#I have my own names for the Nyo

[medicallysilly]

I drew Nyo America, I still have to polish the tiny detail of not making her look like a scary mannequin lol

I have some time so here are some headcanons;

• She does see England as her mother, Alice, unlike Arthur, did not want to leave her colony adrift during her late childhood and adolescence. While Arthur let Alfred fend for himself from the time he was 8-10 years old, Alice was constantly with Amelia, she was a rough mother who wanted her daughter to be a refined lady but that formed a stronger bond between them.

•She tried for years to be a serious and tough woman, inspired by Alicia she learned from a very young age that she had to make an extra effort to be taken seriously. It was only after the World War II that she realized her position in the world and allowed herself to be more daring and "vulgar", wearing short skirts, more extravagant jewelry, makeup, etc.

• Amelia and Helena (Nyo Romano) have a friendship based on rivalry. Helena is vain and much more cutting than her male counterpart, so when she got involved with Amelia, a young and pretty woman she felt that need to compete. Far from being something harmful, this made them both closer. If Helena criticized how Amelia was dressed, she would ask why and Helena would explain

• She had an unrequited crush on Julchen (Prussia) this woman was the opposite of everything she knew, Julchen really fought and was not afraid to take a good punch, something completely opposite to Alicia and her teachings about not getting physically involved in fights and being more diplomatic, Amelia was nevertheless fascinated by this facet of Julchen. Unfortunately Julchen had no interest in Amelia, Amelia was a child in her eyes and saw her more as a younger sister.

• Amelia and Marguerite (Canada) have a complex relationship, Marguerite is passive aggressive and hides it under a cloak of false diplomacy, so unlike Alfred and Matthew, Marguerite drops many hints about what she dislikes about her sister and Amelia does the same, this does not mean that they do not love each other, they grew up as sisters under the tutelage of Alicia, there is a feeling of sisterhood and camaraderie but not much more.

• She actually has straight hair, very straight, but she thought that was flat and boring, instead she envied Marguerite's natural waves and did everything she could to achieve them, currently she has a perm

∆ Try to make sure there are no spelling mistakes.

[meliissa-art]

My headcanons for Belarus

Belarus is a character that I dislike in canon. Hima did her dirty :(

So here are some headcanons I have for Belarus <3

Her human name is Natallia Arloŭskaja/Arlievič (the last option is gender neutral)

Her nyo! name would be Mikalaj Arloŭskij/Arlievič

If you are interested in knowing why I think those names would suit the character better, check out this post:

Ok, back to the headcanons!

I ship her with Romano or with

Could talk for hours about knives with Sakha/Yakutia

Has a complicated relationship with Russia

She is not his sister. I don't think nations are related to each other. Sure, nations can call each other "brother" or "sister", but because they are close to each other and have no romantic feelings, not because they are genetically related.

Perhaps she had a close relationship with him in the past and called him "brother" during that time. But nowadays their relationship is more complicated.

Belarus is extremely worried about her language, as it's getting more and more russified over time.

She is very protective of her own culture and tries to preserve it as much as possible.

She could have been close to Lithuania, as she was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (I need to do more research about this though...)

I know little about Belarus' history, but she is an interesting character! I will probably talk more about her in the future

[franciskirkland]

Tell us 5 things you love about our babygirl France

just 5?? ugh ok... i'll try 🥺🥺

this is an official ⚜️aph france⚜️ appreciation post

his voluptuous backside... his derriere... his beehind... jonq in the tronq... need i say more?? feast ur eyes ladies and gentlemen we stan a CURVY 👏 LEGEND 👏 🍑🍑

2. that hair 😍 those long luscious glossy blonde locks... it looks so soft and silky. probably my favorite of his features if im being real... ooougughghghggbuhgh ooga booga... long blonde hair gives me caveman brain sorry. and yes im obsessed w this gif, just look at that hair flip she's so sparkly!!! slay the house down mama

3. his voice/accent. like the VA for the english dub has done an amazing job i licherally couldn't imagine a better voice for my fave. it's so charming and melodic, very sweet very demure but a little sassy; all around perfect, no notes. and that laugh?? haunts my every waking moment thanks.

4. his dramatique and mischevious personality... i love when he's a crybaby drama queen and a naughty little scoundrel. just look at this pathetic lil baby... nd he rly thinks he's slick!!!

5. how shippable he is. hima rly gave us a character w unlimited shipping potential who lives to love and be loved. like... from both a historical/nationverse standpoint and as a human, he could go well with just about anyone imo. ofc i have my fave pairings but i ship france with pretty much every male incl OCs, nyo versions of female characters, and his own 2p. if you can name it i can probably see it.

in conclusion. france from hetalia is the greatest character ever brought into creation and the babygirl of all time. im completely normal about him. he's my perfect sweetie angel who's never done anything wrong ever and i want to squorsh him and squeeze him and grind him into a fine powder for snorting or perhaps injection

thank u for the ask anon my beloved 💖💞✨

[vanessalocke]

[UKFr fanfic] Devil's Child

Pairing: England x Nyo!France

Tags: dark fic, Demon!England, Nyo!France, Nyo!Canada, Good Ending, Catholicism

Summary: Ten years later, on a cloudy and foggy day in England, a newspaper report about a group of young men locking themselves in a slum house and setting themselves on fire shook London. Many false and true rumors have surfaced, one of which is believed by many people, that it is actually a secret society of Satan worshipers, burning themselves so that they can donate their own souls for Lucifer.

And in the newspaper, in the list of those who died in the fire in that house, there was Arthur Kirkland's name.

Author's note: Sorry for my crude grammar and word usage. I tried translating it from Vietnamese to English, but I'm afraid it's not very good. Later I will translate some more of my fanfics into English.

Chapter 1: The Devil and the Boy

"It was a rainy day.

In the middle of a busy line of people, there was a boy with thick eyebrows, messy sandy blond hair, wearing a beret, untidy clothes, holding unsold newspaper. He went back to his dilapidated abandoned house. He took off his shoes, tiredly lay on the cold floor, gradually fell asleep, tears blurred his eyes as green as a forest.

