Friendly dancing Ra'shari (Raya Q&A)

[Raya]

I'm glad I decided to keep to playing Raya in this game, her story was ended rather suddenly due to RL last game and I was happy to pick it back up in this one with a lot of new layers to it.

Ask away! I might answer, I might not. Everyone has their secrets

[Qasim al-Basiri]

I'm glad you did too! And I'm glad I also decided to play Qasim. It was fun for these two to finally have meaningful interaction in screen! I had a lot of fun with Raya and thank you for the amazing threads!

As for an actual question what, if anything, surprised you the most this game?

[Soraya al-Menjari]

I'm glad I decided to keep to playing Raya in this game, her story was ended rather suddenly due to RL last game and I was happy to pick it back up in this one with a lot of new layers to it.

Ask away! I might answer, I might not. Everyone has their secrets

If it's a secret, that's fine, but what are Raya's actual plans for the future? And are Sora's own plans something working against them or with them? I know Raya seemed a bit rushed and hesitant, so I was wondering if those feelings stemmed from other plans that might need to be changed.

[Raya]

I'm glad you did too! And I'm glad I also decided to play Qasim. It was fun for these two to finally have meaningful interaction in screen! I had a lot of fun with Raya and thank you for the amazing threads!

As for an actual question what, if anything, surprised you the most this game?

Surprised? Uh...good question. I suppose how the relationships evolved with Raya. I wasn't sure how things would go, and I got to explore a little more of Rayas other side - she's always been confident and able to rely on stories to make herself look smart/experienced, but really she's extremely young and very inexperienced with the world.

If it's a secret, that's fine, but what are Raya's actual plans for the future? And are Sora's own plans something working against them or with them? I know Raya seemed a bit rushed and hesitant, so I was wondering if those feelings stemmed from other plans that might need to be changed.

Raya is really bad at planning ahead she just goes with the moment, so this game has made her mature and think ahead more which made her a bit more flustered and hesitant as now there's a potential rest of her life plan ahead of her and she's rather scared! Also actually admitting that she is in love was a big moment for her because love is a commitment, as is staying here longer, and commitment is the enemy of living in the moment - suddenly there is something/someone to not be as reckless for.

Her plan currently is be with Sora, and find a way to make that work. She has gained attention from her higher ups in her other line of work as well, which is now factoring into her mind, but all her focus still is making things work with her first (and she hopes only) love.

[Qasim al-Basiri]

So I guess a follow up question pertaining to that whole life plan bit (and much like our characters not something that needs to be decided right now) how do you think Raya and Qasim will fit together moving forward in this interesting relationship dynamic?

[Raya]

So I guess a follow up question pertaining to that whole life plan bit (and much like our characters not something that needs to be decided right now) how do you think Raya and Qasim will fit together moving forward in this interesting relationship dynamic?

Awkwardly

For a more serious answer, Raya is still getting to grips on the idea of wanting to be committed to someone for life. The way it got approached in the D4 thread absolutely threw her because she's an extremely private person when it comes to her private life (being an assassin she has a lot of secrets on that side), so finding out she was being talked about in terms of her future when she still was trying to work out what she was feeling towards Soraya raised a lot of red flags. She didn't know if she was being set up by a jealous partner (and thus having to plan how best to kill Qasim and get away), or something else. The 3-way relationship is even harder for her to understand, especially with how Sora and Qasim just accepted it as normal! She thinks Dahabi are even weirder now

For the future? She'll do her best to be friends and get to know Qasim better, but her assassin training has her slightly paranoid that something is going to happen

[Soraya al-Menjari]

I don't know about Dahabi in general but yes, Soraya is a very very very weird woman. Not entirely her fault, but also not entirely innocent on those grounds.

I'm hoping Raya isn't afraid to tell her that.

[Qasim al-Basiri]

Awkwardly

For a more serious answer, Raya is still getting to grips on the idea of wanting to be committed to someone for life. The way it got approached in the D4 thread absolutely threw her because she's an extremely private person when it comes to her private life (being an assassin she has a lot of secrets on that side), so finding out she was being talked about in terms of her future when she still was trying to work out what she was feeling towards Soraya raised a lot of red flags. She didn't know if she was being set up by a jealous partner (and thus having to plan how best to kill Qasim and get away), or something else. The 3-way relationship is even harder for her to understand, especially with how Sora and Qasim just accepted it as normal! She thinks Dahabi are even weirder now

For the future? She'll do her best to be friends and get to know Qasim better, but her assassin training has her slightly paranoid that something is going to happen

What can we say living a life of debauched decadence can lead people to be more open minded about such things I suppose though I am sure things are helped by the fact that Raya is another person that all things considered Qasim would likely have become interested in anyway. Mix that with making the person you love haply and it's not such a hard choice for him!

The D4 thread certainly could have started better, my own mistake there though I think it lead to an interesting conversation. But that all makes sense I'm thinking they will get along well once the situation stops being so weird. Hopefully

[Raya]

Raya is not lecherous in any way. She really does view people based on how they act, not how they look. That doesn't mean she is blind to pretty looks but she is also not swayed by that.

Unfortunately the two Dahabi she knows best (you two) seem to believe this is ok and she has no other people to measure it against, so she believes this is just Dahabi normal now

[Qasim al-Basiri]

Raya is not lecherous in any way. She really does view people based on how they act, not how they look. That doesn't mean she is blind to pretty looks but she is also not swayed by that.

For what it's worth Qasim is actually the same way when it comes to a relationship. He is lecherous only in the way that he is loose with how he engages in physical encounters.

In an actual partner for a relationship he has certain things that he values and are what he actually looks for in a partner. An adventurous spirit, a kind heart, and an open mind are far more important to him than looks. He just got lucky and found people that happen to both contain those traits and be beautiful