The War of Kings [Code Geass and Fate/Stay Night Crossover]

[Pale Wolf]

But of course!

[OSMQEP]

C&C for six, I finished this, mostly, with a spate of productivity the other day. (Well, there were bits where I couldn't or didn't capture my original intent, but I should have let so much time pass if that bothers me.) Dunno when I'm gonna find the stuff to finish seven.

... Crap. He was Greek.

Not according to the Greeks at the time. Nowadays, they like claiming his Glory. Even if he had been Greek, especially where leadership was concerned, the Greeks seemed to have some understanding of 'really close friends, but not lovers'. IIRC, real Alexander had male and female 'lovers'. Probably also his culture was a lot more touchy-feely than mine. Modern Med cultures are supposed to have a lot more physical contact than certain others.

If this were any kind of normal Servant (then again, there was no such thing as a 'normal' Servant, becoming a Heroic Spirit meant you were a freak to begin with), it would have turned into a fight right there, but Rider had just offered Archer a job. He hadn't answered yet (refusal, of course, the Grail was probably a non-option to begin with, and Archer had never yet called anyone his king and wasn't about to start now), but it had at least given them a chance to talk things over.

So maybe in addition to all the other various sorts of discussion over the meaning of King, Archer will find a King. Or become one.

Fun thought, thinking about about all the other members of the cast and their King baggage, I got to wondering if my list of Masters and Servants is incomplete. Should I put C.C. and Grailvenger on it?

"Nah, but there's no point getting a feel for the place if I'm making the place different just being there, y'know? Besides, I think the Grail status thing's telling me something about awesome shirts, and I'm kind of curious."

You always alter what you are measuring by measuring it, strictly speaking. So, like the man says, you want to be careful about your important measurements.

"Um... what's prana?" the princess asked, hand raised as if she were in school. Which answered the question better than Rider ever could have.

How does she stack up to Lelouch as magic potential goes? Less absurd, more absurd?

I'd note that Waver may have some mysteries that were well known in his time, and unknown here. This might be a test for certain claims made by the nasu magic users about how their magic works. So, such might be significantly more powerful, in which case, if he teaches them to Euphemia, she might have something interesting after he leaves.

Tallish, thin, sharp-featured, longish black hair, eternally cranky expression on his face, cigar settled in a long-fingered hand, dressed in a modern business suit, with a dark red coat and long gold scarf slung over it. The man slowly blinked, puffing his cigar once. "The fuck you doing here, Emiya?" Fortunately, he'd said it in English - a language that only actually existed in Archer's timeline, incomprehensible to native speakers of the Britannian language (a Welsh-ish horror the likes of which twisted his soul to try and pronounce when he tried to do it without the Grail's support, and even with the Grail's support, abominations like King Arthur's Noble Phantasm shield Wynebgwrthucher were... beyond him).

Cyborg 009 colors.

Hmm.

One Bigga Thucker, or One Big Thwacker.

The man - Waver Velvet, Lord El-Melloi II of Clock Tower back when Clock Tower was actually a thing - smiled, looking back over his shoulder at Rider. The smile alone was a bit disturbing, because Archer did not see such a pure expression on that guy's face very often at all. "I can't say to how. But yeah. It's him."

Suggests the Clock Tower failed at some point in this Archer's timeline.

No, Waver knew exactly how he'd been summoned. Waver was a hell of a lot smarter than Archer, and Archer was starting to put it together himself. But of course he wouldn't say it - he was Rider's ally, he wouldn't reveal the man's secrets, even to an old comrade.

and that Archer can still have comrades, which might be enough for Rider.

Heroic Spirits retained some data across summonings. Data integral to their natures - data without which the Heroic Spirit would no longer be the Heroic Spirit. Rider was not the sort who would never forget a comrade - he was the sort who could never forget a comrade, who was literally incapable of it. To whom 'memories of a comrade' exceeded the laws of reality.

Makes me wonder about Archer, Rider, and people who can change between a human and a sword form. Not that I've heard of any of those in Nasu or Geass, but there are other properties.

"Hey, that is..." Archer raised a finger in protest, before sighing and lowering it. Rin... Ilya... Koliva... Saber... Luvia... Hortensia... Canaan... Renata... Victoria... Sajyou... now Anya... yeah, no, he couldn't really argue it. At least Bazette and Corine were tall enough not to fall in that category without a lot of wrangling. The list was disturbingly long, now that he thought about it.

Let's see, checking the wiki, I can't place Koliva, Renata, Victoria, Corine or Rudahigwa.

Archer nodded. "And wear it as a badge of honour... right. I'll keep it in mind. I can't say how practical it is, but if the opportunity arises..." Yeah... Waver was mostly trustworthy. And even if he did have a sudden change of character and carve up the homunculus... securing Rider's aid took priority. It had to. If the Grail blew, they were looking at mass death on an unprecedented scale. Everyone in Fuyuki, at bare minimum, on up to 'everyone on Earth', though the First would probably deploy a Counter Guardian before it got that far - thus killing everyone in Fuyuki, Counter Guardians were not precise instruments. Any one person, no matter their relationship to Archer, was a blessedly small sacrifice in the face of that.

Archer, you are the Counter Guardian.

That said, does this mean that he would even negotiate a truce with Gil? Because I just reread Gil's line to Isabelle about enjoying life, and I'm hating him less than I hate Caster.

"Not even. Old Zouken and the Einzberns aside - and that's a pretty damn big aside, you remember how batshit that got last time even without a Grail War on - we've still got at least five other Servants who're gunning for a wish and would rip us up for it, not to mention our own Command Seals if we can't get Anya and the princess on our side."

Well, they can make common cause with Lancer's Master about offing Zouken. It isn't clear how many people Sorin brought in. They might be able to buy off Sorin, and hire him for other projects, depending on how the contract is worded. Isabelle may still be able to grow some. Gil is hard to call, but they probably can kill him.

Avenger would be up for Grail fixing allies, Berserker doesn't seem in it for fighting or wishes, and probably looks up to Avenger. Caster is a plus one to no cooperation in spirit, but would like to string things out, and set up deals for later profit. Team Lancer could probably do things without the wish, Lancer is an Avenger fangirl, one Saber would be up for that, and the other might respond well to the true story. (Also, she saved the world, potentially.)

This had to be the world she had wished for - a world where a better king had taken her place in history. That was clear enough. A world where the Britons had never fallen - her people, the Britons, not that other future ruled over by the English, the thrice-damned Germanic Angles and Saxons she'd fought her entire life to keep out of Britain in the first place.

singsong Saber's a Racist, Saber'S a Racist /singsong

I'd note that the ancesters of the Welsh would not have looked much like her, in general.

Men of Harlech, march to glory,
Victory s hov'ring o'er ye,
Bright-eyed freedom stands before ye,
Hear ye not her call?

'Mid the fray, see dead and dying,
Friend and foe together lying;
All around, the arrows flying,
Scatter sudden death!

"I do. We are to meet with local officials to secure diplomatic entry into the nation. You and I are to function as guards for the ambassador, drawing as little attention as is feasible. The general intent is to take advantage of the confusion to slip in as the new Governor-General arrives and takes office, and use the embassy as base. When Servants are located, we are to move out and assault them with full force."

Of course, a minimum of four out of nine servants will know her on sight.

"That's nice." Xingke waved a hand, dismissing it. "But I've seen enough oaths of loyalty broken that I don't take words at face value anymore. And if you do, then the more fool you." He pushed off the ship's railing, sharply turning and stalking back towards the ship's superstructure.

Racist Li is Racist? Good compatibility in that case?
Jaded Idealist is Jaded?

Or is it simply that he senses that she isn't the sanest, probably not an ideal role model, and her interests are not his Nation's interests. Plus she might be able to kill her Master over the link.

"We are, Xingke," Saber agreed, unconcerned by his vicious tone of voice. It was a bit odd to hear from a man who sounded so similar to Diarmuid, but it was still nothing like Kiritsugu. ... And who was the one who had summoned her? Her very being had rejected his call. She had not felt such an incompatible summon, even with Kiritsugu. "I will require a generally positive flow of prana to operate." She could run off her inner stores entirely, but it would be dangerous. If the caliber of her opponents was anything like it had been last time, 'generally positive' would be too low, let alone 'no inflow at all'. "But I will not draw more than the bare minimum." She certainly would not harm a child. She would have to make up for the inefficiency with ferocity.

Well, if she has natural enemies, perhaps she has natural friends.

Rider hummed, folding his arms across his chest as Archer and Waver floated into the room, materializing in front of him. He still wasn't entirely sorted through the memories the kiddo (Could he really call him that? Waver was far older than he'd lived to at this point, and almost certainly wiser... eh, it was fun this way) had tossed him, but he had the gist, he'd pored over the maps, and he'd have to get moving at some point.

Hmm, IIRC Rider died at 35 or so. If Waver was sixteen during the fourth war, that makes it a minimum of twenty years after the fourth. Per that assumption, Archer would be about ten years younger than Waver.

Waver held up his hands. "I wouldn't dare try. It took centuries of spectacular magi cooperating to get the thing running in the first place, we have two completely separate impurities in it, and I've never actually seen the thing running properly. I'd have to reconstruct the thing from scratch to even consider repairing it, and there's nowhere near the time."

How would, purely hypothetically speaking, two years seem to him?

Waver tsked. "You remember any useful details from that Hodgson project your lot helped moderate way back when? Shit, that was eighteen years ago, time seriously fucking flies..."

Makes it closer to a minimum of thirty years after the fourth. I gather this is a bit of a cross between strange fake and apocrypha.

"No way to know. I remember some things, but whether you can use any of it is another question. Most of my job in that involved stabbing people, not detailed magecraft work. And getting stabbed by fucking Gungnir when Colonel Massenet got compromised, but 'getting stabbed' is my specialty." Archer shrugged. "If you have a question, ask and I'll answer if I can. Why?"

Gungir was Odin's spear. Which sounds like a war that a) summoned that grade of entity and b) means more NP for Archer to spam.

Archer hummed, leaning back against a smoke-wreathed wall.

Given the mechanism, it sounds like this might compromise security. See, while I can believe that the legs might insulate well enough, Archer is putting his lungs, which I think might be a resonating chamber for the voice box, close enough that they might conduct through the wall to the nearest bug. And Geass sensor tech might be enough better than what he is used to that it would matter.

Rider grinned. He'd like the chance to see that. Teasing the serious types was way too fun. Probably part of why he'd first started poking Saber in that other War he'd competed in, though the more he found out about that broken little girl, the more personal it got. Certainly, from the memories Waver passed him, it was personal already. "And you? Interested in joining me? I would take you as a trusted companion, and share the world with you."

So he might actually try to look out for that Saber's interests? Well, I think she might be older than him, but it isn't like he knows that.

"Come on, you've gotta have some fun in life, Archer. It's short! It's gotta be sweet." He'd actually been surprised that even Waver leaking the name 'Emiya Shirou' hadn't allowed him to look up the identity within the Grail - but then again, maybe it wasn't that surprising. Waver was from the future - a Heroic Spirit he knew would be from the same timeframe, the Grail wouldn't know them. He hoped some of the Heroic Spirits of the future at least knew how to have a good time. He'd have to pick up some stories of the awesome battles of the future from those two, when they could get the chance. Obviously Waver had gotten involved in them - no Companion of his would do anything less - and this 'Shirou' guy had hit Heroic Spirit, so he must've got some sweet battle in, himself. Needed to work that Gungnir story out of him.

As the Gil said to Belle. Rider might be disappointed in the 'Awesome Future Battles'. Or not.

Kokoro herself would need to... find someone to attend to matters... in the near future. The very near future, if she let it lie much longer she was not going to be able to keep her... requirements... hidden. Part of her - a rather sizeable part of her - wanted to make good on the ritual 'marriage' with Lelouch. But it was better not to. He deserved better, and she did not want to ruin their current working relationship. She shook herself. It was a problem for another time, dwelling on her body was not going to quell its... needs.

I thought 'that' was pretty much restricted to Sakura. If it is a general trait of the Matou, I have a new theory about why they declined.

I'm writing this after reading 7, but one of my thoughts was that this didn't bode well for the marriage. Kokoro seems to have made up her mind here, with no consideration for discussion or deciding otherwise. That caused me some concern.

Edit Also: Caster and wives who are sleeping with people not their husband.

Also, if Lancer impregnates someone using someone else's form, who do the genes come from?

I'd note that I studied the structure scenes in later read throughs, figured out what you were talking about, and added it to my own knowledge.

... Um. Not that she was a masochist... maybe? Thanks to heritage, her body could... get going... in pretty much any circumstance, so it was hard to tell what she actually liked, if anything.

If Geass chemistry in WoK is worse than our own, I wonder about their antibiotics. Going off some of what I've heard of regarding the era's VD, adjusting a little for weaker medicine, and for 'comfort women', if she has been active, I imagine she could have picked up some VD, in addition to whatever she inherited. Is the downfall of the Matou here meant to be a really huge number of VD infections, such that Sakura's kids would not have developed magic either?

On brighter note, if she doesn't really have all that much actual interest, it seems like that might be pretty much compatible with Lelouch.

"Persona," Rider rumbled, from where he relaxed in one of the seats next to the table. Of course, no cameras - the royal family wouldn't be eavesdropped on.

"I summon you"

Euphemia blinked, turning to face... her 'Servant', she supposed. "Persona?"

Yeah, the summon quote from Persona is going through my mind.

"Ride with me, Master." He leaned forward, eyes serious. "We both have a thing or two to say on that battlefield, it seems."

Euphemia flushed under his stare. "A-ah... um... yes... okay..." It was a moment after she'd agreed before she started thinking about how the numerous problems there were going to be in doing it.

Euphemia has joined the Party of Companions.

Negotiation only works if what one is prepared to offer the other party is more to their liking than their best alternative to negotiation. And vice versa. There is also the question of credibility. Can the other party deliver? Is the other party honest?

I'd expect a 'standard' grail war to run two to three servants more interested in fighting than what she can offer, and some masters who simply should not be trusted.

