APH: Romano and Malta

So.

 I have wanted to upload this for a very long time. But things came up throughout the past month that prevented me from doing so. Anyway, let me explain.

 When I have had free time, I have been researching the relations between Malta and other countries so I can (attempt to) finish her bio. And this was a result of that research.

 When I first made my Malta OC, I didn’t intend to pair her up with someone. It was never my intention when creating a Hetalia OC to do it just for shipping. Although the research can take a long time, in the end I felt accomplished from successfully creating and developing an OC for one of my favorite fandoms.

But as I continued to do research, it became clear that Malta had a lot of history with Italy, more specifically Sicily, due to their close proximity. And then I found myself thinking about Romano and Malta personality wise (I had almost forgot that Romano is “strict and less social” with guys, and he’s actually friendly and kind with girls). And thus, I slowly began shipping them.

Looking at Italy as a whole—both North and South Italy—Malta and Italy have had tensions in the past. However, overall relations between Malta and Italy have been described as “generally excellent.”

 I’m not the best with words, but I’m going to try and explain everything as best I can as to why I ship Romano and Malta. Not just historically, but character wise as well.

 So let’s begin with the historical relations.

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Relations between Malta and Southern Italy began in 5200 BC, when the first settlers from Sicily, who could see Malta on the horizon, crossed the waters and arrived on the islands. They were the first inhabitants of Malta. These settlers were farming and fishing communities and lived in many caves.  Artifacts found in these caves give insight into the settler’s way of life.

In 3500 BC, these settlers from Sicily began to construct large buildings. Obtaining obsidian and flint from Sicily, these settlers were able to make tools to help them work the stones. These structures still stand today, and indicate the culture’s lifestyle and level of sophistication. The temples in Ġgantija, Gozo, are considered the oldest, free standing monuments in the world. The Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum in Paola is an impressive display of prehistoric engineering.

By the time of the construction in Ġgantija, the settlers had developed a new cultural system while in isolation and without any foreign influence. Even though these settlers kept in contact with their ancestral home in Sicily, their temples and beliefs remain a unique part of the Maltese islands. This culture disappeared around 2500 BC supposedly to famine or disease.

During the Bronze Age, immigrants appeared on the islands after several decades of depopulation. This culture created small altar-like structures made out of very large slabs of stone known as dolmens. Remains of these structures, along with settlements and villages, are still in Malta today. It is assumed that this population of immigrants arrived from Sicily as well because the dolmen structures closely resemble small structures found in Sicily. This society eventually died out/disappeared too.

Years passed and during this time, Malta came under control of the Phoenicians, Carthage, and Rome. In 440, the Vandals captured the island. Belisarius, a Byzantine general, recovered Malta in 533. For the next 340 years, Malta remained a part of the Byzantine province of Sicily.

In 870 AD, the Arabs conquered Malta. They looted the island and destroyed many important buildings. Malta became almost completely uninhabited until Muslims from Sicily recolonized it in 1048-1049 AD. It is undetermined whether the settlement of these Muslims was due to a demographic expansion in Sicily, or due to a civil war that broke out among Muslim rulers residing in Sicily in 1038. The Muslims introduced some different fruits and cotton to the islands, and most importantly they introduced the Siculo-Arabic language, which would later evolve into the Maltese language.

In 1091 AD, the Norman leader Roger I of Sicily was welcomed to the island.

Between the years 1194 and 1530, Malta became a part of the Kingdom of Sicily, and the Catholic Church was reinstated as the state religion. Between 1194 and 1266, the Swabians/House of Hohenstaufen rules both Malta and Sicily. In 1224, the expulsion of all remaining Muslims in Malta in Sicily takes place.

This pattern of control over both Malta and Sicily continues from 1266 to 1283, when the Angevins rule Malta and Sicily, and once more from 1283 to 1530 under the Crown of Aragon. 1530 is also the year of the Turkish invasion. In an attempt to protect Rome from the invasion, the then King of Sicily Charles V grants Malta to the Knights of St. John, which ended Malta being a part of the Kingdom of Sicily, but granted the islands with the “Knights of Malta,” who certainly left their mark on the island (one of which is the eight pointed Maltese cross, which is on Elena’s necklace).

