The Honorable Kitten (Sayomi Q&A)

[Kitsu Sayomi]

Happy to answer questions big and small for Sayomi here!

Will probably post more stuff here as it occurs to me too. Might revisit her in the future, might not. We'll see. But I'd like to play more in this setting.

[Fukurokujin]

I'll hope to see Sayomi return!

Why "Cinnamon Roll" in the signature?

[Kitsu Sayomi]

Why "Cinnamon Roll" in the signature?

As I played Sayomi, I realised she fell under the "Cinnamon Roll" or "The Cutie" character trope. She is thoroughly a good person (as noted by her Disadvantages), very idealistic, and innocent. Apart from obviously shady folks (Keihime), she believes almost everyone she interacts with are honest and has good intentions (hence her belief in Aiko without ever rolling Investigation to see if she was honest).

The Cutie/Cinnamon Roll:
The Cutie is a character who is known for being sweet and lovable, a fountain of Heartwarming Moments, ..., who likes nothing more than to pet little creatures. They make you adore them, root for them, love them and want to hug them. They are known for being very idealistic, cute and innocent. Some of them even may act ... with an upbeat and positive attitude. They also tend to be genuinely nice, loving, caring, and kind to whoever is with them. They tend to take the most peaceful solution to a conflict and hardly ever (if ever) harm others in any way (though you really ought to watch out if you piss them off sufficiently).

One of their most common flaws is being a woefully poor judge of character; their innocence causes them to trust shady or even Obviously Evil characters that their less idealistic contemporaries are quicker to suspect are up to no good.

[Shiba Ryusei]

Please Fill Out Form Questions Livid through Silver, and submit them in triplicate...

1. Did Sayomi change much from concept to execution?

2. Biggest curveball the game threw you?

3. Biggest curveball Sayomi threw you?

4. PC you missed interacting with that you wish Sayomi had logged some time with?

5. Biggest missed opportunity?

6. Why Team Tomaru? I mean, I was glad to have another, but I never got Sayomi's reasoning for it

7. I honestly got fewer cinnamon roll vibes off of Sayomi than I might because as part of her idealism, she was a Proper Rokugani, and a Lion in the bargain! Was balancing her On difficult at times?

[Akodo Kenji]

Team Lion

Thanks for being a great teammate, I thought we did really well to get all the trading done in the end after a shaky start.

[Soshi Eiji]

Director's Cut Question: Think back on the game as a whole. If you could go back, and add just one more scene with our characters in it, what would it be? What are they doing/talking about?

[Kuni Shiori]

"Look at me, I'm the Cinnamon Roll now" - Sayomi, maybe

The Cinnamon Roller is now the Cinnamon Rollee! But in all seriousness, likewise a shame I did not get a chance to meet Sayomi. Actually, probably a bigger oops that Shiori didn't meet any Lion in the Lion Lands!

[Doji Shinnosuke]

I enjoyed Sayomi from a distance for most of the game, until we finally aligned a bit right at the end! I would have liked to throw the characters together more, but sometimes life/January is like that.

I guess this may be a ‘wait and see’ question, but I wondered if you were planning on Sayomi’s physical disability from her injury being a permanent part of her life, or something she’d eventually recover from (… with more XP…)? Will she go back to being a full-time bushi, or is she moving further into courtier land?

[Kitsu Sayomi]

Please Fill Out Form Questions Livid through Silver, and submit them in triplicate...

1. Did Sayomi change much from concept to execution?

2. Biggest curveball the game threw you?

3. Biggest curveball Sayomi threw you?

4. PC you missed interacting with that you wish Sayomi had logged some time with?

5. Biggest missed opportunity?

6. Why Team Tomaru? I mean, I was glad to have another, but I never got Sayomi's reasoning for it

7. I honestly got fewer cinnamon roll vibes off of Sayomi than I might because as part of her idealism, she was a Proper Rokugani, and a Lion in the bargain! Was balancing her On difficult at times?

1. Only in creation. My first drafts for her were a lot more Bushi-focused, being more built to duel and be a Proper Lion (Tactician, Leadership, Paragon), but as I built the house and its story, and I looked more at the different ideas for Lion PCs, I decided to build a more Courtly-character (Intelligence and Awareness 4, main Social Skills at 3). I still stuck to the initial idea of a very high honor person, but she mellowed out in the final draft, and become more locally-attached to Kyuden Ikoma. If I had had a tiny bit more XP, I would have picked up Ally for Ikoma Ryota. Once I started playing her, I felt I had a feel for her right away.

2. All the meetings. Mostly the biggest curveball was coming down with an intense bout of the flu right at the game start, so I was only able to do minimal posting for like the first half (events and a bit of posting outside of that).

3. None really.

4. The majority, really, since I missed so much due to sickness. Ryu, Hoshiko, all the Crab, my fellow Lion, Eiji, lots of NPCs.

5. Not using my Court Actions enough. I guess I play much according to Rules As Intended, and didn't think much about trying to farm Influence for House Tatsukawa.

6. Prior to game-start, Tomaru appealed the most to me. For Sayomi, Tomaru was a "stable" choice; he had heirs, he was the closest relation that hadn't married out (Sayomi stands by her words from Shigashime's event that it sets a bad precedent to allow folks who have married out to suddenly be able to claim inheritance like that), and otherwise seemed noble and honorable. She also liked his plan of wanting to better education among the masses, which he told her in person. Sayomi is a country bumpkin at heart and knows that it could improve things in the more remote places of the Empire.

7. She was very proper, because that is what a samurai should be! I never felt it was hard to maintain her On, since it was such a deep part of her character that she sincerely wished to be the best samurai she can be.

[Kitsu Sayomi]

Team Lion

Thanks for being a great teammate, I thought we did really well to get all the trading done in the end after a shaky start.

Team Lion! *throws gang-signs*

And yeah, awesome job in getting all the trading done. Really appreciate that we were able to pull through even as things looked pretty bleak!

[Kitsu Sayomi]

Director's Cut Question: Think back on the game as a whole. If you could go back, and add just one more scene with our characters in it, what would it be? What are they doing/talking about?

Actually, I would liked more scenes with Eiji, and Hikaru.

Eiji because she could talk to him about what it was like to marry out of the Lion and what the Scorpion is truly like in comparison ("are they like in the stories we tell, where they skulk about in the shadows and plot evil schemes?").

Hikaru because he was a fellow "warrior-poet" vibe. Lots of poetry!

[Kitsu Sayomi]

"Look at me, I'm the Cinnamon Roll now" - Sayomi, maybe

The Cinnamon Roller is now the Cinnamon Rollee! But in all seriousness, likewise a shame I did not get a chance to meet Sayomi. Actually, probably a bigger oops that Shiori didn't meet any Lion in the Lion Lands!

From what Sayomi could tell of Shiori though, she seemed like a dutiful shugenja, hence why she got a nomination for the Devil's Chase! (and also continuing good relations with Crabbies)

Maybe they'll get a chance to hang out after marriage, since Sayomi will be a Hiruma in the future.

[Kitsu Sayomi]

I enjoyed Sayomi from a distance for most of the game, until we finally aligned a bit right at the end! I would have liked to throw the characters together more, but sometimes life/January is like that.

I guess this may be a ‘wait and see’ question, but I wondered if you were planning on Sayomi’s physical disability from her injury being a permanent part of her life, or something she’d eventually recover from (… with more XP…)? Will she go back to being a full-time bushi, or is she moving further into courtier land?

Life and January do be like that!

As for that... it's a wait and see thing! Mostly because she'd need more XP to buy off the Disadvantage (if allowed, and only have half of what I need), but also because it depends on what the Crab/Hiruma/House Tetsumura would ask of her. Since it seems Tetsumura wants someone good with court stuff, she might continue in that direction. So we'll see what the future brings.