How I imagine my guardians angels are like as they watch me make bad decision after bad decision.

How religious did the nations used to be?

Very, considering
that they’re reflections of their people. This includes beliefs.

Ex: Prussia
once repented for his sins after touching Hungary’s chest. Although, to be fair, Hungary didn’t identify as a girl then.

I’m not an expert, far from it! All I do is link strips to make sense out of canon information. Religion actually comes up quite a bit in the strips, more than you’d think.

Vatican City is only mentioned by Hima in passing on his blog and lacks an official design/ formal appearance. He’s hypothetically described as an old man that would constantly get into arguments/make up with Italy.

Post on religion coming up tonight!

If aph England is the personification of both England, Great Britain, and the UK then who’s the personification, if there is one, of the European Union, NATO, and the United Nations?

Interestingly, in the original webcomic, the UK actually had its own design, but
this was eventually scrapped.

As you mentioned, England later assumed the embodiment of the UK, with each
member state still possessing its own respective personification. It’s the same
thing that happened with Russia, who had also stood in to represent the Soviet Union.

We only have a personification for the UN thus
far. But, considering how old this strip is, I’m not sure if Hima intends to do
anything with him considering that he hasn’t popped up again.

Misconception:
Greece and Turkey genuinely hate each other.

Reality: They say
they hate each other, but their actions tell another story. It’s more like
they’ll break out into arguments whenever they see each other, despite being
too prideful to admit that they actually care for one another.

The whole Greece wishing death upon Turkey gimmick is used for
exaggerated comedic purposes.

To be as transparent as possible, they do get on each
other’s nerves. A lot.

Ex: They’re often compared to cats and dogs.

Regardless…

This doesn’t stop Turkey from checking in on Greece. He did
play a part in raising him, after all.

Ex: They’re noted to be making advances in their
relationship, but still break out into arguments easily.

Ex: Greece offers to be stripped naked during the Christmas
2007 event to prevent Turkey from having his mask ripped off by France [don’t
ask].

That’s not the face of hatred – it’s far from it.

When Turkey enters, with his mask taken off nonetheless,
only then does Greece get hostile.

How I see it was that he had no problem
looking out for Turkey as long as Turkey wasn’t there to witness this and later
have something to gloat about.

Ex: Turkey’s form
of “bullying” is taking Greece to a bathhouse to bathe him and remedy his stiff
bones.

Misconception:
His slow and languid form of speech must mean that he’s unintelligent.

Reality: Greece
is incredibly intelligent. His culture’s philosophies and sciences had and
still have profound influence in how humankind organizes itself today. His
laziness, aside from the Greek stereotype, also stems in part from that fact
that he’s a night person.

“The whole problem started as he joined the Euro zone.Thanks to Greece, Germany had to mobilize all his resources, and he is now fully dependent on him.

Despite this situation, he’s mostly eating good food, sleeping, thinking about philosophy, and is generally happy like usually.”

Misconception: Because he’s so absorbed in his mind, he’s a
recluse.

Reality: He’s one of the most sexually active aph characters
out there.

Ex: He’s very natural and forthcoming about the topic of
sex.

Ex: It’s hinted that he once slept with Japan, although
Japan dismisses this as a dream.

Bonus Facts:

Still on the topic of Japan, Greece shares a very close and
wholesome friendship with him.

The two have undergone many cultural
exchanges.

His hobby is excavating his mom’s ruins [Ancient Greece].

In an EU meeting, he once proposed to get rid of the concept
of debt.

Hetalia Webcomic: Is hilarious and silly but also grim and thought-provoking.

Hetalia anime: Only animates the weird stuff because money.

Can you tell people that Greece is actually really smart?

I’ll let Greece prove this himself.

