Yeah, I'd like to put some thought into that and a stronger "if things go wrong" module over the next couple of days.
Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest
- Thread starter eaglejarl
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- naruto rationalist romance armageddon is looking better and better damn you kishimoto explosions everywhere explosives solve everyone if in doubt surrender to the mercy of zabuza it seemed like a good idea at the time looks like a really bad case of being a jōnin my god. where does the lore end? precommitting is the winning plan screaming in kagome screw the rules i have explosives something bad might still happen sometimes you gotta sociopath stabby zabby subsection c of paragraph 9 should include we can weaponize this so hard
Yeah, I'd like to put some thought into that and a stronger "if things go wrong" module over the next couple of days.
- Location
- Potato land
With the implication that the second is the more terrifying option.
I s2g, this thread
Hey, not all of us. I, for one, am very excited for this wonderful new opportunity we've been given. Thanks @Velorien!
I think what this update is also telling us is that we should create a protocol for interacting with our former clans. I thought we could wait with this until the exam slowed down a bit, but apparently not. The QMs are gifting us a great opportunity here and we should make the best of it.
- Location
- Yes.
AHHHHHH A LUPCHANZ
- Location
- Potato land
Ḁ̷̡̹̯̫̟̮̣̝̦̝̩̙̜͌̿͐̈́̿́̀͛l̶̛̛͉̜̰̖͔̑͗́͑̕ͅl̷̨͈̤̲̯̺̤̜̹̤̭̖̂̽͋̆͌̔͘͘͜ͅͅ ̵̡̤̺̝͍͂͘f̵̬͈̖̪̤̥̤̼̏̋̾̇̄̌̈́̚̚̚͜͝ͅó̵̢̳̟̼͙̻͔̪͕͖̖͍̞̠͛̽̊̅͑͒̏̌̐̾̒̆͊͘r̶̦̥̔͆̐̑̓́͗̕ ̵̡͔̼͚̥̲̝͉̟̽͛̉̕t̸̨̧̙͎̟̜͔͈͇̗͚̤͉͛̚h̶̠̭͉́̽̈́͗́̆̊͑͊̓̕e̴̖̠͕͙͚̯̓͐́̑͌́̏̈̇̋͐͠ ̷͍̌S̴̛͚̙̱̰͔̫͓̯͎͕̪̪̮̬̈́̍͜á̴̡̯͎̭͖̱͇̬̻̭̻̺̬̫̫̏̿̋͐̊̀͗͆̕͠g̵̖̺͐̈́͌̄̔̆͋̓̒̏́̊̈́͝ȩ̶̨͍͕͈̩̼̘̭̩̀̓̏̄͛͐̾̚͠'̶̢̢͖̞͇̻̺̣̯̙̯̪̓̈́̾̉̉̈͑̀͛͆͗̕͘͝ͅs̶̨̩̼̾̏̉̈́̍̇̌̑̀̈́͆͘ ̶̗̠̇̑̀̀̒́͠g̷̪͓̞͖̾̿͊̾͐́͌͛̄̿̀̚͘͠ŕ̶̡̫͕̜̝͕̺͎̬̹̱̲̉̉͑̄̆̃̆̊̑̓̈́̚͘ͅͅͅą̶̤͎̰̙̠̱͔͓̤̒̐͂̓̎̑͆̆̇͛̉̚n̵̘͍̗̹̳̫̩͇͍̜͕̜̾̊̊̕͘d̵̨͚̰̝̟̖͍̽̐̔̈́͆̏̈́͂̾̐́̍̕͘͠ ̵̢̢͇̪̘̘̯̐̿̑͑̏̍̈͆̏͑̇́̽́͜d̶̡̛̺͎̺̰͈̟͔͑̐̐̈́̈́̄́̍͂͒͌̑̃̕ŗ̵̨̙̗̘̥̠͖̝͗̂́͒e̴͓͎̭̱͕̤̱̗̜͚̺͕̗̅͊̇̑̀͗̕͜a̶̛͓̤̮̫̙͓̥̮̭̓̊͆̊̎̍͒̈́̎̕m̷̡̪̻̰̣̩̹̍̈́͊̍̃̓̄̒̊̄͗͘͘͠,̶̨̢̲͇̹̭͕̮̩̭̣͓̹͛́͠ ̴̛̰͕̾̋̏̇͋̔͂̓͆͋̉͠m̵̛̘̰̯̣̱̱̳̳̦̫͎͔̱̃̐̅̌̿̒͑̋̍̈́̇̏͘ỵ̸̛͈͓͓̗͍̬̯̯͋̂͆̈͑͗̓̑̒͜͜͝ ̷͚̼͋̈́͌͂͑͒̋͂̊̒͝͝͝h̵̢͓͔̗̤̰̙̝͉̻̞̀͌̀͆̋̿̀̑͂̇͛͜͝ͅu̸̧̙̲̲͙̮̱̺̺͈̦̾͒́̑̈́̀̔̈́̕m̶̛̼͓̦̾͌̔̆̊̃̈̇̕͠ͅa̷͚̼̝͍̟͕̠͕͔̻͍͌̇̔̚ń̶̲̩͑͑͐͑́̽̈́͋́͘͠ͅͅ ̷̙͕̞̂̾̊̍̋͒̅̚͘f̸͎̖̙̝̺͈̬̞̟̜̫̮̘̎̃͒̊͛̏͗̋͐̚ͅr̵̢̛̛͉̲̫̗̰͆̈́͊̕͝͝i̶̪̣͇̻̩͕̖͕̝͇̒͊̈́̽͗̐̾͂̈́̀̔̃͝͝͠ë̶̯̹̙̝͔́̀̅̊̍̾͆̃͑̈́͒̊̚̕͝n̴̥͈͈͎̳̓͜d̷̡̡̛̛̗̻̬͖̱̯̫̘͔̩̈́́̈͐̿̕.̶̱͍̺͖̜̞̮͆̈́͊̍̋̇͌́̍̉̋̀͗ͅͅ
As opposed to any other "hidden" village? *quirks single eyebrow*
Okey dokey! We've got Nega Team Uplift, starring
- Mori Anna, the Emma Barnes expy
- Kurosawa Shin, the designated straightman
- Wakahisa Kiri, the laid back clique-member-trope
The following is written from the premise of treating these characters as enemies who we are trying to stress to the point of quitting the exam, as previously discussed.
