Cosmos Quest (Naruto/Lupin III)

[FurikoMaru]

...Could we just remain silent out of professional courtesy for the aural genjutsu user? Cheering in a battle that's being fought at least partly with words seems odd.

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I already said I'm allowing write-ins.

 

[Torgamous]

Sorry, that wasn't meant to be a GM ruling question, I just don't like voting before a work day if write-ins are flying around. Can't change my mind. Better to just toss out ideas.

 

[FurikoMaru]

Ah. Pardon me.

 

[uju32]

[X] Help me, information, get me Memphis, Tennessee...

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Chuck Berry-Memphis
Unless you prefer the Johnny Rivers version.

"... well, the competition is currently picking her nose," Kankuro replies, "so if I were you I'd wait a sec to take that look."

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Playing up the child image?
Or just making good use of it?

"Cute." You roll your eyes. "Look, genjutsu takes cunning, refined chakra control, attention to detail, keenly honed senses, an instinct for psychology, and a perfectionist streak a mile wide - most people who are good enough at it to be known as genjutsu specialists are adults. I'm a freak of nature to be as good at it as I am at this age." Your eyes flick over to the oblivious Kibi, who's sitting on the railing and innocently kicking her shoe off her foot and catching it with her toes, over and over again. "So what does that make her?"

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Definitely playing up the child image.

"Well, that Lee kid looks like a lot of fun," Gaara says, "if he can keep up that turtle-mode longer than he did here. It's been too long since I got some actual exercise." He grins at you fiercely. "Wouldn't mind taking you out dancing, though."
"Hey, I never say no to a free meal."
Ahahahahaha oh god I'm dead.
What's up?
Gaara wants to fight me.
Oh, don't worry about it. There's a note of distaste in Lupin's voice, but he doesn't sound disapproving, exactly. He's just the type of jerk that likes to flirt violently. He won't actually hurt you if you don't hurt him first; he'll just scare you half to death to impress you.
Oh, so he's like you?
What? No!

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Lol!Lupin.

"What about you?" you ask Temari, ignoring your other-self's indignant defensiveness for the moment.
"The auntie over there," she replies, nodding at Sayuri. "A quick win to take me into training for the finals with no injuries. After that, who knows?"
Wow. Harsh.

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Oh it would be hilarious if she got punked by Sayuri.
Especially given the genjutsu comment.

"Temari vs Ira!"
"I withdraw," the Sound boy says in a clear but quiet voice.
Temari frowns. "... that doesn't mean I didn't come here to fight," she says peevishly to the air.

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Make up your mind girl!
So by my count, at least 3 people are getting thru without a fight: Choji, Temari, and whoever Sagiso's opponent was supposed to be.

And my suspicions of him already being a chuunin are almost completely confirmed. Why else would he travel all this way just to resign? We must be hammering out some kind of alliance with Oto.
Iwa's gonna be pissed.

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Depends on what her surname is.
If she shares it with a senior figure in Sound, Ira may have been sent along to make sure the kids don't get killed during the group stages.
Or ifshe's a prodigy she may have rated the same treatment.
A new young village can't afford many losses of it's seed corn.

"I have something to say before we begin," Kibi calls, bouncing down the stairs. Hopping the last three steps, she smooths out her skirt and strolls casually over to face Neji.
"I came to Konoha for these exams because my mother said this town was full of strong and kind-hearted people," she says, smiling up at the dark-haired boy, who waits, listening with a politely neutral expression. "And she was right! Everyone from Konoha who's fought today has been really strong and really nice. That pretty nee-chan with the exploding seals could have made them lethal, but instead she just played happily with her friend. That boy in the funny jumpsuit let the pretty Mist boy have a chance to give up. Even the doggie nii-chan helped his friends out by trying to fight the mean demonboy for them!" She clenches her hands in two excited fists and bobs up and down in excitement. "That's why no matter what happens in our fight, or who wins, I wanted to say thank you for facing me, and I hope we can be friends afterward."
Well, now we know why they're called Sound. All in all, you're impressed; this is a pretty intricate aural genjutsu she's weaving, here.

