Hey all!
I found this quest on r/rational a couple weeks ago and read it through in less than a week (not necessarily a smart choice, but I could not stop). I've been following along with the plan-making the past couple weeks to make sure I understood how this thread works.
Generally I'm more of a lurker because I absolutely despise being wrong on the Internet, but given the mostly positive tone of interaction I've observed so far I'll probably try and jump in more.
I have a couple of questions of things I haven't been able to find: First, what is FOOM an acronym for? And what is our standing with money? If Jiraiya had 500 million why was it so vital we get gold from the Pangolins?
Finally, I'm going to take use of my status as a (relatively) objective outside observer and try to analyze what I think of Hazo's choices thus far.
I think our biggest problem is treating other characters as NPCs. This was blatantly obvious earlier in the quest when a lack of dedication to our socials and how other characters would perceive our actions led to constant OPSEC breaches and memetic levels of treason.
I feel people are completely focused on what we can get from other people when, realistically speaking, we don't have a lot to offer. I'll give some examples of dangerous choices/suggestions I think were made.
Constant talk about doing experiments with Orochimaru despite knowing he's fairly amoral and he would be providing far more than we are. When we don't even know much about the limits of medical ninjutsu, does he seem like the kind of person who would listen to a bunch of totally wrong ideas?
Sending a letter to Akatsuki when they just killed Jiraiya and almost succeeded in defeating the whole EN (what did we think would happen? They, sans Pain who was the driving force, would listen to us and work under us the way no one had before?).
Reaching out to the Otters through the Dogs/Toads when it's clear that we are on thin ground with them because we don't have a lot to offer - speaking of which, perhaps we should wait until Akane is a jonin before trying to get her a summoning scroll? That's the issue we've had with all three summons thus far. They aren't overly interested in chunin, and I'd personally prefer to try and give assistance in a way that doesn't require constant upkeep a la seals. I'm also nervous trying to initiate diplomatic relations when we are chunin known for being a part of a clan involved in the start of a 7P war - again, why would the Otters want to be our summons?
Finally, asking for jutsu from Tsunade can't possibly end well. As shown last time we tried, we don't have anything she wants, we can't withstand her aura in the slightest, she has absolutely no reason to teach medical jutsu to someone who's going to be summoning and being in the field all the time, and Noburi likely doesn't have the chakra reserves for 'freaky powerful water jutsu.' If someone could learn them, don't you think Konoha would've tried before? If they're so powerful, and Konoha has to have had a water affinity before, surely someone has learned them before.
I will admit that I'm more on the cautious end here, and maybe more prone to thinking inside the box, but I don't think it's necessary to be as desperate to make huge leaps. A smaller, safer way would be to brainstorm ideas for ninjutsu combinations that are broken in the new Nara jutsu library.
Overall, I'd say we have an end goal I can get behind - becoming S-rank, Uplift, and accelerating the tech level of the EN. Part of the reason I think we're going through so many timeskips is that we don't have a lot of short or midterm goals, such as making sure we're going to be a holistic jonin as opposed to an overspecialized one. Instead there's a lot of end game content like forbidden lore we want.
I don't mean to be super critical, but I'm really becoming involved in this. It's ridiculously well-written and developed, has incredible world-building, and actually takes effort to become stronger instead of all those came-out-of-the-Academy-as-a-chunin fics. I'm very impressed by the authors, and thankful that you guys have put this much effort into building it.
Okay, that's it for a 'formal' introduction! I mostly wanted a justification to write out some things I've noticed blowing through the whole thing in such a short time ahaha.
Thoughts on the current plan with the Dogs:
We should consider if they want to mess up their land by carving a canal or road into it. (Water would be a pain for the canal as well)
Additionally, do we want to give a map to wherever the safe spot is to an invading force?
I think we should go with more of an omnidirectional approach, since multiple places need to be evacuated.
I'm actually very on board with the travois earlier suggested - if we can get the harness thing worked out it should be doable, and if it's made out of wood it should be able to float too, and pups aren't very heavy so it should continue to float while in use. It's mass produce-able by people who aren't us, very simple, has minimal offensive implication, shouldn't need maintenance, and shouldn't take that much time to discover and build.
The only downside I can really think of is making a harness system usable by dogs, but realistically speaking that's an easier design problem than the ones needed by other proposals. We should be able to make leather they can put their heads through/step into or a rope harness that doesn't involve the potential for overtightening.
Sorry for the word overflow, but I'm definitely looking forward to occasionally being a part of this!
