- Location
- Book Fort
- Pronouns
- They/Them
...Welp, that hurt more than I expected it to
Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest
- Thread starter eaglejarl
- Start date
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- Tags
- naruto rationalist romance armageddon is looking better and better damn you kishimoto explosions everywhere explosives solve everyone if in doubt surrender to the mercy of zabuza it seemed like a good idea at the time looks like a really bad case of being a jōnin my god. where does the lore end? precommitting is the winning plan screaming in kagome screw the rules i have explosives something bad might still happen sometimes you gotta sociopath stabby zabby subsection c of paragraph 9 should include we can weaponize this so hard
...Welp, that hurt more than I expected it to
Seriously, if there was ever a lever to pull, we should make contact with Aizen's base of support.
Aizen made an alliance with the SSSSS, so obviously we need to make contact with the Arikada. If we can't convince the Isan leadership directly, get their allies to do so for us by getting in their good graces or at least try and bribe them.
Aizen made an alliance with the SSSSS, so obviously we need to make contact with the Arikada. If we can't convince the Isan leadership directly, get their allies to do so for us by getting in their good graces or at least try and bribe them.
- Location
- The Void
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Once again please read the plan. Where does it declare martial law? Where did it call for insurrection?
What it did do was have Keiko proclaim herself as a martial and religious leader in Isan. Which is something that if we want to do if we want to succeed.
Secondly what the plan had us do was immediately go out and start doing real tangible uplift. We where having Keiko do her duty as the protector of Isan.
Except I very much did account for it
As you can see this was the plan from the very beginning. I never hid this. If the high priest decided to pick up a conflict ball and immediately move against us that would be fine. Because we win in a physical confrontation and it gives us an opportunity to destroy his credibility by acting against the Heir of Ui. You can disagree with the plan but acting like I didn't account for enemy agency is not a path forward here
Chapter 430, Part 2: Her Own Redemption
- Location
- UK
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Morning came. Regrettably. The pain came with it. What more proof was needed of the irrational structure of the world that Kei, the injured party, was the one compelled to feel pain after that confrontation?
Her vengeance had been necessary. Just. The only option left to her after it had become apparent that Mari had no interest in facing justice. She was no saint, no kami of judgement to awaken a sense of morality within Mari's heart and force her to confront her sins from a place of honesty rather than self-flagellation (an art Kei knew all too well, just as she knew its self-centred nature). Yet it was necessary for balance to be restored, and Kei knew of no other path left to her.
Kei had spent so long wracking her brain. How was it possible to take proper, proportionate revenge on someone she still loved, and someone whose suffering would be mirrored in their other loved ones? How could she repay monstrous deeds without herself becoming a monster? Where could she even find the initiative? She had no one to confide in, no way to seek advice. Hazō and Noburi would only seek to dissuade her, having somehow forgotten—or been manipulated into forgetting—that Mari had cost them everything, had saved them only by coincidence while sacrificing every other person she had brought to the Swamp of Death, and then slept soundly, troubled only by thoughts of missing-nin threatening her own precious survival. They had not even sought an apology for destroying their lives.
Akane was incapable of understanding true evil, and would likely struggle with vengeance as a concept to begin with. Kagome she dismissed from consideration. She did not dare consult Ami. Ami had, for reasons Kei did not understand, not moved to take vengeance of her own, and if she were to change her mind, Kei could not imagine the scale of the destruction. It was very rare for Ami to commit to anger. Shikamaru could not be involved—he was more protective of her than anyone realised, and it would be disastrous for this to become in any way a Nara-Gōketsu matter. Tenten… Tenten might perhaps counsel forgiveness, for Kei to be the better person, if only for the sake of her own soul. But Kei was not a better person. Nor was Snowflake, but she possessed no insight unavailable to Kei.
And then, before Kei ever found any answers, Mari laid her true feelings bare and Kei did not have the strength of will not to respond in kind. Even in the middle of a mission. Even in front of an outsider. Even in hostile territory where they were doubtless being spied on by their hosts.
They would all side with Mari. Of course they would. Yuno had no voice in this matter, but Noburi—assuming he had survived—would have sympathy for Mari's fresh pain, not for what Kei had carried with her all these years. Kei could not guess what had happened to his own. Hazō would seek to mediate, as if the two sides of the scale were equal. Anyone else? Well, Kei was the aggressor now.
