sunshine_ooc | At long last...

The NPC Meme

I'm sure someone knows their names...

Welcome to the NPC meme! This meme has certain special rules and functions unlike many other memes! In this meme, the NPC journal isn't just encouraged, it's how you play. Or, at least...how someone involved in the thread does.

The premise is simple: You post your character to lure in some characters who aren't currently being played, and someone else brings in the NPC journal with their interpretation of that character. You play a thread! CR gaps filled!

Alternatively, if you have a character you might be interested in playing in the capacity of an NPC (such as a character you don't want to app, and thus put in a test drive, for one reason or another) then post a top level for that NPC.

Currently played characters may tag out only to NPC top level comments, not to each other. NPC characters could tag to anyone. However, since threads in this meme are eligible for AC (and therefore game canon), it's best for NPCs to tag current characters, rather than other NPCs.

Steps/Rules

1: Post a top level with either your character or an NPC you'd like to play for the meme (Using the NPC account!) - If you're looking for someone specific to tag you, be sure to include it in the top level somewhere so people know to bring them.

2: With your characters, tag out to NPC top-levels or wait for an NPC to tag you. With NPCs, tag out to top level 'current' character threads, or respond to characters that tag your NPC of choice.

3: Thread things that can't yet be played out, or might never be able to be played out!

4: When playing an NPC, since you'll be using the NPC account to do it, don't forget to track the thread with one of your own accounts! (If you have a paid, at least. For free accounts, it's still recommended that you track at least the entire post so you don't miss anything!)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's been a long time since she's left the compound! For good reasons. She knows. She knows. And she can just imagine the great grandchildren gasping and fretting, and thinking about killing people just to protect her! She can take care of herself; she's been around too long to just keel over and die, haha!

But all her great grandchildren care, and that's good enough for this old woman, and besides, with the exams in Kiri again, she wants to see if the other children are worth looking at. If the leaders of her clan won't extend feelers of unity, then by damn, she will!

There's a likely one now, and the old woman heads forward, cane clicking, but steps silent, and her weathered, silver-blue face pulled into a still sharp-toothed, if with a gap or two, grin. "Hey now! Help an old woman out."

Edited 2015-01-14 05:07 (UTC)

"Certainly," Nanako agreed, smoothly turning to the source of the shout, as if tending to the whims of the elderly was her sole purpose in life and the village hierarchy, instead of breaking people and prying out secrets. Her expression shifted from kindly and concerned to warmly delighted and very much less concerned. "Hoshigaki-sama! What an unexpected pleasure."

She had met the woman exactly twice before, both times when she had tagged along to watch her grandmother hit up the older clan head for a spar. It had been inspiring to watch, that level of destruction, and left her with no small amount of hope for her own abilities as she got older.

Oho! She knew this one! Now how to see if this girl had the same qualities she'd enjoyed in her own grandmother? Formidable woman, that Shishito matriarch! Always good for a spar. Shame the old bones didn't permit it as often as she'd like.

"If it isn't the littlest Shishito! Escort an old woman to the matches, won't you, sweetie? I'm sure the great grandchildren are working themselves into a little fit since I snuck out, so they'll feel safer knowing I've got a young, spry thing like you to watch over me! Not that I need it, of course, but a Hoshigaki throwing a concerned tantrum is best left pointed at our enemies."

The old woman grinned, licking along her teeth in anticipation. No, the tantrum was best left pointed at one man who dared not listen to his villagers, but that was for another time. Age had taught her patience. She'd seen three Mizukage rise and fall, and she would live to see the Fourth implode for his arrogance and foolishness. It was really only finding a good replacement and organizing the killing blow. If he wouldn't listen to his challengers he didn't deserve the head on his shoulders, foolish boy.

"Oh, you flatter me, ma'am," she laughed, falling into step with her elder. Well. Her co-worker's elder, at least. "I'm hardly as little these days." She was nearly twenty-nine, after all. Some of her relatives had been sending her omiai portfolios as of late, but her dear children had taken to tearing the candidates apart through thorough background checks.

"I do know the feeling. Sometimes on vacation, some of my dear shadows get so upset when I find a nice quiet corner all to myself. But, a lady is due her privacy and pleasure in turn, after all." Her smile turned a touch... well, it would be conspirator, if Nanako was capable of it. It managed a certain slyness, at the very least. "I'm sure Kisame-kun will keep them, ah, calm in your absence."

"Pff!" The old woman waved her wrinkled hand. There was a little arthritis in the joints these days, but the discomfort was easy enough for a Hoshigaki to push past. Still, slowing down a little at her age was perfectly acceptable when there weren't points to make or unruly great grandchildren to put into place.

"When you've seen as much time pass as I have, then you'll earn the right to decide who's little or not, sweetie! You're still so very, very young, after all!"

Everyone was so very young, these days, and sometimes she missed her compatriots. Even most of her children had been given back to the sea now. Ah well, that was the way life went, and she wasn't ready to return to the sea herself. Too many things to do!

She laughed as she walked. "Ah, that boy! A great grandmother shouldn't have favorites, but to be honest, that Kisame, he's my favorite great grandchild. Such potential! But calm is never something any Hoshigaki can really claim, mm? But are you the one I should thank for the little bit of subtlety he's picked up lately, mm sweetie?"

She was pretty sure that was a right guess. Kisame spent quite a bit of time in Cypher now. A little too much secrecy for her tastes, but she was a Hoshigaki through and through, and there was a reason others were given to lead the village. Shinobi life was made of secrets, after all.

"Kisame-kun is incredibly skilled all on his own merit," she demurred. "It's just a different type of kata, really. Like a feint, mixed with strategy." One thing that was refreshing about speaking with a Hoshigaki was that they didn't need much time to grasp basic martial metaphors. Fighting was breathing to them, similar to the Shishito mindset.

Well, perhaps she was a little responsible for the tiny change in Kisame, though his adaptive nature was an explanation in and of itself. It was just a side-effect of their careers, now.

"But even the brightest don't learn or develop new kata without either facing an enemy that forces a change or watching someone perform it!" She liked it when the youngsters developed new kata, though. Kept things fresh, and gave her something new to learn too!

"Most of the time, anyway." She amended, and hummed to herself for a moment. "But it is a useful skill for a Hoshigaki!"

She tapped her cane twice on the ground in between a step, thinking on the ways it could be of use. A Hoshigaki who had learned to be subtle would be useful. Now she only had to guide Kisame in the right paths. He was still too young to see everything with perfect clarity after all and needed guidance sometimes.

"True, on all counts," Nanako agreed.

She picked up on the old woman's train of thought not because of any loss of skill on her part, but because Kisame had grumbled enough about those sorts of ambitions being winked and nudged and poked and prodded at in front of him—along with a few pointed hints for good measure—and... well. She couldn't help herself; she so rarely had the chance to tease him.

"Kisame-kun is a very useful man to have around." She cupped her cheek with her free hand, shaking her head slightly. "Our current system is, of course, classified, but it's highly tailored; for example, it couldn't successfully be implemented for the entire village infrastructure. That would take a certain degree of blending tradition and innovation."

"The real question, sweetie, is whether it would be worth capsizing the current system to invoke the new one. Anything is possible, with enough dedication and hard work!"

She firmly believed that. Limits, pah! Only an excuse for the weak not to try. But what Nanako had said was interesting. Maybe she could be an ally. Of course, she'd need a thorough vetting before she'd be allowed near the real secrets. Sometimes, keeping secrets was tiring, especially when they were secrets designed only to mask the real ones.

At long last...

Great Grandmother Hoshigaki | Kirigakure

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