taiwan ✿ application @ gargleblasted
OOC
name Yana
are you over 16? Yes
personal LJ konbini
e-mail healblock at gmail.com
timezone GMT +8
other contact plurk | konbini, aim | cat puns
characters already in the game Hime Onizuka (flagrances)
how did you find us? Through friends.
IC
character name Taiwan a.k.a. Republic of China (If a human name is needed, I go with 林曉梅 Xiǎoméi Lín.)
fandom Axis Powers Hetalia
timeline present day, 2011
age The Republic of China has been around for 100 years, but Dutch Formosa was established on 1624, so she's around 387 years old, but she could have been around for longer. She appears to be in her teens, around 16 to 17.
~*magical*~ abilities and strengths
A nation isn't a concrete, tangible idea - it is an institution, a people. Thus, while Taiwan can be harmed by physical means, their effects don't last as long as they would on a human - a paper cut would take a significantly faster time to heal. Even so, there are other means by which she can experience negative effects - economic problems make her ill and war causes her skin to wound and scar. Nothing can kill her except the death of the concept of the state she represents. She is immortal in this sense, but I'm willing to compromise that if need be.
Taiwan appears to be stronger than the average nation. In canon, she accidentally causes more harm than help to China by popping one of his joints back in place.
She is also capable of super optimism and sunshine happy rainbows.
how would they use their abilities?
Ooh, she doesn't really know, but she will do her best at whatever she can do, you know!
Seriously though, she will do everything in her power to one, look out for herself and her people, two, annoy China and three, not get bored on the Thor.
appearance
No full body colored pics in canon for her so here! ... actually no I like the canon design with the stockings more.
In Portuguese, Formosa means beautiful, and true enough, Taiwan lives up to her name. She has black hair and amber eyes, though sometimes they are colored pink in official art as well. She has a droopy haircurl that somewhat spirals at the end and she frequently wears flowers in her hair. Plum blossoms are her favorite. She is not as flat as people assume she is! Not very graceful and ladylike in manners, but cute and always has a smile on her face. Often full of energy and has a spring in her step. She can be found wearing the latest in Asian fashion or her pink qipao and skirt. Taiwan is practically one huge moeblob.
Okay, not huge, she stands at 4'11". Also, her stomach is small, but it can hold so much more than that. So much more.
background/personality:
irl history/timelines 1 2 3 (the last link is the most concise and comprehensive) | drama CD translation | comic appearances (incomplete) | tvtropes (ctrl+f taiwan)
Hetalia is a series with many characters, but Taiwan is one who hasn't been focused on so much, so some of this is me making headcanon by merging her culture and history with her character.
When I say Taiwan, what's the first thing, that comes to mind? Bubble tea? Jay Chou? Is that all there really is to this country? Hey, Taiwan's not a proper country! Let's not be so hasty! With regard to sovereign states, there are three kinds: nations, micronations and Taiwan. Huh? What makes Taiwan so special? I'll be discussing that and more as I talk about the personification of Taiwan. She'll get mad if you don't know anything about her, you know.
First things first: beginnings, and small countries have small ones. Before any invaders tried to claim the island for themselves, Taiwan was uncharted land, known to China as a place full of savages and headhunting barbarians. Some travelers who lose their way and end up on her rocky shores noted her potential as a treasure trove of resources, but did nothing more. China never bothered with her officially, thinking her to be a troublesome place, as some Chinese pirates did settle there at times. There was a presence of Japanese pirates in Taiwan as well, and Japan once even attempted to make Taiwan a tributary state, but failed because she was illiterate at the time and couldn't read his letter! And so Taiwan lived with aborigines and criminals in this way for a while until the Netherlands came along. Now, it was the Age of Exploration in Europe and the Netherlands was looking for nations in the East to trade with. He couldn't lose to Portugal, after all! After a failed attempt to trade with China which ended in a few villages set on fire, China told him to head south, where he'd have better chances of finding some place to establish a trading port. Surely this European country would stop bothering China once he sent him to a savage island like Taiwan, right?
