#do your research hetalia fans

[ask-north-korea]

Farewell

OOC;;

I mean this should have been obvious for a while, but let's make it official:

This blog is closed.

I had a great run in the hetalia fandom: over 10 years, give or take. Not all at once, but more or less consistently, until recent years. Running this blog and RPing Sang Kyu (across multiple platforms) has been a big part of that. He's one of my longest running OCs and is still really important to me, but...

Over time, various things have driven me away from this fandom. Maybe it's just growing up--I'm approaching 30 at this point. I also lived in Korea--one of my life goals--got to experience that for two years. Since returning to the US, my interests and goals have turned to other things. I got married, bought a house, got a new job...and over time I found this fandom sucking up energy I didn't have. I don't keep up with current events as I once did; I simply don't have it in me to continue updating this blog anymore.

I am not Korean, if that wasn't clear, so this blog was always run from the experience of a Westerner, doing their best to do the research and portray things in a respectful (although admittedly not always 100% accurate) manner while keeping in the relatively lighthearted spirit of the source material. I hope some Korean fans will pick up the reins and fill in the gaps where I couldn't. Even having lived in Korea for a time, I can't pretend I know everything or have the experiences of people who grew up in the culture.

That being said, please DO feel free to use Sang Kyu for fanfics, fanart! Whatever! (But please don't RP him or claim him as yours...) All I ask is that you credit him to me, @circlique (or @ask-north-korea), and use him in respectful, non-hateful ways. I would love to see any fanart or fanfic that you tag me in. If you have questions about him, I would ask that you direct them to @circlique, since I plan on completely turning off the ask box to this blog after this post.

For the people who supported me over the years, or participated in my refugee fundraisers, thank you. I will always remember my time playing Sang Kyu fondly, and I hope he can continue to be an ambassador and educate even as I am not actively taking that role anymore.

[coralcatsea]

Unpopular opinion about your fandom?

Unpopular opinion about the manga/show?

About the fandom:

The Hetalia fandom is not "one of the worst fandoms ever". People who never liked it or who left and want to seem superior act as if it's somehow unique in having problems. But really...it's not. Does it have problems? Oh, yeah. But so do other fandoms.

There are always going to be fans who can't behave, but that's hardly exclusive to us. I've heard a lot of horror stories about other fandoms, too. The best thing to do is just learn from it and move on, and try to be the best representative of your fandom that you can be.

About the manga/show:

It's not as cringe and underdeveloped as everyone claims. Does it have some boring/stupid moments here and there? Of course. But people should give it more credit. Himaruya is juggling SO many characters, and they're not regular characters, they're countries, which means he has to be extra careful about how he presents them. That takes a lot of time and research, so it's expected that not every single character will be super fleshed out.

But some people act like NONE of them are well developed, and that's just not true. A lot of fans pride themselves on NOT reading the source material because it's "trash" and then they miss all the good stuff, so it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Of course a character is going to seem one-dimensional if you literally didn't bother to learn much about them. And then some fans will even take the character and claim they're fleshing them out by adding traits that were ALREADY CANON. And they just didn't realise!

[hetalianhistorian]

Latest News for Hetalia (1/23/25)

Hello, everyone! Before I get into post, please note I do not currently speak Japanese, thus I will be utilizing the DeepL translator for this following post and there may be some translation inaccuracies. Thank you!

Hetamusical News!

It seems there has been a bit of news wracking around for the series as of late. The most notable one is that Hetalia is receiving production for a brand new musical that will be released 2024 this summer!

Source Link: https://twitter.com/hetamu_official/status/1749008944436330740It

Seems they are holding three more screenings for The Fantastic World to celebrate this occasion. Please refer to this news post on more information if you are Japan and interest in going!

Not only that, but on the 21st of this month, they also hosted the commemorative event for the Blu-Ray DVD release of Hetalia: The Fantastic World! Goods for this event are avaliable for order through the Animate-Onlineshop! It seems that bromites, a t-shirt, and a special disk that features behind-the-scenes content are all being held for sale. If you are interested in purchasing these from overseas, I highly recommend utilizing a proxy (please use your own research on what proxy to use).

Source Link: https://www.animate-onlineshop.jp/corner/cc/musical-hetalia_goods/cd/2062/

If you are interested in keeping up to date with upcoming news for the Hetalia's musicals, please refer to the @hetamu_official account! The same goes for their official website!

Merchandise News

Beyond the musical, it seems that purchase for the original goods for World Stars is now available from the Princess Cafe Shop!

Source Links: https://store.shopping.yahoo.co.jp/princesscafe/tva5a2a5cb29.html and https://x.com/princesscafe333/status/1749628106342846594?s=20

Sticker sets based off the Kurumi Tapinui plushies are now for sale at the Tapioca shop!

Source Links: https://tapioca.co.jp/products/detail/1161 and https://x.com/tapioca201818/status/1744618948937867536?s=20

Sticker Set designs for the character bouquets are also on sale also at the Tapioca shop!

