sail_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME #7

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!tdm

TEST DRIVE MEME #7

1. before she hung up, she said she was a skeleton

[there is no note in your cabin. no forces stall your legs if you decide to walk anywhere but the atrium. in fact, for the first time in hundreds of years, newly arrived passengers on the Serena Eterna are waking up with absolutely no guidance. nothing but your fellow passengers in the halls - or maybe in your bed.

perhaps you end up in the atrium eventually anyway. it is where guest services is, and where Gal Friday… actually hasn’t been in a few days. until today. and she is visibly frazzled, her hair uncoiffed, her suit rumpled, something a bit like a bruise blossoming down from her hairline and over her smooth features. more papers than ever cover her desk, and when she turns to face you, her voice is as cheerful as ever, but audibly strained.]

Welcome aboard the Serene Eterna! [a pause] You know how to work a life vest, right? Everyone knows that! You don’t need me to teach you that!

[a light bulb burns out behind her head.]

… I’ll get right on that!

[freedom includes the freedom to not know what the fuck is happening. maybe you should reflect on that.]

2. grandma went and can't stop screaming

[it’s something about the lighting fixtures, this month. has the Bellona always had a massive chandelier? maybe. who knows. don’t ask questions. either way, in the stillness of the night, or day, or late afternoon, there is a noise like a cord being cut, and the chandelier plunges into the audience below.

it hits nothing, of course. no one is ever in the theater. and that, perhaps, is what the trouble is.

so, the chandelier starts to… travel, one could say. it starts to hang in various rooms: the dining halls, the bars, the clubs… sometimes, if you’re out on the pool deck and suddenly realized you’re under a shadow, you can glance up and see it suspended 20 feet above your head, securely fastened to nothing in particular and yet remaining perfectly in place.

until it isn’t. until it falls, crystal shattering on whatever surface it lands on: floor, table, person… and, wherever the chandelier goes, a lilting childish voice follows it, singing without any obvious source.]

Ring-a-ring of roses, a pocket full of posies… ashes, ashes, we all…

3. jeff bezos murdered the infinite tommy bahama

[the lights of the Infinite Tommy Bahama go out three days into October.

barely an hour after its closure, the lights go on again, and a new banner is unfurled.

physically, it is the same store. you can even see the old signs hidden behind the new ones. however, long gone are the tropical prints and khaki dress shorts. now, one can purchase any number of officially licensed or legally distinct Halloween costumes, decorations, and various other haunted accoutrements, leading back as far as the eye can see, and then farther still. is that a Gal Friday mask? spooky! well, at least you’ll be good and ready for the Halloween party at the end of the month, which is absolutely just a normal party and in no way whatsoever anything even remotely resembling a trick. there are only treats at The Infinite Spirit Halloween!

note: bahamanuel is still here! somewhere! it kinda looks like dan bongino.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[If you want Ari to pay attention, you could hardly do better than starting off by showing her a map. She examines it closely, and makes some of the same deductions at once - it's very small, surrounded by larger neighbours, and that has to be politically difficult. His description of the territory only confirms her thoughts. She does listen carefully, and, clever young lieutenant that she is, she follows his explanation, despite the difference in their cultures. At least, she thinks she follows, right up until the mention of Muppets at least.

Her hand goes up to touch the neat bun at the back of her head.] I was once called vain for not cutting my hair off, too. [She shrugs.] I don't care if short hair is more practical in space. Mine isn't any trouble to me. It seems like a little thing, but it's - why shouldn't people take pleasure in life? Hedonism is only a fault if it gets in your way. If you enjoy your food and drink so much that you turn up drunk on duty, or you whine and bring everyone's mood down if there's a shortage and you have to take short rations, then that's a problem. But when it does no harm to enjoy the fine things, not doing so is pointless self-denial. People should appreciate quality. The best that the sector has to offer.

[Ari is exceptionally serious about her duty, and she can bear hardship in pursuit of it - but she also imports fancy coffee over great distances, and wears a perfectly, expensively tailored uniform, and there's more of upper-level Cardalek in her than she'd like to admit to.] Here's where you're wrong. A Demon King like you doesn't corrupt people. He enlightens them. He brings them to the higher values, like liberty, and individuality. Self-determination and pride. No wonder those monks in their... crab bucket hated you!

