#Some AsaKiku love

[helianskies]

I'M SENDING YOU SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THIS TIME

Fraport

Asakiku

Spabel

YOU REALLY DID, HUH

i like fraport in that i feel like they would be simultaneously great and terrible together. i reckon they'd give romance a go, but when it boils down to it, the relationship may be a bit more shallow and unstable. neither is in it for the long haul. but to satisfy a craving? or to perhaps... try to incur someone's jealousy? 👀

not in a bad way! i like asakiku but that... is basically it. i'm not crazy about them by any means, but i appreciate the comfort and cosiness of the ship.

i love the sort of knight in shining armour and princess romance (all the courting, the chivalry, the hopelessly romantic gestures) but underneath it all toni is the real princess, haha. i kinda love it. they're homely. i don't usually actively seek out spabel but i tend to enjoy it when i stumble upon it. and even if a relationship wouldn't work out, i don't doubt they would still be thick as thieves! a bad bone could never exist between them!

[ ship bingo game here! ]

[coralcatsea]

Brief Thoughts on Some Ships Part 2

Engmano: Since they both speak such a similar "tsundere" language, they see right through the other. So if one of them says, "I didn't make these for you, I just had leftovers!" the other will know it's just a defence mechanism and not at all believe that lie. Knowing how the other works so well would lead to a lot of teasing as well. One of their bonding activities is trash talking other people. Also, Lovino does his best to help Arthur improve his cooking.

RusFra: Ivan greatly admires Francis, whom he finds sociable, fashionable, and loving. Francis, despite being a bit intimidated, sees the good in Ivan and reaches out to him when others won't, and is flattered when Ivan makes attempts to impress and do nice things for him – although he often makes mistakes, but that just endears Francis to him more.

GerAme: Ludwig loves dogs and Alfred is an absolute golden retriever of a man. Ludwig finds him way too cute and definitely wants to do pet play with him.

Ameripan: I think Kiku should give Alfred to a tentacle monster and watch.

RusEng: Seems intriguing. They both know some magic. I like the art where people depict Russia thinking Arthur looks like a sunflower with his green outfit and blond hair.

AmeChu: Alfred is Yao's bratty boy toy.

Prumano: As the older brothers who have to work harder for approval, I think they would understand each other. That canon scene of Prussia reaching out to Romano after he didn't get a part for a movie and encouraging him was super sweet.

AsaKiku: Arthur seems to fit a lot of popular love interest archetypes in anime. The gentleman/princely type, the tsundere, the lonesome bad boy... Perhaps that means he's very much Kiku's type? 😆 The ship seems cute and pleasant, though I would like to see a little more spice in the depictions.

USUKCan: Alfred and Matthew both crave validation from Arthur, so they compete for his attention and approval. Arthur definitely enjoys watching them both suck him off.

EngPort: Friends to lovers to friends. I think they experimented a lot with each other and are pretty close and comfortable regardless of their relationship.

AusHun: Girlboss x malewife. Team Rocket vibes.

Part 1

[callofchimera]

Asakiku

Have some more Hetalia fanart! I drew this because I was low key unaware that this was a ship (despite being in this fandom for over half my life now 💀💀💀) There are just so many England ships, I can’t keep up!

Anyway I would love to tell you I am working on something more serious but I am not. I’ve been feeling a little silly recently 💕✨

[italyveneziano]

Intro post!

Hi there, you can call me Rain!! (=ヮ=)೨

I first got into Hetalia back in 2012, and after a solid couple years of it being my main interest i've gone back to it every few years or so. It suddenly started taking up my thoughts lately so I'm here again!

My favorite character is Italy Veneziano!! Other favorites include England, Romano and America!

I really really love the fangame HetaOni. It rearranged my brain at the age of 13 and is what first really got me into Hetalia (and is also what got me back into it this time!)

I love friendship and family relationships!! My favorite is father/son England and America, and some others I love are Italy, Germany and Japan, the Italy brothers, father/son Spain and Romano, and FACE family.

