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coralcatsea · 7 months

Note

Can't all of that usuk things be seen as brotherly love or someone who is important in your life but not in a romantic view? Not hating, honest just thinking

Your ask is about this post, right?

So looking at my examples, you can interpret it that way with some if you want, but with others...not so much.

I hope you actually want to hear me out, because this might get a bit long. Apologies in advance. 😅

-I can't imagine how awkward it'd be to view them as sıblıngs considering some of the suggestive things they do in canon. Personally, I think it'd be pretty weird to grab/tug on a sıblıng's apron when there's nothing underneath and say it "matches them well".

-If someone talks about your sıblıng being good looking, I don't think most people would get flustered enough to start sweating and trying to play it cool. I feel like the sıblıng equivalent would involve something more like eye-rolling.

-For the cake one, sure, you could interpret it as them being goofy in-universe, but from a meta perspective, putting an item that is so heavily associated with you on top of the cake seems to me like putting the wedding figures at the top. It comes off as intentional fan service, which Hima often likes to include.

-For Valentine's Day, the scene with Alfred and Arthur is paired narratively right alongside the shippy GerIta stuff. Additionally, there is a note that says this:

"In Europe, it's traditional for lovers to give gifts to each other."

"In America, giving gifts is also mainly done between lovers."

It does indeed mention male to female, but only to give cultural trivia about the difference between Europe and America. The important part is the emphasis on lovers, and we all know Hetalia doesn't shy away from same-sex shippy moments – as evidenced by Germany proposing to Italy in the very same strip. Speaking of proposals, one dynamic that closely parallels Arthur/Alfred is that of Antonio/Lovino, and Antonio tried proposing to Lovino in the manga.

I digress.

-Sıblıngs typically don't suggest ideas like dressing in sexy outfits and swaying their hips provocatively. Which reminds me, I forgot to include a similar scene in my post where Alfred intentionally has Arthur wear a Robin costume that shows off his legs. Yes, intentionally.

"Also, didn't you notice your costume is from the movie and mine is from the comic?"

Of course Alfred would notice. There's no way a big Batman fan like him would've chosen Arthur's costume carelessly, but instead of answering why Arthur has the skimpy version of Robin's costume when it doesn't even match his, Alfred instantly deflects. He then proceeds to tell Arthur to stop crouching and show – ...something. Based on what Arthur is covering, the logical assumption is that Alfred is telling Arthur to show off his legs.

-"Are you fighting like an old married couple again?" Self-explanatory. If they were sıblıngs he could just say, "Are you having a sibling squabble again?"

-Cardverse is a canon AU by Hima, and Alfred and Arthur are the King and Queen. Magical Strike is also a canon AU, in which Alfred has a fαthεr who is the company president. No other fαmiliαl relations are given. Arthur is a salaryman who simply works for the company.

-There's the scene where Arthur is dying that plays on the "near-death love confession" trope.

-Other characters comment on their relationship...

Again, if it was brοthεrly they could just call it a brοthεrly quarrel. It comes off to me more as teasing friends who could potentially have romantic feelings for each other.

-Tony sees it, too, teasingly commenting "Love me bubu. Kiss me bubu," in reaction to Arthur and Alfred's conversation. He doesn't normally say things like that, either.

-Terms like "big brοthεr" in Hetalia shouldn't automatically be taken literally. They are used in a more Japanese sense (e.g. calling a somewhat older person who isn't related to you "big brοthεr" out of respect). France calls himself "big brοthεr" to literally everyone and even Norway refers to Denmark as "brοthεr".

-Regardless of how you interpret their usage of "big brοthεr", Arthur decides against being called that right away, Alfred himself rejects the idea of it during the Revolution, and Arthur later claims their relationship is "not like that" and fumbles for a way to describe it, mainly considering himself as more of a former mentor or boss.

So I believe that after the Revolution, it's most accurate to consider them as coworkers or friends (who may or may not be attracted to each other).

_____

At the end of the day, you can interpret it however you want. But with how often USUK fans are given a hard time for liking this ship, I wanted to point out that we're not pulling this stuff out of nowhere. It's hinted at and given shippy fan service moments just like several other ships.

I only really disagree with people constantly insisting they MUST be fαmily. Romance vs fαmiliαl are NOT the only two options. I would honestly like to see more non-shippers just let them be friends. Just because I ship it doesn't mean others have to, and just because some perceive it in a fαmiliαl way doesn't mean everyone else must view it like that, either.

And to those who do decide to hop aboard our ship, welcome! We have lots of variety to offer and are always glad for more people to have fun chatting about ideas with.

#ukus #usukus #usuk #answered asks #hws #Hetalia #aph #Hetalia manga #hws england #hws america #aph england #aph america

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kulay-ng-banaag · 4 months

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In the spirit of releasing all emotional debts on New Year's Eve, I’m going to open up about my frustrations regarding Desa aka dinosaurusgede aka the creator of Maaf.

For context, she made a Twitter account around the time that Himaruya properly introduced the newly canonized cast of SEA nations (Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia). Like many other fans, she rode the nostalgia wave in creating content of them. By this point in time, Maaf was more or less a “finished” story to her — whatever Hetalia/SEAtalia content she published from that point onward was not as a continuation of, nor even as a reboot, of Maaf (although she did mention entertaining that idea). For the most part, the newer works she uploaded on Twitter were independent stories and were not necessarily linked to one other either.

Regrettably, I cannot present the problematic page/s for a more thorough and guided scrutiny because she deleted her Twitter account. Unless someone out there saved them, and frankly I wouldn't know who did nor would care to find out, everything was lost to the void. I’m literally working on what was imprinted in my memory by spite, so I apologize if I misremember details.

