#you should be able to build up some personal philosophies and skills besides fighting in 500 years | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

incorrectsmashbrosquotes · 5 years

Text

Reflections of the Demon King

*A bit of a character study of our favorite Demon King. Please enjoy!

This was submitted by @ganondorfthedarklord and we worked together on it. Thanks bro!

Within his personal quarters did the infamous demon king spare glance at tapestry and relic, art and artifact. The Gerudo who stood an immortal king had lived millennia, his memory stretched far and vast, and pieces of himself could be drawn to a time before time itself existed. He was draped in soft scholarly robes over metal boots, black etched over with gold as he allowed himself a moment outside his conflict. As fingers slid across the stitching of textiles from his own time, preserved through extensive magics of his own making, he began to settle into contemplating that long past, back to his youth, considering how he came to be as he was now.

Fingers drifted from art that depicted his home to things far more personal, a wooden mug, roughly carved from a solid chunk. It was not something fit for a king, it was rugged, uneven, but fit for his enormous fingers and shaped comfortably. Even now he recalled the day he received it…

One year. Only one year had passed since he had been crowned King of the Gerudo, and already dozens of the desert tribes had fallen to his might. Some called him the Witch King, others the Dark Master. In the end it didn’t matter to Ganondorf what he was called, so long as they fools knelt before him.

On this day, the one year anniversary of his kingship, the leaders of the tribes he conquered presented him with gifts. Some were extravagant works of gold and silver, others were wickedly sharp weapons. He had received little else, save for a few scrolls containing spells of which he already had mastered. He was mentally dividing up the gifts, intending to use them for more useful pursuits than gathering dust on his shelves, when he was interrupted from his thoughts.

“Your Majesty?” came a shy voice. Ganondorf turned to see a little girl, no older than eleven summers, standing near him, nervously shifting about. She was of the Jabari Tribe, one of his conquests, but there was clearly Gerudo ancestry in her features.

“What?” he questioned, dutifully keeping his voice neutral.

“I… I know that… that I have nothing worthy of you… but I wished to give you a gift anyway.” she said. Without another word she presented a simple wooden cup to him. The Dark King took up the offering, examining it critically. The rough hewn wood was nothing to show off about, but it had obviously been carved with care.

Ganondorf turned to the nervous girl and spoke with clarity something he had never said before.

“Thank you.”

As Ganondorf drank from the cup he inwardly chuckled at the memories of the odd looks he’d received from nobles due to his use of this cup. He never bothered to share the story of it, they had been unworthy to hear it anyway. Simple yes, but it was his. He shook himself from such thoughts and returned his attention to the tapestry before him.

His time before his ascension was a mystery to many, but he remembered it well. He had been born to a young she-warrior whose name he had never learned. It had never truly seemed important really, she had died birthing him after all. Nor did he know his father, save that he was a wandering Hylian Knight who had been taken by the Gerudo for a short time. In truth he had been a child of the Gerudo Tribe, rather than any individual. They had forged him into what he was. They had taught him to stand, to strive, to slay. What need of traditional parents had he then?

Upon his thirteenth summer the wisest and strongest of the Tribal Elders, Koume and Kotake, had taken him into their hands. He knew that they had loved him, but it was not a gentle love. It was a cruel love, hard and sharp like a sword. They had turned him into a weapon of magic and steel. No mistakes had been tolerated, and any he made were punished harshly…

“Fool of pup!” screamed Koume at the prostate child before her. “You are to be King of our people! A savior! And yet you continue to make mistakes that a brain-envenomed Goron wouldn’t make!” she shrieked in Gerudo tongue.

“I… I am sorry, Elder Koume.” he ground out.

For that she blasted him with dark fire that etched into his skin. He took it silently, malice building in his gut. “Never apologize you weak pup! Kings do not apologize! They simply are!” Ganondorf stood, feeling the aches in his muscles. Something was building inside him. Something ancient. Something terrible.

Something very, very, angry.

“Perhaps then, it is your fault.” he said, not fully conscious of his actions. He only knew that what was inside him NEEDED to be free. “Perhaps I make mistakes because my teacher is a wretched, ugly, weak, PATHETIC BAG OF DUST!” he thundered. The world seemed to fade around him, his nose picked up the faint burn of ozone in the air.

“You- you wretched-” Koume never got the chance to finish her sentence as Ganondorf loosed a beast’s roar, and with it a bolt of solid black energy from his mouth. It smashed Koume through solid stone.

With that he fell to the ground. The last thing his senses could grasp before losing consciousness was Kotake walking up and standing over him, a broad smile on her wizened face.

“Finally.” she said.

After that his strength grew in leaps and bounds. He learned every spell his teachers knew, practiced every martial skill his tribe could offer. His nights were consumed by scrolls and books, filled with the sciences and philosophies of the wise and powerful alike. He became voracious, seeking every scrap of knowledge and power he could find. Soon he towered tall above all his peers in both body and mind. The many scars of his pursuits were left untouched, he took pride in the growth drawn from each cut.

The path forward had become clear to him. To be free one must have power, to have power one must be intelligent, one must be strong, one must be cunning, one must be willing to utilize that which was necessary. To be a true sovereign one must be able to overcome all that could question him, and in later ages which he had not yet reached he would come to include the gods among those who must be overtaken. He would learn self-reliance as the only reliance. For then he still prayed to the gods to better his lands and strengthen his might.

Perhaps the only person who ever truly knew him beside himself was his second, a young Gerudo girl who had managed to sneak into his training sessions during that age. For a time, she had been a trusted and wonderful companion a few years younger than himself, sharp of tongue and mind with strength that could hold longer than any other of his kin against him. Such trust was misplaced, he would later learn, as she was not as loyal to him as her own ideas of the Gerudo, and over time their visions of the future would irreconcilably divide. She hid her betrayal well, and it had been wrenching to learn of this treachery.

It was first with hope that he approached Hyrule, while he had long studied the history he was yet young and naive in all practical sense. War had long existed, but there was perhaps some potential for a more peaceful progress. He soon learned the truth of the Hylians.

They were a soft people. A people made weak by wealth and plenty. Their King was nothing like what a king should be. He was like his people, soft and weak. A sorry excuse for a monarch. And slowly,steadily, Ganondorf became angry. These weak creatures hoarded and hoarded all they could, unwilling to share with his own. The so-called blessed races which infested the mountains, fields, forests and hills shared in the plenty, but his own were outcasts in the desert wastes.

His fury could not truly be described. Soon he realized that the only way forward was domination. Control. Conquest.

Ganondorf began with his native home. He turned the Gerudo people from warriors to soldiers. He forged them as they had forged him. An army was born. And one by one, the tribes of the great Southern Desert fell to his rule.

His rule was not as stable as he had anticipated. He was far more young and ignorant than he had believed of himself, his older self understood. That passion, that fury, had not yet been as under control as he had believed and in frustration he made many mistakes which further destabilized his rule. He may be proud and unrelenting, lacking in regret, but one did not grow so powerful without correcting where one faulted or erred.

He had tried a measured hand, but the pride of the tribes he conquered refused to be denied. He was plagued by little rebellions, internal conflicts, and assassination attempts. Slowly he applied more and more pressure upon his conquered peoples. Blood and steel became the law of his rule, but he never went further than what he deemed necessary. For every ten rebels he executed with a swift and brutal hand, another thirty were cowed into submission. He came to realize an important truth: Men do not fear swords. They fear Monsters. And so a monster he became.

It was that philosophy that finally led him to the Triforce, and to Hyrule’s conquest.

But it was in his seventh year of rule and conquest that his greatest failure came. His confidant and friend had betrayed him. Only through his mothers did he even allow suspicion of her, allow himself to question her. It should have been obvious, but he had been blinded by the trust he had placed. Such a mistake he would not make again, and he swiftly discovered another most trusted servant had never been on his side at all. It was rare any saw what he did not, such mistakes boiled in his veins and he cursed and spat. Steadily, rather than the support he had intended, he had lost ground.

Defeat was long and it was attrition combat which finally wore his powers from him. He had total confidence in himself all throughout that fight, he needed to, for he was to conquer the heavens themselves, he had brought Hyrule to heel, he had taken their most sacred relics and children were all that faced him. He did not see the gods behind them, and he fell into his hatred, let it control him in ways he would not allow again so easily.

Many foes had claimed he did not feel as man did, could not see as a person, but something almost all failed to realize is he empathized greatly with those he slew. To manipulate as he has one must truly understand those they are using, and he did not ever act without reason when he had sound mind, but he was ruthless and ceaseless, endless, eternal in his conquest. It was not without consideration that he would end a life, rather he considered each greatly, but of comparison to his goals there was little to decide. Zelda herself had done similar such things in her battles to bring down his reign.

Ganondorf set his sentiments from the ancient past aside and beheld the present as he rose, though the mug never left his hand, to the bright stained windows which peered into the realm beyond. He saw out into the era as it was. Here he stood outside of his time and realm among countless beings of differing origins beyond his own. Such ripe pickings, such choice pawns and pieces, and the most loyal of servants of all time did follow him again. There was much that had happened here. He deliberated on it as he drank deep of his liquid caffeine.

Ironic, that one of the beings who most spent her attention upon him was a goddess of light in her world while the other a powerful witch, one of not insignificant strength and deeply wrapped in darkness herself. He had hesitated to call the bonds shared with them love at first, despite the deliciously debauched acts they participated in, but competition as the two challenged him deeper into the embrace was ever driving, as was his passion. As tightly controlled as it may be, upon release his passion was consuming and he was one to fight in every battle before him, even ones of affection. Those bonds developed much further than he had ever anticipated.

This established, none of the trio possessed the same beliefs, the same ideals, and he well knew they would often come against him no matter how pleasing their time together. It was refreshingly pleasant, though, to take this occasional escape from his constant war. In a way it reminded him of his youth, rejuvenated him. Such bright passion was not as common in him these days, the flare of heat was appreciated. The joining of flesh also produced something he had wanted but not anticipated finding before his final victory — children.

