aphanon_meme ([personal profile] aphanon_meme) wrote2014-06-06 02:26 pm

part 353 whalers on the moon

We've been here over a year now! I can hardly believe it! Dreamwidth's been pretty good, I'd say, with almost no downtime to speak of and all that! Anyway... how is your spring going? Or I guess it's almost summer, isn't it? Hopefully it's been well! I've been catching up on work and new movies, all very exciting stuff, I'm sure.

Enjoy part 353!

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+1

(Anonymous) 2014-06-20 06:34 pm (UTC)(link)
people are missing out on great opportunites when they give them amnesia instead of not smoothing it over

(Anonymous) 2014-06-20 06:37 pm (UTC)(link)
shhh anon

don't listen to tumblr sjws

Re: "Put that thing back where it came from or so help me..."

(Anonymous) 2014-06-20 06:38 pm (UTC)(link)
"Ain't that I mind you showin' up now," Norway said, glancing at America as they made their way down the hall to Norway's library. "'S only that I expected you later. Caught me in the middle of summat."

It was pretty clear that he was telling the truth. Normally, Norway looked pretty put-together, but today he had a haphazard look, like he'd gotten dressed in the dark. His hair was combed and clipped back as usual, but a few stray strands had escaped and fell across his face, bothering him enough that he kept brushing them away, but not enough for him to fix it. There was a pencil tucked behind his ear.

"Well, I don't mind! It's not like I'll only be here for a day." As they stepped into the library, America looked over the shelves and whistled. For a personal library, it was huge. "I bet I can find something to read while you finish whatever you're doing." And then the fun would start. It had been months since they'd been able to hang out together! They had a lot of catching up to do.

"Mayhaps." There was a note in Norway's voice that said he wasn't exactly convinced. "Can you read Norwegian? Or Danish."

"... Uh."

"French?"

"Sort of-"

"... Might be best if you just come in here with me." Norway led him to a small door off to the side, tucked neatly into a corner. "Could tell me what you've been doing."

That sounded a lot better. "Sounds great!" And even if Norway was too wrapped up in his magic whatsits to listen, that was all right. America could just stare at him. Well, watch him. He looked good, at least.

As America watched, Norway ran his fingers down the front of it, muttered something, and then opened the door. He glanced back, raised an eyebrow, then slipped inside - and beckoned him in. "Close the door behind you," Norway said flatly.

Slowly, America stepped inside and carefully drew the door shut. The light inside Norway's study was not as bright as it had been in the large library, but there was still more than enough of it, the sunlight streaming in from the window warm and gold and lending a welcoming note to everything. There were no comfortable armchairs and neatly organized shelves here; just a large polished wood desk, covered with books and candles and pens and paper and on the shelves that were there books were tucked together, stacked on top of each other, put in whichever way they could possibly fit. Some, America noticed, were chained shut and locked fast to bars across the front of the shelves, as if they might just get up and walk away on their own if they weren't held down.

"Shouldn't take long to get this sorted out," Norway muttered, not looking at him as he sank down right to where he'd been sitting before America showed up and drew a manuscript toward him. "Nearly got this one cracked, is all. Old spells, y'know, folk didn't always set 'em down in a way what made sense..." He trailed off as he started reading.

Fine, then. "Okay! Whatever you say." Not that magic was real, of course, but as far as America was concerned, Norway could keep his weird hobbies. It wasn't like it hurt anybody, anyway.

While Norway muttered things to himself and scribbled down notes, America found his attention drawn to that bookcase again. He stepped toward it, looking over the old books, some of them crumbling, others looking almost as good as new. While he wasn't exactly an expert, he could tell that some of them had been re-bound. The covers looked too new; too modern. He touched one of the new spines, sliding his fingertips over the title, tooled into the leather. It looked a bit like Norway's writing. Had he bound it himself?

He moved to the next one, but stopped without touching it, his fingertips hovering over the book. Unlike the one next to it, the binding on that one was old, worn-out. The whole book seemed to buckle slightly under its own weight. Its leather was lighter than the others, even with its age, and had a different look to it; a different texture, somehow, like it had been made from a different animal. Almost like -


... Gross. America swallowed harshly and looked away, edging along the shelf until he came to the end. There, a few large books were all chained together, dark and intimidating, even with their frayed bindings. Another chain, wrapped around the rest, kept them held fast to the railing. Next to them was a smaller book, half the size of the rest, with delicate symbols carved into the leather and gilt edges. It looked delicate, and refined, almost like a prayer book, like some of the ones he'd seen in England's library. But that one was wrapped in chains too.

His brows furrowed a little. It didn't make sense, a prayer book like that being chained shut. Maybe it had some pervy drawings in it or something. Humming with curiosity, America reached for it, sliding it carefully from its place on the shelf. Even though it was wrapped up, the chains weren't tight, and if he just wiggled them a little maybe he could -

"Put it back," came a sharp order from the other side of the room. America swore, nearly dropped the book, and looked over at Norway. He wasn't even looking at him! Hadn't even lifted his head. How the hell -

"D'you got cotton in yer ears? I said put it back." And still, Norway didn't look up. "Else don't come cryin' to me to fix things if it bites your fingers off."

Bites your fingers off? Seriously! "It's just a book," America muttered, rolling his eyes a bit. "It can't-"

Suddenly, the book twitched in his hands, then shuddered and whined and tried to open itself. "What the-?!" America gasped, almost dropping the thing again. The chains kept it shut, but the book strained against them, trying to open its covers like a mouth. Somewhere, between the gilt pages, he thought he saw tiny rows of sharp teeth.

