#Please read the Ouran manga it's very good

[felixcloud6288]

All descriptions taken from TvTropes.

Cantarella:

Cantarella is a fantasy manga about the youth of Cesare Borgia, warrior, politician, and second son of Pope Alexander VI. Only here, he's possessed by demons, with a Red Right Hand to prove it.

Death Note:

In the land of the dead, a bored Shinigami named Ryuk decides to create some entertainment for himself by dropping a Death Note into the human world.

Light Yagami, a brilliant-yet-disillusioned Japanese student, sees the notebook fall into his world and picks it up. On a whim, he tries out the instructions held within its pages, and discovers that he can kill whomever he wants, however he wants, by writing their name and (optionally) cause of death into the Death Note.

While initially horrified at his actions, Light rationalises that he can use the Death Note as a force for good by purging the rotten and corrupt elements of society, thus creating a world free of crime and violence. A cult following soon arises around the mysterious assassin killing off criminals across the country, christening him "Kira". Kira's actions soon attract the attention of the international police community, now with grave concerns about the vigilante killings, and the world's greatest detective, an enigma of a man known only as "L".

L becomes determined to solve the mystery of Kira and his impossible killing method, employing increasingly aggressive and risky strategies to get the information he wants. Meanwhile, Light spirals into madness as he becomes consumed by both his egomaniacal "Kira" persona and his desperate need to stay one step ahead of L's investigation. It's a cat-and-mouse game neither man can afford to lose — and both of them want to win at all costs.

Dungeon Meshi:

In a fantasy world of dungeon exploration, guilds go out on expeditions to raid dungeons, hoping to find the mysterious Golden Kingdom claimed to be the ultimate treasure of a particular island dungeon, said to be created by a Lunatic Magician after sinking the Kingdom below the ground. Human knight Laios Touden and his adventuring team are saved from a Total Party Kill by a fearsome beast, the Red Dragon, when his sister, Falin, sacrifices herself to teleport them all out of danger. Now she's in the dragon's belly, and it's only a matter of time before she's digested and it's too late to revive her. Laios and his friends must delve back into the depths to recover her remains — but there's not enough time or resources to buy enough rations for the trip. His solution: take advantage of the sprawling ecosystem of the dungeon itself by cooking the various monsters within into delicious, wholesome, dungeon-sourced meals.

Fruits Basket:

After the death of her mother, young Tohru Honda has been secretly living on her own in a tent. Her life changes forever when she stumbles upon the secret of the estate she is living on illegally: the land is owned by the Sohma family, who are afflicted by a Hereditary Curse that changes thirteen members of the family into animals of the Eastern Zodiac (plus the Cat, an animal who would have been part of the Zodiac but was left out) when they are hugged by someone of the opposite sex that is not also a Zodiac member. Oh, and the family is a hotbed of horribly abusive parents and children with enough emotional issues to make a shrink very wealthy.

Upon being discovered and taken in by the Sohmas, sweet-natured Tohru becomes embroiled in the dysfunctional family's various crises, bringing the outside world to the closed-off family while also having to confront some issues of her own.

Goodnight Punpun:

Goodnight Punpun (Oyasumi Punpun) is a supremely bizarre Seinen manga by Inio Asano about the title character, Punpun. Punpun is a young, innocent, and naive child, who, in some kind of strange stylistic choice, is depicted as a simplistic sketch of a bird despite everyone outside of his family looking like a normal human. He has no real dreams, his father is an abusive deadbeat (at least, he appears to be), and his mother is a drunk who regrets having him, but Punpun has one thing: a pretty girl named Aiko whom he fawns over. Well, her, and an afro-clad and slightly useless god he can summon by chanting 'Dear God, dear God, tinkle hoy!'

The story begins as a Slice of Life comedy, following Punpun through his childhood as he deals with his family life, his school life, his social life, and his budding romantic life. While noticeably dark, it also contains a hint of child-like innocence. However, as the series progresses, it develops into an extremely dark Coming of Age story, with all innocence being wiped away. While the humor remains, it takes a backseat to experiences of Punpun, his family, and his acquaintances as they deal with the hardships of adolescence, adulthood, and life in general. The story is split roughly into four arcs: Punpun's life in elementary school, middle school, high school, and as a young adult.

Running concurrently with Punpun's story is a very odd side plot about a cult-like movement trying to (apparently) save the world through "good vibrations", which some of Punpun's classmates end up involved in. It's possibly even more weird and unsettling than anything going on with Punpun, as it's never quite clear if it's real or the mad ramblings of its leader.

Haikyuu:

In junior high, Shōyō Hinata gained a sudden interest in volleyball due to seeing a match on television, which featured a star player nicknamed "The Little Giant", and yearned to follow in his footsteps to become a volleyball ace despite his short stature. Hinata starts his own volleyball club, which no one joins, and practices rigorously by himself. Eventually he convinces enough people to make up a rag-tag team consisting of a couple of members who haven't even played volleyball before just so he could compete in a tournament. His team is quickly annihilated by Tobio Kageyama - "King of the Court" - and his champion team. After suffering a miserable defeat, Hinata vows to defeat Kageyama and surpass him as a volleyball player.

Upon entering Karasuno High School - the school "The Little Giant" attended - Hinata learns that he's now on the same team as Kageyama. The two must learn to work together so they can restore Karasuno to its former greatness.

Ouran High School Host Club

Welcome to Ouran Academy, a distinguished school that provides education to the children of the rich and powerful. Only the wealthiest families can afford to send their sons and daughters to the academy. Thankfully for those whose bank accounts aren't nearly as inflated, Ouran does offer a scholarship program to any hopefuls who wish to attend.

Enter Haruhi Fujioka, one such scholarship student who dreams about becoming a lawyer like her late mother. Unfortunately, her plans to study hard and keep to herself are destroyed when she happens upon the Host Club. This unusual high school club entertains female students through a combination of flirtatious banter and roleplaying, with each of its six members catering to different tastes in boys; there's Takashi "Mori" Morinozuka, the tall and stoic type; Mitsukuni "Honey" Haninozuka, the bubbly and sweet type; the Hitachiin twins, Hikaru and Kaoru, a pair of tricksters who pretend to be madly in love with each other; Kyoya Ohtori, the cool and aloof type; and Tamaki Suoh, the princely type and the Host Club's leader and founder.

Flustered by her discovery, Haruhi's attempt to leave Music Room 3 ends with her accidentally breaking an incredibly expensive vase. Mistaking her for a boy at first, Tamaki declares Haruhi their errand boy, only knocking "him" up to host status when he sees Haruhi's potential. It isn't until after he gives Haruhi a customer quota that Tamaki discovers she's actually a girl.

Before she knows it, Haruhi is swept up into the Host Club's eccentric world as well as the private realms of its individual members. As their school life unfolds, both Haruhi and the rest of the Host Club will affect each other's lives in ways none of them could have imagined.

Please Save My Earth

Alice is an Ordinary High-School Student and Friend to All Living Things. One day, as she's serving as the Badly Battered Babysitter to the neighbor's trip-and-a-half of a boy, she has a chance encounter with two guys from her school class, and in the course of the discussion, it comes out that they've all been having dreams about being alien scientists on the moon studying earth, all in precisely the same continuity.

Eventually, all seven of the scientists at the base are found to have been reincarnated as Japanese teenagers. Their base — and all its weapons — is still operational, and the seven of them must find a way to balance their obligations from past lives with their new lives on Earth…

Tsukihime:

After being involved in a major accident, the young heir of an affluent family, named Shiki Tohno, awakens in a hospital to find parts of his memory are missing and he can see glowing, pulsing red lines covering everything in his sight, from inanimate objects such as his bed to the living doctors and nurses treating him. Furthermore, he discovers that by tracing something along these lines, whatever they're on will fall apart with frightening ease. Growing increasingly unstable staring at a world that could literally fall to pieces with a mere touch, Shiki attempts to escape the hospital, only to come face to face with a self-styled "Magician", who teaches Shiki about his condition, tries to instill in him the beauty and value of life, and as a parting gift gives him a special pair of glasses that hide the lines from what the Magician calls his "Mystic Eyes of Death Perception". Finally able to somewhat recover, Shiki is soon sent away to live with a branch family of the Tohnos, while his sister is made the new heir in his place.

Years later, Shiki is now a high-school student and living a normal life — that is, until he receives some devastating news: his father has died, and he must return to the main Tohno household at once. As Shiki settles into his new home and altered school life, and attempts to reconnect with his estranged family, he happens to cross paths with a strange blonde-haired girl with piercing red eyes on the street. Seized by an overwhelming, unknown desire, Shiki follows her into an alley, and by the time he has regained his senses finds he has cut her into 17 distinct pieces for no apparent reason before passing out in shock… only to then wake up in his bed at home. Was he dreaming? What force could possibly compel him to commit such a horrifying act? Is this somehow linked to his Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, or his family's rumored occult past? And… hang on, did that red-eyed girl just show up again claiming he murdered her? Despite looking no worse for wear? And… does she have a crush on Shiki?!

Umineko no Naku Koro Ni:

Umineko: When They Cry is a kinetic sound novel by 07th Expansion that takes place primarily on October 4th and 5th, 1986, on the island of Rokkenjima. The rich Ushiromiya family is gathering in order to discuss what will happen to patriarch Kinzo's inheritance, since he has been ill in recent days. The protagonist, Battler, has returned to his family after 6 years of rebellion and is eager to reunite with his cousins.

While the arguments about the inheritance ensue, a typhoon traps all 18 people on the island. The family then finds a mysterious letter from a person claiming to be Kinzo's alchemy counselor, the Golden Witch, Beatrice. Beatrice claims that she has been summoned by Kinzo to claim the inheritance, as the family has been deemed unworthy of it. Unless someone solves the riddle of the epitaph on her portrait before 24:00 hours on October 5th and becomes the family successor, Beatrice will claim everything that the family owns, including the ten tons of gold that Kinzo claims will be given to the successor. This is only the beginning of the strange and shocking events that will occur on the island during these two days. Panic, reasoning, romance, heated confrontations and TONS of Mind Screw ensues.

Wolfs Rain:

The Earth sits on the edge of death; years of war between greedy Nobles have reduced the world to a handful of high-tech, Giger-esque cities amidst a barren wilderness. Only a single, small hope still remains: an old legend which says that in civilization's last days, wolves will follow the scent of lunar flowers to Paradise. It sounds promising, but no one has seen either a wolf or a lunar flower for centuries… or so they think.

The world's remaining wolves learned how to project illusions that make them look and sound human in order to protect themselves. Four such wolves — Kiba, Tsume, Hige, and Toboe — meet up in one of the decaying domed cities after noticing the scent of lunar flowers in the air. They soon discover the source of that scent: Cheza, a mysterious young girl genetically bred from a lunar flower by a group of Nobles who want to open a gateway to Paradise.

When a Noble by the name of Darcia kidnaps Cheza to use her healing powers to help his ill fianceé, both the wolves and the feuding Nobles behind Cheza's creation chase after him. An obsessive wolf hunter named Quent complicates the feud, as he knows exactly how wolves protect themselves and works tirelessly to kill them at all costs (with the help of his loyal dog, Blue).

