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Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

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So, in retrospect, I can see the problem that led me to misinterpret Shikaku's conversation with us:

I don't talk like that. I don't talk like that for very good reasons. I've spent almost all of my time around people less intelligent than I am since I was around 15. My parents were both unusually bright, but from about that point onward they couldn't quite keep up with me, and my peer group since then has consisted of mostly average people. All of my methods of communication are optimized for interacting both genuinely and well with people less intelligent than I am. They basically assume it, in fact. From that assumption, I would only ever talk like Shikaku did if I felt like making someone feel small, if I felt a need to emphasize the intelligence differential.

Shikaku grew up with an extended family of geniuses. His natural communication style isn't going to be optimized the way mine is. He could talk like he does for other reasons, and I did not consider that.
 
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We need to talk to the Hokage yesterday. And we need to be EXTRADOUBLEPLUS CAREFUL ABOUT HOW WE DO IT.
 
We should probably show off Banshees to Jiraiya in-game-tomorrow. It's nothing major for Leaf, but I'm sure it'll amuse him.

Also, the first part of that update was so friggin' hilarious, I'm having trouble keeping my face straight; it's nearly as bad as the trio of updates when we joined Leaf @eaglejarl. Now all we need is to see Mari hanging out with Anko and I will suffocate from laughter.
 
will408914 said:
Sooooo...

There is no Naruto, there is only the Nine-tailed Fox.

Huh.

Ever read The Empty Cage?
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I doubt it, pretty sure that
1. The most powerful being in the world isn't going to stay in a village with a bunch of humans
2. That Leaf would know this, and wouldn't attempt to have a jinchuriki unless they were absolutely sure it was safe
 
Threnodist said:
I doubt it, pretty sure that
1. The most powerful being in the world isn't going to stay in a village with a bunch of humans
2. That Leaf would know this, and wouldn't attempt to have a jinchuriki unless they were absolutely sure it was safe
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My assumption is that the Hokage is the Sage, which makes it work out, because the Sage is stronger than the 9 tails, and he would be able to keep it both in line and in the village.
 
1234qwerty said:
So, Kagome isn't from Sand, Wind, Mist, Demon, or Rock based on his comments in the chapter. What does that leave? Cloud?

Also, the hivemind fits the description of Dummy and the Sage possessing hosts, especially considering the 'fact' that we get to start as a new character when Hazou meets his demise. Are we just an unexpected offshoot of their life force shenanigans?
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Watch as we literally *are* the sage.
 
eaglejarl said:
This was a fun update to write. Surprisingly, the hardest part was not the writing but the discussion with the other QMs...we weren't sure how much of the worldbuilding to put in Kagome's mouth1​. In the end, we decided that with his background he would probably have had access to enough information2​ to put the pieces together in order to get what you see3​. Hazards of rational fiction -- sometimes you need to let your characters tell more of what you've been discussing than you might otherwise choose.
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@eaglejarl NEVER SAYS THIS UPDATE WAS TRUTHFUL OR GENERALLY TRUTHFUL

Just to break it down, things @eaglejarl said:
  1. We (the QMs) were not sure how much of this Kagome would know
  2. We decided that Kagome would have access to certain pieces of information.
  3. Given that information, this is how Kagome put what information he had (and only the information he had) into a single cohesive narrative
The man is trolling us. I trust him not to lie in posts to us but he never actually gave us any information about the truth value of Kagome's statements.

Kagome has almost certainly filled in the gaps in his actual knowledge with insane speculation. So yes, there's some information in this update but you cannot take it as gospel or even a very highly distorted view of reality.

What we have is a giant blob of speculation gleaned from a few facts by a insane hermit.

@eaglejarl IS TROLLING US.

Yes, I think is important enough to get huge screaming in Naruto orange.

Rihaku said:
Hm... if we take Kagome's speculations as generally accurate,
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Hah, good one.
 
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Jello_Raptor said:
@eaglejarl NEVER SAYS THIS UPDATE WAS TRUTHFUL OR GENERALLY TRUTHFUL

Just to break it down, things @eaglejarl said:
  1. We (the QMs) were not sure how much of this Kagome would know
  2. We decided that Kagome would have access to certain pieces of information.
  3. Given that information, this is how Kagome put what information he had (and only the information he had) into a single cohesive narrative
The man is trolling us. I trust him not to lie in posts to us but he never actually gave us any information about the truth value of Kagome's statements.

HE IS TROLLING US.

Yes, I think is important enough to get huge screaming in Naruto orange.



Hah, good one.
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Kagome is an unreliable narrator, that is a given, but he isn't making literally 100% of it up.
 
@Jello_Raptor I will bet 3:1 on the proposition: "While most of what Kagome said is false or is an inaccurate reporting of events, almost all of it has some basis in truth."
 
Vecht said:
@Jello_Raptor I will bet 3:1 on the proposition: "While most of what Kagome said is false or is an inaccurate reporting of events, almost all of it has some basis in truth."
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I agree with that, or at least my set of estimates for the range of things you could mean with that (esp. the definitions of "Almost all", and "some basis in truth") is in an interval that contains 3:1.

I just want to point out the @eaglejarl's post isn't reason to take Kagome more seriously than we would have otherwise. It has very different connotational and denotational meanings, and the latter hasn't added noew information to the pile.
 
Jello_Raptor said:
I agree with that, or at least my set of estimates for the range of things you could mean with that (esp. the definitions of "Almost all", and "some basis in truth") is in an interval that contains 3:1.

I just want to point out the @eaglejarl's post isn't reason to take Kagome more seriously than we would have otherwise. It has very different connotational and denotational meanings, and the latter hasn't added noew information to the pile.
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OliWhail said:
@Vecht beat me to posting the quote from just after I got to read the docs, but yeah, it was fuckin nuts.

@eaglejarl and @Velorien can attest to much yelling which went on as I learned what was going on behind the curtain.
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Previous bet is invalidated by new information. Update to 9:1.
 
Whatever the truth may be, Mist is small potatoes. Folks, this is not the time to be dillydally spending all our XP on social, or even on all sealing.

We may be in a safer place, but it's probably not safe.
 
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