#times like these I miss my fgo units

[idliketochill]

I’m so behind in hsr story

[lian-fang-zun]

Family Moment [FGO HC group]

(Sort-of @nasuversekinkmeme fill for this prompt because idk if this really counts as...'shenanigans', but I'm always ready to promote my Jiang Ziya + Arjuna + Oberon familial unit hc lol. Also sorry for weird cut-off, I wasn't sure how to end it properly at this hour asdjgklh)

The first thing Arjuna was conscious of upon waking up was the additional weight in his lap.

The second thing, relatedly, was that he was lying on someone‘s shoulder.

It only took a few seconds of regained consciousness to figure out why and who for both. There was the fetch quest Ritsuka had assigned him and several other Servants to go on – ostensibly materials to enhance the stats of a new arrival – and then…

Glancing down, Arjuna saw the source of the additional weight – a small, faerie-like creature with platinum blond hair and a pure white outfit. Oberon Vortigern, in his more compact form, was curled up in his lap, still snoring softly away – probably tired out from having to utilize his skills to speed up the efficiency and power of the other party members’ Noble Phantasms. And as for whose shoulder he had been lying on…

“Are you awake, Arjuna?”

Arjuna turned his head to see Jiang Ziya, who was watching him with a slight tilt in his head. Though his smile remained the same as always, the look in his eyes radiated concern.

Concern for him…it was something he was still getting used to.

Arjuna nodded, successfully suppressing the unexpectedly human urge to yawn. “…Yes.” Then, more quietly, “Forgive me, I didn’t realize I’d been –”

“It’s alright, genuinely!” Jiang Ziya waved his apology off. “I was the one who let you in the first place.” He reached out to brush at Arjuna’s face with his thumb, his smile softening considerably in the process.

At least this time, Arjuna was expecting it. He almost leaned subconsciously into the touch before he caught himself – not just because of his lingering reservations, but because he didn’t want to disturb Oberon’s rest.

Not that he needed to worry, as it turned out. Oberon – mini-Oberon – shifted and let out a small yawn, stretching across Arjuna’s lap. “You two really are something to wake up to,” he announced with too much cheer, rolling over so he was facing Arjuna. “Did I miss anything important?”

[shuttershocky]

Hey, I just started Arknights (coming from fgo lol) and I'm not really sure what I'm doing. I got Gravel on my first roll, is that good? Should I be using records to level up my operators quickly, or should I save them? Are the starting characters like Yato and Rangers worth leveling? Sorry, I really like the game so far but I feel like I don't know what I'm doing.

Not to worry, I'm familiar with this dance

Raise your 3 stars first - The low rarity units in this game are surprisingly strong for the costs it takes to raise them, which is why any new player guide worth its salt will tell you to invest in them early rather than putting all your resources into your higher rarity units right away (who cost exponentially more to raise). Your 3 stars will be enough to carry you through the early story chapters as well as the resource farming stages, which will help you build your higher rarity units a lot easier.

Build your base - Clearing the early story chapters unlocks base building. Think about it as if you could build Chaldea / the Wandering Sea base and see your servants milling about. This is important because you can passively gain both LMD (the equivalent of QP) and records (embers) from your base by setting up factories to make gold and XP records, and a trading post to sell the gold. The farther you get in the main story, the more of the base you can unlock and build to really cut down on grinding time. Different operators will have different base skills that can improve your base too, and the 3 stars have some pretty strong ones which makes investing in them early even better!

Don't mind all the extra stuff yet - There's like a fuckton of game modes like Integrated Strategies, Stationary Security Service, or Contingency Contract that a new player shouldn't worry about. These are endgame shit for built players. Don't worry about missing out, rewards that are exclusive to IS or CC are permanently there so you don't have to fear missing out.

Don't completely max out characters - It's slower to raise characters in Arknights than it is in FGO, and you are NOT encouraged to totally max out a character's level because costs balloon with both levels and rarity. For example, if you have Gilgamesh in FGO and you stop at level 80 after getting his ascension 3, you'd be nuts, you're missing out on stats! But in Arknights, many people leave their operators at Elite 2 (Ascension 3 equivalent) level 40 or so even when their operators can go up to 90, because as a strategy / puzzle game your victory is a lot less dependent on stats than the strategic value of your solution, and also because levelling from Elite 2 50-90 is insanely expensive for minor stat increases. I say this having a fuckton of maxed out characters, don't do it it's horribly inefficient. Only max out an operator for love, since AK doesn't have a grails feature.

Pace Yourself - There's no need to rush. Any event that has already had a rerun becomes permanently added to the game via the "Side Stories" menu for you to play, and old welfare operators that have had their rerun some time ago will become permanently unlocked for new players to get anytime. You have a base that can passively farm LMD and XP for you, event shops give out lots of materials (just like in FGO, it's much easier to get mats from event shops, and event stages also have a lot of material drops), even perfectly clearing a stage unlocks an auto-deploy function for it, so even farming an event becomes as simple as pushing a button and then doing anything else with your time while the game plays itself.

Also to answer your question, Gravel is good yes, though not in a way you might be used to. Gravel's combination of having extremely fast redeploy time and having tank skills is great for new players still learning the game and using her to plug any holes in their defenses or fix mistakes, but then as you get more experienced you stop seeing a use for her. Then you get WAY more experienced and play the WAY HARDER endgame challenge content and you realize you need Gravel again.

Don't feel shy about asking for more help! It can be a really challenging puzzle game

[switch]

btw please do shakespeare for my lovely partner dan she needs more shakesfgo content bc it is dry out here

my man:

favorite thing about them

another proper dilf. thank fucking god. also he's a pretty good esports unit, i've used him a few times. he was one of the good parts of apoc.

least favorite thing about them

i don't think he's been utilized well by fgo comparatively. whether it's his general portrayal or just his sprite (lol). he's been really close to being another favorite for me, but... agh, i dunno, i feel like there's some potential being missed. it's frustrating.

favorite line

this dialogue almost made me start crushing on him way back in the day (also i cant find the screencap anymore but the old "william shakespeare is definitely the most" loading screen is legendary to me)

brOTP

KJJ BAYBEY LETS GO KJJ

OTP

i dunno, i guess he could fuck vlad and/or moriarty if he wanted. oh, right, i just remembered i have seen moriarty x shakespeare, yeah that one's pretty good too.

unpopular opinion

i'm so goddamn bored of every time they just make him hang out with the same characters please do something else

favorite picture of them

THE MORIARTY-PROXIMITY CONTEMPT METER

[gangler]

Miss Crane is awesome.

Most of the big support units I don’t like to spend too much time with because they’re connected to that larger Nasuverse and I know if I say anything about them on a public platform I’ll get hit with a million citations about why my opinion is wrong and stupid and obviously I’d know this if I’d read a fan translation for a rom of a game for some defunct console or something.

But Crane’s super cool and she’s an FGO Original! Everything there is to know about her can be known through this one game in my hand.

[morsking]

ah wait. moth’s next rate-up isn’t september of next year. it’s september of 2022. the year where voyager, eresh, musashi, castoria, and douman all appear. goddamn it.

