Hetalia House Headcanons
Triple alliteration! Whoa! Totally radical, dude!
A few days ago, when I was trying to fulfill a fanfiction request for hetaliacreative's Fan Event, I came to a fascinating realization. I actually have very detailed and specific images for Hetalia characters' homes. I feel that it's an unspoken yet commonly shared headcanon for those who create fanworks that the nation-tans live in their own residences - be it mansions, townhouses, apartments, or cozy cottages. In this particular instance, I discovered that for months, I have been constructing Spain's house in my head. Now I have a very particular image of where he (and Romano, for a century or two) calls home, with more new details to be added in the weeks to come, I'm sure.
I believe that each residence is specific and tailored to the physical, cultural, historical, possibly religious aspects of said country, as well as the character's canon personality. I also used personal experience for the places I am familiar with, along with ideas from other fictional works originating from the area which appealed to me.
This whole concept, Hetalia houses, got me really excited, and I wanted to develop headcanons for so many characters. But new issues were quickly discovered, because of the factors I listed up there - some countries are just so vast and brimming with many of its own subcultures and landforms. America, for example...his New England clapboard house wouldn't make sense in sunny California, where I think he'd probably stay in a high-rise condo instead.
Anyway, I now welcome you into my mind to visit three personified nations in their (occasionally not so) humble homes.
1.) SPAIN
Background info: This is the first one since it's a headcanon evolved from my fifty million daydreams of various Spamano stories I could spin, ranging from melodramatic romance (which I shall never put to paper, as it's kind of embarrassingly melodramatic. Even though I think it would probably appeal greatly to the fanfiction crowd) to fluffy platonic. That being said, I will admit that this involved the most pure imagination, although I was also inspired by a tour I took of the Palacio Real de Madrid, as well as the work of Antoni Gaudi (mosaics).
Headcanon: He has an estate in the country that just takes up fields and fields of farmland and meadow, with cloudless blue skies, fresh air and hot, sunny days.
The mansion is simple but beautiful, the walls painted a creamy-yellow colour with a rusty reddish-brown roof (shingles). The shutters on the windows are painted red though, with flowers spilling out all over the place - trailing out of hanging pots, troughs on windowsills, pots on balconies. The door is heavy and thick, with brass handles and knocker. Strong but inviting. The doorstep and driveway leading up to it is fine, worn stone.
Inside, it's a testament to detail and beauty. The floors are tiled. There is a lot of woodwork, carved intricately, even though some places the varnish has been worn smooth. It is decorated simply but masterfully, with many carpeted corridors and large windows letting in the light. Paintings, paintings, everywhere! The mansion is large enough for individual salons for the master and his guests, as well as being equipped with an entourage of faithful and cheerful servants who have been there for generations. The kitchen is always filled with delicious aromas...this house is airy, but always inviting and warm.
The inner courtyard (patio) is rather large with a brightly coloured mosaic flooring. Some chairs and a table to one side beneath an awning, plants still everywhere, with a decorative pool and fountain in the centre. The pool itself also has mosaics, bright blue with flecks of gold. There are floating plants - and turtles, of course!
I like to imagine a young Romano tearing through this house, hop-skipping from one patch of sunlight to the other through the corridors, ignoring the disdainful stares from the paintings. Then imagine his shoes clattering on the patio mosiacs as he continues to run and shout for Spain to come make him food, damnit!
2.) ENGLAND
Background information: Okay, I don't consider spending 6 hours in Heathrow Airport for a stopover as actually having visited England. As such, this headcanon is supported mostly by the many, many books I've read that are set there (Jane Austen, I must confess, instantly springs to mind). I also took the character's canon personality greatly into consideration. Who you are reflects how you live. England is very diligent when it comes to state affairs, so he would certainly keep things organized in modern London. But I believe that at heart, he is a sentimental old fart who prefers a wild, traditional, and epic sense of freedom and imagination.
Headcanon: His townhouse is red brick and white plaster, with a dignified looking cast iron railing for the windows and balcony. The door is painted black, with a silver knocker. Inside, it's decorated very neatly, ALMOST minimalistic, but not exactly modern, either. It practically screams, "I am here on business."
His country house is TOTALLY different though; a manor covered in vines, with a sprawling moor estate. There are orchards, pastures, a duck pond and a hermitage for when he's feeling moody. The mansion itself has a super old-school kitchen with a massive heavy wooden table covered in scuff marks and a fireplace big enough to roast a hog. There many bedrooms, mostly for guests, incredibly messy studies overflowing with books and loose leaf papers, and a stately ballroom that is collecting dust. The garden is your typical brambly English one with plants growing each and every way, apart for the small patch where England grows his potion ingredients herbs.
