big cheese

side blog for my hot sengoku summer ft. art & tangents 18

[vampire-cultured]

yap abt ikesen’s lone forces:

i know people have already talked a lot about how cybird kinda fumbled with kicho (even if he did make me kick my feet several times), but i genuinely feel like he could’ve turned out better if the narrative actually didn’t try to paint out his reasoning behind trying to make the warring states last forever as something any reasonable person would think that not even mai could really refute the inherent holes in his backstory when he was 500 years in the future.

i loved the downright creepy vibes he gave me in motonari’s route. pairing that with his genuinely ignorant reasoning behind betraying nobunaga, if the ikesen writers actually, like, locked in, he could’ve been such the well meaning but delused freakster he seems to be in motonari’s route that hasn’t properly processed and grieved his sister’s death (which kicho’s route did note as a contribution to his way of logic).

all i’m say is that if they were going to commit to kicho’s raison d’être then they should’ve done the exact opposite of rationalizing it. i feel like kicho should not have been as much green of a flag as he was portrayed to be.

also i’m still kinda disappointed on how little nobunaga was around in kicho’s romantic route (haven’t read his dramatic) when he’s literally such a significant character to his story and it’s been made clear to me at least how much they meant to one another. if he does get a sequel (if any of the act 2 guys do. i imagine they will? i hope? idk) i hope it’s there that they explore those two more. i’m very shameless about nobukicho.

i always thought kennyo was so underrated before i did his route and i really hate to say that. not that i don’t think he’s still underrated now, but kennyo is honestly the Potential Man in all of ikesen. an awful thing keeps happening to me where i read a route of a character i liked and then i feel less for them afterward. i love kennyo, really, and his route was sweet. but i feel like, and this may just be me and i’m stupid, what made him abandoned vengeance wasn’t strong enough…? i read his dramatic route hoping for dinner and got a snack. idk how to word this, but i feel like it wasn’t that well delved into or anything as to why kennyo stopped? if he didn’t want the person he loves to get hurt by his revenge in turn (either from them literally almost dying as in canon or being heartbroken when he’s dead), why does that not apply to ranmaru? i don’t understand what makes mai so unique from someone who he’s known since he was a boy. i love kennyo and ranmaru’s relationship so i really do wish we’d gotten to see more of it. idk i think it would’ve hit different if it was ranmaru or shingen. plus, like, mai never really gave an argument that convinced kennyo to change his path.

i’m used to my vengeful angsty tsunderes taking over 500 episodes to cease the path of revenge. but the point of kennyo was that he hadn’t completely lost his heart in his pursuit for revenge. spoilers for naruto ig but sasuke descended because no one in the village could or tried to understand him. i feel like shingen and ranmaru were those people that could, however (because i’m also shameless about shingen x kennyo). i don’t think kennyo’s character progression sucked necessarily, but i personally found it underwhelming and didn’t really have enough time to play out messier than it was. i wish mai changed kennyo the way she did motonari. i don’t think there was really any argument on morality made in kennyo’s route, and my vague idea of what mai’s argument to kennyo could’ve been basically boils down to this post, especially because it ties so well to him having once been a monk who did just that and still does (even if he’s a tsundere about it):

[vampire-cultured]

idk what the add to queue thing does or how to undo it uhh 😥😥

anyway to add onto kennyo he also would’ve been a more entertaining route to do if the game acknowledged his own hypocrisy of hating nobunaga for his bloodshed when he’s really no better than him in the grand scheme of things. i don’t think it was inherently bad writing to make kennyo that way, but that aspect of him being left unaddressed is what sucks about it. on the bright side, at least kennyo isn’t as self-righteous about it as kicho. kennyo doesn’t see himself a good person by any means.

gonna be so deadass i think motonari is the best written adversary out of all of the lone forces, even if his writing does has it’s faults too, but a good lot of it is a result of racism which is so disappointing since he’s my favorite suitor right after mitsuhide. i just think he had the strongest argument for his motives and where he stands, and even if it is fucked up to want to watch the world burn because of his abysmal trust issues and misanthrope, the game knows. and i found myself understanding and agreeing with him the most, especially because i’m caribbean. honestly i was surprised that ikesen even mentioned colonialism, not that the game doesn’t touch on dark themes. as much as i wished cybird went as hard on kicho and kennyo as they did on motonari, a part of me can’t help but think that the reason they did with motonari is because they’re just kinda harsh with him in general compared to the other adversaries (including the uesugi-takeda).

however, i will say that i honestly couldn’t get behind the whole plot of literally purchased and owned by him for reasons i don’t think i need to explain as a black person. and i just don’t think it even really made sense. i know the lore behind it, but i still just really don’t think it should’ve been him of all characters intentionally funding a trafficking ring he got her in just to buy. as much as i do love him, it’s a tricky slope for me but i genuinely do think he was sabotaged. even then, i get that motonari’s not a lot of people’s cup of tea and i see why.

[i4nanasworld]

THIS FEELS RUSHED, am i the only one who thinks so?

[vampire-cultured]

i thought i might’ve been crazy for thinking so too bc i took a long ass break mid way into his route but the shift still feels weird to me 😭

[vampire-cultured]

we can’t all be trying to crack hideyoshi right. how am i supposed to compete 🫩

[vampire-cultured]

i love how both motonari’s and kennyo’s dramatic epilogues end with hideyoshi on the verge of spiraling because you’re with them specifically out of all of the other guys and it just doesn’t get any closure at all. like i genuinely didn’t expect them to just leave him like that. bless his little heart.

[ikemensengoogoogaga]

Mc is fr a different breed because if time traveling and fucking up the entire timeline was resulting in me being erased from existence, im taking my ass straight to the timeline im supposed to be in😭😭 obviously she’s deeplyyyyy in loveeee and thats beautiful #lovewins but like yeah i probably wouldn’t do it…

[ikemensengoogoogaga]

The d is that good i guess. Nah i believe it

[vampire-cultured]

LMFAO

[vampire-cultured]

i have a fun little headcanon that sasuke really liked tokusatsus growing up and maybe even western superhero comics too since i like to think he knows japanese and english (‘cause i swear there’s been more than one instance where he spoke english outside of a cd and with even his actor in the stage play speaking a bit of english too).

i imagine his admiration for the sengoku warlords stemming from him equating them to the heroes he’d watch on tv or read about. the way sasuke looks up to/glazes the likes of ieyasu and like every other warlord very much reminds me of myself when it comes to characters like superman and nightwing in particular. ieyasu literally revolutionized all of japan out of the warring states era, i don’t think it’s far-fetched to say that he could be called a hero knowing that much at least.

(plus this line screams superhero dork i’m sorry)

he’s also just so flashy in a way that just gives me campy silver age dc comics to me and my best explanation i can think of as to why is because that he takes himself so seriously when he’s such a dweeb.

(this line does too, even if he’s talking about ninjas, c’mon)

i think it’s so cute how he tries to be humble but you know he genuinely thinks he’s so cool because he’s actually become his own image of cool.

[vampire-cultured]

i gave up on coloring bc the first attempt was so buns and i had to redo the shading too. not to mention the lineart was buns too since i tried doing smthn different so this is straight up just the sketch cleaned up slightly 🥀

ANYHOW ranmaru reminds me sm of izam from shazna. i refuse to believe he wouldnt be a vkei idol in the modern world. if only he liked raspberries instead of peaches

[vampire-cultured]

its been one ibis paint hour and a half and i just started the lineart. ranmaru i will orphan you second time

[vampire-cultured]

i actually used to hate nobunaga baaad bc my history with this game is kinda funky. i only ever watched nobunaga’s route and did mitsuhide’s route back in 2022 and i just. didnt remotely care for any of the other characters in the slightest. which i regret, but i honestly cant blame myself for having been that attached to mitsu given i was kinda traumatized while at a dr trip by the time i finished his route. but it turns out seeing more than 2 routes will actually get you to grow fond of the other warlords the way mc did because you actually get to know them even if you’re not doing their route?? who wouldve guessed.

funnily enough i didnt like mitsuhide at all when i started his route. i thought he was so annoying, but i ended up going through the same feelings mc had where she also found him super annoying but gradually fell in love as you get to know him. nobunaga was a genuine, real life 3 month slow burn for me to say i like the guy now, since i got back into ikesen in may. and that’s not counting the 4 years.

i love nobunaga as a friend a LOT, i was so happy to see him and mc actually have something a little more comfortable than just a boss and employer relationship in hideyoshi’s route it was a genuine highlight for me. ngl id be down to be in a qpr with him, but i just cant fathom doing anything explicitly romantic or sexual. i was reading an short event once and and the last 4 minutes of nobu’s was just straight up smut and i just could not read it bc it felt so wrong, which has NEVER happened to me before with a fictional character lol??

but the fact of the matter is that i barely remember anything about nobu’s route which was probably a subconscious thing to keep my cortisol low lmao

[vampire-cultured]

[vampire-cultured]

yoshimoto during kenshin’s route bc where tf was he

alsoalso genuine question. is yoshimoto ANYONE’S fav?? he was kinda meh in mitsuhide’s act 1 and from the reviews i’ve read on his own route it’s also kinda maybe meh? he never really caught my interest but i think he’s neat.

i mean, i know the polls’ll definitely say kennyo’s the least popular but ive seen way more kennyo stuff on tumblr without looking for it and,, nothing for yoshimoto? are there even fics for brochacho?

i also think he ideally would really connect well with mai and i really liked how they did in sasuke’s route, even if it was brief.

something i will say i love a lot of kicho’s route is how it fleshed out mai in a way i feel like i’ve yet to see in any other route i’ve done so far. she actually went through a little arc that isn’t necessarily tied to her relationship with her suitor, even if that arc came to be because of him. just learning exactly why mai actually likes sewing (to be thought of and missed by someone through something she made) and growing past that mindset that she needs to give anything to be enough was so fascinating and i’m 100% down to see more of that in eien if cybird decides to take that route with one of the suitors. i know that fleshing out what’s supposed to be a self-insert character kind of defeats the purpose of one, but the concept of a universal self-insert or y/n is literally impossible to write. i know not a lot of people can’t entirely relate that much to mai in when it comes to some of the decisions and reactions she makes, and i personally see mai as an actual character most of the time, which is why i call her mai and not mc. i think mai in hideyoshi and motonari’s route was the only instance that i could actually see my own self-insert in what’s supposed to be the self-insert. this isn’t really the fault of ikesen by any means, that’s just how self-insert characters who get given dialogue and thoughts that you can’t pick work.

ANYWAY, i kinda went off the rails there but what i’m trying to say is that yoshimoto x mai could be very cool. i feel like it wouldn’t be that far-fetched to believe that yoshimoto could’ve been the one to make mai reflect on why she loves sewing instead of kicho. not that it doesn’t work for kicho, but given that yoshimoto actually has a mutual interest in fashion, it could’ve gone harder.

maybe this actually happened in his route tho idk i don’t plan on doing it 😓

[silkkorchid]

Yoshimoto is actually one of my favorites but not top 3. Not sure but I do see some fan art of him on JP.

For where he was in the midst of Kenshin’s route, he was probably stuck in his room

[vampire-cultured]

free my goat yoshi…

but ty for ur wisdom, i should rly look at the jp fandom some time 🙂‍↕️

[vampire-cultured]

yoshimoto during kenshin’s route bc where tf was he

alsoalso genuine question. is yoshimoto ANYONE’S fav?? he was kinda meh in mitsuhide’s act 1 and from the reviews i’ve read on his own route it’s also kinda maybe meh? he never really caught my interest but i think he’s neat.

i mean, i know the polls’ll definitely say kennyo’s the least popular but ive seen way more kennyo stuff on tumblr without looking for it and,, nothing for yoshimoto? are there even fics for brochacho?

i also think he ideally would really connect well with mai and i really liked how they did in sasuke’s route, even if it was brief.

something i will say i love a lot of kicho’s route is how it fleshed out mai in a way i feel like i’ve yet to see in any other route i’ve done so far. she actually went through a little arc that isn’t necessarily tied to her relationship with her suitor, even if that arc came to be because of him. just learning exactly why mai actually likes sewing (to be thought of and missed by someone through something she made) and growing past that mindset that she needs to give anything to be enough was so fascinating and i’m 100% down to see more of that in eien if cybird decides to take that route with one of the suitors. i know that fleshing out what’s supposed to be a self-insert character kind of defeats the purpose of one, but the concept of a universal self-insert or y/n is literally impossible to write. i know not a lot of people can’t entirely relate that much to mai in when it comes to some of the decisions and reactions she makes, and i personally see mai as an actual character most of the time, which is why i call her mai and not mc. i think mai in hideyoshi and motonari’s route was the only instance that i could actually see my own self-insert in what’s supposed to be the self-insert. this isn’t really the fault of ikesen by any means, that’s just how self-insert characters who get given dialogue and thoughts that you can’t pick work.

ANYWAY, i kinda went off the rails there but what i’m trying to say is that yoshimoto x mai could be very cool. i feel like it wouldn’t be that far-fetched to believe that yoshimoto could’ve been the one to make mai reflect on why she loves sewing instead of kicho. not that it doesn’t work for kicho, but given that yoshimoto actually has a mutual interest in fashion, it could’ve gone harder.

maybe this actually happened in his route tho idk i don’t plan on doing it 😓

[vampire-cultured]

nobunaga after offering the ceasefire 🥀

kicho you will be dealt with

[vampire-cultured]

sasuke talking about his QUOTE on QUOTE NERDGASM REPEATEDLY while in the middle of a 3 way war in hideyoshi’s route and nobunaga is DEAD

on a mildly serious note can we talk about how freaky this guy actually is. i still think about that time when he said sleeping with ranmaru was his historian wet dream IN FRONT OF HIS FACE. not to mention how he chased ieyasu with mai until the sun started to set for an autograph in his own route. why is he so freaked out. i dont even mean in the masamune way there’s just something wrong with him

[vampire-cultured]

motonari’s route in a nutshell. ranmaru couldve arguably been a better placement but i just wanted to draw my wife tails,, i miss her a lot. ill be back.

OH MY GOD I JUST REALIZED HOW BAD TUMBLR LOWERS THE QUALITY 💔

[syneilesis]

[drabble] 019. Bite

019. Bite

Ikemen Sengoku | Kicho x Mouri Motonari | T | 186 words

Kicho made the fatal mistake of letting his guard down.

Slammed into the wall, a sword pressed up his neck. A vicious grin. Silver-grey hair. Red eyes.

“I came to collect yer debt.”

“There is nothing to collect.” Kicho maintained defiance, unmoved by the clear and present danger. The sword on his neck pressed closer; a bead of blood trickled down. “I owe you nothing.”

Motonari barked an incredulous laugh. “Stubborn till the end, yeah? Not scared of gettin’ beheaded by me?”

“You can’t kill me.”

An impressed whistle. Motonari’s grin gained a manic edge. The sword slid away, left a neat wound in its wake. More blood, bright and sharp.

Kicho was right. The sword clattered somewhere away from them. Replacing it was Motonari’s hand, gripping Kicho’s jaw.

He raised Kicho’s head, exposed that pale column of a neck. Still defiant, but Kicho glared at him.

Motonari smirked. Licked his lips.

“Hate that yer right, but what can I do?” His fingers dug harder into Kicho’s flesh. “Pay up.”

Then Motonari leaned in, swept his tongue across the bloody wound. Bared his teeth to bite.

[vampire-cultured]

saizo going into an open battlefield wearing nothing but a crop top, a single shoulder guard, a useless nipple guard and 3 belts JUST to hold up his pants