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Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

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We could research/pitch the idea of discount skywalkers that activate with any chakra use. Probably easier to infuse and scribe. Less useful in combat, but it would reduce demand for the name brand stuff by allowing less talented sealmasters to infuse it and ninja to use for strategic movement.

Heck, gimp the activation mechanism to "Chakra emission within an inch" and they'd be almost as good as the real thing, and I bet even easier to make.
 
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It's kind of strange watching the characters think of these things as big deals. Somewhere in J's mountain of paperwork is a proposal for the next scorch squad campaign, and somewhere else is a report on T&I's progress torturing to death a child soldier who has been extrajudicially found guilty of potentially knowing something they want while having been born in the wrong place. It's a crapsack world, but the characters really should be acclimated to that by now.


Anyway, now that we have multiple points of reference from the earbusters, banshee slayers, and, erm, 'vibrators', is it finally time to get around to the simple hacks of vibroweapons and seal motors?
 
Lailoken said:
It's kind of strange watching the characters think of these things as big deals. Somewhere in J's mountain of paperwork is a proposal for the next scorch squad campaign, and somewhere else is a report on T&I's progress torturing to death a child soldier who has been extrajudicially found guilty of potentially knowing something they want while having been born in the wrong place. It's a crapsack world, but the characters really should be acclimated to that by now.


Anyway, now that we have multiple points of reference from the earbusters, banshee slayers, and, erm, 'vibrators', is it finally time to get around to the simple hacks of vibroweapons and seal motors?
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Without commenting on this specific scenario, ingroup/outgroup can change everything. "Somebody out there is getting tortured" is completely different to "one of our loyal genin is being tortured".
 
eaglejarl said:
How?
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How could he have done better? I mentioned a few points before the update; I might do a more detailed breakdown later (no promises). You asking because you don't know or because you're curious about my comments?
Velorien said:
None of Hazō's fears stopped him from mentally filling away "Mewramasa, Devourer of Unworthy Souls" for future use. If Mum had really told Keiko about his first crush and the haiku, he was going to need all the trump cards he could get.
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Pish, and you said teammates don't do social combat.
Vecht said:
Can we swap to Keiko as PC? She seems so much more sane than everyone else.
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I'd vote for this, for obvious reasons.

(E: I wouldn't actually vote for this, it'd be cheating.)
 
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Roomba said:
I don't think this has anything to do with morality per se, given that Hazou is complicit in the murder of a ship-full of innocent civilians. He just doesn't get it.
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He did try hard to prevent that (within the boundaries of the mission, anyway), and still has guilt and nightmares about it. Probably as a result of the hivemind's influence (for a start, everything to do with Uplift), Hazō has very enlightened views relative to most of his society.

faflec said:
We should vote for the Sage as PC, so that we can use his unlimited power to actually get shit done.
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You already know what you must do in order to get all the XP, all of it.
 
Mari is clearly manipulating us to allow her to be all sad and useless, we should inform her that we see through the act and that she should help us with all these problems if she feels so bad. Geez, how selfish of her!
 
I agree with the uncle murder thing. Hazos reaction seems... Extreme?

I mean. I can appreciate how weird it would be if he didn't care at all.

It's just... Mari has big bold sexual abuse issues. Like that time she killed some guy because of a PTSD flash back and screwed the mission up.

Also, she's kinda of acting like Keiko yes. Bit also a bit like Hazou? (Not respecting peoples agency) Is there any noburi St mental issue she is also leaning into?
 
I'm really enjoying this entire time back in Leaf. Excellent writing, guys.

And our sister keeps finding new ways to terrify me.
 
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A completely different subject: Casino Seal.

I think our next modifications should be either:

1) making it directional
2) making it vibrate according to intensity

Whichever Kagome/Hazō thinks it's easier to do
 
Velorien said:
Keiko's psyche + Mori Voice + hivemind sounds like a recipe for this quest turning from adventure/politics into psychological horror.

Ah, whom am I kidding? I'd have a blast.
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OMG YES

[X] Make Keiko the PC

(^ that is real ecks. vote am for srs.)

