Remove ads

Aircraft Design Company- Matsura's Planes Are Always Fastest!

Reader mode
Remove ads
Character Sheet
  • Informational


    • ​
    Stress
    0​
    Office Stress
    0​
    XP
    5​

    Matsura Asuka
    Head Designer for Ohara Airworks
    Age 24 (Legally 25)
    Year 12 AF (After Flight)

    Design Stats
    Aerodynamics Engineering - +2
    Structural Engineering - +2
    Chemical Engineering - +1
    Mechanical Engineering - +1
    Ballistics Engineering - +1
    Electrical Engineering - 0

    Personal/Political Stats
    Social Skills - 0
    Politics Skills - 0
    Importance - 2
    Income - 1
    Investments - Ohara

    Resources
    Power - 0
    Wealth - 2

    Designs
    Type 1 Series - Military Variation (Designated T1M1)
    Type 2 Racer (World Speed Record October 1910-April 1911, 180kph)
    Model 2 Scout (Designated T1M2)
    Navy Scout Prototype (Drowned Rat)
    Dive Bomber B1M1 "Duck"
    Machine Gun Carrier R1A "Dragonfly" (World Speed Record May-July 1911, 200kph)
    Naval Rescue Water-Landing Supply Plane NR1M0 "Dolphin" (World speed record 240kph)
    Rhino Demon Train Hunter
    The world's first airliner
    The world's first pulsejet airplane

    Assets
    Slide Rule
    Computator (1 Reroll per Routine)

    Languages
    Albian
    Gallian

    Familiar Vices
    Drinking
    Prostitutes
    Dancing

    Family Life
    - Engaged to Arita Yachi, formerly the leading Ace in the Imperial Army. Designated #1 Cutest Army Boy, he's having some serious problems with PTSD right now.
    - Taking a second try at dating Mikami Kiho, ex-dockerwork from the south.

    Upgrades
    - 3 XP to upgrade a stat.

    Ohara Airworks
    Start Up, Imperial Capital, Akitsukuni

    Owner
    - Mr. Ohara, Rich. Aircraft Enthusiast. Business guy.

    Engineers

    Kibe Koume, 26, Office Manager
    Tiny & angry, Kibe went to school in Albia, picking up the language, the religion, and a fuckload of swear words. Speaks Albian.
    Mechanical +2, Ballistics +1
    Office Manager: If Kibe is not assigned to a team, the Office Stress is reduced by 1.

    Sakane Jun, 26, Second Team Leader
    A soured patriot, Sakane is married and has a young child being raised gender-neutrally. His two brothers who fought in the war.
    Structural +2, Aerodynamics +1
    Team Leader: If there are any additional projects, Sakane will lead them.
    Joinery: Sakane has training in the traditional Akitsukuni carpentry art of joinery, creating complex self-supporting joints with no fasteners or glue. When working with non-monocoque wooden spars or ribs, +1 Structural.

    Tezuka Kenji, ???
    A stoner with occasional flashes of insight. Nobody really knows what he does, but he's probably useful?
    Aerodynamics +2, Chemical +1
    Flashes of Brilliance: Each natural 10 rolled by any team Tezuka is assigned to gives +1 forward to the next research roll.

    Hasegawa Morio, 26
    A hopeless nerd with a photography habit, mostly on account of developing his own film, Hasegawa seems to do nothing but work and stack card houses, but somehow has an incredible attractive boyfriend. Speaks Gallian.
    Chemical +2, Ballistic +1
    Silent Workhorse: Hasegawa can work on two different projects at once for no cost to Office Stress, providing they use different stats.

    Kawamura Yosai, 25.
    Serially successful womanizer and incredibly attractive, Kawamura doesn't seem to have much of a personality outside of seducing women. Well, except for that time he seduced Asuka, which nobody talks about. Speaks Dyske.
    Structural +2, Electrical +1, Social +1
    Easily Distracted: If Kawamura is working on the same team as a female or non-binary employee, the team is at -1d10.

    Koide Hatsu, 24.
    One of the few female graduates of an Akitsukuni engineering school, Koide is brilliant and incredibly driven, but her first job at Akibara was both humiliating and exposed her to an abusive coworker. Her father is a rich businessman with factories in Joseon, and she's engaged to Ken from Castles of Steel. Speaks Joseon.
    Mechanical +2, Structural +1
    No Sleep: If you let her, Koide will work herself to death. She can work a second project for no Office Stress, but all her stats will be reduced to 1 for the routine.

