#aph analysis

[faunabel]

ita thoughts as usual... i've had this concept sitting in my drafts for a while

so... very early on in canon, i can't find the manga panel, but in the anime sub, italy says "i've always been ruled by another country, so i've always dreamed of having a friend."

then in the hetalia collezione that came out a few years ago...

italy is stated to view germany as his first friend.

so just. first of all. holy shit. this guy has been around at least 1500 years and GERMANY. WHO HE MET IN THE 1900S, IS THE FIRST PERSON HE HIMSELF CONSIDERS TO BE HIS FIRST FRIEND? the first person who doesn't treat him like an object to claim ownership over (how i'm interpreting things, anyway). can we talk about this. can we talk about how lonely he must have been all those years. can we talk about the fact that as many people as he knew, he never considered any of them to be a friend to him? can we talk about the fact that maybe he's so friendly because he was so lonely for so long...

[smoothie03]

Sneakpeak for my next big animatic

[franciskirkland]

I had to ramble because Antonio is indeed a hard character to write. He's both awful and amazing

PLEASE RAMBLE are u kidding me. rambling is never not welcome this is rambling central. i am nothing if not the village idiot here to rant and rave, if anything u should apologize for enabling me xx <3

this little fucker needs to be trapped in a jar and studied under a microscope... i need to Understand him... he compells me against my own will... he's like a bull who's been castrated.

as a nation-being-person, he's oddly youthful even in comparison to younger nations. he's old as dirt, older than france actually, and still not as mature which is not setting the bar high. he's passive-aggressive and vengeful, but also extremely influential in a positive way? like western society without spanish culture would be so dull.

he's someone who was once immensely powerful but rly isn't anymore and has become, for lack of better words, irrelevant? never to me, but i have literally met grown adults who did not know spain was a country (let alone portugal) i wish i was kidding rn. as a History Enjoyer i can't ignore the fact that spain has a dark past, responsible for everything from colonial imperialism in the 15th century onwards, to brutal fascist reign throughout the 20th century. like tbh, he was once on par with england for being the Worst re: colonization, genocide, exploitation etc. in my honest opinion - while france as an imperial power did some awful shit particularly in africa - england, spain, portugal and the netherlands are by far the worst.

buuut with that all being said. i mostly write human au and i do tend to keep irl tragedies at a distance, while their personalities are still influenced by historical events, at some level ig.

as a human, he's just as complex. he's a fuckboy. he's a himbo. he's a loser (affectionate) and sometimes a loser (derogatory). he's Catholic and debilitatingly homosexual. he's passionate. he is... devastatingly sexy. he is kinda wifey, ngl. he's also kinda socially incompetent but gets away with it bc of his looks. perfect smile... sexy accent... fat ass... grrr i am squeezing him like a stress ball... i have written him as everything from a total manipulative creep to a bumbling fool who just wants his papi. like look at him... if he told me he was just a caked up white boy who never did anything wrong i would believe him... and im italian so he would bear my children.

you can pry my canon divergent spamano from my cold dead hands. pelt me with rotten tomatoes in the town square i dont care.

the bottom line is, spain has no business being this cute, but some way, somehow, he is, so imma go with it ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

[anartificialsatellite]

Was thinking about the layers that the universal nation language thing adds again. I know a lot of people have already talked about their feelings about this aspect of Hetalia, but I'm gonna go ahead and talk about it again because I want to.

Tbh, the more I think about it the more I love it for a bunch of reasons, but I was specific thinking recently about it in the context of USJP (because I have the brainrot) and HNNNGg

Having that universal language allows you to put meaning behind certain choices made within your own fan works or in the way you interpret canon? And my absolute favorite example of this applied is with America and Japan at the end of Japan's isolation.

Here's the thing: The universal language is canon. It's also canon that, when the Black Ships came, Japan had a translator between them when he spoke to America for the first time.

What a move!!!

Now, look, I know this scene is generally just played for laughs with miscommunications presenting America as a pervert and all, but it would not be a Hetalia post if I didn't insert way too much meaning into a couple of panels from a gag manga, SO -

This man shows up at Japan's door with coal-powered warships to force him out of two hundred years of isolation, and they both know they can understand one another.

But Japan insists on a translator anyway. And America agrees. Why?

For Japan, it reflects his wariness to even consider the terms being offered, but it is also a test of America (and his government's) intentions. They say they want mutually beneficial trade agreements (of course while asking for preferential terms, as would lkely be expected for such a negotiation) but Japan knows he and his government are sitting at a considerable disadvantage. It's important to know how much of this proposed cooperation is being extended in good faith.

So he sets a condition to their meeting that they both know is unnecessary from a practical standpoint.