Still, there was one consolation. Today, Hazō's plan proposed, she would attempt to secure Takahashi-sensei's cooperation. It would be a balm to her soul to speak with her old master, and a contribution she could make to the mission as herself rather than as a false hero from a faith she even now despoiled.
-o-
Takahashi-sensei's home had not changed at all. There was the rack of scrolls from which he would pull forth some work of wisdom, present it to her, then despair as she stumbled over the archaic script, and recite it word for word for her, from memory, in that rich baritone voice. There was the alcove with the ancient ritual tools that she saw in a new light now that she was intimately familiar with the T&I catalogues available on request from the main office. There was the table at which they would sit, sipping bitter Isanese green tea during breaks as she narrated the mediocre story of her life while he listened, nodded, and made occasional incisive comments. There was… there was not his daughter, waiting dutifully to welcome her in with a whisper about Takahashi-sensei's mood. Kei hoped she was not unwell.
And there was Takahashi-sensei himself, and he had aged. In less than two years, it seemed as if he had gained ten or more. Still strong, still upright, still the image of a powerful shinobi, yes, but the Takahashi-sensei before her was weary where before he had been merely serene.
She bowed deeply. "I have returned, Takahashi-sensei."
"Welcome back, Keiko."
With his permission, she seated herself at the table. A servant was already bringing tea, because of course Takahashi-sensei had anticipated her visit.
"I apologise for taking so long to come pay my respects," she said.
"Not at all. I understand your hesitation. Speaking with me is unlikely to reflect well on you in Azai's eyes."
"How are you, Sensei?" Kei asked.
"Like a man who, in his hurry to lance a boil, ended up cutting off his own foot," Takahashi-sensei said. "You have had time, now, to see Azai's Isan for yourself. What are your impressions?"
Kei took the time to consider the question. The tea was even more bitter than she recalled.
"It feels more vibrant somehow, more alive. Yet something about that aliveness troubles me. Those who were once apathetic and relaxed now labour driven by religious fervour. We visitors are no longer suspicious curiosities. We are either friend or foe, depending how much trust a villager possesses in the Pangolin Summoner and her retinue. People congregate in groups much more than they did before, yet in some sections of the village I hear only a deathly silence. And the patrols… the patrols remind me of Hidden Mist. Is Isan truly so rife with crime now that bands of shinobi bearing the ruler's mark must prowl the streets ensuring compliance with the law?"
Takahashi-sensei gave a dry, humourless chuckle. "The law, is it? Many would say that the village has no need for law as long as tradition is upheld, that Ui's wisdom contains all the guidance we need in our daily lives. How convenient it must be, then, to be Ui's wisdom made flesh."
"I must infer, then," Kei said cautiously, "that you are not a supporter of the High Priest's regime?"
"How could I not be?" Takahashi-sensei said wryly. "I am, after all, the man who brought it into being. I am the one who ensured you would take the scroll, and I am the one who stood by and allowed Azai to take power when decisive action might have taken history down another path. The Aida and the Inoue were fragile and easily shattered. The Kannagi lacked foresight. Tsukiko could not help playing games, even given the stakes, and Azai was the better player. And me? I played peacemaker when what was needed was immediate, overwhelming force."
"You blame yourself," Kei concluded with her power of insight that shamed the most brilliant of sea slugs.
"You did not come here to bathe in an old man's self-pity," Takahashi-sensei said. "I am not a subtle man, and do not exhaust myself attempting to conceal my positions, but Azai has found use for me nonetheless. Those few others who share my cynicism insist on gathering around me, believing that I must possess some wisdom that could undo the victory Azai has already won. Thus, he may monitor them freely, and should he sense brewing rebellion, he may strike them all down at once. I believe it is for that reason that he has not acted against the Takahashi."
"Would you undo that victory," Kei asked, "if you were provided with the chance? Would you rebel if you believed you could succeed?"
"Tell me, Keiko," Takahashi-sensei said suddenly, "why are you here? Did you come here as Isan's Pangolin Summoner or as the agent of a colonial power that seeks to add this village to its collection?"
Startled by the question, Kei took a few seconds to gather her thoughts.
