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Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

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OliWhail said:
Totally unofficial poll: if I started a Rational!Bleach quest, would anyone be interested in participating? I'm torn between doing it as a quest and just as a story to write, so I'd love to get responses as to what people here would prefer to read.
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What's Bleach? And are you doing this story/quest?
 
Raxner said:
What's Bleach? And are you doing this story/quest?
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Bleach is an anime with a lot of swordfights, and where everything centers around this weird cosmology with ghost-monsters, a "Soul Society", and various other powerful groups. The main character fights a lot and wins thanks to his determination. People generally seem to consider it on par with Naruto and One Piece, so it is rather popular. That's why I think that it could work as a quest, @OliWhail - it probably has a big enough fandom to find people invested in a rational quest as hard to get into as Marked For Death if you want to make one.
Still, I think that it would be better as a story. Rational stories are more rational than rational quests, because the player collective is inherently irrational (because the voters change, are fickle, and aren't in situation).
Of course, I keep up with this rational quest, so I don't have a leg to stand on here. But I maintain my point!

@Raxner: I haven't actually read or watched much of Bleach, because I pretty much hate the anime format and got sick of the standard "action shounen" themes after reading the first few Dragon Ball and Naruto manga (I quit after the Pein fight). So don't bother asking me for a more detailed summary ;)
The only reason I'm here at all is because even though I didn't like Naruto much, the concept of super fast magic ninjas was pretty cool and Dreaming of Sunshine got me back into the Naruto fandom. It's slow pacing and rehash of canon isn't a problem for someone who hasn't read canon Naruto for years and hasn't been bored to death by stations of canon fanfiction already :D
Walk on the Moon and Marked For Death have kept me in the fandom. Both are fantastic in different ways!
I would probably read the first few months of anything Bleach-centered that OliWhail wrote, as long as it was relatively newb-friendly. He's been doing a great job here after all!
 
TalonofAnathrax said:
Bleach is an anime with a lot of swordfights, and where everything centers around this weird cosmology with ghost-monsters, a "Soul Society", and various other powerful groups. The main character fights a lot and wins thanks to his determination. People generally seem to consider it on par with Naruto and One Piece, so it is rather popular.
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As it happens, Bleach, Naruto and One Piece are officially the ruling triumvirate of anime in Japan (or at least they were, since the Bleach manga finished not long ago). Bleach has an OK first arc, and then a fantastic second arc, so it's worth getting through at least a few episodes if you wish to give it a try.

It also has my favourite villain of any piece of fiction ever, but even their name constitutes a spoiler if you're thinking of checking the series out.
 
Raxner said:
How should I know that it's not possible if we've neither tried it nor had (until now) QM guidance on the matter. Skywalkers were possible--why not sticks of granite erupting from people's shirts?

Carigaya has now mentioned the existence of "chakra exclusion zones." Seems like something we ought to learn about. How far out does such a zone extend, how powerful is it, under what circumstances is it waived?

It can't extend terribly far, since Hazo was perfectly able to call up a wall of granite to turn Jotarou (a jonin, I'll point out) into paste. Perhaps with more control and practice he could spear an enemy in the same way, or crush just the lower half of his body?
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I suspect my post came off harsher than intended. Sorry for for that.


CEZs aren't Naruto canon nor are they MfD canon (yet; I quite like them!) and probably aren't something Hazō would know anything about until he learned Technique Hacking. "How does chakra work" is definitely a thing you can do experiments on, though. (I will now go stock up on aspirin. :>)

Raxner said:
But suppose we're doing something close to that with MEW. Even if the enemy can dodge, we can have it erupt by surprise (for example, from behind him), or in multiple places simultaneously.
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It is absolutely possible to weaponize MEW (as Hazō has already done). It has a minimum size that can be created -- I don't have it to hand, but I think it was something like 1' x 1' x 3'. It's probably in the jutsu description on the wiki, or in the hover-over comment on the spreadsheet. Not something that you can spear a person with, but you can certain smash it into them.

It always comes from a solid object (usually the ground) and it's fixed to that object so it typically won't simply fall over and crush them.

TalonofAnathrax said:
[Bleach] probably has a big enough fandom to find people invested in a rational quest as hard to get into as Marked For Death if you want to make one.
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What do you think makes MfD hard to get into? If there was a way to lower the barrier to entry without damaging the quality of the community I would be all over it.