[whoishotteranimepolls]

Hi!! These polls are so fun, but I was curious, what are your top 10 anime series? 👀

In no particular order and it's always subject to change

Cowboy Bebop a classic that I've rewatched that show several times because of how much I love it

Soul Eater was my first anime and I still get nostalgic about it and would totally be on board for a remake

Black Lagoon a underrated action anime with some amazing badass female characters

The Apothecary Diaries I loved that show. So glad it's getting a season 2. To me, it feels like the spiritual successor of Ouran High School Host Club, which was my favorite romance anime for a very long time

Black Clover is so underrated and it's the perfect classic battle Shonen with great female characters. It actually knocked JJK off my list when it came to my favorite non one piece Shonen anime.

Mashle: Magic and Muscles. As someone who could understand why Harry Potter was so popular as a concept but didn't really like it myself. I love this show because it's basically an anime parody of Harry Potter and it's wonderful.

One Piece I actually started it for real last August because of the live action. Even though I attempted to start it about 3 times during high school and never got past syrup village and I've watched the anime up till thriller bark that I thought the anime was taking too long and just started reading ahead in the manga. Now I have read up to somewhere in the middle of Marineford in the manga. Then I started doing this blog and I've had no spare time to actually read the manga or watch the anime

Hell's Paradise. An underrated anime which I feel like I'm the only person that's seen it sometimes which I would definitely recommend. Since it takes your classic Shonen archetypes puts them on a mysterious possibly Supernatural Island together in an almost Battle Royale where they have to choose to either fight each other or work together to solve the mystery of the island their choice. Please go watch the show. It's now on American Netflix

Yuri on Ice the only one way I will ever forgive mappa for canceling the movie is if they actually finish Hell's Paradise but don't want to get my hopes up

Golden Kamuy thank you to my followers who kept requesting these characters because that's why I finally watched it. It's another underrated fun action show. It's also ridiculous and hilarious but there is a good mystery

So if anyone's looking for recommendations, I would start with Hells Paradise, Black Clover, Golden Kamuy or Mashle

[noxiatoxia]

What do you think about kokichis hat / whole design controversy ? You seem like a dangan expert so i want to know your 2 cents

So, this is going to be a bit of a history lesson.

Kokichi is very obviously supposed to be a Nazi reference. That's pretty undeniable. From the SS Officer Visor to the Grape Fanta parody (Fanta having been created by Nazi Germany) it is very much an intentional reference.

This is where culture shock comes into play.

Please note as you read I am not attempting to make a statement on if this is "okay" or "bad" - I am simply presenting the facts of the matter.

As you can imagine, WWII is taught differently depending on where you're from. America, Germany, Italy, Japan, etc. A country will typically focus on its own perspective of events. This not only influences the narrative, but what parts of history are most focused on. For example, in Germany, it is often cited that they focus very heavily on Nazism and Hitler, and reinforce the tragedies they were responsible for. American schools will focus on a more general overview, with a lesson maybe on the atomic bombings they committed (and condemning their actions).

So for Japan, it's obviously different, too.

You can read some personal accounts on threads like this one and this one. But it mostly boils down to this: because a country will mostly focus on their own personal experience when teaching about a historical event, in this case, Nazism is not covered nearly as much in a Japanese curriculum as it would be in an American or German one.

This article from 2015, titled "What is the Nazi Chic Fashion and why is it spreading in Asia?" has a good excerpt, which I'll translate (the article is in Japanese):

しかし、Kidd氏が、欧米のマーケットよりも遥かにナチ・シックが急速に広がっている、と話すアジアのファッション・マーケットでは、ナチのシンボルが繰り返し使われている背景にあるものは異なる。ヒトラーと結び付いた文化的ハードルは低く、かぎ十字を身につけてもショックは本質的に大きくない。

However, according to Kidd, "Nazi Chic" is spreading much, much more rapidly in the Asian fashion market compared to the Western fashion market. However, the context behind the repeated usage of Nazi symbols is different to that of the Western market. The cultural hurdles of wearing something associated with Hitler are much lower, and not intrinsically all that shocking.

This is evident in many pieces of media meant for children or teens. Please think to yourself if you've encountered a piece of Western media made for children or young teens that depicts Nazism or Hitler in a comedic or stylish fashion. Personally, I cannot think of any.

But that is not the same in Japan. For example, the 1995 movie Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn has a scene where the characters Goten and Trunks fight a caricature of Hitler.

Or Ouran High School Host Club, a 2002-2010 manga and 2006 anime, had not just a gag in the anime depicting an all-girl school as Nazis, but a piece of art drawn by the Mangaka herself of the main characters wearing Nazi Chic fashion.

Of course, this is not to say Japan is a-okay with Nazi imagery as a whole. Like any country, citizens have their own views and opinions. There are plenty of Japanese citizens who do not think this type of fashion style is okay. Much like how in America, there are people who think humorous depictions of Hitler are fine. I am just bringing these up to say, from a cultural standpoint, this subject is handled slightly differently.

That takes us back to Kokichi. Kokichi is definitely supposed to be reference to Nazi Germany. But I think it's much clearer now that it's not intended to be malicious. Making jokes or fashion statements out of this is more socially acceptable relative to the west. You still have the right to find it uncomfortable or not okay if it personally bothers you, but I am just explaining why this came to be, why it is not intended to be malicious, and why it was allowed.

I hope you find it informative. :]

[the-autistic-vulcan]

The Loli Type: The Differences of How the Loli Archetype in Anime is used

TW//: Inappropriate themes, pedophillia themes, fetish content discussed

The Loli Archetype:

"The general idea is that these characters come off as really innocent, mainly because of their youthful appearance." (Majitora Wiki)

I recently came upon some discourse on Tiktok (of all places), specifically on Dungeon Meshi, when discussing the appropriateness of people having their fictional crush being Chilchuck Tims, the half-foot lockpick of the party. One particular post caught my attention where an art account depicted Chilchuck in spicy content, nothing too nsfw, but still spicy. The comments were pretty much at war as to how the reactions of other commentors and even the artist viewed the character, calling out the double standard as to how male loli-types are reacted to differently than female-loli types. And much of this point of view has to do with the context of the story (whether anime or manga) and the original intent of the mangaka (creator). A few examples will go into detail about the handling of this archetype - reader discretion is advised.

KINUE HAYASE - MASAMUNE-KUN NO REVENGE

(couldn't find a gif. GOOD)

Arguably one of the most infamous of examples of the Loli-Type in female characters, according to the character description, she is "a positive mother who is always doting on her children and she shows special attention to Masamune Makabe where she is always trying to do things that will make him happy" (Wiki). And, according to sources, she is reportedly a 40 year old, as well. Due to fairly obvious reasons, it is understandable why people are deterred by her, however some are not - she is a plot device in the sense that she was created for fetish content, particularly on her constant doting on her son, clearly meant to be a play on a young girl willing to please a man. Is it reading too much into it? Sure. But it is still worth noting. In recent years, she is a heavily memed-on character and has become a fairly niche inside joke in the anime community - although not explicitly an nsfw character, but the projection of such an agenda is incredibly evident.

ELAINE - SEVEN DEADLY SINS

This is where it gets slightly complicated. Having only seen the first season of this show and dropped it, I came to the conclusion that Elaine was clearly not a character geared towards me, but more so to men - here is my explanation. Elaine, in the context of this world, is thousands of years old, and fairies in this world do not age the same way as humans do. But my problem with her isn't necessarily her character, because I think she had potential, it was just her very childish appearance and somewhat childish behavior (at least in season one), that easily puts people off. However, this particular behavior is common for mangakas and television companies to hone in on - amping up the childishness to fit the loli-type behavior. Her love interest is Ban, who looks significantly older to the non-fan viewer or reader, and the relationship without much context can come off as incredibly predatory - but even with the context, it still comes off as creepy considering Ban is incredibly obsessed with her, and hooked on trying to get her back. She was a character clearly meant for the male audience of Seven Deadly Sins, as were pretty much the entire female cast, but I'll end it here for now.

MITSKUNI 'HONEY' HANINOZUKA - OURAN HIGHSCHOOL HOST CLUB

The male loli-archetype is a more difficult one to dissect as it isn't as common as the female loli. But Honey-Senpai is a very good example to discuss this particular subject. The purpose of Honey wasn't to inherently fetishized the loli-type or young-looking people, but to make fun of the loli-archetype and how audiences fawn over cute things - which include people. Honey is incredibly childish, considering he is a third year at Ouran Academy, making him approximately 18 years old in canon. He doesn't have typical 18 year old interests, and instead indulges in sweets, cake, Usa-chan (his bunny plush), and is often depicted as easily over-emotional, all of this is also a part of his marketing in the host club, according to Kyoya Ootori. However, it is easy for people to see why Honey's character is so over the top childish, but it does leave a certain gateway open for Honey being fetishized.

CHILCHUCK TIMS - DELICIOUS IN DUNGEON

And now, our eponymous subject - the one that inspired this post. Chilchuck Tims is a character I genuinely adore and to a certain extent, I understand why people were turned off from him - his unbelievable youthfulness. Chilchuck in the story is a half-foot (or halfling for any D&D fans out there). In this universe, Half-foot people naturally look very young and only live until a certain age, hence why they mature quite young (around 13 years old). The character is 29 years old, a divorcee father of three and...doesn't act like a child. That singular factor separates him from the likes of the previous three examples. Yes, you could make a case for Elaine that she also come from a fantasy world, but both character's behavior are very different. Chilchuck has adult interests, he has adult occupations and acts like a brash, emotionally stunted dad to the rest of the party, and aside from Senshi, is the oldest of the group.

Do I personally think Chilchuck could be candidate for the Loli-type like Honey-Senpai or Kinue? No.

Is the aging typically canonized to the fantasy world like Elaine? Yes.

Does he act like a child? No.

Is he perceived as a child? Yes, but mangaka Ryoko Kui wrote Chilchuck's character to be complex and not some form of fetish fodder for readers and viewers

In conclusion: Chilchuck Tims is not a Loli-Type character as he does not fit the personality criteria - childish, whiny and overall acts like a child.

I think the discourse on Chilchuck as a character is somewhat unnecessary and heavily taken out of the context of the series. Unlike the other examples used, Chilchuck is not used for fetishization and rather is just a little joke that he looks young despite his adult-reared interests.

(idk how to end this)

Hopefully this cleared some things up and I would like to hear other's opinions on this.

[rose-of-the-underworld]

What are your favorite shoujo shows? I just started watching anime and would love recommendations.

AAAAAAAAAAAA! First of all, I'm sorry that this took two months to write up, but I am honestly touched that you asked me! Okay, so disclaimer that I wasn't deep into the anime scene until a few years ago (I'm a late bloomer), but shoujo is my bread and butter so to speak, so I'm happy to give some reccs! Note that this isn't ranked in any particular order, it's just as they come to me! Will give a summary and my thoughts on each. Also, most of these anime don't cover the entirety of the story published in their corresponding manga, but they're all a good starting point if you want to dive into reading the rest!

Putting under a read more because I'm more long-winded than I thought I would be

1.) Sailor Moon: The magical action-adventures of a teenage girl who learns of her destiny as the legendary warrior Sailor Moon and must band together with the other Sailor Scouts to defend the Earth and Galaxy.

