Comments | the_chosen_end: 49

chosen_end_post in the_chosen_end

49 - Stand-Off

Mar 22, 2010 10:09

Title: Stand-Off
Characters: Russia/America
Rating: PG-13
Summary: 1961 - The escalation of tensions between Russia and America following the construction of the Berlin Wall leads to a guns-drawn stare-down as the Berlin Crisis hits its peak.

TCE is co-written by wizzard890 and pyrrhiccomedy.

( They stood twenty paces apart, guns out, aimed between each other's eyes, their feet square on the damp asphalt. )

from the ministry of plenty

Comments 97

plushielover177 March 22 2010, 03:43:11 UTC

Right now the better part of me is going It's OK. Just thirty more years of this crap and they can go back to bitching at each other and having angry sex without the treat of nuclear destruction.

Still, all things considering they handled this pretty ok towards the end. And they TALKED. They actually got to say what they've probably waited for years at this point; granted, it was while they had guns pointed at each other, but still...

pyrrhiccomedy March 22 2010, 03:46:52 UTC

Still, all things considering they handled this pretty ok towards the end.

I think they're really doing the best they can, you know? And they're young, and nervy, and they're both making this up as they go along, and they're both too proud to know what's good for them, but...they're trying so hard. A war is the last thing they want. But somehow, even though it's the last thing they want, the threat of it just keeps coming up.

granted, it was while they had guns pointed at each other, but still...

Metaphorically speaking, pretty much everything they've said to each other since 1949 has been, so...we look the other way on that count. >_>

alors_indikaze March 22 2010, 03:59:54 UTC

Oh G-god. I saw the title and the description, and my heart stopped.

And then they were actually halfway honest about things, and my heart stopped again.

...And I think it's still stopped, waiting for what's next.

*breathe*

Poor guys. It REALLY DOES NOT HELP that everyone is staring at them, does it?

pyrrhiccomedy March 22 2010, 04:20:08 UTC

This whole post really is kind of a big held breath, isn't it, since we all KNOW the Cuban Missile Crisis comes next. As in. Next.

It REALLY DOES NOT HELP that everyone is staring at them, does it?

Oh God it REALLY DOESN'T. I mean, there are a lot of points in the Cold War where they surely could have sorted everything out if it were just the two of them, but...their posse is watching! They can't back down in front of their posse! A lot of moments are, I think, less about the actual threat the other side poses, and more about preserving this world order. "Balance of power" just sounds like a meaningless political phrase to us now, but to Russia and America during the Cold War, their lives and lifestyles rode on maintaining the balance of power. It was the line they had to walk between looking weak and losing face, which would have eventually downgraded them from the status of a world power, or--setting off a nuclear war in their refusal to back down.

alors_indikaze March 22 2010, 04:40:28 UTC

They can't back down in front of their posse!

I am going to go against EVERYTHING I STAND FOR and just say the following:

Men.

pyrrhiccomedy March 22 2010, 04:41:47 UTC

Fffff.

And they ask us why there are so few female characters in Hetalia!

seraphoftales March 22 2010, 04:12:12 UTC

They're standing there, looking over their guns, with the threat of nuclear war hanging over their shoulders...

And theu're checking each other out...

That's amazing. Tha'ts just totally amazing.

Ah... And once again America does something insensitive and doesn't really know about it, Russia takes it the wrong way, and...and you know, for like a couple centuries of knowing each other, you'd think they'd avoid such miscommunications, but it wouldn't be RusAme if they didn't have misunderstandings over the smallest of things...

And so now, I am very curious as to what Russia was thinking when America said his arm was tired...

I honestly wanted to hug America when he said that bit about the scars... even though I thought he was going off on a complete tangent, but then I was like. Oh

pyrrhiccomedy March 22 2010, 04:16:03 UTC

That's amazing. Tha'ts just totally amazing.

The boys just are, like that.

And once again America does something insensitive and doesn't really know about it

Would it be America if he didn't? *sigh*

I am very curious as to what Russia was thinking when America said his arm was tired...

You'll find out, I promise.

