#Obviously I don't really mind this because it's hetalia come on | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

j-ellyfish · 9 months

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I was today years old when I discovered that, apparently, Shounen Jump doesn't allow women to be editors/helpers 🙃 now it may be false information, but that would help explain why WS is the way it is now... To this day I am baffled that Hetalia is considered shounen/seinen... I understand that unfortunately shoujo/josei isn't as popular, but I very seldom see men, even jp men (which are apparently the supposed main audience) be fans of Hetalia or supporting its merch. Most of the money Hetalia gets seems to come from jp women. Hell, it doesn't even seem to be a Bungou Stray Dogs case where they make the series appealing for both genders. With it's lack of shounen-esque battles, latent homoerotic content (especially in the ye old days), fanservice which even to this day is 90% of the time focused on the male characters... I have to wonder, what does this series have going on for a male cishet audience? The very ocasional boob joke? The (now practically nonexistent) historical content? I'm confused...

Sorry for the rant, I hope it isn't too much 😅

[Sorry this post became pretty long because I can't shut the hell up!]

I looked a bit into it and, unfortunately, it seems to be true. Apparently they use "you need to understand what's in a young boy's heart" as an excuse to sort of gatekeep women from having a career as an editor with them.

I have read a couple articles about this, and the way Shueisha seems to dismiss the issue is pretty disturbing. The later deleted tweets from the (female) author of Rocking You!!! really speaks volume of the situation beyond any corporate clarification Shueisha released on the matter:

[Source] [Source]

Sadly, the manga&anime mainstream/dominant scene is still pretty sexist and it's no wonder that many female and/or queer artists prefer to engage in more niche, somewhat still frowned upon genres like BL or Josei, at least they probably have more freedom there when it comes to sharing stories since they don't need to appeal to what a narrow-minded, sexist and conservative mindset still deems as manga's main demography - cishet male teens and young men ... Which is, well, the reason why most shows are required to have cute lil' objectified girlies as fanservice (I'm not against fanservice per se but you know what I mean, it's how unbalanced it is between genders in "romance/sexual-neutral" stories - like Shounen are supposed to be! - what makes it overwhelming and insulting) even if they don't even need it as a crutch for engagement.

Personally, I believe Hetalia's og target as a Seinen wasn't wrong. I think that Himaruya being a man did have an impact in how Hetalia came to be and how its comedy and characters, and even art style developed. It wouldn't feel right to me to call it a Shoujo or a Josei. The problem with this traditional classification is that what's a Shoujo/Josei wasn't quite established as "what girls want to see", but rather "what boys typically aren't interested in." And obviously, this soon led to the over-simplified and kinda sexist idea that Shounen=Action-packed battles; Shoujo=Romance. Many Shounen and Seinen have quite a large female presence in their fandoms despite being traditionally seen as the "boys/men's manga", whereas it is less likely for a boy or a man to be very into a Shoujo, and even less into a Josei (or, rather, it is less likely for a male to share this interest because of good ol' toxic masculinity).

In any case, while searching some stuff to form my own opinion and answer, i came across this page where they said "if a series does not fit into any other category such as Shonen or Shojo, then it will be put under Seinen", and honestly I think it makes the most sense for Hetalia.

For how I see it, the "problem" with targetizing Hetalia is that Himaruya never thought about it becoming popular when he started it. His mindset was "let's post this random silly one-time thing I came up with after engaging in a thread on 2Chan while passing time as a student in New York". There wasn't any intended 'commercial use', there was no business planning beforehand. It'd be like trying to put a target on, I dunno, some everyday life meme-y comics you find daily on social media. They have no inherent target, though they might end up resonating with one group of people more than others. But you cannot know until the thing actually starts resonating with an audience.

The 2Chan threads in question, according to the informations I gathered, actually dealt with topics that tend to resonate with a male audience more: a debate about military weapons and strategies used in WW2 that culminated with talking about Italy's military failures of the time; and how Japan will literally make moe girlies as personifications for anything. Himaruya just had this idea, definitely influenced by his time spent in a multiethnic background while he was in the US, to fundamentally make a comic inspired by those moe female personifications but have them be moe guys instead.

It would've been very hard for Himaruya to foresee the attention his work would've gotten, let alone the kind of audience that would actually be interested in it. Sure, Himaruya apparently called himself a Fudanshi once (I have no source for this though so take it with a grain of salt!) and it's not hard to believe, but Hetalia is very atypical even for a BL-leaning series.

Let's not forget that the first one-shot Hetalia strip was posted on Hima's blog in 2006. And, let's say, things back then were quite different. Yaoi/BL wasn't nearly as popular as it became later, and mainstream media didn't really discover the power of fanservice aimed at a female audience yet (that would come much, much later and kind of peaked with Free!, which I believe really made a difference in how anime business would perceive the true power of this kind of fanservice from then on). In 2006, not even Junjou Romantica had gotten an anime yet, and as much as I honestly dislike JR, it played a big role in making BL more popular because prior to that BLs could barely aspire to get anything more than a couple OVAs. The few that did get a proper anime season (like Gravitation, Loveless and Sukisho) still didn't get as much of a hype to make the "male-dominated mainstream community" notice their existence like JR somehow did.

I'm not even sure the kind of "fanservice" Hetalia made/makes use of was a thing in 2006. Like, you know, all those anime we have now that have tons of homoerotic subtext, a predominantly or exclusively male cast, are targeted at least partially at a female audience but never actually dip into romance or make anything really canon? I'm no expert, but I don't think they were a thing back then, and if they did they were quite niche. Perhaps Hetalia also changed the male perception of female audience in manga/anime spaces. Hetalia fans back then were quite ostracized and shamed merely for being girls enjoying a show with a kind of content that most cishet males - used to their shows with everything geared towards them (and girls confined to the "Romance Shoujo enclosure") - couldn't quite comprehend. I've seen so many male anime fans, back in the day, making fun of us simply for being girls and enjoying a comedy that features hot guys with all the homoerotic subtext they wouldn't bat an eye at if it was between female characters.

However it is worth noting that, while most Hetalia fans are girls or women, it has a minority of male fans as well. One of the two friends that actually introduced me to Hetalia was a boy, and I was introduced to it together with three other friends, one of which was a boy too - we all loved it at first sight! An Italian Youtuber I occasionally follow revealed that his very first manga was Hetalia and although he only picked it up to get closer to the girl he liked, I guess he didn't hate it enough to just drop it and "unlike" that girl lol I saw reactions of a few other guys to Hetalia episodes and none of them hated it, they even laughed at some jokes! I believe that many men are simply prejudiced against Hetalia because of internalized sexism or toxic masculinity, especially if they're aware of the fandom's main activity being shipping (lol).

I don't think Himaruya made any of his """fanservice""" with an actual fanservice-y intent, he simply, genuinely drew what he, before anyone else, enjoyed drawing. Unlike a lot of fanservice out there, Hetalia's never feels forced, it is very genuine.

[Conclusion; if you wanna skip what's above lol]

I don't think it's fair to say that Hetalia willingly attempts to appeal to women. I feel like Hetalia, at least pre-HWS Hetalia, appealed to Himaruya before and foremost. It just so happened that Himaruya's taste aligned more with a female audience, despite being actually funny in a gender-neutral way that way too many cishet guys dismiss because of (I guess?) fragile masculinity and fandom prejudice.

So, keeping that into account, I really do not think it'd be fair to call Hetalia a Shoujo or a Josei. And it isn't fair to call it a Shounen either, because we see how Hetalia's essence and humor was undoubtedly butchered by Shounen Jump+'s editing and rules, that simply do not align with either Hetalia's spirit nor its main audience's expectations.

As a Seinen, Hetalia had freedom to be whatever it wanted because Seinen tends to have more loose rules for what is or isn't allowed in one. Because its target of "adult men" is basically, de facto, a neutral catch-all label. Josei tends to be too involved in classic Shoujo dynamics and themes, albeit in a more mature sauce, and while there are exceptions I feel, in all the (few) Josei I crossed path with, there is a certain je-ne-sais-quoi that makes it undoubtedly more inherently feminine than Hetalia is.

