#i also recently started princess jellyfish

[purinfelix]

ok ykw idc that this theme is mostly football / formula one themed ... im gonna retweet anime stuff if i feel like it because this is MY BLOG.

[weeb-polls-with-pip]

Autistic Anime Girls Group 1 Match 16

SUBMISSION PROPAGANDA:

Midori -

"she's the most autistic anime character of all time. her official bio sums her up best by calling her "full of curiosity and imagination, but not very sociable": she lacks developed social skills & often asks her best friend for help interacting with others, but in contrast is extremely dedicated to art (her special interest) & will start infodumping about potential designs at the drop of a hat. based on my understanding of Japanese, her speech patterns tend to fluctuate between archaic, rarely-used terms one would only pick up by mirroring movie/anime characters, as well as a lot of repeated onomatopoeia. when she's stressed she reverts to her natural dialect, and also attempts to hide in her shirt & clings to a stuffed rabbit she carries around everywhere for emotional support. the author has said that she was based off his own experiences with autism and ADHD in high school, & in a recent tweet of his said that he showed the manga to his family doctor and he joked that she's a "typical case of ASD" (lol)."

Jiji -

"My girl is a whole ass mood. Socially challenged Otaku. OG old man fucker extraordinaire. She loves 'em. I deeply appreciate her shamelessness."

[sixofravens-reads]

Okay im (lowkey) back from my social media vacation. Unclear how much I will post here yet, because I've become fairly disenchanted with various book-fandoms and their dramas recently lol, but I will at least try and keep this blog updated with what I'm currently reading.

Anyway, in the past 3 weeks I read:

Homesick for Another World by Ottessa Moshfegh, which is very weird and off-putting, with most of the main characters being, at best, assholes. I do think it's a good read, though. The theme of most of the stories seems to be "MC loses their perfect life because they can't get out of their own destructive cycles" or "MC loses what they think will give them the perfect life but instead gains the knowledge of what is really important, unfortunately it is too late."

Reread the Unicorn series by Vicki Blum as a palate cleanser after that book + The Stranger Beside Me. Those are childhood favourites and are always a nice "reset."

Also finished Princess Jellyfish, which is a wonderful and adorable series. There's a pretty funny twist around vol 6, and I felt like vol 9 wrapped things up a little too fast, but overall it's a great read.

Then my hold for Please Kill Me: The Unauthorized Oral History of Punk finally came up. An extremely interesting, weird, delightful, off-putting, horrifying, and sad read lol. All the emotions! Highly recommend even if you're not into punk music since it's a good look at history and the culture of 60s-80s New York as well. I recommend pairing it with the No Dogs in Space podcast's series about punk.

Now I'm reading The Mermaid's Secret by Vicki Blum, and next I'll read The Dragon Prince to cap off my rereads of her books. After that I'm hoping to start an LoTR reread.

So that's...16 books in 3 weeks without tumblr. If I want my teenage reading speed back I guess I should just quit social media 😅

[hakonohanayome]

I was tagged by @ikuhara and @houkagokappa <3 <3 <3

Last song listened to: Lyrical Lily's cover of Love Story wa Totsuzen ni

Currently reading: I just recently finished rereading Heart of Thomas (recent enough that I'm allowed to put it here!) But right now I'm reading Paradise Kiss and Glass Mask. As for novels, I'm rereading Otorimonogatari. I also just started Rental Person Who Does Nothing the other day!

Currently watching: 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother (which has made me cry WAY more than I could ever have expected??) and Princess Jellyfish (very, very slowly). As for seasonal anime I'm pretty much just watching Frieren, but there are quite a few shows I'd like to check out soon! (I've still got quite a bit to finish from last season first, though....)

Currently obsessed with: D4DJ... to like.. an embarrassing degree :( and I've been pretty into Needy Girl Overdose at the moment too. but more generally - going to cafes and bakeries. I love cute pastries and cakes!!! I love nice drinks!!! I also really love visiting farmers markets & will do that as often as I can

Tagging (with no obligation): @purpleriot @freusan @roseillith @yasuho @kabakuo

[lovestarlett]

The Jellyfish Saga! *•`.🫧

so i recently watched princess jellyfish and have been reading the manga. this in turn has made me go on a binge of drawing jellyfish !!! i will say that i don't really know anything about the species, i mainly used references to draw and i just find jellyfish so so so pretty !!!

starting with the first drawing i made !!! (by the way these do get a bit better over t ime after ive developed new techniques to draw them!) i messed up a little bit but oh well !!!

this second one was around the time i decided i would try finding different jellyfish by color and i had looked for pink jellyfish, pink being my favorite color of course !

i really like this one even if i couldn't get t eh colors quite right!!!

OHHH YEAH GREEEN JELLYFISH !!! this one might be my least favoirte out of the bunch but i still think it looks cool !!! :D

now this, this one is my favorite !!! i also know what its called at least !!! it is a Portuguese Man O' War !!! i hear they are a bit deadly and ive also seen them washed up on the beach before!!! i think they look really pretty though !!! definitely super cool!!!

this is the last and most recent jellyfish i drew !!! it doesn't have any crazy detail and i think i could have added something more to it like maybe bubbles but i also was a bit unsure, even so i still like this one despite its simplicity !!!

so here we are !!! i hope you enjoyed my jellyfish exhibiton and i might post more jellyfish down the line depending on if i make more!!!

[gross-gal]

I talk about media I've been looking at!!!! It's a lot of text so under the read more it goes!!!

I encourage folks to talk to me about things....

Movies

I'm actually about to watch Mario movie in a bit so I might talk about that if I got any thoughts!

Otherwise, my movie watches have been pretty dry this year. Recently, I binged all of the Indiana Jones movies with friends and that was a surprisingly fun rewatch. Very gorgeous and hilarious films, which makes me all the more annoyed by the upcoming sequel.

I also rewatched Teacher's Pet with my partner and it made me realize how big of a fan I am of aimless, stupid movies.

First Time Watches Thus Far: Wizards, Up on Poppy Hill, Repo Man, Napoleon Dynamite, Re/Member and In the Mood for Love.

Shows

Moon Girl has been amazing and I could see becoming a favorite in the future! I'm very endeared by that show's characters and storylines. Fucking incredible visuals, every artist did an outstanding job. (And I got SOOOO many friends into it thanks to Beyonder hehe)

Finished both season one rewatches of School Rumble and Star Vs. Aaand I'm currently almost finished with Kaiji Season 2.

I also did a rewatch of the Princess Jellyfish anime! Wow the way this wraps up is a lot more unsatisfying than I remember. Still was fun but it all just kinda ends..? Not how I remembered it...

Been loosely watching Molly Mcgee and that show is super cute!