This will include discussion of anti-indigenous racism and other issues pertaining to colonialism.

She had an IndoPhil story titled Trust Me? and it was inspired by a fanmade BruPhil AMV wherein Indonesia was manipulating Philippines into believing that he was married to Indonesia and not Brunei. Trust Me? kept that concept of a manipulative Indonesia; the key difference being that Indonesia’s motivation for it (in Desa’s story) was the mix of hurt over Philippines “losing his precolonial memories” — based on popularized misconceptions of early Philippine history — of and how that was “aggravated” by his Westernization™, made worse under the United States (350+ years in the convent getting ratio'd by 50 years in Hollywood is hilarious ngl).

That was a lot to unpack, but before we even get there:

Indonesia and Philippines were having a tender moment when HWS America (as in the Hetalia personification that is Alfred F. Jones) walks in calling out "MY LITTLE BROWN BROTHER!"

Indonesia entered his Joker arc because he recalled how HWS America dumped the Philippines in a human zoo at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. There was an explicit panel of Philippines in Igorot* dress and a painfully forlorn bearing.

What "triggered" Indonesia was when, after the flashback, Piri goes up to Indonesia and asks him if he's a Bolshevist 🥺 (the idea was PH being brainwashed by Red Scare propaganda). Cue kabedon moment from Indonesia, and basically a yandere walk down "memory lane."

I did not have it in me to finish reading that comic...

*Igorot is an outdated umbrella term for the upland indigenous peoples of Northern Luzon

Aside from the clearly intended shock value of that depiction, I was taken aback by the painful lack of objectivity on her part when it came to the reading of history. To be fair on Desa, she never specialized in history studies, so it was only courteous that we could not expect her to have as developed of a critical reading as trained academics of history. Unfortunately, that was precisely why I disagreed with the popular notion of Desa as both a great researcher and a great storyteller of her research — all the more when Maaf was just the mangafication of certain Wikipedia articles.

To be fair as well on Wikipedia, it was, at best, a satisfactory jumpstart into more in-depth reading, and we could give it the benefit of the doubt that revisions had since been made to at least some of the articles that Desa relied on while making Maaf (more than 10 years is more than enough time for change). Nevertheless, the articles themselves did not teach users how to scrutinize the sources — most especially the biases of the sources’ author/s — utilized in building up the information.

That mattered because much of the retrospect narratives about the St. Louis Fair had a tendency of raising awareness through the newspaper articles that covered the exhibition at the time. These chronicled the impressions of the visiting authors, who likely (and I say likely because we would have to more exhaustively discern their personal politics one by one) were biased in favor of the “benevolent assimilation” of the Philippines — and the sights that they beheld only validated it further. They did not, however, explain why these Philippine indigenous peoples were brought in in the first place — information that could have further cemented Desa's reputation had she truly spent the efforts, even while understandably juggling other commitments as we all do. Instead, she only perpetuated the habit of sacrificing the veracity of equally important, finer details to the bigger picture in order to sensationalize righteous fury against colonialism.

The 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair was also formally known as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, giving away its purpose as a commemoration. More appropriately, it was the centennial anniversary (technically delayed by a year though) of the acquisition of French Louisiana, expanding the territorial bounds of the United States. Additionally, the point of a world’s fair was to showcase the achievements of a nation, and one could also think of it as the sale of a fever dream — what more for a fast-growing, fledgling power the likes of the United States, itself a former colony? On another note, the St. Louis World’s Fair was not the only one of its kind so no, the US is not that original lmao.

One could thus see how the inclusion of a dedicated exhibit to the newly acquired colony that was the Philippines neatly fit into the themes of a world's fair centralized on the US. It was all the more a paramount topic of debate, with prominent Americans the likes of Mark Twain (here are selected excerpts, but I highly recommend reading the entirety of his To the Person Sitting in the Darkness) publishing anti-US imperialism opinions, even after the endgame of the Philippine-American War essentially favored the pro-imperialists. While dissent from the American side at the time remains poorly studied AND THAT'S ON OVERRULE BY BIAS, we at least have a glimpse, if mostly obscure still, of its existence.

If we can assume that it must have indeed been a prominent discourse in America, loud enough to get the White House furrowing its brows, then it's plausible to understand how it was of utmost importance that the the Philippine exhibit was to be carefully — because, in a way, America had to sell itself as the "lesser evil" vs notable "rivals" — curated while still ultimately corroborating assimilation of the Philippines. Thus, enter Truman Hunt, the man who oversaw "the Igorot Village" of the St. Louis Fair, having won the hearts of the native Igorots for a powerful reason:

Section from Claire Prentice, The Lost Tribe of Coney Island: Headhunters, Luna Park, and the Man Who Pulled Off the Spectacle of the Century, New York, NY: Amazon Publishing, 2014.

While the cholera epidemic that occurred at the onset of the American Colonial Period was arguably the worst in the history of cholera epidemic management in the Philippines, I want to make it very, very clear that it was not the first and only wave that hit the archipelago. There had been a handful in the prior century alone — all of such magnitudes that it embedded a deep collective trauma; farmers refused to harvest their crops for fear of infection, tragically enabling famines and contributing starvation & nutrition deficiencies on top of a viral & swift killer (the experience of severe, rapid dehydration is such that one can fall dead within hours of infection).

Given such an imaginably harrowing experience (and it was an awfully painful topic to study as someone who got infected with and survived COVID-19 and has family working as frontliners), how could the natives turn away a stranger with such miraculous powers? Who knows how they comprehended it (e.g. a benevolent sign from heaven they must accept) because, unfortunately, we have yet to discuss preserved accounts on that matter, if any at all.

