Okay, so I'm still trying to patch this up. Work kinda got in the way, and I went "fuck it" and posted it anyhow, not realizing there were still flaws left to resolve. Keep in mind, this is all a work in progress.
ANYHOW...
What Labster said. "Tribe" should be safe to use. Hippies liked to use it a lot (though it was somewhat more metaphorically as anything even remotely resembling structure and authority was anathema to true hippies). And if anyone starts screeching about cultural appropriation, well we'll just have to set them right.
And if they're still screaming after that?
Hate to say it, but these are the people who've tarnished the title "Social Justice Warrior" so horrifically that even among the more moderate activists its become a derogatory term. And there's just no pleasing people that are like that. Not unless you let them take over in all but name and title, and dictate to us how we should be running this show. And I'm pretty sure that's a non-starter for us all.
All that said...
I'd be willing to say, "Whichever is more culturally apropos." So we can have our own little Thesaurus that lists alternate titles for these family organizational units.
Unless I missed my guess, Rob is aiming for a more Celtic feel, which is cool, I think. It adds a little more color to the canvas.
Whereas with me? I'm a Mestizo, so not only is fitting for me, but it's also an acknowledgment of my ethnic roots. So anyone that tries to raise cane over it is in for one hell of a "Bitch, please" moment - especially since I'll have pointed out that I'm a Mestizo at multiple points in the story, and even have it listed as part of my ethnic background on the Wiki.
Moving on, Clan vs. Cadet House.
The primary difference between a "House" (either Cadet or Branch) and a "Clan" is the size of the family. Where a House represents a single Branch, a Clan represents multiple Branches. This is why you have the Cadet House - it's at the same political level in the Tribe/Kinfolk as a Clan, but they lack the multiple Branches of a Clan.
Thus the qualifying criteria for a Clan is to have more than one branch in your family organization - usually by the Clan Head having more than one domestic partner that bears/sires children.
A Cadet House, however, can evolve into a Clan. As the children of the House Head of a Cadet House mature and take on spouses/domestic partners, they may choose to form their own branches, and thus their Cadet House becomes a Clan.
The only political difference between a Cadet House and a Branch House would be mobility. A Branch House's policies will need to fall in-line with the Clan's policies, while a Cadet House has much more freedom in how they may operate. Also, unlike a Branch House, a Cadet House has a vote in the Tribal/Kinfolk Council.
Thus, the meaning behind the title "Cadet House" falls in line with the archaic meaning of "Cadet" - that being a young child of a great house. In this case, it would be a young, independent House within a Tribe/Kinfolk that may become its own Clan someday, or possibly be subsumed by another Clan through intermarriage or adoption.
So, classifying the families...
Regarding Minako, hers would probably be a Cadet House rather than a Clan. That'd be the easiest way to classify her situation since she has no blood or marriage ties directly into the Tsukino Clan.
In the Tsukino Clan... To my knowledge, Usagi will take one husband: Mamouru Chiba. He has one of two options:
Option 2 is the somewhat tidier option as it creates a proper Main Branch family within the clan. Chibi-Usa, being the only child thus far, would be in-line to inherit the Clan Head position in either case since she's the Clan Head's child.
Rei kinda muddies things a bit. In Option 1, she'd be part of his Branch for sure, but so would Chibi-Usa. Which would mean that any children between Mamoru and Rei would have a claim equal to Chibi-Usa's. But in the case of Option 2, Rei would head her own Branch, and her child would have a lower priority for inheritance than Chibi-Usa. They could still vie for the spot, but they'd have to convince Usagi that they'd be a better Clan Head than Chibi-Usa. (That, or Chibi-Usa could abdicate.)
RE: Chikyū-no-Mau.... I can't find anything that gives Luna and Artemis any surnames. Got a source? Otherwise... Chikyū seems to be used in Japanese to refer to Earth as a proper noun, and not a generalized noun like "planet" would be. At least, I haven't seen it used that way before. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
This also brings up another point: in the fashion of deconstruction, we'd have to give serious consideration that the usage of Japanese names among the Tsukino Clan could wind up being a passing thing. Reason being that its heavily implied that in their previous lives, everyone was very long lived. Which would mean that as more and more memories from that time resurface, they will eventually wind up outweighing their memories as people of Japan.
