fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
I don't know. I would not have her baby sit an 8 year old.
Dragon Ball: After the End
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Ah, I read Jakarta as Jaffur. He is absolutely aware of the tensions.
That ship has sailed, sank, been digested by snails, and had it's excrement fossilized in the shape of a giant middle finger to baffle archeologists for eons to come. If it makes you feel any better, several dozen millennia from now it will wash ashore on some small island where it will inspire the inhabitants to devote a minor but prestigious cult to placating the terrible fury of the dread god, "Haha, fuck you." Eventually, an expansionary colonial power will stumble upon and plunder it in their search for silver and slaves. It will trade hands from cabinet to cabinet of curiosities over and over again before being lost in a forgotten corner of the Royal Museum best known for rumors of a ghostly spectre screaming curses in a forgotten language as the world burns in the most ironically-named war ever. In the chilly peace to come the world will unite in a global effort to dispose of this terrible affront to all that is good and hopeful. Harnessing powers far beyond their Ken they will bend space and time to cast it deep into the future. When Tipler's Omega Point emerges and infinite processing occurs in finite space and time it will serve as the necessary negative counterweight. This web of possibilities and antipossibilities will have a critical antipode focused on a story on a science fiction board in the distant past of humanity's Information Age. The immovable object, the Adamantine Negation, the ultimate Death of Possibility, the Eternal "No". To challenge this is to risk unraveling all that ever was and ever will be into meaningless Chaos without cause nor end.
@PoptartProdigy : what's the word count limit for omakes?
Sorry, but something (probably alcohol) compelled me to expand the metaphor.
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The Fourth Monado
S U B A R A S H I I
- Location
- Away
I have often been told that drunk Lail is best Lail.
Hugs for everybody!
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
*blink* None.
I have absolutely no idea what sort of bonus should apply to that[/Flat_Affect]
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Well, it's a lovely metaphor, but alas, not really topical enough to the quest to be an omake.
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
At the current rate how long is it going to be before we have time for power of learning? Why why did we have to have the most eventful scionship in history?
Yes, I am including Jaffur. He has a surplus of free time.
Yes, I am including Jaffur. He has a surplus of free time.
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Well, if Kakara didn't, then we wouldn't be playing/following her.
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
No we just would have gotten though her childhood faster. The years would not need as many updates.
Public Relations
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] Notify your father immediately.
-[X] Discuss the possibility of asking him to break the seal in response to this new threat with the rest of the conspiracy, and work out what arguments and information you can safely use
-[X] If the others agree, convince him to convince Dandeer to break the Seal.
[X] Prepare.
-[X] It is going to sting your pride more than you can stomach contemplating, but you're going to go to Jaffur and Jaron and tell them that they were right; they can wait. Repurpose conspiracy action by requesting a crash course in Jaffur's trick.
-[X] Abandon your saiyan-facing stewardship duties in order to free up training time. Your people will understand.
-[X] Abandon Transcendence action.
-[X] Abandon perfect multiform research (again).
-[X] Discuss the possibility of asking him to break the seal in response to this new threat with the rest of the conspiracy, and work out what arguments and information you can safely use
-[X] If the others agree, convince him to convince Dandeer to break the Seal.
[X] Prepare.
-[X] It is going to sting your pride more than you can stomach contemplating, but you're going to go to Jaffur and Jaron and tell them that they were right; they can wait. Repurpose conspiracy action by requesting a crash course in Jaffur's trick.
-[X] Abandon your saiyan-facing stewardship duties in order to free up training time. Your people will understand.
-[X] Abandon Transcendence action.
-[X] Abandon perfect multiform research (again).
Public Relations
"It is my pleasure to introduce the Scion of Goku: Kakara!"
Lights come on with a heavy thump, and you put your public face on, smiling as cheers sound from every side.
* * *
"Dad, we have better things to be doing," you say, walking alongside your father along the rim of the Training Hall. "I need to be training. I have work to do!"
"And you're doing work," he says, patting you on the shoulder. "You're really applying yourself lately. But you've stepped back from your initial plan of helping me on the saiyan side -- not that that is a bad thing by any means, you understand, but it is a thing -- so you need to do something to touch base with people. This will be good practice."
"There's only going to be four of us!" you say, crossing your arms. "In my vision we were still having trouble."
Four indeed -- not five. You wound up not asking your father about unsealing Jaffur after all.
* * *
"Absolutely not," says Yammar, shaking his head.
You blink, taken aback. "What? Why not?"