What is known, however, is that there were Igorots who were not just enamored by the "opportunity of a lifetime," but the selected lucky candidates clearly expressed their consent to participate:

More sections from Prentice, The Lost Tribe of Coney Island.

I will quickly add that, unfortunately, a few members of the Igorot delegation died from illness in making the trip, and Hunt aged like milk over the years (fell into the trap of capitalism in pushing for more subsequent exhibit trips, to the point that less care was extended to the Igorots and he was ultimately arrested for embezzlement). Given that our scope remains to be the 1904 St. Louis Fair, any signs of abuse inflicted upon the Igorots during their stay based on preserved photographs is simply not clear. To assume that they were in a pitiable state would be to enforce a presentist reading that might betray not just their memories & experiences but also their right to self-determination.

EDIT (01/02/24): A good example to demonstrate what I mean in analyzing photographs, here's an article on the author's personal, genealogical research into the Igorots — specifically, the Suyoc — who were at the St. Louis Fair.

It truly is ironic that a Filipino is making these points as if to defend the United States as a whole (no I am not, and if you think I do, lumayas ka). I agree that white people gawking over the peoples of the Philippines with such fascination that borders fetishism warrants all the eye-rolls. At the same time — and it is even more ironic that I am pointing this out as a lowland, Christianized Tagalog based in the metro (not just any urbanized part of the country) — there is a character of patronizing these indigenous communities in the unspoken assumption that their participation is the fault of their ignorance. Pay attention, once more, to the demographics that constituted the Philippine exhibit in the 1904 St. Louis Fair — what kind of "Filipinos" were included and who were left out? There were also Negritos*, Visayans, and Muslims from Mindanao (historically referred to as Moros) in the same event, yet we hardly hear about their experiences. Perhaps it might have to do with how they were considered "more civilized" than these upland groups.

*OUTDATED term (and please blame the Spanish for it); these are the Aeta.

I understand Desa's reservations against US imperialism and sympathies for communities marginalized by Western colonization. I just hope that I was able to clarify as best as I could why I was so taken aback in how she depicted the Hetalia personification of my country the way she did. I agree that, as far as I ever got to interact with her, she is generally very polite and kind. That's why I gave her the benefit of the doubt when she approached me in DM to apologize for how her narrative choice was offensive. As someone who despised red tape in academia, I tried to talk to her about how there were valid reasons as to why the American Colonial Period was considered a mixed blessing, even by PH historians.

Instead, she pulled a complete 180.

She said that — to a Filipino who condemned imperialism (no matter who started it), who also happened to study history as a profession, and was also a Hetalia fan who wants to explore Hetalia narratives differently from what was popularized. Half of the reason was because some fandom takes left a bad taste, like eating a dish with ingredients that even Gordon Ramsay would tell you shouldn’t go together; the other half was because I saw things differently and wanted to express it because why not?

I want to say it's not necessary to bring up something from a private conversation, but I will anyway to reiterate that my issue is not that she isn't nice. Bluntly, however, the way she said those words so formally did creep me out, but ultimately, my issue lies in how her biases have led her into making off-putting takes from time to time. I will not say more, but Trust Me? was not the only Twitter comic by Desa that got bombastic side-eyes.

And if only because Sukarno got dragged in, I felt compelled to briefly debunk that as well: even he initially viewed the United States in a very positive light: “The United States occupies a very distinguished part, a very distinguished place, in the hearts of the Indonesian people.” That was uttered in 1961, and it took a very specific historical context to instigate a complete shift by 1964:

Sections from Vincent Bevins, The Jakarta Method: Washington’s Anticommunist Crusade & the Mass Murder Program that Shaped Our World, New York: PublicAffairs, 2021, 121-123.

EDIT (01/02/24): Note that Desa was citing Sukarno's later sentiments in the late 1960s as her reason for characterizing Indonesia as such in her comic. However, the setting of the story was the late 1920s (Indonesia's visit was based on Tan Malaka's abscondence to the Philippines). I'd dare say the anachronism was not due to oversight but a deliberate choice in using a certain fictional character — namely HWS Indonesia — as propaganda for Desa's anti-Americanism.

It's definitely depressing to think about all the "lost" history & culture that thrived before the arrival of white colonizers. It's why I'm surprised that, for a fiction work, she didn't project all that anger onto Spain instead — it had to specifically be the United States. Was it because they basically cockblocked Philippine independence, even though Spain practically sold the Philippines to the US? The implication that Spain should be permitted to wash its hands clean of all accountability was an awkward message to convey.

I understand that nothing could be 100% accurate (I'm actually quoting Desa defending herself on that matter) in fiction, but the level of projection coming from a certain non-Filipino reading Philippine history was so silly. And again, how did it all justify the explicit depiction of HWS Philippines as an indigenous man in a human zoo? (END OF EDIT)

As my professors will also never tire of saying: you can disagree with a historian’s interpretations but you can never disagree with the evidence in themselves. You don’t have to morally agree either, and I can guarantee you that many Filipinos do not. I, myself, resented the endgame of the particular war that brought that period about in the first place. How dare, then, she said it was “not her place” to defend US imperialism, while granting herself the freedom to express her country’s feelings on the matter?

Oh, it’s all just fiction? I do not condone the subsequent treatment she received, but why then couldn’t she stop trying to “educate” NLID shippers? I do not know how both sides talked to one another, only that what caught me eye was: Why does everyone else have to respect her fiction while she gets to disrespect others’ fictions for not aligning with hers?

EDIT (01/20/24): Just to clarify further on that point — over a decade ago, she went ham in the comment section of someone's (APH) America x (fem!OC) Indonesia. That ship is not in my lore either simply because I follow a totally different route. To cut to the chase, she took that fanart very personally and infodumped on US war crimes that involved Indonesia.