Had to start with the original!! Now my love for Sailor Moon goes back to before I knew what anime even was. I caught wind of it when I was five years old and it was airing on TV for the first time, but I adored the show and my Princess Serenity doll. Now, please note that I really did not absorb much outside of the aesthetics and the insane dialogue of the 90s English dub before it stopped airing on tv and I forgot about it for a while, always meaning to get back into it, but never quite managing. Then during 2020 lockdown, my good friend and Sailor Moon expert @pollyannaisms started streaming little watch parties of Sailor Moon Crystal and boy did I fall in love all over again. I'm so happy that it came back into my life when I needed it most, tbh. It really is such a hopeful and optimistic series with some of the most lovely female friendships, one of the most beautiful and romantic love stories I've ever seen, and wonderful messages about loving yourself.

If you want a more streamlined plot with less episodes, I recommend starting with Sailor Moon Crystal since it follows the manga very closely and it's relatively short. 39 episodes across three seasons and then four movies - Sailor Moon Eternal parts 1&2 and Sailor Moon Cosmos part 1&2. Cosmos is FINALLY being released internationally on August 24th and I can't wait to finally see it, I've been rotting for it.

Now, the original 90s anime is also fantastic, it is just incredibly long with I believe 200 episodes and a few movies. It was airing as Naoko Takeuchi was publishing the manga so there's a lot of filler and the monster of the week format can get a little monotonous if you're trying to binge. I would say to take your time with it, but I do believe it's worth the watch because you get some wonderful character development episodes that are absent from Crystal. It's not perfect and there are some....odd choices made, but I do love it. Please note, that if you watch it in English through official streaming services, you'll be seeing a re-dub that Viz did with the Crystal cast when they bought the rights. It's a good dub! But man, I wish I could watch the original 90s English dub more easily (pirating such a long series is kind of an ordeal) because it has some of the funniest dialogue I've ever heard. Lots of people hate it, but I love the nostalgia factor and I personally find it hilarious.

2.) Ouran High School Host Club: Haruhi Fujioka is a studious girl who has recently enrolled at the prestigious Ouran Academy. One day, while looking for a quiet and peaceful place to study, she stumbles across a seemingly unused music room. Upon entering, Haruhi is welcomed by the members of the well-known Host Club: a club in which attractive boys amuse girls from across the entire school. However, when Tamaki Suoh—the founder and president of the club—startles the bright scholarship student, she accidentally breaks an expensive vase.

With repayment looking difficult for Haruhi, the Host Club members come up with the perfect solution to the girl's problem: work for the club and ultimately become a Host herself! Mistaken for a boy by her peers, Haruhi has to entertain various female students while coping with her fellow Hosts' extravagant personalities.

Ouran was the first anime that I ever watched on purpose at age 17, and it is very near and dear to my heart. It does come with some caveats, though. While this was the perfect starter anime for me (the friend who recc'd it knows me very well), it's not a good starter anime for everyone. It is incredibly over the top and is also a parody anime of shoujo romances, so some of the jokes might not land if you're a newbie. While I loved it at first viewing, I found it MUCH funnier when I rewatched it ten years later after having seen much more shoujo anime. Also, please note that Ouran aired in 2006, and while it was very progressive for the early 2000s, there is a lot of outdated terminology when it comes to LGBT topics, so tread with care and know that its heart was in the right place and we've come a long way in the last 20 years.

That being said, this series will always be one of my favorites. Aside from being insanely hilarious (and wildly out of pocket), the show has a lot of heart and characters who all genuinely love each other. It touches on feminism and gender and I credit it with making me bisexual.

3.) Fruits Basket: After a family tragedy turns her life upside down, high schooler Tohru Honda takes matters into her own hands and moves out...into a tent. Unfortunately for her, she pitches her new home on private land belonging to the mysterious Sohma clan, and it isn't long before the owners discover her secret. But, as Tohru quickly finds out when the family offers to take her in, the Sohmas have a secret of their own--when hugged by the opposite sex, they turn into the animals of the Chinese Zodiac.

God. Fruits Basket is everything to me. This was the second anime I ever watched on purpose, recc'd by the same friend who showed me Ouran. She lent me her DVDs of the 2001 anime adaptation when I was 18 and it took me a few months to actually watch it but MAN. When I tell you that I was crying during the finale with my 8 week old kitten on my chest, and then when the 2019 reboot aired their version of the season finale, I was crying AGAIN with the same cat who was at that point 14 lbs and still snuggling on my chest. Full circle. It will never not be good. I would absolutely recommend that you watch the 2019 reboot over the 2001 version because it encompasses the whole story and has the budget for a much higher quality production. The animation is beautiful and I really like the music. The storytelling is phenomenal, thank you, Natsuki Takaya for my life.

Tohru Honda is truly one of my favorite characters of all time. There is so much depth to her, so much kindness and sadness and a heart full of love. She changes the lives of everyone she meets by just loving them unconditionally and has a legion of friends who would do anything for her. This is another story that features the struggle to love yourself, but it is also about the struggle to let others love you as well. The main romance is another top tier love story for me, and all of the side romances are compelling as well. I will warn you that the series deals heavily with familial abuse and with grief. For every laugh and heartwarming moment, there is a punch to the gut right around the corner. But god, it's worth it in the end. Fruits Basket is full of bittersweet moments of catharsis and it never fails to make me insane (affectionate). Fantastic characters and an excellent plot, it's one of the most compelling series I've ever seen.

4.) Kimi Ni Todoke: Sawako Kuronuma has had a difficult time fitting in, due to her shy nature and her similarity in name and appearance to Sadako from The Ring. On her first day of high school, Sawako meets the one boy who treats her like a normal girl-Shota Kazehaya. Through his selfless aid, Sawako slowly learns to come out of her shell and even begins to make friends for the first time in her life. However, with a new social life come social pressures. As she grows into her new identity, Sawako must learn to deal with such pressures as well as start to understand the unfamiliar feelings inside of her, especially in regards to the boy who made her new start possible.

This is probably THEEEEE sweetest thing I've ever seen. I watched it for the first time last year and I was legitimately crying happy tears in episode 1. If this is your first time watching, you're in luck! Season 3 just premiered after a 13 year hiatus! I've only watched an episode and a half so far, and I already love it so much. It has the exact same energy as the first two seasons. Sawako and Kazehaya are too adorable for words, and Sawako's two best friends are wonderful. This series does a great job of handling the real struggles of adolescents while also being full of optimism and love of all sorts.

5.) Kamisama Kiss: newly homeless teenager Nanami Momozono is trying to figure out her next move when she helps a stranger in need. Out of gratitude, he offers Nanami his home, a rundown shrine, and also his job as a land god. Now, Nanami must juggle high school along with the duties of a deity with the help of Tomoe, a reformed fox demon who reluctantly becomes her familiar in a contract sealed with a kiss. As the headstrong Tomoe tries to whip her into shape, Nanami finds that love just might have cute, pointed fox ears. With romance in the air, will the human deity be able to prove herself worthy of her new title?

This series made me CRAZY!!!!!!! Nanami and Tomoe are such a good nuisances to lovers story with a really interesting twist that I genuinely did not see coming! Nanami is adorable and Tomoe is the perfect house husband, I love them so much. This series is such a fun little romp through the supernatural world of gods, demons, and spirits, with an incredibly interesting cast of characters. The anime has two seasons and a few OVAs, but in order to see the latter, you're going to have to search the less than legal sites because they were never licensed internationally. Definitely worth it in my opinion to see the end of the story.

6.) Yona of the Dawn: Sheltered and spoiled Princess Yona is the only heir to the throne of Kouka. Yona's perfect world comes crashing down when a heinous act of treason threatens to erase all that she holds dear, including her birthright as the princess of Kouka. Left with no one to trust but her childhood friend and loyal bodyguard Son Hak, she is forced to flee the palace. Faced with the perils of surviving in the wild with a target on her back, Yona realizes that her kingdom is no longer the safe haven it once was.

Free from the shackles of naivety, Yona vows to do everything in her power to become strong enough to crush her enemies. With Hak by her side, she must piece together the remains of an ancient legend that might be the key to reclaiming her kingdom from those who conspired to steal it from her.

THIS SERIES MADE ME CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yona of the Dawn honestly ticks all of my boxes -- sheltered princess who needs to learn how to fight, political intrigue, betrayal, heartbreak, ancient magical legends, and a princess/bodyguard romance. The anime (and OVAs) are only a very small part of the story, but it was excellent regardless. The manga is incredibly long and actually just celebrated its 15th anniversary; it's regarded one of the greatest shoujo manga of all time. I had started reading the manga a few years back, and I REALLY need to get back into it, especially since it seems to be inching closer to the end. But if you love action packed fantasy adventures, this is the story for you!

7.) Inuyasha*: Suddenly finding herself in feudal Japan, schoolgirl Kagome teams up with half-demon Inuyasha to retrieve the scattered shards of a sacred jewel.

*Technically, a shounen, but has the vibes of a shoujo. I need you to know that last year when I had covid, I watched 50 episodes of this series and the first movie. And then I was compelled to make the following image:

Inuyasha is a long one so I suggest pacing yourself, but it is so so worth it! This is another action packed fantasy series with awesome characters, fantastic writing, and a heart stopping romance. The creator, Rumiko Takahashi was already an experienced mangaka when she made Inuyasha, and it shows. She's excellent at naturally weaving the romance into the overarching narrative and there's a maturity to her writing that makes this story about young people feel so intense and complex in the best way.

8.) Maid-Sama!: Misaki is class president of a formerly all-male school. A beacon of hope to the female students as well as teachers, she rules over the boys with an iron fist and a heart of ice. A popular male student stumbles on to her secret double life- working part-time as an upbeat and cheery waitress at a maid cafe! Misaki is forced to make a deal: spend some time with him, or have her hard earned reputation destroyed by revealing her embarrassing secret.

I will warn you, there are elements to this anime that have not aged well since its airing in 2010. A lot of it is very feminist in that early 2000s way! But it also includes that early 2000s brand of "problematic" possessive (and maybe a little too inappropriate) love interest and some outdated romance anime tropes. But all in all, I think it's worth a view. I really love Misaki as a character so much, and her relationship with Usui is fun and frustrating and very, very sweet.

9.) My Love Story!!: With his muscular build and tall stature, Takeo Gouda is no ordinary high school freshman. However, behind Takeo's intimidating appearance lies a pure heart of gold. Unfortunately for Takeo, his appearance does not bode well for his love life. As if his looks were not already enough to scare girls away, Takeo's cool, handsome best friend and constant companion Makoto Sunakawa easily, and unintentionally, steals the hearts of the female students—including every girl Takeo has ever liked.

One day, when Takeo saves cute Rinko Yamato from a creep on the train, he falls in love with her instantly. But with handsome Sunakawa around, does Takeo even stand a chance?

It's rare to see a shoujo series with a male protagonist, but Takeo is honestly perfect for the role and deserves everything good in the world. This is such an adorable anime with the sweetest couple on Earth and the best friend that anyone could ever ask for. Takeo and Rinko are both down so bad for each other and they're both adorable, awkward clowns. They were truly meant to be! Takeo's friendship with Sunakawa is also such a vital and lovely part of the series and shows that your platonic relationships are just as important as your romantic ones.

10.) My Little Monster: Shizuku Mizutani is apathetic toward her classmates, only caring about her grades. However, her cold view of life begins to change when she meets Haru Yoshida, a violent troublemaker who stopped attending class after getting into a fight early in the school year. He is not much different from her, though—he too understands little about human nature and does not have any friends. Much to Shizuku's surprise, he proclaims that she will be his friend and immediately confesses his feelings toward her upon meeting her.

Because of her lack of friends and social interaction, Shizuku has a hard time understanding her relationship with Haru. But slowly, their friendship begins to progress, and she discovers that there is more to Haru than violence. She begins to develop feelings for him, but is unsure what kind of emotions she is experiencing. Together, Shizuku and Haru explore the true nature of their relationship and emotions.

This is a story about a boy and a girl who struggle with love and friendship. Opening yourself up to other people forces you to be honest with yourself.

Here's another "problematique" anime that I fell head over heels in love with in spite of certain things that didn't age well. I'm a simple woman, give me a cold girl and a feral boy who are obsessed with each other and don't know how to function in society and I'm sold. While Shizuku and Haru's bizarre, never-on-the-same-page romance is the overarching narrative, an important part of the series is the two of them learning how to make friends and find community with other socially dysfunctional weirdos. The friends that they make are just as interesting as the two of them and are equally important to the story.

This is another series that I highly recommend reading the manga for, since the one season anime doesn't get far enough into the story for a satisfying ending. Shizuku's revelations about herself and her character development in the manga genuinely made me cry, and Haru gets some good development as well. Their relationship progresses in a very sweet way as they work to understand each other and respect boundaries and communicate.

11.) Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun:

Chiyo Sakura is a cheerful high school girl who has fallen head over heels for the oblivious Umetarou Nozaki. Much to Chiyo's confusion, when she confesses to her beloved Nozaki, he hands her an unfamiliar autograph. As it turns out, the stoic teenage boy is actually a respected shoujo manga artist, publishing under a pen name. A series of misunderstandings leads to Chiyo becoming one of Nozaki's manga assistants and befriending many of her quirky schoolmates. This slice of life comedy follows Chiyo as she strives to help Nozaki with his manga and hopes that he will eventually notice her feelings.

I adore this series to the moon and back. Both adorable and absolutely HILARIOUS, Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun, is a wild ride from start to finish. The slow burn to end all slow burns, this ongoing 4-panel, slice of life manga has been ongoing since 2011, yet remains hilarious and so does the one season anime. This is another parody shoujo anime where some jokes might go over your head if you're a beginner, but I think it's easier to digest than Ouran, and would be a fine starter anime. This is another clown4clown romance, but Chiyo and Nozaki aren't the only ones. Their friends are a vibrant cast of characters who tend to fall into classic shoujo manga tropes (though not always in the ways you'd expect) and all have their own incredibly silly and off the wall will-they-won't-they romances.

This is such a fun series that never fails to make me laugh, and often makes me swoon. It's both ridiculous and relatable and you can't help but root for every single character.

And I'll end it there! I have quite a few other series that are near and dear to my heart but these are probably the ones I talk about the most. If you've made it this far, thank you for reading. Anon, I hope that you enjoy your adventures in shoujo anime!

If anyone ever wants to talk about any of these series, my inbox is always open. Seriously, I am always dying to talk about all of these!

[theyanderespecialist]

NEW RULES AND LINKS: REQUESTS OPEN

[Okay I am going to adress some serious things here, yes, I wrote some stuff I am not proud of. It was at a time I was going through my repressed memories of sexual abuse/forced sex/etc from when I was a child. Now yes some of the stuff was with characters that are 15 years old with adults. I am not proud of these works, they are not what I value as a minor should never be with a child ever. Same with a lot if not all the incest stuff. I will not be writing that stuff in the future. For obvious reasons, I also been fazing out a lot of stuff like that and agining up characters to 18 or older. 

My request to all of you if you find something like this tell me about it, I will completely remove it. 

I was in a bad place when I wrote it, dealing with repressed memories of my sexual abuse my father did to me. Does it make it right no. But I do have the responsibilty to delete it. So if you see any of it, send it my way and I will delete it.

I am sorry for anyone these things may have hurt or made feel ill. I will do better.]

(Okay as the years have gone on rules have changed so here are the new links/rules/and more, please enjoy!) 

FANDOMS I KNOW AND AM ABLE TO DO (I WILL DO AGED UP CHARACTERS)

Anime

.One Piece (not very far in!)

.Bleach (Up to Aizen’s Defeat)

.Ouran Highschool Host Club (Read all the mangas as well as watched the anime)

.Demon Slayer (Watched All Current Seasons)

.Naruto (Watched the full series)

.Hetalia

.

VIDEO GAMES

.FNAF

.Poppy Playtime

.TF2

.Overwatch

.Resident Evil

.Your Boyfriend

.Dream Daddy

.Outlast

.A Hat In TV

.Wolf Among Us

.Tales From The Borderlands

.Borderlands

.

Movies

.MCU/Marvel

.Xmen

.Deadpool

.DC Universe

.Psycho

.Nightmare Before Christmas

.Nightmare on elm street

.Texas Chainsaw Massacre

.House Of Wax

.The Boy

.Friday The Birthday 13th

.Silence of The Lambs

.Disney Animated Films (The Classics mainly)

.Alien

.IT

.Predator

.The Shining

.Star Wars

.Halloween

.Split/Glass

.Kung Fu Panda

.Rise Of The Guardians

.Five Nights At Freddy’s (Movie Verse)

.Harry Potter (Yes, TRANS Inclusive 🏳️‍⚧️ FUCK JK ROWLING)

TV Shows

.True Blood

.Supernatural (only a little bit)

.Hazbin Hotel

.Helluva Boss

.Good Omens

. Avatar The Last Airbender

.Hannibal

.The Walking Dead

.The Cuphead Show

.Adventure Time

.Bates Motel

OTHERS

.Creepypasta

.SCP

.Greek Mythology

.Norse Mythology

.REALLY ALL THE WORLD’s MYTHOLOGIES

.Spooky Month

Links

My youtube: 

My New Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/user/TheYandereSpecialist

My Archive Of Our Own: 

My Twitter aka My X: 

My co author Tumblr: 

https://www.tumblr.com/mamamaries

Yanderes are not ideal partners to have in real life, Simping for them and shipping characters with characters is fine. As long as your separate fiction from reality. And Do not be gross or illegal about it. If you break these rules I will most likely delete your requests. I will give you chances to correct it of course. 

This is just for fun and not to be taken seriously. 

Also please respect what IS Canon. These are fanfiction such, so it is NOT Canon! 

1: NO INCEST (I know I used to do it and I may still do it in some regards but it will not be the norm at all) AGAIN INCEST IS NOT OKAY IN REAL LIFE 

2: No yanderes under the age of 18, that means the following! 

2.A: Some Characters can be under 18 (If they are like Gods/Demons/And so on) BUT They look like adults and are mentally mature and are actually over decades old (Like Hetalia Characters, being like Italy who is physically like 17 but is HUNDREDS Of years old. And Has been potrayed as an adult like going to war and having jobs and so on) 

2.B: Character that look or act under 18 (Such as Latvia or Seland from Hetalia) but are decades old... (They are way to sus and that is not okay Latvia acts like a 15 year old at most. Sealand has mental state of like a 11 year old so no) but they are physically over 18 (like hundreds of year old and still look ten GAGS) 

2.C: And then stuff like the baby greek god (who has a physical body of a baby but acts and thinks like an adult man and has sex even tho his body is a baby! NO STOP IT) and other stuff. Just ew

3: I am doing a LOT Less smut scenes for various reasons, so NSFW I may do, but a lot of it will be turned down

4: Some monsters and aliens are okay (RULE IS THEY CREATURE OR MONSTER HAS TO BE SENTIENT) 

5: No Bigotry or Phobia Or MAPS NO FUCKING MAPS

6: No real life people, from history, actots, yourubers, minecraft, vtuburs, NO REAL LIFE PEOPLE

7: Almost NONE small time creations or fandoms, As those are by small creators and I respect them for what they do. 

8: BE SPECIFIC WITH WHAT YOU  WANT If you are not I will not do it. 

9: Any gender/Identity is welcome

10: Almost any sexuality is allowed (AGAIN MAPS YOU ARE NOT A SEXUALITY STAY AWAY FROM THE LGBTQIA+) 

11: You can have Genderbent Characters (Aka change their female in the request) 

12: NO OC 

13: This is fiction so we can do almost anything with characters make the gay make them a different gender. 

14: Yes canon characters can be yandere for other canon characters (NOT OC) 

15: I do many fandoms new and old, it does not hurt to ask if I do a fandom you don’t know if I do or not 

I think that is it thank you! 

[nieves-de-sugui]

BL and it’s Shoujo grandma

In the last few years a lot of people have entered the fandom from different pathways and don’t know its history and origins. This post is an effort to clarify some of the whys and the hows of how the genre and industry came to be in the way they have. In this post I want to talk about BL and its connection to Shoujo manga through their tropes.

We all know to some degree (and if you don’t you will now) that BL came from the more traditional romance manga genre: Shoujo. 

Today, BL is its own independent genre, so many people might not know that a lot of what is characteristic of BL, is an evolution or a trace from its Shoujo grandmother. After all, romance is romance, and our hearts flutter very easily with the same tropes over and over again. 

We must also take into consideration that everything in this life influences each other so the limits between genres will never be cristal clear. There is no clear line between Shoujo and BL... but the ambiguity is part of the charm. 

Please be remiended that this is my own thoughts on the matter. It’s a hypothesis I have come up with based on my readings but do not take it as gospel. Anyone and everyone is welcome to add to this post and correct any errors, or comment their own takes on the topic.

Edit: this got so long I’m gonna put it under the cut

Shoujo, as the Romance Manga Genre by definiton, comes from Japan. Even though it is not the only source of romance content, I believe that it has had one of the biggest influences over the mainstream asian romance media. Which, I believe, has a lot to do with the recent history of the region.

First, a little bit of history and context (and some speculation) 

The after effects of  WW2 

Well, Japan’s imperialism and war against the west makes it occupy a big part of the countries of southeast asia and “during this period, GDP in most Southeast Asian countries fell by half; 4.4 million civilians died prematurely; severe shortages of food and goods affected almost all Southeast Asians; and many lived in fear of draconian military rule” ( World War II and Southeast Asia Economy and Society under Japanese Occupation, by Gregg Huff) yes this post has citations people

Overall, Southeast Asia faces economic difficulties, social and ethnic unrest, and political struggles through much of the mid-twentieth century. By the 1980s, conditions have improved, but the “Asian financial crisis” in the late 1990s is a serious setback for the region (source)

All of this to say, that it makes sense that, in such a landscape, it was Japan who, after the American Occupation was the one country with the means to produce and eventually export entertainment. The US wanted to successfuly avoid any resurgance of imperialism and a base in the east on their side for the cold war, and other subsequent wars. This special attention helped the stability and economy of Japan in the long term (compared to all the other countries that had been under its rule).

Manga and Shoujo 

More or less at the same time manga as we know it today started (with Osamu Tezuka, aka the god of manga) around the 50′s. 

First made by men then by women around the 60′s, Shoujo was the genre “for girls” in opposition to Shounen, that was “for boys” (these labels just inform of the content and tropes of the stories you read, there are many other genres but I’m trying to make this short). Women authors took control of the stories that were being told to women audiencies, taking into account what interested them at the time: gender roles, sexuality and romance, among others. 

