hetalia | The Hetalia Fandom

Well, I first got into Hetalia in March a year ago.. I had heard about it first in January when a lot of deviations on the front page of Deviantart were Hetalia fanart. It made me go 'Hmmmm...' and then the next day my friend noticed it too and went 'Hmmmm...'
So we decided to watch it! Together! And we instant messaged about it and how funny it was and continued through the next 8 episodes. We LOVED it since!
(It was kind of funny though, we thought it was going to be a srs-business show because the fanart we looked at was all serious. Not quite anywhere what we had in mind. hahaha)

There weren't.. too many fans when I joined. I didn't really take notice to how they behaved.
Now, it seems more crack-ish. So much.. randomosity. Definitely not as quiet as we were back a year ago. But we really do have an impact on the world now. Look at Hetalia Day last year, there were so many participants! Livejournal definitely has an effect. :) We finally got recognized and licensed for an English Dub and manga!

Now if only we can recognize Sealand as a nation..

Thanks for the response! You're awesome. :D

Would you mind if I quoted you, or would you prefer I didn't? O: I would just use your screen name unless you said otherwise, but if you aren't comfortable that's okay. ^^

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randomranma.livejournal.com - 2010-05-03 18:32 (UTC) - Expand

(deleted comment)

"The only thing that sorta irks me about this fandom, is the tendency of how some fans whine due to it being dubbed."
Oh, you'll get that anywhere. *sigh*

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mcsourface.livejournal.com - 2010-05-01 03:23 (UTC) - Expand

Thanks for the response! <3

Would you be okay with me quoting you, or would you prefer I didn't? Either is okay with me. O:

I first heard about the fandom quite a while ago on tvtropes.
I actually started looking into it after my best friend's sister started cosplaying for it and asked us to as well. That was in january of '09.
I've been in this fandom for a while now. ^^
I had no idea where to look at first, to find out about it, but was eventually directed to this comm. I read the whole thing from the beginning, ugh, which took several months.

I stayed here because I like the people here best, site-wise and fandom-wise.

I'm extremely glad for having hetalia, because I was interested only in *very* specific periods of history, and this fandom gave me a reason to be fascinated by all the rest. I wasn't any good at following current events, and I'd certainly be failing US History right now if it weren't for my interest in hetalia. (Hetalia has also gotten me drawing again, which is so wonderful I can't even say.)

We have all of the problems of any other fandom, especially a large, widespread one with lots of opinions, but many of us can make that work and grow from it.

And this wonderful, wonderful group has made my days, weeks, months, and nearly single-handedly restored my faith in humanity be reminding me that there really are all of these other charming, talented, enthusiastic, hilarious people to share this big wide world with.

And again, I wouldn't be getting high marks in my history class if I didn't have the hetalia perspective continually engaging and captivating me. It makes it easier to focus, study, and remember.
It makes me care about the world.

I don't know any other fandom I can think of that has such a global nature-- and anyway, isn't that really what APH is about at the core? Bringing people together?
We just have to work through the irritations is all. (Another thing, I would have been far too cynical to say something like this without hetalia. I've got life lessons now~!)

Thank you, you wonderful, fabulous person you~!

Would you mind if I directly quoted you, or would you prefer I not? I'd just use your screen name unless you indicated something otherwise, but if you're not comfortable with that, that is perfectly okay. :)

(no subject)

mcsourface.livejournal.com - 2010-05-01 21:48 (UTC) - Expand

How did you first hear about the fandom? Where did you go to first?
I joined when I saw a huge wave of fanart from deviantart around...2008-ish. When I heard that it was a warped version of history (or history on speed) I checked it out.

What WERE the biggest hubs of fans when you first joined, in your point of view? What are the CURRENT hubs of fan activity, in your opinion?
I say deviantART and Livejournal : aside from this community there are other livejournal communities dedicated to portions of this fandom (like the RoChu Squad or what_the_fruk) There are also a lot of deviantART groups dedicated to portions of this fandom as well

Thank you! Your screen name is wickedly awesome to say, btw.

Would you mind I quoted you, or would you prefer I didn't? O:

(no subject)

wakalakaosaka.livejournal.com - 2010-05-01 06:10 (UTC) - Expand

I got into Hetalia about a year or so ago. I was probably about a few months before the mass came into it.

As time went on, I got to know so many people from everywhere and I can relate to them. One thing I like about the Hetalia fandom is, that we are an educated group. We realise that the series itself is inaccurate. We do research on history to make an accurate fanfic or fanart. Another is that we love this fandom because we are accepting of other cultures and history.

