#floralcrematorium is so normal and cool

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okay okay I know I hosted that "what does the F. in Alfred F. Jones stand for?" poll months back, but I am still thinking about it...

also I know this could only really work in humanverse FACE fam content, but I really love the idea that F. stands for Francis. my favorite thing is that both Arthur and Francis got to pick one first name and one middle name (don't ask me Mattie's, I don't know what Arthur concocted to follow Matthieu). Francis naturally names Alfred after himself

but that leads me to another thing

nyotalia... same situation with Alice and Marianne. Amelia gets stuck with Frances

why? why, you ask?

I don't care if it's 1p or nyotalia, you're going to look me dead in the eyes and tell me Arthur and Francis/Alice and Marianne weren't huge fans of Princess Diana, whose middle name was Frances? try again.

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Fall Out Boy lyrics that make me want to write fics because I'm unhinged and always thinking about middle-aged gay men ᵇʸ ᶠᵃˡˡ ᵒᵘᵗ ᵇᵒʸ

Take This To Your Grave

• "And I can't forget your style or your cynicism" - Homesick at Space Camp

From Under The Cork Tree

• "Why don't you show me a little spine you've been saving for his mattress, love" Dance, Dance

• "Can I lie in your bed all day? I'll be your best kept secret and your biggest mistake" - Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner

• "I found the cure to growing older and you're the only place that feels like home" - I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me

• "I'm the first kid to write of hearts, lies, and friends and I am sorry my conscious called in sick again and I've got arrogance down to a science" - I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me

• "So douse yourself in cheap perfume, it's so fitting, so fitting of the way you are" - I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me

• "I used to obsess over living, now I only obsess over you. Tell me you'd like boys like me better, in the dark lying on top of you" - Get Busy Living Or Get Busy Dying (Do Your Part To Save The Scene And Stop Going To Shows)

• "I'm casually obsessed and I've forgiven death. I am indifferent yet (I am a total wreck)" - The Music Or The Misery

• "I'm every cliché, but I simply do it best" - The Music Or The Misery

Infinity On High

• "I thought I loved you, it was just how you looked in the light" - Hum Hallelujah

• "We're so miserable and stunning... Love songs for the genuinely cunning" - The Carpal Tunnel Of Love

• "Best friends, ex-friends to the end, better off as lovers, and not the other way around" - Bang The Doldrums

• "Do you remember the way I held your hand? Under the lamp post and ran" - I've Got All This Ringing In My Ears And None On My Fingers

Folie à Deux

• "Say my name and his in the same breath, I dare you to say they taste the same" - I Don't Care

• "Does your husband know the way that the sunlight gleams from your wedding band?" - Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet

• "I will never end up like him, behind my back I already am" - What A Catch Donnie

• "My head's in heaven, my soles are in hell. So let's meet in the purgatory of my hips and get well" - w.a.m.s.

Save Rock And Roll

• "I don't know where you're going, but do you got room for one more troubled soul?" - Alone Together

• "You and me are the difference between real love and the love on T.V." - Where Did The Party Go?

• "Anything you say can and will be held against you, so only say my name, it will be held against you" - Just One Yesterday

• "I want to teach you a lesson in the worst kind of way" - Just One Yesterday

• "But even though my eyes closed, I still see you. I just hope that when you see me, I'm not see-through" - The Mighty Fall

�� "I wanna see your animal side, let it all out. Oh there you go, undress to impress. You can wear the crown, but you're no princess" - Death Valley

• "Oh, c'mon, make it easy, say I never mattered" - Young Volcanoes

American Beauty/American Psycho

• "She's in a long black coat tonight, waiting for me in the downpour outside. She's singing, baby come home, in a melody of tears, while the rhythm of the rain keeps time" - Jet Pack Blues

• "You are my favorite 'what if,' you are my best 'I'll never know'" - Fourth of July

• "I wish I'd known how much you loved me, I wish I cared enough to know" - Fourth of July

• "The torture of small talk with someone you used to love" - Fourth Of July

MANIA

• "You are the sun and I am just the planets spinning around you" - The Last Of The Real Ones

• "I wonder if your therapist knows everything about me" - The Last Of The Real Ones

• "I got too high again, realized I can't not be with you or be just your friend" - HOLD ME TIGHT OR DON'T

• "There is nothing more cruel than to be loved by everybody but you" - Wilson (Expensive Mistakes)

• "If you were church, I'd get on my knees" - Church

So Much (For) Stardust

• "You were the sunshine of my lifetime, what would you trade the pain for?" - Love From The Other Side

• "Part-time soulmate, full-time problem" - Hold Me Like A Grudge

• "I will never ask you for anything, except to dream sweet of me" - Heaven, Iowa

• "I like playing dumb, letting you figure me out" - I Am My Own Muse

• "I've got all this love I've got to keep to myself. All this effort to make it look effortless" - Flu Game

• "Self-sabotage at best, under your spell" - Baby Annihilation

• "I think I've been going through it and I've been putting your name to it" - So Much (For) Stardust

• "In another life, you were my babe. In another life, you were the sunshine of my life" - So Much (For) Stardust

• "I used to be a real go-getter, I used to think it'd all get better" - So Much (For) Stardust

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Bang The Doldrums is THE FrUK Fall Out Boy song... Hear me out

I think of it from Arthur's perspective at Francis.

