drcalvin | *stabs GIANT PLOTBUNNY OF DOOM*

You. Are tormenting me. I have actually checked for updates about ten times today.

But anyway. Tell me about your plot bunny. I'll tell you about mine ♥

Oh, bribes!

Although I guess revealing this can in a way constitute a spoiler for the end of Close your eyes...

(there's no one at home tonight, least. even if my comp contines to be borked, I can steal another,so update is coming. mwahahaha)

Okay then: As of yet nameless fic involves swordfighting for fun, with increasingly pervy penalties, and France (who may or may not understand exactly what is going on) dropping by for a visit and uh, kinda ends with sex. And it's set after the one I'm currently posting =)

Aaaand I know shit about swords,but the situation is the same with pianos and classical music, and people still seem to like my Austria so we'll see how it goes

W-write it.

Try googling 'sword fighting techniques' or something like that. they've basically been the same since swords were first used, so I imagine it would work fine. I don't know, I've never used one, I've just been to a demo or two during Medieval fairs.

Oh, my plot bunny! OK, first of all, 90% of it is alternate history, so I suppose I get a bigger sandbox to play in, but it's still tricky. The short version is: after WW2, Austria becomes part of the Eastern Bloc.

The long version goes something like this: after WW2 and the establishment of occupation zones in both Germany and Austria, Russia steps up and declares that he wants all of Germany it his part of the neighbourhood instead of just what's technically left of Prussia. The Allies refuse, because they realize the danger of it, but because of the post-war situation and Russia still being pretty fucking badass, they're in no position to refuse very loudly. So instead they say 'Look, we'll have Germany, you can have Austria (since we think he's pretty harmless, but we're not going to tell you that)'. To everyone's surprise, Russia accepts.

What he's got on his hands now is a politically apathetic Austria, who is at first perfectly indifferent to becoming a glorious Republic of Workers and Peasants just as long as no one fucks with his piano, despises his neighbours on principle and hates the Allies for what they've done. In other words, he's wonderfully susceptible of becoming the perfect Soviet satellite state.

At first Russia leaves him alone, because he's busy with other things. Like the Berlin blockade not being so much a blockade as a reasonably well organized attempt to take over Berlin as a whole and then work from there. Once he fails, he decides to rummage through the metaphorical storage room, brings out a kicking and screaming no-longer-Prussia and establishes the GDR.

The GDR then proceeds to try and have a couple of revolutions on sheer principle, and he keeps failing miserably until 1956, when Hungary decides it would be nice to pull some coordinated effort. They try to talk Austria into it, because it's geographically convenient, but he refuses, because (a) he still hates the Allies and has no interest on going back to 'the other side', and (b) no one on 'this side' has fucked with his piano yet. The whole thing goes up in flames, Russia shakes his head in a mildly disapproving manner, visits Austria and says 'Here's some army, from now on you're in charge of both and Czechoslovakia will help you. Or I will fuck with more than your piano. Incidentally, you're also in charge of talking to Switzerland. Oh, you know. Just talking in general. Because you know that neutral =/= indifferent.'

And that's pretty much it. What I'm particularly interested in is the dynamic between Austria and Russia (which I imagine to be surprisingly civil on the whole, which is why Russia seems to trust him) and that between him and GDR and Hungary, who now look at him as some sort of guard dog for Russia. The interesting part is that, somewhere along the way, 'being in charge of them' turns into 'keeping them out of trouble', which slowly turns into 'protecting them'. Possibly via annexation (I know there's a bit of a geographical conundrum in Prussia's case here, but I'll think of something).

So. That's it. Sorry for the long ass comment. Any sort of input is very highly appreciated.

My brain is about to dribble out of my ears, but I just wanted to say that your fic sounds AWESOME and during the weekend I'll take time to comment properly with all the thinky thoughts you've awakened in my but right now fgjhldafjglsdhkla...

anyway, fic is done and posted? ok, aftermath part is left but i'm editing that now =D

after WW2, Austria becomes part of the Eastern Bloc.
Intriguing!

