#african hetalia

[thatdawgx]

We need to start talking about human names given for Yugotalia characters

On one side you've got names like Vuk or Šćepan and last name Krleža after historical people then you turn around and see names like Jalal(?) and Idriza which I though at first was spelled Idriža but I was mistaken

But the character that was done the dirtiest gonna be Slovenia,,,

Imagine creating a personification of slovenia and deciding to name it after the nickname that other ex-yugos gave to slovenes and let's not start talking abt the last name 💀

#I get that Tix was a young teenager when creating yugotalia but not even I would name my slovenia oc Janez Margon #I heard that some ppl complain abt name for kosovo and I agree #have you ever heard of an albanian that goes by the name jalal? #it sounds like a name african-americans have #I found some names for kosovo that sound better if anyone want to hear #what does name idriza mean???I tried founding it but no results #yugotalia #yugotaliaslovenia #hetalia

[peonycats]

Some portraits I’ve worked on in my offtime! A Miss Qatar from my coloring/shading tutorial, Mr Leb, Mr Leb but with Eyeshadow (inspired by Haifa Wehbe lol), and mr Cameroon!

BONUS:

doodle of mister cameroon with miss Central African Republic!

#aph cameroon #hws cameroon #hws lebanon #hws qatar #hetalia ocs #hetalia #historically inaccurate hair is historically inaccurate #hws central african republic #hws centrafrique #aph lebanon #aph qatar #aph central african republic #aph centraqfrique

[chocobox]

gonna be real, i think england/seychelles is one of the unequivocal worst england ships. out of all the ones i don't like, that one makes my blood boil the most because there are sooo many layers to it. reading their shit from gakuen hetalia is just a constant deluge of "Wow! That's fucking racist!" and that's literally the entire substance of their ship. like oh my goddddddddd. seychelles deserves so much better than that, and that's not even addressing the fact that she's seemingly still a minor even in the non-gakuen world...???????

#sparkletwinkles #hetalia is soooo fucking weird about its african countries i hate that seychelles is the most prominent one and she has never known peace #AND THE WAY SHE GETS CONSISTENTLY WHITEWASHED. AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

[froggi-mushroom]

I love engport, Arthur would 100% take port to Nando’s for a first date and yet port would still fall head-over-heels for him <3

#not a reblog for once #froggi rambles #hetalia #engport #porteng #get it? cuz Nando’s is kinda supposed to be a mix of South African and Portuguese..? this is dumb #love Nando’s so much

[hws-lceland]

Ok I'm curious about something.

If you pick one of the last two options, say where you're from in the tags! I wanted to include South America and Africa in the poll too, but there was not enough options and there is. Unfortunately not a lot of canon South American and African Hetalia characters.

Please reblog this if you can!

#if you reblog say what country you're from and who you're favorite character is id love to know #Hetalia #hetalia world stars #hetalia axis powers #poll #aph #hws #hetalia polls #i wrote this up at 2am i hope its coherent i don't really want to edit it

[mpregfrance]

Hetalia Headcanons - Cuba 🇨🇺🏝️🌺

his full human name is carlos ángel machado ruiz, or shortened to carlos machado. i don't have a set physical age for him but maybe around 30?

he's a marxist-leninist. very intelligent, intellectual but unpretentious, and politically active. he's an academic, probably has degrees in political science and/or economics. i could see him being a medical doctor as well, as cuba is renowned for its advanced healthcare.

he's friendly and generous with a laid back personality, loyal to his loved ones and passionate about social/environmental causes. he can be impatient, and does have a temper but it's hard to provoke and reserved for rude and ignorant people. very much a beliver of respect being a two way street.

his canon bday is may 20th and i honestly love that for him. classic stubborn taurus with a touch of unbothered gemini swag.

he's an ambivert, he throws a great party and likes to socialize but also keeps his circle small and needs a lot of alone time. i think he'd be old friends with russia, though they're not as close as they once were and ivan can get on his nerves. he understandably has beef with america, but is slowly becoming more civil with alfred.

he loves to read, particularly history and political theory. some other hobbies are swimming, fishing, playing the tres (a type of guitar) or afro-cuban percussion e.g. tumbadora (aka conga) and bongós.

his sense of humor is dry with a goofy side that comes out around people he's closer with. he has a quick wit and is always telling dad jokes. also very much a softie for kids, animals and nature.

