#combined with artoria or something

[asleepinawell]

hot off the triumph of my ng+ run of dark souls 1, i decided to finally go back to try and beat ringed city which i rage quit 2 years ago (read more because i rambled a bit) (obligatory note that this is all just my opinion, other people get different things out of the game and that's fine, etc)

i didn't quit over a boss fight, but over that stretch between the inner wall bonfire and the swamp where the devs were like okay turtle clerics, ringed knights, SIX harald knights on the stairs backed up by ranged, and then a goddamn swamp in a level that should have been a cool ruined city. and all of the hard damage sponge enemies respawn. so if you die you have to go through a ton of very slow hard fights again and it's tedious

this time i looked up where the bonfire was and just made a run for it. and then after trying the next part did the same thing again. it is just frustrating. i can't play for more than twenty minutes at a time without having to turn it off and find something actually fun to do

the whole time I've been thinking about what makes a soulsborne level actually good. i've never thought it was difficulty (and would argue that being known as "so so hard" becoming the core aspect of soulsborne has been the worst thing to happen to the series)

for me, the best levels depend on patience and observation, not extremely hard enemies spawning out of nowhere. the sign of a good level is that when you finish it, when you're out of the thick of it, you think "hey that was cool and i wouldn't mind doing it again someday". and you think that regardless of any annoyance or difficulty you had along the way

when you finish an area and just think "i never want to go through that again" then something went wrong

i think about tower of latria, anor londo, darkroot garden, tomb of giants, central yarhnam, and even the valley of defilement and yeah some of those were grueling but god were they cool and i will go back to them someday. ringed city makes me think i'd rather go mop my kitchen (which i did so i guess something good came of it)

similar feeling about boss fights. artorias and manus were challenging but i ended both fights being like fuck yeah i did it! and the fights looked and felt really cool. i felt like i was fighting a duel rather than waiting for the boss to stop ping-ponging off the walls shitting status effects so i could get in one hit

the first boss fight in ringed city (I'm up to the second one now but haven't done it yet) i was like oh good now i never have to do that again (i don't even remember it very well, just that i didn't enjoy it). i actually prefer easy fights that have neat atmosphere (moonlight butterfly) to harder ones that leave me frustrated and think the best ones combine elements of challenge and atmosphere

(artorias' primal screams still get me every time, the deceptive speed he can move with despite lurching around, his dead arm dangling, the trail of abyss corruption, the way i remembered all his attacks years later...god that fight was good)

anyway i love the series a ton and I'll just end with the fact i have beaten demon's souls about 5 times (3 ng+ iterations included), and dark souls 1 about the same number of times. i've been through bloodborne twice and am almost through a third time. elden ring i beat twice and it's kind of a mixed bag. and then there's ds3 which i beat once and have 5 new characters i never got far on (i did like it but felt no desire to replay). i don't think i ever touched ds2 again after beating it. to me that says a lot

[number1mongrel]

OKAY SO. Originally I didn't have much about my AU because I was focused on other stuff, it was just very driven by my annoyance that people write Enkidu like they're Gilgamesh's conscience, or are overall less awful than Gil, and I wanted to see more things where Enkidu, not Kingu or Gil, gets to be 'the bad one'. Or not even bad, but moral in a way that's harmful to humans. Because in FGO they don't consider themself 'a person', they consider themself A WEAPON, and a weapon's intent depends on the intent of its user. But then you said to keep talking and I spent an entire shift thinking a lot about this AU SO ANYWAYS!

At first Enkidu and Tokiomi seen almost perfectly suited. Tokiomi is the perfect mage and master, who made every effort to prepare for this Grail War, and whose victory is certainly assured. Enkidu is the perfect Heroic Spirit and Servant, they are unspeakably powerful and unfailingly loyal. But both of them are wearing masks, with Enkidu masking so hard that they believe that they're incapable of liking individuals at all. So it's only natural that they feel absolutely nothing for Tokiomi, right? They're a weapon and nothing more. And Tokiomi makes absolutely no effort to really get to know Enkidu or learn about them, so one could say that they make an unstoppable combination, and one could say they're incredibly professional together. But at the same time. Kayneth and Diarmuid have more of a relationship here. Kiritsugu and Artoria have more of a relationship.

Anyways, you remember that one bad end in the Fate route of Fate/Stay Night where Saber betrayal-kills Shirou, and then they're both really confused about why they even did that, and it's because you missed basically every affection flag for Saber somehow, which should be impossible? That's how Enkidu and Tokiomi's partnership ends. It's going absolutely fantastic, they actually seem to be winning better than anyone else they're about to get the Grail, Enkidu hasn't even consciously meant to betray Tokiomi, and then they just. Murder Tokiomi because Tokiomi completely failed to build ANY sort of relationship with his servant, and it's always the Master/Servant pairings that actually get along who succeed.

Because Enkidu was telling themself that they were the perfect weapon. But that's not true. They tell themself they've lost the capability to care for individuals, but in Fate/Strange Fake they still care for Gilgamesh, and come to care for Wolf. So even as they're telling themself they're the perfect weapon, things are going on in the back of Enkidu's mind that they're not fully registering. Things like how much this world BOTHERS them, with the knowledge of things like pollution, deforestation, extinction of animal species, melting ice caps, the ozone layer(since this is the 90s and the ozone layer is probably still An Issue--in our time it's actually repairing itself!) And there's also how Enkidu is now summoned and remaining inside a city, rather than remaining on the outskirts with their master. And their master, as I've said before, is not a Wolf that knows nothing about the Grail War and just wants to live. It's Tokiomi, who lives in the middle of the noise and buildings and cars, and who very very much DOES want to win the war. And while this is happening, Enkidu is just watching all the betrayals and tragedy going on around them, The Perfect Servant, The Perfect Weapon.

And when they're standing in front of the omnipotent wish-granter, either the last Servant standing or the last one aside from Saber, they snap. And the Grail grants their wish to fix all this in the worst way possible, because a lot of Fuyuki's buildings are now destroyed--they're incredibly thick forests and savage wild animals now, and living there is an incarnated and half-feral Enkidu, who is becoming a local cryptid in Fuyuki, and who the Clock Tower is having a HELL of a time covering up. The Fuyuki Fire was easy, just blame a gas leak or something--how the hell do they cover up SUDDENLY TREES??? They try and cut it down again but Enkidu is having none of it, so they just assign Kirei to keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't get even more out of hand.

Enkidu had no interest in corrupting Kirei, I don't think, so Kirei never grew a backbone and just stepped down from the Grail War when Assassin was defeated. But upon seeing the awesome destruction Enkidu and the Grail caused, he ended up speedrunning his corruption arc. I'm not sure if Enkidu stays in the woods as The Local Cryptid, or if we get the inherent comedy of Kirei trying to accommodate a feral clay being with horns in the Orphan Basement for ten years. Anyways I think Kirei and Enkidu, like Kirei and Gilgamesh, both want to see the fully manifested Grail do its Grail thing, only instead of making it so only The Worthy can survive in the new world, Enkidu has gone full Eco Terrorism.

And that is my 'Tokiomi Summons Enkidu' AU. I'm not sure who is Archer instead of Gilgamesh, but presumably that's who Kayneth ends up summoning(It's probably not Gilgamesh, because Enkidu needs to be miserable. Or maybe it is Gilgamesh and Tokiomi keeps going 'no, you can't battle the King of Heroes, I need you doing These Things' and it just adds to the misery).

Sorry Diarmuid, maybe it's better this way.

OH I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!!! yeah, enkidu is very calm and gentle in strange fake even before they realize gil is there- because they're in an environment they're comfortable in and they have a master they can understand. while they chide gil for being a tyrant it's not really like they have a personal ideal to not kill people or anything like that- they just think of themself as a weapon, and if no one tells them what to do, they have to figure out themself what they want to use their weaponry on, and what they want to protect

also gil handshake enkidu sensory overload in gross modern stinky city

[reitziluz]

whats ur ocs fighting styles like? even the ones that dont how would u imagine them go down?

ahh damn this is interesting to consider. i've been kinda intentionally de-emphasizing the fighty bits, because i've recently been rather sick of fighting scenes and duels interrupting, or worse yet, taking over the fun stories i'm trying to read.

that being said. over half of them have actual training and experience. and for one of them, i keep hallucinating elaborate fight choreographies...

kimon: sort of military background (it's complicated) as he was sort of a field healer for a while. as a kid, he was taught a martial art focused on magic knives that can do the evil healing trick of "congrats, you've been akira'd to shreds." he actually can do it with just his hands now, if he manages to touch bare skin, but has a very strict code against doing that. smart and cool-headed, very focused on Getting The Fuck Out.

vaal: hooooooooo boy, the surprise soulsborne boss!! literally the main character concept for em is "former living weapon." the twist is that e was deployed against abominations. like going solo against a dragon. imagine one of them slender, super fast mechs doing shadow of the colossus battle, with something like a lance loaded up with magic bullshit. so specifically a living guided missile system...? (this all is still very much under construction and as stated, i'm not super into specifics in fighting, so bear with me.)

but i've also talked about how e would work in more one on one type of fights with a friend, and we landed on something in the general direction of boreal outrider knight and artorias from dark souls. i bet there's good matches in bloodborne too, but i'm not as familiar with its bosses. e also absolutely Delights in the hunt, despite everything.

arin: absolutely not a fighter. chaotic flailing. could sneak up on someone focused on someone else and bonk them in the head. they would be able to do the in-world equivalent of macing someone, like they would carry it and know how to use it.

tess: not a fighter either. she has it in her to be a commander type, but with her experience etc, it manifests mostly as her knowing how not to endanger herself or others more than they already are. a part of their very formal upbringing was probably something equivalent to like, fencing as a sport.

sam: she works/has worked as a (security) guard. all about keeping things under control, de-escalating, stopping fights before they start. owns a mace/staff/thing with a tazer sleep spell incorporated. she does a martial art also as a hobby, but i haven't landed on the exact style yet. think of like, olden time-y boxing or wrestling matches. she feels a bit more of a wrestling sort of gal, but pugilist is such a good word, i'm torn!

leskel: very much has other people do the fighting for him. also if you tried to bonk him, you'd get fifty magic traps blowing up in your face. but then he'd surprise you again and go pontiff sulyvahn on your ass. the combination of formal dance and heavy swings, i just vibe with it so much. though he's still probably relying on some supernatural stuff to greatly boost his capabilities.

