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Dragon Ball: After the End

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[X] Plan Just Ask Bassoon

This trap is starting to look more like a prison to me, with the grass and fake-Porunga being two distinct and opposed entities. But it's a prison in Bassoon's head, so, his call.
 
HoratioVonBecker said:
Why? You don't know people's mouse setups, and you don't know people's energy levels. For me personally, adding a fiddly extra step is sometimes a dealbreaker, especially if the benefits of acting are dubious. So... what's your problem?
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If you're so tired you can't make a single extra click, then you're too tired to be voting anyway - you should be in bed. If the extra click is an obstacle that you can't be bothered to overcome to vote, frankly I'm in favour of that barrier to entry remaining, because you don't care enough to think about your vote anyway. Voter participation is something to aim for, but there are limits.

We have now expended energy far in excess of what this fix would have apparently saved, though I personally feel the initial cost of bothering the QM for this was also too much, so perhaps you disagree.
 
I have a trackpad, and not a good one. It takes a frankly surprising amount of effort to go back a page compared to writing a post or evaluating a vote.
Plus, it's not a barrier to voting at all - it's just a barrier to voting for the non-write-in plans. One which seems to affect more people than just me, given how only one person voted for a base option.
And beyond that, "out of sight, out of mind" is actually quite true. It's a barrier to even thinking about the basic options, not just to voting for them.
EDIT: Oh, and low energy =/= needs or is capable of sleep, as the affliction-cluster bizarrely called 'depression' proves.
 
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Hey Poptart, just wanted to let you know, after your mention of this story over on ...Victoria Falls I believe, I decided to binge this one.
And I'm greatly enjoying it.

Though I think I'll wait for the next vote before participating.
 
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buli-buli said:
Hey Poptart, just wanted to let you know, after your mention of this story over on ...Victoria Falls I believe, I decided to binge this one.
And I'm greatly enjoying it.

Though I think I'll wait for the next vote before participating.
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Welcome aboard! Glad you're having fun with it. And yeah, you've caught up at a good time; we've been a little snagged in this latest arc, and I'm looking forward to what's next to come.

And speaking of, vote's closed, everybody.
 
Curse you @PoptartProdigy, you produce far too many great quests for me to catch up and participant in! Why must you be so good a writer and QM? :V

Seriously though, I wish I had the time to really read through and consistently contribute in all your quests because you do a really great job with all of them, in fact, it surprises me how you're able to grab my interest even with premises that on paper I wouldn't be so excited about.
 
Negentropy said:
Curse you @PoptartProdigy, you produce far too many great quests for me to catch up and participant in! Why must you be so good a writer and QM? :V

Seriously though, I wish I had the time to really read through and consistently contribute in all your quests because you do a really great job with all of them, in fact, it surprises me how you're able to grab my interest even with premises that on paper I wouldn't be so excited about.
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Thanks! I'm glad I'm able to so consistently appeal. :)
 
Inserted tally.

[] Plan Just Ask Bassoon
-[] Use futuresight to see what Bassoon would say if we were to break the circle and tell him about it afterwards. (Explicitly decide to ask him afterwards what he'd have preferred we'd done if we break the circle.)
--[] Do whatever he says he would have preferred.
-[] Split off a Multiform to make conversation whilst you're having the vision. What does Porunga get out of being a wish dragon? See how Dazarel and Porunga interact. Maybe they can be friends, or Porunga might change Dazarel's mind on the benefits of becoming a wish dispensary?

With an effective 17.6 votes, your winner! Writing now.
Adhoc vote count started by PoptartProdigy on Aug 3, 2019 at 8:45 PM, finished with 31 posts and 16 votes.
  • [X] Plan Just Ask Bassoon
    [x] Cautious Seer
    [x] take risks, be prepared
    [X] (x1.1 weighting from, "Ambitious.") It is not a trick -- or, at least, you're willing to risk it, in pursuit of a wish. Why would the trap want you to destroy itself? In any event, you don't intend to just leave this trap sitting around for Bassoon to stumble into at a later date. Destroy the circle, and earn a wish.
    [x] Try to leave, but come back later with help from bassoon to get rid of the trap from the outside, possibly with further help from mages on Namek.
    -[x] (x1.1 weighting from, "Ambitious.") It is not a trick -- or, at least, you're willing to risk it, in pursuit of a wish. Why would the trap want you to destroy itself? In any event, you don't intend to just leave this trap sitting around for Bassoon to stumble into at a later date. Destroy the circle, and earn a wish.
    --[x] it probably is a trick, but if it's not you can hardly leave him here, even leaving aside the wish
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Out of the Depths
  • Threadmarks
    • [] Plan Just Ask Bassoon
    -[] Use futuresight to see what Bassoon would say if we were to break the circle and tell him about it afterwards. (Explicitly decide to ask him afterwards what he'd have preferred we'd done if we break the circle.)
    --[] Do whatever he says he would have preferred.
    -[] Split off a Multiform to make conversation whilst you're having the vision. What does Porunga get out of being a wish dragon? See how Dazarel and Porunga interact. Maybe they can be friends, or Porunga might change Dazarel's mind on the benefits of becoming a wish dispensary?

    Out of the Depths
    ​
    As One splits you off, you turn to Porunga, hanging overhead. "Great Porunga, why do you live within the Dragon Balls?" you ask, watching out of the corner of your eye as One sinks to the ground and enters yet another vision. You wince. You're probably going to have a headache later from all these.

    "AS I SAID, MY REASONS ARE MY OWN," grumbles Porunga.

    'No, I too would like to know,' says Dazarel, peering out from behind One. After a second to verify that it's safe, he steps out and faces Porunga. 'Why lessen yourself like this?'

    Porunga's gaze flashes. "YOU HAVE POWER, LITTLE ONE, BUT PRECIOUS LITTLE WISDOM, IF YOU CAN SEE ONLY MY TEMPORAL WEAKNESS."

    Dazarel bares his teeth. 'Perhaps then you can enlighten me.'

    Porunga snorts. "YOU ARE IMPUDENT. WITH THE ABILITIES I HAVE AS A WISHING DRAGON, I AM SOMETHING MORE THAN JUST ANOTHER CREATURE. THAT MY ACTIONS ARE CONSTRAINED DOES NOT MEAN THAT THEY ARE MEANINGLESS. ON MY ACTIONS TURNS THE FATE OF CIVILIZATIONS. I HOLD DOMINION OVER THE DREAMS OF THE NAMEKIANS. I AM SOMETHING BEYOND THE TYPICAL BEING, AND IN MY ASSESSMENT OF TYPICAL BEINGS, I INCLUDE YOU, DAZAREL."

    Your dragon companion snarls. 'I am no ordinary being.'

    "FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, YOU ARE AS LIMITED AS THOSE YOU DISDAIN."

    Dazarel half-lunges forward. "I could not be killed by a single shot from a mere planetary despot who could not even secure one planet!"

    Porunga's eyes narrow. "I AM NOT SHENRON...BUT YES. THAT IS CORRECT; YOU COULD NOT BE. YOU COULD INSTEAD BE BOUND INTO THE FORM OF AN INFANT BY A BEING AS FAR ABOVE YOU AS YOU ARE ABOVE INSECTS. I DO NOT FIND ONE MORE IMPRESSIVE THAN THE OTHER. DEFEAT IS DEFEAT."

    You sigh to yourself. This could be going better.

    As the two dragons continue sniping at one another, you see One stirring. She winces, holding her forehead.

    "What's wrong?" you ask.

    "What's it look like?" she grouses, pinching at her head. "Headache. Recursive visions are horrible. Now I'm seeing myself sitting here waiting for a vision, now I'm seeing a second of what happens if I leave and talk to Bassoon, now I'm seeing myself waiting really intently for a vision. Gah." She opens her eyes. "I don't wanna know how long Future Us had to train in order to have that kind of recursion set up for us."

    You sigh. "So, nothing?"

    "Not that we could use," she growls, standing up. "Right, hang on a second."

    And then you merge.

    You blink, reintegrating memories for a second, and then shake your head. Yeah, nothing at all.

    You look at Dazarel. "Hey. Hey, Dazarel."

    He cuts off mid-sentence and looks over his shoulder at you. 'Yes?'

    "We're heading out," you say.

    He nods and turns to you, hopping up onto your shoulders.

    Porunga's eyes, high up above, narrow. "YOU DO NOT INTEND TO FREE ME?"

    You shiver at the menace in his tone. "I intend to talk to Bassoon and get his help in clearing out this trap," you say. "The Dragon Clan can help to clean this up better than I can just by blasting."

    Porunga grumbles. "I DO NOT ENJOY THIS DELAY...BUT VERY WELL. I WILL AWAIT YOUR RETURN, SCION."

    You nod. "I will be back."

    He nods. "SEE THAT YOU ARE."

    You push down the twinge of indignation you get at the imperative, reminding yourself that you don't actually want to get into an argument with the Dragon of Dreams. You then turn and blast off into the sky before heeling over.

