[Fanfiction] Dancing With Ghosts

[whitesin]

Title: Dancing with Ghosts
Fandom: Axis Powers Hetalia
Genre(s): Drama/Angst
Character(s)|Pairing(s): China, Korea
Rating/Warning(s): R, bloody imagery
Word Count: 3,861
Summary: A prequel/sequel of sorts for my piece “ Prisms,” taking place during the Korean War. China delves into his brother’s war and finds himself more embroiled than he had

Comments

[inner_wings]

Oh Korea. ;-; I love it when people look at the more serious side of him and you just broke my heart here. And I love your China, you can just feel how old he is and how much he's seen and yet he's still so very flawed and proud. Great stuff.

And the part about being buried alive was creepy as hell. That's not usually the stuff of my nightmares but it might be from now on. D:

[whitesin]

He does have such potential for seriousness, though I really do plan on shifting away from the 1900s and going further back in his history. I think I'm dwelling on the Korean War too much...

China was interesting to worth with in this story, because I think in the end it did end up becoming more about him than Korea. Which was fun. He really is such an old man and with that comes certain unsavory aspects of the personality.

Oh yes. Being buried alive is definitely one of my greatest fears. Well, I'm a chicken anyways but this is up on my list.

Thank you!

[picseanenigma]

Oh my lord. I don't even... This was just so... amazing. That's the only word I can think of to describe this piece because it is. I don't comment much on your works for fear of having nothing adequate to say but I just had to let you know how much this piece moved me.

All the imagery, all the detail, always vivid and stirring and never overdone. And the characters, oh how I love your take on them. Korea broke my heart with his coldness, his drive and his torn soul. China's devotion despite what he says was wonderfully done and his memories of a young Korea and the way he snapped and referred to Korea as a brat were some of my favourite parts.

Being buried alive has always been one of my deepest fears and the way Korea described his experience so emotionlessly chilled me to the bone.

[whitesin]

Wow... I have to confess that I had a lot of misgivings about putting this up. Not because I half-assed this (because it was rather emotionally wrenching and just a little frustrating to write this) but because I was afraid of the melodrama. I didn't want to "Tell" so much but there were some things that I felt needed to be said... and wasn't quite sure how to deliver them. But I'm glad that you think it's not overdone

[picseanenigma]

I can only imagine how hard it must have been to write this, especially since it is about your roots, but being able to put a little bit of yourself into your writing makes it all the more enthralling I suppose.
I think you managed to strike the balance between 'telling' and letting us as readers understand what was left unsaid just fine. :D

I do like your take on Korea's "North" half and the cold (and slightly insane) personality fits and contrasts nicely with his "South" half personality. And as for driving China to his snapping point, just what exactly was it about Korea's behavior that made China snap?

Oh my, do you happen to have a link to this fic? It's sounds disturbingly intriguing.

You're welcome. I'm glad you enjoy my comments! Seems like my paranoia was unfounded. XD And I suppose I'm more prone to reply to China-centric fics since good ones are few and far between. (Well, that and I'm shamelessly biased. I love him, emotional baggage, flaws and all!)

[whitesin]

Nah. It wasn't that hard because it was from my own roots but because I wanted to do it right. Civil War has affected practically every nation and atrocities have naturally occurred during that time. I don't want to give the impression that this one is the only one that matters... if that makes any sense. "Telling" is always very hard for me to do during these kinds of fics because I don't want people to misunderstand

[needzmoarsoop]

Given all the Reading Fail I've been up to lately when replying to LJ entries, please take the following with a grain of salt, in case I have once again magically misread something. x_0

I've actually been stalking your fics for a while now, because I adore serious historical fics involving China and his interactions with other nations. And though I'm sure you hear this all the time, I'd like to echo the sentiment that a well-written serious!Korea is a real treat, and yours is most certainly both

[whitesin]

I actually find your interpretations and critique interesting. A new perspective is always desirable, I assure you, and perhaps it can help out my scribblings that much more in the future

[needzmoarsoop]

Eeeeep, late reply is so frickin' late, but I just wanted to say, thank you so much for being so gracious in replying to my comment, especially since part of it was essentially criticism. And I'm really glad you brought up the idea of China not so much being habituated to the horror as simply repressing his memories of it. I hadn't thought of that, but since you mentioned it I can totally see it making just as much sense as world-weary jadedness. China would need a pretty vivid memory to be able to recall over 4000 years of history, and constant vivid memories of war would surely drive him crazy if he didn't actively repress them all the time. I really appreciate the new perspective you gave me by pointing this out, and I'm definitely going to keep an eye out for your future works. ;)

[whitesin]

Like I said, I have no issue with criticism, namely constructive criticism, and your points are extremely astute.

Nation-tans aren't people, despite their idiosyncrasies and human-like traits. I think that while they can forget things, they are much more proficient at remembering and retaining memories than the humans they represent. Such a thing is more of a curse than a gift. I believe Russia and China would be the most likely ones to have to fight their memories and it has subsequently broken them in some way (though Russia's insanity is covered a lot more extensively).

Thank you!