Aaand I'm trying to figure out if I wanna start watching Spectacular Spider-Man, Teen Titans, or Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Comics/Manga

Finished Princess Jellyfish after so long and that manga made me tear up so much... This maybe has one of, if not, my favorite relationship. And it's message really struck a chord in me.

I'm currently keeping up with Chainsaw Man, Ichinose Family's Deadly Sins, and IDW Sonic.

Undead Unluck I'm still reading but it's kinda been letting me down in this recent arc...

And yes...I'm slowly making my way to finishing Archie Sonic.

Games

Not much here but holy shit!!!! Sonic Team did a visual novel for April's Fools and it wasn't a joke VN????? It's actually good and fun and has a lot of care put into it also the art is fucking great???

Speaking of VNs, took a look at Tokimeki Memorial and Pia Carrot for research. Was frustrating and neat at the same time lmao

Finally, watched a friend playthrough Sly Cooper 1 and 2 and I REALLY wanna play those on my own at some point. Those games are gorgeous, I adore the characters and environment designs. I'm a big sucker for set pieces and Sly has so many...

[practice-2]

Pre- Production Part 3

An important part of the setting are the rabbits, as they are kind of like a staple of the island. In the slide bellow from the pre-production document I describe how the rabbits are scattered around the island and are even used as a means of transportation. (I also list princess Mononoke and breath of the wild as inspirations, since I wanted the rabbits to appear unique and have a magical element to them).

I also describe how most of the animals around the island have been affected by the anomaly and are mutated in some way. One of my inspirations for that was the game 'Tangle Tower' and another inspiration was gravity falls, as they both feature weird/ anomalous animals and creatures, gravity falls especially.

After deciding on the setting, I started considering the story of the game and wrote a brief description

A big inspiration for it was Beacon Pines, but I also looked at another game, Jenny Le-Clue Detectivu, where the protagonist discovers deep-seated secrets of a small town

One thing that I was kind of struggling with was deciding how the wizard was going about trying to achieve immortality. I looked at a lot of different sources for inspiration. One source was the research that is happening right now on achieving immortality (whether it's realistic or not it could be useful). A lot of it seemed to revolve around a species of jellyfish which would match the seafaring theme of the project. My other main source of inspiration was the podcast Chasing Immortality, where the host discusses people throughout history that have tried to achieve immortality. There were definitely some interesting episodes that gave me some inspiration, like the episode discussing Nicolas Flamel. I ended up having kind of a nebulous idea of the wizard using a combination of the islands magic and alchemy.

I also wanted to flesh out my idea for the setting, so I brainstormed some ideas for key locations for the island and gathered some reference of Irish and Greek coastal towns. I was looking at Greek coastal towns because I'm already familiar with them having come from Greece, and the Irish coastal towns made sense, since the island of Hy-Brasil was meant to be close to Ireland,

I was also thinking about the island's map and how it could be cool to combine the aesthetics of old maps and sea charts with nore modern maps geared for tourists. I was mainly inspired by this by Mario Odyssey, where the map is reminiscent of a map you'd get in a national park or a setting geared for tourism. I also really liked the map in Oxen free, and how throughout the game the characters made scribbled of their goals on it, I like the idea of doing something similar for the project.

For the characters, the main two that I was thinking about where the sleuth and their sidekick. For sleuth I was mainly inspired by tin tin as well as Enola Holmes which I had recently watched and Nancy Drew. I wanted the character to be young curious and intelligent. For the sidekick I was imagining them to be an octopus. I really liked the idea of having a character who used to be an accomplished adventurer, and has developed kind of an arrogant demeanour as a result, but has been cursed and turned into an octopus. I looked at real life octopuses for inspiration, as well as other people's character designs.

Bibliography:

+Greekacom (no date) Skiathos Greece: Travel guide 2023: Greeka, Greekacom. +greekacom. Available at: https://www.greeka.com/sporades/skiathos/ (Accessed: May 3, 2023).

@BobFekete10/31/17, B.F. and Nieva, J. (2017) Super mario odyssey wooded kingdom power moon locations, PlayerOne. Available at: https://www.player.one/super-mario-odyssey-wooded-kingdom-power-moons-121318 (Accessed: May 3, 2023).

Anukilimanoor (no date) Dunluce Castle is a now-ruined medieval castle in Northern Ireland...., iStock. Available at: https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/dunluce-castle-gm501175797-43166724 (Accessed: May 3, 2023).

Artstation - Fernanda Suarez (no date). Available at: https://www.artstation.com/fernandasuarez (Accessed: May 3, 2023).

Best castles in Greece (no date) Europe's Best Destinations. Available at: https://www.europeanbestdestinations.com/destinations/greece/best-castles-in-greece/ (Accessed: May 3, 2023).

Carta Marina (2023) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carta_marina (Accessed: May 3, 2023).

Jenny Leclue - Detectivu on steam (2019) Jenny LeClue - Detectivu on Steam. Available at: https://store.steampowered.com/app/319870/Jenny_LeClue__Detectivu/ (Accessed: May 3, 2023).

Keith (2023) Shedd - giant Pacific Octopus, Flickr. Yahoo! Available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nosamk/4758305907 (Accessed: May 3, 2023).

Lila (2017) Τεν τεν. Ο ατίθασος ρεπόρτερ με το όρθιο τσουλούφι, είχε αντίπαλο έναν ελληνοαμερικανό μεγιστάνα. Κατακρίθηκε, λογοκρίθηκε, αλλά κυρίως ενέπνευσε, πουλώντας πάνω από 200 εκατ. αντίτυπα, ΜΗΧΑΝΗ ΤΟΥ ΧΡΟΝΟΥ. Available at: https://www.mixanitouxronou.gr/ten-ten-o-atithasos-reporter-me-to-orthio-tsouloufi-eixe-antipalo-enan-ellinoamerikano-megistana-katakrithike-logokrithike-alla-kyrios-enepnefse-poulontas-pano-apo-200-ekat-antitypa/ (Accessed: May 3, 2023).

Matsuura, S. (no date) Artstation - Satoshi Matsuura, Artstation. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/hiziripro (Accessed: May 3, 2023).

Oxenfree - Edward's Island Overview World Map Featuring Landmarks & Locations Information Xbox One (2016) YouTube. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIHRZfKKrRQ (Accessed: May 3, 2023).

O’Sullivan, V. (2022) 20 of the most beautiful villages and small towns in Ireland, CN Traveller. Condé Nast Traveller. Available at: https://www.cntraveller.com/gallery/beautiful-villages-ireland (Accessed: May 3, 2023).

Owning a second home is antisocial behaviour | letters (2022) The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/jun/29/owning-a-second-home-is-antisocial-behaviour (Accessed: May 3, 2023).

