#i did write one of the main characters gay and ending up with a sailor guy

[morgan-the-lonely-brick]

I wrote mlm and acew solidarity in my book in the form of a gentle life-time friendship, but I just know the cishets are gonna be like: omg are they a secret COUPLE? Do they FUCK?! I bet they just act like friends to hide that they’re THIRSTY for one another!! And it makes me want to commit die

[susansontag]

my guide to lesbian anime both canonic and subtextual

(won’t include every lesbian anime ever, this is a personal list)

the canonic-gay section:

revolutionary girl utena

nothing before or since has ever done it like this. trigger warnings for everything imaginable. loads of homosexuals in this one. gender commentary, fairytale allusions, a lot of kids who are having a hard time growing up and moving beyond their pasts. sword lesbians.

flip flappers

the problematic favourite, in that there’s at least one uncomfortable sexualised shot each episode (roughly speaking; some have none and one has even more, unfortunately), so be warned. but at its heart flipflap is about repressed cocona going on adventures with outgoing and expressive papika, and their exploration of various fantastical lands/inner worlds of people they meet. hugely inventive and pretty, and a core thread is cocona discovering she’s gay.

aoi hana (‘sweet blue flowers’)

the comfort lesbian show, with not a romantic relationship at its heart, but a friendship between two childhood friends who meet again, both of whom are gay (though only one realises this during the show’s run, as it’s based on a manga). one of them dates an upperclassman at her school, and there’s various gay and bi side characters. it’s just very wholesome, lovingly animated, sweet and sometimes painful stuff.

bloom into you

I controversially do not care that much for bloom into you, but as the best, high-production, non-skeevy yuri show in years - that is based on a manga by a woman - it’s worth mentioning. late-bloomer girl dreams of romance, though has never felt it, and finds affinity with a girl who similarly is disinclined to date. that is, until said girl says she fancies her. genuinely moving exploration of developing gay identity at times, only downside is my personal disinterest in the black haired girl. some weird ‘heightened’ moments that feel inauthentic and titillating do arise, but it’s very few - to the point where some would disagree with me on my reading of it, I’d imagine.

sailor moon

the bits which the lesbians are in, etc. it’s a classic. I haven’t watched all of it myself because I don’t care much nor do I have nostalgia for sailor moon, but it’s one of the most notable examples of a butch/masc lesbian in anime, so that’s nice.

o maidens in your savage season

nerdy teenage girls who are part of a literature club make it their quest to discover sex and dating, in various ways (unfortunately, not all of them dealt with well… teacher/student foolery that is fortunately abandoned before it gets worse but is nonetheless handled with mixed results, imo). mostly though it’s hilarious, sweet, silly, and there’s a gay girl in it, but I won’t spoil which one. adults predating on children is also handled much, much better in another of the show’s storylines, and I do appreciate it for trying to tackle that difficult subject matter.

oniisama e (‘dear brother’)

an oldie, based off a shoujo manga by one of the greatest (riyoko ikeda). there’s a central relationship to root for (better articulated in the manga), but it’s mostly just what if we were messy depressed lesbians at an all-girls school and we were also melodramatic and mean as hell.

revue starlight

what if we were at an all-girls dramatic arts school and engaged in utena-like duels to become the top performer? main implicitly gay couple with canonic side gay couples. it’s quite cute. also worth watching if you like takarazuka in any way (prestigious all-female japanese theatre troupe), because the main conceit of the school is very much based on that idea.

the gay-themes section:

sound! euphonium (season one)

in which director naoko yamada’s awesome legacy of writing lesbians and then saying “who’s to say though, ha ha” continued (she did it already with a side character in tamako market). this one is known as the gaybait to end all gaybait, but hear me out: the first, and best, season, is not only a fantastic self-contained story with many great characters and plot points, but it’s main character is undoubtedly lesbian-coded and even has a love interest you can argue about. frankly I think she’s gay-coded throughout the whole show (even when she dates a guy for two minutes), but this feels very “I wanted to focus on this compelling relationship between two female characters but the adaptation’s success meant we had to revert back to the source material in later seasons”. what we got from this is perhaps my favourite lesbian anime of all-time, following utena.

a place further than the universe

this show is about four girls who join an expedition to antarctica, and what if I told you they’re all great, believable dorky teenage characters, and they exist in a well-written and thematically satisfying show… and there’s nice lesbian implication between one of our adult female protagonists and her old (deceased; not a spoiler) friend who was the main teen girl’s mother. there’s some sad here, obviously.

puella magi madoka magica

the well-known, much beloved deconstruction of the magical girl genre is also pretty gay, as it happens (so gay in fact it started a trend of gay-coded pink+black magical girls). it’s not a particular favourite of mine, but it’s visually one of the most notable anime productions ever, so it’s well worth seeing just for that.

