medieval chess au….? that sounds so cool
so originally i wanted to do some kind of historical au for chess set during the medieval era, but the more i looked into it the more i realized that trying to do something like that in a real world context while still keeping the same real world political context (apolitical chess is just not as interesting to me tbh) just wasn't going to work, so instead i decided to do what george r.r. martin did when he was writing game of thrones and use real world history (game of thrones was largely inspired by the war of the roses) and real world politics within the context of a fantasy setting, so the main conflict is still east vs west, but it's the eastern kingdoms vs the western kingdoms.
freddie is ser fredrick, the gilded lion, born and raised in the golden city (the main seat of power among the western kingdoms similar to king's landing, located by the sea) to become king, beloved by most while also being regarded as a petulant child that (seemingly) hasn't had to deal with any real hardship, and then across the emerald sea are the eastern kingdoms, a colder, harsher climate compared to the western kingdoms, which is where prince anatoly, the black prince (or the white wolf, depending on who you talk to), lives with his wife, svetlana, and his advisor, aleksander molokov, who himself was born in the small settlement of alexandrovitch, located just outside the black gates, which separates the northernmost mountain range and the freefolk lands from the rest of the southern kingdoms. florence, meanwhile, is ser florence, a former advisor and freddie's royal mistress whose family comes from the eastern kingdoms but grew up in the golden city before deciding she was fed up with her life and ran away to become a knight instead, and then other plot details that include things like anatoly abdicating the throne because he never wanted the responsibility of ruling a kingdom and leaving his wife to take over the responsibility instead as the czarina and her doing so knowing that there are people who depended on them for leadership and guidance (and honestly probably being better at it than he was), molokov secretly plotting to take over the throne for himself (having already earned himself the nickname of the wolf whisperer), freddie regularly competing in the tournaments held in the golden city and being a very capable warrior in his own right (he's big on jousting).
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SNK // Volleyball AU ft. retired-pro-libero!Levi
who is phoned one day by his distant relative, Mikasa. With the push of her boyfriend Eren - fed up with loss after loss, she begrudgingly begs him to help her struggling recreational team.
He reminds her that he's done with the sport, but is eventually guilted into it when he learns that they will lose tonight's match by forfeit if he does not fill in, and that they're 0-7 so far.
The phone is hardly hung up when Levi mutters, "Stupid brat." Stupid her: getting him involved. Stupid him: agreeing to it.
Levi feels even more stupid when he enters the gym. He is the most qualified person there and he knows it, but yet, that is the root of his embarrassment. Bright white Asics while everyone else is in dirty street shoes. He is the only one in kneepads - he clenches his teeth in a debate with himself: yearning to take them off, but concluding it is not worth the scraped knees. If he wasn't a libero, they would be in his duffel bag in a heartbeat. He rubs his forehead in his hand, consoling himself: At least they can't see the spandex underneath your shorts.
And of course, they are crushed. Levi saw it coming from the warmups alone. His stats were remarkable, though, having dug every ball while making sure not to overstep any zones. From his former days, his skills had only faintly dimmed, but one hard-earned lesson remained: trust your teammates, even if they're bad, it'll be good for them in the long run.
Only once did a ball slip by him, thanks to some blonde-bearded try hard in a sweatband and goggles who insisted on jump-spin serves. Eye contact glared across the net:
Seriously? You're going to pull that shit in the novice league?
What? Can't handle it, shorty?
The game ends when the ball drops between Eren and Jean - both mad at each other for not going for it. Levi rested his hands on his knees and sighed, the most pathetic end to a most pathetic team.
Their bickering is drowned out though as the team erupts in cheer: "WOO HOO!!!" Huge smiles on everyone's faces as they exchange high fives and pats on the back.
Levi drops his jaw, dumbfounded. Why the hell are they celebrating? Did they read the scoreboard backward?
"Double digits!!!"
On the way home from the match, Levi calls his former teammate AND HUSBAND Erwin and vents:
"Erwin, these kids don't know their asses from their heads..."
Having known him for so many years, Erwin is able to recognize: this is his own way of asking for help.
It is then that the Devils begin their journey to make the playoffs: six amateurs looking to an unpleasant libero and commanding coach with hopes of sweeping the rest of the season.
// masterlist //
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