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

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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.​
     
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  • Informational
    • Yeah this is definitely not the same choice. This time we get to also make a statement by mix and matching outfits from both genders, just in a subtler manner. Plus, a lot of people are going to be Akitsuni, just dressed in western clothing, so they'll definitely pick up on it.

    [X] Asuka wears the ersatz nonbinary outfit.
     
    [X] Asuka wears the ersatz nonbinary outfit.

    I also view this as a different choice. In Europa, it was made in the context of pushing back against that society's racism and otherwise needing to carve out an appropriate way of dressing in a society that didn't have one for them and didn't even believe that nonbinary people existed. Here, most of that context is absent. Everyone will know what they are trying to do and why; even most of the foreign guests will have probably picked it up by then for all that they'll still be scandalized. And yes, I doubt this will be some kind of big fashion sensation or something, but it sets a precedent others may benefit from in the future.
     
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    brmj said:
    [X] Asuka wears the ersatz nonbinary outfit.
    I also view this as a different choice. In Europa, it was made in the context of pushing back against that society's racism and otherwise needing to carve out an appropriate way of dressing in a society that didn't have one for them and didn't even believe that nonbinary people existed. Here, most of that context is absent. Everyone will know what they are trying to do and why; even most of the foreign guests will have probably picked it up by then for all that they'll still be scandalized. And yes, I doubt this will be some kind of big fashion sensation or something, but it sets a precedent others may benefit from in the future.
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    A lot of the context is actually still.

    The racist element has been replaced with a class warfare element, where wearing traditional clothing has become a sign of being a servant rather than being an inferior specimen, but the rest of the argument goes along the same lines. Traditional clothing is ancient, inferior and bad, western clothing is modern and civilized.

    The non-binary element is also still strongly present. After all, while Akitsukini has it's formalized non-binary role, the people we're going to be talking with tend to believe that said role is another bit of backwards thinking that should be removed.
     
    10ebbor10 said:
    A lot of the context is actually still.

    The racist element has been replaced with a class warfare element, where wearing traditional clothing has become a sign of being a servant rather than being an inferior specimen, but the rest of the argument goes along the same lines. Traditional clothing is ancient, inferior and bad, western clothing is modern and civilized.

    The non-binary element is also still strongly present. After all, while Akitsukini has it's formalized non-binary role, the people we're going to be talking with tend to believe that said role is another bit of backwards thinking that should be removed.
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    I like this, and I'd add that Asuka explicitly identified themselves as low-class in their internal monologue.

    But I think that we need to command attention at this party- Asuke IS the future. Airplanes lead into embracing modernity leads into showing how to carve a place for non-binary in Western spaces leads into showing how to carve a space for Akitsukini in a western-dominated world.

    It's an attractive message: you can have your cake and eat it too. Which is why it makes sense to try and avoid class as an issue tonight. Different audience, totally run with it, but this sort of party is going to regard that as the poison in the cup of the rest of what we are selling.

    So they should go to look new and flashy and with the glamorous boyfriend, and tell the powerful folk that Asuka knows what a bright future for them looks like.
     
    Glau said:
    It's an attractive message: you can have your cake and eat it too. Which is why it makes sense to try and avoid class as an issue tonight. Different audience, totally run with it, but this sort of party is going to regard that as the poison in the cup of the rest of what we are selling.
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    Also Asuka is going to look fucking cute and I am here for that shit.
     
    [X] Asuka wears the ersatz nonbinary outfit

    Among other things, the fact that the traditional outfit would already have an attached connotation (lower status) makes using it to make a statement much harder than it was in Artemis, since Asuka's not high-status enough to make dressing that way actively surprising.
     
    someplaneguy said:
    [X] Asuka wears the ersatz nonbinary outfit.

    It'd be completely out of character for Asuka to choose the other option.
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    I disagree, they have a strong sense of tradition (see the perfectionist grooming routine) that gives them one guidepost for how to dress/speak/behave. The traditionalist impulse wouldn't go for the pants/blouse combo (perish the thought!) because that line of thinking is more about a whitelist of acceptable practices than a blacklist of unacceptable practices.