NANA

the 2000s manga+show about the two twenty-year-olds who meet on a train and discover they’re both called nana is also pretty gay! to the point where there are heated fandom debates about nana komatsu’s (pink one) possibly being a lesbian. they both have many relationships with guys, but it’s their bond that forms the heart of the show, and the bisexuality (or, who knows, homosexuality) of the leads is pretty undeniable. to the point where you’ll get blasted on the nana subreddit if you try and suggest otherwise.

the wild-card section:

keep your hands off eizouken!

this is a show about three oddball girls who start a club to create anime, but have to pose as the film club instead for various reasons. it’s not even subtextually gay, I just personally think that all three of the leads are gay and the whole thing feels like a very female-centred creative endeavour. hugely fun watch, and very high production values. you wouldn’t regret seeing it.

skip & loafer

these two you see here are side characters. this show is actually about mitsumi, the greatest female protagonist of this kind of shoujo-esque slice of life show, who moves from the countryside to tokyo for high school. here she meets many a misfit, including the pretty blonde and the nerd girl who have undeniable chemistry and form one of the most popular pairings in the show. it’s just a good time.

chihayafuru

I’d get in trouble for this, because the primary romance factor in the show is a famed heterosexual love triangle with chihaya at its centre and her two male childhood friends at the side. but go with me on this. chihaya is oblivious to romance and feminine socialisation, she is obsessed with a card game and with her equally dorky dark-haired rival… she’s anime’s greatest autistic lesbian lead. and you get more than what you pay for, because the two boys I mentioned? a lot of gay stuff going on there too.

the big-screen-cinematic section:

the adolescence of utena

revolutionary girl returns in the sequel of a lifetime, slightly older (sixteen, say) and gayer than ever, to escape this place with the love of her life. cue the impromptu dance sequence (with stars and rose petals)!

liz and the blue bird

the naoko yamada directed gay cinematic universe continues with a gorgeous film starring two of the side characters from sound! euphonium’s second season (not necessary to watch beforehand). that means it has plausible deniability whilst being so crazily gay it’s almost some kind of joke. this is a highly detailed, laser-focused character study of two girls in their high school band club and their ever more strained relationship. yamada never misses.

the summer

this is korean! it’s about two girls who meet at school and start dating in secret, what happens as they grow up and move to seoul, and how their relationship changes and strains when met with the conservatism of contemporary korean society. it was sweet and like aoi hana above for japanese girls, felt pretty frank to the experiences I’d imagine young korean lesbians might have.

puella magi madoka magica: rebellion

if you’re a fan of the show, you probably don’t talk about this movie. sure, it’s a visual feat, sure, it’s insanely entertaining, but it’s also frustrating and upsetting and potentially undermines the neatness of the original as a perfectly-crafted story. BUT. kyouko/sayaka becomes all but canon in it, and everything else aside, that’s all that really matters. but you should definitely watch the show beforehand.

[elephant-in-the-pride-parade]

20 Fic Writer Quesions

First, thank you @singeart and @mytardisisparked for tagging me!. I did a set of these last year and it was fun to see how my answers have changed since then!

How many works do you have on Ao3?

61

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count?

1.6 million and counting!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Star Trek Voyager

Star Trek Prodigy

Sailor Moon

Harry Potter

Madam Secretary

Ive debated writing SwanQueen for a long time but by the time I had the energy and time to write, I'd lost interest in the show. I might rewatch and come back to it one day...

