Re: London Bridge -- Part I/? (USUK) cont.
anonymous
September 25 2011, 23:03:23 UTC
The work in progress is simply titled Susan. He reads the words on the pages hungrily, devours them, wants to ask for a second or third helping, but he reminds himself that he is a gentleman now (though 'twasn't always so) and he has no wish to appear vulgar ('twasn't always so).
Instead, he points to one paragraph in particular. "This exchange between the hero and heroine seems...forgive me, but it seems the slightest bit out of place, out of character."
She leans over his should to read the words in question: Remember the country and the age in which we live. Remember that we are English, that we are Christians.
"That!" she cries with a small giggle. "No, sir, that shall stay, incongruous though it may seem." She sobers quickly. "You see, I have heard a ghastly rumor that the Prince Regent is intending me to dedicate my forthcoming novel to him." She grimaces, but only slightly. "This excerpt seems a far better way for me to communicate my esteem of my country than to condone his…rather unseemly behavior." She brightens.
He will vividly remember this conversation for the rest of his life. He will, at any given moment, be able to recall and re-weave the finest details as though it were parallel in scope to Agincourt, Waterloo, the Marne. In a way, it is.
Such a small, sweet gesture...but am I worth it? I was not always a gentleman. In truth I fear I never shall be one. Set a man to watch all night, my fair Lady.
He has allowed a confession of love toward him to break his heart.
He was present when his dear, dear Bess was born. He held the babe in his arms and gingerly passed his fingers over her tiny head, her sticky hair. Years later he finds himself gently passing his fingers over that ruddy hair, as baby-fine as it was the day she was born, in the Tower. While he remembers the day she was born, she is contemplating her death.
She is staining the thigh of his breeches with hot tears while his fingers tenderly tangle in her long, unpinned hair. "'Tis not true!" she bitterly sobs. "I would never plot against her! I do not agree with her marrying a Spaniard, and I certainly do not agree with her regarding our Lord and Savior, but I know my place. The rebels approached me about their plans for our country but I know my place."
"Your place?" he murmurs - because even the mousiest voice will echo off the walls of the Tower with a terrifying promise of inevitability.
"Yes, as a sister and a princess of England." She hoists herself up onto her elbows. It's a little ridiculous, really, considering her situation and the indentations on her cheeks from the wrinkles of his breeches. Her face is blotchy, her hair is wild, but her eyes are fiery and unwavering. "I have always been loyal to England, and to be loyal to England is to be loyal to the queen. Do you think this rebellion will really change anything?" She doesn't allow him time (such queenly airs!) for an answer he doesn't have. "If Almighty God sees fit to grant the rebels their wish, I will make this country great. I will live for this country. I will die for this country. But I would do so with a heavy heart, for my dear sister's sake. She was my constant companion in my girlhood...and now, I do not know what to think."
Re: London Bridge -- Part I/? (USUK) cont.
anonymous
September 25 2011, 23:05:26 UTC
England, who has never gotten along with his siblings, leans back against the wall as she quietly rests her head in his lap once again. He knows what it is for destiny to drive siblings apart. Love of him would negate every Latin lesson, every whispered secret, every braided tress, every shared sticky scone foundation between the sisters.
She has stopped crying, but he continues to stroke her hair. He wants to calm himself now.
Truly, I have been made great, but...at what cost? Families, whether high born or low, are torn asunder in my name. Bricks and mortar will not stay, will not stay.
If his heart has been broken due to his people's love of him, his heart has also lovingly been stitched and glued back together by that same love. Only his people's devotion has ever made his heart swell and soar so incandescently. They have a way of reminding him to keep calm and carry on.
Churchill's voice is grave, gravely, ghostly. "...the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the World War by their prowess and by their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." He stops and looks up from his handwritten notes. He is holding them so tightly it is more like a clutch - a lion's powerful and final crunching clutch. "What do you think?"
"I think," England says, his eyes welling with unabashed tears, "it's perfect."
It's perfect, as they were, and we've been given precious more time, but I wasn't worth this. Never this. Silver and gold will be stolen away, stolen away, and Germany - the blackguard, the bastard - has stolen some of my most precious jewels from me. He'd best prepare his beaches, his landing grounds, his fields and his streets, his hills...
He believes his people when they reveal their love of country. Some will loudly proclaim it without even being asked, still others reveal it slowly as though peeling away at an onion. He can't explain the connection he has with his people, but it is there and it courses through his veins like the Thames itself. Since his - and their - birth, he has loved them and they have loved him. It is as undeniable as it is indescribable.
But England's dirty little secret is that he does not always feel worthy of his people, this love and devotion they have for him. He certainly hasn't always done right by them. It's well known that during his years on the Sundance, riding the roiling seven seas, he had a reputation for demanding - taking - love and devotion from the unwilling, the frightened.
"You will love me soon enough," he once drawled down to Spain, even as he crushed that nation's face beneath the weight of a muddied boot. "You only just think you hate me now, love." The truth is, Spain could be replaced (and was) with just about anyone else, nation or human, and the happenings would remain identical.
But he has grown and matured since then, and not without the help of his people, he's sure. And the more he's around in this crazy world, the more he sees how very little he is and how very much his people are. But his wonderful people continue to love him, believe in him, do what they can for him.
They keep coming back like a child, a simple, foolish child, though I have neglected them, refused them, shattered them, denied them, disowned them, beat them. London Bridge is falling down, after all. And yet they keep coming back. I don't pretend to know what they're thinking, the idiots. I've heard it said the very definition of stupidity is to continue doing the same things repeatedly, believing you'll see different results. But praise God they keep coming back. I pray they're always so unrepentantly foolish.
So England knows - he knows, damn it - what it is to be loved, to be told that you are loved, to be shown that you are loved. He knows what this feeling is like and cherishes it, brings it forth from the heart-shaped alcove in his chest when times are trying.
But Arthur Kirkland? That man (suppose the man should fall asleep, fall asleep?) knows nothing of love.
Re: London Bridge -- Part I/? (USUK) notes
anonymous
September 25 2011, 23:07:15 UTC
Here’s a preview for Part II: “He supposes it all begins with America, as many things do.”
Hey guys! I hope this chapter wasn’t too awful. Like I posted above, it’s been a while since I’ve written anything, so I feel a bit rusty. I hope this wasn’t too excruciating for you all to read…and OP, I’m sorry it was a little angsty. It will lighten up though. : ) This story, if you guys have any desire for me to continue writing, might be a little lengthy, I hope that’s also okay. And, OH! How about some notes? I’ve always wanted to write a Hetalia story and attach notes to it, like so many of my favorite Hetalia authors do. : ) If I’m majorly mistaken regarding something historical, please let me know. I love history but no one’s perfect.
*Lots of lines from the children’s rhyme “London Bridge” are interwoven throughout the story, including: London Bridge is falling down/iron and steel will bend and bow/set a man to watch all night, my fair lady/bricks and mortar will not stay/silver and gold will be stolen away/suppose the man should fall asleep
*“Valley of Death” and “Flash’d all their sabres bare” are lines from Tennyson’s “Charge of the Light Brigade.” To say that it’s a pretty intense poem is an understatement.
*Jane Austennn! I love her so much! I’ve always wanted to write about her and England because in my headcanon, England is very (justifiably) proud of his literary heritage, but he is immensely proud of and passionately devoted to his female writers in particular. Like, he will break your nose if you even so much as think about saying a word against his ladies. And I think that he and Miss Austen would get along very well. : ) FUN FACT: the Prince Regent, who would soon become George IV, was a fan of Austen and asked her to dedicate “Emma” to him. But the Prince Regent “asking” you to do something was more like a nicer way of him demanding it. Miss Austen was not amused because she was not his biggest fan, but she was still forced to do it anyway. The line England points out is from “Northanger Abbey,” and I’ve always thought it was a strange line - you could take those lines out and the meaning behind Henry’s speech (ooh Mr. Tilney oooh) wouldn’t change at all. Austen wasn’t heavy-handed about politics in her novels. Whenever she would mention something it was generally very subtle, so that patriotic line is a little disjointing for me personally, but eh, who knows.