Also maybe 'about the' or perhaps 'about how to solve the'.

She wasn't entirely trusting Lelouch at this point, but he had played straight with them so far, and the way everyone had looked to her for her dead brother's opinion had just underscored how badly the group needed a real leader. Ohgi wasn't bad in terms of the skills - but he didn't view himself as a leader, so nobody else would. So she'd vouched for Zero, and they were now under Zero's command. She wasn't entirely sold on him, but she didn't think she was going to find out if he had some dark ulterior motive if she kept him at a distance. If he wasn't the help they all needed, she needed to give him enough trust rope to hang himself - just, not enough to hang them too.

So they don't have a leader, because the leader they could've had has maybe bought into eleven inferiority.

He had been the group's most common wheelman, but after Fuyuki, he'd been banned from driving transport, and was now Kallen's sole subordinate in their budding knightmare division. (She liked having a subordinate. It was sweet - and something she'd earned, not just got because some ancestor of hers had licked the right king's ass to become nobility)

No period at the end.

In a way, depending where Lelouch ends up, she may have managed to do that also.

The thing about a king, or a magus, is that they are concerned with things beyond the life of a single individual. Magical research is closely held and takes generations, and a kingdom is very big. Developing qualified replacements is a significant part of both occupations.

I came across something that helped me see this grail war as a laboratory for learning. Leadership, responsibility, records, mechanical ability, all those good things relevant to civilian life.

"Pah, the gear's nothing without people to drive it," Tamaki snorted. "We're supplying that."

"Well, enough to drive two of those tanks, anyway." Inoue had to point out. "Or more like one and a half, since we're running two knightmares."

Thing is, realistically, with tanks you also want a far amount of infantry. Since tanks are pretty blind, they need lots of extra eyes so the enemy infantry can't sneak close and get them with a bomb. That said, this is a mecha story, so genre conventions can over ride that.

Also, to be on the conservative side about Zero's ability to equip his army, ignoring what I know of later R1, this is not the same thing as a supply of parts, and the parts supply, and the mechanics, are the real factor in whether or not a military can actually use a piece of equipment.

Zero held out his left hand. "Matou Kokoro, my intelligence branch."

It seems like bad intelligence practice to give the name out like this. This is information that could link the cell to the school. I'll admit Kallen compromises that anyway, but it just seems bad practice.

"Child soldiers," Zero spat. "I liberated them from a Britannian experimental facility," he began the cover story. Considering some of the things Kokoro had reported in the Fuyuki University after she'd investigated the 'poison gas' or whatever it was that had kicked the whole massacre off, it wasn't even that farfetched. That Code-R group was into some nasty shit, whatever they had actually been working on in there - Kallen's group had first caught wind of them because Japanese people had been periodically 'disappearing' from the ghettoes, and Kokoro had found them inside the capsules remaining in the facility. They were still alive. Technically. If only through extensive mechanical support, in the case of the luckier ones, the ones that still looked human. "We're still not entirely sure what they did to them in there, but... They can't take up civilian life or they'll be caught again, and they're both eager to take vengeance on Britannia. And honestly, better at it than many of us."

Just noticed this section about Kokoro's research at the Project R labs. I can't help but think that a magus could learn all sorts of things from that.

He could have tried maneuvering into control over Archer or Rider, but... it wasn't optimal. Two Servants allied and cross-checking each other made it difficult to squeeze himself in, their associations with the Britannian military made things a bit bigger than he'd like to get, and both Servants were independent-minded assholes with far less 'hooks' in the world than he'd prefer. He'd work with it if he had to, but... well, there were almost certainly better options, and there was no point taking on extra challenge for the sake of it. He'd like Caster if possible, or a Master good enough to have some idea of how to work with the Grail.

Hahaha. Isabelle, maybe, but the Einzbern maybe don't build enough skill into them for them to get ideas. Caster, hahaha, again.

Roads were nice. People travelling often blanked out mentally, just falling into a bit of a 'one foot in front of the other' trance. Not everyone, even now he was becoming deeply aware of Sandra Waller's failed relationship (Mark was a two-timing asshole, but in his defence, she was a bit of a bitch), and the plot elements of Andre Lupin's next novel (idea, the man had never written past a fifth chapter and Mao doubted he would this time either), but it was still quieter than usual.

Haha.

Soldiers of an earlier era, clad in chainmail over red-dyed wool tunics, wearing simple brass cap-style helmets and hobnailed sandals, with immense painted rectangular shields in one hand, and elegant wasp-waisted short swords clutched in the white-knuckled grip of the other - her mind forcefully named them as Spanish swords after the culture from which they had been stolen, despite their more famous use among the Roman legions. Espasa, rather than gladius. He certainly wasn't going to forget that now, her mind had been quite insistent on it.

On the other hand, the Roman's are probably responsible for much of the actual use of the Spanish Sword. I've heard that it is the single model of weapon which has the most kills to its name. At least in our timeline.

IIRC, the Romans took Spain, partly out of necessity, during the Punic Wars. There were a lot of Carthiginain colonies there, and I think it actually ended up fairly assimilated to Roman culture.

And the sun gleamed upon the armour of the knights on horseback, circling the hill like wolves come upon a wounded lamb, long spears trailing behind their pace, casually pointing to the Romans at the center of the circle. The men and women, and men who looked like women in the case of the leader, were grinning up at Varguntius's Romans as their horses prowled around the hill. The expressions of the legionaries, on the other hand, could be best summed up with the words 'despair', 'horror', and 'resignation'. Each expression was a unique mix, and imagined in vivid, loving detail, complete with sobs and terrified screams.

Lancer is an Avenger fangirl.

"And then I don't feel... so bad..." she pranced past him with a bit of a shrug, almost humming out the words

I'm imagining Lancer voiced by Julie Andrews. Sorta like my Saber/Church thing.
Supercali-

Also, Servant Poppins.

Mao opted to dive deeper into the girl's mind to focus on other topics about when the commanding knight - beautiful and radiant, but vague, another man she'd never met, but clearly admired - raised his hand and snapped his fingers, initiating the slaughter of the invaders, which she was imagining in just as much exquisite detail. Apparently, twenty escaped out of the thousands - the Romans had never surrendered, not expecting kind treatment from 'barbarians' (a word she couldn't even think without sarcasm), especially not after their unprovoked invasion had been so soundly defeated, and had fought to their end.

Barbarian comes from a word meaning doesn't speak Greek.

I tend to think that both barbarian and savage have legitimate uses.

Lancer and Aon seemed to fit into the same category as Archer and Rider - tightly aligned, access to far more resources than he had, and aggressive as hell. There were probably still better targets out of the last three-four Servants.

We have, of the five remaining, Assassin, a jerk who could squash him, Avenger, who is committed and whose powers might do bad stuff to Mao, Berserker, another who isn't easy to suborn (plus, what happens to Mao if he reads someone and has mad enhancement turn on?), Caster, who would suborn Mao, and Saber, who might be a little easier than Aon.

Matou Kokoro merited a look, though, if only for her theoretical knowledge and apparent delicate mental state should make her pretty easy to work with, if he had to. Not much of it was practical, apparently, but theory was more than he had, and Lancer seemed to think Matou's grasp of the theory was quite extensive. It should be a useful piece in freeing CC.

Mao seems to have some qualities to develop into an excellent magus. Which might, in its own way, be far more effective than making him a Master and giving him a Servant.

If Kokoro's Zero outfit has a similar theme, does that mean she also watch Tokusatsu when she was young?

Sorin Decebal, a mercenary from Dacia, in the EU. Gun-for-hire, apparently fairly noteworthy in the modern world - he may not even be a magus at all, Lelouch couldn't tell from the dossier, but he at least had support from one. Very skilled hitman, no particularly terroristic record, but frequently hired by varying criminal concerns and intelligence agencies to 'take care of matters' that they could not handle in-house for whatever reason.

Roland was a Warrior, from the land of the midnight sun...

The man had last been witnessed entering the Britannian mainland in the company of an albino woman three weeks ago, and Internal Security was still looking for the pair, somewhat concerned at his entry - the false names they had used to do it had kept IS from catching them before they were out of sight. The woman was still not quite identified - she was identical to Aloisia von Einzbern, but Aloisia von Einzbern had been that age in the Pacific War decades ago, so it could not be her, unless she didn't age (which Lelouch was not discounting, it was either that or a close relative).

Question, where does Lelouch have his information on Aloisia from? Because I wouldn't think Matou did photos, and their information would have explained the relation. The official investigation into Sorin's entry might be a bit different if they turned that up. My guess is that he or Kokoro would have researched the last war some using the official records, which were probably better than they would have been in our timeline, due to Geass tech differences.

Lelouch would have to phone in an anonymous tip to Area 11 Internal Security about Decebal's presence in Fuyuki. IS likely wouldn't catch him, especially not if he had a magical bag of tricks too, but the harrying would impair his operations in the Holy Grail War, and it would tie up resources they would otherwise be using to seek out Lelouch himself. If he played it right, they might even suspect he was Zero - a noted assassin for hire being in Fuyuki mere moments before the assassination of Clovis was just too convenient to be coincidence.

Of course, it might rebound if Sorin concludes that it was Zero's organization which tipped off the government, connects the witnesses with the tipoff, or simply ends up tied to the government.

Still, nine - plus their coming tenth to round out the unit - should do. Atar-1 was their best platoon - never once failed. Though it did take casualties in the process - thus why they were down to nine, Javeh would be missed. (Plus one very large dog - Setanta was outside, keeping watch just in case anything interrupted the ritual, and would give a warning bark)

Is it correct grammar not to have a period on these paragraph ending parenthetical asides, or something? Also, I'm reminded of the earlier name of 5thW Lancer for some reason. Given some of the other references...

There were shouts of surprise from around the circle, and everyone jolted towards her - though Farrokh, her apprentice, was the one that caught her. It was fortunate she was relatively short and slim, because the kid was only sixteen, and not exactly a weightlifter - and she wasn't helping much yet.

I don't suppose he could get into Ashford Academy?

"... Well, that is convenient," he noted. "Yes. I was brought to keep him under control. It... did not work out that simply. But it seems the alchemist succeeded in delaying him." He smiled softly... it was brilliant. Beautiful. "That woman was the true hero. I was blinded for most of the War." He turned his gaze back to her. "Our task, then, is to handle him, without concern for the War?"

I like his word choice. He doesn't mention things like family or the cognate to ethnicity, but first identifies her by skillset.

She nodded, tentatively laying a hand on her left arm. "... He interfered. That must be his way of saying... 'Challenge accepted. Come at me.' Well then." She grinned. He remembered the founder's promises she'd accepted atop Mount Damavand. There was something there beyond mindless hatred. Maybe just mindful hatred, but it was something. "I'm all fired up, now."

So the guy in the grail remembers what she promised to do to him on that hilltop? I kinda of suspect that one reason your 3rdW Lancer was the most compatible form of Lancer was that both had seen the person behind the lie.

Also, is she the sort to have burning blood?

The majority of his feats are recorded as myth rather than history. It's a lengthy set of sagas, so as I said, highlights reel. It includes: Slaying an insane elephant with a mace as a child (Why an elephant? I don't know). Killing a dragon on the road (apparently you don't want to wake him up from a good nap). Killing the great demon Div-e-Sepid and taking his skull for a hat (it actually looks pretty stylish, I think). Accidentally slaying his son when he did not know it was his son, Cuchulainn-style (how this happens so bloody often, I will never understand, at least my father knew it was me whenever he put any effort into trying to kill me, and I was concealing my identity better than those kids were... shut up, I was). Defeating a great champion, immune to harm very much like the Greek Achilles, the Germanic Sigurd, and the Indian Duryodhana, by shooting his only weak point (The eyes. Both of them. With one arrow). We could be here for a while, so I'll leave off with that.

It was reading about Rustam that got me started thinking that Patricide, Fracticide, and Filicide were worth solid epic hero points.

Oddly, it may be one of his more ridiculous achievements that is actually credited as real by historians. Does anyone remember Crassus, of the Roman Triumvirate? Alongside Pompey, and the even-more-famous Julius Caesar.

I do, I do. Crassus loaned Caesar a bunch of money. So he was one of the reasons Caesar could bribe so many people. Pompey married Caesar's daughter Julia to seal that alliance.

Crassus takes a bad rap for being a businessman and politician, but the truth is, he was actually quite a skilled general - Marcus Licinius Crassus personally commanded the Roman forces in the Third Servile War, crushing the Spartacus revolt. However, that had been twenty years ago. And as always in politics, people have short memories. 'What have you done lately?'

Except for the slavery, the firefighting scheme was not that actively evil, unless he was setting some of the fires.

The official parlance for the condition of Crassus's invasion force is, I believe, 'fucked'. At this point, they were just trying to get out alive. Their force was decimated, and Surena's guard was barely even scratched.

Decimated is a technical term meaning one in ten dead.

And the savaran followed the legends left to them of the great paladin Rostam - leaving him, in a very real sense, the Original Knight.

He can't be the Original Knight if he isn't plated in gold, and stored in Babylon, right?

----Exemplary Arms Mastership A+: Servants, as a rule, tend to have flawless, perfect swordsmanship (/spearmanship/bowmanship/etc depending on weapon of choice). Arms Mastership denotes one that goes beyond flawlessness, and transcends the perfection that Servants can expect as due - there are numerous variant forms, from Lancelot's Eternal Arms Mastership to Karna's Uncrowned Arms Mastership. Within his era, he was unrivaled in the arts of war - bow, sword, mace, lance, horse, and I'm stopping because else I'd continue for too long, not because the list has ended. In skill alone, he has few equals. And that is quite visible when he uses it - mental influence is exerted, bolstering the morale of his allies and weakening that of his foes. This skill also encompasses the Riding ability - in fact, that is most likely his best class qualification, though that largely because he does not have specific arrow/lance/sword Noble Phantasms.

Was the bull-headed mace real? Wait, I already asked about that.

