Post-Final Game Ramblings
Jul. 17th, 2015 07:49 pmThis is a little late, but now that I've run the Masked Lady's final game, I want to talk a little bit about her original story, where I was coming from with her, and where the game took her. This will not be nearly as tidy as Haru's writeup for Marjory and June, but it's intended to sort of serve the same purpose, albeit in a much more ramble-y way.
The Kuchi-sake Onna
"In what is now Shinjuku, a manservant in his mid-teens was walking with an umbrella when he saw a soaking wet woman. The manservant told her to come under the umbrella, and when she turned to face him, her mouth was split from ear-to-ear." So says an Edo-era story, as related by Wikipedia.
The story of the Kuchi-sake Onna -- the Split-Mouthed Woman -- isn't a new one. But the version of the story most people know is the one that became popular in the 1970s as an urban legend (that actually caused quite a panic in some areas). It goes something like this:
Children should be careful when walking home from school, because they might be stopped by a young woman wearing a surgical mask. She'll ask them, "Am I pretty?" If they say yes, she'll pull down the mask, revealing that her mouth has been slit open nearly ear-to-ear. "Even like this?" There is no right answer to this question -- she'll then attack the children.
Regional variations say that you can escape her by saying the word "pomade" (which she hates because ???? who knows) or by giving her candy (which she likes). There are two usual explanations for her appearance: 1) she was disfigured by a jealous (male) lover, or 2) plastic surgery gone horribly wrong.
( Read more... )
As for who she is now? We'll have to see. I really want to thank everyone who ever played in one of her games or threaded with her. But I especially want to thank the people who played in the final game. That was some heavy stuff, and you guys gave her a better resolution than I could have dreamed of. You're all fantastic.
APPEARANCE NOTE: The Masked Lady no longer binds her hair up. She wears it loose with a white spider lily tucked into it. She'll still sometimes wear her mask, but her face is actually present and visible. Generally if the mask is up, she's just holding it on with one hand or covering the right side of her face with it. What were cracks on the doll's face are thin scars on hers. They're not fresh wounds, but they give the impression of having just begun to heal in earnest.
The Kuchi-sake Onna
"In what is now Shinjuku, a manservant in his mid-teens was walking with an umbrella when he saw a soaking wet woman. The manservant told her to come under the umbrella, and when she turned to face him, her mouth was split from ear-to-ear." So says an Edo-era story, as related by Wikipedia.
The story of the Kuchi-sake Onna -- the Split-Mouthed Woman -- isn't a new one. But the version of the story most people know is the one that became popular in the 1970s as an urban legend (that actually caused quite a panic in some areas). It goes something like this:
Children should be careful when walking home from school, because they might be stopped by a young woman wearing a surgical mask. She'll ask them, "Am I pretty?" If they say yes, she'll pull down the mask, revealing that her mouth has been slit open nearly ear-to-ear. "Even like this?" There is no right answer to this question -- she'll then attack the children.
Regional variations say that you can escape her by saying the word "pomade" (which she hates because ???? who knows) or by giving her candy (which she likes). There are two usual explanations for her appearance: 1) she was disfigured by a jealous (male) lover, or 2) plastic surgery gone horribly wrong.
( Read more... )
As for who she is now? We'll have to see. I really want to thank everyone who ever played in one of her games or threaded with her. But I especially want to thank the people who played in the final game. That was some heavy stuff, and you guys gave her a better resolution than I could have dreamed of. You're all fantastic.
APPEARANCE NOTE: The Masked Lady no longer binds her hair up. She wears it loose with a white spider lily tucked into it. She'll still sometimes wear her mask, but her face is actually present and visible. Generally if the mask is up, she's just holding it on with one hand or covering the right side of her face with it. What were cracks on the doll's face are thin scars on hers. They're not fresh wounds, but they give the impression of having just begun to heal in earnest.
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