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stirringwinds · 7 months

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While I feel that hws France is hard to portray I do wonder what headcanons you have for him. Care to tell a few that come to mind?

a lot of my headcanons of francis/françois are from the british imperial + sea/east asian perspective, so with that in mind, these are some thoughts i've had:

a. françois' strengths are that he can be very charming and good at putting people at ease. he is somebody, if you ran into him somewhere, just comes off as a really interesting person. he can talk for ages about his passion for philosophy, art, literature, science and cooking without it getting boring to the listener.

b. he can be a really good lover too and is that sort of person who considers it a point of pride to make his partners enjoy his company. the sort of person who will make dinner and probably also a good breakfast for you. but one of his flaws is that he can also be pretty self-centred at times, and sometimes he uses his charisma to get out of things or simply dodge issues in his personal relationships.

c. françois, much like arthur, is in the Bad Parent club vis a vis matthew in the 17—18th centuries. where they differ however, is i feel that arthur was controlling but more...present, whereas françois was more...dismissive. matthew would get letters from arthur instructing him to do this and that, which for matthew at least acknowledged him, whereas françois might just not even write to him much at all, especially after matthew came under arthur's control.

d. françois really clicked with alfred during the revolutionary war. it helped that alfred was punching arthur in the dick, but i think that françois for all his flaws, genuinely possesses a somewhat more idealistic streak (than say, arthur imo) so that gelled well with alfred spouting all kinds of enlightenment thoughts (especially since he was also reading french writers like Montesquieu).

e. françois and lien (vietnam) have a complicated (to say the least) relationship due to the history of french imperialism over vietnam; i see francis being much younger than her (she and yao are peers in age!), so lien fitted him very much into her prior experience as an older female nation being forced to deal with 'boys playing at being empires'. lien probably shot him in the face at least once during the first indochina war, that tried to re-establish colonial rule over vietnam in the 1950s. however, i do think they can talk more cordially in more recent decades, with normalisation of ties. cooking is perhaps one topic that is a common interest—vietnamese banh mi is a kind of sandwich originating from french baguettes that incorporates local ingredients, and it's a really tasty and popular streetfood. there's also a big french-vietnamese population in paris today.

f. kiku was absolutely not impressed by monet's la japonaise, nor 'madame chrysanthème', the wildly racist and orientalist mess that Madame Butterfly was based on. it was exoticising, not flattering to him—he was however, more amenable to those of françois' artists that incorporated japanese artistic techniques in more genuine ways, or with françois' own view of aesthetics and his knowledge and interest in engineering.

g. yao, much like kiku later, was someone françois was very interested in culturally—as seen from the boom in chinoiserie when trade with china began back in the 17th century. i think french is probably one of the first european languages yao learns (besides portuguese). it's a fairly functional trading relationship—until of course, french imperialist interests began expanding in yao's sphere of influence and the opium wars.

h. i'm a fruk fan so naturally i think his love-hate relationship with arthur is one of his most significant r/ships—arthur has been a neighbour, friend, enemy, lover and everything in between. but! scotfra is another very, very long-term relationship important to him (auld alliance!). also on an EU level well, there's him and ludwig too.

i. naturally, he's also fairly fashionable, and i feel like he'll always eye himself critically even if he's going out casually, compared to way i can see arthur being fairly chill about strolling out in that questionable, ill-fitting acid green christmas sweater alfred sent him as a joke once. i also think françois probably smokes a fair bit, compared to how arthur's gotten a kick in the arse to cut back after WWII. and nowadays, he'll often just be relaxing with a cigarette on the balcony of his apartment with a book, or enjoying a day out in one of his museums.

#hws france #hetalia #hws england #hws canada #hws vietnam #hws china #hws japan #hws scotland #hetalia headcanons

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hoasens · 9 months

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Vietnam and Máu Xanh Lá Cây

I always thought about how vivi wears a green áo dài, hima never goes into why he chose this color instead of more common áo dài colors, such as white and pastels. here i’ll break down some color symbolism and history and what it means for her design!

green universally represents:

nature, freshness, rebirth, renewal, peace

vietnam in her first depictions is reserved, quiet, and keeps mostly to herself, so the green makes sense for a character such as her.

but we can go deeper:

green in vietnam:

green and blue both are called màu xanh, to differentiate the two colors you would say màu xanh cây, meaning tree color.

màu xanh lá cây holds the universal meanings of green, but it also symbolizes femininity and fertility in vietnamese culture!

hima based vietnam off strong women in viet history, so a color that is associated with femininity compliments vietnam’s pretty feminist character.

green can be paired with red, mostly to do with courtship and marriage, it has some erotic meaning too, hence the fertility part of the color.

green can also be paired with blue, in ancient vietnam it was worn by those of high rank and status. generally green wasn’t worn alone or as the main color of a garment because it was thought to look unappealing because it made the skin tone appear darker.

modern day

color symbolism of áo dài has changed a lot with european and western influences. for example, white is a popular color for weddings and everyday life yet it once was worn for funerals in the lý dynasty.

so at the end of the day, vivi may just wear green áo dài because it looks good! and that’s probably what hima thought when designing her.

but i love to give deeper meaning and over analyze, because it’s fun, so hopefully this was interesting to you.

#hws vietnam #hetalia #hetalia world stars #hetalia headcanons #rambling tag

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trollsedits · 2 months

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Hello, I read your introduction. I heard that your Vietnamese are correct?