----Eye of the Mind (True) B: Like yours, his nature is to stay cool, analyze the situation, and plan his way out. Even when faced with a nigh-invulnerable champion, he was able to determine the man's one vulnerability, and create a plan to exploit it. He is a planner par excellence.

I like more thinkers. The more thinkers, the more who can teach thinking, and I think the story is going to need more thinking on the good guy side to have a hope of a good end.

----Magic Resistance C: Protection against magic, cancelling spells of C-rank or lower. This is pretty much standard-issue - is there any Heroic Spirit without this to some degree? Of course, Iranian dark sorcerers were generally fond of the 'conjure something up and hit him with it' tactic we discussed last time, so how much actual use this saw is debateable, and it never got much practice.

I checked the citation, but then waited long enough to write the last up that I forgot the additional insights, for the most part.

Surena's Rakhsh is one of the finest of the breed, highly intelligent, utterly loyal, with the strength of an elephant. (That dragon-slaying he did was with Rakhsh's help, and I don't mean he was mounted at the time, the horse was biting. And what is with all the elephants in these myths? ... I suppose they did neighbour India at the time)

Elephants: Not only was Iran near India, they Iranian nobility was distantly related to some of the Indian nobility. Myth and legend might be expected to travel some along the line that the relationship might have created.

Also, in addition to Servant children, the Servant horses, especially all the apparent uncut males, are making me wonder about breeding stock. Forget about the stud fees, think of what bringing back traits of legendary superequine breeds could do. There are, per chapter 7, three servants with horses.

One thing I really like is that you don't add Ionian to Hetairoi when you are using it in the general sense. As you probably know, Doric and Ionian were the two big ethnic factions of the Hellenes, hence the famous columns. Sparta being the most noted Doric city, supposedly founded by their great hero Heracles, while Ionian Athens was founded by Theseus. While I recall that Alexander had extremely loyal elites from his native people, I know he picked up groups from other peoples. If my vague recollections from Rise of Nations are anywhere near correct, the Spartans fought Alexander to some extent, and he picked up far more Ionians as followers.

Edit: minor significant bit I forgot.

[Pale Wolf]

Not according to the Greeks at the time. Nowadays, they like claiming his Glory. Even if he had been Greek, especially where leadership was concerned, the Greeks seemed to have some understanding of 'really close friends, but not lovers'. IIRC, real Alexander had male and female 'lovers'. Probably also his culture was a lot more touchy-feely than mine. Modern Med cultures are supposed to have a lot more physical contact than certain others.

Yeah, Alex was IRL, if not bi, at least willing to do his job for the kingdom and create an heir. In Nasuverse, solidly bi.

They don't boink everyone, but Archer is just falling into stereotype here.

So maybe in addition to all the other various sorts of discussion over the meaning of King, Archer will find a King. Or become one.

He could. Though Lelouch is more likely to win his loyalty than Alexander is.

Fun thought, thinking about about all the other members of the cast and their King baggage, I got to wondering if my list of Masters and Servants is incomplete. Should I put C.C. and Grailvenger on it?

They're not really a Servant as such, though they're a threat on that sort of level. You could call them a Master/Servant pair, but it's kind of stretching the terminology, and CC would be the Servant since she's the part of that gestalt that can actually roam out and do stuff.

You always alter what you are measuring by measuring it, strictly speaking. So, like the man says, you want to be careful about your important measurements.

Indeed. And he wanted to wear that shirt despite not actually remembering it.

How does she stack up to Lelouch as magic potential goes? Less absurd, more absurd?

Broadly similar level of absurdity, though her personal talents would go in a different direction than Lelouch's.

I'd note that Waver may have some mysteries that were well known in his time, and unknown here. This might be a test for certain claims made by the nasu magic users about how their magic works. So, such might be significantly more powerful, in which case, if he teaches them to Euphemia, she might have something interesting after he leaves.

I'll say this part - that theory is 200% incorrect in my work (as in not only is it wrong, it's the opposite of true).

To prove it wrong, all I need to do is point out Reinforcement. Single most-used spell in the universe. Cheerfully taught by freakin' everyone, there is neither mention nor concern at any apparent variance in its strength. There's no Superman from the first magus to develop Reinforcement.

To prove it opposite, all I need to do is point out that the age in which magic was 'vastly greater than it ever will be in this diminished era' is the age in which magic was publicly known and largely in the open. (You know how Heroic Spirits get fame bonuses? Everything gets fame bonuses. Spells included. Spells are actually easier the more people know about them)

They're actually correct in that each individual mystery has its own strength, so multiple people drawing from it subdivides that strength. But each person who knows of the mystery adds in just as much power as they take out. If you were to instead publicize magecraft, then you would finally begin to get people who know of the mystery and aren't actively trying to perform it, so you would have a surplus of power.

Waver doesn't actually need to perform this experiment, because it was already proven in his lifetime - the secret of magic broke before Archer died (actually, his limited involvement in this - he wasn't actually the one who did it, but he was there - is what got him executed by the remnants of Clock Tower).

and that Archer can still have comrades, which might be enough for Rider.

It's certainly a project he intends to work on.

Makes me wonder about Archer, Rider, and people who can change between a human and a sword form. Not that I've heard of any of those in Nasu or Geass, but there are other properties.

That reminds me of the crack thought of a Seiken no Blacksmith crossover just so Shirou can bone his sword.

Let's see, checking the wiki, I can't place Koliva, Renata, Victoria, Corine or Rudahigwa.

All originals. Victoria is Victoria Archibald, Waver's boss. Rudahigwa is Nathaniel Rudahigwa, a latter-day Rin (also the guy responsible for the crash of Clock Tower, of which he is inordinately proud). Koliva is actually her callsign ('Bloodless Koliva'), because her actual name is Ilya Kalinkova and Archer has reserved the name 'Ilya' in his head - if you were to create a Holy Grail War out of the people Archer knew in life, she would be the Saber (as suggested by Waver's comment that her father was a tank). Corine is a somewhat more distant associate, who hired him for a job or two and they occassionally worked together afterward.

Archer, you are the Counter Guardian.

He is, but he's not actually deployed in that function. When a Counter Guardian is actually dropped, it's analogous to a nuclear warhead. Everything dies.

That said, does this mean that he would even negotiate a truce with Gil? Because I just reread Gil's line to Isabelle about enjoying life, and I'm hating him less than I hate Caster.

Archer was willing to negotiate a truce with Caster (Medea) to move on his objectives. No matter how loathesome, he's willing to let someone go if doing so pushes him towards something more important. And Gil does have redeeming traits. He was actually a pretty good kid, and Enkidu apparently managed to recapture that, but when adult and without Enkidu, he's bored, and so absolutely spoiled that peoples' lives are about as minor to him as the paint job on a Ferrari would be to us.

His line to Isabelle is actually along a similar thread to his conversations with Kirei. It seems vaguely offensive to him that someone not enjoy their life, whatever exactly that enjoyment entails (as long as it's not contrary to his own, of course).

And while Gilgamesh is difficult to manage, Archer actually considers 'not killing him' a priority, because the fucker has such an immense share that him dead alone can very nearly turn on the Holy Grail.

Well, they can make common cause with Lancer's Master about offing Zouken.

Quite feasibly! (And heck, Lelouch doesn't actually care about the Grail, it's just a convenient possible option towards his actual objectives, but he's currently completely willing to pursue those objectives in a largely mundane manner)

It isn't clear how many people Sorin brought in. They might be able to buy off Sorin, and hire him for other projects, depending on how the contract is worded.

Unfortunately, Sorin cannot be bought off. He doesn't actually give a shit about the job, but he's a mercenary who takes his position very seriously.

A mercenary's lifeblood is reputation. You do anything to smear that reputation, and who's going to hire you next? He doesn't particularly like the Einzberns and is already getting annoyed at the job, but he took the job, so he will complete it. Basically, once he's been bought, he stays bought, because otherwise his value as a product drops.

If he could be convinced that 'this will destroy the world', beyond any doubt, then he'd drop because while it's not good for his future, he does need the world (it's where he keeps all his stuff).

Unfortunately, that's a really difficult case to make. Even if you could prove beyond a doubt that Angra Mainyu is in there, you'd also have to prove that a Code is in there before it ever gets beyond 'the Counter Force detects the threat and blows up the city'. (Of course, the Counter Force is offline, but nobody knows that save the Counter Force itself)

And proving Angra Mainyu is difficult to begin with. Archer and Waver haven't actually proved it, it's just that they're aware of the potential risk and aren't willing to take it. Angra Mainyu only becomes visible-ish once the Grail is running at a very high energy level, which could be close to irreversible.

Avenger would be up for Grail fixing allies, Berserker doesn't seem in it for fighting or wishes, and probably looks up to Avenger.

Team Avenger would definitely be in for it. They're currently running their own plan, which is not entirely compatible with Team Archer/Rider's, but that's because both sides are in possession of different sets of information. If they were to exchange datasets, they could come to an agreement.

Berserker doesn't strictly look up to Avenger, but he would at least toss the guy a thumbs-up for nuking Crassus. Berserker has possible wishes, Takara is mostly in it for Rin-like reasons ('I don't know what I'll wish for, but Tohsaka is supposed to win'), but 'city go boom' would convince them to change minds if they found the evidence credible.

Caster is a plus one to no cooperation in spirit, but would like to string things out, and set up deals for later profit.

Quite likely. As noted, his Master is going for something bigger than the Grail, so it's not really a priority other than getting CC out of there.

Team Lancer could probably do things without the wish, Lancer is an Avenger fangirl, one Saber would be up for that, and the other might respond well to the true story. (Also, she saved the world, potentially.)

Well, Saber blue was willing to do so basically the moment she heard the Grail was nasty. It probably helped make Kiritsugu's sudden insanity make sense, so she has some corroborating details.

And the Black Knights team is pretty much entirely willing to call a halt on the Holy Grail War (on their own war, on the other hand...).

singsong Saber's a Racist, Saber'S a Racist /singsong

In her defence, the relationship between the Welsh and the English has always been touchy. And it really doesn't help that the English yoinked her legend and claim her as their hero when they spent her entire lifetime trying to kill her.

I'd note that the ancesters of the Welsh would not have looked much like her, in general.

Shhhhh. Excalibur wouldn't have looked like a fourteenth-century Italian longsword, either. (Actually, Rider's sword looks more like Excalibur actually would have)

Of course, a minimum of four out of nine servants will know her on sight.

Well, two. Lancer will recognize her sword on sight, but never actually met her (though she will wonder why everyone looks like Nero). And Aon will get her to generalities on sight, but also knows other people who shared that appearance, and is more likely to think of said other people than 'it's me again!'

Yeah, not much point to Invisible Air there, though.

Racist Li is Racist? Good compatibility in that case?
Jaded Idealist is Jaded?

Or is it simply that he senses that she isn't the sanest, probably not an ideal role model, and her interests are not his Nation's interests. Plus she might be able to kill her Master over the link.

The last two. Jaded idealist is jaded, her interests aren't his, and her existence is Lihua's unwilling entry card into a magical death tournament (and as noted, if Saber draws too hard, Lihua could hit prana loss death from the link - she doesn't intend to, and would probably willingly die before it happened, but jaded idealist is jaded and doesn't really have a reason to trust her at this point).

Well, if she has natural enemies, perhaps she has natural friends.

There are a few. She genuinely likes her Master, for instance.

Hmm, IIRC Rider died at 35 or so. If Waver was sixteen during the fourth war, that makes it a minimum of twenty years after the fourth. Per that assumption, Archer would be about ten years younger than Waver.

As I have it, Archer made it to the age of 47.

So yeah, Waver is almost twice Iskander's age. (Magi age well)

How would, purely hypothetically speaking, two years seem to him?

Probably still too short - the Grail took a long time to make. Frankly, it's lucky that they had this extra length of time as it is, since they're already over the two week limit, though the basic structure of the plan is in place.

Of course, it's also unlucky, because they were sort of hoping to stall the War's conclusion until the Grail's prana ran out and the whole thing fizzled out. Unfortunately, there's no telling exactly when that happens now that CC's in there (quite possibly never).

Makes it closer to a minimum of thirty years after the fourth. I gather this is a bit of a cross between strange fake and apocrypha.

Closer to a mix between Strange Fake and Prototype (this was the incident where he met Sajyou). There was a knockoff of the Grail setup, and the moderator - Corine - hired Archer and a few of his associates (Rin included) to keep things under control since Holy Grail Wars go craaaazy (frankly, the eight prime moderators could almost hold a Holy Grail War of their own...).

(Said knockoff was originally burned down by the Einzberns in what amounts to a massive war crime back in 1870, but after their main Grail War started going sour, they renegotiated with the Hodgson family - who I totally should have replaced with the Ainsworths before releasing the chapter - to use their facilities as a backup.)

Gungir was Odin's spear. Which sounds like a war that a) summoned that grade of entity and b) means more NP for Archer to spam.

Gungnir was actually sitting around in a museum (there's a particular spear that belonged to a royal family that claimed descent from him), and was wielded by a human (one of said moderator team, though, who could pretty much go into a brawl with a Heroic Spirit if they wanted - Massenet would have been the Lancer of the team, but lacked magic resistance against mental spells, though she later trained up an alternate form of anti-magical defence). Its wielder had an inherited right of use for the spear, thanks to being a descendant of Charlemagne (and strong enough to be worthy).

Though yes, he can totally toss it out if he feels like. The version he encountered, Clavus Domini, actually got a second Noble Phantasm added in with it that he normally wouldn't be able to trace (not a weapon), but can because it's enshrined in the spear.

Given the mechanism, it sounds like this might compromise security. See, while I can believe that the legs might insulate well enough, Archer is putting his lungs, which I think might be a resonating chamber for the voice box, close enough that they might conduct through the wall to the nearest bug. And Geass sensor tech might be enough better than what he is used to that it would matter.

There could be a potential risk of that, yes. Definitely worth figuring out and keeping in mind.

So he might actually try to look out for that Saber's interests?

That seems to have been part of his motivation there. The whole sense that she destroyed herself trying to be a perfect king. At first he was just fucking with her, but as that revealed more and more of how badly kingship affected her...