It's funny because this whole debate over Hetalia's target kind of reminds me of how the very first BL, Kaze To Ki No Uta, is classified as a Shoujo because back then Yaoi didn't exist as an official genre. When you make something revolutionary that defies pre-existing rules and boxes, it's hard to slap a specific label on it that feels right.

#hetalia #this is long but I hope it wasn't too boring lol #actually I'm curious so I'm going to make a poll about this #what genre is Hetalia?? HETALIA IS HETALIA lol #ary spoke #ask

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officialgleamstar · 11 months

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O, Z, and G!!

fandom meme :D

hi atlas! wahoo (i dont know why i started saying wahoo so much in the past few months. hm. need to track the source of that later)

O - Choose a song at random, which ship or character does it remind you of

well i hit shuffle and got Hero by Family of the Year. which um. well. obvious choice. thats a Hero Swallows-Oak-Garcia song forever and not just because of the title LOL

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go (prompts optional but encouraged)

god this is so hard, im really bad at just rambling off the cuff. I MEAN IM NOT, i talk like i get paid for it, but im bad when prompted to. god. uhhh. i think its really interesting to explore how different people in the dndads fandom see like, the friendships between the kiddads? because i know that i have very particular ideas in mind (pre-canon, grant and nick were childhood friends, nick and terry jr were best friends, the twins didnt talk to people. post-s1, grant + sparrow besties, nicky + lark besties, and sparrow and lark war over terry jr because they both think he prefers them. terry refuses to let either win because he sees all of them as his best friends and gets stressed when pressured to choose), but everyone has really different opinions on how their dynamics would all work out! im particularly fond of people that are like "these guys are all just best friends" because honestly thats so real LOL

G - Do you remember your first OTP, if so who was in it

I DOOO, at least my first big one at least, lmao! it was spamano as in spain and romano from hetalia which is um. unfortunate for me. but they just captivated me. definitely why i'm so fond of sunshine/grumpy ships nowadays, i think a lot of it comes from like... i was depressed from a very young age and i felt like it made it really hard to deal with me? obviously, now im loveable and precious and chipper (picture me tossing my hair over my shoulder like a mean girl), but i had a hard time making friends as a kid/in high school. so ive always been attracted to ships where one person is seemingly really dislikable, but the other person still finds something desirable in them. also, i just really love relationships where the people in it fucking hate each other LMAO (which is ironic because i don't particularly like enemies to lovers... we all have layers i guess)

#mine #ask #not actually human

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licic · 1 year

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Easter is coming closer and I was thinking about codfish and Hetalia.

So, port always makes codfish for lunch on Easter and lulu loves his dad's cooking and every year will demand(that word sounds too aggressive for what I was thinking of but I have no better word right now) his easter codfish. One day port can't make it so he sends the recipe instead and says that Lu should try making it and that the next time they see each other he can see if Lu learned the recipe. Luciano follows the recipe and his codfish tastes pretty good! He tells port about that and port gets happy that his little boy learned the recipe correctly and says that he is excited to taste Lu's codfish the next time they meet.

The day comes and lu is all cheered up to show his dad how good he was at cooking the recipe so well-known by both of them but while he is in the kitchen, alone with his thoughts and the ingredients he starts thinking that if he learns the codfish recipe and starts making it as good as his father did he will no longer have that moment where he is with his dad having some good food and just enjoying the moment, because of that he decides to mess up with the cooking a bit and when they start eating port notices it but makes no comment until lu says something about having too much salt or the fish being to dry. Obviously port won't make some really bad comment about his son's cooking because he looked so happy to be cooking before. With the previous observations, I can imagine Lu saying that there's too much salt and port answering something like "nonsense" while drinking a whole glass of water.

What happens next is a scene that passed through my mind and is the reason why i wrote that big ass fuck text.

They are both very quiet, Lu is thinking "Why he did not noticed the effort I made to make that terrible and non-edible? I should be hearing tons of mean comments about how i can't cook but he's just quiet" while port mind is "why did he made this to you? Poor codfish died for nothing." but he is happily eating on the outside. Tired of the silence and going straight to the point, Lu says that his codfish tasted bad and implies that port should be the one cooking next time

"Don't be so severe on yourself, you can always try again" "Says the man who would make me re-read a whole book if I messed up a sentence" "Well, people can change and have a second chance. Especially in the kitchen" The first thing lu thinks is "Who is this man and what did he made to my dad?" and lets it shows on his face "No, I'm a bad cook and it shows on that thing" "We both know that's not true, why are you acting weird?" "Because I am trying to prove my point on why you should be the cook forever and I shouldn't touch the kitchen" "We know that would be down very quick and would you start cooking again, what i am asking is why you're saying you can't cook?" Once they are going far from the starting point, Lu directly says: "Because I want you to cook for me and I can't say that ok?!?" Papai Portugal is with the biggest smile right now while he reaches lulu for a hug and says: "Don't worry, your papai will always be there to cook for you <3" Poor Luciano feels humiliated but happy on the inside because now he knows he's papai will always be there when he needs some food to have a little break from life and some good food as an extra

#aph portugal #lh brasil #while I was writing I noticed that I call Portugal port and Brazil lu a lot #for some reason calling portugal by some human name and brazil by the country name sounds weird to me so we get that mix in the end #also #sorry for the long and bad written text #anyway #dont mind me just talking about my headcanons

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darcymariaphoster · 2 years

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Happy birthday 🎉! I hope you have a great birthday tomorrow!

A few things I’d like to know about you are…

-your favorite hobbies

-Your favorite ships

-And your favorite characters

Sorry if it’s a bit intrusive (you don’t have to answer all of them 😅).

Thanks! 😁 (Also, imma answer all these, 'cause they're great. And, again, sorry for the long answer. Maybe one day I'll learn to keep my answers short...)

My top fave hobby is obviously writing. But I do scrapbooking and I make cards, too.

I've been lacking inspiration lately on those, though, so I'm just collecting supplies. (That's a hobby, right? 😅😂)

My fave ships... So, I'm going to go across the board here. JohnxSherlock will forever have a place in my heart, even though I'm not really in the fandom anymore. And though I haven't watched a Marvel movie in years, I still love StevexTony. As far as Hetalia goes? I have a soft spot for my classics -- DenmarkxNorway, SwedenxFinland, FrancexEngland, PrussiaxAustria, SpainxRomano (and TurkeyxEgypt but I can't read it because old rps have forever marred my characterization of them). Those ones. 😅 I've actually surprised myself this time around and while Sufin is close to my heart, I've really come to love Dennor and Denfin a lot.

My fave characters. I'm gonna just throw out there that I love Hawkeye from Marvel. MCU did my babe dirty. 😖 Hetalia? I'm currently a major fan of the Nordics (*insert literally everyone going "You don't say"*). And Denmark's character change to absolute puppy has stolen my heart. But aside from them, I still love Spain, Romano, and America (for some reason lol). Those just come to mind instantly when I think outside of the Nordics. 🤷‍♀️

#thanks!#asks #idk if it was fandom specific so i just went for it #might show a bit about me #lol

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obeymehasinfluncedmythoughts · 2 years

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the person on ur side blog who has a problem w aging up fictional characters is literally a middle schooler and probably doesn’t fully understand that adults… ykno… actually can have hobbies, actual personalities, or not cater to the “ideal adult” in their mind the moment someone turns 20 or something. i’m turning 17 this month and in my mind i tend to either age down the characters i want to interact with if the scenario calls for it or think of myself a few years in the future, it’s not that big of a deal- we’re talking about, what, like 3 years at most? and most of the characters i’m assuming you’re talking about pretty much looks the same as the older characters (bc they’re FICTIONAL and basically have the same model in game) or we can infer also ACTS around the same way real people that age could act too.

yes it would be a problem if the character in question obviously looks/acts like a child but these characters are in their late teens, an age range that you- and many others in the game’s target audience- are either in, or just got out of. and just like how what the other person said- some people got attached to a certain character years ago while they were the same age and the real person aged, but the fictional character doesn’t. you don’t automatically dislike a character the moment there exists a 3 year, 2 months, 14 days difference between you two tf.

i’m so sry for the long rant, have a nice day and don’t stress urself out too much!

