Fragments of Chaldea
A Fate/Grand Order Fanfiction Series
Fragment 61 Insight
This was one of the fragments I was looking forward to writing because Nitocris is such a fun, mixed bag. She’s prideful, but she’s also hiding some very colorful emotions and feelings underneath all that. Couple that with the amazing 2017 “Imperial Garment” that is her first ascension? Absolute gold. I still have her at first ascension because I never tire of a Medjed curb stomping some enemy riders.
So, it was only proper I make her entry based on her hidden insecurities and inferiority complex. She believes she’s a proud pharaoh and presents herself as such, until she has to measure up to others. Then her self-doubt kicks in and everything usually spirals out of control. Add in her overreactions and tendency to jump to conclusions… instant recipe for a bumbling Egyptian mess, every time.
The topper? Make it something stupid simple so it feels perfectly slice of life to meet someone’s expectations… like baking a cake for a party!
Of all the kitchen staff, it would likely be Boudica to help her. Tamamo would have worked too considering she’s divine, and thus Nitocris would feel more at ease, but I opted for Boudica’s pure friendliness to help her along.
Initially, Babbage was going to be sued for Scene II, but I switched it to Tesla to show him in more spots other than just the summoning chamber and a few other places. Babbage will get some refund scenes later, mind you.
While the spotlight is on Nitocris and promotes her development and realizations, the fragment also serves as a landmark for Ozymandias and Gilgamesh. They’ve come quite a way over time, and what better way to show it than a feast celebrating a declared friendship between the two rivals (Thanks Enkidu)? It was a good way to add some extra pressure onto Nitocris, who now has to impress the great King of Heroes as well, who’s known for judging very harshly.
Though the similarities between Nitocris and Martha’s actions are similar, I wanted to develop her without having Martha actually appear. It would have been a tad blunt in my opinion, so I opted for mentions instead. Their interaction will come later as compromise for missed opportunity, but I found it a better fit later down the line with another scene. Pre-planning A+ at work, yet again.
Next week: Chaldea was a vacation. Even with summoning attempts restarting this month, it was spacious and relaxing. Perfect for a rather lazy and laid-back individual like himself! However, despite this pseudo-vacation, he took his roles seriously when needed… He was a hero, after all.
Fragment 60 Insight
I decided to take a few liberties when doing Phantom of the Opera, especially since his mental pollution is now completely gone. First and foremost, I used his actual backstory that can be gleamed from his work as a foundation for how he acts. He’s been horribly mistreated for his horrendous looks, and even abandoned by his own mother, so he’s going to have serious social reservations. With that in mind, having him being an introvert with a wish for partially breaching his shell felt very right.
It was just a matter of ensuring he stays an introvert while giving him enough social confidence to personally enjoy his time around people too.
He no longer has mental pollution and Gabrielle is no longer his Christine, his light in the dark. Without both, he’s at a loss on how to move ahead, but he’s not at square one. Shakespeare has been helping him, and he is already the guaranteed star of the play as stated from Medb’s fragment. Those tools present, he just needs to find the way forward, past his own crippling reservations and lingering distrust to grasp the one thing he never received until Christine came along: Acceptance by Humanity.
I did a few read-throughs more than usual just to ensure it came across as a grievance of his own instinctive impulses rather than a serious grudge against humanity. He could have had that as a basis, sure, but I had his Don Juan Triumphant piece in mind. It has misery of his life as an underlying tone rather than anger and resentment.
I didn’t make his interactions as varied as other servants because of the introverted nature. This is his major turning point, so it will open the door for him to act more naturally around others later. That said, I chose servants who would likely aid him on the way forward whether by circumstance or surprise shared ideas.
In particular, Mozart’s growing orchestra could always use more members. I felt it would make a nice callback to his own fragment while providing plenty of symbolism. Then again, this entry does have quite a bit of blunt symbolism when you look at it. I guess it’s to make up for not as many other hints/references being dropped compared to more recent entries.
Next week: Oh no! No, no, no! It wasn’t proper for her to panic, but she was definitely panicking! She had to do something to continue proving her worth! She had a glorious title that should never be shamed!
…I think my teasers are getting more and more obvious.
Fragment 59 Insight
The Mother’s Day fragment was pretty chipper and cheerful because it’s been a bit since we’ve had some silent angst.
Because of last week’s teaser, it should have been obvious that this would be a unique case for a berserker. However, because of the scales of madness and sanity that were alluded to, the answer was fairly evident if one is aware of the final singularity. Caligula had a brief moment where he broke through his mad enhancement to speak his pure mind, and that’s where the idea for all this started.
An intelligent and keen mind, trapped behind the mad enhancement with only limited control.
Fate went with the idea he was originally a wise king who fell into the madness he’s often associated with in true history only because of Diana’s blessing/curse. Following that, I tried to depict the sane, tired, yet resolute king behind the mask while showing the struggle with the body. It’s like riding an untamed horse while you’re an exceptional navigator: Not everything is going to go according to plan.
So I stacked the evidence to showcase this as a lead up to the ending’s gut-punch. He’s barely able to do simple tasks. He can’t do anything alone. Only in the close presence of the Romans, Artemis, or the masters does he not go ape-shit. His senses are practically garbage, and any control can be lost at certain fire-starting stimuli… yet despite all this, he chose to delay it all further until after the final battle so he can do his part to help his allies.
It’s along the same vein as Vlad, which is why I included a bit of his backstory and circumstance. There’s no doubt Vlad does not like being seen as Dracula, so being forced to ‘accept’ and live with that on active is likely demeaning and aggravating to him. Yet, even with the class shift available to him, he does not switch to his lancer form because in the berserker form, he’s stronger. Strength is one of the easiest ways to improving one’s abilities to aid allies in conflict. Dealing with the personal issues that come with that power to help others just shows how considerate and selfless their thoughts can be.
It makes even more sense for Caligula, who has A+ Mad Enhancement. It’s not like Kiyohime who is EX, which means her loss of combat power can be variable since her condition simply doesn’t fit along the usual rank slider. Caligula’s, since it’s so high and he was so weak, provides an accurate guess of just how weak he might be if it’s removed… maybe even combat incapable, whereas currently, he (arguably) can go toe to toe with Heracles since he has A+ strength. Obviously parameters aren’t everything, but it’s a fair indicator of possibilities.
So, the entire fragment, by showing how difficult his daily life is, offers a glimpse of his overall resolve and belief. As terrible as it is for him, he endeavors because he knows what must be done, and is even willing to push back his chance at sanity (his own wish for the grail) for their sake. I believed this was a fair way to represent Fate’s portrayal of a maddened, former wise Emperor thanks to that one little glimpse from Solomon’s Temple.
Next week: He had believed she was his saving grace, but he had been wrong. Life was a cruel play; He always knew this. Yet Chaldea had been challenging that belief, for even if he had been mistaken, they still offered him a chance at acceptance, and even stardom.
Fragment 58 Insight
I know a lot of people were expecting Raikou for Mother’s Day, and it would have been a solid choice, but Chaldea’s currently on a summoning break to stockpile. I did consider it, but I had a better idea for her fragment later on. So it was then an obvious choice to go with Atalanta.
She was never a mother, so I toyed with showing a few ideas. I decided against depicting some of her more trying moments in the past in favor of showing the real defining action: Her impulsive decision to try and cater to Jack like she does Nursery Rhyme. It’s one of those big looming questions that was left hanging ever since I introduced them as a family in Fragment 3. It would have been out of place re-mentioning in almost anyone else’s fragment though.
I imagine because of Atalanta’s wish, despite her occasionally rough demeanor, she would be an absolute sucker for her children. She’d be the parent who endlessly spoils them with gifts and affection and can’t seem to say no, much to everyone else’s exasperation. Thankfully her children don’t take advantage of it too much since she’s their real gift.