To me, the most interesting time period for Shoujo after the initial 60′s/70′s (ie, The Rose of Versailles) is the 90′s/early 2000′s (ie, Sailor Moon, Magic Knight Rayearth, Ouran High School Host Club, etc... My favorite shoujo manga come from this time, really really recommend reading some). Which coincidentally happens around the same time as manga’s worldwide boom and expansion. 

How has Shoujo influenced asian media? 

The 80′s/90′s was when manga arrived to the US, and subsequently to the rest of the world. Depending on the country manga became popular at different times, however by the end of the 90′s it was a success worlwide. 

references 

Why I think shoujo manga has had one ot the biggest influences over romance media in Asia

Shoujo manga has been adapted into live action so, so much. Many memorable doramas were mangas first. Boys Over Flowers being the most prominent example of this (we will come back to it later). 

Imo, Shoujo was able to explore a certain amount of themes that interested women at the time, and through manga’s popularity and expansion, those themes came with tropes and ended up becoming the backbone of the genre, influencing other romance media in general. But it has also been influenced by the mainstream trends of tv and interests of the public as it evolves according to the demand. The name does comes from its target demographic. 

Some of the most typical themes we find in shoujo are: 

Interpersonal relationships between characters concentrating on the interaction of their emotions and a lot of inner monologue, aka romance

Gender

Sexuality,

Fashion,

etc...

One of the interesting things here -- going back to the historical context I gave before -- is that Japan’s Constitution (1947), that was made which the US’s supervison, enabled a bigger equality between men and women. Which might be one of the reasons why “characters that defy traditional roles and stereotypes surrounding gender and sexuality have been a central motif of shōjo manga since its origins.” 

General Romantic tropes we find in Shoujo

Romance being one of the main themes of Shoujo, it is inevitable that a lot of what we consider romantic will also be a Shoujo trope. Many of these are just inherent to any romantic theme. What influenced Shoujo or was influenced by Shoujo?  It is hard to tell. Nevertheless, I will do my best to do some sort of categorization. 

General romantic behaviour tropes: kabedon, accidental kiss, feed me, sucking on wound, temperature check, indirect kiss, lap pillow, shirt tug, hair kiss/touch, monster-in-law ...

Other tropes include, not limited to romance but pretty common: we got together kiss/sex, drunken acts, I can’t control myself/I’m a man too, overnight trip, miscomunication, physically hurt/sick moment where they get taken care of, ...

Here are some of the most typical shoujo tropes:

How many times have we seen a scene under the rain, where the use of an umbrella was made very romantic? Or an icy, emotionally closed off man being melted down by a warm woman’s love?

Others shoujo specific tropes: sponge bath, drying hair with a towel, snuff cheek kiss, indirect kiss, unconscious kiss, kiss them to make them take their medicine, bitchy girl rival (because mysoginy), violent defense of loved one, he belongs to everyone (mysoginy and girl rivalry again), accidental meet cute (library/street corner), gender bender, woman dressed up/mistaken as a man, ...

How many shows came to your head (queer or not) while you were reading that list of tropes? A lot of them you know or have seen many times in kdramas, jdramas, cdramas, thai dramas, etc... Probably some of them you didn’t know were a common trope.

Shoujo tropes refs 1

To exemplify the influence of Shoujo Manga on the Romance Media...

Let’s talk Boys Over Flower/ Hana Yori Dango/ Meteor Garden/ F4

Boys Over Flowers (or Hana Dan) is the best example to see the influence of Shoujo tropes in Asian romance, since it has been adapted many times, and is still being milked to this day. 

Contrary to popular belief the taiwanese Meteor Garden did not come first, the manga did. Followed by: the japanese live action movie (1995) >> the anime (1996) >> taiwanese series (s1&2, 2001-2002) >> japanese series (s1&2 + movie, 2005) >> korean drama (2009) >> chinese Meteor Garden (2018) >> japanese spin off Hana Nochi Hare (2018) >> F4 (2021). 

We find all the tropes in BOF: 

love triangle, popular x unpopular, umbrella under the rain, cold ml x warm wl, rich x poor, trapped in an elevator, sick boy, accidental kiss, unfortunate accident that brings you closer, monster-in-law, I leave you because I love you, he belongs to everyone... and many others. 

The overwhelming success of BOF, and it’s many reboots and adaptations made the shoujo tropes a staple of the romance genre (at least in Asia). 

 How does BL appear in all this?

Shoujo and gender and sexuality

BL (or Yaoi or Shounen-ai) started as one of the subgenres of Shoujo (others being Josei (more mature), Horror, Teen’s Love(erotica), Moe, etc). It was a variation on the hetero notion of romantic love, hence the clear paralelism with the gender binary. It slowly started integrating actual queer dynamics later on. The genre in itself has evolved a lot as it has broken free from the Shoujo mantle. It was very very different in the 70's (when it started) to the 2000's (when the hetero style of relationships and dynamics was at its most popular in QLs) to now.

The particular thing about Shoujo is that, besides creating a subgenre about exploring homsexuality, they explored gender and gender roles a lot. Women disguising themselves as men, or characters that did not identify with their assigned gender were and are still very common. Starting with Princess Knight to The Rose of Versailles to Ouran High School Host Club. We see this trope a lot in live action dramas like: Hana Kimi, Coffe Prince, Bromance, Secret Garden, You’re Beautiful, etc...,  And all the historical k-dramas with women disguised as men (Sungkyunkwan Scandal, Scholar Who Walks the Night, Love in the Moonlight, The King’s Affection). Besides it being a theme that clearly interests female audiences, other possible influences on the growing of media exploring this theme might be: the Takarazuka Revue, the newfound equality of sexes thanks to the japanese constitution, and trying to break free of gender roles and societal expectations through media. 

I kinda see it as an accident that shoujo manga authors ended up making queer content. They were questioning social expectations but I don't think they even knew that there were queer people out there to be appealed by it. 

As a quick recap of BL themes through its history, we went from:

the tragic and traumatized european pretty boys (Kaze to Ki no Uta) of the 70′s to

the gay for you, hetero like uke/seme, with problematic content for the sake of drama but with happier endings (Junjou Romantica) of the 2000′s to

the more realistic, featuring characters from the LGBT community variety of content we have now (Given)

BL also eventually gave birth to Bara/Gei Comi (gay comics, by gay men for gay men. Check Gengoroh Tagame’s works to know what I mean), and in some way GL (or Yuri).

BL tropes

Do we find the general romantic tropes in BL? Yes, we do. However there are some that are inherent to BL. Also, as Thailand finds itself at the head of the current BL boom, we also find these tropes to be influenced by thai culture. 

Bishonen boys (beautiful androginous men), uke/seme, rape, gay for you, age gap, psycho boys, ...

I leave here ABL’s posts on the BL characteristics by country, other bl tropes, and Thai BL and tropes. Honestly, they’re the expert on all tropes BL. 

As I have consumed all types of romance media, I can hardly tell what tropes are inhenrent to what genre. However, tropes that are inherent to BL would be:

Many of these are related to sex, which is one of the main themes of BL. There is a lot to be said about sex in BL, particularly in its relationship to violence. There is also a lot of BL that features intentionally toxic relationships and unhealty dynamics. Which is the darked side of the genre, to be explored in another occasion.

Coming back to our main theme, here is an example of the connection and evolution of a shoujo trope into a BL tropes.

BL tropes evolved from Shoujo: Rooftop confession

Rooftops belong to the gays now and it should be known. It is a very well known trope used all over genres, but it is has become an very significative one in BLs.

image sources 1 2

Final Toughts

While preparing for this post I decided to research a little about SE Asia’s recent history, as I have been made aware recently that not only thailand is rising in it’s entertaiment production, but Cambodia is rising in the music sphere. All these industries that are sprouting from Southeast Asia, made me wonder why. And my elation when I realized there was a reason why! It all started to get into place in my head.

I have wanted to make this post for a while. In a lot of the conversations we’ve been having in the fandom around shows recently made me realize that a lot of the new fans get into BL without having encountered Asian dramas before or just partially. Lots of the analysis made and the questions posed around BL shows have a partial answer in the context of how the genre came to be and how its intertwined with every other piece of Asian media. 

The purpose of this post is to give more detail into how BL is influenced by a lot of the general romance genre, which a lot of the fandom might not know in depth. I hope this clearifies some things for those who search to understand why this or that trope or action happen in a show where it might not make sense, or it might be out of place, or just strange. 

As Thailand media is growing, we see how they use what is popular in their favor, while adding a bit of their own personal culture to it. It’s interesting how we can see the kdrama or manga influences. And talking about it and questioning them makes me excited for more. 

This will be a series of posts. I have decided to make a post about the general history of BL. Which will be accompanied by another, smaller post where I want to talk about the Yaoi Debates (Yaoi Ronso) and the use of trauma and rape in BLs, as it has been a topic of conversation recently. 

A big thank you to @waitmyturtles​ for her Old GMMTV Challenge, which has promted a lot of conversation about BL and has also made me want to participate in them. I hope this can be complementary to your watches and helps you understand the genre and how it came to be.  

[thisgardenofromance]

Why I Absolutely Cannot Stand TamaHaru as an Ouran Manga Reader

Shoutout to this post I made a while back, we're finally delving into the second half of my argument lol

I feel like I'm gonna get some heat for this but I mean this completely in good faith to the shippers, because y'all are people. And honestly? Since there are so many of you, I would genuinely appreciate hearing your (polite) responses because I really don't understand. Here's my (anti-TamaHaru) perspective:

Ok, so TamaHaru always seemed a bit bland to me in the anime. It was fine if it had to happen, I guess, but it always seemed like the other characters were a lot more excited about it than the actual couple, and it just kind of seemed like their energies and life plans didn't align? They don't even end up kissing by the end of the anime, and they were the main ship and a straight couple. If they wanted to kiss, wouldn't they have kissed? And I mean, yeah, there was that whole bit where everyone was like "wow, Haruhi's dad is just like Tamaki" (which seems like some sort of weird relationship complex in and of itself), but Tamaki had a tendency to get excited about shit Haruhi just complained about, and I... is it really worth it at that point?

(Especially when Kyoya and Mori are right there. Come on dude, Kyoya is absolutely willing to have Tamaki's back every step of the way for whatever interests he wants to pursue and Tamaki designates him as the teammate in the family, and don't even get me started on whatever was going on between Haruhi and Mori in the waterpark episode. I want more of that shit. But that's a topic for another time.)

Feel free to give me your arguments on this too (kindly, please), but I feel like most of it that I've seen is "they'll grow together"/"they're equally stupid and that's cute"/"he just loves her so much"/"they're so aesthetic" and none of these have ever really held water for me because it doesn't really seem to negate the lack of chemistry I've observed...

Oof that was a long ass backstory but onto the actual point

So in the manga, my experience was basically all my fears were confirmed and then some, and we quickly spiraled into downright emotional abuse and partner-to-partner hatred????

