely in his chest, sending forth a second pulse of power. Yet again he flew away, this time so distracted that he fully hit the wall behind them, causing cracks to cobweb out through the concrete.

“That,” Vision said as he floated to the ground, rubbing at the back of his neck and rolling his shoulders, “was not fair.”

“Nothing’s fair in love and war.” Wanda shrugged pleasantly, but instinctively reached out to see if hitting the wall had caused any real pain.

“Don’t worry, it’ll take more than a concrete wall to hurt me.”

“Just checking.”

“I told you two to train, not flirt and break the walls,” a clearly grumpy Steve said as he made his way out into the courtyard. A few minutes too late the pair realised that they’d had a small audience looking on from within the compound.

“I have no idea what you’re talk about,” Wanda said crossing her arms and walking over to make her way back inside.

“Yes Captain, what exactly do you mean?” Vision asked, joining in on her denial as the pair went inside.

“Break another wall and you won’t be able to fight each other anymore,” he warned but was smiling in a way that told Wanda he was glad for their progress in training.

“Yeah, but what happens when they can’t take their tension out on each other through training?” Sam whispered to Natasha in a way that made it clear he intended everyone else to hear.

Wanda let herself come back to the unfortunate reality she was now confined to live in. She had been replaying similar memories for the last ten days, Vision was a common feature of the happy memories, but the rest of the team also filled her thoughts. It was something to keep the worse thoughts at bay and her pent-up power in check.

The loud clank of the prison gates surrounding her cage as the guards changed watch startled Wanda slightly. There was always noise here and it had been getting on her nerves for approximately eight and a half days now. Back at the compound her room was soundproof so she could enjoy silence when she needed. It had made it easier to focus on honing her powers and reaching out with her mind to try and feel the other people at the compound. That's not to say that her concentration wasn't often broken by Vision floating through her bedroom wall, usually stopping by for a profound chat about humanity or to ask her to explain human quirks he couldn't find sufficient answers to online.

Wanda missed him. As she lay on the bed waiting to be taken to the bathroom before breakfast, she closed her eyes and let her mind reach out. The noise and light made it difficult to retain focus as she reached further through the walls. She recognised the rest of her teammates minds and brushed over the guard’s minds, not wishing to delve too deep into their thoughts. The effort it took almost made her loose her breath and she let the power go. Telepathy was still a lot easier at closer proximity.

She was about to stand up and try and get a guard’s attention to let her out to the bathroom when she felt her hands begin to tingle within the straitjacket. Something was about to happen. Wanda did her best to get her hair out of her face with her hands bound. Her instincts were all she had to rely on as she turned slowly in a circle within the cage, waiting.

Abruptly, soldiers began yelling and hands flew to their weapons. Half a dozen of the black clad guards ran to her cage, circling around her and assuming a defensive position with their guns raised at the various doors leading out of her enclosure.

"Something wrong?" Wanda asked innocently.

To no surprise, her guards didn’t respond.

Wanda felt her powers rising faintly beneath her skin, calling out to an unknown force.

“Who’s there?” One guard to her left barked gruffly. Her call was answered a moment later as one of the heavy, steel doors was blown to bits. A pipe burst from above and dust fell from the trembling ceiling. A powerful steel beam flew out and struck two of the guards in front of her and they flew across the room. Wanda smiled for the first time in 9 days when she saw the figure that emerged from the dust and rubble.

Two guards made out for Vision, their guns firing but he phased easily avoiding the bullets and grabbed one guard in each hand and threw them to the side. Wanda noted how, despite everything, Vision didn’t cause any unnecessary harm to the people themselves and used only enough force to incapacitate them.

Wanda let her own power grow, feeling the straitjacket begin to strain as the powerful red mist from her hands spread and tore at her restraints. Feeling her power well up like a damn about to break she let out a yell as she tore her arms free of their constraints. The power that exploded forth shattered the cage surrounding her, forcing the remaining guards to dive in order to avoid the flying shards. Two of them made a move to get her but she raised her hands and subdued them, sending them to the ground unconscious as her eyes burned a deep red.

Alarms were blaring now, and the lights appeared to be flickering overhead but no more guards came from the behind the destroyed doors.

Wanda turned in a full circle, expecting another fight but the only one still standing was Vision. He reached for her just as her legs, weakened from the sudden burst of power after 10 days dormant, made to give out from under her.

“Vis,” she said stretching her arm towards him as he stopped her from falling.

“Wanda,” he murmured, the relief emanating from him was clear. He gathered her up into his arms and hefted her against his chest gently, an arm tucked behind her back and one under her knees. "We must go."

“But the others–”she began as Vision rose up from the ground.

“Captain Rogers will see to getting them out safely,” Vision said and shot for the ceiling of the prison, the stone in his head sending a powerful beam through the roof and carving them out an escape route.

Wanda reached out with her hands and used her power to stop any of the rubble hitting them on the way out. The moment they hit the crisp air outside Wanda let loose a cry of relief. She was hit with a sudden wave of exhaustion. It was likely due to the lack of food and sunlight but perhaps it was also because she finally felt safe for the first time in 9 days. She reached up and wound her arms around Vision's neck, pulling herself into his chest to avoid the harsh wind that was whipping the ocean below into a turmoil.

Wanda pressed one of her palms against Vision and tried to communicate her gratitude. As he flew her away from the prison, she took solace in the stability of his power, the power they both shared.

By the time Vision arrived at the coordinates Captain Rogers had directed him to, Wanda was fast asleep. The safe house was a quaint little thing, far less grand than what any of them had grown accustomed to at the compound. But it was well off the beaten track, down a winding driveway and hidden in a copse of dense trees. Still, Vision remained on guard.

The house was two stories high and distinctly cubic in appearance. Its exterior was simple and seemed more built for durability than aesthetic.

As Vision's feet reached the dewy ground Wanda stirred in his arms.

“Where are we?” She asked sleepily, slowly coming to her senses.

“Somewhere safe,” Vision said as he approached what appeared to be the door of the house. It was a small grey rectangle that blended in with fairly well with the rest of the unattractive building.

“It's ugly,” Wanda noted turning her head to look at the looming grey building.

“We can’t really afford to be picky,” Vision said in amusement before stopping abruptly as the front door opened.

“About damn time,” Natasha Romanov said smiling grimly at the pair who seemed so out of place against the backdrop of the thick forest. "You'd better get inside."

“Natasha,” Vision said nodding his greeting, and the unspoken truce now struck between them, as he passed her in the doorway.

“Vision,” Romanov returned the greeting. “How are you feeling Wanda?”

“I'm tired even though I've been sedated for the last nine days, I'm not hungry even though I haven't eaten a real meal in two weeks, and I feel like being locked in a straitjacket has done terrible things to my joints,” Wanda said looking down at her arms.

“We’ll see to it that you get fixed up,” Natasha said and began leading them through the rest of the house. “It’s not much but it’s better than nothing and we should be able to lay low for a while.”

Each room was simple with the bare minimum incorporated into the cubic design. On the ground floor they walked through a kitchen where a small table was cramped by five chairs, and beyond it was a living room occupied by what looked like a musty couch and a collection of mismatched pillows.

“There's a couple of bedrooms upstairs, I'll go get a first aid kit and see if we can get you hooked up to an IV,” Natasha said gesturing to the staircase they had arrived at and darting off down another corridor.

"You can put me down now," Wanda said looking up at Vision.

