#aph cities

[tejennnn]

The tea master and the birthplace of tea 🫖🍃

APH China / G̶r̶a̶n̶d̶p̶a̶ Yao with pu'er tea! 🇨🇳 He is holding a chinese tea cake with some of the gong fu cha (tea ceremony) kit - gai wan cup (for infusion) and small cup for drinking.

[scolo-evil-centipede]

Hetalia posting in 2024? Perhaps.....

[heedzhee-art]

russians often fire a second missile with a delay in the same spot when targeting civilian infrastructure to kiII as many Ukrainians as possible, including the survivors stuck under the rubble, firefighters, medics, rescuers, journalist, etc.

[umahumahumah]

vatican and luce

[hetalia-club]

After spending a week in Palermo, Sicily I can confirm that...Yes... It's really like this.

Especially the road part. You really just gotta do a Hail Mary, sign of the cross and just cross the street and hope to god whoever it is stops, then you gotta give them a shy little cuck 'thank you' wave and make eye contact with the driver to be sure they saw you and are not just going to run you over. They are some of the nicest people ever but put them behind the wheel of a car and they undergo a transformation.

One of my tour guides said "When you cross the street you can't show fear because they are looking for that, they take it as a challenge. And after they let you cross you wave, I don't know why we do this is. I think it's thanking them for not killing you. It is just something we do."

I will say you do get used to it fairly quickly.

[anartificialsatellite]

Everyone: LOL VATICAN GIJINKA

Hetalia fandom:

[fertaine]

(cw for a little blood in the last image)

SOME CHIBI I MADE FOR MY HETALIA OC PROJECT!!!!!!! it's still incomplete tho😞

[ifindus]

Norwegian Regions - Regional flowers and landscape.

Østlandet (city) - Blåveis (anemone hepatica), county flower of Akershus. Low hills covered in forests and fields with many cities around the Oslo fjord.

Østlandet (rural) - Skogstjerne (lysimachia europaea), county flower of Innlandet. Steeper hills and valleys with vast spruce forests.

Sørlandet - Solblom (arnica montana), county flower of Agder. Beaches and islands and rocks, very coastal with inland forests.

Vestlandet - Revebjelle (digitalis purpurea), county flower of Sogn og Fjordane. Fjords and steep, green mountainsides.

Trøndelag - Reinrose (dryas octopetala) county flower of Trøndelag. Several valleys with forests and fertile farmland centrered around the Trondheims fjord.

Nord-Norge - Rødsildre (saxifraga oppositifolia) county flower of Nordland. Steep mountains straight into the sea, less vegetation.

[ask-nyc-boroughs]

Tony/Brooklyn & Lynn/Manhattan going on vacation, Lynn said she’d also help carry bags…alas. Anyways they’re in a Leyendecker color study I did & that I am very proud of how it came out ! Tony & Lynn are only married for legal purposes cause of the 1898 amalgamation of NYC (which gives us 5 boroughs).

Also I haven’t talked about the boroughoes in ages! I’ve been very focused on my Alfred & states lore that I haven’t touched my NYC lore 😭❤️ my OG lore. I’ll share some major changes and other thoughts below the cut. Also scroll the bottom for a little doodle of the boroughs :D

I do love my borough ocs dearly they’re my oldest babies (9/10 years and going ❤️). And I love working on their lore BUT I feel a lot of the depth of their lore can be better discussed if I also work on lore at a state (Jennie/ New York State) and a national (Alfred/USA) level. Don’t worry I haven’t casted them aside, just cooking and learning new things as I work on Jennie & Alfred so I can better understand how different relationship dynamics impact each borough (especially as Lynn/Manhattan is basically their boss).

Before I delve into major changes in my lore, for newer folks, I’m gonna give a brief description of each borough oc:

Manaháhtaan “Lynn Cooper” / Manhattan borough is essentially the “boss” of all the boroughs. She’s born slightly before European colonization to Ms. Munsee Lenape and Mr. Mohican. For various reasons, she’s not particularly close to her parents nowadays. Lynn is a bit like a princess. She expects only the finest things in life, and she’s known to be perhaps a bit greedy and definitely cut-throat ambitious and will squash you like a bug if she deems you unworthy, but she’s quite charming. Her loud, bold, intense, no nonsense, but with perhaps a flirtatious smile makes her someone people wanna be around. She’s close friends with her fellow boroughs, Jennie/ New York State, and Alfred/ USA.

Anthonij “Tony” Cohen/ Brooklyn is a proud man who is always been rather peeved his best friend and greatest rival is essentially his boss and his legal wife, but he can’t ever really hate her. However, Tony will absolutely dig in his heels and give Lynn a hard time like pretending he’s a separate city still. His gregarious nature, and his interests in many topics from fashion to politics makes him someone you want to get know better. On another note, Tony was born to human parents during the New Netherland period, and he’s of African-American and Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Tony began to connect more with Judaism in the late 1800s specifically Reform Judaism. Tony is dating Andy/Queens, and he likes hanging out with his friends (and also making fun of them). Tony is always a bit peeved at Jennie for making him and Lynn marry, but they mostly get along, and they often celebrate Jewish holidays together (alongside with Jennie’s sister Elise/ New Jersey). Tony is also good friends with Alfred.

