Blood Power Armor, just make the Golem overtop of your own body.
Doesn't really solve the "squishy" things, I think that a blood golem would be plenty squishy, but it does provide some much needed defense.
-
Going forward, links to content from Twitter (now X) will no longer be embedded. Pre-existing links should not be affected.
Witchcraft (Young Justice SI)
- Thread starter Hexxart
- Start date
Doesn't really solve the "squishy" things, I think that a blood golem would be plenty squishy, but it does provide some much needed defense.
- Location
- Alaska
Well since it seems like the main purpose of the blood component is to give Amanda a sympathetic link for her magic, it seems like the obvious next step is to establish a sympathetic link over someone else's blood. Bloodbending!
- Location
- Indonesia
She does says that using her own blood are way easier to control (which makes her could do some spell chantless). If she even manage using other people blood with sufficient expertice, she would be regular costumer in bloodbank. Followed with conspiracy theorist that JL recruiting vampire into their roster.
Hmmm, Haemokinetic Constructs? very nice.
Some Blood Manipulation, eh? Giving her more... resources.
Yeah, a limited supply would be a weakness.
- Location
- Under a Rock
The universe is calling attention to her vulnerability, and reminding her that it could have gone much, much worse. Also playing into her lack of situational awareness.
Robin's experience is going to be valuable for a while to come.
Again, vulnerability after the fight relating to the most dangerous and dramatic moment in the fight. I like it.
Oh boy. This is going to be a problem once Red Arrow starts hunting for a traitor (If that still happens). It might be a problem a lot sooner than that. You don't get called "Greatest Detective" for collecting stamps.
Lets see what google translate has to say!
Legati: Advocate, or representative.
Peccatum: Sin, or offense.
Its pretty clearly sympathetic magic. Any harm (or offense) done to the hair (which represents the individual in question) will be done to the target. This sort of thing is why you never want a magic user to get some of your hair, and why the tooth fairy makes sure to keep your teeth away from unsavory characters.
Its also some seriously dark juju. Its dangerous to the wielder, because:
But all is not lost! See how she has to use the incantation over and over again to get it strong enough so that she is confident it will take out random baddies who had already been beaten. And remember that this is sympathy magic, which Amanda is great at. But she struggles with this spell, because it is against her nature. "Sanguine" focuses on connections, yes, but it focuses on positive connections.
Expect an evil doppleganger to be excellent and Legati Peccatum.
Nice reference to the Amanda's past life.
I have a feeling that some seriously bad stuff went down during Blood's training. Or right beforehand, and training started as a way to deal with the bad stuff.
She's had some thoughts before about mutilating her soul, and how it gave her lots of anger but excellent control. Here she is concerned about being a sadist. Did she have those concerns before whatever happened about a year ago? Are your personal values getting warped just the price of her particular brand of magic?
Assuming she knew this would be a consequence at the beginning, why did she go through with it? If it was fear for personal safety, why is she on the team now? Based on a couple things, it looks like it was desire to help people. In that case, why not take up her old job?
I really like your Robin. Also, what the heck Bruce? In early days of comics, letting a preteen fight crime was acceptable, because comics weren't expected to make any sense and nothing in the silver age had any lasting negative consequences anyway. Now its this bizarre holdover in a world of grit.
- Location
- Alaska
That would be very cool, you don't see that symbolic element of blood used very much in magic systems. Can't wait to see where the OP takes this story.
Introductions - Part 6
- Location
- Nowhere
- Pronouns
- She/her
Episode 1 - Introductions Part 6
Mount Justice
August 9, 02:12 EST
By the time we'd gotten back to Mount Justice, everyone else on the team was either gone or asleep.
Meaning that when the three of us got off the bioship, the only person left to greet us was Red Tornado.
As we stepped off the bioship, the hangar lights activated automatically to reveal Red Tornado standing stock still.
"Welcome back. I am glad to hear that your mission was successful," They intoned as the lights turned on.
I jumped in fright at their sudden appearance. Not to mention that their voice just sounds creepy by itself.
Couldn't they have done that in a way that wasn't liable to cause a heart attack?
"Good to see you too, Big Red," Robin said, apparently unfazed by the horror movie styled sudden appearance of Red Tornado. "Everyone else go to bed already?"
"Yes, the rest of the Team is gone. Kid Flash left, citing that he has school in the morning."
Seriously, what sort of school starts classes in the first week of August? Not even that many colleges start that early, and I'll eat my nonexistent hat if Kid Flash is college aged.
"Artemis left afterwards to return to Gotham, and Aqualad and Miss Martian have retired for the night. In light of how late your mission ran, Batman asked me to inform you that he will debrief your team at 1700 hours tomorrow at Mount Justice," Red Tornado finished before walking off. Well I guess social skills aren't their specialty.
Superboy let out a huge yawn once Red Tornado's spiel was over. You and me both buddy.
A moment later I couldn't help but follow suit. Damn. Yawns really are contagious.
"I'm just going to Zeta directly to the Batcave, are you going to be okay getting home by yourself?" Robin asked me.
On one hand I was kinda flattered that he wanted to make sure I was okay, but on the other it was a kid acting like I couldn't handle walking home by myself.
"I'll be fine." I said brusquely, before adding, "Thank you for your concern," to soften my tone, since I did, admittedly, live in Gotham.
"You sure?" Robin asked incredulously, sending a meaningful look at my bare feet.
"I could use a change of clothes and some cab fare," I admitted. Ignoring how uncomfortable it would be, walking home in my costume would probably be a bad idea. One visit from Batman wouldn't stir up too many questions, he was always investigating something or the other, but someone in a costume walking home at night a few days after a visit from Batman would definitely attract the wrong kind of attention.
"Hmm, I don't think I'm your size but I'm sure we can find something around the Mountain that you can wear." Robin respond thoughtfully.
"I have some spare clothes, she can use those," Superboy grunted, before leaving the hanger.
"Come on, I'll show you where we keep the emergency funds," Robin waved me forward. "It's the fund that we draw from for mission expenses or to cover costs in your civilian identity that arise from our 'extracurriculars'." I guess that makes sense: not every member of the Justice League is secretly a millionaire, so having a general slush fund for members probably helps smooth out a lot of everyday wrinkles.
We stopped at what appeared to be an average cabinet. Robin fiddled with the side of the cabinet revealing a number pad and a card reader built into the side and pulled out a what appears to be a black credit card with a bat emblazoned on it.
"This is the Justice League credit card, you should get one once we actually finish your initiation into the Team. For tonight I'll just use mine. The card draws directly from the Justice League's accounts, but be warned all purchases will end up reviewed by Batman so don't use it for frivolous stuff." Robin lectured. I'll have to check with Batman tomorrow to see if I can use the account to replace the phone I burned tonight.
Robin slid his bat-card through the card reader and opened the top draw, which contained paper bills for what looked like at least a dozen currencies. He took a few bills out of the American dollars' compartment and handed them to me.
"That should be enough for a cab ride home."
"Thanks. Sorry about this, I wasn't planning on being out so late." Or losing my shoes.
"Don't worry about it. I'll let you in on a little secret," Robin said grinning. "Every hero has an embarrassing first night out story; you did pretty good all things considered."
"Even Batman?" I asked half jokingly. I can think of a couple possibilities for what could constitute his embarrassing story, but I'm far more interested in how Robin will answer the question.
"Even Batman," Robin intoned, leaning forward in a conspiratorial tone.
"You'll have to tell me that story some time," I teased.
"Sorry, I've been sworn to secrecy. I do have stories about everyone else though."
"Well then, I guess I'll just have to settle for imagining how the Dark Knight fumbled on his first night out-," I wiggled my eyebrows. "-and I have a very good imagination."
That managed to render Robin speechless for a moment. Success! Now we're even for the innuendo on the bioship earlier.
Superboy returned, fully dressed with a pile of folded clothes, before Robin could muster a response. And victory goes to me!
"Here," Superboy said, shoving the pile of clothes onto my arms.
