#magecraft

"Just don't compare the technomages to AI bros or they'll put a virus curse on you. Trust me."

"Good question!" While Fang executes the two handsigns and recites PEMDAS in his head, five glowing yellow cylinders of varying sizes coalesce from the free mana in the atmosphere and clack together with the final word of power. "So this is the path of least resistance, the namesake gavel. The five shapes are simple: head, handle, two faces, and pommel. It sails end over end when you throw it, floats in the air if you will it, stamps a glittery eight-pointed star made up of rhombuses on surfaces you smack with it, and glitter bombs on target with a satisfying pop and flash of light."

Satisfied with a verbal description, Fang simply dispelled the glowing gavel into a puff of yellow smoke.

"With practice, you can use abbreviations, omit speaking the words entirely, even create multiple hammers in one casting-- but what if you wanted something else?"

"Think about it: what does the spell do? You create five solids of force, append harmless effects, add conditions to some, even ignore conventional physics." The handsigns and mental recitation once more. Three sets of solids: red, green, blue. Trademark clack. "It's a toy that's great for visualization, prototyping. Applying what you know to be possible to something theoretical."

First was a red DeLorean, boxy body and four wheels. Flicking the car across the kitchen table, it left a trail of harmless flaming tire tracks, formed a layer of sparks around its front end as it gained speed, and vanished with a shh-pow at the end.

Second, a green kaiju. This Godzilla (or Reptar) was composed of head, torso with static arms, two legs, and a tail. Waddling it across the table left dino footprints, rearing the figure back emits the iconic skreeonk roar/wail, placing your thumb on the back of its head fired an spray of atomic breath, and bending the tail back enabled the infamous flying kick against Megalon. Forward, the breath-powered flight that closed the gap with Hedora.

Third was a simple blue NERF backup blaster. Just the frame, trigger, manual cocker, and two darts. The demon performs a simple demonstration of cocking it back, firing the first dart with a cartoon pew effect. As for that other dart...

"Well, what if you didn't want harmless?" Fang concentrated on the dart a moment and a black substance formed along the inner surface of the solid, bulging slightly like a damaged lithium battery. Loading the blaster, the mage opened a window and fired at a dead tree branch that had nagged him with its presence, punching the limb clean off with explosive force. "We've been directing the free energy around us until now, that was using the mana inside. Odic Force, or Chi, charged with your intent."

Dispelling all the toys with a final clap, Fang smiled.

I'm back! I don't even know how many this makes but by hell welcome back to my trip through Fate! I've been looking forward to this one for a while now. Ever since I finished Fate Zero (click here <-) in fact. (-> here's part two)

The "why done it" in this case being due to Waver Velvet and Iskandar. When I sat through Fate Zero I absolutely loved their arc and dynamic as the story progressed. Iskandar is one of the best bros I've seen written within Fate which is a praise I also give to Astolfo from Apocrypha.

Of course, with Astolfo I was also shocked by the sheer dissonance between the meme and the actual character. In Iskandar's case, I was shocked by the sheer misinterpretation of the Banquet of Kings scene.

I'll fight any of you on that scene and his character. It left me questioning the critical thinking skills of many given what I had heard vs what I actually saw.

But that's for another post, I linked the part two of the fate zero post if you're curious about my feelings of that scene.

What's most important for this post is just how much Waver changed after Fate Zero or more specifically the 4th Holy Grail War.

Multiple Histories, One World

Now, as with nearly every post these days, I do feel the need to preface the multiverse nature of Fate and it's Type-Moon cousins. This multiverse has fed a lot of the complicated reputation for these stories and many movies are adapting a specific route or ending from a novel.

Fate Stay Night, Fate Hollow Ataraxia, Tsukihime, so many have multiple routes and endings. FSN in particular has had two anime and three movies depicting each main route.

This is relevant because the El Melloi Case files are based on actual light novels rather than visual novels. The anime is only 13 episodes long and it by no means has the time to truly adapt every novel in that series.

This should also be kept in mind because events and terms are shared among the various stories but that does not mean each story is connected.

