Hello! Really Love Your Content So Far And It Makes Me So Incredibly Happy Seeing More People Reimagining

Hello! Really love your content so far and it makes me so incredibly happy seeing more people reimagining Alfred and Matthew as nonwhite compared to it being controversial 8years ago.

Ever since I joined the fandom I always had the (at the time) unpopular opinion that the NA bros were from mixed heritages (White/Indigenous), which as an American non-white Latino with Indigenous roots made the most sense to me especially considering that even in the manga they don't really represent the government, but the people themselves and both countries (especially the US) are so diverse it absolutely baffled me that they were just plain white boys. I always imagined them being mixed, but never quite fitting in with either groups.

I am sorry if I overstep on this next bit, please feel free to correct me on anything I say, I've just had a long time to think about this and how other countries would react, which is gonna put England/France into a bad light but...they were straight up horrific to the Natives. Even France.

I know you mentioned how in Hetalia, the personifications get along with their overseers/colonizers and that they wouldn't be okay with this, and I think I may have to *slightly* disagree.

I think when it comes to Nations and how they view their fellow personifications, how they look won't matter as much compared to how they act or culture wise. I can see that while the two heavily resemble Native features, when they were taken in by their colonizers they were raised to hold to those same European values that still do plague the country today. I can imagine Arthur making sure that Alfred ignores his Indigenous roots and that he's raised as a proper British colony, speaking and writing in English only, being raised as a proper Christian etc. Forced to assimilate, which has been done to so many people that come from different cultures from the time America was colonized to even now in some places. They may not look completely white, but by god will he makes sure they act like they do.

I don't think he would have ever been okay with his people being killed, tortured, having their cultures and languages erased or even enslaved, because he does not represent the cruel ideas the government has, but the people itself...which also do include the people that *ARE* okay with this. A constant battle Alfred has to deal with, which ends up with him making not the best choices.

Things aren't perfect even today, there's still so many issues that's happening where Indigenous folks are still fighting for basic rights to water, working roads, etc. But at the current time, more Americans these days (especially the much younger generations that were taught/look up about the atrocities that our government has committed, especially now that the Native voices have platforms to speak on), are much more aware. I see the brothers trying to reclaim their roots, and start what will be centuries long reparations on what their people have done to the Indigenous community. Which honestly, reconnecting with cultures after being forced to assimilate to American culture is something big thats happening here all across the United States with Latino-Americans embracing their heritage, African-Americans who were descendents of those stolen from their homeland reconnecting with their culture, Indigenous people bringing their languages and foods back to light.

It's honestly just a very difficult journey I think they would have as they have to deal with Nationhood, but forgetting who they came from and having to give themselves up to a certain group. Again, never fitting in completely with one or the other.

Again, I'm so incredibly sorry if this is overstepping in anyway or if some things don't make sense. It's such a complicated subject that really can't be summed up super easily and I did want to go longer but I felt like this was long enough already @_@

Firstly, you are not overstepping in the slightest! I am legitimately so content and kind of misty-eyed to see so many other native fans of the show both interact within the fandom and give their own interpretation on both canon and OC characters. It was never this wholesome and community-oriented when I first joined the fandom and I'm glad I stuck around to see the tide change.

Secondly, your interpretation of France and England's involvement in Canada and America's assimilation is... very accurate, and while it's something I've fought about with myself in my plotting of Alfred's life (because I don't want to hate them lol), they most definitely did have a hand in his disconnection. However, as much as I agree they are influenced by both their natives and settlers, I do think they very much hold their own reservations and opinions on the social climate around them as any individual human being would.

While American society and most American presidents were anti-indigenous and pro-slavery, there were also vigilant indigenous activists and abolitionists; there were men and women who defended and engrained themselves with native communities and there were men and women who fought mercilessly to free enslaved people. I believe Alfred was one of those people. Alfred noticed the wrong within the society around him and despised it-- but alongside his overseers and the people surrounding him, his thought process was in the minority.

I don't see Alfred participating in the genocide, assimilation, or enslavement of indigenous or Black people-- and it is not because I wish to sanitize this true history, but because I earnestly do not see Alfred being so cruel (as he was someone who also thought himself a better person than his brutal fatherly figure). I do think he did try to feel indifferent most of the time to... well, assimilate, but I also like to think he was infuriated, enraged, while at the same time having convictions on where his help is best suited as a native man with the privileges and appearance of a white man (I hc that he very consciously slaughtered slave-owners and triple k members, especially during the civil war, but I realize that may be a heavy hc to have).

I appreciate you bringing up the increase of younger folks in America beginning their decolonization/reconnection journeys because that is absolutely what I feel Al and Matt are going through actively, but I like to think they began their reconnection journey much earlier, during the rise of AIM in the 1970s. I see them being the biggest activists for all their native communities and they help in every possible way they can. Not only because they want to reconnect and amend their mistakes, but because they altruistically care for their people.

Their hobbies absolutely include remodeling the homes of elders and delivering food to them. They are very much for the landback movement and will call out anti-indigenous sentiment without hesitation. I also think Alfred separates himself from his governmental supervisors in current day and will challenge them now compared to when he stayed relatively compliant as a young nation.

I still have SO MANY theories about Alfred and Matt's origins and experiences with assimilation that I am working out, but I want to carefully plot it all out so as to not trivialize legitimate indigenous trauma, especially as a reconnector. All I can say is that if the land I stand on had a personification, it would be an indigenous being, no question.