Author's Note: Gakuen Hetalia. The Finale.
Title: Born This Hetalian Way
CD Booklet
He didn't want to open his eyes, but his nap was over, and it was time for him to wake up. He blinked several times and rubbed his eyes with his little fists. Yawning, he sat up in his bed, tiny and cozy, perfect for a little boy of five years. His room was bright, sunlight managing to stream in through the blinds covering the windows. He frowned and looked to his bedroom door.
"Daddy?" he called, somewhat quietly. He began to feel a bit sad when he didn't receive a response. Normally, his daddy or his mommy would come get him when his nap was over, so he worried. He pushed the sheets off his little body and stood, a bit nervous to leave. What if his daddy was on his way? "Daddy..." he repeated as he slowly walked out of his bedroom and headed down the hallway.
There was only one place his daddy would be, and there would only be one thing he would be doing. The little boy quietly stood outside his daddy's office, peeking through the cracked open door. Sure enough, his daddy was sitting at his desk, typing away at his laptop, staring intently at the screen. The determined, focused look on his face made the little boy smile. He didn't want to interrupt his daddy, but he wanted his attention so badly...
"Daddy..."
Gilbert looked up and a huge smile spread across his face. "Hey, little guy!" the proud father greeted, standing up from his desk. He knelt down in front of his son and swept him up into a hug, rubbing their cheeks together and pressing kisses to his temple. He grinned at the giggles that erupted from his son and straightened himself, his son still in his arms. "How's my awesome little Fritz?" he asked, his grin softening as the child snuggled into his father's embrace.
Fritz was hesitant to reply at first. "You didn't come get me when my nap was over..."
"Aw, I'm sorry," Gilbert replied quietly, kissing his son's head again. "I was working. I lost track of time." He smiled and carried his son to his desk. "Wanna see?"
The little boy stared at the computer screen, eyes wide and curious. He nodded. "Are you bu...brog...bloo...?"
"'Blogging'," Gilbert explained, smiling at his son's adorable attempt at the word. "Uh-huh. Daddy's awesome blog makes money because lots of people read it. Plus, Daddy makes money from his day job. That's why we have all the nice things we do." The pride and arrogance in his voice was obvious, but Fritz was too young to hear it. Besides, to him, everything his daddy did was awesome, because his daddy was the most awesome daddy ever.
Knowing this made Gilbert even prouder. He loved himself, yes, but he loved his wife and his little boy more. When the rest of his family, especially Ludwig, realized this, they didn't think it was possible. Gilbert loved himself more than anything...or so they had thought. The fact that he loved Katy and his little Frederick more blew everyone's mind. How was it possible for any one man to have that much love in him?
It wasn't a big deal to Gilbert. Marrying Katy had been the best decision of his life. He didn't even care that she was related to Ivan, whom he had despised throughout most of his high school career. They had even started getting along after he and Katy had gotten engaged. And the wedding, of course, was beautiful. He thought he had looked pretty awesome in his tux, but Katy had taken his breath away in her gorgeous, white dress, and that was rare for Gilbert. His eyes glanced at one of their wedding photos sitting on his desk, and his grin widened.
Then he looked down at the little treasure sitting in his lap, and his mind flashed back to the day his darling son had been born. The moment the doctor had announced that Gilbert and Katy were the parents of a healthy boy, something had gone off inside him. It was an incredible feeling, one he would never be able to explain. It was an odd mixture of pride, happiness, anxiety, disbelief, and overwhelming love. It only impossibly grew when he had finally held his son.
The room was quiet, Katy lying in the hospital bed and resting her eyes while Gilbert sat next to her, holding their son. He hadn't been able to stop looking at him since he had been born mere hours ago. In that time, he had noticed many little details about him, the way his eyelids twitched as he slept, the way his chest rose with each small breath, the way the little hat on his little head made his chubby cheeks appear even bigger...It was all so amazing. Awesome...his son was the most awesome person who ever lived and would ever live. He was convinced.
"We're gonna have so much fun," he whispered against his son's forehead. "Your mommy and I are going to teach you so many things, and we'll do so many cool things together. But you don't need any lessons in being awesome; you've already mastered that." He grinned excitedly and snickered a bit. "Roddy's gonna be so jealous. His kid won't even come close to you."
"Gilbert?"
The albino looked over at the bed and smiled. "Good morning, babe," he greeted his wife, standing. Leaning over while keeping a tight hold on his son, he pressed a kiss to Katy's forehead. "How do you feel?"
Katy smiled gently. "Tired still but also really happy. I don't think I can sleep even though I really want to."
"Heh, I know the feeling," Gilbert replied, kissing her forehead again. "All of a sudden, reality is so much better than dreams." He straightened up and rocked his son a bit, who was whimpering from the sudden movement. He quickly calmed down though, and the room became quiet again until Gilbert spoke. "He needs a name, but we never discussed them..." He looked over at his wife. "What kind of name do you want to give him? Ukrainian?"
