#hetalia eastern roman empire

[lactodebillus-bulgaricus]

byzantine empire: u know, bulgaria, ur not exactly a... civilized man.

bulgaria: yeah if I was, I wouldn't be talking to you :D

[fertaine]

the treaty of margus, 435

idk man i've been thinking abt them lately

[estbela]

In romanian, a lot of slavic loanwords, such as "drag" (=dear, darling), are often connected to like. Situations that stir up emotions and such. I mean, 'love' in romanian is 'iubire', a slavic loanword, and the word for friend (prieten) as well(forgot to mention that there is a word for specifically romantic love, "dragoste" that is also of slavic origin). It's probably because when slavic people would speak with romanians, they would still use these emotive terms.

Anyway, I think it's sweet to think about in the context of nations, and how they influence and change eachoter, in this context being about Romania and it's slavic influence (and how romanian and other eastern romance languages influenced the slavs as well, although to a lesser extent).

I forgot where I was going with this post. Uhh. Something about the slavs & balkans (and some eastern european nations in general) sort of being Ro's found family? I mean, he is a romance country, but she spent most of his life separated from them. And like, he learnt several things from his neighbours, the ones who were close to him during her childhood. And he is sort of related to the romance nation in the weird nation way more than he is to the slavs or balkans in general, but they've been more of a family to her than the romance nations were.

[stirringwinds]

When it comes to personifications, what do you think are the factors that cause a nation to have a “modern” form derived from an “ancient” personification (i.e. Greece and Ancient Greece, Egypt and ancient Egypt)? I mean, I get that it may be an inconsistentency or creative choice done by Himaruya, but how is it possible for other older nations to manage to live for so long without producing a “modern heir” to replace them in the present day (i.e. China, Japan, Korea, India, Mongolia, etc.)?

interesting question! i definitely agree this is something inherently subjective.  there isn’t really a singular way of interpreting the complexity of history, let alone how we’d transpose that history onto the helltalias and their lifespan. at least for me, i rationalise some of it in relation to historiography and dynamics of political-cultural contiguity, such as with how Himaruya takes opposing approaches for China and Rome (whom i will focus on in this ask). 

for China (aka my great-grandpa): in terms of history, i want to first emphasise that all cultures change; it isn’t a perfectly continuous, unbroken 4,000 year old civilisation, even if we often like to trace Chinese history right back to the ostensible Xia dynasty. there are some elements that have endured for a very long time (like the writing system)—but there were also periods of political disruption very similar to the fall of Rome (and one can argue Rome endured in many ways). however, in terms of melding it to hetalia canon—Yao being old as balls fits quite nicely with the ‘dynastic cycle’ historiography of China—that Chinese history is an unbroken succession of dynasties. Which is flawed actually, but which has tended to dominate perceptions of Chinese history all the same. ergo—‘the empire long divided must unite’, or the thought of the first emperor ‘uniting China’ (as opposed to ‘conquering a vast empire stretching from the north all the way down South to Vietnam and other non-Han ‘Baiyue’ tribes, and Sinicising dozens of different nations that had some similarities with how conquered European and Middle Eastern/North African regions ‘became Roman’). 

to me, Yao being extremely old also fits with the way Chinese cultural influence has dominated in the region in terms of influence on material culture, philosophy and language. Like, in the Confucian hierarchy, age = prestige. He sees himself as the great empire and well spring of civilisation (humble? nah, he’s rather arrogant). He’s older than Kiku and Yong-soo, and likes to assert he is older than Lien (Vietnam) which she contests lol. With Kiku especially, I see a very long-running mentor/protege dynamic between them that has at times turned into an ‘ambitious apprentice backstabs his master’ relationship even before the modern era (i.e Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s attempted invasion of Ming China). There are also certain cyclical elements in Chinese culture; like China was historically influenced by Buddhism that came via India and its concepts of reincarnation. So, he dies but he comes back all the same, no matter if it’s in a different form (kingdom to empire to republic). as i headcanon him, there’s a mix of calm (i will endure and wait for spring to come again) but also sometimes spitefulness lol (i’m not dead yet, fuckers). 

for Rome: i do headcanon that the Italybros are his sons not grandsons. when it comes to the historiography and cultural perceptions of it, there’s a lot of thought about ‘the fall of the (western) roman empire’ and in terms of political continuity, yes it is fairly clear that the roman empire is no more. historiographically, there’s a sort of linearity to how people have perceived it too: a dramatic rise and fall, beginning and ends. you have people like Petrarch calling the medieval period the “dark ages”, in contrast to the “light” of Rome and the rest of classical antiquity. this is something that most medieval historians today won’t agree with (incl my old professor haha who was a specialist in women’s medieval history)—the parts of Europe (and MENA) that made up the old Roman Empire sure as hell didn’t stand still for a thousand years until the Renaissance; it was a period of cultural developments and not simply darkness and ignorance. but, in terms of transposing it to hetalia—i kind of think Roma being dead fits nicely with 1) the way people have perceived the history of Rome (rise and fall) 2) the medieval developments— all the new European states (and some older ones) emerging from the shattered remnants of the empire, all of them changed by Rome in some ways (Latin --> different Romance languages.) in contrast to China, i guess reincarnation is less of a concept in the Roman pantheon or in Christianity. 

i think there’s also a sort of ironic poetry to it, when the fall of Rome is put in context of larger imperial and global history. Rome becomes this mythical figure who haunts the imagination of the European personifications precisely because he’s dead��� the towering patriarch who is the model of a grand maritime empire that all of them that used to be Roman colonies/provinces strive for in the 15th century onwards. Like, the Spanish empire had a motto of “further beyond” (plus ultra). In the Aeneid, Jupiter is said to grant the Romans “empire without limit” (imperium sine fine). Even England, where there was this duelling narrative of lionising Boudica (the Iceni queen who fought the Roman conquerors and burned Roman London the ground) and longing to be as great as Rome (there’s a caption on a Victorian-era statue of Boudica in London saying “regions Caesar never knew / thy posterity shall sway”. “Britannia” itself as a name for the UK is ofc from Roman rule. so when it comes down to it, i guess it really is a creative choice by Himaruya (and ourselves). and for me, it’s not just about Rome and China (or any other nation’s) own history but also thinking about historiography (i.e how that history is understood, in terms of dynastic cycles or rise and fall) + relationship with other characters. 

[athenov]

nobody asked for it, so here's an outline of Hetalia Vikverse

this is a massive wip btw LOL

Greece 🇬🇷 /Heracles Konstantinos Karpusi: Beyond the Aegean [basileousa, Flight of the Dove, Boiling Aegean, The Tower, We the Unwanted, He who Defies the Kings, The Flower of Evil, rebirth]

Heracles' life, starting from his rise as the Eastern Roman Empire, to his fall in 1453, to the War of Independence, the Balkan Wars, World War 2, the Military Junta and the recovery. Focused mainly on Heracles' relationships with his fellow Balkan nations, Armenia, Georgia, Egypt, Western Europe, and his extremely complicated relationship with Turkey.

Serbia 🇷🇸 /Miroslav Nikolić: Crown of the Eagle [Kingdom of the Wolf, Fallen Crown, Forest of Flags, Yell of the Hajduks, The Tower, Hostibus Ante Portas, The Parade of Death, Vukovi Umiru Sami]

Drawing mostly from the moment of the arrival of the Serbs in the Balkans, to Miroslav's rise as an independent Kingdom, his own struggles for independence, the Balkan Wars (to which he's the main POV character), World War 1, and the end of Yugoslavia. Focuses a lot of Miroslav's relationship with his brother Montenegro, a crucial character. Also a lot of importance placed in his relationship with other Balkan nations (especially Bulgaria, Romania and Greece), Hungary, Austria, Russia and France.

