The IC Critque Meme!

[lifetothefullest]

Have you ever just wanted to tell someone flat-out what you think of them as a person? Does your roommate have this one quirk that drives you up the wall, like dripping apathy all over the kitchen sink? Sometimes all it takes to be the best person you can be is a dose of self-awareness, sometimes what it takes instead is a cluebat to the head... and sometimes they just have a stupid name you can never quite spell right.

For all this and more, have I got the meme for you!

THE LOWDOWN
i. Post a header with your character's name.
ii. Comment in-character to other people's headers. With what? Depends on your CR! Maybe they're a good person and really should keep on keeping on, maybe literally everyone can see they need to suck it up and confess already, maybe they'll change their wicked ways if just one extra person casts aspersions on their pompadour. Bring in examples if you want, as with any helpful critique. Be as creative as you like!
iii. Other characters will comment to yours, no doubt overflowing with well-meaning advice on how to be the best person they can be. Your character is free to respond. Excuse you, maybe despair is still in fashion??
iv. Feel free to assume there's a compulsion to speak their minds, if your character's not usually the type to give unsolicited advice.
v. A probably unnecessary reminder, but just remember, this is not a place for OOC crit! There are other, more appropriate channels for that.

Shamelessly borrowed from empatheias

Comments

[lifetothefullest]

I hear threats all the time.

[And while most of them are hollow, he's not about to let those that aren't scare him off.]

Perhaps not, but I wasn't in your Academy so the judgement seems kind of pointless.

[mismanagement]

Does no one in your world act on them?

[That's the only explanation Maketh can think of. Who willingly puts themselves at a disadvantage, knowing their enemies can see their weakness and prepare to strike accordingly?]

It is not pointless! It is the most basic level of Imperial training. It is a perfectly logical way to measure a threat.

[lifetothefullest]

They act on them.

[And sometimes don't bother to even give the warning of a threat before they do, but that's another issue.]

No it isn't. It's an extremely narrow one.

[mismanagement]

[Maketh narrows her eyes.]

But you didn't learn. They were not good threats, then.

[Or else he would act more sensibly.]

As compared to what?

[lifetothefullest]

[Okay, that's just insulting.]

What, you expect me to back down every time someone says something vaguely threatening to me?

[He would have never gotten anywhere if it were that easy to intimidate him.]

It's one extremely specific situation, and I presume from everything you've said that it's one which requires a very specific set of actions to succeed in.

[mismanagement]

No, no. [She huffs. This conversation is frustrating. Sweets is frustrating.] Words are words. You could not have possibly known that I would not hurt you after seeing such an opening. That is foolish.

[So either he's foolish or his world is insane.

Maketh lifts her chin.]

It is the only test that matters. It makes things simple.

[Live or die.]

[lifetothefullest]

It would've been incredibly stupid to start a fight in the middle of the ball.

[And so he'd bet on that she wouldn't do it, although if she had he had a backup plan. Every time after that though, he's been careful to keep his distance or make sure the situation was likely to remain peaceful.

At her response he shakes his head, frustrated by her apparent refusal to listen, but then gathers his patience again and tries a different tactic.]

There was a serial killer that my friends and I dealt with a few years ago, called Pelant. He was not much of a fighter, and you'd surely make the same conclusion about him--that he'd never survive your Academy--and you'd likely be right; Hodgins, who is barely taller than you and I'd never seen be violent, overpowered him easily during a confrontation. However, he was responsible for nearly ten murders, using skills that you would likely disregard immediately.

[Pelant was an awful person and was greatly misusing his intelligence and knowledge for harm, but the point is there; someone can appear--or even be--weak in several areas, while still being very distinctly a threat.]

[mismanagement]

Only when people were watching.

[And there would have been chances afterward. Lots of people wandering around but only a few paying attention. It wouldn't be hard. A surprise attack in the dark. Of course it leaves the question of what comes after - Hope's interference making this complicated in uneasy ways - but the possibility remains.

Maketh tips her head to the side.]