Yeah, I have to agree.

I think the worst feeling for me is just this gross undertone that now surrounds the blog. Like I know I should delete it for my own sanity, but I can't, because I think it's important. People need to know that your rights to create fanfiction are there. I need to know I have a right to create fanfiction. I mean, I feel kinda just... defeated.

And when it comes to aging down characters, I think that's fine as long as the characters aren't being sexualized by adults. I think at that age, and far before, I was doing the same thing. Hell, I've been writing on Tumblr since I was 15/16, and I was writing fanfic for Hetalia. I'm @Hetalia-headcannons. Embarrasing, I know.

If I said anything stupid on there, please keep in mind I was not on the correct medications at the time. Which is why I don't blame them, they're kids, but it still makes makes me feel hurt I guess. It's a phase and they'll grow out of it, hopefully, but because of that I really don't want to have a discussion like that again on any of my blogs moving forward.

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ofdreamsanddoodles · 3 years

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if you don't mind me asking, how do you deal with consuming content with 'problematic' aspects? for example, i see you reblog posts criticizing things like racism in tma, and you can still make content while being able to recognize those things. it's hard for me to continue enjoying something when it has even 1 thing slightly bad in it, but i know that's not a healthy way to consume content. is there anything you keep in mind when interacting with a given series? u don't need to answer ❤️ ty

also a note on my ask -- of course you don't need to answer, and you aren't a therapist & etc. i just admire your ability to both recognize flaws in works but still enjoy them, and thought since you seem to have critical thinking skills you might have a perspective that you could offer. being on tumblr from a young age seems to have affected my ability to separate things in my mind, lol. thanks so much for reading even if you don't feel comfortable answering.

I mean... you’ve kind of answered your own question? The only way to consume media is to remember that everything has flaws. My brother came by while I was typing this up and told me the answer is to “just vibe” because everyone is more or less terrible in one aspect or another but obviously, that’s not the answer you’re looking for.

I guess the short answer is just... you have to learn how to trust your own set of morals and understand that you shouldn’t feel guilty if a story you like betrays you. And yes, that’s hard, especially when you grow up surrounded by very rigid rules on what’s “okay” to watch, but if you’re just looking for some tips, here’s a list that I hope will help:

Find people you trust and see what they think of the situation. Think about whether or not they’re coming from an informed place. A friend of mine asked me if I knew about a Jewish tradition a while back. I had no idea what they were talking about. Turns out, it was something popular with German Jews. None of my family is from Germany. Sometimes, just being Jewish doesn’t mean I’m the right person to ask.

Find people who are complaining & see why they’re upset. Think about who is annoyed by this and how many of them there are. Think about what they think the proper response is, if any. Think about whether you have the right to wave off their concerns. Think about how those concerns are treated, both in-fandom and by creators. I saw a lot of people in the tma tag complaining about twitter “overreacting” to MAG 185, but if Jonny felt the need to issue an apology and specifically say that he realizes he’s crossed a line, chances are, the complaints were probably warranted (a thing I’d like to add is that apparently, RQ also issued an apology for a fluff episode they released, which I thought was kind of silly, because the episode was essentially just joking about martin forgetting a word. But also, as a neurodivergent person who sometimes struggles with speech, I do understand why that might upset people. not all apologies have to about incredibly important topics, but even the ones who aren’t show a lot about the cast behind it. Alternatively, if RQ had only apologized for this episode, and not MAG 185, that also says a lot about where there priorities are, and what fans they care about keeping)

Think about what will happen if you continue watching/reading etc. It’s not so much “is it okay if I keep watching this?” but “if I continue to watch this, will I convince myself that this problematic aspect isn’t actually a big deal? Is it so ingrained in the show that I can’t watch an episode without seeing the problems in it? What will I say to others, if they want to watch this?” For example, if someone sees you’ve reblogged a scene from a show you like and asks what it’s about, how many excuses are you going to give? How many trigger warnings are there, and can you justify them? There’s a difference between a piece of media having a character say homophobic slurs, and a piece of media saying a gay person should have homophobic slurs thrown at them. Also: If you think you cant justify getting someone else interested, you probably shouldn’t justify contributing to the show. This might be obvious, but there’s a very big difference in pirating a tv show and buying its merch.