I know Tan Malaka started the whole North Indonesia agenda, but come on, neither was it Desa's place to just treat HWS Philippines the way she did. An Indonesian schooling other Indonesians on ID history is not surprising, but an Indonesian schooling a Filipino on PH history? I'd be humbled if they had the credentials. She didn't and, unless she enrolled herself in a graduate program, she still doesn't.

By all technicalities, she can’t ship IDPH because the Philippine government was (unfortunately and grossly) complicit in the chain of events that led to the 1965-66 genocides in Indonesia. Yet, she does despite of that fact. We thus circle back to Trust Me? and how that was a manifestation of her stubborn refusal to acknowledge any nuances by projecting HWS Indonesia as a self-proclaimed savior of HWS Philippines from the beguile of US neocolonialism.

I empathize with her anger. I'm sorry that the US government by extent enabled what her family went through. I agree that it's not her place to defend them; in fact, she shouldn't. But when even the so-called "highest of Malay nations*" is worth her neutrality, how can she expect me to forgive her?

*That is literally what the Philippines is to her; I know this because she explicitly said so to me in DM. DO NOT ASK FOR RECEIPTS, I am not comfortable revealing that particular conversation.

I cannot — in fact, NO ONE SHOULD — afford to be neutral about Duterte or Marcos, etc., and for her to be so flippant about her privilege (by way of ethnicity/citizenship/cultural upbringing) to be neutral** about Philippine politics, while simultaneously NAGGING ON EVERYBODY TO RESPECT INDONESIAN POLITICS, is annoying at best and plain selfish at worst.

**Also explicitly said to me in DM. Again, DO NOT ASK FOR RECEIPTS.

(END OF EDIT)

I’m not Indonesian but I do not have it in me to politely accuse a native Indonesian of allowing their personal biases to misread their own history. As a Filipino, however, while I'm not surprised by the reductionist chronicling of the histories & cultures of the Philippines, I am at a loss for words over the continuing idolization for Desa & Maaf, when she was not the best and most reliable narrator, especially given her negligence in representing indigenous peoples through her comics.

I mean, guys, I'm not saying this as if the Trust Me? comic was the first and only instance when this was literally Maaf canon that sat comfortably in the internet for over a decade, and continues to be appraised as THE BIBLE OF HISTORICAL HETALIA.

EDIT (01/20/24 — originally added via a reblog): I cannot believe this needs to be said because this is the consequence of when Hetalia fans take their fiction too literally because creators have made careless takes.

There were SEAtalians joking about how the Yolngu are a dead people.

I repeat.

THERE WERE SEATALIANS JOKING ABOUT HOW THE YOLNGU ARE A DEAD PEOPLE.

(END OF EDIT)

So as 2023 comes to a close we enter 2024, I'd like to conclude this post with the following points:

At best, Wikipedia is a satisfactory jumping point, but please believe me when I say no historian will respect you for (over-)relying on Wikipedia. And given that anyone with a decent device & internet signal can access Wikipedia, Desa is just not a GOAT in historical research.

At worst, idolizing Maaf patronizes the work of historians. It doesn't help that PH historians have been targets of harassment because of dis-/misinformation campaigns. I bring this up because it's already bad enough to have to confront that reality outside of fandom spaces on a regular basis in standing our ground for more just historical truths. I hope that folks understand why that's a particularly sensitive struggle for me, and why receiving such comments like the one I shared above deeply hurt. She was not apologetic about that — and every time she would post about apologizing for the moments she has offended others, or when others compliment her for being so open-minded, I cannot help but feel bitter.

Other BIPOC — yes, not just other SEAsians and that's on literally drawing nations other than SEA — have spoken up on the matter. If you can talk about how you learned so much from Desa, you can also learn as much from other perspectives. I hope that in raising all of this, more SEAtalians understand that we risk othering non-SEA BIPOC.

The idolization of Maaf (and the creator in question) is personally far more off-putting than the problematic points of Maaf or any comic she has ever made, because I think she caved to peer pressure instead of learning to wield her fiction more sensitively without being too reliant of the opinions of those she has pleased. Not even Hidekaz Himaruya writes his nationverse characters like that — the one time I’ll admit that canon trumps fanon.

I’m not stopping people from liking Maaf or Desa anyway. I just cannot help but take issue with how the SEAtalia fandom feels less of a safe & inclusive community than it is a cult centered on one person — almost as if her fiction is unquestionable canon and anyone who disagrees gets the boot. Once again, I do not condone the subsequent treatment she received in retaliation, but frankly that's just not what I'm addressing here.

I'm also not saying it's wrong to give words of reassurance and validation to people you admire, only that some of you need to understand you're forcing a parasocial relationship with your idols. It may feel good to you, but please be mindful of the unwarranted pressure it imposes.

I apologize for dumping all of this at literally the end of the year. I want to let it all go in a manner that is clear, concise, and not overwhelming to digest. I do hope that my candid thoughts will push the fandom one step forward in critically consuming media without having to resort to crab-mentality tendencies — because it's been especially hard seeing the demeaning takes made about the Philippines in this fandom.

#hetalia #historical hetalia #hetalia critical #racism cw #hws philippines #aph philippines #hws indonesia #aph indonesia #hws america #aph america #mentions of death cw #sibuyas

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harusaki-hugo · 7 months

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I fight with alien once.

Fandom: Tokyo Revengers+slightly hetalia

Characters: Sano Manjiro , Ryuguji Ken, Sano Shinichiro, Mitsuya Takashi + GN!Reader

Synopsis: Tokrev boys with s/o who keep saying weird thing but this time involving fighting alien. Honestly it's a crackfic.

