Traits of Countryhumans

Personifications are able to travel anywhere within their land at will. Like teleportation, they can travel from one side of their country to the next with just a thought. Additionally, if they are in another country, they can choose to return to their own land via this method. However, if they want to leave their land, they have to travel by human methods, or teleport to the border and walk from there.

In country form, a personification's face will always be their official flag. However, there are some caveats to this. If they do not have an official flag but have flags commonly associated with them, they will be able to switch between those unofficial flags at will, like Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is also an example of the most common form of flag exception, which is when a subdivision does not have their own flag and, therefore, has the flag of their ruling state. While Northern Ireland has unofficial flags they can use, most subdivisions will use the flag of their ruling state; only this flag will be in muted colors, representing how they are a subdivision.

However, a subdivision can escape this fate by having a seal, as if a subdivision has a seal, that will override the flag, as the seal is uniquely theirs, but the flag is not. The same holds true for any country that does not have a flag-the seal will be used instead. If a personification has no flag or seal, instead, a symbol commonly associated with their country or people will be used.

Lastly, when a country has more than one official flag. The personification can switch between these flags and any animals on them will give them traits. However, this is limited to only civil flags and state flags. War flags and naval flags do not count.

While personifications do have physical forms, that does not always mean they use them. A personification's physical form is used to sum up all of the opinions and appearances of a country into one being, but a personification can choose to look at more individual opinions by, in effect, exhaling their soul and leaving behind their physical body in order to become their soul. When a personification does this, they stop becoming a summary of their people and instead become all of their people all at once. They can feel every person's thoughts and feelings. It is something that can be very overwhelming and very dangerous.

If a personification spends too long outside of their body, they can risk losing themselves as a person and will eventually forget how to return to their body, remaining forever trapped as a soul. When it comes to countryhumans, the soul is the country and the body is the human, so when the soul is out of the body too long, the country and the human are not out of synch instead of working together. Any death that occurs to them in this state will also be permanent, regardless of whether it would normally be a temporary death or not. Additionally, when a personification returns to their body, they will need time to readjust, oftentimes forgetting who they are for a little bit as their soul readjusts. They are also exhausted after this process and will often fall asleep as their soul readjust. 

This is not a skill that personifications instinctively know, but rather, it is something they either learn or figure out for themselves.

When a personification becomes their soul, their soul is often the color of their flag, and its composition reflects their land. For example, island nations will have souls that look more like water (an exception to that is Hawaiʻi, whose soul looks more like fire and water intertwined in a dance, the fire coming from her phoenix traits and her volcanos), nations in the north and south with heavy snow will have souls that reflect ice and snow, desert nations will have heat and light, and etc. Personifications with many of these elements and climates will often have souls that consist of multiple of these traits, a visual summary of their biodiversity and climates.

The soul, when more controlled, can take the shape of the national animal(s). It depends on how well the country can control themselves when barely themselves. If they have more than one national animal, it tends to match the environment that they are in (i.e., on a boat, it's the marine one, but in the middle of a field, it's a land one). Even like that, the soul still looks like the soul. If they don’t have any official animal but do have an animal on the flag, it’s that, and if not that, it’s an animal of great importance to the people.

While personifications have the face of their flag/seal/symbol, that doesn't mean they can't look human when they want to. Personifications have the ability to transform into their "human forms," where their flag design is replaced by normal-toned skin and their animal traits (if they have them) disappear, making them look exactly like a human. Their human form is best described as a summary of their people, and whatever the largest ethnic groups are in their land, that is who will have the strongest impact on their appearance. For example, Bahrain's population is very split between Arabs and Asians (mainly Indians); therefore, she appears mixed. 

There are some family traits that are carried out throughout multiple families. For example, the Polynesians tend to have curly hair, while the USAmericans tend to have freckles. 

Human forms will also change as the population does. If the population experiences large amounts of immigration from a certain place, then the personification's human form will change to reflect that population if they have a large enough impact on the population. The most common changes, however, are more cosmetic, such as eye and hair color changes.

While personifications are, at the end of the day, personifications of countries, people, and other political regions, that does not mean they are incapable of humanity. After all, human is in their name. Their human side comes from their people, and it is the people of a country that give them their humanity. However, if a personification needs to, they can force aside their human side and suppress it, rendering them almost completely emotionless, and making them agree more with their government than with their people.

Personifications cannot hold this up for long, and their human side will always find a way to return, even if the personification does not want it to. Their humanity will always be a part of them, and they cannot keep it away for long.

As alluded to in the previous sections, the wants, desires, opinions, etc., that a personification has is decided by their people, not their government. Their thoughts are dictated by their people. If their people are divided over an issue, they will be too. However, if most of their people agree on something, that is the opinion the personification will have. For better or for worse, they are tied to their people and will stand by what their people believe.

Despite this, many humans still believe that personifications are tools of the government with no free will, and if enough of their people hate them, the personification will hate themself. It is a very delicate balance.

