History YMMV / ChaosTheory

* CompleteMonster: Zouken Matou, as per canon. Here, though, we witness his [[spoiler:assimilation of another person's essence]] without the slightest trace of remorse. To top that off, Saber and Shirou are both ''highly'' unsettled by him, while Kirei has an internal monologue reflecting how much the ancinet parasite disgusts him. Even True Assassin - while not actually put off by him - notes the [[{{Hypocrite}} hypocrisy]] and [[ItsAllAboutMe selfish]] [[NeverMyFault refusal to admit fault]] in Zouken when the old bastard complains about his [[AgeWithoutYouth situation]].

* SoCoolItsAwesome: The general consensus of this fanfic by the readership. The Moczo siblings' (in this case, Andy's) witty narrative, snappy and InCharacter dialogue, and smooth transitional storytelling between tone and mood add to the strength of the plot - which itself takes very clever cues in progression.

* LesYay: [[spoiler:Caster Alter and Sakura's... [[UnusualEuphimism mana]] [[MemeticMutation transfer]] [[RunningGag ritual.]]]]

* SoCoolItsAwesome: The general consensus of this fanfic by the readership.

* CompleteMonster: Zouken Matou, as per canon. Here, though, we witness his [[spoiler:assimilation of another person's essence]] without the slightest trace of remorse. To top that off, Saber and Shirou are both ''highly'' unsettled by him, while Kirei has an internal monologue reflecting how much the ancinet parasite disgusts him. Even True Assassin - while not actually put off by him - notes the [[{{Hypocrite}} hypocrisy]] and [[ItsAllAboutMe selfish]] [[NeverMyFault refusal to admit fault]] in Zouken when the old bastard complains about his [[ImmortalityWithoutYouth situation]].

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: Archer vs. Rider vs. Saber (Chapters 3-5).
** Saber reading Shinji the riot act in chapter 9. [[spoiler: And incidentally keeping Sakura from killing him.]]
*** Cut to next scene, and he's stumbling away with a bloody nose and broken ribs.
** In Chapter 4, Shirou gives Shinji a [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech scathing lecture]], and threatens to beat him unconscious if he doesn't shut up. When the idiot tries to talk back, Shirou calmly asserts that he was serious. Shinji shuts right up.
** Chapter 15: '''EXCALIBUR'''. That is all.
* CrowningMomentOfFunny: In Chapter 5, Berserker has made short work of [[spoiler: Rider]] and is prepared to do the same to Rin. Shirou won't have this and leaps in front, fully expecting to get skewered. And then Berserker... stops his descending sword, picks up Shirou "with the air of a gorilla lifting a kitten", and gently deposits him to the side. Everyone falls silent in shock (yes, even ''Shinji'')... Then Berserker [[MoodWhiplash resumes his assigned task]].
** In Chapter 6, we get to the customary "Shirou asks Saber to train him scene", where he promises to be her best pupil ever:
--> '''Shirou''' (smiling widely): "Bring it on, sensei. I can take whatever you can dish out!"
--> -Four Hours Later-
--> Shirou is bruised, sweating and gasping for breath.
--> '''Saber''': "Would you liked to continue?"
--> '''Shirou''': "... maybe... we... should... stop... for... lunch."
--> '''Saber''': "That would be acceptable, yes."
** Chapter 7, after Shirou arrives home 5 hours late to face Saber and Taiga:
--> ''Shirou stood before the Judges of Hell, and knew that he was amongst the damned.''
** Watching [[AssholeVictim Shinji]] getting battered in various ways through Chapters 3-5.
** ''Every'' single time someone (usually a Servant) applies the FastballSpecial. It never gets old. [[RunningGag Never]].
** Archer's LadiesAndGerms moment in Chapter 3:
--> ''Good-bye, Ladies and Gentlemen. Well... ladies, gentleman, and Shinji.''
* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: Put simply, just about ''every'' interaction between Ilya and Shirou either has or ''is'' one of these. So far:
** In Chapter 1: Shirou has just met Ilya, and has no idea of who she is, why she gave him a cryptic warning... nothing. Yet despite this - and an instinct '''screaming''' him that approaching her would be risking death - he ''reaches out to her''. He puts on a big-brotherly expression, he offers to walk her home or lend her money for the bus service, he compliments the hair she inherited from her mother... and in the end, the part of Ilya that still yearns for affection wins over the ten years of cynicism drilled into her by the Einzberns.
** In Chapter 6, he's out to get supplies for lunch (for ''[[BigEater Saber]]'', among others), and runs into Ilya again. After some small talk, she asks - and then begs - him to give her a tour of the town just to spend time with her. Despite knowing he'll get in trouble if he delays getting back, he cannot resist the urge to make her happy. Following that...well:
--> ''The brief moment of shock at his acceptance, followed by the practical flood of joy into the girl's eyes as she latched onto his arm like a vice clamp, convinced Shirou that he had made the correct decision.''
** And then, he promises to meet her again tomorrow - and despite [[spoiler: being sick from prana drain]], he ''keeps his word''.
** Unrelated to Shirou and Illya, Saber protecting [[TheWoobie Sakura]] from [[DomesticAbuser Shinji]] is both this and a MomentOfAwesome.
** In Chapter 15, [[spoiler:Shirou meets Irisviel. She does not carry any emnity towards him or Kiritsugu for what Ilya went through the last ten years - she simply notes that he's been a miraculous influence on her little girl by giving her the affection she's been starved of, and asks him to do his best to save her. And though Shirou's unsure if he's dreaming or not, he accepts. Whether it's meant to be ShipTease or not, it's beautiful to watch because either way, Iri seems to have accepted Shirou as her own.]]