[Ordinarily, she tries to at least feign respect for the religious beliefs of others, but this one just sounds like outright tyranny.]

The problem is that you couldn't bring freedom without bloodshed, is that it? Like Breakaway. Sometimes I think it's inevitable. Someone who thinks that you deserve to suffer and that nobody should strive for more than they already have probably isn't going to listen to reason.

I like you. [This is a rare, rare statement from him. He peripherally forgets if he told Klaus that or not, probably it was intimated somewhere between "lucky number," and dancing and doing things with him that no one else got, but long story short, Nobunaga rarely gets to announce such things so bluntly, but he's taking the chance now. And offers her a brofist.]

Explain to me Breakaway. But yes, I'm... relieved. You seem to have understood it perfectly.

[She doesn't realise just how and rare and significant those words might be. Instead, Ari just looks at his outstretched hand, and an instant later she's on her feet, one of her hands covering his fist and the other clasping around his wrist.] I like you too. By all rights I should be miserable right now. Trapped far from my own people. [Whatever they could guess about the nature of this place, that was true enough.] But I'm not, and maybe that's because you took the time to talk to me. [Or maybe it's because of all the alcohol, Ari.]

[There's a genuine smile on her face as she lets go of his hand and sits back down, but she turns more serious as she answers his question.]

Breakaway was a war. It ended about a century ago. Long before that, my people's ancestors all lived on one world. Tirva. They learnt to sail the stars, and they went out to found new colonies, first in slow ships, and then in fast ones. [She'll save the explanation of time dilation at relativistic speeds for another day.] Meanwhile, on Tirva, all the countries became united, but they were united in tyranny. The Tirvan Alliance thought that it was wrong for the Companies to grow rich. They didn't want any person on Tirva to have more than anyone else, even if it meant they were all poor, and if anyone created anything new, they thought it should belong to the government, and not to its creator. The inventors and brave pioneers and all the Companies tried to leave, but Tirva wanted to follow them to the stars, to carry on taxing and stealing from all the colonies.

Until one day the colonies fought back. All the trading ships armed themselves, every colony raised a militia, and a long war for our freedom began. In the end, we won it. [This is, by necessity, a heavily simplified version - but hopefully he'll understand the essence of it.]

[.... oh.]

[It was in this moment Nobunaga learned a very valuable lesson about himself. It was one thing for him to be blunt and say his honest thoughts with reckless abandon, but when it was turned around on him, he wound up being the one flustered unsure how to handle it. No matter how dark Topy was, it wasn't enough to handle his sudden blush and the intense desire to hide behind his court fan.] Well, a few people here are like that...

[Oh thank Amaterasu, she's talking about war. Something familiar he can latch onto like a life raft!] That does sound very familiar. Well spotted. It's a sign of great intelligence to be able to apply different specifics and still find the analogies fit for purpose. [He could have phrased that better if he wasn't drunk, but she's smart, so he's certain she'll get it.]

Some of it reminds me of the stories I've heard of America the country too. I would rather like to see this ridiculous country. It sounds amazing. You can usually spot an American of the people on here. They're bold and strong, very colorful, and my two friends are both from there. Klaus Hargreaves is the other. There's also Jeff, Deputy Pratt, Sharky, and they have this thing called Westerns. Because Japan, my homeland is the farthest east of the world. [Shows her his very rough map of Earth, from before he got his globe, with his red Australia directly south of Japan but with so much ocean that until ships get faster, nearly impossible to reach.] And California, on the far West of America is all the way over here! [Shows the other side of the world! Where he has indeed written in California on the map of America.] And the Pacific ocean from this side of Japan to America is nearly as vast as all the rest of this map. [He's very happy about this, because it's amazing, okay okay.]

I have my globe in my room, should you ever to wish to see it. I haven't compared the scale to fix any errors yet, but I added Australia to it. It wasn't discovered in my time. I almost thought Clarke Griffin was joking when she told me about it. It has mammals that hatch from eggs. [Isn't that CRAZY?!]

