Believe it or not, I set out to write humor. I hope there's still some in there, but my muse has gotten really emo lately. Any time I tried writing it as a silly crack piece, it just got away from me.
I'm not saying your style is similar to his style. I'm saying that you did about as good a job writing gallows humor as he does. And he's pretty damn good at gallows humor.
Oh hey. I'm aware he wrote other stuff but I only ever read the Lord of the Isles. Well. The whole series, I mean. Not just the first book. Sorta surprised to see other people having read his stuff, given all my efforts to find Lord of the Isles fanfic never amounted to anything.
He's a very well regarded author of military SF, but the Lord of the Isles series never really caught on properly, I think- possibly because he's pigeonholed as a military SF writer.
Honestly, it seems like Drake's novels in general don't attract much fanfic attention- you can say the same of the Lieutenant Leary novels, and so far as I know of the Slammers and so on.
My theory is that the kind of person who likes Drake's stories and becomes a fan of his work... is also the kind of person who respects the very specific mindset and attitudes it takes to write the way he does, and understands just how rare those traits are. If one doesn't come to the table with that combination of qualities, it is very hard to write fanfic that will be anything other than a grave disservice to the man and his work.
He's a very well regarded author of military SF, but the Lord of the Isles series never really caught on properly, I think- possibly because he's pigeonholed as a military SF writer.
Honestly, it seems like Drake's novels in general don't attract much fanfic attention- you can say the same of the Lieutenant Leary novels, and so far as I know of the Slammers and so on.
My theory is that the kind of person who likes Drake's stories and becomes a fan of his work... is also the kind of person who respects the very specific mindset and attitudes it takes to write the way he does, and understands just how rare those traits are. If one doesn't come to the table with that combination of qualities, it is very hard to write fanfic that will be anything other than a grave disservice to the man and his work.
... I gotta admit, part of why I have no fanfics on the backburner for the series is basically I feel I'd be doing it a disservice unless I had ready access to the entire series as reference material. I don't, I've never had access to the entire series at one time.
Where a lot of other series I'm more comfortable without that.
Hmm... I'd talk about this myself from the point of view who usually prides himself on being able to get into the head of other people's fictional characters and do them reasonably proud, and is not nearly good enough to even consider doing it with most Drake characters... But this is getting very much off topic.
Hmm... I'd talk about this myself from the point of view who usually prides himself on being able to get into the head of other people's fictional characters and do them reasonably proud, and is not nearly good enough to even consider doing it with most Drake characters... But this is getting very much off topic.
[X] Full disclosure. Surely you can convince Dad to cast away the Masquerade your people have maintained for centuries for not terribly much reason at all, right? Well, once you do, go walk back upstairs without a Masque on, and start explaining.
Success, After a Fashion
Maybe it's an indicator of how crappy this day is going, but you find yourself contemplating dangerous things in response to your Dad's question. You dismiss it after first considering it. He would never agree.
Then you reconsider. Why not push on this? The situation is already nuts. You should propose it. He'd listen. Maybe. And hey, you can always go down if he refuses. But you don't think he will. You think you have a chance. You're going to do it! You're going to tell Dad that you should tell Maya everything-!
"What? No."
You deflate. "But-"
"Kakara, our people have maintained the Masquerade for over three centuries. Do you really think I'm going to peel it back for even a single person just because they're your friend?" Dad kneads at his forehead. "I understand why it's tempting. Keeping the secret is hard. It's hard for all of us. Any of us who actually have lives in the human world have friends there, and we all have to suck it up and lie to them. And by and large we get away with that since there's nothing that would make them guess the truth. But Kakara, what would our people -- our people, who all have to go along with this -- think if the first human let in on it outside of accident or marriage just so happened to be your friend?" He shakes his head, leaning back. "I'll tell you right now: 'If I have to watch my strength in order to avoid my girlfriend noticing that I can turn boulders into powder and so that I don't kill her, then you can suck up and deal with having the most open and honest human friendship any of us have ever had.'" He shifts. "That's not what I feel, but that's what they'd say. Maya's already in on the ki secret. Nobody would be in a mood to tolerate you dropping the Masquerade for her as well. No."
