Post by Jackie Bariole on Aug 23, 2019 0:27:48 GMT -5
[font size="4"][b]Chimera[/b][/font]
[font color="7bddd5"][b]Rank of Semblance:[/b][/font] D
[font color="7bddd5"][b]Semblance Type:[/b][/font] Transformation
[font color="7bddd5"][b]One Sentence Summary of Semblance:[/b][/font]
When certain conditions are met, Jackie transforms into her 'big sister', Heidi, who possesses markedly enhanced strength, durability, speed, and an especially bad attitude.
[font color="7bddd5"][b]Description of Semblance:[/b][/font]
Though even Jackie doesn't wholly understand the mechanics of her semblance, it seems clear that it's purpose is to allow her to overcome challenges which she would normally find overwhelming. It accomplishes this feat by making her exponentially stronger and tougher, all while freeing her from anything so much as resembling doubt or hesitation. The change is so drastic, in fact, that it is enough to render Jackie nearly unrecognizable. Her muscles swell, her senses sharpen, and her expression hardens, all while her attitude and posture fill with a sense of vitality and confidence. Eyes, usually a soft hazel, begin to burn like molten gold, while her skin loses its unhealthy pallor to instead glow like beaten bronze. Even her hair, usually lank and thin, grows full-bodied and voluminous, more given to flowing in the wind than hanging down before her face, as it typically does. The end result is an almost complete inversion of Jackie's normal appearance, such that even those who know her well may not think she is the same person. Then again, given the ultimate effects of her transformation, perhaps that's not so surprising. After all, while her physical changes are certainly pronounced, they can hardly hold a candle to the other effects her semblance has. Namely, those it has on her physical capabilities.
While 'transformed', Jackie's overall physicality either matches or far exceeds most of her peers. Her strength grows exponentially beside the small amount of muscle mass she gains, rendering her significantly stronger than usual. Of equal note is how resilient her aura becomes during these episodes, able to safely absorb attacks which might come close to shattering Jackie normally. Her speed is similarly enhanced.
With all that said, it may come as a surprise that Jackie lives in near constant dread of her own semblance. For, while Chimera does provide a substantial boost in both power and confidence, its most apparent effect is also its greatest drawback...
[font color="7bddd5"][b]Drawbacks of Semblance:[/b][/font]
That drawback's name is Heidi. Strong, confident, conventionally attractive and wickedly effective in a fight, Heidi is the epitome of everything Jackie wishes she could be. She is also arrogant, petty, and pragmatic to a sociopathic degree. So far as she is concerned, nothing matters more than her own comfort, pleasure, and continued survival, and she will meet any thing which threatens them with disproportionate levels of violence and aggression, even other humans. This categorical lack of restraint has lead to acts of wanton carnality, cruelty, and outright destruction, any one of which would be fit to drive Jackie into a life of anonymity for guilt and shame, if only Heidi would allow it.
Chimera's drawbacks are twofold, for Jackie has no real control over when she transforms. The only consistent method for bringing about the change is the taste of blood, but there have been plenty of other markedly less consistent causes over the years, just as there have been times when Heidi has taken control without any apparent cause what-so-ever.
Neither one has any true awareness while the other is in control, experiencing the others actions as if in a dream, if they remember them at all. This has served to make Jackie's life extremely unpredictable, fraught with black periods of which she has no memory, when her borderline 'big sister' has been in control. Compounding this problem is Heidi's demonstrability to, should she exercise restraint and not use her exceptional abilities, maintain the transformation almost indefinitely. This, combined with the two's toxic and adversarial relationship, has resulted in episodes lasting days and even weeks.
Never quite knowing what Heidi might do if given the reigns, Jackie is extremely reticent to do so, even by the one means which seemingly always works.
No matter what method is used to hand Heidi the reigns, the same constraints always apply. While there is no apparent limit to how long she can remain in control, Heidi does not have free reign of her abilities, to use them as she pleases. Mechanically, she can only use the benefits of Chimera for four posts at a time, and requires a three posts of rest in between each use. She can, however, use these benefits multiple times per transformation, though each usage strains her hold on the reigns. Should she use her abilities too often, or should her aura be shattered, Heidi immediately reverts back to Jackie.
Following such a reversion, Jackie will regain control but be confused and disoriented, with no knowledge of where she is or what has happened since Heidi took control. She will also be unable to transform again until her aura recovers, no matter what method she employs.