weiss_nine | what kind of useless power is empathy, anyway?

what kind of useless power is empathy, anyway?

So, as everyone and their mother is probably aware: Weiss' first power was empathy. It works as follows:

Weiss can feel other character's surface emotions, as long as they're in the same general vicinity ("general vicinity" is currently one mile). This cannot be turned off, but how much Weiss notices a specific character's emotions varies greatly. Basically, the stronger a character feels a particular emotion the more Weiss herself feels it and most of the time people's emotions are white noise to Weiss. Strong negative emotions give her headaches if they're unexpected, as does lots of people in the same place feeling similarly. Additionally, when what someone feels is not their own emotion (such as the heart gem's implanted "I want to stay"), Weiss can tell. She's also insanely good at interpreting body language now.

If she concentrates, Weiss can "read" a specific person's emotions. When she does this, she sees a bunch of colors overlaid on the person and so the more complex someone's emotions are, the less this skill actually helps her. The colors are related to Weiss' perception, so she can interpret them more easily, but honestly Weiss is crap at emotions so she rarely uses this except on people she knows well. When she does this, she'll be able to tell if someone is lying about what they're feeling.

Eventually, Weiss will unlock the empathic inundation, aka "mind bullets." Essentially, she'll be able to read someone's emotions, find the most incapacitating one, and crank it up to eleven until that's all someone can feel. At a less powerful level, Weiss' negative emotions might accidentally affect other characters if she doesn't get a grip on them.

As you can tell, her power can get kind of infomod-y so that's what this permissions post is for! Basically, comment below and tell me whether or not I can do the thing and everything will be a-ok. If you're one of those people who likes answering specific questions, here's some of those:

Does your character have some kind of ability (psychic shields or the like) that would prevent Weiss' empathy from working?
Do I have permission for Weiss to pick up on any hidden feelings you mention in brackets? (Any emotion Weiss would be able to interpret from body language is fair game, even if your character can block her empathy.)
Can Weiss "read" your character's emotions? How much would she be able to understand?
If, god forbid, a situation ever arises where Weiss might need to use a mind bullet on your character, can she? What emotion would be most incapacitating for your character?

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1. Nope!
2. Yup! Not that there'll be TOO much to interpret unless she's upset, because OH MY GOSH SO MUCH HAPPINESS AND FRIENDSHIP!
3. Sure! And pretty simply; Pinkie tends to feel things one at a time, and VERY strongly.
4. Hmmm we'll see; you can ask me permission if Weiss feels she needs to in a current thread, because her "mind bullet" is rejection: the idea her friends don't like her anymore. Probably not, though.

1.) Nope
2.) Yup. Akagi usually doesn't hide much but she wouldn't mind.
3.) Yes. Akagi is pretty straightforward cheerful mentor-y big sis type so it'd not be much work to understand any fo her.
4.) War/Combat induced PTSD. Make her flashback to Midway or something. ~~i am so sorry~~ ~~no i'm not~~

Does your character have some kind of ability (psychic shields or the like) that would prevent Weiss' empathy from working?
Nope!

Do I have permission for Weiss to pick up on any hidden feelings you mention in brackets? (Any emotion Weiss would be able to interpret from body language is fair game, even if your character can block her empathy.)
Always~ ~~Like team RWY isn't good at reading between Blake's lines anyway, by now~~

Can Weiss "read" your character's emotions? How much would she be able to understand?
Blake's emotions are very low-key, except when certain buttons are pushed, but as a LOT of things go unsaid with her (and likely comes through in emotion she's not expressing) then, by all means! Read away.

If, god forbid, a situation ever arises where Weiss might need to use a mind bullet on your character, can she? What emotion would be most incapacitating for your character?
Yes! Anger would probably be worst for Blake, particularly anger on someone else's behalf.

Does your character have some kind of ability (psychic shields or the like) that would prevent Weiss' empathy from working?
Nope!

Do I have permission for Weiss to pick up on any hidden feelings you mention in brackets? (Any emotion Weiss would be able to interpret from body language is fair game, even if your character can block her empathy.)
Absolutely.

Can Weiss "read" your character's emotions? How much would she be able to understand?
Full permission, though at Weiss' own peril if he's having a bad day. His emotions tend to be all OVER the place, even when normal, so he has potential to be a difficult read.

If, god forbid, a situation ever arises where Weiss might need to use a mind bullet on your character, can she? What emotion would be most incapacitating for your character?
Yes! ~~See I even have an icon that could work for it~~ The worst would probably be guilt, which hooks into his PTSD, which hooks into why his feelings are so strange- or even intense, if she ever has the bad luck of being around him when an episode goes off.

