Cosmos Quest (Naruto/Lupin III)

[Selias]

[X] A long-weekend trip with Mom to Tanzaku Gai. A whole three days of cool new food, theatre, staying up late, and relaxing in hot springs. And she let you bring a friend!
-> [X] Ami

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

Seriously.

Why does everybody want a second fan when we're kinda not that great with the first, over the (metaphorical) Beach Episode?

Click to shrink...

To be fair, we don't have much to go on with our normal fan and Uchiha techs can probably be reverse engineered easier.

Rargh. Fine, I'll switch.

[X] A long-weekend trip with Mom to Tanzaku Gai. A whole three days of cool new food, theatre, staying up late, and relaxing in hot springs. And she let you bring a friend!
-> [X] Ami

 

[Scope]

[X] A long-weekend trip with Mom to Tanzaku Gai. A whole three days of cool new food, theatre, staying up late, and relaxing in hot springs. And she let you bring a friend!
-> [X] Ami

 

[Jans]

[X] A long-weekend trip with Mom to Tanzaku Gai. A whole three days of cool new food, theatre, staying up late, and relaxing in hot springs. And she let you bring a friend!
-[X] Hinata

Honestly she needs the chance to relax and we're letting meta reasons say take Ami. This may be Hinata's first chance at an actual vacation away from Konoha. If safety really is an issue I wouldn't doubt we'll get some guards. The Hyuuga Incident was too many variables to be worried about again, especially when we don't know the details IC. The fact that one of Cloud's best jounin was in position to do it and Hiashi was the one doing the killing was part of it, in addition to a bunch of stuff that we don't know about in canon because it was a silly plot device that made no sense without context we weren't given.

Seriously, Kishimoto was going for samurai drama. If it had just been Hiashi committing ritual suicide to atone for the international incident that would have made at least a little sense. Add in the bloodline theft (something that was hugely taboo IRL and in setting), the fact that he was a diplomat caught kidnapping a child for nefarious purposes, and that they were both armed camps of warriors instead of feudal samurai lords and it doesn't make any fucking sense at all.

 

[FurikoMaru]

Ah, Tanzaku Gai is a resort town. The capital is unnamed in canon as far as I know, but I call it Hikari-kyo because... I'unno, Fire, Light, they go together.

 

[Jans]

Oh, right. I knew that.

*Cuts that part out.*

 

[FurikoMaru]

Also, not to momkra you or anything, but if your reasoning is that Hinata needs a break... how many vacations do you think Ami's had in her life?

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

Also, not to momkra you or anything, but if your reasoning is that Hinata needs a break... how many vacations do you think Ami's had in her life?

Click to shrink...

Given her choice in reading material, her father's profession, and the fact that she paid her own way into the Academy?

I'd be surprised if the sum total value of her birthday presents equaled one of Ino's.

 

[Jans]

No... my reasoning was that letting a meta reason decide the choice was silly. I'm in favor of Hinata.

 

[FurikoMaru]

Given her choice in reading material, her father's profession, and the fact that she paid her own way into the Academy?

I'd be surprised if the sum total value of her birthday presents equaled one of Ino's.

Click to shrink...

She's been to Tanzaku Gai before, once. Back when her mom was alive, her dad took both of them.

The highlight of the experience was probably when Mr. Kuwabara, having promised to watch three-year-old Ami while Ms Saito took in a relaxing enka performance and enjoyed a well-deserved smoking break, rushed into the concert hall, tossed Ami at the first empty-handed person he saw, and kept running.

Long story short, he punched a casino guard for trying to kick him out after losing all his money at roulette, not realizing there were another two watching the whole thing go down. Thank heaven Ms Saito only gave him half the money she'd allotted for gambling and they still had enough cash to beat a hasty retreat back to Konoha.

 

[useless101]

[X] A long-weekend trip with Mom to Tanzaku Gai. A whole three days of cool new food, theatre, staying up late, and relaxing in hot springs. And she let you bring a friend!
-> [X] Ami

On guns: First off, don't let reality get in the way of a good story, or even a minor amount of cool. That's the most important point. Hollywood certainly doesn't, and despite the fact the gun aficionados can see them doing it wrong, no one really cares.

While it's an old movie, and a bit extreme, my personal 'favorite' example would be in First Blood. Rambo fired significantly more than one hundred rounds out of an M60. Which uses a one hundred round belt.

And it was visibly unloaded the whole time.

I can't remember an exact scene, but John Wayne and Clint Eastwood both had a tendency to fire seven shots out of a six shooter without reloading. Particularly funny in Eastwood's case, that scene about wondering how many shots he's fired loses some of it's impact when the person next to you is yelling "What do you care?!?! You've fired dozens of shots out of that thing without reloading before!"

Recent movies have gotten better about reloading, but you'll still see people doing silly things like trying to fire from the hip, or being flung back like they've been hit with an anti-tank rocket rather than a bullet.

And I'd really rather not talk about what anime and manga do to guns.



If you're going to play the guns as reflective of the characters using them, it's worth noting that most Smith & Wesson pistols have a reputation for reliability, while the P38 has a tendency to, ahem, fire prematurely.

In a direct comparison between the two weapons, the P38 would require more exacting attention to the proportions of its parts than the Model 19. It has much less margin for error before it stops working. Or starts working poorly.

The safety features on the P38 in particular are finicky, and not properly cleaning and maintaining it can cause these to fail very quickly. Several allied soldiers managed to shoot themselves with P38s captured from German officers during WW2, partly due to improper handling, but the safety jamming open didn't help.



If you were actually going to try for realism about building guns from scratch, I'd recommend reading about early revolvers and the percussion cap, but that can be pretty boring.

No one is really going to complain if you hand wave it. I'm certainly against slowing down your writing to get the technical details correct. They aren't as important as the characters, which you do a good job of making seem real.

 

[FurikoMaru]

On guns: First off, don't let reality get in the way of a good story, or even a minor amount of cool. That's the most important point. Hollywood certainly doesn't, and despite the fact the gun aficionados can see them doing it wrong, no one really cares.

Click to shrink...

I'm not even a gun aficionado, and I can't stand it when supposed badasses who I'm meant to believe have been ruthlessly shooting people for years blink every time they fire. I know it's a hard habit to get out of, but goddamn.

And I'd really rather not talk about what anime and manga do to guns.

Click to shrink...

Lupin III is actually fairly consistent about the P38 only having 8 shots, Jigen always having to reload while hiding behind something or other, and Fujiko being about as accurate with that tiny fucking thing she uses as a kid with a slingshot who isn't named David.

But then there's... pretty much everything else that happens on the show, ever.

If you're going to play the guns as reflective of the characters using them, it's worth noting that most Smith & Wesson pistols have a reputation for reliability, while the P38 has a tendency to, ahem, fire prematurely.

Click to shrink...

... I'd probably be more defensive about that remark if anime Lupin weren't clearly a perpetually-30-year-old teenager.

Maa, ne. There's always manga Lupin with the prehensile cock.

In a direct comparison between the two weapons, the P38 would require more exacting attention to the proportions of its parts than the Model 19. It has much less margin for error before it stops working. Or starts working poorly.

Click to shrink...

Hm. The family perfectionism. What an odd place for it to turn up. I'd think for sure he'd go for something easy to take care of... and I'm back to thinkin' about his self-destructive taste in women again. XD

Y'know I've always wondered, how the hell did he end up using what was even then a twenty-year-old pistol? I know guns last a decent amount of time if you keep them clean, but geez.

It's loosely canonical that Lupin the First, rest his soul, was involved in the Resistance, so maybe he picked it up then as a souvenir, but as far as I know, even in the movie called In Memory of the Walther P38, it doesn't come up.

If you were actually going to try for realism about building guns from scratch, I'd recommend reading about early revolvers and the percussion cap, but that can be pretty boring.

Click to shrink...

I always like to make a token effort, or otherwise to skip over details so I don't bring shame upon myself by displaying my ignorance. Thanks for the links. Wikipedia: Because Fuck You High School History Teacher Tryin' Ta Teach Me How To Do My Own Research And Cite My Sources, I Do What I Want!

No one is really going to complain if you hand wave it. I'm certainly against slowing down your writing to get the technical details correct. They aren't as important as the characters, which you do a good job of making seem real.

Click to shrink...

.///.; Why, thank you.

 

[Jiven]

[X] A second tessen! Awesome, now you can try out some of those two-handed moves that were in the scroll.

 

[Aranfan]

[X] A long-weekend trip with Mom to Tanzaku Gai. A whole three days of cool new food, theatre, staying up late, and relaxing in hot springs. And she let you bring a friend!
-> [X] Hinata

 

[FurikoMaru]

Browning M1910! That's what it was, that's what Fujiko uses. Whew, that was bugging me.

Okay, I'm gonna pass out now. Don't vote for anything I wouldn't vote for, and head over to Der Gebogene wird selber Bieger to weigh in there too, if you're so inclined.

 

[Redon]

[X] A second tessen! Awesome, now you can try out some of those two-handed moves that were in the scroll.

 

[R.A.G.]

[X] A long-weekend trip with Mom to Tanzaku Gai. A whole three days of cool new food, theatre, staying up late, and relaxing in hot springs. And she let you bring a friend!
-> [X] Hinata

 

[Scia]

[X] A long-weekend trip with Mom to Tanzaku Gai. A whole three days of cool new food, theatre, staying up late, and relaxing in hot springs. And she let you bring a friend!
-> [X] Ami

 

[FurikoMaru]

[5] A second tessen! Awesome, now you can try out some of those two-handed moves that were in the scroll.
[I'm actually surprised no one went for this. Can you imagine an Ino who can Shunshin?] Permission to start learning D-ranked jutsu! 'Bout damn time!
[9] A long-weekend trip with Mom to Tanzaku Gai. A whole three days of cool new food, theatre, staying up late, and relaxing in hot springs. And she let you bring a friend!
-> [6] Ami
-> [3] Hinata

Vote locked. Writing begins.