    'What do you intend?' asks Dazarel.

    "Blasting out," you reply. "I'm a psychic and a super saiyan. I really doubt that this trap is meant to hold me."

    You hear Dazarel sighing and huddling in on himself in preparation. You laugh. Then, in a burst of golden light, you transform and surge off towards the horizon. As you go, you reform the lightning shield around your mind, focusing on an internal thread of I am me, I am untouchable, you cannot touch me. You fly, the ground blurring past beneath you. You hurtle across the landscape at such excessive speed that you swiftly notice that this plain is flat; that there is no planet here, that you could fly in a straight line forever and never need to course correct.

    You fly so quickly that you find the edge. For a moment, the surroundings strain, your eyes watering as space warps and twists.

    And in the next moment, the trap fails utterly, and you pass into the world beyond.

    * * *
    ​
    The official opinion of the Dragon Clan mages to whom you speak is that the trap is weird. They're not touching it without at least a week of intense study to figure out what it is, why it's there, and if there actually is a fragment of Porunga in there. You can't go back until their done.

    Which leaves you at loose ends.

    "See ya, Bassoon," you say, lifting off into the sky of his mindscape.

    "Bye," he says, waving up at you. "I hope that it's productive."

    "So do I," you reply, grinning. And then you fly up further, into the sky, feel yourself dispersing-

    -and, in a heartbeat, find yourself again substantiated in the material world.

    About twenty feet to your left, the wishborn saiyan waves at you.

    "Kakara," says Guru, nodding his head. "One moment, please." He then turns away to a cluster of Dragon Clan casters. "Seal us in."

    The group of namekians begin to create another ki-deadening metal dome around you, and you sigh in relief as it closes, the feeling of the world outside fades away, and you ratchet up to full base power. The world slows. You see the wishborn saiyan powering up herself, the rest of the namekians watching closely.

    As fast as you are, you can still feel your time slipping away, and you don't waste any of it.

    tsew

    The other saiyan flinches back as you phase forward. You ignore it and nod to her. 'Hey.'

    Reaching out to your mind, you feel her forming her response. 'Hi! Kakara, right?'

    'Yeah, that's right,' you reply. 'Sorry to keep you waiting. Looks like I can't stay outside of Bassoon's head for very long.'

    'Yeah, what's up with that?' she asks, tilting her head. 'I don't know a lot, but I know that's not normal.'

    'It's a long story,' you say, shaking your head. 'We can talk about it later. There's a reason I'm out in person.' You slide one foot back into a stabler stance and raise your arms. 'There's a fight coming, and so far you've said that you want to be in it. I'm the best person on the planet to help you out with that.' You split your ki three ways, and then two clones step off to your right and left.

    The strange saiyan woman grins. 'Awesome.'

    You grin back. 'Isn't it?' You look to your right. "Three, stand with her."

    Three nods. "Gotcha." Then she walks over to the strange saiyan and stands by her side.

    You settle into your fighting stance, seeing Two do the same by your side. 'First thing is that I want to test you to see how you do in a fight. I don't know what you know.'

    'I can hold my own,' brags the wishborn saiyan.

    'We'll see,' you reply. 'Ready?'

    She raises her fists, taking something like a boxer's stance. 'Ready!'

    'All right, then,' you say, shifting your weight back as you see hers coming forward. 'Let's go-'

    tsew

    The wishborn saiyan phases into your face with a feral grin and takes a swing at you. You see Three startling before phasing out herself-

    WHAM

    -but not before Two steps in and kicks the wishborn saiyan in the gut. You hop back and up, framing her in your hands. "KIKOHO!"

    BANG

    As Three phases back in, knocking away Two with a palm strike, the blast hammers both her and her partner into the ground. Two rights herself out of her tumble, kick up and away from the ground, and draws her hands together at her waist. "Kamehameha!"

    BOOM

    The dust takes a minute to settle. Then you hear the wishborn saiyan groaning.

    "That sucked," says Two, lowering her hands.

    "We've got a lot of work to do," you sigh.

    "Shut up," groans Three.

    And at that moment, your time runs out, and the three of you hurtle back into Bassoon's head, slamming into the ocean of his mindscape.

    * * *
    ​
    'Communication is important,' you say, stepping alongside the wishborn saiyan as the two of you work through one of the Tenshinhan Style katas. 'You can't just charge in. If you're fighting with somebody, you need to move knowing that they'll cover you.' You think back to Synchronicity, and the transcendent feeling of your and Jaffur's thoughts chaining smoothly and seamlessly with one another. 'If you want to do that, you need to know what the other person's doing. That takes focus and communication.'