If America intends to negotiate, their representative will accept this condition as a show of good faith. If they don't, and he refuses, that shows Japan where they really view themselves in this negotiation and how much he and his government can trust them.

Now, if you'll indulge me reaching even farther into speculation about the way the canon universe functions... It's made pretty clear at various points I'm canon that the amount of influence a nation has on their government and the respect their bosses hold for them varies a lot between nations and over time.

So! With that in mind, the authority with which America acts in their personal discussions/negotiations will also tell Japan whether he is truly considered to be representative of his country or if he is merely a figurative representation positioned in servitude to his bosses and trotted out as a matter of formality and show.

America's reaction to the condition of speaking through a translator, which again, they both know is completely unnecessary, can give Japan (who will need to bring this back to his bosses) vital information to help him decide whether he is truly approaching the possibility of real negotiations with a fellow nation and his government, or if this is simply establishing a pretext for the invasion that is already coming.

how is that not cool as fuck

One of the things I love about this canon is that it is, for the most part, dumb jokes about a bunch of idiots, but there's so much to play with and run away with and I don't think we always appreciate what fertile ground we really have here.

[faunabella]

considering how many times vene is held against his will, tied up, or unable to see throughout canon (especially held against his will, like jesus this poor guy has so many panels where he's held onto and people won't let go of him, especially as a child), i feel like something like bondage would actually kind of scare him at first? being on the receiving end of it. someone having him restrained where they can do whatever they want to him.

but i also think it could be a good healing sort of thing for him, to learn to associate being held against his will with pleasure and care, instead of discomfort and disrespect of his boundaries.

i picture a scene where he explores this with a partner, and being tied up is pretty uncomfortable for him at first, like i picture him just being nervous and antsy that he's restrained, but his partner is gentle and helps coax him into relaxing, and he feels safe and learns to enjoy it.

[estbela]

GOING INSANE tongues and teeth is such a robul song from Romania's point of view and in general is a really Ro (and Nyo Ro) coded song

[enyoalkis]

25-ага сакавіка, жыве Беларусь! 

25 March, long live Belarus! 🤍❤️🤍

For a country I’ve long been fascinated with since discovering Hetalia and hoping one day, Belarusians achieve true democracy and freedom.

Freedom Day - An unofficial holiday in Belarus celebrated every March 25 to commemorate the declaration of independence by the Belarusian Democratic Republic in 1918. Although the current government regime has banned this holiday, many Belarusians in the country and abroad calling for democracy in their motherland celebrate by waving the white-red-white flag of the BNR and displaying its historical coat of arms, the Pahonia.

The Pahonia (Паго́ня) is similar to the Republic of Lithuania’s coat of arms, the Vytis, and both originate from their historical ties to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. From the 13th century until the Partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the end of the 18th century, all modern-day territories of Belarus were part of the GDL. A popular patriotic song called “Pahonia” is commonly sung by Belarusians against the current regime.

Following Belarus’ independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, both the WRW flag and the Pahonia were official flag and coat of arms of the Republic of Belarus from 1991-1995 until they were abolished in the controversial 1995 Belarusian referendum by dictator Alexander Lukashenko and his supporters. The flag and coat of arms were replaced into a flag and emblem similar to the ones used during the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. For years, most notably in 2020 and 2021, many Belarusians have taken to the streets to mass protest against the Lukashenko regime with white-red-white flags and the Pahonia. Sadly, many brutal human rights abuses and arrests have occurred and still are to this day.

[feynavaley]

I keep seeing people claiming things that straight-up contradict canon about America and Canada's dynamic, so I'm going to clarify a couple of points.

What's canon: Canada makes America cry after insulting him at length during an argument. Once. (The other time, we don't get to see America's reaction, even though we can certainly surmise he doesn't take it well.)

What's NOT canon: Canada constantly bullies (or even abuses!) America, treats him horribly and believes to be above him.

As I have already stressed, Canada makes America cry at most two times in canon.

Now, this obviously isn't okay and I'm not claiming Canada's actions were right. However, people just love to dismiss the context. First of all, this isn't Canada just insulting America out of nowhere without a justification, they're in the middle of arguments. Not to mention, both times, America is the one who starts insulting Canada. (This is another thing people conveniently never mention.) Then, Canada answers and, with the spirits running so high, he definitely goes too far. Even so, there is a context that, without justifying it, does explain why he lashed out so.

Moreover, Canada insulting America definitely isn't their everyday dynamic. They're depicted at ease around each other numerous times, doing activities and spending time together. All instances in which both of them are nice and friendly, clearly enjoying what they're doing. To make this even clearer, in most of their interactions, Canada shows no hostility towards America and is, instead, very kind to him.

