rareandunpophetaopinions - Tumblr blog

[rareandunpophetaopinions]

“Ahhah, sorry for this wall of text, also can you keep this on anon please? Thank you!

I know properly characterizing a character takes a lot of work and research, and I’m willing to let that slide when people do country AU’s but I don’t know: one of the biggest things that make me mad are how people characterize the Nyotalia and 2P characters? Sure they don’t have to be perfect, but Nyotalia isn’t exactly just the female version of the character, heck, even Himaruya himself expanded on the characterization of them.  

It also really bothers me when the 2P’s are always depicted as bloodthirsty villains. Just like, please, stop. Even though I will admit, that I do really love some 2P characterizations, the 2P’s originally were just re-designed versions of the characters. Additionally, their personalities are just so flat, it’s like the 2P’s have cool designs, but then their personalities are just check boxes for cliche personality types. A lot of people think they’re canon, (I don’t blame them, I used to think that, too,) but at least try to be nice about it? People getting bashed because their design for a Nyo or 2P or even just a redesign of a canon character is absolutely unacceptable. This fandom is going to be 12 years old soon, why is this still a problem?“

All submissions automatically become anon, so don’t worry! :D

- Mod V

[rareandunpophetaopinions]

“Generally, the fandom and canon implies that the personifications are 100% tied to the beliefs and feelings of the people and/or the government. I’m not saying it’s wrong to think that, but I lowkey find it screwed up because I’m kind of an individualist and it bothers me that there’s a giant implication that they to not have much autonomy in the grand scheme of things.

I like to head canon that they are fully humans whose soul and body is tied to the nation. What I mean by this is that they have bodies that are born and can die, and they have a will that sometimes will not align with the people or the government.“

I do recall Spain opposing his boss by recuing Chibi!Romano when the Ottoman Empire got him.  As a result, Spain got beaten up and yelled at by his boss for disobeying and messing with the Ottoman Empire.  Likewise, Germany found Hitler crazy but wasn’t able to do anything back.

I think it’s more the nations have their own thoughts and will, but they’re ultimately powerless against their boss.  Though China did beat up his dragon boss once with a Hello Kitty doll.

- Mod V

[rareandunpophetaopinions]

“I really dislike how the divide/rivalry between FrUK and USUK, along with other ships, have divided our fandom. Like, come on, guys. We can all ship different things but no need to get upset if a person doesn’t like the same thing you do. In the end of the day, we’re all in the same fandom and should be looking out for each other more that fighting each other. At least, it’s getting better now but it irritates me when I see it here and there on Tumblr and other websites.“

The ship wars really were pretty bad back in the day.  The amount of harassment a person can get just because they don’t agree on someone’s opinion on a ship could get pretty nasty.

That saying so, I’ve seen some people claim the Voltron shipping fandom is the next Hetalia one.  However, I’ve seen many others say that that shipping fandom is far worse than Hetalia’s.  Honestly, as someone who’s into Voltron...I agree with the latter.  There’s so much discourse (pro tip: if you don’t want a flame war, do not mention age or age discourse.  Just don’t.) and the amount of hate and harassment not only writers and artists but the staff gets (i.e. Josh Keaton who voices Shiro - even his family got threats) is pretty atrocious.

Shipping wars always happen in every fandom, but somehow it’s not as bad in other fandoms compared to others (for instance, Jojo and Ace Attorney).  That then brings the question - what should we do to prevent shipping wars from getting out of control? What are other fandoms doing that have somehow prevented this surge of shipping wars from unleashing and causing not only their fandom’s reputation from going under, but also causing a great distress to others who just want to immerse in their likes?