As the Gil said to Belle. Rider might be disappointed in the 'Awesome Future Battles'. Or not.

He totally wouldn't be. (Hell, the Archer in Archer's War was extremely modern - as in the guy was actually still alive for a couple of years, which was how Archer realized in the first place that he could go back through time and kill himself)

I thought 'that' was pretty much restricted to Sakura. If it is a general trait of the Matou, I have a new theory about why they declined.

I have it as more critical for Sakura (since she's adopted and was altered to fit and not entirely correctly), but the general thrust is a Matou trait (there's way too much in the nature of those worms to be entirely nonsexual).

Though the trait alone isn't necessarily a cause for decline - a greater chunk of the decline is quite feasibly Zouken himself, as has been noted. Especially when we consider the heroic tendencies of the Matou (Zouken himself in youth, Kariya...), Zouken's upbringing of future Matous is ill-suited to let such traits blossom.

I'm writing this after reading 7, but one of my thoughts was that this didn't bode well for the marriage. Kokoro seems to have made up her mind here, with no consideration for discussion or deciding otherwise. That caused me some concern.

She wants otherwise. But she doesn't think she merits it.

And she generally has a policy of not having sex with people she actually likes, because A: she doesn't think she deserves them, and B: she's afraid that they'll realize that she doesn't deserve them and take away what kindnesses she has received.

And at this point she was trying not to think on it a whole lot since she was just going to make herself all hot and bothered in public.

Also, if Lancer impregnates someone using someone else's form, who do the genes come from?

I'm scared to ask how that topic came up from there, but the genes come from the person she's mimicking. There would be some 'touch' from her own involvement, but genetically, it'd be a child of the person she was in the form of.

If Geass chemistry in WoK is worse than our own, I wonder about their antibiotics. Going off some of what I've heard of regarding the era's VD, adjusting a little for weaker medicine, and for 'comfort women', if she has been active, I imagine she could have picked up some VD, in addition to whatever she inherited. Is the downfall of the Matou here meant to be a really huge number of VD infections, such that Sakura's kids would not have developed magic either?

Magecraft helps a lot for this, and Kokoro in particular is basically immune (not just because she's better at the healing spells - they're low-level work that she can manage excellently, and they seem to be the sort of thing that would innately be loaded on the Matou crest - but also because she's an expert at structural analysis and is smart enough to use it to make sure that anyone she's... drafting to cover issues... can do so safely).

Normally the Matou prefer to borrow a single person who's in on things to take care of issues in a safe and healthy manner (in terms of disease, if not emotionally, hello Shinji), but since the only available such person in Kokoro's case was Zouken, she ranged out to find one-nighters and the like as soon as she could.

On brighter note, if she doesn't really have all that much actual interest, it seems like that might be pretty much compatible with Lelouch.

Lelouch isn't actually asexual, though he can seem it at times. He's totally interested, he just has bigger projects that have eaten up his time, and at this point even if he were to go about it, he doesn't actually have any idea how. (And Kokoro, for her part, is... well, she can be interested, but the cases in which she is actually interested she's self-denying...)

Yeah, the summon quote from Persona is going through my mind.

Yeah, that was semi-intentional. It wasn't actually the meaning, but it was a nice side hint.

Euphemia has joined the Party of Companions.

Indeed! (Well, not 100%, but she's certainly heading in that direction)

Negotiation only works if what one is prepared to offer the other party is more to their liking than their best alternative to negotiation. And vice versa. There is also the question of credibility. Can the other party deliver? Is the other party honest?

I'd expect a 'standard' grail war to run two to three servants more interested in fighting than what she can offer, and some masters who simply should not be trusted.

Quite likely, yes. A Holy Grail War in general is people participating for something that they can't get through any other means. Euphie's the type that thinks fighting should always be avoided, and that there can always be a negotiation. She can understand how someone can want something enough that the people lost by the wayside are acceptable losses (if she were willing to go there, she'd be in the War to resurrect Lelouch and Nunnally), but she's also compassionate enough to realize that not only is that trampling on everyone else's wishes, but more people have to die to get her that.

Euphie is a serious optimist. Always has been. Her Special Administrated Zone plan in canon, for instance, would not have actually accomplished the 'living together peacefully' end she wanted. Lelouch just didn't really have options otherwise that didn't involve horrendous acts of evil (though horrendous acts of evil happened by complete accident...), so he decided he'd work with it and try to keep it from collapsing horribly.

Also maybe 'about the' or perhaps 'about how to solve the'.

Ack, how'd I do that? Thank yas.

So they don't have a leader, because the leader they could've had has maybe bought into eleven inferiority.

Not really bought into Eleven inferiority. It's just that he's not a leader by nature. He has the skills, but he doesn't have the ability to actually apply them.

He's a wonderful teacher, and that's his true calling, but he was called to be a leader and he sucked the least.

No period at the end.

I generally don't use a period, when I have the end encased in parentheses. I'm not sure if that's strictly correct, but it's my style guide, at least.

In a way, depending where Lelouch ends up, she may have managed to do that also.

Oops?

The thing about a king, or a magus, is that they are concerned with things beyond the life of a single individual. Magical research is closely held and takes generations, and a kingdom is very big. Developing qualified replacements is a significant part of both occupations.

Yup. As ch 7's Wise Up notes, that's something that our King Arthur and Alexander the Great failed catastrophically at. Lelouch, on the other hand, always kept his post-endgame in mind - it was noted in one of the picture dramas that he was trying to teach Nunnally the basics she'd need to get by, and in canon, he made sure to arrange a stable support network for after he took the fall.

Lelouch's 'way of kingship' is 'What kind of kingdom did you leave behind?'

I came across something that helped me see this grail war as a laboratory for learning. Leadership, responsibility, records, mechanical ability, all those good things relevant to civilian life.

Heh. The Holy Grail War in general is essentially the Large Hadron Collider - it's a high-energy magical research facility.

Thing is, realistically, with tanks you also want a far amount of infantry. Since tanks are pretty blind, they need lots of extra eyes so the enemy infantry can't sneak close and get them with a bomb. That said, this is a mecha story, so genre conventions can over ride that.

You do need infantry, and that will be included, but frankly, at this point they barely have enough people to put one or two units on the field, so...

Also, to be on the conservative side about Zero's ability to equip his army, ignoring what I know of later R1, this is not the same thing as a supply of parts, and the parts supply, and the mechanics, are the real factor in whether or not a military can actually use a piece of equipment.

His parts and mechanics are definitely limited at this point. In that sense it's actually a benefit that he has few people to put in them, because odds are at least half of those tanks are going to be stripped to keep the other half running.

And his mechanics are... well, he is his best mechanic right now. Lancer and Kokoro are picking up details on knightmares, and the existing resistance group has what amounts to a few people from an auto shop, but yes, he's got serious disadvantages on the logistics end - part of why he's trying to be conservative with his use of Lancelot, because odds are good that it has like one battle in it before it needs maintenance he can't provide.

He's got techs incoming, but they're not there yet.

It seems like bad intelligence practice to give the name out like this. This is information that could link the cell to the school. I'll admit Kallen compromises that anyway, but it just seems bad practice.

Kokoro's actual origin is Fuyuki, though - her timeline for moving to the school would actually indicate that she was already a member of Zero's network and was later transferred to, because there wouldn't be enough time for her to be recruited in the school (and also provides a convenient excuse for why Zero used Kallen as his connection to the group, and hints at how he discovered her identity - so it actually covers up his link to Kallen by providing Kokoro in its place).

Just noticed this section about Kokoro's research at the Project R labs. I can't help but think that a magus could learn all sorts of things from that.

It's definitely relevant to a common interest among magi (especially considering it was research into immortality). Essentially, the project was to emulate CC. It doesn't quite work, and there's zany cell growth and sometimes cancerous effects in the various attempts, but they're somewhat able to stabilize it with cybernetics. As of Jeremiah, the project was not successful in fully emulating CC, but was successful in 'eternal youth'.

Kokoro has been trying to get the Code-R research notes to find out what exactly they were actually trying to do, but at this point, they mostly just have visuals, so they know the horrific war crimes done, but not actually what they intended to learn. (Kallen was not informed that Mr Fenette was a member of this project. Kokoro knows but doesn't actually alter her opinion of Shirley any, and she reported it to Lelouch but Lelouch is similarly well aware that father and child do not reflect on each other)

The research at Code-R is something a lot of 'first-rate' magi really wouldn't quail at (hell, the only thing that would piss a magus off is the fact that a number of them have done similar projects with other Code carriers but achieved nowhere near the same success), but while Kokoro doesn't see a point in burning the notes created and would be willing to learn from the research, she's nowhere near evil enough to perform it.

Hahaha. Isabelle, maybe, but the Einzbern maybe don't build enough skill into them for them to get ideas. Caster, hahaha, again.

Indeed. Though Isabelle would actually be a good option if he could. After all, while she's not generally skilled in magecraft, she is a hyperspecialist in the Holy Grail itself, which is the exact piece of data Mao needs.

Haha.

I figured after that long delay, it merited a little dig at myself.

On the other hand, the Roman's are probably responsible for much of the actual use of the Spanish Sword. I've heard that it is the single model of weapon which has the most kills to its name. At least in our timeline.

It's definitely one of the contenders, though that'd be an interesting statistic to look into.

The Romans probably used the Spanish sword a whole lot, though that's mostly due to, well, being bigger and longer-lasting.

IIRC, the Romans took Spain, partly out of necessity, during the Punic Wars. There were a lot of Carthiginain colonies there, and I think it actually ended up fairly assimilated to Roman culture.

Eventually it did, after a century or two of frequent massacre and the like. Said massacre was reaching its tail stages around Lancer's time.

Like most of Rome's conquests, Spain eventually acclimated to the conditions and fell for the 'your ancestors were barbarians, and we have brought you civilization' party line, but like most, they did not enjoy the trip and it involved extensive levels of horrible war crimes. It's just that they were one of the first it happened to, so they finished their trip around when most others were starting.

Lancer is an Avenger fangirl.

Indeed. After all, the first person to hand a shameful defeat to the unbeatable enemy that had just crushed her...

I'm imagining Lancer voiced by Julie Andrews. Sorta like my Saber/Church thing.
Supercali-

Hahahah, nice.

Also, Servant Poppins.

Caster?

Barbarian comes from a word meaning doesn't speak Greek.

I tend to think that both barbarian and savage have legitimate uses.

There are legitimate uses, but it's a word that's hard to think of in a non-sarcastic context, because often, the people who use the words are in fact the ones to whom it would be best applied.

We have, of the five remaining, Assassin, a jerk who could squash him, Avenger, who is committed and whose powers might do bad stuff to Mao, Berserker, another who isn't easy to suborn (plus, what happens to Mao if he reads someone and has mad enhancement turn on?), Caster, who would suborn Mao, and Saber, who might be a little easier than Aon.

Yeah, not a lot of good options, so he might end up drifting back in that direction.

Mad Enhancement, Mao would probably cringe in horrible pain at observing that sort of mindset. It wouldn't drive him crazy in and of itself, but it would be a most unpleasant experience.

Avenger's specialized powers probably won't do much to Mao, but, well... Servant. Squish.

Mao seems to have some qualities to develop into an excellent magus. Which might, in its own way, be far more effective than making him a Master and giving him a Servant.

Geass and Code carriers are, as was earlier discussed, horribly dangerous magi. Given time, Mao could be very, very dangerous as such, though the timeframe might mean that a Servant gets him to the point of being lethal sooner.

If Kokoro's Zero outfit has a similar theme, does that mean she also watch Tokusatsu when she was young?

That's entirely possible, though the face mask was specifically requested, and beyond that she was just asked for 'eye-searingly flashy', so she did what came to mind.

Roland was a Warrior, from the land of the midnight sun...

Roland the Thompson-Gunner!

Question, where does Lelouch have his information on Aloisia from? Because I wouldn't think Matou did photos, and their information would have explained the relation. The official investigation into Sorin's entry might be a bit different if they turned that up. My guess is that he or Kokoro would have researched the last war some using the official records, which were probably better than they would have been in our timeline, due to Geass tech differences.

It was Britannian domestic security that found the link between Isabelle and Aloisia thanks to having incorporated old Japanese records into their own database - that paragraph was entirely devoted to what their own investigation turned up. Lelouch might follow the trail into the last War where Aloisia actually fought (well, fought might be a bit of an exaggeration, considering how it went for her), but he has most of the details he actually needed at this point, and Kokoro can fill in most of what he's missing (that the Einzbern have been deploying homunculus Masters for instance, and are one of the opening families - though Isabelle herself is the first homunculus Grail, the Einzbern have made that well-known because they don't want some genius breaking the Grail).

Looking in deeper and possibly finding out about Avenger Mk I would be wise, but Lelouch doesn't know there's something to find in that respect.

Of course, it might rebound if Sorin concludes that it was Zero's organization which tipped off the government, connects the witnesses with the tipoff, or simply ends up tied to the government.

It could, though the first two are hard links to make. Lelouch doesn't intend to say Sorin is Zero, just let security read into it. While the witnesses he spotted are the only ones who saw him shooting things, they weren't the only people who saw him in Fuyuki, so it's hard to conclude who exactly saw him. All he'd really know for a while is 'Britannian security has started catching up and it's getting a little harder to move'.

Of course, if he ended up getting along with them, that could turn into a problem.

Is it correct grammar not to have a period on these paragraph ending parenthetical asides, or something?

I don't know if strictly correct, but as noted, it's the way I do it. Seems to look better, to me.

Also, I'm reminded of the earlier name of 5thW Lancer for some reason. Given some of the other references...

It's an intentional reference in-universe, yes. Big doggie is Cuchulainn. (Considering she's a half, she borrowed some of that side of her heritage for doggie)

I don't suppose he could get into Ashford Academy?

He's of the appropriate age, and the Ashfords are liberal enough to cheerfully allow it, though he'd need to get off time from his duties for it to happen. (Suzaku didn't so much get 'off time' as 'explicit orders' from Euphie)

I like his word choice. He doesn't mention things like family or the cognate to ethnicity, but first identifies her by skillset.

Indeed.

So the guy in the grail remembers what she promised to do to him on that hilltop? I kinda of suspect that one reason your 3rdW Lancer was the most compatible form of Lancer was that both had seen the person behind the lie.

That's a fair part of it, yup. Though she herself didn't make the promise. The promise was an ancient one (actually, the person who made the promise was Zarathustra - as she says, the founder of Zoroastrianism), Farah simply accepted 'I will make this come true'.

Also, is she the sort to have burning blood?

I think after reading chapter 7, you have the answer to that one.

It was reading about Rustam that got me started thinking that Patricide, Fracticide, and Filicide were worth solid epic hero points.

They definitely can be, though Lelouch is perhaps justified in wondering how everyone disguised themselves so well. He was actually wearing a mask and his father still knew the whole time.

I do, I do. Crassus loaned Caesar a bunch of money. So he was one of the reasons Caesar could bribe so many people. Pompey married Caesar's daughter Julia to seal that alliance.

Indeed.

Except for the slavery, the firefighting scheme was not that actively evil, unless he was setting some of the fires.

Not actively, but it was worth at least a couple douche points.

Decimated is a technical term meaning one in ten dead.

Yeah, in this case it's used in the colloquial sense of 'everyone's dead, Dave', rather than the technical sense.

He can't be the Original Knight if he isn't plated in gold, and stored in Babylon, right?

The Parthian Empire did rule Babylon (among other lands)...

I like more thinkers. The more thinkers, the more who can teach thinking, and I think the story is going to need more thinking on the good guy side to have a hope of a good end.

Yyyuuuuup, things are rather tricky in that way.

I checked the citation, but then waited long enough to write the last up that I forgot the additional insights, for the most part.

Heh. (And yeah, the cases I've seen of Iranian sorcerors tend to be 'I conjure up a boulder and throw it at you', so magic resistance doesn't really get a lot of workout there)

Elephants: Not only was Iran near India, they Iranian nobility was distantly related to some of the Indian nobility. Myth and legend might be expected to travel some along the line that the relationship might have created.

Indeed. The Indo-Parthian Kingdom was actually ruled by the House of Suren to which Avenger belongs (founded by Gondophares I, who is more commonly known in the West as Gaspar, one of the three Magi who visited Jesus).

Also, in addition to Servant children, the Servant horses, especially all the apparent uncut males, are making me wonder about breeding stock. Forget about the stud fees, think of what bringing back traits of legendary superequine breeds could do. There are, per chapter 7, three servants with horses.

Farah is completely planning on that, too. (It's not like Raksh would mind having lots of girlfriends)

It wasn't really a core plan, but it's a nice opportunity along the way.

One thing I really like is that you don't add Ionian to Hetairoi when you are using it in the general sense. As you probably know, Doric and Ionian were the two big ethnic factions of the Hellenes, hence the famous columns. Sparta being the most noted Doric city, supposedly founded by their great hero Heracles, while Ionian Athens was founded by Theseus. While I recall that Alexander had extremely loyal elites from his native people, I know he picked up groups from other peoples.

Indeed. 'Hetairoi' just means 'companions of the king'.

If my vague recollections from Rise of Nations are anywhere near correct, the Spartans fought Alexander to some extent, and he picked up far more Ionians as followers.

The Spartans didn't really fight Macedonia, but they weren't particularly friendly either.

'An anecdote has it that when Philip II sent a message to Sparta saying "If I enter Laconia, I will raze Sparta", the Spartans responded with the single, terse reply: "If."'

Though they weren't really scared off so much as 'Sparta hadn't been a relevant power even in the region for fifty years, and never would be in the future either'. No need to.

Also, some glorious snark: 'Thus, upon the conquest of Persia, Alexander the Great sent to Athens 300 suits of Persian armour with the following inscription: 'Alexander, son of Philip, and all the Greeks except the Spartans, give these offerings taken from the foreigners who live in Asia.'

[OSMQEP]

Faster than I thought C&C 7

They took out their entirely justifiable rage on whatever was in the vicinity - each other, Britannian civilians, bystanders... her...

I like what you've done with Nina. You've given her a well thought out, convincing explanation for her issues, which is one that Lelouch as you envision him would tolerate in a friend. Also, twisted personality count: 1

Rationally, she shouldn't be afraid of Kokoro Matou. The girl was even frailer than her. And she hadn't done anything, the whole time she'd been at Ashford.

On the one hand, Kokoro has more capability than that. On the other, Kokoro probably wouldn't do anything without a reason.

That said, in other circumstances, I can see this Nina being afraid of men, strangers, or people in general.

Nina could actually understand why Lelouch was so detached from the world. After the number of body blows it had delivered him - none of which she could talk about, of course, it was a secret and she only knew because Grandfather Albert had been part of the Dream Pod 9 team developing the Ganymede along with Lelouch's mother - it wasn't a surprise he just stopped putting effort and passion in. It hadn't ever been rewarded anyway.

Does Nina have unresolved issues over what happened to explain some of her baggage?

"We're here for you." Milly's clear blue eyes held hers, rock-steady. "I won't leave you behind this time."

Thumbs up to Milly. I guess, with Shirley, that makes the thumbs up count, for this chapter, two.

"Technically, no. Magi are apparently quite particular about their terminology - magecraft is something which is possible achieved via use of prana, magic is something which is impossible achieved via 'nobody knows because they're not publishing their research'." He shrugged, sitting down to Rivalz's left, long legs folding up almost spiderlike. "It's new to me too, and I'm essentially parroting Kokoro on this."

Hahaha.

Lancer smirked. "Magic."

Not really, it was published in the 69 BC March _Proceedings of the International

Bullshitter's Society_ under the title _Apple_.

"Oh, I'll live." Lelouch pried himself out from underneath Rivalz, and moved a few steps higher on the staircase, taking a seat again. "Anyway. It's this complicated involved thing involving shadow cabals, poorly-written amendments to the laws of physics, supernatural death tournaments, reincarnated ghost heroes, and whatnot. I'm hip-deep in it, but it shouldn't affect you - just make sure not to talk about it outside our group, Kokoro keeps warning me about semi-murderous enforcers. She may be overstating the threat, but I believe she is doing so to hammer in good, safe habits, which it would be best to follow - even very rare threats do pop up. And if something triggers your instincts, run and call one of us - there is a great deal of nastiness out there."

I like how this is phrased.

... Yes. Rivalz grinned, leaning back on the stairs and looking up at Lelouch. "I'm... eh, not fine, but I'll keep." Lelouch may have lied about everything else, but he was his friend. "How're you doing? I'm starting to get the impression you live off secrets, but you've been losing them pretty fast." Probably wasn't physically endangering him, but coming out about a secret was its own kind of trauma - and Lelouch had been far too comfortable hiding everything to be happy being this exposed.

Rivalz: Thumbs up count, three.

"As am I," Lelouch admitted. "But hostage situations are troublesome. The people you want to save are closer to the people threatening to kill them than they are to the people trying to save them. The villain has the advantage." He turned back to watch the screen. "And Britannian Forces policy is not to negotiate with terrorists. It's a good policy - it's entirely correct. But it's a policy of minimizing losses to terrorism, not negating them. They will go in at some point. The JLF will have a few shots at the hostages. At the very best, some people will die, Rivalz. If we're lucky, it won't be our friends."

I deeply agree with what is said here.

Air and water were no good. Clear skies, and the JLF were also liberally equipped with SAMs, as the probing VTOL had discovered. And water had been covered too - the water around the hotel was lavishly coated in sea mines, and the water access regions were covered.

Wait, Geass has SAMs? Are these man portable? Because if so, I'm wondering how those get into the hands of someone like the JLF, from a rocket fuel perspective. (John Clark's Ignition! is a very good book, very fun, but it gave me an idea of how much of a pain it is to engineer propellants.)

If the demolitions team could destroy the hotel's foundation block - a task she would rather hand to artillery herself, but there just weren't the angles to take a clear shot from distance - then the hotel would start sinking. Only fifteen meters or so, but it would rattle the JLF. For those fifteen meters of sinking, they would lack stable firing platforms for their SAMs, for their artillery since they had it, for their RPGs and mortars and etcetera - as the hotel sank, an attack could be launched and the JLF would be unable to mount stiff resistance.

Maybe RPG is a translated term, as again I am wondering about Geass propellant.

chemistry in the '62 cognate.

Cornelia glared straight ahead. "I know," she whispered back. But she could not give in, not to terrorists. A weakening in that position - let alone one this public - would only increase the amount of terror incidents down the line, as terrorist groups sensed weakness and pounced. Far more civilians would be endangered once the terrorists got the impression that threatening civilians led Britannia to cow and give them what they wanted. If Cornelia was going to play that game, they may as well pack up the settlement and leave the Area right now, because it was going to go there and it would be ugly when they arrived.

*Claps*

Thumbs Up, Cornelia, four

Also, I guess I should go with Twisted Personality count: 2. While I think she is pretty sane and functional here, well, it, sadly, does not seem to be a common sort of sanity.

With an expressive sigh, he stepped forward. "Actually, we snuck in to tell you that one of our agents is moving into the hotel right now. It's not our job, as Agent Halliburton felt it necessary to point out for some reason." The man cast a half-glare at the boy, endearing himself greatly to Cornelia right there. "But we were around."

Archer x Cornelia ? Or perhaps just a better working relationship?

Cornelia waved a hand. "It's irrelevant. I'll confirm them as pilots - they did well opening the ground up for us, so they can have that distinction. They still won't be seeing combat in them." She frowned, hand snapping out and crushing a fly buzzing on her seat's armrest. "And what is with all the insects around here?"

Just noticed this. So, does Kokoro have a clue about Rolo's gimmick yet?

Kallen was finding it a bit difficult to keep up her 'soft and frail' persona right now. Her instincts were ratcheted up about three millimeters short of turning on her true self entirely - having guns aimed at her just tended to do that.

Let's call her twisted personality three.

Kallen sighed, looking around the storage room. It was pure cold concrete, with about fourty hostages crammed together and huddled on the floor. Assortment of genders and nationalities, though mostly Britannian - tourists, convention attendees, etcetera. A couple children even younger than they were.

Maybe 'forty'.

'Who the hell do you think I am?' He slid up through a patrol of men with submachine guns, ignoring their shivers as senses humans rarely had call to notice told them 'something is here'.

Ties in with Nunnally's detect servant ability.

'Talk, fight, whichever comes up. If I can find them, probably.

Haven't entered detection range ye... oh, well that is awkward.' Rider came to a halt.

'He's in the room with you. Or maybe a nearby one. It's close.' Positioned just right to slaughter the hostages when it came to it. He was getting less and less inclined to befriend this Servant by the minute.

'You slummin' Nanoha?'

Part-nonhuman, Lancer, antihero... would that match the Norse Hagen, the half-elf who'd killed Sigurd? Supposedly Hagen had been male, but then again supposedly King Arthur had been male, history got a few things 'off'. (Of course, they'd also got Rider's appearance hilariously wrong, but in fairness, he'd done that intentionally)

Hahaha.

He was a Rider. Fighting on foot was not his talent. He was a total badass all around, but that was the minimum entry level to be a Servant to begin with - Lancers and Sabers were much better than he was in close combat. He needed a speed advantage, so he could keep the fights down to the short bursts in which he could match more close-combat-oriented Servants. Problem was, fitting his chariot in this hallway? Not gonna happen. Bucephalus wouldn't fit either.

Three horses, maybe all uncut adult males. Maybe Lancer or one of the Sabers has something also, but it is less likely to be an uncut male. (Cut males are supposed to be the best warhorses. Estrus and pregnancy apparently make females less suited, and uncut males apparently are dangerous around women at times. I dunno if Avalon stops Saber's menses.)

It was pretty nice having a battle style that let him fight for a long time. He got to enjoy himself.

Twisted Personality 3.

Hm. Her ability to read people was almost without par. And he was not lying. In fact... his voice had softened up when he spoke of the hostage. He had some affection for them of his own. He would not kill them. His plan was a little distasteful, but she had nothing better. "... Very well. I dislike it, but-"

Well, there is Avenger's truth power also.

Aon blinked, and glanced across at him. "Why not?" She had been expecting to have to explain chivalry to him using very small words. And hand puppets.

Hahaha. Wonderful.

Nor had they found a magic bullet to solve them. The closest thing to it was simply ignoring the threats. Push in as fast as possible, and destroy the killers before too many of their hostages died.

Again, it is almost like Britannian doctrine here is being written by someone with conclusions similar to the ones I have. Five thumbs up so far.

"Killing someone just to show they're serious," Darlton rumbled as the three of them strode down the metal-floored-walled-and-ceilinged hallway of the G1. "Barbaric."

It's almost like they had their education before the invasion, and Clovis didn't exactly put Greek in the curriculum anyway.

"No," Cornelia growled. "If we give in, we only reinforce the terrorists' position." Over the long term she was correct, but Princess Euphemia was only endangered on the short term. Negotiation would sacrifice the long term of future incidents for the short term resolution to this one, but Gilbert could tell she wanted to do it, regardless.

Thumb's up six, and a round of applause.

"... Yes and no," Agent Albion reported. "We can engage him at this point. Sniper fire won't finish it, he has his experimental toy in close protection. We can do it, but the collateral damage would be immense. You and all your troopers here could be expected to die if we took the shot. Depending on how it goes, the hotel could go up too."

One, this is a delightful way of wording things. This is probably where Archer IDs Saber, assumes Zero is her Master, and probably further guesses that it was a compatibility summon, and that Zero is nuts enough to be compatible with her. Which I think had some impact in his decision to kill Zero.

That mask and 'man of mystery' air about him made too many people too curious. Jeremiah would have just shot him.

It is a good think he didn't do something he might regret then.

"I am not Britannian," she pointed out. Technically she was a half, but she didn't identify that way and the Britannian half of her parentage had never done anything for her or her mother since contributing sperm. She'd never even been to the mainland, though she would have to be. "I am Iranian. An 'Eighteen'. I did not lie when I said I know your desire for independence. But even if these methods were successful, would you want a nation built on murder?"

maybe 'to go some time' instead of 'to be'.

"We had one, 'till your little masters came calling. I don't know why you're quisling for them," Was 'quis' a verb? "but you fuckers don't get to roll in on top of someone and then say things have to be done your way."

A Pacific War vet?

Farah's lips curled into a smile. "When it is time." She closed her eyes, and began spellcasting. Reinforcement to enhance the purpose and performance of the Glasgow's systems - actuators grew stronger and more precise, the factsphere's sensor reception improved markedly until she could actually pick up a visual of the linear cannon ahead if she cared to, the armour plates hardened... Firecraft in the rockets... just a little modulation to the fuel composition to maximize its performance, load it with additional energy, saturate...

I often have a thought on the whole Nasu magecraft/magic distinction. Is it magic when one gets by optical means visual data requiring a focal length and apparture size beyond the volume of what you are using, or does it take visual data beyond what is physically possible, even with an unlimited mass/volume budget, or do Nasu writers generally not have the physics background to get caught up on that detail?

And even as her familiars crawled and hissed through the foundations of the hotel and beyond, she was completely helpless when that man - she'd never even caught his name before he was hauled out of the room - had been thrown off the roof.

This scene really establishes that whatever else is going on with Kokoro, her heart

and will are going the correct way.

"<Zero is different.>" Perhaps that was the best hope. That Lelouch engrave his example upon the world. So that someone would follow in his footsteps, when Matou Zouken caught up with him. That... that was a hope Kokoro could dare to hold, wasn't it?

Yet, she still has terror of Zouken deeply engraved in her.

Kokoro stood up sharply, grabbing hold of the man's 'grasping Nina' arm. "Is this what 'Japan' is supposed to be?!"

I really must applaud Kokoro. She doesn't think of herself as much, but she kept her head, made a plan, was able to act on her desire to help others at her first real opportunity.

Seventh thumbs up, and twisted personality 4.

If Nina is close to canon, Nina may develop a crush on Kokoro instead of Euphemia. Or

maybe they will just have a better relationship.

Of course, that one man was Zero, with a plan.

Roughly the same as Batman, or a wizard with two days prep?

Lancer wanted to kill him now, so dead that not even history remembered him, but she was used to working rationally under that level of rage. There were video cameras scattered throughout the garage. Even if she won, the odds were too good that use of her Noble Phantasms would be recorded, and that would allow people to decipher their nature and use them against her. There was no way of knowing who would get the footage.

Well, if the terrorists have properly isolated the security systems, no one, or Zero.

Twisted Lancer is twisted, 5.

Naomi signaled with her left hand to Sugiyama, and sidled to nestle up against the right-side wall, Sugiyama setting up on the left. She pressed her submachine gun's folding-wire stock to her shoulder, made sure there was enough distance from the whirling blender of death at the center of the hallway to take semi-safe shots, and started lightly tapping the trigger, unleashing short, controlled bursts into the JLF troopers even as they tried to bring her weapons on-line.

'their weapons on-line'?

The girls generally had horrified looks on their faces at Matou's bruises and state of dress, and an orange-haired girl spontaneously hugged her. "I-i-it'll be okay! Oh God..."

Is the last bit appropriate for the setting?

Aon pursed her lips. "... If you need to talk to anyone..."

"I do not, but the offer is appreciated." Matou turned to Naomi. "We should catch up."

'Aon? My grandfather is built on so many villain points that no other human evil that I've experienced has any great impact on me.'

'I've met someone like that, but I ran away before I really got to know him.'

The blonde waved a hand over Matou's eyes. "Silent!"

Wait, isn't that also a SRW spirit? I sorta want to get her in a Knightmare, and see

if she can cast 'Love', or, whatsit called, 'Heroism'?

"To ride swiftly!" she barked, barreling straight down the center of the barrage of grapeshot, spear twirling around her dancing knightmare, impossibly deflecting what shot balls made it that far away from her with the shaft. Hiroto wasn't sure whether or not his eyes were messing with him, but he thought he saw shot glance off on angles that should have torn through, he even thought he saw two balls that should have been on perfect course to hit her converge, hit each other, and bounce away harmlessly.
...
"To shoot straight!" Before he could even fire them, with unnatural quickness, the Glasgow bearing down on them reached its left hand across to its right hip, drawing one of the machine pistols holstered there, and firing four short three-round bursts - trashing the arm guns.
...
"And TO ALWAYS SPEAK THE TRUTH!" their enemy roared back.

Pretty much what I've always heard about that set of childrearing practices. That said, the first person I heard it from left enough of an impression that I'm probably going to have to say this comes in second.

I'd speculate that this means that Rider's Iranian comrades would make deadly knightmare pilots, with both Riding and probably a ranged skill, except I noticed this read that they don't get grail updates. Maybe Waver can fix that, maybe not.

Let's call Farah barking mad also. 6. Great scene.

Just as a swordsman dreamed of wielding King Arthur's legendary Excalibur, just as a pilot... drooled over Zero's seventh-generation Lancelot or something... just like that, Diethard could tell that filming Zero was the reason he had been born in this boring world.

Nuts. 7.

Dame Alstreim snapped a picture of the Black Knights on the TV screen, before the transmission cut out.

Dame Alstreim's attendant sighed heavily. "Fucker means it. He might even think he's lying, but nope... he's for real." A twisted grin crawled across the man's tanned lips. "I look forward to the day I get to kill him."

Anya hasn't showed it, but with ARcher, and per my notes, Zero and Aon, we have 8, 9,

10, and 11.

You're familiar with this one in broad strokes already - inherited a very capable army from his father, proceeded to use it to destroy the greatest empire the world had yet known, and catastrophically failed to put anything of even the same order of magnitude of value in its place.

Seems familiar somehow.

A king is not rated by what he faces - a king is rated by what he leaves behind. And Alexander faced a world superpower... and left dust and ashes behind him. His own kingdom fell apart in less time than it would have taken him to die, had he had a full lifespan. And the empire he crushed casually reformed in the ashes and continued to outlast further superpowers, while his own? Never came back, even once.

Like what I said for last chapters C&C. As you say in your response to that.

So a true evaluation is impossible. I can only say this much - the recorded Alexander is unimpressive as king, though remains wondrous as a general. But the Alexander I see here? Matches the recorded Alexander only in the vaguest details.

Ha.

Luck: A+. He's one of those ludicrous luck types. Things work out for him far more often than they rightfully should..

Could it be his fault which version of Surena came up?

----Charisma A: Charisma is, simply put, the ability to command. Not, mind, the ability to know what is a wise action - but the ability to inspire. This is a truly spectacular level thereof, suitable not just for a King, but a King of the people, one beloved by those they lead. I should say, this is a very dangerous skill. Inspiration and enthusiasm can sometimes carry the day. But without wisdom, it becomes very difficult to tell when you are wrong. And with charisma, no one will tell you.

Broken record means hints, right?

Not that this means he develops new tactics on his own, of course. Quite frankly, the principles of warfare were all generally grasped by the time we left the Stone Age. Genius is not in invention of wholly new concepts - it is in actually managing to make existing concepts apply, because the world is not cooperating with you.

The world is not cooperating with you. Either Gaia is on the opposing forces side

here, or, it is a even subtler hint about Caster.

And desires. I'm not watching and I'm glad of it, but I really doubt the man doesn't occassionally make use of the ability to semi-resurrect his wives and boyfriend. It's not like Heroic Spirits need to sleep.

Well, if recorded rather than observed, surely boyfriends plural? Is what you have written the correct number?

Great fun, the characters continue the be very well done, the choreography and pacing a joy, and the whole shows a good deal of hard work.

I'll say this part - that theory is 200% incorrect in my work (as in not only is it wrong, it's the opposite of true).

So, more or less a legitimating narrative the Magus came upon?

I'm scared to ask how that topic came up from there, but the genes come from the person she's mimicking. There would be some 'touch' from her own involvement, but genetically, it'd be a child of the person she was in the form of.

Her attraction to Lancer, Lancer-as-Lulu, and the bit in Arthur's story about his parentage.

There are legitimate uses, but it's a word that's hard to think of in a non-sarcastic context, because often, the people who use the words are in fact the ones to whom it would be best applied.

To my way of thinking, savage properly describes a typical human society, which make up the overwhelming bulk of human societies if you look at both history and prehistory. Think LeBlanc's Constant Battles. The point of stability that all societies converge on over time, except as perturbed by other forces.

Usage is often screwed up in many of the abnormal societies of today, because they are, in some cases, so many generations removed from contact with such that they no longer have the references to comprehend the concept. That and the theft of the word for political purposes.

Edit:Where's Caster? In Rider's Comrade-World, unprintable unprintable wives. Of course, Croomy may be back in the new world, if Caster is there rather than Japan. Or maybe he is in the EU, taking over the Einzbern, for access to Sorin.

Edit Again: Any differences between the timelines in the holders of the True Magics, and types of Magics known to have existed?

[Knight of L-sama]

Alexander was Greek. Ancient Macedonia was part of a network of kingdoms and city-states that made up the Hellenic World that stretched across a much larger area then the modern nation of Greece. The Macedonians were just considered the back woods hicks of the Greek world.

Modern Macedonia is a more complicated matter because while the region kept the name from its Hellenic days, the modern Macedonians are a Slavic ethnic group who migrated into the area at a latter point (probably during the waning days of the Eastern Roman Empire).

[OSMQEP]

My understanding is that Alexander's people were neither Doric nor Ionian; that they had settled as part of a different population movement, and started speaking Greek at a later that. They did speak it, because it was trade and they held the Greeks in some cultural esteem, and so they could participate in the Pan-Hellenic games.

So Greek or not-Greek depending on definition.

I have vague recollections that they were more horsey than the ethnic Greeks tended to be. Also, vague recollections that they might have been related to some of the horsey peoples the Greeks described as barbarian, because of the language they spoke.

As an aside, I have no problems considering myself a barbarian by that standard. I'm not exactly fluent in many languages, language factions can be very significant for a reason, and no form of Greek is a mother tongue for me.

Shhhhh. Excalibur wouldn't have looked like a fourteenth-century Italian longsword, either. (Actually, Rider's sword looks more like Excalibur actually would have)

Well, I've heard that there was a related bunch who ended up in southern England, and she looks more like them. I've also heard that parts of the Arthur Mythos happened there, but some of that comes from people I know have heritage in Cornwell and related areas.

Japanese media creators do seem to default to the assumption that an American or european will be blue eyed and blond.

[Pale Wolf]

My understanding is that Alexander's people were neither Doric nor Ionian; that they had settled as part of a different population movement, and started speaking Greek at a later that. They did speak it, because it was trade and they held the Greeks in some cultural esteem, and so they could participate in the Pan-Hellenic games.

So Greek or not-Greek depending on definition.

Well, according to their founding myth, they're from the Greek city of Argos.

Of course, they also had to prove it, so it's not like the other Greeks were particularly proud of the relation (until the rednecks achieved something, anyway).

I have vague recollections that they were more horsey than the ethnic Greeks tended to be. Also, vague recollections that they might have been related to some of the horsey peoples the Greeks described as barbarian, because of the language they spoke.

As an aside, I have no problems considering myself a barbarian by that standard. I'm not exactly fluent in many languages, language factions can be very significant for a reason, and no form of Greek is a mother tongue for me.

Sure, nor I. The problem is that 'barbarian' carries many ancillary meanings along with the flat translation of the term, most of which are quite derogatory and are generally considered more relevant to the meaning than the direct translation.

Well, I've heard that there was a related bunch who ended up in southern England, and she looks more like them. I've also heard that parts of the Arthur Mythos happened there, but some of that comes from people I know have heritage in Cornwell and related areas.

Quite possibly.

Japanese media creators do seem to default to the assumption that an American or european will be blue eyed and blond.

In fairness, it can be like the only way to tell. Ethnicity isn't really covered very well by the faces, and in anime Japanese people have pegged down every shade from brown to black, plus blue, pink...

(Seriously, I thought for like the entirety of the first episode that Lelouch was Japanese, until they outright said that he was a Britannian student at the end)

[Viper764]

Just wanted to pop in to say that I'm thrilled you're updating this. It's my favorite Fate or Geass crossover, and I've pretty much read them all.

Mainly because you're managed to throw in the best parts of both Fate and Geass while still keeping the characterization strong and the background believable (ie: Rider, Angsty Saber vs Aon, Lelouch conquering the world, etc...)

Looking forward to the fireworks of conflict when Rider, Lancer, Saber, Aon and Lelouch get to talking... I'm sure they all have very different ideas of what being a king means.

[OSMQEP]

Well, according to their founding myth, they're from the Greek city of Argos.

Well, there is the Roman claim of being descended from Trojan refugees. I dunno I buy that either. Yes, the recent genetic studies, and the whole 'there probably was something traumatic in their deep history to explain the extreme fear of losing'.

Ah well, let's call this my sloppy error.

Sure, nor I. The problem is that 'barbarian' carries many ancillary meanings along with the flat translation of the term, most of which are quite derogatory and are generally considered more relevant to the meaning than the direct translation.

See, I like some of those other usages. Like 'no society is ever more than a generation or two from barbarism'.

You've heard of the, IIRC, Freud experiments with raising children in boxes away from human contact? Or how real world 'raised by animals' works, in the rare instances it does? I take these as evidence that achieving even a typical human society is not something humans are inherently capable of, but something that requires software coming from upbringing.

I think, somewhat based on personal experience, that there is also a software element in fancy complicated societies. I remember daycare as a place where I learned much of human evil. My memories of myself at that age... As I grew older, I learned and decided more of my values, forming conclusions about my place in my own society.

Anyway, I think it is always uncertain whether current generations will be able to pass on to future generations enough of what makes the society that society for it to continue to be that society.

'Transition to barbarism' is appropriate when a failure of this sort takes a society with a relatively low murder rate and brings it towards the more natural '20% of males dead to violence at best'.

