In his audition tape for The Real World Brooklyn, Ryan Conklin emphasized his ability to figure people out "in the first five minutes of knowing them, guaranteed." This shows both his interest in understanding others and the speed at which his mind works to do it. He is constantly evaluating the information at hand and making conclusions from it. Sometimes the result is meaningful discernment, and other times it is just glib observation. In both cases, it is often critical assessments, the kind of things that people think about others but don't usually tell them. When Ryan is his usual sober self, he generally keeps his thoughts in check. He doesn't want be a jerk or stir stuff up, so he doesn't normally flat out tell people off. But like a bottle of soda pop that has been shaken, he needs a way to release what has been let loose in his head. To people he is peeved at, Ryan will tease them a little and release a few bubbles. To release all the pressure, he becomes Gossip Boy and share his thoughts at length with people other than the subject. Fortunately for Ryan, all the boys in the RWBK house were wonderfully catty so he had an eager audience to share his assessments with.
When Ryan becomes a little tipsy from alcohol, the bottle cap is opened too quickly and he froths over the rim and speak more harshly to people. Also, with the cap off, his rapid fire analysis really shows itself, with him saying whatever inane thing pops into his mind. This antagonized people at the RWBK house and led Bay Voce to call him a "b|tch". Ryan masculinized the concept and told her that it would be more appropriate to call him a "smartass".
It should be mentioned that a really drunk Ryan is like Mentos dropped in the bottle. It's the kind of thing that would nearly come to blows at the bars back home in Pennsylvania.
While figuring out who others really are, Ryan wished that people didn't have any false fronts and that they could be honest with one another about how they feel. That's not a desire to do away with tactfulness, but rather a strong desire by Ryan to really get to know others and for them to know him. Ironically, his smartass persona that he uses to break down fronts is itself a front that blocks the view of the inner Ryan Conklin. His fans know there is something behind there and we will keep plugging away until we find it.
