- Location
- USA
Don't let a certain black-haired jewel magus know that. She'd be all over him for those.
Fate/Clusterfuck (Fate/Stay Night)
- Thread starter Erien
- Start date
- Mature Fantasy Modern
Always Late
Lacking in coffee, sleep, and brains
- Location
- Ohio
Ah. So we see the man who would almost fuck the world over in an attempt to save it.
Marisbury's about to find out the only reason he won his war: Shirou didn't exist.
But here's what makes the master of Celestial Magecraft even more dangerous, beyond the fact he can summon city-destroying meteors at will.
He's desperate.
In another place, in another time, that much desperation led a man to con Nazi Germany into invading Japan, stealing the Greater Grail, then killing them all to keep the secret for another few decades. Given the fact Marisbury is trying the list of main FGO secondary characters, much of what we know occurs is likley part of his plan. Or at least a hypothesized outcome. Which is why he's not to be underestimated. This is a guy who ran an organization built around an army of Servants. There's none with a greater understanding of how they work.
Aaaaaaaall righty then. Fate Worldbuilding Fuckery dump inbound.
Vlad/Drac and Liz/Bathory are the perfect jumping-off point for what the Lord of the Rings represents as a Servant. Because his announced title is a part of the key.
Dracula and Elizabeth Bathory are Servants created by memes, in the old sense. Lies and fabrications that became so commonly known that The Root as a collective unconscious reflected it in the Throne of Heroes. But unlike these two who hate the lies that contaminate the real person they know existed, Sauron is pulling from one of FGO's most commonly used tricks: I call them Layered Servants, to contrast with B.B.'s "Composite Servants.
They appear to be one mythological entity on the surface, but ultimately use that as both mask and anchor for the true identity that might not otherwise support a Servant construct. The Knight Gawain is in fact the monster Barghest. The dimensional wanderering swordswoman takes the mantle of both her and "our" Mushashi. Francis Drake is the representation of what Queen Elizabeth "wanted" and got in Fate's wierd history, a life of adventure and riches. Robin Hood was in life an orphan raised by fairies in Sherwood Forest, but many other men who claimed the title of Robin Hood or at least lived a life like his in that area have brought the Legend Of Robin Hood to life as a Servant. Artemis hijacking Orion's summoning so he doesn't cheat on her is less of a mystery, but very much the same deal. Oda Avenger is fittingly insane, with Oda, her brother, and a self-actualized hype Demon King all in one. And of course, the list of Fate/Stay Night cast members like Rin, Shirou, and Sakura making cameos as Divine Containers also fall into this category.
To exist as a Servant, Sauron has blended himself with an already existing Saint Graph and met the qualities for a Pretender Class: Oberon.
Oberon as a figure of myth actually can be traced back to the 13th century Nibelungenlied poem: He guarded the cursed gold which Sigfried would kill him to steal, and would later be melted down by the Einzbern Family to make the Lesser Grail. In the medieval epic "Huon of Bordeaux", Oberon is shown to a dwarf-sized Elf of both beauty and power. Born to Morgan Le Fay, fathered by Julius Caesar during his brief stay in Briton, he was cursed to be short but subsequently compensated with immense beauty. The eponymous Huon only attains a pardon for killing the French Emperor's son in self-defense through Oberon's aid, including a cup/Grail which was always full of food and drink for the virtuous. This is known to have inspired what Shakespeare did for the myth in Midsummer Night's Dream and all his immense power.
Since not everyone's read Grand Order's Lostbelt insanity, I'll stick with the stuff that's not utterly tied to that unique context: Oberon is an eccentric. Despite holding power and intellect worthy of any king or hero, he prefers to avoid violence and instead convince others to do as he would like. Force and coercion goes against his beliefs, so he won't put a sword to someone's neck but will stand up for someone being subjected to the same. Most people see him as boyish, even immature, because he's an idealist. The closest Oberon came to the true darkness underneath the role as Vortigern King Of Moss is in his approach to stories: He tries to manipulate people into doing things like a story because he genuinely believes That's How The World Works. Which for Fate, definitely has a point. Considering Vortigern's big grudge with Chaldea was Proper Human History was rejecting the "Fantasy" of the Lostbelt timelines and thus saying fantasy has no place to exist, Sauron probably has something to say about that as well.