But even the me that is in my proper timeline, cannot go see California or America. It doesn't exist yet for him. And won't for another two centuries. I wish I could get some history books. Maybe I will take Klaus' advice. He says he makes wishes and somehow they come true. It's too superstitious for me to take seriously, but I would very much like to read up on how America the country came to separate from England. And how England gained power at all. In my time, I dismissed it completely. Its King was so very foolish. He split with the church and divorced his wife, seeking a male heir. This threatened the peace of his island, which wasn't wholly united either. [Points to the small UK island on the west of Europe.] And even with the rest of Europe [Points and circles with the bottom of his pen.] As their cohesion was mostly through their Western religion, they let their Pope decide matters of politics, but he defied him just for an heir. [Shakes head! Such foolishness.]

Perhaps I could find some time period romances, but I really don't like romance literature. [IT'S GROSS. He's a five year old.] Such things are usually what the monks interest themselves in.

Oh! And America was the first to the moon, to have astronauts leave Earth. This planet. Most people here are from there, but not all. There are least a dozen who are not, do not worry. And Billy Joel always sings about American things, it's very difficult to understand him sometimes. Billy Joel is not here. But one of the bars plays his music often. So when Crichton said he wanted to do karaoke, I was not terribly keen on the idea. I don't know any of the music from five hundred years later, how could I? So I listened to a lot of this Billy Joel so I could try to understand it better. I still don't. [Because Billy Joel is 3/4ths incomprehensible to him. With a few exceptions.] But Venti is also a big fan of him. Maybe you will have better luck understanding. Diana Abel says it's because Billy Joel is very working-class. "Blue collar." And the Beatles I like most, are very idealist she says. Beatles is from England, but they are popular in America too.

[And he's just... still going. Steady stream of consciousness exposed. His inner five year old babble of enthusiasm about all the awesome things revealed. The reason why even with his first friend killed he's still happy to be here.] Klaus also taught me about Destiny's Child, and Spice Girls. They're English too! And R&B. [:T] I want to find Crichton when he comes back and punch him. And then make him do karaoke with me. Stupid astronaut.... Americans. I think you will like it more than you expect. Even with the pirates. They're not very tough. And Deputy Samurai Pratt and Maeve would kick their heads if they do anything to upset you. I have to get Pratt his katana too. And name it something cool. And maybe make a song about it.

[Ari takes note of that blush, but affects not to, because there's some value in discretion. She does smile again when he compliments her intelligence. Of course she sees these connections. Ari knows she's clever - she's understood it ever since she took the spacer's aptitude test her second day aboard the Prosperity and the captain told her it'd be an utter waste of her abilities if he didn't put her in for command training - but she doesn't really take any credit for it. It was all the genelab's doing, not hers. They could just as easily have designed her to be stupid if they'd wanted.

Her eyes narrow when she thinks he's comparing the Breakaway War to this ridiculous country, America, but he does seem fond of the place, and then there's another map to look at, so she's nicely distracted by that. When he mentions the globe in his room, however, it's Ari's turn to blush. Is he asking what she thinks he is? It's a very oblique way to go about it. Now look at what she's gotten herself into! It takes a moment for her to recall that he's already told her that he shares his cabin - with a pirate, no less. He can't observe the customs of the lines, and why would he?

She tries to follow the rest, but at times it's just a sea of names she doesn't know, ideas she's unfamiliar with. She resolves to pick out the generalities. ]

Where I'm from, if I met a pirate, only one of us would be leaving alive, and you know I'd make damn sure that was me. I don't know how much I'll like it here, but there's nothing to be done about it just now, is there? Right now it's not intolerable, I can say that. I really would like to meet your friends. Do you like music? I never had much time for it. Not beyond singing Sail the Sky or Down the Line at Breakaway, but anyone can do that. [She's not quite drunk enough to start singing space shanties at him in illustration, thankfully. Instead, she tilts her head, looking a little mischievous.] I can't imagine ascetic monks reading romance literature. Even I never had any time for all that. I read history and science and philosophy. [Little Ari's expensive Cardalek education hadn't included novels, or fiction of any kind, really, although she did memorise some poems.]

