Background and other notes
Sep. 21st, 2012 05:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oneeyed_dragonI will note here that some of this is less headcanon and more outlining threading things together. The first game doesn't really have much to base on, and some things from the anime seem game-timeline accurate while others aren't; so I'm patching in some of what would be first-game part of timeline with anime events that fit, and the rest is just sorting out the game timelines and which paths are "canon", and I'm still working on reconstructing it. For the second game I'm going with the cutscenes/situation of the beginning of the third game to guess which paths are "canon". His canon point is midway through his path of the third game, just after he's met with Ieyasu and agreed to work together.
There's also a few bits of background that are patched in from history. This isn't going to be a whole lot, and I will try to note where I'm referencing it, since the games are very much NOT historically based outside of names, some personalities, and a few generalities. This will not be historically accurate. At all. Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter has more to do with history than his canon.
If your character is familiar with the actual history, then I happily encourage not only fourth-walling him on it, but confusing the ever-loving Hell out of him because it doesn't match. :>
(Entry is v. much unfinished!)
Canon never actually goes into his family! Well, besides his maternal uncle who rules a neighboring territory. That relationship is ..rocky, and it's likely that his relationship with his direct family isn't any better than his historical counterpart. Maybe worse, since the real one eventually made some amends with his mother while she doesn't seem to be a thing that exists here. Some of the wording in dialogue with Kojurou implies there was conflict in the takeover. (His missing eye is never completely addressed, and the historical/legends real world seems likely - blindness in that eye due to childhood smallpox, and him taking it out later to make a point.)
He likely took power young, and had a few years of solidifying his position, getting Oshu built up, and conquering nearby weaker territories; he already had a reputation on the battlefield by the time canon starts.
The big turning point in canon was when he aimed at Kenshin and Shingen, aiming to take advantage of one of their conflicts for an ambush on Kenshin and his generals; he got intercepted by what light cavalry Kai had, stonewalled by Yukimura, and rode out of that scuffle with a new rivalry and not a lot to show for it.
Not long after that, he had what would've been a more successful attempt at further expanding his territory by sniping something out from under Takeda. {Adjustment from the anime, since while Yoshimoto's not around in the later games, Hojo's a major plot figure later on.} He would've succeeded, or at least just been slowed down by interference from Yukimura, except that the lord he was trying to catch fled the field, pursued by Masamune, Kojurou, and Yukimura...
Only to run straight into a small contingent of Nobunaga and his closest people, leading to the first incident of Masamune's confidence getting shaken - he was sharp enough to pick up on the fact that he was facing someone unnatural and well beyond his ability to take on. This ended up with both Oshu and Kai's forces retreating empty-handed.
Masamune took a break from things to clear his head, by which I mean he was rattling around his home in a very quietly foul and frustrated mood trying to sort out how to react to what had happened. He was distracted from it by Maebara Keiji showing up trying to negotiate an alliance, and snapped out of it further by Kojurou taking the opportunity to lever him out of the funk.
Instead of joining the alliance, he gathered his forces to ride off ahead of what the alliance was doing, in effect volunteering to ride point under the pretense of "Wanting to get there first and get the victory for himself". He was stonewalled and frustrated again thanks to one of Nobunaga's allies getting basically set up in his path; this ended with him tangling a little with Mitsuhide and both groups getting raked over by a rifle regiment, leaving Masamune wounded. While there were losses on both sides and some shuffling of allegiances, the entire larger battle basically stalemated.
While Masamune was recovering from his gunshot wound, Hisahide, an otherwise neutral party, kidnapped several of his men, holding them hostage and requesting the Dragon Claws in exchange. Masamune tried to get up and go after them, but was stopped by Kojurou, who rode out and took care of it himself.
Bits of the second game suggest that Honnoji went closer to history than the anime, with Mitsuhide imprisoned for betraying and killing Nobunaga, which pretty much means that somewhere after Hisahide the anime stops being useful.
