The original Salt Bae.

You touched on the Italy brothers not really getting along. What about during their childhood? I know they were isolated from each other, but is their any strip where they actually act like brothers?

You’re right. They didn’t have much interaction, but there
is this one strip where Austria and Spain host a playdate.

Things weren’t really that tense between them until after Unification.
Even so, I think the fact that their curls lock together might hint at how deep
down, they’ll still always love each other.

Is it true that Austria used to wear a corset?

Yes! It used to be part of men’s fashion wear.

The best part of this scene is that Hungary congratulates the person who got Austria onto the topic of underwear in the first place.

I love your posts so much (I’m such a hoe for meta,,)!! Could you do one on Austria and Hungary (and potentially Prussia in relation to them)?

AusHun (platonic and romantic) would probably need a whole post on its own, but I can certainly go into the relationship dynamic shared between the three of them.

As for PruHun, it’s more one-sided on Prussia’s part. It’s still worth exploring, though, as it requires delving into the depression and loneliness Prussia keeps contained within himself.

Post coming up soon!

I have two moods when I’m writing fanfiction…

1) Producing ideas like a deranged mad scientist in the middle of the night.

2) Rewarding myself with an undeserved break after writing one sentence and hating my existence.

If you ever need to explain a fandom to someone,

just show
them this:

Despite the anachronism, there’s a reason why Prussia makes
such use of the word. His history in terms of strength is extremely messy,
considering that he fluctuates between being a large and dominant power to a
smaller, subordinate, and less important one.

For example, after the Battle of Tannenberg, then as the
Teutonic Knights, Prussia became a lackey to Poland. He’s also noted to have
mellowed out considerably during this time.

The obvious and simple conclusion is that the use of the
word awesome helps console Prussia when he’s in one of these power slumps. But,
there’s a much deeper insecurity and superficiality lurking behind the word
that I’d like to explore briefly.

There’s a sort of desperation to it that matches well with
one of his character notes. That is, Prussia’s willing to do anything if it
means becoming stronger. In tough situations where he’s been sapped of physical
strength, however, he turns to the pen to help reassure himself.

His diary entries, regardless of the time period, only
record his moments of self-proclaimed awesomeness. It conveniently leaves out a
whole lot of information.

Let’s explore one of these fluctuations in power, as well as
the impact that it had on Prussia’s self-esteem. In the early 1700s, Prussia’s
culture and economy lacked in comparison to other strong-heads in Europe –
France in particular.

When Frederick I confronts Prussia about this, Prussia gets
defensive and says that he looks cool regardless of the clothes he wears.
You’ll see in a second that this is a straight-out denial, as he believes the
exact opposite.

Regardless, what’s important to emphasize is that at this
point, Prussia wasn’t on par with the other “great nations” in Europe. Wanting
to become stronger, Prussia then spies on France’s blooming culture and studies
it rigorously.

Prussia quickly internalizes France’s aristocratic
appearance as something that equates to strength and power, and subsequently agrees
to let France help style his military uniforms.

Once he has a flashy uniform, notice how Prussia’s words
change. It’s not just a cool uniform. It’s an “awesomely” cool uniform. The
fact that he’s vocalizing the word seems to suggest that he’s taking more pride
in his appearance; more than that, he truly believes what he’s saying.

Prussia’s obsession with strength and power is clearly
unhealthy, and Austria is quick to call Prussia out on this… not that he
listens.

Overall, what you see with Prussia is a consistent bouncing back and forth in terms of dominant or subordinate status. He goes
from frugality and relative unimportance to a dominant figure, and then back to
a lesser power again.

His self-image is everything to him, whether it’s preserving
it, convincing himself that it’s something that it’s not, or relishing in the
high that comes upon experiencing a periodic phase of power and prestige.

This strip just before German Unification really reiterates just
how badly he wants to become a powerful nation again. He wants to be the center
of it all…all the time.

To me, Prussia’s arrogant behaviour is a sort of overcompensation
for someone, who, at a deeper level, realizes their inadequacies and inferiorities,
but refuses to accept them. He likes to live in the sun, to flaunt his
achievements, but until he learns to confront the shadow that these vulnerabilities
leave behind, he’ll continue to live an artificial and lonely existence.

There’s a difference between power and control, and a sense
of empowerment and competence that comes with acknowledging one’s true self,
both the good and bad elements of your person.

Considering how lonely Prussia is, it would seem that he’s
unable to reconcile these insecurities into part of who he is. It’s for this reason
I believe that he’s remained single/ hasn’t married, aside from the obvious political
and historical justifications.

Prussia’s very selective in what he chooses to show, whereas
the intimacy of a romantic relationship involves acknowledging one’s strengths
and weaknesses to your partner.

In other words, he doesn’t want to appear small to others,
as in his eyes, that may echo the subordination he’s historically
experienced.

Marriage with the nations is a lot different than
traditional, primarily Western notions of it. It arises more out of a sense of
political duty, an arranged alliance or
partnership, and sometimes it just so happens that a romance forms between
the two countries involved.