Sauron as a Servant is more than Ring-Maker, more than The Evil Eye. Aye, his fate as a servant of a defeated devil to be defeated by a plucky self-sacrificing hero will be a problem, but as the ultimate evil of The Lord Of The Rings, one must look at what themes Tolkien had for good and evil. Sauron is more than trickery and tyranny, he is the march of time forward into an age of darkness. Animusphere abandoned many of the sacred rules and protections of The Magus Association by working with mundane governments and outside entities, choosing to innovate and reinvent the rulebook. To be of the Magus Families is to yearn for an era gone forever, an era of peasants, kings, wizards, and spirits. Modernity brings only death and destruction through its abandonment of what "should" be immutable virtues. Deceit instead of honesty, Pride over servitude, warmongering over communication. Legions of disposable, cruel minions made from the corruption of creation will march with unseen weapons of terrible might, under a blanket of darkness from the Dark Lord to grant his armies the strength to march.
In other words, Sauron is both Cringe and a Zoomer.
Foreigners qualify by being outside human boundaries, either higher dimensions like Katsushika Hokusai's Cthulhu and Abigail William's Yog-Sothoth, or literally being Extrasolar like Voyager, Mysterious Heroine XX, and Alien God.
Erien
God's Weakest Soldier
- Location
- Georgia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
A very good writeup!
I... don't think that is how the Pretender Oberon in Avalon le Fae worked? It's been a while since I looked into LB6 but IIRC Oberon was a Pretender not because that was a natural class for "Oberon," but that the being pretending to be Oberon existed in the LB beforehand as themselves. Then over the course of their time in the LB and due to their nature end up being mistaken for and taking on the role of Oberon. However they never truly changed what they actually were, which is why they are a pretender.
Though then there's also some clarification that Nasu out out on the actual requirements for being a pretender, which seem to be somewhat different and talking about how a heroic spirit could be summoned as a Pretender to begin with, rather than what happened to Oberon.
So whatever Annatar is pulling I don't think it's as simple as just pulling a Pretender Oberon Saint Graph over themselves. Or maybe it is really simple and Annatar is just in a regular class summoned as themselves, and lying through their teeth about it.
Always Late
Lacking in coffee, sleep, and brains
- Location
- Ohio
I know people throw shade at the Fate wiki but uh... Avalon got complicated. I honestly don't think this has all that much to do with Oberon Vortigern The Great Liar, since he doesn't mesh with Marisbury very well. So Sauron isn't a Pretender. He's a Caster. Think of the blending in much the same way Jeanne and Cu Alter couldn't exist without a Grail or some other form of reality-breaking system of mana to sustain their existence. Even in a Singularity, reality rejected the mad dreams of love-struck magus, and without a Grail the monsters who would drown the world in blood and fire faded away.
Sauron alone can't manifest as a Servant, he doesn't meet the criteria in the same way other 'myths' like Bathory and Dracula do. But by taking on the mantle of Oberon, not in a Pretender sense but by anchoring his essence in that title and legend, he can exist as whatever insanity Erien comes up with. The usual kind of technobabble F/GO uses to explain why they have historical and fictional heroes and villains look and act so bonkers.
- Location
- St. Petersburg
Missed several updates, this one is from two updates back.
"fair bit?"
[x] [Brown Hair]
Erien
God's Weakest Soldier
- Location
- Georgia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Speaking of mantling... Vivec would qualify.
Fixed thank you.
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- Location
- Russia
...knowing Vivec, he would attempt to manifest by hijacking the idea of Jesus Christ. No matter how little sense it'd make.
they'd probably come about after a global orgy, proclaim themselves genderless, and then fuck off to make the moon their "meditation planet". All while finding new ways to get high, get laid, then go on a crusade to fight crime murderhobo style in no specific order.
Anybody mantling them would be on the fast track down the hippy route.
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- Location
- Russia
As I said, Jesus Christ.
- Location
- Ohio
It's a shame this didn't win. It would have been fun to see Circe's color commentary on every vote. She'd definitely have certain misleading opinions.
But... won't Shirou technically abandon her every time he wakes up? It's not like he has any control over other people waking him up. How is "abandoning Circe" even defined in this context?
<<
>>
Cougar.
On one hand, Circe is doing Shirou a favor here; Medea will panic once she knows that Shirou knows her name, regardless of how he found out. On the other hand, it is painfully obvious that Circe does not like to share.
Shirou is very good with his hands.
It sounds like Sauron is doing the reverse of what Yan Qing, Hessian Lobo, and Moriarty did to manifest. They had to combine with other, lesser legends. Yan Qing has Doppelganger, Moriarty has the Freeshooter, and Lobo has the Headless Horseman and The Invisible Man.