Your boyfriend know your habit of randomly start telling the story of your life, it's a cute habit honestly and he adore you about this because now he know more about you. But sometimes it's can be confusing when your stories start getting weird and make no sense but he love you too much that he keep listening to your stories, that's it untill one day you suddenly blurted out; "I fight with aliens once."

Sano Manjiro;-

He looks at you with a raised eyebrows, half eating taiyaki between his lips as he turn around to fully look at you.

"Really?"-"Really!! It's a noppera type of aliens."

The type who listens to your story before falling asleep, no matter where you are if you start talking expect him fall asleep halfway through it.

But don't worry he , surprisingly, remember all the story you told him perfectly, no hole in plot at all.

When he in the mode he will ask a detailed question about it.

"So you tell me that you stuck between wall and a hundreds of aliens and the only thing you did are giving them food and entertainment?"-"Yup!"-"Huh, neat."

Actually impressed with the story and wondering when will the aliens attack earth again resulting you smacking him in the head.

Overall; he might be walking red flags but that ain't stopping him being a 10 and great listener to your weird story.

Ken Ryuguji;

Literally sighing heavily and give you the most deadpan expression second to someone you know but still-

"I can accept when you told me about cat talking to you but this too far , honey."-"but drakeeenn!!"-"no, nope , not today."-"I haven't reach the climax where I jump down to the sea."

Okay, he might got interested a bit... scratch that ,man this close pulling his hair on your story.

"I'm sorry, you what?!"-"jumping down from moving space ship and got stranded in deserted island."

Your story keep stressing this man and he don't know what true or fake because you sound so convincing , he started to worry about your childhood.

Start treating you like you have delicate mental health and try helping you get better like man literally show you a good therapist in your area.

Conclusion; Boy is 100/10 but will try to drag you to therapist if you joked about something involving mental health.

Sano shinichiro;

Didn't even bother to look at you as he continue fixing the bike , only humming and nodding at your words.

Man used to weird thing that he immune to your weird story.

"and then, grandpa Rome appears and start singing."-"grandpa Rome sound hot."

He have Mikey as his brother and Izana as adopted brother, he can handle you

-he handle it like a champ-

He didn't even bat an eye when you told him you broke someone nose and that man is the United States of America himself.

-he just thought you punch a foreigner.

Conclusion; I love this man so much that I won't stop crying, please give him the live he deserves.

Mitsuya Takashi;

This man is a saint, like boy have patience over nine thousand I can't-

"wow, that's mean thanks to you we live in peace."-"stop it! you make me blush!"

He know exactly what to say to make you happy.

"then Italy start drawing on their face."-"magnificent, did you help him?"-"heck yeah!!"

this man to precious that I physically crying inside out upside down.

He just to perfect I can't write-

He a great listener and know exactly what to said.

Didn't care how weird your story was, he loves hearing your voice.

Overall;this man is walking green flag but I will slam my feet on the break so I can stop for him.

♾️/10.

I haven't sleep for a day and I'm high on caffeine, please send help.

#tokyo revengers x reader #tokyo revengers #x reader #ken ryuguji #sano manjiro #sano shinichiro #mitsuya takashi #sano manjiro x reader #sano shinichiro x reader #draken #ryuguji ken x reader #mitsuya x reader

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frukmerunning · 10 months

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How do you reconcile the Nazi-apologia aspects of Hetalia as a Jewish fan (I presume you are Jewish because you made a Passover headcanon, if you are not, apologies). I don't mean this as a callout or accusation or anything, I'm asking for advice. I'm also Jewish, and I want to enjoy Hetalia, like, I stumbled on this fandom and this anime and I want to enjoy it! But I can't get the guilt and shame out of the back of my head.

I don't think Himaru intentionally meant Hetalia to be anti-Semetic. I'm not accusing anyone of being a Holocaust denier for engaging in this fandom. But it doesn't change the fact that this anime is about the Axis Powers during WWII and they're portrayed as good guys. Like, you can't even argue they're villain protagonists or anything they're just straight up lil cinnamon rolls. And it is fucking adorable, but it makes me feel so dirty! Like, its not intentional but when I'm watching any WWII episode or reading one of the WWII strips I'm watching it feels like Nazi apologia. And when these characters' fascist uniforms are their standard designs, when the imagery of fascism is used without context, it unintentionally erases the real, extremely fucked up, and personally traumatizing, history.

So how do you personally find a balance? Like how do you engage in a way you feel like doesn't cause further harm? How do you reconcile canon, history, and your own thoughts on these characters? And do you have any advice on how I can?

I've thought a lot about this question since I got it, and I have a lot of thoughts but I don't know if I can organize them very well. （also yes I am Jewish you assumed right)

So I guess the first thing I'll tackle is that my own thoughts on the characters trump everything in canon, especially with Germany. For an American, I have a pretty strong connection with Germany. I've had a German penpal since I was 13, I've visited Germany, one of my favorite professors was German, and right before I started typing this I spent almost 3 hours talking with the German students that come to the music camp I work at. I've met a LOT of Germans in my relatively short life, so I have that personal connection to influence my thoughts on the Hetalia character. And I've completely separated my view on the German people from my view on that time in their history. I think then it was easy for me to separate the character Germany from that time in history.

Bouncing off from that, Hetalia isn't REALLY about WW2. Yes, the catalyst for Germany, Italy, and Japan being friends is WW2, but there's nothing in the anime that is explicitly WW2. The "battle" scenes take place on a deserted island, their "war meetings" amount to nothing, and no specific dates or events are really mentioned when WW2 is involved. Now in the manga, however, I kinda just steer clear of the specific WW2 stuff?? But even then the only example of Hima explicitly mentioning something that happened in WW2 I can actually recall is an old strip about the Anschluss. That strip is from very early Hetalia though and Hima has definitely shifted his focus to other aspects of world history and culture.

