--COME AWAY, O HUMAN CHILD--

geogirl15 @ 2009-10-18T11:05:00

2009-10-18T15:13:21Z

Ugh...I am so tired, I'm starting to see things in multicolor.

It's been a hell of a week. Not a bad kind of hell, but I've just been getting a ton of work, on top of all of my college stuff, and my brain feels like its going to explode.

I've got 2 papers, notes and projects and regular homework AND college stuff.

At this rate, I'm going to turn into a zombie. D: And I don't wanna be a zombie, they scare me!!

What should I do? I need better time management skills, but I'm not good at that sort of thing...I need help...and sleep...

geogirl15 @ 2009-10-09T20:24:00

2009-10-10T00:30:11Z

D: I'm taking the SAT tomorrow. Again.

THIS IS THE THIRD TIME.

I've accepted that my math abilities are subpar at best...but maybe a third time will bring that score up? Just a wee bit?

D: And after I do that I'm spending Sunday filling out applications and working on my portfolio...and then Monday is regular homework day...

...

God. Being a senior kinda sucks.

Does it get better after December? PLEASE SAY YES I DON'T KNOW HOW LONG I CAN TAKE THIS.

And I promise, I PROMISE, I'm working on France's HWZ fic. I am. It'll be done when it's done, I'm really sorry it's taking so long, but my schedule is sort of full and my inspiration is being drained by college...

I'm really, really sorry it's taking so long...I really am. It'll be up soon, I promise!!

geogirl15 @ 2009-09-27T00:01:00

2009-09-27T04:06:57Z

Ugh, writer's block is a bitch.

I swear though, I AM working through it!! I'm working on the next bit of HWZ, which is gonna be France-centric, and I'm almost halfway there. So that'll be up sooner or later. And I'm also working on a Spain/S. Italy drabble request, but I need to actually think of a plot for that...but that's gonna be up sometime soon too.

I've just been so exhausted...school's started to overwhelm me, and I've only been back in for about a month! I've got papers, tests, projects, college stuff, clubs, dance, therapy, art, boyfriend...jeez, I like those last two things and I'm still gonna go nuts from overload!!

For anybody whose managed to make it past their senior year of high school without killing themselves: How the hell did you do it? How did you time manage, and what can I do to prevent myself from going completely batshit crazy?

....

Oh. And Halloween is coming up. I need a costume idea, and tips on how to make it. I was thinking of going as Canada, from Hetalia, but idk. I've got boots, glasses, and a polar bear plush...but everything else I'd need to make or buy...and that could be tough.

What are you all doing, and do you have any tips?

...God, I need to go to sleep. Maybe that'll keep my brain from exploding...

geogirl15 @ 2009-09-21T21:40:00

2009-09-22T02:57:16Z

Ugh...writers block sucks. I want to write, I do!! I've got all these vague ideas floating about him my head, waiting to be expanded and written, but I can't figure it out!

So, I guess I need help...

I'll put some of my vagueish ideas up here, and maybe you guys can give me a hand? Most of them are HWZ related. Oh, and these aren't titles, these are just the names of the ideas.

1. The Kingdom of Sealand- What I've got for this is that, as a direct result of the zombie war, Sealand, which is basically a floating barge at sea, became...well, successful. They expanded and terraformed and became this big seasteading nation with a population and relations and trade and everything. So...Sealand became a real nation, essentially. BUT AT WHAT COST? :D That's sort of all I've got for that so far...Sealand being big and successful (but Peter is still physically young), and bragging...but I got nothing else. D:
2. The Japanese Evacuation/The Clearing of Japan- Ok, this one is tough, but it's a bit more planned out than the first one. Japan gets completely overrun by the zombies, the population flees to Russia, chaos and sad happens. Japan has to pretty much go to Russia for help, it's all very sad and painful, and it ends with him going back, reclaiming his old culture and ways, and kicking zombie ass samurai style. Problem is, I'm having a tough time filling in the details...
3. The Catacombs- This one is hard mostly because I am having such a HARD FRIGGEN TIME WRITING FRANCE. The Catacomb Battles were extremely tough and srs, and I don't do a good job writing France, he's a bad caricature in my hands...so he needs work. He's even worse to write than England was, and he was a BITCH to write. Assist?

My other ideas aren't so important right now, but they'll probably need fine tuning in the future as well....

TL;DR- Having issues writing, need assistant/assistants.

Oh, and I'm still sick. Joy.

It only takes a day of being stuck at home...

2009-09-21T00:41:43Z

...to make me realize how friggen BORING the internet is.

I mean, REALLY!! I sit here, all day, due to the inability to leave and see people cuz of my rather nasty head cold, and I do friggen NOTHING!! Do a few little things over at the Hetalia dressing room, but nothing consistent.

So, I'm bored...and boredom isn't exactly good for writing...

So, I think I wanna do a RP with somebody. ANYBODY. I haven't done a lot of one on one or small group stuff in a while (not since the insanity that was capslock_atlarp), but I really want to.

SO.

:D Anybody wanna do a Hetalia RP? Just for the fun of it/to keep me from ripping my hair out?
I can probably do America, Canada, England, Lithuania....well, basically anybody not Asian or Poland. :D And I like seeing Russia beat up Lithuania or be sweet to Canada. And maybe zombies there too, to keep my writing side from going dry. But again, I don't care, ANYTHING is good.

Its not a serious long term thing, it's just to keep me from going ABSOLUTELY NUTS.

SO. ANYBODY INTERESTED?

PLEASE? I can't take much more of this....

geogirl15 @ 2009-09-18T12:45:00

2009-09-18T16:50:55Z

You know, sometimes I wish I wasn't so cheap. Or, rather, that I actually had cash.

Because I really, REALLY want a paid account. Mostly for the icons, the lack of ads, the ability to edit comments...

Perhaps for Christmas, I shall ask for one.

And my cat? Yeah, he's an idiot of the highest degree. So, he goes to get surgery yesterday for blockage in his large intestine (urinary tract issues, lol). They give him a catheter to help him recover, and he was SUPPOSED to be home on Saturday.

Yeah, so after hours, when he's at the vets by himself? He pulls a retarded and PULLS THE CATHETER OUT.

Now, they have to wait and see if he doesn't need it, or if they need to put it back in and charge us MORE for him.

...Why are animals so stupid sometimes?

Oh. And I'm sick. Ha de fricken ha.

[FANFICTION] For Queen and Country

2009-09-18T00:52:28Z

Title: For Queen and Country
Author/Artist: Rea, or geogirl15
Character(s) or Pairing(s): England,mentions of Sealand and America, and the following OCs- Northern Ireland, Southern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
Rating: PG-13, violence, language, and bizzare sibling relationships. Also zombies.
Warnings: Violence and warfare, language, an implied crossover (YOU GOTTA FIND IT THOUGH), OCs, craploads of mentions of death, and a bit of angst.
Summary: It is the height of the zombie pandemic, and the United Kingdom goes to war.
Notes: I believe this is the first bit of H War Z that actually takes place DURING the zombie war, without flashing back to it. This is also the first fic to feature England, as well as Arthur's siblings, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
It was mentioned that the UK was largely unaffected by the zombie war, but I tweaked it a bit so there'd be some fighting and violence, but not a lot. Despite that, Artie and his family came out ok.
Again, I'm hoping to make this chapter a bit less serious, especially considering the last one...

OH. First one to spot the not WWZ related crossover gets a free internet cookie AND a drabble of their choice! If you know me, it should be fairly obvious! :3

Arthur Kirkland was no stranger to war. He'd been an empire, a conqueror, a pirate. He was old enough to have seen a great deal of fighting in his life, and how to handle war.

He'd survived the fucking Blitz, for Chrissake!

But nothing--nothing, had prepared him for this.

Zombies. Fucking ZOMBIES were invading his country.

If it wasn't happening, it would be impossible to believe. But then again, this was coming from the man who could see fairies and communicated with unicorns on a regular basis.
Who was he to judge the impossible?

But these weren't mythical creatures. The zombies were a disease, a walking plague with no cure that spread across the globe and tore apart society.
They had all heard the rumors...Israel passed out that report of hers as soon as the signs became clear. They'd all thought she was paranoid, quarantining her entire country when nobody believed her.

But then they had reports from Africa, of a bizarre new strain of flu. News leaked out from China, suppressed reports of isolated outbreaks coming through, and it soon became very obvious that something was wrong.

And then the was the Great Panic, and the whole world dissolved into chaos.

In hindsight, Arthur felt stupid for not having listened to Israel, for having barely glanced over that report before tossing it in the rubbish bin. He'd joked with Alfred about how Adalia was a bit jumpy, paranoid from years of conflict with Palestine, how it was probably nothing.

Well, he wasn't laughing now. Nobody was.

He had to do something to protect his people.

He knew the other nations were fighting and evacuating and running...He knew that almost all of Kiku's population had fled, he knew that there was a massacre in the Catacombs of Paris, and he knew what happened to Iceland.

Everybody knew what happened to Iceland.

He wasn't going to let that happen to him. No bloody way.

He'd do whatever it took to keep his people safe...

...Unfortunately, it meant talking with his siblings.

It's not that he didn't love his siblings...he just didn't like them very much at times. They were...well, his siblings.

Scotland and Wales had bullied him when he was younger, and even though they got along better now, they still had their moments on occasion...as for Ireland...well.

He and Ireland were always fighting about who should look after Northern Ireland, and every time they seemed to come to an agreement, somebody would shoot somebody else or blow something up and they'd be right back at it.
Besides, she was just an irritating person to deal with.
In a way, all of them were...

Really, meeting with them usually caused more problems than solved.

But given the choice between dealing with his brother and sisters and the zombies...he'd take the siblings any day.
--------

"Ok, people. As you're all aware, we've got a real problem on our hands. I want to know what you've all been doing to protect yourselves from the zombies, and what we can do together to stop them."

Arthur was holding a meeting in his house, having finally managed to get a hold of his siblings.
It took a lot of arguing and yelling, and a great deal of swearing on Ireland's part, but they were all here now.

Except they weren't really paying attention. As usual.
Scotland was staring off into space, fiddling with a bottle of empty whiskey. No doubt he had another full one on his person, and was just waiting for an excuse to pull it out.
Wales was fidgeting, checking her cell phone every five minutes.
The only ones paying attention were Ireland and Northern Ireland, but that didn't mean they knew what was going on.

Ireland just blinked at him, confused, the only person to respond to Arthur's question at all. Her expression was mirrored by the much younger Northern Ireland, sitting in her lap.

"Arthur, my people haven't had any problems with the zombies...no reported outbreaks, no mass immigrations, nothing." Fiona continued to stare at her brother, confused, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. If she'd been having problems, she'd already be dealing with them.

The little boy in her lap, Alroy, nodded in agreement with her.

"We haven't had any problems, Artie..."

Arthur frowned. Perfect. Couldn't get any help from them. Not like he really wanted it, anyway.

"...Well, ok then. I'll get back to you two in a minute. I may have a job for you, Fiona."

Fiona just snorted in response. "I bet you do, Iggykins."

Arthur ignored her.

"Duncan, what about you?"

Scotland, who had been staring intently at his empty bottle, didn't respond for a moment. Arthur coughed, smacking the table lightly, finally getting his brother's attention. Duncan blinked, slightly confused, before shaking his head.

"Aye, we had a bit of trouble, but we've got protection. The old castles in the south, we're using them as fortresses. The Zee's aren't smart enough to get in, and those that do...well, they don't get out."
Duncan laughed, grinning a bit.

"Arthur, we're fine. Honestly, we are. We've had a few issues, but we're dealing with them."

Arthur nodded, satisfied. Duncan was capable of handling himself, after all...

"Lanette...? What about you?"

Wales didn't look up from her cell phone as she responded.

"I've got people, Arthur. You know that."

Arthur sighed.

"I know you do, Lanette...but zombies aren't exactly their specialty, are they? And really, I think you need more than 5 barely competent people to defend your capital, let alone you..."

Lanette looked up from her phone and glared at her brother for a minute, before going back to staring at her phone.
"You're just jealous they won't work for you anymore."

"That's beside the point, and you know it. I really think you're going to need more help--"

Lanette's phone started ringing, and she instantly answered it, jumping out of her chair, ignoring whatever her brother had been trying to tell her.

"Jack? I swear, this had better be good news..."