"I wrote a goodbye note in lipstick on your arm When you passed out I couldn't bring myself to call Except to call it quits"

I'm imagining Arthur and Francis in a terrible on-again-off-again situation. It's awkward. Tension is high but they're pulled back to one another continuously. Arthur has a hard time talking about their situationship, and as much as he doesn't want to, he's able to finally say something when it's time to call it quits. Also the idea of Francis owning lipstick is something I hold dear.

"Best friends, ex-friends 'til the end Better off as lovers and not the other way around Racing through the city, windows down In the back of yellow checkered cars"

I think a good way to describe FrUK is "best friends - ex-friends." Ultimately their relationship is one of enemies, frenemies, or what have you, but I like to think that their relationship overall is a rollercoaster ride. They can have good moments of clarity where they're together playing whatever drinking game. However they're also bitter enemies and the two of them are just full of spite. A constant battle of back and forth. However the middle ground is lovers. Is it better to be lovers? Better to be together and crazy for another and not the other way around? While there can be strenuous moments, maybe the good times with Francis are enough for Arthur to have a moment to be carefree.

"This city says, "Come hell or high water" Well, I'm feeling hot and wet I can't commit to a thing Be it heart or hospital"

There's a lot of tension spurred lust in this relationship. That's all I have to say about that. However I think neither of them can really commit to to the relationship, especially Arthur. I think typically he's a man who doesn't know when to give up (in a detrimental way), however with Francis, the uncertainty of allowing himself the vulnerability of being ensnared in a game of hearts is what gets him. I think to a degree, it's hard for Francis to commit in the way that there are people who could treat the both of them better. Both of them are honestly a little lost in the security of someone they've known for so long, they know so well, and who they know will just leave them hurt and broken hearted again. And yet... They're drawn back together.

"The tombstones were waiting, they were half-engraved They knew it was over, they just didn't know the date"

The tombstone references the end of their relationship. I love graveyard imagery and the notion of mortality, so that's a personal bias. Anyway, going back to the first verse about Arthur being able to call only to call it quits -- I think the uncertainty of their relationship and when this on-again-off-again game will end plays into "what is the final nail in the coffin?" questioning.

"And I cast a spell over the west to make you think of me The same way I think of you This is a love song in my own way Happily ever after below the waist"

I think taking "I cast a spell over the west" literally with the sense that England has... mage or magic abilities is a little silly, but it could work! I think it could also just refer to wit, charm, or manipulation? I like to think that with FrUK, it's a mutually obsessive relationship. Neither of them are particularly healthy about how much they think about the other. Whatever this back and forth game is what Arthur's used to. Bringing Francis down to his level is the love song? Anyway, "happily ever after below the waist" is exactly what it sounds like. Even if Arthur's called it off, they're back together again.

Better off as lovers... not the other way around

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if you draw Francis Bonnefoy with mascara streaming down his face

i will find you

and thank you endlessly for the sustenance

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need to put francis bonnefoy in my mouth by the waist like a little chew toy and shake my head AGGRESSIVELY and watch him flail around in my peripheral vision

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─── ♔─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───♔ ───

Hey, y'all can call me Soph! Unbelievably wordy and not beating the AUDHD allegations This blog operates on a queue when I'm too busy to post, so if you're seeing a spam of posts all at once, that means I'm active!

About Soph:

☆ 21↑ ☆ they/them ☆ Hetalia Veteran (2014-2018 & 2023-) ☆ Illustrator and Writer ☆ Avid fan of FOB, MCR, and a fledgling goth ☆ Always thinking about Francis Bonnefoy. My other faves include HWS China and HWS Norway ☆ Always open to making new friends, so long as you're 19+! Minors are NOT welcome in my DMs

What I Do:

☆ Digital and traditional illustration. You can find my Hetalia work under the tag #floralcrematorium art ☆ Humanverse fanfic focusing largely on the NA bros and FACE family dynamic. Am I compensating for my own strained familial relationships? Maybe! You can find me on A03 and under the tag #floralcrematorium writes ☆ Character playlists with songs that remind me of each character, not so much music I think they'd listen to found at this masterpost and under the tag #floralcrematorium music ☆ Reblogs and occasional rambles. I don't make much sense around these parts, so get used to nonsensical ramblings

Masterposts

☆ Character Playlists ☆ Fic Masterpost ☆ Hetalia Fandom Nostalgia

edited 9/30/2023

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Fran is my favorite thing to call Francis…

if I’ve stopped it’s because someone’s killed me. i’m not stopping otherwise

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not gonna lie, putting the NA bros in a fic where they grew up in Massachusetts is wild to me as someone who didn't grow up there but went to college in the state

finally, all of the New England culture shocks I had can come to good use

mattie and alfred huddling for warmth when they lose power bc of the 2008 ice storm. taking the road test at the RMV, not the DMV?? things i know and don't know what to do with

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I don't know if youve answered this before, but what made you come back? I'm not that old in the fandom, maybe half a year and it's so interesting how that fandom changed and how it used to be.

