Fanfic / A Castle of Silence and Bones

A Castle Of Silence And Bones, a Hetalia: Axis Powers fanfiction written by the author dreams.of.destiny. The fic begins with an Alternate History premise, even with the author stating it outright.

"What if-?
WWII was won by the Axis Powers.
Imperial Japan gained control of Asia.
The world, as we know it, was never there."

The Axis Powers, Germany, Italy, and Japan now have absolute control, their three empires controlling the power in the world. Several countries have died, either with their people completely annihilated or assimilated into one of the empires. However, the fanfic begins by centralizing on Japan and China and continues to do so from there. China, as well as the entire continent of Asia has been seized by Japan and now belongs to him, although the rest of the Asia cast never get a scene into the fic apart from a few references. This is a Shipping Fic (well, sort of), after all, in a Darker and Edgier scenario.

China belongs entirely to Japan having lost World War II to him and being invaded by Japan. The fic draws much on Alternative Character Interpretation on the writer's part, having envisioned a much darker side to the characters. Japan is completely possessive and obsessive over his “brother” China, disturbingly Ax-Crazy, (possibly because of the war, which in this fanfic has lasted past the 1960s, or because said longer duration of the war had driven him even further off the deep end of overprotective nationalism and economic breaking point/power-induced madness; Imperial Japan isn't remembered for being exactly sane in the first place, his behavior resembling wartime Japanese sentiment multiplied, amplified, only also super-concentrated and boiled down to an individual) and very, very much a Yandere. Over the course of the fanfic, Japan placates the military, the monarchy, continuing the war and trying to understand his emotions toward his brother, together with performing various subtle Mind Screw(s) on both China and the reader.

China, of course, is not happy about this arrangement although starting out completely humiliated by the actions of Japan, despite the physical, mental and emotional chains that his brother has trapped him with and being mind screwed slowly asserts himself and begins to use his own Mind Screw on Japan, biding his time and waiting for an opportunity to strike.

It can be found here.

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This story contains examples of:

• Alas, Poor Villain: The ending is sympathetic to Japan.
• Ax-Crazy: Kiku. Subtly and creepily calm at the same time.
• Alternate History Wank: The Axis powers won. Countries like England, France, Allied Powers, Taiwan and Hong Kong are dead and no longer exist (at least, soon to be.) The world is divided into three empires, Italy, Germany and Japan. The war lasted for decades. Emperor Hirohito married Empress Wan Rong of China and had a son, who ended up killing his own father and ascending to the throne.
• Artistic License – History: While more realistically understandable than a certain infamous fic, there are still some rather egregious examples if one thinks about the Alternate History aspects of the story:
  • Taiwan’s death. Taiwan was actually a model colony, and as such received much, much better treatment than other parts of the empire. Though while it's implied otherwise, if death of culture means death of a nation instead of, say, Death of Personality, it's more likely that she would have had a slow, but painless (after the aborigines are genocided that is) end as she was gradually, meticulously brainwashed, her life being slowly sapped from her, blissfully unaware of the suffering of the rest of her family or her own loss of self until her last breath....
  • Japan’s obsession with China and only China (with Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Macau, the Micronesian politities, etc., or even the already revealed at the time Vietnam and Thailand, being barely mentioned if ever), could be seen as such, as this Co-Prosperity Sphere thing was basically Japan going Yandere over all of Asia, not just China. China did still get the worst of it though, so it’s one of the less noticeable historical inconsistencies.
  • Also, according to Imperial plans, Japan should have probably been grooming Korea to become an extension of him, forcing him into a lackey position until he was able to do his bidding himself, as was the plan with the Real-Life Koreans in Imperial Japan; they were notably straight-up annexed into Japan, not made a vassal state like most of the rest of the conquered territories.
  • Japan, the personification of the Japanese people, killing Asahiko. The dramatic weight of the scene aside, considering how the Empire was supposed to be a glorious, harmonious Co-Prosperity Sphere uniting the Asian Peoples under the watchful eye of the Glorious Tenno-Heika, it doesn’t make much sense if one is there for the Alternate History premise and thinks too deeply about it. For perspective, it would be like the North Korean people before media smuggling became more commonplace killing their Dear Leader completely willingly; there is a reason that the name of the Emperor was used to rally the Japanese people, despite the Emperor having little actual power. No amount of Pan-Asian nationalism and Phillopon-induced madness could lead to such a scenario outside of taking the in-story events at complete face value. Granted, Kiku does indeed show a more accurate creepy attachment to Hirohito.
  • It’s generally agreed upon by historians that invading the Soviet Union/Russia and/or especially continental United States and successfully fully conquering them is virtually impossible. While it’s plausible for Taiwan or Hong Kong, maybe slightly plausible that France could maybe die depending on how one determines the death of a nation (though how that works is a question in it of itself), and maybe England, being very generous to the Germans, supposing that Operation Sealion somehow succeeded and the Kriegsmarine didn’t utterly suck in comparison to the Royal Navy, and leaving aside the fact Hitler would have rather had the British sign a peace treaty than actually try to invade England since his main target was Russia, but it crosses into ridiculous and blatant Alternate History Wank once it’s shown that America was still in the war and both he and the Soviet Union/Russia - not just, say, Ukraine and Belarus, Russia himself - are in real danger of dying. Note that Japan had already been burned by the idea of attacking the Soviet Union because of a previous experience, so Germany would have needed to take down the Red Army with basically just himself and his allies to the point of Russia’s almost death despite also being wracked by partisans and taking on the industrial might of America and the full force of the British Empire. Even if this incident didn’t happen and Japan and Germany were to coordinate, Russia could keep on going for literal decades retreating and pestering them, stretching out their logistics to their breaking points (remember, Napoleon actually succeeded in taking Moscow, but he still failed), and Stalin was if anything a massive Derterminator who would see through that being the case. And despite works like The Man in the High Castle, even if the United States didn’t actually “win” WWII in our timeline, it was still a major powerhouse a literal ocean away, not to mention its massive size, making the already overstretched logistics an absolute nightmare for both sides; merely landing on America’s shores is an even more implausible scenario than subduing the Soviet Union. So much so that doing so was never in the plans of even the notoriously power-hungry Axis. It doesn’t need to be said that subduing both is about as likely as flying pigs. The world would have been a bit more realistic if the author actually dialed back the darkness and made America stay out of the war and still alive and well, probably made Britain sign a peace treaty to become neutral, while Russia still, while his siblings would be dead, gives his occupiers trouble even by the time the fic takes place, putting pressure on Japan as well, or was merely forced to sign a peace treaty and became smaller but was still very much alive and kicking; America and Britain could be handwaved as being merely apathetic, allowing the Axis to run amok outside of their boundaries.
• Ascended Extra: In a way, Asahiko. He is introduced into the story as only side detail, but as the story develops it begins to focus on his character, actions and thoughts in later chapters. He even gets a fling with China.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Yao is a brotherly, parental, fussy yet nice and very feminine looking person. What happens when his own sibling goes all Yandere for him and destroys his dignity at the same time? He shoots him.
• Bittersweet Ending: Despite Yao finally free from Kiku's clutches after he kills him, the country of Japan itself is being destroyed, the country of China itself is probably at a similarly bad state and the building they are both in is falling to pieces.
  • From Kiku's perspective, he finally manages to confess to his brother his feelings, but his brother shoots and kills him, entirely disgusted with all his actions.
  • The final sex scene though is implied to have been everything he ever wanted.
• Break the Cutie: Yao was invaded, defeated, humiliated, his siblings are dead and their people annihilated, he has seen the world break apart and countries perish over decades of war, now his obsessive younger brother is all Yandere for him, violating him, insulting his masculinity, keeping him trapped emotionally, mentally and physically. In the end, China shoots Japan and kills him.

• Brother–Sister Incest: Brother-Brother Incest more like. All the time.
• Cannot Spit It Out: This fanfic demonstrates a fictional example of this trope Gone Horribly Wrong. Unable to tell your Love Interest how much you love them because it would be, you know, revealing your emotions and leaving you vulnerable or overstepping social boundaries? Instead of going up straight to confess, just possess your Love Interest, warp their minds as a subtle insult and attempt to make them dependent on you, keep them far far away in a pretty castle and rape them every moment you have.
• Cuckold: When Kiku tells Yao that there is no one else for his captive to love, China proves him wrong by sleeping with their surrogate child.