** Watching [[AssholeVictim Shinji]] getting battered in various ways through Ch3-5.

* CrowningMomentOfFunny: In Chapter 5, Berserker has made short work of [[spoiler: Rider]] and is prepared to do the same to Rin. Shirou won't have this and leaps in front, fully expecting to get skewered. And then Berserker... stops his descending sword, picks up Shirou "with the air of a gorilla lifting a kitten", and gently deposits him to the side. Everyone falls silent in shock... And then Berserker proceeds to continue (trying to) kill his opponents.

** In Chapter 15, [[spoiler:Shirou meets Irisviel. She does not carry any emnity towards him or Kiritsugu for what Ilya went through the last ten years - she simply notes that he's been a miraculous influence on her little girl by giving her the affection she's been starved of, and asks him to do his best to save her. And though Shirou's unsure if he's dreaming or not, he accepts. Whether it's meant to be ShipTease or not, it's beautiful to watch because either way, Iri seems to have accepted Shirou as her own.]]

** In Chapter 15, [[spoiler:Shirou meets Irisviel. She does not carry any emnity towards him or Kiritsugu for what Ilya went through the last ten years - she simply notes that he's been a miraculous influence on her little girl by giving her the affection she's been starved of, and asks him to do his best to save her. And though Shirou's unsure if he's dreaming or not, he accepts. Whether it's meant to be ShipTease or not, it's beautiful to watch.]]

** Chapter 8, after Shirou arrives home 5 hours late to face Saber and Taiga:

** In Chapter 1: Shirou has just met Ilya, and has no idea of who she is, why she gave him a cryptic warning... nothing. Yet despite this - and an instinct '''screaming''' him that approaching her would be risking death - he ''reaches out to her''. He puts on a big-brotherly expression, he offers to walk her home or lend her money for the bus service, he compliments the hair she inherited from her mother... and in the end, the part of Ilya that still yearns for affection wins over the ten years of cynicism drilled into her by the Einzberns.** In Chapter 6, he's out to get supplies for lunch (for ''[[BigEater Saber]]'', among others), and runs into Ilya again. After some small talk, she asks - and then begs - him to give her a tour of the town just to spend time with her. Despite knowing he'll get in trouble if he delays getting back, he cannot resist the urge to make her happy. Following that...well:

** Saber reading Shinji the riot act in chapter 9. [[spoiler: And incidentaly keeping Sakura from killing him.]]

** In Chapter 1: Shirou has just met Ilya, and has no idea of who she is, why she gave him a cryptic warning... nothing. Yet despite this - and an instinct '''screaming''' him that approaching her would be risking death - he ''reaches out to her''. He puts on a big-brotherly expression, he offers to walk her home or lend her money for the bus service, he compliments the hair she inherited from her mother... and in the end, the part of Ilya that still yearns for affection wins over the ten years of cynicism drilled into her by the Einzberns.
** In Chapter 6, he's out to get supplies for lunch (for ''[[BigEater Saber]]'', among others), and runs into Ilya again. After some small talk, she asks - and then begs - him to give her a tour of the town just to spend time with her. Despite knowing he'll get in trouble if he delays getting back, he cannot resist the urge to make her happy. Following that...well:

** Unrelated to Shirou and Illya, Saber protecting [[TheWoobie Sakura]] from [[DomesticAbuser Shinji]] is both this and a MomentOfAwesome.

** In Chapter 6, we get to the customary "Shirou asks Saber to train him scene", where he promises to be her best pupil ever. Cut to '''Four Hours Later''':

** Watching [[AssholeVictim Shinji]] getting battered in various ways through Ch3-5, ulti

** And then, he promises to meet her again tomorrow - and despite [[spoiler: being sick from mana drain]], he ''keeps his word''.

** Unrelated to S&I, Saber protecting [[TheWoobie Sakura]] from [[DomesticAbuser Shinji]] is both this and a MomentOfAwesome.

** And then, he promises to meet her again tomorrow - and despite [[spoiler: being sick from mana drain]], he ''keeps his word''.

** The Chapter 4 & 10 FastballSpecials.

** Saber reading Shinji the riot act in chapter 10. [[spoiler: And incidentaly keeping Sakura from killing him.]]

-> '''Shirou''' (smiling widely): "Bring it on, sensei. I can take whatever you can dish out!"
-> -Four Hours Later-
-> Shirou is bruised, sweating and gasping for breath.
-> '''Saber''': "Would you liked to continue?"
-> '''Shirou''': "... maybe... we... should... stop... for... lunch."
-> '''Saber''': "That would be acceptable, yes."

''Shirou stood before the Judges of Hell, and knew that he was amongst the damned.''

-> ''The brief moment of shock at his acceptance, followed by the practical flood of joy into the girl's eyes as she latched onto his arm like a vice clamp, convinced Shirou that he had made the correct decision.''
*** And then, he promises to meet her again tomorrow - and despite [[spoiler: being sick from mana drain]], he ''keeps his word''.