Bulgaria 🇧🇬 /Dimitar Simeonov Kamenov: The Rose-Hearted [Rust, Foretold Was He, The Lions in Rhodope, The Rose Merchant, Flowers of the Future, Ghosts, Wilted Kings, Grave by the Mountain]

From the birth of the Bulgarian nation, to the Second Bulgarian Empire, to the scars born by the Ottoman Empire and the Independence, to the Balkan Wars, the World Wars and the Soviet Union, Dimitar suffered a lot in his long history. Massive focus on Dimitar's relationship with Romania, whose story is closely intertwined to Dimitar's. Also focus on the historic and bloodied Greece-Bulgaria rivalry, the past tensions with Turkey, and the sibling relationship with North Macedonia. [UNDER CONSTRUCTION]

Poland 🇵🇱 /Stanislawa Jankowska: Dance of the Phoenix [Red-Ribboned Daughter, Pale Little Firebird, Rise of the Empress, Nie Płacz O Mnie, Crown for the Dead Queen, From the Ashes, The Phoenix and the World, A Final Resurrection]

[UNDER CONSTRUCTION] The many historic rises and falls of Poland. Special focus on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, relationships with Hungary and Ukraine, Winged Hussars, the historic Resistance in WW2 (being one of, if not the largest in Europe), the tough Soviet times.

Finland 🇫🇮 /Timo Väinämöinen: Song of the Rivers [The Boy on the River, Lords of the Seas, The Name of the Crown, So Cold, Bear Song, 47 Days, The Mercenary, Endless]

[UNDER CONSTRUCTION] Timo, born as Poika (or at least, what he named himself initially), and his life in the North. Special focus on his relationship with Sweden, Estonia and Russia, clashes of the Swedish Kingdom with Denmark, the clashes with Russia, the Finnish Civil War, the World Wars and modern times.

The Italian sisters 🇮🇹 / Catherine and Elvira Mancini: Sisters of the Sun [Where the Moon Won't Shine]

[UNDER HEAVY CONSTRUCTION LOL]

[grandparomeaskblog]

maybw there wouldn't be mice in your house if you didn't have hoards of stuff everywhere :( seriously how do you even walk around your house?

Greece: "..."

Dinos: "Who's side are you on?"

Dinos: "GREECE?!"

[erzherzog-von-edelstein]

Transition of Power

Summary: This is the second entry for @historical-hetalia-week . In the early middle ages the empire of Charlemagne collapses, leaving an open question as to the future of the young Holy Roman Empire. Saxony finds himself thrust into the position as mediator.

Characters: Saxony and Eastern Francia (both OCs), mentions of the Holy Roman Empire and Germania.

Year: 962 AD

Content Warning: Mentions of Character death and the grieving process.

Word Count: 1.6K

It was snowing outside the windows of the castle, but the cold was barely penetrating the walls. Winter had come to Aachen, blanketing the landscape in white. In a way, it felt fitting, since it was a time of dormancy and the errand that had brought Saxony this far West was meant to restore the life of an empire.

 Saxony pulled his outer coat more firmly over his shoulders. He was not cold. The heat of the fires roaring in the fireplaces was enough to make him comfortable, but he was doing it as an anxious gesture. He knew that he was about to have a difficult conversation. 

He could feel the gold embellishments beneath his hands, reminding him of his status. He should not feel as anxious as he did. He was the closest heir of his brother’s empire, and had been elevated to a position of power. 

He had told himself that he could be both caring and firm. He was speaking not just for his own interests, but those of all the German states, and he could not falter. By voting for his king, the others had placed the task at his feet. 

He turned towards the half-closed door, and still felt some hesitation at approaching. But the position he had just been granted meant that he could no longer avoid it. 

He approached the door and laid his hand against the wood. He took a deep breath and pushed it open. His eyes lighted upon a blonde woman with her head in her hands and a piece of heavy parchment in front of herself on the table. Saxony said, “Francia, you cannot keep avoiding this. We must speak.” 

It felt strange to address Germania’s widow, but he knew that he must. When she looked up, he could see that she had been crying by the redness in her face. He understood her anguish, but he had given her ample time to grieve. It had been years since Germania death, and the German principalities had lacked an emperor for long enough. There was simply no more time left to allow for her grief.

But she looked almost the same as when he had seen her years ago. She wore black, though her period of mourning was over, and there was a coronet placed on top of her golden hair. 

She seemed to recover her composure, and used one finger to wipe away the remainder of her tears. Francia sounded like she was trying to hold herself together as she said, “Have the electors voted?” 

If Saxony did not know her so well, he would have assumed that she was holding a strong front. But, he could hear the quiver in his voice. He nodded and said, “Yes, and the voting has concluded.” 

It had been a long process, but a necessary one. Saxony knew that she must be waiting for an answer. She seemed to swallow heavily like she was anxious about the outcome. She asked, “And will they uphold the will?” 

He knew that he recognized the document laid out in front of her. It was Germania’s last will, which had dictated what each of his sons should receive. And perhaps the most importantly: He had dictated who should inherit the title of Holy Roman emperor. In terms of technicality, it had been an imposition that he should not have included. The Germans had selected their own leaders since they had been tribes. No one had the power to dictate who should take the crown. No matter how much a king may wish that his son inherited the crown, the decision was always made by the electors. 

Saxony didn’t blame Germania for his decision to leave the will. He had been a dying man desperate to keep the crown in the family. The will had dictated that Saxony would take the crown after him. 

Saxony nodded and said, “They did.” 

It had surprised him that the electors had agreed the king of Saxony taking the title of emperor. His cousins had never had great faith in his abilities, but it seemed that Germania’s endorsement had been enough.

Though, he was certain that his king’s significant conquests had done much to convince them. No matter the weaknesses that may see in Saxony himself, they knew that his king was capable. Under the threat of external invasion, it should not have surprised him that it was possible to strongarm the German states into accepting an empire again. But, the consistent comments about his weaknesses had made him uncertain of this conclusion. 

Francia swallowed heavily and said, “I see. So, now you will take my child and put a crown on his head. Have you come to tell me that I must say my farewells?” 

There were tears welling in her eyes, try as she may to suppress them. Saxony felt like he did not understand the question at first. But he could see that she was seemingly bracing for the news that whoever took the role of the new German empire would take steps to secure Germania’s heir. 

Saxony shook his head as he drew closer, and said, “No, not at all.” 

He realized that standing above her as he was made him seem like someone who had come to demand something. He stepped closer and sat next to her. Her face did not change, and he tried to make his position clearer as he said, “Mathilde, I am not going to steal your son from you.” 

He said it in a way that he hoped would leave her with no questions about his sincerity. She turned her red, tearful eyes to meet his gaze. She said, “Now that you have the crown, you will insist that he live with you. Will you not?” 

Her lower lip was trembling as she asked, telling him that she feared his answer. Since he had become aware of Otto’s ambitions to become emperor of the Germans, Saxony had contemplated the question of what would happen with the young Holy Roman Empire. Germania’s will had clearly dictated that he should adopt the boy but had hardly been clear on how that should happen. It had been up to Saxony to decide how he would treat his nephew.

Saxony took hold of one of her hands gently. He said, vocalizing the plan he had ruminated on, “I want you both to come live with me. He has to be with me, but I have no intention of taking your son from you.” 

It had seemed like the inevitable conclusion to him. He would not wrest a young boy from his mother. The thought was repugnant. He added, “And do you truly believe I would be capable of raising a child on my own?” Francia’s sad stoicism finally broke and she chuckled. Her eyes were still wet, but her lips curled into a pleasant smile. She said, “You will need the help.” 

He felt like it was an encouraging sign. She squeezed his hand as she said, “I trust your good intentions, Christoph. I know you loved my husband.” 

He smiled to reassure her. The truth about whether he loved Germania was more complicated than he’d show her. But whatever his feelings towards his brother, his nephew deserved the most supportive environment that Saxony could construct. 

Before he could say anything else to reassure her, the smile fell from her face. She said, “He is just a child and all I wanted was for him to have time to be a child. I do not understand why my husband placed the burden of empire on his shoulders.” 

Saxony took a calming breath in through his nose. He had guessed at her reason for delaying the imperial process years ago, and he was sympathetic. Though the other states were thinking of this decision as kingdoms and Duchies hungry for the crown, but she was thinking of it as a mother who was worried that her son was going to thrust into complicated political battles. 

He met her eyes again as he said, “I cannot speak for my brother’s reasons. I imagine that he expected Maximilian to be older before this will had to be enacted.” 

He did not say that he thought it was irresponsible to place such a heavy burden on a young child. Francia would take no comfort in someone speaking ill of her late husband. And, as he had told himself many times, his disapproval did nothing to change the situation. He said, “But, he did make that decision. And I must make sure that there is an emperor. If there is no emperor, then there is no empire for Max to embody. I do not need to explain why we must avoid that.”

He did not say that the boy would fade if he had nothing to represent. That would be far too heavy to say to a mother. Francia understood perfectly and he could tell from the look on her face that she had not fully considered the implications of delaying. She said, “I know, but I wanted to give him a year or two more to be a child. He deserves that.” 

Saxony squeezed her hand, and gave her his answer, “And he will have many more years. I intend to treat him as such. He still has so much to learn before I expect him to wield any power.” 

He felt her hand tighten on his, like she was thanking him for thinking of young Holy Rome’s welfare. She said, with an air of finality, “I will live with you, and I want to have a say in his education. If he’s going to be educated, I want a say.” 

Saxony had no objection. He was certain that it would be valuable to have another opinion and that it would be better to have her input. He answered, “Of course. I will not make decisions about him without consulting you.” 

She smiled and said, “It seems that my fears were misplaced. Come with me and we’ll tell Max.”

[hws-cernunnos]

Following an advice given by my friend @flamaflavio I've decided to dedicate a series of posts on Northern Italy(because there's a serious lack of them in the fandom:(),whether they might be about culture,history,folklore,stereotypes(could be an interesting addition to characterization)or misconceptions*? Maybe even cuisine ahah

In this post I'll expain what we intend for North Italy, why it doesn't line up perfectly with canon and most importantly why Feli gets called "Italy" way more often than Mano.

Let's start by stating that in our country by North Italy we mean the regions of: Aosta Valley (Valle d'Aosta), Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Liguria(the region your girl's from), Lombardy(Lombardia), Piedmont (Piemonte), Veneto and Trentino Alto-Adige.

So you might ask me, why is it that in Hetalia Chibitalia has been shown as Florence as well??? Is it a mistake made by Hima?? Yes.. But actually no ahah! In this post I'll cover how we came to such a perception of the North in our country and why Tuscany and the rest of Central Italy, isn't included in it and doesn't consider themselves part of it :D

I won't talk about all history until nowadays of course (I'll definitely make future historical posts) I'll simply give you basic information based on early history to have an understanding of how us italians divide our country and why in canon other nations refer to Feliciano as Italy more commonly than they do with Romano(it is indeed based in history, it's not mean spirited!!).

So during the centuries prior to romanization North Italy was inhabited by a different bunch of cultures, among them the long haired Ligures(whose origin is unsure,Celtic?? Or simply celtified by their neighbors uhmm?? Talking about them in detail would take a whole ass post) the Veneti who were known for their commerce of amber and horse breeding, the Etruscans who, coming from Tuscany, colonised parts of the North and founded cities such as Bologna and in a later period a swarm of Gaulish tribes(generally referred to as the Celts).

The latter(most likely the Insubres) founded Milan in 590 BC, naming it Medhelan(the place in the middle of the plain, or among rivers) or Mediolanum as the Roman would call it later(Meśiolano as a Celtic engraving informs us) keep Milan in mind we'll come back to her later. Their domain extended from the Alps to the Adriatic sea.

This would be stopped by roman conquest that would culminate in 194 BC in the foundation of a province under the name of Gallia Cisalpina**,Cisalpine Gaul, id est Gaul on the hither side of the Alps(from the Romans point of view) that pretty much contained the regions which nowadays we consider North Italy.

The area became one of the most influential and rich provinces in the empire and it's strategic role is emphasized by the fact that in 286 the capital of the Western Roman Empire is moved from Rome to,guess where, Milan the main city in Gallia Cisalpina(and later on in Ravenna from 402 to the fall).

Is this why Grandpa is shown to leave poor Romano behind in canon in favour of his little brother??? Most likely!!! Btw if you're interested in the subject you should totally check out jjblue's Italia Annonaria (baby Feli) and Italia Suburbicaria (baby Mano) profiles on DA.

It's really unfair that the other characters call only Feliciano Italy:/ It's actually not true, as my friend flama has talked about in one her posts both Germany and America have called him Italy in the past. The fact that this behavior hurts Romano is long lasting misunderstanding in the fandom: he really doesn't care.

What annoys him it's that he's often referred to as "Italy's older brother" but not because he's Italy as well, but because that takes away his individuality: he's peeved by the fact he's only considered in relation to his brother, he's Romano besides being Feliciano's older brother ahah.

If his identity as Italy truly mattered to him he would have some kind of reaction out of being called Italy, especially by someone he has a bad relationship with like Germany, but he was left completely indifferent by that. I've often seen fanfictions where he's moved to tears by such action by it actually seems like he doesn't mind. He just wants people to understand he has a persona outside being Feli's big brother ahah.

There's actually a reason why Feli is "Italy" and it has been actually brought up recently in the fandom. Let's go back to history ahah.

A germanic general named Odoacer overthrew the last Roman Emperor, whose name for some reason I always found funnee, Romulus Augustulus.

Now the Eastern Roman Empire was having none of that and decided to invite Theodoric the Great of the Ostrogoths to rule over Italy under their approval(btw if you'll ever visit Ravenna do check out Sant'Apollinare Nuovo and Theodoric's Mausoleum). Ostrogothic rule was short lived (lasted pretty much Theodoric's reign) but greatly improved the economy and the arts. . . Too good to be true of course, because Justinian I(Eastern Roman emperor)decided he wanted to revive the glory ™ of the empire and this brings us to Gothic Wars.

Italy, especially the North, was left devastated by them, as they brought death(duh),poverty and were accompanied by a good dose of famine and plague. Byzantine rule wouldn't last long as a Germanic tribe***, the Lombards, took advantage of their weakness and took over italy and gave birth to a reign, which had Pavia as capital.

Said reign was called Langobardia, in particular North and Central Italy were named Langobardia Maior(The great Langobardia), which is the name under which North italy would be known as for a good part of the middle age and that gives the name to the modern region Milan and Pavia are located, Lombardia/Lombardy.

