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Lieutenant Arisukawa Haruna

Balance Stats
❁ • Work / Life • ❁
❁ • ❁ Warrior / Princess ❁ • ❁
❁ • ❁ Radical / Respectable ❁ • ❁


Tactical Stats
Gunnery 0, Navigation +2, Command +2, Technology -4, Personal -2, Strategy +3

Stress: 3


PLEASE READ THE QUEST RULES BELOW

You collectively vote on the actions of Arisukawa Haruna, the first woman to serve openly in the Imperial Akitsukuni Navy.

This quest is set in a universe which is much like our own circa 1910, but with different politics, cultural norms, and ideas about gender and sexuality, as well as some unusual and advanced technology in places.

We are using this quest to explore themes like breaking the glass ceiling, divergent outlooks on gender and sexuality, colonialism and imperialism, and the place of royalty.

Content Warning
This quest goes some dark places.

There is violence, often explicit, often unfair, often against undeserving targets.

There are not always good options forward. The protagonist is not necessarily a good person.

There is implied content and discussion of sexual harassment and assault.

This is a world where people are often racist, sexist, queerphobic bigots. Sometimes, even the PC and the people they are friends with.

Voting Rules

We will tell you if write-in votes are allowed. If we do not say that write-ins are allowed, they are not. This is to prevent people from unrealistically hedging their bets.

You may proposal other options in a non-vote format, subject to approval, on non write-in votes.

We will tell you when a vote allows approved voting. If we don't say the answer is no, pick an option. We like making people commit.

Discussions makes the GM feel fuzzy.

Game Rules
When we ask you for a roll, roll 3d6. You are aiming to roll equal or under the value of your stat. If you succeed, Haruna gets through the situation with no real difficulties. If you roll above the target value, Haruna will still succeed, but this success will cost her something or add a complication.

Whenever Haruna loses something or faces hardship from a botched roll, she takes Stress. The more Stress Haruna has, the more the job and the circumstances she's in will get to her, and it'll be reflected in the narrative. Haruna must be kept under 10 Stress: if she reaches 10 Stress, she will suffer a breakdown and the results will not be great for her.

Haruna loses stress by taking time for herself, by making meaningful progress on her dreams, and by kissing tall, beautiful women.

Meta Rules
Author commentary is in italics so you know it's not story stuff.

Please don't complain about the system or the fact we have to roll dice. We've heard it before, we've heard it a thousand times across multiple quests. We're not going to change it, and it wears at our fucking souls.

Just going "oh noooo" or "Fish RNGesus Why!" is fun and fine. Complaining at length because you didn't get what you want less so.

If you have a question, tag both @open_sketchbook and @Artificial Girl. If you only tag one of us, you will be ignored. Seriously, we both write this quest.

And yes this is an alt-history type setting with openly gay and trans people, ahistoric medicine, and weird politics. Just... deal, please?

This quest employs a special system called Snippet Votes. Please read this post for more information.
 
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[X] Break down crying (-1 stress, but you will likely be overheard and it may have consequences for your career)

I'd rather not cheat, plain and simple.
 
[X] Protest

I forget, has Aiko been hooking up with her roommate since her and Haruna been a thing? Either way its not the monogamy issue I'm voting against its the hella uneven power dynamic between her and Min-Seo and we don't know if its what she wants or if its what she feels is expected of her.

Haruna suspects it, but as her social upbringing has taught her it's not something you're supposed to confront people about/bring out into the open unless it's very obvious/being flaunted.

See: Her father having multiple mistresses and her suspecting that her mother also has a lover.
 
[X] Break down crying (-1 stress, but you will likely be overheard and it may have consequences for your career)
[X] Protest

Not super big ont he monogamy concern, but the power dynamics here are kind of skeevy, and made worse by the fact that I don't know if she's being pressured into this (either directly or via assumed implications).
 
I want Haruna to be a good person. Not cheating on your girlfriend is a thing good people do.
I don't think Akio or her brother would seriously begrudge it in the circumstances. More significantly, I don't think Haruna is in a state to be thinking about them over I almost died! I killed people! People in my command died right next to me! I might die tomorrow! Ooh, soft lips...

Anyway, Haruna and Akio are both pretty young and I don't want to tie them down to strict monogamy yet.
 
Haruna has a cultural tendency against monogamy?