Let me tell you something about Tradeliners that I'm guessing isn't the same here. You never go into someone's private cabin. It's the only space they have for themselves on the whole ship. Even if you're new and someone's got to inspect yours to make sure you don't have unsecured cargo causing potential gravitational hazards, they stand in the doorway to do it. So I'd like to see that globe, honestly, but maybe you can bring it out to me? It'd feel wrong, otherwise. [There, she thinks that was deftly done. No need to mention that a suggestion that someone break that rule is an invitation for an illicit overnight stay.]

I love music. [A nod.] Some of it. Some of it is too rough for me. There's no pianos in Hell. And the only instrument I ever did myself was taiko drums. It's a -- [Demonstrates with his hands.] Small drum used on the battlefield to signal commands. [Amused grin.] But there's a lot of musicians on board. Klaus is great at falsetto. He. Venti, and Jeff -- [Annoyed tsk. Because Jeff was possessed right now...] Jeff isn't Jeff yet, long story, but -- [Waves a hand, because it's so much to explain, and he hopes it can be resolved before she meets him. And since he's in the brig, it almost certainly will be.] They remind me of my pageboy: Ranmaru. Ranmaru is a performer. A professional singer and dancer, and very impetuous. I'm quite fond of him at home.

The monks yeah... it's all kama sutra, and ways of wholesome living, it's the worst. They'll tell everyone worldly desires are to be refused, and then educate young males in how to be the most pleasurable. They take something fun and interesting and perverted and then try to make it pure and wholesome and spiritual! It's the worst! [He's a five year old in the body of a very dirty old man, yes.]

[And he laughs, blushing all over again.] I can bring it out. Bwahahaha... sorry. Thank you for telling me. [A head nod!!!] I keep forgetting that this isn't Hell, my lands. I went from owning an entire country, the castle, everything my eyes could see, and now I keep forgetting that this isn't technically one of my ships, that I share corridors or decks with others, and I'm not seen as ... impossible of suggesting such things. [More laughs.] Because of politics, such a thing was truly impossible in Hell. And I keep forgetting it's something others could interpret. It's a strange thing. One of the many things which makes me feel like a caveman.

[She nods at the mention of the drum. It makes sense. Like the signal lights on a starship. How Jeff could be not Jeff she can't guess at, but she already knows that if she asks, she's going to get an explanation that won't make much sense. Ari's not sure that she'll get along with all these musical types, especially if they remind Nobunaga of an impetuous little boy from his homeland. (She'd be even more confused to learn that the 'pageboy' is older than she is!)

When he explains about the monks, Ari can't help it. She starts laughing.]

I'm sorry, they just... really?

[If she'd been with the other younger lieutenants on her ship, she'd definitely have made some remark to the effect that at least it mattered to them that young men knew how to please a woman - but with someone that bit older, she feels as if a bit more decorum is necessary.] They sound... profoundly hypocritical. What do you like to read, then? I suppose I'll have the opportunity here, and I've got a stack of files on my slate computer that I've always intended to look through.

[She's not sure how being in his own country would change his response to Tradeline customs of privacy, but she accepts that it would, in some way.] It was impossible for anything to be private, to be just for you, because you owned it all? [That's her closest guess, at least.] I do understand, I think. I don't like that this isn't my ship, that I don't have any authority or responsibility here, that I don't have a department to look after, something to give meaning to the day. I don't like not having control over everything - and I know I didn't back home, but I trusted my captain, so that was different. All of that must be worse for you. You had a whole country.

They are. Very hypocritical. Very annoying. [Monks suck!]

I'd read all nonfiction, anything informative, and none of it exists aboard this ship. Another difference between myself and the Captain. The library only has fiction, and then our -- the passengers' own compiled notes. I've taken to the Bailey School Kids series, because schools don't exist in my world, and Yuuki Natsuno recommended me HP. Lovecraft. Maeve is a big fan of Westerns, so that's what I'm trying next.

Not just the privacy, my whole life is public, because of politics. But likewise, romance was -- difficult. Any single action I took no matter how "small," could have wide repercussions.