I added other interactions with certain characters to showcase more than just her with her girls. While I did design those moments to be sugary sweet, I also endeavored to make sure she shows a few other emotions besides the pampering mom she had become. In particular, the fierceness of the huntress is still shown with Mephistopheles after what he did to Nursery Rhyme, just repurposed into a protective inner fire for her family.
Dropped a few more developments, both serious and comedic. The big one was finally introducing Phantom of the Opera properly while also causing a curious advancement. Servants having issues solved with elixirs is pretty staple in Fragments, but the method of deciding how they do it is always changing. Lancelot was forced, Kiyohime was tricked, Brynhildr agreed, and then you have Phantom who had a rather curious moment to change his mind about doing so.
There was the potential for dropping a hell-load of Apocrypha spoilers this fragment, so I ensured to try and make them as vague as possible just out of consideration for those currently watching the series. I’ll likely make them more specific after the series finally stops airing, but those in the know should understand what I’m getting at easily enough. That said, just reading my work is spoilers for… well, everything, so most should already be aware of that idea.
Next week: No one understood what it was like to suffer under mad enhancement. To be trapped in one’s own mind, having bare influence over one’s actions was… They wouldn’t wish this upon their worst enemies, yet it was their daily struggle in Chaldea.
Fragment 57 Insight
I did quite a bit of researching on this one just to refresh my mind on the differences between different sects Buddhism, mainly Indian and Chinese. Doing so helped me find the proper way to give Xuanzang one of her typical overreactions, but in a far more serious context. The idea she complains about heat, cold, and heights as a servant is beyond amusing, so I decided to try and double down on that signature overthinking and childish responses.
It should have worked out fairly well, but I was sure to intermix her usual lively and upbeat attitude. It showcases just how rather erratic her emotions and thoughts can be while showing it amongst different company. The Hassans were one of the ones I definitely wanted to depict as just a small appologem (without the saint quartz, sorry) towards what I had to do in Camelot to avoid excessive character bloat and side plots. Xuanzang and Tota will get more rewarding appearances to continue to balance the scales.
Tota was going to be the one to shake her out of her overreaction though, that was without a doubt. They had great interactions in canon Camelot, and I wanted to show how clear the bond was in Chaldea despite how shortened it was. It was shown a few times, but this was easily one of the more definitive examples. She gets flustered, and Tota immediately goes for the solution without dragging things on… else she’ll draw another awkward conclusion (as shown in the entry) and things drag on further.
Through in some rather big obvious hints and advancements towards other overarching developments too. Some should be fairly obvious, but I usually like to make them subtler until I get an opportunity to present a serious development from a different perspective. Xuanzang allowed me to do so since she’s wandering all over the place in rather open distress.
Seriously, I dropped a lot of hints in this entry. A LOT.
That said, I can’t really expand into anything else about this fragment. It’s extremely straightforward, but shows someone’s distress in a rather unique light. Most characters in distress make for a somber read, but Xuanzang’s distress winds up hilarious because of how obvious she messes up and overreacts to rather simple things.
Next week: It’s Mother’s Day. That should narrow it down.
Fragment 56 Insight
The hardest part about writing a fragment about Medb is trying to make sure it doesn’t turn out to be 110% sexual content. That’s a tall order already, but I managed by exploring the other facets of her that are interesting. She’s a domineering servant who has no inhibitors on her emotions or wants. For her to fit into Chaldea would mean those subdued desires would still need to be fulfilled in some manner, and there needed to be a close anchor (or multiple) who make her content with her accommodations.
Going with that, I designed the fragment around the classic guideline of “a day in the life”, except it touches upon meeting her requirements. If Fergus can handle the relationship part perfectly, than Gabrielle can more than compliment her unknown need for friendship. The rest would fall into place simply thanks to Chaldea’s overall design and wide amounts of activities.
Medb and Fergus’ relationship would actually be the most interesting to me. It’s hardly traditional by the modern sense, but it’s almost “a dream” for many since it’s styled after an open relationship. Both are allowed to sleep with whoever they want with no repercussions. At the end of the day, Medb and Fergus are still in love with each other and find no one better suited as a lover.
