Fragment 101 Insight

Vlad had a rather weird predicament with his fragment. There wasn’t really a distinctive moment in his development compared to most other servants I’ve shown, so his entry wound up feeling pretty mellow and ordinary. It’s far from out of place in a Slice of Life, but compared to others it likely felt flat or ‘robbed’ to some extent. It doesn’t help there’s a lot of character analysis on others as much as him.

It’s merely an angle I wanted to work with though. After showing a slice of what he used to feel and see at the beginning, I then wanted to show how he presents and holds himself now. If Vlad Extra is the warrior crusader, then Apo Vlad is the kingly ruler. He holds himself highly and acts with royalty. No longer forcefully under Legend of Dracula, he’s also much more acute and responsive to proving he’s not that.

Again, something that’s not shown as much for the fragment. There was one instance where it could’ve been, and another which was, but overall that’s in part due to how Chaldea has come to see him. What’s being portrayed is more of the mundane results of constant insistence. It made his fragment much more suited to advancing a few other pieces for other subplots rather than focus heavily on his own. Once more, likely making his fragment feel ‘robbed’ a bit, but that’s how the dice falls sometimes. I’m not surprised if his fragment feels more like a character analysis to some.

Hopefully the theme felt interesting enough. Obvious reference in the title aside, it was a glimpse into different sort of silences that one could offer. There’s a saying that what’s not said is the loudest of all, so I wanted to toy with that a little bit for different interactions. Nothing overly spectacular, but just something to play around with for speculation.

The following fragment will also partially feel like that, but things will be ramping up after again. I just need a few bits of set up before I start executing results again.

Teaser: He pursued knowledge as much as he taught it, but he was now far more careful with how he did so; That need to atone for a past war weighed heavily in his mind and directed his course. All he ever wanted to do was progress and assist, yet this balancing act had only grown challenging. For his friends and colleagues, he’d do much, but how many times more must he walk that gray line?