An heir was something Ganondorf long sought despite his immortality. While there had always been many who sought him it was difficult to find one capable enough, enticing enough, powerful enough for him to even lightly consider the idea of truly bedding. He had first come to have a biological one, and he managed two such children with the first of his mates, the witch, but they had not joined him in his cause. The first had become a beacon of justice in his own world, making himself a symbol not unlike Ganondorf himself. The second had trodden a path similar to his own, rebellion against authority and the divine. Although his actions were far more… altruistic in their motivations.

But despite their difference in goals he was still proud of both of them. However, no matter his pride, neither could be his heir.

Then whispers had reached his ears of another child. One so like him yet so very different. A child filled with rage and darkness. A devil in the making, soaked in the blood of genocide and betrayal. He had sought out this child, and the little demon had been everything he had hoped. And so he had his heir. From this child he would forge a scourge upon the Sacred Realm itself. All of creation would one day tremble before this creature… this Angel Fallen Underground.

Ganondorf once more returned attention to the ancient mug as he considered his relations and reflected upon the state of his kin. He would never admit it, but it had been gutting to see what had become of them.

The last and yet living king of the Gerudo was a man well out of time, he had long recognized. Life changed around him, the Gerudo were long dead; while others might question him of the statement they had died millennia ago. What remained of them was a corpse mutilated into something he cared nothing for. Gone was their savage strength, their terrible will. They had been… domesticated by that wretched scourge that was Hyrule.

Independence had died, rebellion gone, their leadership had been gorged out and replaced with one far too similar to that of the Hylians. Worse still they now served under the family of Hyrule. It disgusted him to see such proud resistance fall into line beneath the kingdom he fought. The only value of it was the idea of resurrection, he had forged it once, he could forge it again in the crucible of blood and steel. The world had indeed changed, but never was it to benefit him lest he force it.

Ganondorf contemplated the future, turning from the window toward his maps and plots where much was yet to be subjected and subjugated to his influence.

What still stood before him was Hyrule, and with it the Triforce. It remained difficult, but to him there had never been such a thing as the impossible, merely heightened and difficult obstacles to overcome. Even fate was one to be taken and conquered. Once he finally wretched these things from the gods and their champions he would have all in hand. From there he could forge all existence as he desired. From there he could remove the thrice damned gods from their thrones. They were his truest of enemies, and such cowards they were to hide from him in the heavens behind their champions.

Though he rarely spoke such words he truly respected those two ceaseless opponents, both nearly as stubborn as himself. The princess could meet him in wits, the boy in swords, and though separate they could never defeat him they could gather quite the remarkable forces to lead against him together. Each piece of the pair impressed him. He would have to overcome them alone one day, and he would not have it otherwise. For him his victory must be complete and then he shall be able to end all who would stop him. It must be total, eclipsing, and it shall be, no matter how long it takes. He has lived countless centuries, he can take countless more. Existence will cease before he would do so.

The mug disappeared from his fingers in a mix of black and purple flames, off to a safe location, as did the soft cloth which had cloaked him during this time alone. Donning armor of war made of dark metal detailed in gold and cloaked with crimson beneath fiery hair, the time for contemplation had ended. The time to act neared, he was to convene his forces and prepare for it. Nothing would ever stop his march, only delay, only slow. Fierce fangs glinted in a smirk formed from devious designs taking shape. The giant pair of metal boots moved ever onward to a faint, almost silent, rhythmic click. Always forward.

Because for Ganondorf, forward was the only possibility.

#incorrect super smash bros #super smash bros #incorrect quotes #submission #Smash Bros #Ganondorf #Nabooru #Bayonetta #Palutena #Joker #Captain Falcon #Chara #Legend of Zelda #Kid Icarus #Persona #F-Zero #Undertale

61 notes · View notes

journeysintowebcomics · 6 years

Text

Worm Liveblog #85

UPDATE 85: Miasma is a Good Word

Last time the heroes made their bomb attack, courtesy of everything they confiscated from Bakuda, and apparently they got rid of Crawler and Mannequin! That’s a feat! Since there are like three Slaughterhouse Nine members left, Jack may be upset, so they’re all bracing for retaliation. Let’s continue.

I set Atlas down on the ground and hopped off. “Whatever the fuck they just dropped on the city, it apparently took out Crawler and Mannequin.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Tattletale said.

Pretty good philosophy in a world where some people have powers. I have hopes Mannequin and Crawler were defeated and died in a blast of Bakuda’s bombs, but I sure won’t take it for granted until they’re described. It won’t be a guarantee, but it sure will go a long way when it’s about ascertaining someone’s life or death status in a story like this one!

What Skitter did may have weakened the Siberian’s true body, and maybe even killed him, if Bonesaw wasn’t able to counter the poison in time. It’s a small chance, admittedly, but it exists. Not going to place any high hopes on that, though. Bonesaw works quickly, and she also has all those mechanical spiders. Maybe she could do something.

Skitter informs everyone of everything that happened, including telling them Legend told her to scram so she wouldn’t get in the way, good intentions or not.

“And this threat? Do we know what it is? Some zombie apocalypse?” Regent asked.

“No.” Tattletale shook her head. “She sees herself as an artist. She’s going to want to do something that catches us off guard, something that scares us in a way that simple horror movie monsters don’t.”

Pretty hard to say. A parahuman of the caliber of Bonesaw could do pretty much anything she wanted. There are countless possibilities. I would be surprised if it’s not fatal, though. Artist or not, she’s a mass murderer by definition, and they threatened the entirety of Brockton Bay. Anything they have planned must be able to kill everyone, or at the very least cause widespread sickness that can’t be cured.

Much to Regent’s...subdued amusement, I guess? – I sure bet he’s amused – Sundancer admits Bonesaw scares her. Pretty natural reaction, yeah.

“You two do raise a point, though,” Tattletale cut in. “Capes are powerful. If she wanted to scare the locals, she’s done that. I’d be willing to bet the ace she has up her sleeve is going to be more aimed at scaring people like us, like Legend. She wants to terrorize the strongest, target people who everyone looks up to and fears.”

I don’t know, the obliteration and/or extermination of an entire city’s pretty scary even for the strongest people. There are heroes, and then there’s people like Skitter who are empathic even though they’re a villain, and if Bonesaw plays her cards right, then she’ll strike fear into the hearts of villains, making them feel like she’s on a different tier than them. I’m expecting things to get real ugly around here.

In the distance I think Legend is still fighting the Siberian or something. Over here, they hope they won’t have to worry about Bonesaw’s plot, but I think it’s guaranteed it’ll happen. It has been hyped so much so far it’d be rather disappointing if it didn’t. Mr. Wildbow wouldn’t let the readers down!

I’m pretty sure everyone who fights tinkers hates them too, Skitter. I bet even tinkers hate other tinkers.

Oh, right, it was supposed to be something that’d spread through water, right? If so, then I suppose there must be a reason for it to have to be through water instead of, say, air. I was about to consider this further, but then Grue stopped my train of thought when he wants Tattletale about the dangers of tunnel vision and, well, he’s right. I’m supposing too many things, yes? And basing too much on Tattletale’s assumptions. I should sit down and keep reading, see where things go from here. Besides, it’s not like they can counter whatever will happen. Even if they find Panacea and she agrees to help them for the greater good, she’s one person. By the time she’s able to do something, whatever Bonesaw made may have caused too much damage around already.

There it comes. That was fast!

The water was turning crimson. Where it was only one or two inches deep above the pavement, it turned a dark red that resembled blood. That alone might have been spooky enough, but it was spreading over hundreds of feet in a matter of seconds, and there was a thin red mist rising in its wake.

She earns points for style. That’s a chilling image, and it’s unmistakably her work. Way to go, Bonesaw! And if it’s spreading that fast, then it’s pretty much unstoppable. The effects of whatever this is must be already felt by the general population. Is it even possible to get away from it? If a mist is rising from it, then there’s an airborne component, and that’s going to be harder to get away from.

The theory as to why it’s spreading so fast is that Bonesaw prepared things beforehand, my bet is that it was right when the rules of the game were established. Just to have it ready in case it was necessary, and now here it is in action.

Everyone’s reactions it to seek high ground and run away. Skitter gets on her beetle and flies, the others get on dogs, and Sundancer evaporates the water – something Bonesaw was prepared for, because the steam from the evaporated water takes the same qualities than the water itself. It’s matter of time before someone in the group is afflicted by whatever this is.

There we go, it almost happens. They’re barely saved on the way up thanks to Skitter forming a barrier with her insects. It’s interesting that there’s nothing saying the insects were affected. I’m sure if they were, Skitter would have noticed immediately, and they’d know what’s going on. It’s not some sort of poison or disorienting substance, I guess...either that or this has to be carried through water and the mist isn’t as effective. Who knows.

To get themselves on a higher spot, Tattletale indicates a taller building and Skitter flies over there, Trickster proceeds to swap her with someone, and this process is repeated a few times until Trickster and one of the dogs are left behind. The mist is creeping near him.

He’s safe, lucky guy. All around them, the miasma – that’s a good word – floats all over the buildings around. It’s pervasive, it’s covering everything, and is only matter of time before it rises up to the building they’re in right now. As I see it, the only hope anyone has is to get in an airtight place. Not many of those lying around, I bet.

“Probably something else. Or it’s poison, but it’s designed to do something besides kill us. How are the others doing?”

It’s a bit hard to know what other effect it could have besides killing – supposing it is designed to kill, I mean. My mind is blank. My thought is that it’d be some sort of control thing, but...is that the Slaughterhouse Nine’s style? I don’t know, it seemed to me they like to do things by themselves. They wouldn’t control others to make them kill each other, that’s what I think.

Looks like we’ll find out the effects sooner or later. Grue, Heckpuppy, Ballistic and one of the dogs are inside a glass dome they got into, and it’s matter of time before the miasma gets in there. Uh-oh, they’re doomed. Bad pun intended.

Since Grue and Heckpuppy are inevitably going to be affected pretty soon, Skitter wants to at least save Tattletale, even though Tattletale tells her to go and leave her behind, because in the end Skitter is much more versatile in action than Tattletale. She has bugs and also a gun, she’ll be able to fight Jack, Bonesaw and the Siberian’s real body. Well, yeah, that’s true. Whether she’ll be able to win is an entirely different matter. With a lot of luck and skill maybe, but still, pretty doubtful she will.

