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My interpretation of my homeland NZ

melondramatics

Published: Jul 1, 2015

3.2K Views

aph aphnewzealand newzealandoc ocnewzealand aphnz hetalia axispowershetalia aphoc hetaliaoc

Description

DO NOT COMMENT SAYING NEW ZEALAND IS ALREADY CANON, PLEASE AND THANK YOU. I AM A NEW ZEALANDER WHO SIMPLY WANTED TO MAKE AN ACCURATE REPRESENTATION BECAUSE NATIONAL PRIDE, LET ME BE. I AM NOT A BIG FAN OF THE CANON VERSION, I'M INDIFFERENT IF YOU ARE??

Ok so now that that's out of the way...

my version of a New Zealand personification, mmkay. I made her female because:
- nz women are really badass (prior to colonisation we had female Maori chiefs amongst the tribes, not just men!), they take on strong roles in families and stuff
- NZ was the first country to give women the vote
- our women are really active across many different fields (political, the arts, social issues, sports, cinematic, etc)
- tbh females can embody a lot of the kiwi stereotypes damn well, not just the men. the outdoorsy aspects, the laidback parts of the kiwi personality and let's be real, nz girls will call each other 'bro' too. gender neutral term goodbye
- in terms of feminism, i'd say NZ is doing better than a lot of other countries, which is pretty rad (we have pages on wiki all about our feminists NICE)
- there's something entertaining about this girl kicking the rest of the world's ass at rugby. suck it.

btw about her 'human name' Katherine 'Kiri' Rutherford:

She usually goes by Kiri, a Maori name. It references Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. Katherine is a common name, but also references people like Katherine Mansfield (famous short story writer), Katherine Sheppard (NZ's most famous suffragette who fought for women to have the vote, appears on the NZ $10 bill actually!), etc. And Rutherford references Sir Ernest Rutherford, a scientist who made a big breakthrough when he was the first dude to split the atom. So yeah, her name contains a lot of references to notable folks! Woo.

I'll talk more about her personality when it's not coming up to 5.30am. Design info on the picture!

New Zealand OC / Katherine 'Kiri' Rutherford belongs to

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Comments48

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Morrigansfury

Edited Sep 9, 2015

Thank you for the more proper representation. I have my own version (Aramoana Otimi, Aramoana means path to the ocean) who is closer in terms of looks to the Maori.
And I agree, New Zealand should have been female (one of the first countries to grant women right to vote plus a much beloved queen of the Maori). Plus NZ should have had more Maori features as a reference for the fact that the Maori are experiencing a renaissance (a Maori married in the English royal family, New Zealand is supporting programs to encourage Maori traditions). But no... he had to make blandly European.
...Sorry if I'm ranting. All I can hope is that Hirumaya does not mess up New Zealand's relationship with the Mediterraneans (specifically Croatia because of the strong ties between the Maori and Croats who settled in New Zealand) and other nations. Come on Hirumaya make a comic about Croatia and New Zealand.