Can you do maybe like a brozone headcanon on how each brother individually would react to a Vietnamese troll or someone who speaks Vietnamese like a relationship? Sorry if you can't understand what I'm trying to explain, but if you know what I mean

Chào anh em là con gái miền Tây! Haha yes I am Vietnamese I would like to say that I hope in the future troll movie they would recognize V-pop (Vietnamese pop trolls) since there was a K-pop in the trolls movie world tour but I am just so curious to know what Vietnamese trolls would look like cause I would be a Vietnamese pop troll myself haha anyways yes of course I will make brozone headcanon on a Vietnamese troll speaker!

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A little background so Let’s just pretend: there is a tribe in the trolls village so far away that no trolls has ever heard of it not even Queen Barb or Queen Poppy has ever heard of them.

They are known as the V-pop trolls (Vietnamese pop trolls) but there’s not just pop Vietnamese trolls there’s also Vietnamese music genres that the trolls lived in V-pop village with the Viet pop trolls.. let me explain

You have the ca trù trolls: these trolls are also a Vietnamese genre of music their singing style is storytelling with origins in the northern part of the V-pop Village it mostly lead by a female trolls vocalist…

Then you have your Chầu văn trolls they are also in the northern part so they are close to the V-pop trolls village their style combined with singing, dancing and playing instruments with rhythm,pause and tempo.

There’s Vietnamese folk music trolls they fall under almost all of the genres that I mentioned

Then you have your cải Lương trolls: they are like a reformed theater trolls is a modern version of folk opera in V-pop village and they are spoken with drama and sometimes is so touching you would cry….

Again, all of these trolls genres all live under Viet pop village so they’re not separated from the other trolls genres there is more Vietnamese genres but I’ll explain more when I talk about brozone and meeting a Viet-pop troll.

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I’m gonna leave the relationship ship out for this part but I will definitely include it on the next headcanon that I write sorry about that I should have mentioned that first but it makes me so happy that someone is interested in my culture because I been embracing my Vietnamese culture a lot more ever since growing up in the US <3 and I say for all the culture don’t be scared to embrace your culture is a part of who you are and no one couldn’t take it away from you is apart of your heart your life style I think you guys reading about my trolls headcanon would hopefully let you all know a bit about my culture and I hope you all feel inspired to write your own trolls version of your culture Tag me if you do I would love to hear about other people traditions and culture <33

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John Dory:

-This dude has been traveling around the trolls village for the past 20+ years alone and when he came across a super isolated village he went to see what the village is about.

-when he came to the village he saw so many beautiful ancient decorations and he noticed that the trolls looked different from his own kind so John began to explore the village a bit further

-He also noticed what those trolls were wearing how some of them wore different outfits as he went farther into the village he saw how some trolls wore this long beautiful dress called a áo từ thân (it was a common dress in the north part of the Village) as he walked farther he also saw how some also wore a short version dress called a ao ba ba (which was common in the north) to remind you again all V-pop trolls and their differences Vietnamese genres all live in one village but there’s a different path way to get to a certain place in their village that what John Dory was doing

-As John headed back to where he came from he also noticed how some trolls wore modern Ao Dai it was so different than what he saw the other trolls wore when he was exploring the village

-As John came across to this folk soft like music playing as he saw this beautiful trolls wearing a modern áo dài playing a Vietnamese folk music with a instrument called “đàn tranh” Vietnames string zither he was so touch how she played it so softly he never heard anything like this before

-John came up to you and said Hi but he noticed that you don’t speak any English you understand some English but you couldn’t speak it very well

“I really like the instrument you played I never heard anything like this before.”

-You sat there and smile at him he insists that you keep playing that Dan tranh so you did and he immediately falls in love with the sound of it

-John will try his best to speak Vietnamese even if he doesn’t pronounce it right but at least he is trying and he won’t make it sound like he’s making fun of your accent or language

-He will try any Vietnamese food even if it sounds weird to him he doesn’t want to be rude even if it tastes bad he probably kindly declined it next time if anyone offered a dish that he doesn’t like

-he will definitely wear a male version of the modern ao dai he will never want to take it off and he would probably buy some for his little brother when he see them again especially bitty B who he misses dearly…

-Over the years you and John have help each other he helped you with English so you were comfortable with speaking it and you helped him with Vietnamese and teaching him about the culture and he so grateful that you offered him a place to stay and teach him about your culture

John: “Cam ơn Em (Thank You so much! [Y/N]) for taking care of me over the past year I’ve learned so much about your culture I will miss you and I hope I come back to visit you again soon!

Y/N: No,I should thank you anh John Dory you taught me English I will miss you a lot but please do come back soon anh! You gave him a hug before he leaves for his another adventure

-John will definitely bring some of your culture back to his brothers and pop village he would share what he learned and the instrument that you taught him how to played

-He will definitely cry when he leaves the village because seeing you and the others waving goodbye to him hoping that he will have a safe trip as he turn around he saw you in tears crying and waving goodbye to him hoping he’ll come back to visit you again one day he knows you’ll be there waiting for him to come back..

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That’s just the tips of the iceberg right that first part is when John Dory first came across the village moving on.

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This one for Bruce and clay is gonna be kinda similar in some ways where they came across a trolls like you when they hear you sing and played an instrument but I would like to say that clay would noticed how homesick you are and stuff anyways let’s get started shall we…

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Bruce/Spruce:

-After brozone broken up spruce had traveled around not like John Dory did but he was walking around to escape his life and never returned back to his boy band days he hear a very beautiful instrument playing..

