RED Medic (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ribs_grow_back) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
bakerstreet2014-10-19 12:34 pm
ribs_grow_back) wrote in bakerstreet2014-10-19 12:34 pm
Entry tags:
The Holy Grail War Meme
The HOLY GRAIL WAR Meme
Who will it be?
For those unfamiliar with Fate/Stay Night or Fate/Zero, you can find a better explanation of the Holy Grail War here. (Note: The Holy Grail War in Fate/EXTRA functions in a dramatically different way, and one not followed for purposes of this meme.)
Instructions
1. Comment with your character. In the subject line, put that character's name, canon, and which role (Master, Servant, or either) you would like them to fulfill. Though not mandatory, it would be preferred that you give a brief summary of your character as they will (most likely) be AU'd into the setting. (NOTE: If your character can fill the role of Servant, I suggest you state which class(es) -- Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, or Berserker -- they fall into.)
2. Reply to others' comments. Pick your character's role (and the other character's if they list "Either" as their preference), then use the RNG to pick a scenario that fits the two characters' roles.
3. Enjoy! Though there might be triggers, depending on how the prompts are interpreted.
TWO MASTERS
1. Battle. Who says that Servants get to have all the fun? After all, most Masters try to kill each other, too. Whatever the circumstances, the two of you are locked in a fight. Neither of you are willing to use your Command Spells just yet, so no Servants here. Just two magi duking it out.
2. Alliance. There's a bigger threat out there. Either one Servant is exceptionally powerful, or the situation has changed and the participants need to take action against it. One way or another, you're teamed up with one of your rivals for the Holy Grail. How long will this last before you try to stab each other in the back? Or, will something more develop?
3. Protection. Uh-oh! One of you has lost your Servant! Unfortunately, there's no way you'd get to the church safely on your own, so the other one will help you get there! Or maybe you don't trust the priest presiding over the Holy Grail War and are giving shelter to them yourself? Given their track record, no one would blame you.
4. Death. One or both of you lay dying. It might have been by the other's hand, or by someone else's entirely. How will you spend your last moments in the presence of one of your rivals?
5. You, Too? Surprise! You may have been friends before, but you've just discovered that you're both Masters! How will you handle this revelation?
6. Wild Card. Roll again, pick one of the previous options, or make one up!
1. Are You My Master? The summoning is complete. Whether intentional or not, catalyst or not, a magus has summoned a Servant. What kind of meeting was it? Was everything totally under control, or did a hitch occur? Or maybe it happened in the middle of a life-or-death situation!
2. Identity. Either the Servant has flat out told the Master their identity, or they unleashed their Noble Phantasm. Either way, the cat is out of the bag. How will the Master react, now that they know their Servant's name and legend? Will anything change between the two?
3. Battle Aftermath. A battle has just ended. Who participated? Are either of you hurt? Did the Master have to use a Command Spell? Any number of things could have happened here.
4. Discord. Uh-oh. It looks like the Master and the Servant don't get along. Here come the arguments! Don't do something stupid, like waste a Command Spell over a triviality...
5. Love. And then, there's the opposite. Sometimes Masters and Servants fall in love with each other. How will this affect things?
6. Wild Card. Roll again, pick one of the previous options, or make one up!
1. Battle. This is what usually happens when two Servants meet -- they duke it out. This probably says enough as it is.
2. Alliance. There's a bigger threat out there. Either one Servant is exceptionally powerful, or the situation has changed and the participants need to take action aginst it. One way or another, you're teamed up with one of your rivals for the Holy Grail. How long will this last before you try to stab each other in the back? Or, will something more develop?
3. The Grail Dialogues. Maybe you're not interested in fighting just yet. Maybe you just want to sit down and talk with the other Servant. Find out what they want, what makes them tick. Get some wine while you're at it -- nothing like good wine to go with good talk!
4. Death. One or both of you lay dying...again. It might have been by the other's hand, or by someone else's entirely. How will you spend your last moments in this War in the presence of one of your rivals?
5. Identity. Congratulations, you've just learned each other's identities! Will this change the situation, or will you press onward?
6. Wild Card. Roll again, pick one of the previous options, or make one up!
:D!!
Lineage was, Rin has learnt the hard way, no sign of skill or aptitude when it comes to actually being a Master of a Servant. Everything he's studied over the years, all the work he's put in, all the slaving over learning ancient tongues and scripts to make as much headway in his short life thus far had positioned him competently, enviably even, well ahead of schedule for his current age. That, Rin was sure, was why he'd summoned a Servant with such relative ease. It was what he'd worked for, of course it's what was expected.
But Rin's sense of aspiration had clouded his awareness about his actual abilities as a Master and as it happened his Servant, Rider, was the first to be eliminated in the fray. It was his fault. It was his lack of conviction, his limited experience, his own shortcomings. His opportunity to take his family's name back into repute was lost. But more what was more surprisingly immediate was his sense of great personal loss from his Servant fighting to the last breath to protect him. He remembers the genuine warmth in the soft green eyes of his Servant and the foolish, idiotic smile of reassurance he'd been given. He wasn't deserving of any of that; he'd been entirely utilitarian as a Master, and it took his Servant's defeat for him to realise the mistake.
So isn't he making the same one all over again here? Eyes hard on his newly obtained Servant and his fist bearing his Command Seals clenched at his side. He's resentful that they've come together under these circumstances, that this Servant who has lost his own Master is a replacement of circumstance for the Servant Rin should have been a better Master to. He's repeating the same mistakes precisely in trying to not repeat them. It's a fault of impulsive, ambitious young men.