"Alright, I'm going to get changed and then head home. It was nice working with both of you," I said to the pair. Looking towards Superboy I said, "I'll wash these and get them back to you tomorrow."
Superboy and Robin called out their goodbyes, and I headed to the room Kaldur had told me was for my personal use earlier today.
I stepped into the dark room and quickly stripped out of my dress without bothering to turn on the lights.
I put on the clothes Superboy gave me more slowly. He had lent me a sweater, black tee, pair of jeans, and some socks plus sneakers.
I had to roll up the legs of the jeans to prevent them from dragging on the ground, and the hoodie was halfway to a dress on me, but I wouldn't get any second looks getting a cab now.
When I'd designed my costume I'd left out any purely aesthetic touches. Which meant no makeup which could be ruined by sweat or padded clothing that gave the illusion of certain assets, but could slow me down in the field. The only concession I made to aesthetic was the dress itself: something that would mark me as a woman and curtail my androgynous looks.
What all of this meant was that wearing Superboy's clothes hid any trace of femininity underneath them. With the lights off, I didn't have to look too closely at myself but if I did I knew what I would see. A boy.
At least my teammates won't see me like this. They'll still think of me as a girl.
I can't get a cab home wearing my hero outfit. And I can't walk home at this hour without shoes. I need to wear this, just for now, I reassured myself.
I folded up my dress and left it at the foot of the cot in the room. No reason to take it with me. I'm only going to be wearing it around here and on missions. Besides carrying what appears to be a bloodstained dress in the middle of the night would warrant unwanted scrutiny, even in Gotham.
I glanced at my athame before deciding to pocket it. It was mostly irrational, but having a weapon made me feel far safer on the streets at night. Even if I'm far more dangerous as a weapon by myself than the knife.
My hand hovered over the doorknob. This is stupid; no one I care about is going to see me. Even so, I still felt my mind racing through all the varieties of glamors and illusions that I had studied. Those aren't going to help here. I'm a Hero now. I can't be cowed by something like this.
I took a moment to center myself, taking a deep breath, before opening the door as quietly as I could. The walk to the Zeta tubes was the most stressful part of the night; I flinched at every sound, and would constantly pause to check if anyone was around before continuing on.
"B08 to Gotham." The Zeta tube lit up as I walked forward. I'd half hoped that whatever facial recognition software the tubes used wouldn't recognize me like this, but that it had at least saved me that issue. Still, I was half tempted in a masochistic way to disable my voice enchantment and try again, to see if that made a difference.
"Recognized: Bloody Mary B08."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Surprise this story isn't dead! RL got crazy hectic for the last half a year or so, but things are finally calming down and I have the time and energy to write again. Witchcraft will hopefully be updating every Saturday from here on out. A revision of the first chapter is in the works and will be posted eventually, I'll make a post announcing when I finish rewriting it.
Mount Justice
August 9, 02:12 EST
By the time we'd gotten back to Mount Justice, everyone else on the team was either gone or asleep.
Meaning that when the three of us got off the bioship, the only person left to greet us was Red Tornado.
As we stepped off the bioship, the hangar lights activated automatically to reveal Red Tornado standing stock still.
"Welcome back. I am glad to hear that your mission was successful," They intoned as the lights turned on.
I jumped in fright at their sudden appearance. Not to mention that their voice just sounds creepy by itself.
Couldn't they have done that in a way that wasn't liable to cause a heart attack?
"Good to see you too, Big Red," Robin said, apparently unfazed by the horror movie styled sudden appearance of Red Tornado. "Everyone else go to bed already?"
"Yes, the rest of the Team is gone. Kid Flash left, citing that he has school in the morning."
Seriously, what sort of school starts classes in the first week of August? Not even that many colleges start that early, and I'll eat my nonexistent hat if Kid Flash is college aged.
"Artemis left afterwards to return to Gotham, and Aqualad and Miss Martian have retired for the night. In light of how late your mission ran, Batman asked me to inform you that he will debrief your team at 1700 hours tomorrow at Mount Justice," Red Tornado finished before walking off. Well I guess social skills aren't their specialty.