[turbobyakuren]

Is it worth it to get into Arknights as a new player? I usually avoid getting into games like that unless they're new because then you miss out on a ton of limited/event stuff and feel way behind, so I wanna know before I go downloading like 2 gb with my slow as hell phone. I've heard good stuff about it plus the designs are nice and not as fanservice-y as other mobile games

I think someone who has a doctorate in Arknights can answer this question better than me, so this is just going to be my opinion, but frankly? Yes.

I downloaded Arknights since day one but only first played it after the Flamebringer event (which isn't a lot of time between launch and the moment i started, but that does mean i missed one free unit) and even though it is not a lot of time, I do feel you can get a similar experience 2 years in without experiencing Arknights from day one.

I do think the first few months you're gonna play Arknights are gonna be the months where you'll be building up everything. You'll have to build up your knowledge of the game: start small with the first operators you get and understand how the core gameplay functions, build up your operator pool through recruitment and gacha, build your base to get resources consistently and learn how the operator upgrades work. The game holds your hand through it all and with the amount of new content and QoL updates released, i assume it is fairly easy for any new player to enjoy this early game, which i think is the best early game a mobage has to offer. After that, you'll be good to go.

The only downside of being a new player is that the endgame contents (especially Contingency Contract, which is a limited-time hard mode event, as well as the recent events (although they are manageable)) are going to feel unfair to you, because you haven't had a sufficient number of operators raised to get through it. BUT i reassure you: i've been there and it will pass (i literally never finished the Code Of Brawl event stages until its rerun because i had literally only 2 operators raised to Elite 2).

When it comes to limited banners and events:

Limited Operators do exist, but they are not on the same level as, say, FGO (where every new servant is a limited character at this point). While Limited Operators do tend to be gamebreakers, they are not necessary to enjoy the game fully (this applies to literally every 6*) and you can count them on your two hands (7 limited operators so far in the EN server out of the 53 6* operators available).

Events are ALL available after they're concluded. Even the event stages. And the free units for the events that did get their proper rerun. YES you will be able to get your favourite Silly Pony Whislash. Literally.

I'm running out of time (i need to eat) and of things to say. I'm not sure if i wrote convincing arguments. AND If someone has something to add, they are welcome to. BUT the bottom line is: arknights is super fun, is successful for a reason and is VERY VERY VERY VERY beginner friendly AND free-to-play friendly. I do recommend giving it a try so you can see if you like it enough to stick with it or if it's not your cup of tea.

Seize your destiny. Join the Whislash Monastery. Now.

[blaster-aichi]

Cardfight!! Vanguard Extra Story IF 17—19 things

feat some overdue screaming

IF 17

said overdue screaming

Without the context of epi 19, Kourin’s reference to original memories stands out as incredibly peculiar. Miwa’s response, while fitting for anyone else, could have an entirely new meaning after the revelation at 19′s conclusion, we’ll get there in theoryland.

Never knew needed Kai-kun working part-time jobs but it has become a huge need, thanks writers.

That’s gay. But it does suggest that the possible ruptures in IF’s reality aren’t isolated to Shin and Kamui in the previous episode. It would be nice to see any other instances from the possible ripple effect.

pre-19: “oh this face is a mood”. post-19: “different character but hmmmmm”

With all the Legion Mate comparisons floating around from the get-go, Naoki’s method in tackling his regret is an intriguing choice against his past efforts. In Link Joker, Legion Mate and the second half of the manga/Reboot, Naoki’s objective was to make for his inaction going forward and earn Aichi’s forgiveness. If given the opportunity to go back and redo things, he may have taken it, though having heard from Aichi personally that he’s thankful for everything and everyone that he’s connected with as a result of how events played out, Naoki may not have had the heart to do so. Without that talk, it’s natural that, instead of looking ahead and atoning, Naoki’s turning backwards, it’s a neat contrast.

The series has always built up the relationship between Aichi and Blaster Blade but the relationship between Kai-kun and Dragonic Overlord is so precious, it’s a shame that it wasn’t delved into prior to the past couple of years. The notion of evolving circling the both of them is incredibly fitting, with the history they’ve had in both continuities and the duality of their approaches. (It might have been occupying thoughts a lot since, the scene was so poignant).

Between his soldiers attacking during their first (onscreen) attempt to reach the root of the problem and Emi’s subsequent admission, props to Aichi for isolating it and cutting it off to anyone that tries to interfere, hoping it’s a part of any explanation to his reality warping (assuming it was him, until today, it seemed the only viable reason).

The comparison between Naoki and Kai-kun had me believe the former might join up with the main party as a nod to being there by the latter from beginning to end of Legion Mate, being both characters harbouring regrets (if Kai-kun were to regret that his IF life takes away from the happiness of the Outside World characters).

I just really, really, really love this scene. That is all.

Bless for highlighting the irony in the KaiAi units being adversaries.

Did I mention this is joint-favourite IF epi with epi 7? It’s not, it is and here’s one of many reasons why.

Reason #57 why: the battle choreography.

“Aichi Sendou isn’t the one you want to save”. Makes you wonder who was out to save the object of their regret and who was out to save themselves.

For a moment, had believed Naoki was not-dying (Retiring?) and being returned to the Outside World, somewhat surprised it hasn’t been utilized more beyond the Ultra Rare teams diving into the Akashic Book from.

Very Soft Cardfight. That is all.

Somewhere, original continity Naoki is screaming.

Tell this to your Link Joker self, please.

IF 18

On the one hand, Kai-kun walking around in Miyaji (with or without the context of IF), on the other hand, Bushi Eats.

Probably due to cracks coming from him getting a glimpse of the original reality, but Shingo cares an enormous amount for someone who, just a couple of episodes ago, said all the products in Card Capital were going to make him lose his mind.

“Awful big brother”. Laughs with shovel. (Comparatively, he’s brother of the year.)

PEDAL FASTER.

Love how Masaki and Shinji are named to overlap with their brothers’.

He’s going to fucking murder you.

[Kourin voice] Aichi is tired. [Me voice] As am I of your bullshit.

Wingal took so much time to train that it was only on his third appearance that he didn’t attack anyone. Also soft? So very soft.

NO THAT’S SO CUTE DAMN IT.

I have so much to say about Aichi missing Emi but also she’s barged in twice and you blasted out our of the castle on both occasions. Bullshit.

Do not pull the Legion Mate with me, boy.

Is he super dissociated because how do you even in the face of this?

It’s not just that he shouted her name, but the tone of his voice shouting at her. Thinking about just how extreme it is in comparison to the Aichi she knows and has kept company is pretty chilling.

Just how aggressive Aichi has become within the IF World is alarming; on only two occasions has he let anger get the better of him and one of those two wasn’t so bad. If this is to play on how warped he was going into the fight with Ibuki, good play on the writers’ part.

Semi-related to the above; with exception of three characters (Emi, Rati and Voidkuto), Aichi’s always used honorifics, and attached one to Kourin’s name, so to hear him address her without one is jarring, for lack of a better word.