Andrew “Andy” Perez/ Queens was born to human parents some point during the late 1800s and is of Dominican and Chinese (probably Cantonese) descent. He’s a rather reserved man. He does have a bit of a bitch face, but he’s honestly quite friendly if you get him talking. He enjoys a more quiet pace of life. You’ll find him hanging around his neighborhoods, playing chess or helping folks out or just yapping. During the summer, you’re highly likely to find him at Rockaway beach catching some waves.

Rodrick “Rodrigo” Madden/ The Bronx was born to human parents in the late 1800s and he’s of Puerto Rican and Irish descent. Nowadays, he does try to act like Mr. Tough guy, but that’s to hide the fact he doesn’t wanna be hurt again. He’s not been treated well by Lynn as a friend in the past and he somewhat blames his more naive and rather naturally friendly nature as the reason why. But Rodrigo is a sweetheart. His heart has almost always been in the right place. He’ll give you the clothes off his back even if it hurt him. He has a pet calico cat named Teddy that was once a barn cat from he used to be farmer (also I randomly decided the cat also immortal cause I can’t mentally kill off this cat).

François “Frank” Russo/Staten Island was born to human parents during the New Netherland period and is of Walloon and Italian (probably Neapolitan) descent. He can be rather intense especially when he’s passionate about something, and often thinks of himself as the center of universe. He may off as an annoying asshole but if you put aside the self centered attitude, the extreme bouts of passion and stubbornness, and maybe his lack of manners- you’ll find he’s not a bad guy.

Also why borough ocs, Egg? Uh cause I can. When I made them, no one else was doing this and I felt a New York City character can’t be explained in just a character alone plus culturally and politically the boroughs are actual entities thus for me mentally justifies why I could personify them.

OK also one of the more major changes to the lore is that Lynn & Tony are now legally married due to the 1898 amalgamation. As I mentioned numerous times on this blog, I want to explore more serious and complicated themes especially as I’ve gotten older. I now interpret the amalgamation a bit like a marriage between New York City (then just Lynn) and the city of Brooklyn. They’re still friends/rivals. Also Tony is gay. But I’m interested in exploring the idea of these personifications being public figures and how aspects maybe like tokenization, homophobia, misogyny can also impact them. I’ll expand on this another time as I don’t want to take away from the point of this post.

The other major update is that Andy/Queens & Rodrigo/the Bronx only come into existence as aeterni (borrowing term from a pirenaia on twitter) when they’re older kids and at some point btwn 1870s-1890s. This just changes their aging timeline a bit is all. I made this change cause I really want my borough ocs to reflect the inhabitants and groups that have had significant influences on the culture of this city. As Rodrigo is Puerto Rican / Irish in his ethnic background and Andy is Chinese / Dominican, the most significant beginnings of the migration of these groups to the city started in the late 1800s (picked up x1000 post wwii). It wasn’t like impossible before but I felt the explanation was too loose ++ the Bronx & Queens were just beginning to urbanize at this period & beforehand I’m gonna argue did not have much of a major cultural thing. I need both a major cultural aspect and some sort of political aspect to create ocs. Alsooo eastern Bronx as a character no longer exists in this universe- Frances rip 🙏

hehe that’s all (for now)- here’s a boroughoes doodle

[gremlins-hotel]

asteroid city hasn't left my mind since i saw it

[nakamopapina]

Here it is @battle-of-alberta Beard! Ed with his # 1 support bro, for the game

I accidentally made his skin too dark, sorry!

[ms-lirio]

BRAZILIAN HETACITIES CONTENT!!!!

I was talking about Rio de Janeiro (city) with my friends, and my friend reminded me of one of the BIGGEST crimes Rio committed. He stole our traditional food, Acarajé. 💀

Salvador is cursing RioCity, SPCity is just enjoying himself cuz he has a complicated relationship with RioCity. Ahhahahaa.

As a proud citizen of Bahia, I am angry so fucking angry.

