#ask-hws-philippines

[peonycats]

thoughts on philippines korea besties⁉️

they get drunk and shittalk america together ofc

[luderailing]

The 3 musketeers or something idk I never played it

[ask-the-pearloftheorient]

Calling all nations the humans are getting out of hand, there's a fake study that says if you get a nation to marry you, a human will become immortal too.

I've already locked my doors after some of my citizens attempted to kidnap me and marry me in a dark alley in Manila

[askcardsuits]

Would maphilindo still be a trio in this au?

Can’t escape friendship

[netsue101]

Hamilton tour will first premiere tonight at the Philippines!

So here is an art to celebrate it AHSBAHSBAJA

If we premiere a play about the American Revolution here. Should we do a play about the Philippine Revolution + USPH war and premiere it on the US? 👀

[mintartem]

Do you take requests? If so can you illustrate Piri dressed in Jolibee's red suit and chef hat since Jolibee is his iconic fast food. Maybe even add America dressed as Ronald Mcdonald and when Piri saw him he started dying at how hilarious he looks.

This has been in my Ask box for a long time now. I didn’t answer back then because I wasn’t taking requests. Now though, I decided to finally do it considering it fits the month (October). I know you asked for an illustration but I don’t make fully rendered illustration requests. Simple shading for requests is what I’ll do at best. Sorry!

Bonus:

[cookieshower]

i love your blog so much!!! if its not too much trouble, mayhaps can i request indchu with asean kids?

thank you........ luckily my brain and hands cooperate so (⁠◡⁠ ⁠ω⁠ ⁠◡⁠) here it is indchu and (canon) SEA kids

[hwspirilovebot]

I believe this has to be asked at some point, what is Antonio and Piri's relationship like?

Our internalized racism (thanking Spain for uniting the ethnolinguistic groups to form the PH, Islamophobia and prejudice against Indigenous people, desiring Western validation too much, viewing ourselves as not Southeast Asian enough due to Catholicism overpowering Hindu-Buddhism, etc.) toxic machismo (patriarchy and all its consequences and misogyny and the huge support for authoritarian politicians), hypocrisy (of the Church and everything else), and a lot more can trace its roots from the Spanish colonization of the Philippines

But for Spain, era solo otro día.

The Philippines was not Spain's most profitable colony, and there are even instances of people saying it's a waste of money. Credit goes to @sweaty-clouds for these excerpts:

With the constant typhoons that damage crops and the lack of spices which Indonesia is blessed with (to be fair, Mindanao had cinnamon but Spain failed to conquer most of it.), the Philippines was better off as a trading hub for Chinese goods bound for Acapulco and Europe. Ultimately, it was the missionaries that insisted on keeping the country (that's another can of worms), and in terms of foreign policy, and the Spanish empire needs to have a hold in Asia.

I can imagine Antonio comparing Piri constantly with his peers and being disappointed but still keeping him for Christianity's sake. He rarely visits him and leaves all the work to Mexico (Nueva España, then) until Mexico became independent and Suez Canal was opened which made travelling from Sp to Ph became faster.

Piri would ask how come his neighbors are productive and Antonio would blame him for being lazy rather than Spain's late industrialization and dependence on the mining of silver and gold in exchange for Chinese goods.

Jose Rizal criticized this Spanish style mercantilism: While we see all the walls of London covered with advertisements of the products of its colonies, while the English make heroic efforts to substitute Ceylon tea for Chinese tea, they themselves begin with the sacrifice of their taste and their stomach; in Spain, with the exception of tobacco, nothing from the Philippines is known: neither its sugar nor coffee, hemp nor fine cloths, nor its Ilocano blankets . . . . The most commercial and most industrious countries have been the freest countries: France, England and the United States prove this. Hongkong, which is not [equal to] the most insignificant [island] of the Philippines, has more commercial movement than all the islands together, because it is free and is well-governed.

But I am in no way an Anglo-Saxon apologist. They are fcked up too. This has to be pointed out because there were instances in PH history where some Filipinos would rather be a British colony in the belief that the success of Hongkong and Singapore can be imitated!

The PH economy did become less restrictive when Spain lost its colonies in the Americas (deserve!). Many were afforded the right to study in Europe, hence, the ilustrados and enlightened thinkers like Jose Rizal, Marcelo del Pilar, etc. With enlightenment, comes the desire to be independent.

So, Antonio tries to be . . . more amiable with Piri. Piri appreciates it since he wants his respect but he wants equal status (as he should), equal rights, and often criticizes the church. Little Piri wanted to be the favourite and would often pray the rosary and the novena, hoping it would make him the apple of Antonio's eyes, but teenage Piri ain't taking any shit anymore because if God exists, they would favor David and not Goliath.