TalonofAnathrax said:
Walk on the Moon and Marked For Death have kept me in the fandom. Both are fantastic in different ways!
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I'm flattered; thank you.
 
Not sure what brought this up, but to weigh in @OliWhail Bleach quest pls God yes oh what I would not give to see more quality Bleach fiction. A rational interpretation of it sounds especially interesting given how intertwined some of it can be said to be with Buddhist philosophies, the way it handles the cycle of reincarnation.
 
eaglejarl said:
What do you think makes MfD hard to get into? If there was a way to lower the barrier to entry without damaging the quality of the community I would be all over it.
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Well, part of the reason that Marked For Death is hard to get into is its length. The Story-Only thread is a massive help to anyone wanting to binge, so don't delete it! You made a comment about a week ago where you seemed to be wondering why it existed when less than five people were reading it, but I don't think that deleting it is a good idea. How hard is it to keep it running?

Marked For Death is sometimes hard to get into because of its mechanics. They're excellent (and I stole them for a tabletop RPG session recently), but they aren't exactly simple. Furthermore, the google doc isn't exactly a beautiful work of art, so getting motivated to read it all can seem annoying. It isn't bad, but it isn't fantastic either. Maybe give it a cover page? This isn't urgent at all, but it would be nice.
But IMO what's really needed mechanics-wise is a doc where someone explains, step-by-step the way dice rolls work and a fight is run, with an example (this doc should be very visible on the first post). There's something like that in the google doc already, but it isn't immediately visible, doesn't contain everything and isn't very readable on mobile. I'm still not sure I understand it myself, and I often have trouble following the way the maths works in some of the excellent and thought-out posts that are surprisingly common in this great thread.
For example, it took me ages to realise that the Chakra Capacity stat gave 10cp per point, and not one. The information was there, but hard to find.

Another source of complexity is the plans. The fact that the players aren't presented with options can seem daunting to people who are used to quests that run along the lines of "pick one of these one-sentence paths", and the current plan format means that people get into long discussions about relatively minor points. This is important and keeps the group safe, but does make keeping up with the thread or joining in seem like a lot of effort.
I sadly can't see a solution to this :,(

However, Marked For Death's quality is in part due to its complexity. Dumbing it down too much doesn't seem like a good idea! The current group is already rather invested and the thread is active. Why take the risk to change it? Do you do this to like-farm? I think of this thread as a tabletop RPG run in play-by-post and not a quest, and tabletop RPGs (even in play-by-post) rarely have more than six or seven players at most.
 
Because here is a plan, a proper one, and it was kinda ignored. Which is bad. Was I to make a plan that is ignored like that, I'll just drop planning overall. Responding to stuff like that is important.
Red highlights what I consider to be wrong.
Blue is for the rest of commentary.

Matesz said:
Guys? I'd like to notice that Hazou's getting all the pressure in our team, due to him being the default go-to leader of the team, no matter what. I know that 'Minami is the leader in this mission' but it doesn't work like that, Because as we saw, no matter What happens, everything defaults to our decision. Kagome wants to blow-up minami? Hazou says no, and kagome bursts in tears begging for forgivness. Shit goes down during a mission? Hazou Saves the fucking day after an attempt to go out without chaos(which was actually caused by Mari-sensei refusing to go with the plan) (The Cold Stone Killers incident).

It doesn't always happen.
But I can't find a proper example. But there were such instances.


Kagome was stopped not just by us, but by pretty much the entire team. Also, I gotta remind, it was our fault this entire situation happened.

Hazou pretty much saves the day each time something goes wrong, has the position in other peoples hearts and minds, which gives him the final say in every action, and he works Extra time to make sure everyones issues are worked out before something bad happens.

I agree with you here, even if it's a bit exaggerated.

And the worst part is - We never get the recognition, AND when something goes to shit, we get blamed for EVERYTHING that went wrong. We are regarded by the others like the All-Knowing Leader who can never go wrong, meaning that any time something goes bad in our plan, either others deem it as planned, or blame everything on us, with minimal input from others.


OliWhail said:
"Ah-he-he-hmmm," Pandaa intoned, standing up. "These are replicas of weapons favored by the previous Pangolin Summoner, Ui Isas. His said 'rip' and 'tear' - we figured these might be somewhat more appropriate for someone as loyal and determined as you." His formal manner deflated somewhat, and he began tapping his claws together. "Um. And happy birthday, Hazou. You're a really cool guy."
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eaglejarl said:
"As to him being mean or whatever, he wasn't. Him starting off by jumping way ahead was his way of giving you the benefit of the doubt—saying that he was assuming you were smart enough to keep up. The fact that he kept doing it means that you showed you were smart enough, even if it sometimes took you a second. The insult would have been if he had switched up and started being less cryptic. You can always tell when Shikaku thinks someone is an idiot because he spells everything out in excruciating detail, draws all the dots between every point, and is punctiliously polite."
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eaglejarl said:
"Minami, you have formal command. I will note that you are taking over what is already a skilled and tight-knit squad. They each have their specialties, and I strongly suggest you listen to them. In particular, Keiko's bloodline makes her an analytical genius on the order of the Nara. Factor that in when you're making plans. Hazō here is young and inexperienced but terrifyingly creative. Kagome is an expert at security systems and reducing things to a fine red mist. Noburi and Ishihara are both excellent diplomats, albeit in different ways, and I encourage you to make use of them in that role. In addition, Noburi's bloodline allows him to transfer chakra by way of the water in his barrel. Make use of that to increase the team's endurance.
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Velorien said:
"Sorry, Hazō," she said wearily after a second. "That wasn't fair. You're doing a great job for a thirteen-year-old. Honestly, you're doing my job. I should be grateful."
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Velorien said:
"You should never have had to be our leader, Mari-sensei. It was a mistaken act of kindness on your part, and an unreasonable imposition on ours. Our group does not need a leader. Each of us has an equal part in decisions because each of us equally suffers the consequences. If you can contribute the skills and experience of a jōnin, that is no different to Kagome contributing his extraordinary dedication to security, or Hazō contributing his ability to form a plan of action in the blink of an eye. You are one of us, and you should be able to derive the full benefits of a non-hierarchical relationship with the people who love you, as I have.
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Our skills are noticed. Our incredibly quick planning speed, fact that we are the team's planner, creativity and smarts that allow to keep up with Nara.
There are more instances like that, of course. It's just what I could find/remember in relatively short time.

We are known for making mistakes and fumbling. Again, can't find a quote right now, but it's a thing that happens.

Velorien said:
"So," Inoue-sensei said wearily. "What have we learned?"

"We suck," Noburi responded.
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Stone Cold Killers incident in a nutshell. Everyone fucked up. I mean, there was Keiko and her Drama, Noburi's angst, let's not even mention Mari sensei...


We have quite a few

so, i'll give you a new plan. Tell me if it's how you do the plan thingy.

[X] Action Plan: No Blaming Hazou!

  • General:
    • Make sure the team knows the increasing stress placed upon you, and how it makes it hard to not make mistakes.
Are we really stressed though? We did our last mistake right after lounging around in Leaf. Sure, we were worried about Minami's alienation, but that doesn't mean stress.
We are the ones making decisions and plans. We don't exactly get tired or stressed out. Saying this doesn't gain us anything, and feels like whining.
  • Point out that, somehow, Hazou seems to be the go-to for plans and choices - A leader if you might. let Noburi or Keiko make the plans and pull leadership for the upcoming week or more.
    • Make sure we're ready to jump in if somehow, a mission of sending mail turns into Armagedon, to try n' make it better(open for discussion on what's regarded as better...).
A small thing- Keiko is unable to make plans of her own. Or at very least is hard for her, due to her bloodline (check her character sheet- it's there).
It was tried by Mari to some success, though most of the time it's simply our thing. Could be good to allow others to plan again, but remember- our plans are our sole source of XP.

    • Plan the Birthday for Akane, since you got time now. Get a cake or something, find a bar, make a pretty box for the present you got. Make sure to add in some convenient ninja equipment. Missing-nin style.

Good point- it was completely ignored.
Also a small thing- will Minami be part of this? If yes, we'll need to tell her of our traditions. Seems bad to exclude her from this.

  • Special additions:
    • Point out that we let Minami go out alone. Make sure to stess the issue that It's not safe for Minami to do so
We already have a good reason why she went alone- we are missing-nin. We are more danger to her than we are of any use in that city, by our reputation alone.
    • Make sure that everyone doesn't trust Minami as much as we have. She's not someone we know for a long time, and even though Jiraya trusts her, it doesn't mean we should before making sure ourselves. We are neither connected by bad circumstances, family bonds or situation. The only thing that connects us is the Mission and vague connections with Jiraya, ours being the stronger ones.
      • Boils down to making sure she doesn't go alone somewhere, and that we keep an eye on her.
      • Set up safety measures in case she gets swapped up for someone else. We don't know her a lot, and she's the easy target to swap with.
      • She's of a different clan. Her position here might give them an adventage against the Hokage's Clan. find out how to make it safer, by finding a hook on Minami. (Mari system of safety by swapping info).
Good ideas, especially doppelganger contingency, though a bit OOC after our latest efforts to 'let her in', and general naivety and idealism of Hazou.
  • Make Sure above points were tackled before Minami comes back.
  • Tell Minami after she comes back, that although we(Hazou) are sorry of how we placed her in danger, she shouldn't blame our side for everything. as a leader, she should've been self conscious enough to speak of the OPSEC issue before the dangerous situation, as she DID notice that it was the kind of secret that shouldn't have been spread.
    • Make a big talk by the fire about OPSEC, how we (Hazou) breached it, and efficient ways to stop such situations from happening due to getting comfortable with speaking of secrets in a trusted team.
    • Propose to shut up for most of the time, when in proximity with other, unknown or untrusted people to make sure OPSEC is kept by us.
We blurted out the secret before anyone could react. And she wouldn't really instruct our team on OPSEC before the mission because we ninja- that stuff's basic, especially to people with bloodlines (again, it was player's mistake- a real ninja wouldn't do it, even a genin).
Unsure about making a Big Talk about OSPEC, but I agree with the need for more detailed countermeasures, unless they are obvious to others (they were in actual clans- they should know this).
Second one should be obvious by now as well.
  • Personal talks:
    • Talk with Kagome:
      • Work out Kagome's issues, teach him to talk first when he sees an issue and its in team environment(A problem between team members), and only later, when necessary and with clearance to use explosives.
      • Make sure he knows, that although he's important for us, he also has to try to fit with the others, so as to make it easier for us to keep him with us without endangering others.
Good point, especially considering the other plan's lack of such a talk.
  • Talk with Noburi:
    • Stress the importance of finding new things to do with his already vast and useful skills, as we know that his bloodline is incredibly versitile.
    • Say sorry about the lapse in OPSEC. Yes. Again.
    • Ask Noburi to help you find better ways to keep OPSEC.
The other plan had a far more detailed approach to Noburi's ability, one that would actually lead to finding something, and even posed suggestions. Ripping off good parts others plan is okay as long as plans diverge from one another overall.
The last one could use a few suggestions of our own.
  • Talk with Keiko:
    • Say sorry for not pushing the plans through her first.
    • Point out that she'd be far better at finding good plans, and hard to spot problems in them, which Mari noticed before and encouraged Keiko to do. <- So you want her to make her own plans as well? I find it really hard to understand.
    • Notice, that breaches in OPSEC during team meetings that we didn't notice should be taken up as quickly as possible, even if the time seems improper, it should be done before something bad may happen due to that.
      • Make sure Keiko knows, that since Minami's a team leader, and if a breach in OPSEC happened, meaning she knows something which she shouldn't would mean that tackling that issue wouldn't break that exact OPSEC.
This is very hard to read. I think you mean that immediately alerting us of OPSEC issue wouldn't break the OPSEC overall...?
However I agree with the sentiment- even if we alert Minami to that fact, it's good to say that a thing we told is in fact a secret. It could prevent the whole Kagome problem.
  • Talk with Minami:
    • Stress the issue of her being the team leader, and how she should build trust. Her using a joking, yet real threat against us doesn't do that. Let's not forget we (Kagome, but a member of our team none the less) tried to kill her.
    • Point out that she doesn't act like a real team leader in our eyes. Once again say that she should've pointed out the Breach in OPSEC before we went on the mission, and tackled the possible unrest in the team. It further undermines her weak position, breaks her confidence further and I am not sure she noticed that it was an OPSEC issue. We, a long-time member of this team, who should be well aware of what is okay to tell or not, should have been aware of that fact. Well, at least in eyes of an outsider.
    • Say that we ARE really sorry, as for now, it seems like the team still defaults to us (Hazou) as the unspoken Team leader, making it so that she has much lower trust from the team, and there isn't as much importance placed upon her role in the team than there should be, leading to the situation in which Kagome attempted murder.
    • Stress the point that Kagome lived alone for a lot of time, and safety of the only people he trust is his utter and complete Objective Number one. It is a thing that might endanger others, but it also shows his loyality, and that we(as a team) shouldn't have been so harsh on him, Although we(Hazou) understand that it was a dangerous and wrong thing to happen.
    • Say sorry again before ending the talk.

