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 Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 6:53 pm
This will be the thread for lessons.
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Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 9:15 pm
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Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 9:16 pm
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Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 9:20 pm
"The first lesson shall now begin."
Week 1
Basic Rules of Roleplaying.
I know these are minor things, and you have probably read more than your share of these while RPing here at Gaia, but it doesn't hurt to run through them one more time, eh?
Gaia TOS, or whatever rules the RP decides to adopt.
As much as possble, check your spelling, proper punctuation, grammar, etc. Use a dictionary. If you don't understand some of the words I use here, use a dictionary, or at least the thesaurus. Most serious roleplays will ask that you write in novel form, that is, in past tense(-ed form) and in the third person.
Be nice to other players. It's so easy to misunderstand each other in forums chatting/RPing.
Create a believable character, and as much as possible, be able to explain her personality without having to refer to her backstory. Not all characters must have a backstory, particularly a backstory the size of a MAC truck (to borrow from some other thread I read before). Make sure that all the stuff you put in your profile (if the RP asks for one) wil affect how your character will see his/her world/act/interact in the roleplay.
Be aware of what your character knows and does not know. Just because you know how the plot will turn out doesn't mean your character does.
Your character does not equal yourself. Your character does not equal yourself, s/he is fictional. Don't always take everything personally. Your character does not equal yourself. At least you can also use this excuse later on. Yes, I have to repeat, your character does not equal yourself.
Try to read posts carefully. This includes the rules, the setting and story (if there is one), and the posts that concern your character.
Know how long to post. When you post, keep in mind that it must be long enough to give the other players something to "play off" from, or react to. On the flipside, it should be short enough so hat you are not doing too may things in one post, and also not to bore the other players (with all the long flowery descriptions). Know when to cut your actions, so that the people you are playing with have a chance to react to your post.
Roleplaying in the forums.
Most people overlook this part of RPing here in Gaia. With the set-up here at Gaia forums, you can use tools that can affect how other read your post. Font size and color are very suggestive, and you can opt to use that to further get into character (pinks, if you want to get flirty? Up to you...) I think there are more colors than the ones listed in the choices, and I'll try to hunt for them. Just an example, I know that there's cornflowerblue and plum.
There are also the other formatting codes (is that what you call them?) like italicized, bold, underline and strikeout, and paragraph alignments and post styles. Try not to go haywire though, as there's nothing more tiring than having to read something formatted so wacky it hurts one's eyes. Elegance is key, dear geisha.
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Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2006 7:58 am
From the Chracter Help thread by Roka Shotar: The Anti-Munch summaryAnti-Munch Project The people who never miss a single shot no matter how hard it is (Aimbotters). The people who can't be hit or just shrug it off (god-moders). The people who have absurdly strong powers (twinks). The people who 'balance' thier characters by having a massive but irrelevant weakness and massive powers (min-maxers). The people who use Out Of Character knowledge to get an edge (Miss Cleos). The people who do things in hindsight (McFlys). The people who RP other people's characters for them (Puppetmasters). The people who RP completely irrelevant things (Daydreamers). The people who RP actions and time against others while the others aren't presant (Shoe elves). The people who ignore or alter RPs that they don't like (Revisionists). The people who RP an absurdly time consuming sequence occuring between other people's actions (Speedhackers). The people who play as characters that are completely impossible (Oxymorons). The people who arbitrarily declare themselves the winner with instant death attacks (Baghdad Bobbits). The people who've taken actions before they start RPing (Gaseous Snakes). The people who alter thier character as needed for the situation (Zoicite). The people who gain abilities as they need them with no prior exposure (Trinities). The people who pick-up things that spawn from seemingly nowhere (Quakers).
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Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2006 8:11 am
Lesson 1 - A Short History Lesson, and some basic terminologyQuote: Geisha come out of the "floating world" the era of the pleasure quarters, giving rise to today's "flower and willow world" the world of the Geisha.
The origin of the pleasure quarters is attributed to Saburoemon who asked for, and was granted, license to build a brothel by his ruling warlord. This was placed not far from the Imperial Palace in Kyoto and was called the Yanagimachi or Willow Town.
High class courtesans were used to tempt the gentlemen of Kyoto, however objections were made due to its vicinity to the palace and so it was moved to the now infamous Shimabara. The laws of prostitution at the time kept such activities to walled in isolated pleasure quarters, islands of debauchery where a man might be entertained for the evening at a cost, this meant the culture of the quarters was very insular, if not stagnant.
The courtesans of Shimabara while otherworldly and very sophisticated were none the less "available for the night" at ludicrous prices for those who could afford them.
There were several ranks of Shimabara ladies: the highest were the Tayu, followed by the Koshi and Sancha and at the top of the social hierarchy were the Hashi. The Tayu were said to be extremely extravagant and would often hold impromptu fashion parades by flaunting their sumptous clothing in front of the other courtesans, and in doing so specify a natural hierarchy in the pleasure quarter.
Like so many aspects of Japanese culture the courtesans became highly ritualised with strict etiquette ruling who could associate with the ladies of the pleasure quarters. This made way for a new market niche, entertainers outside the pleasure quarters could legally entertain a man in a less intimate manner freely and without the rules that government the ways of the Tayu. Unlicensed pleasure quarters sprang up all over Japan, the appeal of the free thinking unruly women grew rapidly.
Many of these areas were near to Shinto shrines and offered tea and entertainment to pilgrims, lending the name Ochaya (or tea house) to the establishments at which these girls entertained, though liquor was quick to overtake tea on the menu. The Odoroki or dancing girls were very popular in these areas for entertainment, though as some of the girls grew older it became innappropriate to take this name and so called themselves Geisha after the male Geisha of the pleasure quarters who would entertain men at their banquets before they would retire for the night with the courtesans. These male Geisha, or Taikomochi, may have been the first but they were soon superseded by the popularity of the female Geisha.
The ruling lords at the time saw the trends changing and began to ensure that teahouses were licensed much as the pleasure quarters had been. The laws governing Geisha controlled both the services they were allowed to offer and also the way they dressed, in this way it would hope that they would not serve as a threat to the courtesans being neither able to engage in prostitution nor wear the highly decorative clothing of the Tayu. This gives rise to the simplistic kimono and [relatively] simple hairstyles of the Geisha: the point is understated elegance rather than extravagance.
Licensed Geisha districts grew first in Gion and then spreading to other Hanamachi throughout Japan. The Tayu soon seemed to lose their popularity and today there are no full time Tayu in existence, though a handful of women keep up the tradition by playing out the role in daylight hours for exhibitions.
From then on the Geisha were to be the epitomy of high fashion, usually the forerunners of new trends and "Iki" habits. In turn they too became ritualised and as the Geisha dwindle in number they have become as unreachable to the average man as the Tayu were in the pleasure quarter era. As Western culture has taken hold of Japan the Geisha are no longer the denizens of high fashion but the holders of a traditional culture. --from the Silk cherry thread. More notes:
Geisha were made not born. In the feudal setting, most girls enter the trade because they had no choice. They were usually sold to the okiya, which scouts for possible profitable geisha. The girls are then made to pay for their own cost, registration fees, as well as the fee for the geisha arts school, etc. So...basically, girls who plan to become geisha get conscripted (i.e. whether they like it or not) into an okiya, which basically arranges almost everything for them. In turn they work most of their life paying of these debts to the okiya.
I'm sure by now you know about debts, as you have your own debts to your present okiyas, regarding your kimonos.
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Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2006 8:15 am
Reserved for Character Creation
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Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2006 8:19 am
Lesson 2 - Grab your adjectives and metaphors.
The basic allure of a geisha in fiction is how the writer describes her--from her hair, hair ornaments, makeup to her clothes, to the way she crinkles her nose at a customer. Just keep in mind that when you describe, have some sort of flow--either from hair to toes, etc.
Also, since you know the stuff to describe, you'll know what should be interesting to your patrons, at least at first, when you can't talk with them.
A. Appearance.
Make-up.Silk Cherry Hello girls. This is the last lesson for the week. I suggest that we combine two topics and practice both at once: putting on kimono and make-up. I hope all of you have received my messages and brought your kimono with you. Geisha do not dress and put on make up by themselves usually, so I have invited seven professional otokosu (dressers) for each of you to be assisted. What you need to know is the difference between styles of geisha and maiko. While the maids and otokosu help you dress up and put on the make, up, please, listen to a few theory. Make Up: Maiko paint their faces white, but leave a line of bare skin around their natural hairline. There is also a greater amount of pink blush on the cheek and eye area, and her eyes and eyebrows have a noticeable amount of red. She will also only partially paint her lips in (refer to the diagrams below). When Geisha wear the white make-up, they leave no bare hair line, due to them wearing katsura. They have minimal amount of red outlining the eyes and eyebrows, and the pink blush is subtle. She will paint her lips almost in full. A Geisha not wearing white make up will wear a subtle, often natural shade of make-up and her hair pulled back in a simple bun.
