zelixtyva

[zelixtyva]

Huntrix, don't miss, how it's done, done, done! ✨

(Print I sold at Galaxycon, now available in my shop.)

[zelixtyva]

Teenage Holy Rome was like a different person from Chibi Holy Rome. Physical appearance did play a role. It's hard to take him seriously when he was a chibi lol, but his former size does serve its comedic purpose well. Teenage Holy Rome's scenes with Prussia during the Napoleonic Wars gave me the impression of a soft-spoken and dignified boy. Even in the scene with him shouting at his territories, he still gave me that impression, which had to do with his older appearance, again, and my projecting my preferred interpretation of him as a serene/gentle person haha. Chibi HRE did have his moments of gentleness, but we get to see his awkward moments. However, with teenage Holy Rome... We don't. This has to do with his source of awkwardness not being around, lmao. That source successfully got this holy and imperial boy to lose his composure.

[zelixtyva]

HWS Holy Rome: A "same body but different souls" take on HRE!Germany

Although I enjoy having HRE as Germany, not just in body, but in soul as well, in fanfictions, I prefer him and Germany only sharing the same body when it comes to canon, after learning more about the real-life Holy Roman Empire.

This post will mostly talk about HRE through his real-life counterpart, because even if Hetalia is fictional, the characters are still based on real-life entities, which can therefore be useful in adding more details to them. And it is basically more on why I don't want HRE to be completely Germany than why Germany is not HRE in canon, although I did mention how "same body, different souls" might work in canon, because the idea acknowledges that Germans are important to the Holy Roman Empire, but the Empire is still more than a German empire, making it my favourite candidate for canonisation. The explanation of how it acknowledges both can be found below:

The Holy Roman Empire

The HRE's heartland had been the German lands for centuries, but the Empire had a different nature from Germany.

HRE was intrinsically Catholic, such that, despite the emergence of Protestantism, the Emperor stayed Catholic until the end. The Emperor was traditionally the defender of Catholics and the Church (Wilson, 2016). The Empire was created by both the Pope and the Emperor, with Pope Leo III crowning the first Holy Roman Emperor, Charlemagne, or Charles I (Wilson, 2016), who, as stated by Whaley (2018), saw himself as the servant of God with the goal of establishing His kingdom on Earth, causing the Franks to see themselves as His chosen people. Also, Wilson (2016) stated that there were those who had considered the Emperor as not only sanctified but also inherently sacred. There might have been conflicts between the Emperor and the Pope, but the Empire had been regarded as transpersonal, transcending the Emperor, and the "holy" aspect of the Empire was later emphasised instead of the Emperor. Charles' heir, Louis I, also stated that the Empire was indivisible because it was a gift from God (Wilson, 2016).

On the other hand, Germany did not have the sacred mission that the HRE traditionally had in defending Catholicism, and its establishment as a nation-state was led by a Protestant. Not by a Pope, or a Catholic ruler like Charles the Great or Otto the Great.

The Holy Roman Empire

Yes, we're talking about Holy Rome and his connection to Germany rather than Ancient Rome, but mentioning the "Roman" and "Empire" parts in the title was important because the Empire was built on the idea of singularity and universalism, as well as the Christian and imperial legacy of the ancient empire, which were connected with one another and differentiated HRE from Ludwig. EMPIRE First, the definition of the following two ideas, which shaped the Empire, according to Wilson (2016):

Singularity (Imperial Translation) = only one empire should exist at the time, and there should be only one emperor, for there was only one God in heaven. The Roman Empire was the fourth and last world monarchy based on a biblical prophecy. The creation of another empire would contradict the prophecy and God's plan, and so the Roman Empire had to continue, resulting in the mere translation of the imperial title from the Romans to the Germanic people. Universalism (Transcendence) = the geographical territory of the Empire might have been limited, but its sacred mission was not, making it larger than other entities. The Empire was greater than the Emperor in a way that if he died or lacked the loyalty of his subjects, it would still continue. ROMAN When Charles became an emperor, the Empire was not fully established yet, nor was it "Holy" and completely "German" after Otto's coronation (Whaley, 2018). Charles also dropped the Roman part of the imperial title later (Wilson, 2016), and his immediate successors shortened his imperial and royal titles to emperor and king without specifying which people they ruled. Otto did the same (Whaley, 2018). Although the Romans had left an important legacy, Charles already had his own kingdom before becoming an emperor, and the Franks could not abandon their identity and unite with other groups of people under their rule to formally become Romans with them (Wilson, 2016). Otto acknowledged the importance of the Franks by presenting himself in their clothing and as the successor of the previous Carolingian emperors rather than the Romans. Still, Roman traditions were important to him as well as his successors (Wilson, 2016). Some stated that the Empire was "Roman" because it used to have Rome. However, emperors didn't even stay in Rome for long after being crowned, and even the emperors in Italy ruled from other cities (Wilson, 2016). They were also not completely welcomed to stay for long in the city, which was not large to enough to provide for both the Pope and the Emperor at the same time, and Aachen had already been regarded as the second Rome, even before Charles' imperial coronation, who didn't even return to Rome since 801 (the next year after his imperial coronation). Germany also became the heartland of the Empire since Otto's imperial coronation, which was far from Rome (Wilson, 2016). Conclusion: From all the info above, we could infer that the Empire was not Roman because its citizens considered themselves Romans, or because it used to have the city of Rome. Rather, it was because of the Christian and imperial legacy that the Romans had left behind in the former Western Roman Empire, which the Holy Roman Empire sought to continue. This is important in separating HRE from Germany, because it emphasised the idea of universalism, in the sense that it was not tied to a specific group of people and therefore could be passed to another group of people (singularity).

Franks:

In addition to the "imperial title" part, I never found from Whaley's work that "Emperor of the Franks" was used by either Charles or Otto, but rather "King of the Franks (and the Langobards)." So, there was a separation between the realm ruled by the King as well as the greater realm ruled by the Emperor.

Whaley (2018) also stated that the Empire remained indivisible under one emperor after Charles' reign, but as an idea, while the Kingdoms were the actual territory from which the Emperor derived his power and which was under Frankish tradition, allowing his relatives to become successors.

It could be said that Holy Rome was Roman Catholic first and foremost, because he could not truly have his own ethnical identity. He had not been born with an ethnic group of his own. Long before he was born under the Franks in the person of Charles, they already had their own personification, who could be rightfully interpreted as his parent. But even if that is the case, even if Francia's territory was his territory in actuality, he could not become the kind of personification that Modern Greece was to Ancient Greece. He represented something more, a transcendental realm, and his actual territory developed in separate ways, eventually, with him ending up in the Eastern part of it, where the king used the royal title more generally, as opposed to the Western part's, which was "King of the Franks" (Whaley, 2018). Due to the division of the Frankish realm not even centuries after Charles' imperial rule, his imperial character had not been able to be officially intertwined with the Frankish identity, specifically in a manner that would allow HRE to smoothly transition into the succeeding personification. Merely having the Franks as emperors was not enough. More work had to be done.

What happened to HRE in relation to the Franks could also be applied between him and the Germans. Meaning to say, he could not truly become Germany, especially when considering as well that the interval between the Holy Roman Empire and the German Empire was not simply a temporary period without a Holy Roman Emperor.

The Same Body

The dates of the imperial coronations of Charles I and Otto I were notable in a way that they were two main options in identifying the beginning of the Holy Roman Empire that lasted until 1808. Charles's coronation on December 25, 800, began the tradition of the Pope crowning the Emperor, but Otto's territory was closer to the territory that the HRE had held for centuries after since his coronation. It didn't include the Western but only the Eastern part of Francia, which grew into the Kingdom of Germany (Wilson, 2016). Even so, neither Otto nor his successors regarded the Empire as "German" (Wilson, 2016). And according to Whaley (2018), Otto referred to himself as king and emperor without specifying which ethnical group or territory, and when he did specify his title, it was King of the Franks and the Langobards, like Charles. However, Otto's coronation did establish the long-term connection of the imperial title to East Francia/Kingdom of Germany (Wilson, 2016), which is why it is understandable that Holy Rome and Germany would have the same body. The Empire had also been referred to as the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" in 1474 and more so after 1512, although it did not become an official title (Wilson, 2016). At the same time, the Empire, which was theoretically composed of Italy, Burgundy, and Germany, have already lost Italian and Burgundian lands (n.b. whether all of them was not stated), and was eventually more centred on the Kingdom of Germany than before after Maximilian I's rule, who attempted to reacquire them (Whaley, 2012). It had also been referred to as the German Empire or Germany (Whaley, 2012, 2018). However, it was still more than a German empire, with its people speaking different languages, and other German-speaking areas being excluded (Whaley, 2012).

Not the Same Soul

Think of Charles's coronation as the birth of HRE's soul (Singular and Universal Imperialism and Catholicism), while Otto's symbolised the birth of his heart (as in heartland; East Francia/Kingdom of Germany). Soul: Not only was HRE intrinsically Catholic, but its idea of an empire was that only one empire should exist at a time, and its divine mission had been considered universal, with the empire defined as many kingdoms, making the nationalisation of the imperial title unfavourable (Wilson, 2016). Being "German" was not an official requirement to become an emperor or even a German king (which, since Otto I's imperial coronation, had been deeply entwined with the imperial title).

Heart (a synecdoche for the Body): Holy Rome as an individual already existed long before Otto's coronation, but, again, such an event marked the permanent tie of the imperial title with East Francia, which, eventually, transformed into the Kingdom of Germany (Wilson, 2016). But because of Holy Rome's universalism, he could not be East Francia. There was no personification for the Kingdom, either. According to Whaley (2018), the title of "King" without any qualifiers became normal in East Francia after Charles, unlike in West Francia, which might have been due to the larger uncertainty in the East in regard to which territories were truly ruled by the King. 

However, East Francia, eventually the Kingdom of Germany, became Holy Rome’s heartland for centuries until his empire’s dissolution, which managed to live past it in a different form. It united into a nation-state, but again, because of his universalism, he could not become their German nation. And so the body remained alive, even when its original owner was either dead or incapacitated.

Change

Eventually, not only did the Empire lose non-German territories, which made it more German-centred, but it was also slowly losing acceptance as the universal Christian empire (Whaley, 2012), and the singular and universalist imperialism that the Empire adhered to was challenged by the existence of many other empires (Wilson, 2016). Protestantism had also happened, and the Peace of Westphalia had officially acknowledged the rights of Lutherans and reformed Protestants within the Empire, which was not accepted by the Church (Whaley, 2018). And yet... Why didn't HRE die much earlier? First, his body tethered his soul to Earth. The body represented him in actuality. For instance, since the territory of the Franks gave him his first actual territory, as opposed to his greater one in theory, his body was Germanic in appearance. Also, even with eventual religious division in the German-centred Empire, the German Protestants still regarded the Empire as an important part of their identity, so they did not abandon it, and both the Protestants and Catholics blamed each other for bringing harm to the Empire during the Thirty Years' War (Wilson, 2016). German freedom was considered better protected by staying in the Empire, whose constitution allowed the existence of specific liberties. Moreover, despite the autonomy that the rulers below the Emperor had over their territories, which limited the Emperor's authority, they didn't become sovereigns but remained as overlords and subject to the imperial law and the Emperor until the Empire's dissolution (Whaley, 2012, 2018). This allowed the Empire to stay alive and therefore HRE's body, tethering his soul, but the religious division did make him weak, because, again, he was inherently Catholic. The soul and the body did not resonate well with each other, and especially so when his German lands were united into Germany, leading us to the answer for the second question. Even if the idea behind the Empire in the later years was not as strong as it was back in the Medieval Era, the Empire still remained as a direct continuation of the Empire before and was formally dissolved in 1806. This was a deadly blow, not only to the body, but also to the soul of HRE. With the dissolution of the Empire also came the dissolution of the imperial title, which was the most important manifestation of Holy Rome's soul, because his soul was born from the title being given to Charles I by the Pope. But he didn't immediately die. It had also been stated in canon that a personification would gradually disappear if their personality/culture dies/disappears. We can interpret that this happens because every trace of them will not immediately disappear, whether tangible or not, and the memory of what they personified will linger in the minds of people. A memory can even bring back a personification, as stated in the first chapter of Hetalia: World Stars, although it was not specified in what form they would appear. They could appear as ghosts, since personifications as ghosts exist in Hetalia. Why could HRE still not become Germany in soul?

