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What do you think about the whole feedback debates?

I’ve already touched on this before. My opinion hasn’t changed. 

–  Feedback
shouldn’t inherently be expected. You’re not entitled to someone’s thoughts
just because they read your work. However, if you like a creator’s work,
feedback is the best way to keep them going.

–  I think
engagement is more important. This includes likes, follows, reviews,
favourites, reblogs etc., Yes, there is a hierarchy in how some are more
valuable than others, but I’m not favourable of the “likes do nothing”
argument. They’re still a show of support and they do do something. Be grateful
for any level of interaction you receive.

–  I saw @feyna-v
bring up an interesting point in reference to how the fandom is fragmented into
“niches.” That is, people will gravitate towards specific content. Since
popularity levels have dropped, these niches have become smaller. You can find
their post here [x].

While this is true, my only
qualm is to look at follower counts for specific blogs and to analyze the
engagement levels at a localized level = meaning, look at the engagement levels
of your followers. Then take the engagement levels of one niche and compare
them to others to verify if this is a fandom-wide issue. From my experience,
Hetalia does have an issue of low engagement. It’s not about how many people
are here. It’s about the ratio of engagement of the people in the fandom, compartmentalized as it may be, that
matters. 

– Personally, I think a
1:10 ratio is healthy, and it’s what I believe this fandom should aspire for in
supporting our creators. This would entail 1 follow/ like/ reblog/ favourite
per ten people.

– If you write solely
for feedback, Hetalia isn’t the place for you. I learned that the hard way when
I wrote for nearly two years on ff.net, garnering 100s of readers and yet I was
lucky to get between 2-5 follows, favourites, and reviews. I’m not going to lie
and say that it wasn’t discouraging.

It’s a horribly shitty
feeling to write a 10k chapter (a minimum of 40 hours of work) and get excited
about potential responses, only to feel like you’re sending your heart and soul
into an unappreciated and empty void. What I had to learn before I came here is
that people read your work for a reason, and while they may not overtly show
it, they still appreciate it.

However, I would be lying if I said that the low levels of
engagement didn’t affect my confidence as a writer. Perhaps it was because I
began writing during such a vulnerable and lonely time in my life, but I now
have a colossal aversion to uploading fics. I’ve since moved towards private
writing but would like to begin updating again when I get my life back in
order.

–   Last
point: If you complain to your
favourite author about not updating and don’t support them at all (i.e., no
follows, no likes, no reviews etc.) you have a lot of nerve. We’re not obligated
to create anything for you, just the same as you’re not obligated to support us.

It’s the same thing as the
working in a service sector argument.

To avoid the chronicity of rude, entitled customers, there’s the
belief that every person should work in the service/ food industry at least
once in their life. That way, they don’t treat the workers like shit because they know what
it was like to be one.

It’s the same thing for fanfiction. Become a creator and you’ll
see for yourself how much time and effort is put into it. It’s why I’ve noticed
that other creators are the best at giving feedback/support if they like something because they know the process
and what it’s like to be on the other end of the screen.

We have to remember that Hima is one person (and I do not recall him stating that he was a history student) and cannot get all the facts right. He’s not even from a western society, hence consistency errors. Take the joke about Norway and Iceland with “Oni-chan”, there is no Norwegian/Icelandic equivalent because up there people refer to each-other by name. Don’t take Hetalia too seriously/literally, it’s a comedy, not a history book.

Hmmm. Since I both agree
and disagree with this, I’ll play devil’s advocate 😈 😉

The series is based on
stereotypes. Stereotypes are generalizations predicated on the culture and
society in which you grow up. That said, it’s inevitable that stereotypes of
different nationalities are going to vary across the world. They’re also
inherently biased.

As you said, coming from
an Eastern society, this influences how Hima conceptualizes these national
stereotypes. To say that Hima’s stereotypes are inaccurate is a self-defeating
argument. They’re accurate from his point of view, and again, are inherently
biased.

It’s self-defeating in
the sense that anytime you attempt to apply stereotypes, it’ll be based on
where you’re from. With that logic, any stereotype someone comes up with will
always be seen as inaccurate to another person, who holds a different view of
what that stereotype consists of.

That’s where the fandom
comes in. Because stereotypes are so wishy-washy, it’s impossible to
characterize them accurately, not to mention that a stereotype is a generalization;
it’s function isn’t to pay attention to small details. This flexibility of stereotypes allows fans to mould characters to fit their own
understanding of their culture.

In other words, the series
wouldn’t function well if it wasn’t based on stereotypes.

However, regardless of
the presence of stereotypes, this series is a historical comedy. While they may
be a few misunderstandings and limitations of language spanning across diverse audiences,
Hima should still be held to account for the research he incorporates into his
writings.

If you check out his
blog, he does do quite a bit of research and travelling. Obviously, he’s human and
mistakes will happen, but since the series’ initial premise was historical in
nature, he should be aiming to be as accurate as possible.

The series gets a lot of
criticism, understandably, for some of his earlier characterizations of the
characters. In my opinion, I think what happened is that Hima never imagined
that the series would grow so big, and so he just did whatever he wanted with
them. If you notice, later characterizations are more culturally-sensitive, but
these older depictions will still haunt him and be brought up from time-to-time.