    Kobayashi Ayao, ???
    Disowned heiress of the Kobayashi family, all Kobayashi wanted was a career and to be a modern woman. For her trouble, a cousin threw acid on her, scarring her face, neck, much of her torso, and her left arm. Despite appearing serene and above it all, she's actually an avowed communist activist and baseball player.
    Aerodynamics +2, Social +2

    Adachi Ren, 24
    Adachi learned chemistry from her father, one of the most famous chemical engineers in the country, rather than through formal schooling. She's married, has a kid, and takes spirituality very seriously. Yes, you did the math right, she had Yuki when she was 17. It's 1912, folks.
    Chemical +2, Electrical +1
    Young Mother: Adachi will cause double Office Stress if she has to work multiple tasks.

    Uyeno Sei, Ballistics Engineer, 31.
    The oldest member of the crew, this is Uyeno's second career. Her first was as an officer in the Imperial Navy with specialized technical training: her very promising career was cut short by her transition. Her work in a naval arsenal on machine-guns landed her the job here. Briefly dated Satomi (the age range is a bit creepy but again, 1912), she's missing a piece of her ear and is deaf on that side, from an exploding cannon. Recently returned from Varnmark from experimental surgery, she's known for her skill navigating gendered bureaucracy.
    Ballistic +3

    Mi Kyung-Jae, 23
    A recent graduate of the Imperial College of Heijo, Mi is from the recently annexed territory of Joseon. For those keeping track at home, that means he's a Korean national living in Imperial Japan in 1912. We haven't seen much of his personality because he's rightfully terrified of everything around him. He has a specialty in endurance engine design and modification. Speaks Joseon.
    Mechanical +1, Chemical +1
    Endurance Engines: Mi has an excellent understanding of metallurgy and tolerances. Any engine he works on gains +1 Reliability if a 16+ is rolled.
    Pulsejet Wizard: Mi is now one of the world's leading experts on the pulsejet engine. He can be given his own project to custom-craft pulsejet engines, and he gives +1 to any pulsejet-related project.
    Joseon National: Mi does not have security clearance to work on any top-secret projects.

    Miyoshi Shigeri, 23.
    A non-binary person and admirer of Asuka's work, they were in an support role in the Army before joining the company.
    Structural +1, Mechanical +1, Aerodynamic +1
    Mechanic: Miyoshi has some experience repairing and refurbishing aircraft. They get +1 if assigned on the clean-up phase.


    Other Employees
    - Ohara Satomi, 22, Mr. Ohara's niece and the company test pilot, Ohara is a general lesbian disaster. She's good at flying planes, driving cars, and kissing girls. She's bad at being patient, being respectable, and sticking to literally anyones conceptions of gender roles. Deeply in lesbians with Coralie D'Amboise.
    - Fujkikawa Sotatsu, old, modelmaker. He's an old man and toymaker and we don't see much of him because he locks himself in his workshop a lot. He's friends with Kawamura?

    Assets
    - Engine Test Rig (Allows engine tweaking and optimization.
    - Wind Tunnel (+1 Aerodynamics)
    - Rapid Prototype Lab (+1 Clean Up)
    Expanded Cast

    Akitsukuni Industry
    - Homura Mohoko: Head Engine Designer for Kobayashi. First female engineer in the country. A lot of sex appeal.
    - Okumura: Head of Akibara aircraft design.
    - Yamanaka Hajime: Kobayashi engineer. Young and eager.
    - Igarashi Masazumi: Kobayashi engineer. Reserved and experienced.
    - Admiral Akibara Toru: Imperial Navy Admiral. Maximum nepotism. Maximum douchebag.
    - Lt.Cmnd Akibara Shinzo: The above's son. A hottie but very forward.



