#hetalia South Dakota

[ask-nyc-boroughs]

Sorry if you're not taking suggestions, but are the Dakotas represented in your AU? I'm really curious to see how you involve them in the plot.

Ok hi, I got this ask several months ago and I do apologize for the delay. My intent was to make a drawing to accompany it, but haha unfortunately, I am a master's student, and I work so my time just kind of gets eaten. Also, I don't think I'll be able to give you the best response, but I will try!

In all honesty, I haven't developed the Midwest as much as I have other regions. I am hoping to develop Midwestern states, but I do take a lot of time researching and trying to understand regions especially ones I am not from, or unfamiliar with (I am from NY). Most likely, the next state I really plan on working on is Missouri due to its significance leading up to the Civil War. Additionally, I think once I get started on Missouri, I will be able to begin to think more deeply about the Midwest.

However, thus far, my understanding of the Midwest in its historic context is that it is a region of extraction whether that be its natural resources, agricultural sector, and later industrial sector. Furthermore, to ensure that extraction is realized, the US gov needs settlers to "secure the land" from Indigenous nations.

I imagine North Dakota and South Dakota as states being more representative of the settler population given, they are settler created governments, and thus they are on the younger end physically.

This being said, the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota nations do exist in this AU, and are obvs adults. From what I know of settler-Indigenous relations in this region, I can see the relationship of the Dakotas to the Assiniboine, Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota can be rather tense. However, given the ages of the Dakotas, I don't think they would really participate in the wars against the Assiniboine, Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota cause most likely they'd be very young children.

In my AU, Alfred is representative of the federal government thus he is required to partake in warfare.

Now to speak to the relationship of the Dakotas to Alfred...I don't think I can comment directly. But given the extractive nature of the relationship, I think Alfred is friendly to Midwestern states, and there are some he is probably closer to than others (Illinois for example), but I think it's like surface level niceness from a boss.

A huge part of my AU is that Alfred is from Massachusetts, and power is centered in the Northeast. My Alfred has a surface-level niceness to him, but he is quick to anger and can be quite self-centered. He also doesn't trust people very easily, and tbh there aren't many states he easily, or fully trusts and let's his mask down with. Idk he's a bit like Will Hunting from Good Will Hunting in my head. So, when it comes to these younger states, he doesn't know them all particularly well. I mean the dude has like 50 states to keep track of + cities, and he's a major imperial power right now, so his time is stretched.

[hetastates]

Midwest Monday!

How each (Midwestern) state responds to scam calls

Illinois: Abruptly hanging up the phone. He doesn’t have time, patience, energy, or will to deal with this. As a kid he might have played along, giving a fake name like "Mr. Hugh Wang-Kerr"; as a teen he would have made threats to the spammer, but as an adult he likes to keep the line free for business opportunities and ladies in strapless dresses (for some reason, though, they never keep the line free for him…)

Indiana: Specifically answers to say "what do you want" and hangs up. Sometimes does this while driving. It’s quite concerning to those who share the road with her. Everyone wonders why she picks up if she knows she’s going to be hanging up within two seconds, but nobody has ever asked her directly why she does this. Indiana's response to scammers is an enigma and— INDI KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD!

Iowa: WHAT? HUH?! He'll call you back, he says — and by that he means meet him at the Flying J later if you have something to say to him. He might be a strapping and toned young man — the type you’d think is attractive until you get close enough to smell that True Farmer Boy Whiff — but he’s an old boomer in terms of technology. He owns a LG 5450 for "business calls" and an iPhone 5 because his friends begged him to get a real phone, yet his monthly screen time is about forty two seconds.

Kansas: How do these people keep getting her number? She once took her grievances directly to the cell phone tower, but that wasn’t resolved the way she wanted it to be resolved. Kansas has a very communal way of fixing her scam call woes: If there’s anyone around her in the vicinity, she’s all up in their face. "Hey, do you know anything about how to get rid of these dang calls? Is there, like, a button I press or somethin'?" Oklahoma once told her to chuck it into a tornado. They haven’t spoken as of late.

Michigan: Are you calling about getting your car fixed by him? He’s told you a thousand times, these new cars and their computers have got to go. Oh, you’re not? Well, why are you bothering him? "We've called you about your car's extended warranty—" Oh have you? Have you now? Nah. He’s not buying it. Get off the line right this second or else he'll reach so far under your hood that you’ll be seeing via LIDAR until Teslas are reliable.