Ah god it was so bad

Here are some examples

Haruhi's reaction to the realization that she loves Tamaki (Volume 13)

Literally the first example of body dysmorphia we've ever gotten from Haruhi (directly contradicting her body-positive/neutral quotes from volume 3), along with a very convenient example of Tamaki's (NOW CONFIRMED ROMANTIC) infantilization of Haruhi that y'all already know because it is present since the start of the series (the thing is this wouldn't even be an issue if it was directed at a friend as a "we have a family bond and I want to feel like I'm taking care of you" as he does with the twins and not to someone who he wants to be his life partner....) (Volume 13)

Haruhi's thoughts on the possibility of dating Tamaki (Volume 13)

The fact that the Dream Haruhi plotline has ground to stand on?????? Since when has it been okay to fantasize that your supposed other half is a completely different person when it comes to an actual romantic relationship? Shit like this is okay until it starts affecting other people, and the fact Haruhi has already shown dysmorphia because she cares about whether or not Tamaki wants to date her and then this shit happens makes me very uncomfy down to my bones. (Volume 14)

This isn't something particularly heinous between these two, but it is yet another egregious example of how they always just completely miss each other's vibes, which I personally don't really like in my power couples (Volume 15)

I'm just saying, if I realized my girlfriend thought these things about me I would be justifiably upset (Volume 15)

Ok I understand the tendency of the host club to jokingly threaten violence (read: Kyoya when he wakes up and both of the twins) but this is both completely unwarranted and oddly genuine what the fuck :D (Volume 15)

What the fuck <3 (Volume 15)

It's ok guys she's rethinking it because he fell asleep in the club room :D (she never apologizes to him by the way)

And then they spend the rest of the series overcoming external obstacles and living happily ever after

Just kidding this is how they get together (Volume 18)

And this is their first date. I don't feel like depicting it in its entirety because my back hurts now but rest assured Tamaki acting like Tamaki pisses Haruhi off more than once <3 (Volume 18)

In summary I've only ever seen them act like this with each other I like both of their characters but these chapters genuinely almost convinced me to hate them they are so bad for each other just date someone else just date someone else p l e a s e

[darkrpfinders]

🌸 begging for an ouran high school host club role play!!

recently started reading the ouran high school host club manga after watching the anime so many times and now i’m searching for 18+ writers for an ocxcc roleplay. i am very open to doubling up as long as both sides can take place together just because that’s easier for me than if they were separate.

i’m looking for someone to write as Kyoya for my female oc and in return i can write any character from the series for you and in any gender pairing for your side! plot-wise i am hoping for us to discuss those details together and find a good place where we can start, i don’t mind starting at some point in the series, before or even after the series; also if you’d prefer we age the characters up that’s completely fine and may even be fun to explore them all in a university setting!

Some rules:

- for the life of me please write at least 4+ paragraphs. i am someone who love details and i just find it so boring writing anything less than 4 paragraphs or so. that being said i know there are times we get busy (i work and am going to college now), but i am so very patient and don’t mind waiting as long as the same courtesy is given to me on patience and that we’re communicating about where we are in our replies!

- nsfw / dead dove🕊️ content is fine with me, let’s just discuss it in private and see where we both are. i am very flexible though so just about anything goes for me really!

- if we double please show the same level of enthusiasm for both sides! it’s very discouraging having so much focus on one side rather than the other. and with that i would love if you were someone who enjoys ooc chatting, sending headcanons and edits, etc, because it definitely keeps both us and the story alive!

prefer discord to have a server and everything but i can be talked into staying here on tumblr! no other platforms though please. Like and i’ll get back to each like as soon as possible! 🌸

.

[stormblessed95]

Heya Storm,

here's the one that suggested you No. 6. I'm really happy you like the anime.😊 I love the story and it's one of the few mangas I own. I'd love to watch a sequel to see how the characters evolve and how the city develolps. Unfortunately, since hardly anyone of my friends or familiy is interested in anime/manga, I'm particulary pleased. So if you want someone else to talk about, I'm really happy to be the one. By the way... do you know Uragiri wa Boku? 😅 And wich of the other proposed animes do you already know? Do you plan to watch one of the others?

Anyway, i finally had some time to catch up since I joined tumblr (by the way, I joined because i looked for others who love BTS and Jikook as I do and stumbled about one of your posts. Thank you for that! Your masterlist is georgeous and helped me a lot as baby army but it is soooo much. 😍🥲) and was shocked and sad how toxic my timeline has become. I'm so sorry you're being attacked and I feel I didn't/couldn't support you and other bloggers. I am sorry for that and try to be a better person next time.😓 I think you doing amazing. I really enjoy every one of your posts, especially those that are long, and I can't understand at all how someone can blame you for anti-behavior or somthing like that. All I see is how much you love BTS (and books/animes). Your posts about the diffrent albums are also great, I really hope you will do it in the future too. In general - I really miss reading your point of view about current events, etc. so much that it surprised me. Of course I unterstand what led you retreat and I think you're very strong that you post again. It hurts me that tumblr is no longer a safe place for you and I hope so much that this will change again some day or that you may find another good platform (if so, please take me with you🥺). I'm glad you have your family and wonderful friends.

I've been thinking a long time about whether to send this message at all. After some of your posts, I feel that I really don't have the right to do so and I shouldn't bother you. Finally I will send it to you, because I'm really happy you like No. 6 and I want to recommend Uragiri. Feel free to ignore the other part. Furthermore, I just want to apologize and wish you all the best. Sorry for my long message, please answer only if you have the time and desire. Not important if its here or as a DM. I would love any answer.

I hope you could enjoy Yoongis concert and/or can (re-)watch it next weekend.

Have a nice day/evening/night - Lyn

Hi Lyn! Thanks for reaching out. I appreciate your kind words. Thank you so much 💜 I'll DM you after posting this so that my DMs will be open to you there as well to continue to talk books/anime if you want! And thank you for the rec for No 6! I loved it! And I recommended it immediately to another friend, who I force her and her fiance to watch everything I like 🤣

(literally I message her edits of animes to convince them to watch what I want them too, I've taken over their TV and I'm not sorry 🤣. Z, when you read this, know im waiting for yall to tell me which anime ive mentioned you are watching next!)

I've added all the ones you rec'd in the comments that I haven't seen yet (and now also Uragiri!) To my crunchylist to watch! I'm just blind faith trusting you (and other people who've messaged me/commented) lol on these recs so we shall see how it all goes!!

As for what I've seen so far? Here is my list:

- Attack on Titans (watched through Season 2 then DNF, too much graphic gore and blood and it scared me, im a wimp lol)

- Ouran High School Host Club (cute but sooo tropey lol)

- Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood (LOVED)

- Demon Slayer (LOVED - but haven't seen season 3 yet because I watch with my husband and I have to wait for him to be home for us to watch together)

- Yuri On Ice (LOVED)

- Your Name (made me cry!)

- Naruto (amazing)

- Naruto Shippuden (LOVED)

- Sasaki and Miyano (so cute I died)

- Buddy Daddies (tons of fun!)

- Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting (cute!)

- Haikyuu!! (Love!)

- The Ice Guy and his Cool Female Colleague (cute and fun, but kinda bored lol)

- Sk8 the Infinity (LOVED)

- A Silent Voice (sad but great)

- No. 6 (sooo good, so interesting, I want more)

- Given (love it, so cute)

- Hunter x Hunter (In Progress. I'm like 40 eps in and Watching with husband)

I have read the Manga for Yona of the Dawn, Spy x Family, Inuyasha and Haikyuu too. And I've read the first volume of the Manga for The Case Study of Vanitas so far! And for my birthday I got the entire Demon Slayer Manga box set so I'm excited to read those soon!!

[the-nysh]

Do you ship any canon ship, in manga/anime? I can't bring myself to ship or even support like 95% of canon ships in manga, they're just... very bland. The dynamics are boring most of the time, there's always some mysoginistic element going on (even in shojo mangas. Why can't the heroine physically save the male love interest for once :/ w h y), and the parties included most of the time have way better chemistry with their same-sex "best friend" (I'm talking about canon straight ships).

Depends on what kind of stories you're reading, how good the author is at setting up and committing to their romance, and how you even define what's 'canon' at all really. Cause the only 'canon' I care about is whether a pair has an interesting canon dynamic (meaning they're a core part of or the focus of the story already) that piques my interest and keeps me invested in their story. To see how they turn out. Otherwise I usually don't 'ship' if their relationship has no focus/development or if the story isn't even about the pair's journey together. Cause not all stories even have romance, or are even structured in a way for a mutual confession at the very final chapter either - cause some, like in Mob, subvert that 'expectation' with no canon couples anyway. So it really depends.

Most shoujos (with clearly advertised romance) that spend their real-estate building a 'main' pairing (unless there's triangles for more twists and drama to keep readers unsure and guessing) usually end up together as....the story properly tells, cause that's literally what those stories are about. Ex: like in Skip Beat, the slowest of the slow burns where the main paring dances around each other indefinitely - some might not consider them technically 'canon' if they haven't openly confessed yet, but if the story is literally about them navigating their developing relationship and growing as people, then...by definition that's what's canon. BLs that focus on a 'main' pairing and properly develop them as advertised are the same. (Oh, and I've read some 'bad' shoujos where the author tried to appeal to both sides of the love 'triangle' but it just turned into a wasted mess that pleased no one. So do yourself a favor and don’t read past the first half of Vampire Knight; ohh what a wtf that became.) More 'harem' type stories with a huge cast of 'suitors' usually end up favoring one pair over another as the story progresses...with extremely obvious hints from the author about where their story's going. Ouran Host Club and Fruits Basket turned out like this, where you could tell who was going to be 'endgame' based on how the drama unfolded, and sure enough, the main 'ship' became a satisfying established item just as I hoped. The authors played their cards right and I have no complaints!

In stories like shonens where romance is not the main focus, but more a side thing or B plot, I can say that fma is probably the most satisfying that developed it naturally (without any bs) over the course of the story, and is probably the only ‘married with kids’ ending that felt genuinely deserved. (So I cheered when Ed/Winry finally became an established item!) Say for Bleach I actually did not have a problem with Orihime, since the story spent several arcs developing her side and how the feelings were mutual, so that becoming endgame was not a surprise to me at all; I was fine with it (even tho I had dropped the manga much earlier for other reasons.) Let’s see...other stories like Inuyasha and Full Metal Panic I was on board with their main pairings too. So for the most part, yes, if authors do it well (with proper setup and payoff) then I have no problem supporting their main het couples.

The only time it’s really a problem to me is when it’s rushed and feels like it comes out of nowhere (Kny, Naruto), or say...when the author heavily teases it the entire story but never commits (aaaah Soul Eater was so close!) Some leave it as a more open-ended thing (Kekkaishi) and that’s ok. Others completely sever it and leave it tragically hollow, unaddressed, and unsatisfying (Blade of the Immortal, damn wtf that felt almost cruel to simply part ways forever.) Others end up with no pairings at all if the story never needed them (or romance) to tell their messages (ex: orv, a korean novel which isn’t a manga or japanese, but it refreshingly had no romance at all despite the many teases going both m&f ways for the mc.) Edit: and also who could forget Blue Flag, where instead of the ‘main’ m/f pair, the mc chose his male best friend for a m/m ending instead!