Although they could keep those names around out of fondness for that brief, but oh-so-memorable time. But Luna and Artemis would probably fall back on their original names. In fact, I could almost see the names "Luna" and "Artemis" being code names, and their actual, given names were something else entirely.
If we find ourselves in need of something for feline culture, then I would suggest Diane Duane's Young Wizards series, as that has a spin-off series about the feline wizards that maintain the world gates in Manhattan. She has not only created an entire culture for felines, but even a clever strategy game that they play that is football-is-church-of-state level of popularity.
All that said, with no other branches within their family, theirs would also be a Cadet House within Kinfolk Serenity.
Kamijo is a bit difficult to pin down. From what I can tell, there is no Main Branch as you seem to have Mikoto establishing her own Branch within the family by taking in however many of her clone-sisters desire to join in with her. Which is legitimate. And Kuroku, being married to Mikoto, but not Touma, would be part of said Branch. I would say that until someone elects to fully take on the Kamijo name and thus establish a Main Branch, then this would be a Cadet House as well. (What about Index?)
Kino would be a Cadet House... up until she has children that grow up and establish their own branches within her family. Knowing Makoto? Pretty sure she's gonna have A LOT of kids!!!
Mizuno? Kind of a wonky setup there. Ami and her daughter, Akemi, would form a Main Branch, with Rob heading the Branch House of Mizuno-Donaldson. This would mean Akemi would have a stronger claim to be the next Clan Head unless she abdicates or Ami chooses someone else. The next closest would be Ami's and Rob's child... though upon assuming the position of Clan Head, they'd have to give up the Donaldson patronym.
(We could have it that people in the Main Branch don't have to use just one surname... but it'd make it trickier to keep track of things as this would cause shifts between which House is the Main Branch and which is a Branch.)
Argh. Branches. So many Branches...
Okay, so this is where I may have messed up a bit because I was trying to be too clever for my own good. Which is why TNB!Benjamin is gonna need so much help keeping his shit straight.
So, let me see about changing up a few things here. As I said before, this is all a work in progress.
Tribe/Kinsfolk - a grouping of multiple Clans and Cadet Houses.
Clan - A family grouping with multiple Branch Houses. May or may not have a Root House.
Root House - The main-line family within a Clan, denoted by having the Clan's name as a singular surname regardless of patronyms/matronyms. A Root House is not established until the Clan Head takes a spouse who takes on the Clan Head's surname alone as their legal surname, or the Clan Head adopts someone as their child, giving the child their surname in the process.
Branch House - a branch from the Root House in a Clan - either by a spouse married to the Clan Head, or a child of a Clan Head establishing their own branch by taking their spouse's surname as a patronym/matronym.
Cadet House - A House that is separate from any Clan. This usually denotes a much smaller family, as the primary difference between a Clan and a Cadet House is that Cadet Houses have no branches within them. Cadet Houses become Clans, though, once they have a Branch House established from the main family, or at least two Branch Houses.
Next point of order: Regarding the question about the theoretical children of Takamachi-Rhodes and Mizuno-Donaldson, and loyalties in the event of a difference of opinion.
They would have to "follow the rules" so to speak, but it would be the rules of the Tribe/Kinsfolk that they're residing with. They could decide to switch tribes/kinsfolks if the difference of opinion is grave enough. Or, they could even go out on their own.
There would be no rule stating that they cannot receive support from their respective families - that'd be just plain wrong. Unless they've done something that is absolutely criminal, anyways. And even then, there'd be nothing to stipulate that any family would have to completely withdraw their support - just that they can't be enabling them to do further wrong.
The primary thing is that both Tribes/Kinfolks would want these kids to be happy. And if they're part of a group where their opinion goes against everyone else's? Well, they can't possibly be very happy that way, can they? (Though some people just loooooove confrontation like that.)
Finally: Going Royalist and Do They Have a Choice in the Matter.
Like Rob said, they do. Just to clarify: No, Usagi doesn't "Need" to be a queen. And I strongly suspect that she wouldn't want to, either. But circumstances rarely play to our favor. If she does become a queen, it would be because it's the much lesser of two evils, and the other options will cause a lot of people to be hurt. At the very least, if it's Usagi? You can be sure that she will strive to be the best ruler she can possibly be.
ANYHOW...
What Labster said. "Tribe" should be safe to use. Hippies liked to use it a lot (though it was somewhat more metaphorically as anything even remotely resembling structure and authority was anathema to true hippies). And if anyone starts screeching about cultural appropriation, well we'll just have to set them right.
And if they're still screaming after that?
Hate to say it, but these are the people who've tarnished the title "Social Justice Warrior" so horrifically that even among the more moderate activists its become a derogatory term. And there's just no pleasing people that are like that. Not unless you let them take over in all but name and title, and dictate to us how we should be running this show. And I'm pretty sure that's a non-starter for us all.
All that said...
I'd be willing to say, "Whichever is more culturally apropos." So we can have our own little Thesaurus that lists alternate titles for these family organizational units.
Unless I missed my guess, Rob is aiming for a more Celtic feel, which is cool, I think. It adds a little more color to the canvas.
Whereas with me? I'm a Mestizo, so not only is fitting for me, but it's also an acknowledgment of my ethnic roots. So anyone that tries to raise cane over it is in for one hell of a "Bitch, please" moment - especially since I'll have pointed out that I'm a Mestizo at multiple points in the story, and even have it listed as part of my ethnic background on the Wiki.
Moving on, Clan vs. Cadet House.
The primary difference between a "House" (either Cadet or Branch) and a "Clan" is the size of the family. Where a House represents a single Branch, a Clan represents multiple Branches. This is why you have the Cadet House - it's at the same political level in the Tribe/Kinfolk as a Clan, but they lack the multiple Branches of a Clan.
Thus the qualifying criteria for a Clan is to have more than one branch in your family organization - usually by the Clan Head having more than one domestic partner that bears/sires children.
A Cadet House, however, can evolve into a Clan. As the children of the House Head of a Cadet House mature and take on spouses/domestic partners, they may choose to form their own branches, and thus their Cadet House becomes a Clan.
The only political difference between a Cadet House and a Branch House would be mobility. A Branch House's policies will need to fall in-line with the Clan's policies, while a Cadet House has much more freedom in how they may operate. Also, unlike a Branch House, a Cadet House has a vote in the Tribal/Kinfolk Council.
Thus, the meaning behind the title "Cadet House" falls in line with the archaic meaning of "Cadet" - that being a young child of a great house. In this case, it would be a young, independent House within a Tribe/Kinfolk that may become its own Clan someday, or possibly be subsumed by another Clan through intermarriage or adoption.
So, classifying the families...
Regarding Minako, hers would probably be a Cadet House rather than a Clan. That'd be the easiest way to classify her situation since she has no blood or marriage ties directly into the Tsukino Clan.
In the Tsukino Clan... To my knowledge, Usagi will take one husband: Mamouru Chiba. He has one of two options:
- Head his own branch within the Tsukino Clan.
- Take the Tsukino name and either drop Chiba or use it as a legal middle name.
Option 2 is the somewhat tidier option as it creates a proper Main Branch family within the clan. Chibi-Usa, being the only child thus far, would be in-line to inherit the Clan Head position in either case since she's the Clan Head's child.
Rei kinda muddies things a bit. In Option 1, she'd be part of his Branch for sure, but so would Chibi-Usa. Which would mean that any children between Mamoru and Rei would have a claim equal to Chibi-Usa's. But in the case of Option 2, Rei would head her own Branch, and her child would have a lower priority for inheritance than Chibi-Usa. They could still vie for the spot, but they'd have to convince Usagi that they'd be a better Clan Head than Chibi-Usa. (That, or Chibi-Usa could abdicate.)
RE: Chikyū-no-Mau.... I can't find anything that gives Luna and Artemis any surnames. Got a source? Otherwise... Chikyū seems to be used in Japanese to refer to Earth as a proper noun, and not a generalized noun like "planet" would be. At least, I haven't seen it used that way before. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
This also brings up another point: in the fashion of deconstruction, we'd have to give serious consideration that the usage of Japanese names among the Tsukino Clan could wind up being a passing thing. Reason being that its heavily implied that in their previous lives, everyone was very long lived. Which would mean that as more and more memories from that time resurface, they will eventually wind up outweighing their memories as people of Japan.