For example, in most stories where Waver Velvet exists usually depict him as a participant in the 4th Holy Grail War but this does not mean that every Waver you see lived through Fate Zero.

Fate Zero is a specific retelling of the 4th Grail War but not the universal depiction. A good example of what I mean is with Saber (Artoria) from Fate Stay Night.

In the original visual novel as well as the UBW anime (and others) Saber references the 4th Grail War and Kiritsugu. Even though servants aren't supposed to remember previous summons she does but the war she remembers in those stories is not the same story from Fate Zero.

Fate Zero is just one alternative version of the 4th Grail War. The war itself happens in several alternate worlds but none of them are exactly the same series of events.

In other words, you'll see Waver cameo in many stories but never assume they all had the same history. They probably had similar histories.

With that out of the way let us focus on the version of Waver we did see, the boy from Fate Zero that's grown into a lord of the Clocktower.

What a true life changing experience just meeting someone can be

l've said it before but it's entirely possible to see the anime from the 2010s as their own pocket continuity. I won't claim that as 100% accurate since even 'ol Nasu said Fate Zero is it's own timeline but I do fully believe it can apply here.

El Melloi calls back to Fate Zero often and while the anime leaves out a lot that the novel covers it's still worth seeing. It focuses well on what became of Waver after Fate Zero and how Iskandar changed him.

It's even a plot point that he's obsessed with Iskandar and that war. Waver wishes to see Iskandar again and aims for the 5th Grail War. This obsession is often seen as a dangerous thing as well by those around Waver and for good reason.

Iskandar is a heroic spirit, he is dead and within Type-Moon it is the livings job to move forward not the dead.

What I mean is that Waver is seemingly chasing the dead, running towards an end to prove himself to his king. Waver is not suicidal or the like but he's missed a bit of Iskandar's message.

In Fate Zero Iskandar does his damnedest to get the, then impatient and temperamental, Waver to enjoy the journey. Iskandar loves life and new things and pushes Waver to experience new things.

But as El Melloi Waver has come to a stand still. I saw this as sad but not unbelievable for it is very human to find yourself stuck as an adult.

l see this as Waver "missing the forest for the trees" in a sense because;

A) He knows that servants typically do not recall previous summons. His desire to see if Iskandar remembers or approves of him is moot from the get go. He is effectively chasing shadows. B) Waver's entire personality as the tired teacher El Melloi was shaped by Iskandar. Waver has already changed in a positive way but does not reflect on that. He remembers their time together fondly but doesn't think of his present much.

Waver only regrets or remembers a past, he's not living life to the fullest like Iskandar would push him to do. It is a very believable fault to have and a very real rut that many of you will experience once as you age.

The beauty of Waver's time as El Melloi is seeing him learn to let go and live life with an attitude more akin to what Iskandar spouted.

The man vs the Boy

Even then, even with that focus on Waver's obsession with the past, the story also shows just how much Waver changed after the 4th Grail War. They're not things Waver speaks up about himself but they are things both the viewer and cast take note of.

The first big change is seen in the flashback of how Waver became the lord El Melloi II. It is a few years before the first episode but a year or two after Fate Zero. After borrowing money (beginning his perpetual debt) Waver bought the nearly defunct classroom of his mentor Kayneth, the previous lord el Melloi.

The very man that Waver stole his relic from, the same man that was dealt a death so shameful by Kiritsugu that I found him more disgusting than Saber in that moment.

This not only took mage society by surprise but he shocked everyone still by making the class successful. Waver moans his lack of talent but he's proving Iskandar right by putting his head to use.

Within Fate Zero Iskandar pointed out Waver's problem solving skills and how solving something simpler than others is a talent to be proud of.

It's obvious that others recognize this talent as well since he's often called to solve cases. He uses the money to pay off debts but the very fact that a society as prideful and traitorous as the Clocktower would even call him for help is a feat that I do not think Waver even considers.

The fact that he'd even buy Kayneth's class to keep it alive also shows a sharp change. As a boy he was irresponsible and was partly the cause of Kayneth's death but as a man he accepts that responsibility.

