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According to the spoiler on 2ch thread for Hetalia and twitter, they’ll release the third interval CD and the Nordics are the main characters. They’ll even release a character song to go with it. The release date is expected to be on the 25/7.
Finland created angry birds. Many people with smartphones get distracted
Finland has good snow rally drivers.
Finland has amazing heavy metal bands.
Finland had best snipers and even forced the soviets to bomb spam
Finland forged the nokia.
and then the great hockey players.
Himaruya, why did you made him cute, just why.
Because Himaruya is a Japanese, and Finland for Japan is apparently just like the landmass of cuteness. A few years ago, the Japanese Ambassador for Finland visited us here in our little Åland Islands and he told us about how for most japanese people, when they hear about Finland and the Finns, they think about Santa, Reindeer, Designs (ex. Marimekko, Ittala, Architecture), Moomins, Cold Weather and Hard-working and honest/straightforward people.
Finland is land of Christmas and Santa for them. Japanese tourists are one of the most frequent visitors in Rovaniemi/Lappland. Winter Wonderland, Northern lights and Santa. Those are the main focuses for attracting Japanese tourists to Finland. Marimekko and Ittala products, well known for their bright and bold colorful designs, are quite popular there and probably their largest market outside Northern/Western Europe. Moomins, not much I can say. But it’s safe to say that they like them a lot.
Then, we also have the whole “Moi Moi” and “Finnish is cutely weird!” things. Ahonen, Ahokas, Paajanen, Ikalainen? Mata Rainen. Anata wa Aho desu ka? (<- Youtube). You know now where’s that “Finns have a Weird Naming Sense” thing came from.
How can you not say Finland is cute when those are the most well-known image for Finland in your place?
And by the way, Himaruya also knows about the Metal and Winter War.
Once he answered a fan question about who’s the good singer in Hetalia world, and in that, he said that Finland and Sweden are surprisingly doing well in Rock, Punk and Metal Musics.
As for Winter War and his strength, I’ll just say that Himaruya has stated that Finland is strong a few times whenever it’s possible. Like in his comic book profile (“surprising strength in times of fire” and “a strong guy with a cute face”) and in the muscularity level of characters (“he’s not a beefy char, but he’s surprisingly strong”).
So Himaruya made him to be cute. And he seems to be quite set on it. Like the “Finland is surprisingly strong” statement, he has also written about “cute” a few times (Character reference map, Sweden character sheet, Halloween 2011). But he doesn’t just stop on it. In fact, I find him in canon to be one of the character with a rather well-balanced personalities and not straightly categorized into one stereotype/tropes, with some typical traits. Although unfortunately, most people thinks he’s a boring character because of that and then try to turn him as either W’fe or Moi Moi Motherfucker.
There’s nothing wrong for being cute and capable at the same time. In fact, it’s more intriguing, dangerous and admirable to be that way.
I understood what you wrote, but still not qualified to press the like button because I’m just that kind of passive reader/speaker(?), able to read and understand fine, but unable/having confidence to speak or write ;_;Why do you guys have such a low opinion of yourselves! I didn’t ask who speaks Japanese perfectly; I just got lectured a few days ago on how poor my own Japanese is :P I just want to know who has some knowledge of the language so I can gather you all up and cuddle you ♥
(Source: justalightrain)
I think Norway with shorter hair and without hairpin would be more like Finland, just with less smoother-looking hair (?).
Except for the facial expression, I find they look quite similar already. Especially in this pic.
But that’s just me, and we’ve never seen Denmark with his hair down (I think?), so…
(It’s kind of historical canon.)
Although, once in a while, I kinda like the idea of having a strict Moder Svea as Berwald’s Mamma, but most of the time, this is also my headcanon for her name.
And while I’m at this topic…
Aura, like Svea, is supposedly the name of the Finnish Maiden. I also have this headcanon that she stays in Åbo/Turku, which’s the Finland’s old capital and because Aura river is there, taking care of cultural stuff, while Tino stays in Helsinki.
