I pretty much skipped the Oniland rerun this year. I also skipped the Gilfest rerun as well. Other than the daily login bonuses, I’ve taken a hiatus from Fate/Grand Order. I’ve gotten so into resurrecting Silent Shadow that I’d rather work on the story and the artwork than play FateGO.

At any rate, the way I’m feeling now, I’m not so sure that I’m going to participate in the Saber Wars II event beyond the gacha—namely because I want Avenger Ishtar. Looking at the future of events in Fate/GO and what those of us on the NA server can expect for the next year—eh, I dunno. They just seem rather lackluster to me. I guess we’re at the point where the NA server gets to see the effects that the pandemic had on the 2020 events. But back to the Saber Wars event. I’ll play that one by ear, honestly. If I’ve got this right, it sounds like the event start until later this month and if NA follows the Japanese server schedule, it won’t land until sometime around Halloween—which means it will be a no-go for me because there’s work-stuff that I’ll be dealing with. It’s nothing bad, but I’ll be out of the loop for three or four days. Now that the dates have been announced, October 18th through 31st, it looks like I will be able to participate, accounting for work, and Silent Shadow shenanigans.

Fate/GO Burnout

I think the summer events burned me out. Especially this year’s summer event. Honestly, I was disappointed by the story. That, and my unsuccessful bid to get more copies of ‘Zerker Musashi. I think the burnout was more Gacha-related than anything. At least we got a good Arts welfare with this event, though🤷🏽‍♀️

Yashahime Season 2

Warning: Thar be Spoilers Ahead!

Yashahime’s second season is now showing on your favorite anime streaming site (personally, I use Funimation but anyway). I didn’t finish the last episodes of the previous season so I only have a vague idea of what happened, but the upshot is that Setsuna died in the last episode, and that Towa acquired Tenseiga—or absorbed Tenseiga’s power?*—from their father, Sesshomaru. At the end of the first episode, Setsuna is revived by Towa using Tenseiga—and Setsuna gains a demonic weapon of her own.

Third episode in, and we now have some reveals about what happened to Kagome and Inuyasha. Without revealing more spoilers, let’s just say that was another example of drama that could have been avoided through proper communication.

⭐ Like I said, I didn’t finish watching last season and the only thing I have to go on is what was inferred in the first episode of this season.

Gilgamesh vs Sesshomaru Parallels

Since I’ve been deep in the weeds with Fate since like 2011, I can’t help but compare Yashahime with the Fate universe. Of course, that can’t go without a Gilgamesh reference. Love him or hate him, Gil is a big part of the franchise in all its incarnations.

So, similarities? They’re both coldly arrogant—though Sesshomaru isn’t nearly as bad as Gil (zasshu jokes aside). My memories of Inuyasha are more than a bit hazy (between 11 and 15 years ago, and I was in college besides), but didn’t Sesshomaru have something against half-demons (ie: mongrels), which we all know changed by the end of the series. Even that is hard to say, because it seemed like the relationship between his father and mother was basically an arranged marriage—no real love, but a fondness, perhaps? Note that I have no clue how Zero fits into that mess at all (go and watch those last episodes, ya dumbass).

The main difference I have noticed is Sesshomaru can actually show that he cares for someone (to a limited extent), which was a definite at the end of this season’s first episode. Whether or not Gil can actually show that he cares for someone (Enkidu, maybe?), remains to be seen. You sort of get a sense of that in the female Hakuno/Gil route in Fate/Extra CCC.

Silent Shadow Progress

For some reason, only I know, I’ve started writing three different stories in tandem. First, is the prequel to the original three that I had planned (basically, Syleth and Rowan’s early life). Then I’m rewriting Hawk & Wolf, and writing Firestorm all at the same time. I’m still not giving myself a deadline. This kind of project really can’t have a deadline because it’s all too likely that I’ll miss it due to life circumstances, and then be upset over the whole deal. At any rate, here are the synopses for the stories that comprise the first arc:

Silent Shadow: Hawk & Wolf

Syleth, Master-class Mage and Guardian, battles a human mage who has absorbed the powers of a demon-lord. Syleth joins forces with an amnesiac yokai with a grudge against the mage. Will their powers be enough to overcome the arch-mage demon-lord?

Silent Shadow: Firestorm

Late fall in the City of Lakes is unseasonably warm this year, and someone has decided to contribute to the warmth by building a few large bonfires — using garages and lumber-yards. What appears to be random acts of arson turns out to be something more uncanny when Syleth discovers the presence of a fire elemental in the city. What’s more, Syleth finds that she has seven days to capture the elemental, or things will get a lot hotter!

Silent Shadow: The God Complex

A series of accidents and bad storms have plagued the City of Lakes in recent weeks. Nothing out of the ordinary for late spring but the occurrences suddenly culminate into a collision between two commuter trains. Meanwhile, Syleth, Rowan, and Kestrel are haunted by dreams foretelling of a major disaster that threatens to destroy the city. Can Syleth and her allies find and stop the cause of these disasters before the final event strikes?