E: I'm also running on fumes after uh... fuck, how long have I been awake? Maybe this might not be reflectively endorsed by not-delirous!me
 
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Roomba said:
Hazou's parents were simply so unusually (for MfD-verse) good at parenthood, that he literally cannot conceive of hating Hana enough to actually hurt her. Which is why he doesn't get why Mari felt like she did. I don't think this has anything to do with morality per se, given that Hazou is complicit in the murder of a ship-full of innocent civilians. He just doesn't get it.
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I thought Hazō was just a mama's boy.
 
Vecht said:
OMG YES

[X] Make Keiko the PC

(^ that is real ecks. vote am for srs.)

E: I'm also running on fumes after uh... fuck, how long have I been awake? Maybe this might not be reflectively endorsed by not-delirous!me
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I'm not sure why you want to turn Keiko into a computer , but as long as we don't install windows and keep the Frozen Skein distro already there, I think I'm on board with this.
 
Velorien said:
He did try hard to prevent that (within the boundaries of the mission, anyway), and still has guilt and nightmares about it. Probably as a result of the hivemind's influence (for a start, everything to do with Uplift), Hazō has very enlightened views relative to most of his society.
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Yeah, I know, and my intent wasn't to condemn him or really compare what Mari did to the Sunset Racer. Rather, Hazou's reaction to the revelation wasn't focused on Mari torturing a helpless civilian to death, but rather on the fact that he was family. Hazou trying to process this, asks himself "Could I do that to my mother? No way, no matter what she did.". So his shock, I feel, isn't so much "Mari is evil!", but more "I don't understand her at all. Do I even know her?".

It doesn't come up a lot, but I think Hazou actually feels very strongly about familial bonds, and that's part of the reason he reacted the way he did.

Velorien said:
I may have dropped a few subtle hints throughout this quest that I enjoy writing Keiko. I'm not sure how she'd fare as PC, though. Keiko's psyche + Mori Voice + hivemind sounds like a recipe for this quest turning from adventure/politics into psychological horror.

Ah, whom am I kidding? I'd have a blast.
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Man, I actually want to see the hivemind take on the Mori voice. If that apathetic AI thinks it can outdo us in a contest of dispassionate optimization, it has another thing coming.
 
Hm... First off, great chapter @Velorien. I want to be clear that I thoroughly enjoyed like 98% of this.

But the very end with Hazou's reaction kind of... took me out of it a bit. Why?

Because (and I can't find a quote on this one (@faflec?) though I remember it quite well) back during the Arikada incident, Hazou reflected that he might not have been able to stop torturing Arikada, or something to that effect, which leads me to believe that Hazou would have been able to empthize easily enough with Mari's emotions there, even if he didn't quite understand the circumstances.
 
We should hold off any actual planning until after tomorrow, when @Velorien drops the Sasuke dinner like a nuclear bomb through the metaphorical kitchen window.
 
Cariyaga said:
Hm... First off, great chapter @Velorien. I want to be clear that I thoroughly enjoyed like 98% of this.

But the very end with Hazou's reaction kind of... took me out of it a bit. Why?

Because (and I can't find a quote on this one (@faflec?) though I remember it quite well) back during the Arikada incident, Hazou reflected that he might not have been able to stop torturing Arikada, or something to that effect, which leads me to believe that Hazou would have been able to empthize easily enough with Mari's emotions there, even if he didn't quite understand the circumstances.
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Velorien said:
There was a part of Hazō that wished he'd been the one to torture Arikada for information. He wanted to hurt her, so much, for what she'd done to his Akane, and for what she'd nearly done to Akane, to make her scream, and he knew that now he never could.

Another part of him was looking at himself in horror, for impulses that he never knew he'd had. Did other people feel like this, feel the instinct to protect one's own turning into a desire—a need—for violence? If it had been him torturing Arikada, would he have been able to stop when he had what he needed?

For the first time, Hazō realised why Mist trained its ninja to be tools. He'd always assumed it was to remove compassion, to avoid it staying your hand when you needed to hurt or kill. But it wasn't, was it? Mist turned its ninja into tools because a tool would know when to stop. It would do what was necessary and exactly what was necessary, never being consumed by anger or hatred or bloodlust or any of the infinite darker passions brought out by the battlefield. It was because Inoue-sensei could turn herself into a tool that she was able to save Akane and complete the mission. Could Hazō have done the same?
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