#I went down the hole of samurai shipping and I like it tbh I still like Jaya too though

[sunflowerandstrawberryspice]

Okay so this is just kind of a dump of the little pieces of fan art I didn't want to turn into full blown pieces so I just kinda smushed them together for fun.

I also realize this is the first ever cannon PIXAL drawing I've ever done so uh yeah I had a bit of a hard time doing her braids but I had fun with it!

Anyway I may or may not be figuring out Garmadon and be giving you some Garmadon fanart (and fanfiction) very soon so take that as you will :)

[atopearth]

Hakuoki: Edo Blossoms Part 10 - Sakamoto Ryouma Route

I know it’s understandable for the ones who were once on the side of the shogunate to change to the imperialist to save their men’s lives rather than their beliefs, but every time I think about how some like the Yodo domain ruthlessly and enjoyably killed off the Shinsengumi warriors they encountered, I can’t think of it all being simply for their survival. And, I think people like the Shinsengumi who will do everything they can to uphold their beliefs even when all odds are against them are just...very admirable I guess. When Sakamoto said that history is written by the victors and that you can’t be a victor if you didn’t live to tell the tale, it felt so saddening and yet true. This isn’t a war for them to fight anymore… Lmao when he just helped himself to putting his head on her lap though hahaha. Pretty unreasonable for the heroine to expect Sakamoto to do something about Kondou’s capture by the imperialists though, not like they’re friends, and Kondou being a great guy really has nothing to do with him… I guess she’s just emotional but still…at least she calmed down when he held her, she’s way too rash by even thinking she could do anything about it if she were to go to Kondou. Anyway, I guess the reason Nakaoka is like this is because he’s unable to accept that he died when hasn’t been able to do what he wanted to the Tokugawa clan yet. In a way, he’s probably less focused on what’s best for Japan and really just wants to take out the Tokugawa along with him, since he’s even changed the other oppressed country samurai in the Tosa domain into Furies…

Oww when she took the blow from Nakaoka to protect Sakamoto… It was so cute when he stumbled upon her changing the bandages and he blushed🤣 He still teased her after but I guess even he gets embarrassed too! Hahahaha, I feel sorry for Shiranui that he always has to witness them being all lovey dovey with each other (with their words) every time he appears to talk to them lmao. Sakamoto says he can be himself with her beside him and thinks that a woman he can be like that with is the perfect one for him, and she still thinks their relationship is still just one of buddies going on an adventure to slay Furies together?? I mean, if she feels like she can’t fully trust in his words, fine but, I’m sure that considering they’ve been travelling all this time together, their relationship is definitely more than purely platonic, they’ve experienced life and death together! That bond is strong! I’m glad he was upfront with her and practically told her that his dream is to sail his own ship and that it won’t be complete without her on it. So yay, they’re finally open and honest about their feelings without all the teasing lol. I see… Sakamoto was forced to be a spy for the Tosa because they held his family hostage and that’s why he got close to Chizuru to get info on the Shinsengumi, and Nakaoka was in a similar situation and that’s why he hates those higher ups in the Tosa domain so much. Really can’t blame him when his whole life had been controlled by these guys…

I think it’s nice that Sakamoto was able to relieve her of guilt she shouldn’t need to carry just because she lived a less painful life than Kaoru. He can’t blame her for things out of her control. Also nice to see that because of this, she believes that they don’t have to forge on with hatred in their hearts, even though it is justified hatred in terms of how the Yukimura clan perished and how Nakaoka and the others were treated I guess… However, I guess this will just end up being a neverending spiral of hatred, so yeah… But, surprisingly, Kaoru wasn’t as insufferable as the other routes and wasn’t really a liar. He seemed to really care about Chizuru and really did sacrifice himself to protect her when he swapped places with her as a child since the Nagumo wanted the girl to bear children for them. So now I kinda feel bad for thinking of him terribly, and am wondering if things could have ended differently instead of Shiranui killing him to save Sakamoto and Chizuru. But I guess it probably saved Kaoru as well, at least in death he didn’t need to suffer anymore in this hatred towards humans, the Nagumo and also Chizuru for living the better life… At least they’ve got the support of Heisuke and Sanan to take out the base of all the Furies where Kodo is continuing his experiments and where Nakaoka is supporting him by lending himself and the other Tosa people to be experimented on. It’s kind of saddening and yet fitting for Heisuke and Sanan to feel that it is essentially their duty to rid of these Furies and the Water of Life. Nakaoka’s death was devastating to see..alongside revenge, he also fought for respect and recognition of his people, and it’s just saddening that he knew that in order to get that, he needed to allow his people to be used and to be useful to even try to do anything that could affect the world. I feel like it was rather anticlimactic to leave Kodo to Heisuke and Sanan, and then have Sakamoto and Chizuru escape to live their future together… And it literally ended just like that…. The unrequited ending was rather bittersweet, since even though Sakamoto died, Chizuru wanted his memory to live on through his family and thus she decides to travel to Tosa and tell them everything about him and how passionate of a guy he was towards his aspirations. Kinda nice that Shiranui also asked her if she wanted to take refuge in his village after that, and I think that’s a great idea, haha!