Pallett, R. (no date) Artstation - explore, Artstation Ryan Pallett. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/ (Accessed: May 3, 2023).

Paravantes, M. (2023) Access to zakynthos shipwreck beach banned this summer, GTP Headlines. Available at: https://news.gtp.gr/2023/04/11/access-to-zakynthos-shipwreck-beach-banned-this-summer/ (Accessed: May 3, 2023).

Premkumar, A.D. (2022) 10 best coastal towns in Ireland you need to see, ViaTravelers. Available at: https://viatravelers.com/irelands-best-coastal-towns/ (Accessed: May 3, 2023).

Thomson, C. (2020) The most beautiful Greek Islands for your bucket list, Suitcases and Sandcastles. Available at: https://suitcasesandsandcastles.com/beautiful-greek-islands-for-your-bucket-list/ (Accessed: May 3, 2023).

Unger, C. (no date) Illustration, Catherine Unger. Available at: http://www.catherineunger.com/work (Accessed: May 3, 2023).

Upcoming events at Lembeh Resort - North Sulawesi events (2023) Lembeh Resort Dive Resort & Spa in Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Available at: https://www.lembehresort.com/category/upcoming-events/ (Accessed: May 3, 2023). Webster, A. (2021) Enola Holmes is getting a sequel on Netflix, The Verge. The Verge. Available at: https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/13/22434366/enola-holmes-2-sequel-netflix-millie-bobby-brown-henry-cavill (Accessed: May 3, 2023).

Best castles in Greece (no date) Europe's Best Destinations. Available at: https://www.europeanbestdestinations.com/destinations/greece/best-castles-in-greece/ (Accessed: May 3, 2023).

Webster, A. (2021) Enola Holmes is getting a sequel on Netflix, The Verge. The Verge. Available at: https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/13/22434366/enola-holmes-2-sequel-netflix-millie-bobby-brown-henry-cavill (Accessed: May 3, 2023).

[wool-string]

what do you look for in a series? themes, character tropes, format, genre, style/aesthetic? maybe i can drag you into one of my many many fandoms

I tend to gravitate more towards Psychological and horror/ paranormal when I choose favorites honestly. But i recently have been looking for more interesting detective shows (preferably with a hint of supernatural!)

I also like slice of life where the characters learn to love life or themselves (think silver spoon or princess jellyfish lol) and I like some shonen as well

I started monster recently and I like it so far. And I’ve been meaning to watch 91 days for a few years now :)

[cursedchildofchaos]

thanks for the tag!

1. Three non-romantic duos: Shawn and Gus, Abed and Troy, Tohru and Yuki

2. A ship that may surprise others: So, I rewatched Galavant recently and Vincenzo and Gwynne were pretty darn cute tbh also very funny

3. Last song: Do They Know It's Christmas Time Daddy's Home 2 version cuz I was watching the movie

4. Last film: Daddy's Home 2 lol

5. Currently reading: Still not finished with Princess Jellyfish or the sequel to hmc, but i started another book in the meantime, too, lol. I am reading the second book in the secret series

6. Currently watching: Mostly Ghost Whisperer and random YouTube stuff like Frank James, Daniel Thrasher, and Smosh

7. Currently consuming: nothing, but i finished a pop moments ago

8. Currently craving: Charcuterie board with lots of salami sounds nice right now for some reason

no pressure tags

@cheerfullycatholic @i-am-a-freg @frogressive-rock @a-beautiful-crow @cat-a-holic

thanks for the tag @valiantarcher!

1. Three non-romantic duos: Robin Hood and Little John (basically any variation, but right now thinking specifically of Bran and Iwan from Hood), Brother Cadfael and Brother Mark from the Brother Cadfael series, and Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer from The Magician’s Nephew.

2. A ship that might surprise others: do I really ship anything that would surprise anyone?

3. Last song: Pat a Pan/Fum, Fum, Fum from the second Mannheim Steamroller Symphony album

4. Last Film: The Christmas Waltz (a Hallmark movie, not the best but not too bad. The previous one was better: December Bride. Hilarious in a good way.)

5. Currently reading: I usually have three going. Right now it’s The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas for my morning audiobook, and still on Wet Behind the Ears by W. R. Gingell for my ebook. The physical book I have going should shortly be Jade Torch by @dragonanne :D

6. Currently watching: I haven’t quite given up on Merlin but I also haven’t made time for it in a very long time. Otherwise nothing until Miss Scarlet and the Duke and All Creatures Great And Small come back.

7. Currently consuming: just finished sugar cookies with peppermint sprinkles.

8. Currently craving: maybe some hot chocolate?

No pressure tags for @o-lei-o-lai-o-lord, @afaroffsong, @holbytlanna, @i-am-a-stupid-robot, @pepperonyscience, @saxifrage-wreath, @urban-hart, @aceofstars16 and @the-old-fashioned-girl

[queensparklekitten]

time princess is fucking wild 

-i wingman for my cats in order to build a cat army 

-i’m in a group called the court of blood 

-i regularly get scammed by a hamster

-i’ve sold more than half my stuff to a pair of scissors shaped like a bat with a paper vampire cape 

-i’m semi-frequently spinning a roulette wheel and the grand prize is circus makeup

-i’ve possessed marie antoinette several times before

-i broke into a royal palace and stole an important artifact from a prince who had a crush on me once

-right now i’m a trainee kpop idol who can see ghosts and today i became friends with a ghost who died in an accident that was the result of discovering her forbidden-love boyfriend cheated on her and we teamed up to fuck him up so hard via using my ability to still move objects to let him know she’s haunting him that it destroyed his debut

-two days ago i was a princess who was dealing with two twin princes, one a powerful evil sorcerer who spent his whole childhood in a tower and tricked me into becoming engaged to him, and the other a childhood friend of mine who’s been cursed by his own brother to turn into a swan if i ever touch him

-also i was a figure skater once and was extremely gay for a speed skater

-i often give people dozens upon dozens of the exact same present. once i gave a ghost what must have been over a hundred of the same puzzle toy. this is mandatory to proceed in these plotlines

-it’s possible to have glowing blue hair

-my cats frequently ask me for things such as fabric, wood, spices, and other random stuff 

-cats also have a committee that holds meetings every week and sends me rewards based on how good a companion they perceive me as (and they should really be giving me more considering how often i’ve helped them get laid)

-sometimes i get to actually play the fake mobile games you see in scam ads for what they won’t tell you is actually just a pay-to-win match-3

-in order to pass a stage i recently wore a white feathered ballgown (with a mostly-mesh skirt so my tights and shoes were very visible) alongside a huge black and gold devil horns headpiece, pink sandals, blue tights with large yellow diamond shapes on them, and tricolour hair that starts to look like tentacles at the very bottom because it’s from a jellyfish themed set

[starrynite7114]

Laughter (Daddy Angel)

A/N: Good morning everyone! Hopefully everyone is having a good Saturday thus far! Just wanted to drop by and give you guys this request!

