Fragment 37 Insight

Just a small aside before we get into this note, I’d simply like to point out that servant spotlight decisions aren’t all that random. Usually the servant has something to do with the events involved, that way they’re not simply watching something occur… and if they are watching something occur, it applies to them in some way better than most other servants. Could others theoretically take their part? Yes, but barring duplicating a spotlight, it makes for an interesting challenge on who shows up and when.

The big example of this is how Hans’ own perspectives in the last fragment helped push him towards actually exploring a possibility he had been putting off for months. Then you have the major fallout and who deserves justice caused in the subplot of Fragment 36… which makes for a great stage setting for another hero who has an experience or a dozen about dealing with views on justice.

Poor Siegfried got the bad end of the stick in FGO’s gameplay. While it would be great to finally give him an actual combat spotlight as compared to Apocrypha (technically that was mostly Sieg), this is a Slice of Life premise. A hero who now follows his own sense of justice needs to apply that to the rather mundane world around him. As stated in the fragment, for someone who has dealt with the matter in mostly violent means, it takes a little more thought and creativity when applying it in a peaceful situation.

So to do it, I simply gave him some scenarios where his views have to be applied differently. He can still be a hero, he just simply needs to figure out how to. Thankfully he’s been here for months, so that’s hardly an issue for him at this point. There wasn’t much need for any real development, so I concentrated more on fluff and how he reacts with his given perspective. I think it turned out fairly well, and acts as a perfect bridge from the rather brutal turn last fragment took.

We’ll be going into happier slice of life entries again, so it was imperative I solve the huge issue that could theoretically factionalize Chaldea. How does one do so? I gave Roman some development that pointed towards his serious attitudes during the singularities to show he’s willing to throw a lever if necessary. Through rather aggressive maneuvers, for him at least, he’s managed to stabilize Chaldea with the help of one of the accused. Even if the borderline censorship could be questioned, who in their right mind would argue a spontaneous festival to put everyone’s mind at ease?

To the director’s relief, the public apology also made sure it was more of a fun time than a distraction.

It’s been a bit since Chaldea received some of its zanier antics, so I decided to introduce it… by accident. While Nobunaga did run around with a cake bomb, and there were some fluffy moments with several servants, the primary one needed to be different. Accidentally introducing something to Chaldea everyone loved seemed like a great idea, but I didn’t know how to pull it off. Taking a break from brainstorming, I decided to browse the Valentine’s Day gifts to see if there were new translations and… I remembered the Sphinx Kittens were a thing. Problem solved.

Which brings the last point. It was sort of abrupt, but Chaldea is used to dealing with issues quickly at this point. Since a love potion was shown to take roughly a day back in Heroine X’s Fragment, the counter to it should be fairly quick so long as there’s consent from the servant, which there is. Brynhildr acknowledged canonically that Siegfried is not Sigurd, but can’t help controlling herself in her urge to kill him. With the help from someone who had to deal with a love issue herself, Kiyohime, with the help of Tamamo and Arash, would only need to convince her. Yes, another thing solved by alchemical potions, but how many issues in modern day are solved with consumable medicine? I’m limiting myself to how many applications it gets though, and there’s another specific problem later that gets solved through other means.

That said, this was one of the longer insights. Next week, Fragment 38 is unique. It’s one of the super Fragments (Like Heroine X, Dantes, Jalter) but it does not have a servant spotlight. There’s a very good reason for this. All you need to do is wait patiently and see what pops out, but if you’ve been reading the blatant teasers, it should be fairly obvious. Whatever they’ve been renovating at the Party Cave… it’s now complete.