Hetalia fanon

[transemacabre]

There's tons and tons of fanon for Hetalia, some of which is based on history-canon, and some of which is just plain made up. Unfortunately, sometimes its hard to tell what is and isn't canon. With that in mind, I'm trying to document FANON that is commonly mistaken for CANON.



1. America and Russia hate each other. This is pertinant to my interests as a Russia/America shipper, because a common argument against my OTP is that it's 'OOC' because America and Russia allegedly hate each other.

The truth is there's not much in canon to suggest that they DO hate each other. All that Yandere Cold War smut is based on very little -- there's the strip where America and Russia are sending each other boxes of extra-small condoms to psych each other out, which to my mind is hardly the basis to portray them as having a crazed hatred. There's not much evidence to suggest that they're in love, but neither is there much to suggest that they hate each other.

2. Canada being portrayed as delicate or petit. Poor Canada gets stuck with being 'the girl' because of his wallflower personality. He is shown in the manga and anime to be the same approximate height/build as his brother, America.

3. Poland crossdressing. He DOES crossdress a couple of times in the strips, but its a bit of a stretch to portray him as a transvestite. He is, if anything, turned into 'the girl' more than Canada is, which is a shame because he has unique personality traits of his own, such as his shyness, his utter refusal to die, and the fact that he appears to be the only character who isn't afraid of Russia.

4. Russia stole Finland from Sweden. Not touched upon by Himaruya yet, but there's been several fics that portray Russia snatching Finland away from Sweden in 1809. Historically, Finland willingly left Sweden to join Russia. I imagine this upsets shippers who prefer to look at Sweden and Finland as being happily married lovebirds, but I think this has waaaaay more potential for interesting fic than yet another Ebil Rapist Russia keeps Sweden from his True Love Finland scenario.

5. Russia notices Canada. I've seen this in several Russia/Canada fics. Russia straight up sits on top of Canada in one strip, people. Canada is totally invisible to him. It's canon that PRUSSIA notices Canada, not Russia.

6. America is stupid. America is without a doubt self-centered and sometimes an asshole, albeit one with good intentions. But at least some of his idiot/oblivious persona is an act -- if "I'll just pretend I can't read the mood" in WDC World Dancing doesn't convince you, Himaruya has stated that America pretends to be stupider than he is.

7. There's no such thing as state-tans! There are no known personifications for America's states, but other personifications have been shown: Japan's prefectures is an obvious one.

8. Nazi Germany/Nazi Prussia. Himaruya was sensitive enough to sidestep this issue and he doesn't portray Germany or Prussia as being passionate Nazis, even during the WW2 storylines. Its canon that Germany thought Hitler was crazier than a shithouse rat. Because Hitler was his boss he couldn't go against him, and there's not much to suggest that he or Prussia are passionate Nazis. This is a major pet peeve of mine because so many braindead fangirls use this as an excuse to draw 'sexy' pictures of Germany and Prussia in Nazi uniforms, or to cosplay as Nazi Germany and Nazi Prussia and go around seig-heil'ing like idiots at cons.

9. America is a jock/popular kid. I see this one a lot in AU stories, but it crops up in regular fic, too. Canonically, America's only real friends are Lithuania, England, and Japan. Clearly, several other characters such as Canada are important in his life, but this idea that he's super-popular or 'rules the school' or something is totally uncanonical. I think its plain that he bugs the shit out of most of the other characters.

Comments

[salmiakkirae.livejournal.com]

Historically, Finland willingly left Sweden to join Russia.

Well, this thing is debatable. Finland's upper classes were easily converted to the side of the Russians, they were bribed with gold, money and promises of great careers, but in many areas the peasantry and ordinary people fought on in a guerilla campaign, refusing initially to swear an oath of allegiance to the new emperor.

In the city of Turku, Finland's former capital, Russian's were welcomed by the upper class, because they needed protection from the peasants who threatened to kill them because they went to the side of the enemy. And in the end, the decision of joining the empire wasn't Finland's to make, he wasn't asked did he want that or not.


Russia straight up sits on top of Canada in one strip, people. Canada is totally invisible to him.

But it's almost as he did that on purpose and just pretended that he didn't even noticed him ^^'. And almost everybody treats Canada that way and in the end they still know who he is.

