Meanwhile, In GerAme

Note: This theory will make use of Freudian theory. While I recognize that Freud’s ideas do not bear much contemporary relevance, that shouldn’t take away from the fact that many of his concepts (e.g., erogenous zones, childhood memory repression, catharsis) are nonetheless employed by Hima in the series. The purpose of this post is to give some insight into the psychologies of the characters.

Terminology I’ll go over: Psychosexual stages, causality, regression, fixation.

Yes, that’s right. Freud’s ideas are very much prevalent in the series. A big area of his work was analyzing the impact of childhood on personality development. Freud believed in causality, meaning that who you are as an adult can be directly traced back to your childhood.

How you’re parented and brought up is the most crucial factor. I don’t need to go into this in too much detail, but basically, we go through five stages of development titled: Oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital.

For this specific post, we only need to focus on the early stages of development, which focus on sensual (sensory) pleasure and stimulation, often for the purposes of soothing and experiencing relief.

Each stage has corresponding needs. If these needs are not met (under-gratification) or if they are too easily met (over-gratification), then the person develops a fixation.

A fixation essentially means that the person is stuck at that level of development, which causes them to develop a problematic and unhealthy personality type.

However, it’s only when that individual is met with confrontation or a stressful situation that they regress back to the stage in which they developed this fixation. The stress causes them to revert back to the age where their needs weren’t met, and as such, they engage in childish behaviours.

For example, if you get into an argument with someone and they start behaving selfishly, like a toddler, then you have every right to poke fun at them for having Daddy or Mommy issues. Or, there are those who bite their nails and pick at their lips, something akin to the soothing acquired from sucking one’s thumb as a child.

Where America Fits Into This:  

America’s tricky in that he’s fixated at two stages of development. I’ll go over each of them separately.

Oral Fixation: 

The oral stages revolves around gratification through the mouth and lips. Tension and stress in an infant is reduced as they feed from their mother. It soothes them.

Over-gratification, as in the infant is fed too much or too easily, results in an oral-incorporative personality. In this case, it would apply not to how America was parented, as England wasn’t present in his life for long periods of his childhood, but rather the time that he spent in isolation.

In isolation, America only looked after himself. That’s why when he emerged from this isolation he came across as selfish and egocentric to the other nations. He had gotten so used to satisfying his own needs that he had trouble putting others first. [Please note that this is not the case in modern strips.]

Now, consider how much responsibility America had when he became a major manufacturing power in the years leading up to WW1.

Then, consider how he evolved to the status of a superpower following WW2. That’s a lot of responsibility for one nation to take, and as such, you would think that it would have caused America a lot of stress.

Well, it did.

Ex: He’s visibly distressed and disappointed in himself when the Stock Market crashes in 1939. He assumes all the blame given that it was his economy that had propped up the global market at the time.

While he doesn’t always show it, a lot of America’s habits help reduce this tension and stress. Not only that, but it helps him cope with the loneliness and lingering effects of isolation that he still feels when interacting with other nations.

Oral-incorporative personalities reduce tension through oral activities (duh). This would include things like smoking, drinking a lot, chewing gum, eating excessively, and being overly talkative. Hmmmm.

Doesn’t America overeat?

Isn’t America an overly-talkative person that just so happens to get on a lot of the other nations’ nerves?

Notwithstanding that America is completely aware of the fact that he’s not well-received in the international community?

This brings me to my next point. An oral-incorporative personality-type also possesses a high degree of gullibility. Following Freud’s allegory, they swallow everything they’re told.

With America, this gullibility of not being able to read the atmosphere is an act. 

It’s nothing more than a running gag and shouldn’t be taken seriously, especially if you look closely at his interactions with the other nations.

It’s a stress-reducing mechanism that allows him to avoid confronting reality, given how stressful his position as a superpower must have been. Point is, he’s more than capable of reading the atmosphere as seen in the example above. He simply chooses not to.

Similarly, America also embodies aspects of an oral-sadistic personality type. Under-gratification, as in the infant is not fed enough, results in this personality type. It means that they were weaned off early from their mother.

These people tend to be verbally abusive, or, in less serious cases they use “biting” sarcasm. Note again the use of an allegorical reference to infancy.

That said, we know that the nations often get frustrated with America for making reckless mistakes. More importantly, these mistakes are attributed to his youth and inexperience.