Snapshots should be updated by Monday!

Little one has a laughing fit - @gemini0410​

Masterlist

Request tagged list: @justahopelessssromantic​​ : @ifoundmyhappythought​​ : @carlaangel86​​ : @woahitslucyylu​​ : @encounterthepast​​ : @enamoured-x​​ : @thewarriorprincessxo​​ : @briana-mishell24​​ : @bribri-82​​ : @chibsytelford​​ : @agirllovespasta​​ : @twistnet​​ : @everyhowlmarksthedead​​ : @trulysuccubus​​ : @jadert15​​ : @sammskellington​​ : @cind-in-real-life​​ :  @claytoncardenasbabymama​​ : @sadeyesgf​​ : @thickemadame​​ : @summertimesadnesswithadashofsass​​ : @gemini0410​​ : @elcococruz​​ : @samcrobae​​ : @sesamepancakes​​​ : @iambabyharry​​ : @blackmissfrizzle​​ : @soamayansfangirl​​ : @1-800-imagines​​​ : @phoenixhalliwell​​​ : @lady-pswrld​​​ : @dazzledamazon​​​  : @getyourcrayoncas​​​ : @fvckthisbxtchup​​​ : @lukealvxz​​​ : @scuzmunkie​​​ : @lilac-tea-time​​​ : @danie1432​​​ : @cocotheclown​​​ : @soaronmywings​​​ : @my-rosegold-soul​​​ : @buttercup812​​​ : @itskiranbitch​​​ : @angelreyesgirl​​​ : @sheeshgivemeabreak​​​ : @vicmackeybullshxt​​​ : @bigcreatorwombatdreamer​​​ : @khyharah​​​ : @strawberrywritings​​​ : @cherry-icetea​​​ : @fuzzy-jellyfish​​ : @losolvidad0s​​​ : @brownsugarcoffy​​​ : @courtrae89​​​ : @prdsdjarin​​​ : @blessedboo​​​ : @marvelmaree​​​ : @enamouravecleslivresetlechocolat​​​ : @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead​​​ : @thesandbeneathmytoes​​​ : @dark-twisted-and-mechanical-mind​​​ : @maddie-georges​​​ : @pearlkitten33​ : @aquamento​

If you would like to be added to the tag list, please let me know!

CREDITS TO THE ORIGINAL GIF CREATOR.

You and Angel prided yourself on not only being good parents, but entertaining ones as well. You two currently had a four year old Melina and a two year old Claudia. Your girls are your world and no one adored them more than Angel. The times you four spent together was something both you and Angel treasured since Angel could be gone at times due to runs and you worked as a dentist, which had you working 9-5 almost daily. 

But whenever you four were together, there was nothing better in the world.

Lately, you noticed that Melina had been a laughing monster. It was incredibly cute. At first, you thought she got some laughing gas, but your Melina was always a genuinely happy go lucky kid. She always had a smile on, getting her temperament from you, while Claudia was all Angel.

Everything has been hilarious to Melina and hearing her laugh was incredibly adorable. You’re just sad that Angel hasn’t seen one of her laughing fits. It didn’t happen often, but when one thing triggered her, everything was funny.

Currently, the girls were on the floor playing with their new cooking set Tio Taza bought them. You were on the couch, enjoying a Saturday off, just catching up on Umbrella Academy. 

The front door opened and it was either Coco or Angel since Angel gifted Coco with a key to your place in case he was gone and Coco was around. All three of you looked up and found Angel. Immediately the girls stood up and greeted Angel, his two princesses getting a kiss from him. Angel plopped down next to you and you planted a kiss on his cheek, hugging him from the side. You took a sniff and playfully backed away.

“Ooh, babe, you need a shower and to be soaked or something.” You teased Angel, pinching your nose together.

He frowned, sniffing himself. “What? What are you talking about? I smell great.”

Melina walked over, sniffed Angel and began to laugh. Angel looked at his daughter, curious as to why she started laughing. This was it, Melina was going to be laughing at everything and anything for the rest of the day. 

She giggled, pinching her nose together just as you had a few seconds ago. “Stinky daddy.” She said in between giggles. 

Angel playfully narrowed his eyes at you and then looked back over to Melina. “Stinky daddy?” Angel stood up and took Melina lifting her in the air, making her laugh harder. Claudia walked over to you and you sat her on your laugh. “Why is that so funny Melly?” Angel blew raspberries on her stomach, making her gleefully shrieked.

“You got her going now, everything is going to be funny.” You smiled, resting your head atop of Claudia’s as she gleefully watched her sister with her father. 

“Everything is funny?” 

“Babe, I told you. Melina started it recently, when one thing makes her laugh, everything makes her laugh. It’s super cute.” You explained. 

Angel frowned. He was missing so much and it was beginning to upset him. He had a responsibility with the club, but he also had a responsibility with your family. Both times he missed the girls’ first steps, first words, it was disheartening. Even though you documented their adventures well, he wanted to be there in person for all of it. He didn’t want to be that father. 

“Slide?” Melina questioned in between her laughs. 

“You want the slip and slide mamas? Let’s do it.” He placed her on the ground, Melina running to her room to change. “You gonna change in that bikini or?” Angel wiggled his eyebrows and you rolled your eyes.

“You’re trouble.” You stood up, shifting Claudia so you could hold her properly. “How come you’re home so early?” You both made your way to your room, checking in on Melina on your way there. She was a pretty independent kid and knew how to change herself. It was so cute and just made things easier for you. 

“Bish let me go home early, he didn’t need all of us so I took the day off.” Angel was appreciative that Bishop gave him the day off, and he was off tomorrow. He had no plans, but to be with his girls and enjoy the weekend. 

“Good, I’m glad you can be with us.” You entered your room, placing Claudia on the bed. Angel went inside the closet to change. You figured you can change after Angel so that he could take care of Claudia. You were exhausted, Angel helped you as much as he could, but you knew his priorities with the club. You were very understanding, especially since the club helped you as well. But at times, you couldn’t help and be selfish.

Once Angel changed, he took Claudia and Melina outside and set up the slip and slide, by the time you came out, they were already going crazy on it. You got the kiddie pool you and Angel got, setting it up for yourself. You filled it with water and once it was filled, you sat inside, drinking a mango smoothie you made for yourself. 