• Crazy Jealous Guy: Kiku shows how to bring this to the extremes.
• Darker and Edgier: War? Check. Death? Check. Sex? Check. Incest? Check. Squick? Check. Mind Rape? Check. Rape? Check. Darker and Edgier? Obvious Check.
• Dissonant Serenity: Kiku first, and after he gets more and more insane, Yao exhibits this, showing how broken he's become. At the last chapters of the story random Japanese officers are being killed by Kiku and their own comrades at the slightest mistake like daring to protest, or hell, even just exhibiting the slightest hesitation.
• Downer Ending: Kiku dies. The castle is destroyed, millions of Japanese citizens are implied to perish, and Yao, though alive, is all alone now, what with all the other countries dead.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: Yao. (not that he didn't look enough like one already.) Kiku dresses him in feminine clothes and puts ornaments in his hair, Yao's already-long hair grows even longer, even his nails get varnished. Asahiko thinks that he's a female initially.
• Everybody Dies: Implied and very obvious, several of the characters have been stated outright to have died. Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, England, France have canonically to have died and the other Allied powers are said to be very close to death. Hirohito dies via poison, Wan Rong commits suicide, Asahiko is killed by Kiku who is then killed by Yao. If you take it that a personified country can die by being killed by a collapsing building, then Yao can count too.
• Fate Worse than Death: A near one for Yao. He's immortal because he's a country, can never die no matter how many times he's been abused and as Kiku is immortal too, if the Empire of Japan had not collapsed as it did, China would had have to remain in Kiku's clutches. For eternity.
• From Bad to Worse: First kidnapping, then rape, then murder, then mindbreak, then mindscrew, then the end of the known world.
• Gilded Cage: Yao has his every need attended to by Kiku and maids, Kiku feeds him and dresses him outright. The fic has also set Akasaka Palace as their residence, which in Japan is a National Treasure, with 15,000 m floor space and meant for the Crown Prince.
• Historical Domain Character: The fanfic also plays with real-life historical characters, like Empress Wan Rong, the wife of China's last Emperor Puyi and the Showa Emperor of Japan, Emperor Hirohito.
• I Have You Now, My Pretty: Kiku, yeah. Just him. All the time. Throughout the whole fic.

• Love Makes You Evil: Well the fic description does go "the result of unrestrained desire is a trainwreck."
• Mind Screw: Kiku does this. A lot. His dialogue conists of lines with the sole purpose of Mind Screwing his brother. And Yao does the same back to him.
  • The entire fic is full of complex mind games among characters, and it will Mind Screw you and completely fuck with your perception of Yao and Kiku as characters in Hetalia.
• Murder the Hypotenuse:
  • Kiku stabs Asahiko, his Emperor, when he finds him having an affair with Yao with no hesitation at all. If one knows just how much the emperor is revered in Japanese culture, with the population almost universally willing to throw their lives away for him, this is especially shocking.
  • China, all well knowing what Kiku is capable of, kills Korea (who attempted to rescue Yao) by pushing him out of the window so that he would not have to suffer under Kiku's hands.

• Rape as Drama: Kiku rapes Yao every chance he's got. In almost every chapter.
• Sanity Slippage: All over the damn place. The first chapter is enough to convince you that Kiku has long gone down the slippery slope, and once Yao starts turning quiet you know that some screws have gone loose there.
• Shown Their Work: Kiku’s possessive, obsessive, Yandere attitude towards Yao and Sanity Slippage is actually rather fitting considering the ideology behind The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, Pan-Asianism; protecting their Asian neighbors, their “family” in the nation sense, from western imperialism. Just too bad that they resist and won’t give up their barbaric, regressive ways, leaving them subservient to the western devils... but after some Tough Love, they were BOUND to love them and their holy emperor, and they would all live together happily ever after!

• Unreliable Narrator: A little more than halfway through the fic, Yao is seen talking to Asahiko, and in the literal blink of an eye, he realizes that years have passed by without his conscious knowledge.
• Wham Episode: Several. For example, Yao killing Im Yong Soo with his own hands.

• Yandere: Kiku brings this to disturbing levels. As was the sentiment in actual Imperial Japan, in his twisted mind he is probably just protecting his beloved brother from the (now ineffective and dying) foreign devils, even as all evidence points to the contrary...

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