aph Germany – Page 14 – Ellawritesficssometimes

Considering that the nations are described as “odd beings”,
many aspects of their existence are either left open-ended or unanswered. It’s probably
meant to be like this, as it allows Hima to have more creative leeway.

On the other hand, there’s a consistent logic in the process
of how the nations are born that I’d like to go over.

How Are They Born?

For the most part, the nations are born as babies.

Ex: Egypt and his mother, Ancient Egypt.

This excludes…

1) The micronations, who are noted to be anomalies outside
the rules of nationhood.

2) Germany, who’s born as a young child given that he
already had an existing body (I’ll get back to this in a moment).

We know from Iceland that the nations spontaneously gain
consciousness and come into existence. It’s not a formal birth process. They’re also instinctively able to tell that they’re different from humans.

What signifies them?

What signifies a nation as a baby is the nightgown they
wear. Personally, I don’t believe that the nightgown has any real significance
other than the fact that it acts as a plot device to distinguish the nation’s
young age.

How do they know who they’re related to?

Just like the nations are able to sense each other, the baby
nation is also able to sense their biological sibling.

This is seen with Iceland when he’s born. He sensed that
Norway was his brother upon gaining consciousness.

Norway also senses Iceland.

Likewise, we also know that later on, Iceland takes a DNA
test–in this case, it’s a land excavation–to confirm that there were no
Icelandic natives. Instead, the first people to settle in Iceland were
Norwegian.

That’s why Iceland and Norway are related.

On the other hand, America was colonized by several nations at once, not to mention that there
were already native tribes living there. As such, he’s referred to as an “ingredient.” He represents a mix of several cultures. [x]

Further, America doesn’t ‘sense’ an older brother from the pool of countries colonizing him. Instead,
Finland, France, and England deliberate over who will assume the role of America’s older brother.

It’s also important to mention that “onii-chan” in Japanese
does not always literally mean older brother. It can be an expression of “endearment” or “adoration.”

There are different cultural connotations that are
unfortunately lost in direct translations.

Despite this, America does, in fact, have a biological brother: Canada [x]

Germany’s ‘Existing Body’:

As mentioned above, most nations are born as babies. Germany
is an exception to this rule as he’s born as a young child…or is he?

Disclaimer, I’m going
outside canon now. This next part is theory based on canon fact.

Many people have speculated that Germany’s ‘existing’ body
means that while Holy Rome died, his body remained. Germany then resumed this
body after German Confederation.

The ‘existing’ body, then, would be the fact that Germany’s spirit
inhabited Holy Rome’s old body, hence the reason why he wasn’t born as a baby.

This perspective doesn’t make sense to me, as we know that
it’s possible for nations to live past their date of dissolution. More
importantly, Holy Rome lived past his dissolution.

Another problem with this perspective is that the nations’
bodies don’t remain when they die, but rather, they fade away. The nations are
personality-based, meaning that when their culture dies, so do they. [x]

Put another way, culture doesn’t die definitively. It fades
with time – A nation’s path to death is reflective of this.

This would explain why Holy Rome didn’t die right away, albeit being ill. The
German culture he represented was still alive and well.

Meanwhile, my take on Germany’s ‘existing body’ is vastly
different. I’m of the mindset that Holy Rome lost all his memories when he
became Germany. [post on that here].

In other words,
Germany wasn’t born as a baby because he was already existing, as in he had a living body.

In sum, while many questions about the nation’s existence
are left unanswered, there is a relative level of consistency regarding the
ages in which nations are born as well as the role that evolutionary instinct
plays in how they find their relatives.

Sure thing! I’ll do my best to clear things up.

Post coming up tonight!

Are they ‘with’ the mafia?

No. This is a common headcanon/ misconception that I’ve noticed in the fandom.

The Italy Brothers don’t run the Mafia, nor do they work for
them. Instead, they’re often victimized by them.