But back to HRE again... So, HRE stayed alive for more years, but he could not truly become the personification of Germany when his former German territories united, because his soul was incompatible with the idea behind the unification. Again, he was Catholic first. Of course, HRE was not the only personification that began with a connection to Catholicism. Gilbert did too, as the Hospital of St. Mary of the German House, and yet, from becoming the Teutonic Order, he managed to transition into Teutonic Prussia and a protestant without dying. But why couldn't that happen for HRE? Unlike Gilbert, he began big, like Ludwig, both beginning with an empire instead of starting small first to eventually become an empire like Ancient Rome. But, in contrast to Ludwig's, the empire that HRE was born as was universal, which caused him to not have his own people who saw him as personifying their distinct cultural and ethnical identity. It was harder to transition from a general kind of empire to a specific one than the other way around without the occurrence of death. Like HRE's empire, there were also not only humans but also personifications composing Ludwig's empire, but, as shown in the manga, those personifications united into one national identity, with Ludwig being born to represent their unification, making it more specific.

On the other hand, in theory, HRE represented Catholics first before an ethnic group, but they were also divided into distinct groups, with their own personifications. His imperial title was separated from and higher than the royal title in the Frankish realm, but his true realm was not as real as the other territories. He was like a ghost without a vessel that, even when having undergone transformation, would still be his own. As a result, he had to share with other personifications, because they gave him an actual territory. However, even if his soul was incompatible, his body could work as a personification of Germany, because, again, it represented what was in reality, which was that the Germans had provided him with his core territory for many centuries, and that many of their (German) kings had borne the imperial title.

HRE's Memories

Even if Holy Rome and Germany have different souls, Ludwig could still have Holy Rome's memories, because he has the body of the former. The brain holds our memories. It is possible that Ludwig remembers but actively suppresses them, because they resonate better with a different soul. It will be painful or harmful to try to absorb them as a result. Refusing to acknowledge HRE's memories would also make it easier for him to differentiate/distance himself from HRE and prevent/reduce the feeling of alienation. He could possibly know his body is originally from HRE from an instinctive feeling. The kind of feeling that allows a personification to know for certain what and who they are supposed to personify.

It is also possible that the memories in the brain have been simply erased/damaged as a reflection of the finality of HRE's soul in the body by being taken over by another. New soul. New beginning. New memories. And so Ludwig cannot completely remember HRE's memories. This does not necessarily mean he couldn't possibly know he is not HRE in soul. Also, not every other personification would automatically know that he is not really HRE in soul. Could they see which soul was inhabiting HRE's body? Since magic or otherworldly stuff existed in Hetalia, it is possible for them to find out if they tried to. Considering that Ludwig had been stated to be born with an existing body, unlike his family, this implies that his birth is an unusual case. So, the automatic assumption the others would have soon after he was born was that he was still HRE, who simply lost his memories or had a hard time remembering the past, preventing his family from trying to find out whether or not he was HRE. This could explain why Lithuania had been relieved that Ludwig did not remember him, while still supporting the theory of Ludwig and HRE only sharing the same body.

What happened to HRE?

HRE had not been explicitly shown to visit Italy after the Thirty Years' War, but I like to think that he did. It might even be the other way around, with Italy visiting HRE. But now, if HRE is truly dead and ghosts' visiting Earth exists in Hetalia, well, someone already said this before me, and I shall say it again in my own words: it is possible that HRE's soul is still inside the body with Ludwig's. HRE's soul might be sleeping inside the body, but not continuously. He would wake up sometimes, but he is too weak to be able to wrest control of his body from Ludwig's. But he is strong enough to be able to communicate with Ludwig's soul, like triggering his memories stored in the brain, which resonate better with him, and sending phantoms of them to the other, like in the person of Chibitalia and his past little self.

There is also this part in canon where it is mentioned that a dying personification can entrust themself to another personification who will take over them. This does not necessarily mean that the other personification already has a body. In other words, HRE might have possibly met Germany in the spiritual realm, and considering that HRE mentioned how he did not want his territories to forget about him, he might have chosen to entrust himself to the latter. But this does not necessarily mean that Germany will remember meeting HRE. So, he, himself, could have erroneously believed that he is HRE with amnesia, especially when others show that they think he is. And yes, I did mention the possibility of Germany knowing that he is not HRE through natural instinct, but since that is a mere possibility, it is just as possible for him not to know. But I personally prefer the first possibility.

Also, the sleeping HRE might wake up properly one day and control his body again so that he and Italy could finally have their happy ending, but then how about Ludwig, right? Perhaps, they could both be awake at the same time, sharing memories that they could almost be the same soul, even having thought that they were. I think HRE and Italy would only truly have their happy ending if Ludwig were also HRE in soul, but, excluding that, and just focusing on HRE as an individual character, and seeing the potential he could have when reading about his real-life counterpart, it's hard for me to see him and Germany as the same person in canon.

But I still enjoy the implementation of that concept outside of canon, especially if HRE became Germany without losing his memories. It is fun to think about what kind of Germany HRE would have become if that were the case.

Cited Resources:

Joachim Whaley: - Germany and the Holy Roman Empire: Volume I: Maximilian I to the Peace of Westphalia, 1493-1648 (2012) - The Holy Roman Empire: A Very Short Introduction (2018)

Peter H. Wilson: - Heart of Europe: A History of the Holy Roman Empire (2016)

[zelixtyva]

Considering the Holy Rome's profile in Collezione, where Gilbert was stated to be his (self-proclaimed number one) big brother, and that Prussia was never a part of the HRE: I like to headcanon that when the HRE stayed with Gilbert during the Napoleonic Wars, he allowed Gilbert to act as his older brother, because he was also dying and therefore wanted to reconcile with his younger brother, whom he was not ever able to spend much time with; he was also physically younger even though he was older than Prussia; he was physically weak and therefore dependent on Prussia's care; and it was kinda funny. Yes, he was not serious all the time. But he secretly experienced self-loathing of being dependent on his younger brother, because he was supposed to be the older brother. I faintly remember reading something like that somewhere, on LiveJournal perhaps, but I failed to find it again, if it even existed in the first place. Also, Gilbert might not have been an official member of the Empire, but the Germans within the Empire led to the foundation of the Order he personified, and there had been a connection between Emperor Frederick II and the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order. But, since Gilbert had spent more time outside the Empire, and HRE had matters to deal with beyond the Crusades or Prussia, they were never able to be very close before. I like the idea of Gilbert and Holy Rome first meeting each other, because HRE wanted to meet Gilbert, who assisted him, per his request, as he recovered from whatever made him weak in his bed. Gilbert initially started as a hospital, after all. I'm not completely sure how to make that scene work; I don't want to think much of the details, but it's a nice parallel to how they ended up in the future, with HRE being bedridden again. At the same time, his Empire was dissolved, as opposed to in the past. So in both of their minds, he was not going to recover, and he was going to die. (Also, not everyone after the Empire's dissolution in 1806 immediately accepted that the Empire was truly dissolved.) Gilbert was also more powerful compared to before. More powerful than him... Also, I headcanon HRE as the one who first acknowledged himself and Gilbert as brothers. It's a sweet thought.

(reminder?) hre calling pru big brother in chapter 187 (2016) was a mistake!

blog post

i don't think this happened this way...? (125-234)

thought it could be previous unification comics but those are older

(awesome me's bio 4/4 parts, first 2 relevant)

world starts, post birz:

following blog posts to the first one, still about the grimm brothers and other writers from that era

(couple of images from it)

the ones focused in countries and history instead of writers, a lot

(the chapter with a dirty joke mentioned at the end must be the pecs one, 191)

2014 posts about that unification comic (click to see baby lud, the image is too long to add on the post lol)

and a 2011 ones that does indirectly

i also a tag for heta translations here on tumblr related to the german unification or the changes previous to it. adding too a link to a post where i compiled everything about hre to ger (except they are different), and another tags: lutz' mystery and lutz' mystery (mine)

[zelixtyva]

https://www.tumblr.com/ellawritesficssometimes/170519291923/i-know-this-might-sound-like-a-radical-thing-to?source=share

Do you think germany is reincarnation of holyrome?

[Link to post]

Not exactly. I kind of disagree with the conclusions of that post.

In my opinion, Germany and HRE are two separate people, mind and body, but they share a connection.

First of all:

• If Germany and HRE look so much alike, they must be the same person or at least share the same body, right?

(X) Not necessarily.

Germania is also, fundamentally, Germany with long hair, yet no one would argue that Germania and Ludwig are the same person. It is very clear that they are not, despite their resemblance. Everywhere, it is stated that Germania is his grandfather, period.

Then why would that be different for HRE? Why can't they simply share a resemblance?