- Location
- The Netherlands
i believe that moriarty did it to achieve his plan not couse he needed to to be summoned. iirc Moriarty is known to be able to be a caster like Holmes but both versions we have combined with a different spirit to achive whatever goal they had at the time.
Erien
God's Weakest Soldier
- Location
- Georgia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
You stop visiting.
- Location
- Postcard from the Root
[X] [Brown Hair]
the vote is already closed
Vote locked.
- Location
- The wrong battlefield
- Pronouns
- She/Her
"Shirou's got strong hands..."
"You're weird. You're weird about him."
1.4 - What Cannot Be
Erien
God's Weakest Soldier
- Location
- Georgia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm8uSnDW9pE
[] [Purple Hair]
… Sakura.
Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!
—
"Shirou, are you awake?" Sakura asks, perhaps with a bit more urgency than you usually hear from her in the mornings. The fact that she is currently shaking your shoulders, not roughly, never Sakura's style, tells you that she is rather perturbed. About what, you couldn't rightly say. The play of light through your eyelids told you it was morning, and it wasn't unusual for Sakura to show up at your home to eat breakfast and join you for a walk to school.
But why would she be… this excited? You grunt, opening your eyes slowly to see the form of Sakura sitting just beside you, her hands on your shoulders. "Caster? Where's Caster?" you say slowly, moving a hand to your face.
"Caster…?" Sakura repeats, tilting her head. "What's Caster?"
You blink, slowly, feeling sensation return to your body as you force yourself away. The sunlight coming in through the paper walls revealed the room quite well, showing Sakura in her school uniform. It wasn't a scene unfamiliar to you by any stretch of the imagination, you had been friends with Sakura now for years, and she had been visiting you in the morning for years as well.
"Is anyone else in the house?" you ask slowly, bringing yourself up into a sitting position.
"... No?" Sakura asks, then her eyes widen. "Were you attacked!? Is that why you weren't at school this morning!?" her head jerks right and left, searching for a phantasmal attacker only she could see.
"No, I… wait, school. What time is it?" you ask, but don't wait for her answer, instead you turn your head towards the nightstand where the old alarm clock rested, the digital display, red and mocking, proudly states the time was ten in the morning, a good two hours after the first class of the day.
Needless to say, in the intervening moments it took you to recognize that number, and to process it. You become fully awake, your heart hammering in your chest as you turn your head slowly back to Sakura.
"Shirou, are you okay?" she asks.
… You move a hand to your face. "Long night Sakura, sorry for making you worry. Did you come back to check on me?"
Sakura nods. "Taiga asked me to come check on you, she said you were feeling sick."
Taiga did? Why did… the last thing you remember was her getting out of the house as soon as possible and leaving you with Caster. Did she know something you didn't? No, no not likely. Taiga was many things but, no. No you doubt she knew anything about what was going on with Caster, it was likely a misunderstanding. But it does mean she didn't check on you in the morning, you weren't sure if that hurt your feelings or not.
"Yeah, I was." You say slowly, then rise to your feet. "I'll be fine, er, rather, I am fine. Is it too late to go to school? And aren't you in trouble for stepping out yourself?"
Sakura looks briefly put out for a moment, before shaking her head. "You can still make the afternoon classes, and Taiga gave me permission to go. But are you sure you are feeling alright?"
Are you sure? No, not really, your head ached a bit, and your tongue felt… funny in ways you could describe. Like you had just eaten a lot of overly sour candies and it felt alien and numb in your mouth. You also wanted to know where Caster was, but you have no idea where to look, frankly the whole thing felt like a dream anyway. You glance down at your hand, pulling the sleeve of your shirt up to see…
The mark was there, which means it wasn't a dream.
"Shirou?" Sakura says quietly, causing you to look towards her.
She was staring at the back of your hand, her eyes wide, her mouth was open, like there was more that she wanted to say but she couldn't quite find the words. Her hand was partially raised towards you, frozen in midair and… shaking slightly.
You start to pull the hand back, only for her to snap out and grab your fingers, pulling you forward as she studies the mark. Her fingers trace it, disbelief clear as day on her face.
"It's… a burn," you say, lamely.
Her head snaps up to look at you, and… to your surprise she is crying. "No, not you Shirou. Why you?"
… Pardon? "Sakura?"
"You weren't supposed to be a master!" Sakura cries out, then scoots back, her eyes wide with seemingly fright. She's panicked, more than you've ever seen her panicked before, but it's not that she is visibly scared of you, it's something else.
