#his whole reasoning for hating diarmuid. god i just love it.

[melonisopod]

When I tell you there were LAYERS to the Command Spell Torture Scene.

[akampana]

Continuation of this ask

Bedivere x Arturia - Ship it

What made you ship it?

TBH I was one of those few people who shipped it based on that like 2 second scene at the end of FSN. The Camelot Singularity just reinforced it. A lot came from the original Arthurian legend as well. Bedivere is similarly insanely loyal as he is in the game, and like in Fate lore, he’s been with Arthur longer than most.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

He journeyed so far for so long just to see her smile OH MY GOD BRB IM SOBBING HOLY CRAP CAN YOU JUST IMAGINE—

I’m a sucker for intensely loyal knights and I will always be. ALWAYS.

THE ANGST POTENTIALLLLLL but also THE FLUFF POTENTIALLLL

This man loved his king so bloody intensely. So strongly that his desire to see her survived the test of time. To be loved so much, so unconditionally for a thousand and a half years? Gods, that’s just too much, man. ;-;

And I absolutely adore how much it means to him to remain her knight, even if he tends to be insecure about the limb that he lacks, and how he believes he is nothing special in comparison with everyone else. I love that Arturia recognizes his strength and his worth, even if he himself can’t see it.

THE ENTIRE CONFRONTATION IN THE THRONE ROOM LET ME TELL YOU I WAS CRYING SOOOOO HARD THROUGHOUT THAT IK NIT EVEN KIDDING

THIS, the MINDBREAK Arturia goes through when she tries to remember

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I think that THIS SHIP NEEDS MORE LOVE AND I REALLY OUGHT TO CONTRIBUTE

All the other answers below cut!

Irisviel x Arturia - Ship It

What made you ship it?

I think I was bound to the moment I watched Fate Zero. When I was younger it was overshadowed by the feels Diarturia brought and not to mention Kiritsugu and Iri but this ship is damn good on its own.

What sold it though, is the argument she and Kiritsugu have in Episode 16, right after the last Saber and Lancer fight. Irisviel, who we all know loves her husband so much, forced Kiritsugu to answer Saber. That’s just how important Arturia was to her.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

I think they both found in each other something they themselves lack. It’s actually kind of funny. Arturia is human, and yet she’s so heavily consumed by her ideals that she doesn’t act like one. Irisviel, on the other hand, is not human, and yet everything that she does and wants to do is exactly that.

Throughout the anime, Being with Iri puts Saber into such mundane, ordinary situations that it teaches her to live. The suits, the escorting, being a passenger instead of a driver, appreciating the water by the seashore, etc. It's like the woman wants to leave her with some appreciation for the world, especially when she herself doesn’t have all that much time left.

On Irisviel’s part, I think she found in Saber the companionship she would have wanted from Kiritsugu during the last few days she remained on the Earth. Arturia had been the perfect knight in shining armor, taking Irisviel around to see the world as much as they could amidst a war. If they’d just had more time, I have no doubt Arturia would have taken Irisviel even more places, you know?

It makes me sad :( but in a good way.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I’m pretty sure Irisviel would wear the pants in this relationship ya know what I mean? Hahaha

Much as I love this ship, I think that it becomes all the more valuable because of how it ended. To each other, they were this brief, fleeting feeling of happiness. A love that was so short and yet so strong.

Shirou x Arturia - Don't Ship it

Hooooooo boi. Hear me out, mkay ? But this is just my personal opinion so pls no hate

Why don't you ship it?

I’m gonna start out by saying I don’t think I need to, tbh. Hahaha there’s enough content for this ship being fed to us, so my liking it or not is immaterial. But the reason is well...I watched FSN and Shirou x Saber was...not the best thing about it (the best thing about it was the soundtrack omg iconic) Shirou comes off as a bit of a misogynist, and kind of immature, and the whole time it’s like he doesn’t really listen to Arturia at all. Plus, it’s kind of like he just likes her looks at times. The final deciding factor was the date scene. That was just unbearable.

But then I go online and I see all this good stuff about them. And my friend ships them cause they’re canon, right? So, I’m like okay, what if I judged too quickly, let’s play the VN...and I did. And I still didn’t like him with Saber at all. So, I played the next route, watched the next anime, trying to redeem 1st route Shirou as much as I could but it just....didn’t happen. I think I can safely say I tried to like them. I really did. But no.

What would have made you like it?

Removing the misogyny and the immaturity and letting him listen to her. Like he should have.