Also, the nape(the back of the neck), in Japanese culture, seems to be a very sensual part of a woman's body. It's like nice legs to Westerners (or so my source says). This is also why the kimono's back collar exposes "the first few bumps of the spine." Bottom line is...it's sexay.
Hair and hair ornaments.Quote: Hairstyle: Maiko have their natural hair dressed in various traditional styles according to their position in the Maiko hierarchy. Junior Maiko wear the Wareshinobu style and progress onto the Ofuku style as she becomes a senior Maiko. As a senior Maiko, she has the privilege to wear her hair in the Katsuyama style and Yakko Shimada style for special occasions, and finally the Sakkou hairstyle, right before she becomes a Geisha. The maiko of the Pontocho hanamachi wear an additional 5 hairstyles through the duration of their training: Umemodoki, Oshidori no Hina, Osa Bune/fune, Mizu/sui Guruma and Ikiguruma. Geisha wear a katsura (wig) in the Shimada-mage style (or traditional style of choice). Kanzashi (hairpins): Maiko wear a wide variety of kanzashi such as tsumami kanzashi (also called hana kanzashi, flower hairpins) made from habutae silk. They also wear kushi or tenkazari with silk. These ornaments generally correspond with the relevant season and month. Geisha only wear a few pins and a kushi kanzashi in their hair which are generally plain in style and not covered in silk. This was a direct result of the sumptuary regulations imposed on Geisha during the Edo era. The exception being a Geisha performing a formal tea-ceremony, where she may wear a small hana-kanzashi. A special kanzashi calendar exists that regulates what hairpins geisha are to wear at the certain moment.
Anyway, enough with the gross stuff. Hair ornaments can be lacquered combs, tortoise shell combs, those "sticks" called kanzashi...They are usually stuck well and secure in the hairstyle.Kimono.
I'm sure most of you are familiar with how a kimono looks. To describe the patterns and color of the kimono is important, very much so when you are making your intro post. After all, that's what your patrons will see and make their judgement about you, even before you get the chance to talk with them.Silk Cherry Kimono:Maiko kimono is a noisy (yet tasteful) and colourful affair. She wears a hikizuri kimono, furisode, which has the long sleeves that hang down near her ankles. The upper half of her sleeve will have a tuck along the width, and her shoulders will also have a tuck. Geisha wear the much more refined hikizuri kimono with shorter sleeve length or homongi, if she is not wearing the traditional hairstyle and make-up. Generally, the kimono will be of one solid colour with a subtle pattern towards the bottom. There can also be haori - a jacket worn over the kimono. It was originally men's wear, but the Geisha made it fashionable for women. Obi (kimono belt, a sash used to tie the kimono around the middle):Maiko's obi are long and wide, generally covering a good proportion of her torso from her hip bone to her breast. The back of the obi bow dangles down to her ankles. Geisha wear a narrower obi of a more subtle pattern and generally tie it in the refined Taiko box bow. Collar: With the kimono, Maiko wear a thick heavy embroidered collar. The collar starts of predominately red, with a smattering of white and silver patterns on it, and as she increases in age and experience, it slowly turns to white. The back of the collar though remains red until she turns into a Geisha. A Geisha wears a wide, yet simple white collar. Erikae O Suru - The ceremony of turning of the collar. When the maiko becomes a full Geisha, there will be a ceremony and from then on she will wear a white collar. Geta (wooden sandals): Last, but not least - Maiko wear Okobo - high, unpainted wooden clogs that have a belt on the inside of them. Geisha wear either zori or geta, depending on the occasion. "Geiko and Maiko alway carry a bag with a basket weave bottom topped by a silk drawstring pouch called an ozashiki-kago . In it she carries makeup for touchups, a fan, and a few other items." -- Karyukai
Also, regarding obis and kimonos, the obi is usually more colorful and intricately designed than the kimono, and the colors are always complimentary, if not contrasting, to highlight the beauty of the obi. Keep in mind that the obi is yards and yards of cloth, and without help, it is almost impossible to wrap it around by yourself.
Collars: Unmarried women wear their back collar in a V-shape, while unmarried ones wear it in a U-shape. As mentioned before, the back collar tries to go low, to show most of the back part of the neck.
"And now I'm sure you're quite interested on how a kimono is made.
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