Personifications also joke about the "Free Will Issue," not just because of the many ways they can be mind-controlled but also because they don't know if they actually have their own opinions or if it's all just the people. The answer to this is simple: they can have their own thoughts, but they do instinctively fall in line with their people in the end, and they can only fight against what their people believe for so long, even if it goes against what they really want.

When a country has an official religion, the countryhuman and any subdivision personifications are bound to follow it. While normally a personification would practice whatever religion is most widespread (although this is a general rule of thumb, it is not the norm. Many personifications, especially older ones, will stick to traditional beliefs), when there is an official religion the countryhuman is bound to follow it. They no longer have a choice, that is their religion now. 

While they can fight against it, and they can practice another religion, the official religion is still something they will be compelled to follow, almost like an instinct. It will also be an almost malicious instinct if the personification does not follow the official religion, and will start to turn the personification away from their current religion, and will only be satisfied when they convert.

After the personification converts, or it they already practiced that religion anyways, the religion being official keeps them happy and content within their religion, and it prevents them from having doubts about it. It allows them to believe wholeheartedly in their religion, which for many is a blessing, and for others a curse.

Personifications have mixed emotions on how they feel about this, because while some so like it, others have experienced religious trauma from it, or had it used against them.

If a personification has an official language, they will instinctively know and understand that language. Even if a new language is made official, and it is not one that the personification knew before, they will still know it as if they were a native speaker. Otherwise, they must learn the language like a normal person.

However, if a personification doesn't have an official language, they will instinctively know and understand every language and accent used for those languages that are spoken within the borders of their land.

Indigenous personifications are a little different. They instinctively know the "national" language of their people, along with any languages that group of people uses that has more native speakers than the "national language". Otherwise, they must learn the language like a normal person.

Personifications also have the ability to learn languages faster than humans. Their brains are more suited for the fine art of learning another language.

While personifications look mostly human, they have a few traits that are a bit more eldritch and hard for humans to comprehend (neutralized in their human forms). When they are in the countryhumans world, they are essentially fully eldritch in nature, but this does not comprehend to the countryhumans, as they see themselves as being "normal."

The personification's main feature that unnerves humans is how they move and appear. They move in ways that are a bit too fluid and unnatural for humans to do. It is very hard to explain, but they just move in unnatural ways, especially those with animal traits. Also, instead of the sounds of bone cracking when they crack their knuckles, it's the sound of earth shifting. Their smiles are a bit too wide and dangerous, and sometimes, they seem like something else, pretending to have the form of a human. 

To humans, personifications seem to have physical bodies that do not obey physical laws and instead act more fluidly, as if they do not have bones. Although they do have physical forms, personifications are, at the end of the day, spirits and not biological creatures. In the countryhumans world, this is seen to the fullest extent, where they are more spirit than country.

Additionally, personifications set off major uncanny valley vibes, and they can be off-putting. 

The critical thing to remember is the bonds shared between countryhumans and their subdivisions is that the way they feel the bond is entirely dependent on the personality of the countryhumans whose land they are a part of, so I have a few examples I’m going to explain just to set out the general idea. If there are any not on this list you would like to see, shoot me and ask, and I will explain it.

AMERICA AND HIS STATES

As bonds are determined by the country’s personality, America’s adoration of his children has made their bond feel like a blanket wrapped around them. To many states, this bond feels warm and safe, and many of them often lean into it for comfort. It’s like when it’s a cold day outside, and you wrap yourself up in a blanket and lie down in your bed, warm and comfortable. 

However, while the bond they share is primarily positive, like all bonds between country and subdivision, it can turn harsh and oppressive. While blankets can be a source of comfort and warmth, they can also become hot and suffocating, which is how that bond can turn. Most of the time, this comes about when America is mad at a state, and they can feel the comfortable warmth of the blanket getting hotter and hotter and suffocating. In a way, it is a survival instinct, telling them when to turn back and stop doing whatever it is that they are doing that is causing their country so much anger. This is also completely unintentional on America’s part, as he does not control this bond, and instead, it just reacts to him.

Although all his subdivisions, states and territories, feel this bond, most are unaware of the strength of it, as they have lived their entire life with it. They subconsciously tune out a lot of the bond; to them, it is just a fact of their lives. However, some states and territories are more aware of it than others. 

USVI, Puerto Rico, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina were all colonies of other empires before joining the USA, so bonds have been a natural part of their lives. However, America is very different than the bonds of their original nations, so they are aware of it more due to this difference. The kind of bond changed, and ergo they are more aware of it. The former Confederate states are also more aware of it due to their brief life as a part of the CSA.

To continue this talk of Confederate States, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas were all briefly independent before forming the CSA, meaning all of them know what it is like to not have the bonds of a nation on them. Texas especially, as he was an independent country before even being an American. The same goes for the states of California, Vermont, and Hawaiʻi, each with their histories of being independent countries. 

