cityarcade | Meme: Reverse Questions

I'm Dianna, and I play:

KURT HUMMEL | glee | likesboys
KUCHIKI RUKIA | bleach | unburden
ROBERT CHASE | house md | theorized
KORRA | legend of korra | unrestraint
FAYE VALENTINE | cowboy bebop | attitude
NURIKO | fushigi yuugi | willowed
ISHIAH | cal leandros series | priorcommitment
JAMES FORD | lost | confidenceman
SOOKIE STACKHOUSE | true blood | justsookie
HERMIONE GRANGER | harry potter | cleverness
INUYASHA | inuyasha | distrustful
OKUMURA YUKIO | ao no exorcist | contrition
NARA SHIKAMARU | naruto | breakthroughs

Which of your characters is happiest in Darrow? Who's the least happy?

Oh, gosh! That's a good question. XD

Happiest of my characters is definitely Nuriko. I pulled Nuriko from after her canon death, and her comrades all managed to achieve what their original goal was (saving their country), so she has very little in the way of unfinished business, coupled with a great appreciation for her ability to live longer as herself in Darrow. Add in the fact that she actually has a romantic relationship, which she never had before in her world, and she's always in various stages of over the moon.

The least happy is probably Yukio, although not for any Darrow-specific reasons. On the whole, he's just always the most stressed and depressed character of those that I have, given his degree of self-hatred and the nervousness he feels over protecting his brother, Rin. Darrow changes up the game in a way that makes him even more uncomfortable than usual, and this will be heightened during an upcoming plot of his, but there's nothing specific about Darrow that he individually hates. Just the whole premise shift is uncomfortable and adds on to his already constant misery.

If we're looking at who is least happy from the perspective of hurt by Darrow, it's Chase at the moment, because he just lost House and doesn't have any of the close friends he'd built up over the past several years with him in the city.

Which of your pups do you think "needs" to be in Darrow the most? (For rescuing from their canon, for reasons of personal change, etc.)

I personally never think about taking up a character as rescuing them from their canon. These characters were formed by their worlds, and they had lives which may not have been ideal, but still built them to the point of being interesting people (and people that I happen to love).

I think my opinion there largely stems from what I know about my parents' backgrounds, having grown up at a time and in a place that is frequently addressed by history books as being terrible (especially in Western history books, you won't really find any that have a net positive view of Mao Zedong). And yet there were still certain things that they understand better and strengths they learned as a result of having been from that time. Also, I think 'rescuing' is also dangerous because it assumes a sweeping good in the way that a more modern, Western society is constructed.

So instead of 'rescuing' characters, I think instead about two flows: are they going to learn something from being in the city, and can they teach others something important by being in the city.

Given that, I think... Korra is probably the one whose learning is closest to a 'need.' She is really narrow-minded given her sheltered upbringing, and the series does a great job of starting to open her up; Darrow does that at an even more accelerated rate.

Which of your characters do you think would be a fun/interesting ship? Even interesting in terms of a complete and utter disaster.

Hahaha, this is a fun question! In truth, there are very few ships that I think wouldn't be interesting if treated thoughtfully and examined deeply. This holds even more true if we remove the (in my opinion) arbitrary restriction of sexual attraction in ships. It's always been my opinion that even people whose sexualities, bodies, genders, and identities don't align on that level, can still end up having a very romantic relationship — for example, I always say that my friendship with Lys is a very romantic one, because aside from the physical, everything that you'd find in a "romantic" relationship, you would find between the two of us.

This is also why if someone gave me any two names to thread together, I'd be like, yes, I am down. I can find something that would be interesting for them, I have no doubt. The things that skew what I suggest are that there are some pairs which would be more dynamic or easier to thread off of each other, and also I try to take the other player's interest into account. I know some people who prefer to stick to more positive interactions, so I usually try to suggest more positive thread possibilities as a rule. If I know someone who would be super down for threading enemies, then I'm a little more open about suggesting ideas along those lines.

So... everyone is interesting! Everyone would be interesting against everyone.

But that's a cop-out answer, so I can share what I naturally lean towards: contrast in beliefs or in situation. So pairs like the naive and sheltered (Korra) against the jaded and worn (InuYasha). Or the hopeful (Hermione) against the pessimistic (Faye). Different societal backgrounds, like Western/Eastern (Sawyer and Shikamaru). THE POSSIBILITIES ARE LIMITLESS.

Korra/InuYasha actually sounds hilarious, now that I've put it up there. Bonus points for them being from such different backgrounds, and also being both characters with really fiery tempers. They would clash so much, and I would love it.

I was halfway through that and thought, "That's a cop out answer, even if it's so long!" But I understand, I ship everyone in just about every way. Romantic, as friends, etc.

Korra/InuYasha would be kind of awesome, no lie.

What is it about Alex that piques Yukio's interest/made you want to tag her with him?