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Beware the cute looking children.
Always.
I wonder if it's ageism, sexism, or just a general superiority complex that left Neji vulnerable to this.
Kibi certainly is playing up the young, cute image.

On the bright side, we have some tips for expanding our genjutsu repertoire into the sound spectrum.
And we have an opportunity to see if sound genjutsu works on Gaara.

And as an aside, did Kibi's experience lead her to believe we would actually use lethal explosives here?
Or is she just playing it up for effect?

"I will take your request under advisement," Neji says stoically.

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Hans Gruber, Die Hard, 1988.
John McClane: [in radio to Hans] Hans you motherfucker, you made your point! Let them pull back!
Hans Gruber: [in radio to McClaine] Thank you, Mr. Cowboy, I'll take it under advisement.
[to bad guys]
Hans Gruber: *Hit it, again.*

Does that count Furiko?
Because if it does, I'm up to 3 Z-slashes.

[X] Cheer Kibi on. Genjutsu that can fool a Byakugan is always impressive to see in action.
[X] Cheer Neji on in such a way that you make him snap out of it.

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I like Neji.
I like his capability, even his personality after he got Friend no Jutsu'd.
And that's why Neji is better off learning this lesson here than in the field: to beware the quiet ones, and that his Byakugan won't catch everything.
Hell, HINATA can take notes; maybe it'll convince her to add genjutsu to her repertoire.

Besides, that was too incredible a performance (Sound genjutsu? With her VOICE?) to fuck it up.
And if he requires our assistance to get out of it here, he won't make chuunin anyway.

I'd prefer not to cheer for her though, until the match is over; would be kinda awkward if she pulled some vicious move on him during the match. We can congratulate her after the match is done.

And no, it has nothing to do with a desire not to have to use Bringer of Darkness until absolutely necessary. ;D

So
[X]Silence
-[X]Congratulations after the match, whether she wins or loses; that was IMPRESSIVE.

 

[uju32]

Don't really come out and help him directly, because if he needs our help to pass against a genjutsu then he's not really ready to be chuunin. But his family would be SO DISAPPOINTED in him if he falls to genjutsu in the second stage. And that's not very healthy for Neji to be disappointing the Main House like that.

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Why?
Hiashi's characterization here is not that of the monster fanon paints him as; tightass traditionalist he may be, but neither abusive nor stupid.
And Gai is his jounin-sensei; abuse is not going to be a factor anyway.

And it would be healthy for both him and Hinata to be reminded that sight isn't everything, right here in controlled circumstances.
Before he runs into someone like Tayuya.
God knows defeat was good for him in canon, though the Therapy no Jutsu certainly helped.

But it isn't certain he'll lose anyway; good chance he'll pick it up as he goes along.
Hyuuga chakra control is pretty sensitive after all.

 

[katreus]

[X]Silence
-[X]Congratulations after the match, whether she wins or loses; that was IMPRESSIVE.

 

[FurikoMaru]

Chuck Berry-Memphis
Unless you prefer the Johnny Rivers version.

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I like the Beatles' version from that collection of their live BBC sessions.

Lol!Lupin.

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He's less of the fighting-is-sexy school and more of the getting-rescued-slash-pulled-into-even-more-danger-by-a-teasing-dashing-rogue-is-sexy school, but they aren't exactly unalike.

And as an aside, did Kibi's experience lead her to believe we would actually use lethal explosives here?

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Do you remember who her jounin-sensei is? >

Hans Gruber, Die Hard, 1988.
John McClane: [in radio to Hans] Hans you motherfucker, you made your point! Let them pull back!
Hans Gruber: [in radio to McClaine] Thank you, Mr. Cowboy, I'll take it under advisement.
[to bad guys]
Hans Gruber: *Hit it, again.*

Does that count Furiko?

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Nope. Sorry. Although I admit I was this close to making it "I shall consider it."

 

[FurikoMaru]

Why?
Hiashi's characterization here is not that of the monster fanon paints him as; tightass traditionalist he may be, but neither abusive nor stupid.