[nasuversekinkmeme]

Weekly Roundups: Prompts

Mahoyo

Turns out there was more to that kiss Touko gave Alice than she originally let on

somebody lacing Aoko's tea with something to make her docile. You can get as weird with it as you like so long as there's no sex.

Tsukihime

Arcueid and Akiha feminizing Shiki, not in a fetish way but helping trans shiki choosing clothes for herself because that girl is cute but her drip is lacking

Akiha having a relaxing day for once in her life

Today’s Menu for the Tohno Family (can also include the rest of the tsukihime cast)

Smut, Some sort of timeline fuckery creates a situation where Shiki Tohno, Shiki Nanaya, SHIKI Tohno, Shiki Ryougi, SHIKI Ryougi, 「Shiki Ryougi」 and the Hana no Miyako Shiki Nanaya all fuck each other

Melty Blood

Something with the Back Alley Alliance (yes, all three of them, and yes, they must be poly)!

Fate/Stay Night

catboy emiya shirou, he deserves some nekomimi

Stay Night Shinji goes to therapy

Something cute with Sakura and Saber(or Alter) Doesn't even have to be smut, just the two of them interacting and being closer, you know?

NTR, Saber and Gilgamesh framed as cucking Kotomine Kirei.

Smut, Sakura Matou gets the absolute RAILING she deserves from Saber. Normal non-dark/altered versions preferred. Consent and good vibes required.

Fate/ Stay Night omegaverse but with Shinji insisting on how he's not an omega - he's a sigma goddammit

Kirei forces Gilgamesh to teach sunday school

Rin is brainwashed by Luvia into being her obedient maid

shirou and kotomine hanging out in a hollow ataraxia-esque scenario? no ship or anything, just shirou being conflicted over whether he actually likes talking to the guy or not and kotomine finding it amusing, without the impending threat of conflict in the hgw. maybe gilgamesh could even make an appearance and contemplate to himself on their strange relationship, having to acknowledge the mongrel for once.

Smut, may i please have an emiya household (shirou/arturia/sakura/rin/medusa) orgy or where they keep walking in on each other in various combinations? illya may be included upon filler's preference but requesting either happy smut or smutty fluff

Artoria’s fake mustache gets itchy, and Agravain is horrified to discover that she is is actually a man

wanna suck emiya's man tits until the milk comes out

Gore, a pre-tiger dojo-esque scenario of illya having a mealtime heart-to-heart conversation with shirou emiya's severed head as she eats meat-based dishes made from his flesh. up to the prompt filler if they want to add incest into it, but kiritsugu's shadow over the duo plays a central role in their conversation; from illya's anger over kiritsugu's seemin abandonment to pre-route endings shirou carrying his father's ideals

can i have an illya centric character study?

Fate/Zero

NTR, Saber and Kiritsugu hanging out explicitly framed as Iri getting Cucked

NTR, Saber and Iri hanging out explicitly framed as Kiritusugu getting Cucked

Something with Saber and Iri hanging out that doesn’t involve Kiritsugu getting cucked.

Saber and Iri go out, while driving iri runs over someone and they fucking die, clue to both of them hiding the body and taking over their identity to keep appearances

Fate/Hollow Ataraxia

Let's have Bazett in a gangbang with Lancer Cu, Caster Cu, and Berserker Cu. with tons of teasing and compliments involved.

Fate/Extra

Smut, Karna takes care of Jinako, who is on hour 13 of an masturbation session

Fate/Strange Fake

if i could politely ask for some fate/strange fake content - i do not mind who, i just love the series and want more f/sf content!

Fate/Grand Order

Anything involving Lan Ling having a 12 inch cock

somethin' nice & wholesome , Douman receiving some motherly affection from tiamat. learning the love of a parent is a good place for him to start

Smut, don't care if it's via a strap on or actual dragon dick , my boi archer should get his back blown out by lalter!

Smut, Mother Harlot, aka Beast Nero comes to Chaldea, the Abrahamic servants don't take the idea of literal Satan(Not to be confused with Actually Satan) in Chaldea, but none of them does anything because well, she is on their side now, except one particular servant, martha, taking advantage of her ruler class to get class advantage, Martha goes and gives Beast Nero the railing of a lifetime until she ask forgiveness for her sins. Except that, the one being subdued in the end might not be the one martha think it is

Osakabehime trying to feminize someone and completely failing. Anyone can be her “victim” as long as they’re confused about the whole thing.

Barghest joining the Chaldea kitchen staff and having a nice day

Smut, I think Morgan should fuck Mash in public (I'm thinking throne sex in front of the fairy knights but you can make it something else if you want) I think Morgan should get to show off her lover to the world and brag about how cute and perfect and fuckable she is and how Morgan is the only one who gets to actually touch her.

How about some Gudao & Penthesilia romance. Fluff or smut, just be careful not to call her “beautiful!” …for all our sakes…

Smut, Raikou decided to "protect" ritsuka by keeping him a virgin! So she decided to corrupt and fuck all the hot servants who wanted a piece of her little boy. Ritsuka gets so frustrated he tried to ask Raikou out on a date. She laughs, and beats his ass, fucking it brutally with a sex toy. She then rides him for about 10 seconds before he cums in her. She mocks him for the premature ejaculation. Basically Raikou mommydoms and cucks ritsuka. Hes an adult in this of course. College aged.

Smut, Chaldea does the sex Olympics, with such categories such as the 100 thrusts race, the cock sucking and gangbang endurance tests, the biggest tits and ass measurements, the sexiest ahegao, and finally at the end the master of Chaldea shall choose one of the winners to either breed them or be bred by them

May I please have a SOUL CRUSHINGLY AWKWARD family dinner with Morgan her fairy knights and her panhuman history children? You can include Astoria if you want but I need the fairy knights to have painfully awkward conversation with the Orkney sibs

Smut, Salieri fucking Marie Antionette’s ass

via shenanigans master ends up stuck in a one piece-esque world and must become King of the Pirates to return to Chaldea

Smut, My desire is simple, I want to see Kintoki grab onto Shuten’s horns like handles while face fucking her.

With new information given to us in the Arcade Collab, we now know there are certain people who have the potential to make contract with Beasts and become Enemies of the Human Order, Guda being one of them. So, i think it would be neat an AU where Guda almost died together with Team A and survived by making a contract with a Beast, and he fights both Chaldea and Goetia

Mary Anning being so pathetic and downbad the girls from Chaldea find her really charming

Do you know what bitching is? If you do can I get gudao being bitched? By any servant you want really

Smut, Mother Harlot came in the special Beast Class! Sadly there are already a lot of beasts in Chaldea that are Jealous of Nero's special treatment so they join together for the first time to teach the newbie to not anger her seniors. Extreme Dubcon and gangbang

With the Arcade news and hopefully before her reveal next week Rama gets drunk as fuck and vents about how much he misses his wife. Bonus if it's to one of the married couples or someone also missing their spouse (Ozy, Tomoe)

Smut, incest. Fgo: Mordred actually being accepted by an Artoria. And by accepted I mean Dommed so hard Moedred cant walk without a limp the next week

Smut, incest: After going to a couple of family counselling sessions by an unusually persistent Medea, Artoria and Mordred feel themselves becoming closer in their relationship as parent and child, and in... other areas.

okay hear me out, anning likes dragon girls which seems to overlap with her viewing 'extinct reptiles' as part of her job, can't fight to save her life, and has a skill which is just her being good at getting woman to find her weird side cute and want to see her happy. melusine is a piece of the oldest life form on the planet, which a geologist/paleontologist would find fascinating, would probably see anning's complete toothlessness as novel and refreshing as a phh thing after the death world of faerie britain, and her bio presents her ideal relationship as her 'spoiling' those weaker than her. yeah so anyway i would like to see anning get her back blown out but something cute and fluffy works too

the koyan twins hijack BB channel live ; BB tries to fight these 2 off and fails horribly . BB's pleas for mercy fall on deaf ears , and while shes yelling for ritsuka to come & save her , the duo proudly announces that the BB channel will become the NFF shopping channel ! the koyan twins take advantage of the fact that BB is too stunned to speak & fight back ; BB is quickly subdued & put into a machine that will turn her into a bimbo doppelganger to the koyan twins. upon her conscription into working for NFF services , BB Koyanskaya of the Bubbly Blue will receive a vast wardrobe of cute nautical themed outfits and she will remain the hostess of the channel. The koyan twins do it live on the BB channel for everyone to see

Smut, Astolfo corners d’eon and they fuck until d’eon can’t take anymore and faints

Prompt: Master's parent blames their kid for the death of the other parent and Mozart gets Incredibly Pissed™

Da Vinci tortures and feminizes a transphobe

Smut, BB getting gang banged by the marthas.

Ritsuka and Castoria do aaaaaaall of the drugs together

Smut, As a sign of their friendship Yu Mei Ren graciously allows Xu Fu to be fucked by Xiang Yu

Smut, Jacquess, Kiara and Medb make an idol group, after one of their tours they decided to de-stress by exploring each other's body! Also, reminder that Jacquess is canonically a Futanari

[mordred voice] mash kyrielight did you fuck my mom

Sitonai, completely unaware of the events of LB6, erroneously thinks that Castoria fucked her mom.

Prompt: Mozart going "Ever had your own dad blame you for the death of your own mom?" after he casually sits next to Salieri (who also has issues with his dad but a different breed)

It turns out being numb emotionally also took away Morgan's ability to feel Shame. Make of that what you will.

Ritsuka feeling a bit traumatized and developing trust issues over all of their servants betraying them for petty reasons during events and seemingly not even feeling bad about doing it.

Smut, We need more smut depicting Mashu's almost definitely canon praise kink. Can be with Master, Morgan or any other character up for genuine lovey dovey times with our fav kouhai

Any fandom

Characters beating the crap out of each other, but narrated in a style as if it’s smut. Like, describe to me the callouses of their hands, the warmth of blood, the shapes of their knuckles and jaws that tell a thousand words about their history, and the trickles of bodily fluids tracing down their hot steamy skin. Tell me about the grunts of pain and the rush of adrenaline as they stare into the other’s emotion-filled eyes, be they hate, admiration, or other feelings. Tell me of the pangs of pain in their bones that gives goosebumps in a whirlpool of joy and misery as they finally unload their grievances against each other. Tell me of the split lips and the tastes of their own blood as they ponder mid-swing if this is truly what they desire. Any character is fine, but I was originally thinking about Karna and Arjuna when I came up with this prompt. Illya and Kiara throwing hands at each other would be fun too.

A new hologram summer leads to the appearance of more and more absurd Neco versions of various characters

Prompt: Daddy issues group therapy session with the servants

Enjou, Touko, Sieg, and Illya (or honestly whatever human-adjacent(?) characters you care for) have a talk about bodies, identity, and what it means to be human.

It's an incredibly unoriginal and basic idea, but what about a "touch a crystal that divides you into various different coloured copies of yourself that represent different aspects of your personality" plot?

Smut, give me a character who has an unconventional relationship with sex. Someone with erectile dysfunction, or someone who can’t stand being touched, or someone who physically cannot have intercourse because they’re a doll or something. But, and that is key: they still fuck. Get creative. Show me alternative ways to get down to it. Or things to enjoy in sex besides the purely physical aspect.

however you interpret the sentence “guy who is in a polycule but he’s not dating anyone, he’s just here.”

Smut, I think someone should write a fic about the Mod of the NasuverseKinkMemes being sucked dry by their favorite servant. The mod would like to add that they did not send this prompt.

Smut, Can we please get some Servants breeding and being bred? So many of them deserve either one

how about a simple au prompt : Tiamat is summoned at the beginning of the lostbelt arc .

Smut, horny grail mud and corruption kink sex maybe? idk who it is, just have there be sex in the grail mud.

Crossover

incest, Azaka, Akiha, and Prisma!Illya getting into a brocon boasting competition. Bonus points if things escalate to all-out mage violence

Hatsune Miku is a servant and she's mysterious idol alters bestie and she gives all the long haired servants twintails

[swinging-from-my-cable]

Look, I just want to have the kind of muscles that make people *think* I wield a sword and can fight with it.

[akampana]

"You really don't see it, don't you" and "it’s easy to confuse feelings for something they aren’t, especially when eye-contact is involved" for Giltoria, please.

(A/N) hi~! hope you don't mind I combined these requests since they're similar prompts. enjoy some very simpy casgil x arturia from meeee <3

it's all in the eyes____________

Words: 1.8k

Characters: Gilgamesh | Caster , Artoria Pendragon | Saber, (One of her exes, I'll let you decide who it is)

Ship: GilArt

Tags: Pining, Jealousy, Love confessions

The days he believed she would come to her senses and into his arms had long passed. That complacency made its ugly, shameful exit the day she fell into the clutches of another. He should have learned of Love's heavy hand when Enkidu died in his arms, but living amongst the less worthy stroked his ego. He told himself there was no one else who could capture her attention, for who could possibly compare? There was no one else whom Love could match with her. 

He was wrong. 

For a hellish eternity, Love punished him for his hubris, humbling the king with the devastation of heartbreak every time Gilgamesh opened his eyes. He burned when that monster held her gaze. He burned when the mongrel’s fingers interlocked with hers. He burned when she kissed lips that were not his own. 

For several months he languished in the excruciating fires of envy, refusing to acknowledge that only intense longing could cause this much hurt. But time clearly dictated he could deny his feelings no longer. He loved Arturia Pendragon, and it was that same love that incinerated his soul with every reminder that she wasn’t his. 

While the world saw nothing more than the gritting of his teeth, inside, the wise King Gilgamesh had been reduced to a desolate pile of ash. Bleak. Lifeless. A far cry from what he had been before he was summoned to the clinical halls of humanity’s last bastion. If it weren’t for the mission, he’d have let the wind take him away and have this incarnation’s failures dissipate. He would leave no evidence of his mistakes. No one would know that it was not a Beast, calamity, or any threat to the universe that felled the world’s first hero, but love for one damned woman. 

Then, for reasons he could not fathom, the man she so treasured let her go. 

Gilgamesh knew it was mere luck that presented him another opportunity; luck that the damn monster she fell for could not find it in himself to realize how deep her feelings ran. Though it killed him to know how close he’d come to total loss, he swallowed his pride and snatched his chance back. The wise ruler of Uruk who brought the early civilization to prosperity, defeated innumerable great beasts, and amassed a measureless treasury, reluctantly found himself humbled. He could not take this chance for granted. Never again. 

From then, Gilgamesh stoked his dwindled hope, banishing his jealousy at his not being her first, second, or even third choice. Such things mattered little now. Gilgamesh would be her final love, for he was more than sufficient, and she would not want for anyone or anything more. 

So, he tried. He learned to request her time, not demand it. With his actions, he dismissed her prejudices. With his words, he grew her fondness for him. The king that never needed to court found himself willingly dipping his toes into blandishments so she would look his way.  In life, he’d dismissed courtship as an activity of his subjects such that one could prove themself a worthy partner to the object of their fancy. As king, he thought such practices beneath him, for there was no one he ought to prove himself to. However, he found it no longer mattered how mundane, how ordinary it felt to woo her. Courting her was but a challenge to overcome. Her attention was a worthy prize.

But even after all his effort, he never saw the reflection of his feelings in her deep, sea-green eyes, no matter how long he plunged himself into them. Part of him craved the days the meeting of their eyes was fleeting, for now that she granted him lasting stares, the absence of passion for him was startlingly clear. 

Rage tempted him, simmering at the darkest recesses of her mind. How could she not see his feelings? How could she not return them? Where did he err in his being such that he was denied her love? Hadn’t he proven himself a wise counsel? A pleasant companion? A loyal comrade? How could she decide his qualities did not suit her, when time and time again, they proved compatible? 

Though his eyes grew fiery, he never answered anger’s call. He knew Arturia was not to blame. No, she was merely the most convenient outlet for the erroneous and misguided belief that her love was something he was owed. The real fault lay with his past self, who unfortunately subscribed to that incorrect ideology, and in doing so, blinded Arturia from ever realizing the genuine affection buried underneath.

Still, he tried, even if he knew he was operating at a disadvantage courtesy of his Archer form. One day, she’d look at him without reservation. One day, she’d see the person he became, not the person he was. One day. 

Then…that mongrel realized its mistake, crawling back to her, begging at her feet for another chance. Though Arturia hadn’t articulated her answer, Gilgamesh had studied her emerald eyes long enough to discern her feelings. Then, their eyes met, that damn evergreen gaze piercing him like she’d run her sword through his chest. His heart bleed with envy, knowing well the poignant feelings within those orbs were not his. 

In an instant, the patience he gained over the long years of his life vanished. The long game was no longer an option. As he crossed the hallway, he steeled his will, pride be damned. He could not allow her to be with another, not again. 

“Arturia.” The syllables were slow and fond as they left his lips, spoken in the breath of a lover. Though his knees hadn’t hit the floor, he felt humbled as she allowed him to take her hand. (She never let Archer do so.) 

Did she know–he asked himself, as her captivating stare clashed against his–how much power she had over him? Could she ever fathom the capacity one needed to have a king–to have Gilgamesh– hanging onto her every word; holding onto the mere hope that she might love him back? Had she realized that he would give her the world on a platter if she only asked?

“Is something the matter?” So innocently, she questioned, ignorant of his rapidly beating heart and shallower breaths. Surely, he thought, she could see the heat in his cheeks; the intensifying desire burning within his eyes. Oh, how he longed to close the distance between their lips. Oh, how he yearned to taste the stubborn spitfire that played his heartstrings like a harp. But he stopped himself, staving his want by moving his fingers from her palm to her face. 

She hurt him more than any foe ever had, and she hadn’t even lifted a finger. She stood there completely unfazed, immune to the ache that tormented his whole being. Of course, there was something wrong. Of course, there was something amiss. Her eyes–those damning green eyes–still stubbornly sought someone else when he was right here. 

This close, when every breath they took was shared, when he could feel the heat radiating off her skin, how could she not know how he felt? Almost…desperately, he searched her eyes, looking for some proof his efforts hadn’t been in vain. 

“You really don’t see it, do you?” he meekly asked. His tone was soft. Vulnerable. It was so unlike him that if she hadn’t witnessed him speak, Arturia wouldn’t believe the words were his. His arms grew slack. As he drew backward, the woman couldn’t help but think something inside him had died: extinguished, like a candle in the rain. Arturia didn’t want that. 

Hesitantly, her hand closed around his before his palm could leave her cheek. With a shaky exhale, she relaxed her stiff shoulders, breaking their gaze before emotion spilled out in tears. Her eyes traveled down his silhouette. Distinctive loose garbs, a slightly less bulky frame, and a less haughty posture proved that the one who held her so closely was Caster. Caster, who had never hurt her by intention, nor berated her with words. Caster, who was patient with her despite the preconceptions she held of him due to the actions of his younger self. Caster, who hadn’t met her prior, yet looked at her like they’d known each other for ages. Like they were meant to meet. Like they were destined. Even…even back when she chose someone else. 

Warmth swelled in her chest. Air was scarce already in the few inches between them, but even though she felt breathless, she stilled her mind. It was never wise to let oneself be caught up in the throes of emotion.  It was easy to confuse feelings for something they weren’t, especially when eye contact was involved, she told herself, mustering the courage to meet Gilgamesh’s scarlet orbs. Something told her that she hadn’t erred in her observations. And she…she found she didn’t want to be wrong. 

Her chest began to ache. It was never meant to stifle the frantic beat of her heart. It was a miracle it didn’t explode from the force once their eyes locked once more. The king’s gaze was as sharp as an eagle’s and far more piercing. As her knees turned to jelly, her mind warred with itself, unable to decide whether she’d rather drown in that gaze or let it melt her. Either way, she knew she’d lost. Caster had somehow burrowed his place into her heart. She didn’t know when, or even how, after everything that happened in the Holy Grail Wars with his other self, but he did. There was no denying what she felt for Gilgamesh. Not anymore. 

“Do not be so cryptic, I implore you, I do not wish for my feelings to be toyed with,” the words left her mouth in an imperative whisper. No, a challenge. Her eyes seemed to glow in the fluorescent light, bright even in the artificial white. Within them, he could see her ramparts falling, collapsing on top of each other till only emotion remained. The wise king’s eyes widened.

“If you want to tell me something, Gil–”

He placed his lips on hers. Bold. Unafraid. Unapologetic. As he pressed her flush against him, his confidence grew. He felt her tangle her hands in his hair–god he dreamt of that for so long. The two kings stumbled, tripping over each other’s feet clumsily till they finally found the wall. Still, Gilgamesh pressed onward, deepening the kiss even as a smile crept up his lips. He’d seen it at last, hidden in her eyes until the very last moment: Arturia knew he loved her, but more importantly, she loved him back. 

___

heya! hope you enjoyed this one. it's been a while since this ask was sent, but i hope yall still like it anyway :>

stay safe, my dudes.

-akampana

[sanctumofeld]

Food for Thought

@spellbladerogier, @fracturedgold, @aithreachas, @tinyredrose, @abysscl, @bloodroses-and-thorns, and @goldenordered

Rogier – Angel Food Cake. Though it would doubtlessly have a different name in The Lands Between (Breath of the Goddess, Marika's Delight, etc.), it is light and soft, perfect with a side of strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries with whipped creme, which he would of course serve to the sorcerer. Unlike other cakes, it is made without butter, but instead with egg whites and flour.

Why this dish? Angel food cake is, as stated before, soft and airy. It's a lighthearted cake that inspires smiles. However, it pairs well not only with sweetness but bitterness. These undertones exemplify its gentle flavor without diminishing it, but very nearly hiding it. This is Rogier, blending in with many flavors, all the while maintaining his truth. It is also Wolfgang's way of letting Rogier know that it's okay, that he knows that he's hiding something or hurting, and that he may be honest with him.

Godfrey – Stir-fry. A food comprised of different vegetables, meats, and seafood depending on where you are, but it also employs your choice of noodles and rice. In this case, he'd go with rice, and use strips of beef with corn, broccoli, onions, and green and red peppers. He might throw in a dab of soy sauce should he manage to purchase some from the merchants.

Why this dish? He would need something hearty, yet flavorful to fill the first Elden Lord's stomach, and this is the best bet. Stir-fry has many options and many combinations, making it versatile for the road and long journeys, which the Chieftain of the Badlands is no doubt used to. However, it requires many ingredients to be a good dish, a sense of variety that can sometimes be hard to achieve. Filling, challenging, fun, and tasty with plenty of options for meat, which is a necessity when feeding Horah Loux.

Atreus – Mutton pot pie. A savory dish that requires only a few vegetables that can be mixed and matched (potatoes, celery, carrots, and onions), with a tangy meat whose flavor composition changes depending on the age of the lamb, and a delicious, golden-brown pastry placed over top. Depending on the recipe, it can be creamy or stuffed to the brim with very little soup.

Why this dish? Another dish for the road, if not for the topping. Mutton pot pie is traditional, filling, and satisfying. More than that, it is... warm. A piece of a home neither have. This is not meant to be a cruel reminder, but to inspire happy memories back to the surface of a man who has so few of them to share. He might not be able to gentle his spirit as easily as he could an Omen, but that does not mean he will not try.

Rosalind (Rose) – Pistachio and rose tart. Rare ingredients for a very rare young lady. Yes, he had to be ironic, and yes, it had to be cute and pink. He would, of course, accompany this with rose tea for the ultimate experience. Rich and with a tender aroma, this dessert is made to draw one in, but it can never disappoint.

Why this dish? He saw the irony and had to leap upon it. But more than that, this dish is meant to be loud, a bright point in an otherwise darkened place. It boasts a sense of... exuberance that is very easy to associate with naivete. Rambunctious and sharp, it actually suits her quite well, just as her name does. For what rose does not have its thorns?

Artorias – Pomegranate sorbet. Both sweet but incredibly tart, it is amazing for a hot summer day, and boasts a flavor that clings and tingles. To achieve it will be difficult outside a frozen climate, but with a bit of ingenuity, and most likely magic, it can be done. Creamy and smooth, it slides down the throat to carry the sensation.

Why this dish? What better dessert for a man that has plummeted to the depths? Wolfgang does not at first understand why he's driven to make it, only that it seems fitting as he plucks the seeds, and the pulp stains his fingers. So close to blood, to rebirth, to life in death. A pact made in darkness.

Morgott – Yakisoba. Rather a lot like his father, he has a stir-fry dish, but this one is significantly more complex for the sauces required to make it to perfection. Upon completion it must not only be salty and sweet, but must contain a hint of sourness. Not only that, it utilizes noodles instead of rice, and requires different vegetables and is often served with altogether different meat. This union is not achieved easily with even one ingredient missing in the blend, so it requires a level of finesse and intense preparation.

Why this dish? Elaborate though not exactly dignified for royalty, it has many flavors, and a certain robust presence. Nothing can be rushed if it is made from scratch, requiring a keen patience, but a steady perseverance. This is a dish for the Omen King, even if it is a bit strange to The Lands Between, as strange as he is, in fact. Something simple and yet intense, but... comforting.

Mohg – Steak. Extra rare. The blood is still dripping onto the plate, mixing with the barely there juices of the outer, seared flesh. Cutting into the meat exposes a thoroughly red inside, with only the edges baring a hint of brown, and the thinnest sliver of pink following it. The herbs used are simple, complimenting the beef with basil and sage, interwoven and rubbed across the flesh.

Why this dish? Anything else would earn an execution. He might stomach the seasoning, though only if done to perfection, as would be expected of a Lord's chef.

D – Devil's Food Cake. The darker side to its angelic counterpart, it’s denser, richer, and moist in comparison. It requires less egg than the traditional chocolate cake, as well as baking soda, and is composed of a darker texture. It is complimented usually only by more chocolate icing or buttercream, never citrus and even meringue is unsatisfying in conjunction.

Why this dish? Harsh and rich to a fault, this cake is quite unforgiving, and delectable but difficult to handle in large doses. Rather a lot like the man himself. This is a treat that is rare, incredibly so, as all things that claim to be sweet are in a time such as theirs. However, it is welcome when it comes, even if it can only be consumed in small quantities.

(( This is who I have as of right now. Let me know if you'd like your muse added! ))

[zeravmeta]

fucked up stupid lb6 theory incoming

alright so a big hint towards what the events of lb6 entail and are leading up to has to do with the whole selection prophecy that artoria went through to become the one true king arthur, that being said in the lb itself we have castoria, who never went through the prophecy, along with some implications on morgan being the one the prophecy originally mentioned from her bond lines and ce. we have some other set up pieces with muramasa showing up and being our ally, oberon being shady and hiding something, and how the fae in general seem to treat the world as a huge play, with oberon supposedly pushing us further into the hero narrative.

so, to combine it with my old archer grand saber theory (where archer is grand saber because he isnt "the greatest swordsman" but rather "the greatest sword" because he is every sword): muramasa is gonna use archer (or himself since his body is shirou) as a base to forge a fucked up ubw excalibur that'll turn castoria into the new grand saber king arthur and basically fulfill the selection prophecy. a lot of the thematics surrounding castoria and lb6 have to do with the swapping of destinies and the epic highs and lows of identity fraud (castoria is the artoria who became merlin, morgan became the one true king, the identity fraud fae trio assuming the kotr roles, etc) so. shirou who was a sheath to protect the sword (saber) becomes the sword to be weilded by the artoria who was never king but became the wizard of avalon (the sheath).

[fostersffff]

Finished Season 4 of Castlevania: the Netflix, and thus the whole series! And I’ve got a lot to say!

Here’s the biggest observation for this season: I get the impression that they didn’t originally plan for this to be the final season. It feels like, at the start of Season 3 they believed they were going to have two more seasons, and then maybe by the time they started wrapping that up they were told they’ve been cut down to just one more, so they had to speed of the pace of Season 4 dramatically to make sure they could still hit the ending. I have no actual evidence to support this- I haven’t read any interviews or official comments to that effect- just a gut feeling based on aspects of the plot:

Biggest support of this is how quickly Saint Germaine is just like “ok I’m evil now”. He immediately submits to the random woman who tells him he’s gotta be evil to find his lady love, there’s one scene of him murdering a guy, and then he’s all-in on being a villain, complete with “I AM A GOD WHO FUCKS” monologuing.

In addition to Saint Germaine’s heel turn feeling half-baked, the Dracula’s resurrection plot in general really doesn’t feel all that important until the finale. Varney is a comic relief character, which in hindsight was completely intentional, but Ratko and Draken are just huge fighter dudes who weren’t involved with Dracula’s court during Season 2, but are very into bringing him back for reasons that are never clearly explained besides the assumed “it’s Dracula so we gotta”. Additionally, the way major characters like Hector and especially Isaac treat the resurrection plot don’t help, although it makes perfect sense that they both do what they do.

The things that happen in Targoviste, and the way they happen, also contribute, especially because there’s no satisfactory resolution to it. Trevor and Sypha start to help the people organize and rebuild, and then get whisked away to the Underground Court. They barely have time to react to the fucked up shit going on down there before they teleport to the castle to kick off the finale. More time to let hostilities between them and Zamfir bubble up before the reveal of the Underground Court, along with a more satisfying build-up to Trevor collecting the components of the Super Holy Dagger would have been good.

Season 3 ends with Alucard in Hector in very bad places: Alucard has just been betrayed by the twins vampire hunters, which has brought out a misanthropic streak, including him leaving them on pikes, and Hector has once again been duped into an even deeper submission than he was in as Carmilla’s prisoner at the end of Season 2. Trevor and Sypha’s vignettes establish that roughly a month and a half have passed, which was apparently enough time for Alucard to basically get over his trust issues, enough to help the villagers, and Hector to not only cope with the reality of his situation but also finally develop into a character on par with every other major character in terms of competence.

Carmilla and Isaac’s stories didn’t feel rushed like everything else I’ve mentioned, but following the train of thought that there was originally going to be more episodes, both of them could’ve stood to have more time and events to get to their final forms.

So, Death: I don’t know how I feel about Death as portrayed in this series. On the one hand, this interpretation technically not being Dracula’s right hand as he is in the games, and instead being an independent actor that stands to benefit from Dracula’s rampage and thus serves the same capacity as a right hand, is incredible. On the other, the fact that Death’s true personality is actually just Varney fucking blows. The design for Death is also not my favorite, because it reminds me just a bit too much of Castlevania Judgment, but Malcolm McDowell being the voice actor is really cool. In conclusion, Death is a land of contrasts.

On that note, “no it’s not Death Death, it’s an entity that calls itself Death that feeds on death and is an elemental spirit- or force of nature in other words- but is distinctly different from the personification of the concept of-” just fucking say “yeah for all intents and purposes it’s the Grim Reaper”. Coming up with a semantics explanation for why vampires get fucked up by crosses to explain the cross subweapon is fun, don’t undercut your final antagonist by trying to rationalize it into something less fantastical.

I already said that I liked the motivation behind Death, but also the execution of “I’m going to bring back Dracula wrong on purpose” and the way he accomplishes that is the best it’s ever been.

I thought Varney hopping over the stream of holy water was a fun cap on the argument about whether or not vampires can cross over running water from Season 2, but was in fact clever foreshadowing, since Death isn’t a vampire. Good stuff!

I think it’s just because I’ve been focusing a lot on animation quality over the last few months, but I noticed they started using 3D models a lot more this season. I imagine it was a matter of practicality considering that there are more action setpieces in this season than the other three combined. I think this is ultimately a good thing, because they do a very good job of masking the fact that they’re using 3D most of the time because it still looks very good, unlike some of Netflix’s other 3D action projects, and if it makes life easier for the animators without sacrificing quality then that’s a win for everyone.

Didn’t think much of it at first, but I’ve really come to appreciate the term “night creatures” as a catch-all for monsters in this series. It’s generic enough to encompass everything regardless of design difference, but more unique than just ‘monsters’ or ‘demons’.

I had heard someone make a joke about a character wearing Artorias Dark Souls’s armor for a scene because fuck you, but holy shit, Striga really does just wear Artorias Dark Souls’s armor for a scene because fuck you.

When Saint Germaine first shows up, his lines sound really low quality compared to Alucard and Greta, and then that issue goes away after that episode. I imagine that it was pandemic related, but clearly Bill Nighy was either able to get into a studio or eventually got a better home setup- couldn’t you just have him re-record those lines?

I’ve talked so much about how Carmilla’s design in this series is The Best™ because they masterfully adapted a single sprite with no animation from a 1987 video game into a fully realized design, and this frame in particular struck me as perfect. This is the best this character has ever looked and likely will ever look.

I love how optimistic and positive the tone of everyone’s ending is. Ranging from the unexpectedly beautiful and uplifting resolution to Isaac’s story, to the foundation of a town that fundamentally accomplishes what Lisa hoped for at the very beginning of the series, it’s all nice way to go out. Even Lenore choosing to commit suicide, while not necessarily optimistic or positive, is at least on her own terms.

Dracula and Lisa also having a happy ending is nice. It doesn’t really make any sense, and it makes me wonder what Richter’s call to action is going to be in the next series, but I think they were right to have the series end with the same two characters it opened with.

AYY SOMEONE THREW A WINE GLASS!!!

Unfortunately, I’d say Season 4 is the weakest of the series, but they did everything they could to make sure they provided an explosive finale and a solid ending. This was a damn good show and without a doubt the best thing to be associated with Castlevania in over a decade. Not that it had much competition there, but still!

As a final note on the nature of Castlevania as an adaptation: I can certainly understand why certain people don’t like this series. If you’re looking for Castlevania: The Video Game: The Animated Series, you’d walk away disappointed because of how many things were changed in adaptation, how much they were changed, and that so much is just made up from whole cloth. But an animated series isn’t a video game, and while an eight episode series where each episode is a different stage of non-stop fight scenes, complete with a big boss fight at the end sounds like it could be cool, if that’s what I really want I’d probably be better served just playing a game.

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #121: Lancelot (Saber)

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re building the one Frenchman who could do no wrong (until he did) Lancelot du Lac! This time instead of his snarly dog version we’re making his Saber class form, so buckle in for a huge smite and a whole lot of other stuff to fill time between getting smites.

Check out his build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here! 

Next up: How sad. Alexa, play Despacito.

Race and Background

Fun fact: Lancelot was raised by the Lady of the Lake, the same woman who would one day give Artoria her sword. Sorry, I think I said that wrong, I meant to say he was raised by a lady in a lake. Like, under the water. To celebrate this weird ass origin story, we’re making Lancelot a Triton, because I honestly don’t think I’ll ever get another excuse to make one of those. Tritons get +1 to Strength, Constitution, and Charisma, as well as the option to breathe air and water thanks to being Amphibious. You’re also an Emissary of the Sea and Guardian of the Depths, allowing you to talk to any water-breathing beasts, and giving you resistance to cold damage to boot. You can also Control Air and Water, which right now means you can cast Fog Cloud once per day using charisma.

Finally, as a knight of the round table you’re a Knight of the Order, giving you proficiency with Persuasion and Religion. 

Ability Scores:

As fitting of someone who turns lancers into fine smears on the ground, your Strength is going to be your highest score. After that is Charisma. Half the time you’re in some sort of situation where nobody can tell who you are, but they still like you anyway. I’d think a high charisma would make you less forgettable, but I’m not English. After that is Constitution- Dolorous Guard requires you to fight twenty knights, and they cheat on top of that! You’d better be ready for the long haul. Your Dexterity isn’t terrible, you’ll mostly be in plate mail anyway. Your Intelligence is a bit low, but your plans generally get summed up as “hit things”, so it’s not much of a loss. Finally, dump Wisdom. If you could resist charm effects you wouldn’t be in this mess. 

Class Levels

1. Paladin 1: I hope this isn’t too surprising. First level paladins get proficiency in Wisdom and Charisma saves, as well as two paladin skills. Athletics will help you lug three shields around, and Intimidation will make that look even remotely scary to anyone else.

You also get a Divine Sense that will help you detect celestials, fiends, or undead near you for a turn. If you’re hunting down the holy grail, it’s probably guarded by celestials or undead, so this might give you an edge on your son. You can use this a number of times per long rest equal to 1 + your charisma modifier. You can also Lay on Hands for a bit of healing that recharges each long rest.

2. Paladin 2: Use your new Fighting Style to get better with your great sword with Great Weapon Fighting. This lets you re-roll ones and twos on your damage rolls with two handed weapons. when you combine this with your smites, it’ll get a lot of use. Oh, speaking of, you can use Divine Smite to add some radiant damage to your melee weapon attacks by burning a spell slot. Speaking of speaking of, you can cast and prepare Spells now using Charisma. Lance is more about the smiting than anything else, and you can also swap spells at will, so don’t get too worked up over what you take. 

3. Paladin 3: As a knight to the great King Arthur, you’re an Oath of the Crown paladin, meaning you can use your Channel Divinity in two different ways. Once per short rest, you can either issue a Champion Challenge or Turn the Tide. The former forces creatures within thirty feet of you to make a Wisdom save (DC 8 + your charisma modifier + your proficiency bonus) or they’re unable to move more than 30′ away from you. This ends if you can’t fight any more, or the creature is ever more than 30′ away from you. Interestingly enough, this doesn’t end if they’re incapacitated, so it’s good for locking down prisoners. The latter heals creatures you choose nearby if they’re bloodied. A lot of people get bloodied near you later, so it might be a good idea to save this. Both options use your bonus action.

You can also Harness Divine Power, spending a bonus action and your channel divinity use to regain a spell slot. Once again speaking of, you get the oath spells Command and Compelled Duel, meaning you don’t have to prepare them to use them. Forcing people to duel you would have solved a lot of problems you had while questing. Not the big one, but a lot of them.

Also, your Divine Health makes you immune to disease. Also also, Control Air and Water makes a comeback, and now you can cast Gust of Wind once per day too.

4. Paladin 4: We’re giving you a breather from all that stuff we got last level. This level, use your first Ability Score Improvement to grab the Tavern Brawler feat. This bumps up your Strength by one, makes you proficient with improvised weapons, improves your unarmed attacks by making them 1d4 instead of 1 damage, and you can grapple enemies as a bonus action after attacking with an improvised weapon. “A knight’s hands are never empty”, after all.

5. Paladin 5: Fifth level paladins get an Extra Attack with each attack action, and Control Air and Water comes back once again for one more freebie. Now you can cast Wall of Water once per day.

Speaking of casting, crown paladins get another level of spell slots and two more oath spells. Warding Bond will protect your fair maiden for up to an hour, giving them a bonus to AC and forcing you to take half their damage. You also get Zone of Truth, whose main purpose is to make things incredibly awkward between you and Artoria.

