Nomenclature (4/4)
anonymous
June 3 2011, 08:28:56 UTC
****
It was a very long night. The Baltic was surprisingly stubborn. It wasn't until the first crack of dawn that he finally gasped, "O-Ostland, please, stop, my people ... I am Ostland!" and with that he finally passed out.
Germany wordlessly reset the three bones had had dislocated. Ostland woke up with the first one, gasping in pain, but he grit his teeth through the other two. The rest would heal. It would take a while with the shape Ostland was in, but it would heal, straight and whole; they were nations, after all. When Germany was done he crouched at Ostland's side. "You owe me troops," he said.
Ostland looked at him dully. "I will have to speak with the rest of Ostland about that."
Germany gave him a sharp look and a raised eyebrow. "The rest of Ostland has already given me troops."
Ostland closed his eyes. "Well, then, you must get that order through my government and we'll see it handled."
Germany saw that was all he would get from the Baltic nation at the moment. He straightened, tired and ready to sleep on his way back to Italy (who knew what kind of trouble he was in by now?), when Ostland, pushing to one elbow with tears streaming from his eyes at the pain of it, said, "I would have followed you willingly."
"What?"
"I would have followed you willingly. Happily, and wholeheartedly." Ostland didn't look up. "You were giving me and my people freedom - and had you let them keep it, we would have flocked to help you."
Germany stood stiffly. "I need your help whether it is given in free will or at force. Force is what you chose and that is the route I have taken."
"Mm." Ostland nodded his head heavily. "I suppose there was never much to offer in the first place."
"As Ostland, you are part of my lands," Germany informed him.
"A great empire," Ostland said wearily. "Yes. Of course."
There was still some spirit left. But there were always pockets of resistance. Germany ignored the uncomfortable twitch in the back of his neck as he started out the door. "I will see you shortly, Ostland, and you will have troops ready."
"Yes, Herr Empire Germany," Ostland said, faint.
What he didn't say, but they both heard, was and empires always fall.
****
Author's Notes: --I apologize for not delivering on smut and everything ending up being gratuitous torture. I gave Lithuania a really long time to break but nobody wants to read all the stuff Germany did to him in between. Even I was getting a little sick writing it!
--Herr means 'sir', IIRC, in German. --Ostland was the name of a block of nations, including Lithuania, that Germany established as it invaded Russia. It probably included all the Baltics and other nations, but I gotta be honest and say I only checked here before writing this: http://www.worldrover.com/history/lithuania_history.html which is a really depressing link. --Prussia was officially dissolved in 1934, so when Lithuania is like 'what do I call you again?' it's like slapping Prussia in the face. In other words, your call if Germany is justifiably angry at Liet here.
--Yeah, uh, thanks for reading, and once again: I'm sorry.
No, thank you for your reply! It means a lot to me that you took the time to say you enjoyed it. I thought nobody had read this so it means doubly much!
Re: Nomenclature (4/4)
anonymous
June 3 2011, 19:52:07 UTC
This was beautifully written.
I really loved your characterization of Lithuania. He wasn't weak even though he wasn't in control. You can really feel Lithuania's resistance and despair at the same time.
Also, it wasn't hard to see Germany's point of view. A country on the verge of being an empire, having been beaten and downtrodden in the past, finally on the precipice of something grand.
All in all, very well done ^_^ I enjoyed it immensely.
Thank you for noticing so much of what I was trying to bring out. Lithuania was in a bad way through World War II, trapped between two more powerful warring nations, but the country put up an impressive resistance (along with the other Baltic nations!) to both Russia and Germany through the Forest warriors and other more passive ways. Soviet Russia also tended to burn any land they retreated from to keep the advancing enemy from having anything to live off of.
And yeah - the main reason for Hitler's rise to power was because Germany was so completely devastated and broke during the interwar period, thanks to a terrible WW1 peace treaty. My headcanon is that Germany was pretty dead inside at this point - he kept going because he is a consummate soldier - and so even in his frustration and anger at Lithuania he's still weirdly dispassionate and violent.
Re: Nomenclature (4/4)
anonymous
June 4 2011, 00:33:03 UTC
Thank you! Most people don't know how much Lithuania resisted Germany during the time or just like to focus on the Lithuanian Holocaust and lable Lithuanians as Hitler loving Nazis because of that. Lithuania was one out of only four other European countries (including Poland, of course) that didn't have a Waffen unit (basically small armies from other countries that fought along side Germany). Lithuania didn't actually collaberate with Germany, and it's just really funny how much the Germans tried getting Lithuanians to fight for them. Anyway, love the story though, personally, I think Lithuania would have kept calling himself Lietuva since Lithuanians are extremely stubborn but I'm pleased that you didn't make him give up easily. I hate it when people protray Lithuania as a spineless woobie, I mean, out of all the former Soviet countries, Lithuania's always been the most rebellious and the country's actually really tough. Sorry for my ranting, great work author anon!
Lithuania's history through World War 2 is both miserable and incredible! The details on its involvement with the Holocaust is very cloudy and as Hetalia is silent on it I prefer to also remain silent in this silly land of people!nations; besides, I wanted to bring the focus around to something different.
Yes - everything you've said here is things I wish I'd put in my notes (I was so tired, anon, it was like 5 AM when I finished this). Lithuania did end up with a little independent armed force eventually, but as soon as they got their first orders from Germany they disbanded and became the armed resistance in the forests along with the other Baltic resistance forces! Lithuania was definitely occupied by, not allied with, Germany during WW2 and in fact was (along with the other Baltic nations) mentioned specifically in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Act that divided Eastern European influence between Russia and Germany: the three nations were originally given to Russia, then traded to Germany, and then back to Russia.
I think Lithuania would have kept calling himself Lietuva since Lithuanians are extremely stubborn I didn't explicitly state it but the reasons Lithuania submits to being renamed Ostland in this fic is because he doesn't want his people to suffer any more and in his head, he'll always be Lietuva (see the resistance I mentioned above). Since the fic's from Germany's POV it has to seem like Lithuania's lost. Don't worry: I am actually on your side! (On a more human note, being beaten and having bones broken and dislocated all night: every human breaks under torture, just to different degrees. Poor Lithuania. He's still awesome, though.)
Most of Lithuania's resistance in the 20th century is passive, which is why, I think, this fandom tends to make him out to be wimpy, wishy-washy, or pathetic. I'm looking for a prompt to excuse writing a fic about the time Lithuania declared his independence, Russia chased him down and beat him up a little, and Lithuania just stood there and took it until Russia realized the NATO nations were watching and had to agree to Lithuania's freedom. (And that was how Lithuania was recognized as a free nation in 1990/1991! First by ICELAND. That's kind of hilarious.)
Thanks for your review! I love discussing the history behind Hetalia!
It was a very long night. The Baltic was surprisingly stubborn. It wasn't until the first crack of dawn that he finally gasped, "O-Ostland, please, stop, my people ... I am Ostland!" and with that he finally passed out.
Germany wordlessly reset the three bones had had dislocated. Ostland woke up with the first one, gasping in pain, but he grit his teeth through the other two. The rest would heal. It would take a while with the shape Ostland was in, but it would heal, straight and whole; they were nations, after all. When Germany was done he crouched at Ostland's side. "You owe me troops," he said.
Ostland looked at him dully. "I will have to speak with the rest of Ostland about that."
Germany gave him a sharp look and a raised eyebrow. "The rest of Ostland has already given me troops."
Ostland closed his eyes. "Well, then, you must get that order through my government and we'll see it handled."
Germany saw that was all he would get from the Baltic nation at the moment. He straightened, tired and ready to sleep on his way back to Italy (who knew what kind of trouble he was in by now?), when Ostland, pushing to one elbow with tears streaming from his eyes at the pain of it, said, "I would have followed you willingly."
"What?"
"I would have followed you willingly. Happily, and wholeheartedly." Ostland didn't look up. "You were giving me and my people freedom - and had you let them keep it, we would have flocked to help you."
Germany stood stiffly. "I need your help whether it is given in free will or at force. Force is what you chose and that is the route I have taken."
"Mm." Ostland nodded his head heavily. "I suppose there was never much to offer in the first place."
"As Ostland, you are part of my lands," Germany informed him.
"A great empire," Ostland said wearily. "Yes. Of course."
There was still some spirit left. But there were always pockets of resistance. Germany ignored the uncomfortable twitch in the back of his neck as he started out the door. "I will see you shortly, Ostland, and you will have troops ready."
"Yes, Herr Empire Germany," Ostland said, faint.
What he didn't say, but they both heard, was and empires always fall.
****
Author's Notes:
--I apologize for not delivering on smut and everything ending up being gratuitous torture. I gave Lithuania a really long time to break but nobody wants to read all the stuff Germany did to him in between. Even I was getting a little sick writing it!
--Herr means 'sir', IIRC, in German.
--Ostland was the name of a block of nations, including Lithuania, that Germany established as it invaded Russia. It probably included all the Baltics and other nations, but I gotta be honest and say I only checked here before writing this: http://www.worldrover.com/history/lithuania_history.html which is a really depressing link.
--Prussia was officially dissolved in 1934, so when Lithuania is like 'what do I call you again?' it's like slapping Prussia in the face. In other words, your call if Germany is justifiably angry at Liet here.
--Yeah, uh, thanks for reading, and once again: I'm sorry.
Reply
Reply
Reply
I really loved your characterization of Lithuania. He wasn't weak even though he wasn't in control. You can really feel Lithuania's resistance and despair at the same time.
Also, it wasn't hard to see Germany's point of view. A country on the verge of being an empire, having been beaten and downtrodden in the past, finally on the precipice of something grand.
All in all, very well done ^_^ I enjoyed it immensely.
Reply
And yeah - the main reason for Hitler's rise to power was because Germany was so completely devastated and broke during the interwar period, thanks to a terrible WW1 peace treaty. My headcanon is that Germany was pretty dead inside at this point - he kept going because he is a consummate soldier - and so even in his frustration and anger at Lithuania he's still weirdly dispassionate and violent.
Thanks so much for your reply!
Reply
Lithuania was one out of only four other European countries (including Poland, of course) that didn't have a Waffen unit (basically small armies from other countries that fought along side Germany). Lithuania didn't actually collaberate with Germany, and it's just really funny how much the Germans tried getting Lithuanians to fight for them.
Anyway, love the story though, personally, I think Lithuania would have kept calling himself Lietuva since Lithuanians are extremely stubborn but I'm pleased that you didn't make him give up easily. I hate it when people protray Lithuania as a spineless woobie, I mean, out of all the former Soviet countries, Lithuania's always been the most rebellious and the country's actually really tough. Sorry for my ranting, great work author anon!
Reply
Yes - everything you've said here is things I wish I'd put in my notes (I was so tired, anon, it was like 5 AM when I finished this). Lithuania did end up with a little independent armed force eventually, but as soon as they got their first orders from Germany they disbanded and became the armed resistance in the forests along with the other Baltic resistance forces! Lithuania was definitely occupied by, not allied with, Germany during WW2 and in fact was (along with the other Baltic nations) mentioned specifically in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Act that divided Eastern European influence between Russia and Germany: the three nations were originally given to Russia, then traded to Germany, and then back to Russia.
I think Lithuania would have kept calling himself Lietuva since Lithuanians are extremely stubborn
I didn't explicitly state it but the reasons Lithuania submits to being renamed Ostland in this fic is because he doesn't want his people to suffer any more and in his head, he'll always be Lietuva (see the resistance I mentioned above). Since the fic's from Germany's POV it has to seem like Lithuania's lost. Don't worry: I am actually on your side! (On a more human note, being beaten and having bones broken and dislocated all night: every human breaks under torture, just to different degrees. Poor Lithuania. He's still awesome, though.)
Most of Lithuania's resistance in the 20th century is passive, which is why, I think, this fandom tends to make him out to be wimpy, wishy-washy, or pathetic. I'm looking for a prompt to excuse writing a fic about the time Lithuania declared his independence, Russia chased him down and beat him up a little, and Lithuania just stood there and took it until Russia realized the NATO nations were watching and had to agree to Lithuania's freedom. (And that was how Lithuania was recognized as a free nation in 1990/1991! First by ICELAND. That's kind of hilarious.)
Thanks for your review! I love discussing the history behind Hetalia!
Reply
Leave a comment