Hetalia Collezione hadn't come out yet when that post was written, but it contains a couple clues.

Obviously, the most blatant one is the line of text that was suspiciously taken away in the volume's "revised" version, where Germany is listed as HRE's younger brother. This was later changed in a way that no longer mentioned Germany but simply said HRE has many brothers:

This is pretty sus and I don't think it was a mistake but rather might've been retconned/hidden due to many people's reaction, but anyway, there's another clue that is still there and it shows how Germany and HRE looking alike is probably just the same case of simple resemblance between them and Germania:

[Source]

It seems that Himaruya just decided to make all of post-Germania Germanic characters more or less similar to Germania appearance-wise depending on how close he believes their heritage is to their ancient relative. In fact, this is mentioned also in Saxony's Collezione bio:

[Source]

Aaand, if we want to be super-super accurate, Germany and HRE don't share the exact same eye color. They don't in their early card and they also don't in the anime (sadly we can't make a comparison with newer material because as far as I know, HRE hasn't gotten a fully colored pic in quite a while):

HRE's eyes are typically depicted as a darker blue compared to Germany's.

•

That post also argues that this scene is a clue that they are the same person:

He’s wearing a nightgown…exactly like the one Holy Rome was wearing in chapter 187.

Yes, I’m aware that the nations are born in nightgowns, but there’s multiple ways of interpreting this. The nightgown/birth motif is definitely there, but… Look at the one German nation holding Germany’s hand. He’s crying. Now, put this into perspective. How would you feel if you thought your little brother was dead, only to find out that he’s been alive all this time?

This is, in my opinion, quite a reach.

The German Nations being excited, even moved to tears to see Ludwig for the first time, as well as Prussia insisting on calling him brother (like he used to do with HRE) can be explained by something else:

They are simply aware that HRE and Ludwig show a resemblance.

If you thought you had lost a beloved little brother to death, and then happened to find another little boy who shares a striking resemblance with him ... Wouldn't you feel instinctively drawn to him? Wouldn't you feel an innate sense of love and protection towards him, because you're projecting onto this boy the feelings you have for your late sibling?

It doesn't really need to be HRE to sparkle such an interest, he simply needs to:

Be clearly of Germanic origin, hence one of your kind, incarnating a Germanic territory (and they probably guessed he could be nothing other than the German Confederation, and was welcomed wholeheartedly because it was a sign that their unification project was going in the right direction, despite HRE's loss);

Look like him

That's it. The first point would resonate with the Pre-Unitary States' condition as Country Personifications: if a new sibling is born, at that time, it means that it's a sign of destiny, HRE didn't die in vain, and the German Confederation is meant to go somewhere, otherwise a new Personification wouldn't be born out of that patriotic belief.

The second point would resonate with the siblings' human side: as I said earlier, any human would also feel naturally excited and emotional if they crossed path with a kid that reminded them heavily of a late beloved, and they'd feel drawn to the kid and feel instinctive sympathy.

•

So, what's the connection between HRE and Germany?

Here's how I see it.

Much like how Germania shares a strikingly resemblance with HRE and Germany because they all kind of represent the same geographical area (more or less), HRE and Germany look very alike because they were brought to life by virtually the same group of humans.

After the idea of a German Unification took off, a growing group of (pre?) German humans, as well as at least a part of their State Personifications (Countries can also influence each other's existence, as it was apparently America's belief to turn Finland into Santa), began developing a sense of unity, of 'German culture' that united their States beyond politicall borders.

So, the generation of humans that kept HRE alive between the late 1700s and early 1800s, before France defeated him, is actually the same that blew life into a new, post-HRE, unifying German personification: Ludwig!

Once HRE came back from the Napoleonic War, he was most likely no longer a Nation, he had turned into a human and died because of the wounds and illnesses he had caught on the battlefield and accumulated through the centuries.

While he was struggling on his last years of life, the "spirit of Unity" that humans have for their land/culture and that blows life into their Personification, had left HRE, but took a new shape and was blown into Ludwig, who at the time was about to spawn into existence.

He was already around HRE's age because the 'German patriotism' was already mature enough, HRE's experience as a political entity didn't go to waste but served a purpose in how the German Confederation came to be.

Once Ludwig was found by the Pre-Unitary States, they realized his identity and crowned him as German Confederation.

