The "Holy Shirou War" (as dubbed by others, not me)...

[Lycodrake]

Tusia dragged me (not very reluctantly) into making this: http://ask-astolfo.tumblr.com/
In care any of you were wondering what I've been up to...besides Katawa Shoujo.
[Update] Gotten through 2/5 routes in KS...wonderful VN, and the first one I've played myself. ^^

On topic of "HSW", I have made progress in reviewing the idea. Not sure how much, but I have made some. *nods*
Also, I've decided that the Shield/Stray Servant, if I do use her, will either be Bradamante or Brynhildr. For certain, one of those two, unless people have better ideas.
And I believe that I have made some good progress with narrowing down the list of possible female Lancers, too. Just FYI, for those who actually care. Which I'm now assuming is a small (or smaller) number of people. XP

[KAIZA]

Well, I know you said you put the story on hiatus, Lyco, but...

Well, to be honest, inspiration just hit a few weeks ago, and I couldn't
resist writing this. I intended to post this way back, before things went FUBAR.
However, after all that happened...I decided not to, but it's been bugging me for
quite a while, so I decided to write it now.

I thought it would be better to post this here, since it was based on your
idea (and the Sacchin-Medea combo), so it's appropiate. But, if you want me to remove it, just tell me.
A little snippet, for Lyco, based on the "Holy Shirou War":
================================================== =============================

Fuyuki City – some days ago…

The old warehouse stood in the outskirts of the city, abandoned long ago. No power was left inside, and the only thing illuminating its pitch black insides was the bright moonlight.

In the center of the room, a single figure was knelt. The figure was scribbling on the floor, using fresh blood in order to draw the arcane symbols, an almost empty bucket and several animal corpses littering the floor around.

Once finished, the figure stood, face revealed by the moonlight. Satsuki Yumizuka gazed upon the circle and admired her work.

It had been by a stroke of luck that she had met the red-haired woman, and she had told her about this “Grail War” business; 7 mages compete against each other, summoning Servants, and fight to the death for the ultimate prize…a single wish, granted to the last Master standing.

Although unsure at first, Satsuki realized this could be the chance she had been looking for. If she could win this Grail War, she could use her wish in order to finally get together with Tohno-kun! Everything would be back to how it was before, and she could be together with her beloved Shiki; no more vampires, no more killings, no more bizarre incidents…Just the two of them, together in love.

She, however, had no idea how to even participate. Hell, she didn’t know much about magic in the first place! The red-haired woman had assured her that she had potential, to the point she relinquished a strange relic, gave her instructions regarding some kind of ritual, and shoved her (quite literally) into the first train to Fuyuki. Not only that, but ever since she had met her, she started having pains in her left arm. No place to stay, no money, no knowledge of the area…She really started having second thoughts about this idea.

After following her instructions, setting up the summoning circle, and making sure the time was about right, Satsuki prepared for the final steps. She took the relic the woman had given her, and placed it in the middle of the circle. Taking some steps back, and with a deep breath, closed her eyes.

“Okay, Satsuki. Don’t be nervous. This is the first time you’ve done this, but the woman assured you everything’s gonna be alright” she said. To be honest, with how eerie this place was, and the mechanics of the ritual itself, she half-expected a monster to come out of the circle. Either that, or the ritual would simply fail.

“No!” she mentally re-assured herself. “Have confidence, Satsuki! Remember, you’re doing this for Tohno-kun! Just say the chant…”

Letting go her breath, she began chanting.

“Das Material ist aus Silber und Eisen.”
Ye first, O silver, O iron
“Der Grundstein ist aus Stein und dem Großherzog des Vertrag.”
O stone of the foundation, O Archduke of the Contract
“Der Ahn ist mein großer Meister Schweinorg.”
Hear me in the name of our great teacher, the Archmagus Schweinorg

The chant the woman gave her was strange, although she couldn’t understand any of it at all. It seemed to be written in a foreign language. Nevertheless, she continued.

“Schutz gegen einen heftigen Wind.”
Let the descending winds be as a wall
“Schließ alle Tore, geh aus der Krone, zirkulier die Gabelung nach dem König.”
Let the gates in all directions be shut, rising above the crown, and let the three-forked roads to the Kingdom revolve.
“Füll, füll, füll, füll, füll.”
Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut.
“Es wird fünfmal wiederholt.”
Five perfections for each repetition.
“Nur ist es die volle Zeit gebrochen.”
And now, let the filled sigils be annihilated in my stead!
“－Satz.”
Set.

As she (difficultly) recited each of the verses, the summoning circle started glowing with a powerful aura. The glow grew more and more powerful as the chant continued.

“Du überläßt alles mir, mein Schicksal überläßt alles deinem Schwert.”
Let thy body rest under my dominion, let my fate rest in thy blade.
“Das basiert auf dem Gral, antwort wenn du diesem Willen und diesem Vernunftgrund folgst.”
If thou submittest to the call of the Holy Grail and if thou wilt obey this mind, this reason, then thou shalt respond.

Satsuki began to feel a strange sensation, almost as if her energy was being sapped. She was growing exhausted with each passing second, but she kept going.

"Liegt das Gelübde hier…”
I make my oath here...
“Ich bin… die Güte der ganzen Welt.”
I am… that person who is to become the virtue of all Heavens.
“Ich bin… das Böse der ganzen Welt.”
I am… that person who is covered with the evil of all Hades.
“Du bist der Himmel mit dreien Wortseelen…”
Thou seven heavens, clad in a trinity of words…,

The circle now glowed almost as bright as the sun. The entire warehouse was illuminated by the powerful display. Feeling drained, and somewhat scared of something going wrong, Satsuki decided to open her eyes…

“Komm, aus dem Kreis der Unterdrückung, der Schutzgeist der Balken…waa…ge?”
come past thy restraining rings, and be thou the hands that protect the…ba…lance?

Only to be immediately blinded by the glow, not to mention startled by the display itself.

“WAAHHH!!”

Tumbling backwards, she accidentally tripped herself with the bucket, sending it flying upwards, while Sacchin toppled back to the ground towards the circle. The bucket’s remaining content, a small amount of animal blood, proceeded to spill all over the circle and relic. Sacchin fell face-first towards the ground, sliding and smudging the blood on the floor.

“Owww…GAH!!”

Gravity took its toll, and the bucket came down, right into Satsuki’s head.

The circle started making weird noises, as powerful energies trickled all around. It grew brighter, and brighter, AND BRIGHTER, AND…

The entire light show died down in less than a second. Satsuki lifted the bucket to see what had just happened, just in time to see a small poof blow out of the relic.

Carefully standing up, and taking the bucket off her head, Sacchin looked at the mess that was left. The circle that she had so carefully drawn was now nothing but a large smudge of blood on the floor. The relic seemed to have been burnt out, not to mention covered in blood. Even her clothes were now a mess. Hell, she could still feel the bucket’s contents dripping down her hair.

It was over. She had failed. Her only chance of entering this War, and she had screwed up.

“No…I…I was…” she said, as she started sobbing. She fell to her knees, as she stared at her failure. Tears streamed down her cheeks, small drops falling into the smudge where her circle had been.

“I was so close…BWAAAHHH!!”

She couldn’t bear it. She immediately broke down crying, tears gushing out both her eyes, and she covered her face with her hands. She had made all those preparation, gone through all the trouble of hunting down and then…sacrificing those poor animals! And it had been all for nothing.

“*sob* Now I’ll never get together with Tohno-kun! *sob* Why can’t he see how I feel! It’s all my fault! BWAAAHHH!! ”

She continued on the floor crying, but in her despair couldn’t notice the faint glow coming from the summoning circle. Slowly, the glow grew brighter and brighter, as a figure materialized in the center.

The figure was dressed in purple robes, although she was mostly covered by a black, purplish cloak. Her hair shined with the moonlight, the color an unnatural light blue. Her eyes were almost as blue as her hair, and her ears were pointed. Her face, however, was one of pure beauty, her skin pale and fair.

The figure saw the girl crying her heart out in front of her, and sensed the pain and sadness in her heart. Gently approaching, she knelt down next to the girl, using one hand to lift her crying face, and wiping fresh tears with the other.

The girl was stunned, surprised to see the figure in front of her. She didn’t know where this woman had come from, but she somehow felt a strong bond between them. The woman simply smiled, and with a soothing voice, she said:

“Don’t cry my dear.”

Satsuki gazed into the woman’s eyes, feeling her connection with her. It couldn’t be… she had botched the ritual; there was no way…Immediately, Sacchin felt calm and relaxed. The woman’s touch, somehow, had made her feel better, soothing her very soul.

“I’ll do everything in my power to help you obtain the Holy Grail, so you may obtain what your heart desires.” The woman said with a smile. Standing up, she held a hand for Sacchin, helping her get up.

“May I ask, what is your name, girl?” The woman asked.

