04/04/2011 [DMFA #1207] - Cubi Do NOT overeact

[DavidRokon]

So really not too much of a change for Dan.


Edit: Fixed your topic
  -- llearch

[Madd the Sane]

Flaming hypocrite indeed.

Somehow I think Abel will tell him how to at least control these strong emotions.  If not, off to SAIA!

[Madmann135]

... Dan has been acting like a cubi for a long time.
In short lots of changes but no real changes.

[Scrap Fish]

So, plus side to being a cubi: you can eat anywhere, anytime.
Downside: your food can take you over.
...
I'm going to stick with a traditional diet, thank you very much.

Anyway, this does explain a few things about cubi behavior - super-strength emotions would make everyone act kind of over-the-top in everything they do...
You know, if cubi experience exaggerated emotions, would a community of them create an increasing feed back system? You know, like the trick where you set a guitar right in front of an amp at full volume - the slightest touch makes it grow louder and louder, out of control? If so, I imagine that SAIA employs some sophisticated dampening system in order to keep from being washed over by an overload.

Somehow I think Abel will tell him how to at least control these strong emotions.

It's called self-control. Some people are born with it. Others... Not so much.
I'll let you choose which category  Dan is in.

[Kibin]

The mental shield is probably the thing keeping SAIA from blowing out of control. Strong mental shields wouldn't have the emotions pass through, thus you won't get the feedback effect. Personal emotions would still do so, but then again you have Fa'lina and probably other powerful cubi that can control themselves to deal with that and calm the troublemakers down. Seems like a simple time out by themselves would do for a lot of cases, which of course is a lot easier when you control the dimension you're on.

[Tapewolf]

Very interesting indeed.  Presumably the introductory courses at SAIA are going to be largely about self-control.
I can see why someone would be at a big disadvantage if they were just left to get on with their life and had no formal training whatsoever.

[Anker Steadfast]

Indeed, unless they have some very good parents, or clan that can help them out.

Maybe this is at the core of why Quoar doesn't send their children to SAIA, being a very old clan they may have their own form of institutions and teachers in such matters, so they may simply not have the need to send off their children and instead have time with them themselves. Either way, Dan won't just have to get good at mindshields, but also at keeping his own head clear in stressfull situations.

He might have an advantage in that his affinity is "doing good", which he could hang some of his self control on.
Not that it would have helped much against Kria, she was practically inviting him to herself.
No wrong would have been done.

[AmigaDragon]

The 'cubi motto sounds a lot like what the Jackass motto must be, "...seemed like a good idea at the time." It's a wonder Knoxville and the rest are still alive (and I've only seen clips, not the whole shows).

[Tapewolf]

Hmm.  Well, this certainly puts Aniz killing Hennya into a new light.  It did seem at the time like he didn't know what he was doing.  How does a judicial system cope with people doing things like that on autopilot?  Insanity plea?

Not that it would have helped much against Kria, she was practically inviting him to herself.
No wrong would have been done.

Matilda might not agree.  Though to be fair, she might be aware that 'Cubi are a bit odd like that.  She seems to know something about them, since she can apparently identify their soul type.

[terrycloth]

Aha. So Abel acts like an apathetic jerk because he's afraid that if he lets himself feel anything about anything he'll overreact and do something stupid. Which he has so far, every time, so... kinda justified I guess.

[Kibin]

As far as I know, Dan actually does good in a fight because as an adventurer he's learned to have combat on more of an instinctual level, so doesn't actually need to think to fight. Granted that didn't work very well and got Dan's chest crushed, but he was doing pretty good otherwise...

[LordViking]

This explains a lot, not just about Dan's recent actions, but also past actions we've seen cubi do. "when you become upset... it will blind you with rage." "A cubi in love has no equal in passion." I think this pretty much describes what Aniz and Destania went through and why their feelings took a complete 180° turn after they felt betrayed by each other.

I feel as if I've seen that motto somewhere in the cast pages before. And if not it does seem to describe Dan fairly well, though it might be that because of Dan being a cubi it describes him so well.
Also it seems he has grown somewhat. Even though he is still worried it is a cubi thing he admits he shouldn't think that as his first guess while before he would go in a panic and blame every little thing on being a cubi.

[Sofox]

Well this explains the moodswings... of pretty much every Cubi.

[Insomniac]

Updates frupdates, hupty dupty updates!  I love updates!

Well now, this page does indeed, as so many of my fellow forum-goers have said, explain a lot.

[MT Hazard]

I thought that the description of cubi emotional state sounded familiar, so I went looking...


"Elves are a people of deeply felt but short-lived passions.
They are easily moved to delighted laughter,
blinding wrath, or mournful tears. They are inclined
to impulsive behavior, and members of other races
sometimes see elves as flighty or impetuous, but elves
do not shirk responsibility or forget commitments.
Thanks in part to their long life span, elves sometimes
have difficulty taking certain matters as seriously as
other races do, but when genuine threats arise, elves
are fierce and reliable allies."

4th edition elves

[Ghostwish]

Well! We're going to have to make some changes to D&DMFA to reflect this.

[AxiLarin]

I love how Abel was channeling his inner Fa'Lina in that center panel... the pose, the expression, the wisdom.  All that was missing were the puppets and muffins.  

Aha. So Abel acts like an apathetic jerk because he's afraid that if he lets himself feel anything about anything he'll overreact and do something stupid. Which he has so far, every time, so... kinda justified I guess.