After Nobunaga's death, Masamune returned to making periodic attempts at nearby territories and occasionally meddling in the rest of the ongoing fighting without actually committing himself to any alliances. {check back over the 2nd game script, I know he ended up tangling with Hanbei and tearing off after Hideyoshi's forces because of that interference.} He did go to interfere in Hideyoshi's attack on Hojo - mainly a tactical decision since Hojo was between Hideyoshi and Oshu. During that battle, he had the immense bad luck of Oshu's forces getting raked pretty hard, and after he'd already been worn down by the rest of the battle, running into Mitsunari, a fight he lost badly. Oshu's forces retreated, and he ended up recovering, in a much worse seething funk than the last one. He didn't recover enough to take the field until after Hideyoshi was dead, and the recovery time did nothing to settle the seething temper that'd built.
Once he was back on his feet, his first agenda was tearing off to not only re-assert Oshu's place as a contender but to get revenge on Mitsunari, with Osaka targeted as his final destination. This started off with a period of him charging into any possible opportunity while Kojurou followed along trying to rein in his temper and get him calmed down or at least more focused. Eventually he did concede that he wouldn't be able to take on Osaka and their allies alone, and went to approach Tokugawa Ieyasu, riding into Mikawa to volunteer an alliance. While for most others in this alliance Ieyasu was the acknowledged leader, Masamune offered his "allegiance" on the terms that they be equal partners, both free to pursue their own agenda while cooperating, which Ieyasu allowed.
This came as a massive relief for Kojurou since it was the first return to tactical calculation Masamune had seriously made, and Masamune was starting to push the end of his luck.
This is also about where I'm taking him from.
Other Headcanon
* - Yes, he is multilingual. No, he's not necessarily GOOD at it. He can follow/understand English, Italian, and Chinese, although speaking any of them is accented at best and broken at worst. Dutch and French he'll recognize, but it'll be one or two words every few sentences that he catches, and for the love of God don't ask him to try to speak it.
* - I do work under the assumption that the schizotech exists for a reason, and this is an alternate timeline where there was a higher-tech period that got smacked down - so there's bits of remaining stuff that's well above what anyone should have, besides foreign things brought in from elsewhere.Yes this is how I explain Tadakatsu/the fucking Gundam, the Lightning Edge, and various other things that just shouldn't exist. As curious as Masamune is, he hasn't really been close to it that much, so he might have "this is like that stuff" but not much else on recognition for most technology. He IS familiar with a fairly broad spread of firearms and weaponry of that sort, mostly thanks to certain other parties he's crossed paths with. Magoichi where did you even GET an RPG launcher- No, he doesn't know how to handle a gun, but he wouldn't be above learning.
*- The above note does mean that he'll have random jags of recognizing things WAY out of period, but maybe not knowing how they work exactly, and will be completely unfamiliar with other things that're pretty basic. Most of what he's familiar with is random weaponry, with a couple of cases of "Mechanical living things! I have run into those!". He knows they're unfamiliar/advanced technology, but that's about the extent of it.
There's also a few bits of background that are patched in from history. This isn't going to be a whole lot, and I will try to note where I'm referencing it, since the games are very much NOT historically based outside of names, some personalities, and a few generalities. This will not be historically accurate. At all. Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter has more to do with history than his canon.
If your character is familiar with the actual history, then I happily encourage not only fourth-walling him on it, but confusing the ever-loving Hell out of him because it doesn't match. :>
(Entry is v. much unfinished!)
Canon never actually goes into his family! Well, besides his maternal uncle who rules a neighboring territory. That relationship is ..rocky, and it's likely that his relationship with his direct family isn't any better than his historical counterpart. Maybe worse, since the real one eventually made some amends with his mother while she doesn't seem to be a thing that exists here. Some of the wording in dialogue with Kojurou implies there was conflict in the takeover. (His missing eye is never completely addressed, and the historical/legends real world seems likely - blindness in that eye due to childhood smallpox, and him taking it out later to make a point.)
He likely took power young, and had a few years of solidifying his position, getting Oshu built up, and conquering nearby weaker territories; he already had a reputation on the battlefield by the time canon starts.
The big turning point in canon was when he aimed at Kenshin and Shingen, aiming to take advantage of one of their conflicts for an ambush on Kenshin and his generals; he got intercepted by what light cavalry Kai had, stonewalled by Yukimura, and rode out of that scuffle with a new rivalry and not a lot to show for it.