Katy shook her head. "No, I want to give him a German name."
Gilbert shrugged. "You can name him whatever you want. You've known him longer than I have." He winked and grinned, getting a giggle out of his wife.
"Yes, I suppose so," she agreed, nodding. "And I already know what to name him."
The new father's grin widened. "Really? Awesome! What?"
"Frederick."
Gilbert's grin disappeared and a look of shock washed over his face, which had gone even paler than usual, if that was possible. He stared at his wife for a few long seconds and then looked back down at his son, who was still sleeping peacefully, unaware of his father's complete mood change.
It took about another minute for Gilbert to find his voice. "...Really?"
Katy nodded. "It was Sam's idea."
"My awesome niece?"
Katy nodded again.
The room was quiet again for a long time, until Katy heard whimpering. This time, it wasn't her son. Gilbert sat down in the chair next to her hospital bed and rocked his son again keeping his head down. Katy watched as little tears dripped down onto the blanket keeping her child warm and snug, and she felt her heart break.
"We don't have to-!"
"It's perfect."
Katy's eyes widened. "Are you sure?"
Gilbert nodded. "It's perfect. Too perfect. It's the only name that could ever fit someone so awesome." He sniffed and wiped his eyes. "Someone way more awesome than I could ever be..."
"Gilbert darling..."
"He's really gone." The albino looked back at his wife, tears now freely falling down his cheeks. "The old man is really dead. Why...?" Pause. "Why did h-he h-ha...ve to...?"
Breakdown.
Gilbert shook violently as the gates holding back all his emotions burst open. Sorrow and pain and regret took over, and he found himself suddenly scared that he would drop his son. Quickly placing him in his mother's arms, his hands immediately went to his eyes in a futile attempt to dry them. He didn't even try to make an excuse. What was the point? This was one reality he couldn't ignore.
Katy watched her husband sob and felt her heart clench. Tears formed in the corners of her own eyes, but she didn't bother trying to brush them away. She hadn't expected this. She felt awful, especially when she looked down at her son, who was blissfully unaware of the sadness around him. Somehow, that made her happy, to know that he didn't know.
"I'm just too damn happy," she suddenly heard Gilbert pant out. "Too happy and too sad at the same time. One life ends...and another one begins." He looked at his son and smiled, despite the tears still running down his cheeks. "He wouldn't want me to be crying like this. Crying isn't awesome. Heh, I told him that all the time whenever I was upset in college. Or whenever he was upset. Now it's coming back to bite me in the ass. How ironic." Slowly, a grin formed again. "Besides, he's gotta be watching over us now, right?"
Seeing her husband find joy again made Katy smile as well. She nodded and finally wiped her eyes, reaching one hand over to Gilbert. He took it and kissed it, standing and leaning over his wife, kissing her soft lips lovingly. When they pulled apart, they heard soft whimper from their son. Slowly, the little boy blinked his eyes open for the first time.
Gilbert was speechless at first but then grinned stupidly. "How not awesome," he commented. "His first image of his awesome mommy and daddy is the two of them crying like idiots."
Katy couldn't help but laugh. "Well," she sighed, "we'll just have to give him plenty more images of us smiling and laughing like idiots."
Gilbert nodded. "Definitely." He turned to his little boy and found himself lost in the child's muddy, blue eyes. "Right, Frederick Beilschmidt? Little Fritz?"
"Daddy?"
Gilbert snapped out of his memory and looked down at his son, who was looking up at him curiously. The albino smiled. "I'm here."
"When is Mommy coming home?"
Gilbert glanced at his watch. "Probably in another hour or so."
"Oh..."
"Hmm? What?"
"Will you play with me until she gets home?"
Gilbert glanced at his laptop. He still had lots of work to do, as he hadn't updated his blog in a while. He needed to finish the new entry. Smiling, he looked back down at his son. "I have to work for a little while longer. Why don't you bring some of your toys in here and play? When I'm all done, I'll play with you."
Fritz nodded. "Okay." He hopped down from his father's lap and ran back into his room, reappearing in the office a few seconds later with some of his favorite toys. He didn't see the stowaway on his head.
Gilbert laughed. "Hey, little guy, you've got a friend there."
"Huh?" Fritz looked up and soon saw a yellow chick fly down into his lap. "Aw, hi, Gilbird!" he squealed. "Will you play with me?" He giggled when the little bird chirped and fluttered about, soon settling on Fritz's stuffed bunny.
Gilbert smiled at the scene and went back to work.
But, although little Fritz was a very well-behaved child, he was still a child, and, thus, he bored easily. Without someone to play with, he saw no point in his toys. It wasn't like Gilbird could play with his soldier toys or use his crayons in his coloring book. Sighing, he glanced back at his daddy, who was still typing at his laptop. When he looked back at his toys, something caught his eye. It was a box sitting next to a shelving unit in the corner. Fritz crawled over to it and opened it, marveling at its contents.