At no point in their interactions did it feel like they were standing on equal ground, ever. Either he was speaking over her or the opposite. So less of that and a lot more respect.

And when you compare this relationship to what he has with like with his other two love interests, it makes this ship fall completely flat. It’s pretty...bland and honestly kind of shallow. It’s like the story just tells you they’re in love but there’s no answer to why they’re in love. Make him fall in love with her for her without necessarily forcing his need to save everyone on her.

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

I may not like how they got there, but in the end Arturia was able to pass peacefully.

I acknowledge that Shirou was important and made a change in her life.

That ending scene where they meet after so long, NGL is pretty sweet.

A lot of my headcanons happen post-Shirou, so there’s also that.

Archer x Rin -Ship it

What made you ship it?

Tsundere x Cynic has gotta be one of the best dynamics out there.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

His true identity. The fact that she dragged him all the way across space and time to return as her Servant, that’s just bloody fate at work.

The fact that he keeps acknowledging she’s a strong Master despite his later conduct in UBW.

Archer is ridiculously crass and Rin is easily riled up. In the Fifth Holy Grail War, they had the best Master-Servant relationship period. They have this explosive chemistry that just works so well.

When he smiles at her at the end of the route, and you just know that Tohsaka’s gonna be stubborn enough to make sure Shirou doesn’t end up going down the exact same path.

I think it’s sweet that he ends up going along with her whims because he secretly likes housework.

THE PRINCESS CARRY/ CATCH. MAN OH MAN.

Unlike the previous ship mentioned here, these two actually stand on equal ground with each other.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I don't think it's exactly an unpopular opinion, but I think they really ought to have more official content y'know? Rin is important in every route, and Archer's the actual climax of UBW and also entirely significant across three routes.

Medusa x Sakura - Don't ship it

Why don't you ship it?

Because while journeying through the routes, I always saw Rider as more of a best friend/sort of motherly figure to Sakura.

Or that Rider fulfilled the kind of relationship that she wanted to have with Rin, while Sakura unknowingly filled the void Medusa's sisters left in her life. I thought she was more of a guardian angel really, not a romantic interest. Kind of like how Heracles was to Illya.

What would have made you like it?

If I could maybe forget about the threesome with Shirou and the implied romantic feelings Rider has for him in Ataraxia that would be great.

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

Sakura deserves all the happiness in the world and I really do believe that Rider could fulfill that.

This ship DEFINITELY DEFINITELYYYYYY NEEDS MORE CONTENT

Diarmuid x Cú - Ship it

What made you ship it?

oooh this probably sounds surprising since based on my content you'd think, no i dont ship this BUT I DOOOOOOO (i just happen to hc them as bros more often)

Honestly what did make me ship it is the parallels.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

IMO They have the biggest potential for hurt/comfort amongst all the ships mentioned here.

They can help each other get through their trauma. Their whole relationship would be extremely healing and supportive.

I love that Diarmuid seems to have idolized Cú Chulainn at some point and honestly who wouldn't be honored to stand beside him, no?

They could be up to the funniest shenanigans because Cú is chaos and Diarmuid would absolutely be an enabler because when he isn't angst-ing he's super damn chill.

Bros being bros hahahah...unless?

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Not really. Maybe that I think Lancer Diar and Cascu would get along better and Saber Diar and Lancer Cu would also get along better but honestly any form is good this ship is good

[argothiathedreamer]

all the Diarmuid gifs on my dash reminded me that he’s the reason I did a bunch of research on Irish mythology and discovered my favorite Irish god.

Aengus, Diarmuid’s foster dad, and the god of love and creativity. It’s a pretty indisputable fact that he HATED Fionn preemptively for what he was going to do to Aengus’s son. Fionn never found any sort of love that wasn’t stolen from him too soon because Aengus despised him. When Diarmuid died (was essentially killed by Fionn via taking him on a boar hunt knowing very well that he had long before Diarmuid caused him any grief, cursed the warrior to die by being gored by a boar, which was another thing Aengus is said to have hated him for and a whole other story in and of itself) Aengus took his body back to Brugh with him and it’s said he would sometimes revive his son just so he could talk to him and OW I need to go cry now.