Another thing about Hetalia is that pretty much everyone is a "good guy". There are no real antagonists or villains. There are literally only protagonists, with the main protagonists being the axis powers.

From your ask I kinda gather that you're very new to Hetalia and maybe you have the wrong impression of the anime and fandom from people who hate it. But honestly, Hetalia is not inherently antisemetic or even about WW2 when you really get down to the meat of it. Hetalia is a comedy anime and it doesn't take itself or the things it's presenting seriously (with some exceptions). Hima doesn't really doesn't delve too deeply into ANY of the history he potrays, so it would be a little out of place to see him addressing the very serious war crimes committed by those countries.

Also idk where to fit this in, but the countries in Hetalia are not representative of their government, but their people. Which I think is how Hima avoids talking about serious war crimes committed by governments. He's more interested in talking about culture, rather than history. Or he uses historical settings to talk about fun facts or culture.

I understand feeling guilty though. Personally, I avoid the historical hetalia side of the fandom, just so I never run the risk of seeing something weird (not saying that people regularly write that kind of stuff). In my own art and thoughts about the show, I'm more interested in portraying the characters as real, modern people, based on my own experiences with people from those countries. I also do a lot with my favorite character Austria, who is jewish coded. My favorite characters in the series are the axis affiliated ones, countries I've visited and met people from and built a connection with. But I've also been in the fandom for 10+ years at this point, so it's much easier for me to entirely change Hima's characters and morph them into something that fits what I want.

I'm really tired because I've been working a music camp all week, so I hope this makes sense. I definitely have more thoughts and I'd love to talk to you more about this, please feel free to dm me here and we can exchange discords or something. I always like talking to other jewish hetalia fans, and I think it's nice to have these kinds of conversations so we can help each other.

But to answer your question in a short way - I just don't think about it. Maybe that makes me a bad person but it's what I have to do at this point, because I can't not like hetalia

#hetalia #rayanne rambles

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cowboy-robooty · 2 years

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LISTEN TO MY AU, BOY. zomggg check it out okay dish is mai hetalia middle school au ^_^ hope u like how half these draws are literally over two years old but i spliced in like two new images rodf. OKAY ANYWAYS THO. so in this au everyones a 7th or 8th grade because i love violence

- Germany - be careful who you call ugly in middleschool to da max. do not ask him if hes in republican club HES HAD IT HE JUST WANTS TO LOOK "SHARP" HES NOT A CONSERVATIVE STOP IT GUYS YOURE SO MEAN!!1!1!1!!! total A plus student yada yada u know him he also tried to run for student council president and actually won because his competator was england and everyone got their asses up to vote purely because they all agreed theyd fucking had it with englands bullshit but then the school was like wtf u know only 8th graders can be student president but england literally got one vote (from himself) so they have put the entire student body indefinately on hold since stopping people from making pancakes in the boys restroom is a higher priority rn

- Italy - Fucking Idiot. Besties with germany since forever cuz germany was/is autistic asf so he had mad trouble talking to people without sounding aggressive and italy is a fucking idiot who does not give a single shit. they bonded over germany being so fucking disgusted by italy eating grass and glue at lunch that he'd share half of his own lunch wif him and then told that his lunch tasted like his grandmas dentures <3 love wins. been in a friend group wif germany and japan since elementary school teehee!!!!

- Romano - twin brother (yes theyre twins here but romano is still older by matsuno rules) o' italy yeah romano already acts like hes 12 in canon theres nothin else to add

- America - unfortunately cursed with brother of england disease (god bless his soul) motherfucker also already acts like hes 12 in canon tf why do all these characters already act this way. okay but fr tho hes chill hes cool hes a weeb asf tho but pretty close to japan since they bond after school cuz america and englands parents drive china and japan home with them since china and japan's parents are too busy with work so china and japan just hang out at their house. Japan's forced to be apart of englands band but always ends up hanging out with america (because he actually has fun with him) despite how england keeps trying to say america cant hang out with them because hes a 7th grader

8th graders

- Japan - Straight A student as always but hes also the gateway for all the weeaboo infections at school. he introduced america to nico nico douga and hasnt recovered since. he tried to make takoyaki in the school restrooms once because he wanted everyone people to hopefully like them and stop making fun of him for loving balls (world peace will be achieved if i EVERYONE loves balls not just me) but unfortunately everyone kept buying only the pancakes :(((((( older cousin is china (they live in the same house basically tho cuz family lives close together n all). japans in 8th grade with him because he skipped a grade lol yeah japans 12 just like germany and italy

- England - Lead singer of his rock band "The Brapples" (fucking stupid ass name based off the beatles). its an after school garage band consisting of him, japan, and china but they dont even make any music they just hang out bc its hard to do punk songs with a keyboard on classic piano mode and a violin. He acts like hes a big punk rebel cool boy and all and wears cool jackets but hes actually a good two shoes snitch who is the only hall monitor at school because nobody wants to work wif him rodf. literally a fucking menace will rat out anybody instantly unless you bribe him and then he snitches on you for bribing. he tried to go for student council president but literally everybody agrees hes so fucking obnoxious fuck this bitch fr. dont get me wrong tho i luv england rodf hes the kid who everyone fucking hates but hes still accepted in da class friend group albiet with the role of "that friend nobody likes". the dee reynolds of the group if you will

OKAY THATS ALL THE MORE INDEPTH CHARACTERS IVE THOUGHT ABOUT IM STILL NURTURING EVERYONE ELSE INDIVIDUALLY but also some extra general info:

- 7th and 8th graders have mixed P.E. together and everyone has last block P.E. yayyy everyones together!1!!1

- 7th and 8th graders also have mixed lunch together but 6th graders have their own seperate lunch

- prussia spain and france are the mfs who make pancakes in the school restroom

- japan draws ship doujins of germany x italy for cash (all his art looks like the classic how to draw manga books) he sells his doujins for a dollar and everyones thinking theyre getting a little stale but have faith okay americas helping him with his next one to bring new concepts!1!1!1! italy thinks its funnie and likes being drawn hot asf and germany acts scandalized but goes "BUT- WELL WHO AM I TO DISCOURAGE YOU FROM PURSUING THE ARTS.......... and uhm. as the subject matter i should see how youre portraying me as well so you got any spare copies-"

- germany has a secret crush on italy fr and italy doesnt have a crush but does want to marry and travel the world with germany and live with him forever. he doesnt think thats a crush

- they all use human names within the au rodf but for this info post i use country names since thats easier to keep track of

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95jezzica · 4 months

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What is your opinion on SuFin from a Swedish perspective?

I think I've talked about this in the past, but I don't mind going into it again with hopefully mentioning at least SOME things I haven't already mentioned.

Now, I should start with the fact I personally really like SuFin, but used to HATE the pairing in the past because how the fandom portrayed them both. Nowadays I mostly keep to my own corner and only really talk with a few people, so I've grown to love SuFin more based on canon and my own ideas for them.

To be honest I tend to focus more on the Hetalia characters as persons in general with a few historical references/trivia, but honestly, they have a lot of potential together.

Sweden is sweet and shy, but he has mischievous and rebellious sides as well. He also cares a lot about the people around him. (This can especially be seen with how he constantly defends Iceland and how he interacts with Sealand and Ladonia). Though his feelings for Finland is canon he also doesn't pressure Finland for an answer/feelings in return.

Meanwhile Finland is a caring and kind person, and he's not afraid of constantly standing up to people who finds Sweden intimidating. Finland is the person who constantly recognizes that while Sweden "looks scary", Sweden is also a very kind person.

Now, in canon, we actually don't know if Finland returns Sweden's romantic feelings, but it's obvious they still care a lot about each other a great deal.

With that said, if they became a couple I think it'd happen closer to modern time, and while I personally headcanon Finland loves Sweden back, I also think it took Finland a long time to decide if he even wanted a romantic relationship despite his own and Sweden's obvious feelings.

Now, I don't believe (hws) Sweden himself would ever do something to hurt (hws) Finland, but we also have to keep in mind the Swedish leadership and government haven't always been very kind to the Finnish people. Being in the Swedish Empire wasn't great for (irl) Finland - for a long time it was just better than being under one of the other countries in the area.

Anyway, at best there would be a weird power imbalance between (hws) Sweden and Finland if they had a romantic relationship somewhere between 1000-1900, even if Sweden himself never intends/intended for it - not to mention homosexuality wasn't even accepted or acknowledged at the time as something fairly common.

Most people hc Finland as Bi or Pan, so Finland could likely "pass" in the past by showing interest in women and ignoring any of his feelings towards non-binary people and/or men. But Sweden is canon homosexual, who only really have shown romantic interest for Finland in canon. It's more likely Sweden (tried to) bury his feelings deep, deep inside to not literally get killed by people for who he is.

Fans also (STILL) love to joke/bring up Sweden calling Finland his wife, but in canon Sweden only did it ONCE and then stopped when Finland protested against it. No matter what you think Sweden's reason was for calling Finland his wife, he stopped after Finland told him No.

I repeat, Sweden STOPPED.

He respects and respected Finland. Sweden listened when Finland said he didn't want to be called "wife".

So yes, I think they'd work really well together and have a sweet and loving relationship - but it would take a long time for them to make anything official.

We have a LOT canon moments between them. Everything from them adopting Hanatamago together, Sweden getting kids, to them constantly visiting each other, and Finland constantly defending Sweden from people who finds his looks intimidating - just to mention a few things.

Honestly, they'd probably be an "inofficial couple" for YEARS before they became official, but they'd get there eventually. Through both good and bad they've been there for each other for +1000 years at this point.

They're nations, and they can afford to take it slow.

#Hetalia #hws SuFin #hws #SuFin #hws Sweden #hws Finland #hws Nordics #hws Family #hws Ladonia #hws Sealand #ask #asks #hws Ask #hws Asks #aph Sweden #aph Finland #aph SuFin

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irithnova · 1 year

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The way white hetalians, especially fairly popular white hetalians, react to poc who actually speak up against racism is really telling.

I'm sick and tired of having to hand hold and coddle white hetalians when I call them out on questionable behaviour to try and convince them that no!!! I still think you're a good person despite the fact that you've already blocked quite a few poc who are vocal about racism even though they've never interacted with you, even though you're excruciatingly exclusionary of non white nations, post ignorant and historically deaf takes and repost literal n*zi fanart!!

I find it incredibly telling when a white hetalian already has a bunch of vocal poc blocked even without ever interacting with them. Because I know exactly what they're trying to hide.

Like. Why should I, a poc, have to hold your hand while I explain to you why other poc are upset with your post/posts. Why do you see this fandom as a safe space away from poc and away from any and all forms of accountability. As if a poc didn't create this manga/anime in the first place. You guys are fucking pathetic lol.