The things that annoy me is because of the mass of yaoi fanart, others think we disrespect history and that's what Hetalia's all about. Boy on Boy action. Another is how the people who just got into it complain about the English dubbing news. If you love a series, you wouldn't care, right?

Thanks for your answer~! <3

Would you mind if I quoted you, or would you prefer I didn't? O: Either is okay with me. :)

(no subject)

imacashew218.livejournal.com - 2010-05-01 04:01 (UTC) - Expand

I got into Hetalia around September/October last year, because I had a friend who had a wonderful cosplay of China and I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. :) I started with the webcomic, I've only watched one episode of the anime, and I like the drama CDs.

One thing I love about the Hetalia fandom is that we're, well, as one person said before, educated and mature. We don't base all our facts on what we see in the comics, and in fact we're spurred on to research more to verify if what we see is correct. The thing with Hetalia is it develops your imagination and creativity while helping you learn things you wouldn't even be vaguely interested in before. I'm of the opinion that if everyone in the world were Hetalia fans, we'd have relative world peace. :D

The Hetalia fandom brings together crack and seriousness like I've never seen any other fandom do. It's amazing, really, and seeing so many different styles and takes on history lets you open your mind further.

I guess there's one thing I don't like about the fandom though- when people troll ships. It's rude and immature and I think that if you really love Hetalia and what it stands for, how it connects people from different cultures, you shouldn't be so tactless (especially where shippers can see). But mostly the fandom is made of wonderful, intelligent, gracious people with diverse backgrounds and personalities and it's amazing how well we all get along. :D

Psst...if you're in the HP fandom and don't mind answering the questions for me about your thoughts on that, I'd love to hear it. If you feel you've done enough, that is perfectly okay. I'm lucky you were nice enough in the first place. <3 You're awesome!

Oh, do you mind if I quote you, or would you prefer I not? If you're okay with me quoting you directly but would prefer a screen name, that's okay, and if you'd rather I not quote you directly, that's okay too. :)

(no subject)

ayboo-da-bish.livejournal.com - 2010-05-01 03:57 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

ayboo-da-bish.livejournal.com - 2010-05-01 04:40 (UTC) - Expand

I've had the series on my waiting list for close to a year now (discovered on TV Tropes) and I read a few of the strips ages ago, but I was in a big phase of another series and so didn't focus much on it, and it wasn't until about two or three months ago that I actually watched the anime and got into the strips. (lol I remember the first strip I ever read was the one with Korea and the binoculars and I didn't get it at all xD)

Pretty much the only thing that annoys me about some Hetalia fans is how some people I've come across who were into the series before it got popular sort of think that they're better than the new fans and say stuff like it was 'their' show/fandom/whatever. I mean, a lot of the new fans are fangirls just in it for the yaoi, but there's also the people who are just as intelligent and mature as the rest, but just happened to come across the show a little later.

...not sure if that information was relevant at all to what you were looking for, but um yeah. Good luck on your paper ^__^

Thank you for you response! <3 It helped, it did. :D

(no subject)

maikyaera.livejournal.com - 2010-05-04 11:50 (UTC) - Expand

I got into Hetalia in January of 2009, when it was just becoming very visible on the Deviantart/LJ scene. I was doing my high school senior research project about political cartoons and national personifications. It was inevitable that I would discover it, really.

I'd loved the concept of personification for years, and I'd been frustrated because I thought I was the only one. So I suppose I'd been looking for a long time for something like Hetalia. I was initially a bit disappointed that it was an anime, of all things, and, IMO, a rather stupid one at that. I admit that while the anime has grown a bit on me since then, I still kind of think that way. I'm really in the fandom for well, the fandom and all the awesome, intelligent things that people create.

I've noticed that some Hetalia fans seem to divide other fans into categories based on why they're in the fandom. There are those who came for the history and stayed for the history, those who came for the history and stayed for the yaoi, those who came for the yaoi and stayed for the history, those who don't care about anything but the yaoi, etc. The history fans like to complain about the fans who only care about teh boy sex, saying that they're totally ruining the fandom and all that.

As a fan who came and stayed for the history (okay, the yaoi is definitely a plus) I tend to share those sentiments, lol. There are plenty of other series out there where you can get your fangirl fix of gay sex. IMO, what makes Hetalia special is the nature of the pairings, and the fact that they're countries and all the dynamics that that brings to the relationship. If you don't care about that, then it's no different than any other anime out there.

But whatever. I'm not going to tell people they can't like Hetalia because they "like it wrong" or whatever. If you like it, you like it and at the end of the day we're all Hetalia fans and we're all awesome because Hetalia nerds are awesome.

