Dragon Ball: After the End
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Okay, but let's not make firm assumptions until we've actually had a chance to scout out Garenhuld, okay?
This is actually one of the reasons I voted 'old friends,' because I thought it might lead to that outcome though not certainly.
Wiadi
Uncompromising Radical Leftist
- Location
- Something Clever
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I kind of doubt scouting Garenhuld is going to be something we can safely do right now - Dandeer will be very much on the lookout for any sign of our return, and with Carrick already under her thumb (and the rest of the planet's Seer population likely soon to follow) she should be reasonably able to detect us and respond if we're floating around in the Garenhuld area. Come to think of it, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Dandeer puts a group of Seers on constant Kakara-watching rotation, so we'll probably want to look into some sort of anti-scrying measures at some point.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
One of the reasons I wanted to vote 'Old Friends' NOW is so we have a chance of accomplishing this before Dandeer can get her ducks in a row on that issue- pay a quick visit to Senzu Hall, and then out again.
On some level we have to assume Dandeer can't establish total omniscience and omnipotence or we're screwed no matter what we try; we know her mind control spells have limitations to the extent that people actively fight her compulsions, and there may be a lot of limits we don't know about what she can and cannot do.
We're just going to have to trust that the 'resistance' Poptart mentioned, that is to say the Senzus and our friends, can actually hold on and hold out for a while, that Dandelor can make good enough wards to protect them, and that at some point in time we'll be able to visit them to make re-contact.
So I'd rather not get so paranoid about Dandeer's defenses that we effectively cut ourselves off from the friends we're planning to come back to rescue, y'know?
Wiadi
Uncompromising Radical Leftist
- Location
- Something Clever
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I mean, I certainly agree that we should come back at some point to make recontact - but returning immediately seems needlessly risky, as compared to waiting until we have (a) a plan, (b) anti-scrying measures, (c) enough power to make a fight of things, or (d) some combination of the above.
Like...getting a status update would be nice, sure, but we have no actionable information to give or get at the moment AFAICT. The Senzus and co. know that they need to turtle up and resist, Kakara knows that she needs to fly off into space and get stronger/trickier, and neither of those plans seems likely to change materially based on information one party could share with the other.
- Location
- Here and there
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Agreed. Much like the shire, we we won't be seeing Garenhuld again until the end of this venture.
HoratioVonBecker
Imperfectly Aligned
Well, I've been out of this for a bit.
[X] Those below.
I didn't forget! It's my main reason for still wanting to collect the Dragonballs, in fact - it turns out that we actually do have winnable options beyond 'blow up the planet, then wish it and the population back', but I'd still like to make sure the Scouts survive.
Ah, but it might actually be HFIL, and that place might be where we'd meet other pacifists. I want to try it.
Do you mean 'not warding Kakara against mind projection'?
[X] Those below.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
As is often the case, I think it comes down to a question of "so, do you try to strike quickly, before they are prepared, or do you strike slowly, after you are prepared?"
It's always down to a relative estimate of how much of an advantage they gain from prep time, versus how much you gain.
Well, if we can get everyone to make a gentleman's and/or ladies' agreement to not doomsay about what's happening on Garenhuld in our absence, and to take our punches if and when it turns out that Bad Stuff happened while we were away without undue amounts of screaming...
...then yeah, I can work with that.
It's mostly just that it's going to be hell on my nerves if we keep having random puffs and spurts of "oh, people we care about are probably dead or dying" darkening our doorstep because of people impulsively deciding to rain on our parade during the Space Training Arc. In THAT case I'd rather bite the bullet and find out what the damages are sooner, rather than later.
If that becomes a recurring pattern I'm going to be very unhappy.
That is actually a good reason/idea.
What indication do we have that pacifists go to Hell, be it, well, Hell, or the Home for Infinite Losers?
Yes, thank you for being the second person to point that out.
HoratioVonBecker
Imperfectly Aligned
Keeping in mind that my knowledge is almost entirely from the DBZ manga and wikis, I was under the impression that HFIL was a place where weak folks, rather than evil ones, go. I assume that either Hell is a different place or Freiza didn't originally count as strong, because of how little he trained.
Sorry about that; I've been fighting with Firefox ever since the ESR 'upgraded' to Quantum against my wishes. With the result that I haven't managed to catch up on the thread.
