Castles of Steel - Lesbians Good, Imperialism Bad

[open_sketch]

Lieutenant Arisukawa Haruna

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

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

Stress: 3​

Spoiler: Portrait

Click here for the winter version!

PLEASE READ THE QUEST RULES BELOW

Spoiler: Rules & Conceit

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

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

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

Content Warning
This quest goes some dark places.

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

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

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

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

Voting Rules

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

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

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

Discussions makes the GM feel fuzzy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This quest employs a special system called Snippet Votes. Please read this post for more information.

 

[Karlito]

Empress took it at least reasonably well. I very much suspect that this is going to be played up from the "Defense against Foreign agression" angle.

Click to shrink...

She doesn't have to dress Haruna down, she has Haruna's mother for that. I feel like it was a pretty clear rebuke.

[X] You didn't need your own unit with just you in it, and enlisted women wouldn't either. You could do anything a male officer could, and so could the women who would follow you into the enlisted ranks. The admiralty would probably be more reluctant, but it would get these women, when they arrived, mixed in with real crews on real ships.

 

[Hakazin]

[X] You didn't need your own unit with just you in it, and enlisted women wouldn't either. You could do anything a male officer could, and so could the women who would follow you into the enlisted ranks. The admiralty would probably be more reluctant, but it would get these women, when they arrived, mixed in with real crews on real ships.

Pseudo-segregationist half-measures can go stuff themselves. Go all in or go home.

EDIT: Vote Changed

 

[Cute Princess]

[X] You didn't need your own unit with just you in it, and enlisted women wouldn't either. You could do anything a male officer could, and so could the women who would follow you into the enlisted ranks. The admiralty would probably be more reluctant, but it would get these women, when they arrived, mixed in with real crews on real ships.

 

[brmj]

[X] You didn't need your own unit with just you in it, and enlisted women wouldn't either. You could do anything a male officer could, and so could the women who would follow you into the enlisted ranks. The admiralty would probably be more reluctant, but it would get these women, when they arrived, mixed in with real crews on real ships.

 

[Raw90]

[x] You didn't need your own unit with just you in it, and enlisted women wouldn't either. You could do anything a male officer could, and so could the women who would follow you into the enlisted ranks. The admiralty would probably be more reluctant, but it would get these women, when they arrived, mixed in with real crews on real ships.

Also that worked out quite well all things considered. Could've been a lot worse.

 

[Artificial Girl]

Okay, looks like alerts might be working again? We've updated! Also thoughts and comments on the story make your writers happy.

 

[NotQuiteLurker]

Okay, looks like alerts might be working again? We've updated! Also thoughts and comments on the story make your writers happy.

Click to shrink...

Then I'll just say I enjoyed reading thus far a great deal; and I appreciate you two charting a delicate course among so many painful topics (and am now catching up to the aircraft design bureau, which I guess I should have started with...)

... Also, I am guessing lack of promotion + decoration for Haruna for the whole cruiser + destroyer thing has a lot to do with higher ups thinking she is moving up too quick?

 

[Tiny_Dic]

[X] You didn't need your own unit with just you in it, and enlisted women wouldn't either. You could do anything a male officer could, and so could the women who would follow you into the enlisted ranks. The admiralty would probably be more reluctant, but it would get these women, when they arrived, mixed in with real crews on real ships.

 

[veekie]

[X] You didn't need your own unit with just you in it, and enlisted women wouldn't either. You could do anything a male officer could, and so could the women who would follow you into the enlisted ranks. The admiralty would probably be more reluctant, but it would get these women, when they arrived, mixed in with real crews on real ships.

Better for equal treatment, probably much less attractive to new recruits though. And incidents will be nearly inevitable for a time

 

[Chopak]

[x] You didn't need your own unit with just you in it, and enlisted women wouldn't either. You could do anything a male officer could, and so could the women who would follow you into the enlisted ranks. The admiralty would probably be more reluctant, but it would get these women, when they arrived, mixed in with real crews on real ships.

 

[FrangibleCover]

[X] You didn't need your own unit with just you in it, and enlisted women wouldn't either. You could do anything a male officer could, and so could the women who would follow you into the enlisted ranks. The admiralty would probably be more reluctant, but it would get these women, when they arrived, mixed in with real crews on real ships.

The bastards will fight us tooth and nail anyway, might as well make them fight us for what we want.

Hisao rings a bell though. Which ADCQ character did we just get into trouble?

 

[Traveller76]

[X] You didn't need your own unit with just you in it, and enlisted women wouldn't either. You could do anything a male officer could, and so could the women who would follow you into the enlisted ranks. The admiralty would probably be more reluctant, but it would get these women, when they arrived, mixed in with real crews on real ships.

 

[Broken25]

[X] The Europans have been doing this for centuries, there must be something to it. Female enlisted should have their own watches and crews. This'll be easier to sell to them, but likely reduce these crews to effectively auxiliary positions for a while.

 

[Shadowatcher]

[X] You didn't need your own unit with just you in it, and enlisted women wouldn't either. You could do anything a male officer could, and so could the women who would follow you into the enlisted ranks. The admiralty would probably be more reluctant, but it would get these women, when they arrived, mixed in with real crews on real ships.

 

[Nyvis]

I'm unconvinced by the idea that just because someone with the massive advantages of royal connections we have could do it, so can enlisted women. You're not going to abuse a princess too much. But average women? Outnumbered, without support structures independent of the male dominated hierarchy? I'd be very worried.

 

[SirKaid]

[X] You didn't need your own unit with just you in it, and enlisted women wouldn't either. You could do anything a male officer could, and so could the women who would follow you into the enlisted ranks. The admiralty would probably be more reluctant, but it would get these women, when they arrived, mixed in with real crews on real ships.

There's going to be some abuse. It happens today in real world militaries from first world countries, it'll happen in turn of the century Not!Japan. However, the alternative is women being relegated to show pieces and reserves and that does the greater struggle for women's rights no favours.

Basically, we've got to ask military women to risk danger in order to protect the rights and freedoms of the civilian population. Since that's literally what the military exists to do, all I can offer is a salute and my vote.

 

[Nyvis]

I expect systematic abuse, rather than "some" abuse. Finding the ones who aren't abused is going to be hard. Because you can count on the admiralty dragging its feet enough that there's only a small amount of them dispersed across the whole navy with no other women to turn to for support.

 

[Hakazin]

I expect systematic abuse, rather than "some" abuse. Finding the ones who aren't abused is going to be hard. Because you can count on the admiralty dragging its feet enough that there's only a small amount of them dispersed across the whole navy with no other women to turn to for support.

Click to shrink...

That is actually a very good point, enough that you've convinced me to change my vote.

[X] The Europans have been doing this for centuries, there must be something to it. Female enlisted should have their own watches and crews. This'll be easier to sell to them, but likely reduce these crews to effectively auxiliary positions for a while.

 

[Nyvis]

That is actually a very good point, enough that you've convinced me to change my vote.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, to me, this seems like something we could switch to once we have a critical level of women in the navy to ensure they have support groups in every ship. Dropping them in one by one in this environment is something we only survived because we were both an officer and a princess.


[X] The Europans have been doing this for centuries, there must be something to it. Female enlisted should have their own watches and crews. This'll be easier to sell to them, but likely reduce these crews to effectively auxiliary positions for a while.

 

[RubberBandMan]

[X] The Europans have been doing this for centuries, there must be something to it. Female enlisted should have their own watches and crews. This'll be easier to sell to them, but likely reduce these crews to effectively auxiliary positions for a while.

 

[10ebbor10]

Yeah, to me, this seems like something we could switch to once we have a critical level of women in the navy to ensure they have support groups in every ship. Dropping them in one by one in this environment is something we only survived because we were both an officer and a princess.

Click to shrink...

A switch seems unlikely.

Literally every modern nation that Akitsukini looks up to does the Seperate but Equal thing. Once you set things upon that trajectory, you're not going to get of it easily.

I mean, the only reason it's even an option now is because Akitsukini didn't have time to set up a separate system in the middle of the war, and we can utilize that inertia.

If however the inertia starts favoring the seperate system, then inertia will move in the other direction. You'll see seperation for a long time.


Edit: In addition, I don't really buy the isolation argument, because the system as noted is an extension of the current WNA.

So far, the WNA had actually worked alongside men, filling in spaces where they could be used to free up men for fighting positions, but not universally replacing them. There was no reason that model couldn't continue to be used, but you imagined it might not be taken very well by Europans.

Click to shrink...

The WNA is not isolated, it operates in groups. Groups intermingled with men, but still groups.

Keep in mind that we've also already argued to include the WNA in the navy, so those enlisted shouldn't be alone. We already have a fairly big pool of people to recruit from.

So, let us dissolve the WNA, but instead of turning these women out of the service of their nation, let them instead be granted ranks, responsibilities, and privileges alike to that of their masculine and non-binary comrades already serving in the regular Navy. In fact, I am certain that many would take a reduction in rank willing and with good cheer if the result was that they were able to work alongside their fellow sailors on something like equal footing.

Click to shrink...

 

[Elero]

[X] The Europans have been doing this for centuries, there must be something to it. Female enlisted should have their own watches and crews. This'll be easier to sell to them, but likely reduce these crews to effectively auxiliary positions for a while.

One step at a time. It says they will be limited to auxillary positions for a while, not for forever. Making women wait a few years to get into combat positions is well worth avoiding abuse. And any future wars will no doubt speed the process up a lot.

 

[Night_stalker]

[X] The Europans have been doing this for centuries, there must be something to it. Female enlisted should have their own watches and crews. This'll be easier to sell to them, but likely reduce these crews to effectively auxiliary positions for a while.

 

[Nyvis]

The WNA is not isolated, it operates in groups. Groups intermingled with men, but still groups.

Keep in mind that we've also already argued to include the WNA in the navy, so those enlisted shouldn't be alone. We already have a fairly big pool of people to recruit from.

Click to shrink...

The WNA isn't isolated, because the WNA is the separate option. The non separate option disbands the WNA and disperses the women in it into the normal service. In which they'll be much less numerous than men, in all likelihood. There's no guarantees of them staying clustered in the same ships. It's also going to ensure they have male officers with power over them. A separate system means they will need to push more female officers to match female crew.

 

[10ebbor10]

The WNA isn't isolated, because the WNA is the separate option. The non separate option disbands the WNA and disperses the women in it into the normal service. In which they'll be much less numerous than men, in all likelihood. There's no guarantees of them staying clustered in the same ships. It's also going to ensure they have male officers with power over them. A separate system means they will need to push more female officers to match female crew.

Click to shrink...

Your seperated option would also, like the WNA of before, mean that women would all be concentrated in the same auxilary positions, with the same implications of inherent lower worth. What good is having a female direct superior when that superior has no meaningful authority, and therefore no power to protect her underlings?

Edit: Anyway, I feel like we can count on Haruna not being stupid. She's not going to advocate for every single enlisted to be as isolated as possible. So, we can assume that she'll advocate for them to be clustered in a limited fashion.

Edit 2: Actually, unless Akitsukini is going to go for fully integrated and shared accomodations, clustering is going to happen. Seperating accomodations across the entire fleet won't be cost effective, so only a limited amount of ships will be mixed gender compatible.