Just as he fell asleep, a snake slithered on the floor. The snake looked at the boy's bare feet and immediately lunged forward, its mouth gaping open to aim at the child's heel.

Thinking that the snake's venom was about to bite into the boy's skin, a great force immediately fell from above. A woman's foot stepped on the snake's head. It panicked and struggled, its tail thrashing violently, but to no avail.

It was a beautiful woman wearing a robe as bright as the sun, with twelve stars on her head. The woman looked at the sleeping boy with tender eyes and boundless love.

"Let me out!"

The snake hissed, its golden eyes with thread-like pupils widening with fear mixed with hatred. The snake shape at the woman's feet turned into thick black smoke. The smoke condenses and forms a tall and handsome man, a slim waistcoat and elegant tailcoat, behind which are giant black wings shaped like bat wings.

"You must not harm this child." The woman, fearless, looked straight into the man's eyes.

"Our Lady, can You tell me why You always interrupt my work?" The man said, his voice cold and sarcastic.

"This boy in despair called my name. This boy is my son." Mary replied slowly, "Go back to your place, and never touch my beloved children again."

The man's golden eyes suddenly flashed a malicious glint. Under his feet appeared a large black mud.

"Okay, I won't harm him. But he won't be Your son forever, Lady." He laughed, as his body slowly sank into the black mud at his feet. "Instead, this child, Arthur Kirkland, will be MY child. Then he will commit crimes that no one can imagine. I will destroy everything You hold dear, Our Lady. "

Maria didn't seem scared at all. Our Lady simply replied:

"Under God's providence, my children will always return to my side."

Hearing Mary's mention of God, the devil's handsome face immediately contorted with anger.

"Let's see."

He said before sinking into the mud completely. The mud disappeared, leaving the floor dry as if there had never been any liquid there.

***

Ten years later, on a cloudy and foggy day in England, a newspaper report about a group of young men locking themselves in a slum house and setting themselves on fire shook London. Many false and true rumors have surfaced, one of which is believed by many people, that it is actually a secret society of Satan worshipers, burning themselves so that they can donate their own souls for Lucifer.

And in the newspaper, in the list of those who died in the fire in that house, there was Arthur Kirkland's name."

Read more at: Devil's Child - Chapter 1 - VanessaLocke - Hetalia: Axis Powers [Archive of Our Own]

[aiyanacatori]

The following is an expanded thought/rant on Nyo!America. I made a shorter version yesterday but wanted to expand it.

Warnings: mentions of neglect, abuse, period typical attitudes and behaviours, colonization, imperialization, civil war, Spain, WW1, Great Depression, WW2, Cold War, the '90s and early 2000s. Basically, if it was a major event I touch on it through the lens of the possibility of Nyo!America.

The fun idea about nyo!America existing in the same universe where it is basically the same but it’s Nyo!America is just how much would have changed for her. Personally her.

In general Alfred was able to do what he wanted, frolicking in the fields of the Midwest and avoid work? Yeah, he could do that. Go up and visit his brother for weeks at a time? Just leave a note. Start an international incident by punching Russia? That can be resolved. Have a sloppy public image? What are you going to do? Oppose him? Alfred can do more or less whatever he wants. Sure he struggles and I'm not invalidating those struggles, but it is a different font of struggle.

Nyo!America [whatever name you want to use because all names are cool and I have my own headcannon names.] Would have to work constantly to be taken seriously and to be seen as an equal. As a colony she was mostly neglected as a second thought by the English/British government. She would be constantly have been having to prove herself and be self sufficient. England would have not seen her as a threat. After all she was a small female nation. What could she possibly do against the British? When starting the revolution no one would believe in her. There were so few female nations to begin with in a high standing. The ones in Europe were under the flag of someone else. Everyone thought it was going to fail. Than the Americans started proving that they could do it, nations started supporting her. She got her freedom, but there was still the feeling that this would just be a shirt term thing. She would have to keep proving herself. After all she just proved them wrong already, they were going to be wrong about everything else.

The Articles of Confederation didn't work, and people thought this was going to be the end. This is just another point as to why female nations couldn't do all that much, and why, historically, many empires were better off with male representatives.

Nyo!America pushes on. Most of her bosses doubt her ability to some level. Even the ones who don't treat her poorly still doubt her. She can't take breaks, and she can't skip town for weeks because it will be held against her. She's doing paperwork, meeting and greeting officials, reading books and taking classes from paid tutors. She has to be because if she doesn't then they will find something wrong with her.

Her manners are top-notch, she learns the customs of other places, and learns greeting and pleasantries in other languages. She has to be the best at everything. So what if she skipped sleep here or there? She still has work to do.

Nyo!America would in a bit of spare time get to know her people. If she can find out where things within her country are lacking she can try to help. These are the people she represents and she wants to be the best place for all of them. She knows all of the flaws within her nation like the stories engraved in her skull, but she has to keep trying. Where she can try and help with things she does, but no one will take her seriously.

She learns early that most of these people won't take her skill and knowledge seriously unless she forces them. Everyone has something to keep and no one expects a lady like her to figure them out or use them against them. She does. So what if she has to blackmail a bit, so what if she had to threaten a couple of big-headed men who won't take her knowledge until given no other choice. So what if she has to use some underhanded ways that would make some weary. She is doing everything she can.

The Mexican-American war. She didn't want to fight Mexico. She was the only other female nation she knew. They had each other’s backs in the world of male nations. There was still a war and she had to prove herself. She didn't have the standing to oppose it all. She lost her friendship with Mexico. She hated the people in charge for a long while, but she couldn't say anything. How could she when they were waiting for a chance to throw her out? She writes essays of apologies to Mexico for years. For decades. They don't get along all the time, but they both understand the pain. They might not be buddy buddies, but they were still two female nations in the sea of male nations. If push came to shove they personally have each other’s backs.

The nation is divided and America was to kneel over in pain. She wants to lie in bed and scream, cry, and shut down. She can't. They won't take her pain seriously. She's just a woman. She stands up and fights. She fights for her people, the ones who can get their long-needed freedom. She's still in pain, but she will smile through it all if it means more of her people will be free.

There are still problems, still, people who deny rights, but she is doing the damn best she can to help.