As you watched your little family, the smile on your face was permanent. As you predicted, Melina was laughing up a storm. Angel was watching her in awe, laughing along with her due to her laugh being so infectious. Claudia was laughing as well. 

“Baby, what is so funny?” Angel sat at the end of the water slide to catch the girls. Melina ran back to the beginning of the slide, sliding down to Angel. “You look like a torpedo coming towards me.” 

Melina laughed, Angel laughing along with her. Melina was a joyful kid so her laughter didn’t throw him off, it was the fact everything was so funny. You were easily amused and it seemed that Melina got that from you. 

“Melina baby, come join mommy.” You called out to her. 

Melina ran over to you, sitting in the little pool with you. “What’s that?” She looked at your drink. Like every child, any drink they wanted. 

“Mango juice.” 

Melina snorted, a giggling escaping her lips. You laughed, Melina letting out a laugh as well. Angel joined you two with Claudia in his arms. He sat down, continuing to hold Claudia in his arms. Angel took most of the space in the pool and it made you laugh. 

Angel looked over at you, raising an eyebrow. “You got a laughing fit too?” He smirked. “She most likely got it from you.”

“Maybe, but you took up the whole space babe.” Angel has been bulking up as of late, which you definitely didn’t mind, especially in the bedroom where you could worship him, but this was a conundrum right now.

“Daddy is a giant.” Melina laughed sitting beside you. “No space daddy.” She splashed him with water, laughing as she did. 

Angel handed Claudia over to you as he grabbed Melina, shrieking in laughter. “Daddy you’re tickling me!” She laughed. Angel had an arm around her, tickling her stomach. “Daddy!”

You and Claudia laughed, watching as tears came from Melina’s eyes as she laughed. 

“Babe stop, she’s turning red.” You told Angel.

He stopped, holding his baby girl in his arms as she tried to catch her breath, still laughing. Angel chuckled, kissing Melina on the cheek.

“Be careful princesa, if you laugh too much you’re gonna pee your pants.”

You gave Angel a confused look and laughed. Melina tilted her head, looking at you and began laughing as well.

“You two are fools.” Angel looked at Claudia. “Isn’t mommy and big sister silly?”

Claudia joined you and Melina, making Angel sigh.

He thought you were all silly, but there was nothing he would rather do on this Saturday. 

You three were his favorite people and he was so happy to just be in your presence.

You and Angel were laying in bed, tired from today’s events. After your little impromptu swim, you four went to play mini golf with Letty, Coco and EZ. It was a fun get together and Melina was overjoyed. Letty was her favorite person and no one made her laugh like Letty. Every story Letty told her was funny and she loved hanging onto her pseudo cousin Letty. 

“Babe, I wanted to talk to you about something.” Angel was sitting up with his back against the headboard while your head was on his stomach as you two watched television.

“What’s up?” You turned so that you were not facing him.

“Am I a terrible father?” Angel’s insecurities were a bitch at times. 

“What?” You sat up quickly, frowning at his question. “Did someone tell you that?” Much like Angel was overprotective over you, you were overprotective over him. 

Angel chuckled at your reaction, leaning forward to kiss you.

You pulled away, smacking his hands away. “Don’t you distract me, who told you that you were a bad father?”

“Baby, no one, I just, I miss so much and it takes a toll you know?” Angel sighed. 

You crawled onto his lap, sitting down and wrapping your arms around Angel’s neck. You hugged him, his arms immediately wrapping around you.

Pulling away, you cupped Angel’s face, forcing him to look right at you.

“You, mi amor, are the best father  I know. When you come home from a run or work, you never fail to spend time with our girls. If they are sleeping, you make sure they’re all tucked in. You’re also the same father who stayed up with Claudia when she had the cold, made sure that she slept comfortably even if you didn’t.” You began to tear up, thinking of how great of a father he was. “Our girls love you so much, both their first words were dada. Angel, it’s not about the time you spend with them, it’s about what you do with that time. I’ve seen people who spend all these time with their children, but they’re attention is elsewhere. You love our girls and they love you, don’t ever doubt yourself. You’re amazing, if you weren’t, I would have left your butt.” You kissed him, placing kisses all over his face making Angel laugh.

“I fucking love you mi reina.”

“And I love you mi rey.”

“I’m going to take a step back, I want to do less runs and be with you and the girls. I’m done missing time with them.” Angel knew you would support his decision.

You were thankful that Angel decided to take a step back. You knew how much Angel loved the club, but he also loved you three and you would never make him choose. Though you’re glad he chose you three.

“Good, cause we’re having baby number three and I’m gonna need you here to help with the girls.”

“What?” Angel’s mouth dropped. “Baby, you’re pregnant?”

You smiled, nodding your head. “Yes! My doctor called yesterday, I’m three months along.”

Angel pulled you into a hug, his hand resting on your stomach. “God, we’re fucking pregnant. Baby, we’re outnumbered.”

You laughed, Angel’s fingers tickling you. Angel pulled away from you, his hand still on your stomach, tickling you once again. Your laughter was infectious, which was why Angel loved hearing you laugh. He began to laugh as well, as Angel continued to tickle you. 

“Yep, Melina definitely got the laughing fit from you.”

[more-than-a-princess]

@awesomeuchuu​ asked: 7. “What motivates you to get to those drafts?” 8. “Any current reads you’d recommend?”

Munday Questions (It’s not Munday but there’s a lot going on offline for me right now and I could use all the good vibes. Especially tomorrow!) - Accepting

7. “What motivates you to get to those drafts?”

A few things! But to be fair, I don’t need a lot of motivation most of the time.

Writing is my escape from work and other offline responsibilities. Overall, unless I’ve hit a writers block or I’m annoyed by something on dash, I’m really happy to be here. At any given time, I’m often into some threads and interactions more than others, meaning ideas and how to continue them come naturally without having to think it over too much or plot with the other mun. But I still like what I create here: I try to only take on what I’m comfortable with, which is why this blog has fewer threads and longer turnaround times than others I’ve seen, but have longer threads and more detailed interactions as well.

In terms of process though, I keep to a content calendar (or schedule) and try to gauge my dash as to when to post and what to post. If I didn’t write nearly every day or post every day, I believe I’d simply abandon the blog altogether or drop every thread/ask in order to start anew often. I really dislike this behavior and so I do my best not to do it myself: knowing how much one can handle is important. No matter what: you can’t write with everyone you want to at any given time (for most people, at least!). There just isn’t enough time in the day to make that happen, which is why I try to cap my asks and urge those without interactions to send them in. It’s the best I can do to give as many interested muns a chance to interact.

8. “Any current reads you’d recommend?”