Grandma sighs. "Kakara, I understand why you want to do this. I really do. He's your father. He's my son. I want to have him on our side, too. But it's a bad idea."
"Say you're right," says Head Raditz, crossing his arms. "Say that the rift between your father and Dandeer has widened to the point where he can be talked around to our side. Say he goes to Dandeer to speak with her about it."
"She'll say no," says Yammar. "More than that, she'll panic. If you share the truth of what happened with Berra, and he shares it with Dandeer, she'll refuse to believe it. She'll demand he give her the chance to confirm -- she won't want to believe it, especially when the information comes from you. And when she learns that it's true..."
Your eyes widen. "She'll snuff Jaron out in a second."
"At the very least she'll reinforce the Seal," says Grandma. "I imagine that Jaron's destruction would be...merely an unfortunate side effect."
"There's a reason we're not going to her until we're ready to contain her," says Yammar. "She's unstable. And she's dangerous."
* * *
With the prospect of breaking the Seal for this still dangerous for Jaron, four super saiyans is all that you're going to have.
And you're still spending time on, of all things, an interview.
"This feels..." You frown, grasping for a good word.
"Pointless?" he says, raising an eyebrow.
"Frivolous," you decide.
He snorts. "You've been reading lately, I see."
You kick him in the ankle. He laughs.
"I just feel like there are better things I could be doing," you grumble.
"Papata Fren is our people's only actual media celebrity," says Dad, subsiding. "Appearing with her is a great opportunity, especially live."
"But this is going to be on TV!" you say, crossing your arms. "She's a radio host! How does that make sense?"
"There's not a huge saiyan market for television," says your father, shrugging. "We don't have regular programming. Watching Garenhulder programs fills the demand well enough. But we do have the ability for broadcasts, and for something like this, I imagine Miss Fren decided that she wanted to get the most out of it. It was the same back when I was Scion, and her predecessor's predecessor's...well, the host at the time...interviewed me. They pull out all the stops for interviews with the noble families."
* * *
"You can expect a live audience."
Your father's words echo in your mind as you step across the stage, raising your hand to the crowd. Live audience indeed -- Miss Fren decided to reserve part of the Training Hall's public area for this. The same Hall presently doubling as a refugee camp for most of the saiyan race.
She only reserved exactly as much space as she needed.
"Everything about her chosen stage is going to be very carefully tuned to the effect she wants to convey."
The stage is a raised platform, massive in scope, with you and Miss Fren reduced to tiny pinpricks against the sheer size of it. There's a screen erected in back -- at the moment, it shows a zoomed-in version of your face, as a too-fast-to-follow glance back reveals.
"As for Fren herself, respect her abilities. Just because she isn't a fighter by trade doesn't mean she didn't fight for her position. Saiyans compete -- and being the only person reading off the news is a heady prize to draw competitors. She has a mind like a steel trap and a tongue like a razor blade, when she wants to use it. She'll remember everything you say and make you pay for it if you're not careful."
You approach Miss Fren, in the center of the stage, and turn your gaze to her. Her setup is a fairly informal one. An area rug breaks up the painted plywood of the stage. Two comfortable armchairs sit on opposite sides of a coffee table, angled out towards the audience. On the table sit two water glasses, a couple of magazines, and a centerpiece in an understated display. A casual atmosphere, then, despite the audience.
You meet Miss Fren's eyes. Despite her picture-perfect smile, there's just a hint of an assessing glint which you manage to notice. For a moment, as you sit, you watch her, taking in her body language -- relaxed, curled up in her chair as though it's in her own home, in nice but comfortable clothes, with her hair left untied and very artfully casual, tumbling down about her neck. She watches you, watching her, and you watch that.
"She might be one of the few people I'd give decent odds in an argument with you."
The little glint brightens into the kind of eager gleam you're used to seeing from Jaffur, and she tilts her head just slightly in a nod.
Feeling an ember of competitive spirit kindling in your belly, you nod back, a slight conspiratorial tilt to your smile.
There's just a flash of teeth to her smile, so slight you would miss it if you weren't ten feet away from her.
And then her expression is back to perfect, gregarious pleasantry, and she angles herself a bit more towards the audience without breaking eye contact. "Welcome to the show, Scion," she says, voice loud and clear for the microphones.
You give her your best polite, good-girl-Scion smile back, and reply just as clearly, "Thank you for inviting me, Miss Fren."
Papata Fren Communication skill: Elite.
I will point out that you all willingly chose to accept a
What are you ready to talk about? Voting is by line; any topics you write in will be accepted as something for which Kakara has prepared (not necessarily something that she's going to bring up; remember that the interviewer has the initiative), and the winning approach for those topics will be by plurality as normal. As always, you do not have to vote for everything.
