Because I was responding to this post:
And for what role is Keanu Reeves most famous, and also has an evil AI take over the world for machines? (Thereby making it very compatible with Terminator).
Usagi Quest (CK3/Princess Maker) (Sailor Moon)
Because I was responding to this post:
And for what role is Keanu Reeves most famous, and also has an evil AI take over the world for machines? (Thereby making it very compatible with Terminator).
Winged One
Not the Simurgh
- Location
- definitely the ground
- Pronouns
- They/Them/It
Eh... high school test scores aren't all that relevant to the fantastic life Usagi is meant to lead. Sure, making her parents happy is nice, and it might be convenient to somehow get into the whichever university Ami graces with her presence, but being a superhero queen of the moon isn't exactly an academic field. Knowledge itself is useful for casting certain spells and knowing important facts, but academics isn't the same.
FictionPack
Monochromatic Ursine
- Location
- Tennessee
- Pronouns
- He/Him
So that's 14 total successes across 8 tests?
And we can presume Ami got 16 then...
And we can presume Ami got 16 then...
- Location
- Arcadia
Irrelevant or not, Moon should strive to do her best in all things, regardless, to push and improve herself no matter the arena.
Winged One
Not the Simurgh
- Location
- definitely the ground
- Pronouns
- They/Them/It
Sounds like a recipe for burnout to me. Then again, that's my perspective as a mere human.
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
At least. With any 10s of her own, or successes banked from studying before exams, she could very well have hit at least 20.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
In regards to Usagi's mentality.
The "get back on the horse" mindset is important- especially for a superhero. That test in some sense defeated her, ran her out of strength and incapacitated her. She went down. Now she gets a second shot at it. Taking the test down as a matter of a kind of pride has its virtues.
The "take advantage of opportunities as they are offered" mindset is important, especially for an aspiring princess. Being Princess of the Moon is going to turn her hopefully nigh-immortal life into one long string of people offering her weird special one-off deals. Recognizing the desirability of taking those deals when they're beneficial, rather than going "no no I don't deserve this" or "no no I don't foresee a need for this" is likely to improve her overall situation.
...
On the other hand, the "you are entitled to take a break when you want to" mindset is probably also important, and we've pushed Usagi so far over on the scale from, uh, canon Usagi over to canon Nanoha that this may be an issue.
The "get back on the horse" mindset is important- especially for a superhero. That test in some sense defeated her, ran her out of strength and incapacitated her. She went down. Now she gets a second shot at it. Taking the test down as a matter of a kind of pride has its virtues.
The "take advantage of opportunities as they are offered" mindset is important, especially for an aspiring princess. Being Princess of the Moon is going to turn her hopefully nigh-immortal life into one long string of people offering her weird special one-off deals. Recognizing the desirability of taking those deals when they're beneficial, rather than going "no no I don't deserve this" or "no no I don't foresee a need for this" is likely to improve her overall situation.
...
On the other hand, the "you are entitled to take a break when you want to" mindset is probably also important, and we've pushed Usagi so far over on the scale from, uh, canon Usagi over to canon Nanoha that this may be an issue.
- Location
- Finland
I fully agree that rest and self care are important.
But this is not some huge task she is asked to take, it's a change to retry something she failed at, which is going to take, like, half an hour, maybe couple hours of extra studying in preparation at most.
Maybe see about somekind of cooldown activity for whole team after Operation Slumber Party?
But this is not some huge task she is asked to take, it's a change to retry something she failed at, which is going to take, like, half an hour, maybe couple hours of extra studying in preparation at most.
Maybe see about somekind of cooldown activity for whole team after Operation Slumber Party?
Seems to me that Usagi has always had an obsessive personality, it's just that this quest has Princess Serenity's ghost nudging her to obsess about other things than in canon. Fortunately she has Naru to sit on her if needs be, since Naru knows her well enough to spot issues (another reason to bring in Umino soon, he can help with that).
