Oh thank you! Unfortunately, I have too many ongoing fics to complete, and my writing style/interest has since changed. I’m still really glad that you enjoyed it 🙂
Author: ellawritesficssometimes
This could be a bit of a stretch, but I still think what I’m
about to interpret engages the material in an interesting way. You can take it
with however many grains of salt that you wish. Remember that there can always
be both a figurative and literal element of what characters and objects symbolize – it’s not mutually exclusive.
Before I get into what America’s pets represent, it’s
important to explain why America can see aliens, but not ghosts. This often
confuses a lot of people, but if you refer to the strips, an implicit but
nonetheless consistent logic is used.
England can see ghosts and fantastical creatures because
approximately 70% of his people believe in them. At least, this is the figure
provided in the strips, I can’t attest to how accurate that is. What’s most
important is that this is used in the reasoning behind why Hima characterizes
England to possess these abilities.
Since 23% of Americans believe in ghosts, America is unable
to see them. Although, admittedly, this does seem to change as the strips
become more recent along the timeline. [I’ll get into this in another post].
Similarly, because Americans do not believe in the fantastical
with the small exception of Halloween, this is the only time where America is
able to see magical creatures and ghosts.
Now, given that UFO’s are only “typically seen” in the US,
it would follow that Americans possess stronger beliefs in aliens than they do with
the supernatural. This would explain why America is friends with Tony,
meanwhile England – whose people don’t possess such a high belief in aliens –
is skeptical of Tony.
So…what do America’s pets potentially represent?
It’s not an uncommon trope for authors to make surrounding
objects, people, or pets represent aspects of a character’s mind.
America’s Pet Whale:
In that case, while America did go whale-hunting in Japan
for commercial purposes, the whale he later befriends and adopts could also stand
for his gluttony.
This meaning doesn’t only limit itself to America’s gorging
appetite either.
It can also stand for America’s expansion and befriending of
other nations at the expense of leaving England behind and turning his back on
him.
Ex: When England hears that America is attempting
to befriend a whale, he shyly offers to become his friend.
You can only guess what happens next.
Tony:
If pets, or rather, familiars, represent the inner framework
of a character’s mind, then Tony, as a being of space, could also be equated to
America’s own headspace.
In other words, Tony seems to embody America’s old grudge
towards England.
Notice how when Tony and England first meet, Tony calls
England a “F***ing limey.”
Meanwhile, America stands there uselessly and is
unable to read the situation…
…or rather, what if he is purposefully repressing and
keeping his emotions in check, only for Tony to be the one to express them?
Alternatively, Tony could be reading America’s emotions
without the latter realizing this. It’s not entirely impossible given that
aliens in popular culture often have telepathy or some other kind of
mind-reading power. In that regard, maybe Tony has read America’s mind/memories, and is reacting with hostility towards England because of this…
Consider the whole response now: England asks Tony about his home planet.
“Not going back! F***ing Limey!” could likewise be
interpreted as America’s vehement opposition to the mere thought of being under
England’s rule again. It almost seems as if Tony’s acting as America’s
unconscious mouthpiece…asides from the death threat.
We see this again when England visits America and complains
that there’s a ghost [it’s actually France] in his house.
Notice the difference in reactions between America and Tony.
America laughs it off, while Tony appears to taunt and belittle England for
being easily frightened as if he were a small child.
On the other hand, Tony has been seen to end his sentences with “bubu” so this could just be a misspelling.
More on America’s Emotions:
I’ve also noticed that America’s pets reciprocate his
affection for other nations.
Ex: They are
exceptionally fond of Lithuania.
Ex: When
Lithuania falls back under Russia’s control during the Great Depression,
America seems both worried and sad to see him go.
In sum, while America’s pets are real, there does seem to be
some evidence substantiating the possibility of them also representing aspects
of his inner psyche.
What’s the reasoning given for why America can’t see ghosts or magical creatures?
There are a few
reasons.
1) We’ve seen the impact that their peoples’ belief
has on their ability to see ghosts or magical creatures.