Not long after that, he had what would've been a more successful attempt at further expanding his territory by sniping something out from under Takeda. {Adjustment from the anime, since while Yoshimoto's not around in the later games, Hojo's a major plot figure later on.} He would've succeeded, or at least just been slowed down by interference from Yukimura, except that the lord he was trying to catch fled the field, pursued by Masamune, Kojurou, and Yukimura...
Only to run straight into a small contingent of Nobunaga and his closest people, leading to the first incident of Masamune's confidence getting shaken - he was sharp enough to pick up on the fact that he was facing someone unnatural and well beyond his ability to take on. This ended up with both Oshu and Kai's forces retreating empty-handed.
Masamune took a break from things to clear his head, by which I mean he was rattling around his home in a very quietly foul and frustrated mood trying to sort out how to react to what had happened. He was distracted from it by Maebara Keiji showing up trying to negotiate an alliance, and snapped out of it further by Kojurou taking the opportunity to lever him out of the funk.
Instead of joining the alliance, he gathered his forces to ride off ahead of what the alliance was doing, in effect volunteering to ride point under the pretense of "Wanting to get there first and get the victory for himself". He was stonewalled and frustrated again thanks to one of Nobunaga's allies getting basically set up in his path; this ended with him tangling a little with Mitsuhide and both groups getting raked over by a rifle regiment, leaving Masamune wounded. While there were losses on both sides and some shuffling of allegiances, the entire larger battle basically stalemated.
While Masamune was recovering from his gunshot wound, Hisahide, an otherwise neutral party, kidnapped several of his men, holding them hostage and requesting the Dragon Claws in exchange. Masamune tried to get up and go after them, but was stopped by Kojurou, who rode out and took care of it himself.
Bits of the second game suggest that Honnoji went closer to history than the anime, with Mitsuhide imprisoned for betraying and killing Nobunaga, which pretty much means that somewhere after Hisahide the anime stops being useful.
After Nobunaga's death, Masamune returned to making periodic attempts at nearby territories and occasionally meddling in the rest of the ongoing fighting without actually committing himself to any alliances. {check back over the 2nd game script, I know he ended up tangling with Hanbei and tearing off after Hideyoshi's forces because of that interference.} He did go to interfere in Hideyoshi's attack on Hojo - mainly a tactical decision since Hojo was between Hideyoshi and Oshu. During that battle, he had the immense bad luck of Oshu's forces getting raked pretty hard, and after he'd already been worn down by the rest of the battle, running into Mitsunari, a fight he lost badly. Oshu's forces retreated, and he ended up recovering, in a much worse seething funk than the last one. He didn't recover enough to take the field until after Hideyoshi was dead, and the recovery time did nothing to settle the seething temper that'd built.
Once he was back on his feet, his first agenda was tearing off to not only re-assert Oshu's place as a contender but to get revenge on Mitsunari, with Osaka targeted as his final destination. This started off with a period of him charging into any possible opportunity while Kojurou followed along trying to rein in his temper and get him calmed down or at least more focused. Eventually he did concede that he wouldn't be able to take on Osaka and their allies alone, and went to approach Tokugawa Ieyasu, riding into Mikawa to volunteer an alliance. While for most others in this alliance Ieyasu was the acknowledged leader, Masamune offered his "allegiance" on the terms that they be equal partners, both free to pursue their own agenda while cooperating, which Ieyasu allowed.
This came as a massive relief for Kojurou since it was the first return to tactical calculation Masamune had seriously made, and Masamune was starting to push the end of his luck.
This is also about where I'm taking him from.
Other Headcanon
* - Yes, he is multilingual. No, he's not necessarily GOOD at it. He can follow/understand English, Italian, and Chinese, although speaking any of them is accented at best and broken at worst. Dutch and French he'll recognize, but it'll be one or two words every few sentences that he catches, and for the love of God don't ask him to try to speak it.
* - I do work under the assumption that the schizotech exists for a reason, and this is an alternate timeline where there was a higher-tech period that got smacked down - so there's bits of remaining stuff that's well above what anyone should have, besides foreign things brought in from elsewhere.
*- The above note does mean that he'll have random jags of recognizing things WAY out of period, but maybe not knowing how they work exactly, and will be completely unfamiliar with other things that're pretty basic. Most of what he's familiar with is random weaponry, with a couple of cases of "Mechanical living things! I have run into those!". He knows they're unfamiliar/advanced technology, but that's about the extent of it.