"We're almost there now, I might as well carry you the rest of the way," Vision said taking the stairs two at a time. When they reached the top, he ducked through the first doorway they found and into a small bedroom. There was a single bed in the corner, a chair opposite it and a window facing out over the forest they had come in from. Vision looked curiously at the window, marvelling at the way it had been created so that from the outside it appeared there were no windows but those inside still had the ability to monitor their surroundings. The house was effectively a bunker and seemed to be built to withstand a small attack, this helped put him a little more at ease.

Vision set Wanda down on the bed and she sagged against the pillows.

"You shouldn’t have come for me," Wanda said swallowing thickly as she turned on her side so she could see Vision properly as he stood in front of the window.

"I'm only sorry that I didn't come sooner," he said turning to face her. "I’m sorry I let you go. I should have stopped them from taking you."

"No you shouldn't have, you did the right thing," Wanda insisted, doing her best to remain seated despite every bone in her body asking for rest. "Vis you signed the Sokovia Accords, at the moment we're fugitives and if they find us with you…” she trailed off and shivered at the thought of him being caught.

"That is a risk I am willing to take," Vision said firmly, his eyes locked on Wanda's, their gaze only breaking when Natasha entered the room with two IV bags.

"I've never actually hooked someone up to one of these before," Natasha said turning the bag over in her hand as though expecting to find instructions.

"I can do it," Vision said taking them from her.

"Have you done this before?" Wanda asked hesitantly.

"No," Vision replied hooking the IV bag up to a tube and preparing a needle from the first aid kit, "but I understand how it has done and I’ve read about it online."

"Better you than me I suppose,” Natasha asked taking the seat opposite the bed.

"Just don't miss my vein," Wanda grumbled and stretched her bare arm out for Vision.

"What happened while we were locked up?" She asked, wincing slightly as Vision slid the needle into her arm.

Natasha began to describe the events of the last few days. How Tony had broken into the Raft and got information from Sam about Steve and Bucky's location and subsequently got himself beaten to a pulp. Just as Natasha finished updating her there was the sound of boots on the stairs.

"It's ok, it's just the others," Natasha assured them when Wanda and Vision both startled at the sound.

"Well, isn't this a nifty little safe house that you've got going here?" Sam said as he poked his head around the doorframe and stepped into the small room. "Wanda, Vision, thanks for leaving the rest of us behind."

"Enough Sam, without Vision things wouldn't have gone over as smoothly," Steve said clapping the Falcon on the shoulder. Steve was the only other one to enter the room and looked as though he’d spent a few days in Raft with them. His left eyebrow was split along the side and he was sporting bruises and cuts that were clearly healing more quickly than the average human but still looked painful.

"Where's Clint and Scott?" Vision asked, finishing with Wanda's drip and hanging the bag from the metal frame that Natasha had also brought up to allow the fluids to drip down.

"They decided to stay," Steve said, eliciting a sound of surprise from Natasha, "seems that they have been negotiating with the Secretary of State who is willing to allow them to live with their families under house arrest."

"That makes sense," Natasha said nodding thoughtfully. "What about you?"

"I'm not going to serve time for something that wasn't wrong in the first place," Sam said shrugging and leaning against the wall behind him.

"In the meantime, we need a plan," Steve said folding his arms and looking at the small group gathered in the room that was far too cramped for comfort.

"Hmm not sure I feel so good about Vision, still," Sam said shrugging. "Up until last week we were on very different sides."

"I am not here as an Avenger on 'Mr. Stark's side'," Vision said stepping up to Sam and looking him directly in the eyes. "Remember I helped get you out of that prison."

"Come on now guys, that’s enough." Steve said putting a hand on each of their shoulders and pushing them apart. "We have bigger problems."

"What could be bigger than being fugitives?" Wanda asked, meaning it to sound more light-hearted than it ended up coming out.

"For now, we’re safe and that’s what matters, this house seems good enough to lie low until we figure out our next steps,” Natasha said shrugging, looking around at the grey, boxy room.

"Year that won’t be happening, the house is Stark's," Steve said rocking back on his heels, he’d clearly been waiting for the right time to break the news to them.

"What?" Natasha and Wanda exclaimed at the same time.

"Tony knows about this? Why didn't you tell me?"

"He's been acquiring safe houses like this for a couple of years now," Steve replied.

"Talk about paranoia," Wanda muttered.

"You think Tony knows we are here?" Natasha asked standing up to join Vision who had returned to his post, looking out the window.

"I do not believe that Mr Stark's attention is turned in your direction for the time being," Vision spoke up. "But it is possible that this is not the best place for you at the moment."

"Don't worry, we'll be ok staying here for the night but tomorrow you need to move out," Steve said gesturing to Wanda, Sam and Natasha. "You're on the run now, that means avoiding as many people as you can. At the moment we don't have wanted posters plastered across the media, but you can be sure as soon as the press gets word of our escape Ross is going to have them broadcasting everywhere to try and recover us."

"What about me?" Vision asked turning to face Steve.

"You're going back to base, tonight," Steve said firmly.

"I will not leave," Vision replied just as surely.

"Yes, you will, Vis," Wanda said adjusting how she was sitting on the bed. It seemed that already the drip was helping with her energy levels and Vision could see some of the colour returning to her face.

"At the moment, no one has any idea that you have left the compound and it's better if it stays that way," Steve said and gestured to the group before him, "the rest of us are outlaws, but you still have a duty to Tony and the Sokovia Accords."

"I will not leave," Vision repeated.

"He's right Vis," Wanda began reaching for his arm and gripping it tightly.

"I know logically that I have to leave but I don't want to." Vision reluctantly corrected himself gazing intensely at Wanda.

"You have to." She whispered.

The room was quiet for a moment as Vision's mind processed things at a million miles a second. Perhaps he would be of more help from the compound where he was in the know regarding all information surrounding the fugitives before him. Perhaps, as painful as the idea was to him, the best way to keep Wanda from harm would be from a distance.

"Very well,” he sighed, and Wanda's lips turned up in a small, soft smile.

"Good," Steve said folding his arms. "We leave in the morning, we'll go the same way until we reach the border and then I'll split from the group to go for Bucky while you guys continue on. From now on we're going to be doing a lot of running."

"Thank goodness, being locked up in a cage for the last 9 days was deadly boring,” Wanda said cynically.

"Damn Cap," Sam said his sigh tainted with disbelief. "I don’t wanna be the one to say it, but what’s our end goal here?"

"At the moment, stay alive and free. This might be a road that doesn't end for a while, if ever." Steve turned to leave the room. "There's some food in the kitchen downstairs but for the time being you should all get some rest. Vision thank you for your help, it was appreciated." He clapped Vision on the shoulder as he left the room, his footsteps thudding down the stairs again.

"Alright Wilson, let’s get you some food and ice for that nasty bruise," Natasha said guiding Sam from the room and closing the door behind her. Vision was quiet for a moment as he turned back to the window trying to quiet the million and one thoughts running through his head. He was so distracted it took Wanda calling his name twice for him to register.

"Yes sorry."

"I asked if you’re alright?"

"I should be the one asking that," Vision said shaking his head and turning to sit on the edge of Wanda's bed.

"That doesn't mean I can't ask you too," she said curling her legs up beneath her and gazing at him intently.

"I don't want to leave… but I have already caused Mr. Stark more than enough trouble and I fear that if I remain with you, I will only put you at risk."

"What happened back in Germany wasn't your fault Vis, I'm sure Rhodey doesn't blame you," Wanda said reaching out to squeeze his arm and the touch alone helped clear his mind.