You turn scarlet. The idea that people would imply that you're acting entitled infuriates you more than you can say. "I-"
"We will instead, as was my plan, wait until later," says Dad, taking out an apple and biting into it.
You blink, brought sharply up. "...what?"
"We'll tell her later," he says, chewing and swallowing. "Give it a couple of years. Deal with the scouts. Let her know the year the army is due to arrive. I'd hoped I could wait even longer, but with an army en route I'm pretty sure we need all hands on deck and at full capacity for this. She'll need to be in on it."
You gape. "Why would you rather wait?"
"Because ideally, I'd wait until she was a grown woman capable of making informed decisions on the matter. What do you take me for? Just because she's learning ki doesn't mean I get to use her like a tool. If I had my way she'd live a normal life, with ki added in, and when she turned eighteen I'd have you tell her the truth. Sure, I gain politically by her mere existence, but I'm keeping her out of it. Given my choice of events, that would be it. Let her have as normal a childhood as possible. But events force my hand." He fishes out another apple. "You hungry?"
You stare at him, feeling fury beginning to mount in your chest. "Why didn't you tell me?" Your fists clench. "Before Maya came in you were going to have me fight the scout at 120,000. I would have been crushed. And all because of this plan that you didn't even tell me about!"
He cocks his head. "Well, first of all, remember how I said I was organizing reinforcements?"
You blink. Oh...right. Somehow I completely forgot about that.
"The relief teams arrived at the site of the battle seconds after I did," he says, setting the apple in your lap. "Working together and under your command, they would have overwhelmed the alien. You were only supposed to hold him up until they arrived; at one-twenty-kay there was nothing else you could have done. I'm not an idiot. But once the time limit materialized...well." He sighs, leaning back. "I'll be honest, looking at it objectively that was a mess of order and counter-order. Fault of training, in this case. With literally any warrior in either Clan, they'd go for the throat at full power the instant they heard the words, 'I don't care how you do it,' and hang whatever else I'd said beforehand. But you are, as discussed, not a warrior. You're a trained officer, yes, which is why I expect better of you next time. But you're no warrior. You lack the instinct. I should have remembered that, and-" He cuts himself off, shaking his head. "Regardless. As for why I didn't let you in on this plan?" He gives you a level look. "Kakara. Princess. How old are you?"
You turn crimson. "Eleven..."
"Eleven years old," he says in a musing tone, looking down at his apple.
"And three-quarters!" you add, before wishing you hadn't.
"Of course, of course," he says.
"...I'm not a baby," you mutter, crossing your arms.
"Oh, I'm well aware," he replies. "But you're my daughter. You're eleven years old. And three-quarters, yes. This is your friend we're dealing with here. With that mess with the Peats you already have another friend bound up in politics and scheming. I just...I know that it's hard to have to lie to your friends. Maya you can be more honest with than any of the other Misfits. I wanted you to be able to enjoy that without worrying about all this mess. Was it the best move, as a politician and a Lord? Probably not, no. Having my Heir in on it would have made it easier to tweak the situation." He stands. "But I'm a father, too. And to be honest...I haven't been the best father in recent years, to you or your siblings. It's hard to balance it. That doesn't mean I won't try." He passes you, squeezing your shoulder. "Eat your apple. I think we'll tell Maya as much as we can without dropping the Masquerade. Patience, Princess. The truth will out. Eventually."
You sit in the dark cave, clutching your apple as Dad starts moving rubble away from the entrance.
You're not sure how to feel about this. Not at all.
"...I was going to try to talk to him," you say on impulse.
Dad halts, looking over to you. "...what?"
"I was going to try to talk to the alien," you say. "I almost did. I even know what I would have said."
Dad turns to look at you, but he doesn't say anything.
"Nobody had to fight at the Council," you say. "But I...I can't even say I didn't think. I knew how I could try it. And when I think back I see all of the things I didn't know going into that fight, but when I was thinking it over...I thought it looked so much safer. And I messed up. But I don't know if I messed up because I started a fight, or because I didn't finish it."