Although they could keep those names around out of fondness for that brief, but oh-so-memorable time. But Luna and Artemis would probably fall back on their original names. In fact, I could almost see the names "Luna" and "Artemis" being code names, and their actual, given names were something else entirely.
If we find ourselves in need of something for feline culture, then I would suggest Diane Duane's Young Wizards series, as that has a spin-off series about the feline wizards that maintain the world gates in Manhattan. She has not only created an entire culture for felines, but even a clever strategy game that they play that is football-is-church-of-state level of popularity.
All that said, with no other branches within their family, theirs would also be a Cadet House within Kinfolk Serenity.
Kamijo is a bit difficult to pin down. From what I can tell, there is no Main Branch as you seem to have Mikoto establishing her own Branch within the family by taking in however many of her clone-sisters desire to join in with her. Which is legitimate. And Kuroku, being married to Mikoto, but not Touma, would be part of said Branch. I would say that until someone elects to fully take on the Kamijo name and thus establish a Main Branch, then this would be a Cadet House as well. (What about Index?)
Kino would be a Cadet House... up until she has children that grow up and establish their own branches within her family. Knowing Makoto? Pretty sure she's gonna have A LOT of kids!!!
Mizuno? Kind of a wonky setup there. Ami and her daughter, Akemi, would form a Main Branch, with Rob heading the Branch House of Mizuno-Donaldson. This would mean Akemi would have a stronger claim to be the next Clan Head unless she abdicates or Ami chooses someone else. The next closest would be Ami's and Rob's child... though upon assuming the position of Clan Head, they'd have to give up the Donaldson patronym.
(We could have it that people in the Main Branch don't have to use just one surname... but it'd make it trickier to keep track of things as this would cause shifts between which House is the Main Branch and which is a Branch.)
Argh. Branches. So many Branches...
Okay, so this is where I may have messed up a bit because I was trying to be too clever for my own good. Which is why TNB!Benjamin is gonna need so much help keeping his shit straight.
So, let me see about changing up a few things here. As I said before, this is all a work in progress.
Tribe/Kinsfolk - a grouping of multiple Clans and Cadet Houses.
Clan - A family grouping with multiple Branch Houses. May or may not have a Root House.
Root House - The main-line family within a Clan, denoted by having the Clan's name as a singular surname regardless of patronyms/matronyms. A Root House is not established until the Clan Head takes a spouse who takes on the Clan Head's surname alone as their legal surname, or the Clan Head adopts someone as their child, giving the child their surname in the process.
Branch House - a branch from the Root House in a Clan - either by a spouse married to the Clan Head, or a child of a Clan Head establishing their own branch by taking their spouse's surname as a patronym/matronym.
Cadet House - A House that is separate from any Clan. This usually denotes a much smaller family, as the primary difference between a Clan and a Cadet House is that Cadet Houses have no branches within them. Cadet Houses become Clans, though, once they have a Branch House established from the main family, or at least two Branch Houses.
Next point of order: Regarding the question about the theoretical children of Takamachi-Rhodes and Mizuno-Donaldson, and loyalties in the event of a difference of opinion.
They would have to "follow the rules" so to speak, but it would be the rules of the Tribe/Kinsfolk that they're residing with. They could decide to switch tribes/kinsfolks if the difference of opinion is grave enough. Or, they could even go out on their own.
There would be no rule stating that they cannot receive support from their respective families - that'd be just plain wrong. Unless they've done something that is absolutely criminal, anyways. And even then, there'd be nothing to stipulate that any family would have to completely withdraw their support - just that they can't be enabling them to do further wrong.
The primary thing is that both Tribes/Kinfolks would want these kids to be happy. And if they're part of a group where their opinion goes against everyone else's? Well, they can't possibly be very happy that way, can they? (Though some people just loooooove confrontation like that.)
Finally: Going Royalist and Do They Have a Choice in the Matter.
Like Rob said, they do. Just to clarify: No, Usagi doesn't "Need" to be a queen. And I strongly suspect that she wouldn't want to, either. But circumstances rarely play to our favor. If she does become a queen, it would be because it's the much lesser of two evils, and the other options will cause a lot of people to be hurt. At the very least, if it's Usagi? You can be sure that she will strive to be the best ruler she can possibly be.