Of all the many things to possibly scar me, both have to do with Hanatamago.
One, I’ve seen it spelled as Hanatamango. No, I’m not kidding.
Two, there was this one Hetaconfession where someone admitted that they’ve always imagined deValier with Hanatamago’s head. This really screwed me up.
No need to appeal to my draining youth, dearie. Grandma had a brief moment of amnesia and forgot to queue this. Here, have a treat
🍬
I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again. Hetalia is far
from simple and trivial. The amount of religious and mythical themes and
respective inter-texts woven into Hima’s writing is easy to go unnoticed
because of how comical the series is.
What this post will focus on is how Hima recreated Hans
Christian Anderson’s “The Snow Queen” with respect to Russia’s characterization.
Now, before I get started, it’s important to mention that Hans Christian
Andersen has in fact made an appearance in World Stars, so no, I’m not just
pulling this out of nowhere.
That said, here’s a brief rundown of the fairy tale. A devil
creates a magic mirror that “distorts” appearances, only choosing to reveal the
ugly qualities of those reflected in it. The mirror eventually shatters and
falls down to Earth, the shards of which are so miniscule that they’re able to
get into people’s eyes and hearts.
What’s relevant here is that the hearts of those who were
struck by the glass shards were frozen into blocks of ice.
The story later focuses on a little boy named Kai, who’s also
struck with a glass shard. Subsequent to being struck and without realizing it, he becomes cold, cruel, and aggressive. His
heart slowly starts to freeze over, but the turning point of this
transformation is when he meets the Snow Queen.
The simplest way to explain the Snow Queen is that she’s
basically like a female equivalent of General Winter. She’s able to assume a
human appearance, but for the most part, represents elements of winter in
either the forms of a snowflake, frost, or the harsh winter wind.
Nonetheless, the Snow Queen takes on a human appearance when
she entrances and abducts Kai, taking him to her ice palace. There, Kai’s heart
– and body – continues to freeze as he
becomes numb to the cold and begins to lose his sense of humanity. In the end, Kai’s saved
by his friend, Gerda.
Anyways, let’s tie this
all back to Hetalia, shall we?
As stated above, while I recognize that Hima didn’t invent
General Winter himself, it’s the relationship he has with Russia that echoes
Andersen’s fairy tale.
The Snow Queen
inflicts harm onto Kai by kissing him, and each time she does so, the numbness
of the cold makes him forget about his humanity.
General Winter does a similar thing to Russia. He attacks
Russia to the point that Russia is completely terrified of him.
Russia hates the cold, and on several occasions communicates the desire to live in a place that experiences warmer weather.
Russia’s place is so cold
that his emotions are numbed. I mean, he literally used to spend his
winters buried under snow, praying that he would be able to survive it.
This theme of numbness and losing one’s humanity is most
seen in how Russia interacts with the other nations. He’s often oblivious to
how cruel, aggressive, and harmful his actions are.
For example, he once tries to get Latvia to stop trembling
by snapping the latter’s neck.
What really ties this all together is how Russia’s heart falls out at times. This could possibly represent how his heart has yet to
thaw as a result of his cold climate, which, in turn, could explain his cruel
and aggressive behaviour.
It’s not something he can control, but is rather an undesirable
product of the madness generated by a history of childhood victimization,
bloodshed, and unforgivingly frigid weather.
Well, I mean, it’s included as part of his character
notes. But, if you’re looking for an explicit example, there’s plenty of instances where he’s shown to “escape reality.”
Here, he’s building a railroad under Stalin’s orders. To
cope with these miserable conditions, he begins fantasizing about warmer
weather.
Mhmmm. It’s honestly mind boggling how many inter-texts Hima includes in the series. This one has to do with “The Snow Queen.” Post coming up tonight!
[You guys are too nice to me, thank you oh my lord]
By the way, sorry if I’m a bit slow to respond for the next few days. I have four midterms and a paper due at the end of next week. I’m barely running on any sleep :O
Totally agree. What I was trying to get at is how people
blindly say “agh! Politics!” as a general bandwagon hate comment without really
understanding the meaning of what they’re saying. A series involving political
personifications is obviously going to be political.
Like you said, headcanons are perfectly fine in my opinion
as long as they don’t promote hatred or elicit any violence. Deeming these
headcanons to be canon is an entirely different matter. There’s a level of
maturity when it comes to respecting other people’s interpretations, and not
infringing on them is something this fandom needs to do better. It’s the same
thing as respecting ships (with the exception of the more problematic ones).
Getting offended by an opinion just because it differs from
yours makes you immature. However, politely engaging with the person, stating
your reasons why you disagree, and accepting that their opinion may differ from yours regardless is what a decent person would do.
It’s impossible to please and agree with everyone. What’s
possible is ignoring the content/ opinions you don’t like. Enjoy the things you
like and respect that what other people like may not fall in line with your
interests.
Don’t be petty. Simple.
The answer to the above question, if there aren’t any
inconsistencies with the timeline, is unbelievably fast. So fast in fact that
Germany completely dethrones America’s path to maturity. America goes from a
toddler, to a young child, a young adolescent, and only becomes an adult after
he achieves full independence.
Meanwhile, Germany goes from a young child to an adolescent/
young adult within one year.
No, I’m not kidding. The strips covering both Industrial
Revolutions testify to this claim.
The first Industrial Revolution took place in England in the
late 1800s (approximately 1760) and lasted up until around 1870.
The Second
Industrial Revolution had less to do with the textile industries and more to do
with machinery and steel. That’s where Germany comes in.
At the start of the second Industrial Revolution, Germany
hadn’t unified and therefore lacked behind in the industrial developments that
neighboring countries experienced.
After unification
(1871), this changed, and Germany became heavily involved in the machining
industry. Notice this panel here. Germany is immediately put to work…right
after being born.
That’s not the type of work a child would be capable of
doing, let me tell you.
Germany’s awkward mannerisms as he and Prussia converse with
England makes me believe that he’s a teenager here. He’s still new to the
world, and hasn’t quite figured out how to navigate it.
Here Germany is again, modifying English machinery.
Throughout these strips, Germany is not once shown to be a
child. His aged appearance combined with the phrase “after the unification”, as
well as the panel illustrating him instantly being put to work, hints at a
dramatic and unparalleled growth spurt in contrast with the other nations.
Now, think about this in terms of how relationally-impaired
and awkward Germany is with others. He never got to experience a proper
childhood. In the field of psychology, childhood is crucial; it’s where you
acquire and develop proper socialization skills.
If this is all true, then Germany never had a childhood. Well,
maybe.
He could always be
Holy Rome, but what’s important to reiterate here is that if Germany is Holy Rome, then he’s shown little signs
of remembering this childhood…
Ellawritesficssometimes 