I have thought about writing Wynonna Earp or Tamora Pierce universe fanfiction but have yet to get an idea that grabs me. I like to find things i want to fix and it's hard when the source material is perfection.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

The Parent Trap (305)

Sailor Moon H Order of the Phoenix (289)

Sailor Moon H Half Blood Prince (222)

Eden's Deception (167)

Out of Reach (150)

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try to! although if I'm busy or feeling down it can take me a while. Sometimes I forget.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I still think What Even is 3 Minutes takes the cake. Or I'll be Your First if You'll be my Last

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I Heard the Comm on Christmas Morn and Parent Trap

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Unfortunately I've gotten hate on fics since I started writing them... and it's become just something I expect to happen. Sometimes it's funny. Sometimes it confuses me. Sometimes it makes me sad. It really depends...

The memorable haters:

There was the delightful Fanfiction.net reviewer who got pissed i was "making everybody gay" (that was funny actually). I forget if they were the same person who flamed me when Mcgonagall and Hooch kissed under some mistletoe. I digress. They thought queering up the canon was like sinful or whatever. I was delighted to disagree and make the story even queerer.

Another person cussed me out for magically restraining Sailor Plutos time travel powers so my plot would work and for making her have feelings about it. aparently mad the senshi were not all powerful deus exmachinas who never feel feelings... That one stung. That was the reason I left FFN.

Hate because in Sailor Moon H, Harry Potter was not the main character.

Hate that I made a magic bio baby for the magical lesbians. (I can't have a biobaby with my wife irl, can't I at least let the fantasy girlies have one!)

Hate for including C/7 in a story

...I wouldn't call it hate for the fic but I have had an uncomfortable amount of commenters who hate on Chakotay any time I have him involved with Seven / don't have him grovel to Kathryn / really any time I let him advocate for how he's been hurt... at first comments like this stressed me out because i worried i had not written the character sufficiently sympathetic. But then Parent Trap breached containment and I got enough comments to be able to see I had definitely written the character fine... it was just that some people were always just rooting for a "Chakotay falls over himself to apologize to Janeway for not immediately dating her" storyline that... I'm not sorry 😅 I'm never going to write that. The older I get the more I feel like both of J/C just need therapy! They've been through so much trauma. Their feelings are valid (yes, even for other people).

Parent Trap breaching containment also meant that when I hit an irl rut and couldnt get in the writing headspace for a bit, a bunch of - sincerely, well meaning - fans got into their heads to start a commenting campaign to get me to update. I heard about it and panicked (i had bad experiences that year of getting people who only commented "update soon" and those conversely stressed me out and made me not want to write - I love fic writing for the conversations and community... so it made me feel like readers thought i was just a content vending machine). so just the thought of potentially getting an avalanche of guests, well meaning or not, begging me to update made me lock commenting until the fic was done. I wound up deciding after that that since "update soon" requests were becoming a lot more frequent that I'd consider before posting whether getting them would hurt my ability to finish. So most of the time now if I know a fic is going to reach a bigger potential community, I don't start posting it until it's almost done. That has had some upsides! (Im less dependent on positive feedback for motivation now!) and some downsides (no one comments on my fics with their theories anymore) but on a whole, a good decision.

Immediately after finishing Parent Trap I wrote Fever and got this amazing guest comment from someone who said (paraphrasing cuz i'm too busy to go find it) "Youre better than this. how dare you write this filth. J/C are better than this" that one had me laughing for days. But the comment did prompt me to create a second account later when I wrote a tentacle fic. At the time I worried i'd get a ton of similar flame comments from people who were subscribed to my main for other types of fic... but I am even feeling like that's unnecessary now. I write what I write! Yes, some of it is really dirty, weird smut. I'm not sorry.

Currently any time I post a Threshold AU fic an anon drops into my comments section in order to call me "Sick" and "Deranged"... they make me so sad I don't even make a quippy reply. I just delete them. I write that universe for my own wish fulfillment... Someday (soon, hopefully) I'm gonna have kids. And I am going to have to have conversations with them about who their biological dad is. Why they look like one mom and not the other, whether their non bio family love them even if theyre not blood related. I might have a kid who feels different from everyone else because they're queer or they're neurodivergent or they're some new alienating feeling I am totally unprepared for. and I'll need to help them navigate that.. Writing about hybrid salamander kids getting raised in a blended family is FUN. But more importantly... it helps me practice those situations. It comforts me to know that if the characters can figure this out in the AU then I can figure this out in real life! What the hell is sick and deranged about that!?

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I write all sorts of smut. I post the stuff that doesn't totally mortify me once i've gotten out of whatever mood had me writing the smut in the first place.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I have exactly two crossovers to my name: Sailor Delta and Sailor Moon H. I think on the basis of word count alone Sailor Moon H (>500,000) is definitely the craziest.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I consider the unlicensed use of the AO3 archive for ChatGPT and similar LLMs theft. (and there are several court cases pending that are also seeking to address whether it is legally theft as it pertains to published fiction and newspapers). The canon creators of the fandoms I write for aren't allowed to make money by using uncredited ideas pulled from my fanfiction (just like I am not allowed to make money from writing fic with their copyrighted settings and characters) and i continue to be apalled that ChatGPT and other LLMs think they can get away with using others copyrighted ideas without permission. Especially that they can take advantage of people who cant profit off their own work.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? 

No but i would be open to it!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! Once with @magdalenejaneway, once with @jellybeansarecool and once with @trekflower and all three were fantastic!

Most of what I write for Threshold AU is also increasingly collaborated on a great deal by the AU creators and a few other folks. It's been going for over 2 years now and doing that more and more has enabled us all to drop more references to previous fics and to create a more cohesive body of fic for the AU. in general its just been so fun and fulfilling to make these stories with other people who are as invested in the characters as me and it just fills me with joy. I'm really grateful for you guys.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

On the one hand J/C have inspired over 50 fics, But on the other I have also been loving Sailor Moon and those ships since before I knew what fandom or shipping were. And really the only reason J/C inspire more fic is that all the sailor moon characters got a happy ending.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I never want to give up on a WIP...

but I am in knots about what all to do with Out of Reach.

Out of Reach is a St:Prodigy S1 AU where Chakotay has amnesia and doesn't remember anything from his time on Voyager, all the while he and Kathryn are in a situationship with a baby.

There's two questions I never figured out how to answer: 1. Does he get his memories back. If so, how much and what enables it. and 2: Do he and Kathryn stay together?

On the memories front. saying he never recovers seems unfair to the character. But saying he magically does thanks to 24th century science feels cheap and disrespectful - to the reality of real memory loss and to the plot that built up so much tension around this. Saying he gets back some or more over time is more realistic, but left me uncertain of where exactly to end the story. Tying his retrieval of memories to Kathryn also tied me up in knots. On the one hand they're in love and thats romantic. on the other hand the optics of his recovery totally dependent on one person is icky.

I also found the baby really annoying to have there by the end - I still think he's cuteeee i really do!!! - it's just... he makes the "we should stay together and try to figure this out" answer a bit too convenient 😅. and he complicates Kathryns reluctance to restart their relationship. The more she resists, the more callous she seems (deliberately not trying to patch things up with her kid's father) when i really just want to focus on her fears that Chakotay would be happier without her and that even if they restart their romance, she might lose him again on a future mission. It's ironic because i originally created the baby to ensure she wouldnt just run away from her fears. And now hes contributing to my difficulty ending the fic...

Actually the more I think on it, my real problem is I could write my way out of this, but I cant do it in only one or two chapters and that makes me feel tired. i was sorta hoping to wrap that fic up. 😅🙈

16. What are your writing strengths?

Imagery has always been a strength for me. But i think I'm also getting really good at action scenes too.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Oneshots.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Only if it was information i wanted the reader to understand but not the POV character.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

W.I.T.C.H way back when I was 15.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Universe to Mend - I even have a few sequel or companion novel ideas to come after it.

This has gone on a while... 😅 - thank you for tagging me and letting me ramble! i'll tag anyone else who wants to answer! have at it.

[cocogum]

My problem with hxh fans’ reasoning for claiming that the 1999 anime is canon.

I do not understand why some people would believe that the 1999 version of hxh was so different from the manga because Togashi told the staff team about what to include for the 1999 adaptation.

Like why would anyone believe that stupid far-fetched claim??

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, killugon fans have claimed that the reason why there are so many gay hints in the 1999 version is because Togashi was the one who told the staff team to change some scenes that happened in his own manga and make them the way that they are now in the 1999 anime.

Why would he do that you ask? Because apparently, Togashi wanted to replace his own manga scenes with gay fanservice filler so that his fans can come to the conclusion that the main four will pretty much all end up together.

So here’s why this theory is bullshit:

Togashi is a perfectionist.

Why in the hell would Togashi, someone who is critically known to be a perfectionist that would literally not hire anyone else to make the story for him even if he has massive back pains, would willingly tell an animation team to go completely off the rails by altering the animated version of the story for him in order to make something different from what he originally worked and planned?????

Not only that, but you expect me to believe that Togashi helped them on the show while fully knowing that half of his own characters would get their personalities and character buildings shrewd in the process if he even altered one thing from his manga?????

This literally doesn’t make any sense.

Togashi said (on multiple occasions mind you) that he enjoys writing/drawing the series BY HIMSELF. HxH became a hobby for him at this point and so, he does it at his own pace.

He would NEVER in any situation, let someone else especially a TEAM change huge chunks of his series and replace it with pointless filler just to give out hints for the fans that their characters would canonically get together in the end.

Why???

Who thought of this “theory”????

I’m guessing that someone was curious enough to note that the 1999 looked nothing like the manga and 2011 one. Because of the huge differences, this person must’ve thought it was a good idea to severely speculate that there must’ve been some “weird” business going back in the day.

Like I said, I don’t know who the hell thought about this, but they were clearly overthinking this whole situation.

If anything, I can actually give you a much better reason as to why the 1999 version is so different from the manga and its reboot: old mangas adapted into anime used to have the same treatment as hxh. A lot of animes back in the day used to completely ignore the original material and just did whatever they wanted with the series they were working on.

A few examples like these are as follows:

Fullmetal Alchemist

Black Butler season 2

Deadman Wonderland

Bleach

Rurouni Kenshin

Sailor Moon (first adaptation)

It was completely normal at the time to take some few aspects of the manga and put it in the anime to make it look more independent and detached from its original source.

HxH was no different. It also suffered from that common practice.

So no, Togashi did not play a role in working or suggesting any ideas for the 1999 hxh anime. The only times he would actually do an effort in noticing hxh works based on his manga is if he’d promote these works or not (like how he promoted the first hxh movie Phantom Rouge by drawing the main antagonist of the movie Omokage in volume 0 as well as Killua, Kurapika and Gon promoting the movie themselves).

He had no part in anything anime related.

He only cares about his manga.

And for the love of god, please just stop listening to these kinds of people.

[whatthehelliswrongwithme]

Voltron Part 38

Yes, the season 7 wrap-up gets to be it’s own post. Why? Because I said so. Fuck you.

(If y'all expect a literary analysis: Please don't. I just want to share my dumb thoughts)

Honestly. I expected worse

It may just be, because I was warned of the last two seasons so many times. But it wasn’t that bad. Still liked it more then season 4

[It *was* a mediocre season right after a really good season. So maybe the general dislike came from that?]

The episodes at the beginning were the better ones. I’m not really a huge fan of this “Keeping up with the Garrison”-thing

I don’t think that the battles are interesting. I’m here for the characters. So the last battle just was dragging on and on and on...

This season also really liked killing off characters and fake-deaths

And it kinda felt like they reused a lot of the animated shots

Also it kept on introducing new character to which I have no attachment to (Looking at you, 4-eyes and Random ass children)

4-eyes.... Yeeeeaah.

They did a “Bury your gays”, I didn’t really recognise his and Shiro’s realationship as romantic and he basically had no screentime. So. Bad Rep. (The goddamn COW had more screentime than he did!)

My favourite episode was “Sheith flashback! Flasback! Honey, Moustache man shrunk the kids! Flashback! Oh yeah, Allura’s there too”

(Also they actively parraleled 4-eyes with Keith. Which is just another huge Sheith thing. Which I very much enjoyed)

Shiro: Look at how they massacred my boy! He's now more of a mentor-role than one of the core-members. Kinda like moustache man. And I think that’s pretty stupid. I liked him more as a Paladin (Why did he leave the Black Lion? We’ll never know) (The answer’s, Bad Writing)

Keith has kinda grown into his leadership role? It was nice to see him being soft with characters other than Shiro. But it’s weird that he kept on making references to the Red Lion. 

Lance is the Sharpshooter.

But also he had his whole “homesick”-thing since the very first season. And it kinda felt like he should have been the main-focus, when they returned to earth

Hunk finally got the screentime he deserves! He had some angst, some heroic moments... Good for my boy!

Pidge fucking finally got her whole family back. Which I guess is really the end of her arc then... Gurl, you gotta get a new motivation for the last season.

