#which i didn’t want to do until after hollow ataraxia
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xbuster · 5 months ago
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Well my Tsukihime journey has officially begun. Feels good to finally be here.
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morsking · 3 years ago
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is shirou a mary sue? the guy is universally well liked, cooks like a pro at 17, has the most op power from all fate (and arguably one of the most cool powers on media), nothing ever happens to him on the true/canon path of each route, he does many stupid things but no one cares 5 minutes later, other times like in salter vs rider he is just a tactical genius out of nowhere
he is not.
shirou is well-liked but he isn't particularly popular. he is known at school for being helpful and handy but otherwise not that many people are aching to get to know him or involve him in their lives. most people only know shirou very superficially. he is not sought after as a person, only as a handy man. there's a really neat scene at the beginning of hf1 where people are talking about shirou in the dojo and see that while he's earnest, hard-working, and talented, he's a bit odd and intense and that makes him a little difficult to approach casually. the only people who really like him are those who sit down and actually spend time with him. apart from the heroines of the story with whom he has time to develop a romantic bond, you don't see other girls falling head over heels for him. in fact, in hollow ataraxia the homurahara trio and mitsuzuri are quick to write him off as someone they are vehemently not interested in romantically whatsoever.
he only cooks like a pro because he had to teach himself to cook since he was 8. it's vital to understand that since kiritsugu became increasingly disabled and was utterly incapable of living as a normal human being, shirou was forced to grow up well before he was ready to take care of his adoptive father. he learned to cook, do the dishes, do the laundry, and clean the house because there were no other real adults in the house. shirou's domestic usefulness didn't come out of nowhere, it's a set of skills he took on out of necessity and came at the expense of his emotional growth.
shirou's power also isn't op. it's stated multiple times in the story how difficult it is for him to tap into it. he's not a natural mage with strong magical circuits, and neither does he have any real "useful" magical alignments that would make it easy for him to use conventional magecraft. every training session shirou has is a life-threatening act where he pushes his body and mind to the utmost limit for the low chance he might succeed at strengthening or projecting something. whenever he grabs hold of an ability that elevates his combat skills, it's either a) done with saber's help in the fate route, b) acquired as his soul inherits experience from his proximity to archer in ubw and receiving mana from rin, or c) obtained at the expense of the integrity of his mind and body as archer's arm starts to supplant his existence in heaven's feel. and even then, there's limits to what he can trace and project. he can't trace divine constructs normally as seen with ea, and his projections eat through his mana. think about what happens in heaven's feel too. every time he projects something with archer's arm he leaps closer to death because he can't handle the strain.
to say nothing ever happens to him in canon is also disingenuous. he doesn't die in a permanent sense, but take a moment to consider the amount of mental and physical pain he suffers that forces him to confront something about himself and change. did "nothing" happen when he faced gilgamesh and heracles with saber? is growing closer to her to find the best way to help her assert her personhood "nothing"? did "nothing" happen when he fought archer? is realizing the truth of your ideals and grasping the resolve to realize them anyway in a healthier and more self-aware manner "nothing"? did "nothing" happen when he fought heracles, saber alter, and kotomine? is saving your loved ones and claiming your life as your own after years of not seeing yourself as a human being to protect those dear to you so they too learn to love and accept themselves "nothing"?
take a moment to consider in what ways shirou is stupid that aren't contradicted by him being smart in others. shirou is socially inept and utterly incapable of asking for help because he is a traumatized teenager who doesn't know what a normal life is. he has few friends. he survived a fire. he is constantly trying to make up for being unable to rescue anyone in the calamity that destroyed his childhood. he constantly jumps in front of danger to save others for that very reason and refuses help because he doesn't want others to get hurt because of him until he learns to overcome that fear of being destroyed and seeing others be destroyed. he is dumb at being a person because he's never let himself be one. he is smart in a fight because he's at least been able to process his stress and trauma in a way that helps him rationalize his way out of a crisis.
i feel the need to stress that a protagonist having special qualities fit for the narrative isn't them being a mary sue. it's them simply being a main character with agency, a main character that is engaging and interesting. how boring do you think shirou and the story would be if he was really a shit-ass mcnobody with no talents, personality, qualities, or meaningful connections to the setting? he'd be no different from every other harem protag the cishet male audience can use as a self-insert. he is supposed to subvert ideas of masculinity by being domestic. he challenges conventional ideas of heroism by showing how his ideals are flawed and how important it is that he self-actualize.
shirou faces consequences for his inaction and inexperience multiple times too. saber gets frustrated because he won't (tell her why he really won't) fight and that causes a rift in their relationship he must fix with honesty and mutual understanding. shirou's inability to protect himself from hypnotic suggestion gets him kidnapped by caster and forces archer to rescue him, and in turn their shared stubbornness elevates their conflict to deadly levels until they're forced to fight to work out their differences. heaven's feel shows you how his unwillingness to forsake who he is to properly scold sakura and save her makes the situation worse when sakura loses faith that shirou will keep his promise to her until he decides he will fulfill it for both their sakes. people do care! saber cares when her master doesn't see eye to eye with her! rin cares that shirou is too willing to throw away his own life for others! archer cares that he is at risk of becoming that which archer can't forgive himself for being! sakura cares because seeing the man she loves come home bruised and bloodied every night is wrong! illya cares because he is her only true family! rider cares because if shirou can't be sakura's ally then she's as good as dead! everyone cares because shirou has to learn to care too, and he does!
i'm going to ask you to try to engage with media without trying to uncover flaws under rigid standards like this because all it does is keep you from properly understanding what is being shown to you. you cannot hope to judge a story and its characters for all their flaws or merits if this is how you approach things.
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wildlyglittering · 4 years ago
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My Gift to You
I received an anonymous request to write something about Nesta and Rhys’ relationship post ACOSF and them having a conversation. The requestor said that their relationship didn’t feel genuine enough and that they had a lot of work to do before they consider themselves brother/ sister.
I mean.... same anon. Same. The relationship was definitely not one of happy families in my eyes and personally Rhys buying Nesta gifts just felt like the cheapest way to close the lid on their ‘relationship.’
I don’t know if this is what anon wanted but I just can’t write a future where those two truly bond and get along. So this is Nesta and Rhys as I feel would be most appropriate.
***
‘Brother,’ she’d called Rhys. It was not a word which drifted from her lips as easily as it did from Feyre’s when she used the term to refer to Cassian, or for Cassian himself when he spoke of his kin.
Brother.
There had been no time for thinking, not with the screaming and shrieking and the copper tang of blood filling her nose. Rhys was losing his mind and the healer, Madja, was next to useless, pleading with Feyre to fight death - an act as impactful as a raindrop at the bottom of the ocean.
If fighting death were easy, everyone would win.
Nesta knew if you needed to beg for a life, you needed to beg to what could heed you.
The memory of what transpired for Nesta, when she stepped from one form into another, had faded over time like some strange fever dream.
There had been a presence swimming next to her, a shark with a sharp fin and razor teeth, twisting and arching, waiting to tear from her what she had torn out first. But something else was with her, someone else, with a golden light to illuminate Nesta’s way.
Something given and something gained. Those were the thoughts floating in her mind once she’d been present again.
Nesta sought out the opening of Feyre’s eyes, desperately listened for a new-born’s wail and thankfully, she received both.
Afterwards, in the calm, long after she’d embraced Rhys, Nesta wondered what she had meant by that word - brother.
Even as she cradled Nyx’s delicate head in the nook of her arm, stroking the tufts of downy black hair, she didn’t think of him as someone she shared with Rhys. No, despite the hair and sleepy violet eyes, he was someone Nesta shared with Feyre.
Sister. That was a stronger word.
The first infant Nesta ever held was Feyre. She remembered a scrunched up red face peeking behind a blanket as her new baby sister was placed in her arms while a toddler Elain sobbed in the background, upset at not being baby anymore.
I already have one of these.
That was her first thought, her first memory of Feyre.
“Look”, someone had said as Feyre opened her eyes, “they’re the same as yours, Nesta. The very same.”
For a long time, that’s all they had in common. The gift of the same eyes.
Perhaps Nesta had called Rhys brother because in that moment he was. He was her mirror counterpart, not a piece of her heart or soul the way Feyre, Elain and Cassian were but something prominent nonetheless. A shard of glass slicing into each other’s bones that they just couldn’t pull out.
Thank you, he’d said and she wanted to tell him not to say those words. She didn’t do anything requiring praise, she did what she did for the love of her sister and her sister’s child.
Do not thank me for my very nature.
They drifted into an uneasy peace. A gulf remained between Nesta and Elain which Nesta had no energy to remedy, but a bridge had been built between Nesta and Feyre and the connection was one Nesta strengthened as much as possible.
Nesta walked with Feyre around her gardens, joined at dinners and was polite and nodded and minded her manners and, when she had enough, she would return to the House of Wind and let Cassian love her.
As time passed, so did Nesta’s thoughts of Rhys as a brother.
Once again, he became her sister’s mate, her mate’s friend, her nephew’s father. Once again, he became High Lord. Ruler. Overseer.
Months after Nyx’s birth, Rhys and Feyre attended Winter to visit Viviane who had recently birthed her first child - a girl and rumours had followed of secret meetings between the High Lords. Rhys had purchased numerous furs; thick, luxurious pelts in sable, fawn and silver and sent them Nesta’s way.
“I don’t want these things he gives me,” she told Cassian soon after, standing in a room filled with Rhys’ tokens.
“The furs aren’t too bad,” Cassian replied. “They make the floor more comfortable,” he said, his mouth hot on her neck.
She allowed him to distract her but at night while Cassian slept, she walked around the House, grazing objects with her fingertips and glared at the ones which seemed to shimmer too bright, too long. The House itself rippled with unease.
“They’re all junk,” Nesta said to the darkened hallways. “Jewels and silks and throw cushions.”
Feyre and Rhys had told her once, not long ago, how embarrassed they were at the quantity of their money she’d spent on her path towards destruction. Her pulse jumped underneath her skin at the memory.
There had been no love for her life back then, no begging and pleading to a higher power. No, it had been their love for their finances, their concern for their reputation, their lack of control over Nesta which spiralled into entrapment.
Die, she’d heard. Just do so cheaply and in the dark.
Although the word ‘brother’ faded from her mind, Nesta let her animosity go with it. She had the sweetness of her nephew to immerse herself in and she marvelled at the smile on his gummy mouth and the way he wriggled across the floor on his belly towards her, perfect black wings tucked against his body.
One day he would use them to soar the skies and his freedom, his life, was the best gift Nesta had ever received.
His life was the best gift Nesta would ever give.
Nyx was shy of a year old when the whispers started. One day they didn’t exist and the next – they did. They held a metallic quality as though they being spoken through the clang of steel on steel.
High King.
One night, while Cassian rested on the furs, naked and sated, she trailed her fingertips up his knee, up his thigh to where his flesh lay, warm and re-hardening.
“Tell me,” she said, circling a finger around the tip, “what did Rhys speak to Kallias about all those months ago?”
Cassian exhaled a long breath. “Rhys wants Kallias to accept him as ruler.”
“Of the Night Court?”
“No, he – ah, don’t stop – of Prythian.”
“And what was their arrangement? How could Rhys obtain Kallias’ agreement?”
Cassian’s gasps filled her ears. “Through Nyx,” he forced out, “a promise he would marry Kallias’ daughter.”
After that she listened more to what the clanging whispers told her across the breeze, to what the House told her, to what she heard outside closed doors in Rhys’ home on visits to her sister.
Nesta was as serene as the Mother herself when she drifted to Rhys’ study and lingered by the locked door where he and Amren held counsel.
“They are the same as before, inert and useless.”
“Get her to the blacksmith, boy.”
“Her ability is gone.”
“Possibly, but test her to be sure. If she forges a hundred thousand swords then at least one might be Made.”
“She won’t do it.”
“Ban her from seeing the child until she does. She’ll forge then.”
Nesta closed her eyes, clenching her fists until her nails dug into her palms and blood trickled through her knuckles.
For a moment Nesta became a blade, sharp and dangerous, mounted on a wall and viewing Rhys and Amren from a height. The shadows danced from the lit hearth onto Rhys making his face sunken and hollow. For the first time, Rhys looked every inch the ancient creature he was.
Amren walked to the blade that was Ataraxia, that was Nesta, her silver eyes reflected in the shining metal, a palm splayed outwards with the reverence a worshipper showed their god.
“Turns out she wasn’t a pathetic waste of life after all.”
From then on Nesta would listen to what the blades told her.
Rhys took them from their mounts and held them, caressed them as he should his sleeping mate, his violet eyes passing from hilt to blade tip as his pupils grew fat with want.
They spoke to him but they didn’t listen and Rhys struggled with the push and pull every time he lifted a blade from the wall.
He practiced with them in the safety of his study but the blades were too heavy and made him clumsy, leaving the usually graceful High Lord stumbling over his feet. A ripple spread through the metal almost as though the sword were laughing.
We are no advantage to him, the whispers told her and Nesta knew they were infused with the anger she held towards Rhys when she Made them. Now, they said, now he believes himself your brother and he would like a new gift.
