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so. this is a thread about waver& #39;s sexuality and how it& #39;s expressed in canon. this thread serves three purposes: (1) to clarify that waver is CANONICALLY a strictly gay man, (2) to dismiss misinformation about his relationship to adashino, and (3) to offer personal praise.
first of all. waver has been canonically attracted to men since fate/zero has existed. his attraction to iskandar is confirmed right off the bat in the fate/zero novel in one of the most unapologetic ways possible.
several of the folks who were involved in making fate/zero also talked about waver and iskandar in a romantic/sexual way. in this interview, makoto sanda himself alluded to waver waking up on the "morning after" he and iskandar had sex. they later referred to waverider as lovers.
so. all of this paired with waver& #39;s use of "anata" when addressing iskandar as his king, the romanticization of their relationship in the light novel, and all of the sexually charged panels from the manga makes waver& #39;s attraction to iskandar undeniable. but what about women?
well. makoto sanda tackled that one in the case files novel + manga. as far as anyone can tell, sanda intentionally wrote these awkward scenarios where waver is forced into sexual or romantic encounters with women only to exhibit obvious discomfort and repulsion.
in this scene, he accidentally stumbles upon luvia while she& #39;s in her underwear and has... the opposite reaction of any typical male protag. he refuses to look at her body, shows clear disgust, and gets straight to the point in explaining himself without even stuttering.
a few panels later, he has this encounter with adashino. she makes it very obvious that she& #39;s coming onto him, and he keeps coming up with excuses to turn her down. again, his discomfort is clear, and his "weak to beautiful women" excuse is ironic considering his blank face.
interestingly enough, gray& #39;s reaction in both of these scenes seems to contrast waver& #39;s absence of attraction to women. while waver leaves both encounters either disturbed or simply miffed, gray is either blushing or awestruck by adashino& #39;s beauty (as explained in the novel).
later on in this case, waver encounters adashino once again. she tries to get him to dance with her, but he& #39;s much more blatant about his disinterest this time, using iskandar as his reasoning to leave the venue. this is literally the equivalent of him saying "sorry, i& #39;m taken."
these interactions are what waver references in ep 4 of the case files anime. contrary to some misinformation, he was not alluding to any sort of romantic history with adashino. the adra castle separation case takes place before this episode, so he was referring to these events.
in the next episode, waver& #39;s colleague& #39;s romantic relationship with a fairy is used to parallel waver& #39;s relationship with iskandar. case files literally uses a heterosexual relationship to """prove""" a homosexual relationship.
that being said, the case files anime portrays waverider in a much healthier light. while wills& #39; decision to prematurely abandon his life for his fairy is depicted as a poor one, iskandar ends the season by encouraging waver to continue living a life that makes him happy.
waver is shown to be devoted to iskandar. he longs for iskandar in every episode, but that doesn& #39;t stop him from moving forward. instead, waver& #39;s goal of reuniting motivates him. judging by his suicidal thoughts + actions in f/z, he probably wouldn& #39;t be alive if not for iskandar.
this devotion extends all the way into fgo. so many of his lines mention iskandar that it& #39;s almost ridiculous. two of his death lines even have him apologizing to iskandar, which is something that servants usually only do for their love interests (see: irisviel and bryn).
one of my favorite things about waverider will always be that waver& #39;s canon sexuality will always be defined by his devotion to iskandar rather than promiscuity. it& #39;s so easy to have a gay character who seduces a bunch of random male characters with little impact on the story.
it& #39;s a lot harder to have a gay character who& #39;s happily committed to one man (even in spite of the tragic circumstances), and that commitment is never portrayed as a joke or a flaw. their relationship is even contrasted with an unhealthy het relationship of similar circumstances.
the tragic circumstances of waverider are necessary to show the extent of waver& #39;s love and devotion. even after ten years, no one, neither a man nor a woman, can distract him from his king. this loving relationship is so well written that i can hardly believe it& #39;s real sometimes.
okay. end of thread.
