awww

...you killed Arthur.
But.
But.
But why?

Wonderful story, though the symbols are sometimes obscure.

Awww this story was definitely a different type. It's very strange and was pretty confusing at first but I think I got most of it The only part that I don't think I have is the part when they are in spacesuits. Can you explain that to me? But all in all, it was cute how they're relationship works :) I also love the cute nickname XD "Golden Boy". :) All these fanfics I'm reading are honestly slowing inspiring me to write a fanfic of my own about them XD XD Even if it's a short cute one lol because it's on my mind. ANYWAY, thanks for the wonderful entertainment :3 You're an awesome writer! lol

Wonderful. Just ugh! I loved it!

Well, guess who's stalking your stories again?

Damn. This made me tear up so bad it was tupid. This is amazing, because I hardly cry to stories anymore. Brilliant portrayal of angst between USUK, and amazing story in general. You're bloody amazing, author!

Should I say it again?

GODDAMIT THIS IS FREAKING AWESOME. FFFFF- NO MATTER HOW MUCH I READ IT, IT STAYS AWESOME LIKE ALWAYS.

Your works always has the same effect. Your works are really timeless. It's something that I can re-read over and over and over again and yet always has the same magic to it.

It still makes my head spins uncontrollably, still punches my breath out of my lungs, still sends me into another world, still sends me in a daze, still makes me cry silently in the end.

It's a huge feat, really. I almost never cry anymore whenever I read. Too much angst numbs me a little bit.

You told me your case. Me, whenever I read a good story, I feel like everything I see is covered by a veil. The colours that I see are the colours of the said veil. This one, I saw white. Just like The Red Road. Darling, I'm Going Home is yellow; Gentle Worlds maroon.

This is awesome. Really. It deserves a spot on TVTropes. In fact, /you/ deserves a spot there. I've always loved your writing style. Each one of your works, as has been intended to according to your bio, are indeed masterpieces. I would love to say that your writing skill has improved ever since your first work, but they're all so beautiful themselves.

I'm sorry, my review sounds a little bit strange. I'm still blown away. I just need some times to gather my mind back up...

I was literally sobbing at the end of this piece. I chose Tears of an Angel to listen to, and you're right, it enhanced the mood like crazy.

This...this is just purely beautiful.

I'll save it in my favourites, I'll read it again in a couple of days. For now I'll savour the tears you brought upon me and the mood.

Beautiful, chilling, gorgeous.

Nothing I can say is bad about this work, at all.

Thank you for writing this.

Wow, it's poignant and dark. The flow of the words captured my attention and kept me there.

It's very enjoyable fic. Thank you for writing this :)

Okay. Um. I realize that my previous "review" might not have made sense. It was more of a "reaction".

So I shalt write this one with less tears, prayers, missions to Mars, and much, much less Rick Astley. With more actual reviewing, although keep in mind I'm not qualified in any way other than I read the story and it inspired me to vigorously study more calculus.

Utilizing NASA/Space travel/flying imagery was especially effective, as I think space exploration truly does represent both the loftiest and purest of my country's (re: the US's) goals/hopes/dreams. It is a dream that nearly all citizens-children, teenagers, adults, and old geezers who probably even saw the Moon landing themselves-can have in common, whose primary focus is that of curiosity, exploration, and new enlightened understanding. Still: at the same time, space is a very cold, dark, alien place. So to put one's hopes and dreams in space is to tether one's hopes and dreams all out in a cold, dark, alien place. And thus, as you represent Alfred/the United States’ hopes and cares as being in space travel, you already create a high emotional vulnerability for the reader (in my opinion).