She's a regional power, her wealth is growing and flocks of people are moving. She is proving them all wrong. The old world still scoffs at her and isn't taking her seriously. Some are mad at her for 'taking' their people. Not all of them. Some of them are starting to see the writing on the wall. Their respect for her is growing. She broke the glass ceiling just for it to be replaced by another. She will keep working at trying. She can't stop now. When she shows up for diplomatic meetings they still are looking for something to criticize her about. Maybe her clothes are a trend out of date, her accent is slightly off, she doesn't remember a custom. She keeps up. It's becoming harder to find something to hate about her with. She stays out of their buisness they stay out of hers.

Her country has 'territories' now. Hawai'i, Cuba, Philippines. She didn't really want them. She just wanted the Europeans out of the new world. She was done playing games with them. She was done sucking up all the time, she was in a position to demand them to leave. She went to war with Spain. One of the most feared nations in the new world. The one who burned it all to the ground. The one who had erased cultures and lives like the dust of a mantelpiece. ('Annoying and in the way) she won. But then instead of giving freedom her government took territories. Wasn't enough. The friends she made were now her colonies just with a more pleasant-sounding name.

She tries but nothing is being done.

Europe starts another war. She rolls her eyes and goes back to her stack of work. Europe I always at war. It was at war before she was around, has been at war before and will continue to be. She doesn't really have a side to pick. There are a lot of immigrants from all over so picking a side for yet another European conflict feels stupid.

Europe's war has been making her money. She has the biggest economy. People are being mowed down by machine guns. The telegram comes. The Germans were trying to start a new front in North America. A repeat of the Mexican-American war. Her country goes to war and she ships out with her soldiers to Europe.

The war is over and she hated every moment of it. She sent letters back to Mexico because she needed to talk to someone. They still don't get along all the time but she doesn't think she could ever fight a war against Mexico ever again.

Europe is being greedy again. They are creating a future problem with how they are handling this. Of course who would listen to her? Apparently not Europe who still thinks they are knowing wise for having a couple centuries of existence over her. She tries to help but there is only so much that they can do.

She allows herself a break. Finally, a chance to unwind. Of course, the government does something stupid. Banning alcohol is going to cause more problems than it fixes. She does participate in some underground activity because the government is stupid sometimes(a lot) and she just came back from trench war hell.

The economy crashes and the world seems to be going to hell. Her people are suffering and the news from Europe looks dark. Why are they ignoring it? She doesn't say anything. She has more problems than worrying about Europe.

War. Europe is at war again. She saw this coming. She wrote to England and France about it when she saw it. They disregard her again. Japan attacked and this war seems darker than before.

Hypocrites. All of them are hypocrites. Her government, England's, France's. All of them. She could list every time another government pulled some of this. It was in a different century, in a different time. It's what her brother said. She rolls her eyes but moves on, she has Russia to deal with now.

America will be less likely to admit this now, but she really only wanted to be left alone. Maybe not her government, but she wanted to be left alone. Going tor to toe with Russia was exhausting. She was paranoid and couldn't take any chances. If she failed no one would believe in her again. She worked hard for her spot in the world and she would be damned if that got taken away. Her officials don't like her new ideas, and don't like how she was siding either those who wanted to end the conflicts in the cold war. They saw that as weak. Just another womanly feature to belittle. She just rolls her eyes. She has power and the ability to speak back now.

Of course, every day is new paperwork, more issues, more help me here, stop helping me. Pay back money. She is trying. Trying. Trying. Trying.

She is the centre of it all and yet they still hold up their noses in their centuries-old bigotry of superiority. She's got this.

----

She mellows out. She calms down because she can afford to. Not all the time, but she can. Slowly some of them forget just how powerful she is. That's fine. They can forget. She knows how powerful she is. She knows where she Excels. She won't lord over anyone, because why should she? She worked hard for where she is, and she broke all expectations and then some.

-/\-/\-

Nyo!America at least in my eyes would be the perfect version of America. It was such a missed opportunity. Truly unfortunate that few others see it. Oh well, rather are missing out on a cool story.

[peachy-snacks]

You think since you did Poc Rosie you would ever do Poc Alice? See ages ago ameval (deactivated now RIP) did incredible designs for Alice if she was a poc and since then dipped it broke my heart as Alice being poc was such a good idea like makes sense too contrasts well with skinny white twink Arthur sorry i dont mean to fill up your inbox i was just wondering

I made a few drawings a long while ago but I was so excited to revisit these concepts!! I haven’t been drawing as much digitally so please excuse the goofy photos!!

*I call nyo Arthur “Rosaline” within my art and ideas, I’m very aware that it can be confusing with Rosie also existing 😭😭 I’m trying to think of other names all the time!

I had to dig around a bit to find this one but I sketched my first concept of POC Rosaline during an event! This was a very loose sketch and I didn’t have any concepts or ideas to follow so I didn’t do much with it for a while.

After sitting on the idea for a while I came up with this design, I wanted to keep a lot of parallels while still making her feel like she was her own character! I curse myself for being unable to do detail work, I really want to work more with the jewelry and patterns on her!!

I also made this goof sketch of POC Amelia with the first sketch of Rosaline, I really really like her and I want to make more of her!!! :-)

[doueverwonder]

Stuff About Nyo!Ame Bc Yeah

This is super random and also Ella is not to be confused with Abigail (who is in The Bookseller & The Florist and belongs to @rosethreeart) but is my own interpretation. Some of this is mushy, some of this is serious, some of it is just random preference rambles.

Her name is Charlotte-Ann Elizabeth, when she was little she commonly went by Lottie-Ann; but now usually goes but Ella, a shortening of her middle name.

England still calls her Lottie-Ann and when they're in stupid arguments Lottie-Ann Beth.

(stupid as in like,,, best way to make a pb&j)

Ngl I love the idea of her getting so sick and tired of condescending nicknames/dirty jokes made towards her she just started doing it back.

Speaking of; though I do like thinking about many nations being women instead of men, if I write America as a woman, England, France, Spain, Portugal, Russia, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden all have to stay men. It's required.

At some point during WW2 got up on a table and just straight up walked across it to get everyone to pay attention to her.

She's generally a Lot More Done(TM) than Alfred

Didn't fight in either of the world wars BUT did somehow shoot Ludwig twice, I will not elaborate.

pulled the disguising herself as a man getup for the first few years of the revolution until Gilbert accidentally outed her and all of Congress went "There you are!!!" and made her stop fighting.

François once made a "are you on your period?" joke and promptly almost got himself kicked out of NATO

Matthieu accepts that he won't be able to stop Alfred and hangs back until he gets a call from Al asking for help.

Matthieu accepts that he won't be able to stop Ella and goes running after her anyways bc he knows she won't call him for help.

Is slightly more Work Smarter Not Harder than Al

But will also throw all her brute strength at something without a second thought bc fuck it

Generally more involved with government over military, though again don't think she can't fight. She can and will fight you and win.

[roszabell]

What names in general do you use for your nyo characters?

Hey good question! There are just the nyos i use most often/care about, pretty compliant w most fanon.

Canada: Madeline, Maddie

Prussia: Julia, Jules, Jülchen

France: Vivienne, or Manon-(more countryside, close friends- and family-reserved)

America: Amelia, Mia

Russia: Anya

Lithuania: Ruta, or Dalia-(my own take)

PruCan kid OC (not nyo-related, but have to add my girl!!): Adele

[peppermint-chocolate-cherries]

The Pure RNG Hetalia Showdown (FAQ)

Over the next couple weeks, I will run a series of polls where you have to vote for canon Hetalia characters.

Poll Results Summary has now been posted, to summarize the results of the round robin and report on the Congeniality qualifiers.

Also, a new Tumblr sideblog @hetalia-rng-showdown has been created to host future RNG tournaments!

Master List of All Poll Links

Round Robin #1 - Winner: Finland

Round Robin #2 - Winner: England

Round Robin #3 - Winner: Seychelles

Round Robin #4 - Winner: Poland

Round Robin #5 - Winner: Prussia

Round Robin #6 - Winner: Canada

Round Robin #7 - Winner: Germany

Round Robin #8 - Winner: France

Round Robin #9 - Winner: South Italy

Round Robin #10 - Winner: Scotland

Congeniality Showdown Poll - Lithuania has been crowned Mr. Congeniality!

Final Showdown Poll - Tie vote between Canada & England

Final Showdown Tiebreaker - England has been crowned Pure RNG Champion!

Congeniality Contestants

Austria, Lithuania, China, America, Wales, Spain, Portugal, Romania, Hong Kong, Ancient Rome

What are we voting on?

You can pick your favourite, a contender, a dark horse, an underdog, or go pure chaos and see what happens. This will ultimately end up becoming a popularity contest, since all the Hetalia polls so far have been swamped with people just picking their favourites, but why don't you all try something different for once and see what happens?

How will this work?

The round robin will have 10 different polls, each with 7-8 different characters, lasting a week. After the week, the 10 winners will come together into a final showdown poll.

If there is a tie in any of the round robin polls, there will be a 24-hour tiebreaking poll. See the full description in the section below.

Runners-up in the round robin poll might be selected for the Congeniality Showdown poll. See the full description in the section below.

Who is all in the poll?

If your character has a page on this Hetalia Wiki character article look-up page, they're in one of the polls.

https://hetalia.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Characters

Note that I am not including nyos, 2ps, animals, humans or other entities, just the nations themselves.

How will they be grouped?

I plugged the 78 names into this random number generator website, which split them up into 10 groups of 7-8 characters.

https://www.randomlists.com/team-generator

For extra randomness, I clicked the "Rerun" button twenty times. That's why this is the "RNG" poll, it's pure luck who your fave is up against!

Why is my favourite minor character up against so many mains? Can't you fix this?

Read the above again, please.

And funny you should mention skewing the group selections, because my friend was just trying to conduct her own set of polls. The axis/allies would've all knocked each other out in the first round, and some of your favourite minor characters would've actually moved on for once. But some people complained about the choices of minor characters and their groupings, even going so far as to insult her personally...

So guess what, you're getting this poll series instead out of spite! Congratulations, your favourite minor characters are all in the polls, their groupings are purely random, and every character has a 10% chance of being up against Romano in the first round!

But what if I don't want my fave to lose to Romano in the first round?

Finally, a good question. When you find that poll, vote for your favourite and not for Romano, then reblog the post and tell all your friends to vote the same as you! Make sure you're a united force though, Romano only needs the one extra vote if you're all divided.

Don't worry about spamming my notifications with reblogs, I want to see that the polls are being shared, just be respectful in your tags please.

When can I see who's all in the groups?

You'll find out when I post the polls, as this FAQ post is going up before I even run the RNG. EDIT: The RNG has now been run, the polls are all drafted and scheduled, and the first is live! Links to all 10 polls will be added at the top as their posts are posted!

As for timing, I will post the first poll at approximately 6:00pm PDT April 18 2023, with the other polls all scheduled on 12-hour increments after that.

Once the final poll is closed after its week of voting, which will be at 6:00AM PDT on April 30th, I will create the Congeniality and Final Showdown polls.

What is this newly added Congeniality Showdown?

With the variety of options in these polls, there will indeed be a few nations that lose their round robin poll by a small margin of the vote. For these oh-so-close losers, there will be a Congeniality showdown to honour them for giving the victors such a close run for their money.

As the 10 polls each close, I will track the difference in voting percentages by which the losers lost to the victors. The 10 losing nations whose losing percentages are closest to their victors will go in the Congeniality showdown.

For example, Nation A won the poll by 32%, while Nation B finished with 25%. Nation B’s percentage difference of 7% is what determines whether they will appear in the Congeniality showdown. Should the other 9 polls results in 10 other nations getting less than that 7% difference, Nation B will not make the cut.

What are the Tiebreaker Rules?

This section is being added in case one of the round robin polls miraculously ends in a tie. Obviously Tumblr will not allow more than 10 entries into a poll, so a tiebreaker poll is the chosen method of breaking any ties!

I will post a 24-hour poll with the two (or more) nations that tied in the round robin poll, where you all have ONLY the 24 hours to vote. I will announce the tiebreaker poll ahead of time, so that as many of you as possible know during what period of time to search for it and vote.