It is a bond that is very diverse and fluctuating but one that is relatively positive in comparison to other bonds.

BRITAIN AND HIS COLONIES

Britain is controlling. That comes to no one’s surprise. And, like how America’s adoration of his kids affected his bond, Britain’s controlling nature affects how his bond feels.

His colonies will argue a lot about how it feels. Some feel that it is chains on their soul, their arms, and legs, keeping them chained to his side and his empire. Some feel more like it is just ropes that tie them to Britain, but never ones that tie around specific body parts of anything. How they interpret it depends on whether they were an independent nation before their colonization and how strongly Britain tries to control them. The more he tries to pull them closer, the more that rope-like bond turns into chains. 

It was not always something that felt negative for the colonies, as most did not know life without it and thought that it was natural. However, the bond would often feel choking and oppressive, even as they argued that it was good.

When Britain got mad, that was when the bond really became noticeable. Chains became spiked, ropes tightened until they burned, and the colony was left with an oppressive wave of fear that choked them into silence like a noose tightening around their neck. Britain knew this and abused the bond to keep them quiet and docile.

For countries that came under Britain’s control, they were constantly aware of the bond, especially the more they were mistreated and/or hated it. Ireland always felt like chains were on his wrists (once Britain took power, that is, England’s original bond with Ireland felt different), even when nothing was there. He would feel that feeling almost every day up until his independence. It is very dependent on how willingly they joined him, however, and how their personal relationship was defined. 

The bond was definitely marked more by personal emotions than political ones, and it always varied in terms of chains vs. rope on how much Britain believed they needed to be controlled.

FRANCE AND HER COLONIES

France’s bond with her colones is like a storm, a force of nature that rages between them. Bonds are not physical things and, therefore, do not need to be connected by a physical feeling. France, a force of nature in her own right, would not manifest a bond in any other way. To her colonies, they often feel the bond as a gentle rainfall, leading to them being able to define France’s moods based on the weather.

She is not happy; she’s a rainstorm. She’s not angry; she’s a thunderstorm, and so on and so forth (I might put together a list of weather events and how they correlate to her emotions.)

It can be a bit hard to describe this bond when compared to the very psychical and controlling aspect of Britain’s bond, but that is indeed the point. Britain seeks control of his colonies, America seeks to care for them, and France is a force of nature her colonies must contest with. That is not to say she doesn’t care for them; she does, but she is just so bold, brash, and argumentative in her personality that she is far from the stereotypical depiction of a caring mother.

When she is angry, the bond turns into a storm that can decimate land and buildings, a storm that is directed at the colony of her ire and meant to bring them to her knees. France does not expect total control as Britain does, but she still expects those under her to be on their knees and swear loyalty. When she is happy with them, it is like a gentle rainfall after a long drought, the kind of feeling meant to bring about gratitude and thankfulness.

SPANISH EMPIRE AND HIS COLONIES

Spanish Empire’s bond with his colonies is like a cord connecting him to his colonies. Not a rope, not a chain, just a cord tying them together. Since Spanish Empire was not the most involved with his colonies, the cord was not often affected by his emotions, just sitting there and reminding everyone of their connection. Because of this, most colonies did not feel the bond until they started declaring independence.

There was the exception of New Spain, who adored Spanish Empire and borderline worshipped him, so he was always aware of the bond as he tried to wrap it tighter and tighter around himself, but he was the exception.

When Spanish Empire became upset with its colonies, the cord would tighten, but never to a degree that felt painful to them. Spanish Empire cared deeply about its family and never wanted to hurt them. So, his bond reflected that idea and remained just a reminder that they were his colonies, but never as a form of punishment like some countries used their bond.

RUSSIAN EMPIRE AND HIS COLONIES

Russian Empire’s bond with his colonies is like a warm fire in the cold, a light, and heat that those near to it will cling to as a source of heat and strength. Russian Empire was not a very loving or affectionate man, and he saw his colonies more as something to use than their own individual people, which made this bond unique. As Russian Empire had no strong feelings to contribute to the bond, the bond’s feelings were, in fact, made up of how his colonies felt about him. 

To his colonies, he was a good man who looked after them, and since they were both places up north, they viewed that through the lens of something that helps in the cold, a fire, and that was what the bond manifested as. A nice fire that got warmer the closer they were to Russian Empire, as well as when he was happy with them.

When he is angry, the fire goes out. No warmth. No light. No heat. Just a bitter wind and biting cold that freezes you in place under his icy gaze as the cold penetrates your very being. Bitterly cold, his anger is. Even if they were surrounded by real fire or in the hottest place on earth, his colonies would still feel frigid to their very core. It doesn’t affect their body's health, but to them, they are in danger of freezing.

His colonies will do a lot to preserve that warm feeling. It is very reflective of the situation many of his colonies were in, where they loved Russian Empire, but he did not care if he needed to leave them to die.