“My…my name?” she asked, a little uneasy. “My name is Yumizuka Satsuki” she said, bowing, this time with more confidence.

The woman nodded. “Satsuki-sama…” she said with a gentle tone.

“I am the Servant Caster. I ask of you…are you my Master?”

================================================== =============================
As always, correct me if I made any mistakes with characterization, despiction of characters,
Nasu mechanics, plot and whatnot. Seriously, considering how much I have to learn.
I'm also using this snippet as practice for the fanfic contest, so, any feedback about the
writing is appreciated.
Lyco, I want your opinion on this, too.
If you want it down, I'll take it down. I just hope this can inspire you, both for this
story and for the contest (we're rivals, man >: ) ), just as your idea inspired me.

Well, here you go.

[Lycodrake]

Looks great to me, KAIZA, though I'm still working out quite a few things, major (one of which is the Sacchin-Medea team) or minor.
As long as you don't start calling me your "eternal rival", I'm okay with that. XP

Edit: Not sure how well this thread updating will go over with everyone else, though.

[KAIZA]

Looks great to me, KAIZA, though I'm still working out quite a few things, major (one of which is the Sacchin-Medea team) or minor.
As long as you don't start calling me your "eternal rival", I'm okay with that. XP

PHEW!
I was nervous there for a second...
I really just wrote things as I went, I simply had the outline:

-Sacchin tries ritual
-Accidentally botches ritual (bucket is important!)
-Sad Sacchin...
-Ritual worked after all!
-Medea & Sacchin are now friends!

Well, glad you liked it. Considering you're the author, trust me, it's
good to know you liked it.
Sure, keep working things out. I'll still wait for the actual fic.
Just wanted to write this for a while.

Well, in any case, thanks!


PS: No, you're not my eternal rival; we're friends, remember?
But...I want one of those figures, so...
May the best writer win!


EDIT: Well, it's not necro, since I put the snippet, but you may be right... 0_0 (Oh, oh...)

[Lycodrake]

*snip*

Thanks for the encouragement, both on this and for the fanfic contest.
And I like the outline, despite it including Sad Sacchin.
Of course, I'm still debating on a few things, but I don't think I'll say them now, since I don't want to spark a conversation that might trigger an A-BSOD (Author-Blue Screen of Death) for me. XP

I'm trying to stay on the safe side when it comes to this, now. Just saying, I don't hold it against you. ^^

[KAIZA]

Thanks for the encouragement, both on this and for the fanfic contest.
And I like the outline, despite it including Sad Sacchin.

Heh, no problem! ,(^^)/
Remember, Sad Sacchin becomes Happy Sacchin once Medea appears! ;‿;

Of course, I'm still debating on a few things, but I don't think I'll say them now, since I don't want to spark a conversation that might trigger an A-BSOD (Author-Blue Screen of Death) for me. XP

I'm trying to stay on the safe side when it comes to this, now. Just saying, I don't hold it against you. ^^

No worries, you keep thinking about your fic, I'll wait for it to be posted.
Good luck, Lyco!

[Lycodrake]

*snip*

True, and Happy Sacchin is a wonderful, wonderful thing.~
Thanks again, and a lot, KAIZA. Good luck to you, too.
Oh, just FYI, I have the fanfic for the contest to work on, something else to revise, and I think that's about it in the fanfic realm, so I have a bit of time to work on HSW-related stuff.

[Lianru]

Thanks for the encouragement, both on this and for the fanfic contest.

Wait, so you're doing it?
Yessssss.

[Lycodrake]

Wait, so you're doing it?
Yessssss.

Yes, Ruru, I am doing it. ^^
...though I'm intimidated by the other people participating. =.=

[KAIZA]

True, and Happy Sacchin is a wonderful, wonderful thing.~
Thanks again, and a lot, KAIZA. Good luck to you, too.

Well, thanks to you too.

Oh, just FYI, I have the fanfic for the contest to work on, something else to revise, and I think that's about it in the fanfic realm, so I have a bit of time to work on HSW-related stuff.

And this is good news. Although I'm currently swamped because of end-of-semester stuff,
I'll try to work on the contest fic whenever I can. Although I'm still revising the idea. Comedy is hard :P
Well, post your fic once you think it's ready. I'll wait for it.

EDIT:

...though I'm intimidated by the other people participating. =.=

Me too, Lyco. Me too.

[Lycodrake]

*snip*

No problem, really.
My semester just started, so I have a little bit of time before it starts to pick up. XP

[Dark Pulse]

Per request of the thread starter, this topic has been closed.