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.
I was thinking over your arguement, and it
spurred this idea. It’s more of a what if theory, but I was thinking, and
forgive me if I’m bothering ya, what if HRE was still alive when Germany was
born? This being based on your point that a nation can live for sometime after
dissolution. So what if there was still enough for HR to still be present when
Germany was born in a separate body, and he died sometime after his birth.
Would that even be possible? lol As I said, crazy theory.
You’re not bothering me!
I account for this in my Holy Rome theory [x].
The fact that Germany is
born as a young child because he had an existing body can be taken literally.
The existing body was Holy Rome; he suffered from amnesia after switching
titles, having become Germany.
It explains why they’re
the same age, why they look exactly alike, and why they’re both wearing nightgowns (Holy
Rome was sick and didn’t die right after his dissolution; I propose that he’s
in a nightgown because he’s standing up from his bed for the first time + he’s
also coming out of hiding given that he was secretly being held in Prussia’s
house).
Yes, I’m aware that a nightgown is a device used to convey youth in the series. However, in this instance, Holy Rome being sick and wearing a nightgown could also be foreshadowing his rebirth.
Source: Hetascanlations, World Stars Chapter 12 & 187.
Edited photo, Source Hetscanlations: Germany, World Stars Chapter 12 (left), Holy Rome, World Stars Chapter 187 (right).
Do you think a nation’s physical strength is
proportional to its military strength( It’s a headcanon of mine)….I want your
opinion
You’re on the right track, but you have to think about what causes the military strength.
It’s predicated on their economic and political strength overall. Longer post
on this with more proof here [x].
Hey, i have a question that’s been bugging me
for quite a while. It’s about America and Canada. As i’ve seen in your
theories, America grew up alone, but then i’ve seen other material that states
that America and Canada grew up together. There’s a kind of contradiction
between these two materials. Can you tell me which one of them is the true one?
Thanks!
It is a contradiction. You’re right. But, it can also be worked around. Canada and America were
introduced to each other by England, but they were also able to travel on foot for
their own visits.
Canada’s statement of
them having been together since they were born could just be a messy way of
saying that they’ve known each other for so long.
Source: Hetascanlations, Chapter 178.
out of all the countries who do you think is
the most lonely?
Probably England. His
characterization is very much invested in his alienation from other nations,
both emotionally and geographically.
Source: Hetascanlations, World Stars Chapter 194.
Okay I swear on my life,
I’ve read a comic strip where Taiwan takes Vietnam to this meeting among anime
fans for subs vs dubs and Vietnam is disappointed saying something like “Oh
it’s a bunch of anime fans.” Like did I dream that??
Hello! I was wondering if you knew if Prussia
was a different nation before he was the Teutonic knights? I think I read that
somewhere but Im not sure
Hi! This post should
help. It discounts the notion that Prussia was originally a Baltic by charting
the history of the different titles he’s held throughout his life [x].
Hello! I read somewhere a couple years ago,
that once Italy thought he was chubby and ate only a bite of pizza? Something
like that hahaha I remember reading some kind of list of canon things and found
about that
Hi! Yes and no. It’s not the
pizza that made him fat. He just so happened to be eating the pizza when he
realized it.
It’s about the
demographic relationship he has with his people. He gained weight due to rising
obesity rates.
Source: Hetascanlations, World Stars Chapter 7.
i hope this isn’t a
dumb question, but ive always wondered if there was any info in canon about how
the nations get around to see each other in their respective countries so fast
😮 it seems kind of inconvenient for everyone to be so far apart from one
another!
Not a dumb question, but please refer to my post
directory next time. I have an in-depth post on that here [x].
Basically, aside from water/ continental distances, it’s possible for nations
to teleport and traverse to other nations on foot.
Ex: Lithuania stumbles across Greece during the Halloween 2013-2014 event.
eLLa. hELp. I
remember it, but can’t find it anywhere. It’s an ask Himaruya answered where he
states what kind of house America would live in as well as some other
characters. I can’t find it.
It’s from this blog post on Bamboo Thicket, July 3rd,
2008.
Source: Hetarchive, eng trans.
Question: Boss’s house seems very big, Poland’s is a castle, Japan’s is a quite detached single-family Japanese house, but what kind of homes do the rest live in? Are there any who live in apartment buildings or high-rises?
Response: “That’s a good question. They live in homes that match each era
and culture, economy, and also their moods, so it’s not like they’re permanent,
but I feel like Italy maybe is living in the same house that he’s remodeled
again and again.
America lived in a log cabin at first, and next was an austere English-style
building in the suburbs, then recently moved to an apartment building near New
York, and he seems to move quickly and randomly.”
hi js got back into hetalia after like 2 years and i never
really looked at hima’s blog and the later mangas before so i dont really know
about how he works things out, but when i js checked, hima’s been on a hiatus
(?) for half a year already, has he had breaks this long or is it possible
hetalia wont be updated anymore.
Hi! Welcome back, and yes. If you look up the timelines on his blog updates, he went through a long period of blog inactivity
during 2012. I’m not comfortable on speculating anything, sorry!
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.
Another relationship I’m pretty confused on is
FrUK. Not nearly as much as RusAme tho.When Himaruya writes these two its more
like the ho yay between them is a joke and twice Himaruya has shot down the
idea of either of them liking each other like that.France got freaked out over
a fan pretending to be England in love with him. England got freaked out over
the idea of France being in love with him. Of course you can ship as you please
but I’m just so bewildered as to why you think they could happen.
The idea of it + my
understanding didn’t just emerge in a vacuum. There is evidence suggesting a
possibility of romance for them, even if the series does give off mixed
messages.
For example: the second
instance you mention (I think it’s the World Stars Chapter you’re referring to)
shows England getting defensive about reciprocating his perception that France may have feelings for him.
“It’s not…it’s not
like I like you all or anything!” (he’s referring both to the French people and France).
Source: Hetascanlations, World Stars Chapter 317.
There’s also the running
gag where France laments about how England would be cute if he didn’t talk so
much.
Sources: Hetarchive, England Caught a Cold! + Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, Feb 2nd, 2015).
Another example would be
the Dream United Kingdom strip, which I covered already. Please look at my post directory before sending in asks.
Even though England
vehemently opposes the idea of being married to France, he cites that he doesn’t
want to marry him because of the economic desperation generated by the Suez
Canal Crisis.
“I don’t want to get
married for this lame reason,” is a rejection, sure, but it’s odd how it’s not
an outright rejection. It leaves open the possibility that he would be open to
marrying France for a better reason…whatever that is.
Do you really think so positively of a
relationship like…RusAme?Its been stared time and time again that they don’t
like one another,have an extremely tense relationship and the real life
relationship between these two countries is very volatile and just as full of
hate.Russia has even fantasized about destroying something as simple as
America’s glasses.Sure Hetalia has messages of getting along and stuff but
these two just barely tolerate each other at best.
I’m pretty sure this is
the same anon from above.
If anything, I’m a bit bewildered
as to why you claim that I view RusAme so positively? I haven’t said anything
of the such nor have I only illustrated this side of their relationship. It
would be unfair and inaccurate to claim that I have.
On the other hand, what
I have done is prove that their relationship isn’t only hate—that they can
and do get along. In the Shipping Series post I made of them, I claim upfront
that there are no romantic hints of them and instead explain that the parallels
I draw between them can be used as tools for those who ship them to use in
their characterizations.
Both posts can be found
in my post directory [x] [x].
Here’s a quote from
the opening paragraph if you want to verify.
“Below will be a list of parallels between America and Russia that I think would benefit any RusAme writer should they wish to incorporate them into their works. While in canon there is minimal romantic substantiation, this post merely aims to provide writers with tools that highlight the similar chemistries and complexes that America and Russia both experience. In no way is this forcing the ship onto anyone either.“
Lastly, as mentioned
above, while Russia and America get on each other’s nerves—as I have already acknowledged
in a post documenting their rivalry—
there are also many instances where they
get along.
Ex: They’re spotted happily drinking together.
Source: Hetarchive, April Fools’ 2011.
Ex: Russia has visited America
at his home.
Source: Hetascanlatons, World Stars Chapter 157.
Ex: There’s that café scene
in World Stars, which while highlighting how they still grind each other’s
gears, the underlying message is that they nonetheless get along in the end.
Source: Hetascanlations, World Stars Chapter 53.
I’ll be transparent in
admitting that it’s a pet peeve of mine when people only focus on the glasses
remark Russia makes in that scene while ultimately ignoring how said scene is
wrapped up. It’s cherry-picking.
Not sure if you’ve been asked this before, but
in your opinion what would you say the sexualities of the Hetalia characters
are?
If you’re unsure if I’ve
covered something, you can always check my post directory. I have done a post
on ‘sexualities’, but I use that term for a lack of a better word. I also don’t
believe in assigning labels when they haven’t been given, as I believe that the
characters are open for interpretation, and instead show how some nations are canonically
LGBTQ +.
You also have Greece,
who copes with his mother’s loss by visiting her ruins and holding onto her relics, and Romano, who can’t
be visited by Rome without bursting out into tears of happiness.
Sources: Hetascanlations, World Stars Chapter 99 & 100 Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans. April 5th 2011).
hi! I am brand new
to the fandom (weird for 2018, I know haha) but I would like to start off by
saying thank you for what you do! Anyways, my question was, so I see a lot of
fan art for different ships and whatnot. I have only watched the anime not read
the comic yet (but I plan to!) and I was wondering if there are actually any
ships that are/were canon and if there’s not any, what are the most popular
fanon ones? I am trying to be wary of ship wars haha.
Not weird at all. People still join all the time! No need to thank
me, but you’re welcome 😀
No ships are canon, other than Chibitalia x Holy Rome. Even Aushun,
who were married, are not outright confirmed to have romantic feelings for each
other. There are a lot of hints, though. If you’d like to explore ships on this
blog, plug in the tag “Shipping Series.”
Some pairings where there are canon hints of romance are
FrUk, AusHun, SpaAus, SpaIta and Spamano. I use comic material and provide sources for
you to look at, so I’m not just pulling it out of nowhere lol.
kind of new to the fandom haha but I have heard
it has quite a few ‘gay undertones’, but I was wondering there is actually any
characters confirmed to be LGBTQ+?
Oh! Another new member! Welcome!
Hetalia is very gay.
Here are some posts to
corroborate that: [x] [x] [x] [x].
I know you’ve already lengthy talked about it,
but could you please make some clarifications about ‘nyotalia’? I still see
many people in the fandom being confused about the concept(i.e.
misunderstanding them as genderbents, considering heta/nyo verses of the
original ‘couples’, for example spanyo!mano being spamano het verse). Sorry to
bother
You’re not bothering me.
It’s just, there’s nothing more to really talk about. Like you’ve said, I’ve
already covered those misconceptions. It would be redundant to make another
post.
However, I would be more
than happy to link the post again for you [x].
So what is your opinion on the *whispers* movie
??
*googles synonym for
clusterfuck*
I mean the re-used
material thing is nothing new to Hetalia. Himaruya is notorious for re-using,
re-drawing, and re-printing old material.
Do think that Estonia wants to join the Nordics
because they give a sense of community that he just doesn’t get with the
Baltics. I mean the Nordics are this really close bunch and the Baltics are
just there.
No. It’s just a reference to
how Estonia is being increasingly grouped with the Nordics in the present
political sphere. There’s an increasing sentiment that looks at the similarities
between Finnish and Estonian language and culture.
Sources: Hetarchive, Volume 6, the Meeting of the Nordics & Volume 6, The Nordic Five.
Hey there, love your blog! What do you have on Belarus and
Ukraine’s relationship?
Thank you!
To be honest, I get a lot of mixed messages from it.
Since Belarus is obsessed with Russia, you get panels like this
(i.e., she’s indifferent to Ukraine).
But then you have panels like this…
Sources: Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans., Nov 10th, 2011 + Jan 6th 2010).
It is a silly thought I’ve had but I have to
ask an opinion. Do you think our hetalia ladies experience menstruation? Did
they experience it very shortly or extended due to the fact that they are
countries? Do they experience at all??? Strange thought. What do you think?
No idea. There’s no canon
material that would be indicative of it.
Although, we do know
that biologically, the personifications aren’t that much different from humans.
Source: Hetarchive, Christmas 2010 Event.
Still, there isn’t
reproduction in Hetalia, so I’m not sure. The nations—with the exception of
Germany—are born as babies.
Source: Hetascanlations, World Stars Chapter 12.
Iceland’s birth depicts this rule.
Source: Hetascanlations, World Stars Chapter 114.
Hello there miss ellawritesficssometimes hope
you are in good health. I have a query Is it possible for a nation to have
attributes similar to that if their people such as smoking, drinking, usage if
caffeine etc. Because I was reading some statistics and this thought struck me.
I’m in good health,
thank you ^^
I’ve already done a
longer post going into the details of the relationship between personifications
and their populations’ demographics if you’d like to check it out [x].
Hi there! I was
just wondering, but wasn’t there a whole strip of comics dedicated to Romano
wanting to be a cat?
There are, yes! Starting
from World Stars Chapter 353.
Source: Hetascanlations.
It’s been years
since I saw the anime, but am I right that England says France & Italy
share a love for smoking? Was that the dub? I know Hima drew Italy with a
cigar, but I don’t recall France smoking anywhere, tho it’s a big stereotype
None are depicted smoking, but France and England
both love their alcohol (France = wine, England’s just a messy drunk). Thus
far, while it does make sense for the stereotype model, they haven’t been
depicted that way. I think it would be a good addition for a more accurate
fanon characterization, though.
The sketch with the cigar is just him and Romano
dressing up as fake mafia members.
Source: Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans., Nov 6th, 2013).
