Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow
"and at the end of fear...Oblivion"
Player: Jon ~
Registered On: Feb 15, 2012 20:39:14 GMT -5 ~
Posts: 941
~ Relationship Status: Won't Say I'm In Love
~ Partner: Fear
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Post by Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow on Jun 11, 2012 21:02:35 GMT -5
Tonight had been planned for some time now. It was clear that VerMillion was fragile and unable to defend herself. After everything that they had already encountered it was time for him to have a solution for her. Dr. Crane was a busy man, between all of his work and the times that he needed to leave her alone, he wouldn’t be able to protect her all the time.
Dr. Crane wasn’t ‘worried’ about retaliation from The Penguin for not paying his debt, but there was no reason not to be intelligent about it. It had been some time since he had escaped the Asylum with Edward. The Penguin would have known by now and possibly had begun to track him down and try to make him pay. Dr. Crane had no intention of paying Mr. Cobblepot back unfortunately. So he would be out of luck if he came here to find it. If he tried to do anything hostile, he just hopped that The Penguin remembered whose world he was stepping into…
Leading VerMillion to a hall on the left side of the building there was only a single closet door In front of them. Shimmying the keys into the lock he opened it slowly. When they both peered into the closet, at first it just looked like any other normal hall way closet. There were a very moth torn jackets hanging up on the bar, a few shoes on the floor and a small cut away door on the floor. It looked like an entrance to a crawl space except it went down under the building. Opening it carefully he lifted until it hit the back of the closet and a stairs lay before them heading deeper underground. This wasn’t the normal place he would have chosen to do this, but it was the only place that wasn’t chemically dangerous to practice such an art.
Taking her by the hand he led VerMillion carefully down each step. They were rather steep so he kept a good hold on her. She would be useless if she decided to break her neck. Finally getting to the bottom of the stairs the room opened up into long rows of what looked like a potted garden. There were only two rows with actually anything on the tables. The other tables looked like they were prepped for the same thing but were not currently being used. Dr. Crane let go of her hand as they reached the bottom and he walked further into the room inspecting the small amount of plant life he actually had. It was just a small detour before he was going to have her demonstrate how well she could take care of herself.
Dr. Crane stepped slowly over to one of the flower pots he had been taking care of on the end row. Looking through the soil a bit, he dug into it with his hands to see if any progress at all had been made. Nothing…He could never get these to grow. They needed the perfect conditions, and no matter how hard he tried to replicate them he just couldn’t see to get them to grow. For the moment VerMillion was ignored as his eyes focused on his work, and the brilliant seed of his work. Sighing he lifted from it finally and turned his frustrated attention to the empty long tables in the room.
His thoughts were turned elsewhere. He hadn’t said much to VerMillion as his mind wandered into the depths of the dark. He just couldn’t wrap his mind around why he couldn’t do it. It was like these flowers had to be where they were or they just wouldn’t grow. His fingers lifted under a table and then began to slowly slide it back toward the wall. Dr. Crane walked casually to the other empty table in the room and began to do the same, slowly pushing the thoughts out of his mind. Tonight had to be about getting VerMillion some defense. His work was going to have to wait.
Having some open space now Dr. Crane stood in the middle and motioned for her to come closer. “You’re going to try and get away from me….” He paused for a moment, thinking about the previous times that she had tried. “Better than you have the previous times….I’m going to kill you, what are you going to do?”
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Post by Heather Glass - VerMillion on Jun 12, 2012 2:50:02 GMT -5
This isn't a part of the building that Heather has seen before, if only because of the locked door. In spite of what Jon may feel at times, she does try to find ways to keep herself entertained without involving him, and poking her nose into everything in the building not behind a locked door was one of them - though at least now that she's off of brave toxin she knew better than to touch anything chemical in nature while she was at it.
She's surprised at first when this locked door simply seems to be a closet, having assumed that it must have been something more important if he was going to lock the door, but the hatch-like door in the floor answers that confusion more than adequately. And she's grateful for his help down the steep staircase - the idea that she would trip and break her neck is probably not as far-fetched as one might think. She really is that big of a klutz at times, and perhaps that's why what they're doing tonight is such a good idea. She's just not used to doing physical things.
Once she's down the stairs, she peers around the room curiously for a few moments. All she can really tell by observation is that he's been attempting to grow something but seeing nothing actually growing she gathers that 'attempting' is the key word. She's tempted to ask him about it, but noting the intent look in his eyes she figures that if she did the question would fall on deaf ears so she doesn't bother. While she knows how to get his attention when his mind wanders off like that, it's hard so it has to be worth it. And given why they're down here, she knows he'll come back on his own soon enough. In the meantime, she silently helps him move the tables, trying not to be too nervous about this.
Up until recently, Heather never really had any reason or desire to know how to fight, so she didn't. Because any of that self-defense stuff is physical, and physical stuff is something that she does not 'do'. Or at least, she didn't - times have changed. So when Jon motions her closer, she's quick enough to come, but at first the answer to his question is a frown and a long pause as she tries to come up with an answer. But when she realizes that she's not going to be coming up with a good answer she instead says what's on her mind. "That's the problem!" she says, "I mean, I know I can't run worth anything, but I don't know the first thing about fighting either - I'd probably just hurt myself. That's why I kind of just... stood there." Well, that plus she tends to freeze up when she's scared, and Jon is scary when he's going after you. But the main problem is that she's a totally blank slate when it comes to defending herself - except possibly when she was on brave toxin. Yet even then she wasn't very effective.
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Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow
"and at the end of fear...Oblivion"
Player: Jon ~
Registered On: Feb 15, 2012 20:39:14 GMT -5 ~
Posts: 941
~ Relationship Status: Won't Say I'm In Love
~ Partner: Fear
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Post by Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow on Jun 15, 2012 20:21:44 GMT -5
Dr. Crane hadn’t always been the best physical fighter, in fact he still wasn’t. He used what was keen to his skills and strong points. Being very tall and slender, brute force wasn’t going to work; he had to find alternative methods. Something that worked with his light appearance was actually martial arts. He studied into many of them but couldn’t find a practical use in nearly any of them. Possibly because they were not his signature, and didn’t fit all of his needs properly.
It was then that he took a particular interest into studying Kung Fu Crane while he was at the Asylum. His experiments with his patients had become a bit more intense and naturally they were becoming harder and harder to control. Though he hadn’t had the need to be the Scarecrow at the time, learning the art didn’t seem like a bad deal all the way around, he did live in Gotham after all.
With the publicity that has raised from the previous incident at Gotham University his face had already made its way onto the news more than once. Suspicion around his habits and practices was indeed in question, and he knew that eventually he was going to need a better method to defend himself. Kung Fu Crane was the first style he took any interest in and before he actually began practicing it he studied it. Through many books and videos he began to learn the art step for step.
The connection to his last name and the art itself were unrelated, however coincidental it was. Kung Fu Crane was about balance, control, and evasion the three things that would become most useful when handling a patient. By balancing on one leg, like the Crane, your center of gravity could shift and the avoidance of a threat became much greater. With practice and study the movements would become almost relational and second natured. Slowly he began practicing the art when he wasn’t in the lab or at work. As time passed and he became more skilled with it, he noticed it wasn’t enough.
Perhaps it was the need to prove that he wasn’t like the simple minded society he was forced to live in at the time, but being proficient in one style of fighting wasn’t enough for him. In the art there was a certain lack of power that he craved, avoidance was useful, but being able to strike back was something to fear. Dr. Crane was not normally a violent man, especially at that time in his life. He was focused on his research and his own methods; he cared little for the life of man, but had no desire to take it. Only one did he make an exception for…
That was when Druken Boxing had caught his eye. A loose art, meant for quick strikes, absorbing blows, and maintaining balance. It complimented Crane so perfectly he wanted to mix the two. Druken boxing also had a lot of psychological value in it. It was an art based solely around the art of deception. Luring your prey into a false sense of security that you are off balance when you are completely in control. When the two were mixed together, he called it his own and named it Violent Dancing. It reminded him of the dance of the Crane. How fitting…
Of course teaching this to VerMillion was not going to be easy. He listened to her plight and remembered the events that led her up to where she was right now. She had never put up much of a fight, and her best attempt was to attack him with scissors. That even was only performed after the brave toxin was in her system. “I am aware…That’s why I intend to…” He paused for a moment and searched for the right word, closing an amount of distance between them, but kept enough to remain comfortable. “Ease you into the right method for you. My art, Violent Dancing, may not be the correct solution for you though you fit the criteria. I’m just not sure you have the capability of understanding it.” He shook his head thinking he may have to take another approach on this. It was an art that took time and dedication to master. From her observations of her already he knew she had a short attention span, for her to actually learn something, she was going to have to learn to focus.
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Post by Heather Glass - VerMillion on Jun 16, 2012 16:07:44 GMT -5
Heather frowns to herself slightly as she remembers a few key points in the past where she really could have used at least a little fighting ability. Those moments are actually somewhat embarrassing to her upon reflection, even if there hadn't really been a need for her to know how to do better up until the day Jon hit her car. She'd avoided all those parts of the city that she knew were more dangerous and was with friends most of the time - it was like a completely different world from where she is now.
A world that, while she's not entirely certain of, she knows that at least for the time being she needs to adapt herself to. While there was a time that she didn't try to escape because she was worried about what Jon might do if she did, it's actually been a long time since since she's even thought about the possibility of leaving. Mostly because she's had no real desire to. At worst she's simply wanted to get out of the hideout more often, to help relieve boredom, but that's different from actually wanting to leave. In fact, Jon could leave the front door of the hideout unlocked after telling her that he'd be gone for several hours and she wouldn't go. There's still the question of what she'd do if someone directly gave her the choice to stay or go since that would make the decision conscious. But since that's not happened, and Jon hasn't given her any sign of doing anything different, she simply assumes that she'll be hanging around him for the foreseeable future and doesn't object to that idea.
Which means that she needs to learn how to defend herself. Otherwise she's extremely liable to get killed or worse. So in spite of her reluctance to do anything physical, she does get why this is important. If she didn't, she'd have protested rather energetically about the whole idea. His words now, however, cause her frown to deepen since she takes his words slightly differently than he meant them. "Hey, if I can't do it, it'll be because I can't do it. Not because I don't understand," she says, sounding somewhat insulted, "I'm klutzy, not stupid." She's actually a bit defensive about her intelligence because several aspects of her personality would lead people to believe that she's not as smart as she is.
One of those personality defects is her attention span, though that's actually extremely linked to her interest level in what's going on. Which makes it particularly bad when she's on brave toxin since that greatly lowers her level of interest in anything that would normally make her nervous. However, if she has an interest then she also has an ability to focus, roughly proportional to the level of interest. If you get her doing something she finds really fascinating she could focus on it all day. Not that Jon would know that, since she's had a hard time finding anything that she finds that interesting around here, and when she did he was probably too focused himself to wonder why she'd managed to go for so long without bothering him while he's working.
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Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow
"and at the end of fear...Oblivion"
Player: Jon ~
Registered On: Feb 15, 2012 20:39:14 GMT -5 ~
Posts: 941
~ Relationship Status: Won't Say I'm In Love
~ Partner: Fear
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Post by Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow on Jun 27, 2012 9:42:41 GMT -5
Actually teaching VerMillion any fighting ability full-fledged was going to be difficult. Especially if he wanted to teach her any method to his art. Learning that kind of balance and self-control took study and time, two things that she didn’t have. If she would continue the way that she was there was no doubt in his mind that she would later turn up dead. The fact didn’t bother him to the degree that she would have probably liked it to. Death and people were just inevitabilities around him, only he was the exception to that.
The fact that he was standing here actually willing to teach her was a miracle in itself. Dr. Crane’s time was valuable to him for his research and if he didn’t deem something worth enough to waste time upon, he didn’t. In this case she should feel lucky that he was taking any time out at all the make sure she didn’t get herself killed. Though he wasn’t a very social man he didn’t seem to have any trouble making enemies. His enemies would see her as a primary target to get to him, regardless if his attachment to VerMillion was genuine or not. He wanted to let them see it as they saw fit, there was little point in proving otherwise. The lingering problem remained that someone would eventually try to kill her, and that’s why they were down here tonight.
The thought that she might resist and run from him didn’t concern him. If she was going to leave she would have done so already, even if she had, something in her might have told her it wouldn’t have been for long. He had kidnapped her twice already and didn’t mind a third if she willed it to be so. His focus was on her for specific reasons, ones that she couldn’t know yet, but where they did become clear she would understand. Dr. Crane’s remaining outwardly cold and stand-offish demeanor toward her was normal for most people he encountered, but she should have noticed that he did treat her differently than most in subtle ways.
Dr. Crane shook his head as she spoke, already thinking that this would almost be more work than it’s worth. “If you can’t do it…you’ll never understand it” he responded to her in his philosophical manner. Truly no one saw the world quite like he did, he couldn’t deny wanting the world to see his vision. That was why he had accomplished the things he had. The countless hours into his research, the many sleepless nights over his patients, the testaments to his work he would leave for the world, all of it to show society a glimpse of how he sees the world. Unfortunately all in vain, as he found out that the world would never truly understand.
Stepping toward her finally he decided to take the manner in his own hands. He placed his hands on her hips and attempted to adjust her stance. Sliding his hand to her thigh he spread her more evenly apart to her weight trying to place her in a position suitable for her. “Keeping your balance is the most important thing, even if you’re knocked to the ground. It’s about remaining in control despite what the other may think.” Dr. Crane began to slowly explain to her.
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Post by Heather Glass - VerMillion on Jun 27, 2012 11:31:26 GMT -5
If Jon thinks that the way he treats her differently is subtle then he's rather mistaken, at least from where Heather is standing. Even though she didn't meet him until recently, she's followed the news much more closely than most for the past five years. That hardly taught her anything about what he's like as a person, but she is very keenly aware of the usual results of his interactions with people. It's not normal for him to kidnap someone and keep them for this long. It's also not normal for them to remain unharmed. And every time she's come off of brave toxin she's been amazed that she's still alive after what she did while she was on it. Not that any of it was overly bad, but she has a hard time believing that he's so tolerant of her. She's not sure if that means that she's just that important to his plans or if... no, it couldn't be that... Stop dreaming!
She makes a slight face at his response, indicating both her disagreement and lack of desire to actually argue the point. That's not a point that will be proved through argument but action. She will understand or she won't, she'll be able to do it or she won't, and there's only one way to find out. And she's actually finding herself to be quite determined to give it her best shot on both accounts.
When he steps closer and starts adjusting her stance, she suddenly finds herself having to remind herself that he's not touching her as a man touches a woman but as a fighting instructor touches a student, and she mentally kicks herself for the distraction. Thinking like that will make it impossible to concentrate! But he's standing so close...
She manages to shake that thought though, and experimentally shifts her weight on her feet a little in order to try and concentrate on the topic at hand. Yes, balance... most important thing... It seems somewhat obvious, but then again Heather's not really thought about it before so it's still new to her. And the way she's standing now does feel more secure. Or is that because Jon is right there? Jeez, can't she focus for one minute! She nods slowly to show her understanding of the concept, though.
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Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow
"and at the end of fear...Oblivion"
Player: Jon ~
Registered On: Feb 15, 2012 20:39:14 GMT -5 ~
Posts: 941
~ Relationship Status: Won't Say I'm In Love
~ Partner: Fear
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Post by Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow on Jul 6, 2012 1:46:34 GMT -5
He had discussed only briefly with VerMillion about why she was here with him and why he had kidnapped her in the first place. He had never made it inexplicitly clear to her or actually came out and said it. Above all he didn’t see a reason to bring her into the light on most situations; it would be easier for her to focus if she just kept her head down and did as she was told. This was a wish that unfortunately hadn’t gone right from the beginning. She did have quite the habit of fighting him every step of the way. It would be no different in this setting he was sure.
Dr. Crane didn’t notice much of anything from her at first as he kept adjusting her to stand properly. Right now he was focused on teaching her how to fight. He adjusted her leg again and moved it forward. His hand slipped to her and raised it out a little, along with the other one to follow. “Relax..” He began to notice that she was quite stiff. “There can’t be balance with such stiffness; you need to loosen your muscles.” He continued turning her hand slightly into almost a cuff but not quite.
Her nod wasn’t reassuring that she was truly understanding. Perhaps a demonstration was in order. For her to really understand the concept of the art she was going to have to see it with her eyes. Dr. Crane finally let go of her and took a position several feet away from her, it was only when he turned did he finally notice how venerable she actually looked. It was like she had been struck by something but hadn’t quite registered what it was. He had stopped in his general explanation for a moment just to take in what she was experiencing. Clearly it was anxiety, of course he saw that in her. The pause in her features, the uncertain look on her face, and the tension in her muscles. All perfect signs that she was anxious about what he was putting her through…or more importantly what he had just done.
Instead of tossing that thought to the side it was actually going to become useful. Without another moment’s notice he took a deep breath and immediately broke into a routine he would often do in his training. His arms fanned out wide and suddenly he was around the room and in the air. His legs would fly into the air well above his head, his body would lift off the floor into a cycling motion and land each time into another spiral. He moved flawlessly into each part of the routine, stopping only to do strikes with cuffed bent hands. Suddenly his body fell to the floor but immediately recovered into a roll. He was up in less than a few seconds and repeated the motion over and over again. He was able to actually fight on the ground if he wished. Only from the ground again did he jump to his feet and gracefully fan his hands out again into a perfect balance.
Dr. Crane lowered his arms and walked back to her. He didn’t even seem out of breath after the entire ordeal. It was second nature to him, as he eventually expected it to become to her. His hands reached out to hers again to stretch them out and fan her fingers. “It’s a dance you see…” He said in a hushed voice, as if he was understanding more of it than he was displaying with her hand. He moved behind her and crouched to the ground. Slowly he reached out and grabbed her ankle to lift it from the floor and make her balance on one foot. He lifted it until her knee was bent and her foot was sucked against her from behind. Making sure she didn’t fall he kept his hands pressed against her form as her rose to her arms again and made sure they were out. “It’s like a Crane displaying it's wings through dance…”
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Post by Heather Glass - VerMillion on Jul 6, 2012 4:33:21 GMT -5
In spite of her best efforts, Heather's thoughts continue to alternate between attempting to concentrate on the position he's putting her body and being distracted by his touch. So it's no wonder that with her mind going everywhere that she stiffens up. And when he verbally tells her to correct that, she frowns - just what she needed, something else to have to think about. "Okay..." she says as she tries, fighting within her mind for more of it to concentrate. It helps immensely when he steps away; like this, she's supposed to stand like this? She can remember that... Probably...
Though when she sees how he's looking at her out of the corner of her eyes, she looks back at him. It's true that she probably looks pretty helpless even if she's in a decent fighting stance; she's short, and while she's thin like Jon her own thinness has the added element of a general lack of muscle instead of compact ones. And though she's able to hold the position, she's not used to it and is a bit uncomfortable with the unfamiliarity of it so it looks artificial - she probably looks like someone could knock her over with a decent shove. And that's probably even true... And it also doesn't help that she can't look at him looking at her without wondering if he's seeing someone as horribly pathetic and inadequate as she feels around him sometimes.
When he suddenly breaks into some sort of a fighting routine, she's surprised at first, but since it isn't hard for her to guess his purpose in it, she watches him as carefully as she can. It's a lot easier to learn something if you know what you're trying to do is supposed to look like when you're doing it correctly, and though she's seen Jon fight before it was normally over too quickly for her to really absorb. So actually seeing something extended is rather helpful, especially with the whole idea of balance in the back of her head. Then again, in the front of her head she can't help but notice and appreciate just how gracefully Jon can move... And yet she also notes that the strikes interspersed among the movements would be very bad to be in the way of - she's actually seen what that looks like against a real person before.
As he finishes and starts walking back, she finds that she has a greater understanding of the role balance plays since she'd noticed its presence throughout the whole routine. But she also finds herself somewhat less confident in her own ability to learn to do that - it also kind of rubbed it in her face that she's got a lot of work ahead of her if she wants to come anywhere close.