Wendy…Well, because Peter and Wendy, of course!
http://digitalgrimoire.tumblr.com/post/18248170450/amylerajie-digitalgrimoire
Sweden’s who “speak” with cut off vocals l’k th’s are extremely annoying. Swedish is nothing like it, and even if Sweden had his mouth filled with snus (snuff), he wouldn’t sound like it at all. I’m sure that the vocal cut off is mostly used as a way to empathize his mumbling speech. Personally, although I’m not a fan of it either, especially when the writer/roleplayer abuses it or can’t handle it well, I still actually can see how it works and the reasoning behind it. Problem is, I never remember that it has been officially stated that he mumbles, to be honest. Even when he has something in thought, he keeps it for himself rather than letting them out as some indistinguishable, incoherent mutters. But he has an accent, yes, and that accent is, from I know, supposed to be rough and slower (and in “having a cold” like-manner). It can be rather different from the standard Japanese too. Not so seldom, I’ve had a rather hard time trying to understand what Sweden meant when I read some doujin and comics, if the author didn’t put the explanation or “translation” note for the word. It may be easier for the J-fandom to write Sweden’s speech, because they know how Tohoku dialect works. But to present it in the english-speaking work is not an easy task, I must say. I’m in nowhere close to expert in languages and dialects, so I can’t give a concrete answer for this matter. But this so-called Sweden’s accent is a part of his characteristic. Heck, this even applies to the other two Scandinavian characters, Norway and Denmark, as this also has been officially stated that three of them shares a same dialects. Although no one seems to give so much thought when it comes to Norway and Denmark. It’s rather ironic, though, because I’ve seen some works where Denmark makes fun of his speech, when they’re supposed to speak in a quite similar way (I said it as quite similar, because even Tohoku dialects can be different from region to region). So personally, I don’t think it should be left out or be replaced as in a plain normal english. But I think it doesn’t mean that you must strictly follow the Tohoku-dialect like in the japanese version of Hetalia. Rather than that, go to youtube or something, and try to find a video where a Swede/Dane/Norwegian talks both in English and Swedish/Danish/Norwegian and find a way to your own and more accurate style from there. Be aware though, that obviously each regions in Sweden/Norway/Denmark has their own dialects too. So, try not to just base your interpretation style solely from one video. EDIT: OH YES! To whoever made this UHO, I give you an extra credit because you’ve actually made me laugh a bit at the Snus part. In fact, Swedish tend to do exactly the opposite and a lot of groups of consonants magically become vowels, but, yes, I really hate the h’t’l’n sw’d’sh, I can’t understand it, even in italian and reading a whole fanfic like this is a torture. And adding the “translation” is confusing… Ah, maybe I should’ve make myself clear about what I meant by Dan making fun Sve’s accent. By that, I meant the RP-er said that Sweden mumbles too much and no one understand what he says, even him. If you goes to real life, it’s quite common that both Danes and Norwegians understand Swedish, but not the opposite, that the Danes and Norwegians are having hard time to understand Swedes (spoken). I remember once seeing an article where Swedes being made fun of because they demanded to have subtitles for Norwegians’ films, while the Norwegians are totally cool watching Swedes’ films without subtitles. Thank you so much for putting this into words because it’s something that drives me crazy as well! I just wanted to gently correct you on one little thing factually, though: Denmark doesn’t speak in a Touhoku dialect, he uses a Kita-Kantou dialect (Ibaraki, to be precise). I actually find this hilarious because Kita-Kantou dialects are known for being extra special crazy/quirky, which plays right into the general criticisms you hear leveled at the Danish language. (Also, it makes sense, since Denmark is sort of attached to mainland Europe but not really, in the same way that you’d never realize Kita-Kantou is part of Kantou. Why is the last train so early?? [/Tochigi woes]) If you ever need to actually show this to someone, I recently made a visual aid, so hopefully if they see it they can get it already orz Kind of related but not quite: fandom, y u no write fic about Iceland and Icelandic? He speaks standard Japanese in the strips because he’s embarrassed about how unintelligible his dialect is (which, when you consider Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, you wonder how his could possibly be worse), but it is his language nevertheless! Someone exploit this dramatic goldmine, please and thank you. [/language nerdery] Aaaaah, I see! Thank you for clearing that! Now that explains the -ppe and -be in Dan’s speech and the wild, energetic vibe in his japanese dub much better. Also thank you for linking to your visual aid post. Although it can be frustrating sometimes (like when you travel to a different region in your country and you can’t understand a thing the local says), dialects are fun and beautiful things. They make a good bait for some light, humorous purpose too. That’s why I like it when people bring the speech variations up in some International-setting works like Hetalia, as long as not it’s overused or overexposed. (Source: pixiv.net, via justalightrain)
I don’t really agree on the fact that Denmark should not make fun of Sweden’s accent, at least in fandom. The thing is, Danish and Swedish are quite different and Norwegian is a whole different accent, too. And, from what I read about those countries, they make fun of accents quite often.
submission by anon
Fuck off, OP.
Pochi X Hanatamago=OTP for life. They’re made for each other. Also, Netherland’s Bunny X Pochi X/-> Hanatamago = Best OT3 in Hetalia.
I ship Mr. Gangster Puffin with Nor anyway. or Ice.
Yes, Finland is adorable and sweet as pie.
No, this does not make him incapable of being a complete badass.
Hnn~
Not that I’m not agree with this, but if this was me, the Yes and No would be flipped since this kind of Yes and No is already like Universal Headcanon, anyway.
Yes, Finland’s capable of being a complete badass and No, this doesn’t make him unable to stay adorable and sweet as pie.
My reason for that is just merely because I’ve seen that apparently some of the Badass Finland’s extremists would also indirectly in some way make him as a foul-mouthed, cold-hearted, bitter and grumpy jerk, and that’s just too much out of character than the worrywart, pacifist Finny.
Oh ew, I haven’t had the misfortune of seeing that. I’m not sure whether or not I’d prefer that to the crybaby Bella-Swan-tier-helpless Finlands I’ve been seeing, but honestly both ends of the extreme are pretty terrible.
Ah yeah, I met these kind of so-called “More Accurate to Real-Life Finland” mostly through RPs, actually, and some DA-group. But I guess that’s kind of expected. And I absolutely agree that both extreme are terrible and shallow. It always makes the character, regardless who they are, one-dimensional, readable and unrealistic.
Sweden’s who “speak” with cut off vocals l’k th’s are extremely annoying. Swedish is nothing like it, and even if Sweden had his mouth filled with snus (snuff), he wouldn’t sound like it at all.
I’m sure that the vocal cut off is mostly used as a way to empathize his mumbling speech. Personally, although I’m not a fan of it either, especially when the writer/roleplayer abuses it or can’t handle it well, I still actually can see how it works and the reasoning behind it.
Problem is, I never remember that it has been officially stated that he mumbles, to be honest. Even when he has something in thought, he keeps it for himself rather than letting them out as some indistinguishable, incoherent mutters. But he has an accent, yes, and that accent is, from I know, supposed to be rough and slower (and in “having a cold” like-manner). It can be rather different from the standard Japanese too. Not so seldom, I’ve had a rather hard time trying to understand what Sweden meant when I read some doujin and comics, if the author didn’t put the explanation or “translation” note for the word.
It may be easier for the J-fandom to write Sweden’s speech, because they know how Tohoku dialect works. But to present it in the english-speaking work is not an easy task, I must say. I’m in nowhere close to expert in languages and dialects, so I can’t give a concrete answer for this matter. But this so-called Sweden’s accent is a part of his characteristic. Heck, this even applies to the other two Scandinavian characters, Norway and Denmark, as this also has been officially stated that three of them shares a same dialects. Although no one seems to give so much thought when it comes to Norway and Denmark. It’s rather ironic, though, because I’ve seen some works where Denmark makes fun of his speech, when they’re supposed to speak in a quite similar way (I said it as quite similar, because even Tohoku dialects can be different from region to region).
So personally, I don’t think it should be left out or be replaced as in a plain normal english. But I think it doesn’t mean that you must strictly follow the Tohoku-dialect like in the japanese version of Hetalia. Rather than that, go to youtube or something, and try to find a video where a Swede/Dane/Norwegian talks both in English and Swedish/Danish/Norwegian and find a way to your own and more accurate style from there.
Be aware though, that obviously each regions in Sweden/Norway/Denmark has their own dialects too. So, try not to just base your interpretation style solely from one video.
EDIT: OH YES! To whoever made this UHO, I give you an extra credit because you’ve actually made me laugh a bit at the Snus part.
In fact, Swedish tend to do exactly the opposite and a lot of groups of consonants magically become vowels, but, yes, I really hate the h’t’l’n sw’d’sh, I can’t understand it, even in italian and reading a whole fanfic like this is a torture. And adding the “translation” is confusing…
I don’t really agree on the fact that Denmark should not make fun of Sweden’s accent, at least in fandom. The thing is, Danish and Swedish are quite different and Norwegian is a whole different accent, too. And, from what I read about those countries, they make fun of accents quite often.
Ah, maybe I should’ve make myself clear about what I meant by Dan making fun Sve’s accent. By that, I meant the RP-er said that Sweden mumbles too much and no one understand what he says, even him.
If you go to real life, it’s quite common that both Danes and Norwegians understand Swedish, but not the opposite, that the Danes and Norwegians are having hard time to understand Swedes (spoken). I remember once seeing an article where Swedes being made fun of because they demanded to have subtitles for Norwegians’ films, while the Norwegians are totally cool watching Swedes’ films without subtitles.
