Word Vomit

I was reading a little about the "origins of steampunk". Far as I can tell, the original idea of steampunk is a re-imagining of a future (or the present day) if steam technology never became obsolete and was never replaced by diesel or whatever it is that came after steam. And so that means that... steampunk tech in the rennaissance or Sengoku Era Japan technically isn't steampunk. It's... sci-fi/fantasy.

Which means that by shoving steampunk into Sengoku Japan I've already thrown it into a bizarro universe. This means I shouldn't think too much about historical accuracy because steampunk in that era is already major anachronism from the get-go. Rather, I need to focus on reimagining the world to accommodate the steampunk. I mean, steam technology is probably  not even around yet in the time of Sengoku Japan. It's like having computers and credit cards in the Victorian era. It's anachronism and it makes no sense so who cares about the real history? The events WOULD have changed anyway.

So if I ever want to be era-appropriate, it HAS to be clockpunk and not steampunk. Clockwork mechanism has been around for a very long time, after all. The Portuguese actually brought mechanical clocks to Japan and the locals quickly adopted the mechanism to make their own clocks in the Japanese way of telling time (i.e the "hours of the zodiac" instead of regular numbers).

To write steampunk would means I have to rewrite the universe dating from way way back before time. In my history class my professor said that in the ancient world there was "primitive steam technology" existing. This is the only way I could make sense of steampunk existing in the 1500s because otherwise... it's just stupid. This complex steam tech appeared out of the blue... how? From where? Not even Leonardo da Vinci's invention hit that level yet and HE'S considered one of the most advanced guys ever at the time.

I can't say "they just do" because I'm writing about HISTORICAL EVENTS AND PEOPLE. I have to explain anything that is different from real history. Maybe I really should just go do a fictional retelling of history. Inspired by the true events, but set it in a fictional universe. That would save me from a lot of hassle.

In another news, why the flaming heck is there so little stuff to find about Ieyasu? He's the freaking SHOGUN. He was credited by many Western writers as THE guy who unified Japan (he really isn't, but hey). Shouldn't there be MORE info on him? Am I just looking in the wrong places? I mean, come on. I understand there being little about Hideyoshi. The guy is a commoner who came right the frick out of nowhere so nobody knows much about him until he made himself known. What little is known about his past is a hodgepodge of unreliable narrative and pseudo-legends, so the guy's pretty mysterious. I get it. But really. Ieyasu. He's not a nobody. Why am I not finding much about him?

Asian steampunk has been something that fascinates me for a while. Like, what would steampunk look like if it ISN'T predominantly Victorian? What if countries like China and Japan and Korea developed THEIR own style of steampunk that still preserves traditional elements? I see a lot of Chinese and Japanese-flavoured steampunk that is just adding top hats and gears and corsets to qipao and kimono. That's just imposing the Victorian style on the local culture. Which is, you know, not really cool.

It isn't as though China and Japan cannot develop steampunk without those European influence. The karakuri is a clockwork mechanism brought to Japan from China. It supposedly has been around since around 2000 BC. China invented the gunpowder and reportedly had weapons with capabilities that amazed even the Europeans (although the Europeans later surpassed them in that area). The Chinese invented the printing press. So it is entirely possible to make a steampunk universe based on China or Japan that doesn't involve TOO MUCH Western influence (because the influence has to be still there due to the trade and whatnot).

That aside, let me talk about the Siege of Osaka. I wanted to explore that epic battle because it's practically The Final Battle of the Sengoku Era. Tokugawa vanquished the Toyotomi and there wasn't any more big battles after that for a good long while. I hear that "officially" it's the Sekigahara that ended the Sengoku era because the power belongs to the Tokugawa after that, but the Siege of Osaka is a majorly epic battle. It's the final showdown between Toyotomi and Tokugawa and the Toyotomi clan pretty much vanished after that, so that is something to talk about.

( Cut for rant )