One more set of responses, and then I swear I’ll be quiet...
In reference to ‘[Prussia is] Germany’s oldest brother (or so he thinks)’.
-- Previous responses HERE.
-- Most helpful version of the original post is HERE.
Before I respond to a couple of people, I’d like to say, I was really upset the past two days, thinking I had made a huge mistake, and if you know me at all around here, you probably know there’s only one thing I’ve ever been decent at; only one purpose I feel I’ve ever served in this fandom, and that’s knowing my Canon Hetalia. - Writing about it. Sharing thoughts, and...
If I can’t even get my facts straight anymore, then what use am I?
Anyway, I had said ‘Austria is older than Prussia’. And aph-preussen corrected me. Said Hima had mentioned it. I asked where this information was from, and...
aph-preussen said: here is the source
“He is supposed to be around Austria’s age, just a little older, but he doesn’t look like it.”
According to Hima, Hungary is the oldest from the trio, then Prussia and then Austria.
So I was thinking, as far as Austria and Prussia are concerned, ‘That doesn’t sound right to me, but okay, Hima. Whatever you say, goes. You’re the boss.’
Then I saw this; a reply someone left once reblogging the sourced correction.
francis-bottomfoy said: Since a country’s physical age is different than their actual age and based off of the country’s economy and other things, maybe, even though the HRE is older than the Teutonic Knights, maybe, at the time, Prussia’s mental/physical age was older?
That’s when it finally hit me:
‘Is this about human ages???’
Because when I said Austria is older than Prussia, I meant the actual country.
Not human ages in Hetalia; not the apparent age of the human personifications.
In my original discussion, I meant Austria was a country before Prussia, therefore, if Germany and Austria are brothers (which is not a solid canon fact, and I’m shocked no one called me out on that) then Austria could, hypothetically, be Germany’s oldest brother - or at least an older-than-Prussia brother.
But okay, seeing the sourced information, in human ages, Prussia is older than Austria. Sort of like, I’m guessing, how Germany is 20, but America is 19, right? (Because as an actual nation, America is older than Germany, but ah, *fangirl voice* what if Germany is HRE? - That theory never ceases to confuse me. u-u But 19 or not, America has still spent more time on this planet; his human appearance and body is just that of a younger man than Germany’s is. Right??)
So anyway, yes, @ francis-bottomfoy -- The physical age (or human age, as I’ve been calling it) is based on more than just the actual age of the country. It’s not in direct correlation with historical information, and is completely up to Hima’s interpretation, so you’re right to say other aspects of a personification’s life affect their physical age. And someone else suggested to me, in private, a thought akin to yours, about HRE perhaps not growing up the way the other nations did, thus making him younger than Prussia, despite HRE existing before Prussia.
So using your aforementioned logic, I’m guessing there’s also a valid reason why Hima made Prussia older than Austria?
War-ravaged Prussia and his dissolution aged him? Making his physical age trump Austria’s physical age?? It’s an interesting thing to ponder, anyway.
Thank you so much for the feedback! :)
And finally, @ aph-preussen -- Thank you so much for the source. ;^;
I wish I would have realized you were talking about human/physical ages, and I wouldn’t have been so ashamed of myself for ‘messing up a canon fact’.
-- It’s true I didn’t know Hima ever gave human ages to that trio; so yes, I learned something. (And if I did read that information before, I forgot it. And I won’t hate myself for forgetting something; only for making mistakes. [Ah, but hours after writing this, while lying in bed last night, I did recall you asking once, on your blog, what human age we assumed each of those characters to be, and I remember responding, and heck, you may have given me this info back then! :/ Thank you epilepsy medicine, for erasing my mind every day - or so it feels.])
But in my original post, I guess I should have clarified: I was trying to think which brother would be Germany’s oldest brother, based on when each of his brothers, as nations, sprung into existence. Not based on their human/physical ages. (I really messed up by adding - at the last minute - the ‘APH’ in front of Bavaria, Saxony, and Hesse, and I did that, because I didn’t want people to know I was too lazy to go research when those three first came-into-being. *nervous laugh*)
So it’s kinda funny to me now. - I really beat myself up over all this. Cried, and the negative thoughts in my mind were on repeat, telling myself how dumb I am for not knowing canon, and I felt sick, and was ready to retire from ever writing another piece about Prussia again; fearing I’d only screw it up again. u-u
I swear to God, the things you realize while typing...
I was using history’s ages instead of Hima’s ages, so it wasn’t so much a mistake on my part, but a different way to calculate, and I’ve gotta stop expecting myself to be perfect (because I can’t be, and no one else expects it of me) but I’m still ashamed, in a way, so please just let me crawl into a quiet place.