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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
    • open_sketch said:
    also, while adcq is on temporary hiatus this is a good time to check out Castles of Steel, which explores Akitsukuni from the perspective of a high class woman entering the navy.
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    Oh, i already read CoS fully.

    That's how i found this actually.

    I guess i will have to check Natural Born Soviet Airwoman, it sounds awesome.
     
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    11-7: The Butcher of Heijo
  • Threadmarks
    • The Ohara team was sort of unofficially the team of choice for producing Army machines, so the interservice rivalry had taken root in the office was well. There was plenty of good-natured ribbing towards your engineer for daring to marry a navy officer, which she took well in stride in the days leading up to it. There was also buzz around the people that would be coming: apparently the groom and Major Arita wouldn't the only war heroes that would be in attendance.

    "A princess?" You exclaimed, scarcely able to believe it.

    "Not just a princess, the princess. Second woman in the Navy and all that." Uyeno said, grinning. "Or... depending on the state of my paperwork, the third? I'm pretty sure the household registry thinks I have a twin brother at this point."

    That wasn't the only big name on the guest list. Also in attendance was Shinzo Akibara, who'd you had a passing acquaintance with about a year ago, who'd apparently been nominated the heir of the Akibara industry and fortune. That made you feel a little weird.

    "I can't believe you passed that guy up, honestly." Kibe had said. You rolled your eyes.

    "I was holding out for Yachi, come on." You insisted.

    "But the money. He could have basically handled you Akibara Air Productions! And the engine works! And... spirits, the mansion..."

    "He wasn't even the heir then." You said, a bit irritated. "And he sort of made me uncomfortable."

    "How so?"

    "I dunno. I got a vibe." You said. Sometimes you ran into guys (or, rarely, women) who quite clearly didn't care a bit for you as a person, but... well, Shinzo hadn't done anything wrong, but something had rubbed you the wrong way, and you trusted your instincts on that front.

    And again, you were holding out for Yachi.

    The Friday before the wedding, the last day of work, you were in Mi's pulsejet workshop, watching him direct workers in rolling a steel sheet for the latest test engine. The last one had been made too thin and had more or less melted in operation, which wasn't great.

    As the two of you retired to the workdesks to look over the math for the engines (Mi was trying to work out rough equations to make things easier, but it wasn't easy), and you noticed Mi looking nervous. Well, more nervous than usual.

    "You alright there?" You asked.

    "A bit nervous about..." He sort of waved his hands vaguely.

    "You're not the one getting married." You joked. He did crack a smile, a rarity.

    "No, just... I don't know why I'm going. I'm a new hire, I barely know Koide!"

    "You talk with her all the time. You seem to be good friends, as best I can tell." You said. It might have been because their desks in the main office were right next to each other, but they also seemed to play off each other well.

    "... I... yeah. It's just with... the guests. Um, the princess?" He said, his voice dropping near to a whisper.

    "What about her?" You leaned in to hear him better.

    "She's... a few years ago, she came to the city where I was studying at the time. For... annexation day. And..." He swallowed nervously. "A couple of us in the engineering department, we went to... to see, I guess, and... do you remember? Did they report it over here?"

    You shrugged. You didn't really remember anything about it, but you weren't reading about politics back then.

    "She... she had her troops draw bayonets and... push away the crowd. Killed like, a hundred people, I think. One of my friends, my best friends, I went to his wedding, he... he got trampled by the crowd trying to get away from her."

    "Spirits." You said, feeling a bit sick.

    "She's... s-shes..." You nodded, to encourage him, and he glanced at the door one last time, as if checking for Special Higher Police. "She's a fucking butcher."

    You winced.

    "You're here with Ohara Airworks, okay? Just stay at our table, we'll keep an eye on things." You said. "You're part of a valuable industry. We'll keep you safe."

    He nodded, but didn't look convinced.

    ---

    Despite it being a love match, Koide and her husband-to-be were surprisingly compatible on a social level. Koide's father owned... what was it? Industry in Joseon. You think it might have been something with lumber, as well as dye factories. He was by no means the richest man in the country, but he had capital, and means of generating more, and with only two daughters the marriage prospects of his oldest daughter were of the utmost importance. Kenshin, the Navy officer she was marrying, was old nobility, a samurai family of respectable standing but questionable finances. The heads of both households were undoubtly overjoyed the two had come to such an agreeable arrangement.