So...what can I say? (Read more mangas beyond shonens not advertised as romance??) Cause most of the mangas I have read with properly advertised romance between their main ‘canon’ pairs turned out just fine to me - and it’s more of an outlier where they turn out ‘bad,’ but that’s also due to poor planning or rushed endings on the author’s part. Also if the (often male) author knows they don’t do romance well, then it’s preferable they don’t add it in over trying to shoehorn in something unsuitable last-minute. But for the most part, I’m here for the ride, and if I don’t like where the canon story is going, regardless of whether it even has ships or not - cause that’s more a secondary thing, then I’ll drop it. (But I also think...if an unfinished story’s not about a het pair at its core, then it’s presumptuous for readers to assume they’ll become ‘canon’ at all...if canon itself doesn’t even care about them - so yes I’m talking about bnha here, where nothing’s confirmed ‘canon’ yet, but it’s obvious even to Japanese readers what m/m relationship already represents the canon heart of the story.)  

[muchalucha91]

I made a list for webtoons, might as well make a list for manga/anime! I wasn't really allowed to watch too much cartoons TV growing up, so for the past few years, I've been "catching up" so to speak on the anime I missed out on aaand also watching newer ones lol Anyhoo, here's what I've seen/read so far (in alphabetical order):

Arte (Hulu) Manga continues

Black Butler (Hulu) ((full disclosure, I wasn't super paying attention when I watched this, so I have to watch it again lol))

Blue Exorcist (Hulu) ((I haven't finished it yet))

Cardcaptor Sakura/Clear Card Arc (Netflix) ((One of my faves as a kid, I had a board game for it, even! It has since been lost to time, though. T_T))

Cells at Work (Netflix) ((Also haven't finished yet lol))

Corpse Princess (Hulu) ((See Black Butler lol))

Dance with Devils (Hulu)

Demon Slayer (Hulu) ((haven't seen a lot yet, please don't come for me, I'm trying lol))

Devil is a Part-Timer! (Hulu)

Diabolik Lovers (Hulu)

Dragonball/DBZ/DBS (Funimation) ((I got Funimation just so I could watch Dragonball, then I figured I might as well get a refresher of DBZ since I hadn't seen it since it was on Toonami, all while my BF and I were watching DBS on Toonami/Adult Swim lol)

Fairy Tail/100 Years Quest (all the seasons were on Hulu, but they took all but 2 down, so I've been watching it on Funimation) I am SO excited to see 100YQ animated! It's been fun to read.

Food Wars! (Hulu)

Fruits Basket (both runs are on Hulu)

Fushigi Yuugi (Hulu) ((I actually don't know if I finished this...after a while I was just waiting for it to be over and it just. wasn't. ending.

Horimiya (Hulu)

Inuyasha/Final Act (Hulu/Netflix has the movies) ((another fave from my childhood))

Itazura na Kiss (Hulu) ((I'm not sure why people like this))

Jujustu Kaisen (Hulu) ((I think I started reading this after I finished watching it, but I've been super busy and forgot lol))

Kaguya-sama: Love is War (Hulu)

Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spirits (Funimation)

Kamisama Kiss (Hulu) ((ugh...I love this and it's criminal that the anime didn't finish with the manga))

Kimi ni Todoke (Hulu)

Kono Oto Tomare!: Sounds of Life (Hulu)

Little Witch Academia (Netflix)

Magic-Kyu! Renaissance (Funimation)

Mahoutsukai no Yome [The Ancient Magus' Bride] (Funimation) ((I love this, too, but I had to take a break from the manga because I was getting irritated with the FL and the choices she was making lmao I've been meaning to pick it back up, though, it really is very good!))

Maid Sama! (Hulu)

My Love Story! (Hulu)

Noragami (Hulu) ((made me cry in a way that my BF asked me what was wrong lol))

Ouran High School Host Club (Hulu) ((I'm sorry, I don't get the love for this, but I also haven't been able to read it yet, so maybe I will once I do))

Pokemon [Kanto-beginning of Hoenn] (Hulu) ((I have not kept up with it over the years and the only reason why I know of any of the newer Pokemon is because of PokemonGo and the new Pokemon Snap--which has been really fun so far--lol))

Ranma 1/2 (Hulu)

Rurouni Kenshin (HBO Max) ((I liked this, but I thought the story was super choppy))

Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts (manga only for now, but I think I just saw that an anime is coming soon!!) ((this is so beautifully drawn and sooo well written! It made me audibly react sometimes)

Sailor Moon [OG] (Hulu) ((My absolute favorite when I was a kid! My mom even watched it with me lol I wanted to be Sailor Mars sooooo bad I always kept my hair long just like her! I've got her as a keychain right now lol))

Say "I Love You" (Hulu)

School Rumble: 1st-3rd Semesters (Hulu) ((I didn't even watch the last episode. Literally nothing happened and I just felt bad for the guy. I couldn't watch it anymore lol)

Snow White with the Red Hair (Hulu) ((I hope it gets more seasons, but I also hope it gets better animation. I know people worked hard on it, but it does not do the manga justice. It's so beautifully drawn and written, this is for sure one of my favorites!))

Spice ad Wolf (Hulu)

Spy x Family (Hulu) ((It was popping up so much on my tumblr around ep 4 that I had to know what people were talking about and I'm so glad I did!))

Vampire Knight (Hulu) ((Didn't/Couldn't finish it))

Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina (Hulu)

Yashahime (Hulu) ((It's not what I was expecting/hoping for, but I've had fun watching it))

Yona of the Dawn (Hulu) ((this NEEDS more seasons, the manga gets SO INTENSE))

You're Lie in April (HBO Max is where I watched it, but I think it's on Hulu, too) ((ugly cried))

Yu Yu Hakusho (Hulu) ((I only saw a few episodes as a kid, but I remember really loving the art style and the voices. It's still one of my faves))

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Hulu) ((I watched this every time it came on Toonami, I had a whole deck that I lost--which I'm still sad about--but I have a new deck and sometimes my BF and I play each other lol))

I've got an excel spreadsheet with these and others that I want to watch, but haven't yet, totaling 126 lmao As of right now (1/2023) I have no desire to watch Attack on Titan, One Piece, or Naruto (again, please don't come for me and PLEASE don't try to convince me), but I welcome any other recommendations and/or discussions/chats about any I listed!

[noxiatoxia]

Nox... please tell me you think that hitachiincest is canon after the events of the manga. That Hikaru and Kaoru do end up together/signs of it. Please ;;

UNFORTUNATELY i have not read the manga and have no intention of doing so. i think i discussed this in an ask eons ago but i am not very interested in the ouran manga as opposed to the anime since the manga is aiming for a slightly different audience (lets face it; the anime is a comedy while the manga is actually a shoujo/romance story) and i do not like romance stories one bit, so the ouran manga bored the hell out of me. plus i just enjoy the art and writing in the anime far more; it's by Bones who also did Death Note so they're pros at this whole anime adaptation game. (and there's no carriage in the manga. i have complicated feelings on the matter.)

that mini preamble aside while i don't know a whole lot about the manga i know the important bits + ending and all that. the only ship canon in the manga is haruhi/tamaki iirc but canon is my bitch. i always view most ships as "schrodinger's canon"; it being never addressed means it is as much canon as it is not canon. If there is no evidence for or against it then it can go either way. And 99% of the time in media when it comes to gay shipping (even straight shipping on occasion) they either A) didn't ever intend for the relationship to be read as gay so there is nothing that would confirm nor deny a relationship or B) they absolutely thought of it and decided to use plausible deniability so they could have their cake and eat it too (just enough hints that the shippers will go apeshit but not enough to make it be seen as "canon" by most viewers)

anyways. all of this is to say hikakao is pretty much as canon as it is not canon, it is literally just up to each individual reader because there is nothing pointing to or against them being together in the end. they very much fall into category two.

personally, you know me. i like to think they're together. in the manga hikaru's crush on haruhi is much more explicit than the anime (where i read it as not a crush but just friendship jealousy) but either way haruhi is taken by the end so hikaru has to get over it (rip hikaharu shippers. haruhi has two hands though i guess)

i can see hikaru/kaoru even if they didn't end up together traditionally or anything, they're clearly going to be each other's first priority for like, ever. i never read their bond as strictly romantic or platonic or familial bc tbh the way they were raised and the way they go about life together breaks many traditional boundaries that there's really no label attachable to it. like hikaru could get married but he's still sharing a bed with kaoru. it's just like that.

i've read several very good fics about post-manga hikakao, rediscovery and all that. (i also had one i was writing that i should finish...)

I think there's something very special about the idea of their bond post-manga. Hikakao in the beginning is very strained; they're always together because they have no other choice. they have no friends and nobody to rely on but each other. but by the end they have friends, they have found themselves as their own people, they are becoming independent and learning to separate little by little...and yet they find each other still the most important person to them. That now, they're together not because of necessity, but because they have and can be apart, and have been apart before, but have decided of their own free will that they still love each other. it's not longer a forced compulsion. they have grown and changed and decided, after experiencing so much new stuff in life, they still want to stick together because they love each other. I like that idea.

If you want manga evidence iirc they still live together by the end of it all and are doing their twincest shtick still unprompted out of highschool so !?? they are beyond saving.

[kyoyasheadache]

rules

just don't be a fucking weirdo and we should be good! i will not tolerate any discriminatory behavior here, you will be swiftly blocked <3

minors, please do not interact with my NSFW posts. I will block you. :3

Who I Write For

Ouran High School Host Club (for NSFW, hosts will be in college, basically I'm writing for them as their "peek into the future" selves in Volume 18 of the manga. no NSFW for Honey.)

Jujutsu Kaisen (with a very large preference for Nanami)

Mystic Messenger

Stardew Valley (Bachelors & Bachelorettes)

Fire Emblem (Awakening, Fates, Three Houses/Three Hopes)

Yakuza

Fruits Basket

Marvel Comics

DC Comics

I’m open to requests for any of those anime/games I mentioned, and I’ll post my rules soon, but please know that they may not be answered quickly because a bitch works a full time job. but please send em in if you don’t mind waiting! i love getting ideas from folks!

what I will write:

SFW

NSFW

x reader

GN reader (I'll try my best to use gender-neutral language, but there is likely going to be a lot of afab reader with GN language. I'm a cis lady myself so I'll be most comfortable with writing for afab bodies, but I will happily take requests for amab/male readers!)

Black!reader. I'm Black so I write with a Black reader in mind. not all of my posts will have a Black reader though, and anyone is welcome to read. :)

x male reader (again, I'll try my best here, and I'm super open to feedback about this, I'd like to get better at writing for everyone regardless of gender!)

wlw

mlm

what I won't write:

Incest/Stepcest

Underage

Rape/Non-con/CNC

Watersports

Scat

Again, do NOT ask me to write NSFW for Honey. I will cry.

tags:

#nep's rambles - just me talking

#nep writes - my original works

#nep's thoughts - smaller writings/thoughts that aren't full fics, requests, headcanons, etc

thanks for reading! <3

[highly-opinionated-nerd]

Read in 2023:

Seven Against Thebes, and The Persians (~525-456 BCE), by Aeschylus- his works were surprisingly fun to read!

Strip Tease (1993), by Carl Hiassen- I grew up in Central Florida, so of course I’m a fan of Hiaasen’s. My first time reading one of his adult works- I enjoyed it! There was only one glaring moment of ‘female character poorly written by a man’, for the most part it was fine, haha

The Bacchae and Other Plays (484-406 BCE), by Euripides- the Bacchae was my favorite, because the women-hating man got ripped to shreds at the end! But they were all interesting I have many thoughts about all of it

Ven Polypheme novels 1-3 (2014), by Elizabeth Haydon- absolutely delightful, love the world building and the way she talks about magic.

