Older fans and how they view/ participate in the fandom

[haylerzz.livejournal.com]

Sorry if something like this has been discussed before (or if the discussion seems irrelevant)  this is just something I've been thinking about.

It's a well known fact that most Hetalia fans (or at least ones that are actively involved in the fandom) are high school and college aged... but there are a few of us old fogies out there.  I hope?  Anyway, I was just wondering how others in their late-twenties plus viewed Hetalia and it's huge crazy fandom.  I personally still enjoy the enthusiasm of all the fans, but stay out of all the drama at all costs!  I don't have quite the time and energy to be a super devoted fan, but still enjoy doing fanart and cosplaying.  I go to gatherings and photo shoots where some of the people are literally half my age.  Sometimes feel like the odd one out.  Fortunatly, I still look sixteen so it's not much of an issue!

This thread is not about bashing the younger fans (I was a sqeeing Gundam Wing fangirl back in the day) I just want to know there are indeed people beyond college who aren't afraid to admit they like Hetalia!

Edit:  So glad I started this thread!  I never expected such a huge response! 

Comments

[sammich]

As someone who is older (gonna be 30 this month. ;A; ) I adore Hetalia still. I try to stay out of drama and sometimes I don't like what goes on within fandom, but in the end I still adore the series and there are some great fans here.

[haylerzz.livejournal.com]

I'm going to be 29 this week so I'm almost there. ^_^; I know a few other people our age who like it, but a whole lot more who avoid the show just because of the fandom.

[slightlyjillian.livejournal.com]

I'm aging fandom! 31. But Gundam Wing will always be the first love-ha! :)

[jammerlea]

I'll be 29 this year~~

I really love hetalia, so I'm glad I'm part of the fandom. I try to stay out of messy drama and the spazzy sort of fangirling, just don't have the energy for it, but overall it's been fun. I've made a good number of new friends I adore, even if they ARE less than half my age sometimes. And I really do enjoy running the file archive and doing fanart when I can.

Definitely not afraid to admit that I like hetalia~

[runciblespork.livejournal.com]

Oh my, I remember being a silly Gundam Wing fangirl too. I guess it's time to shuffle off to the old folks home?

As an older fan of the series/comic/anime, I try to stay out of the online drama, leave the occasional feedback for fanwork, avoid real world kerfluffles at cons, and generally bite my tongue at the more ridiculous antics that paint the fandom as a bunch of idiots to outsiders.

I enjoy the source material and am not ashamed to spread links to the translated strips if I know someone who might like it who has never heard of the series before. However, I do warn new people that they may encounter some very distasteful or offensive behavior in both the canon material and the fandom.

[twhitesakura.livejournal.com]

I don't really have all the enthusiasm/energy to follow everything in Hetalia, but I try to contribute with writing fanfics. Everyone is generally nice, but I sometimes wonder if my age makes it hard for younger fans to reach out and vice-versa. Anyway, it's nice to know there are older fans around. I was feeling like a rare animal!

[abarero]

I'm pretty active in the fandom (fanworks, cosplay, run hetalia_daily), and have loads of friends much younger than me. Quite often, both online and at conventions, I find myself enjoying being around some of the younger kids rather than the old ones who seem ashamed to be in the fandom/ashamed to have a good squee now and then.

Overall, I'm tired of the fandom being painted as bad or inappropriate just because the outspoken minority. I've been in fandoms for over 10 years now and it happens in every fandom- a few people in every one act like idiots, so please don't blame the whole fandom or look down on it for it. This especially upsets me when people in the fandom start acting like "the whole fandom's stupid" or something.

As for conventions- like I said above, some of the younger members of the fandom are the sweetest and nicest people. I remember a bunch of them at AnimeFest this year managing to cheer me up after a rough day, even if I did get dubbed 'Grandpa Denmark' due to my 10+ years age over many of theirs.

I'm a little too old to put up with the drama anymore (10 years of fandom makes you grow tired of that kind of stuff really fast) but I don't see the harm in having fun or a good time. A little squee never hurt anyone. It's the bashing and the drama that does.

[haylerzz.livejournal.com]

I miss the Gundam Wing days and the old Toonami block. I think GW was the Hetalia of it's day except instead of history we were giggling over the multiplication tables. 1x2? 3x4?

[conjure-lass.livejournal.com]

31 in two weeks!

I tend to just ignore the actual fandom altogether and focus on the fun stuff like the fanart and the fanfic. Anything else like discussions I tend to shy away from. Sometimes I think people take this little webcomic a bit too seriously, and I'm too old for that kind of nonsense.

I also shy away from any kind of gatherings. I went to one in the past and just felt TERRIBLY out of place. As the OP mentions...some of them were half my age! I just didn't feel comfortable, and probably won't participate in another.

[jazzchyk.livejournal.com]

I'm one of the older fans (38), who enjoys cosplay, fanart, fanfic-- I don't like drama, after some of my past fandoms, but I enjoy reasonable fun-- which means 'Have fun, but don't be an idiot who endangers lives and scares the bejesus out of innocent bystanders'. Seriously. I'm not bailing your butt out of jail if you scare the wrong mundanes.

[talis-art.livejournal.com]

Off topic but happy early birthday

[haylerzz.livejournal.com]

It's good to know that there are older fans though I do like hanging out with the younger ones as well. I admit that I can be a spazzy fangirl at times. I just know when to stop!

[haylerzz.livejournal.com]

Like I said above, Gundam Wing was pretty much the Hetalia of it's day. I can't say anything about the silly things the younger fans do because I used to do those same things. It is sad though that a small group of overenthusiastic fans who don't think before they act give the fandom such a bad name. Most fans I've met have been very nice.