Plus, just by mentioning NASA by name will pull at many reader's hearts, especially if they are Americans (with NASA aspirations, lol), such as myself. The agency is the populace’s second-most beloved, polling second only to the Centers for Disease Control, and faces a continuously wavering future. Although it is backed in to a corner the furthest it's ever been at this moment (to enter 5 years without shuttle capacity! FFFFFFFFUUUU-), it also has a solid foundation, a new increase in budget, and some new, achievable, scientifically-relevant, /and/ bold-leap-forward-type goals in its agenda. The agency is getting much better with managing having lots of private-sector partners (like Space-X) and working with other space agencies (like Roscosmos and JAXA and whatever the hell the EU has in the way of spacetech). BUT, as mentioned, many of these are all just plans, so this is that moment when NASA can either fail or win spectacularly. And, like the moment before the horses run to make or break the Triple Crown at the Belmont, that scares me (and many others with a NASA-interest) to half-to-death. /NASA-rant over. Again.

And then, the specific way in which you write that imagery feeds into this already inherent vulnerability. There is an emphasis on air in the first paragraph, especially moving air, which is that strong, though insubstantial, fickle and changing force: "speeding through the virgin air...carried by the wind...atmosphere-surpassing".

“Black sky of the moon”. When I re-read this that stuck with me. Like, we can get to the moon, but what’s there, taking up our vision even more than the moon-surface? The moon’s empty black sky. More and more and more nothing, as though we landed on something that wasn’t truly there. Sort of the depressing way to look at outer-space: to focus on what isn’t there. I don’t know if that’s how you meant it, but when taken that way, to me, it packed a lot into a small, nearly innocuous, turn-of-phrase.

“He was there, in the limp folds of his flag.” …I just thought of this, and it might be pointless to this supposed review, but whatever: does this indicate that Alfred was never really there in the physical “nation-tan” sense, but more that he went there with the meaning we (humans) put on the flag. If so, that’s damn beautiful. And clever. And very true to what I’ve always taken to be the serious psychological reality of personifying groups—nations—into one. You’ll notice how in many senses life and this “nation-tan” world that is Hetalia reflect each other like parallel mirrors. How things are and how we perceive them are of equal and mutually-creating importance. That’s some E pluribus Unum right there, eh? Also, back to how this effects the overall tone of vulnerability (can vulnerability even be a tone? Meh, this ain’t my AP Language class. Vulnerability now can be a tone.), clearly your word choice with “limp” (helpless, ineffective) and “folds” (closed in, hidden), is a contributing factor.

“…jaded diamond dust, flash frozen on black velvet…”

This is what I would paint of this if I ever got around to painting it. That image, through a fish-tank, with a little astronaut figurine, or something, in with the fishes, some of whom would be shadowy and menacing. And then I would add some 10, or so, layers of glaze over the whole thing, to make it seem far away, or as seen through a foggy window, tears, or thick glasses, and let it dry a bit, before rubbing some grit in it, over the top of the glaze.

I think “flash frozen” was my favorite part. It sounded like a quiet echo-y, “shhhzap”, smelled and burned like frost, and reminded me of dangerous glitter. “Jaded” was also nice, word-choice-wise. Pared with diamond dust, it somehow feels like symbolism for bad economies: once-were riches which were ground away. ((For the record, I have never tried any drugs other than reality itself. Reading this back through sort of makes it sound otherwise, but I don’t want to change it. Just take my word for it: only lack of sleep, missing AP Language class like hell, and enduring one too many stress went into this review.))

…

In some weird twisty way the part with Alfred and Arthur in space/underwater reminded me of Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado. I think it had to do with the “trapped” feeling. And then, the inversion of the whole revenge-and-not-so-subtle-jealousy-situation: in Amontillado, Montressor is jealous/has been insulted. And then he sort of drags Fortunado down with him, locks him up, kills him essentially, and never feels regret, remorse, or anything resembling a conscious (or so he tells us…that whole being scared people could hear, then taking solace in the niter stuff on the catacomb walls, then being pretty forceful in reminding the reader he never regretted it, doesn’t help that case), and never… ah…I don’t know. I think on that more. I feel like I was on to something, but might have jumped the gun. Think on it or ignore it….I still feel there’s some kind of inverted connection here.

Okay. I’ve been writing too long. This is probably crap. I think this is the best I can do at reviewing things in a more serious way. I think I covered the entirety of the first few lines. I have many thoughts on the largely remaining story, but I think I’m going to give it a rest for now. I might be able to think of concrit if I wait long enough, but right now this is gold, man. Congrats.