Minnesota: Poor Minnesota, easily flustered and not one to Karen around. Half the time, she’s not sure if it’s a scam call of if it’s genuine, and she doesn’t want to be too quick to judge. She'll sit there on the line for a couple of minutes to really gauge the situation, adding in a few "uh-huhs" and "mmms" until the time is right. Then — ope! There’s someone at the door! — or, — ope! My casserole is ready". Half the time, it’s not even a lie!

Missouri: The good thing about Missouri is that he likes good, cheap, reliable things — cell phones included. He has a Sonim XP8, meaning that every time a scammer (and this extends to tax collectors, insurance agents, and Oklahoma — "Seriously, Okie, go bother someone else!" —) gives him a ring, he just throws his phone at the nearest wall and picks it up after it’s stopped ringing. Concerned? Don’t be. The Sonim is designed for that type of treatment. There’s no point in buying something if you can’t huck it.

Nebraska: When she got her first scam call, Nebraska was quite surprised — she was under the impression that this sort of thing would never happen to her! She ushered over Minnesota, who begged her to be kind (oh, Minnesota — the trouble you go through), but Nebraska had heard too much about funny responses to scammers and wanted to try some out on her own. From inventing fake and morbid businesses to pretending to be in the mafia, Nebraska has demonstrated quite the creative streak when it comes to answering scam calls.

North Dakota: He doesn’t give much thought to the matter. He barely answers these calls. Sometimes it’s a one word "no" or a two word "go away", but NoDak works in silence when it comes to scam calls. Why give it time or energy?

Ohio: Aww, yeah! It’s his time to shine! He acts as though he’s in a Broadway musical or an award-winning Hollywood hit. He doesn’t want the fame and fortune that this career demands — no, he just wants the feeling of pride and superiority he gets from completely destroying the competition. He’s mustered up some quite imaginative responses to scam calls, and has concerned quite a few of the callers. His insurance company isn’t too happy with him, because he took it a step further and started doing it to them, too. Good thing they’ve got a lawyer…

South Dakota: Like Ohio and Nebraska, he has quite the enthusiasm to answer in funny and offbeat ways, but unfortunately, he’s got a brother to the north to put some sense into him. "No, SoDak, don’t answer the phone." "No, you’re not being stupid today." Dang it, NoDak, why do you have to steal his thunder? Can’t a state do anything fun? Saying funny things to scam callers isn’t even illegal this time!

Wisconsin: What's that? Wisconsin, pick up the phone! Or is she busy again, screaming over some sports game. What game could she even be this enthusiastic over? Does she even have any major sports teams? Regardless, that phone is not getting answered in a timely manner. Does she even hear it? Wisconsin? Wisconsin, we've been trying to reach you about your car's extended warranty! Wisconsin! Wisconsin! Nothing. Damn.

[objection-zero]

California:

- The leading state is GDP and population, she's an absolute powerhouse.

- Very sunny and happy, always got a bright air about her.

- When she puts clothes on, they shrink to be very revealing. But the states just perceive the regular clothes she put on. She could put on a suit and tie and it would turn into basically nothing on her. Idk why

Minnesota:

- Always shopping, full on girly girl

- You can usually find her sunbathing or by a lake too.

- She's just a girl!

Oregon:

- As a past resident of Orgeon, I have enough credibility to say this man is a bitch.

- He pretends to hate California and Washington, but in reality he's very close with them, and just gets overwhelmed by them.

- He's a big hiker

Kansas:

- My second favorite state design

- After the Wizard of Oz came out, she got sick of all the jokes about her name and started going by Dee-Dee instead.

- Owns a sunflower farm and will often gift bouquets to the other states.

West Virginia:

- The laziest man to ever live.

- Everything is a mess in his house, but he does care enough to clean it.

- He's the nicest one of all the states though.

- Virginia greatly dislikes him but he doesn't mind her.

Nevada:

- He makes a living off of scamming people so he's naturally very suave and handsome.

- The second you mention anything alien around him he goes off the rails, with his hair all messy and clearly unstable.

- He was probably experimented on at some point.

Nebraska:

- I don't have much to say about Nebraska. I don't think anyone has a lot to say about Nebraska.

- He's really funny though. He has the best sense of humor.

Colorado:

- The chillest state in the union, he's definitely a stoner.

- Has OCD in my mind, used to be crazy about Mining but has learnt to chill out. He's very cool in my opinion.