- Location
- Academy City
- Pronouns
- They
Hfil is really just a dub censor of hell. The two Demons from the snake way anime filler have the word hell on their shirts, but "they couldn't show that on kids television" or something so some dubs removed that and replaced it with hfil.
Doomed Wombat
Let's go Darling!
- Location
- Dancing on wires!
Hmmm...
I gotta wonder...depending on how many people we contacted and how many actually got to the Senzu...we could have started breaking down the boundaries between clans much quicker than I thought...
I mean I maybe wrong, but my read on the situation is that a decent chunk of why the two don't get along is because they're separated with few things bringing them together properly...being crammed in a small area fighting a constant foe seems like a way to do it.
Hopefully we got as many sorcerers to Dandelor as possible.
I gotta wonder...depending on how many people we contacted and how many actually got to the Senzu...we could have started breaking down the boundaries between clans much quicker than I thought...
I mean I maybe wrong, but my read on the situation is that a decent chunk of why the two don't get along is because they're separated with few things bringing them together properly...being crammed in a small area fighting a constant foe seems like a way to do it.
Hopefully we got as many sorcerers to Dandelor as possible.
- Location
- Italy
I don't think we knew any other sorcerer to send there, so probably not.
There are quite a bit of potential super saiyans though. It would depend on Dandelor making their wards strong enough to allow them to transform, but in that case there are quite a few.
...Now that i think about it, can Papata Fren transmit her radio program from inside the wards? It would be hilarious to have a rebel radio program. Dandeer would probably need a ritual like the genocide one to have everyone forget every episode
Doomed Wombat
Let's go Darling!
- Location
- Dancing on wires!
Well everyone you know and care for is kinda ambiguous, as we "know" a lot of Gokuan Sorcerors.I don't think we knew any other sorcerer to send there, so probably not.
There are quite a bit of potential super saiyans though. It would depend on Dandelor making their wards strong enough to allow them to transform, but in that case there are quite a few.
...Now that i think about it, can Papata Fren transmit her radio program from inside the wards? It would be hilarious to have a rebel radio program. Dandeer would probably need a ritual like the genocide one to have everyone forget every episode
HoratioVonBecker
Imperfectly Aligned
That's... true. An unexpected but very welcome bonus. Fun!
Compliant Omake: The Last DJ
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Non-canon and proud, unless Papata Fren can figure out how to rig a radio transmitter that can't be back-traced to Senzu Hall... waaait, cloak yourself in wards and set up a pirate radio station out in the middle of nowhere, then broadcast from there....Now that i think about it, can Papata Fren transmit her radio program from inside the wards? It would be hilarious to have a rebel radio program. Dandeer would probably need a ritual like the genocide one to have everyone forget every episode
Well, probably still noncanon.
The Last DJ
It was, literally, magical. Like some legendary artifact from myth, like the Power Pole or the Bansho Fan. The Cloak of Shadow, she'd taken to calling it. To ward the wearer from all perception, by mind or machine or magic. And it worked, by and large. Dandelor was good.
It let her walk right into an Aramaian long range military radio transmitter station, and smash the ceramic disk that contained, itself sealed by the disk, a spell that would render all the soldiers inside unconscious and amnesiac. For juuuust long enough for her to install the recording and tsew the hell out, then for it to play a few minutes later.
She knew what the recording would say, before the extra equipment she'd attached to the big long-range transmitter melted itself into slurry at the end of the message. It was her radio show. Hyper-compressed now, instead of encrypted. A burst of incomprehensible static to anyone with a power level below several hundred, on several of the most popular radio frequencies on Garenhuld. Never the same frequencies one time as the next.
First the three quick notes, and one long- 'dun-dun-dun-DUN,' drawn from a very fragmented music file she'd found as a child. Earth vintage. She wondered if it was part of a longer piece, but even if it wasn't, it sure grabbed attention. She'd used it in her old program sometimes. Then the narration beginning.
"This is Lookout calling! The Exiles, speaking to the Exiles... Hello, folks, welcome to Lookout Radio! I'm Papata Fren, your host."
It would go on. This time, it'd be... "Before we begin our program, some personal messages from Lookout to gallant warriors the world over. Firstly, Mato has a long mustache. Remember this on Tuesday. Tuesday. Secondly, there has been a fire at the insurance agency. A fire. Thirdly, and this is very important, the coffee is in the cup. I repeat, the coffee is IN the cup!"
