#heroes headcanons

[oumaheroes]

I firmly believe Arthur and Francis will set each other off in the best of ways sometimes. like Arthur will do something stupid or fall over and surprised Francis will let out the most ungodly braying donkey laugh which then causes Arthur to wheeze like he's been stepped on and they just spiral into stupidity for a moment

[oumaheroes]

hi there! i'm new to your page so idk if you do this, but i was wondering if you had any headcanons about friendship between ludwig and alfred? thank you!! :)

Oh I do indeed, Anon! I just hope I haven't left answering this too long for you to find ;u;

I think that the friendship between Alfred and Ludwig is a strange one. On the surface, it should work! They're both young, powerful new nations, both raised by far older family members who were contemporaries together, and both feel somewhat estranged to them because of it

Arthur and Gilbert, long time friends, companions, and thorns in each other's side, had very similar childhoods and experiences to the rest of Europe. Very self sufficient individuals, they raised themselves and had to fight for even the clothes on their back and they trust slowly. They're and very strict on themselves and others and have more baggage than is healthy. They then raised younger children in a similar time period, Alfred older but Ludwig still not modern, and as parents they will have had similar struggles. Alfred and Ludwig will each have loads of stories of their bumbling older sibling/ parent clashing with modern life.

Alfred and Ludwig as friends then really should work. New men against older ones, new ideas and fresh blood with dreams of being something better. But, I think although they have a lot of foundational stuff in common and have similar positions in the world, there is one huge thing that comes between them

Alfred is the new world. Alfred has grown up under old world principles and is leading the charge of the new way of things, pushing away old constraints and traditions to make his own, but Ludwig? Ludwig is surrounded by the old world, and desperately tries to blend in. Ludwig wants those traditions, Ludwig envies the old familiarity and intimacy of his European counterparts, sees it every day, and feels very much like an imposter around them. At the core of himself, he knows that they don't see him as on their level in some unspoken, undefinable way, and despite the age of the culture that he wears Ludwig wears it like an baggy old coat- small boy in big shoes to fill, a child trying to age up to the man-shaped role Gilbert held in their part of the world.

Alfred however knows who he is. Alfred is proud of his difference to Europe and compares himself to the rest of the Americas, as part of the new age of man. Ludwig doesn't have this. He is surrounded by ancient ghosts, by the silent looks and nods to in jokes and memories that he doesn't share and he tries his best to be one of them. And this difference between the two of them is jarring. Ludwig both envies Alfred and resents him, whilst also looking down on him, believing himself to be different- to be of the Old World that Alfred so proudly denies

In short, despite being younger by far, Ludwig feels and acts far older. Alfred finds him stiff and awkward, and Ludwig finds Alfred far too carefree and arrogant and, although they can get along when Ludwig relaxes and Alfred empathises, they don't naturally come together

[oumaheroes]

Ooh, can i ask about that scar Matthew dreads to explain??

Hahahah oh dear. You can find a hint about it in chapter 13 of It's All About The Delivery:

...............

'It was an account of a ball, written by an English gentleman as a review on the proceedings. Whether it was published or simply written for a friend the PM had no clue, but it read as followed:

Of course, one of the highlights of the evening I was lucky enough to have witnessed for myself. It was around the time of the third set of dances: Lord Kirkland’s ward -a younger brother, it is believed, perhaps a bastard of the father for he is not oft mentioned in a family of known recluses- was dancing with the young Lady Hillby. Her mother, speaking with Reverend Oakly’s wife, suddenly gave a sharp little gasp upon seeing them and exclaimed that she not only knew the young Master Kirkland, but seemed to imply that they had once been rather intimate many years ago.

  Of course, I assumed that I must have been mistaken in my hearing. The young Master Kirkland is but a lad of five and ten, and a lady of Lady Hillby’s standing and good breeding would not speak of such things in public. But a ripple went about the room, and that was all I heard for the rest of the night.

Once again, it was notable that there was no comment from Mr Williams to explain the situation.'

...........

The situation was that Matt got involved with a human girl (poor Madam Hillby). This would have been very scandalous behaviour at the time for she was unmarried, the daughter of a rather well placed Lord, and her family would have had big plans for her marriage-wise. To be found cavorting with the lower born, almost tradesman, Lord Kirkland's son would have been the end of her reputation

Horny little teenagers have other plans, however, and Matt would play high games of risk to spend time with beautiful young ladies.

For the one particular instance Lady Hillby senior was remembering in chapter 13, she and Matt had snuck away from a ball to an upstairs bedroom. Matthew was not even supposed to be at that ball- family not high born enough- when Lady Hillby's brother had come looking for her, hearing that she'd snuck away with someone.

Hearing him coming, Matt was trying to escape out of the window in a hurry and fell, landing in a bush and impaling himself in the arse cheek. He never told Arthur because of the damage it would do at the time if it had got out and because he was then caught by Arthur many years later at a different party with her daughter

There are some conversations he still can't face having with his father and that is one of them

[oumaheroes]

How would a FrUk relationship work if Arthur is blind (literally blind) would it be more chaotic, would there be more trust, more fights? Or would it be the same as it is portrayed now?

No difference in any shape or form. Arthur is the type of man to refuse to bend to or acknowledge a weakness, or anything wrong which could hold him back in life. Blind, deaf, legless- doesn't matter. This man is himself in whatever form he comes in, only surlier.

Despite what he'd let on, he would be very sensitive about a physical disability being perceived as something that makes him 'less than', or needing to be catered to. He'd work himself far too far to prove otherwise and would be painfully aware of it in most settings except the most intimate and familiar- more vulnerable to perceived attacks or special treatment or belittling and would bite back hard to prove it was unwarranted

For this reason, although being just as competent as he is without a physical disability such as blindness, he'd be much more highly strung. He'd learn routes by touch alone beforehand so he could walk about a room and interact with it unaided. He'd relisten to audiobooks or website information before a discussion or work meeting to make sure he could equally spa in the debates, regardless of the direction it took. He'd refuse a guide dog or walking cane, or anything which could make his life easier because he'd refuse to be seen as a 'blind man'. He'd want to be himself, just Arthur, and in this way he would be somewhat exasperating

In a relationship then, he'd be no different. Nor would Francis treat him any differently; that's not how they work.

I swear there must be a fic about this for FrUK somewhere, but the BlindChild AU by fishwrites@ and abhauen@ was a good AU which explored this topic and dynamic, albeit with USUK as the main ship (also a WONDERFUL Big Brother Scotland role sob I had Iuan as a name for Scotland for years). I'll not tag them because I don't believe they've been into Hetalia for a decade, but they still deserve the credit! Most of the AU existed in asks on their blogs in both fic and art form, although the ffnet fic does have 2 chapters up for us to enjoy

There's also a good fic the other way around, with France as a former ballet dancer who breaks his foot and can no longer dance. I cannot for the life of me remember what it's called and this will bug me for DAYS, but if anyone finds it please send it to me to share

Tl;dr, Francis and Arthur are, for me, always themselves, no matter what life or situation I put them in. They might be affected by something or change slightly to make sense of their environment or upbringing, but at their core they are unchanged no matter the circumstance

[oumaheroes]

For all their years together in some way or another, for all they are entwined willingly or otherwise, Arthur and Francis have never once said 'I love you'

It comes out instead by actions and choices, decisions taken or not. It'll be one of them offering a drink or patting a seat beside them, or keeping their mouth shut for once when they feel a line is getting crossed. It will be choosing not to continue whatever petty spat they're in, or forgetting a grievance and letting a matter lie. It's the comfortability of knowing each other, inside and out and accepting whatever they find there as part of them, as it is

Saying 'I love you' will only come right at the end, when there's no coming back this time. When mortality and the memories between them are all they have left, their lives reduced, finally, to just being two people, three terribly human words, and nothing left to lose

[oumaheroes]

How many languages does England know?

Far too many to define, many of them being that blurred area of dialect, pidgin, or creole between languages

He speaks an old form of Brythonic as his first language, then whichever particular ones the Celtic tribes of his land spoke. These languages and dialects are mostly forgotten or all mixed together- a word from one, a phrase from another, an expression from a third- but the earlier Brythonic language still comes to him in dreams sometimes, and the others as dreams of memories related to a particular region or person. The languages and dialects he shared with his brothers are clearer as he would have had practise after the languages themselves died out, but the ones he alone held all those years ago are almost long gone

Aside from these he knows Latin and Ancient Greek, which both once would have been essential. Norman French, obviously, and Norse too- all languages which have melded into English and left their mark. The same can be said for the old Celtic- Latin creole, and the old Anglo-French: remains of his people merging and taking in new waves of immigration.

Old English itself he would still be considered fluent in, if rusty, although some dialects are weaker and the Wessex dialect is strongest (more written text from this one survives compared to the others). This is the same for Middle English, and obviously Early Modern and Modern English he's an old hat

These older languages are becoming weaker the more time goes by and the less he uses them. He can't use or remember perfectly all of his languages, it's impossible to. And although I think nation memories are better than mortals, and overall they are FAR better at learning and remembering language in order to communicate with whoever they claim as their own, there is still only so much time he can dedicate to maintaining a language that no one else ever uses, or remembers. He does not need to keep these linguistic nuances, they are not essential to understand his people, and so they exist either for him and his memories alone, or a few other people. He and Francis are the last speakers of Norman French and Anglo-French. He and his brothers the last Brythonic speakers. He alone remembers the forgotten Cumbric language, or the spoken words of Boudica, and with no one but himself to talk to the language shrinks and grows stale. Still there, but barely. Coming in bursts, or leaving him lost for words

For modern languages, he knows his brothers' languages, athough not all of their branches and forms and he likely has a few centuries of knowledge missing from several of them. He knows modern Welsh, Cornish, Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic, and understands Francis when he speaks Breton.