Allura. I’ve got nothing to say really. The season focused on “returning to earth” and she really has no association with that.

Moustache man is honestly still one of my faves. He just want’s to be a Dad to Allura. And I respect that

(He's a single dad, who works two jobs. Who loves his kids and never stops. With gentle hands and the heart of a fighter. He's a survivor)

Sailor Moon and space wolf were just completly forgotten about in the last couple episodes. But I like them. Maybe next season, they'll get more screentime

Krolia’s gone, but at the very end, she was there again? If she’s still in S8, why did they make her temporarely leave?

Klance had some moments. If you squint really, really hard...

Sheith. Aaaah yes, my favourite. Not as many moments as I hoped for but still pretty significant ones

Coming out of the right corner is Shallura! What an unexpected return! With such moments as “being worried space parents together” and “gifting a really fucking ugly arm” !

Allurance kinda seems inevitable now. It’s obviously the ship the show pushes the most. (And it’s straight, so thats a huge factor). I think it’s cute, but if it does become canon it better fucking be not as one-sided as before!

Plance! Plance! PLANCE! Gosh, I live for Plance. They’re just so cute together!

Adashi? Why does this exist? We literally know nothing about 4-eyes?

But, whatever makes you happy (And I’m really sorry for you)

Romura is really fucking cute. And even though it has basically no scenes, it's still somehow one of my favourite ships

Shidge. (I’ve got nothing to say. I just want to make a joke.) Shidge-shipper’s ideal realationship-dynamic is that picture of a small hamster trying to eat a banana

Hunelle came out of nowhere, and I kinda dig it...

Predictions for the last season:

They gotta solve the space witch-problem (After she was literally only in the gameshow episode)

They’ll probably still want us to care about the Random ass children somehow

Give me Furry back. I don’t care how they do it, just make it happen. She deserved better then to be killed off by Lotor

I demand more cute slice of life-episodes!

And either an anime-trope Beach-episode. Or an american cartoon-trope Bodyswitch/ Shopping-episode

It’s probably just gonna end in another big robot battle in which I have no interest in. Won’t it?

Remember when these post were really short? Yeah, me neither.... Only one season left! Once agagin, I just wanna thank everybody for putting up with my bullshit, that are these posts. Glad some of you think I’m funny! And thanks to everyone commenting, liking and reblogging! (Especially the comments explaining some background-infos are nice) Love you all❤!!!

[aotopmha]

Hello! I saw one of your posts (I think about Yelena) where you talked about female characters that seem "strong" but are pretty empty once you dig deeper, and I totally agree! There's seems to be a big problem with shounens in that it's almost always male characters that take the forefront, at the cost of sidelining women (especially when they're supposed to be a main character *cough cough Sakura*). Doublely so when there's a trio with 2 boys and 1 girl.

While I was watching Jujutsu Kaisen (which I did like), one thing that always irked me in the back of my mind is the fact that Nobara just cannot match up to Yuuji/Megumi. Not in backstory, character development, battle, etc. While her male counterparts in the trio get these deep backstories, strong powers, she seems so average in comparison—thought don't get me wrong, I still love her. It treated female characters better than some other big shounens, but I still felt very much excluded by the fact that female characters are so underwhelming compared to the male ones. Especially in terms of screentime, plot relevance, and character interactions. I'm not sure if I should just accept that just because it targets guys mostly, that women don't need to have a central part in the plot because they're "not relatable enough" and "don't sell well". At this point, having watched many animes, I feel like just giving up the search. I would love to hear your thoughts on this, as I'm not sure if I'm just being too sensitive about it.

Which brings me to my actual question: Is there any animes (action/battle ones) with good female characters that you can recommend? I've already watched/read AOT (and loved it!) and tried my hand at MHA.

I very much agree with there being an issue of female characters always getting much less time and especially depth given to them compared to male characters, especially in shounen stories (stories aimed at boys) and I feel like you're not being sensitive at all.

But the truth is, I think it's still an issue in media worldwide and even media aimed at girls, too.

A lot of manga aimed at girls frustrate me, too because they also romanticise unhealthy relationships and make female characters only about their relationships.

Wierd age gaps are a wierdly common thing from various stories I've tried.

The Sailor Moon manga and the FMA manga for example frustrate me to no end because of this because so many people seem to hold them up as feminist works.