She resettles herself into the same balanced stance she was in before as Jon gets close, having lost it while she watched and feeling rather self-conscious now, but finds herself better able to concentrate as he fans her fingers like his were. And his quiet words actually help a lot more than he realizes. "A dance?" she repeats to herself. She actually does know how to dance. Hip hop, to be specific. Took her forever to learn it, but it helped her become more 'cool' in high school and impressed her friends in college, so it was worth it. But if it's like a dance, maybe it isn't so far-fetched for her to learn to fight too.
Lost in those thoughts and thinking more about her balance than what Jon's actually doing, she's actually somewhat surprised when he starts pulling on her ankle. "Whoa!" she says as she tries to balance on the other leg, her arms shifting wildly for a moment before she manages to do so. Her poor sense of balance is actually one of the main contributors to her overall klutziness problem, but once she steadies herself she does notice that her hands have instinctively flared out just like he showed her a moment ago. Ah, that's what it's for! It becomes even harder as he shifts her leg further and she's rather wobbly, but with his help she manages to keep from losing her balance completely. But it's hard enough for her that she actually manages to focus on what she's doing rather on the fact that he's touching her - she can appreciate the fact that he touched her when she doesn't feel like she's in imminent danger of falling over.
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Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow
"and at the end of fear...Oblivion"
Player: Jon ~
Registered On: Feb 15, 2012 20:39:14 GMT -5 ~
Posts: 941
~ Relationship Status: Won't Say I'm In Love
~ Partner: Fear
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Post by Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow on Jul 17, 2012 23:49:34 GMT -5
It was difficult for anyone to meet the standards of Dr. Crane. He hardly believed anyone to be adequate except himself let alone possess the ability to excel at anything truly important. It was something that could only be achieved by understanding exactly what was behind the drive of all men. As a result of these unreachable standards it was often difficult to tolerate others. He could never keep a secretary for long for whatever reason. Even before he had become famous for crime and not his theories people seemed to be easily unnerved by him. At Gotham University he had received many complaints that his classes were nearly impossible to complete, from students and teachers alike. Why was it his fault they lacked the ability to understand?...and why was he punished for it?
So it wasn’t hard to believe that he found VerMillion inadequate in more than one area. She was indeed incredibly fragile despite what she had went through alive already. It wasn’t difficult for him at all to capture her either time he had tried. All it took was planning and patience and she was his. Fit perfectly laden with all of his other plans intact. Was she laughable because of this? In the physical ability to defend herself?...Yes.
When VerMillion finally keeps her leg in the air as she was supposed to. He kept her as steady as he could, aiding her in the balance that she needed. Her body wobbled to and fro just slightly from her ankle. This was the beauty of the art, just a small movement could mean the difference of getting hit with something or avoiding it entirely. She was now able to balance with relative ease on her ankle, making him occasionally able to just barely come off her skin and she moved. She was getting the hang of it, a natural response from her body to balance.
When she had fanned out her hands properly and her body was now in the correct position he stepped back slowly. His hands hovered for a moment just making sure she wasn’t going to clumsily fall over. He did want her to fall however; this was the next step she was going to have to get used to. Carefully he took a few more steps back until she was entirely standing on her own and just observed her for a moment. She had a lot to learn but she was doing well for her first time attempting such a difficult art. Dr. Crane stood behind her giving himself some distance and judging it from her feet to his own. “I want you to fall back in the position your in.” He spoke lowly from behind her.
Outwardly it may seem like a game of trust but it was actually quite a learning experience she would have to go through. One of the most important lessons here was how to deceive and give the illusion of not being in control of your movements. Being able to fall on the ground and get right back up, falling intentionally to confuse the opponent or just recovering from a heavy blow were all important techniques to the art. Dr. Crane held his hands out so they would be in her peripherals if she looked back, reassuring her that he would catch her.
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Post by Heather Glass - VerMillion on Jul 18, 2012 2:30:00 GMT -5
Focusing entirely on keeping herself upright, Heather doesn't completely notice when Jon stops assisting her - not unlike how a child learning to ride without training wheels doesn't know when their parent stops holding the seat once they're up to speed. But though she's wobbly and would probably fail to keep her balance if she tried this for too long, over the short term she can just manage.
Though what Jon says next almost causes her to lose it because she abruptly turns her head to look at him, and she's just barely able to compensate for it after some rather severe wobbling. Once she's relatively steady again, though, she's actually able to respond, "Um, okay." Though she can't give him her full trust, she quite naturally gives him all the trust she can given the circumstances. Which is quite a bit, actually, and definitely includes falling back when she's told to without questioning it much.
