#imagine if he was in Sengoku Basara

[kuiperblog]

How often do men think about Japan's warring states period?

Imagine a woman who is obsessed with Miyamoto Musashi, the 16th century Japanese swordsman and philosopher. Okay, she might deny that she's obsessed with Musashi, but here are the things that an objective observer might note:

When people ask her what her favorite book is, she says it's the The Book of Five Rings, the book which contains Musashi's teachings, or the Niten Ki, the earliest biography of Musashi.

At least once a week, she makes a post on her Instagram that is a quote from the The Book of Five Rings or Dokkodo, like "Do not let yourself be guided by the feeling of lust or love" or "Do not fear death"

She has a group of friends that she specifically met through her love of Musashi. Once a week, she grabs her copy of The Book of Five Rings, and goes to meet up with her friends to discuss a specific passage from the book and how to apply its message to their lives.

(She used to have a previous friend group that was really into Musashi in the city where she went to college; when she moved, one of the first things she did was find a new group of people who like Musashi as much as she does.)

If you asked her what she's looking for in a husband, one of her qualifying criteria would be, "He has to love Musashi and live in accordance with Musashi's teachings."

One day, she's scrolling through TikTok and sees a video from a woman saying, "Ladies, did you know that all men are obsessed with Sengoku-era Japan? If you don't believe me, go and ask your man how often he thinks about the Japanese warring states period."

Our Musashi-loving heroine laughs and says, "Oh, my boyfriend would never." But, amused by the idea, she asks him, "Hey babe, how often do you think about the Sengoku period?" He pauses and says, "Hmm, maybe once a day. Isn't it common for most men to think about serving under a daimyo who orders them to pick up a katana and march into battle?" She laughs and says, "You're doing this as a bit, aren't you?" He says, "No, I was obsessed with the Sengoku period as a kid, and I still am." He pulls up his Steam profile and shows her that he has spent 500 hours playing "Total War: Shogun 2," then shows her his PlayStation profile, where he's completed all of the achievements for Sengoku Basara 3, Sengoku Basara 4, Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. He then shows her his DVD collection, which contains movies like Seven Samurai and Heaven and Earth. He says, "when I was a kid, I had a LEGO set with samurai characters, and I would play with them and imagine what it would be like to live in Japan during the warring states period. I still think about that, from time to time. Sometimes, I'll see a knife with a particular shape that looks sort of like a katana, and it makes me think about the Sengoku period."

She laughs. "Okay, okay, you've convinced me. I didn't realize that men spent so much time thinking about the Sengoku period."

He then asks her how often she thinks about Sengoku-era Japan. "I don't know," she says. "Like...never? Not since high school history class."

During this conversation, it doesn't occur to either of them to comment on the fact that she is a huge fan of Musashi, one of the most famous historical figures who lived during the Sengoku period.

That would be weird, right?

Okay, now replace "Musashi" with "Jesus," and "Sengoku-era Japan" with "the Roman Empire."

[imustbenuts]

personal thoughts about playing JP games in JP vs EN, a lot of weird thoughts that probably won't make sense to many

not a dig at localization or translation or anything, just a word vomit on how im perceiving things.

theres 2 main categories in my head when i play games made by japanese devs. Western Themed, and Eastern Themed.

for Western Theme, games like final fantasy (all of it), some/few entries of fire emblems, no more heroes, and elden ring all fall into this category.

for Eastern Theme, it's games like persona, shin megami tensei, sekiro, sengoku basara, tales of series and RGG games

in my head, games in the Western Themed box are games i find far more enjoyable in english localization or dub, and actually find some of the japanese script to be kind of off putting. the Eastern Theme would be the opposite, games that are far more enjoyable in full JP than EN.

learning japanese has done quite a bit to my brain and the more i learn the more i think, "@_@ oh god im in a weird place where people won't understand me help"

because see, if i try to explain, it becomes weird and very subjective. and one of the main factor is that language is kind of intrinsically tied to culture in my head, which, :v

trying to type it down to explain anyway:

as an example, calling people by titles such as "Lord", "Sir", "Madame", "Knight", works far better for a Western themed game than an Eastern one. like, yes, that makes sense if i think about it, historically and even right now, those terms instantly spring up the images of a medieval knight and societal system in stone castles. cool beans.

but we don't use the word knight for Samurais. this is a whole other thing referring to the Japanese class of people wandering around with swords serving their feudal lords.

and in JP, it works the same. Kishi is used for Knights rather than the word samurai. for Lords, 卿(kyou) is used for English lords, and 殿(tono) is used for JP lords. but the japanese pronouns are still there, with some of the roots just reminding me of how a stereotype in JP media would speak. the -sama suffix is the same, and other words like -chan or anime/japanese rooted verbal tics can totally get in there, pulling me out of the immersion.

its like running face first into "Tis but a flesh wound" in the script - you know that specific root is in monty python, a fully ENGLISH bit. a good example of JP would be running into a cat who says "wagahai wa neko de aru", refering to nastume soseki's book I Am A Cat.

especially in the case of Final Fantasy. with very few exceptions like 7, a lot of them fit better wtih an EN script bc of how much western themed theatrics and setting is packed in there.

as an example, i think i prefer seifer in ff8 for example going "One of these days, I'm gonna tell ya 'bout my ROMANTIC dream!" like a dumbass jock over "itsuka kikasete yarusa! ore no ro~~~~~mantikku na yume wo na!" like a dumbass JP highscooler (which he kind of is, but still not a dipshit jock)

so its really the little things like that. subs not dubs doesnt work for me anymore, im in a very strange place, kupo.

another thing is really, just... the tropes. the deep disconnect between how people behave irl and how anime thinks people behave irl. kind of like how Hayao Miyazaki puts it in 2014,

so, learning Japanese has actually done a weird bit where it's caused me to actually fully understand the JP, meaning when i pick up on the script getting off putting, it gets off-putting.

when people usually go "subs not dubs", its voiced from a sense that the JP voice is better than EN. but as the years go by this isn't really true anymore, some dubs can have serious quality that's unthinkable back in 2010 ffs. i think this is largely bc anglo-speaking audience do not understand JP, and so builds an imagination between the sub and the tone of the voice acting to carry the work.

but just like old ps1 horror games, that imagination is doing a good bulk of elbow greasing.

to explain:

there are times when JP writers puts in an objectively anime trope or thing. especially in the case of FE, where sometimes that it becomes 'ew' to people who aren't hardcore anime nerds. im talking things like the whole big booba onee-chan Camilla and the kawaii imouto/otouto Sakura and Takumi tropes thats kinda there in FE Fates. and the JP version of Anna's S support in Engage and the weird undertones thats going there.

masking it with subs can cause the audience to kind of brush it off as "aaah those silly japanese" or "ok this is just an anime trope". i mean, hell, check some discourse from people who yell about how this is censorship essentially defending it from what is effectively lolicon tropes and it's just. :v

and thats the thing. once that localization or sub barrier is removed, once im hearing actual JP and past any subconscious filter, i fully see the scene in its original form. i would then have a reaction exactly like hayao miyazaki.

having that ignorance kind of protects an audience from just how deep the writers ouroborous'd themselves into the nerd sphere. i kind of wish i had that sometimes. the creep vibes in some original JP scripts makes me want to crawl out of my skin, and there is no way i can explain this to an audience without first sounding like im disparaging the original work, shitting on the writers, and bringing in my personal bias into the conversation.

which, yeah i guess it kind of is. but man. if elden ring can commit to their bit with anime tropes used in a good/interesting/subtle way, then so can every one else.

when i started learning JP to play JP games never to see the light of localization, this was not the experience i expected, tbh.

so in summary, im totally disillusioned to the idea of Original = Best, Localization = Censorship at this point. that rose colored glasses are hanging on by a thread now. kind of wondering what other stuff i'll run into but it's been a real interesting journey that i totally get if people wont understand.

loneliness and language learning goes hand in hand lol

[koorinokujira]

Introduction and Blog Info

Well hello hello, and welcome to my humble blog! Come sit by the shore and watch the coming tide with me for a while, and let me introduce myself to you.

✧ About Me ✧

You can call me Oliver, Cecil, or Kujira, any of those are fine! My pronouns are he/him. I'm in many fandoms, some well known, and others fairly obcure, though my blog will mostly revolve around Sengoku Basara, if that wasn't already obvious. I also love whales (which is where my URL comes from), and daydream way too much. And to answer some very generic questions, my favorite color is pastel blue, and my favorite ice cream flavor is chocolate.

✧ Things I'll Post! ✧

✎ Character Imagines (Sengoku Basara) - I will take requests on these!

✎ Oneshots (Sengoku Basara and possibly other fandoms) - Will occassionally take requests on these as well.

✎ Longer, chapter based fanfiction (Sengoku Basara and other fandoms) - Won't accept requests on these for now (strictly because I'm afraid I'll lose motivation and let someone down).

✎ Original Stories - I have some of my own projects that I hope to show off here.

🖌 Digital Art - Mostly headshots of my OCs or favorite characters. Silly comics sometimes.

❅ Memes - Obviously.

+ other miscellaneous things.

✧ My Tags ✧

#icywhaleupdates - updates about my blog, mostly progress updates on my imagines

#icywhaleocs - Everything about my OCs!

#icywhaleasks - Any asks sent to this blog (apart from requests) will have this tag.