Really, murdered? I think this is wonderful, and pretty much the reason I stayed. I'm not so much for the pairings, but the implications of it - something like Austria and Hungary's ex-marriage, or France proposing to UK - it means something, and it's not just lolgay. Which is interesting.

Whoo /high-five

Re: I'm probably going to get murdered for this.

choisya.livejournal.com - 2010-05-01 08:04 (UTC) - Expand

Re: I'm probably going to get murdered for this.

boscaresque.livejournal.com - 2010-05-01 08:08 (UTC) - Expand

Re: I'm probably going to get murdered for this.

phiso-kun.livejournal.com - 2010-05-04 03:58 (UTC) - Expand

Oh mannn. So I've been here since ... er, June? of 2008. Back when you could read the whole community in an evening and still have delicious dinner and watch some TV. A friend posted some art in her LJ, and I was intrigued (hey, I like history. And flags. And oh, there's some history with each little four-panel? Well okay!) and started investigating. BEHOLD~ only a few translated strips (aaah including the America's Storage Cleaning stuff, which when it broke my heart I knew I was lost) at the time, and everyone was pretty friendly. (I was like the 2nd person..? That posted cosplay stuff here, and the first UK :D. Takes me wayyy back)

Since then, this community, and the fandom itself, has EXPLODED. There's more fanart/fanfiction/roleplay requests than I could ever look at and still have time to breath (and honestly, I scroll past 98% of it). There are more discussions than there used to be - some interesting and good, some cracky, and some that end up full of wank. And some that pull people together and make friends. Now there's an anime, and it's been licensed, and this silly series has brought me closer with friends and strangers alike because of cosplay or just chatting about it. I've fallen out of the fandom before, just tired of the intensity of it, or the prolific nature of its exposure, but I keep falling back in love.

Thank you, you fabulous person, you. <3 I appreciate it.

(no subject)

antieden.livejournal.com - 2010-05-04 04:24 (UTC) - Expand

I got into Hetalia in January (2009), but hadn't any idea of what other people thought about it. I wasn't a part of the fandom (actually, I'm not even a part of it nowadays). Hetalia was like a weird hobbie, I just started to give more attention to it around May. The fandom was tiny in my country and I didn't make anything to change it, but today the fandom is so much bigger!
I check Fandom!Secrets often and I noticed that Hetalia has got a very bad image increasing maybe it s something to do with this series gaining so much attention.

Sorry for my bad English, I'm veeery sleepy.

Oh no, thank you for answering! <3 I really appreciate it. :)

I got into Hetalia last May. My friends had found in on the internet somewhere and had been bugging me to watch it since January, but it was the Hetalia skits at MCM Expo that made me go 'whyyyy aren't I watching this yet?'

So first of all, I already had friends who were interested, and I chatted with them. Via cosplayisland.com and the mcm expo boards I found out about the 5th August meet that Kitamurin arranged last year, and then I hit LJ on the way home from that. XD

I guess all of the while I've been involved most people seem to be involved through the LJ, or that could just be my screwed perspective because it's where I'm involved. I know that all of my friends IRL except for two use it. Facebook is pretty damn huge too. And yes, it does have some form of impact because it's so big, but also because people use it to advertise their stuff/meets.

Early morning response is bleh (I'm actually on the way to a meet that hasn't been arranged through LJ XDDD), but I hope it helps a bit. XD

Thank you so much! <3 I appreciate you taking time out of your early morning to respond. :D

How did you first hear about the fandom?
ffffffff I first heard about Hetalia on 4chan in 2008, around early July. Just the name was mentioned in connection to a picture and I thought something along the lines of "'Axis Powers' wtf", checked it out, fell in love.
Where did you go to first?
I first went to lj because it was the only real community at the time, had the best and most of fandom (which was, at the time, like 3 icon posts and a handfuls of fic, heh), and I already spent some time on other lj stuff.
What were the qualities of all the communities you've gone to (for example, ff.net versus LJ )?
tbh All the communities for Hetalia that I've been to have been sort of "meh" in quality, including this one. But with a fandom this large that's just to be expected - the few gems are outweighed by all the suck. The lj community is still probably the overall best however, with ff.net being shitastic (like everything connected to ff.net).
What WERE the biggest hubs of fans when you first joined, in your point of view?
See "where I first went".
What are the CURRENT hubs of fan activity, in your opinion?
I'm not super up to date with the fandom at the moment, but I'd say that the lj comm is still the most active part of the US fandom, if the flood on my friends page is any measure.
What made you pick LJ as your resting place, or one of them?
Yet again see "where I first went".
Do you think the LJ fandom has any affect on Hetalia, be it in Japan or the US?
Well the sheer numbers here may have helped the decision for it to be brought to America. Big fandom = big profits? idk though.