After the invasion of Napoleon and becoming part of the British Empire, tension appeared between Malta and Sicily when WWII broke out. Malta was already considered Nurse of the Mediterranean at this time, and was being used by the British as a supply station and base for recovery for those who were injured. From 1935 to 1939, Benito Mussolini continued to announce his intention to annex Malta to Italy, as part of the campaign for Italian dominance in the Mediterranean. Then, in 1940, Italy declares war on France and the United Kingdom. Because of its close proximity to Sicily and the Axis shipping lanes, as well as being a British colony, Malta was attacked by both the Italian and German air forces. This is what is known as the Siege of Malta, which occurred between 1940 and 1942. During this time, a fight for control over the strategically important island of Malta takes place between the air forces/navies of Italy and Germany and the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy. The Axis decided to bomb or starve Malta into their control. When Italy declared war on France and the United Kingdom, the first bombs were dropped on Malta. The first air raid occurred on June 11, 1940. The bombing had been a devastating blow to Malta. Later, the Allies launch their invasion of Sicily starting from Malta.

Despite tension during WWII, Southern Italy and Malta continue to have strong relations today. Because it is located just 50 mi (80 km) north of Malta, Sicily has provided a continuous exchange of knowledge, ideas, beliefs, and influences throughout Maltese history. The close proximity of both groups of islands has resulted in intermarriage, cross migration, and trade. It has been this way since the Norman conquest of Sicily, and it is likely that this was also true during the period of Arab rule over Sicily. The Maltese landscape is quite barren and lacks resources. This is why Malta has and continues to depend highly on trade with the neighboring island of Sicily. Some traded products from Malta were small-scale goods like honey, fine linen, and wool clothing. The Sicilian influence on Maltese culture is extensive, and can be especially seen in the local cuisine, emphasizing foods such as olive oil, pasta, seafood, fruits and vegetables (especially the tomato), appetizers, specialty dishes, and sweets like the cassata and kannoli (a Maltese version of the cannoli).

Even though Malta was becoming a naval base during the British period, the influence of Italian culture and language strengthened immensely during the 19^th century. This was due partly to the increased levels of literacy among the Maltese and increase availability of the Italian newspaper.

Malta and Italy as a whole established diplomatic relations soon after Malta’s independence. Italy has an embassy in Valletta, and Malta has an embassy in Rome.

In 1980, Malta entered a neutrality agreement with Italy, under which Malta agreed to not enter any alliance and Italy agreed to guarantee Malta’s neutrality.

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WHEW okay, that was a lot of writing.

Now onto the character personalities. <3

 
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Personality-wise, I think that these two would have a relationship that is strong but not perfect, which is a good thing in my opinion. Relationships aren’t always perfect; they have their ups and downs, but it’s because of these tensions on the relationship that a couple’s connection becomes stronger as a result because they were able to resolve the issues in the end.

Although Lovino is kind and friendly to women, I think he would still “be himself” (what I consider as Lovino being himself is what’s shown in the manga and anime, and that’s usually the tsundere type personality) from time to time with Elena because he has been in her life for so long. They grew up together under control of many different rulers. This means that Elena has seen what he can be like when around men, and she knows that he can be rude and stubborn from time to time. But that doesn’t change her view of him because she can be the same way sometimes and knows that no harm is meant by it. Because they’re both stubborn, they will sometimes argue over stupid things because neither one wants to admit they’re wrong, but eventually they will feel guilty for fighting and make up, or simply laugh it off because that’s how it’s been for a while.

In the beginning, their relationship started out simply as a friendship, and then it evolved into a relationship that had feelings involved.  (For the most part) both are friendly and kind to one another, and have a lot of similar interests since Lovino’s culture heavily influences Elena’s.

Overall, they would be a cute, grumpy couple that love to tease each other but still care a great deal about one another.

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And that is why I ship Romano and Malta, or RoMalta c:

I wish I could explain things better because I know my writing skills aren’t that strong, but I hope I got the main idea across.

<sub>I totally had an idea for a dorky couple name:

Sweet Tomato, because Malta is known for honey and the Maltese Honey Bee, Romano’s intense love of tomato’s, and it’s sounds

sorta like Sweet Potato.

It sounded better in my head ; v ;</sub>

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Romano/Hetalia:
Malta OC and art: