So a nation's physical/mental condition always symbolises something, right? Usually, it can be traced back to an event or a disaster or just the state of the economy. But what if a nation has a symptom that nobody fucking knows where it came from. Like if America goes to the doctor for a rash on his back and the doctor is like "I have no idea what the hell caused this."
That would be a little terrifying. If the economy is fine, and everything in the country is going smoothly, why does America have this big ass rash? Is there something bad that's secretly going on? Is something horrible about to happen?
I'm thinking about,,, Nations being born literally of the earth again :,) Waking up in the middle of the world and breathing in for the first time hearing birds chirping and wind rustling. No knowledge of anything but the feeling of existing and breathing and the vague feeling of belonging..
Arguments against giving personifications a universal language (or another method of communicating with each other immediately and without any problem)
(Ok, this was a little clickbaity. First of all, I absolutely don’t intend to say that whoever does it is wrong. Like everything in Hetalia worldbuilding, it’s a matter of personal preference and goals we set for our story. Additionally I absolutely think that heavy focus on this matter would be detrimental for the story and unapproachable by audience other than a couple of crazy linguists.
Unfortunately I happen to be a crazy linguist, so here’s what I actually mean by this post:)
Fun linguistic things to consider in the context of Hetalia :D
Now, personally, I feel like the universal language takes away from the naturality of their relationships, *especially* so-called “first contact”, but not only that. Language is an enormous part of international relationships through the ages and removing this part from the equation results in the personifications not experiencing this side of their people’s history.
Sometimes in a story you don’t want two nations to understand each other. It happens. I’d much rather have choice than create a rule that takes this possibility from me.
The question of “which languages these two characters share” is interesting; it silently reminds of their history and points to cultural circles they belong to, as a subtle storytelling tool. (Other than that, deciding that is insanely fun, but this might be a linguist thing?)
Languages can be symbolic for other details of relationships. Think Lithuania speaking outdated Polish, from 19th century at best, because he didn’t have many opportunities to catch-up with the living language after that, now they’re not together with Poland anymore. [/personal hc, but even if they were, I think he’d still lag behind].
Another case, think a weaker country speaking the language of the stronger country, never the other way around, indicating a power imbalance between them.
Think a weaker country [personally I’m thinking a friend’s Serbia] absolutely refusing to speak the language of the stronger country, forcing them to seek compromises or use an interpreter or more drastic measures.
The lingua franca, whatever it would be, automatically carries a huge cultural and social influence with it. I believe the personifications should be prone to it too.
Another linguist thing, but I find communication struggles fascinating and endearing. There’s so much cultural exchange to be drawn from a second language user: which parts of learning are difficult for them, which are easy; what mistakes they make and how are these influenced by their native speech; what words do they choose to use, what do they think a chair’s gender is, do they sound soft or harsh or have an accent? If two Slavs talk to each other in English, is it correct English or do they use Slavic pronunciation and grammar to make it easier for themselves, causing a distress for each anglophone that hears them?
Another linguist thing, but a lot of pairs of countries that technically don’t have a common language can probably communicate with ease anyway. I want to see them go wild. I want to see them make a mixtape out of their French and Latin to talk to an Italian, I want distant Asian countries to talk to each other in English that no actual English person would understand, I want to see Latin America NOT understanding each other despite theoretically all speaking Spanish. And I want to see two distant countries find out that their only common language is something completely unexpected they’ve studied out of boredom.
I want to see the poor couple of nations without decent linguistic skills SUFFER.
Some of you speak like not having a common language was an unconquerable obstacle that would destroy all the fun and be a giant problem in the storyline. But I don’t really see how? Our ancestors did it. They travelled, they met other nations and they had to learn how to communicate with them. Some of them saw the opposite thing happen: they used to understand their neighbours without problem, but as the nations found themselves under different influences, the languages drifted away from each other until the similarities became unrecognizable. People across the ages have been learning languages, travelling and communicating. There are teachers, translators (my friend Laurynas says he’d like to see translators acknowledged), interpreters, etymology, lingua franca and body language all for them to use. I am not 25 yet and I speak 4, with a certain pain I can communicate in 6, and I could probably visit 100 countries of the world without worrying about the language issue at all. My nations are 100 years old. I just don’t think they need additional help. They'll slay :D
There were a couple ideas I’ve seen pro-universal language that I liked, so thought I’d share:
One, as beetroot said, being able to communicate with one personification doesn’t mean the countries wouldn’t have to learn languages, as the rest of the society wouldn’t be able to understand it. Therefore, most of these “fun linguist things” would appear anyway, just not between personifications. For me it’s a bummer, although acceptable. For someone else it can be more than enough.
Two, a quote from my friend Huku:
“Universal language is also a thing that helps them identify each other, which is a cool trick. It explains why, upon finding a personification in a swamp, the nation knows that this child is a personification and not some random mortal. Besides, nations from distant cultures also find it hard to communicate initially, because maybe the language is universal, but the context is foreign, the metaphors unreadable, the wording strange.”
Three, at first I didn't like morgenlich’s version that the language “can’t be written down because of magic”, but after seeing a suggestion that it wouldn’t be an actual language, just a mysterious way of understanding each other, the idea sounds more approachable to me. Cheers!
Nations can live for a long time thanks to their connection with the Land; we can say they're semi-immortal because under certain circumstances they can die. Since a Nation has a human form to represent the People, their physical body can be affected by ailments and other things. After all, if they can eat and sleep, that means they can also get sick.
Immunity by osmosis: In the case of a pandemic or a rapid rise of a disease/illness across the Land, a Nation will get symptoms when it's at its peak, but they do not infect other people. But once the population is majorly cured or develops a resistance, they will become immune.
Should I take 1 ibuprofen or 10?: While modern medicine has helped and saved many people, it doesn't work as much for Nations because of their unique metabolism. So for medicine to even have an effect, a Nation needs to take a much higher dose that would normally be fatal for a human.
Poison me? Nice try: Similar to medicine, poison won't affect a Nation much. They would get the symptoms but not for long, unless the dosage is higher, then they would be temporarily incapacitated. Assassination attempts are more of a bother for Nations. It's also why it takes a lot of alcohol for them to get drunk.
Going all natural: Because of their connection with their Land, herbal/natural medicine works better on a Nation than man-made medication. The more organic and natural the medicine is, the better the benefits (the same is true with poisons). It doesn't cure them by any means, but it does help alleviate the symptoms.
Radiation: A Nation that has nuclear plants or does testing can get radiation poisoning for a time, since it affects the Land's natural order. It's an uncomfortable feeling because it doesn't feel right, and it takes a long time for nature to recover.
PG vampire: A Nation can get a blood transfusion from all blood types because they represent a population. However, they cannot donate blood to humans since they're not 100% human. It is possible, however, for a Nation to give blood to another Nation, but the population of both needs to be similar.
(trigger warning for death down below)
Scars heal, but they're still there: Chronic pain is possible for Nations, it normally comes from an injury that reflects an important event in history (war, natural disaster, political shift, etc.). A traumatic death can also leave lingering effects on a Nation's body, such as phantom pains even if the limb grew back.
Have mercy on my soul: While a lethal illness won't kill a Nation because of their semi-immortality, there's a time when the suffering becomes unbearable even to a strong-willed person. Especially if man-made medicine won't help them alleviate the pain. So in extreme cases, a Nation will undergo amputation/coma or even ask for a mercy kill just to make it stop for a time. However, playing with death is a gamble even for Nations, so it's a last resort.
After giving this more thought I said "hell, why not put this out there". So here it is again but with a little more detail.
Hot take, probably the hottest take I've had on the existence of the nations:
What if other supernatural beings (or even paranormal beings) were scared of the nations in a similar way we are scared if spiders. In other words, despite maybe being bigger or meaner or (in our eyes) more terrifying, these other supernatural beings and entities are creeped out by the nations and would rather keep their distance from them.
