Ask Iceland

Indonesia:

My volcanoes have been calm recently, thank you. Unfortunately, the snow doesn't cool them down. When the volcanoes decide to erupt, nothing can stop them. Even when there are literal tons of ice or glaciers atop a volcano, an eruption or even steam vents under the ice can melt it very quickly. This can cause flash flooding, called a jökullhlaup.

I-I know that's a mouthful to say, but it's an English loanword now. They didn't have a better one.

So yeah, snow is useless and it would just melt in the mail anyway. Sorry.

Germany: Of course I can, it just depends on what you'd like to see, and how long or rigorous of a hike you're looking for. The Laugavegurinn is a four-day hike, from Landmannalauger to Þórsmörk. It goes by the mountains, lakes and rivers, as well as glaciers and hotsprings. It's long-- there are cabins and campsites to stay in along the way-- and depending on how much the weather hates you that day, it can be easy or very challenging. Because the snow has to melt first, you can only hike it from around July to early September, but when it is open it is very popular with Icelanders as well as tourists and foreigners.

The Víknaslóðir trail is less popular if that's what you're looking for. It's 150km long, and goes around the coastline and the fjords and then goes through the town of Borgarfjörður, which is a more typically quiet, Icelandic fishing town. It's also the central province for elves, so if you went there it'd be best to be careful. Not that you shouldn't be careful anyway, for other reasons. The weather can be dangerous even to experienced outdoorsmen.

As far as mountain climbing, there are trips in Hvalfjörður that leave from Reykjavík that you may be interested in. If you're looking for a challenge, there is ice climbing as well, on Sólheimajökull; these trips also leave from Reykjavík. Whenever you are interested in visiting, I can help you find more specific options.

Hungary: There are very few traditional foods I can recommend, unless you have a strong stomach. There's skyr, which is like yoghurt but is actually a very soft cheese. You might have seen it already; it's becoming more popular overseas recently. It's kind of like Greek yoghurt or Kefir, but thicker and more sour, and is very healthy.

There's also Hákarl, which you also may know; it's Greenland shark that is fermented underground for six weeks and then hung dry for several months. The smell can make people gag because of the high ammonia content, but the taste isn't that bad. In my opinion, it's easiest to eat followed by a shot of brennevín.

My favourite food? It's difficult to choose. I do like fresh fruit and good coffee.



[Austria: HongIce is indeed one of my OTPs, the cuties! This is my own headcanon trying to match up with history/canon, so take it with the appropriate grains of salt.

I think Iceland is generally more uncomfortable with nudity than his populace may be, especially given him being a nation. In my headcanon, Iceland still shows signs of his hard history by still being a little stunted in growth, as well as in poor physical shape, which is also connected to his present day economy being a little shaky. He links being smaller and skinnier in his mind to being worse off, less respected, and child-like-- which is rooted in experience for him I think. (To my knowledge, Iceland was mostly left alone by Europe; it had little to offer the rest of the world (the Turks invaded but found little worth stealing, so they stole people instead) and was kept very poor, whether by naturally-occurring harsh living conditions or being taken advantage of politically/economically. Even by WWII, Iceland was not really respected by other nations, despite it's relative autonomy from Denmark, being in a "personal union" with Denmark instead of complete independence. In particular, England ignored multiple declarations of neutrality and still went ahead with Operation Fork, preemptively invading and occupying Iceland to prevent Germany from doing the same (based on Iceland's closeness to North America). This naturally angered Iceland, being disrespected and treated like a petulant child. While he is respected as sovereign now, I imagine the sentiment of wanting to be respected for the long-lived nation he is, is still there.

In the example of the Christmas event in particular, I think (iirc) being forced to strip was very invasive in a way that would have struck a nerve with him, and I think he would vocalise that by feeling embarrassed to have been stripped; I imagine he wouldn't directly mention that it made him feel uncomfortable or that it was invasive in that way, but would rather call other people on their bullshit, so to speak.

Another headcanon is that he is relatively (physically) unscarred; as the wars Iceland has been involved with are largely civil wars, Iceland has very few scars on his body from external wars. He might have simple ones-- from kitchen knives or some such-- but nothing like (he imagines) Germany or America or anyone would have. Kind of a manliness thing pertinent to nations. So he doesn't want to show people his baby skin and the fact that you can count his ribs from across the room type of thing.

I think Hong Kong's efforts to convince Iceland that he's actually very good looking would be halting, at best; Iceland chooses so often to be defensive instead of to taking things at face value. Actions speak louder than words-- certainly Hong being visibly appreciative of his body would mean more to Ice than just telling him he's very good looking, certainly at first. But moreso than that, I think over time, showing that he enjoys Iceland's company (and bod) how it is would help a lot with his confidence and acceptance of his own perceived shortcomings and failures. I hope that answers your questions! ^^]

[Ah, I'm glad I could help! ;v;

Oh gosh that would be lovely! ovo I'd definitely be interested in doing that, I have a skype (though I always forget to log in |D") so I'll have to add you and we can chat!]