Abel has had plenty of practice at tempering his emotions and maintaining the persona of apathetic jerk.  It takes really knowing and connecting with someone (e.g. Mink, Dan, Jyrras) for him to let that guard down.  But there have been many events since he has left SAIA that have pushed his emotional control to one pole or the other... usually either anger or fear.  I think he has been increasingly concerned the longer he stays away from SAIA, the harder it is for him to temper his emotions on his own.

[Arcblade]

Got rather strongly reminded of this.  This might explain Aniz's temper tantrum, actually.  Mentally unstable = lots less willpower to devote to self-control.  Less willpower + strong cubi emotions = massive over-reaction. 

Anyway, cool.  Surprised Fa'Lina didn't explain this to Dan in the first place.  Or maybe she did, and he wasn't listening...  Dan does have a shorter attention span than most. 

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Anyway, cool.  Surprised Fa'Lina didn't explain this to Dan in the first place.  Or maybe she did, and he wasn't listening...  Dan does have a shorter attention span than most. 

My money is on the latter. Either that or she knew he wouldn't be listening, and went off on some other flight of fantasy, while he wasn't listening.

btw, good tune.

[Tapewolf]

Surprised Fa'Lina didn't explain this to Dan in the first place.  Or maybe she did, and he wasn't listening...  Dan does have a shorter attention span than most. 

The way I see it, she did actually hint at it in page 491.  It might have helped if she was a bit less vague, but I guess you never can tell with Dan.

[Infranscia]

Well, this might explain why Dan was "ten levels of angry" upon being dish-smashed by Regina, and subsequently made himself so vulnerable to DP.  And... Yeah, a lot of things.

I'm not so sure how much picking up on other's emotions is part of it.  From what I understand, they mostly feel someone's emotions as their own if they are force-fed said emotions.  I guess their psychic empathy could be a contributing factor, but still.

On self-control... yeah, a lot of people have trouble enough without literally being prone to MOOD SWINGS!  

[Drayco84]

Well! We're going to have to make some changes to D&DMFA to reflect this.

In addition to the "boost" they get for the emotional affinities...
And emotion/thought reading...
And wing-tentacles...
Dang, these guys are gonna be hard...

Anyone else think that the more Amber reveals, the more this sounds like a second puberty or something?

[joshofspam]

I wonder if that nature could work both ways. If Kria is affecting Dan, couldn't that work both ways with an untrained cubi?

Though on some aspects it almost seems cubi have more in common with Fae then Demons and angels.

Edit: Then again when you get down to know all the races like Fa'lina interacting with Dan, Mab getting moody with her daughter trying to cheer her up and Kria interacting with Abel's mom. It doesn't seem like Creatures and Beings are all that different from one another in all except abilities.

It also gives varying different levels of how a creature sees a being. As with Kria and Abel's mom, if Demons recognize strength then surely their must be more then one kind of strength they recognize. Indeed, Being friends must be a very coveted possession to a Creature when they could be extinguished at the drop of a hat by some other creature.

[127.0.0.2]

I think Abel should review the schedule of his How-To-Be-A-Cubi-101 class a bit, though. It might have been a good idea to teach an important point like this a bit earlier

What I'd like to know is if the emotion feed/overwhelm effect only works with "live" emotion, i.e. when people are around who actually feeling that way, or if implied emotions, like on a movie or a picture might have similar effects.

The first option would make more sense to me, while the second would explain Abel's reaction to the soap opera quite nicely

[Alondro]

*Charline de Lyon grins*  I make sense now, don't I? 

*Charles gasps!*  But... but how did you know about the emotional thingey and act so appropriately all these years!?  Only a real Cubi could have know... it-it can't be!!   

*Charline GRINS!!*   

PS:  Think of the horrors if Cubi were in our world and were taken over by the emotions around them!  Drunken Irish rage Cubi!  Jihad Cubi!!!  Good lord... Cubi at a baseball game in LA when the Dodgers lose!  IT WOULD MEAN TOTAL PLANETARY DESTRUCTION!!!!

[127.0.0.2]

PS:  Think of the horrors if Cubi were in our world and were taken over by the emotions around them!  Drunken Irish rage Cubi!  Jihad Cubi!!!  Good lord... Cubi at a baseball game in LA when the Dodgers lose!  IT WOULD MEAN TOTAL PLANETARY DESTRUCTION!!!!

Or, you know, just have them watch the ending of Neon Genesis Evangelion...

[Alondro]

PS:  Think of the horrors if Cubi were in our world and were taken over by the emotions around them!  Drunken Irish rage Cubi!  Jihad Cubi!!!  Good lord... Cubi at a baseball game in LA when the Dodgers lose!  IT WOULD MEAN TOTAL PLANETARY DESTRUCTION!!!!

Or, you know, just have them watch the ending of Neon Genesis Evangelion...

Do not... do not want to think about it...

What emotion would that even be?  Does an emotion exist for mind-twisting bizzarro stuff?  I think they would just die from not knowing what the hell to feel.

[lilpuppy23]

I suppose this would make it easier to pick out an untrained cubi out from a crowd:
Tell mildly entertaining jokes until one starts laughing hysterically.

Also: Words words words words words words words words words!!!

[D'ymkarra]

Well this explains the moodswings... of pretty much every Cubi.

Frig, according to what Abel said in the first paragraph, I've been Cubi for the last 35 years 

But yeah, this does explain a lot 

[Anker Steadfast]

Maybe Cubi Politics are also considered a Soap opera.