“Destruction of the physical body is death. If the reality known as “life” were to be extinguished, will people know you really existed, that you once ate and drew breath…leaving behind tokens of our existence is essentially the same as not dying…For human beings, being remembered does not mean we truly vanish..~~.incidentally, I wish to pet a cat, a cute cat. I want to pet a cat. I want to pet a cat.”~~

Ah, yes, yet another under-rated character. I’ve always wished that Hima would cover him more in the strips. I would love to see more of Greece’s outlook on immortality given how old he is.

Regardless, what little that we do get of him is pretty interesting in itself, whether it has to do with him reminiscing over his mom’s legacy, generally philosophizing, his laissez-faire attitude towards expressing one’s sexuality, or even the comedic relief of his involvement in the EU.

I’d also like to quickly point out that he doesn’t hate Turkey. Although they claim to hate each other, their actions often prove otherwise.

Characterization post on Greece coming up tonight!

Before I go through case examples, I want to go over some
important ground rules pertaining to the subject of economics and how nations are
affected by it.

1) When a personification has a cold or is
physically unwell, they’re having problems with their politics and/or are
experiencing a recession.

2) An economic recession will impact a nation’s
health differentially depending on their economic standing.

Ex: During the
Great Depression, some nations were more affected than others, as designated by
greater negative signs.

3) If the nation itself is poor, so will the
respective personification.

With all that in mind, just like political independence and
a stable, functioning government, the strength of a nation’s economy is an
equally important factor in influencing the personification’s age. The best way
I can explain this process is that a nation’s age is a result of an amalgamation
of factors.

Some personifications will go through a gigantic growth spurt
in reaction to their country’s own surge in economic prosperity.

Other
personifications, while lacking official political recognition, are able to age
upon achieving and maintaining economic prosperity through high GDPs.

Lastly,
there are officially recognized nations who remain young as a result of poor and
inconsistent economic growth.

America:

Of course, I’ll start with the most obvious and well-known
example. America grew up quickly in tandem to his growing economy, despite lacking
independence from England.

“Because he was relatively tolerant of religion forms, America became a melting pot for various cultures, arts and crafts. Soon, he began to grow an industrial prowess and rivaled England himself.”

Meanwhile, Canada, who didn’t possess the same
economic strength, aged at a much slower rate than America.

The point to differentiate between the two brothers is the
impact that their economies had on their biological ages.

Chinese Autonomous Territories: Macau and Hong Kong

While they are presently considered to be autonomous territories under a one country-two systems mode of governance and therefore lack full
recognition as nations in themselves, Macau and Hong Kong’s strong industrial
economies allowed for them both to age.

This lack of official autonomy is depicted by both of them
living in China’s household.

Macau:

Macau was originally Portugal’s underling. He was East Asia’s
centralized and most successful trading port before being superseded by a
younger Hong Kong.

As such, despite being part of Portugal’s house, Macau’s
commercial success was enough to make him an adult.

That’s all we know, as he’s not given an exact canon age.
Now, he remains as an older brother figure in China’s house. Again, it’s his
economy that primarily contributed to his physical maturity.

Hong Kong:

Hong Kong was little when he became English territory.

Becoming an economically-successful trading port is what contributed to his growth.

However, because he’s not a nation-state in himself,
this would explain why he’s 16-17. If he did become a full-blown nation, the
consistency in this rule would likely have him age again.

Historically, Macau’s a lot older than Hong Kong – this might
offer a plausible explanation for their differences in age.

Taiwan:

This one’s a bit tricky and controversial given the testy
disputes regarding China’s claim of sovereignty over a self-governing Taiwan.
Nonetheless, there’s still an economic factor that accounts for the reason why
Taiwan is older in age [as opposed to a small child]. She’s also a strong
industrial power, despite not receiving international recognition.

On the other hand, Taiwan was officially recognized as China
in the UN before losing its seat in 1971. This also may have had an impact on
Taiwan’s age, although since none of this is presented in canon, all I can do
is speculate.

Latvia:

Not only was Latvia historically repressed politically, but
his agricultural economy isn’t doing all that great today either. Both of these
factors account for his young age, regardless of how long he’s existed
chronologically.