"What have you found?"
Fritz turned around to see his daddy get up from his desk and walk over to him. He pointed to the box. "What is this stuff, Daddy?"
Gilbert grinned and sat down on the floor behind his son, pulling the little boy into his lap. "This is Daddy's awesome box of memories and favorite things. Look at all this awesome stuff! A lot of it is from when I was in high school and college." He picked up an envelope containing a short letter. "See this? This was the first love letter I ever wrote to Mommy." He then picked up a pair of broken glasses. "And these were the first pair of Roddy's glasses I ever broke! Aw man, that was a good day."
Fritz looked up at his father and smiled. "Can I have another play date with Zak soon?"
Gilbert kept smiling even though he really wanted to roll his eyes. Someone, in a horribly twisted way, his son and Roderich's son Zachary (who preferred to be called "Zak") had become very close friends, neither one really wanting to compete with the other. It confused both fathers immensely, especially Roderich, whose son actually had a very competitive, outgoing personality. In fact, Zak acted much more like Gilbert than Fritz did, and Fritz acted very much like Roderich. Once, Gilbert had written a blog post about this strange phenomenon and titled it "Life's Great Mysteries."
Regardless, he couldn't refuse a request from his awesome son. "We'll call Roddy and Liz sometime soon and set something up. Maybe we'll spend a long weekend in Austria sometime. But let's not think about that now, okay?" He grinned convincingly.
Fritz nodded and pulled a toy out of the box. "Daddy, why do you have a pony toy in here?"
Gilbert snatched the toy from his son's hand. "Let's not think about that either, okay?" he laughed nervously. "Besides, there's way more awesome stuff in here." Damn you, Feliks. Damn you and your stupid, awesome pony show... "Like these!" He pulled three CD cases out of the box. "These are Lady Gaga's first three CDs! She makes the most awesome music ever, seriously. I'll teach you the dance to 'Bad Romance' one of these days. I performed it a few times in high school with Uncle Antonio and Uncle Francis."
Fritz looked at the CD cases curiously. "Can I see, Daddy?" He took Born This Way in his little hands when he received a nod from his daddy and opened it. He stared at the strange, circular object inside. "This is music?"
Gilbert laughed. "That's how we used to have to listen to music." He laughed harder when his son looked up at him as if he were crazy. "Look, there are booklets here, too, with the song lyrics and information about Miss Gaga. Wanna see?" He took the CD booklet out of the case and opened it up, reading some of the lyrics aloud to his son.
(Separate notes begin here.)
Single/Track 2: Joan of Arc performs "Born This Way"
Do you remember when Gaga won for Video of the Year at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards for "Bad Romance?" She sand that one part of "Born This Way." "I'm beautiful in my way, 'cuz God makes no mistakes. I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way." As soon as I heard it, my mind was flooded with historical images of Joan of Arc. All kinds of images. Images of her fighting, winning, losing, receiving messages from God, being captures and locked up, and being burned at the stake. I have no idea where they came from, but I couldn't ignore them. Luckily, Joan has appeared several times in Hetalia. She had to be this song's performer, the perfect opener for the new album. I see Joan as not just a great historical figure but also as a strong, confident role model for women. To me, she proves that what is thought of as impossible can be done.
As far as connections to the song go, I think there are actually a lot of them. The point of the song is to assure all people, regardless of who they are and/or what they are, that they are okay just the way they are. The people who hate them simply don't understand them. The people of Joan's time did not understand what she was trying to do or what she had understood to be her mission, so they feared her. Additionally, King Charles (VII) had abandoned her, causing everyone else who had once believed in her to abandon her. This kind of thing still happens today. Just look at some politicians. They tell us to fear hate people who are different and, somehow, gain massive hoards of people to follow them. How sad. Joan, able to have Divine visions, was different. She was, therefore, a threat to society. Sounds a lot like what happens today.
Another interesting point I'd like to make is that many historians question Joan's sexuality. She often dressed as a man, and she never had a real relationship with anyone. Whether this was for the sake of her mission or if it was part of herself as a person is up for debate. Just something to think about. You can check out just about any website about LGBT historical figures, and chances are good she'll probably be listed there.
Plus, I had to make this first single from the Born This Way album Joan's based on the date. Born This Way was released on May 23, 2011. Joan was captured on May 23, 1430. Interesting...
Track 1: Frederick the Great performs "Marry the Night"
Speaking of LGBT historical figures. XD Well, first, to start, I came up with the Three Rules thinking they'd only apply to this track. I never thought I'd end up using them throughout the other tracks.
Anyway.
"Nothing's too cool to take me from you."