"I have come here as Nara Keiko," she told him. "I owe Isan a great debt, and its repayment must involve securing Isan's welfare. I also sincerely believe that the best way to do so is for Isan to ally with my village, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Leaf possesses the best medical ninjutsu in the world. It possesses—"
Takahashi-sensei raised a hand, cutting her off. "Spare me the propaganda, Keiko. I am quite certain that you have a beautiful and persuasive speech ready for me—you always excelled when given time to prepare—and I am also quite certain that any delegate from Cloud or Mist, or perhaps Rock or Sand, would have one just as fine. Azai, with his outsider contacts, may have some way to judge the truth of such claims. I do not.
"No, my interest remains focused on you. You call yourself a Nara now. You have joined a second of the Five Forbidden Clans. I would not have imagined such a thing possible, much less permissible."
"What exactly do you know of the five clans?" Kei asked warily.
"Legends. Idioms. Vague yet dire warnings in the oldest scrolls. You, with your more sophisticated culture, would doubtless dismiss such things as primitive superstition. But as I doubt you are here to cause the end of the world, I do not wish to waste this limited time we have together speaking of them."
Takahashi-sensei set down his teacup, and his gaze sharpened to pierce her.
"What is your status in Leaf, Keiko? Without modesty or exaggeration."
What was her status? Her status was ridiculous. She would not condemn Takahashi-sensei if he refused to believe it.
"After we left Isan," Kei said, "we eventually joined Leaf, where we founded a new clan, the Gōketsu, under the leadership of the now-departed legendary shinobi Jiraiya. That clan sits on Leaf's Clan Council, and while it is small, it is influential, with two summoners other than myself, and two sealmasters. I partake in that influence as sister to Hazō, the head of the clan, although my participation in the clan's daily affairs is limited.
"I then married into the Nara, of whom it seems you know. I am consort to Shikamaru, head of the Nara, and informal leader of the Ino-Shika-Chō clan alliance, also all with seats on the Clan Council. With the clan's senior population depleted by an enemy assault, I serve as second-in-command de facto as well as de jure, attending to those facets of clan rulership for which Shikamaru does not have the time or energy.
"Finally, through the political machinations of my birth sister, I have found myself one of the triumvirate that leads Leaf's clanless ninja, a previously disunited collective that comprises a third of the village. That collective also holds a seat on the Clan Council."
Takahashi-sensei's expression had changed subtly, but Kei lacked the capacity to interpret it.
"It seems you have accumulated a remarkable amount of power for your young age," he said.
"On the surface, certainly," Kei acknowledged. "Of course, my activities have always been primarily administrative in nature. It is generally the others who initiate projects and make decisions, since given the limitations of the Frozen Skein, I have always…"
She had always… Always…
The realisation was blinding. It was less like being struck by a thunderbolt than like being immolated in lightning. Here, in another land, with her ordinary life suspended, she looked back and saw the unbearably obvious.
Always was over. Always had been over ever since she reconciled with Snowflake. There was no need for her to remain in the clerical, facilitatory role Ami had granted her within the KEI, where Ami wove plots, and Naruto took action, and Kei sat in the background and managed the parts for which they lacked either time or interest. There was no need for her to merely organise and maintain the clan so that Shikamaru's policies could be implemented smoothly and efficiently.
The sudden rush of freedom was absolutely terrifying.
"Yes," she corrected her past self. "I do appear to have a certain amount of power."
"Hypothetically," Takahashi-sensei went on, "how many votes do you believe you could command within Hidden Leaf's clan council?"
They had performed this calculation previously, for the Concubine Laws. Assuming her intent did not run counter to the interests of the KEI or the Ino-Shika-Chō…
"On an issue of importance, more than a third," Kei concluded. "Less than half."
"I believe that is a stronger argument for an Isan-Leaf alliance than any grandiose speech you could make," Takahashi-sensei told her.
"What? Why?"
"Because I have the measure of you, Nara Keiko," Takahashi-sensei said. "You are intelligent, loyal, and hard-working. You fear and hate betrayal, and are helplessly faithful to those who show you acceptance. Perhaps more importantly, you acknowledge your debt to Isan, and I suspect you cannot stand the thought that Isan's corruption, and the coming end of our centuries-old way of life, has its roots in nothing more than your selfish desire for power."
Kei bowed her head.
"I have no reason to trust the distant powers of Hidden Leaf," Takahashi-sensei said. "But I trust your loyalty and your guilt. If you can swear that you will protect Isan from those in the outside world who would exploit us, with all the power at your command, then I will consent to an alliance between Isan and your adopted home."