She turns her head to look forward again, taking a deep breath before she allows her center of gravity to shift too far back. It's definitely easier to fall than it is to maintain her balance, though ensuring that she's falling in the right direction takes a little thought. Though when she falls she proves to have some instinct on how to preserve herself; her head moves forward a little and her back rounds slightly as she goes backwards, ensuring that if Jon for whatever reason doesn't catch her the impact will be safely absorbed by her spine. She has, after all, fallen a large number of times in her life. And just because it was generally unintentional doesn't mean that she didn't learn from the experience - get a couple of concussions and you figure out how to be more careful about your head. But otherwise she manages to hold her leg up and her arms steady as she falls, attempting to do exactly as she was told.
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Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow
"and at the end of fear...Oblivion"
Player: Jon ~
Registered On: Feb 15, 2012 20:39:14 GMT -5 ~
Posts: 941
~ Relationship Status: Won't Say I'm In Love
~ Partner: Fear
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Post by Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow on Jul 21, 2012 4:36:50 GMT -5
Seeing her able to stand well enough on her own was good progress especially for how early she was into this. It showed that she was at least capable of listening if anything. If she was listening then it meant that even if she didn’t learn anything she may retain some of the experience and remember it for future situations. He wasn’t expecting her to become proficient in the art over night, he didn’t learn it in a day either, but he did have an extremely high expectation of her.
Seeing her wobble a moment he almost stepped forward, but restrained himself from doing so as she quickly recovered. That was the beauty of that position, it really stretched the limits of how balance was supposed to work, and it gave a beautiful display of the minds ability to work together with the body. Now that she had a good grip on her balance yet again he waited for her to make the choice to fall back into his hands.
He watched her tilt herself in acceptance that she would be caught and fall backward without putting her foot down to stop herself. It was intriguing to say the least, most people would have had to attempt this a couple of times before they actually fell straight back. He watched her hair move from its position and flow toward her face that he couldn’t see. In the short moments he had before she hit the ground he attempted to count the muscles that tightened and loosened as she let herself fall. It would be important in correcting her, but not after and even more important lesson.
Dr. Crane quickly pulled his arms back as she fell and let her hit the ground as hard as she let herself. His hands went casually to his sides and he side stepped her to avoid her completely. Casually he came to her side and looked down at her studying her face carefully. “Trust is a terrible infection. It just becomes bigger and bigger until it develops into something worse….” He spoke dryly without sympathy for her fall. Trust was such a façade, a lie that humans told themselves, something they could grasp and hold on to. The inevitability was to be let down because trust never truly existed. Trust spread like an infection among people. “If you don’t trust me you don’t love me. If you don’t trust me I can’t trust you. If you don’t trust me you don’t know me. If you don’t trust me you don’t respect me.” Dr. Crane lifted his palms slightly from his sides like he was beginning to lecture on something he knew far too much about. Slowly he took steps away from her and lifted his gaze into the air around them. “It’s all just a lie to cover what they really feel inside…something they use to run from what is the only truth in this world.” An unstable smile came over his features as he finally turned back to see her.
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Post by Heather Glass - VerMillion on Jul 21, 2012 11:52:21 GMT -5
When she feels herself falling past the point where Jon ought to have caught her, for that split second Heather cries out in protest before hitting the ground. It's not that hard of a hit, given that she was in a good position, but even in a good position it hurts. Emotionally as well as physically, actually She lays there for a moment, surprise, shock, and anger competing on her face until Jon comes to her side and speaks to her. She listens with an angry frown on her face, silent until he's finished as she doesn't quite know what to say.
But then she suddenly shifts to kick angrily in the general direction of his legs, though she's still laying on the floor. She doesn't expect to hit him since he's stepped a bit away and, well, this is Jon we're talking about. But she's angry enough to feel the need to express that emotion physically in some way. "Is that your way of saying that I shouldn't trust you?" she asks somewhat coldly as she rolls over and then pushes herself back to her feet, though with a hint of disbelief in her voice that hints that she'll listen if he wants to say otherwise. Listen, but perhaps not calm her anger if he doesn't have an extremely good reason for doing that. Now her back hurts...
