#tazrider

[semperintrepida]

If Kassandra didn't have access to any of her superpowers, how do you think she would fare against Lara Croft in a one-on-one fight? What about Nadine from Uncharted or Abby from the Last of Us? My opinion changes depending on if normal weapons like guns or bows are allowed. If no weapons are allowed, I honestly think Abby would win, but no one else would. If normal weapons are allowed, it gets more complicated. I would be interested to hear what you think.

ooh, great question! And one that's difficult to answer—as you pointed out, it really depends on the situation.

My glib answer is that as a writer, I could show any of these characters defeating any other in a realistic way that you'd believe. That's my superpower.

So without going back to you and asking for more specifics, the best I can do is walk you through my thought process for writing a believable action scene between two characters.

(Lots of talk about writing action scenes after the jump!)

The first thing I think about is the situation and setting: Where are they fighting? When are they fighting? What universe are they in? Are they in our reality as we know it, or the mostly-realistic-with-a-dash-of-fantasy worlds of AC: Odyssey or the Tomb Raider reboot trilogy, or somewhere else entirely?

The situation and setting are crucial. Kassandra and Lara fighting in a traditional dojo would be much different than having them fight in a pine forest, or the war-torn Athens of AC:O, or a mining base on Mars. As Kassandra says to Kyra in The Breaking: "I'm surrounded by weapons." The setting determines what unconventional weapons might be at hand, if any, what cover is available, what bystanders or dangers might need to be accounted for.

Once I've established the setting of the scene, I start thinking about weapons in more detail. Do the combatants have formal training? What kinds of weapons and how much actual combat usage? How does the universe they're in treat weapons? As much as I love AC:O, that game puts all types of melee weapons on equal footing regardless of reach (length). It works within that universe because the game is consistent about its combat, but in the real world a dagger is no match for a polearm and that's fact.

Weapons tilt the table. Think of the moment in the Tomb Raider reboot where Lara gets that first gun. Her opponents could have 20 years of martial arts training and outweigh her by 50kg, but that doesn't matter a whit against a ranged firearm. The gun is the equalizer.

Setting matters. Weapons matter. Only when those parameters are sorted do I consider the physical abilities and hand-to-hand combat experience of the respective fighters. There are so many what-ifs to consider, and making everything fit together makes for a good logic puzzle. (And I haven't even gotten into the characterization aspects of writing action: not everyone has a killer instinct, and that matters!)

But let's go back to your original question and simplify things by thinking of the most basic scenario for unarmed combat: a bout taking place in the real world, in a neutral location like a dojo.

Even without superpowers, Kassandra is an impressive physical specimen. She has the strength to overpower opponents and the advantage of reach. She'd have a disadvantage in endurance, however, since all that muscle mass she's carrying is going to need energy to move it. (A good example of "strength vs endurance" affecting muscle mass can be seen in sprinters vs marathon runners.)

We'd also have to establish which Kassandra is fighting: young Kassandra (as we meet her in Kephallonia) or Kassandra at the top of her game, winner of the Olympic pankration and honed by at least five years of fighting damn near every mercenary and soldier of renown in ancient Greece.

To defeat her in unarmed combat in the real world, an opponent would have to:

outmatch her in physical ability and have just enough hand-to-hand combat experience to use it to their advantage, or

equal her in physical ability and hand-to-hand combat experience, or

have so much more experience that they could overcome all of her other advantages

That's a tough ask, and I don't really see Lara, Nadine, or Abby having enough hand-to-hand combat experience to pull it off, even against a young, less experienced Kassandra. I think Abby would come the closest, and if she went off and studied a bunch of hand-to-hand styles intensively for several years she'd make it an even fight.

So, to recap: it's definitely possible to contrive situations where one of them could defeat a non-superpowered Kassandra. I'd choose a setting and weapons that would support the challenger's strengths, and adjust Kassandra's experience accordingly.

Setting matters. Weapons matter. Experience matters.

[samsaintjames]

Put all of your music on shuffle and list the first ten songs that pop up. And tag however many people you want, to keep it going. tagged by @hatikarat

Caged - Within Temptation

Mayhem - Halestorm

A Poison Tree - Unwoman

Ice Queen - Within Temptation

Stand my Ground - Within Temptation

Prothean Beacon - Mass Effect 3

Rally the Heroes - Overwatch

Aa, Seihun no Ero Makai - Hellsing Soundtrack

Somewhere - Within Temptation

False King - Two Steps from Hell

I'm tagging @purlturtle, @tazrider, @sistersin7 und @crimmson.

(lmao shuffle was heavily biased apparently towards Within Temptation, even though I had soooo many other bands in it too).

[absedarian]

tazrider replied to your post: so there was this one fun moment (not) during my...

OUCHIES :/

Yeah, unfortunately. I just need to remember that it could have been so much worse (and behave :P)

[efka-m]

Amon Tobin - Easy Muffin

Taaaaaaaaaaz, you’ve got your Lalalalas, you’ve got your naughty madame but noooo, you’ve got to keep pushing, don’t you? 

So in return, I’ll let you guess my favourite line in this one. I’m curious if you get the right one :)

________

Send me ur fav song, I’ll listen and tell u my fav line from it

[mjduncan]

Multiples of 5? :D

Here ya go!

5. If you were a type of tree, what would you be?–Maple trees are my favorite, so I guess I’ll go with that.

10. What were you doing at midnight last night?–Sleeping. Night owl I am most definitely not.

15. Do you like someone?–Sure. I like lots of people. Or, well, ‘lots’ might be an exaggeration, but yeah…

20. What is your best physical attribute? (showing said attribute is optional)–Fuck if I know.

25. You just found $100! How are you going to spend it?–Books & wine

30. Your house is on fire, holy shit! You have just enough time to run in there and grab ONE inanimate object. Don’t worry, your loved ones and pets have already made it out safely. So what’s the one thing you’re going to save from that blazing inferno?–My laptop.