-As he saw a beautiful female trolls who wore a Ao từ tuần who was playing a two string guitar known as the “Dan Nguyen” as spruce was interested so he sat down waiting for you to finish once you finish he would applause him being a heartthrob he would go up and start a conversation with you

Spruce: hey,Great guitar you got there I think you played such a wonderful job I never heard that kind of music because I’m Spruce what’s yours name I never heard any music like this before like ever I need to know more.

Y/N: Thank you! I’m [Y/N] and this guitar is called Dan Nguyen it been in my family for many generations my grandpa gave me this before he passed away his last wish for me is to play this and have everyone hear it is my grandpa way of showing other trolls our culture we lived in a very isolated part of the trolls village called V-pop. You smile sweetly at him

Spruce: I’m sorry yo hear that your grandpa passed away. (He dose not think twice or anything on how you ended up here all it matters that he really wants to know more about your culture)

-You agreed to helped him learn more about your culture and your music over time spruce change his name to Bruce because he wanted to leave his boy band days away and you were proud of him for doing that.

-He love every single Vietnamese foods that’s out there he will learn how to make Vietnamese food he will probably open a restaurant a Vietnamese restaurant some where on vacay island

-He learns how to speak Vietnamese pretty quickly every words he pronounced it was just on point if he ever step foot into the V-pop village they will mistaken him as one of their own kind because of how good his Vietnamese is also he could and will sing all kind of Vietnamese genres out there just to make you happy more like impressed you with his Vietnamese skills that he learn from you ☺️

-He will definitely bring some of the Vietnamese culture that you taught him back to his brother when he see them again

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Clay:

-After being cut off from the rest of the trolls during the bergens escape clay and other trolls were finding a place to stay as they were looking he heard something or more like some one playing a beautiful instrument.

-Clay was worried that the bergens will hear you as he came closer to you he saw you wearing a Vietnamese hat called “non la” and you were wearing a beautiful white plain Ao dai he mistken you for a ghost because of your outfit

-you also played the Dan Ty ba which was a traditional orchestra which made clay even want to come closer to you

-as he heard you sing Vietnamese folk music he really liked the sound of it he was worried that the bergens would hear you but it kinda sounded quiet when you sang it

-Clay got closer he introduced himself to you and you did the same

-Overtime you lived with the Putt-Putt trolls until you can safely make it back home or that what you hope but you became homesick over time you didn’t hate the putt putt trolls or anything but it was missing something that was apart of you your whole life

-Clay often noticed you feeling homesick and how you miss your family he would often see you cry or hold onto your “non la.” Also how often you would sit by yourself playing a sad note on your Dan Ty ba

-He would want to make sure you’re alright

Clay: hey, [Y/N] are you alright I’ve been noticing how upset you looked is something wrong is okay you can talk to me about anything?

Y/N: I’m just homesick, being away from my family and my village really takes a turn Vietnamese music and culture is apart of my life growing up I really like it here with you and Viva and the others but sometimes apart of me is missing

-As you got up and walked away crying clay felt very bad he knew he had to do something to make sure you feel safe as much as he wants you to go see your family again but he doesn’t want you to get eaten by a Bergens

-Clay would spend all his time despite being a licensed CPA he will spend his time reading and learning how to speak Vietnamese and more about your culture

-Like Bruce clay learned how to speak Vietnamese pretty quickly his pronunciation was perfect cause he spend all his time reading a book on how to speak Vietnamese for beginners

-He would also learn and also have the other putt putt trolls pitch in to cook/make the place feel like home to you

-It would take viva hours trying to get you out of the house as you finally agreed to as you came out you heard music not any music it was the music that reminded you of your home and your people you began to cry tears of joy and give clay a tight hug…

Y/N: Oh thank you thank you so much Clay you didn’t have to do all that for me but I really appreciate you all pitch in and took the time to learn my culture and my people my family would be so proud of me

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I cried when I was writing clay part because it deals with being homesick and I understand that feeling I live in the state when I go to Vietnam for a vacation when I had to go back I would spend the entire plane ride crying and brawling my eyes out so seeing a troll like clay who would go beyond the way to learn your culture makes me smile so much.

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Floyd:

-Traveling alone to start his solo career he came across to this soft and beautiful sound

-as he went closer to where the sound was he came across a ancient village known as V-pop village just like John did he noticed how each different trolls tribes wore different outfits

-But suddenly Floyd heard the instrument played again as he got closer he saw a beautiful girl played such soft instrument called “Dan bầu” is a Vietnamese string instrument but then it hit him when he heard you sing “Cải lương” Floyd never heard anything so soft and yet touching

-Being a sensitive troll that he is he can’t help but cry on how good it sound he may not understand what you’re saying but something about the rhythm just makes him cry for days because it was like a blend of Vietnamese folk song and classical music as-well

-Overtime, Floyd would learn Vietnamese his pronunciation wasn’t good but wasn’t as bad as John was but he try to sing cai luong and also learn how to play the Dan bầu but fail the others trolls made fun of him but you offered to helped him

-You gave Floyd a private lesson on how to play the instrument overtime he was getting pretty good and you were impressed with his skills

-Overtime his Vietnamese pronunciation got even better to the point he can finally sing cái lương you were impressed how much he has improved he thanked you a lot for helping him he couldn’t have learned that without your help

-Once he left the village he would take something special back with him which was a new skills and learning a new language all together thanks to you.