  • Talk with Akane:
    • Romantic time.
    • Play some flute.
    • Ask about if she has any doubts or issues, and that we need to always work them out as fast as possible
    • Ask if she likes jewelery. Does it lead somewhere- do we want to give her a pin? Or check if she would like a different gift?
    • Point out that you hope that everything ends happily.
    • Look pensively towards the setting sun and say that you hear voices since the infusing accident.
      • Say that they try to help achieve his goal and make our(Hazou's) team, friends and family safe, and even though they are wise, they can't tell some things, and make mistakes.
      • Tell Akane you had to tell her this, to make sure she knew everything about him.
      • *laughs* sorry, but *romantic times* "By the way, I am crazy." is just funny to me. Also, what would we try to achieve by that? The only reaction we'll get is that we are either crazy or possessed. Also, latest accident provoked a new "Hazou makes his own decisions too" policy, which could prevent him from telling this (those voices are just part of his subconscious, after all)
    • Say sorry for being a dick and uncareful.
    • Ask if she still wants to be your girlfriend.


  • Research & Training:
    • Study some seals (Make sure Kagome clears it first):
      • Basic seals from the Nara Library.
      • Beginner seals from Jiraiya.
      • Mountain-nin seals. Take a look at these with Kagome to figure out what they do since we don't have the time to set up research facilities.
    • Ask Noburi/Keiko for some Diplomacy training, since we clearly need help with our mouth.
    • Do some basic training with the Seal Rings & Macerators, such that we can use them in combat.
  • Minami:
    • When she returns, assuming that other team members do not veto it, ask her opinion on the following:
      • Checking the Hokage's network for being compromised
        • Given that speed was a key factor in his assignment, he may not want us to do this on this pass, but it costs little to pass this request along in our daily report
      • Spending some time at each town we visit getting a handle on their market information and demographics, etc.
    • We wanted to get her input and go-ahead before we sent back for the Hokage's permission for this.
  • The Mission: Continue it, assuming there is nothing immediately requiring input.
Not much to comment here. It's good, and shamelessly ripping off parts of other's plans is okay, as long as two plans have enough differences between each other. (hell, you could make a plan "Respite, but without X")
Sky colored text has been shamelessly ripped off.
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Guys/girls/Zabuza, need your help.
Any instances of our plans that were ignored or vetoed by our team? Quotes or pointing out to specific parts of the story would be especially appreciated.
 
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Arctruth said:
Not sure what brought this up, but to weigh in @OliWhail Bleach quest pls God yes oh what I would not give to see more quality Bleach fiction. A rational interpretation of it sounds especially interesting given how intertwined some of it can be said to be with Buddhist philosophies, the way it handles the cycle of reincarnation.
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I was reading some old comments, and I noticed @OliWhail mentioning it, so I asked what was happening with it. I don't know a thing about Bleach, but I like Oli's writing.
 
TalonofAnathrax said:
That's why I think that it could work as a quest, @OliWhail - it probably has a big enough fandom to find people invested in a rational quest as hard to get into as Marked For Death if you want to make one.
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Adept_Woodwright said:
@OliWhail Id participate in a Bleach quest.
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Arctruth said:
Not sure what brought this up, but to weigh in @OliWhail Bleach quest pls God yes oh what I would not give to see more quality Bleach fiction. A rational interpretation of it sounds especially interesting given how intertwined some of it can be said to be with Buddhist philosophies, the way it handles the cycle of reincarnation.
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Raxner said:
I was reading some old comments, and I noticed @OliWhail mentioning it, so I asked what was happening with it. I don't know a thing about Bleach, but I like Oli's writing.
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Y'all I have so many worldbuilding notes for this and I really wanna do it TT_TT
 
@PurposefulZephyr , here is another example of everyone immediately turning towards us and expecting a perfect, split-second plan to save their lives: around chapter 60/70, as the team was fleeing after the hot springs incident. I can't remember an exact reference, sorry.

