Oh, I'm sure. I mean, what's the worst that can happen?
[John smirks around the crunch of a piece of chicken.
He's made up his mind. He likes Finn. The kid gives him a good vibe. How someone treats their friends says a lot about them as a person.
John hasn't seen Finn in action yet, but if he's from the same universe as Poe, he's seen war, and that makes him more experienced than half the people in the PG. He'll give Finn's file more than a cursory read when he's back at the office, not that John really expects a pile of paperwork to tell him anything of real value about a person.
That's always been John's biggest struggle when it comes to building a team. He doesn't trust grades, letter recommendations, or medals. He needs to see people in action. To talk to them, learn who they are, and see if that person changes when bullets start to fly.
Something tells him what you see is what you get, with Finn. He's not certain he knows to be any other way. There's an honesty about him, a purity, almost, that reminds John of Chyler. It makes sense that they get along.]
Best case scenario: I like you, you like me, you join my team.
Worst case scenario: You get shot, and I feel really bad about it.
[ That gets a huff of a laugh out of him. That is pretty fair, as far as worst case scenarios go. He's a worst case scenario person.
He doesn't know too much about the specifics of this team yet, but between having time to dig around and shadowing, Finn figures it won't take too long to get his head wrapped around some of the details. And tbh now that he's done any form of laughing he's kind of left at the point where he sees no reason not to snag some waffle. He's already in the hole on this conversation. He might as well. ]
If I get myself shot, try to take a pass. Pretty sure I'd either feel bad enough for both of us or I wouldn't really care.
Yeah, I'd say getting shot tends to be pretty all or nothing.
[As in you live, or you don't. Something John's sure Finn is well aware of. The kid's got some salt to him. Gunpowder, too. That's a must to be on John's team. He doesn't have the time or inclination to train civilians turned hobby-guard, or eyes in the back of his head. When the mission goes south, which it almost always does when your environment and enemy are largely unknown, John needs people he can trust to execute his orders under pressure, as well as use their own judgment should those orders no longer apply.
When it comes down to it, you've seen war, or you haven't. There's no substitute for experience. No amount of reading, watching, or listening to other people talk about it can prepare you. Kind of like being shot, but on a much larger scale.
John skewers a piece of chicken and waffle on his fork, swirling it into a pool of syrup. He's glad Finn's eating. That means something. John doesn't eat when he doesn't trust people, either.]
I'm curious to know what you think of the Perimeter Guard.
[ Not quite a question, not quite a statement. It hovers somewhere in between. That's not really something people have asked him. Finn gives it a second, like he's either waiting for clarification or waiting for John to be like "actually never mind, I don't want to hear it." When it doesn't seem to be forthcoming, he goes ahead. ]
I think when I got here and said I had combat training, I didn't like that it was the first place I got pointed to. I think that happens to a lot of people who don't know much else and don't know they can ask for more options. But I also think that's a problem that runs a little higher up.
[ Honestly, once he was stable enough to leave the hospital and get the proper orientation, everything up to and including the hospital vending machines was shady as hell to Finn. He won't pretend otherwise.
Anyway, he's... got a lot of opinions incoming. He runs on having opinions about everything he can, really, because a little less than three months of of it has barely put a dent in 23 years of not knowing that he could have them at all. There's a difference between having opinions and making choices during a simulation. ]
I think the Perimeter Guard does the best it can to look out for this city with what it's got. Boot camp runs too short, even if you know already what you're doing. I can't figure out if there's a point to that or if they just want to get their numbers up faster. Doesn't seem like the best idea.
[ Small militias, though. What can you do. ]
I think it looks like a bad roster balance between standard patrol and special units on paper, but they put stock into cooperation and going where you're needed when they need it. It holds up fine. Unit cohesion is good, for the most part. I think the people are good, for the most part. [ There's no way every single person in this organization is gonna be inherently good or even easy to get along with, necessarily. ] I think I could leave if I wanted without having to watch my back over it, and the work's good enough that I can choose to stay. I think I've made myself useful.
[ He stops, tips his head to one side. ]
Best mess hall I've ever eaten in, too. As much as that's worth.
[Finn talks. John listens. He wouldn't have asked if he wasn't interested.
The kid has a lot to say. That speaks to strong observational skills, and a capacity for critical thinking. John's honestly impressed by his breakdown. Finn is sharper than he lets on, at any rate. Good for him. It's important to keep something in your pocket.]
It's worth something.