Once Skitter gets to the top of a taller building, she waits for Trickster to swap the cluster of bugs she’s forming in the shape of a person. They’re running out of time, the miasma is climbing up the sides of the building they’re on. The bugs are swapped, but instead of Tattletale, it’s Sundancer. Oh, Skitter isn’t going to like that at all.

At least she’s not blaming Sundancer for what undoubtedly was Trickster and Tattletale’s decision. In fact...

She shook her head, “They didn’t say anything. They were both really quiet while you flew off, and then Tattletale said ‘It doesn’t look like her plan will work out. Tell her I’m sorry.’ Trickster teleported me here before I could say anything or ask what she meant.”

If she says that then it must be for a reason. Tough pill to swallow, but yeah...maybe it’s for the better? Besides, Sundancer hits hard. When it’s about having a way to fight the Slaughterhouse Nine, she can pack quite a punch. I don’t think even them have anything to counter a miniature sun being launched at them, unless the Siberian’s projection protects them.

While they sit around, Sundancer takes the moment to develop some characterization. Neat!

“I hate being alone,” Sundancer said. She settled into a sitting position. “It’s like, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve actually been on my own. When I was little, I was always with my mom, or always in school, always in afterschool activities. Ballet, violin, lyrical dance, voice lessons, acting lessons… never a moment to think for myself. Even after I stopped all that, I was with my friends. Always in a group.”

So she’s not comfortable being by herself...I don’t think it’s dependence, I think it’s more like she feels comfortable with people around her. Doesn’t seem to me like he particularly regards the other Travelers as lifelong friends or anything like that, but they’re a group and therefore she feels kind of okay with them. Not that much, though. Just like Skitter points out now, she has said she feels lonely, even among the Travelers. What brought all of them together in a team, again? I don’t think that has been explained so far, I hope it’ll be said at some point.

In a while Skitter will go fight the Slaughterhouse Nine, and Sundancer will be left behind, alone and with nothing to do other than wait for stuff to happen – the most likely possibility being the miasma reaching her, I’d say. Guess that means Skitter’s going alone. Oh well. Best of luck to her, I hope she won’t get grievous injuries this time.

The miasma reaches Tattletale and Trickster, but there’s no immediate reaction. Hm. Maybe it’s delayed? Or it’s something that cannot be seen. The second one seems more likely, I think.

To encourage herself and Sundancer, Skitter says humans are much stronger than you’d think, both physically and mentally. Everyone has the capacity to keep going despite mental or physical punishment, if their willpower is strong enough. That’s what the capes have done, that’s what the Slaughterhouse Nine has done. Sundancer doesn’t like what she’s hearing, so Skitter salvages her speech by saying it’s an almost pessimistic outlook. Hah! Well, maybe it is, but I believe her intention was to give herself and Sundancer encouragement, so she may have meant everything as something positive.

The conversation is cut short when Sundancer tells Skitter to go already, and after Skitter goes she gets underneath a tiny sun. I hope that keeps her kind of safe. Skitter flies towards where he had left Legend last update, and also takes a look at Tattletale and Trickster, who aren’t reacting at all. They don’t signal her to come back. Why would they do such a thing? Even if they’re okay, they sure wouldn’t risk putting their teammates at risk! Could be dangerous.

Another thought as to what the miasma could be: what if it’s a way for the Slaughterhose Nine to go unnoticed even in plain sight? Like what Imp does. That’d give them free reign to kill whoever they want around, and not even the parahumans would be able to stop them or know exactly where they are – well, most of them, I figure, but the Slaughterhouse Nine would think measures to get away with as much as they can. Could be that, yeah?

Skitter directs herself to the catalyst of the miasma, and evaluates the situation. She hopes the civilians got to higher ground, where there’s not that much flooding and therefore are a little safer from the miasma. It’s matter of time before it reaches that too, I bet.

Legend is still around! And he’s still firing lasers around, even though he’s in middle of the red fog. I take that as he hasn’t been affected by it yet – or it doesn’t impede someone from fighting. Skitter gets her bugs into the miasma to have an idea of what’s going on.

He wasn’t fighting the Nine. Legend was shooting at teammates. He shouted something, but neither my ears nor my bugs were able to pick out the words.

Ah, of course he’s fighting his teammates. Effect of the miasma, I figure. It’s not a berserk state or rage brought by the fog – demonstrated by Trickster and Tattletale being civil around each other instead of tearing their throats off at the first chance, and also because Legend is pulling his punches. He’s not the only one affected, Weld’s keeping everybody away, and Vista gets herself in an unreachable spot.

Paranoia?

I don’t think it’s hallucinations...so paranoia seems like the right answer to me. Maybe they think their teammates are not to be trusted anymore. Does that mean if someone from the Slaughterhouse Nine stepped forth, they’d trust them? I wondeeeer...

Since Vista is the one least likely to kill her whether it’s on accident or on purpose, Skitter approaches her, and immediately gets a reaction.

She whirled on the spot to look at me, then swiftly began backing away.

I raised my hands to show her I meant no harm, “Hold on! I’m safe!”

“That’s just what they would say!” She retorted.

They as in the Slaughterhouse Nine, it seems. So even though the miasma, they know the Slaughterhouse Nine is a menace. These effects are limited only to paranoia, it seems...

Vista doesn’t listen, so Skitter moves to leave after Vista threatens her very clearly. She makes a bad move, though, movement Vista takes as a threat, and tries to hit her with asphalt, which in turn gets Legend’s attention. Legend’s lasers stun her, throwing her off the beetle, and she crashes against a rooftop in what surely would injure gravely anyone without armor or resilience like Skitter.

Not enough, Vista surrounds Skitter with a section of rooftop, entrapping her. Also, Skitter is right in middle of the miasma. Ah, time to find out about its effects firsthand!

Nothing in particular yet. Worth noting Vista is full of anger, but it doesn’t seem to be the effect of the miasma, because Skitter doesn’t feel anything like that despite, you know, actually being in danger, relatively.

I tried to think back to my prior experiences with her and found nothing.

What was her name?

Oh, she can’t remember Vista! I seeee...I think.

Skitter makes a few mental exercises to find out just how badly her brain is malfunctioning right now. She doesn’t seem to be suffering of brain damage or concussions. She can remember herself. She can remember her parents.

I tried to picture her expression.

Again, that gap, the chasm. Nothing.

There it is! So this is the effect of the miasma. Looks like it makes everyone forget about other people, including the experiences they have lived with them. They know those people exist, they know who they are, but they can’t remember how they look, or their personalities, or anything else that makes a person a person. Rather insidious, hm! And also original. Not sure about the practical use of it, though.

I mean, the Slaughterhouse Nine undoubtedly have a reason for this, but I wonder what it could be. This is meant to be the penalty for breaking the rules and having such a sizable advantage. I’m not sure what use they’ll have from this...because everyone’s so paranoid even if someone from the Slaughterhouse Nine approached them, they’d still be attacked. In fact, it could be worse because of the paranoia.

There must be something I haven’t considered yet...but what could it be?

The miasma makes her unable to recognize Legend and Vista even though she was fighting them not too long ago. Legend knocks out Vista – ouch – and Skitter, not having any other option, asks for help.

If I didn’t have the benefit of being able to remember my actions over the past few minutes, it would have been impossible to say whether the two people here were allies or enemies.

That explains why Tattletale and Trickster weren’t fighting. They could still remember what was happening a few moments before the miasma affected them. That’s unfortunate, even if Skitter remembered them and went to seek their help, they won’t remember her anymore.

Sundancer’s worries about being alone struck me. We were all alone, now. Every single one of us. From teams to individuals, everyone was fending for themselves because they couldn’t afford to trust the others.

And it would ruin us.

It would be impossible to mount any kind of defense against the Nine if we were fighting them as individuals.

Ah, there it is! That’s what I had missed! I see the logic, now I can see how this is dangerous and plays right into the Slaughterhouse Nine’s plans. Okay, I see how things are supposed to go, and I like this. Nice. Keep going! How are you going to counter this, Skitter? She’ll have to both overcome her amnesia and the fear she’ll feel towards other people.

Pleading for help to Legend actually makes him hesitate. He’s a hero, after all. He can’t just turn his back on someone asking for help, even if this could be a trap or something. He has to at least try to help.

Nevermind, he doesn’t. He just tell her to stay there, fights around for like ten minutes more, and then flies away. Thanks for nothing, Legend. Hah! But yeah, in all seriousness, Skitter thinks maybe the miasma’s making him less rational.

This wasn’t rational for him, it didn’t jibe with my knowledge of him. That could mean there was something about the miasma that was making him irrational.

We’ll know for sure, if Skitter does something irrational too. It’s a possibility some component of it clouds people’s judgment and decisions, I guess, but we’ll know for sure only when it happens to Skitter.

Since Legend is gone and he sure won’t help her, Skitter has to help herself, wriggling out of the asphalt the best she can. It’s actually a long ordeal, there are several paragraphs about it. It’s all because of the armor she’s wearing underneath her costume. Oh well. There’s...well, there’s no immediate hurry. Even if she finds the Slaughterhouse Nine, she won’t know it’s them.

Several people have been knocked out, Skitter helps a couple so they don’t suffer ridiculous deaths such as drowning in a puddle. Along the way she finds a creature that may be one of Heckpuppy’s dogs, or could be Crawler. Thorny exterior...I don’t think I have ever read the dogs being described as having ‘a thorny exterior’. Skitter’s decision of not approaching may have been the right decision.

“Skitter!” a voice called out.

I stopped.

A blond girl, waving at me.

I drew my gun and leveled it at her.

The smile dropped from her face. She brought both hands to her mouth as she shouted, “It’s me! Tattletale!”

Aaaaah...hm. Doubts. I have many. I find a bit hard to believe Bonesaw wouldn’t take into account Tattletale’s power and make it so she can’t use that to identify the people she encounters. I’m not ruling out this could be Tattletale, but...I sure won’t think right from the start it’s her.

Tattletale informs everyone else is currently hiding, and Grue and her are walking around, presumably looking for her. Skitter feels at ease and actually talks with her, asking what this miasma is about. It’s not amnesia, it’s agnosia. They didn’t lose their memories; they just can’t use it. That’s different, because everything is still there.

What Bonesaw did may be incurable and terminal, and although Panacea could help, I doubt she will. She was already jumpy and didn’t want to cooperate, the miasma’s going to make her even worse. The next fifteen or so arcs will happen during the next few hours, can you believe that? Worm’s timeline and pacing are going to slow down like never before!

Maybe it’s because I’m suspicious of this all, but Tattletale sure sounds...hopeful. And cheerful. I still don’t like this at all.

Tattletale brings up the mad cow disease to compare to Bonesaw’s punishment, and it makes some sense. I can see how this miasma is fatal. I don’t think the mad cow disease had a cure – can’t check right now if I’m correct -- but since I doubt everyone in Brockton Bay, Skitter included, will die during the next few hours, there must be a cure for this.

“If we’re going to save everyone, we need Amy. For that, we need to ask Cherish.”

Supposing this isn’t Tattletale and instead is, let’s say, Bonesaw, I’m not sure if the objective is to find Panacea or Cherish. I can imagine pretty good reasons to find any of them. Pretty doubtful Cherish would say anything without a deal, though. Looks like a pretty obvious roadblock to me.

Speaking of Cherish, I remembered Regent is with Shatterbird. I hope the miasma didn’t break his concentration, and that he still has her under control. Things are going to get rather messy if he doesn’t have her as a puppet right now.

Grue is here! And Skitter welcomes him with suspicion. Tired of having a gun pointed at them, Tattletale asks what’ll be necessary for her to trust them, so Skitter asks them a question.

“The fight with Empire Eighty-Eight’s mooks. When I made the human-shaped tower of bugs for the first time, and they shot into it while I crouched inside…”

That was when they went to invade Heckpuppy’s shelter, wasn’t it? She was with Heckpuppy, not with these two. Tattletale avoids answering, arguing she was orientating herself thanks to her power, but it seems she’s not able to answer this. Skitter can’t think of any other way to find out it’s them. Oh boy. This is a standstill.

Since proving it’s them didn’t work, Tattletale appeals to Skitter’s heart, she begs her to listen to it and react accordingly. That’d work if her heart was telling her anything! Hah! If Tattletale and Grue are fake, this must be getting really frustrating for them! And if they’re the real deal...well it’s going to get frustrating anyway. The agnosia miasma is seriously inconvenient.

Tired of having to appeal to Skitter, Grue suggests they continue alone. That elicits a reaction, because being alone in middle of this miasma is something Skitter would like to avoid. Grue then continues insisting, telling her they know how she feels and that he feels the same, even if he trusts Tattletale, and that she should trust her heart.

I wanted so desperately for it to be like in the movies, where people could trust your heart. Where you were holding the gun and you had to choose between shooting the evil clone and shooting your friend, and you just knew.

It’s never that simple, and especially not when you have agnosia. Seeing this is leading nowhere, Grue takes action and approaches to give Skitter an awkward hug. Not the time, Grue – if that’s your real name, bucko.

Okay, so far I was thinking I was jumping to conclusions with all of their actions, but something’s just off about all this. Tattletale, can you stop grinning? Not the time for that either. Boy am I going to be so embarrassed if it turns out they’re the real deal.

“Priority number one, we get in contact with Cherish,” Tattletale said, grinning. “From there, we can decide whether we want to track down Panacea or go after the Slaughterhouse Nine.”

Honestly that’s a hard decision. Do you try to cure the possibly fatal miasma, or do you hunt the culprits before you die? Going for any of these options and failing for one reason or another will waste time, and most likely lead to failure – and that’s supposing Cherish is cooperative. I sure don’t think she’ll be willing to be a good trooper and lend a hand in a selfless manner.

Still, that’s the current plan, so it’ll be done. Skitter doesn’t let go of her gun, even if she feels uneasy about it, because she feels uneasy about everything right now. Reminds her of her school. Wow, talk about an awful school atmosphere. Not that I’m surprised about it.

I muttered, “Sooner we’re fucking cured of this miasma, the better.”

“Hey!” Tattletale paused, pointing at me with a stern expression on her face. “Don’t swear!”

Oooookay, now I’m certain it isn’t her. She sure didn’t protest at all about their language in the past. I doubt the miasma will also give her agnosia as to how little she cares about swears. Then that means Skitter is currently in the grasp of two of her enemies – supposing these are the Slaughterhouse Nine. Also, she got hugged by one of them. Icky. But yeah, the point is, she’s in trouble and she doesn’t realize that to the full extent yet. For her sake I hope she realizes it before she digs too deep of a hole.

That’s the end of the chapter. Good one! And the arc still isn’t over. This will be a long arc.

Next time: in three updates

#worm liveblog #worm #webserial #webserial liveblog #liveblog

7 notes · View notes

laurent--stpierre · 5 years

Text

ORIGINS & FAMILY:

Name: Laurent Saint-Pierre.

Nickname: None. He hates when people try to shorten his name to anything. Last name is generally abbreviated to St. Pierre, though.

Birthday: December 28th.

Age: 37.

Gender: Male.

Place of Birth: Élysée, Paris, France.

Places Lived Since: Launceston, Massachusetts, and Porto Velho, California, United States. Messina, Sicily, Italy.

Current Residence: Chelsea, Kensington & Chelsea.

Nationality: French. Doesn’t hold dual-nationality.

Parents: Grégoire Saint-Pierre, Céleste Évreux.

Number of Siblings: Four. Odile, Agnès Saint-Pierre (sisters), Étienne, Jean-Paul Saint-Pierre (brothers) Laurent is second youngest, after Odile.

Children: One (that he knows of) a daughter, Gaia Cacace. That is something he has shared with nobody. Not even Odile.

Relationship With Family: It’s complicated. Growing up, Laurent’s parents were always more focused on working and their own hectic lives. It meant that the kids pretty much fended for themselves, despite the nannies, and whilst it might seem like that would have driven him closer to his siblings, the only one he ever really bonded with was his sister Odile; the single relative from Paris he still actively keeps in contact with. It was the rejection of his parents as a young boy that drove him into the streets of Paris in the first place. When he stole, they simply threw more of their wealth at him, thinking that if they bought him what he needed then he would stop. Obviously, it didn’t work, and he’s not really sure they’re sorry about it. Don’t get him wrong, it’s pretty fucked up (considering they essentially abandoned him during his prison time) but he still loves them. He just…doesn’t like them. Laurent saw them briefly when he got engaged to Claudia, but hasn’t bothered trying to see them since.

Happiest Memory: Without a doubt, his best friend’s wedding. Laurent might not have always approved of Oliver and Aurélie’s relationship, but finally seeing the man happy after all the shit they’ve been through was important to him. That was a good fucking time. I think all of the French took count of the things they had to appreciate in their lives at that point. It was a few days where they could just celebrate and forget about all the shit they had to go back to in Launceston.

Childhood Trauma: Besides his shitty upbringing, and ignorant parents, nothing.

PHYSICAL:

Height: 5′11″

Weight: 177lbs.

Build: As we say in the UK: built like a brick shithouse. Laurent is a big guy in terms of muscle, despite having a smaller frame than some of his colleagues. Serves him well.

Hair Color: Brown.

Usual Hair Style: Usually, he doesn’t do much to it. Has a habit of just falling into a scruffy look that suits him. Is also sporting a beard for the first time in his life.

Eye Color: Blue.

Glasses? Contacts?: Neither, his eyesight is perfect.

Style of Dress/Typical Outfit(s): Laurent is incredibly picky about what he wears. He knows that it’s important to look good to make an even better first impression, and for that reason, he takes a lot of pride in his appearance. Suits make up the majority of his closet. Tom Ford three-pieces for formal, Hugo Boss for daily. If you’re lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the rare, non-suited Laurent, then he’s probably in some black jeans, a plain t-shirt, and a leather jacket.

Typical Style of Shoes: The expensive leather kind. So try not to bleed when he’s kicking you in the fucking head.

Jewellery? Tattoos? Piercings? No piercings, no tattoos. The only jewellery he wears is his St. Clair signet ring, and it’s a great source of pride for him.

Scars: Far too many to list them all. I suppose his most obvious are the ones when he got shot up at the Versailles hotel opening. Took four gunshots that night, and was lucky to survive. Has some pretty nasty ones from his time in the basement, but thankfully they spared his face. I would imagine the rest of his body looks pretty torn up though.

Unique Mannerisms/Physical Habits: None.

Athleticism: Incredibly fit. Laurent used to compete as a junior boxer, and has definitely kept his skills up. If he’s not at Vixen, sleeping, or on the job, he’s probably working out. Does a lot more strength than cardio. Loves to fight.

Health Problems/Illnesses: Cocaine addiction. Probably only has half of his liver left, too.

INTELLECT:

Level of Education: Secondary education, at a private, Catholic school. Finished at 16. Nothing after that.

Languages Spoken: French and English fluently. Was in the process of learning Italian for Claudia, and is pretty good at it. Would consider himself intermediate.

Level of Self-Esteem: It’s so hard to tell with him. It’s on the lower side, but he’s still incredibly confident and thinks he’s better than you? Laurent can hate all his flaws, but the rest of you bitches are not allowed to point them out.

Gifts/Talents: Besides his boxing, he is also a rather gifted pianist. It was the compromise he had to make with his mother to be able to go to the gym. As she was adamant fighting was too aggressive, he attempted to appease her with something a little more refined. Though he always acted as if he hated it, he didn’t really, and ended up being quite good at it. He even has a piano that he takes to from time to time, though if anyone asks, he doesn’t hesitate to tell them it’s just for decoration.

Mathematical?: Fuck no.

Makes Decisions Based Mostly On Emotions, or On Logic?: A mixture of both. Laurent is influenced pretty easily by anger and frustration, and for that reason, his actions can be swayed by that. But when it comes to anything else, his feelings slip into insignificance, and he’s pretty logical.

Life Philosophy: Trust is a weakness.

Religious Stance: Was raised a God-fearing Roman Catholic. Lost his faith in prison and never really revisited the idea of religion after that. Claudia did try to encourage him back to church when they moved back to Italy, though.

Cautious or Daring?: Daring to the point of fearlessness. That’s going to have to change now he’s boss, though, and he knows that.

Most Sensitive About/Vulnerable To: People mentioning Pénélope or Michel. Also Odile. You fuck with his sister, you drive him to violence.

Optimist or Pessimist?: Pessimist.

Extrovert or Introvert?: Introvert. 90% of the time he wants you to leave him the fuck alone.

RELATIONSHIPS:

Current Relationship Status: Single

Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual.

Past Relationships: Pénélope and Claudia are the key ones. More info here.

Primary Reason For Being Broken Up With: Being closed off. Inability to commit. Being an awful fucking person. His infidelity.

Primary Reasons For Breaking Up With People: Boredom. Laurent usually likes the chase more than actually getting the woman, and so moves on pretty quickly when they start showing serious interest. Also if they’re clingy. Nope.

Ever Cheated?: Yes.

Been Cheated On: Yes.

Level of Sexual Experience: Way too fucking experienced.

Story of First Kiss: He was fifteen, and a particularly pushy girl—the daughter of a family friend who’d been visiting their house for some kind of social function—was adamant that he was going to be her first kiss. It wasn’t like he was going to decline. As soon as she left, he’d run to tell Michel all about it, because they’d made a bet earlier in the year about who could kiss a girl first, and now he’d won.

Story of Loss of Virginity: The same girl as above, a few weeks later. Nothing monumental.

A Social Person?: The thing is, whilst I think he’s instinctively a loner, when he’s not being a total douche bag, he’s actually a really good friend. Some people see that, and really want to stick around. I think he has stages where he really enjoys the company of others (particularly female), but then relapses and hates the world, and wants them all to play in traffic.

Most Comfortable Around: Oliver. Veronika. Odile. Évelyne.

Oldest Friend: Évelyne is the oldest friend he has that hasn’t fucked him over since.

SECRETS:

Life Goals: Laurent would say he’s doing pretty well, to be honest. I don’t really think there’s anything career-wise beyond this point? He has peaked. I guess his life goal now is to keep up the good work, and maybe try not to be miserable forever. Taking control of London from the Rutherfords would be a nice bonus.

Dreams: Same as above.

Greatest Fears: Terrified of spiders and will act little bitch if he sees one. Getting old scares the shit out of him. Probably because he worries about two things that will follow: Losing his looks, and being less useful on the job. Something happening to his sister. Something happening to him that means he’s not around to look after her anymore. Someone hurting Oliver, Aurélie, or Ronnie.

Most Ashamed Of: How much he trusted Michel. Leaving Gaia in Italy, even though he knows it was the right decision. Still makes him feel like a shit person.

Secret Hobbies: Besides his pianism, none.

Crimes Committed (Was he caught? Charged?): Okay, let’s be real, I can’t list all of the crimes he’s committed because I’d be here forever. The only time he’s been caught and charged for anything, however, was when he took the fall for a job both he and Michel had been responsible for. The dick left him injured at the scene of the crime, and ran away to freedom. Laurent ended up with eight years in prison. It should be noted that Laurent’s kill count is relatively high in comparison to other non-assassins in the Organization, but the two biggest names on his list are Michel Chevalier, and Margaux St. Clair.

DETAILS/QUIRKS:

Night Owl or Early Bird?: Night owl. Unless work calls for the contrary, it’s rare Laurent gets out of bed before lunchtime.

Light or Heavy Sleeper?: Unless he’s crashing from a high/dealing with a hangover, his natural sleep is pretty light. He likes to think it’s a good thing because it means no one can sneak up on him.

Favorite Animal: Cows.

Favorite Food: Dauphinoise potatoes with bacon from Adrienne’s. That shit is banging.

Least Favorite Food: Generally not a fan of Indian. Beetroot.

Favorite Book: Laurent isn’t a big reader, and doesn’t really have a favourite book. He has neither the patience nor concentration to finish one.

Least Favorite Book: See above.

Favorite Movie: A Beautiful Mind.

Favorite Song: I Want To Break Free - Queen.

Favorite Sport: Loves rugby. Used to get into so many arguments with the bros about it, because they were all football bitches rooting for PSG.

Coffee or Tea?: Coffee. Black, two sugars.

Crunchy or Smooth Peanut Butter?: No.

Type of Car He Drives: Doesn’t have a car in London currently. Had a silver Bentley in the United States, though.

Lefty or Righty?: Right-handed.

Favorite Color: Navy Blue.

Cusser?: Every other word.

Smoker? Drinker? Drug User?: All three. Laurent smokes like a chimney, drinks like it’s going out of fashion, and regularly uses cocaine. Has dabbled with heroin because it was always a big thing back in Launceston. So was marijuana. There are few drugs he won’t touch, to be honest.

Biggest Regret: Same as the things he’s ashamed of.

Pets: A Siamese cat called Franz. Though he usually hates animals, he likes that cats are independent. Also, Franz is a bit of an asshole. Laurent can appreciate the attitude.

#character development

2 notes · View notes

simplyoriginalcharacters · 7 years

Text

Jedi Knight Jaran Val (Revised Version)

This is the revision of my Jedi Padawan Jaran Val into a Jedi KNIGHT. He’s still a little shaky, because I don’t feel I have a grasp on all of his aspects, so pointing out any weak spots or hyperbole would be appreciated.

(Hi! Mod D here. Your profile review is under the cut!)

Name: Jaran Val Aliases: Hazard Gender: Male Sexual Orientation: Bisexual Age: 29 Occupation: Jedi Knight and General of the Grand Army of the Republic, 429th Infantry.

Group/Organizational Affiliations: Jedi Order, Grand Army of the Republic, 429th Infantry. Family: The Val Clan Best Friends: Knights Naomi Talis and Jeza Nomar Relationship Status: Single Significant Other: N/A Other Relationships: Master Jeanette Starsoul, Knight Kara Saje, Healer Sarisa Ven, Master Ki-Adi Mundi Height: 5’8” Weight: 160 lbs Build: Athletic body with defined muscles Skin Tone: Dark brown Hair: Black Eyes: Grey Identifying Marks: On his left jaw, there is a scar that looks like three crescent moons that connect on the curve with the points facing outwards, left from a punch with a ring. He also has a sky blue tattoo that is shaped like two acute triangles that connect on his nose and point downward under his eyes, which is the mark of Clan Val and was tattooed on his face shortly after he was born. As well as a tattoo on his left bicep that mimics the crescent moon scar, but with three right triangles, each pointed to the center of the tattoo with the base between the points of the moon. Appearance: Jaran is an active guy with a big presence. Not only is he a skilled duelist with a lightsaber, but he’s the sort who loves to get involved with various pick-up games wherever he ends up. Jaran has a mobile face, quick to show his emotions as he feels them, even after years of instruction on presenting an aura of serenity. His face is narrow and sharp, the kind of face people might compare to a fox on Earth, with a narrow, upturned nose and ears that stick out a bit.

He keeps his hair in dreads which fall to down to about his mid-back when he leaves it lose, but he usually wears it styled out of his face and so it won’t get caught in his lightsaber. Again. He taught himself to do that, using mirrors and the Force, which does get him some twitting about vanity, but is more about Jaran’s need to control things in his environment. Jaran favors wearing Clone Trooper style armor in combat, painted in the same blue as his tattoos with the moons and triangles on his left breast and back of his helmet, as well as the clan mark under the eyes of the helmet. Off duty, he either wears the black under armor of his combat gear or dark brown and black Jedi robes.

No matter what he wears, Jaran always wears gloves, his favorite pair have hard ridges on the back over the knuckles that are useful in a fight and have specially designed fingertips that let him use touch screens and translate textures to a point. He could maybe read braille with them, but wouldn’t feel all the details of, say, grains of wood. He also prefers long sleeves in almost all weather and avoids planets with high heat and/or humidity to minimize the need for clothing that does not cover him from his neck down.

Species/Planet: Jaran is a Kiffar from Kiffu. They are near standard-human, save that their blood is distinctly scarlet, and their facial tattoos, which represent their clan affiliations on Kiffu. Also, one in a hundred Kiffar have psychometric abilities, regardless of other force sensitivities. Personality: Jaran doesn’t think of himself as a good Jedi Knight because he has control issues. His psychometric abilities are very strong, so he is careful about what he comes in contact with, which has translated over to being very possessive and territorial about his personal space and living quarters. He doesn’t invite contact from people he doesn’t know, and gets anxious in close quarters.

Jaran is not a natural diplomat or a good actor. He has something of a reputation for being taciturn and stern with people, which is how he masks his discomfort and anxiety over what he can or cannot control around him. He’s not carefree or easy going, but he’s got a sense of humor and appreciation of the absurd as it affects others. His few friends are hard won and sometimes endure because they are far more flexible than he is in regard to his control issues and anxieties.

Jaran does try to do things outside his comfort zone, but the further out he gets, the more tense and uncomfortable he gets. It’s a struggle between two sides of his nature, the fear of his abilities versus his desire for social interaction.

Jaran was captured during the war and held hostage for several weeks. In the aftermath, he’s had to deal with his increased claustrophobia, and being tied or otherwise having his arms restrained. He actually spent six months working with mind healers to be able to use his armor again because it reminded him of aspects of his captivity. He was kept restrained in an inadequately heated basement on a planet that has a lot in common with northern Alaska, so things like snow, cold, dripping water, and inadequately lit spaces can make him twitchy, if not actually trigger him, although he’s generally okay with total darkness. He does have nightmares, usually about hearing voices he can’t quite understand, and laughter, or about being completely abandoned to starve by unknown people. He’s working on dealing with his issues with a mind healer.

Motivations: To avoid another battlefield like the one that cost him over half the 429th, to stop setting off Jedi relics with the Force. To heal from the damage from his captivity.

Current Goal: To protect his brother-warriors (the clone troopers) and be a good partner with Kara. Life Goal: To find his balance back and be a credit to his Master. Motto: To fear is one thing. To let fear grab you by the tail and swing you around is another. ~Katherine Paterson, Jacob Have I Loved Best Quality: His ability to roll with the absurd. Worst Quality: His obsession with control and his fear Fears: Falling (to Darkness), killing his own people, getting kicked out of the Order Hobbies: Sports (He knows and played a variety of them, and uses them as a way to connect with the troopers), philosophy, history Talents: Hand eye coordination, excellent sense of balance, and a pleasant singing voice Skills: Sharp shooting, parkour, general athleticism, and a general knowledge of how to read body language and to use Lorrdian kinetic communication. Abilities: Psychometry (the ability to read empathic residue from inanimate objects), telekinesis, mental shielding, and minor clairvoyance (ability to see current events from a distance) Weapons: Lightsaber, blaster Weaknesses: His psychometry is very strong, he doesn’t have to concentrate to pick up empathic residue from objects, even an accidental touch can fill his mind with the thoughts and emotions of previous handlers, however his general empathy is lower than average which gives him trouble in trying to find people and utilize training bonds (although people don’t realize this because he is exceptional at reading body language and reacting to that instead), and he sometimes accidentally activates Force imbued objects (which earned him the Hazard nickname) Fighting Style: Jar’Kai, the use of two lightsabers is his preferred, but he also studied Soresu from Master Jeanette. Secret: Jaran almost left the Order while still a Padawan after a disastrous mission, only convinced to stay by Master Jeanette and Master Mundi during his recovery in the Healer’s Wing in the aftermath. Sometimes he wonders if he should have followed through on the thought. Influential Memory: Meeting Master Jeanette for the first time after his Padawan Trials (a series of tests and demonstrations to show an initiate has the knowledge and skill for the more advanced teaching.) Role Model: Quinlan Vos and Master Jeanette Crush: Clone Commander Wolffe from Master Plo Koon’s battalion Source of Embarrassment: How many times has he accidentally picked up the empathic residue from shower sex in hotels? Too many. Source of Pride: His work on mastering Jar’Kai, even if he’s not a master of the form yet.

Backstory:

Jaran was born on Kiffar and was sent to the Temple at eighteen months. The Jedi Order and Kiffar have strong but distant ties, so Jaran has very few memories of his family outside of a few letters sent by his mother. His life was good, he got into the usual Youngling troubles, played a prank or two, and he was considered a bright, gifted lightsaber student. He got in trouble a few times as a child for trying Jar’Kai before he was considered ready for the lessons, but other than that he had a pretty average childhood for a youngling. His only struggle was emotion control, but since his was a happy nature, it was considered a minor flaw and not an actual defect.

At age ten, Jaran completed his Padawan trials and became Master Jeanette Starsoul’s Padawan within two weeks. At first, he wondered if Master Jeanette had actually chosen him, or if she had taken him on at the behest of the Jedi Council because she was reserved with him, and her praise was difficult to earn. It wasn’t until just after his eleventh birthday that he learned the truth. He had contracted a persistent fever during one of their missions that landed him in the Halls of Healing at the Temple, delirious, for nearly two weeks. He doesn’t remember much besides being miserable and a few hallucinations, but the one thing he has never doubted, no matter what, was that Master Jeanette was with him almost the whole time. There were a few times when he knew it was Master Ki-Adi Mundi watching over him in a bio-hazard suit, but the rest of the time it was Master Jeanette. Afterwards, she was still reserved with him, her praise still difficult to earn, but Jaran knew that she cared for him.

When Jaran was twelve, his psychometric abilities expanded rather suddenly. Where before he’d been slowly getting better at picking up emotional residue and sorting through what it told him, he was trying to get a sense of the last person to handle a vibroblade connected to a series of murders when he suddenly was slammed with everything, not only the killer’s feelings and thoughts in the murder, but the feelings of the victims as well. In a fit of panic, he managed to broadcast all of it so loudly that Master Jeanette got all of it, as did two members of Judicial who were sensitive to the Force, but not so strong that they would have qualified to become Initiatives. After the broadcast, Jaran passed out for almost a full day, before waking up to find that he couldn’t STOP experiencing the sensations of emotional residue, which left a very severe impression on him. Master Vos, being the strongest available Kiffar Jedi, was brought in to try to teach Jaran to control his out-of-control powers, but even with tutelage, Jaran only managed to learn how to recognize and sort through images, and to release their intensity to the Force afterwards, not how to prevent his mind from being overwhelmed in the first place. Gloves and concealing clothes were a last resort type option that none of them were happy with.

The first six years of his Padawan instruction, Master Jeanette took him on missions that spanned the spectrum of Jedi tasks, including visiting one of the ancient Jedi Temples that was being investigated by archeologists and Jedi scholars on his sixteenth birthday, where he was allowed a week to indulge in his love of history. Jaran almost switched his classes to be more geared to an archival or scholar role after that, but after he returned to the Temple and spent nearly an hour debating with Master Jocasta Nu about what he’d learned at the ancient temple, he realized that being a scholar of any sort would mean more of dealing with her and chose to continue on as an armchair historian. Part of that was that Master Nu never did forgive him for being in the Archive the day two of the Youngling Clans, including his own, reenacted one of the battles of the Great Sith War using the Archives as their battle ground. Not that Jaran was involved, but he was there, and Bear Clan, and that was enough for Master Nu.

After he turned sixteen, Master Jeanette began taking missions that involved more possibility of combat, with numerous bodyguard jobs. She never exactly explained why, saying only that sometimes the Force had odd ideas about its chosen guardians. Jaran learned a lot, both about the use of Jar’Kai in combat, the actual value of Soresu, and even began branching a bit into the Form V’s blaster deflection techniques, adapted to his preferred dual weld. He also learned how to interact with the people he protected, including how to firmly suggest things that would keep them safe without violating their cultural taboo. Not that he was always successful, but he tried, and would earn forgiveness later on after they were safe.

Jaran earned his Knighthood at age 24, five years before the Battle of Geonosis, and has been working mostly on solo missions since then. He’s developing a reputation as a body guard, with a successful string of kidnapping and assassination prevention under his belt. For the time being, he’s managed to leverage his dangerous missions as a reason for not taking a Padawan learner yet, but he’s pretty sure that Master Yoda has someone picked out and is plotting on how to force the issue between them. Jaran isn’t sure he is ideal for training a Padawan because of his control issues. He survived living with Master Jeanette well enough because his room was his personal space and sacrosanct, bringing a Padawan into his personal space would be a much more difficult proposition, especially considering that Jaran’s favorite thing about his rooms was the ability to go barefoot, not wear gloves, or even wander around completely naked without worrying about anything more than his own traces of empathic residue.

Jaran was not present for the Battle of Geonosis, arriving at the Temple hours after Master Windu had left with his recruits. He was patched up and sent out to take control of the 429th within days of the Clone Wars beginning, assigned to a battle group under the command of Jedi Master Eeth Koth working to preserve control of one of the hyperspace lanes. During the course of the multiple battles, Jaran found himself a dismal strategist in terms of using the full battalion to its greatest effect, often relying on his Commander to ensure that whatever happened, it wouldn’t be a blood bath. The strategy was marginally successful until the end of the campaign, when the 429th was assigned to the Aurin system to assist the local defense forces in protecting their access to a hyperspace lane. Four months into the assignment, Commander Gill was killed in battle, which led to the death of nearly half his battalion. In the course of that campaign, Jaran and two squads are trapped underground for eight days in extremely close quarters. Jaran’s mental issues were so prominent during that time that he actively hindered their attempts to free themselves until one of the troopers managed to knock him unconscious.

As a result of that incident, Jaran sought out help from the Healers to deal with his worsening mental health issues, which is when he formally met Healer Sarisa Ven, who became his primary mind healer. They do most of their work over the holonet because Sarisa is Temple-bound and Jaran’s issues do not currently prevent him from leading his troops, so long as certain accommodations are made.

Jaran was recently kidnapped while on Aurin, prompting the 425th to come to his rescue. In the aftermath, he has been returned to Coruscant for some intense one on one sessions with Sarisa before returning to take command of the 429th as they work alongside the 425th in some of their more dangerous missions. In some ways he’s less obsessed with control, but he’s a lot harder to break out of his shell. Working with the 425th is actually easier for him than the front line fighting he was doing. There are more opportunities to work with Sarisa, and given that the 425th and 429th operate out of a space station, Sarisa has even been able to come to him for their sessions on a regular basis.

Relationships:

Master Jeanette Starsoul- Jaran’s Master, a quiet, reticent Lorrdian. Given her people’s propensity for kinetic communication, which is similar to sign language, but involves a lot of subtle movements, facial expressions, and more, she isn’t one to say much out loud, but if you know how to understand kinetic communication, you’d know that she adores her Padawan as a favored nephew. (Never as a son. She made that mistake only once, and never again. Her Padawans are her nieces and nephews.) She taught Jaran all she knew, including the kinetic communication of her people, to prepare him for whatever the Force lead him to.

Master Ki-Adi Mundi- Master Jeanette’s former Master and long-time friend, Master Ki-Adi had been a part of Jaran’s Padawan life from the beginning. At Master Jeanette’s request, Master Ki-Adi often took the time to tutor Jaran in politics and debate philosophy with him. (Ki-Adi Mundi is the Jedi Council member with the… cone shaped head in the prequel trilogy.)

Naomi Talis and Jeza Nomar are Knights that Jaran knew from Bear Clan when he was a youngling. Naomi’s family hails from Alderraan, and Jeza is a Twi’lek from Ryloth. The three of them became friends because they all loved playing physical games, and did at times get in trouble for playing Limmie (soccer) instead of doing something else. For them, it’s not a limmie game if they use the Force, it’s all about the skill.

Naomi is a Healer and is stationed at the Temple for the time being. She specializes in limb replacement and rehabilitation. She isn’t a violent person, but she already has a handle on the proper attitude necessary to her job, firm, implacable, and compassionate.