#icywhalethoughts - My general rambles about anything and everything.

#icywhaleart - Drawings and such!

✧ DNI and Similar Matters ✧

I want this blog to be a safe place for fun, so I think most of the things I will say are obvious. I don't tolerate homophobia, transphobia, or other similar things. Same of course goes for sexual things of the illegal nature, and also pro-shipping.

NSFW will not really be present on my blog. I'm ace, so I don't really need that sort of thing. The most that will probably appear is a few shirtless guys (or anatomy practice), or, when it comes to my fanfiction and other stories, simply leave a more passionate scene on an implication. So, if you came here to read something raunchy, I have to disappoint you, only fluff and angst over here!

✧ OC Database ✧

Sunrise (TF IDW1)

✧ Fanfic Masterlist + Request Rules ✧

❅ REQUEST RULES HERE ❅

✦ Sengoku Basara Imagines ✦

Comfort after a nightmare - Kojūrō, Masamune, Yukimura, Sasuke, Motochika, Keiji, Magoichi

Taking a bullet for your beloved (literally) - Masamune, Nagamasa, Kotarō

Taking care of each other's wounds - Masamune, Sasuke, Kojūrō, Kotarō

You fell first, they fell too late - Magoichi, Mitsunari, Shingen

Dying and not wanting him to see - Kenshin, Yukimura, Motochika

Thank you for reading all this, and have a beautiful day!

[teecupangel]

For those unfamiliar, here is a Song of the Sea:

Okay, okay, this gave me the idea of Des not just singing English songs to Shay (and Liam) but Italian lullabies that Ezio either heard from Maria or Ezio himself sang to his children. Like, maybe Des sang

Stella stellina

(English lyrics)

Or

Ninna nanna del chicco di caffè

(English lyrics)

So Shay grew up listening to Italian and he actually knows quite a bit. It’s pretty much his and Des’ secret language because they mix a bit of Arabic and Ratonhnhaké:ton’s native language there as well. To most, they sound like a made-up language but it’s not for them. Liam is the only person who can sorta understand them.

About Des singing to unnerve enemies…

I personally like the idea that Des’ song would be like this:

(I couldn’t find a video that has all of Ichi’s song but the lyrics were recorded in this gamefaqs post and it definitely has creepy lyrics - and Laura Bailey singing it)

Athough, I can just imagine Des singing “I’m gonna kill you, I’m gonna kill you good, slice your throat before you can scream.” absentmindedly. Like, she wasn’t planning to sing it and the lyrics sucked because she’s just saying whatever she wants but the fact that they can’t see her and her singing echoes in the place they’re in made it horrifying.

Des is just horrified because the lyrics were so, so bad.

Okay okay, going through my knowledge of ac rogue when I remembered that shay was likely raised by his aunt (as I've not seen any mention of his mother, only that his father was a sailor who died) so herea my take, what if Desmond was thrown a ways back when shay is still a child and takes the place of shay's Aunt?

I'm looking at this like female des just being a absolute menace (albeit a caring menace for shay's sake) by teaching him things any assassin is trained for, like freerunning? Aunt des is only a few rooftops away standing close by making sure her nephew isn't going to fuck up and hurt himself while giving him pointers and correcting him, but as time goes by with Aunt des teaching him these things it just becomes a bonding experience for them. A way to distract him or to calm him down whenever it gets to be too much for him. Liam? Liam just the poor unfortunate soul who got dragged into the mess by being shays best friend, and gets to witness just how much of a menace aunt des is. But he gets to learn as well because let's face it, he probably found it very interesting after a while.

Liam: shay- what are you doing up there?! Get down!

Shay: I'm fine Liam, I'm just trying to catch up to aunt des! She ain't gonna let me get hurt

Desmond peeking over the edge of the roof to confirm she is indeed close by to help when needed: oh hello Liam lovely day we're having today, how are you?

Liam: how are you so casual about this?

Once shay is grown up it goes from his aunt des being the silent freerunning menace to shay becoming the silent freerunning menace, I can just picture the look Achilles has when shay first joined Liam to become an assassin and the man just breezes through training with ease.

Achilles: you have assassin training already yet you said you've been doing this for years...who taught you?

Liam: his menace of an aunt, that's who

Now, I could be wrong but I'd like to think shay is mildly protective of aunt des when he's questioned about his training as she's the only living relative of his still around. He does notice later that the training he's doing at the homestead is exactly what his aunt taught him, which leaves him reeling with emotions and more questions then the other's have.

But i also think des would be someone who could balance shay out a little bit, she acts like a piller for him at times. Often having had fallen back to the memories of her ancestors when training him.

From what I can gather, Shay lost his father when he was 16 (or 15 if the ship went down before his birthday in November). His aunt took care of him before he joined his father in the sea and the database noted:

Shay returned to New York and spent his days wandering from one tavern to the next, starting one brawl after another.

So, this meant, that Shay didn’t return to his aunt after his father’s death. But we can twist this a bit. Aunt Des is still the person who takes care of Shay when he was young while his father was out in sea. Maybe she is Shay’s biological aunt or maybe she’s just this quirky woman that his father knew and trusted to take care of Shay. Either way, this gives us a chance for Des and Shay to develop as half-aunt-nephew and half-mother-son. Shay would have a closer relationship with Des than he did with his canon aunt and he’d learn to freerun from her.

BUT, because Des is a big supporter of ‘oneshot strikes’, Shay didn’t get a reputation as a brawler because his aunt looks always disappointed when he fights for the dumbest reasons. This would mean that his father wouldn’t take him aboard the ship at 8 and he would continue to live with Aunt Des. Maybe when he's 14, his father would suggest he joins the crew and Shay goes with him but always visits his aunt any time he gets (and asks Liam to keep an eye on her). So when his father died, he went back to Des who helped and grieved with him.

I honestly think that, in this scenario, Liam and Shay wouldn’t even become Achilles’ Assassins. After the death of Shay’s father and when he's ready to move past his grief, he’d stay with her and Liam would tag along and they would form their own Brotherhood.

Might even become sorta tense allies/rivals with Achilles’ Brotherhood…

Unorganized Notes:

Shay will definitely be protective of his aunt and Liam will be too. To them, Des is more or less like a second mother figure.

Des has complicated feelings for Achilles because of his Bleeds. On one hand, she respects him, on the other hand, Des doesn’t agree with some of his choices. Because of this, they can’t really become one Brotherhood.

Achilles believes Des is from another Brotherhood, probably one of the European Brotherhoods. Des just goes with it.

Des would make contact with Kaniehtí:io after she’s sure that Haytham Kenway has left the village. Shay and Liam end up like older brothers to Ratonhnhaké:ton because of this.

Due to being in different Brotherhoods, Shay and Liam’s relationship with the Colonial Assassins are different. They both don’t like Achilles because they feel that he’s sometimes rude to Des. Hope and Shay have a more… tense rival flirting thing going on (which Shay is adamant is not true, no matter what Liam says) and, dear god, don’t let them near Gaultier. Just… don’t.

Shay doesn’t like Haytham in this one. Especially if we add in the misunderstanding that Des’s complicated feelings for Haytham (which is because of his Bleed) is because Des has feelings for Haytham and Shay does not approve of that. It’s all one big misunderstanding, that’s for damn sure.

Shay is loyal to Des both as his mentor and only living family member. As the person who pretty much raised him, Shay trusts Des with all his heart which hurts because he knows Des is hiding a lot of things from him.

[blue-and-dog]

The Beast in the Mountains (A Sengoku Basara One-Shot)

Note: This story is centered around my fanon that, post-Sekigahara, Mitsunari and his family fled into the mountains to live in hiding for several years before his death. A wife is mentioned, but for the sake of this story I keep her ambiguous so you readers who have an OC shipped with him can just slap her in there. :D Shiranui’s profile is here.

TW: BLOOD, ANIMAL ATTACK

[[MORE]]

“That’s a good size fire; try and keep it like that for now.”

The group of men sat around the small fire; four dirty, tired, ragged men on the run from proper society, obscured by the darkness of the mountain’s dense forest, barely illuminated by the small fire. Sadanobu continued.

“Any brighter and we risk attracting animals. I’m already worried about smoke flowin’ through the treetops.”

“With how thick these trees are?” Gaku chuckled, “I’m surprised the moonlight even gets through here. We’ll be fine. We just gotta make sure to put it out before we call it a night.”

“You sure no one’ll find us up here?” Naofumi asked, as usual fidgeting with his hands out of anxiety.

“Relax, I did some scoping out of the town not far from these mountains,” Matazaemon shook his head, “They’re superstitious folk. Somethin’ about an old legend saying there’s a guardian spirit that lives on this mountain. People who go too high up the mountain end up in its territory and meet a horrible fate or some shit like that. That’s why I wanted to set up the camp so high up.”

“Besides, we’re not staying long...” Sadanobu pulled out the thick sack from behind him, “We gotta get to my guy in Kyoto and pawn all this off.”

Another successful heist for the unlikely group of criminals; two army deserters, a farmer and a gambler, able to pool their strengths and successfully rob their way across the East. Traveling nobles, temples, inns—nothing was safe. The country was a mess—they were just taking the opportunity to help themselves.

“That last temple was hidin’ some good loot!” Gaku said excitedly, “I still can’t believe how lucky we got! Lemme see again!”