In that case, America being weaned off from England too early and not learning the proper ropes of how to conduct himself in accordance to tradition would be what is most relevant here…

Not many people know this, but America can be verbally abrasive (it’s not quite abusive) and sarcastic. The whole arc covering his and Canada’s childhoods are full of heated arguments between the two of them.

Ex: America gets frustrated with Canada when the latter refuses to let him see England following the Revolution.

The argument ends when Canada slams the front door on America.

Ex: America explodes at Canada upon hearing that the latter intends to gain his independence by being on good terms with England.

It’s the softness of the approach that doesn’t sit well with America. Canada is still fairly sheltered at this point, and hadn’t experienced/ travelled the world like America had. Put another way, Canada comes across as too idealistic to him.

“Is your head a field of flowers?!” 

Ex: Russia gives America a ticket to Siberia for his birthday. America blows his nose with it.

Anal Fixation:

[Yes, laugh. I didn’t come up with these terms.]

This stage of development centers around potty training. As toddlers gain control, autonomy, over their bodily functions, the authority that their parents assert over them regarding how they regulate these functions is met with hostility. They want to enjoy their newly-acquired independence and go whenever they want. The parents are the only barrier to that. Essentially, this stage is a battle of wills between the stubbornness of the toddler and their parents.

Sound familiar? Does the American Revolution ring a bell?

As America became increasingly sufficient, he realized that England’s authority was too imposing; it restricted his growth and freedom as a nation. He therefore pushed back and fought for his independence, his autonomy.

America fits best with an anal-retentive personality type. Similar to how a toddler will sometimes refuse to relieve themselves, these individuals tend to withhold their emotions and hoard their belongings. This also ties in nicely with how America pretends not to read the atmosphere.

Ex: America’s been shown on a few occasions to hold his tongue and not say what he really thinks.

Ex: He has a problem with over-manufacturing [hoarding].

Ex: While this doesn’t apply in the present, when he first came out of isolation, America would only do favors if it served to his own benefit.

Notice how similar that is to the behavior of a toddler. They lack the intellectual capacity to think of anyone but themselves.

Lastly, in terms of stress, you’ll also notice that America is often equated with child-like imagery.

This is especially the case when his ideas are challenged. The stress of it causes him to revert back to childish behaviour.

Ex: When proposing a world defense plan, he crushes bundled spoons to intimidate other nations into agreeing with him.

England berates him for this childishness too.

In sum, America’s childish behaviour is often an unconscious reaction to stress than it is arising from selfishness. Not only that, but a lot of his ‘obnoxious’ habits (e.g., eating excessively) can be attributed to him relieving his stress through them.

Part 2 あめりか50州全部描いたよ The fifty states of America drawn

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HELP I HAVE TO GO TO SCHOOL TOMORROW FOR MY ORIENTATION //CRIES RIVER ARGHHHHH

that being said i probably wont be able to upload the next part tomorrow. but we’ll see

Also tell me if i messed something up XD

Part 1

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Misconception: Finland has a sweet, child-like appearance, so he must be weak.

Reality: Finland’s a warrior, and is noted to possess immense strength and resilience.

Ex: He’s so cold-resistant that General Winter has no effect on him. They even get along. 

Ex: He’s visibly disappointed when Sweden calls off a battle during one of the Polish-Swedish wars. Not to mention that he was excited about engaging in the fight.

Ex: His patience isn’t endless. It’s said that if you poke him ten times, he’ll forgive you, but once you pester him enough, he’ll get you back ten times harder. 

[There’s a slight difference in the translation, but it’s basically the same thing.]

Misconception: Like Iceland, Finland’s one of the tamer Nordics.

Reality: Finland’s actually quite strange.

Ex: He loves nature and enjoys being covered in grass.

Misconception: He’s Sweden’s wife = Sufin is canon.

Reality: He is not Sweden’s wife. Sufin is not canon.

Sweden calls Finland his wife, but Finland does not accept the label.

The two do share a close relationship though, enough for Finland to refer to Sweden as “Swe.”

Although, Finland is often just as perplexed by Sweden as the other nations are.

Misconception: He’s a jittery, nervous, and shy person as a result of being overshadowed by the other Nordics.

Reality: He’s soft-spoken, and quiet-voiced, but is far from quiet. In fact, he can be a very talkative and bubbly character at times. Nonetheless, he is said to be overshadowed by the other Nordics.

Ex: Finland jokes with Germany about his boss, despite the fact that the humour goes right over Germany’s head.

Ex: Finland’s noted to be a particularly nagging person.

