[Discussion] More Pairing Talk

[kecen.livejournal.com]

Okay, since pairings are a popular subject, I have several questions for you to answer.

1. What is your definition of a pairing? Do the two have to be in love?

2. Do you have multiple pairings for one character? If so, how do you balance them?

3. Do you consider that a nation might be involved with different nations at different time periods?

4. Do you wish Hetalia canon portrayed the characters in your favorite pairing differently?

5. Are there nations you'd pair your favorite nation with, if only they were in Hetalia?

Er, read on if you want to hear what I have to say.



1. My definition of a pairing is two characters who interact with each other without completely hating each other. They don't have to be in love 24/7, but they should have chemistry. For me, nations enjoy a power struggle even if they don't like seeing their people getting killed (America and Russia?). They can be "just friends" too. Sometimes a story works better without the romance...

2. My favorite character is China. Considering how long he's lived, I can't see him with just one person all throughout his life. I have several pairings. I balance some of them by saying "this is China's ex" (Mongolia) but others with "this is a military love triangle" or "he's just friends" or maybe even "he has multiple copies of himself". Foreign relations also fluctuate throughout time, so a nation who is friendly today could be an enemy tomorrow (for those of you who like England/Japan, this holds true).

And for those of you who like Japan, he gets multi-paired a lot, doesn't he?

3. I definitely think so. In real life, China's foreign relations fluctuated quite a bit during the last century not to mention the entirety of history --- the PRC was enemies with the Soviet Union for several decades before the fall of the Soviet Union and reestablishment of ties with Russia. I also pair him with the Roman Empire, who is sadly deceased. And then there's Germany and France, who hated each other but now have cordial relations.

4. I read quite a few comments about how the relationship between China and Japan is often idealized in canon and in fanworks. I'd like to see a more manipulative, bitter, passive-aggressive Yao who was never quite able to put Kiku completely under his sphere of influence...

5. I'd pair China and Iran together, along with Mongolia and Manchuria (historically speaking, the Manchus). I'd pair Vietnam and the Phillippines.

Comments

[furansuu.livejournal.com]

I would pair...

everyone avec moi


;)

[furansuu.livejournal.com]

or perhaps


just


spurnedambition avec moi

[lamarchareal.livejournal.com]

Si, this is a great pairing.

[omgimsuchadork.livejournal.com]

1. If they "work," it's a pairing. If they don't "work," it's a crackship. WRT this fandom, extra points for making it "work" with historical accuracy, and the more historical evidence, the better. No, they don't have to be in love (but it's preferred, because I'm a romantic sap).

2. Yes. I just like what I like. I can even split up OTPs because I'm flexible that way.

3. Absolutely. It's called "history." ... Or "France." XD

4. The way Hetalia canon portays my favorite pairing is why I started liking it in the first place.

5. See answer to question 1.

Questions 1, 2, 5, and the first half of 3 are applicable to any of my fandoms. I mean it.

TL;DR AHEAD!

[vurmie.livejournal.com]

1. I don't think you have to be in love to be in a pairing.

2. For some reason, I'm extremely butthurt about pairing the "bottom" in the relationship with anyone other than the top. Yeah, idk. It's an unexplainable feeling.

3. It bothers me when people always see good national relations as a sexual thing. Can't two countries just be bros?

4. "Hey Russia"
"Hey America I got you condoms what's up how was your day"
"Right, see you later"
Raaage. This isn't so much disliking their relationship portrayal as it is wishing they had more screentime together, but ehh.

5. When Scotland comes in I will pair him with Taiwan and be satisfied with my heritage.

+1

[phantasiagirl.livejournal.com]

3. It bothers me when people always see good national relations as a sexual thing. Can't two countries just be bros?

Thiiiiis. This so so much.

[darth.livejournal.com]

1. What is your definition of a pairing? Do the two have to be in love? A pairing is either a romantic relationship or a (excuse the term) fuck-buddy relationship, for me; mainly the first. Occasionally it's an alliance-pairing, where they may not be in love but they're sort of seeing each other because of a national alliance? If that makes sense, haha.
Generally, when I 'ship something, they're in love, but there are some that are just hi-let's-shag or they hate each other/have a very strained relationship (i.e. America/Vietnam... fff)

2. Do you have multiple pairings for one character? If so, how do you balance them? Generally I have a favorite for each character (i.e. Spain/Romano) but I'll ship other things as well (i.e. France/Spain and Belgium/Romano). I tend to think of the nations as being pretty lax when it comes to monogamy; though they may be in a committed relationship, if they both agree to sleeping with someone else once in a while it's generally no big deal.
that and happy sparkly pixiv fanart of America/Vietnam makes me want to die. orz.

3. Do you consider that a nation might be involved with different nations at different time periods? Of course- that's part of the fun (or, in some cases, angst) of shipping everything. :'D

4. Do you wish Hetalia canon portrayed the characters in your favorite pairing differently? Some of them (I have a lot of favorites... orz). coughSweden/Finland Don't get me wrong, I love the characters, but as my mother (aghast) pointed out- Finland's should-be-stereotypical-personality really... isn't. lol, thank god for fandom! I would love to see them with a lot more tension on occasion... (aside from OHGODYOU'RESCARY)

5. Are there nations you'd pair your favorite a canon nation with, if only they were in Hetalia? YES. So much. I can't list all of them, damnit. Portugal/England, Scotland/France, Brandenburg/Prussia, America/Mexico... uhhh I know there's more but I'm derping out here, haha.

[xblkdragonx.livejournal.com]

1. If I like it, then it's a pairing for me loool. I'm not picky. I would prefer if they are in love because I'm a sap like that, but no, they don't have to be. Sometimes I like the tension between characters. The most memorable relationship to me are the kind where you can't discern between hate, love, and fascination.

2. I do have more than one pairing for my characters. I generally have an OTP that I focus on, but once in awhile I indulge with reading other pairings for my OTPs. The reason mainly has to do with #3

3. I do think that characters have relationship with different nations in different times. Heck, I don't think there concept of relationships are even monogamous. Generally, speaking I don't think "nations" have that kind of relationship with each other because it's gonna cause complications later, but on a fanon level they're old...it's not hard to imagine they had multiple relationship. A person typically lives to be 80. And I've seen people only 20 years old who've gone through 4 relationships already.

4. More interaction please?

5. I think Studio Deen already paired up my fav nation with the nation I want him to be, so I'm cool with it.

[starshards.livejournal.com]

1. What is your definition of a pairing? Do the two have to be in love?

Two characters romantically and/or sexually involved with one another. And no, not always in love, though I tend to prefer it~


2. Do you have multiple pairings for one character? If so, how do you balance them?

Usually yeah. SpainxRomano is my OTP, but I love EnglandxSpain, FrancexSpain, SpainxAustria too. I love FrancexEngland, but I also like PrussiaxEngland, EnglandxGermany, SpainxEngland, DenmarkxEngland and so on too.

3. Do you consider that a nation might be involved with different nations at different time periods?

Of course. It would be naive to think that two nations have loved only each other. In a lot of ways, nations get close, and then drift apart. Maybe not so much with Poland, and Lithuania, but with the old hegemonic powers of England, France, Spain and Austria, I think that they were free, and easy with their relationships with casual sex for most of history because that was just normal to them, and just how they worked. I purposefully left Prussia out, because I think that he was too much of a baby to go through with having sex for a long, looooong time.


4. Do you wish Hetalia canon portrayed the characters in your favorite pairing differently?

Not really. I already adore the relationship between Spain and Romano. Their Hetalia relationship is what made me love them in the first place.


5. Are there nations you'd pair your favorite nation with, if only they were in Hetalia?

I'd pair England with Portugal in a heartbeat, but I wouldn't pair him, or her with Spain.