35. Are you a good….[insert anything you’d like here]?–I am a fucking amazing….[insert anything you’d like here].

40. Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets?–Sunrises

45. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?–More patience

50. What is the most unusual conversation you’ve ever had?–Honestly, there have been so many. Most recent was probably breaking down what, exactly, constituted a legal backstroke because technically what you think of as backstroke isn’t the only way to swim it without being disqualified.

55. Can you do any accents other than your own?–Not well, no.

60. Do you believe in aliens?–Sure

[tigerkid14]

Rules: Tag People You Would Like To Know Better

Got tagged by @tazrider​

Relationship Status: Single, but content

Favourite Colour: Deep blue

Pets: 2 cats, Alex and Mackenzie

Last song I listened to: Broken Over You by Vertical Horizon

Favourite TV show: Ever or at the moment? Um...Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Nikita, Person of Interest

First Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Hobbies: Leather crafting, kink education, books and reading, the usual sorts of things

Books I’m currently reading: To Light a Candle, Book 2 of the Obsidian Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory; Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham; Conquer Me by Kacie Cunningham; The Year of the Lucy by Anne McCaffrey

Favourite Book: Yeah, no. A few favorites: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster; Digger by Ursula Vernon (technically a web comic, but it counts); Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey; Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher

Worst thing you’ve ever eaten/tasted: Once I ate a cherry tomato that had made contact with fish oils (I was a student and getting all the garnishes leftover from some fancy smancy thing my school had for donors)

Favourite place:  In my bed

Tagging: Nobody, but anyone is free to do this if they’re so inclined

[fratboykate]

A few months back, on the road, I saw a truck with 'Papi' written on it and I legit died laughing in my car while thinking about you. You forgot to tell us you were also in the road transport business...? (sadly I was driving too fast to have the time to take a pic)

Every time y’all fucking use that word not only do I lose ten years of my life but the chorus to this goes off in my head:

[mhisadj]

Short little playlist for @tazrider, by request, about one of the best characters in one of the best shows ever.

[tazrider]

eagle-raider replied to your post: spotted on twitter

@tazrider MAIS T'AS PAS HONTE D'AFFICHER ÇA !! AAH

Juste un tout petit peu... Mais tout juste, hein... XD

EN FAIT SI J’AI TROP HONTE, J’AI MÊME FAILLI PAS LE POSTER !!

[semperintrepida]

source: stackoverflow.com

[hugger-of-trees]

Write up of the newly discovered henges and stuff in crop marks at Newgrange in Ireland.

https://blog.shadowsandstone.com/2018/07/15/the-newly-discovered-henges-and-features-at-newgrange-some-photos-facts-and-figures/

[absedarian]

tazrider replied to your photo: RIP Delafield (1998-2017)

*hugs*

Thank you 💛

[efka-m]

Alain Bashung - Madame Rêve (you're the one who asked for French... ;p) This one has a hidden meaning... XD

Righty-o-then, I apparently asked for this… (freaking plus points for Fanny Ardant because I love that lady and so did not expect her in the clip, so that’s the only thing that saved you, taz :)

Now to my favourite line. TMI time, French is practically Chinese to me. All I know in French is hello, squirrel and armadillo. Thinking about it now, I probably forgot the armadillo word… Anyway, that favourite line, right.

“…D'un amour qui la flingueD'une fusée qui l'épingleAu ciel”

(I did cheat and have no idea whether that translation makes sense or not. In any case here, have my favourite line. That also reminds me why I never got into French. Always stopped at being completely gutted by how out of 12 letter word in written form you can hear only 3 when pronounced. Also how do you even pronounce “on est loin”? I mean, I tried, I truly did.)

________

Send me ur fav song, I’ll listen and tell u my fav line from it

[mjduncan]

Name 7 comfort films and tag 7 people (thanks @tazrider for tagging me!)

Not really sure what constitutes a ‘comforting’ film, exactly, but these are ones I don’t get tired of rewatching and I guess there’s a comfort to be found in their predictability?

1. D.E.B.S. — campy, fun, and even after all these years I can’t help but smile at the ending.

2. A League of Their Own — I’m a sucker for underdog sports movies and you can’t get more underdog than a women’s professional baseball league.

3. National Treasure — ngl, I kinda hate that I love a Nick Cage movie, but it’s history geekage and conspiracy theories and a treasure map!

4. The Mummy — more history geekage with bonus!Rachel Weisz 😍

5. Disney’s Atlantis — have always loved everything to do with Atlantean theory and a list like this would feel incomplete if there wasn’t something animated included. Will file under ‘more history geekage’. Apparently I have a type....

6. The Replacements — Underdog sports story (again), a pretty awesome soundtrack, and it never fails to make me smile at the end.

7. A Knight’s Tale — not quite history geekage because it’s so wonderfully inauthentic, but it’s also got the underdog sports theme and, again, I’m 😄 at the end. Updating my ‘type’ to include underdog sports movies...

Tagging anyone wanting to do it! (Yes, that means you!) But if you’re up to it, especially @wyback , @fluent-in-lesbianism , @absedarian , @ralst , @chakayoh , @possiblestalker , @sideadde

[tigerkid14]

Hi! Once you get this, post five things you like about yourself, then send this to 10 of your followers! (you know, if you feel like it.) ~SPREAD POSITIVITY~

1. I have great hair.2. I'm good at expressing myself in writing.3. I'm loyal as fuck to my friends.4. I'm good at figuring things out and learning quickly.5. I'm a good listener.