Oh, and seeing this line was a punch in the gut, considering how socially incompetent today's character is:
"Inoue-sensei," Hazō said. "I know I can't talk you out of feeling this way. But at least please try harder to look for other options. We all want to support you if you'll let us. We've been training to react to changing circumstances without direct orders, and we can train harder. We can come up with tactics to help when you're locked into genjutsu. No, we will come up with them. Please help us help you. I don't ever want to see another situation where somebody nearly dies because we weren't prepared enough."

Unexpectedly, Inoue-sensei laughed. "The Academy instructors are morons. I can't believe they filed your profile in Category 7 when they should've been fast-tracking you to chūnin squad leader. You're passionate and intelligent and earnest, and it's only going to take a little bit of polish to turn that into irresistible charisma. Mark my words, little Hazō, in a couple of years the ladies are going to be all over you. I hope for Akane's sake that first girl wins."
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Arctruth said:
Not sure what brought this up, but to weigh in @OliWhail Bleach quest pls God yes oh what I would not give to see more quality Bleach fiction. A rational interpretation of it sounds especially interesting given how intertwined some of it can be said to be with Buddhist philosophies, the way it handles the cycle of reincarnation.
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Can you elaborate on this? The only actual similarity I can see is that there is a cycle of reincarnation. It has nothing to do with your behaviour in life, you only have one destination each time, you keep your form and memories after half your deaths... and so on.
 
OliWhail said:
Y'all I have so many worldbuilding notes for this and I really wanna do it TT_TT
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Do it, but take your time and do it when you've got the time and spoons for it!

PurposefulZephyr said:
Because here is a plan, a proper one, and it was kinda ignored. Which is bad. Was I to make a plan that is ignored like that, I'll just drop planning overall. Responding to stuff like that is important.
Red highlights what I consider to be wrong.
Blue is for the rest of commentary.
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That was a last minute plan, IIRC. I'd have commented if I hadn't gone back to sleep around that time :p

Sorry, @Matesz!

e: That said, I just realized, uh, pretty much the reason that our recent mistake happened, both in and out of character:

We, and Hazou (for that matter, Kagome, too!), are used to people being either Part of the Team or Potential Enemy -- we were trying to make Minami comfortable with the team, and didn't have the... mental schema in place for "not-clan-team-leader".
 
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Chapter 66: Run! Run like the Wind!
This chapter shows Hazou's successful plan to fake their deaths and make two pursuing teams bump into one another.
Still need at least one example of team straight up vetoing Hazou's plan, or at least part of it.
Anyone remember when our training proposal for Keiko and Noburi failed by their decision? It was about them training diplomacy and dropping it respectively.

Thanks for the pointer, @TalonofAnathrax !

eaglejarl said:
"You should have Pandaa reverse-summon you so you can take all the stuff," Hazou said. "While you're there, make sure that the pangolins know we're going to Leaf and that Jiraiya promised us we'd be under his protection. Also, give them a written message for Jiraiya explaining everything that's gone down so that we can use that as proof of our intentions if everything goes wrong. We'll write a couple of reports—"

Mari and Keiko both stared at him in astonishment. "Are you kidding?" Mari said. "We're not going to stop and sit here writing reports. We're going to do the cleanup and then full-sprint for Leaf. We'll do the reports verbally and in person. Having them written gains us nothing. Anyway, we'll undoubtedly be debriefed when we get there and we can write them then, in a stable situation. Which, for the record, this is not."

"Oh. Um, right. Okay, well, uh, anyway, Keiko, while you're in the Summon Realm you should send a thank-you note to Panchipaama—"

"Thank you," Keiko said coldly. "I appreciate you suggesting that, since I certainly would not have thought of it on my own. We all know how my bloodline renders me incapable of basic social politeness. I am very grateful to you for covering my weaknesses like that." Long pause. "That was also sarcasm."

Hazou had the grace to blush. "Uh...right. Sorry."