    'It just feels right to charge in,' she complains. 'I'm strong! I shouldn't have to do any of this fancy shit.'

    'You're a saiyan. That's normal,' you reply, smirking. 'It's something we all have to deal with, when we fight. But being a saiyan isn't just about being strong. When you're a fighter, it's about being the best. Our people went from just a strong race in the galaxy to a small group of fighters that could challenge the gods. We didn't do that just by being strong. We were skilled. And since then, we've gotten even more skilled. I'm not a good fighter. Not the way my people care about it. I'm okay, but not the best.'

    'But you can take me apart!' protests the wishborn saiyan, eyes widening. She falls out of the kata.

    You mirror her. 'Well, yes,' you reply, voice very patient. 'You're bad.'

    She flushes, scowling.

    'You're probably not that bad by the galaxy's standards,' you say, shrugging. 'With my people, though, it's a step up.' You step back into the kata.

    'What, everybody's a great fighter?' she asks, her voice sullen. 'You don't have anybody who just doesn't want to fight?'

    Your jaw tightens. 'We do. But they're still better than most people out in the galaxy. It's...hm.' You frown, trying to think of a good metaphor. '...it's like reading. Not everybody likes books, and learning to read actually takes a lot of time and effort, but we all do it. Part of that is that we get taught when we're little and don't have a choice, and another is that it comes up so much and is just so useful to get around in the world that it's worthwhile. Fighting's like that, for my people.' You pause, tilting your head. 'Actually, maybe that's another reason why we don't really like seers and sorcerers. They're, "illiterate." Huh.' You shake your head and step back into things. 'Even if you don't like fighting, learning to fight is the quickest way to get stronger. When the average for power is about two million, it's usually worth the time to get stronger. Even people who don't have time to train at all wind up with power levels in the tens of thousands.'

    'I guess that makes sense,' she muses. 'So, I'd fit in?'

    'Well, you still don't know how to read, if I'm talking about it like reading,' you say. 'Or...you know how to read, but not how to write. You're as strong as most of our people ever get, but you can't fight very well. And that's why we're working on it.'

    'What else do your people do?' she asks. 'I mean, it's not all about fighting, is it?'

    'We have a lot of engineers,' you reply. 'There are seers and sorcerers. And honestly, we still have normal lives. It's not all about fighting, no. We have books and sports and video games. Just...also fighting, laid over everything.'

    * * *
    ​
    "Bored I."

    You blink, staring down at the wishborn saiyan where she lies in the grass. 'Hey, your language is getting better.'

    "Want do thing!"

    'Well, get up, it's training time.'

    "Am bored!"

    You roll your eyes. 'If you're trying to be cute with broken grammar, it's not going to work.'

    "Want to outside go!" she says, rolling up to her feet.

    'We are outside,' you say, gesturing around you at the grasslands.

    "No!" she says, shaking her head. She then points up, into the sky. "Outside!"

    You blink. You look up. Then you sigh. 'Yeah. Me too.'

    * * *
    ​
    Grunting at the strain, you draw your aura in around yourself into Jaron's characteristic haze. 'All right, let's go.'

    "What is this?" asks the saiyan, tilting her head.

    You shake your head. 'You're doing really well with the language practice. It's a ki technique my friend invented. I don't have time to teach it to you just now, but I can get some practice in while we train.'

    She cocks her head. "What does do?"

    You grin. 'Well-'

    tsew-

    WHAM

    She groans, sprawling back along the ground. You lower your hand. '-among other things, I move faster.'

    "...you are mean."

    "Heh."

    * * *
    ​
    You two of you sit on a hillside, staying up into the sky. 'I miss the constellations we had back on Garenhuld,' you say. 'They're all different here.'

    "Everything is new at me," says the wishborn saiyan.

    "To me," you say.

    "Everything is new to me," she repeats. She lowers her chin onto her knees.

    You sigh. 'You're taking this a lot better than I am.'

    "Cannot fix," she says. "This is how I am." She shrugs. "Stupid wishing lizard."

    You snort. Silence lapses for a moment. You try to trace new shapes in the stars.

    Then she stirs again. "When I came, you say-" She stops and scowls intensely. She turns her head to you and taps her temple.

    'Go ahead, I'm listening,' you say.

    'When I was born, you asked me what my name was,' she says.

    'You said you didn't have one,' you reply.