Instead that was what she asked him for, next time she was at his home.
“Hello, sister,” and his smile was akin to a wolf’s as it waited in the field for lambs.
“Rhys.”
He agreed vigorously to her request before she even named her price. Maybe Rhys thought he could eventually turn the bee itself into honey.
“I’ve given some thought,” she said, “and I’d like something back. Eris has the dagger but you have two swords remaining in your possession. Keep the small one but Ataraxia, I would like her to be mine. I will never ask anything else from you.”
The smile on his face froze into place as though he’d gone into the depths of Winter and been lost.
Though the blade wasn’t his, he didn’t want it to be hers.
“I don’t think so,” his voice soft. “What if someone tries to take advantage of you and steals the sword away?”
“I’d destroy it first.” However much the thought pained her, Ataraxia’s destruction had been considered - a gift to the other High Lords, one they would never know they’d received.
Rhys shook his head, his eyes dark. “No,” he said, “I need them.” Despite their resistance they were the only Made weapons in his hold.
“Why?”
He said nothing.
Nesta’s lip curled into a sneer. “To be High King, Rhys?”
He glowered at her.
“You know you’re starting a war among incredibly powerful High Lords?”
“I’m the most powerful.”
“There are more of them, they will combine their powers.”
“I have allies.”
“You have enemies.”
“I have friends.”
Nesta sighed and looked to the two swords, the metal glinting as though caught by firelight although the fire was unlit. Her name was murmured, the rasp of metal on metal.
“They’re your friends now but you’re demanding they give up their people, their lands and heritage to you and for what? Why would they do that willingly?”
She turned away from him and stood before the mounted blades. Her reflection was as clear as though they were mirrors, as was Rhys’ behind her, a dark mist forming over his skin.
“This is a war your son will likely reach adulthood in,” she continued, “do you want that for him?”
“I’m doing this for him,” Rhys spat, “you’re no mother, you wouldn’t understand. This is his legacy. My gift to him.”
A calm transcended over Nesta, as though she were wading through the clear waters of a pool, a loving hand on her back reminding her of their presence.
“Your gift to him should be allowing him to live his life. To allow him to care for the people of the Night Court, to give him the chance to fall in love and choose a partner of his own calling.”
“You don’t understand,” Rhys said again, “you had power for mere months and you think you’re the authority of giving it up. It’s a choice you wouldn’t have made if you understood what powerlessness meant.”
Once, when she wore another body, she could count the ribs underneath her skin by tracing them with her fingertips.
Once, in that same body, a man had pressed himself against her, his tongue forced into her mouth.
Once, Fae had ripped away her bedsheet and dragged her from her bed while Elain’s screams echoed in the dark hallway. She had drowned in the depths of the Cauldron, she’d watched her father’s blood spray across the grass, and she’d been dragged from her bed once more to be drugged and bound with her new body useless.
“If you say so.”
Nesta repeated Amren’s actions and traced her finger against the blade, Ataraxia shivered as though Nesta were running a finger down the spine of a lover. The sword moved, almost imperceptibly, but Nesta saw and wondered if Rhys did.
She’d bargained for the lives of his mate and son and yet Rhys wasn’t satisfied. Nesta was his mirror and so he gave her gifts believing she would want them as much as he did, because he continually sought out tokens to keep. He believed she would never be satisfied because he never was.
Nesta left, leaving him with the blades. They would be no benefit for him anyway and it wouldn’t be long before Ataraxia came back to her. Nesta understood now that Ataraxia had been her gift to herself.
All gone now, the Inner Circle assumed. After saving Feyre’s life, Nesta’s gift from the Cauldron is exhausted.
Lies, she thought as she walked the paths of Velaris to head home. All lies. The Cauldron had never gifted Nesta with anything. Everything she held had been stolen, ripped from something that never intended her to have it.
The sky was black, the fae lights of the taverns and restaurants glowing amber against the pitch and the happy chatter of the city revellers emerged from behind doors. All these fae living their lives as best they could, trusting in the protection of their High Lord.
They weren’t the same, her and Rhys, they were mirrored on the surface only.
Yes, they both stole power from those who never intended to gift it but she would die for those she loved while Rhys would kill for them.
The cold air was sharp and drew Nesta’s thoughts from the corners of her mind like a knife drew blood when sliced against skin. She drew her cloak around her shoulders and wrapped her arms around her middle.