[derjmeister.livejournal.com]

1. A pairing is whoever I smash together while making dinosaur noises RARARAR

2. Sure. SuFin/SweDen are both cool with me and I also like: Sweden X the world. Nordic orgy X Nordic orgy (ie, any and all of the Nordics X any and all of the Nordics). RusLiet/PolLiet. Anybody Hot X Anybody Hot. I'm not that picky. Historical accuracy is cool, though. Like, some of these weird pairings out of left field make no sense to me. POLAND X CUBA YEAHHHHHH.

3. Sure. Love makes the world go round. Sex makes it go round faster and with more herpes.

4. Canon, no. Fanon, sure. It'd be cool with me if more people drew Finland as his actual age and gender. I mean, people can do what they like to do, obviously. I just never saw him as girly or 12.

5. I'd pair everybody with Djibouti. United Arab Emirates X Djibouti. o how high can you build your tower for me bb?

[darkinsanity-13.livejournal.com]

1. What is your definition of a pairing? Do the two have to be in love?
Generally, my definition of a pairing is a romantic, or close to romantic, relationship, but I might use the word in other situations. But in that case, I would elaborate on it.

2. Do you have multiple pairings for one character? If so, how do you balance them?
I like Canada/Ukraine, and I like Prussia/Canada. What do I do to balance them? OT3 them of course! It's pure crack, but I adore the idea.

3. Do you consider that a nation might be involved with different nations at different time periods?
Sure. They're nations for crying out loud; they'll have different alliances with different people at different times. Just because they're in a relationship with one nation doesn't entirely mean they can be purely commited to them except under special circumstances. Also, I think they might differentiate between who/what they represent and who they - as people - are. For instance, Matthew the person may not like Ivan, but Canada the country and Russia are good friends. Do you know what I mean? Of course, I'm all for bromance and close friendships; that's what got me into PruCan. I can totally see Canada, Prussia, Netherlands and Cuba all getting high in Canada's basement for the hell of it.

4. Do you wish Hetalia canon portrayed the characters in your favorite pairing differently?
Canada/Ukraine has yet to be portrayed at all, so yes, I would like that changed XD But otherwise, I'm not really nitpicky. The characters are how they are.

5. Are there nations you'd pair your favorite nation with, if only they were in Hetalia?
Maybe not "pairing", but I really want Ireland and Scotland portrayed and be hanging about with Canada. Because, you know, apparently more Canadians trace back to those countries than they do England (mine included).

[joatamon.livejournal.com]

Seconding 3 SO HARD. I love a lot of countries' relationships without romance coming up.

[yuuago]

1. Not in love, no. Not even emotionally interested necessarily. Only physical interest is fine. (To be honest, I never thought about it much)

2. Oh, yes. I pair Estonia with several different people, and Finland as well to a smaller extent. Est/Fin might be my favourite but different pairings with each are interesting too (and sometimes much easier to find fanwork for)

3. Yes. Times change, conditions change... nations might be enemies at one point and incredibly close in another. Or close at one point but then prevented from interacting with one another at a different point. So it seems reasonable to me that a nation might be Involved with different partners at different times.

4. No, I like the way canon portrays Estonia and Finland's interaction; it's part of why they're my favourite (but definitely not the only reason). I just wish that there was more of it!

5. Yes... I find the idea of Estonia/Georgia interesting.

[vurmie.livejournal.com]

I love bro fanart.

I have a dozen subfolders for it in my Brotalia folder.

I am proud of my hoarding skills.

hopefully in b4 WANKWANKWANK

[joatamon.livejournal.com]

Another srs bsns discussion, hm?

1. My idea of pairing involves some degree of love or lust or crush. Platonic relationships are something else entirely. Example: I really love America and Japan's relationship, but as I consider it platonic I wouldn't call them a pairing.

2. Multiple pairings, hm... You know how Ditto can breed with any breedable Pokemon? My thoughts on France's romances are very specific: he'd sleep with anyone, love them in his own way, but never specifically fall for someone or want to settle down. Example: France hitting on England is awesome to me, France having grudgesex with England is awwwwright, but if it turns into a big love confession, I will probably stop reading the fanfic right there because that's just not how he rolls.