Dad sighs. "I can't pretend to understand the way you think, Kakara. History says that Son Gohan was like that, once...I don't know if it can work. It didn't, for him. I don't know if it can for you. Maybe you're right. Maybe nobody has to die. Maybe nobody even has to fight. Maybe it's like the rest of our people think. Maybe it's something in between." he shrugs, turning back to the blocked tunnel. "All I can say is that you should do what you think is right. Whatever that is. For now...let's go upstairs. We have an explanation to give."
With the conclusion of this event chain, you have gained the Seer sub-Ability Mind Projection, at "Competent." You are prepared to enter Jaffur's mind and make contact with him.
Maya has been made aware of the presence of the aliens and their impending invasion. It was not a difficult thing to sell to her given what she'd seen.
What do you think of what your father told you? Who's right?
[ ] Your people are right. You were only ever kidding yourself. Violence is the only answer to violence. You've been...such...an idiot...
[ ] You're right. Nobody has to die. You'll make it so if that's not the case. That's always been your way; you hope for better. You won't stop now!
[ ] You...you don't know. This is a hard question. You need to think. You need time. But at least you're a little wiser now; you know that you still have to think about it. And that's...that's okay.
THIS VOTE IS NOT YET CLOSED.
Before anybody says one word about me loading the proverbial question on those voting options... *points to quest tags*
Berra was on Kakara's mind (i.e., featured in the thread's discussion) a lot, so it came up. And despite everything, Kakara loves and trusts her father. She was always going to ask him (this is what your family is there for).
An Omake, entitled A Series of Unfortunate Events. I'm not entirely happy with it, but I did promise to publish something. I know Kakara's characterization is off, but honestly it's based on a joke vote that is very out of character for her, so that's sorta unavoidable.
A follow up to the threadmark here, if a completely different path had been chosen. Initial paragraphs stolen from the linked post and slightly modified at the end.
Suffice to say, it's non-canon. I tried to keep it compliant with the setting's rules, but doubt Seeing can work quite in this way. The sorcery is almost all conjecture.
You know what? Probably completely non-compliant.
"Whose mind? You need to find them, right now, get down on your knees, and beg their forgiveness for the trespass. You will explain that it was unintentional, I shall grab one of my Sorcerer friends to swear the person you visited to secrecy about the whole chat before sending them out of earshot, and you will immediately convince your Lord Father to offer whatever recompense is necessary. The mind is sacrosanct, Kakara. You do not enter it, not without permission and as a last resort even then. When you're there, the other person by default can't see you or detect you until you're already touching something. Anybody whose mind you enter is in far more danger than you'll ever be. So you're going to offer your apologies, and I am going to start drilling you on this immediately. It's not your fault, but this cannot happen again. Done intentionally, tampering with somebody's mind is a hideous and abhorrent breach of trust. So yes. I will teach you Mind Projection. Because apparently the standard regimen simply isn't going to take in your case." He stands up from his chair, looking decidedly more frazzled than he was a minute ago, and begins pacing in an infrequently-used corner of the room. "Now: who was it?"
Oh. Crud.
You bite your lip and fiddle with your hands. "Um..."
His eyes narrow. "Scion Kakara..."
You laugh nervously. "Well, you see..."
"Answer me immediately."
Composure Check: Oh My, no.
You freeze. Sensei is Vegetan, you think, Sensei has only heard the 'official' story of the Sealing. A thin sheen of sweat appears on your forehead. What if he hates it? What if he hates me? What if he tells?.
You barely notice that your breath is coming faster and faster.
In fact, you think, mind racing down this track, he's probably going to tell Dandeer! She's going to find out what happened and Seal him again! She's going to kill Jaffur!
You barely even notice that your hands have clenched into fists, and don't notice at all when they come together.
"Kakara?" Sensei asks, pausing his pacing.
It's not a vision. You know what visions feel like, and it can't be one. But in your mind's eye, all you can see is that endless white room, and the rage and hate and anger that's locked away. And that tiny smile. That smile that is going to die.
"kamehameha" you hear yourself murmur, aura spiking briefly to a paltry 20 million.
Sensei's eyes barely have time to widen as the blue beam strikes. Ki waves don't travel at anything like the speed of light. They're not even as fast as the speed of sound. But Sensei's power level right now is only 1,297,332. It might as well be instantaneous, given the distance.
