rpanons | Countdown to free!dom

Countdown to free!dom

Rundown:

rpanons is an anonymous community for role-play related topics. This place serves as a forum for game discussions, canon discussions, RP solicitations (ATP, game ads, open memes), and advice. The occasional off topic comment is inevitable, but please keep heated social and political topics to their respective communities. Posting them here will only get them frozen. Subsequent threads made to bypass a freeze will then be deleted.

Rules:

Do not post pornographic or shocking images.
Do not share private entries, plurks, chat logs, etc.
Do not use this community as your social/political/hatespeech soapbox.
Do not be redundant. One page does not need three or more threads on one topic/theme.
Do not treat this comm like your personal Plurk or Twitter. Off-topic happens, but it should be open for discussion and not just a play-by-play of your life. No one cares.

CONCERNS | RESOURCES

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Where are all the good players and casts? It always seems like I found out about them after they've dropped.

Name a nation and anons can respond with how they believe the character should be "done right" or what to remember when playing that character.

One thing people need to remember is that how Romano was portrayed in the beginning has changed a bit to how he is portrayed now. He's not as angry and doesn't yell as much. Sure he can lose his temper and flip out still, but he's calmer overall. He can be an asshole when he wants to be and doesn't really use tact, but if I had to pick one of the two brothers to deal with in a serious situation, it would be Romano.

He has serious trust issues. Most of the people he knew when he was younger were starting wars over him and Veneziano, but they wanted his little brother, not him (except for France who seem to always want Romano and Spain who himself didn't want him at first). Even now people think of Veneziano as "Italy" and he's "Romano." So of course he expects people to look down on him and not treat him with the respect he deserves and in his mind you're guilty until proven innocent. Spain has stuck it out with him for centuries and he still expects the guy to turn and ditch him for Veneziano one day, but Spain's continued loyalty gets him a lot more out of Romano than others do. He puts up with his overly affectionate hugging and touching, takes stupid pictures with him, and even agreed to marry him once (not that Spain really got that because he's Spain).

Romano he sees insults and slights against himself pretty easily (even when there aren't any) so he could like you, but as soon as he thinks you're about to abandon him or look down on him, he will be a total ass to you. If he's a jerk to you first then he can say he made the choice to get rid of you instead of the other way around. He projects his own dislike of himself onto others which is why he assumes most people are out to use him or will eventually abandon him. He's a guy who has a lot of emotions but is terrible at expressing them in a way that isn't volatile most of the time.

He's a hard worker when he chooses to be. Sure he likes being lazy and doing his own thing, but when Romano chooses to get down to business he's a serious worker and can get a lot done, unlike Veneziano who most people seem to try to work around instead. Prussia was surprised by this and instead of flipping on him for assuming he would be that useless, he just got annoyed and went back to getting his work done. And he hates Germany. I know a lot of people take this to mean he hates Germans in general, but really it's just Germany. Germany is the one who keeps influencing his little brother, who insulted him by telling him he wasn't "Italy" and overall just manages to make himself look like an ass unintentionally around Romano a lot. Some of it is because Romano is jealous of how much Veneziano likes Germany and goes looking for things to make Germany look bad, but another part is Germany's own awkwardness about feelings and social situations putting them at odds.

He also Does Not hate Veneziano. He finds him annoying and he drives him crazy but Romano does not really hate him no matter what he might say to him and others. If that were true they wouldn't spend so much time together and he wouldn't put up with how much of an idiot Veneziano can be. He's jealous of how easily Veneziano gets along with people and how so many people like him more despite Veneziano usually being on the side of things causing trouble in their own country (unwittingly or not). But he doesn't hate his brother or really hold it against him because Romano will find a way to blame people liking Veneziano on something wrong with Romano himself rather than thinking it's because everyone is stupid enough to like his little brother. And in fact if someone else threatened Veneziano he's more than likely to be right there in it with him (all the while blaming Veneziano for getting them into that mess when he should have known better). They're brothers. They don't always get along, but they still care about each other a great deal.

Have you played Romano before or do you just headcanon him a lot? Or write fic?

