😭😭

This, when Mitsunari joins the fray...

“Don’t poke my cheeks. The seeds will spill.”

Giant Lord Squeak Ieyasu is not amused 😆

(tried manga style)

“People don’t understand the word ruthless. They think it means ‘mean.’ It’s not about being mean. It’s about seeing the bright, clear line that leads from A to B. The line that goes from motive to means. Beginning to end. It’s about seeing that bright, clear line and not caring about anything but the beautiful fact that you can see the solution. Not caring about anything else but the perfection of it.”

— Marco, Animorphs #30: The Reunion, pg. 71 (by K.A. Applegate)

Character Details to Hide from Your Readers

Hiding information from your readers on purpose will help you create tension in your novel. I know this doesn’t work for every novel, but if you’re writing something with elements of suspense and mystery, hiding details and revealing them later will improve your story. This also helps add dimensions to your characters and explore their motivations on a deeper level.

Here are a few things to hide about your characters to create tension:

Whether or not your protagonist is lying

Even good characters lie, especially if they feel like it will protect other people in the long run. There are ways to hint that your character is hiding the truth without actually revealing what the truth is. If your protagonist gets nervous or changes the subject when they’re asked about a specific detail, this will help show your readers that something isn’t quite right. If your character’s deception is hidden and then revealed at the right time, you’ll be able to add exciting tension and shock value to your story.

Who the real villain is

Some of the best tension is created when we’re uncertain about who the real villain is. In mystery/crime novels, for example, there’s often evidence that points to one person who ends up not really being the one we need to worry about. If you hide this information from your readers, you keep them guessing throughout the course of your novel and this will aid in creating suspense.

The truth about their past

When you hide your character’s past from your readers, you have the ability to use it as an explanation for something important later on. For example, if you character has these mysterious powers they can’t explain, you can use their parents and back story in order to reveal later on why it’s happening. Revealing past details slowly over the course of your novel helps build the mystery.

What their secondary goals are

Sometimes characters will have goals no one else knows about but them OR they will have a false goal that their using to cover up their real goal. For example, a character might say they’re rescuing another character because they want to help, but it really might be all about finding some hidden treasure along the way. There are many reasons why a character might want to hide their goals. Explore character motivations on a deeper level and you’ll be able to realistically include this type of deception in your story.

-Kris Noel 

Nobunaga: “Bring back those who have strayed from my side.”

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When Lords Make a Face...

My Commander Shepard

This one, @otome-reviews , if Kyo ES had added some suspense elements just like this and IF only the story is focused more on Kyo and Hide side of things. That would have been an exciting read...and the main conflict would have been like: can they trust Hideyoshi if Kyo and MC put themselves on the same camp as him? I bet this was the reason why Kyo wasn't so enthusiastic with Hide's proposal in the first place.

Haha, this is just my speculative--what-if scenario (plus, I saw what "Dark Lord" Hide could do in Kojuro Act 2).

I just re-read Kyoichiro’s ES and his PoV story…but I couldn’t shake the possibility that Hideyoshi might be THE ONE responsible Kyo got “detained” by Nobunaga.

…Long Post Below…

Do remember that Kyo is really careful with his thief identity (he is a former ninja after all) and the only time Kyo’s identity was suspected by Nobunaga was AFTER Hideyoshi found him on the storehouse (at least in this ES. I still haven’t done his MS, sorry). MC nor Suke wouldn’t dare to let something slip about Kyo’s “other life”, perhaps Hide wouldn’t unless he had a good reason…

…like using Kyo to ruin those monks to aid Nobunaga. But since the story implied Kyo refused that first offer (when Kyo busted the empty storehouse). Hide might have thought of a way to get Kyo in his plans, like slipping some rumors that Kyoichiro might be Ishikawa Goemon to get Nobunaga to act, thus entrapping Kyo in Kiyosu to make the cotton merchant at severe disadvantage.

“if something should happened outside while you are in here, you will be proven innocent” (-which also means “if nothing happens outside while you are here, you are guilty”-).

Sakuya went to Kyo’s house and saw MC and judging by their conversation, Sakuya didn’t expect MC to be there (or at least didn’t expect that Kyo’s “mistress” was the fugitive Tsuki MC). I was led to think Saku went to Kyo’s house to assassinate MC but I believe it wasn’t the case…So what was Saku doing in Kyo'shouse? Gathering evidence? Maybe. But we do not get to know his REAL reason being there because Hide intervened in an epic fashion.

Hideyoshi is not simple. He plans “two steps ahead” as Kyoichiro would put it. Hide might have “slipped” into Nobunaga about Kyo, he doesn’t want him dead. While Nobunaga was busy with his entrapment scheme, Hide anticipated Nobu’s methods. He prevented Sakuya from killing MC (or rather he stopped him from gathering evidence against Kyo) with his “presence” since Sakuya is supposedly a secret Oda ninja, therefore he can’t act recklessly under Hideyoshi’s watch.

In Kyo’s pov, Hide used his weirdness and fixation to Kyo’s crane to get him to give one to him, not because he want it to be a signal to MC about his predicament in Kiyosu. But in reality, Hide used it as a tool to get MC to act by being the supposed thief and steal something to clear Kyo’s name.

So, Hideyoshi became Kyo’s benefactor and became indebted to him. Because of this, Kyo ruined those corrupt monks which he would otherwise refuse to do under normal circumstances.

Kyo must have got a sense of Hide’s motives as he forged the aliance with him not out of gratitude but only because he “does not want to be on Hideyoshi’s bad side”. And that statement, tells us something just how far and how “deep” HIDEYOSHI would go to achieve his goals.

Gonna start a post with blank memes. Please add any you have on hand and reblog to spread them.

Test

Yep, I see your ask. DOES that mean I PASSED the test? 😂😂

Ask me anytime, I am open to questions.

Hideyoshi and cute

Ok let it never be said that you don’t know what you want. ;)

“Pick one.”

Hideyoshi hands you a box, small and cute and ribbon-bound but unmistakable, a gilded logo winking atop from the chocolate shop you’d mentioned was the thing you missed most about your hometown. The plaza is busy, shoppers milling about and the faint strains of carols slipping out of the warm shops each time one of the doors opens up, but there is a bit of peace in the shade of the towering crown jewel of the enormous Christmas tree, and the twinkle of the tree lights behind you is mirrored in his mischievous grin.

Bemused, you ease the top open, only to blink at the single truffle nestled carefully in tissue within. “There is only one,” you say, confusion wrinkling your brow as you reach in to lift it out.

“Exactly.” Hideyoshi laughs, only it sounds a bit off, and you realize when you blink up from the chocolate in your palm that its because he’s kneeling before you. “Just like…there’s only one woman I love, and only one woman for me.” He takes the box from your nerveless fingers and pulls out the ring that had been hiding beneath the sweet. “I know you have countless choices out there…but I’m hoping that you’ll say there’s only one for you too.”

He holds the ring out, and its only because it catches the shimmer of the tree that you can see how his hand trembles, as if it bears the weight of ever so much more than a bit of gold and gem. “Marry me?” he asks, in a voice that shakes ever so slightly too, and you realize it’s the only time you’ve ever heard him sound unsure.

“Yes, yes, of course!” you say, or at least you think you say. It doesn’t matter much because the next moment your arms are around him and his lips are on yours, hot and fervent. Somewhere in the dizzying gasp of it, you realize the chocolate has slipped from your grasp to fall on the ground…but it doesn’t even matter. How could it, when these kisses, and the promise of a lifetime of them, are sweeter than any confection ever could be?