Solstice and Eclipse: Part II

Quirk Explanation

@SnoopDoggyDoggy requested that I elaborate more on (L/N)'s quirk, Photonic Manipulation. Firstly, it should be known that (L/N)'s quirk is scientifically based, so a basic to intermediate level of understanding about photons and their properties will be required to fully grasp how the quirk works, and I will do my best to explain the necessary information as simply as possible.

Atoms and the creation of photons:

First, it is important to understand basic atomical structures. Everything on the planet and observed universe is made of different elements. Different elements are categorized on their atomical structure. Atoms are comprised of four subatomic particles: protons, neutrons, electrons, and quarks. Quarks can be disregarded for this explanation. The protons and neutrons are arranged in a cluster at the center of the atom, called the nucleus, and the electrons revolve around the nucleus. Electrons exist on different orbital shells, meaning that they don't all orbit the nucleus at the same distance. Imagine the sun as the nucleus and the planets as electrons. Mercury is the closest planet to the sun and orbits it at a constant distance and speed. Venus also orbits the sun at a constant distance and speed, but it is further away. Electrons work very much the same. The different distances from the nucleus are called orbitals. Two electrons can exist in the first orbital, then four in the second, and the amount of allowed electrons changes from orbital to orbital. Electrons can change orbitals when the atom becomes excited due to energy input. This energy is absorbed by the electrons, and would cause an electron to 'jump' from one orbital to an orbital of higher energy (first orbital to second, or second to third, etc.) By laws of nature however, the atom must eventually return to its original, or ground state. Remember that the energy was absorbed by the electron, which caused it to jump to an orbital of higher energy. When this happens, the electron releases that energy and returns to its original position. This release of energy when the electron returns to ground state releases photons.

What are photons?

So, what are photons? At a very basic level, photons are elemental particles, meaning they are the smallest and most basic subatomic particle and constituents of matter, in this case, the matter being light. All this to say, photons create light. Photons are the quantum of the electromagnetic spectrum (that is to say, the smallest comprising factor). Remember that the electromagnetic spectrum includes, in order of lowest energy to highest energy, radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet light, x-rays, and gamma rays. Therefore, photons comprise all of these things, not just visible light. Photons are unique in that they exhibit properties of both particles and waves, but this is not terribly important to the explanation of (L/N)'s quirk.

How (L/N)'s quirk works:

(L/N)'s quirk allows him to control photons. Based on the explanations above, you can already imagine how crazy this could become. The ability to manipulate photons essentially means you can control the entire electromagnetic spectrum. So, let's talk about what (L/N) can do, and what he could potentially do with this ability.

First and foremost, he can control a photons wavelength. The wavelength of a photon is directly proportional to its energy. (The further an electron falls, ie; orbital 5 to orbital 1, the more energy the photon will have than say, orbital 3 to orbital 1). Red has the longest wavelength and violet has the shortest, everything in the middle following the ROYGBIV color scheme. So, by shortening or lengthening the photons wavelength, he can alter colors.

Similarly, (L/N) can create illusions in much the same way. Remember that photons exist even when visible light is not present, in the form of other electromagnetic radiations as mentioned above. So, he could take the photons of radio waves or gamma rays and alter their energy state to create visible light, and thus illusions.

Explosions are created when atoms are supercharged with energy and can no longer hold their structure. This causes them to break apart and the energy is released. An explosion, at least one visible to the human eye, and certainly large enough to create damage, would require millions of atoms being split. In contrast, implosions occur when an atom is completely drained of all energy, causing it to collapse in on itself. Because photons are directly related the energy of electrons, by overexciting a photon or completely draining it, (L/N) creates explosions and implosions.

Hard light is a theoretical concept, of course, but one to be explored. Remember that photons are both particles and waves. Particles are what create matter, or anything that takes up space and has mass. By their definition, photons do not have mass, but being able to manipulate them and because they are particles, couldn't (L/N) give them mass? This would then cause the light to have mass, which could present itself in one of the three states of matter. So not only can he create hard light, or solid light. He could also create gaseous and liquid light. Weird to think about, huh? Similarly, (L/N) can fly by surrounding his body in hard light and then simply moving that hard light through space.

(L/N) can also absorb photonic energy to increase his physical attributes. Strength and speed are influenced by microcellular processes that require energy. There is no difference between energy, at least on a very basic level of understanding. The energy required to move you fingers and the energy from atomic bombs are the same type of energy, but what differs is how the energy presents itself on the electromagnetic spectrum, which is again comprised of photons. So, converting photonic energy allows (L/N) to increase his cellular energy and thus his physical attributes. In fact, it would also allow cells to heal faster as they have more energy to work with.

The next one is interesting and extremely complicated. Time dilation theory, which would give (L/N) control over time to some extent. Time dilation is a theory in special relativity. Basically, its that the idea of time is dependent on your position in space. Think of it like this. Light travels at a constant speed, so even though it is incredibly fast, it still takes some amount of time to travel. Well, the stars we observe in the sky today are millions of light years away, so it is taking millions of years for the light to travel. All this to say, the light from the stars we see could still be travelling even after the stars have died. So, what we perceive as stars is really just the light taking millions of years to reach earth, when in reality the source of light may have died millions of years ago, we just don't know because the light is still travelling to earth. So, is light dependent on time, or does it exist independently from time? This is the best I can do to explain how (L/N) might control time without having to explain seriously complicated theoretical quantum physics.

Future potential:

In the story, I have only really explored photonic manipulation at the level of visible light, simply because this is what most people tend to think of when they hear the word 'photon'. I don't know how much outside of visible light I will allow (L/N)'s quirk to influence, as being able to control the entire electromagnetic spectrum would make him so absurdly overpowered, and he's overpowered as is. But basically, being able to manipulate photons would allow him to do basically anything.

Limitations:

There are two types of limitations that I will impose on (L/N)'s quirk throughout the story. The first is scientific limitations and the second is my own limitations. As the author, I have, at least for the time being, chosen to limit (L/N)'s manipulation of photons to that of visible light. Perhaps in the future I will explore some limited control over other portions of the electromagnetic spectrum, but I don't want him to be able to control all of it. In terms of scientific limitations, there are two big limits to his power. The first is the fact that light doesn't stop travelling. Ever. So whenever (L/N) uses his quirk to create light, he must also use his quirk to stop it. Though this doesn't really affect his potential power output, it does demand an incredible amount of control and focus. The second limit is the way light interacts with gravity. Gravity does influence photons, specifically it causes it to bend and warp. The larger the gravitational influence the more the light will bend, and vis versa. This is why black holes look black. The collapsed star is so super condensed and has such an incredibly strong gravitational pull that not even light can escape. Even though Thirteen's quirk doesn't create a true black hole, as the author I thought it appropriate to allow it to act similarly, ie; light cannot escape it. I am also playing with different ideas that Ururaka's quirk might influence (L/N)'s quirk.

I hope this explanation has made some sense and helped you all understand the considerations I have made and will take concerning (L/N)'s quirk.