There had been screaming and blood and Nesta’s pleas. There had been the dark slithering laughter of something taking something back. But there had also been the warmth of a hand, ethereal and eternal on her back and a golden magic which poured into Nesta until it overflowed.
Daughter.  
The Mother had welcomed Nesta and received her gift with open arms, re-gifting to her in return.
Death transmuted into life. Quieter but no less powerful. No less valuable in the future to come.
This is yours, Nesta was told, and will remain so until the end. This is my gift to you.
TAGGING
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joshnekuu · 7 years ago
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I think one of the things that gets me and sells me the most on Siegstolfo is how they choose to be each other's Master and Servant. There's no ulterior motives behind it, either. Sieg doesn't care about the war. He isn't thinking about how helping Astolfo will help him to achieve his goals. Astolfo is content to fade away knowing Sieg is alive and relatively safe, he protests to Sieg making a contract with him at first because he knows he's not the best servant and doesn't want Sieg getting dragged further into the war. But he obviously cares about Sieg and respects his wishes and has faith that they're both making the right choice and goes along with it- and then later acknowledges that he chose Sieg, by thinking of him as the "Master he chose, and that chose him in return."
They're not the first duo to do this, but the only other pair I can think of that was actually focused on and didn't have some ultimate plan behind their motivation is Medea and Kuzuki- who are literally married and in love in Hollow Ataraxia. It's not a perfect parallel, but Rin and Saber's new pact gets like no focus at all before rin gets kidnapped and saber is back to working with Shirou, and Gil and Kirei's pact was calculated and planned before hand and they both had things they wanted to gain that they knew this relationship would help them with. And all those relationships are viewed by many as romantic (Kotogil is one of the most popular mlm ships in the series, with a lot of meta on Kirei’s sexuality; Rin is pretty much canonically bisexual and is shown to be attracted to and care for Saber and it is a fairly popular wlw ship for both of them as well). But Kuzuki has no stakes or interest in the war, Medea doesn’t really have a wish until she meets Kuzuki, their pact is formed based on Kuzuki wanting to save her and help her, and they fall in love and get fucking married in HA. So like... damn!! Looking at Sieg/Astolfo alongside the other ‘Servants Who Were Saved After They Lost Their Original Master’ duos, it’s really hard not to read their relationship as romantic?
Especially when Sieg shows so much understanding and acceptance toward Astolfo for the kind of person he is? And has faith in him despite everyone else doubting him, and knowing that he can be an erratic and ditsy person? Like, Sieg doesn’t connect with a lot of people in the story and he doesn’t understand how humans work for quite awhile, but he understands Astolfo and can tell when Astolfo is worried or afraid, and comforts him and tells him that he’s okay just the way he is and that Sieg doesn’t value him for his strength as a Servant. And this is all on top of their meeting, which is an establishing character moment for Sieg as an actual character and Astolfo as a protagonist, and all the other moments they have together. Just. Wow! I love them.
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wendiuh · 7 years ago
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Hey hey hey question! 😄 I've been wanting to start the fate series for awhile, and there was one I had watched some time ago, but I've realized there is multiple series? I've noticed you like it so I was hoping you could help me figure out where to start, what order to go in...? Thanks in advance dearie!
You have no idea how happy i was to see this ask omg girl I’m in Fate hell. This will get lengthy, so beware haha. If you have any other questions, feel free to come to me! If it becomes too much reading (I think it’s like 1.5k words oops) just scroll to the bottom for the summary XD. I’ll put my essay explanation under the cut:
If you’re completely new to Fate, then allow me to explain how the story is set up structure-wise. It is split into 3 separate routes that start off from the same point. Each route has a set heroine/love interest and explore different aspects of the story and characters. These routes are viewed in the order of Fate, Unlimited Blade Works, and Heaven’s Feel. Fate focuses on the character Saber, UBW focuses on Tohsaka Rin, and HF focuses on Matou Sakura.
Now the first thing all faithful Fate watchers would say is to read the original visual novel. I, however, did not start with this, but it is easy to see why people recommend this first. The Nasuverse (the world of Fate and other related series, named after creater Kinoko Nasu) is a very, very detailed world that has so many aspects to it. Reading the original story will definitely provide the most helpful context. I am currently reading the VN now to get a better understanding of the universe, and it is pretty enjoyable, but can get pretty slow.
Fair warning, though. The original VN is an adult game, meaning it is somewhat gory and deals with adult themes (aka sex). There was a re-release of it without any sex scenes called Realta Nua. I wont provide any links on this post on how get the VN, but there’s definitely YouTube videos out there to help.