"Jesus Christ!" He shoved it back on the shelf and took a huge step away from it, shoving his hands into his pockets. He looked over at Norway - the guy still hadn't looked up, not this whole time. It was like this was completely normal for him! Then again, maybe it was. "You should warn me next time!"

"I did," Norway said flatly. "You didn't listen." He paused, then gently nudged one of the books on his desk toward the edge. "Here. This one has pictures in it. You can look at that one 'till I'm done."

America sighed with defeat and headed over. After a second, he sank down onto the bench beside Norway, and took up the bestiary he'd offered.

This was not - really not - the way he'd expected this visit to start.

(Anonymous) 2014-06-20 06:59 pm (UTC)(link)
he didn't even invite me over :(

(Anonymous) 2014-06-20 07:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[crawls in there and calls some friends over]

[BAM! Instant eyes.gif infestation]

Merchandise thread

(Anonymous) 2014-06-20 07:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Let's talk about official merchandise! What do you have? What would you like to buy if you could? And what would you like for them to produce so that you could throw your money at them?

(Anonymous) 2014-06-20 07:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Just remember, Italy was never a womanizer before he learned about HRE's death.

Re: Merchandise thread

(Anonymous) 2014-06-20 07:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Hetalia merch? just the vol 1 manga

(Anonymous) 2014-06-20 07:27 pm (UTC)(link)
somehow i have a hard time believing this tbh

i think italy would be a womanizer, or at least attempt flirting with women, as soon as he became older and his voice broke

it wouldn't change the fact that hre was his "first love", after all?

Re: Merchandise thread

(Anonymous) 2014-06-20 07:31 pm (UTC)(link)
I've ended up with random things here and there, like mascots, coasters, tin boxes and so on. I usually go for Germany/Prussia/Italy/Romano stuff, but only if it's Himaruya's art and not anime art. I get a lot of this stuff in group orders on LJ, so sometimes I get random China or Japan things to help the orders along since nobody ever wants their merch.

I wish there were more One Coin figures. I need Turkey, Switzerland and Liechtenstein figures in my life.

ITT: Family Headcanon

(Anonymous) 2014-06-20 07:33 pm (UTC)(link)
anything at all

Wanky opinions

(Anonymous) 2014-06-20 07:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Do you have opinions that you know are dumb but you can't help it? Do you think these two characters just belong together and anyone who ships anything else is an idiot? That this or that headcanon sucks? This is the thread where you can confess the thoughts that you don't normally let out.

Re: ITT: Family Headcanon

(Anonymous) 2014-06-20 07:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Canada doesn't consider France as his father figure or something like that. England is the one that really took care of him and tried not to fuck up like he had with America.
reaperangelique: (peachy)

Re: Merchandise thread

[personal profile] reaperangelique 2014-06-20 07:44 pm (UTC)(link)
i haveee...

-vol. 4 and 5 (with the extra booklets)
-arte stella piccolo
-austria and prussia one coin figures
-austria and hungary rubber straps
-austria and prussia halloween screen cleaners
-austria and prussia metal charms based on the cakes calendar art
-austria takara tomy keychain
-hungary metal charm from a pretty old set (this and the tomy keychain were free gifts, hoho)

i think that's it. i'd like the playing card set or the cardverse metal charms, the prussia rubber strap, and the pouch with the frying pangle on it. and...i'd like to see figmas/nendos/whatever of the characters, or better yet nyotalia merch!!! especially one coins. and monaco merchandise because she has the prettiest design.
actually for the next set of one coins, they should just do monaco, belgium, seychelles, belarus etc etc, all the girls
Edited 2014-06-20 19:45 (UTC)

Re: Wanky opinions

(Anonymous) 2014-06-20 07:46 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't mind the idea of female nations facing sexism. It would explain why all the world powers are men while many female nations have histories of being vassals or colonies. Even if the former is only the result of Himaruya's lack of woman-drawing skills.

I see Nyotalia as a matriarchal AU.

Re: ITT: Family Headcanon

(Anonymous) 2014-06-20 07:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Huh. What makes you say that?

Re: ITT: Family Headcanon

(Anonymous) 2014-06-20 07:52 pm (UTC)(link)
America and Canada are not really brothers!

Re: Merchandise thread

(Anonymous) 2014-06-20 07:54 pm (UTC)(link)
I wish I had the money for it.

(Anonymous) 2014-06-20 07:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Italy wants a beard

Re: Wanky opinions

(Anonymous) 2014-06-20 07:57 pm (UTC)(link)
I think white people look weird in traditional Asian clothes

Re: Wanky opinions

(Anonymous) 2014-06-20 07:58 pm (UTC)(link)
I rather they would, really, it's more realistic.

Re: Wanky opinions

(Anonymous) 2014-06-20 07:59 pm (UTC)(link)
I can't stand OCs. Historical fic with a bunch of OC nations running around is my absolute least favorite kind of fic. It presents me with this endless problem that I love German history but I can't read fics about it.

Re: ITT: Family Headcanon

(Anonymous) 2014-06-20 08:04 pm (UTC)(link)
⌐_⌐

Re: Wanky opinions

(Anonymous) 2014-06-20 08:06 pm (UTC)(link)
I've never read a historical fic that involved popular historical figures or events that I've liked. Writers always seem to place the nation in the forefront of just about every action/event even when it makes no sense.

Re: ITT: Family Headcanon

(Anonymous) 2014-06-20 08:06 pm (UTC)(link)
England and Scotland aren't really brothers, they're cousins

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