The Hetalian Monster
The Hetalian Monster is an Axis Powers Hetalia fanfiction by Gothic Dancer. It is based off of the songs from The Fame Monster and The Fame by Lady Gaga.
While they are based off of songs, the chapters also form story arcs. The most notable of those are the "So Happy I Could Die" arc (Denmark drinks himself near to death over Norway, Norway realizes his love for him), the "Speechless" arc (the deformation of Prussia, his subsequent capture by Soviet Russia, and him reuniting with his brother Germany while finding love in Ukraine) and the Gakuen Hetalia arc.
The author wrote a follow-up, Born This Hetalian Way, for the release of Born This Way. It continues the arcs from the previous fics. There's also Hetalia's Christmas Tree, which are Christmas side stories set in the same timeline/continuum.
- Alter Ego: Soviet Russia to regular Russia. Also counts as an Evil Twin.
- The Cameo: Shakira in "I Like It Rough", and Alexander Rybak in "The Edge Of Glory".
- Cloudcuckoolander: Seychelles is portrayed as such in her brief appearance in "Dance In The Dark".
- Drowning My Sorrows: Denmark does this in "So Happy I Could Die".
- Frying Pan of Doom: Both Hungary and Maria Theresa wield one.
- Gender Bender: Happens to Austria in "Scheiße", where he experiences the hardships that women have gone through. It was All Just a Dream, but he gains a new appreciation for what Hungary went through.
- He Who Must Not Be Seen: Principal Himaruya in the Gakuen Hetalia stories.
- Iron Woobie: Lithuania, in "Monster".
- Stealth Pun: In "Americano", the treatment of illegal immigrants ("aliens") is observed by an actual alien (Tony).
- Take That: In "Dance In The Dark", Belgium tells Netherlands that his hair looks like the hairstyle of "one of America's trashy romance books".
- Theme Naming: Several things are named after titles or lyrics from Lady Gaga songs (e.g: The meeting of the female nations is called the "Dance In The Dark", the event organized to bring Germany and Italy back together is called the "Electric Chapel", etc.)
- A case of Theme Chaptering: the "Speechless" arc is made of the three rock and roll songs: "Speechless", "Summerboy", and "Yoü and I".
- The Vietnam War: The focus of the "Bloody Mary" chapter.
- Visual Kei: Both Japan and Greece are part of a Visual Kei band.
- Waxing Lyrical: The characters in this fic do it often. However, they don't know what they're saying are lyrics to songs.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Vietnam has this reaction (albeit more subdued) when Taiwan expresses ingratitude for what the other Asian nations did for her.
- Yandere: Belarus, as per usual, in "Paparazzi".