•

I think, because they were brought to life by the same group of people, Germany and HRE share, at least partially, the same soul.

Germany has a body and a mind of his own, but his soul has very vague memories of a past life.

I think Ludwig occasionally has this very vague sense of deja-vu, the thought of something so old and blurry, too far away in the back of his mind to grasp, something he's not even sure is real. Might be the memory of a dream, or of a thought, perhaps the memory of a fervid childhood fantasy.

That's because his soul wasn't "new", it wasn't a blank canvas when he got it, and HRE's existence left a very faint trace on it.

However, I wouldn't call it amnesia, because I'm pretty sure Germany is unable to remember, no matter how many hints he's given.

It wasn't his life, in any way, and those memories are too fragmented and blurry to make any sense, or to be grasped even for just one second. And the more he lives on, the more new experiences he has, the further back and forgotten those faint memories will get.

... Also, not to promote myself but years ago I wrote a fic about this. Maybe the translation is not the greatest bc it was originally in Italian (though I translated+revised it directly in English a couple years ago so there's no longer a finalized Italian version, it's English only), and I wrote it before HWS so there might be some canon divergence but here's a link if anyone would like to check it out!~

[Birth of an Empire]

[zelixtyva]

if I try working on this anymore I’ll explode probably just take it

[zelixtyva]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Five Nights at Freddy's, Five Nights at Freddy's (Movie 2023) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Major Character Death Relationships: Michael Afton & Vanessa Shelly (Five Nights at Freddy's Movie), Charlotte "Charlie" Emily & Vanessa Shelly (Five Nights at Freddy's Movie) Characters: Vanessa Shelly, Michael Afton, Charlotte "Charlie" Emily Additional Tags: Minor William Afton | Dave Miller, Minor Sammy Emily, Vanessa Shelly-centric, Vanessa Shelly and Elizabeth Afton are the Same Person, Michael Afton and Mike Schmidt are Not the Same Person, Dead Michael Afton, The Crying Child was stillborn, Charlie Emily is the Puppet, Vanessa Shelly needs a hug, Angst, Childhood Trauma, Guilt/Self Blame, Flashbacks, Non-Linear Narrative, based on pre-release FNaF 2 movie Summary:

Her father was not the only dead haunting her. Her brother and her friend haunted her, too.

[zelixtyva]

Okay 1. Do you guys think he’s actually Michael Afton? 2. Ain’t he lowkey fine?

[zelixtyva]

80s kids with dead little brothers crossover

[zelixtyva]

pg 1 and then the rest were drawn at drastically different times sorry if there’s a noticeable difference in quality. consider this more of a rough draft than a polished page 🙏🙏 but yea midnight motorist w mike as the runaway

[zelixtyva]

[zelixtyva]

Random FNAF sketches

[zelixtyva]

Michael Afton in the movies could exist as a separate character, but not necessarily alive in the present time.

Following the theorised timeline where FNaF 2 happened before Sister Location, he would be a young adult, but not much time passed between the first game and the second game, so he would still be a young adult when Ennard scooped him. Therefore, we could theorise that instead of remaining alive, Michael died as a young adult in the movies. But that did not mean he died in the exact way that Michael "did" in Sister Location. Vanessa paralleled not only game!Michael and Vanessa, but also Elizabeth Afton. Perhaps she was in danger, but Michael saved her, resulting in his death. Vanessa was involved in his death, like Elizabeth was, although in a different way. Of course, Michael could have died when he was a kid or a teenager.

If he ever existed in the movieverse, I prefer him as the oldest child of William Afton. I also personally think that he recovered enough from Bite of '83 to be able to socialise and become popular, based on the SL cutscene, which was something movie!Michael as a separate character could embody.

