character discussion

[Cherry Lover]

It means literally means any thing would be an improvement in Sakura's route and obviously Sakura's route involves Sakura, hence why I want to write an alternative route to hf

Well, OK.

I'm not convinced HF is particularly bad (although there are some issues with it), but I'm sure as hell not going to discourage you from writing an alternative. More Sakura-centric fics are always welcome.

[lantzblades]

It was completely contrived given what I saw

[Cherry Lover]

Well, I don't think it was, personally (although there were better ways of resolving the situation), but I can't be bothered to argue it.

[lantzblades]

Any way with shirou and Sakura out of the way who next

[Cherry Lover]

Well, not sure really. I might have a go at doing one for Rider later.

[lantzblades]

Not much there in terms of canonical information

[Cherry Lover]

Well, personally, what I like about Rider is how loyal and protective she is. I don't like servants who take the attitude "I'll obey whoever I am contracted to because the rules say so", but Rider's not like that. She genuinely cares for Sakura, and makes every effort to protect her as a result. She does do some rather dubious things, yes, but she never abandons Sakura, even when things look hopeless, she always sticks by her. But, at the same time, she doesn't always just do what she's told, to the point of fighting against Sakura when doing so will help her in the long-term. I admire her resilience and absolute refusal to give up on the person she loves no matter what.

[lantzblades]

To be fair most servants are dead set on winning for their own measure so obeying your master regardless of whom is sorta the normal thing to do, saber is the same with shirou and lancer made kirei use a command spell to keep him from killing the priest, so its not like that loyalty is exclusive to rider

[Cherry Lover]

To be fair most servants are dead set on winning for their own measure so obeying your master regardless of whom is sorta the normal thing to do

The difference is that Rider's goal is to save Sakura. She isn't protecting Sakura because she wants to win, she wants to win because she wants to protect Sakura. Also, I said loyalty, not obedience. Rider does not obey Sakura unquestionably, there are several occasions where she goes against Sakura's orders because she thinks it's in her best interests. However, she does genuinely care for and love Sakura, and tries very hard to protect her.

To see the difference you only need to look at Rider's attitude towards Shinji. She detests the guy, but she still obeys him because she wants to protect Sakura and she knows that, if she disobeys him, Sakura will pay for it. Plus, if she wins the war she can hopefully obtain freedom for Sakura. But, she has no issue with aiding Shirou in defeating him when he threatens Sakura, and nor is she particularly upset if he gets harmed.

saber is the same with shirou and lancer made kirei use a command spell to keep him from killing the priest

Well, Saber is the same with Shirou to a certain extent, yes, but Saber puts obtaining her goal first, at least initially. Hence why, if you don't get enough affection points for Saber in Fate, she ends up killing Shirou to obtain the Grail. Rider, conversely, is always protective of Sakura despite Sakura not really being in a position to protect or be affectionate towards her.

As for Lancer, he just liked Bazett, because she was a hot chick and a cool fighting partner. As opposed to Kirei, who is a dick who is trying to make him suffer as much as possible.

so its not like that loyalty is exclusive to rider

The distinction is that Rider's loyalty has nothing to do with Sakura being her master. Even Saber is loyal to Shirou mainly because she's his servant, at least initially. In Rider's case she would be just as loyal and caring towards Sakura if she were summoned by someone else with the same knowledge and understanding of her plight.