He's fluent in French, German, Hindi, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese and Arabic and, as these are used the most in his life outside of English, he's probably now more comfortable in these than Latin or Ancient Greek which once would have held the same role for international communication.

He's also let many languages slide. He would have once been fluent in modern Greek, and Cantonese, although now he's not. Urdu would have once been great, and although he's good at Portuguese and understands it perfectly, he trips over himself sometimes and might mix it up more with Spanish than he used to. There are many many more too that i'm missing from this section- the man has travelled about and he'll have picked up a good many on his travels to use when he needs to and then forget when he doesn't

[oumaheroes]

Is Australia aware that he shares similarities with England? (if he does ofc)

Oh he does. I think out of all of Arthur's children, Jack probably shares the most of Arthur's common habits, appearance, and mannerisms- how he walks, how he shakes peoples' hand when he greets them, how he holds a pen- but also a lot of Arthur's personality too

They're both aware of it and I think this made it harder for Arthur when Jack was young- he was so like himself in so many ways that the ways he was not was infuriating. (Jack could understand a complicated physical puzzle easily, but he couldn't sit still. He was brillaint with languages, but he didn't care to speak to people. He had a great ear for music but hated it.)

Either this, or Arthur saw in Jack what he considered the worst in himself: how emotionally reactive Jack is and Arthur still is, hidden and carefully masked away under eyars of personal control. How Jack wanted to be outside and be dirty whenever he could, and Arthur grew up under open skies wandering wild and still yearns for that. How stubborn Jack is, how he refuses to do what he's told if he doesn't agree, how clever he is at picking holes in arguments and locked doors to escape and do his own thing by his own rules

They're both aware of it, but Jack is in more denial about it than Arthur is. These days, now that they have more distance from each other and Jack has matured, Arthur unwound, he makes more of a jokey denial and doesn't mind as much as he used to. These days, now that they can enjoy each others' company a lot more, both can see the positive similarities as well as, if not instead of, the negatives

[oumaheroes]

Now I have to send this answer back to you! Do you feel you have changed the way you write England (and France!) since the beginning? In what ways do you think you have improved when writing them?

Oh GOD yes!

On England:

I used to write him more as per old fandom norms: stereotypically tsundere, grumpy, quick to react, and emotionally a bit all over the place in regards to how he came to certain conclusions. All from the anime, of course, which definitely flavoured how the fandom wrote and portrayed him as a whole

But mostly, he's unchanged. Most of those traits didn't last too long for me. As soon as I tried writing him in a long form story he rigidly rebelled haha. He's always had a very strong and set personality in my head and my Arthur from 2011 is the same guy he is for me today, just with a few more bells and whistles that I've since chipped off

The main ways he's changed I think is just through me improving as a writer and being able to better understand and portray nuance. I think he's a very complciated person, very layered and confusing even to himself, and whilst on the surface he might be contrary or stubborn the reasons he has for his behaviour make sense to him. I wasn't very good at showing this when I started out writing and my early Arthur is clearly written by a less mature writer and person. As I've grown, he's grown with me

On France

Boy, my old France got the short end of the fandom stick whacked at him. Unlike Arthur, who has always been himself with me for the most part, my old Francis personality was much more fandom incarnate from the early twenty tens. Bit of a sexual leech, a nudist, a party animal... a bit of a silly show piece with not too much thought into him. Dramatic for no reason

I think my old France is probably still recognisible as the character I write today for the most part, but I've since taken away all of the old silly fandom traits he was given and matured him up to make him more complicated. As the fandom has aged I feel we've all moved further and further away from the old anime portrayals, and I loved reading stories of Francis as this hyper intelligent cruel and vulnerable guy. I love giving him that capacity now, along with Arthur, and layering him up like a pretty lil onion

FrUK together

Honestly, I have said this before somewhere but as soon as I put the two of them in a scene that was it, they were the stars of the show. The first proper Hetalia fic I tried to write was USUK and Francis was supposed to be Arthur's childhood bestfriend and instantly they were the main characters. Instantly, their scenes together were my favourites, their dialogue my best, and they had more chemistry and intimacy than anything else. I converted myself to FrUK, I am the problem ahha

As soon as I wrote them together their relationship set solid and it's been unchanged ever since. It wasn't even planned, there was no room for growth- how they are now is how they were then. I abandoned that USUK fic and shifted to Reset and welp, been here with them arguing in my head ever since

The only way I write them differently is maybe how easy they are together? I used to write England more reluctant with affection and France more forceful, and they've softened with age as I've smoothed out the old rigidities of their characters. It's the same now, just softer