If sitting through 80+ hours of reading isn’t your thing, and I don’t blame you if it isn’t, then we must turn to the animes. That’s where things get complicated.
There are 3 currently accessible animes out there set in the Fate/sn universe. There’s the orginal anime from 2006 that “covers” the 1st route, Fate, and was made by Studio Deen. I’m going to refer to this as Deen/stay night. I put the word “covers” in quotes because many Fate fans view this adaptation as a disgrace. I didn’t watch it, but many say it tries too hard to cover the story of the visual novel and somewhat combines the routes. Basically, it tried to adapt all of the visual novel but under the cover of the route Fate. However, it does seem to serve as an okay introduction to the Fate universe in general since it is the first anime adaptation out there.
In terms of release date, next comes the famous adaptation of Fate/zero by ufotable. This is a prequel follows the events prior to the beginning of Fate/stay night, and is hands down a phenomenal series in general. Many view FZ as a classic and a wonderful story, but it does have a few spoilers in terms of some big revelations that happen in the Stay Night routes. If you want to watch an amazing series and you’re okay with some spoilers for the main series, start here. As for me, I didn’t start here because I wanted to save it for last because of how many people that praised it.
Finally comes the UBW anime (the series by ufotable. Not the movie!). Commonly known as Unlimited Budget Works for its beautiful animation, this series focuses on the VN’s second route. This was released after FZ, so I do think ufotable made this series thinking fans already watched the prequel. However, I did start with this series first. Though there were some confusing points, I was able to understand most of the anime and it was pretty good. It took a second watch for me to fully understand the plot, but that’s kind of how a lot of animes work. You never enjoy the full scope of the series until you rewatch it. Both this series and FZ got at least 3 times better when I rewatched it, and that is saying a lot considering how much I liked them the first time through.
So, which one do you start with and what order to watch it in? For the sake of chronology, watch Deen/stay night, then FZ, then UBW. If you want to skip Deen/stay night (which is okay to do), then it is up to you what you want to watch first.
In my opinion, watch UBW first, then FZ. This saves the more serious and dark series for last, which will make the transition to the tone of the upcoming Heaven’s Feel adaptation movies more smooth.
But I think either way you watch the series will still get you a good amount of exposure to the Nasuverse. It’s complicated to start, but once you’re in, it gets better. Heck, even if you don’t fully get immersed into the universe, the 2 ufotable animes are still stellar and carry heavy messages as well as are pretty much eye candy thanks to that animation quality.
But what about all those other things with “Fate/” stamped onto it?
There are a couple of other major Fate installments out there, but they are NOT taking place in the Stay night universe. They are AUs that overall expand the lore of the Nasuverse (and also give the creators some more money lol). These include:
Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA - A magical girl AU that is extremely different from Fate/sn. I think one should watch this after they finish the Stay Night series, but don’t feel forced to watch it, for it is completely non-canon.
Fate/apocrypha - This anime is currently airing as of my writing of this post. It follows a parallel universe “what if” situation. If this one certain event in history happened differently, then the events of Stay Night turn into this. This deals with completely different characters and set up. I only watched a few episodes of this anime and found it is probably most enjoyable to those familiar with the Nasuverse.
Fate/extra - Another parallel universe series coming out. Just like Apocrypha, this deals with new characters in general.
Fate/hollow ataraxia - A sequel Visual Novel to the original Stay Night story. Same characters and world, but 6 months later. It is another adult VN game, so it’s pretty much half-lore expansion and half-fanservice. 
Fate/prototype - This is a 1-episode OVA of Kinoko Nasu’s first envision of the series. There are some minor differences lore-wise, and the characters are mainly the same, save for a few design differences and gender swaps.
Carnival Phantasm - Ever watch those “crack” videos on YouTube? Like “Fairy Tail Crack” or “Boku no Hero Academia Crack”? These videos take an anime and make jokes out of its content and have many, many memes. Well, Carnival Phantasm is exactly that. It combines many series of the Nasuverse (mainly the Fate/stay night series and Nasu’s other work, Tsukihime) and makes it into a joyful, cute, hilarious, and downright amazing anime. It is filled with inside jokes of the universe and has some spoilers, so save this anime for last. I did skip the Tsukihime skits simply because I didn’t get the jokes, but there’s a montage of all the Fate skits on YouTube here. This series is the source of many, many fandom memes. You don’t have to watch it, but it is so funny.