He's not making excuses as he did when you saw him in Fate Zero. I do not feel that my words are doing this trait justice because so many people grow up and never learn to accept the responsibility of their actions.

Let alone go out of their way to amend the issues they cause.

By hell his acceptance of responsibility even takes the characters in story by surprise. The whole reason Waver is 'lord el melloi' is because the family was put on the cusp of ruin by Waver's actions and Kayneth's death.

They chose Reines as the next head out of political logic and necessity. When she kidnaps him (as a small child mind you) she fully expected Waver to throw a fit and go into denial because that's the personality he had prior to the war.

She was joking in earnest (probably plotting something bad too) but no. Waver accept all her demands and only asked they add the "II" to his title.

Both because Waver does not think he's worthy of the el melloi title and because his station is temporary.

It may seem like minor rambling to you but I found this shift rather interesting and praise worthy.

Waver's mage family is new, he essentially had no father, so when I see this change I see a boy that learned a sense of responsibility from Iskandar. Perhaps not a father-figure in the truest sense but he was an example Waver needed.

Iskandar was a king and accepted all that it brought and from his words you see that he did consider his men and their view of him.

Even if by a fraction Waver emulated that and I consider that beautiful in hindsight of Fate Zero to here.

As a teacher

To the shock of the Clocktower (and me tbh) Waver is a damn good teacher. He may lack power and potential as a mage himself but his problem solving mindset and his experiences have made him damn near prodigal as an instructor.

By the end of the anime he had at least 3 students of "pride" rank. I won't go into the whole detail but the best way to sum that up for you is by saying mages have ranks.

To have students who achieved a "pride" rank at such young ages is basically like a teacher in our world having three kids skip their way to college.

All of Waver's students have more talent than him but his class tends to draw the unwanted or odd so few of them have the actual mentality to put that power to use.

The Clocktower essentially throws problem children at him and he turns them into respectable mages much to the higher ups annoyance.

Sadly the anime only showed a few of his class but I loved it when I got to see him being a teacher. The cases he solves are fun as well but the class draws out the easily annoyed aspect of Waver.

The parts of him that is still the young Waver which becomes a funny contrast in a way. I'd even argue that Waver draws annoying people to him unconsciously.

His "best friend" Melvin, the overly fond Flat, or actually talented/respectable mages like Luvia who wants him to be her tutor.

Hell, he's even on a list of people that female students wish to sleep with. No, I am not joking. One of them is even in his class. Her name is Yvette and I am certain that she's unhinged.

His social circle is endearing and it draws out a bit of young Waver and I love it.

Sorry, I lost my own plot there. I don't really have a structure to my rambles since my brain just does not work that way but I hope that I got across how much I love what this story has done with Waver.

He was one of the best parts of Fate Zero and I loved seeing how Iskandar changed him. I see it almost like a man adopting an unruly kid and making them into a better person.

Only for that same person to do the same for his students. Of course, I also just genuinely love to see the Fate world in motion outside a Grail War.

You hear a lot about Clocktowers, mage society, and so on but this is a story in which you see it. You're getting the backdrop of the Type-Moon universe and I'm sad this anime didn't get more seasons to explore it.

However, before I finish up what has become a part one I have to mention a foil to Waver. Not another mage or case but his foil as a subject to Iskandar.

I found you, FAKER

Hephaestion was an interesting character to me. I was interested in her prior due to lore but actually seeing her in action made me more interested in her dichotomy to Waver.

Both are heavily shaped by Iskandar himself but while Waver is a subject of the king Hephaestion was a body double. It's a bit more complex than that of course but she's essentially a body double he had in life.

Due to the magecraft used that let her play such a role she had no name of her own and her mark on history is odd compared to actual heroic spirits.

Thanks to this and the way in which she was summoned she manifested as a new class "pretender". Or as this anime called it "Faker".

However, all things in Fate have a grain of truth. No matter how fantastical the spirit or spell there was something real it was based on.