    'Yeah.' She grimaces. 'I need one.'

    You blink. 'You haven't mentioned this yet.'

    'But I need one,' she insists. 'It...it feels wrong not to have one. Now that I see how everybody else does. I didn't care about it at first, but everybody seems to stumble when they need to address me. I should have one.'

    'What were you thinking?' you ask.

    'I was thinking that I should ask you for one,' she says.

    'Me?' you ask. 'I'm not your mom.'

    'No, but you're my Lady,' she answers. 'I don't have a House, right? You said that. So you're the closest noble around, and your Lord's back at home under a spell. So you're in charge, right?'

    You shake your head. 'That's how it'd kind of work back home, but that doesn't mean you can't pick your own name.'

    'But I don't want to pick my own name,' she says. 'I don't know if anything would sound stupid. You're better at this. You kind of have to be. You can do it.'

    You look away for a moment. 'I don't know if you'd change your mind later.'

    She shrugs. 'If I do, I can change the name.'

    You sigh. You look out across the vast plains of New Namek.


    Team Fighting improved! You are very close to a level up, but still need to invest a bit more effort.

    Ki Refinement improved to Unpromising! If now takes less concentration to maintain Jaffur's technique, and you are not restricted to pulling it out for brief bursts when not distracted. Instead, you can maintain it in the midst of battle, although doing so is not yet automatic.

    Relationship Established! Wishborn Saiyan: Acquaintance [Friendly].

    The wishborn saiyan wants a name, and in the absence of a strong personal opinion on the topic, would like you to pick one for her. How do you respond?

    [ ][NAME] You refuse. This is a decision she should be making.
    [ ][NAME] You name her Wish. Simple, easy, descriptive.
    [ ][NAME] You decide that Perika sounds like a good name. Saiyan, pretty -- what's not to like?
    [ ][NAME] Write-in. Holy shit there are so many conceivable options.

    You also, during your down time, intend to speak with the Guru in your capacity as Gokun Scion. How do you intend to present yourself to him?

    [ ][FORMAL] You are the Scion of Goku, future Lady, and someday ruler of fully half of the Exiles.
    [ ][FORMAL] You are Princess Kakara Goku, who has just as much claim to rulership as any Vegetan Prince.

    MANUAL MORATORIUM. APPROVAL VOTING.

    Whew! That one took a little longer than I anticipated. We're out of Bassoon's head, folks -- quite literally, for this update -- and back in the normal swing of things! We're going to pick up the pace over the next few updates, covering a lot more per update than we have been. I look forward to seeing you all around the thread, and I hope that you've enjoyed this one.
     
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    • hmmm. I am totally on board with naming her. I mean, no one names themselves. They can rename themselves, but that's different.
    Also, she specifically asked Kakara to.

    just need to decide on one.

    as for the second vote, my strong preference is for
    [ ][FORMAL] You are the Scion of Goku, future Lady, and someday ruler of fully half of the Exiles.

    Kakara is modest, and her future self warned her about officially becoming Princess too.

    *edit*
    Right now, I'm leaning toward Perika. Meaningful names can be a thing, but Kakara has not struck me as the simple is best kind of person.
     
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    @PoptartProdigy
    What's Perika supposed to be? Google's telling me its Serbian-Croatian for Wig, some sort of pear in Tamil, and has some sort of association with St. John's Wort herb.
     
    Yeah I'm don't see a problem with naming her I mean she was just born you know. But I don't know what to name her.
    Wait a second if Porunga made a saiyan with the wish and we didn't specifically ask for one does that mean she's a full blooded saiyan?
     
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    [x] [ask] Dazarel, is the wishborn Saiyan psychic?
    [x] [ask] Guru, why aren't there more sets of Dragon balls? The kami of ancient Earth was able to create a set for Earth, and there doesn't seem to be any reason why you couldn't have several sets available, allowing for you to not have to worry about the downtime problem with using the dragon balls.
    Rulings from discord follow:
    Poptart said:
    Preeeeeetty much. She can sense ki.
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    (In response to me asking: "The wishborn Saiyan just knows flight, basic hand-to-hand and simple energy blasts, right?"
    Poptart said:
    This is a fairly unprecedented situation. Kakara's not really treating this as something within her cultural context, though. It's the wishborn saiyan that's justifying this in those terms.
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    (In response to me saying: "The presets don't have anything for house / last name. Is there a standard for this sort of situation?")
    I'm fine with most names, though I do think that we should give her some sort of clan name / last name, whether it's ours or a new one for her.
     
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