1 ) Of course!
2 ) Mhm! Feel free to!
3 ) Since Hawke is a rage demon, most of her emotions are channeled though that rage - and it is hard for even her to understand her own emotions. So I can understand it would be hard for Weiss to understand them, as well?
4 ) Yes. Very yes. Her mind bullet would be the feeling of utter helplessness/guilt.

1. No.
2. Yes.
3. Yes - The Sinner's emotional state is very even, most of the time. They'll react appropriately to various stimuli, but there's often going to be a slight sense of detachment - The Sinner's core personality is agender and for the most part considers being 'male' or 'female' roles it plays. It's rather like being around someone that's acting all the time.
4. The emotion best placed to shut down The Sinner is joy; life in the Panopticon has left them unused to/unfamiliar with strong positive emotions.

1. Does your character have some kind of ability (psychic shields or the like) that would prevent Weiss' empathy from working?

Neither Akoya nor Link have this.

2. Do I have permission for Weiss to pick up on any hidden feelings you mention in brackets?

Please invade both their personal space as much as possible.

3. Can Weiss "read" your character's emotions? How much would she be able to understand?

Yep! For Akoya, there is a specific resentment towards the world that underlies all of his actions, so that's fairly obvious. Otherwise, both Link and Akoya are very open emotionally, even though Akoya is much better at hiding it (putting a mask on) more than Link. At least Weiss can feel an outstanding amount of courage from Link.

4. If, god forbid, a situation ever arises where Weiss might need to use a mind bullet on your character, can she? What emotion would be most incapacitating for your character?

YES! TORTURE MY POOR MEAT BAGS. KEHAHAHAHAHAH

For Akoya, it would be his own self-loathing. He wants to feel beautiful, secure and not judged, but that's easily his biggest weakness.

For Link, it's crippling guilt and unworthiness- he doesn't feel like he should be the saviour of Hyrule and he feels like he needs to get home and end the war quick- not be here. If he's affected by anything, is guilt and self-doubt.

1.) Jane has no ability that guards her from anyone poking around in her mind. In fact, she's been subjected to mild brainwashing all of her life, and is perhaps more open to suggestion and reading than others.

2.) Weiss is more than happy to pick up on anything in Jane's brackets or action text.

3.) Weiss can read Jane's emotions and understand them - perhaps not picking up on exactly why she might be a mess, but that she is a mess.

4.) The best mind bullet to take Jane down would have to do with self-loathing. If need be, Weiss has permission to hit Jane fast and hard with that.

1) Nope!
2) absolutely!
3) Yes, of course! This robot is pretty much an open book, so go ahead and read away! A lot of Labby's feelings are going to be underlined by a sense of awkwardness and just generally feeling a bit out of place, even if she seems otherwised relaxed.
4) yesssss absolutely. The feeling that'd probably hit Labrys hardest is guilt so feel free to smack her around with that.

Does your character have some kind of ability (psychic shields or the like) that would prevent Weiss' empathy from working?
Nope, not currently! If this changes I'll let you know!

Do I have permission for Weiss to pick up on any hidden feelings you mention in brackets? (Any emotion Weiss would be able to interpret from body language is fair game, even if your character can block her empathy.)
Go for it!

Can Weiss "read" your character's emotions? How much would she be able to understand?
Sure! It's worth noting though that Bill's emotions are very... odd, and on a whole highly inhuman. His most common feeling is amusement, but at the same time condescension at pretty much everything. When he does get ticked off though, his anger is extremely powerful.

If, god forbid, a situation ever arises where Weiss might need to use a mind bullet on your character, can she? What emotion would be most incapacitating for your character?
YES PLEASE. For Bill that would be the feeling of powerlessness/lack of control, which has been nagging at him in the back of his mind since he came to Waverly Bay, although he's been doing everything he can to suppress it and pretend like it doesn't exist. Forcing it out to where it takes over and he can't deny it would break him hella good.

1. Weiss likes her? That's basically all she's got.
2. Sure! Ruby and all her hidden emotions, yep.
3. Ruby's an open goddamn book go for it.
4. YES and just. Spoilers it would be loneliness. Or "momfeelz," if Weiss can get that specific.

1. Does your character have some kind of ability (psychic shields or the like) that would prevent Weiss' empathy from working?
Nope!