This was the line out of the song that made me decide to make Fritz the performer. It's no secret that he preferred French culture to Prussian culture (which was why I focused so intently on it for this track's remix), so I thought that this line said a lot as far as the relationship he would have with Prussia in the series. The other thing is that, for this album, when I was deciding on performers for the other tracks after the "Born This Way" and "Judas" singles, I listened to the entire album for the first time and made a conscious effort not to assign any performers until I could listen to it a second time. That way, I would know all the songs before assigning anybody. Not this case with this song. Much like with "Born This Way," as I was listening to this song, my mind was flooded with images of Fritz. I swear, these historical figures won't leave me alone. XD
As far as the history goes, a lot of it is basic knowledge for Hetalia fans. Fritz's father Frederick William pretty much hated his son because they were so different. Frederick William liked war and didn't care for anything like music, poetry, art, or philosophy, which was what Fritz liked even as a child. Frederick William was also known for beating anyone who dared to disagree him (except his wife), so Fritz got beat up a lot. He was also known for being rather cruel to anyone who even thought of betraying him. When Fritz tried to escape Prussia with his friend Katte, it was considered treason since he was a royal. Frederick William, however, couldn't bestow a political punishment, which was why he forced his son to watch Katte's execution. Supposedly, right when Katte was about to die, Fritz apologized for everything, and Katte replied, "My Prince, you have nothing to apologize for." Now tell me that isn't a scene straight out of an anime. XD (I first heard this story at the Hetalia History panel at AnimeNEXT 2010, and the whole room went, "AWWWWWW!" Now I wanna see a Hetalia spin-off of just the historical figures, like an anime version of historical documentaries. That would be AWESOME.)
As far as the relationship between Fritz and Prussia goes, I think it's all too obvious. Prussia is obsessed with the old man in the series (which is why I'm so upset he hasn't appeared in the anime yet, especially since Maria Theresa has appeared). Historically, one of Fritz's most famous quotes is, "I am the First Servant of my State." It's also my headcanon that Prussia is extremely jealous of Voltaire and that the philosopher would constantly take Fritz's attention away from Prussia. Prussia, also, as we all know, is a horribly stubborn, greedy bastard who wants what he wants when he wants it. So I feel like those feelings of jealousy would follow him throughout his life, even after both Fritz and Voltaire died. I admit that I played up this couple a lot because I really love it and think it's historically accurate in a way. Plus, if nothing else, I now have a huge historical crush on Frederick the Great because of Hetalia. One of my prized possessions is a book published in the 19th century I got at an antique shop near my college that dedicates a whole, very long chapter to him. He's also one of my next cosplay projects. XD
And I'll leave it up to your imaginations to decide who was on top during the "marry the night" scene. ;D
Track 3: China performs "Government Hooker"
I wrote this track while taking a course called "Orientalism, Occidentalism, and Chinese Culture" at college. I was inspired by my studies in that class, especially when the class discussed modern relations between the US and China. I think that the US often unfairly demonizes China, but I don't want to get too much into politics here. What I wanted to do was apply the title of the song in a literal way, because the nations are people in Hetalia. After all, the relationship between a nation and its government can sometimes be very much like the relationship between a hooker and a regular client, and the roles can be reversed easily.
But the point overall wasn't to say that one nation is right or wrong or that we're all a bunch of whores or anything like that. The point was really that we need to understand each other before we jump to conclusions and that any words anyone can say can turn around and bit that person in the ass. So we should all be careful of what we say and what we call people. We never know when we'll fit the description.
Track 4: Chibitalia performs "Judas"
I think that this track is really self-explanatory, probably because it was the first track in Born This Hetalian Way to continue the Gakuen Hetalia/"Bad Romance" timeline. I broke up the story on purpose when I first wrote it as a single because I wanted to be sure that I would be able to continue the plot with some other tracks from the album. Once I was sure that I could, I wrote the omake at the end and established the metaphor for Judas, Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and The Apostles (and that's seriously all this song is: A METAPHOR) from the music video.
I had also been entertaining the idea of making this timeline a bit more dramatic with a Ludwig/Feliciano breakup for a while. I think it added something interesting to the plot and more of a high school-like feel to the timeline.
I also made Chibitalia the performer for this track just so I could write the flashback story for the remix, I swear.
Track 5: Tony performs "Americano"
Did I know that anything I wrote would end up being somewhat controversial? Yes. I did it anyway.
In the recent years, I've grown to enjoy keeping track of politics, mostly in the US but also in many other parts of the world. Thus, I've had the chance to study and observe the things that come with politics, such as social and economic policies. I have my own opinions about them, and I encourage everyone to form opinions about them, too.