    So it wasn't really a surprise that they'd spring for an extravagant venue, but here you were. They'd rented out not just the large shrine the ceremony would take place in, but a hall across the street whose original purpose (it might have been a warehouse?) was now completely obliterated by decorations, seating, a catering team, and whatever else went into something like this. It was... extremely a lot.

    It reminded you a bit uncomfortably of the General's party, though fortunately traditional clothes were the order of the day.

    "Think we can shell out for something like this?" Yachi said with a smile, sweeping his hand over it all.

    "Start saving." You joked.

    Still taking my time with this, but I realized I could move a bit further forward so I did.​
    ​
    Book is still happening and omg its stressful.​
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • Ouch. Perspective is everything, huh.

    I'm a little confused whose perspective this is from tbh.
     
    Anyway, here's the reference :

    Artificial Girl said:
    Finally, the crowd was clear. It was like one second there were a hundred people between you and the trucks, and then the square was deserted, except for the wounded and bodies. About maybe a dozen between the stage and the trucks felled by rifle butts and bayonets, a score or two more trampled in the attempt to escape. One more lying beside the car, and Kenshin with his revolver in his hand looking pale, blood smeared across his perfect face.
    Click to expand...
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    The event got a bit exaggerated, but it is fairly accurate.
    Also, it did end up in mainland media, though with a somewhat different interpretation.

    Artificial Girl said:
    You'd already seen the newspapers. Bloodthirsty crowd of ungrateful savages accosting the princess. Suicidal attack by desperate, insane animals on Imperial family. So on and so forth. You'd received an outpouring of sympathy and commendation alike from fellow officers and concerned subjects back home. Your cousin, Empress Mitsuko, had even sent a telegram asking after your health and worrying about you. All of the attention just made you feel sick. You remembered when you had finally gotten into the Army outpost and you had gone to the washroom, there had been blood on your boots. You'd been sick there, alone, where no one could see your weakness. This wasn't what it was supposed to be like. You were supposed to stand on the bridge of a steel castle and exchange blows with an equal opponent seeking to do harm to your nation, not tell scared young men to stab angry students.
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    Edit: @open_sketch : How is the crossover thing going to work given the time difference between the two quests. Is there some author fiat ongoing that means that nothing important can happen, do we get control of Haruna, or will the events create some fixed moment in time that Castles of Steel will go through in the future.
     
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    10ebbor10 said:
    Anyway, here's the reference :



    The event got a bit exaggerated, but it is fairly accurate.
    Also, it did end up in mainland media, though with a somewhat different interpretation.



    Edit: @open_sketch : How is the crossover thing going to work given the time difference between the two quests. Is there some author fiat ongoing that means that nothing important can happen, do we get control of Haruna, or will the events create some fixed moment in time that Castles of Steel will go through in the future.
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    The answer is *screams*.

    One of the factors for ADCQ's hiatus, alongside the borked pulsejet mechanics, is wanting to get Castles as far forward as possible to narrow the possibility space.
     
    open_sketch said:
    The answer is *screams*.

    One of the factors for ADCQ's hiatus, alongside the borked pulsejet mechanics, is wanting to get Castles as far forward as possible to narrow the possibility space.
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    Which is fair, although you may want to decide how you're handling war rolls before they catch up as it was decided in this thread whereas a different war might be decided by the navy. Or something.

    On a different note can we invent 5-point harnesses or are those already a thing?
     
    open_sketch said:
    The answer is *screams*.

    One of the factors for ADCQ's hiatus, alongside the borked pulsejet mechanics, is wanting to get Castles as far forward as possible to narrow the possibility space.
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    I should probably volunteer to go back to tinkering with pulsejet rules to try and help get them in an acceptable state, shouldn't I?
    What's the holdup at this point? Is it just adapting things to the current top speed math, or is there more?
     
    brmj said:
    I should probably volunteer to go back to tinkering with pulsejet rules to try and help get them in an acceptable state, shouldn't I?
    What's the holdup at this point? Is it just adapting things to the current top speed math, or is there more?
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    Mostly my own lack of Brain Energy. The last two months have been like... hilariously fucked up life-ways in ways that almost don't make sense sometimes. Like, ambulance ride, breakup, emergency flights, moving apartments, nervous breakdowns fucked up. I'm glad I've gotten anything done at all.
     
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    open_sketch said:
    "She's... s-shes..." You nodded, to encourage him, and he glanced at the door one last time, as if checking for Special Higher Police. "She's a fucking butcher."
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    You know, this really highlights the problems with making judgements. Distance changes morality.