 

[EnderofWorlds]

[X] A long-weekend trip with Mom to Tanzaku Gai. A whole three days of cool new food, theatre, staying up late, and relaxing in hot springs. And she let you bring a friend!
-> [X] Ami

 

[FurikoMaru]

[X] It's a Kanye West song, okay? C'mon, click the link, it won't kill you.

(Source: Some fellow named Konstantin Egorov. Found on photoshelter.com

The sun has nearly set on Thursday evening as the bus comes over the hill, and you and Ami gasp in delight. The shifting colours of the spotlights directed at Tanzaku Castle are visible even at this distance, like a lighthouse for weary travellers and hungry card-sharps alike. The bared slopes of Mt Ogon, used in winter for skiing, have been lit with torches that spell out WELCOME in characters thirty feet tall.

"You're very lucky to have been born on the Equinox, sweetheart," Mom says, smiling. "It's as though the whole town is celebrating your birthday with you."

For once, you have nothing to say. All you can do is smile back at her.

The spectacle doesn't end when you arrive in the town itself; drummers and pages proclaiming the commencement of the 118th Annual Tanzaku Gai Shubun no Matsuri flank the gates, serenading you and the other travellers as you dismount from the bus and enter a glowing tunnel of rickshaws, high-rollers, touts, call girls, tourists, and innumerable neon signs. The main drag of Tangai (as the locals call it, according to your guidebook) stretches in a straight line from the gates to the castle palisades, and not an inch of vertical space has been allowed to go to waste.

The Limetree​

TONIGHT ONLY: MASUYAMA EIKO AND THE HONEY FLASH FIVE​

THE GLASS SLIPPER​

Featuring Special Guest MC: Sohma Ayame​

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Seven Sisters Casino & Lounge​

Kitajima Maya is​

Kurenai Tennyo​

The international award-winning production in a limited two-week engagement​

5 RYO SHRIMP PLATTER!​

"Which hotel is ours, Takae-sensei?" Ami asks, eyes drinking in all the brightly-decked inns and boarding houses. She's called your mother that ever since she found out her maiden name and put two and two together. You wouldn't have figured Ami for a traditional-music fan, but apparently you would have figured wrong.

"It's in a much less exciting neighbourhood, I'm afraid," Mom says. She turns at a broad intersection and leads you down a street not as bright but just as gaudy as Castle Boulevard.

Eventually, the gimmicky signboards and statues of 'goddesses' of luck give way to a quiet residential district, full of well-tended apartment houses and traditional single-family homes. At each gate hang pink lanterns, illuminating the street with a gentle glow.

Just when you're reaching the point of whining about your backpack being too heavy, you catch a whiff of sulphur on the breeze, and look up at mom in shock.

"But you said it was going to be too expensive..."

She winks at you, and echoes your plea of two months ago. "How can we visit Tanzaku Gai and not stay at a ryokan?"

"Whoo!" You turn to Ami and hug her enthusiastically. "Hot springs here we come!"

The inn in question is owned and operated by a widow and her very, very tired-looking son-in-law. He brightens up when he sees mom, then goes back to normal when he sees she's travelling with kids. With a sigh, he hands over the keys to rooms 10 and 11.

You are stoked to be having your own room. Dad wanted it to be all three of you sharing, but Mom was really nice about your request for privacy and talked him into springing for two rooms. Mom takes the one facing the exterior garden; if you need her, she'll be right across the hall.

Dropping your bags in exhaustion, you and Ami collapse gratefully onto the futons that've been laid out for you.

So this is Tanzaku Gai. The whole place can't be more than a third Konoha's size, and yet it seems like the beating heart of everything worth doing in the world.

"... hey, Ino?" Ami sounds sleepy already.

"Mm?"

"What's with that nickname your mom has for you?"

"... oh, 'sweetheart', you mean? I dunno, it's just something she's always called me. Dad does, too."

"It's kind of weird. Does she mean your heart is tasty, or that she thinks you're the goddess of sweets or something?"

You blush in embarrassment. "I never thought about it before. I guess she means that my feelings are sweet, or something like that."

"Mm..." She yawns (you try, unsuccessfully, not to echo her), and rolls over.

"Hey, don't go to sleep!" you protest, shaking her. "We have permission to stay up for as long as we want if we don't make too much noise."

"You're such a kid, Ino," she mumbles.