[John munches thoughtfully on his last bite of waffle, and washes it down with some coffee. Dabs at the corners of his mouth with the corners of an already crumpled up napkin. He doesn't like unnecessary mess. Finn will learn that about him when they work together.]
We're on the same page, more or less. The PG's got growing pains. You can tell they started as a group of rangers, a few skilled people to take care of the bad stuff outside the wall while law enforcement deals with people. Then the wall got bigger, the PG got bigger, but they're still operating to the same grass-roots standards.
It's good, in some ways. People new to this place might not respond well to a solid chain of command or regiment. They can't be expected to take a hard knee to people they don't know, and they can choose their level of commitment.
I think the reason us military types get pointed in this direction is because it's easier to keep an eye on us if we're all in the same place, and it keeps our trigger fingers from getting itchy. That said, the levels of experience and skill required to join are... all over the place.
They should probably implement a reserve force, we have something like that back home. People who want to help, and to learn, but don't necessarily have the right background or experience to be anything but a liability on the field. You train them like it's their job, and keep them in auxiliary for disaster relief, or god help us, support in theatre, until they meet the requirements of the regular forces.
I've been pretty picky about the people I'm asking to join my team for a reason. I'm not comfortable taking responsibility for the actions of untrained civilians with machine guns unless it's absolutely necessary. If they don't hurt themselves, they'll hurt someone else.
[ Finn absorbs his responses, interest written clearly across his face. He likes being able to lay out his opinions. He likes being able to hear others, too. It doesn't always line up well, sometimes leads more to argument than agreement, but provided it's not anything gravely serious, even that's not necessarily bad.
With what John has to say, he leans towards agreement easily enough. It's reasonable, and all more or less on the same page, like John said.
John's explanation of a reserve force sparks particular interest. Finn thinks of Slip, not for the first time, surely not for the last. Wonders for a brief moment if he could have fared better in something like that, even still attached to the First Order in some capacity.
(The idea washes away, as it always does, in the reality of knowing that the First Order would only ever section off stormtroopers like Slip in order to throw them away more quickly. Lower-tier cannon fodder. But it was nice to have the thought.)
Finn's mouth twitches into a brief, passable smile in spite of himself. ]
Yeah, well. Don't have to be picky to have good taste in food.
[ People always turn out more complicated. most importantly, finn will die to defend his right to eat vegetable-covered pizza and call it tasteful. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2018-01-27 07:10 pm (UTC)[John smirks around the crunch of a piece of chicken.
He's made up his mind. He likes Finn. The kid gives him a good vibe. How someone treats their friends says a lot about them as a person.
John hasn't seen Finn in action yet, but if he's from the same universe as Poe, he's seen war, and that makes him more experienced than half the people in the PG. He'll give Finn's file more than a cursory read when he's back at the office, not that John really expects a pile of paperwork to tell him anything of real value about a person.
That's always been John's biggest struggle when it comes to building a team. He doesn't trust grades, letter recommendations, or medals. He needs to see people in action. To talk to them, learn who they are, and see if that person changes when bullets start to fly.
Something tells him what you see is what you get, with Finn. He's not certain he knows to be any other way. There's an honesty about him, a purity, almost, that reminds John of Chyler. It makes sense that they get along.]
Best case scenario: I like you, you like me, you join my team.
Worst case scenario: You get shot, and I feel really bad about it.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-01-27 11:41 pm (UTC)He doesn't know too much about the specifics of this team yet, but between having time to dig around and shadowing, Finn figures it won't take too long to get his head wrapped around some of the details. And tbh now that he's done any form of laughing he's kind of left at the point where he sees no reason not to snag some waffle. He's already in the hole on this conversation. He might as well. ]
If I get myself shot, try to take a pass. Pretty sure I'd either feel bad enough for both of us or I wouldn't really care.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-01-28 07:46 pm (UTC)[As in you live, or you don't. Something John's sure Finn is well aware of. The kid's got some salt to him. Gunpowder, too. That's a must to be on John's team. He doesn't have the time or inclination to train civilians turned hobby-guard, or eyes in the back of his head. When the mission goes south, which it almost always does when your environment and enemy are largely unknown, John needs people he can trust to execute his orders under pressure, as well as use their own judgment should those orders no longer apply.
When it comes down to it, you've seen war, or you haven't. There's no substitute for experience. No amount of reading, watching, or listening to other people talk about it can prepare you. Kind of like being shot, but on a much larger scale.
John skewers a piece of chicken and waffle on his fork, swirling it into a pool of syrup. He's glad Finn's eating. That means something. John doesn't eat when he doesn't trust people, either.]
