Fragment 63 Insight

Ah. The rare OC Fragment. Not going to be another for a long while (aka, not this season) so I had to make this shot count.

I needed to make sure Anishka’s development matched that of Gudao and Gabrielle’s at this point. Many may be surprised by how much info I’ve dropped for her and then point out Gabrielle and Gudao don’t have as much. Actually, they do have this much, believe it or not. Most of it was just shown in the supplements, because the best way to show someone’s brightness is through action and difficult situations. In particular, Redemption from Sin even made the big drop of their origins.

Now with Karna describing their elements here, along with some other subtle info drops on the two original masters, they’re all about even (except experience obviously).

As stated before, I wanted Anishka to fulfill roles that the other two couldn’t. Though respect and reverence obviously depict her interactions when compared to the rather neutral yet pleasant Gudao and the often too-friendly/casual Gabrielle, that was just part of it the full picture.

I also wanted an original character who has handled constant pressure and expectations throughout her whole life, and worked doubly hard to ensure they were met… even if it meant hiding things from her parents she didn’t want exposed. That’s something people can relate to.

Obviously, the bigger one, and controversial point for some, is that she’s not straight. She’s in the closet, and she’s afraid to come out. Obviously this points to a certain demographic of readers, but I’m not intending to alienate anyone by making a character out of it. Anishka, like my other OCs, is designed to feel like another person you can meet on the street. They’re there to supplement the servants while also providing perspective from the average (aka, non-servant) person. An LGBT styled character, whether you like them or hate them for it, is simply another angle uncovered.

One thing I really need to make a note of here is Rama’s saint graph surgery. Considering Sita hasn’t been released, I lack the proper specifics for why she can be in the same area as Rama without Tara’s curse going full loco. Unfortunately, that meant I had to roll with something, so I figured if canonically a Saint Graph can be modified thanks to Scathach (Summer 2016), they may be able to do ‘surgery’ to remove an unwanted tag-along (like the curse). It’s definitely tentative to change when the game finally releases her, and this is a great example of why I don’t want to summon anyone not yet in the game. Circumstances play a huge role.

But hey, it made for a nice, happy ending for the fragment, no? I considered replacing her with Parvati, but that wouldn’t have made nearly as much impact as Sita could… plus it played into another thing next Fragment.

Next week: He was proud of her. She had come so far and would serve as a respectful and proper master… yet she saw too much. (Dead obvious this week as an apology for the break. It’s also a Super-Length Fragment.)