Welcome to the Family (Sidekick Quest)
- Thread starter Gally
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Even worse. He's going to have made all kinds of rookie mistakes, but there will be this more experienced partner who helped him thru it. The moral of the story is, you can only expect to succeed in your mission by listening to the team leader and putting aside your issues to focus on the mission.I'm doing this with the expectation that Wyatt made mistakes on his first mission. It would suck if he pulled it off perfectly with no mishaps.
[jk] Your girlfriend that you love very much
... No? Then
[X] Your first mission
... No? Then
[X] Your first mission
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- Reader
- Location
- San Ramon, CA
...I'm sensing a dangerous pattern here, and I'm not sure if there's a good solution for it.
At the end of this chapter (assuming we succeed and don't doom the continent), we are going to be asked a familiar question: "Do you see Plumage as an equal?" From what we've seen so far, the answer is probably going to be "No". Unless there's something that Plumage will be able to do on the way down or back up to showcase her skills, this mission is only showing her facing her worst conditions, reduced to little more than a Macguffin deliveryman ("Jefferson just needed a spare calculator that happened to be stuck in your head; what did you actually DO?"). This will raise our Superior stat at the cost of something else...and that's ultimately the problem.
Cardinal's whole thought process (which we have encouraged with our vote) is that "winning" the role of Oriole involves showing that he is next in line to become Blackbird, and being Blackbird means meeting a certain standard that the adrenaline junkie and the shy technophile simply don't have. But...what if that's not really the contest? Looking into the character profile, the current Blackbird was never Oriole himself; he was just one of the Family who got promoted "Designated Survivor" style. What if he's not looking for "Dark Brooder 2.0", but for someone who can complement his skills and cover his weaknesses after being thrust into a position he never expected to get?
My concern is that after a number of missions of being "the one with the actual discipline and training", Cardinal will have heightened his sense of superiority as the expense of properly being able to empathize and protect others, which is certainly going to come back and bite him later on, which will lead to some variation of the following exchange:
Cardinal: None of the others has what it takes to be Oriole!
Blackbird: And clearly, neither do you.
At the end of this chapter (assuming we succeed and don't doom the continent), we are going to be asked a familiar question: "Do you see Plumage as an equal?" From what we've seen so far, the answer is probably going to be "No". Unless there's something that Plumage will be able to do on the way down or back up to showcase her skills, this mission is only showing her facing her worst conditions, reduced to little more than a Macguffin deliveryman ("Jefferson just needed a spare calculator that happened to be stuck in your head; what did you actually DO?"). This will raise our Superior stat at the cost of something else...and that's ultimately the problem.
Cardinal's whole thought process (which we have encouraged with our vote) is that "winning" the role of Oriole involves showing that he is next in line to become Blackbird, and being Blackbird means meeting a certain standard that the adrenaline junkie and the shy technophile simply don't have. But...what if that's not really the contest? Looking into the character profile, the current Blackbird was never Oriole himself; he was just one of the Family who got promoted "Designated Survivor" style. What if he's not looking for "Dark Brooder 2.0", but for someone who can complement his skills and cover his weaknesses after being thrust into a position he never expected to get?
My concern is that after a number of missions of being "the one with the actual discipline and training", Cardinal will have heightened his sense of superiority as the expense of properly being able to empathize and protect others, which is certainly going to come back and bite him later on, which will lead to some variation of the following exchange:
Cardinal: None of the others has what it takes to be Oriole!
Blackbird: And clearly, neither do you.
- Location
- USA
[x] Your first mission
To be honest, I don't see this as a bad thing.
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- Reader
Cardinal: well that makes two of us.
In all honesty we'll see how she comes together in the end game and maybe something will change. My main issue with dissent was the haphazardness of her plan and how it only worked because things went horribly wrong beyond all reason. If any part of her plan had a success prior to her taking extra of the drug in her glass she likely would have failed, especially if she just hadn't gotten caught stealing the jewelry. I find it easier to forgive plumages lapses than I do dissents success by cascading failure.
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I think it will depend on future social actions. So far our rivals look like amateurs that have immense potential. Thinking about it, I think we'll be offered to either build them up at our own expense or concentrate on looking like the most badass candidate.
- Location
- St. Petersburg
We did deliberately introduce ourselves as her partner, though.
I don't think this is something to be wary of. It isn't something that you choose for the rest of their lives. If we don't see them as equals now, they still have the potential to become someone that we do. If all Plumage needs to earn our respect is a bit of experience under her belt, then it isn't a condition that will last for much longer.
As for "what it takes to become an Oriole", it's clear that we don't actually know. Others were selected for some reason, even if we don't see it yet. Maybe we are equally as unfitting as them; that only means that we need to determine our flaws and work on them... if we still want the position by then, that is. We are only fifteen; most of our expectations come from being groomed for one job and not seeing any other possible future for us.
[x] Your first mission
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- Location
- USA
And Cardinal assigned himself as Dissent's partner during her op. It still did nothing to improve his opinion of her.
- Location
- St. Petersburg
I don't remember being asked about it at the time. The gig started with us getting her out of a jail cell; that alone creates the dynamic of "cleaning up after your mishap".
Besides, it wasn't unwarranted. Why should giving an honest answer be something to worry about?
