You were hoping that the harem romcom would help me recover from X’s identity crisis, and it almost worked. But Sakura becoming closed off, it reminded me how dead her eyes looks sometimes and that just made it worse. Poor Sakura.

could you do Quezlquotl from Fate grand order? best luchador ever.

You know. I think you didn't read the Visual Novel.

Yes, Shirou wants to save everybody. But that doesn't mean he is gonna try to save the attackers.

There are moment in which Shirou stopped reasoning with people and tried to kill them straight away.

Shinki and Kotomine in Fate Route, Gilgamesh and Archer in UBW, Zouken, Sakura, and Kotomine.

The guy isn't the average case of Shounen Hero no matter how much Ufotable tries to portray him in a shit manner.

He is inhuman. He pretends to be human, he pretends to be a hero, when it is clear he isn't. Shirou Emiya is the most selfish and driven individual in the damn novel, he wants to be a hero, to be content. But damn it, he could kill everybody for his dreams.

Mind of Steel and Emiya Alter are the best examples of when Shirou throwing away his last vestige of humanity for his dreams.

In short: Shirou isn't what you're trying to portray. He isn't justice obsessed idiot. He is more.

Good luck with your story. I had it with Shirou being generic Shounen protagonist. As if I don't have Ufotable to do that to me.

Not sure if I really like how your portraying Shirou throughout this series, feels more like a caricature of only some of his parts rather than the whole.

Does Shirou want to save everyone he can with no cost? You're damn right he does.

Does he drag this on through stupidity? No, he doesn't.

When he decided, in the VN, that Shinji had gone too far and needed to die, he went for the kill. He didn't whine and moan and do nothing like here, he went at Shinji with utter lethality.

Late review, the second!
First off, I want to say that the scene change lines about fear are glorious - I don't know if they're an original invention or a historical quote but either way they feel epic. Seeing the title and knowing it's written by Aberron is always a treat, too; I know just from those two things that I'll be heavily enjoying the chapter (and that there'll be some grand speech that fits perfectly).

Rin choosing not to ally with Shirou at the start is an interesting setup and lets Leonidas show off his laconic wit - which I want to point out is incredibly amusing and I enjoyed every line of it. His internal narration and general tone is entertaining throughout the entire piece. Consistent, well-defined characterisation of a warrior-king known for his dry humour? I am absolutely a fan.
I know just about everyone else in the discord has pointed it out but "I am a king. There is no other language a king may speak in." is such an awesome and character-defining line. It shows us how he sees kingship, how he sees his subjects, how he sees himself and how he expects others to see him, all neatly found in one line of dialogue. My excitement in reading this piece only grew exponentially once I read that line.

Seeing Shirou argue against Leo in this piece is a fun character study - from being so overconfident that he thinks that Leo can win against everyone to forcing Leo to 'win without death' is so incredibly true to canon and yet so frustrating to witness. That's not a criticism, by the way, just a testament to how well-read on Shirou's character you and the loresingers are by this point. Leo's the warrior-king of Sparta! And Shirou's implying he knows better about his combat ability than Leo does! Ugh, teen boy machismo is a hell of a thing to read about.

On another note, Leo being reluctant to 'indulge in luxury' over bread is hilarious, and I want to know how he reacted to literally the entirety of consumerist society being based around convenience. Being afraid of falling into complacency would be a tough situation in a modern city, after all. Is public transport too indulgent over walking? What about rice cookers, or taxis? The implications of Leo being uncomfortable over everyday conveniences is hugely entertaining.
The combat sequence against Marie is fun and well-executed and I enjoyed a lot of the remarks Leonidas makes as he fights - the 'hat being half her size' and the 'of course the horse can fly' being particular standouts. Tanking Marie's caster balls to gauge their strength and finding them wanting is incredibly satisfying and to follow that up by leaping at and dismounting her is... awesome. I'm probably going to repeat that word a couple times in this review because that's all I can think whenever these moments happen.
Shirou using his Command Spells for good reasons! Miraculous! The fact that they get used at all is great and to see each one used exactly as they're meant to be used is excellent. The partial manifestation of Leo's NP to protect Shirou and Taiga is an awesome scene to visualise.

On to the last scene. Shinji being described as 'a regular Ephialtes' is a fun reference and a great way of summing him up as, essentially, an insignificant worm and I love it. And of course Kirei's backseat mastering through Shinji. I do wonder how Mordred's controlled herself long enough not to kill him straight up, though. In regards to the fight, I am once again frustrated at Shirou's unwillingness to kill and yet satisfied that he sticks with it - being incredibly stubborn is the right of the anime protagonist, after all. Standing up to Leonidas after being dressed down so thoroughly is a feat worthy of respect and I'm glad that Shirou's given it. Leonidas being empowered to force a victory out of a defeat is a wonderful parallel to his legend and it's glorious to see how brightly he shines under these circumstances. Weapons of mass destruction incoming, his master refusing to fight as he does and still - Leonidas takes a stand and wins with his men at his side. This is Sparta, indeed.
Amazing job Aberron! I don't know how much input the others had on this piece but kudos to all of you too! Another epic chapter about another servant I dearly wish got more in FGO.

I'll be honest, I think shirou is a bit too OOC here. while he does have the altruistic hero type thing, especially considering the Fate route where he activates blood fort andromeda, I don't think he would hesitate to kill shinji... if it weren't for the fact that Sakura still considers shinji important despite everything.

While shirou's personality is very grating it becomes more bearable in the VN due to his Internal monologues and he's basically a basket case with tons of survivor guilt and a very broken mind and psycheIronically those are the prerequisites for a reality marble)

Ah, there's nothing quite like watching Shiro Emiya getting put on blast. He's so ridiculously stupid and stubborn that I've grown to hate his character with a passion. Every time he spouts his hero of justice nonsense I just roll my eyes. He has a good heart yes, but his ideals will kill more people than they'll save. Having Mordred give him this dose of stone cold reality was the best thing ever. Shinji is a peace of crap and his deeds demanded he receive retribution, end of story. There's obviously more I could say but I'm gonna leave off here. Great work.

Late review time! Alright so from the first couple lines I've already fallen in love with this piece for several reasons: The anticipation of wanting to see what you do with Nightingale, the juicy, JUICY inner turmoil Shirou's in the midst of and ILLYA A CUTE. Also, the implication that Illya's uncanny perceptiveness led to Shirou questioning and changing his distorted worldview (through researching Nightingale's life) is a fascinating one and one that I'm glad you put in. The immediate implication that just learning about Berserker and how different she is as a Servant than in real life profoundly affects Shirou's foundation is just so enticing - his ideal future is doing what she did and yet she ended up like this?
Another thing: Nightingale's ME is heart-breaking to read about in this piece. To think that she devoted so much love to her sister and then to barely remember her as a crystallised legend... that's an :ushicri: right there, chief. Her intense focus on 'healing' being disturbed by the distant whispers of her family only to reappear within moments - you sure do know how to make people (me) feel sad about fictional representations of historical figures.
Brief aside, remembering cassette tapes are a thing was a :hokulul: moment for me.
I had more to mention in the little note I have but this review's getting a little long so I just want to wrap up by saying that it's so very clear that you put time and effort into making Zerker!Nightingale believable. A well-articulated, provocative piece that moved me on all three readings of it.

You know maybe you guys should try lay off a bit in writing about Shirou getting bash by his servants for his ideal and instead focus on other aspect of his characters. He isn't that one note, his entire interaction in emiya gohan shows how much pleasant the servants felt spending time with him. I mean, dude literally became a cooking teacher for a legendary magus, taking care of other masters' servants, and even be called a dependable person by amazing heroic spirits. Shirou may not be the best master, but he can sure be an amazing companion.

If you still want to write a serious scene than just leave the issue surrounding Shirou and instead put more focus on the servants instead (Which have their own messed up viewed that is the same as, if not more than Shirou honestly). It will make this different servant each chapters format interesting and not repetitive.

keep up the good work, dont like pacifist shirou but you do you

Ooh gosh, I never would have believed someone was making this, but it was bound to happen. Thank you and every last one of your friends/assistants/helpers! To see a different reaction, route, bicker and generally the whole package of AU-centered theme if Shirou somehow (because, why not, Throne of Heroes is separated from the regular time/space axis from the Fate) gets a different Servant. It's simply marvelous, it stole my attention right away.

Keep up your work and if I might suggest an influx of Japanese Servants in a future, those like Tomoe, Musashi or even other famous heroes and figures that Japanese teens only ever heard in school - Okita, Sakamoto Ryoma, maybe Gintoki... The choice is all yours of course, I'm just a bystander with good intentions who happens to be a big fan. Tamamo and Kiyohime are alright, but I just considered these suggestions with Servants in mind being more 'attuned' to actual warfare and fighting.

So long for now and stay well!

I have to say that I find these fics that pick over Shirou's ideals a bit disappointing. There's the makings of an interesting debate, but it rarely goes anywhere.

Yeah, like all the other people in the comments I think you mucked up Shirou here. The dude was going to snap Shinji's neck in the Fate Route if Rider didn't get in the way.

Sure, he'd rather not, but he would do it if required. We can argue that it was no longer needed with Rider dead, but Shirou wasn't there to see it happen so I don't believe he would have raised this much of a stink. Furthermore, he doesn't even get hung up over the people that have already died as much as he does get upset for those that are about to be killed.

But maybe you know all of this and wrote him this way on purpose, so that you could draw out a deeper characterization for Modred through their contrast.

Excelente capitulo

Why does every fanon writer make Shirou out to be some sort of damn pacifist? He was willing to kill Shinji in the Fate route— The FATE route of all places.