For example Boccaccio in his Decameron(in particular in the first novella) uses Lombards when referring to Italian merchants because that's the name they were given even if most of them came from Piedmont and Tuscany.

Lombard language and culture slowly was assimilated into the previous one and that can be seen in names, words and laws created in that period. This came to an end in 774 when Charles the Great, king of the Franks(and future Holy Roman Emperor), conquered Pavia and annexed the Lombard kingdom... Under the name of Kingdom of Italy!

So in other words the reason why our boy is the one who's called Italy the most is because he's simply been "Italy" for longer or more specifically for more than once(as I explain in the notes:)!!). Mano on the other hand would have most likely known as Kingdom of Sicily, Kingdom of Naples or Kingdom of the two Sicilies :). And I'm very much sure he would have been proud of such identity.

But what about central Italy??? You see the Papal States forged a document the Donation of Constantine, according to which Emperor Constantine assured Pope Silvester I(in 321) and his successors the exclusive domain over the city of Rome(btw Rome isn't part of southern Italy!!the fact South Italy is called Romano is really weird and so is North Italy as Veneziano ngl). This gave the Church access to "temporal power",id est material power and with it came territorial power. And so little by little (with the exception of Tuscany that flourished on it's own) it ate up the whole of Central Italy, which would develop a linguistic group, a culture and history of its own.

And that's pretty much what you need to know to understand Hetalia's confusing lore ahah. It's not everything I could go on explaining the era of the Commons and the Renaissance and go all through medieval and modern history to make you fully grasp it but I think it's enough for today:D let me know if you want me to talk about the subjects I mentioned in detail and if you want me to go on. Read the notes :)!!!

*I've often seen Feli wearing tarantella clothes, because it's probably assumed as the italian™ traditional dance and the music is misused in videos about Italy(all of Italy!!)when it's really characteristic of the South:)! Would be nice to see more fan arts of Mano in those garments lol really nice

**Napoleon would found in the 18th century the Cisalpine Republic in North Italy, a sister republic of France, that would later become known as the Italian Republic and then the (napoleonic!!!)Kingdom of Italy:) not to be confused with the Kingdom of Italy that would be born on the 17th of March 1861,ring a bell ahah???Read Hetalia's Risorgimento strips if you want to know about that:)))Milan djdbdb was once again the capital of all these.

***considering Romano is stated to have Arabic blood which is definitely brought by the moorish occupation, I'd assume Feli's Germanic one has to do with daddy Lombards. The longobards ruled over the South as well so ehhh, but hey it's Hima we're talking about. Genetics work in a weird way in hetalia, they're like acquired??? Hima explains that Canada, America and Seychelles don't have England's bushy eyebrows because of France's influence. Wtf. Oh btw if you might be interested in the Lombards' origin in Historia Langobardorum Paulus Diaconus informs us they came from Scania(a region in Sweden) and the settled in "Scoringa".

[bitchapalooza]

Reading up on early Austrian history(Paleolithic period and onward) because I'm bored. Simplified so I don't make such a long post. Of course if I get anything wrong please correct me.

The area was first was inhabited by the Hallstatt Celts. They were organized as a Celtic kingdom the Romans referred to as Noricum(800 BCE to 400 BCE). It was then around 40 BCE when it became a Roman province. It was by the 6th century when the Germanic peoples Bavarii occupied the land. Then it fell to the Frankish Empire by the 6th century. It was about 800 CE when Charlemagne(former king of the Franks) established the Avar March.

Austria is the only character that I know of to have a canon birth year; 976. During that time the land was ruled by the Margraves of Babenburg which established an outpost of the Duchy of Bavaria, establishing it as Marchia orientalis/Margraviate of Austria. In German its Ostarrîchi, giving Austria its name(eastern realm).

This makes me kinda curious though. Most of the Germanic nations have blond hair. Austria does not. Aside from Bavaria's involvement(as there is no canon depiction nor do I remember any mention of it as a Stem Duchy or kingdom in the series) the closest assumption I can make, based off of canon characters, is because of Rome. Genetics are already kinda weird and complicated(in law has red hair but neither parent has red hair aside from their father who has a deep reddish-brown beard, except theirs is textbook red hair; that's a weird example for you) but its probably a whole ball of entangled Christmas lights for nations because of how much people have migrated and brought their influence with them. Practically all of Europe is related somehow in someway!

The most common trait between the Germanic nations or those with Germanic roots seem to have mostly blond hair. And Austria is German. So I wonder if Roman genetics are more dominating over German just as French genetics are dominate over English(as stated in canon)? Brown IS a more dominating trait over blonde so that could be the case??? I barely understand that genetics square thing I learned in the 9th grade so I could be wrong though.

I'm not sure why but genetics and ancestry in Hetalia are all just kinda interesting to me(especially America's due to how diverse the influences are).

[lactodebillus-bulgaricus]

(tw: child abuse)

bulgaria under byzantine rule. one of his duties was to look after lil greece so the byzantine empire aka the eastern roman empire had more time for work. basically like a full time babysitter. even though he was like a 12yo kid who needed to be looked after and greece was like what? 5-6-7? I guess

bul and greece are talking before breakfast. greece is grinning and looking at bulgaria with eyes filled with excitement. he legit looks up to bul, both figuratively and literally. what fun shenanigan is his friend gonna come up with?

'ok today is the day when we're gonna start swearing cuz one day, we’ll be grownups and grownups swear. we gotta begin from somewhere' bulgaria says. 'I'm gonna say "damn" and ur gonna say "ass". let's go ur mom is calling us for breakfast'

the byzantine empire is sitting at the narrow end of a long table stacked with pog food. there are many servants that are serving her and the others.

'good morning boys'

'good morning mrs roman empire'

'good morning mom'

they sit next to her, bulgaria on her left side and greece on her right side.

'what are you gonna eat for breakfast?'

and bulgaria's like 'I wanna some damn tiropita >: ) ' 

to which the byzantine empire slaps him in the face.

'TO YOUR ROOM! NOW!' she yells with a furious expression.

bulgaria bursts into tears and runs out of the room.

then she turns to greece, expression as calm and as friendly as before.

'now that vulgarian is gone, what do you want for breakfast, my son?'

greece is shaking and sniffling, his lower lip is trembling and his eyes are teary. he's about to start crying at any given moment.

'... idk' *he tries to force a smirk on his face before the inevitable* 'but u can bet ur ass it's not gonna be tiropita >: ) '

[percifiied]

i’ve been thinking about this all day because i was writing about prussian philosophers and listening to a podcast, but europe needs to be depicted as more diverse. I understand that creators might want to portray characters as they are in the show, but it’s honestly not very accurate in some circumstances. Like i said in my last post, half of Spain was Muslim until Isabella and Ferdinand killed and converted Jews and Muslims in the late 1400s, and in the late 1000s Sicily was taken by the normans to become christian–it was run by muslims. people intermarried, many converted. (im not even going into romani and mongolian history, but hetalia only mentions mongolia in the context of the golden horde and russia.)

the ottomans famously made it to the gates of vienna, and vlad the impaler’s (yes, mr. castlevania. yes those stakes are real. look it up) brother was the sultan mehmed the conqueror’s muslim boyfriend. a huge number of romanians and other people from the balkans converted as subjects under the ottomans. veneziano not only was a powerful nation (he would have been venice, as mentioned by the anime; where are his other brothers?), but belonged to byzantium, the roman empire. he would have been a teenager before his grandfather “died,” when constantinople was taken in the mid 1400s.

and for the last time, ENGLAND IS NOT CELTIC. I don’t understand why they depict england as scotland, ireland and wales’s brother (WHERE ARE GALICIA, MANX, CORNWALL AND BRITTANY????) because england actually would fit in with Saxony/germany and the scandinavians–did you know old english was influenced by norse languages? there’s a reason why many eastern english towns end with -by, it means town. the Danes had a king in england, and england was part of a viking empire in the 1010s and 1020s.

and for christ’s sake, england is not catholic. he’s protestant. and eastern europe is orthodox. greece is orthodox. (i don’t hc him as pagan–he was the seat of orthodox religion) poland, hungary and austria are catholic, though the characters wouldn’t be. roderich has a jewish name–edelstein.

these are conversations we need to have–characters have been established, but they also need to reflect history accurately, and their genesis is so much more diverse than most understand.