We are playing someone who is overqualified for the job in terms of preparation and skill; it's inevitable that he will see others lacking in that regard. The question he needs to ask himself is, why doesn't he have the job yet?
Besides, it wasn't unwarranted. Why should giving an honest answer be something to worry about?
We are playing someone who is overqualified for the job in terms of preparation and skill; it's inevitable that he will see others lacking in that regard. The question he needs to ask himself is, why doesn't he have the job yet?
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Funny thought. What if the reason wyatt feels like he doesn't owe the CIA anything is because this is the dozenth time he's bailed them out and they never return the favor. He just has this mental tally of Cavalry IOU's that he's never managed to cash in, and honestly never expects to have the chance to do so.
- Location
- Somewhere
[x] Your first mission
Honestly, I doubt Wyatt is going to view any of them as equals except maybe Kennedy since she grew up in the Family. From his perspective not only are they competition for the role he's been training most of his life for, but most of them are outsiders. He grew up after the family closed ranks after many of them were killed including his mother. One of his main themes seems to be how he's closed himself off. There's a reason Augur gets onto him about his opinion of Charlotte and brings up the fact he hasn't contacted his friends in Hawaii. I don't think it would be realistic for him to start trusting them this early.
It is interesting to see the disconnect between his views on the current group dynamics and their views on him. Plumage is clearly more comfortable deferring to him and seems to look up to him. Even Charlotte, despite antagonizing him early on, seems to respect his opinion. It's also telling that he's the only one that seems to view it as a competition, at least from what I can tell. I won't be surprised if we see something similar with Isaiah. I'm looking forward to seeing how he and Kennedy respond to each other since she's the only one he has some history with.
Honestly, I doubt Wyatt is going to view any of them as equals except maybe Kennedy since she grew up in the Family. From his perspective not only are they competition for the role he's been training most of his life for, but most of them are outsiders. He grew up after the family closed ranks after many of them were killed including his mother. One of his main themes seems to be how he's closed himself off. There's a reason Augur gets onto him about his opinion of Charlotte and brings up the fact he hasn't contacted his friends in Hawaii. I don't think it would be realistic for him to start trusting them this early.
It is interesting to see the disconnect between his views on the current group dynamics and their views on him. Plumage is clearly more comfortable deferring to him and seems to look up to him. Even Charlotte, despite antagonizing him early on, seems to respect his opinion. It's also telling that he's the only one that seems to view it as a competition, at least from what I can tell. I won't be surprised if we see something similar with Isaiah. I'm looking forward to seeing how he and Kennedy respond to each other since she's the only one he has some history with.
- Location
- Germany
On the topic of the competition, it's worth noting that in the first interaction we see Wyatt having with Augur involves him getting chewed out for even viewing it as such. In that sense, the real problem isn't that he views himself as the best suited for the job, it's that he's somewhat hostile towards his own team and innitially would rather leave them to their own devices then help them and make sure the mission gets done (or even just show off how qualified he is for being in charge).
Needles to say, that's kind of a huge liability for an organisation that styles itself a family. More so than his ego could ever be. Getting him to view the others as his equals on its own wouldn't even necessarily fix this problem. That way he runs the additional risk of worrying they might show him up. That's not to say that an inflated sense of superiority isn't a problem, but I currently wouldn't call it the problem for Wyatt.
At least he wasn't as strictly opposed to the idea of a joint mission this arc around.
On that note, as appropriate a topic his first mission is, we might as well use this opportunity to get Wyatt to open up about something that might shine some light on how he relates to others. (Also, I fully admit that I'm curious.)
[X] Your teammates in Honolulu
Needles to say, that's kind of a huge liability for an organisation that styles itself a family. More so than his ego could ever be. Getting him to view the others as his equals on its own wouldn't even necessarily fix this problem. That way he runs the additional risk of worrying they might show him up. That's not to say that an inflated sense of superiority isn't a problem, but I currently wouldn't call it the problem for Wyatt.
At least he wasn't as strictly opposed to the idea of a joint mission this arc around.
On that note, as appropriate a topic his first mission is, we might as well use this opportunity to get Wyatt to open up about something that might shine some light on how he relates to others. (Also, I fully admit that I'm curious.)
[X] Your teammates in Honolulu
Gally
Got the whole word talking King Kiba
Yeah, I won't offer write-in options if I'm not prepared to roll with whatever you guys throw at me. Attempted abuse can always be met with monkey paw shit.
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[X]That time a villain, an unafiliated anti-hero, and the cavalry all crashed your birthday.
[x]That time a villain, an unafiliated anti-hero, and the cavalry all crashed your birthday.
- Location
- San Ramon, CA
...I don't particularly want the write-in to win, but reading it reminded me a particular scene from the Venture Bros.
- Pronouns
- Reader
Lol. Classic. I really hope the my write in pulls thru. Plumage will be to busy trying to process the chaos and melodrama in wyatts story to even notice her claustrophobia.
- Location
- Germany
You know what, sure. Sounds like a fun story.
[X]That time a villain, an unafiliated anti-hero, and the cavalry all crashed your birthday.
[X]That time a villain, an unafiliated anti-hero, and the cavalry all crashed your birthday.
KnightDisciple
Brotherhood. Unity. Peace.
- Location
- Midwest, USA
[x] Your first mission