That said, with this track, I'm not saying that I'm write. This track was meant to be a warning to all that this is what we could become and that this is what others will associate with us. There are people who hate homosexuals and immigrants and the poor, yes, but there are also plenty of people who love and accept and want to help everyone. Unfortunately, when people visit the US (or any country really), what tends to stand out in their minds are the bad things they see there. When we see bad things happen, we immediately generalize them to apply to all, and we can't help it. Therefore, when someone asks us what a place was like, the bad things tend to stick out in our minds the most, even if plenty of other good things happened. The good things are just quieter and harder to spot sometimes. So I hope that the people who want to do good will keep doing good. It's our responsibility as people to fight for what we believe is right and fight harder and louder than the people who want to do harm. Fight for what's good and show the rest of the world how wonderfully amazing your country is! I used Tony to illustrate this because he, while associated with America, is not an American or even a human. He's a blank slate to fill with whatever the people put out into the world.
Track 6: Egypt perform "Hair"
I felt a little odd writing about an event that happened so recently (and, in a sense, is still happening). But I felt like the message in the song fit what Egypt would feel like, or what any country would feel like, fighting for its freedom. The line "free as my hair" stuck out to me because, even though we try to tame it, we technically have no control over our hair. We can't control how quickly/slowly it grows, what color it is when it grows, and if it disappears. We can't even permanently control its styling. Yet we try to all the time. We try to keep complete control over it, but it always manages to slip away and defy us. That's what the song means to me, again, something of a metaphor. No matter how much a leader tries to keep hold on a nation, the nation will eventually break away and do what it wants to do. Applying this to Egypt's situation, the line that stuck out to me the most was "I've had enough." I think it spells out the general feeling whenever there's any kind of revolution.
Track 7: Austria performs "Scheiße"
I really wanted to write a Nyotalia track, but none of the tracks really worked with that concept. By then, I had already assigned a lot of performers that I didn't want to change. So I decided to write about feminism, a topic very near and dear to my heart. Living with a rather sexist, misogynistic relative, I've developed this need to express my frustrations and anger. This track was both a way for me to do that as well as a way to continue the "Dance in the Dark" timeline. Feminist!Hungary is probably my favorite creation out of these stories (along with Troll!Fritz but more on that later). I think she's a strong character in Hetalia, definitely the strongest of the female characters and able to compete (and win against) many of the male characters.
Austria is also a very interesting character to me, just in general. Probably more than any other male character, I'd like to see his Nyotalia character animated. I sent him back to the War of the Austrian Succession because, other than World War II, it's the war most associated with Hetalia, especially with Austria himself. It was also the first war Austria fought with Maria Theresa, one of the most famous female rulers in all of history. She's an idol of mine as well. I think that a lot of history changed when she came to power. If she had never taken the throne, the fate of the Holy Roman Empire and Austria would have been very different. Modern history would have probably changed as well.
The main point of this track was mostly to point out that, despite the hundreds of years of women fighting for their rights and respect, they still have to deal with obstacles. There is still Scheiße in the world, regardless of how many things have changed. Times are better for women now than they were even just fifty years ago, yes, but sexism still exists. Women are still believed to be not as smart, not as strong, and not as reliable as men. They still make less money than men do, even though they perform many of the same jobs. They are still expected to take care of children and clean their homes and cook for their families regardless of whether or not they have jobs outside the home. Most commercials depict women as either housewives or sex objects, as if to say they can be one or the other and nothing else. I could go on and on. Overall, all this Scheiße still exists, and that alone is wrong.
As a side note, "Scheiße" is my favorite swear word. XD
Track 8: Vietnam performs "Bloody Mary"
This was hard to write. Vietnam is my favorite of the female nations in Hetalia, and I love the country itself, too. I wanted to write a story about her feelings during her civil war/war with America. So, again, this wasn't meant to be a political statement or a track dedicated to demonizing America. I mostly wanted to see if I could write a track from another character's point of view on a controversial war that is still debated today. I think that the track mellowed out in the end though. After all, Vietnam and America are friends by the end.
The idea of the doppelgänger also fascinates me. It's both terrifying and like something out of a horror movie while still being realistic for the nations. To be honest, the doppelgänger thing scared me, and I was the one writing the story! Since I paid so much attention to America's in "Teeth," I wanted to show another one off. I knew I had to connect this track directly with "Teeth" because of the line, "I'll tell them my religion is you." In "Teeth," the line is "Got no religion. My religion is you." These lines were actually what made me decide to assign Vietnam as the performer and connect her story to America's. Believe it or not, this track was originally going to be assigned to Bulgaria and was going to be a side story to go along with "Poker Face." But I'm glad I changed my mind in the end. I like the final version better.