North Dakota:

- Tends to wander off on adventures without really telling anyone.

- He gets lost very easily.

South Dakota:

- Fears disappointing people a lot. He's a big people pleaser.

- Cries a lot.

- The Dakotas are rarely seen without the other. They're truly inseparable.

Check reblogs for the other states!

What if I showed you guys my Hetalia OCs for the 50 states that I've been working on for the past 2 months?

👀👀

Delaware:

- Overly stressed all the time, he has a complex where he needs to feel important. So he opts to do work that would normally fall on the other 49 so he can seem important to them.

- He's the busyman of Delmarva, he gets everything squared away.

- He has the biggest, most effective puppy dog eyes in the world. They're just big and sad and it's hard to say no!

Pennsylvania:

- Very active, has a gym in her home for sure even though she prefers to go outside and work out.

- She and Delaware are very close, as the first two states they became good friends (and New Jersey!). She does her best to protect Delaware when she can.

- Very straightforward, she doesn't mess around. You always know what to expect from her.

New Jersey:

- Loud. So very loud. Always wearing gaudy makeup and unappealing clothing.

- She's very loyal as a friend though–her and New York hang out constantly, with half of their time dedicated to debating something or other loud enough for everyone around them to hear.

- She and New York have been in a battle over the ownership of the Statue of Liberty for a long time. Since the statue is technically on an island that belongs to her, but New York will not give it up. She owns the gift shop.

Georgia:

- One of my favorite states, I love her and her design very dearly.

- I like to think of her as a Mary Sue type, where she's always busy and has an overwhelming amount of work to handle, but she does it all so easily and so effectively that you'd never guess how much she does.

- Also, she owns a peach orchid absolutely.

Connecticut:

- "Um, actually—🤓👆" embodied.

- Everyone is sick of how entitled he is, because he acts like he's so much more intelligent than everyone.

- Which is funny because he is really really smart, but still not as smart as he pretends to act.

- He's one of the only states that's friends with Ohio.

Massachusetts:

- Do not utter the word "revolution" around this man or he will go nuts.

- Very quick to act, very quick to anger. He likes to set things on fire—he always carries a lighter on him— and argue. If he ever came face to face with England, it would probably go very badly.

- He despises tea, to the point he physically cannot drink it.

Maryland:

- The mediator of Delmarva, this man is the master of solving problems. He's the sweetest.

- Also, the best chef in the country aside from Louisiana and I cannot stress that enough. You know this man has a BIG kitchen in his house.

South Carolina:

- The bimbo of the country okay.

- I just love the idea of her being so determined to be a farmer, but struggling so much because she's just not designed to be a farmer. But she won't give up even though she probably should.

- She's good friends with Georgia but her and North Carolina definitely have a rivalry going on.

New Hampshire:

- Can this man calm down? Please?

- He basically bounces off the walls, definitely has ADHD, and always down to do somethint stupid.

- He spends a good portion of his time bugging Vermont because she's easy to annoy. New Hampshire and Vermont are very close though. The siblings ever.

Virginia:

- I had to make one of them emo okay.

- She's the confident leader of Delmarva for sure. As the first state colonized, she's got a good heart for leadership. She's the state that works the closest with America directly.

- Despite being emo, she's very sweet.

Ahhh Image limit. Check repost for the other states!

[ask-alaska-and-hawaii]

South and North Dakota

South: We're twins but I'm the good-looking one.

North: We have the exact same face.

South: Yes, but I wear it better.

North: *rolls eyes*

[ifindus]

sorry if you’ve gotten this question before but what do you imagine america’s and norway’s relationship looks like?

((i grew up in the us south and remember a lot of people who were norwegian or from norwegian parents))

America tend to be very loud and might be a bit too much for Norway for a longer period of time, but he recognizes the good intentions and tolerates him. Norway definitively is much more mature than America, and sees him as this young country who became too powerful too quickly. But overall, I think they're pretty amicable and on good terms - though they might not hang out very often or at longer periods of time.

Norwegians are very 50/50 in opinions on America because we consume a lot of American media, tv-shows, movies etc., but at the same time... politics. And then most Americans haven't even heard of Norway, or at the very least is very confused about what/where it is. Talking to American exchange students in Glasgow, half of them forgot I was Norwegian and thought I was Swedish most of the time 😔 It's a bit of an inside joke in Norway that "Norway is the capital of Sweden, right?" is an American thing 😅

[peonycats]

do you have any state ocs?

