Considering that webcomic and anime Hetalia: Axis Powers requires Politically Correct History in order to keep the series as lighthearted and satirical as it is, the fandom's come up with some downright disturbing things in the way of Fanfic.
All He Ever Wanted takes the premise and conceit of Hetalia Axis Powers (namely, personifying the Nations of the world) and uses it to explore the events of an Alternate History where England kept its 50-year alliance to Japan and joined the Axis Powers (which is not that farfetched a historical possibility). All He Ever Wanted follows the Nations through a prolonged World War II and the often-painful choices that this time of conflict forces them to make. Where Hetalia itself would Hand Wave the darker parts of a Nation's history for the sake of the story that's being told, All He Ever Wanted approaches them head-on, and has the characters do the same. However, your mileage WILL vary in regards of how well-done it is or not. And this is all that should be said about it in the main page.
The AHEWniverse project is ongoing, and as such this page contains only tropes that have already been exhibited in the stories. Please keep it spoiler-free!
This Fanfic provides examples of:
- All There in the Manual: Having the historical background for the events usually helps you to understand the fics.
- Alternate History: “What if the Anglo-Japanese Alliance was kept?” anong others.
- Artistic License – History: While often the author has Shown Their Work, when there are gaps, they can be big enough to to drive a Maus Panzer through.
- The deal with France, for many.note
Anon commenter: "Ah, AHEW realism... I only read way in the beginning so maybe they fixed this, but did you know that it's totally easy for the Nazis to erase the French language from the world? Just take over a few European countries and bang! No more French!"- Additionally, the authors once implied that in their fic, the Latin American countries "are still Spanish colonies". Except that the fanfic begins in the early 20th century... and Spanish American Wars of Independence started in 1810 and were mostly finished around 1840, with only Puerto Rico and Cuba staying under Spanish rule... until 1898 (being transferred to the American sphere of influence). Uhm, even if this is an Alternate Universe, history does NOT work that loosely. And, while this isn’t as important, one huge chunk of Latin America (Brazil) was never under Spanish control.
- It should also be noted that due to how nationalism works (Austrians still thought themselves as “German” at the time), most real world Austrians in 1938 welcomed the Anschluss with open arms. They also made up a disproportionately large amount of high-ranking Party members (including Adolf Hitler himself), SS members, and especially the staff of their infamous death camps and their commanders, on top of Austrian civilians apparently being violently, frighteningly gung-ho about this anti-Semitism thing from the get-go even by Nazi standards. Plus, as noted below, the vast majority of Austria is and always was Catholic. As such, Austria of all people’s role as the apparently Jewish Author Avatar who resists Nazism doesn’t make any sense whatsoever from a historic standpoint, and to history buffs can be somewhat amusing due to the sheer irony of the situation.
- Japan being the Manipulative Bastard between him and England is pretty ridiculous if you think about it; you know, the novice, fanatical empire that had a reputation for I Will Fight Some More Forever to the point of insanity and reckless war crimes, was plagued with more Interservice Rivalry than you could shake a stick at, Didn't Think This Through logistics of epic proportions, an army literally addicted to meth, and a bad habit of burning through even elite soldiers and especially pilots due to a horrible combination of the above mentioned I Will Fight Some More Forever, Honor Before Reason propaganda, We Have Reserves, Attack! Attack! Attack! tactics and not having the population to sustain it (unlike, say, the Soviet Union or Korean War era China), manipulating The Chessmaster of world politics, the empire on which the sun never set, who had been doing this for centuries by now? Especially when the point of the Anglo-Japanese alliance in the first place was so Japan could protect the British Empire’s interests in the Far East and in turn keep Japan safe? Yeah... sure.