Whoever wins this vote moves on to the final showdown. For the runner(s)-up, since they managed to tie the winner on the original poll, which makes a voting difference of 0%, they automatically take one of the 10 spots in the Congeniality showdown.

Tiebreaker polls will be scheduled for the period of April 30th to May 3rd if required, so please watch carefully for the posts. I fly to Norway on May 6th, so the Congeniality and Final Showdown polls must get posted before this Canadian goes on vacation.

[singular-yike]

I must know your thoughts on the Best Haniwa (Sukune)

It's Sukune time, nyo~!

Ever friendly, ever playful, ever creative, it's the Pure and Genius Haniwa: Sukune Katano.

Haniwa ┌|∵|┘

So what is a haniwa (埴輪)? Haniwa, which means "circle of clay" typically refers to a type of ritual and funerary terracotta clay figures and objects arranged in a circle above a funerary mound.

They date back all the way to the Kofun Period of Japan (c. 250–538), the final period in Japan's "pre-historic era", and is when we start seeing a centralized Yamato government in Japan.

Haniwa may depict a number of objects, from houses to horses to people of various roles. Sukune in particular seems to be based on and is rather fond of the two "Haniwa Terracotta Dancers", one of which JynX themself have seen when they were lent out for a special exhibition in Ueno!

JynX "I went to the Special Izumo Exhibition at Ueno!! Wow!"

Sukune as a Haniwa

Sukune is called a "bake-haniwa" (化け埴輪) in Japanese, which we have translated simply as "haniwa youkai".

The word "bake" (化け), when used in these contexts to refer to some supernatural creature, typically refers to the fact that they "can/have transformed/disguised themself as something else (typically human)". So it may be safe to assume that they are a youkai born out of a haniwa figure, and not a youkai that simply embodies the concept of haniwa/haniwa-making.

In addition, it's also unsure whether haniwa youkai is a general species in Mugenri, or if Sukune is more of a one-off case. Although Sukune does mention "all o' my friends" (BPoHC Preschool Haze St1), of course, this could just as easily refer to other types of youkai, or even non-youkai beings.

Sukune's Dilemma

As carefree as Sukune may seem on the surface, they're actually deeply troubled by their own art. As none of them a truly "complete", at least in Sukune's own view.

Sukune believes that only when a spirit inhabits their creations, can the spirit's essence shine from within and truly complete them. To make a spirit dwell within an object, it may either have an innate spirit from the moment of its creation, or have a spirit artificially imported into it after its creation.

Innate spirits may come from the blessings of nature, or from an artisan's own spirit. As an artisan works on their creation, their affection and emotional attachment to their work cause their own artisan's spirit to "rub off" on their work, imbuing it with its own spirit.

However, since Sukune's ability to "model things into shapes" allows them to create anything they think of instantaneously (yes even the haniwa mecha from BPoHC), they are unable to imbue their creations with a spirit this way.

As for imported spirits, Sukune lacks the know-how and skill to introduce a spirit into their works either. So their creations all remain "empty", hence Sukune's distraught over their work.

Sukune's First Complete Work

What Sukune doesn't know, is that spirits are influenced by what they dwell within. A crude vessel weakens its spirit; And conversely, a dignified vessel empowers it. Sukune's perfect works are then perfect vessels for the most powerful spirits of them all, "divine spirits".

This is why Yaorochi's ritual to transfer the Tasouken's essence into Sukune's replica went so well, it was a perfect match. So perfect, in fact, that the Tasouken was literally recreated, metal and everything, within the entirely clay replica that Sukune created. And, as we see in-game, its spirit has indeed shown through, even using a spell of its own.

The Inspiration Behind Sukune

You might be surprised to learn that haniwa figures aren't the only inspiration behind Sukune's character. They are also partially based on a legendary figure from Japanese history: Nomi no Sukune (野見宿禰).

Aside from sharing the same given name, Sukune (宿禰), Nomi is also credited with suggesting the use of haniwa and the inventor of sumo wrestling. While I myself am also unsure what Sukune has to do with sumo, this was referenced in their EMS theme: Haniwa Sumo ~ End of immolation.

(As a side note I used to be quite confused as to what "End of immolation" means here, but I recently realised that the result at the "end of immolation", is a haniwa! The peculiar word choice is probably chosen for its ritualistic associations as well.)

Other Neat Sukune Facts!!

While haniwa are indeed traditionally made from clay, Sukune does not restrict themself to this, and is willing to experiment with other media, like ice!

Yago Ametsukana was so impressed with Sukune's replication of the Tasouken that they offered to train them to become the next Ametsukana! (Although to be fair they are also looking to retire) However, Sukune instead denied the offer and aimed to achieve godhood on their own merits, promising to take Yago's place once that happens.

Sukune is the very first Len'en character to ever be shown off, in a tweet from JynX that showed Sukune cuddling a dancing haniwa! This was back in January 2013, 10 whole months before EE and EMS's full versions were released and you would've gotten a chance to see them in-game!

I think this does it for Sukune, nothing too complex or mind-blowing, but I think it's really important that we look at what the story of EMS really means to Sukune, and that's why I spent so much time on it.

The Tasouken revival ritual is so often understood on Yaorochi's terms, but it's equally as important an event to Sukune too, if not even more. It's the end to Yaorochi's story, but the very beginning to Sukune's. Let us continue looking forward to Sukune's growth in the future :)

[hanahaki-cure]

YOUR NYO PRUK!!!! God, so incredible!! Really Amazing!! I'd love to hear hcs and how they are with each others kids!! Like I feel julchen would love Leon , mathew and NZ(no idea his canon name) as they would be so reserved like lil Ludwig while struggling with Jack and Alfred cause of all the energy (plus the idea that Alice has all these kids she would never think someone would wanna be with her but Julchen likes her and god

Oh my, thank you for the enthusiastic and sweet reply! Actually, the ship is a bit niche, F/F ships (even Nyo!versions) are even more niche in this fandom, so receiving a reply in the first place makes it a highly unexpected therefore even more pleasant surprise. (❁´◡`❁)

Alright, there're so many HCs going into their Nyo! + parenting dynamics, I need some preface: A lot of Alice's ineraction with her kids is based on @historia-vitae-magistras work about Arthur and his ilk, many HCs about Maria and Ludwig are based on @kisamesopelagic and me gushing over Gilbert's and Ludwig's dynamic. An entire HC vomit going on under the cut.