Source Links: https://tapioca.co.jp/products/detail/1162 and https://x.com/tapioca201818/status/1744618976406368506?s=20 And the biggest one of them all is that news for the menu and merchandise have been release for the Valentine's Cafe event!

Source Link: https://x.com/amocafe_ikeb01/status/1747544301348041077?s=20

Registrations for the Valentine's Day event are avaliable through the Amocafe's website in Tokyo and Osaka.

That's it! A little bit late to the party for the news, but it's good to spread these upon here for us Western fans! Apologies if the formatting is off putting since I'm not used to Tumblr. Nevertheless, have a great day! Hetalian Historian

[broken-clover]

🍓🔪🍬🦴🥤 :D

Wheeeee

🍓 ⇢ how did you get into writing fanfiction? 

Tbh you think I'd remember but I really don't. I have vague memories of making Pokemon OC's but wasn't really introduced to the concept of fanfiction until my older sister got me into Hetalia and I found out about it while looking up fanart. I think I've discusses it before, though, that I didn't feel confident writing full-on fanfic for the longest time because I was too terrified about writing characters OOC. Idk what exactly made me get over it, maybe GG just instilled enough brainrot I couldn't help it

🔪 ⇢ what's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

See I dunno about 'weird' but I've done a lot of random shit I never thought would be relevant until I had to go look for it. Hard to objectively say what was the oddest so I'm just gonna make a list of some off the top of my head

-(I've repurposed a surprising amount of my learnings from mortuary for anatomical and medical reference)

-Giraffe/horse autopsy

-Introductory guides to Jamaican Patois

-"Can bats get polio"

-"Common clothing of Nepal"/"Common clothing of Tibet" (notable in that it ended up being relevant for half a paragraph)

-"Cheeses of Bhutan"

-"What is the highest proof alcohol you are legally allowed to buy"

-Profanities of numerous languages, including sign

-"How old are children before they can pronounce 'x'"

-Brazilian cryptids

-"least flammable bed fabrics"

-Treatment and recovery time of a PCL tear

-Step by step guides for kimono-wearing

-Bone throwing as a form of divination

-Adult clubfoot treatments

-"what type of video is security camera footage"

-"autoimmune diseases caused by stress"

-psychogenic stuttering

-how to replace/modify a clutch disk for a stick shift

-French homicide law

-Pyretic drugs

-LOTS of fish biology

🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

Probably in part due to oversaturation, but Bridget is just...kinda boring. I find her concept and story endearing and sympathetic, of course, but she doesn't have the same kind of complicated themes and bizarre lore that engages me like a lot of the series' other characters to the point where I can delve into it and get on that level of brainrot.

🦴 ⇢ is there a piece of media that inspires your writing? 

Can't simply say 'a.' I feel like I take a lot of bits from a lot of different stuff! I find I like to try and find 'weird' media frequently, though, I like seeing the bizarre concepts people can cook up and wonder if I'm not thinking outside the box hard enough. Likewise for horror, to a lesser extent

🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love

hweeeehhhh why do you always give me the tough ones. There's some really obvious picks, you and Jim and Roy and Crow, but I've probably done you all like three times already! Easy picks

Lemme see, if I wanna try and do something a little different than the obvious, I do have a couple recs! For anyone that's into Psychonauts, I totally recommend BabyCharmander (ESPECIALLY 'Cavity,' do not read anything else before you go into it, reading it for the first time hits you like a truck to the face) and The_Angst_Alchemist (Particularly if you're a Thorney Towers fan, they write the inmates with such panache and easily some of the best interpretations of Fred) It's a little more niche, but if you're an ARMS fan I recommend anything by MeltyMetroid, for a series that has such little lore they've written several incredibly fleshed out and well-constructed longfics (I'd recommend 'DisARMed' and 'Broken Mirror' for the plot-heavy jaunts and 'The Brass that Saved Christmas' if you want a good laugh)

Admittedly in general I don't pay as much attention to specific writers as I should, or the series I look for stuff for is so niche it doesn't really have dedicated writers

[futurequibblerjournalist]

I am nothing if not bitter and you sent me an ask that took me 50 minutes and made me lose sense of reality by the end so here you fucking go my love < 3

🍓 , 🍄, 🔪 , 🍦, 🦴 , 🧩 , 🐝 , ☁️, 🛼

nvfjnbvjgnbjg ah yes, well I sort of deserved it I suppose. Look at you distracting me from reading the pirate fic tsk tsk

🍓 ⇢ how did you get into writing fanfiction? 

This is actually so embarrassing urgh,, I had just gotten into Hetalia and I realised there weren't a lot of male reader inserts so I decided to write that,, I think perhaps even earlier than that I might have written some Y/N x One Direction one shots that are floating around somewhere in a One Direction fan group but we'll just pretend this answer and this question doesn't exist jvfnjbngjb

🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings

Uuuuurgh,, I have so many, how am I meant to just pick one???