If anyone in Chaldea is capable of making the difficult “Open Relationship Key” obtainable, it was them. It also makes things kinda funny considering how many lighthearted “swinger” possibilities that can open up later. Again, another possible key to open a door should it have potential.
The absolute friendship with Gabrielle is something that made many readers curious. Medb loves domination and owning everyone, yet she was clearly depicted as being very friendly with Gabrielle. I hope this entry now answered that curious depiction first shown back in Helena’s fragment. The two are rather alike, with only a few key differences keeping Gabrielle from turning into Medb (namely guilt for being overbearing on others). Besides Shuten and Kuro, if anyone could serve as a good gal pal for Medb, it’d be the ever-excitable Gabrielle.
If one noticed the curious design, the beginning actually mirrors Scathach’s fragment. It’s supposed to act as a sort of callback to depict the similarities and differences since both of the Ulster legends are extremely close to the female master. Looking at them back to back should show you an amusing difference.
I also gave a small showcase that despite being so close to Gabrielle, both Medb and Scathach still don’t see eye to eye very often. I just wanted to assure it looked more like an Edison and Tesla bickering rather than a hostile rivalry like it was with Gawain and Lancelot in Season 1. Scathach’s and Medb’s materials did showcase it was more of an exasperated and irritating bond if anything, so I went with it. Poor Gabrielle gets to be caught in the middle.
Next week: She was ashamed. How could she let it get to this point!? There was temptation around her everywhere and she was succumbing to it! No! She had a path to follow, and she had to remain strong… but Chaldea was making it too difficult!
Fragment 55 Insight
Before this entry, I could say that my good search history already resembled scatter shot. Now it’s just a total mess with how much extra reading I did on the music industry and specifically idols. I didn’t even know there was a game based on that, but then again that should have been obvious. I learn a lot of stuff making this series, whether I want to or not.
Robin Hood. The classic hero with many depictions, but Type Moon chose a rather tragic route. A lonesome orphan boy with a relatively unknown past that grew up to hold the sacred mantle of the hero. It’s already seen he has a fairly stable life in Chaldea considering his easygoing desires, but it was also depicted he’s been having a curious time with Elizabeth. This entry was to paint the final portrait of that while simultaneously giving rest to his last doubts.
I went with the angle he doesn’t know too much about his own history either because he never had the chance to learn who he really was. While not impossible to do so otherwise, a person discovers himself best when shown different stimuli and allowed to interact with people. Considering he was shunned and only really lived with fairies, it was not that hard to stretch it a bit to give him that past regret: He never did find out who he was.
Thus, the core of this story was simple to build, but lengthy to write: Robin finally let go of struggling with who he was to accept a part of who he is now. He’s making the discovering himself in Chaldea, but he was merely too shortsighted and blinded to draw the connections until Elizabeth finally spoke that one compliment he never heard so earnestly.
I wanted it to feel like a mix of emotions since there was quite a bit of upbeat entries as is. That said, I didn’t want it to be a downer either. That’s why it’s sort of a roller coaster, but more like the junior ones you find for the younger audiences.
I made sure to show interactions between many other characters, but the biggest absence was likely noted. I did consider showing Emiya to depict how they’re on neutral terms, but it was all lengthy enough and he’s made far too many showings as is. Instead, I let his absence speak it all: They just relatively avoid each other.
Chaldea just keeps getting more rooms again, but that’s fine considering how many staff were lost. Just imagine how many rooms, like the main lobby which has yet to be shown, fell into complete disuse when so many staff perished. With every new addition, Chaldea is definitely resembling more of a small town than an actual world saving organization… and that’s the whole idea.
This entry felt a lot more lyric filled than most for obvious reasons. I’d just like to state it’s likely a one time deal, if not extremely rare. To ensure it didn’t look like some generic song fic or something, I made sure to spread the lyrics over different songs and using only a limited number of lines. I think it got the point across well enough.
Finally, the song listing for those who didn’t recognize the tunes. I grabbed them at random but a bunch of my friends played these songs often when around.
Next week: It was a ludicrous idea. The notion she would ever lower herself even a bit was ridiculous… yet here she was, now enjoying a rather enjoyable life much later. She had one person to blame for it at first, but she could never say it to them. It only ever came out as a thanks.
Fragment 54 Insight
Let’s start this off with the obvious. Almost every single ‘summoning fragment’ prior to this one has been over the course of a few days, showing how the servant in particular adapts to their surroundings. Dantes’ is the longest by far over the course of nearly an entire month (which I obviously don’t intend to do again – writing a month of time in one fragment is lost material).
That’s why Quetzalcoatl’s arrival is so special and upbeat at the same time: She’s the true icebreaker. Everyone else gets summoned, and they stand respectfully and wait until the light fades. The ever-lively rider, rivalled only by Astolfo for energy, tackles Gabrielle to the ground in an instant show of happiness. If that doesn’t set the mood for the rest of the fragment, I don’t know what does.
And so it was. Writing her summoning chapter over the course of a few hours felt great. It’s obvious she fits in, and she’s practically jumping for joy at every corner and discovery. I even gave her tendency to speak Spanish a little boost: If she gets really excited, she completely switches over unintentionally. There’s no loss information or understanding when she does, because she’s obviously just very excited. For those who speak Spanish, though, it’s some extra candy.
Setting her up and teasing future friendships and relations was also very easy, especially considering another idea: Artemis arrived too. Ever since reading about Quetzalcoatl’s personality and knowing of Artemis’ bimbo quirk, I had the idea in my head they’d make incredible friends as goddesses. Thus, I made it happen… and poor Atalanta now has two very active goddesses who want to play with her kids. At least she’s not crestfallen over the Mesopotamian one though.
Besides setting up Quetz’ clear road to success and acceptance, I dropped a few other necessary foundations. It’s obvious Chaldea has become adept at figuring out how to guide or talk with Spartacus since he became friends with Leonidas; Too bad he still wound up chasing the Romans later. There’s also the overdue reveal of Rome’s promised room, which is rather fitting if you think about it. Also directly name dropped the other arrived servants just to ease some suspense.
There were a lot of possible interactions for Quetzalcoatl, but I decided to keep it simple with some of the more obvious and promising ones. I did manage to sneak in quite a few servant cameos this time around though, but the next fragment will have even more by comparison. Hope you’re all enjoying the smooth sailing, because I figured it’s necessary considering the next singularity’s entire mood and theme. That’s a long way off though.
As for the song they dance to: Many should recognize it from way back when.
Next week: Regardless of what others believed or said, he always acted out of obligation rather than love or desire. He never did it for rewards or praise, but merely because it was the right thing to be done. But this time is different, and he may find a proper reward for his rather peculiar heroism.
Fragment 53 Insight
This week it was time to shine some light on one of Chaldea’s brighter personalities: A former courtesan and spy with the purest heart of gold. When you consider Mata Hari’s backstory, it really is rather heartbreaking. Her mother died when she was young, her father was morally and financially bankrupt. Her husband was a mess, her children had tragic fates. Even her lover in WWI was shot down and lost his eyesight, which led her down the path of espionage when she wished to see him. I didn’t list everything in the fragment though.
With all that in mind, I wanted to make something upbeat for her, but I also needed to explore different facets of her personality since she doesn’t get a lot of screen time in game. I made her faithfulness and optimism apparent in the kitchen. She’s shown to be openly playful and flirty at the bar, yet also a touch heartbroken and yearning. At the beach she’s doing nothing but having fun, and against a rowdy servant she pushes past her comfort to help protect her beloved home. With all this, I hope I painted a fairly strong picture of the assassin who longed for a picturesque romance.
