Hello. Is America actually fat? He is obviously
has some worries about this. He doesn’t like his body? Is he heavy because of
this or is this just muscles and America’s paranoia?
He’s not overweight, but
he thinks he is. He’s just big-boned and doesn’t understand that they’re
muscles. Longer post on that here [x].
Source: Hetascanlations, World Stars Chapter 23-24.
Hey, if it’s no trouble, could you mind
offering some characterization advice in regards to Russia? His canon
personality is already hard to get a grasp on, and it gets even harder when you
try writing him in more slice-of-life situations such as Human AUs. Is there a
way to ‘tone down’ his unstable personality while still keeping him in
character?
I don’t give direct
advice for characterizations. It’s just awkward for me to tell someone how they
should interpret and write a character. I can offer tools that are useful to
include in your writing, but I don’t push it.
Human AUs are more lenient anyway, since it’s not canonverse.
Why are these boys
cute, Ella? WHy? Please help me understand. Citation: Every Strip
Source: Hetascanlations, World Stars Chapter 4.
Sorry, I just had to.
If there are no Canon ships, why say HRE x
Chibitalia are one when they aren’t really either (I think, and hoping, Hima
changed his mind onthat cause
that closeness was uncomfortable, and slightly offensive. No offense to those
who do ship.)
They are canon. They had
mutual romantic feelings for each other, even though Holy Rome mistook Chibitalia’s gender. It was an innocent childhood first love that ended with a kiss and nothing more. They shouldn’t be actively shipped because they’re children, obviously.
Source: Hetarchive, Chibitalia.
About the Gay-gun strip: There is a
“Beep” about America’s head… does that mean he fired it at
himself?? (Sometimes I have a hard time understanding Hima…)
I’d assume so, yeah lmao.
Source: Hetarchive, Comic Diary 9.
As far as I know, the post where Sweden was
confirmed to be gay has been deleted by Himaruya later. Do you think this still
makes Sweden’s sexuality 100% canon or around 50% canon?
Last time I’m answering
this. It was canon but was later deleted. Himaruya said that Sweden was homosexual but only for Finland. Some people still consider it to be canon. Others don’t. It’s a big grey area in the fandom with no clear answer.
Source: Link and translation can be found on the last source listed on Sweden’s profile by Hetarchive.
Is it cannon that Russia
has a scar around his neck and he covers it up with his scarf? Or just a really
popular fan thing?
Somewhat canon. We don’t know if there’s a scar, but he covers up his neck with the scarf/ bandage. It’s
from the history Copy Book.
I’ve done a post on how he also covers up his chest if
you’re interested [x].
Source: Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans., Jan 20th, 2015).
Hello! Is America’s rapid growth the reason for
his dualism? He grown up so fast that his mentality wasn’t able to keep up. So
now it’s like clashing of grown-up and child sides. His grown up side is about
working together, child side about everything being his way; grown up
successfully invested himself in the second industrial revolution, child side
believes in ‘superhero will save the day’ plan etc
Hi! I’m not a hundred
percent sure what you’re arguing but yes for the most part. He did grow up very
fast and still possesses a childish mentality. Posts on that here [x][x]. I attribute the childish mentality to his
isolation. He matured slower because he lacked interaction with other nations and comes off as egocentric without realizing it.
However, you should also
keep in mind that there’s a panel that states that America underwent a
personality change when he became an adult.
Source: Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans., Feb 25th, 2015).
As a Canadian yourself, how do you feel the
personification holds up to your experiences? (I think America is damn /near/
spot on for me, an American)
Stereotypes aren’t
always supposed to be spot on. The most accurate thing is how much American
content we consume. Other than that, yes, we are crazy about hockey. But no, we’re
not all nice. We’re actually quite smug and use America as the butt of all our
jokes…as if we don’t have our own racist history.
There’s also the fact
that because Canada is so big, there isn’t really a universal experience. There’s
the remote areas where there’s hardly any diversity and then there’s urban
areas like Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver that are extremely diverse.
The weather also ranges drastically across the country lol.
I don’t know if it was canon, but I saw
somewhere that Romano works as exorcist.