I miss reading actual books for pleasure. A lot of what I read now outside of work is reddit and blogs for various interests and advice (I’m reading a lot about being a first time home buyer, real estate, interest rates, and other things regarding buying property right now). I have a stack of Julia Quinn novels I’ve yet to get to and I feel like until I’m able to go on a slow-paced vacation (like the beach, despite how much I don’t like tropical beaches), I’ll never get to them all. And the other books I’ve been collecting for awhile (with another in a series I read coming out at the end of May!).

Instead, I read some online manga or manhwa during my downtime during meals or right before bed. Mangakatana is my preference, so I’ll link a few things that I’m reading that aren’t popular/made into a recent anime right now. My preferred genres are Josei and Seinen, for the most part, and I’ve tried to link titles that aren’t entirely NSFW-focused. For the ones with the smut tag, the sex is only part of the story without being the full story, if that makes sense!

Here we go, the recommendations:

A Rare Marriage: How to Grill Our Love - Slice of Life manga about a young, newly married couple in their thirties who deal with couple-y situations and day-to-day issues by grilling meat. Yes, you will get hungry. Yes, you will want to hug your significant other.

I Found Somebody To Love - Legal age difference manhwa between a college professor and a former student. Feels.

Real Clothes - Are you a fan of fashion-themed manga like Paradise Kiss and Princess Jellyfish? Read this next: it’s more industry-based than romance-based, but still great. Also see: Bibi.

Gold - Soap. Opera. Cheese. Fashion, high society, screwed up families, romantic liaisons (yes this means sex). Yes, the art looks like it’s straight out of the 80s. It’s great.

Collectors - I’ve never identified with two women more in my life based on their hobbies. One loves fashion, the other loves books, I’m wondering how to fit both into my living space (but these two seem to be figuring it out). 

Yume no Shizuku, Kin no Torikago - Loosely based on real 16th Century history in the Ottoman Empire. Smut for obvious historical reasons: the MC becomes part of a harem. Some questionable consent, in case you don’t want to read that.

Lonely Planet - That One Manga Everyone’s OC Has A FC From. But it’s a good read. To pay off her father’s debts, a high school student becomes a housekeeper for a writer.

Bread & Butter - Two thirty-somethings find love again over baking. Now that I’m in my 30s, I love when there’s older protags in romantic relationships and it’s not just them focusing on parenthood. 

Lucia and Under The Oak Tree - The two European-styled Josei manhwa I read. Fewer jokes/humor than other historical manhwa, lots of drama, some sex.

Innocent - The cooler, edgier big sister of Rose of Versailles. French Revolution with all the gore, sex, family drama, and generally screwed up situations that Lady Oscar never had to face. This one is a hard read, but a very good one. Some of the most beautiful art ever. And almost everyone needs a hug.

NOTE: This manga is split up into two different series. Read Innocent first, and then go on to Innocent Rouge. It’s the second half of the story.

An Hour Of Romance - I need the K-drama adaptation ASAP. A marketing executive and her new intern, after visiting a Korean temple, switch bodies for an hour every day and have to figure out how to stay themselves. Permanently. Freaky Friday with all the cuteness, angst, and will-they-won’t-they that K-dramas provide.

The God of Pro Wrestling - One of these things is not like the others...and this is it. I read this with my fiancé actually, who has been a wrestling fan for a long time. He gets all the WWF/WWE references that I miss (I only started watching off and on 6-7 years ago or so), but it’s a pretty fun interpretation of the American wrestling industry in the late 90s/early 2000s (based on the real-life wrestlers and personalities who have fictional portrayals here). I’m still waiting on my WWE faves to show up at some point. 

And a few more popular things I re-read or try to keep up with: Tokyo Manji Revengers, The Way of the House Husband, Princess Jellyfish, Tokyo Tarareba Girls (this one is a mood. Often.), Love Is Hard For An Otaku, Welcome to the Ballroom, Paradise Kiss, and if it ever gets updated...Nana. I miss you, Ai Yazawa. 

[aieunaoooosei]

Princess Jellyfish

Princess Jellyfish is my current fav anime. It's amazing and pretty and cute and I love it.

Look how beautiful this is.

In animes I think what attracts me the most is visual beauty, and this anime is the epiphany of that. It's from 2010 I think and when I started watching it I thought the animation would be like old and out of date. But that is absolutely not the case. Like the way the characters move is very well done and very intencional. Like the movements and character designs are just aesthetic choises and i think it works lovely with the story.

And the opening song is such a bop. Omg even the lyrics are gas. The ending song as well but the opening ♥️👄♥️ I'm obsessed. Like, I feel like in romance animes the songs are either bops or like just fine. Not bad, (except fruits basket that has horrible songs) but not amazing either. But also, fashion animes always slay in the music department. Not sure why. Anyways this one is very good with all the songs. Even tho, some sound effects are kinda outdated, they are only used like 3 or 4 times so I can look past it.

Oh and the characters. I feel like I relate to all of them. The girl obsessed with old men. Yeah I love a good dilf. The one that is an otaku for the samurai men vibes. Again, me. I love fighting people. But for real, I love the main character. I do relate to her alot. I mean my mom is alive but otherwise I relate. Like her being obsessed with this animal that is so out of reach for her and so different from her. With all the textures and stuff, I would be mesmerized by it as well. Like the colours and the way they move. I get it girl. I feel thoose obsessions with things I find pretty as well. Also I love how she fills her room and her life with the jellyfish. I mean that's me. Oh and the thing of her moving to a big city when she's just 18 and living with strangers. Besties if that's not me idk who is.

And I love the love interest. In romance animes targeted for girls, normally, love interest are either boring as rock or red flag in a human form. But I love this one. I love how non masculine he is. It appeals to my bisexuality vibes. No but for real, I don't like to see very masculine boys, it's stupid. I love feminity and u don't need to identify as a female to be feminine. I mean not all boys need to cross dress to be feminine but it would be nice. Also he's so sweet and their love grows in such a natural way. Both of them are like yeah I'm not sure if I love this person but I'm so intrigued by them. It's beautiful really.

Girl, look at this dress. Omg I'm in love with the designs they made for the anime. Also i've recently picked up a sewing machine and I'm slaying it obviously (might make a post about that later maybe). So, I want to make it in real life. Again, I would slay that dress. But it's really hard for me, cause I've just been slaying too much lately, and u know people notice and they are "lime green jelly" like Jennifer would say (Jennifer's body). Also I wanna put more pictures and gifs in my posts so that it's easier on the eye. So look forward for that and also for the weekly update that I still haven't done.

And I absolutely love Clara. And i give it a 10/10.

[queen-of-my-goofball-army]

"I don't really feel like I can win this fight, but man I don't feel like losing either!

God you're such a scumbag." (Hanta Sero, My Hero Academia.)