*Agincourt, Waterloo, and the Marne were all famous battles that the English either won decisively on their own (Agincourt) or with support from other countries (Waterloo, the Marne).
*Queen Elizabeth I, before she was queen, was imprisoned in the Tower when she was about 21 years old, I believe, due to Wyatt’s Rebellion. Basically, some noblemen were unhappy with Elizabeth’s Catholic sister Mary wanting to marry (Catholic) Philip II of Spain. Mary’s overthrow and Elizabeth’s promotion to queen were never outright stated as aims but they were implied. The men approached Elizabeth about the rebellion but she always swore she never plotted with them. She was imprisoned and put on trial, and was probably very much afraid for her life. Mary spared her sister because some of Elizabeth’s supporters at court convinced Mary that there wasn’t enough evidence against her. She was safe, but placed under house arrest. The people’s support of Protestant Elizabeth was a constant thorn in the side of Mary’s reign. I wonder what that was like, considering they were sisters and grew up together? How do you reconcile politics, religion and family when they’re that interwoven?
*The speech Churchill is reading to England was delivered after the Battle of Britain. England’s “He’d best prepare his beaches, his landing grounds, his fields and his streets, his hills…” is a reference to an earlier speech by Churchill (made during the Battle of France, I believe).
*The Sundance. Ha, I don’t even know, you guys. Just thought it’d be a cool name for a ship. : )
Not!OP, but ... <3
anonymous
September 25 2011, 23:59:57 UTC
I already love what you're doing with this prompt, Author!Anon. I knew from the prompt that England what going to feel unlovable, but it didn't occur to me that you'd start with the love of his people first, regardless of the fact that that's probably the first and most unconditional love he'd known until America later. Certainly his people's love was a better choice than his brothers' or his lovers', but it was still a pleasant surprise. Ah, and I'm liking the contrast between England and Arthur Kirkland as much as I'm liking the contrast between being loved and being worthy of love or feeling loveable. Very clever, A!A.
I think you've shown a really good understanding of the character, especially of how much he's matured over the years. Good lord, his treatment of Spain is so emotionally juvenile. :'D
I think this was my favorite part of all:
If his heart has been broken due to his people's love of him, his heart has also lovingly been stitched and glued back together by that same love. Only his people's devotion has ever made his heart swell and soar so incandescently. They have a way of reminding him to keep calm and carry on.
For a second I kind of gaped at those last two sentences like, "Can your heart swell and soar while you're keeping calm and carrying on?" And then I was like, "... Dude, that's pretty damn English." LOL That was truly a beautiful thought, but damn that's English. <3
And for the record? I don't think I've ever seen someone weave in something like "London Bridge" so successfully. I did realize what it was, but it wasn't distracting at all because you managed to make it fit. That would normally be jarring, so excellent job!
... I really don't appreciate the fact that you made me want to read Jane Austen when my eyes already hurt. Naughty, naughty! LOL (Way to recruit for one of your favorite authors? It was really cool to include her; I'm willing to bet England has a special place in heart for his writers, even more so than for his other artists.)
Author's notes are cool, and previews are better, but I found it hard to read when I was busy ♥ing Bess and Jane Austen. ... Okay, maybe the promise of a long story of this quality is the best part, though. :D
Author anon here!
anonymous
September 26 2011, 03:45:20 UTC
Oh my goodness, thank you so much for your review! I really don't know what to say except thank you for the compliments, and you're far too kind. It's really encouraging and it makes me excited and motivated to work on the next part for you guys. I hope you'll enjoy it! <3
...I feel like this isn't a proper response to your wonderful review. Please forgive me!
Re: London Bridge -- Part I/? (USUK) notes
anonymous
September 26 2011, 03:30:38 UTC
I love the voice in this so much. You've mastered the art of being able to heavily imply both England's character and the time period with your narration and it's fantastic. I also love all of the research that you put into it. It shows much more dedication than the work of a lazy person like myself.
I wasn't expecting anything in this sort of calibre at all when I prompted and I think the fandom should be grateful that it has excellent writers of your standard dwelling within it. I'm entirely impressed. Brushing aside the fact that this is fanfiction, this is one of the best pieces of writing I've seen in quite a long time. It's only recently I've found time to read again after a long hiatus; this is absolutely wonderful to come back to.
Your grasp of history and of English culture is thorough and this particular British!anon is delighted. I can't claim to being entirely English but I'm still a proud English citizen, so I suppose I can bask in a patriotic glow here without it being too tenuous! I'm not going to make any assumptions about your personal heritage, but I'm glad there are people out there in some way interested in the country's past.
I must admit I never really enjoyed Austen's works- then again I've always had a slightly odd taste when it comes to the classics. But I think your use of her works and her characters here was needed and suitable, because I can't imagine it any other way- your competency in building the foundations of a believable and fascinating psyche is astonishing. It also helps that I adore human/country interactions of any kind. I'm not sure why, I just find it moving.
AAAAH CHURCHILL AHHHH The gallant way you chose to include him has made my day. That man's one of my heroes, not going to deny it.
Then oh goodness, poor Spain. England's pitiful emotional impediment is ever so heartrending. When I stated that I wasn't looking for angst, I didn't mean it in the sense that I wouldn't accept some true turmoil- I'd been trying to shield myself from authors that may try to turn things into a melodrama. You are far more competent than I could have hoped, and I'm ever so honoured that you're writing this.
And yes. Sundance is a bad-ass name for a ship. <3
Author anon here!
anonymous
September 28 2011, 03:28:22 UTC
Oh, OP! I'm so insanely glad you liked it! Can I just...can I hug you? *hugs* Thank you for your awesome review. You are so, so kind and I just...it's so encouraging! I don't deserve a quarter of the praise you gave me but I sure will take it, lawl. I can't wait for you guys to see what I have planned, I hope you all like it. : )
I'm so glad you found time to read again, isn't it great to come back to?
And I have to say...I'm an American!anon, but have always, always loved all things English. (I wish I could say British, but sadly I don't know that much about Wales, N. Ireland or even Scotland -- and Scotland, if my grandfather is correct, is part of our family heritage *headtodesk*). I think moving there is pretty much impossible (damn you work visaaaaa) but I am going to apply for a study abroad program in London this summer. Here's hoping! And bask in the patriotic glow all you want, OP! That's part of what's so great about Hetalia -- it reminds us why we love our countries, even when they're screwing up.
I too adore human/country interactions, and you're so right, I find them moving as well. There's a story floating around somewhere on the kink meme about England going blind during the Blitz and the way he worries about Churchill and the royal family is just...guh, it's so moving. I don't think it's been completed but I could find a link to it for you if you're interested. : )
Part II will be up soon. I was going to break it up into two posts so y'all wouldn't have to wait as long, but I think it would read/flow better as one, so it might be another day or so.
Re: London Bridge -- Part I/? (USUK) notes
anonymous
September 27 2011, 01:02:01 UTC
This is abso-flipping-lutely awesome, a!a. I mean, just, wow. This is me not having the words necessary to describe how awesome I think it is. The OP is really lucky to have such an awesome filler. I look forward to reading the next part. ^o^
Re: London Bridge -- Part I/? (USUK) notes
anonymous
September 27 2011, 02:17:56 UTC
You have talent. Genuine, wonderful talent. The story and the idea are interesting but what really had me riveted were your incorporations of British sayings, writings, and the repeated london bridge motif. The way you weave it all seamlessly together is stunning. Thank you so much.
Instead, he points to one paragraph in particular. "This exchange between the hero and heroine seems...forgive me, but it seems the slightest bit out of place, out of character."
She leans over his should to read the words in question: Remember the country and the age in which we live. Remember that we are English, that we are Christians.
