Corrected Vision, 1a/?
anonymous
October 18 2009, 19:18:02 UTC
America/Sweden requester-Anon decided to fill this. Filler!Anon apologizes for being a little too serious in this section, and for the introduction of OCs!South Africa.
Sunshine wasn't something that England was used to, especially a sunny winter day, as it just happened to be that day. Oh, he didn't begrudge the request of some of the northern nations to have the window curtains and blinds open in the meeting room. They got so little light during the winter that this action alone brightened up their collective moods. He thought that he could actually see a smile appear on Iceland's face. That...rather unique event alone made it interesting.
The problem was a simple combination of factors. America at the head of the table, one window in the wrong location, a reflection off of America's glasses, and England had to wonder why he wasn't permanently blind by this point. Protocol didn't allow him to change seats, and his boss wouldn't like it if he suddenly left the meeting for any reason short of Germany starting up the Blitz again. Scottish git. This is his fault, England thought. Oh, well, his time's numbered anyway. Another glint, and England's thoughts were driven away from his boss.
There has GOT to be a way to stop this. I can't bloody well ask America to remove Texas. If he did, Mexico would probably be into his pockets in a shot, and he's paranoid that way. Something discreet, maybe. I'm the nation of discreet. I should be able to do...hold it. Of course...
England began muttering under his breath. Some words in Latin, mixed with a great many in Saxon. His eyes closed as he concentrated, providing some immediate relief from the problem, but he knew that what he was doing would more than likely solve it. As he said one last word, "Expelliamus", he opened his eyes.
Nope. There was Texas, still shining like the stars at night, and still shining right into his eyes. Well, he thought, magic does tend to be hit or miss, and this was obviously a miss. What England didn't see was a short-lived blue nimbus surrounding America's head. Because of the way he was seated, he also didn't see that same nimbus surround six other heads in the room.
"...and I still believe that this mobile robotic factory is THE best solution for Africa's lack of manufacturing resources," America droned on. We can even make it green for you pussies who want..." The pause was unexpected. All the nations at the table saw America blink and shake his head slightly.
"America-san," Japan said, "while you are pausing, let me just say that my companies have been developing this sort of technology, and we can have this in production within four years."
"Next time you mindlessly agree with America, Japan," an obviously annoyed Switzerland said from across the table, "I really will stick the barrel of one of my Steyrs into your mouth and pull the trigger."
"Brother, please don't overreact," Liechenstein said in her calmest tone. "I'm sure that we can discuss this like mature nations."
"Sh't 'p f'r 'nce 'n y'r l'f, Sw'tz'l'nd." The room went silent as everyone looked at Austria. Yes, those words had come from his direction. Hungary, seated next to him as usual, looked at him. He looked like he usually did, except...there was something in his eyes. Something dark and cold, she thought. She put her hand on his shoulder as she asked, "Darling, are you feeling well?"
"'M f'n, w'f," was the reply.
"I don't think you are," Hungary said in her strongest tone. "The strain must be getting to you. I'll take you back to your room and get you some coffee and cake. That always sets you right."
"S'd 'm f'n," Austria could only say as Hungary began to drag him out of the room by his collar. As the door closed behind them, the remainder of the nations could hear Hungary yell, "Coffee and cake! Or else!"
Re: Corrected Vision, 1b/?
anonymous
October 18 2009, 19:20:43 UTC
The nations that remainded were, to put it mildly, confused, but began to quickly recover. Germany reopened the conversation with a quick question to Japan on whether or not America's plan was really viable.
"Yes, Doitsu-san, it is," Japan replied. "It would be helpful, though, if we had raw materials contributions from African nations in order to minimize costs. Would that be possible?" Japan looked toward the other end of the table at a dark-skinned man and woman and a much paler man, who looked like he could have been a lost sibling to the Benelux nations. It was rare for two nations to represent a country, almost unique in history for three to do so. But it seemed to work in this case. Zulu, Xhosa, and Orange had actually buried their long-standing hostilities and represented South Africa as one.
"I'm currently concentrating on arrangements for the World Cup and assisting Zimbabwe as much as I can," Xhosa said in a voice that more music than speech. "I will have to defer to my brothers-in-spirit."
Orange stood up. When England looked at him, the sunlight played the same trick off of that nation's red-blond beard as it did off of America's glasses, causing England to blink yet again and attempt to ignore the headache he was quickly developing. "I will make the economic arrangements," he said, his almost-impenetrable accent and rough voice causing other nations to strain to understand him.
"I will speak to our neighbors and see what they are able to contribute," Zulu said, giving the room a smile that, under different circumstances, would have scared the life out of any nation. "Namibia, will you assist?" Another dark-skinned man, this one with rather distinctive long sideburns, nodded. "Then we shall bring to this project the strength of warriors."
"And the spirit of the Voortrekkers," Orange added.
England smiled. My God, that...confidence, he thought. After all they've been through, all the times they fought each other. All the times they fought me while they were fighting each other. I'm really proud of them. I've got to tell them that when I have a chance, for what it's worth to them.
"Wait a second, everyone," America said. All eyes turned to him, surprise displayed on the faces of a number of nations. "I'm starting to have some doubts." Now virtually every nation had surprise displayed on their faces. "I want to run the numbers again. Let's take a break, then we can reconvene." He then turned to Russia and asked, "Is that fine with you?"
"You do not need to ask my permission to take a break, America," Russia said. "But in any way, I think it would be good to do so."
"Then let's take a few hours, have a good lunch, then come back. Who's for piirakka?"
"America," Finland said, his expression becoming more confused, "when have you ever had piirakka?"
"Shush, honey. A man eats what a man wants to eat." Finland's face went from surprise to complete utter shock as he turned toward the voice next to him, saw Sweden, and had his brain go into does-not-compute mode. "Person'ly, I'm gonna whip out the bar-bee-cue and put on some beef ribs. Gotta hankerin' f'r 'em, and I know where ta get some good sauce." By this point, the other Nordics had joined Finland on his one-way trip to Cognitive Dissonanceland.
"Barbecue?" England heard a voice to his left, one that sounded...well, a great deal like his, only higher-pitched. He turned and saw Canada, who was proceeding to roll his eyes back into his head as a sniff came out of his nose. "How...declasse. He probably doesn't even glaze the ribs beforehand. The qualities of a good maple syrup glaze are..."
"Canada, what's wrong?" England asked.
"What do you mean by wrong, pater?" was the retort. "There's nothing wrong. I was about to ask you to join me for elevenses. Do you wish to come? My treat."
Re: Corrected Vision, 1c/?
anonymous
October 18 2009, 19:34:19 UTC
"No, thank you," England responded. "Your idea of elevenses is Tim Horton's to go."
"Shame," Canada said as he got up. As Canada walked away, he came across a mirror and stared. England saw that he continued to stare. After about fifteen seconds, Canada began walking again, much more rapidly. England could hear him mutter, "No, no, this won't do. This will not do at all!"
"Well, it's break time then!" America said, and as if they'd heard the shot from a starter's pistol, they began leaving via the nearest door. Lithuania and Latvia were two of the first, walking out with each other. Behind them, a faint voice, non-descript, almost not identifiable as a voice, could barely be heard saying, "Hey, guys, wait for me. Guys?"
England, though, stayed seated. What's going on?, he thought. America wants food that sounds vaguely Eastern European, Canada wants to do elevenses, Austria's muttering like someone filled his mouth with marbles, and Sweden sounds like he's from Texas...hold on a mo, Texas? It then became very obvious what was going on. All England could do was put his head on the table and emit low moans.
Notes: The South Africa trio just seems natural. In Anon's mind, Nelson Mandela asked them to work together, and out of respect for the great man, they did. Then it started to actually work, and...well, they're comfortable with it now.
England fought against Zulu in the Zulu Wars and against Orange in the Boer War.
If some of England's colonies ended up with Iggybrows, doesn't it seem appropriate that Namibia got Germany's sideburns?
As for the glasses: Sweden got America's glasses America got Estonia's glasses Canada got Austria's glasses Austria got Sweden's glasses Estonia got Canada's glasses, so he's going to be pretty invisible for most of the story
There were seven characters whose glasses got switched. The other two got each other's glasses, and will be mentioned in the next chapter.
Author!Anon here...
anonymous
October 18 2009, 20:41:21 UTC
Remember, not!OP, seven nations got their glasses switched, and we've only seen five. Thailand is indeed one of the other two. And wait till you see what's happened to him.
reCaptcha: "russell blossom". Russell Brand/Soleil Moon Frye OTP!
Sunshine wasn't something that England was used to, especially a sunny winter day, as it just happened to be that day. Oh, he didn't begrudge the request of some of the northern nations to have the window curtains and blinds open in the meeting room. They got so little light during the winter that this action alone brightened up their collective moods. He thought that he could actually see a smile appear on Iceland's face. That...rather unique event alone made it interesting.
The problem was a simple combination of factors. America at the head of the table, one window in the wrong location, a reflection off of America's glasses, and England had to wonder why he wasn't permanently blind by this point. Protocol didn't allow him to change seats, and his boss wouldn't like it if he suddenly left the meeting for any reason short of Germany starting up the Blitz again. Scottish git. This is his fault, England thought. Oh, well, his time's numbered anyway. Another glint, and England's thoughts were driven away from his boss.
There has GOT to be a way to stop this. I can't bloody well ask America to remove Texas. If he did, Mexico would probably be into his pockets in a shot, and he's paranoid that way. Something discreet, maybe. I'm the nation of discreet. I should be able to do...hold it. Of course...
England began muttering under his breath. Some words in Latin, mixed with a great many in Saxon. His eyes closed as he concentrated, providing some immediate relief from the problem, but he knew that what he was doing would more than likely solve it. As he said one last word, "Expelliamus", he opened his eyes.
Nope. There was Texas, still shining like the stars at night, and still shining right into his eyes. Well, he thought, magic does tend to be hit or miss, and this was obviously a miss. What England didn't see was a short-lived blue nimbus surrounding America's head. Because of the way he was seated, he also didn't see that same nimbus surround six other heads in the room.
"...and I still believe that this mobile robotic factory is THE best solution for Africa's lack of manufacturing resources," America droned on. We can even make it green for you pussies who want..." The pause was unexpected. All the nations at the table saw America blink and shake his head slightly.
"America-san," Japan said, "while you are pausing, let me just say that my companies have been developing this sort of technology, and we can have this in production within four years."
"Next time you mindlessly agree with America, Japan," an obviously annoyed Switzerland said from across the table, "I really will stick the barrel of one of my Steyrs into your mouth and pull the trigger."
"Brother, please don't overreact," Liechenstein said in her calmest tone. "I'm sure that we can discuss this like mature nations."
"Sh't 'p f'r 'nce 'n y'r l'f, Sw'tz'l'nd." The room went silent as everyone looked at Austria. Yes, those words had come from his direction. Hungary, seated next to him as usual, looked at him. He looked like he usually did, except...there was something in his eyes. Something dark and cold, she thought. She put her hand on his shoulder as she asked, "Darling, are you feeling well?"
"'M f'n, w'f," was the reply.
"I don't think you are," Hungary said in her strongest tone. "The strain must be getting to you. I'll take you back to your room and get you some coffee and cake. That always sets you right."
"S'd 'm f'n," Austria could only say as Hungary began to drag him out of the room by his collar. As the door closed behind them, the remainder of the nations could hear Hungary yell, "Coffee and cake! Or else!"
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"Yes, Doitsu-san, it is," Japan replied. "It would be helpful, though, if we had raw materials contributions from African nations in order to minimize costs. Would that be possible?" Japan looked toward the other end of the table at a dark-skinned man and woman and a much paler man, who looked like he could have been a lost sibling to the Benelux nations. It was rare for two nations to represent a country, almost unique in history for three to do so. But it seemed to work in this case. Zulu, Xhosa, and Orange had actually buried their long-standing hostilities and represented South Africa as one.
"I'm currently concentrating on arrangements for the World Cup and assisting Zimbabwe as much as I can," Xhosa said in a voice that more music than speech. "I will have to defer to my brothers-in-spirit."