Lastly, regarding the assumption that Canada feels superior to America... that one is explicitly denied in canon. Canada does have some issues with America's behaviour, this much is true. However, he believes himself to be overall inferior to America, not superior. He explicitly says so.

With all this, I'm not trying to claim that Canada is perfect or that he never does anything wrong. Just like every person, he has his limits and flaws and even though he's generally nice and accommodating, he can reach the breaking point when put under a lot of stress and then, make mistakes. But not being perfect all the time doesn't make him a bad person either. Not when that faulty behaviour is so different from his normal one.

[betty-bourgeoisie]

I've said before that I think Emil is an incredibly talented diplomat but I don't see that interpretation of his character get a lot of airplay in the fandom so I want to talk about it a little more. Because I think at the end of the day Emil is much more aware of power and power dynamics than almost any of the other nations.

Nations like Alfred and Ivan may understand power in that they know they have a lot of it, but they don't really understand the full extent to which their power impacts the people around them (which is probably for the better tbh). Emil on the other hand represents a country with no military, a small population, and very limited natural resources. Iceland's greatest capital on the world stage is that it's an important strategic point between the U.S. and Europe, so understanding power, how it works, and his proximity to it is in many ways Emil's only saving grace.

In the real world, the Icelandic government has actively used their country's strategic importance as a bargaining chip multiple times. They've managed to obtain a shocking amount of soft power through a combination of trade negotiations, tourism, and U.N-related schmoozing. They've taken what should, by any reasonable economic measurement, be a fairly impoverished and little-known island in the North Atlantic and turned it into a top tourist destination with some of the highest quality of life and wealth per capita in the world. It's actually pretty nuts if you think about it.

So in terms of Emil as a person I think this would have to translate into him being an incredibly talented diplomat. He's always very aware of who's on his side. Of who actually does the work vs. who sits around and takes credit for it. He's hyper-cognizant of his appearance and the way that others perceive him. He spends a lot of time trying to find out what makes the people around him tick and he uses that information to his advantage whenever possible.

And yet it's for this reason that he often comes across as very laid back and even unambitious to the people around him. He doesn't have the manpower for a war or even a fistfight, so unlike a lot of other nations, constant hustle and competition is a losing game for Emil and he actively avoids it. Flying under the radar and waiting to strike while the iron is hot is his only strategy, and he has to really understand both power dynamics and the people around him for that strategy to work.

[faunabel]

i know people usually portray veneziano as a pretty chill, easygoing guy

but at the same time, he does have abandonment issues...

i could see someone he cares about doing something particularly dangerous and he just. freaks the fuck out.

he's scared to lose people he loves so i could see him being scared of them getting badly hurt like that. too stressed out to even pretend to be composed.

in fact even in canon he freaks out over things that aren't such a big deal like germany merely not feeling well lol

[aleo-lax]

✎_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ↷

Analizando a Lux en la portada

🇱🇺 « Mini clases de historia »

¹* Atuendo

Para empezar, el nuevo traje de lux está inspirado en el traje de la casa real de Luxemburgo. Aunque la versión utilizada para este diseño es la que los altos cargos portan en el día nacional.

²* Foto

Está es de las zonas más emblemáticas del país.

Se trata de las rocas de bock, son los restos de un fuerte romano remodelado en la Edad Media, dentro de él también se encuentran las Casamatas Españolas, kms de túneles bajo tierra.

Su nombre es del monte en donde está.

Gracias a estas fortificaciones es que Luxemburgo existe, estás tienen un origen romano del siglo IV, pero fueron remodeladas por el conde Siegfried en 963, quien se considera oficialmente el fundador del país.

Esta remodelación de por sí tienes muchas leyendas a su alrededor. Entre ellas leyendas con sirenas y el mismo Lucifer.

Este castillo que a lo largo del tiempo, incluso con ayuda de otros países, se fue expandiendo creando consigo una de las mejores fortalezas de Europa, apodada "Gibraltar del Norte".

Además, Luxemburgo viene de Lucilinburhuc, que es el nombre celta que se le dio a la fortificación romana, significa "Pequeño Castillo".

Pero gran parte de esta fortificación fue demolida en su independencia, el pacto fue que sería independiente y neutral a cambio de demoler toda sus fortificaciones.

Aún así quedan algunas pruebas antes de la demolición (Ver en imágenes)

Todo ese pacto de independencia y neutralidad viene de la Crisis Luxemburguesa, que da para otro hilo, pero en resumidas cuentas, Francia y Prusia se estaban disputando la compra del país y estuvo a punto de desaparecer.

Como último dato de la foto, arriba de estas ruinas se encuentra "le chemin de la corniche" considerado uno de los balcones más bonitos de Europa.

