Your stories never fail to impress me. Never. This was beautifully written, and I seriously cannot express in words how amazing this was. When I read this story, I was able to image perfectly by your flawless descriptions exactly what was going on, and at the same time, be able to understand the feelings coming from the two even though you only conveyed their feelings through small, vague actions or words. You are my favorite author on fanfiction, hands down. Great job, REALLY great job.

** wow! that was an awesome read ) this is what I'm thinking as well! ahahah silly Toris, he doesn't know who he'll be dealing with in the future x3

Dude. DUDE. This story was so fantastic that it made me take my eyes off the television. And Mariska Hargitay was on. MARISKA HARGITAY. That's how amazing this was. Not to mention that I have shingles in my dominant hand and typing is painful XD

Your writing style is absolutely phenomenal. I'm sure that your retinas aren't virgin to such a compliment, because it's true! Hell, you managed to tear me away from painkillers and Hargitay, so that must mean something. The relationship between Ivan and Toris in this... wowza, it's so unprecedented. I don't mean this solely because of the time period in which you opted to write about, no. The dialogue between the characters creates a dynamic fresh and interesting between them... even when Toris has the proverbial "upper hand" in this situation, he just... UGH. I'm really trying my hardest here to rack my brain for an original way to express the way that this story made me feel, but it's a bit difficult ;;

You perfectly captured Toris' kind nature within this. It's actually beautiful. I literally had chills reading this. Chills! It's so rare that a story makes me actually feel. You forged Ivan's flawless mindset, delving into his psyche and his ideals during this time period. It is amazing. It's like you just hopped right on into his cranium and just... wow. I am at a loss for words in an oral and keyboard context. I could literally see this happening- no, no, this is my new headcanon, honestly. I could almost tangibly feel Ivan's emotions here. You nailed this. You NAILED this. You've stunned and impressed me into a realm of speechlessness, which is nearly an impossible task for one who loves to hear herself talk as I do, haha.

Despite the fact that the geographical lottery put us on opposite sides of this continent, you'll just have to take my word for it when I say that I was giving you a standing ovation by the end of this story! This is /exactly/ what I was looking for! I can only follow the advice of The Count of Monte Cristo and "wait and hope" that you will one day make a sequel to this. :)

My only pet peeve: bold. I have a big thing against bold text... but that's just me. It's just personal preference, but I found myself skimming over some lines because I was so drawn to the bold. But that's it, and it wasn't even that distracting.

Anywaaay. When I saw that this lacked the amount of reviews it so rightfully deserves, I was outraged, actually. This is an introspective and perfect masterpiece, and its talented author deserves a long and detailed review. So, I delivered. :)

Thank you for this! I'm so excited to read the rest of your stories. I'm very impressed and very happy. Thank you so much for this!

Have a "happy" January 13th! :(

Um... hi. Lithuanian history-loving anon here. Juuus' saying that, during the Battle of Kulikovo, many Lithuanians, disturbed by Jogaila's rule, fled to Russia (including his own two brothers!) and fought on Dmitri Donskoi's side against the Mongols, against Jogaila. I... I had a friend write a fanfiction about that for me, but that was a loooong time ago. Like... back in the summer. So, er. Yeah. I'm a big expert when it comes to the Battle of Kulikovo (like, the Russian champions, the blessings beforehand, etc. etc) and Lithuanian participation on both sides, so I just thought it would be a cool thing if you wrote about Lithuania fighting on Russia's side or something? She's not so into Hetalia anymore, so she may or may not post my fanfiction on a mule account, but I love your style and think that it would be a very interesting (and fun!) topic for you to research/write about.

If you're interested... er, well... I'm anonymous for a reason, so I guess we'll have to hope for some cosmic occurrence to happen wherein you could contact me for sources and junk? Ahaha.

Cheers. :)

I hope you decide to post the second part. This is a really good story.

plz tell me thrers more to this or is this a oneshot

ohmygod! OHMYGOD! YOU MADE MY FANFICTION DREAM COME TRUE!

I've been looking for a fic that covers the mongol invasion of Kievan Rus' for FOREVER! iloveyouiloveyouiloveyou!

and it's historically accurate! and just...OHMYGOD!

please please please do not abandon this! You're so great! akhdafkda

btw, how far in history are you going to cover? (I was looking for a fic that covers Russia from his childhood as Kievan Rus all the way until the fall of the USSR but that would be a BEAST fic and I cant write it cause I already have a long list of stories to write/finish...)

but I'll take what I can get. (and I like what I'm gettin' *winkwink*)

Very sweet and sad. The part where they're talking about how they can't be friends yet because Ivan isn't strong reminds me from a chapter in Hetalia where they basically have the same convo, though they're much younger than 13 at the time :)

this was very awsome to read