Homestuck (200-2016)- my 4th or 5th reread I think? and I still haven’t read Rose’s sburb walkthrough. This is so lame but I got great entertainment from reading out loud to myself, using character voices.

Ouran High School Host Club (2002), by Bisco Hatori- also one of many rereads. It’s one of the first manga I ever read. My family moved states when I was in high school, and the library where we ended up didn’t have the last couple volumes for me to finish the series...so I bought the box set, haha! No idea where I got the money for that at age 16. I kept catching myself smiling while reading. I’m still madly in love with Mori.

Tiger, Tiger (2018-present), by Petra Erika Nordlund- I used to read a ton of webcomics all the time, but I stopped for some reason. Most of the ones I’d been following ended and I never bothered to start new ones, I guess. While I was in the process of moving and all my books were packed seemed like a good time to start a new one. And I was not disappointed. The art? Awe-inspiring. The story? Delightful. There are a lot of really good names, too. If you’re insane about names, like me, just know, there’s a dude named Rakkatak. Highly, highly recommend.

Treasure Island (1883), by Robert Louis Stevenson- quick read, and highly enjoyable! GOD I love pirate stories. Treasure PLANET has long been a favorite of mine, but this was my first time reading the original. The line towards the end ‘I think we were all pleased to be so cheaply quit of him’ will stick with me as a succinct summary of the differences between the two tellings, I think.

Shadow Raiders (2012), a novel by Margaret Weis and Robert Krammes- I picked this one up at a book sale because it had a dragon on the cover. It is a completely unnecessary 700 pages long, and it doesn’t even end at the end, it’s part of a series! It took a long time to get into it, but the part in the middle where the two main story lines converged and there was a big battle was very compelling. Then it got slow again immediately after. I like the concept and worldbuilding, I have mixed feelings about the storytelling, and I have serious doubt that the characters were written to their fullest potential. Not sure if I’m gonna go looking for the rest of the series, hmmmm

Sakana (2010-present), by Mad Rupert- longtime favorite webcomic started updating again after a long hiatus, so I did a reread so I’d be refreshed and ready for new pages. God, I love Sakana, Sakana is so good

Metamorphoses (8 CE), by Ovid- took a little bit of a hiatus in the middle of this one but I finished it! I still have a hard time believing that this work is considered a comedy- there’s a lot of individual tragedies on parade here if you ask me. But it was an interesting read, I liked it

Holes (1998), by Louis Sachar- first reread in (checks watch) 16 years. I’ve thought about this book a lot ever since first reading it in fifth grade. I saw it at Target one day and it was in my basket before I could even blink. I still love it, I couldn’t put it down. Finished it in like 3 sittings.

Wayne Family Adventures vol. 1 (2021), by CRC Payne and Starbite- love, love, love the art style and all the colors. The individual episodes themselves were very short but still highly entertaining, fun quick read.

Darth Bane trilogy (2006-2009), by Drew Karpyshyn- to say I was obsessed with reading Star Wars books as a kid would be a grave understatement. Before I had a personality, I had Star Wars. Now that I’m an adult and building up my own book collection, I’ve been slowly bringing a few back into my life. The Bane books truly captured my imagination when I was younger, and I still love them so unbelievably much. I could go on all day about outwardly opposing philosophies and Force specialties and the way wielding power changes and harms you and, and, and... not quite done yet, so this series’ll be finished up in 2024!

[kakusu-shipping]

I’ve been self indulging in rewriting my old Ouran Highschool Host Club Self-Insert for two days now and I’ve decided to write it down cause it’s another one of those Self-Inserts that has a descent story with it.

So, he’s trans, 1. As a child his name was Nanami, and “she” was to be Kyoya’s arranged bride. The two knew each other from Kindergarten and got along decently, as much as you can with cold stone Kyoya. “She” also knew Mitskuni and Takashi at a young age, because “her” parents ran a candy and baked goods company, very large time.

In Early Middle School, 1st year, before Tamaki, Nanami’s family moved to America to widen the business. “She” and Kyoya kept in touch because that’s the kind of guy Kyoya is, and “she” was, at the time, the person he was closest too. The bickered like typical siblings.

In America “She” became He and even adopted an American boy name, Emile! He loved his knew title and, even if his parents weren’t all for it, got top surgery and delved more and more in Sexuality and Gender identity.

With his new identity, he returned to Japan, without his parents, and lived with Kyoya.

(This is where I’m gonna switch to I/we pronouns because it’s a self-insert)

Living with Kyoya was the same, we still bicker like siblings and I call him a perverted old man constantly.

First day back to school everyone’s a buzz about “someone” returning from America. Tamaki is curious and when he’s told it’s a girl, he’s addement about being the first to welcome “her” back to the school.

Kyoya, as the Vice President, and the Class President (who’s a manga only character and I can’t find her name), start the class of welcoming the new student. The Class President is tripped up when she looks at her paper and sees an English name. Unsure how to say it, she pauses, in which Kyoya is instead the one to say my name.

Everyone is, of course, surprised when a boy walks into class and introduces himself as Emile, previously Nanami. 

The girls in the class on in an uproar, as we were all previously in the same elementary school, asking if I’m cross dressing. After a brief explanation of what Transgender is, everyone’s cool with it. Tamaki makes a slip here and there for the first day, and continued to get death glares from Kyoya and eventually gets his pencil snapped in half over it.

Tamaki expects to be able to talk over how Kyoya’s acting weird at the club meeting today but, SURPRISE! I’m there too. In fact, Kyoya has a job for me. But first! Presents!

The Twins, who I don’t know and they don’t know me, demand their gifts first. Luckily, Kyoya told me about everyone already, so I have gifts for them and the others I haven’t met.

For the twins, they both get a ball on a string catching game thing, because Kyoya said they like games and commoner toys. They same it’s lame but start playing anyway. (And have it mastered by the next day)

For Hunny next, cause he came asking next, a stuffed bunny with a bag of chocolates!

For Mori (whom I have had the biggest crush on for years), a Woodlen animals of Northern America encyclopedia. Inside the first page is taped a small keychain of a Tanooki.

For Haruhi, based on Kyoya’s recommendation, coupons! Most of them are for food stores that are in both America and Japan. “Kyoya said you like food and saving money!” is the only explanation. Haruhi blames Kyoya.

And finally, for Tamaki, a collection of “Blind Bags” from Walmart. Little Commoner toys where you don’t know what you’ll get till you open them.

Kyoya already got his present, which was a DVD collection of some of the worst American Movies I could find. Bad as in bad jokes. This is Kyoya’s sense of humor.

Now, for my job. I’m not a host. Not good at it, too socially anxious and clumsy and dumb. Instead, Kyoya puts me in charge of serving. In case a host runs out of cakes or tea/coffee, it’s my job to deliver more. I also make the sweets because, you know, bakery family. This, of course, saves money. As Kyoya says.

I wear roller scates and deliver wherever needed, along with check the list to make sure everyone’s at the right tables and on time.

I’m very bad at the “Which one is Hikaru Game”, even without the hats, in a 50/50 chance, I get it wrong 90% of the time. Th boys don’t pick on me too hard though because I’ll almost always beat them to the punch on calling myself stupid. The first time they called me dumb and I agreed with them, Mori got up from his table, took the hat Hikaru wears for the game, hit them both with it, then lightly smacked me over the head, “Don’t call yourself stupid. The game’s rigged.” And left.

Also, I wanna say right now, Hunny and Kyoya are the same level of intelligence, and have the same sense of humor when it comes to messing with people. So, as they know Mori and I like eachother, they’re getting in the way of that. Just enough to make it fun.

One time, after being mistaken for a girl a lot in one day, I was doing the dishes in the kitchen area of the club room, and Mori came in to try and cheer me up. As he was doing this, outside the room, Kyoya and Hunny were playing Rock-Paper-Scissors to decide who gets to go in and break it up.

Haruhi’s class went to Kyoto to see Temples because, you know, the class likes to do commoner things. And OBVIOUSLY Tamaki drags the rest of us along because Haruhi cannot go anywhere without him.

We rented three rooms, becuase Tamaki thought it’s a part of the trip to share rooms with friends. Kyoya suggested I take the third room alone, but I don’t like sleeping by myself. Mori presents sticks in his hand, whoever gets sticks of matching numbers share rooms.

Mori... Isn’t a very smart man, but still tried to rig it. He placed the 2 stick in front of himself and Me so we’d pick the same room, and the 1 stick in front of Hunny and Tamaki so they’d share a room. Seemed simple. But OH NO. After I picked the 2 stick Mori planned for me, Kyoya went next and immediately reached for the stick in front of Mori. You could see the immediate panic on Mori’s face, and while it would be funny to ruin Mori’s carefully thought out plan, Hunny shook his head to tell him no. So he took Tamaki’s instead.

We ended up swapping rooms the second night anyway because Hunny and Kyoya thought that’d be more fun, and Tamaki kept complaining about being in a room alone.

Also on this trip we went to The Kiyomizu-Dera temple and learned about the old “leap of faith” myth. The tour guide asked us what our wish would be, and we both wished to cure all illness. We immedetly started talking how sense we have the same wish, only one of us as to jump to get it, but Kyoya came over to tell us if we BOTH jump, it raises our chances of getting a wish by 50%. We did the math and that’s like!!! 100% chance of getting our wish granted!!!

They twins had to physically restraint Tamaki from jumping, while Mori simply picked me up. Kyoya thought it was funny. Haruhi was very tired.

Also while we were there I followed a bird halfway across town while no one was looking like a toddler and called Kyoya crying because I was lost and couldn’t see the temple. Luckily he puts GPS tracking on everyone’s phones and was able to find me.

Haruhi asked me once to explain LGBT+ to her, because her father is a Trans woman and she doesn’t fully understand that. He still goes by he/him pronouns and Father because he doesn’t want to try and replace Haruhi’s mom, obviously.

So one day after school I got to her house with all my reference books to talk to her about it while her dad’s out. And, of course, we can’t have a meeting on our own, the rest of the club tags along.

After talking about Gender, we also talk about Sexuality. I use my own Asexual as an example, then the fact Kyoya’s Bi and Tamaki is Pan. Except. Tamaki doesn’t know what Pansexual means, so I have to explain and he agrees. 

After also proclaiming Karou as Bi, Hikaru is immediately confused because not even he knew this?? Karou came out to me because he also didn’t know much about LGBT and wanted to explore himself more. Hikaru asks me if he’s Bi too and I tell him I can’t speak for other people. “But you spoke for Tamaki!!” “Kyoya gave me permission to speak for Tamaki because he would have never figured it out on his own.”

We figure out in this meeting Hunny is the only Straight in the entire group. He’s also the only one currently dating anyone.

Haruhi reflects on the Non-Binary parts of the conversation and asks to barrow a couple of books.

At the end of this long self insert story thing, I’ll put that, like other Self-Inserts, I latched onto ships that are canon in this universe, unless I meet other Self-Shippers of this Fandom.

Me - Mori.

Hunny - Reiko

Kyoya - Tamaki

Haruhi - Ritsu

I know Haruhi and Tamaki are the canon ending of the manga, which is my favorite manga btw, but I love Kasanoda too much. He’s very cute and while he DOES get a happy ending in the manga as well I just... I just want him and Haruhi to be happy.