I was wondering if you could talk about how living in Russia’s house has affected Lithuania? Got any thoughts on that?

So you want me to get into the dark stuff, huh? Your wish is my command. Post coming up soon!

What are some of the other nation’s insecurities?

I’ll go over these in greater detail in separate posts, but here’s a basic chart of what I’ve got jotted down.

America – Wanting to be liked, fear of criticism, fear of being hated, fear of being challenged, his weight/ muscles.

Russia – Wanting to be liked, being alone, fear of being hated, fear of exclusion.

England – Uses biting sarcasm in order to hide feelings of inferiority, feeling like an outsider despite being included, being lonely, can actually be really sweet but is too shy to openly help or give direct advice to the other nations, loss of power.

Canada – Not being unique or relevant enough, not being recognized for his own accomplishments.

France – Loss of power, being alone, worries of becoming irrelevant.

China – Fears being left behind in a more modern world (he’s doing just fine), fear of abandonment (earlier with Japan, now with Hong Kong), feeling like an alien due to his old age.

Germany – Problems with expressivity of happiness, being alone, worries that he comes off as cold to others, works hard but quickly becomes flustered when praised (relates to low feelings of self-worth).

Prussia – Being alone, melancholy over having never married, low self-worth and loss of superpower status.

Romano – Feelings of inferiority in comparison to younger brother, regret over snapping at people and not being seen as agreeable and likeable.

Ukraine – Size of breasts, ambivalence over leaving the Soviet Union and distancing herself from Russia.

South Korea – Wanting to be liked, unhealthily perfecting physical appearance, wanting to be unique despite following in the footsteps of Japan, China, and America.

Misconception: America is lazy and doesn’t take anything
seriously.

Reality: He’s an extremely diligent worker. He didn’t just
magically become one of the world’s top powers.

Misconception: Russia is a psychopath.

Reality: A psychopath
thinks only in terms of themself, has subdued and withdrawn emotions, is
narcissistic, doesn’t understand the consequences of their actions, is extremely
manipulative, and routinely lies.

Russia, while maintaining a child-like personality and not
being able to understand the consequences of his actions all the time, is an
extremely emotional and sensitive individual. He cares about others and wants to
befriend them, but has trouble healthily expressing this.

Misconception: America and Russia must hate each other,
because, ya know – the Cold War.

Reality: Russia and America get along very well, but like to
tease and make passive jabs at each other.

Misconception: The Italy brothers prefer guys.

Reality: They tend to flirt with girls more, despite the
obvious Spamano and Gerita hints in the strips.

Misconception: The nations are portrayed as dumb.

Reality: They play a key role in the intellectual revolutions
their countries experience. They’re all geniuses (some more than others, arguably), having been shown to pioneer and
invent various technologies.

The Cold War:

America: I’ve got a big p–! Nukes, I’ve got nukes and spaceships!

Russia: Same… nyet homo.

Having a bad day? Look at this.

What do you think are some important themes running throughout the series?

Hmmm. I’ll go with the less obvious and underlying ones.

-The Italy Brothers’ eyes
-Germany’s inability to smile.
-Germany’s love for Italy’s climate and culture + his deep interest in Roman history (*cough Holy Rome)
-Japan’s clairvoyance abilities + his limited memory
-Russia’s curse
-America’s dual personality
-China and Japan’s old age
-England’s alienation
-France’s loneliness and overcompensation as a Big Brother figure

Who are the Schuyler sisters?

Hamiltalia:

Lithuania as Angelica Schuyler

Belarus as Eliza Schuyler

Latvia as Peggy Schuyler

Work, work! The Satellite sisters!

Natalia!

Toris!

And Raivis!

Latvia: Vanya said not to leave alone

Lithuania: Vanya doesn’t need to know

Latvia: Vanya said not to go out West

Lithuania: Like I said, you’re free to go (not really)

But—look around, look around, the
Revolution’s happening in America!

America!

Since you like your history, who’s France and Russia in Hamiltalia?

France as Lafayette:

Russia as John
Laurens:

Oui oui, mon ami, je m’apelle François

The Lancelot of the revolutionary set

I came from afar just to say “Bonsoir”

Tell the caterpillar “Casse toi!” Who’s the best?

[Honhonhon] C’est moi!

Fun times! Fun times! Da!

I’m Kol Braginski in the place to be

Two shots of mead, but I’m workin’ on three, uh!

Those red pests don’t want it with me!

Cuz I will squish chicka-a squish these Brits

till Fedya’s free!

I’m still not too sure about this one, but since this is
also another thing that’s been heavily requested, I have no problem explaining
what little I do understand from it. That is, if there is even any thing to
make sense of…

We’ve seen that the nations can transport or travel across
borders in a short period of time. The first thing I’ve noticed about this
ability is that it requires some sort of connection. In the “We’re Shipwrecked”
strip, since China has villas – China towns – all over the world, he’s able to
use them as a method of transport, travelling as far as the island of
Seychelles.

In the Christmas 2011 Event, this idea of connection comes
up again as Russia proposes to Japan that they build a bridge in order to
connect their houses, making it easier to travel.

However, there are times when transporting is difficult for
the nations. In my opinion, I think distance is the key factor here. For
example, we see that Italy travels to Germany by crossing over through
Switzerland on foot.

In the 2010 Christmas Event, we also see Finland travelling
to Sweden’s and Germany’s houses without any difficulties. On the other hand,
when asked to interview Seychelles and Greece, Finland either mails or texts
them.

For Seychelles, Finland states that “her land is a bit far.”
You also likely have to factor in the obstacles of water (or mountain ranges,
deserts etc.) in travelling, as not all countries are connected by land, or if
they are, it’s not always flat and easy to travel across.

It seems that distance and connections between landmasses is
what allows and/or inhibits the nations to travel on foot, as opposed to more standard
means.

Any juicy or angsty RusAme hints in the comic that I can use? I just joined the fandom, and would like to be as accurate as possible. Thank you!

If you’re asking about hints, that requires a lot more time and thought. However, there are some similarities between them that I can briefly go over. In my opinion, it makes for excellent shipping material.

For starters, they’re both incredibly insecure individuals. They want to make friends but have trouble doing so, and don’t always recognize that what they’re doing is wrong.

Ex: America being nosy and poking into everyone’s business, and Russia’s cruel treatment of other nations under his rule.

Personally, what I would use as a good focal point for conflict is the fact that they both think everyone hates them: