When I first watched Fate (the UBW anime first), I could never have predicted that this character dynamic would ever interest me. But here we are. I am so pleased and flattered with the depth of your comment. I'm so happy that you've enjoyed it so far, and it means so much to have things you liked pointed out to me. I don't want to spoil too much of my future plans, but I will say that my decision to write about this fic was after much deliberation about particular types of relationships and this particular relationship. The hero/antagonist dynamic can often be handled in a way that handwaves a lot of past transgressions or ideological clash, and I wanted to see what I could do that would feel right to me. I really want the characters to be the full people they are, not just in terms of their interaction with each other, and I feel that it is ambitious to the point that I hope I'm up to the challenge.
Saber's exposure to all the evil in the world, however technically limited in this story, brings to bare Saber's sense of responsibility for it, I think. I was thinking a lot about the descriptions of full-blown Saber Alter as a "dark hero" when I wrote that. On Gilgamesh's side of things, I think that Gilgamesh is pretty askew in his intentions in a lot of ways, but I think that in some ways he is very sincere in the things he expresses. Whether or not that is a good thing remains to be seen. Finally, I wanted to bring Saber's anger about the loss of Irisviel very strongly to the forefront of her very bleak emotions because in addition to being unable to save her in any way, she has now been forced to insult her sacrifice against her will.
I must admit that Bridge is right. Most of Gilgamesh and Kirei's dialogue to each other in this section is lifted from the subtitles of their final conversation in Zero. However, I do try to maintain a grasp of different characters' tonality, so hopefully this will continue appropriately in such a way that I can take credit for it. Thank you so much for taking the time to read.
Thank you so much. I really hope that its future continues to live up to that assessment.
Thank you so much for reading it!
I debated labeling the Prologue like this too, because it is extremely long. However, my reason for doing this is that this is all still set in that final inferno that happens at the end of the Fourth Holy Grail War. Then, the setting will shift into new territory in terms of plot and things like that. So, I guess my thinking was that I would label this section (however lengthy) as the Prologue because it's still in this place where it is actively diverging from canon as opposed to forging its own path just yet. I would be willing to revise, but this was my reasoning if you have any thought about that.
In what way did the formatting make you think that it dragged, if you don't mind my asking? I kind of wanted it to seem that Saber waited there for some time but have it be vague. However, I'm not sure if you're talking about a content or technical issue.
Of course, I want to hold my hand close to my chest about what I plan to do with the character dynamics in this fic. I hope that they remain interesting to people and not entirely too creepy. However, I want to let it be shown that this, as is, is not something that is going to work in Gilgamesh's favor in a healthy way. However, I have a lot of different things planned for it so it's certainly not going to be a linear love story, in my estimation. I'm afraid I'm saying too much, so I will hush. I look forward to any more honest critique you give in the future, it's really valuable!
And you totally are smart.