Desde allí se puede ver gran parte de la capital. (invito a buscar fotos de las vistas en Google debido a la limitación de imágenes de Tumblr)

³* Rosas

En el reverso, salen flores (Siempre me extrañará que no haya amapolas por parte de Bélgica.)

Las rosas son la flor nacional de Luxemburgo, no se específica la especie pero varias fuentes ponen que serían las rosas blancas o la rosa canina/salvaje.

[franciskirkland]

i saw you say that you’re take on spamano diverts from canon and honestly i’d love to know more about it, i feel like most spamano shippers do this and i love hearing all takes because i feel like they’re all interesting! and i love them so so much!! do you have any hc’s that you think are unpopular with the fandom?? or do you like they way spamano is represented for the most part??

Hi! Thanks so much for the ask 💕 If you're the same anon who sent the last one I'm working on it. To answer honestly, I don't interact with Spamano fanwork enough to know what is and isn't popular or accepted as fanon these days.

But I'll hesitantly say that no, I think my views on this ship differ from that of the fandom status quo, as they usually do. I don't say this for the sake of being edgy or a need to always play contrarian, but bc I have a unique perspective.

Disclaimer; long post ahead. my opinion was asked for and you're about to receive it. Everything stated is opinion and I'm not discrediting alternate headcanons.

So I'll start by saying I'm not an expert on Spain's history or characterization. I have mentioned this before but the way Himaruya chose to portray him is a bit odd to me. Then again, Hetalia nations aren't really direct representations of their government, but instead stereotypes of their people. If everyone was accurate they'd all be unsympathetic assholes.

Spain as an empire was once a ruthless colonial force, and as a nation in more recent centuries they have a history of fascist rule, violent uprising and general civil discord.

Spain as a character is a sunny, bubbly himbo after he lost his reputation as a global power. I think he has a tendency to downplay the harm he's caused in the past and manipulate others into viewing him as a shiny happy goofy airhead.

Don't get me wrong, I think Antonio is adorable. He's cute, right? Dude's main personality trait is having a GREAT ASS 🍑 and liking tomates 🍅 He loves to cook and dance and do fuck all. The Hetalia wiki describes him as a, quote, 'cheerful country bumpkin' and honestly, let's go with that for the sake of his personhood?

This is why I like human AU. I enjoy reading historical Hetalia, but writing it isn't for me. As a creative, I don't want to operate within the limits of real world events and not gonna lie I prefer writing them as people!! And that's where I exercise some divergence from canon.

So obviously there's the dynamic of boss and his underling that existed when Romano was young. We can't entirely ignore that that arc exists and is part of his character development, but when Romano grows up I don't see them that way, and there's no denying their romantic potential.

I hear, and understand the common criticisms of Spamano. I don't view them as related, and Romano is not Spain's territory anymore. To me it's fair game. Hetalia is complicated bc well... these nation-beings are hundreds of years old, therefore the case for morality in shipping isn't black and white.

Personally I don't believe any ship is 'too problematic' to exist. I'm of the opinion that we can explore just about any dynamic in fiction as long as we do it mindfully. I'm a multishipper, these characters are all so versatile.

This might sound silly to say about an anime character but my analysis of Romano's personality is more in depth. As someone of Italian descent I recognize his stereotypical traits; and feel pretty strongly about his mischaracterization.

For one, he has a small dog Napoleon complex and that's a big thing for Italian guys (more on that later)

In canon (i.e. world history and Hetalia itself) when Romano was young, Spain did spend a lot of money protecting and defending him. Now as an adult he feels guilty, like he has an obligation to him, and he doesn't want to be seen as weak, reliant or incapable ever again. I don't think he'd allow himself to be dominated, in any way, or even want to be.

Here's an unpopular opinion; he is very masculine, but I think people have a hard time comprehending what constitutes masculinity.

And I'm not saying Antonio is therefore feminine. They're both cis men to me, and switch in the bedroom, but I will admit I prefer Lovino as the generally more dominant partner - in a physical and hierarchical sense.

Ultimately I don't think they box themselves into heteronormative roles all too much. Maybe for funsies, because Lovino likes feeling needed and Antonio to me doesn't have the discipline it takes to wear the proverbial pants in the relationship.

In a comic strip, Spain proposed to Romano when same-sex marriage became legal, and he basically said yes as long as you cook for me?? They're husbands!! It's canon 😎

It's a bit hard to explain, but in my perspective, Lovino would protect and cherish Antonio like a man would his 'wife'. He's his Carino. His Tesoro. His Amorino. Toni might be taller than him, but he's always talking to him like a child - mostly affectionately, but we've seen otherwise.

One of my favourite Romano lines is from the April Fools episode, "No talking to me when you look stupid", that to me is a defining moment of their relationship 💖💖💖

So anyway, this attitude of his brings me to the topic of Maschismo. If you're not familiar with that term, it's a performative, arrogant, and fragile brand of toxic masculinity that's prevalent in men of Mediterranean and Latin American descent. Any man can be machismo but the term is associated with these cultures.