THE BIG RED FLAG: Aichi’s expression in seeing Kourin having acted of her own accord (and potentially disobey him) smacks of two things:    — his perceived crumbling control over the Sanctuary Knights, coupled with Naoki and Shingo’s desertion (his lack of reaction to the latter is bizarre, as it lends itself to and could bolster his hatred of Vanguard)    — insinuates he never had control, but was allowed to think that he did. There’ll be a section beneath 19, which itself does a lot to fuel the flames of this suspicion, that will consolidate thoughts and the theory that’s been brewing since this episode last week.

On the subject of 19, Miwa being so nonchalant and passive about everything makes a lot more sense.

Let the girls fight physically more.

UBW Archer Class Meme-y Dialogue tingles.

Naoki and Shingo holding down the fort is very sweet, particularly when Shingo was alone in that task last time.

IF 19

Alarm bells rings first thing in the morning.

The irony in past Ibuki preventing Kai-kun going to Aichi after the past dozen episodes, there are no words.

Odd that the caveat of meeting yourself from another point in time presents itself when it didn’t occur in the first two episodes, unless, at least in this case, it applies only to past events.

There’s trying not to yell FGO at things and then there’s brain yelling “Lostbelt!” at Ibuki.

Rekka and Ren’s appearances gives me hope they’ll resurface; the main characters and audience know where their target is, so would like to think word will somehow get to them. (Speaking of. Nome? Where the fuck are you during all this?)

Episode loves playing with unsettling sights, very fitting for messing Ibuki’s head around, but simultaneously, making it apparent just how much of a threat Kourin specifically is.   — On a related note: Kourin beats out Ren, Leon, Sera, Voidkuto and IF Aichi to have the most nightmarish face and I Am Afraid. Give Aichi a face like that al you’ll irreparably wound my psyche.

Intense Vibrating. They’re setting up Ibuki’s Deleting Aichi is relevant, it was the only one Kourin didn’t touch on in the episode and I am burning.

How dare you montage their time together with that music and then cut to this!

Did everyone else forget Jammers were a thing or was it just me being dumb?

Everyday I relate to Kai Toshiki.

Just going to appreciate Kai-kun gushing over giant robots in the middle of battle.

Kai-kun!Blaster Blade vs Greion giving me intense flashbacks to Aichi watching Kai-kun’s image in Blaster Blade sacrificing himself to try and fend off Greion just before he got Deleted and SCREAMS.  — Once that fight is brought up directly, if you listen, you’ll hear Rena screaming in the distance.

If there’s anyone who has no room to talk it’s Miss This Thirsty For Aichi. Also when did you two switch places of tease and teased?

“Oh shit, he’s going to Delete Kai-kun”. “Oh okay, false alarm, thank G—” “OH NO SHIT HE’S ACTUALLY GOING TO DO IT!”  — On an actual note, seeing the three regrets prominent in this season all take separate routes is interesting; Shuka working to correct her wrongs in the present and moving ahead, Naoki trying to travel back and alter things from the point of origin and Ibuki being twisted to no longer feel regret, seek repentence and rather to repeat his actions.  — Ibuki vs Aichi flashbacks intensify.  — Also, mid-fall dab.

Double Agent Miwa is a blessing, who knew his acting skills were so good? Although the begs the question (if he was flat-out planted as a mole) how he earned Kourin and/or Aichi’s trust to become a Sanctuary Knight in the first place

IF 20 preview: HYPE! HYPE! HYPE!

Theoryland (Screaming):

Miwa being Takuto or Nome’s Outside World partner:

In both Rekka and Suiko’s cases, there was a companion venturing in alongside them, both of whom are friends of Kai-kun and the same age. Perhaps, Miwa may have been in league with one of the Tatsunagi brothers (having determined Aichi’s motivation and Kai-kun’s position in all this, calling on his closest friend to match the girls’ partners) through whom he gained insight into the situation and moved in order to protect Kai-kun; working from the inside to weasel information out of the others, understand how they operate, monitor their activities to keep Kai-kun out of their sights, (find Takuto, if with Nome) and maybe (find a means to or actively make an effort himself to) drag Aichi out of his current state. It may be that, instead of Sanctuary, his abduction of Kai-kun had the destination of a rendezvous with Nome until the girls’ interference and the entire incident went off the rails.

Aichi as a puppet king and Kourin the true human antagonist:

Since his expression in seeing Kourin on the offensive without his say-so, it’s been on my mind that Aichi hasn’t actually been in a position of power whatsoever throughout IF, but he’s been led to believe he is, and the act might be withering. As "original" memories factor into it and Ultra Rare’s were lost at the end of the main Reboot continuity plot, it’s possible they may be on the line as they were in Link Joker/Legion Mate.  — As she’s aware there are such memories, it’s possible that they were triggered into resurfacing when Takuto appeared within IF World and encountered her and Aichi, leading to his capture and confinement, so as not to cause any further damage to the world fabricated.  — Alternatively, she might be acting in order to keep the force (a Brandt remnant remains my personal suspicion) that has Aichi in his current state at bay. Her unease in seeing him hanging above the scene outside Sanctuary as she attacked the others might suggest that she was worried it could break loose, as she’s never been one to be rattled. This is why “human” was specified above, because whatever the case, any corruption in Aichi is evidently the overarching antagonist force.

Additionally, throughout the season, Kourin has been fiercely territorial around Aichi, speaking and acting on his behalf, while keeping the other Sanctuary Knights at an arm’s distance. She alone enters his private quarters, sees him in pain, and (no, haven’t given up entirely on the right eye thing, there have been other people around when he’s outside his Alfred form and it was visible) privy to any secret circulating him (as well as IF’s true nature), while keeping the others in teh dark. Her reasoning may be wanting to keep him under he thumb or prevent whatever’s inside/in control of him from running rampant.

And in regards to Ibuki, Aichi made the declaration about casting him elsewhere, but Kourin was the one who enacted it, and the sole player in manipulating him to switch sides. There’s no certainty that Aichi is even aware, much like he might not be conscious of Naoki’s betrayal.  — Her being responsible for recruiting might also explain why Misaki was never a Sanctuary Knight: Kourin desired she have an ordinary, happy life, not unlike Aichi’s wish for Kai-kun.

In a truly ironic turnabout, it looks to be that Kourin is IF’s Sera.

[megashadowdragon]

what celtic-pyro said  below

I just…hm…I think Lostbelt 2 had its flaws, for sure, but I don’t think all the criticisms being hurled at it are entirely fair.

First, people saying the “girls need to have kids by 15″ thing is a gross kink thing: I disagree. It’s fully intended to be disgusting, disturbing and unsettling. A clear sign of how dystopian this world is for humans that everyone who isn’t Gerda only reacts to with horror and shock. Gerda herself merely states it as a fact of life in the human settlements and there’s no moment where anyone is pressuring her to have children by 15 (beyond the implicit societal pressure at least). What bothered me about Agartha a lot was the way the female-on-male abuse was framed in an almost fetishistic context and jokes were made about it, like Astolfo joking about how he’d look cute in chains (bonus points for character derailment there). We don’t get that in LB2. I don’t mind ‘dark’ themes within a work as long as they’re handled in a way that doesn’t glorify or fetishize them and LB2 definitely did neither of those things.