Yukio is an incredibly observant and analytical character, so I like to throw him at individuals with subtleties in their personalities that aren't immediately clear in terms of where they stem from. I think in the long run, learning where she puts hard lines and how she addresses the hurdles in her life will make a really interesting relationship between the two of them, because there are definitely a lot of commonalities.

From Alex, Yukio gets this kind of sense of... 'I don't know what, but there is something behind the curtains,' which is sometimes the very feeling that he gives others in turn. So it's a little bit of like drawing like in this case.

Iiiinteresting. I look forward to seeing what develops in their interactions.

How's Kurt doing in general? How are you finding playing him through this?

(My brain just wants to turn this into a kudos, all my questions keep turning into I JUST REALLY LOVE THREADING WITH THIS PUP, OMFG. These are not questions.)

I know we haven't really threaded it yet, but do you think Korra would have taken Kate for a little training by now?

Who would be the worst person to have show up in Darrow for Sawyer?

Kurt is doing pretty badly, because of how suddenly a bunch of things hit him at once. If I could have looked ahead, there are things I probably would have spared him (news of his father's bad health, possibly even Finn's passing), just so that he can actually get through things in a more spaced out manner. As it is, right now the hardest part is just that he's introverted enough that he wants to cope on his own, and that doesn't make for great roleplay. I plan on maybe one-shotting him at some point, and accelerating the healing a little more quickly than I truly believe it would happen, so that I can actually play him. I'm pretty sure music will be what gets him through, so I have thoughts there, but yeah. It's been admittedly hard to keep him up.

(I REALLY LOVE THREADING WITH YOURS TOO, I will have more questions when I am not at work~)

Korra probably would have started Kate on the basic core training to build up her strength and endurance, definitely, and teach some tricks that she can already use to protect herself. Hardcore training probably hasn't started yet, between Koh plot and now Newt's injury. :3

Anthony Hopkins. Tom Sawyer. Worst by far, because Sawyer would want to just... kill him again, probably, but he would start to question whether or not that's the right thing, and also almost definitely refrain from doing so for fear of being caught and then not having access to Clementine.

Is Rukia ever going to ask about Steve's odd chain?

KORRA AND RILEY SHOULD BE FRIENDS (that's not a question but shh)

Do you think Faye's going to ever really trust Booker?

Why do you think InuYasha is drawn to Jennifer as a buddy?

Have Yukio and Clem started training? What kinds of things will he teach her? (we should thread one session one day soon I think~)

Rukia won't ask Steve about the chain unless there's another trigger that comes up somehow in that regard. While she's definitely curious, she doesn't yet have a reason to think that it would get in the way of her job, and people's relationships with death are so personal and nuanced that she doesn't want to impose on someone else's life in that way. It would require some kind of impetus to get her asking — really easy to arrange if ever desired~ maybe he attracts more ghosts or spirits, which could have a tangible effect on him, so on and so forth. Or if Steve started asking about her own background and seems curious about learning on the whole, she might ask him in turn. But she's definitely too careful about treading into another person's space to come out with that out of nowhere.

AGREED WE NEED ANOTHER THREAD

Faye probably won't ever trust Booker to an extent that she is personally comfortable with. I think she could come to trust him to some degree, and certainly the more predictability that she perceives there, the better, but even who he is in general isn't the sort of personality type that she would completely trust. The interesting thing is that there are certain parallels between how she gets things done and how Booker does, but even then, Faye wouldn't trust someone like herself either. So, yeah. Not for the foreseeable future.

InuYasha likes the fact that Jennifer seems pretty upfront and open-minded. The latter is really what drew his interest to begin with, because he's so unaccustomed to having people be welcoming of him or really trying to learn what he is. He doesn't want to be treated as the same as a human, but he also doesn't want to be immediately alienated on all fronts and to be seen as something entirely foreign and without commonalities. Jennifer has been one of the best at balancing both of those fronts, and the fact that her mannerism is just generally positive and pretty direct is the icing on the cake.

If Clementine reached out to Yukio, he definitely would have started training with her right away. The first thing that he would do is try to assess her skills along the standard Exorcist disciplines in his world — does she have good aim (this would be ideal in his view), does she have a good memory, does she have brute force, etc., and then align the training to that. So definitely some bookwork to begin with so that she knows the basic foundational knowledge, before then taking her into a specific practice. Sharpshooting would be his preference just because it's what he specializes most in, so he'd feel best equipped to teach her that, but he's great at teaching beginner level knowledge on the whole (to the point of being a teacher in canon). Also yes, we should totally thread this out, I would really really enjoy that!

(no subject)

thetidebreaks - 2014-03-08 01:41 (UTC) - Expand

Of your whole cast of characters, which one has surprised you most with how their plot has progressed in Darrow?

There are two that I would say have surprised me the most in ways that are difficult to compare, so I will overshare. XD

The first is Nuriko; she's probably the most accurate answer to this question. I've had a really solid view of her personality for years and years, just because her series is the first comic I ever read and fell in love with, so I've obsessively gone back many times to revisit and had her personality down in my head for the past few years especially. I'm genuinely surprised by how well she's managed to fit herself in around others in Darrow; she's kind of in-your-face and relentlessly teasing in a way that can be aggravating, and layer that on top of how she's from such a different time, a different culture, and her identity isn't one that everyone knows how to treat off the bat. In spite of all of these things, she has so many connections now (especially recently now that I've just chucked her at more people) that are warm and constantly exploring. It makes me happy, since her life has honestly been one of the rougher ones of my characters.

The other is Ishiah, kind of. Less in plot exactly, but more in development. I've played Ishiah at four different games now, and honestly, my take on him keeps on shifting in a way that makes me doubt myself a little (more than a little, really), but I think in Darrow, I've finally locked onto the true way that I want to play him, and I'm pleasantly surprised by how well I've stuck to it. He's really not a 'nice' guy, and is pretty harsh and strict on all fronts. That I've stuck to my guns in playing him with that cool calm, punctuated by sometimes blazing anger, feels good. I'm glad I've had an opportunity to kind of reset how I play him here.

Who is the pup you never expected to get into your head?

I have this tendency to really try and pick up every single type of character on the spectrum that I can, because roleplay is one of my favorite ways to try and delve into different personalities and motivations, so sometimes... even when I think a character is going to be very difficult, I try to force them in my head, so to speak. XD It's a gloriously fun exercise for me.

But of those I have here, I think Korra, Sawyer, and InuYasha have presented difficulties and surprises in their own ways.

Korra is a character whom I find too impulsive on the whole, to the point where her canon choices often frustrate me (even though I still love her dearly, my god), so to finally hit a stride with her and allow her those mistakes and that impetuosity has been delightful and unexpectedly fun — Sookie falls under a similar vein, with a little less childishness.

Sawyer is hard. Has always been hard, is still hard, will probably continue to be hard, but I'm pleasantly surprised by how motivated I am now for him. Maybe I shouldn't be, considering I gave him a kid and I love development that comes from being a parent or guardian, but Sawyer's always been that guy who grew up under entirely different circumstances than me and holds views that are often opposite to mine, so whenever I feel at ease with him, it's like this huge sigh of satisfaction. Recently, I've been happy with where he is, so that's a pleasant surprise.

InuYasha is just someone I never anticipated would be so fun. I love his canon so much, almost solely because of his character in specific. I don't know what it is about him being so stubborn and dogged (ha), but I find it incredibly fun to play and kind of mold based on who he's with and what he learns, and the modern setting is just so different for him than feudal Japan that he's constantly revising the way that he sees things and assessing everything around him. He's learning, and yet still impulsive, which I think is a great mix.

Taking away any restraints/reality/etc, what do you dream for Ishiah? What does he still long for?

Ishiah's biggest longing is definitely for other peri to be in Darrow, particularly those he knows from home. The relationship that he has with them is really close and has lasted for many years, so it's hard to approximate that type of implicit trust with anyone he's met in Darrow. It's not something that he loses any sleep over, but man, he would be so happy to have them in Darrow, more than anything that needs to change about the world itself.

More specifically than that, there is one peri who died partially thanks to the closer relationship Ishiah had with the Leandros brothers, and he continues to feel a lot of guilt and sorrow over that incident, and I would love for that peri to show up in Darrow. Unfortunately, he really doesn't have enough material to be a played character, not even close. XD We know vaguely what he looks like, and that's about it.

There are a couple of peri with uniquely interesting situations that are in a sister series to the Cal Leandros series, and I would love to have either of them in game. They are definitely appable, though best suited to arrive as a pair.

Beyond that, I'm pretty happy with the playground from Ishiah's point of view. He definitely has a lot of interesting stuff to explore, and I do hope in time to get some pretty weighty religious discussions outside of the Judeo-Christian realm, but that's easy enough if I make a concerted effort. ISHIAH IS PRETTY CONTENT, BASICALLY.

Oh! Although one thing that would be interesting to explore is the idea of Robin reproducing. Ishiah wouldn't actively want it, but it'd be really fascinating to play out.

With such a wide variety of characters, do you think there are any traits that all or the majority of them share that draw you to them?

how do your pups feel about my pups~

If all your pups knew each other, who do you think would get along the best? Who would clash the worst?

Most likely to succeed?

Who's happy to stick around in Darrow and who still wants out?

How on earth do any of your people tolerate Stiles?

What are Hermione's long term plans in Darrow?

How's Kurt doing?

Wanna thread Faye and Raleigh? XD

How is Hermione managing with all the other forms of character-controlled magic, particularly clairvoyance? How do things challenge her education for you?

Selfishly, I have to ask what Kurt thinks of Dave as he is in Darrow and what you would like to build on with their budding friendship. Also have to do a post for his long overdue self-defense lesson. >.>