![[RANT!] I feel like Countryhumans is overhated and we should be able to loosen up more.](https://preview.redd.it/0evofq6kphjh1.png?auto=webp&s=9696deaa60d335cc22554be1fbb73d048b817773)
[RANT!] I feel like Countryhumans is overhated and we should be able to loosen up more.
So, how do I start this.
(Bad description of my feelings towards these topics incoming; Please tone down my attitude in this when you read it, I do not mean to sound aggressive or stubborn if that is what you are feeling from this. I have a lot of ideas about this fandom that I would like to discuss, and this is not directed towards anyone. Also a warning for potentially controversial viewpoints and ideas. Again, this is just a rant about some things that have been on my mind.)
This is a rant that isn't applied to the reddit community for countryhumans, but instead countryhumans on other platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, etc, and some general observations I've seen from some criticisms of Countryhumans on Reddit, such as in some rant or cringe groups
Point 1: I feel like ships in this fandom are overhated.
We are personifying countries, and personifying things comes along with a plethora of things, such as giving them the ability to enter romantic relationships. The urge to ship characters also comes from how people have a desire to witness or create drama, and people often also project their own desires for/in a relationship onto characters. Shipping characters is completely normal, and Countryhumans is no different from any other fandom. We should be able to have fun with our characters without constantly worrying about hate and mischaracterisation. It feels unfair that other fandoms get to be able to ship pretty much any ship (except for incest, pedo, and unequal/unbalanced ships, ofc), while its common to see people attack countryhuman fans for any type of shipping, or having a ship that isn't the best ally of that country. It also feels like a lot of people stay in their comfort zone in this fandom, and the most popular ships are overly used (Not that that is a bad thing, but that I would love to see more diverse ships in this fandom)
(edit: this part is only about how the relations are in your headcanons. Ships that have bad or absuive irl relations should be allowed if their relations are ok in their headcanons (with a disclaimer for irl relations), and bad/abusive relations are not romanticised)
We should accept all ships that are not pedo/incest as long as they add a disclaimer if the two countries currently have bad relations without one country committing disproportionate harm to the other (such as Russia x USA (Current bad relations, but no disproportionate harm), but not Ukraine x Russia (Current bad relations, disproportionate harm)), or if they currently have good relations but one of the countries had harmed the other disproportionately in the past (such as Portugal x Timor Leste (Current good relations, historic disproportionate harm), but not Japan x China (Current bad relations, historic disproportionate harm)), adding that we recognise that the two countries have harmed each other disproportionately and that it is not meant to downplay the actions. (edit: this section is only if the CH is more centred on the country and not more of an original character. if they are characterised as more of an oc than a 1:1 representative of the country, then it should be allowed with a disclaimer)
[Image attached is how I feel if a ship should be accepted or not]
Edit: I also think that ships of controversial/morally bad countries/regiems should only be shipped if it is important to history/their personality (such as that country relying heavily on another country) or for satire purposes. If it is genuinely shipped as a normal ship or OTP, then it should not be accepted.
Ships that do not have 100% healthy relations should also be more accepted, as many countries' relations are not black-and-white, and having unhealthy or toxic relationships can help in understanding relations. OTPs can be unhealthy as long as you add disclaimers and understand the depth of their relationship.
Point 2: Countryhumans is overhated compared to countryballs and Hetalia.
Countryballs (especially r\polandball) have a lot of stereotypes and jokes that can be taken as racism. The requirement of non-english speaking countries needing to speak with broken English always rubbed me the wrong way, and certain running jokes or some jokes that appear in some comics also feel weird. Hetalia also can be taken as downplaying WWII and some designs or characterisation is also controversial (such as some instances of Poland, where it can be taken that he is portrayed as weak), yet there is much less hate to both countryballs and Hetalia compared to countryhumans. If we took some jokes in countryballs or Hetalia and applied them to countryhumans, there is a high chance we will get hate for it.
I think a large part of this comes from countryballs being able to be taken as harmless cartoonish jokes, and Hetalia is full personified, so people do not have a stong association of the entire cultural and political country. Countryhumans is in the awkward middle ground where we have personification, but the flag (and in turn, the people, culture, government, language, and so much more) can be strongly associated with the character.
Some people, often not in the Countryhuman fandom, tell us that we are dealing with countries and should take them more seriously. I agree with that idea, but it feels unfair because many Countryball and Hetalia things do not take the countries they are dealing with seriously and yet do not get as much hate as compared to countryhumans.
That is pretty much the end of my rant. Thank you for reading all of that ,and please comment if you agree or have questions/concerns with any points I brought up. Thank you so much!