Second, certain comments made by characters that caused many to cry “Romani’s law” over. Caenis’s remarks about Ophelia in particular were…interesting, at least in the context of his/her relation to Wodime. Their name escapes me but I saw a REALLY good analysis on him/her that put many of Caenis’s early dialogue in LB1 and LB2 into perspective (I’m so sorry my brain’s kind of fried so I forget what your name is!). I’d like to say overall that Fate is a franchise dealing with characters from history, so unsurprisingly they’ll sometimes say something politically incorrect (looking at you, Napoleon!). Plus, given the society she lived in and her own personal traumas, Caenis making that “cracked jar of oil” comment about Ophelia seemed fairly in-character, because it may have been how she saw herself when That happened.

Third, Napoleon’s one-sided crush on Ophelia. While he started off pretty immature about it, he recognizes that pursuing her may not be what she wants, and furthermore, could end up jeopardizing the mission. This is why he forms a temporary contract with you. I was fully expecting him to go off the rails obsessing over her (as one other FGO player had claimed he did) but I actually like how he ended his role in the Lostbelt chapter. Selflessly using his final moments to reach Ophelia so she could free herself of Surtr’s control and get to safety. It reminded me a little of Cu Chulainn’s (equally one-sided) crush on Rin, and how he similarly ends up saving her at the cost of his own life. (Alright it’s no secret Napoleon was my far my favorite thing about Lostbelt 2, he was just fantastic all around and added a lot of flair to cutscenes on top of being a top-tier free anti-Divine unit with great gameplay)

Fourth, Scathach=Skadi. I’m still less than happy that the devs went and made her a ScathachFace, and the in-universe explanation didn’t really do much in the way of telling us why Scathach, specifically, was chosen to be merged with Skadi, beyond a clever nod to a very niche, New Age conspiracy of the two being one and the same person. Having said that, this chapter warmed me up just a tiiiiiiiny bit to Skadi as a character. I really wish she’d simply been her own character separate from Scathach, just one with similar themes in her backstory, but I digress. I ended up not hating Skadi, only that she effectively body-snatched my wife the Godslayer.

Fifth, the dialogue apparently being repetitive. I didn’t really notice it too much? I guess the overarching themes were repeated a lot (love, hate, killing and sparing, ice and fire etc) but it didn’t seem that overbearing. Maybe it’s just me but I wasn’t noticing it getting to be a bore.

EDIT: One more criticism I don’t agree with, that Napoleon had no place in the Lostbelt chapter and should’ve been in Lostbelt 1. Yes, getting to shine in Anastasia would’ve let him finally take revenge on his Grand Armee’s defeat against the Russian Winter, and he also fittingly represents revolution and enlightenment. But otherwise he doesn’t really tie into the overall plot of the Russian Lostbelt, nor would he be much good against the Yaga or Ivan. Gotterdammerung, meanwhile, is full of Divine enemies where Napoleon’s anti-Divine Noble Phantasm was a huge boost.

Plus (and I made another post about this) he’s a literary foil of sorts to Salieri. A similarly fictionalized identity of a person who really existed in history, who offers something to that Lostbelt that both its people and its Crypter either didn’t have or were missing. Russia didn’t have music, and while the Yaga had no need for it, it was something Kadoc missed and something that helped us defeat Ivan. The children of Gotterdammerung had no heroes, nor wishes or dreams, but it was something Ophelia desperately needed, and it was through the things Napoleon represented that Surtr was defeated and Ophelia saved.

Now one criticism I think IS fair: Ophelia definitely deserved better. Without question. I’d have liked to have learned more about her or seen her have a subplot of having to choose between her friendship with Mash and her love for Wodime, or of being able to live without her Mystic Eye laying out every possibility for her and having to make those choices of her own accord. Or being able to fangirl over having Sigurd without Surtr’s influence, or getting to meet Napoleon a second time. There were SO many things the story could’ve done with her character arc, and I’m mad we’ll never get to see any of it in canon.

[homeinchaldea]

FGO 2020 Recap (+ some of 2021 Goals)

2020 is... a not very good year. From the COVID-19 still at large, to the complications / fallout that followed the pandemic. It’s safe to say that the year overall is pretty garbage.

And yet, 2020 is also where I pretty much have a full blast with FGO, for better or worse. I have finished part 1 of the story (may proceed to part 1.5 / 2 in next year), got good rolls along with bad ones, and overall have a good time in spite of my mixed feelings of the game. Perhaps the game did help me with coping of this year, and perhaps will continue so.

Perhaps someday I would feel burnout and decide to quit, but with I have things to look forward to, it would be a long road before my end with the game.

Without further ado, here’s the 2020 recap + 2021 goals.

TW Server:

It took me around a year for me to finish part 1 (in both accounts).

Watching some of the FGO videos (e.g. Honako Green or John Peacekeeper) has convinced me to finish part 1 with my own servants, instead of just rushing through part 1 relying on Friend Support Servants.

It is one thing to finish the story. It is another thing to do so while witnessing and investing the growth of the Servants and Master as they move towards the journey to save humanity. It’s such a long time, that I end up having at least one bond CE for each account.

Perhaps some day I might draw some artworks based on the journey, but being a procrastinator with too much mental block to even start creating, maybe someday if I have time + drive to do so.

Rolling Result + Goals:

Insofar 7 SSRs in the main account and 4 in the alt account (thanks Professor).

Back in last year, I thought the idea of getting a single SSR is merely a myth (I got 2 SSRs in the alt account, but none of them in the main acc).

That changed in this year’s 3rd anniversary, first with the GSSR, and later the spooks in the Skadi banner (I’m still grateful for Drake and Lartoria to come home. They make farming much, much easier).

It’s also great to get servants to complete the collection, like the KOTR in the main account (someday I’ll get Gareth, and hopefully Mordred to fully complete the Group), or the Apocrypha Servants in the alt account. The difference does make the experience.

As for the new (and not-so-new) Servants from next year, the ones I most look forward to include:

Sakamoto Ryouma

I missed the event back when it was on January, because I haven’t finished part 1 yet, but now with the rerun most likely coming next month, I am now more than qualified to get best FGO couple

Asclepius

I know that Arjuna Alter is the most coveted servant in the LB4 Banner (and with very good reason) but insofar I pretty much give up the prospect of getting the limited SSRs. Right now I’m just content of getting best story-locked snek medic home.

Mori Nagayoshi

I just find this character neat and I aim to get him at least NP3, NP5 if lucky.

The Bronze Servants from the 4th Anniversary (but especially Gareth and Chen Gong)

I just need Grand Bomber Chen Gong in my team to reunite with Lu Bu and Red Hare. I may not have the full Support Team (The Big Four) insofar to support his playstyle flawlessly but he seems a pretty fun unit.

Also I need Gareth to further complete the KOTR Collection. All KOTRs are Gold and I will make sure of that via grails

and finally, Mandricardo

As far as I know, the character is pretty relatable, and I heard he had a pretty heartrending scene with the protagonist in the Lostbelt. 

