moja piesen je ako hrom

““I suppose you do have a point, still change is change, it always brings fast upheaval. I suppose looking back maybe one might say we were a little silly at how eager we were. We were old enough to know things are rarely ever perfect in life or smooth. i re-learned that lesson soon after.”

“Depending on your definition, so what definition would make it better? I myself want things to change…but I don’‘t know if they ever will..”

“ Hindsight tends to be discomforting that way, doesn’t it? Even if it’s a lesson I’ve had to re-learn time and time again… yet in the heat of the moment, it does become rather easy to forget all that in the hope of some possibility, doesn’t it. How odd it is that, despite this being a lesson we learn time and time again, we’re always prone to forgetting it. ”

[She pauses, thinks.]

“….Probably a kingdom once upon a  time and internationally known now. I’m just sorry for you how you had to take so  much from me,  like my  wine and now you can’t do it at all. After t he 1800s it wast he  beginning of the end for you wasn’t  it?”

“I would think its the opposite considering how much you borrow from me. You’re lucky I’m not more well known. Then it’d be over.”

“But why would anyone wish to be scammed off of grape juice if they can’t gget drunk off it?”“

“You didn’t seem to mind change so much thirty years ago, but I agree. Sometimes everything seems  to just happen so quickly these days. Then again other things  never change, no matter how hard one tries and even things that seem new are really tired old ways again. What do you want more Liba for things to change or to stay the same? Or just to go back to how it used to be…so a old change?”

“ It was the nature of circumstances then, Janko. Today is a different story from yesterday’s– although, you’re correct about things that remain constant. The uncertainty of the future’s one of them I suppose. ”

[She pauses.]

““I suppose you do have a point, still change is change, it always brings fast upheaval. I suppose looking back maybe one might say we were a little silly at how eager we were. We were old enough to know things are rarely ever perfect in life or smooth. i re-learned that lesson soon after.”

I’ve already talked about this in some snippets [x], but I realized I never made a longer and more complete post about it and my sleep-deprived brain decided it was the right moment for it. So:

- Nations don’t have biological parents. They come into existence once a ‘national identity’ (or cultural unity) has started strengthening. They just appear, so to speak, in a part of their territory, as something that looks close to human toddlers. They wake up, and they are. They immediately feel the connection to their territory and people as well as their name (the name of the country). They just know.  (Their human name, instead, is generally chosen by older personifications or themselves. In rarer cases, it can even be chosen by a human.)

- The biological connections personifications have with one another are purely that – biological. Being siblings doesn’t mean that two personifications have the same parents – they don’t have parents at all – but that they share the genetical similarities a couple of siblings would. The same goes for other blood ties, like parents or grandparents. (Even though in this case, it’s likely the older personification will have also raised the younger one – yet, not birthed him/her.) Personifications are instinctively aware of the blood ties they share.

- While Nations resemble humans very closely, they aren’t. This is especially apparent when they’re very young, like toddlers or children. In spite of their physical age and occasional tantrums/childish behaviour, they have much greater emotional and intellectual maturity. They relax a bit and behave more childishly in the presence of older personifications, but they’re also able to carry out complex discussions with their leaders. They still aren’t as mature and independent as older personifications – they’re more trusting, more passive – but the fact alone they can understand is a sign of their non-human nature. Moreover, they’re never completely helpless – even as very young toddlers, they behave more like older children than infants.

- Another difference is that they can withstand loneliness and lack of interactions for far longer than humans. While they thrive better in company (of other personifications, in particular), they can spend long periods alone without suffering too much mental damage. They most likely won’t like it, but they can do it.

- That said, in spite of the differences, personifications think in a way that is very human. They’re adapted for immortality so it’s a bit different, but they feel like humans, they care for other people like humans, they have ideals and dreams and are fallible and complex just like humans are. As far as their personalities are concerned, personifications are very close to humans.

- Nations are hard to injure and can heal from everything faster than humans would. I have already talked about this a bit [x] [x] [x], but essentially, all their injuries eventually mend. Even the loss of a limb isn’t permanent – if the limb is retrieved, the tissue re-attaches itself to its owner; if not, the limb is eventually regrown. (It isn’t a pleasant process, though.) It’s the same with organs. There can also be times when the regeneration and damage occur at the same time (with internal injuries, for example – the gastric acids destroy the tissue and it mends itself at the same time) until the regeneration starts going faster than the damage and they finally heal. That’s extremely unpleasant. Their healing can be aided by medical care, though.

- Nations can die momentarily and then come back to life. Even while they’re dead, their bodies keep mending, and once they’re mended enough for life, the nations reawaken. It isn’t a pleasant process – not only they’re still injured, the ‘resurrections’ leaves them weak and in pain. Even if there wasn’t much damage to the body, they keep feeling weak and confused for a bit.

- Personifications have a connection to their land and people that let them feel at any moment their conditions. Not everybody gets sick or is in pain when there’s some unrest or something else amiss (America, for one, keeps feeling perfectly fine unless the situation is truly severe – and even then, he isn’t as affected as other nations are, even for smaller matters) but they still have a general sense of unease.

- Ageing isn’t a gradual process but comes in short bursts (in which they age at the same rate as humans or even faster) only to completely stop later. (Those bursts generally predate or happen at the same time as a period of economic and/or political growth.)

- Humans used to know that personifications existed, but nowadays, they’re relegated to legends and myths. Nevertheless, humans are naturally attracted to personifications belonging to their country. They tend to immediately take a liking to their representatives and perceive them as trust-worthy, following their words more easily than they would in other cases. (Their will isn’t erased, though. Humans might be easier to convince – but ultimately, the decision is theirs and they might not agree.)

“The real tragedy here is you think that’s so great. I mean I had to try it once and it was really a let down after a while. Maybe one day you’ll see reason. That’s alright, I’m good at waiting!”We’ve  got a nicer president now too.”

‘ That’s because you became such a nuisance after a while. To this day, you’re still a nuisance actually. I suppose some things just don’t change. ’

She elicits a snort.

“That was the point, I guess I accomplished my goal in a way. I could say the same for yourself.”

That makes him sigh and wait, he actually nods in agreement.

“Ah, if I do I suppose that’s just life  as usual. For now though I’ll enjoy the moment I worked hard for.”

But now he  gets a little defensive,

“”That must make you really happy,  I know I would be. 

So does this mean all childless people in Hungary can become Slovaks?”

‘ … but as I’m unable to have children, does this mean I’m not a good Hungarian? I, the embodiment of the Magyar nation, have failed to be a good Hungarian. What a disgrace I am. ’

“”That must make you really happy,  I know I would be.