Sadanobu rolled his eyes, but smiled and passed the bag to Gaku, who excitedly opened it, tilting it toward the light of the fire to see the inside; the head of the gold Buddha glittered back at him. “We got enough goodies in here to eat like kings for weeks!”

“Man, I haven’t eaten a decent meal since the Toyotomi...” Sadanobu sighed and leaned back. “It’ll be nice...”

“Hey, yeah, you were a Toyotomi guy!” Matazaemon laughed, “I was Oda! I know your pain.”

“You’re kidding! You don’t strike me as an Oda guy.”

“And you don’t strike me as a Toyotomi!” he cackled back, as the two howled in laugher. Gaku and Naofumi chuckled along.

“You know, you two never talked about your army days,” Naofumi pointed out, “We got time—why not start now?”

“It’s really nothin’ much,” Matazaemon shook his head, digging through another bag to grab a rice ball and start distributing them amongst the group, “I joined up so my old man didn’t have to, wound up havin’ to do a lot of killing and burning and pillaging that I really never wanted to do. Watched all the major generals shining above everyone else, while the foot soldiers were trampled beneath them. Date, Takeda, Uesugi...they were the kind of guys that really made war seem like a fun time.”

“I know what you mean,” Gaku replied, “They made it look like something we should aspire to. I almost joined up with Date myself, but...when folks from the Date came around enlisting able-bodied men, I took off so my mom wouldn’t have to see her only son die for the sake of some egotist who just wanted more land for himself. I wonder how she’s doing...?”

“That’s the thing about these generals and daimyo,” Naofumi shrugged, “They shine brighter by standing on the backs of their soldiers.”

“Oda was a complete monster, though,” Matazaemon grumbled. “All of his inner circle were. Moment I got news Akechi killed him, I took the opportunity to turn tail while everyone was scrambling around. Never looked back.”

“Similar to my story,” Sadanobu nodded, “Hideyoshi was a creep...even standing near him put me on edge. And his supporters weren’t any better.” He leaned forward, looking down into the fire. “I remember one day, when I was training...apparently his general, Ishida, didn’t think I was making enough progress. By some mercy, he kept his sword sheathed, but he beat me with the sheathed weapon in some twisted attempt to strengthen me. All it did was strengthen my resolve to get the hell out of there soon as I could. Glad he’s dead.”

“Is he, though?” Naofumi raised an eyebrow. “I thought it wasn’t confirmed.”

“He and his family were in Osaka castle when some folks raided it after he lost Sekigahara. The whole place went up in flames; there’s no way an impulsive guy like that had any escape plan to get out of there undetected. There were so many burnt corpses in the castle afterward once the fire was under control; he had to be among them. He wouldn’t have run. He never ran.”

Naofumi closed his eyes in thought. “Maybe. There’s always a chance.”

“Don’t even start. I don’t wanna think about the possibility that that asshole’s still out there somewhere. And even if he is...he’d never willingly show his face again.”

The wind seemed to whisper above them. And a rumbling came from the woods around them.

“What was that?” Naofumi looked up, now apprehensive.

“Probably just an animal attracted to the light,” Gaku reached toward the fire, grabbing a burning hunk of wood from it as he stood up. “Wave this around a little bit and they’ll be gone. I’ll do it.”

Gaku turned from the group, heading through the brush, waving the burning wood around to light his path. Big, dramatic steps and stomps to intimidate whatever was near, his companions watching from afar.

Then, his head perked up, as if he spotted something. But before he could speak a word, he let out a choked-off cry, the flame dropping and going out.

“Gaku!” Matazaemon cried out as the group stood up, on high alert. Then, the loud thumps of quick but heavy footsteps, and a vicious bark and snarl, as a large, white blur lunged forward, biting Matazaemon by the arm; the force knocked him to the ground as he felt the arm pop out of place. He howled a mix of pain and fear.

Naofumi stared in shock and horror at the large wolf now viciously yanking Matazaemon to and fro like a rag doll, blood soaking its teeth and maw. But Matazaemon’s screams finally snapped him to attention as he pulled out his knife, plunging it toward the beast’s side in a panic.

He missed the stab, but the blade did slice the wolf’s side, as it let go of his friend and instantly turned on him; its jaw snapped open, going for his throat, and as he fell back, he looked to Sadanobu for help.

But Sadanobu had fled. Even as the wolf snarled and tore into him, Naofumi could hear footsteps approaching, and hear something slice into Matazaemon, silencing his howls of agony.

Sadanobu blindly pushed his way through the brush, his face a mix of fear, of terror, of snot and spit, while he tried to process that he was alone now, on this mountain, at night.

The Beast of the Mountain was real! That was no ordinary wolf! That thing...that thing was a monster! So fast, so strong! He had to leave its territory.

He had to get down the mountain.

He tripped in his panic, falling and rolling a ways, before finally sliding to a stop, staring up at the break in the treetops to see the moon. He began to sit up, but froze.

Footsteps. Two feet.

He began to hyperventilate, wondering if the beast had changed form, to come after *him.*

But the moon began to make his pursuer visible. And he could see those thin, angry eyes glaring down at him.

Those thin, angry eyes from all those years ago.

And he began to wail.

“IT’S YOU—“

SPLURCH!

That one slice caused his insides to burst out of him, as he fell back, gurgling his final sounds, the world around him becoming black.

....

And Ishida Mitsunari flicked the blood off his old sword before sheathing it again. His intuition had been correct; the noise and dim light he saw from his home wasn’t just his imagination playing tricks on him; someone had the audacity, once again, to venture that high up the mountain. And they needed to be dealt with swiftly, before he risked them finding him.

Grabbing the body by the leg, he began to drag it back with him toward the campfire. As he did, he whistled a short whistle, as the snarls and barks from before were replaced by panting; he found the wolfdog standing by the other two bodies, his curled tail twitching in satisfaction. Dropping the first body’s leg, Mitsunari knelt down.

“Come here. Let me see.”

The dog padded forward, allowing Mitsunari to get a closer look. Removing his right glove (revealing a hand scarred from burns), he ran a hand along the wound in the dog’s side; the dog let out a small whimper, but didn’t panic.

“...it’ll scar, but it’s nothing serious,” he muttered, “We’ll treat it when we get back home. Good work, Shiranui.”

His children had named the dog when he brought the pup back to their home two years prior, having found the pup attempting to steal one of the pheasants he had hunted. Now fully grown, it was clear the dog took mostly wolf traits...but, at his core, Shiranui had always been a loyal dog...especially to his master.

Once certain the wound wasn’t serious, Mitsunari turned his attention to the bodies. Retrieving the last one from a ways away, he wasted no time rifling through their pockets and satchels for supplies. Medicine, food, tools...anything usable, he gathered into the largest bag. As he came across the sack containing their ill-gotten gains, he pondered the contents for a bit...before shaking his head. He had no need for any of this. Gold and the like wouldn’t keep them alive. Wouldn’t keep them safe.

One by one, he dragged each body a ways up to the cliffs, before rolling each body over the edge with one smooth motion, watching them get swallowed by the darkness below as he listened to the impact of them striking the cliff side, the stones, the tree branches....and lastly, he tossed the sack of treasures, too. Good fortune to whomever finds them, he supposed. It didn’t matter to him either way. Either way, the Beast of the Mountain had maintained its status as something to be feared.

Returning to the camp and snuffing out the fire, he let his eyes readjust to the darkness, before looking to Shiranui’s bloodied face.

“Let’s wash your face before we go back.” His wife hated when the dog came back from its hunts and meals looking like that.

After stopping by the stream to clean off the dog’s face and wash the wound a bit, they began their quiet trek back home, their loot in hand. Nearly three years of this life...and sometimes, it was still wildly unfamiliar to him.

He should have died at Sekigahara. He should have taken his life when he failed to avenge his lord.

He should have.

But he didn’t.

Now he was a spent match; the fire of battle had long left him, and now he was smoke, drifting about his new life, though sometimes, that little fire would come back. Sometimes, he would remember why he lived.

Off the beaten path, past the troublesome terrain, there stood a small house. His house. It was no Sawayama, it was no Osaka Castle, but it was home. And it was here that he quietly slid open the door, only to flinch slightly, startled by the shape of his wife’s feet in the moonlight shining through the door. In her arms, the smallest of his children, his only daughter, little Tatsuhime, fast asleep and undisturbed.

“...how close were they?” his wife asked in the softest of voices.

“Close enough to be a problem,” he replied. She could tell he was willfully omitting details. Details that would distress or upset her. He clearly didn’t want to elaborate further. Other than, “Shiranui’s hurt. I’ll stay with him tonight.”

She gave a quiet nod, quietly vanishing into the tiny hallway, as she, too, was swallowed by darkness.

Mitsunari retrieved a cloth, taking a seat against the wall and beckoning the dog over; Shiranui obeyed, laying down as Mitsunari pressed the cloth against the wound. The dog rested his head on his master’s lap, while Mitsunari rested his own head against the wall.

He could faintly hear the rustling of his wife setting Tatsuhime down to sleep; undoubtedly between her two older brothers. His wife was then rustling into bed as well.

He didn’t know when he’d sleep.

But until then, he’d remember why he lived.

[professor-tammi]

here are some thoughts on SW5 from me!!, your resident formerly-angry-now-quite-happy Samurai Warriors essayist:

- ok so first of all, this game is confirmed to be a full reboot, a little in the sense SW2 was, except... even more of a reboot? I guess? I'd say I'm concerned, and I am, a little bit, but I think this was the correct thing for Koei to do. the SW cast was getting too bloated and there were too many major characters -- especially from early games -- who were not particularly well-liked (eg Hideyoshi, Ieyasu). admittedly I think a big reason why is just their character designs not being pretty boy-ish enough, but, like, people are shallow. so. a reboot seems very fair ahahah

- Oda focus absolutely delights me bc I adore the Odas, as people may or may not know :D!!

- on the characters: Nobunaga is part of the reason why I am excited because, while my favorite SW character is Ran, my actual favorite sengoku warlord is Nobunaga and unless Koei fired all their good writers I have some faith that they will do him justice (I hate sengoku canons that just make Nobunaga straight-up evil YES im looking at u basara. stop)

- younger Nobunaga is something I've always wanted to see in SW so I am super intrigued and hope SW5 goes into why he becomes the sort of "Devil's advocate" Nobunaga we see in SW3+ (and SW5 Nobunaga looks rather similar to Pokemon Conquest Nobunaga, hmmmm). HOWEVER, him not being voiced by Juurouta Kosugi is a great tragedy. how will I ever adjust :c

- actually, given Sanadamaru, are we getting aging in this game!? there is a non-zero chance...! maybe!! or maybe not because prettyboys are much more marketable. WE'LL SEE.

- next, we have Mitsuhide, with the promise that the game will focus on the Nobunaga/Mitsuhide relationship. admittedly, this is not a relationship I am typically super into, but I by no means dislike it. they seem to be setting up a rivalry between them, also, which is pretty different from their typical SW relationship? unlike Nobunaga, Mitsuhide kept his voice actor, so I'd imagine he'll keep other traits of previous SW Mitsuhide, also? (at least I hope so, because SW Mitsu is good)

- box art also prominently features new Nouhime, who now wields bows!! I'm not going to lie I was never a huge fan of her claws + bombs moveset so I am rather liking this change :D there is a brief shot of her holding a knife, so I very much hope her whole "assassinate Nobunaga" subplot is still there!

- I do however get the impression that these 3 will be the game's "main trio" and I'm concerned that may mean no Ran at all ahaha... it's always been a bit difficult for Koei to find a place for him in the games' main stories so I wouldn't be shocked if he was cut entirely. tbh, if he has been cut, I'll be... a little heartbroken ofc, he's my favorite fictional character of all time, but I'd sooner have that than a new reincarnation of him I don't like

- (but ideally, give me a reincarnation of him I do still like, pls)

- girl with orange hair: is this Oichi? she's vaguely similar to SW1 Ichi, and she's wearing Oda colors... seems to have nothing in common with SW3+ Ichi, which makes me sad bc I love her :( e: have seen it suggested this may be Nene and given the ninja feel of her outfit that might make sense, save for, the Oda colors

- I would assume the boy shown briefly after the girl in the trailer is either new Keiji or new Toshiie! omg though I'm going to miss SW Toshiie if he's removed e: actually in hindsight it's gonna be Hideyoshi isn't it!?

- oh no I am going to miss everyone

[nobuverse]

@tragedestined​ said  ‘plot please!’

send ‘plot please!’ and I’ll give you a plot I want for our muses! ll Accepting 

{ Right so - I know the prompt says a plot but I’ve got so many ideas I’m sorry my friend but you’re getting many because there’s just too much potential with your muses. While I haven’t  played Sengoku Basara 4 like....at all - our muses do share the same sengoku era history so-! Let’s have some fun ! And please just ignore the fact that my Nobunaga is female because fate lore we’ll figure out how that changes things }

{ Let’s start with the man/woman of the hour - Oba Nobunaga herself. She’s got a a historical connection with pretty much all muses - obviously. There so many angles we could go with this; but it would require us probably finding a middle ground between the lore of our two games. For example, I do tend focus on my Nobunaga’s rebellious behavior as needing to prove something, given how she wasn’t accepted as the heir because of her gender before she took it by force. She wants people to grow to their full potential, to make Japan a country she can be proud of without being held back by these stupid traditions she hates so much. 

All this being said, maybe the reason this version of Nobunaga spared Katsuie’s life not out of mockery, but a  form of respect for his ambition - one that definetly adhere to traditional Japanese values. She’d be pretty insulted that he’s wasted that potential, then, by letting himself be beat up by her own soldiers without so much as fighting back. 

Now whether we would play with angle from the sengoku era or your fate verse in Chaldea is completely up to you. }

{ Alright, next. Chacha! I’m not sure if she has any presence at all in  Sengoku Basara,  to be honest. Didn’t find her in your bios and yet you have both her biological father and mother, no? I think it might be a liiitle more interesting to do something in the fate verse where she holds her childhood appearance and personality, but still retains all memories of her adult life, but I’m certainly not opposed to doing something in her mortal life as well.

I imagine my Chacha having uh - complicated feelings about Oichi after the life she led? While she understands what her mother did, she did to save her life, there’s also a massive amount to unpack when you end up becoming a concubine to your new adoptive father. Um. Yikes. 

Speaking of which, I have no idea how wild the relationship might be  Sakon and her, either Either in fate or mortal life, Chacha ( again as far as fate lore goes ) is implied to not have the fondest of feelings towards Hideyoshi. She actually acts downright traumatized after Nobukatsu mentions him in the event she was introduced in. I imagine he probably doesn’t have high opinons of Chacha, either - given both her status as a concubine who took Hideyoshi’s wealth to try and revive her own clan through her son. But ....I see he’s scared of fire? GIven Chacha’s powers over fire, I’d be remissed if I didn’t mention I really like the idea of them getting in an argument and Chacha throwing a flame fueled tantrum over what she considers to be his short-sightedness. } 

[rokayas]

this started as a late night thought and is still kinda jumbled but... i got a bit excited so i need to put this out somewhere

i was just thinking of what elements the sengoku basara characters would bend if they were in the atla (avatar the last airbender) universe and i ended up feeling like masamune would be the avatar. i could make a separate post about that (should i? maybe i will) but let's just say... he's a central character, really powerful, and kenshin supports my theory (yes, i asked him). yukimura would of course be a fire bender, given his... behavior, temperament and the fact that there seems to be fire present in some fight scenes. the other characters, i could make a post about my ideas for them, BUT lets get to the reason i got so excited about this!

i was rewatching some episodes, especially season 2 episode 2 where masamune and hanbei face off. actually, that scene gave my avatar theory some support 'cause when masamune snaps at hanbei, his eyes lit up and there's this whoosh (i made a joke about him "entering the avatar state") after which the fight really begins. but during the fight and after it (and in some other fights too), masamune has (and generates himself) these sparks, electricity around him when he's really "heated up", and actually it says in the senbasa wiki that his element is lightning (whereas yukimura's is fire). from the scenes where the electricity, lightning comes in, i got an idea. what if masamune would be the avatar, but his main strength was lightning generation (somebody would have taught it to him or it would just come naturally)? and i imagined him and yukimura fighting and masamune using the lightning on him to beat him up. yukimura would come out of that fight but in a bad shape. that's when shingen (a fire bender too, since his element is fire according to senbasa wiki, although i think he'd make a good earth bender too) would have to teach yukimura lightning redirection... and maybe he'd master it so well that the next time he fought against masamune he'd be able to use it. idk, the image of shingen teaching yukimura lightning redirection was just... so great that i got excited... and the whole thing is just a great concept.

[recentanimenews]

Take Tea with a Consulting Criminal at Capcom's Moriarty the Patriot Café

  Literature's most famous criminal mastermind is about to get his own anime — and in the meantime, he's getting his own café, as well!

  Ikebukuro's Capcom Café regularly collaborates with anime and game series, offering menus inspired by the series' characters and creating cute limited-edition merchandise. Today it was announced that, following the current Code Geass collaboration and the upcoming Sengoku Basara anniversary celebration, the café will be turning to upcoming anime series Moriarty the Patriot.

    The collaboration is currently set to run from October 8 to November 18. The menu and goods are currently in the planning phases... but we're personally hoping for some Victorian treats and fancy tea blends. In the meantime, we get the sweet chibi re-imagining of the series's cast, which will serve as the café's key art.

    Based on the manga series written by Ryosuke Takeuchi and illustrated by Hikaru Miyoshi, Moriarty the Patriot serves as a prequel to the legendary Sherlock Holmes canon. It follows Holmes's nemesis starting from his youth, as he and his two brothers decide to fight back against Victorian England's ruling class. The series is scheduled to premiere in Japan on October 11.

  >> Capcom Café Ikebukuro

  Source: Comic Natalie

    By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[stealinghero]

Huzzah for Sengoku Basara! After reading those headcanons, I demand fluff with Yukimura please! ^.^ maybe he is getting advice on how to confess his feelings from someone like Sasuke or even Masamune?

Of course it had to be Masamune. It’s not pure fluff but with a Happy End (on at least one side)

A branch broke under his foot, the sound echoing through the huge forest and making it sound as if all of the trees were laughing at him.

And Yukimura couldn’t even be mad at them for laughing about such an idiot as he was.

It had begun so beautiful! The sun was shining, the day was about to start great and he was on the market, looking for some fresh vegetables for a snack… until this…. This…

He sighed and sat on a fallen tree, looking at his hands and thinking about this young woman that had stolen his heart. How should he approach her? Should he approach her at all? Should he blankly tell her that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her?! Or was it too much after having seen her just this one time?

“Are you lost?”

He stood up, ready to battle, when he recognized the unruly hair and its master.

“Lord Date!”

“Shut up!” The other placed his hand on Yukimura’s mouth and looked around frantically.

“Are you running away from responsibility again?” Sanada asked mumbled through the hand.

The Lord snorted.

“I am NEVER running away, got that?!”

Yukimura laughed and nodded, breathing in after the other took his hand away.

“Kojuro never understands a joke,” the one-eyed dragon complained and settled on the same tree as Yukimura had sat on just a minute ago.

“Poor Katakura has enough on his plate without your practical jokes. What did you do this time?” Without a seat left, he sat down on the ground, facing Masamune.

“Hah! He needed to cool his head a bit. I just helped!!”

Yukimura stifled a laugh, imagining the poor man having water poured on him.

“See? It’s funny!”

“I guess.”

“And you? Who did you piss off?”

“No one!”

Masamune laughed and patted Yukimura’s head.

“Sure thing. But you look distressed. Better get back in shape so I can beat your ass!”

“I want to marry a woman!”

Silence followed this bold statement. Moments passed and Yukimura began to wonder if he had defeated the always on-guard Masamune.

“Is it that bad?” he finally asked.

Date shook his head and cocked a dirty grin.

“So, will we be settling it before or after the wedding?”

This time Yukimura was silent, wondering if he ever would have the courage to talk to that woman.

“Aaaah, that’s a bad vibe there, Sanada! What’s with it? She already got another man?”

“I never talked to her!” he could feel the heat rushing through his face, leaving him blushing in front of his biggest rival.

Who stared at him.

“You-…. What?!”

Yukimura shook his head in defeat. Of course he had to reveal his misery to Date!

“But how can you marry her??”

“I don’t! I can’t!! I… I saw her this morning on the market and she smiled and I would give up any fight for this smile! My heart belongs to this woman and her beautiful smile and she…” Again a hand was placed on his mouth to stop his rambling.

“Got it. But do you at least know her name?”

Again a shake of the head, making Masamune sigh.

“You saw a woman. And you know nothing but you want to marry her. How about you talk to her first??”

“But how?!”

“How? Go to her and say hi?”

“I could never!”

“Why?”

“Because she is too pretty! You can’t just go to a goddess and say hi!”

“Why not?”

A small thought found a place in Yukimura’s mind.

“Did you ever talk to a woman you like?”

Masamune bristled by this direct question.

“Sure!”

Yukimura grinned, knowing it was a lie.

“And did you just say hi?”

“Yes!”

“And then she told her that she loved you and you married her and everything is alright?”

The Lord grumbled and crossed his arms.

“Fine, you win. But I have other things to do than to concern myself with women!”

“Men?”

“Want to die?”

Sanada raised his hands defensively and laughed while shaking his head.

“So, how about a gift then?” Date finally said.

“A gift?”

“For your lady! Give her something.”

“What should I give her?”

“Something pretty??”

“But nothing is pretty enough for her!”

“Listen up! Just get something and give it to her. Women love gifts!”

“But how will she know who I am?”

“Are you stupid?! I think everyone in Kai knows you. And now get going before…”

A splash of icy cold water was dumped on the Lord of Oshu, leaving him a shrieking and shivering mess while Katakura stepped forward, grinning like a madman.

“You need to ‘cool down’, Lord Masamune!” he told his protégé, imitating his speech pattern.

Laughing, his lord nodded and wiped the water out of his face, only to point at Yukimura.

“He’s got a problem.”

Kojuro nodded.

“It’s easy to hear you two throughout the whole forest and I think she knows by now. Lord Masamune, let us go back. Your men are already waiting.”

Behind his back, something moved and both younger men were ready to strike when a young woman appeared, wildly blushing, holding a basket of mushrooms and flowers.

Yukimura gasped, leaving Masamune grinning and patting his shoulder.

“That’s a cute one! You have my leave to marry that one!”

The Takeda man nodded furiously and blushed as he heard the woman laugh.

“I met her on the way looking for the source of this noise,” Kojuro explained, gently shoving Masamune in the other direction to give the other two some privacy. On his way he shoved something in Yukimura’s hand, winking.

“So you really are the great general that’s protecting us?” the woman asked, looking and talking to her basket.

Yukimura watched the hairpin in his hand and tried to remember that he had to thank Katakura someday.

“For you!” He held it out to her with closed eyes, not daring to look at her.

“What a beautiful hairpin! General, you are the most chivalrous man I ever met!”

“You’re really beautiful.”

She shied away from his words, hiding her red face behind her hands, smiling from behind them.

“AH! What is your name??” he asked, remembering that he didn’t even knew that.

“Yuki.”

He laughed at her name and finally something snapped and released him from his anxiousness.

“What a beautiful name for someone as beautiful as you!” he told her as he held out his hand to her as an offer to carry the basket for her.

With a shy smile she obliged and gave it to him.

“I am sorry but I overheard your words,” she admitted in a small voice, blushing heavily again. But Yukimura grinned at her.

“Then you know how I feel already! I am relieved!”

“I would like to meet you more often before marriage, though.”

He laughed and almost ran into the next tree, embarrassed about his boldness.

“I think that would be a great idea.”

 “Oi, Kojuro.”

“Hm?”

“Do you always carry around gifts for women?”

“It’s my sister’s birthday today.”

The young Lord paled as he had forgotten about it and suddenly remembered why his most loyal servant had been so stressed.

“A feast, hm?” he asked cautiously.

“Before I and all the plans were soaked. Yes.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Apologize to her and not to me.”

“I can’t!”

“Why? Can’t you talk to women now?”

“You know why!! She will kill me!”

“Why don’t you just try and give her a gift? A wise man once said ‘Women love gifts’.”

Kojuro laughed and spurred on his horse to leave Masamune behind him to think about his careless words.

[geometragic]

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄 & 𝐍𝐄𝐆𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄;  𝘔𝘶𝘯 & 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘦 - 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘦.

Fill out & repost ♥ This meme definitely favors canons more, but I hope OCs still can make it somehow work with their own lore and lil’ fandom of friends & mutuals. Multimuses pick the muse you are the most invested  in atm.

Tagged by: The amazing @illdivine​ ! Thanks a bunch for tagging me ! ^^ Tagging: @extravachance​ @grandordergirl​ @kimintsugi​ @royaltywritten​ @daitoku​ @pragmarage​ @teniras​ @deviilscry​ @foolslaugh​ @wrathlead​ and anyone else who’d like to do this meme ! ^^

My muse is:   canon /  OC  / au / canon-divergent / fandomless /

Is your character popular in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK

Is your character considered hot™ in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK

Is your character considered strong in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK.

Are they underrated?  YES / NO / IDK

Were they relevant for the main story?  YES / NO

Were they relevant for the main character?  YES / NO / THEY’RE THE PROTAG (( He was one of the poster boys for Sengoku Basara 4, so...that counts for something, right ? XD I don’t think that Sengoku Basara really has a protagonist, though. Just a bunch of different characters. ))

Are they widely known in their world?  YES / NO (( I’m putting ‘yes’ if only because Mitsunari, who never remembers anyone, remembers who Katsuie is. XD I think that, in general, some characters know Katsuie and others don’t ? ))

How’s their reputation?  GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL (( Bad in-universe, somewhere in between neutral and bad in the fandom. ))

How strictly do you follow ‘canon’? — I’d say that I follow canon pretty strictly ! Though I do add my own headcanons. ^^ I need to update some of my pages so that they’re more in line with canon, though. Especially Katsuie’s modern verse, now that the Basara Academy anime has been out for over a year... XD

Sell your muse! Try to list everything that makes your muse interesting (in your opinion) to make them spicy for your mutuals.  —   Katsuie comes off as really normal and very chill at first, which lets him easily have a first meeting interaction with most muses without angering them / fighting them / killing them / etc. But the more you delve into his thoughts and the things he does, you can see how warped his mindset is when it comes to certain subjects / people. ^^ And he’s a depressed emo kid, so I'd imagine that a lot of people on Tumblr would connect with him over that. XD 

Now the opposite. List every reason why your muse might not be so interesting (even if you may not agree, what does the fandom think?).  —   Back when SB4 first came out, Katsuie got a lot of flak for his creepy obsession with Oichi, which is admittedly pretty bad. Since she’s, you know, married, and Katsuie’s willing to go so far as to kill Nagamasa, her husband, for a chance (?) to be with her. Not to mention Katsuie’s anime route, where he gets himself kicked out of the Oda clan, destroys his own hopes and dreams in the process by killing everyone in the Azai clan (Nagamasa, Oichi, and Maria), and finally gets mercy-killed by the former shogun. Yikes. ^^; I’m honestly surprised that, in my five years roleplaying Katsuie, no one’s sent in anon hate to me because of Katsuie’s behavior. (Unfortunately, a former rp partner of mine once got anon hate years ago for shipping Katsuie and Oichi. ;u;)

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐏 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄? —  Katsuie’s actually my very first muse ! ^^ I started writing him at the end of my senior year of high school. I think I’d been into Sengoku Basara for a year or two at that point, and I’d been reading translations that people were making for SB4. I’d also been following Sengoku Basara roleplayers / ask blogs (there were several active ones around back then), and I really enjoyed reading their interactions, so I wanted to pick a Sengoku Basara character so that I could roleplay with them, too ! I tried writing for a couple of potential muses in private to test them out, but it felt most natural to write for Katsuie, so I went with him as my first muse ! I probably chose him because I’d gone through a bunch of not-so-fun stuff in high school, so I saw Katsuie going through a bunch of not-so-fun stuff in the Oda clan and sympathized with that.

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐏𝐒 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐆𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆?  —  To my knowledge, I’ve been the only one roleplaying Katsuie semi-consistently over the past five years ? He’s just such an interesting character to me —– it’d be too sad to close this blog and not see anyone’s Katsuie interact with other people’s muses anymore. ;u; It’s something I’ve been a little worried about recently because I know I’m going to be more busy in the future, since I’m (hopefully) going to finish up my research this year, get my master’s degree next year, and then go straight into a serious full-time job. I don’t want to give up rolepaying, but if I get too busy next year... >.< 

Also, playing the mobile game Sengoku Basara: Battle Party every day helps ! And my rp partners are awesome. ^^

𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐔𝐍

Give your mutuals some insight about the way you are in some matters, which could help them get more comfortable with you.

Do you think you give your character justice?  YES / NO / IDK

Do you frequently write headcanons?  YES / NO

Do you sometimes write drabbles?  YES / NO

Do you think a lot about your Muse during the day?  YES / NO

Are you confident in your portrayal?   YES / NO

Are you confident in your writing?  YES / NO

Are you a sensitive person?  YES / NO

Are you good at accepting criticism about your portrayal? —  Yeah, I’d say I’m pretty good at accepting criticism !

Do you like questions which help you explore your character? —   Yeah ! I’m happy to answer whatever questions everyone has about Katsuie ! ^^

If someone disagrees with a headcanon of yours, do you want to know why? —   Yeah, because it’s interesting to see how other people view Katsuie ! From my point of view, if someone disagrees with one of my headcanons on Katsuie, it means that they’re interested enough in him and have thought about him enough to have their own opinions on him. It’s so so so so difficult to get anyone interested in muses from a series as niche and JP-only as Sengoku Basara, so I’d honestly be happy if someone cared enough about Sengoku Basara and Katsuie to disagree with me on my headcanons for Katsuie, as strange as that sounds. XD

If someone disagrees with your portrayal, how would you take it? —  I think my answer to this question would be basically the same as the last one. I probably wouldn’t change my portrayal at this point, though ? I’ve had it for a long time and I’m actually really happy with it. ^^ Probably the only reason why I’d change my portrayal is if someone found / made more translations of the games that Katsuie is in (SB4, Sumeragi, Sanada Yukimura-den, Batopa, etc.) and I found canon details in the new translations that really clashed with details in my portrayal. In that case, I’d change my portrayal to match with canon.

If someone really hates your character, how do you take it? —  That’s fair, honestly, especially when it comes to things Past!Katsuie / Kaioh has said and done, and even just things Default!Katsuie has done. Katsuie’s a really messed-up dude, and his views on things can be really twisted sometimes. And hey, if someone hates Katsuie, at least that means that they care about him on some level, right ? XD Apathy is the one thing that really kills my muse.

Are you okay with people pointing out your grammatical errors? —  Sure ! If they can find them. XD I edit my drafts A LOT before I actually publish them, so usually I manage to catch all my mistakes, although the occasional mistake slips through every so often. Hemingway Editor is honestly a lifesaver when it comes to finding simple spelling errors and helping me write my sentences so that they’re a reasonable length and don’t have too many adverbs / phrases written in passive voice / etc.

Do you think you are easygoing as a mun? —  I think so ! ^^ I just want to roleplay my muses and have a good time watching them grow and form relationships with other muses, that’s all. If there’s something I don’t like, I know to mute / unfollow / block / etc. and move on. Life’s too short to get involved in drama.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵!

[mon-qi]

continuing from here, sorry about the formatting but I think tumblr killed the quote-replies functionality...

@dearmadalice

I know like Hideyoshi i don't think is much older thank keiji since they were friends. Can you imagine like some 40 year old guy running around beating people up with like a 22 year old?? nuts.

Considering Sengoku Basara is the defintion of nuts when it comes to beating up people (and ages) and that adding a few years to that gets you exactly what Kanbei and his new found grandpa/bestfriend Ujimasa did in SB3? Yea, I can absolutely imagine that. (that said?? I’m all for inter-generational friendships)

  @genuinefauxthought

On the other end of the spectrum, I always found it funny to think of Shimazu or Tadakatsu as bizarrely young. Shimazu going on and on about handing the country over to the young ones, and it turns out he's in his late 30s, early 40s, at most.

I guess he thinks that if he wants to prepare the crazy youths in Basara for the future he has his work cut out for him. I mean. Just look at them. I don’t even know where I’d place Tadakatsu’s age, mainly because I don’t even know if I view him as entirely human?? It’s another trait he shares with Kotaro, the other super-human (???) who does an exceptional job but doesn’t talk.

  @nekkyousagi

What are even age groups in Basara?! XD No but seriously these all make sense to me! Though I'm kinda reeling from the idea that Mama Hanbei is probably older than Kojuro....OAO

I’m almost certain that’s the case IMO? Where’d you place Kojuro, age-wise? Obviously he’s a few years older than Masamune but I used to think the difference was more, now I think he might not even by in his thirties yet. Having to deal with Bontenmaru/Masamune as his boss he probably just had to mature pretty quickly lol

@kittykittyhunter

Motonari is a CHILD of the Sun.  You can't have a  hold looking like a mouldy okra.

I.... I... I don’t know why this reply just made me think of the Teletubbies, where can I return that mental image please

---

okay that said, do you peeps have any age headcanons that we didn’t touch on yet?

[princess-sengoku]

Sengoku Basara Samurai Heroes death quotes

If you get Ko'd and can't revive, you will lose the battle and they'll say their last words. Here they are:

Ieyasu Tokugawa: I will not be defeated like this, not until I have united us all.

Mitsunari Ishida: I cannot die like this... LORD HIDEYOSHI!!

Yoshitsugu Otani: I never imagined that it could end like this.

Magoichi Saika: We feel no remorse, for this is the life we live.

Kanbei Kuroda: I want the country dammit! I want it to be mine!

Tsuruhime: No! I wish to go back! To my sea!

Masamune Date: I can't let this end... with my defeat.

Yukimura Sanada: Find your courage, rise and take up my mantle.

Keiji Maeda: It was never my intention to make someone cry.

Motochika Chosokabe: No, not yet. I have still too much for me to do.

Motonari Mori: I can endure... if I just take refuge... in the glory of the sun.

Yoshihiro Shimazu: I'm sorry I won't live... to see this country's new leader.

Tadakatsu Honda: (ieyasu says his quote for him saying that Tadakatsu was not the one to give up so easily. I'd rather hear Tadakatsu dying noises...)

Kotaro Fuma: ... (he doesn't say anything but Ujimasa gives him alot of worry before dying)

Oichi: That's all right... the world is so heavy. Now i can finally sleep.

Nobunaga Oda: I never willingly returned to silence.

[willows-horde]

A vampire/Sengoku Basara story I had started. I had so much of this planned but couldn’t seem to get much further than this. The two vampires make an appearance are Cao Pi and Zhen Ji from the Dynasty Warriors series. Cao Pi has the look of his alternate outfit from DW6.

word count: 3354

Italics = English Italics+Underlined = Chinese

He looked up from the map that was spread out on the floor in front of him. Staring at the door he listened intently. There it was, the sound of someone walking in his direction. But they weren't walking normally. It sounded like they were dragging their feet a bit. He glanced over to where he had his swords displayed. Getting up, Masamune walked over and grabbed one before he headed to the door. Just as he slid the door open he thought he heard a mutter come from the person who was only a few feet to his left. Quickly he looked over. There was a woman with long black hair. She took a couple more steps towards him. “Who are you?” Masamune demanded. “What are you do...” he started but stopped as she rushed at him. Quickly, he moved to defend himself but it was already too late. She had grabbed him by the throat and had lifted him up slamming him against one of the wooden pillars. His sword dropped to the floor. “Shit...” He couldn't breath and his feet couldn't reach the floor. She was so fast. And her eyes... they're red.

“So, hungry...” Masamune couldn't understand what she said. Before he really had a chance to act he was punched in the stomach. He let out an involuntary, strained, cough. Just as his vision started to haze, she dropped him. He slumped to the floor gasping for air. He noticed her drop down to her knees in front of him before his head was pulled back by his hair. Quickly, he shifted his gaze at her. She lowered her head next to the right side of his. Masamune could feel something puncture his skin, then the unusual sensation of his blood getting sucked from his body. What..? What the hell? Masamune had heard of stories about this. But that was all they were to him. Stories. But... this... couldn't be real.

Masamune tried to pull back but her grip on him only tightened. He felt weak and a bit faint. At that moment he could see someone walk around the corner a distance away. “Kojuro...” he muttered.

“Masamune-sama!” Kojuro drew his sword and rushed forward. Masamune's finger twitched slightly as he felt the woman pull back. She barely managed to move out of the way in time as Kojuro swung his sword. The sword came within a few inches from his lord, whose head was resting against the wooden pillar. Kojuro turned to the woman who had jumped off the wooden deck. There was some blood on her lips before she wiped it away with the back of her hand.

The anger was quite obvious and she hesitated when she thought she saw a blue hue emitting from Kojuro. She stepped back, paused, than turned and ran off. Kojuro quickly sheathed his sword and turned to his lord, who was stubbornly pushing himself up. When he got to his feet he got incredibly light-headed and would have fallen to the ground had it not been for Kojuro. “Masamune-sama.”

“I'm alright,” he mumbled.

“You are not.”

Masamune shut his eye. There was a dull throb at the bridge of his neck. “Yeah, yeah. Just help me back to my room.” Kojuro did as he was told. He brought him to his bed so he could lie down.

“Masamune-sama, who was that woman?” Kojuro asked after he sat down by him.

“No idea,” came the groggy response. Now that he was lying down, Masamune felt tired.

Kojuro paused. Then asked, “Should I try to find her?”

“...Yeah, you do that,” he told him with his eye closed. Kojuro got up and headed for the door, unsure if Masamune was indifferent or if he was just tired. First he retrieved the sword that was left outside and brought it back inside his room. After placing the sword back on its display, he heard a mumbled, “Thanks.” He glanced over at him and offered him a smile before he excused himself from the room.

Without having any luck finding the woman, he informed some of there men to keep an eye out for intruders, since, as he had explained to them, there had been a strange woman here. Kojuro then returned to Masamune's room with some bandages. “Masamune-sama, I've brought some bandages for your injury.” There was no response. Carefully, Kojuro slid the door open and glanced inside. Masamune was fast asleep. Kojuro quietly stepped inside. He wanted to at least see how bad it was. After he knelt down next to him he hesitated. Masamune's hair was in the way and he feared that he would wake up if he tried to move it. Actually, no, he would have woken up from the door being opened. Concerned, Kojuro felt his forehead. It didn't feel like he had a fever.

��Nnh.” Masamune grumbled. He brought up his right arm to brush away Kojuro's hand. Kojuro pulled his hand back before he had the chance. Masamune rested his arm on his forehead for a minute before he shifted his position, turning to his left and resting his arm on his stomach. Now he was lying in a position that made it easy for Kojuro to see his wound. Two small puncture wounds. That's not a normal injury. Something that's normally heard of in stories. A shame they're not just stories. No he knew better. But now he was caught with a dilemma, since he never had to deal with this situation before. He sat quietly for a moment before he bandaged his wound, sighed, than got up and left the room.

Once Kojuro arrived to his room, he quietly slid the door closed behind him and crossed to the trunk on the opposite end of the room. He knelt down and, after opening it, retrieved the book that was hidden on the bottom. Turning so he sat with his back to the wall and facing the door, he opened the book for the first time in years. Not very many people knew he had this book, and the few that did thought it to be fiction. All except for his sister, Kita. The book was of a creature that have been called many things; demons, blood-suckers, parasites. The English, however, called them something else: vampire. His book, though not very long, was a compilation of all the information his family had managed to acquire over the years. It had been changed and rewritten countless times. Though no alterations have been made since his great-grandfather rewrote it.

He closed his eyes and sighed. It's as he feared. Those blood-suckers could indeed change normal humans into what they were. But how, and was it permanent? Kojuro read on but didn't find much of use. It was a bit vague in some areas, since it said that sometimes the people bitten would change and sometimes they didn't. Though his ancestors did give some detailed reports on what happened and how long it took before the change took place. However, it also noted that that was only one incident. It was difficult to judge how the situation would go.

You must always remain on guard and, despite how you feel, never leave them alive. They are always dangerous. Decapitation is the recommended way of disposing them. The last known one had been taken care of fifty years ago. And the book ended with those lines. Kojuro closed the book and sat in contemplation. '...Never leave them alive.' If it came down to it, would he be able to commit to that? He had faithfully worked for Terumune before his death and now his son. Could he truly betray Masamune? He shook his head and put the book back. There was no guarantee that he would change. He'd probably just wake up in the morning and be his usual stubborn self. Mild amusement arose at the thought. As he prepared for bed, he decided to just check up on him in the morning.

“It's been too long.” Kita smiled as she greeted Kojuro.

“Yes, sister, it has.” They hadn't seen each other for quite some time, but even so Kita could see he was distracted. She wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that he had sent for her to come see him. “We should catch up. I'll have some tea made for us.”

“No need. I'm sure everyone is awfully busy. I'll make the tea. We can catch up in the meantime. I'm sure we have a lot to talk about.”

Kojuro didn't object. And so, as Kita made their tea and the siblings walked to his room, they talked of trivial things and family. But once they settled down in his room Kojuro started to quiet down as he contemplated how to discuss what was on his mind. Kita set the tray aside and served the tea. As she handed him his cup, she said, “What has you so distracted?”

He took a sip from his cup before answering. “You remember the book our great-grandfather had rewritten?”

“Of course. I have the entirety of it memorized.”

Looking her in the eye, he told her, “I've seen one.”

At first Kita wasn't sure what to say. She knew he was serious but at the same time it all seemed a bit unbelievable. After all, as far as they knew, there hadn't been one in Japan for one-hundred years now. “...here?”

“Last night Masamune-sama was attacked by her.” He paused for a moment. “He has yet to recover.”

“Is it bad?” She asked both out of concern for their lord and for the situation in it's entirety. Kojuro shook his head. Then told her, non-verbally, by tapping his neck with his index and middle fingers. “Is... that all?”

“It is.”

Kita knew how deeply loyal her brother was. “You know what needs to be done, do you not?”

“… I do. Though there's no sign that he's changing.”

“He hasn't woken yet.” She argued. “What more is necessary?”

“He's strong, Sister.” He countered. “I'm sure he will pull through this.”

She wasn't sure if she should be asked his of him. But she needed to know. “And if he does not? If he does change, are you capable of doing what needs to be done?”

Kojuro lowered his voice. “Killing our lord is a great offensive. It would drag our name through the mud.”

“I will do it then.” She told him, though couldn't keep eye contact. Kita never imagined this to ever happen. They sat for a moment in silence before it was broken.

“No.” She looked up at him again. “It was my responsibility to make sure he was kept safe. If it's necessary I will take care of it.” He moved to get up. “Though I intend to make sure it isn't.”

Kita remained silent as she watched her brother leave the room. Looking down into her tea cup, she said quietly, “I'm afraid that isn't something either of us are able to choose.”

“Yo, Kojuro!” Masamune called out as he walked towards him.

Kojuro turned around. “Masamune-sama. How are you feeling?”

“A little hungry. So, I guess I should eat huh.” He grinned after he said this. Kojuro, startled, stepped back. “You'll let me, won't you Kojuro?” he questioned as he approached him.

Masamune jerked awake. He brushed his tongue over his teeth. None of them were any sharper or any more pointed than before. He let out a sigh as he sat up. Lifting a hand to his neck, he felt bandages. So, that part wasn't a dream. Wait. Who bandaged his wound? It had to have been Kojuro. Yeah... Masamune got up out of bed.

All he had yet to do was grab his helmet and clasp his swords to his waists. Glancing toward the door he didn't see anything unusual, though he was sure he heard something. Masamune tried to brush off the feeling of unease. It didn't work, and he got annoyed with himself. He couldn't afford to be getting paranoid. He finished clasping his swords in their place, and, just as he was about to grab his helmet, he heard someone speak behind him. “I'm not impressed.” Masamune quickly spun around and grabbed the hilt of one of the swords at his waist. It must have been him when he heard something. But how could he have missed him? And how did get inside without him noticing. Despite wearing all black, the intruder stood out with his white hair. “Really what was she thinking,” the man stated. He lowered his arms to his side and stepped away from the wall he was standing against.

Masamune's fingers twitched. He was anxious, but tried not to show it. Who was he? He was foreign, but not from Europe. The man took another step forward and Masamune quickly drew his sword. “Who are you?” he questioned but wasn't sure if the man understood him. Since he couldn't understand what he was saying, it was very likely to be true the other way around.

The man paused and reached behind him. There was a clicking sound before he brought his arm back. In his hand he held a long sword. “You won't best me,” he stated as he let the sheath fall to the floor.

Not wanting to be caught off guard, Masamune acted first. He swung his blade to the mans left, which, at that moment, wasn't being guarded. The strike was easily blocked as he moved his own sword to that side. Their swords clashed before he swung his blade in a circular motion pushing Masamune's out of the way. Masamune was momentarily thrown off balance, but recovered in time to block the other man's attack. He pulled back and swung again, which Masamune again blocked. This time as he pulled back, he also side-stepped to his left, Masamune's right, and swung again. Though as he did this he picked up his pace and moved faster that what he had just a moment ago. “Shit,” Masamune cursed under his breath as he swung his blade to the right barely blocking the attack. He stiffened his legs to stand his ground against his opponent. Their swords clashed and the two swordsmen came face to face. A wave of anger swept over Masamune when he saw an amused look on the others face. “You...”

“Interesting.” Masamune was startled by the next thing the man said. “You speak English.” English. The man knew English. Though it was heavily accented, it was easy for him to understand. The man pushed Masamune back with his blade causing him to stumble a step back. “Focus.”

He was mocking him. “Bastard.” Masamune swung at him and they clashed again. This time the other man jumped back. Gripping the hilt tightly before he pulled it back. Masamune saw a slight shimmer from the blade before it was quickly swung out. Masamune was thrown back through the door and tumbled off the deck to the ground below.