I like the idea of there being a rumour about rosekiller going around that Barty was caught sucking Evan off in a broom closet and Barty's fully embraced it—in reality all they did was kiss lol

🔪 ⇢ what's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

I recently mentioned the Dr. Miles Nervine medicine thing but other than that I also recently got to look up the sort of hedges and fruit that grows in France

🍦 ⇢ name three good things about a character you hate

I hate two characters, Dobby and Umbridge and since I'm not allowed to say my favourite thing about Dobby was when he met his end I'm left with very little to say. I suppose it's admirable how neither of them ever succumbed to beauty standards. I'm partially amused by Dobby's fashion sense and I suppose one could admire that Umbridge has committed to just being a nasty cunt through and through, it must be tiring to be such a warm turd of a person all the time. That's all you're getting from me, sorry

🦴 ⇢ is there a piece of media that inspires your writing? 

Whatever I'm reading at the time! And sometimes even a movie or something (though since I rarely watch those, I rarely get inspiration from that). I also just get very inspired by all the people in this fandom who create things for us all, whether it's writing, artwork, text posts, edits, cosplays, funny videos etc.

🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?

Bad grammar or like,, sentences that don't make sense. Even faster if it's both. Or just entire blocks of text, I just can't do it.

🐝 ⇢ tag your biggest supporter(s) and say one nice thing about them

Well, well, well, halle-who could that be? Lmaoo just kidding,, my biggest supporter is definitely @orchideous-nox, there's nothing better than yapping with you for hours < 3 You are such an incredibly talented writer and an even lovelier person and as much as I love to tease you, I'm also equally thankful for you < 3

☁️ ⇢ what made you choose your username?

I was so new to the fandom and I had no idea about anything other than basic Harry Potter knowledge from way back in the day so I tried coming up with something that made sense lol. I wanted to write fics for the fandom, therefore future journalist and then what's a writing platform in the Harry Potter universe? Well, quibbler sounded more fun with the rest than Daily Prophet lol

🛼 ⇢ describe your latest wip with five emojis

Since you also know my inspiration I've taken the liberty to be a little funny. 🫣🌊🌅🍑🥵 for my most recent jegulus fic < 3

[cicerenella]

any hc about Seborga?

UUUUUH, you caught me a bit off guard here anon. because I REALLY do not know what seborga should represent? hima what the hell you did.

ok, my absolutely in-depth 100% accurate research brought its fruits. apparently, it is a non recognised micronation that is situated in the region of Liguria, so north italy. and I really don't understand why...hima added it? does it have any history??

don't get me wrong seborga fans, but I literally never heard of this until I got into hetalia. and for everyone new here, I'm italian, so that should give some perspective in its relevance today.

moreover, i often times see seborga portrayed as central italy instead...but I'm not really sure in how it would play out. because for centuries central italy corresponded to the Papal States (modern day Vatican), so im really at a loss in what to do with him?? cool design, I like his resemblance to the siblings, but I purposefully chose to just cancel his existence from my mind.

SO SORRY ANON for not responding to your original ask, but if you have any headcanons you have for seborga feel free to DM me or send another ask! I'm always open to new ideas for these silly characters ♡♡

[iced-coffeebean]

Had this sitting in my drafts for a hot second and I'm bored while I wait for the college week to end soooooooo I decided to work on this <3 _______ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴘɪᴄᴋ ᴜᴘ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛ ᴍᴜꜱᴇ(ꜱ) ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ?

-

I'm not really sure tbh.

I've been in the Hetalia fandom since for a good while now but I never really gave the micronations a second thought. But as of recently, I've just been SO intrigued by them.

I got attached to Molossia cause he's a micronation in Nevada and I'm a Nevadan so I guess close proximity to him geographically??

I figured, "You know, since he's a micronation from my state, I should probably put in an effort to try to get to know him." So I began to do a bunch of research and stuff and I eventually started vibin with his character and then I was just "...Jesus christ, we are practically twins-"

Slowjamastan is another muse of mine because of his connection with Molossia. His possible backstory and upbringing is also just a really interesting thing to unravel so. He is in the brain at all times too ❗️❗️❗️

He's a relatively new character but he's already managed to snatch my heart <3

ɪꜱ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ᴀɴʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇ?

-

Anything I just don't really vibe with or that makes me uncomfortable. Usually, dead dove items unless I'm going INSANE and I want to emotionally wreck people but yk.

If you really want to know, you'd probably have to ask me 1 on 1 and I'd tell you. Just tell me your list and I'll tell you if I wouldn't vibe with it or not.

I also don't really like Russia all that much so I try to avoid writing him or mentioning him if possible. It's probably the Latvia kinnie in me but Russia gives me the ICK and Russia enjoyers also seem to spook me just a bit. Usually the people I've been around that like him don't end up being the best of lads so... Sorry </3

I'm also not a big fan of horror so, don't expect that much from me either </3

ɪꜱ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ᴀɴʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜ ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏ ᴡʀɪᴛɪɴɢ?

-

I'm not really sure tbh. I like the aspect of building out a character is possible and seeing them go through changes and such.

I really like writing AUs for things.

I also love writing Molossia and his relationships/interactions with other micronations, Slowjamastan in specific.

I'm slowly opening up to Ladonia and he already has a lot of canon interactions with him and even seems to be on really good terms with him so that I'm taking that and running with it.

I love werewolf AUs SO MUCH but I haven't yet to write one. Hopefully one day <3

ʜᴏᴡ ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴜᴘ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʜᴇᴀᴅᴄᴀɴᴏɴꜱ?

-

They come to me in dreams-/j

Joking joking but tbh, I just exist tbh and they come to me.

I normally do a lot of research on characters and adapt their way of being/personality into how I think would fit for them based on the info I got for them.

For characters I'm really passionate about, I try to consume as much of their canon content as possible while reading fics available about them and trying to get into their shoes, yk?

I try to BE the character for a hot second to understand them better. It just helps thing imo.

ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇ ɪɴ ꜱɪʟᴇɴᴄᴇ ᴏʀ ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴘʟᴀʏ ᴍᴜꜱɪᴄ?

-

I ALWAYS HAVE MUSIC PLAYING

I need it. There are very few times I've tried writing things in silence but I don't usually get very far </3

I always try to listen to music or songs that fit the mood of what I'm writing. It just gives inspo and drive for the writing <3

ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴘʟᴀɴ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʀᴇᴘʟɪᴇꜱ ᴏʀ ᴡɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇᴍ?

-

I usually do things in the moment but depending on who I'm talking to, I try to better plan things out when I respond so I sound like a normal human being rather than the feral, impulsive mf I am.

ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏ ꜱʜɪᴘᴘɪɴɢ?

-

I love shipping <33 It makes things fun but I do enjoy characters and interactions between characters without the need for romance.

I just like how you can play around character in ways you probably couldn't before when you add a dash of romance or romantic uses into the mix.

ᴡʜᴀᴛ'ꜱ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴀʟɪᴀꜱ/ɴᴀᴍᴇ?

-

I'm some variation of Iced-Coffeebean on social medias and I usually go by Coffee. My 2p name (for shits and giggles) is Tea <3

I jokingly call myself *insert kinnie name* kinnie on discord.

I'm also called Mythos due to that being the main DnD character I play.

So I go by Coffee, Tea, and/or Mythos <3

ᴀɢᴇ?

-

I'm 19 but sometimes I feel like I'm a 28-year-old stuck in a teen's body from how hyperindependant I am and how that makes me stress over everything and makes me hella overthink. I'm surrounded by people that are older than me but act so childish and it makes me wanna rip my hair out sometimes </3

ʙɪʀᴛʜᴅᴀʏ?

-

I'm an Aquarius <3

ꜰᴀᴠᴏʀɪᴛᴇ ᴄᴏʟᴏʀ(ꜱ)?

-

I FUCKING LOVE GREEN!!!! GREENS LIKE MY TUMBLR PAGE SETUP AND DISCORD BANNER ARE SO ❗️❗️❗️

I also love navy blue, grays, tans, blacks, and lavender!

ꜰᴀᴠᴏʀɪᴛᴇ ꜱᴏɴɢ(ꜱ)?

-

Shooting Star by Owl City is an ALL TIME BANGER But I have top 5 songs that are ROTTING my brain rn (no specific order):

Pedastal by Aiko

Roméo by Pierre De Maere

Zari by Marina Satti

Luktelk by Silvester Belt

Daughter of the Sun by Aiko

ʟᴀꜱᴛ ᴍᴏᴠɪᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜᴇᴅ?

-

Breathless (1960) by Jean-Luc Godard

Had to watch it for my film class. It was okay.

ʟᴀꜱᴛ ꜱʜᴏᴡ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜᴇᴅ?

-

La Casa De Los Famosos for a reality show I've watched recently. Aside from that, probably either YGO or Hetalia. I don't remember. It's been a second.

ʟᴀꜱᴛ ꜱᴏɴɢ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪꜱᴛᴇɴᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ?

-

Appetite of a People-Pleaser by Ghost and Pals cause I'm going feral </3

ꜰᴀᴠᴏʀɪᴛᴇ ꜰᴏᴏᴅ?

-

I'd honestly kill for some pupusas de queso con chicharron. That with a non-alcoholic sangria and MMMM.

ꜰᴀᴠᴏʀɪᴛᴇ ꜱᴇᴀꜱᴏɴ?

-

Probably Spring or Fall.

As Nevadan, anything that isn't 116 F/46.6 C is WONDERFUL. But anything lower than 45 F/7.2 C is COLD for my desert ass </3

So naturally I enjoy the months that aren't actively trying to kill me. I've only seen snow twice in my lifetime in my city so if it starts snowing (despite me liking the idea of snow), I'd actually just combust into flames and explode.

ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ ᴛᴜᴍʙʟʀ ʙᴇꜱᴛ ꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅ?

-

I guess you could say that @starfishes-and-watercolors is my Tumblr bestie <333

We met via AO3 and then chatted on here before moving to Discord. But she has seen the best and worst of me fandom wise and IRL wise.