We've officially reached me in community college! The summer before I started classes was the summer that I started getting back into anime. It was due to a handful of shows that I'll spend the next week focusing on but one of the first shows that I became a proud Otaku for was My Hero Academia. A series about young teens training to be superheroes at a high school that was filled with all different sorts of powers as far as the eye could see. All the characters are different and unique as well as having these amazing and outspoken personalities. My first OG favorite is still the main comfort character that I have from the show Hanta Sero.

Where do I even start with talking about this absolute 10/10 goofball baby? He was one of those characters that I just instantly loved more than anything. His quirk is something super creative and inventive. He's basically the human version of a tape dispenser. He can swing around on his tape and use it to gather up people either capturing them or catching them in one of my favorite moments of his when he catches Bakugou from the sky.

To me, Sero is just the absolute baby of this character cast. He's one of those characters that just instantly drew me in and it's hard for me to explain why really other than that he as cute and funny. His sense of humor isn't one that's used a whole lot but his light teasing never fails to make me laugh. It's something that compelled me to his small moments. I loved getting to see his fight against Todoroki and their growing small friendship. Whenever I see them on screen together my heart always warms. Hearing his nickname for Todoroki in the dub being "Roki" instantly my heart positively melted.

Growing up one of my best friend's favorite superheroes was always Spiderman and that's who Sero is to me, spider-man with my favorite he's this universe's answer to Spider-Man. Both of them are comedic, free spirited, overly friendly, slightly goofy but at the same time they just *care* so much about their friends and the people in their lives. Sero would do absolutely anything for their friends. I fell deeply in love with my favorite characters. He was so adorable and kind towards his friends and I could instantly sympathize with him.

He's also a lot more mature than his other classmates. I had to include the God you're such a scumbag moment because honestly one of my favorite little running jokes happens when he ties up Mineta. It doesn't happen very often but whenever it does it brings a smile to my face. I love whenever it does happen. But that doesn't mean that he's not the jokester type either. He's confident as well and one of his favorite fan moments is when he does go up against Todoroki for the final battle in the sports festival.

Voice acting wise, Hanta is voiced by one of my favorite underrated men of anime, Christopher Bevins. So I actually have a really embarrassing story about him. When I was 17 almost 18 I went back to my local anime con for the first time in five years. His line was relatively short and I made bracelets prior to getting there. His was a Japan one themed to Hetalia (which he loved by the way.) However, one thing that I neglected to think about was how nervous I would be. When I get nervous most of the time my palms sweat way more than usual. He asked me to tie the bracelet around his wrist and my hand just kept on slipping. I did take one of my favorite now running jokes with my parents from this encounter he told me that sometimes he wished he had a third hand. I told him I'd probably be just as clumsy with that one. In my final moments I realized that I hadn't told him hardly anything. My brain had needed a hard reboot. It all just came out of me in a word vomit. It's definitely a moment that I want a hard redo of so that I can actually have an intelligent conversation with him. He's the director of one of my favorite romantic comedy anime's Princess Jellyfish as well as the voice of a recent favorite of mine, Narsus in The Heroic Legend Of Arslan. He's not a voice actor that I often hear much work from but whenever I do it's always top tier work.

Hanta Sero, to me is about fun. He's about having the time of his life with his friends and trying to become the best hero. He's about relaxing in his hammock reading manga at the end of a long day cramming for classes one of my favorite HCs. He's about video game marathons with Denki and Kiri after every exam. Sero is just one of those comfort characters that I'd want to chill with. He's an extremely laid-back type of guy and that was what initially drew me into his orbit. That's the simplest way that I can put this is that he's immensely laidback and sometimes that's what I need after a long day of people interaction.

[dropintomanga]

On Kodansha US’s New Tagline

One of the North American manga publishers recently got a new revamp as Kodansha Comics became consolidated into a more centralized Kodansha with a new logo and also a new tagline.

That new tagline is “Inspire Impossible Stories.” I know for most fans, taglines are taglines. But I’m somehow emotionally drawn to it due to my own relationship with Kodansha-published manga series for more than a decade.

Where do I start with this? I think the 1st Kodansha series I ever truly read was Chobits when Tokyopop released it back in the day. But the first actual Kodansha-published series that really drew my interest was Great Teacher Onizuka. After watching all of the anime in the early 2000s’, I jumped in on the Tokyopop volumes. I still consider GTO to be one of the best “high school teacher” anime/manga series of all-time. Now that I think about it, GTO did something very notable and maybe impossible compared to a typical Shonen Jump story. It was a story about a former young adult gangster who decided to be a teacher in a high school class full of troublemakers. GTO went deep into real-life issues plaguing youth in high school. It made caring about the mental health of youth a thing before it really became a thing this past decade.

Also, I just remembered that Initial D (which is another Kodansha title) was a series I loved when I was a young adult. This is starting to sound like a Tokyopop appreciation post, but I know who the real MVP is here.

I remember a famous line in Gintama about Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen Magazine. There’s a code in the Shinsengumi that states all members should read Magazine instead of Jump. 

“Shinsengumi Regulation #17: No manga other than (Weekly Shonen) Magazine are allowed to be read within the confines of the station.'”

While it’s a joke poking fun at Magazine for publishing stories about delinquents and appealing more to older youth/young adults, it felt like Jump was for babies.

I browsed issues of Shonen Magazine in the past at a Japanese comfort food restaurant many years ago and it was full of series that I didn’t recognize or couldn’t get into. I did recognize a few titles like Fairy Tail and Air Gear, but the fact that it also had pin-up girls on their covers from time-to-time made me realize that Magazine was different from Jump. I remember one issue had a large fan poll on which AKB48 girl was the best.

A few years ago, Kodansha interviewed Hiroya Oku of GANTZ fame, who drew Inuyashiki for Kodansha’s Evening (a seinen manga magazine). When asked about how he came up with the idea of having a robotic alien superhero in the form of an old man, Oku mentions his former publisher, Shueisha, while describing his initial thought process. He says,

“When I was working on GANTZ on Shueisha’s Young Jump Magazine, I was more concerned about the popularity and sales figures of my manga. In that magazine’s culture, there’s an unspoken rule to make the main characters visually attractive. When I started work for Kodansha’s Evening (the magazine Inuyashiki is published in), there was more freedom. So I suggested going with the not-so-good-looking teenager as a main character. They green-lit the idea, so I started drawing the character in the manga.”

Let me put this out before we go a bit further - I love Shueisha manga series. I grew up on Shonen Jump. Their material always seems to captivate me somehow. They kept me interested in shonen for a long time. But because the fact shonen is the mainstream genre, I might get sick of it when the time comes. It’s why I also started following Young Jump series since they sounded more appealing. However, I do notice that with series like Tokyo Ghoul, Kingdom and Golden Kamuy, to name a few, the magazine is filled with stylish-looking characters that have greater appeal to a younger audience despite whatever mature tones they have.