3.) HONG KONG
Background information: Oh, come on. You KNEW this was coming. And of course, it's the most detailed, since this is the place I actually have lived in, and therefore am most familiar with how things work. So let's stop dilly-dallying and just get on with it, shall we?
Headcanon: He would not live in a house. Very few people in HK actually live in houses. Instead, he lives in a cramped apartment somewhere in Sheung Wan, because I really like Sheung Wan it is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in HK that hasn't been SUPER gentrified yet.
The apartment consists of a tiny living room, a tiny bedroom, a tiny bathroom, and a tiny kitchen. The bathroom has a stand-up shower, a toilet, a sink, and a stool. There are waterproof stickers of McDull on the wall tiles as decoration, and the mirror-cupboard is full of hair products and acne cream. There's also a bright pink loofah. The view out the kitchen window is obscured by bamboo scaffolding, and in it is a fridge, a stove, a sink, and about two feet of counter. There's barely enough room for one person to actually cook, but this is rarely an issue as Hong Kong is more likely to buy takeout. Still, there are many snacks and drinks...Calbee chips, Vitasoy, and Yakult! And never forget the green rice cooker that takes up half the counterspace. There is a jar of instant milo on the shelf too.
Living room: a two person couch, television, Chinese rip-a-day calendar, and tiny coffee table stuffed full of HK magazines, like Milk. The drawers under the TV are full of pirated DVDs, video games, and other random knick-knacks. A fold-up table and a few corresponding stools lie against one wall, ready for the rare occasion someone visits and the coffee table won't suffice. There is a Bruce Lee film poster tacked up above the couch.
His bedroom has a metal frame loft bed with a desk beneath it to save room. Hong Kong is possibly THE messiest nation - but to be fair, he is a teenager. His closet has all the fancy, expensive brand names hung neatly, but his street fashion is kind of in a careless pile beneath it. He has like, a million shoes, mostly sneakers gleaming a neon squeaky clean. Hong Kong is a packrat. There is a large red-white-blue plastic-burlap bag filled with all the random stuff he's accumulated through the years but doesn't want to throw out. The (unmade) bed has a thin blanket and stuffed toys littering it, and the desk has his laptop, cell phone charger, a box of tissues and a pile of folders for business. There is an electric fan on the floor, next to a plastic stool.
He collects Snoopy toys. You can find them peering out of every crevice, corner and shelf in the apartment.
A few days ago, when I was trying to fulfill a fanfiction request for hetaliacreative's Fan Event, I came to a fascinating realization. I actually have very detailed and specific images for Hetalia characters' homes. I feel that it's an unspoken yet commonly shared headcanon for those who create fanworks that the nation-tans live in their own residences - be it mansions, townhouses, apartments, or cozy cottages. In this particular instance, I discovered that for months, I have been constructing Spain's house in my head. Now I have a very particular image of where he (and Romano, for a century or two) calls home, with more new details to be added in the weeks to come, I'm sure.
I believe that each residence is specific and tailored to the physical, cultural, historical, possibly religious aspects of said country, as well as the character's canon personality. I also used personal experience for the places I am familiar with, along with ideas from other fictional works originating from the area which appealed to me.
This whole concept, Hetalia houses, got me really excited, and I wanted to develop headcanons for so many characters. But new issues were quickly discovered, because of the factors I listed up there - some countries are just so vast and brimming with many of its own subcultures and landforms. America, for example...his New England clapboard house wouldn't make sense in sunny California, where I think he'd probably stay in a high-rise condo instead.
Anyway, I now welcome you into my mind to visit three personified nations in their (occasionally not so) humble homes.
1.) SPAIN
Background info: This is the first one since it's a headcanon evolved from my fifty million daydreams of various Spamano stories I could spin, ranging from melodramatic romance (which I shall never put to paper, as it's kind of embarrassingly melodramatic. Even though I think it would probably appeal greatly to the fanfiction crowd) to fluffy platonic. That being said, I will admit that this involved the most pure imagination, although I was also inspired by a tour I took of the Palacio Real de Madrid, as well as the work of Antoni Gaudi (mosaics).
Headcanon: He has an estate in the country that just takes up fields and fields of farmland and meadow, with cloudless blue skies, fresh air and hot, sunny days.
The mansion is simple but beautiful, the walls painted a creamy-yellow colour with a rusty reddish-brown roof (shingles). The shutters on the windows are painted red though, with flowers spilling out all over the place - trailing out of hanging pots, troughs on windowsills, pots on balconies. The door is heavy and thick, with brass handles and knocker. Strong but inviting. The doorstep and driveway leading up to it is fine, worn stone.
Inside, it's a testament to detail and beauty. The floors are tiled. There is a lot of woodwork, carved intricately, even though some places the varnish has been worn smooth. It is decorated simply but masterfully, with many carpeted corridors and large windows letting in the light. Paintings, paintings, everywhere! The mansion is large enough for individual salons for the master and his guests, as well as being equipped with an entourage of faithful and cheerful servants who have been there for generations. The kitchen is always filled with delicious aromas...this house is airy, but always inviting and warm.
The inner courtyard (patio) is rather large with a brightly coloured mosaic flooring. Some chairs and a table to one side beneath an awning, plants still everywhere, with a decorative pool and fountain in the centre. The pool itself also has mosaics, bright blue with flecks of gold. There are floating plants - and turtles, of course!
I like to imagine a young Romano tearing through this house, hop-skipping from one patch of sunlight to the other through the corridors, ignoring the disdainful stares from the paintings. Then imagine his shoes clattering on the patio mosiacs as he continues to run and shout for Spain to come make him food, damnit!
2.) ENGLAND
Background information: Okay, I don't consider spending 6 hours in Heathrow Airport for a stopover as actually having visited England. As such, this headcanon is supported mostly by the many, many books I've read that are set there (Jane Austen, I must confess, instantly springs to mind). I also took the character's canon personality greatly into consideration. Who you are reflects how you live. England is very diligent when it comes to state affairs, so he would certainly keep things organized in modern London. But I believe that at heart, he is a sentimental old fart who prefers a wild, traditional, and epic sense of freedom and imagination.
Headcanon: His townhouse is red brick and white plaster, with a dignified looking cast iron railing for the windows and balcony. The door is painted black, with a silver knocker. Inside, it's decorated very neatly, ALMOST minimalistic, but not exactly modern, either. It practically screams, "I am here on business."
His country house is TOTALLY different though; a manor covered in vines, with a sprawling moor estate. There are orchards, pastures, a duck pond and a hermitage for when he's feeling moody. The mansion itself has a super old-school kitchen with a massive heavy wooden table covered in scuff marks and a fireplace big enough to roast a hog. There many bedrooms, mostly for guests, incredibly messy studies overflowing with books and loose leaf papers, and a stately ballroom that is collecting dust. The garden is your typical brambly English one with plants growing each and every way, apart for the small patch where England grows his potion ingredients herbs.
3.) HONG KONG
Background information: Oh, come on. You KNEW this was coming. And of course, it's the most detailed, since this is the place I actually have lived in, and therefore am most familiar with how things work. So let's stop dilly-dallying and just get on with it, shall we?
Headcanon: He would not live in a house. Very few people in HK actually live in houses. Instead, he lives in a cramped apartment somewhere in Sheung Wan, because I really like Sheung Wan it is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in HK that hasn't been SUPER gentrified yet.
The apartment consists of a tiny living room, a tiny bedroom, a tiny bathroom, and a tiny kitchen. The bathroom has a stand-up shower, a toilet, a sink, and a stool. There are waterproof stickers of McDull on the wall tiles as decoration, and the mirror-cupboard is full of hair products and acne cream. There's also a bright pink loofah. The view out the kitchen window is obscured by bamboo scaffolding, and in it is a fridge, a stove, a sink, and about two feet of counter. There's barely enough room for one person to actually cook, but this is rarely an issue as Hong Kong is more likely to buy takeout. Still, there are many snacks and drinks...Calbee chips, Vitasoy, and Yakult! And never forget the green rice cooker that takes up half the counterspace. There is a jar of instant milo on the shelf too.
Living room: a two person couch, television, Chinese rip-a-day calendar, and tiny coffee table stuffed full of HK magazines, like Milk. The drawers under the TV are full of pirated DVDs, video games, and other random knick-knacks. A fold-up table and a few corresponding stools lie against one wall, ready for the rare occasion someone visits and the coffee table won't suffice. There is a Bruce Lee film poster tacked up above the couch.
His bedroom has a metal frame loft bed with a desk beneath it to save room. Hong Kong is possibly THE messiest nation - but to be fair, he is a teenager. His closet has all the fancy, expensive brand names hung neatly, but his street fashion is kind of in a careless pile beneath it. He has like, a million shoes, mostly sneakers gleaming a neon squeaky clean. Hong Kong is a packrat. There is a large red-white-blue plastic-burlap bag filled with all the random stuff he's accumulated through the years but doesn't want to throw out. The (unmade) bed has a thin blanket and stuffed toys littering it, and the desk has his laptop, cell phone charger, a box of tissues and a pile of folders for business. There is an electric fan on the floor, next to a plastic stool.
He collects Snoopy toys. You can find them peering out of every crevice, corner and shelf in the apartment.