6. Paladin 6: Our last stop on the paladin train gives you an Aura of Protection, giving you and nearby allies a bonus to all saves equal to your charisma modifier. You’re good at saving against charms now, but at least you were lore compliant early on.

7. Warlock 1: Remember how you were raised by a faerie early on? It’s time to collect. Thanks to your Archfey patron, You can use your Fey Presence to frighten (or charm) creatures that fail a wisdom save once per short rest. You also get Pact Magic, spells that recharge on short rests that don’t quite mix with your existing magic. Just keep your paladin slots and warlock slots how they look on the paper. One class’s slots can cast the other’s spells though.

Speaking of spells: Sword Burst and True Strike for swording good, Armor of Agathys for armoring good, and Cause Fear to be more intimidating.

8. Warlock 2: Second level warlocks get Eldritch Invocations, ways to customize their changeling experience. You get Fiendish Vigor so you can cast False Life on yourself at will, and save the other one for next level. You can also cast Charm Person- nobody said you weren’t sexy.

9. Warlock 3: Getting fancy new swords must be pretty common for knights. At third level you enter the Pact of the Blade, giving you a fancy greatsword you can summon as an action. If you’d prefer something a bit lighter, you can also cast Shadow Blade for a smaller blade... made of shadow.

You also get the invocation Improved Pact Weapon, adding 1 to your attack and damage rolls.

10. Bard 1: You’re the poster boy of being good at just about everything you try, with the exception of keeping it in your pants. That’s a bard, alright. First level bards get any one skill proficiency- Animal Handling will help you stay on your horse better (It doesn’t actually, but it really should).

You also get Bardic Inspiration, d6 you can hand out to allies to help them with attack rolls, skill checks, and saving throws that recharge on short rests. Finally, you get another round of Spells that use Charisma to cast. These spell slots mix with your paladin slots, so check the multiclassing page to figure out how many you have at any given time.

Grab Friends to be scarier and more charming, Dancing Lights and Faerie Fire for a bit more faerie magic, Heroism to lead your knights to glory, Longstrider to push yourself, and Speak with Animals. There were a lot of talking animals back then.

11. Bard 2: Being a Jack of All Trades makes you somewhat good at just about everything, adding half your proficiency to all skills. Camelot also gets a bit livelier thanks to your Song of Rest, adding a d6 to healing done on short rests.

Half the time you can hide your identity with as little as a new shield, so you can practically cast Disguise Self already.

12. Bard 3: You’re a master of weaponry, and so are Swords bards. You get another Fighting Style, and the Dual Wielding style will help you out when your hands are full by adding your strength to your offhand attacks. You can also spend your inspiration on Blade Flourishes, adding that much damage to your attack and gaining one of three options. A Defensive Flourish adds the same number to your AC, a Slashing Flourish deals that damage to another creature near you as well, and a Mobile Flourish forces the target backwards, and you can react to push the initiative. You can only flourish once per turn, but even if you don’t, attacking also adds 10 feet of movement to your speed for the turn.

You also get Expertise in two skills, doubling your proficiency in Religion and Intimidation. You came in second place in the Grail treasure hunt. That’s something to be proud of.

You can also cast Enhance Ability this level. It’s not quite the strength of four men, but it does give you the strength of two Lancelots, which is still quite a bit.

13 Warlock 4: It’s been a while since our last ASI, huh? Grab Fey Touched to bump up your Charisma and cast Misty Step or Gift of Alacrity once per long rest for free, or at any time like a normal spell. The former is teleportation, the latter gives a creature +1d8 to initiative for up to eight hours. You can also cast Booming Blade for even more swording, and Calm Emotions to delay your execution once the whole Guinevere thing gets out.

14. Warlock 5: Fifth level warlocks get third level spells like Spirit Shroud, giving you that cool shadowy thing your berserker self has to deal extra damage, slow down creatures nearby, and prevent them from healing. You also get the invocation Eldritch Smite- now you can smite while you smite!

15. Bard 4: Use this ASI to round up your Strength. This leaves you with one odd number-feel free to put this into anything you’d like, maybe you already got a +1 from something your DM gave you?

You also get Prestidigitation because I’m running out of cantrips to give you and Knock for a handy battering ram.

16. Bard 5: At fifth level of barding, your inspiration increases to a d8, also increasing the amount of damage your flourishes do. You also become a Font of Inspiration, allowing you to recharge inspiration dice on short rests.

Your final bard spell is Fear, because we haven’t spent enough time hammering home how scary an angry man wielding literally everything is yet.

17. Warlock 6: Sixth level feylocks can Misty Escape away when they get hit, using their reaction to turn invisible and teleport up to sixty feet away. Again, this would have been very useful in a multitude of situations while you were questing. Frankly this also would be super useful with the whole adultery thing too. Just bite your tongue and you’re out of the bedroom! You can use this once per short rest.

You can also call in a favor from your extended family by casting Summon Fey.

18. Warlock 7: Seventh level warlocks get fourth level spells, and we’re just gonna dip into your berserker self real quick, just for flavor. You get Shadow of Moil for another version of your shadow cloak, and the invocation Cloak of Flies for yet another version that makes you even scarier than usual.

19. Warlock 8: Use your last ASI to bump your Charisma even higher for stronger spells, stronger saves, and stronger persuasions. You can also cast Banishment now to help in your fight against more supernatural foes. Remember how I said the holy grail is probably guarded by celestials? Now you can deal with them.

20. Warlock 9: Your capstone level of warlock gives you fifth level spells and more importantly, fifth level spell slots. You can cast Contact Other Plane if you want to chat with those celestials you just threw back to Mount Celestia if you really want to. You can also use your final invocation Whispers of the Grave to chat with your ancestors or King Arthur.

Pros

Much like your boss, you’re really good at Smiting. A greatsword, plus eldritch smite, plus divine smite, plus a spirit shroud, plus a blade flourish, plus a crit is 4d6+28d8+5 damage in a single swing. It just beats out Lartoria’s smiting power, dealing an average of 145 points, with the added benefit of blocking the target from healing that back for a full round.

Bardadins are kind of good at everything. With at least half proficiency on all checks and +4 on all saves, you’re just about as skilled as you can get without excelling at anything. Aside from scaring your enemies.

Being good at everything also relates to being able to turn anything into a deadly weapon. Smiting a lich with a sword? Pedestrian. Everyone knows if you kill a lich with their own shinbone all their phylacteries break out of shame.

Cons

Your saves might be a bit better, but you still have low wisdom. Good luck finding that grail when you can barely find your own armor.

One big flaw of all that smiting? Almost no range. Flying and fast enemies can seriously put you through your paces.

Like most three fold multiclasses, this build takes forever to get online. You don’t get your final subclass until level 12, and you don’t get Eldritch Smite, which is kind of a selling point of the build, until level 14. Most games don’t even get that far.

[kingarise]

The Lion and the Pup Continuation

So now that we have talked about Lucette, let’s go over to Ornstein, the Lion Knight.

Now for reference, my view of Ornstein and his characterization is based off of what @goldenornstein and @wolfdivined have told me and from what I read on their blogs. Soooo, yeah.

I imagine Ornstein as being a very self disciplined and strict person who has very little tolerance for vanity and goofing off on duty. Due to his stoic nature, he comes across as cold and arrogant. Not saying that he doesn’t have some arrogance, he definitely does. But not as much as people assume. His reputation and authority of being the “Knight of Knights” combined with statuesque appearance and unsettling gold eyes make him quite an intimidating person, feared and adored by many. Especially children.

Ornstein is well aware that he is intimidating in the eyes of children. And he prefers to keep it that way. The mix of fear and respect helps keep the children in line and out of trouble.....most of the time.

Then in came Lucette. When Artorias introduced her as his daughter, Ornstein was...bewildered, to put it simply. Of all things he expected Artorias to do, adopting a human child and bringing her back to Anor Londo was not one of them. Ornstein at first, disapproved of it. Anor Londo was no place for a human child. But when Artorias stated that she had no other family and didn’t recognize the name of her homeland, A small part of him, hidden away behind the wall of shame for his past, couldn’t bear the thought of asking him to abandon the girl. Not with how attached the two have already become.

 *When Artorias and Ornstein had the “What are we and what do we do from here?” talk a while after, Artorias explained that he wants to focus on raising Lucette for now and that he wasn’t sure if he could give both of them the attention and care they deserve at the same time. Ornstein is honest and respectful about his feelings, and admits that the idea of raising a child makes him nervous. He is afraid of doing something wrong and end up traumatizing the girl. 

He doesn’t want to make a mistake and cause her to hate Artorias or become resentful against him. He can’t bear the thought of directly or indirectly being the cause of the familial bond breaking. He knows how much family means to Artorias and he refuses to destroy that. He finishes by saying that he trusts that Artorias will do the right thing not just for her sake but for his own as well, and that he’ll still be around when she is older.

AKA They have a rational conversation like adults and understand each other’s limits and boundaries and decide to hold their relationship off until Lucette is older. 

*You can thank Mal for that convo.

From then on, Ornstein has a sort of detached, distant sort of interest in Lucette. He sees her around, kinda watches her grow up from a distance. Kinda hard not to since he’s friends with her dad. He’s aware that she finds him scary. He doesn’t really know what to do about that though. He’s not used to being around children and doesn’t know what to do with them and thinks that its for the best that he just keeps his distance.

The best he can do is just keep an eye on her when he notices her away from Artorias and send her to Artorias if he catches her doing something she shouldn’t be doing or somewhere where she shouldn’t be.

Kinda like that family friend that your parent knows works in the same place you go to school at or work at and they keep an eye on you and kinda are like spies for your parents. Ya know what I mean?

Anyways, once Lucette reaches her late teens/early 20s and isn’t scared of him anymore, he and Artorias start dating again. 

And that’s about it. Lucette and Ornstein’s relationship to this point.

This post is ONCE AGAIN hella long so I’m gonna end it here. There’s more ideas I have about this odd relationship between these two but I’ll save that for another day.