Superboy let out a huge yawn once Red Tornado's spiel was over. You and me both buddy.
A moment later I couldn't help but follow suit. Damn. Yawns really are contagious.
"I'm just going to Zeta directly to the Batcave, are you going to be okay getting home by yourself?" Robin asked me.
On one hand I was kinda flattered that he wanted to make sure I was okay, but on the other it was a kid acting like I couldn't handle walking home by myself.
"I'll be fine." I said brusquely, before adding, "Thank you for your concern," to soften my tone, since I did, admittedly, live in Gotham.
"You sure?" Robin asked incredulously, sending a meaningful look at my bare feet.
"I could use a change of clothes and some cab fare," I admitted. Ignoring how uncomfortable it would be, walking home in my costume would probably be a bad idea. One visit from Batman wouldn't stir up too many questions, he was always investigating something or the other, but someone in a costume walking home at night a few days after a visit from Batman would definitely attract the wrong kind of attention.
"Hmm, I don't think I'm your size but I'm sure we can find something around the Mountain that you can wear." Robin respond thoughtfully.
"I have some spare clothes, she can use those," Superboy grunted, before leaving the hanger.
"Come on, I'll show you where we keep the emergency funds," Robin waved me forward. "It's the fund that we draw from for mission expenses or to cover costs in your civilian identity that arise from our 'extracurriculars'." I guess that makes sense: not every member of the Justice League is secretly a millionaire, so having a general slush fund for members probably helps smooth out a lot of everyday wrinkles.
We stopped at what appeared to be an average cabinet. Robin fiddled with the side of the cabinet revealing a number pad and a card reader built into the side and pulled out a what appears to be a black credit card with a bat emblazoned on it.
"This is the Justice League credit card, you should get one once we actually finish your initiation into the Team. For tonight I'll just use mine. The card draws directly from the Justice League's accounts, but be warned all purchases will end up reviewed by Batman so don't use it for frivolous stuff." Robin lectured. I'll have to check with Batman tomorrow to see if I can use the account to replace the phone I burned tonight.
Robin slid his bat-card through the card reader and opened the top draw, which contained paper bills for what looked like at least a dozen currencies. He took a few bills out of the American dollars' compartment and handed them to me.
"That should be enough for a cab ride home."
"Thanks. Sorry about this, I wasn't planning on being out so late." Or losing my shoes.
"Don't worry about it. I'll let you in on a little secret," Robin said grinning. "Every hero has an embarrassing first night out story; you did pretty good all things considered."
"Even Batman?" I asked half jokingly. I can think of a couple possibilities for what could constitute his embarrassing story, but I'm far more interested in how Robin will answer the question.
"Even Batman," Robin intoned, leaning forward in a conspiratorial tone.
"You'll have to tell me that story some time," I teased.
"Sorry, I've been sworn to secrecy. I do have stories about everyone else though."
"Well then, I guess I'll just have to settle for imagining how the Dark Knight fumbled on his first night out-," I wiggled my eyebrows. "-and I have a very good imagination."
That managed to render Robin speechless for a moment. Success! Now we're even for the innuendo on the bioship earlier.
Superboy returned, fully dressed with a pile of folded clothes, before Robin could muster a response. And victory goes to me!
"Here," Superboy said, shoving the pile of clothes onto my arms.
"Alright, I'm going to get changed and then head home. It was nice working with both of you," I said to the pair. Looking towards Superboy I said, "I'll wash these and get them back to you tomorrow."
Superboy and Robin called out their goodbyes, and I headed to the room Kaldur had told me was for my personal use earlier today.
I stepped into the dark room and quickly stripped out of my dress without bothering to turn on the lights.
I put on the clothes Superboy gave me more slowly. He had lent me a sweater, black tee, pair of jeans, and some socks plus sneakers.
I had to roll up the legs of the jeans to prevent them from dragging on the ground, and the hoodie was halfway to a dress on me, but I wouldn't get any second looks getting a cab now.