2.Do I have permission for Weiss to pick up on any hidden feelings you mention in brackets? (Any emotion Weiss would be able to interpret from body language is fair game, even if your character can block her empathy.)
Totally! I'd say that related to this, she might have an easier time picking up on his lying tells.

3.Can Weiss "read" your character's emotions? How much would she be able to understand?
He's just a human, so he shouldn't be too confusing! He might be difficult to read sometimes, and his fondness for other (non-family) Gems might have some gem-related meddling in it.

4.If, god forbid, a situation ever arises where Weiss might need to use a mind bullet on your character, can she? What emotion would be most incapacitating for your character?
Yeah! That'd be loss, loneliness, and depression.

1) Nope!
2) Sure, though he's a heart on his sleeve kinda guy.
3) Jacuzzi's kind of a mess, but probably not. There's just a lot of fear and distress and guilt and also anger. A lot of negative emotions, but they're all pretty clear.
4) Don't see why not and Jacuzzi has a handle on surviving most of his emotions due to having level eleven emotions all the time. But his most crippling emotion is anxiety so that's probably what I'd have to go with.

1. No
2. Certainly.
3. Probably. Fuu is a very calm and caring person so she's got low-level emotions, but there is often an underlying sense of guilt or worry when she thinks back to certain topics.
4. There will probably never be but crank the guilt up if need be.

1. Sadly, she does not.
2. Yes, sure!
3. She'd be able to, and understand at least half of it.
4. Yes. Her most incapacitating emotion is self deprecation.

1 -- Nope! No protection from empathy here!
2 -- Sure, go ahead! Ichi's pretty open with her surface reactions, but there's other things that might lurk beneath them...
3 -- This is fine, too. Ichigo's feelings can get pretty complex the deeper you delve; for instance, she has issues with her King-Uncle's parenting methods. If you ever wanna use this on Ichi and need a better read on her, just drop me a PM on her journal and we can go into details there.
4 -- Hmm. If it came down to it... Well, rage probably wouldn't work, as Ichigo's likely to channel such feelings into fueling her fury and desire to act upon it. Again, it might be better if you contacted me to figure out what would work best in the moment.

Like... as an example scenario, let's say a powerful Gem beast 'poofed' one of her friends, and Ichi's so hellbent on MAKING IT PAY that she's not thinking straight. If Weiss wanted to stop her, I'd say... probably grief? That or guilt at not being able to protect them...

Anyway, yeah, just PM me and we can figure it out if the need ever arises.

1. No.
2. Yeah!
3. Yep! Ralph's fairly simple, so his emotions shouldn't be too hard to understand.
4. Yes! He has troubles controlling his anger at times, so that could be a good emotion to work with. Fear's another, if she was able to play on his memories of some of the stuff he's been through in Hero's Duty.

1. Nope.
2. Heck yeah.
3. Yes. Ondorus is Elf Old, so he has a lot of life experiences that he cross-checks his reactions against, which probably complicates the whole thing. He also does this thing where he feels a thing -> tempers his feeling of the thing with empathy (the normal kind) for the other person/sets it aside to focus on being productive -> now has chillness as the dominant emotion, or is making a face that doesn't agree with his initial reaction. Once she sorted through that, though, Ondorus is very conscious of his own feelings, so it's probably an "I have this entire library to rummage through" kind of overwhelming instead of the "LOUD VOICES ALL SHOUTING" kind of overwhelming you'd get from someone who Feels A Lot.
4. Vulnerability/powerlessness, I think. Or panic. Anything that makes Ondorus feel like he can't do the ~reasonable adult~ emotion/communication thing (because he's too worked up) would paralyze him from acting, because he doesn't like doing things in ways that feel raw or without a contingency plan.

Does your character have some kind of ability (psychic shields or the like) that would prevent Weiss' empathy from working?

Haha, not even and I don't see her getting anything like that in the future.

Do I have permission for Weiss to pick up on any hidden feelings you mention in brackets? (Any emotion Weiss would be able to interpret from body language is fair game, even if your character can block her empathy.)

Absolutely. Especially if she's trying to lie or mess with somebody (please don't snow too hard on her parade, Weiss :[ ).

...Although, Yang may try to play around with this and see if she can influence what emotions Weiss is picking up from her if she catches on, probably mostly by thinking about things that bring up certain emotions. ...Assuming that's okay. Yang just likes to mess with people. XD

Can Weiss "read" your character's emotions? How much would she be able to understand?