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Sorry if Floyd was short but I definitely could see him singing cái lương because he is the sensitive one and when you listen to it (Yep, it sounds super sad and emotional my parents always listen to this) and him being able to play a Vietnamese instrument it just makes it better

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Lastly, Branch:

-After saving all music kind from Queen barb with Queen poppy as all the music genres came together as one it only took him a second to see a different kind of trolls

-He saw you with your beautiful black hair and you were wearing a beautiful modern áo dài with your non la you were walking around shopping for fruits

-Branch would go to poppy and ask her if she seen any other troll like you before because something about you was different from the other trolls and their music

-One day he finally came up to you and introduced himself to you and you did the same he didn’t know how to start the conversation but you knew what he wanted to ask so you got straight to the point

Y/n: I’m a Vietnamese pop troll I know it seems crazy but we lived in a isolated place in trolls village we have different genres of Vietnamese music just like you guys but I’m a pop troll just like you guys but the only difference is that I sing in Vietnamese

-You would have to demonstrate to branch and sing Vietnamese pop music in Viet which he finally understood branch was so interested in learning the Viet pop style so he asked you if you could help him

-Branch started off not pronouncing any Vietnamese words correctly you didn’t mind because you know he didn’t mean at anyway to make fun of your language but still you helped him through it

-Overtime, his pronunciation gotten better and he was able to sing a whole Vietnamese pop song without messing up the words

-Branch learned so much from you and your tradition and he also hopes he can share this wonderful music and culture with his girlfriend Queen poppy and the others trolls in the village aswell his brothers if he ever sees them again

-Branch also adore the traditional outfit you put him in which is a modern male ao dai just like John he would ask you to make some for his brother aswell for Queen poppy which you happily agree to do

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Again, sorry if both branch and Floyd was short but I really enjoyed writing this and hopefully you guys learn a bit about Vietnamese culture I may be an American but being Vietnamese always and will be apart of who I am

Anyways, If you want me to do a part 2 I’ll do it maybe I can explain more about the food/fashion and the language barrier there’s so much to share to all of you in the trolls fandom about my Vietnamese culture and I hope you do the same with your culture I look forward to coming across to reading those 🩷✨

Also sorry for any grammar mistakes I’ll go fix it haha :^)

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If you want to request anything go to my profile and click “Ask me anything!”

Like + Follow are very much appreciated! ✨

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wannabe-cartoonist-blog · 10 months

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The more I think about it, the more I believe it had to be SO common for female nations to crossdress in order to not be discriminated against. There were obviously some points in history where it was “”okay”” for them to be females with power, but at some point or another, they had to pretend to be male. And now I’m tearing up thinking about how these ladies must’ve felt when they were finally able to present as themselves (or maybe some preferred being male, that’s equally as interesting).

And yes I watched Barbie so now I’m contemplating womanhood and I’m in my hetalia brainrot again and I always get so intrigued by the female nations and how hard it must’ve been for them to just exist. “What was I made for” indeed. 😭

#hetalia #hetalia headcanons #hws vietnam #hws ukraine #hws belarus #hws belgium #hws czechia #hws taiwan #hws hungary #aph liechtenstein #historical hetalia #wannabespeaks

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good--merits-accumulated · 6 months

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going back to my roots (epistolary historical aus that are just ridiculously fluffy. overly so.) this time anderperry version!

#it's like. vaguely 1960s because the one headcanon i will ALWAYS advocate for no matter what #is that Meeks worked at CERN as a researcher #but also not very 1960s because “ridiculously fluffy” and “Vietnam War” are not two phrases i should set next to each other #i may just set this in a nebulous handwavey latter-half-of-20th-century space tbh #anderperry #dead poets society #tristan writes

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techno-lizzy · 7 days

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just a little headcanon I have about these two

Holly inherited the white spot from scourge

#hello Vietnam memories from the bloodclan #warrior cats #erin hunter warriors #hollyleaf #scourge #wc hollyleaf #wc scourge #warrior cats fanart #headcanon #y si olvide ponerle el collar pero esa linda mirada asesina 😘

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giolovesyousm · 1 year

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rest in peace to stephen meeks, you would have loved to know where we got with technology

#allelon why you must say he died in the vietnam war 😔#ugh #dead poets society #dps fandom #dead poets headcanons #stephen meeks

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crashing9against9the9walls · 11 months

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I don't care what everyone think. Spain, Portugal, Cuba, Ecuador, Macau, Philippines, America, the Italy Brothers, Romania, Moldova, France, and Vietnam finds Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53 a bop and dance to it every chance they got.

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analviel · 1 year

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It's not strange or uncommon for Nations not to work for their governments.

Reasons can range from 'because they just don't feel like it', to the Nations joining rebellion forces.

Philippines personally doesn't like his government so getting involved is more an exception in his part than anything else - he hasn't been involved in government work since the end of the second republic, and only started talking to Leaders again around Carlos' time, Macapagal lost almost all his favor with the Maphilindo stunt, and Marcos? Well.

(Hindsight is 20/20 and all that.)

Phil won't claim to constantly be happy with one Leader, or always be displeased with another throughout the time they served, unfortunately it's not as simple as that. Humans are multifaceted and multifaced beings, there were good times and bad times with everyone equally. Although if the good times is more than the bad times....

After EDSA, he made the executive decision to never be directly involved in the governing of humans by humans ever again.

(Until now, he still wouldn't be able to answer if the decision was driven by being dissapointed by humans, or impressed by them.)

The lucky Nations would not work for their government because they believe their leader organization are good and stable enough to be left alone -like Canada.

The pragmatic ones believe human affairs should be handled strictly by humans and would only involve themselves in a situation if another Nation does so - going so far as ignoring attacks or skirmishes by outside forces unless a Nation is leading the attack. Like China and India.