This "faker" was a real woman and her hatred for Waver is a foil since he sees himself as a subject to Iskandar. She respects her king as much, if not more, than Waver but she hated his army.

For Waver to call himself a subject, for him to mention the Ionioi Hetairoi and her absence in it, these things anger her.

She saw that army as a detriment that lead to Iskandar's death. She even counts among the Ionioi Hetairoi by technicality but refuses to appear when Iskandar uses it due to her hatred of the army.

There's likely more there as well but I sadly lack knowledge on her as of typing this. I do know the basic gist of Dr. Heartless' plan and her role in it but her personal history I know little.

But her foil to Waver I do find interesting because both were shown Iskandar's kindness yet she views herself apart as special confidant while Waver wishes to be a subject.

It is like they gained two opposite lessons from the same man. She even rejected Iskandar's numerous attempts to name her due to her respect for him. She was fine being his double while Iskandar saw it as horribly inhumane.

She hates the army, Waver would happily join it. She is a warrior and strong, Waver is weak. Yet Waver is the only one that can say things to get under her skin. On some level she knows he's right, on some level he understands her thanks to their shared experiences with Iskandar.

To be honest the anime doesn't explore them as much as I wish it did. I'm rambling, hoping to stretch it, but in truth the anime ended before I got to see this truly explored. It's a neat parallel to see but an incomplete one.

Thanks to lore videos I watch I do have a grander scope than most whole watch the anime. A very similar situation to when I watched the 2006 Fate anime, I have context.

I won't spoil it but do know that Hephaestion and Dr Heartless' plot does lead to a proper build up and resolution to Waver's lingering feelings of Iskandar and the war.

I do think the anime did a good job, I truly wish it had more, but knowing what I do about these novels I wish they had gave it another season.

The dynamic of Iskandar to his two subjects also plays a greater role and one day I hope we get to see it.

For now I think I'll stop this here and make that part two. I know I rambled a lot with no direction and it fell thin toward the end there so I appreciate you reading regardless.

Hopefully you'll enjoy part two more where I can talk about other things aside my obsession with Waver and his character.

I'll leave my other better written Fate posts linked below as well. Bye~

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El Motherf**Kin Melloi pt2: https://www.tumblr.com/derekscorner/757996566277701632/fated-rantings-clocktowers-business-hours

The following areas have been identified as excellent sources of colored energy for your magecraft needs. This is not an exhaustive list but is one that you might find useful in your own studies.

Red-

Mountain trails

Sparring rings/martial art studios

Warm, bright, and open spaces

Blue-

Lakes

Beaches

Island trails

Rivers

Green-

Nature trails

Woodlands

Gardens

White-

Inns/Hotels

Hospitals

Community hall

Black-

Marshes

Graveyards/cemeteries

Cellars

Colorless-

All of the above as well as mixed spaces, such as libraries (blends of blue and white), religious places (blends of white and black), your personal space, and yourself, etc.

All of these spaces are generally agreed to be safe places to draw energy from for powering your magecraft but please respect safety, personal boundaries, and laws.

I find it very interesting both narratively and conceptually that the subjectively main character of a great deal of the Fate Series is by the rules of his own universe practically a failure as a mage and an inconsequential existence among Servants-- the combat 'class' or species depending on your own interpretation-- and yet he is still not only one of the most successful mages and effective combatants in his own verse, but if his same magical skillset were to be imposed on a character in practically any other fantasy universe-- or if he just straight up got picked up and thrown into another universe using a canonical way to do that with the 2nd Magic-- he would instantly be considered one of the most impressive mages and warriors ever.

Seriously, Shirou is one of the mages to have come closest to mastering or at least utilizing the Third Magic, the magic that revolves around the manipulation and manifestation of the soul, by being capable of projecting his soul into the physical world as a Reality Marble. If memory serves this ability is said to be so rare that only a dozen humans in all of history are said to have been able to accomplish the same feat outside of when they come back as Heroic Spirits, in which case it is still considered exceedingly rare.