"That!" she cries with a small giggle. "No, sir, that shall stay, incongruous though it may seem." She sobers quickly. "You see, I have heard a ghastly rumor that the Prince Regent is intending me to dedicate my forthcoming novel to him." She grimaces, but only slightly. "This excerpt seems a far better way for me to communicate my esteem of my country than to condone his…rather unseemly behavior." She brightens.
He will vividly remember this conversation for the rest of his life. He will, at any given moment, be able to recall and re-weave the finest details as though it were parallel in scope to Agincourt, Waterloo, the Marne. In a way, it is.
Such a small, sweet gesture...but am I worth it? I was not always a gentleman. In truth I fear I never shall be one. Set a man to watch all night, my fair Lady.
He has allowed a confession of love toward him to break his heart.
He was present when his dear, dear Bess was born. He held the babe in his arms and gingerly passed his fingers over her tiny head, her sticky hair. Years later he finds himself gently passing his fingers over that ruddy hair, as baby-fine as it was the day she was born, in the Tower. While he remembers the day she was born, she is contemplating her death.
She is staining the thigh of his breeches with hot tears while his fingers tenderly tangle in her long, unpinned hair. "'Tis not true!" she bitterly sobs. "I would never plot against her! I do not agree with her marrying a Spaniard, and I certainly do not agree with her regarding our Lord and Savior, but I know my place. The rebels approached me about their plans for our country but I know my place."
"Your place?" he murmurs - because even the mousiest voice will echo off the walls of the Tower with a terrifying promise of inevitability.
"Yes, as a sister and a princess of England." She hoists herself up onto her elbows. It's a little ridiculous, really, considering her situation and the indentations on her cheeks from the wrinkles of his breeches. Her face is blotchy, her hair is wild, but her eyes are fiery and unwavering. "I have always been loyal to England, and to be loyal to England is to be loyal to the queen. Do you think this rebellion will really change anything?" She doesn't allow him time (such queenly airs!) for an answer he doesn't have. "If Almighty God sees fit to grant the rebels their wish, I will make this country great. I will live for this country. I will die for this country. But I would do so with a heavy heart, for my dear sister's sake. She was my constant companion in my girlhood...and now, I do not know what to think."
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She has stopped crying, but he continues to stroke her hair. He wants to calm himself now.
Truly, I have been made great, but...at what cost? Families, whether high born or low, are torn asunder in my name. Bricks and mortar will not stay, will not stay.
If his heart has been broken due to his people's love of him, his heart has also lovingly been stitched and glued back together by that same love. Only his people's devotion has ever made his heart swell and soar so incandescently. They have a way of reminding him to keep calm and carry on.
Churchill's voice is grave, gravely, ghostly. "...the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the World War by their prowess and by their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." He stops and looks up from his handwritten notes. He is holding them so tightly it is more like a clutch - a lion's powerful and final crunching clutch. "What do you think?"
"I think," England says, his eyes welling with unabashed tears, "it's perfect."
It's perfect, as they were, and we've been given precious more time, but I wasn't worth this. Never this. Silver and gold will be stolen away, stolen away, and Germany - the blackguard, the bastard - has stolen some of my most precious jewels from me. He'd best prepare his beaches, his landing grounds, his fields and his streets, his hills...
He believes his people when they reveal their love of country. Some will loudly proclaim it without even being asked, still others reveal it slowly as though peeling away at an onion. He can't explain the connection he has with his people, but it is there and it courses through his veins like the Thames itself. Since his - and their - birth, he has loved them and they have loved him. It is as undeniable as it is indescribable.
But England's dirty little secret is that he does not always feel worthy of his people, this love and devotion they have for him. He certainly hasn't always done right by them. It's well known that during his years on the Sundance, riding the roiling seven seas, he had a reputation for demanding - taking - love and devotion from the unwilling, the frightened.
"You will love me soon enough," he once drawled down to Spain, even as he crushed that nation's face beneath the weight of a muddied boot. "You only just think you hate me now, love." The truth is, Spain could be replaced (and was) with just about anyone else, nation or human, and the happenings would remain identical.