Of course there's the ones on the complete opposite spectrum, who'd prefer to be on the need to know basis of anything and be involved in everything. Like America and Germany.

Viet is an example of one of the many in-betweens, being definitely present in her government but under disguise, her Leader only knowing of her and who he's supposed to answer to distantly. She says she likes to keep everyone on their toes, her arrangement letting her weed out the negative people in her government body with no one able to cover up anything.

Philippines imagines her everyday life is a spy movie.

It all depends to each their own.

Leaders have to be careful with ordering around Nations - after all, what are they going to do if they don't want to listen? Fire them? Banish them when the land they live off and the air they breath is a part of the Nation itself?

(Well, they can do a lot, as China is witness to, but that's not the point.)

That's why they remember Leaders who are sly enough to pull the wool over their eyes - sometimes maybe even more than their Heroes.

It's not as simple as 'Nations can't disobey Leaders'. They very much can.

It's just that Nations aren't infallible just as Leaders aren't absolute.

It's why the world wars, particularly the world war 2 was... scarily impressive, as an example of that idea -Nations-Country-Leader dynamics had been put to the test on a global scale.

The only war to summon almost all of the Nations from whatever woodwork they'd gotten comfortable in.

America says it was a whooping 95% attendance on the battlefield.

(Defending, avenging, and then full-circle.

Germany himself is a good and upstanding guy, but by virtue of the fact that he was front and center.... well, there's a lot of conflicted emotions. And some not so conflicted for his perceived irresponsibility.)

********'****

I just enjoy some diversity even among Nations.

Like how using Human names are more common in the west than the east, for example.

#Hetalia #hetalia philippines #hetalia canada #hetalia china #hetalia india #hetalia vietnam #Hetalia asean #hetalia headcanons #hetalia america #and i write

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yonemurishiroku · 1 year

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Just realized that if they were a Asian family, Nico would technically be the oldest male child of the entire major gods clan (ignoring the incestuous marriages ofc). Percy and Jason, and everyone except for Bianca, would have to call him elder brother. Wow.

#nico di angelo #yone rambling #i’m asian myself #wait hold on is this a vietnam thing or an asian thing?#yone headcanon #nico headcanon #riordanverse #pjo #percy jackson and the olympians

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stirringwinds · 7 months

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i'm curious if you have more yao headcanons?

I notice i've found it hard to pin down his character. there's either the hetalia canon version which is offensive to say the least, or there's like the fanon versions where he's sort of an accessory to the plot of other popular characters (most/all of whom are white characters, which imo is offensive for a whole other reason.)

i've been writing more induchu/indchu (whatever the indiaxchina pairing is called) lately and while hws india is almost an oc to me because of how little there is of him in canon, yao is a lot harder for me to write. also partly because i dont know as much as i should of chinese history (what i know is basically from an indian history context) and i havent yet had the opportunity to do some serious research. so i'm curious to hear your thoughts on him! thank you and have a great day <3

sorry for taking a while to get to your ask—but thank you for the great question! i'll cover some elements of both ancient/imperial and modern chinese history and certain themes/relationships with other nations that i think are really central to his character:

creator and destroyer: to me, Yao is akin to the Yellow River itself—a life-giving source whose waters and fertile silt birthed Chinese civilisation, but whose devastating floods have also drowned millions and destroyed dynasties. that’s exactly what he is to many of his neighbours—a cultural wellspring from whom they have learned much, but at other times, ruthless and terrible in his power—a conquering empire who has drowned other nations in his pitiless ambition. here, i’m integrating the long history of ancient and imperial China as an expansionist empire. it’s a crucial element of his character for me, because the Sinicisation of what were once independent, non-Chinese polities has moulded modern China and Asia. Yao’s cultural influence, technology, aesthetics and philosophies spread out across the world—but trade routes and diplomats walked hand-in-hand with power amassed through imperial conquest.

passions of the cut sleeve: so, this refers to a tale where a han dynasty emperor, who, rather than waking his male lover who had fallen asleep on the long sleeve of his hanfu, just cut through all that expensive silk so he wouldn’t be disturbed lol. sexuality-wise, it’s pretty much ironclad for me that Yao has had many romantic and physical relationships with other men too; there’s a long history of m/m relationships in pre-modern china. generally, i don’t see him being shy or flustered about sex—some fandom depictions of him as such feel uncomfortably orientalist. he’s very experienced after all those years.

old—and proud: Yao’s pride is both a strength and one of his biggest flaws. in the Confucian hierarchy, seniority confers prestige and demands respect. it’s a strength because he ferociously clings to that sense of “I have lasted for millennia and seen more than many other nations have” during the most trying moments of Chinese history. that long history is fuel for him to spitefully and doggedly endure—such as during the Opium Wars, or World War II. it’s a belief in his dignity that roots him in place when the world turns upside down.

but it's also a major flaw, because Yao can be arrogant and disdainful towards other nations, especially from the sinocentric worldview of regarding China as the center of civilisation, with Korea and Japan at times being referred to as some variant of 'barbarian', much less other non-Han polities seen as an obstacle to Chinese expansionism. Lien (Vietnam) is someone he acknowledges somewhat as a peer in age, but boy, is it a fraught relationship, because of the huge number of wars they've had against each other. to Lien, Yao can be arrogant at times, but he's someone whose scheming and sharpness of mind aren't to be underestimated either.