- The... treatment of Lichtenstein. The tiny principality populated almost if not completely exclusively by GERMANS. If Lichtenstein would have ever been invaded by the Nazis, it would have been for similar reasons as Austria above, Heim ins Reich. As she is a pure German, she would have been seen as part of the “master race”, so mistreating her like that makes little sense unless she actively dissents. Especially egregious as, if the author absolutely needed to include it, Belarus and/or Ukraine would have been much more plausible targets considering Slavs were almost if not as low on the totem pole as Jews according to the Nazis. This is on top of said invasion making no strategic sense by any stretch of the imagination; the lunacy of the idea of invading a neutral principality under the protection of another neutral country which just happened to be preparing to fight the Nazis since day 1 (Switzerland) - unlike, say, Luxembourg was - who would surely see said invasion as a threat to their sovereignty at the very least, on top of and despite the fact that said principality at the time was dirt poor and had literally nothing of value, can only really be explained by For the Evulz and Kick the Dog.
- The innocence of certain characters, even outside of the abovementioned Austria. Even if this were an alternate universe, it’s unlikely that anti-Semitic sentiment in Hungary and Lithuania for example would just be conveniently gone, or that the Nazis wouldn’t still try to use it and/or bribe the latter at least with protection from the Soviet Union to get tons of Les Collaborateurs like in our timeline. Even if this were the case, it isn’t explained.
- Author Avatar: Austria, apparently. A mostly Catholic (and formerly VERY antisemitic) country has a Jewish nation-tan, despite his Idiot Hair even representing a Marian pilgrimage site in Hetalia canon? And one of the authors is Jewish? Hmmm...
- Author Tract: This fic is essentially the author's soapbox for complaining about what he sees as the Hetalia fandom's tendency to trivialize the atrocities of the Axis Powers in general Nazi Germany in particular during World War II.
- Bilingual Bonus:
- Also, though the installments are written mostly in American English, the characters' voices follow anglicized grammatical structure of their own languages. Japan uses no contractions, Russia uses short sentences but long paragraphs, France always inflects upward, etc.
- When Austria tells Messaien what he is, Messaien thinks he means to say that he is Austrian and says "Your French needs work." Austria clarifies: "No, I am the State".
- Bittersweet Ending: Romano, aka. South Italy leaves his brother, with the implication that there will eventually be fragmentation and an Italian civil war. However, in doing so he "attains" Spain's respect and love.
- Came Back Wrong: Word of God says four characters will die. Three already have, and the authors have left tracks stating that they, being Nations, are not gone for good. Greece has already been reincarnated, and Switzerland is a poltergeist. But as for France, well...
- Chickification: Pulled on Hungary, a fearless Action Girl in canon... whom Prussia easily captures, then brutally tortures and rapes to "teach a lesson" to her beloved ex-husband Austria, whom Prussia is holding hostage..
- Vietnam. In World War II, Vietnam the country had already started fighting for its independence from France. In Hetalia canon, Vietnam the Moe Anthropomorphism is mentioned to be a Plucky Girl who follows the example of the many emotionally/physically strong women in her history. In the fic, Vietnam the Moe Anthropomorphism is... Bound and Gagged.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The Fascists wear greyscale, the communists and socialists wear blood and gold.It is implied that civilian Nations wear colors, mostly those not associated with either side; when Austria is let out of his glass box, he wears first a red, then a blue scarf.
- Also, the Fascists wear gloves.
- Dead Guy Junior: After Italy kills the Greece we know, the new personification of the country shows up in the form of a little girl.
- "Heathen! Traitor! Loser! ...Are you my mommy?"
- Distressed Dude: Austria is imprisoned for most of the continuity, both because of the Austrian Anschluss and his ethnicity.
- Driven to Suicide: At some point around the time England went mad, hundreds of citizens of the Empire and Commonwealth engaged in mass suicides, many hurling themselves off the White Cliffs of Dover. Those who couldn't get to the British Isles did the same thing in Calcutta. By 1949, several thousand have killed themselves.
- Enemy Mine: France and England, because it's canon Foe Romance Subtext.