I thought he was going off on a complete tangent, but then I was like. Oh

Yeah, totally. It's like "America honey bad route to go down," but then it turns out he was building towards something kind of really important and sad and touching, and...just...I hope Russia heard what he was really trying to say, in there.

seraphoftales March 22 2010, 04:22:14 UTC

Oh! And another thing that I was orignally going to put in my comment but Iforgot until now...

Neither of them wants to go into war... So, how do these things happen to them? Baffles me, really.

I just want to hug America. I just want to hug Russia. I want to hug them both at the same time....

And then maybe lock them in the closet... assuming they don't kill each other >>

pyrrhiccomedy March 22 2010, 04:30:07 UTC

I hear you. I want to smack them both, tell them to GROW UP, then lock them in a closet until the moaning starts.

reihoshino March 22 2010, 04:18:51 UTC

Words fail me.I don't know,this is so full of pure emotions that I feel like there's nothing left to say.They are both,in a very twisted way, opening up their hearts.

And the future...*sighs* Just that.

Amazing writing as always,thank you for making my week.

pyrrhiccomedy March 22 2010, 04:24:05 UTC

They are both,in a very twisted way, opening up their hearts.

They really are, in a twisted way. I mean, I think what a lot of people forget when they look at the ridiculousness of the Cold War is that the United States and the USSR were both terrified of the idea of nuclear war, and did everything in their power to avoid it...even when the circumstances they found themselves in just kept knocking them in that direction. And yeah, they CREATED a lot of those circumstances, because they were too proud, or presumptuous, or immature, or they got angry, but...in that moment of truth, staring at each other over their guns, they'll say things they might otherwise never have said, because the last thing they ever, ever want is to really hurt each other.

Thank you for reading. ♥

hiza_chan March 22 2010, 04:21:08 UTC

This was really starting to hurt his arm. America chewed his lip, swallowed down a surge of helplessness. Because--he didn't dare to lower his gun. Not because Russia might shoot. Russia wouldn't shoot. Not over something this...stupid. But...

The others were watching. Everybody was watching.

I really liked this. The bits about everybody watching and how they think that they could sneeze and wind up killing everybody. I mean, I was born right when The Cold War was winding down, so I know next to nothing about how it actually was, but I imagine it was a lot like this. I mean, they did overreact so much and it could be so easy for them to have fucked up over a misunderstanding and blown up everyone. I just... this chapter. I like it.

pyrrhiccomedy March 22 2010, 04:28:52 UTC

Thank you, we're really glad you feel like it struck the right note. =D I think this is probably our most purely accurate-to-the-spirit-of-the-time chapter about the Cold War so far. They're in this ridiculous situation, over America going for a drive, and their holding guns on each other for it and they're both too proud to back down because their posse is totally watching, but...at the same time...deep down? They're desperately trying not to put a foot down wrong and set off the nuclear annihilation. I mean, taken in a certain light, I think the US and the USSR were both kind of just--kids who were in over their heads. And even though they had to put up a bold face, they knew how dangerous their situation was, all the time.

I was born right when The Cold War was winding down

Me too. Actually, one of my earliest memories is of my kindergarten teacher running into the room, wide-eyed, and telling the other teacher who was watching us play, "The Soviet Union just fell!"

hiza_chan March 22 2010, 04:43:30 UTC

Me too. Actually, one of my earliest memories is of my kindergarten teacher running into the room, wide-eyed, and telling the other teacher who was watching us play, "The Soviet Union just fell!"

Wow, that is some memory. Unfortunately, my mother was ridiculously religious and even worse when it comes to matters of the world. So... for most of the first half of my life history was basically, "Hey! America is awesome! We had a Revolution and a Civil War but that's all right because dude, we are totally awesome."

No really, I didn't even learn much about world history until I moved in with my dad at the end of my 8th grade year. It was kind of ridiculous, like my family's own little pocket of denial. So... no knowledge ABOUT the Cold War until it was WAY over.

And yes, the Cold War probably could have been resolved a lot more quickly if the posse hadn't been watching. Ugh! It's like a fight between bullies! They don't wanna back down because dude, then they'll lose face in front of their hos!

pyrrhiccomedy March 22 2010, 04:46:15 UTC

dude, then they'll lose face in front of their hos!

This is even funnier/sadder when you remember that "their hos" meant, like, England.

Thread 5