#the uncrowned kings joined in quickly

[ni-kol-koru]

Akashi Seijūrō Birthday

December 20th 2022 : Happy birthday to the Emperor 👑

[husbandohunter]

You want Vitamin F, then let me supply you one;

Genshin boys transform into cats.

A Furry Predicatment [Cat Genshin Impact x Gn!Reader]

♤♡◇♧☆

Synopsis: Venturing to Springvale the boys inhale the fairy dust that turns people into cats, now they must endure the consequences.

Characters: Diluc, Kaeya, Xiao, Albedo, Zhongli, Childe, Venti

(A/n): My student just sent me a video of her cat. I think thats a sign anon. This was meant to be written. part 2 here :P

=======================

[Diluc]

The grumpy cat (to no one's surprise) who wears the same iconic frown with the same matching gloomy eyes. He's grumpy about this outcome in particular, plus the fact he can't even voice his frustrations except for meowing noises and the endless craving for raw fish. RAW, how despicable.

The maids were looking for Master Diluc except that he was already there...in your arms. Just like his hair, his fur is the fluffiest as if he were a gigantic ball of hilichurl hair. You would nuzzle your face into it because he just feels so warm!

Absolutely will NOT live like a cat. The uncrowned king of Mondstadt refuses to drink water from a bowl. He cannot eat anything unless you feed him with utensils. NO, no he will not shove his mouth into the plate, its uncultured and unsanitary.

He never though taking baths would be so nerve-wracking (cat instincts). It was terrible, choosing between the feeling of water against his body or licking his paws to clean himself (a much more comfortable choice). This kind of lifestyle was miserable.

~xx~

[Kaeya]

The mischievious cat (oh no) cue pink panther music, he's the Tom with Jerry's brains. Unlike Diluc, Kaeya will ultimately fall into his cat instincts and somehow uses it to his advantage.

You bet he's gonna spy on people. At night he would jump upon the rooftops to peek through Goth Grand Hotel's windows (watching closely at the Fatui), until the Darknight Hero comes in. Diluc knows it's Kaeya, it's rather uncanny how he does it, hence the cat runs away immediately.

The type to lick you upon contact. You think this was a quirk that came with the spell but he was actually doing it on purpose. Usually targets the neck because he could get a reaction out of you (ohoho you're tickilish there eh?)

As he is roaming out on the streets, always manages to escape the dogs. Kaeya knows his way around the city like the back of his hand, he enjoys watching them bark endlessly while he licks his paws in a mocking manner. Until one of them hopped up, now things got tricky. Basically Kaeya gets himself to alot of trouble as a cat, the worst part was when a bunch of kids started to join in too.

~xx~

[Xiao]

The fiesty cat (he was always a fiesty cat) who hisses alot. Even his fur stands up like a porcupine when expressing his distastefulness. The way he meows almost sounds like a low growl, bares his fangs as if he were a thirsty vampire. Will scare alot of people away with his behaviour, even dogs.

But damn he would make a pretty cat. Golden eyes, dark green stripes and teal fur, the purple diamond still tattooed between where his eyebrows once were, it didn't take long for Verr Goldet to realize that was Xiao.

And the worst nightmare of all, while Cat Xiao roams around the city at night he happened to attract alot of other stray cats who lived in the streets. They were very attracted to his beauty, cornering him until there was no where to run, that was the only situation where Xiao was scared enough to run away.

His ears are the most sensitive. He can't help but purr whenever you pet between them. Though if anyone were to grab his tail, the outcome would not be very pleasant...

~xx~

[Albedo]

The curious cat (who does not die) that will appear from every corner, silently, mysteriously as if he teleported. Once Lisa found him between the bookshelves of her Library while seeing a pile of books stacked upon the floor. Before she could shoo him out, she realized that the cat was way too smart to be a mere cat and quickly deciphered that it was the Chief Alchemist.

Of course no one else in Mondstadt knew it was Albedo, they thought you just had a very talented pet. Margaret even decided to put him against Prince to see who's cat was the best. It wasn't even a competition. Catbedo could paint a picture just by using his paws.

But Klee found out eventually (she deserved to know). She would open her drawer, take out her bow and stick them upon his fur. It seems that Albedo can never get a break when it was against his little sister, she will find indulging activities to do without consent.

Astounded by the sheer talent your cat possessed, the Knights of Favonius offered to hire your cat to be trained as a Knight Cat because animals are very good at deciphering clues for investigation. Oh how unaware they were.

[Zhongli]

The type of cat for crazy cat ladies. It's the vibe he gives being an old man ranging to a thousand years. Zhongli is very behaving, very considerate and very calm in his cat form. His favourite activity is to snuggle upon your lap while you quietly read a book.

He is indeed a tall black cat. Has incredible and refined posture and if he were to stand up on his hind legs, he can even reach as far as the kitchen counter! Though he does not like the fact that he sheds so much fur, it leaves a huge mess behind him (in which you had to clean up)

Zhongli decided to venture into Liyue's streets and see what it's like to be a cat. He starts communicating with some of them, speaking his cat language (meow meowmewomewo? meeoooow). Needless to say, the cats had no idea what he was saying.

If there were any cat-related dish he eats, it has to be sushi. Raw sashimis if possible. You worry if the choice was even healthy for a cat but you remembered that he was still a god. He'll be fine, right?

[Childe]

The annoying cat (that you must take care of, remember) whos a little too impulsive for his own good. Childe finds the excitement running through him whenever he spots a mouse, a squirrel or even a bird. One moment he's in your arms, the next he just leapt high into the air and running into the streets.

Adventurous as always. You take him to the pond to get some fresh air. Childe is not afraid of water, at all. He plays a game with the fishes, trying to see how much he can catch in one swipe. You had to keep a close eye on him otherwise he'd fall in and drown.

Loves climbing trees but shortly realizes that he can't get down. You tell him to jump but he feels hesitant so you had to climb up and get him. However, now the two of you were stuck and Zhongli had to get you both down one at a time.

Childe has the prettiest blue eyes as a cat. They were big and bright, almost feminine. But you knew that look was the look of upcoming trouble.

[Venti]

Oh God Barbatos.

Venti can't stop sneezing. His own fur is all over the place and he just couldn't catch a break (or a breath). Every second he will hiss-sneeze, they sounded like dying noises.

You had to get him to Lisa as fast as possible otherwise the death of Barbatos would have been caused by his own self.

[bumbleklee]

hi can i request (diluc maybe?? idk but any other characters bc i cant think of any rn ) with an s/o who is a harbinger (gen neutral) but theyre not that serious in it more like chaotic & nice even though they might have a handful of crimes 😀(theyre only in it bc their parents put them in it or s/o was like parentless and they saw them and just took them) Hope this makes sense you can change or redact anything iyw!! thanks :))

writing this on my phone so pls excuse any spelling mistakes,,,,needed a little distraction and writing helps give me that distraction (＾• ω •＾) u guys kinda makeout at the end so warning for that

you were orphaned at age 12 and spent most of your childhood/teenage years traveling around teyvat

posing no threat, bands of treasure hoarders let you travel with them (that’s where you learned how to steal to make a living)

so it really wasn’t a surprise you joined the fatui right when you turned 18 and soon moved up the ranks to become the 12th harbinger

you were stationed in mondstadt right away and you soon learned that there was much more to life than the crimes of the fatui

your first few weeks in mondstadt were rough though

you continued your thievery until you were caught one night by a black hooded figure

they threatened to kick you out of the city then but you practically begged them to let you stay since you didn’t really have anywhere else to go (the tsarista was paying for an apartment for you on top of your paycheck)

they made you promise to leave the people of mondstadt alone and you reluctantly agreed

not having anything to do anymore, you decided to explore mondstadt and figure out what made everyone adore the city so much

despite your status as a harbinger, everyone was surprisingly nice to you (you often wondered if it was because they were scared of you) so you were nice to them

you made daily conversations with sarah, learning top-secret cooking tips and met flora, who talked your ear off about the different flowers of mondstadt

the children of mondstadt liked you too

they would come up to you when they saw you in the streets and beg you to tell them about your stories as as a harbinger

even the knights of favonius didn’t hate you

they kept a close eye on you but once jean truly realized you weren’t a threat, she backed off the knights and you became friendly with them

you were able to explain your situation and how you joined the fatui because you didn’t really have any other option and they were sympathetic towards you

you got along with kaeya and lisa the most

your cheeky, mischievous personalities worked together perfectly and you found yourself hiding in the library more often than not to prank jean with kaeya

kaeya took you to the few taverns in mondstadt on friday nights and made you carry him home when he got too drunk to stand

despite your well-liked nature, there was one person who wasn’t fond of you

diluc

the man didn’t like the fact that were was even a harbinger in town and he really didn’t like when you started to blend in

he didn’t trust you (for good reasons) and no matter how much kaeya praised you to him, diluc wouldn’t budge

so, you took matters into your own hands

one night when you knew diluc would be working at the tavern, you made your way inside and sat yourself down on a stool

diluc glared at you and didn’t attend to you for a few minutes, wondering if you were going to leave or seriously stay

and, of course, you stayed

Diluc Ragnvindr. 

Descendent of the great Venessa. 

Archons, how you disliked this man. 

He carried himself with a superiority complex you could spot a mile away, like he knew he was the uncrowned king of Mondstadt. He was kind and gentle to everyone but you, rather choosing to be aloof and mean. He didn’t like you so you didn’t like him. 

So how you ended up alone in his tavern was beyond you. 

“You know, there’s nothing stopping me from throwing you out of this city right now,” Diluc sneered. Only the bar separated the two of you. Diluc’s eyes were stuck on you while he hands dried the freshly washed glasses from the rush that night. 

“You know, you might be more liked if you didn’t have such a stick up your ass,” You mocked. Your drink was empty yet you continued to trace the lip of the glass with your finger. “Am I being detained?”

Diluc let out a short chuckle, “Detained? No, you’re free to leave.” 

You didn’t budge and Diluc finally reached over for your empty glass to throw into the sink. Your fingers brushed his and you noticed how warm they were. Diluc peered at you and walked around the bar, a rag in his hand, and began to wipe down the counter. 

Your gaze stayed on Diluc and the closer he got to you, the more your body tensed up. Despite your disdain for the man, you would be foolish to deny his attractiveness. Diluc seemed to notice you staring and suddenly turned to face you, his hand nearly slamming down on the counter next to you. 

“What are you waiting around for?” He asked coldly, “I’m done with you.”

Your body reacted before your logic and you leaned forward, smashing your lips against his. The thick tension between you snapped like a twig as Diluc pressed into the kiss, his hands coming to roughly tangle in your hair. Your own hands found solace around his neck, trying to pull him even closer to your body. 

“I hate Harbingers,” Diluc growled. His lips traveled down your jaw and you bite viciously at your neck, breaking the skin and leaving a mark. You tried to refute him but your words stumbled out of your mouth. Your fingers dragged forward to the buttons on his shirt and you started to undo them, your lips capturing Diluc’s again as your teeth clashed together. 

Just as you were about to pull down his shirt from his shoulders, Diluc pulled back. His face was bright red, his lips swollen. Your breathing was heavy and you held back your whine at the loss of contact. 

“I should go,” You whispered and Diluc nodded. “Will...I see you around?”

Diluc hesitated, “Yeah, you will.” 

With that, you quickly exited the tavern and straightened out your clothing. You crossed your fingers no one was around as you headed straight to your apartment to ponder about what the hell just happened and why you wanted to feel it again. 

[entishramblings]

Hush Now [Aragorn X Reader]

A.N: So I cut the request a little short as it was pretty long but I think I still fullfilled what was asked for the most part. Additionally, read the warnings before reading. Also, if you ever need help or are in a rough spot, please reach out.

Request: Anon — Would you be comfortable writing a comfort fic with Aragorn and reader? (obviously don’t write this if you’re not in the mental capacity to do so!!! Your health and happiness come first and foremost.) Reader is, in general, recovering from anorexia, alcoholism, suicidal ideation, self-injury, and PTSD. Maybe she’s in the thick of all this and Aragorn starts picking up on the fact she’s not eating, she’s cutting, and that she’s planning to kill herself? Idk. I’m just in a rough spot and could use some comfort fic if you’ve got the time/energy/etc.

Pairing: Aragon X Reader

Summary: Reader is struggling a lot and Aragorn notices.

Word Count: 990

Warnings: suicidal ideation, self-harm, eating disorder, ptsd, fluff

MASTERLIST | AO3

.....read the warnings before reading.....

Being a ranger of middle earth meant that you had clearly seen some shit. There is no other word for it—just: shit. And, quite frankly, (Y/N) would be lying if she said that it didn’t affect her. Every time she closed her eyes, the horrified chill of what she had witnessed and been through engulfed her—taking over her life one aspect at a time. It consumed her every being—every second, every minute, every hour. Every face she couldn’t save, every soul she couldn’t rescue, every being she could not forget—it haunted her.

If they didn’t get to live, why should should she?

Why should she survive when they didn’t?

It plagued her.

That is why she joined the quest to destroy the ring. Not for the honor or fame; no, not for those frivolous glories—for death. A mission that was most likely going to result in every members’ demise would be an easy way to go, would it not? Not one would question her or label her a coward. It was just....simple.

Well, so she thought.

Being surrounded by nine men, four of which who were very observing, made her addictions....difficult.

(Y/N) would decline some meals and dump others when she thought no one was looking. She would take large swigs of alcohol from her flask when she thought they were otherwise occupied. She would sneak away from the group and draw her blade across her skin when she thought no one was near. (Y/N) let herself dive into the addicting clouded release of it all...and she didn’t care.

Of course, her self-destructive behavior did not escape everyone’s attention. A pair of grey eyes lingered on her often—studying, analyzing, and examining.

Aragorn knew the signs all to well. The shifting looks, the grimly set jaw, and the lifeless eyes—all too familiar. The dunedain had come across many soldiers who could not escape the dark corners of their minds. Therefore, when dusk had settled into the sky and the female Ranger had taken off and had not returned for some time, Aragorn followed.

He held a makeshift torch in his hand as he made his way through the trees and brush. Winding and twisting he went, until the sight of a figure slumped against the trunk of a tree caught his gaze.

“(Y/N)?” He questioned softly.

No answer.

Aragorn frowned as he took another step towards her, lifting the torch.

As the light stretched forward, his lips parted and brows furrowed, for what was revealed to him made the thudding in his chest stop.

(Y/N)’s fingers played with a blade—a bloody blade. She let the metal dance upon her and reflect where the harsh crimson had come from. Long lacerations clung to her wrists and warm liquid ran down her arm. Red tears they were—angry and full of rage and sadness. This stream was mirrored on her face too, but with salty clear water instead.

The sight caused a shock to run through Aragorn’s form, halting any response that could have come from him. Yet that frozen state soon faded and he rushed towards her immediately. He dropped the torch beside himself as he knelt next to her, grasping her arms. He spoke quickly as he ripped fabric from his tunic and began to bind the wounds, “(Y/N), why did you not tell me it was this bad?”

The young woman rolled her eyes and yanked her wrists from him. “It’s nothing, Strider.”

The man shook his head and reached for her arms once again, “This is not nothing, (Y/N).” He paused, “I have smelled the alcohol upon your breath. I have heard the soft whimpers when you sleep. I have seen the refusal of food from your lips.”

The female Ranger closed her eyes and turned her head away from the man’s words.

“(Y/N),” he whispered. “Look at me.”

When she made no move to do so, Aragorn reached forward and grasped her face gently in his hand. He turned her gaze towards him and locked his stormy eyes upon hers.

“I know what it is like to be haunted by those memories. But this—this is not a solution. Why didn’t you tell me it was this painful?”

She stood and began to pace, contemplating a way to respond to his question. When words could be formed upon her lips, she spoke frantically, “Because—because I couldn’t. Okay I just.....”

(Y/N) let her sentence drift into the cold air as she shook her head and blinked back more tears.

Aragorn closed his eyes for a moment as realization struck him, “Because you came on this quest to die.”

The woman turned away from him, clearly trying to hide her expression for she did not wish for him to see her so; but the uncrowned king did not need his eyes to hear her suck in a shaky breath, telling him that he had been right.

Aragorn placed a hand upon her shoulder and gently twisted her body so she was facing him once again. He gazed at her with soft eyes and she seemed to let her strong façade crumple.

A cracked voice came from her lips, “I see them all—the ones I couldn’t save. This...this is the only way to numb it—to ward them from my mind. I...I...just....”

Aragorn forcefully pulled her quivering form against his own and enthralled her cold heart with his warm embrace. Her fingers desperately clutched onto his sleeves as she buried her head into his chest. Loud sobs escaped her throat and she could not hold back the pain any longer. Yet the male Ranger did not mind; he let her absorb the comfort she craved.

He pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head before speaking in a quiet whisper, “Hush now. I’ve got you.”

[dwellordream]

How would things turn out if the genders of Aenys's children were swapped? Rhaena is Rhaegar/Rhaegel, Aegon Junior is Aerea, Viserys is Viserra, Jaehaerys is Jaehaera, Alysanne is Aelyx etc. I imagine Rhaegar/Rhaegel would take a more cautious approach as Rhaena wanted to, and just wait for Maegor's court to implode.

Under the cut:

Rhaenar Targaryen was the eldest son and heir of Aenys. He was considered a shy and dreamy boy much like his father at a young age, who did not have many close friends and preferred the company of animals and books. There was some concern over his hesitance in the training yard, though he could never be considered cowardly.

However once he bonded with the dragon Dreamfyre his shyness seemed to melt away, and while always a quiet man, he became much more assertive and active after that. Rhaenar was known for his musical talent; like his father he had a fine singing voice and played several instruments. He was also known for a group of male favorites, leading to much speculation about his sexuality, though he was wed to his younger sister Aerea as according to tradition.

Aerea Targaryen was the eldest daughter of Aenys, an attractive girl with a charming and even flirtatious demeanor who was said to be the very image of her grandmother Rhaenys. She was was a popular and charismatic young woman much admired by her peers who excelled in dancing, embroidery, riding, hawking, and numerous other ladylike pursuits.

Aerea was seen as much more outgoing and lighthearted than her brother, but the siblings were very close from a young age and got along well. However Aerea was much more hesitant to claim a dragon for herself, and did not until she was 17, after her father’s death claiming his mount, Quicksilver.

Rhaenar and Aerea wed to much condemnation from the Faith in 41 AC. After the wedding there was a royal progress, though Aerea’s lack of a dragon meant she must ride with her brother. While the sight of the young Rhaenar on dragonback quelled some of the crowds, the young couple was largely rejected and jeered at by the commons, whose fear of fiery reprisal had faded over the course of Aenys’ ineffectual reign.

The Faith continued to preach against the marriage as sinful and debauched, and by 42 AC and uprising had begun across Westeros against Targaryen rule. Rhaenar and Aerea were besieged at Crakehall. When Aenys heard about this he collapsed and died. Visenya meanwhile flew to Pentos to bring Maegor back from exile.

While this was happening, Rhaenar and his sister flew from Crakehall back to King’s Landing. Though menaced by mobs and a city on the verge of anarchy, they made it to the dragonpit where Aerea claimed her father’s mount, Quicksilver. Despite this triumph the siblings realized they could not hold the city without an army, nor could they trust the panicking courtiers.

That and Aerea’s suspicions that she was pregnant caused Rhaenar to decide they must fly to Casterly Rock and seek guest right from the Lannisters. They reunited with the rest of their household there, and Aerea gave birth to twin girls, Aerea and Rhaella. Meanwhile Maegor claimed his right to the Iron Throne from Dragonstone.

Realizing a bloody war of dragon against dragon would ensue, Rhaenar is said to have seriously considered fleeing into exile in Essos, not for his own sake but to protect his infant daughters from Maegor’s brutality. However his wife Aerea convinced him otherwise, and the couple resolved to stay and fight, despite the Faith declaring their children abominations and Lord Lannister’s refusal to declare for them.

Rhaenar assembled an army at Pinkmaiden in late 43 AC, largely of men from the Riverlands and Westerlands willing to risk it all for ‘Rhaenar the Uncrowned’. Rhaenar followed the advice of his counselors to attack and defeat each of Maegor’s forces separately.

He first defeated Lords Harroway and Tully, then Ser Davos Darklyn of the Kingsguard, and then Lords Peake, Merryweather, and Caswell. Though all the enemy forces were half or less the size of his own army, Rhaenar was an inexperienced commander and the victories were hard won.

By the time he advanced on the capital with Aerea, who had fought alongside him all the while, he had only ten thousand men remaining . Now they reached the God’s Eye, where Maegor waited with Balerion the Black Dread.

Rhaenar’s forces plunged into battle with the loyalists but Maegor fell upon Rhaenar and Dreamfyre with Balerion. Only his wife Aerea’s bravery saved the young man’s life. As Balerion and Dreamfyre grappled, Quicksilver attacked from above, distracting the larger dragon.

Rhaenar escaped with Dreamfyre and Balerion ripped off one of Quicksilver’s wings. Though he raced after the falling dragon and rider, it was too late. Aerea, his beloved sister and wife, was killed in the plummet to the battlefield below.

Enraged and heartbroken, Rhaenar attempted to reengage Maegor in battle, but Dreamfyre was weakened by her own injuries and Rhaenar collapsed from exhaustion and shock besides his sister’s corpse. The fleeing rebels dragged him to safety before he could be incinerated by Balerion’s flames.

Over the six months that followed Rhaenar lived in hiding with the rebels on the run while Maegor consolidated his claim and terrorized the court with a series of trials and executions. Meanwhile Alyssa and Rhaenar’s younger siblings were being held captive by Visenya on Dragonstone, with his brother Aegon a hostage and page to Maegor himself.

Yet in 44 AC, nearly a year after the battle at the God’s Eye, Visenya died, and in the chaos Alyssa fled with her daughters Viserra and Jaehaera, along with the sword Dark Sister. In return, Maegor had young Aegon, all of eight years old, tortured and mutilated by his wife Tyanna before finally killing the boy.

Rhaenar had now lost his sister and his brother to his uncle. When he heard the body had been staked out in the courtyard of the Red Keep for their mother to claim, Rhaenar is said to have coldly announced to the Farmans of Fair Isle who were harboring him, that he would gladly reclaim his little brother in his mother’s stead, and replace his corpse with Maegor’s.

Rhaenar was now older and grimmer, wizened by terrible experience and an attractive alternative to Maegor’s wildly unpopular reign. Even the Faith seemed less notably hostile. He flew to Storm’s End to reform a new army, with the simple message that they could either fight together against his uncle, or die apart. The great houses pledged to his banner and with a larger and more fearsome Dreamfyre the rebels advanced on King’s Landing once more.

Two of Maegor’s Kingsguard absconded to join them. By the time they sieged the city, Maegor was dead, reportedly having committed suicide. The city’s defenders quickly switched sides and it was less of a battle and more of a somber procession to the Red Keep.

Rhaenar was crowned king at last, and under considerable pressure to remarry, either to his 15 year old sister Viserra or a lady of a great house, and sire sons. However he would refuse, citing his firstborn child Aerea as his heir.

[kirisaki-daichi-scenarios]

kiridai, haizaki + akashi seijuro II

part one here

For a moment, Akashi wonders whether he’s hallucinating.

Of course, he’s in perfect condition - both physical and mental - and this mirage can’t be one inspired by desire either. If that were the case, if it were some bizarre manifestation of his missing Teikō, he’d be imagining Kuroko or Midorima instead. Maybe even Aomine, though that’s a stretch.

He certainly wouldn’t have conjured up the Haizaki Shougo by choice.

“Oi, Akashi, long time no see!”

His fellow first year is leaning against the lockers, just a few strides ahead of Akashi, adorning a black hoodie over the issued white Kirisaki Daiichi shirt, first few holes unbuttoned and tie undone.

“Haizaki.”

Why Haizaki’s attending a school for the very rich, for those with power and success foretold in their futures, when he’s neither of those categories, Akashi doesn’t know. It’s hard to come up with a good guess either. All Akashi can think of right now is that, of all people he’s ever met in his life, Haizaki’s the last he would have ever liked to meet again (let alone go to the same school with, for the second time in a row), and that he’ll be late to his next class, if he dignifies Haizaki with a response longer than one word.

Unfortunately, it seems Haizaki has other plans.

“A little bird told me,” grins Haizaki, stepping in front of Akashi, and side-stepping when Akashi does. His face is inches away from the redhead’s face, as his tongue darts out over his thumb, “that you’ve not been able to join the basketball team here. Guess they were looking for a skilled team player, and you couldn’t fill the requirements, huh?”

“Enough, Shougo. I don’t have the time to entertain you.”

Akashi pushes against Haizaki’s shoulder, trying to get past. Haizaki pushes back.

“To think you kicked me out of the team - and now look at you.”

“Good. Bye. Shougo.”

“Three years here, and you’re not going to play basketball for any of them. Better start coming up with excuses to not play with your miracle buddies. They’re all going to have way surpassed you as players by the time we graduate.”

Akashi’s faintly aware of his shoulders shivering, as he glowers at Haizaki.

“Watch your tone,” he snarls.

For a second, Haizaki looks a little unnerved, as if he’s instinctually reverted back to the days Akashi was his captain. But the emotion soon passes. All that follows is a smug grin that haunts Akashi for the rest of the day.

It’s the disrespect; that’s what Akashi can’t handle.

The mere concept that some arrogant fool like Haizaki, who’s never worked for anything in his life, could have been handed a place on the first string on a plate, just because someone somewhere (Hanamiya) has such fun meddling with people’s lives.

*****

If Akashi had ever liked Haizaki at all, had ever held a single non-negative emotion towards the guy, he soon loses it. The boy's like a kanji whose definition you search up once, and now you’re seeing it everywhere you go. For weeks, Akashi hadn’t known Haizaki was a member of the same school. Yet now they've been bumping into each other every day. And, every time, Haizaki’s got trainers on, or a basketball in his hands - if he had had half as much an enthusiasm for the sport during middle school, then maybe he would have been able to continue as a member on the team - and he meets Akashi’s gaze to smirk, as the ball spins on his finger.

The time he once spent playing basketball, Akashi now spends riding, working on additional homework, studying Shogi tactics, and searching up Hanamiya’s name. The second year’s eyes tease him from within his computer screen, as he carefully reads through all the information on the Uncrowned Kings - searching for anything that he could possibly use against Hanamiya, since he’s already understood that this is an opponent he can’t face without preparation. But all he learns is that Hanamiya played ball with Imayoshi in middle school, that their team was expectedly successful, and that he won some university level prize for chemistry last year.

That, and (from a blog on the third page of Google results, by some kid who faced the Kirisaki Daichi basketball team last year): “I used to like superhero movies. I liked how predictable they were - that you could always bet on the hero being stronger than the villain. But now I’ve faced that fucker Hanamiya, I don’t know about that anymore. He’s the shittiest piece of shit I’ve ever met, and, not only does he get away with it, but also he completely defeated against my senpais, who’d spent years training for that moment. It’s like he’s sent from hell.”

It’s with this blog in mind, that Akashi, with his newly acquired position as student council head, decides to forgo fighting with Hanamiya face-to-face, to make the matter political instead. That’s one angle he knows he can succeed at; it's what his father trained him for.

He's superior to Hanamiya - by far. He's a born talent, and he'll know nothing but success in his life, once he's sorted out the second year. Hanamiya's nothing but a cheap bully in comparison.

*****

“Finally,” Akashi announces, towards the end of the student council meeting, sat with his back straight, “I’m concerned about the basketball team.”

There’s a collective sigh to varying degrees, by the other members of the committee. One girl slips the boy beside her a 10,000 yen banknote, as he rolls his eyes.

“Look, Akashi, you’ve not been here long,” begins the 3rd year Vice President, adjusting his glasses, “but I’ll save you the trouble of wasting your time with this. If you’ve got a problem with them; well, no, you don’t.”

“I’m not sure I understand,” replies Akashi, who knows damn well what’s going on, but who wants to hear it admitted by these buffoons who have let Hanamiya run free across the school.

The student council has spent so many hours of their week sat in this room of mahogany chairs with plush purple seats, with the large, arch-shaped windows which overlook the campus grounds: mostly the golf course, but with the indoor gyms in the corner, where the Kirisaki Daichi basketball team is no doubt messing around as Akashi speaks (why would they bother practicing if all they do is injure opponents?) And thus student council enjoys many privileges too, which one would only deserve if they were keeping the school in order - but that's something which they lost all hope in managing, the minute Hanamiya stepped onto this campus unchained.

“We don’t get involved with Hanamiya, or anything he does, or any troubles he might have allegedly cause. Ergo, we don’t get involved with any of the rest of them either.”