It was not a decision.
"I so swear."
"Good," Takahashi-sensei said, and smiled warmly. "Now, Azai's spies will soon have recovered from their distractions. I shall call for more tea and sweets, and you can tell your old summoning instructor all about the Seventh Path, as you have been doing this entire morning."
And with that, Kei allowed herself to relax in the only safe space she would have for the remainder of her stay in Isan.
-o-
You have received 1 + 1 = 2 XP (this being a second day).
-o-
What do you do?
Voting closes on Saturday 8th of May, 1 p.m. New York time.
- Location
- Book Fort
- Pronouns
- They/Them
That was sweet. I remember being scared of her sensei when the Uplift Team first traveled to Isan. I remember worrying that Kei would choose to stay in Isan, where she was accepted and celebrated. I remember, quietly, worrying if it would be better for Kei's personal growth as a person to stay in Isan...
I am glad that we seem to be able to get an alliance with Isan and Leaf without wrecking Isan's culture. It's weird and backwards, sure. But it's unique and worthy of preserving (at least, the parts that don't make random children out to be "cursed").
Maybe we'll be able to salvage this and get Yuno her tapirs to take back to Leaf after all! We'll be able to throw Yuno an Isan-Style marriage, the way she briefly lamented missing. Something small, private, perhaps?
But I digress. Point being, I'm glad that it seems possible to complete the mission without wrecking Isan to the ground
I am glad that we seem to be able to get an alliance with Isan and Leaf without wrecking Isan's culture. It's weird and backwards, sure. But it's unique and worthy of preserving (at least, the parts that don't make random children out to be "cursed").
Maybe we'll be able to salvage this and get Yuno her tapirs to take back to Leaf after all! We'll be able to throw Yuno an Isan-Style marriage, the way she briefly lamented missing. Something small, private, perhaps?
But I digress. Point being, I'm glad that it seems possible to complete the mission without wrecking Isan to the ground
- Location
- Europa, Jupiter Orbit
Our only direct contact person to Isan is Keiko, right? How much of the events of the last two chapters and/or the judgement regarding his last plan's inadequacy should we consider Hazō as being aware of during our formulation of the next Isan plan?
Edit: In other words, I am not sure if Mari, Keiko or Yuno would relay anything about this fight to Hazō, let alone do so fully and without a natural amount of bias.
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People in Isan don't care about spreading their religion. The reaction has been pretty much "why would other people worship our ancestors?". They care about security, not proselytizing.
- Location
- UK
- Pronouns
- He/Him
You can assume Keiko will tell him about the plan analysis. She is unlikely to say anything about the fight of her own accord, but on the other hand she is also not amazing at hiding her emotional state from people who know her well.
- Location
- The Soviet Republic of Canuckistan
- Pronouns
- He/Him
May we assume that Yuno would have communicated with Noburi, and Noburi would have said something via the contact with the Monkeys he would surely have, given that Lord Third and Jiriya would have recognized the tremendous value of secure and instantaneous communications via the Seventh Path, and that Asuma would have passed us a private and important letter, and that we'd have the broad strokes of the argument as a result?
Or, generally, may we write plans which assume we know what happened, roughly?
- Location
- UK
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Let us assume for the sake of simple planning that if you write a plan about it, Hazō will be able to get Keiko's side of the story out of her early in the check-in meeting.
[] Proto-Plan: Remove Curse, Cast as a Ritual
- Organise a public gathering.
- Keiko summons a pangolin cleric, and has them ritually purify Yuno of her curse to the best of their ability at purifying people of curses.
- There almost certainly isn't a curse on Yuno, but showing Isan that any curses that might have been on her have now been removed is the point of the exercise.
- Yuno, Mari, Kei's natural intellect, and Frozen-Skein, optimise this ceremony. Brief the cleric beforehand to make sure they don't do a faux-pas.
- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Correcting a confusion that was happening in Discord:
Isan has 500 people total. Of those, 400 are ninja.
The confusion is on the QMs. Isan originally had 100 people, of whom 80 were ninja. We retconned that up when we started thinking about inbreeding, and wanted to be clear that the ninja population stayed proportional.
Isan has 500 people total. Of those, 400 are ninja.
The confusion is on the QMs. Isan originally had 100 people, of whom 80 were ninja. We retconned that up when we started thinking about inbreeding, and wanted to be clear that the ninja population stayed proportional.
- Location
- The Void
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Thank you for informing us. I was under the impression that there where still only a 100 ninja and will be updating my plans accordingly. Taking our time has become much more important
Eisenhelm
gran dutch of douchery
- Location
- Colombia
crap, this means that the weakening of the blood theory is very plausible, as i don't think they have the numbers to sustain an evolutionary pressure that overtly favored ninja's over civilians without getting into a genetic bottleneck.
alternatively, this is the default and the only reason the rest of the E.N don't have these numbers is due to the insanely high mortality of young ninja compared to Isan.
- Location
- Liverpool
Once again? This is the first time I have commented on it. But proclaiming yourself martial and religious leader of a sovereign state after rallying the disenfranchised is an insurrection against the current religious and martial leader.
This isn't the first time issues of enemy agency have come up, nor the second. L But you are right in that bringing that up is not the path forward. Apologies.
That was a very satisfyingly unsatisfying forbidden lore tease. We really should circle back to that after we've done a few things.
So proud of her. That is a huge breakthrough. I'm excited to see what this, too, will bring.
+1 ally acquired, +1 mentor reconnected. Woot
- Location
- The Soviet Republic of Canuckistan
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I no longer believe it is wise to ask EJ to write this plan in this coming update: see below. I will be promptly re-posting it after Sunday's update; as ever, please feel free to suggest modifications (which do not involve gutting the plan; the core of it is a) Hazo believes that Keiko is failing to adequately acknowledge that people in general can change and that's holding her back and b) Hazo agrees that what Mari did was messed up and needs to be acknowledged.
[X] Action Plan: The First and Last Resort is Open and Honest Communication
Word count: 278
Word count: 278
- Offscreen:
- Asuma:
- Isan team needs money.
- Bank run changed our finances.
- Will take reasonable Tower loan.
- Ami/Tenten:
- Reach out.
- Keiko's negative self-image is endangering her.
- Interfering with mission performance.
- Worse, threatening relationships w/friends, family.
- Ask them to write Keiko letters.
- General:
- Search Jiriya's journals for mentions of Keiko.
- Move hot tub/other gifts to Seventh Path for Mari's birthday.
- Asuma:
- Keiko:
- Tone:
- CCnJ.
- We love and care about you.
- We believe you've failed to make a critical realization.
- Objectively, you've tremendously accomplished.
- You're the Pangolin summoner.
- You survived being missing-nin and returned to a village.
- You hold great influence in KEI, Nara, Goketsu.
- Your continued self-image of mediocrity is incompatible with these accomplishments. Reality cannot be incorrect.
- It's laughtably improbable/logically inconsistent that a mediocre shinobi could accomplish all that, and fool so many into thinking they're outstanding.
- Present Tenten/Ami's letters, Jiriya's notes.
- What Mari did was monstrous. Her failure to acknowledge her actions/their consequences is reprehensible.
- Many of Mari's actions since have been kind, loving, genuine.
- The realization: people change.
- None of us are the same since the swamp.
- You have changed. Mari has changed/is changing.
- You do not appear to have updated your conclusions based on new information.
- To reiterate: Mari had a responsibility to bring this up, and failed.
- As clan head, we must protect Mari from serious harm.
- However, there must be acknowledgement/reparations.
- We support you.
- Pause. Take a breath. Reiterate love, care, support. Answer questions/assess feelings before continuing.
- Our plans in Isan have been, generously, of mixed quality.
- We have secured [resources] from Asuma. The clan is at your disposal.
- What do you think we should do?
- Tone:
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- Location
- Yes.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I like FS's plan but I think we should save it for next Thursday.
Color-coded the plan to make it more obvious what we would like to be on-screen vs. offscreen. Blue are scenes, red is prep.
[X] Action Plan: Seal Team 6
Word Count: 294
Color-coded the plan to make it more obvious what we would like to be on-screen vs. offscreen. Blue are scenes, red is prep.
[X] Action Plan: Seal Team 6
Word Count: 294
- Akane, Haru, Gaku:
- Bank run update.
- Hyuga/Hagomoro connections are interesting.
- Can we track the scrip they spent? (Markings, wood/paper/other distinguishing qualities? Reference Kagome and Jiraiya's notes.)