You must mention the wankapalooza that was fandom!secrets in regards to Hetalia a while ago. If you haven't heard the comm was being constantly flooded with Hetalia secrets and a lot of the comm goers who didn't otherwise give a shit about the series/those who flat out hated it got REALLY annoyed. The flame wars were hilarious, horrible, and, most importantly, NEVER ENDING. I think this seriously may have been the birth of a real Hetalia hatedom.

Oh, and also the drama over that charming incident with cosplayers doing the Nazi salute over Passover. Every snark comm in existence noticed and quite a few were understandably upset.

Thank you for your responses! <3 You're awesome.

Would you mind if I quoted you in my paper? I would be using your screen name. :)

(no subject)

choisya.livejournal.com - 2010-05-04 02:40 (UTC) - Expand

Ahaha, the first time I randomly heard of Hetalia...oh god, somewhere between the end of 2007 to beginning of 2008. An artist's blog I frequented mentioned it. I didn't really get into it until summer of 2008. Truthfully, I kinda just waltz into Himaruya's site to kill some boredom. XD;; After flipping through some strips (ex. America's Cleaning storage and Bloody Sunday), I was instantly hooked.

This led to me to try and seek out other fans/place/etc. for the series. The first place I found was this community. Back then, it was very small and practically the only posts were mainly the profiles for the characters, save a few rare fanworks here and there.

I really only frequent the LJ comm., Pixiv, and a bit of DA for this series. What I like about all is that through here, I have meet so many amazing people and it has even gotten me closer to some of my existing friends. Also, a good majority of the fanworks, whether fanart/cosplay/fanfic/etc. , are generally very well done. Some have just simply amazed me with the sheer amount of work and research that went into them.
Then, I think LJ was the main place for fans to gather. Now, I think its here and DA. I'm not totally sure about other places, since with the vastness that is the internet and all.

I love this series for its fanworks and ability to have a general effect of bring many different people together into the fandom. A global aspect if you will.

"Do you think the LJ fandom has any affect on Hetalia, be it in Japan or the US?"
I think because Hetalia technically doesn't really have a set storyline/plot, that what keeps it going IS the fandom. How to explain...I guess because of the serie's openness of sorts, fans are free to interperrate and extend the series itself.

Even with all this, the fandom does have its flaws, like the series' sudden influx of fans. I was surprised at first, but I've gotten used to it. What I haven't gotten used to are some recent issues (like the series being localized) have caused issues, wank, and out right conflict over the matters. I mean, everyone is entitled to their opinion and I understand most of the reasons for opposition and all, but when people start fighting and complaining over things like that, it just gets ridiculous in a way.

Even so, I don't think I can leave the fandom. I enjoy it way to much to part with it just yet.

Sprry for the long comment and if I just ended up ranting at some point.

Also to add on the fandom's effect on the series...Right now its kinda mixed. With the increase of popularity, some...unsavory things happen along with it. (ex. the recent cosplay incident, hate for the series, etc.) Everyone should, or at least I hope, know that Hetalia has the potential to be very offensive. This alone has already caused some hate, or at least dislike, outside the fandom. But when the fans themselves start misbehaving, even if its only a minority, can have a negative effect on the serie's reputation as a whole.
Actually, I guess this counts for every other fandom that gets popular I guess.

Re: Long comment ahoy

phiso-kun.livejournal.com - 2010-05-02 18:57 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Long comment ahoy

oichibi-chan.livejournal.com - 2010-05-03 01:28 (UTC) - Expand

How did you first hear about the fandom? I actually first heard of Hetalia by randomly-Wiki-searching for something school-related. I saw it in a shop that sells China's umm, 'inexpensive' DVDs (aka the pirated ones - looking for original ones in the RP is like looking for snow in the RP) and it started from there.

Where did you go to first? What were the qualities of all the communities you've gone to (for example, ff.net versus LJ )? Sorry, darling, but I'm mostly an LJ-poster - mainly 'cause this is the only place where I'm not surrounded by Gaia's haters, the occasional ship-to-ship combat, or my classmates' leering at Facebook. Since I only have one IRL friend who's also on LJ (she's a Hetalian BTW), I guess I'm more comfortable here, where people know me but not really know me IRL... and I'm too lazy to use my FF.net account. I've recently started posting on DA, and the Hetalian Philippine fans welcome me with open arms.

What WERE the biggest hubs of fans when you first joined, in your point of view? The main comm, of course! When I first saw the number of people, it blew my mind!

What are the CURRENT hubs of fan activity, in your opinion? Still the main comm, as it should be.

