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hetalia2012-01-29 04:45 am
iclexica.livejournal.com) wrote in hetalia2012-01-29 04:45 am
Entry tags:
[COMIC] USxUK ( x for Unrequited )
Title: USxUK ( x for Unrequited )
Author/Artist: Myself (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
iclexica, ~Scarabsi on deviantART)
Characters: America, England; Canada, Australia, New Zealand,the Doctor
Rating/Warning: G / subjective portrayal
Please pardon the repeated panel, nothing to see here. Unfortunate side-effect of preview pictures.
Or go read it on deviantART.
If you're interested in explanations:
On a similar vein to another USUK picture I posted earlier, though that one had a completely different tone and approach.
It's far too common to see fanwork in which England is a fool in love; he'll know American customs, speak American slang, sing American songs, because he loves America so much he's willing to do things like that to impress him. America then lays back, cracks a handsome superpower smile, and enjoys the glory of being loved. The stories may not explicitly say that this is what is happening, but the behavior of the characters implies it.
As far as I've seen in reality (though since I live in the US and not the UK my perception is certainly skewed) the case is exactly the opposite. While English/British people absorb American culture simply by culture osmosis resulting from America foisting its culture worldwide, Americans actively seek out and adore English culture. Many Americans (technically including myself) put on some manner of British accent because they like them, like the impression they give off, or even wish they spoke that way. I don't know how many Britons wish they spoke American accents, but it doesn't seem nearly so prevalent in their culture. I'd say Americans probably know as much about England/Britain as Britons know about America, but Americans actively go out and research the information, whereas Britons seem to just kind of know things the whole world knows.
Of course this interpretation of their relationship is a complete extreme, just as how the normal fanon portrayal of them is the opposite extreme. Personally I find this extreme more interesting and believable.
I don't believe the world cripples themselves in awe of how great America is as a superpower. Perhaps they do, but it seems unlikely, and either way portrayals of other countries mooning over America's current power seem clearly biased in the American perspective and a little insulting to the self-esteem of the other country.
Neither did anyone, not even England, not even America itself (though it wasn't called that back then) ever look at the little colonies that America started as in infancy and see that it had any potential whatsoever. Even so far as mid-colonial era, when the colonies were developed and running quite smoothly with some of the highest standards of living in the world, no one ever thought they would ever amount to anything higher. I'm not saying that to insult America, far from it, I'm just pointing out the historical fact.
On a completely different note, I did have a small debate with a friend of mine over whether England would actually ask for Jack who's Welsh (or so she said; I thought he was an alien but whatever). I figured if Torchwood is at all popular in England, it wouldn't be too far a stretch to say England may be interested in hanging out with him. Even if it's not, the fact that Jack does appear in the Doctor Who series itself should be enough incentive. I wanted England to say something that would imply that he travels with the Doctor rather often, enough that he'd like to mix it up a bit.
Author/Artist: Myself (
iclexica, ~Scarabsi on deviantART)Characters: America, England; Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
Rating/Warning: G / subjective portrayal
Please pardon the repeated panel, nothing to see here. Unfortunate side-effect of preview pictures.
Or go read it on deviantART.
If you're interested in explanations:
On a similar vein to another USUK picture I posted earlier, though that one had a completely different tone and approach.
It's far too common to see fanwork in which England is a fool in love; he'll know American customs, speak American slang, sing American songs, because he loves America so much he's willing to do things like that to impress him. America then lays back, cracks a handsome superpower smile, and enjoys the glory of being loved. The stories may not explicitly say that this is what is happening, but the behavior of the characters implies it.
As far as I've seen in reality (though since I live in the US and not the UK my perception is certainly skewed) the case is exactly the opposite. While English/British people absorb American culture simply by culture osmosis resulting from America foisting its culture worldwide, Americans actively seek out and adore English culture. Many Americans (technically including myself) put on some manner of British accent because they like them, like the impression they give off, or even wish they spoke that way. I don't know how many Britons wish they spoke American accents, but it doesn't seem nearly so prevalent in their culture. I'd say Americans probably know as much about England/Britain as Britons know about America, but Americans actively go out and research the information, whereas Britons seem to just kind of know things the whole world knows.
Of course this interpretation of their relationship is a complete extreme, just as how the normal fanon portrayal of them is the opposite extreme. Personally I find this extreme more interesting and believable.
I don't believe the world cripples themselves in awe of how great America is as a superpower. Perhaps they do, but it seems unlikely, and either way portrayals of other countries mooning over America's current power seem clearly biased in the American perspective and a little insulting to the self-esteem of the other country.
Neither did anyone, not even England, not even America itself (though it wasn't called that back then) ever look at the little colonies that America started as in infancy and see that it had any potential whatsoever. Even so far as mid-colonial era, when the colonies were developed and running quite smoothly with some of the highest standards of living in the world, no one ever thought they would ever amount to anything higher. I'm not saying that to insult America, far from it, I'm just pointing out the historical fact.
On a completely different note, I did have a small debate with a friend of mine over whether England would actually ask for Jack who's Welsh (or so she said; I thought he was an alien but whatever). I figured if Torchwood is at all popular in England, it wouldn't be too far a stretch to say England may be interested in hanging out with him. Even if it's not, the fact that Jack does appear in the Doctor Who series itself should be enough incentive. I wanted England to say something that would imply that he travels with the Doctor rather often, enough that he'd like to mix it up a bit.
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Anyway, I really liked your comic and how it ties into Doctor Who (...I still need to watch it okay ;A;). I had fun reading everything on this post! xD
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Haha, no pressure, I know I don't like it when people tell me I have to watch stuff (I usually can't watch things longer than a half-hour at a time, so Doctor Who is difficult for me xD;; ). I'll say, though, it's really good, and it just keeps getting better and better so far-- if you only watch one Doctor Who episode in your life, watch Blink, because it's really good as a standalone story and so well-done! (Kind of scary, but don't worry, everything turns out okay. xD;; ) Anyway, again, super happy that you got what I meant and liked it! ^_^;; I love doing things people can have fun with.
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Your explanation probably set off a few people because it seemed like you were going against canon interpretation to the extreme. Let the comic speak for itself, I suggest. xD
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I have this terminal condition of being unable to shut up. Usually it works for me when I'm just rambling about totally unexpected things I learned from history class or other relatively neutral things like that. I should just learn to stay as neutral about everything as possible. *rolling facepalms forever*
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