[fuwafuwamedb]

A Stolen Wife (Gilgamesh, Hakuno, Ishtar, Artoria)

“What a shame the great king of Uruk can’t even think about having someone close to him,” Ishtar teased, leaning near Artoria. “He was such a poor king when it came to women that I doubt any woman that he would become interested in would look back at him.”

Gilgamesh held his goblet, sensing his master’s discomfort nearby.

Her silence spoke more than any words she could dare to speak. After all, she was trying to bond with both Artoria and with Ishtar. Ever since she had summoned them both, he’d been tossed into the back of the Chaldean listings and been left to watch. He watched as Ishtar teased and laughed with Artoria, learning of his interest in the Saber. She’d rubbed against the woman, earning an affection that had simply sent Gilgamesh’s stomach into an unpleasant churn.

After all, who wanted the leftovers from Ishtar?

Still, the woman persisted. Her coos, her purrs; she combined them all to create something that he could only compare to a contraceptive. The very sight was enough to make him consider chastity, with Ishtar leaning in to murmur into Artoria’s ear.

The woman was laughing at the goddess, rolling her eyes a little. There was little consideration for what it meant for Ishtar to be a goddess, little interest in learning what kind heinous crimes against humanity the woman had committed.

No, she laughed away.

“You know,” Ishtar murmured as he got up, “Gudako tends to keep couples… I have little doubt she’ll keep you much longer.”

He’d been thinking about that.

Still, he lifted his nose at the woman, eyeing her like the useless waste that she was.

“Strange how you spend your time, Saber. I see destroying the very grail you hoped to use with your master and squandering the people that you claimed to be king over are not your only faults.”

Those green eyes were so luminous.

There was something truly beautiful about them, but then… They also reminded him of the scales of that foul beast that had stolen the herb of immortality from him. Lithe and beautiful, yet so intrinsically useless; their lives were nothing more than markers. They were signs of how not to proceed.

The goblet was tossed back into his gates as he left the room.

He ignored Gudako’s calling for him, opting for the silence and the peace of his room.

What he didn’t want right now was pity. He also knew that Gudako had been given the privilege of summoning couples in her summoning room. Dumuzi was here in a form, giving Ishtar, reluctantly, her spouse. Merlin was here, often chasing after his king. Ozymandias was almost never appearing anymore. He had Nefertari at his side. Cu Chulainn had some rider by the name of Laeg here.

There was another Cu Chulainn, but he seemed rather attached to Medb of Connacht.

Other servants had faced burnings. Their numbers had continued to rise, leaving the master with a great number of mana prisms and rare prisms. He and Gudako had worked together for a time, but…

Well, he was not fond of the flowery idolization of Saber’s method of ruling. That blind and senseless desire to put all other’s needs over one’s own was something that would lead them all into trouble. It was only natural that he would point this out.

The problem lay now in what Ishtar had pointed out: most servants had someone to temper them.

Gudako had not given him a great amount of experience embers. She had been restricting his time battling and had been leaving him only with Merlin. Now with Ishtar, she had another Archer available.

He had… few options.

He could, theoretically, appeal to Gudako. His strengths were far greater than Ishtar’s and his skills made him a force to be reckoned with. If she would take him up on improving them a bit further, they’d be something she’d rely on relentlessly.

Appealing to her would show humbleness. It would show his desire to remain a part of this team and to further their ventures into rescuing humanity from its own demise. There would be compromises to make. He would be forced to swallow more attention and more uselessness from those around him if he decided to go with this train of thought.

Ultimately, humiliation lay in that direction.

He could rebel when the time came for being burned. He could strike back at the fools that would come his way, seeing how long he could outlast them and threaten his master into obedience. There was a chance that she could be quelled or seduced…

Seducing his master, though?

Gudako was quaint, but she was nothing radiant. She had that cute charm that was overshadowed by the cutthroat and cold blooded ability to burn servants while looking them straight in the eyes. The number of times she had burned that Mephistopheles…

Gilgamesh shivered.

Some things were not humane, that being one of them.

Along with that, even if he were to fight, the woman had been raising Artoria with a vengeance. Soon the saber would be able to overpower him easily, leaving him in an uncomfortable state. The opportunity to burn him being provided on top of that would be more than Saber would be able to resist.

He’d wake up in the burn chamber.

He couldn’t appeal to the woman. He couldn’t fight. Gilgamesh glanced around his chamber, thinking carefully.

…There was… no one of import to quell him.

His friend was arguably a contender, but when he was in the mood for something, the being had been more of an enabler. Rather than calming him, the being would end up throwing logs on the fire, stoking it to a height that no one, not even Gudako at her worst, would be able to temper down.

There’d been a good amount of thought on this before. His summons meant that the other could be summoned, of that, he was sure.

This meant he didn’t have anyone though. There was no one to equal him or to calm his voice, as Gudako had with all her other servants. To allow such things would mean too much. He would not lessen himself or contain himself for the benefit of others.

The fighting was good though.

He enjoyed the fights, the spoils; anything and everything about being able to have a human body at times.

Perhaps…

Perhaps the best plan was to simply create his own.

There was no problem with doing such a thing, was there? The universe was full of realities. He could find something in his gates, part the tides of time, pluck someone of merit out, and claim them as something valuable to him. A wife or spouse or something.

Filtering through the Gates for his magecraft tablets took time, namely because he had hidden these tablets well since they were stolen from the gods of his time. Reading through them, another challenge as the gods had seen fit to blend his people’s tongue with that of the other kingdoms in a blasphemy crime against humanity, took time. He held up one about chaining a person to another, finding the text of interest.

A curse to create heartache and prolonged health issues due to the separation from another.

He had a feeling that had been used on him for his friend.

Clever, but he would use it for his created spouse. It would be something of a leash, keeping them near so that he could keep from further issues.

Another one simply showed what had to be prototype command spells.

Another contender in ways to housetrain his summons.

“Ah!” Gilgamesh grinned, finding what he was looking for.

The rift was the easy part.

His hands parted the air and the world like the fabrics of a curtain, allowing him to peer through time. He could see a man with a goatee, demanding him to use his Ea.

Loud.

Gilgamesh ferreted a bit of power to his self in that time, closing the rift back up and trying again.

An arrow was shot through his forehead.

Gilgamesh stared at himself being killed, his stomach churning.

Unsuitable.

He closed the rift and parted it again.

A young girl in what seemed to be a flowing white gown glanced his way, frowning deeply from where she stood. Her eyes drifted to where his body of that time and space was, but he shook his head and closed the rift once more.

Too young.

If he wanted a child, he would have prostrated himself to Ishtar or Saber for their attentions. While the latter would be unlikely, he had little doubt that the former would turn him away.

The thought was repugnant.

“I WON’T GIVE UP MY CONTRACT WITH GILGAMESH!”

What was this?

Gilgamesh looked in, finding the woman standing before his unconscious body upon a wall. Her arms were outstretched, blocking the woman nearby. Her brown hair reminded him of his people. The pale skin, flawless and smooth, reminded him of his friend.

It was the expression on her face though- that did him in.

He opened the gates just inside the rift, causing the woman who’d been defending him to fall. With that done, he sealed the rift once again, fixing his room a bit before he let the woman fall forth from his gates.

Now came the interesting part.

First things first, those curses. He used them both, finding the command spells forming in the form of extra red ink upon his chest. The other curse left no mark, just a strange feeling that nagged at the edge of his senses.

The woman’s attire was thrown, burning soon enough in the fireplace in his room. He swathed her properly in his people’s garments…

No, this didn’t work.

It did, but it didn’t work.

He looked at her unadorned body, watching the woman lay unconscious for a bit.

Cheetah print.

As soon as his mind thought of how she slept like a kitten, the image of cheetah print came to mind. In fact, snakeskin would look suitable too. Perhaps a few furs. He began to look through his gates once again, opting for something from that modern time.

He’d snatched a few things in his summons. While the memories of them came and left, the items were never forgotten.

He liked the white shirt and snakeskin. Adorning her with some gold did wonders.

Brown hair was rather dull, but…

The brown hair that the woman had gleamed quite nicely against his bedsheets. The faint glimmer of gold and garnet in that hair color drew his eyes in, intriguing him.

Tonight, since he was feeling amused, he would permit her to rest in his bed. She had entertained him. She was bound to him. Tomorrow he could look into what that would mean a bit further.

“Gil…”

The woman turned, pressing a hand to his chest.

Ah, one last thing.

The command spells on her hand- he forced them from her, releasing whatever servant she had been bound to. Without them, she was nothing more than a mere mage.

Gudako would not take the risk of removing him from Chaldea now.

After all, who would care for his poor wife?

[pryotra]

That sounds like it's going to be a very angsty way of playing pull the rope, with Merlin excelling in running away and play dumb and Arthur excelling in being determinated...

Oh and that protocross you're gonna do is a fate/prototype thing with Merlin involved or does it have another fates included? Because it's going to be very... nice (?) to see mananaka witnessing the whole thing lmao satan is going to implode.

You know... that thing you described, somehow... sounds like a more solid reason of why desire the grail than artoria's... maybe is my bias though, don't listen to me.

But it was a nice kick to my stomach in a very physical way because my brain combined that with the idea of Merlin feeling absolutely horrible in that nasty caves while witnessing the whole battle and thinking that he hates her for leading him to that, thanks 😌❤

Also, one...somewhat hopeful...but otherwise painful thing. Just because you’ve forgotten something doesn’t mean that emotions are gone.

So. Protocross is the next story in Our Conquest of the Sea of Stars. It’s a cross over between CCC and Fate Prototype. Rota Fortunae is just a prologue to help met the characters. I’m willing to give ominous one liners about it.

...I mean Arthur still more or less would wish himself out of existence in the state of mind that he’s in, but thank you! I think that Nasu...doesn’t want to address just how devastating the loss of Camelot would be. Maybe it detracts from romance, I don’t know. But, I do think that...despite the fact that he’s held up as the ‘perfect’ king/prince, Arthur’s last thoughts were more selfish than people would expect.