Since mobsters are more of a problem in the Southern half of
the country, Romano’s respectively more affected by their activities. [x]

Ex: Romano is frequently coerced into doing favors for the Mafia
against his will. He complies because he’s terrified of them.

Nonetheless, Romano has proven to be capable of standing up
to them.

Ex: With Spain’s life hanging on the line due to an economic recession, Romano refuses to hand over the imports he intends to use in saving Spain’s
economy.

Typically, however, he’s seen as easy prey for the Mafia to
get him to do their bidding.

It’s only in the above circumstance where he becomes “stronger”
than usual. Put another way, Spain’s potential death kicked in Romano’s fight
or flight instinct.

How They’re Affected:

Both Italy brothers are frequently stolen from. While some
of this is from regular pickpocketers…

Ex: Veneziano has his car and wallet stolen. [x]

Ex: Romano is well-trained in guarding himself against being
pickpocketed. [x]

…the Mafia [and corrupt politicians] also steal from the
Italy brothers, albeit indirectly.

The personification’s income, as in how much money they have
available to them in their wallet, is dependent on how wealthy their country
is. If the government is corrupt and funds are being frauded/ embezzled, the personification
doesn’t receive as much money as they should.

Ex: Veneziano’s wallet runs thin as a result of corruption
in the Italian government, specifically in the South.

It’s not like they’re not aware of this corruption either,
because they are.

Ex: Veneziano comments on the corruption within Rome’s
municipal government and casts his vote for Virginia Elena Raggi, whose
campaign ran on combatting corruption. [x]

The problem is that because the nations have little
influence in how their government
runs, they don’t have the means or resources to tackle this corruption.

Anon 1: Well, I’m not going to get into the messiness of the politics, but we do see Hungary messing with France diplomatically when it comes to her wine.

On what you mentioned, we actually have a brief hint of corruption in the EU. Hima touches on the conspiracy that Germany knew letting Greece into the EU would cause the economy to crash.

France also refers to Germany as his #1 partner in the EU.

Which Disney princess is Hungary?: Those are all good choices for Disney princesses! My addition would be Mulan. She’s not technically a princess, but she’s franchised as such 🙂

@petri-choir

I disagree. Here’s why.

We already know from canon that Hungary has a complex over settling down and letting her fighting skills get rusty. [x]

As a previous hunting tribe, for her to say that she has no interest in hunting is clearly tough on her, not to mention a contradiction if we compare this to the above piece of canon information.

Notice how Prussia expresses confusion at her “Girly get-up.” They used to go hunting together. The look on her face doesn’t come across as annoyance to me. Prussia’s egging her on, but she doesn’t snap like she usually would.

Instead, her expression seems more stuck than anything. She wants to hunt but can’t if she’s to fulfill her new role at Austria’s house.

I say this because Hungary’s known to have a short temper with Prussia given their rough history together.

This is what Hungary looks like when she’s annoyed with him.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison…

America: I’m totally open to hearing other opinions!

Also America:

There’s a profound lack of clarity when it comes to Germany’s
knowledge of the past, including his own. That said, let’s go over a brief
run-down of what we know that he knows.

Knowledge of his
Past/ Ancestors + Fabrications:

Prussia is the one that tells Germany all about his past.
What makes lots of people, including me, believe that Prussia is hiding Germany’s
unconfirmed past as Holy Rome is that the stories he tells Germany are
inaccurate. He’s an unreliable story-teller.

In this case, the stories have to do with Prussia’s own past, as he lies about how “cool” or “rugged” he used to be. Germany’s understanding of what Prussia used to be is very different from reality.

Regardless, Japan is the one who gives us the best insight on this, as
he’s able to pick up on the fact that Germany believes everything that he’s
told about the past.

On the other hand, what’s strange is in another strip where
Prussia begins telling Germany about his past, Germany is completely
uninterested. He’s more focused on chores than he is on his own genealogy.

There is no explicit discussion of Germany’s relation to
Germania either. It mostly focuses on his older brothers – the German states.