[zelixtyva]

[zelixtyva]

Post-Bite of '83: Michael Afton had been a recluse, but not for long || Headcanon

I love the Wiki description of Michael Afton being a friendly and popular man in the neighbourhood, based on the Sister's Location cutscene, where his neighbours were smiling and waving at him. However, Michael was still heavily affected by accidentally causing the death of his younger brother and had been avoided by or had avoided others as a result, becoming a lone wolf. However, time passed, and those who knew or heard about him had other matters to deal with or moved away. He was also a teenager, and what he did was an accident, which could reduce the intensity of the negative judgment. But judgment remained, the presence of others reminded him of the accident he regretted, and his self-consciousness caged him. He could have possibly moved away from his father's house when he became a young adult to start anew. Surrounded by people who had never heard of what he did, he was able to find the courage to socialise and not remain a recluse. Despite this, he could not truly move on. While he might be outgoing, he felt so alone and depressed on the inside. He could not commit much of himself to relationships because his past was haunting him, and he was deeply ashamed of himself, which, with the charming personality he had, was not outwardly obvious. He did have friends, but he was not really as close to them as he led them to believe or as he wished, because he could not find it in himself to share about his life. He felt far. And going by the idea that he was a young adult by the time of FNaF 2 as well as Sister Location, he was not able to stay away from his past for long (I read that Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental, as well as Fredbear's Family Dine,r were located in the same town in Utah). Before proceeding with Michael's return, another possibility in relation to his moving away was that William moved out of town with him soon after Elizabeth's death, when he was still a teenager, and when his father returned, Michael decided to stay behind and eventually had his own apartment when he was finally an adult, which, compared to the first possibility, gave him more time to work on his social skills, away from the people who had heard/witnessed the accident, and who, as a result, hindered his ability to do so. And when he finally returned, he had improved himself enough that he was able to socialise with those with knowledge of the accident without being as afraid as before, as well as to charm them. Not only did he inherit his father's looks, he also inherited the older man's charisma, but his charm was without evil motives in comparison. He had William's intelligence as well, which was another appealing trait, as he used his knowledge for the benefit of others rather than the opposite, unlike his father.

I like the idea that FNaF 2 happened before Sister Location, and that he worked as a security guard for one night under the alias, Fritz Smith, because his father had asked him to. He followed the request due to feelings of shame and guilt and a deep desire for redemption. This was also the reason that brought out of him the personality that made others drawn to him. He became a very helpful person, and such a helpful nature was especially directed toward his father, who was the only family he had left and who also manipulated his feelings over his brother's death to make him so docile. There was also another headcanon that it was only when Ennard controlled his body that Michael began to be friendly and popular with others. But, I personally think that even if Ennard could control Michael's body and could mimic voices, Ennard!Michael would end up being uncanny/weird to other people, which, instead of drawing them to him, would push them away. However, Michael alone had made a good enough impression on his neighbours that, despite the strange way Ennard controlled him, they looked past it and remained interested in him. Some of them might have even attempted to help him when they began to notice how ill he was. Moreover, they were curious about him, very eager to know more about him, whether it was due to his connection to Freddy Fazbear/Circus Baby, being a new face in town, or being a former resident. Curiosity could also explain why his neighbours were acting friendly to him in the cutscene, even if we followed the idea that he was still a recluse.

Michael had probably already acted strangely before getting controlled by Ennard, because of the other nerve-wrecking experiences he had in CBEAR, but he was able to charm his way out of it, unlike the latter, who could try his hardest to act human, and yet, in the end, he was just an impersonator. Plus, he was causing Michael's body to deteriorate, and people would notice his physical condition, because, after being stuck underground, Ennard refused to hide the controlled body, at least not until it became a corpse, as visually communicated by the cutscene. Also, even if the neighbours' smiling and waving in the cutscene was for aesthetic purposes, it could also be a way to visually communicate that Michael became a likeable person, despite the Bite of '83. He made efforts to make up for his wrongdoing, but since his wrongdoing had caused his brother's death, he would never be able to feel that his efforts were enough until his death. He could never direct his actions to his brother anymore, and although there were other people, they were not his brother. Since Mike in the movie heavily paralleled the part of Michael being miserable in private by clearly showing his misery as well as being socially awkward (at least initially post-Bite of '83), which even caused Abby to comment why everybody looked at him in an angry way, Vanessa would be more parallel to the part of Michael that was implied in the cutscene, being likeable and sociable, but was privately unhappy, considering how charming she acted with Mike and Abby.

[zelixtyva]

Due to the FNAF movie news of possibly Skeet Ulrich playing Henry, I got fixated and started drawing him to study him.

I completely forgot he plays FP Jones in Riverdale so most drawings are just Riverdale redraws, the lighting is really cool. I put glasses on the colores one cuz 🧡Henry🧡

[zelixtyva]

in another life.

au (with movie will and mike) where literally everything is fine and william is a loving father <3