(Again I'm of Mediterranean descent, I have lived experience with this, please don't think I'm racist and if that's legitimately your takeaway you have the reading comprehension of a sea cucumber)

In machismo society, men are discouraged from showing any emotion except anger. They're expected to be strong, and are extremely affected by any implication of personal failure, or threat to their (imagined) role as top dog. When something upsets them, aggression is the default response.

Men affected by machismo are often possessive, competitive, and motivated by material success; because there's an expectation to provide for - and honor - your family. They will often talk over women, objectify or ignore them completely, like second class citizens.

Whether this was a conscious intention or not, Hima actually does a great job at displaying Romano as a machismo poster boy. He's simultaneously expressive and repressed. He's stubborn, defensive and argumentative, and if that doesn't say Italian dad to you then you're probably a WASP /hj

What the fandom might see as a little tsundere uke, I see as machismo tough guy. He's not soft, that's the thing, but he deserves space to be soft because so does everyone. Maybe Antonio does bring that out in him. But it's not easy and it's not for anyone else to see. He pretends to hate when Toni calls him cute because he doesn't allow himself to feel appreciated on that level. He actually has a deep, unspoken respect for Antonio. It's just easier to tease him.

And he actually does care. He just does it in a way that isn't instantly recognisable as caring because it's not 'gentle'. He's jealous of Feliciano because he's the 'nice' brother. He's concerned for Feli when others mistreat him. That concern and protectiveness translates into condescension and ironically, distancing.

Sorry for going so in depth on what is essentially old man land mass yaoi, if you've read this far thank you and congratulations I guess.

[peppermint-chocolate-cherries]

Some Analysis of LietBela

I’ve been thinking about making this post for quite some time, but I also knew I’d be explaining my side of things in essay form.  Well, I finally wrote the essay.

Full disclaimers, I am a Canadian who was barely taught anything about Eastern Europe in high school.  My knowledge on Lithuanian, Belarusian and Polish history is from spending a few hours clicking through Wikipedia as I wanted to learn more about Lithuania once the Hetalian became my newest muse a few years ago.

Hetalia’s Lithuania was really an afterthought at best when I joined the fandom. When I wrote my first story, Absorbing the Deck, he appears as a side character in the last couple chapters driving the Clubs carriage.  At that point in my fandom experience, he was still just Russia’s lackey, and that’s how he was until I planned out The Nefarious Mathilda Jones.

I don’t recall what the change was this time, I think I just wanted to give Ivan a familiar Hetalian to be working with as one of Mathilda’s nefarious henchmen.  Even in the original D&D alignment chart (good vs evil, lawful vs chaotic) I made for the characters in the story, Tolys was never specifically assigned an alignment.  I even considered putting him and Antonio into a side fling, but that didn’t pan out.  Over time, since it took 2.5 years to write the last 10 chapters of the story, I was able to think about the nefarious quartet’s motivations a lot more, and develop backstory for them that would cover ⅔ seasons worth of a television show.  That is when Tolys’s POV became so important for me, as a voice of reason to rationalize Mathilda’s decisions in the last year of the story.

And that is when I fell in love with the character of Lithuania, and looked up his history.  Turns out that Lithuania was already an Eastern European powerhouse in the 1200’s-1400’s, before joining up with Poland to create the renowned Commonwealth.  There were many instances during their union where Poland wanted to cooperate more with other kingdoms, such as Sweden and France, but it was the Lithuanian faction that opposed this.  I realized that this made for an interesting dynamic between the two of them: Poland was the politician, and Lithuania was the warrior.

Then we have Belarus.  The young child was bounced around a lot between guardians, along with Ukraine and Russia.  The rise in power of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 1200’s was all about taking over land from the Mongols and from the former Kievan Rus when opportunity struck. At that time, he controlled territory all the way from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, including large sections of what are now Belarus and Ukraine.  As such, both sisters would have technically been under Lithuania’s charge for some time.

So, this is where this complex relationship starts, with Lithuania as Belarus’s guardian.  In the Hetalia strips and anime, we see that Belarus is quite young around this time, as this is also when Russia is a child struggling to make friends while also fending off the Teutonic Knights (aka Prussia).  While not much older, Lithuania definitely has the advantage in this power dynamic with Belarus. Although I did read that the Lithuanians did allow the Ruthenians a bit more economic and cultural autonomy in exchange for on-call military support.

