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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.​
     
    Last edited:
  • Informational
    • [X] Be humble and courteous. Play it off. Be a model of your people's qualities.
     
    - [X] Linger on those excellent questions about your machine embarrassing a Caspian prince. Antagonize a little.

    fuckin commies

    or tsarists
     
    [X] Be humble and courteous. Play it off. Be a model of your people's qualities.

    The better we look now, the worse those Navy officers that snubbed us will look when we get back with the trophy.
     
    - [X] Linger on those excellent questions about your machine embarrassing a Caspian prince. Antagonize a little.

    In your face, Grand Caspia! Suck on our exhaust manifold! The Tsar's father was a moose and his mother smelt of elderberries! We fart in your general direction! This is what happens when your nation can't make tea properly, what with those whatchacalit, samovars?

    Yes, I know this probably won't win and we'll wind up humblebragging (mosty on accident I feel,) but I just needed to get some gloating out of my system.
     
    [X] Brag. Rub the Western's face in it. This is what your nation is capable of.

    We have earned a little bravado. Akitsuni is no distant minor footnote, and we shouldn't kowtow to the likes of the Albish when all they got off the ground was a plume of smoke!
     
    While it's incredibly tempting to antagonize the Prince and Caspia, I would like to note that we ended up with the same problem they did. Namely, our engine flamed out at the end. That it happened on the ground is a fucking miracle. But really though, this was a lot closer of a win than I would have liked.

    On the plus side, I have no clue what the odds were against Akitsukuni in the betting booth, but Asuka just made out like a bandit.
     
    Decim said:
    While it's incredibly tempting to antagonize the Prince and Caspia, I would like to note that we ended up with the same problem they did. Namely, our engine flamed out at the end. That it happened on the ground is a fucking miracle. But really though, this was a lot closer of a win than I would have liked.

    On the plus side, I have no clue what the odds were against Akitsukuni in the betting booth, but Asuka just made out like a bandit.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    We were in last place on the board so those are some looooong odds.
     
    open_sketchbook said:
    when he stomped away from the plane you noticed with interest the copper bottles on the back of his engine you hadn't seen before.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    I don't know what these are, but they are probably important in some way.
    open_sketchbook said:
    Grand Caspia's design. It had a pair of Anhedral wings and a v-bank engine mounted between them, with a skeletal tail and an inverted stabilizer. The pilot lay down on their belly under the engine assembly to steer. It was a remarkably clean design, all things considered, which you figured would have very little drag, especially since the wheels were pulled so close to the narrow cockpit. You could see the Crown Prince and his guards going over the vehicle now.
    Click to expand...
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    The post that described their plane last, and said description. Does not appear to have a terribly notable engine but it might be something like a fuel injector (making it able to operate upside-down) or other fluid handling system. Alternatively, it could be part of an electrical system (based on the copper), though the only thing I can think of as a use for significant amounts of electricity on a plane like these is in control surface operation, and that is pretty well beyond what is available at this time.
     
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    Sub Rosa, Inter Lilia
  • Apocrypha
    • open_sketchbook said:
    The Gaullian plane actually came in second, tilting uncomfortably as it came in and rolled to a stop. You beat the crowd to her and rushed to shake her hand, which somehow turned into a sort of wild hug...

    You were going to stick around and find out what had happened to everyone else, but Miss D'Amboise was insistently pulling you by the hand towards the train station and the city, and you weren't going to say no.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Shadows said:
    Aww, little Satomi is off having fun somewhere.
    Click to expand...
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    Sub Rosa, Inter Lilia​

    Recommended Listening: Tout Doucement

    Coralie meets you at the train station in the heart of Lutetia, waving excitedly. She rushed ahead on a train before you to change, and back here to meet you. So it is that now you see her in civilian clothes, rather than a Gallian army uniform. In a dress, silly as that is compared to your own proudly pragmatic- if floral-patterned- overalls and boots.

    She throws her arms wide briefly at the sight of you- for a moment you hope for an embrace, but just an exuberant gesture. "Welcome to happy Lutetia, my Hippomenes!" she calls out to you.

    What's a Hippomenes? Never mind. Wow! The sight of her is enough to echo back some of earlier words to you. Because on Coralie, a pale grey ankle-length dress, tied off smartly at a high waist with a brightly colored sash, is surprisingly cute. Even her improbably wide hat looks cute.

    What is it with white people and hats?

    You note with some relief that she doesn't seem to be wearing one of those horrible waist-crushing torture devices that seemed to be all the rage in Artemis. The Gallians tend to have the lead in Western ladies' fashion, if you remember rightly. Maybe those are finally going out of stupidstyle in Europa?

    The boulevard in front of the station is a buzz of activity- street vendors, vehicles of every sort. You can see a streetcar receding on its rails at an intersection in the distance. Coralie waves a sparingly embroidered handkerchief in the air to call a cab and- no ordinary cab, but a motor-taxi!

    Well, actually there are a lot of motor-taxis out on the streets, aren't there. More, even, than horse-drawn carriages. Lutetia is, after all, a famously modern city, and here motorization is well on its way to solving the worst pollution problem of the last century- an end to horse manure.