[haylerzz.livejournal.com]

Yes, I am always so happy when I meet someone online or at a con that is actually near my age! For the most part I don't mind hanging out with much younger people, but sometimes they freak when they find out how much older I am.

[sithjester.livejournal.com]

29 here. :) Nice to see some others around my age, don't see that often in this fandom!

I don't do cosplaying or going to meets/conventions like when I was younger, I just stick with online stuff. I write fanfiction, and it's a very weird feeling knowing that many readers are literally half my age. On one of my fics, I got comments from one girl a few times that she couldn't take the bad guy seriously because he had the same name as some guy from some Disney tween show. She was shocked that I don't watch it and didn't know that. XD

Ah, Gundam Wing was my first squeeing anime fandom, too. Man was that the most hateful fandom I've ever been in. XD Whenever people complain about how bad the Hetalia fandom is, I just shake my head and chuckle. This ain't nothing!

[fablespinner.livejournal.com]

If you think late twenties is old for enjoying a fandom... I must be Grandpa Rome at 40!

*weeps*

The older you get though the less things bother you, If I don't like something I just don't linger and move on to something I do. I'd never argue over someone's preferences over imaginary cartoon characters who who said make believe characters are sleeping with.

I don't care if the historical "facts" are a bit skewed for comedic value. It's still funny.

I don't mind much actually. Like fine wine you mellow with age.

;)


OH and GUNDAM WING. Boy the crap I did for that fandom. I think like 200 FICS and HUNDREDS upon HUNDREDS of images. 3x4 Shipper #1 OTP for me.

[conjure-lass.livejournal.com]

I used to go to conventions and things when I was younger too, but somehow it's just not the same as it used to be. Obviously the change is myself, but I just feel...odd about it, you know?

Was the Gundam Wing fandom really THAT BAD? I've heard things about it, but was never in it. I mean, my favorite fandom is Bleach, and that's just full of weirdos. *giggle*

[fablespinner.livejournal.com]

AHHHH GW! 3x4 Super Shipper my #1 OTP now and forever! LOL! Oh man that was a decade ago and boy did I churn out the crap for that fandom. Hundreds of Fics and I lost count how much art. HUNDREDS!
(Age 40 Here)

[radittz.livejournal.com]

I'm 25 :) I'm happy to more older people around!

Well, this year I'm preparing real cosplay for a first time and I draw fanarts. What makes me and my friends in similiar age different from younger fans is fact that I can travel and meet fans from other countries quite often, sad thing is that my best fandom friends live in a few different countries so we see each other only a few times a year.

Sometimes I feel strange when I have discussions with people that are 10 years younger, still it depends - some fans in this age can be also really mature :)

...sorry for my poor English @_@

[sithjester.livejournal.com]

Good grief, was it ever!! There was more hate and fan-wars than not. Yaoi fans vs. anti-yaoi fans (it was super bad back then, I got a lot of hate for pairing the boys together). Yaoi fans who liked the female characters vs. those who didn't. Yaoi fans against each other based on what pairing they liked. Fans of the same pairing hating each other based on what order they liked them in. I am so not kidding. Back when I liked Gundam Wing, I preferred Duo/Heero rather than the other way around when it came to adult stuff, and a fellow who preferred the opposite got super pissed and yelled at me like you wouldn't believe, calling me all sorts of nasty names, telling me just how stupid a fool I was, because of the order I liked our shared pairing. Can you imagine a USUK fan doing that to a UKUS fan? I can't. We're sane like that. XD

[haylerzz.livejournal.com]

It's sad that older fans seen ashamed to like anime. A good portion of my friends are younger then me and I do think younger cosplayers have more fun!

Sadly, in any fandom there are the younger fans who just don't know what's appropriate and can't realize when something goes from being funny to being annoying. (Like the Romano cosplayer that kept harassing my friend cosplaying Germany the whole con and physically dragging me away from her. I played along for awhile, but enough already!)

Despite a few uncomfortable instances, I really do enjoy the fandom. I find it sad that people actually stop liking the show just because of some well meaning but overenthusiastic fans.

[conjure-lass.livejournal.com]

*DIES*

That is hilarious! What the hell would possess anyone to waste their time like that??

You know, not to be a creep, but I swear i've seen you in another fandom. Either that or I've just finally been in this fandom long enough that i'm starting to forget people.

JESUS I'M GETTING OLD. *giggle*

[haylerzz.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'm all for the fun stuff! Getting really excited over fictional characters is fine. Getting really upset or angry about them just seems silly.

I am lucky enough to know a lot of Hetalia cosplayers that either are my age or at least don't look at me weird for being older. I usually don't mention my age at gatherings unless someone asks.

[wandering-tyki.livejournal.com]

Another older(ish) fan here (29 in just over a week from now)! While I like the energy and enthusiasm of the fans of this series as well as the much-renewed interest it gives to subjects like history and geography (two of my faves in my school days), the level of said enthusiasm can be more than a bit overwhelming to those unfamiliar with the fandom.

I also prefer to avoid the drama that can happen within any group/fandom. So glad I decided to dive in regardless of how..intense..some of the other people I've seen behave. ^__^

Ah, yes. Gundam Wing. Good times...

[haylerzz.livejournal.com]

Totally agree! I don't want to go all "mom" on people at gatherings, but sometimes I just want to tell people, "Ok, is that really a good idea?"

It's always good to know that people aren't embarrassed to like cartoons just because they get older!