Track 9: Latvia performs "Black Jesus + Amen Fashion"
Woo, back in Gakuen Hetalia! This track was so much fun to write; it was a great mood-lifter after the more dramatic tracks like "Scheiße" and "Bloody Mary." I had also forgotten how much fun it is to write Feliks's dialogue. It's so damn fabulous. The sock drawer scene was also a ton of fun. The explanation as to why Feliks looked through the sock drawer was actually inspired by a conversation I had with a friend about sock drawers once when I was a kid. Weird, I know. I also loved writing the scene where Raivis finally confronts Ivan about his bullying. I imagine Raivis pretending to walk the runway while making his way down the hallway. The line "Changing something about yourself is as easy as changing your clothes" was inspired by what Gaga herself wrote about the track. The makeover was inspired by one of my favorite makeover TV shows, What Not to Wear. I know that I always feel better about myself when I'm wearing clothes that fit and make me look good. It's basic psychology actually. When we look good, we feel good. Our confidence and self-esteem both rise. That was why Raivis was able to confront both Ivan and Ludwig in this track.
I was also just really happy to FINALLY write a track where Russia/Ivan wasn't demonized and made the villain. You have no idea.
Track 10: Australia performs "Bad Kids"
This was a really simple, really self-explanatory track, but I think it was appropriate for the song, because the message of the song is really simple and self-explanatory. I assigned Australia to this song because it's my headcanon that he made England's life hell while living under his rule. I imagine him as your typical poorly-behaved child who always defied his parent and did everything he could to make him angry. It's also my headcanon that Australia is a prankster who loves to see people frightened and frustrated. I feel like he'd never grow out of it, too.
The idea of Australia being a bad kid is also somewhat historically accurate. After all, the country was built with the criminals and convicts of Europe.
Track 11: Turkey performs "Fashion of His Love"
So much fun to write! I was excited to find a way to use some of the newer manga strips in at least one of the tracks (Turkey going on about the tourist shop goods). Plus, I love writing the descriptions for the outfits in this "Telephone" timeline. I usually ended up Googling images of Visual Kei fashion throughout the tracks, taking my favorite pieces, and adapting them to the characters. The coat Turkey buys was inspired by a coat I once saw in a lolita magazine that I just...Oh, my God, I want it so badly. Even though I'd never have a reason to wear it. XD Japan always ended up looking really androgynous. He is something of an androgynous character, and Visual Kei has a reputation for making people look so, but I always got this image in my mind of him being especially pretty throughout this timeline. That was probably why I gave him the stripper look in this track. XD
I sort of love how the whole "island nation" thing became the marker for "Telephone" timeline tracks. XD
Of course, this track is for Alexander McQueen. I was able to see the exhibit featuring his clothes and accessories in the Metropolitan Museum of Art over the summer, and I had the most amazing time. I love fashion in general, but his fashions are so full of passion. They're art! They provided some of the inspiration for this track, as many of his clothes Gaga has worn were featured.
Track 12: Iceland performs "Highway Unicorn (Road to Love)"
It was hard to go back to writing about something dramatic, but I wanted to write something that illustrates what it was like for the Nordics after Denmark nearly drank himself to death. It was kind of a blank spot in the timeline up until this track. Keeping with the Nordic theme, I went with Iceland (Norway had already been decided for "The Edge of Glory."). I think it worked in a way. Iceland is the Nordic that is often left in the background, the odd one out, so to speak. He's overshadowed by the popular couplings of Sweden/Finland and Denmark/Norway. Giving him a little time to shine was my goal, but I also wanted to keep him in his supporting role for Norway, since he (other than Denmark) is the Nordic closest to Norway. I also imagine neon lights against a pitch black background whenever I hear this song, which reminded me of the Northern Lights, visible in Iceland the most during the winter, when the sun never rises. Additionally, unicorns are magical creatures. While Iceland doesn't have the ability to see/communicate with magical creatures the way Norway can, Iceland the country is still famous for its stories about fairies, elves, and other magical creatures.
This track was also inspired by my cosplay experiences. I'm a Norway cosplayer, and I met many other wonderful Nordic cosplayers at AnimeNEXT 2011. An Iceland cosplayer and I became really close, and I mock-married a Denmark cosplayer with the Iceland cosplayer as the official. Awesome, I know. XD
Track 13: Maria Theresa performs "Heavy Metal Lover"
CRACK. SO MUCH HISTORICAL CRACK. EVERYWHERE. I LOVE IT. XD
Troll!Fritz is probably my favorite creation out of this series. The thought of him trolling Maria Theresa (and sometimes Prussia) amuses me to no end. I wanna write more troll!Fritz in my future Hetalia fanfics.
In all seriousness, I love historical crack. It's probably my favorite kind of Hetalia fanfiction. Yet I had never written it...until I wrote this track! Here's a request from me, guys: Write more historical crack. Please?
It's also my headcanon that Hungary got her first frying pan from Maria Theresa.
This song also contains what is probably my most favorite line out of any songs I've ever heard:
"I could be your girl, girl, girl, girl, girl, girl, but would you love me if I ruled the world, world, world?"
