j8cob

Looking Back - 5 months have passed, what now?

@ArenaSnow You're the one who isn't sure, what makes you think you're qualified to analyze whether or not I get the role? As well, what makes you think I haven't discussed this with Hank in the past in more depth? This was clearly just a reminder and frankly he's the only one I have to prove myself to. Certainly not you, who doesn't even use the Discord at all. I wouldn't be beholden to you even if I was given the chat moderator position. You're trying to vote in another country's election right now, m8.

Looking Back - 5 months have passed, what now?

@ArenaSnow You don't have to be sure. I have a good feeling you aren't sure of many things, so your opinion on things you aren't sure about seems kinda irrelevant to me and the discussion at large.

Looking Back - 5 months have passed, what now?

@ArenaSnow Spend some time in the politics channel on the official Discord and see why most people wouldn't wanna handle that.

Looking Back - 5 months have passed, what now?

@MelonHead So you want someone who has no knowledge or experience with the shortcomings of the Guild to try and explain the shortcomings of the Guild? For all your talk of bias you are yet to acknowledge your own. You are influenced by your own bias of "well none of this has happened to me so it mustn't be a real problem." You have motivations as well. And frankly your contributions to this thread can truly be boiled down to: "you guys are just crybabies." Your assertion that we haven't cooperated and worked with the mods before is also pretty wrong. This isn't the first dialogue, this probably won't be the last. You're literally inserting yourself into a conversation you have no knowledge about and making a stake based on your own biases while making the entirety of your comments being about the bias of other people.

"Nothing bad has happened to me, therefore we should ignore the bad things that have happened to a minority of people just because they are in the minority. Clearly this can't possibly happen to anyone else."

Looking Back - 5 months have passed, what now?

but from a point of view you don't have access to there have been changes.

Again you don't have access to that point of view, but I do,

It's possible there's more to this story than most people, including yourself, know.

@Ruby What is the point of making statements like these? This is an observation of the obvious. He knows he doesn't have the perspective you have, it doesn't need to be reminded if you aren't going to elaborate to actually explain what is going on from your perspective. Simply commenting on the difference in perspective is like acknowledging a lack of transparency and then continuing to not be transparent. Obviously in Kangaroo's case if there is personal details related to why he left in the first place that shouldn't be shared, but the details of why he was brought back on couldn't be particularly exposing. None of the things you made these comments about seem to be subjects that you can't explain. Maybe Odin would get off your back if things were actually explained instead of just acknowledged to exist.

Looking Back - 5 months have passed, what now?

@MelonHead Personal gripes are a perfectly valid reason to voice complaints of how things are run. Just because something negative doesn't affect you doesn't mean it doesn't exist at all. Questioning the motives of people is just fine, but assuming the worst of them with no proof beforehand is plainly foolish. You immediately assumed Odin was trying to morally crusade to make himself look better when he had done nothing to indicate that was his goal. You immediately assumed Nyt hated this site when he also had gave no indication of this. You even said some shit about misdemeanors or whatever as if that would invalidate someone's opinion just because they had been banned before. I was banned before for literally no reason other than Mahz being upset with me despite not breaking any rules. Is my opinion invalidated? Or here's a better question: wouldn't my experience be a good example of how there are problems on the Guild?

It just seems to me at this point that your only investment in this thread is to decry the people posting in it.

Looking Back - 5 months have passed, what now?

@MelonHead That's terrible logic, my fruit. Having gripes doesn't equate to disliking something. You're trying to make an objective view out of something that can only be subjective. You don't think the Guild has problems, some people do. You aren't any more right than they are. Your opinion isn't worth any more than theirs is.

@Hank I nominate myself to be a chat moderator. Like I said before, I'd be down to moderate the politics channel specifically if everyone else is too scared of the vitriol or something.

Naruto: Revival

Tsukiko Umene

@Odin@Project@Spanner@Syn

---

The initial attempt at a scroll was narrowly foiled by Sakana's quick thinking. He had just the reflexes to block Tsukiko's slash in time; so close that she still cut about halfway through the cord before her blade was deflected. It was a good attempt on her part but she still followed through with her escape to the trees above, which apparently avoided a wind attack from Usagi. Before the wild woman could make her escape from the other three Sakana appeared before her upon the branch she landed on. He used a substitution to avoid Usagi's attack and intercept Tsukiko, two birds with one stone. Already it was cemented that he was clever and quick but still it surprised Tsukiko. She immediately shifted her body into a combat stance, spinning her ninjato in her hand to hold it in a reverse grip before spreading her feet further apart in a low and wide position for optimal balance. However Sakana wasn't there to attack but instead to reason.

He gave a little speech after relaxing out of his handseals, though Tsukiko remained on full alert throughout its duration. His analogies were cute but not completely accurate. She was confident that she could retrieve a scroll from another full team on her own. But it was true that it could be easier as a team effort, should things go south. When he tossed his own scroll to Tsukiko she shifted her position to bring her unarmed hand forward to catch it, finally holding her blade to her side and relaxing out of combat. While Sakana continued to explain his logic Tsukiko took a look back down to the ground, to see how Kamui and Usagi were behaving. Joining forces with Sakana would be relatively pointless if the other two were fighting but it appeared that they were only at a standoff. Tsukiko had done a good job at dismantling the team, but Sakana also did a good job at keeping it from totally falling apart.

When she looked back up to Sakana there was a suspicious glare in her eyes. "There's something about you that I can't quite put my finger on," she finally spoke. "The way you think is dangerous. That kind of charisma only belongs to the worst of people." Despite her words she finally sheathed her ninjato, freeing up both her hands to begin tying the second scroll to her belt on the opposite hip of her original. Once making sure it was snug and secure she returned her attention back to Sakana. "I'll trust you, and this team, for now. We are allies after all, but today we are also rivals. I won't hesitate to kill allies if I have to so imagine what I'd do to rivals if I felt the need." She kept both her hands free, leaving her weapons on standby as a sign of good will. Instead she crouched again, bringing a hand up to her chin as she clearly began to think about something. Her eyes slowly drifted away from Sakana back down to Usagi and Kamui though she remained motionless otherwise.

"We have to find another team before they find us. An ambush will make quick work and give us our scrolls, then we can leave the forest and be the first team to complete. Potentially the only team to fully succeed. Although..." Now her eyes shot back up to Sakana. The suspicious glare from before was replaced by an angry fire. "Our performances will be evaluated and so far you are the only one to make any particular strides. It'd look better for the rest of us if you took a backseat role while we retrieved more scrolls. It'd be embarrassing to pass the exam but only one of us gets promoted..." She relaxed her gaze and looked down at the branch as she continued to think. "I haven't been able to pick up any other scents but our own since we got here, so we'll need Kamui to find our targets and anticipate their movements..." With that assertion she looked back down at the red-haired shinobi below. She would understand if he wasn't particularly happy to work with her now after her attempted betrayal, though she figured he would put that aside for the greater goal of promotion. Hell, he might even have understood that there was nothing personal about it and not even think about it anymore after a few minutes. Sakana was right about this team being ragtag. A mish-mash of personalities and skills. But as Tsukiko thought about it perhaps that would be an asset. Individually each of them were strong, so together they would be even stronger with coordination. But can we be coordinated? I wonder if anyone else will try to take the lead or if we'll let Sakana make the calls...

Naruto: Revival

I'm doing shit. My post will be up today. I got a paragraph done but have to go now.

Crybabies.

Naruto: Revival

Tsukiko Umene

@Odin@Project@Spanner

---

The clone that Kamui sent was absorbed by the flame, hinting at the nature of the fire's properties. While Tsukiko remained squatting and contemplating the next move it appeared that Sakana decided "fuck it." She made no efforts to stop him or confront him on his plan, instead watching intently as he jumped up on her pillar and grabbed the flaming scroll himself. Tsukiko narrowed her eyes as Sakana jumped back down to the ground, taking a knee in pain as he tried to figure out what to do with the flames attacking him. There wasn't much she could offer him in the way of assistance and moral support would be patronizing to someone like Sakana. The youngest member of the team figured something out though, treating the attack like a genjutsu and using Kai to expel some of his chakra.

And it seemed to have worked. "Huh..." she muttered to herself as she stood back up to full height just in time for the proctor to begin his little meltdown. Once again he insulted everyone, though he took a moment to praise Sakana and then whisper something to him, before taking his leave. Next time I'll kill you, bitch, Tsukiko thought, her lethal glare remaining fixed on Suzaku until he disappeared in flames. The door out opened and she felt a scroll materialize on her belt, prompting her to look down and check. This one had a fire emblem on it, though it wasn't a shitty hand-drawn one like the original scroll Sakana had grabbed. With these new scrolls the team set out through the door, finding themselves in the Forest of Death now. It not only appeared that they were the first team finished but Kamui confirmed it with a scan using some kind of sensory technique.

By now Tsukiko had a pretty decent mental profile of Sakana and Kamui. She hadn't seen much of them but had a good bead on what it would be like to fight them and the kinds of strategies she should use. Usagi, on the other hand, had been real quiet and demonstrated very little. Even less so than Tsukiko had. Her personality was of a different type from the rest of the team entirely, but Tsukiko could still feel a dangerous presence in her company. There was no doubt she was a winner just like the others. These people would be enemies later if there were a direct combat portion of the exam so it was worth keeping track of those she could. Kamui offered to heal or otherwise assist Sakana, which seemed strange to Tsukiko considering that what she knew of shadow clones meant this trial cost him half his chakra. Not to mention that Sakana seemed relatively fine and that the two could potentially be enemies later. She kept a mental note of his healing capability and began to examine the nearby area when Shinko appeared and used a scroll to project a message from the Hokage.

Despite all his words the message was simple: get to the exit with two scrolls to win. Before he even finished his message Tsukiko had already decided on her next course of action. She wouldn't give any time to wait, any time to think. Her actions weren't personal and her former teammates likely knew this. After all they sought victory and ultimately promotion as well. But she had to be tactical and she had to be brutal. The transmission hadn't been cut yet and Tsukiko had already stealthily approached Kamui. With Sakana immediately in front of him he was in a good place to be, holding an advantageous position over him to strongarm the scroll should he choose. This made him the most suitable target for Tsukiko. The very second that Shinko disappeared with a bow she sprung into action. Tsukiko had drawn one of her ninjato and took a shallow slice diagonally at Kamui's waist to free the scroll and inflict some hindering damage to dissuade pursuit. Her free hand swiped the falling scroll as she crouched again before leaping straight up into the air to land on one of the large tree branches overhead. Of course, she would have to escape her former team like this anyways even if Kamui or someone else prevented her from taking his scroll. Being around them for too long put her own scroll at risk and attempting camaraderie wasn't worth that possibility. They would all find a way on their own.