“The headmaster-“

“The headmaster’s an old friend of the Yamazaki family’s. Even if he wasn’t, he loves Seto and Hanamiya - they’re the type that's guaranteed to get into Tōdai and become very powerful in the future - he's always indulging in them. You know, in the past, we only had a sports scholarship for golf, but this year, Hanamiya claimed he had to have one for basketball, something about a talented player who couldn't afford the school fees. So it was up to us to factor that into the school's budget, because God forbid someone goes against Hanamiya. You can do whatever you want as student council president - we all know you're more than qualified for the position - but just leave Hanamiya be.”

Fighting his inner rage at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation, Akashi exhales slowly. How can favouritism be so blatant? How can a couple kids with better opportunities than others have so much power?

And, worse, everyone’s starting to get up already, undermining his own power as the president. Like they think this meeting’s over.

“Haizaki Shougo has injured teammates in the past.” Akashi adds quickly, “it’s not in the school’s interests to allow him to represent us.”

The girl that had been sat opposite Akashi - the editor-in-chief of the school’s magazine - slips her backpack onto her back, as she asks, “has he injured anyone here?”

“He very well might have.”

“Then take it up with the discipline council.”

Akashi allows a thin smile to form across his lips. Hope. Potential for at least one ally against the Kiridai team.

“Who’s the head of the discipline council?”

“Hanamiya.” When the Vice President looks at Akashi, there’s genuine pity in his eyes. “With all due respect, I think you should give this up.”

******

As Akashi makes his way through the school grounds, to where a chauffeur should be waiting to drive him home, he stops briefly by the flower beds by the entrance to the main building. They’re being tended by a tall man, with dark hair, and darker eyes, but his movements are gentle as he sprinkles root powder onto the soil under the rose bush.

If only, thinks Akashi (watching the stranger, hoping the splendid colours of the flowers might lower his blood pressure enough to not explode at his father this evening), his school life could be so simple. How nice would it be for his only responsibilities to constitute of some gardening here and there, in a world where useless bureaucrats, Hanamiya, and (by default) the basketball team, didn’t exist.

But even this dream is quickly shattered.

“Furuhashi!” yells a pink-head obnoxiously, with a basketball jersey loose around his torso. He's accompanied by the second year who had led Akashi to the gym on that fateful first day, “you seriously ditched us just for your roses? We’ve had to scour the whole campus looking for you - Hanamiya didn’t want us to leave without you, but, man, between you and post-practice udon-”

“You've known me this many years, Hara,” replies Furuhashi, standing up slowly, “and you really didn’t to check whether I was by the flowerbeds first?”

Only now does Furuhashi see Akashi. They stare at each other for a long moment - Akashi with nothing but disappointment in his eyes, and Furuhashi clearly wondering why a stranger looks so disgruntled with his existence - until Hara interrupts.

“Oh hey, Akashi,” he grins, “you wouldn’t be standing there, hoping we’d invite you to join us, would you? Alas, only the first string’s allowed on these outings. But, if you wipe down the court, then I might just put in a good word for you.”

The man beside him chuckles. Furuhashi rolls his eyes, and wipes the remnants of soil of his trousers.

Akashi walks off without looking back once. He walks so fast he’s practically jogging. The more he hears of the pink-head’s voice, the more he thinks of Kise, or of all the Teikō team and of the times they spent together, post-practice, whilst now they’re spread across the country, whilst he’s stuck at a school with Haizaki and Hanamiya, because his father is so convinced his son will become a politician.

“I see you’re not on the basketball team anymore,” says the man that evening. His are the only words said over dinner; Akashi doesn’t trust himself to open his mouth. “Good. You should join the golf club instead; the prime minister’s son’s an alumni of theirs.”

In the night, Akashi dreams that he’s in an exam hall, but he can’t understand any of the questions in the test before him, and he’s not got a pen with him either. Feeling nauseous, he raises a hand, and the teacher lets him leave to the toilet - but with a distrustful glimpse in her eye, like she thinks he’s just a cheat. When he stands up, his belt snaps. Forced to hold his trousers in place himself, he runs all the way to the school bathrooms, but, when he finally finds a stall available, the lock on the front is broken, and Hanamiya’s filming him with a grin.

He wakes at 2am, yet can’t fall back asleep. Instead, he decides to search up the meaning of the dream, before shortly closing his computer again after all that comes up is insinuations of stress, fear, and cowardice. What’s worse is that it’s possible. He might be stressed. He might even be nervous.

At 3am, he finds himself watching a recording of Kirisaki Daichi’s match with Seirin last year. And, maybe it’s just the delirium of only having slept a couple hours, but, when the pixelated Hanamiya snaps his fingers and Seirin’s centre is moved out of the court on a stretcher shortly after, Akashi shivers.

He feels feverish, sick and cold at the same time, and yet he plays the match on repeat till 7am comes around, and it’s time to prepare for school.

*****

Hanamiya grins when he sees Akashi - and his rumpled shirt, and the dark circles under his eyes - during lunch.

“I hear you’re student president now,” he says, as he wraps his arm around the first year’s shoulders, close enough that Akashi can see the redness of the captain's knuckles, remnants from the previous student he dealt with.

Around them, students cast quick looks at the duo as they walk past. They gaze at Hanamiya with curiosity and thinly veiled worry, and at Akashi with nothing more than sympathy. He’s never felt more humiliated.

At last, glaring and making sure his voice retains a cutting edge, Akashi replies, “I am.”

“Well I don’t know if you know, but I actually run the discipline committee,” Hanamiya’s voice is practically singing, as he gives Akashi's arm a squeeze, “so if you ever have a problem with anyone, if anyone’s ever bothering you, just let me know. I’ll soon sort them out for you.”

Akashi clenches his fist, stares down at the ground. Bitter, bitter rage rises within him, but stronger is the sense of defeat. His heart tells him to apologise - for anything at all, just to get this man off his back - though he refuses to allow himself to sink so low. Better, he knows, would be to leave before he says something he’ll regret.

And, as he walks away, he hears Hanamiya’s voice behind him - “I look forward to working with you, Sei!” - and the words ring in his head for the rest of the day, like a threat.

He understands now, if nothing else, what the captain means, when he talks about ‘trash’.

****

authors notes:

if the above fic is unreadable, it’s because i was up researching akashi at 4am, and then spent 5am onwards writing and editing this. lowkey, i really enjoyed writing this! in particular, putting the work in to write the point of view of a character i’ve written so little for in the past, was a lot of fun, and, more so, trying to fit in little canon details about akashi into this fic too. (he comes off a bit of a patronising twat in the manga/anime, but, man, there’s a whole to be uncovered between the lines). so, hopefully, if any of y’all are akashi fans, you won’t notice too many ooc aspects in this :D

also, i'd like to dedicate these odd 2.2k words to @dust-of-fandoms and @thecrimsonacademic ! your enthusiasm towards this au really motivated me, so i hope you like this addition to the first part :)

[notbirdofprey]

Of the North: Maegor and Jaehaerys in the North and the South

The succession of House Targaryen was greatly unsettled for many years, as though Aegon the Conqueror, Rhaenys the Merry, and Visenya the Mighty wrought many works to bind together the kingdoms that had bent the knee to the dragons, they had never decided on how succession would be practiced. Aegon declared his eldest son would be his heir, and the realm accepted this. Aenys the Who was a weakling and a coward, and lacked the will to proclaim the same. House Targaryen had practiced Andal succession for a time, but they switched to a sort of clanheir system at several points in their history, and used Valyrian succession or Margbradh succession at other points. This ambiguity had consequences, as between Maegor the Dragon and Aegon the Uncrowned, who could say who was the rightful heir? 

To prove his claim, Maegor sought legitimacy in the eyes of the silent gods, fighting a Trial of Seven on the steps of a sept to prove his righteousness. He triumphed, and therefore proved himself the rightful head of House Targaryen. However, Aegon the Uncrowned sought to prove the strength of his own claim with the sword, rallying the westermen and some riverlords to his side, while the Crownlands, who had seen that their gods supposedly favored Maegor, marched under his banner. Other riverlords joined him, including House Harroway. They met at the edge of the God’s Eye, and Maegor and Aegon both took the field against each other, dueling on their dragons. Aegon and his dragon Quicksilver fell to the ground, dead, and Maegor triumphed, yet many claimed him to be a false king and an abomination. Maegor ignored their squawking and traveled north to Winterfell, to the men he knew to be truest in all of Westeros. 

Like his father, he was crowned with bronze and bone and weirwood sap before a heart tree and the assembled magnars of the First Men, before announcing the treason of the Faith and asking all loyal men to send him aid. Northmen flocked to his cause, and were well-rewarded. Jewels and gold taken from the so-called “humble holy men” still rest in many a First Man holdfast.

What they could not achieve through victory in battle, they achieved through treachery, and the Faith sent an assassin with a poisoned blade, who badly wounded Maegor. The poison drove him mad, and he did terrible things in his madness. It poisoned every part of his life, made him execute loyal vassals, take wives by force, and commit all manner of vile crimes. And he died of this madness. And thus fell the man who could have been the greatest king of Westeros.

And in his place rose a spineless Andal.

- Maegor and Jaehaerys by Maester Alyn of the Winterfell Citadel

Maegor’s death and Jaehaerys’s ascension to the throne was little remarked upon in the North (even they had abandoned Maegor by that point), although there was some grumbling when he failed to come to Winterfell for his coronation, but overall the First Men cared little for House Targaryen unless they directly benefited. 

King Jaehaerys quickly proved that he earned the sobriquet “The Conciliator” as he forgave those who had fought for Maegor, refusing to take land or gold as some, like his Hand Grand Duke Rogar Baratheon suggested, instead taking hostages who served as his personal companions or handmaidens for then-Princess Alysanne. He also negotiated with the High Septon, swearing to protect the Faith if they disarmed himself, making Joffrey Doggett a member of his Kingsguard as a gesture of trust, and agreeing to further negotiate how the Faith and Crown would handle matters in seven year’s time. Former members of the Sword and the Stars disbanded in vast numbers, laying their swords and staves at the king’s feet, while others remained purely to protect the High Septon and the Most Devout. A sept was added to the Red Keep, promises were made to ensure the correction of various heretical and deviant septs and septons that Maegor had supported. Septon Barth was appointed to the Red Keep Sept, but his wisdom and learning impressed King Jaehaerys, and he became Hand of the King instead.

It was Barth’s genius who devised the Doctrine of Exceptionalism, using prior writings of several High Septons and the decision of the Third Council of Stoney Sept as precedent. With that accomplished, the Faith was further reformed.

The Poor Fellows were formally disbanded, the Warrior’s Son reduced to a forty-nine man strong guard for the High Septon and the Most Devout. The Ecclestial Courts were also disbanded, the Holy Order of the Father were instead charged to present their cases to the appropriate secular authority. The most important reform Jaehaerys and the 271st High Septon of the Starry Sept made, however, was the Grand Reformation of the Holy Faith.

Another Holy Council was called, this one taking place at the Spring Sept. The goal of this council was to turn the Faith into a unified institution so as to ensure the wars of Faithful against Faithful and the rise of false High Septons would never come again. The debates of the Second Council of the Spring Sept lasted for many days, and the proceedings were darkened by the attack on Queen Alysanne, but in the end the decisions made unified the faith and were a major contribution to the Eirene Draconic.

First, the doctrine and practice of the Faith was unified, with specific allowances for local deviations, most notably in the giving of Divine Office, funerary rights, and tolerance of heathens. Heresy was formally defined, as was how it was to be dealt with without Ecclestial Courts or the Faith Militant.

Second, the Doctrine of Exceptionalism, reduction of the Warrior’s Sons, and disbandment of the Ecclestial Courts were formally made lawful.

Thirdly, the process for anointing members of the Most Devout and the High Septon was formalized. To prevent the Vale Conservatives and Riverland Hostellans from leaving, regional protections were put in, ensuring each of the Seven Kingdoms would have a voice in the councils of the Faithful. The differing hierarchies of the separate kingdoms were reconciled, with Archseptons, Primates, and Hugons declared to be of equal rank, and the separate septral orders were organized into seven of equal rank, with no hierarchy beyond the individual septry. 

His attempts to expand this system to the North were quickly stymied, both by the heathenry of their lords and by the love they bore for Maegor, who of all Targaryen kings bore the most resemblance to them. However, this did not stop King Jaehaerys for long. He decreed the White Sept, the sole true sept beyond the Neck, to be a Hugonic sept for all the North and gave them the task of bringing the Faithful in that kingdom to order.

King Jaehaerys and his loyal lords then set about the task of making the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros into one united realm...

- The Early History of the Seven Kingdoms by Maester Corlys of the Crown Citadel

[thepureblooded]

A/N: I haven’t posted anything in a month but I really wanted to finish this akafuri fic. I wrote dialogue first which is not my usual writing method but eh, it was fun.

Summery: Uncrowned Kings try figure out who Akashi is dating, with great speculations and misplaced indignation. Akashi is confused by his starters but is mostly focused on his phone. Mayuzumi is there for the voice of reason that everyone ignores.

Full version here, which contains a bonus scene.

OoO

Reo watched Akashi walk out of the locker room, her eyes narrowing at the almost bounce in his step. “Have any of you noticed Sei-chan has been acting weird?"

Nebuya gave her a dubious look. “You know this is the same person who did offer to gouge out his eyeballs and give them to us if we lost a game, right?”

“But he’s a lot less insane now since we lost the Winter Cup!” Hayama was quick to defend, head pocking out of his t-shirt. “We’re allowed to check our cell phones during breaks now!”

Reo nodded. “And last week he lessened our training regimen when I asked him to.”

“Yesterday he helped me study for the science test,” Nebuya added.

“And that’s exactly my point.” Reo snapped her fingers. “He’s been calmer since the Winter Cup, true, but these past three weeks he’s been nice.”

This gave them all a pause.

“Didn’t just last month he confiscated a third year’s phone, saying he would drop it from the school roof if he saw it again?” asked Hayama, remembering that terrifying incident. The poor boy looked like he was going to cry.

Reo looked over at Nebuya. “How was your tutoring session?”

“It was pleasant and helpful,” Nebuya said, in growing horror. “He even brought snacks.”

They all began to panic.

“Is he sick? What if he’s dying?” Hayama frantically asked.

“Do you think the pressure of being captain at such a young age has finally broken him?” wondered Reo.

“Maybe aliens have laid eggs in his brains and are messing with his head.”

Nebuya joined in the conspiracy. “What if he's been replaced by an alien?”