"I'll see you again won't I?" Vision asked turning his head towards Wanda. "I have been rather….lonely the last nine days, three hours and 47 minutes."

Wanda smiled and rolled her eyes. "Of course you'll see me again, silly."

"I do not believe I was asking a silly question."

"I promise you'll see me again," Wanda said, serious this time, putting one hand over his and Vision sensed the power beneath her touch and the emotion coursing through her palm. "I'll find a way to communicate with you but for now you have to pretend that you never saw us."

Vision nodded silently and rose, the feeling of Wanda's touch still lingering on the back of his hand.

"Go,” she whispered settling back against the wall again.

Vision didn't see any point in saying goodbye, not when he was so sure that they would be seeing each other again soon. Instead, he settled for something simpler, "Until our next meeting." Before he could lose his nerve, he leant down and brushed his lips against her forehead. Wanda’s breath caught as he did but when he drew back her face was lit with a soft, gentle smile. She watched on in dismay as Vision straightened up, stepped forward, and with a final look at her phased through the wall and out into the world beyond. Wanda turned her eyes to the ceiling waiting for her exhaustion to consume her as Vision sped away, not trusting himself to leave quietly if he hesitated any longer.

They’d see each other again, he was certain of it.

#wandavision #wandavision fanfiction #wanda x vision #wanda maximoff #scarletvision #scarlet witch #visionsofusfics

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poisonheadcrabsalesman · 3 years

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More therapy thoughts part 1/?

Behavior Theory Frameworks/Conditioning and What the fuck does Master Chief talk about in therapy?

Ramblings below - like a lot, like I spent too much time writing this and you should not read this

Behavioral Theory could work well as a framework with rehabilitating Spartan IIs if the case worker focused on Operant Conditioning Theory and Cognitive Social Learning Theory, which I talked about in this ask because I think I’m funny and this blog is an archive of me applying human behavior theories to video games.

Spartans have always been taught the mission comes first! Always! The 2s are indoctrinated from age 6-14 and then have that reinforced the rest of their lives. From the beginning they are taught to push themselves to the limits, earn their food by winning, form bonds with teammates but be ready to sacrifice them for the mission. The whole lives wasted vs spent conversation between John and Mendez after the augmentation surgery!

What the UNSC/ONI wants comes before their lives, the lives of other soldiers, civilians, AI etc. This constant conditioning of expectations and rewards has created the norms cemented in their minds. This becomes standard operating procedure.

Spartans are also an entirely separated social group, other people have made really great posts on how they are Othered and have their own way of communicating with body language. ODSTs hate Spartans, marines see them as cyborgs or saviors, and while they’re allies, Spartans are not seen or treated as human, by literally everyone. They are a means to an end, with the original goal being to maintain the UNSC’s position of power and crush the insurrectionists in the outer colonies, but uh oh Aliens!

Maybe the 2s aren’t as expendable as the 3s but the mindset and reinforcement of “mission first, people second” being repeated their entire lives is going to stick. So is the constant mistreatment and abuse from their fellow soldiers and handlers.

Addressing the cognitive distortions that come from their upbringing while also balancing the fact that Spartans are so fundamentally different from the way they developed to survive would be so much work, especially considering how much information on them is given to their therapist. The main distortion I would apply is minimization, making large problems small and not properly dealing with them, and specifically for John, personification, accepting blame for negative events without sufficient evidence.

Like these are grown ass super soldiers who can kill you in less than a second and calculate the amount of gravity in a room on the fly but then also can flounder when trying to comfort civilians or make small talk because their experiences and values are so alien to adults who had more developmentally “normal” lives.

Literally applying therapy to Spartans would be like, what was done to you was wrong, the ends do not justify the means, you were children and the adults in your life failed to protect you. You are a human person who is fallible and did the best you could with what you had. And the Spartan would say, “sounds fake but okay, can I pass my psych eval and go back to war now please?”

Jumping back to Behavior Theory

Different approaches to therapy under the Behavior Theory umbrella help modify negative behaviors with treatments like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical behavior therapy that teach individuals adaptive coping like emotional regulation, distress tolerance, cognitive distortions, and interpersonal communication. And that’s just one framework under the umbrella of human behavior theories.

Social work therapy is different from psych as it approaches individuals with heavily researched, evidence-based theories and frameworks in a holistic viewing of person-in-environment, instead of a strong focus on internal psychology.

Social work looks at all the interacting systems, environment, history, and internal and external factors affecting an individual. One of the most useful frameworks is the Biopsychosocial-Spiritual Frameworks (BPSS) when helping a client. It helps with identifying all the intersecting factors, both risk and protective, that shapes a client’s lived experiences. The most important thing to remember is that the individual is an expert in their own life, they know their experiences best.

The hardest part is applying this to Spartans because they Are So Fucked, their lived experiences, their environments and systems and institutions interacting with them, and the amount of their personal information that is probably so classified.

BPSS is a tool to help social workers assess individuals and their situations by collecting info that is related to the presenting issues and current and past circumstances. Info like medical history, hospitalizations, substance abuse, mental illness, personal relationships, family history and background, culture and norms, education, legal history, spirituality and participation etc. is all under this framework.

For Spartan 2s most of this info is lost or classified and helping someone who has repressed every negative emotion they've had for the sake of the mission would be so much to unpack but that’s also why you’re reading the mad ramblings over an over caffeinated nerd on the internet.

Life Course Theory which looks at developmental milestones and the individual’s experiences versus the socially expected markers, how do you apply that to children who were taken and have lived such different lives?

While early adolescence is when “normal” development of thoughts of self and identity take place alongside the physical changes of puberty, Spartans were being turned into emotionless calculating weapons. Sorry John, no forming a sense of identity and peer bonds for you, go kill that Watts guy who betrayed us and joined the insurrectionists.

And now that I’ve gone this insane and opened 2 whole textbooks up, let’s get to Master Chief thoughts. If you’ve read this far thank you, I swear I’m normal, 2020 has just been a weird year.

Why the fuck did I think I could write a therapy fic on a guy with 20 minutes of actual dialogue across almost 2 decades of games?

I make fun of him and call him a himbo, but he’s smart, he knows he’s being used and there is resentment there that’s been building for years.

There’s also decades of trauma and combat experience, physical, and emotional abuse, the lack of a support network, lack of an identity, the biological factors and aftermath of the augmentations and injuries he’s received, a whole lot of grief and self-inflicted guilt.

The loss of a third of his peer group with the augmentation surgery, Sam’s death, the loss of Reach (the only place he’s considered home), Keyes, the Pillar of Autumn crew, Miranda Keyes, Johnson, Cortana. He cares about the marines who fight with him!!!

He just stands there and takes it and rarely snaps, and even then it’s just small cracks on the surface with fissures running deep. The few details I will pull from Halo 5 are Blue Team’s reactions to John pushing himself so hard from the beginning of the game, and the literal crack in his armor from the fight with Locke. Like dude.

John’s a leader and will get the mission done but he tugs on the leash. He’s earned enough of a reputation and uses it to get his way.

Halo 2’s “Permission to leave the station” with Mr. “I’m going to hand deliver a bomb to the fusion reactor of a covenant supercarrier and hope my friends catch me”.

Halo 4 is when we see him say no to a superior officer and then 5 is him going AWOL. Palmer literally points out that no one is going to stop him.

Halo 5 kills me for many reasons but John bringing up Halsey and what she did to him and also pointing out that he knows Halo 5 Cortana is trying to manipulate him with psychological tactics hurts.

He knows what’s been done to him!

I cannot remember which book it was but John isn’t used to working alone. He literally takes fire because he was expecting someone to have his back!