Also, with all those ladies Italy surrounds himself with, I'm not buying that Italy's a virgin. He could just be saying that because he's a good Catholic boy...

3. Human beings change mates in their lifetimes, some more often than others, and it makes perfect sense that a country would, especially since their histories are so much longer and more complicated than that of any individual, right?

To me, Hungary and Prussia would seem to be each others' first love! Is it just me who thinks that? But as adults, HungaryxAustria all the way. <3 *sigh* They have such a quiet, sweet way with one another.

I ship Italy with both Holy Rome and Germany at their respective points in history, but so long as the jury's out, I consider those two the same character in separate yet overlapping roles.

4. My favorite pairing is GermanyxItaly, and I'll just admit it straightforwardly that probably 90% of what I know about these two nations is from Hetalia or Hetalia-related research. I really like their relationship as it appears in canon. In fandom, however, I tend to get a little sick of Germany being automatically amazing in bed and Italy being all shy and reluctant. The awesome thing about these two is that Germany's a fighter and Italy's a lover, and when Italy tries to fight or Germany tries to love, the results are hilarious. See Buon San Valentino for what Germany's like when he's in love, my goodness. XD

But damn, I'd like to see a lot more of how America and England really feel about one another. The manga has d'aww moments for those two here and there, but most of their truly emotional scenes are during or before the Revolution, not later. I don't expect it to be fluffy times or anything like that, but seeing something a little more meaningful than idle bitchfighting would be great.

5. Hmm...there's nobody else I'd really pair Germany (my favorite) with. How about America x Martha's Vineyard? Nah, that's...kinda incestuous somehow.

Stephen Colbert x America, now...that'd be fucking heroic.

Re: hopefully in b4 WANKWANKWANK

[joatamon.livejournal.com]

Totally off-topic here, but "What Is Love" just started playing on Pandora and synced up with my icon perfectly. This is awesome.

[uhohyo-yo.livejournal.com]

1. When it comes to Hetalia, I won't ship any pair that doesn't have at least some significant historical background to defend it. I don't see any country loving a significant other for their entire existance either, so love doesn't exactly fit into my equation. It's cute and all, but I just don't see it working out.

2. I ship world/world so long as both countries have Historical bg's (excluding a few minor ships I don't care for, even with evidence) so yes. I do. I have my 5 specific OTP's that I adore to death, but I'm not biased against anything else. I guess you could say that I balance it out by not having the mindset that my OTP is the only one that works, and that the country is devoted to one specific other. They play the World Field, I guess.

3. Definitely.

4. No, not really. As far as I see it, the Fandom is for shipping and the Canon is for Canon. It's more fair for everyone if it stays relatively the same.

5. Yes! Take Ireland for example. If sensei ever created a Canon Ireland for the comic, England/Ireland would be a new OTP. Same goes for Spain/virtually any of Latin America, England/Scotland, etc.

Re: hopefully in b4 WANKWANKWANK

[vurmie.livejournal.com]

I can't believe Germany's a virgin, but I accept it because the awkward-virgins-together-with-Italy headcanon has stuck and won't leave.

Re: hopefully in b4 WANKWANKWANK

[joatamon.livejournal.com]

Germany's been getting by all this time on his massive library-o-pronz. One can only hope that, when he does eventually lose it to Italy, he doesn't think he needs dogs or scat to complete the scene. -sigh- Goodness knows I love Germany, but some kinks just terrify me.

Re: hopefully in b4 WANKWANKWANK

[vurmie.livejournal.com]

Is it sad that I'm sure my library-o-pronz is bigger?

Re: hopefully in b4 WANKWANKWANK

[joatamon.livejournal.com]

No; what's sad is that all I know of you is your posts on this comm and I already thought that. XD

[alliterations.livejournal.com]

5.

Just. 5, so much.

