Mare Nostrum
anonymous
February 1 2011, 03:09:08 UTC
His beautiful mother, with a cobra on her headdress and robes of nearly translucent linen, once told Egypt that without the Mediterranean, the sacred Nile would have had nowhere to flow and Chaos would have taken over the land.
Islam was his religion now, and he does not believe in gods and goddesses, but he appreciates the sea the same way his mother did. It allows for trade and travel, and, by Allah, it is beautiful.
Every new year, the ancient date of wep-renpet, he slips down to Alexandria and drops a necklace into the white foam of the water. To honour his mother's memory, he tells himself, and to honour the memory of a civilization long gone, but never forgotten.
The White Sea has a possessive hold over Turkey.
He tells himself that he is being foolish: the sea has been here since the beginning of his time on earth and it will not disappear as long as he is around, but he cannot help the feelings of pride and joy that erupt from his soul whenever he is near.
It is most beautiful at dusk, he decides, and from a vantage point in a small café that serves bitterly strong coffee and baklava every night, he lets the memories of thousands of years of history sweep through him.
Carthage, Phoenicia, Rome, Macedonia and Thracia: he had known them all.
They were gone now; their legacies trapped in historic sites and artefacts, kept preserved in museums rarely frequented by the youth of today.
But Turkey thought that the mere sight of the Mediterranean Sea was heritage enough.
And as the thin smoke of the hookah passes through his lips, he sits back and smiles.
Notes:
Corsican general - Napoléon Bonaparte. He had plans to conquer the whole of Europe.
Al-Andalus - The name given to the parts of Spain that were under Muslim control from 711 to 1492 AD. Phoenicia - Although based in what is now modern day Syria, Israel and Lebanon, the Phoenicians traded with the peoples of Iberia.
Theseus, Achilles and Jason - Ancient Greek heroes.
SPQR - Senatus Populusque Romanus, The Senate and People of Rome. Capri - The island of Capri is a small island off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples. This area of Southern Italy is famous for its lemon groves.
Eternal City - A nickname for Rome.
Wep-renpet - The Ancient Egyptian festival of New Year.
The White Sea - A Turkish nickname for the Mediterranean; in Turkish it is 'Akdeniz.'
Re: Mare Nostrum
anonymous
February 1 2011, 04:25:41 UTC
Oh my the imagery in this is really stunning. ;w; And the way it's sort of broken and sort of not makes it read just like a song. I like it very much. And Turkeyyyy why do you remind me of that random stint as afghanistan oh god sldkfjlsdk
Ah, yeah. This was exactly what I wanted. A lot of this nations history, customs and identity is based on the Mediterranean, so it's nice to see it explored from time to time.
Re: Mare Nostrum
anonymous
February 1 2011, 16:43:55 UTC
Stunning, gorgeous, by far the best one-shot I've read in this new year, and possibly a lot longer than that. The imagery was truly breathtaking, and I was especially taken by the different ways they regard the same sea; because for anyone who's ever been here, the Mediterranean shows very different looks for such a small water body.
I also loved every single mention of the past. And I have to say Egypt's may be my favourite, followed by Greece's, which is very rare since I usually don't care for those characters. France's was interestingly morbid, and I found it appealing because he's the least Mediterranean of them all, he has a large continental northern part that's more Germanic than Latin. Spain's was lovely though I missed some reference to how, for all the sea has given him, his eyes always turned to the ocean aka, the Atlantic, and I liked that he mentioned France's snobism with food xD Turkey's was magical, and so very different from the others, as befits a nation with such a different culture and history! For him dusk was appropiate, as we start with night in France and move through the day till the end of the story, when nights falls again Romano's part was also a true delight to read, there's another character I usually can't stand, but you wrote him truly wonderful, captured all his spirit in just a few sentences: his insecurity and resentment at his brother, and his lone mood, but also his passion and appreciation of life, taking it slow, tasting it, as a spectator of beauty more than a creator of it like his brother.
Please, don't stop contributing to this meme, this was a beautiful gem ♥
Islam was his religion now, and he does not believe in gods and goddesses, but he appreciates the sea the same way his mother did. It allows for trade and travel, and, by Allah, it is beautiful.
Every new year, the ancient date of wep-renpet, he slips down to Alexandria and drops a necklace into the white foam of the water. To honour his mother's memory, he tells himself, and to honour the memory of a civilization long gone, but never forgotten.
The White Sea has a possessive hold over Turkey.
He tells himself that he is being foolish: the sea has been here since the beginning of his time on earth and it will not disappear as long as he is around, but he cannot help the feelings of pride and joy that erupt from his soul whenever he is near.
It is most beautiful at dusk, he decides, and from a vantage point in a small café that serves bitterly strong coffee and baklava every night, he lets the memories of thousands of years of history sweep through him.
Carthage, Phoenicia, Rome, Macedonia and Thracia: he had known them all.
They were gone now; their legacies trapped in historic sites and artefacts, kept preserved in museums rarely frequented by the youth of today.
But Turkey thought that the mere sight of the Mediterranean Sea was heritage enough.
And as the thin smoke of the hookah passes through his lips, he sits back and smiles.
Notes:
Corsican general - Napoléon Bonaparte. He had plans to conquer the whole of Europe.
Al-Andalus - The name given to the parts of Spain that were under Muslim control from 711 to 1492 AD.
Phoenicia - Although based in what is now modern day Syria, Israel and
Lebanon, the Phoenicians traded with the peoples of Iberia.
Theseus, Achilles and Jason - Ancient Greek heroes.
SPQR - Senatus Populusque Romanus, The Senate and People of Rome.
Capri - The island of Capri is a small island off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples. This area of Southern Italy is famous for its lemon groves.
Eternal City - A nickname for Rome.
Wep-renpet - The Ancient Egyptian festival of New Year.
The White Sea - A Turkish nickname for the Mediterranean; in Turkish it is 'Akdeniz.'
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♥
hello there my very pneumatic friend
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why is my writing so obvious 8|
&hearts
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personally i find france to be a darker character to the others, so it was fun to write him with a more morbid view.
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Good job!
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thank you, anon ♥
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i'm glad you enjoyed.
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I also loved every single mention of the past. And I have to say Egypt's may be my favourite, followed by Greece's, which is very rare since I usually don't care for those characters.
France's was interestingly morbid, and I found it appealing because he's the least Mediterranean of them all, he has a large continental northern part that's more Germanic than Latin.
Spain's was lovely though I missed some reference to how, for all the sea has given him, his eyes always turned to the ocean aka, the Atlantic, and I liked that he mentioned France's snobism with food xD
Turkey's was magical, and so very different from the others, as befits a nation with such a different culture and history! For him dusk was appropiate, as we start with night in France and move through the day till the end of the story, when nights falls again
Romano's part was also a true delight to read, there's another character I usually can't stand, but you wrote him truly wonderful, captured all his spirit in just a few sentences: his insecurity and resentment at his brother, and his lone mood, but also his passion and appreciation of life, taking it slow, tasting it, as a spectator of beauty more than a creator of it like his brother.
Please, don't stop contributing to this meme, this was a beautiful gem ♥
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i'm really flattered, thank you anon &hearts
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Turkey's sentiments towards the Mediterranean was lovely considering he is one of the oldest Euro nations~<3
I love Turkey, what can I say? <3
And I adore you for cooking up this gem for us to fangirl over. <333
I hope to see more fills from you, A!A~
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