“mandate of heaven” and political pragmatism: i see Yao being one of the most ruthlessly pragmatic nations when it comes to political ideology and economics—it’s a very Deng Xiaopeng “what does it matter if the cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice?” today, he is not particularly emotionally attached to a specific form of governance. in ancient Chinese politics, there is a concept called “mandate of heaven” which was used to legitimise a king or emperor’s rule—but this isn’t the same as the european notion of the divine right of kings. because a Chinese ruler could “lose” that heavenly mandate and thus be justly overthrown—and wars, natural disasters and other crises were treated as indications of that. 'mandate of heaven' could of course retrospectively be manipulated by a usurper to legitimise his rule when (re)writing the history of the old regime by exaggerating its misdeeds, but nonetheless I think it’s a good reminder of many rebellions and revolts there've been in Chinese history. Yao is jaded to some degree—he does give a shit about his people, but he isn’t as idealistic as someone like Alfred might be (in the good and bad ways). he looks at things very pragmatically, rather than always through principle. if this is a system he has to live with, he will—for now. that’s the attitude I think he has towards many of his politicians: “to me, you emperors come and go, like the cycle of the seasons.”

the old master and his protégé(s)—pre-modern china, korea and japan: imo, yong-soo and kiku are amongst his oldest and most important relationships, from antiquity to present. as intertwined as their history is, it always tended towards an unequal dynamic because Yao never quite regards them as equals. on one hand, they somewhat respect him for what he's contributed to their culture—but on the other, they were never completely free of being reminded of the imperial hierarchy and hard edge of yao's power. here, I’m thinking of examples like how the Korean peninsula was turned into a Chinese protectorate by Tang China, and how China crushed Yamato Japan during the Battle of Baekgang.

the silk road—india, persia/iran and rome: for all his cultural exceptionalism, i do think Yao respects these nations as peers. Rome, for example, was called ‘da qin’ (great qin), which mirrored how China was called ‘qin’ (from the qin dynasty)—despite the distance, Roman glassware made its way to China, whilst Chinese silk made its way to Rome. compared to Rome, Persia/Iran and India had an even bigger influence on Chinese culture—Iran, such as during the Tang dynasty: polo and Persian styles/aesthetics reached China, aided by Tang expansion westwards bringing it closer to the Persian sphere of influence. another interesting element is astronomy: Chinese astronomers worked alongside Persian at the 13th century Maragheh observatory where many discoveries about astronomy and mathematics were made.

as to pre-modern India-China: Buddhism is one really big cultural import absorbed by China; and I personally think that’s a large part of why Yao regards India more as an equal—in contrast to how he sees Kiku, Yong-soo and Lien (Vietnam). I think there’s a very scholarly dynamic in their pre-modern rship: India, in Yao’s eyes, is a sophisticated philosopher and mathematician lol—i base this off the enormous cultural exchange from Indian monks and scholars travelling to China, as well as how Indian astronomical texts, such as Aryabhatta’s works, were translated into Chinese.

the empire is dead, long live the republic: inasmuch as Yao's deeply steeped in tradition—he won’t die on the sword of it either. the 1840s—1910s is him going from crisis to crisis—but it was also full of Chinese political debates. about monarchies vs. republics, labour movements, revolutions and counter-revolutions, as Chinese people reacted to Western and Japanese imperialism. some Chinese revolutionaries, like the Boxers, rejected everything Western. others sought to borrow from British, American and Soviet models of governance. yet others, Sun Yat Sen included—looked to Meiji Japan. significantly, 1900s Japan became a hub for Chinese reformers linking up with sympathetic Japanese intellectuals/politicians, but also other Asian thinkers/revolutionaries, from as far as India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. so if you’re interested in Ind/Chu, you can explore how they exist in the transnational dynamic of Pan-Asianism too. there’s the paradox of Kiku becoming an empire at Yao’s expense, whilst that very prestige he wins is exactly why many other Asians (including Indians and Chinese reformers) saw Japan as an aspirational model for a modernised Asian society that was free of Western domination.

the old and the new: to end off, i think yao is someone whose facets are always fluid and shifting. how do i characterise someone who has lived for so long, and has encompassed so much sweeping history? to bring it back to the yellow river; rivers change their courses throughout history, sometimes very drastically, but we’d say it’s the same river. just as we aren’t the exact same person we were as children—but there is a thread of continuity, so it is for nations—just on a much longer time-scale. and i think that even though old nations like him bear the weight of millennia in a way that can be a jarring contrast to his deceptively youthful face—they’re also composed of the souls of their young people. he can be traditional, but he’s always moving with the times. he'll do traditional calligraphy, but he's reading manga and watching the latest chinese and k-dramas (even if he won't always admit it).

nowadays, he’s that older man in an expensive, well-tailored suit, probably smoking way too many zhonghuas despite the disapproving glances from younger chinese people, wearing an expensive watch or sunglasses. he can be kind of flashy at times and does he enjoy his luxuries. he's discerning and opinionated about the kind of food he likes, but he's adventurous and will try new things. in the 90s, he was confused by the internet, but now he’s extremely net-savvy, always using VPNs to get around the Great Firewall—and also spends way too much time on his phone on WeChat or Weibo. he can sound very cynical sometimes—but there's also a calm reflectiveness where he'd smile slightly and say, 'who knows what tomorrow brings?'

#hws china #hetalia #wang yao #long post #hetalia headcanons #hws japan #hws south korea #hws india #hws vietnam

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Text

asean date headcanons

ft. thailand, vietnam, malaysia, indonesia, philippines, singapore

content. fluff, romance

THAILAND

You go thrifting for sunglasses. Thailand has an entire closet full of sunglasses that he collects. He’s not sure what started this, but every time he sees a pair of sunglasses, no matter how ridiculous they may look, Thailand will bring it home. This includes colorful children’s sunglasses. Bonus points if they have little elephants on them.