During these centuries under Lithuania’s control is where Belarus grew up into a young lady, in my humble opinion.  Perhaps it was the autonomy while under his control that allowed her to do just that.  Even when Poland entered the mix and the Commonwealth came to be, Belarus remained firmly under Lithuania’s control and was not shared with Poland.  Perhaps it was Lithuania, or even Poland, that taught her how to use daggers in self-defence, should the two of them ever be unable to protect her.

Meanwhile, through all this time, Belarus kept an eye on the welfare of her siblings.  While Ukraine was also subject to Lithuania’s rulership at times, Russia was not.  He eventually found his own footing and path to imperial power, eventually becoming a fascination and a threat to the rest of Europe.  The inheritance and control of Kievan Rus, the former territory that was home to all three siblings, was becoming a hot topic of debate again, and now Russia had the power to make the move.

And so he did.  Not only did he bring his sisters back under his wing, he also dismantled the Commonwealth and claimed Lithuania for the Russian Empire as well.

Lithuania had all his former power and glory stripped away, and was reduced to following the orders of someone else.  Sure, he had to work with Poland for centuries, but that was a relationship of equals.  For the first time in centuries, Lithuania no longer had his autonomy, and now had to answer to the Russian empire.

The only trace of his former life was having Belarus at his side in the same position.

This is where I think their relationship becomes more twisted and complicated.  Belarus is the only constant that Lithuania has left, she’s the only one here he can technically still trust.  This is likely where he starts projecting his affections on her, believing that she still cares enough about him to watch his back.  Meanwhile, Belarus is embracing her role in the Empire, enjoying her people’s return to Slavic cultures and traditions, and more than happy to serve her brother instead of Lithuania.

When the Russian Empire collapses, and everyone becomes independent after World War I, Lithuania and Belarus both find themselves suddenly fighting with Poland and Russia to reclaim the territories surrounding Vilnius.  There were even a couple attempts to work together, first as equals in a Lithuanian-Byelorussian republic, but then with Belarus still a part of Lithuania.  Ultimately, her land got split between Russian control and Polish control, while Lithuania had to cede control of Vilnius to Poland.  Nobody was getting along during this time, let’s just put it like that.

World War II comes along, and they both get conquered again, bouncing between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia a few times before they both ultimately become Soviet states after the war.  Finding himself in the same position as before, Lithuania is desperate to make amends with Belarus and rekindle the allegiance they once held to each other.  Even if the times of conquering lands and controlling territories was no longer a thing, Lithuania still deeply cared for her.  However, Belarus was once again happily embracing Russification and rejecting Lithuania at every turn.

This is where I ultimately think their relationship became toxic.  Lithuania is pining for her beyond reason, and she wants nothing to do with him.  It’s hard to say who is more at fault here. While Belarus breaking his fingers in the Hetalia strips is certainly a very extreme action, Lithuania also did not have the wherewithal to take off his rose-coloured glasses and see that she was genuinely not interested in his advances.

It’s not until the fall of the Soviet Union, when Lithuania and Belarus take their separate paths to independence, that I think Lithuania finally sees the light.  He’s making all these efforts to join the European alliances and economy, and earn his places in the UN and NATO.  He’s working with the other European countries to find ways to bolster his own economy and provide for his own people, now that everyone has agreed to stop invading each other and work together instead.

On the other side of the border, he can see all too clearly now how stuck Belarus is in her own ways.  She struggles to make ends meet for herself, she does not seek aid or alliances with the rest of Europe, and she ultimately resorts to being a puppet state to now-capitalist Russia.  It troubles Lithuania greatly, since he’s watched her for so long as she grew to be a nation only for her to take this path that opposes his own.

He does still have to cooperate with her on border issues, and he still has to pay attention to anything she or Russia might be up to.  Lithuania still cares about her fate, but I think in modern days he’s come to accept that he cannot control it for her.  One day, Belarus will have to remove her own rose-coloured glasses and see where she has allowed Russian influence to take her.

On that day she comes to her senses, she might realize that it’s already too late to avoid becoming entirely Russian and fading away into the history books.  On the other hand, she might wake up in time to resist that fate, and forge her own independence.  She might finally call on assistance from the West to break free from Russification, to reclaim her own culture and language that were nearly lost.

Lithuania still awaits the day where she’ll come to his doorstep asking for help, and he will always keep the door open for her.  But now he realizes that it’s up to her to ask for his help, when and if she is ever ready to.

I found Hetalia in 2015, at which point there were already thousands of stories posted to Livejournal, Fanfiction.Net and AO3.  When looking through the tags for LietBela (as well as RusLiet), there is a LOT of toxic relationships in there.  Early fandom really went hard with the “Lithuania pines, Belarus breaks his fingers” aspect of the manga and wrote some very dark and abusive tropes into their stories for Tolys and Natalya.  I only needed to read a couple of these stories to figure out that this is definitely not my cup of tea.