Hima sourced that 23%
of Americans believe in ghosts; it’s not enough for America to be able to see
them, even though they exist in canon.
Because approximately 70% of Britons believe in
ghosts/supernatural beings, England’s able to see them.
2) Since Americans are really big on Halloween, and
tend to believe in the supernatural on this specific day, America’s likewise only
able to see magical creatures and ghosts on Halloween.
3) England claims that America isn’t “pure” enough
to see his pet unicorn.
However, as I’ll get into in a later post, it seems like as
time shifts, and his people’s belief in the supernatural subsequently grows,
America’s gradually gaining the ability to see them more consistently.
Ex: He goes on a citadel tour with England and mistakes ghosts as staff members.
When he takes a picture of them, they fail to show up. Confused, America still seems unable to make the connection. Perhaps he hasn’t yet realized that he’s acquiring the ability to see them.
What does Tony represent? Or America’s whale? Do you think they even represent anything? Why does America have them as friends? Do you think they may represent something like Canada’s bear does for him?
Excellent questions. I believe that likewise
to Kumajiro does with Canada, Tony and America’s whale might represent parts of
his inner psyche too.
[They’re just pets by the way, there’s no
deeper reason for him having them other than company.]
Post coming up tonight!
Misconception: Latvia’s physical body is young
and small for “no reason.”
I couldn’t
object anymore to this. While it’s not explicitly stated why Latvia is like this,
there are written rules and examples in the manga that provide a suitable
explanation. This is aside from the fact that Latvian people are among some of
the tallest in the world.
Since I
already have a theory on this, I’ll merely put a quick summary here:
For one
thing, we know that a nation’s health is predicated on their political and
economic situation. That is, if their economy is doing bad, or they’re experiencing
political instability, then they’ll develop a cold.
Likewise,
we know from the case examples of America, Canada, Italy, and Romano that
gaining independence causes the nations to age.
A strong
economy, a stable political situation, and political sovereignty are solid
factors in determining the age and size of full-blown nations – not micronations,
who are often anomalies to these rules.
That said,
because Latvia has historically experienced constant political repression and
subordination and lacks a strong economy, his physical body hasn’t aged as much
in comparison to the other nations.
Ex: Russia
pushing down on Latvia’s head is a metaphor for the political repression the
latter experienced at the hands of the former.
Further,
what differentiates Lithuania and Estonia in modern times is that both of them
are doing better off economically than Latvia is, who primarily relies on
agriculture. You also need to account for how Lithuania at one time was a
European superpower.
Ex: Estonia’s obsessed with money, and is good at managing economics.
Even then,
because of the political repression Estonia also experienced, he’s only a little bit
older than Latvia at 17.
Misconception: Because Latvia’s scared of
Russia and is physically weak, he’s just weak.
Latvia’s actually
a genius.
Ex: He
built an entire railroad by himself.
Ex: He
plays solo chess.
Misconception: His physical age means that he
has the mentality of a child
[He’s 15.]
While
Latvia does have a bit of a blabber-mouth –which gets him into trouble with
Russia, admittedly – that’s more of a character quirk than it has to do with his
maturity.
Ex: Latvia
has adopted a mentoring role when it comes to dealing with Sealand.
[He also
drinks a lot of alcohol.]
Misconception: He’s not scared of Russia
anymore
I’ve seen a
tendency for people to get angry when authors characterize the Baltics as being
afraid of Russia. Honestly, it’s accurate, especially given how terrifying their
past in the Soviet Union was and the extent to which they’re still traumatized
by it. (i.e. both Lithuania and Latvia are shown to escape from
reality, and maybe Estonia
too with his mochi-inspired dream + other dream fantasies).
The problem would be if you only depict
them this way, and don’t reveal the other aspects of their characters.
In other
words, “Stop making the Baltics weak!!!! They’re not scared of Russia!” is just
as bad as only showing them cowering
in the face of Russia.
Also remember that there was resistance and political
revolts on their part too. Either way, both depictions are biased,
one-dimensional, and don’t give the complexities of their personalities the
credit they deserve…
Me like 90% of the time.