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Hiashi isn't the only Hyuuga who can make Branch House members' lives hell.

 

[Selias]

Hiashi isn't the only Hyuuga who can make Branch House members' lives hell.

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Yeah, but he probably wouldn't allow the others to do so, considering that Neji's his nephew. Especially with how guilty he feels about Hizashi's death.

 

[uju32]

I like the Beatles' version from that collection of their live BBC sessions.
He's less of the fighting-is-sexy school and more of the getting-rescued-slash-pulled-into-even-more-danger-by-a-teasing-dashing-rogue-is-sexy school, but they aren't exactly unalike.

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I see.
The disapproval of a professional PUA

Do you remember who her jounin-sensei is? >

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Touche.
Which suggests another reason why Ira is here, which is to remind Deidara of possible consequences if/when he gets carried away.

Which means we really shouldn't be cheering Kibi, just in case her reflexes get the better of her and she blows Neji's legs off.

Nope. Sorry. Although I admit I was this close to making it "I shall consider it."

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Eh, fair enough.

Hiashi isn't the only Hyuuga who can make Branch House members' lives hell.

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Fair enough.
Then again, if random clan members let Neji survive first almost crippling Hinata(who was STILL clan heir at the time), then getting his ass beaten by the single worst student of his graduating class, I suspect losing to a genjutsu prodigy isn't going to be any worse.

Though to be honest, I dunno how come there are other Main House members besides Hiashi.
Not when Hizashi ended up in the Branch House, despite being Hiashi's twin.

And the wikipedia article on Japanese family structure yields no enlightenment, because it suggests either that Hiashi should have been the only Main House member with his family, or Hizashi should have been a Main House member if there were other adult males.

 

[Vindictus]

As I understand it, Hizashi was put in the branch house explicitly because he was a twin.

Inheritance issues, you see. If he'd been a younger brother [As with Hanabi] there would be no issue because they're very clearly under the 'Heir and Spare' rule, but twins make things complicated. Best to get that issue taken care of early.

 

[iamnuff]

Huh. Gun-toting puppeteer was such a logical connection between disciplines I didn't dig further.

That said, everyone has these mental images of these guys in their heads Furiko. And we're left with ours, not yours, unless told otherwise.

Edit: I hope SOMEONE from Sand has a walking tank puppet bristling with guns, or I shall be disappointed.

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probably Kankuro,

If he doesn't have rotary guns mounted on his puppets then i'm going to be very surprised.


also,

[X]Silence
-[X]Congratulations after the match, whether she wins or loses; that was IMPRESSIVE.

yeah, lets not explicitly cheat in Neji's favour, yeah? we wouldn't like it if the peanut gallery started shouting every time we trapped someone in a genjutsu. its poor sportsmanship, tacky, and would seriously make us an enemy.

If neji can't break out of this on his own, then he deserves to lose, simple as that.

 

[hunter09]

[X]Silence
-[X]Congratulations after the match, whether she wins or loses; that was IMPRESSIVE.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

Eh. Don't really like the silent write-in, professional courtesy or not. Doing neither just feels kind of dull and not really Ino.

Meh.

 

[Guile]

yeah, lets not explicitly cheat in Neji's favour, yeah? we wouldn't like it if the peanut gallery started shouting every time we trapped someone in a genjutsu. its poor sportsmanship, tacky, and would seriously make us an enemy.

If neji can't break out of this on his own, then he deserves to lose, simple as that.

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Eh. Don't really like the silent write-in, professional courtesy or not. Doing neither just feels kind of dull and not really Ino.

Meh.

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Yeah, she can literally cheer anything. Furiko said she's accepting write-ins; we don't have to clue him in if we don't want to, given Kibi's tying her words to fear we might actually get into a situation where Neji is stepping through fear in response to Ino's encouragement. Got some parallels to the Hinata-Naruto event from canon.