i headcanon him as gay/demisexual, cucan is an essential ship for me personally so they're a package deal. he is so gentle with mattie, so giving and protective. they treasure each other selflessly and understand one another better than anyone.

he loves to eat and cook, especially loves when matthew cooks for him or they cook together. his favorite dish is black beans and rice with tostones. he also loves strawberry ice cream and tropical fruits.

he's afro-latino + mixed race, with yoruba (west african) taino (indigenous carribbean islander) and spanish ancestry. his skin tone would be a medium warm brown, maybe a 5 on the fitzpatrick scale. once again the canon design is kinda colorist.

he has a distinct accent and is mutlilingual, and speaks quite a bit of quebecois thanks to matthew.

his body type is buff and chubby, he's wicked strong and built like a tank but doesn't have that much definition bc the chub is hiding it. dad bod.... chest hair and moobs. he's about 6 feet tall. he has long dreadlocks that he's been maintaining since he was young.

i could see him being a lapsed catholic/culturally catholic but personally atheist. he's much more material than spiritual in terms of philosophy.

he smells like coconut, cinnamon and cigars (in a pleasant way)

he mostly dresses casually (hawaiian shirts and cargo shorts lol) if hes just chilling at home he's probably shirtless. earth tones suit him well, so do orange, yellow, pink, and jewel tones. bonus; he wears a gold chain and sometimes rings.

he partakes in alcohol occasionally, when he does he loves rum and fruit-based cocktails. sipping a lil drink on the beach is one of his favorite ways to relax and he deserves it. he does smoke weed recreationally but honestly i think matthew is way more of a stoner.

#aph cuba #hws cuba #cuba hetalia #hetalia headcanons #carlos machado #carlos mi amado #cucan #headcanons

[pinkflipphonez]

Hello! Really love your content so far and it makes me so incredibly happy seeing more people reimagining Alfred and Matthew as nonwhite compared to it being controversial 8years ago.

Ever since I joined the fandom I always had the (at the time) unpopular opinion that the NA bros were from mixed heritages (White/Indigenous), which as an American non-white Latino with Indigenous roots made the most sense to me especially considering that even in the manga they don't really represent the government, but the people themselves and both countries (especially the US) are so diverse it absolutely baffled me that they were just plain white boys. I always imagined them being mixed, but never quite fitting in with either groups.

I am sorry if I overstep on this next bit, please feel free to correct me on anything I say, I've just had a long time to think about this and how other countries would react, which is gonna put England/France into a bad light but...they were straight up horrific to the Natives. Even France.

I know you mentioned how in Hetalia, the personifications get along with their overseers/colonizers and that they wouldn't be okay with this, and I think I may have to *slightly* disagree.

I think when it comes to Nations and how they view their fellow personifications, how they look won't matter as much compared to how they act or culture wise. I can see that while the two heavily resemble Native features, when they were taken in by their colonizers they were raised to hold to those same European values that still do plague the country today. I can imagine Arthur making sure that Alfred ignores his Indigenous roots and that he's raised as a proper British colony, speaking and writing in English only, being raised as a proper Christian etc. Forced to assimilate, which has been done to so many people that come from different cultures from the time America was colonized to even now in some places. They may not look completely white, but by god will he makes sure they act like they do.

I don't think he would have ever been okay with his people being killed, tortured, having their cultures and languages erased or even enslaved, because he does not represent the cruel ideas the government has, but the people itself...which also do include the people that *ARE* okay with this. A constant battle Alfred has to deal with, which ends up with him making not the best choices.

Things aren't perfect even today, there's still so many issues that's happening where Indigenous folks are still fighting for basic rights to water, working roads, etc. But at the current time, more Americans these days (especially the much younger generations that were taught/look up about the atrocities that our government has committed, especially now that the Native voices have platforms to speak on), are much more aware. I see the brothers trying to reclaim their roots, and start what will be centuries long reparations on what their people have done to the Indigenous community. Which honestly, reconnecting with cultures after being forced to assimilate to American culture is something big thats happening here all across the United States with Latino-Americans embracing their heritage, African-Americans who were descendents of those stolen from their homeland reconnecting with their culture, Indigenous people bringing their languages and foods back to light.

It's honestly just a very difficult journey I think they would have as they have to deal with Nationhood, but forgetting who they came from and having to give themselves up to a certain group. Again, never fitting in completely with one or the other.