And now his power level is gone.
You look out the new window in the side of the house, past the smoke slowly curling from your cupped hands.
Was that...you? Did you do that? Sensei is de...gone?
It is a sad fact of psychology that the mind can only take so much. The mind can bend in some truly amazing ways, but can be broken like anything else. For a time, your brain wars against itself. Sensei can't be gone! Why did he make you do that? Maybe if you close your eyes and wish really hard, he'll come back? Even Vegetans don't have a bow designed for screw-ups this massive!
You don't know how long you're standing there, but it can't be long. The thick 'slap' of a stack of papers hitting the ground breaks you out of the spirals your mind has been running in. Something just fell out of the space in the walls, having been just barely missed by your blast.
You walk around the couch, eyes sliding away from the blackened scoop taken out of the top of one of the cushions.
There's a thick yellow envelope on the floor, with a name printed on it in large black letters. Your name.
As you open it, you notice that your fingers aren't tremblinb any longer. Inside is a stack of envelopes, numbered one through fifteen, and a pink envelope labelled "Read me first."
Kakara, the first letter begins, "if you're reading this, I'm dead. I was blasted into atoms, and this envelope fell out of the wall of my house, where I'm going to hide it momentarily. There's about five more hidden in other places, but if you're reading this one then they don't matter. Please don't tear up my walls looking for them - houses in the middle of wastelands are expensive and I'd prefer this one to be as undamaged as possible when my brother inherits it.
I don't know who kills me, Kakara, and I don't know how far into your education we've gotten, so I'm not going to prattle on about how I knew where to put this or what shifted the future onto this track. Suffice to say, I knew that if I died by this wall, in a way that made a hole in the right place to drop this package, you'd be the first one on the scene.
Now, on to the envelopes. Envelopes one through six are letters to my friends and family. I'd appreciate if they were delivered unopened, but it isn't like I can stop you from reading them if you want. You'll find a list of who to give each one to in a later envelope.
Mutely, you set aside the first six envelopes, before you continue reading. If my couch is intact, you need to fly away NOW. Tell your Father to gather the rest of the Nobles - the Enemy is here. This branch of the future is clouded over very heavily, so I don't know what's going to happen, but I know it's bad. For all of your sakes, I hope my couch is damaged.
You eye the half-circle of scorched fabric that your blast put into the couch, unsure if Sensei would be happy about it or not, given the circumstances. "He'd probably be happier to be alive to see it," a traitorous voice in your mind whispers. You ignore it studiously, and continue reading.
If you're still reading this, good. It means the planet is likely to survive for a long time, yet. If you're wearing matching socks, go ahead and open envelope seven. If your feet are bare, open envelope 13.
This morning, when you were dressing, you couldn't find matching socks. Mato must have been messing around again - he's been acting passive-aggressive for a while, and that's recently changed from crushing your cereal and chips to powder to hiding your socks. Man, visions are weird.
If you're still reading, look out of the hole. If you can see the sun, open envelope eight. If everything is on fire, why are you calmly reading this letter?
You glance out the hole. Nope, no sun visible. And nothing is burning.
MADE YOU LOOK! That might be my final lesson for you, Kakara, so take it to heart: Seers, of all people, need to know better than to take everything seriously. Find humor where you can, when you can. Some of the things you will See will be terrible, and far too many good Seers let it destroy them.
Now, since the couch is damaged, the sun isn't shining through my newest window, and your socks don't match, open envelope 9. He's signed his name at the bottom of the page.
You pick up envelope nine and open it, wincing as the paper cuts your finger. You hold the newest letter in your left hand, idly sucking on the papercut.
I'm sorry, Kakara. If you're reading this, I was killed by someone close to you. The vision wasn't completely clear, but I did see the young Vegetan Scion smiling cruelly. I fear the Seal you fought so hard to place has broken, and a monster shaped by rage and fuelled by vengeance has been unleashed upon Garenhuld. Set this letter down to your left and open envelope 13. Inside you'll find the solution.
You wonder where Sensei went wrong in his visions as you set the letter to your left. A sickening feeling has been building as you read the letter, spreading from your stomach to your throat as your traitorous mind processes the thought that you killed someone. As the paper hits the floor, your spine begins to tingle. Your dad will be here any moment, there's no way he could have missed the power you spiked to, or not felt the blast.
You resign yourself to facing his Judgement, and reach for envelope 13.
Did you know, the letter inside begins, that Sorcery can do some amazing things? Of course, you were there for the Sealing, and you've seen wards virtually every day of your life. But did you know that some wards are incredibly subtle? Some are so subtle that they are barely even noticed. One of these is a power-sapping ward. Don't worry - it doesn't actually drain a person's ki. But they can be set up to capture the power of ki blasts. There's some of these in the warding scheme of the Training Hall. I don't pretend to understand it all myself, but I have a Sorceror friend who described it to me like a battery. These wards pull in power from blasts and can store it, or use it to power other effects. For instance, in the trainig hall, these wards help power the other wards that hide our power levels from detection.
One of those wards was in the wall. It was destroyed, of course, but it did its job. It powered another set of wards. But they will stay largely inactive, unless they're triggered.
The chill in your spine spreads and gets colder as you keep reading.
It's hard to get wards set up for a proper time-delay. My friend was curing up a storm as he set up all the wards, and the only way to get the most important one working was to set it up to be triggered by blood. Tell me, Kakara, how's your finger?
Your eyes fall to the paper you placed to your left, noticing the tiny red spot on the corner, from where it sliced your finger. The delay costs you, as you feel the wards that had been building up finally snap to full strength.
Your power level plummets. The suppression wards are working overtime, disrupting your ki control. Suddenly you find yourself sitting at a power level of 7, with ki control worse than you can ever remember having. A ghostly image forms directly in front of you. Sensei stands there, created by either some sort of hologram technology or magic, and says simply, "I don't know why you killed me, Kakara. But I can return the favor."
Then the explosives concealed beneath the floorboards trigger, and you know no more.
As always, feedback is welcomed.
for a variety of reasons (the Balors are a Gokun house, and Sensei's power level doesn't break a hundred thousand, for the smallest concerns), this is non-canon as you guessed. But it is excellent. Take my fervent thanks, a spot in the Omake Index, and a lesser bonus for escaping traps. :lol
Enjoy, everybody, and as always, I'll see you next time, on Dragon-!
Dad leads you and Maya out of the caves in the aftermath of your conversation. Your friend is subdued, looking down at her feet. You're watching her, a bit concerned by her reaction.
Thus, Dad's shocked intake of breath is the first indication you have that something's wrong.
"You must be that fighter I heard barreling into the clearing after I left," you hear. A chill goes down your spine at the familiar voice, and your head snaps up.
The scout stares at your Dad, back in his base form. He's still as naked as he was last time; you're both relieved and disturbed that he doesn't appear to have visible private parts.
Dad grabs you and Maya, tugging you back. "Girls, stay behind me!" he snaps, firing up his human aura to a million and taking a stance.
The scout narrows his eyes, dips his head...and then raises his arms. All eight of them. "I surrender," he says.
Dad blinks. "...come again?"
"I surrender. Parley, human." The alien's tail swishes back and forth at its waist. It smiles. "I wish to talk."
GOTCHA! HERE'S THE REAL VOTE!
Okay, within the bounds of this spoiler box everything I say is 100% serious. This is the real vote. Me messing with you and having the last part of the update interrupt the ending crawl is me feeling like toying with you. . You'll notice from the text of the default options below that I'm also feeling whimsical in general. The below vote, however, is serious. It is not an April Fool's joke, and its results will actually happen as canon in the quest. Do not make joke votes assuming that this is a joke update. Ignore the vote above; this is the real vote.
You'll notice some odd formatting on the votes below. "[ ][ALIEN]," for instance. This is something NetTally can pick up on to differentiate between different tasks and tally them separately. It's very simple; you just make sure your vote is tagged correctly. I'll be using this from now on for task voting.
[ ][ALIEN] AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
-[ ][ALIEN] AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
--[ ][ALIEN] AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
---[ ][ALIEN] Scream. In Kagome. [/reference]
----[ ][ALIEN] Turn around.