He’s lost without Cortana! She was in his brain! Y’all! I played Halo Combat Evolved on the original xbox when I was like 8 and I knew these two were meant to be together. From the moment they met they had great chemistry and relied on each other! Cortana literally goes after people who have it out for John! John wants her approval and shows off for her in one of the books.

I’ve already written too much here but like all of the games have John showing off for Cortana, making dry jokes, jumping out of things he shouldn’t.

The whole point of this rambling is to try and get my thoughts about how to approach John’s character under control.

And that’s the thing. He’s lost control. He’s lost people, he’s losing his position and being phased out as an aging spartan, a relic. John’s used to following orders and making some decisions on the battlefield but it was always short term.

He has no identity beyond being a weapon. Complete the mission, clear the LZ, get put in cryo. Rinse, repeat.

The timeline of the games are what I'm most familiar with but with the comics and books too it’s one long run from Halo 2 to Halo 4. Cairo station to the Dreadnought to the crash landing to Forward Unto Dawn to Requiem to “The Didact is Dead but not really but we’ll deal with him off-screen”.

I know Hood apparently gave John R&R orders before Halo 5 that he ignored and kept running himself into the ground. This is a man who has to keep moving and keep being useful.

I imagine him giving in and seeking help as a last resort to fix any problems he has with performing his duties rather than helping himself be healthier.

Any professional he sees is going to have to approach him like they’re approaching a self sacrificing feral cat, with lunch meat and quiet. This man needs to have his support network closer, set up long term goals, and do some serious, and most likely incredibly painful, self reflection on where he’s come from and where he wants to go. Get him out of that tin can and into therapy. I don’t have a nice neat ending because this was a ramble and also therapy is not neat and tidy. Thanks for reading my words about mr halo

#this is not coherent but it needs out of my brain #John - has different characterizations based on what media he's in #Me - my writing must be in character or I Will Die #also me - we don't talk about halo 5 but i will loot its corpse for bits of lore I like #im sorry for being like this #my writing #Therapy time #John 117 #this is not a halo blog #haha this was peer reviewed nonsense #thanks yall for enabling me #i have even more ideas for the infinity sitcom folder now

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howtofightwrite · 4 years

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Q&A: Recovering From Injuries Takes Time and Patience

phantomjedi1 said to howtofightwrite: Your blog is amazing – you’ve saved me from so many mistakes! If someone is trying to come back from injury, especially one that lays them up for an extended period, what are ways that their former level of skill would trip them up in a combat situation? And is there anything they can to more quickly adjust to their new mobility limitations, etc.? I have a character who used to fight well, but was injured and has trouble walking without pain. They’re trying to get some ability back. Thanks!

The major thing an injury takes from you is your conditioning, that’s your musculature, your endurance, your wind, your flexibility, etc. The toll is primarily physical, so this character (outside of their injured body part) cannot fight as well or for as long as they used to. They’re slower, their reach is shortened, and they find themselves breathing more heavily more often.

Now, they can get that back but it usually takes months of consistent effort as they slowly build themselves back into their previous levels of conditioning.

You have to think of conditioning, the working out part, like a mountain. A significant portion of any athlete’s day is spent working out. This isn’t just the exercise training in the techniques, it includes your conditioning. Your push ups, sit ups, pull ups, weight lifting, long distance running, wind sprints, etc. It requires a lot of effort to maintain your body at peak condition and any break (not just an injury) will cause you to start slipping down that mountain. An serious injury that requires you take months off to heal? Expect months of dedicated conditioning to get yourself back to peak performance, and that’s if the injury completely heals. You can’t just jump back in at the levels you were used to before your injury, you’ll actually hurt yourself all over again. You have to climb the mountain the same way you did the first time, bit by bit with a little more each day or each week.

This is what drives athletes crazy. Their minds say that they can go “this” hard, at the levels they were used to before their injury or they took time off, and they can’t. The trope will pop up in almost every sports movie where the main character suffers a major injury, and it’s accurate to life. Whether they’re martial combatants, Olympic athletes, or just a high school football player, they run the risk of hurting themselves all over again by pushing their body too fast and too hard to return to previous levels. Most of them will get impatient and try. Sometimes, they have good reasons, like the soldier who doesn’t want to leave his squad a man down. Sometimes, the reasons are selfish or based in fear, like missing a major competition.

Recovery is, in large part, psychological. The fastest way for a character to adjust to their limitations is to accept they have them. They need to figure out what their body can do, find their current limits, and start slowly pushing the envelope, rather than trying to get their body to behave exactly as it did before. The mind’s expectations are what’s actually lying to them. They have to retrain their brain to accept their new circumstances.

In the early parts of returning to training, the mind will constantly miscalculate because it’s relying on the body’s old reaction times. Every action will be slower. Their mind will move at a similar speed to what they had before, but their body won’t. The disconnect between the two is where most of the problems occur, and why coming back from an injury feels a lot like starting all over again. You know what you can do, but your body won’t cooperate to do it.

If your character is trying to come back from an injury and the injury hasn’t completely healed, like this leg injury, then they’re going to be forced to train around it. If they put too much pressure on the leg, if they push the injury too hard, the injury will get worse. They run the risk of the injury becoming permanent. They’re going to have to stay off it and when they’re on it, go slowly. They may not be able to train that leg more than fifteen minutes a day, and, depending on injury, are only able to stretch it out. Depending on the severity of the injury, they may only be able to put their full weight on the leg for a few seconds each day. Those few seconds can extend, they can become minutes, but that’s going to be the results of months of work. If they feel pain when they walk on it, that is their body saying no. Whatever pain they feel from just walking, strenuous activity will hurt a hell of a lot more.

Martial artists/martial combatants/athletes are trained to push past pain, but they also need to be able to tell the difference between the pain caused by the body’s resistance/laziness and serious injuries. Serious injury pain is the stop and no further pain.

The problem with leg injuries is that your entire axis revolves off the legs, if both legs don’t work then you can’t fight. You need both legs to be capable of bearing your body’s entire weight for at least a few fractions of a second multiple times throughout the fight. Both legs need to split that body weight. You can overcome that necessity and train one of the legs to carry more of the burden, but if the injury is permanent (like a knee injury) then they will always be limited in what they can do.

I’ve known a few individuals who’ve come back from major leg injuries where the doctors said they’d never be able to do martial arts again. The willpower, patience, and work they put into their recovery was monstrous. They really loved what they did. That love was their foundation, their foundation fueled their efforts and kept them from giving up. There are going to be times when the frustration sets in, when the climb feels impossible, where your body is not fixing itself fast enough to satisfy what you want, where you’ll want to throw in the towel, and the question you need to answer as a writer is, “what keeps your character coming back? What is the source of their motivation?”

To be at the top is not easy. Most people who don’t heavily engage in the world of sports, or martial arts, or martial combat, don’t really grasp how stiff the competition is. Or how hard it is to defend the seat once you’re there. Outside of true story sport’s narratives, many characters lack convincing motivation. “I don’t want to die” only gets you so far, and “I want to protect my friends” again only gets you so far. Those are the motivations of the mediocre, and, in most situations, mediocre is enough.

However, that’s not the motivation of the person who arrives first and leaves last. The person who always shows up, rain or shine. The person who sacrifices time with friends and family, the person who skips out on dates to train, the person who makes their training their life. The ones for whom their training is their life are the only ones who come back from extreme injuries because they find the motivation to go through the agony of starting over.