    Character Families
    - Matsura(?) Mizuko: Asuka's sister. Was paralyzed in an accident in Asuka's first flight. Lives Elsewhere and is married now. Can't forgive Asuka, even though she's tried.
    - Adachi Motoki: Adachi's husband, an accountant. Legally blind.
    - Adachi Yuki: Adachi's 7 year old daughter and wannabe pilot. Very adorable.
    - Yachi's Brother: Exists.
    - Sakane's Wife: Exists. Drives him a bit crazy, but he loves her.
    - Yachi's Brother's Wife: Exists. Is statistically likely to be pregnant.
    - Lt. Coralie D'Amboise: Gallian pilot in exile. Satomi's girlfriend. 25. Accomplished bisexual duelist. She flew in the war for a single day, and for her troubles got a hole blown in her cheek and had her left arm paralyzed.

    Akisukuni Army & Ex-Army
    - Lt. Torio Tanaka: Yachi's former observer as an enlisted man. Was jumped up to fly Ducks and lost a leg on his first mission. A trained painter, married to Torio Saya.
    - Captain Amari Shiro: A Dragonfly pilot who ended up flying as Yachi's partner. Kind of delightfully twinky. They sorta slept together at one point, which wasn't great. He lost his previous boyfriend in the April Offensive and turned his plane into a shrine. He was shot in the gut and is still recovering.
    - Major Izuhara: Logistics officer, Imperial Army, this bespectled officer stood up to the Caspian Crown Prince and accidentally kicked off the Akitsikuni-Caspian War. The guilt was so much that, after almost a year of running Army procurement, he shot himself in a phone both.
    - Captain Nakai Sekien: Army scout pilot. First person to drop a bomb from an airplane, later head of the Duck Squadrons.
    - Captain Teshima: A Desk pilot that fought with Yachi. Lost an arm in the process, took over for Major Izuhara after his death. Seems cheery despite it all.
    - Captain Nashio: A real piece of shit dude and probably a rapist, he's also a war hero as the second-highest scoring ace on the Akitsukuni side. He was a young shitty kid in way over his head but it's no excuse.
    - Lt. Kinjo: Kind of a dumb lump and Nashio's friend, one of the desk pilots. Dead at 19.
    - Lt. Okazaki: Yachi's friend from before the war and pilot, he died in a spin in his dragonfly. His death probably hit Yachi the hardest.

    Westerners
    - Rose & Antoinette Sears: Pioneers of flight. Sisters. Black in 1910s not!America. Yikes.
    - Timina Guasti: Famous aircraft designer from Otrusia. Likes big planes and green.
    - Prince Protasov Vasilyevich: Crown Prince of Great Caspia. Real dick. You gotta hand it to him though, a decent flier.
    - Count von Zeppelin: Invented rigid airships. Runs a successful airline business. Damned impressive.
    - Bennhold: Aircraft Engineer. Experimenting with metal aircraft.
    - Aileen Middlemiss: Albian reporter for the Artimis Times. Well meaning and oblivious.
    Available Tech
    • Materials: Wood, Duralumin, Molded Wood, Wood & Silk Composite, etc
    • All engine mounts
    • All wing types
    • Basic reinforcement
    • Wing warping and ailerons
    • Basic water radiators
    • Flying Wings
    • Semi-Monocoque design (requires at least half the slots have frame pieces)
    • Valved pulsejets
    • Basic weapon mounts and turrets
    Tech not Yet Developed
    • Custom engines
    • Monocoque construction
    • Cantilever Wings and associated tech
    • V and T tails
    • Tailless designs
    • Aluminum and titanium
    • Cellulose surfacing
    • Any kind of radar
    • Weapon accessability mods
    • Interruptor gear
    • Geared propellers
    • And Maybe Other Stuff
    Akitsukuni
    Island Nation

    Government
    Constitutional Monarchy
    - The democratic portions of the government are dubiously legitimate.
    - The head of state is the Empress of Akitsukuni. She gives her blessing to newly formed governments.
    - The Navy and a small number of families have undue influence on politics.

    Economy
    Developing Mixed Market
    - Most industry is controlled by a small number of wealthy, family-owned companies.
    - The state provides most contracts to industry. Consumer good market is anemic.
    - Exports are few, mostly cultural.
    - Imports are raw minerals, food, oil, and expertise.
    - Currently suffering an economic crash after the last war.

