Board Thread:Off Topic/@comment-27144409-20170705210718/@comment-25936766-20170902180602

Phantomlink959 wrote: I'm not saying it's identical, just making a broad comparison for lack of better examples. Keep in mind how far off the rails the two Atlas students we've seen in action are; Flynt and Neon are basically the opposite of how you would expect someone with a militant level of training to act. Aurora is a freaking zen monk compared to those two. ...............................................

It's a Military Academy, Discipline and Obedience among other things, are things they drive into their students. But, that does not mean they will whip someone with a Scourge just for expressing emotions or having a colorful image. Unless we're talking about Great War Mantle.

They aren't official soldiers yet, remember. They are being shaped into it. Even then they aren't going to be forced to do/not do X in the same way as actual soldiers would be.

At the same time, 2 things:

1) We have seen other Atlas students before, as meaningless clones back in V2, and they contrast heavily with Flynt and Neon.

2) We only saw Flynt and Neon during the Vytal Tournament, in a festival. A time where, aside from Big Brother watching over all of Vale, everyone was mostly enjoying themselves. There was no need for "discipline" or anything so serious at the time. Just relax and enjoy.

How a soldier acts while not on duty, is different from how they act while on duty. For all we know, they are completely different during classes in Atlas.

And also, another thing: "Pressuring students into becoming Specialists" =/= "Pressures everyone into becoming Specialists". If someone is, say, wild and chaotic, do you seriously think any person with half a brain would make them a Specialist? The students can always say No, but so can the Atlesian Military.

Logically, not everyone is going to end up as "Good Soldier Material" for one reason or another, by the time they graduate. Those, are not the kind of people Atlas would choose to become Specialists, over others who are Good soldier material.

Even though Flynt and Neon are from Atlas, they, or at least Neon, could be the kind of students that Atlas would, at the least, put very low on the list, and at most, not want to take in as Specialists. And personally, Barely-Graduated Aurora isn't much better than Neon in terms of personality.

But of course, that also requires me to note 1 thing: Flynt and Neon are not so bad. Flynt is serious and placid, which is good enough for a soldier (a soldier is not required to be an emotionless husk, after all), and Neon, while hyperactive and bubbly, that doesn't mean she's an unpredictable and chaotic wild card that can't take and follow orders.

While nothing close to Winter or Ironwood in attitude, Flynt at least isn't someone who would be rejected on the spot. And he's far more of a Zen Monk than Barely-Graduated Aurora. And in any case, both are trained in Atlas,''' so they are not absolutely ignorant to the way Armies work. Meanwhile, Aurora is.'''

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As for the whole "they never would have sent two nutbars like that to Represent them" bit at the end..................please. It's a Tournament. A festival. They aren't going to deny entry to someone if that someone has every right and capability to enter.

Shade allowed ABRN, of whom only 1 member is competent. Beacon allowed CRDL, a team of bullies and cowards. They are Teams participating in a Tournament. That is all that really matters.

And of course, there were multiple teams per Kingdom. Compare ABRN with NDGO, JNPR with CRDL, Penny and Soleil with Flynt and Neon. Being a "questionable choice to Represent their Kingdom" is irrelevant; if anything, teams like FNKI are proof of diversity within a Kingdom due to their contrast with other teams of the same Kingdom.