Btw before anyone says "if you don't like it then leave!!!!!!!!" lol what a cheap copout plus I've been in this fandom for 8-ish years in total now so obviously I enjoy hetalia enough to stay. Imagine telling someone who wants to fix their home to just move to a new one. Because fuck trying to work to improve anything right? If you try to actively improve the quality of the fandom (like. make it less racist) then obviously you must hate the fandom and you're only here to whine!

If anything, people, especially poc who are vocal about the racism care more about the fandom space than the hetalians who brush it under the rug. And I find it absolutely hilarious when popular white hetalians block small poc creators who are known for calling out racism/ignorance. Doesn't look good bestie x

For a while now I've pretty much curated my fandom space to include people who are similar to me and have similar interests to me because I wasn't a fan of the racism I saw when I first joined quite a while back. I reach out to the wider fandom again after a hiatus and yup still having to deal with white hetalians not wanting to take accountability for their racism, ignorance, and exclusion.

I mean, the fact that with the poll argument I had with a larger white creator ended with them not even uttering an apology, whining the entire time about being "harassed", not taking anything I actually said on board and that the only reason why they were no longer doing the poll was because they had a "private conversation" with someone about how the poll wouldn't work, and not because a poc (and others) called them out for being blatantly exclusionary to non white nations...

That's not the only incident if anyone accuses me of milking the situation, there were incidents before that and after and a lot of my poc mutuals/friends still deal with a lot of shit on the daily.

Anyways maybe try to listen to poc who actually speak up against the racism/ignorance in the fandom rather than speed run blocking them, talking down to them, tone policing them and ignoring them. Thanks.

#hetalia #Hetalia critical #Hetalia fandom #Hetalia discourse #Hetalia racism #hetalia world twinkle #hetalia world stars #hetalia world series #hidekaz himaruya #Aph #Hws

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unhonestlymirror · 23 days

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Today's menu is: a vatņik soup

What an interesting three-of-a-kind. Let's look at it closer:

The first photo: a russian artist with an interesting nickname. If you transcribe it on russian Cyrillic and then go back to English, it turns out to be "moscow police." Let me remind you that moscow police is not only participating in killing, raping and torturing Ukrainians, Belaruthians, Qazaqs, Crimean Tatars, and other people who are not "Great Arian Russian", but are also the same people who kill and torture average russians, whom Americans care so much for, as well. Just like in the teract in Krokus City Hall. The moscow police is the organisation that works directly for putin and kremlin. It's like being a German artist during WW2 and having a nickname Schutzstaffel. Although I doubt people in hetalia even know what this word means because they are not interested in studying history, after all.

The more I am here, the more I believe such a kind of artist is just paid by russia to draw this bullshit. And people who share this - yeah, it's about 50-100 of them, but they are all the same faces, every time. Seems like there's an organised community that brings confusion to other people and spreads disgraceful and dangerous ideas about my long-suffering people and land. That's a thing I wish Tumblr staff paid closer attention to. I would not be surprised if the artists who promote russia here actually work for KGB (officially FSB, but it's just the renamed CSS).

"The house which Ivan built" - impressive, very nice. Now, let's see the news from my country:

"Kharkiv, April 4th, a young firefighter cries at the scene of the attack, where russians cynically killed his father, a 52-year-old rescuer, a few minutes ago. On this hellish night, immediately after the first explosions, the father and son and their colleagues immediately left for the place of impact.

Vladyslav and Volodymyr worked next to each other, literally a few houses away from each other. When a powerful explosion rang out, the son immediately understood that it had most likely flown to where his father was."

And these are the remains of a missile. In russian Cyrillic, it is written "for Krokus City Hall". A teract there was organised by.... moscow police! And some ISIS and Hamas representatives, whom moscow police carefully helped to leave the crime scene.

Second art - also russian artist (who could have thought!). They call Belarus (and, apparently, Ukraine... or maybe even all former soviet union states) "Russia's family". Belarus is holding a book "1000 and 1 reason to love the brother". Laughing out loud. Belarus never was russia's sibling, and moreover, it never loved russia. Belarus hates russia more than Lithuanians and Ukrainians hate it altogether. They just can't say it outloud. Yet.

You know? Such kind of art makes Belaruthians feel unsafe. That's why there are so many russians drawing our land and claiming we are their siblings who love them. Belaruthians just avoid anything that makes them feel unsafe. Too many Belaruthians were killed already. Belaruthians and their families are being persecuted all over the world for speaking Belaruthian language, for wearing white-red-white stuff, for making art in Belaruthian language. We feel in danger - and this website, especially this fandom with the tag of our own fucking country, doesn't help us feel safer.

Russians murdered about 60%, if not more, of all the people of Belarus, including Litvaks, especially Litvaks, just during the soviet union. Nowadays, russia doesn't want Belarus to exist either - thus, the russian artists like the fairytale about Belarus loving and wanting to unite with russia.

One day, prorussian propaganda will be condemned the same way we condemn nazis. One day, this becomes true.

Third art - the artist is... no, not russian. Chinese! What a poor dude, I feel nothing but pity, really. "Ivan is terrified" - good! :D Finally, some nice fucking art. /sarcasm. This dude is doing a great job in presenting their country as a country of uneducated idiots. The tendency is concerning.

I wish all the prorussian artists in hetalia "to taste their own medicine". To have nightmares for years. To be scared for your loved ones every single day. To lose hair, weight, and teeth. To not feel safe ANYWHERE. To see your close ones falling into depression and be able to do nothing about it. To lose your home. Your pets. Your plants. Your plans. Your friends. Especially I want this for Hidekaz Himaruya.

#stop russian aggression #support ukraine #genocide of ukrainians #russia is a terrorist state #belarus #ukraine #hetalia #hws belarus #aph belarus #hws ukraine #aph ukraine

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