Again, I'm so incredibly sorry if this is overstepping in anyway or if some things don't make sense. It's such a complicated subject that really can't be summed up super easily and I did want to go longer but I felt like this was long enough already @_@

Firstly, you are not overstepping in the slightest! I am legitimately so content and kind of misty-eyed to see so many other native fans of the show both interact within the fandom and give their own interpretation on both canon and OC characters. It was never this wholesome and community-oriented when I first joined the fandom and I'm glad I stuck around to see the tide change.

Secondly, your interpretation of France and England's involvement in Canada and America's assimilation is... very accurate, and while it's something I've fought about with myself in my plotting of Alfred's life (because I don't want to hate them lol), they most definitely did have a hand in his disconnection. However, as much as I agree they are influenced by both their natives and settlers, I do think they very much hold their own reservations and opinions on the social climate around them as any individual human being would.

While American society and most American presidents were anti-indigenous and pro-slavery, there were also vigilant indigenous activists and abolitionists; there were men and women who defended and engrained themselves with native communities and there were men and women who fought mercilessly to free enslaved people. I believe Alfred was one of those people. Alfred noticed the wrong within the society around him and despised it-- but alongside his overseers and the people surrounding him, his thought process was in the minority.

I don't see Alfred participating in the genocide, assimilation, or enslavement of indigenous or Black people-- and it is not because I wish to sanitize this true history, but because I earnestly do not see Alfred being so cruel (as he was someone who also thought himself a better person than his brutal fatherly figure). I do think he did try to feel indifferent most of the time to... well, assimilate, but I also like to think he was infuriated, enraged, while at the same time having convictions on where his help is best suited as a native man with the privileges and appearance of a white man (I hc that he very consciously slaughtered slave-owners and triple k members, especially during the civil war, but I realize that may be a heavy hc to have).

I appreciate you bringing up the increase of younger folks in America beginning their decolonization/reconnection journeys because that is absolutely what I feel Al and Matt are going through actively, but I like to think they began their reconnection journey much earlier, during the rise of AIM in the 1970s. I see them being the biggest activists for all their native communities and they help in every possible way they can. Not only because they want to reconnect and amend their mistakes, but because they altruistically care for their people.

Their hobbies absolutely include remodeling the homes of elders and delivering food to them. They are very much for the landback movement and will call out anti-indigenous sentiment without hesitation. I also think Alfred separates himself from his governmental supervisors in current day and will challenge them now compared to when he stayed relatively compliant as a young nation.

I still have SO MANY theories about Alfred and Matt's origins and experiences with assimilation that I am working out, but I want to carefully plot it all out so as to not trivialize legitimate indigenous trauma, especially as a reconnector. All I can say is that if the land I stand on had a personification, it would be an indigenous being, no question.

#hetalia #hws america / #indigeneity / #assimilation / #if given the chance I will try being more elaborate but #this is a little bit of my thoughts on n8v al + matt if you squint #thank you anon I really do like talking about n8v al #kikitalkz

[pendragonsgallery]

Still not in the Hetalia fandom, but this is fun to do

Here’s more Hetalia headcanons from someone who hasn’t watched the show and only has a vague idea of what’s happening:

- When Sealand got candy stuck in the vending machine, Alfred went to help him out and got his hand stuck in the machine. Matthew came to help, laughed at his brother for a solid ten minutes, and then did the exact same thing. England and France were met with the sight of both Al and Matt with their hands stuck in the vending tray.

- China would be that person at Disney World with the ten pound lanyard absolutely stacked with collectible pins. He always tries to get discounts by saying “well they’re FROM China”. One time, mid fight with the underpaid store clerk, he called a very confused Alfred and told him to “talk to the mouse for me. I want that fucking discount”.

- France doesn’t know how to turn his phone volume off, so every notification plays at full volume.

- The Nordic nations go ham for Christmas. They buy out stores. They are FIRST in line to meet Santa. Norway can and will push children out of the way to tell mall Santa what he wants.

- Matt has convinced every single country that the plural for moose is “meese”, and he has no intention of letting them know otherwise.

- Hong Kong has used the phrase “discord kitten” unironically.

- Chad has the reputation of sending the most deep-fried, toe-curling rancid memes on the African Continent group chat, and will regularly send them in the middle of meetings. It has since become a battle of endurance for who can keep a straight face during the meetings. Côte d'Ivoire once passed out trying not to laugh.

- Austria will never admit that his top artist on Spotify is Lizzo.

- Ireland and Scotland regularly have finger soccer games during world meetings, and one time, Scotland accidentally flicked the paper too hard, and it hit England square in the forehead. From then on, the game became “England is the target”.

- Gilbert wholeheartedly believes every single Buzzfeed quiz result he’s ever gotten.

- One time Alfred forgot to bring lunch to an all-day meeting, and eventually he got so hungry he just started tearing off pieces of the paperwork and eating them.

- France is a notoriously bad driver. He insists he’s fantastic, but Matthew wrote his will on a napkin the first time Francis tried to parallel park. There is an imprint of his grip on the grab handle of France’s car.

- Many of the countries still actively go trick or treating and have intense candy-trading meetings afterwards.

- Alfred hates the taste of mint with a passion. He describes it as “created by dentists to manipulate kids into thinking toothpaste tastes good.”

- No one has told Denmark that you’re not supposed to swallow toothpaste.

#hetalia headcanons #hetalia #hetalia world stars #hws prussia #hws america #hws canada #hws england #hws france #hws austria #hws denmark #I’ll probably keep doing this #it’s kind of fun #all for roszabell as usual #stan account for rosza 24/7 #headcanon #anime

[dangara2610]

Hard to do Crossover

Time to time, watching the lots of crossovers fans do about Varian with anything, I thought about one of the fandom I liked and spend lots of years in it

Does any of you knew about the Hetalia fandom ?

Humanized countries anime, before the creation of Countryballs and Country humans but after the old newspaper cartoons about each one nation spirit like "Uncle Sam" for the USA and "John Bull"for the UK?

(My mind playing easy and silly after a whole day playing difficult xD)

Varian and Hugo cosplaying France and England because I can't decide which one fits better 🫠😎🤓

Super silly draw ~ hahahhahahahah

(My mind playing difficult before that fanart)

I tried to find who in the Hetalia cast would be fitting for a role swap with the Vat7k characters, but they are so different from each other , even the similar things between them have to be pushed xD

Long time ago, my favorite fanfics and fancomics were "Historical accurrate" focused, but most the content was about romance , so I endup becoming a big fan of:

FrUK : France x United Kingdom

USUK : United States x United Kingdom

Usually along with "FACE family" Dynamic, France and England as parents , Canada and America as adoptive sons

Then , I got a more deep liking for England , so I would get any England x (any other country) material

As well for USA x (any other country)

Varian: From a germanic country, so we have some to pick between the very Germany, or Prussia, Austria, Switzerland, Lietchestein, Bravaria or Kugel Mugel, but most of them have a serious stoic attitude

Except Prussia, who likes to play funny, is clean and disciplinated , writing a lot for his journal so everyone can know about his amazing adventures and goals, high self esteem, able to play teacher/mother/father/older brother role to any who wants to take lessons from him or who needs him, during the manga pages (and anime chapters) about Industrial revolution, he and his lil bro showed great engineering skills and enthusiasm.

Hey, when we think about Rapunzel, we were taught about her Germanic origins, then on the Tangled making, there was a mention about how the team wanted Germany as main influence and a few of Spain influence , and maybe not lots of you saw it, but there was a fanart about Prussia and Hungary cosplaying Eugene and Rapunzel that got re-posted on most old Facebook accounts about Hetalia

So feels like Prussia role was already taken at the Tangled cast, as well, Hungary on her cannon scenes, used a frying pan as weapon too.

Next pick for a fitting role for Varian, it may be , America? I don't know xD , joyful, friendly, strong, innovative, but doesn't knows how to measure his skills or social contact so he endups pushing everyone boundaries or ignoring safety codes, loves heroic tales and wants to be the hero of the situation at sigh, too bad he makes exaggerated bad takes due to his inexperience.

England, either for Hugo or Varian

A tsundere who suffered social exclusion during his early existence, who fought all the way to stop being poor, forgotten and put aside to reach riches, glory and power, not losing contact with his magical paranormal friends, yet, having difficult times to accept friendship or love from others, facing betrayings as well, a little bit of low self esteem, trying to compensate with other things (as with aggression and search for more power), for innovation, he tried engineering but his ideas were too eccentric so he would end up laughed at for his impractical machines, yet, searching ways to improve.