This line is actually very relevant to Maria Theresa. A common saying for the Hapsburgs was "It is Austria's destiny to rule the world" (roughly translated from German). When Maria Theresa came to power, she embraced this idea fully and did not allow her husband, Francis Stephen, to take any power away from her. It's even been said that the Hungarians embraced her as if she were male, addressing her as their King. Francis Stephen was not faithful to Maria Theresa, but it's been said that she didn't care. Why should she have? She was the one ruling the most powerful empire the world at the time.
Track 14: Liechtenstein performs "Electric Chapel"
I loved writing dialogue for Liechtenstein. She's so cute. I also loved giving her a moment in the spotlight, letting her personality develop. I think she's got a spunky, rebellious side to her. She was originally going to be taking electric guitar lessons (a nod to the prominent electric guitar in the song) when she spotted Ludwig, but I changed it to make her more in-character. Disobeying her older brother was enough to show off that side of her. ;)
Admittedly, I made the guidance counselor a total dick because I've had nothing but horrible experiences with guidance counselors throughout the entire time I've been in school. Every single one I've ever had has given me awful advice and has never truly been interested in helping me. My high school guidance counselor even shirked her responsibilities when it came to sending out college applications for me, so I almost didn't get into college because of her. So I've kinda developed this dislike for guidance counselors that I should really get over...
Track 15: Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt perform "The Queen" (as one)
I didn't introduce these two at the beginning of "Judas" for nothing! Back then, I hoped there would be a track that I could assign them. I'm so glad I got the special edition of the album.
Coming up with personalities for these two was a lot of fun. I see Ancient Greece as calm, peaceful, thoughtful, and loving while Ancient Egypt is loud, fun, confident, and outgoing. These personalities were based on what the two ancient civilizations are best known for. Ancient Greece gave us philosophy and democracy (among other things) while Ancient Egyptians created art and architecture (again, among other things). I also imagine Mama Greece to be very caring and doting towards her son, while Mama Egypt is the exact opposite of her son. It amuses me. :)
Track 16: Prussia performs "Yoü and I"
My God...where the hell do I begin?
First of all, I'm stunned that so many of you embraced the Prussia/Ukraine pairing. I was so sure I would get negative reviews for this pairing, so I'm really happy that you guys liked it!
Like I said at the beginning of the track, I had been waiting over a year to write this track, ever since I had seen Gaga perform the song for the first time on The Today Show. I was immediately inspired. I knew what I wanted to write about. The song screamed "PRUSSIA" to me. I couldn't ignore it. That's why the track is so long: I had a ton of time to think about it, plan it, and coordinate it with other tracks. My mind ran wild whenever I thought about this song. Images of Prussia and all the other characters connected to him would race through my mind. They still do. In fact, I see even more images now that the music video for this song is out. If the music video had been released before I wrote this track, the track probably would have been even longer.
I find Prussia to be a really fascinating character in Hetalia. He doesn't exist in the modern day, so we have to look to history to get an idea of what his country was like. He's also the most human of the nation characters, in my opinion. He has flaws and real human emotions. It's not to say that the other nation characters don't, but they are just so much more obvious and prevalent in Prussia. At the same time, the fact that he is a nation character makes him appealing to us, especially because he doesn't exist anymore. He's caught in an awkward balance, and we can't get enough of him. I like the idea of him becoming East Germany/East Berlin after he's dissolved. Technically, Germany wasn't split up until a few years after Prussia's dissolution, but I changed that to fit the story. But that was also why I added his "identity crisis" scene. Prussia is a very proud, very arrogant character. If he had to change his identity and accept the fact that his old self no longer exists...I think it would be very painful for him.
I also think that Prussia is the kind of character who wants to know that he's needed, which explains why I made him act the way he does in the track, up until the end. If he thought that no one needed him, he wouldn't be able to find a reason to continue to live. A lot of that idea came from me starting to move out of my parents' home. I'll be graduating from college in the summer of 2012, and I'm going to be working/moving out soon afterwards (hopefully). While I won't need my parents around constantly, I'll still need them to be in my life. That was the model for the relationship between Prussia and Germany.
It's also my headcanon that Prussia loves children, which is why he constantly thinks about Germany as a child in this track.
I was really happy to finally reveal the truth behind Russia's personality as the Soviet Union. Did anyone see that one coming?
I also love the idea of Fritz watching over Prussia as a kind of guardian angel. It's sweet, especially because I love the pairing too much to let it disappear entirely.
There's another scene I want to point out specifically. The paintings in the basement. During the time the Wall was up, art exploded on both sides. It became a way for the people to express their frustrations and pain. Plus, art is also a great way to communicate in general. I'm probably a little biased here since I study art history at college, but I think that Germany would turn to art to express himself if he ever couldn't speak, specifically in the 20th century because of all the turmoil his country went through. The walls being covered in his art, however, was inspired by a scene from the Berlin episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations on the Travel Channel. Check it out, it's awesome. Like Prussia.