Thanks for the ask! I'm gonna be real with you, it was an accident. This is about to be a loooooooong ass post so I'm putting it beneath the cut:

It happened steadily in July. A very slippery slope.

I left in or around 2018 just because I lost interest. A friend in 7th grade introduced me to it in early 2014. I had been running my Instagram account since Summer of 2014 with my best friend (who at the time had been my partner, and by 2018 we had broken up) and our other friend. We'd all moved on and the account became dead. It wasn't a good account, but we'd amassed 1.1k followers during our tenure. Those were the days of if you wanted to post a comic, there were no Instagram slides. You had to post it all individually. The account was deleted in 2021? I think? 2020?

So come July 2023, I was poking around in my old Google Drive and found some of my old Hetalia stuff. Which included a fic with the aforementioned friends. It uh. Is not good. I reread it and oh boy is it a product of its time (we were probably 13-15 when we wrote it) and it was a 3 way POV that we all wrote with self insert characters. It was basically Heta characters get thrown in the setting of Outlast but with the plot of FNAF. Yeah. So uh. Not much to defend there. I jokingly went to my friends like "Hey, what if we rewrote this but not horrible" and we genuinely thought about it! For a night.

But for me it wasn't one night.

I kept thinking about it.

And one thing led to the next, I was revisiting old Youtube videos I liked and reread a fic I used to like.

I think what really did me in was listening to the character songs again and a couple of hetaloid covers. I was doing artfight and listening only to Hetalia music while I drew.

I genuinely did not really use my normal Tumblr before floralcrematorium came to be. I have an entirely separate account for personal stuff and art (I will not be sharing it) and it got to a point where I was seeking so much Hetalia stuff that I figured, why the fuck not, and eventually made an account. I also eventually made my first A03 account (I was on Wattpad and FFN back in the day) because someone wrote a CanUkr fic where Mattie had overexerted himself and was in the hospital and Katya and Alfred were going to kill him because he kept insisting he could work (I CANNOT FIND THIS FIC AGAIN, I FOUND IT ON TUMBLR ORIGINALLY, PLEASE HELP IF THIS RINGS A BELL!!).

And uh, so here I am!

I draw Hetalia stuff on occasion (I should... draw more considering that's what I went to college for but whatever) and have a couple of ideas for illustration series in my head.

I've got a lot of fic ideas I want to write. I have a literal list on my phone. I think about it in bed, at work, and little things remind me of Hetalia all the time.

I've gotten back into RP (I used to use Shamchat and Kik).

I've met so many cool people and I've been having a wonderful time being back so far. When I was originally in the fandom, I consumed a lot of content, but as far as mutuals went it was just me and my two friends. Meeting so many new people has been absolutely wonderful.

Hetalia is really the only fandom I've been in. I've liked other media and consumed fics/enjoyed art/bought prints (COUGH RWBY), but Hetalia is the only media I've ever had fan accounts for. It's the only media I've so deeply entrenched myself in that I feel comfortable writing fics. My walls used to be covered in Hetalia -- both official wall scrolls and shitty art I'd made myself (I have pictures I can attach at the end of the post). I had... so much merch. When I was 14 I only asked for Hetalia related things for my birthday. Every now and again I get that "am I doing the right thing?" ick because of the negative fandom reputation and reactions I'd get from people when I would admit to having liked Hetalia in the past, but I don't care about that now. Genuinely, fuck that. I like this piece of media whether I want to or not. I'm not going to be a self-hating Hetalia fan like I was in 2018-2021/22. I've come back to the show with completely different... motives? Idk what the right phrase is here -- I'm here to explore the characters of these little freaks (looking at you, Francis), I love all of the fanart I see, I like the exchange of historical and cultural information/resources.

Sure, I'd consider my fandom niche to be humanverse Francis and FACE fam, but I genuinely enjoy exploring outside of my corner of the fandom. I try to spread myself out -- I want to consume everything. I want to be exposed to everything.

Hetalia is one of the single most impactful pieces of media in my life. Without it, I wouldn't have my best friend, who broke up with me for APH Austria in 2015. The friends I ran the Instagram account with and I are all still in contact. I talk to one much more frequently than the other, but they are both so near and dear to my heart and I can't believe that this silly show is what got us to where we are. The youngest of us is about to graduate college a whole year early. I met her when she was 11 and I was 12 or 13? I couldn't be more proud of her, of the three of us, and it's been so fun to have these occasional nights where we (okay, just me) get tipsy and go through old fandom media/watch the dub and go ooooof. I was in a really bad place when I was originally into Hetalia. Coming back now feels like coming full circle.

The old fandom had plenty of its own issues, and the fandom now certainly isn't devoid of issues, but now that the fanbase has shifted to an older audience and I actually have like. Social skills. I love talking to other people. I like creating. I like thinking about these stupid characters before I go to bed.

My single favorite thing about the Hetalia fandom now is the care put into historical work as well as the exploration of portrayals of the characters. Because Hetalia lacks a plot and Hima is constantly retconning things, everyone has their own interpretations of everything. Everyone has their own version of Francis Bonnefoy, Yao Wang, or Alfred F. Jones. And that's so cool!!! You don't see that anywhere else.

I know I'm typically a pessimist on main, but I'm genuinely glad to be back. It's weird to be back. I've had mixed reactions from irl friends that I'm back.

But who the fuck cares?

I'm having fun, I'm making friends, and I can't believe there are still people here.

I genuinely hope I'm here for a while. I have so much I want to write. I want to draw all of the things my skill level was too low for back when I was a teen.

CRINGE IS DEAD AND I AM FREE.

The following images are certainly about to destroy any cool perception anyone has of me, if they even do. I was... certainly a teenager, is all I have to say! I am,,, thankfully not like this anymore. I hope.

Here are those pictures of my bedroom circa 2015 I promised:

DO NOT ASK ME ABOUT THE LIVE LAUGH LOVE.

That drawing of Russia with Neko-Talia Russia? Yeah. Uh. I did that for an art project in the 7th grade for class. I also did a ceramics piece with the mochis, that I've since lost. These images scream "I'm 14 and like Hetalia in 2015."

I used to have little hearts with all the ships I liked in them (I think that's AusHun in the picture on the left?). I also had "I love you" written in like 20 languages on index cards taped above my headboard.

Also a literal timestamp I found in my old emails with the friend who got me into Hetalia:

Being a young teenager in the old fandom certainly,,,, was something. I would not relive that, but by god would I do ANYTHING to get my favorite pieces of fan media back from that time. There was a video called "Hetalia What Did You Do To Panda" which was a bunch of clips from the anime with Katie Herzig's "Hey Na Na" playing in the background. Every now and then a dub audio clip would interject with the song.

I also really miss this one very specific Character Theme Songs video that had Poland in the thumbnail. Mein Gott would play between each song and I could tell you most of the songs that had been assigned to each character.

I would do ANYTHING to get those videos back. I miss them so much.

Anyway, if you read this whole thing, thanks for reading??? I am very Cool And Normal about the things I like, unfortunately. It's nice to come back to Hetalia and like... be a normal person about it.

All I've got to say is, when I like something, I like it a lot.

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I had a moment of weakness and now he is in my home

Also help, Panda looks like he's floating here

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girl help my friend came into my channel in our discord server asking "what is revenge era Gerard Way"

OH BUDDY LET ME TELL YOU-

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it is 8:54 in the morning

in attempt to Not Be Nocturnal Anymore (an ongoing struggle as my sleep schedule does a 180 at least once a month) i have not gone to bed

i will now proceed to write a messy post divorce FrUK doing a custody exchange

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mmm back on my alfred loves 1. organization, 2. categorizing food, bullshit once again

alfred keeps a spreadsheet for frozen microwave meals. he scores them 0-5 stars and has notes about cost, effort, looks, flavor, texture, and whether it causes stomach pain or not

he's on a mission to find out what the best frozen meal mac and cheese is. RIP Alfred F. Jones' stomach.

he and stouffer's mac and cheese (original, large size) are BESTIES. he and stouffer's baked mac and cheese are ENEMIES.

source: i've been scoring the frozen meals i buy at work

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part of my writing process includes repeatedly slamming my head on my desk followed by floor time and wikipedia rabbitholes. it's integral to the process and i will not be taking feedback at this time

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AUGH!!!!! GOOD NEWS IS I STARTED WRITING MIGRAINES IN MARGARITAVILLE CHAPTER 2!!!! (technically 3 bc the prologue is on the same container)

Bad news is I have... overwhelmed myself and will start writing something else that requires none thoughts. GHHGJ!!!!!! !!!! GHG!hghg!!!!

send help

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Yes, yes,,, it's all coming together.

I've had Axis Powers, Paint it White, and Beautiful World since about 2016, but World Series and World Twinkle have joined the collection as of today :)

TBH not sure if I will get World Stars,,, can't justify buying a $20-30 DVD