by Doji Nadeshiko » Tue Oct 04, 2022 11:08 am
1. Biggest curveball Nadeshiko threw you?
A difficult question -- she and I were rather in sync in this game and it was easy to RP her. But I think she may have gained Enlightenment of some kind those last three days. IDK how that would reflect mechanically, but, she has this very strong feeling that love really is at the center of everything.
2. Favorite scene for Nadeshiko this game?
Oh, that's difficult. Hm. That's like asking me to pick a favorite child :( All the scenes I got to play with everyone were delightful.
I will say I cherished the RPs with Choudai, Hatsuki, Sriyani, Yoshiaki, Tatsuya, and Minori while her player was still here. And I enjoyed Yoshino's RPs (both with and without Nadeshiko), even if life kept smacking actually RPing with her out of reach -_-
3. Your favorite presentation Nadeshiko made?
I actually really like all of them, even the more poorly-written ones. I can talk about some fun stuff though. I went into writing presentations with a few things in mind:
#1: She wasn't actively trying to win. This was basically a fun vacation for her, and she would rather a non-Crane have been named Champion because it would shake things up among the Crane, who are rather complacent. Then eventually she had people she actively wanted to be the Champion, and out of that, she wanted Sriyani to win most so her life would be more free and considered, well, more important than it was before. (Of course, Sriyani also earned her damn win, let's be real!) I slipped a small hint in one poem... "There's a right way to lose" :)
#2: Instead, she was trying to write poems to express herself that she'd find beautiful and personally meaningful, judges and onlookers be damned. When re-reading the poems, I still like them, so I think it worked for me. Only Sincerity feels flawed but in the context it was written, flawed is fine; originally I wasn't going to write anything at all and just post a roll.
#3: As well, all but Duty's poem had to only be three... stanzas? Long. Longer poetry is her strong suit, so she was actively hindering herself, and I also chose that for practicality purposes -- I didn't want to spend lots of time writing them because I am not very good at writing poetry compared to actual trained poets and it would drive me batty. Duty, however, was special, because it was a romantic poem, which are her favorite to write, and so she gave herself the freedom to write as she would like and have as much fun as possible. It also broke up the monotony of her presentations and let her place a spotlight on her beloved Scorpions <3
#4: There were "fire" verses and there were "water" verses. Not necessarily about fire and water, though those are prominent themes in her poems, but some poems (Courage, Duty, Honor) were written to be fiercer, something to appeal to the warrior's spirit of the clans who held those tenets dearest while secretly hiding her own feelings on the tenet within them, if you dared look for them, whereas the "water" verses were much more personal, her own meditation on those tenets; opening her heart so you could peer inside, so to speak.
#5: Finally, each poem had a context piece to showcase other artisans, and the poem had to be linked to the context piece in some way. She collects a lot of art and wanted to have other artisans be acknowledged in some way, and that's what "we" came up with.
For the fire verses -- As I told you and Birb, the subject of Duty's poem was chosen before registration was even open. That it happened to hit stuff we built together over the course of the game was pure, delicious serendipity. I was also going to have Nadeshiko not share it if either of you players didn't want me to (figured you would, but I'm cautious) or if she realized what was going on between Choudai and Hatsuki before her presentation. She's the type of character who would actively take a dive for the people she loves. :)
For the water verses -- I cried writing the Sincerity poem. My grandfather had died that day -- we didn't have a good relationship so it wasn't hard on me in that way, but I still had Feelings about it -- and it helped a bit, writing that poem. It's not as good as I'd like and I maybe spent a half hour on it as opposed to the hours the others got, but I went from my initial concept about following the flame of your heart to something sadder and it spoke to ME the player more. I decided during the game that Nadeshiko had considered suicide (she's a Doji, forgive her) after her beloved fiance died in Naishou, and she felt she'd lost her one shot at true happiness with him. She never told anyone -- the only person who ever even knew was the Scorpion courtier who played with her heart, as he'd been the person to "helpfully" suggest to her the bridge she'd been looking down from for a good long while wouldn't suit her purposes. (Hey, some Scorpions ARE natural assholes, haha...) IRL I am someone who's struggled with suicidal ideation since I was a very young child, so it also holds meaning to me. It's just as personal for me as a player.
One final note: she has a minor phobia of lightning, so when she wants to talk about trauma or personal devastation, she uses lightning as a metaphor to do so. That's why lightning was in the Sincerity poem and in one of her Cry of Spring poems.