[estbela]

if there's one thing Romania(and my other OCs, some of which are sorta her kids as well, hetalia genetics are complicated) inherited from Dacia, it's the ability to give invading empires a headache.

[asitrita]

Personal rant

This is a personal rant about Spain’s history and some people’s interpertation of it, mostly regarding some of the “nations”, or “ethnic groups” that are sometimes considered Spain’s parents. If you think it can affect you personally, don’t continue reading.

I really do not understand people who consider Spain’s father figure anyone other than Rome. Like... literally, no one makes any sense other than Rome. I could buy Visigoth acting as Spain’s father figure, or as his “tutor”, and I could even understand (though in no way share) the idea of Castile and Aragon being Spain’s “parents”. Though, again, I would not share that hc either, because even if the current nation-estate of Spain is “younger” than the many different medieval kingdoms, the notion, the “idea”, the “identity” to some extent, of Spain is way older than any of those medieval kingdoms which, technically, were not nations nor modern estates either, so acting as if Spain came to be out of the blue in the 15th century, as if there had not been already a clear Spanish identity and notion of unity and nation prior the 15th/16th centuries is just... ignoring all the evidence. What I trully do not understand is when people have Al-Ándalus, Umayyad, or even Carthage, as Spain’s father figures. It is true that history can be interpreted in many different ways, more so when it comes to Hetalia, but there are some interpretations that... they just make no sense. Not from a historical point of view, at least. Guess you can have whatever headcanons you want, but historically speaking, they may make no sense whatsoever. And that is exactly the case with these interpretations. For Al-Ándalus and Umayyad the reason why it is utter nonsense for any of them to be Spain’s father figure is that they are literally everything Spain is not (and did not want to be). In the first years of our lives, until we become adults, we all build our identity against the others. Something similar happens with the different nations. They build their identity partially based on not being like the neighbour next door. We could say that Spain built itself against precisely these two guys up there, Al-Ándalus and Umayyad. One could think, “okay, but as we all know, in many cases, the first ones we try to build our identity against is our parents, so that could further emphasise the role of those two as Spain’s paternal figures”. Well, no, and here’s why. Maybe it all comes to what I understand as a father figure, but to me, in the case of nations, the father figure, or the “father” or “mother” of a nation should be the one the nation receives more influences from. It should be to some extent the “origin” of most, or a big significant part of the nation’s culture, identity, and overall, idiosyncrasy. Either that, or it should have left a very deep impact and long lasting effect in the character and identity of that nation. And what I mean is that the nation must have adopted transcedental aspects from that “father nation” that are now rooted deep in its character. Otherwise, a deep impact could be a traumatic event like a war that people from the nation have built their national pride upon, but that’s not what I mean. I mean that the nation has actively acquired, integrated, and assimilated, deep and transcendental elements and aspects of its “father nation” culture and identity, so the “father nation” identity has, to some extent, become the identity of the “new nation”. Examples of some of these transcedental elements could be religion (and overall, spirituality), sense of justice, moral values, or even lexicon related to abstract concepts and emotions such as love, passion, fear, desire, hate, regret, etc. So here’s the thing. Neither Al-Ándalus nor Umayyad did, in any way, affect Spain in this respect. Mind, I am not saying they didn’t leave any influence in Spain at all, what I am saying is that they did not have a transcedental influence in Spain’s identity. Or they did, but just in the opposite way. Spain takes its culture, society, values, and spirituality from Rome, and builds itself against Al-Ándalus and Umayyad (quite honestly, Spain’s relationship with these two is more similar to the “traumatic” event some nations have built their national pride upon I mentioned earlier than to any father-son type of relationship). If anything, they only helped to exacerbate Spain’s loyalty to its “indigenous hispanoroman” identity. Again, not saying they left no influence, for example, some architecture in southern Spain (though, tbh, it’s more like a couple buildings people visit while ignoring the hundreds of christians and roman buildings lol), some cities, some influences in the food and some traditional dishes, some new agricultural and destillation techniques, etc. And it is well known that up to 8% of the Spanish vocabulary is of Arab origin, even though, to be honest, much of that percentage are toponyms and half of the lexicon is no longer used in Spanish today (most people don’t even know half of these words, and some have their Latin counterpart). However, none of these influences affects Spain’s psique and identity to a transcendental level. Not only that, but the people who identified as Spaniards and all its old variants (derivatives of Latin’s hispanus/hispanicus) were the Northern Christian people, never the Muslims who lived in Al-Ándalus under Umayyad rule. It was northern Christians who talked about Spain, who considered Spain their “lost” nation, and who identified with a Spanish identity, not the people nor the rulers of Al-Ándalus (for a short time, Northern Christians would actually refer to Christians living under Muslim rule in Al-Andalus as Spaniards, to distinguish them from the Muslims). And in no way am I justifying the following, I’m just stating a fact, which is that Muslims were expelled. All of them. Which means that Spain, as a nation, as the people it represents, literally has almost no link whatsoever with the people of Al-Ándalus, Arabs, nor Muslims, other than its people, the “Spanish people” fought them for centuries. Obviously, they lived in the same piece of land, though borders were never an easy place to live in, they were not 24/7 killing each other (impossible to do that nonstop for almost 8 century), they often traded, and there were Christians living in Muslim territories who adopted some Arab or generally Middle Eastern/Oriental traditions and practices that they preserved even under Christian rule (they were called Moriscos), hence the influences. But these influences are so superficial and “materialistic”, they affected so little the Spanish way of understanding the world, that I trully think it is unrealistic to make any of these two Spain’s father figure. It is almost a bad joke when you get the Northern Kingdoms singing to Spain and identifying as Spanish, getting ripped of their representation and identity, and instead, associating this identity and representation (their identity and representation) to those who never identified as Spanish and fought those who did with the intention of conquering and subduing them. And I guess you could argue that most of “Spain” (the land) was under Muslim (Umayyad) control, but as I understand Hetalia, and modern states today, it is not about land, but about nations and ethnic groups, and the people they represent, and it just makes no sense to make Spain’s father figure neither Al-Ándalus nor Umayyad, because given history, they would have probably tried to kill Spain had they got the chance, and the same goes for Spain, as it certainly would try to kill them as well. Plus, friendly reminder that the muslim territory of Spain was, for the most part, independent from the Umayyad Empire, so even if members of the Umayyad dinasty ruled over Al-Ándalus, it was not part of its empire (again, for the most part, there was a short time it did belonged to the empire). Plus  Al-Ándalus was cut into pieces during the 11th century and the Arab “Umayyad” elite expelled from the Peninsula. I mean, neither the Umayyad dinasty nor Al-Ándalus lasted for 7 centuries. The Arab rulling elite (Umayyad) were expelled, and Al-Ándalus destroyed, by the end of the 11th century. So it is not true Spain received direct influence from these particular people for almost 800 years, that’s an extreme oversimplification of Medieval Spain, as Arab rule in part of Spain, as well as the existance of Al-Ándals, in reality, lasted for around 350 years, as opposed to Roman presence in Spain, which lasted for over 600 years, plus, they were never expelled and their identity completely permeated the indegenous inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula.