Jeza is stationed with her former master, a Nautolan Jedi named Ami Dessa, (Like Kit Fisto, with the green skin and lekku/tentacles instead of hair) and they are currently stationed with one of the fleets on the Outer Rim. Ami and Jeza both favor Soresu style fighting and a habit of speaking in riddles. Jeza has adopted her master’s laid back attitude, and while she doesn’t have her master’s aura of perpetual amusement, she is pretty upbeat herself.

Kara Saje was never exactly in Jaran’s peer group, although they were known to each other and could peacefully coexist in the Temple. Now, they’re a bit more combative to each other, Kara’s drive to make the 425th a valued and respected part of the GAR versus Jaran’s ongoing control issues lead them to butt heads on any number of issues. It’s harder because Kara is technically the CO of their joint taskforce, but Jaran is the more experienced Knight and would have been in charge if they had been teamed up for a more standard mission. Learning to work together is an uphill battle on both sides.

From the Task Force:

Commander Saneone- the Commander assigned to the 425th at the Council’s behest and ordered by Kara to oversee the space station they operate out of. He connects well with Jaran, both because he is a passive individual in the face of the Jedi, while being a firm hand for the Troopers under his command, and because they both struggle to connect and work with Kara. Saneone has a calming influence on people; although he’s a great straight man for any number of jokes, he’s also a restraining influence on some instruments of chaos. (Later on, he will formally be transferred to the 429th, and Captain Zip will get promoted to Commander of the 425th.)

Imp, Trickster, Mayhem, and Mischief are Saneone’s personal unit, while technically a part of the 425th, they are the core of Saneone’s personal command. Like Saneone, they get along well with Jaran in their own way, generally related to his acceptance of them as a cohesive unit and as individuals. Although, Jaran did take a quick and decisive preemptive action to impress upon the foursome what the acceptable boundaries were for pranking him. (They also transfer to the 429th.)

As for the 429th itself, Jaran has a generally cordial relationship with most of them, although he isn’t particularly close to any of them. The two squads who survived the underground ordeal with him are in some ways the closest to him, and generally rotate the role of his back up after Kara makes it mandatory, but while Jaran can identify his officers and interact with them in a genial manner in a more social setting, he isn’t particularly attached to individuals. Although that might change as his work with Healer Sarisa goes onward.

Other:

Sarisa Ven is Jaran’s mind healer, a Twi’lek Jedi Healer who is Temple bound after losing the use of her legs on a mission before the Clone Wars began. While her legs are paralyzed, there is nothing wrong with Sarisa’s mind, or her sharp tongue and she is considered one of the best Mind Healers for dealing with pervasive anxiety issues related to long standing trauma.

I’m in the process of writing Jaran’s captivity story, so the future stuff is coming from my outline and notes (also known as thin air sometimes) but the idea is that he’ll have ongoing struggles with both sides of his issues, the PTSD lingering from Aurin and the control habits of behavior stemming from controlling his gift. Again, because there is a six month gap between Aurin and the next story, some of the first reactions to Aurin have happened and will come up in hindsight. For instance, his issues with his armor, which would allow me to display some of the adjusting dynamics between Jaran and his men, as well as the strain between Kara and Jaran if I do it right.

Hi! This is Mod D with your character re-review. Since the vast majority of Jaran's profile has been unchanged, I'll keep the focus on the alterations.

First and foremost, I think the decision to age up Jaran and establish him as a Jedi Knight make his issues with taking command (as well as his prowess as a Jedi) that much more influential on his character. As a higher ranking member of the Oder it makes sense that he's entrusted with more responsibility and naturally held to a higher standard. Combining that with Jaran's tweaked history of not-so-successfully leading troops (in-particular with the death of Commander Gill and Jaran’s subsequent entrapment), it gives his fear of leadership that much more weight. It also links back even more strongly with his desire to connect with the clone troopers themselves, and better highlights how he views them as brothers rather than just a disposable military.

In the same vein, removing Jeanette Starsoul's death from Jaran's story helps to keep the focus on Jaran's issues with command. While the context surrounding the death of his former master made the impact on Jaran's emotional state understandable, this change keeps the spotlight on Jaran's own agency. The mention of how badly the outcomes of these battles affected Jaran become that much more poignant knowing he played a more active role in how things went, rather than just having his mind damaged by a psychic link.

Speaking of, I also liked the additional mentions of how Jaran has handled attempting to avoid leadership roles. In-particular how he has refused to take a padawan of his own and wears Trooper armor so the clones won't look to him for instruction. These are hugely characterizing additions that do a lot to show the impact of Jaran's revised history, beyond just the mentions of his seeking out a therapist for his PTSD. Personally, I also just find them really interesting choices to make. The 'dress up as a trooper' disguise is old hat in Star Wars, but Jaran doing it as sort of coping mechanism is really unique.

I also liked the additional touches regarding how Jaran learned about his powers. Specifically the mention of having another Kiffar attempt to give him additional tutelage to help him better control his empathic abilities. Including how Jaran likes to relax in his own space and not be constrained by gloves and boots also added additional touches to just how closed off he has to be to avoiding getting unwanted memories. Though I think the best one was Jaran having to effectively relearn how to use his armor after his capture, due to how claustrophobic it made him feel. It’s not something I think most people would have considered, and makes the impact not only about Jaran himself but about his capability as a Jedi Knight as well.

Beyond that, I don't have much else to comment on. I like all of the changes that you've made (including the altered focus on the clone troopers on Jaran's Relationships section). Everything else is still fine, and the tweaks you made did a lot to tighten up the focus on Jaran's character arc. The impact of Jaran's involvement in the war has a greater context now (both for his own agency and how it’s influences his identity), and I think that'll provide a much stronger foundation to build on for future dynamics. There’s a lot more room for innate conflict here with both the troopers and Kara.

He doesn’t come across as shaky to me, and has no weak spots that I could discern. As is, Jaran looks like an exceptionally solid character with a clear arc and a well-rounded personality. I hope this helps assuage some of your concerns, and if you have any specific questions (or would like clarification) please fell free to send in an Ask.

I hope this helps!

-D

#SOC Critique #OC Critique #Backstory Help #Development Help #General Help #submission #guardian-of-hope

2 notes · View notes

aion-rsa · 4 years

Text

What Obsidian’s Avowed Can Learn From Skyrim’s Mistakes

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

It’s hardly a surprise that the reveal of Avowed, Obsidian Entertainment’s upcoming first-person RPG based on the Pillars of Eternity universe, quickly got everyone talking about The Elder Scrolls. Not only is The Elder Scrolls the definitive name in first-person RPGs for many console gamers, but Avowed comes just as we’re all patiently waiting for more information regarding The Elder Scrolls 6.

Besides, much like the wounds left in the wake of your first lost love, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim refuses to leave us, with plenty of re-releases and even a remastered edition to remind us of those adventures in the north of Tamriel. Bethesda even released a version of the game on Amazon’s Echo device, which started as a joke but proved beyond any doubt that the studio does not joke around when it comes to finding new ways to make you buy Skyrim.

In fact, the name “Skyrim” has become so synonymous with The Elder Scrolls series, that we’re a little surprised The Elder Scrolls 6 wasn’t just titled “Skyrim 2.” There may even be a considerable number of Skyrim players who don’t typically associate one of the most beloved games of all-time with the classic Elder Scrolls series at all.

That may seem like blasphemy, but it’s actually quite appropriate. For all the praise and accolades we could add to Skyrim’s intimidating treasure trove of them, we wouldn’t exactly call it the game that best represents the grander ideas of The Elder Scrolls franchise and the ways in which the series forever changed the landscape for role-playing video games.

That’s why Obsidian’s Avowed is in the unique position to learn a few lessons from Skyrim, which we’re not entirely sure will be addressed by The Elder Scrolls 6. After all, Bethesda doesn’t strike us as a company that’s willing to change the formula for a game that has sold well over 30 million copies to date solely in the interest of mixing things up. Even if they were, who is to say they should? Skyrim allowed millions of gamers of varying experience levels to live out their Lord of the Rings fantasies.

Yet, Skyrim is also the game that took The Elder Scrolls series further away from its RPG roots then it’s ever been before. Much like Fallout 4, Skyrim sacrificed certain role-playing elements spearheaded by its predecessors in favor of mechanics that would appeal to a wider audience. While Skyrim arguably maintained more of its RPG spirit in the transition than Fallout 4 did, the difference was nonetheless felt by long-time fans.

Consider Skyrim’s character building options. In previous Elder Scrolls games, there was an emphasis on ensuring that certain character types could experience the game in different ways. In Morrowind, there were towers built for mages that had no stairs to the top. As such, only characters skilled enough in magic to learn levitation could truly explore them. In Oblivion, an illusionist could learn to enchant their gear with a stealth effect so powerful that it would hilariously result in most enemies being completely unable to detect them.

Such specializations still exist in Skyrim, but they tend to offer fewer unique experiences. If you want to play a hulking melee warrior in Skyrim who wears nothing but the most durable plate armor, you’ll still be able to effectively use a bow and access a variety of spells. The floor of the character building was raised while the ceiling was lowered slightly. This gave you less room for “error” but also less room to creatively explore.

A similar problem burdens Skyrim’s combat. For the most part, Skyrim was the first Elder Scrolls game that featured a combat system that felt actively engaging. You were no longer forced to mash a button or fire off spells or arrows in the hopes that invisible dice rolled your way and granted you an often awkwardly animated hit. Skyrim’s combat was visceral, lively, and often cinematic.

But something was lost in the transition. Because combat in Skyrim relied much less on your character build and was suddenly closer to a more traditional action game, you rarely felt the same reward from securing that rare item or finally tweaking your skills just the right way to win a fight. Here again, Skyrim embraced a more action-oriented style of gameplay better than Fallout 4 did, but both games suffer in terms of making you feel as if the weight of your journey has propelled you through your most monumental victories.

Other shortcomings are based more on a change in philosophy than the abandonment of what came before. That’s especially true of Skyrim’s quest storytelling. In Oblivion and that game’s DLC expansions, quests were elaborate pre-constructed adventures that featured unique characters, mechanics, and stories. There’s a good reason why Oblivion’s quests dominated our list of the best Elder Scrolls quests of all-time. From living paintings to the parlor room of a “whodunnit?” mystery, they took you places you could never go just by exploring the game’s open world.

