yes. absolutely. did you know they married at least three times? their first personal union happened during the 14th century, and it made them the biggest country in europe at the time.

next one was in the middle of the kalmar union, i need to read more about it but apparently they decided to join eachother as a way to oppose denmark, obviously it caused big trouble and sweden and denmark almost went to war because of that.

and the most well know was their union of 1814, they were together for almost one century, and fortunately the dissolution happened in peace, from what i've read the citizens of sweden were very supportive of norway's wish for independence, so i like to think that while that counts as a "divorce", it was also the start of a more healthy relationship between eachother after centuries of struggle.

SI... dos de mis películas favoritas están ambientadas en esa época,, recomiendo mucho "silencio" de martin scorsese y protagonizada por andrew garfield, está basada en la novela de shusaku endo del mismo nombre, y trata sobre dos jesuitas portugueses que viajan hasta el japón tokugawa en plena persecución cristiana, buscando a un sacerdote que según los reportes neerlandeses, renunció al catolicismo y comenzó a trabajar para el shogunato.

es una película increíble, pero algo fuerte - además del tema de la persecución, explora los límites de la fe y las diferencias culturales. tiene un diálogo muy bueno también... en uno de ellos, el inquisidor de nagasaki (una figura histórica real que fue muy amigo de los neerlandeses) habla de españa, portugal, holanda e inglaterra como los 4 pretendientes de japón cuyos conflictos internos comienzan a destruir su casa, el sacerdote portugués le dice que ante eso japón debía elegir a uno de ellos para casarse, y la respuesta te sorprenderá (?)

en fin, muy buenas actuaciones, muy buen diálogo, cinematografía preciosa, pero si es algo densa y difícil de ver por la crudeza de la persecución y lo profundo del tema religioso, la recomiendo muchísimo pero teniendo eso en cuenta ☝️

la otra es kagemusha, el tema en sí no tiene que ver con los europeos pero son parte importante de la trama - fue dirigida por el mismísimo akira kurosawa, ambientada en plena era sengoku (guerras civiles del japón feudal), y cuenta la historia del clan takeda, uno de los más importantes de la época.

la trama gira alrededor de la muerte del líder del clan (takeda shingen), y de un ladrón que es seleccionado para reemplazarlo y vivir y actuar como él frente a los clanes enemigos para que no sepan que shingen había muerto. en la película salen otros señores feudales muy importantes de la época como oda nobunaga, quien fue muy cercano a los portugueses, además de mostrar lo determinantes que fueron las armas de fuego que llevaron a japón para determinar el destino de la guerra.

la premisa es super interesante y está muy bien desarrollada, tbh no sé si las referencias históricas la hacen más difícil de seguir pero son uno de los motivos por los que me gusta tanto FKDJGJDF así que igual la dejo recomendada, es que akira kurosawa es simplemente 🛐

no es película pero siempre voy a recomendar la serie shogun que comienza con la llegada del primer barco neerlandés a japón y el inglés que llegó con ellos (?) lo único malo es que tiene un sesgo muy inclinado hacia el inglés pero más allá de eso es buenísima también ✨

estoy segura que debe haber más películas así y las encontraré eventualmente 😾

en general los asiáticos, en especial los de la sinoesfera - me llaman muchísimo la atención tanto a nivel individual como en sus relaciones entre ellos y con personajes de otras regiones, y aunque le he dedicado más tiempo a la historia y cultura de vietnam y taiwan, me costaría mucho elegir uno que me interese más que los otros tbh (obviamente sin contar a kiku ah)

y bueno,, también el token white boy entre mis favs... países bajos... there are several things wrong with him and i must study them..

hace muchos años me dio con rolear a hungría, de vez en cuando la vuelvo a escribir y me gustaría también volver a darle un repaso a su historia, se me hizo muy interesante en su momento ✨

mención de honor a francia - aunque admito que mi interés en él tiene más que ver con su nyo (?) después de empezar a escribirla y crearle un lore me empezó a llamar más la atención el personaje de francis 👐

tbh tengo varios personajes que me gustan mucho (alfred, arthur, feli, etc) pero creo que por el momento solo a esos les pongo más atención a la hora de leer sobre su historia y darle vueltas a su caracterización.. espero que no se me haya pasado ningún otro 🧐 gracias por la pregunta ruru!! <3

hi anon!! first of all sorry this took long, i forgot to check this account 😭 but yes! i have a few Opinions and Thoughts about them..

