19 and up are not kids or children. In Nebraska, in the US where the book takes place, they are adults when they turn 18 (actually I just Googled it and it’s as low as 16 in Nebraska) but yeah IN GENERAL, you are an adult when you turn 18.
Calling them kids/children I feel is just kinda offensive to the characters. In none of my playthroughs, did I ever feel like I was being treated like a child. I felt like I was being treated like a student, which is what you are in the book. An adult student. Also seeing as how we can have sex with a few of them, calling them children or kids feels even worse.
I honestly, really feel like those words just keep getting thrown around to make a bigger deal out of Downfall, because her teaching a bunch of adults roughly isn’t as immediately considered ‘bad teacher’ as saying she’s being mean to children. Come on guys, we can do better then that.
ALSO…I don’t agree that they ‘didn’t take the kid gloves off’. Hedonist will slam you into the wall and ceiling. Even into a car in Book 2. As for McCormick, I don’t think she dumbed anything down for anyone.
Being an adult is not just about age. And if mostly the students all try to act in an adult way, considering them as "full " adults seems exagerated.
So yes they are students, and have things to learn but they sometimes act like kids. Its normal but the fact that the teachers dont think of them as adults is not supposed to be offensive. At least for most of them. It’s supposed to make them understand that they still need to learn before they can be fully independant like full grown adult (okay I believe I dont have the correct term but still).you dont just magically turn adult on your 18th birthday, and some people reach adulthood before others
I can see where you’re coming from, but being a legal adult =/= actually being an “adult” in the mental/maturity sense. 18 year olds are adults in name only. Captain California, Hedonist, Tolly, McCormick, etc. are all actual adults. Sure, the Speck students are all 18+, but they don’t have any of the same experiences that would develop the same level of maturity as the faculty would/should have. I think HomingPidgeon said it better than I can, but to reiterate: DownFall was supposed to be teaching basics. She was supposed to give them a foundation to start off of, and help them improve, preferably before throwing them into a combat simulator that could have actually killed them. Personally, I don’t think she really has any business being a teacher after seeing what she’s actually like, at least not for low-level/basic classes. She’s done a lot worse than treat people “roughly,” I feel.
Well…I disagree. shrugs I see them as adults. If you see them as children that’s really your prerogative.
@ColorWheel I may have to re-read that part, but where did it say basics? I believe her class was literally called 'Breaking People and Things". I assumed that meant people and things would be broken.
On the topic of adulthood, what DF did is actually thé kind of things that would turn you into an adult quicker. A ruthless or scared adult but an adult nonetheless.
And yeah you can see them as adults if you feels like it,just wanted to point out that majority does not make adulthood. And that some of this students are definitely not responsible adults
…No? Where did that happen? I know it happened in another superhero game, but the only hint you get here is you know you’re from a city that was domed with the shield things.
I do agree to your points, however, many times in the games, they are referenced as kids by themselves, the Wyvern and the professors. They are young adults, they can make those decisions, but they, such as most decisions kids make, are not made in full awareness.
I’m not trying to exaggerate what Downfall did to make it more cruel. She was out of line. Breaking an unconscious person’s arm, attempting to tear someone in two, is terrible and screams bad teacher for beginners without age playing into effect.
But I do support @LeBaloo and @ColorWheel in their mentality of the characters being younger than their age
I can agree on the young adult term, that seems to fit both views. And yeah, don’t get me wrong I hated Downfall she failed me a bunch and broke my BFFs arm. xD The only thing we agreed on is when she gave me an EMP literally right as I was IRL saying, “Ya know what I need, an EMP.”
I think maybe at that point, the way she did things in the final, it was more of a, “These kids arn’t learning shit from anyone, I need to show them how far they can actually push their powers.” With the exception of Origami I think, most people coming out of the final were excited at seeing new ways they could use their powers.
Why she went nutso to Tress? I dunno. First time playing it when I realized what her powers were, I was expecting her to do something that hints towards future MC powers, but then she just points out you have nothing she could copy and then I usually run away with Hedo and DG. I’m still thinking there might end up being something more there that we don’t notice now as readers.
I think she lied about her age, and since they didn’t want any information that could identify the heroes, it must’ve been pretty easy. From the sounds of the MC’s application, it was probably a simple, are you a low level zenith, yes or no?
They wanted a big class to justify the program, so I doubt they turned anyone away?
I was under the assumption that the class was meant to be more introductory? Or at the very least not at the level DownFall seemed to want to teach. What immediately comes to mind is the scene where DownFall demonstrates moves on Crook, which came off as something you’d do at a more introductry level. I will admit though, I’m still looking at with the mentality of “they’re basically kids”, and so my first thought was that it would be the basics, since 18 year olds generally don’t have much in the way of combat training. Regardless of what the class is called though, it doesn’t change much. The class was supposed to teach the students to fight/defend themselves, not to be broken themselves.
If the MC’s powers aren’t active, perhaps she couldn’t detect them, and therefore not use them? She’s much more experienced than the students, and probably has a bigger imagination when it comes to using powers in combat than most people. Meaning if someone has a base power, she can stretch it to its capacity due to her prowess? Maybe that’s why she couldn’t use CP’s and basically shrugged her off?
I’m just speculating. I’ve read from Eric and few others on here that their powers are latent, and Booksmart straight up tells you to bugger of, she won’t help you. So I’m assuming, since many zeniths haven’t had their powers “activated” Downfall is then limited to active powers
Oh, true. I viewed Hedonist’s class and Downfall’s class as being similar, just that Hedy’s focused on defensive fighting vs. DF’s focus on being more aggressive. I still think that DF’s class is closely tied to self-defense, just in a different style than Hedy’s did.