Also, yeah, Fionn was a jackass. I mean yeah, he was usually an accidental jackass, but he was still a jackass. So like when Diarmuid was a kid his biological father (Donn, god of the dead in Irish myth, who is also a jackass) killed Fionn’s servant’s son (wow, qualifiers) (Aengus revives the guy in the form of a boar, because Aengus was always going along behind Donn fixing that jackass’s messes apparently) now of course the servant is rightfully furious and demands Fionn get some kind of revenge on Donn. So what does Fionn do? He curses Diarmuid to be eventually killed by a boar. And here’s the kicker: DONN DIDN’T CARE ABOUT DIARMUID AT ALL. Donn legit could not have cared less about the curse. Anywho the whole thing with Gráinne happens (which depending on the version you go with is like 90% not Diarmuid’s fault at all, he’s loyal to Fionn, lord only knows why at this point, but ya know) and then the boar hunt happens and Fionn could have saved Diarmuid, water from Fionn’s hands could cure any wound and he almost does it, but then just lets it slip through his fingers. At which his son and grandson (who I love) are both like ‘Dude! What the hell!?’ and smack some sense into him, but by the time they’re done doing that and Fionn goes and gets more water, it’s too late and Diarmuid dies.

So yeah, in conclusion: Fuck Fionn and Donn they’re jackasses, Aengus is a fucking saint with all the shit he had to put up with between the two of them, Diarmuid’s life sucked and he deserved so much better.

[teatitty]

It's 4:20am for me so I do not have all my notes on hand for that singularity BUT the tragedy of it was that it was Ruler Fionn vs Avengermuid but it wasn't so much a physical confrontation as it was an emotional and mental one. Fionn cannot bring himself to kill his oldest friend so chaldea has to step in, and BerserCu is here specifically to be executioner. The whole setting takes place in Ireland, because the emotional weight of everything makes it that much more painful

Anyway! Fionn can’t bring himself to actually kill Diarmuid because Fionn...feels like he deserves whatever Diarmuid does to him. Because it was an act of betrayal (Fionn letting him die) that lead Avenger down this path and Fionn is filled with so much guilt and grief over this that the only reason he hasn’t let himself die yet is because the common folk of Ireland don’t deserve to suffer for his own mistakes

So he’s caught between his duty as Ireland’s protector and his own grief. Diarmuid, by comparison, for all that he is angry and furious, still cannot understand why Fionn is “choosing” humanity over Diarmuid’s “right” to revenge. Again its super late so I’m skipping a lot of details but Diarmuid does end up killing Cu Chulainn because Cu cannot bring himself to give the final blow. He sees himself in Diarmuid. Less a heartless monster and more someone who is hurt and lost and lashing out in pain and that brief moment of “you’re just like me” is all Diarmuid needed to strike him down. 

The final fight is between Diarmuid and Fionn except...Fionn throws down his weapons. He opens his cloak wide to bare his chest, his heart, and Diarmuid, livid by this, demands he face him properly, to which Fionn holds out his arms and says, “I am,” and Diarmuid just. Stops. 

When was the last time he saw Fionn so raw and vulnerable? When was the last time he saw Fionn cry - ah. That’s right. Fionn had cried the day he died, hadn’t he? How could he forget that? How could he forget Fionn’s hands shaking as they spilled water on the grass, not from anger or pettiness, but from fear? Fear that he would be too late, fear that he would not get to apologize? 

Fionn is facing him, properly, for the first time, and Diarmuid finally looks around himself, at the bloodshed and devastation - takes in the sounds of children crying and the people he had once sworn to protect now cowering from fear and - and gods when had he become like his father? When had he become what he hated?

And so he looks back at Fionn, at the grief and regret and devastation etched into his face and - he can’t do this. He falls to his knees, weapons clattering to the floor, thick bloodied tears streaming down his cheeks, and Fionn is suddenly there, holding him so tightly and apologizing, over and over, his cloak so warm around them both. But Diarmuid is still hurting, still too angry to accept it, and he knows, now, that Fionn’s apology is not what he needs. So he says, “I want to hurt you,” and Fionn says, “I know,” and Diarmuid clarifies, “I don’t want to kill you. I hate this. I hate what I’ve done, it hurts it hurts it hurts -” and Fionn tells him it’s because he still cares, deep down, about these humans he had loved so much and Diarmuid can’t stand how much it hurts to see his father instead of himself

He breathes in, swallows back his tears, rests their foreheads together and says, “I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore.” And Fionn, hands shaking, picks up his sword and says, “okay. Okay.” And Diarmuid says, “it’s not your fault. Let me go, Deimne. Please.” 