    Politics
    The Diet is currently ruled by a Constitutional Nationalist government. It has a system of nonlocal proportional representation, with representatives appointed by the party in accordance to their share of the vote.
    - Constitutional Nationalists: 50%
    - Purity Club: 9%
    - New Independents: 26%
    - Fairness Association: 11%
    - United Communist League: 2%
    - Monarchists: 1%
    - Assorted Fringe Parties: 5%

    Demographics
    Akitsukuni is mostly very ethnically homogeneous. Around 5% of the population are various minorities, most from nearby countries. Roughly .1% are westerners here for business or in advisory positions.
    - Population: 55 Million
    - Religion: Mostly Kodo. Roughly 2% of the population follows western religions.
    - Wealth: Most wealth is concentrated in the top 5% of the country. Nearly 20% of the population lives in conditions indistinguishable from peasantry.
    - Urbanization: Heavily urbanized for a small economy: 35% and rapidly growing.

    Military
    At Peace
    - Imperial Akitsukuni Navy (IAN): The 6th largest in the world, and the most experienced.
    - Imperial Akitsukuni Army (IAA): 150,000 highly experienced soldiers, and a considerable reserve.

    Aspects
    - Poor Resources: Aluminum costs +1.
    - Damn Akitsukuni Engines!: Engines have -1 Reliability.



    The Main Character Of This Quest Is Nonbinary And Uses They/Them Pronouns.

    I Am Putting This Here Because The Next Person To Misgender Them Is Getting Yeeted Into The Trash

    Also here's the Gayaverse TV Tropes page, because why not.​
     
    Last edited:
  • Informational
    • 10ebbor10 said:
    Interstingly, that makes the enby gender role a privilege for the rich.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    To a degree. I plan on going into more detail soon about how this stuff was handled fairly soon, but basically there's a tradition of like... apprenticeships for this whole thing. Sorta the way that in real life, a lot of trans people turn to older trans people to help them with bureaucracy and transition and learning Gender Shit, but like... more serious. Almost surrogate child-esque.

    Asuka basically had a mentor back in their village.
     
    Last edited:
    Redhead222 said:
    how much could we invest say in the city around us to gain favor and help the community.

    also can we spend like 3 xp to up social or something?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    You might be able to do that and possibly parlay a point of Wealth into a point of Political Power. It'd involve a Social roll.

    We'll deal with XP spending soonly: I'll make and sticky a post to handle it.
     
    open_sketchbook said:
    To a degree. I plan on going into more detail soon about how this stuff was handled fairly soon, but basically there's a tradition of like... apprenticeships for this whole thing. Sorta the way that in real life, a lot of trans people turn to older trans people to help them with bureaucracy and transition and learning Gender Shit, but like... more serious. Almost surrogate child-esque.

    Asuka basically had a mentor back in their village.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    2 questions
    A: Are they still alive?
    B: Are they proud of us???
     
    I'd much rather spend wealth to increase our wealth/income. That's the kinda thing that has long term knock-on effects.
     
    "Every traditional family has an enby Personal Secretary who has the ear of the head of the family." seems like something we might just be able to exploit the living shit out of if we try to advance enby rights.
     
    open_sketchbook said:
    Women can vote, but their votes are counted for half. They also aren't allowed to vote for parties that don't already have representation in the Diet. This makes the WEL getting representation last election kind of a huge deal that came totally out of left field.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    This can have tremendous repercussions during the next election if the women as a voting block are unified behind them. Sure, it's only half a vote per woman, but women on the average tend to be more than half the adult population, if only by a slim margin.

    Of course, it's unlikely that happens due to a number of factors, but it's not impossible.
     
    women are less than half the voters, though. a single man with a good enough salary can vote on his own, but wages are considerably depressed for women. that means either you are are a rare woman who has a good position, like the engineers at Ohara or some lawyers, or either your dad or your husband makes enough to put you over the line.

    this can mean that marrying can lose or gain you your voting rights, for instance. it's deeply fucked and not popular.
     
    Here are my medium-long term votes for policies:

    [X] Support for nationwide electrification and expanded transportation infrastructure

    This one is nice and simple. Zap zap zoom zoom make country go wooooo!

    [X] Equal voting power for all voters
    [X] Reduce the tax threshold for voting rights
    [X] Eliminate the tax threshold for voting rights

    Getting women to have a full vote would be a tremendous step forward. Not sure if it would be more or less difficult than expanding the right to vote to a lower tax threshold or abolishing the tax limit.