[ ] The Sealing.
-[ ] Official story.
-[ ] Proclaim opposition.
-[ ] Tell what really happened that day.
-[ ] Reveal the truth about Jaffur and Jaron's situation. (Locked out due to consultation with conspirators.)
-[ ] No comment. (In and of itself an implied comment, given the official story and Dandeer's now-public hatred for you.)
[ ] Your Sight.
-[ ] Publicize.
-[ ] Keep it secret.
[ ] Invasion.
-[ ] Can't comment.
-[ ] War stories only. Saiyan love war stories.
-[ ] Broad comments on what you know to be coming.
-[ ] All known intelligence is on the table for the asking.
[X] Dragon.
-[X] You and Dad are not making the dragon public knowledge in a live interview. It can wait for the press release.
[ ] Personal life.
-[ ] Justify human focus.
-[ ] Acknowledge relative lack of saiyan focus as growth area.
-[ ] Off the table.
[ ] Relationship with Lady Vegeta.
-[ ] You have no problems with her. (Deceit check, but wow does she look like a bitch if you succeed.)
-[ ] You don't get along very well.
-[ ] You dislike her.
-[ ] Full disclosure (You hate her, you hate her very much, and you're explaining exactly why).
-[ ] No comment. (Again, itself an implied comment given the obvious animosity.)
[ ] Write-in topics, and broad approaches of similar detail to the examples above. May also write-in approaches to the above topics, again at the above levels of detail.
-[ ] Official story.
-[ ] Proclaim opposition.
-[ ] Tell what really happened that day.
-[ ] No comment. (In and of itself an implied comment, given the official story and Dandeer's now-public hatred for you.)
[ ] Your Sight.
-[ ] Publicize.
-[ ] Keep it secret.
[ ] Invasion.
-[ ] Can't comment.
-[ ] War stories only. Saiyan love war stories.
-[ ] Broad comments on what you know to be coming.
-[ ] All known intelligence is on the table for the asking.
[X] Dragon.
-[X] You and Dad are not making the dragon public knowledge in a live interview. It can wait for the press release.
[ ] Personal life.
-[ ] Justify human focus.
-[ ] Acknowledge relative lack of saiyan focus as growth area.
-[ ] Off the table.
[ ] Relationship with Lady Vegeta.
-[ ] You have no problems with her. (Deceit check, but wow does she look like a bitch if you succeed.)
-[ ] You don't get along very well.
-[ ] You dislike her.
-[ ] Full disclosure (You hate her, you hate her very much, and you're explaining exactly why).
-[ ] No comment. (Again, itself an implied comment given the obvious animosity.)
[ ] Write-in topics, and broad approaches of similar detail to the examples above. May also write-in approaches to the above topics, again at the above levels of detail.
THESE VOTES ARE NOW CLOSED
And here we finally are! Took a lot longer getting here than I imagined.
I've been waiting to get Fren on-screen. Given the obvious, she's somebody who will be of interest to Kakara going forward. Why haven't I introduced her before? Because Berra has been actively keeping you from the press.
For this vote, I'll emphasize -- write in approaches, not wording. It'd take too long and make the vote hopelessly intimidating. Besides, phrasing will need to wait until Kakara has questions to answer, and I don't plan to break for every question; we'd be for weeks.
No, we're just deciding for what Kakara has prepared, and how. After that we turn it over to the dice, the skills, and the traits.Have fun, folks, and I hope you enjoyed!
TWO HOUR MORATORIUM, AS ALWAYS
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Teach us Master Fren!
Far, considering we only unlocked Exceptional at the end of last year. Also, you know, story locked.
Quest
The Great One
- Location
- Everywhere
I know. I was just wondering, because a live debate against an elite is the kind of thing that qualifies for that.
Also, something to keep in mind for this vote is our lack of deceit. It might bite us in the ass with the wrong vote.
Okay, we really need to think about how we'll deal with revealing what happened that night and our hatred of Dandeer, since the two are interconnected. A major issue with revealing what happened(making an enemy of Dandeer) has already occurred, but the fact that it ties into a debatedly unearned reputation that serves as the foundation of our reputation remains an issue. We also don't have a good enough knowledge of either clans politics and opinions to know what'd happen if we revealed the truth.
On the other hand, we suck at Deceit.
Also, something to note:
On the other hand, we suck at Deceit.
Also, something to note:
They haven't already informed everyone?
