So. I've joined the Hetalia fandom. Weird.

I'd heard about the series late 2009, while at an anime con and wondering why about half the people there were dressed in military uniforms, but it wasn't until late 2010 when I bought the first and second seasons on dvd and watched them. It was an enjoyable show, but I couldn't understand why so many people loved it so hard.

Fast forward to late spring 2011, when I was bored and decided to read some fanfiction. Some Hetalia fanfiction. Now, I don't remember exactly which fanfic I'd read, only that, as I read it, and another, and soon more, I realized just how expansive and VAST the possiblities for this show were. Yes, its a comedy first and foremost. But I was reading some remarkably deep and moving fanworks, some even tackling serious subjects like wars and others that dealt with the gritty realities of a nation living so long and so hard, the changes they felt and saw. And I got hooked.

I never saved fanfictions to documents, just so I'd have things to re-read in the event my internet went out. I never saved fanart of my favorite characters, no matter how much I loved the anime they came from. I never followed discussions on an anime, or events, or spent hours watching amvs or mmds or what have you. Much less MAKING amvs.

I never liked Yaoi. At all. I still don't watch or consider myself a yaoi fangirl. But with Hetalia, I can be. I can happily ship America with Russia. I can read and save over 200 fanfics of that pairing alone, ranging from humor, comedy, and fluff, to outright smut. And I'm totally down with that.

Joining the fandom so late, its a little strange. Hearing about all this 'hate' that supposedly exists in and around the fandom, of events that apparently made fans abandon the fandom, angst and outrage over the dub (which is actually what helped me become a bigger fan of the show, after seeing the sub first), attending Hetalia panels at conventions that could be subtitled, 'don't be a douchey Hetalia fantard and give the rest of us a badname'. But I, personally, haven't witnessed ANY of the bitchiness and shipping wars. True, I have noticed Rus/Ame writers/fans tend to get picked at by some- I stress, SOME- UsUk fans, but if that so easily drives you from a fandom and pairing you love, well, then maybe you didn't love it as much as you thought. But on the whole, I've seen people joining together, putting together MASSIVE photoshoots and events at cons, getting excited and geeking out over updates and holiday events, sharing links to news or pictures or amvs, writers responding to my reviews and answering questions- something I've never gotten from other fandom authors- and being kind and explaining to a fandom newb like me the ins and outs of things I've missed out on, like what the heck the Cardverse is, or why does this Steve character get mentioned so often, and you know. The Hetalia fandom isn't a bad place to be.