About Carthage... what can I say? This just makes no sense. It may not be as ironic (and almost offensive) as the other two choices, but in some way, it makes even less sense, if that’s even possible. Not much to say about this one, I just can’t even think of one thing Spain has inherited from this guy, can’t think of any influence from Carthaginean culture or whatever in Spain. The little I can think of slightly related to Carthage is actually Phoenitian so... I mean, Cartagena, in Murcia, is a great city, but... can anyone think of any significant influence, any significant link Spain as a nation, or Spaniards as an ethnic group, have with Carthage? I’m sure people from Murcia may come up with something but... in general, I really don’t think we have anything to do with Carthagineans, as much as I like Carthage. I’m sorry, but I trully can’t think of anything Spaniards, Hispanics, even Portuguese if you want (though I’m no expert on Portuguese history so I may be wrong on this one) have “inherited” from Carthage (guess you could link the Portuguese Empire based on trade with Carthage, but realistically speaking, there’s no historical corelation there either). I guess they may have introduced some new techniques and whatnot, but, really, that happens all the time, that does not affect the identity of a group nor their way of looking at the world greatly, unless it supposes a radical change in their way of life, which did not happen, since Carthage barelly controled some strategic cities. Yes, it got to the northern part of Spain, but did not have actual control over all that territory, and there was no cohesive rule nor anything I can think of... In any case, I’m no expert on Carthage either, but I trully cannot think of any Carthaginean influence in Spain at all. In conclusion, a nation’s “father figure” is the one that has, to some extent, “built the nation”, or “mould it”. Just like if we were talking about a human being, we should ask “how does it behave? how does it think? how does it see the world? how does it communicate? what are its values? what are its traditions?” Then ask about the origin of all those answers. And there you get the “father figure”. Spaniards speak a Latin-based language/s (but the Basques and some people from Navarra who speak a pre-Roman language), they are Christians, Roman Cahotlics to be more precise, and Spanish justice is based on Visigothic and Roman laws. Spanish culture is overwhelmingly based on Roman culture, as is its society, values, etc. The way Spanish interact with the world and others is based on a Roman perception of the world. They may be others who have influenced Spain, I’m not denying that, but none of them has, not by a long shot, defined Spanish identity as much as Rome has. The only event in history that had a significant importance in defining Spain’s identity other than Rome and getting to America, is the war against the Muslims, which includes the two listed above. But they never “added” to the Spanish identity on significant levels, for the most part they just reinforced it by acting as its antagonists, which is not exactly what I would represent as “parenthood”. Carthage... I don’t even know how that happened. And that’s it. This is not a personal attack to anyone who has any of these headcanons, it may seem like it is, but it is not. If anything, it is an “attack” to these ideas, simply because I don’t think they accurately portray Spain’s history at all, on the contrary, they distort Spanish history based on 18th and 19th century foreigner’s ignorant and orientalist crazy theories and assumption (and anti-Catholic propaganda, tbh), and Hetalia, at the end of the day, is about history. If any one has these headcanons,you do you, go with it, but please be aware that they are not historically accurate, that’s it.

[aphchinass]

Question, does this fandom consider the Western and Eastern Roman Empire separate personifications?

Wikipedia says they were de facto independent but also some considered it “one policy governed by two separate imperial courts”

Technically in Hetalia canon aph Rome seems to fall with the Western Roman Empire (a stretch, but he isn’t ever seen in Byzantine fashion, even as a ghost) and I also see yosb have aph Greece stand in as Byzantine

Any people who’ve read up on European history? Thoughts?

[cooltrainererika]

Alt-talia Compilation: Mystical Creatures

Getting some short Alt-talia one-shots out now.

So these are still for 10/21: Mystical Creatures. And it’s a compilation! …Yes, six days overdue now. Please go easy on me, time zones are a b*tch and Hetalia Emblem part 2 took up almost my entire day off. But I’ll have today’s fic uploaded by the end of today too, and hopefully other short ones for the days I missed.

Here’s what I could come up with now. I might add more in reblogs later, because man oh man, there’s tons of potential with this prompt, and I want to write more on it because, hey, it’s part of culture too (though not sure if hetaween will reblog it. After all, I don’t want to write something no one would read…).

Though the latter two ended up using basically the same premise, I liked them both, so bear with me. Also, the first one ended up way longer than intended. And I wrote about Japanese folklore again. It’s what I know most about (though it’s not much), so yeah, sorry about that. Not to mention it’s the easiest to find these types of creatures in our folklore.

Also, since I forgot to note in the past Alt-talia fic, I’ll say this here; the characters in my Alt-talia AU can act very differently from their canon counterparts. Particularly the latter two main characters in this compilation. They’re meant to be more accurate to the actual cultures and what is considered stereotypical. Though since I can’t afford to think much now, they’ll probably act more like their modern selves instead of how they might have acted in these eras. Or in one case, what I’m thinking would be the case in this era; this one character acts more brash and energetic here than he would in canon or in modern Alt-talia (where he isn’t too different from canon). Also one of the main characters probably isn’t characterized enough for this to be noticeable. Also, Alt-talia in general is a darker AU, though it won’t show up much here.

And, though I’ve been vague about the characters here, I’ll just say this, and this is important; “Rome” here, A.K.A. Nikephoros, is NOT the same Rome as the one who is Italy’s grandfather. He is the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire, and he and Greece are father and son in Alt-talia. I’ll describe other relationships as they come along. Ancient Greece is mentioned, but while Byzantine is her son, and by extension indeed she’s Greece’s grandmother, the main actors during the Classical era were the city-states, and at least one will be mentioned here by name, though they won’t actually appear in-story (Ancient Greece’s existence is… a bit of a weird one. She shouldn’t exist, since Ancient Greece was never a single country, at least during the eras most people consider to be “Ancient Greece”, but I kind of have to make do with her existing now). His grandfather will also be mentioned… though I think his father being Eastern Rome should make his identity obvious.

Greece is what I call an “egg”/“proto-nation/realm” at this point (basically, a nation/realm in-waiting, who may appear to a pre-existing country (uncommon) or be born to a male and female pair just like a normal human (extremely rare) to raise as their child and replace them in event of death, or eventually represent a realm that splinters off from the parent realm), as such he will be referred to exclusively as “Irakles” (spelled that way because that’s closer to the Greek spelling) and is physically about 6 years old at most, if not younger, as I’m thinking Egg Nations don’t age past early childhood, though I may move that to 12 or 10 or something.

Though I wasn’t sure which names I should use here in the first place, so I may flip-flop a bit. As a general rule, I use country names when describing them as countries, and human names when describing them as individuals (or in romantic contexts) and for Egg/Proto-nations. So when describing cultural things instead of political things, the lines can especially blur, unfortunately. I’ll still try to make them symbolic though.

…And that should be that! Sorry for making this so long! Without further ado, now, for our feature presentation…

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(Also… people who read my fics, please reblog? I’ve spent so much time on them, I want more people to see them.)

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Child of The Soil

Young Kiku loved exploring the mountains outside Asuka.

Here, the gods lived. It was the spirits’ domain, where they allowed the young boy to use as his playground; while he was already centuries old, he still explored it with innocent wonder befitting his eight-year-old appearance, but with a hint of familiarity. After all, this island’s forests were, in a way, his element as well.

They knew who he really was; the young personification of Yamato. Even without telling them, they knew. The spirits and gods themselves rarely, if ever, presented themselves directly to him, but he could feel their presence in the air among the familiar cries of insects, sometimes even their whispers to him.

He made his way to a less wooded, grassy clearing; the longest grasses, the types used by the people of Asuka to thatch roofs, were long enough for the little boy to disappear into.

It was then he noticed what seemed to be a slender, scaly tail poking out of the grasses.

Then, something started... rolling? Yes, rolling, and disappeared into the grass.

“Huh?”

Curious, the young boy trailed the mysterious creature as it made its way through the overgrown grass, trying not to rustle the grass too loudly or lose track of it.

Finally, the creature rolled towards a meadow where the grass was shorter in front of raised ground, and unfurled itself. From behind the grass, he observed it; it was a shaku* long… snake? But not just any snake; one with a strangely broad, almost flat midsection, its thin neck sticking out from one side and its tail out the other.

It was somewhat dopey-looking, yet he felt drawn to the strange creature, though he didn’t know why. It seemed strangely… familiar.

“Hello there?”

Kiku made a few small steps out of the tall grass, and just when he was over it, the snake bunched up like an inchworm, and…

It jumped.

The snake jumped up, several times his height, over the ledge.

His jaw dropped, aghast, stumbling back, almost falling back into the tall grass.

Then, it briefly stopped, looking back at him. It let out a high pitched “Chiii!” before crawling into the tall grass above.

“…Nozuchi?”

That was all he could whisper.

Was that…

That day, among the ringing melodies of Suzumushi crickets, Yamato thought he had met the grass spirit.

———-

Kiku didn’t know if he had imagined what happened that day.

Since that day, it - maybe goddess, maybe spirit, maybe mundane creature - and how it had looked back at him, as if asking him to find it, remained at the back of his mind. Its name changed over the years, as did what he believed its identity to be. However, eventually, only a few villagers shared his knowledge of the snake anymore.

Until, over a millennia later, a certain children’s book featured a hunt for that same creature, and as unreliable as his distant childhood memories could be, the memory returned to him clear as day.

And today, in his new Third-Generation Nissan Datsun Sunny as kayōkyoku and New Music played on the radio, his spirits moderately high from fresh economic growth, he had returned to that same place where he thought he had that encounter over a millennia before.

A small crowd had gathered there, mainly families, mothers and fathers holding lunches and cages, children with butterfly nets bragging about how they would be the first to catch the coveted snake. Some people looked at him in puzzlement, his lack of any children, girlfriend, or even friends making him very conspicuous among the gathering.

The place had changed quite a lot, but in some ways, it was still as it had always been. However, while it, of course, was of more significance to him than any other random mountain, forest, or village would be, he had far moved past these mountains, or Asuka, a long time ago, ultimately just one past home out of many. And it wasn’t even his first at that, though his earliest memories were almost entirely lost to the ether. Childhood to nations was, unlike for humans, not necessarily worth any more, nor any more notable than any other era they had been alive. And to him, Nara, his other childhood home two more moves later, was a much more important factor in who he was now than Asuka; even today, Nara remained a major city, and its name had come to encompass the entire prefecture. Yet here he was, back after all these years.

The group dispersed, and Kiku set off on his own as well.

He didn’t remember much about the place, and even if he did, physically every tree back then was no longer here; so he searched without direction, making sure as to minimize the sound of his steps as they met the ground.

Looking at his watch to see it was noon and feeling he could use a bite at the moment, he sat down on a tree stump in a small clearing for lunch.

It was then he saw a thin, familiar scaly tail poking out of the brush. One that seemed to suddenly widen.

Immediately, a small head popped out of the grass, biting its tail. And rolled.

He immediately put down his rice ball, almost choking on it, and immediately ran.

But there was no rustling, even if Kiku was too intent on following its apparent path to notice.

Soon, he found himself almost crashing into the face of a ledge, just higher than his height.

He looked around, up at the ledge, and sighed frustratedly.

It seemed the Tsuchinoko had evaded Japan again.

In a small clearing in a forest in Nara prefecture, a faint “Chiii!” mixed in with the ringing melodies of Suzumushi crickets.

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On Grandmother’s Wings

“And thus, Perseus saddleth himself atop Pegasus, and set fortheth…”

Nikephoros closed the book.

Iraklis looked up from his bed where he sat.

“Pateroulis?”

“That is it for today. Now, time to go to sleep for you.”

He started pulling the silk tapestry over his son.

“Pateroulis, does Pegasus exist?”

The man known as Rome seemed perplexed, as if he should know otherwise. He appeared to briefly ponder what to say to his son before shaking his head.

“…No. Just like the heathen Gods of your giagiá’s, or rather, Athens and Sparta’s prime, or your namesake hero, it is a mere story. Born from the blood of Medusa with the blessing of Poseidon… how do you think that is possible if neither are true? They are important resources, as they are the legacy of our heritage, but they are fiction. Now, go to sleep.”

“But I’m not tire-“

“Yes you are. Now go to sleep.”

A servant blew his bedside lamp out, leaving the moonlight that shone through Irakles’ bedside window and onto his face as the only source of illumination.

“Good night, Irakles.”

“Good night, Pateroulis.”

The young boy continued to look out the window, at the gentle, soft glow of the moon, until sleep finally came over him.

———-

The boy woke up with what seemed to be the moonlight shining further than usual.

He woke up with a start…

And he came face-to-face with a snow-white horse.

He yelped.

The horse stuck its snout into his window, nuzzling the young boy gently.

Behind the horse, Irakles gasped at the sight of two large, pristine, pure, angel-like wings.

“You’re-“

The horse whinnied as Irakles’ hands touched it, poking the boy’s face like any normal horse that knew its rider well.

Excited, he tried to make his way out of his window, before getting a harsh reminder that his bedroom was on the second floor of the palace.

The horse snatched him by the back of his tunic before he could fall, hoisting him onto its back.

He found that, suddenly, he had a bridle and bit in his hand. The horse whinnied to him, as if beckoning him to put in on, and thus, he did.

The horse took flight with Irakles on its back, the silvery moonlight casting its mystical glow onto the snow-white hide of the steed.

Over Constantinople they took flight, Irakles hanging on tightly to the reins, sitting tightly on the delicately embroidered saddle cloth. Over the Cinnabar-colored roofs and domes, over houses, palaces, churches, cathedrals, and remnants from his giagiá and pappous’s time they flew; the moon bathing them in milky light, the mighty walls of the great city surrounding them, the wind and mild autumn air rushing through his hair and tunic, constellations in the shape of heroes and monsters of yore looking down upon them.

Outside the impenetrable walls that protected him while his father fought, farmlands sprawled, olives and grapes and fields of grain, just like the lands where his family nourished themselves when they were still mere humble towns, barely appearing older than he, as did the same fields of deep blue, calm seas where they too had once traded and fought.

The boy could only look upon the city he called home with awe. From so high in the sky, one could see why so many invaders wished to take it; other than it’s perfect location, it was a beauty and wonder to behold.

Under the autumn, Mediterranean night sky of Constantinople, a young boy and winged steed flew without a care.

—————-

The sun shined brightly from outside his window.

Irakles’ eyes fluttered open, and he looked out.