And so he does

If Avengermuid becomes canon I will be so petty about it because none of the writing they could possibly give him would hold a candle to all my big brain ideas about how he can work as a legit alter and how it's parental love specifically that starts his journey healing and also my very tragic singularity for him that ends with him asking Ruler Fionn to kill him because he realizes he's become what he hated

Okay but now you can't just DROP that tidbit on us now you have to explain the Singularity (Ruler Fionn being a given cause rhe Juxtaposition- but like, tell me about this setting, I'm intrigued 👀👀👀)

[kingseliph]

ARES, LEIF, JULIA, JULIUS, AND UHH LYN

ily shelby

ares

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS

ship with: seliph, of course. i already ranted about them on my seliph response so i’ll spare u afjekjfekfmekla

friendship them with: diarmuid and nanna! also lene. I just like goth ares and his two preppy cousins HAHAH

general opinions: super fun character who is just the right amount of both threatening and hammy. basically proto owain if anyone actually took owain seriously. “mystletainn craves blood”? really? if u say so ares

leif

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS

ship with: no one really? i would say nanna but the whole raised as siblings thing Sure Is Something. maybe asbel?

friendship them with: finn! they have sort of an awkward relationship with the whole “im sorta your dad but im sorta not”. finn is his retainer first and his father figure second which sorta inflicts a formality that seliph doesnt have with oifey and shannan. speaking of awkward: im all about him trying to relearn a sibling relationship with altena about 15 years too late and also trying to get over that jealousy he has over her wielding gae bolg. as well as seliph, who he has a heavy case of hero worship for that will always make things a lil off

general opinions: good boy. havent played thracia yet where most of his development is, so most of the stuff I can tell you is that hes an amazing unit and a sweet, if not sorta fucked up, kid.

julia

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS

ship with: julias kinda hard to ship with anyone but i’m all about that femslash. especially julia/larcei (”WELL IF SELIPHS NOT GOING TO LET ME PROTECT HIM ANYMORE THEN I GUESS I’LL JUST HAVE TO PROTECT DEIRDRES NEXT HEIR” “lady larcei please no”)

friendship them with: seliphseliphseliphseliph. THATS HER BRO!! i want them to learn how to be siblings and i want seliph to teach her how to be less formal with him even if hes the ruler of grannvale. also im very intrigued by lewyn watching over her. i kinda wanna know what their interactions were like

general opinions: man she gets fucked over by the plot so hard. her and deirdre both. it should essentially revolve around them, theyre both the ones with naga blood. shes kidnapped, brainwashed, and is just generally used as a plot device without getting any real development. and yet i love her out of a combination of spite and heroes giving her extra dialogue. theres just so much potential there they didnt capitalize on. why kaga why

julius

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS

ship with: EXORCISM??? GETTING THE BOOK OF NAGA THROWN IN HIS FACE BY JULIA??? ISHTAR DUMPING HIS ASS????????

friendship them with: seliph and julia, if he ever gets his shit together

general opinions: ok another sorta wasted character. poor twins. if feel like they really dropped the ball by not showing any characterization of him outside of loptyr. hes just a kid who was essentially manipulated from birth to end up being this vessel. that sucks, but the player has no reason to care. we never see julius as anything other than a bad guy, it should really hit more that seliph and julias brother is actually satan but nah.

lyn

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS

ship with: rath, florina, also kinda ninian even if it doesn’t make much sense.

friendship them with:  eliwood and hector!! i also sorta ot3 them it depends on the day but good God i can not ship her with them separately. but yeah RBG trio is great, love their interactions.

general opinions: it sucks that after lyn mode she sorta gets shoved to the side but I do genuinely like her a lot as a character. I wouldn’t at all have minded if she took eliwoods role in the plot lmfao

[akampana]

3 for cutoria

3. “Do I really have to spell it out for you? I love you! Are you happy now?” This got a lil' long, so I put the rest under the cut. Hope you like!

___________ Sometimes, she wished she had a few more inches to her height, but then again, if she were any taller, it would be harder to escape being caged to the hallway.

“Rejected again? C’mon ‘Turia, I just want lunch. Can’t ya spend an hour away from those accounting books for an old friend?”

Arturia had known Cú a long time. They were in the same neighborhood, the same kindergarten, the same elementary school, the same high school, and even the same sports club. As far back as she could remember, Cú had been her friend, maybe even her best friend. No one else could claim to join her at lunch just to steal half the cookies Merlin always snuck into her bag.