-Eleanor Roosevelt (II, apparently O_o, it won't let me comment with the same name) out ;)

PS:

I APOLOGIZE D:

Well, I chose to listen to Stumbline and then Space Oddity, then Stumbline again.

And somewhere in the middle I must've started crying very slowly; somewhere near the end, although I am agnostic, always have been, still am, I imagined I was praying.

I think I'm going to pretend I never cried, but always remember that I prayed, and go ace my SATs, work for NASA, and go to motherfucking space because we still can, damnnit. *fist-to-desk* TO MARS, BITCHES. (...yes, this is the positive message I twisted from this...NEVER~GONNA~GIVE~YOU~UP~!)

watch?vh-I7-gF4rJQ&featurerelated

And if yall's government has astronauts they want to send, I'm sure they can go on this Mars mission too. Our people will call your people, or your people will call our people.

People will be calling people.

FROM SPACE. (because, you know, satellites...and, yeah)

.

-Eleanor Roosevelt out. 8D

PS: I really did take your writing seriously, even if it doesn't seem like it. I can tell it made me deeply sad inside, but luckily I was able to convert that into some willpower to study Calc II for two extra hours. Thanks.

I think I might paint it into a picture.

I had to reread it several times, but I think each time I read it I could find something new on it. This is indeed a depressing story, but I think the ending was sweet. Not a happy ending, of course, but seet nevertheless. You did manage to portray Alfred's feelings, fears and worries, and seeing them becoming true may be the most heartbreaking part of this.

Very nice reading.

Now I wonder why there're only a few who review your fic, while this story is one of your best story you've written so far (even though I still like 'Darling, I'm Gong Home' better)

Just like the previous comments, I love the way you express their feelings.. not the exploding and sappy, happy feelings, but the restrained, yet deep feelings towards each other that eventually suffocate both of them..

And also good portrayal of Alfred's fear.. I feel really sad for him...

Maybe I'm only the one thinking about this, but the ending is really sweet.. The part where Arthur said that he would 'go on a diet' and 'pluck all Al's white hair away' ( but I still pity them, though.. I mean, they're trying to escape for a while from something inevitable by imagining that it didn't happen)

Wow! This is wonderful! I'm so glad you told me that you were going to post your fic too! Yeah, idk what happened with the fanbook, I just assumed it got cancelled since I never heard anything about it...

ANYWAY, glad you decided to take the initiative with this and post it! This is really too lovely not to be shared! I love the allegorical rocketship "story" that encapsulates Alfred's achievements, their space-suits sort of making them alien-like in this unknown land that is difficult for them to navigate (and I guess the need to wear space-suits means that it's a hostile place where they can't breathe?). Yeah, I thought that was neat.

The ACTUAL story is lovely as well. I think you characterised Alfred very well indeed! He was perfectly stubborn and yet honest as well (like when he told Arthur that he didn't think that Arthur loved him back). Arthur was great, too, with his weird 'Daddy knows best' schtick (which he does, haha!). I also liked how you couldn't really tell quite when this was set since you made reference to both the Great Depression and the Cold War. I really liked the elusiveness of the timeline. )

You know, one of the pieces I wrote for my contribution to the fanbook was a *little* bit like this. It's the one I decided to cut in favour of a new WWII instead, though. Luckily you filled in the gap!

Also! You mentioned me! Awww! Thankyou so much! I'm glad you like my fics! I will return the favour! )

RR xXx

I'm sure you've forgot what I said to you back then so I'm just say...err, type it again eh. (And sorry, can only skim through it as exam is pulling me away. -_-)

What can I say? I really love the part in which you describe their fights, how Arthur takes care of Alfred, and Alfred's characterisation-his pigheadedness and all. The parallels confuse this funny little brain of mine, of course, but hell, they make the story much more intense, eh.

(Also my first reaction was, of course, 'you posted something T-rated!' XD Sorry for my rather incoherent review. I just had five hours of a very...productive conversation with Tiffany. Heh.)