4. Biggest missed opportunity?
In general, how IRL kept exploding and either killing my motivation or killing things I wanted to do. I actually wanted to run a scavenger hunt that relied less on rolls and more on players deciphering poems for hints but nope, IRL. Same with RPs. Eugh.
Oh -- I would have liked a romance, but, didn't happen. I think that's just as well. In the end, that's me the player being selfish as romance subplots make my brain go stupid; Nadeshiko's much happier having had the love of friends. ^_^
I wish I'd done better with the context pieces too. I feel I floundered with them and the intent -- sharing the art of artisans who would otherwise have been ignored, and maybe getting them some recognition -- didn't land.
5. Coolest surprise?
The above mentioned serendipity of Duty poem & Hatsuki and Choudai's situation + her prayer for Sriyani actually being answered. Unironically, both were wonderful.
6. What are Nadeshiko's short-term plans? (She, uhm, doesn't strike me as much for long-term plans :lol: )
She absolutely is not one for long-term plans, especially considering her future in the Empire is still well up in the air -- once she marries she'll have something more concrete because she'll know where she is and her standing better, lol. She doesn't really want to climb political ladders. It's not for her.
Publish more poetry books, try to find a spouse she can at least like if not super-love-love (preferably a husband but she would be happy with a wife and adopting children), travel the Empire? Preferably with one of her beloved friends. She's really easy to make happy, and while she'll absolutely fucking murder someone on the battlefield if commanded, and probably will die on some battlefield someday (if her eyesight doesn't fail first), she is happy being a humble, lowly samurai nobody notices or cares about. You can be happy with a small life.
7. Is Nadeshiko prepared for Mikan's grand romantic gesture?
Kinda? She was planning on writing with Mikan and asking her to describe her the things she saw. All those paintings, well... they'll be extremely cherished. Unironically.
8. Did Nadeshiko change much from conception to execution?
Oh, yes! I've been developing this character for over a year. My original concept was "the white tiger of the Crane", a very deadly swordswoman with a hidden rebellious streak.
Then I remolded her a bit as the concept was tied to some interpersonal baggage I didn't want to keep bogging me down. More princessy type but still a deadly swordswoman and secretly rebellious. Had begun considering the blind samurai angle, too, because I like my cliches and being disabled, I really enjoy playing disabled heroes when I can. I think that's important for myself and others.
And then when actually building her for play I just decided to be a little silly and play something I thought would both fit the game and be good for my first game with Fallen Ash. So a much kinder, sweeter, more open girl who is less rebellious and more... hm. Unusual? Unique? Whatever you want to call it. I also tried making her fit Benten's Blessing -- who would Benten bless? That helped a lot too. Finally the secret sauce was some personal stuff thrown in. XD And writing all those damn poems before the game started. Cry of Spring super helped me get her background together.
Her getting a tattoo on her thigh during the game really REALLY amused me though as part of her original "white tiger" concept involved her having a secret tattoo on her inner thigh ;) the original was a butterfly (why, past me? probably transformation or somesuch) but in Fallen Ash it was cherry blossoms.
9. She seemed to be a friendly, loving soul, with only Kojiro really catching her ire that I saw. Was there anybody else she disliked?
Hm. Dislike is a bit hard for her due to her nature -- she accepts all feelings, good, bad, and neutral as temporary; the only thing that lasts for her is love. She absolutely wanted to throttle Kojiro but seeing he wouldn't learn jack shit from it, she quickly released her rage. ...still wants to bite him though. Or beat his ass. Yoshino's a sweet cute girl and Nadeshiko's #1 instinct since her ... whatever it was with that Scorpion courtier has been Protect Cute Girls From Asshole Guys At All Costs. But unfortunately continuing to engage with someone so far up their own ass they're tasting stomach acid wouldn't be good for Yoshino, either, or their hosts...
People who irked her, though? The judges (she is of the opinion if criticism doesn't actually teach anything or even actively stops pursuing someone from what they were trying to do, art or otherwise, it's useless and only stroking one's ego) and a certain Mantis who tried fibbing to her for profit ;p Yet, strangely, she didn't hate him too much... I wonder why :) (Sorry dog-bear!)
She wasn't irked by Mikan, mainly confused, but saw her value as an artist right away.
ETA: WAIT. NO. SHE HATES SRIYANI'S FIANCE!!!! FUCK THAT MAN!!!! AND NOT IN THE FUN WAY!!!!