    The driver seems a bit startled as you entirely ignore him, climbing into the back yourself. He shrugs expressively, then climbs back in himself, disengages the brake, and heads on his way after a few shouted words from Coralie.

    The engine clatters and grinds loudly, obviously more than a little out of tune. You and Coralie frown, critically, in unison- then look at each other and laugh, realizing that this, too, you have in common.

    The engine isn't aviation-loud, but it is loud enough that you have to lean close to each other to be heard at anything less than a shout. Not that you're complaining.

    You're still a bit confused about where you're going, in yet another strange city. So you ask her, in your smattering of Gallian. She replies, "To the salon of Madame Barney. She ??? poésie. I have... ??? ??? ???, about aviation. To them, I am a... ??? ??? ??? She ??? me, with one guest, know-??? I ??? return (victorious?) from the race. I ??? that means I am going with you." She smiles with an engaging wickedness, having clearly made a joke you almost followed.

    You remember what a 'salon' is. You're pretty sure you know the word for 'guest,' and that 'poésie' means poetry. That rest you're never going to make heads or tails of. Stupid language barrier! But you can at least try to keep her talking. You like Gallian, it's very pretty demented incomprehensible gabble. You just don't understand it half the time.

    So- keep her talking.

    "This Madame Barney. What she like?"

    "She is ???. An ???. And a poet, and an... Amazon, you ??? say. ??? ??? ???."     Coralie smiles oddly.

    That's a word you recognize. You may not do much reading in the original Albian, let alone Gallian, but you DO keep up on your reading. Very modernly!

    "Amazon... Not need men, fight?" You look at her curiously.

    "Yes!" Coralie's answering grin shows a hawkish glint, something under the charm and good cheer suggesting that she likes the sound of that. That being in the Gallian Army isn't just a way to fly, for her. You're not entirely sure there's a word for what you think Coralie is, by nature, not yet at least. As much 'huntress' as 'aviatrix.' But she's still a sweetie.

    Really starting to wish gay westerners were a thing. Maaaybe you can convince her? Or is that supposedly impossible? Dammit. Well, anything worth having is worth trying to have!


    Recommended Listening: A Rose is a Rose, by Poe

    Your taxi arrives at Number 20, Rue Jacob, and you get out, again leaving the driver slightly confused by not even bothering to let him assist. Coralie pays the man, and he drives off.

    Looking at the building from outside, you see that it's a fair sized mansion, surrounded by garden pathways. The roof of some kind of columned building peeks through the trees in the rear- the mysterious inscrutable Occidental equivalent of a shrine, maybe?

    Three women and two men that you can see are smoking on the garden path. Coralie looks at them, then looks at you. "Madame Barney ??? no smoke-??? in the ???. ??? ??? only ???" Well, you're pretty sure you get her drift, anyway.

    The two of you enter the mansion. The doorman gestures you into the pavillon's tiny foyer; two young doves gaze peacefully from a cage by the wall. Coralie leads the way down the hall. You look into side rooms on the way past, and exit into a larger salon.

    You can hardly see the wallpaper for all the paintings- landscapes, still lifes, portraits. And strange things that look very modern and very much like an explosion in a shingle factory. Art criticism isn't really your thing.

    There are vases of white lilies everywhere; it must be the hostess's favorite flower. True to Coralie's word, you smell no tobacco- and almost no alcohol. A few of the chattering poets- or poetesses, mostly- lounging on chairs and couches hold tall glasses of Gallian grape wine. It's usually pretty mild stuff, you gather. You've had it back home and not been impressed, but supposedly the Gallians have a thousand varieties and pride themselves on it.

    Could be interesting.

    And another woman has entered the salon, standing out despite being in the company of three other probably-poets, a man and two women, who are chattering back and forth in rapid-fire Gallian.


    "And this is Madame Barney!" With a smile in her voice as ever, Coralie gestures slightly in the direction of your host. A bit more directly than is polite, but you're all modern here, surely?

    You sure hope Coralie's modern, anyway. Among other things...

    She's leaning down by your ear again. The Gallian pilot overtops you by about twelve centimeters. Almost everyone overtops you by at least five or ten. And that's just the women.

    But Madame Barney, who is now starting to capture your notice, is of more reasonable height. And without the athleticism that you- and some of your friends back home- have. "This," you wonder, "is an Amazon?"

    You watch her longer, and longer, and she grows on you. She stands so straight, head held high, with a commanding air about her, seeming taller than anyone in the room. People surround her, hanging on her words, but she says so little! When the others speak, her focus on them is total, and yet she seems to see and notice every detail, every nuance in the atmosphere, of everyone in the room...

    Even you! Suddenly those sparkling blue eyes turn in your direction. She smiles a dazzling smile, and walks straight at you. Holding out her hands and taking both of yours, she leans forward. She's surely ten years older than you, but even so your heart is beating so fast that you'll never remember exactly what she says as the flush rises to your cheeks.

    "Atalanta, did you bring me another falcon, from out of the east?"