“Young Master Irakles, it is time for your morning meal!”

He looked to his bedside table, to his giagiá’s amulet she had left him, taking it into his hand, looking it over, and back outside, into the morning sky.

Today, too, was a peaceful morning in Constantinople.

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Dances With Elves

“So, Iceland, what’s it with the wongh fashe?”

Lukas, a boy just old enough that his voice was starting to break, bit into a lamb leg as he spoke, some of the juices flowing down his chin.

“Mmm! You make some good lamb!”

Emil, or as he was also known, Iceland, a boy appearing about ten or so from the outside, sat observing the sea, his feet hanging over the cliff dangerously.

“Sturlung Wars still hurting you?”

The young boy winced.

“Why’d you have to mention that?”

“Sorry, sorry-“

“That was sort of your fault, you know-“

“I’m sorry! Just tell me what the problem is!”

“I don’t wanna be a Good Christian.”

Lukas almost spit out the lamb he had just taken another bite into.

“It’s been a century already, you’re still-“

“It’s boring! Right, Lundi?”

The puffin let out a low cry.

“…You seriously named the thing just ‘Puffin’?”

“He likes it!”

The young boy puffed his cheeks out, annoyed.

“…Did something happen?”

Iceland threw a rock into the waves, the briny wind tossing his hair.

“One of the killjoys got mad at me again for dancing. They say it promotes drunkenness and promiscuity or whatever.”

Lukas snorted.

“In church? Of course, who dances in-“

“Outside of church.”

The older boy stared at his brother, baffled.

“What? Seriously? You’re serious?”

Iceland looked at him, confused.

“You mean that isn’t normal?”

“Wow. Your bishops just have sticks up their asses.”

Iceland’s face lit up.

“Hæ! Then could your king tell them to stop?”

“Don’t think so.”

His face fell.

“Why not?!”

Lukas shrugged.

“We’re occupied with our own business. It was hard enough just visiting you. And we know how stubborn clergy can be. Plus… we don’t really control them. Ultimately, the Pope’s the only one who can do that. And the Pope has more important concerns than some bishops on some island banning dancing. You’ll just have to bear with it.”

Iceland sighed loudly.

“They’ve always been bad about this. They can’t even let us have fun after the Wars. I don’t know what their problem is.”

“Maybe that is God’s plan for you…”

The brothers stared out into the ocean, into the setting sun.

“That’s not fair…”

“Life isn’t fair. What can you do?“

Oh well, perhaps it would sort itself out eventually.

————

“Now, think about what you have done.”

“But-“

“The Lord is ashamed of you.”

“I-“

“Back home, boy. Everyone, go back to your home, this party is over. Go! Move along!”

———-

The boy returned to his turf-covered dwelling, saying a token greeting to his horse, making his way to his warm chambers, and throwing himself across his woolen blankets atop his grass-filled mattress on his small, child-sized bed.

His nightly dip in the nearby hot spring had helped calm him, but he was still frustrated despite this.

He let out a loud sigh.

“Lundi, is dancing really immoral?”

The puffin tilted its head.

“Does God really hate me for it?”

The bird flew to him, nudging him with his beak.

“I can’t sleep. I don’t feel tired! Augh! Might as well try to, I guess…”

The boy pulled on his nightclothes, propping his back up the headboard and pulling his covers up to his chest.

“And… maybe they’re right. Maybe it is a sacrifice I have to make to be good in the eyes of the Lord…”

He made a small prayer, as he had finally gotten in the habit of doing each night before he slept, and took a piece of parchment from a stack by his bed.

“Might as well reread my work until I‘m tired… Lundi, put out the lamp for me if I doze off, will you?”

A growl in confirmation.

Eventually, he didn’t know when, he did indeed drift off, slipping gently into the realm of dreams.

———-

The boy woke up again, feeling a poke on his shoulder, and a flicker of light in front of him.

“What’s it, Lundi, it’s late-“

When he opened his eyes, standing there were figures holding small, glowing lanterns, soft and warm in the night.

Almost human, but yet not. But he knew exactly who they were.

“Huldufólk?”

They beckoned him towards them, one gently taking his hand.

As if drawn by magic, he found himself following them, out of his house, and under the darkness of the new moon, the stars and lamps the only source of light, the crisp air nipping at his face. Yet, he didn’t lose his way.

Then, his feet left the ground.

The huldufólk left the ground, and he followed, walking on air, effortless, weightless.

His puffin followed, and his horse ran after him, it too stepping in the air.

A small group of them was waiting, the stars making their faces visible, ranging from bizarre to otherworldly beautiful, but yet familiar.

Then, a female, the fairest of them all, began her song.

The first few notes of plucked string instruments quickened, as the singing became quick and joyous.

A young girl who appeared to be his physical age, if not younger, the one who had taken his hand, tugged at him again.

“Dance? Do you want me to dance?”

As the huldufòlk got into place, the young boy felt a sense of familiar joy within him. It soon overrode any resistance, any inhibitions, and Iceland ran with the girl, joining the magical folk as a víkivaki was about to start, the music surrounding his senses, filling his thoughts.

The Norðurljós had decided to show itself as well, setting the dance floor alight with sheets of ethereal light.

There, for one night, Emil indulged in all the laughter and leaping, dancing and so-called foolishness his heart yearned for.

Even if it was sinful, on this one clear, moonless midnight, he didn’t care.

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Shaku - an old Japanese unit of measurement. Coincidentally, barely just short of a foot in Imperial measurements. Also, fun fact, inchworms are called “Shakutorimushi” here.

[stirringwinds]

my thoughts aren’t really coherent rn, but i’m toying with the idea of rome as a personification hanging around for some time after 476 AD instead of being Dead. i mean, we often point to 476 AD as The Date, and it’s what you get when you google When Did The (Western) Roman Empire Fall. naturally you might think 476+1 onwards is the beginning of the medieval period. but man! this periodisation we’ve imposed to categorise historical events is, while useful, also limited in its own ways. to the casual reader, it could misleadingly imply a sharp dichotomy between the roman and post-roman medieval period. for some time there were a whole lot of people during the renaissance who liked to disparagingly refer to post-476 as the ‘Dark Ages’; i.e no progress, barbarism and backwardness after the light of classical antiquity was ostensibly extinguished. 

but the thing is, that’s arguably not really true or fair. the early medieval period was rife with many vibrant developments (see: carolingian renaissance). if it’s also culture, politics, language and religion that makes up a civilisation? then rome didn’t die right there and then in 476 AD. because, there were continuities from the western roman empire surviving well into the medieval period (another really obvious one being the catholic church). of course, things evolved with the changed political conditions, in many areas violently and dramatically. but the transition from the roman to the medieval period wasn’t like flicking off a light bulb or anything—especially when we consider the continued existence of the eastern roman empire. the fall of rome was a process; both before and after 476 AD. 

so...well, to conclude this rambling post: i personally see hetalia rome by then personifying the western half of the empire, and i’m wondering how he dies. maybe it’s not necessary to have germania™ deal the finishing blow (i won’t get into that other can of worms about whether germania as 1 personification gels well with the numerous politically distinct germanic tribes). maybe, if we want to talk about Rome dying, it’s not a dramatic, fiery end. maybe it’s the gradual fading, as vulgar latin diverged further into what would become the multiple romance languages. maybe it’s the sense of political fragmentation; rome fades as the newborn nations with both the blood of rome and those he conquered running in their veins grow stronger and brighter. there are many ways to kill a nation, but also only one way: change.