Think about the fandom. If you continue talking about this, who are you surrounding yourself with? Like, there are a LOT of weirdos making content for kids shows, but that doesn’t always mean the show itself is weird. What it does mean, though, is that you should be careful navigating your enjoyment. Sometimes, the only way to enjoy something is to talk about it with a select few friends. Sometimes, it’s to enjoy it by yourself. I do believe it’s possible to enjoy a show in spite of the canon, but at the same time, if you’re watching a show that’s attracting a lot of racists, think about why that might be.

some more thoughts under the cut, because I already wrote them out before I realized I could just make a list.

The thing about consuming media is that it’s very subjective. I know a lot of people who have given up on tma recently and while that’s not wholly because it’s “problematic,” it definitely plays a part in it. People have different meters for what they can excuse in media. The important thing to remember is WHY they left, and if you’re able to keep that in your mind while also continuing to engage in contact with the media. Will you be able to remember that Daisy traumatized Jon more than any other avatar if you consume context calling her Basira’s hot murderwife? Can you talk about the Flesh and acknowledge the racism in the creation of the Haans?

Personally, I don’t think you can produce positive content about Daisy and also acknowledge the harm she causes. You can’t point at a character and say, yes, she has committed actual police brutality, but I think she deserves a cute lesbian romance anyway. That’s not really a thing tma has done wrong as much as it is a problem with the fandom, but like, at the end of the day, it’s all just a matter of critical thinking. Who is being hurt by these portrayals of the characters? How? Most of the problems with tma aren’t things that are, like, baked into the actual worldbuilding and for a lot of people, that’s enough for them to still justify making content for the show.

If your complaints sound like “oh, if only they didn’t do xy, this would make for a good show,” then you’re probably fine. But if it goes into “i like this, but only if I can ignore (major plot point)” think about why you feel the need to keep watching. There are shows I’ve stopped watching based on principle. There’s manga I read that I only talk about with my brother and no one else, because I don’t want to be exposed to the fans. It doesn’t have to be as simple as “well, this artist did a bad thing, so now I’m going to ignore it forever.” If you think the creators of something are bad people, don’t support them. You can still pirate it or whatever, but if it’s something like hetalia, where the point of the show is just “let’s put all these stereotypes in a room and see how they react” then yes, for your own sake, you should stop watching because this is how stereotypes become normalized, and no one should be consuming media where nazi germany as the protagonist.

Really, at the end of the day, it’s just a matter of becoming media literate and that’s a process that takes time. Remember that being interested in something that isn’t 100% doesn’t make you a bad person, and listen to the people around you. Try and be a safe space for the people who do have complaints and remember not to place your enjoyment of something over the comfort of others. Other than that, just... do your best, I guess?

#this is far much more detail than you asked for i think but thats what you get for coming to me #asks #apologies if this took a while to answer i worked all day and needed some me time before i could tackle this #Anonymous

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j-ellyfish · 9 months

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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]

#hetalia #aph germany #aph hre #ask #ary spoke

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j-ellyfish · 1 year

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8 Shows to know you

Tagged by @fortune-maiden

Tagging: @paperuniverse @germanyskrazythiccass @hondakiku @fireandiceland @maryeve-the-bitch @crumpled--notes (feel free to ignore it ofc)

Thank you for the tag! This is gonna be challenging because I don't watch much in general, and as a consequence many/most of these are from my childhood or many years ago, but still-

Trying to mix it up with some Western cartoons/shows too :3

1. Pokémon

Even though I haven't followed the anime religiously since DP times, I can't avoid adding it since it sparked my interest in Pokémon videogames when I was 5 and I'm still a huge Pokémon fan to this day, 22 years later. The Gen1-2 anime has the most special place in my heart, but I am quite fond of the Gen3 anime too. Not as much of the Gen4 anime, but I did like it.