i think they see in eachother traits they admire and both posses, such as being very disciplined and hardworking, and since they have a cordial and respectful relationship, i can see them enjoying each other's presence especially during work.

however... if i'm not wrong it's said in canon that ludwig has a hard time understanding kiku, and i really get why: lud is very straightforward, direct, and understands things quite literally, while kiku is the opposite - he rarely expresses his opinions, tends to sugarcoat things, has difficulty saying "no", and in general is very prone to express himself in vague ways. (except for the times his repressed feelings win and he ends up having very dramatic outbursts, which is something that happened to him in canon while having a disagreement with ludwig kgjfjg)

in my interpretation this might be an obstacle for them to develop a deeper bond and might cause misunderstandings between them. in any case, i like to think that kiku has a genuine fondness for ludwig (and might even feel sorry for him at times for considering that his work as a nation and the role he plays inside the european union forces him to carry a burden way to heavy at his young age), while ludwig admires him and is always eager to learn from him.

on a more shallow note, i like how they look next to eachother and their height difference, i also like to think that kiku has a soft spot for big men who seem intimidating but are softer than they look (?)

lastly, i have to mention that i love their roles in the cardverse,, king of hearts ludwig married to queen of hearts kiku is such a great concept omg it has sooo much potential, i can see ludwig developing a crush on kiku, or maybe getting nervous when they first met - their first encounters might be a bit awkward, but little by little they end up developing a strong relationship and bring their kingdom to prosperity...

so in conclusion while i find it a bit difficult to see them as close friends i do think their relationship can be very interesting once it's explored, but like i said this is my interpretation so anyone is free to disagree! and thank you for the question anon ! ♡

HELLO YES I HAVE A LOT.. an embarrassing amount i must say

• they met during a time when kiku was especially lonely and troubled, making him develop feelings for port quite fast. port was always very kind, generous and showed interest in kiku and his culture (you can learn about sengoku japan by reading portuguese sources of that time, and in my experience they tend to talk about them in a very respectful way), he was someone kiku could admire while still seeing each other in equal terms, and someone who gave him a glimpse of hope during a very chaotic and difficult era.

• actually, port was kiku's first love (or kind of... i believe he had a childhood crush on another certain peninsular kingdom, but that's a topic for another time). in any case, he was still his first in many other ways. (after all portugal was the first western country to get in contact with japan).

• port taught him how to smoke, tobacco was first introduced in japan through the portuguese, and the japanese word for tobacco is one of the many japanese words of portuguese origins.

• he also taught him plenty of other stuff including about the world itself - kiku was hopeful about the idea of traveling to all those wonderful places port told him about once the civil wars in his home were over.

• kiku was genuinely interested in catholicism, i believe something about it must have resonated with him in some way - after all, japan had an important amount of believers and the jesuits were allowed to have a church in kyoto (the historical capital and home of the emperor, the descendant of amaterasu, etc etc)

• speaking of which... nagasaki is their child, she was baptized and grew up under the care of the jesuits for a few years. with time she lost some of her traits inherited from port and was instead influenced by the netherlands (ned is not the step father he is the father who stepped up,,)

• still, port took great care of little saki during the time he and kiku were together (as a fun fact, nagasaki was built using both lisbon and kyoto as models). but of course, he wasn't allowed to see her once japan's isolation period started.

• i'm still not sure if kiku actually believed port was gonna hurt him and make him one of his properties something the protestants (especially the dutch) claimed that could happen if japan kept allowing christianity, but i do believe he realized port wasn't gonna give him the loyalty he needed. starting from the fact that the japanese thought the portuguese weren't gonna give up the practice of their religion while in japan, unlike the dutch who complied in everything the japanese asked them to do.

• kiku was very hurt after the break up and it made his trust issues worse. in my interpretation he was young and in love, and port had met him at one of his most vulnerable points... but he understood he had to do it both as a duty to his people and the divinity of his soul.

• they met again after japan opened up the country. portugal was one of the select group of countries to get a treaty with japan alongside the powers of that time. the treaty was written in japanese, portuguese, dutch and english. do whatever you want with that information (?).

i might have missed a few,, sengoku/early edo japan is my favorite era to research so i have read a lot about these two - they really are a very interesting combination and i encourage anyone who likes any of these characters to look up a bit about their relationship!! 🙏

i do!! while i'm not too sure how their dynamic works, i have to say i like how they look together (black/blond hair ships 🔛🔝) and how their personalities contrast eachother while having some traits in common like the fact that they're both introverts used to isolation, that makes me believe they could balance eachother pretty well, although i wonder if 🇨🇭 has the patience to deal with 🇯🇵 vagueness and extreme politeness,,

i don't known too much about mr switzerland so i'm mostly speculating from what we've seen from them in canon (i've said this before but i really like how 🇨🇭 told him to speak his actual opinion during 🇯🇵 first appearence, he seemed so exasperated 😭 can't blame him for that tbh... please speak your mind kiku)

HOLA SI YO FELIZ DE HABLAR DE ELLOS!! en mi interpretación india es una de las personas a las que kiku más estima y admira, además de sentir un profundo agradecimiento por gestos que tuvo con él cuando más lo necesitaba.

creo que ellos se encontraron un par de ocasiones durante la infancia de kiku (siendo india una de las pocas naciones que recuerda como era kiku chiquito, además de yao y tal vez vietnam). se sabe que durante el período de historia clásica de japón hubo un intercambio cultural entre ambos, más que nada a partir de la religión.

varios de los dioses que forman parte de los “siete dioses de la fortuna de japón” tienen inspiración directa en deidades del panteón hinduista, el cual llegó a japón durante este flujo de transmisión de conocimiento desde el continente asiático y por sobretodo con el impulso del budismo que comenzaba a instalarse en japón.

también se sabe que un academico y monje budista originario de india se quedó a vivir en japón durante el siglo 8 y se convirtió en una figura de tanto renombre que el emperador le pidió que fuera parte de la ceremonia de inauguración del gran buda de nara, uno de los monumentos budistas más importantes del país.

pienso que kiku quedó de inmediato muy impresionado con él, y recuerdo haber leído que previo al concepto de “asia” en japón existía el concepto de los “tres países”: japón, china e india, quien era llamado “tenjiku” a partir del nombre chino del país y que significa algo como “el centro del cielo”.

tal vez también se vieron gracias al contacto en común con portugal, se dice que debido a la existencia de goa, se creyó que el cristianismo que los portugueses llevaron a japón era una nueva fé proveniente de india, o bien una variante del budismo.

en fin, debido al aislamiento de japón la siguiente vez que volvieron a verse las cosas habían cambiado mucho para india. en mi interpretación el shock que le generó a kiku ver que también había caído bajo el yugo del imperialismo occidental debió ser una de las cosas que radicalizó su pensamiento… si tanto china como india, a quienes alguna vez admiraba como los pilares de la civilización, habían caído, ¿quién podía asegurarle que eso no le pasaría a él también?

el impacto de salir a ese nuevo mundo debió hacerlo sentir “abandonado” o desolado en un nivel hasta espiritual tbh.

los sentimientos de kiku por yao son muy complejos, pero en el caso de india pienso que el respeto por él se mantuvo. previo a la sgm existió en japón un interés por las ideas nacionalistas indias, y muchos de sus líderes y académicos viajaron a japón lo que fue interpretado por inglaterra como un “apoyo” a la causa independentista. tanto así que expresaron formalmente su preocupación al respecto en medio de la alianza anglo-japonesa (uhhh). india fue uno de los pocos obstáculos que tuvieron esos dos, y se dice que el apoyo japonés por su causa estuvo “oculto” pero se mantuvo a lo largo de la existencia de la alianza.

