In defense of Belarus (rant)
Belarus was one of my favorite characters when I was getting into Hetalia, despite her... interesting introduction. She has a pretty design, and I really love her character song with Ukraine. It's literally canon that she's beautiful and musically talented, so why wouldn't I like her? Oh right, her weird obsession towards her own BROTHER.
In no way am I going to excuse her behavior towards Russia, but if you know anything about her character, then you know it's not for no reason. Belarus' obsession roots from STOCKHOLM SYNDROME, along with having bipolar disorder (according to the dub, I know it mistranslates things sometimes so you may correct me if I'm wrong, but if it's not bipolar disorder my second guess would be BPD.)
You have to look at it from a historical and canon perspective. Belarus is a country linguistically and historically connected to Russia, formerly being a part of the USSR but now a close ally with Russia. Why is Belarus still a close ally with Russia, despite the terrible things they've done to Belarusians, Ukrainians, and so on? Because Belarus is economically weak and so is their military, therefore they need Russia's help. If Belarus one day decided to go to war with Russia then they would most likely lose because of how they've depended on Russia for so long.
Now, let's look at canon. When Belarus was younger, she was very lonely and didn't really have anyone other than her siblings to call a friend. This, tied with Russian colonization, lead to her obsession and dependency on Russia.
Do you notice how I say obsession/dependency instead of love? Because it's not love. It's the result of her deteriorating mental health and so her last resort was clinging onto her brother.
Apart from her obsession with Russia, a reason that people don't like Belarus is because she's violent and mean towards everyone. For example, her breaking all of Lithuania's fingers when they went out on a date. Honestly, this is just dumb to hate her for. The show is literally about the AXIS POWERS. It's about personified countries, it'd be dumb to expect them all to be saints.
Russia has definitely beat up way more people than Belarus has but this behavior that they have towards her is NEVER directed to him. Most Russia ships are more like a CASE if anything. And as someone who ships Belarus x Lithuania and Belarus x Taiwan, I'm fully aware that Belarus ships are toxic, that's what makes them interesting to me. I personally see Belarus as a lesbian going through comphet with Russia and I will cling onto that headcanon with my life.
I understand why people dislike her, but I wish this same energy was directed towards Russia. I don't want to reach too far, but people interpret the male characters in interesting ways and make them complex and then they just leave all the women there and give them one-dimensional personalities. There is SO MUCH potential with fanon Belarus but nobody cares because she's a girl, so they take her character at face value.
I don't know how to end this, I just wanted to get my thoughts out if anything. I have been her number one defender since I joined the fandom and I will NOT tolerate Belarus slander.