I need to make this shorter so I'll skip talking about France

As well about China or any other asian country for Yong

Sadly for Nuru , there are very few African or Oceanic based characters, most of them on a sole official videogame of the series with not enough screen time on the show, yet, nice to search around the fanbase

Any way, find something for an "accurrate " role swap is difficult, maybe cosplaying would be the only thing I would fantasy about xDdDDDDdD

The only "legit" version for a Crossover of Hetalia and Tangled would be creating brand new OCs of each one of the locations in the map of this world, specially about the 7 kingdoms

Bayangor looks kin to any country from Southeast Asia , so I would pick Indonesia (the series got a femenine character sketch, but then, changed it for a male one, either way, just for the manga and not the anime)

Galcrest and Nesdernia would certainly be about native american communities, sadly, most of them are drawn as OCs for the fandom, no actual cannon characters

Pittsford and Corona looks germanic enough, hehe, we could pick similarities with other European countries

The Dark Kingdom gave hints about Scotland , so it's easier

Ingvarr, according to some post, was supposed to be Persian/ Arabic influence, as well for Koto, African influence, but is vague, and both of them, reversing the role of colonization, looking like ... O dear, I have to go.

And that's all, I have to go 🥭⛅🥭🌟🌳🌟🫧⛅🫧⛅🌳🌟🌀🌀🌻 thanks for reading 🪷🌠🏵️🌹🏵️🌹🏵️🌹🏵️

#varian #tangled varian #tts varian #varian the alchemist #varian tts #rta varian #rapunzels tangled adventure #varian and the seven kingdoms #hugo vat7k #vat7k #vat7k fanart #yong vat7k #varian vat7k #varian and the 7 kingdoms #vat7k nuru #princess nuru #nuru vat7k #Hetalia #hetalia world stars #hetalia axis powers #hetalia headcanons #hetalia fanart #hetalia fruk #hetalia usuk #hetalia china #hetalia seychelles #hetalia america #Hetalia England #hetalia france

[cryptophasia-nabros]

I'm going to try to write this thought out properly.

I saw a post comment with someone saying that jazz doesn't count as American culture because it was created by a mistreated minority (ie. African Americans).

Which, look, you wanna go up to a black person on any random US street and tell them they don't count as American, you're as racist as the Dred Scott case.

I don't believe that America and Canada, as personifications of their peoples, represent only the "White-Anglo-Saxon-Protestants". Both are diverse countries with a long history of immigration, not to mention the many indigenous peoples that inhabited the land before they came into existence as countries.

Have these minorities been treated awfully? Yes. But I believe that America and Canada as personifications have suffered for it. The abuse we have heaped in each other is to our detriment as a people and a nation. And to our Nations as well. Because I don't believe either Al nor Matt represent only the white European culture. They are also representative of an Navajo child stolen from his family and forced into a Reservation school, a black girl who is spat at for trying to drink out of the Whites-only water fountain, an Japanese family in an internment camp, and a Mexican one forcibly separated at the border. They have been hurt, and hurt themselves. They have been taught to hate parts of themselves, but that part is still there.

I like to think that as time has past and we as a people have grown (somewhat anyways), so have they. When I think of our Hetalia America and Canada, I think there is potential there to explore. With all Nations of course, in different ways. But I always enjoy seeing the North America brothers depicted as more than just a mush of co-opted British/European culture. I love AU versions of them as mixed race as well, and wish it was depicted more often.

If that makes any sense....

#hws america #hws canada #na brothers #na twins #alfred f. jones #na bros #hws na bros #aph america #aph canada #matthew williams

[rosesandalfazemas]

another question but for the latino boys !

8 and 14 Martin

2 and 23 Luciano

Uhu, Latin Hetalia is in da house! let's make a little bit trouble.

Argentina:

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

To be honest, the main idea of him being an egocentric idiot. It's not that it's not real in a sense, because it is, but most of the non-argentinians (and some argentinian...) fans simplify Martin in a point that is ridiculous. He's brave, creative, very clever, inteligent, optimistic, funny, good and generous (it's Alfred's cousin in a point and they are VERY similar). I understand the foreign vision disturbs the complexity, but in some cases the "fanon" assumpsions bother me a lot.

That and the broken nose. I despise it.