Recovery can take years, usually recovery from a major injury takes at least half a year and then, once you start training, there’s the three to four months (or more) of pushing yourself to return to the previous level.

For reference, when I was twelve, I broke my leg. I broke my leg in the fall and wasn’t able to get back into martial arts training until late spring, and even then, the order from the doctor was, “no jumping until June.” I went from no pressure allowed, to supported pressure with crutches, to walking, then running, and then finally jumping.

If you’re really interested in writing a character going through recovery after a major injury, I actually recommend watching the (admittedly sometimes cheesy) true story sports movies. They’ll cover everything, from the grieving period to the difficulties in recovery, to the points where it gets too hard and the character wants to stop, to when they finally get back into sync and come out stronger. Sometimes, they skate over some details but it is a realistic progression from one to the next in the cycle.

It’d be a good reference point for you.

Never forget mental fortitude when you’re writing a combat character. Willpower is their true strength, and it can be easy to forget when you’re distracted by physicality. The unwillingness to give up in the face of impossible odds. The faith they have in their own abilities to push through, even after that faith has been shaken.

It can be hard to get into that mindset, especially if you’ve never experienced a major injury (even if you’re not in sports) or been a martial artist/invested in physical training of any kind. You can do it though, but you’ll need to do a lot of research. In this case, sports movies where the character experiences a major injury and biographies/autobiographies written by sports professionals documenting their own recoveries are going to be key. You can then apply that structure to your writing, the crossover is really in the conditioning. If you really need it to be martial, there are a couple of war movies and boxing movies which cover similar material. This is well-documented, you just need to find the sources.

Once you have the framework and the arc, you can apply it to your story. The basic steps are fairly simple and can be molded into any narrative and setting.

-Michi

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Q&A: Recovering From Injuries Takes Time and Patience was originally published on How to Fight Write.

#writing advice #writing injuries #writing reference #writing tips #writing training

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digitaldreams0801 · 3 years

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Frontiers Unexplored AU: Alitia

The one where I cross over two of my written stories for funsies.

Alitia World Building

Basically, this section catches people up to speed on the basic world building of Alitia in case they haven’t read it. It’s very heavily abridged for the sake of being timely, and better details can be found in Alitia itself on my Archive of Our Own profile.

There are two types of people: mages and leaths. Mages have outward magical abilities that allow them to use magic (duh). Leaths have passive manifestations that give them prodigal strength in a given subject (tactics, swordplay, communication, etc.) and are stronger in that matter than any mage ever could be.

There are two types of magic: Light and Dark. Light is more focused on control and then working up to power while Dark is raw power with less control at first. Mages pick if they want to be Light or Dark when they first start coming into their magical abilities around the age of 16-18. Light has the added ability to heal others while Dark offers access to magic revolving around symbols and glyphs. After becoming particularly strong, Light mages can start using symbols while Dark mages can start healing. It takes a long time to reach this point though.

Mages and leaths fall into two categories: winged and wingless. Having wings or not changes the way one uses magic both transformed and in civilian form (different regulation of the magical core). Wings are often found in feminine people but gender is fake anybody can have them. This is a choice made at the same time as the Light/Dark decision at roughly age 16-18 and can be both passive and conscious.

There are exceptions to the binaries of wings and Light or Dark. Shapeshifters lie on the center of the spectrum involving having wings or not since they can change that at will. Shapeshifters are rare and often have a wide range of magical abilities. Light and Dark magic are opposites with Blends (mages with two types of magic rather than one) being between them. Blends are particularly rare (.01% of the population or so) and are known for being inherently powerful from birth.

There are six types of people with these factors taken into account: Mage/Wings/Light: Enchantress Mage/Wings/Dark: Witch Mage/Wingless/Light: Wizard Mage/Wingless/Dark: Cantor Leath/Wings: Heroine Leath/Wingless: Hero

The Millennium Six are schools centered around each of these types of people, and they train the next generation in matters of combat to defend their realms: Alitia: Enchantresses Sacred Heart: Witches Angelwood: Wizards Sierra: Cantors Acadia: Heroines Ridgeview: Heroes

There are two main religions: the Churches of Starlight and Moonlight, named for the creators of the world. The two gods (Starlight and Moonlight) have Keepers that act as modern proxies of their power. Keepers are reincarnated and have the power of their partnered god. Every church is led by a specific archbishop, and the churches take place on the primary planets of the gods (Starlight’s being Amity while Moonlight’s is Enmity). Starlight is essentially light magic while Moonlight is dark magic (same sort of vein as canon Digimon Frontier and Frontiers Unexplored). Keepers can grant Blessings of their power to others. The closest companions of the Keepers earn their places among the Sealed Ones, trusted fighters working for the sake of peace across the universe. Sealed Ones are twelve in number per generation and based on the twelve zodiac signs. They are selected as Sealed Ones when they confirm their resolve to their cause in a moment of immense strife either inwardly or outwardly. Markings of the zodiac signs can be found on the bodies of the Sealed Ones outwardly to show their positions.

There will be other technical details mentioned below such as planets, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, let’s get into the crap that’s specific to Frontiers Unexplored!

History

The previous Keepers and their respective team of Sealed Ones went off to battle against one of the darkest forces known to recent history: Luce. He was once a powerful sage working for both the Churches of Starlight and Moonlight to keep the peace throughout all realms, but he turned away from both of them after gaining too much power and allowing it to go to his head. He came to view living creatures as beneath him, prompting him to turn against the light and start to advocate for nothing short of complete destruction.

The Keepers and their Sealed Ones marched towards Luce, intent on killing him to save the world. In the end, the team managed to seemingly destroy Luce, but in a final blast at the hands of Luce, the team was wiped out. The Keepers and their Sealed Ones were all killed in one fell swoop, leaving behind no protectors for the universe. The Keepers were reincarnated into a new generation, and Luce was widely presumed to be dead.

The Keepers and the Sealed Ones are named after the Ancient Warriors of Frontiers Unexplored. The previous Keeper of Starlight was Garuru while the previous Keeper of Moonlight was Sphinx, for example. The final two were Wizard and Silphy of Cosmos and Energy respectively (since those two are original Digimon and only appear in FU).

Koji Minamoto: Keeper and Wizard of Starlight (Light)

Koji is the Keeper of Starlight and a Wizard originating from the planet of Amity. He’s known to be somewhat detached and bitter when it comes to addressing others. He is looked after by the archbishop of the Church of Starlight, Kousei, though the two have a volatile and difficult relationship at best due to Kousei’s emotional immaturity and focus on increasing Koji’s strength. Koji gets along much better with Satomi, a high-ranking priestess of the Church of Starlight and treats her as his confidant. He struggles to make connections with others because of how isolated he was from the world growing up, a byproduct of Kousei’s obsessive protectiveness. Rumor has it that Kousei once looked after the previous Keeper of Starlight, Garuru, as well, but their connections ended after an angry confrontation that resulted in much anguish on both sides. Garuru died shortly thereafter, hence Kousei’s difficult treatment of Koji.

Koji fights with swords in battle, something that he learned at Kousei’s instruction. He came to fight in his own style though, often combining it seamlessly with his Starlight magic. High expectations were placed on him from a young age because of his position as the Keeper, and he came to master his element as quickly as possible as a result. Koji lacks an affinity for healing unlike most other Light mages though, prompting him to be primarily involved with combat during battles.

Koji is the Sealed One of Scorpio among this generation, and his marking can be found on the back of his right hand. He came to attend Angelwood when he was of age, falling under the category of Wizard because his Starlight magic forces him under the discipline of Light. There, he met Takuya since the two were roommates at school, and despite their frequent butting of heads due to stubbornness, they came to get along well over time.

