Why I Ship AmePana

The full reasons as to why Kami OTPs AmePana.

DISCLAIMER

I feel the need to express this first hand...
MY OC IS HER OWN CHARACTER AND SHE IS NOT ONLY FOR MY LOVE FOR SHIPPING. PANAMA IS A CHARACTER I SPENT SO MUCH TIME DEVELOPING AND DON'T YOU DARE THINK I REDUCED HER TO THIS PAIRING.

I only got the idea of shipping her A YEAR (2012 vs. 2011) after her original creation and progression. Even then when I started it wasn't my OTP until I grew to love it months later. Maria is an OC that matters the world to me. If you know her RP account you can see how I constantly do things with her as her own character and I never want to mention ships on that account because I do not wish for people to think that's all I care about.
I love my OTP a lot. Panama comes first.

But now that you understand, I want to explain why I love the Hetalia ship.
I also should point out that this is a HETALIA shipping and I love it to death but really, let's not get too serious (even though it completely DEVOURED my life lmao)

Oh we go ♥


HOW IT STARTED

The first time I truly began shipping them together was back on January 29th, 2012 (lol yes don't start with me) around the time the first fanart of them together was made by a friend of mine. Beyond common beliefs I wasn't the first shipper, there is a deviant I know who shipped them in 2011 (I was busy at the time, still working on Maria as her unique character)...

However it was really odd for me, too !
Back then - I could not stand America as a character. Well, I could, but barely. I just really, really did not like Alfred at all. Why, might I add? Because my logic was I'm Russian and he's the representation of America therefore I had to be biased and h8 him aha. But no it wasn't only that, I also didn't like his personality and how loud he was, he annoyed the shit out of me - my friend group irl (the people whom I started watching the series with for the first time) also hated him. We ignored his character completely. And it proves how even though he is my current favorite character (since my views on him changed drastically and I actually love him a lot now, having developed a serious connection to him at the storage room cleaning episode) I am no way shipping this just for the sake of pairing my OC with my favorite Canon - When they started, he was the farthest thing from my favorite canon. In fact, I was discouraged from shipping this by my friends because they knew how much I hated Alfred. The only reason I developed my soft spot for APH America, to be honest, was because of all the OTP history that I read. America didn't look so bad because the relations are actually very personal and sincere and the history was incredibly interesting and so commonly occurring as I researched Panama, I found it hard to ignore him by that point. And so, the obvious relations turned into the ship.

Back then it was "Just a ship based on history" for little Kami.
I didn't expect it but it eventually became my OTP. I was embarrassed to call it "OTP" because I thought people would judge me for using that term while it was a Canon/OC pairing (I was very scared of this fact and thought the term only applied to Canon/Canon). When I met and befriended my waifu Mel did I realize it was good to let people know how much I love them, and that's when I started calling them my OTP and truly making an effort to show my ship as relevant and not a useless ship. I wanted them to be a good pairing, thus then is when I began cramming on their history drastically, digging up things and sources I'm sure may not even exist online now lmao. 

That is how the pairing initially began.


WHY I SHIP THEM

Note* Yeah its Character shipping because shipping real countries with each other is weird but using real history to back a Hetalia pair is what I do <3
And I will be talking in sense of my Panama OC Maria yet I ship America with any (good?) Panama, either way.

If you click on the History/Relations link at the top, please read a write-up of their actual historical backing and such and how relevant this ship truly is.
But why do I ship them as characters?


First off, among the things I love most about them is their personality mix ! It's so beautiful and compatible.
I remember my friend showed me an official comic post by Himaruya which was 'what the hetalia characters find attractive about the opposite sex' and for America's it said "As for me, someone who's cheerful, has energy! And similar hobbies is very important! I wanna do outdoor sports and stuff with them" ( Its official from here )
With that backing or without it, either way, I see Maria as Alfred's type of girl. She's definitely not a "tsundere" type of character and I would like to add how much I dislike the idea of America with snippy or "tsun tsun" characters. Let's all be serious and not decrease Alfred for our own benefits, he is silly and fun and he needs somebody who would have fun along with him! Panama isn't obnoxious unlike how he may get but she too is amusing and expressive. She loves jokes of all sorts, she's very youthful in a sense that she would join him in his odd antics some people/characters may find irresponsible. She could keep him more in place but still treat him kindly, be more gentle and urge him to be more of a chill guy but definitely support his wills to be childish! They LOVE to have fun together and that's what I love about them. 
On top of that they share so many interests and beliefs and values in common and that's why I think they would be this supportive to one another !  America influenced more than just the Panama as a nation's appearance and global stand, but moral values as well (just one example can be her freedom obsession, she independence-party's for a whole month for pete's sake. Not to mention how Panama sides with America on so many global issues, sometimes more than any nation has or ever will - like she's the first Latin country to support US in ISIS. Not that all those choices are good but the support is the thought that counts - and obviously the US constantly returns and has returned it, protecting Panama from being colonized by Britain and the backup during WW2. The examples are > endless < if you would read the history/relations link!)