She helped me stay motivated with YGO GX content, specifically Anikishipping content or Shou/Syrus content. She just deals with me being a Hetalia thot now but yeah, I still really care about her and I'm glad to have met her.

______ I was tagged by @heta-micronomics

Tagging: @starsmadeinheaven, @starfishes-and-watercolors, and @stardust-revolver

[sfwsickficthoughts]

adult, they/it, sufferer of a few mental illnesses. call me whatever the fuck you want. I post hurt/comfort shit with a focus on sickness. not an emetophile, none of this is for kink, I just like the softness and vulnerability that comes with taking care of a sick person.

this account was pretty much just made for my own self-indulgent purposes. I take headcanon and writing prompt requests on a "when I feel like it" basis.

Req info and DNI below

requests: open. 0 ask(s) in the inbox.

what I do: headcanons and writing prompts. the prompts can be fandom/character specific or they can just be general prompts based on a theme. whatever floats your boat (or rather mine since I'm gonna be the one doing the writing)

Whitelist

these are fandoms I'm already familiar with. If yours isn't on the whitelist, that doesn't necessarily mean I won't consider it, it just means I might have to do research.

Half-Life

Entropy: Zero

Portal

Left 4 Dead

Team Fortress 2

Madness Combat

Oddworld

Wreck-it Ralph

Cyberpunk 2077

Yakuza 0-6

Superjail!

POSTAL

Blacklist

for personal reasons I am not comfortable writing for these. list subject to updates as I see fit.

RPF

MCYT

Homestuck/Hiveswap

Eddsworld

Cookie Run

Hazbin/Helluva

Harry Potter

Hetalia/Countryhumans

Boyfriend to Death

DNI or "Why Did You Block Me?"

Bigot of any flavor

Pedo/zoo/incest loving "people"

Pro-para/radqueer/rad-inclus/whatever you pedo/zoo/incest apologists are calling yourselves these days

Proship/anti-anti

DDLG/CGL/ageplay in general

Transage/transrace

Genocide supporters (read: think what Israel is doing rn is Correct)

Yandere blogs (personal discomfort)

NSFW/kink blogs (just don't want these posts in NSFW spaces, y'all are cool)

On thin fucking ice

Emetophiles

interact if you want, but don't rb these posts to your kink accounts or use emetophile-specific tags on them. I don't have anything against y'all, I'm just not into that and I'm not comfortable with having my posts interacted with as kink material.

Age regressors

nonsexual agere is fine to interact, sexual age regressors read the above entry in the DNI about ageplayers and fuck off expeditiously.

Fans of blacklisted fandoms

you're welcome here, but behave.

"coquette"/"female hysteria" bloggers

I know like 90% of you guys are radfems/terfs. I see you acting up and you're going in the block bin.

"Fandom moms"

if you actually read all of this, congrats on your mental stamina. please take this congratulatory silly as a treat and have a day.

so many of you motherfuckers turn out to be predatory it is actually insane to me

People named Max

listen I'm sure you're fine but due to personal reasons I'm going to be wary about you forever

[kulay-ng-banaag]

Thank you, sincerely, for your addition to that post. I understand where OP was coming from but I still took so much issue with pretty much the same things you did and you put it into words perfectly.

The thing that strikes me most deeply is the suggestion that it's propaganda. IMO, it's a very valid concern, because if handled improperly, "racebending" can indeed become revisionist. But I think very many of us have alternate takes on these characters specifically because sticking to "you must remind everyone of state oppression and you must do this by having your character look a certain way" is exhausting for us. I don't get any joy out of it. I can see how it can be cathartic for some, but it's viscerally upsetting to me because it opens up that trauma. I am tired of the focus being placed on how my people suffered instead of how my people LIVED. When I "racebend" it's because I want to tell a story that is too often forgotten. It's forgotten because of the same things OP is upset about. We are all coming from more or less the same place of frustration. But that frustration will present itself differently depending on the individual and that can't be changed. I appreciate the call to think critically instead of just "applying a new paint job" for lack of a better term, because yes it can end up revisionist if it's done thoughtlessly. But there's still that broad brush assumption that we ARE doing it thoughtlessly or don't know any better/don't know what's best for us, and that's where I can't agree. I don't like to be told that my work is propaganda when half the reason I do it in the first place is to subvert propaganda that has been used against me. I will not open up my own trauma to appease someone else's take.

Ngl I've been (mostly privately) getting appreciations sent for it so this has been validating QvQ

Again, I get that it wasn't an attack on every fan who racebends, so I cannot help but beg the follow-up question: if not everyone, then who exactly? And how do you know they fit the bill? One of the last things I want is for people to automatically see fanart of a Hetalia character colored differently from the canon works, whether it be straight from Himaruya's jazz hands or the studios making the anime series, and assume it's a racist caricature or smth. Someone once mistook one of my moots' Piri, who has since drawn him moreno, to be a black N. Italy. 😭💀

Pardon me for this brief addition because my professors DRILLED this into our heads that historical revisionism (updating previously established historical truths thanks to newfound research) =/= historical distortion (intentional curation of information such that it favors a certain agenda).

A great (and local!) example of historical revisionism is the Banaue Rice Terraces. For the longest time, we were taught that they were built since the precolonial age (~2000 years), but research published back in 2009 revealed they were most likely constructed after 1585 (~400 years). If academic papers are intimidating, here's a video that breaks down the same research and an article that summarizes its role in historical revisionism. For historical distortion, I just have to point at the propaganda (yes, it really was!!!) upholding the Marcos, sr. regime as a "golden age" of rich-bitch thriving for the Philippines. Here's a great Tiktok video with captions with an introductory breakdown of the economic situation during Martial Law.

Going back, racebending can be distortionist. Once more, it all boils back to highlighting the state, and lbr why do we have to validate our own nasty governments lol. 😭 I wish not for my bayanihan ideals to be twisted as delusions for a greater evil.

[paperuniverse]

hi its the person you just blocked. no that individual post wasnt about you, i had been scrolling thru the aph turkey tag and seen some discourse as well and was complaining abt that😭 again, my reblog of your poll post wasnt about you either, and im not trying to attack or insult you? yes i made this acc just now bc yeah you blocked me and i really dont want you to think i was attacking you in any of those lol. im sorry but calling ME miserable is really odd in this case. again, sorry for any misunderstandings. i have nothing against you or your posts or your poll? just some general views of the hetalia fandom in general. i dont know your race or your personal views, i hadnt even visited your own blog, bc you didnt determine who won that poll, obviously lol. my point still stands though, i dont think you shouldve posted me like that even though i was just sharing my personal view. im sorry if it seems like i was personally attacking you, but i wish you had dmed me or something about it, i wouldve told you it wasnt for you and none of this would have happened😭 have a nice day!!

Okay this is my second attempt to respond, Tumblr better not delete this reply.

First off I’m sorry for the misunderstanding. From my pov it looked like you saw my post ranted, then a few minutes later made a post vague blogging me. I’ve sadly had instances before where this has happened with both strangers and mutuals so that’s why I thought that.

While I do agree with your points on how fans should do research on what people from the nation they’re drawing look like to better represent them, I don’t think the tags of that post were the best place to express that. I think your own separate post would have been best, that way it would have avoided any misconceptions. Cause again to me it kinda seemed like you came into my house and started yelling at me lol.

I definitely get your frustrations though. Too many people view Asians as sexy bodies instead of individual human beings. Both inside this fandom and out of it. While I do see Turkey as attractive I think he’s also a loud, silly guy who loves to dance.

I will be deleting the posts I made and unblock your main but keep this post up so the misunderstanding doesn’t spread. I will understand if you want to block me though, no hard feelings.

Again sorry for the misunderstanding and sorry if I hurt you.

[vampirenaomi]

8 and 13 for the new years writing asks 💜

8. Is there a story idea in your mental vault that you’ve never been brave enough to try writing? Is this the year? Can you tell us about it?

Back when I was into Hetalia I kept playing with the idea of writing a massive story about Germany and Prussia during the Cold War era, but the amount of research I would have had to do always kept me from even starting it. I've more or less lost interest in writing about Hetalia, so this story will never materialize.

13. Aside from fanfic, are there any other fan works you’d like to try creating? Fanart, or fanvids, gifsets, or podfic? 

I used to draw fanart when I was into Kim Possible, and sometimes I think about picking it up again, but I'm not good at it and don't enjoy the process of making art, so it probably won't happen. I like to fantasize about being really good and what I could draw, but I don't want to put in the work to get there, haha.

[circlique]

Same anon who asked about Sang Kyu’s influence on you; I’m honestly glad that he basically deprogrammed you when it comes to Eurocentric thinking. I’m not Korean but I’m an Asian American whose family is also from a country also affected by U.S/European imperialism and I know people shit on Hetalia fans for being right wing before which are definitely valid criticisms, but Hetalia is also a tool/medium that can help unlearning ideologies as well which are overlooked. I feel like North Korea is still treated like a joke on the internet though which is unfortunate though it’s good something great came out from a mere meme from your high school.

Yeah, I mean, hetalia itself isn’t really that educational despite what people would like to believe, but it can definitely act as a gateway to people getting interested in history, politics, and culture, and doing the research themselves! I think honestly I have learned more from the fandom, just reading about other people’s cultures and experiences, than from any text book.

[irithnova]

hi! how did your interest in hetalia begin? also, with mongolia as well. <3

Hello! :D

Well I became interested in hetalia when I first kind of started secondary school (UK) soo I think around 13 or something I became interested in hetalia? Then at 13/14 is when I first started getting interested in the country of Mongolia, so I guess me liking aph Mongolia was just a natural marriage between the two interests haha.

I guess I started to like hetalia because I've always been a history nerd and an anime/manga fan, and I've always liked learning about different cultures, so hetalia seemed like the perfect manga/anime for me. Admittedly, Mongolia wasn't immediately my fave character, Russia was my first favourite character. I was also a weird kid and a lot of my weird friends liked hetalia too! (I say weird in a good way).