But Taiwan didn't like the Netherlands! At least, at first, but things managed to calm down once he managed to kick out Spain, who, after settling in the Philippines, had his eyes on Taiwan as well. Netherlands bothered her less than Spain, anyway - that guy was always going on about Christianity. Her spot on the map made her a good trading port for Netherlands between Japan and China. Some of China's people, looking for jobs, went to Taiwan to work for the Netherlands. Soon, the Chinese made up most of Taiwan's population. This peace didn't last, though. Taiwan was upset with the taxes that Netherlands imposed on her. Not only that, but some trouble was stirring up in China with the ruling Ming dynasty, and once the Manchus established the Qing dynasty in the capital, Ming loyalists fleed to Taiwan. Their leader, Koxinga, kicked Netherlands out and ruled Taiwan for a while before China was able to subdue him. After that, well... China's emperor at the time, Kangxi, didn't want to occupy Taiwan, saying she was useless. Not very experienced in maritime warfare because they were from the north, he and his Manchu descendants would eat their own words later on. Despite that, he was convinced to integrate Taiwan into China as a prefecture of the province of Fujian, and China became Taiwan's boss and taught her many things, like how to wear clothes oh my god Taiwan put a shirt on.
But again, she didn't take to her new boss so kindly. Taiwan's early years with China can be summarized in the quote, "every three years an uprising; every five years a rebellion". China never actively ruled Taiwan - immigration was restricted and the island's development left much to be desired since his boss wanted to prevent fueling future rebellions. Even so, Taiwan was always a troublesome island. Her people and immigrants from the mainland would often be in conflict with each other, and this was why China's bosses found Taiwan difficult to govern. Because of her pirates and aborigines who stirred up even more trouble, foreign invasions and expeditions were also frequent: occupation by England during the Opium War, Japan's expedition in 1874, America's failed expedition a few years earlier, and again, occupation by France during the Sino-French War. Time and again, China's bosses would say that reckless, rebellious, savage Taiwan was not their responsibility, which made Taiwan a vulnerable target for the other nations who had interests in China. One of them was Japan.
Japan's had his eyes set on Taiwan for quite some time, but the Mudan incident in 1871 provided him an opportunity to strike and send an expedition in 1874, but retreated before China send in reinforcements. Now, this made China and his bosses rethink their strategy. Was Taiwan really as useless as he thought she was? He started putting a considerable amount of effort into treating her better after the Sino-French War, but by then, it was too late. After the Sino-Japanese War and the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, which stated that China had to cede Taiwan and the Pescadores to Japan in perpetuity, Japan successfully invaded Taiwan in 1895. Of course, Taiwan didn't want to go without a fight and established the Republic of Formosa, declaring herself independent from both China and Japan. This republic wasn't popular with any nation, and Japan crushed it a few days later. At this point in time, Taiwan had to choose the lesser of two evils: China descending into chaos in the hands of the backward Qing dynasty, or Japan rising up as a new world superpower. The Taiwan elites chose the latter.
Now, changing bosses was getting annoying! During the few times she did fight back, she fought hard. Japan even considered giving her to France once, but no, he was an imperial power and he had to set an example. Taiwan was going to be the empire's centerpiece colony and he made sure that she was the best of the best. Although her citizens were second class to the Japanese, Taiwan's state improved immensely under Japanese rule in many aspects. She was modernized and educated - but for a price. Japan prohibited the use of Mandarin Chinese in the years approaching World War II to boost Japanese nationalism. If this kept up any longer, Taiwan was in danger of losing her identity as well. While she braved bombings by American aircraft at home, many of her people fought in the war, and some were even considered the best soldiers among the rest. By 1945, having lost the war, Japan let go of his colonies and occupied countries, Taiwan included. But by then, Taiwan was left in a state of ruin.