I feel like you could sum up much of this with "the player is insane". I should go write actual replies maybe :(
[b]1. Biggest curveball Nadeshiko threw you?[/b]
A difficult question -- she and I were rather in sync in this game and it was easy to RP her. But I think she may have gained Enlightenment of some kind those last three days. IDK how that would reflect mechanically, but, she has this very strong feeling that love really is at the center of everything.
[b]2. Favorite scene for Nadeshiko this game?[/b]
Oh, that's difficult. Hm. That's like asking me to pick a favorite child :( All the scenes I got to play with everyone were delightful.
I will say I cherished the RPs with Choudai, Hatsuki, Sriyani, Yoshiaki, Tatsuya, and Minori while her player was still here. And I enjoyed Yoshino's RPs (both with and without Nadeshiko), even if life kept smacking actually RPing with her out of reach -_-
[b]3. Your favorite presentation Nadeshiko made?[/b]
I actually really like all of them, even the more poorly-written ones. I can talk about some fun stuff though. I went into writing presentations with a few things in mind:
#1: She wasn't actively trying to win. This was basically a fun vacation for her, and she would rather a non-Crane have been named Champion because it would shake things up among the Crane, who are rather complacent. Then eventually she had people she actively wanted to be the Champion, and out of that, she wanted Sriyani to win most so her life would be more free and considered, well, more important than it was before. (Of course, Sriyani also earned her damn win, let's be real!) I slipped a small hint in one poem... "There's a right way to lose" :)
#2: Instead, she was trying to write poems to express herself that she'd find beautiful and personally meaningful, judges and onlookers be damned. When re-reading the poems, I still like them, so I think it worked for me. Only Sincerity feels flawed but in the context it was written, flawed is fine; originally I wasn't going to write anything at all and just post a roll.
#3: As well, all but Duty's poem had to only be three... stanzas? Long. Longer poetry is her strong suit, so she was actively hindering herself, and I also chose that for practicality purposes -- I didn't want to spend lots of time writing them because I am not very good at writing poetry compared to actual trained poets and it would drive me batty. Duty, however, was special, because it was a romantic poem, which are her favorite to write, and so she gave herself the freedom to write as she would like and have as much fun as possible. It also broke up the monotony of her presentations and let her place a spotlight on her beloved Scorpions <3
#4: There were "fire" verses and there were "water" verses. Not necessarily about fire and water, though those are prominent themes in her poems, but some poems (Courage, Duty, Honor) were written to be fiercer, something to appeal to the warrior's spirit of the clans who held those tenets dearest while secretly hiding her own feelings on the tenet within them, if you dared look for them, whereas the "water" verses were much more personal, her own meditation on those tenets; opening her heart so you could peer inside, so to speak.
#5: Finally, each poem had a context piece to showcase other artisans, and the poem had to be linked to the context piece in some way. She collects a lot of art and wanted to have other artisans be acknowledged in some way, and that's what "we" came up with.
For the fire verses -- As I told you and Birb, the subject of Duty's poem was chosen before registration was even open. That it happened to hit stuff we built together over the course of the game was pure, delicious serendipity. I was also going to have Nadeshiko not share it if either of you players didn't want me to (figured you would, but I'm cautious) or if she realized what was going on between Choudai and Hatsuki before her presentation. She's the type of character who would actively take a dive for the people she loves. :)
For the water verses -- I cried writing the Sincerity poem. My grandfather had died that day -- we didn't have a good relationship so it wasn't hard on me in that way, but I still had Feelings about it -- and it helped a bit, writing that poem. It's not as good as I'd like and I maybe spent a half hour on it as opposed to the hours the others got, but I went from my initial concept about following the flame of your heart to something sadder and it spoke to ME the player more. I decided during the game that Nadeshiko had considered suicide (she's a Doji, forgive her) after her beloved fiance died in Naishou, and she felt she'd lost her one shot at true happiness with him. She never told anyone -- the only person who ever even knew was the Scorpion courtier who played with her heart, as he'd been the person to "helpfully" suggest to her the bridge she'd been looking down from for a good long while wouldn't suit her purposes. (Hey, some Scorpions ARE natural assholes, haha...) IRL I am someone who's struggled with suicidal ideation since I was a very young child, so it also holds meaning to me. It's just as personal for me as a player.
One final note: she has a minor phobia of lightning, so when she wants to talk about trauma or personal devastation, she uses lightning as a metaphor to do so. That's why lightning was in the Sincerity poem and in one of her Cry of Spring poems.
[b]4. Biggest missed opportunity?[/b]
In general, how IRL kept exploding and either killing my motivation or killing things I wanted to do. I actually wanted to run a scavenger hunt that relied less on rolls and more on players deciphering poems for hints but nope, IRL. Same with RPs. Eugh.
Oh -- I would have liked a romance, but, didn't happen. I think that's just as well. In the end, that's me the player being selfish as romance subplots make my brain go stupid; Nadeshiko's much happier having had the love of friends. ^_^
I wish I'd done better with the context pieces too. I feel I floundered with them and the intent -- sharing the art of artisans who would otherwise have been ignored, and maybe getting them some recognition -- didn't land.
[b]5. Coolest surprise?[/b]
The above mentioned serendipity of Duty poem & Hatsuki and Choudai's situation + her prayer for Sriyani actually being answered. Unironically, both were wonderful.
[b]6. What are Nadeshiko's short-term plans? (She, uhm, doesn't strike me as much for long-term plans :lol: )[/b]
She absolutely is not one for long-term plans, especially considering her future in the Empire is still well up in the air -- once she marries she'll have something more concrete because she'll know where she is and her standing better, lol. She doesn't really want to climb political ladders. It's not for her.
Publish more poetry books, try to find a spouse she can at least like if not super-love-love (preferably a husband but she would be happy with a wife and adopting children), travel the Empire? Preferably with one of her beloved friends. She's really easy to make happy, and while she'll absolutely fucking murder someone on the battlefield if commanded, and probably will die on some battlefield someday (if her eyesight doesn't fail first), she is happy being a humble, lowly samurai nobody notices or cares about. You can be happy with a small life.
[b]7. Is Nadeshiko prepared for Mikan's grand romantic gesture?[/b]
Kinda? She was planning on writing with Mikan and asking her to describe her the things she saw. All those paintings, well... they'll be extremely cherished. Unironically.
[b]8. Did Nadeshiko change much from conception to execution?[/b]
Oh, yes! I've been developing this character for over a year. My original concept was "the white tiger of the Crane", a very deadly swordswoman with a hidden rebellious streak.
Then I remolded her a bit as the concept was tied to some interpersonal baggage I didn't want to keep bogging me down. More princessy type but still a deadly swordswoman and secretly rebellious. Had begun considering the blind samurai angle, too, because I like my cliches and being disabled, I really enjoy playing disabled heroes when I can. I think that's important for myself and others.
And then when actually building her for play I just decided to be a little silly and play something I thought would both fit the game and be good for my first game with Fallen Ash. So a much kinder, sweeter, more open girl who is less rebellious and more... hm. Unusual? Unique? Whatever you want to call it. I also tried making her fit Benten's Blessing -- who would Benten bless? That helped a lot too. Finally the secret sauce was some personal stuff thrown in. XD And writing all those damn poems before the game started. Cry of Spring super helped me get her background together.
Her getting a tattoo on her thigh during the game really REALLY amused me though as part of her original "white tiger" concept involved her having a secret tattoo on her inner thigh ;) the original was a butterfly (why, past me? probably transformation or somesuch) but in Fallen Ash it was cherry blossoms.
[b]9. She seemed to be a friendly, loving soul, with only Kojiro really catching her ire that I saw. Was there anybody else she [i]disliked?[/i][/b]
Hm. Dislike is a bit hard for her due to her nature -- she accepts all feelings, good, bad, and neutral as temporary; the only thing that lasts for her is love. She absolutely wanted to throttle Kojiro but seeing he wouldn't learn jack shit from it, she quickly released her rage. ...still wants to bite him though. Or beat his ass. Yoshino's a sweet cute girl and Nadeshiko's #1 instinct since her ... whatever it was with that Scorpion courtier has been Protect Cute Girls From Asshole Guys At All Costs. But unfortunately continuing to engage with someone so far up their own ass they're tasting stomach acid wouldn't be good for Yoshino, either, or their hosts...
People who irked her, though? The judges (she is of the opinion if criticism doesn't actually teach anything or even actively stops pursuing someone from what they were trying to do, art or otherwise, it's useless and only stroking one's ego) and a certain Mantis who tried fibbing to her for profit ;p Yet, strangely, she didn't hate him too much... I wonder why :) (Sorry dog-bear!)
She wasn't irked by Mikan, mainly confused, but saw her value as an artist right away.
ETA: WAIT. NO. SHE HATES SRIYANI'S FIANCE!!!! FUCK THAT MAN!!!! AND NOT IN THE FUN WAY!!!!
I feel like you could sum up much of this with "the player is insane". I should go write actual replies maybe :(