Hmmmm okay so like I have complicated feelings on American states and the US as a whole tbh 

(Obligatory Disclaimer: none of this is hate or trying to incite hate on other ppl’s state ocs!!! I like seeing em and think they’re really cool! this is mostly me talking about nationhood, culture, and American Imperialism in North America!)

From how I personify nations, I would say that for a nation personification to arise, a group would need a cohesive and distinct identity, whether it be cultural, social, political. Already, this is pretty complicated- how do you judge whether or an identity is distinct or cohesive enough to warrant personifying and by what metrics? Can’t a previous representation just represent them all? I judge it case by case, but this is also the sort of thing that requires the hindsight of actual centuries to decide whether said identity ends up becoming substantial enough, and even then we’re still gonna have the same argument of when exactly a nation came into being- for the US, at most you’re gonna have the hindsight of 500~ years, and you gotta also remember that nations and their identities change over time and continue to change to this day.

If we’re working from the logic that nations start as a distinct socio-cultural group, by personifying states in that manner, I would be essentially agreeing with the divisions of these states, affirming that “yeah, this state’s identity is cohesive enough that there could be a personification for it” when in reality, many (though not all!) of these divisions were created to carve up stolen land and give it to settlers, and not really based on any cultural divides. A white Anglo settler from, say, Indiana would have a lot more in common with a white Anglo Settler from Missouri, than they would with a Potawatomi who lives in the same “nation” (in the sense of a cohesive identity) as Anglo settler no. 1. In certain cases, states were divided up on the basis that it was just too hard to govern all that stolen land from one political center (see the Carolinas)

It’s also worth nothing that state identities aren’t super strong in a lot of cases- You got Texas over there, but there’s not exactly a very distinct Iowan identity; at least, not one that’s very different from the general midwestern identity? (I’m gonna make some Midwesterners mad and firstly, I’m sorry, but secondly, it does really show you how controversial and inherently political and biased it is choosing what nations/peoples to personify and which to not) And don’t even get me started on cultural distinctions and divisions within the states themselves! (See North Florida vs Southern Florida, as well as Norcal vs Socal)

These are the primary problems I have with going the route of personifying states by making them embody the “dominant” group of a state. Many times, I’ve found myself with the question “Do I really need the umpteenth white settler personification?” (and sometimes, the answer to that is yes! The Puritans from England that settled the New England Region are very different from the Mormons that moved out west) This route also runs the risk of making it look like the contributions of non-white groups are being diminished without supplementary personifications.

Some may go another route of having another, preceding group, say an Indigenous American people, represent the state in order to build off a different cultural identity and avoid the problem of redundant personifications, and there are certain cases where I think it works! (See Hawaii) But for others, not so much; said Indigenous American people or other peoples might not feel any connection or kinship with the wider state (see Utah and the Ute people) 

I guess what I’m saying at the end of the day is that a lot of these boundaries and lines that make up states are ultimately hollow and don’t have much meaning, at least socio-culturally, and that it feels anachronistic to me to reach back in time to personify something that really didnt have a distinct identity and contort that personification to fit in these artificial and meaningless boundaries  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Honestly, this problem extends far beyond states and even towards other countries.

.... and despite everything I’ve said above, I will say I do have some state ocs! I have a Hawaii, Texas, New Mexico, California, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, and more, but these are the ones I’m most confident abt. For some states, I’m not sure about how to or even if personify in the first place. 

On a similar note, I also have ocs for the Comanche/Numunu and Navajo/Diné! (I’m interested in early American Southwest history if you couldn’t tell sghdfjs)

[incorrectaphstatequotes]

North Dakota: You kill people for money?!

South Dakota: I can explain!

North Dakota: And all this time I’ve been doing it for free like a chump!

[azarthelostarchangel]

South Dakota: How did you find your meal, North?

North Dakota: Yeah, it was nice.

South Dakota: That’s not what I meant and you know it.

North Dakota: Another state told me where you hid it.

[ask-ger-and-usa-states]

The only gods the Midwest answers to are the corn gods

I support this

[ask-north-dakota-inactive]

How much crying over pretty girls does SD do on a regular basis 👀👀👀

Edit: what the shit I got the date wrong

[tyiaunia-harris]

Aph North and South Dakota

Name: Niki Daisy Jones and Savannah Dandelion Jones. Age: 132 year's old (physically 16 year's old) Personality: Sweet, charming, troublemakers and very good at pranks. These little rascals enjoy playing pranks on everyone in there family and always have each other backs. You'll never find one with out the other. Note: never mention anything about the Civil War or why they became twins when they were "born" It's a very sensitive topic for both of them. Qoutes: "Get ready for trouble and make it double!!!" "Twins! Two times the fun!" "American and Indian pride, motherfuckers!!!" Facts: They both speak English, Spanish, German, Dakota, Lakota, and Sioux. As well as plenty of others.

[aph-oklahoma-46]

May I get some North Dakota?

I don’t really have a ND oc (sorry), but if I did, here’s alittle of what they might be like (that I came up with on the fly bc I havenothing for them)

North Dakota

Gender: Cis boy, probably

Sexuality: I’mkinda getting Pansexual vibes here, idk man

Appearance: Tanskin, a lightish brown color, and dark brown hair. Either brown or hazel eyes.I wanna say he’s tall, but not too tall… maybe 5’10”?

Ethnicity:Native American (Lakota) and probably Scandinavian?

Personality: I’ma fan of the idea that the Dakotas are chaos children, so he’s a bit of atrouble-maker. Pranks are his thing, where as SD, I feel, would be more of awitty personality. Probably a relatively sweet dude, but he can come of as abit of an asshole bc of his chaotic nature. Family is important to him, but hisdefinition of family is narrow.

Relationships:

South Dakota: His sibling. They are thick as thievesand make the ultimate pair of trickster gods (in their opinion). Would probablykill for each other? Would also probably freeze each other’s underwear for somepetty reason, so…

Minnesota: Mom friend, parental figure, source of calmand braincells. He and SD will not rest until they have given this poor stateall the gray hairs. Still, he would throw hands with anyone who is rude or meanto them.

There are other relationships, I’m sure, but I don’thave ocs for all of the states as of right now, so I don’t have a lot to workon.

Miscellaneous: Ifeel like he is a fan of weird/uncommon berries.

Doesn’t drink coffee. Not that he doesn’t like it, hejust… doesn’t really drink it.

Speaks Lakota and probably German or Norwegian orsomething.

Refuses to admit he and SD look similar.

Refuses to acknowledge no one actually knows whichDakota came first.

[ask-thefiftystatesofamerica]

You once said that all the states had previous history before becoming a state, so what’s your take on Native America history? We’re some states derived from the tribes or were some states deriving traits from the settlers/people who later lived in that particular region?

Well in this AU Native American history are represented by their own personifications and is mostly independent from that of the states’ and America’s. For example, the Iroquois Confederacy consists of 5 personifications, each represents one tribe of the confederation and led by Onondaga. And they have been thriving long before the American colonies are even a thing. Many of these ancient Native American personifications died due to disease and conquest, but a few did survive and currently resides in Indian Reservations scattered across the country.

Most states were born as European colonies, and consequently their features aligned more with that of the Europeans, Africans or Hispanics, basically the people who lives in the colonies. However, there are a couple notible exceptions where states are Native American.

The most prominent example would be Hawai’i. She is native Polynesian and have long been in existence to represent the islands and its peoples throughout history. She was a voyager, a village, and a Kingdom before she became a state.

Another state who is fully native is Oklahoma as she was the Indian territory (i.e. the destination of the Trails of Tears) before becoming a state. So I thought it would make sense for her to be Native American.

North and South Dakota are twins and both are Native Americans. However, they are a lot more ‘Americanized’, having English names and are fairly detached from the tribes whom they derived from. This is a reflection of legislations such as the Dawes Act and establishments like the Native American boarding schools, where the government actively tried to assimilate Native Americans and their children into the American culture.

Many other states, like New Mexico and California, are part Native Americans. Some states have had very close relationships with Natives in the past. But yeah the four mentioned above (Hawaii, Oklahoma, North and South Dakota) are the ones who are fully natives.

[circlique]

Do you have a north dakota oc by any chance?

How about two Dakotas for the price of one?

[missmagicandlight]

Montana: I’m a girl with extremely high standards.

South Dakota, with a new puppy: Montana, do you wanna hold my puppy?

Montana: You have met my standards.

[ask-hetalia-graveyard]

Found a picture of Seb and Nat! Seb is the only state to not have any hint of blue in his eyes. But that’s alright, mainly because he looks like Uncle Prussia. At least that’s what he says, he’s my baby brother I couldn’t care if he looked different.