China took over once more, but his bosses this time, the Kuomintang, were worse than the ones she had during her time with Japan, so they fought. A lot. In 1947, it got to the point where it gave her some of her own scars, like the one China has across his back. Soon, after the Chinese Civil War and the rise of the Communist Party of China, the Kuomintang brought five million people with them and fled to Taiwan to establish the Republic of China there and begin martial law. Taiwan's history is just full of foreigners bringing their issues to her place. While the Kuomintang and the CPC were fighting it out, Taiwan and her people were in the middle of it all living by strict rules and trying to scrape by. Although Taiwan's boss at the time didn't trust America, his government was allied with him, and aid from the young nation poured in until Taiwan's economy was stable again. They call it the Taiwan Miracle, but she worked hard to get where her economy is today!
As the years passed and her economy boomed, Taiwan still felt insecure about her status as a nation, especially after 1971, when her government lost its seat in the UN to the People's Republic. She had not only external problems, but internal struggles with authoritarianism as well. Eventually, though, the first Chinese democracy was established, and Taiwan was free to say whatever she wanted to say, whenever she wanted to. But what now? She's still a small, unknown country that most countries don't even see as one. Since she lost a lot of diplomatic relations in the past years, she was going to lose international recognition at this rate! She had to act fast. Of course, she wasn't going to be difficult and ask countries to establish relations with her again, that would be silly. So, she started practicing pragmatic diplomacy - that is, establishing de facto embassies and unofficial relations everywhere. With this, she rebuilt her self-confidence and made herself more known to the world. Things were looking up.
Many years have passed since then, and even after recovering from a huge typhoon from two years, Taiwan is a small, wealthy island country that's still going strong, with her economy earning her a place in the Four Asian Tigers. Of course, she still gets into squabbles with China over legitimacy, independence, weapon sales and Hello Kitty merchandise, and until now the politics between them is very touchy and tricky, but when they aren't arguing she treats him like an old man and teases him about it. She doesn't hate him all the time, contrary to popular belief - it's shown on occasion in canon that she tells him to be more mindful of his health. In Asia, he gets along with Japan the most despite their history, and sees him as, if not a crush, a good friend. In canon, she even looks forward to showing him her Halloween costume and looked very happy when he told her she was cute. He's a figure she looks up to and wishes to emulate sometimes, which often ends in wacky results. As for her and America? It's complicated, but she's trying not to depend on him so much anymore. Honest! But enough about her and other nations - let's talk about the character herself.
In between being at constant gunpoint and a crisis of identity and diplomacy, Taiwan has little time to sulk. When she has a thousand irons to pull out of the fire, you don't hear her whining. Winners don't whine. She can't show anyone any weaknesses, you know. She simply can't afford to be sad! This is why Taiwan has this easygoing, upbeat attitude about, well, everything. No matter what life throws at her, she'll just take it in stride. One thing at a time! Worrying too much makes you too stressed, too old. It's too troublesome. Anyway, why worry? She has no time for that! She still has to come out strong, even stronger. When she loses focus and loses hope, it'll be all over. Luck hasn't been on her side for some time, though, and you can't see it on her face, but she doesn't enjoy it in the least. In fact, she dislikes being surrounded by negativity. Anything that tries to pull her down will get a well-deserved roundhouse kick. She says it herself - she doesn't believe in bad fortunes. Everything will be okay, she knows it!
Taiwan is a sweet, cheerful girl who is always full of energy. Having been dragged around by the nation as fast as her legs could carry her to get to a photo studio, Vietnam can attest to that. She is the Taiwan has a very positive outlook on life: in one comic strip, she says, "The Taiwanese don't believe in bad fortunes!" Or a more accurate translation on my part: "The Taiwanese don't believe in bad results!" She looks at the brighter side of things even when they are turning out for the worse. When Japan gets a bad fortune himself, brimming with optimism, she tells Japan that, well, they can just forget about it, you know, and try again next time! Anything depressing rarely gets her down.