However, I cannot overlook the historical context between these two characters, and what events would have led to their relationship becoming so toxic and complicated in the first place.  These are two characters who have known each other for 800 years, who grew up together and forged their identities alongside each other.  No doubt they used to respect each other when Belarus was under Lithuania’s rulership, perhaps even admire each other’s strengths.  But that loss of Lithuania's power led to their relationship becoming incredibly strained and violent.

In my headcanons for the modern day nations, Lithuania is still recovering from the anxiety and paranoia he developed under Russia’s control, and part of that journey is accepting what has become of his relationship with Belarus.  He has learned to move on, to work on himself instead and to find happiness in other ways and with other relationships.  But he still holds onto that hope that, someday, Belarus will come to him and ask for his help.

And he will answer that call gladly.

[council-of-beetroot]

The three ways I come up with ideas for HWS Poland

1. Looking at hundreds of years of history like a madman trying to connect the dots to make a historically valid headcanon

2. Hang out with other Polish people such as my family.

3. Ideas where I have zero idea if it makes sense but it sure makes me laugh.

Why did i find this funny?

10 minutes later end result:

I hit the Post button anyway

[shini--chan]

Hello! I’ve read your Alfred x ColdWarSpy one shot and the oneshot of Alfred x Spy who’s target is England/England x Spay who’s target is America.

I love the way you portray Alfred! Someone on here once described him as: brilliant, ambitious, and ruthless. A combination of the superhero myths: Clark Kent & Lex Luthor, Captain America & Winter Soldier.

I love how you can portray him as still the sunny persona, and some of that may be part of his real self, but also the ruthless superpower that people forget about.

What more thoughts do you have on him?

Quick note: answering asks in a non-chronological order at the moment so that I can get around to emptying the ask box

Ooooo... another person who digs stirringwinds’s stuff. We stan. Also, thank you for the kind words.

In total, I have plenty of headcanons for almost all the Hetalia character’s, partially due to me being quiet the history buff. Warning for plenty of TV Tropes references, because I’m that sort of person that also uses TV Tropes as a Getaway Drug, so links!

Aside from the aforementioned characters that America shares parallels with, I see him having a lot in common with Indiana Jones. They are both the sort of figures that hold strong to a certain code, although with Alfred it often goes into the territory of American Execptionalism – a lot of the Utopia Justify the Means making him in the eyes of plenty of the other nations and even people a Well-Intentioned Extremist. This would also have some truth to it, given that his Puritan background would have left marks. Also has a habit of using Indy Ploys in which he has no concrete plan and just improvises as he goes. Has some negative side effects in larger operations, where he would need a more detailed plan aside from vague goals of establishing freedom and democracy or something of the sort. In simple terms, his thought process would sometimes be like this:

Situation A happens

Stuff happens

Situation B comes into effect.

Big on the Obfuscating Stupidity. On some part he is also very silly, and would just want to have some fun. On the other he would just want people to underestimate him. Think of Zaphod Beeblebrox from Hitchhikker’s Guide to the Galaxy. At times can also be as vain and narcissistic.

On both of the upper points – he has a tendency to over think matters at times, leading to the Centipede’s Dilemma. But because that’s one of the things he is generous enough to share, he loves invoking it in others. May or may not have killed Arthur in the past by yelling “Which foot goes next?” when the latter was running down the stairs, causing his father to stumble and break his neck. Yes, Alfred suffers from Comedic Sociopathy, especially when it comes to people he doesn’t really like.

Apropos people he doesn’t like – while Alfred is at times inclusive and loves experiencing other cultures, that wouldn’t apply to morality. Nations have difference moral nuances, things they consider right and wrong that can differ from their neighbour. America is of the opinion that his way is the right way – other modes of thinking would either be tolerated or outright condemned.

Torn between wanting to have adventure and a desire for a simple life. In that sense, he always functions best while living on a frontier, where he would have a mix of both. Always has new ideas, many seeming hare-brained to outsiders, and even to himself in retrospect. But he loves to be a Pioneer, so he won’t let anybody stop him, until it is too late, that is.

Is a surprisingly good cook, although it often involves things that other people wouldn’t eat. Literally can’t stick to the recipe because he would always want to try out something new. As such, he would seldom make the same thing twice. Except steak – the steak must be rare and the tea of the southern sweet variety or else.

Ranges from being a Southern Gentlemen to a loud and rude New Yorker with all of that Brooklyn Rage and everything in between. Though, aside from that, he would often put on the guise of that All-American Boy and turn up that Hollywood Charm.

I shall finish here before it gets out of hand, though you peeps are free to request more in the future.

