For... I am a Pirate King! (Hirame Q&A)

[Funegao no Hirame]

And it is, it is, a glorious thing to be a Pirate King!

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

Biggest curveball the game threw you?

Biggest curveball Hirame threw you?

Biggest missed opportunity for you in this game?

Favorite scene in this game?

Ready for the nightmare doll to arrive as a wedding gift?

[Suzume Rin]

One of Rin's favourite people and the man who singlehandedly made her consider the Mantis a Clan of friendly sailors and not..uhh, you know.

Where is he heading next?

Will he get married on a boat?

Will the vest stay on?

[Isawa Natsuko]

Thank you for the interactions, and letting Natsuko interact a bit with creepy doll subplot. I do love a creepy doll plot.

It sounds like Ahiru is marrying into the Mantis, so he gets to remain a Pirate king. So Hirame was Flounder iirc. What's the new name mean?

I also enjoyed the parallel, and very different, betrothal story. If I'm picking things up from threads right...it was their siblings initially betrothed then lost at sea? Not quite? Curious how feelings for the lost family members played against expectations and hopes/fears for the betrothal to come?

[Kakita Ahiru]

Thanks for the storyline and for the fun interaction with our characters. As always a pleasure.

How would Hirame had felt if he had lost the wager between him and Ahiru (and she was the one in the Iaijutsu finals)?

[Funegao no Hirame]

1) Biggest curveball the game threw you?

2) Biggest curveball Hirame threw you?

3) Biggest missed opportunity for you in this game?

4) Favorite scene in this game?

5) Ready for the nightmare doll to arrive as a wedding gift?

1) Actually getting into the finals! I fully expected to get zero points. It's hard to outroll 25 other people even once, you know? But, well, Hirame managed a lucky break, and that was good enough.

2) Going in, I expected to be a bit more "I want to prove myself" with Hirame. He still had some of that, but I didn't expect how much I wanted to see him become ship captain.

3) Hmmm! I was less active than usual. A few more scenes I wanted to do. I wanted to duel Ahiru, actually! But it turned out pretty well anyway.

4) Haha, everything with the murder doll was pure gold. I also had some great boating scenes with Rin and Ahiru.

5) Absolutely!

[Funegao no Hirame]

One of Rin's favourite people and the man who singlehandedly made her consider the Mantis a Clan of friendly sailors and not..uhh, you know.

Where is he heading next?

Will he get married on a boat?

Will the vest stay on?

Awww, that's great! Hirame and Rin, bros for life! She introduced him to yams! He'd be very glad to hear that he changed her opinion, because he was all about that. Hirame was partially modelled off of the concept of an 18th century naval midshipman, and I envisioned the Mantis as being somewhat disciplined on a ship. You really can't be undisciplined and be good sailors, after all.

Next... crap, I have to work that out with Ahiru's player! But I think the two of them are heading to Gotei City. He'll continue on with his ship, she'll join Yoritomo's court. Note, this is medium term, not short term; I expect the next few months will be preparing for this is all.

He will not get married on a boat! His bride to be has a mild ocean phobia. This, uh, this may cause problems down the line. But I think they can work it out!

The vest is a sometimes article! He'll definitely wear it when shipboard. Otherwise, maybe. Depends on the circumstance! Hirame is definitely a Mantis, but he also wants to fit in with greater Rokugan society. He thinks its important for Mantis to play the game if they want to earn respect... while also being larger than life badasses. Tough line to walk!

[Funegao no Hirame]

Thank you for the interactions, and letting Natsuko interact a bit with creepy doll subplot. I do love a creepy doll plot.

It sounds like Ahiru is marrying into the Mantis, so he gets to remain a Pirate king. So Hirame was Flounder iirc. What's the new name mean?

I also enjoyed the parallel, and very different, betrothal story. If I'm picking things up from threads right...it was their siblings initially betrothed then lost at sea? Not quite? Curious how feelings for the lost family members played against expectations and hopes/fears for the betrothal to come?

Thank you as well! Hirame thought Natsuko was weird, but basically nice. He was mildly uncomfortable with her for knowing what was going on with her fiance, and not really knowing what to do with that.

New name - Genkai - 元海 - 元 = origin, 海 = ocean. Meant more when I thought he was joining the Crane, but I still like it!

You got it! Here's how I summarized things to Ender:

It's not actually secret, but it is important: Hirame and Ahiru are engaged. Here's what happened...

1) Hirame's older brother and Ahiru's older sister were engaged
2) They went to get married... on Ahiru's family's ancestral boat.
3) Some sort of maritime disaster occurred. It sunk the relationship. And the couple. And the boat. It was all lost, anyway.
4) Both families were like "Uhhhh... well, we got a spare!"
5) And now they're meeting for the first time...

Note! Bodies never found... this has been discussed a bit.

I think this made more of a difference to Ahiru than Hirame. Hirame mostly had normal pre-arranged wedding jitters; he knew ships are lost, he knew people who had been lost at sea. For Ahiru, that seemed to be a much more significant event.

It did make Hirame feel more pressure, though. He felt that the two of them had been thrust into a bad situation, and it was up to him to make it work. It got a lot easier when he felt like Ahiru felt the same, so it was up to them to make it work.

[Funegao no Hirame]

Thanks for the storyline and for the fun interaction with our characters. As always a pleasure.

How would Hirame had felt if he had lost the wager between him and Ahiru (and she was the one in the Iaijutsu finals)?

It was fun! I enjoyed doing yet another dynamic with our writing.

It's interesting! Hirame has a lot of confidence, but he absolutely knows that other samurai look down on the Mantis. He wanted to prove himself! And he especially wanted to be accepted by Ahiru, especially as he could tell that she had mixed feelings. And, as I mentioned, the story she told made him want to prove himself all the more, even as he was realizing that the two seemed to genuinely like each other.

So, if he'd lost, he'd have certainly gone along with whatever she picked. It would take off the worry that he was forcing her into something (which our last scene largely took care of). If she chose Crane instead of Mantis, I think he would have more worries that she'd look down on that part of him. Not his overall competence, as I feel like they clearly respect each other enough as individuals. Just the Mantis part of him.

Does that make sense? It's complicated, and a bit difficult to explain, and at least partially based on man-feelings. But that's my impression, anyway!

[Isawa Natsuko]

Note! Bodies never found... this has been discussed a bit.

Totally imagining that deserted island thing for them now. Future characters?

[Ikoma Aya]

Does that make sense? It's complicated, and a bit difficult to explain, and at least partially based on man-feelings. But that's my impression, anyway!

Just read this today and I couldn't help but crack up XD