No, we're past that by WoG. When you've reached the stage your care more about spiting someone then survival, then an olive branch isn't going to cut it.
- Location
- Somewhere I shouldn't be
Ok, well then.
This is happening.
What's that I hear? Thread whiplashing so hard that my fellow americans have already begun filing lawsuits? Awesome.
So I'm seeing a couple of things we can do:
1. Serious Scion - we keep our responses very straightforward and to the point, we respond with all the Maturity we have, and we simply 'No comment' on things which we don't want to answer.
I DO NOT like this approach. This turns the interview into an adversarial challenge, and (for once) we are on the underdog side of the Communication check. We need our bonuses to even things out, but I expect it won't be enough, given that Fren LIKELY HAS SIMILAR OR BETTER TRAITS. Her power level in Communications pretty much has to be SSJ-level, or she'd have lost already. Our father more or less told us this.
2. Friendly Scion - we do our best to appear open and honest, living down to our age. Talk about our family and friends, talk about how much we love to fly, talk about how exciting it is to watch humanity stumble, blinking, into the light of ki.
This approach is, I think, better. It naturally focuses the interview towards the most public and open bits of our life, and the part that most Saiyans are concerned about: humanity's ki usage, the partial Masquerade fracture, etc. That said, it leaves plenty of ways for Fren to turn this around to discuss things we'd rather avoid. 'No Comment' here is probably more like, "I probably shouldn't say anything about that, buuuut" with a redirect towards true but mostly-harmless stuff. "How do you feel about the Sealing?" "Oh, I don't really want to talk about that night too much, but I can say it was amazing to transform mid-fight like that! The rush of power must have been what Ancestor Goku felt when he fought Frieza! I am so lucky to have felt something like that twice!"
I could support this approach, since it should help us avoid lying (and we DO NOT want to test our laughable Deceit skill against the whole of Saiyan society, and especially not against Fren) and take some of the sting out of 'No Comment'. It requires Fren to not push too hard, though, she'd have to be at least a little bit willing to follow the change of subject.
3. Ka-me-ha-me-ha! This interview is over, and so is Fren.
Just 'Saiyan' that we have a pocket nuke we could drop if we need. I don't support it, though.
Oh good, we already have some movement in that direction. This is excellent, because not enough of the balls in the air are already on fire.
4. The Chatterbox - If your opponent never gets to shoot, they can't win a gunfight. Don't stop talking. Meander. Make random jumps in conversation, only to bring them back around to the topic after people have forgotten the basic thrust of the question. Play up Oddball as much as practical, and keep Fren focused on trying to steer a careening ship in a typhoon.
This likely gives us the best chance at a 'win' in the conversation, but at what risks to our perception in Saiyan society?
I expect that 1 will have a strong chance of gaining supporting votes, but I personally support some combination of 2 and 4.
Lailoken will probably advocate for 3. It will be fun to watch.
TL;DR: We have a wide range of choices in how we present ourselves. I advocate that we present ourselves as a relatively-mature child, but one who tends to talk 'Stream of Conscious' and that we try to focus as much as practical on the human side of things.
@PoptartProdigy - Important question: I'm sure that Fren is familiar with Vegetan protocol, given her position, but is she Gokun or Vegetan?
If she is Vegetan, we could probably incline her towards particular repsonses by using Vegetan-protocol-esque phrasing subtly in our responses.
This is happening.
What's that I hear? Thread whiplashing so hard that my fellow americans have already begun filing lawsuits? Awesome.
So I'm seeing a couple of things we can do:
1. Serious Scion - we keep our responses very straightforward and to the point, we respond with all the Maturity we have, and we simply 'No comment' on things which we don't want to answer.
I DO NOT like this approach. This turns the interview into an adversarial challenge, and (for once) we are on the underdog side of the Communication check. We need our bonuses to even things out, but I expect it won't be enough, given that Fren LIKELY HAS SIMILAR OR BETTER TRAITS. Her power level in Communications pretty much has to be SSJ-level, or she'd have lost already. Our father more or less told us this.
2. Friendly Scion - we do our best to appear open and honest, living down to our age. Talk about our family and friends, talk about how much we love to fly, talk about how exciting it is to watch humanity stumble, blinking, into the light of ki.
