#also shoutout to megan for helping me with some Wording + wrapping things up bc ! ya girl here is Dumb !

[qvakearchive]

“ Do you really think you can stop me? Do you have any idea what I can do? ”

             — Daisy Johnson, 3x03, A Wanted (InHu)Man

TOPIC: Daisy’s powers and how they work WORDCOUNT: 1,732

Phil Coulson: [Skye] does seem to be getting control of the powers. Melinda May: That's good, but we barely understand them - other than they're strong. Phil Coulson: Catastrophically so.

             — Agents of S.H.I.E.LD. 2x13, One Of Us

Lady Sif: Imagine what would happen if your powers grow. It may not stop at breaking glass. You could bring down buildings, tear continents apart...

             — Agents of S.H.I.E.LD. 2x12, Who You Really Are

i’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and i decided it’d be a good idea for me to talk about Daisy’s Inhuman abilities. to begin: Daisy is powerful. incredibly powerful –– almost-destroy-an-entire-plane-in-her-sleep kinda powerful. she can cause avalanches, bring down entire buildings and bridges, and even, sort of, fly with her powers ( i like to think of it as netflix jessica jones-esque ‘guided falling’. ) point is, she’s powerful, and anyone who knows her or has heard of ‘ Quake ’ is aware of that. but what i want to really get into with this meta isn’t so much the magnitude of her powers, but what they are and how they work.

LIST OF ABILITIES:

Vibration Manipulation

Vibration Emission

Earthquake Generation

Peak Human Condition

Jiaying: Do you understand your gift? Daisy: I... make things shake? Jiaying: Well, not really. Everything's shaking already, vibrating at its own natural frequency. This stone, the wood in the trees –– I believe you can learn to sense those frequencies around you and resonate with them so that not everything is shaking, only what you choose.

             — Agents of S.H.I.E.LD. 2x17, Melinda

Gordon: Every object in this universe gives off a vibration, did you know that? Nothing rests. Animals, trees, people, even this ratty couch. And you, you have the ability to tap into those vibrations. Don't you see? You could become magnificent.

             — Agents of S.H.I.E.LD. 2x15, One Door Closes

if you’ve ever taken a physics class, you may already be familiar with this concept. all matter is made of energy, and everything is vibrating at a different speed or frequency. Daisy can physically feel those vibrations, in everything, everywhere, as well as manipulate them. when she first went through the mist and obtained her powers, that added sense was overwhelming and caused her ability to manipulate those vibrations to go haywire. before she learned to control her abilities, anytime she became too upset, she would cause all the vibrational energy around her to amplify.

i personally disagree slightly with the phrasing Jiaying used re: ‘ so that not everything is shaking, only what you choose ’ –– you can’t just stop energy and matter from having a vibration, or rather, if you have the ability, you can’t stop all of it from having a vibration. i think Daisy’s abilities allow her to focus on specific energy / matter and amplify it to the point where it is physically shaking, while everything around it is moving only at its natural frequency.

Gordon: What does it feel like, your gift? Daisy: I don't know. Um, it's intense. Like 1,000 bees are trapped inside of me. And I feel it all the time. It's always there. And I can't stop it.

             — Agents of S.H.I.E.LD. 2x15, One Door Closes

all matter vibrates –– including people. i think the ‘ 1,000 bees trapped inside her ’ is Daisy feeling both the energy vibrating in the matter around her as well as inside of her. she can feel her own natural frequency, which also explains why she was able to direct her powers inward and harm herself in One of Us, 2x13. ( she was also able to kill Gideon Malick in this way, though i believe that was coupled with her vibration emission, which i’ll elaborate on later. )

with the nature of her abilities, Daisy is always feeling the vibrations from everything around her, and it’s not just a single frequency, because everything has a different one. she is sensing, feeling all those different vibrations all the time, including the ones from her own body. when she first got her powers, that sort of sixth sense was unfamiliar and overwhelming, and to suddenly be able to sense all of that was frightening and uncontrollable. over time and with training, it’s become apparent that it’s no longer — or less of — a problem. now, i don’t think it’s something that she just... stops feeling. i believe it’s something she’s learned to adapt to, and can now tune out like background noise and refocus on it when she chooses, but it’s always there –– just not so unbearable anymore.

VIBRATION EMISSION

otherwise known as: vibration waves, seismic emission, seismic energy burst, shockwave generation, tremor projection, etc.

