#he also got her bc of course he did the fcking EX luck bastard. He has Maou too. And Musashi. And Merlin and Waver and Orion so he's won FGO

[300iqprower]

Give Scathach back to Wada Arco. She looked better when drawn by Wada. At least that way it'll free Scathach from the Aokoface jokes.

Honestly all the "face" jokes except saberface are dumb. I don't know enough about artstyles and stuff to in good consciences say any of it is a result of being bad or lazy but it sure as hell feels those things to me. Like obviously people have signature styles but with Fate it really does feel like just straight up "asset reuse". Maybe that's just because of how much people reference it and not actually anything different, maybe it's because this is supposed to be a series about the entire world and yet you have a person from ireland drawn the exact same as a person from japan, maybe it's because of the plethora of artists in FGO making it so when two characters are that similar it stands out! I dunno. Certainly don't know enough to lay blame. But it never sits well with me.

But design wise for Scathach it could go either way. The bodysuit is dumb no matter who draws it but the new outfits Wada gave were objectively better in every way one cause I'll take esdeath looking stuff over whatever the fuck that MOCAP latex looking thing is any day. But when it comes to drawing the expressions and stuff, I do think the original artist captured the ferocity WHEN THEY TRIED. I fucking HATE Scathach's default expression, I fucking loathe them for that fucking air of "look how elegant and graceful and aloof I am" bullshit. See this?

FUCK THIS. Things like the NP animation can come into their own but THIS kind of shit is not a "supreme being who is disinterested with the mortal world around them" this is "bored lingerie model wondering if it's really worth firing their agent for signing them onto this cosplay shoot". And it's not as simple as the outfit or the face or the lighting, it's the EVERYTHING, it was INTENTIONALLY drawn that way; it's an issue with how they explicitly wanted her to look like that to match the mary sue trophy wife of a character she's written as. Summer Scathach proves this. Her summer assassin form is drawn by the same person yet has a distinctly different air to it that matches her attitude shift that properly embraces what they CLAIM is also her Lancer's concept of someone who is unkillable but wants death by glorious combat.

Like, the body language is just a world of a difference. Lancer is facing away but looking towards you, as if sheltered off and trying to move on. The body language is meant to convey some sort of "you could never understand" type shit, that tropey "beautiful woman who runs away/you want because you can't have" crap. she's not even wielding her weapons, just lightly gripping them. She's completely disinterested and disengaged, marked by the fact she's visibly expressionless, completely disinterested and seemingly looking at you out of obligation.

Assassin is borderline the opposite.

Assassin's body is facing towards you but her head is facing away. Her eyes are looking towards you opposite the way her Lancer self is. She's looking down. She sees you as prey. She has a hint of a smirk on her face, because she's hoping you'll be a challenge. She has knives in hand, and is properly wielding them like she's about to throw them at the slightest provocation. She's literally lifting her swimskirt to reveal MORE knives strapped to her thigh; that kind of thing is usually used for surprise attacks, but she wants you to know she has it out the gate. It's a see through veil but she does it anyways because she wants to be SURE you know that she's armed, because she's hoping you'll prove a challenge. That's the excitement on her face. "Is this the one to challenge me? Wait, I can't let them see I'm excited, what if they're another disappointment?"

Body language is SO important to these things and they are not drawn without it in mind for a moment. It's the reason Scathach is intrinsically terrible. Just look at Lancer's FA. It's not a fucking wise, calm, powerful teacher like it claims the reason for her everything is. It's a sexy lady waiting to be claimed as a reward by the insecure incels it panders to.

And to bring Wada into things they ALWAYS draw Scathach with this "hunger" that embodies her character. She does it for Gil too but I think it fits Scathach way more

I honestly prefer how Summer is drawn originally, even if we take into account that Summer here is just a reused asset. I think I made clear with that ramble that I actually think Summer Scath is top tier design as far as "mandatory swimsuit characters" go, and you cant really fix the MOCAP-fetishwear thing, but Wada at least tried. They look like actual rivets/buckles, a pair of ornate pauldrons, it doesnt look like it was spraypainted lavender, and most of all the expression and as I said body language. The slightly narrowed eyes, the fact her hair flows out but remains perfectly kept almost like a jagged cape, her hands at the ready front and back and tensed like she’s just WAITING for a chance to throw em, the hint of a grin as she bows her head and slightly narrowed eyes that RADIATE hunger. In an opposite way as her Assassin self she’s making it very clear she sees you as prey.

............So....yeah.  I think about these things a lot. For all my constant contempt for Fate Scathach, it’s because I find the actual figure super cool. Hell, both me and my writing friend have written our own versions of her. And he doesn’t even hate her FGO version like i do! He actively went for her! But he agrees just as much with me that FGO completely wasted her to focus on propping her up as waifubait.