Koichi Kimura: Keeper and Cantor of Moonlight (Darkness)

Koichi is the Keeper of Moonlight and a Cantor. He grew up on Enmity and is on the quiet side, choosing to keep to himself more often than not. He was raised by Tomoko, a leath woman and the Archbishop of Moonlight. Tomoko did what she could to shield Koichi from the rest of the world and its cruelty, but because of the turmoil that followed the deaths of the previous Keepers, there was only so much that she could do, leading to Koichi becoming emotionally rundown despite his attempts to put up a facade of peace. He’s on the passive side and has a talent for talking out matters with others, making him well-liked among those that he knows, if not a bit quiet. He can be found reading a lot of the time, using fiction as a way of escaping the harsh reality that awaits just beyond the book’s pages.

Koichi uses a staff as his preferred weapon, though he tends to use magic more often than not due to being much more proficient in it. He has completely mastered his power despite the raw magic that comes with the Dark practice, and many have stated him to be a Moonlight prodigy, much to his chagrin. He is strong with symbols and glyphs with a special talent for healing as well, something unusual among Dark mages.

Koichi is the Sealed One of Aquarius. His symbol is located on the back of his left hand. He left for Sierra as per tradition of Keepers, and he met the rest of the group there through inter-school activities among the Millennium Six. He and Koji share a birthday and a common thread of appearance because their predecessors were killed on the same day, leading to them fostering a surprisingly close connection among Keepers.

Takuya Kanbara: Wizard of Fire

Takuya is the first prince of Etruna and a Wizard of Fire. The Kanbara family looks after Etruna, the world of fire and ice, from its palace on the center of the realm’s halfway mark between the two magical types. Takuya is the older of the two princes, the younger being his brother, Shinya. Despite being a prince set to take the throne one day, Takuya is headstrong and passionate regarding the topic of adventure. He loves the idea of finding a quest all his own and tends to be somewhat reckless in his search of something beyond the status quo. Takuya is a natural-born leader, and he’s close with Chihiro. Because of his role in Chihiro’s departure from Igni’s elite, Takuya is notably protective of them and would do anything to keep them safe. He is charismatic and confident, never yielding in the face of danger for better or worse while still remaining human and relatable to others.

Takuya fights with fire magic above all else, and when he does use physical weapons, he tends to rely on claw attachments to a set of small gauntlets. He prefers to get up close and personal during battle, and his recklessness shows with his proficiency in combat. He’s not the best with healing magic unless he brings the constant activity of his mind to a halt and concentrates on something that desperately requires his attention.

Takuya is the Sealed One of Leo. His mark can be found on the front of his left shoulder. Takuya roomed with Koji when the two went to Angelwood, and while it took a while for their relationship to iron out its issues, they became rather close. Takuya and Chihiro have remained best friends despite attending different schools among the Millennium Six.

Tomoki Himi: Wizard of Ice

Tomoki is a Wizard of Ice born on Etruna as a commoner. He is the youngest son out of the Himi family with his older brother being Yutaka. Tomoki’s brother saw few restrictions growing up due to his prodigal status as an ice mage, leading to high expectations being heaped onto Tomoki’s shoulders. On top of that, Yutaka took the power he possessed to be a reason to pick on Tomoki for being inferior, leading to an imbalance of power that had Tomoki abused by his brother throughout his youth. This caused Tomoki to grow up as a sensitive and easily-frightened individual as he struggled to escape the bloodied shadow that his older brother left behind for him. Yutaka’s prodigal status gave him the chance to escape all consequences for his wrongdoing, and while Tomoki’s parents were aware of what Yutaka was doing, they were unable to stand up to him either due to not having magic as strong as his, making them likely targets of Yutaka’s ultimately volatile temper. All of this caused Tomoki to be fragile emotionally, easily overwhelmed and introverted.

Tomoki’s magic is based in ice, and he has an incredible proficiency over it because of how much he’s pushed himself to practice. He uses axes as well, his way of setting himself apart from Yutaka’s strength in lances and swords. Tomoki is a decent healer as well because of his heavy bias towards using magic in battle.

Tomoki is the Sealed One of Pisces, and his symbol can be found on his lower back. He tends to hide it where possible because he fears the reaction his brother would have. He and Yumiko became fast friends due to their similar sense of distrust for the world. He’s a year below Takuya and Koji, and he came to admire them both from afar within Angelwood.

Izumi Orimoto: Enchantress of Wind

Izumi is the oldest princess of Hiloft and an Enchantress with dominion over wind magic. She has come to be idealized as a perfect figure by her people and those who surround her, causing her to develop a strong persona through acting. She is kind and caring but seems to lack any depth, often throwing on a mask to keep people from finding out about how insecure and self-loathing she truly is. Izumi’s younger sister, Masae, looks up to her immensely, and Izumi is incredibly protective of her, coming to look after her sister after their mother’s death by assassination. Their father is distant due to his work as the king of the realm, causing Izumi and Masae to be heavily dependent on one another. Despite how close they are, Izumi refuses to yield with her practiced mask even around her sister, wanting to be a good role model no matter how much it hurts her in the process.

Izumi’s weapons of choice are claws similar to what Takuya uses, though she has a heavy bias for her magic. She is a strong healer, though nowhere near as much so as Yumiko or Hinoka. Izumi is a potent fighter and knows how to defend herself, though she hates battle simply for the sake of battle and does it mostly out of a sense of obligation towards those she cares for.

Izumi is the Sealed One of Cancer with her mark being on her right forearm. She is a student at Alitia who, much like Yumiko, has the potential to be well-liked and popular, though she keeps to herself instead. She is part of the Keepers’ year.

Junpei Shibayama: Cantor of Thunder

Junpei is a Cantor with the ability to manipulate electricity. He was born on Millennia and grew up there as well. His parents are well-known mages and teachers at the Millennium Six (with his mother teaching at Sacred Heart while his father is part of the Ridgeview staff). Junpei was often bullied throughout his childhood, particularly at the hands of students at the Millennium Six who looked down on him with scorn for struggling with his developing magic. He started to develop a fiery temper as a result, and his spite towards the rest of the world grew incredible and became part of his mindset. Even after Junpei was able to get help to make sure that this stopped, he retained this mindset for better or worse. He is a very polarizing figure in personality, being both overbearingly positive by putting on a mask of endless optimism and notably pessimistic because of his nihilistic views of the world at large.

Junpei’s fighting style revolves around his use of a pair of gauntlets that he has engineered to be able to shift into a ray gun at a moment’s notice. His magic is the most likely to go out of control as a result of his temper issues, leaving his power somewhat unstable and prone to explosion for better or worse. He is strong with glyphs and symbols contrary to what his uncontrollable magic would suggest, a talent he shares with Saki.

Junpei is the Sealed One Gemini, and his symbol is on his left bicep. He came to be unlikely friends with Saki since they were enrolled at Sierra at the same time, and he was the first person to figure out their mission before they revealed it to the rest of the group. He’s a year older than the Keepers.

Chihiro Ayumu: Cantor of Earth

Chihiro is a Cantor who was born on the planet of Igni. They have influence over the element of Earth. Their parents were high-ranking noble mages on Igni, a planet known for its discrimination against leaths. During a meeting with the royalty on another planet, Etruna, Chihiro met Takuya, the oldest prince of Etruna. The two got to know one another, and as soon as the chance came, Chihiro used the trip on Etruna to run from their parents, who treated them poorly as a result of their magic taking an unexpectedly long time to manifest in full. Chihiro returned to the palace after their parents left Etruna, and they have been living as an unofficial third sibling of the Kanbara royal line ever since then, making them notably close with both Takuya and Shinya despite their first appearances of bitter defiance towards any who dare to get close to them emotionally.