Arthur just stared at his sister as she listened and visibly paled before darting out of the room, screaming into her phone in Welsh.

Well.
She wasn't going to be of any help.

For a few minutes, there was silence in the room. Everybody was staring at the door where Lanette had exited, expecting her to return. When she didn't, Arthur sighed and resumed the meeting.

"Ok, so I guess we're not going to be getting help from her. I suppose it's my turn now...and yes, I've been having problems, which is why I called you all here in the first place. I know we don't exactly get along, but we'll have to if we're going to get through this in tact."

Arthur sighed before turning to Fiona and Alroy.

"You two are completely clean, right?"

The two nodded, still looking rather confused, although Arthur swore Fiona looked more angry than confused.

"Good. I think I'm going to need to evacuate London, and I need someplace safe for the people to go until I can get it cleared. That's going to include the government and the royal family, so I need you to be extremely careful, got it?"

Fiona nodded, still looking rather irritated.
"We'll take them in. We've been checking constantly for any signs of trouble, and there's been nothing yet...so we should be ok."

Alroy smiled a little, nodding in agreement with his older sister.
"I bet we can do more than just help the people, though!! We could make stuff for ya, Artie...like weapons, and food, and all other kinds of supplies!!"

Arthur nodded. It was a good idea...They were going to war, they'd need more supplies than normal...

He was about to turn and speak to Duncan when Fiona coughed, redirecting Arthur's attention back to her.

"Arthur. I'm only going to do this for you on one condition."

...Oh no.

"I'm taking Alroy back, permanently. No fighting, no treaties, nothing. Got it?"

Arthur blinked and sighed, rubbing his forehead. He knew this was coming, and really, he was in no mood to deal with this right now.

"Fiona...can we not talk about this now? I think that there are more pressing matters than a custody battle, and really, I'm sure that Alroy would rather stay with me..."

Duncan sighed as Fiona started yelling at Arthur, the two of them starting yet another shouting match. Alroy, who was more or less being ignored by his brother and sister, had started to cry from all the yelling, and if he listened closely enough, Duncan could hear Lanette still screaming to her captain in Welsh over the phone.

He sighed again, reaching into his pocket for another bottle of whiskey, leaning back in his chair, watching his brother and sister fight.

Really, all things considered, the meeting went pretty well.
-------

"Your Majesty, please. You've got to leave the country, it's for your own safety! Your people need you safe, your family needs you safe!"

Elizabeth II shook her head, making no movements to get up and leave. This was the third time today that Arthur had tried to convince her to leave Windsor Castle, to go to Ireland with her family and government, and this was the third time today that she had refused.

Arthur couldn't understand it. Well...actually, he could. His queen was a stubborn woman. Once she set her mind on something, no power on earth could make her change her mind.
But they were at war, with an enemy both unpredictable and practically impossible to kill.
For her own sake, Arthur just had to make her leave the country.

"Your Majesty, I don't think understand the severity of the situation..."

"No, Arthur. I understand completely what is going on, and that is why I am going to stay."

Arthur sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Your Majesty, we are at war. Your people need to you be safe and protected, away from danger."

"My people need me here. You forget, Arthur, that my mother and father stayed here while the bombs were falling, because they would not be intimidated. My people need me here, to show them that I will not be intimidated by this, or any threat."

...Damn. She really wasn't going to leave, was she?

"I can't do anything to make you change your mind, can I?"

"I am afraid not, Arthur."

He sighed and was about to try and argue with her again when his cell phone began to ring. The queen gave him a small smile and nodded towards the door, signaling that it was ok for him to leave. Arthur nodded and bowed slightly before leaving to get the phone.

"This had better be important."

"Sir, it's very important...I...we found something. You need to come out here and take a look."

"Found something? What do you mean, found something? You were supposed to be digging a trench, how could you find something?"

"Well, sir...we found it while digging."

"Well, what is it?"

"...we think its oil, sir."
-------

It took them 5 years to clear London out completely.

5 years of being afraid to fall asleep because they never needed too.

5 years of leading men through deserted streets, armies of dead outnumbering them a million to one.

5 years of shooting and splattering organs on pavements, slicing limbs and stabbing hearts and watching the enemy just keep coming, never stopping, no matter how much you fought them.

5 years of slicing heads off only for them to bite frantically at ankles, only becoming still when a bullet was shot into its brain.

5 years of brains and blood splashing against Arthur's face as he sent zombie after zombie to death, not once thinking of the person they had once been. No matter how hard he tried.

5 years of watching men that were barely men die.

Watching them being devoured and infected and driven to insanity by the eternal moaning of the damned.

5 years of shooting poor, terrified boys in the head to save them from a fate worse than death.

...He'd survived the Blitz, for Chrissake...

He survived the FUCKING Blitz! Why the hell was this so hard?

They were just zombies...just zombies...they weren't even alive, why was dealing with them so fucking HARD?

He'd fought wars before...he'd killed before...but those were wars of men, not monsters. At least, not physical, literal monsters.

And he'd never had to kill his own men before. He'd never had to order them to kill each other.

Going out there, every day, to win an inch and lose a yard...to watch his men kill and die for nothing...

It was hell. Pure hell.

...But he was alive.
At least he had that.

That was more than so many people could say now...

5 years from hell...

...At least it was over.
-------

"Yes, Peter, for the last time, I know you're a real country now, you don't have to keep reminding everybody, we all get it. ...Yes, I know you told me so. Once again, stop reminding everybody.
...Ok, the filters will be here by Monday? Good, we need to get those set up before Elizabeth gets back from Ireland on Wednesday... Listen, I've got to go, Alfred is visiting, finally, and I need to pick him up from the airport.
...Peter, are you listening to me? ...Peter. I'm hanging up now."

Honestly, sometimes Peter was too much to deal with.

Ever since Sealand was recognized by the UN as a proper nation, he called Arthur every day and bragged.
And bragged.
And bragged.

He couldn't take it much longer...if that boy phoned him and told him to bow down to the might of Sealand, he'd...he'd...well, he didn't know what he'd do, but it wouldn't be good.
He had been a pirate, after all.

The war had been over for about 10 years, and things had gone back to normal in England. Their government never collapsed, their economy was stable (with the help of their oil and transportation industry), the people were happy, and all was well.
Things had changed, however.

Arlon was living with Fiona again, and Ireland was united once more. Arthur knew he was going to lose that fight with his sister, but it really couldn't be helped. After the war, Arthur lacked the power and motivation to put up a fight against his sister.

Fiona's country was one of the wealthiest in the world, making and supplying the rest of the world with food and weapons.
Her population boomed during the war, with countless refugees fleeing to safety, and the population growth continued after the war ended.
And, just like Peter, she loved to rub it in his face. Git.

Duncan was...well, Duncan. That would never change. The same went for Lanette; The two of them would never really change, no matter what happened.

Things were going back to normal, at least...

Arthur smiled a bit, going to grab his jacket. It was the first time he'd actually seen Alfred since the war ended, and the last time he saw him, Alfred had been a bit of a wreck...

But things were going to go better this time. Arthur would make sure of that. They'd survived, and that was all that mattered in the end. He'd make Alfred see that if it killed him.

Of course, I bet he'll find some way to screw up...ah well. It's what he does best, I suppose....

He sighed and started to head off to the airport. Alfred was waiting.

NOTES

-Did ya'll find the super seekret crossover yet? :3 If not, I'll give you a hint. The crossover itself is mentioned in a previous journal, but I won't tell you which one!!
-The UK came out the Zombie War relatively unscathed, with Ireland becoming one of the richest countries in the world, maintaining a huge farming industry.
-England discovered oil at a Windsor defensive base, and, following the war, became a major supplier of oil.
-Also following the war was the invention of the 'fortified elevated highway' system, developed in England, which is now used around the HWZ world.
-The majority of English wartime casualties came from soldiers, not civilians.
-Scotland and Wales suffered the worst outbreaks out of the entire UK, although Scotland fared better than Wales. Both ultimately began using their old castles as part of their defense systems, and as a result were able to save countless lives.
-Sealand, as a result of the zombie war, was able to expand and become a very, VERY large seasteading nation, and was eventually recognized by the UK as a real country, making it the first and currently only seasteading nation, as well as the only micronation to make the transition to real nation. How did this happen? :3 That's coming soon.
-But, if you're reeeally curious, Sealand the nation looks something like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AndrasGyorfi.jpg
-Israel was the first country to recognize the threat of the zombies, and released the Warbrunn-Knight Report, which was ignored by most countries. Israel was the only one to quarantine prior to the Great Panic.
-Japan and Iceland were both overrun by zombies. While the entire Japanese population was able to evacuate the island, Iceland was essentially destroyed and has the highest concentration of zombies in the world.
-Some of the worst casualties in the war came from France, particularly during the attempts to retake Paris and the Catacomb battles, which are infamous in the HWZ world. More on that later, though.
-Queen Elizabeth II remained in England during the entirety of the zombie war, while the rest of her family fled to Ireland and the Isle of Man. Her reasoning behind this was that her mother and father didn't flee England during the Blitz, acting as an inspiration to their people, and she wouldn't flee from this threat.
-The reason why Alfred apparently looked horrible the last time Arthur saw him, as well as his meeting with Arthur in London, will be explained and shown in more detail in a future ficbit.
-Out of all of Arthur's siblings, only Fiona escapes the cursed eyebrows. The others all have them.
-The 'custody battle' that constantly occurs between Fiona and Arthur refers to the Troubles. Technically, the Troubles are over, but there's still a lot of violence, so, make of that what you will. It's really a 'custody battle' that went out of control when religion became the prime reason for the extreme conflict. Read about it, it's very sad and interesting.
-I recognize the fact that this was a very...dialogue heave ficlet. Lots of exposition, not a lot of action. And I do apologize, but I honestly wasn't sure about how to show all of this without the talking. I know it's not as good as the other parts, but hey...to tell a story, I suppose you have to have good and bad chapters.
-SO. TO MAKE UP FOR THIS CHAPTER'S LAME, LET ME GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF WHAT IS COMING UP!! The next few ficbits will include: France and the Catacomb Battles, SuFin, the Evacuation of Japan, the Warbrunn-Knight Report, Russia/Canada, US/UK, Stalker!Female!Mexico, Alaska and Oregon, The Great Panic, Antarctica, and the GLORIOUS KINGDOM OF SEALAND. Also, zombies. ALWAYS WITH THE ZOMBIES. But I'm not telling you what order that's gonna go in, cuz I honestly don't know yet. I just make this stuff up as I go along, people.
So there's that to look forward to. I hope you enjoyed, or at the very least, accepted, this little ficlet.

geogirl15 @ 2009-09-13T18:06:00

2009-09-14T00:54:32Z

D: Sometimes, I think there may be something wrong with me. I tend to obsess over things too easily, and ever since I got into Hetalia, I CAN'T FRIGGEN STOP.

GOD.

And I thought for a while, hey, it's ok, it's just fiction and stuff!

Except now, I want to go over to the aph dressing room and roleplay as JEANNE D'ARC.

THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH ME!! I mean, yeah, when I was 8, she was the greatest thing since sliced bread in my eyes and I had like 6 books on her, but that doesn't really excuse my desire to ropleplay a historical figure...

Somebody talk me out of this! ~~Or encourage this, either one. D:~~

EDIT

Aw, fuck it. I'll do it. She's not an original character, it's not illegal, I'll meet new people, and maybe I'll get a chance to improve my elementary school level french.
~~please don't beat me up, internet...~~

Hetalia Fanart Meme

2009-09-13T20:08:57Z

Ganked this from lokichan2004, because it seemed like fun.

Pick a number between 1-200, and I'll post the fanart that corresponds to that number. Feel free to pick multiple numbers. :) In fact, picking multiple numbers is encouraged!!
I didn't do ANY of this artwork, it's all from my various travels across the internet. So if you see something that's yours, I swear I didn't steal it D:
There should be no real bias here, but I kind of adore Russia, so there's a lotta him in here...:3 Oh, that crazy vodka loving bastard.

These are being hosted on photobucket, and I really don't plan on deleting them any time soon, but you may want to save them, just in case.
Once a number gets picked, I'll edit the journal so that there aren't a lot of multiples.

Go nuts.

USED NUMBERS
3, 7, 13, 42, 54, 72, 101

'9', A Movie Review

2009-09-13T00:41:48Z

Let's talk about '9', a movie set in an post-apocalyptic future where humans are gone and the only living things among the machines are 9 sockdolls with souls.

'9' was....well, to be quite honest, AWESOME.

I was surprised, to be honest, that it was as good as it was. I was concerned that it'd be light on the story and would be all like 'oooh look at us with our big fancy animation'.
And I guess, to a certain degree, it was.

But the story was good, and I liked the characters, which, in a movie like this, is EXTREMELY important. They were all good characters, and it was a good movie. Scared me a number of times, and made me cry at least twice.

But despite the fact it was good, I do have some complaints...

1- the length. Most people complain about their movies being too long, but '9', to me, felt too short!! It made everything seem a bit rushed, especially in the beginning, and while it did slow down a bit near the end, the shortish time length did cause constraints that could have been avoided if they'd just made it longer.

2- the plot. I liked the story, I really did. I just think there was a LOT of backstory that wasn't told, which may have been caused by the time constraints. I was curious. I wanted to know more about the scientist, the chancellor, the war and the machines, where the movie took place, what time frame it was in, why 9 took longer than the other sockdolls to wake up, EVERYTHING!!
They did a good job with what they had, but I really, REALLY wanted more.

3- flashbacks. They did a few, and the one I'm talking about in particular shows how 5 lost his eye. I liked it, it showed how the sockdolls survived while the robot war was going on, but again, I wanted more! Why was 1 always hiding, why did he dislike 2, why was 8 so loyal to 1, how, when, and why did 7, 3 and 4 leave? We weren't told enough about the sockdolls OR the humans, which I think would have helped to give the film more depth.

And I know, there was a lot more background info in the viral marketing campaign, but you can't expect EVERYBODY to follow that! For the common people, I think a lot more backstory and info was needed.

And maybe some more character development, too. 9, 7, and 5 were pretty well rounded, as was 6. 3 and 4, who didn't talk, were harder to show depth with, but they came off ok. 1, 2, and 8 came off a bit one sided, and 8 in particular seemed to be hit hard, with little dialogue, little screentime, and little explanation for why he's the way he is.

But overall? '9' was a good film! Dark, creepy, good. GREAT soundtrack, BEAUTIFUL animation, great voice acting. I had my complaints, yes, but I really did like it.

So that's '9'. Everybody should go see it, because it really is a good film, and it cost a lot of money to make.
If it tanks, good films like it become more difficult to get made, so everybody go support the film! Buy tickets, see it with friends, spread the word!!

AND, a few brief spoilers for the next bit of H War Z. It won't use flashbacks, as it will be set DURING the zombie war. It will star England, and have some OC's there as well.
Instead of flashbacks, there will be a flashFOWARD at the end.

>:3 that is all.

HEEE~

2009-09-11T02:40:42Z

HETALIA FRIENDING MEME

HELLO NEW FRIENDS!

I'm Rea, it's a pleasure to meet you all.

A few notes about me:

- I love to write. It's mostly for my own enjoyment, but I hope everybody else likes it too, so I'm open to feedback, suggestions, all that good stuff.
- I also love to draw. And someday? I'm gonna work for Disney, as a character animator.
Though not a day goes by when I don't ask myself 'WHY DO I WANT TO WORK FOR DISNEY AGAIN?'
- My real life ramblings are usually very boring, and slightly infrequent.
- The majority of my non-real life posts are Hetalia related, though I will occasionally rant and rave about other things. For example, the newest Pokemon games, HeartGold and SoulSilver, just came out in Japan. Expect to see something about that coming up soon.
- This used to be a roleplaying journal. I LIKE ROLEPLAYING.
- When I wrote this journal, I was extremely tired, and running mostly on vanilla-flavored Fudgsicles, so please forgive the ramblings/caplockiness.

It's really a pleasure to meet all you lovely new people, as well as provide a bit more useless info about myself to my other friends! :3

[FANFICTION] Слова, как тихие дожди, осень (In the Wells of Silence)

2009-09-11T02:31:52Z

Title: Слова, как тихие дожди, осень (In the Wells of Silence)
Author/Artist: Rea, or geogirl15
Character(s) or Pairing(s): Russia, with mentions of Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, and Canada.
Rating: Light R, for implications of violence, religious imagery, implied yaoi, and because this is Russia.
Warnings: Violence, death, religious imagery, conquest, mentions of the Russian Revolution (nothing too detailed), zombies, light yaoi, and implied MPreg.
Summary: Ivan has a crisis of faith.
Notes: Another part of the 'H War Z' series of fanfics, though this one has less to do with zombies and the zombie war and more to do with Russia. It's basically an analysis of my Russia's mind and how he's been affected by everything, etc. It's actually kind of hard to describe...but I like it a lot. Russia's one of my favorite characters, so I can only hope I did him justice.

The title of this fic roughly translates out to 'Words, Like Quiet Rain, Fall' (in the Wells of Silence), which are inspired by lyrics from 'The Sound of Silence'. What this has to do with the fic, I don't know, but I thought it sounded nice.
I worked really, REALLY hard on this part, using an internet dictionary for the Russian in the fic (which may be off...)
It's a bit darker than the other bits, mostly because of the religion.
But I like it.

A NOTE- This fic was not made to offend anybody. I apologize in advance, and remind readers that this wasn't intended to be 'God Bashing'. I don't feel the way the characters portrayed here feel about religion, and my personal views are not reflected here. If you don't like it, then don't read it. I really am not trying to offend anybody.

Прости меня, Бога, ибо я согрешил...

Russia cannot say that he believes in God. Not anymore.

There was a time, long ago, when he was young and innocent, happy, free to live peacefully with his sisters, that he believed in God. Or something like a God, anyway.

Oh, but that was so long ago...so much had changed...

He had become big and strong. His church had become strong, powerful, leading his people through their times of crisis, not caring whether they were rich or poor, because in the eyes of God, all were equal.

Then there was a revolution.

He was just a nation, he went along with what his people wanted, no matter how much it hurt him to do so, no matter how many times he would bend and break and rebuild, if they were happy, he would obey, and the people wanted a revolution. It was God's will.

His government outlawed religion, confiscated holy books and sacred relics, killed priests and bishops, all within the first five years.

And he did what they asked, and forgot about God.

Besides, after 1905, after the revolution and the wars and the bloodshed, after the death of his little shvibzik, at his own hands, believing in anything became hard.
So forgetting was easy.

She had always been so faithful...would she forgive me? For everything...? Моя маленькая Анастасия...

The USSR fell and became Russia again. Religion came back, but the Ivan who had believed in God was still far away and long gone. God wouldn't let his people suffer for centuries, would He?

The Revolution had changed Ivan. The Cold War had changed him, and everybody knew it.

His government was weak, his people still suffered and prayed, and God did nothing. And Ivan stopped praying.

Then, there was a war.

A war unlike any ever fought before.

A war where the dead walked the Earth, spreading death like a sickness, eradicating man and beast alike in their endless search for flesh.
The refugees flocked from all over the world to Russia, praying that the large, cold nation would be able to protect them, have the natural defenses to keep them alive in the zombie war.

They were wrong.

God did not listen to their prayers, and the zombies came in droves.

His country became a safehaven. Then a battleground. Then a slaughterhouse.

The soldiers went off to fight the walking rot...and began to fight each other, riots and rebellion breaking out in the troops, the chaos caused by the war spreading across Russia once more.

The military leaders wanted to resort to Decimation. Ivan let them.

If there was a God, He would have saved them, stopped all of this from happening. But there wasn't.

Пусть Бог помилует их души.

After all...he had Decimated before. He could do it again, if he had to...

And now, Russia was strong again. An empire.

The Holy Russian Empire.

Powerful, ever expanding, under the holy leadership of the Tsar once again, the Empire's people poor yet devoted, willing to sacrifice for their Motherland and their God.

But to the Motherland...to Russia...to Ivan...God was dead.

God had never been there to begin with.

God would not create a virus that kills and reanimates Man's flesh with an insatiable hunger for the flesh of the living. God would not cause innocent soldiers, trying to protect the people, to turn against each other. God would not let them be slaughtered and repressed.

God would not let his sisters suffer, no matter how hard Ivan tried to protect them.
God would not allow Ivan to slip further and further into madness, driven by the suffering of his people, his inability to keep them safe and happy, to save them.
God would not let his people suffer and starve and fight and die, always suffer and die, no matter what Ivan did, no matter what his government did (or didn't do, because they didn't listen to him, not since Lenin).

God would not let 5 innocent, beautiful children be gunned down in the prime of their lives, He would not let them be stabbed and shot and beaten beyond recognition, would not abandon them in the earth or destroy them with fire or acid or bombs.
God would not let their bones sit on shelves in a lab while the government and the church argued about where they should be laid to rest.
God would not let her pure, innocent blood stain the hands of the man who loved and raised her, the man who killed her with the hands that carried her as a child.

No God could let that happen.

No God would create me, to watch them suffer and die and do nothing...God would let me help them, let me save them...but He isn't here. And I cannot help them. Not ever.

...I am a monster...

Ivan sighs sadly and reaches for the vodka, removing himself from his thoughts as he tries to get back to work.

It's been a hard day...they've gotten reports of another rebellion in Belarus, and another zombie outbreak was reported in the Ukraine.
His government wanted to move troops into Lithuania, take back his favorite Baltic brother...Ivan was really the only thing stopping them, and at times, he wasn't quite sure why he was. After all...

Everybody would become one with Russia.

Everybody would be safe and happy when they became one with Russia, and nobody would be lonely or sad or hurt, and nobody wound need to look to a God that doesn't exist to answer their prayers, because Russia would work for every prayer to come true.

...But Lithuania's prayer was for freedom, independence from Russia...he'd only had it for so long...and Russia didn't want to take that from Toris just yet.

Russia's government wanted to expand, to conquer and become powerful. To inspire the people. And Ivan wanted to inspire the people as well...but it was too soon for another war, another invasion.

His sisters had joined him willingly.
They didn't really have a choice...the governments of the Ukraine and Belarus collapsed during the war, Natalia's population was nearly wiped out, Katyusha's people in constant rebellion.

But the others didn't want to go back and live with Russia again...so, Ivan let them stay free.
They had earned it, putting up with him for years (He only knows now what he did to them was wrong, it only took the dead rising for him to realize that).

Things were better in his country...and worse.
A sad paradox that he had lived with for centuries, no matter how much the government changed.
Things will never change, not really.

Ivan sits alone in his office, taking another swig from his vodka, putting the bottle down and examining it slightly.

...Nearly empty.

I will need to go and get some more...

He stands up, putting the bottle down and moving towards the door, before something catches his eye.

A photo on top of a book, standing on a small table near the door.

Ivan smiles and picks the photo up, knocking the book onto the floor. He doesn't notice and doesn't really care.

It's a small photo, taken about a year or so ago. Ivan is in it, smiling, an honest grin that reaches his eyes and burns deep into his soul.
Next to him is a younger male, with blonde hair and glasses, his blush evident as he smiles shyly for the camera.

Matvey...Matthew...Canada. His wonderfu любимая.

Matvey's polar bear friend is in his arms, sleeping. Ivan has one arm wrapped around Matvey's waist, the other is holding up and supporting a small boy with Canada's hair, Ivan's eyes, and a sleepy smile.

Fyodor...his youngest son.

They were the only good thing to come out of the war, in Ivan's eyes.

He and Matvey...they had so much in common, now more than ever.

His любимая had lost so much in the war...his people suffered, his land was destroyed beyond recognition, becoming nothing more than a vast wasteland of grey ice and dirt.
His wildlife was lost with the land...the animals were easy targets for starving refugees and hapless zombies, and were easy to find once their homes were gone.

And yet, he found the strength to go on, to fight through the darkness and help his people return to the light, no matter what it cost him.

He was so much braver than Ivan could hope to be...

"What are you thinking of now, Matvey?"

"I'm thinking about rebuilding, Vanya...Northwest Territories has enough money to keep us going until we're back on our feet properly...start replanting things, maybe give industrialism another shot. I know we'll be ok, it'll just take some time, that's all."

Matthew smiled. He believed that, no matter what, his country would be ok, that they could work together to overcome anything. He was an optimist, a beautiful optimist.

And Ivan only wished he could be like him.