Bonus Facts:

He lightly teases Iceland and once asked the latter to call him Big Brother.

He’s offered to act as a father figure to America.

He loves saunas, sweets, and alcohol. Bonus if it’s all combined together.

He’s had the hardest time out of all the Nordics, likely stemming from the fact that he’s historically been an underling to other nations.

Misconception: He’s weak

Reality: Far from it. The man’s been through a lot, emotionally especially.

Ex: During a heated argument with America, he’s able to close the door on him. It’s hinted that Canada may have super strength, but he dismisses this.

Ex: He’s more than capable of standing up from himself if necessary. Even a pushover has their limits.

Admittedly, he does excuse a lot of Cuba’s hostile behaviour towards him. It’s only because Cuba mistakes him as America, though.

Ex: Canada’s emotional insecurity can easily be seen as a strength. It takes a lot out of a person to remain so generous and friendly, despite being historically ignored and neglected by those close to you.

Misconception: He and America hate each other.

Reality: While they may have had some extremely rough times together, they’ve done more than enough to make up for this.

Covering the progress of their relationship in more detail will require a whole series of posts, but these are the basics.

Despite growing up together, they argued a lot following America’s independence. Britain acted as the most prominent wedge between them. For some time before, they also couldn’t see eye-to-eye due to profound age differences.

Canada held resentment towards America for being selfish, reckless, and too imposing.

Ex: America actually pushed for Canada to gain his independence. This didn’t occur until quite a while later, obviously.

Ex: When Canada does get his independence, they reconcile for the better…after having another argument of course. Siblings will be siblings.

Although, as you’ll see soon, they still argue over the same things. Canada’s main tooth to pick with America is his egotism and boisterousness.

Ex: America knows little about Canada’s pop culture, meanwhile Canada knows everything about his.

Nonetheless, the two are still extremely close…

Ex: America helps Canada figure out his identity. Canada’s multiculturalism [in the strips only, of course] is inspired by America’s own diversity of cultures and ethnicities.

As such, Canada suddenly finds South Korea and China staying at his place. The East Coast of Canada, especially Vancouver, is where many East Asians immigrate to.

Ex: America is jealous of Canada’s natural ability to get along with everyone.

Ex: The two co-host an online cooking show together. Yes, it’s called “America’s Cooking Channel, but Canada is on there enough times to deserve the title of a co-host.

Misconception: France is his father.

Reality: France temporarily acted as a big brother figure to Canada before England took hold of his jurisdiction. As such, this would explain why Canada inherited France’s hair. It’s mere influence. They’re not blood-related.

We’ve already see with Hong Kong how one nation’s influence can impact the physical/ personality traits of another.

Ex: England’s influence on Hong Kong’s personality. England also cursed Hong Kong to have thick eyebrows like him.

Ex: Seychelles was originally supposed to have one thick eyebrow and one thin one to represent French and English influences on her nation’s culture.

Misconception: Canada’s invisible for no reason.

Reality: There’s a real historical reason for this. Being a dominion, Canada was often overshadowed by Britain.

For instance, in WW1, other than the occasional Canadian Red Ensign flag – which also had a Union Jack on it – Canadian troops fought under the Union Jack. In return, Britain absorbed much of the credit for the feats accomplished by Canadian soldiers.

Ex: America thinks that Canada hides in Britain’s shadow. He holds back from saying this out loud.

Later, Canada’s shown to recognize this on his own. 

Ex: Canada wanted to sign a treaty with America, however he was too scared to talk to America directly. He was worried that America wouldn’t be able to see him.

Bonus Facts:

He cried when Seychelles remembered him as being part of the G8.

He served in the French army at Waterloo.

Maple syrup is his fuel.

He smoked marijuana.

He once yelled at America for three hours straight, pointing out his faults. America cried afterwards. Predictably, this was quickly fixed with a burger.

He aged at a much slower rate than America.

Tino you…

Daily Hetalia Fact #43

Canada managed to get Prussia addicted to maple syrup.

Transparent bald eagle America, his national symbol

Russia!

WHAT

France

Name: Francis Bonnefoy House: Ravenclaw Age: 14 Year: 4 Blood Status: Half-blood Patronus: Peacock Hobbies: Art and Photography Anything Extra: He is in constant battle to be top of his class. but a certain teachers pet Slytherin (England) keeps getting in his way of making top marks. He comes from a very rich family and expects to have everything handed to him. But if you can get past his posh exterior he is nice…when he wants to be.