The Hetalia Fandom

[phiso-kun.livejournal.com]

I have no idea if this is appropriate or not, so if mods think it should be deleted I understand. (It didn't seem quite right for the FAQ, though...) If it's kind of iffy, I will gladly post more icons to pay for the crime. >>

So, I am writing my final paper for my anthropology class called Media, Culture, and Society; in it, we're supposed to pick a media technology and talk about how it affected society and culture (or continues to do so). I have chosen LJ, with a focus on how it's affected fan bases and fandoms, Hetalia included.

I would like to know everything you guys know about the evolution of the Hetalia fandom. How did you first hear about the fandom? Where did you go to first? What were the qualities of all the communities you've gone to (for example, ff.net versus LJ )? 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? What made you pick LJ as your resting place, or one of them? Do you think the LJ fandom has any affect on Hetalia, be it in Japan or the US?

Any and all thoughts, opinions, links, histories, and stories would be loved. <3 <3 If you'd rather comment on my personal LJ, then click on my submission of a Russia/Belarus cosplaying pair icon.

Thank you~!

Comments

[randomranma.livejournal.com]

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..

[phiso-kun.livejournal.com]

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. ^^

[randomranma.livejournal.com]

Sure!
Go ahead! :)