I have a couple friends in the fandom and we tend to ramble at each other a lot and reread the strips over and over when we notice something new. Character analysis is a favorite of mine, too.

That's really fascinating! I do the same thing from time to time and it is so much fun.

And on that note, I actually like the way you described him there so I just wanted to know if you ever put it into any sort of practice as well.

I really like Romano as a character, but he's not the type I think I could pull off myself. He's a walking contradiction and it's a hard line to follow without putting him too much on one side or the other. I'll just be over here admiring anyone who does it right from afar.

I totally agree! I've played him before and it was really hard to maintain consistency, as weird as that sounds. I strive so hard to stay in character and know who my character is but with him, it always was like WELL HE IS LIKE THIS BUT HE IS ALSO LIKE THE OPPOSITE OF THIS.

YES. He is a bundle of mixed signals. But he's less so in more recent strips which I like, because it shows maybe he's growing out of it or has calmed down enough to not take everything so personally.

I adore Russia, so my interpretation might be somewhat biased.

First, he's not the monster majority of the fandom portrays him as. He can be violent, he can be vicious, he can be spiteful, but really Russia's like a lonely kid that got bullied a lot as a child and grew up to be a bigger bully who still is trying to make friends with the people he picks on. He doesn't always realize when he's being like that either. Like when Teutonic Knight tried to convert him to Catholicism only for Russia to try and strangle him. Then he went home and wrote in his journal about how he thought they could still be good friends. Centuries later and Russia hasn't really changed all that much. He's older and I personally think more willfully ignorant of how his behavior affects people (there are times when it seems like he's doing it on purpose because he knows it will unsettle people, like some of the jokes he makes during meetings), but he's still that big kid trying to force friendships because he doesn't know how else to do it.

Russia grew up in a harsh, cold environment, got smothered by his older sister and terrorized by his younger one and both called it love. His views on affection and how to get close to people are very different from what we would consider "normal." Sure he'll beat someone down until they're bloody, but it's not usually because he's angry. It's because he thinks he's proving a point or helping show them how wrong they were. He abuses Latvia repeatedly and it's usually because he thinks he needs to teach Latvia how to behave and prove he's part of the family Russia envisions them all as. When he says everyone should become "one with Russia" he's absolutely serious in thinking of it like a family. Sure a family when he's in charge and can do whatever he feels necessary to keep everyone from leaving him, but a family nonetheless. And Russia really does believe he is the one that knows best, so why wouldn't he be the one in charge?

And even with this he can be easily embarrassed, like when he dressed up in that fraulein outfit France sent him for April Fool's Day and hid in the sewer at first because he didn't want people to see him. Or how he gets when Ukraine tries to hug him or when Belarus is too forward and intense about her affection. He's also very devoted to his people, to the point that his choices aren't always good ones, but they all come his desire to be good to them. In a jamjar type of situation I could see him worrying for a while about how his people would fare without him and if someone is taking care of them.

Russia has a temper. We see it more than once in different strips. But as soon as he blows up and lets it out, it's over. He holds grudges more than he admits to, I think, but he's also focused on "okay that's done, time to move on." He's not one for dwelling if he can avoid it. He's also the kind of guy that if someone told him "hey I want to be your friend" he would totally buy it at first. He's that desperate to have friends and people who like him. But if it turned out they were lying or playing him... There is nowhere they'll be able to hide because Russia when he feels hurt or betrayed is a violent Russia indeed.

He also has a huge thing for Lithuania. I'm not saying it's romantic because I think romance is not something Russia even cares about majority of the time, but I do believe he sees Lithuania as his "dearest friend" in a way and is very attached to him. Ever since they met when they were kids, Russia has been all about getting Lithuania on his side and keeping him there. When Lithuania went off to live with America he was sad and he was very happy when he ended up moving back with him when the Great Depression hit. So anyone who plays Russia really shouldn't ignore that. I wouldn't be surprised if jealousy about Lithuania's friendship with America is part of the reason America is one of the few people Russia goes out of his way to bicker and pick fights with (you know besides all of the issues they have with each other historically that go into it).