For Alice, I imagine her to be quiet similar in character to Arthur although more temperamental and prickly since in some periods her being the incarnation of a large empire was strongly questioned which let's her temper flare up. She has to though. Master of hidden quips, insults, and observation of social circles. Now to Maria Julia Beilschmidt, nicknamed "Julchen" only by close friends. (I'm aware that Julchen is Nyo!Prussia's popular fanon name although in German it's a diminutive nickname form for the male name "Julian", rarely for it's female versions. Therefore I accept it mostly as nickname for her middle name, maybe from the times when Elizaveta or Roderich talked to her dismissively to undermine her authority.) Thanks to Nicky's HC, Gilbert's copious mode to work in spite of 23 layers of religious repression is artificially inflating his ego and developing a bit of megalomania, Maria has more self-confidence is actual self confidence. She was handed nothing because of her gender. If she wasn't fighting anyone else, she had to fight within her own ranks for respect to keep her head above water, having learnt that brashness and unapologetically standing your ground keeps her afloat.

In my HC Maria is surprisingly good with kids, to everyone's surprise, even to her own surprise. Ludwig wasn't an accident, he very much was a Prussian project yet Maria couldn't help but to slowly adore that frail, desoriented kid (which increasingly talks for hours about trains). That doesn't mean that Maria is the best parent, she seriously lacks in sensitivity, opens, and emotions. Or to put it differently: "The way to hell is paved with good intentions." A lot of her own expectations on how and who Ludwig should be is packed in her education, all the tools she got for her developement are pushed into Ludwig's hands as a "one size fits all" and "This is how I got big and strong so that must work for you!", no questioning of her methods possible. Fact is, Ludwig is an earnest, hard-working kid yet only in his adult years he realizes that he would've needed the emotional tools of reflection. At the same time, Maria can be really fun. During training she's encouraging, believing that her sibling or kid is the best thing that happened in her life. Oh, and Maria can be child-like. Since she didn't have a childhood (being a military order), playing pranks, fooling around, encouragement for arts and crafts (excuses it with: "This creativity and fine mechanical skills are good for your future career as engineer!") is something she will part-take in. Defends her loved ones like lioness who got previously stepped onto her tail. And does like to listen to children talk, partly because children's tales are so imaginative and fun, partly because she takes kids seriously although not the best at handling any situation which can't be solved with replies like "there, there" or "well, here's the five step way to succeed out of this mess". Alright, now finally, Alice and Maria with their kids: Alice did this to herself, she chose to take on so many projects, she favours, she expects her children to make it on their own. The most sore kid-parent-relationships are probably with Leon and Harry (Singapore). Both, Yao and Shadiq (Malaysia) are furious about Alice deliberately taking in Harry and Leon, leading to weird co-parenting scenarios which make especially Harry, as he's the youngest, quiet nervous. When Maria got involved with Alice was kinda trying to clean up Alice's messes. Not like Alice actually had any non-political messes in her lives, Maria just assumed so because Alice's living style wasn't up to Prussian householding guidelines. (The fights they got into because Maria tried to Kondo Alice's main residence without asking for permission first whereas Alice secretly stashes a lot of memories of her kids.) One of the few welcome additions was Maria setting up entire folders of spreadsheets of appointments, meal plans, and activities for the kids though. At some point Alice and Maria both agree that they can privately interact with each other's kids but any political involvement is taboo. Private interaction include arts and crafts, excursions (Alice always organizes these, the last one Maria lead was a eight hour "Spaziergang" including tents, hiking boots, and some mountain climbing), reading stories, eating together. Whereas Ludwig remains fiercely within Maria's care, things got a bit more relaxed for Alice since Maria has a lot of energy (also the unshakable will) to organize the household as well structuring their daily life properly so the two women have some time left for themselves in spite of all the work. (I could go on for longer what their relationship looks like but this post is already long enough. @____@)

Since the actual parenting situation for Harry and Leon is Alice's personal problem, Maria has a lot of opinions but Alice drew a strict line to not involve a foul-mouthed, "isn't diplomacy another military verbal tactic?!" girlfriend in it too. So, they don't interact much with Maria yet Ludwig can join them on playdates whenever they're in Alice's house at the same time. (@hetahonda and I like to joke how across sea and land Singaporeans and Swiss people are so strinkingly similiar. Is Switzerland the Singapore of Europe, is Singapore the Switzerland of SEA? In any case, hence the reason reason Ludwig gets along well with Harry, he reminds him a lot of cousin Zwingli.) Ludwig and Harry, on the few occasions they meet, are getting along without talking much. They go on exploration walks for bug hunts or play train, all very chill.

Zee, Eleanor, isn't only Alice's favourite, Maria took a strong liking to her too. It might be a bit of a gendered thing since both see themselves in a a resiliant, resourceful, defiant girl (although irony that Alice is the one occupying her). Eleanor, as she only meets Maria on private occassions, considers Maria to be a person lacking in tact or seriousness so she's reluctant to interact with her. This frustrates Maria who tries to explicitly have girl-activities (horse riding, archery, shooting range, what a great girls day!) together. Eleanor developed a strategy to surround herself with her fellow siblings whenever Maria's announced to visit. Funny enough, Eleanor learns from Alfred that Maria is a fearsome foe on the battlefield, leading her troops under an iron-hard regiment. Fun fact, for a while Prussia supported the US-independence movement. So, I would argue that Maria can handle Alfred who stills sees her as former teacher. In return Alfred will for very long time remain a greenhorn thinking too early of himself as a hotshot. Together they love to tease Alice although Maria sometimes reminds Alfred that she considers herself in a higher social rank than him. Considering how Alfred has a Golden Retriever personality, he's a bit hurt that his military idol doesn't think as highly of him as he thinks of her. In any case, after having learnt about Maria's other nature, Eleanor reluctantly respects Maria, even asks her about battle strategy. In a moment of enthusiasm Eleanor babbles about the proud warriors among her people. Ludwig and Alfred get along well. Both get involved in model building, planning to craft crazy machines. It's a cute sight both being busy building intricate machinations, Alfred talking, Ludwig giving barely any response. Anyhow, Ludwig describes Alfred: "Really good bud."

Ok, Jack and Matt. Jack is actually someone with whom Maria struggles. He has a head of his own, attracts accidents and wildlife like a reverse lotus flower. Whereas Alfred seems to be born cafeeinated, he sometimes sees a point in structure. Jack on the other hand could be left entirely on his own, he would end up best friends with any animal meeting him, not getting why everybody's raving so much about social constructs like punctuality, organigrams, or q-tips. While Alice forbade Maria to interact with her education except for helping out with householding chores as well as setting up admittedly helpful daily plans, Maria's impulse is heavily tested whenever she sits next to Jack who tells her all about his wild ravings. Sometimes Jack comes along with Harry and Ludwig for bughunts. Very handy, since within five minutes even the rarest critters run over Jack's hands. Towards Matt Maria is similarly gentle for the same reason she's gentle to Ludwig. Matt is well-raised (something Maria considers very important) while capable surviving the coldest winters, sometimes on his own. Matthew likes to stick to Alfred or Eleanor whenever Maria's in the house yet enjoys her company when she reads fairy tales to the kids, or, unlike Alice, asks about his latest life events.

[beetleohbeetle]

A friend of mine put the idea of Nyo England being gender fluid and it has consumed my thoughts.

I love the idea and for as much as I self project on Alice I’m surprised my gender identity is one that haven’t considered yet.

So I’m

Alice who’s held onto the idea of what a woman, a lady should be like to ages, a sort of self internalized transphobia. Having hard rules of what a woman should be made it easier to ignore one’s gender identity.

Alice just experiment in quiet with clothing but only ever dressing super feminine to fit that role in public. Marianne seeing her do that one night and Alice just absolutely breaking down over it cause it would mess up her own perception of the world, it messed with the long held ideas of what was proper.

Time passes and Alice slowly started accepting that and the two of them going shopping,

Marianne quietly sitting with Alice as she cuts her hair short which Alice had never ever considered, long enough to style in feminine ways that she likes but also short enough that Alice can still present masculine in a way that matters to them.

Alice steadily using other pronouns and liking all of them just as much as she/her

Alice changing her middle name from Jane to James and using that name for masculine days

America consistently calling her A.J for short and Alice insisting that she doesn’t like it but she doesn’t always correct america and she still responds to it

⬇️⬇️⬇️Hair style ideas ⬇️⬇️⬇️

[spidertalia]

May I see Tennessee. I would love to know if they ever are getting a Nyo. Also if they are I believe they will have long brown braided hair that is curly, freckles, Tennessee whiskey colored eyes and wear Tennessee vols shirts, blue jean shorts, brown cowgirl boots. She will also have a strong east Tennessee accent like from Knoxville county and be lesbian

ofc ! here's my tennessee, lovely boy. his name's andrew "andy" crockett and he's the younger brother to arkansas, but older brother to oklahoma.

he has straw blond hair and light brown eyes, and is a bit short at 5'7.5" or 172 cm- he's literally in between italy and romano's heights. he's generally on the thinner side and struggles to gain muscle, but he is surprisingly strong for his build as well.

he's a genuinely nice, friendly, welcoming and compassionate guy- he's actually one of the politest states out there. all about that southern charm and hospitality, he loves hosting people and goes out of his way to make sure those around him are doing well. however, while he is rarely passive aggressive, he absolutely knows how to very creatively insult people if they push his buttons.

he really, really loves music. he's into many genres, such as country, rock n roll and the blues. his favorite artist is ofc dolly parton (he adores her so, so much) but he does really enjoy others like tina turner, aretha franklin, bessie smith and many others. he has a vast knowledge of music and the genres of country, rock n roll and the blues; he even knows how to play some music himself.

He's also into BBQ, caving, playing football, the outdoors and whiskey. He prides himself on being a bit of a whiskey connoisseur. He speaks English, Spanish, French, Arabic and a few Indigenous languages fluently. He speaks some Mandarin and German as well, but nowhere near full fluency.

He likes keeping his hair at shoulder length. He doesn't usually do much with it; he'll put it up in a full ponytail in the city, and a half up half down style when he's in the sticks. When he's at home, he wears it down. His hair is slightly shaggy in its style, which he likes. He's grown his hair much longer and much shorter than shoulder length, but that's his favorite style.

He spends most of his time outdoors or enjoying music. He owns five houses- in Memphis, Chattanooga, Nashville, Rutledge and Flag Pond. He spends the most time at his houses in Memphis, Nashville and Flag Pond, but especially at the latter two- he goes to Nashville when he's in a big music mood, and Flag Pond when he wants to be surrounded by the outdoors. He knows his way around the outdoors, and spend a lot of his childhood in it. He's in the younger half of the states, being physically 20 years old. He doesn't have a strict fashion sense either- while he does most often wear decorative tees and loose, scuffed up jeans, he pretty much will wear whatever's comfortable. He does have a good amount of specifically outdoorsy/caving/mountaineering clothes, along with a small amount of more western-y clothes like cowboy boots or stuff made specifically for horseback riding. He has a significant number of musician/band tees, though- ranging from his favorites of Dolly Parton and Aretha Franklin, to Tina Turner and Besse Smith, to even Miley Cyrus and Justin Timberlake.

Overall, he's a polite, well-mannered, friendly, welcoming and warm state that's easy to get along with !

[harinawa]

[dead man walking] the kosmos

the three continents of the kosmos

Kosmos - the setting for my WIP, Dead Man Walking

There are three important wars that happened during the history of Kosmos:

The War for Unification - when Reginald Rex Morgenstern, First Emperor, the Angelic, unified the lands and named it Kosmos.

The Great Blue War - Valhalle, once under Lurez, revolted with the aid of Naga Asteria, the first guild built as refuge for magefolks who ran away from exploitation in Lurez. So-called because most of the war happened at sea.

The Magian War - immediately following the Great Blue War, magefolk guilds at the time struggled for power and control over their respective territories, ending when the use for human familiars were banned in the entire Kosmos.

I. Mignoa [min-nyo-wa]

endlessly unexplored lands rich in minerals and caves

however, the lands here have a 'sickness', and has been drying no matter how much you water them since Mignoa's separation from the empire.

it started in the 'Dead Lands' which was once a lush forest that entirely withered and dried, slowly spreading all throughout the entire continent.

Mignoans do not really have settlements, as their peoples often choose to migrate from place to place, depending on weather and resources, but they are most famous for their underground cities.

[more + taglist under the cut]

II. Valhalle [val-hal-ye]

the first country that broke out of Lurezian Empire with the foundation of Naga Asteria

ruled by the King with his ten Generals. Generals rule over the country since Valhalle left wartime and is constantly anticipating the looming threat of another war with Lurez.

military accolades and ranking has great importance in society, and allows them to interact with even the royalty.

heirs to the throne are chosen through a rigorous competition, and contestants are called "prince generals". no woman was ever given the crown of valhalle.

the Valhallean capital is in San Fierro, the only city in the world with the oldest magefolk school.

III. Lurez [luhr-ez]

as the kingdom that started the unification, the people of Lurez believe that the imperial family have divine lineage, chosen by the angels to rule over their lands.

they think that magefolks' abilty to control/wield nature is a manifestation of their hubris

they do, however, believe in 'divinity' such as the Blessed Erisse, whose power they believed wiped out the wraith-like undead during the Great Blue War.

people who has a certain level of divinity are usually recommended to be part of the Excelsior Knights, a group of knights who forge their weapons from their souls, the only kind of weapon that can kill wraiths, which has been infesting Lurez for millenia.

despite not being an empire anymore, the proud Lurezians still call the highest position in their country 'Emperor' and his family as 'Imperial Family'. divided into four regions, Lurez is also lead by the High Families, or the High Lords and Ladies of their own regions.

from the writer's desk:

map made on inkarnate! I know it's highly unlikely that the world just has three main landmasses as continents, but I like to think that these three are the only ones known, so far, and the Kosmos at large is still unexplored. That's the creative writer reason, but the real reason is that I'm too lazy to make background and cultural nuances like the effort I made for the three above.

Since I'm writing Dead Man Walking to be an adventure story, more will be explored on the text itself so... hopefully I get to write more.

taglist [lmk to be added/removed!]

@inklingfireplace // @memento-morri-writes // @zonnemaagd // @mary-is-writing //

@kahvilahuhut // @akindofmagictoo @careful-pyromancer // @lyra-brie // @lockejhaven

[alifeasvivid]

I'm just lamenting my own inability to keep up with the times here, but to me, nyo!England is Alice. My neurotic, pattern obsessed brain cannot abide Alfred, Amelia, Arthur and... not an "A" name. It will explode and die.

Also, permit me to lay out my case here (not telling anyone what to do, of course, just for fun)...

I think the names Alice and Arthur have a similar vibe. They are both simultaneously whimsical and traditional. With Alice, you could be talking about your dear gran or your great gran or you could be talking about Wonderland. With Arthur, you could be talking about the old grump who owns the corner grocers or you could be talking about the Once and Future King.

In the same vein, I think the names Amelia and Alfred have their own similar vibe, like they were both popular around the same period in time and bring to mind a similar kind of person. Like if they were the ages people in our modern times associate with those names, they're exactly the type of elderly people who would seem kind and extremely good humored, young for their age, but settled in life, but they'd both have a mischievous twinkle in their eyes that'd let you know they'd done some pretty scandalous and daring things in their day.

[maideninorange]

Whoops, I unfollowed you by accident while trying to send an ask~

Anyway, got any specific queer Len'en headcanons? Or any you like?

(It's fine! I figured it was an accident lol!)

(TW: I discuss sex a little bit here. While there's no real descriptions of the act (and is more just "about sex" than anything), not everyone wants to see that. So feel free to scroll past this one if that bothers ya (I put the section where that starts under a read more). Also, mentions of aphobia and its impacts (resulting in a small incest mention in one section). Fun.)

Due to Len'en's "whatever you like" policy on gender, I don't have too many specific gender and orientation ones. Hell, on the couple drafts I do gender them, I spun a wheel to see what gender the characters were because I found it more fun that way lol.

That's not to say I don't have them though! I've already exposited at length at how youkai approach gender here (TL;DR: Oops, almost all genderfluid!)! But for character specifics...

I generally headcanon Sukune to be romance positive aromantic (and fairly neutral asexual). They aren't against the idea at all if it's someone they are close to wanting it, but as a default baseline they aren't going to be actively seeking either out (nor really put much thought into it beyond that). I like to think they actually find a lot of humans' obsession with "the one true love" to be very confusing lol. ("I have ma friends and I have ma haniwas gyah. What's all da big fuss? And why can't I have more than one, nyo?")

I like to think of both Yaorochi and Saragimaru as aroace. But their exact stances, however, quite differ.

Yaorochi, unbeknownst to even themself, is actually a demi on both counts. They just never really got close enough to anyone to really forge a strong emotional connection before. However, they have been so put off by humans and what they view as a downright debilitating approach to romance and sex alike that they've come to view both as a weakness, even perhaps beneath them. So their realization is bound to be a very rough one...

Saragimaru meanwhile is just flat out romance repulsed. No ifs or buts about it. They have a similar view to Yaorochi above about it, except even worse since their devotion is often misinterpreted by humans as romantic interest ("Ugh, humans and their so called "love". Always making assumptions about me... As if they would know! Like I would ever sully my family name by stooping to that!"). They aren't against relationships though. They actually once had a queerplatonic mate of their own...when they died, they swore off relationships for themself altogether, and devoted themself to their family only ever since. (They are not sex repulsed though. They just don't like it.)

One I find mildly amusing is that I like is of Aoji being allo-ace and Hooaka being aro-allo. The teasing and arguments just kinda write themselves (and drive Kuroji and Hoojiro up a wall) lol.

Finally, I really like transgender Iyozane. Nothing says new you like a new gender, right? Well, that, and I feel it just fits their character pretty well, finding newfound freedom in themself. I definitely see why people like it!