... Unless they're Asian dramas, those are the saddest. Although not as dramatic as Korea or neurotic as Japan or China, Taiwan can be emotionally impulsive and capricious. Taiwan is often quick to react when someone provokes her and her actions are often juvenile in doing so, but forgets whatever transpired just as fast afterwards. On the rare event that she does feel sad, it won't take too long before she jumps back up on her feet. Sometimes people wonder if her speedy recoveries do happen as fast as they seem. When constantly in a sticky situation, remaining optimistic and cheerful as usual without holding any grudges is just the less stressful thing to do. It's what gets her through her days.
The small island nation doesn't sweat about the little things and think of plans for the long haul - it comes with her carefree nature. This leads to occasional recklessness and clumsiness. Yeah, no, she is the epitome of grace. Also, pigs can fly. She's very feminine and girly, but a little rough around the edges and not exactly ladylike in manners. In the comics, she uses assertive and masculine sentence enders in Japanese, which give her speech an enthusiastic and energetic feel. So she's not the perfect bride she appears to be, but that's okay, she's painfully adorable. She uses onomatopoeia, contracts words to make them catchier - all in all, her speech and mannerisms are what most people call cute. Even when she uses that occasionally sharp tongue on them.
In spite of political issues and controversy, Taiwan is an easygoing girl. In the April Fool's 2011 strips, when someone attempts to blackmail her into wearing a dress with an embarrassing photo of herself, their plan is thwarted when she laughs it off and comments, "It's a well-taken photo!" She doesn't sweat about the small things and lives life one day at a time. That doesn't mean she's lazy, though. It's quite the contrary - she values hard work and ambition and is very earnest with everything she does. She's got to be - she has big dreams! And to reach her goals, she's got to put in a lot of effort and have a lot of patience! ... She still gets mad when the mail doesn't arrive in time.
Peace and quiet is something Taiwan appreciates very much, but during peacetime, things can get boring, you know? So she drags her friends around town have a little fun, goes to a new restaurant to pig out in and finds the strangest aspects in the most mundane things. Fun, in fact, gets her mind off most things. Taiwan is into fashion, music, gossip - she is very trendy and up to date with the latest fads and happenings, but this also means that she tends to get bored of things easily. That might possibly explain her tastes and brand of eccentricity... which share an uncanny resemblance to Japan's. She hates the monotony of everyday life and tries to make each day a little more special than the next. It's always fun being with Taiwan! Unless she's sitting at home watching a sappy Rainie Yang drama for the umpteeth time, crying her eyes out and asking for another tissue to blow her nose with when Show Luo's character tugs at her heartstrings. She loves living vicariously through stories and often sticks her nose in other people's business. No, she doesn't mean any harm by it. Yes, she has nothing else better to do.
But when Taiwan helps you, it's not out of boredom, nope. While it's true that there are benefits that come with giving and giving, she is generous when it comes to gifts. While she does have a lot to give, she also lives by the principle of giving back tenfold what was given to her. Even if the person has done only one small thing for her, she'll remember it. She'll keep it to heart and return the favor someday - it'll be even bigger and better! This nature of hers is also because she gives importance to harmonious relationships and she likes making people happy. This way, she'll get a lot of friends! It would help if no nation was stopping them from approaching her.
Because of this, there are times when Taiwan gets bouts of loneliness and insecurity. Though usually honest and frank, she hides those little feelings behind her smile. It doesn't mean that her cheerfulness is fake - it's only better to move on than dwell on things like that. Besides, a smile always looks better than a frown. She smiles, even at strangers. She is often shy with them, but that's natural. What doesn't come naturally to her is how she musters up the courage to speak to them. It's a little difficult, but she understands how important it is to have friends because of her political situation and is always willing to make more. She wishes she was more popular so that the whole ordeal would be a lot simpler.