- Faux Action Girl: Hungary. She's supposed to be competent like she is in canon, but her main role is to get captured, tortured, and raped by Prussia to "teach Austria a lesson".
- For Want Of A Nail: That was one very special relationship.For want of Japan, poor France was lost;
For want of poor France, America was lost;
For want of America, his mind was lost;
For want of his mind, the Empire was lost;
For want of the Empire, the war was won,
Though not by the Nation who started it all.
- Grey-and-Gray Morality: Neither the Fascists nor the Communists are immune from atrocities, but neither is presented as completely monstrous. May be Black-and-Gray Morality if you give the Communists the benefit of the doubt.
- Historical Domain Character: FDR, Winston Churchill, King Ned, some Italian guy with a nice pair of shoulders, some Austrian guy with an evil moustache, Herr Beck, Olivier Messaien, Beniamino Gigli, General Gamelin, and that's just so far.
- Churchill gets an Historical Villain Upgrade based on his personal politics.
- I Have Your Wife: Prussia uses Austria to force Hungary to collaborate. And by "force", we mean he kidnaps, rapes and tortures her in front of Austria.
- Lyrical Dissonance: Fratelli d'Italia in "All The Rest Have Thirty One", Vesti la giubba in "Put on the Costume", "The Sun Whose Rays Are All Ablaze," and pretty much the entirety of "FULL STOP", or whenever England sings at all.
- Mad Oracle: In the second half of the continuity England is either this or a Talkative Loon. The one thing that stands in the way of his being purely a Mad Oracle is that he can't see the future; he can see the story, because he can see all stories right now, and all of them are true.
- Meaningful Funeral: France has an entire installment devoted to one, complete with England getting drunk and hallucinating him, Canada organizing the ceremony through his tears, and Magnificent Bastard Prussia telling a touching story about a one-legged whore.
- The Rashomon: So what happened during the German-Russian conflict on the (former) Polish border (or was it?) in September 1939? "The Left Hand Doesn't Know" and "What The Right Hand Is Doing" give us about four different accounts, and by the end of "What The Right Hand Is Doing," Russia still hasn't figured out what went on, or even what the Party line about what went on should be. Germany gives the situation as much resolution as it's going to get when he declares war on Russia, though.
- Scarpia Ultimatum: Prussia forcibly brings Hungary to the captured Austria's cell and violently rapes her saying that it's for Austria's "benefit".
- Shout-Out: All over the place.
- "Excepting February" is written in homage to House of Leaves, with Switzerland's house getting walled in.
- ** In England's arc in particular, there are excessive references to his literature and culture: "Lavender's Green" is a particularly long string of references.
- During "The Seventh Door", Prussia and Hungary only speak in the rhythm of Bela Bartok's Duke Bluebeard's Castle: "Judith, tell me, will you follow?" "I will follow, Kekzakallu." The title of the installment also comes from that opera.
- "City of Light" follows and uses Dreyer's Joan of Arc as a focal reference.
- Of all things, Japan unconsciously references Bugs Bunny in "It is my Very Humane Endeavor": "He believes he is hunting rabbits, so please be quiet." Australia attempts to point out what he just said, but Japan doesn't quite get it.
- Count the references to Jewish culture in "Fly, Thought, on Wings of Gold", very few of which are made explicit. Also, the word Jew is almost never actually used.
- The entire fic "Inherit the Earth" is a dark-mirror remix of the popular canonverse Hetalia fic Kingdom Of Heaven.
- Theme Naming: Not the characters, but the installments.
- Every fic that has to do with the death of a Nation takes its title from the poem, Thirty Days Hath September.
- The fics that deal with Central Europe, particularly the German nations, take their titles from famous opera excerpts.
- If a fic is part of a companion set, their titles will be directly related, such has "The Left Hand Doesn't Know" followed by "What the Right Hand is Doing".
- Unreliable Narrator: All of them. Seriously. The Nations don't always believe their own recounting of events.