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Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow
"and at the end of fear...Oblivion"
Player: Jon ~
Registered On: Feb 15, 2012 20:39:14 GMT -5 ~
Posts: 941
~ Relationship Status: Won't Say I'm In Love
~ Partner: Fear
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Post by Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow on Jul 24, 2012 3:29:58 GMT -5
Dr. Crane Observed VerMillion from where he was standing, moving his head slightly and checking to see if she had severely hurt herself. His hand lent down and he went to touch her shoulder momentarily. With a bit of a push he would have been able to determine any area causing any sort of immense pain. She had actually fallen quite nicely for an amateur. It seemed as if she had even lifted her head at the right moment to avoid a direct impact to her skull. Very important and impressive to see from someone untrained.
She had begun to kick and pry at his legs, showing her current anger and frustration for the situation. It was only because she feared not being able to trust him. With each kick he was easily able to lift either knee to avoid her, even smiling somewhat at her retaliation. It was mildly amusing, but a poor try in an effort to hurt him.
Through her kicks she finally expressed what she was thinking. What she had said was exactly what he was saying by this exercise, but it was more than that. “You can’t trust anyone, not even myself. Trust doesn’t exist…So how could have the ability to do it unless it was a fabrication of your own mind? Do you want to live in a false reality where you lie to yourself and say that anyone will catch you? If I mean to catch you I will…That is certainty.” He tried to explain to her the best he could as she rolled over and tried to life herself up.
He noticed a pull in her back, the pain had gone to her spine with the impact. That was understandable with the hit that she had taken, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t deal with. Pain was just a reminder that you had made a mistake. Of course for Dr. Crane pain was so much more than that…but he would leave that out of the conversation. Leaning down he extended his hand to help her to her feet.
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Post by Heather Glass - VerMillion on Jul 24, 2012 18:34:08 GMT -5
His words cause Heather to scowl at him, and she ignores the hand that he offers her. There's a long moment as she tries to figure out what to say to that, though it's easy to see from her continued anger that she's refusing to accept what he's saying. But eventually she mutters, "Are you teaching me how to fight or are we going to argue? Because if it's the second one, I'm not interested."
She pauses for a moment to stretch her back a little, trying to ease off the amount of pain that it's complaining about. She hates pain, and the fact that it's Jon's fault makes it even worse. And since she's not about to accept his reason for it, she's not going to chalk it up as a mistake and a lesson learned. He simply shouldn't have done it, end of story.
Once she's satisfied that she's sufficiently recovered from the fall, she looks over in his direction as if to silently ask what they're doing next. Though her mood is considerably soured at this point, and so is much of her motivation to even try something that's already proving to be so difficult.
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Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow
"and at the end of fear...Oblivion"
Player: Jon ~
Registered On: Feb 15, 2012 20:39:14 GMT -5 ~
Posts: 941
~ Relationship Status: Won't Say I'm In Love
~ Partner: Fear
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Post by Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow on Jul 24, 2012 19:39:26 GMT -5
Dr. Crane had no problems taking a few steps back as she decided to get up on her own. He accepted her look of anger that swept over her face. It was just a mask for her fears, which could have branched too many, her fear of failure in this, her fear of disappointing him, her fear of being unable to trust him. All of it was easily explained. He watched her finally get to her feet and comment on getting back to what they were doing. She was right there was little reason to argue if she’s planning on complaining instead of listening.
The lesson that she should have been taking from this is that she shouldn’t trust anyone that she comes across, not even those around her. Why trust others when you can rely perfectly fine on your own? When you can handle yourself you didn’t need to rely on others who might fail you. You eliminate the possibility of failure due to others. When you eliminate that possibility it truly comes down to who is superior, them or you.
Dr. Crane took his position away from her again in a casual stride. “Let’s take this into a common situation. I’ve made you ‘angry’” He held the last word for a moment, letting it slide off his tongue as if he didn’t even approve of using it. “Try to hit me now…” He finished and relaxed his muscles. His feet spread apart more and he lifted his hands as if he was beckoning her to try.
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