I was originally planning to write up a profile on all three genin, but this took longer than expected, so here's a vivisection of Mori Anna, the most interesting of the three and the easiest to destroy:
- Similar speech patterns to Kei, this might be a common trait of Mori.
- Confidence in her own intellect, especially in regards to "prediction" (?) as opposed to analysis. Could potentially make her feel vulnerable by forcing her into a chaotic situation that robs her of that strength.
- Possibly derisive of people who aren't as smart as she is. Would need further examples to establish a pattern of thinking rather than a one-off frustration.
- Please tell me Kei knows the story behind that nickname. Please.
- Something scary happened to team Kanon (do we know who they are?) and it's shaken Anna. If we can evoke similarities, even superficial ones, then that will help us get under her skin.
- Further evidence that she prides herself on her ability to predict outcomes. What actually happened doesn't match what she thought would happen. That scared her and she latched onto it, refusing to let the subject drop.
- A degree of social awareness that beats Shin's. We don't know Shin's social skill-level, but it's implied to be a lot smoother than Hazou's was before he started training with Mari.
- Notices that the evidence doesn't fit the narrative. Yeah, yeah, we know you're smart.
- Traps are beaten by Awareness, so at the time of that exercise, Anna's Awareness was low. The question is, did she continue with a low-Awareness build? If so, we need to sic Sakura on her in ground prepared by Akane.
- Weirdly dissmissive of Hazou and Noburi. If you eliminate Kei as the reason for our success, then shouldn't her teammates be the first thing you look at? What bias causes Anna to suspect Hazou and Noburi must also be incompetent? Can we use it?
- Deeply ashamed of her past self. Oh this is too good. Such a wonderful button to press. And so many ways we could press it! We could have two of our team members roleplay the personalities of young!Anna and young!Kei while we talk to them, we could have Kei act out the role of young!Anna treating present!Anna the way young!Anna treated young!Kei, we could mockingly refer to things as "supercool". All these options!
- So, now we know what she hates about her past self, we just flip them around to find the traits she values in her present self: Maturity. Realism/Cynicism. Vocabulary, and an ability to hold her tongue. If we want to damage her self-image then we should either poison these concepts somehow (for example, putting her into a situation where being jaded causes her to miss opportunities that a naive person spots), or set things up so that she comes to believe that she hasn't changed, hasn't grown, that she's still an idiot child who can't keep her mouth shut. That the fact she thought she'd improved only means that she's incapable of self-awareness.