He also has a sharp sense of humor and can be very witty, but not everyone keeps that in mind. He is a smiley snarker and even when he's insulting someone he's got that smile on his face and usually has a way of making it sound more innocent at first look than it really is. He does it when he's being threatening too and that makes it all the creepier.

It's really about balancing Italy and not exacerbating his main quirks and personality traits. A lot of players seem to get the balance wrong when it comes to playing him. Some make him just cry out for Germany all the time and others make him a hyper, over the top moe blob. Italy is a very cute character, but it's not always in the most conventional ways (usually it's Spain, France, Rome, or Prussia find his failings endearing and adorable). While he's not the deepest thinker, he feels things deeply. That doesn't make him an emotional wreck or anything, but he has a lot more depth to him versus what most people perceive. I wouldn't say he was a deep character in general, but he's actually deep compared to most Hetalia characters as he's fleshed out a lot more. Italy has subtle character depth that takes looking at the series at a whole rather than just one episode at a time.

Common mistakes I see is the fact asking for Germany to save him too much. It's in certain situations where he 1) extremely dangerous and he freaks out 2) really small things like tying his shoes 3) Wants to get out of something and knows Germany can do it better than him. He rather run away for the most part, but if there is a woman around, he'll try to step up his game (probably failing, though). I also like to note Italy and Germany are still friends in the series and he's still friends with Japan. Germany and Italy have traveled to Taiwan and Turkey set in the modern day strips. Wikipedia's international relations shouldn't be your go to source to figure out Italy's closest friends.

Italy lives in his own world sometimes because he likes nice, pretty things and having fun. He's easily distracted by things he likes and goes at his own pace. When he needs to step his game up, he will if he has to. Most of the time he feels someone else will do it for him, especially Germany or another ally during their various war strips (WWII, WWI, various battle). I also see sometimes Italy being super affectionate to Romano but Romano being the only asshole. Italy has issues with his brother, and he's not 100% guilt free as while he is affectionate, he openly admits Romano is a dick. That doesn't mean Italy hates him, but they're not the most compatible, but Italy does try at least.

Definitely agreeing with everything you said here.

I think people sometimes forget about the strips about how cunning and tough young Italy could be. Even Germany was surprised when Turkey told him about Italy beating him up in the past when he was a kid because it's not what anyone expects of him now. Italy had the stores to be a stronger, tougher characters but he's also lazy and has no problem not doing things if he thinks someone else will do it for him. Growing up with someone like Austria probably didn't help since we all know how much Austria sucked at war and standing up for himself most of the time. And the fact he thought Veneziano was a girl for centuries. Italy's upbringing was not the easiest.

Also we see time and time again how much Italy does want to be seen as useful. He's just not that good at the things he does to try and prove it. Food? Italy is known to be a great cook and so he doesn't feel the need to prove himself there. In the military? He made a gun and focused on making it easier to clean instead of making it a more effective weapon. The things he thinks are important are not the things everyone else might prioritize. Where Japan focused on safe cars, Italy focused on fast cars that would make the owner look good. It doesn't make him stupid, because plenty of people prefer those cars to Japan's safe ones. It's just his different priorities and outlook on life.

He's even one of the few people who recognizes Canada on sight when England can't do it and they aren't even that closely connected. That shows how much of a people person Italy is and how he picks up on things that a lot of people ignore. They don't see it as important but he does.

http://rekindlemods.dreamwidth.org/1949.html?thread=264861#cmt264861

The most unintentionally ic reserve ever.

that anon was super weird.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Countdown to free!dom

AXIS POWERS HETALIA

FAVORITES

ADVICE/DOING IT RIGHT

SOUTH ITALY / ITALY ROMANO

Re: SOUTH ITALY / ITALY ROMANO

Re: SOUTH ITALY / ITALY ROMANO

ayrt

Re: ayrt

Re: ayrt

Re: ayrt

Re: ayrt

Russia

Re: Russia

NORTH ITALY / ITALY VENEZIANO

no subject

+1

SWITZERLAND

GERMANY

TAIWAN

AMERICA

Re: AXIS POWERS HETALIA

Re: AXIS POWERS HETALIA