🎵Dah na na naaaaaaa 🎵 Welcome to our next Contributor Interview segment. The newspaper club has been hard at work interviewing several of our wonderful anthology participants, and today they’re excited to share an exclusive interview with none other than @the-gremlins-hotel!
Give it a read down below, and stay tuned for more interview segments as we approach the final deadline for submissions.
How did you discover Hetalia?
“Two real-life friends in 2013 introduced me to Hetalia by force during an after-school hangout.”
Who is your favorite character? Why?
“America! Back when I first got into Helltalia, my friends would live roleplay some of the characters before school. One was England, one was Canada. I told them to assign me a character based on vibes and America was who they gave me. I relate to him a lot and I’ve been told hundreds of times by now that I am “Alfred irl.” I’ve been stuck with him since the beginning!”
What was your first Hetalia OTP? Current Hetalia OTP?
“Oh, good question. FrUK was probably my first OTP. My current OTPs are Romerica and AmeRus.”
What is your best memory associated with the fandom?
“All of my best memories were with those two friends long ago OR more recently. I’ve met so many friends and acquaintances since rejoining the fandom in late 2021 - which is when I also started making fan content. If you can believe it, I’d never written fic or made art for Hetalia before then!”
If you were framed for murder, what character would you want as your Defense Attorney?
“Honestly I wouldn’t trust a single one of them to be a defense attorney, but if I must choose, for some reason South Korea gives me solid vibes.”
Consider for a moment that all of the characters are real. Who would be your best friend? Your worst enemy?
“Alfred F. Jones would be both my best friend and the man I would be trying to kneecap daily. But I think I could also get along well with Canada and Lithuania.”
Which Hetalia character is most likely to commit tax evasion, in your opinion?
“Trick question; all of them have committed tax evasion at least once.”
Do you have a favorite Hetalia fanfiction?
“Not really! It changes frequently. I just enjoy seeing the amazing writing skills of my fellow content creators.”
In one sentence, describe what Hetalia means to you.
“To me it means friendship, memories of fun times, and a sense of home despite all of its flaws.”
Bar owner, mother, caring and friendly citizen, our first character for today is all of it at once — Makino!
The trio assigned to her, including the artists Antonia & Flavia-Elric as well as the writer Chamomille, are capturing Makino's personality in one great fanwork!
A wanted poster was found inside in the food aisle next to the mochi! It says @viryse! Their poppy colours, and expressions are all so alive! Find out more about the team behind the Feast Zine~
Welcome to our first Contributor Interview segment! We’ll be interviewing several contributors over the course of the Anthology Timeline and asking them some questions about their experiences in the Hetalia fandom.
Our first interview comes from our wonderful director @frukmerunning and you can read it below
How did you discover Hetalia?
“I think I discovered it the way most people do… at the middle school lunch table. I was in 5th grade, and one of my close friends had just discovered Hetalia. They proceeded to assign all of us a country (as you do) and I was Austria. I was immediately entranced by the prospect of a piece of media geared towards history (I was a nerd) but I wouldn’t actually watch Hetalia until 3 years later. During the time in-between I did build a small empire on Hetalia iFunny… despite not having seen the show.
In 8th grade I finally sat down and watched Hetalia. English dub, on Hulu. Thus began an obsession that would completely change the trajectory of my life.”
Who is your favorite character? Why?
“Austria for sure! I’ve always had a thing for the slightly snobby, rude, abrasive characters - Kyoya from Ouran, Seto Kaiba from Yu-Gi-Oh, and Zuko from ATLA being among my childhood favorites. Austria was the ideal candidate from Hetalia. He also has all of the best lines, my favorite being “I do love the hard way… but I suppose I could just submit to you ;) “
On a deeper level, Austria is coded to be Jewish, and I didn’t have much representation for that part of my identity as a young person, so I tended to gravitate to any character I could project that onto.
I also ended up being a professional musician… so yeah… Austria.”
What was your first Hetalia OTP? Current Hetalia OTP?
“When I first got into Hetalia, I didn’t know that people could be gay. The first gay fanart I ever saw was of Germany and Italy, I still remember that fanart clearly. I was 12, so the thought of two men being together was something I’d never considered, and seeing that fanart shook me to the core. I’m not sure if it made me ship GerIta, though.
For certain, I remember loving PruAus since their first interaction in season 2 (I think???) of Axis Powers. PruAus has never left my mind, though I’ve had many different OTPs in my 13 years in the fandom. Right now, I have a deep love and appreciation for ItaPan, and I don’t think that’s going away any time soon.”
What is your best memory associated with the fandom?
“In 2020 I started designing a Hetalia game (that we will finish someday) and I ended up making friends with two of the writers that joined me on that project. Later one of them started a small personal server and invited me to join, along with a few others. Flash forward to the next year and 5 of us from that server decided to all meet up! I hopped into a “strangers” car and drove 2 states over to sleep on the floor of another “stranger” despite the protests of my mother. We had a great time being together, watching anime, exploring the big city, and we even spent an entire afternoon making an entire convoluted self-insert AU with as many characters as we could fit in. Since then we’ve had many more visits and trips, and I hope we continue to do so in the future <3
These people are the dearest friends I’ve made from the fandom, four of us even have matching circle tattoos (you know… draw a circle, that’s the earth). I’m so grateful for my friendship with them, and I wouldn’t have ever known them without Hetalia.”
If you were framed for murder, what character would you want as your Defense Attorney?
“Probably England, I would definitely end up in jail, but at least I would be entertained. Though maybe France would be the Prosecutor and the judge would get so annoyed that they’d throw the case out.”
Consider for a moment that all of the characters are real. Who would be your best friend? Your worst enemy?
“I think Japan and I are very similar, we would spend a lot of time alone together. But we would need a 3rd, more energetic person to keep things interesting and to make sure that we actually hang out. I would also get along with Germany and England.
As for my worst enemy, I think I would hate France. He would flirt with me but not actually mean it and then I would get attached to him and get my feelings hurt :( “
Which Hetalia character is most likely to commit tax evasion, in your opinion?
“If you are a follower of the AAACU, you know the answer to this question is Italy and Japan… just don’t tell Germany (he’s a snitch)”
Do you have a favorite Hetalia fanfiction?
“I’ve loved many a Hetalia fanfiction over the years. This fandom is home to so many creative and talented writers that I would be here all day listing my favorites and telling you all about what they mean to me.
One, however, stands above the rest. “Sign a new agreement with itunes” which was written in 2014 and can be found on Livejournal. It is a human au featuring France and England and their journey from unlikely roommates and friends to inseparable lovers. This fic completely influenced how I see France and England, and maybe even a little bit of how I think about romance. It’s very much worth the read.”
In one sentence, describe what Hetalia means to you.
“I can’t believe a bunch of stupid country people completely changed the trajectory of my life.”
Meet our artist, waitaruu on Twitter
"I really enjoy sharing my art so others can enjoy it, and I'm very fond of Sk8, so I'm very excited with this zine!"