- It would be really funny if we had Kei affect the air of the most enthusiastic extrovert ever. Just... imagine: Anna is expecting social-turtle withdrawn as deeply as possible into her shell, but gets "HEEEYAAA GUUUUYS! NO TIME LONG SEE! Oops? Hehe. Soooooooooooooooo! Whad't you gals been up to, huh? Huh? Did Minori and Joutarou hook up yet? OMIGOSH those two would just be ADORABLE!!!!1!"
- Maybe there's a way we could play on that? Display Kei as an actual lone wolf badass (as opposed to terrified introvert) and rekindle that old admiration? Might be hard at this point, but Mari believes in us!
- Oh hey, a nerve we can touch! Neat!
- Yeaaaah... You shouldn'ta did that. To the Summoner daughter of the hokage and teammate of Yog-sothoth.
- Dial it back, Emma.
- Point of fact: Kei's social skills are vastly better than Nega Team Uplift believes ("can't cooperate with others"? what?). We can use that.
- So, um, NTU believes Hazou to be the mastermind. If we can present him as totally incompetent then Anna is back in a position of not knowing who the mastermind is. That will set her on edge and make her not want to move against us.
- Kei, break out your acting skills. Don the mantle of alpha-bitch. And rub your betrothal in Anna's face.
- There's probably nothing useful here, but it's a good thing to notice in case we ever need to play up that angle somehow for whatever reason.
- Ooh! A reaction! I wonder what would happen if Kei kissed her full on the mouth unexpectedly. Followed by "Meh. Last one was better."
- I wouldn't say helpless, but they would be down a team leader with a hivemind in his brain. Hmn. We should probably try to improve Noburi's abilities as a lieutenant in case of unexpected Hazoucide.
- Also, eliminate Hazou? Ominous. Could we trick people into thinking that there never was a Hazou? Just Noburi's been walking around with a henged Water Clone and making it say his ideas? And also there never was a Noburi. Or a Kei. The Pangolins have just been slowly infiltrating our reality using human disguises and-- Nah. Easier to just make people think we're lupchanzed.
- Cling to that shred of empathy, Anna. For your own sake.
- If we want to play up the "you almost got Kei deaded" angle and beat her over the head with guilt we could just tell the truth about some of the things that we went through. Or put Hazou's "make shit up" skill to good use. The latter preserves OPSEC. It would be hard to open that scar up, but if we could do it, we could pretty easily start pouring venom into the wound.
- Nervous about meeting Kei again? Good. Let's make it really obvious where we are to speed up the meeting. Having Anna off-balance and in a state where we can wind her up into a public meltdown would be excellent.
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- Location
- Yes.
You're not thinking enough like Emma. Have Hazou and Noburi send her into a meltdown, but make it private enough that it won't be supremely embarrassing. Let Keiko comfort her which will allow them to "reconcile" and give Anna the opportunity to see her the way Keiko sees Ami.
And then, at some later time of Keiko's choosing (pref. during the Exams), murder Anna. With words.
Delightful.
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- Location
- Yes.
Still, I think we can do more than just have Anna humiliate herself in the Exams. If we can make Keiko and Anna's friendship visible to the Mori Clan, they'll probably start using Anna as leverage to have Keiko go along with their plans. Not only will we be able to influence Mori policy through this (since Anna's not a social threat, we have stronger pressure), but we'll also be able to break Anna further by forcing her to choose between her friend/idol and her clan. Maybe we can even turn her, and my GODS wouldn't that be an interesting twist, to subvert (or at least start) the entirety of Team Nega?
You can do it, Kei! Believe in the Mari who believes in you!
Drasky
Dude
Team Downlift thank you very much.
Team Downfall.
- Location
- Potato land
This update clued me in on the fact that if we want to get along with our clans, we're going to need a story to explain our defection and subsequent actions. It should ideally lay the blame on some other party while also allowing us to claim continued loyalty to Mist.
Then I had a really funny idea. Who is going to be our scapegoat? Why, Yagura of course. We repurpose Shikigami's story, except it was all the fault of the evil, paranoid Mizukage who sent us to our deaths. As much as we would've wanted to come back and face justice to clear our names, all it would achieve is let Yagura kill us quietly to hide his secret.
And isn't it just a wonderful coincidence that he died before he could lead Mist into a destructive and doomed war against Leaf? Now that aunt Ren is Mizukage, and the new Hokage's clan has such strong ties to Mist's most prominent clans, an unprecedented alliance between the two villages can easily crush those Kumo and Iwa scum.
Truly, we owe so much to our uncle Kagome. As we aimlessly wandered the Elemental Nations, hiding in forests and seeing Zabuza in every shadow, Kagome found us, took us under his wing, and guided our path towards a better future. It is thanks to him that we are able to again walk the beautiful streets of Mist, and to be reunited with our families that we never thought we'd see again.
Of course, we can only explicitly say small bits and pieces of this, and let people complete the story for themselves. All according to (Kagome's) keikaku.
Then I had a really funny idea. Who is going to be our scapegoat? Why, Yagura of course. We repurpose Shikigami's story, except it was all the fault of the evil, paranoid Mizukage who sent us to our deaths. As much as we would've wanted to come back and face justice to clear our names, all it would achieve is let Yagura kill us quietly to hide his secret.
And isn't it just a wonderful coincidence that he died before he could lead Mist into a destructive and doomed war against Leaf? Now that aunt Ren is Mizukage, and the new Hokage's clan has such strong ties to Mist's most prominent clans, an unprecedented alliance between the two villages can easily crush those Kumo and Iwa scum.
Truly, we owe so much to our uncle Kagome. As we aimlessly wandered the Elemental Nations, hiding in forests and seeing Zabuza in every shadow, Kagome found us, took us under his wing, and guided our path towards a better future. It is thanks to him that we are able to again walk the beautiful streets of Mist, and to be reunited with our families that we never thought we'd see again.
Of course, we can only explicitly say small bits and pieces of this, and let people complete the story for themselves. All according to (Kagome's) keikaku.
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Tua
鸡肉面条汤
- Location
- شوربة الدجاج المعكرونة
- Location
- The Maple Syrup Mountains
A twisted part of me wants to see Hazou try to suggest this to Keiko, just to see how badly she reacts to the idea. Bonus points for how much Hazou would stumble over himself trying to give examples.
- Location
- Yes.
@eaglejarl @Velorien @OliWhail Any update on:
- Keiko's Pangolins/Pangolin jutsu?
- Character sheets?
- Unanswered questions from the last update:
- Who did the other Leaf teams encounter and how did it go?
- Who do they think are the high-power dangerous teams to watch out for?
- How many seals did they bring in?
- How did other Teams locate the Exam?
- For any team who turned in word, put high priority on learning how proctors treated them and what measures were in place to prevent them from sending messages back.
- Location
- Yes.
Unlikely, since Kurosawa are combat fighters while Mori/Wakahisa are meant in support roles. FMPOV teams are generally built around a theme, like Team Kurenai as a scout/stealth team, or Guy as a combat team.
We could totally sell it to her. Play on the whole "Mari would be so proud of you" angle. Remind her of that time she seduced those civilian boys in a way that implies Anna is about as powerful in this situation as they were, and so force her to recognise that she's capable of acting. Explain to her the joys of completely derailing her enemy's brains by behaving in a way they would never expect, and then exploiting their moment of confusion for her own gain.
- Location
- Yes.
WHAT THE FUCK WHEN THE FUCK DID THIS HAPPEN
somnolentSlumber
(Verified Proofreader)
- Location
- hell
A few grammatical mistakes here.
Two possible corrections; dialogue interrupted by action is written with em dashes placed outside the quotation marks, not commas. If you need commas, then you need a said-equivalent verb, as demonstrated in the second possible correction.
Narrowing one's eyes is not a verbal verb, so the comma needs to be a period.
Two possible corrections; dialogue interrupted by action is written with em dashes placed outside the quotation marks, not commas. If you need commas, then you need a said-equivalent verb, as demonstrated in the second possible correction.
Narrowing one's eyes is not a verbal verb, so the comma needs to be a period.
- Location
- Yes.
"Our," @Cariyaga said, acting as though Hazou's clan hadn't exiled his mother into abject poverty for falling in love. "Our."
- Location
- Potato land
The path to getting mom safely to Leaf lies in Ren's plan succeeding. We can help that by playing nice with the Kurosawa, and so we will. Hazou is going to grit his metaphorical teeth, work his Deceit to hide the disdain and bitterness he feels for the clan, and do his best to convince his cousin Shin that he's not a filthy traitor worthy of being put down on the spot.
If we want to actually help, rather than hope Jiraiya and Ren will fix things on their own, then this is the best angle we have.