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So just as an information to everybody who knows Hetalia: I do not really aim to be canon compliant, in the sense that I have my own ideas about certain characters and their development.
I try to aim for historical accuracy as much as possible (allthough I´m obviously not a walking history book, lol, so if you notice something is a bit amiss in that department or simplified etc. - I also have a life, and while I try to be mindful of my sources, more often than not, I do revert to Wikipedia simply bc I don´t have the time to do as much research as a fic of that length actually requires.)
Anyways, due to that, I threw most of what is part of the Chibitalia canon and also anything that has to do with Spamano out of the window, because it just doesn´t make any sense to me historically speaking, not even considering that Spamano is a bit problematic in general.
Just a few questions that I personally answer differently as the canon likely implies are:
Why is Romano so much younger than Spain, when he (acc. to the official fan wiki) has supposedly been around before the Roman Empire fell?
Why would Spain ever want to get rid of Romano, if the Kingdom of Naples (that Romano most likely represents) was literally rich enough to finance most of the Spanish Wars and Conquering Bullshit TM in the medieval ages?
Why did Holy Rome who existed for several centuries after the 30 years war (assuming this is the most likeliest candidate for what Himaruya is referencing when he leaves) never come back to visit Veneziano??
And what are the two brothers even, considering that Italy was split into much more smaller compartments for most of its history? And what about the Papal States, a state that was arguably one of the most influential throughout centuries, that Himaruya ignores completely in this?
And finally why is South Italy the "asshole" of the two brothers, when it was Northern Italy that basically crushed the Southern Economy after Unification?
In general, I´m not a fan of how Romano (admittedly my fave in Hetalia), but also North Italy, who are both fricking old as nations and therefore have gone through a ton of shit, are characterized as being incapable of pretty much anything 99% of the time and being downright childish too... Like, I get that Hetalia is a parody and all, but none of the other characters seem to be that incompetent or stupid?
Poland may be an exception, and I don´t agree with his characterization either.
So, you can expect that my characterizations for North and South Italy will be quite different, allthough I do try to make them "outwardly" similar to their canon representation... And thus, their relationships with other characters, especially with Spain and Holy Rome are probably quite different to how they are depicted a lot of the time. I´m not going to explain all the changes I´ve made, but I think they´ll be quite obvious once you read into the story.
Which brings me to my next character change, where I am NOT trying to make them anyhow similar to canon: Prussia.
Prussia, mf Preußen, being represented as a kind of egocentric (ok), stupid (what?) and above all else very much more goofy and less serious guy than Germany!? I´m sorry, but what?!
Historically speaking, Prussia and Prussian Culture, that should be Germany times 100000! Literally anything that is considered to be "German" (stereotypically speaking) Prussians used to excel in: punctuality, discipline, being stern and serious, working hard, bureaucracy and a harsh police force, respect towards authorities - that´s *Prussian Culture*, guys. And where does it come from?
The fact that Prussia was a military power, that was extremely, like, really extremely focused on military, so much that it essentially became part of the general Prussian culture.
And considering that Hetalia is supposed to be a show about stereotypes, Prussia´s representation just makes absolutely no sense to me in Canon. Sorry Hima.
So yeah, I scrapped that entirely. In essence my Prussia looks the same as Canon Prussia, but this is where their similarities ends.
I invite you to consider that Prussia is the reason why general German Culture is considered to be that way - symbolized by the fact that Prussia raised Germany - but that especially Southern Germany that was never directly ruled by Prussia is still a bit of a different story. In comparison to Italy a Bavarian or Baden-Württembergian is definitely still very stern, hardworking and blablabla, but still, it is a different vibe and Germany (Ludwig) is supposed to represent both North Germany and South Germany (which is quite funny to me as a German, because the differences between these regions are actually pretty strong) so it makes sense to me, that Germany all in all, is in fact less strict and cold-hearted as Prussia - and I´m writing them as such.
Due to all this, I also dislike the idea of Prussia representing East Germany, allthough I´m well aware it is canon in the manga.
For one, Prussia in it´s widest territory, spanned essentially the entirety of Northern Germany, of which half remained West German after all, while Prussia´s original "Heartland" around Marienburg is on Polish Territory since the end of WWII.
The Ideology of the GDR and Prussia is so different that I find it hard to imagine them rightfully represented by one and the same person, and besides - Prussia was the leading force behind the original German Unification. I find it hard to believe he would have even been *willing* to be the GDR, considering that would be a betrayal of everything that he himself has been working for for centuries. I can´t characterize Prussia as anything but extremely proud and hard-assed, so I would say he would rather die than accept something like that. And for my ponderings on nations, I quite like the idea that their personal will actually has some influence.
