#af gen3

[habiba-apple-aphid]

[fred-the-elemental-made-of-fudge]

Versus broke the very principle of matter

Rough Diamond: "Watch this. I can create an infinitely compounded density, and an infinitely expanded scarcity, and combining the two, I create an impossible astral state, my next strike disseminates the binding forces of reality, quazi-marriage punch!"

Versus: {flash attack} "stop with that nonsense and fight me properly."

Rough Diamond: "did you just- I forfeit. thanks for the opportunity."

Versus: "are you serious? the fight didn't even start."

Shadow: "he didn't just stop that attack. he stopped the very principle of it."

Roach: "he didn't use any effort at all. Versus used a faux-jab stun attack."

Shadow: "no, that's the beauty of it. he didn't even stop his attack."

Roach: "yes he did. i saw it with my own eyes. i heard the clap of an impact."

Shadow: "didn't you notice how quiet it was? that wasn't a halt, it was a dispel."

Roach: "can't be. that would take a mammoth effort and cause huge damage."

Shadow: "no, you see, he broke the core principle the move was founded on."

Roach: "he applied a counter strategy?"

Shadow: "no no no. he didn't so much stop it as prevent it starting in the first place."

Roach: "but i saw him throw a punch."

Shadow: "yes, a punch, not that punch, not the quazi-state kind."

Roach: "but i saw the state generate. it existed."

Shadow: "yes, but it reversed before it carried, before it landed."

Roach: "you mean he got RD to pull his punch?"

Shadow: "no. Versus pulled RD's punch for him."

Roach: "he what?"

Shadow: "Versus relaxed his form, disassembled his integration."

Roach: "what does that mean?"

Shadow: "Versus lost his laws of reality, so he could create a sort of law soup."

Roach: "law? what law?"

Shadow: "the laws of matter, space and time. he un-reality'd his reality."

Roach: "what?!"

Shadow: "and he used RD's own attack to bring it back into form."

Roach: "you mean he didn't just relax his muscles. he relaxed the very principles of matter itself."

Shadow: "exactly. RD's technique is useless against that."

Roach: "so Versus can alter reality and space-time."

Shadow: "{laughs} no he can't, but RD can."

Roach: "I don't get it."

Shadow: "think of it like a deflection, you use your opponent's weight against them. Well, Versus just did that with RD's attack."

Roach: "then it really was just a neutraliser, a day one lesson self-defence technique, the kind of thing you teach non-combatants to avoid muggings."

Shadow: "yes, but deep in that principle that it takes no effort at all, not so much a counter-strategy as no strategy at all, not even the core fundamentals of animal instinct, a complete and total absence of technique in itself."

Roach: "so not a strategy of any kind, but a response non-the-less."

Shadow: "yes, he let the situation itself form his movements. going with the flow ahead of the current, pre-emptive ragdoll if you will."

Roach: "RD must have felt his energy drain away in that punch. it's not like hitting an object, where you feel resistance, not even hitting air, since air has its own kind of resistance, not even like being carried by an over extension, just a sheer absence of any response, an action without a reaction, breaking Newtonian laws."

Shadow: "uh-huh. Versus wasn't an immovable object here, Versus was extra-movable. He took an unstoppable force and made it even more unstoppable, making it no force of any kind in the end."

Roach: "and the worst part is it took no energy to do, literally even less energy than just doing nothing. RD must have felt it siphoning off his stamina."

Shadow: "yes and RD realised something else. that energy didn't just disperse, it was carried like a bag in the wind."

Roach: "the quieter sound. I get it. Versus channelled the excess around his form. If he'd timed it right, he could have returned some of it."

Shadow: "and RD has no defence against his own attacks. that's why he quit. he's never had to consider the impact of having it done to himself. he's never met someone-else who could use that technique. technically Versus can't but he can utilise RD's use of it against RD. it's like when you get into a steady pace when running. everything pushing against you, stops pushing so hard. it's a perfect balance and to push from that state takes little effort."

