I saw someone say that
Spain is an angry drunk in canon. Is there any truth to that?
It’s canon. He’s scary
enough to change Sweden’s facial expression. Although, he gets “sentimental”
when he drinks wine.
Source: Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans., Oct 6th, 2011).
Have you done an in depth analysis of the
relationship between France and England? If so, would it be too much to ask you
to link it? ^^, If not, could you do one?
I have [x]. Next time, please go to my Post Directory. I don’t want asks like this to become a habit. All links are provided.
Um, this question might be kinda dumb but I’m
honestly not sure… Is Japan’s first name “Honda” or
“Kiku”? Because in fanworks I’ve seen it both ways and it’s a little
confusing.
His first name is Kiku. They address people by their last name first in Japan.
Do you happen to know why Turkey wears a mask?
At first I thought it was part of his Ottoman Empire outfit, but we still see
him wear it in modern day. Why is that?
I’ve already answered this [x]. It’s another Q & A, so I know it’s harder to find 🙂
It’s canon for personifications to change titles. The Prussia = East Germany connection has not explicitly been made in canon, but it is heavily hinted at and is very obvious.
Source: World Stars Chapter 1.
Ex: Prussia began as a Catholic Order, evolved into the Teutonic Knights, and then into Prussia. Hungary began as an equestrian tribe. Liechtenstein was originally Austrian nobles.
As most people already know, the nations’ body parts represent
different geographical landmarks/ land within their territory..
What I’ve found particularly interesting about Hetalia is
that it plays around with the idea of Cartesian Dualism, conforming to its
rules at times, while at other times subverting it.
The basic and essential principle is that the mind and the
body are two separate things. Himaruya, on the other hand, blurs those
boundaries.
I’ve broken down representation of this dualism into a model
consisting of three categories.
1)
Physical body part = geographical elements
2)
Geographical element –> personality influence
3)
The sociological collective –> bodily influence
Let’s break down these categories.
Physical body part = geographical elements
Fairly self-explanatory. As mentioned above, geographical
elements of the nation are reflected in the personification’s body.
Source: Comic Diary 2, Hetarchive.
Geographical element –> personality influence
The body in question here is the
body of land as opposed to that of the personification’s.
In these instances, the geography
and/or climate of the country affects the personification’s personality.
Ex: Iceland’s volcanoes and cool
weather are reflected in his canon hot and cold personality. He’s quick to rise
with anger but just as quick to cool off.
Source: World Stars Chapter 114, Hetascanlations.
The sociological collective –> bodily influence
This last category has more to do with the collective unconscious
of the society in question.
Ex: Both Italy brothers’ curls represent the “sexual
something” of Italians and function as an erogenous zone.
Source: Notes and Etc, Hetarchive.
Ex: Austria’s mole is said to have a similar function to the
Italy brothers’ curls.
Source: Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans., June 26, 2008).
My best guess is that this is a reference to Freud, who
believed that humans at their core are primarily sexual and aggressive beings
and that civilization exists only by repressing these urges into the unconscious mind.
Lastly, although it doesn’t exactly fit into this category, Austria’s glasses also represent his “musical something.” It would stand that this is a larger reflection of Austrian culture considering that classical music is something they are known for.
Source: Hetarchive, Notes and Etc.
In sum, while I understand that Himaruya likely didn’t have
an intent of tracing out and implicating Cartesian Dualism into his characterizations,
it still provides us with an interesting lens to analyze his work. It also proves
that a lot more thought and consideration was put into the characters than he’s
given credit for.
It’s not just “I knew you when you were this little!”
Italy’s shocked by news of his old height. Also, why is Hungary telling him that she was married to Austria when all three of them lived in the same house for a substantial period of time?
One is just a structure Himaruya uses. I find it funny when
he does that little side bubble thing, where the characters give snarky
comments with a miniature version of their faces.
I also think the political and economic jokes he makes about
the EU are quite funny. Obviously, not the situation itself but dark humour never
hurts!
Ex: Spain and Greece attaching themselves to Germany.
The following post will examine hints of romance and/or useful
tools that can be incorporated when characterizing this pairing.
Backdrop:
Briefly, it’s important to situate the course of their
relationship.
When they were younger, Hungary used to beat up Austria. Remember
that Austria was originally born as a fighting nation and only became an
indoors person after he resorted to marriage to solve his problems [x].
This power-balance later shifts when Austria acts as the
head of the Holy Roman Empire household and Hungary becomes his subordinate [x].
Although it’s not depicted, the two are later married under
their dual monarchy. Hungary’s cited birthday (June 8th) is also
their wedding day and corresponds with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 [x].
Negotiating Behind
the Scenes:
It would be inaccurate to say that Hungary passively
accepted being under Austria’s rule with open arms, not to mention that it
would disparage the strength of her character. It’s a lot more “complicated”
than that.
Hungary is described as having “defiant feelings” over having been under Austria’s rule. In tandem, she’s also said to have “complicated,
yearning-like feelings towards him,” [x].
How I’ve interpreted this before is that the nations have
two selves: the personal and the political. While Hungary may have resented
Austrian power, she didn’t represent Austria the person despite the fact that
he was the embodied personification of the nation in question. Hungary was
ultimately caught between a rut of representing her nation’s best interest and
her own experience as a person in her own right.
