Post by Sora Shimomura on Aug 11, 2012 8:59:28 GMT -5
"No, the way to dawn."
The famous words of Riku, which has been a trademark for the character...is still passed on with Riku Nomura for Otherborn. This interview we talked to Adam Steiborn about his character, how he got involved, and what his character is and will be involved with.
---
Q: So, our first and obvious question; how did you get involved with Otherborn?
A: Well, I guess it started when I saw a video for Michael Fri's version of Sora and having read his popular work Ghost Rider I was interested naturally but I was wondering what this Otherborn was about so I decided to leave a comment asking and he told me it was a role-playing website and having seen that no one had done Riku I decided to take up the task of bringing him into this new universe and the rest is history as they say.
Q: So you were, in a way, referred by Michael Fri?
A: I guess you could say that. He referred me and his work was what got me to try and step up both my writing and my voice work.
Q: Speaking of works of writing, lets talk Riku Nomura. While he is based on KH's Riku needless to say there are quite a few differences. What ran through your head when creating this character type?
A: Well when I started creating Riku for Otherborn I wanted him to share some similarities with the normal canon Riku like the need to protect Sora, his struggle with darkness and how he uses it for good. But I had to change a few things like making him more bolder as well as depressed for losing his friend.And it was then I decided to play off the Ansem/Riku approach with a demon offering him the power to manipulate darkness in exchange for his service but I decided to switch it up by having Riku kill him once he got the power instead of the typical "Deal With The Devil" trope.
Q: Would you say this Riku tends to wear his emotions out in the open? Versus canon Riku?
A: I would say so and doesn't mean to but keeping it bottled up never does anyone good so he tends to let it out instead of keeping the pain in as I thought it makes him more human and believable as a character.
Versus canon Riku I'd say they differ in this respect while OB Riku is still the tough guy he's also got a more sensitive side as well.
Q: You also did some other interesting aspects, such as Riku being homosexual. While not completely original, I would like to talk a bit of the process. How did you handle that? Taking a character who has been strongly identified as straight and making him homosexual. Did you have reservations? How did you think you handled the process?
A: Now that I think about it I could have made the process smoother but even when I started out I started to weave in hints about Riku's sexuality and while unintentional at first. It was Brendan who's most known as N to shake things up a bit and have one of his NPC named Jaden to have a relationship with Riku. I was hesitant at first but soon I became okay with it due to personal issues that were happening at the time. Overall I think I handled it well and hope to continue to build on it.
Q: Lets talk a bit about Ascension - which takes place six months after the yet to be released City of Vengeance. We are shown that something happened, Sora is now hunted by the government and they laid down the letter of the law - no one connected to the Network or anyone can help Sora. If they do they are charged with treason. What do you think Riku has done in those six months?
A: I haven't expanded upon it due to the time skip still being worked out but if you can recall during "Hell On The Streets" Part of Zarathos fused with that of Riku's darkness turning him into a Rider himself called the Night Rider in honor of Sora. In the time he has learned to control his new powers, transform at will and learned a few new tricks as you may have seen in the debut plot thread about Vaan. He has broken up with Darla and still currently dating Jaden however secretly since he has cut ties with The Network and is picking up the slack after Sora's disappearance like in canon KH. *laughs*
Q: So what would you classify his role as now in Ascension?
A: Seeing what is happening now that it seems Riku has betrayed this person called The Arbiter and Sora is at risk. Riku is very angry and while the demon inside has been defeated, much like his namesake he'll be back...
But I'd classify his role as one of mystery and vengeance while learning who he can rely on.
Q: Alright, thank you for taking the time to answer our questions about Riku.
A: It's no problem and if I can give something away he won't be alone in his search, let's just say a certain "Number II" will be playing in as well but whether he's a ally or foe I'll leave you to decide for now...
Q: We'll keep our ears open.
---
"And with that, concludes our interview with Adam Steinborn. Do you have any comments? Thoughts? Interviews you want to see? Post them below and stay tuned for more updates to plotlines."