[He nods.] It's not that I think I can go anywhere, [Because even HE wasn't that rude!] Just the idea that not everyone knows my reputation or intentions or capacity to understand the meaning. Everyone is suffering a bit of culture clash with each other when it comes to meanings of marriage or romance, but I don't think most of them were quite as removed from humanity as I was. Klaus perhaps for different reasons. Crichton, because there weren't any other humans except Peacekeepers, who do not count. [A nod.] I don't miss the political buffer at all, but it's unbalancing. Like I'm use to having to use so much force to break barriers that now without those barriers, I'm free falling and braced for something that isn't there.

[Ah. Then she hadn't been as careful and subtle as she'd hoped over the matter of private space - he'd read between the lines. Well, if he can do that, she can speak honestly to him.]

That sense of falling is freedom, though, and at the risk of being appallingly trite, once you get your bearings you won't have to fall, you can fly too. I mean - didn't you ever have a contracted partner, back home? You must have had heirs. It's different for Tradeliners. I won't have any of that. [She says it lightly, but there's a flicker of something sad in her eyes.]

I think culture clash is inevitable, not just over that but everything else as well. If you and I are to be friends, though, we can be honest with one another. If either of us does something the other finds culturally... troubling, we can talk about it, instead of making assumptions or getting offended. Fair contract?

[Whether or not he agrees, she turns back to something he said earlier.] I never went to school either, but schools did exist on Cardalek. [It's not that she couldn't afford an education, of course. Ari, Carrington project that she was, had some of the best individual tutors the Company could source.] It's... [she prevents herself from saying anything too rude] exceptionally irritating that there aren't useful books here. I'd share mine with you, but I only have the one computer, and I don't know if you'd want histories of my sector or technical manuals or writings on liberty from the slow ship colonies anyway.

[He laughs.] Believe me, that is exactly what I think. Freedom to fly. [And a headshake.] No no... I take it contracted partner is your culture's marriage? No. That was the -- [Hand to his head.] I proposed to Kichou once. For political purposes. That's how marriage is in my time. Purely politics. In the future it is a step in relationship closeness. I had no idea. Luckily I found out at the drinking game, because they offered a lot about that! I specifically sought to avoid heirs, because the King of England seemed to mess up his country's unification over it.

In retrospect; this language we're speaking now is English. America speaks English, I have no idea how that fallout happens. In my time, I thought they'd fall apart between the other two countries on their isle, and without religious or political cohesion. But they wind up taking over huge portions of the world instead. Spain and Portugal must have messed up pretty badly, but no one seems to remember how. [Just shrugs. He'll figure it out EVENTUALLY. Maybe.] I'd adore political texts. Historical works of any time or culture. [Laughs and waves a hand.] But hold onto them until I can give you equal barter, or I get a device that allows me to read them on my own. Computer. [A soft laugh and a headshake.] Cesar Salazar is much the same way. He has a tablet and a few texts saved. But things have been tetchy this month, and I have nothing to offer. Yet.

There's no schools in hell. Portugal is our main trading partner, they have a university. Here... [Points to Portugal on his Earth map, and the bigger Spain.] And we barely have much to offer them to make them willing to come all the way around the world. That was my dream. To give them reason to come to us and bring us what we couldn't make ourselves. We don't even have chairs. China does. [Points to the big mainland to the West.] But it would have been a waste of resources for us. In the future, we do. And we even have the European beds you'll find around here. But when we started off, we had almost nothing to offer, and we were too divided for them to navigate politically. [Drinks his juice.] All education is done through the monks. I know I can't go back and update my country to all these new ideas, but it's been my habit for -- my whole life now to absorb everything Europe has to tell me, about their history, about the best way they do things, and then make it my own, improve it.

I have a book of Cantigas De Amigas at home. Songs of Friends. Portuguese poetry. My second gift of a book after their bible... [Laughs!] Bible is... A European holy book. Their religious text. Compiled over thousands of years. Even though I fought my region's religion most extremely, Luis Frois kept insisting I was doing his god's work. He's a funny man. But the poetry is what he gave me second. I run the poetry club here. [A pause...] What was my point in bringing this up? [Smacks fist into opposite hand.] Ah yes! I will absorb any information in any form I can. Except romance is dead last.