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

Althought I like him in suits, the actual dialy look for Martin would be something like this one; part of it thanks for Alfred's fashion in the 90's.

Brasil:

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

He's not canon and he should be, but from Luciano I really love his pride, because it was built in a very different way . He was the only one in this part of the world that has been risen like an actual prince, and he was an Empire. Also, his mixes with african ancestors and colorful culture are amazing.

23. Favorite picture of this character?

Thanks bestie!

#hetalia #latin hetalia #lh argentina #lh brazil #character ask game #rosas says #aph portugal #lh uruguay

[j-ellyfish]

[This is cancelled]

I'm planning to have Hetalia Fan-Favorite Character Polls!

There will be 2 Winners in total, one for the Main Cast and one for Side Characters.

So I'd go this way:

Axis Poll

(Italy, Germany, Japan)

Allies Poll

(America, England, France, Russia, China, Canada)

The two Winners are then put in another Poll to declare Favorite Character out of the Main Cast.

As for the Side Characters, here's the thing.

There's too many.

And in order to do the voting in the most unbiased and neutral way possible, I cannot have more than 10 Polls for side characters, because 10 is the maximum number of options for each poll.

So, I grouped the Side Characters in 10 different polls. but the thing is, there's too many characters and they simply cannot fit in 10 groups of 10 options at max.

For this reason, besides several minor characters that barely ever appeared (such as most African Countries)*, the following characters are excluded from my polls:

Seychelles, Cuba, Monaco, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Mongolia.

[if I forgot any more that do not appear in the picture below, I'm sorry!]

The only thing I can do, is having side polls for them too if anyone wants me to, but the winners of these polls won't compete in the final Favorite Side Character Poll because yeah, max 10 options.

As for the actual Side Characters Polls, they will include the following characters:

*Some minor characters appear in the polls just because I could include them in one of the 10 groups I divided them into.

I will tag the polls in other ways too, but I plan to keep all of them under the tag #aph ffc polls as well for better access.

So, huh, yeah!!

First poll will be the Axis one.

Stay tuned~

(Please share/reblog if you can, so the voting sample will be wider!)

#ary spoke

[stirringwinds]

When it comes to personifications, what do you think are the factors that cause a nation to have a “modern” form derived from an “ancient” personification (i.e. Greece and Ancient Greece, Egypt and ancient Egypt)? I mean, I get that it may be an inconsistentency or creative choice done by Himaruya, but how is it possible for other older nations to manage to live for so long without producing a “modern heir” to replace them in the present day (i.e. China, Japan, Korea, India, Mongolia, etc.)?

interesting question! i definitely agree this is something inherently subjective.  there isn’t really a singular way of interpreting the complexity of history, let alone how we’d transpose that history onto the helltalias and their lifespan. at least for me, i rationalise some of it in relation to historiography and dynamics of political-cultural contiguity, such as with how Himaruya takes opposing approaches for China and Rome (whom i will focus on in this ask). 

for China (aka my great-grandpa): in terms of history, i want to first emphasise that all cultures change; it isn’t a perfectly continuous, unbroken 4,000 year old civilisation, even if we often like to trace Chinese history right back to the ostensible Xia dynasty. there are some elements that have endured for a very long time (like the writing system)—but there were also periods of political disruption very similar to the fall of Rome (and one can argue Rome endured in many ways). however, in terms of melding it to hetalia canon—Yao being old as balls fits quite nicely with the ‘dynastic cycle’ historiography of China—that Chinese history is an unbroken succession of dynasties. Which is flawed actually, but which has tended to dominate perceptions of Chinese history all the same. ergo—‘the empire long divided must unite’, or the thought of the first emperor ‘uniting China’ (as opposed to ‘conquering a vast empire stretching from the north all the way down South to Vietnam and other non-Han ‘Baiyue’ tribes, and Sinicising dozens of different nations that had some similarities with how conquered European and Middle Eastern/North African regions ‘became Roman’). 

