023 -- [Accidental Post]

[endgames]

[Earlier, when looking through his father’s book for the first time in several months, Shikamaru found some pictures he’d never seen before being used as bookmarks. It was… nostalgic, to say the least.

He finds another bookmark to replace them; puts the photos in a drawer to look at later. Because haha, he knows how this works, right? He leaves them out, and somehow his journal accidentally records it. Yeah. Hell no. He’s smarter than that and doesn’t leave his journal anywhere near them. On top of that, he takes it with him when he leaves to assist with a chakra training lesson. Crisis averted!

Guess what he sees when he opens up his journal two hours later.



Where’s the nearest wall. He needs to beat his head softly against it while he attempts to figure out how this happened. Feel free to action it up when he’s back at CH1 too, if you like.]

[ooc: original artwork from here]

Comments

[markofthewise]

Well it was my ingenious plan that managed to wreck a dozen airships that were going to incinerate the Earth Kingdom. Suki helped with that too. Mostly in the part where I got to come back from it alive.

[endgames]

Ha. Good, it's not just me.

[markofthewise]

Similar experience?

[endgames]

Yeah. [Been in that reverse damsel in distress situation before?] Uh. I'm the plan guy too.

[Sounds better.]

[markofthewise]

[Dude there's no shame in being saved. Besides, he was busy rescuing TOPH at the time. So it was totally cool.]

Right. With the strategy and stuff.

[endgames]

[It wouldn't be a problem admitting it if it weren't for the fact that it was Temari doing the saving. Temari who is here. And knows Sokka. And will never let that day die.]

Yup. That's my thing.

Though I haven't tried my hand at a war like you yet. Not counting Luceti.

[markofthewise]

Well, I'm good with just the one. I'm not in a hurry to make a habit out of it.

[endgames]

I'd say the same, but I don't have much of a choice in it.

[markofthewise]

Are you guys on the brink of war or something?

[endgames]

Yeah.

[Thinking about it, he goes quiet. It's already started, according to some of his friends.

But not Tobi. He'll come back to this conversation in an hour and throw up a filter.]

[markofthewise]

That's hard, knowing that's waiting for you. Do you know what happens? [After all... Katara does. So it's possible.]

[endgames]

I've heard things. When Chouji came back for a little while, that's what he was brought of. [What he went back to.] But no one's seen the outcome.

[markofthewise]

But you'll probably come out on top, right?

[endgames]

Thinking about it like that is dangerous. There's too much at stake for me to accept anything short of victory, so long as I'm here.

[markofthewise]

A positive attitude is good! And frankly, comparing worlds here, most of the time the 'good guys' seem to be the ones that come out on top. So while mathematically speaking it might mean that yours is more probably to be the one to not have a good ending, I'm inclined to think the Malnosso intentionally put us here because we're winners.

[endgames]

If that's the case, you'd be off on the math. One thing's for sure, you can leave it to them to have a formula for everything.

[markofthewise]

As long as they remember to carry the fours. [Shikamaru is an attentive guy, so he's sure he'll pick up that little observation about Bil's calculations.]

[endgames]

Really hope they have more than one guy on that, otherwise I worry for the village's plumbing.

[What with Bil in a coma still, last he'd heard.]

[markofthewise]

[Yeah, that's one detail Sokka doesn't know about. Communication in this village sucks.]

Well the plumbing here doesn't follow conventional standards. There's no central sewerage system or water source connecting everything together. Wherever it all goes and comes from, it's not in Luceti.

[endgames]

Hence my concern. They screw up someday, where's it gonna go? Same for the garbage.

[markofthewise]

Maybe they sent it all to where the cultists live. Which would explain why they hate us so much.

[endgames]

Maybe it's 'cause I'm lacking in empathy for them, but I say better them than us.

[markofthewise]

If not, it would be an effective form of warfare.

[endgames]

It would. Then again, it's said the Third Party beat them at this Shifting business, so it's probably the Malnosso themselves who are more at a disadvantage for that.

[They'd have better luck doing it the old-fashioned way. Dump it a TP water supply.]

[markofthewise]

Always a reassuring concept, that.