    Like, if we didn't have the other quest, we'd be taking about how "red haruna" the "massacre princess" is another symbol and perpetrator of the fascism in akitsukuni society. We'd judge her as just another "hard man" making "hard choices" and just leave it at that.

    Except we have a meta perspective.

    We know what the situation looked like on the ground. She was trapped, with a couple dozen young army boys who aren't trained for this at all, a hateful crowd psyching themselves up, bricks and stones coming in with increasing frequency, the captain's lifeblood spilling out into her hands, the lads faith in her to get them home alive, and the responsibility to make that faith mean something.

    She made a call. We can wring our hands all we like, but no matter how bad it was, I can't deny that if I were there making that call, I'd probably make the exact same one.
     
    Ramble said:
    You know, this really highlights the problems with making judgements. Distance changes morality.

    Like, if we didn't have the other quest, we'd be taking about how "red haruna" the "massacre princess" is another symbol and perpetrator of the fascism in akitsukuni society. We'd judge her as just another "hard man" making "hard choices" and just leave it at that.

    Except we have a meta perspective.

    We know what the situation looked like on the ground. She was trapped, with a couple dozen young army boys who aren't trained for this at all, a hateful crowd psyching themselves up, bricks and stones coming in with increasing frequency, the captain's lifeblood spilling out into her hands, the lads faith in her to get them home alive, and the responsibility to make that faith mean something.

    She made a call. We can wring our hands all we like, but no matter how bad it was, I can't deny that if I were there making that call, I'd probably make the exact same one.
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    I mean, when you think about it it's actually rather obvious? If it had been a real fascist there, there'd have been shooting. Messing around bayonets just screams 'half hearted response' to everyone who isn't too close to the issue either way.
     
    Ramble said:
    You know, this really highlights the problems with making judgements. Distance changes morality.

    Like, if we didn't have the other quest, we'd be taking about how "red haruna" the "massacre princess" is another symbol and perpetrator of the fascism in akitsukuni society. We'd judge her as just another "hard man" making "hard choices" and just leave it at that.

    Except we have a meta perspective.

    We know what the situation looked like on the ground. She was trapped, with a couple dozen young army boys who aren't trained for this at all, a hateful crowd psyching themselves up, bricks and stones coming in with increasing frequency, the captain's lifeblood spilling out into her hands, the lads faith in her to get them home alive, and the responsibility to make that faith mean something.

    She made a call. We can wring our hands all we like, but no matter how bad it was, I can't deny that if I were there making that call, I'd probably make the exact same one.
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    I think it's important to recognize that as much as Haruna didn't have any other options then... that doesn't really change the fact that this was the perpetration of fascism (or, technically, imperialism) of akitsukuni society. Like. Akitsukuni is occupying and oppressing them, and if history here mirrors our own it was conquered through manufactured Cassus Belli -> gunboat diplomacy -> series of increasingly unequal treaties, so there's not even really a pretend at justification or reason. It would certainly be far more unfair to place the blame on the Koreans here.

    None of this makes Haruna's decision wrong, and I think it was the right one to make in quest! But that doesn't really change what the context for "the situation on the ground" was.
     
    QTesseract said:
    None of this makes Haruna's decision wrong, and I think it was the right one to make in quest! But that doesn't really change what the context for "the situation on the ground" was.
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    Well, I'm not saying that it's not a matter of imperialism, but the fact that she is called a butcher made me flinch hard.
    In just commenting on how easy it is to make judgements based solely on a one-sided second-hand perspective.

    Without the other quest, we'd be deriding her with titles like "massacre princess" or "red haruna" or something. I would. Don't deny it, you would too.

    But we saw "the situation on the ground" and thus my feels keep screaming "IT'S NOT THAT SIMPLE! YOU WEREN'T THERE!"
     
    I mean, yeah. We were there. I was too (hi!), making that decision. Largely I remember the voter base alternating between blaming the protestors (fuck you.) and saying it was necessary for Haruna's career (Sure! Totally! Morally heinous decision, that one, but sure.)

    Haruna committed a war crime. We were there. It is that simple. There was a binary decision between "massacre civilians with bayonets" and "don't do that, some soldiers might die", and the quest made that decision. Haruna allowed her men to use bayonets to kill civilian protestors, and the result was that civilian protestors died.