Umm, @Lunaryon, shouldn't the Dagger Novice trait have advanced after she used MTM against the possessed Kintoleski? Right here:
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
You're not wrong, but I wanted to lay all the issues out there, okay?
Hrrrm, maybe?
Maybe, maybe not. I'm a little unsure as to how much actual 'combat' that was as opposed to just 'poke in the chest with the energized tiara.'
ThatGuyWithIdeas
Treize died for our sins
- Location
- Romania
Taking the second roll... wish me luck and here goes nothing...
21 + 14 = 35 < 62
21 + 14 = 35 < 62
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
I'm pretty sure that was a "does a stat level up" roll, and I'm pretty sure there's no mechanical consequence for rolling a 1 on those.
But then, I could be wrong.
- Location
- Dragyxx
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
I do get the impression these were probably stat increase chances from the exams, and failing on them will just result in not getting the stat increase.
No idea if a critical failure might result in a bad trait or something like that.
Still, even one more point of Learning is always nice.
No idea if a critical failure might result in a bad trait or something like that.
Still, even one more point of Learning is always nice.
Grue
滅亡迅雷
- Location
- -
IIRC that needs repeated failures in a specific domain(we were at risk of an Usagisplanation trait if we'd bungled another explanation in a row earlier in the quest, and Jadeite was one kidnapping off getting a "Why do I keep accidentally kidnapping magical girls?!" Trait before he got captured.)
Torgamous
Aspiring Gynoid
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Did that prevent him from getting the trait, or just make it harder to justify him taking any more children hostage? Is there still a chance of him getting it if he tries threatening Hotaru to get the Death Busters to back off?
It is more a malus due to his paranoia due to getting blasted by his hostage multiple times. In fact, it was noted he was very cautious with his hostage back at the radio station.
To Forget is not to Forgive - Part 2 - The Lost and the Outer Scouts
Lunaryon
Dual Aurora Wave
- Pronouns
- She/Her
d10 + Lrn + Retest == 10 + 17 + 1 = 28
[NAT 10!]
[CRITICAL SUCCESS!]
[NAT 10!]
[CRITICAL SUCCESS!]
14 out of 8 Successes!
One Chance to Increase Learning for every 4 successes!
THREE TOTAL PROCS
DC 59
D100 Roll + Total Successes== 69 + 14 = 83
DC 62
d100 Roll + Total Successes + Overflow = 21 + 14 + 24 = 59
DC 62
d100 Roll + Total Successes = 1 + 14 = 15
[ONE TOTAL SUCCESS!]
Learning increased from 10 to 11
One Chance to Increase Learning for every 4 successes!
THREE TOTAL PROCS
DC 59
D100 Roll + Total Successes== 69 + 14 = 83
DC 62
d100 Roll + Total Successes + Overflow = 21 + 14 + 24 = 59
DC 62
d100 Roll + Total Successes = 1 + 14 = 15
[ONE TOTAL SUCCESS!]
Learning increased from 10 to 11
Due to the length of the tests and the fact that teachers have lives of their own beyond the reaches of the school complex, the agreement is made that Wednesday will be the day that Usagi retakes her test. A lot happens across those two days, that is true, but Usagi still finds a little bit of time to sit down and study during Tuesday evening, and so when the test rolls back around, the girl spend her lunch period hitting not the tables to listen for rumors, but instead it is pencil against paper as she presses onwards.
The tests are hard, sure, but Usagi has been pushing herself harder and harder, and it shows. When everything is said and done, Usagi is exhausted from the sheer amount of thinking she had to do, but even so... the results speak for themselves. No longer is the girl sitting at the top of the eighty-fifth percentile, but instead sits right at the half way point of the ninety-third percentile. Just twenty-nine people behind Ami herself. For someone who just a half a year before was sitting near the very bottom of the pack, this is a beautiful push that Usagi has managed to achieve.
Hopefully, she'll be able to manage to keep the gains that she has worked so long and so hard for.
However... Back to the events of Monday...
The Oblivion. There is yet another threat that endangers Tokyo, and one that all the Senshi have had quite a bit of trouble tracking down.