Second thing, and something to note, their relations ARE NOT PERFECT but they are GREAT. Quotedly, they are "Extremely good". I like it that way because there is never any perfect ships. And 'perfect' relations I find boring (with exceptions to the very effective and important incredible relations, such as KorPiri or GreeSerb, obviously!). Why? Because wheres the ENDURANCE? Wheres the trust? I find people (this applies to anything really) who've had their fight and still move on to be amazing friends and even couples the best kind. They can truly say they care. Not to mention many ""perfect"" ships are irrelevent and just didn't have much interaction to cause a troublesome event to happen. Obviously something the US-Panama relationship doesn't have since they've been together so long they managed to keep majorly good with rough patches along the way. It makes their interaction interesting and the disagreements had taught them very much, too - they even taught America and that's remarkable since he's such a big country who even learned from interacting with a little nation like Panama.

AmePana relations actually are called "The Enduring Partnership" because its the fact that they face the world with each other. America is a country with, uh, some ripe negative views on him and Panama is a country who didn't get along with a lot of the Axis because she was of such giant strategic importance to the US and the Allies - both were constantly ridiculed for capability and they share it in common more than others do. They had to put trust in each other's backup, thus they're called that. They also had their own conflict with Noriega, something very unforgettable to Panama (even while it's something not many Americans remember or are taught at all) and yet after that Panama City flourished again with US support. It took a lot but Panamanians and Panama forgave America sincerely (I have good amounts of friends from there who can confirm this). They endured a lot and stay strong and together - True love, haha!

The two countries also have so many things about them which make the relationship funny and cool. I love their fun facts and internal relations, as well, so many firsts for both sides which make their relations something that I believe Alfred and Maria would never forget and what would cause the two to keep each other close to their hearts (ya'll should really read the history/relations link for those fun facts). Heck, The Panama-USA treaty itself actually says if the US is found in a state of war with another country Panama will immediately "consider herself in a state of war" (yes Panama was called a she in official alliance papers victory is mine).

Another really big reason is that their relations are actually had a giant world-impact and are IMPORTANT (bless important ships). Let's just say that Alfred is a whore ok, lol, he's friends with many countries and has relations with the entire world (minus like 3 countries) so it's not a surprise that many ships for him exist in Hetalia! However the history and relations of Panama call it and make it vitally important to the US. She's currently saving him economically (due to the giant FTA, where she actually purchases from him more than he does from her!) and their geographical importance and yeah, you get it. America would only notice an important relation when it comes to shipping. I swear to the lord, he will not just love any little relation he has and it's a giant pet peeve of mine to see tiny relations for him romanticized to such a degree! He is BIG and IMPORTANT so he needs someone who means a lot to him, too. I ship America with many other countries, don't get me wrong, but my favorite ships are important ones because he is the way that he is. Panama is so important to America, it's not just the other way around (which it still is, of course). Their cooperation is really great and the Panama Canal impacts the whole world. They make sense that way and are so unique, they're the ORIGINAL "Special Relationship"! People think the original is England to America but that's not true (no offense to anyone I'm just stating a fact with all due respect so don't get angry lol), they were described as that since the 1940s while Panama was the first and longest Special Relationship the US had had, it began in 1914 and lasted for 100 years (later becoming "The New Relaitonship"). They are > special < and she is relevant to him as much as he is obviously relevant to her ! And I LOVE that about them.

So yes they have very full understanding of each other. They've known one another for around 175 years, actually (way back in 1840, not just 1903 for god's sake the did not meet for the first time due to the canal offer). And that's why I love them.

I can ramble on forever but I guess that's enough for now.

The End~