"Would you like to get the other foot in there?" Mari asked. "I think if you push a little you could probably get them both in. I have some hot sauce if you want it—I'm told that it really cuts the taste of shoe leather."

The blush got deeper. "Sorry," he mumbled again, looking at his feet. "Just...um. Never mind. Right, moving on." He paused, gathering his thoughts. "Um...I had some other thoughts about that but, uh...never mind. Uh...anyway. Once we're moving I think I should try to strike up a conversation with Ari—"

"Vetoed," Mari said instantly. "We're going to be running balls-out and none of us is going to be close enough to talk to her. Besides, you'd only have four hours. You're not going to get her to open up and tell you anything really useful in that time, while running. Move along."
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Not just messages it seems. Boy is it a painful memory.
Thanks for this example @faflec.
It's perfect to illustrate the point- not everything we do is accepted. Also Hazou has times of fucking up in minor ways. (I mean, besides the major ones)

Cariyaga said:
That was a last minute plan, IIRC. I'd have commented if I hadn't gone back to sleep around that time :p
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Heh, same goes to me. Just seen this big new plan, said "nope, not today" and went to bed. Then got guilty.
Actually, it was more of seeing: "Hazou did nothing wrong!", going "oh goood, not today", then coming back and realizing it's a proper plan.

TalonofAnathrax said:
Oh, and seeing this line was a punch in the gut, considering how socially incompetent today's character is:
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God, it hurts.
Guess we need more than just a little polish.
At least the charisma is still there. ;)
 
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Velorien said:
"Speaking of whom, I should find her and start our training. Once Keiko started practising in front of Inoue-sensei, she decided my Zephyr's Reach idea wasn't as bad as she first thought."
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The Zephyr's Reach Idea was first... lewdified by Mari, but ultimately accepted. Now Chapter 31 Part 2: The Price of Carelessness had me thinking it was a terrible idea to recruit Kagome, as he turned out to be Itachi and we all died. Had me thinking "well, should have checked this crazy old man's more thoroughly...".
Velorien said:
Hazō lay on his back and stared up at the peaceful blue sky above, wondering when Noburi had learned to punch so hard. The boy had run off after socking Hazō in the jaw, and Keiko was sitting silently on a tree stump, apparently having some kind of breakdown at the collective insanity of all those around her.

The only thing that could possibly make matters worse would be… ah, yes, here she was. Akane's expression was unreadable as she came into view above him.

"Handless Zephyr's Reach training?" she asked briskly, almost as if ticking off a checksheet.

"Yes," Hazō replied with an immediacy born of shock.

"Inoue-sensei messing with us all?"

"Yes."

"Just friends with Mori?"

"Yes."

"I'll go catch Wakahisa and sort things out."

At that moment, Hazō could have kissed her.
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Also, Akane is best girl.
 
So me and @Oneiros43 were discussing things that we could do with money, and she pointed out that we could use it to hire Leaf sealmasters to research (and share) seals with a sufficient amount.

This appeals to me greatly. Ultimate cosmic power through delegation!
 
Something tells me that QMs are doing everything in their power to stop us from gaining full access to all seals available to Leaf.
I mean, I would do the same in their place. Such amount of world building needed and reality breaking potential is the last thing I'd like my players to reach.

Ah, speaking of:
PurposefulZephyr threw 2 20-faced dice. Reason: GM surprise Total: 10
6 6 4 4
 
PurposefulZephyr said:
Something tells me that QMs are doing everything in their power to stop us from gaining full access to all seals available to Leaf.
I mean, I would do the same in their place. Such amount of world building needed and reality breaking potential is the last thing I'd like my players to reach.

Ah, speaking of:
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I get the feeling that the Nara, at least, would be willing to do trade with us as such. We might need to be quiet about it so it doesn't turn into another Whirlpool, though...
 
Kylinger said:
Thats two d6s..? Not a d20?
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PurposefulZephyr said:
PurposefulZephyr threw 20-faced die for: GM surprise Total: 10
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A bit harsh, but it's right there.
Cariyaga said:
I get the feeling that the Nara, at least, would be willing to do trade with us as such. We might need to be quiet about it so it doesn't turn into another Whirlpool, though...
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You and I know that it will turn into Whirpool. And that's the best case scenario. This time it won't be just Leaf that disappears, right @Radvic?
 
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