things that are gone (are still meant to be)

I’m caught inside the memories

APH Spain x APH Austria

oh boy i have a million thoughts on this because i also headcanon that portugal was a menace in terms of flirting with roderich and trying to hit because roderich is pretty and it would piss off antonio real bad (even though in my hcs tonio never stops sleeping with romano).

he gossips to arthur about it so arthur knows the #tea.

sry if this doesn't fit with your hcs i saw roderich on the dash and went into a fugue state.

Anon I listed to head over heels by tears for fears while answering this to get me in the right frame of mind, and now I want an 80s dark fantasy style romance with Arthur or Roderich being all starry-eyed and pathetically yearning for their sparkly Iberian lovers. Thank you for the ask!

My slightly queer take on hetalia is that you don’t have to study history for very long to realise that in 2026 we are really quite prudish compared to people from the past. They were just very camp in many ways. And so much more openly romantic when you read things like letters sent to lovers. One of my favourite versions of Arthur, Roderich, Gabriel, and Antonio is the one where they’re gossiping, flirting outrageously, and flogging centuries-old horses with each other in a gay bar after a laborious European meeting. As they have been doing for years.

Portugal is definitely a big flirt when he wants to be, and he’s similar enough to Spain that it works on Austria. What can he say the man appreciates being wooed by a big, tanned Adonis (so does England let's be real).

you’ve charmed me, you’ve got the job.

I’m really intrigued by England and Austria’s relationship because I sort of headcanon Roderich as being one of the oldest nations in Europe up there with the Italies, and while Arthur isn’t young like Ludwig is, he’s on the younger end for Europe. There’s an experience difference in the sense that England, who is usually quite tricksy and cunning, tries to pull those tricks on Austria who immediately sees through them and is just haughtily like “are you done?”. And a slightly flummoxed England has to readjust his approach and come at him more honestly and only then can they find common ground. Essentially, I think Austria is cleverer than England realises and England is not as clever as he thinks he is lol.

Austria has it rough during the Hapsburg years and his split from Spain in the 1700s, and England at this period of European history is coming off his hooligan pirate years in the Caribbean and looking to establish himself as a major power in Europe. So, they’re both powerful but in a precarious spot. And they find in each other a potential ally and counterweight within European stately quadrille politics.

my Roderich is fairly young I'd say, he popped into existence near the end of 900s and his rise to power was carefully and skillfully orchestrated because you are so right, he is very clever, and he always knows what he wants; by the time he married Antonio (who had to be dragged into this affair kicking and screaming, but eventually it did become a love-match) his ambitions were already through the roof, and mostly when having to side with Arthur he saw him as a weapon against France first and foremost; it also didn't help that Antonio had a lot of nasty things to say about him, and Roderich at the time really valued his husband's opinion.

when divorce eventually happened, it left Roderich in a position where he desperately needed to grief and process the splitting, but he simply didn't have the time: everything everywhere always called for his attention, so he had to quickly shove down every complex emotion he had towards Antonio and their situation as a whole. during the war of Spanish succession he and Arthur hit it off much better then both of them expected, probably because game recognized game — I like to think that they are both dark horses in a lot of ways, but Roderich has a better way of hiding his outlaw nature (basically he is just a fake lying bitch).

the main difference between them is that I think Arthur never opens up and trusts someone fully, which led to quite a few fallouts with other nations (cough Portugal cough), while Roderich's craving for connection lead to him having a painful codependency with Antonio, which later backfired so bad that he never fully recovered. and from this perspective I think they might learn from each other and find some kind of balance between those two ends of a spectrum. Arthur definitely said something among the lines of "NEVER TRUST ANYONE 🫵🏻" at least once, and Roderich was like yeah that's exactly why nobody likes you. expect from me, I guess. I kind of like you.

you’ve charmed me, you’ve got the job.

I’m really intrigued by England and Austria’s relationship because I sort of headcanon Roderich as being one of the oldest nations in Europe up there with the Italies, and while Arthur isn’t young like Ludwig is, he’s on the younger end for Europe. There’s an experience difference in the sense that England, who is usually quite tricksy and cunning, tries to pull those tricks on Austria who immediately sees through them and is just haughtily like “are you done?”. And a slightly flummoxed England has to readjust his approach and come at him more honestly and only then can they find common ground. Essentially, I think Austria is cleverer than England realises and England is not as clever as he thinks he is lol.

Austria has it rough during the Hapsburg years and his split from Spain in the 1700s, and England at this period of European history is coming off his hooligan pirate years in the Caribbean and looking to establish himself as a major power in Europe. So, they’re both powerful but in a precarious spot. And they find in each other a potential ally and counterweight within European stately quadrille politics.

my Roderich is fairly young I'd say, he popped into existence near the end of 900s and his rise to power was carefully and skillfully orchestrated because you are so right, he is very clever, and he always knows what he wants; by the time he married Antonio (who had to be dragged into this affair kicking and screaming, but eventually it did become a love-match) his ambitions were already through the roof, and mostly when having to side with Arthur he saw him as a weapon against France first and foremost; it also didn't help that Antonio had a lot of nasty things to say about him, and Roderich at the time really valued his husband's opinion.

when divorce eventually happened, it left Roderich in a position where he desperately needed to grief and process the splitting, but he simply didn't have the time: everything everywhere always called for his attention, so he had to quickly shove down every complex emotion he had towards Antonio and their situation as a whole. during the war of Spanish succession he and Arthur hit it off much better then both of them expected, probably because game recognized game — I like to think that they are both dark horses in a lot of ways, but Roderich has a better way of hiding his outlaw nature (basically he is just a fake lying bitch).

the main difference between them is that I think Arthur never opens up and trusts someone fully, which led to quite a few fallouts with other nations (cough Portugal cough), while Roderich's craving for connection lead to him having a painful codependency with Antonio, which later backfired so bad that he never fully recovered. and from this perspective I think they might learn from each other and find some kind of balance between those two ends of a spectrum. Arthur definitely said something among the lines of "NEVER TRUST ANYONE 🫵🏻" at least once, and Roderich was like yeah that's exactly why nobody likes you. expect from me, I guess. I kind of like you.

11 pm thought: unfortunately the sad but logical reality is that he is straight and just kind of a weird freak and also a misogynist but it's still beautiful how romantic his obsession with his best friend is and how its psychosexual nature haunts all his creative work

Gerhardt still loves that little bratling despite everything it's the typical sibling dynamic "I hate the little shit but he's still my little shit so whatever"

Also I want a hilarious familial context when the Great Potato War / Plum War came into play and I mean when Prussia and Austria both poked their noses into Bavarian's succession crisis

Both of the contingents ended up stealing potatoes from the Bavarians I'm not even joking there was no reason for either of them to have butted in

Listen it started with Bavarians establishing the Eastern March and my HC had Gerhardt discover the little runt and was like wtf is this dirty mutt

Then when washed down it revealed a child and he was like WHOA am I a dad now?!???! King Otto @ him "no the fuck you're not I don't even trust you to care for my child you're a guardian at best"