- Very pleased with progress. Offer resources: writs from clan head, directly pressuring people, whatever we can provide.
- Tone: Haru is doing a great job, we want to enable his work without interfering.
- Sealmaster Coalition
- Prep (Offscreen)
- Kumokogo
- Could you defeat a Dragon independently? How much help would you need?
- How easy would it be to separate and ambush a single Dragon?
- Do they have any known weaknesses?
- What info should/can Hazou share?
- Asuma
- When Hazou's medium consequences heal, pitch the coalition to Asuma, request Asuma's attendance at meetings, availability permitting.
- Possibly ask Enma to go in his stead?
- Provide a summary of all discussions for Asuma.
- When Hazou's medium consequences heal, pitch the coalition to Asuma, request Asuma's attendance at meetings, availability permitting.
- Tsunade
- Tips for working with Orochimaru?
- Kumokogo
- Request the attendance of Leaf's Sealmasters and Summoners, with Asuma's backing if provided. Request that Summoners summon a Clan Representative.
- Explain what Hazou knows of the Great Seal and the Dragons, hand out copies of the Great Seal made with Kagome's help.
- Emphasize that one mostly-depowered Dragon massacred a battalion of Summons without injury, and could reach this Path at full power.
- Share Kumokogo's threat estimate of the Dragons and any information she wants passed on.
- Any information Summon Clans are willing to disclose would be greatly appreciated.
- Hazou has extensive notes on the Great Seal, but this project is beyond any one person. Understanding and fixing the seal will require everyone.
- One team should research fixing the seal, another should begin devising weapons for Summoners to use, since only they can reach the threat.
- Ask who would prefer what research team.
- Does anyone know anything about shaping stone seals?
- One team should research fixing the seal, another should begin devising weapons for Summoners to use, since only they can reach the threat.
- Prep (Offscreen)
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- Location
- The Soviet Republic of Canuckistan
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Is there anything bombastic we can do here? It is a lot of meetings. Would we be offscreening Kumokogo and Asuma? If so, maybe a conversation with Haru and Akane about the bank run?
I'm concerned that this plan would result in our needing to dip backwards in time in order to have a conversation with Keiko within 48 hours of the argument, and I really, really don't like the idea of leaving Keiko, bent on revenge and consciously distancing herself from anyone who could possibly dissuade her, more time to strengthen her resolve.
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- Location
- Book Fort
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Tell me about it. Apparently I accidentally unlocked/brushed up against some forbidden lore in my Shikamaru Omake, and Vel was kind/sadistic enough to allude towards it without further clarification. I swear, the QMs are evil sometimes.
[Pseudo-grumpy huff]
On Asuma, I think it's reasonable to assume that the Isan Team was given an expense account for it. Maybe you could ask about that, or expanding it?
And since you're bringing Keiko in on the side effects caused by Mari's TLitF (potential caldera issue there, depending on how Kei reacts), you may want to include a line about "you're blaming Current-Mari for Past-Mari's deeds. Between her personal growth from the Heartbreaker into Mama Bear, and the scars left by TLitF, Mari's a different person now. You're judging someone for the since of one who is dead and gone."
And then I'd ask Kei what she wants. An apology, surely, but the chapter also mentioned Vengeance. And Vengeance is not Retribution --and neither of those are Justice. Vengeance is a double-edged knife with no handle (maybe mention Mari going after her Uncle, and how killing him doesn't seem to have helped heal the scars he inflicted upon her?).
Does Kei want Justice? What could Mari do to possibly make up for it? Is Kei looking for punishment or rehabilitation? What is Kei's end goal in this?
Maybe Hazou could confer with Akane? She's better at verbalizing it, and such help could (Mechanically) be leveraged as an Aspect to be Tagged?
- Pronouns
- He/Him
There's a difference between "hello clan head x let us discuss marital policy" and "hey baddest bitches of Leaf, it is I, Hazou, here to give a badass inspirational speech about unity in the face of eldritch horrors" imo
I'm fine offscreening it, what would you put in the new Haru section?
As Keiko would not be in the scene, so long as Hazou doesn't need to think about her there would be no paradoxical thoughts. Same way Keiko told *him* "yeah political stuff happened but i'm not gonna talk about it" b.c. Vel didn't know what plan would win yet