Hard Mode: Engaged29. What did your character dream of being or doing as a child? Did that dream come true?Noriko was one of those perpetually undecided children when it came to what she wanted to be when she ‘grew up’. One year it was an ornithologist thanks to her dad’s love of bird watching. Now about all that’s left of that dream is remembering some bird species names and collecting stuffed animals. She does keep a list of birds he’d mentioned he’d very much like to see one day (most of them aren’t native to Japan) in the hopes she could somehow get a chance to see a few.Her brother Hayato, an avid lover of sports, had decided on becoming a physical therapist. She took up sports out of reaction to his death; these days, she’s decided a good use of her adulthood is being an EMT someday. It’s a grief driven response -- by helping someone else’s family not end up the same way hers did, she thinks it’ll help her feel better about her own. Like it was worth it in a way.A couple of trips to national parks did give her a dream to take up mountain climbing. But given her current living situation (that is nowhere near mountain ranges) she settled for scaling fences, buildings... anything really. It’s given Noriko a very good hand grip. So there’s one dream accomplished in a way.There was also this very, very brief star-studded dream of being a ballerina. Somewhere is a photo album with her dressed up in a tutu and a tiara and a very scratched up dvd of a Nutcracker performance. It was to the point she even took dance lessons very briefly. Then it was made abundantly clear she had two left feet and was kind of bad at spatial awareness; she may have backhanded another child in the face hard enough they got a nosebleed. 30. What does your character find repulsive or disgusting?Despite having a mom who’s a nurse, there’s still a few injuries that weird her out. Broken bones are a big one -- while she can usually gain some composure, it takes a moment or two of turning her head and doing some deep breathing before that kicks in. Extended scenes in movies that show someone picking at their cuticles or tearing their fingernails also make her uncomfortably fidgety and pulling her own hands inside her sleeves. Eye injuries top the list though.She also covers her face if the smell of rotten fish happens to be on the breeze. The texture of eel is gross. She’s also gotten really adept at catching bugs in a tissue because she once crushed a beetle with her bare foot indoors and the feeling of crushed guts with crunchy shell was way worse than learning to snatch a spider. This extends to snails too -- whenever she crunches one with a shoe she’ll make a face of complete disgust. 32. Describe a scenario in which your character feels most uncomfortable.Public speaking is kind of a menace -- if she’s part of a group with others around her, that lessens the stress. Among a small group she knows she’s quiet, but still manages to come up with the occasional clever thing to say.But ask her to address a large crowd of strangers and she starts to fumble for words and look for an exit to make a dash for. That said, large groups at a track meet watching doesn’t bother her -- her feet don’t fail her the same way her tongue trips her up. Another situation is being put on the spot about her own issues and problems -- Noriko’s used to being the judge, not the judged. And she gets away with judging fairly often, because of the impression she makes. She sounds calm, she sounds like a typical ‘wise big sister’. The few people she’ll do that to also tend to be people who respond to that treatment by listening to her criticisms instead of ever pushing back. Anybody who was to ever push back in response to her would probably leave Noriko speechless for a beat or two, followed by some defensive backpedaling and groping for another topic or issue to prop up as more important. If that failed, she’d just clam up entirely.