Lastly, speaking in a long-term perspective, Prussia would have to eventually die if he were, in fact, East Germany.
The cultural differences between East Germany and West Germany only became a thing with the parting into zones after WWII. There WAS NEVER a West and East Germany so clearly defined in culture beforehand. Sure the various different regions had their distinct local cultures, but as far as I´m aware, there was no "East vs West" or "Us vs the others" beforehand. It´s something that the USA and the Soviets artificially created over the 30 years that the Germans were parted and I (as a German!) sincerely hope that it will cease to eventually be a thing once more with due time - at the least, that should always be the goal!
As such, I dislike the idea of Prussia being East Germany, because he´d be a character whose time is slowly running out and that sucks, because I quite like my Prussia a lot. I even like Himaruya´s Prussia a lot, I just don´t find him very realistic.
Ludwig (Germany) was born around 1871 canonically, as the German Empire, therefore, he does originally represent both East and West Germany, just as he already represented North and South Germany, despite how that arguably was the much bigger cultural clash than West and East were back then. As such, I believe he is still the intended representation of ALL Germany now and will eventually become so again. I admit this whole idea might just be spurred on by my own hopes and beliefs, because I think Germany can only survive as a country if we find a way to get rid of the differences between East and West (in terms of conditions of life, possibilities etc., not the local cultures) and develope a strong sense of unity instead. As such, I just kind of dislike what Himaruya´s idea implicitly states: that East and West Germany are something that came to be organically (in the sense of them being two brothers, of which East is older than West) and something that can as well remain for forever. Hence why I decided that the GDR was a newborn personification, because it was actually a harsh, abrupt change that the Germans were forced into to accept, something very new - any implication of continuity in this is amiss for that, I say.
Now, how did Prussia survive being deconstructed after WWII then?
My theory for him is: There used to be a unique personification for the margraviate Brandenburg with whom Prussia unioned with a couple centuries back, but due to Berlin becoming the capital of the new Prussian Kingdom and Prussian Culture becoming so overpowering, that personification grew "obsolete", so he eventually perished and Prussia came to own his old lands as his new "heartland" - and later, as his own state was deconstructed, he came to solely be that region, the now Bundesland Brandenburg.
He represented the "old", the want to belong to one country, something that never really ceased in East German Society (hence the various demonstrations).
I know it´s kind of a lazy solution and not 100% sensible to fact either, as Germans tend to hold onto their unique local cultures very strongly in a lot of cases (cough Baden cough cough), and personally, I think it would be a lot more interesting, also for Germany´s (Ludwigs) character development, if Prussia had perished with the end of WWII, but I don´t want to deviate from canon THAT much, ok?
Brandenburg is however, arguably the Bundesland that has kept their Prussian heritage alive the most and still seems to have some pride in it, while most other parts (yes, also those in the East) really don´t care anymore. I imagine that Gilbert secretly considers himself Prussia first, and Brandenburg second, even though he has surrendered any ambition of ever growing a larger territory again.
You´ll get to know my East Germany OC over the course of this fic, I would say. Let´s just say for now, he simultaneously represents the *new* East German Culture that has formed over nearly 30 years of not particularly well-done (new) German unification, as well as tendencies that still live on from the GDR. I decided that they´re not the same character, because the GDR was an officially existing (for most countries at least) and communist, Russian puppet state, while East Germany is a culturally perceived, not-official entity and does not concur to a certain ideology...at least not anymore.
Anything else?
Well, I´m not a huge fan of the lack of female characters in Himaruya´s universe, so I tried to make my OCs roughly equal in that. Also, I made up my mind about Ireland before I learned that there is actually an official Ireland Hetalia character in the Manga...And I find Ireland as a woman that has to deal with her all-male neighbouring island and her male maybe-sort-of-son weirdly fitting in a metaphorical sense? (I hc Northern Ireland as coming to be with the Ulster Plantations, and starting out as an Irish "sub-state" so significantly later than any of the other UK and my Lady, mostly because I think it gives the best probabilities for a lot of awkward familial relations between the Brits and the Irish side. If I can make a character tragically miserable, I´ll generally choose that option tbh. Not sure if that is going to play any role in this fic, but just so you know.)
I don´t know how much of a role Ireland will play in this fic as a supporting character, just note that I *might* end up using female pronouns for her.
I´m also trying to be more inclusive than Himaruya is with his characters. I think, at this point it is quite stupid that he couldn´t be arsed to at least make a few of the major South American and African countries, I mean, isn´t this literally his job?
At the same time, I do admit it is a difficult thing to do, at least I´m not nearly informed enough to make up characters that represent a country. I´m already floundering with the Italian sub-states, honestly.