Also, My Friendo deserves more friends in Chaldea.

There are some servants that I wish to get next year, but may take less priority than the ones I mentioned above. An example would be Merlin from the upcoming Summer 4 Banner, since he makes a great Buster Support + NP Spamming Staller, and I do need to get him to complete the collection of KOTR / Romani Remembrance Squad.

But if I cannot get him in next year, well I guess I’ll have to deal with it.

JP Server:

While I was pretty late in joining in (and understanding Japanese much worse than other servers), overall the experience is…nice? From getting Waver via SSR ticket, to getting more SSRs than I expected from an account less than a year old, the experience does feel smoother / more enjoyable than I would expected.

10 SSRs, with 5 Limited and 5 Permanent (Welfare Waver Included). Sometimes I wonder if it’s because of the increased SSR drop rate in the JP server.

JP server does feel a bit different from other servers. Whereas I have Clairvoyance EX / References to look up for other servers, I cannot do the same for the JP server (mainly because it’s the main server). As such, it felt like I am in the front row of a lottery where there’s always an element of surprise. I can never tell if the next update would be treasure or forgettable fluff for me.

It was also from the rolling results that I truly get the concept of Desire Sensor.

Somehow in most of my rolls, I fail to get the servants I aim for (RIP T-Rex, Moth Emperor and Hobo Assassin) and got the Servants (sometimes SSR!) I did not aim or care for. Guess Desire Sensor is very Real and is now messing with me.

Another thing I did not expect, but do enjoy immensely, are the updates of some non-gold servants. Like, does anyone expect David getting the Anti-Giant NP buff he deserves? Or Bedivere / Arash / Georgios getting an animation update at all? Or even a Bedivere Costume Dress? (Okay it’s related to the Camelot movie so it’s kinda expected, but since Gold Servants tend to be favoured because money, seeing updates for non-gold servants are pretty unexpected and more often than not, very welcome)

I can conclude that this is indeed, Bedivere’s Year, and I, a Bedi stan, do welcome it.

Overall I have nothing much to look forward in 2021 due to lack of reference. All I can wish for is playable Adult Ushi (plz put her in New Year Banner I’m begging), and LB6 to drop by in it’s full quality (Agravain + Kay/Percival/Knight Guy from 2nd OP + Morgan servant when DW?????)

To conclude with the article (and year): So Far, So Good.

[sweetsandloveforall]

Good Morning to everyone out there! Hope we are all staying safe and healthy during the pandemic! This is a post that’s about stuff floating in my mind so here is what I’m going to discuss

1. Nutrition!!!

2. Overwatch Echo!!

3. Someone omg please tell me what the fuck is happening in FGO, I’m new to the game and omfg

4. Unemployment spike and jobs that are hiring

Whooohoo!! Let’s start off with 1.Nutrition!! Everyone seems to be misguided by what the fuck should we be eating and how much. Do not fear! I have resources! After a year of continued collaborated research in keto, paleo, and carnivore, my fiancé and I have found that one of the most healthiest and well rounded lifestyles out there are the three I mentioned above. While they are tough in the first month due to additives in our foods to make us addicted to crap. Carbs are like Diesel fuel is to a four door Sedan. What, you say? Yea, your car might run but it won’t run good and it’s bad for your car to run fuel that doesn’t even match the vehicle type. Now imagine you switch to the best fuel, now for your body, that’s fat :) Animal fat, oils, butters (avocado oil, avocados, coconut oil, beef suet, bone broth, ghee butter, etc). Check up this highly regarded doctor, Paul Saladino and he will tell you everything. Do you have issues sleeping or skin issues? Check. Him. Out. I promise 🙏🏻 2. OVERWATCH ECHO OMG! So I’m a liiiiiiiiiiil’ disappointed that she a dps than a support cause everyone knows we need more supports and not dps lol there are more dps than tanks and support numbers combined and yet the developers want us to play more support and tank while they nerf us to the ground. I am exciting of her ult capabilities however! Definitely be using that to my advantage! I have SOOOO many ideas that it’s not even worth texting them all out lol but I’m excited and it’s super refreshing to have a new character before overwatch 2 comes out. She will be a force to be reckoned with in the air but so is pharah so I’ll just play my toxic soldier:76. That’s right, I’m a gross widow/soldier main for dps role, EW. At least I’m not a GENJI main.....yet xD People going to get so mad with echo and I’m going to be enjoying the hate like I always do, support mains unite. I’m at a point in overwatch where I love to just tilt people as a support. My favorite support to use is Ana or Moira, just send that damage orb into the room and you die LOL POTG right there, did it to a hog last night, kept sending a damage orb to the room he was at every time he was low and hate messaged me after we won, that’s a huge victory for Moira mains xD idc what people say about Moira, I love her and y’all just bad, she easy to kill. I swear my fingers have aimbot for Moira cause as widow, I just headshot her constantly 😂. 3. Fate/Grand Order, I’m super new to the fandom, like I’m the meme with the guy holding the pizza and walks into the room full of fire and destruction lol I’m enhancing my buddies (I dislike using the word, servant, like I know that’s the game lingo and I’m the “master” but...LOL NO. I ain’t nobody’s master and ain’t nobody my servant lol we all family here) anyway, I’m beginning the fourth singularity and my highest character is Nero right now. Anyone please hit me up with advice or tips or anything because one side of me feels like I’m playing the game right but the other side feels like I’m missing a bunch of shit. I’m just focusing on side quests rn before I continue and master missions (also daily quests and enhancing the fuck out of my buddies). I’m very conservative over my saint quartz over seeing so many memes about not having any xDD hit me up!!! Okay, now the big topic, 4. Unemployment spike, lots of you should know that the US hit up to 30 MILLION people unemployed due to the pandemic, here are some tips in case you are one of the victims affected. Doordash is hiring, just literally sign up and they deliver you a bag, your card, download the app and you’re ready to go. Grub hub, Uber eats, they are hiring and in big demand! To keep track of your mileage, use free apps in stores that do it for you! You get tax deductions for the miles you drive. Some Safeway’s are hiring right now too! I’ve seen them posting! Selling stuff you don’t need like a random electronic, cable, book. Half price books will buy your book. Academic books costs a good amount of money, up to 80$ alone depending on the material. Please stay safe all!!

[smokeybrand]

Master Class

The BlueStacks thing worked and i have access to my FGO account again! Man, it’s been a year apparently. I thought it was less than that. It’s weird returning to this game after so long. Everything is so different. I had to re-acclimate to my account. I rolled into the end of that Battle of New York event so i missed that. Might partake in the rerun. I got a ton of the 15 missions to finish but I'm definitely putting those off for about a week because of leveling. I missed out on Abby and that f*cking sucks I wanted SO badly to try and roll my adorable Old One. Maybe next time. As a way of just re-familiarize myself, i wanted to run through the available Classes we have now. There’s quite a few and i need to catch up!