"What about you, Vanya? What are you thinking?"

"...Nothing, Matvey. Nothing at all."

Matthew smiles gently at him and takes his hand, and Ivan feels warm inside.

"Come on, Vanya. I wanna show you the greenhouse Al helped me build. We can plant sunflowers in there, if you'd like..."

Ivan turns to look at his Matvey, and kisses him, gently, like a promise of great things to come.

"I would like that very much."

Ivan smiled and gently touched the photograph, running his finger gently against the glass. Matvey was still an optimist, still working hard to move Canada forward.
The refugees that had survived the war had moved across the country, settling and forming communities on a number of the uninhabited islands in Canada's Arctic Archipelago, surviving and thriving in the harsh conditions.

Eventually, the islands broke away from Nunavut and formed their own territory, the Bathurst Island Commonwealth.
Ivan smiled a little more, moving to gently touch the small boy in the photo.
Oh, his son...his wonderful Чудо of a son...

"...Ivan...?"

Ivan blinked and looked up from his paperwork to see Matthew, smiling softly and shifting nervously in front of Ivan's desk.
This was a surprise...Ivan hadn't seen his Matvey in a few months.
With the two nations not having too much of a political connection, there wasn't any excuse for Ivan to give his boss about his desire to go and visit Canada.

Still...it wasn't like Matvey to just visit so unexpectedly...he usually called first...
Oh well.

"Mayvey!! What a lovely surprises, how are you, дорогой? Sit, sit!! Why didn't you call, I would have taken you out somewhere..."

He stood up and pulled Matthew into a bear hug, holding him close.
The hug was returned hesitantly, which only confused Ivan further.
Usually, Matvey was the one who initiated the hugs...and there was something about him that was off today. Ivan couldn't put his finger on it, though...

He pulled out of the hug, looking concerned.

"Matvey, what's wrong...? Did something happen? You seem...off."

Matthew blushed, looking at the ground. Ah. So something was wrong.

"Ivan...we need to talk about something..."

"...Matvey? What is wrong, you can tell me..."

"...I think I'm pregnant."

...
Well. That wasn't what Ivan was planning on hearing.

"...Pregnant...? You're having a baby? But....you're having a baby?"

Matthew's blush increases, and he stares at the floor. "Um....actually, we're having a baby."

They stood together in silence for a moment, Matthew staring at the floor, Ivan staring at him, before he breaks into a grin, picking Matthew up and spinning him around, kissing him passionately.
Before his Matvey gets a chance to respond, Ivan carries him out of the room bridal style, kicking the door closed behind him as he takes his beautiful, wonderful Matvey off to bed.

Ivan smiles at the memory. Matvey telling him that he was pregnant was one of the most wonderful moments in his long life...
And Fyodor, his wonderful son, his miracle...

He was never able to properly be there for Nikolai, his elder son, but he wanted things to be different this time. He wanted to be there for his son, be a proper part of his life.

"Папа!! You came!"

Ivan laughs as he picks up his young son, swinging him around before hugging him.

"Of course I came, Fyodor. С Днем Рождения, сынок."

Fyodor grins and giggles. It's one of the few times the boy seems truly awake, when Ivan is there.

"Спасибо, папа!"

"Are you two not including me again?"

Matthew pops his head out from behind a door, before stepping out to hug Ivan and his son.
"You two know I can't speak Russian..."

"Well then, Matvey, you should learn, da?"

"I know, I know...I've just been busy lately, I haven't had a chance to listen to the language tapes I bought..."

"Daddy, you should let Папа teach you!! That way, when you two pray, you'll be able to pray in the same language!"

Ivan and Matthew look at Fyodor, confused.

"Fyo...what do you mean, praying?"

The boy blinks and smiles innocently.

"Well, when Папа comes to visit you, you two go to your room at night and pray together, Daddy! I hear you sometimes, you say 'oh God, oh God, oh God' and Папа says the same thing, but in Russian!"

Both men stare at the boy, the realization of what he said sinking in. Matthew looks horrified, visibly paling before blushing. Ivan looks at him, before staring at Fyodor, who is looking at Matvey, confused, before he bursts into laughter.

Fyodor, still confused, starts laughing, and Matvey, realizing the absurd silliness of it all, starts laughing as well.

"Well...maybe I could give Matvey a few lessons, da?"

"...Oh, all right."

Ivan smiles at the photo, lost in the memories.

At least the war gave him something good...it gave him Matvey. It gave him Fyodor.

Ivan moves to put the photo back on the desk, in its place of reverence. It is only then that he notices the book the photo was on previously, the book he knocked onto the floor.

A Bible.

He frowns and picks the Book up, wondering when he got it. He had one, of course, but he didn't remember this one...

The frown deepens a bit, as Ivan notices a small sticky-note sticking up from one of the pages. He flips to the note, curious.

Ivan--

I thought you'd like this passage. I know you're not a very religious person, and I guess I'm not either, but it just stood out to me. Maybe it'll stand out to you as well. Just in case you ever need something like this to help you. I know I do sometimes.
I love you, Vanya.

--Matvey

He smiled quietly, before reading the passage that Matvey had marked.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails....And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

...
Oh, Matvey...

Maybe Ivan couldn't believe in God.

But he can believe in love, at the very least. He can believe in Matvey.
And at least, that way, he can find the faith to get through whatever happens.

Maybe I should call him...it has been a while...Maybe I can try and visit him soon, maybe even surprise him.

Ivan places the Bible next to the photo, leaving his office to call Matvey.

He didn't see any real reason to get another bottle of vodka.

NOTES

- Ok, this was sort of a long ficlet, so there's a bunch of notes. Let's get started.
- The Bible passage being quoted is Corinthians 13:4-8a and 13. I'm not sure how to properly quote the Bible, so I apologize if I did it incorrectly.
- There was a lot of Russian actually used in the fic. Here are the rough translations.
- Прости меня, Бога, ибо я согрешил- Forgive me, God, for I have sinned.
- Моя маленькая Анастасия- My little Anastasia.
- Пусть Бог помилует их души- May God have mercy on their souls.
- любимая- Beloved.
- Чудо- Miracle.
- дорогой- Dear.
- Папа- Daddy.
- С Днем Рождения, сынок- Happy birthday, son.
- Спасибо, папа- Thanks, Daddy.
- These are rather rough translations, so I apologize if they're not exactly accurate. For example, Google Translations came up with 'Favorite' and 'Expensive' when attempting to get right translations for 'Beloved' and 'Dear'. Again, I apologize.
- The 'Decimation' referred to by Ivan was, in the world of 'World War Z', a mass execution of rebellious soldiers in the Russian army by the head of the Russian Military. Said soldiers were rebelling due to the poor conditions they were fighting under, their lack of information and weapons, etc. Once the rebels were killed, the army became significantly stricter on regulating their soldiers to prevent another rebellion.
- The islands that make up the Bathurst Island Commonwealth are as followed- Prince of Wales Island, Somerset Island, Bathurst Island, Prince Patrick Island, and Devon Island. The majority of this land is part of Nunavut, but Prince Patrick Island is actually part of Northwest Territories.
- Russia, following the Zombie War, went through another radical government change, becoming a religious theocracy. In the original novel, 'World War Z', this new government was aggressively expansionist, having taken control of a number of former Soviet territories. In this fic, however, Russia, while still expansionist, isn't as aggressively so.
- This is due to the fact that Ivan is preventing a great deal of the expansionism. Why? I'll explain.
- My Ivan is supposed to be a bit more sympathetic than a lot of the other Russia's out there. In my mind, Russia's insanity is based in loneliness and a history of pain, violence, and suffering.
By the time of Bloody Sunday 1905, his mind was already beginning to crack, but that was what started his downward spiral.
The Russian Revolution didn't help either. Ivan was there for the Romanov murders, ironic, considering he had a close friendship with the royal family. Ivan was closet to the youngest children, Anastasia and Alexei, and he was the one who shot and killed them. Yeah, that probably didn't help his mind a lot either...then there was WWI, WWII...he's been through a lot.
The Zombie War didn't help a lot either...but he cracked so much that he realized how badly he needed help. Enter Matt, who is the stabilizing element in Ivan's life at this point. He keeps Ivan from becoming a conquest hungry bastard. Though, he STILL wants everybody to become one with Russia.
Just...not yet. I think he also feels that the Baltics just got their freedom within the last 50 years, which is recent, so he wants them to keep it. He's not a total psycho.
- ALSO. Now that Russia is once again under the leadership of a Tsar, let me reveal said Tsar's identity. Because there are no direct descendants of the last Tsar, Nicolas II, I used an indirect descendant. That indirect descendant is Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia, a member of the Romanov family in modern times. It's really complicated and just thinking about the Russian succession line in modern times just breaks my brain...
You wanna know more about that? Go here- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_of_succession_to_the_Russian_throne But really, I can't say a whole lot about it...
- The italic flashbacks to the Canada/Russia bits are going to be expanded on in future fics, mostly because I personally want to see them in a bit more detail.
- I'm still taking requests on what people would like to see in this series!
- Ok, I think that's it...wow, this was long. I really do hope you all liked it!

Yeah, I think I'm done now.

Languages= my weak point.

2009-09-09T01:40:57Z

You know, sometimes I wonder why the internet is such a complicated place.

All I wanted to do was find a good Russian-English or English-Russian dictionary, so that when I get my next fic bit up, I don't sound like a complete and total asshole...

It's very difficult to find decent online dictionaries for multiple languages!! D: I had the same problem when I did that Hawaii story a while back, it was REALLY tough finding good Hawaiian language sites!!

So...I guess I need help.

Does anybody have any good language site links they'd be willing to share with me?

...

Also, I think I might be sick.

With either the MUMPS, which by all accounts I should've been vaccinated for ages ago, or HERPES. D: VIRAL HERPES.

AGAIN.
That's a long, unpleasant story, but I really hope it's neither of those and I'm just being paranoid.

[FANFICTION]- Brotherhood (and some notes, too!!)

2009-09-07T01:07:13Z

Title: Brotherhood
Author/Artist: Rea, or geogirl15
Character(s) or Pairing(s): America and Canada
Rating: PG
Warnings: real name usage, slight angst, and zombies. Always, always zombies.
Summary: After all this time, they're still brothers.
Notes: The reunion of Alfred and Matthew, as mentioned in Al's H-War Z ficlet!! It's sort of setting up other things, and I really wanted to get the brothers together and also give a bit more insight into the war in Canada and the US.
I really tried to make this bit a little lighter, considering that the previous parts have been nothing but DEATH AND ANGST. I hope that shows without coming off as well...bad.
:D Ah well. Enjoy.

They’d taken the shorter flight, the only one that Alfred could get tickets for, and he felt lucky. The longer flights, which made up the majority of air transportation these days, took multiple detours on various islands, no matter where they were going. 'Security measures', they claimed.

Heh...and I thought that going on an airplane was tough before the war...

It wasn't a long flight, but it was boring.
All windows were covered up; Nobody wanted to look below and see a rotting grey mass swarming the west coast.
The only entertainment available was an instructional video about what to do if the plane crashed into an infected zone, and that always played at the beginning of any flight anyway.

So there wasn't much to do but think. And so, that was exactly what Alfred did.

It had been a long time since he'd visited Matt, about 4 years at the least, when Fyodor was still little. Yeah, he called his brother all the time, but he hadn't gone and seen him in ages. He felt guilty, seeing the condition of his brother's country, knowing he could have done more to help him in the beginning, knowing his people are mostly to blame for the state of Canada's environment.

And maybe he was jealous of Matt too.

Just a little.

Matt was happy. He had a family, a whole, complete family. After all that he'd lost in the war, Matt still had that.

Alfred...after all that America went through, his family came out broken. And Matt's didn't.

It was wrong, being jealous of his brother, being jealous that his brother was happy and that his family was ok, but Alfred couldn't help it.

He sighed and shook his head a bit, trying to shake out the negative thoughts. Matt was happy, and that should be enough for Alfred.

So Alfred banished the negative thoughts from his head, choosing to look at the covered window, staring at nothing until they arrived.
-----

Nobody was waiting for Alfred at the airport. That wasn't surprising, Matt was probably busy. After all, the thaw had begun today...
Matt was probably busy, clearing out the initial thaw zombies, so of course he couldn't meet Al.

Doesn't matter, I'll just grab a taxi.

