Saulrah - Tumblr Posts

Fate fanart: A Fairy’s Loss

The prompt I was loosely working from was “Farah Dowling with a sword” and everything else sort of fell into place around it. Read @septemberrie​‘s kickass accompanying fic on AO3 to find out what exactly is happening here :o)

I have come into your inbox to rant and ramble after being blown away. I specifically ship your version/characterization of saulxandreas and romantic or platonic!saulxfarah/saul&farah, where the two dynamics are a foil for one another. Your fic, it was just red, is a masterpiece. It perfectly encapsulates the way that Andreas’s “feelings” for Saul would likely manifest, not as a healthy romantic attraction but as a twisted combination of attraction, jealousy of someone more popular and better than him (“good, kind, stupid Saul”), the desire to dominate, and the homophobic/toxicly masculine idea of owning/besting someone by fucking them. That sort of dynamic unfortunately often culminates in sexual violence, whether it be rape by deception or straight up assault. Which is made all the more heartbreaking by saul’s devotion towards Andreas and their early friendship. The contrast between Andreas being too narcissistic and insecure to love properly (“I did love you, you know,”) and the real love between Saul and his fairy, Farrah, and his other friends, made me cry.

I also ship saulxhealing because he puts on this image of even tempered mentor/guardian for the sake of his son and students, but he has got to be internally shattered, the most broken and traumatized character in the whole series, especially after season 2. Pretty much everyone he’s known and loved died violently. throughout his life, two people he trusted (Andreas and Sebastian) treated him like dirt by trying to kill him. He must have a very damaged sense of self worth and internalized guilt at being one of the last ones standing. Maybe he could find solace in being a father to sky, although i wonder how their relationship was affected by sky killing his biological father to save Saul on top of the previous trust issues that were not resolved.

Have you ever thought about writing another fic in light of all the compelling saulxandreas moments from season 2? Ken duken really amped up the tension between them, every time they appear on screen Andreas looks at Saul with such a creepy intense look that’s hard to ignore. And there’s the introduction of Sebastian, who definitely had a crush on Saul (“following saul around like a puppy”) The potential for Sebastian’s jealousy and hatred toward Andreas during their school years, and andreas being possessive of saul would be interesting. I could see your characterization of andreas continuing beautifully in a post s2 fic, with his viciousness showing in the way he relentlessly bullied Sebastian to mark his territory and because he could.

Also, it’s a testament to your writing that canon s2 Andreas pretty much acted in accordance with the Andreas in your fic! There’s always the possibility of canon work completely going against a fic, but s2 Andreas was every bit as bloodthirsty and aggressive as you wrote him (not Ben asking saul if sky inherited Andreas’s bloodlust 😭) Burning saul’s house down in jealousy, pushing students around and making sparring more violent, being emotionally unavailable towards his son, and insulting silva’s masculinity, (“did he wear an apron?”) it was amazing how you basically extrapolated his character so accurately from just a few scenes in s1.

Basically, thank you for writing it was just red, and the way you wrote it makes me yearn and wonder if you’ve ever thought about writing something post s2. The past and present structure for it was just red would be perfect in explaining the sheer depths of Sebastian’s hatred of Andreas (with Saul at the root of it all,) and the way Saul/Andreas’s scenes were so intense, culminating in Andreas sacrificing himself to save Saul, makes me wonder what kind of relationship they had in the past even if it was an unhealthy one. The show also glossed over saul’s imprisonment after he was caught returning to see sky, and the way you wrote his imprisonment in i.w.j.r. Makes me think you’d write that part wonderfully. The saul&sky&andreas conflict and dynamic (“you’re already starting to sound like him.”) was also teased but not explored in canon, and the way you described that in the last fic (“he’s in my DNA” “he’s in my bones.”) chills. I’d kill to see your exploration of that dynamic post s2. And they also didn’t include any grieving scenes for Saul after his fairy died!

Anyways, I’ll end this here. It was just red. was amazing, literally one of the best fics I’ve read and definitely the best when it comes to comparing the quality of canon to fic. You have a gift for fully fleshing out the motivations and psychology of characters, your writing is technically skilled, and you included themes beyond just shipping (about love, war, trauma, growth, and disillusionment) that I didn’t expect but were really impactful to read. I would die of happiness if you were considering writing another post s2 saundreas fic but that’s not to induce any pressure because I am already forever greatful for the fics you’ve already written. Wishing you all the best in life. Also, is it okay to send you more asks/messages about fate? This has gotten ridiculously long but I’d love to discuss more saundreas/saulbastian/saulrah things down the line with you if you’re interested.

okay anon, I hope you know this is the best ask I've ever received, my ego will never be the same after this 😅💕

I love the points you brought up in your 2nd paragraph, re: Saul x Healing. The man has been through it ALL, although I always have a hard time reconciling what he's actually been through with the mechanical way the writers had him deal with everything in S2. It's absolutely criminal we got little to no fallout from what went down in the lodge because you're so right, Sky and Saul's relationship is fundamentally changed now that Sky murdered his bio father to save his real father!! Plus Sky and Saul have both now lost their fairies, they've both killed their own fathers, their home burned down… like they have so much loss together (makes you wonder what's left to repair if they both lost so much).

I have actually started a "S2 from Saul's POV" that tries to both build on what specks of light they gave us (Ken rocking tf out of angsty Andreas, references to Sebastian and Andreas' crushes on Saul, wtf was going on that week when both Saul and Andreas were teachers at Alfea when they have this history together????) and also tries to bridge some of the gaps (where tf is the emotion? any of it? About Farah? Sky killing Andreas? Siding with Roz???)

And I'm toasting you to kingdom come, anon, for the praise re: Andreas' characterization in my fic. If you had told me when I was writing it that we were going to get as much fucked up Andreas in S2 as we did I would not have believed you. It was a dream come true--my only wish is that they hadn't killed him off so early. He was SUCH a great rogue/lesser villain. I really don't remember what happens much in s2 after Episode 4 lol that's basically It for me. I'm framing your sentence "the best quen it comes to comparing the quality of canon to fic" because ??? excuse me this is the most fantastic compliment because that's exactly what I was going for/hoping for and!!! thank you!!!!

Back to my S2 "rewrite" fic. I hadn't considered as much your particular angle, like what if Sebastian being Sebastian and not just any old blood witch was part of the reason for Andreas' sacrifice? Extra baggage between the three of them? I'm curious what you mean about "the past and present structure of IWJR would be perfect in explaining the sheer depth…" are you just referring to IWJR or are you talking about the proposed post-s2 fic you would like to see me write? Sorry I'm just curious!!

Anyway anyway anyway PHEW you are incredible for sending such a kind and gushing message and THANK YOU!!! I literally had to sit on it for a few hours bc it was like staring at the sun lol it is so bright and makes me so happy. You are ALWAYS welcome to come chat about anything Fate, on anon or off! We are a friendly bunch and love talking about our silly 13 episode fairy show!! Thank you again!!