The user can generate shock-waves that can push targets over*, repulse them away*, shatter them**, even cause earthquakes by shaking the ground or dislodging underground tectonic plates***, thus causing earthquakes.

examples: one* , two** , three*** , four , five , six , seven

another facet of her powers is the ability to actually generate shockwaves, which can be used in a multitude of ways ( and is probably her most-used ability. ) she generally uses it to push or repulse enemies, as the description states, and such a move can be both offensive and defensive. it’s a powerful move and packs a mean punch against those it’s used on ( powerful enough to knock out grown men close-range, and even kill if used in a concentrated and consistent wave. )

a second and more recently discovered use is the ability to propel herself off the ground in an imitation of flight. it’s more, like i mentioned earlier, super-jumping and guided falling, but she can actually use the shockwaves to cushion her falls ( and though we never quite see it in the show, from the previous gif i linked, it’s possible that she could potentially use this ability to hover for a short period of time. ) her shockwaves are powerful enough to propel her well above skyscrapers, as well as cushion those high falls. 

“ After leaving S.H.I.E.L.D., Johnson had increased her level of control over her powers to the point of being able to target her vibrations with pinpoint accuracy [...] ” ( x )

her control over her powers is almost without fail at this point, and she’s able to direct and concentrate them to even the most minute or specific objects / locations, as well as control how much pressure / force she exerts –– to the point that she was able to choke Fitz, and also keep from crushing his windpipe or even breaking his neck. ( despite the fact that using this as an example makes me feel lowkey Dead inside given context. )

she’s also able to use her shockwaves in precise and targeted locations, such as to open a small section of wall to make an escape without accidentally taking down the whole room, or the whole building.

“ Johnson's skill with her abilities has grown to the point where she can sense earthquakes before they come and absorb seismic vibrations to decrease an earthquake’s force, although this causes a great amount of fatigue, both physical and mental. ” ( x )

this is one of the more recent developments, and the seismic absorption easily causes the most stress on her body, and cannot be done for prolonged periods of time or she runs the risk of breaking bones or losing consciousness. after doing this to prevent a serious earthquake in L.A., she immediately had to use her seismic shockwaves to propel her into the air, and i believe that was meant to relieve the absorbed seismic vibrations in manner that was safe for both herself and the people around her.

in addition to her super-human abilities, daisy also reached peak human condition as the result of terrigenesis.

The user's bodily functions are enhanced to the pinnacle of human conditioning; therefore, the user's strength, speed, stamina, senses, agility, reflexes, accuracy, longevity, durability, intelligence, healing time, flexibility and combat skills are greatly heightened, but without any superhuman degree. ( x )

none of hers can quite be classed as super-human, but as powerlisting’s explains, they have reached ‘the pinnacle of human conditioning’. she learns faster, has greater reaction time, is listed as a ‘master martial artist’ and ‘expert marksman’ despite having learned how to fight and shoot a gun within only the past four years ( three, technically, since she really didn’t start learning those things until towards the end of season one, and even then, she was an expert in both areas by the end of season two. )

her pain tolerance has also risen significantly, to the point where her reaction to getting a bullet wound stitched up is to grit her teeth and take a swig of liquor, or not screaming in pain and blacking out when her arm snaps.

Robbie Reyes: We need to do something about your arm. I heard it snap. Can't believe you haven't passed out. Daisy: I can't go to the hospital.

which brings me to my final point:

NEGATIVE SIDE EFFECTS

when daisy first got her powers and was unable to control them, she would accidentally refocus them internally, causing her to black out as well as serious damage ( ‘ more than 75 hairline fractures from [her] clavicle to [her] fingers ’ )

using her powers too often or too heavily causes a massive strain on her body, and more specifically her bones. with the help of metal gauntlets calibrated for her abilities, the strain is significantly reduced. without them, she suffers injuries ranging anywhere from capillary ruptures to severe bone fractures. for several months while operating as a rogue vigilante, she stopped using the gauntlets as they drew too much attention, and if she hadn’t started using them again when she did, she could have caused irreparable damage, even possibly paralyzing herself.

at this point in time, it’s unknown as to how much damage daisy’s powers could do to her body –– whether, for instance, using them too frequently may kill her one day –– though it seems like she’s bound and determined to find out, one way or the other, as daisy has yet to show concern for her own well being where her abilities are involved.

which, of course, is what makes her a superhero.