The taxi's are a hybrid between a typical car and a snowmobile, equipped to deal with any obstacles in the road. A Canadian invention that caught on with the rest of the world. Clever, resourceful Mattie.

It was a short drive, with both the driver and Alfred staying silent, looking out the window at the grey landscape. Once they got at Matt's home, Alfred pays the driver, who sped off, saying nothing.

Matt’s house was essentially the same on the inside, but the outside has changed significantly.
It looks less like a house and more like a fortress, with high stone walls and barbed wire and everything needed to keep brainless monsters out.
Most of the Nations had houses similar to Matt’s now, with minor variations in wall length and defensive weapons, depending on their location or environment.
Alfred's house had similar walls, and Arthur had moved back into one of his old castles.
Matt didn't get that many visitors, just Francis and occasionally Ivan and Arthur, but he’d installed a buzzer-phone on his wall, to save any visitors time.

“Mattie?”

“Yeah? Who is it?”

“It’s me, Alfred. You gonna let me in or what?”

“Oh!! Sorry, hold on a second!”

Alfred smiled and shook his head a bit. And people always called him the disorganized one...

The gate opened, and Alfred walked into the compound, getting up to the entrance of Matt’s house, where he knocked on the door.
There was once a time when he thought this whole process was convoluted and overcomplicated, but he knew better now. Everybody did.

Shuffling could be heard inside the house before Matt finally opened the door.

He looked tired, disheveled, wearing a heavy jacket, cargo pants, and boots, gloved hands stained with black ooze that was most likely blood. Alfred could only hope that it wasn't Matt's.

Matt smiled apologetically, motioning for Alfred to come into the house.

“Hey Alfred. Sorry ‘bout my appearance, haven’t had a chance to wash up and change yet. Wasn’t expecting you for a little while…c’mon in, make yourself comfortable, eh?”

Alfred smiled and nodded, entering.
Matt showed him to the living room and went off to clean up and change.
Alfred looked around. Matt somehow managed to find time to keep his house in working condition AND fight off zombies on a regular basis. Alfred wasn't quite sure how he managed it.
His brother was either amazing or an insomniac, and considering his appearance, Alfred suspected the latter.
He sat down on the couch, next to a large white pile of fluff that moved slightly, opening one eye.

“Hey, Kumajiro.”
“…hello, America…”

The polar bear blinked and stared at Alfred for a moment before curling up into a ball and falling back to sleep. The Nation blinked at the bear and laughed. One of a kind, that Kumajiro.
One of a kind...

He sat alone next to the sleeping bear, watching Kumajiro sleep, before a soft yawn caused him to look up.

A little boy, no older than 4 or 5, toddled into the room, dragging a blanket behind him.

Fyodor. Matt's son, and Alfred's nephew.

Seeing his uncle, the little boy smiled sleepily and crawled onto the couch, between him and the polar bear.

“ ‘Lo, Uncle Alfie…”

Alfred smiled.
“Hey there, Fyodor. How’s it going?”

“ ‘s all right…daddy was out hunting the Zack's this morning, so me n Kumajiro got to sleep in late. He promised me maple cakes, cept he hasn't made them yet, so I got up...”

Alfred had to laugh a little bit.
Matt always let Fyodor and Kumajiro sleep in. The little boy looked at his uncle, slightly confused as to why he was laughing, before smiling a bit more and joining in softly.

“Fyodor, I hope you’re not bothering Uncle Alfie in there…”

“I’m not, daddy!”

Matt grinned as he walked into the room, looking much more presentable now. He sat in a large chair across from Alfred, and his son got up from the couch and joined his father, crawling onto his lap where he snuggled up and started to go back to sleep.

Both adults laughed slightly at that. When he was asleep, Fyodor looked more like Kumajiro than either of his parents, an inside joke known to all familiar with Fyodor.
After the boy fell back to sleep, Matt smiled apologetically to his brother.

“Sorry about him. You know how kids are.”

“Heh, that’s for sure. I know kids better than anybody! So, how are things, Mattie?”

Matt shrugged.

“The usual, I suppose. The thaws have started up, so I’ve been busy dealing with that…but apart from that, things are normal. You?”

“Same, I guess, only without the thaw. We’re still weeding out the West Coast, and I think we’ve made some real progress, especially around the Nevada area."

He smiles, proud that they've finally started making progress out west, before frowning a bit, looking down at the floor.

"Matt...Lani’s taking charge on her own for the first time, and I dunno...I'm afraid she's still too young, do you think she’s ready, Mattie?”

Matt nodded.

“Course she is. She’s resilient and tough, people listen to her like they listen to you. I’m sure everything will be fine, eh? You worry too much, Al.”

“Well, I think I’ve earned that right, Mattie.”

Both Nations laughed a bit and fell into silence, neither quite sure what to say. It had been so long since anybody had had a normal conversation...and it had been so long since Alfred really felt comfortable around Matt...

Al remembered what he'd been thinking about before he left, how he felt guilty for what happened to Matt's country...how he'd never properly apologized...

...Well, it's now or never...

“…Matt…? I don’t think I’ve ever gotten the chance to say it, but…thank you. You really helped during the first few years of the war, and I know that my people sort of, well, destroyed your country, but…thank you.”

Matt just smiled a bit and shook his head.

“Don’t worry about it. You ended up doing the same for me in the end, so we’re even, eh? Canada would have been completely overrun if it wasn’t for you.”

Alfred nodded quietly, and the brothers sank into silence once again, this time a little more comfortable in the quiet.

“…Al, I’m having a few of the others over later, for old times’ sake. Nothing special, no politics or anything, just to talk and hang out and whatnot...I don’t know how long you’re in town for, but, I was wondering if you’d be interested in joining us…?”

Alfred just blinked at his brother before laughing and nodding.

“Sure. What the hell, I’d love to. Been ages since I’ve seen everybody, anyway.”

Matt grinned at his brother, silently thanking him, and Alfred felt...happy.

"Thanks, Mattie. C'mon, I think you promised Fyo some maple cakes?"

Matt nodded and laughed, stroking his sleeping son's hair before picking him up and heading for the kitchen. He turned back, looking at Alfred, a small smile on his face.

"Wanna help me, brother?"

Alfred stood up and smiled, moving to stand next to his brother.

"Wouldn't miss that for the world."

NOTES

-Following the declared end of the zombie war, the majority of transportation was changed to accommodate the new world. Airplanes no longer have windows, the majority of cars are like trucks fused with snowplows, etc.
-The majority of planes take longer routes to get to their destinations, often stopping off at small islands to refuel and contact their final destinations in order to confirm everything is still ok down there.
-As previously mentioned, the Canadian wilderness, as well as much of the Canadian wildlife, was destroyed during the war, not just by zombies, but by the large amount of refugees fleeing north. The majority of these came from America.
-As mentioned, most of the Nations' now live in small fortresses, with large walls and various means of defense. England's living in an old castle is in reference to the fact that the UK used castles as strongholds during the war, which helped them survive. The same thing occurred to a smaller degree in France.
-Maple cakes is, of course, maple syrup with a side of pancakes. In the post zombie world, maple syrup is rather rare due to the decimation of trees across the world, so it's sort of a delicacy now. Canada still houses the majority of maple trees, though.
-Alfred's jealousy comes from the fact that Matt's got a happy family, all of whom survived the war, while Alfred's got a buncha dead kids. D: Sad.
-The next 'chapter' should be rather Russia-centric, if everything goes as planned...
-The Nation's will all meet up for old times sake at Matt's house some time in the future. As mentioned, there will be no politics, though I'd like to show a World Meeting taking place either during or after the zombie war at some point...
-This chapter was a bit difficult to write, but I did try, and I hope you all liked it! I think that the last chapter came out better, but hey, that's writing! Thanks for reading!!

Whew...
Oh, I am on a friggen ROLL with the writing these days!!

...Granted, I'm probably gonna hit a wall very, very soon, BUT IT'S OK! :D I HAVE PEOPLE FOR THAT SORT OF THING!
AND BY PEOPLE, I MEAN YOU READERS! YOU TELL ME WHAT YOU'D LIKE TO SEE IN H-WAR Z!! :D Cuz it's a relatively flexible fic, and I've got some stuff planned out, but I really do like reader input, so if you guys have anything you want to see at all, be it big or small, just leave it here!

AND.

I still kinda need a beta, to help me with my occasional spelling mistakes, grammar issues, and factual inaccuracies, which I sometimes miss while proofreading on my own. I can't really pay you, and there's no health benefits, but I'd be really grateful if somebody'd like to help, just a little. :D Lemme know if you're interesting.

Disney...sigh

2009-09-05T19:36:38Z

Sometimes, I really do wonder why I like the Disney Company. I really, really do.

I mean, they're not special! Half the time, they're not even that good!! The majority of their live-action movies are pretty terrible for the most part, they haven't made a good animated film in ages without the involvement of Pixar (though there were some very good parts to 'Bolt' and 'Meet the Robinsons', and 'Treasure Planet' is just awesome, no matter what the box office ended up saying), and...well, they're just MEAN.

They don't treat kids like equals or give them any respect, they dumb down EVERYTHING for them, editing and not even RELEASING certain things for fear of getting the PC Police on their asses (I'm looking at you, 'Song of the South'. D: Really, just slap a 'this was made in a different era' warning on the thing and it'll probably be ok, JEEZ.)

Disney does stupid shit. ALL. THE. TIME. And NOW, they buy Marvel Entertainment...

WHY.

So they can have something for the boys like they have their ridiculous 'Princess' line for the girls? DEAR. LORD.
Marvel doesn't tone their stuff down for kids. It's real, as real as a comic company can get, and they let DISNEY buy them?
What're they gonna do, try to kiddify Wolverine and the rest of the X-Men? Stamp a happy sticker on the tragic backstories of people like Spider-man and Daredevil?

...
*sigh*
Disney....just...just stop. Seriously. You keep doing stuff, you keep making people angry and frustrated and you just don't get it.

Don't even get me STARTED on the issues surrounding 'the Princess and the Frog.'

...GAH. DISNEY...

geogirl15 @ 2009-09-03T07:01:00

2009-09-04T03:28:03Z

Title: The Kingdom by the Sea
Author/Artist: Rea, or geogirl15
Character(s) or Pairing(s): Norway and Iceland, brief mentions of the other Nordics, flashback that involve Norway/Iceland
Rating: Lightish R, for yaoi and violence.
Warnings: violence, assisted suicide, death, angst, yaoi, zombies, potential OOC, a sad lack of real names to use, etc.
Summary: the wind came out of the cloud by night, chilling and killing my Annabel Lee. Norway reads a book and remembers.
Notes: Ok, so I said the next part was going to go and deal with Alfred and Matt's meeting...and it was! I got that written and everything!! But then I read 'Lolita' again for the hell of it and I got inspired, just a wee bit.

This is my first real time writing any of the Hetalia characters in great detail, apart from the North American brothers and Russia. Hope I did ok...

D: Oh, I do wish Iceland and Norway had real names for me to use.

The title of the fic, as well as the cut text and a few other quotes, come from the poem 'Annabel Lee', also known as 'The Kingdom by the Sea', by my favorite poet ever, Edgar Allen Poe.

Norway keeps to himself these days. He's never been known for excellent speaking skills, or being a very personable nation, but he's always been able to get by.

He used to go out and see people.

He doesn't do that anymore. Not unless he has to.

Norway sits alone, with his book, and his 'imaginary friends', they mythical creatures that keep him away from the brink of insanity on a regular basis.

Nobody blames him, of course. The war has been over for a while, and his nation didn't suffer as much as others, but he's still haunted, more than the others, for a very different reason.

So, nobody makes him go out unless he wants to. Denmark visits often, his bizzare brand of cheer and humor bringing a small sense or normality into Norway's life. No matter how controlling or dense Denmark is, Norway is grateful that he's still here.

But, for the most part, Norway stays home, keeps to himself, writing letters to nobody and reading a little black book over and over again.

He's read this book many times before.
It was a present from Iceland, before everything changed, and now it's one of Norway's most prized possessions.
It's old, pages yellowing with age, cover torn and wrinkled, binding flaking, but to Norway, the tattered old book is worth more to him than any jewel in the world.

-It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know, By the name of Annabel Lee...

They had always been close, Norway and Iceland. The best of friends, through thick and thin, no matter what politics said.