[ani-bester.livejournal.com]

I have to say this fandom always sounds fascinating and yet I'm scared too look becausse everyone also makes it sound like a train wreck.

I think I may really need to buckle down and get some of this though ^__^

[transemacabre.livejournal.com]

But the nations are shown to go along with their bosses, which in this case would be the Finnish elites. They chose to throw it their lot with Russia at the Diet of Porvoo.

[transemacabre.livejournal.com]

I have a love-hate relationship with Hetalia itself, as I do with all my fandoms, but I've been steadily developing a hate-hate relationship with its fandom. To be blunt, I wouldn't be in it at all if I didn't truly enjoy writing fanfic for Hetalia. There's one comm I really like (russiamerica, for my OTP) and that's it. I think a lot of it is that the fandom is HUGE and WANKY, and filled with rather young fans for whom this is their first experience with fandom. I'm not wildly impressed with the overall quality of fic or meta in this fandom, which isn't to say that there aren't quality examples of both, because the sheer size of the fandom will guarantee that some talented people are involved.

A lot of the things that are taken for granted in Hetalia fandom -- the fetishization of rape is one obvious example -- make me VERY uncomfortable. The sort of laissez-faire attitude a lot of the fen have about the possibly offensive subject matter that they're writing disturbs me as well. Yes, Hetalia is a gag comic, but its a gag comic about REAL HISTORY that really affects people the world over every day. You should try to be sensitive to that fact, if for no other reason than because its the humane goddamn thing to do.

When I brought this up on the Hetalia comm, I got a lot of fans who agreed with me, and also a lot of fans who got upset over it. My feeling is that a healthy fandom SHOULD be able to talk about these things, to be able to point out the racism/exploitation/misogyny, etc. in the fandom and say, "That's not right, and I demand a better fandom", rather than getting defensive and butthurt. I don't think that Hetalia fandom rightfully deserves its bad reputation, but if it continues on the way its going, it WILL deserve it, and more.

[erueru-2d.livejournal.com]

I agree with most of statements above, but...

"There's no such thing as state-tans! There are no known personifications for America's states"

Aren't you kinda contradicting yourself, here? There are no personifications of American states in canon. Their existence is only an assumption, therefore it's fanon.

Also, an off-topic question: would you really beta for me, as you said on my journal? If so, could you send me private message with your e-mail address? I want to send you my fic tomorrow.

[transemacabre.livejournal.com]

Hey there, I could've been clearer in my post, but I meant 'personifications of national subdivisions': states, counties, prefectures, what-have-you. Aside from Prussia (which was at least a seperate kingdom before becoming part of Germany), Japan's prefectures have also been shown to have personifications of their own, so its not outside the realm of possibility that America's states do, too.

[salmiakkirae.livejournal.com]

Hmm, that's true... but Finland was ruled from Sweden, so Finland's real boss was the king of Sweden, he had all the authority over everybody else, Finland's elite was just priests and rich folk, and not everybody of them went to the other side, some of them were so called loyalists. Finland's elite didn't have, for example, the power to stop Finnish soldiers to fight among their Swedish counterparts. They fought until Sweden and Russia started the peace negotiations.

And Finnish elite swore an oath of allegiance even during the Great Northern War (and during the Hats' Russian War) when Finland was occupied for the first time. Back then, they wanted to save their own skin by doing so, not to join the empire.

[transemacabre.livejournal.com]

With that logic, then America shouldn't have been fighting against England in the Revolutionary War strips, because America's overlord was George III. In canon, however, its shown that America went along with what his elites (who were, surprise surprise, wealthy farmers like Washington and Jefferson) instead of the British monarch. There's no reason to suspect that anything different happened in 1809 to Finland.

[salmiakkirae.livejournal.com]

In fact, I thought that right after I wrote my earlier post. America's war of independence, I mean.

But Finland (which didn't have any special position in the Swedish kingdom and was just one of Sweden's four historical lands among Götaland, Svealand and Norrland. Only difference was that most of its people were speaking Finnish instead of Swedish), didn't actively seek to join to the Russian empire or to be independent, only exception was the Anjala conspiracy group and some other smaller groups. Without that attack in 1809, it's the possibility that Finland would have never been "born".

But most of Americans, they wanted to be independent and were willing to fight against England. Most of them had already a clear national identity (at least I guess so), when in Finland it was mostly Russians who decided who are Finns and who are Swedes. Finns were those who were born in the area they occupied and Swedes those who, well weren't born there. Language or anything else didn't matter, those who spoke Swedish were also Finns. Finland's northern parts are in reality parts of Norrland but they become parts of Finland, tsar Alexander didn't think it's necessary to create a Finnish army, because there it could be fighting only against Sweden and he was sure Finns wouldn't do it etc. Even years later it was a problem for Russia; if Sweden attacks, Finland wouldn't do any resistance against it. Of course nobody knows what Finland would have done in a situation like that, but that's what they suspected.

Hm... I'm not sure did that have any logic. It sounded a lot better when I wrote it ^^'. But then there's one point; in one strip, Finland said to Sweden he was forced to live with Russia for a while and that Russia didn't do anything to him because he only wanted one port from him.

[sara-rojo.livejournal.com]

This is an awesome post! Many of the things you brought up are interestingly widespread. It's a given, with the kind of fandom Hetalia is, but still.

Even so, I wanted to say...

1. America and Russia hate each other

I'm a hardcore AmeRus shipper, but I truly think there are hints that they dislike each other in the present. When America celebrates his birthday party, the tension between them makes (what looks like)!Latvia tremble with fear and say "scary"...at least after the Cold War, it seems the waters are still troubled. Which doesn't mean they don't have feelings for each other from their speculated friendship during the 1800s, or that they can't learn to get along again, long to do it, or even develop lust for each other (either new or carried from the Cold War, which most of the fandom usually consider just a huge case of UST xDDDDDDDD)

7. There's no such thing as state-tans!

I'm also a huge fan of the state-tans, especially as America's kids with other nations. But the fact that Texas exists as America's glasses kinda justifies this fanon belief, doesn't it?

8. Nazi Germany/Nazi Prussia. Himaruya was sensitive enough to sidestep this issue and he doesn't portray Germany or Prussia as being passionate Nazis, even during the WW2 storylines. Its canon that Germany thought Hitler was crazier than a shithouse rat. Because Hitler was his boss he couldn't go against him, and there's not much to suggest that he or Prussia are passionate Nazis. This is a major pet peeve of mine because so many braindead fangirls use this as an excuse to draw 'sexy' pictures of Germany and Prussia in Nazi uniforms, or to cosplay as Nazi Germany and Nazi Prussia and go around seig-heil'ing like idiots at cons.

While I agree that Germany, in canon, was definitely not a nazi (and poor Prussia wasn't even around in those strips), it doesn't mean they didn't wear the uniform or salute as they should back then. Germany clearly has to obey his boss' orders whatever his personal feelings are, probably because he was elected by the people, and because his boss was extremely controlling; if he has to obey, he probably follows dress code and salute code for a person of his status and job in his country at that time.

9. America is a jock/popular kid.

This one's funny, because in a way it's totally true, America is actually a lonely nation in terms of friends (I'd go as far as saying that his supposed friends are so...very reluctantly, except for Lithuania. And Lithuania hasn't interacted with him in the present strips at all, except in his birthday strip, where he interacted with everybody).

But the thing is, I kinda see where people are coming from. America has the atittude of a popular person; and because he's the most powerful of the countries, and imposses his will with his exuberance on others, it's not that far-fetched to think that, in a verse where most of the others weren't vastly older than him, he'd become the popular type. Other two facts that aid this fanon theory is that he's gorgeous in the most conventional way (contrary to most of the other characters; the only ones that conventionally attractive would be Spain and Germany), and that he was fought for by the others --> the others want America --> America is popular. I realise this was when he was a kid, but stillXD. And it just occurred to me that his Friend To All Living Things status probably doesn't help discouraging the notion that he's popular...even with Mother Nature! xD)

The rest, I completely agree with. There are many more, actually, like everybody and their mother calling England 'Iggy', or asuming that his friendship with Japan survived to the present. Hetalia fandom is full of them, because there's very little canon to draw from.

[transemacabre.livejournal.com]

7. My thoughts are addressed above.

8. Oh, C'MON, you and I both know that the fanbrats who dress up in Nazi costumes and prance around seig-heiling at cons aren't doing it out of a dedication to being 'true' to the character (there's nothing to suggest that its particularly true to either Germany or Prussia) they're doing it because they like fetishizing the Nazi costumes! It's a weak rationalization to justify their behavior, and I'm calling bullshit on it. Would people say its okay for me to dress up in a Confederate uniform and run around cons waving a Confederate flag at the black people if I claimed I was doing it to be 'true to history canon'? When you utilize imagery and costumes like that to get your jollies in public, its gross and disrespectful.

9. One of the things I find saddest about Hetalia fandom is that when Himaruya subverts our expectations, the fanbrats ignore it and reduce the characters to stereotypes. Yes, America is the type of personality who, stereotypically, would be portrayed as the popular kid. But the fact that he obviously annoys the shit out of most of the other characters, and is a bit of a handful to deal with, and has a tendency to go in all gung-ho and hog the glory for himself, that's characterization. That's WAY more interesting to explore than flattening his character to fit the Idealized Jock Hero mold.

Had to write a response…I guess I just like being contrary…

[theserialtypest.livejournal.com]

In my opinion state’s existence would hold truer to the actual form of the US government, which is why I support their survival in the fandom(those glasses are such a tease, lol) –Shakes fist-.
Even before The American Revolution was over, the Thirteen Colonies, which pre-date the U.S. by definition, realized they needed some a national government to replace the British that they were throwing out. However, the last thing anyone wanted was a powerful national government; seen as a step towards an American tyranny. So they deliberately wrote the Articles of Confederation to make the national government weak and protect states. This was nearly America's undoing. The government couldn’t collect taxes, which meant America had to raise money by asking the states politely; consequently it could barely perform the basic functions of government. It also couldn't coerce states or regulate commerce, which led to conflict between the states putting up tariffs between each other, resulting in overall hardship(…Alfred was not amused… a good portion of the Constitution was written to make interstate tariffs impossible) The final straw for was Shays' Rebellion, which had to be put down by *state* militia due to America’s ineffectual response.
So they got back together and wrote up the Constitution of the United States, which was ratified in 1789. Since no one likes to share power, the Constitution sets up a "Federal" government. This means the States have power over stuff in their state and the national government has power only over national issues, like trade between states, national defense, foreign policy, and so on. Today, thanks to Marbury v. Madison , if the federal government decides to pass a law, etc, and the states don't like it, everyone goes to the Supreme Court and it decides who wins.
But to contest your point directly, there are four states that were once considered independent countries. They are Vermont, Texas, California (for less than a month, but still applicable in my opinion) and Hawaii.
Vermont 1777 -1791(Vermont was an independent nation from 1777 until it joined the Union in 1791. a certain number of Vermonters still cling to the notion that they have the right to secede, and an active secessionist movement there is "committed to the peaceful return of Vermont…as an independent republic ".)
Texas 1836 -1845 (Texas, oh Texas. Where to begin? First there was the Texas Revolution—originally not to secede from Mexico, but to balkanize the Mexican state of Coilha y Texas to give the recently immigrated Anglo Texans more control over local politics. Eventually it favored complete separation, when Mexo said it wasn’t going to compromise. Ten years later, the Republic of Texas peacefully annexed to the U.S., and the territory's original borders were balkanized—parts of Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico once belonged to Texas. Texas then seceded from the US during the Civil War, though it saw little action compared to the other Southern states. Texas has, even unto the present day, had secessionist movements, which gained some notoriety after the 2008 election and the rise of the Tea Party movement. Just try to find an article about Governer Perry that doesn't reference his apparently pro-secessionist comments in 2009. )

California 06/14/1846 -07/09/1846 California was briefly a sovereign nation, at least until US troops moved in and forcibly made it a territory as part of the Mexican-American war.
Hawaii 1810-1898(Hawaii was definitely a sovereign Nation under King Kamehameha and his descendants until the USA took over in a bloodless coup d'état deposing Queen Liliuokalani and Hawaii was added to the US. To this day, the Native Hawaiian community itself is divided over what they want to do about it. )