Pathfinding for Beginners (Pathfinder/Nanoha)

[ShadowAngelBeta]

*looks up what Jorogumo is*
Why would the kid terrified of spiders be a spider? Or, well, spidergirl.

Click to shrink...

Something something, Facing your fears head on, something something

To be fair... Fate cut off her arm. She's honestly trying to be nice about it, mostly so Nanoha won't worry, but that was a severely traumatic event for Suzuka.

Doesn't really help that, according to the Arthra's doctors, she's close to being more magical construct than biology and definitely couldn't survive without that seed. It isn't capable of healing, not really.

Click to shrink...

... Oh! Right. Super Vamp Suzuka. Forgot about that.

... Still a bitch.

 

[Teucrian]

The trauma train has no brakes, geez.

Hopefully things get better... sometime.

 

[Baughn]

The trauma train has no brakes, geez.

Hopefully things get better... sometime.

Click to shrink...

Spoiler

On that note, I can reassure you. Things should get better starting with next chapter.

Everyone the story focuses on is a child. Fate is nine, Nanoha and Suzuka are nine, and Mizuki is only thirteen. For all that she thinks she should do better, she doesn't have the experience. Her pep talk to Fate was well done.. for a thirteen-year-old.

(She doesn't look thirteen. By TSAB or Earth standards, she looks maybe ten or eleven. That's due to malnutrition.)

Kyouya, for all that he likes to present himself as the adult, is also a teenager. He doesn't have any better idea of how to deal with this than anyone else, so god knows what he'll do. I'd like to show one of his talks with Fate, sometime, but he's feeling rather betrayed right now.

Children learn primarily by making mistakes. Making them perfect was never in the cards...

 

[Mizu]

Something something, Facing your fears head on, something something

Click to shrink...

Ah, yes, that's true. Well, your guess isn't entirely wrong - poor Nanoha didn't get spider PTSD only for us not to do anything with it story-wise - but how it'll be dealt with might differ a bit from what you're expecting.

... Oh! Right. Super Vamp Suzuka. Forgot about that.

... Still a bitch.

Click to shrink...

You're really not fond of Suzuka, are you, lol?

Kyouya, for all that he likes to present himself as the adult, is also a teenager. He doesn't have any better idea of how to deal with this than anyone else, so god knows what he'll do.

Click to shrink...

*looks at Kyouya Trying To Be Adult*

Kyouya sighs. Then his expression firms, and he looks straight at Fate. "Which basically leaves troubles at home. I assume, if it were something else, you would have said something—but this isn't something I can guess at. If you're in trouble with your father or your mother…"

He trails off. From Fate's sudden ashen, rigid expression, it's obvious why.

"...Too high expectations? Or…" He bites his lip. "Does she touch you? Physically?" A beat. All I can do is watch the train-wreck in progress. Fate hides her reactions well—that is, well for a nine-year-old, so not actually well at all. She's nearly in tears.

"...Fuck, I didn't mean to put it that way."

Click to shrink...

Yeah~, he can stuff up just as easily as Mizuki and the other kids.

(She doesn't look thirteen. By TSAB or Earth standards, she looks maybe ten or eleven. That's due to malnutrition.)

Click to shrink...

Click to shrink...

It's hard to find anime-style pictures of malnourished kids. On the upside, this one's androgynous enough/young enough you can't really tell what age they are beyond 'a kid', so... yay?

 

[Baughn]

It's hard to find anime-style pictures of malnourished kids. On the upside, this one's androgynous enough/young enough you can't really tell what age they are beyond 'a kid', so... yay?

Click to shrink...

It shouldn't be the sort of malnutrition we'd see on the news here. Just... occasional lean years, not getting all the food she could possibly want, etc. She's basically fine; human bodies were built to deal with this, but she's from a world that doesn't have modern agriculture or transportation.

So she's smaller than you'd expect from her age, looks younger, and will never be as tall as she'd otherwise be. There's probably also some effect on her intelligence but, uh, Mizuki is already a genius. One wonders where she'd be if she'd grown up somewhere nicer.