SamAndTheQuestionsTenIt was early in the morning when this University reporter knocked on the door of the Captain of the Kendo Team, perhaps too early. When Samanosuke Reynard, known to most as simply "Sam", came to the door, he had littler more than a towel wrapped around his waist. Nevertheless, he smiled graciously and allowed me to enter the room. He was ready for the interview, and spared a moment to put on a pair of pants, testing my powers of concentration and focus.  THE TEN QUESTIONS1) Where does your character get their laundry done? Describe it and the people they might encounter there. Back home. Say what you like about the Arcology, but every apartment had efficiency systems, including a washer and a dryer. I visit my Aunt Kit, and get a home cooked meal; if you ever had her Zoni, its soup for those that don't have the ThariGo. Kit uses fish in hers, its worth a pile of dirty clothes, believe me. Other than Kit, I sometimes have to chat it up with old neighbors or duke it out with a few old 'friends'. 2) Does your character sleep well? If the character has dreams, what kind of dreams are they? What’s the saying? ‘He sleeps the sleep of the just.’ That’s me, though replace ‘just’ with ‘exhausted’. I have a full schedule, between Kendo, Academics, and practicing the viola there isn’t enough time for me to have the luxury of losing sleep. I hit the sack, and rest pretty well, but everyone dreams. I don’t think my dreams are any different from anyone else’s – I have your standard “I’m naked in Class” dreams, your “Running in place from something scary” dreams, and dreams about a certain Professor that I’d rather keep to myself. I don’t really have nightmares, and when I do have a bad dream, they’re of the “cornered in an alley and going down fighting” sort. 3) Your character gets into a discussion about death and dying. How would your character describe the perfect death? Not dying would be preferred, but if I had to choose – I don’t want to go quietly into that good night, to borrow a phrase. I want to be DOING something. It doesn’t have to be a fight, though that would be a hell of a way to go. It could be fantastic sex, climbing a mountain, drinking too much – anything at all as long as I was LIVING and loving whatever or whomever I was doing. I’ve worked really hard to get to where I am, and I’m not about to sing my last song lying in a bed waiting for Death to come. I’ll be out there, swinging away, literally or figuratively. 4) Describe your character's personal bedroom or suite. Where is it located? Describe the contents of the room. What is the style of furniture? What items are of importance and why? Never been to the Arcology, have you? I don’t have a personal bedroom or suite, unless you count the dorm, and I don’t. My Aunt and I shared what amounted to a single multi-purpose room. It had a bathroom with all the typical stuff, of course, but the kitchen was right where the living room was. Beds were convertibles, closets made the best use of the space, and a lot of household items you take for granted were either built right in or simply not in the place. I had a few personal items, things Kit let me hang on the walls, but mostly I had books, and only a few of those. We didn’t have the space to accumulate toys and other crap that you might have in your home. We lived efficiently. In fact, in the K-Arc, that was the watchword; efficiency. My bokken my shinai, my gear, and my viola were all very important to me – you grow up in a little cube and you get to appreciating space, and when you’re allowed to take up space with things that are not entirely necessary, such as sports equipment and hard copies of books, you make damn sure those things are valuable to you. Not just in cash either. I suppose growing up there is why my dorm room is kept pretty sparse, and pretty tidy. I’m used to getting rid of what I don’t need, keeping what I do need, and only keeping what’s valuable to me along with that. Let the rich kids have the riches of disorganization, I get better grades anyway. 5) How would your character describe their perfect mate/spouse? A lady on the street, but a freak in the bed? I don’t know where I heard that, but that seems about right, if she can fight, all the better. Damn, we’re back to Colonel Kel aren’t we? That’s a lotta woman, but I think you get the picture. Besides which, perfection is an unattainable ideal, which I plan to have a very good time searching for. 6) Describe your character's life ambition. Is this their personal goal or is it one forced upon them by their peers/parents? I want to get out of the K-Arc and stay out, and with luck, maybe get my Aunt Kit out too. I don’t need to live a life of leisure, but I don’t want to be a wage-slave either, that’s for "gomasuri" and "sararimen". I’m going to be educated, and I’m going to be an Artist. I don’t know that I’ll ever be a wealthy man, but I won’t be poor and I won’t have to live in the Arc. Hell, maybe they’ll let me back in the University to teach, that seems like a good gig. Whatever I do, it’ll be because I earned it, me, and no one else. 7) Which Elder Amberite does your character respect and look up to? Which Elder Amberite does your character despise? Why? Benedict is something of an example, isn’t he? But I’ve seen his Blackcloaks in action, and there’s something worrisome about a police force that folks fear rather than respect, neh? Other than that, I’ve got nothing to say. They were all born to privilege, and some made better use of it than others, but that’s sort of like saying the rich man that was born with money had enough wisdom to save some after he binged on geishas and sake, in the end, neither is a particularly good role model for the common man. Despise? I don’t know them. I won’t say I despise any one of them, but I’m not going to say I hold them in the highest regard either. They are fixtures, but until I have interacted with any of them beyond an article in a magazine or a news conference, I can’t say for sure whether I love or hate them. I wouldn’t mind starting with Princess Florimel to develop my opinion, or the Princess Deirdre… 8) Your character finally has a break from classes. Describe their perfect day off. Where would they go? Would they want others around or be alone? Depends, any day off is going to start with practice, no matter what; kendo and viola. After a shower, anything goes. Amber’s got a lot of gorgeous places to see, neh? I’d go into the City if I was feeling like seeing the old neighborhood, or the parks near the Arc. I like the City, grew up there, and yet it seems like there’s always more to see. There’s Arden too, or down to the beach. Really, anything to get off campus for a space of time, and not worry about demerits or being on my best behavior, with or without company, though the most memorable times are always the ones you share. 9) University offers numerous opportunities to interact with different races and species. How well does your character fit into new societies? Do they have any prejudices? If so, why? I don’t have a problem with anyone, as long as they don’t have a problem with me. Where you’re from, what color you are, what religion you follow, none of that matters, none of that speaks to the quality of a person. Just like I can’t very well tell you which of the Royals I admire or despise because I don’t know them, I don’t dislike people out of hand. I’ll admit that I reflexively have my doubts about the rich and the nobles, but that is because I sometimes feel what they have they never earned; and how can you appreciate or value what you never earned? If I have any prejudices, it is that the privilege of unearned wealth and high birth, but I try not to let it run loose. Some few of them have lived up to the burden, but most have not, you see them with their noses in the air. I worked very hard for my place in the world, and I just find it galling when others ruin or take for granted opportunities I would ( and have ) worked so hard to attain. 10) What would provoke your character into committing a greater evil, such as murder? What? Self-defense, if that even counts. I’m very good with sword, if my skill with a stick is anything to go by, but I don’t intend to murder anyone. I might beat you badly enough for a hospital stay, but I’d generally not be after – murder. I’ve broken a few laws here and there, but murder or some other ‘greater evil’, No, the only thing that would push me that far would be self-defense or the defense of friends and family. I’ve been angry, I mean, really angry – long fuse, big explosion my Aunt says – but I’ve not killed anyone yet. |