2. Hetalia

Yes, pulling out the two most meaningful ones to my existence right away. What do I have to say about Hetalia? 12 years and counting, I can be a very loyal fan when something resonates enough with my heart. I watched the anime first, and I fell in love at episode 1 already. Not even sure why, but yeah. You can't explain love, can you? y-y

3. Corrector Yui

A sadly quite underrated majokko anime from the early 2000s. I'm not the biggest magical girl fan, and I soon grew out of that phase when I was a kid, but this anime, oh God, this anime. I love it so much, I plan to rewatch it entirely but so far I only binged several episodes. But anytime I'm like "okay I'm just watching this one ep" I end up binging at least two or three. Which is a lot for my standard, I drop anime very easily especially nowadays. The fact that it can keep my nostalgia going and it doesn't give me the "my god how did I like this as a kid?" reaction (unlike Tokyo Mew Mew, sorry).

Also!! This anime is structured in a way that loosely resembles AUs and I remember this is one of the aspects that got me hooked as a kid in the first place (the other aspect is that the protagonist isn't actually using magic, but rather highly advanced technology). Basically, the protagonist can materialize herself into the Internet and each site is basically an Alternate Universe - there's one themed like the Far West, one that is populated by characters from fairytales, one sets you up as the protagonist of a Murder Mystery and so on. It's such a cute idea, I love it a lot!! I think it influenced my taste in fandom experience a lot, despite back then I didn't even have access to the Internet.

4. The Simpsons

Listen. The first seasons were gold. No wonder they gave birth to so many memes. I'm always up to watch them, and newer seasons fucking enrage me. How tf do you ruin such a good show?? Yikes. Anyway, I'm pretty sure it shaped my humor a bit because there's so many quotes and scenes I remember and come to my mind whenever they apply/relate to something I'm seeing.

5. Hamtaro

I was addicted to this anime, I had so many plushies and toys too!! Too bad someone convinced me to give away most of them when I was in the preteen phase, fuck. Probably not something I'd ever rewatch because I'm way out of the target now, but some scene here and there?? Sign me up! Obviously, I'm talking about the old seasons, because they look awful with the newer design where they have giant heads and the tiniest body. Relationship dynamics between the characters were so good.

Also the videogames! Hamtaro: Ham-Hams Unite! and Hamtaro: Ham-Hams Heartbreak are great games that can be enjoyed by adults too. They're very wholesome and with a nice humor, perfect cozy games for when you want to just play something cute and positive that still requires a little bit of thinking.

6. Community

Ngl, I don't think I've watched all of it because I simply do not have the habit of watching TV shows on streaming sites and I don't really obsess over them, I just watch them as they're broadcasted on regular TV. But this one was so good (at least as long as Troy was around), I love how meta it can get by playing with different tropes, genres and even media. Probably the only American show with real actors that has a place in my heart.

7. The Amazing World Of Gumball

Like the rest of the American stuff in this list, I don't actively search for it, but if I cross path with it I'll gladly watch it. Gumball is one of those things that gets me so hooked for the time an episode is playing. I love how non-sense it is, but I think how creative it is visually, merging many different animation methods, is actually what attracts me the most to it. I simply love how all these different mediums and styles are made to coexist in the same frames.

8. Binan koukou Chikyuu bouei-bu LOVE!

Aka, virtually the last anime I managed to watch without dropping it after the first episode. God, it is so hard for me to resonate enough with an anime/show/anything, I'm sooo picky 😅 Anyway, ye, this is mostly what filled my thoughts for a good chunk of my hiatus period where I took a break from the Hetalia fandom (that lasted a few years). I obsessed quite a lot about it, I love the first season especially (second season is alright, HappyKiss should burn at a stake, sorry) and I feel compelled to add it to this list especially for how much I related to one of the characters especially and because my favorite ship (which wasn't even canon, barely had any moment 💔) accidentally inspired some aspects of a ship between my original OCs. Yes, I have OCs. And a story I'd like to work on. Maybe one day ... I'd love to show my babies to you guys one day.

