#altria caster

My first pick was Arturia Caster because, well, frankly when I was debating whether or not Mash even counted I was also debating whether or not Caster even counted for basically the exact same set of reasons. I mean, c'mon. She's Arturia Caster. As her Noble Phantasm goes, "Yet the sword is in their hands." How could I ever go past her?

My second was, naturally, Ishtar. I don't really think I need to explain why—the only reason this tumblr even exists is because people were wrong about Ishtar on the internet.

Mash sneaks in at third place, largely because she spent too much time fucking nasty with Morgan and Lilith when she was meant to be setting up camp that one time and Guda still holds a grudge I forgot I hadn't already said her until after I said Ishtar. I don't really need to explain why she's here either. There's an entire, like, ten billion words of story to do it for me.

In fourth is Meltryllis. I'm not sure how many people know this, but I was actually writing a whole-ass story about Guda and Melt once upon a time, which you can read if you want to know why she's here. She was the last of the easy picks.

Fifth was Melusine. There were a few potential choices for this slot, but in the end it came down to this: if my Guda is going somewhere she doesn't recognise, to do something she doesn't yet know, for a purpose she doesn't yet understand, she is going to turn to the Strongest. Because Melusine can be a bit of an idiot, she can whine and sook with the best of them, and her ego is as fragile as glass—but. But. She's also invincible. And in that, my Guda has more faith than she does in anything except Ishtar.

Finally, sixth: Taira-no-Kagekiyo. It can't be a Guda's 'canon squad' without at least one potentially ill-advised decision which Guda nonetheless makes with total and complete surety in the trust she extends, and for my Guda, that's Taira and the prayer that no matter how far away their grudge might take their mind, their hand will always be there when she reaches for it.

So there you have it. That's my Guda's canon party. That's who she brings to the end of the word and the start of time. That's who she calls on when all she knows is that there is something that must be done. And I think that's Neat.