Remove ads

Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

Reader mode
MMKII said:
@Velorien @eaglejarl @OliWhail

I don't know what it should do, and I don't know what it should cost, but can we get a disguise stunt named "Mari's Makeup Lessons." with narrative justification that Mari taught Hazou extensive usage of a variety of cosmetics and similar products
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
We do have drafts for a variety of disguise feats languishing in a design doc. It's not impossible.

eaglejarl said:
Nah, those are filler.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
TaliesinSkye said:
Just when I think I've seen the most ridiculous thing put into the canon it always goes and one ups itself again.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
To the best of my understanding, moon goblins are not merely canon but the series's Big Bad. I am not making this up.

There's a reason I stopped watching shortly before the final arc.

MMKII said:
On the plus side: we can continue to be the dark horse for a little while longer.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
A dark horse which is... on fire. Nobody will see it coming.
 
Noumero said:
Yes, eating on the ceiling is necessary. We took the "floor is lava" idea from her in the first place, so we know it's the kind of bizarreness she appreciates. It's a non-manipulative way of building rapport, which is useful. Similar with the post-interaction survey.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
FINALLY SOMEONE LISTENS TO ME!!!

[x] Ami Plan: One Assuredly Containing No Disastrous Oversights


Velorien said:
A dark horse which is... on fire. Nobody will see it coming.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
You're right, we should get rid of Ikeda.
 
[x] Ami Plan: One Assuredly Containing No Disastrous Oversights

@Velorien: Does Hazou have the time and capabilities to make a ^_^ seal stamp to be ready for the date?
 
Noumero said:
Gift: high-grade writing implement.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I would like to repeat my objection to this gift. A high-grade gift of material value is far too much for this casual first meeting, and it doesn't even have any strong symbolic appeal to make up the gap. Something we drew with our calligraphy, on the other hand, can be fancy without being overmuch for a casual meeting, and the choice of what we draw can carry a stronger symbolic meaning than a simple brush.

This is a small part of the plan but is likely disproportionately visible in the update itself, so I can't conscionably vote for your plan like this.
 
Inferno Vulpix said:
I would like to repeat my objection to this gift. A high-grade gift of material value is far too much for this casual first meeting, and it doesn't even have any strong symbolic appeal to make up the gap. Something we drew with our calligraphy, on the other hand, can be fancy without being overmuch for a casual meeting, and the choice of what we draw can carry a stronger symbolic meaning than a simple brush.

This is a small part of the plan but is likely disproportionately visible in the update itself, so I can't conscionably vote for your plan like this.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Uhh. It sounds like we're giving her a fancy pen. This doesn't sound like it should be a big deal.
 
Noumero said:
As the result of collaboration between @Roomba and me, I present you:

[x] Ami Plan: One Assuredly Containing No Disastrous Oversights
Wordcount: 491.
  • Take time to prepare. Consider drawing a concept map (covertly; destroy it afterwards).
  • Thoughts:
    • Mari stated Ami wouldn't reject Keiko; Keiko trusted Ami unquestioningly. Yet, Ami met Keiko just to cut her off? Suspicious.
    • To divine a plan's goal, look at the results. Ami wanted to stop Keiko from interacting with the Mori? Perhaps it was necessary to protect her?
      • Don't share this thought with anyone.
    • Be aware: Your Uplift beliefs are public now. Talking about them with Ami could be seen as probing for support.
  • Sanity-check everything below with Jiraiya.
  • Formalities:
    • Clothes: casual; colours: politically neutral.
    • Gift: high-grade writing implement.
    • Demeanour: diplomatic, leaning toward casual; fairly interested in the discussion.
  • Guidelines:
    • Precommitments (overriding priority):
      • Avoid on-the-spot commitments, however small.
      • Under no circumstances talk about OPSEC-sensitive topics. Ami may make it sound like a good idea, but past!you knows better. If refusing to talk would be telling, stonewall.
      • Don't proactively bring up topics of uncertain confidentiality (breeding programs, scorch squads, Jiraiya's internal politics...).
    • Frankness:
      • You won't be able to deceive her, so don't play games. Be honest where appropriate, even if it's embarrassing.
      • Example: "Why the meeting? Jiraiya hoped you'd be less guarded talking to me; I wanted to meet the Mori prodigy."
      • Don't be rude, though.
    • Collectedness:
      • Converse at a deliberate pace. Don't get caught up, don't knee-jerk.
      • Actively work to retain mental balance. Remember meeting Shikaku.
      • Be mindful of words and gestures. Observe, memorize.
  • Topics:
    • Icebreakers:
      • Suggest dining on the ceiling/wall (check if possible beforehand).
      • Trade unconventional personal questions. E. g., "what are you proud of, but never have an excuse to discuss?".
      • At some point, explain CCnJ.
    • "Social philosophy". (Avoid the particulars of political situation; stay abstract.)
      • Uplift: You've stated your position publicly. What are Ami's thoughts?
      • Existential threats:
        • Global wars are devastating. Is lasting peace possible?
        • Civilization may be gradually declining even in "peacetime", due to chakra-beasts destroying civilian villages. Can we reverse the trend? Improve on the status quo?
    • "Family".
      • To make a lasting impact, one needs to be efficient — which sometimes means ruthlessly sacrificing personal attachments and innocents for power, detachedly thinking of your loved ones as resources, or making decisions for them that would go against their wishes.
        • Is there a balance to be struck, between efficiency and humanity?
      • Don't bring Keiko up. If Ami does, suggest postponing the topic.
        • Keiko is unaware of this meeting, so you're uncomfortable discussing her.
  • Contingencies.
    • If put off-balance: keep your cool, mentally distance yourself.
      • She may try to convince you of her falling-out with Keiko (if it's fake) by e. g. subtly insulting her, or drawing parallels to Hana's exile. Don't let anger control you.
    • End meeting ASAP if Ami...
      • ... persistently pursues a crucial OPSEC topic.
      • ... invites a third party over.
  • If it went well:
    • Agree on a scheme to confirm integrity of letters. (Example: "nth letter of every sentence follows a pattern".)
    • Hand her a post-interaction survey. Collect it next time.
  • Yes, the plan is over 400 words. I think it's entirely warranted, though.
  • Yes, eating on the ceiling is necessary. We took the "floor is lava" idea from her in the first place, so we know it's the kind of bizarreness she appreciates. It's a non-manipulative way of building rapport, which is useful. Similar with the post-interaction survey.
  • Making Hazou start doubting the truth value of Ami/Keiko falling-out is important for controlling his perception of her. Right now, he mostly sees her as "Keiko's sister who rejected her", and albeit he resolved to not judge her too quickly, he doesn't have a positive or even neutral image of her either. We don't want him getting angry at her and crashing the meeting, so let's inject doubt.
  • Bringing up Keiko, though, is unwise for several reasons, varying from "it's disrespectful" to "Ami will focus on manipulating Hazou to strengthen her deception" to "Ami will arrange for Hazou to be thrown out of Mist to cover up the OPSEC breach". So let's not.
  • Talking about Uplift, on the other hand, is pretty much unavoidable, after Hazou's pre-battle speech.
  • Which would segue into the "family" topic, which I think Ami would find interesting, since both she and her mentor (Ryugamine) struggled with it. And it's another point of commonality between her and Hazou.
  • I think we need more contingencies, though. E. g., what if Akatsuki attacks? What if the Mori Voice assumes direct control? What if Zabuza intercepts Hazou on the way to the restaurant, and invites him to his tea party? Dangerous.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

All in all, I like the plan. I do have a few nitpicks, however.

I think CCNJ is something that's really only useful with people we really trust. Bringing it up with Ami seems foolish and pointless.

Why wall eating? What positive is there to suggesting that? All it does is make us seem silly. Ditto for the post-interaction survey.
 
Veedrac said:
Wasn't he using Living Roots, though? IIUC this would have made a large vibration, which means it is correspondingly easy to detect and pinpoint the vibration.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
He's got Perception 6 and he's inside a wall over a hundred feet away. He didn't hear it.


EDIT: After discussion with The One That I Have To Admit Is More Evil Than I, it has been determined that Hazō will spend the rest of the day recovering from being set on fire and blown up. The Thursday update will therefore be his date with Ami and I'll pick up where that leaves off.
 
Last edited:
eaglejarl said:
EDIT: After discussion with The One That I Have To Admit Is More Evil Than I, it has been determined that Hazō will spend the rest of the day recovering from being set on fire and blown up. The Thursday update will therefore be his date with Ami and I'll pick up where that leaves off.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
On the plus side, he has his ready excuse for not being as put together as he usually (snrk) is.
 
eaglejarl said:
He's got Perception 6 and he's inside a wall over a hundred feet away. He didn't hear it.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Also he didn't have LR up at the time I think?

EDIT: After discussion with The One That I Have To Admit Is More Evil Than I, it has been determined that Hazō will spend the rest of the day recovering from being set on fire and blown up. The Thursday update will therefore be his date with Ami and I'll pick up where that leaves off.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Beers with Noburi and Kiba scheduled for Thursday afternoon + evening, got it.
 
Noumero said:
As the result of collaboration between @Roomba and me, I present you:

[x] Ami Plan: One Assuredly Containing No Disastrous Oversights
Wordcount: 491.
  • Take time to prepare. Consider drawing a concept map (covertly; destroy it afterwards).
  • Thoughts:
    • Mari stated Ami wouldn't reject Keiko; Keiko trusted Ami unquestioningly. Yet, Ami met Keiko just to cut her off? Suspicious.
    • To divine a plan's goal, look at the results. Ami wanted to stop Keiko from interacting with the Mori? Perhaps it was necessary to protect her?
      • Don't share this thought with anyone.
    • Be aware: Your Uplift beliefs are public now. Talking about them with Ami could be seen as probing for support.
  • Sanity-check everything below with Jiraiya.
  • Formalities:
    • Clothes: casual; colours: politically neutral.
    • Gift: high-grade writing implement.
    • Demeanour: diplomatic, leaning toward casual; fairly interested in the discussion.
  • Guidelines:
    • Precommitments (overriding priority):
      • Avoid on-the-spot commitments, however small.
      • Under no circumstances talk about OPSEC-sensitive topics. Ami may make it sound like a good idea, but past!you knows better. If refusing to talk would be telling, stonewall.
      • Don't proactively bring up topics of uncertain confidentiality (breeding programs, scorch squads, Jiraiya's internal politics...).
    • Frankness:
      • You won't be able to deceive her, so don't play games. Be honest where appropriate, even if it's embarrassing.
      • Example: "Why the meeting? Jiraiya hoped you'd be less guarded talking to me; I wanted to meet the Mori prodigy."
      • Don't be rude, though.
    • Collectedness:
      • Converse at a deliberate pace. Don't get caught up, don't knee-jerk.
      • Actively work to retain mental balance. Remember meeting Shikaku.
      • Be mindful of words and gestures. Observe, memorize.
  • Topics:
    • Icebreakers:
      • Suggest dining on the ceiling/wall (check if possible beforehand).
      • Trade unconventional personal questions. E. g., "what are you proud of, but never have an excuse to discuss?".
      • At some point, explain CCnJ.
    • "Social philosophy". (Avoid the particulars of political situation; stay abstract.)
      • Uplift: You've stated your position publicly. What are Ami's thoughts?
      • Existential threats:
        • Global wars are devastating. Is lasting peace possible?
        • Civilization may be gradually declining even in "peacetime", due to chakra-beasts destroying civilian villages. Can we reverse the trend? Improve on the status quo?
    • "Family".
      • To make a lasting impact, one needs to be efficient — which sometimes means ruthlessly sacrificing personal attachments and innocents for power, detachedly thinking of your loved ones as resources, or making decisions for them that would go against their wishes.
        • Is there a balance to be struck, between efficiency and humanity?
      • Don't bring Keiko up. If Ami does, suggest postponing the topic.
        • Keiko is unaware of this meeting, so you're uncomfortable discussing her.
  • Contingencies.
    • If put off-balance: keep your cool, mentally distance yourself.
      • She may try to convince you of her falling-out with Keiko (if it's fake) by e. g. subtly insulting her, or drawing parallels to Hana's exile. Don't let anger control you.
    • End meeting ASAP if Ami...
      • ... persistently pursues a crucial OPSEC topic.
      • ... invites a third party over.
  • If it went well:
    • Agree on a scheme to confirm integrity of letters. (Example: "nth letter of every sentence follows a pattern".)
    • Hand her a post-interaction survey. Collect it next time.
  • Yes, the plan is over 400 words. I think it's entirely warranted, though.
  • Yes, eating on the ceiling is necessary. We took the "floor is lava" idea from her in the first place, so we know it's the kind of bizarreness she appreciates. It's a non-manipulative way of building rapport, which is useful. Similar with the post-interaction survey.
  • Making Hazou start doubting the truth value of Ami/Keiko falling-out is important for controlling his perception of her. Right now, he mostly sees her as "Keiko's sister who rejected her", and albeit he resolved to not judge her too quickly, he doesn't have a positive or even neutral image of her either. We don't want him getting angry at her and crashing the meeting, so let's inject doubt.
  • Bringing up Keiko, though, is unwise for several reasons, varying from "it's disrespectful" to "Ami will focus on manipulating Hazou to strengthen her deception" to "Ami will arrange for Hazou to be thrown out of Mist to cover up the OPSEC breach". So let's not.
  • Talking about Uplift, on the other hand, is pretty much unavoidable, after Hazou's pre-battle speech.
  • Which would segue into the "family" topic, which I think Ami would find interesting, since both she and her mentor (Ryugamine) struggled with it. And it's another point of commonality between her and Hazou.
  • I think we need more contingencies, though. E. g., what if Akatsuki attacks? What if the Mori Voice assumes direct control? What if Zabuza intercepts Hazou on the way to the restaurant, and invites him to his tea party? Dangerous.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I've got quibbles.

First: You say for Hazou to be honest, but then immediately thereafter have him lying about his reasons for meeting Ami. In the chapter where Hazou asked for Jiraiya's permission to meet Ami, his reasons for doing so were political -- to help Jiraiya get a better read on her -- and for Keiko. Hazou has never expressed interest in meeting her because she is a prodigy.

Second: I have significant concerns about the topics listed under Family. Perhaps it's phrasing, but it still seems distinctly uncomfortable to discuss.
 
Last edited:
faflec said:
Like this post if you're being held hostage.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Now, it's not such an outlandish claim.

I mean, Eaglejarl's specialty is punching, and Velorien's is subtlety and complexity.

And if you look at the story, punching really is the epitome of good.

I mean, Akane is all about punching. And she's a pretty great person.
Same can be said about Tsunade- lots of punch, and a humanitarian.
Gai? Weird, sure, but a beacon of YOUTH none the less.
Hazou fits the bill as well.

There's a theme going on, with taijutsu users being great people.
Let's not forget the tournament itself- uniting nations in name of punching eachother.

So it's pretty easy to come to the conclusion that Eaglejarl is gooder of the two QMs.
 
Reader mode
You must login or register to reply here.
Remove ads
Back
Top