You huff. "Well you can sleep and be boring if you want to. I'll just go through the guidebook by myself to decide what stuff we'll do tomorrow."

"'kay."

You sit there for a while, underlining interesting stuff to see in silence.

"... Ino..."

You glance over at Ami. She's curled up into a little ball on her futon, facing you. Her eyes are closed, and her chakra indicates she's in the peaceful state between sleep and waking. You smile. Somehow it's just so... Ami, that even when everything else about her is relaxed, her mouth and brows both fall into a natural frown.

"... Ino..."

"Yeah, I'm listenin'," you say. Your first instinct is to touch her hand or something, but Ami isn't much of a touchy-feely person even when she's awake.

"... thanks..."

----------

Never underestimate the overactive imagination of a shoujo manga fan when it comes to setting design. :3



It's a bright new day in Tanzaku Gai! What's first on the list you made last night?

[X] Go check out the castle! Tangai started out as a gold-mining town, they've got to have loads of beautiful stuff on display in there!

[X] The markets! Mom says they double in size during festivals and bring in stuff from all over - who knows what you could find?

[X] The festival-proper! Between Ami's skill with throwing stuff and your fast hands, you two'll make out like bandits!

 

[Jans]

Wow Furiko. Preeeeeetty, and the music fits so well!

[X] Go check out the castle! Tangai started out as a gold-mining town, they've got to have loads of beautiful stuff on display in there!

Lets get our avarice on~!

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

[X] The festival-proper! Between Ami's skill with throwing stuff and your fast hands, you two'll make out like bandits!

Lie, cheat, and steal. Can't get away with stealing the good stuff, but we can certainly con and scam our way into moar loot.

And mebbe a chase scene.

 

[FurikoMaru]

Wow Furiko. Preeeeeetty, and the music fits so well!

Click to shrink...

Kanye has a mad bombast and self-obsession that makes his music a pretty good fit for a Lupin story, if you don't want to play jazz all the time.

 

[Guile]

If only we could find a way to visit the card tables! Or whatever they have here. Sugoroku, or something.

Markets! Stuff from everywhere, everyone distracted in the crush of bodies~
Ah well. We can save the petty larceny for later. When our mom isn't with us.

[X] Castle! Slim is the line between Lupino and excitable magpie.

 

[Selias]

[X] The festival-proper! Between Ami's skill with throwing stuff and your fast hands, you two'll make out like bandits!

 

[Redon]

[X] The festival-proper! Between Ami's skill with throwing stuff and your fast hands, you two'll make out like bandits!

 

[Torgamous]

We want to make out like bandits towards the end of the vacation, so storage is less of an issue, we don't wear ourselves out early on, and we're more informed regarding what souvenirs we're interested in. The initial phase of a vacation is for sightseeing unless there's an event happening later that would conflict with shopping or festivaling.

Furiko, is there going to be a world-famous parade or something going on later in the week, or is this city going to be at a consistent level of partying?

[X] Go check out the castle! Tangai started out as a gold-mining town, they've got to have loads of beautiful stuff on display in there!

 

[FurikoMaru]

We want to make out like bandits towards the end of the vacation, so storage is less of an issue, we don't wear ourselves out early on, and we're more informed regarding what souvenirs we're interested in. The initial phase of a vacation is for sightseeing unless there's an event happening later that would conflict with shopping or festivaling.

Furiko, is there going to be a world-famous parade or something going on later in the week, or is this city going to be at a consistent level of partying?

Click to shrink...

You're only gonna be in Tanzaku Gai for three days; Friday (in-game 'today'), Saturday, and most of Sunday until you catch the bus back to the end of the line around 4 pm (from the end of the line you have to go on foot or bicycle back to Konoha). There's a parade of the shrine-god on Saturday evening, but that's the part of the festival your Mom doesn't want you attending. Those of you who live in tourist towns with 'proud traditions' likely know what I'm talking about.

Tonight you have tickets to a show, so you won't be able to do anything big between 7 in the evening, when you'll have dinner, and 10:30, when you'll get back from the performance.

Regarding storage: as a shinobi clan kid, the concept of 'one man one kit' has been ground thoroughly into your head, so you've already pared down your packing to the bare minimum in hopes of being able to carry home all the stuff you expect to score. You have your many pockets, a little extra room in your backpack, and a folded-up duffel bag you stuck in said backpack.

Basically, if you use the spending money you were given in lieu of presents this year, you can put whatever it is you get in the duffel bag, but if you swipe something, it needs to be small enough to conceal on your person or in about half a cubic foot of space.

Or you could buy a whole whack of big things with your spending money and hide your yoink'd possessions in with them. But that carries a greater risk of Takae-sensei finding out about them, since she has to carry the duffel bag.

 

[Scia]

[X] Go check out the castle! Tangai started out as a gold-mining town, they've got to have loads of beautiful stuff on display in there!