-----[ ][ALIEN] Run away.
------[ ][ALIEN] Don't forget Maya.
-------[ ][ALIEN] Go ahead and leave Dad, though, he's fine.
-[ ][ALIEN] Punch him.
--[ ][ALIEN] Kick him.
---[ ][ALIEN] BLAST him.
----[ ][ALIEN] DO ALL OF THE THINGS!
[ ][ALIEN] Accept his surrender.
[ ][ALIEN] Tell him to go away.
[ ][ALIEN] Tell him he's mean.
[ ][ALIEN] Complain about the QM messing with you.
[ ][ALIEN] Tell the QM he's/she's/they're mean.
[ ][ALIEN] Write-in.
[ ][DRAMA] Your people are right. You were only ever kidding yourself. Violence is the only answer to violence. You've been...such...an idiot...
[ ][DRAMA] You're right. Nobody has to die. You'll make it so if that's not the case. That's always been your way; you hope for better. You won't stop now!
[ ][DRAMA] You...you don't know. This is a hard question. You need to think. You need time. But at least you're a little wiser now; you know that you still have to think about it. And that's...that's okay.
THESE VOTES ARE THE REAL VOTES, AND ALSO ARE NOW CLOSED.
...NEXT time, on Dragon Ball AE!
Kakara is interrupted from her musings by the unexpected reappearance of the scout! What does the alien want to talk about, and can he be trusted? Find out next time, on Dragon Ball AE!
EH, FORGET THE MORATORIUM THIS TIME. IT'S LATE AND A HUGE FRACTION OF YOU POST WITHIN A FEW TIME ZONES OF ME ANYWAY. VOTING WILL BE SLOW TO START EVEN WITHOUT MY INPUT. GO NUTS.
-[X][ALIEN] Punch him.
--[X][ALIEN] Kick him.
---[X][ALIEN] BLAST him.
----[X][ALIEN] DO ALL OF THE THINGS!
[X][ALIEN] Complain about the QM messing with you.
[X][ALIEN] Tell the QM he's/she's/they're mean.
[X][DRAMA] You...you don't know. This is a hard question. You need to think. You need time. But at least you're a little wiser now; you know that you still have to think about it. And that's...that's okay.
[X][DRAMA] You're right. Nobody has to die. You'll make it so if that's not the case. That's always been your way; you hope for better. You won't stop now!
[X][DRAMA] You're right. Nobody has to die. You'll make it so if that's not the case. That's always been your way; you hope for better. You won't stop now!
[X][ALIEN] Accept his surrender.
-[X] Ask him why
[X][DRAMA] You're right. Nobody has to die. You'll make it so if that's not the case. That's always been your way; you hope for better. You won't stop now!
[X][ALIEN] Accept his surrender.
-[X] Ask him why
[X][DRAMA] You're right. Nobody has to die. You'll make it so if that's not the case. That's always been your way; you hope for better. You won't stop now!
This is really, REALLY good. Well handled, Poptart!
[X][ALIEN] Accept his surrender.
-[X] Ask him why.
[X][DRAMA] You...you don't know. This is a hard question. You need to think. You need time. But at least you're a little wiser now; you know that you still have to think about it. And that's...that's okay.
I want Kakara to mature. This is far more important to me than whether she remains fully pacifist, becomes violent like a typical saiyan, or adopts an intermediate road where violence is a last resort, but a last resort she's comfortable with. Regardless of which path she chooses, she needs to grow. And this is the path that leads to growth.
Her needing to think hard about her answer to this question is important from a character standpoint. Her making a fierce 11.75-year-old resolution one way or the other won't fill that need.
This is not the last time her resolve and commitment to pacifism will be tested. She's not going to come to good answers to her own questions if she tries to answer them too quickly.
[ ][DRAMA] You're right. Nobody has to die. You'll make it so if that's not the case. That's always been your way; you hope for better. You won't stop now!
We never really went against this. The vote was very specific on non lethal force.
If Berra wasn't planning to accept that surrender (a very valuable prisoner!)... Well, in that hypothetical case, he's ruthless enough that his daughter accepting it on his behalf won't stop him from having said alien quietly taken out and kamehameha'd behind the chemical shed.
