Comments | wizzard890: "The Things We Must Believe In" [The Chosen End]

wizzard890

"The Things We Must Believe In" [The Chosen End]

Jul 10, 2009 17:57

Title: "The Things We Must Believe In"
Author:pyrrhiccomedy and wizzard890
Rating: PG-13
Summary: 1943: The Tehran Conference. Russia extends an invitation, and America asks a question.

This is a chapter from The Chosen End, a Russia/America collaboration spanning from 1780 to the present day. You can read all of the fics in this story at the Index.

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( They'd been in Tehran for almost four hours. )

fanfic, russia/america, axis powers hetalia, the chosen end

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luxnigra July 11 2009, 09:52:25 UTC

If I can make this comparison, I think that Ivan seems like The Hanging Man of the Tarot cards. He is constantly suspended between things he voluntarily has accepted (the communisty ideology) or things he really feel (his feelings for Alfred and for his people) and things he force himself to accept (the great purge, the brutality
of his boss), feelings he force himself to hide. For his salvation he must wear a mask but, sometimes, his mask reveals more than hides. Alfred, for his part, is The Mad. He has become more mature chapter after chapter, he have the ambition to become The Emperor, but he is too idealistic, too passional. For the one he loves he will
even declare a war! ("Tell me if you want us to go to war," he whispered. "When this is over. To get rid of him": American invasion of Russia = the mother of all AU!).
Russia and America reminds me a bit of Christopher Marlowe's characters (Faust, Tamerlano, Edoardo II): great, powerfull but at the same time human, all too human.

tauruschick12 July 11 2009, 11:17:01 UTC

Ah, dude, I just want to butt in here and say two thumbs up for tarot allusions.

I agree with Russia being the Hanging Man- and I can't help but think of the happiest piece of that card: The Hanging Man, by frequently sacrificing himself, comes out on top. By losing he gains.

I don't know- I like to think, along those lines, that although Russia will suffer, and although his life will be a paradox of feelings and everything under the sun- he'll end up happy in the end.

pyrrhiccomedy July 11 2009, 11:56:47 UTC

Oh man, I love the Tarot connection! I totally agree about Russia being The Hanged Man, but I think of America more as The Sun: vibrant, unsubtle, full of energy, and pervasive in his power. And I think you can kind of frame the whole Cold War as both of them regarding each other as The Tower--built on an unstable foundation and doomed to collapse, probably catastrophically.

American invasion of Russia = the mother of all AU!

Wizard and I have written a little of this. >_> If Russia had taken America up on it in TCE, I was going to be like "Uhhh, shit, now what do we do? Because America will totally do it." XD

tauruschick12 July 11 2009, 12:19:04 UTC

OOOOH Sun, yes yes yes. Also, the Star, possibly. America has been, for a very long time, the paradise for freedom- the promise of hope, and faith. And provider of inspiration.

Oh man now I'm trying to think up what everyone else would be. England- Emperor, or Hierophant? Maybe Magician? FRANCE IS THE LOVERS.

This requires further research!

pyrrhiccomedy July 11 2009, 12:48:47 UTC

Strength = Lithuania; holding your chin up in the face of hardship, more about inner strength and patience than applying force.

Justice = Switzerland? Impartiality and all that?

Temperance = Japan. Pretty much as a lifestyle choice. Inner calm, finding a harmonious balance in life, and exercising moderation.

I can see England as Judgment...that card's all about letting go of something that's in the past (his empire, his isolation, America, "the glory days," whatever), accepting that his life has changed, finally and irrevocably, and moving forward into the future.

Italy's The Fool. I mean come on.

The Emperor: Austria maybe? Structure and stability, and urging you to act responsibly, and dignity and all of that.

That's all I got for now.

tauruschick12 July 11 2009, 13:45:40 UTC

Italy as the fool...alright, aside from the obvious, the Fool is someone who is everything and is nothing at the same time. Full of possibilities. I like it!

I also think of Italy as either the Sun (full of optimism) Wheel of Fortune (full of luck; his name means lucky, after all!) or maybe the Empress (enjoys food, pleasure, and beauty; all the good stuff in life.)

Also, I now realize Germany = The Hierophant.

Lithuania is a perfect Strength, and I totally agree that Japan = Temperence.

rheoster July 11 2009, 23:59:11 UTC

Sorry to hijack, but I could not resist:

( ... )

tauruschick12 July 12 2009, 07:06:49 UTC

Oh, wow, awesome man!

(Muahaha. I know the sunflowers behind Amercia represent the sun and all that, but, still, my shipping brain is happy. XD)

And your solemn/innoncent-looking Russia's breaking my heart, here.

rheoster July 12 2009, 07:47:53 UTC

Thank you!!! I read the thread and was trying to figure out what The Mad is, so I scroll through the tarot cards online... and STOPPED WHEN I SAW THE SUNFLOWERS ON THE SUN. Sorry, I KNOW it's cliche, but that is just too good to be true and my brain ran with it XD

pyrrhiccomedy July 12 2009, 11:32:45 UTC

THIS IS SO GREAT.

You should do the rest of them. >_> *Thinks a Hetalia major arcana deck would be pretty fricken sweet*

tauruschick12 July 13 2009, 15:32:20 UTC

Actually, there is one already, isn't there? I think I might've seen it on Photobucket, but I do know it exists.

Of course, that doesn't mean anybody couldn't make MORE, of course.

pyrrhiccomedy July 14 2009, 17:29:05 UTC

Is there? *boggle* I haven't seen it.

I think the point is, though, that there needs to be a Tower card with Russia and America making out on it.

tauruschick12 July 14 2009, 23:40:14 UTC

YES. I AGREE.

Also:

http://photobucket.com/images/hetalia%20tarot/

pyrrhiccomedy July 15 2009, 01:23:38 UTC

Oooh, pretty!

luxnigra July 11 2009, 13:05:53 UTC

I think of America as The Mad because The Mad is The Hanging Man without ties, totally free. The Mad is what The Hanghing Man can see when he look behind the mirror, just like Carroll's Alice
:-)
But America is also like The Sun and this comparison is very, very interesting because, in the Tarot, The Hanging Man stay in the middle of the war between The Sun and The Moon; he is constantly divided between The Sun (his salvation) and The Moon (his damnation)!
Cold War as The Tower...wonderful comparison!!! =D

P.S. Just a moment: you and Wizard have written an AU about American invasion of Russia????!!!!

pyrrhiccomedy July 11 2009, 13:09:10 UTC

P.S. Just a moment: you and Wizard have written an AU about American invasion of Russia????!!!!

Um, um...sort of? We just kind of mess around with scenarios, seeing how the characters would react--they're character building exercises, really. It's not...it doesn't really read like a fic. =/

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