He is also probably the mage closest to learning how to use the Denial of Nothingness (which is THINK is the Fourth Magic, but I googled it and the Fourth Magic is not named or described, so it might be the First Magic which has something to do with the creation of Metaphysical Energy and/or Substances as opposed to the usage of such things like most if not all other forms of magecraft does... if I understand it right at least... the wiki says the magic is still unexplained in its entirety) thanks to his creation of and growing mastery of Tracing.

Speaking of Tracing, his ability to use that spell/combination of spells comes at least in part from his affinity for and mastery of Structural Grasping, which at his level allows him to instantly learn everything there is to know about a physical object's physical and magical properties along with its communitive history either by just LOOKING AT IT or in some cases by touching it. Though admittingly this is limited by him only being able to instantly memorize and reliably recall and understand that information be it physical or magical if the physical object is a Sword or an object closely related to the concept of Swords such as Spears, Knives, Shields, et cetra (With the seeming exception of Rao Ais which doesn’t seem to have a physical component and is instead a purely metaphysical existence that interacts with the physical world by invoking the very concept of the shield used in the Trojan War). He can then recreate those things at will with his magecraft and enhance or alter those properties with seemingly minimal effort! He's able to do this with ANY non-divine object and can even somewhat pull it off with some divine constructs as well! Though again, he is held back by his own status as a human, though in this case it has to do with his below-average to average levels of magical energy as much as it does the human brain's limitations on what it can perceive and how much information it can store at once.

That's TWO True Magics he's at the very least closer to than pretty much anyone else alive, on top of having so much skill with a spell that for some reason most mages consider nearly useless that he could steal the research of any mage that specializes in using Mystic Codes or otherwise uses them as a medium for their research or spellcasting and by doing so probably figure out some of the flaws that have been overlooked for generations thanks to getting the full rundown of the entire creation process and having COUNTLESS other Mystic Codes and Nobel Phantasms to compare it to practically simultaneously!

AND, let's not forget that the master of the Second Magic once gave the blueprints to his own Mystic Code that straight up uses a version of said Second Magic to the Tohsakas and even after several generations they couldn't recreate even a lesser version of it, and yet in one timeline Shirou was able to do just that in like, a day. This in turn, thanks to the fact that the Code was in the shape of a short sword, means at minimum that version of Shirou if not the others that eventually went to the Clocktower with Rin theoretically has access to at least a watered-down version of the Second Magic as well! And I'm pretty sure that when that happened it was revealed that Shirou's Reality Marble can produce rare or even non-existent materials within its confines that can then be used to make new swords/Mystic Codes that never existed before using Shirous's thoughts and desires in place of an actual forge and that Shirou can then Trace them into reality! The man can literally design magic weapons that should not be able to exist for one reason or another and then pull them out of his soul to use in a fight without having to figure out how to or spend the time required to actually make them. He just needs the final result to work. AND HE CAN THEN TREAT THEM AS DISPOSABLES NO MATTER HOW EXPENSIVE OR TIME-CONSUMING THEY WOULD BE TO CREATE FOR ANY OTHER MAGUS!

Magecraft is the art of drawing aether into your body, typically using a specially cut crystal, guiding its path through a series of runes, and releasing it to a specific effect. It is both mentally and physically taxing, and very dangerous if done incorrectly. As such, magecraft is usually practiced by those who have access to experienced teachers; untrained mages rarely make it past their first few experiments without badly injuring or even killing themselves.

Some beings, notably fae and elementals, have natural physiological structures for aether to flow through. These conduits, typically known as spellveins, can be utilized with minimal thought or effort, and often produce less strain on the body as they provide less resistance to the flowing aether. However, they tend to be narrow in effect, compared to the infinite versatility of magecraft. And while fae and elementals can study magecraft, many struggle to work around their spellveins and to go against their instincts.

❤️ love spell jar:

- charge a heart shaped sigil on pink paper through whatever methods wanted then wrap it up in a scroll & drop it in before ingredients down below -

♡ sugar

♡ honey

♡ moon water

♡ lavender

♡ rose petals

♡ rose quartz

♡ cinnamon sticks