Some ships I enjoy are GerIta, Holytalia, FrUK, AsaKiku, Itapan, Geritapan, AmeIta and EngIta! I generally like these as friendships too. Love seeing these guys interact

I like to play and draw (art tag is #myart!)

I'm just to here to vibe and have a place for my brainworms

And that's it for now I think. Have a nice day!! <333

[fumblingmusings]

Can you tell us more about asakiku with fem England? I really adore the concept like normal asakiku hits hard, but with Evelyn hits harder

Okay so in 1910 there was this Japanese-British Exhibition in London where essentially Japan was trying to prove that A) Their products were worth buying B) That their imperialism was benevolent just like the British (I shouldn't need to put a qualifying statement here but obviously this is false on both ends) and C) That they were a worthy Great Power good enough to be on equal standing with the UK.

Japan spent an enormous sum of money on it despite being sort of bankrupt following the Russo-Japanese War. They built two gardens, sent around 22,550 square metres worth of stuff as well as parked a few ships at Kent to prove that yes, their alliance was a naval one and yes, they had the guns to back it up.

It was - I guess in Hetalia terms - Kiku being a giant simp. Get you a guy willing to build you a gyroscopically stable monorail and take you for a 1 mile round trip around the park. Just for you ~

Still can't say the 'L' word though.

What I find hilarious is the Japanese were disappointed with how it turned out - not finding aspects sophisticated enough (the model villages which were so common at the time were particularly criticised [not for the right reasons mind you]). Meanwhile Britain, who the entire thing was for, fell absolutely in love with it and like 8 million people turned up.

So... let's say Evelyn in particular adored the gardens, because she is such a green thumb, and made sure one of the gates was moved to Kew Gardens once the exhibition closed, but it wasn't until the 90s where the Japanese gardens were designed that it was properly given a home. The gate needed to go through an absolute ball ache of a restoration project but it's worth it because she loves it and him even if she isn't able to admit it just yet (a few more years maybe, then they can sit together in the garden and just breath).

She does one more big act of kindness for him, one that he cannot shake even after the collapse of their alliance, and I like the idea of it sort of haunting him for a good number of years.

There's a tree in Kew gardens - in the Japanese garden that is - of a white cherry blossom tree. It's a Japanese tree, but it had become extinct in its home by the 20s. Yes, Japan has many types of cherry trees, but still, it's one of the most beautiful versions (white, rather than the pink ones gifted to DC and such). But then in the 1930s, some English guy went 'wait a minute' and found the tree in Southern England of all places. So they took some cuttings, and gifted the tree back to Japan.

I like the idea of it really taking Kiku aback. That even when - at that point in time - they're supposed to be nothing to each other, and he maybe is still nursing a bit of a broken heart and a bruised ego and we know Kiku can be... let's say passive aggressive (like what do you mean Ludwig and Evelyn slept together in '27?!?!?!?) she still gives him a little piece of himself back. He cannot understand for a long time why.

[zakuramochi]

Do you have a favorite asakiku AU or parody? please tell us what it is!

Currently, it's actually the Hetalia Gangsta series. 😂

But, hmm... until recently my biggest favorite was actually the Trump Card (Cardverse?) series. When I first discovered this pairing the first doujinshis I ever read were about this universe and I really love the concept of the Spade Queen and the Heart Queen being forced into a political marriage for the sake of an alliance.

I read a number of them, but the most consistent point was their secret teatime rendezvous and enemies-to-lovers plot... (´_ゝ｀) Coming in I drew a lot of Cardverse AsaKiku and developed an entire world in my head ww maybe at some point I'll upload my drawings here too.

Other parodies I like: College Student Arthur x Kingergarten Teacher Kiku (Alfred and Matthew are both kids in Kiku's class), Teikoku Shimaguni, April-Halloween AU

[siblingsweethearts]

Helloooooo!!! I saw that you like Hetalia 👀 Do you have any favourite ships that you really like? c:

Nice to meet ya, new moot 🤭

I love hetalia! I watched it around the time I started secondary school and it's never really left my head since lmao.

It is quite possibly what got me into shipcest (and yandere) in the first place! Even when I first watched it I remember being like "Damn. Russia and his crazy sister would make a great couple. If he wasn't so scared of her they should totally bang."

I don't really vibe with the other biggest incest ships (Germancest, Itacest, debatably USUK), though it's not because of the incest. Rather I just aren't fond of the characters or have other ships I prefer for them. There are some others I like including NiChu and SwissLiech, but they're not really my main ships.

Other than the incesty ones, some of my faves are AusHun, AsaKiku, TurkPol, LietUkr and FraGer (is that one incest if they both descend from the Carolingian Empire? idk)

Anyway yeah, I like straight ships, rare pairs, historically based ones and sibcest of course. RusBel ticks every one of those boxes & that's why I adore them 🥰🇷🇺🇧🇾

Thanks for the ask!

[disacurveball]

Hello. Thank you for enabling this discussion. My apologies for this long message. I would like to address the person saying they love asakiku and afraid of being ‘judged��� for having a ‘different characterization of Kiku’. I would request that they place themselves in our shoes for a moment. Asakiku is a ship with many Asian fans. It is unpleasant for me to open fanfictions looking to enjoy a story, only to see white writers fetishizing Kiku with inappropriate racial stereotypes. Or to see other people praising such works. So there is no confusion, I am discussing historical hetalia fanfictions, not other genres where it is fine to have characters be very cute and ditzy in a romantic comedy.

A pattern I noticed is that some white asakiku fanfiction authors seem to dislike the possibility of Kiku having relationships with other Asian nations. It reflects a rather possessive orientalist desire to separate Japan from Asia. It is a white foreigner’s biased understanding of Meiji, Taisho and Showa Japan. What I am referring to is this tendency to characterize Kiku as an admiring Anglophile completely besotted with Arthur or NyoEngland. To such extent that he gives them a 'pass' for their imperialism against nations he has centuries or thousand year old relationships with like China or India. He experiences no personal conflict over the British colonization of Asia. One example is a fanfiction I read of Kiku and NyoEngland, where the white writer said Kiku had a ‘curdled love’ for China, but miraculously bore England no grudge at all for her imperialism or the Opium Wars, yet he dislikes Portugal for incidents centuries ago. In this fanfiction, Kiku repeatedly blushes, behaves bashfully and gratefully thanks NyoEngland when extraterritoriality ends and appears to be immediately taken with her beauty and femininity.

This is a racist fantasy that erases the agency of Japanese people and obscures British imperialism, not reality: people angrily fought for the end of the extraterritorial treaties because of the racist treatment of Japanese lives as worthless. British extraterritorial courts had ruled that British ship crews who had refused to rescue Japanese and other Asian passengers who drowned in multiple accidents up till the 1890s were not guilty of negligence and did not have to pay compensation. Can you see how erasing this perspective and making Kiku have an instant crush on the white nation responsible for all this mistreatment is racist?

It is a white fantasy because the acceptance of Westernization was the goal of avoiding being colonized or subjugated as India or China were. Even during the alliance, there was always a significant group of politicians and ordinary people who sympathized with Asian nationalists in other nations including India who were anti-British. I do not wish to excuse Japan’s imperialism over China, Korea, Taiwan and other Asian countries. I must emphasize Japan truly has to accept responsibility for that. But I am saying that in Kiku’s personal relationship to Arthur or NyoEngland, he absolutely would not be able to completely ignore all this racial inequality as distant 'politics' separate from his personal life in the 1900s. When a white author insists he can do that to justify such a rosy alliance, this is inserting a white perspective of race privilege over a Japanese/Asian man’s experience. Is this possible when whole nations were racialized? Even the most poor and vulnerable Japanese immigrant in the British colonies was seen as a Yellow Peril menace or ‘Asian horde’, alongside the Chinese. We see this awareness manifest in Japan's interest in the Race Equality Proposal for the League of Nations, existing alongside its contradictory imperial rule of Taiwan and Korea.

I am open to nations having a baseline of respect for each other more than humans do. I am not saying we must write nations hurling slurs at each other to be 'accurate'. But it is too much to completely erase Asian racial politics from the historical Asakiku relationship when the entire alliance is rooted in imperialism, when our ancestors could never avoid being 'raced' as 'not white' because the West wouldn't permit it. To not even permit Kiku to express discomfort or disagree with or challenge Arthur or NyoEngland meaningfully or express frustration, and instead illustrate him as a shy, bashful love interest who seems blind to and unaffected by British entitlement to Asia, betrays a racist need for an Asian character to be submissive and politically harmless to white privilege in order to be ‘shippable’.

This is not saying people cannot ship Asakiku as I myself enjoy exploring this ship. But many other ships with white characters like FR/UK or Rus/Ame accept rivalries, mutual suspicion and tensions as adding interesting depth to the pairing. Why can historical Asakiku not be the same? Refusing to allow that when this period of Japanese history strongly justifies that, is a double standard stemming from racism and fetishization of East Asians as being desirable only when we are submissive and praising whiteness.

Hello anon, thank you for taking the time to leave such a thought-out message. I have nothing to add other than thank you for sharing your perspective, and it’s very important for everyone to hear! Hoping everyone takes the time to read!

[spidertalia]

Introduction (2.0)

Welcome to my Blog! Here you'll find all my Hetalia related art, as well as occasional ramblings and rb's of other people's lovely art.

A bit about me:

I go by Spider!

I'm 22

I use they/them pronouns and some neos ONLY. no she or he

I'm from Florida, USA (unfortunately). EST Timezone.

I'm autistic AND I have ADHD. Understandably, I do struggle with social cues a lot, so please reach out to me if I say or do anything to let me know. Most likely, I won't realize when I've potentially said or done something to upset someone, so please let me know.

I draw quite often

I am always open to new friends! However, I am generally bad at reaching out first, so please do message me if you wanna be friends!! I promise I'll respond.

Language-wise I only speak English, but I am slowly learning French. (Emphasis on slowly)

I own five reptiles!! Three snakes and two bearded dragons (I do post them occasionally on here, pls filter out tw snake if needed). And I technically co-parent my brother's bastard gecko.

My other main fandoms (that you won't see on here) are ATLA/TLOK, Taleblr, FNAF, Spiderverse and The Owl House. I am currently watching Criminal Minds and Percy Jackson and The Olympians, and I do have somewhat of an interest in Jurassic Park, the Monsterverse, Fionna and Cake, PJO and What We Do In The Shadows.

My top ten favorite movies are Across The Spiderverse, The Batman (2022), Venom, Five Nights at Freddy's, Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, Godzilla Minus One, Into The Spiderverse, Kong Skull Island, Jurassic Park and HTTYD.

I also really enjoy rock/metal/goth/punk/alt music. My favorite musical artists are Nickelback, Delilah Bon, Babymetal, Måneskin, Ice Nine Kills and Rammstein- but I also enjoy artists such as Siouxsie and the Banshees, JT Music, Hanabie, Band-Maid, Lesbian Bed Death and Nine Inch Nails. I like horror movies, online korean webcomics, goth fashion, cats, horror related media and animation. I'm a fledgling goth (or baby bat) and tend to enjoy drawing characters in goth or alternative fashion, so expect some of that here!

About my Blog:

My favorite characters are APH America and APH Canada. Outside of those two, I also like Japan, Ukraine, Romano, France and Prussia, mostly. These are the characters I am most likely to draw

I'm a multishipper with no absolute 'favorite' ship. I like Rusame, Amepan, Romerica, CanUkr, Prumano, Spamano, Spaprumano, Sufin, Prucan and FrUk. I'm pretty neutral on Gerame, Nedport, Asakiku, Giripan, Spafra, Itapan, and a few others. Generally pretty open to most pairings though.

I do not like any -cest pairings whatsoever. I am not going to argue about this. Please do not tag any of my NA bros art as ship; I will block you.

I do have a Statetalia AU and have made all 50 states as OCs. You will see them occasionally here. (If you also like statetalia please be my friend I'm 100% serious)

I will generally put a clarification on posts as to whether or not I mind it being tagged as ship.

I ramble and rant sometimes about my life on here. It will usually be tagged as 'spider talks'.

I don't usually do requests, but if you really want to see something from me, please send it in an ask!

My ask box is open. I highly appreciate asks.

You may rarely see a suggestive/nsfw piece of art on my page. I do not draw such things often, but please do filter out cw suggestive and cw nsfw if you do not want to see that.

I do not write on ao3 anymore, but I highly recommend those who have one to check out this fic! It's rusame and my favorite hetalia fic of all time- characterizations are on point.

My main (Non-Hetalia) tumblr

My Deviantart

[longingpolaris]

asakiku long distance relationship! thoughts? who is more common to go visit the other? they send each other gifts?

wanna know your headcanons!

You know the distance never made a difference to me 🎵~

I think they'd want to make sure they visit each other an equal amount, but Arthur ends up going to Japan more often anyway. He doesn't even warn him he just shows up saying "Well I had some free time so I decided to come by. Are you busy?"

Arthur is more of a gift-giving guy, but Kiku sends him stuff all the time too— but his gifts are always practical. He buys him that fancy expensive Japanese yarn, pretty tableware, etc. Whereas Arthur buys him cute stuff, because he knows Kiku loves cute stuff.

Also they call each other a lot. Mainly at the most inconvenient times possible because it's the only time they're both free. It's 9 am in Tokyo 1 am in London, 7 pm in London 3 am in Tokyo, and they're on the phone– and they stay on the phone until someone falls asleep.

[asakikulove]

Asakiku Headcanons

Part 2/2.

What’s their favorite “domestic bliss” moment? Do they cook/clean together? Do they like to go out shopping together

I’ve pretty much answered this, but their favorite time is when they’re rained in and they spend time doing separate things in the same room, like reading different books or sewing independently. The only time England is allowed to cook is when he has someone in the kitchen with him. England helps with some of the housework, but Japan is particular about how things are, so unless it’s vacuuming, sweeping, or doing dishes he insists on doing it. England also walks the dog and they take care of the cats together. As for shopping, they usually do it together to spend more time together

What does a relaxing night in for them look like

Ideally, they’d have dinner together, play with the animals, do an activity together or separately, take a bath, cuddle, then go to bed. 

What does a date night out look like for them

Usually, England likes to set these up. He does the whole romantic thing of getting flowers, driving to the restaurant, opening doors and pulling out seats. He can be a gentleman when he wants to be. It’s usually very romantic. He’ll then drive them home and they’ll spend time together doing more or less intimate couple things. 

How do they silently/subtly express their love for each other?

Holding hands and doing that thumb rub thing. Sometimes they’ll find a handwritten letter from the other person just randomly written for them on their pillow. Sharing an umbrella in silence is also a thing that they do to show their love. 

What clothes/accessories do they steal from each other?

Although Japan would look great in England’s hoodies, he actually doesn’t own any, so they don’t really steal from each other’s closets. Ties are usually the only thing that they steal from each other. Japan can also get away with stealing England’s sweaters, but he’ll never admit that he does that. 

Which of their friends/family pokes fun at them for getting flustered/affectionate.

All of them. France, America, and his brothers are the ones usually bugging England, and Taiwan and South Korea are usually the ones bugging Japan, but all of their friends have poked fun at them for being embarrassed at some point. 

How do they apologize after arguments?

First off, they don’t argue a lot, but when they do, it’s a huge deal. They both get a little passive aggressive, Japan more so than England. Japan can be a little shit when he wants to be, so he’ll start answering requests with “I’ll see what I can do.” (which means no) or refusing to cook and England will do things like malicious compliance or do something that he knows annoys Japan. Eventually, one of them will stop being stubborn and apologize. Their apologies are very sincere, and normally that fixes the problem and they’ll actually talk it out like adults. 

Do they like pick up lines?

Not really their thing. England is more likely to try to use them ironically, but if Japan uses one, he’s usually unintentionally smooth about them. 

What is their favorite place to kiss their partner? What are their favorite type of kisses?

It’s the softness that they enjoy. England is usually more explorative with kisses, and will do little neck kisses from behind Japan. He usually enjoys those because they fluster Japan. Japan, on the other hand, just really likes long simple kisses. He also has a thing for being kissed on the top of the head, but he won’t admit to that. 

What is their dream home? Do they buy a place together? Who plans the decorations and who does the heavy lifting?

They don’t really have too much of a dream home. They’re happy with either an eastern style or western style house. Ideally, they’d have one of each, but if they can’t they’ll compromise. Japan plans the decorations, and England insists on doing the heavy lifting. Could Japan do it? Easily, but he’ll let England do it because he looks good. 

Do they have pets or kids?

They have at least two cats and a dog. As for kids, they wouldn’t mind having some kids around, especially England. As far as parenting would go, they’re both strict, but very affectionate parents. 

Who would propose? What would their wedding be like?

Since England is more of a public person, he’d most likely propose since Japan asked him out first. He wouldn’t make a huge deal over it, but it would still be very romantic. He’d be worried about it for weeks trying to make it perfect, but even if everything went wrong, Japan would still say yes. They’d have a multicultural wedding, with a fusion of English and Japanese traditions. 

What’s something that reminds them of their partner? Do they have anything on them daily as a reminder (a photo, phone background, tattoo, clothing/accessory) 

They do the cheesy picture in the wallet thing. They also have special ringtones for each other that makes them think of a fandom that the other person is in (or simply reminds them of the other person.) They also have pressed flower bookmarks of each other’s favorite flower

What’s something they can never agree on? How do they meet in the middle?

Superior tea. They both love tea, but not the same type of tea so they usually end up with a lot of tea in the house of various flavors. They also argue over how tea is supposed to be made. They also have different religious beliefs, but mostly it doesn’t affect them, as they’ll do Church on Easter and go to the shrines on new year kind of thing, but if the other doesn’t want to they won’t force them to. 

Free space! Say something about the ship that you want to say!

Japan still isn’t entirely convinced that England can do magic, but he’s tolerant of it. Japan also finds it endearing when England is tsundere, but won’t put up with England when he’s being a jerk. England loves Japan’s hair. He loves running his hands through it.

[oumaheroes]

Thoughts on any other relationships? itapan, romerica, maybe pruaus? you look like the type of platonic spain and romano, but maybe those two? any other ship involving england and/or france?

I dunno if this is apparent by my silly billy blog and all of its posting, but Arthur is very much my lil bean cake and who I focus my relationship thinking about the most haha

I love me some FrUK, obviously, but also PrUK, EngBel (ugh, beloved), and EngPort as my favourites, and I have been known to go diving headfirst into other ships like scoteng, usuk, asakiku, and engita and enjoy them immensely (I just like Arthur put against different personalities and AUs and seeing how he ticks, what can I say)

Other than this, I'm not really a shipping kind of gal. I prefer found/family, friendship, historical, or something plot driven and so usually I focus on and search for these in fics as the focus. I don't know what happened to me with FrUK but it got me by the soul hairs and won't let me go, I don't think this deeply or am continually inspired by any other ship in the same way long enough to generate any true feeling. I like the intimacy and the depth of a relationship, the smoothness and the edges, so romantic or otherwise I'm a happy camper and only go rabid when FrUK is about

Characters together then, I really like the bad friend trio as an old and very layered, complicated ball of things, and I really like our boy Gilbo with Hungary (I think Gilbert's a very neat character in general). I like ScotFra (blame Senditothemoon primarily) and I like NedPort thanks to Cake. I've never been massively fond of GerIta (I think the early fandom did Italy so dirty as a character and I've never recovered), though SuFin I find cute. I was also never big on Spamano, I think Spain's personality works much more interestingly with Belgium or Ned but never with either Prussia or France alone- only in that three

Really though anon, I'm to my shame very Arthur centric and don't give much thought to characters anymore outside of the sphere he interacts with (very bad of me I know, though this does mean there's a whole treasure trove of good Hetalia fic out there for other characters for me to find)

[arthurhonda]

2, 15 and 23!

2: Do you have readers that you recognize by name (even if they may not comment regularly)?

Yeah! I mean, I'm working on a series right now, so most of my readers happen to be consistent.

15: What is the weirdest thing you had to look up for writing?

The grossest cocktail. It was for a short story. To be precise about the one I chose, it's called an "infected whitehead" which sounds gross af already, but it's Vodka, Bloody Mary mix, and Cottage cheese. Never tried it myself, but I don't plan to either!

23: Is there a project you want to talk about?

Islandol Islandol Islandol. It's the current fic I'm working on, but I just love my boys so much. I do worry that I'm projecting too much onto Kiku, but hopefully it's a fun read. I'm learning a lot about Japanese culture, and that's super fun! I know that Asakiku is a rarepair in the western fandom, so I'm not going to get too many people asking about it, but I wish I had more people asking about the fic and AU, because although Islandol is an AU, I had to basically build the world around it because there's not much established lore (if any at all) about the Islandol AU. Right now Asakiku is the main pair, but I wouldn't mind incorporating other characters in and maybe some other ships at some point(The UK brothers will eventually be in the main story, but only for a bit and not for a while). Also, if any of my readers are reading this, I'm so sorry that all of the songs that the idols sing are Vocaloid songs (so far, I might find other ones at some point but there's not much chance of that)

<Ask meme here!>

[mawaru-kagami]

For the bingo: Asakiku (of course ❤️)!!! oh!! and Ineffable Husbands!!

So sorry this took me a month (ー_ー;)

First, about the bingo card: while some of the options don't match my own enthusiasm/level of feeling (like "sure i can see it"), I still checked everything that's technically correct. Additionally, the pink heart options are things that, while they don't match my personal headcanons/interpretation, I'm absolutely cool with in fanworks! (Also, editing the cards on mobile = hell w/ my shaky hands 🙃)

AsaKiku

Where do I begin with these two? This May, I believe, it was exactly a decade since I realised that hey, new OTP. (So happy 10th AsaKikuversary to meee 🥳🥳🥳) Soon after, I came to the understanding that they were *the* OTP. The *One*. Like, there are OTPs - of which I have several - and then there's AsaKiku. And I can't very well explain why that is, but I suppose that, to me, they're the world's easiest puzzle. They just fit, and make such perfect sense. They're so utterly lovely together. And to this day, they still bring me so, *so* much joy and comfort. I just absolutely love and adore their canon relationship - that sort of awkward, yet undoubtedly supportive and respectful friendship they share. They're so sweet to each other, and match each other's temperament so well. Every single interaction they've had is *so* good. And the part w/ Kiku running up the hill to find Arthur = peak fucking romance. I could go on about all this, were it not for my fatigue (so don't worry, I'll stop soon!). Though, honestly, I wish I could put it in fewer & better words...

My one gripe about canon AsaKiku is that they're under-utilised. There have been *so* many moments over the years where Hima absolutely could have had them interact - where that would've made sense, but didn't happen. (I know he once said something about them being quite similar in certain ways, and therefore lacking "explosive power", so I suppose they're not haha funny enough for him to use a lot. Guess they just get along too well 🤷‍♀️)

In summary: AsaKiku holds a very special magic over me; they're basically part of my personality at this point. My merch collection is...embarrassingly large, and my dream is to someday finish a fic I'm actually pleased with ;; (No other ship has inspired *nearly* as many fic attempts as they have. My ideas for them are probably past 100 by now...)

And finally, I would be amiss not to give a shout out to all my fellow dedicated AsaKiku fans out there<33333

Also: BINGO! (Vertical counts, right?)

~

Ineffable Husbands

And then there's *these* two. Goodness. My oldest ship, and my very first OTP - the one that taught me what the term even *meant*, way back in the day.