“I mean; I’ve been telling you guys from the beginning that Akashi isn’t human,” Hayama said, exasperated. “His eye changes colour.”

“Trick of the light, I’m telling you,” Reo dismissed.

“They glow during game time!”

“Adrenaline.”

“Maybe he’s dating someone?” Mayuzumi threw in, wondering why he was joining their, frankly, ridiculous conversation. He was going to put it down to vague curiosity.

“What?” This suggestion threw the Uncrowned Kings.

“You said he lifted the banned on phones, right?” Reo nodded when Mayuzumi looked at her in confirmation. “He did so he could check his. Simple.”

“The lessen training time?” Hayama hesitantly asked.

“To spend more time with his partner.”

“Being nice while tutoring me?”

Mayuzumi shrugged. “Good sex?”

There was an awkward pause as the idea of their captain have sex became a possibility.

Reo grimaced and quickly asked the main question, “But who would Sei-chan date?”

“And more importantly,” Hayama added. “Who would date Akashi?”

“Do you think he would make a good boyfriend?” Mayuzumi asked, honestly just to see what the Uncrown Kings reactions would be. Nebuya face was still frozen in discomfort from his earlier comment and it was pretty amusing.

Reo hesitated. “I… don’t know. I can’t imagine Sei-chan liking someone to that degree.”

Hayama nodded. “It would have to be someone special. Someone from Rakuzan?”

“Can’t be, or we would know.”

“So someone from another school. A cute manager? Maybe it’s the one that was also with the Generation of Miracles!” Hayama excitedly said, looking like he cracked the code.

Reo shook her head. “She’s in love with Kuroko, remember?”

Hayama waved his hand dismissively. “Aren’t all the Miracles in love with Kuroko?”

Reo froze, staring widely at Hayama. “You don’t think…?”

“But isn’t he with Kagami?” Hayama asked in alarm, catching onto what Reo was implying.

“But Akashi could still…” Reo made a vague hand movement that somehow explained everything she refused to say.

“It could be another basketball player that isn’t Kuroko?” Nebuya hesitantly offered, seemingly coming back from the dark place he went off to. Mayuzumi honestly wasn’t surprised by their easy acceptance of Akashi possibly dating a boy, but it was pleasantly nice to confirm it.

“I guess,” Reo dubiously agreed. “But who?”

“Oh!” Hayama exclaimed suddenly. “We can steal his phone and see!”

“Or we could ask him?” offered Mayuzumi, the only sensible person in this conversation.

He was ignored.

OoO

Getting Akashi’s phone proved to be a bit more difficult than just grabbing it while he was busy.

“Because Akashi sees everything,” Hayama hissed, sending quick looks at Akashi who was, coincidentally, on his phone.

Reo rolled her eyes. “My God, you make him sound like a super-villain.” And wasn’t that a terrifying thought, because there was no doubt that Akashi would make a very successful villain. He already has the tragic backstory for one.

Hayama, in a panic way to create a distraction, challenged Akashi to a one-on-one. The match itself was like watching a car accident, nothing was going to turn out well but you couldn’t look away. It was short and brutal. The phone was forgotten in favour of watching the carnage.

The closest they came was when Akashi was taking a shower. They managed to locate the phone in his bag, after way too long rummaging. However, it was password protected, which was a low move on Akashi’s half. It made snooping very hard.

Hayama peered over Reo’s shoulder at the phone. “Try 1234.”

Reo scoffed. “That’s dumb. Maybe his birthday?”

“Do aliens even have birthdays?”

“For the last time, he’s not an alien.”

“Felt that way facing off him.” Hayama leaned back, pouting.

Before they could even attempt to break the code, Nebuya waved his hands frantically from his lookout position as they heard the shower go off. Luckily for them, a message came through the same time, appearing on the front screen. In their panic, they could only see the letter “K” in the contact name before the phone was shoved haphazardly back into the bag.

Akashi walked in and gave his starters weird looks. That was probably because their idea of acting natural was to pose like they were on the front cover of a style magazine. Reo was lounging on a bench as if to seduce a lover. Akashi was rightfully suspicious and not seduced at all.

OoO

“I’m telling you that it’s Kuroko,” Reo hissed, walking down the street while still doing her tie.

They left the changing rooms as soon as they could. Reo and Hayama are buzzing from their new-found knowledge, while Nebuya less excited but still curious. Mayuzumi was there because this was his way home and it seemed more effort to try and ditch the three idiots than to walk behind them.

Hayama was still doubtful on their leading suspect. “I don’t think Kuroko is one to cheat on his boyfriend.”

“But it’s Sei-chan,” Reo shot back. “Who wouldn’t cheat on their lover for Sei-chan?”

“People who actually value their lives?” Hayama’s voice went up a few notches because no one could be that suicidal, could they? He quickly added, “Also, I don’t think Akashi would take it too kindly to being a side chick. He would want to be the main hoe.”

Nebuya groaned. “Can we please stop putting our captain in sexual scenarios?”

Reo ignored Nebuya. “Does this make Sei-chan a homewrecker?”

Hayama eyes went wide, as he never thought of his captain like that. “He really is a villain!”

“We have to stop him!” Reo slammed her fist in her hand in righteous declaration.

“Yeah!” Hayama said with the same enthusiasm, fist in the air.

“But how?” Nebuya asked, confused but determined to help his captain in any way.

“By confronting him of his bad ways!” Reo exclaimed, a steely glint in her eyes.

“And help him find a better, healthy relationship!” Hayama was now visibly vibrating.

“He’s obviously trapped in some situation and he needs to be broken free!”

“Shown the error of his way and lead down a path of redemption!”

“God help us all,” Mayuzumi deadpanned from the back.

OoO

“Sei-chan!” yelled Reo, storming towards him. She wasted no time and decided to confront him the next day before morning practice. Nebuya and Hayama approached at a slower pace but both looking just as unwavering. Akashi raised one eyebrow at them.

“You must stop your harmful ways right now!”

“What-”

Hayama jumped in before Akashi could complete his baffled question. “We know about your little secret relationship.”

Nebuya nodded coldly.

Akashi’s eyes lit up in recognition. “Oh, you know about-”

“And honestly, I’m appalled” Reo was so wound up that she even went as far as to stab Akashi in the chest. Hayama and Nebuya quickly lost their resolve in favour of staring at Reo in horror. No one dared to get close to Akashi, not for a friendly slap or high-five, and especially not to poke him in disapproval.

Akashi looked down at the offending finger before fixing Reo with a look that sent goosebumps down Hayama’s arms. “Excuse me.”

Nebuya visibly flinched at Akashi’s tone. “Uh oh.”

“Maybe we should stop.” Hayama was bouncing from foot to foot in nervous energy, literally feeling the air get colder as Akashi glared at Reo.

Reo clearly had a death wish, for she pushed on regardless. “To be involved with someone like that is honestly a disgrace. I thought you had better taste, or at the very least better tact.”

“Really.”

“Is his eye glowing?” Nebuya whispered to Hayama in fear.

“Told you,” Hayama hissed back.

Both of them took a few cautious steps back, leaving Reo to her suicidal mission.

Let it be said, if Reo felt passionate about something, nothing stood in her way. “We are all aware how emotionally stunted you are, but that does that excuse you’re behaviour. To go ahead with the relationship, where the long distance is most likely already a strain but to also be with someone who would stoop so low as to agree with it as well, is ludicrous. Sei-chan, you can do a lot better than him. You don’t need to settle for a vile bastard like him.”

“You do not get to speak about Kouki like this,” Akashi spat, looking ten seconds from murdering Reo.

Reo jaw dropped in disbelief. “You’re dating another person? Sei-chan, you’re no better than Kuroko!”

“What does Kuroko have to do with any of this?!”

Reo frowned at the frustrated confusion on Akashi’s face, finger dropping. “What do you mean?”

“For God’s sake,” Mayuzumi muttered, having entered the court around the middle of Reo’s rant and was fully done with the Uncrowned Kings’ shenanigans. “Are you dating Kuroko or not?”

“Of course not,” Akashi grounded out through clenched teeth.

Reo squinted at Akashi. “Then who are you dating?”

“Furihata Kouki.”

The Uncrowned Kings blinked in baffled union. “… Who?”

“Serin’s point guard.”

“I never thought Akashi would be into older men,” said Hayama.

“Not that one,” Akashi said with very little patience. Mayuzumi was honestly amazed that he had any. “The other one.”

Hayama blinked in surprise. “They had another point guard?”

“Oh,” Reo exclaimed. “They had the first year, right?”

Nebuya frowned. “The really scared one? But Akashi, why would you date someone so weak and-”

Hayama was very quick to jab Nebuya sharply in his sides as the murderous look came creeping back onto Akashi’s face.

“And very lovely,” Hayama rushed to continue, loudly over Nebuya’s pained wheezing. “And kind, and great in bed-”

Reo smartly stepped back onto Hayama’s foot before he did any further damage, a bright smile on her face as she smoothly finished, “And we’re really happy for you Sei-chan. We should meet him sometime.”

Akashi narrowed his eyes at the suggestion. “Over your dead body.”

“Isn’t the dead body supposed to be yours?” Hayama asked absently, more worried about his foot then what he was saying. That is until he looked up and saw Akashi’s irritated expression and hastily corrected himself, “Right, never mind, over mine.”

A/N: And that's basically it done. If anyone has some helpful criticism, it would be much appreciated. I don’t know if I should have a bonus meeting where they actually see Furi but I’m not too sure what to write for that. Suggestions?

[midorichan10]

KnB Stageplay Ultimate Blaze Report (5/5, 5/11, 5/19 Livestream)

Okay I know I said I’d do my report after my second viewing on the 11th but then the finale was on the 19th so I thought I’d wait til then so it’d be easier to remember everything. A 3.5 hour play is super long....

So I watched the play live on the 5th and 11th, and the finale on livestream on the 19th. This is the very last Kurosute ever...Thank you Kurosute for 4 years of wonderful casting and performances. I also want to thank Ono Kensho for once again doing an outstanding job of his role as Kuroko. 

FYI, for those who also watched the livestream or plan to purchase the delayed stream, sharing pictures/screenshots or clips in public is prohibited. As such, I will not have any pictures included in this report. Please support the franchise by purchasing the DVD or Blu-Ray.

Major spoilers ahead. Proceed if you only wish to be spoiled. Again, this was a 3.5 hour play so this is VERY, VERY, long. 

EDIT: This took me two days to type out ORZ

Before the play starts, Tsuchida’s actor has a voice over on the intercom about stageplay rules and manners. Turn off/mute your phone, no recording, etc. It’s nice that they had him still do his rules even though he wasn’t in the play. ;w; 

The play opens up with the Yosen and Seirin scoreboard and Haizaki walking in the audience

Haizaki goes up to a random girl in the audience and flirts with her asking for her phone number.

On the show on the 5th the girl just tried to ignore him lmao

Kagami walks on stage and sees him and calls him out. Haizaki then confronts him saying he beat Mukkun and taunts him until a ball is thrown from the side at him. Kise comes on stage and the whole Haizaki and Kise bickering proceeds. 

Haizaki gets REALLY close to Kise like literally breathing down the neck kind of close. How Mario didn’t flinch is beyond me. 

Kagami learns that Kise has never beaten Haizaki, and eventually Haizaki leaves. Kise tells Kagami to leave Haizaki up to him.

Kise leaves and Kuroko comes on, using misdirection on Kagami. Kagami asks Kuroko who Haizaki is and that he’s met him. Kuroko explains he’s a former teammate but that he was still a regular so regardless he’s a strong player. Hyuuga and Seirin come telling them off and says they’re going to watch the first quarterfinal match of Kaijou vs Fukuda Sougo.

The opening song for this play’s dance is “Memories.” Personally this is my favorite one so far. I think I have the team order for this correctly...

Opens up with Seirin then switches to Kaijou proceeded by Shuutoku. Then there’s a Kaijou Shuutoku and Haizaki segment.

I just want to say how good Haizaki’s actor is and how his moves were so appropriate as Haizaki....wow

Seirin comes back on for a bit then exits with Aomine and Momoi taking over. 

Oh, for the 5th I had Airi (new Momoi) and 11th and 19th were Arisa (original Momoi)

Mukkun does his own dancing segment between Aomine and Momoi

for the 19th finale he danced with a lollipop in his mouth. Isnt’ that dangerous? Lol

Akashi comes out with his jacket on his shoulders to the front of the stage, Then quickly takes it off and runs back. Rakuzan then dances in the front (without Akashi) and Seirin joins back on. 

For the instrumental intermission, Kuroko goes to the center and each of the GoM come out and then surround him and do a short dance ending with a dance motion of their signature move/pose. 

GoM exit and Kuroko watches Akashi run off  (who went directly back) with a pained face, and Ogiwara runs out all smiley (seriously protect this boy he’s so pure) . Ogiwara runs off to the side and Kuroko chases after him. As Kuroko still looks pained, Kagami comes out on the other side and the two walk towards the center and meet in a fist bump. 

The last chorus everyone (except Ogiwara) comes out. (Yes, including Mayuzumi). The song ends with each team forming a group pose (Except Rakuzan, Mayuzumi runs off before they form a pose)

All the other teams run off leaving Seirin left, and the senpais then exit leaving only Kuroko and Kagami to do one last running motion as the display title falls on the back. The two of them fist bump again as the title falls. 

The play resumes with the match against Kaijou and Fukuda already starting. There are two other members on Fukuda besides Haizaki (apparently they are Ogiwara and Mayuzumi’s actors in black wigs hahahaha)

As always, the match more or less follows the manga/anime so I’ll leave out most of the story details. Most of it is gameplay anyway.

In this play, they’ve really incorporated more ball handling, aka using the real ball. 

Seirin is watching in the back. At some point Aomine and Momoi join in to watch. (I can’t remember if Mukkun joins in to watch here or later...I’m almost certain he joins later)

After the match with Kaijou’s victory, Kise limps off with his injured leg. Then Haizaki walks back on stage, looking for Kise. Aomine sees him and tells him Kise hasn’t come out yet from the stadium. The two have their argument and Haizaki tries to punch Aomine but Aomine beats him too it. Aomine always says some sort of variation of “Oops..I did it....Eh, he’ll be fine”

Scene changes to Kagami calling someone, which is revealed to be Kuroko, saying his shoes broke. Kuroko replies how his feet are unnecessarily big (Kagami: OI!!). Kuroko says he’ll have to call ‘that person.’

