~Bunbunmaru News~ > Ask a *Blank* Archive
Ask a Staffer Catch-22: Ask me things! Sakura Rurouni
Rin Kagamine:
How long do you plan on White Rose being?
Hello Purvis:
Pyromania?
Zengar Zombolt:
?Porqu? espadas?
?Porqu? flores?
?Porqu? pasto?
Alfred F. Jones:
--- Quote from: Iryan on July 14, 2011, 08:10:10 AM ---What do you consider the greatest achievement in your life so far?
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Laconic: IB.
Regular: Definitely, completing the International Baccalaureate programme. I started at age 11 and finished at 18, so that's seven years spent there. When I began MYP (IB for middle schoolers), I walked in as a shy, quiet sort who sat on the floor in a corner of her room reading history textbooks because she was bored out of her mind without any friends to play or talk to-- particularly since, here in Colorado, there were no relatives in the entire state, and it was just me and my parents. When I finished IB, I had met a network of the most fascinating, nerdy, loony people I've ever met in my life who had shared so many tears and shouts of joy for seven years, stuck in the same classrooms and cabins and situations together, and I was now the Editor-in-Chief of the school yearbook and head photographer, as well as cross-country runner and an all-around popular, smart young woman with a taste for the sciences and history and writing. The IB diploma that I got with my test scores just served as affirmation that yes, I could apply myself and finish a long-lasting race, and it was just icing on the cake of my extended IB family.
--- Quote from: Iryan on July 14, 2011, 08:10:10 AM ---Similarly, what do you consider your greatest failure?
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Laconic: Ow.
Regular: When I was younger, I heard from older people that the less regrets I had to look back on when I was older, the happier I'd be. I was wise enough at the time to recognize this as truth, and so I took measures to avoid such horrific disasters as best I could, always weighing my actions by the standard of "will I regret doing this or not doing this when I am older?", and it seems to have worked, because there is no enormous, terrible event I can look back upon with regret.
That said, there is one great failure in my life, and it is continuous, and I do it today and will continue to do it for the immediate future: it is my failure of courage to tell my parents that I am bisexual. I do not have the spine to tell my conservative, Protestant, country-born Mexican parents that their daughter is attracted to women as much as to men. I tell myself that I am waiting for a good time when I can tell them and they have a good chance of being more accepting and won't disown me as their daughter, and to that end I expose them to articles and studies about the subject, but it is really just me postponing the confrontation. I am ashamed of it, given how much worse some of my friends' situations are, and am cowed in the face of their strength of courage regardless of the circumstances.
--- Quote from: Iryan on July 14, 2011, 08:10:10 AM ---What is, to you, the true essence of a Rurouni?
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Regular: Heavy question.
The Rurouni is not a ronin-- a Rurouni neither wants nor needs a master to be commanded by. Rurouni, in my mind, is largely synonymous with the tragic hero archetype. A mysterious past that they can never be truly honest about, not because they don't want to but because it might be used against them, or some other circumstance prevents them. A Rurouni wanders, of course, not seeking a home but accepting the hospitality of others, and righting wrongs where they are found, though there is no real taste for violence. Much like the knight-errant of Europe or the youxia of China. Speaking of the youxia, this is a poem that I associate in my mind with my idea of a Rurouni:
For ten years I have been polishing this sword;
Its frosty edge has never been put to the test.
Now I am holding it and showing it to you, sir:
Is there anyone suffering from injustice?
Knowing that in the end, they might be doomed no matter what happens, the Rurouni presses on, accepting the role of tragic hero for the good and the bad. Anyone can be tragic, but not everyone can be a hero.
--- Quote from: Iryan on July 14, 2011, 08:10:10 AM ---If you could punch anyone currently living on earth into the face, who would it be?
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Laconic: James Dobson.
Regular: That hateful, hateful man. My family, believing Focus on the Family's publications to be a good thing at the time, subscribed me to a lot of his foundation's works, and it created such a self-loathing complex in me that has not left to this day. If he were still alive, though, it would be Milton Friedman, that horrible human being who is responsible for so much suffering in the developing world through his ideas. And if I could cross time and space more dramatically, I would punch John Calvin in the face with the greatest of joys.
--- Quote from: Tamashii Kanjou on July 14, 2011, 08:32:44 AM ---Why do you like Shikieiki so much? What started it all?
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Laconic: She's awesome.
Regular: Shikieiki really is an amazing character, even if she is no longer my absolute favourite (sharing that spot with Yumemi now). Her design, of course, was the first thing I saw of her, and I must say, she looks very good in that sharp uniform of hers. Learning about her in canon, I encountered not a shrewish angry loli who's jealous of everyone's breasts, but a hard worker who got to her position of power through her merits (as opposed to being born into the position like a lot of the other characters in charge in Gensokyo), and so selfless that she takes what little free time she has and spends it on other people, doing her level best to tell people to save themselves before she has to condemn them. And of course, she'll still have to do it, because not everyone will listen. How she keeps going in the face of such hopelessness and still has time to throw beautiful danmaku at you is a fascinating story.