    [X] Expand coverage of the veterans' safety net to disabled civilians

    Basing our social safety net on the expansion of existing policies is probably the best way to get that past a conservative government.

    [X] Expand government investment in universities and research institutions.

    Also pretty self-explanatory. Perhaps something to tie in with the infrastructure bill, like technical colleges to provide skilled workers for the demands of a larger, more robust power network.

    Hopefully these aren't too big to be approachable at some point, though it would definitely make sense if we don't have the clout to push some of these for a while.
     
    open_sketchbook said:
    women are less than half the voters, though. a single man with a good enough salary can vote on his own, but wages are considerably depressed for women. that means either you are are a rare woman who has a good position, like the engineers at Ohara or some lawyers, or either your dad or your husband makes enough to put you over the line.

    this can mean that marrying can lose or gain you your voting rights, for instance. it's deeply fucked and not popular.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Ah, but you make an error here. Women in Japan are generally in charge of the household finances, which IIRC is a historical and cultural trait and as such should translate to Akitsukuni. Which also means that it's the women that pay the poll tax. As a result, while it's hard to argue that only the woman in a household votes, when the poll tax is paid the practicalities of it mean that both the husband and the wife vote. Or at least are able to vote. Or neither, because clearly the money that could go towards the poll tax is instead going to something far more important and the husband will have a hard time arguing against it.

    He's not likely the one to decide where the money goes after all.

    Still, even if only 3 or 4% of the Diet's lower chamber are from the WEL that's a major victory. That can be just enough to swing some key bits of legislation in return for support from bigger parties on matters the WEL considers important, and that's right in the name.
     
    Hazard said:
    Ah, but you make an error here. Women in Japan are generally in charge of the household finances, which IIRC is a historical and cultural trait and as such should translate to Akitsukuni. Which also means that it's the women that pay the poll tax. As a result, while it's hard to argue that only the woman in a household votes, when the poll tax is paid the practicalities of it mean that both the husband and the wife vote. Or at least are able to vote. Or neither, because clearly the money that could go towards the poll tax is instead going to something far more important and the husband will have a hard time arguing against it.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Yeah, making the voting franchise about household income rather than individual makes sense. Especially since until recently, women didn't vote at all, I think.
     
    DarkLight140 said:
    This is the right vote to hatch a genius scheme to make a fortune and get it started, though, so if anyone's got one now would be a great time to mention it.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Seems simple enough, actually?

    [X] Ask Mr. Ohara if he's looking for investors for making an airline branch or for expanding the firm.
    [X] Invite Graf Zeppelin for a demonstration. He wanted ten passengers over a hundred kilometres, and we can easily top that. Does he want to buy any?
     
    Last edited:
    Artificial Girl said:
    As I understand it, it IS about household income.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    And at that point, half, or close to half, of the people who actually vote are going to be female, simply because a woman from a middle class family is going to be able to afford taking the time to vote the way some of the men can't because they are the major earners.

    Unless there's a major effort to keep the women's vote suppressed otherwise, which is not impossible. But one of those efforts just failed horribly now that the WEL is in the Diet.
     
    open_sketchbook said:
    The Purity Club are proto-fascists. populist rhetoric but their upper ranks literally want a resurgent shogunate.

    The Constitutional Nationalists are bog-standard 1910s conservatives. They think the government should just be an army and that army should do whats best for the country. Like invading more of Cathay.

    The New Independents are a liberal/libertarian party. Into cool Western enlightenment values like freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and equality for women. Also into less cool Western enlightenment values like imperialism, queerphobia, and capitalism.

    The Fairness Association are progressives on a range from social democrats to democratic socialists, mostly. Popularish mostly among the people not allowed to vote, which makes them fairly fringe. Slightly less of a Western values fetishization but still present. Pacifistic. Also, idealists who have never really held meaningful power and don't have much institutional experience.

    The United Communist League is the borderline illegal leftist party which may or may not be allowed on the ballot come election day. Believe in a violent revolution of the proletariat, kinda iffy on the democracy thing, swears loyalty to the Empress only because they only really get votes from academics but have solid support in urban workers. Also, about as racist as the Purity Club.

    Not really fitting in, the Monarchists just want all this dumb democracy out of the way so that Empress can rule directly, the Still Waters party are proto-environmentalists, and there's a single-issue feminist party called the Women's Equality League that snuck a single rep into power last election against all odds (likely due to the volatility of the that election).
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    So to put it into Kaiserrech terms:

    Paternal Authocrats: the Monachists
    Authoritarian Democrats: The Constitutional Nationalists? (not sure which of the two fits)
    National Populists: Purity Club
    Social Democrats: The Fairness League
    Totalists (Commies that are honset about being totalitarian twats): none
    Syndicalits (Commies): The United Communist League?
    Radical Socialists (less extreme commies): none
    Social Liberals: none
    Social Conservatives: The Constitutional Nationalists? (not sure which of the two fits)
    Market Liberals: The New Indipendants

    Or in CBTS terms:

    Communism: United Communist League
    Authoritarian Socialism: none
    Democratic Socialism: Fairness League (more radical members)
    Social Democracy: Fairness League (less radical members)
    Social Liberalism: none
    Market Liberalism: Fairness League
    Centrism: none
    Conservatism: Constitutional Nationalists? (not sure which of the two fits)
    Authoritarian: Constitutional Nationalists? (not sure which of the two fits)
    Monarchism: Monarchists
    Nationalism: Purity Club (fascism doesn't quite fit their brand of crazy and hasn't been invented yet)
    Fascism: not a thing yet
     
    Last edited:
    Hm... The politics question is tough because I don't think Matsura has the skill or temperament for most traditional political action. And they're not rich enough (yet) to just through money at the problem.

    So, what do they have?

    Assets
    • (Moderate) Wealth
    • (Moderate) Fame (primarily among industrialists and academics)
    • (Probably some) Contacts in the army
    • Access to planes
    • Mathematical skill
    • Traditional role of enbies (trustworthy go-between)
    • Relatively unknown (No target on their back, yet)
    Liabilities
    • Wealthier, more famous, and more respectable opponents
    • Poor relations with the navy
    • Poor social skills
    • General introversion and/or social anxiety
    • Traditional role of enbies (no direct action/confrontation)
    • Relatively unknown (Needs to find an audience).
    Hm... gonna have to think about this.
     
    Last edited:
    First things first, we gotta know the big movers and shakers in Our preferred party. Whats say we offer those folx a plane ride?
     
    In another world, Matsura could probably do wonders with polling data or they could start a think tank. But I just don't think either would be useful in contemporary Akitsukuni (and they're also long term plans)

    Here's an idea: what if Matsura tries to set themself up as a go-between/mediator between the various leftist factions? That seems like the kind of behavior that's expected of enbies. Admittedly, I'm not sure how to do that and it could be socially demanding.

    Alternatives:
    • Buy influence in a newspaper.
    • Sound out army contacts for any progressive sympathies
    • Reach out to other enbies. See where their politics lie and if they might organize
    • Push Mr Ohara for better policies (parental leave?) to start that conversation in industrial circles
     
    [ ] Find some intellectuals or grad students in need of money (stats majors ideally) and pay them to subscribe to literally all the newspapers in Akitsukuni and collate their polling data.
    -[ ] Making sure the intellectuals who collated the data are properly credited, send the results to the national papers.

    Good Idea? Bad Idea?

    Bit of both?
     
    Last edited:
    I don't know what good it does us to distribute the national polling data. We can certainly show it to parties we like but no clues for the Purity Club, thank you very much.
     
    Or that our poll sucks because it's a weird frankenpoll made from adding together multiple early 20th century polls which probably have varying questions and methodologies. This isn't going to be an amazing poll, and I think the last few years have shown most of us that even modern polling can get stuff badly wrong.

    I mean yeah, obviously someone is going to rig the election. We just can't prove it like this.
     
    [x] Send up airplanes to drag Fairness Association banners around all the major cities.

    This is a way of association the FA with modernity and exciting new things, catching a lot more attention than other types of advertising, and sending the message that stuff made and designed locally can be cutting edge.

    And its something we can actually do without a lot of groundwork.
     
    Reader mode
    You must login or register to reply here.
    Remove ads
    Back
    Top