‘That person’ is revealed to be Momoi as she runs up and gives Kuroko a tight hug. She tells Kagami that Aomine will give him one of his many shoes and that Kagami’s the type that wears by model rather than care for color.

As Aomine and Kagami are playing basketball in the back (Aomine lecturing him) , Momoi tells Kuroko about Aomine punching Haizaki.

Aomine finishes the quick game and convinces Kagami to accept the shoes.

The scene ends with Kagami and Aomine stupidly arguing and Momoi and Kuroko are literally dragging them off the stage. 

For the May 5th show, they just literally drag them off

For the  May 11th and 19th, Kuroko jabs Kagami in the stomach and pushes him off as Momoi pulls Aomine off.

Midorima walks on stage prepared for the semifinals.

His lucky item is a giant shogi piece

The rest of Shuutoku join him and the senpai question why the shogi piece is so big. Miyaji asks Midorima what rank is Cancer that day and he says 2nd and he gets mad. Takao says Midorima is never wrong with Oha Asa but Miyaji asks  for a pineapple from Kimura (off stage) anyway. 

Shuutoku is introduced as the first team of the semifinals with Rakuzan following (except Mayuzumi). 

Seirin is in the back again and Hyuuga explains how the other Uncrowned Kings are in Rakuzan with Akashi.

The Shuutoku supporters are ‘jacket mob’ actors which are Haizaki and Kaijou

Haizaki’s actor kept dancing around with Mario.....

Ogiwara’s actor is the referee for this match.

Again , more gameplay here. For the actual story read the manga or watch the anime. 

For the May 11th show, there were a lot of ball handling errors here. 

Otsubo was supposed to pass a ball to Midorima but Nebuya accidentally caught it instead, so he quickly passed it back to Otsubo who passed it to Midorima again.

Midorima ‘shot’ the ball but the ball bounced against a railing and into the audience. It was during the part where he and Takao do the miracle shot. In the script, the senpais pat and hug Midorima and Takao for pulling off the play anyway but for this show they gave Midorima extra hugs and paps for the mistake. How sweet. 

One of Reo’s shots also bounced against a railing but it was towards the back so the ball just rolled behind the front fence

Akashi uses a real ball for his Ankle Break. He dribbles the ball around his legs and finishes with the ball going between his legs and catches it. I’ve never seen him mess up nor seen any reports of him doing so.

Mukkun joins Aomine and Momoi in watching the match. 

During Hayama’s speed dribble, everyone who is watching ‘shakes’ to the vibration. I don’t know whose idea it was but Mukkun excessively shakes to the point he looks like he’s being electrocuted or something haha. Oh yeah, he’s eating Pocky in this match, real Pocky. 

Mayuzumi was out most of the match but occasionally you see him run past between the main fence as he ‘passes’ the ball to Akashi.

When Shuutoku loses, Takao and Midorima are crying real tears. For the finale, everyone was crying...

The scene immediately changes to playing Punky Funky Love and Kaijo senpais practicing. Talk about a mood change. I was still crying over Midorima crying....

It’s a flashback of when Kise joins Kaijou and Kasamatsu explaining how the senpai have worked longer than him. 

Just as Kise leaves, Kuroko and Kagami join the stage and they make eye contact with each other.

Of course as usual, before a break there is the Kagami vs Kuroko janken game. Usually involving Kuroko asking for a longer break and him mostly losing. For this break, it was 10 minutes. 

May 5th janken- Kuroko tells Kagami that ten minutes is fine, much to Kagami’s surprise. Instead, Kuroko wagers that if he wins, Kagami must treat him to this fancy eel later. Kuroko wins and Onoken posts on Twitter that Yuya did indeed buy him the eel lmao

May 11th janken-Kuroko again tells Kagami that a ten minute break is fine. This time if he wins, he’ll switch to speaking ‘tameguchi’ which is using the casual form of Japanese (like basically everyone else, aka not using ‘desu/masu’). He actually switches to ‘tameguchi’ as he’s talking to Kagami, and Kagami’s trying his best not to laugh. At some point he says it’s annoying haha. Kagami wins so Kuroko’s like ‘well I guess I’m not speaking in ‘tameguchi’

May 19th- it’s their last time to do janken so Kuroko suggests that this time they just play janken for the heck of it. Kagami’s surprised but goes with it. Kuroko wins to his delight, but Kagami being stubborn begs for one more chance. Kuroko allows it, and they have one more match. Kagami wins and Kuroko kneels in defeat. 

Other adlibs I’ve heard were Kuroko asking Kagami to buy him boba tea, and the usual longer breaks like 3 hours. 

The second chapter opens with one of the ‘jacket mob people’ making sure the audience’s phones are off. The rest of the jacket mobs come out holding various items, such as a camera, cheering horns, towels, and one member has a corndog.......

These are the Shuutoku+Haizaki and Rakuzan actors. 

Akashi was the smallest one with the camera on the Rakuzan side. Also he just had Yohchans body structure anyway I mean-no

The corndog guy was on the Shuutoku+Haizaki side, I’m not sure which it was since it was harder to tell who was who (except Takao)

Seirin and Kaijou are introduced and the second semifinal match begins

May 11-Another mistake in this match. Kise jumps to knock a ball out of someone’s hand from Seirin, but the ball hits a railing and bounces back onto the court so Hayakawa quickly picks it up and throws it off stage

May 11- Kise shoots the ball but either doesn’t put enough power into it or shoots in the wrong curtain so the ball ended up going to Kiyoshi who was just coming out from the side. 

The jacket mob members act as the ‘fans’ in the stands. Both support Kaijou at first then Rakuzan cheers for Seirin and Shuutoku+Haizaki for Kise.

For Kagami’s line “This is our drama!” Hyuuga and Kuroko had the most outstanding ‘wtf’ faces

When Kagami said it, he puts his hand and fists together. So Izuki repeats him and continuously punches his hand like a bodybuilder. 

Hyuuga taunts Kiyoshi with the “Iron Heart” nickname. For the finale he gets everyone in the audience to chant “Iron Heart” with him and Kiyoshi gets mad, “EVEN IF ITS YOU OR THE AUDIENCE I’LL GET MAD AT YOU GUYS!”

When Kaijou loses, Kise cries real tears, every time when he says he wanted to win with everyone. 

For the finale, the other members of Kaijou are seen crying too when they lose...

After Kaijou walks off stage with Kise crying, Seirin comment how they made it to the finals and look at the scoreboard which has now changed to Seirin vs Rakuzan.

Kagami walks on stage noticing his necklace is missing. He starts to look for it and Midorima walks on with his giant shogi piece with the necklace. After he gives it back to Kagami, Kuroko walks on with Takao following. 

As Kuroko and Takao are talking, Kagami and Midorima are talking (whispering) to each other. Usually it’s about Kagami pointing out Midorima’s shogi piece and for the May 5th show he even tried to take it much to Midorima’s displeasure. 

Midorima tells Takao they’re leaving before telling Kagami there’s two Akashi and tells him to ask Kuroko about it. 

Here some really dark music plays and I wish they had a soundtrack for this play.....because wow I got chills

Kuroko tells Kagami that he’ll explain what Midorima meant by the ‘two Akashi’s’ by telling everyone about ‘our past’ 

At this moment, the instrumental for the Teiko ending song, Ambivalence, plays and Ogiwara runs out (Kagami exits and Kuroko moves so he’s behind Ogiwara who’s facing us). Ogiwara then says “Are you alone? I’m Ogiwara Shigehiro! Let’s play basketball together!” and the stage fades into darkness. This marks the end of chapter 2 and a 15 minute break before the last chapter of the play. During the break the instrumental for Ambivalence is still playing so we’re all just preparing ourselves for the feels.

*Note: The Teiko arc is briefly covered in the play, but the actual arc itself is  covered in the Teiko Reading screening which was available to stream online and in select theaters before the play, including scenes with Nijimura and Coach Sanada. The Teiko Reading only goes up to right before the match between Teiko and Meiko. The play covers highlights of the Teiko arc and the Teiko vs Meiko match.  For those who were unable to watch the Teiko Reading, it’ll be included in the Ultimate Blaze DVD/Blu-Ray.

The third chapter opens up with Ogiwara and Kuroko playing basketball together and Ogiwara confessing that he’ll be moving. The two promise to play against each other in junior high school.

Kuroko explains how by second year, he had moved up to the regulars and he and Ogiwara keep in contact with each other.

Each of the GoM come out in their Teiko practice shirts (and colorful shorts....)

Mukkun had red shorts and Kise had neon green.......

For every other GoM member, they had a dramatic DON! when they appeared. For Kise, he had a super *SPARKLE” effect as he did a double peace sign and smiled.  Kuroko comes out last and his is his ‘misdirection’ sound effect that is often used in the play for him. 

Oh yeah, Momoi is here too as she watches over them/Aomine. 

The Teiko members do some practicing.

Akashi (who is receiving the passes from someone off stage) passes the ball to the rest of the members on stage. 

The scene shows how Kuroko and Aomine work well together.

The scene changes and Kuroko narrates how Aomine has started missing practice. They discuss that maybe he had a valid reason and then the stage darkens to just Kuroko who confirms that the reason for Aomine’s absence was that he was ditching. He calls Ogiwara for advice, who said that Aomine is different from Haizaki in which he actually enjoys basketball and the problem is because he likes basketball. He tells Kuroko that since Aomine helped him, Kuroko needs to be there for Aomine. 

Aomine comes on in his Teiko jersey, having regained his happiness with Momoi watching. However the other players give up and he in turn gives up playing his hardest. (there’s no players on the stage but  you have the image based on the sound effects). Kuroko walks on smiling for a fistbump but Aomine walks away saying his “The only one who can beat me is me’ line. 

Kuroko gets a call from Ogiwara later saying that he lost in the first round, and that their promise will have to wait til next year. 

For the finale, Ogiwara was almost crying, or he was crying....save this boy please. 

Kuroko and Momoi talk about Aomine, making no progress. And Momoi asks him if they’ll always be together, in which Kuroko is hesitant to answer.

Slowly, the other GOM members (minus Akashi) slowly realize their abilities. 

Mukkun with his ability to block, Midorima with his ability to shoot.

Kuroko then finds Aomine by the river, and the whole “I don’t remember how to receive your passes” scene plays out. 

Aomine’s face looks so pained here /cries.

Back at the gym, the rest of the GOM are wondering about Coach Sanada’s approval of Aomine ditching practice, and Mukkun wants to ditch too. Akashi tells him that’s not allowed and the Mukkun vs. Akashi match starts with Bokushi awakening.

Akashi’s acting was so good, the contrast between Ore and Boku. And the music for Bokushi’s appearance was spine-chilling....I want the soundtrack for this please....

They use a mix of actual ball-handling and using an ‘air’ ball. Even without the ball you can tell Akashi’s actor is really good at basketball.

Akashi declares as long as they win, no one needs to show up for practice, much to Midorima’s shock.

Kuroko returns and asks Akashi who he is, and Akashi responds, “Of course, I’m Akashi Seijuurou.”

Months pass and the GOM are unbeatable and getting bored in matches, so Kise suggests making it a competition of who can score the most, with even Akashi joining in. 

Ogiwara happily tells Kuroko they made it to the finals, but Kuroko is unhappy with the current atmosphere of the club. He asks Akashi to let him start out in the semi-finals, which Akashi permits. 

Ogiwara is impressed with how much Kuroko has improved.

Kuroko gets hit in the head by the other team and is taken to the nurse.

Ogiwara talks with Akashi about Kuroko, and asks Akashi if basketball is fun. Akashi responds he doesn’t understand such a question.

Kuroko asks to play but Akashi tells him no under doctor’s orders, and tells him Ogiwara’s message about playing each other agian someday. Kuroko asks Akashi to not hold back against Meiko.

Despite losing 111-109, Ogiwara is fighting back against Teiko, telling his teammates to score one basket and losing proudly.

Ogiwara shoots and misses, and Aomine complains how they gave him the chance and tells Mukkun to shoot it.

Ogiwara, on the ground, looks at them in confusion to why they would score on their own basket. 

Kise happily announces how they reached their goal and that they’re all matching, and points to the scoreboard to reveal the score of 111-11.

Kuroko comes out to see a heartbroken Ogiwara, who looks at him before leaving the stage. 

Kuroko talks how painful it is, and what is victory. Onoken’s acting here was emotional, as expected from already portraying Kuroko in the anime. 

The GOM come out and line up behind Kuroko similar to the panel in the manga. 

Kuroko announces his resignation. 

Kuroko narrates how Ogiwara has transferred, and Ogiwara comes out on stage saying how the GOM had such cold eyes, but Kuroko can melt that coldness. 

Kagami then comes out, and scolds Kuroko along with the rest of Seirin. 

Hyuuga gets mad at both of them and sends Izuki and Koganei to drag Kuroko off and give him a tickle attack. Riko follows.

Kiyoshi and Hyuuga comment how it was a sad story and that Kuroko never talks about himself like that, so now they must win.

The next day is the Kaijou vs Shuutoku match for third place and the finals.

Mukkun meets up with Aomine and Momoi, who talk about who would win. They say third place is decided but the finals could be anyone.

Kise is on the bench due to his injury, and Shuutoku easily wins the third place match.

Midorima tells Kise their match is ‘postponed’ for now.

Kise gets annoyed saying, “WELL OF COURSE. IF I WAS IN THERE I’D WIN”

Kise and Midorima continue to bicker.

Kasamatsu and Otsubo just look at each other and let their kouhais fight it out.

Towards the second half of the runs, when Midorima points his finger at Kise, Kise actually bites his finger. No, I mean it. He actually bites it. Midorima gets grossed out by it.

Midorima: EW SO GROSS NANODAYO Kise: I’M NOT GROSS. I’M PRETTY. 

^yes, those were actual lines.

Now it’s time for Seirin vs Rakuzan. 

Haizaki’s actor is the referee.

For the tip-off, Nebuya gets upset that Kiyoshi isn’t the one jumping.

Seirin declares Mayuzumi not a threat since there’s little information on him, so Aomine asks Momoi about it. This is an adlib scene and varies per show.

May 5- Aomine asks Momoi to get ‘that’ (her notebook) from her bag. Instead she pulls out one of his gravure photobooks. She proceeds to put it back but Aomine hastily takes it away. Momoi asks Mukkun if it’s in his potato chip bag. He looks in it and pulls out..................a chip. Turns out the notebook was in her bag after all, much to Aomine’s annoyance.