--- Quote from: Tamashii Kanjou on July 14, 2011, 08:32:44 AM ---What's the best advice to give someone on writing stories?
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Laconic: Read a lot.
Regular: No, really. Read far, read wide, and find what you like. Then write stories like that. Write stories that you would want to read. This writing is for yourself and no one else, after all, so if it comes down to you being the only person who will ever read it (because it might), then you should do your best to make it enjoyable for you.
--- Quote from: Tamashii Kanjou on July 14, 2011, 08:32:44 AM ---Top 5 memorable moments on MotK that you either saw or took part in. ^^
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Laconic: Oh dear.
Regular: In no particular order except the first:
1. The organizing of Patchouli's Scarlet Library after the division from Creative Fanworks/Alice's Art Atelier. The summaries project was great fun, and, I hope, a great service to the entire western Touhou community.
2. MotK's first anniversary hijack. Matsy and I masterminded it, and it was the first and best opportunity to help heal the wounds we inadverdently caused with our April Fools' prank of three weeks prior. It went off smoothly and hilariously, which was everything I hoped for.
3. Ask Yuyuko. It was technically on the second build of the forums, so it would have been back in early 2008 or so, but it was the thread I finally worked up the motivation to join MotK for.
4. Participating in NaNoWriMo this past year with the other writers of PSL. It was tainted later on because of other things and events, but at the time it was a delightful competition.
5. Every release of a new game. The speculation, the excitement, oh man! And everyone in the community is sharing those feelings with you. It's a heady feeling! Love it.
--- Quote from: Tamashii Kanjou on July 14, 2011, 08:32:44 AM ---You and Komachi have a fight. Who wins? Or, what happens in said fight? :3
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Laconic: Truce.
Regular: I don't actually like Komachi very much, but I suppose we could work out a truce-- she gets me photos of Shiki's legs, and I row the boat over the Sanzu while she chills on the riverbank.
--- Quote from: Rin Kagamine on July 14, 2011, 08:47:43 AM ---How long do you plan on White Rose being?
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Regular: The first part started in May 2009-- earlier, technically, since the posting date in the thread is not the actual date of first installment (the original version of White Rose went down with the old forums, though my general fiction thread archives of Poosh have the original posting date). It has taken me two years. There are at least five more planned, with the possibility of one or two more if I have so much story that I cannot cram it into the outline. However, the first part was by far the lengthiest because it needed to set up the entire premise, so... hm. About as long as it took me to get my IB diploma, I guess! ^^'
But that's not a worry. I did it once before, and tasks that require a lot of time and patience do not scare me.
--- Quote from: Killer Purvis on July 14, 2011, 08:53:19 AM ---Pyromania?
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Laconic: Fire is interesting.
Regular: The worst I ever got to arson was setting old newspapers on fire behind the bus stop while waiting for the bus in middle school. But I do like fire, very much so. My family lives in a house that has a wooden stove, invaluable in Colorado winters. When we first got this house, we had no idea how to use it, and would stack firewood in horrible ways and burn through dozens of matches until the temperature came up enough that eventually part of it caught. Ten years later, I can set a good stack of firewood with a bit of kindling up in a structure conducive to ignition with ease, and have a blazing fire going on in seconds.
Fire has played an enormous role in my life in that sense-- not just every winter, either. When I was younger, we had something called the Hayman Fire here in Colorado, and it lit up the sky for a full month, though it felt much longer. A large swath of my state's lovely forests went up in flames-- I've been in the mountains where the fire happened, and the trees are still painfully charred, leafless, and hideous.
Fire as a destructive force and fire as a life-giving force have ended up being recurring themes in my work. I can't imagine why...
Zengar has ninja'd me, but I will pass on the question for tonight. Tomorrow I shall continue. With accents on the right letters this time, hopefully!
Esifex:
--- Quote from: KoiZengar Komeiji on July 14, 2011, 09:39:11 AM ---?Porqu? espadas?
?Porqu? flores?
?Porqu? pasto?
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?Por qu? Maria?
When can the Librarians go on break ;-;?
What is your thoughts/viewpoints on paranormal traits - telepathy, telekinesis, clairvoyance, precognition, and the like?
A close friend comes to you for advice. Do you give advice based on a gut feeling in response to their situation, do you analyze it from every different angle, or do you confer with others anonymously to get multiple viewpoints and solutions to their problem?
What's your zodiac? :3
Pick one: Super-strength, perfect proprioceptive senses, or unrivaled agility and dexterity.