#28 - Tôi Kratistôi, for koushi

[forgerness]

Title: Tôi Kratistôi
Recipient: koushi
Author: coldthermistor
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Robert/Saito
Word count: 3038
Warnings: None that I can think of.
A/N: One section is has a prominent stylistic influence from Matthew Stover, as well as in phrasing. Thanks to M. for the beta, despite the mess. Tôi Kratistôi is supposedly spoken by Alexander the Great at his deathbed

Comments

[kirstenlouise]

*_____*

I love your Saito, seriously. He's so smooth and cool, but beneath the reserved surface it's clear that he's a complete badass. Every word just drips with this quiet condescension---and he doesn't even have to try. SAITO JUST IS, AND IT IS BEAUTIFUL.

“I do not run a school,” he says, “Try Harvard. I understand they would admit you.”

I adore this line. It just sums Saito up so perfectly, so self-assured even when he's completely mistaken about the man standing in front of him. And I loved Robert here, too. He's definitely the cool, slightly distant man we see in the movie, but he's very adamantly not the spoiled brat Saito seems to take him for initially.

Their dynamic is great, and the stylistic cast of the piece works very well. I looked up the lines at the end to read the whole poem, and it is just so incredibly beautiful. Great choice!

[kirstenlouise]

Thank you kindly! :)

I blame you for sticking condescending!Saito into my head for life. Can't help it. And how the hell do you keep getting into my head and figuring what I meant to write?

Uh...I hate to say this, but the poem was not supposed to be there. It was a blooper - Gmail automatically appended my email signature and I forgot to bleep it out, so I guess it was thought to be part of the fic. Heh.

[kirstenlouise]

I'm one of your projections. Trufax. And now my sneaking suspicions of your identity have been confirmed. ;)

... oh, well, that does sort of make sense, haha. Still, it is a very pretty poem. You should just stick in lines from it everywhere from now on. I WON'T COMPLAIN.

[kirstenlouise]

Considering that I emailed you, I can hardly think the signature was not a screaming sign, given Gmail does it automatically. Curses. Outed by technology!

LOL ALRIGHT, I WILL DO SO. I can't help it, kind of. Agha Shahid Ali rocks.

[zoi_no_miko]

Oooh, what a beautiful look at the two of them. Very nicely done. :)

[zoi_no_miko]

Thank you kindly :)

[faorism]

You handled the aftermath of inception, especially when trying to get Saito and Fischer together, wonderfully. Definitely one of the best, and more realistic, I've seen in some time.

[faorism]

Thank you kindly! :)

[koushi]

O. M. G.

This is so beautiful and perfect, I can hardly think of the words with which to respond. Nothing I can say now would do justice to this work of art, yet still, I'm here flustered and awestruck, trying to come up with anything that isn't a garbled mess of capslock and squiggly hearts.

I really enjoy the imagery of the sword slicing through air binding the whole piece, the crisp clarity of your style--and impeccably concise diction, and the subtle dialogue between the two is beyond in-character: it brings them to life. In my head the whole thing happened like a movie with muted colors, only the blues shining through (that of Fischer's eyes and the bluesteel glint of the shinken).

Absolutely lovely and a thousand times better than anything I could have hoped for. I worship you and eagerly await the name reveals so I can grovel further. Thank you for the wonderful and unforgettable present. <333

[coldthermistor]

Heh, thanks :) You're welcome and all. I'm just really relieved you like it lol.