What made you pick LJ as your resting place, or one of them? I think it's the fact that, for the first time, I've gone and lurked and delurked and commented and posted my own works and generally, showed you guys who I am, and I've remained, as of now, unscathed. One of the reasons why I had to pull out of the Haruhi fandom (except for well, my new fandom) is because some of the people I've spoken with have obviously come for the moe, stayed for Mikuru's tracts of land, and it just gets really repetitive for a while, OK? Especially when they make particularly rude comments about me, and about who I am...Here in the LJ fandom, I feel safe, I feel that nobody will say demeaning things against me because in doing so, they will be the pot calling the kettle black and they know it. Heck, I even got flamed when I was in the CCSakura fandom.

Do you think the LJ fandom has any affect on Hetalia, be it in Japan or the US? I think it has an effect, the effect being that it draws us closer together. I'm one of the people who came for the idea of personified nations and stayed for the fandom, which is weird since it's the first time that I've actually felt like I was a part of it. Sorry for the cheesiness, but if there's one thing the LJ comm does, it's blurring the lines and letting us be one world, one fandom together. Sure, there might be someone somewhere in the former Eastern Bloc who used to be scared of Russians, or Vietnamese irritated by Americans, or Filipinos whose families were hurt by the Japanese, but since Hetalia is a place to take the issues usually taken insensitively by others and twist them ever-so-slightly in order to make it easier to handle, the moments that used to be so sad could actually make you crack up, or maybe say "hey, I'm so glad that I was born today"...things like that, I know I don't sound coherent now but it's true.

Thank you so much for your thorough answer! <3

Would you mind if I quoted you? O: I'd only use your screen name.

(no subject)

trishpawachunyu.livejournal.com - 2010-05-03 12:30 (UTC) - Expand

I heard about Hetalia from a friend a few years ago. I instantly got interested about the idea of personifications of nations (I used to draw Mother Russia, Europa, Britannia etc. in my history books) and started to search for a fandom and well, the main reason I created LJ account was, in the end when I couldn't resist anymore, the Hetalia comm here. I've been hanging around here ever since and I always felt like I really didn't need any other places like dA (if we dun count Pixiv). Even tho at the time I joined this comm the number of fans was low and there wasn't much posting every day, I really liked the fandom and got hooked into Himaruyas strips. Thus, I became a Hetalia LJ stalker for the idea and the HUMOUR, oh god the humour <3<3 and for the history. I'm also partly here for the BL (have a problem with that?! D8<) and fandom. I love this fandom and if this fandom wouldn't be so nice, I'd be long gone.

Do I think the LJ fandom has any affect on Hetalia, be it in Japan or the US? It's gotta have some affect. Hetalia fandom in general is really lively and creative and the canon has only a few strips. I think Mochimerica is a perfect example, since it appeared only briefly in Himaruya's drawings but got super popular among the fans (and thus got made into a key chain etc.). LJ fandom is imo like the center of the western fandom, so yes, I think it has some affect (zomg we're being watched!!! 8D).

Like someone already said above I gotta agree about the fandom!secrets wank being the birth of a real Hetalia hatedom (but it brought also more fans into the fandom! Thank you, fandom!secrets!). When the anime started airing and that was pretty much when the fandom exploded but fortunately the fans always continued being lovable. Recently tho, it feels like there has been more complaining and than usually, but I'm good at ignoring things. This fandom has always been very smart compared to some others I've been in and I hope it'll continue being smart in the future, too.

There is so much stuff around the fandom and Hetalia these days that sometimes I just need to go backwards to check out the first strips, MADs (Youtube STOP removing my favorites!!), fanarts and fanfic I ever checked to remember how I at first felt about Hetalia and why I fell in love with it. It really helps me with not getting lost in the fandom :3

That was way too much babbling, but w.e.

Psh, for me, there's no such thing as too much babbling.

Thank you so much for a thorough answer! <3

I actually can't remember exactly where I first heard about Hetalia, but I came here to find out more and never left. This is the first fandom I've actually had any sort of involvement in, and it remains the largest, hand-down. I kind of had an intrinsic fear of fandoms previously because of so many bad experiences with fan dumb, but 99% of Hetalians I've met are super cool. ^-^ b

I think this pcomm lace is still one of the most active, but that's because the other communities tend to be more specialized toward certain niches--this is still the place to go for an overview of the whole fandom, aka where the majority of us hang out. I don't really hang out in the other parts, s it's hard for me to say.

I think the lj facet of the fandom is what allows the gatherings and info-finding to happen more easily, which in turn leads to more people finding out about the fandom. Also, the internet notices large gatherings, so...