Saber

Saber is my favorite Class. I mean, off course it is. The majority of my favorite Servants are in this class. Artoria Alter, Gozen, Nero, Lakshmibai, Gawain, and obviously, Modred. Modred is love. As a Class, Sabers make for great vanguards, man. They often deal a sh*t ton of damage and take a good amount before they crap out. That said, they get eaten up by Archers, man. It feels like that Affinity advantage hits a little harder on my swords-wielders. Favorite Saber: Mordred

Archer

Archers and i have a love hate relationship. They’re dope, don’t get me wrong, but they never seem like they’re properly strong. They feel like Archers to me, if you can understand that weirdness. Like, they’ll take you out but it’ll definitely cost a lot more effort than a strong Saber. Still, the characters are dope and the animation to their Noble Phantasms are almost always epically cinematic like Atalante’s Phoebus Catastrophe or EMIYA’s Unlimited Blade Works. Favorite Archer: Gilgamesh

Lancer

Lancers are my second favorite Class, mostly because of Cu. Cu gets bad rap most of the time. Dude is hilarious. Also Diarmuid. They did dude dirty in Zero. I enjoy Lacers mostly because of how well balanced they feel. They dish a good amount of damage while maintaining a decent amount of defense. They’re not as hardbody as Sabers and, indeed, get absolutely rag-dolled by them, but they stand their own against the other Classes fairly well. Favorite Lancer: Karna

Rider

Riders are a quandary to me. So many of them are throw away characters, weak as sh*t, but then you get absolute powerhouses out of nowhere. Francis Drake, Iskander, Quetzalcoatl, Ivan the Terrible, and Ozymandias will ruin your whole ass day if they’re spec’d right but the rest of the entire available Servant int this class are negligible. Even so, they hold a special place in my heart because my darling Medusa is a Rider. Also, Swimsuit Mordred is Rider so this Class got that going for it, too. I do adore all things Mo. Favorite Rider: Medusa

Caster

I hate Casters. They feel so goddamn weak, all of the time. If you’re not firing off a Noble Phantasm, they’re whack and, even when you do that, there is a real good chance it’s a support spell or some sh*t. I don’t need to debuff anything, f*cking do some damage, clown! This entire class is like utility because there is no way they are relevant in a real battle. Favorite Caster: Swimsuit Nero

Assassin

Ah, the Assassins. These motherf*ckers area whole ass frustration. Don’t misunderstand, i like them, they’re physical powerhouses, but can a cat get an Anti-Army Noble Phantasm at least once? All of these thing are focused on single unite attacks and threat can make for some dangerous play, man. Ludicrously OP play, but you have the same chance of dying as your opponent running these sneaky bastards. Favorite Assassin: Semiramis

Berserker

Berserkers area waste, man. All of that power, all of that ludicrous violent potential, and they’re always at an Affinity disadvantage due to the Madness curse. It f*cking blows because these beasts are real f*cking weapons of mass destruction, you know? I never use Berserkers for that exact point, unless going up against a swath of other Berserkers. That’s the only viable time you can use them efficiently and that sh*t almost never happens in game. Favorite Berserker: Ibaraki Douji

Ruler

Rulers are as useless as Caster but, somehow, disappointingly, moreso. They at least got a dope aesthetic, though. They also take half damage from literally every other Class. That’s cool, i guess. Favorite Ruler: Amakusa Shiro

Avenger

I love Avengers, man. Love em! These things are always dope. Great power. Great defense. Dope aesthetic. These things get it rough from Moon Cancers but everyone else is at their mercy, especially if you leveled them correctly. I have a few Avengers, personally, and one is literally the second card i maxed out fully. I’ll let you guess who it it is. Hint - She’s a Medusaface. Space Ishtar, Alter Jeanne, and Demon Nobu are also worthy of mention. Favorite Avenger: Gorgon

Moon Cancer

Moon Cancers are just an excuse to shove in more Sakurafaces in the form of BBs and i am here for it. The more Sakura i can get, the happier i am. I love Sakura. I don’t care for Moon Cancers as a whole Class, though. Also, i don’t have any anyway. F*ck em! Favorite Moon Cancer: Summer BB

Alter Ego

Alter Egos are so confusing to me. Like, why are they a thing? Why are they just not Alters or whatever? There is a legitimate reason, i know they are separate version that gained sentience and not just a different facet of the same character or whatever the explanation was, but even so, sh*t i contrived nonsense and i kind of love it. Nasu is absolutely known for it’s convolution and Alter Ego are no different. They’re the most TYPE-Moon sh*t ever, after Saberfaces. Favorite Alter Ego: Sesshoin Kiara

Foreigner

Foreigners are a blessing, aren’t they? Motherf*ckers are wonky as f*ck and just Some of the dopest Servant in all of Fate lore originate in this Class. F*cking Voyager, Yang Gufei, XX, Katsushika Hokusai, and two versions of my darling Abby Williams. And i don’t have any of them. F*ck my life, bro. Just, f*ck it all up, man. Favorite Foreigner: Abby Williams

That is all the available classes in Fate/Grand Order right now and, i think, all of them in the Fate franchise as whole. I’m sure there are some weirdly loose ones like Gunner or Faker. Once upon a time, the only wonky class was Avenger but now we got all these new ones, and just call them Extra Classes. It’s ridiculous. It’s all very much Nasu and i am having the best time revisiting my favorite franchise from the Nasuverse! Speaking of Extra, for the record, my favorite Servant in the Beast Class is Tiamat. You can’t Summon her, so it felt like a cheat to put her on the actual list but i do enjoy me some ancient Sumerian Dragon-Mother.

[pangtasias-atelier]

This is absolutely completely random, especially since I doubt anyone here has heard of Food Fantasy, much less played it, but it's just a silly little story that makes me happy.

Cause I used to be absolutely hooked to the game, and even though it was a chore, I would always feel compelled to continue and do all the dailies and weeklies cause, I just couldn't let myself fall. And then it also became an issue of collecting every single unit in the game and it just wasn't healthy at all. Especially with how much of a time sink it was and with just how predatory it is. Like, if y'all think FEH is starting to get predatory, it is nothing to the absolute horrors of Food Fantasy. And I fell for it, it was a game that gave me something to do in probably one of my most upsetting times in life. (not like I'm ever happy lmao but that's not something I wanna really get into) so it helped simultaneously buey me yet drag me down.

Until one day, I decided, to just quit! An idea so unfathomable to me, but I went through with it. Screenshotting my URs and info just in case, cause heavens forbid I let all that meaningless progress go.

And then I just... stopped playing or even caring about it. And while I will say FGO has filled in the hole, so I did essentially trade one vice for another, FGO has been much kinder mentally and emotionally with having so much more people, aka one friend andksn, to gush about it with. Plus FGO being admittedly nearly 100% free of predatory behavior in its UI and also format.

And the only reason I even bother to bring it up is now having redownloaded Food Fantasy just now, I just can't bring myself to even care about it. Seeing its state, the exact state it was when I left, just opens my eyes to how awful it is. Alongside with seeing how pitiful my collect would be considered, I simply don't care about it. Only having 32 URs out of 43, it made me feel ambivalent, whereas I would've felt awful just missing one UR back then. And these were units I so desperately wanted before I quit, the global server months behind the Chinese one. Units locked behind heavy premium currency costs, locked behind competitive cashgrab ranking systems and special *for sale* specials. Of which the last means absolutely nothing when you realize it's all fake virtual BS for a game that'll ultimately shutdown in a few years as most gacha games do.