“Masamune-sama!”

“Don't interfere,” Masamune stated as he moved to get up. Kojuro, in response, stopped a distance away. Tiny shards of ice clung to his clothes and the cold irritated the cut that was now on his stomach. Masamune shifted back into his fighting stance as the man stepped outside the room.

The man glanced at Kojuro, who, despite being told to stay out of it, had a hand on one of his swords. Turning his attention back to Masamune he questioned, “Where did she go?”

“Like hell I know!” Masamune exclaimed as he jumped up. As he unsheathed the other five swords, the man reached to his side and unsheathed the other sword he had. Masamune swung his blades down at him, but the other man blocked them with his own blades. Though due to both the force Masamune used and his own weight, his swords were pushed back and came a couple inches from his face. Masamune was pushed back. The two of them went back and forth, Masamune attacking and the other man blocked his strikes. This went on for a minute before the defender swung his blades up after the two had clashed their weapons together pushing Masamune's weapons aside leaving him wide open. He slammed the hilt of his sword into Masamune's stomach. A pained look appeared as Masamune staggered back.

“I know she was here,” the man continued. He stabbed his sword into the wooden deck. “Because you are now infected,” he stated pointing at Masamune. Both Kojuro and Masamune were startled. So he also knew how to speak Japanese.

The words echoed in Masamune's head as he remembered the dream that woke him. And what happened with that woman. That's who he was looking for. “She went west.” Masamune glanced over at Kojuro. The man turned around sheathing his shorter sword. “Is there a cure?”

“No.” He grabbed his sword, the one stuck in the deck, and stepped back into the room to retrieve its sheath. “Zhen, stop running from me,” he muttered as he picked up his sheath.

Kojuro looked over at his lord. “Masamune-sama, you're injured.” Masamune put his swords back in their sheaths. What was he going to do if it was true? If he was 'infected'; if he really was one of them, than that would mean... “Masamune-sama.”

“Huh?”

“You're injured.” Kojuro was worried, even though, at this point, there was no concrete prove that his lord had changed. He glanced back towards the man who was just now stepping out of the room. It's possible that he was toying with their fears just to get information. It could be possible that he was hunting the woman. And even if that were true, Kojuro wasn't about to trust him given the current circumstance. The man ignored them as he started to walk away.

There was a deep rooted fear that what he said was true. And Masamune refused to live his life hunting innocent people. That man... he was the only one who had the answer he needed. “Hey.”

“I will not help you.”

So, it was true then. Frustrated, Masamune demanded, “Then what am I supposed to do?”

The man stopped. “Learn to live with it.” He turned slightly to look at Masamune. “Or I could kill you so you don't have to,” he added as he grabbed the hilt of the sword at his side. Kojuro stepped forward and defensively gripped the hilt of his own sword.

“Stand down, Kojuro.”

“My lord, tell me you are not considering that option,” Kojuro questioned him hoping for a positive response. Except there wasn't one. No response at all.

The intruder gave a snort as he straightened up and turned away from them. “Killing you would be a waste of my time,” as he said this he walked away.

Kojuro, surprised by the lack of response from Masamune, turned to face him only to find him walking away. “Masamune-sama.”

“I want to be left alone.”

“I think it would be unwise for you to...”

Masamune interrupted him. “I'll be fine, Kojuro.”

Before he had the option to suggest otherwise, Masamune turned the corner at the end of the walkway. Against his better judgment, Kojuro did not follow him. Instead he walked off to gather the supplies needed to fix the broken door.

He avoided villages as he continued heading west. Time was of an essence so stopping to rest was out of the question. He had to find her. She was his only lead to finding his father.

[the-devilkings-chatelaine]

10 husbandos tag!

Got tagged by the lovely @luallice <3 thanks!!

And now I have to choose 10 husbandos... 

I can’t choose all otome related because I play only few of them.

So get ready for multi-fandom love! 

Number 10: Light Yagami (Death Note)

(I love brilliant minds with brilliant /killing/ skills)

Number 9: Jiraiya (Naruto)

(he’s too good not to love simply~)

Number 8: James (Pokémon)

(I’ve been loving this boy since forever T_T)

Number 7: 707 aka Saeyoung Choi (Mystic Messenger)

(well right now my Spotify thought about playing Demons by Imagine Dragons.. and I just was looking at his pictures. This is fate. He’s my lucky number <3)

Number 6: Date Masamune (Sengoku Basara)

(he’s just so wild and carefree~ ya I guess it’s the Masamune thing)

Number 5: Jumin Han (Mystic Messenger)

(I love possessive tsundere boys)

Number 4: Oda Nobunaga (Ikémen Sengoku)

(...I love possessive boys)

Number 3: Uchiha Madara (Naruto)

(.. I guess I love this killing machine because it’s just so hawt -w-) 

Number 2: Senju Tobirama (Naruto)

(I. Love. Tsundere. Boys.)

Number 1: Date Masamune (Ikémen Sengoku)

(I just love this man with my heart, body and soul I would write a whole essay on this but ya’all know how much I love him xD)

...

So. If he’s done with murder, he’s probably my fav~ xD

...

Tagging: @yunohawkeye just to torture her, then @lemonicebar, @cheapotomelover, @ikemensisters, @ikesenhell and whoever else who wants to do this˘.˘

[mysticdragon3md3]

...

I like this idea, because I still daydream about a Golden Route. Specifically an anime adaptation written by Yasuyuki Mutō, the writer for the Sengoku Basara 2009 anime. (It's my daydream, I'll go as indulgent as I want!) And this idea helps solve some problems.

The big problem with a Golden Route, is that the story of FE3H begins its 2nd half by pretty much stating "this is the history of the unification of Fodlan". The story has to end with Fodlan uniting into one country. But in a Golden Route, where all 3 house leaders don't die, it's unlikely that Fodlan would unify, given their personalities and goals. Dimitri is very duty bound, and as his fans have pointed out, he would not abandon his throne again (…I mean, unless that one rare ending where he instituted a democratic monarchy, eventually progresses into a pure democracy. Maybe then, he'd leave the throne. But knowing Dimitri, he might even retain his royal figurehead status, just to fulfill more ceremonial duties for the government.) And then there's Edelgard, who is so resolved on her ideas for how governance should be done, that she doesn't veer to adapt external criticisms, nor accept that any other forms of government are unflawed enough to be allowed in Fodlan. Hence, the conquering. Claude is flexible though. He can and does, canonically, both stay to restructure the government, religion, and covered-up histories, and he also leaves to rule Almyra, or even ditch to pursue several romantic pairings. As someone once pointed out, the only reason Fodlan unified, was pure luck. The other 2 countries on the continent happened to collapse or lose their leaders, so whoever was left, kind of became the new dominating force in Fodlan by default. In Azure Moon, Edelgard is killed and Claude leaves Fodlan. In Crimson Flower, Dimitri is killed and Claude can either leave Fodlan or be murdered. In Verdant Wind, both Edelgard and Dimitri die, so Claude kind of gets Fodlan by default. Except that he gives it all to Byleth, so he can leave to become king of Almyra. If a Golden Route still has to end with the unification of Fodlan, then there has to be some other excuse why 2 of the 3 leaders cannot lead their countries. Which may be tricky, when only death will keep 2 of those 3 leaders away from taking on ruling responsibilities, and a Golden Route should be a story of them not dying in the war, resolving their issues, working together, and reaffirming that Friendship theme that Claude gave a speech about at the end of his Verdant Wind route.

But if Edelgard is going to die soon from her 2 Crests…That's helps solve the problem. Claude is always able to leave. Dimitri is not going to turn away from his responsibilities again. So if Edelgard dies prematurely, but just not from being killed as an enemy in war, then we can still get the Friendship and cooperation theme in a Golden Route, while retaining the "unified Fodlan" outcome.

This really makes a Golden Route easier to imagine in my head. Before, I was trying to think up excuses for why Adrestia would have to become assimilated into the new unified Fodlan, and I kept circling back to "Edelgard can't rule for some reason", but I just couldn't see her relinquishing rule. Also, I think that if all 3 House leaders worked together to win the war, then they would all be necessary and useful to ruling the new unified Fodlan, especially to continue the theme of cooperation/Friendship. But if they acted as some kind of triumvirate, how is that different from having 3 separate countries? I guess, 3 different systems of government would explain the separation into 3 countries. But if a Golden Route has them work together to defeat the Agarthans/Nemesis and see how well they work together, then I guess a triumvirate would work on a unified Fodlan, if they could all collaborate and agree to one new form of government for all of Fodlan. But my headcanons were getting so complicated, with Edelgard as this masked Prime Minister, hiding her identity so that the other former enemies of Adrestia wouldn't dismiss her contributions to the new system… Dimitri would rule Fodlan as king and Byleth would be Archbishop, just like Azure Moon. But Claude would stick around like Verdant Wind, just until he had helped reform the government and helped negotiate between the different factions. Then he'd leave Fodlan to become king of Almyra, like always. But my headcanons just didn't seem to fit Edelgard. If she just dies early, then that'll take a lot off my mind. (And then during peace negotiations between Fodlan and Almyra, King Dimitri and King Claude fall in love, then they have a "political" marriage, and Archbishop Byleth officiates the wedding,…)