May 11- Instead of her notebook, Momoi kept pulling out Mukkun’s empty potato chip bags. Aomine gets mad, but Mukkun only responds, “They were yummy~.” The notebook again was in her bag after all. 

May 19- similar to the May 5 adlib. 

When Hayama does his dribbling, Mukkun agains shakes vigorously on the side. This time, since he has chips, he sometimes dropped them on stage. So afterwards, you would see him picking them off the ground.

Both Reo and Mayu admit how loudly annoying Hayama is (they were running across stage too )

When Nebuya gets upset that Kiyoshi doesn’t remember what he told him 2 years ago, he literally throws a tantrum on the ground. 

Everyone in both Rakuzan and Seirn:.............

When Akashi goes into the Zone, he actually dribbles around everyone with the ball across the stage. Talk about coordination! 

Akashi’s shocked face as he’s starting to lose was perfect too. Sorry I have a lot of Akashi notes....

As he’s starting to lose, Akashi starts switching between Oreshi and Bokushi. Oreshi’s voice has like an echo/autotune effect but it’s not a recording or anything. 

Thus, the monologue between Oreshi and Bokushi was amazing. The actor constantly switches between both sides very smoothly. Give this guy an Oscar please.

When Oreshi talks about his mother, a ball falls from the sky and he hugs the ball close to him as he mentions it’s what he has left of her.

You can actually visually see the difference between Oreshi and Bokushi in face expression. 

As Seirin admits defeat, they’re all collapsed on the ground, even Riko, until Ogiwara comes out and cheers for them. 

Aomine shouts out from the side of the stage. In the finale he was even crying. 

Kaijou and Shuutoku go in the audience and cheer for Seirin from there. 

For the May 11th show I had Kaijou right behind me. Literally -screams

Aomine was crying real tears when he says “So it was you all along, Tetsu...” 

For the finale was sobbing more

For the final shot, the stage goes all dark as Kuroko says “I’m a shadow.” Then Kagami comes out from behind and makes the final dunk. 

Lantana then begins to play as Kagami declares Seirin the winners of Winter Cup.

In the final performance, Akashi cried as he admits his loss and even when he shook hands with Kuroko. 

After Kuroko shakes hands with Akashi, and says that they can play basketball at anytime, Seirin and Rakuzan make a quick bow and run off stage. 

Final Scenes

The remaining GOM come out in their uniforms, each with a basketball, and happily dribbling around the stage. 

Kise sees Haizaki walking out with his shoes, about to throw them away, but Haizaki hesitates and instead hugs them close to him. He sees Kise was watching him and Kise smiles knowing Haizaki didnt’ really hate basketball after all. 

The different teams come out taking a stand in front of the stage and then having a fun match against each other. 

Kaijou vs Shuutoku

Seirin vs Rakuzan

The players even go up against other players that we didn’t see during the matches. Everything was so emotional and happy. 

The last scene ends with Kuroko and Kagami fistbumping each other and Kagami poses as he’s about to dunk and Kuroko kneels below him fistbumping towards us as all the other players are reaching out towards Kagami.

Curtain Calls

May 5th Aichi Finale - Akashi and Reo

Reo mentions how in high school he was the only one in his group who didn’t read KnB. And now he’s IN KnB. 

May 11-Kiyoshi and Koganei

They got Hyuuga to go to the center and do a big “KUROSUTE FIGHT O” cheer with the cast and audience.

May 19th-Kuroko and Kagami

This one was really emotional as it was the final performance ever. Yuya starts crying over his talk over Kagami, and he even deeply bows to Onoken to thank him. 

Onoken didn’t cry but he was on the verge of doing so, his voice was shaking. 

I lost count of how many curtain calls there were for the finale, but there was a lot.

Highlights

Every show Rakuzan would high-five Akashi as they left the stage

For the finale Mayuzumi even hugged Akashi, and then for another curtain call afterwards all of Rakuzan group-hugged Akashi

Kuroko and Kagami asked if the director was around, apparently he wasn’t so they asked someone to say “Thank you” in his place instead. The cast chose Akashi to say it. 

Momoi ran up to Aomine and Kise and walked off together.

On one of the last curtain calls, Aomine and Kise decided to have OnoKen thrown up in the air and got everyone to join in. 

Every curtain call ends with Kagami and Kuroko fistbumping each other and leaving. For the very last curtain call, it was all of Seirin together. 

Kiyoshi lifts Riko up in the air for a few seconds to celebrate. 

And thus concludes my last Kurosute report....please consider buying the DVD or Blu-Ray when it comes out, you won’t regret it. 

Once again, thank you for four years Kurosute. Thank you cast members for doing a wonderful job portraying our beloved characters. Thank you Fujimaki-sensei for creating such a beloved series. 

[alistonjdrake]

Part One: The Rios Queen

Queen Isolde ana’Juliano Rios Mother to: Prince Cidro and Prince Leonides Born: Year 1725 after the fall of the Saints Died: Year 1751 after the fall of the Saints

While Queen Isolde is perhaps the most famous of the Harver queens, the least is known about her. 

She was born in Graza as the first child to Queen Marisol and King Juliano. She was recluse as a child, paying more attention to her studies before eventually joining court at the age of 13. Grazan court culture was vastly different under King Juliano than it would be under King Frederick. Most of the nobility tended their own land and palaces, and thus Graza was full mostly of King Juliano’s closest allies and attendants. The atmosphere was more strict and the palace, massive as it is, was mostly empty. So, Isolde never grew close to her peers or those her own age. She was very popular among her father’s men.

People say when her father died, everyone was in a panic about the lack of an heir and the country was in chaos. This was not true. Her father’s men immediately bowed to Queen Isolde and she was crowned such in the palace chapel on the second morning after. It was the nobles of Escan who held issue, and many were split on their dislike for their new queen. There were those who would have favored a son instead, and those who mainly did not like the queen’s notable lover.

Many aren’t sure when or where Queen Isolde met Leonides an’Emilio Barraza. While he shares a family both with Queen Marisol and some of her father’s closest allies were Barraza men, he was not well liked by his family, supposedly not welcome in court, and ten years older. Isolde had spent time in Orrasas when she was younger, but had only visited Ovango once (where Leonides called home). This must have been where they met and eventually letters were uncovered dated from when she would have been seventeen. But this would have been three years after her short trip to Ovango. Leonides was not well liked. He was famous for his gambling debts, his utter disrespect of high society and its rules, and his greed. Since King Juliano’s birth, the Barrazas had been called the “uncrowned kings” of Escan by being. But there were those who did not want a true Barraza king even if the family could also trace their line back to the Espinars. Leonides stained their reputation, and once Queen Isolde made him public there was so much fighting within the family that they perhaps didn’t find the time to focus on Frederick in the north and the amount of ships and carriages arriving from Oskya. 

The story follows that Arturo an’Román Harver called upon Queen Isolde formally while she attending her small court and asked her to deliver on the promises of her father. She rejected Frederick publicly but most say she was polite and mostly balked at the notion she had to do something when it was not in writing. Arturo’s story is often embellished with tales of the humiliation of her laughing at him. Either way, in a fury he returned to Tadrus. 

Queen Isolde is also known for turning Frederick away at the Navanese border while he was just trying to make a diplomatic visit to discuss any possible terms of an engagement between them. The Harvers also can trace lineage back to the Espinars, and more recent marriages also made them have Rios blood. On one side, we are told Frederick traveled only with his mother, Prince Vadik, and naturally, a few guards as Oskyan princes go few places unattended. On the other, we are told Frederick showed up with an army and Queen Isolde reacted the only way she could have. Whatever happened at the border, it sparked a struggle between them, enough for Frederick to claim he’d been wronged and called for alliances. He looked towards Nava and disenfranchised nobles of Escan. Queen Isolde, losing popularity with her own people, looked south towards Sceoque. 

The Oskyan army worked faster than words. Gates opened up for them on sight. Nava had no standing army, neither did Escan and with most power so firmly in the hands of the noble class their numbers depended entirely on how much effort the Escana nobles put into rallying troops for her cause. No one wanted to fight the Oskyans. And more and more likened to the idea of Frederick marrying Queen Isolde. An invader perhaps, and Tadrune, but at least he wasn’t a Barraza. 

Her famous last stand was in Graza. She’d locked herself in Alda and shut the city gates. It was said she spent the night devising plan after plan with her men. Some even say, as a last ditch attempt, she exchanged vows with Leonides before retiring to bed. Whatever happened, around midnight her men turned against her, pulled her from her bed, dragged her to where Frederick camped, and begged her to surrender. She did, but it was still said she bit his hand while he tried to help her up.

Terms for a formal surrender were drawn on neutral ground. Whether or not anyone brought up her fleeting marriage to Leonides is unknown. It would not have been considered legal as they did it without the Saints’ blessing. Some say Lady Helena, the Vipress, had a long talk with Queen Isolde and it convinced her to see reason. King Frederick and Queen Isolde married in the main cathedral of Graza some days later on the same day he was coronated, and she received a second and more public coronation. 

It was no secret that their marriage was loveless. Queen Isolde kept her lover close, and as King Frederick took quickly to changing Escan and wrestling power from her hands and from that of the other nobles, he paid little attention to her. Frederick had no lack of lovers either. 

So, it came as a surprise when the queen announced pregnancy rather early into the marriage. This sparked rumors that it was not Frederick’s child, and when Cidro was born seven months later it seemed only to convince people further. He was born too early. Frederick himself never doubted the child was his, and Lady Helena was known for announcing how pleased she was with both of them for putting their differences aside to perform their duties. There were others who were less sure. Leonides had not been banished from court, many claimed to see him enter and exit the queen’s chamber as he pleased. Frederick is quoted to have laughed when asked what he thought of his wife’s lover. So much as saying “he and I are brothers bonded in marriage.” But they were never seen together. It was an odd family.

Things changed when Prince Vadik finally left Escan. He was called back to Oskya on the death of his uncle and king and was called to take his place. He left. And with him, his army. 

People say the only fearsome thing about King Frederick was his Oskyan allies. But they forget how many people hanged in the early days of his reign. He spent the first months weeding out dissenters, building a council of loyal men, rewarding those who aided him and handing harsh punishments for those who hadn’t. Even so, when the Oskyans left, rebellion sparked. 

The Barrazas had reunited. If there was someone they disliked more than their embarrassing kin, it was surely King Frederick. Lady Helena, although she was a cousin to the Barraza family herself, could only call so few loyal. It was through her King Frederick learned of the plot against her, and her who convinced him hanging Leonides would help quiet them. He had not publicly turned a hand against the Barrazas as of yet. They were a large family and it was better to mind their insults and tiptoe around their playing field. Lady Helena said it would better for all of them. Remove the threat and the man who distracted the queen.

As it was not a public hanging, none can be sure how Queen Isolde reacted. Some say she followed Frederick there, attacked him, dragged herself after him and wept. Others said she watched coldly and said nothing. She went into a period of mourning after his death that lasted months. She willingly went into confinement, wore a veil over her face, and would not speak. So, it came as another surprise when she finally reappeared and announced she was pregnant once again. Again people questioned if this was King Frederick’s child. No one can say for sure if he visited her during her solitude, and they surely hated each other. The baby was born. Another boy. Lady Helena was said to have left the birth chamber in tears, remarking that he looked just like her son. 

She named the boy Leonides, and much to everyone’s surprise, King Frederick did not protest. 

After the birth, Queen Isolde spent little time in public. She was known for saying she despised her husband and his court. She despised the nobles who now called the palace home. She wrote in letters she would leave behind for her youngest son that she even so much as despised Escan, as it was no longer the country she knew. Her health began to decline rapidly, and as if she knew she was going to die she started leaving things behind for her son. Some wondered if she’d been poisoned somehow. Queen Isolde had never shown poor health before. 

Queen Isolde was the first to die on a rainy day. No one would know what possessed her to crawl from her sickbed to an empty hall of the palace, but she was found the next morning by a servant. 

King Frederick did not weep. In a letter addressed to King Vadik of Oskya, he is known to have written:

My dear friend, it is like a dark cloud has finally passed and I can breathe again. 

[shadowsblades]

What do you like the most about roleplaying as Valeera?

          Thank you for asking! What I love the most about Valeera and what I think makes her a really fascinating character are all the contradictions she embodies. She’s a lot more complex than just being an unaffiliated spy.

          Valeera is a blood elf who identifies very strongly with the blood elves – she wears red, the colour of the blood elves; she took the name ‘Sanguinar’, which is derived from the Latin word sanguis, meaning “blood”; she reacts very strongly to any implication that she is betraying her people and is easily provoked by any insult against the blood elves; and she defends the actions of the blood elves in joining Illidan and the naga, in siphoning magic, and in defecting from the Alliance. But despite identifying strongly with the blood elves, Valeera ran from Quel’thalas as a child and has not seen it since (in canon). Working for the King of the Alliance, Valeera also defies her racial allegiances and the tense history between the blood elves and the Alliance. Next to other characters who are very strongly committed to their races and are motivated by what is best for their people, Valeera’s independence from the blood elves and everyone else is a very important part of her character.

          Valeera very staunchly claims that she is neither Alliance nor Horde, and that her loyalties are personal. And they are. She aligns herself with the people who treat her, personally, well rather than the people who treat her people well. Valeera joined Varian in Stormwind and agreed to act as his advisor and guard because he was her friend – one of the only two friends she had at the time. But the fact that Varian is the king of the Alliance is, for the most part, irrelevant. If Varian had been the Warchief of the Horde, she would have joined him in Orgrimmar. If Varian had been a pig farmer, then she would have joined him on his farm. Valeera cares for the Alliance only insofar as Varian cares for the Alliance, and she helps the Alliance only insofar as helping the Varian helps the Alliance. But as much as she might claim to not work for the Alliance, it is impossible to ignore that what she does benefits them. In patch 8.1.5, Valeera is shown to have orchestrated the meeting between Jaina and Baine that results in Baine’s arrest. Valeera can deny who she works for until the day she dies, but it’s clear who’s interests her actions serve.

          But, Valeera also does not work solely for Varian. Even after she accepts Varian’s invitation to join her in Stormwind, Valeera does not go with him immediately. Instead, she stays in Theramore with Jaina and Garona, and joins the New Council of Tirisfal to save Medan from Cho’gall. Alongside Anduin, she is also one of the people who encourages Varian to meet with Thrall on Theramore to discuss peace between the Alliance and the Horde. Throughout Varian’s time as king, she is delivering messages between Anduin and Baine and unnamed others, behind Varian’s back. During Wrath of the Lich King, she complains about the hostilities between the Horde and the Alliance when they should be dealing with the Lich King and the Scourge, and during Legion she joins the Uncrowned. She clearly cares about things other than Varian, too, namely, the fate of Azeroth.