In fact, Toto also has a collection of sunglasses. They have little pretend fashion shows where the only fashion is sunglasses, and Toto wins every time.

Because he is literally the country itself, he’s expected to perform Muay Thai a lot, so Thailand’s been attending many martial arts classes, and encourages you to take them along with him, so he can rest well knowing his lover knows how to defend themselves. It’s also an excuse for him to be physically affectionate to you under the guise of “correcting your form.”

VIETNAM

An absolute goddess at maneuvering street stalls and haggling prices, Vietnam will get you the most delicious meal for the best price at the most random stall.

Takes you out to shop for clothes, and although she’s shy in asking, Vietnam very much values your opinion on her fashion style. She wants to look the best in her beloved’s eyes.

Although she’s very much adapted to urban life, Vietnam will sometimes take you back to rural areas where old villages still lie. She’s also very enthusiastic on teaching you about the her people’s customs and traditions, and helps you expand even further if you’ve already known about them, because deep down Vietnam is very scared of becoming too westernized—of losing her identity. It isn’t just about teaching you, Vietnam is also reminding herself of who she is.

This fear doesn’t apply to just Vietnam, but also to all non-European (some European themselves, too) countries feeling the influence of the West in their daily lives, from their clothes to their education, even to what they eat every day.

Even though she seems a little bashful at times, Vietnam adores children and loves spending time with them, whether it be telling them stories or making puppets with them. These can range from sock puppets, water puppets, or other handcraft such as, one of the kids’ favourite, tò he, especially when Vietnam makes them in more intricate shapes like dragons of fairies.

She can spend her entire day hanging around with little children, and would love it if you were to join in too. She won’t be able to handle all the teasing from them, though.

MALAYSIA

Baby boy’s so excited for every date, even if it’s your 100th one he’s still a ball of energy. Super affectionate, has to be making physical contact with you at all times (lowkey to show others that you’re his territory-)

Proud of his cuisine, he does take you out to eat, but he’d rather cook for you and feed you. Absolutely soaks in every compliment you give him.

Dancing is another thing that he loves to do with you. Seeing your body move to the beat is just so damn attractive to him, and if you don’t know how to or are bad at dancing it’s totally fine, maybe even better because he now has an excuse to spend more time with you :D

Beach dates are a must, and you two aren’t just going for swims, you are going to catch your own lunch and dinner. Sometimes, Mal drags you out in the sun for hours to catch horseshoe crabs. What, it’s good exercise, and you’re getting a healthy tan too!

Mal likes dressing in weird outfits, sometimes even outright crossdressing. He looks cute and he knows it, and he uses this to pull pranks on others. A considerable amount of dates together are going out and fooling around. Once, you both managed to convince Indonesia that Mal was a cute girl. It then took exactly 3 seconds for him to realize the truth. Then you two drag him in as well and find out that Indo looks very good in a dress,

Aside from the outfits, dates with Mal are pretty random and spontaneous, ranging from climbing palm trees to stealing Singa’s clothes to giving therapy to the local goats.

INDONESIA

Shy glances and lingering touches, especially in the earlier months of your relationship. Holding hands, short hugs, little pecks on the cheeks - literally anything would work, Indonesia just wants to shower you with affection, but that’s inappropriate, what kind of person would he be if he were to advantage of you like this? All his stammering and shyness in turn invoke your shyness, and the early months will very much involve lots of blushing and bashfulness.

Knows the places for the most legendary, godlike sweets and definitely takes you there, but doesn’t do it much often because it feels very self-centered on his part. You’ll have to tell him straight to his face that dates aren’t supposed to be one-sided and all focusing on you, it’s okay for him to indulge in his own interests too.

MOTORCYCLE DATES

At first, Indonesia over-worries on preparations and safety measures. What if an accident happens and you’re sent to the hospital? What if you fall off during the ride? Well, he knows that he’s responsible enough to drive safely and you’re not some defenseless child that needs tending to in every waking moment, but he’s just so scared of losing you.

Once you succeed in reassuring him, however, these dates are the best. It is extremely exhilarating to just zoom through the streets (at a safe speed) and feel the breeze blowing away the heat from the tropical sun.

Also, cling onto Indonesia’s waist during all of this. it makes him feel confident in himself knowing that you see him as a protector.

Doing little things such as going grocery shopping with him feels like dates, too, as he’s so considerate to your every need, always a gentle and attentive lover.

Spoils you rotten by buying you your favourite foods and then showing off his cooking skills later at home - really, you’re going to have to reel this man in and tell him to stop feeding you your favourite food served with rice, even if the way he prepares that weird combination is so heavenly that you wouldn’t be able to resist anyway.

Night walks on the beach, enjoying the coolness that’s rarely seen during Indonesia’s day. This is when you can truly appreciate the soft sand underneath your feet, the wind gently blowing through your hair, and each other’s honesty, as it’s become a tradition for you and Indonesia to just talk about anything during walks, be it something as simple as how your day went, or your current struggles and worries, basking in each other’s comfort under the cool night sky. They’re very intimate moments and wouldn’t happen in early stages of your relationship yet.

PHILIPPINES

PDA is a must with Philippines, and his arms are always all over you on dates. He wants to show you off to the world and tell everyone how he’s super lucky to have such an amazing s/o like you.