Fate/Grand Order - A 1-episode OVA that adapts the first storyline of the famous mobile game with the same name. It is another parallel universe of some sort. New characters with some familiar faces of the Stay Night universe. The game is currently released in Japan and North America on the iTunes and Google Play store. It may be a waifu and husbando collector, but it is so addicting…
To conclude, there really isn’t a right answer that I can give you. But here’s my suggestion (aka the way I watched the anime):
1. Watch the Unlimited Blade Works anime by ufotable.
2. Watch Fate/zero.
3. If you want to rewatch then watch the first season of the UBW anime again, then watch FZ again, then watch the second season of UBW. Totally optional, but a fun way to watch the 2 series imo.
4. If you are okay with spoilers for Heaven’s Feel, watch Carnival Phantasm for the Fate sketches. By spoilers I mean there are some jokes from that series that rooted from Heaven’s Feel, but you may only catch them if you squint. It never explicitly spoils the story.
5. Watch the Heaven’s Feel movies. Only 1 out of the 3 is currently out/coming out internationally in theaters, so I guess just try to watch the first 1 if it is available to you at this point?
Feel free to start the visual novel if you want. In regards to the other series I mentioned, they are optional as well.
If you watch UBW and FZ and feel that there are a lot of unanswered questions, then expect Heaven’s Feel to address those issues. Remember that even though the 3 routes are all different stories, they are written in a way that you don’t get the whole picture until you have completed all three routes (too bad the Fate route anime is completely butchered and unreliable plot-wise. But I think you can manage without it. It’s more of an introduction to the story than anything else.)
Hope you understood what I was saying! Again, please message me if you have any questions or just want to talk about the series with me! I am in absolute hell with this universe so don’t hesitate to talk to me!
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avicebro · 8 years ago
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If Issei participated in the Holy Grail War
Updated this one! 
So this is going to take some liberties of course, but basically this is what Issei would have been like, and how I think he’d affect the Holy Grail War. This will be more if he was from a magical family, less like Shirou who only knew small magic and became a master because of his father.
Firstly, Ryuudouji Temple. It lays on a leyline, which means that you’ll summon stronger spirits. It’s also one of the points where the Holy Grail appears.  Furthermore, it’s pretty secluded—something that many masters value, like the Einzberns. So, for a magical family to control the temple, they must be very powerful and respected, like the Tohsakas, who’s house is in a similar spot.
Therefore, one can say that the Ryuudou family are likely an older magical family, with a long lineage and high respect in the city. They are likely younger or newer to Fuyuki than the Tohsakas, as they control the city and every magical family must ask to settle there, but they must be friends for the Tohsakas to give them such a nice place to settle down.
To survive the dwindling importance of mages, the family sets up a temple, acting like monks to explain their distance from the city and their weirder hobbies. To be successful they specialize in healing magic and making crafts (similar to Medea’s crafting ability) to bestow luck. Thus, while they are one of the key families in the game, because of their specialization in healing magic and crafting, they are regarded as weaker compared to the First Three families. However, in other wars, they are the first families to side with another family, as their healing proves very useful in the war.
So, now that we’ve got all that down. Now to Issei.
Except not. In Fate/Hollow Ataraxia, we learn that Issei is the second son in the family. So, this means that Issei’s older brother must have not been born with the gift of magic. This might be because Issei’s mother isn’t as talented as Aoi at birthing mages, or maybe Ryuudouji temple is starting to dwindle in magical power. Nevertheless, his brother does not learn of magic, and instead is trained to become the head monk once his father passes away. This leaves Issei to train more for magic.
Issei is thus born with magic ability. From what we know about Issei in the games, we know that he is very diligent and would likely love learning magic and practicing his skills, similarly to Tohsaka Rin. He would watch by his father when he did his healing, and would spend his nights making trinkets to increase his luck, improve his health and his grades. I love the idea of younger Issei giving one of these to Shirou, and that’s one of the reasons why Shirou has so much plot armour. With this, Issei likely dabbled in many forms of magic, but ultimately sticking with crafting and healing, as that was what he learned the most of. 
Issei is trained to be a mage and a monk, but his final training comes when Souichirou Kuzuki appears at the temple seeking refuge. Souichirou teaches Issei martial arts and becomes a strong fighter, able to take down Shirou on the rare occasion Shirou asks to fight him.