She won't ever let those thought get her down, though. As easygoing as she may be, she's a strong-willed girl when it counts. It's to the point where she is stubborn to a fault - she asserts herself to the best of her abilities and haggles and will stop at nothing to get what she wants if she knows it's good for her. This gets her out of depressing situations! Unfortunately, when coupled with her childishness and temerity, it also gets her in a lot of trouble. She's capricious in her half-baked decisions, in other words, she doesn't think things through and often changes her mind. There are a few things she has her mind set on, though - being recognized by everyone as more than the little island off China's coast and being able to stand on her own without anyone's help.
have you read up on how the game works? Yeah. Flaming Ferret! You can earn money by missions, stealing and being hired as a freelancer. But stealing is bad...
1st person sample
sample #1 - written for reimsacademy
[ The girl on the screen is obviously pissed. ]
Hey, you! Don't run away from me, Mr. Bully. Mama always said that the locker rooms were a bad place to hide in, you know, 'cause you catch guys making out in 'em and the place makes you smell funny afterward. Anyway, you are mean and rude! Picking on my brother like that... You've got some nerve! That settles it. I'll see you on the rooftop after school. And don't bring anyone with you, or I'll call you a coward and make all of them cry for their mommies. You better show up, alright? Or I'm telling - [ ... Right, her brother's been reprimanded about favoritism too many times. ] - someone!
sample #2 - for Taiwan with memories from discedo, written for demeleier
[ There's a high-pitched voice on the other end, humming a catchy pop tune. At the same time, the likes of Hello Kitty and Cinnamoroll appear on the screen as pink doodles while she plays with her new device. ]
Ehehe, the communicator thingy is smaller than before. I wonder if it's indestructible? [ Taiwan plays with it a little more until she finds the video function. The girl who appears in place of her drawings surely isn't older than seventeen - sixteen, even. Surely. ] Wah, the resolution is clearer! Cool... [ She can see herself on the screen, so she reacts to her own image and touches the rowan crown on her head. She can't help but be pleased. ] Wherever this is, it's better than Fortuna. This place isn't run-down, and there are plants, for once! They gave me this neat crown, too. Hee hee, they're a lot more hospitable than that other city. Those scientists oughta learn, you know.
Aiyo, I wish I could go home again soon, though... I might miss that concert. [ Because clearly that is the number one thing she should be worried about! Taiwan's all smiles the whole time. ]
... Wah! Oh. H, hello! Um, I have a few questions!
sample #3 - written for gargleblasted
[ There's a shot of a pair of amber eyes before it zooms out to a cute girl on the feed. She's trying to look intimidating, but her voice is so high and she looks so adorable, her threats are hard to believe. ]
Attention! Attention please! This is an important announcement, you know. Hng, if you don't listen, I'm gonna get really, really mad!
Ahem.
I'm looking for a place where I can buy some Pocky.
Oh, and um... all of my people, I guess. I can't find them, hehehe. I'm sure they're okay, but I really need to know where they are! Oh, I mean... find them at once and stuff! Make haste or something! And I still want Pocky. Wah... I like the strawberry ones, but chocolate is fine, too. 7-Eleven always has them. Ah! Do you know where I can find a 7-Eleven? There's got to be one here, right? They're everywhere!
3rd person sample
"Um, hello, Mr. Elevator!"
No response. That was strange to Taiwan - the elevators here always did speak. Not that they'd ever hold her long enough for her to hold a proper conversation but she knew. She tiptoed facing the door, hoping that maybe, the elevator could see her, or hear her, or find her more intimidating in this way.
"Excuse me, but my friend and I wanna go up, you know. If we don't go up now, we'll be really late and I'll miss the pudding sale!"
Nope. Well, that was rude! If Taiwan knew this elevator's parents, she would give them a stern talking to. Aiyo, your son is a very mean elevator, you know, he'll never get married soon at this rate, or something along those lines. She puts her hands on her hips and huffs, but the scowl she wears doesn't look scary in the least.
"If you won't let us out, I won't buy you pudding!"
Could elevators even consume pudding? Taiwan wasn't sure herself, but it was the only bribe she had. This elevator wasn't falling for it, though, no, sir. It only had to follow that the persistent Taiwan had to give elevator one big kick.
questions? None!
did you put your characters name and fandom in the subject Yes...