          Although Valeera’s original motivation – leaving Quel’thalas to ensure her own survival – was self-serving, this is quickly replaced by a motivation to protect the few friends she has even when it comes at a cost to herself. As a blood elf, Valeera is addicted to arcane. But this only becomes problematic when she siphons the arcane from a naga siren’s trident to give herself enough power to save Varian and Broll from being killed – multiple times, her use of arcane saves their lives. She does all this despite the fact that, the entire time, Varian and Broll are reprimanding her for it. Only when she’s experiencing withdrawal, does Valeera desire arcane for arcane’s sake. Further, when possessed by the dreadlord Kathra’natir, Valeera’s actions under his influence are still motivated by her need to protect Varian and Broll. The only time her control over Kathra’natir wavers is when the dreadlord preys on her insecurity that her friends do not care for her as much as she cares for them. When she finally lets Kathra’natir take over, it is to save Medan and Meryl from Cho’gall, who she was unable to defeat on her own despite her best efforts.

          Another contradiction comes from Valeera’s appearance. She wears a crimson corset, plate boots, and plate gauntlets. She is a gladiator, but she wears barely a scrap of armour – the armour she does wear is not protecting the most vulnerable parts of her, but is there to help her hit harder when she needs to use her body to do so. She is also a rogue and a spy who wears the most distinctive and gaze-attracting garb that she possibly could – and yet she is so good at hiding herself that Anduin in Before the Storm cannot tell whether Valeera is in his bedroom or not. Then there are her daggers: they’re Orc daggers, meaning that in the hands of a blood elf, they’re the size of swords. Yet, she throws them like knives, with deadly accuracy.

          Finally, there’s Valeera’s age. By my calculation, she’s only 24 in Battle for Azeroth. She was 17 when she became a Champion of the Crimson Ring and then advisor to the king of the Alliance. Compared to other blood elves, she is still very much a child. But, in the human world, where Anduin is a king at only 18 (albeit a “boy king”), Valeera is highly respected and retains a prestigious position in the Alliance. That would be unfathomable to the blood elves, but is apparently reasonable to the humans.

          tl;dr: I love Valeera because she loves the blood elves but does not align herself with them. I love her because she recognizes the need to fend for herself, but values her friends to the extent that she will sacrifice herself for them without question. As a Horde player, I love to hate the fact that she works for the Alliance, even though she claims to support neither faction. I love her because the way she dresses is completely inappropriate for a gladiator, a spy, and a rogue. I love that she’s a child who has somehow risen to the rank of advisor to the High King, and is one of the only people that Anduin considers to be a true friend – because she cares about him and his interests before she cares about the Alliance, Stormwind, or anyone else.

[politicsprose]

2017 Holiday Newsletter

Welcome to the 2017 Politics and Prose Holiday Newsletter. As always, we’re proud to present a selection of some of the year’s most impressive books. Happy holidays to all!

Crossing Borders

Mohsin Hamid has consistently shown his genius for using literature to capture the tensions between Islam and the West that play out globally and in individual lives. His latest novel, Exit West (@riverheadbooks), is another example of his spare, elegant writing, and his fearlessness in treading on uncomfortable political ground. A love story at its core, the novel exposes disquieting truths about secular and fundamentalist interpretations of religion, culture, family, and community. Moments of magical realism provide an imaginative backdrop to the story, much of which takes place in a country never named and with doors that serve as metaphorical entry and exit points. A stunning novel. - Lissa M.

“History has failed us, but no matter.” When a writer opens her second novel with a sardonic statement like that, you hope that she’s up to the task of making it stick. Have no fear, Min Jin Lee is. Starting in the early 20th century, Pachinko (@grandcentralpub) chronicles the fortunes of a Korean family, first in a Korea under Japanese occupation, then as immigrants in Japan. The pachinko parlor that the family runs while in Japan is a perfect symbol of the kinds of hardships Korean immigrants in Japan face. The gambling establishment is their road to a better life. In fact, it’s the only such road. Perhaps this gives you the impression that the novel is only good as social commentary, its characters puppets. Actually, the reverse of is closer to the truth. It’s as if Lee started with the minutest details of her characters’ lives and the commentary grew out of it organically. When she observes how quickly Yangjin and Sunja have to get over Hoonie’s death, “At his burial, Yangjin and her daughter were inconsolable. The next morning, the young widow rose from her pallet and returned to work,” you feel the hardscrabble life of a Korean peasant all the more. One reviewer has aptly compared Lee to Thomas Mann. This is one book you can lose yourself in. - Sharat B.

Winner of the 2016 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Fiction, awarded by Barbara Kingsolver for a novel that addresses issues of social justice, The Leavers, (@algonquinbooks) by Lisa Ko, is an exploration of the lives of a family of Chinese immigrants.  Polly, an undocumented immigrant, is rounded up in a raid on the nail salon where she works, gets caught up in the system, and eventually is repatriated to China.  Her eleven-year-old son doesn’t know where she’s gone or what happened to her. She’s just gone.  Fostering with a kind, intelligent couple (both are professors) in the suburbs, Deming has difficulty recovering from the trauma and confusion of his early life.  The book is timely and the subject important, but the strength of the novel lies in the composition of the principal characters, showing the depth of their humanity, their worthiness of our empathy. - Mark L.

In the Midst of Winter (@atriabooks-blog), by master storyteller Isabel Allende, begins on a cold and snowy day in Brooklyn. After a traffic accident brings them together, Richard Bowmaster and Evelyn Ortega discover they’re connected by a dark secret. This also involves Lucia Maraz, Richard’s tenant and colleague, who he turns to for help after the incident. Owing to circumstances, our three protagonists, plus one dog, find themselves becoming closer while going to extraordinary lengths to hide their secret. As Allende narrates their various pasts, it becomes clear that each of them faces a personal winter, living a life frozen in place. Richard is a professor who believes the great passions of his life have come and gone. He maintains strict order to keep his regrets under control. Lucia, despite the struggles and disappointments she endured in her native Chile, still searches for happiness in the unlikeliest of places. Evelyn is a refugee from the violence in Guatemala, where she was robbed of family and future. Together this trio discovers, as Albert Camus wrote, an “invincible summer” within that slowly melts the frost enshrouding their lives and opens them to renewed hope and love. This is a beautiful story that will see you through all the seasons to come. - Michael T.

When asked, Haris Abadi describes himself as an Iraqi and an American. He means that he was born in Iraq but traded his first identity for American citizenship after working as an interpreter for the occupying American forces. Somewhere in the transaction, the two loyalties canceled each other out and Haris lost track of himself. As Dark at the Crossing (Knopf) opens, Haris is in Antep, Turkey (“a city with two names and three meanings”), hoping to regain a sense of purpose by joining the struggle against the al-Assad regime in Syria. But the border is closed, and Elliot Ackerman’s powerful and poignant second novel follows his protagonist’s efforts to find a way across. As Haris faces the disappearance of his fixer; is betrayed, robbed, and beaten by a guide; and tours the Syrian ward of the local hospital, where both the dying and the dead are stashed in the morgue, his experiences give a close, yet panoramic view of the Syrian civil war and its regional fallout. At the same time, Haris’ recurrent flashbacks of the interrogations and searches he participated in with the Americans in Iraq reflect that he is also stuck at an internal psychological border. So, too, is Daphne, a Syrian refugee Haris befriends. Certain that her daughter is still alive, she wants to return to Aleppo and find her. Incredibly, though the conflict has left Daphne with nothing, she feels that “war can be a blessing… If you’re trapped, its destruction can free you.” Ackerman, a former Marine who served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and has covered Syria since 2013, is unflinching in his depiction of what war can do. - Laurie G.

Two years after the magical Two Years, Eight Months, and Twenty-Eight Nights, set in Fairyland, Salman Rushdie is back with another, much more realistic novel. The Golden House (@randomhouse) begins on the day of Barack Obama’s inauguration, when an uncrowned seventy- something king, who calls himself Nero Golden, arrives in New York from a faraway country. With his three motherless sons, Nero takes possession of the palace he would call his home. Having arrived under mysterious circumstances, the family also assumes new identities. They take Roman names, trying to reinvent themselves and keep their past hidden, all the while battling their own demons. The youngest son, D, is conflicted over his sexual identity; Apu longs to go back home; and Petya develops agoraphobia. The Goldens’ story is told by their neighbor, René, who becomes fascinated with the family and the various goings-on surrounding them. He gets pulled into their life of mystery, money, intrigue, drama, and crime. Then it all abruptly ends eight years later with the election of “The Joker” as president. Exploring the nature of good and evil and our capacity to change and adapt, Rushdie has loaded this novel with parallels between our world and the one the Goldens live in. “Clowns become kings, old crowns lie in the gutter. Things change. It’s the way of the world.” - Marija D.

[poker-face-william]

Galehaut was the son of a human man and a giantess. he lived in the small territory of Cymry just to the west of Camelot's borders. There, the most aggressive and brutal raiders fled, seeking to avoid the punishment they would surely face if they were to be captured by one of King Arthurs men. This made Galehauts youth dangerous, and he had to learn to fight in order to survive. Luckily, his half giant status made him incredibly strong, and he learned how to use a great sword from an early age. Slowly, as Galehaut grew older, he stopped only protecting himself and his mother, eventually spreading his protection to any who sought it out. Eventually, he had rule over the entire territory. Many of his men wanted to crown him king of Cymry, but he refused. Many of the raiders that now served as Galehaut's soldiers told him how the east was ruled by a cruel tyrant who would give out cruel and unjust punishments to even the most minor of crimes. Enraged, Galehaut refused to take the title of King until the Kingdom of Camelot was freed from this tyrants rule. With his people at his back, Galehaut began marching through the neighboring kingdom. Quickly, Galehaut conquered huge swathes of land, gaining more and more followers as he did, before he finally drew King Arthur's attention. To Galehaut's surprise, the King who had gained his title threw warfare, did not simply attack Galehaut and his army on sight, but instead requested a parley with the Uncrowned King. Intrigued, Galehaut approved the request, and as agreed, Arthur came into the camp alone, and with no weapons, only his gleaming white armor in stark contrast to Galehaut's worn and battered steel. Galehaut listened to King Arthur's plea for peace, and was intrigued when he offered him lordship, and dominion over the lands he had conquered. All the while though, Galehaut's men were whispering into his ear, telling him that they were all tricks and lies, and not to trust the self proclaimed King of Knights. Galehaut, trusting in his generals, refused King Arthur's offer, and when Arthur attempted to leave, Galehaut refused to allow him to return to his troops. One of Galehaut's younger men who went by the name of Percival questioned this decision, saying that it was unjust to deny an army their commander before a battle. Galehaut considered this, but was again swayed by the words of the raiders he had made generals. That morning, when Galehaut marched his troops onto the battlefield, he expected that they would surrender knowing that their king was held captive, but he was sorely mistaken. The first wave to hit Galehaut's troops were the cavalry, Galehaut managed to cut any horseman that came to close down, but most of his men were not so lucky, especially he noticed, if they faced a knight in beautiful blue armor riding on a white stallion. As Galehaut cut through horseman after horseman, attempting to get to this knight, he watched in wonder at the skill he displayed, and slowly noticed that the tip of his lance had been blunted. Before he could look around to see if the other horseman carried similar weapons, he was stopped by a man almost as tall as him wearing a blue tunic and a kilt, a falchion at his side, but a flag with the pointed tip lopped off in his hands. Galehatu managed to fight the orange haired knight off for a while, but as the noise of the battle slowly subsided, Galehaut's opponent doubled in size, now towering over the Uncrowned King. Galehaut was ready to face defeat when the young Percival came to his side, and together they managed to fight off the massive knight for a while longer, but the battle was already lost, and the blue clad knight joined the now giant sized Albian, and Galehaut knew it was time to surrender, not for his own life, but for the young warrior that now stood beside him. Galehaut and his men were all bound, sans the few who had met their end at the hands of a mace or a morning star from a more reckless knight. Galehaut watched in silence as he watched the knights of Camelot gather up all the dead, and prepared the ones presentable enough to be sent home, and gathering the armor and valuables from those who were not for the same purpose. Galehaut was amazed to see that the blue clad knight made sure that those under his command gathered what was needed from Galehaut's men, and asked Galehaut where he needed to send them. Some Galehaut knew were from the towns and villages he had conquered on his way into the kingdom, and others were from his homeland. Galehaut was not able to give directions that were useful to the Knights of Camelot. The blue clad knight who had introduced himself as Lancelot said that he was willing to let Galehaut take their bodies back himself, but the orange haired knight named Kay vetoed the younger knights permission. It was as the two knights argued amongst theme selves that King Arthur interceded, Galehaut's generals in shackles behind him. Arthur told Galehaut that the men who had called Arthur a tyrant were murderers and rapists who had fled Camelot to avoid their crimes, and were likely going to abuse the power they would gain from Galehaut to continue indulging in their wretched vises. This news enraged Galehaut, and he ripped out of his binds, charging through the three other men, and lifting the closest of his generals into the air, Kay and Lancelot attempted to stop the half giant, but Arthur stopped them, watching him carefully. Galehaut felt the rage building in his chest, and his giant instincts wanted so terribly to rip him in half, but his nobility stopped him, and he dropped him to the ground, telling Arthur to take him back to Camelot and give him the punishment of the kingdom. Arthur smiled at this, sending the generals off, and telling Arthur to take Galehaut and any surviving soldiers that wish to help to return the dead to their family's. Galehaut thanked Arthur, and pledged his services to the king. Arthur promised the Uncrowned King a knighthood once he returned from his quest, as well as the possibility for any of Galehaut's men that wanted to enter a squireship. Galehaut promised to tell his men, and the next day Lancelot, Galehaut, and the young warrior Percival made their way through Cymry, returning the fallen, and removing the power structures that had been put in place by Galehaut's former generals. Over this time, the three men became close friends, and upon their return to Camelot, Lancelot recommended that not only Galehaut, but also Percival were promoted to knighthood. Galehaut continued his friendship with Lancelot throughout his time at Camelot, and during the civil war between Arthur and Lancelot, Galehaut followed his comrade, pledging to serve as his Justiciar upon victory against Arthur.

