FATE gudamash
04 Apr, 2025
So I was originally going to say that GudaMash is my fgo divorctp: I have no interest in seeing them dating, but I am endlessly interested in the prospect of them getting preassured into dating by everyone around them because "well clearly you two are perfect for each other" and both ending up miserable about it. But then as I started outlining how I think it would happen, I realized something...
... When exactly would Guda and Mash start dating?
Think about it. In Part 1, Mash is still figuring out the whole "personhood" thing, and identifies "love" as "that thing that made Beryl break my fingers, I think." This girl is NOT dating anyone in that state. I can imagine Guda nursing a small puppy crush on her, sure, but I don't think it's gonna go anywhere beyond yuriful handholding & silent pining.
So nothing happens in part 1. Then comes part 1.5, where Guda is basically settling a last few things before they get discharged from Chaldea and separated from Mash, who is staying here. So I don't think anything would happen here either. They both know they're gonna part ways soon, Guda probably won't ever be allowed in Chaldea again, Mash likely has a fuckton of paperwork and medical exams to do to be allowed outside- nothing is gonna happen here either. They're both in "well maybe once we've dealt with All That Shit mash can come to Japan and Guda can show her around their hometown" central.
Then the Lostbelt Prologue happens and Everything Happens So Much. I don't think anything is gonna happen while these people are getting hunted for sports. I can imagine them kissing & fucking in a "well fuck it we might die tomorrow let's find comfort in whatever way we can" way, but they're not gonna be dating. Everything's to messy to allow them to think about what their relationship is.
So the earliest time any actual discussion on what they want to be to each other can happen is post-lb3, once they're no longer in immediate danger and they're somewhat settling into a new routine. And I think at this point whatever puppy love they could have had for each other has now dissolved. They are still fond of each other, but it's more of a "besties with benefits" kinda deal than a "you are my focking gorlfriend" deal. They've settled in that weird limbo of "we almost dated" and moved on with their lives.
(If you ask me personally I think they then proceeded to keep their weird situationship and independantly set off to have the most disastreous romances possible in Fairy Britain, but that's outside the scope of this post.)
So yeah, that's my take on GudaMash: guys who live on knowing that at some point in the past something could have happened, some soft sort of love the kind you only see in movies, but now that love has grown like antlers tangling into each other.