[amayaz.livejournal.com]

1. What is your definition of a pairing? Do the two have to be in love?

One of my personal rules for shipping is they have to make some semblance of sense. And for Hetalia that means taking their personality as well as history into account. A basic framework for the history is fine, and then basing the emotional part on their personalities. Love might only come into play for more modern things when conquering land is no longer a concern, and the world is a bit more open.
But when they're in love, it's definitely love.


2. Do you have multiple pairings for one character? If so, how do you balance them?

With a series that has this many characters it's crazy not to mix and match depending on certain viewpoints. But to be honest, after a while of looking at different shippings, I seem to have cemented my favorites. Though I'll still look at other types I'm no longer into if it's node nicely enough. And I try to make it a rule to never bash another person's ships.


3. Do you consider that a nation might be involved with different nations at different time periods?

Oh yes. Considering how long they've lived who wouldn't? Granted some would have more then others, and how they personally define 'involved' is up to their character, but overall it's a good yes.


4. Do you wish Hetalia canon portrayed the characters in your favorite pairing differently?

Considering I'm a fan of RoChu…a little bit more of their times of friendship. And I've love to see a hint of PrussiaxCanada in the canon comics, New Prussia anyone? Other then that I'm fairly happy with the ambiguity most characters have with each other.


5. Are there nations you'd pair your favorite nation with, if only they were in Hetalia?

Not really for pairings, I'm happy with what I have.

/bored

[cowlicious.livejournal.com]

1. What is your definition of a pairing? Do the two have to be in love?
Nah, but I do prefer there to be love in the end. I'm not so much into the RAPERAPEIHATEYOURAPE stuff. There are enough pairings that don't seem to work but they look good together anyway, but I guess I'm just really open to anything. I don't need to see porn of everything though. /justsaying

2. Do you have multiple pairings for one character? If so, how do you balance them?
Prussia. I basically ship him with everyone, no idea why. He just seems to fit with everyone for me. Not all pairings though, sometimes just bromance. But I have to admit, I mainly ship him with Germany and Russia. Mainly mainly with Germany. Germany is such a mother towards Prussia it's cute;; I don't think this is balancing though pffft. I just read fics, doujins and look at fanart with any pairings involving Prussia.

3. Do you consider that a nation might be involved with different nations at different time periods?
Yeah~ definitely.

4. Do you wish Hetalia canon portrayed the characters in your favorite pairing differently?
Not at all. I'm fine with how they are canonwise and actually prefer them being that way. I would like to see more bro time with the German brothers though, it's adorable.

5. Are there nations you'd pair your favorite nation with, if only they were in Hetalia?
Nope, but I would love to see Luxembourg. The Benelux siblings would be complete then~ ♥♥♥

[dark-tenshi17.livejournal.com]

1. What is your definition of a pairing? Do the two have to be in love?
A pairing is when two nations are in a relationship that goes beyond politics. It doesn't have to be lovey-dovey but they are willingly together and 'dating'.

2. Do you have multiple pairings for one character? If so, how do you balance them?
In my little fandom-thingy with my friend our pairings are pretty much set (though we do have a foursome). I do write the characters in multiple pairings though. You just have to keep in mind which characters and how they react around each other. When doing any one character with different partners its easy enough to keep it either separated from other pairings or make it a part of a history for that character and tie the pairings into each other, or at least mentioned.

3. Do you consider that a nation might be involved with different nations at different time periods?
Oh yes, and perhaps even different nations at the same time. They are countries after are all politics are politics, but at the same time there's a difference between a political ah 'get together, so to speak, and an actual relationship with another nation.

4. Do you wish Hetalia canon portrayed the characters in your favorite pairing differently?
Sometimes but that really depends on comic to comic too. I find at times the characters may act a little different than what would be considered 'normal' for them. But that's usually if they haven't made an appearance for a long while

5. Are there nations you'd pair your favorite nation with, if only they were in Hetalia?
None that I can really think of.


I can't think of anything else at the moment and I have to catch a bus for class so that's my view for now!