You guys are going on karaoke dates, no questions asked. The Latin dance mania meets the Asian love for karaoke? Combine it with Philippines’s rambunctious personality and you are in for a whole ass show.

Self-care date nights are a must. Every week you meet up at his house and Philippines opens the door with a wide smile and is absolutely going to pamper you. Face masks, massages, manicure, you name it. Dating Philippines means having impeccable nail art, whether you like it or not.

Also you’re definitely going thrifting for t-shirts with him, usually couple shirts and he’s definitely getting you weird ass ones like that one time you return home with ten shirts with pictures of Jollibee promoting workout sessions.

Now that I think about it, every Southeast Asian country probably has a side hobby of looking for unusually specific items of clothing, like for example Malaysia definitely gets weird swimsuits to terrorize the locals, Indonesia likes collecting jeans (he has several pairs of see-through ones), Vietnam loves wacky footwear of any kind (see: these things), and Singapore would never admit it but he has an entire closet full of clothes that look like they’re straight out of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.

Pien is as much as an attention-seeker as Philippines is, so going on dates with the Filipino is like also going on dates with Pien. However, it’s bound to get competitive.

These little fights are nothing serious, but if you spend just a little too much time scratching Pien’s ears, Philippines is going to whine and drag you away from the tarsier to do something much more fun, and you look absolutely gorgeous today, he has got to snap a pic to remember it by. What do you mean, he takes pictures of you everyday? Well, he only takes pictures of beautiful things, yeah?

And in Pien’s case, take more than 3 minutes with Philippines and he’s gonna give you the most adorable, heart-wrenching sad eyes. Come on, he’s just a little tarsier, give him some love! You know you cannot resist him. And the childish cycle repeats.

Man’s got hundreds of Hetagram posts all featuring you doing literally… anything. Café date? Cute selfie with you. Playing games? He adores the way your face scrunches up in concentration and it’s going into his gallery. Making breakfast? You look dashing in that apron, how on Earth can he resist snapping a shot? Notice how he has to update his phone storage memory so many times after you two became official.

And if you’re human, he somehow takes even more selfies with you than usual. You chide him for the impulsive picture taking Philippines knows photos are great for making memories, and he wants as many memories of you as possible when you leave him to join everyone else on the other side.

SINGAPORE

An absolute gentleman, always with a cool smile on his face

Knows the best places for literally anything: lunch, sightseeing, shopping, amusement parks - heck, he even knows which store you should visit to buy a new toilet

Café dates, museums, aquariums - it’s all very elegant and classy, he’s always so knowledgeable about everything, almost like you’re living in a modern fairy tale (which to be honest you are, this is Singapore we’re talking about), and your dates are literally so aesthetic that you could post it on Hetagram completely unedited and it’ll still explode in popularity. You’ll have the smoothest experience on dates, as Singa’s all about that flawless customer service.

He isn’t trying to group you in as just another visitor in his life, though. Singa’s actually pretty insecure that if he stops being perfect, you won’t find him desirable anymore and leave him. Of course, he knows that you won’t do that, you love him, but the doubts still live in his mind.

As time passes, Singa gradually drops the façade and becomes more confident in your relationship, thus becoming comfortable with dates at his house. He knows that it’s a mess, so he always tries to clean up before you arrive, but it’s sort of useless because when you leave, the house returns to its original messy state anyway, because with you, Singapore feels comfortable enough to indulge in his less… socially acceptable desires, such as the mannequin soap operas.

Singa has at least 10 of these things stashed away in his closet, and he pulls them out to do a little makeshift fashion show with them for stress relief. It’s slightly addicting for him to do this every week, maybe a little too much because at work, his brain sometimes drifts off to the mannequins and starts making up stories for them. He also names them.

Malaysia keeps telling him that they’ll crawl out of his closet at night and eat him alive. Singapore claims that he doesn’t believe this, but the dark circles underneath his eyes says otherwise.

The stories change whenever he changes their clothes. For example last week, Clara just lost her fifth husband so she has to consult the detective Katherine to investigate the series of mysterious deaths. It turned out that Katherine herself was responsible for the murders, as she had blackmailed every single one of them then killed them off in oder to prevent the truth of Clara being the illegitimate heir to the Chinese corporation of- to sum it up, Singa can make a career in writing dramas, and he would love it if you were to join him in this strange hobby of his.

His mannequins are basically his emotional support pillars. He vents his frustrations to them and it’s free therapy for him.

The reason why his house is always so messy is because t’s extremely exhilarating for him to be hidden from the public eye and allowed to make a mess of everything.

Contrary to his only picking soft, upbeat songs on karaoke nights with others, Singa has a burning passion for heavy death metal, the more banging the better. He sings it to his mannequins every night, and if you’re willing to listen, you. Don’t worry, his vocal range is actually pretty impressive.

Also, Singa has a custom-made mannequin that has your exact physical measurements, and no, he definitely isn’t being creepy! See, it’s headless and only for him to try on new clothes that he thinks would look cute on you and to avoid your disappointment if the size isn’t right. This is how all the clothes Singa gets for you fit perfectly, he will take this secret to the grave.

a/n: i’m SO sorry for the inactivity lately, work has been killing me these past weeks, and my method of coping is aseanposting. also, i feel like these are more like what it feels like to be dating them instead of actual date headcanons, and sorry that thailand’s is so short because we don’t have much info on him ;-;

i may have gone overboard with singa and the mannequins, but also I just realized piri's whole selfie and picture-taking schtick would be AMAZING material for angst. maybe i'll post something about it in the future ^^

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