Orange stood up. When England looked at him, the sunlight played the same trick off of that nation's red-blond beard as it did off of America's glasses, causing England to blink yet again and attempt to ignore the headache he was quickly developing. "I will make the economic arrangements," he said, his almost-impenetrable accent and rough voice causing other nations to strain to understand him.
"I will speak to our neighbors and see what they are able to contribute," Zulu said, giving the room a smile that, under different circumstances, would have scared the life out of any nation. "Namibia, will you assist?" Another dark-skinned man, this one with rather distinctive long sideburns, nodded. "Then we shall bring to this project the strength of warriors."
"And the spirit of the Voortrekkers," Orange added.
England smiled. My God, that...confidence, he thought. After all they've been through, all the times they fought each other. All the times they fought me while they were fighting each other. I'm really proud of them. I've got to tell them that when I have a chance, for what it's worth to them.
"Wait a second, everyone," America said. All eyes turned to him, surprise displayed on the faces of a number of nations. "I'm starting to have some doubts." Now virtually every nation had surprise displayed on their faces. "I want to run the numbers again. Let's take a break, then we can reconvene." He then turned to Russia and asked, "Is that fine with you?"
"You do not need to ask my permission to take a break, America," Russia said. "But in any way, I think it would be good to do so."
"Then let's take a few hours, have a good lunch, then come back. Who's for piirakka?"
"America," Finland said, his expression becoming more confused, "when have you ever had piirakka?"
"Shush, honey. A man eats what a man wants to eat." Finland's face went from surprise to complete utter shock as he turned toward the voice next to him, saw Sweden, and had his brain go into does-not-compute mode. "Person'ly, I'm gonna whip out the bar-bee-cue and put on some beef ribs. Gotta hankerin' f'r 'em, and I know where ta get some good sauce." By this point, the other Nordics had joined Finland on his one-way trip to Cognitive Dissonanceland.
"Barbecue?" England heard a voice to his left, one that sounded...well, a great deal like his, only higher-pitched. He turned and saw Canada, who was proceeding to roll his eyes back into his head as a sniff came out of his nose. "How...declasse. He probably doesn't even glaze the ribs beforehand. The qualities of a good maple syrup glaze are..."
"Canada, what's wrong?" England asked.
"What do you mean by wrong, pater?" was the retort. "There's nothing wrong. I was about to ask you to join me for elevenses. Do you wish to come? My treat."
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"Shame," Canada said as he got up. As Canada walked away, he came across a mirror and stared. England saw that he continued to stare. After about fifteen seconds, Canada began walking again, much more rapidly. England could hear him mutter, "No, no, this won't do. This will not do at all!"
"Well, it's break time then!" America said, and as if they'd heard the shot from a starter's pistol, they began leaving via the nearest door. Lithuania and Latvia were two of the first, walking out with each other. Behind them, a faint voice, non-descript, almost not identifiable as a voice, could barely be heard saying, "Hey, guys, wait for me. Guys?"
England, though, stayed seated. What's going on?, he thought. America wants food that sounds vaguely Eastern European, Canada wants to do elevenses, Austria's muttering like someone filled his mouth with marbles, and Sweden sounds like he's from Texas...hold on a mo, Texas? It then became very obvious what was going on. All England could do was put his head on the table and emit low moans.
Notes: The South Africa trio just seems natural. In Anon's mind, Nelson Mandela asked them to work together, and out of respect for the great man, they did. Then it started to actually work, and...well, they're comfortable with it now.
England fought against Zulu in the Zulu Wars and against Orange in the Boer War.
If some of England's colonies ended up with Iggybrows, doesn't it seem appropriate that Namibia got Germany's sideburns?
As for the glasses:
Sweden got America's glasses
America got Estonia's glasses
Canada got Austria's glasses
Austria got Sweden's glasses
Estonia got Canada's glasses, so he's going to be pretty invisible for most of the story
There were seven characters whose glasses got switched. The other two got each other's glasses, and will be mentioned in the next chapter.
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I'm really enjoying this story, and the cultural references make it even better! ^.^
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No glasses switch for Thailand, anon? *whimpers*
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reCaptcha: "russell blossom". Russell Brand/Soleil Moon Frye OTP!
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