una vez terminada la sgm, india tuvo con japón varios gestos de solidaridad. entre ellos, protestaron contra la ocupación norteamericana de japón y por ello se restaron de firmar la conferencia de san francisco de 1951, a nivel civil, donaron elefantes al zoológico de tokio con el fin de animar a la población y sobretodo a los niños… hay testimonios muy lindos sobre lo que eso significó para ellos ❤️‍🩹

tengo el headcanon que en medio de su recuperación, fue india quien le enseñó a kiku a rezar otra vez 🤲

me estoy extendiendo mucho así que como datos adicionales, pienso que kiku es muuuy fan del entretenimiento de india y de su gastronomía, de hecho la única interacción que han tenido en el canon de hetalia ocurrió en ese episodio de halloween en donde los países mostraban sus películas - cuando fue el turno de india, kiku dijo algo como “solo india-san es capaz de hacer algo como esto! ✨” creo que eso resume bastante bien cómo se siente respecto a él, le tiene mucha admiración y un profundo respeto 🤲

yes you get it!! i share the same thoughts, i think he still feels a very close connection to nature, and maybe a part of him still hopes he will catch a glimpse of a youkai or hear the faint voice of a god while sitting in the solitude of the mountains...

and yes that's what i believe about his feelings for abel too! i think their relationship might have been a bit rocky at some points of their early interactions (or right before the seclusion period which must have been very stressful for kiku), but once he noticed his artistic sensibilities he definitely started to see abel in a different light, i can imagine that was one of the things that made kiku fall in love with him. (the artistic bond between the netherlands and japan is another great topic tbh 🙏)

i like to think he tries to follow a more traditional lifestyle outside of work, engaging in activities that allow him to live in the moment (something perhaps related to the "ichi-go ichi-e" concept?), but yes, that sort of things are a bit incompatible with what his work life demands from him and what it means to be such a big nation in these times.

(as a side note, there are some very interesting articles about how climate change has disrupted the study and practice of haiku and is also threatening other traditions related to the change of the seasons, definitely the sort of stuff that can make kiku feel an existential dread)

aside from that, maybe spending a night drinking also counts as a tradition for him (?), tries to takes part in every festival he has the chance to (big or small), and in his home his bath time is sacred and cooking is something that helps him relax ✨

thank you again anon 💗 and no worries! i really like to read what others think so if you want to keep sharing with me i'll be more than happy!

AAAA THANK YOU SO MUCH 🥹🩷 that's such an honor omg.. kiku is one of my fave characters ever so i put a lot of care in his characterization, knowing this means a lot 🩷

that's a great question and something i do think about a lot - i think he's quite a nostalgic, and has a really hard times to let go of the some of the old ways... in my interpretation some of the things he misses about his old life are his ability to see, hear and talk to yokais and other gods, and the less-hectic, more slow paced way of life he used to have. he is known as a workaholic (taking it to dangerous extremes) and someone who is always busy and rarely takes breaks, but i don't think that's part of his nature... while he is someone that puts great efforts in everything he does, in my interpretation he yearns for a more "contemplative" way of life.

for example, during the edo period i imagine him as a samurai who dealt with government tasks but had enough time to enjoy plenty of other hobbies that thrived during the period: haiku, ikebana, xilography, kabuki theater, etc etc and even time to learn about western knowledge just for the pleasure of it. similar to this, his childhood during the heian period was also slow paced and oriented towards the enjoyment of the arts and the contemplation of nature.

as for the things he doesn't miss... i think he is glad he can get along with others on more equal terms (with a few exceptions...) and develop friendships with fellow nations, i also think he is thankful his bosses aren't as severe as they used to be (and there is no need to be as scared of them as he used to).

OHHH I LISTENED TO IT AND READ THE LYRICS AND... YEAH I CAN SEE IT (i have to admit it tho.. the title of the song reminds me that the anglo japanese alliance was already over by that year... my mind went immediately to Them)

this turned out to be longer than i expected so i apologize for that but tysm for the question! if you have any others don't hesitate to ask again 🫡✨