Emotional allomancy as 'telepathy'

[Weltall]

I just had a fun idea for an application of the magic that we haven't seen anyone use yet but which we could see in the future. We know that you can't really read minds with A-Brass/Zinc but we do know that you can target emotions with precision and make very subtle tweaks or very blunt ones. We also know that you can be trained to recognize when emotional allomancy is being used on you even if you don't have any powers yourself, as with the obligators.

So how's this for a thought: Using Soothing or Rioting (or both for best effects) to create a non-verbal code. To communicate you simply tweak an emotion in a manner that the other person will recognize. At its most basic level, you could use this as a non-verbal 'Wait for my signal' sort of communication where the parties know to wait for a particular emotional cue. For more complex communication you could use particular emotions to convey broad ideas or you could assign emotions to prearranged phrases. For example if you were pulling off some caper, Rioting anger might mean 'We go with Plan A', Rioting apprehension 'Time for Plan B' and Rioting fear could be 'Ditch the plans, we're making it up as we go along'. If the parties are trained enough to recognize emotional allomancy, nuance could be added by how much an emotion is tweaked and if you can both Riot and Sooth you could throw in additional nuances or simply use the choice of which way to tweak emotions as a form of yes/no telepathic communication.

Of course to have any sort of two-way communication you'd need all parties to a conversation to have access to the powers, but that should be easier in the future once medallion technology becomes more widespread.

Thoughts?

[Karger]

You could just use Morse Code with seekers flaring your metal at specific times.

[Quantus]

32 minutes ago, Weltall said:

I just had a fun idea for an application of the magic that we haven't seen anyone use yet but which we could see in the future. We know that you can't really read minds with A-Brass/Zinc but we do know that you can target emotions with precision and make very subtle tweaks or very blunt ones. We also know that you can be trained to recognize when emotional allomancy is being used on you even if you don't have any powers yourself, as with the obligators.

So how's this for a thought: Using Soothing or Rioting (or both for best effects) to create a non-verbal code. To communicate you simply tweak an emotion in a manner that the other person will recognize. At its most basic level, you could use this as a non-verbal 'Wait for my signal' sort of communication where the parties know to wait for a particular emotional cue. For more complex communication you could use particular emotions to convey broad ideas or you could assign emotions to prearranged phrases. For example if you were pulling off some caper, Rioting anger might mean 'We go with Plan A', Rioting apprehension 'Time for Plan B' and Rioting fear could be 'Ditch the plans, we're making it up as we go along'. If the parties are trained enough to recognize emotional allomancy, nuance could be added by how much an emotion is tweaked and if you can both Riot and Sooth you could throw in additional nuances or simply use the choice of which way to tweak emotions as a form of yes/no telepathic communication.

Of course to have any sort of two-way communication you'd need all parties to a conversation to have access to the powers, but that should be easier in the future once medallion technology becomes more widespread.

Thoughts?

I see no reason why it wouldnt work, communication can happen any time you have a reliable transmitter and receiver pair.  Zinc probably works better than Brass, since it can swing the target to several different emotional states for coded intent (ie a sequence of Anger-Fear-Lust means one thing while Anger-Lust-Discust means another, for a short list of coded messages)

Looking at the other metals:  You could do the same by wriggling Morse code on a coin in somebody's pocket using Iron or Steel.  You can use Bronze to hear coded burn pulses from basically any other metal.  Tin might let you pass a wide variety of discrete cold-war style messages through more traditional sensory means, but a huge variety of possibilities, from codes perfume scents to sub-audible sounds, etc.  

[Weltall]

22 minutes ago, Quantus said:

Zinc probably works better than Brass, since it can swing the target to several different emotional states for coded intent (ie a sequence of Anger-Fear-Lust means one thing while Anger-Lust-Discust means another, for a short list of coded messages)

I hadn't even thought of the possibility of sequences for more complex codes, that's a good one.

28 minutes ago, Karger said:

You could just use Morse Code with seekers flaring your metal at specific times.

You could do that but it's more prone to detection since any Seeker could 'hear' your messages, while emotional allomancy can be targeted. True, a Seeker will know that someone nearby is Soothing/Rioting but they won't know what's being communicated even if they recognize that it is an encoded communication. Pulses based on a prearranged set of signals that don't have an intrinsic meaning would be better for any covert communication.

Edited August 6, 2020 by Weltall

[Karger]

49 minutes ago, Weltall said:

You could do that but it's more prone to detection since any Seeker could 'hear' your messages, while emotional allomancy can be targeted. True, a Seeker will know that someone nearby is Soothing/Rioting but they won't know what's being communicated even if they recognize that it is an encoded communication. Pulses based on a prearranged set of signals that don't have an intrinsic meaning would be better for any covert communication.

Vin recognizes Breeze's soothing on Elend and you could use normal encryption methods(like a cypher).

Edited August 6, 2020 by Karger

[Quantus]

15 hours ago, Weltall said:

I hadn't even thought of the possibility of sequences for more complex codes, that's a good one.

You could do that but it's more prone to detection since any Seeker could 'hear' your messages, while emotional allomancy can be targeted. True, a Seeker will know that someone nearby is Soothing/Rioting but they won't know what's being communicated even if they recognize that it is an encoded communication. Pulses based on a prearranged set of signals that don't have an intrinsic meaning would be better for any covert communication.

Any Seeker would be able to "hear" the pulses but they would then have to decipher the actual code.  Im assuming they dont actually have a publicly known Morse Code equivalent.  I dont think they have a telegraph network or anything similar.  

[Hoidolasium]

Would be interesting to see a conspiracy of Rioters and Soothers that can carry out complex heists with ease since they only need to see each other to communicate in Era 3. Imagine certain characters glancing at each other, even when it's not necessary to mention it. The perspective character also mentions several times when their decisions get changed by some irrational emotion. Just when it starts getting weird, the reveal happens and suddenly our heroes are surrounded by conspirators who have been manipulating them for their plan the whole time.