Chihiro is physically strong in many ways, resulting in them finding power with many weapons. They can use hammers, axes, and the like well, though their preferred weapon is the gauntlets. Chihiro’s physical strength is unparalleled, and when combined with the raw force that comes with their earth magic, they are a defensive and offensive terror on the battlefield to match their stubborn nature.

Chihiro is the Sealed One of Aries, and their marking can be found on the back of their left shoulder. They set out for Sierra at the same time as Takuya, and through him, they were able to become fast friends with Koji. It took a bit longer for Chihiro to fall in with Koichi despite attending the same school as him, but they eventually grew to be notably protective of him and the rest of their team.

Yumiko Mihara: Enchantress of Wood

Yumiko is an Enchantress with the power over Wood, including plant life of all breeds as well as vague abilities regarding life and death. She was born as the princess of Fortunia, a planet known for its traditionalism. Her parents were often detached from her life because of their royal endeavors, and they paired her off with a noble of the planet for an arranged marriage from a young age. Yumiko defied the wishes of her parents, though this only led to continued harassment from both her fiance and the other nobles who sought her attention and the power found in her family. She came to hold reality at arm’s length, keeping it away from her where possible. Yumiko is said to be pleasant at a first glance, a way of defending herself from the rest of the world. She holds quiet scorn towards those who have hurt her, though she masks this as a way of ensuring that she is not infringed upon again in the future. She came to attend classes at Alitia as a way of escaping the plans that her parents had laid out for her since they were dismissive of her pain at best. She left in search of a new start and hopefully companions who she could rely on to not abuse her.

Yumiko is a notably potent healer. She can patch up just about any injury out there, and her healing powers have earned her the title of a prodigy, though she often denies this in favor of fading into the background. Yumiko manipulates plants in battle, often using a magical bow and arrow to further her abilities in combat.

Yumiko is the Sealed One of Taurus with her marking falling across her chest where her collarbones meet. She is a year below the Keepers in classes, putting her in the same class as Tomoki, Mayumi, and Haroi. She tends to keep to the social circle of the rest of the Sealed Ones out of fear of being hurt by others despite her grace and ability to connect emotionally with others.

Hinoka Sakatami: Enchantress of Water

Hinoka is an Enchantress of water born on the planet of Rivergold, the realm of water. Her mother was of Loduke while her father was from Rivergold. After a messy split between her parents, leaving her mother emotionally unstable, Hinoka moved to Loduke with her mother. There, she found herself suffering because of her closest companion: a boy named Emon. He was the first to accept Hinoka following her move, reaching out to her despite her sticking out for having the notable traits of Rivergold’s people (patches of scaled skin, for example). Emon’s personality soon shifted towards hatred though, and he came to abuse Hinoka by exerting his power over her that came with being her sole source of companionship. After Hinoka and Emon dealt with a toxic relationship of three years, Hinoka was accepted into Alitia, and she went there in search of a fresh start. However, her history remains clear in her demeanor, as she is fidgety, anxious, and soft-spoken unless she feels safe around the people in her vicinity.

Hinoka fights almost exclusively with magic, and her sole weapon is a staff with a magical gem mounted to the top of it to boost her influence over water. Hinoka is an amazing healer as well, using her staff to augment her natural affinity for helping others. She has notable curiosity towards glyphs as well even if she cannot use them well with magic.

Hinoka is the Sealed One for Virgo, and her marking can be found on her left ankle. She generally avoids others under most circumstances with Izumi being her first notable friend. Hinoka is in the same year as Junpei and Saki.

Saki Fushida: Shapeshifter and Blend of Metal

Saki is a shapeshifter and Blend with specific influence over metal. Their magic is highly focused around matters of telepathy and other types of mind magic as well as influencing metal. They have incredible intuition and have been noted by others to be as shady as it gets. Saki is a master at manipulating situations to their every need, and they use this to their advantage to work under Cherubi, Seraphi, and Ophani in the search for Luce. They operate as a spy within the shadows for the sake of the three mages, ever in search of definitive proof that Luce is still alive somewhere.

Saki was born on Enmity to Wise, one of the Sealed Ones of the previous generation, and their partner. They lived in the Church of Moonlight since Wise was heavily affiliated with Sphinx and acted as the tactician of the Sealed Ones and their Keepers. Roughly one year after Saki’s birth, Wise was killed alongside the rest of the Sealed Ones in the final battle with Luce. Wise’s partner started to investigate, believing that Luce was still alive, only to be struck down during the search. Saki, left orphaned, was ultimately taken in by Cherubi in the chaos that followed. Cherubi, Seraphi, and Ophani were close friends of the Sealed Ones, and the three of them are also convinced that Luce is still alive. Saki grew up in their custody before deciding to use their unorthodox magic to become a spy in search of the truth behind the past. Later, they enroll at Sierra as a Cantor in search of clues that could lead to Luce, keeping their mission secret from all.

Saki has a varying fighting style because of the fact that they are a Blend. They shapeshift for the sake of their work but are known to take the form of either a masked vigilante known as Lyra or an unnamed dragon. They tend to use mind magic that comes with their shapeshifting abilities often in tandem with metal magic. They are strong with a rapier as well, and this is their weapon of choice. They tend to hide their shapeshifting unless they have to reveal the truth to others, masking as a regular Cantor (since they would only be outed as a Blend if their shapeshifting magic was known).

Saki is the Sealed One of Capricorn, and their mark is found within their right eye. They hide the symbol with their mask when in the form of Lyra if they aren’t outright using magic to shield it from sight. They are in the same class as Junpei and Hinoka at the Millennium Six (a year above the Keepers).

Mayumi Reiku: Witch of Energy

Mayumi is a Witch with the ability to manipulate energy. She was born as a commoner of Hiloft, a planet known for its wide variety of magical types. Her mother abandoned her and her father when she was young, something her father considers to be a good thing due to her abusive tendencies. Mayumi lived on Hiloft for many years before her father was offered a chance to research the world of N-Yx, a planet with a particularly powerful connection to Moonlight. Mayumi followed with her father, which is where her family settled down with Haroi and his mother. The four became a happy new family with Mayumi becoming notably close with her new stepbrother. Despite the dreary circumstances behind her birth, Mayumi is upbeat and cheerful, easily able to attract the admiration of others. She can be prone to mood swings at times, but her good intentions cannot be denied no matter what.

Mayumi’s magic is more volatile than most others’ because of her not having much formal training. Her lack of emotional regulation does not help in the slightest, and her mood swings can randomly drain the energy of herself and others if she is not careful. She fights with retractable claws in combat and struggles with matters of glyphs.

Mayumi is the Sealed One of Sagittarius, and her mark manifests itself on her right calf. She is close with Haroi even though they attend different schools, and she falls within the same year as him, Tomoki, and Yumiko at the Millennium Six.