However, despite the inconsistencies in Germania’s relation
to Germany, recent strips claim that Germany is his son. Again, what I find
strange is that Germany doesn’t inquire about his past far enough to at least
know about Germania.

He knows about Rome and even encounters the latter when he
visits down from Heaven and yet there’s no interaction/ discussion of Germania.

I’m of the mindset that Hima’s left things unclear and
undetailed on purpose. That way, he has more leeway to work with if he wants to
confirm in later chapters that Germany is, in fact, Holy Rome. Please remember
that this is all theory, none of this is confirmed.

Research:

Despite all this, Germany has been shown on several
occasions to possess knowledge about the past, full of holes and vague as it
may be when we do see this depicted.

He does a lot of research for someone that seems to be
uninterested in his past.

Ex: He has a deep interest in Roman culture and history.

Ex: He’s conducted research in fixing historical records of Ancient Rome to make the narratives more accurate.

Ex: He once referenced the Dancing Conference, which occurred
right after the Napoleonic Wars. The point to emphasize here is that Holy Rome
was dissolved because of Napoleon.

If he has knowledge
about this figure, it inevitably means that he’s aware of the Holy Roman
Empire (duh). Likewise, historically, he would have to given what the Third Reich was
predicated on reviving…

Lastly, what’s interesting is that despite his knowledge of
Roman History, Germany doesn’t know much about Italy’s past.

Ex: He does his initial research in finding out that Italy
is a descendant of Rome.

However, in modern strips, he’s surprised to find out that
Chibitalia was able to ward off the Ottoman Empire on his own. He’s so used to
seeing Italy as a ‘hetare’ that he can’t imagine him in any other way.

Has Germany Recovered Memories of His Past?

There are two theories that I have in making the assumption
that a) Germany is an amnesiac Holy Rome, and b) he’s gaining his memories.

One position I take is that Germany has already recovered
his memories of Holy Rome but refuses to acknowledge the past and doesn’t tell
anyone about this. This would explain his lack of interest when Prussia brings
up their past. He already knows but doesn’t want to confront it.

This is well substantiated given that Germany has a strong
belief in data, and doesn’t believe in the supernatural. Even though Holy Rome
didn’t die right after dissolution, the fact that he didn’t is unexplainable.

Germany is of a scientific mindset and would therefore
probably ride it off. It’s not something he would accept. The surprise at
Chibitalia’s strength in earlier panels is simply because Holy Rome never got
to see Italy be that strong.

The other position I take is that Germany is just beginning
to recover his memories of Holy Rome, having previously repressed them from
before to guard against being re-traumatized.

Ex: In Buon San Valentino, Germany’s stress causes him to
blackout. During this panic episode, fuzzy images of Chibitalia appear, almost
as if they were semi-inaccessible memories.

Ex: Germany is once depicted to be holding Chibitalia.
Take note of the question mark and the phrase “it’s me”.

To me, this seems like
Chibitalia is an unconscious aspect of Germany’s mind trying to pierce his conscious memory.

Ex: There’s also the strange occurrence where a child that
looks exactly like Holy Rome/ Germany is pressing to be ‘acknowledged.’ From a
psychological lens, this would be interpreted as repressed memories of Germany’s
childhood trying to reach his conscious mind.

Ex: Germany’s love for Italian culture and life can be seen
as him unconsciously remembering how much Holy Rome wanted to have Chibitalia
be part of his house.

However you want to see it, you have to admit that the
amount of questions left unanswered with regards to Germany’s past is done for
a reason. We just don’t know why exactly that is just yet.

Prussia: Why do you keep telling people I’m dead?

Germany: If you’re dead, then you don’t have to pay taxes and we save money.

Prussia:

Yikes! This is still something that I haven’t quite understood, but I’ll do my best to piece together what we do know! While I have touched on what Germany possibly remembers, with a topic like this, it’s necessary to tie it back again.

Post coming up tonight!