When it comes to being interested in the country of Mongolia, I think it was because I got really tired of learning about European history. Not that I only focussed on European history when it came to my different historical obsessions lol I mean I had a huge ancient Egypt phase, but I wanted more. I've heard about the Mongols and their impact on European history but it was mostly to do with the spread of the black death (the UK wasn't affected by the Mongol invasions). Also when I was obsessed with Russia (still kind of am..) there were more mentions of the Mongols so I was like eh why not.

When I started to do more research on Mongolia's history, the more fascinated I became with it. I've always had an affinity towards cultures that were labelled as "barbaric" by its neighbours (I'm not saying I view the Mongols as barbaric, not at all, just that they were labelled that way), which explains my pretty huge Scottish history phase lol.

I was impressed by what they were able to achieve despite being the underdogs at the time, and the unique nomadic culture of Mongolia further drew me in to being interested in the country and it's history. Even beyond the empire era and before the empire era, Mongolian history is incredibly interesting.

The secrecy that Mongolian history is shrouded in before they came onto the world stage because of the lack of records to do with the Mongols, the huge Mongolic/Turkic empires that came before the Mongols, what the true origins of the Mongols are, Mongolia during the Ming and Qing dynasties, mass conversion to Buddhism, Mongolia's fight for independence in the 20th century and transition from communism to capitalism, and Mongolia today, it's all just so alluring.

Mongolian culture also really drew me in. It seemed so different from my own and I couldn't help but just, idk, keep on reading about it haha.

With all of this in mind, I guess this is why I'm so interested in aph Mongolia as a character. Going about characterising a man (or woman if you prefer) with such a rich and complicated history was a challenge I was willing to take up, and the more I learn about Mongolian history and culture (bc you never stop learning! ) the more and more complex he becomes.

Many hetalia fans in the past have just brushed him off as some brute and basically used him as the local villain of the week in a lot of their fics (I mean some still do it today but it's not as bad as it used to be...) and it frustrates me to no end because it just reeks of typical anti-Mongolian sentiment. There's nothing wrong with making him the bad guy in fics, everyone is free to show the dark sides of nations in their fics or art etc (I have a fanfiction myself where he is acting like an asshole, empire era).

But as I said before, the way in which Mongolia is characterised in a lot of fics (because it's usually fics) is just blatantly racist and/or ignorant towards Mongolian history and culture, and the writers would never depict another nation is such an unflattering manner, so yeah they're just using Mongolia as a cheap villain or they cheapen the character of Mongolia into a caricature as a grab for an easy one dimensional villain, which is a huge disservice to the history and people of Mongolia.

Even now, I'm still trying to be kind of careful with how I characterise Mongolia, because ignorance doesn't have to be blatant in order for it to still shine through. In the past, I've seen people hypermasculinise Mongolia and other central Asian characters. Listen, there's nothing wrong with headcanoning a character as being more on the masc side, I headcanon Mongolia to be more masc too!

But the issue comes from when people completely have a lack of nuance when it comes to masculinity in Mongolia and central Asia, and it really runs the risk of depicting them as barbaric and backwards. I've noticed how in the past, some people would hyperfeminise East Asian countries (more often than not, China) and in turn, hypermasculinise Mongolia, and it paints a pretty ugly picture when these same writers/artists make headcanons or art or whatnot.

Another thing I'm being careful with is how I headcanon Mongolia and technology. I know it's a joke amongst people that he can't even turn on a computer (and to those who joke ab this dw I'm aware it's a joke) but it becomes an issue when people unironically go around saying stuff like that, in my opinion (I don't think he's a technology wizard but c'mon he's not completely disconnected from technology to the point where he can't even use a laptop properly).

Some people tend to romanticise the rurality of Mongols and paint them as being a "happy, simple people" who are "too good for technology/capitalism." and this is just the classic "noble savage" trope all over again, just seen through a hetalia lens.

Of course, the nomadic lifestyle, generous hospitality and connection to nature is inseparable from Mongolian culture, and I would never try to deny or argue against that, it's one of the main reasons why I admire Mongolian culture so much in the first place! But going around perpetuating the noble savage stereotype only feeds into silly ideas outsiders have about Mongolian people. I've seen Westerners say crap like they're surprised that Mongolia has restaurants and wifi! And one of my Mongolian friends had an American literally say very boldly to them "I thought Mongolians still lived like cavemen" ⁉️⁉️

So yeah, I do hope my depiction/interpretation of Mongolia is thoughtful dhdsjd sorry I did kind of go off on a tangent. I'm aware that this is hetalia and it's not supposed to be a serious anime but am passionate and I hope I didn't come off too strong 😨

I think people's downright awful/racist depictions of aph Mongolia has only made me more passionate about him because I want to prove them so wrong haha! And it's the same with the actual nation. If anyone tries to argue with me about how the Mongol empire sucked because they were just "muhh barbarians" I will absolutely argue with them about it lol.

But thank you for the ask!! 🙏😳

[ask-hws-romano]

This blog is ran by @tema-makes-art-sometimes

I am not native Italian, nor am I a historical expert on any country. I am simply a fan who does a lot of cultural research. I'm open to critique in private messages, I always want to improve. Do not use me as a source, or expect me to be an expert, I am not even close.

This is a canon blog with Romano as the main center character, with others coming in as requested. You can ask questions to other nations, but this blog is Romano's first and foremost so keep that in mind.

This blog will contain asks being answered about Romano, his friends, his job and the general world as it is via Mythical Hetalia 2023 time period.

Historical asks can be requested, though as mentioned I cannot promise how detailed they will be.

I will try to answer asks with art and writing pieces as needed, but please forgive me if I cannot answer your ask with an art piece.

I would prefer if you kept modern political situations away from my blog, please. And of course behave nicely, no shitty behavior.

Asks, Interactions, and Role-play are open to anyone as long as it follows the above mentions.

Magical Anons and Events are allowed and encouraged!

Ask will be answered as they are submitted, so please be patient!

These are all I can think of for now, I'll update this as needed! Thanks for reading!

[tendervulture]

Hi, I saw your post about Hetalia being fascist propaganda, and I'm part of the fandom despite not consuming too much of the actual media. I guess I liked the concept, but can you explain why it's problematic specifically? I want to be able to explain to my friends why it's so bad, because they're more die-hard fans than I, and they're more likely to listen to me than some strangers online. This is a genuine question and I'm sorry if I came off as aggressive or sarcastic. I just didn't realize it was so bad, I thought it was just parody.

You know, this has been sitting in my askbox for a long time, as I've been mulling over how to answer it. I don't think Hetalia set out to be fascist propaganda and I do not think it is the author's intent. My main issue with Hetalia is how it papers over just how bad the fascist regimes of Fascist Italy, Imperial Japan, and Nazi Germany really were. To some extent this ignoring of the crimes of these governments makes sense when considered within the genre and political and social context it was created in (it IS a series about personified countries as hunky anime boys in the 2000's) and I do think the series does want us to think the war crimes committed by these countries are bad (I cannot picture the anime wanting us to take Germany's infamous "What have you found there, another Jew?" line as anything other than ironic and black comedy).

The problem comes with the contrast with the on-screen shenanigans of the characters and the horrors the regimes they are based on committed. It feels like the series is punching down rather than punching up at time, poking the most fun at the people who were hurt the most by these regimes.

Plus, there's the problem of the author's portrayal of China and South Korea especially, which becomes more sinister when you remember that Japan colonized those countries before and during WW2. I remember back when I was in the fandom Korean people being very very angry about the author's portrayal of South Korea, and the more I learn about the recent historical interactions of Korea and Japan, the more I agree they were right to be angry.

I feel in debt to Hetalia in some ways as it both made me laugh when I needed it most and ignited my love for history and interest in historical research. However, I'm more than ready to leave it behind and I'm not going to make excuses for it.

[oldfritz]

For the writing ask, 14, 17, 18, 20? - @iron--and--blood

Omg thanks for humoring me!

14) What is something you wrote in a fic that you are hoping readers picked up on but you don't know if they did? And/or, what is something that you were excited that readers did pick up on?

Everything about Erzsi and Lutz's character arcs. My readers are smart and wonderful, but they're the most nuanced of my characters. And the ones I try to write with the most care. I hope all my intentions are clear and understood, even if not everything can or will be shown.

17) Do you have any wips that you can tell us about? What are you most excited for in you wip?

I've made some posts complaining about how long it's taking me to write this current fic. It's a little family vacation set in 1870 on Lake Constance. I'm giving as much fan service as I can while keeping my usual T rating lmao. But since that's right down the pipe and I'm on point 6/10 on my outline, I don't wanna say too much. After that I write a conversation between Gil and Fritz on the nature of (im)mortality and the sweet mercy of death. You know, a return to my light stuff!

18) What's the most obscure thing you've researched for a fic?

Probably some of the Prusso-Austrian political goings on, but that's usually me confirming what I remember already reading. I tried looking for a chronicle of the battle between the Kingdom of Hungary and the Teutonic Knights at Transylvania, but couldn't find anything. Or, if it exists, I didn't know what I was saying in English or German. It's why that fic begins with 'man I don't know what's entirely accurate historically, but fuck it we ball pruhun shippers rise'

20) What is your favorite thing about writing fanfic? What about writing in general?

I think the only way I could blend my love of history with my love of creative writing in this exact way otherwise would be to create my own version of Hetalia. There's themes here, or that I put in here, that I can't explore satisfyingly in other ways. Vampires have the immortality, but they don't have the push-and-pull of political drama across time. I could write a political thriller, but it would lose this epic, operatic quality to it. As for writing in general, it's bleeding onto a page. It's a ritualistic bloodletting. I give the characters my bad humours and feel a little better for it - even if they (typically Lutz, poor guy)