Mata Hari’s history was indeed tragic, but also rather sexual considering her profession. It would be a crime not to explore a facet of that within her work. What better way than be teaching the overly promiscuous Medb how to strip dance? As strange and seemingly unfaithful as that would be to the Celtic Queen, one must keep in mind: She’s been able to seduce people just by her looks. She didn’t have to do anything extra and always went right for intercourse. It actually does make sense she’s unaware of modern strip teases and its art.
There’s been a lack of conflict, so I thought to reintroduce it with a new servant; One of three to arrive this entry, even if two are unnamed. Mephistopheles was going to be my biggest challenge to date, but he did make his way here. Unfortunately, his character is… abysmally one sided since he embodies a trope. That said, I do intend to work his character into something remotely interesting and respectable while keeping him within his bounds. Otherwise, his appearance here helps show just what Chaldea thinks of him.
But this wasn’t his entry, but Mata Hari’s. I fiddled with the idea of granting her just a piece of what she wanted at the end, but I thought it was best to leave it all open and ambiguous… for now. I left enough possibly conflicting hints and clues to get the fuel going, but I also managed to keep a generally happy tone for most of the fragment.
There was initially a scene involving the children too, but I scrapped it. The children have a lot of screen time, and Sanson’s fragment showed how loving she was to them anyway.
Next week: It’s one thing to summon a servant and another to summon a goddess. To summon goddess who fits in easily with their wild and wacky Chaldea is no small feat, but on the last summon day before the conservation break, the masters managed to do just that… and she was the second time it happened this week.
Fragment 52 Insight
It’s been a long while since the Emiya family got any serious light shined on them, though admittedly there are still other servants and groups who could use it more; Fear not, they’re coming. For now though, it was about time to explore an actual family relationship now that it’s had a lot more time to settle into a routine sort of deal.
What better than by choosing a servant who technically was never a part of one of Fate’s most popular families: Kuro. Due to her unique origin, it would make for a great angle on showing an adaptation to a new family and experiences. I wanted it to lack almost all sort of tension so that it felt really smooth and fluffy, though with some potential for Kuro shenanigans.
Instead of doing the usual ones, the main element of Kuro’s personality I wanted to showcase a bit was her manipulative and cunning nature. She’s what Illya was supposed to become, after all, so showing her skillfully maneuvering her way into getting what she wanted serves as a good scene premise. What better than by cornering some shady shopkeeper into selling a child lingerie for their parents? I also wanted to show she could still be nice and even newly considerate by giving him small bonus cash for the trouble (which was a lot for that era).
It’s been a while since we’ve actually delved into a benign singularity for a bit. The last big experience was for Christmas with the same general premise, but I didn’t actually show Santa Joan Lily doing the shopping itself. I’ve done it a bit more here with some window browsing, card picking, and an actual pseudo-bartering scene.
One thing many may have noticed, but this is one of the first time I pointed out moral issues that had to be taken into account. While Chaldea can essentially do what it wants in a singularity, there’s a sense of morality on what can and can’t be done. Despite fighting for the same goal, servants do still have their own beliefs and morals. Just because Blackbeard and Drake like pillaging treasure freely doesn’t mean others smile upon it. Outright stealing a gift car would be the negative talk of Chaldea too.
There are scales to be balanced, and playing by social law is usually for the best.
The need to adapt and play by the rules is both for strategic and Chaldean morale purposes too. Revealing themselves too openly may drive the culprits into further hiding or speed up their plans before they’re discovered. There’s also dealing with cultural dilemmas like how the 1950’s and 60’s were racially charged years compared to most, so dark skinned servants would receive very different initial treatment should they try to blend in.
There was initially a scene where Illya and Kuyo were also clothing shopping, but it was scrapped when I made the final outline. The fragment was already dragging on fairly long and there were several Illya and Kuro interactions to choose from. Instead, I’m saving a standard clothes shopping experience for another group of individuals.
Next week: It’s hard being considered one of the weaker servants in Chaldea, but they still manage to find their place and keep many smiling… even when they’re harboring simple desires of their own that have yet to be fulfilled.
Fragments of Chaldea 
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