- Mod V

[rareandunpophetaopinions]

“I find rare ship more interesting than the popular ones.“

[rareandunpophetaopinions]

“Despite getting a pretty bad reputation as an ugly style, I guess I sort of like the old Studio Deen style. Sure, there is a lot of weird anatomy, especially with the hands, but the style’s pretty unique, I suppose. I like how squash and stretch the animation was and it’s more expressive than the one in the later seasons.  And to be honest, I like how the eyes are coloured.“

[rareandunpophetaopinions]

“This is just me wondering: a lot of people imagine Native America as a single person personified. But from what I know, Native America was actually a bunch of tribes with their own villages without much unity. Just like Europe, for example. So shouldn’t the tribes be personified as many different people instead of just a single person?

This is just my opinion, though. Sorry, English is not my primary language.“

Don’t worry, your English is fine! :D

- Mod V

[rareandunpophetaopinions]

“The absolute worst thing is when people regard characters clearly disliking each other as development and making it an excuse to ship things. For example, FrUK and to an even better comparison Pru/RomaHun are the worst ships ever, and not to mention, it can be offensive considering that some pairs are countries that despise each other in real life.“

[rareandunpophetaopinions]

“I feel uncomfortable when people mention how hot the characters are. It’s even worse when people only watch Hetalia for hot anime boys. As an ace person and history nerd in one, it feels so wrong to fetishize and sexualize characters that represent countries.“

I think most fans who find the characters “hot” tend to only see the characters as characters from that specific country rather than as a representation of the country itself.  So when someone says “England is hot”, I think they usually mean “Arthur Kirkland is hot”.

That saying so, it does get really creepy when I see people being all “British things are hot!” and the like.

- Mod V

[rareandunpophetaopinions]

“I don’t like incest personally, but if nobody’s a d*ck about it, then I’m perfectly fine with them. I may not like the ship, but if you’re not shoving it down my throat, then I’m fine with you.“

[rareandunpophetaopinions]

Since you opened up your blog for others' unusual opinions, how about you type down your own for once? :)) My personal question to you is: What made you hate all those popular ships? And are you even interested in shipping altogether? I'm really curious! (btw if this ask makes you uncomfy, just ignore it)

You should see my DeviantArt, main Tumblr and Pixiv - I’m actually really into ships and have quite a number of them.  XD however, most of them tend to be rare or crack.  This is a rather interesting question because honestly, at times it’s hard to pin down how I truly feel into words so this may turn out long.  But, I’ll try.  :’) (and don’t worry - I’m not uncomfortable at all with answer this question, but thank you for your consideration.  :D)

Warning: This post contains my opinion.  It will contain my dislike of certain ships which include and don’t include Hetalia ships.  There is nothing wrong if you ship any of those ships and I am not bashing anyone who likes these ships, either.  I’m just here to answer a question and express my opinion.  That is all. 

In all honesty, this isn’t just a Hetalia thing.  Nowadays, I tend to dislike most popular ships in nearly every medium.  It’s rather odd because back when I was in high school, I was all for popular ships.  However, I think it may do with how times are changing and so is the general consensus of why a ship is so popular.

Back in my high school days, I was into things like Fruits Basket, Sailor Moon, Skip Beat! and Ouran High School Host Club with the odd one here and there like Elfen Lied.  However, all of those mediums, I loved the popular ships.  Even today, I still like those ships.  For instance - nearly everyone I knew who liked Skip Beat! shipped Kyoko x Ren - nearly nobody liked Kyoko x Sho.  Long story short - nobody liked shipping the girl with the massive douchebag who used her and never appreciated her efforts.  

However, nowadays, tsundere attitudes seem so common in shipping that it’s boring to me.  I always had a massive dislike for the tsundere character archetype so that may explain why majority of Hetalia’s popular ships are an instant nope to me (i.e. USUK, Spamano, DenNor).  What really doesn’t help is that fans tend to flanderize the worst of tsundere (i.e. the hitting and verbal abuse).  If it’s a first-time only thing, I’d give the benefit of the doubt since it’s a first-time, but it’s so prevalent it gets tiring.  