Royals having lovers outside of their formal partners appears to just be how society is run, even beyond the usual polynormative thing (which doesn't come into play here because Haruna doesn't care about boys).

Akio, however, is much more likely to care about monogamy, and we might have to work through guilt there if anything is going on, later.
 
[X] Give in (-2 stress)
[ ] Protest

Go big or go home. I'd rather have the exciting new problems either of these options is liable to cause than the largely "the same but more" outcome of giving people excuses to keep Haruna away from important postings.

Now, yes, you could argue that Protest and the resulting Break could have that same effect...but given that they're separate vote options, I'm inclined to assume there will be meaningful difference in the consequences.

In all honesty, Protest is probably my preferred option just to see how it would go, but it also doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell right now and approval voting isn't allowed so I'll settle for second-best.
 
Haruna has a cultural tendency against monogamy?

Royals having lovers outside of their formal partners appears to just be how society is run, even beyond the usual polynormative thing (which doesn't come into play here because Haruna doesn't care about boys).

Akio, however, is much more likely to care about monogamy, and we might have to work through guilt there if anything is going on, later.

Aiko, not Akio :p
 
[X] Break down crying (-1 stress, but you will likely be overheard and it may have consequences for your career)
 
I don't think Akio or her brother would seriously begrudge it in the circumstances. More significantly, I don't think Haruna is in a state to be thinking about them over I almost died! I killed people! People in my command died right next to me! I might die tomorrow! Ooh, soft lips...

Anyway, Haruna and Akio are both pretty young and I don't want to tie them down to strict monogamy yet.

The thing is, the way to do that involves discussion. Cheating and polygamy aren't the same thing. Like, if we want to, as soon as we go back (having not cheated), like, talk to Aiko about this sort of thing, it might be difficult but fruitful and may help in the future, potentially. But cheating on someone and then going to them and going, "So, maybe we shouldn't be strictly tied down to monogamy" is the worst way to do it.
 
The thing is, the way to do that involves discussion. Cheating and polygamy aren't the same thing. Like, if we want to, as soon as we go back (having not cheated), like, talk to Aiko about this sort of thing, it might be difficult but fruitful and may help in the future, potentially. But cheating on someone and then going to them and going, "So, maybe we shouldn't be strictly tied down to monogamy" is the worst way to do it.
yeah, and this is like... castles isn't whispers, where arren is supernaturally patient perfect fantasy boyfriend, the poly stuff is idealistic and easy, and people are quick to forgive. castles is a much more consequence-y story and cheating on your girlfriend is, well, cheating on your girlfriend.

EDIT: to be clear, you will vote to choose how haruna's breakdown manifests if that's what happens.
 
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The thing is, the way to do that involves discussion. Cheating and polygamy aren't the same thing. Like, if we want to, as soon as we go back (having not cheated), like, talk to Aiko about this sort of thing, it might be difficult but fruitful and may help in the future, potentially. But cheating on someone and then going to them and going, "So, maybe we shouldn't be strictly tied down to monogamy" is the worst way to do it.

I'm not saying this how Haruna would go about loosening the bonds of monogamy even if she wants to. I'm saying I don't want her locked down as perfectly faithful in her first relationship. I don't think Haruna is thinking about relationships at all right now. Guilt, regret, negotiations about openness, ethics of power - those are tomorrow's problems.
 
[X] Break down crying (-1 stress, but you will likely be overheard and it may have consequences for your career)
Adhoc vote count started by brmj on May 12, 2019 at 4:43 PM, finished with 4245 posts and 31 votes.
 
[X] Protest

I am tired of the constant excuses to keep our Princess away from important postings (not that it being a constant thorn in her side isn't accurate, but I'm tired nonetheless), so I'll default to the other option that I can make emotional sense of.
 
Not sure what to vote for, because while I feel like the power dynamic issue would be a big thing for Haruna I also feel like she's not mentally capable of putting up much resistance to her primal urge to be comforted at the moment. Essentially, if Min-seo can somehow demonstrate that she wants to have sex with Haruna, Haruna won't argue any further.
 
[X] Protest
Yeah especially with the people pointing out how this might be Min Seo assuming it's the "compensation" was for I'd rather haruna not...so I'll switch to whichever of this and the crying has the most votes when I check again later in the day
 
Okay, y'know what, Protest is pulling in enough votes to look like maybe a viable option so I'll go ahead and try for it after all.

[X] Protest
 
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