Also, do you know that blue parrots from RIO? 🥰 THEY'RE OURS, NOT RIO'S, NEITHER AMAZONA'S THEY'RE FROM BAHIA'S CAATINGA BIOME

STOP STEALING FROM US RIO, THEY EVEN STOLE SALVADOR'S PLACE AS A CAPITAL

AND NOW OF OUR MF ACARAJÉ 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠

CHARACTERS:

Salvador (capital of Bahia) is mine

São Paulo (capital of São Paulo), Rio de Janeiro (capital of Rio de Janeiro) are of my friend Let, and RJCity is shared with Juh

EX-BRAZILIAN CAPITALS FIGHT: SALVADOR VS RIOCITY

/reminding you that this is just a silly joke, there is no hate, ofc, but I am ofc pissed off about the Acarajé thing dkdnsksjjs

[chao-mp3]

TW: GORE, BLOOD !!!!! and poorly drawn hands

uncensored version under the cut

scapegoat

[mysticalmusicwhispers]

i feel like yao is someone whose adaptability generally ranks very high on his list of traits... yes he's so fucking proud and it causes 20398492578 internet debacles between nichukor all the time, and yes he has a complex about being treated with the gravity and respect that he thinks he deserves, as a growing world power and person (subjectively objectively) full of age old, well distilled wisdom, but he's also not foolish enough to be wounded at the slightest insult. like his emotional tolerance and regulation has, imo gotten (slightly) better over the centuries, and certain things are just water off a duck's back now. he knows that sometimes he's just playing a part, and doesn't expect nor care for anyone to recognize him as an unfathomably important or vast nation; like he has to live his day-to-day too, and it gets bothersome if everyone was hanging off his every word because they see his age. if you want to see a scrappy post-90/90后 trying to make it in the city, sure; if you want to a see rich young businessman, sure; if you want to see an energetic government official (or a disillusioned one), sure. it doesn't matter to him because the opinions of ordinary citizens are ultimately inconsequential compared to those of the other nations/govts, and he can play whatever part he wants them to see. he'd probably find it somewhat fun to drop references or subtly hint at his age and observe people's reactions when they pick up on it. if someone really disrespects him (couldve been bc he's actually being a dick, but if it actually devolves to age-based insults) he could always just reveal that he's actually wang yao, the personification of your homeland and everything you know, as well as the guy who actually birthed your mom (didn't you know), etc. and he'd probably get a good laugh out of it too lol. what really matters to him is other nation's opinions, and they know enough to give him at least grudging respect. idk i feel like he's just gotten good at tuning out what he thinks doesn't matter in order to focus on playing his part well, to get what he wants from the people actually calling the shots. how or whether his citizens perceive everything that he is, doesn't really matter.

also again; mf definitely isn't the vainest out of all the nations but he sure loves his beauty standards. puts face masks on every weekend despite nations not aging like humans bc he's not risking it...

[wunder-plunder]

OC board of Germany's states #4: Hesse ❤️🤍

[battle-of-alberta]

Got a question for Drum to round out my camping trip themed asks! While dinosaurs aren't exactly paranormal, the current town of Drumheller does contain the hamlet and ghost town of Wayne. Have you ever brought Paula and Vulcan with you to check it out? For that matter, what's it like living by a ghost town? And what (if anything) does that do to the municipality representative that lived there?

to be continued...?

(wahoo answered in less than a year hooray!)

We did pass by Wayne on our way into Drumheller but didn't stop, by that time we were so tired and ready to go home hahaha. As usual, Drumheller belongs to @zomsaurus (and who has dibs on designing Wayne too hahaha) (let us know when you go on your research trip :) )

Some more notes...

Meta Stuff

this is kind of my feeling on what makes a personification exist. I think if a town's population was relocated or only exists in memory, their connection to our world starts to fade

(This is also why non-municipal personifications like nations would probably be a bit tougher and more resilient, to a point.)

(and I'm still concerned about something like Fort Walsh that was rebuilt as an educational tool as kind of a reanimated corpse? lol)

Wayne technically exists as part of Drumheller, like a microcosm of how Strathcona exists as part of Edmonton, so I think amalgamation is one way to cheat death also.

In Hetalia canon there has been one case where a micronation "gave up" and "went back to being a human", though I'm not sure that interpretation works with the way I do things. Interesting to think about, anyway!

A bit more on the Hetalia approach: Prussia is "retired" and it's suggested in this linked scan that he's slowly becoming increasingly mortal. Ancients like Rome will still appear in the dreams of their descendants as well.

the votes are in and the chat thinks Wayne should be half ghost like Danny Phantom

Some fun facts about Wayne

Last I heard, Wayne's population was 28 whole people! At its peak, it had about 2,500.

I think the Rosedeer Hotel / Last Chance Saloon is under new management now, but it's one of the big attractions. If you don't mind the shared washroom down the hall, perhaps the honeymoon suite is for you!

The saloon also has real bullet holes in the walls (framed), though they're from an incident in the 1970s rather than the 1910s

How is Wayne related to Red? Kid sibling? haha. Coal town origins, as is true of many ghost towns...

Waynestock is a big music festival/camping event in early September. It lasts 3 days and features about a hundred artists!

You might recognize Wayne in the movies. Shanghai Noon was partially filmed there!

Other notes...

I keep writing Drum as the "normie" or straight man of the gang even though next to anyone else he isn't normal at all, haha. He just is devoted to the scientific method, that's all! and also jesus

finally my knowledge of star trek comes through for me again on this blog B) remember, you can survive a shoot out at the OK Corral so long as you believe in yourself (though a mind meld doesn't hurt) :)