#write new post no reblog thanks!#ary spoke

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chocobox · 11 months

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incest tw i hate the hetalia experience -_-

i've been very scared of touching the hitsuji de oyasumi drama cd with england and america in it because i've known for years that people champion it as being ship bait and i didn't wanna deal with it even in the interest of hearing england's voice. but yesterday i processed the rest of the volume covers for that series (my england bubble is very thick. this one is on me.) and i realized that it was quite literally a series built around highlighting familial relationships??????? and i was like. ok. SO LIKE... WHAT? because one of the most common arguments that has always been used for that ship is "well they aren't brothers ANYMORE!!! so it's ok" and if this series is. deliberately highlighting their sibling relationship... how does that track as ship bait. (and this isn't to say i'm unaware that there IS ship bait for them in canon, but most if not all of it is relegated to the comic and seldom makes it past that)

so i caved i was like well i might as well see what's going on. and i did. and it was so innocuous that it makes my HEAD HURT. THIS WAS THE "SHIP BAIT" I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT? Does no one here have SIBLINGS? literally everything was so. normal. like it really goes out of its way to highlight the familial aspects of their relationship (talking about how england would count sheep for america as a kid) and anything people were deeming shippy was stuff that literally any siblings wouldn't bat an eye at? asking your sibling to come to your room and sleep in your bed because you're scared + having a "sleeping contest" to see who falls asleep first. What. THAT'S IT. God i'm so tired of people who ship them.

unfortunately i have a personal history with the ship that makes me really vigilant about it. I know all the things people have deemed indicative of it being as canon as a hetalia ship gets but looking back on it as an adult it makes me almost feel paranoid. like without that pretense, no one would make that assumption about their relationship. only if you read through the comic would you see a few things and go like oh that's weird. but they fly past quickly, and they still piss me off but it's all just to say. it's. they are just Troubled Brothers. if you were seeing it as more than that it's truly on you.

i don't talk about it much but my unfortunately extensive knowledge of this whole situation and inability to reconcile with it as a kid was part of what did drive me away from england for so long. ): the fact that there was anything that could imply he had a crush on the younger brother he had raised since he was a kid.... it really bothered me and i didn't. want TO BE IN LOVE WITH A CHARACTER LIKE THAT? and it was easier when i was able to convince my little child mind that it was fine. but when i realized it wasn't i didn't know what to do because obviously people who ship them will make it seem much more real than it actually is. so i couldn't really bare to think about england for so long because that relationship made me so uncomfortable. but i'm glad i came back because i've been able to realize that it isn't that bad, i just thought it was worse because of how much i had seen. but it's definitely a process, and it's frustrating to sift through almost 2 decades of england fan content when so much of it is at least subtextually supposed to imply... that. That. because it has been the most popular ship for SO LONG, and that changed kind of recently, but its impact is still felt. it makes it really hard to give benefit of the doubt WHENEVER i see them together in any context, and i'm trying to get over that.

due to my past here i've had to go on like a continuous recovery mission to fix the way i see them and not hear alarms go off in my head whenever they're in each other's vicinity. i think this was a big step for that though because the cd WAS cute and i DO really like their sibling relationship 😭 aside from that another big help was rewatching the anime and seeing that they deliberately removed literally everything that could have been perceived as shippy in regards to them, which makes me feel more confident about doing the same thing myself. (DUB FANS DNI)

(also i don't know how i manage to be consistently surprised by shit like this but when i found out about all the New Brothers england got when i was gone somehow i didn't anticipate for people to be weird about that until i was being directly faced with it. i'm baffled at my own naivete there, like that hasn't been the problem for so long.)

#sparkletwinkles #incest tw #this is like a diary entry to me

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