Then puberty hit and everything just...changed. Cú Chulainn became quite the flirt, especially after the growth spurt that shot him up to six feet. Suddenly, he’d be seen cutting classes with Ferdiad, trying his luck with the school’s angel, Jeanne, occasionally even stealing away with Miss Pink-haired-and-Popular, to say nothing of the various girls he hit on in the hallway to the latter’s dismay.

He even began flirting with Arturia. Leaving blue flowers in her pockets, always sitting literally within her personal space, offering to carry her books and walk her home. She wished he wouldn’t be so coquettish. Especially when he didn’t mean it. Maybe then she could have walked out of high school with a heart that wasn’t broken in so many places.

Because no matter how close they got, no matter how many times she’d endeavor to make him smile, by the next day he’d be going out with someone else.

The few months in between graduation and uni, she’d tried to forget about the athletic boy-next-door, thinking that moving to a far-off city would aid the process. Fate must have had a grudge against her, because Cú ended up taking the scholarship from the very university she chose to attend. Now, she’d have to spend the next four years of university avoiding the person who decided literally everyone else was a better romantic option than her.

“Examinations are coming soon, Cú. I need all the time I can get if I want to do well,” she replied, dodging the hand that went for her wrist.

Unfortunately, the long-haired freshman was not deterred.

“C’mon,” he pleaded, clapping his hands together. “We haven’t hung out in ages. I didn’t see ya all break. And I had to sprint all the way here! Ya know how far my classes are from yours.”

Arturia pursed her lip, dismissing the thought that he’d gone out of his way to see her. Of course, he didn’t. Maybe he was just on his way to find some other lucky boy he’d given his number. He’d cut class a couple of times to see Diarmuid back in senior year. Running across campus wouldn’t be out of the question.

“No,” Arturia enunciated softly, veering left for the library. Her ‘old friend’ couldn’t follow her in. He’d brought his lunch and food wasn’t allowed in there. As soon as she’d gripped the handle though, she found herself yanked away into an empty hallway by an angry, impatient Cú.

“‘Turia.”

God, she hated how easily he threw out that nickname. But she loathed even more that she always, always had to respond to him.

“Why are ya avoiding me? It’s just me, shortie.”

Yes, just him. Him and that stupid boyish grin, that damn supernatural talent he had for making her laugh, that kind, kind heart she wished was hers.

“Because there’s no point, is there, Cú?” she muttered, her voice strained. “You will take me to lunch, we’ll have a good time, and then you’ll leave. Maybe have dinner somewhere nice, share a drink, and then you’ll leave. And maybe we keep doing that. Maybe you keep making me happy, making me feel so glad to have someone like you in my life, but I know you’ll leave because you never choose me.”

Cú raised an eyebrow, confused. “Ya see anyone else around—”

His phone chimed in his pocket, interrupting his train of thought. He pulled it out in haste, pressing the button to reject the call, but the damage had been done. Arturia didn’t even want to know who that was. There was already a long list of beautiful individuals she felt inferior to. She didn’t need to add one more.

“Please stop talking to me,” she whispered in haste. Arturia tried to leave, but everywhere she turned she was blocked. Stupid jock.

“Look,” he said carefully, gently squeezing her wrist. “If that’s what ya want, fine. I’ll be happy to leave you alone. I just can’t understand why—”

“—Do I really have to spell it out for you?” Arturia questioned, ripping her arm out of his grip. She was so tired. So tired of being strung along with all his flirtations only to be dropped the second he found something prettier and shinier to go crazy over. She was tired of being there for him during his break-ups, his make-ups, his crushes, of being the receiver of attention only when there was no other for him to focus on.

“I love you!” she admitted, cursing her foolish heart for ever wanting something that wasn’t meant to be. “Are you happy now?”

Tears began to form at the corners of her eyes. “I know I can’t ask you to love me back. But I have loved you, for...for so terribly long and...I can no longer be around you, Cú. It hurts too much.”

Her childhood friend froze, speechless at her confession. Before she knew what she was doing, her legs had rushed her back into her dorm, safe under the sheets.

Cú put his phone to his ear, feeling his chest ache with a pain so potent he didn’t know if he could ever recover. He’d been an utter fool, searching and searching for...hell, he didn’t know. It had taken graduation, being separated from Arturia for him to realize she was what he’d been missing this whole time. He should have known back then that there was a reason he kept pushing Scathách to keep sending him to the same school she was in.

“She reject you, brat?” his mentor’s voice came through the phone, offering little comfort.

“No,” he enunciated regretfully. “I did that myself.”