    Asuka is fundamentally very respectful, so they must still (for their own peace of mind) respect the "in-between-ness" of their gender and the signaling that comes with it. They may not find an adequately non-binary way to express that identity within the Western fashion palette and that would be perfectly in character. If you read through earlier chapters there have been moments where even their personally chosen wardrobe doesn't seem to adequately reach the ideal middle, although they have made strides toward greater assertiveness since.
     
    Fair enough, I was mostly focusing on the amount of effort they put into their appearance and couldn't see them going for the option that wasn't non-binary now that one is available. I now see how the other option is still in character.
     
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    I was a little fed up with everyone wanting Matsura to be cute, but damn.... that IS cute! And finally looks not-so-feminine as other artworks.
     
    I didn't realize how small Asuka is. Are they small by Akitsukuni standards, even? Or is it that Yachi is tall?
     
    Just noted the bowtie. We are getting a head start on coding those queer in the Gayaverse, huh? ;)
     
    Himmelhand said:
    I didn't realize how small Asuka is. Are they small by Akitsukuni standards, even? Or is it that Yachi is tall?
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    Asuka is 5'1", about three inches shorter than average for men (which is relevant because they experienced about half a male puberty), but the average height in Akitsukuni is a really big variable. Asuka, and most of the population really, tend to be protein deficient: as with historical Japan, this is a centuries-long trend (the decline in Japanese heights started in the 1300s!) caused by increasing population that have to be supported on the same farmland. Grazing land just can't be spared: if it's not growing rice or supporting cities, the landscape probably too uneven to do anything with. Akitsukuni is bigger than Japan, but there are large stretches in the north and center that are desolate due to mountains, stone, or harsh sea winds. And parts of the far south are closer in climate and terrain to southeast Asia and its impenetrable jungle than anything in real life Japan, which limited development there for a long while.

    While Yachi grew up very poor, he did so in a city with a huge fishing industry. He's taller than average, but it's a little exaggerated in the drawing. He's actually only 5'5".

    There is a general trend for people to be taller in the north (where Yachi is from) and the far south (where the Kishimotos are from). Genetics? Diet? Who knows, it's 1910 and nobody understands anything. Modern industry might start turning this around... or Akitsukuni might end up on the same perpetual war footing as IRL Japan and make things even worse.

    (also hilariously Haruna is an inch taller than Asuka.)
     
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    No grazing land to spare, you say? Sounds like a problem easily solved with some good, old-fashioned imperialism.

    More seriously, they should be able to import meat and stuff from their occupied holdings, shouldn't they? Especially as the war got them a shitload of territory from pseudorussia.
     
    Elero said:
    No grazing land to spare, you say? Sounds like a problem easily solved with some good, old-fashioned imperialism.

    More seriously, they should be able to import meat and stuff from their occupied holdings, shouldn't they? Especially as the war got them a shitload of territory from pseudorussia.
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    The vast majority of that land is going to be crap, underpopulated boreal forest. It's only useful for the mining. However I'm not quite clear how Akitsukuni has steppe when it's full of volcanic mountains that should enrich the soil, encourage rainfall from sea convection and form rivers that can be used for irrigation and improvement of the land. I think. I'm no good at this sort of imaginary geography stuff but I think central Akitsukuni, if it has flat enough land to look like steppe, will be sort of similar to Alberta.
     
    FrangibleCover said:
    The vast majority of that land is going to be crap, underpopulated boreal forest. It's only useful for the mining. However I'm not quite clear how Akitsukuni has steppe when it's full of volcanic mountains that should enrich the soil, encourage rainfall from sea convection and form rivers that can be used for irrigation and improvement of the land. I think. I'm no good at this sort of imaginary geography stuff but I think central Akitsukuni, if it has flat enough land to look like steppe, will be sort of similar to Alberta.
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    Shhhh don't think about it it's because the guy who did the map drew it really big but I need Akitsukuni to be similar to Japan.
     
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