Roach: "yeah. far less effort than if you actually tried to go fast at the start. but I think your analogy is a little off. it's less like a pace and more like running with the wind. like how sailors back in the day used the wind to power their boats. you're not pushing into, out of, against or along with, you're bending it, gently curving it sideways. 'shapeless, like water'. Lee's principle."

Shadow: "yes I see it now. that's how Lee can be immune to flames when he's made of fuel. the fire never truly catches, it curves, it reverberates, it dispels. fire is a reaction and it stops being fire when it stops acting. Versus understands that exothermic reaction is what drives muscles. that's why he refused to give up his flesh, it's potentially far more powerful than any normal machine. his mechanical body being powered by explosive leans into that. he truly understands plasma for what it is. he can understand states of transition like we do states of matter. just imagine what he could do with a little cosmic radiation."

Roach: "star child..."

Shadow: "yeah?"

Roach: "that's what they meant by calling him a star child. he runs his body like a burning star. the principle is the same. I fear for when he exerts himself."

Shadow: "a nova..."

[kaori-turnip]

Watching AFG3S3 and I realised something

Gen 1 was about people being monsters.

Gen 2 was Lovecraftian horrors being the enemy.

Gen 3 is about Lovecraftian horrors being the protagonist.

Drako was a guy who couldn't stop caring even when he wanted to.

He gathered a following because he was a hero and was cool.

Drako hated the attention but liked the fans themselves as people.

Drako had to put on an "i don't care" face for tactical reasons though.

Versus is a very different beast.

He loves being the center of attention.

He couldn't give a damn about his fans on a personal level.

Versus isn't putting on an "i don't care" face.

Versus just genuinely finds his fanbase kind of annoying.

Drako's spiritual journey was learning to care less or look like it.

Versus might have the exact opposite adventure.

Versus might be forced to feel things against his will.

He's not a kind and caring person but he has friends for a reason.

He's constantly solving problems himself.

He doesn't like working in teams in general.

You could argue he's a self-made man.

I argue that he takes on everything as his own burden to bare.

The way he cares about others is more subtle.

He constantly puts himself in danger to fight villains.

Yes he likes to be their sole focus and be the one to fight them.

I think though subtly he's painting a target on himself.

He's not the kind to act defensively.

He just attacks the enemy to solve the problem.

He says he doesn't care about the victims of the villains.

He chooses to resurrect them as badass fighting robots.

He's weirdly a tell-don't-show champion.

He doesn't show any signs of a noble character.

Everyone keeps weighing up his actions and seeing it though.

Can you quantify a hero's actions without feeling them?

Surely that makes sense right?

You save the day, you're the hero by default.

Nobody is praising Versus for his actions.

I don't think Versus wants to be praised.

He's an indifferent force for good.

An inevitable unstoppable force.

Imagine Saitama in the dream sequence fighting The Subterraneans.

Versus has a vague understanding he's helping.

That's not why he does it.

There's a vague do-good side in there.

The average person in civilisation means well.

He's not going out of his way to better the world.

He just wants to fight stuff and be admired for it.

He doesn't want to be a symbol for others to follow.

I don't think he's going to get that choice here.

People will idolise him no matter what.

Versus' dilemma is having to cope with having a public presence.

People are squishy.

If people try to follow his example, they'll get hurt.

Versus can undo the damage but that's not the point.

Versus might berate others for endangering themselves.

The average human being is somewhat apathetic to idiocy.

The average person doesn't want to be responsible for pain.

He's not exactly upset at strangers being hurt.

He's not worried about personal consequences of his actions.

He doesn't want to be the cause of a negative influence.

He doesn't want others to hurt themselves trying to follow him.

They will though, even if he tells them not to.

He can't help being a symbol, just by the nature of saving others.

Those who walk in his footprints will inevitably fail.

Versus' lesson is learning why Drako did what he did.

Versus will have to become that which he hates.

Versus is a literal war machine learning to human.

Ironically it's his human nature that prevents it.

The true nature of humanity clashes with its cultural representation.

We long to be ideal humans but we can only be realistic humans.

Versus will have to become a caricature of himself in the public eye.

It's the only way to keep the public safe.

The narrative becomes the only feasible reality.

The irony he leaped out of fiction for this outcome.