Overall, I feel quite disappointed tbh. I’m not sure I can pinpoint the exact problems I had with Sakamoto’s route, but it feels very short? I’m not sure if it’s really shorter but I definitely feel like it tried to balance plot and romance too much that it ended up excelling in neither. The plot didn’t feel the most coherent and felt like it was told in blocks rather than flowing naturally, and the romance although was kinda cute with the teasing and everything, it felt that a lot of it was built on this teasing, and then they tried to put in a bit more thought into it such as how they supported each other by being there when the both of them went through moments of confusion with Nakaoka and Kaoru respectively. But it was just told in such a way that it felt very…lacklustre and rushed, like by the time I digested what their problems of conflict were, everything was already solved so haphazardly. The fighting scenes were also very boring since Sakamoto didn’t really use his gun in a distinctive way or whatever that made it characteristically his weapon? Like, all the Shinsengumi guys use swords and have their unique traits that make them “them” but I find it difficult to describe what and how I think of Sakamoto by the end of the story aside from his generic traits. The story also didn’t really delve well into what and how he really felt about what he wanted to change in Japan besides being more “fair” and Western, it also just seemed really random and apathetic of him to set aside everything and just want to sail a boat after he defeats Nakaoka. I just feel like there were a lot of gaping holes I wanted answered outside the main stream of things, and I also just never felt his passion for anything after Kyoto Winds. They did what they set out to do, but they really didn’t do anything else in terms of building their personalities or plot imo. On the other hand, I felt that even though I didn’t see Nakaoka much, I felt his passion for everything through his intense feelings and hatred every time he appeared, as well as in his moments before death. I guess the problem with Sakamoto for me was that I felt nothing about him really stood out to me. So yeah, I’m sad lol. It’s still an all right route, but yeah not really a fan.

[signutai]

Ayyyy how about the Sword Saints Council?

YES THE SWORDNERDSOkay, like, we don’t know much about them so far so most of this is gonna be pure conjecture and headcanons.Nichiringeneral opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would banghogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuffbest quality: He seems like a reasonable enough guy, I suppose?worst quality: “And why do you think we should care?” Dude I get you don’t have that high an opinion of heroes but come on.ship them with: Maybe Bang or Bomb?brotp them with: The rest of the Council. Bang. Bomb.needs to stay away from: idk he looks like he can handle himselfmisc. thoughts: Apathetic outlook about the thought of helping heroes aside, he seems like a decent enough guy, at least in this setting. I’m kind of wary of making any kind of solid judgement until I see how he interacts with people who aren’t his equals–he appears to be the most stereotypically traditional one of this group (not caring much about the struggles of people outside of his personal circle of peers and theorizing that Bang dismissed Charanko and dropped off the face of the planet out of shame). On the other hand, more badass older characters is always great, and I’ve seen people suggesting he’s based off of Zatoichi, which is cool. He looks like he might use a sword cane or something similar, too? I don’t know, you only see part of his sword in one panel so I can’t say for sure. I like how fucking ready he was to throw down with Haragiri.Amaharegeneral opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would banghogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuffbest quality: Easily the most reasonable and empathetic new character here.worst quality: Not a gripe with the character himself, per se, but when the chapter first went up the OPM Wiki had him listed as being female and I was super-excited that we got a badass older woman swordsman…only to have my dreams cruelly ripped away. Ah well, I’ve seen some people suggesting he’s based off of Takashi Shimura, so I guess that makes up for it a little.ship them with: No one, really? Not yet anyway. I kinda like the idea of him having a loving wifey or husbando.brotp them with: Rest of the Council, again. I feel he’d really get along with Okamaitachi, too. They’re both so fashionable. Grandpa Amahare doting on his lovely adopted granddaughter. They both use swords with standard crossguards instead of circular ones as well.needs to stay away from: I don’t know??? Bad things I guess??misc. thoughts: Amahare seems great, tbh, and I’m really excited to see him in color at some point because his outfit just screams that it’ll be wonderfully vibrant. And he was the first to agree to help Kamikaze track down Garou. He’s clearly the most cautious member of the group, and is obviously the most easily-intimidated as well–perhaps he’s not as strong as the others, or at least isn’t quite as confident in his skills. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.Zanbaigeneral opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would banghogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuffbest quality: His whole “battered old warrior” aesthetic is pretty great. That and the fact that he sits with his arms tucked inside his kimono like a burrito the whole chapter.worst quality: I don’t know?? There’s not a lot to go on here honestly.ship them with: Occasionally Kamikaze.brotp them with: Again, the rest of the Council.needs to stay away from: Look, friends, I would not want to get in the way of someone whose name is “wrathful” on the warpath. Perhaps a better question is who and what should stay away from him.misc. thoughts: I don’t have a whole lot of thoughts about him. He seems like an okay guy. Out of all of them, I want to see how he fights the most, since if his style fits his name at all I’m sure it’s spectacularly devastating. Also, who hurt you, man. What’s the story behind your scars.Haragirigeneral opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would banghogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuffbest quality: I’m going to operate under the assumption that he doesn’t have any and also didn’t have any even before he became a monster.worst quality: Where do I even start.ship them with: No one, but it’s kind of a moot point since he’s dead now anyway lol.brotp them with: Is there anyone outside of the Council who actually willingly endured his company? Probably not.needs to stay away from: Well, I’d say Kamikaze’s sword but it’s a little too late there.misc. thoughts: I don’t know, I find Haragiri kind of funny in the sense that he honestly expected to walk into that dojo, kill Class-S, Rank 4 hero Atomic Samurai, turn the rest of the Council into monsters, and come out of that alive. Arrogance at its finest, honestly. He clearly wasn’t paying attention during any of the Council meetings prior to this because he very obviously did not know the extent of Kamikaze’s abilities, which is humorous given his insistence that the Council exists for its members to compete with each other and sharpen their skills.That said, it’s also a little sad how he got so wrapped up in trying to be stronger that he willingly and readily turned on people who still considered him a friend, despite that he has probably never been pleasant to be around, in exchange for more power. Maybe the real strength was the friendships we made along the way, man. Ever consider that?