When the Fifth Holy Grail war starts, we have this great competition. Rin versus Issei. While Rin is a much stronger mage, Issei has his monk and martial training to compensate. Many players consider these two to be the key players in this Holy Grail War—whoever beats the other wins the grail. This fits with their competitive natures, and I originally thought Issei was a master simply because of how much Rin/Issei interaction we got in the prologue. Also, I feel like these two would be very interesting for Kirei, and he would funnel resources into the both of them to make this war much more fascinating, like he does for Shinji in UBW.
So, what would Issei want for the holy grail? I think, considering his personality, he’d probably either want to access the Root, or simply to win. Issei would be the perfect foil for Rin, both of them wishing them same things, but because of a mutual hatred for the other, they would refuse to work together. The root would tickle his intellectual self, while winning would restore some of the shame his family had undergone in the last couple of wars (similarly to the Einzenberns).
Then, Issei’s servant. Now, for him to be in the war, he’d have to replace one of the masters. Thus, I have three possibilities: replace Souichirou, replace Shinji, or Medea doesn’t summon Assassin. 
Now, for Souichirou first. I really dislike taking him out of the war, because then there would be so many kids in the war. 5 out of 7 masters would be kids (Shirou, Rin, Issei, Illya and Shinji/Sakura). Souichirou was so interesting and important (especially in UBW) because he was an adult fighting against a bunch of kids, he had lived through much more than these kids, was a trained killer, and thus he didn’t value human life as much as Shirou does. This also opens up a seventh master, as Caster would not control Assassin. Hassan would be in the picture, and it’s interesting who could control him. Maybe Sakura kicks Shinji out and Hassan sides with him for revenge? Maybe Kotomine summons him and thus Bazzett is a player in the war? Maybe Zouken sides with him, similarly to Heaven’s Feel? But, if Issei takes his place, then for a Caster, I see two choices. The easy one would be Issei to summon Saver instead, who is Buddha. However, if he was to stick to a Caster, I’d like one of the Sohei, a group of warrior monks, to be his servant. They were important players in the Warring Kingdom times, and it would be more likely for Issei to have a relic relating to monks than anything else.
So, if he replaces Shinji.  This would put Issei against his teacher, which would be an interesting topic to delve into. Maybe they would team up? If so, they would be really strong. So who would be his rider? Like the Sohei, someone from the Warring Kingdoms period would a great fit, and a couple come to mind. Tokugawa Ieyasu or Oda Nobunaga would be great picks, but they would likely pose a more Rider-Waver relationship as the servant would be so much greater than the master, which I don’t think Issei would like. Therefore, I think Toyotomi Hideyoshi would be a good Rider for Issei.
Finally, if Medea never summons Assassin. Maybe by this point Assassin has already been summoned by Issei, or maybe Medea never decides to summon him. Part of me really wants Kojiro to be summoned again - maybe the temple is such a perfect catalyst, or maybe something goes wrong in the summoning and Kojiro shows up instead of Hassan. It’s upsetting that we don’t actually get to see how those two would have interacted, but I love head canons where Issei grows old and dates his ghost samurai boyfriend. If he summons a hassan, the No Name Hassan from f/sf or Hassan Lily would be good picks for me. These servants would probably help him get over Rin. 
Ultimately I just want his servant to be like Souichirou. From F/HA we know that Issei really looks up to him, and if his servant was similar, it would be very sweet (especially if in this world, Souichirou doesn’t participate).
For either Rider/Issei or Assassin/Issei, we could have a strong pairing of Issei and Souichirou with their servants. Imagine that!
Finally, how would Issei do? As there are three routes it’s hard to say, but I’ll put two possibilities.
Either Issei continues to be a foil for Tohsaka and survives until there are only three masters left (four if Kirei/Gil) or he dies early, similarly to basically everyone in Heaven’s Feel. If Issei survives until the end, this could push Shirou to choose who he would side with, as I believe he would want to side with both. If he dies early, this would likely be because of a small miscalculation, underestimating someone, or Kirei being Kirei. If this happens, it would help Rin seem much stronger, and prove why she’s such a great master, which thus then pushes the Kiritsugu way of being a mage versus the Tokiomi way of being a mage. And ultimately there is the ending where he and Kojiro win, they grow old and gay together, live happily ever after. 
But yeah, that’s my thoughts. This is simply if Issei was from a mage family, as I think he would be in a lot worse of a position if he was thrust into the mage world like Shirou. I really love Issei’s character in the series and wished that he had become a master in the game, sadly that wasn’t the case. 
I will be writing some more on my take of what a Issei route would be like, now that I know how that would likely go. 
Thanks for reading!
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