You're missing the point. It's not about physical strength. Anyone can learn to fight. It's not difficult. Surviving is the trick. Then, after that, you learn how to win.

[She smiles, not gently.]

The man who killed me nearly washed out. A weak fighter. Bad student. I saw his records. But then he made friends and they made him strong.

[lifetothefullest]

[Being taken by surprise is what got him fatally injured before arriving here in Hadriel, and so he's been careful not to let his guard down. But he doesn't argue, and instead just ignores the insinuation entirely.

He continued explanation just makes this conversation even more frustrating to him, although he again--mostly--keeps it under control, except for how short his response is.]

Then I was mistaken; you're not basing your judgements on a faulty premise, you're basing them on a premise you have absolutely no information regarding.

[Because she doesn't know anything about what he survived or didn't survive, and he doesn't have any interest in telling her.]

[mismanagement]

[Either she's hit a nerve or Sweets has finally found the end of his tolerance. Everyone does, eventually.]

You think you're good at surviving?

[It's asked with genuine curiosity.]

[lifetothefullest]

[He's apparently said too much, because he's ended up in a corner he doesn't want to be in; there are only a few ways to answer this question, and none of them are particularly good ones. Even the hesitation in answering says something as he tries to decide what actual answer to give.]

Being able to answer the question at all gives you your answer.

[It's a vague way to respond while giving as little information as possible; thanks anthropic principle, sort of.]

[mismanagement]

[Maketh tips her head to the side. Now that she's pushed she's finally found something he doesn't want revealed. Are you good at surviving? If he said no, that would be pathetic. Saying yes is expected. But hesitance is another thing all together.

She smiles. Perhaps he's kept his strength hidden deep and only now, under the weight of her prodding, letting some of it come to the surface.]

I have a proposal for you, Doctor Sweets. Do you want to hear it?

[lifetothefullest]

[He should just say no, and end the conversation before he ends up saying or revealing something he doesn't want to. But at that statement and question he's curious, not certain what she's getting at.]

Sure.

[He'll hear it, although he doubts he'll have any interest in agreeing to whatever it is.]

[mismanagement]

It's a game, of sorts. I ask you a question and you ask me one. We both answer honestly. And then go our separate ways.

[There's nothing to prevent either of them from lying. But that's part of the game. Knowing the difference.]

[lifetothefullest]

Why, exactly, would you think I'd agree to that?

[Even disregarding the fact that he's 'a walking polygraph test' as he's been told, that seems like a game that has far more advantages for Maketh than for him. All he'd have to do is wait for the next time she decides to overdo it on the drinking and ask her whatever he wanted to know.]

[mismanagement]

[Maketh gives him a little smile.]

It tells you something, doesn't it?

[lifetothefullest]

[He shrugs.]

You tell me more than enough already.

[And he's not a particularly good liar, so the risk is not worth the reward in this case.]

[mismanagement]

Maybe. That depends if you know what to do with the information.

[Or just hoard it for the sake of knowing. Maketh shrugs.]

You are more difficult than the others.

[lifetothefullest]

Knowing what to do with the information is sort of my job.

[And okay, that is one he's heard before.]

That's also sort of my job.

[mismanagement]

[Whether he's good at his job remains to be proven, in Maketh's eye.]

It is your job to be an annoyance?

[lifetothefullest]

That depends who you ask.

[Booth.]

[mismanagement]

Really.

[Have a dubious look.]

What is the purpose of that?

[lifetothefullest]

Asking a lot of personal questions tends to annoy people.

[So doing his job and being annoying could certainly be seen as the same thing.]

[mismanagement]

And people put up with this.

[Maketh has been tempted to punch him more than once. Possibly more, if the threat he represents becomes manifest in more damning ways. Surely another world - even one as strange as his - wouldn't be so forgiving.]

[lifetothefullest]

Usually, yes. When it's a part of counseling, then they've typically agreed to the process and know what they're going into.

[And when it's a suspect in an investigation, they can either answer or get a lawyer. Fighting with an FBI agent over questioning is usually considered a bad idea.]