This approach is, I think, better. It naturally focuses the interview towards the most public and open bits of our life, and the part that most Saiyans are concerned about: humanity's ki usage, the partial Masquerade fracture, etc. That said, it leaves plenty of ways for Fren to turn this around to discuss things we'd rather avoid. 'No Comment' here is probably more like, "I probably shouldn't say anything about that, buuuut" with a redirect towards true but mostly-harmless stuff. "How do you feel about the Sealing?" "Oh, I don't really want to talk about that night too much, but I can say it was amazing to transform mid-fight like that! The rush of power must have been what Ancestor Goku felt when he fought Frieza! I am so lucky to have felt something like that twice!"
I could support this approach, since it should help us avoid lying (and we DO NOT want to test our laughable Deceit skill against the whole of Saiyan society, and especially not against Fren) and take some of the sting out of 'No Comment'. It requires Fren to not push too hard, though, she'd have to be at least a little bit willing to follow the change of subject.
3. Ka-me-ha-me-ha! This interview is over, and so is Fren.
Just 'Saiyan' that we have a pocket nuke we could drop if we need. I don't support it, though.
Oh good, we already have some movement in that direction. This is excellent, because not enough of the balls in the air are already on fire.
4. The Chatterbox - If your opponent never gets to shoot, they can't win a gunfight. Don't stop talking. Meander. Make random jumps in conversation, only to bring them back around to the topic after people have forgotten the basic thrust of the question. Play up Oddball as much as practical, and keep Fren focused on trying to steer a careening ship in a typhoon.
This likely gives us the best chance at a 'win' in the conversation, but at what risks to our perception in Saiyan society?
I expect that 1 will have a strong chance of gaining supporting votes, but I personally support some combination of 2 and 4.
Lailoken will probably advocate for 3. It will be fun to watch.
TL;DR: We have a wide range of choices in how we present ourselves. I advocate that we present ourselves as a relatively-mature child, but one who tends to talk 'Stream of Conscious' and that we try to focus as much as practical on the human side of things.
@PoptartProdigy - Important question: I'm sure that Fren is familiar with Vegetan protocol, given her position, but is she Gokun or Vegetan?
If she is Vegetan, we could probably incline her towards particular repsonses by using Vegetan-protocol-esque phrasing subtly in our responses.
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Vegetan. She mentioned this in one of the previous radio segements.
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
No. At first all they had was, "So something is coming that made every single seer on the planet wake up screaming or in a cold sweat, but we don't know what, when, why, where, or how. Given that we have four super saiyans capable of golden oozaru and the vision is still hanging over our heads, there's probably literally nothing you can do to prepare without knowing more, and we can't even pretend to be taking any measures towards this aside from, 'train more,' since we have no idea what it is. Sleep well!"
Now they have specifics. Not happy specifics, but specifics that the people need to know.
Like Gore said.
- Location
- Somewhere I shouldn't be
Great! That means that there is the possibility of using her internalized knowledge of Vegetan protocol to guide her towards phrasing we prefer.
I don't think this will be useful, or used, but it is a potential tool.
When going up against a foe who is superior, one must be aware of every tool at one's disposal.
Except that I presume it's been more then six hours since they got those extra details. So I repeat my question.
Incidentally, I believe I remember @PoptartProdigy mentioning that there either were only four people on Garenhuld with Elite+, or that they'd only statted up 4. We've now met three: Berra, Kala and Papata. Wonder who the fourth is?
Also, been wondering if we can get more details/a better idea on what qualifies you as having unlocked Elite+? So far, our only two examples are "stopping the nuke/detecting non-living energy" and "reach the rank of master in a style".
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
It's been more than six hours, yes, but not more than a week. Press conferences take time to set up when everybody is this busy, and it's not urgent on the scale of hours that people know, so they can afford to wait for the next only-moderately-difficult-to-clear slot.Except that I presume it's been more then six hours since they got those extra details. So I repeat my question.
Incidentally, I believe I remember @PoptartProdigy mentioning that there either were only four people on Garenhuld with Elite+, or that they'd only statted up 4. We've now met three: Berra, Kala and Papata. Wonder who the fourth is?
Also, been wondering if we can get more details/a better idea on what qualifies you as having unlocked Elite+? So far, our only two examples are "stopping the nuke/detecting non-living energy" and "reach the rank of master in a style".
In general, it's from exceptional achievement, or exceptional need. So, doing something stupefyingly impressive in a way that could make something deeper click, or having a level of need that would result in super saiyan. Kakara's awakening was the second kind, since she really needed to find that fucking nuke. Kakara convincing Dandeer to stand down from a fight with Kakara would be the former, because holy shit is that DC spectacular.
Style mastery is the most quiet and reliable method in that it's not a breakthrough so much as a gradual process and it will happen if you get there, but it's guaranteed to be years in the making.