#I'm aware they're mostly 20th century lol

[historia-vitae-magistras]

Random question. I know you’ve mentioned how Matt’s relationships are really influenced by Alfred. Does Alfred have an opinion on his relationship with Ukraine? Or know that Matt’s kind of married lol?

His opinion is mostly that it's unsettling. Generally speaking, Matt doesn't hold a whole hell of a lot of hard and fast opinions. He's flexible within quite a broad spectrum. Alfred's seen Matt go batshit. Matt's gone batshit on his behalf and against him. For most of Matt's life it's been: for king, country and the chronic pain in the ass (affectionate) across the southern border. And then every once in a while, Matt gets fucken mouthy. Like incredibly mouthy. Tells British parliament to go fuck themselves when it's response to Ukrainian petitions was a whole lot of fuck all. Randomly builds an embassy. The national poet causing a scandal by getting their hump on with a Ukrainian activist in the 1930s.

In many ways, Alfred depends on Matt being a depressive walking anxiety disorder who is only pulled into anything by external motivation. It makes for a very easy to handle, never surprising, extremely level headed and boring ass neighbour. Basically the emotional support version of that succulent someone left in their bathroom for 15 years and still hasn't died somehow. Alfred needs Matt on the counter, not dead, doing his job.

Katya, and Matt's extremely emotional attachment to her isn't scary but it is unsettling for him. He doesn't begrudge Matt this relationship because it's mostly yearning as Matt doesn't have access to her the vast majority of the 20th century but I'm not sure if he would be so generous if it had been. And Alfred likes Katya very much after 1991 or so but before then he's not really in favor of this. The brief period Matt and Katya had after the war before the Allies fell the fuck apart saw Alfred backing Arthur's play to shack Jan and Matt up. Like it's perfectly fine for Alfred to fuck Ivan, they're hate fucking. Alfred is in denial if there are any feelings.

With Matt, there's no denying it. Matt can be apathetic, cold, stoic to the ends of the earth if he's bleeding, dying or having his heart ripped out. But he's never been able to hide love. And Alfred kind of relies on that. That it takes such an extreme level of anger before Matt's willing to let it overtake that inherent sense of love that exists. Alfred was the first real sense of love Matt had in this world and he knows that. Katya induces a similar reaction in Matt and Alfred doesn't like it. The jolt in slavic demographics they both got at the end of the 19th century didn't have that same effect on Alfred. It's not exactly jealousy but there is a certain expectation on Matt's attention Alfred expects to have. And he doesn't even need to be aware of the fact Matt makes her certain kinds of promises even if they are as limited as his power in the world is because that attachment is so obvious sometimes.

[phoneybeatlemania]

i'm always looking for book recommendations so what's hangover square? it sounds interesting!

(also hi lol hope you're doing well)

*screaming* I love this cause I love books lol

Hangover Square by Patrick Hamilton is about a bunch of alcoholics living in West London just before WW2. The protagonist goes through these "dead moods", which are essentially dissociative episodes, and during them he wants to kill this girl he's obsessed with, but when he's out of them he's just in love with her (but she keeps using him).

Anyway, its great I swear (even if I explained the plot to it horribly), but other favourite books of mine are:

The Quiet American by Graham Greene

Ham On Rye by Charles Bukowski

Midnight Cowboy by James Leo Herlihy

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Grapes Of Wrath by John Steinbeck

High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemingway

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre