#fate fandom

Shiki Ryougi~

Yandere Kirei Kotomine and darling using she/her pronouns

CWs: obsessive thoughts, violent thoughts, creepy Kotomine, enabling Gilgamesh, religious iconography, sacriligious thoughts

Word count: 378

Yandere Kotomine is nothing like his servant/King Gilgamesh, despite the close bond the two share.

He delights not in the treasures of the world, but in destruction of all that is beautiful and good.

And you are the purest, most beautiful thing he has ever seen.

You come to his church one morning in a spotless white sundress. The sun behind you is a halo to your silhouette that nearly blinds him in its radiance. He sees a shapely outline and is immediately hungry for more. When the doors shut, your visage becomes apparent.

You're lovely. Your skin looks softer than rose petals and mouth is lusher than the wine used for communion at the Vatican.

His dark eyes flit over you throughout the sermon despite constant reminders he must not give himself away to the sheep. When the time comes, he longs to shove the cracker down her throat and make her choke around his fingers.

He does not give into temptation; Kirei is a man of great patience and self-control.

Over the next few weeks he learns much about her. Her confessions, even as she becomes more comfortable, are pathetic sins. She feels such guilt for unkind thoughts, and for her heavy past.

She finally unburdens herself to him, and he reads in her all that is lovely to him: cruelty that has scored to her soul, crushing violence, sorrow. Her spirit is porcelain, fragile and smooth and perfect.

"Do you want her, Kirei?" whispers the insidious voice at his ear. He faces crimson eyes that flit between him and the precious thing you are. "You should take her."

He hums thoughtfully and gazes at her again. She stands, smoothing her hands over her skirt. "Father Kotomine," she murmurs to get the attention that has been hers from the moment she stepped into his church. The use of his title in her voice never fails to stir him.

How would it sound while she sobs? While she's begging for mercy?

And how quickly could she repair herself after that? Would she be able to? Would she cover her soul in golden lines? Or would she remain shattered at his feet?

The Fate series is... an interesting one. Now don't get me wrong, I love it and I've recently added into my favourite anime pile alongside RWBY, My Hero and Dragon Ball. However, the fandom has never made it easy for newcomers to get into. No one can agree on a good starting point and it just results in massive arguments.

Now it would be easy to say watch any Fate and you'll be fine. However, since the original visual novel came out, there have been countless spin offs and expansions that would almost certainly be confusing to newcomers. So in order to avoid this, I created a guide that should be easy to follow and gives some much needed context for you to dive right in.

First thing's first, what is Fate/Stay Night?

Fate/Stay Night is a visual novel created by Kinoko Nasu and Takashi Takeuchi. It was developed and published by Type Moon and it released in 2004. The story follows 3 different paths (AKA, routes) that has Shirou Emiya, the protagonist, overcome the challenges of the Holy Grail War and become a hero of justice. Here are the 3 paths:

Fate (Shirou and Saber romance)

Unlimited Blade Works (Shirou and Rin romance)

Heaven's Feel (Shirou and Sakura romance)

Now that you have that context, what about the anime? Here's a watch order that you can follow and avoid the screaming fans while doing so:

Fate/Stay Night by Studio DEEN

Everyone looks down upon this adaptation because it does an, admittedly, poor job of adapting the first route of the series (Fate). However, it lays the necessary groundwork of what Fate is and how things work in the universe. Plus, it's currently the only way to watch Saber/Artoria's route and the problems don't actually start manifesting themselves until the second half.

Fate/Zero by ufotable

Fate/Zero is a prequel that tells the story of the previous Holy Grail War and can be viewed after DEEN's Fate to explain how things led up to that event.

Alternatively, you can watch this before DEEN's Fate as it serves as a good introduction to the world and its magic system. Some would argue against this as there are some "spoilers" (I use that term loosely) thrown in. That's not true. They aren't spoilers, they're hints at what's to come for each of the routes. Since this is a prequel, it can be viewed before any of the 3 anime.

Now some would argue that this route spoils the surprise of Saber's true identity, that of the legendary King Arthur. However, given how 10 years has passed since the release of Zero in 2011, Saber being Arthur is pretty common knowledge at this point the same way that people already know that Anakin is Darth Vader.

Whether you want to watch this before or after is completely up to you. It's not as damaging to the experience as fans make it out to be.

Fate/Unlimited Blade Works by ufotbale

Unlimited Blade Works is a solid follow up to Fate and this is where you really start to see the differences shine. Certain characters get larger roles and it offers a cool twist on the formula already set up in DEEN's Fate..

Fate/Heaven's Feel by ufotable

Like with Unlimited Blade Works, Heaven's Feel shifts gears with the story and characters. Unlike the previous 2, however, the summoners (AKA masters) play a much larger and proactive role. I'd also warn that this route is incredibly dark and deals with some brutal subject matter.