And there's no real purpose to me sharing this outside of just wanting to share it, but it makes me really happy to see a chapter of my life that wasn't for the better be completely over. :)

I've already redeleted the app.

[aemoglobin]

anyways all of my mobage decided to pile on me this month

fgo went back-to-back with events so i need to grind through the elizabeth revival’s 100 missions, THEN finish using the last 7k of my gilfest tickets, and grind through LB2 (probably during the last half of the revival and/or during dead week (if we get one)) so i can participate in the new halloween and xmas events this year. will probably end up skipping chunks of the story, like i did for LB1, but that’s okay bc everyone spoiled the story for me anyways :)

bandori has the popipa halloween event which means 5k tier! hell! and i rolled once for dreamfes kasumi but only got chisato lmao KASUMI PLEASE COME HOME I MISS YOU!! i have ONE (1) whole Kasumi 5* and that’s her initial one and that’s only because i got my account from someone who was doing rerolls T^T plus i gotta save more stars for the ReZero collab!! i really want the cards from this collab and i know i won’t get Rinko but i have to try T^T i can’t afford to spark in bandori lol ain’t nobody got money for that

crash fever’s anniversary is in oct so they have brand new units and i have 3k poly (which is enough to get to step 7, which is usually the step for a guaranteed c65 unit (not necessarily the featured one, but any c65 helps))! and of course they just announced the DanMachi collab :))))) so i can either use my polygons for the anniversary unit OR for Hestia’s unit (which is currently SS tier, meta-wise). also i really like hestia danmachi sooooooo......i can either be gay or save for anniversary. (the last RZ collab i did NOT get Rem or Emilia so i will be sad if i can’t get Hestia in 7 steps).

line play brought back the atelier items from last halloween, so i gotta grind for materials. i can’t afford the auto-farming butler (it’s cash only, like everything good in this damn app) so i gotta do it myself. so far i’ve already made the mission items for the first two sets. once the third set comes back, i’ll work on that since those items are prettiest. 

llsif and t7s are giving me a break this time which is nice. llsif is still in its weird c0vid event phase- the 7 SR event type which is a pain to complete but i’ve been trying my best lol. i’m saving my gems on main for Dia’s birthday and waiting for the pair URs on my side acct- want to roll for the Dia&Ruby or Honoka/Eli ones. t7s is doing TTNN this week, which means going for the G card and not much else. i don’t tier as often in t7s bc they raised the points reqs for their cards by A LOT while also tightening the tiers, so since i’m f2p it’s harder to tier. it used to be pretty easy for f2p to tier but now it’s not....

[morsking]

just started arknights, any tips for someone starting?

1. do not ignore your 3-stars, it’s vital to build a core team of operators that fill different roles if you want to progress. 3-stars are really cheap to level and promote, so they’ll be perfectly viable to fill a roster with some even being perfectly suitable for harder content.

2. it’s ok to rely on supports to clear stages when first starting out. while you won’t be able to use auto-deploy to farm for materials, you can always go back and clear it without supports when your own operators are stronger. there is no shame in looking up guides if you can’t figure something out, everyone does it.

3. on that same vein, your supports will only be as strong as your highest level operator. for example, you cannot cheese stages with an e2 silverash unless you have an operator of your own promoted to e2. a good benchmark for levelling operators is elite 1 55.

4. 4-star operators are the cheapest to e2. 4-stars like cuora, vigna, myrtle, ethan, gravel, meteor, ambriel, utage, and perfumer are some 4-stars worthy of elite 2 status. ideally, you’ll have e2′d one or more 4-stars before you’ve e2′d a single 6-star to save on costs and have units that can match up to the harder stages that drop the materials to e2 6-stars. 

5. when building your base, 4 factories, 3 power plants, and 2 trading posts is a good configuration to have a good balance between generating LMD and EXP.

6. (edited) arknights carries over pity between banners that aren’t limited, so if you can afford to, you can drop one or two ten shots to build pity before rolling on that one important banner you’re saving up for. when starting out, this might help you acquire powerful operators. limited banners carry their own separate pity, but a banner will tell you if it’s limited, and they are thankfully few and far in between. the next one should be coming soon though, and you might not want to miss out on it. at 0 pity, it takes 100 rolls to get a guaranteed 6-star with chances increasing by 2% after 50, but you might want to save more just in case since 6-star rates are split 50-50 on regular banners (on my latest endeavor for surtr, i failed 3/4 6-star coin tosses in 147 rolls). 6-star rates are 70-30 on limited banners.

7. the monthly card in the shop is a good investment. for 5 dollars a month, you get an extra 200 orundum and a sanity potion that fills up 60 of your sanity per day. effectively, the monthly card gives you one 10-shot per month. 

8. (edited) use your sanity potions before they expire, they are not like golden apples in fgo. you cannot hoard them.

9. when your units are strong enough, attempt to challenge annihilation stages. even if you can’t kill all 400 enemies, you’ll still make orundum and be refunded sanity proportional to the amount of enemies you did manage to clear. likewise, you get one-time clear rewards the more of a stage you manage to complete. be sure to do your annihilation every week. after clearing annihilation 3, you can earn up to 1700 orundum per week. 

10. when rolling, look out for 5-star operators like lappland, texas, elysium, specter, ptilopsis, meteorite, blue poison, liskarm, and silence to name a few. they are worthy of elite 2 status. lappland can be useful for disabling enemy special attacks (save for a few bosses and certain enemy mooks in later content). texas has a useful stun on her 2nd skill and lets you start a fight with two extra deployment points at e2, elysium is a deployment point printer like myrtle with more utility on his s2. specter is a guard who can block 3 enemies at elite 2 and her 2nd skill makes her unkillable for its duration, ptilopsis at elite 2 can reduce the recovery time of most skills by a whopping 33%. meteorite is an aoe sniper who can make annihilation 3 much more bearable by demolishing enemy waves before they get to you, blue poison is a powerful single-target sniper who can dish out really good dps since she has a passive that lets her deal damage-over-time to whatever she attacks, which can be up to 3 enemies. silence is an incredible healer who can deploy a drone to heal operators she can’t reach, and liskarm can enable some really fun strategies since she restores one skill point to herself and any operator adjacent to her (front, back, left, and right) whenever she gets hit. 

11. core operators in high level content tend to be silverash, saria, ejyafjalla, angelina, blaze, mudrock, thorns, and surtr. while every 6-star is worthy of elite 2, these are very high priority units that will make a major difference in your performance should you choose to raise them. mudrock will debut very soon on global on the next limited banner when chapter 8 releases, but she is not the limited unit in it. 

12. you can buy 6-stars from the shop with golden certificates. you get golden certificates when you recruit an operator for the first time, exchange the 7th token onwards of a 4-star, 5-star, or 6-star, or roll dupes of 5-star and 6-star operators. it takes 180 golden certificates to buy a single 6-star, and the 6-star in the shop will always be the 6-star in a standard headhunting banner whose elite 2 art is not displayed in the banner. 

13. be sure to check out the green certifcate shop and clear it out to get monthly tickets out of it, it might be the ticket that lands you the 6-star you’re aiming for!

14. do not neglect recruitment! while you’ll mostly get 3-stars from it, it’s a good way to stock up on green certs, roll 4-stars, and very occasionally roll 5-stars. while the guaranteed 6-star top operator tag is exceedingly rare, you’ll never know when you might get lucky. there are two 5-stars that can only be acquired through recruitment: indra and vulcan. be sure to check online for tag combinations that will get you guaranteed rare units. these are the currently available 6-stars you can acquire through recruitment: 

15. arknights is a slow game, so take your time gathering your materials and raising your operators. above all, go at your own pace and have fun. i really hope you enjoy it, and i’ll be here to gladly answer any questions you may have!

[spidersmiceandeverythingnice]

I’m starting a new job soon and have a lot of free time on my hands so you bet your ass I made an entire Servant profile for a Saber Lafayette concept. 

Name: Lafayette

Alignment: Lawful Good 

Attribute: Star

Rank: 4*

Class: Saber

Class Skills: Riding (A) 

Traits: Human / Servant / Brynhildr’s Beloved 

Active Skills: Charisma (B) - Increase the attack of all allies for three turns. / Golden Rule (A) - Greatly increase NP gain for three turns. / Unshakable Ideals (A+) Apply invincible and self-heal for three turns.

Character Information: 

Gilbert du Moutier, Marquis de Lafayette - young revolutionary of the enlightenment era, a French nobleman who became a hero for the United States when he was just nineteen years old. His Noble Phantasm recreates the Battle of Yorktown, when the British finally surrendered to the Continental Army.

Bond 1: “Lafayette is normally a member of the Rider class. However, due to the strength of his ideals, he is also capable of this manifestation.”

Bond 2: “Volunteered to fight in the American War for Independence when he was a teenager. Due to his nobility in France, he was quickly given a high rank and distinguished himself in battle. The sword he wields is a gift commissioned by the Continental Congress to thank him for his services after the war.”

Bond 3: “CHARISMA - He seemed to the Americans ‘a knight in shining armor,’ proof that the ideals enshrined in the revolution were possible and supported by European allies. He was able to successfully rally and command troops even when he had been injured.

GOLDEN RULE - One of the richest nobles in France, at a time when French nobles were among the richest people on Earth. However, he famously endured the hardships of winter at Valley Forge along with the American troops.”

Bond 4: “UNSHAKABLE IDEALS - Lafayette’s personal skill, which affects his manifestation in a way similar to Marie Antoinette’s Beautiful Princess. A student of the liberal enlightenment era, an opponent of bigotry and oppression in all forms. When the War for Independence ended, Lafayette declared, ‘Humanity’s battle is won - liberty now has a country!’ because he genuinely believed that the United States would become a nation exemplifying the best of human freedom and equality.”

Bond 5: “It’s possible that his idealism is not simply naivety. He was given great responsibilities at a young age due to his family situation, and endured hardships during and after in the war. He greatly missed his wife and children while fighting. However, he simply believed that fighting in the revolution was the right thing to do, for the sake of all humankind. For his contributions to the fight for freedom, he was made an honorary citizen of the United States and is known as ‘the Hero of Two Worlds.’” 

EXTRA: “After returning to France, Lafayette took a leadership position and continued to practice politics, hoping to bring democracy and human rights to his country. When the revolution came to France, his ideals were shaken and challenged in many more complex ways due to the different circumstances, and as a result of his actions there, his reputation at home is very different from his reputation in the United States. In the Saber class, he becomes the ‘heroic’ Lafayette, who represents the founding dream of the American nation, a dream where all humans are created as equals and are able to freely express their rights. It is not possible to summon this Lafayette in France.”

BONUS CHARACTER INTERACTION IDEAS!

Marie Antoinette: “Your Majesty! I don’t know if you would remember me... Oh, so you do remember? Ahaha, well, in that case, if you’ll excuse me...”

Thomas Edison: “Presi-King? What does that even mean!? It doesn’t make any sense! Pick one or the other!”

Napoleon: “Listen, it’s fine now since we’re all here, working together for the benefit of all mankind. But please don’t ask me to try and get along with him. It’s not that I hate him. It’s just the principle of the thing.”

Billy the Kid: “You know what’s funny? Many of my old friends said that the revolution began as an act of treason against the British Empire. So it seems to me that maybe being an outlaw is an American tradition!”

Jeanne d’Arc: “The patron saint of my country! You’re just as I imagined you!” 

MY NOTES: 

So, I feel like the profile is pretty self-explanatory... He’s deliberately designed in a way that I’m sure would’ve gotten him ripped to shreds in the first five minutes of Fate/Zero because we ALL remember how that one turned out. But I think, looking at the members of the Saber class, qualifying requires a bit of idealism or perfectionism. Think Saber!Diarmuid personifying chivalry and the purity of honorable battle; Nero becoming uncomplicated and charismatic due to her own narcissistic belief that she was a superb and generous leader; even Lancelot, who openly believes that his natural class is Berserker due to his flawed personality, represents “King Arthur’s ideal knight” as a Saber. Personally, I really like the symbolism in parts of what I imagine Lafayette’s character kit to be like - a Noble Phantasm that acts as a sort of Reality Marble that recreates the final great battle of the Revolution, an act which Lafayette believed would seal the deal on the first step to a more enlightened and free world; his Star attribute, his third skill that explicitly compares him to FGO’s idealized Marie Antoinette; he uses a sword that was meant to be ornamental as a weapon; etc. 

Basically I think that FGO isn’t going to add a lot of American revolutionary heroes because a) that doesn’t suit their primary target audience, which is not made up of Americans or even nerds who like the Enlightenment or learning about the ideas in the French Revolution; b) they basically opted out of it already by giving “the power of American presidents” to Thomas Edison as a “Mystic Code that represents America.” But I also L O V E Lafayette and think he’d make an excellent Heroic Spirit/addition to the game just in general, so I want them to find an excuse for him to be added.

However, I would also argue that BECAUSE Thomas Edison’s character is being used to represent “American leadership,” or even “the American Dream (of hard work and success paying off)”, then Saber!Lafayette should be added because he represents “American idealism.” He’d play that role a LOT better than anyone else in the pantheon of “potential American heroic spirits,” and especially when you consider the other major figures of the Revolutionary War; and he also fits in with the 18th Century French gang that Chaldea’s already got going on; AND they added Napoleon as a Star-attribute Heroic Spirit when Napoleon was like, objectively a worse person than Lafayette even when Lafayette was making the most problematic and complex decisions of his life. (Not to mention, like, everything about Marie Antoinette - who to be fair, I really like as a character in FGO! But we can’t pretend that she counts among Least Historically Accurate personalities.)

Anywho, I just really like Lafayette. He was good and I love him.