Once he fails, he decides to rummage through the metaphorical storage room, brings out a kicking and screaming no-longer-Prussia and establishes the GDR.
Also very intriguing. I take it the kicking and screaming isn't very metaphorical ;)

I... honestly wish I could give more input, but my knowledge of the early part of Eastern Bloc history is abysmal. I'd love to see Hungary's reaction, especially since she both seems to respect Austria-san a great deal, but also sees him as a bit of a weakling?

And how it all looks to Germany, of course. Duh

Agree completely with you that Russia and Austria could take things civilly between them, though I think that a proper motivation for the Austrian people would be needed, though there are certainly canon cases that argue for a nation going against their main population's wishes - again, perhaps if I were less history!fail this might already be appearant?

If you need a beta, do let me know! I'd be glad to help out any way I can :)

after WW2, Austria becomes part of the Eastern Bloc.

This actually almost happened in reality before the Allies decided treat Austria as 'Nazi Germany's first victim' and maybe not let Russia have a bridgehead that far into continental Europe.

The thing with alternate history is that you don't need extremely in-depth knowledge of how things happened, but rather of how things usually work when a country is adopted into Russia's large, happy family, i.e., a more-or-less puppet government + intense propaganda + some ~~occupation~~ troupes who are there to ensure comradely protection to the populace.

As for Austria, I imagine he'd be a bit broken off from what's happening to his people, at least for a couple of years after the war. His own profile mentions that he tends to put his hobbies first and isn't really that interested in war or politics anymore. So yes, I see him as a bit of a recluse, with a live-and-let-live attitude towards Russia. It begins to change a little when Russia saddles him with the sort of responsibility he definitely does not want - Prussia, whom he still harbours some habitual resentment for, and Hungary, who despises him precisely because she'd expected him to fight instead of becoming resigned.

I take it the kicking and screaming isn't very metaphorical.

No, it's not. Because by 'bring back from the dead' I'm actually considering country-level equivalent of some voodoo. As in, 'You've been dead for a while now, but that's OK, because I don't feel like letting you rest. Here's some people who aren't yours.'

(Uhh, don't go imagining a zombie!Prussia or anything. Just, I don't know. Something a little darker than I normally write)

Germany... I haven't the slightest idea about his reactions to any of this. I haven't actually considered him for the fic before you mentioned him so if you can see something I don't here, feel free to share.

And I'm going to take your beta offer as soon as I get off my ass and actually write the damn thing.

True, true. But still, communism had different flavor in the various countries, especially in the beginning.

For me personally, I am mostly unsure how I'd consider Austria's reaction, since I... honestly have no idea how that country reacted to the Nazis and the post-war situation?
My grandmother told me that Hungary was pissed at them all, and that even the fascist puppet leader of Hungary sneaked out of deporting jews until they got rid of him... And then, communism was mostly seen as another miserable foreign master (Turkey, Austria, Nazis, now Russians - the difference to the populace was more a variation on a theme than a completely new set) whereas Austria had up to the Anschluss spent a lot of time as a souvereign and important state.

And Germany, well, there's the common historical knowledge and I've done some research years ago on the other communist states but Austria is one of those places where my minds just draws a blank. Although perhaps that in itself is proof of something - I mean, I've been to both Salzburg and Wien and WWII and the modern era feel less present than the air of his splendid days and the classical music, somehow

Okay. Okay - the literally bringing back from the dead? It makes me shiver n anticipation, because I think it could be done so awesome. And since even secular Russia is still Russia, you'd have all the trappings of the orthodox church to draw inspiration from (if you have as much of a ritual kink as I do) as well as the whole idea of thesis-antithesis-synthesis which had such an influence on Marxism and asjfhjhg, if you don't write East Germany as the synthesis of Prussia and Russia, maybe I'll have to some day

Germany - Germany I wouldn't include much. But... perhaps some news report from the other side, after a particular upheaval? An "off screen" voice during the attempted takeover of Berlin? Since he is the main character in Hetalia and we know how he reacts to many things, glimpses of him could help show off how the world at large has changed

you'd have all the trappings of the orthodox church to draw inspiration from.

Oh man. OK, I don't exactly have a ritual kink, but this? Yeah.
This is the interesting bit about the Orthodox church in general: Christianity has normally imposed itself as a sort of blanket over old, non-Christian rites and beliefs. In the case of the Orthodox church, this blanket is really thin. My country is Orthodox, for example, and generally considered pretty religious by modern standards. And even though 90% of the non-church related rituals are no longer performed, you wouldn't believe what sort of common folk rituals I've read about. That thing with the stake through the heart is for sissies.

However, I'll have to do some research, because Russian Orthodoxy is quite a bit different, and I imagine its rituals are too. But thanks for the idea. Even though GDR!Prussia won't get half of Berlin in this setting, I'll see what I can do about him getting a very special city instead, as a form of compromise. Since we were talking about thesis-antithesis-synthesis and all.

Austria is still a bit of a puzzle. He's supposed to be the main character here, but somehow I get the feeling he'll end up being defined almost exclusively by his interactions with others. Germany I intend to involve very little.

God, what am I doing to your journal? D:

Making it impossible for me to ever delete this entry *changes tag from Crap to Storytools*

Since it is Soviet doing nation-revival, which I doubt even the most folksy Russian church have a set ritual for, you'd have a lot of freedom as long as the mood was right.

No Berlin for Prussia? ...Are you talking Königsberg instead, tho? Whoa. Whoa that could be so interesting! Especially after the fall of the Iron Curtain, if it falls in this world

Ahhh, yes, I thought you would set more of the fic in Austria's head, so to speak, but if that's the route you're going he will probably be enough.

Also, blrgdfkljg, I thought I had saved where we talked about doing something together - It was us, wasn't it? *completely paranoid and confused now* The comment is gone, my notification is gone, have i just been hallucinating the entire thing?

Yep, Königsberg was what I had in mind /evil.

As for the revival thing, I'm not sure it has to do with the fact that it's Soviet or not. I was thinking more along the lines of a 'general mythology' for countries, so to speak. Like you have your shifting house thing - something that pertains essentially to them as countries, not as persons. Except I can't really think of any occasion where a country had to be 'revived' before.

Yes, it was us talking about doing something together, I'm quite looking forward to that. The problem is I'm going away on vacation tomorrow and I won't be back until the 23rd. If there's something particular you have in mind, we can discuss it and I'll have enough time to think of something for my part while I'm away.

I'm sorry, if you want there's no problem for me to save this on my computer so you can delete the entry. I hate spamming, but I kind of ended up spilling my ideas here. So let me know, OK?

Poland? He's even described as a phoenix, so perhaps he has figured out a way to revive himself

I shall miss you, but I hope you have great fun!

no, no, I just tend to delete all my whine/crack posts made while writing so as not to clutter this blog up. but this here is actual useful and interesting discussion, that I totally want to keep!

Honestly, my biggest problem with Hetalia is that I just bubble over with ideas... Currently I'm trying to pin down the swordfight I talked about before, and an idea with multiple Prussia's refuses to die (it is an Utterly Stupid premiss, yet it insists on becoming a not-crack fic) which i guess could make for some interesting portraits... and er, then there's that weird idea with a jealous Austria that's brewing in my mind, and I want to write something about the Teutonic knight so much and a Prussia/Fritz schmoopfic with angst about nation-human interactions and... do you have any ideas? I think we've both talked about the eastern front, which would be dead interesting and fucking scary to work with

The most solid idea of these, right now, is probably the one with a whole bunch of Gilbos running around. but I totally get if that's not your thing cuz it's plain idiocy ^^;

But, ah, do you have MSN or something like that? or a place where we could chat a little tonight, unless you're busy?

Not MSN, but Yahoo Messenger (which I hardly use). Username is laurasibinescu, if you're up for a chat. Right now I've only got two clear ideas apart from the Austria in the Soviet bloc one, but a lot of different ones running around trying to get my attention. We can talk via messenger, because I get the feeling those two alone would take ages to develop upon.

Also, I really, really want to see you write some Prussia/Fritz interaction. I tried it once, but I wasn't particulalry happy with the result in the end.

oh, even better, I already have a yahoo mail. I'll be right up!

I honestly gotta borrow a biography on Fritz or something, I have no idea what kind of person he was and the Wiki article is. meh

stabs GIANT PLOTBUNNY OF DOOM

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