It’s not canon. Romano’s just used as a figure head to demonstrate jobs around the world (it’s part of the segment). In this case, it’s the Vatican.
Source: Volume 6.
I know we cannot expect Himaruya to personify
all countries (for obvious reasons) but i still think about how he at least
once thought about Latin American countries. Specifically Mexico, Argentina and
Brazil. I think it’d be fun to see these countries (if it were to ever happen),
what do you think?
Well, as I’ve mentioned before, Himaruya has a tendency to travel to countries before he embodies them in his work. On the other hand, the more I think about it, the more I understand why he hasn’t personified countries from Africa and the Middle East. The stereotype model would be difficult to incorporate without it being highly offensive (e.g., the uninformed and ignorant generalization that every inch of Africa impoverished). It would be pretty tricky to navigate. Although, that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t love to see them personified.
So, I live in my Dad’s basement. We have very different standards of cleanliness. I take sponges to walls, meanwhile my Dad thinks it’s okay to use body soap to wash your hands. Suffice to say, I help keep the upstairs clean but it’s not up to the insane standards of my room.
When Mathew came over for the first time, I made him drive to the Dollarama with me to pick up a pair of flip-flops for him to walk upstairs with. I then forced him into wearing a pair of fuzzy wool socks to wear only in my room. Every time he went upstairs he had to change from the socks to the flip-flops.
I have never seen such a look of defeat on a person lmao.
France and his humourous side.
Source: Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans., Dec 1rst 2014).
Yes. For future reference, I would look at the strips detailing his experiences with young America, Canada, and Seychelles.
Source: Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans., Nov 8th 2013).
@yourpikapikastuff That exact logic is what decimated Napoleon’s army. You don’t mess with Russia ever, especially if it’s during the winter.
Anon: It’s so easy to find! Just type in “Hetalia webcomic” and you’ll spot Hetarchive/ Hetascanlations as the top search. I source them in all my posts.
But yes! The anime represents like 15% of the total content (even then, they curate what parts of the strips they do use), so I would highly recommend reading the full strips 🙂 Oh. Oh my. There is no chronological order to reading them lmao, save for the printed volumes.
@fruk-de-lys Thanks, my dude ❤ Hope everything is well on your end 🙂
What this post aims to do is provide an in-depth look at the
progression of Spain and Romano’s relationship over their life courses.
Early Guardianship:
The two got off to a rough start when
Spain conquered South Italy. Romano, who already had trust issues stemming from
the twofold sword of having Rome focus all his attention on rearing Veneziano and
later dying without much warning, has these issues exacerbated by his early
relationship with Spain.
Sources: Hetarchive, Chibitalia & Volume 6.
Spain wishes that he had received Veneziano
instead and begs Austria to trade Italy brothers with him. I attribute the
crudeness of this to the fact that it was very early on in the series, but canon
material is canon material; it must be worked with. Of more importance is the parallel of coming second to Veneziano.
Source: Hetarchive, Boss Spain’s Control of Southern Italy.
Essentially, Romano develops an inferiority complex and
feels inadequate in comparison to Veneziano. He can’t cook, he can’t clean, and
he has no manners. I mention this because it acts as a backdrop for Romano’s
initial hostility towards Spain.
Source: Hetarchive, Boss Spain’s Control of Southern Italy pt. 2.
Even as Spain gives him the best care possible, Romano
denies the reality and states otherwise. Being cared for is foreign to him, so
the hostility didn’t just emerge in a vacuum. He’s distrustful and confused. Or
perhaps he’s even testing Spain by lashing out, seeing how much the latter can
handle.
Source: Volume 4.
Point is, there’s a degree of skepticism that makes sense
and it would be too simplistic to portray Romano as an entitled brat given what
he experienced in his early childhood.
Ex: Spain resorts to wearing rags and funds a whole new
wardrobe for Romano. Notice how the blush on Romano’s face (embarrassed, surprised
and flattered) betrays his true emotions rather than his hostile remark.
Source: Volume 4.
The next strip is particularly important in resolving this
sense of devaluement that Romano felt.