Another common attitude I’ve noticed in shipping is the whole “bad boy meets good boy/girl” which I find rather annoying and want to proclaim in the most exaggerated whiny teenage girl voice, “I can change him mama!” Call me a cynic but there are some people who just won’t change because they’re ~in lurve~ and you need way more than “the power of wuv!!” if you want a relationship to survive.  However, I blame social media and YA novels for giving this mindset.  It’s not really common in Hetalia but when it is, it’s annoying (i.e. 2P x Reader).  I dunno, but bad boys never appealed with me because I see them as that - bad boys.  Ergo, not for me since I have no interest in boys (men all the way for me, baby).

Another reason why I don’t like most of those ships is because of how most of them contain a demonized party (e.g. PruCan doing this with Cuba, Spamano doing this with Belgium, France, Turkey and Italy, etc.).  I can understand why you may need someone to fulfill your antagonist role (hell, nowadays I’m using more Hetalia and even Nyotalia characters to fulfill the role of antagonist), but can you do more than just make them the shallow bitchy obstacle who “gets in the way” of your pairing? Actually give them some sympathetic qualities? A legitimate backstory? Make them an actual character instead of a caricature?

Thirdly, it also has to do with negative interactions with fandumb (i.e. the dumb portions of a fandom).  The reason why I placed Spamano as higher in my hated ship list over USUK is because of a personal experience with a Spamano fanbrat.  Long story short, they bullied my friend who shipped SpaBelg, I stepped in, and they harassed me and my friend for two years leaving pathetic yet disgusting messages.  They’ve stopped now, thank God, but needless to say, it’s highly soured my opinion on Spamano and I can’t help but feel wary as a result.  

I also had a negative experience in an RP with USUK in my earlier years of Hetalia.  It was supposed to be a group party RP (spin the bottle, I believe) but it became this USUK drama soap-opera (Nyo!America and America both liked England, England rejected Nyo!America, she attempts to commit suicide by overdose, is hospitalized, the two blame themselves blah blah blah blah).  There was a Germany and an Austria there as well, and they were just as clueless as I was.  When I tried to include myself because, y’know, this was supposed to be a group RP, by trying to comfort America who gets drunk out of guilt, they then said, “Get out of here, you damn Asian.”  I was RP’ing as Nyo!Vietnam, but actually being an Asian (Filipino, to be specific), I couldn’t help but feel a bit miffed at that.

Finally, it’s just me being highly picky, overall.  Whenever I look at things, particularly relationships in media, I always have a tendency to analyze and deconstruct.  When I look at a ship, I would think “Would both parties grow and develop?” And I’d tend to put personality characteristics and attributes together to see if they’d match or one party has a personality attribute that can counter or meld.  But when I see two characters being too similar or having too many similar traits, I tend to not ship it because I just don’t find it interesting.  Though at times, I simply just can’t answer properly why I don’t like a ship - sometimes I just don’t.

TL;DR - I’m actually really into shipping but nearly every ship I like is rare or crack.  The reasons why I hate most Hetalia popular ships are because:1. Could be because times are changing and I’m just getting older.2. Flanderized tsundere characters.3. Fandumb (dumb portions of a fandom).4. Just me being a Picky Penguin.

Hope that answers your question! :D 

- Mod V

[rareandunpophetaopinions]

“Okay, but consider: siblinghood = property/colony. So when a character in Hetalia says that this is their "brother" that means they're the said country's property/colony. Idk just a headcanon but it makes sense (to me at least).“

[rareandunpophetaopinions]

Happy New Year!

Sorry for the super late response! Q7Q I was visiting family in Melbourne first and now I’m in the Philippines and Internet is not exactly the best.  orz

That saying so, I hope you guys had an awesome New Year! Here’s to 2018 being a more hopeful and positive year! :D

[rareandunpophetaopinions]

“Um, this is kind of an unpopular opinion - why do people ship USUK? There's no foundation.”