I'm curious to know what you think of the Perimeter Guard.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-01-28 09:32 pm (UTC)What I think of it.
[ Not quite a question, not quite a statement. It hovers somewhere in between. That's not really something people have asked him. Finn gives it a second, like he's either waiting for clarification or waiting for John to be like "actually never mind, I don't want to hear it." When it doesn't seem to be forthcoming, he goes ahead. ]
I think when I got here and said I had combat training, I didn't like that it was the first place I got pointed to. I think that happens to a lot of people who don't know much else and don't know they can ask for more options. But I also think that's a problem that runs a little higher up.
[ Honestly, once he was stable enough to leave the hospital and get the proper orientation, everything up to and including the hospital vending machines was shady as hell to Finn. He won't pretend otherwise.
Anyway, he's... got a lot of opinions incoming. He runs on having opinions about everything he can, really, because a little less than three months of of it has barely put a dent in 23 years of not knowing that he could have them at all. There's a difference between having opinions and making choices during a simulation. ]
I think the Perimeter Guard does the best it can to look out for this city with what it's got. Boot camp runs too short, even if you know already what you're doing. I can't figure out if there's a point to that or if they just want to get their numbers up faster. Doesn't seem like the best idea.
[ Small militias, though. What can you do. ]
I think it looks like a bad roster balance between standard patrol and special units on paper, but they put stock into cooperation and going where you're needed when they need it. It holds up fine. Unit cohesion is good, for the most part. I think the people are good, for the most part. [ There's no way every single person in this organization is gonna be inherently good or even easy to get along with, necessarily. ] I think I could leave if I wanted without having to watch my back over it, and the work's good enough that I can choose to stay. I think I've made myself useful.
[ He stops, tips his head to one side. ]
Best mess hall I've ever eaten in, too. As much as that's worth.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-01-29 06:32 pm (UTC)The kid has a lot to say. That speaks to strong observational skills, and a capacity for critical thinking. John's honestly impressed by his breakdown. Finn is sharper than he lets on, at any rate. Good for him. It's important to keep something in your pocket.]
It's worth something.
[John munches thoughtfully on his last bite of waffle, and washes it down with some coffee. Dabs at the corners of his mouth with the corners of an already crumpled up napkin. He doesn't like unnecessary mess. Finn will learn that about him when they work together.]
We're on the same page, more or less. The PG's got growing pains. You can tell they started as a group of rangers, a few skilled people to take care of the bad stuff outside the wall while law enforcement deals with people. Then the wall got bigger, the PG got bigger, but they're still operating to the same grass-roots standards.
It's good, in some ways. People new to this place might not respond well to a solid chain of command or regiment. They can't be expected to take a hard knee to people they don't know, and they can choose their level of commitment.
I think the reason us military types get pointed in this direction is because it's easier to keep an eye on us if we're all in the same place, and it keeps our trigger fingers from getting itchy. That said, the levels of experience and skill required to join are... all over the place.
They should probably implement a reserve force, we have something like that back home. People who want to help, and to learn, but don't necessarily have the right background or experience to be anything but a liability on the field. You train them like it's their job, and keep them in auxiliary for disaster relief, or god help us, support in theatre, until they meet the requirements of the regular forces.
I've been pretty picky about the people I'm asking to join my team for a reason. I'm not comfortable taking responsibility for the actions of untrained civilians with machine guns unless it's absolutely necessary. If they don't hurt themselves, they'll hurt someone else.
Good waffles, huh?
(no subject)
Date: 2018-01-31 04:21 am (UTC)With what John has to say, he leans towards agreement easily enough. It's reasonable, and all more or less on the same page, like John said.
John's explanation of a reserve force sparks particular interest. Finn thinks of Slip, not for the first time, surely not for the last. Wonders for a brief moment if he could have fared better in something like that, even still attached to the First Order in some capacity.
(The idea washes away, as it always does, in the reality of knowing that the First Order would only ever section off stormtroopers like Slip in order to throw them away more quickly. Lower-tier cannon fodder. But it was nice to have the thought.)
Finn's mouth twitches into a brief, passable smile in spite of himself. ]
Yeah, well. Don't have to be picky to have good taste in food.
[ People always turn out more complicated. most importantly, finn will die to defend his right to eat vegetable-covered pizza and call it tasteful. ]
(no subject)
Date: 2018-02-15 12:59 am (UTC)[Here's hoping the Waffle House doesn't want a signing bonus.]