Iceland felt...home, whenever Norway was there.
Norway was quiet, serious, intelligent, and he understood Iceland.
A man of few words, who spoke volumes with just a look. Norway was amazing.

And Iceland adored him. He absolutely adored him, always had, always would.

But Iceland was a man of few words, just like Norway...he could never find the words to tell him. And that was ok. He was happy just being with Norway, in any degree.

But...Iceland was a passionate man as well as one of few words. He could only ignore his burning desires for so long...

Burning so long, under the surface. He could only hide it for so much longer, because Norway,
damned, beautiful, haunting Norway, made it so hard for him to speak. Made it hard to breathe, to see, to think...

And so, one day, everything changed.

I was a child and she was a child, in this kingdom by the sea; But we loved with a love that was more than love- I and my Annabel Lee.

It had come out of nowhere, after a World Meeting. Norway and Iceland had been planning on getting lunch together, maybe meet with Sweden and Finland for a while, the usual...

"Iceland, you ready to go? Berwald and Tino are waiting ou-"

The other nation silenced his friend, crushing their lips together as he prayed the other wouldn't reject him.

Norway was surprised. And...happy. Grateful that his feelings were returned, that he didn't have to say anything to convey how he felt now, and he returned the kiss with fervor, before pulling away, grinning a bit, face red.

"Heh...you too, huh?"

Iceland nodded quietly.

"I didn't know what to say..."

"Me neither..."

They stared at each other for a moment, before Norway took the other nation's hand with a small smile.

"C'mon. Berwald and Tino can wait a bit, yes? I've only got my room for another hour."

Iceland's eyes lit up a bit and he nodded, letting Norway lead him back to his room, stunned and overjoyed at the same time.

We loved with a love that was more than love- I and my Annabel Lee; With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven coveted her and me.

"Did you read that report Israel was passing out?"

Norway sighed a little and nodded, idly stroking Iceland's hair. He wasn't really listening to what Iceland was saying...pillow talk was always a little hard for him, he tended to get caught up watching Iceland instead of listening to him.

"Personally, I think she's a little nuts. I mean, yeah, there have been little outbreaks before, but they've just been little!! Mass quarantine is too extreme...She's just being paranoid a-...Norway, are you listening?"

"Hmmm? Oh, yes, I am. I'm sorry, Iceland."

The shorter nation smiled softly and kissed Norway on the nose.

"I talk too much, huh?"

Norway nodded, and they both laughed, talk of quarantines and outbreaks forgotten.

And this was the reason that, long ago, in this kingdom by the sea, a wind blew out of a cloud, chilling my beautiful Annabel Lee...

They had been so happy for a while.

Simple glances across tables, holding hands, dinner and movies, stolen kisses. Secret smiles that say more than words could.

Hands twisted in bedsheets, names whispered like prayers, screamed like promises. Tongues and arms and hands fighting for dominance.
Skin burning against skin, every touch enough to push them over, lips on lips, necks, shoulders, anywhere that could be kissed or touched or burned.
Flashes of white fire that seemed to last forever.

They had been so happy. So distracted. So careless.

Iceland had mocked Israel, calling her paranoid for quarantining her entire country off. At the time, Norway had agreed with him.

But then the 'African Flu' spread, and the cures failed, and America panicked and the world began to crumble in a sea of death.

Iceland hadn't been afraid, not really. He stayed with Norway for a while, 'preparing' his country for the onslaught of refugees who would come there, because it was cold and warm and safe.

"You really should be careful, Iceland...you're not screening any of them, you could be letting the disease into your country without even knowing it!"

Iceland had only laughed.

"I can't just turn them away...where else will they go? Finland is taking some in too, and I think that Canada may be getting a bunch, but the rest don't know where to go, Norway. I've got to help them."

He sighed and nodded, staring into Iceland's eyes. They were ablaze with excitement, or fear, and Norway only wished that Iceland would try to listen to him, as he tried to listen to Iceland.

"You'll be careful, Iceland?"

"Yes. I promise I'll be ok."

The angels, not half so happy in heaven, went envying her and me- Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know, in this kingdom by the sea), that the wind came out of the cloud by night, Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

He heard the news first.

Iceland hadn't listened. He'd tried to be America, tried to play the hero and the savior, and he paid dearly for it, and why couldn't he just have listened?

His country had been overrun...too many refugees swarmed in at once, from all over the world, not a single one checked for any sign of the sickness. All it took was one, and Iceland was overrun.
They didn't have a strong standing army. They didn't have the supplies to feed and arm and protect everybody. They didn't even have a means to escape.

They were doomed from the start.

He was doomed from the start.

Norway bribed Denmark to take him over, to see if anything could be salvaged...if Iceland was alive, or safe, or gone.

He had prepared for the worst. He had not prepared for what he saw.

Corpses, littering the ground, half eaten, rotting and stinking up the once beautiful shores. The screams and moans could be heard in the distance, the shadow of the zombies was on the horizon, looming over the country like a cancer.

The boat that brought him would take whatever refugees they could find back with him. And, with any luck, they could take Iceland back with them.

It only took him one hour to find him. Hiding in his house, the bodies of his staff littering the entry hall, Norway found Iceland in his room, clutching onto his leg, sobbing quietly.

It was the only time he'd ever seen Iceland cry.

"Iceland...?"

The other nation looked up, a slightly manic look in his eyes, his skin a sickly bluish-grey color. The wound he was clutching on his leg was large, already bruising purplish-brown, and spreading.

He was loo late.

"No...Norway...I didn't listen. I'm sorry..."

"Wh...when did you-"

"About an hour ago. There was a swarm...the staff was devoured...they just bit me..."

Norway just stared at him, eyes darting between his eyes and his legs. There were two options now for Iceland.

He either died at his own hand, or he died at Norway's.

Because both were better than the inevitable third option.

Iceland was shaking, crawling over to Norway, terror in his eyes.

"I...I can't do it, Norway...you have to..."

Norway shook his head. He wouldn't, he couldn't do this, not to him!!

"You have to!! If you don't, I...I'll..."

Iceland bit his lip, tears rolling down his cheeks. Norway realized he too was crying, his vision blurring a bit. But Iceland was right...he had to do it.

He was only glad he brought a gun with him.

"I'm sorry, Norway...I...just want to say thank you...for everything."

All he could do was smile sadly, nodding. Iceland looked up at him, moving to kneel in front of him.

"Iceland...I'll take whatever survivors there are with me. Just...just in case."

The other nation smiled and nodded, whispering something to him, just barely out of hearing.

Norway raised the gun.

He pointed it at his lovers head. Iceland bowed his head and merely smiled.

"Goodbye, Norway..."

"...Goodbye, Iceland...I'm sorry..."

BANG.

--------

The war had been over for ten years. Iceland was still overrun, housing one of the largest concentration of zombies in the world...cleanup efforts would take years.

Norway smiled and put the book down, moving to look out one of the windows.

He did not live by the ocean, by a castle in the sand. He looked out over grey skies and a city below, thriving and surviving.

Somewhere in that city were the Icelandic refugees.

One day, their country would be cleared of the zombies and death that had destroyed it, and they would go home.

And on that day, Norway would go with them, to look for a little boy with white hair and ice blue eyes that burned like fire, and a smile that could melt the coldest of hearts.

"On that day, my Annabel Lee...I'll rescue you from your tomb by the sea."

And he smiled and laughed.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

NOTES

-Iceland is the only nation to become infected during the Zombie War, with both Japan and Sweden barely escaping with their lives.
-Israel was the first nation to prepare for the war, quarantining the entire country.
-Early warning was given in the Warbrunn-Knight Report, which was ignored by the majority of governments. As far as nations went, only Israel quarantined, but the Italy brothers prepared for the war as well.
-It is the belief of the author that Iceland will be reborn, as there are survivors who will go back there someday who still identify themselves as Icelandic. That's how it works for Nations. But he'll be little.
-The quotes from 'Annabel Lee' come from here- http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/annabel-lee/
-:D Thanks for reading once again.

QUICK I NEED HELP.

2009-09-03T03:11:23Z

Ok, so according to the Hetalia wiki, Norway and Iceland's human names haven't yet been revealed.

Is there some kind of common fanon name used for them?

In which I learn not to trust Google.

2009-09-02T16:50:03Z

D:< I may just hate Google right now. They're honestly just as bad as wikipedia sometimes when it comes to inaccuracies...

K, so, I was trying to do some research for my H War Z fic, since I like to be accurate when it comes to things like historical based facts, geography, etc. I had a ton of wikipedia windows open with stuff about some of the states,I had about 3 maps of the western US open, and on top of all of that, I had the zombiepedia website open, to get some in book facts from WWZ. Since I didn't exactly have my copy on me at the time...

And I could've sworn that in WWZ, all the states west of the Rockies were overrun by zombies and were being cleared out after the war, and that the states east of the Rockies were declared a 'Safe Zone'. D: And to be honest, when it comes to things like that, I get confused, because I've seen about 4 or 5 different things where its the states east of the Rockies that get lost, all the states are still there but all have zombie problems, the wester Rocky states are overrun, etc. It gets confusing, all that conflicting info, especially when that conflicting info comes from THE SAME BOOK ><

And on top of that, my stupid maps didn't include other mountain ranges.

D: So, I guess I've got inaccuracies in my last H War Z bit. And for that, I apologize.

...

Maybe it's time I find a proper beta...

...Um.

2009-09-02T02:03:06Z

....Wow, my Hetalia family is freaky. ~~Though having Hungary as my dad and Austria as my mom....weirdly accurate...~~
...I think I need another hobby. D: Lest my newest fandom consume my life. At least it's easier to write for Hetalia than it is for Death Note or any of the other things I like.

[FANFICTION]- Nightmares and Daydreams

2009-09-02T01:51:25Z

Oh sweet god...By this time tomorrow morning, I will be a senior in high school. D: I WILL BE GOING TO COLLEGE IN ONE YEAR HOLY SHITSICLES.
Ok, Rea, breathe...it's gonna be ok...you don't have to take the SAT's again, anyway...

Ah well.
Here. Have the results of stress induced writing, the next bit of Hetalia War Z. Starring Alfred Jones! :D

Title: Nightmares and Daydreams
Author/Artist: Rea, or geogirl15
Character(s) or Pairing(s): America, with guest appearances by the states, and mentions of Canada.
Rating: PG-13, for blood and death (albeit in the past.)
Warnings: real name usage, violence, angst, OCs, potential OOCness, flashbacks of the emo kind, zombies, the usual.
Summary: Even heroes have nightmares sometimes.
Notes: The next bit in H War Z, focusing a bit on Alfred Jones post-zombie war. This one is a bit more disjointed, and I don't like it as much as Canada's bit, because there's a lot to cram in here before their meeting. Ah well.
The ficlet gets its title from an episode of 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' (though if you've seen that particular episode, this fic is not as drug induced or cracky as that.)

He can hear the screams and gunshots through the radio static, the gunshots and swearing, as Poppy's voice cuts through that, calling for her father, begging him to get there as soon as he can, before the line goes dead. He sees her body, lying face down in blood, with so many others, a few days later.

He can hear a gunshot, but he cannot see who fires it, where it is, who is killed. He can read a note, stained in blood splatters, Karl's body lying in the background.

He cannot hear the death cries of Warren, Lynda, Burl, and so many others, but he can see it, flashing in his mind over and over again, until the images fade, the sound returns, the endless screaming for help, the agonizing sound of teeth ripping at flesh, the terrifying sound of silence...

Alfred Jones wakes up with a sweat.

It was the 3rd time this week he'd had this nightmare, and he shakes his head a bit, trying to banish it from his thoughts. It seemed whenever he slept now, the nightmares got to him. He wondered if any of the others had the same problem.

He glances at the clock quickly, before doubletaking and swearing a bit. He'd overslept.

Shit. First time that's happened in a while.

Lani was supposed to wake him up, but maybe she forgot.
Maybe she was still sleeping, or was doing some work, or something.
It was a lot of responsibility having the capitol in her state now, and the work kept her busier than she'd ever been before or during the war.

The war...

The war had been over for about ten years now.
And yet, it still haunted the world, leaving deep, gaping scars that would probably never heal completely.
Alfred had seen a lot of wars in his relatively short life. He'd seen lots of devastation and death, the highest and lowest points of humanity...but none of that prepared him for this war.

It haunted him. It haunted the world. It probably always would.

The humans were devastated beyond all reason, their environment decimated ‘for the greater good’, species eradicated, and the dead still walked the earth.

They, too, would probably become a permanent part of the new world.

Everybody had been forced to adapt to survive, and that included the Nations. But not all of them had an easy time doing so...those who could not change, or those who tried to change too late, were lost.

Alfred got up, shaking his head a bit, the nightmare still with him, mixing together with unpleasant thoughts about the zombie war that had seemed into his brain. He had to get dressed, check up with Lani and Nikolai and Herbie, grab some food, and catch his flight to Canada.
He'd been planning to visit Matt for a while, but things kept getting in the way. And maybe he was a bit afraid to face his brother.

Heh. The great hero afraid to look his brother in the eye.

Alfred had always gone on about being a hero, being the savior and protector of everybody because he was brave and strong…but when the zombies attacked, he’d failed to stop them, he led his people into massive panic, and he’d run to Canada for help.

Sure, he’d rebuilt and revitalized his military, he’d led the Battle of Hope (As well as Yonkers, but he’ll never say that out loud again, even if everybody already knows), he’d helped rebuild and fight off Zack’s in other countries, including Matt’s, but in the beginning, he’d been completely helpless.

Alfred still had a hard time admitting that.

But he loved his brother, and he probably owed him his life. The least he could do was visit.

Besides, he misses Mattie. He misses his nephew, Fyodor, too.

Thinking of seeing both of them again brought a smile to Alfred's face, and motivated him to get a move on, as he got dressed quickly, putting on a basic suit and his bomber jacket, before going to check on the three states that lived with him.

Alaska and Oregon shared a room, as Nikolai's insistence. Both of them were still sleeping, and neither woke up as he went in to check up on them. Nikolai had kicked all of his covers off and was curled up slightly, hugging onto his pillow. Herbie was sucking on his thumb in his sleep, something he was far too old to do, and Al snorts a bit at the sight, before looking into the corner of the room.
Herbie's wheelchair and prosthetic leg were resting near the closet, waiting for him when he woke up.

And it's my fault he has to use that goddamn chair...

At least he was alive, anyway. Nikolai and Herbie had been lucky...Alfred had lost a lot during the war. He’d lost everything west of the Rockies; His people, his states, his children…

He can’t think about how they’d died, how California had cried for her father to come help her over her radio, before it went dead, how he found her body beginning to rot in a field.
How Nevada just knew that help wouldn’t show up and he’d just ended it himself, his blood staining the note he left for his father.
How Arizona had clung onto her brothers and sisters as the zombies came and sobbed, knowing no help was coming to save them.
How Oregon and Alaska had barely survived, forced to abandon their homes and their people, devastated physically and mentally...no.

Too many painful memories.

The children he lost wouldn’t want him to be sad.

He needs to tell himself that.

Alfred picks up Nikolai's blankets and tucks him back in again, adjusts Herbie's pillows slightly, and leaves the room to check on Lani before getting ready to leave.

Lani's room was empty. She was probably up and active by now...She'd really stepped up since they'd moved the capital to her state, and in a twisted way, he was proud of her.

He smiled slightly and headed off to grab some food before he left. It would probably be a long flight.

NOTES

-During the Zombie War, the capital of the US was moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, and it remained there following the war.
-Alfred led the disastrous Battle of Yonkers, and, years later, the highly successful Battle of Hope.
-All the states west of the Rocky Mountains were 'lost', meaning that they were completely overrun by zombies, and are still being cleared out.
-Alaska and Oregon were the only two Rocky Mountain states to survive. However, Oregon lost one of his legs escaping with his younger brother, but that'll be explored in more detail later.
-Poppy= California, Karl= Nevada, Warren= Utah, Lynda= Arizona, and Burl= Washington.
-Nevada committed suicide, before his state was completely overwhelmed.
-Arizona, Washington, Utah, and others, took refuge in New Mexico's house, which was overrun by zombies, and they were completely devoured.
-California led a small troop of soldiers across her state, working on liberating cities. She and her troop were attacked by a band of rouges, who murdered them and robbed them of their supplies, weapons, and communications devices.
-I actually drew a picture of Alfred discovering the body of California, which I may put up here when I'm done with it.
-I hope you enjoyed this bit of the fic. Then next part will have Matt and Alfred, together!

FANFICTION- Spring

2009-08-31T21:09:57Z

Title: Spring
Author/Artist: Rea, or geogirl15
Character(s) or Pairing(s): Canada, with mentions of Russia, America, and France, lightly implied Russia/Canada
Rating: PG
Warnings: Real name usage, violence, descriptions of icky decay, zombies, flashbacks, implied boylove, etc.
Summary: Springtime in Canada means nothing but trouble.
Notes- Part of my AU, H War Z, a pseudo crossover/merging between Hetalia and World War Z. The first in a series of interconnecting fics, this one focuses on Canada.

It is the first of many warm days in Canada. The birds have begun to return home, their chirping a hallmark of sunny long days and quiet, peaceful nights.

It is spring once again, and the thaw has begun to set in.

Once, many years ago, the thaw of spring was welcomed and celebrated. Now, it is feared, dreaded, because of what the warmth brings with it.

The warmth means the return of the walking rot that has long plagued not only Canada, but the rest of the world.

Matthew Williams, Canada, wakes up early to the sound of chirping. He sighs and yawns a bit as he begins to get up, rubbing one of his eyes sleepily. Once again, he hadn't gotten enough sleep. He hadn't had a good nights sleep in years.

Only a few hours of sleep to work on...but it was enough. It would have to be enough.

A brief glance around his room reveals that nothing has changed since he went to bed. Kumajiro is still asleep in the corner of the room in his bed, and that makes Matt smile a bit. After all that’s happened, his oldest friend can still sleep in until noon. He doesn’t bother to wake the bear up. He doesn’t need to fight right now.

Matt dresses quickly, into an old military uniform stained with black that will never wash away, before grabbing the odd cross between a shovel and an ax that rests near the entrance to his room, smiling. The lobo has become like a third arm to him, a trust friend and ally that has saved his life far too many times in recent memory.
He's getting lost in those memories, too painful to ever leave him, no matter how hard he wants them to.
Matt shakes his head a bit before leaving his room, going down the hall and quietly opening the door to another room.

It's a child's room, with toys and paintings and clothing strewn everywhere. The occupant of the room is still asleep, cocooned in blankets and pillows, snoring softly. Matt smiles quietly, entering the room for a brief minute, watching the child sleep.

His child.

Fyodor Braginski Williams, the young province of the Bathurst Island Commonwealth, shifted slightly in his sleep, rolling over to face his father in his slumber.
A perfect mixture of his parents, though both of them were in agreement that as far as personality was concerned, Fyodor resembled Kumajiro, his best friend, more than either of his fathers.
Matt laughs quietly at the thought, before stroking his son's hair softly. The boy stirs and opens his eyes sleepily, staring at his father.

"...morning, Daddy..."

"G'morning, Fyo. I didn't mean to wake you, just wanted to check up on you. Go back to sleep, ok?"

"...Kay...you going out to fight the Zack's?"

"Yep. The thaw-out starts today, and the more we get rid of early, the fewer there are next year."

"...can I come...?"

Matt laughs quietly and strokes Fyodor's hair a bit more. They had this conversation every spring at least once, and Matt's response never changed.

"Not this year, kiddo. It's dangerous, and you're too young. Maybe when you're a bit bigger, eh?"

"...Ok...be careful, Daddy...can we have maple cakes when you get back?"

Matt laughs again and nods, before kissing his son's forehead lightly.

"Course we can. Go back to bed, I'll be back in a while. Love you."

The little boy nods and smiles sleepily at his father before closing his eyes and fading into sleep once again. Matt smiles and leaves the room, closing the door quietly behind him, before his smile fades.
He never liked lying to Fyodor, but if he had any say in things, his son would never have to fight any Zack's, ever, no matter how old or strong he got.

He headed towards the front door, going outside and stopping on his front porch, staring sadly at the grey sky. He remembered when that sky used to be blue...

Why do I keep doing this...? There are other people out there who go after the thaw zombies, they don't really need me...so why do I keep going out there?

...No. He knows why he keeps going out there.

He does it for every person in his country still living and fighting, every refugee who died trying to find shelter here, for his brother and Ivan and Francis and so many others like him out there who remember a time of peace and still think that they can someday return to that life.

There was a time once, after the great wars that tore apart Europe, when he’d promised to stay away from fighting, to be as neutral and peaceful as possible. And for a long time, that had worked.

But those wars had been 'normal' wars, involving normal humans.

He thrived in the zombie war. His country did not, his country was ravaged and ruined, but he somehow managed to find the strength to fight and survive amidst a world of eternal death and decay.

To still survive, to rebuild and fight and live.

And that is what Matthew Williams did. He lived.

You know...I almost miss the days when people forgot I existed...

It's a strange thought, and it makes him laugh a bit. Sometimes, he hates his laugh. The hallmark of their insanity is in the laugh, Ivan says, and he’s right, but who cares anymore? They live in an insane world.

He walks out of the compound like area his house is located in now, out into the open. He can hear the moans in the distance, a sickeningly painful noise that drove so many to madness, he can almost smell the rot getting closer, he can almost see them, an army of undead, grey skin peeling, black blood oozing from every single open wound, and his heart beats a little faster.

After all, when everything is said and done, Matt almost likes going after the Zack's.

Alfred is coming to visit later, his first visit to Matt's house in years. The war had hit him hard, even if, in the end, Al had been the hero. Matt misses him, and is glad he's coming by for once.

Ivan likes to stop by unexpectedly whenever he can get away from his boss and his trouble, and he always likes to tease Matt about the state of his country, knowing full well that the thaw problem exists in Russia as well as Canada.

Francis calls all the time, and he visits a great deal, to the point where Ivan is almost jealous. Matt loves Francis, but not like that.Maybe once, he had, but things had changed.

Francis had changed. He'd done poorly against the zombies (But when was the last time Francis had actually done well in a war?), and the disaster that had been the Paris Catacombs still haunted him.
But the old Francis, the wine drinking flirt, was still there, and Matt hoped by having his father figure and mentor over all the time, he could cheer him up and bring that part of him back to the surface. People seemed to miss that part of him, something that surprised Matt and everybody else he knew.

So, in short, he’d like to get rid of as many attacking infected as possible before his brother arrives. Makes the work he has to in the coming days easier, anyway.

The moaning gets louder, and Matthew Williams can see the outline of the zombies on the horizon.

He laughs again. He's not quite sure why.

And he attacks.

After all…the trash needs to get taken out before breakfast.

NOTES

-The Bathurst Island Commonwealth is not a real Canadian province, but it gets its name from Bathurst Island, an unpopulated Canadian island currently part of the Nunavut province. In the H War Z universe, Bathurst Island and a number of unpopulated Canadian islands became highly populated following the war due to their colder environment and the fact that they were islands. They eventually formed the Bathurst Island Commonwealth together.
-Canada's environment was destroyed during the zombie war due to a large influx of refugees, who led to a large army of zombies. Despite this, Canada, with eventual aid from America, was able to remove a number of the undead.
-The 'thaw' refers to the annual thawing of blocks of ice containing frozen zombies, who reanimated upon being thawed out.
-Fyodor is, of course, the son of Canada and Russia.
-Thank you again for reading! :D Canada is rather important in the H War Z universe, so expect to see him a lot more in other future ficlet things!

SO.

2009-08-31T01:48:47Z

LET'S TALK ZOMBIES.

But wait a second, Rea! Didn't you already talk about zombies?

Yes, YES I DID.

But we're not here to talk about why zombies scare the shit out of me, but instead what they, and the book 'World War Z' inspired me to write!

K, so as you may have noticed, I've been writing a crapload of Hetalia lately. It's easy and fun and I love doing it.
I left a request in the kink_meme asking for some kind of WWZ/Hetalia crossover, and it got filled, and I liked the fill a lot! But I wanted to do my own.

So that's what I've been doing!

And I wanted to put down some info about it here, lest my computer makes my whole fic go away. Again.

K. Here we go.
The following are the statuses of each Nation that is mentioned in 'Hetalia War Z', which is what I'm calling my little fan freakout until I get a better name.