This is my favorite song on the album, and this turned out to be my favorite track in the story. I loved writing it, and I love looking over it. I hope you all loved it, too.
Track 17: Norway performs "The Edge of Glory"
The sound of falling snow is one of my favorite sounds ever.
The track was inspired, again, by my experiences cosplaying Norway. I've sung many an Alexander Rybak song in costume. XD
I think that this track speaks for itself though. The fairy tale had a happy ending.
This track is for my great-grandmother, my grammy, who died in January 2011. She was the first person on that side of the family to be born in the US, while everyone before her had been born in Norway. Her family, my family, lived in Bergen before coming to the US one hundred years ago. She shared her love for her country with me. I learned everything I know about Norway from her, and I love my ancestral home country, thanks to her. All this led me to be a Norway cosplayer in the first place. But I'm also just a girl from New Jersey, which is why this track is also for Clarence Clemons. "The Edge of Glory" was the last project he ever worked on before he died. He was a member of New Jersey's E Street Band with Bruce Springsteen, arguably the most famous singer to come out of the Garden State. Gaga brought these two worlds together when she recorded the song in Norway. When I found out, I cried. I was so happy, too happy. My two favorite places, my two homes, were brought together in the best way possible.
Remixes
I don't have a lot of commentary for the remixes. I mostly wrote these as extra stories to enhance the originals ("Judas" and "Scheiße") or continuing epilogues for the originals whose stories I just couldn't get out of my head ("Marry the Night" and "Fashion of His Love"). I hope they added a little something to your reading pleasure.
And I hope you enjoyed reading this story overall.
(Separate notes end.)
Little Fritz smiled. "I like it, Daddy," he murmured, leaning back against his daddy's chest. "Can I listen to the songs?"
Gilbert nodded and closed the CD booklet. "Sure," he agreed, nodding and kissing the top of his son's head. "In fact, I want you to. This CD is the reason Uncle West and Uncle Feli are married."
"Huh?"
"Heh, I'll explain it to you when you're older."
Fritz sighed. "Okay," he reluctantly agreed, slight disappointment evident in his voice. It took everything Gilbert had not to laugh. Smiling, he watched his son turn around in his lap. "Daddy?"
"Hmm?"
"I wanna make music."
The statement surprised Gilbert a little bit, but he could understand why his son would want to do so. He had probably been inspired by the lyrics he had just heard. "Alright," Gilbert replied, nodding. "How? Do you wanna learn how to sing?"
Fritz shook his head. "I wanna play an instrument."
Gilbert considered this. "It takes a lot of practice to play an instrument," he warned. "Are you sure?"
Fritz nodded. "I'll practice really hard. I wanna make music, too!"
The albino grinned. "Okay!" he cheered. "Your birthday is coming up anyway. Mommy and I will get you an instrument. We should check out what instruments are out there so you can decide which one you li-!"
"I want to play the flute."
A stunned silence immediately followed, but it was short-lived. The front door opened. "Hello!" Katy called. "I'm home!"
"Mommy!" Fritz squealed, jumping up from his daddy's lap and running to the front door, Gilbird chirping loudly as he followed behind. Gilbert wasn't so quick to get up. He sat there, on the floor, totally quiet, with a look of awe on his face. He barely even reacted when he heard his son greet his wife, the two laughing together.
No, instead, he slowly stood and looked back at his desk. One of the photos was of him and the old man on the day he had graduated from university. The two looked so happy together, both smiling brightly for the camera, celebrating the moment. That had been a wonderful day, a wonderful time when everything in the world seemed so perfect. He smiled sadly, knowingly.
"You're still here, aren't you?"
"Gilbert?"
The albino turned back to the doorway to his office, still smiling. Katy smiled back at him, their son in her arms. Gilbert stole a glance at the little boy and then went to his wife, welcoming her back home with a kiss.
"Welcome home," he whispered. "I love you."
Katy smiled back. "I love you, too."
Fritz snuggled up between his parents. "I love you guys, too..."
They both looked down at the little boy. Katy hugged him close, and Gilbert wrapped his arms around the both of them. He heard Gilbird chirp again, flying up to rest in his hair. He smiled to himself, basking in the moment with the people he loved the most. Nothing could be better.
Sorry, West, he thought, your life is great and everything, and I'm sure you're super happy with Feli, Sam, and Anthony, but my life is way more awesome.
So awesome...
THE END
And that's all.
I hope you guys have enjoyed. I've had the time of my life writing these stories, and I hope you've had fun reading them. If I changed your headcanon or taught you something, that's wonderful. If I made you laugh and/or cry, that's also wonderful. But, more than anything, I hope that I've entertained you, at least for a little while.
Thank you all so much for reading. You can still vote for your favorite track in my profile.
Until my next fanfic, I wish you all peace, love, anime, fanfiction, history, and fame.
May Mother Monster watch over you and keep you safe.
-Gothic Dancer