I don't think I was reading the same story as the amado person. o.o How I see it Rika did everything she could. You can't force something like this. It was really sad how it ended but I still like how their relationship was still loving and all. This was a really good and hit close to home for me. Maybe a little too close! I don't think the epilogue was needed but it did add another layer as far as Bernkastel goes. Thanks for writing this!

Sorry about that. My review got posted early by mistake so continuing from where I was before.

The reason why I belive in this is because throughout the story, Rika feels nothing but hopelessness while her friends are not as affected by such. So why not switch things up? Rika purposley puts herself in (a) terrible circumstance(s) or possibly a horrible death. In both cases, Rika's friends will feel hoplessness and regret, regret that they didnt try to help her friends despite the obvious signs, and all the characters will feel responsible for the death. However, considering how short this entire story is, you no doubtly did fantastic. Other then the sudden shift between the final chapter and epilouge, I realy enjoyed this story. Thanks for the wonderfull story.

Review written and posted on my old Nook device.

I kinda have to agree with amanda15. Ending the story with the character suddenly have a change in mindset can be a bit confusing and ruin what you had going to a extent. This why I tend to dislike endings and epilouges that shift from the stories present to the future due to how different a characters mindset is overtime. In my opinion, you should have had bern with more emotion, perferablly sadness and anger, have her longing for her lover. I also think that the epilouge should have been less of a "Ill make you suffer" and more of a "Ill suffer so that all of you will think of yourselves as useless and bad friends and feel hopeless." The reason for this is because

meh, well the bigger problem stems from the fact that its difficult to actually gauge what your fic is intending to tell to us...

I can get that you want to show that love should have been fought for hard, but the ending didnt really make it pronounce or exemplify it.

well, here's how it goes.
as we have a single protagonist, the story builds up and completes the protag's views/morality, either proving he was wrong or was right, throughout the story its built up for him to grow up and develop, for bad or for worse.

the story did end up with showing how bad bern/rika's views and decisions was, making it a story about him being "wrong".
however, as we see in the epilogue, it didnt really show how bad it was. oh sure, she doesnt get satoko... but its made like "no big deal" now, since bern is actually in a better position and doesnt seem regret her decision really, which sort of creates the impression of the story that she was "right".

that's pretty much the problem I see here, ignoring personal canon/beliefs we have.
basically, the story showed how wrong rika/bern was. but in the epilogue, we see that she doesnt seem to understand really that things could have still been different.

or another way of seeing it, rika/bern was basically shown her mistakes. so she ends up with regrets to her decisions(so she learned she was in the wrong)... but somehow she also doesnt regret letting satoko choose(so she was really in the right)?

as the protagonist, rika/bern should give/gain a particular mindset that we readers would end up agreeing on some points as well as disagreeing on other points in her character. throughout the story, we end up learning things that either break or strengthen our primary beliefs.
so the problem I feel is that rika/bern's character didnt really get anywhere... she like "grew up" once her mistakes were pointed out(she learned that she should take matters to her hands), but then she seemed to have "regressed" with the line up there "Satoko was free to make her decision as well"(making it sound like rika/bern couldnt do anything... which was just proven to be false).

its one thing to have a tragic ending, its another to have a downer ending.
here's how to best sum it up:
the cast: you're relationship is falling apart because your not trying hard enough.
rika: oh your right, I should have worked to keep our relationship.
later...
rika: I shall not do anything to save our relationship.

me: 0_0

Now this went certainly interesting and the way Rika's acting is exactly what I would expect from her. Your really captured the character's personalities, especially Rika. Cant wait the epilogue!

going to withhold judgement til I see the epilogue, but for now im pretty uncertain with this fic.

just to say, you did a pretty good job in showing the flaws that led rika to this downfall. rika being too overconfident and proud, which actually goes close to hanyuu's point of "being too hopeful"(rika was too hopeful that satoko would love only her, not considering other factors).

on the other hand though, you are pretty much crushing one of my fave pairings. and besides that point, which I will sometimes be fine with if done right, the overall ending doesnt really... give an impact. not sure how to say it, but it doesnt really feel like a closure.

the epilogue may fix that though, which is why im withholding my complete judgement.

well im fine with going along with the theory that lambda fought bern in higurashi, as that was the original theory before we learned more about them(such as lambda apparently not knowing higurashi, or at least not finishing the game/story).

though I really do question how hanyuu and lambdadelta's reaction. I feel like having lambda so easily put to her knees like that... undermining her. how can hanyuu be that strong/influential enough?(unless of course your going with the theory that hanyuu is a fragment of featherine that happened during that one time her memory device got damaged).

anyways, I guess il start to post this in tvtropes and hopefully more readers come.

I'm not sure why that Amado person is being such a know-it-all where this is obviously in a different situation. I, for one, love this story regardless of how well it is based off canon or how it represents it because this is in the future of the Higurashi world and that wasn't exactly expanded upon in canon. I don't feel the need to explain canon events and details as you obviously understand them. As a Bernkastel fan, I like how Rika has her traits even though they are different beings. I also liked how you showed the parallel that if Bernkastel and Lambdadelta love each other, then Satoko and Rika would as well - that was actually my reasoning for reading this in the first place. The characters are in-character, the plot is interesting, the pairings are interesting... Therefore, I sincerely hope that you continue the story. I really like it!

ok I take back what I said last review, you do seem to know about the split off.

well, I was going to continue reading even if you didnt, but knowing now that you do know, gives me faith that your fic will do great.

if I may make a suggestion, id like it if at some point the "real" bernkastel drops by and she and rika get into a rivalry/duel.

well, that or lambdadelta is actually here to give rika the push to drive her love to certainty. of course the obstacle here is that rika may have to commit some misdeeds in the name of love, but of course like in umineko ep 6, LOVE IS THE WORLD LOVE IS EVERYTHING. you must be willing to go it all for love.
and then after rika and satoko get back together, bernkastel shows up and then we get the real bernkastelXlambdadelta tid bits.

well, let me explain some stuff.

see here, despite bernkastel essentially being rika, they are separate beings now. like compare the human piece battler to the endless sorcerer battler. both are from the same person, however their experience are detached now.
while the human battler may not be quite into believing magic, the sorcerer is all about magic and also has the more complete knowledge. they're going to be different especially with their experience.

bern is pretty much lets say a crystallization of rika's suffering. bern is another being, as rika and bern actually talked to the other at some point in the VN(forgot if the anime had it).

hmm... let me ask you, how much knowledge do you have of the when they cry series? cause im sorta thinking its just on the anime...
if so, then I recommend you read the manga of umineko to get the rest of the story. in there, you can see the direct link of bern and rika. or was it the higurashi, cause I remember there was a manga page that had the two talk. you can search it up at bernkastel's article in umineko wikia.

well one thing to note here, is that lambdadelta actually has little to no idea or involvement of higurashi (though she was indirectly the cause of it by granting takano's wish) as she commented in the VN. so neither rika nor lambdadelta would have met each other.

its not so much of a big deal though, so no need to rewrite this part. lambda knowing that bernkastel came from rika is believable(as her diary says), just that rika wouldnt know lambdadelta in return.

well so far so good, on to the next chapter.

This is really interesting, I really want to see what will happen next and what else Rika/Bernkastel will crush