It seems that this is the first real solid lead that they've gotten. There is no way that Usagi isn't following up on this.
Seems that she isn't the only one whose had that thought, either. As the school day ends and Usagi starts to make her way off the grounds, there is Makoto, the taller Senshi giving a quick wave to her friend.
Makoto first heard the rumor while she finished moving back into her old apartment now that the water main has been fixed, and some of her neighbors were talking about it. She thought it would be a good thing to look into, but everyone else seems to be busy today.
Naru's got her own homework to focus on, Ami's testing out a new cram school, and Rei is just at her own fancy academy so Makoto didn't even have a chance to talk with her.
Seems that it's just the two of them today. Thus, the hunt begins.
"So..." Makoto says as the two walk along the streets of Tokyo, eyes barely bothering to watch the people all around them. "It's just the two of us, today?" She asks, and Usagi nods.
"Seems like it. Hopefully we won't end up being attacked by wacky martial artists again." Usagi says, a slight tease in her voice as she lightly bumps her hip against Makoto's. However... Makoto doesn't quite laugh, instead looking more than a little nervous.
"I..." She starts. "I'm sorry about dragging you into all that." The girl says, quieter than Usagi thinks she's ever heard the girl before. For a long moment the two continue to walk in silence, before Usagi simply leans over, giving her friend a hug.
"Hey... none of that." Usagi says, "It isn't your fault that Chen was an idiot, and it wasn't your fault that he couldn't understand the lesson that the Amazons were trying to teach him." Makoto opens her mouth to say something, but Usagi just presses on, giving Makoto a little squeeze to the hug as she does. "It's not even the Amazons fault for giving Chen a mission he didn't understand. His choices are his own, and the responsibility for his actions is solely on him. You aren't responsible for him. Only what you did in response." Leaning back, Usagi gives the girl a soft smile, before raising a finger and lightly booping the girl on her nose, "Which was to help protect people, and stop Chen from hurting anyone else. That is something to be proud of." Usagi declares.
There is a moment as Makoto stands there, seemingly stunned by what Usagi did, but the blonde haired girl doesn't seem to notice, continuing forwards towards their goal. Block by block the two keep on searching. Now that they are in the right Ward, and close to the blocks that the rumors speak of, the two need to keep there eyes a little more peeled, in order to find their goal.
Everything seems to be fine on this first block, and the second block seems entirely normal as well. Or, at the very least, it seems to be normal at a first glance. As the two slowly start to cross the street, Usagi starts to notice something from the corner of her eyes...
There are a lot more homeless people here in this part of the city than even a single block over, and there is something distinctly different about them. It might seem a weird thing to say, given the nature of homeless people in general, but while the others that Usagi has seen before have definitely been dirty and ragged, it wasn't like that entirely.
Or, Usagi guesses what she means by that is even when these people don't have access to showers or baths, they still try their best to stay clean... But the people around here, they seem so much more... lost. Some are caked in grime and filth, while others reek of bodily fluids and excrement. The ones settled in the alleyways of this block seem to be just... listless and lost, with no direction or goal.
Step by step, both Usagi and Makoto continue to make their way along the street, trying to find this strange hidden shop of the rumors, the so called Memory Den.
However, as they pass by one more alley, there is a rustle and a man pulls himself bodily up out of a pile of garbage. With a grunt he lunges forward, grabbing hold of Usagi. "YOU!" The man screams, and it is only because of a open hand that Makoto doesn't strike at the man. "You... you..." The scream turns into the barest of mutters, as the man, dressed in dirty soaked rags looks at Usagi, his green eyes vague and unfocused, almost like he is looking somewhere far past her "You... know... me?" He asks, but there is something about the way that he says it that almost makes Usagi think that he isn't talking to her.
"No... I... know you?" He asks again, which only manages to catch Usagi's interest. The man doesn't seem to know if he knows the girl or not, and at the least Usagi can't remember ever seeing someone like him before, but if he doesn't know...