But he has grown and matured since then, and not without the help of his people, he's sure. And the more he's around in this crazy world, the more he sees how very little he is and how very much his people are. But his wonderful people continue to love him, believe in him, do what they can for him.
They keep coming back like a child, a simple, foolish child, though I have neglected them, refused them, shattered them, denied them, disowned them, beat them. London Bridge is falling down, after all. And yet they keep coming back. I don't pretend to know what they're thinking, the idiots. I've heard it said the very definition of stupidity is to continue doing the same things repeatedly, believing you'll see different results. But praise God they keep coming back. I pray they're always so unrepentantly foolish.
So England knows - he knows, damn it - what it is to be loved, to be told that you are loved, to be shown that you are loved. He knows what this feeling is like and cherishes it, brings it forth from the heart-shaped alcove in his chest when times are trying.
But Arthur Kirkland? That man (suppose the man should fall asleep, fall asleep?) knows nothing of love.
Reply
Hey guys! I hope this chapter wasn’t too awful. Like I posted above, it’s been a while since I’ve written anything, so I feel a bit rusty. I hope this wasn’t too excruciating for you all to read…and OP, I’m sorry it was a little angsty. It will lighten up though. : ) This story, if you guys have any desire for me to continue writing, might be a little lengthy, I hope that’s also okay. And, OH! How about some notes? I’ve always wanted to write a Hetalia story and attach notes to it, like so many of my favorite Hetalia authors do. : ) If I’m majorly mistaken regarding something historical, please let me know. I love history but no one’s perfect.
*Lots of lines from the children’s rhyme “London Bridge” are interwoven throughout the story, including: London Bridge is falling down/iron and steel will bend and bow/set a man to watch all night, my fair lady/bricks and mortar will not stay/silver and gold will be stolen away/suppose the man should fall asleep
*“Valley of Death” and “Flash’d all their sabres bare” are lines from Tennyson’s “Charge of the Light Brigade.” To say that it’s a pretty intense poem is an understatement.
*Jane Austennn! I love her so much! I’ve always wanted to write about her and England because in my headcanon, England is very (justifiably) proud of his literary heritage, but he is immensely proud of and passionately devoted to his female writers in particular. Like, he will break your nose if you even so much as think about saying a word against his ladies. And I think that he and Miss Austen would get along very well. : ) FUN FACT: the Prince Regent, who would soon become George IV, was a fan of Austen and asked her to dedicate “Emma” to him. But the Prince Regent “asking” you to do something was more like a nicer way of him demanding it. Miss Austen was not amused because she was not his biggest fan, but she was still forced to do it anyway. The line England points out is from “Northanger Abbey,” and I’ve always thought it was a strange line - you could take those lines out and the meaning behind Henry’s speech (ooh Mr. Tilney oooh) wouldn’t change at all. Austen wasn’t heavy-handed about politics in her novels. Whenever she would mention something it was generally very subtle, so that patriotic line is a little disjointing for me personally, but eh, who knows.
*Agincourt, Waterloo, and the Marne were all famous battles that the English either won decisively on their own (Agincourt) or with support from other countries (Waterloo, the Marne).
*Queen Elizabeth I, before she was queen, was imprisoned in the Tower when she was about 21 years old, I believe, due to Wyatt’s Rebellion. Basically, some noblemen were unhappy with Elizabeth’s Catholic sister Mary wanting to marry (Catholic) Philip II of Spain. Mary’s overthrow and Elizabeth’s promotion to queen were never outright stated as aims but they were implied. The men approached Elizabeth about the rebellion but she always swore she never plotted with them. She was imprisoned and put on trial, and was probably very much afraid for her life. Mary spared her sister because some of Elizabeth’s supporters at court convinced Mary that there wasn’t enough evidence against her. She was safe, but placed under house arrest. The people’s support of Protestant Elizabeth was a constant thorn in the side of Mary’s reign. I wonder what that was like, considering they were sisters and grew up together? How do you reconcile politics, religion and family when they’re that interwoven?
*The speech Churchill is reading to England was delivered after the Battle of Britain. England’s “He’d best prepare his beaches, his landing grounds, his fields and his streets, his hills…” is a reference to an earlier speech by Churchill (made during the Battle of France, I believe).
*The Sundance. Ha, I don’t even know, you guys. Just thought it’d be a cool name for a ship. : )
Have a great day! Love ya!
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I think you've shown a really good understanding of the character, especially of how much he's matured over the years. Good lord, his treatment of Spain is so emotionally juvenile. :'D
I think this was my favorite part of all:
If his heart has been broken due to his people's love of him, his heart has also lovingly been stitched and glued back together by that same love. Only his people's devotion has ever made his heart swell and soar so incandescently. They have a way of reminding him to keep calm and carry on.
For a second I kind of gaped at those last two sentences like, "Can your heart swell and soar while you're keeping calm and carrying on?" And then I was like, "... Dude, that's pretty damn English." LOL That was truly a beautiful thought, but damn that's English. <3
And for the record? I don't think I've ever seen someone weave in something like "London Bridge" so successfully. I did realize what it was, but it wasn't distracting at all because you managed to make it fit. That would normally be jarring, so excellent job!
... I really don't appreciate the fact that you made me want to read Jane Austen when my eyes already hurt. Naughty, naughty! LOL (Way to recruit for one of your favorite authors? It was really cool to include her; I'm willing to bet England has a special place in heart for his writers, even more so than for his other artists.)
Author's notes are cool, and previews are better, but I found it hard to read when I was busy ♥ing Bess and Jane Austen. ... Okay, maybe the promise of a long story of this quality is the best part, though. :D
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...I feel like this isn't a proper response to your wonderful review. Please forgive me!
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Hope you update soon!
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Your grasp of history and of English culture is thorough and this particular British!anon is delighted. I can't claim to being entirely English but I'm still a proud English citizen, so I suppose I can bask in a patriotic glow here without it being too tenuous! I'm not going to make any assumptions about your personal heritage, but I'm glad there are people out there in some way interested in the country's past.
I must admit I never really enjoyed Austen's works- then again I've always had a slightly odd taste when it comes to the classics. But I think your use of her works and her characters here was needed and suitable, because I can't imagine it any other way- your competency in building the foundations of a believable and fascinating psyche is astonishing. It also helps that I adore human/country interactions of any kind. I'm not sure why, I just find it moving.
AAAAH CHURCHILL AHHHH The gallant way you chose to include him has made my day. That man's one of my heroes, not going to deny it.
Then oh goodness, poor Spain. England's pitiful emotional impediment is ever so heartrending. When I stated that I wasn't looking for angst, I didn't mean it in the sense that I wouldn't accept some true turmoil- I'd been trying to shield myself from authors that may try to turn things into a melodrama. You are far more competent than I could have hoped, and I'm ever so honoured that you're writing this.
And yes. Sundance is a bad-ass name for a ship. <3
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I'm so glad you found time to read again, isn't it great to come back to?
And I have to say...I'm an American!anon, but have always, always loved all things English. (I wish I could say British, but sadly I don't know that much about Wales, N. Ireland or even Scotland -- and Scotland, if my grandfather is correct, is part of our family heritage *headtodesk*). I think moving there is pretty much impossible (damn you work visaaaaa) but I am going to apply for a study abroad program in London this summer. Here's hoping! And bask in the patriotic glow all you want, OP! That's part of what's so great about Hetalia -- it reminds us why we love our countries, even when they're screwing up.
I too adore human/country interactions, and you're so right, I find them moving as well. There's a story floating around somewhere on the kink meme about England going blind during the Blitz and the way he worries about Churchill and the royal family is just...guh, it's so moving. I don't think it's been completed but I could find a link to it for you if you're interested. : )
Part II will be up soon. I was going to break it up into two posts so y'all wouldn't have to wait as long, but I think it would read/flow better as one, so it might be another day or so.
<3
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