i have a few.. don't jump me i have my reasons

1. giri/pan (it feels like a nothingburger to me, i don't think they have chemistry, as far as i know they don't have a significant shared history and in general i never understood the appeal of it considering how popular it used to be)
2. ni/chu (i have a lot of feelings about these two - to me their relationship is way more interesting when it's interpreted as familiar, doomed siblings etc etc also i don't think they're eachother's types /hj)
3. ni/wan (kind of a similar reason, it's hard for me to ignore their recent history together)

yes they're all kiku ships.. yes he is my favorite yes i'm very picky about him

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)