[thenightlymartini]

Hey I'm back again! (Most recent anons) I've been muling over ideas for the last week and I think I finally was able to put the idea into words. I'm still not quite ready to post any of my own Commieburger content [because I'm in the process of trying to create my own N!Korea OC, and because this idea fits more with the version you use.]

After being in a relationship for some while, the stuff they say to eachother around other people start to have double or even triple meanings. Alfred doesn't quite realize it until he picks up the very slight difference in the way that North was yelling something at him, and he immediately understood that there actual meaning. Neither of them meant to do it, and no one has caught on yet, but it becomes the only way they can seem to communicate while around other nations.

Congrats on deciding to make your own OC! Just remember to do lots of research and, especially since this is N. Korea, you need to make sure you are not glorifying his government nor the human rights atrocities the country is doing. If you are looking for inspiration or need an example of how to go about that, I recommend looking at @circlique's OC of N. Korea, the same one I use for my headcannons. You can find the dedicated blog for N. Korea under ask-north-korea. I believe they do a very great job at building his character and answering questions through the OC's perspective while also being respectful of the people and culture and critical of the actual country's government and history. Always important to take as much time as you need!

For your idea, it reminds me a little of what I've done before in some of my fanfiction, as well as some of the writing by circlique on their AO3 account. Though, mostly both writings focus on keeping up the act of America and N. Korea hating each other. I do like the idea of some of the things they say to each other having a double or triple meaning, like some things they would say to a passerby may sound condescending or they are trying to rub salt in the wound, but between the two of them it is a subtle way of checking in on each other. Two ideas I got while reading your idea was one about America doing his own way of making sure NK is alright and subtly displaying his love and affection and NK very subtly consoling America, and they show their real meanings through very small physical movements or tonal shifts that they honestly didn't realize they ended up doing until much later.

America would be really cocky and essentially looks like he is mocking NK for his government not being able to feed his citizens adequately, but in reality the way he structured his words and changed tone ever so slightly indicated he was checking to make sure NK was eating properly and that he would make sure the other got something if he needed, maybe even discretely paying for delivery to NK's hotel room later if he couldn't be there with him. NK, likewise, especially after witnessing or hearing about America being called fat or someone being critical of America's health or diet, would sound like, to anyone else, he's mocking America for being so nosy about what other people do or say that he should learn to back off or that he deserves what people are saying about him, but the subtle way of how a finger or hand slightly reaches for America's and the way his tone indicates he's dialing back on his annoyance or meanness actually tells he's trying to comfort America and tell him don't take those words to heart and carry on being himself otherwise he's just going to get more depressed if he thinks about it for too long.

I think they eventually pick up on these slight changes and differences as they progress and date for longer, as they have more time to really analyze and see each other as people and figure out the little quirks each have. In the end, I think they take it as a way to develop themselves, too, such as America learning to be more tactful with his words and tone, as well as learning to not be as pushy and just learning the art of subtlety in general, while NK learns to dial back on his general mean sounding-ness and sarcasm/snark when he's trying to be nice and to be more open in private or when one-on-one.

Thinking back on one of my more popular stories on AO3, I got the idea of NK being more subtle with physical displays because, despite being so attention and touched deprived that any sort of attention he gets he will cling to whether it's good or bad, he is bad at initiating physical touch himself unless he's really passionate. He also doesn't communicate wants that clearly since he's not used to opening up that much and his brain is so used to suppressing his own wants and desires for the sake of putting everything and everyone else first that he has a hard time letting himself be free to act on his own desires and wants, so if he wants to cuddle or hold hands, his fingers or hand act just ever so slightly quicker than his brain, but his brain catches up before any full action is made, thus looking like a twitch or subtle hand shift. NK, if it is just America and him alone, is prone to pouting as well, though it mostly comes when he isn't getting what he wants and he himself doesn't realize he's doing it unless America pointed it out.

I've left a few excerpts from one of my stories to help kind of clarify what I'm talking about with the changes in how America and NK act around each other:

"America quirked an eyebrow at the Korean, unused to the other relenting that easily. He was about to leave to fix up the couch when he noticed the subtle pout on the smaller man’s lips. The one thing he can say for certain about the past year of their blossoming relationship is that he started picking up on North’s quirks; including when North was trying to express what he actually wanted. If the pout weren’t present, he would have just figured the other was nervous, but North never pouts unless he isn’t getting what he really wants." "He glanced over to his left and noticed North opened his eyes again, this time seeing the conflicted look. America raised an eyebrow, then saw the twitch of one of North’s fingers reaching out towards him. After a year, he had learned that sometimes North was too scared to verbally ask for something if he felt insecure about it, and he took the hint. 'If you want, you can cuddle. Think of it like we do normally on the couch watching a movie.' America coaxed the hesitant Korean, opening up his arm so his side was exposed." - Excerpts from "First Night With One Bed"