Haroi Tsurumaki: Cantor of Cosmos

Haroi is a Cantor with the ability to influence the cosmos. He was born on N-Yx, a realm with heavy ties to Moonlight as a result of its many temples dedicated to magic. His mother is a priestess at one of these temples, and she raised Haroi within them after his father abandoned them. Haroi is naturally a frail young man, causing him to be somewhat secluded due to his inability to leave for long periods of time. He found admiration and whimsy in Mayumi, his stepsister, because of her endless energy and penchant for adventure. Their blended family means everything to Haroi, filling in the gaps of loneliness and yearning that he used to struggle with when growing up with only his mother and those at the temple by his side. Haroi is an introverted yet empathetic young man, highly in tune with the emotions of others despite his quiet demeanor. He is intelligent as well, loving to learn more about magic and how it manifests itself outwardly and passively in mages and leaths.

Haroi’s weapon of choice is a staff, though he rarely uses it in battle. Instead, he prefers to use his magic when given the option. Haroi’s influence over his magic is impeccable because of the fact that he was raised in an environment meant to boost such strength. He is incredibly potent with symbols and glyphs and researches them when he can.

Haroi is the Sealed One of Libra, and his symbol can be found on the back of his neck. Haroi is close friends with Mayumi due to their years of connection as siblings before they came to attend classes at the Millennium Six. He shares a year with her and is a year below the Keepers.

Boko: Hero of Tactics

Boko is an assistant to Seraphi known for his affinity in tactics due to his manifestation. Since Seraphi is a teacher at Angelwood, Boko acts as the librarian of the school. He greatly looks up to Seraphi, and his curiosity is learned from his mentor. Boko was born and raised within Millennium City on Millennia, and he is vaguely aware of Junpei since they are both connected to teachers of the Millennium Six, though the two can hardly be considered close. Boko often looks after Nee, the other assistant of Seraphi, out of obligation to ensure that his friend stays out of trouble. He lacks the ability to fight since he chose to not train in such matters out of choice, preferring to offer tactics from the back of a group of fighters.

Nee: Hero of Charisma

Nee is Seraphi’s other assistant and a close friend to Boko. His manifestation allows him to easily attract the attention of others through his words, though this is something that he struggles to channel due to how slow he can be on the uptake at times. Nee is notably emotionally intelligent despite this, and he is able to cover the bases that Boko misses in terms of communicating with others. He looks up to Seraphi just like his friend does, though his admiration is much less profound than Boko’s is. Nee is the one person who seems to know how to catch Saki by surprise, likely because of how strangely his brain seems to work in comparison to the strong majority of Saki’s targets within their line of work.

Seraphi: Wizard of Sun

Seraphi is a teacher at Angelwood and a Wizard with the ability to manipulate light. He received a Blessing of Starlight many years ago from the previous Keeper of Starlight, augmenting his power and making him a fighter to be feared. He, Ophani, and Cherubi work together to make up the Three Angels, a trio of powerful warriors who once worked as allies of the Sealed Ones. He settled down as a teacher after Luce’s supposed defeat, though he thought that Luce was still alive somewhere. From there, he took in Boko and Nee as his apprentices while carrying out secret research into what had truly happened to Luce in the aftermath of the previous conflict. Seraphi is a kind and caring man who seeks only peace, making him a strong mediator in times of turmoil.

Ophani: Enchantress of Spirit

Ophani is a teacher at Alitia and an Enchantress with the ability to channel foreign types of magic. Her powers allow her to bring in the spirits of deceased souls to temporarily contribute to her magical strength, and she uses this as a way of defending the peace alongside Seraphi and Cherubi as one of the Three Angels. She also received a Starlight Blessing many years ago from Garuru when he was the Keeper. Ophani is a charismatic woman and the unofficial leader of the Three Angels, easily able to pull in the attention of others and use it to her advantage. Her weapon of choice is a spear to contrast Seraphi’s sword and Cherubi’s bow. Ophani rarely takes nonsense from anyone, knowing how to put others in their place without going too far, and she is a terror on the battlefield.

Cherubi: Cantor of Shadow

Cherubi is a teacher at Sierra and a Cantor who can freely manipulate shadows. He is the final of the Three Angels alongside Seraphi and Ophani, but unlike the other two, he received a Blessing of Moonlight from Sphinx many years ago. While researching Luce’s fall, he learned of what happened to Saki’s parent who did the same thing, and he offered to take in the young Saki soon afterwards. Saki decided to follow in Cherubi’s footsteps to learn more about Luce as a way of avenging the deaths of both of their parents and following in the path they had left behind. Cherubi is somewhat distant and aloof at first, struggling to speak his mind the way that Serpahi and Ophani do. Deep down, he is a kind soul, if not a bit paranoid and prone to bouts of emotion, especially if he believes his protege may be in danger.

Susanoo: Wizard of Heaven

Susanoo is a figure of pure legend with their last noted appearance being years ago during the final battle against Luce. There is no way of confirming their existence beyond the rumors that have stated that they do exist in some form or another. In truth, they are the manifestation of the Sealed Ones pulling their magic together after fostering a close enough connection as a group. They are an amalgamation of all of the Sealed Ones both in personality and physical appearance, and they bear the symbols of the Sealed Ones scattered across their body in the proper places to match those who have combined to forge them. Their magic is stated simply to be ‘heavenly’ due to blending so many different types of magic, though it lacks an official title.

Luce: Blend of Heaven and Hell

Luce is a Blend with the ability to fuse both light and darkness together. His magic is polarizing as can be, coming from the far ends of the spectrum of power. His strength is difficult to harness and stated to be highly volatile when placed in the wrong hands. He once found himself in a place of influence due to his natural charisma, but he broke free of that when the power got to his head, and he started to want complete control over others. Luce would go on to try and enforce this power through sheer force, though he was stopped by the Keepers and their Sealed Ones roughly sixteen years ago. However, Luce managed to survive the attack after the Keepers died, and he retreated to restore his power until the time was right. He sought revenge against the new Keepers and Sealed Ones for their predecessors defeating him, and he used immense attacks of magic to figure out who they were before striking.

Age Guide

This is as of the time that the story starts.

Tomoki, Yumiko, Mayumi, Haroi: 15 Takuya, Koji, Izumi, Koichi, Chihiro: 16 Junpei, Hinoka, Saki: 17

Plot

The group of twelve come to attend classes at the Millennium Six, each going to their respective schools to match their status of discipline and wing status. They meet in passing but do not get close with one another yet. After the Three Angels uncover information to reveal that Luce is truly alive, they prepare for an attack from him. Rather than being met with Luce himself, the Millennium Six are attacked by waves of magical soldiers made by Luce so that he doesn’t have to face them directly. The main cast is brought together by circumstance through these miscellaneous attacks, and they bond in an unlikely friendship based on their shared experiences. Their Sealed status is revealed along the way, allowing them to play right into Luce’s hands without even knowing that this is part of his plan. Through Saki, they meet the Three Angels, Boko, and Nee. The truth about Luce being alive is revealed, and the group begins to prepare to stop him. They train together, becoming Sealed Ones at their own paces throughout the process. Eventually, they find themselves faced with Luce himself, and in a magnificent battle, they are able to fuse their powers together to become Susanoo and defeat Luce once and for all, retaining their companionship all the way through.

And that’s about all that I’ve got! I don’t know if I’m going to be coming back to this AU at any point in the future, but for now, I absolutely love this AU. If you haven’t already, pleeeeeease read Alitia and Frontiers Unexplored; they’re both on my Archive of Our Own, and I think that they are very good (and other people do too). I’ll see you for my next big rambling post, but until then, farewell, dear readers!

#digimon #digimon frontier #alitia #frontiers unexplored #au #alternate universe #digital's frontier rewrite bs #this isn't even canon #but it doesn't matter #i like writing alitia and i like thinking about fu #so that's everybody else's problem now #fun!

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