As a general rule, none of the 'personal messages' actually meant anything or communicated anything to anyone. But Papata had to hope they kept that usurping witch wondering, just what they meant, and who they were aimed at... Then there'd be one song. Usually one of Dandeer's favorites. If she was going to wide-angle mind-wipe memories of the whole broadcast, and she liked to do that, she could at least accidentally blow up everyone else's memory of her favorite songs in the collateral damage.
Their little resistance had planted a bug, once. While the reason for it hadn't been to get a shot of Dandeer pulling at her hair in incomprehension... The look on her face when no one around her could figure out what she was talking about, when she told them to put one of last year's Top Forty on the speakers... fucking priceless.
Then, the message, always substantially the same. Ringing with every ounce of sincerity she could put into it. She didn't know if it worked often enough to matter. She wasn't entirely sure it was working at all. But dammit, she had to try.
"You will likely soon forget this message; the false queen has woven her magics well. But if you concentrate- really concentrate- and will with all your might and all your power and all your soul, maybe, just maybe, you can remember it, in spite of what the false queen wants you to forget. The Princess did it, once."
"Remember this. All you hear from other sources is a lie. Trust no one who denies this truth. For they are minions of Dandeer, the secret usurper, the reigning false queen of Garenhuld, Babidi reborn! Dandeer, who has made all but one of the royals of the two Houses into her loving slaves. All except for the Princess, who has passed from us to the stars, to find help and begin the liberation. Remember, there is hope! Speak of it never, but think of it always!"
"If you remember this message, and look upon your kings and princes, remember that you look upon Majin Berra, and Majin Jaffur, and, in a sense, Majin V- I will not speak the name. Still mighty warriors, but robbed of their heroism, for now. Enslaved to an evil wizard, to be redeemed when the Princess returns. Remember those who have gone mysteriously missing these past months- and know that they are free, and with us, on Lookout."
"The false queen's magic will try to rob you of this memory now. Now, concentrate, with all your will, and resist!"
Then, the bookend. The music that closed every broadcast. She'd recorded it herself, thinking it might some day be her final swan song, to a tune she'd found in an ancient, half-corrupted music collection left in the computer aboard the Senzus' ship, a lost echo of Old Earth. Maybe not Earth's best, but the most fitting, for a time like this.
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Doomed Wombat
Let's go Darling!
- Location
- Dancing on wires!
Have to admit I do kinda want to see Papta bust out some kick ass music to our triumphant return and victory, a la Calamari Inkantation.
- Location
- Italy
Happy you liked the idea enough to write this, it's very good!
More or less what I imagine she'd do if she managed to get the necessary equipment
Also I really like the song, I didn't know it
HoratioVonBecker
Imperfectly Aligned
I thought that was Goten? @Poptart, does Kakara know if Son Goten came with the Exile group or not?
Also, what's Kakara's mom's name? It's been mentioned like twice, and I don't know where to look.
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Goten died with the Z Fighters, and Kakara knows that his children made it aboard the ships. As far as she knows, there was no second diaspora from Earth, which would leave Tarble if she's correct.
Check the character sheet.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Thank you.Happy you liked the idea enough to write this, it's very good!
More or less what I imagine she'd do if she managed to get the necessary equipment
My second-biggest inspiration (after Tom Petty's The Last DJ, of course) was the historical broadcast practices of the BBC when transmitting radio programs into Nazi-occupied France. You can find several places where Papata Fren unwittingly echoes her forebears, French-speakers using the BBC to speak to the French Resistance from the last free nation still fighting the Nazis in Europe.
And Radio Lookout was almost, almost Radio Free Garenhuld instead...
Doomed Wombat
Let's go Darling!
- Location
- Dancing on wires!
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
...I just realized the sad implication of The Last DJ as I've written it.
Namely, that the Exiles appear to have lost Beethoven's symphonies... and kept the work of Tom Petty.
Not that Tom Petty's a bad musician, mind you, but...
Namely, that the Exiles appear to have lost Beethoven's symphonies... and kept the work of Tom Petty.
Not that Tom Petty's a bad musician, mind you, but...
Cariyaga
Handsome Gentleperson
- Location
- United States
In fairness, we've also lost the works of musicians 500 years ago, and they're dealing with much larger time scales. It's to their credit they've managed to rescue even that much music....I just realized the sad implication of The Last DJ as I've written it.
Namely, that the Exiles appear to have lost Beethoven's symphonies... and kept the work of Tom Petty.
Not that Tom Petty's a bad musician, mind you, but...