So please note I am European, and allthough I´m trying not to be, my view of the world is very much coloured in an European way. Also, the majority of this story will take place in Europe (Italy and Germany mostly), but I will try to include other countries if it makes sense! For instance, I´m a big fan of Brarg in Latintalia, though I can´t say I´m too informed of these countries either, but I will try my best. I might have to revert to only namedropping countries occasionally.
And since I mentioned the Italian sub-states... As I also tagged, I´m German. I was born in the South (good old Würtemberg, my love), lived a year in Bavaria (oh no, sorry, I meant Franconia, not Bavaria, lol), a year in Brandenburg (during Covid, but ok) and several in the very North, Schleswig-Holstein. My grandparents on my mothers side were from Silesia and Pommerania, so I even got some Prussian culture in me, you could say.
All in all, I would dare to say I have a decent grasp of Germany and German culture, but even then I know I will not do some of them justice - especially the East German ones and Berlin. Not even just because of them being East German, and me being born West, but also because Berlin and Brandenburg people, for instance, have a very distinct way of speaking, that (yes, even to me, a fellow German) is incredibly rude and direct, and I´m NOT like that, so I can´t properly recreate that, allthough I will try my best...
Still, with the German personifications, I don´t feel so bad about doing them wrong. They´re my country and I can do what I want with them, but with other countries I feel bad...
So yeah, if you´re Italian, please don´t expect too much of the Regiones OCs that I´m making up. I spent a month in Puglia this year (2025), and travelled the rest of Italy for another month, during which I mostly fell in love with Napoli and liked it better than any other city I visited (sorry Roma, Firenze...). Idk I like South Italy better in general, which is quite funny, because I also like Romano better than Veneziano. North Italy in his canon personality is just so...boring, to me, honestly.
Anyways, I also do not speak any Italian and will have to rely on translation services (Deepl) for any Italian or other languages I will possibly use, or AI in terms of dialect, that I will try to reference as often as I can.
I also need to rely on those for German dialects btw, because I don´t speak ANY German dialect properly, mostly due to the fact that my aforementioned grandparents weren´t OG Swabians.
I´m a heathen, is what I´m saying.
Last point: "sub-state" personifications.
I use that concept a lot, so I want to give a brief explanation.
Sub-state refers to any personification that does not represent a full, independent country. So, for instance, the German Bundesländer, Italian Regions or US-American States. They are subordinate to their respective country personification (or in Italy´s case half-country) and share a sort of "bond" with each other, where they for instance can sense when their country is hurt or otherwise distraught, and the country like-wise can feel their presence. Despite this, they don´t necessarily like or support each other. The nature of their relationships very much depends from country to country and bond to bond. They can be siblings, parents, children or completely unrelated, ranging from partners to friends to rivals/people that piss the coumtry of on a regular basis. Very much depending on the age relation between the country personification and the sub-state, and whether they raised each other in some way, grew up together or only met later as adults.
For instance, Germany, as in Ludwig, I imagine considers several of them as parental figures, because they were already quite old when he was founded, such as Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria and Württemberg, while others were born later and are sort of his children, such as Rhineland-Palatine or Thuringia, and so on.
I have some ideas for the countries that I know well enough to speculate on their sub-states, but others, even in Europe, I don´t have any real knowledge off to do that, and they´re not really that important for this fic here, so please don´t ask me about them lol.
I imagine the "lower" a nation is in the hierarchy, the easier history (e.g. wars, famines, political upheaval etc.pp.) can affect them, because the respective humans they symbolize can get wiped out or conquered so easily. An extreme example is any city-state that has or still exists today, e.g. the German cities Hamburg and Bremen, which I imagine very easily can perish if they loose autonomy, or all the nonsense personifications like Sealand (which I will admittedly all ignore for this fic), whose existence wagers on handfuls of people only.
Anyways, due to this fact, nations have a decent self-interest in enlarging their territory and power, as the more powerful and "high-up" they are in the hierarchy (and the more humans "belong" to them), the most assured they can be that they won´t just suddenly disappear. So being an independent country is not just something to desire out of idealistic reasons, but also simple survival tactics for them. That´s something to keep in mind for the interpretation of the characters and their actions, though Europe at this point has mostly settled into an order of personifications by now. Still, most of the European Countries are quite old, and they´ve been through much different times...
There, you made it!
I´m sorry for the long essay, but I think it makes sense to clarify some things before the story starts and you find that it doesn´t fit what you would like to read at all.
I will try to update somewhat regularly, but I cannot promise anything for the future, nor am I sure how long this fic is really going to turn out to be...
Yeah, wish me luck and pray for me, if you want to, I´ll need it!