Note that I think there are very horrible people in every society.

I can be unpleasant enough that I don't object to being called savage or barbaric; If it is an attempt to manipulate me by classifying certain actions or thoughts as such, and I disagree, I may cheerfully embrace the label.

In fairness, it can be like the only way to tell. Ethnicity isn't really covered very well by the faces, and in anime Japanese people have pegged down every shade from brown to black, plus blue, pink...

It is an easy short hand that works for the market, and sometimes that is what you want.

[Pale Wolf]

Well, there is the Roman claim of being descended from Trojan refugees. I dunno I buy that either. Yes, the recent genetic studies, and the whole 'there probably was something traumatic in their deep history to explain the extreme fear of losing'.

Not to say I buy it, but they did, and the mainline Greeks did too (though man, they'd buy anything).

The Roman 'traumatic history' thing seems to have been posited to be the Battle of the Allia (essentially, the Romans picked a fight with a Gaulish tribe, violating current international law to do so, the Senones called for the lawbreakers to be handed over to them, the Romans instead promoted the guys, so the Senones came in, kicked the shit out of the Romans who outnumbered them 2-1, and sacked the city in repayment for the bullshit they'd been put through).

See, I like some of those other usages. Like 'no society is ever more than a generation or two from barbarism'.

Oh, that is a great use.

The problem is that the people who use it to say that would often be better suited using it to say that about themselves.

This isn't a hard-and-fast rule, but in general, if a society calls their opponents 'barbarians', you are going to be seeing massive, horrifying slaughters and generalized crimes against humanity, and it's not going to be from the ones who were called 'barbarians'.

It's not so much that I object to the application of the term, as that the term has a very bad record that makes it difficult to take seriously.

It is an easy short hand that works for the market, and sometimes that is what you want.

Indeed.

[OSMQEP]

This isn't a hard-and-fast rule, but in general, if a society calls their opponents 'barbarians', you are going to be seeing massive, horrifying slaughters and generalized crimes against humanity, and it's not going to be from the ones who were called 'barbarians'.

I don't think I buy the causality on that. If you can get away with calling your enemies that, your people generally does not have a history of fighting theirs on a peer level. Which means that the expectations about war the peoples bring into the conflict are not forced onto any sort of common ground by shared history. This means that, per my understanding of how 'rules of war' actually work, that things tend to revert to default.

Plus, the side that is better equipped to get away with calling their enemies that is probably better equipped to win.

I think horrifying slaughters and generalized crimes against humanity are the norm, typical. I consider conflicts that don't have those to be exceptional circumstances, generally to be applauded and emulated, where practical.

I'd also note that oral and living histories, which informs part of our dataset, will severely undercount typical humans societies, as globalization or whatever has resulted in their being few, if any, actual ones left, and none under the usual constraints, which drive some of the more unusual (by our standards) phenomena.

Likewise, recorded history, if a civilization has enough lasting conflict with another society to leave much in the way of specific records, it is unlikely to be a typical society.

That said, as I mention in the C&C for 7, upthread, my model here is essentially LeBlanc's _Constant Battles_. Maybe with less pussyfooting around and more of an "I'm a huge jerk" factor.

[Pale Wolf]

I'm not sure how I failed to see this... (Maybe I just paged up from L-sama, saw 'long chain of quotes and responses', and presumed it was my own... whoops)

I like what you've done with Nina. You've given her a well thought out, convincing explanation for her issues, which is one that Lelouch as you envision him would tolerate in a friend.

While I worked a bit in (primarily the 'she's a research-oriented type, so she looked into the reasons behind said behaviour and can rationally acknowledge them even if she can't catch up emotionally' aspect), I can't actually claim credit for that. It was totally there in the original canon. It wasn't really shown from her perspective, but that scene was 90% lifted off canon - particularly the 'panic attack as the train goes into tunnel, Milly promises not to leave her alone this time'.

What actually happened was never specified, and doesn't really need to be, I think. There is a long, wide range of horrible things that people with no prospects in life can do that result in a fairly naive girl who qualifies as 'one of their oppressors' getting horribly traumatized.

Also, twisted personality count: 1

You're totally going to lose count.

On the one hand, Kokoro has more capability than that. On the other, Kokoro probably wouldn't do anything without a reason.

Indeed. If you have reason to fear, you have reason for a lot of fear. But Kokoro is a fairly safe person, unless one of her own psychological minefield gets set off (and even then, the danger is more often to herself).

That said, in other circumstances, I can see this Nina being afraid of men, strangers, or people in general.

She seems to focus it on Japanese, though Suzaku set her off hard at first (presumably because, in whichever order, Japanese, male, physically imposing in capability if not physique, and 'accused of the murder of Clovis and never really properly cleared, though the accusations weren't proper in the first place'). She doesn't seem to react particularly poorly to men in general, but she doesn't seem to be particularly good with strangers - she almost never interacts with anyone outside the Student Council, and when Suzaku joined up she spent a few days skipping school and staying home with Nunnally to avoid him until she got used to him (though she doesn't seem to have done that with Kallen).

(Though of course, this is all evaluating her psychological condition prior to the Euphinator Incident. After that, she took a sharp fall around the bend, and Schneizel made sure to encourage her in maximizing her distance)

Does Nina have unresolved issues over what happened to explain some of her baggage?

She wouldn't be alone in it if she did, considering the glorious issues Lelouch and Nunnally managed to get out of it. (She does seem apologetic and taking the blame for her grandfather regarding something about that whole affair - the conversation on the surface was regarding cost buildup that prevented the Ganymede from going into production, which Milly claimed was more her grandfather's fault than Nina's, but somewhere in that mess the assassination of Marianne slotted in and they would have angled away from telling the secret, so it's hard to tell, exactly, what the full scenario was, how much was actually cost issues, how much had things to do with Marianne's death, what part each individual took, or feels like they took, in it...)

She doesn't seem entirely resolved over it, but her issues from there are probably a couple percent what Lelouch has got at the most.

Thumbs up to Milly. I guess, with Shirley, that makes the thumbs up count, for this chapter, two.

Milly and Shirley aren't action types, but they are good at the social game, and they use their powers for (mostly) good.

Hahaha.

Yeah, Lelouch is still learning at this point. (I still like Kallen's way of remembering it)

Not really, it was published in the 69 BC March _Proceedings of the International

Bullshitter's Society_ under the title _Apple_.

Well, mostly she's just fucking with 'im (it's all good fun!).

I like how this is phrased.

Yeah, Lelouch is mostly considering the supernatural aspect a 'useful sideshow' to his main game. He's not really a supernatural actor, the supernatural just dovetails slightly with what he's going for and how, from his perspective.

Rivalz: Thumbs up count, three.

Rivalz has no idea what's going on politically, but he figures, hey, my friend needs help, that's the important part.

I deeply agree with what is said here.

Yup, hostage situations are never fun.

Wait, Geass has SAMs? Are these man portable? Because if so, I'm wondering how those get into the hands of someone like the JLF, from a rocket fuel perspective. (John Clark's Ignition! is a very good book, very fun, but it gave me an idea of how much of a pain it is to engineer propellants.)

They have rockets and missiles in general. In terms of propulsion, their performance isn't keeping up with our setting, but on the other hand, their targets aren't moving as fast as our side either. And they definitely have the expertise in electronics to get extremely high-quality seeker heads - considering seekers were the tricky part, they may have actually had 'missiles' before we did (early rockets were floating around in the 13th century).

We have seen them fire missiles at targets, though to limited effect (mostly because the missiles plowed straight into a Blaze Luminous and melted).

Maybe RPG is a translated term, as again I am wondering about Geass propellant.

chemistry in the '62 cognate.

They do have the basics as heavy infantry weaponry (you can see Minami firing off a rocket of some form - possibly a SAM, possibly an RPG that he decided to try tossing at a low-flying VTOL in episode 1), though it's not in line with our more advanced stuff. Think RPG-2, Bazooka, Panzerfaust type. Not exceptional by our standards, but usable against the targets presented, and remarkably accurate thanks to their electronics.

*Claps*

Thumbs Up, Cornelia, four

Cornelia is almost Britannia in microcosm - she has a lot of flaws (for instance, packing up and leaving the Area would probably put you up a few morality points, but she's not willing to entertain it), but she also has every one of Britannia's virtues. Noblesse oblige is a real thing for her, and she's probably more loyal to her subordinates than they are to her (which, considering the berserk loyalty she inspires, is quite a feat right there).

Also, I guess I should go with Twisted Personality count: 2. While I think she is pretty sane and functional here, well, it, sadly, does not seem to be a common sort of sanity.

It is, instead, an awesome kind of sanity.

Archer x Cornelia ? Or perhaps just a better working relationship?

At the least, he's the only voice of sanity among that whole conglomeration and she really appreciates it because Anya doesn't talk at all, and Rolo is so antisocial you could make memes out of it.

Just noticed this. So, does Kokoro have a clue about Rolo's gimmick yet?

Not entirely. She knows her bug went dark for a few seconds while he made his dramatic entrance, and she presumes it has something to do with 'some member of the SIS team that entered there' - she can probably tell that it's Rolo behind it, since Anya and Archer's body language would imply they had an adjustment period themselves, but the specific trick going on isn't quite clear to her. (She's 90% of the way there - she already knows it's essentially neural paralysis - but she doesn't know whether it's magecraft, geass, psychic ability, mystic eyes, or what, just yet. So she knows the ability mechanics, but she doesn't know where it - and thus he - come from. The bigger concern is 'hey yo, Britannia's playing the Holy Grail War', though if she realizes it's geass, that reveals the moderator's breach of neutrality)

Let's call her twisted personality three.

She's probably one of the less twisted of the lot, but that's not a very hard competition, all told.

Maybe 'forty'.

Fourty is Commonwealth spelling - I'm a Canuck, so I use those ones

Ties in with Nunnally's detect servant ability.

Yup. Nunnally has to pay attention to all her other senses since her sight doesn't work anymore, and she is good with them. She can detect spiritual entities pretty much plain as day, though it's not so much 'sixth senses' (though there is an aspect of prana detection in there) as much as it is 'they create temperature variations and adjustments in air pressure, which I can feel on my skin'.

'You slummin' Nanoha?'

... Yeah, that's pretty much his method in whole. First he negotiates, then he tries to beat them up until they become his friend. (It appears to have worked out fairly well for him, though it failed on Saber)

Hahaha.

It's always hilarious fun to have perfectly correct logic lead to a horribly wrong conclusion. (And I figure considering Alexander the Great was recorded as a short, girly sort of guy, and this was based on the sculptures of a man who he decreed was the only guy allowed to depict him, history getting his appearance wrong was entirely intentional on his part)

Well, there is Avenger's truth power also.

Yeah, 'almost'. Instinct is very good for reading people (canon Saber literally had a conversation with the wall in Shirou's bedroom at one point to determine his personality).

Hahaha. Wonderful.

It's a Saber/Kiritsugu sort of 'teeth-clenched teamwork'. She knows he's not evil, but their ways of going about not being evil are horribly opposed and are almost trying to shoot each other (his complete disdain for chivalry and straight action rub the King of Knights poorly, and he is literally morally offended by the concept of 'might makes right' that is always sitting behind chivalric rules).

Again, it is almost like Britannian doctrine here is being written by someone with conclusions similar to the ones I have. Five thumbs up so far.

It's basically the least worst way of dealing with hostage situations. It can come out well, but in the end it's casualty minimization, not negation. It can just get lucky enough to minimize it to zero.

It's almost like they had their education before the invasion, and Clovis didn't exactly put Greek in the curriculum anyway.

Heh. Assume 'barbarian' is being used in its context as 'nasty unpleasant person'.

Thumb's up six, and a round of applause.

Cornelia really didn't want to leave Euphie in there, but she had a whole bushel of bad options. Zero delivered a miracle to her too

One, this is a delightful way of wording things. This is probably where Archer IDs Saber, assumes Zero is her Master, and probably further guesses that it was a compatibility summon, and that Zero is nuts enough to be compatible with her. Which I think had some impact in his decision to kill Zero.

He's still trying to figure out exactly what weapon was used to kill the command staff - it resembled spear wounds (for obvious reasons), but since he observed Saber, he's wondering if she was using something that was on hand since he knows what Excalibur injuries look like. After getting the report about the Lancer/Rider encounter, he's going to naturally presume that the Black Knights have a second Servant, though the circumstances at this point leave it looking like their Masters are swapped from what they actually are.

At this point, he's annoyed because he actually has to protect Zero - Kokoro's name appeared on the records the Forces took after the fact, and 'Matou' as a name makes it obvious that she's one of the Black Knights aligned Masters. He had to delete her name from the records before Rolo or Anya, who were not subverted to his agenda, took a look and realized 'there's going to be a Servant there'. He totally wants to kill 'im, but he also has to wait until the Grail's resolved lest he blow up the world.

It is a good think he didn't do something he might regret then.

Yeah, if Jeremiah actually succeeded in killing Zero, and then pulled off the mask and saw Lelouch's face, he would snap worse than Orange did 'im.

A Pacific War vet?

Second Pacific War, yes. Fairly common among the JLF - functionally speaking, the JLF is the remnant of old Japan's military, those who didn't surrender or 'un-surrendered'. Most people who had military contacts already found their 'path to the resistance' leading to those old military contacts, who are mostly Japanese Liberation Front.

The JLF's leadership blows chunks, but the soldiery is the best in Japan (well, aligned with Japan - Britannian Forces have a very high average of training, and the Zhayedan are a cutting-edge elite force). The hoteljack was an incredibly unwise maneuver in the first place, but it was pulled off with remarkable proficiency (look at all that military gear they got in there so fast).

I often have a thought on the whole Nasu magecraft/magic distinction. Is it magic when one gets by optical means visual data requiring a focal length and apparture size beyond the volume of what you are using, or does it take visual data beyond what is physically possible, even with an unlimited mass/volume budget, or do Nasu writers generally not have the physics background to get caught up on that detail?