When I'd designed my costume I'd left out any purely aesthetic touches. Which meant no makeup which could be ruined by sweat or padded clothing that gave the illusion of certain assets, but could slow me down in the field. The only concession I made to aesthetic was the dress itself: something that would mark me as a woman and curtail my androgynous looks.
What all of this meant was that wearing Superboy's clothes hid any trace of femininity underneath them. With the lights off, I didn't have to look too closely at myself but if I did I knew what I would see. A boy.
At least my teammates won't see me like this. They'll still think of me as a girl.
I can't get a cab home wearing my hero outfit. And I can't walk home at this hour without shoes. I need to wear this, just for now, I reassured myself.
I folded up my dress and left it at the foot of the cot in the room. No reason to take it with me. I'm only going to be wearing it around here and on missions. Besides carrying what appears to be a bloodstained dress in the middle of the night would warrant unwanted scrutiny, even in Gotham.
I glanced at my athame before deciding to pocket it. It was mostly irrational, but having a weapon made me feel far safer on the streets at night. Even if I'm far more dangerous as a weapon by myself than the knife.
My hand hovered over the doorknob. This is stupid; no one I care about is going to see me. Even so, I still felt my mind racing through all the varieties of glamors and illusions that I had studied. Those aren't going to help here. I'm a Hero now. I can't be cowed by something like this.
I took a moment to center myself, taking a deep breath, before opening the door as quietly as I could. The walk to the Zeta tubes was the most stressful part of the night; I flinched at every sound, and would constantly pause to check if anyone was around before continuing on.
"B08 to Gotham." The Zeta tube lit up as I walked forward. I'd half hoped that whatever facial recognition software the tubes used wouldn't recognize me like this, but that it had at least saved me that issue. Still, I was half tempted in a masochistic way to disable my voice enchantment and try again, to see if that made a difference.
"Recognized: Bloody Mary B08."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Surprise this story isn't dead! RL got crazy hectic for the last half a year or so, but things are finally calming down and I have the time and energy to write again. Witchcraft will hopefully be updating every Saturday from here on out. A revision of the first chapter is in the works and will be posted eventually, I'll make a post announcing when I finish rewriting it.
- Location
- Under a Rock
It lives! I'm glad to see this updating again.
- Location
- Alaska
Hey, neat! Very interested to see this story continuing.
- Location
- texas
Hmm, I wonder if Batman's embarrassing story is the one where he got stabbed in the leg by an underaged hooker named Holly Robinson.
Her lack of situational awareness of her surroundings is probably going to get her killed at some point (and then she'll come back cause comics or something), but her limited ammo is a pressing worry as well. She might have mutilated herself somewhat to help fix it, but blood would still be a limited resource I would think.
I wonder if she could branch out into nearby magic elements. Depending on the direction it would probably be life/growth/wood or decay/shadows/yin depending on how you look at the blood being spilled (Blood is life, but she's spilling it so it enters a state of decay and death).
Then again she doesn't seem to have much raw magic either. Seems like she'd either need to figure out magic batteries (gems are usually a go to for holding raw magical energy or elementally flavored magical energy), wait for her magical energy pool to grow (is that a thing in this setting? It is in some, so idk), or further mutilate herself for power.
The ending to this chapter was a bit interesting specifically for another reason. She nearly has an anxiety attack from just walking around in a shirt and jeans, but then she wonders to herself "masochistically" about removing her voice enchantment for a bit. I'm wondering if part of the mutilations actually made her a sadomasochist instead of just a sadist like last chapter implied. That she enjoys pain no matter the source, which would fit with being a demon... contractor? She might have mutilated her soul with demon... stuff(?) and I'm not sure if that would be a contract or not.
I wonder if she could branch out into nearby magic elements. Depending on the direction it would probably be life/growth/wood or decay/shadows/yin depending on how you look at the blood being spilled (Blood is life, but she's spilling it so it enters a state of decay and death).
Then again she doesn't seem to have much raw magic either. Seems like she'd either need to figure out magic batteries (gems are usually a go to for holding raw magical energy or elementally flavored magical energy), wait for her magical energy pool to grow (is that a thing in this setting? It is in some, so idk), or further mutilate herself for power.
The ending to this chapter was a bit interesting specifically for another reason. She nearly has an anxiety attack from just walking around in a shirt and jeans, but then she wonders to herself "masochistically" about removing her voice enchantment for a bit. I'm wondering if part of the mutilations actually made her a sadomasochist instead of just a sadist like last chapter implied. That she enjoys pain no matter the source, which would fit with being a demon... contractor? She might have mutilated her soul with demon... stuff(?) and I'm not sure if that would be a contract or not.
Good to see we're still on course for the restoration of the Byzantine Empire.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Just reread this to remind myself of the story for this chapter. Zatara mentioning the voice disguise spell caught my attention, and the second half of this chapter completely confirmed my suspicion.
Interested to see where this one goes.
Interested to see where this one goes.
deadcrystal
Slaaneshi Cultist
- Location
- The Warp
I'm picturing an implausible arrangement of banana peels, abandoned skateboards, spilled grease, and loose marbles.
I was literally planning on sending you a PM today to ask if this was continuing. Kismet I guess.
Obloquy
CrossMyHeart And HopeToDie, StickANeedleInMyEye
- Location
- the Physical Realm
Great to see this in its final form!
I can't wait to see Amanda interacting with everyone more in the future.
I can't wait to see Amanda interacting with everyone more in the future.
I bet it's the one where he went out in a ski mask and got caught on the getaway truck because "they weren't scared of me".
FancyMolasses
Schnoz Enthusiast
- Location
- Nowhere interesting
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Very cool! Excited to read more. I'll try and come up with something more substantive to say later
I'm pretty sure that blood bank magic would either be useless or only useful as a more effective replacement for chalk/salt/whatever for magic ritual circles and the like: Blood magic is about sacrifice, and conceptually speaking donor blood isn't really thought of as a sacrifice since it's too far divorced from the person taking the blood, along with the fact that it's built to be as not-painful as possible, which may or may not be involved.
Krazyfan1
Worrying for the future.
- Location
- Australia
What about storing her own blood for later?
He had a rather unfortunate bladder spasm.
Truthfully, I imagine anyone with a long career in something as high intensity as superheroics will build up a fair share reasonably embarrassing incidents. Even icons like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman likely have at least a few times where things went... less than smoothly. Lucky for them, it's hard for paparazzi to chase a superhero, so those incidents are not as likely to get huge coverage.He had a rather unfortunate bladder spasm.
- Location
- Under a Rock
Its possible that Kid Flash is taking college courses in high school. A couple colleges offer that service, and Kid Flash's chemistry should be strong enough to keep up in a college course.
I like this bit of world building. Its such a small thing that they would obviously need. And the multiple currencies make sense too. Even though the mountain is comfortably within the borders of the US, the Zeta network just down the hall could take them literally anywhere.
Also, new headcanon: Whenever Batman is needlessly dramatic, or does that stealth hi/bye thing too often, Robin commissions ever more ridiculous Bat-Brand objects. Alfred helps, because he knows Bruce takes himself too seriously.
Note: I get into gender a bit below, a topic for which I am unqualified. Apologies if I misrepresent anything.
I really like this bit. I think its relevant that its specifically Superboy's clothes that she has to borrow.
Superboy, especially right now, has the most stereotypically male characteristics in the cast. At least he does on the surface level, but we are talking about his clothes right now, the surface level impressions of him.
He's handsome, strong, tough, angry, violent, brooding, and has a character arc focused around emulating/surpassing/earning the approval of a distant male character who he shares half his genes with. Again, Superboy is a lot more than that, but we are talking superficially here.
His clothes don't fit Amanda, in more than one way.
However, putting on clothes which obviously don't fit might be the only way society is going to let her hail a cab tonight.
I'd actually be surprised if Zeta tubes granted access on something as simple as voice recognition. Most likely there are a bunch of factors, and which ones pass and fail get carefully recorded.