Sakura moves to stand, or at least, starts to. She runs into an apparent wall in midair, and before your eyes Caster appears behind Sakura. She's dressed in the same robes you saw her in previously, her face shrouded by the hood. Sakura turns her head to look back in shock towards the woman, before Caster's hand taps the side of her head.
Like a ragdoll Sakura slumps, falling down to the floor. You lunge forward, crying out Sakura's name as you move across the floor to catch her before her head can hit the mats. You succeed, though how limp she is in your arms doesn't express much in the way of confidence. The girl hangs limply in your arms, her eyes open and staring at the ceiling with no sign of life to them. "Caster?! What did you do?!"
"Calm yourself master," Caster says, staring down at the two of you. "I have merely put her to sleep, she will be fine, though she is a loose end."
You look back down, and… thankfully, the rise and fall of her chest does reveal Sakura to be merely asleep. You let out a breath at that, one you didn't realize you had been holding. "How… how long have you been standing there?"
"Since she arrived," Caster admits. "I was curious as to her purpose, to think she was a magus."
Sakura? What? The disbelief you were feeling must have been visible on your face, as Caster visibly frowns.
"Truly master? You could not tell?" Caster shakes her head, then moves closer, getting down on one knee she grabs the wrist that bears the mark. "I have cast an illusion to hide this from all but other magus, and even then only powerful onesl would be able to see it."
"That's… not possible." You say. "Sakura can't be a magus."
Caster tilts her head. "And whyever not? In your time magus exist in secrecy, and she recognized the command seal, face it boy."
You process that, it makes sense, it does. But you don't actually want to believe it. Sakura… never showed any hint of being a magus. She was quiet, and shy, and a good friend of yours. She's never shown even the slightest hint of magecraft, or interest in it. Though you never brought up the subject with her anyway. "I just… can't believe it."
"Whether you believe it or not," Caster says, sounding an interesting mix between annoyed and amused. "She is a loose end, I can tell by your actions you do not wish for her death… though with her talents she could easily become a master as well."
"Why would I ever want to kill her?" you reply, not bothering to hide frustration in your tone. "And why would she become a master?"
Caster pauses at that statement, then straightens back up, still sitting, but no longer hovering over you at the same time. "She has the possibility, nothing more." Caster replies. "As for why, to protect your secrets. Servants are powerful things, and outing yourself as a magus is dangerous."
You clutch Sakura tighter to yourself. "We are not harming Sakura. No secret is worth that." Your father had told you to keep that hidden, but you would never hurt someone over it.
Caster stares at you for several moments, before simply nodding. "So be it, then instead I shall just wipe her memory of this morning's events." Caster starts to reach forward.
And you yank Sakura back. "Why?!"
Caster tilts her head. "As we just discussed, outing yourself as a master is dangerous. If you do not wish to kill her, then I shall merely remove her memories. From her point of view she merely had a dizzy spell upon entering the house."
You…
You look down at Sakura, then back at Caster. Kiritsugu told you to keep your status as a Magus secret, and you still don't know what this is about Masters and Servants anyway. You-
—
[] [Let Caster go Ahead]
Wipe Sakura's memories, you don't like it. But if it's safer it's safer.
[] [Refuse]
Under no circumstances are you messing with Sakura.
—
Sorry for the shorter chapter, I lost my job and have been a bit frantic lately. Second half of this is coming hopefully soon.
- Location
- North Carolina
[X] [Refuse]
I...think this might actually score some points with Medea. One of the reasons she went along with Jason was because she got mind-whammied into falling head over heels for him.
Also, I wouldn't put it past worm-grandpa to notice someone's been messing with her head.
I...think this might actually score some points with Medea. One of the reasons she went along with Jason was because she got mind-whammied into falling head over heels for him.
Also, I wouldn't put it past worm-grandpa to notice someone's been messing with her head.
- Location
- Texas
Hmm, pretty interesting that she went with "What" there instead of "Who".
Circe, what did you DO to the poor boy's tongue?
Day negative 3, and we are already... 4 different methods of off the rails for this HGW?
Boop, go to sleep!
[X] [Refuse]
Under no circumstances are you messing with Sakura.
This is the clusterfuck. Let us truly embrace the chaos.
Though, who knows how much attention Zouken is paying to Sakura at this moment, he might not have noticed yet!
Zeroth Jupi
Sporadic Writer and Haver of Ideas
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
[X] [Refuse]
Under no circumstances are you messing with Sakura.
Under no circumstances are you messing with Sakura.