Still, even when she was a servant to him, Hungary still
considered those in the HRE household to be her family. Regardless of the difficult
nuances of their political statuses, there were deep personal bonds present that
shouldn’t be overlooked.
Likewise, we also know that Hungary developed a complex over
settling down and feared that her battle skills would get rusty [x].
This is far from the case.
Ex: Hungary was keen to fight for Austria during the War of Austrian Succession [x].
Aftermath:
As mentioned, the series doesn’t cover the course of their marriage
and instead depicts the aftermath. On the other hand, several hints of romance
are enough to suggest the likely possibility that the two did and still do hold romantic feelings for each other.
Ex: Hungary is too shy to visit the then annexed Austria and
instead asks Germany how he’s doing. Her reason for not wanting to see Austria
is that the state of her economy had caused her to develop a dishevelled appearance.
Either way, it seems that she still cared about how she
looked around Austria. Notice how she blushes too.
Ex: In the same time period, Hungary secretly cleans up
Austria’s room without him noticing.
The most well-known example is during Buon San Valentino.
Ex: Hungary receives a Valentine’s Day gift from an
anonymous source. The deliverer gives a description that matches Austria’s [x].
However, it’s not so anonymous to the reader given that the
strip’s title is “Hides his name but not his Mariazell.”
The two are also very close in modern times.
Ex: They spend the Christmas 2007 event together as a
couple. Their relationship is enough to make Prussia—who was already
feeling lonely—cry [x].
Ex: They coordinate their Halloween Costumes together—
Hungary dresses up as Austria’s prince in the Halloween 2011 event [x].
In sum, while historical tensions may have caused reciprocal
tensions in their political relationship, this doesn’t necessarily mean that
the same tensions were reflected as strongly in their personal relationship.
The two genuinely do care for each other and haven’t seemed to have abandoned
their husband and wife roles; this is on top of the suggested romance between them.
What she’s thinking: This is so much fun~!
What he’s thinking: I’d rather be at home in my underwear.
AusHun will always have a special place in my heart. It was one of my first ships!
Shipping post coming up tonight!
Misconception:
She’s not a pervert or presently maintaining that she’s a raging pervert.
Reality: Old tropes
pretty much characterized her as a fujoshi. The latter has since been
discarded, although some, much tamer elements of it remain.
Ex: Due to the high volume of gay porn videos in her country,
Himaruya depicted her to be obsessed with “cute boys,” [x].
Later in the series, we still see her getting excited over similar
things, but it’s much in the same way that any girl fawns over a cute boy—butts,
abs, muscles, or in this case, a fan request steering Austria onto the topic of
underwear.
Misconception:
She and Austria hated each other; therefore, a romantic relationship between
them is impossible.
Reality: Hungary possessed
“defiant feelings” over being under Austria’s rule, but also held “complicated,
yearning-like feelings towards him,” [x]. Evidence suggests that they still have
romantic feelings for each other.
The point of differentiation here is how the nations are
able to separate their political and personal selves. How I interpret this is
that she was defiant towards Austria the country, not Austria the person
whom she lived with in the same house.
A further substantiation would be a character note claiming
that Hungary is fond of Austria because he was the first person to treat her
with kindness, as opposed to other nations in the past who treated her very
poorly (Vol 1).
Nonetheless, the two still fought a lot until they formed a dual monarchy.
Ex: Austria ‘anonymously’ sends Hungary flowers for
Valentine’s day [x].
Ex: They spend their holidays together seemingly as a
couple. Prussia actually tears up at the sight of them, a likely mix of
jealousy and lamenting over his own loneliness [x].
Ex: Not necessarily romantic per say, but Hungary secretly
cleaned up after Austria despite their marriage (empire) having been dissolved.
Misconception:
She and Prussia hate each other.
Reality: 9/10 times,
they’ll be fighting, but they don’t truly hate each other. It’s more like they really don’t get along.
Ex: She’s said to hate Prussia due to him “making fun of her
hardships in childhood,” [x].
This bickering dynamic doesn’t go away as they mature [x].
Ex: They consider each other to be family during the
holidays. Of course, that doesn’t stop Prussia from finding an excuse to initially bar her and Austria entry into his and Germany’s home. He was just being an ass,
nothing more.
Still, this shouldn’t
negate the fact that they worked with each other on several occasions.
Strips even allude to the fact that Prussia has unreturned
feelings for her.
Misconception:
Hungary gave up everything for Austria and rendered herself weak and feminine.
In other words, she copped-out.
Reality: While
Hungary had a complex over settling down with Austria and feared that her
battle skills would get rusty, she did anything but cop-out [x].
Even though she bore stereotypical feminine household
chores, she still holds the title as the “manliest” country in the comic (Vol 2).
Ex: She didn’t hesitate to aid Austrian troops and kicked
some ass while doing so [x].
She was raised to be like a man by Magyar and initially
identified as such. This only changed when she matured and realized
that she was actually a girl [x].
She and Romania get along like dogs and monkeys (the
Japanese equivalent of the saying “like cats and dogs”).
She’s described as a big sister-type (e.g., she acts maternally
towards Italy and Germany) [x].
Ellawritesficssometimes 