to me, Yao being extremely old also fits with the way Chinese cultural influence has dominated in the region in terms of influence on material culture, philosophy and language. Like, in the Confucian hierarchy, age = prestige. He sees himself as the great empire and well spring of civilisation (humble? nah, he’s rather arrogant). He’s older than Kiku and Yong-soo, and likes to assert he is older than Lien (Vietnam) which she contests lol. With Kiku especially, I see a very long-running mentor/protege dynamic between them that has at times turned into an ‘ambitious apprentice backstabs his master’ relationship even before the modern era (i.e Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s attempted invasion of Ming China). There are also certain cyclical elements in Chinese culture; like China was historically influenced by Buddhism that came via India and its concepts of reincarnation. So, he dies but he comes back all the same, no matter if it’s in a different form (kingdom to empire to republic). as i headcanon him, there’s a mix of calm (i will endure and wait for spring to come again) but also sometimes spitefulness lol (i’m not dead yet, fuckers). 

for Rome: i do headcanon that the Italybros are his sons not grandsons. when it comes to the historiography and cultural perceptions of it, there’s a lot of thought about ‘the fall of the (western) roman empire’ and in terms of political continuity, yes it is fairly clear that the roman empire is no more. historiographically, there’s a sort of linearity to how people have perceived it too: a dramatic rise and fall, beginning and ends. you have people like Petrarch calling the medieval period the “dark ages”, in contrast to the “light” of Rome and the rest of classical antiquity. this is something that most medieval historians today won’t agree with (incl my old professor haha who was a specialist in women’s medieval history)—the parts of Europe (and MENA) that made up the old Roman Empire sure as hell didn’t stand still for a thousand years until the Renaissance; it was a period of cultural developments and not simply darkness and ignorance. but, in terms of transposing it to hetalia—i kind of think Roma being dead fits nicely with 1) the way people have perceived the history of Rome (rise and fall) 2) the medieval developments— all the new European states (and some older ones) emerging from the shattered remnants of the empire, all of them changed by Rome in some ways (Latin --> different Romance languages.) in contrast to China, i guess reincarnation is less of a concept in the Roman pantheon or in Christianity. 

i think there’s also a sort of ironic poetry to it, when the fall of Rome is put in context of larger imperial and global history. Rome becomes this mythical figure who haunts the imagination of the European personifications precisely because he’s dead— the towering patriarch who is the model of a grand maritime empire that all of them that used to be Roman colonies/provinces strive for in the 15th century onwards. Like, the Spanish empire had a motto of “further beyond” (plus ultra). In the Aeneid, Jupiter is said to grant the Romans “empire without limit” (imperium sine fine). Even England, where there was this duelling narrative of lionising Boudica (the Iceni queen who fought the Roman conquerors and burned Roman London the ground) and longing to be as great as Rome (there’s a caption on a Victorian-era statue of Boudica in London saying “regions Caesar never knew / thy posterity shall sway”. “Britannia” itself as a name for the UK is ofc from Roman rule. so when it comes down to it, i guess it really is a creative choice by Himaruya (and ourselves). and for me, it’s not just about Rome and China (or any other nation’s) own history but also thinking about historiography (i.e how that history is understood, in terms of dynastic cycles or rise and fall) + relationship with other characters. 

#hetalia #hetalia headcanons #hws china #hws rome #aph china #aph rome #hetalia meta #also i am a romechu shipper lol and i guess i am here for the #vibes of Yao remembering a world long gone

[irithnova]

Berating someone for not being a huge fan of canon hetalia is a really brain dead take lol.

Canon China literally has "Sh*natty-Chan" as a "constant companion". Sh*na is an anti Chinese slur linked to Japanese war crimes. Let's not even get into the other ways Hima has negatively portrayed often non white characters (making African countries white/incredibly white passing for example...)

It's an incredibly privileged take to tell people, especially POC, that they're wrong for not being comfortable with all of the canon material.

You can criticise pieces of media while also enjoying it, this isn't a hard concept.

#hetalia #hetalia world twinkle #hetalia world stars #hetalia world series #Hetalia discourse #Hetalia fandom #Cw Sinophobia #Cw racism #Hetalia rant #hetalia critical

[95jezzica]

Hetalia

Stuck between really wanting more canon South American and African nations for Hetalia, and the fact I absolutely don't trust the Loud part of fandom to be normal about it and treat them respectfully.

#Hetalia #hws South America #hws Africa #hws #hws Nations

[italy1stan]

From my research to see if I missed one, apparently, some other African Nations appeared in a video game (?) but I won't be putting them here since we know very little about them.

#hetalia #hws #hetalia world stars #aph seychelles #aph madagascar #aph cameroon #aph egypt