As for stories... well, my sister, upon hearing about Hetalia, thought it was in bad taste and that there were no females in the series/that they were largely ignored. Managed to get her to read the War of Austrian Succession and she turned into a Hungary fanatic. Also, Jeanne d'Arc (her favorite historical figure) being in the comic helped too. So now she's fond of it too, which is awesome.

Thanks so much for your answer! <3 You're awesome. :D

How did you first hear about the fandom?
- I kept seeing fics on one of my friends' page and actually thought it was a stupid fangirl idea, as opposed to an ACTUAL comic. Then I kept seeing the preview for the anime and thought it was a boys' love game adapted into anime format (yes, I'm totally serious...). Interestingly, I didn't connect the fics and the preview. Anyway~ When the actual first episode was posted, something possessed me to watch it and I finally understood, thus forever bonding me to this ridiculous series. So yeah, that was somewhere between 2008-09? ( b^_^)b

Where did you go to first? What were the qualities of all the communities you've gone to (for example, ff.net versus LJ )?
- I came here first, simply because it has the strips translated and in easy to find/read format, as opposed to downloading them all. Then I stayed for the fandom and it's massive posting. The other comms I don't see much point in going to because I'm not really a one-pairing gal and enjoy all of the characters. Why limit myself? Ffnet provides a wider view of the fandom in that it has the mature writers and the total idiots who think that England is rapetastic (my only real pet peeve, by the way, in the fandom). There ARE a few gems, but you really gotta waid through the crap, first. Usually the good ones are linked to there from this comm, though. Anyway, I mainly stick to this comm and the kink meme (and pixiv).

What WERE the biggest hubs of fans when you first joined, in your point of view? What are the CURRENT hubs of fan activity, in your opinion?
- The main comm, right here! *pats the comm*

What made you pick LJ as your resting place, or one of them?
- The fandom. I had actually been a part of another fandom for a specific pairing, and it had a freakin' war! AND IT WAS CAUSED BY THE MODS!!! I couldn't stand the immaturity and so stumbling onto this place was pure and utter BLISS! There have been a few spats, but nothing nearly as bad as that one or any other comms' fights. It gets resolved fairly quickly (weeks time, being the longest in the near year and a half I've been here) and people move on. If there have been any trolls, the mods have cut them pretty fast as I haven't seen any trolling. I learn from the fandom, which is just awesome. Yeah, it's lessened since the beginning of my joining, but what can ya do? I also love love LOVE the range of art styles you see, here, since all of the other anime-related fandoms always draw in an anime style. Here I've seen so many more ways to draw that have inspired my own style and has produced a big evolution in my own art. The comm, here, is the easiest and primary place to find all of this, even compared to dA. Not to mention getting the anime the quickest, as well as information on the author and all things Hetalia, in general.. whoo, I rambled!

But yeah, for a stupid comic/anime with no primary plot and/or character development, this is the most mature comm I've ever been a part of! ^_^;;; I love you guys... how this turned into a love confession, I don't know, but I hope I kinda helped with your paper! (and AWESOME for anthropology, I just finished my final for it two days ago! High five?)

You totally helped, I promise. <3 <3

And YAY anthropology! High five for finishing anth finals! *HIGH FIVE*

I first heard about Hetalia on Fandom Secrets, where everyone was complaining about how horrible and offensive and racist it was. I googled and tried to read the series, just so I knew what everyone was talking about, but I got annoyed with the non-linear story. So I ignored it for a while. Then one of my favourite artists on deviantart recommended a fill from the kink meme (nation being with a soldier at death) which was awesome. From there I read everything in the kink meme and started catching up on the manga and anime (still not caught up though).

I generally stay on livejournal for fic, though I've been through fanfiction.net. I mainly look for fic with my favourite characters (Canada, Russia and England) rather than just browsing. I watch some character and pairing specific communities too. I watch a couple of people on deviantart who do cosplay and some who do fun little comics.

In terms of the community, I've never found a more welcoming one. Even though there are the haters, I've found that they generally stay away and complain from afar. Even though I'm a lurker, the people I've met here, especially on livejournal, are so nice.

Thanks for your answer! :D You are fantabulous~

Hetalia is still very minor here in Spain. There was no hope that I'd hear about it in Spanish websites.

-How did you first hear about the fandom?
I was in the 'tsundere' page on TVTropes. My eyes caught the name 'England', and I was amused, because yes, the UK is kinda tsundereish. I was curious about the name of a country as being a character, and looked up the series on TVTropes. When I heard the premise, I thought "lol, France and England are totally doing it". Which brings us to...

-Where did you go to first?
The indexes, following a link on TVTropes. I read everything in less than a week, and watched all the anime in little more (because I downloaded it all and I had to waitXD). TVTropes was the filter of quality, because things people like there I usually end up loving too. Then, I happened upon this comm, which made me dizzy at first with its size and mindblowing -even now- activity.

-What were the qualities of all the communities you've gone to (for example, ff.net versus LJ )?
ff.net is The Pit. Self explanatoryXD. I find LJ to be much higher quality and full of more intelligent people and discussion, which in this fandom both abound. Anything Hetalia worth my time on ff.net will be linked here.

-What made you pick LJ as your resting place, or one of them?
More intelligent discussion, people and better quality fanworks. This fandon has some of the highest quality fanworks I've ever seen, and the kink meme is one of the most active and amazing.

-Do you think the LJ fandom has any affect on Hetalia, be it in Japan or the US?
I'd like to think so, but I doubt itXD (maybe it affected the license by Tokyopop?). I certainly hope it affects the dub cast...

Other random facts:
-This fandom is more international than any other I've been in previously. Understandable, given the nature of the series.
-There's VERY VERY little trolling or fantardness.
-As I said, excellent quality fanworks, particularly fanfics.
-The scarcity and ambiguity of the canon strips leaves fanon as a very important and influential root for facts of the series; many of widely believed canon facts nowadays started out as headcanon of someone. This is something I've never seen before in any other fandom of anything.
-The fandom's favourite character is England everywhere, in gross number of fans. Other popular characters everywhere are Germany, America, Prussia and Russia. Japan and Switzerland are extremely popular in Asia, Canada is very popular in the western world.
-USUK is the most popular pairing worldwide. Russia and China have their countries and their pairing as their favourite ones, though. USUK is number one pairing of all mangas on doujinshi stands/sales on Japan, followed by UKxJapan, which is very minor in the West. On the other hand, America/Russia is hugely popular here but almost nonexistent in Asia (same thing with Americest). Russia/Lithuania, FrUK and Spamano have a little fanbase in both parts of the world.
-The fandom is deliciously open-minded about everything, and you can find fic for almost anything that has ever crossed your mind at some point, and many minor pairings that in other series would receive no attention, specially with such a large cast. Nevertheless, USUK eats every other pairing twice in number of fanworks dedicated to it.
-Hetalia's link to rl and history makes it easy to stay interested in the series and for the fandom to remain so active.

Ummmmm *thinks* I first started seeing Hetalia on TV Tropes on like...every page, and got intrigued, and when I clicked the link to the scanlated comics I read all of them in like a week. I'd just sit in front of the comp for hours reading. This was back at the end of May 2009. What's funny is that I thought this was some huge undiscovered secret...then I went to Otakon '09 and was greeted by a FLOOD of Hetalia cosplayers, and I was like "Whoa, maybe not."

*thinks* I think most of us are pretty cool. Of course there are those that are only in it for the yaoi fanart, which tends to give the rest of us a bad name, but we're really not so bad, I think, esp compared to some other fandoms I've seen. (I am a shipper, I'll admit to it, but due to extenuating circumstances I prefer to keep my shipping on the down-low.)

Although the best moment of my time in this fandom would have to be when I ran into a couple Hetalia cosplayers at this random Japanese restaurant in The Middle Of Nowhere, VA. That was just marvelous. :D

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phiso-kun.livejournal.com - 2010-05-04 18:32 (UTC) - Expand

I first got into it from a poll on deviantart that artist put on in 2009. And one of the results linked to the Hetalia LJ Community (the one with the translated webcomics). And after I read the profiles and manga I got hooked onto it. Even more when I found the anime.

I stayed here in the Hetalia LJ Daily Newsletter community and the Main Community wtih the translated webcomics I never gone anywhere else. Although I watch the Hetalia Crack group on deviant now (if that counts). I only go to ff.net for fanfiction along with the Hetalia Kink Meme. But being at the APH Daily Newsletter was great. There were always news, fanfics, fanarts, icons, discussions, and such that brighten and learn a little bit about culture and or history. Or just helped my immune system by laughing.

This is the biggest hub, I've been in and only been in Hetalia related and current activities, I think is pretty much the same since I noticed when I first joined, but it's getting bigger and bigger.

LJ is my resting place because there are more mature and intelligent fans here. I never been in a fandom or community that has a bunch of college students (some going for MD), last years of high school students, and I know there's a teacher here too. And sides' I'm not much into the fandom stuff anymore unlike when I was younger then. I'm still into anime and video games and such, but no more fandoms. I've gotten tired of what happens with fandumb, shipping wars, flaming wars, trolling and such in the fandoms I used to be in.

Oh the LJ fandom has more affect in the US, then Japan from what I think. Like how when Tokyopop announced it licesning APH it said it was going to release on Hetalia Day (they even say it in the announce ment) Here if you haven't read it yet:

http://assets.tokyopop.com/PressReleases/Hetalia_Press_Release.pdf

If you go through it, it talks a little bit about the Korea incident too and also international Hetalia Day. Though when I saw that it creeped me out at first because I felt like they were watching us (._.)|||. But still cool.

With Japan, I think we just make up another chunk of the Hetalia fanbase overall. Last time I heard we had like over 3,000 people join (and that with this community alone)

My response needed to get cut off since there's alot. But I just want some things to add.

Anything else to add?
Hmm...Hetalia reminded my love for history and favorite subject in school. I loved history since probably around 7th or 8th grade thanks to one of my favorite history teachers who also used humor and random facts to teach and get us into the lessons, kinda like what Himuruya did. And I had good history teachers since then. But since I don't have any history courses for this year it made me sad (and I'm kicking myself for un-checking the AP World History box when I was requesting classes for my Senior year) since I didn't have any history classes Hetalia became my next History class and got me into researching. I've learned a lot about culture and history here. It even got me into researching countries and added a bunch of countries to my list of countries to visit.

And more about the fandom, we've been getting more fans gradually for a while that some fans are afraid of this fandom turning to a fangirl, fandumb, flame wars, fandom. I mean I can understand because no one ever wants that happen to a fandom. Espcially a special one like this. And some people say it's starting to turn into a yaoi fangirl lovefest. Although now thinking about it, when a fandom is gaining more fans it's going to be highly likely that there's gonna be yaoi fangirls in the mix. I mean I think yaoi has gotten more popular nowadays in my opinion. So of course there's going to be more fans and fanart/fics of yaoi. But there's also other coupling and also the fact that most countries can be paired up with other countries. Another thing I love, no shipping wars, because the couples work and people here can handle it more maturely than other fandoms. Though when there are lovers of a fandom there are haters, so I'm not suprised. But Hetalia can be offensive. I mean it's humor, humorous things are going to be offensive at one point. How people react to it is the most important. Like with the cosplay incident and haters and some people deleting their friends off their friendslist because they're not friends anymore because the like Hetalia and it's racially insulting. But with Hetalia it's making fun of everyone, and we can get a good laugh out of ourselves. I think that Hetalia helps bring people all over the world together and we can see we're still the same as people.

Good luck with your paper!

Re: Long response is long...I hope you can get through this

phiso-kun.livejournal.com - 2010-05-04 18:32 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Long response is long...I hope you can get through this

kitsunemischief.livejournal.com - 2010-05-05 02:22 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Long response is long...I hope you can get through this

phiso-kun.livejournal.com - 2010-05-05 02:35 (UTC) - Expand

Meep, here, have a version without html!fail D8

How long have you been in the fandom?: A very short time, perhaps two months? I'm still quite new to it, so a lot of this is borderline first impressions.

How did you first hear about the fandom? Where did you go first?: I heard the name kicking around a few places, but the only place I distinctly remember hearing it and wanting to look into it was Gaia Online, when some users were discussing the Idiot Hair item. I went to TVTropes first to find out more information about what it was about, and followed some links to scanlations on this community from there, and eventually found DLs for the anime and the starry-sky archive.

What are the current hubs of fan activity, in your opinion?: I would definitely say here on LJ. DevArt is pretty big, and I find a ton of art on Pixiv too, but LJ takes the cake (and is, you know, in English *cough* >_> ). This community in particular, I can barely keep up with it some days.

What made you pick LJ as your resting place, or one of them?: I think because LJ isn't restricted on what kinds of things you can post about the fandom. I'm not good at making fanart, so DevArt wasn't for me. I don't just like to write fic, and the forums of FF.net are a joke. But here there's everything -- scanlations, fics, art, discussions, icons, links to music and anime DLs, FMVs, cosplays, and probably most importantly, NEWS. It's easy to keep up to date in Hetalia if you're watching this comm. All the people here are so nice, too, I haven't seen any major fandumb yet, and I usually have by now in my other fandoms.

Do you think the LJ fandom has any affect on Hetalia, be it in Japan or the US?: Certainly! It helps new fans know which way is up, and makes the fandom and series accessible to English-speakers, widening the fanbase. If the news that there will be an published English version of the manga is anything to go by, this has not gone un-noticed.

Thank youuu~! <3 You're awesome. ^.^

Could I possibly quote you? O:

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I'm probably going to get murdered for this.

Re: I'm probably going to get murdered for this.

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Long comment ahoy

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My two cents...

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Long response is long...I hope you can get through this

Re: Long response is long...I hope you can get through this

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