#They are the most sane people in cardverse.

[novuit]

I need to ramble about my cardverse AU. I was daydreaming about it alot while "redesigning" Arthur's Queen of Spades outfit 🤲 I might actually draw cardverse or expand on this because I have so many things to explain about

Spades

This kingdom is known for many things: fashion, pollution, modernism, technology, clocks and their obsession with lions but the most famous would be the royalty. Arthur III, while he has never been crowned unlike King Alfred, is the first ever Queen to have power over a kingdom (especially while there's a king) as kings are the only ones who can rule. He has terrorized politicians, own white lions as pets, psychologically torture/execute people, wearing black lipstick (this is something relevent with the Hearts Kingdom) and having more power than the King. Though it's a kingdom known for fashion, it also has strict laws over what's reserved only for royalty or such as lion fur/skin (the wealthy are an exception) and the colour purple, which dates back to Roman times, though recently, the colour purple has been seen on products and companies if it has been officially favoured by the Queen Arthur III. So if you visit the Spades Kingdom, don't wear any purple or lion. (Idk where to add this so I'm adding it at the end but this is just some fun fact that I love and want to talk about more: were no records of any other royalty nor relative named Arthur even though he's titled as the third Arthur to be royalty. He added it himself. because 3 is his favourite number 💀. He would execute one politician - either for dinner or to import to the Diamonds Kingdom - for every day the government wouldn't make him the third Arthur and ofc by the 8th day they were getting understaffed from this so in the end, they allowed him to be titled Queen Arthur III.... He is so petty and a menance but it's something that would likely happen lmfao).

Hearts

Though, their royalty was never as known as the Spades, it is well very known for their aesthetics, music, art, romance, history and sports. Many of their architecture hasn't been modified since the renaissance era and in some areas, even the attire hadn't changed. The Hearts are very particular on makeup and attire so , they even have not-so-secret unspoken lipstick code which may not be as relevant to the common people anymore, it is more important on royalty. Many artists, writers and historians go there to make a living while others may go there for romance or the pretty architecture as many romance stories are set in Hearts. The Prince, Feliciano, is labelled as 'the face of Hearts' by Heartians but internationally as a romantic icon (sometimes a sexual icon but idk I think that would be King Francis IV). The Spades are fond of Feliciano for embracing modernism and doing things that would be frown upon for Heartian royalty like not abiding to the lipstick code (but thats okay for him to break the rules because he's the favourite out of the Heartian royals).

Clubs

Many people would think the Clubs Kingdom would be filled with greenery and nature by their symbol of a three-leafed clover but in reality it is a very snowy. The reason behind the clover may be from an old Cluban folktale or their obsession with luck and magic. The Clubs are famous for their competitiveness, tourism, and their strong belief in luck and magic despite having the most science labs/schools in the world. The King, Ivan the First , is always seen shirtless and smiling - a standard for Cluban royalty to show their health, luck and strength against harsh snow weathers.

Diamonds

Being known for their wealth, they are known for their films/theatres, mining sites, heavy surveillance, vast greenery, prestigious schools and famous cuisine. It is a kingdom many people go to for either their wealth or education meaning you'll find alot of aspiring actors, cooks and archeologists studying here (and rich snobs, though, you'll find those kind of people up north). They have plenty of famous cuisines that originated there that enjoyed around the world like Ligone Fries and Burgers, but they have their fair share of really questionable dishes like: shepherd-dog pie, human steak and cub stew (they are not as common nowadays, but there are no laws on what you can't eat in the Diamond Kingdom so you can eat these). The King - Francis IV - is always either oversees, or in small villages talking to locals. The Diamonds are stereotyped as very snobby, paranoid poshos, but in reality they are really laid back and hospitable.

Jokers

The Jokers are forbidden land that hadn't been "claimed" by any of the kingdoms. They either prank or hunt down people who are seen as threats to the land and therefore are depicted as savage barbarians. Not much is known about them and are usually either villains or silly goofy pranksters in many stories. The information known about them has been rumored to be destroyed and possibly also forgotten by Kingdoms.

[bearslikedilfs]

Hetalia 2Ps and the violent portrayals of them in fan content

I’ve seen several posts in the vein of people disliking the 2ps, and the concept of 2ps, in Hetalia. This is absolutely NOT a callout post for them! The reasons I’ve heard when people say they dislike it are actually really good reasons to dislike it. I think this stems from the usual portrayals people have of them.

First i think we need to realize that the 2Ps have no canon, as far as i’m aware. From what i remember all that happened is Hima made a couple of character drawings with alternate colors and the fandom went crazy and created an entire explanation for it. (same thing happened with cardverse i think. character drawings vaguely themed after suits of cards became an entire AU.)

When the 2P thing first happened in like 2013 or so the most common portrayal i saw was that the 2Ps were the evil twins or the violent or insane version. This, combined with the fact many of the 2Ps had darker hair/eyes/features made me stay away from the 2P section mostly. The association of the two things definitely had an undertone of racism to me. Sometimes it wasn’t even an undertone, with such terrible takes as:

2P japan was the personification of Imperial Japan;

2P America was the personification of the Confederacy (sometimes dead, sometimes still alive but now as the personification of The South), sometimes 2P America was the personification of all Native Americans- yes, every native nation at once;

2P Russia was the Soviet Union;

The violent 2PS are what would have happened if the N*zis won WW2- etc.

Those are some extremely racist, shitty takes; I can see why so many people dislike the 2ps.

Again, this isn’t canon. This is entirely the fandom that did this. Hima made a lot of the 2Ps have darker hair, probably because so many of the 1Ps have blond hair. Which is also an issue, but it was the fandom that attached the violent, insane, sometimes racist portrayals to the characters. And I will say i’ve also seen perfectly ok portrayals of 2Ps! But a good portion especially in earlier fandom seemed obsessed with making them evil.

Now, in the modern fandom, i’ve seen a lot more nuanced 2Ps. Personally, i think the 2Ps have a place, not as the evil versions, just as another aspect. People themselves are nuanced and have several different personality traits, and are not strictly good or evil. An entire nation is hard to represent in a single person; there are conflicting traits, personalities, stereotypes. Which may make it necessary for another personification, to cover another aspect. As an example, here’s my take on 1P and 2P America; Allen is the most common name for the 2P, so i’ll use that.

1P: Alfred: The Alfred I have in mind is cheerful to a fault. He’s eager and optimistic occasionally to the point of being unrealistic. Alfred’s the most extrovert extrovert to ever extrovert; while he likes hiking and being in nature, he can’t stand not being around and meeting new people, so he often lives in a city. He wants to help, but can sometimes be annoying with how much he insists.

2P: Allen: He’s not necessarily pessimistic, but more realistic. Things can go well, but only if you put in the hard work and effort to make it that way. Alfred assumes everyone is a kind and decent person at the first meeting; Allen waits for proof, and then he’ll warm up to you. Allen is still extroverted, but lives out in the country for peace and quiet. Allen will not help you until you outright ask for it, leading some to think he doesn’t care when the other just didn’t ask. imagine the “gruff cowboy with heart of gold” character trope.

In my opinion this is a much better, more nuanced idea of the 2Ps. Both have personalities that are associated with America in some way. they aren’t the “evil” and “good” versions, nor necessarily complete opposites- they do have some things in common. They don’t represent different areas, they both represent America as a whole, just embody different aspects of it.

I think part of the reason people made them good/evil sane/insane versions may be to keep their favorite character from being associated with the bad parts of history, and was an effort to completely separate things into black and white when history itself is not black and white. I think the answer here is nuance, thought and research put into representing another aspect of a nation in a 2P and avoiding a racist characterization. There’s a lot of history to cover, and one person may not be able to cover it all; nuanced 2P’s allow you to cover different thoughts and experiences that happened in the same time period. This is all my opinion, based on my experiences and observations in the fandom; i welcome polite further discussion of it.

[spades-reversed]

“A Question” - Story

Below is a portion of the story for this Cardverse Au. I hope you like it. Let me know if you’d want to read more - and if I should make this into a fan fiction.  -u- <3 Warnings: Mentions of war, violence, murder, and minor abuse.

-

“Arthur, you have to see reason in this! We can’t stay here anymore - it’s gotten to dangerous.” Harsh words penetrated the air as a blonde male stormed through the heavy wooden doors that led into a private greenhouse on the 3rd floor of the castle. Dressed in all white with hints of royal blue, stray spadian symbols dotted across the fabric - the Ace of Spades shut the door behind him as he strode across the room to the figure kneeling in the rose bushes. “Arthur please you can’t keep ignoring this - “ “Matthew, just stop. Please.” Arthur softly spoke, cutting the other off as he reached out to move a couple branches of the rose bush out of his way. Turning his head to look at the other, he gestured for Matthew to sit at the small garden table that had a couple steaming cups of tea resting on it.  “Listen to me closely young one, some day when you become King or Queen you must understand there will come a time when there is nothing you can do.” As he speaks, Arthur plucks a few roses from the bush in front of him. Whispering a few words, slowly the roses change color from a royal blue to a bright red.  Standing slowly, Arthur limps his way to the table. Bandages crawling up his right leg, eyes dark and sunken from lack of sleep - missing a crown and in a very worn blue coat.

Gently sitting, he grabs one of the cups of tea and sips it - setting the roses on the table. Matthew frowns at this while listening to Arthur. “That’s absolute bullshit and you know it Arthur. If you don’t do something and soon then I will challenge Alfred for the throne - I don’t care if he will most likely kill me someone has to do something.” His grip tightened around the cup, a small crack beginning to form on the side. “No, as Queen I forbid you to do something so rash Matthew. You and Yao are the only ones keeping me sane right now in this madness. I can’t have you fight your own brother - god who knows what state I would be in if he killed you.” Arthur sat his cup down with a little bit of force. With a sigh, the Queen reached out his hand to cover the roses once more. “Matthew, promise me something. Should something happen to me - you will take care of my people and make sure this kingdom wont fall into ruin.” “Arthur how can I promise you something like that when Alfred has been murdering anyone who even looks at him the wrong way - “ “Matthew promise me dammit..” With a frown, the Ace looks up at his Queen before slowly nodding. “Fine, I promise I’ll do whatever I can before Alfred decides to lob my head off.” Arthur frowned at this, looking down at his hand before moving it away from the middle of the table. Where once red roses rested, now sits a red bird - giving a couple of small chirps - on the side of it’s feathers sat a small heart pin. Matthew eyes widen in shock. “That’s a heart kingdom phoenix! Arthur where the hell did you -” “I have a plan Matthew, but this will cost me my life. In exchange I can save our people, Yao and yourself from this suicidal war. I’ve been in contact with the hearts and diamonds. They have been ferrying our people out in batches for some time now. I’ve been hiding it, claiming they have been dying from the famine or just regular in fighting in our kingdom.” Shaking his head, Arthur ran a hand through his hair. “I only have enough magic left to send one last phoenix back - once I do this I will be vulnerable Matthew. There is one shipment of people left, and there are enough spots left for Yao and yourself. I have to stay behind to cover your tacks from Alfred and be the last line of defense for your freedom.” As he finishes speaking, Arthur lifted his hand with the phoenix and gave it a small kiss to the top of it’s head before the bird took off - the Queen slumping forward in his chair as his last big of magic left him. “You have 4 hours to get packed and met Yao in the middle of the castle gardens Matthew. Go - don’t worry about me and save yourself. The lives of our people now rest in your hands. Go before Alfred finds out what I've done.” Matthew’s eyes were wide the entire time. Slowly crossing his arms, the Ace looked from the Queen to the sky. 

“A question for you, your majesty. Do you remember that little spell you’ve been teaching me for the past few months? The one that can turn someone into their spirit animal?” “Matthew, no don’t - I can’t leave if Alfred find’s out I’m missing from the castle there is no telling what he will do.” Looking at the Ace, The Queen’s face was masked with confusion and a hint of fear. “It’s like you said it yourself - my Queen. Someday you will have to learn when there is nothing you can do, nothing you can do to stop me from saving your life.” Matthew grabbed Arthur’s hand and grinned. “You are escaping with us, our people need their Queen Arthur. Regardless what form you take.”