The famous words of Riku, which has been a trademark for the character...is still passed on with Riku Nomura for Otherborn. This interview we talked to Adam Steiborn about his character, how he got involved, and what his character is and will be involved with.
---
Q: So, our first and obvious question; how did you get involved with Otherborn?
A: Well, I guess it started when I saw a video for Michael Fri's version of Sora and having read his popular work Ghost Rider I was interested naturally but I was wondering what this Otherborn was about so I decided to leave a comment asking and he told me it was a role-playing website and having seen that no one had done Riku I decided to take up the task of bringing him into this new universe and the rest is history as they say.
Q: So you were, in a way, referred by Michael Fri?
A: I guess you could say that. He referred me and his work was what got me to try and step up both my writing and my voice work.
Q: Speaking of works of writing, lets talk Riku Nomura. While he is based on KH's Riku needless to say there are quite a few differences. What ran through your head when creating this character type?
A: Well when I started creating Riku for Otherborn I wanted him to share some similarities with the normal canon Riku like the need to protect Sora, his struggle with darkness and how he uses it for good. But I had to change a few things like making him more bolder as well as depressed for losing his friend.And it was then I decided to play off the Ansem/Riku approach with a demon offering him the power to manipulate darkness in exchange for his service but I decided to switch it up by having Riku kill him once he got the power instead of the typical "Deal With The Devil" trope.
Q: Would you say this Riku tends to wear his emotions out in the open? Versus canon Riku?
A: I would say so and doesn't mean to but keeping it bottled up never does anyone good so he tends to let it out instead of keeping the pain in as I thought it makes him more human and believable as a character.
Versus canon Riku I'd say they differ in this respect while OB Riku is still the tough guy he's also got a more sensitive side as well.
Q: You also did some other interesting aspects, such as Riku being homosexual. While not completely original, I would like to talk a bit of the process. How did you handle that? Taking a character who has been strongly identified as straight and making him homosexual. Did you have reservations? How did you think you handled the process?
A: Now that I think about it I could have made the process smoother but even when I started out I started to weave in hints about Riku's sexuality and while unintentional at first. It was Brendan who's most known as N to shake things up a bit and have one of his NPC named Jaden to have a relationship with Riku. I was hesitant at first but soon I became okay with it due to personal issues that were happening at the time. Overall I think I handled it well and hope to continue to build on it.
Q: Lets talk a bit about Ascension - which takes place six months after the yet to be released City of Vengeance. We are shown that something happened, Sora is now hunted by the government and they laid down the letter of the law - no one connected to the Network or anyone can help Sora. If they do they are charged with treason. What do you think Riku has done in those six months?
A: I haven't expanded upon it due to the time skip still being worked out but if you can recall during "Hell On The Streets" Part of Zarathos fused with that of Riku's darkness turning him into a Rider himself called the Night Rider in honor of Sora. In the time he has learned to control his new powers, transform at will and learned a few new tricks as you may have seen in the debut plot thread about Vaan. He has broken up with Darla and still currently dating Jaden however secretly since he has cut ties with The Network and is picking up the slack after Sora's disappearance like in canon KH. *laughs*
Q: So what would you classify his role as now in Ascension?
A: Seeing what is happening now that it seems Riku has betrayed this person called The Arbiter and Sora is at risk. Riku is very angry and while the demon inside has been defeated, much like his namesake he'll be back...
But I'd classify his role as one of mystery and vengeance while learning who he can rely on.
Q: Alright, thank you for taking the time to answer our questions about Riku.
A: It's no problem and if I can give something away he won't be alone in his search, let's just say a certain "Number II" will be playing in as well but whether he's a ally or foe I'll leave you to decide for now...
Q: We'll keep our ears open.
---
"And with that, concludes our interview with Adam Steinborn. Do you have any comments? Thoughts? Interviews you want to see? Post them below and stay tuned for more updates to plotlines."