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen in Hetalia?
It’s all weird. But other than the mochis…?
I still don’t know what happened in this strip, let alone why Latvia is day-dreaming about this…
Can you do a mischaracterization post on Latvia?
Sure! Post coming up soon!
[He’s surprised that I picked him again.]
The title is a bit
provocative in the sense that I mean aside from the obvious reasons of both
world wars. With that out of the way, I’m going to be fair to Holy Rome =
Germany skeptics, and will give an alternative reason as to why France’s hatred
of Germany extends well before 1914.
First, while this
strip is deleted and should not be taken at canon value, it’s still important
in potentially giving us more insight as to what Hima might plan to do should
he portray how the nations react to the news of Holy Rome’s dissolution and
subsequent death (that is, if he ever died. Yes, I’m biased).
Either way, this
demonstrates that France was severely impacted by what happened to Holy Rome,
and for very good reasons considering that it was Napoleon who caused his dissolution.
1) Holy Rome look-alike
Since France grew up
with Holy Rome, having a new nation [Germany] spring-up in his place, looking
exactly like him would be like rubbing salt to the wound. You can see why
France would be hostile to this substitute; a replacement of someone
irreplaceable.
2) Germany is Holy Rome + France’s Guilt
Consider this. You ‘kill’
someone who you view to be a little brother –or well, at the very least, he’s believed to be dead (bias x 2)–only to
have him become a new nation with no memories of the past.
In that case, France’s
initial hatred of Germany (while unfounded) is what we in psychology call a
projective defense mechanism. France is taking the hatred that he feels towards himself for dissolving Holy Rome, and constructs Germany as the
object to be hated.
In other words, to
minimize anxiety over his past, France represses these emotions and inflicts this
hatred onto Germany, who then becomes the focus of said hatred.
Obviously, this hatred
is amplified in the world wars. This, of course wanes over time, as it’s noted
that he no longer hates Germany and that they hang out regularly.
However, what’s
important to note is the substantial degree of hesitancy, nervousness, and
skittishness that France sometimes shows when he’s interacting with Germany.
From an interpretative
standpoint, this could mean that France is still wary of Germany. Or in the
case that Germany’s Holy Rome, France is still left to deal with the
consequences that he caused back in the Napoleonic Wars; that is, Germany’s
estrangement and amnesia from his past as Holy Rome.
This hesitancy is
shown as France secretly backs Germany in an EU meeting. Of course, there’s an economic reason for this too.
Likewise, the
contradictory skittishness and desire to form a strong relationship with
Germany is seen when France offers to let Germany tell him about his troubles, only to plugs his ears and run away.
While this could just
be a joke of him not wanting to deal with EU matters, if you read into it, it could also possibly mean that France is afraid
that Germany might say something indicative of his forgotten past. We’ve
already gotten a few hints of this in other strips (i.e. Prussia not telling
Germany everything about his past, or Germany recalling a memory of Chibitalia
in San Buon Valentino).
Regardless, their
relationship does progress, making significant grounds as they take leading positions in the EU.
Ex: When England
leaves the EU, Germany and France ease each other’s worries and work together.
As the character note
states, they do hang out as well.
Ex: They vacation in Seychelles together.
Lastly, there seems to
be another projective metaphor with regards to France’s desire to strengthen
his relationship with Germany.
Here, France invites
Germany to his house. When Germany arrives, France randomly blurts out that he
thinks school uniforms are “awesome.” He then communicates his desire to share
“complex aesthetics” with Germany.
Immediately, I’m
already seeing hints at an unconscious conflict manifesting itself here…
…which is well
substantiated when you consider how it seems like France is, well, desperately
grasping at any seams that he can use to mend his relationship with Germany. I
mean, when have you ever seen Germany take an interest in fashion?
It’s the topic that’s trivial, not the repressed emotions behind it.
If anything, this can
be taken as France projecting his broken past onto the object of a school
uniform, and in doing so, represent his desire to sew and repare the figurative seams of
his relationship with Germany.
Ellawritesficssometimes 