They might have gotten out of the last encounter relatively unscathed (or at least alive with injuries Rin was equipped to tend to), it doesn't mean the whole matter went smoothly.
"If you didn't want to listen to my orders, why did you agree to this contract in the first place?!"
all I could think of the whole time was Suga as a pokemon ignoring input commands
Well, he hadn't reneged on his promise yet.
Archer could feel the added strength in his attacks and endurance throughout that last fight, and even now he's not as winded as he would have been previously. This new mage—Matsuoka—is very strong, with enough training and lineage to back his claim to the Grail: all things his last Master didn't have. The undeniable fact of that is what makes him grit his teeth more than anything else, why he'd turned away when Rin shouted his commands.
He hasn't yet dismissed his bow, and its smooth curved shape at its side is as much a threat as it is a precaution against further attacks. This isn't the best place for this—Matsuoka's voice echoes off the buildings, and they're the only two standing in the center of a street full of rubble—but he doesn't think he can delay this any longer than he already has.
Archer takes a sharp breath but doesn't lift his gaze from the floor; even bristling with adrenaline, he can't forget his place.
"I agreed because I wanted to keep fighting," he answers tightly. "Same as you."
Legit mental image, actually! And gosh, I suck with the slow. We're doing it! We're escaping slump!
Rin is animated as he speaks, not bothering to lower his voice nor making any bid to hide the fire in his eyes that blazes furiously at the hero before him.
There really should be more awareness on his part, more of a sense that Masters are no impervious to betrayal from any of their Servants, but none of that seems to occur to Rin as he stalks across the ruined terrain to get up in his new Servant's face.
"I am not some kind of mana battery for you to charge up from and then do whatever the hell you want! You agreed to forge this contract, didn't you?! Act like you're actually my Servant and not some parasite!"
... He shouldn't have said that and he knows it. Rin makes a face at himself while staring at Archer, his lips pursed but he forces himself not to look away with regret even if he feels it. Yes, he's angry and the sharpness of his words are unnecessary, but he's angry and anxious; they're running out of time.
He knows what's making him speak and act this way comes form the immense pressure of the situation and the burning sense that their partnership isn't a smooth one. Their friction with one another is practically in the air and he's trying, and failing, to be a more assertive Master. He just hasn't quite figured out that assertive does not mean aggressive, and the common ground between them is completely out of sight to him.
It's not far, granted, but it's several steps back and Rin is too presently too tunnel-visioned on the future.
"Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"
no subject
Matsuoka is more physically built than Archer is—his class relies on speed and agility, not force—but his Master was even larger, and he hardly feels he's at a physical disadvantage. As the mage advances, Archer draws himself up to his full, if shorter, height. His chin tips up, holding Matsuoka's gaze without blinking.
As the tirade continues, there are slight shifts in Archer's body language. He leans onto the balls of his feet, pushing his weight forward as Matsuoka crowds him; his body turns slightly to the left, inching his bow closer to his draw hand; his brow furrows.
Betrayal is too strong a word, and inaccurate besides: there's nothing in this relationship that's about loyalty. Archer's terms in this agreement were simple, and Matsuoka throwing his mana requirement in his face only makes his eyes narrow. Betrayal would have to indicate trust to begin with, and Matsuoka's done nothing yet to earn his. His old Master was his partner and friend, someone who he'd been glad to lay his life down for. He was nothing like the arrogant, demanding mage he served now.
At the word parasite he flinches, a single full-body twitch. But he says nothing, instead watching Matsuoka as the other man's lips press thin.
There's a long pause after Matsuoka's final question. Archer takes a deep breath through his nose, his expression coldly nonplussed.
"I don't have anything to say to someone who can't even control their temper," Archer says at last. "Are you finished complaining?"
no subject
The response he receives is not what he wants to hear though. More than that it stuns him enough to make him blink and take a sharp breath in surprise. Archer, in a fairly skillful manner, just turned Rin's sense of his own justified anger at his authority not being respected into an image of him throwing a tantrum like a petulant child. Releasing the breath he'd taken in and held, Rin's jaw sets and his shoulders tense as the anger ripples up his spine once more.
"You--!"
He forces himself to count to five (ten is asking too much) and attempts to reason with himself to give his stubborn new Servant another chance before deploying his final measure to gain control over this partnership. He pushes the fire of his irritation down, a momentary coolness taking its place, though the intensity is far from dampened.
"Don't act like I'm whining over nothing. You don't get to only acknowledge me when it suits you. Servants don't--"
Pausing, something twists in Rin's stomach, an instinctive warning not to finish that sentence. Once, he may have believed that Servants were just puppets and don't have a right to their own will, but that was before he failed Rider so. Instead, he shakes his head, trying to banish the creeping sense of guilt and grief to keep his concentration on the current moment.
"Find your tongue and explain yourself."
and we're back
Archer stiffens just before Matsuoka cuts his sentence off. His eyes flick subconsciously to Matsuoka's clenched fist and the seals inscribed there.
But then Matsuoka takes his criticism and calms down instead of going off like he expected. Archer eases his grip on his bow, enough for his fingers to begin tingling as blood comes back into them. Perhaps there's hope for this partnership after all. If his Master is willing to listen, then Archer is willing to speak.
"You're using me, too," Archer says. His voice isn't bitter or mocking, just flat. Facts are facts. "We're both fighting for what we want. For my part, I'll use my skills to win for you. That was our agreement. If I've done that, and if I continue doing that, what else do you need?"
Archer looks away. "It's a war. I'm not here to make friends." His expression shifts at that; a flash of grief, but it's gone as quickly as it came. "I'm here to win. Isn't it the same for you?"