[catachan-jungle-fighter]

Wheel of Time: Rand in 40k

It depends from which point in the series he comes into 40k from, early on he's a swordsman with maybe some inkling's towards his powers, midway through he has learned some tricks with Saidin, the male part of magic in the wheel of time series, but he's also being progressively being driven mad by the fact he's the Dragon Reborn and the fact he has used tainted Saidin, the Dragon Reborn comes from the fact he has the mind of the former Dragon Reborn in his head. Near the end of the series he's seriously boosted his power and has learned the forbidden magic, Balefire something so dangerous that reality cracks where it's used because it burned the ones it's used on from the pattern (wiping from existence, and depending on how much of a effect said person had on the world, the cracks of reality are worse). He can use many forms of magic that are based around killing 'dark' creatures, and some magic that is based around transportation that involves anything inhuman dying when going through.

So early series: Rand wouldn't survive long unless the Wheel deems It so, because there must always be a Dragon Reborn.

Mid Series: he'd be looked at as a very dangerous Psyker, while he'd also be ripe to be possessed by a Daemon because he's been driven mad by his power and by the voice of Lews Theiris Telemon, the last Dragon Reborn that broke the world...

End game: he has basically become the equivalent of a high ranking Psyker, capable of massive amounts of destruction, but he's also been balanced by the two minds binding together and joining together totally, meaning as long as he can uphold his strength of will he'd be able to hold of Daemon's.

If he was able to bring someone with him?

There's Perrin, a blacksmith's son who at first carried a hammer before being given a beautiful axe. He later gets the ability to run with the Wolves by riding their minds, and can go with them into the spirit realm.

Mat Cauthon, he had thousands of Generals knowledge crammed into his head in exchange for him getting hanged. He also gained at that time the ability of luck, nothing that involved luck would let him fail, he'd win every fight...

Lan, the uncrowned king, a bladesmaster that is able to move extremely quickly when warranted. Baseline human but fights against a Dark God's champion and beats him by 'sheathing the sword' aka jamming himself down the sword.

Avihenda, a woman who's people are famous for the fact when they cover their faces, they don't uncover them till you die... they lived in the 'Three Fold land' a hell that hardened their people to master warriors. Here's something from the book from the aiel

Till shade is gone, till water is gone, into the Shadow with teeth bared, screaming defiance with the last breath, to spit into Sightblinder's eye on the Last Day.

They have basically sworn that as long as they lived they will spit in a Dark God's eye...

Then there's Loial, a Ogier, a member of a race of Long Lived beings that are a mixture of beast and man, who's people are able to sing to the land to make it grow, their steedings being places where no violence is allowed. Their strength is legendary, as is their architectural skills, to the point there is a saying of the Ogier in the book

"To anger the Ogier is to bring the mountain down on your head"

The late game would need a serious healing, seeing as he has a eternally bleeding wound but he'd be powerful and would likely fight many battles before falling.

Early and mid won't last long

[entishramblings]

You Have Pretty Hair [Legolas X Reader]

A.N: so this one shot has some pieces from my fanfic (link in description) but I altered it for a legolas x reader formate cuz I figured you all would be interested because on wattpad so many users said they loved it! So if you recognize it....that’s why!!!

Request: none

Pairing: Legolas X Reader

Summary: (Y/N) is traveling with the fellowship and they end up drinking one night and Legolas has to take care of (Y/N)

Word Count: 2,270

Warnings: none

(gif not mine)

MASTERLIST

(Y/N), a young female ranger of the Dunedain and close friend of Aragorn’s, grinned when she saw a worn down sign that read: The White Lion Inn. She had chosen to accompany the fellowship on the quest to destroy the one ring, for her sword skills and healing abilities would provide useful. She had trained under Isildur’s heir for many years and was well aquatinted with the lays of the lands.

The weary members of the fellowship trudged through the door hoping for a comfortable bed, hot meal, and some quality ale. When they entered, the diverse group was immediately greeted by the sound of drunk humans and off-pitch tavern songs. Many uncertain eyes wandered across them for they had just demolished a pack of orcs so they were quite a sight to see. (Y/N) had a bloody head wound and was splashed with dark orc blood; Boromir, Aragorn, and Gimli had a handful of superficial cuts whereas Legolas was completely unscathed. Not to mention they were accompanied by a wizard and four hobbits. An interesting group indeed.

The wooden walls of the tavern were dimly lit by candles and lanterns while the room was filled with intoxicated, dirt covered travelers—not the most appealing of types. Furthermore, the stale air smelled of ale and three days old piss. But alas, it was better than the bone chilling coldness of outside and the threat of Sauron’s spies.

Gandalf suggested they get cleaned up before diving into drinking, but (Y/N) had other ideas.

She smirked at the sight before her. She loved taverns and she loved drinking. She hadn't had any alcohol since her arrival at Rivendell so she was quite deprived from the ensnaring numb sensation it provided.

The female Ranger immediately walked up to the barkeep and tossed a coin onto the counter, "One pint of the good stuff."

The bar tender glanced at the blood covered woman and raised his eyebrows, but he did not question anything for he often saw strange folk with strange business in this part of town. He plucked a glass from the shelves behind him and generously poured a tall tankard with bitter ale. He slid it across the counter towards her and she offered a quick thanks.

......

It was not long until most of the fellowship had started drinking. Gandalf, Sam, and Frodo had retired early for they were exhausted and had no interest in getting drunk. Merry, Pippin, and Gimli however had started a drinking contest while the two human men observed with laughter. Legolas only had two pints, which did absolutely nothing for him. (Y/N) on the other hand was on her 6th? 7th? She had lost track a long time ago and was completely utterly waisted.

Currently, the female ranger was on the top of the table dancing and laughing with the two hobbits (who were slightly less drunk). The three beings’ arms were locked and they were swinging around and around giggling uncontrollably. Merry and Pippin sung tavern songs terribly while accidentally kicking the bowls of peanuts to the floor with their large hairy feet. It was quite a sight, amusing to all onlookers.

Pippin nodded in Legolas's direction. The elf was sitting at the bar talking to the barkeep for he was the quiet type and preferred calm company.

"(Y/N), what do you think of Legolas?"

She stumbled and let out a loud belch before slurring out, "He's ssuper talll."

Pippin grinned, "I agree with you there as I am quite short as well! But he’s considered average if you compare him to Strider and Boromir.”

A confused look crossed the ranger's face for a moment before she giggled again.

“Oh....right....”

She then called out to Boromir sitting below her, “PASS ME ANOTHER PINT!"

The Gondorian immediately handed her another and she took a big swig from it.

With his elf hearing, Legolas listened in on the conversion. He couldn't help but smirk at the drunken stupidity of (Y/N). He observed that she had always been a carefree spirit and it seemed that alcohol brought that aspect out further. However, as soon as he heard her call for another pint he knew he needed to interfear. She was incredibly intoxicated and adding another drink to that would not be smart. Legolas left his stool and briskly walked towards the table of his friends.

(Y/N)’s grin widened when she saw the elven prince, "Legolas!"

Merry then insisted that he join their dancing and (Y/N) released another giggle, but the moment was interrupted as the female Ranger lost her footing and fell forward—off the table. She felt her body smack against something firm that smelled of pine and honey. Quite strange for something that smelled so good to be in this less than tasteful place. She squinted in puzzlement as the world around her distorted; it was upsidedown, twisted, warped.

What was going on?

Her gaze landed on bright blue eyes that stared down at her with uncertainty. That’s when the realization hit her. She was in Legolas’s arms. She frowned.....and her tunic was soaked wet? The alcohol must have spilled out of the tankard that she had been holding. She lazily examined Legolas and a giggle escaped her lips when she realized he was also covered in the ale.

(Y/N) continued to marveled at the blonde elf who was evaluated her drunken state. She laughed again. "You have muscly arms," she said with a slur.

Legolas sighed and made eye contact with Aragorn. The uncrowned king nodded, knowing exactly what Legolas was asking. They both silently agreed that (Y/N) had had enough.

“All right," the elf said as he put her down, "You're done." The last part of his sentence sounded stern, commanding, and showed that he was slightly pissed off—not that the drunk ranger could pick up on that.

Legolas didn't understand how she got so careless to drink this much while they were on a very important mission. Quite frankly, he was surprised Aragon had let it get this far as he had assumed the figure of older brother long ago; but alas, (Y/N) was a grown woman who was perfectly capable of making her own decisions.

The Elven Prince took the half filled pint from her hand and passed it to Boromir. Legolas then grabbed her arm and slightly tugged her in the opposite direction, but she reached out and snatched the unfinished pint from the Gondorian. She quickly took another big gulp before Legolas pulled the tankard from her hand once again. He firmly set it down on the table and shot Borimir a look.

The elf then pulled the grumbling ranger by her arm, more forcefully this time. He lead her to the barkeep and held her upright, "One room key please,"

The man looked at the state of the drunk woman and chuckled, "Good luck with that one."

He passed the elven prince the key and Legolas tugged (Y/N) to the crooked wooden stairs. He motioned for her to go up. She glanced at the step and let out another giddy laugh before lifting her leg. She was able to climb up a couple steps before falling back against Legolas chest. He easily caught her and held her waist until she regained some balance. She again lifted her foot but immediately stumbled. Legolas shook his head in frustration, bent down slightly, and scooped her up bridal style. He began to assend the stairs as she whined to go back for another pint. The elf’s ears turned light pink as he heard his friends snickering at the current situation he was in. He chose to ignore it; someone had to take care of her.

Legolas opened the door to the small room and sat (Y/N) down on the bed, her legs dangling off the side. He poured some water from a pitcher onto a towel and turned back to the drunk woman. He gently wiped her face with it, making sure to erase the dirt and dried blood from the outdoor adventure.

Legolas carefully began to clean the small wound on her head. He wished she would have done so earlier for an injury was not to be left untended; but alas, when she made a decision she stuck by it.

He watched as (Y/N)’s eyebrows furrowed and she tried to pull away from the cloth. "Cold, cold, cold," she grumbled like a child.

Legolas sighed, "(Y/N), don't make this difficult."

She groaned once more before letting out another giggle. The blonde elf raised his eyebrows in question.

"You," She slurred, "have prettyyy hair.”

She reached her hand out and grasped a handful of his blonde locks, “Can youu braid mine like that some day!?”

He chuckled, “Maybe.”

Legolas reached upward and carefully untangled her fingers from his hair for he was fearful that, in her drunk state, she would end up getting them stuck in it.

The Prince had dealt with a lot of intoxicated elves in his lifetime, but (Y/N)’s behavior was so innocent and seemed to be even more amusing. Humans—always an interesting species. He still was angry at her lack of self control when it came to drinking, but it was hard not to smile at her intoxicated actions and words.

The blue eyed elf's hands made their way to her hair. He gently pulled out the tie from the messily twisted bun, allowing her locks to cascade down her shoulders.

"(Y/N)," Legolas started.

She let out another giddy laugh.

Legolas sighed, "What is it now?"

"I thinks I had too many alcohols."

Legolas smirked at her improper grammar, "Yes, indeed you did."

She let out yet another giggle.

"(Y/N), your tunic is wet with ale and orc blood. Do you wish me to find a servant to assist you?"

She closed her eyes and shook her head while grasping onto his sleeve, "Youu just help me."

Legolas lips parted as he felt a blush creep up his neck and upon his ears. He cleared his throat, "(Y/N), I'm not su—"

The woman interrupted him, "You." She paused in attempt to gather her drunk words together, "I trustt you over some random strangeeer."

Legolas let out a nervous exhale but nodded.

He ruffled through her bag until he came across an extra black tunic. He grasped the soft fabric in his calloused hands and stood in front of her.

"Are you wearing anything under this?"

She nodded. Her words slurring as she spoke, "MHhmm, uunderrrgarments to coverr my brea—"

He interrupted her awkwardly, "(Y/N), I know how basic anatomy and clothing work."

Legolas gently took hold of the bottom of her dirty tunic and begun to pull it up and over her head, careful not to get any orc blood on her skin. He could feel his cheeks heating even more as her shirt rose; he was just grateful she was too intoxicated to notice. He gently untangled her arms from the disgusting fabric and removed it completely.

She sat on the bed with eyes closed as she begun to sway slightly. The blonde elf's gaze trailed down her body cautiously, taking in her appearance. Her undergarment encased her chest, covering what needed to be. However, it clearly accentuated the curves of her breasts and the shape of her torso. He watched as her skin and toned muscles rippled ever so slightly with small movements. She was utterly beautiful, despite her terribly drunken state. Legolas swallowed dryly. He felt the desire to touch her soft skin and inch his hands over her form crept into his mind; but he did not want that while she was intoxicated. Her well-being was his top priority. Besides, they were not courting. He doubted she even knew of his affections.

Legolas pulled the new, clean tunic over her head and assisted her in getting her arms through. He felt slightly relieved that it was over for the situation had been quite compromising.

If anyone had walked in......

If Aragorn had walked in.....

The elf’s mind wandered slightly at the thought of his friend. Strider made no move to assist Legolas with the intoxicated young woman that he had trained. It was almost as if he had let the elf take care of her on purpose.

Legolas blushed.

That cheeky bastard.

Aragorn had to have done that on purpose. Legolas remembered all the times Strider had paired him and the female Ranger to collect firewood and watch for Sauron’s enemies. The man’s twinkling eyes and mischievous looks......he definitely did this on purpose.

Legolas sighed once again before tuning back the (Y/N). He quickly pulled off her boots and then pulled back her covers. He then helped her climb into the soft comfort of the feathery bed. The Elven Prince sat on the edge of the mattress and gently ran his hand through her hair to coax her to sleep; and there he stayed watching over her.

.......

The female ranger walked down the stairs to the tavern. She was rubbing her temples and groaning with every step. Her head pounded like drums, the light blinded like white fire, and everything was just too damn loud.

She saw that most of the fellowship was all sitting around a table across the room, many of them with the same problem as her.

Legolas unexpectantly appearing near her and chuckled when she walked past him, "feeling better?"

She sent him a death glare and grumbled in response. She plopped down on the bench across from Merry and Pippin and next to Boromir.

The Gondorian nudged the female ranger, "Do you have any memory of last night?"

She groaned, "Why? What happened?"

At that moment Aragorn slid onto the bench next to (Y/N) with a big grin on his face. He spoke with a tone filled of taunting amusement, "Legolas took care of your drunk ass!”

(Y/N) groaned at that statement and put her head on the table.

Of fucking course.