I'd imagine all or at least most of them, even if Yang's trying to fun with her? She tends to be pretty straight forward with her emotions.

If, god forbid, a situation ever arises where Weiss might need to use a mind bullet on your character, can she? What emotion would be most incapacitating for your character?

Just to be safe, I'm gonna say it'll probably depend on the situation. However, risky as it sounds, if this is during a fight or conflict, making Yang angry might actually do Weiss some favors. The reasoning behind this is that, while Yang can take strength in her anger and use it as an advantage, it might be easy to slip her into overconfidence or so much sheer rage that she makes a mistake. ...Just don't let her hit you first. XD

Another emotion that might work would be "calm/peace" or perhaps "apathy"? Something that would just chill her out and/or make her not feel like pounding somebody's face in.

If it ever comes to that though, we can just plot something out. X3 For sure, she's probably not going to be happy after the fact about being incapacitated or having her own emotions used against her though. Oops.

Does your character have some kind of ability (psychic shields or the like) that would prevent Weiss' empathy from working?
Not at all!

Do I have permission for Weiss to pick up on any hidden feelings you mention in brackets?
Yep!

Can Weiss "read" your character's emotions? How much would she be able to understand?
Yes, and probably plenty! Chihaya is very straight-forward and doesn't TEND to even hide her feelings much-- occasionally she'll hide it if she's troubled about something, but not particularly well, anyway. Simple, strong emotions, only sometimes underlain with hidden uncertainty!

If, god forbid, a situation ever arises where Weiss might need to use a mind bullet on your character, can she? What emotion would be most incapacitating for your character?
PROBABLY WON'T HAPPEN but just hmu if it becomes a possibility and we can hash it out on a case-by-case basis! For Chihaya, the feeling would probably be something like resignation/defeat.

1. Does your character have some kind of ability (psychic shields or the like) that would prevent Weiss' empathy from working?
Not really

2.Do I have permission for Weiss to pick up on any hidden feelings you mention in brackets? (Any emotion Weiss would be able to interpret from body language is fair game, even if your character can block her empathy.)
Certainly! Fluttershy is pretty open about most of her emotions, and she's not too good at hiding them, even when she's trying.

3. Can Weiss "read" your character's emotions? How much would she be able to understand?
Yes she can! Some of Fluttershy's more negative emotions might be a bit more complicated than her positive ones, so Weiss might have a harder time reading those than positive ones.

4. If, god forbid, a situation ever arises where Weiss might need to use a mind bullet on your character, can she? What emotion would be most incapacitating for your character?
If absolutely necessary, then sure. For Fluttershy, it would probably be guilt.

1. Chie has nothing of the sort!
2. You're welcome to pick up on anything she feels, hidden or otherwise.
3. And you're welcome to read her if you wish! She's a pretty average teenager, and while I wouldn't call her simple as such, she is simpler than some of her castmates. So she'll usually be fairly easy to understand.
4. I'd probably be okay with that, yes! I'm not certain what emotion would incapacitate Chie the most, though. I'll have to give that some thought.

1. Nope.
2. Ahaha go ahead, Shun will be most Displeased but then he's Displeased a lot.
3. She should be able to; Shun has some very complex and upsetting history but he tends to feel quite intensely so she'd likely be able to read the emotions. Untangling them might be a different matter depending on the situation.
4. Go riiiiiight ahead - anything along the lines of guilt, shame and humiliation (or hell, helplessness) would be worst against him because he associates those with the invasion of his hometown and the loss of all his comrades in battle.

1 Not presently, no! I'll let you know if this changes
2 Absolutely!
3 Again, absolutely! Sonico's pretty much an open book so it'll be pretty easy to read all her emotions.
4 She absolutely can, yes! I'm not 100% sure what kind of emotion would be most incapacitating for Sonico though -- probably fear or anxiety. I'll go with that for now, but if something better comes to mind, I'll let you know

1. nope
2. yep
3. yeah Walter has a heart-to-mouth/body/surface filter he just chooses not to use it so he's pretty blatant.
4. idk if you ended up doing this but sure, heeee...has ptsd so probably vulnerability/helplessness. THE LESS MEAN VERSION would honestly probably be affection because it confuses him and makes him indecisive when normally being decisive is one of his more dangerous aspects.

1. Nope.

2. Yes.

3. Of course, the vampire won't be too hard to read.

4. Intense feelings of helplessness, guilt and rage. Be warned, this would destroy any friendship Weiss and Remi have or likely to have.

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what kind of useless power is empathy, anyway?

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BAM

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