In general terms, 'obtaining visual data' would be magecraft, no matter how much you're getting. It's a fairly natural function. Magecraft is the 'impossible with what I have on me'. Magic is the literally impossible - that which no amount of money, equipment, or charisma could get you. (It's a somewhat blurry distinction - as, for instance, dimensional travel becomes 'possible' with advancing science, the Second Magic would lose its status as a True Magic)

This scene really establishes that whatever else is going on with Kokoro, her heart and will are going the correct way.

Yup. She has issues out the bushel, but she is, at root, a good person.

Yet, she still has terror of Zouken deeply engraved in her.

Yup. He's not even really a person in her mind. He's a fact of nature.

'Zouken wins'. That's one of the laws of physics to her.

I really must applaud Kokoro. She doesn't think of herself as much, but she kept her head, made a plan, was able to act on her desire to help others at her first real opportunity.

Seventh thumbs up, and twisted personality 4.

Yup. She has an incredibly low self-esteem, but if she gets an opportunity to do the right thing (which this was pretty much the first in-fic), she does it. She doesn't really care about the cost, because she's used to worse than anyone can put out.

If Nina is close to canon, Nina may develop a crush on Kokoro instead of Euphemia. Or maybe they will just have a better relationship.

Roughly the same as Batman, or a wizard with two days prep?

In CGverse, they do not write comic books about Batman.

They write comic books about Zero.

(As observed, 'Zero with a plan' is a very dangerous thing to go up against, no matter how much numerical superiourity you think you have. He didn't even really fight them - he took the initiative, set up the scenario such that he almost couldn't lose, and then cut loose. He assassinated them)

Well, if the terrorists have properly isolated the security systems, no one, or Zero.

Ideally, but best not to risk it - especially considering the Black Knights needed to be in-and-out and didn't really have personnel to spare to go for the security tapes too. They may have gotten it, but best not to hinge any plans on that.

Twisted Lancer is twisted, 5.

Anyone with a Reality Marble is... 'off'. (You remember Suzaku thinking when he met her that 'if she could kill him by hating him so much he spontaneously disintegrated, he would have been dead'? She can. So she wasn't unloading her full capacity for hatred on Suzaku!)

'their weapons on-line'?

Ie, 'aimed at us and ready to shoot'.

Is the last bit appropriate for the setting?

Not the setting in general, but Shirley in particular is Christian - the Fenette funerals were fairly characteristically Christian. (Well, her family is Christian, her own religion is 'teenager' and she doesn't really think about it much. If pressed her opinions would probably be a weird syncretism of Christianity and Britannian druidism - the concept of reincarnation she touched on in her death scene doesn't pop up in Christianity, but does pop up in druidism)

'Aon? My grandfather is built on so many villain points that no other human evil that I've experienced has any great impact on me.'

'I've met someone like that, but I ran away before I really got to know him.'

Well, Merlin wasn't that evil. He was more obnoxious than anything else.

(Kokoro could probably do with talking to someone and get some serious psychotherapy on... overall if not for this in particular - it did bother her, but she's just been bothered so much that she only really registers it at the moment of impact)

Wait, isn't that also a SRW spirit? I sorta want to get her in a Knightmare, and see

if she can cast 'Love', or, whatsit called, 'Heroism'?

She actually does cast 'Guts'. It might have been her very first line in the entire series, actually... Darn, not her first, though it was in her first appearance. Fourth line!

Pretty much what I've always heard about that set of childrearing practices. That said, the first person I heard it from left enough of an impression that I'm probably going to have to say this comes in second.

Wow, now I want to meet this guy.

I'd speculate that this means that Rider's Iranian comrades would make deadly knightmare pilots, with both Riding and probably a ranged skill, except I noticed this read that they don't get grail updates. Maybe Waver can fix that, maybe not.

Well, his three wives were all Iranian, and they certainly made exceptional archery support for him!

Not all of them would, of course, but it would be a definite stream (every Iranian Heroic Spirit I do is at least B-rank in Riding, and could sub in as Archer even if it isn't where their heroic feats excelled).

Let's call Farah barking mad also. 6. Great scene.

Yeah, she's a high one on the crazy meter (and is probably the most hot-blooded person in the cast, with her only real competition being Kallen and, well, Berserker).

The title was originally keeping track of how many distortions there were, but then I realized that I was losing count, so best to just say 'lots'.

Nuts. 7.

It is Diethard.

Anya hasn't showed it, but with ARcher, and per my notes, Zero and Aon, we have 8, 9, 10, and 11.

Yup. A lot of crazies in the cast, and most of them got to come out to play today.

Seems familiar somehow.

Nah, Lelouch died in the process, but he did not only defeat the greatest empire the world had yet known, he also created the greatest empire the world was going to know (due to having maximized the achievement and got it all), and then - this being the key as he views it - left world peace in his wake.

It's not a universal way of viewing how good a ruler one was, but it is his way, and he's narrating.

Could it be his fault which version of Surena came up?

I don't think it would have. More likely, I'd peg it on all the anomalies relating to Surena's last summoning (among them having directly interacted with Angra Mainyu, having his memories uploaded as he discorporated...).

Broken record means hints, right?

It could, though in this case it was just that what I wrote for Aon's Wise Up was sufficient that I didn't really feel the need to rephrase it.

The world is not cooperating with you. Either Gaia is on the opposing forces side here, or, it is a even subtler hint about Caster.

This one isn't so much a hint as a 'seriously, I know there's a deity out there, because there's no way random chance can fuck me over as badly as I have been fucked' remark on his luck. It's also true in generic, though (because 'the world' includes the opponent you're trying to beat, and he really doesn't want to cooperate with you).

Well, if recorded rather than observed, surely boyfriends plural? Is what you have written the correct number?

The main note in that respect was Hephaestion. Most of his historical squeezes were women, with Hephaestion being the big standout.

Not to say that he didn't bone other people (heck, he apparently had a harem), but Hephaestion has a massively larger impression than anyone save Roxana.

Great fun, the characters continue the be very well done, the choreography and pacing a joy, and the whole shows a good deal of hard work.

Thank you, very much.

So, more or less a legitimating narrative the Magus came upon?

It actually is a theory, but between 'legitimizing narrative' and 'we don't really want to risk it', the theory hasn't really been challenged very hard. Clock Tower types are researchers, but they're poor scientists - everyone gets attached to pet theories, but you never hear of an Association magus actively trying to prove himself wrong.

And the current scenario, while shitty overall, works out great for Clock Tower's members - secrecy means they don't have to share magical resources (like spiritual ground), and they can generally run their experiments, no matter how risky or inhumane or what, without having to worry about local safety codes or human experimentation laws. Nobody can challenge them except each other, and it plays well to their egos (note how Clock Tower is almost entirely comprised of lords, ladies, and other nobility, mostly self-declared though a few actually have ancestors who earned the title from someone real).

Her attraction to Lancer, Lancer-as-Lulu, and the bit in Arthur's story about his parentage.

Heh. I see. (Arthur's parentage case is somewhat different, though god that's one of the more rapey zones of myth - Uther was transfigured by spellcraft and it may have only been an illusion to begin with, while Lancer is transforming because, as a half-fae, her form is a little 'optional' to begin with)

To my way of thinking, savage properly describes a typical human society, which make up the overwhelming bulk of human societies if you look at both history and prehistory. Think LeBlanc's Constant Battles. The point of stability that all societies converge on over time, except as perturbed by other forces.

Usage is often screwed up in many of the abnormal societies of today, because they are, in some cases, so many generations removed from contact with such that they no longer have the references to comprehend the concept. That and the theft of the word for political purposes.

I can agree with that, though 90% of the time, the word is stolen for political purposes. By the time we reach the point where we have solid records of what's going on, the societies to whom it could be applied are almost nonexistent. They exist, existed at the time, but they're remarkably rare (one sample of a society to whom the term could be applied being the Aztecs, and even the Aztecs were much more refined in their savagery than the term usually applies).

While the term can be applied, it's just that almost all the recorded usage of it is theft for political purposes.

Plus, the side that is better equipped to get away with calling their enemies that is probably better equipped to win.

I have to disagree here. Military advancement and organizational skills are the equipment to win. Their tie to ethical standards or the social character of a society... vanishingly slim. You know that the society is organized in its pursuits. You do not know exactly how much butchery is involved in said pursuits.

The real trick to 'getting away with calling your enemies that' is 'winning and writing the history', and that's what our history shows. But having a right to call your enemies that... the relationship between that and winning is tangential.

Edit:Where's Caster? In Rider's Comrade-World, unprintable unprintable wives. Of course, Croomy may be back in the new world, if Caster is there rather than Japan. Or maybe he is in the EU, taking over the Einzbern, for access to Sorin.

Well, Cecile and Lloyd are currently on the Britannian mainland, at the facilities of AVR (don't ask what it stands for, it doesn't actually stand for anything, but an employee will make up a random etymology just to mess with you, it was originally 'Alliott Verdon Roe', but nowadays the letters just stand for themselves), working on Lancelot Mk II. Though more in their off time - the owner of AVR is willing to fund the project, but his priority is 'we can use the damn thing', so trimming costs down and developing a mass produceable 7th-generation knightmare. (He doesn't have anything against Rounds-spec knightmares - his company's actually developing Mordred right now - but those are mostly prestige projects, and the Empire gets more use out of trooper knightmares)

Caster isn't in Japan at the moment. He's staying out and letting the situation down there gel and stabilize a bit so he can ruin things in the most efficient manner. Mostly he's working on other projects at the moment, and acclimatizing to the world's political climate in detail. Grail updates just aren't enough for that.

Edit Again: Any differences between the timelines in the holders of the True Magics, and types of Magics known to have existed?

Well, the Fifth hasn't been developed yet (it was 'thirty years old' as of Tsukihime, and Tsukihime would've been about 35-40 years after Code Geass).

The Fourth, lord knows. We've never seen a hint of what that is. (Its very nature appears tied to 'mystery and rumour' - even True Magicians know it exists, but don't have a damn clue what it is)

The status of the Third is basically the same - it was developed, lost, and now the Einzberns are trying to reclaim it.

The status of the Second never changes across timelines, since it's directly tying into visiting other ones. Even if Zelretch dies or never figures it out, he'll pop in at some point from a timeline where he did just to fuck with people. (Zelretch is kinda a dick, though like Merlin, he's good-aligned, just obnoxious)

The First is functionally dead - the user is dead, though the First Magic isn't considered gone because traces still exist in the world. (And it's noted that a 'possible heir' exists, in coreline. Since I'm fairly sure that's Emiya Shirou, said 'possible heir' isn't around, though his grandparents are kicking around)

No major differences in True Magic arrangement (the Fourth might be different but one would need to figure out what it is first), but the Fifth is coming up and that could go any number of ways, especially considering it's being developed right in the center of events. (Old Man Aozaki didn't feel like abandoning his awesome magical lands, and while a few Britannian magi tried to mosey on in with the occupation and take over as Second Owner, he violenced the fuck out of them until they gave up and let him keep it. He's currently working on researching towards the Fifth, and is best considered 'Zouken, less evil only because his craft lends itself less towards evil and not by inclination', a terrifying sort of guy but his granddaughter just considers him 'a terrible old man' rather than shivering at the thought of him)

[Knight of L-sama]

Just re-reading some of the comments and this part got me thinking.

Well, two. Lancer will recognize her sword on sight, but never actually met her (though she will wonder why everyone looks like Nero). And Aon will get her to generalities on sight, but also knows other people who shared that appearance, and is more likely to think of said other people than 'it's me again!'

And this caused me to remember something. Saber (Blue Saber, the original) does actually know someone who looks enough like her to explain the physical resemblance when the two eventually encounter each other. Which lead to the mental image of the two running into each other and Blue Saber basically blurting out, "Mordred, why are you wearing a dress?"

Which leads to the inevitable question, does Aon/Lily even have an equivalent to Mordred in her timeline? Because if she didn't have to hide her gender then there would be a severe lack of what I can only describe as 'magic penis shennanigans' ( dammit Merlin! And damn you Nasu while I'm at it.) that were part of Mordred's creation/conception.

[OSMQEP]

It is fairly plausible, given Nasu Merlin, that it was more about toying with Saber in the presence of her half sister than about her pretending to be a man.

That said, I do forget if it is a half sister the way it was in some of the source material.

I would take this opportunity to finally respond to Pale Wolf's last bit, except I'm fried, and that the next things in queue seem to preclude it. I mean to get around to it soonish, but cannot estimate well all the business I'm more fixated on, or the stuff that ought to be more pressing.

[Pale Wolf]

And this caused me to remember something. Saber (Blue Saber, the original) does actually know someone who looks enough like her to explain the physical resemblance when the two eventually encounter each other. Which lead to the mental image of the two running into each other and Blue Saber basically blurting out, "Mordred, why are you wearing a dress?"

Yes, they both basically immediately think 'oh, hi Mordred'.

The specific shenanigans involving Mordred most likely didn't happen as such in Aon's timeline. But, we do know there was a Mordred - Anya's Knightmare makes that immediately apparent.

I'd say Arturia got the penis because Myrrdin was being helpful. "Oh! You're having relationship troubles with Guinevere! That can't be tolerated... here, try this!" Since Arturia's mostly straight except for Rin, 'openly female King Arthur' most likely wouldn't actually be married to a woman to begin with.

Aon's relationship with Morgan was still fairly dysfunctional (you're going to have to expect this considering Uther, y'know, raped her mother and married her off to secure one of his alliances here), but lacked the Guinevere/Lancelot interplay that utterly poisoned it (Guinevere publicly shamed Morgan and booted her from the court for taking a lover she liked while stuck in this diplomatic marriage with someone she disliked... and then went banging Lancelot - not a surprise that set Morgan berserk).

I envision Mordred's creation as having been either to fill in while Arturia did stuff off on the continent, or as part of an elaborate prank (I imagine Morgan would easily sign on with this, she doesn't ragehatekilldespise, but messing with her sister's head, any day). Myrrdin probably had this bad habit of genital roulette so people could try it out.