For some reason, the 'thing' under the bed wouldn't dare lay any of their very (terrifyingly) long fingers on any of the nations, even if their feet are hanging off the bed by a lot. The thing at the end of the road, staring unblinking at them in their car, refuses to get closer. And in fact, if they drive toward it, it backs away like a scared animal. But oh God it is definitely NOT a normal animal. The 'creature' in the woods that normally stalks campers doesn't bother their campsite, it stays as far away as it can from them.
I just think it'd be very interesting and maybe even hilarious if the nations were scarier than the other cryptids and supernatural beings. At least it'd make for an interesting fanfic.
(And- side note- maybe, just maybe, the reason England has fairies as friends is because the mischievous little bastards figured being his friend would serve them better than being his foe. I find it odd that fairies, who are known for stealing children and being cruel to humans, would be so kind to England. I just don't buy it.)
i may not be a fandom elder but i came into this hell seeing too many “nations exposed” crackfics to ever be completely on board with these guys just. being well known. government coverups are fun too imo.
Sorry if this is a dumb question, but what exactly do you mean by orphans in your last post? Like the lost both parents kind of orphan or some other type? I've loved all of your weird supernatural nations art and headcanons (really scratches an insatiable itch about their natures) and I was wondering if I was missing anything.
Hey there!! It's not a dumb question at all! First off, thank you for the compliments!! I'm really glad that you like my silly little headcanons ;w; This is gonna be a little bit of a long one, so everything will be under the cut!
Before I get into what Orphans are specifically, I feel like it's important to give a little bit more background on my meta! In my headcanon, nations are called the Devai ( from the tagalog word Diwata and its root sanskrit form, Devata. devas is the singular form of the word ). "Nation" is just one of the many names that humans refer to them by. The Devai were created by The Mother, who embodies the Earth's spirit. They were made to serve as protectors and knowledge keepers of the humans the Mother grew quite fond of.
The original group of Devai, known as "The Ancients" or "The First Ones" to contemporary nations were made from the Earth, but the ones who came after them could be created either by being born to two devai parents or by being born to a devai / human pair. A devas whose parents are both devai are normally already born bonded to a particular community and are immortal, while those who are half-human don't become immortal unless they are "turned".
Anyone with devai heritage somewhere down the line can be turned, but the more distantly related you are means you're far less likely to be turned. Devai who have been turned are called "newborns". These newborns have to be mentored by another devas and taught how to adjust to their new life as immortals bonded to a community of people. If a newborn isn't mentored within a year of being turned, they turn into what's known as an "Orphan".
Orphans, also called the "Misguided" or the "Maladjusted" (the latter is considered to be a derogatory term, however), never fully settle into their new identity. They suffer from a whole host of problems which includes having trouble differentiating between their own thoughts and the inner voice of their people. They often lack a grounding sense of purpose and are overly reliant on humans to define their sense of self. Orphans also have great difficulty regulating themselves in battle, which has unfortunately made them notorious for being indiscriminate killers among their kind and susceptible to exploitation by humans.
They are also vulnerable to the creatures that lurk in the spirit realm. An important skill mentors teach newborns is how to create a "mindspace". This place acts as a barrier between a Devai's mind and the broader spirit realm, which is considered a dangerous place to be even for the likes of them. An orphan's mindspace is poorly constructed, which means creatures from the other side can often creep in. Not all of them are harmful and some can even be tamed and adopted as a sort of familiar, hence why Rahela has her lil many eyed worm creature!
Orphans are not viewed favorably by other Devai. They are often pitied at best and outright reviled at worst. Some known Orphans in my world are Gilbert (Prussia), Rahela (Romania), Ezekiel (Knights Hospitaller), and Sanson (Knights Templar). Gilbert is much better adjusted now compared to how he was when he was a kid thanks to Reiner becoming a mentor to him later in life. Rahela, on the other hand, insists that she has learned to live with her condition and doesn't seek to be mentored.
I tried to keep this as short as possible but hopefully that answered your question!!