Remember we have half a crush on Broody McPrettyface? And there was that scene with him earlier in the tower... Ino likes him. Grave silence isn't really what I see happening here.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

Yeah, she can literally cheer anything. Furiko said she's accepting write-ins; we don't have to clue him in if we don't want to, given Kibi's tying her words to fear we might actually get into a situation where Neji is stepping through fear in response to Ino's encouragement. Got some parallels to the Hinata-Naruto event from canon.

Remember we have half a crush on Broody McPrettyface? And there was that scene with him earlier in the tower... Ino likes him. Grave silence isn't really what I see happening here.

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Eh. We do have the crush on him, but at the same time the voting is current silence winning with 4 to Kibi's three. So...

[X] Cheer Kibi on. Genjutsu that can fool a Byakugan is always impressive to see in action.

There. Now it's tied up. Least silence isn't winning anymore.

We've got the crush on Neji, yeah, although I think that's more of him being to Goemon substitute than anything else. I don't really want to go pissing off our home team and allies, especially given we may be locking horns with the Hyuuga soon as it is, but maybe treat it as rooting for the underdog in Kibi?

Neji at least seems to be taking this seriously, he's just not figuring this out. Probably.

Meh. Like I said, I'm voting now mostly to tie this up for the time being.

 

[iamnuff]

cheering a stranger over a fellow leaf-nin seems weird, but outright telling him he's under a genjutsu is, if not cheating, in very poor taste.

you can say not cheering seems weird, but we havn't cheered anyone else on at all.

keeping your mouth shut and not intterupting someone elses fight is basic fight etiquette, especially when the battle is partly verbal.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

cheering a stranger over a fellow leaf-nin seems weird, but outright telling him he's under a genjutsu is, if not cheating, in very poor taste.

you can say not cheering seems weird, but we havn't cheered anyone else on at all.

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No surprise there since Kiba's battle barely took more than a moment and with Haku's Mist in the arena blocking everything we didn't have very much to cheer for. Putting aside that Lee's fight was a curbstomp.

 

[FurikoMaru]

I see.
The disapproval of a professional PUA

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Bite your tongue! Don't compare a billiard-bar neg-slinging bottomfeeder to a merry worshipper of women with actual blood pumping through his veins.

Which suggests another reason why Ira is here, which is to remind Deidara of possible consequences if/when he gets carried away.

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Ira has not been having a fun couple of weeks. ^_^

Though to be honest, I dunno how come there are other Main House members besides Hiashi.
Not when Hizashi ended up in the Branch House, despite being Hiashi's twin.

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It's as Vindictus said, in this quest at least. In canon, I suspect Kishimoto really fucking loves chanbara and kabuki and didn't bother to think it through further than "You know what's awesome? Honour tragedies! Fuck yeah, tragedies of honour!"

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

So, what's likely to be Konoha's reaction to us cheering on Kibi instead of Neji? Would it be seen as us supporting an underdog or genjutsu users in general, in particular a desire to duel another genjutsu user, or a nastier sentiment?

 

[Selias]

Wait, where does it say that we have a crush on Neji? I went though the story posts, and the only thing I can see that might indicate that is when Ino thinks that he's cute when he's mad, and that was back when we were sparring with him, in the academy.

 

[FurikoMaru]

He's an attractive male with a pulse. Every one of those has a shot at Ino, barring homicidal insanity.

So, what's likely to be Konoha's reaction to us cheering on Kibi instead of Neji? Would it be seen as us supporting an underdog or genjutsu users in general, in particular a desire to duel another genjutsu user, or a nastier sentiment?

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Well, you're a young ninja who's never tasted a real challenge from someone your own age in your chosen speciality. People are likely to understand.

 

[uju32]

Bite your tongue! Don't compare a billiard-bar neg-slinging bottomfeeder to a merry worshipper of women with actual blood pumping through his veins.

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Wouldn't he say that though?
O

Ira has not been having a fun couple of weeks. ^_^

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Minders seldom do.
If he was older he'd be drinking ;D
As is, I bet he's consoling himself with the prospect of promotion out of his job if everything goes well, and he manages to avoid getting himself blown up....

