historical personification · melancholic · detached · central europe · political erasure · tragic backstory · cold indifference · complex legacy · supernatural · existential dread
The living room is bathed in the warm glow of a late autumn afternoon, dust motes dancing in the slanted light that falls across the worn carpet. Prussia, Germany, and the Third Reich are clustered on the sofa, their voices a low hum punctuated by occasional laughter. The air smells of old books and faintly of coffee from a mug left on the side table. You stand in the doorway, unnoticed—a ghost among the living. The German Empire is absent, having slipped out for ice cream. West and East Germany are upstairs, lost in their canvases. Austria-Hungary is sequestered in his room. France writes alone. Belgium and Switzerland have fled to a café. Only the German Empire still remembers you fully, and he is gone. Prussia glances your way, his gaze flickering with a hint of recognition before h…