Then there's the Spanish-American war.

Now I heard Spain was more sentimental about losing Cuba (whether it's real life or Hetalia canon). There's the Generation '98, but it was never about Piri alone. It was about the fallen empire. Their relationship remains strained throughout the 20th century, especially when some upperclass Mestizo families in the Philippines supported Franco and were leaning towards the Axis powers, but the Philippines was trying to take in more Jewish refugees. Learning the Spanish language was also no longer required, and more attention was given to learning English since there's more job opportunities (and also, Hollywood).

Perhaps in the recent decade, Piri and Antonio are more cordial and diplomatic for the sake of trade relations and business. The Arroyo administration was active in that regard. Filipinos, nowadays, would joke about fighting Spaniards and while we do acknowledge the lingering colonial mentality and how fcked up colonialism is, we're not hostile to Spaniards. There's also this anecdote from a former teacher and her interaction with a Spaniard who said something along the lines of, "I learned about what Spain did to the Philippines, and I'm sorry. But it was the Castillans who did it! Not me, I'm from Catalonia."

But since Piri (and Filipinos) is canonically sassy, he would have visited Antonio in the midst of his financial crisis and asked, "Can I get a discount in Zara as colonial reparations?"

[ask-hws-guam]

Piri: Magandang araw :D Wanna try arnis? You just take two sticks and spar

Hell yeah! A chance to practice fighting in heels!!

Am I doing this right? I haven’t been to MMA practice in a while so I might be rusty.

(10/50)

( @ask-the-pearloftheorient )

[peonycats]

Can you draw the historical character Majapahit Empire?

bruh i waited so long to answer this ask indonesia became canon

This is less of an attempt to depict Indonesia as he actually was during the Majapahit Era and more like a modern historical reenactment, thus explaining the historically inaccurate short hair lmao

BONUS:

[purplemistbutterfly]

If you're literate enough and can read correctly, it's called Stockholm Syndrome for a reason. Of course it is a series of torments.

And so what if I will represent America and the Philippines’ relationship in that way? Because if you're thinking of me sugarcoating their relationship, which I won't do because as much as possible I wanted the reality to represent what I write, then you're wrong.

I do not romanticise or condone such actions, and it is morally wrong to do it. But you have to accept the fact that America and the Philippines’ relationship is NOT and NEVER good, that their relationship is equivalent to that of a mere master-puppet stance. You need to open your eyes to the real situation of the Philippines.

If you expect me to give them all a bubbly, fluffy relationship, you're dead wrong. If the Fandom gets hated because of what I write, it's because they do not like the way I present the reality of our situation in a writing. Do not even interact with my account if you do not like what I write. It's that simple.

[ask-the-pearloftheorient]

When you're always active on Twitter like yours truly, you're always seeing the weirdest crap humans come up with. Such as:

1) We nations have regenerating parts so those mummies in museums are actually just made out of our discarded body parts

2) We're spies of the government and tell our leaders everything the citizens do (Like, I don't care if I heard you're having another marriage problem, karen)

3) I'm?? Getting?? Married??? These people are planning my marriage without me knowing, oh my god. . . And the funny thing is, they say it's Mr. Brunei who's going to propose, HAHSISHISHSHS that's just unrealistic

4) Okay but like I was genuinely offended when the theory we were "unable to create children" (impotent for fucks sake—), why would these people care about that anyway???

[wxxderbxrr]

nyo piri? it's always interesting to see artist's variation of countires with no official nyos

her eyes shine like the sun

[irithnova]

🔥 on aph ASEAN?

Philippines:  I'm kind of glad that the Philippines turned out to be a guy in canon I know people were upset because a lot of fanon interpretations saw him as being a girl but, idk how to explain it without sounding insane or self hating LMAO but I feel like the Philippines being a guy makes seeing ships like Spain x Philippines and America x Philippines less uhh gross to look at. I mean I definitely don't ship those ships but its leaves a grosser taste in my mouth when I see Spain x woman Philippines for example, purely because we uhh all know what the Spaniards did to the women here lol.

I'm not saying that someones a bad person if they ship those ships I mean at the end of the day it's all fictional and people can do what they want, it's no biggie, I just think a lot of people in the hetalia fandom still don't have the ability to be nuanced about ships between countries with complicated histories. I have yet to see a well done analysis on how Spain x Philippines or America x Philippines would realistically work outside of people shipping it purely because it's a coloniser x colonised ship. I'm sure that a hetalia fan who is informed and can give a nuanced take can probably make me tolerate those ships but for now, no not really. . So if Philippines was a girl I feel like a lot of Spain x Philippines content or America x Philippines content would be a lot more disgusting and f3tishistic because Filipinas are already f3tishised.

Also when it's coloniser x colonised and the only reason why those two countries know each other is because one of them sailed across the world to invade the other one unprovoked, it's different from two nations who are neighbours and who war with each other if that makes sense. I think it would be different if Spain and the Philippines were like, neighbours who've fought each other for centuries and who subjugated each other and maybe I'd even like it if that was so, but it's just not the case (this is all coming from a Filipino)

Malaysia: LOL HE'S A SIMP FOR SINGAPORE (same). But honestly I kind of get it like why did Singapore say that Iceland of all people is his fave like what. Hima why are you trying to shoehorn in random Europeans LMAO

Indonesia: I love him but I wish in the manga he was portrayed a bit more like a Chad lol maybe it's because I'm used to the fanon interpretation of him

Singapore: I don't have strong feelings about him and I like his design but again uhh why is Iceland is fave bro💀 again it just seems like Hima trying to shoehorn in random European nations like shhh Iceland has had his turn being venerated by the fandom let the Asians have their go..

Thailand: No strong feelings about him I love him

Vietnam: Strong feelings about her but none of them are negative I LOVE HER XADKJS I just wish Hima would release a chapter of her just beating up America tho <3

Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar I don't have unpopular opinions on really because I don't enough about their characters or how the fandom perceives them

Thank you for the ask :D

[agentomato]

I was wondering if you can share Any amephil headcanon of urs?

USPH ramble train unlocked hehe

note: I'll be referring to my PH OC throughout all this because she came first, but if anyone wants to use these hcs for their interpretation of canon PH feel free to as well!!

their first meeting is one of tense promise and suspicion; america comes in claiming himself to be this bastion of freedom, and part of philippines wanted to believe this boy came in to help her struggle for freedom against spain; the other part remembers what rizal had said about america, and can't help but feel suspicious by his intent. (she was right to.)

resentments are high at the end of the ph-us war, and rightfully so on philippines's part as she finds him a liar and a hypocrite; america meanwhile had come into it riding full of patriotic bravado after the end of the spanish-american war, but the end of this particular conflict had tempered that down. part of him tried to justify his actions under the banner of manifest destiny and american exceptonalism; the other part remembers twain's scathing critiques of the person sitting in darkness, and it twists his stomach

they get used to each other, occasionally getting along, but there is no love during the american colonial period, just a tense amiability at best; philippines views it at doing what she has to do to secure her freedom eventually, which she never stops badgering america for despite his promising it at some vague point in the future

america doesn't develop feelings for her until the thirties, whilst they worked during her transition towards independence; perhaps it was contrary that his feelings for her developed only after he was in the process of letting her go, but it was the potential of the bright, independent nation she could be that enamored her to him

her feelings don't become mutual until the fifties, after america earned her goodwill by returning during the second world war and giving her the independence he promised; the fifties comes with a hope for better things between them, an admiration for what america could be at his best... unfortunately, as time proves as the years go on, america's continued presence in her region will never not be complicated

philippines is still resentful of him, and rightfully so; on one hand she knows who america is, of his worst tendencies. but sometimes she thinks of the boy who told her under the stars at camp john hay what his dreams and aspirations for a better future are, and sometimes she allows herself to believe it

usually they do a good job at getting along, focusing on other matters of common interest between them; but sometimes those resentments bubble forth, and america doesn't blame her

she knows better than to trust him, having experienced his failings more than once; she still does, despite herself

part of his continued attachment towards her besides a genuine attraction is a desperation that someday he will move past his worst tendencies and the hope for a better, more peaceful relationship between them; it remains yet to be seen if he can, but for now, that hope is enough

they get along over shared interests beyond the realm of geopolitics; she's been enamored by his films and music for the longest time, and he's growing more interested in her food as of late. they both have a shared love of the outdoors together, although philippines prefers the beaches and america prefers hiking it out in the mountains

they bond over drinks and talk the night away, and sometimes when the alcohol gets to them and their tipsy enough they go out dancing, or they dance to the tunes playing out on the radio, and the world seems like they both want it to be for just a moment

their relationship today is affected by geopolitical necessity, the cloud of unresolved resentments, and the hopes and promises for something better. it has never been easy between them, and probably won't be for the foreseeable future, and talking about their relationship will never be easy

still, they hope one day that america's affirmation of them being 'a partnership of sovereign equals' will one day ring true

[ask-dork-kong]

We're immortal nations, anything is edible

Pass me that firecracker

- @ask-the-pearloftheorient

No, I'm eating this, get your own firecrackers >:(