But when it comes to Kodansha, their manga series are mature from the start and I don’t mean in a fanservice kind of way. Can you see series like A Silent Voice or Your Lie in April published in Shonen Jump or one of Shueisha’s other notable magazines? I'm not sure I can. It’s also noted that Hajime Isayama, creator of Attack on Titan, tried to get his series into Shonen Jump. Shueisha thought the series was a bit too dark for their tastes, and Isayama decided to try out for Kodansha instead and that’s where he’s been ever since as the series is published in Bessatsu Shonen Magazine.

So why appeal to that older shonen demographic? Probably because life isn’t some battle manga with friends that are there for you every step of the way. Hard work doesn’t always get rewarded. The idea of victory can also get very gray. You see more delinquents than overpowered ninjas/pirates in life. While Fairy Tail and The Seven Deadly Sins are two of Kodansha’s popular “battle manga” series ever, both series seem to subvert some of shonen’s popular tropes and/or have a certain edge to them. What’s funny is that both series involve a bar/pub/restaurant location where all the heroes meet up. Many older teens start to hang out in places like restaurants as their after-school hangouts.

There’s a lot of Kodansha series that I feel seemed impossible to tell for other publishers. I can think of titles like Tokyo Revengers, Blue Period, Land of the Lustrous, Witch Hat Atelier, Cells at Work!, Knights of Sidonia, etc. The lineup of shojo and josei titles is also incredible as well (Princess Jellyfish, Wotakoi and Chihayafuru are the best examples I can give here) Hell, Akira is a Kodansha title that’s still groundbreaking and evergreen as ever. Their tagline, “Inspire Impossible Stories,” makes sense as while it applies to their U.S. operations, a lot of job hunting students in Japan really want to work for Kodansha Japan.

While Shueisha does have a good share of its own “impossible” stories (Chainsaw Man was a title that impressed me), Shonen Jump is mainstream-friendly and safe to a certain degree. The stories I discovered through Kodansha made me realize how big the world of manga really was and what kind of stories were possible. While they may not have the biggest fandoms compared to Shonen Jump series, I can feel a certain vibe when I read Kodansha-published manga in that any mangaka working under them has their vision unleashed in a way that pleases both readers and the mangaka themselves. There might be a certain bias though as I’ve gotten to see editors from Kodansha Japan in person when they showed up for manga-related events in my area.

Kodansha showed me that there’s more to the manga world than just Jump. That’s why I love their new tag line of inspiring impossible stories. I think we need more exposure to new kinds of stories that speak to all kinds of people. I know people don’t like different stuff outside of what they usually like, but I believe those differences are beneficial in learning how to appreciate nuances in life when one gets older. Being challenged isn’t as frightening as it sounds. Those differences are trying to tell us something about ourselves. For me, it was “I really want something that isn’t about fighting super-powered villains and rivalries all the time.”

I have ambivalent feelings about my life during my 20s’, but Kodansha-published stories helped me appreciate possibility at the time when I didn’t feel there was anything to keep me going. So go on, Kodansha. Keep putting out impossible stories that are thoughtful and inspiring future generations of manga readers. Tell the world that impossible is nothing.

[rin-the-shadow]

40 Days of Sailor Moon

Day 16: Your favorite S/S pairing and why

AmiZoi is the main one I have put my thoughts into, and it also contains both my favorite hero and my favorite villain. I find it interesting to explore their possible dynamics in both shipping and non-shipping contexts, which I think is my favorite thing about them, that regardless of whether they are romantically attracted or not, their dynamic remains consistently interesting to me. And a lot of this is that there seem to be a lot of ways to explore what they can be to each other, what they connect to, and what they bring out in each other.

In La Reconquista, for example, we see Zoisite toning down his initial, theatrically romantic presentation in order to go for a less overtly shippy angle. There have been several analytical posts I’ve seen on a few iterations, which characterize Zoisite as someone who desperately wants to prove he’s not just a pretty face who just parrots what other people say, while Ami is sometimes characterized as someone who would like to be more than “just” the brain, but doesn’t view herself as having any other strengths. There’s a scene in the musical where they play shiritori, and almost all of her words are connected to her scientific and mathematical interests, while he stumbles over finding seemingly simple words and phrases. Yet they’re both shown laughing and joking about it. He never makes any kind of comment about her being really nerdy or like a total weirdo or whatever to keep spewing all these phrases out, and she doesn’t make him feel stupid when he slips up. A little later, they’re also shown helping each other recover their memories, if I understand the subtitles correctly.

Over various continuities, they’ve also shared interests in music, computers, and potentially in games. They both seem to enjoy a bit of competition as well (see Classic and the manga for Ami, and NogiMyu for Zoi). And I think shared interests could be a potential bonding point for them, whether as friends, friendly rivals, or a potential couple.

But I think the other thing, at least more recently, is that in some ways they remind me of a toned down version of Tsukimi and Kuranosuke from Princess Jellyfish. From my perspective, Tsukimi and Kura are another pair that works beautifully whether they’re shipped romantically or remain friends. Kura, like Zoisite, is dramatic and enthusiastic. Everything is a big deal for them, and while they may not immediately read as nerd-types, they do appear to have their interests which they seem to know an awful lot about. (Kura is a total fashion nerd, but early on, doesn’t understand a lot about clothing construction.) But then Tsukimi, like Ami, will tend to wall herself off and become fearful in situations that confuse her, defaulting to familiar patterns and interests either to calm down or to figure out how she should react. But again, get either of them started on stuff they are passionate about, and suddenly you’ve activated what  the Princess Jellyfish manga calls “Awakened Mode.” They can be that in a romantic context, but the context does not need to be romantic. So I think to a certain degree, Tsukimi and Kuranosuke’s friendship played a pretty big role in how I look at Ami and Zoisite, which is the main reason I have this paragraph here.

Finally, there’s that, in order for the pairing to work at all, it more or less needs to be a slowburn. Ami can’t go that fast without panicking or side-stepping to be more of a rivalry, and there are at least a few versions of Zoisite that I cant see it being advisable for him to go zooming full throttle into a relationship either, particularly if he’s not able to get out of “prove I’m not just a stupid pretty face and can actually be useful” mode before then. Which means there would ideally be a decent period of time where they’re either friends or trying to figure out what they want to be. The “figuring out what we want to be” part is often my favorite in terms of exploring romantic relationships between characters. Write it in a satisfying manner, and their story would feel just as complete regardless of whether they end up together as a couple or choose to remain friends.