CANADA- The 'hero' of sorts in the fic series. Matthew Williams' country was pretty much destroyed by hoards of refugees going in at the beginning of the war, so there are very few lush natural areas left, and there's a crapload of undead that thaw out in the spring. Despite this, the Canadian government is still going strong, and the economy is all right, with its primary export being technological developments to help fight the remaining zombies and help revitalize land all over the world, with things like water purifiers and portable greenhouses, etc. Canada's refugee population has moved and populated a number of previously unpopulated pseudo-artic islands, which have all come together and become the province of Bathurst Island.

AMERICA- The US lost almost all land west of the Rocky Mountains to the zombies, and that area is still being cleared out. The capital has relocated to Hawaii, and the US is once again a world superpower, allied closely with Canada and a newly Democratic China among others. The former colony states, especially New York, were also hit relatively hard, are working hard to find a cure for the disease, as well as get America 100% zombie free.

MEXICO- The Mexican government suffered heavily during the war, and the majority of the population fled to old missions as well as Aztecan and Mayan pyramids for protection. The country is now stable, has a great deal of American aid in rebuilding, and the nation is now known as 'Aztlán'.

CHINA- The population of China was severely depleted, as it was first country infected. The zombie war ultimately led to a people's rebellion, and China is now a democracy.

RUSSIA- Ooooh, Russia. Once again, there was a massive change in government, and now Russia is a religious autocracy, essentially ruled by the Russian Orthodox church and led by a tsar. The people are once again repressed, but the economic divide isn't as bad as it once was. To get this way, there was a massive Decimation ordered by the Ministry of Defense after a number of rebellions within the military, and the government has managed to keep a great deal of that hushed up. A number of former Soviet states, including the Ukraine and Belarus, are now once again under the control of the Holy Russian Empire. Many of the reacquired countries were also vastly depopulated.

THE UNITED KINGDOM (England, Northern and Southern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales)- The UK was surprisingly not badly affected by the outbreak. Ireland escaped infection entirely, and is now one of the economic superpowers of the world. Northern Ireland is now a recognized seperate country, the war having made 'the Troubles' seem rather insignifigant.
England suffered minor outbreaks, but was largely unaffected. England is also noted for developing a system of 'formulated elevated highways' that caught on after the war. England now is one of the major producers of oil due to having found an untapped oil well during the war. Scotland, like Ireland and England, was largely unaffected. Wales suffered the most out of the entire UK, but was defended by a small group of soldiers located somewhere in Cardiff, who helped prevent the spread of infection. (Yes, that is Torchwood I'm talking about.)

SEALAND- Sealand, following the war, became a surprise success. Due to basically being a naval base at sea, they were able to withstand almost all zombies and refugees, and spent the duration of the war expanding to a much larger naval sea base, complete with terraform buildings and high tech water filtration systems that became highly popular after the war. Sealand is now an official nation recognized by the UN, having had a mass immigration boom post WWZ.

ICELAND- Iceland was virtually destroyed during the war, the entire population virtually wiped out, and now the country is just a wasteland of death. The UN is working on clearing it out, but it is a long and arduous process.

FINLAND- Suffered the same fate as Iceland. Finland was virtually destroyed, but a good chunk of the population was able to get out, and have been granted citizen status in Sweden, which took in the majority of Finnish refugees.

ITALY- Italy has had significantly more experience dealing with zombies, having had a number of outbreaks during the time of the Roman Empire. these outbreaks were recorded in great detail, and the knowledge in the ancient texts provided basic knowledge on how to defeat zombies and protect civilians. As a result, Italy, like the UK, came out of WWZ basically unscathed.

GERMANY- Germany was one of the hardest hit countries due to its high population, despiting having established safe zones near Denmark and the Southern Bavarian Alps. They are currently rebuilding with economic aid from Italy.

KOREA- South Korea was hit hard, suffering an number of major defeats in their country's attempts to stop the zombies. Like the rest of the world, they are rebuilding. North Korea's entire population seems to have vanished completely, with nobody quite sure what happened. It is believed they went underground, but whether or not they were wiped out is another question, and nobody is really willing to find out.

JAPAN- Japan's entire population was forced to evacuate to Russia, and it was hit extremely hard due to the country's inability to defend itself. A group known as the Tatenokai, the 'Shield Society', has been working successfully to remove the zombies, and is now an integrated part of the Japanese Defense Force. They notably use no firearms.

FRANCE- France's Catacombs of Paris became home to a number of refugees, but became rapidly infected, and led to one of the worst battles of the war. Many of the old castles were used as safe havens, but Versailles, essentially a big mansion, provided no defense and burned down. France suffered massive casualties due to the disaster in the Catacombs, and due to the rapid clearout of Paris.

These are just a few of the countries who were affected, others can be found in more detail here: http://zombie.wikia.com/wiki/World_War_Z.

This is mostly just for my own personal reference, but somebody like me may find it interesting. These are just a few of the main countries, but there are others I haven't worked out yet, including provinces, states, micro nations, etc. Also, Antarctica. Gotta work that out too.

OH GREAT.

2009-08-29T18:10:02Z

You are a
Social Liberal
(61% permissive)

and an...
Economic Liberal
(18% permissive)

You are best described as a:

Socialist

Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid
Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

According to the internet, I'm a socialist. D: wow, I thought I'd gotten over that phase in my political life...

I mean, YEAH, economic equality and political and social fairness for all would be great, but I can't say it's the most realistic world view...
..Ah well. I'm young, I guess I can afford to be slightly idealistic. The world will make me cynical and angry eventually.

4 DAYS...

2009-08-29T16:10:54Z

4 DAYS UNTIL I GO BACK TO SCHOOL.

D: I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK...!! I've had a great summer, going back is...augh! I still have an Art History essay to write, a boring AP English book that I've only gotten halfway through (though its not as boring as the TEXTBOOK I had to read for Art History. Honestly, who gives a textbook out for summer reading?)

Gah...one more year. One more friggen year...then off to art school...everything will be ok...

ANYWAY.
LETS TALK ABOUT ZOMBIES.

D: I blame Max Brooks for making my fear of zombies A COMPLETELY LEGIT FEAR. As if I needed ANOTHER reason to be afraid of graveyards and the flu.

..Ah well. At least 'World War Z' is a good book. And an inspiring work for all kinda cool crossovers.

...
Incidentally, I've been doing more fic writing (the most I've done in ages), and I've...sort of forgotten what constitutes a drabble. I know it's shorter than a regular fic, but the way I've been going I can't figure out if what I've been writing is a series of drabbles or something else.

FANFICTION- Aloha 'Oe

2009-08-26T03:28:39Z

Title: Aloha 'Oe
Author/Artist: Rea, or geogirl15
Character(s) or Pairing(s): America, Hawaii, mentions of other states
Rating: G
Warnings: Real name usage and fluff. Lots of fluff.
Summary: Alfred sings a song for Hawaii.
Notes- A 'plot bunny adoption center' fic from over at raising_states. Short but sweet. :3 Enjoy.

Alfred hadn’t gotten a good night sleep in a few days. Having all the youngest states over for a visit was not a good idea.

Well, it was…but the execution wasn’t the greatest.
He loved having the kids over, he really did. They were his pride and joy, and having them around made him happier than normal, and during this tough economic period, he needed all the happiness he could get.

But he tended to forget about sibling rivalry. And the fact that siblings don’t always get along well.

Arizona and New Mexico were always ganging up on Alaska and Hawaii, who never let Oklahoma plate ‘space pirates’ with them, despite the fact he was older than both of them. And, of course, Utah just ignored them all, mumbling about how immature they all were while occasionally throwing small rocks at Wyoming when he wasn’t looking.

…In short, it was chaos.

But they were all finally in bed, and Alfred could enjoy a brief moment of peace before he nodded off into blissful slumber.

Just as he was nodding off, his sleep was interrupted by a quiet knock on the door.

Alfred sighed as he got up to open the door. This was the fourth night in a row he’d been interrupted. He wondered for a moment which one of the kids it was now. Was it New Mexico, coming in to complain about Wyoming stealing his pillows? Was it Oklahoma, demanding new bedsheets because his were too itchy? Did Utah fall off of the top bunk again?

He was a bit surprised to see little Hawaii standing at the door, sniffling and rubbing one of her eyes.

He couldn’t help but smile a little.
“Lani…what’s wrong? Was one of the boys keeping you up?”

The little girl shook her head sadly.
“Nu…nuh…no…I hadda bad dream…”
She sniffled again and rubbed at her eyes a bit more, a few excess tears leaking out. Alfred sighed and smiled slightly at her as he picked her up, carrying her into his room. When he was little, when he had bad dreams, Iggy would let them sit together in his room, and he’d just let Alfred talk about anything until he felt better and could go back to bed.

“Honey, it’s ok, papa’s here. Wanna tell me what it was about?”

Ahulani, better known as Lani, shook her head again, as Alfred put her down on his bed, sitting next to her.

“Nuh uh…there were monsters…really scary ones…”

“Honey, the monsters aren’t real. They’re not gonna hurt you because they can’t. Do you understand?”

She nodded, and rubbed at her eyes again. Something was still upsetting her.
Alfred gave his daughter a questioning look.

“Lani, is that the only thing that’s wrong? Did the boys do something you’re not telling me about?”

She looked up at him, eyes wide.

“Papa…do I really have to go back home? I like spending time here with you…”

Alfred sighed and looked at the floor. This conversation was one he really didn’t want to have. It happened every time the little states came to visit him. They were capable of taking care of themselves as well as taking care of their home states, even if they weren’t physically old in appearance.

Hawaii and Alaska were the youngest, so they stayed with Alfred more often than the other states did, and they stayed with him for longer, so it was always hard when they had to go back to their home states. Hard for them and him.

“Lani…I know you like staying here, and I love having you here! But you have a home of your own, and people to look after there. And I have people who need me to look after them.”

“But papa, I want you to look after me!! I don’t wanna go home and have to look after things there, I wanna spend time with you!”

“Lani…”

“Please, papa? I miss you when you’re gone…”

Lani had started to cry. Alfred didn’t know when that started. He didn’t know when his eyes started watering a bit too, and he pulled his daughter into a hug.

“It’s ok, Lani…I miss you, and all the other kids when you’re not here…but you know that I’ll see you again, right? I’ll always be here for you, no matter where either of us are.”

“…Papa, will you sing the song for me?”

Alfred nodded, rocking his daughter a bit. He used to sing this to her, when she was little, as a lullabye. Then, as a farewell and a promise as she got older. Her mother sang it to him once, and taught it to him, and now he was proud to teach it to her. It was her culture, after all.

“Of course. Will you help me, Lani?”

Lani nodded and smiled softly as they sang quietly together.

… Aloha ʻoe, aloha ʻoe

E ke onaona noho i ka lipo

One fond embrace,

A hoʻi aʻe au

Until we meet again…

Even after they had finished, Alfred gently rocked his daughter until she fell asleep. He smiled and sighed quietly, tucking her into his bed. She could sleep in here with him tonight. He suspected she probably wanted that, but was afraid to ask.

Lani kicked in her sleep and hogged the covers.

It was the best night’s sleep he had in days.

END

NOTES

- Aloha ‘Oe is a song written by Liliʻuokalani, the last queen of Hawaii, written in 1877 and inspired by a tender farewell between Colonel James Boyd and his romantic interest, one of his ranch ladies. It is easily her most famous and easily recognized song. The title of this song translates to ‘Farewell to you’.
- The lyrics included in this fic are the chorus of the song. The song’s lyrics in its entirety, as well as a translation, can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloha_%CA%BBOe
- This fic was requested by linademented, who wanted to see a fic inspired by the following scene from ‘Lilo and Stitch’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WraKfeFtOPs&feature=related
- Arizona, New Mexico, Alaska, Wyoming, Utah, and Oklahoma are all boys. Alfred has loots of boys. D:
- Ahulani, the state of Hawaii, returns from my previous fic, Hibiscus, which contains more information about Hawaii and Hawaiian history. Not as much as I’d like, though, due to lack of knowledge. They don’t teach us much on the mainlands…
-Thank you once again for reading!!

Your Hetalia Family by juniormint
Name
Age
Favorite Character
Country you live in
Father
Mother
Sibling #1
Sibling #2
Pet
Best Friend
Lover
Stalker