The Stone Matsu, Nakodo Ishi, and other improbable adventures: Ishioka Q&A

[Matsu Ishioka]

Belatedly getting this posted, but happy to share anything people want to know about Ishi and his crazy time at Kyuden Shika. I think I did a good job of being transparent about what was going on with him - no air characteristic and a lot less Stone Matsu by the late game - but I like to think he had some depth in how he looked at things and so... Yeah. Great character, great game by Railun, great memories with all of you.

Open fire!

[Shiba Raizo]

FORM QUESTIONS!

Biggest surprise the game threw you?

Biggest "damn, I wish I'd done that differently" moment?

Favorite scene?

[Agasha Inoshishi]

What clan(s) did Ishi think he was gonna be interested in? Cause I doubt it was either of the clans he ended up being interested in!

[Asahina Bo]

So how frustrating was it to have a rival who had no clue they were a rival?

[Kuni Yasu]

What clan(s) did Ishi think he was gonna be interested in? Cause I doubt it was either of the clans he ended up being interested in!

*waves in suspected Crab* XD

Which is where I note I got a bit of that vibe in an early thread, but also the 'summer camp friends from last summer at Kyuden Hida' vibe was really strong.

So what *reaaaaly* happened with that dead sister duel? Because there was this vague feeling that Ishi was hiding something from himself about the whole mess too.

[Agasha Inoshishi]

So what *reaaaaly* happened with that dead sister duel? Because there was this vague feeling that Ishi was hiding something from himself about the whole mess too.

Ino suspects something too.

[Matsu Ishioka]

FORM QUESTIONS!

Biggest surprise the game threw you?

Biggest "damn, I wish I'd done that differently" moment?

Favorite scene?

1. Biggest surprise was definitely meeting Ino as Ishi got ready to walk through the doors on Day 0. Had zero idea that would actually lead to anything at all - was complete random chance that I dropped Ishi into that D0 thread - and look where we are now.

2. I see a lot of places where various things might have gone differently and had fascinating ripples or different results, but my biggest "damn it" moment was throwing Soyo and Tsugu at Shizuka at the mixer at the same time. There were IC and OOC reasons I did it, but when it spooked Soyo and made him bug out, I knew that was a key fumble. It was a dagger in the heart of the Nakodo Ishi persona, and basically meant he didn't do much more regarding other people's matches after that.

3. God, how could I pick one. Let's see, between the double dates, the Ino threads, the Narumi threads, the Yasu threads... Gah. I can't do it. I'll keep trying and come back to this.

[Matsu Ishioka]

What clan(s) did Ishi think he was gonna be interested in? Cause I doubt it was either of the clans he ended up being interested in!

Dragon and minor clans were literally the bottom two on Ishi's preferred clans list. Like, significantly below Unicorn and even Crane. Thus one of the Yasu advice threads (and the Moshu advice thread) about, basically, "What the hell is my family gonna think?"

On his final match list, for an NPC wife if it came to that, I listed Crab and Phoenix. Ishi had lots of reason to be tied to a Crab (in general, not just Yasu), and Phoenix made sense just as a traditionalist clan who at least might help against the Unicorn if it came to that. Also was a recognition of Yasu and Bai being Ishi's next choices, but him/me refusing to potentially ninja the guys they loved.

Coming in he didn't really have a top tier and was willing to explore/consider anything, thus trying to do threads with as many of the female pcs as possible. Which is totally the right approach to a miai!

[Matsu Ishioka]

So how frustrating was it to have a rival who had no clue they were a rival?

For most of the game, Ishi didn't really know/care/think Bo was really a rival, because he was confident that he had the inside track for Narumi's heart. Then she said there'd been developments, and the wheels came off the wagon for Ishi.

I will say that in their thread, Ishi wanted to both beat Bo to death with a bokken and give him a hug, at different times. He's going to owe Usogawa Bo for saving Narumi - which, really, he loves and hates him for - and I'm sure the Matsus will go visit the Usogawas at some point.

[Matsu Ishioka]

What clan(s) did Ishi think he was gonna be interested in? Cause I doubt it was either of the clans he ended up being interested in!

*waves in suspected Crab* XD

Which is where I note I got a bit of that vibe in an early thread, but also the 'summer camp friends from last summer at Kyuden Hida' vibe was really strong.

So what *reaaaaly* happened with that dead sister duel? Because there was this vague feeling that Ishi was hiding something from himself about the whole mess too.

Yes, Ishi did drop a bit of that vibe on Yasu, seeing as she was already a friend and the match would have made plenty of sense. But that was part of the wide net early in the game that didn't end up figuring in Ishi's big choices. Also, hat tip to Yasu for giving advice that Ishi inflicted on many others before finally realizing he needed to heed it himself.

Regarding poor Hachiko's death:
I purposefully left squish room in the story in case the GM needed to stuff a plot point in there somewhere, so it's not clear in Ishi's mind exactly what happened. Hachiko was in town to visit him, was supposed to meet him at a bar (yeah, when he said restaurant he was being polite), and by the time he got there, swords were already drawn with the Mirumoto. The bloody part that he leaves out in his telling, whether because he's in denial or consciously doesn't want it known, is that Hachiko had taken off most of the other woman's arm in their impromptu duel. I didn't want this to be some unmitigated sob story, oh poor Hachiko, because Ishi had a complicated relationship with her and knew she was far from perfect. In fact, his deep-seated "I'm a bad Matsu" drama ties in as well, since Hachiko was the epitome of what everyone had told him he was supposed to be, so he had great love and jealousy toward her.

If I hadn't had to get the duel out of the picture in a hurry to allow the possibility of a relationship with Ino, Ishi would have spent some more time processing his complicated feelings about Hachiko before and after her death and what that meant about him going forward. Am I leaving anything out? Oh, there was a potential path for him to believe (wrongly) that he could have saved Hachiko from the killing strike but failed or on some level chose not to. I think that implication came up in a thread or two, but that was simply survivor's guilt and protector complex teaming up to torment him.