    And that intent expression on her face! On the spot she's monopolized you. You feel like you could tell her anything, if not for the language barrier. You try to form a sentence, hesitating as you rarely do. Is she- she can't possibly be. That's not a thing over here, is it?

    "Parlez-vous Albiän?" Madame Barney tilts her head slightly, slowing down. "If it would be easier. I'm Alleghanian, by birth."

    Coralie is tugging lightly on your elbow and gabbling something at Madame Barney too fast to follow.

    She laughs, turning to Coralie. "Ahh, I see! I'd ??? to ??? about you. Tell me, have you ??? a ??? of scandal? I find it's the best ??? to being ??? with ??? Her smile is impish now, for a moment. Coralie looks thoughtful, but what is she thinking dammit?

    Okay, you have to learn some of these words sometime. You're putting your foot down. You seize upon the last unknown word you heard.

    "What does 'nuisances' mean?"

    After a good deal of back-and-forth between the three of you, including some Albian between you and Madame Barney, you're reasonably confident that 'nuisance' is the Gallian word for 'amorous young man.' Learning is good!

    Coralie seems amused. She's a sweetie. Definitely a sweetie.

    WHY AREN'T THERE ANY GAY WESTERNERS DAMMIT!?

    There aren't. Are there? Or is it just the leftover butterflies from Madame Barney's gaze making you wonder?

    Language barriers and weird cultural taboos stink.

    Madame Barney laughs and pats Coralie on the hand, then dips her head to you in what miiight be the Gallian version of a bow? She turns aside to ask one of the seated probably-poetesses a question.

    The next hour passes in a whirl of conversations. You wondered if Coralie's invitation was just a misplaced sense of chivalry to a fellow racer, after all. You think you've caught enough that she expected to be celebrating winning here, after all (hah! you think to yourself).

    She obviously knows a lot of the poets. At first you half-expected the Gallian, who at least shares a language with the other guests at Madame Barney's party, to get drawn into their company and start ignoring you.

    But she doesn't.

    She stays close by you, introducing you to more names than you can remember- some of these foreign poets and playwrights may be famous all over Europa, but you've never heard of any of them before. Still, though, they're talking to the both of you, and they take you seriously- on the whole, with interest.

    You pick up more than a little vocabulary- being surrounded by poets at least means there's always someone handy who can define a complicated term in words of one syllable or less to a brilliant young test pilot from the other side of the world! And there's plenty of laughter and what you're coming to think is a particularly Gallian stripe of happiness.

    And so, despite the language barrier imposed by poorly-understood Gallian and snatches of less-poorly-understood Albian, you start to feel as though you're part of the salon's social circle- at least for tonight.

    Enough that you begin to feel a part of, what's the Gallian word, the ambiance. And you notice things.

    There aren't a lot of men around- you'd say between one in three, and one in four, of Madame Barney's guests. You're paying them even less mind than usual.

    Some of the guests are unusual enough to get your notice. There may be fewer people in Europa who try to keep women out of the workplace than in Akitsukuni, but Western customs against cross-dressing are strong. And yet here you see at least a few women in suits. A few... well, back home you'd say off-binary and leave it at that. You're pretty sure no language in Europa even HAS a word for that.

    Hmmmm. Maybe things aren't as hopeless as you'd thought. Because either the rules are different than you thought, or a lot of people here are breaking them...

    You note one of the latest arrivals- people are coming and going constantly.

    ​

    Her dress is of the same cut as many you've already seen, but thin enough that you find yourself craning around in hopes that from the right angle you'll be able to catch a peek through it.

    Coralie murmurs- "Mata Hari, she ??? herself, a princess of the island of Kohfi. I wonder if she'll dance later this evening..."

    You squint- distraction- okay, you squint at her face. Haltingly, you mutter back "I do not. Do not- think she looks very Kohfinese."

    Coralie winks. "Me neither. But who ??? ? She dances magnifiquement."

    You're starting to have hopes for your new favorite Gallian pilot. You really, really are. Disengaging from one knot of poets and artists, the two of you head back down the hall towards the door. One of the smaller side-rooms, a little lounge, has a door that swings a bit loosely on its hinges. Coralie looks inside.

    "Hello Jessie! Hello Gertrude!"

    There's an indistinct murmur from inside the room, and from the position of the heads you see close to each other on the couch... Well. It gives you furiously to think. Because if there's no such thing as gay Westerners, you're pretty sure that Jessie and Gertrude never got the memo.

    Your eyes flick back to Coralie, who says slowly, quietly, "A lot can happen in happy Lutetia."

    That single, compact Gallian syllable, happy, never sounded so good.

    She's smiling something very like that huntress smile you saw in the taxi. You're grinning back like an eager idiot and you don't care.

    Coralie overtops you by twelve centimeters. But that just means you start reaching up to pull her down, even as she stoops.

    Your lips meet.
     
    Last edited:
  • Apocrypha
    • I hope everyone likes the omake! I had it mostly written up, it just needed a few tweaks.

    I did my best to research certain features of the Paris social scene, while writing it, and to make the characters as true to real life as possible, so there's a lot of easter eggs in there...
     
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