Absolutely. Fair contract. We'll just ask. I told Klaus I feel like I should give the whole ship a safeword. So they can tell me when they need breathing space. This is another thing I am unused to. [Nod nod.] Creating lines for other people to give me. [Laughs and shakes his head.] I suppose none of them would be either. A Demon King thing as it were.

Why can't Tradeliners have contracted partners or heirs? If that's not too troublesome to ask?

I'm speaking Sector Standard. [She says it plainly, because she's not sure what failing of logic has led him to believe that she speaks the language of a little landmass on a planet she'd never even heard of before today.

She's also not sure what failing of logic meant that she didn't question the ease of their communication, but that's one she'll keep to herself.] I could switch to Company Standard, or Siduri'in, or Devetka... [There, that makes her point well enough.]

Look, you don't find your individuality by copying others. That's as true for cultures as it is for people. If you want your homeland to flourish, you need to encourage imagination and invention among your own people. Of course trade is essential, but you have to make your trading partners see the value in what you produce. [She shrugs.] I like my old bed better than the ones here. It was smaller, but it folded right up to give you more workspace. [It's a very silly complaint, but perhaps she can be forgiven for all the culture shock. Ari's not used to inefficiencies of space.]

We don't have that word in Standard. Marriage. I'm not sure what it is. Partnership contract is a special type of being in contract where you both pledge to each other, and it's often about romance but not always. Sometimes it's business. It depends on the situation. Tradeliners can do it, but it's difficult, because it'd have to be with someone on your own ship. It wouldn't work if they were planetside, you'd only see them a couple of times a year at best, so there wouldn't be any point. The contract would be up before you'd spent much time together.

As for why I personally can't? I have ambitions. I want my own ship someday. Can you tell me that if you were in command, you'd allow a pregnant woman to work aboard a ship that could be going into battle? That you'd allow children there? It's ruinous to a career. [Ari is exaggerating. There are Tradeliner careerists who take a year or two away to have a baby, and then leave it to be raised by family while they return to the stars - but at Ari's age, even the minimum necessary time away seems like an unacceptable delay.]

It's being translated automatically into English. I don't-- I didnt know any English. The Captain's-- [Magic... ugh.] Translation sets it up that even writing gets translated. To the one most of the passengers speak and write so less work for him to program or orchestrate. I could barely read the Roman characters without a reference guide, but it's the default here. Lowest common denominator.

[Nobunaga nods.] I prefer futons as well, but I like how squeaky European beds are. [What a thing to say. He really did just say that.]

Marriage is a contract. Some religions view it as sacred. It's a partnership, but not always of equals. When I proposed to Kichou, he still would have been under my rule, so -- [Shrugs.] It is of finances and ownership in my time. But many centuries to the future, the time and culture for most people here, Marriage is just a deepening of relationships. A "next level" kind of thing. I think some on board here are married.

Do contracts always have a clearly defined end date? That would have made dealing with Kichou easier. [Well, Kichou DID end his contract with Nobunaga so...] Marriage is usually without end, so that would be why that word doesn't exist for you.

I would allow a pregnant woman to fight, yes. And children if they could handle themselves.

These things... in hell, not fighting is a luxury. As much as I want to ensure it, make it available to everyone... it finds people anyway. Kichou wanted an all female unit of soldiers. I don't-- didn't ever disagree with him on that. But I do want to allow women who don't want to fight the chance not to have to. These are very old arguments between him and me. Moot ones too, if I never see him again.

I know Japan's strength. Our production. It is like guns. Guns weren't invented in Japan, but we still made them better, and improved upon them. I still used them in ways the Europeans didn't think of. Much like the all female unit Kichou wanted. There's a lot of strong female gunners here. Kichou would love it. It's terrifying to contemplate. [Small low dark chuckle.] Bwahahaha.

So what you're saying is that we couldn't teach each other our first languages if we wanted to? Everything we say is being...translated by the program, into a language neither of us actually speaks? [That's profoundly disturbing to her, and it shows on her face. Strange things happening around her she can cope with, but happening to her? That's different. How is she supposed to know if the translation is even accurate?]

Partnership contracts always have an end date, but people can renew them if they want to stay together, the contract doesn't have to end. A contract without end seems strange to me. What if they lived another century, and grew to hate one another? What happened to Kichou, when you were partnered? I don't think I could have that sort of contract with someone in my department. If I cared that much about them, how could I send them into danger? And if I keep them safe, how is that fair on everyone else?

[Maybe he'd be less sentimental about it than she would be, if in his culture it's all nothing but politics. On the next point, though, she's very firm.] If I were captain, I wouldn't take any pregnant women - and no children. Nobody below twelve standard years. [Yes, that's her cut-off.] I'd tell them to wait. One of our duties is to protect other people so that they don't have to fight. Everyone should have the choice not to, man or woman. I agree with you there. Why did he want an all-female unit, anyway? There's no need for separation. Separate washing facilities, that's all. Otherwise they can fight alongside the men. [Ari's understanding of warfare is considerable, but it's very much limited to the kind involving starships.]

We could. If you concentrate, you can bypass the translation.

Konnichiwa. Namae wa Oda Nobunaga: maou to Unifier no Nippon. Watashi no sewa o shite kurete arigatou.

Or my favorite: wakarimasen. Means: I don't understand. I feel like I say that a lot. English is very strange to me. "Soka" in Japanese gets translated about 14 different ways. The same word. Why is that? Sometimes it's, "I see." Or "Understood?" Or, "Is that so?" Or "right." I guess it doesn't have a direct translation in English, but why not? And I have no one to ask. Natsuno Yuuki probably doesnt care.

"Wow," in English I just hate. In Japanese it's "Sugoi." So I have to fiddle with it like, "Impressive! Quite impressive!" But if I don't remember to do so, it sounds all pop and wrong. Wow. [Says it sarcastically that time.] And there's no dictionary so I have to rely on others to be my guide.

Kichou is not enough of a masochist to deal with me, alas. [Wow, he made that sound 500 times worse than it already is!!!] He's one of the most brilliant men in the world of our time. Maybe even of human history to our point. I don't know why he changed, he wouldn't tell me, there wasn't enough trust, surely. [He closes his eyes, thinking, remembering. ~~Hard mode, Kichou's route isn't out yet, and Nobunaga doesn't know that Kichou time traveled.~~]

All of us hated the wars, wanted everyone to stop wasting their lives, throwing them away to gods who don't give a damn about them, if they even exist at all. This, I am sure of. [So how did Kichou start courting anarchy and pirates?] I think he grew to fear that a Unified Japan might bring more death than not. That tyranny under Oda, my rule, would be just as bad or worse than everyone continuing to fight. But I do not know how, how i failed him. [That's a genuinely sad note. If he knew how to heal Kichou's heart, he would.]

[And Nobunaga snaps out of it with a soft laugh when she finishes.] All women, divided because... it is the most divisive. [Another laugh and he holds his hand up, shaking his head.] That's a bad joke, sorry. It is... multi-faceted. The monks believe women's role is family, raising the children. Kichou and I hate the castes more than anything. I think he often feared, perhaps, I hated the waste of life more than the castes, or maybe now that I think of it, maybe it's vice versa. One of my greatest fears would be a future where the castes harden even more, where that bucket the crabs are trapped in truly becomes impenetrable. By using an only woman faction, Kichou sought to undeniably prove women's place on the battlefield, and make it so they aren't beholden to others for their safety.

The problem is... in not allowing for others' safety.

Brothels -- do you have those? They look after their girls well, they have to, of course. But the freedom is so restricted. Almost nonexistent. And there is no way to ensure it's always a personal choice. Luis Frois was always trying to help me with this puzzle. How to allow women freedom without the monks banning such things, but make it truly free, not something they are forced or coerced into either. It is the same with war. None us want the wars, so allowing even more participants runs a great risk of counterproductive effects.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

TEST DRIVE MEME #7

I love it :D

oh thank fuck :V

lol tags of all lengths are welcome here ;)

\o/ Now you just get drunk happy dumbass babbles OTL

aww he is adorable

XDDDD <3

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Cw: castes, gendered politics in sengoku era wars, brothels ya