Ooh yes. And she DID watch him die. 

[sinnhelmingrmoved]

😍 = Does your muse have any crushes? If so, who are they? // @inmywiring​

You know, for Hel to try to act austere and above romantic entanglements, she sure does catch feelings every time she turns around. Whether as passing fancy or simply falling against her will for a close friend, she is capable of developing and often prey to crushes.

In her mainverse, she’s been pretty twitterpated over Lucifer Morningstar since she was about 14. He was very respectful and fair to her at some event calling upon certain figures and that, combined with his beauty, has stuck with her. She is equally as susceptible to the charms of Nuala, whether glamoured in Faerie or in her true form working for the Dreaming. The Prodigal Formerly Known as Destruction also proves capable of turning her into a gooey mess of feelings. Not that she admits to any of these feelings, mind. She keeps things strictly professional with all of them.

It’s a running gag that she catches feelings for any blue-skinned sentient being that crosses her path in 616, something she blames wholly on her Jotnar blood. This includes Atlanteans, certain Mutants, and Voyager. She’s mortified by this and does her best to hide it.

Outside of that, she’s developed some crushes in other verses. She’s hopelessly devoted to kleffy’s Jon in her TMA verse, she thinks the Nameless King and Mal’s Artorias are pretty neat in her DS AU, Ira has her hormones in a stranglehold as a young woman in KH... She is just here to suffer in silence as people force her into developing feelings.

[megashadowdragon]

jaune will wield the sword of destruction

In “Uncovered”, we find out that the Relics have spirits bonded to them, with the Relic of Knowledge’s being Jinn, who is based on a Genie. It would make sense if the Relic of destruction  which is in the form of a sword  as shown in volume 6 chapter 3 and foreshadowed by the fact that vacuos symbol being a sword    had a spirit based off of the creator of the most famous sword in myth, Excalibur.  after all vacuo used to be a beautiful place with an oasis) before the destruction

Vacuo is currently home to Bertilak Celadon, named after Lord Bertilak the Green Knight from Arthurian myth, and Carmine Esclado, named after Esclados the Red from Arthurian myth. and holds the sword of the destruction to quote @luimnigh

and the reason why I think that all of the relics have spirits connected to them is due to the fact that we got a lot of emphasis on the statues at beacon in volume 1′s intro and the statue in haven has a strong resemblance to how jinn looks including the chains

and jaune may get rwbys version of Excalibur given his knight theme and how his secondary inspiration is king arthur

megashadowdragon . tumblr . com/post/171244914427/jaunes-secondary-inspiration-is-king-arthur/embed

,  jaune is an example of the tvtropes . org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KnightInShiningArmor tropes“Forever Fall shows him saving the life of Cardin Winchester when an Ursa was about to kill him. Jaune pretty much showed everybody what it means to be a Huntsman: staying cool under fire, carefully positioning yourself to find the enemy’s weaknesses, and defending those who can’t defend themselves, even if they don’t necessarily deserve it. He also fights in a knightly style with sword, shield and armor. However, he subverts this trope in one respect: while he has the personality to back up the trope, he really doesn’t have the skills”

.For one, Jaune uses the stereotypical Knight Templar combination of sword and shield he also has blond hair, which is associated with Nobility, similar to a king. Arthur’s early fighting style was similar to Jaune’s clumsy fighting style of swinging around with brute force, though eventually becoming better in combat. They both descend from well-renowned families. What’s also interesting is found in the name of his team, JNPR. It’s spelled using the first letter of their first names, but should the last names (Arc, Valkyrie, Lie, Nikos) be arranged in said order, it would form AVLN, similar to Avalon, the final resting place of King Arthur. Finally, Jaune’s semblance of aura amplification  provides healing and shielding to those who receive it’s power, whether its himself or his allies (he can amplify his own aura or the  other peoples aura  and all the effects that come with it  megashadowdragon . tumblr . com/post/170041919557/on-jaunes-aura-amplification-semblance/embed , similar to the  power of the scabbard of Excalibur

en . wikipedia . org/wiki/Excalibur

“Excalibur’s scabbard was said to have powers of its own. Loss of blood from injuries, for example, would not kill the bearer. In some tellings, wounds received by one wearing the scabbard did not bleed at all.”

www . ancient-origins . net/myths-legends-europe/where-did-king-arthur-acquire-excalibur-stone-or-lake-008851

Excalibur’s best known magical property is the ability of its scabbard to heal wounds. This meant that whenever King Arthur had Excalibur’s scabbard with him, he could not be hurt

Jaune picks the White Rook piece in the initiation ceremony, reminiscent of a castle. Young Arthur won one of his earliest fights by Running into his opponent and knocking him down before finishing him off. Kind of like what Jaune did on his first Ursa kill.

Plus in fate stay night king arthur was a woman who disguised herselflf as as man to be king and her name was artoria pendragon and she ended up being mistaken for joan of arc  

and in fate  exacliburs scabbard is  something  where

The holder of the scabbard is granted potent healing, allowing for critical and fatal wound to be rapidly repaired to restore the wielder’s health. Minor injuries are restored easily, and even large missing portions of the body  which sounds like a more potent version of what jaunes aura amplification allows him to do

“Caliburn and Excalibur are two different swords. Caliburn is the “sword in the stone” which is used to prove king Arthur’s right to the throne. He used this weapon in many battles and won but at some point the “King’s sword” is broken, leaving king Arthur with no powerful swordsAnd by accident, king Arthur found the lady of the lake and was given the sword Excalibur which is made by the wishes of mankind and said to give him the ability to win wars“

“Caliburn was what Excalibur was made to be first, then when Arthur broke it, Merlin took it to the Lady of the Lake to make it whole again. So Caliburn got reforged into Excalibur. I found this out by reading the Timeline Story of Arthur Pendragon“

Later, however, once this first sword is broken in battle, it is made clear that Arthur must receive the "true Excalibur" from a mystical source, the Lady of the Lake, and Merlin (who seems to be the magical force behind both swords) guides him to the place where it will be offered to him.May

salem is  basically  the lady of the lake ( she got turned immortal due to the pool of creation and became grimmified via the grim ( and the relic of creations spirit is inspired by merlin  lady of the lake imprisoned merlin in one of the variations Merlin is betrayed and placed inside an invisible and indestructible tower and salem was the girl in the tower 

jaunes sword in volume 8 had broken its name was crocea mors and there is a theory that it belonged to the king of vale ( crocea mors belonged to julius caesar but he lost it when it got stuck in prince nennius shield ( so jaunes ancestor could be inspired by prince nennius) so crocea mors was the kings sword that got broken

“Jaune has serious King Arthur vibes here. Not knowing about his true lineage and his sword being destroyed. Now he needs a new one. Only one sword that seems to be available. He seems to be headed in direction of wielding the sword of the king. Maybe he'll get a queen too. (an ice or snow queen ) ( weiss who is nicknamed ice queen and is based off snow white whose prince rescued her from a deathlike state or winter whose inspiration is the snow queen)  and joan of arcs father was named Jacques d'Arc  if jaune got together with one of them jacques would be his father in law “

the sword excalibur is often associated with the idea of worthiness in order to pull the sword from the stone you have to be worthy and jaune and cinder are foils and cinder got a whole speech about how you have to be worthy  from arthur there are various versions where this is a requirement

@thehtg-therealone @spoonoftar

[master-apology]

If I were to nitpick at every weird thing Fate does with Arthurian legend, I’d be writing all night, but there is something the Fate series changes that really bugs me, and it has to do with Morgan le Fay.

Fate!Morgan is actually a composite character, derived from two characters from Arthurian legend; Legend!Morgan le Fay, from whom she gains her magical abilities, and Morgause, from whom she largely takes her role in story, as mother of the Orkney siblings (Gawain, Agravain, Gaheris, Gareth, and Mordred) and part of the reason for the fall of Camelot. Fate!Morgan being made up of those two characters doesn’t bug me. I think it’s actually not a bad idea to combine those two characters to make things a bit simpler than having them both around.

That’s not what bugs me.

What does bug me is the way they changed her relationship to Arthur/Artoria.

In Fate, Morgan is a legitimate daughter of Uther Pendragon. My search on the type-moon wiki doesn’t specify who her mother was, but it’s probably safe to assume her mother was Igraine, making her Artoria’s full sister. The reason for her antagonism towards Artoria is that she saw their father as loving her more, and placing his hopes in his younger daughter, even though both Morgan and Artoria were of equal status. This favoritism, whether true of perceived, led Morgan to resent Artoria and want to destroy her.

Now, in most versions of Arthurian legend, Morgan and Morgause are NOT the daughters of Uther. Instead, they are the daughters of Igraine and Gorlois, the Duke of Cornwall (the very south-western most part of Britain). Uther fell in love with Igraine, and went to war with Gorlois to steal her from him. On the very same night that Uther’s forces storm the castle Gorlois is staying in and kill him, Uther has Merlin use magic to disguise him as Gorlois, so he can sneak into the castle Igraine is in and rape her, conceiving Arthur. Igraine later learns the truth about what happened, and is coerced into marrying Uther. Her daughters, Elaine, Morgause, and Morgan, are then married to Uther’s allies.

From my point of view, Morgan and Morgause have a much more compelling reason to hate Arthur in the legend than Morgan does in Fate. The sisters see Arthur as the son of the person who murdered their father, raped their mother, and married them off to secure his own political alliances. Arthur presents himself as the rightful king of Britain and a just ruler, but this is predicated on being the legitimate heir of Uther Pendragon. For Morgan and Morgause, this means that Arthur, Camelot, and every ideal of honor and chivalry they stand for are built upon such an act of cruelty and barbarism that it renders everything a colossal monument to hypocrisy. How could they not want to see it all collapse in on itself?

All in all, I just think trading all of that in for “Dad loved you more than me so I hate you” is just wasted potential.