[rareandunpophetaopinions]

“I like how sparkly and soft Hima’s art is.”

And I love how simple and sweet this confession is.  :D

- Mod V

[rareandunpophetaopinions]

“First of all, sorry if my English is a bit strange (it isn’t my mother language).

Sometimes, I think I’m the only person who doesn’t like RusAme.  Honestly, RusAme is my biggest NOTP, which is sad because my favorite character is Russia, so when I’m looking for images of him, RusAme is in my face (I’m not saying that the images are bad, after all, that is how the fandom is kept up).

In my opinion, I don’t like self-destructive or toxic relationships. It’s okay if other people like them (I have friends who like RusAme for that and I understand that it is necessary for dark fanfics or for the progress of the relationship), but for me, I feel that is not good for Russia and America (maybe it’s because I have another point of view when seeing the personifications). As I was saying, I feel that both Russia and America need to be with someone that brings them down from their cloud of power. I know that they’re pretty aggressive when they want, and for that I can’t see them together. The only thing that I can stand about RusAme are the memes, sorry.

I love Russia, and, well, America is not a character that I like, but when I read RusAme, I wanna punch them in the face so hard and I don’t want that to happen.  I really want to love all characters but with RusAme… I don’t like America so hard, but I really appreciate him as a character.

I’m sorry if I sound a bit offensive for the people that ship RusAme, but always (or almost) one feels offended when someone says that don’t like a couple that you like. I don’t like the ship but I really like the people that keep the fandom and create things that they like <3

That’s all. Thanks!“

First of all, there’s no need to apologize about English not being your first language - I can understand it quite well, and I tend to fix the grammar and spelling, anyway.  :D (plus, English is my first language and yet I screw up a lot with it, so...orz)

Also, if it makes you feel better Anon, I don’t like RusAme, either.  However, I’m pretty sure nobody would feel offended at what you said.  At least no respectful fan would.  Everyone is entitled to like and dislike a ship.  Sure, one can feel sad or a little hurt or disagree, but offended? I think for someone to feel offended because somebody doesn’t like their fictional pairing is a bit extreme and rather immature behaviour.

- Mod V

[rareandunpophetaopinions]

“People need to stop giving other people crap for shipping incest ships in this fandom. I don’t think they’re the best ships out there but I sure as hell would never judge someone if they thought so. Shipping a couple of brothers/sisters from a work of fiction doesn’t mean you condone incest in real life, and it says absolutely nothing about who you are as a person.  Not only are none of these characters real but they’re COUNTRIES. They don’t have parents, so they aren’t even siblings in the conventional sense, and literally almost all of them are at least a little bit related, anyways. I see nothing wrong with incest ships, at least in not in Hetalia.

I’ve seen people say some horrible things to each other over this, and it ticks me off that people feel the need to be so cruel to others and tell them that they’re disgusting or that they’re terrible people because of what they ship. I dunno, call me crazy but it just doesn’t make any sense to me.“

From my observations of several fandoms, I find it interesting how Hetalia is one of the fandoms where incest ships are considered a huge problem.  There aren’t many incest ships in most of the fandoms I’m in but in Jojo there are a good number of them.  Yet nobody bats an eyelash except those on Tumblr who want to whine about things being ~problematique~ .

Really, just ship and let ship.  I think the only time I’ll not condone shipping is if it contains sexual things with children.  Though again, Tumblr has really skewed ideas of what’s considered “sexual with children” (i.e. EVERYTHING is apparently sexual with children even if it shows something innocent like a kid having a puppy crush on a tutor, older sibling’s friend, etc. because they’re nice and cool and the latter party isn’t even reciprocating or aware...y’know, something that’s pretty common in real life?).

- Mod V

[rareandunpophetaopinions]

Merry Christmas to all of you! Hope you’re having a swell time and getting the gifts you want! 2018 is almost here, so hopefully the last few days of 2017 are enjoyable!

Cheers! - Mod V