Otono-Tachibana Makie (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
therewerefifty) wrote2010-07-01 09:29 am
therewerefifty) wrote2010-07-01 09:29 am
Fighting.
Makie's fighting is a tricky thing. It isn't superpowered, there is no magic or move calling-- it's just plain swordsmanship. But she's a prodigy in that bordering-on-shounen kind of way and she's trained hard for years now on top of that. Her weapon is also unusual, a three-section chain/staff/pike thing that has no official name because it's one of a kind. Makie calls it haru-no-okina (the old man of spring) and she's fully familiar with every advantage she can put that weapon to.
She also conceals it in her shamisen.
Makie's fighting style is based on speed, spinning blades, and kicking or kneeing you in the face. That is: she's been described by some in the fandom as Mugen from Samurai Champloo, with more grace and less breakdancing. Her legs are powerful and, combined with the long reach of her pike blades, tends to turn Makie into someone best dealt with from a long distance away, or preferably not at all. In her own canon, she is described as the most dangerous swordfighter in Japan. Not swordwoman. She curbstomps every opponent she comes across. If someone walks away, it's because Makie lets them.
Makie's not very strong, and a lot of the tricks she pulls with that pike are based on sheer momentum; find the point of balance of the weapon and swing it, let the rest of the blade do the work. Many fighters who first see that pike stare at it and her thin arms and think she's laughably out of balance. This isn't an impression that lasts long. It's worth noting that Anotsu Kagehisa, the man she loves and the first and only student she's had, fights in much the same way. He has a slight build like hers, thin arms... and spins around a powerful axe as if it's nothing.
Anotsu often explains himself to tied up young girls, hush. /context what is that
But back to Makie. She's fast. When I say fast, it's remarked several times in the manga by various opponents (often right before their deaths) "How does she fight like that!?" She's canonically fast enough that she never gets a drop of blood on her, and around Makie's fights you can bet there's blood splattering everywhere. Apparently she's a fastidious sort of killer.
She also has an excellent head for martial strategy; not the kind that moves armies, but the kind that puts her at the absolute best advantage in any situation. It helps that she's so versatile with that weapon and knows its ins and outs. Through the manga we see her using that pike to vault up onto high ledges, stand on it as a makeshift platform and occasionally just use it to get a leg up.
Literally.
She also knows her sword theory and won't hesitate to lecture you on it in midbattle if you call her an idiot.
Wow so I'm getting to the point of throwing all these pages and going LOOK. LOOK AT MY BABY. GO READ THIS MANGA. So I'll stop there. Basically, I wanted to show Makie's strengths, weaknesses, and how she fits into the combat pool of Luceti, as it were. Because cross-canon can be such a complicated horrible mess in regards to these kinds of things. The only other strength I could say that is that Makie is not restricted to the pike. In the first fight we see her in the manga, she steals the double-bladed sword of her opponent and uses it against him. She was trained in proper swordsmanship as a child. But as we see her as an exiled 12 year old using a smaller version of the pike, it's obviously her signature weapon and the one she's trained with most. And it shows.
Which then brings me to weaknesses, because we've already shown her strengths. Later in the manga, this is less of an issue, as she crosses her own moral event horizon after the canon point I've chosen. As at the time of volume 3 of the manga, she is still heavily conflicted about the fact she can deal death so easily and the shame that it brings her, because despite being able to do these things, Makie hates dealing death.
But she loves to fight. One could even say it's an addiction. Despite the pain it brings her, she has never managed to give up the sword. When she hits absolute despair in the manga, she sews up her sword hand, which both (a) shows she's not entirely mentally stable at the time and (b) is the mark of an addict that can't trust she can throw the sword away on her own.
What that means is this: Makie is the picture of serenity when she fights. She's utterly lethal-- until her concentration breaks and she realises what she's done. And suddenly, her skill falls to pieces. Some people find this humiliating.
^ That's Manji, immortal protagonist. He's awesome.
Basically Makie is lethal until her concentration breaks, if and when it does. If I canon update her, it'll cross the line where she throws away her internal code of honour for love (after so many years of resisting) and that won't be the case, but then she'll have another weakness entirely, and that will be the fact she has tuberculosis. She's still lethal... so long as she has the breath to fight you.
Where it comes to Luceti (or, indeed, any game I end up taking her to), she'll obviously be at the extremely high end of the badass normal crowd. In a fight where both occupants are just fighting with normal means at their disposal, she'll come out on top-- within reason. She comes from the 18th century. Fire a gun at her and she'll go down in a heap. She can't block bullets with her sword-- bullets and guns that efficient don't exist in her time period. Anything she's not used to, she's at a heavy disadvantage for. Likewise, anyone who throws magic at her is going to wipe her out real fast. Admittedly she will adjust if given enough time to do so, but in any fight she's likely to actually engage in, she won't have that much time. (A second or third fight if they happen might be different, but I can't see that happening often, if ever. Despite her skill, Makie will only fight if she has to-- or to protect someone she loves.) But Makie vs. anyone with a melee weapon or anyone who just plain underestimates her will turn into a curb stomp battle with blood everywhere
Bottom line, I will play her as if she can avoid all attacks unless your character is superhumanly fast, but whether her own attacks connect or not with your character is entirely up to you. As said, mostly she'll be fighting NPCs if anything, but on the chance she picks a fight with a PC, then I promise you I'm not being a prat by not having her hit. She's canonically that in tune with her close spatial surroundings and that fast, and she's a prodigy and kinesthetic genius. If you think otherwise, though, I'm always willing to work something out with you.
Lastly, to get a vague idea of how she really moves, here is an AMV that shows how she fights. (Also, don't ever watch this anime. It's terrible and does none of the fights justice besides, but you can at least get an idea!)
She also conceals it in her shamisen.
Makie's fighting style is based on speed, spinning blades, and kicking or kneeing you in the face. That is: she's been described by some in the fandom as Mugen from Samurai Champloo, with more grace and less breakdancing. Her legs are powerful and, combined with the long reach of her pike blades, tends to turn Makie into someone best dealt with from a long distance away, or preferably not at all. In her own canon, she is described as the most dangerous swordfighter in Japan. Not swordwoman. She curbstomps every opponent she comes across. If someone walks away, it's because Makie lets them.
Makie's not very strong, and a lot of the tricks she pulls with that pike are based on sheer momentum; find the point of balance of the weapon and swing it, let the rest of the blade do the work. Many fighters who first see that pike stare at it and her thin arms and think she's laughably out of balance. This isn't an impression that lasts long. It's worth noting that Anotsu Kagehisa, the man she loves and the first and only student she's had, fights in much the same way. He has a slight build like hers, thin arms... and spins around a powerful axe as if it's nothing.
Anotsu often explains himself to tied up young girls, hush. /context what is that
But back to Makie. She's fast. When I say fast, it's remarked several times in the manga by various opponents (often right before their deaths) "How does she fight like that!?" She's canonically fast enough that she never gets a drop of blood on her, and around Makie's fights you can bet there's blood splattering everywhere. Apparently she's a fastidious sort of killer.
She also has an excellent head for martial strategy; not the kind that moves armies, but the kind that puts her at the absolute best advantage in any situation. It helps that she's so versatile with that weapon and knows its ins and outs. Through the manga we see her using that pike to vault up onto high ledges, stand on it as a makeshift platform and occasionally just use it to get a leg up.
Literally.
She also knows her sword theory and won't hesitate to lecture you on it in midbattle if you call her an idiot.
Wow so I'm getting to the point of throwing all these pages and going LOOK. LOOK AT MY BABY. GO READ THIS MANGA. So I'll stop there. Basically, I wanted to show Makie's strengths, weaknesses, and how she fits into the combat pool of Luceti, as it were. Because cross-canon can be such a complicated horrible mess in regards to these kinds of things. The only other strength I could say that is that Makie is not restricted to the pike. In the first fight we see her in the manga, she steals the double-bladed sword of her opponent and uses it against him. She was trained in proper swordsmanship as a child. But as we see her as an exiled 12 year old using a smaller version of the pike, it's obviously her signature weapon and the one she's trained with most. And it shows.
Which then brings me to weaknesses, because we've already shown her strengths. Later in the manga, this is less of an issue, as she crosses her own moral event horizon after the canon point I've chosen. As at the time of volume 3 of the manga, she is still heavily conflicted about the fact she can deal death so easily and the shame that it brings her, because despite being able to do these things, Makie hates dealing death.
But she loves to fight. One could even say it's an addiction. Despite the pain it brings her, she has never managed to give up the sword. When she hits absolute despair in the manga, she sews up her sword hand, which both (a) shows she's not entirely mentally stable at the time and (b) is the mark of an addict that can't trust she can throw the sword away on her own.
What that means is this: Makie is the picture of serenity when she fights. She's utterly lethal-- until her concentration breaks and she realises what she's done. And suddenly, her skill falls to pieces. Some people find this humiliating.
^ That's Manji, immortal protagonist. He's awesome.
Basically Makie is lethal until her concentration breaks, if and when it does. If I canon update her, it'll cross the line where she throws away her internal code of honour for love (after so many years of resisting) and that won't be the case, but then she'll have another weakness entirely, and that will be the fact she has tuberculosis. She's still lethal... so long as she has the breath to fight you.
Where it comes to Luceti (or, indeed, any game I end up taking her to), she'll obviously be at the extremely high end of the badass normal crowd. In a fight where both occupants are just fighting with normal means at their disposal, she'll come out on top-- within reason. She comes from the 18th century. Fire a gun at her and she'll go down in a heap. She can't block bullets with her sword-- bullets and guns that efficient don't exist in her time period. Anything she's not used to, she's at a heavy disadvantage for. Likewise, anyone who throws magic at her is going to wipe her out real fast. Admittedly she will adjust if given enough time to do so, but in any fight she's likely to actually engage in, she won't have that much time. (A second or third fight if they happen might be different, but I can't see that happening often, if ever. Despite her skill, Makie will only fight if she has to-- or to protect someone she loves.) But Makie vs. anyone with a melee weapon or anyone who just plain underestimates her will turn into a curb stomp battle with blood everywhere
Bottom line, I will play her as if she can avoid all attacks unless your character is superhumanly fast, but whether her own attacks connect or not with your character is entirely up to you. As said, mostly she'll be fighting NPCs if anything, but on the chance she picks a fight with a PC, then I promise you I'm not being a prat by not having her hit. She's canonically that in tune with her close spatial surroundings and that fast, and she's a prodigy and kinesthetic genius. If you think otherwise, though, I'm always willing to work something out with you.
Lastly, to get a vague idea of how she really moves, here is an AMV that shows how she fights. (Also, don't ever watch this anime. It's terrible and does none of the fights justice besides, but you can at least get an idea!)
Totally unnecessary comment, I'm sorry
Never even heard of this manga before, but ooh, what gorgeous art, what's it called?
That's okay!
no subject
I love gory stuff, so that could only be a plus!
no subject
The whole thing is up here if you're interested. Just to avoid confusion, I tihnk a lot of the early stuff actually reads left to right as published by Dark Horse ages ago. At some point they flip back over again, but at the start it can be a little confusing, haha.
no subject