Ah, alright, alright! The art! The theatrics! Alright, cool, cool! The first thing ever to do is set a baseline for behavior, voice, and speech. You need to make note of how people act in general before you can catch the rest! You do also need to understand that it changes from person to person, and these are indicators, rather than a complete and concrete thing, alright? Alright!
[She nods again, clearly absorbing everything he's saying. There is a part of her that does want to take out her notebook and take notes, but... no. Dazai might make fun of her for that, so she'll just try to retain what she can.]
Example from interrogation! When you first meet a suspect, you strike very normal conversation! Where do you live? What do you like? Who is your best friend? -- Then you listen. You watch if they move a lot, talk a lot, talk a little, do they repeat words when they're in a more relaxed state?! Are they flamboyant? Quiet?
Then, when you start pressing, you can see. Sometimes people talk way too much when they're nervous. Maybe they stutter in ways they didn't before. Or they become quiet. It's the same. You need to see how someone is before you go poking.
[Her brow furrows, because she was with him for the first half -- that all sounds like normal stuff she'd want to talk to someone about, anyway. It's the second half that she isn't sure how or when to use.]
I don't really want to make people nervous. I'd like to help people, if I can...
I never said you had to. I said it's important to know how their neutral behavior is before you can identify anything else. That includes anxiety, after all. It's still an emotion you need to recognize if you want to understand what people want to hear.
(what if she makes them nervous on accident and can't fully recognize it because it's not all that clear? that's the point he's making.)
[So she knows when to stop pushing for a little while, or at least recognize what things make someone nervous. She nods, tapping her lips with one finger and humming to herself.]
Every person's baseline is different, huh...? Is there anything that you've noticed is more consistent among most people?
Can't, everyone is different, that's the reason why people are incredible. Just pay attention to.. Blink rate, breathing, body movement speed, cadence of voice, context and the environment.
(the last two the most important. someone can feel comfortable in a crowd, or completely out of place.)
So not Senpai, then. His expressions are really subtle, most of the time. I know him well enough that I can read them, at least, but I wouldn't say they give away that much...
[Except when she embarrasses him on purpose, which is really funny, but unhelpful for this.]
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[She nods again, clearly absorbing everything he's saying. There is a part of her that does want to take out her notebook and take notes, but... no. Dazai might make fun of her for that, so she'll just try to retain what she can.]
So what kind of baseline should I set?
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Then, when you start pressing, you can see. Sometimes people talk way too much when they're nervous. Maybe they stutter in ways they didn't before. Or they become quiet. It's the same. You need to see how someone is before you go poking.
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[Her brow furrows, because she was with him for the first half -- that all sounds like normal stuff she'd want to talk to someone about, anyway. It's the second half that she isn't sure how or when to use.]
I don't really want to make people nervous. I'd like to help people, if I can...
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(what if she makes them nervous on accident and can't fully recognize it because it's not all that clear? that's the point he's making.)
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[So she knows when to stop pushing for a little while, or at least recognize what things make someone nervous. She nods, tapping her lips with one finger and humming to herself.]
Every person's baseline is different, huh...? Is there anything that you've noticed is more consistent among most people?
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(the last two the most important. someone can feel comfortable in a crowd, or completely out of place.)
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I think I can do that. I kind of do it already, anyway...
[Except before, her Personas would give her little hints when they were closely related to whomever she was talking to. It's harder without that.]
Do you have any advice for how to practice that?
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(which is very funny for a mafioso. anyway, easy dunk, moving on,)
Someone whose expressions give a lot. So you can make a mental map for them.
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So not Senpai, then. His expressions are really subtle, most of the time. I know him well enough that I can read them, at least, but I wouldn't say they give away that much...
[Except when she embarrasses him on purpose, which is really funny, but unhelpful for this.]
I'll have to think about it.
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[She furrows her brow.]
How?
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(he is worsening her so much. goddamnit.)
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[She taps her finger thoughtfully against her lips with another hum.]
Or his general posture, too... if I start with someone I know well, I can start figuring out what's different!
[Yeah that's literally what he said.]