Mother of Dragons, Queen of Monkeys (Saruko Q&A)

[Togashi Saruko]

Aaaaask away!

This was Saruko's last game so I'm open to answer (most) stuff.

[Seppun Chisei]

Ayyy, great writing with you, as always. It was fun to see how Saruko changed from the last game to this one.

Well, since she's retiring (from pbp, anyway), tell us what happens with her? More bebés? Train up a group of attack monkeys? Geez, I hope not.

[Jiyo Sora]

What was it like being the morale officer?

[Togashi Nadare]

Did you ever finish the banner? I missed that

Hope you enjoyed the Togashi ties?

[Shinjo Miuna]

No questions, just some praise. Shirayuki was such a fun character to follow! And hey, she was right about Miuna and Hanzou, even if Miuna didn't want to admit it then! Haha. I'm sad we didn't get more time together but I enjoyed writing what I did with you ♡

[Jin]

How disappointed not to get to pick Sora's bride personally? And that he told other people first?

[Jiyo Ayumu]

How was it to be the social/artistic focused one in a big girls with dai-tsuchi and wizards party?

Do you plan to spin this particular story into a tale, and what will it say?

[Kyosei of the Isawa]

Sorry for not much interaction, but Togashi is the one Kami that Kyosei actively doesn't like. So, he just tends to avoid the Dragon entirely.

[Togashi Saruko]

Ayyy, great writing with you, as always. It was fun to see how Saruko changed from the last game to this one.

Well, since she's retiring (from pbp, anyway), tell us what happens with her? More bebés? Train up a group of attack monkeys? Geez, I hope not.

Ayyy! As always, thank you for the scenes. I got a lot of good moments with Chisei, especially talking philosophy! I really enjoyed going deep into that this game, and to really put thought into what it would mean to lead, gude, and teach a Family within a Clan (especially one as contemplative as the Dragon), and Chisei was great for that.

Monkey training might happen! You never know!

Not sure about any more kids yet. First go around with that was pretty intense for Saruko, as I tried to keep it somewhat in line with canon in terms of Togashi's love affair and son in that timeline. Though in this case, Saruko had a bit more protection from going blind+hair turning white+dying in childbirth (stronger spiritual power, Great Destiny. Those being my reasoning). Maybe I'll chat with Birb about it.

Going forward, Saruko will first spend lots of time with her family because she has missed them! Then she's going to focus on becoming a proper leadership figure within the Dragon, and to begin teaching those who have chosen to follow her. And eventually founding the city that will at some point become Great Falls Castle (or Great Falls City first?).

[Seppun Chisei]

Monkey training might happen! You never know!

OHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Miyako]

It was fun sitting around the campfire sharing stories! Saruko was one of the couple folks that really helped Miyako in navigating a whole world of potential futures and developments and I enjoyed those conversations greatly.

[Nozomi]

While Saruko was arguably one of our most court-focused and lore focused characters, and thus has less presence in combat scenes for obvious reasons, I really liked seeing her here, and that she was as important to several events as she was.

Phi was a good girl! Shinsei's kid's not going to be tainted! (whew. I was actually worried there a couple times). He's even going to have a face!

... I digress. I will say, however, that I am really looking forward to the Saru-family angles and their ties to Shinsei's line we've talked about. Nozomi won't be joining any families, as you might have guessed, but those two are definitely coming to visit and make plots and plans.

Did you have fun this time around? What's it like to play one of the courtly machines in a shadowlands event?

[Togashi Saruko]

What was it like being the morale officer?

Beatings will continue until morale improves!

Wait, that's not right... *ahem*

Monkeys will continue until morale improves!



Honestly though, I had a great time with it. I considered some different character ideas for a while, because bringing courtly squishie on this trip sounded like a terrible idea! But, as game time approached, I was really in the mood to play a character that I knew would be fun for me. And I honestly don't mind being the background/support character. Support-types are my favorite types to play in a lot of games.

[Jiyo Sora]

So.

Sora has tasked Kinyoubi with never letting Saruko live down her little rumor-game at the expedition's outset.

What horrible Ayakashi vengeance awaits him for that?

[Togashi Saruko]

Did you ever finish the banner? I missed that

Hope you enjoyed the Togashi ties?

I did finish it, just in time for the finale too! It was present in the Wedding-scene on Day 16.

I greatly enjoyed the connection between Saruko and Nadare. It was nice to have someone she deeply trusted along, and I greatly enjoyed all the scenes of them together - from philosophy talk to Nadare low-key frustrating Saruko with how much of a smartass he was compared to her. Not that she'd admit it, of course!

Looking forward to seeing more of Nadare in the future. Really liked the "first tattooed man" feel there, and he had a really interesting personality and vibe.

[Nanzi]

Good times, but the writing was on the wall even from Game 1, her relationship and closeness to Sora and basically most of what he abhors about that philosophy were probably going to form a wedge but the Bird sealed the deal it seems but even before that it felt that they were drifting apart.

Fun though.

[Hantei Kinsen]

Will she ever shape change into a monkey or something?

[Togashi Saruko]

No questions, just some praise. Shirayuki was such a fun character to follow! And hey, she was right about Miuna and Hanzou, even if Miuna didn't want to admit it then! Haha. I'm sad we didn't get more time together but I enjoyed writing what I did with you ♡

Monkey knows love when she sees it. Ohohohohohoho

And thank you. I'm glad she was enjoyable for you. I felt I was a little all over the place with no strong connections to folks this game, but I'm very glad to know my antics were enjoyable. <3

[Togashi Saruko]

How disappointed not to get to pick Sora's bride personally? And that he told other people first?

Not really. A little?

Her plan was more to indirectly help him find someone, hence the rumor at the start. Sora strikes her as the type of guy who would dig in his heels and refuse or think of some excuse if she pointed out a specific person and said "but what about this one?". xD So she'll just claim that her masterplan was a success.

A little sad he didn't tell her though! That's just cruel and mean!

[Togashi Saruko]

How was it to be the social/artistic focused one in a big girls with dai-tsuchi and wizards party?

Do you plan to spin this particular story into a tale, and what will it say?

It was fun!

Honestly, I find that as long as you have the mindset ready to not be mechanically relevant, which I've always had with this character (no school techniques, lots of weird skills at 1 and 2, uneven spread of traits), is that I'l only be pleasantly surprised when I *am* mechanically relevant. And I was happy that the GMs included a social event at least and one that made sense too.

As mentioned earlier, I greatly enjoy playing support-roles, so I was also very mentally ready to just fluff-wise provide entertainment during the trip in forms of storytelling and music.

I am considering spending a point on making an epic tale about this adventure! Her side of the story would probably focus very much on the strength of many coming together, and the importance of family-love saving the day as well.

Sorry for not much interaction, but Togashi is the one Kami that Kyosei actively doesn't like. So, he just tends to avoid the Dragon entirely.

No problem. She found his interaction on Day 1 a little odd too, and Saruko thought it rather funny that Kyosei insisted on calling the Kami "little gods".

As she knows, there's nothing "little" about them.