Yin yang, two halves of a perfect whole. The ultimate slowburn, beating unfathomable odds. Transcending gender, labels, and even our human understanding of love... Ineffable indeed. (Yes they make me get all poetic, sorry.)

I'm so glad they have each other, to rely on and commiserate with and just...be themselves around. They really bring out the best in each other, shining an encouraging light on each other's true nature, true self.

I adore everything about them, from how wonderfully they complement each other, to their silly arguments about trivial things (music, Crowley's driving, etc), to the fact that, as confirmed by Neil, they like holding hands ♡

I still can't believe we're getting s2... Completely *new* content with them!?!? I can't wait!!! (I just wish Terry was here to share in the excitement ♡)

Aaand BINGO!

[fumblingmusings]

I know its not gonna be a happy ending but sometimes any flavour of asakiku is everything to me 😭 would it be okay if we got some headcannons about evie and Kiku in a future we're they never separated and worked well for each other?

Who says they'll be apart forever hmmmmmmmmmmm?

But lol yes! Hummmm. Fem!England and Japan romance headcanons-modern day edition. Let's go!

He still gifts her pearls - brooches, bracelets, earrings, rings, and necklaces - the whole shebang. In 2020, she received a pearl tiara for when he came over with his Emperor and Empress for the State Visit. Japan has a tradition of gifting their princesses a necklace and tiara when they come of age. They're usually just diamonds with some pearls, which can make them seem plain (can't believe I'm saying that) in comparison to the European traditions of coloured gems (that's a lie, Belgium and Spain are in the same boat). It's a whole thing regarding rank married in versus blood princesses, etc., but typically, the lower rank and married in girls get more naturalistic and less structured designs. I'd like to imagine that she got one like the former Princess Noriko's - such a wonderful shout out to the classic Japanese artwork that everyone in the West knows:

Apologies for the dinky/blurry photo. It's hard to get a hi res shot of this thing.

On the other end of things, and this will pop up in the fic, but she gives him her literature. 1st editions and rare books to add to his library. Kiku has such an interest in writing and literature and poetry, and takes very good care of them.

Initially, she gives him her Victorian novels, but Kiku, off his own initiative, goes further back, having a go at Chaucer and such. He is very good at translating works to and forth between English and Japanese and often gifts books back to her.

I mentioned it in a previous post, but Kiku particularly attaches to the poem Pearl, and England also shows him like the works of Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe, who were two writers and friends in the 14th century. Julian's is considered the oldest piece definitively written by a woman in English, and Margery's is the oldest autobiography in English, let alone one by a woman.

She likes to go on hikes with him, they can walk and walk and walk for miles. She has taken him to the Peak and Lake Districts more times than they can count, not to mention Dartmoor, Exmoor, the South Downs, and the Yorkshire Dales. They both love their gardens, both going to great pains to look after them. They spend a great deal of their time together outside.

And when they get home, like the old married couple they are, she tidies up around the house, he cooks dinner, then they settle down for the night. She knits or crochets whilst watching something like Only Connect or University Challenge, Kiku is absently listening in the background as he plays a video game, and get more questions right then Evie. He is congratulated with a knitted jumper by the end of the night.

They don't have sex that often. Really. Both are kind of lazy partners and are old fogies, they'd rather go to bed and sleep than anything. Eva in particular is clingy, and is prone to biting. It was a fight to get her to remember to not do it above the collar line.

As they both learn post WWII how and when to get involved with governments and politicians and armies and such, they are slowly given more and more freedoms to just be, with no strings attached. It's then, when she's able to let go of a heavy and poisonous burden, and he's free from such a destructive ideology, that they're able to meet in the middle once again, not as England and Japan, but as two very old immortals.

Alfred is able to plug the gap, rather than be dividing force this time. He's not happy about his mom being in a relationship with his best mate (the day he saw those teeth marks it was somehow a larger betrayal than anything Eva or Kiku had done prior), but it's purely in a dude that's my mom territory, rather than a political gripe.

[fiore-rosewood9]

Edit- someone mentioned the artist in a comment. Thank you for telling me

Original artist can be found here - https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/19244731 \n