Rather, if he doesn't remember if he knows or not, that at the very least seems to point to the two getting closer and closer to their goal. "What's your name?" Usagi asks, looking at the man with careful eyes.
"I... I am I." He says, somehow sounding entirely unsure, which only makes sense, as the sentence he says doesn't make a lick of sense. "No... I... I is not my name."
"You can't remember." Usagi says, and after a moment the man nods.
"No... None of us can remember." He says, "Head... empty. No... no think." He admits, "But... But you." He says, looking at Usagi, and for the first time in the entire conversation the man's eyes sharpen coming into focus. "You feel... you feel like... like being awake."
Makoto looks at the man for a moment, before back to Usagi. Carefully, the blonde haired girl pulls the man's arm off of her, even as she continues to look at him. "Do you remember where you woke up?" She asks, and there is a moment of silence, before he turns back to the alleyway behind him. "Down... stairs. Had to figure out how to get up them." He says, raising a hand and pointing past the worst of the trash and debris that fills the alleyway.
Usagi can't help but notice that it is so much worse than any of the other alleyways around. Normally there are people who make sure to clean up the side streets... but this...
"I think we've found what we're looking for." Usagi says, which only seems to make the man freeze up.
"No." He whispers, "No, no. Don't." the words are small and fast. "It's... that's bad. Bad place."
"Okay." Usagi says, as she takes a step back and away from the man. "Bad place. We won't go there." Usagi takes another step back and away from the man, and as she does, Makoto can see the light starting to fade from his eyes, the focus sliding off as everything slips away again. It's... horrible. Terrifying in it's own way, as Usagi takes a final step away from the man and into the alleyway, only for him to just stand there, idly staring at a spot on the wall, not even seeming to realize that anything has happened.
He is completely lost to the world now.
"Usagi." Makoto asks, glancing at the still blanked guy, "Aren't you going to..." She starts, only to be met with a smile from Usagi.
"That's definitely the Oblivion." Usagi says quietly, "I think I should be able to restore the memories of everyone if we get up to the roofs, but I don't know know if he'll be able to remember this, so I can't transform here."
Before Usagi can even start to look about for somewhere to get out of the man's line of sight, there is a cheerful chirp from the girl's communicator. "Well well, Princess." Michiru's voice calls out, a small laugh in her voice. "What are you doing here?"
Leaning back, Usagi cranes her head up towards the sky. There on the roof is Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus, looking down at the alleyway with a smile on their face. Usagi rolls her eyes, waving them down. "We heard a rumor about a place that could erase people's memories." Usagi answers into her own communicator, before the two transformed Sailor Scouts land in the alleyway. "Thought we'd take a look into it."
"The good rumor or the bad rumor?" Uranus asks, which brings a confused look to both Usagi and Makoto.
"What?"
"There's two separate rumors that seem to be going about," Neptune says as she steps up next to Uranus. "There is the rumor of the Memory Den, a place of wonder that will allow you to forget all the pains of your past, making everything better."
"Then there is the rumor of the Lotus Man." Uranus says, picking up from where her best friend stopped. However, the moment that she says the name, the man who has been blankly staring at the wall this entire time flinches back, giving a short scream of terror as he falls over himself. "And... yeah, that's about the length of the rumor."
That confuses Usagi for a moment, and it must have shown on her face, as Uranus gives a small chuckle. The rumor is that there are people who seem to have lost everything, their minds and their wills, who just sit around, not even with the will to keep themselves clean. Nothing can rouse them, nothing can make the recognize the people they once called family. There is only one that makes them react. That name. Any of the people who have lost themselves who hear the name will panic for a moment, trying to flee the very sound of it, before they lose even that."
Usagi huffs, shaking her head. "Well, both of those sound like the Oblivion to me."
Uranus and Neptune both nod at that, "We had the same idea." they admit, "We've been looking all over the Ward for the last week trying to find anything that might point us in the right direction."
That gets a nervous chuckle from Usagi. "So... well, seems that-" Usagi's jaw snaps shut, and the girl glances over her shoulder towards the now once more blank man standing at the end of the alleyway. "You know what, let's go up to the roof before I say anything else."