Typically, what I’ve seen is that marriage at its core in
the series involves two countries merging together, either into a co-state empire,
a co-state kingdom, or a separate sovereign nation with distinct ethnic groups
and cultures. There aren’t any ceremonies, but rather, it entails a mutual dependence
and relative respect between two political entities.

That said, it’s important to mention that two countries joining
together via annexation does not fit into this marriage equation. There’s a
difference between being conquered and subordinated and forming a mutual
union. On the other hand, that doesn’t go to say that there’s perfect equality or
power balances in marriages between nations; Austria’s control over Hungary is
a perfect example of that.

All right. Let’s go over some examples of marriages, shall
we?

Austria’s character is known for his quirky tendency to
solve his problems through marriage.

First, there was arguably his early ties with Switzerland. I’m
counting this as a marriage mainly because it involves the use of the word
partnership and honeymoon (albeit jokingly).

Notice how as soon as one tries to control the other, the partnership ends. While Switzerland does
reveal some fondness over his early memories spent with Austria, there’s
nothing particularly romantic about it, especially given the fact that they
were young children at the time. Again, marriage for them is essentially the
joining together of nations.

Next, Austria marries Spain via the Hapsburgs Monarchy.
Here, you actually see a hint that Spain harboured romantic feelings for
Austria during the Austrian Wars of Succession. It was a political merger
that likely later involved the development of some intimacy between the two.

Then, you have Hungary. After the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian
empire, it’s very heavily hinted that Austria still bears feelings for Hungary.
In Buon San Valentino, Hungary receives roses from an anonymous man that’s
conveniently described as having glasses and one hair sticking up.

On the other hand, there are marriages that involve little
or no romance at all. Take Czechoslovakia for example, two countries united by a
hyphen. Yes, that’s an actual joke in the series.

Still, what’s interesting is that when Bulgaria talks about
their separation in terms of a divorce, they’re quick to deny the claim, mainly
because of the romantic connotation marriage carries.

How I interpret this is that the two may have developed
feelings, but never told each other.

Bulgaria bringing up the topic of marriage in a casual political
sense merely may have caused them to get defensive because of these unvoiced feelings.
This isn’t confirmed, so don’t take it at canon value.

I know I’m repeating this, but it’s important that I make
this as clear as possible:

Marriage = a merger between two countries.

I say this because I’m going to apply these rules to Belarus
and Russia. Belarus wants to marry Russia and loves him to the point of obsession.
She’s even forgotten her own language at one point in favour of learning Russian.

But, does it ever say that Belarus loves Russia in a
romantic way?

No.

What it does say is that she wants to “become one” with him.
Sounds like a merger if you ask me.

When Belarus says marriage, she wants their countries to
join together. There’s nothing romantic about it, so hopefully this stops
people from misinterpreting their relationship.

In summary, marriage between the nations seems to involve a political
merger between two countries (partnership, co-ruled kingdom/empire). It can have
a romantic element to it, but this isn’t always the case.

theory about prussia shooting birds out of his hand?

I’ll admit. At first I was skeptical as to whether Prussia
shooting birds out of his hands had any particular reason outside of comedical
purposes. While what I’m about to say may still be a stretch, the symbolism of
the type of bird used adds a whole new understanding to this strip. It’s fascinating
and incredibly clever if Hima truly did mean to employ this extra layer of
meaning.

In Chapter 12 of World Stars, we’re given insight into the
origins of Germany. Right from birth, he was thrust into wars. It’s a good thing Prussia was there to step in and protect him.

Now, I think it’s already assumed by most that Prussia’s
birds are canaries. As a spirit animal, the canary represents new beginnings. The
sound it makes is also seen as a sort of healing song, one that cures the wounds
from a past life.

Tying this back to the strips, if Germany is reincarnated
from Holy Rome, then the canary’s symbolism of birth, new beginnings, and the
healing of wounds from past lives is especially relevant.

What’s more, we also
know that Prussia plays the flute, which in Greek mythology symbolizes the shepherd.
The shepherd’s role is to tend to their flock of sheep; that, as well as
herding said flock together.

I went into this in
an older theory, but basically, Prussia’s flute-playing – while also stemming from
the influence of Old Fritz, who also played the instrument – may in fact
symbolize how he herded the ‘flock’ of German states together into one sovereign
nation. Remember that it was Prussia who led this unification.

Taken together, Prussia shooting canaries out of his hands in a figurative sense can mean several
things. One, it represents Prussia soothing the wounds of the before fragmented
Germany. Two, it symbolizes Germany’s new beginning. Three, it can serve as a
reference to the brutal wounds that were
inflicted onto Holy Rome before he died in, yes, war.

And four, it can also be a reference to the number of new
beginnings Prussia himself has undergone. He started out as the St. Maria’s
order, evolved into the Teutonic Knights, somehow became Prussia, and then presumably
into East Germany.

I still don’t know how to feel, considering that the most
asinine thing – a bloody bird – can actually
symbolize all this.

Spain and Austria were married, right? Is there any hints that one of them had feelings for each other?

While marriage in the series is not always romantic and may only equate to a political alliance, it does seem like Spain experienced some heartbreak over Austria.

This takes place in the Austrian Wars of Succession arc.

Then again, Spain also experienced some heartbreak over losing Italy too.