Ok, so one thing that I always wondered is
where do countries fight during a war? Like, what branch of the military? On
what front? For how long? Or do some leaders not let their countries fight? I
am confizzled, Queen Ella
(I’m not a queen ^^)
There is no specific branch that they fight
for.
Ex: They’ve fought in the trenches, the sea, and the air.
Do you think america would participate in the
hook-up culture of today (especially with the incredible ease of todays tech)
or do you think he would steer clear of it? I can’t figure out what he would
do. On one hand its very common in american teen culture but on the other hand
I think either his experience as an immortal being and/or his eating disorder
may impact how he engages in that arena. ((I’m not making a remark on all
people with eating disorders – just Al himself)) – thanks!
Mmmm. I’m not comfortable making speculations
on that since there isn’t much canon information to work from.
I do know that the nations refrain from spending
too much time with humans. Time is distorted around the nations (regarding
their aging), so humans who are around the nations a lot will have their
perception of time become so warped that they’ll go insane.
Source: Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans., sep 18th, 2013).
It’s also possible for nations to have friends.
Source: Hetarchive, Little Italy Back in the Days.
Make of it what you will!
Curious for your thoughts on things- not to be
crude, but do nations ever hook up? The strip “Frequency” having to
do with Greece and Japan made me wonder about if they actually are able to or
not, and if they do, what are the implications behind it?
Other than the Japan and Greece scene you
mentioned, there isn’t any other mention of nations hooking up. But, there’s a
whole arc in volume 1 discussing the nations’ sexual drives.
Sources: Hetarchive, Lazy Comic District + Volume 1.
+
Lithuania is a great guy and deserves better
thing to happen to him : Facts
No objections.
Source: Hetarchive, Cleaning out the Storage.
I’ve realized some more parallels between
Chibitalia/HRE and Italy/Germany.Italy feared HRE as a child but would also
climb into bed with him and the whole river bath situation.He also warmed up
enough to him to love him back-one can only assume that thanks to BSV and the
fact that they kissed goodbye.Italy does the same stuff to Germany,sleeping in
the same bed as him and bathing with him along with other similar stuff.History
likes to repeat itself,huh?
Sharp eye! I’ve done posts mentioning all of those!
Do you think that their canon heights are
meaningful in anyway at all (besides being shorter/younger to represent how
developed they are)? They seem inconsistent throughout the series when compared
to each other *during “adulthood”
I’ve done a few posts on
this. It first has to do with economic and political developments. Only then is
the average demographic height taken into consideration [x][x].
How do you think
the countries view humans? as temporary pawns? good? bad? indifferent?
It’s definitely not
as radical and dramatic as you’re framing it.
These posts discuss what you’re talking about. To boil
it down, the nations don’t view humans as pawns but rather they serve their
bosses to the very letter. For other humans, they tend to keep their distance.
When a human spends too much time around a nation, their perception of time
gets so warped that they become insane. I also want to point out that the nations are
very friendly with humans. It’s their people, after all [x][x] [x]
Last year, my
history teacher mentioned something about a theory that America gets its
greatness from its German roots and recently I realized that America embodies a
lot of the traits an Anglo-Saxon warrior is supposed to have in order to become
famous and, therefore, immoral. I’m sure this is just some stupid coincidence
but I was wondering what you think of it
I’m living for the enthusiasm but I think you’re
overthinking it. The stereotype model is based on sociological perceptions. In
other words, America embodies the generalization of what the world perceives Americans
to be. The stereotypical American is the blond-haired blue-eyed golden boy
whose prevailing belief in justice makes them the ‘super-hero’ of the world. Most people wouldn’t know about the Anglo-Saxon warrior.
Side note: I shouldn’t have to mention this, but
stereotypes are not the Truth (capital T) but a truth (a different construction
of reality).
Source: Hetascanlations, World Stars Chapter 23.
A lot of people seem to think Germany has
aspergers or some form of autism, any thoughts on that?
Personally, I don’t
think he has autism. My biases from therapeutic training sees someone who has repressed
certain emotions/ memories and is socially inept as a result of his chaotic
childhood. Post here [x].
However, that does not
mean you can’t interpret him that way! You can use a lot of Germany’s behaviours
and other idiosyncrasies to make a convincing characterization as someone who’s a high-functioning autistic.
If Hima is on a
hiatus, he might be going somewhere too, I guess. Does he have an active blog
now? I wonder if he uploads some pics. I noticed some pics on his
not-active-anymore blog but those were veeery old. What do you think?
Himaruya does have a
history of travelling during breaks. He doesn’t have an active blog, but
Hetarchive posts English translations of his WordPress blog. The posts aren’t old, though???
Ellawritesficssometimes 