There is an odd look on Uranus's face, as if she doesn't understand exactly what Usagi is saying, but before she has a chance to even think about the words, Usagi has already hopped up into Neptune's arms. Letting loose a long and airy laugh, Sailor Neptune springs up into the air, soaring high as floor after floor rockets past.
There is the familiar click of heels against stone as the green haired Senshi lands, letting her princess down from her arms. for a tiny moment, Usagi swears that she sees something in the face of the Neptune, but... what exactly it is Usagi isn't sure, so the girl does what comes naturally to her, leaning forward and giving the other girl a hug. Neptune freezes in her arms, before she seems to almost melt into Usagi's touch.
"Oh, I see how it is." Sailor Uranus says as she lands next to the two, a grin on her face as she looks to her best friend. All at once, Neptune goes rigid in Usagi's arms, quickly pulling away to turn and look at Uranus.
"Don't you dare." Neptune hisses at Uranus, and the only response that the shorter haired Senshi has is to waggle her eyebrows. Slowly, Usagi looks over to Makoto, and Makoto looks over to Usagi, but neither of them seem to understand what is going on here.
If anything, the confused look on both of the younger Senshi's face just seems to amuse Sailor Uranus even more. "Alright, alright." Uranus says with a laugh. "I won't say anything. Seems that neither of them would get it anyways.
"Good." Neptune growls out, and Usagi and Makoto just look at each other again, even more confused.
"Alright, so what was it that you wanted to avoid transforming for?" Uranus says, looking over at Usagi.
"So, when I got close enough to that guy, it seems that his head started clearing up. He was still confused, and didn't know who he was, or really much of anything, but he gave us at least a little bit of an idea of where we're looking for." Usagi says, and after a moment Neptune nods slowly.
"You're thinking that it was your magic?" She asks, and Usagi nods. "I already know that I can break the seals on people's memories that the Oblivion use, but I didn't want to break it while I was just standing there. What would happen if he could remember me."
"And if someone sees you transform, then they can recognize you." Uranus adds, nodding.
"There's a bigger part than even that." Usagi says, looking out over the rooftop and to the streets down below. "There are so many of them, and if I tried to heal them all one by one, it would take hours... I'd probably miss some."
"Meanwhile," Makoto says, thinking things over, "if you were to do something big and just try and hit the whole block..."
"Yeah." Usagi says with a nod. "If I heal everyone at the same time, then there is no way that the Oblivion could do anything about it."
"Before you do that," Neptune starts, and Usagi glances over towards the older Senshi. "I think you should wait." Usagi frowns, but before the girl has a chance to argue, Neptune continues. "Not long, just an hour or two. Probably not even that. If that guy managed to point you towards the Memory Den, then we still have the element of surprise."
That... That is a point, Usagi has to admit. "If you go and heal everyone before hand," Uranus picks up, "then there is a chance that you might hit someone that the Oblivion has inside of the place, and they'd be aware that something is up."
That is a very good point that the two have brought up, and Usagi takes a moment to think about it. One the one hand, these people have been like this for... days, weeks even, living without any of their memories or the minds, just existing. It's cruel to leave them like this when Usagi has the power to fix it, but at the same time...
What difference does a few hours make?
[ ][Heal] Heal them now, go and find the Memory Den after
[ ][Heal] Find the Memory Den now, and heal these people afterwords
So... this is not how I planned for the update to end, but there has been an internet outage in my area since before I got off of work, and at the point in which I am writing this, it is an hour and a half after that.
Hopefully the outage will only be over soon, and- literally as I was typing that the internet came back.
- Location
- Gotham
Genius Usagi
- Location
- Pittsburgh PA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
It is just so heartwarming that Usagi has gone from regularly failing to being in the top 10 percent of the entire school.
[X][Heal] Find the Memory Den now, and heal these people afterwords
[X][Heal] Find the Memory Den now, and heal these people afterwords