Skyrim took a different approach. Many of its open-world environments were more lavish and detailed than what we’d seen in previous Elder Scrolls games. You never knew what you’d find when exploring each area, but the trade-off was that many of Skyrim’s pre-scripted quests felt far more generic.

The choice between emphasizing organic exploration and adventures vs. scripted missions is really just a matter of preference, but that’s kind of the point. Even if you don’t believe Skyrim abandoned the principles of the Elder Scrolls series, it certainly went in a different direction. While games like Kingdom Come: Deliverance have admirably attempted to resurrect that classic Elder Scrolls style, the fact of the matter is that games like Oblivion and Morrowind take a great deal of talent, time, and money to complete. There are few companies that have access to those kinds of resources as well as the desire to pursue such a project.

Obsidian happens to be one of the few studios who can deliver that project. With The Outer Worlds, we saw Obsidian revive the Fallout franchise in their own image (with the help of some of Fallout’s creators, no less). As we noted in our review of The Outer Worlds, their work on that game didn’t seem rooted in declaring that there was only one way to make a Fallout game. Instead, the game worked to prove that certain design trends that may have fallen out of favor for more modern flourishes are still capable of yielding worthwhile experiences.

With Avowed, Obsidian has the chance to prove that point yet again. The Pillars of Eternity series really showed that the developers at Obsidian are still the masters of offering old-school RPG adventures that emphasize lore, character building, and worlds that are subtly (and, sometimes, drastically) altered by the decisions you make. With The Outer Worlds, Obsidian proved that they’re still capable of translating these ideas to rich 3D worlds when they’re given the budget to do so (and they can even throw in an active combat system that doesn’t entirely dilute the RPG ideas for good measure).

If Obsidian is able to take that same approach with Avowed, they’ll have the chance to do something more important than beat The Elder Scrolls 6 to the finish line or beat Bethesda at their own game. They’ll have the chance to deliver an experience that feels more like a sequel to Morrowind and Oblivion than even the mighty Skyrim. Even better, Avowed could be the game that gives millions of us who still often dream of getting lost in a grand fantasy world something to turn to other than the latest re-release of Skyrim.

The post What Obsidian’s Avowed Can Learn From Skyrim’s Mistakes appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/30JfnCq

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

0 notes

sporadicwinnersong · 6 years

Text

Work it out: Jobs that will emerge over the next decade

Technology may take away some jobs, but will create a whole new suite as well

Each paradigmatic shift in the workspace has always been accompanied with a restive period in human history. In the early 19th century, as the first Industrial Revolution took root in the UK, and mechanisation came to replace the predominantly agrarian economy, a group of workers took to violent protests smashing machines that deprived them of their livelihood. Called the ‘Luddites’, they gave anti-mechanisation an identity that transcended centuries and came to be associated even with the likes of Ted Kaczynski, a Harvard math prodigy who parcelled 16 bombs to universities and airlines to halt the relentless march of technology in the 1970s and ’80s.

The second Industrial Revolution, in the late 19th century and early 20th century, ushered in an era of major breakthroughs like the assembly line and improved communication on one hand and unfettered capitalism, labour union strikes and rising unemployment, on the other. Its Janus-faced nature gave it the sobriquet The Gilded Age, after a novel by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner. The third phase that began in the 1950s was less violent but no less disruptive: It reduced manual labour, digitised manufacturing and, fuelled by rapid advances in computing power, changed ways in which information was generated, processed and shared.

Now, Industrial Revolution 4.0, propelled by artificial intelligence (AI), is upon us. AI will not just change traditional blue-collar jobs through new modes of manufacturing, but almost all professions, from law to insurance. “The change is paradigmatic because of its ubiquity, because it will require people to learn entire new skills and think about their working life in new ways, making lifelong learning and adaptability in a workplace crucial to success,” says Anne Lise Kjaer, futurist and the founder of Kjaer Global, a London-based trend management company.

Will this all-pervasive change make the job market even more fractious and rip more livelihoods? According to the World Economic Forum’s The Future of Jobs report, by 2020, about 5 million jobs will be lost across 15 major developed and emerging economies. However, while a number of jobs built around repetition, predictability and routine will be obsolete, many new jobs that involve complex problem-solving situations, critical thinking and creativity will be on the rise. For a banker, it might mean the ability to know instantly what a customer needs, for a teacher, it would be a transformation from being a provider of knowledge to facilitator.

An analysis by Cognizant Technology Solution’s Center for the Future of Work (CFW) believes that almost 21 million jobs will be created over the next 10 to 15 years, triggering a wave of mass employment. “Machines can do more, but there is always more to do that almost always needs humans. Can a machine create itself, market itself, sell itself or fix itself? Machines are tools, and tools need to be used by people. The future of work will be hybrid and based on how well companies are able to blend the abilities of humans and machines,” says Manish Bahl, senior director, CFW. Adds Kjaer: “Technology will actually democratise opportunity. When the new 5G network is implemented and the next billion goes online, opportunity will be in the hands of everyone with a good idea. It’ll be the age of betapreneurs, entrepreneurs who, enabled by technology, can rapidly test and scale ideas, and bring them to market.”

I poke to a few experts to find out a suite of new jobs that’ll emerge over the next decade:

Data detective/data broker: In the age of hyperconnectivity, about 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are generated per day. In fact, 90 percent of all data was generated just over the past two years. As you read this, Google has been conducting 3,877,140 searches per minute. Domo, a cloud-based business operating firm based in the US, estimates that by 2020, about 1.7 MB of data will be created per second for every person on earth. How do you make sense of such a deluge of data? Picture American mathematician John Nash (played by Russell Crowe) in A Beautiful Mind, cracking codes for the US secret service by mapping a few relevant numbers from walls of data around him. In the universe of mere mortals, a data detective will glean the pattern, analyse customer preferences and fine-tune many times over what we now call predictive analysis. Besides, with corporations now mandated to consider consumer data as sovereign, data brokers, or individuals who can execute data trades on behalf of clients and track new ways of maximising a client’s return on data, will be in demand.

Man-machine collaborator: Fighting the narrative of a machine-dominated workspace of the future is a role that blends mechanical precision with the emotive human touch. Robots aren’t going to take all your jobs simply because they can’t; the future of work will be about human beings putting robots to good use. Who, for instance, will build a robot, write the algorithm for it to perform its task, or fix it when it’s broken? As Bahl of CFW says, “The key task for this role is to develop an interaction system through which humans and machines mutually communicate their capabilities, goals and intentions.”

In January, Amazon launched its cashier-less grocery stores—Amazon Go—where customers can just walk in, shop and leave; the charges would automatically be deducted from their accounts. If the experiment works out, it will mean the end of the road for cashiers, but will open new avenues for a host of jobs, like tagging, manufacturing tracking equipment, writing software codes, etc, to look after a new set of problems that this machine-based ecosystem is likely to throw up. Says Chakraborty of TeamLease: “What technology is going to do in future is act as an enabler for our economies to become more productive. Instead of resisting it, time should be spent in planning and preparing the skillsets.”

Fitness counsellor: There is no other way of saying it: Urban Indians are getting fatter by the day. According to the World Obesity Foundation, about 5 percent of Indian adults will be obese by 2025, up from 3.7 percent in 2014. While latest fads like digital fitness trackers may help, nothing can replicate that human push to motivate a nation of slackers. A remote fitness counsellor will provide one-on-one daily, weekly and bi-weekly coaching and counselling sessions based on the data generated by their wearable smart bands. The role could also transcend personal spaces and move to offices with wellbeing coordinators, who can harvest employee data from wearables and other sensors and create a sustainable and healthy work environment.

Digital tailor: CFW reckons that about 40 percent of clothes ordered over the internet are returned due to size issues. Even as ecommerce continues to boom over the next several years or so, and retailers toy with the customer-friendly return policies, how about eliminating the size worry altogether? A digital tailor will work with their customers at their homes or offices, where they will set up a cubicle on the go. They will, then, walk the customers through the measurement process, capture the numbers with next-gen technology and upload them on a central cloud-based ordering system. In a job that combines aesthetics and sales acumen, they will also offer value-added services and recommendations about cloths, cuts and other fashion trends, and help customers with the final fitting once the clothes are delivered.

Cyber security specialist: As top business organisations move to digital and cloud-based systems, how prepared are they to ward off cyberattacks? If EY’s Global Information Security Survey 2016-17 (India report) is anything to go by, they are still far from it. The survey of 1,735 CXOs, of whom 124 were from India, reveals that 75 percent of board members and C-suites in India lack confidence in their level of cybersecurity. The numbers are telling, as is a recent announcement by CERT-In that says over 2,200 Indian websites, 114 among them government portals, were hacked between April 2017 and January 2018. Which means there is a yawning gap between cybersecurity as it is, and how it should be over the next decade. “This demand-supply gap makes it a professional opportunity waiting to explode in the next several years. Over that period, a cybersecurity specialist will be what a software engineer was in the past few decades,” says Rituparna Chakraborty, co-founder and executive vice president, TeamLease, a leading HR services firm. Her statement is corroborated by figures from the International Data Corporation, which estimates that, by 2020, businesses worldwide are estimated to spend $101.6 billion on cybersecurity, a 38 percent rise from 2016.

Walker/talker: Need to talk? How unsettling is it to do it with your machine? One of the perils of a machine-dominated era is a loss of personal touch. Like obesity, loneliness, too, is slowly becoming an epidemic. This is especially true for elderly people who, with families living across continents and ways of life changing faster than they can grasp, go through forced isolation. This is where a walker/talker comes in, to listen, to respond, prompt conversation and engage them with companionship. Just like Uber connects drivers and passengers, new-age walker/talker companies will match conversational companions and seniors, helping them overcome mental seclusion. Key skills needed? The ability to talk, listen and empathise. As a faux advertisement of a walker/talker firm put out by the CFW reads: “Our ‘Two Ears-One Mouth’ (2E1M) philosophy allows our customers to enjoy engaging in the world again and to break the curse of isolation.”

#MohnishAhluwaliaNotes

via Blogger https://ift.tt/2vnoZnp

1 note · View note