It's as Vindictus said, in this quest at least. In canon, I suspect Kishimoto really fucking loves chanbara and kabuki and didn't bother to think it through further than "You know what's awesome? Honour tragedies! Fuck yeah, tragedies of honour!"

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Fair enough; I guess I should know better than to expect historical accuracy out of a shonen mangaka.

Thanks Vin.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

He's an attractive male with a pulse. Every one of those has a shot at Ino, barring homicidal insanity.

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My but that says quite a bit about our standards.

....So, is Deidara disqualified?

Well, you're a young ninja who's never tasted a real challenge from someone your own age in your chosen speciality. People are likely to understand.

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Good to know.

Also, even Gai can't say Kibi isn't more youthful than Neji.

It is to our disappointment that we are not seven years old and therefore capable of defeating the Youthful Kibi with our even greater Youthfulness in the most Youthful battle of the century.

It'd probably end up as a tea party in which we pass around cups of tea and try to trick each other into drinking a sedative.

....Actually that's a really funny idea. And a free Princess Bride reference.

 

[FurikoMaru]

Wouldn't he say that though?
O

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Nah. The PUA concept as it exists in present-day reality online discussion of stuffthattotallyhappened is kind of divorced from pick-up artistry in fiction, and even if it were closer, it's sort of a shaky fit. Lupin's so unapologetically enthusiastic about the thought of just being around pretty girls, he could never be cool by their standards.

Jigen is closer, but that's only because Jigen is the fuckin' man, and PUAs all wanna be the fuckin' man. Honestly, I think he'd find it insulting to be equated with a bunch of neurotic nymphomaniacs.

....So, is Deidara disqualified?

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For the moment, yeah. Even if he weren't, Ino's pretty sure her father would kill him.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

For the moment, yeah. Even if he weren't, Ino's pretty sure her father would kill him.

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Inoichi could kill Deidara?

That man is holding out on us. Or he'd just call in the team and hunt the fucker down that way.

Incidentally, is the plan I outlined in my last post actually something we could do against Kibi? Or is Kibi not as likely to go along with hare-brained ideas as Gaara would be?

 

[FurikoMaru]

Inoichi could kill Deidara?

That man is holding out on us. Or he'd just call in the team and hunt the fucker down that way.

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Ino-Shika-Cho Formation! Overprotective Father Force, transform and roll out!

-_- "Shouldn't've sworn that stupid oath..."

>: < "Don't say that! What if they come for your son next, Shikaku?"

-_- "I doubt he's going to be impressed. He likes more cushion for pushin' than most Oto men have."

"What."

"What."

8) "That whole binding-our-houses plan didn't work out quite the way we intended, but I think I can live with this. Chouji's a fine boy."

Incidentally, is the plan I outlined in my last post actually something we could do against Kibi? Or is Kibi not as likely to go along with hare-brained ideas as Gaara would be?

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You wanna spend a training slot on developing an immunity to a sedative? That can be arranged.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

Ino-Shika-Cho Formation! Overprotective Father Force, transform and roll out!

-_- "Shouldn't've sworn that stupid oath..."

>: < "Don't say that! What if they come for your son next, Shikaku?"

-_- "I doubt he's going to be impressed. He likes more cushion for pushin' than most Oto men have."

"What."

"What."

8) "That whole binding-our-houses plan didn't work out quite the way we intended, but I think I can live with this. Chouji's a fine boy."

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You wanna spend a training slot on developing an immunity to a sedative? That can be arranged.

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Less, "I want to rip off the Princes Bride's winning twist," and more, "I'd like a game of wits and genjutsu with Kibi....over tea."

Although we'd likely need to study poisons with our mother to pull this one off, and convince Kibi that we haven't, well, ripped off the Princess Bride by being immune to our own poison.

But the main idea is sheer audacity in having a straight up tea party in the Chunin Exam Finals, and winning this way.

Just considering options besides Throning Kibi.

 

[Guile]

My but that says quite a bit about our standards.

....So, is Deidara disqualified?

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We don't want to end up in the bag.

 

[Jack Trade]

[X] Cheer Kibi on. Genjutsu that can fool a Byakugan is always impressive to see in action.