[X] Pay careful attention to their emotional states. Their moods, their highs and lows. Put what you know about humans to the test, and learn more besides. Exhaustive notes about their temperaments can only be an asset.
This is where we've been successful previously, and with the detective to write all our reports for us, we can't possibly fail!
You know my first instinct with regards to Cardin talking about Sky's family was to think he was being a dick but given Jaune's family size that might actually just be what Sky told him about them. Who knows what the replacement rate looks like when soul eating monsters are at your borders?
[X] Pay careful attention to their emotional states. Their moods, their highs and lows. Put what you know about humans to the test, and learn more besides. Exhaustive notes about their temperaments can only be an asset.
Figure out the basics of human emotions. Maybe learn a little empathy along the way.
No, it's this team leader business that has your full attention. You knew that this assignment would involve a great deal of uncharted territory, but writing down your progress? It seems dangerously close to recording a story. Your story. Jaune's story? The distinction is a little blurry and arbitrary at this point, and that only serves to put you more on edge. Ozpin knows their power, after those commends on the cliffside yesterday afternoon there can be no doubt. Hunters are the heroes that slay the monsters. They feed their story until it grows dense as armour, sharp as a razor. So then... how is something like you supposed to satisfy him? A wretched creature lower than Grimm?
[X] Pay careful attention to their emotional states. Their moods, their highs and lows. Put what you know about humans to the test, and learn more besides. Exhaustive notes about their temperaments can only be an asset.
[X] Pay careful attention to their emotional states. Their moods, their highs and lows. Put what you know about humans to the test, and learn more besides. Exhaustive notes about their temperaments can only be an asset.
[X] Pay careful attention to their emotional states. Their moods, their highs and lows. Put what you know about humans to the test, and learn more besides. Exhaustive notes about their temperaments can only be an asset.
[X] Pay careful attention to their emotional states. Their moods, their highs and lows. Put what you know about humans to the test, and learn more besides. Exhaustive notes about their temperaments can only be an asset.
[X] Pay careful attention to their emotional states. Their moods, their highs and lows. Put what you know about humans to the test, and learn more besides. Exhaustive notes about their temperaments can only be an asset.
[X] Pay careful attention to their emotional states. Their moods, their highs and lows. Put what you know about humans to the test, and learn more besides. Exhaustive notes about their temperaments can only be an asset.
[X] Pay careful attention to their emotional states. Their moods, their highs and lows. Put what you know about humans to the test, and learn more besides. Exhaustive notes about their temperaments can only be an asset.
[x] Study them intently for likes and dislikes, then wait for the right moment to strike. Ruby said something about sharing an affinity for books with regards to Belladonna - if you pick your moment carefully, such a tactic can't possibly fail.
Actually, this raises a question that's bugged me for a while in canon. Why do Semblances have names like this? They're unique powers that no-one else has ever had or will ever have, right? So why is Nora's called "Thunder"? Isn't it just "Nora's Semblance"? It's not like anyone else is ever going to be born with the same Semblance and have "Thunder" as a convenient sitting name. Even Pyrrah had a name for hers, and it was a (really badly kept) secret.
The sole exception for whom a name made sense was Glyphs, which was actually hereditary - though why they were called Glyphs instead of The Schnee Semblance is beyond me. Here, Weiss has Authority called out as her Semblance, so apparently that pattern's been broken - but at the same time, people seem to have the gist of what her Semblance is without her describing it. Granted, Ozpin could have just read her files, but maybe that indicates other people could have had Authority as their Semblance? Unsure.
Cardin lifts his eyebrows, tilts his head and shrugs. "Ffffaaaaaair." He flips through his files, blowing air through his lips in an exhausted sigh as he considers his own task. "Well let's see on my end. Taube's serious about this and he doesn't cause trouble, so I can pretty much ignore him for now so long as he follows orders. Sky's just a country bumpkin blowing his parents' money on his one big shot, he won't go rocking the boat over anything minor. Maybe check in with him a couple times, pretend I give a shit what kind of corn his eight brothers and twelve sisters farm. Then Russell..."
Cardin leans forward, elbows on the table, kneading the point between his temples and his eye sockets with the heels of his hands. Groaning, low and long. "Fffffuuuuuuck he's gonna hate me."
"Hm?"
He glances up at you, gesturing. "Well he's a faunus, isn't he? Gonna be all insecure about being the charity case on the same team as two noble kids. Gonna be all day every goddamn day with him. Probably have to give him special treatment 'til he shuts up about it..."
Okay, so Cardin is simultaneously a much more competent and decent human being than in canon, while also still being a racist in the realistic, less confrontable sense. He's not going to tug on Russell's comb and call him names like a five year-old redneck, but he will make assumptions and talk about how faunus expect handouts.
"These assignments are not permanent," he goes on eventually. "In fact captaincy will rotate at regular intervals throughout your schooling, in addition to as individual lessons and exercises require. The position of Captain is as great a responsibility as it is a privilege, and when the time comes you will your surrender your position richer for the experience."
Called it. Makes sense, too - Ruby might be the best option to be in charge right now, but if she fucks up they can swap her out soon enough without much loss of face. Moreover, these teams won't be together forever - even if each individual student goes on to graduate and work in a team of some kind, instead of being a lone wanderer, they might be the most experienced Hunter in a group or a total rookie. Preparing only 1/4 of the student body for a command position (and leaving that quarter unprepared for subordination) would be absurd, especially when they're chosen at the start of the year.
"You three are excellent listeners," he comments. "Now, you really should be getting off to class."
"... don't you mean breakfast?" Ruby asks hopefully.
Ozpin's only answer is another long, indulgent slurp of his coffee. Ruby looks like he just shot a dog in front of her. Cardin looks like his soul just left his body. You're too preoccupied to offer up a similar reaction. Besides, human food is vile anyway.
No, it's this team leader business that has your full attention. You knew that this assignment would involve a great deal of uncharted territory, but writing down your progress? It seems dangerously close to recording a story. Your story. Jaune's story? The distinction is a little blurry and arbitrary at this point, and that only serves to put you more on edge. Ozpin knows their power, after those commends on the cliffside yesterday afternoon there can be no doubt. Hunters are the heroes that slay the monsters. They feed their story until it grows dense as armour, sharp as a razor. So then... how is something like you supposed to satisfy him? A wretched creature lower than Grimm?
And then her history. Ethnically Valesian but colonial by birth, in... Arcadia? You flip back and forth between two pages rapidly to make sure you're reading right. Ten years ago there was an attack on the once-proud kingdom, the ravening tides of Grimm they once held back overwhelming their weakened borders. Separated from friends and family in the mad scramble to flee ahead of the horde, she found Lie Ren in much the same position. They've been inseparable ever since. Applied to Beacon the moment they were able, straight out of the kingdom's care and onto the airship.
Sssooooo yeah Arcadia did get fuckin' rolled by an endless tide of Grimm, probably as a direct result of being conquered and partially colonized by Vale (potentially friends?). Which is pretty dire considering. 'Cause it means that Vale (and maybe friends!) got rich by hollowing out Arcadia and in the process made it incapable of defending itself, the horrible shadow-monsters overran presumably big chunks of the empire. Now Vale is decaying and rotting, they sabotaged the bulwark between them and the Grimm, and the bill's coming due.
Cardin lifts his eyebrows, tilts his head and shrugs. "Ffffaaaaaair." He flips through his files, blowing air through his lips in an exhausted sigh as he considers his own task. "Well let's see on my end. Taube's serious about this and he doesn't cause trouble, so I can pretty much ignore him for now so long as he follows orders. Sky's just a country bumpkin blowing his parents' money on his one big shot, he won't go rocking the boat over anything minor. Maybe check in with him a couple times, pretend I give a shit what kind of corn his eight brothers and twelve sisters farm. Then Russell..."
Cardin leans forward, elbows on the table, kneading the point between his temples and his eye sockets with the heels of his hands. Groaning, low and long. "Fffffuuuuuuck he's gonna hate me."
"Hm?"
He glances up at you, gesturing. "Well he's a faunus, isn't he? Gonna be all insecure about being the charity case on the same team as two noble kids. Gonna be all day every goddamn day with him. Probably have to give him special treatment 'til he shuts up about it..."
Ozpin wonders why we have the narrative voice of a grizzled man in his late thirties and why we find it necessary to describe all the smokey, ill-lit offices and bar backrooms but he's rolling with it for now.
The sole exception for whom a name made sense was Glyphs, which was actually hereditary - though why they were called Glyphs instead of The Schnee Semblance is beyond me. Here, Weiss has Authority called out as her Semblance, so apparently that pattern's been broken - but at the same time, people seem to have the gist of what her Semblance is without her describing it. Granted, Ozpin could have just read her files, but maybe that indicates other people could have had Authority as their Semblance? Unsure.
Keying off the established story-shit and the general emphasis on narrative it's probably like...Semblances are basically weaponized stories? Or themes or...whatever (which ironically would make them really close to Grimm in construction but it's not like anyone knows that). So lots of people might have a Semblance from a shared body of similar kinds but with their own personal deviations and details? Like there are probably multiple Semblances that key around "leading a group of subordinates" but Weiss's leans into "you're strong because you have rank and status above the subordinates" versus someone else who has it like "get pumped up the more people cheering for you there are".
[X] Pay careful attention to their emotional states. Their moods, their highs and lows. Put what you know about humans to the test, and learn more besides. Exhaustive notes about their temperaments can only be an asset.
Well, I'm pretty sure TenfoldShields is right about this quest's canon - as semblances are weaponized stories, and part of the power of stories ties into how often they're retold, particular semblances (more or less) show up again and again. Basically "TV Tropes" for powers.
Which... kind of says interesting things about Pyrrha. She almost certainly does know she's doomed, doesn't she.
Adhoc vote count started by Rowknan on Dec 26, 2017 at 10:12 PM, finished with 33 posts and 23 votes.
[X] Pay careful attention to their emotional states. Their moods, their highs and lows. Put what you know about humans to the test, and learn more besides. Exhaustive notes about their temperaments can only be an asset.
[x] Study them intently for likes and dislikes, then wait for the right moment to strike. Ruby said something about sharing an affinity for books with regards to Belladonna - if you pick your moment carefully, such a tactic can't possibly fail.
[X] Pay careful attention to their emotional states. Their moods, their highs and lows. Put what you know about humans to the test, and learn more besides. Exhaustive notes about their temperaments can only be an asset.