The frustration was mostly felt in how Romano didn’t live up
to Spain’s expectations, as he was held up to a measuring rod that reflected
Veneziano’s qualities. In other words, Romano wasn’t being valued as his own
person by Spain.
It was only until Spain learned to value Romano for his own
unique qualities and positive character traits that the two came to an
understanding.
This occurred when Romano perceived a troop of German
soldiers that Spain had allied with to be enemies. To Spain, Romano’s tantrum is
childish…but that’s because he is a child. In Romano’s world, Spain was in
danger, and he was willing to sacrifice his life for him. That’s why Romano
becomes angry with Spain and throws another fit when he’s reprimanded.
Source: Hetarchive, Boss Spain Doesn’t Understand.
The two take some time to cool off and Spain realizes that
even though Romano perceived the situation incorrectly, he had good intentions.
The message conveyed at the end of this strip– titled Boss Spain Doesn’t Understand–entails Spain learning to step into Romano’s world and understand
his way of viewing things. By doing so, Spain was able to appreciate Romano for
who he is rather than who he’s not.
In another strip, Romano shows his appreciation for the financial sacrifices Spain made for him, by deciding to sleep with the latter. Of course, it’s very Romano-esque, resulting in Romano taking over Spain’s bed. What’s touching is that Spain understands that Romano is trying to convey his thanks and accepts it as is.
Source: Boss Spain’s Control of Southern Italy pt 2.
Late Guardianship:
Although this is a brief and shallowly covered period of
their relationship, we know that the two lived comfortably and peacefully
together.
Spain sees Romano grow up from a young child, to a child,
and to a late teenager.
Source: Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans., Feb 6th, 2015).
There’s even an arc where Spain passes down his medieval
chivalric romance novels to Romano, who goes through a nerdy middle school
phase with them.
Source: Hetascanlations, World Stars Chapter 279.
While long-lasting and cordial, the stable environment
Romano had found in Spain’s home ended abruptly upon Italian Unification, where
he was forced to live with his brother after centuries of separation.
Source: Hetascanlations, World Stars Chapter 73.
It’s not so much that this creates a break in Spain and
Romano’s relationship, but as I’ll get into in the next section, it creates a
bit of a grey area for them regarding how they navigate the shift from a
guardian-child relationship to simply being friends.
Post-Guardianship:
Regardless of the fact that their guardian-child relationship
ceased to exist, Spain and Romano still relied on each other. They were and remain
as each other’s support systems.
Ex: When Romano moves to America for work during the Second Industrial
Revolution – a foreign and unfamiliar place–his first thought is to call
Spain.
Spain is still home in his mind, and home brings comfort.
Notice how it’s stated that Romano is closer with Spain than he is with his own
brother ↑
Source: Hetascanlations, World Stars Chapter 73.
The irony of their relationship is that even though Spain
has learned to understand Romano – such as seeing through his hostility – he still
remains oblivious at times. In other words, they either click and are on the same
wavelength, or they completely misunderstand each other, echoing the Boss Spain Doesn’t Understand comic.
Source: Hetascanlations, World Stars Chapter 75.
Either way, the reliance hasn’t gone away.
Ex: Spain takes a drunk Romano home after the Halloween
2013-2014 event.
Source: Hetarchive, Halloween 2013-2014 Event.
What’s new in this phase of their relationship, however, is
that Spain can also rely on Romano.
Ex: Romano saves Spain with imports during an economic
crisis. He even faces off against the mafia, whom he’s normally terrified of.
Source: Hetarchive, In just two minutes you can grasp the exterior of the European Economy.
That said, I think the “grey area” in Spain and Romano’s
relationship has a lot to do with the fact that they’ve worked away from the
guardian dynamic and yet haven’t exactly defined how they should go about their
friendship.
Source: Volume 5.
Although, Spain certainly has become very fond of Romano and
has a habit of stepping over his boundaries…
Sources: Volume 2 & Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans., Dec 5th, 2014 & Nov 6th, 2013).
Finding money you didn’t know you had in your pocket like
Ellawritesficssometimes 