    Haruna's orders directly led to civilian deaths. That's on her conscience. People considering her a butcher for that? Pretty much entirely fair. She joined the armed forces of an imperialistic regime, and her actions resulted in a lot of civilians getting stabbed.

    I get that she's the protagonist, and I like her too, she's a likeable person. She is also, currently, actively supporting a broadly evil regime, and her hands aren't clean.
     
    veteranMortal said:
    Haruna committed a war crime. We were there. It is that simple. There was a binary decision between "massacre civilians with bayonets" and "don't do that, some soldiers might die", and the quest made that decision. Haruna allowed her men to use bayonets to kill civilian protestors, and the result was that civilian protestors died.
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    I think you're misremembering something. There was no binary decision between massacre and risking soldier's life.

    We had the following options :
    open_sketch said:
    [ ] Run!: You need to get out of here! Back to the trucks and car. The captain will have to fend for himself.
    [ ] Fix bayonets! Order your escort to beat back the crowd with rifle butts and bayonet points. Organized troops should be more than a match for an unruly mob of students and angry peasants, right? (Tactics Check)
    [ ] FIRE! Order the troops to open fire on the crowd. The lives of an Imperial Princess, and more importantly an injured officer, are at stake. There's no time for niceties and bullets will do more to put these people on their heels than just a rifle butt. (No check. The crowd will be dispersed and you'll be fine. But there will be consequences)
    [ ] Retreat into the Palace: You'll basically be placing yourself under siege until somebody comes to get you. It'll be a national embarrassment and a stain on your honour and your already strained reputation in the service… but it'll let you wash your hands of the situation and let someone else make the hard choice. Blood won't be on your hands… but it will be spilled. (No check, just consequences)
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    There was no option not to have a massacre. We could choose to stab people, choose to shoot people, or hide and wait for someone to come and stab/shoot people.

    Nevermind, I forgot that we rolled a partial failure and did get a binary decision.

    open_sketch said:
    Partial success!

    Choose 1 Consequence.

    [ ] The troops fight their way successfully back to the trucks. You are safe and casualties in your men are minimal... but many in the crowd are injured or die.
    [ ] Trying to remain nonlethal, the formation breaks down. Most of you make it to the trucks, but some men die, and you are injured. Overall casualties are lower.
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    The players didn't have a choice in that situation, but it was the outcome of choices Haruna made before the story started (to join the Navy) because these problems are systematic etc etc.
     
    10ebbor10 said:
    There was no option not to have a massacre. We could choose to stab people, choose to shoot people, or hide and wait for someone to come and stab/shoot people.
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    Why it's almost as though Haruna is merely one facet of an imperialistic regime that produces only violence and pain, and that voluntarily participating in such a regime makes you culpable societially, and explicitly giving the orders that result in the deaths makes you culpable personally as well!

    Haruna ending up in a position where there was only war crimes as consequences is a fault of the system Haruna is a part of, and she is personally significantly responsible for these deaths, given the orders she gave.

    The voters are more responsible, but that's a different question.
     
    veteranMortal said:
    I mean, yeah. We were there. I was too (hi!), making that decision. Largely I remember the voter base alternating between blaming the protestors (fuck you.) and saying it was necessary for Haruna's career (Sure! Totally! Morally heinous decision, that one, but sure.)
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    I was curious so I went and reviewed that section of the voting - in addition to the arguments you mentioned (both of which were, indeed, fairly prevalent), it looked like there was a pretty sizable camp focused on Haruna's duty to the men under her command (at least for the "consequences of a partial success" choice).

    Of course, given that the duty in question is that of an officer in the military of an imperial power, this hardly absolves Haruna of responsibility. Or the voters I suppose but assigning moral culpability for fictional events, especially when it also entails relitigating quest votes, seems less than productive.
     
    veteranMortal said:
    Haruna committed a war crime. We were there. It is that simple. There was a binary decision between "massacre civilians with bayonets" and "don't do that, some soldiers might die", and the quest made that decision. Haruna allowed her men to use bayonets to kill civilian protestors, and the result was that civilian protestors died.
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    Ehm, no, no she did not commit a warcrime.

    Had she shot/stabbed protestors it'd have been a warcrime, but by the time she gave the order to fix bayonets it had developed into a riot that was poised to murder her and her troops. Killing rioters is permitted under the laws of war, especially when they are trying to kill military personnel.

    This does not mean that your other points are not true, they are.
     
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