...The warded chemical shed, I suppose.
If Berra was planning to accept that surrender, we haven't actually interfered with his plans meaningfully. Hopefully he'll take it as a good sign that we're still decisive after our defeat and his lectures. He may have something to say about us pre-empting him like that in future, but I'm pretty sure Berra (and most Gokuns) would much rather have to restrain the over-eager, active, good-natured youth than have to prod forward the passive, sullen youth.
[This may be part of why Berra isn't handling Mato's behavior at all well. If I'm right, sulking and passive-aggressiveness are not normative Gokun behavior. Being unsure how to handle it makes him ineffective at handling it, so he subconsciously avoids the problem. Though Lady Goku, if she's a competent teacher, should be doing better than that...]
[ ][DRAMA] You're right. Nobody has to die. You'll make it so if that's not the case. That's always been your way; you hope for better. You won't stop now!
We never really went against this. The vote was very specific on non lethal force.
I respect this vote decision and it seems to be building a bandwagon support. At the same time, I would be much happier if Kakara comes to a conclusion like this LATER, after careful reflection, than on the spur of the moment. Among other things, that means her convictions are less likely to be shaken the first time she tries to walk the pacifist road and something goes badly wrong.
Better to have Cognitive Dissonance now for a few months than have it be a recurring plague for the next several years.
[X][ALIEN] Accept his surrender.
[X][DRAMA] You're right. Nobody has to die. You'll make it so if that's not the case. That's always been your way; you hope for better. You won't stop now!
Can I ask one of the many "nobody has to die, you'll make it so" voters for a character development explanation of why this is the better choice? It seems like there's this unspoken consensus to double down on it, causing several people to vote for it without anyone really having presented their reasons.
Is it because people consider a reflexive, unreflective commitment to pacifism to be a better form of character development for Kakara than a thoughtful commitment?
Is it because people are checking off the option that gives us maximum Pacifist Points?
Is it because of something I haven't thought of yet?
[X][ALIEN] Accept his surrender.
-[X] Ask him why
[X][DRAMA] You...you don't know. This is a hard question. You need to think. You need time. But at least you're a little wiser now; you know that you still have to think about it. And that's...that's okay.
This isn't wrong, but there are a lot of other ways to obtain information. We can't count on Seer powers carrying us through every crisis; they give us plot-critical information and valuable insights, but they won't tell us everything.
Seers know a lot, but even highly gifted seers are a long, long way short of being omniscient. Social engineering, Intrigue checks, having enough overall background knowledge about saiyan society and mindset... All of these are things that can provide information that further improves our handling of things.
[X][ALIEN] Accept his surrender.
-[X] Ask him why
[X][DRAMA] You...you don't know. This is a hard question. You need to think. You need time. But at least you're a little wiser now; you know that you still have to think about it. And that's...that's okay.
[X][ALIEN] Accept his surrender.
[X][DRAMA] You...you don't know. This is a hard question. You need to think. You need time. But at least you're a little wiser now; you know that you still have to think about it. And that's...that's okay.
[X][DRAMA] You're right. Nobody has to die. You'll make it so if that's not the case. That's always been your way; you hope for better. You won't stop now!
Can I ask one of the many "nobody has to die, you'll make it so" voters for a character development explanation of why this is the better choice? It seems like there's this unspoken consensus to double down on it, causing several people to vote for it without anyone really having presented their reasons.
Is it because people consider a reflexive, unreflective commitment to pacifism to be a better form of character development for Kakara than a thoughtful commitment?
Is it because people are checking off the option that gives us maximum Pacifist Points?
Is it because of something I haven't thought of yet?
Can I ask one of the many "nobody has to die, you'll make it so" voters for a character development explanation of why this is the better choice? It seems like there's this unspoken consensus to double down on it, causing several people to vote for it without anyone really having presented their reasons.
Is it because people consider a reflexive, unreflective commitment to pacifism to be a better form of character development for Kakara than a thoughtful commitment?
Is it because people are checking off the option that gives us maximum Pacifist Points?
Is it because of something I haven't thought of yet?