The Sailor Moon manga is old and perhaps for the time really was special, but really has aged and I think also does some really typical tropey stuff of burying gay relationships. (It's also another age gap example where the age gap between Usagi and Mamoru is really wierd.)

I also don't care for the whole "weaponised femininity" thing – celebrating or idealising stereotypical womanhood to me is basically upholding the status quo of what society wants women to be.

(This is my issue with most magical girl stories, really. Celebrating limits that society places on you is wierd and I feel like "reclaiming" it basically does nothing but just reinforce those standards placed on women.)

As I said in that other post, all of the female characters in the FMA manga squarely fit into the surface-level female character writing trope to me.

None of them even come close to being as fleshed out or important as Ed, Al or Roy.

But Olivier looks cool and "kicks ass" so clearly that story is the most progressive, feminist thing ever.

It's not even about how much depth they have, it's about how much depth and importance they have in comparison to the male cast.

These two stories in particular frustrate me because they are written by women and are held up on this wierd pedestal on here.

The "doesn't sell" thing is especially bullshit to me, too considering how, looking at a lot of figure sales and popularity polls and stuff, female characters, even if they're not as fleshed out as the male characters, still sell and are popular.

In a recent global popularity poll for One Piece, almost half of the top 10 (4 out of 10) are female characters.

I think it's at least partially because guys find female characters hot, to go to video games for a bit, I think Nier Automata sold so much at least partially because of 2B's design, but they clearly sell and are popular.

Naruto's Sakura and Jujutsu Kaisen's Nobara are interesting to me because I feel like their relative "normalcy" could make for a much more compelling narrative than the male characters have because being an underdog and a lack of knowledge and experience gives room for actual struggle and through that a lot of growth.

A character being weak/not as competent as others can be a great thing in terms of writing when channeled to create a character arc.

Ultimate competency can be a very bad thing because said character would potentially have no room to grow that in turn could result in just a boring character.

I think Naruto tried to do this, but it was really inconsistent and Sakura's victories mostly either felt like they weren't her own or felt like they were just handed to her.

And I feel like her mistakes weren't really delibrately incorporated into her arc, but rather were there because the writer decided they needed to happen. She's one-dimensionally incompetent.

I've only seen season 1 of Jujutsu Kaisen, but what I like about Nobara is that she is competent, but not perfectly so and also not completely incompetent.

On the surface it feels like she gets constantly one-upped by everyone and always keeps losing, but there is always something that does keep her integrity as a character.

My worry with her is plot significance. For example, we learn what she is all about in her introduction episode and her face-off with the intelligent curse is interesting because it paints a certain naivete and inexperience as a curse fighter, but I think Yuuji could've just dealt with the curse himself.

Momo's, Maki's, Mai's and Nobara's plot was interesting where Nobara got a last word in with Momo but was defeated by Mai afterwards, but it also felt separate from everything else.

The only true plot-important moment that only her could've done was the season's final fight where I felt Yuuji might've been pretty screwed if Nobara wasn't there.

In every encounter (even the one before Yuuji dies and she's separated from Yuuji and Megumi fuels her desire to be stronger) with her we learn something about her or have something cool happen.

The basis for her is great, but again, all of the male characters just have so much more time dedicated to them.

As for recommendations for battle/action series with good female characters, I think 12 Kingdoms and Ancient Magus' Bride count.

They're much more focused on character building, but I think they do still count as action series.

But I also love "non-action" stuff like Ouran High School Host Club, Princess Tutu, Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Revolutionary Girl Utena. Utena in particular fascinated me from episode 1, but I stopped around ep 12 and haven't gotten back to it.

The Ghibli movies Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke are also good for female character writing to me. Howl's Moving Castle, Laputa and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind are good, too, but I feel Nausicaa in particular was too perfect as a character.

For shounen, from stories I have read/watched I think Noragami, Attack on Titan, One Piece, My Hero Academia and Jujutsu Kaisen do a general "good" job with female characters with some specific issues attached to each series.

Some series have like specifically a few good characters. I like Botan, Genkai and Mukurou from Yu Yu Hakusho.

I like Bulma, 18 and Kale and Caulifla, the magical girl characters and Cheelai from DB(Z and S). Videl was really cool when she was first introduced.

But they're all with pockets of limited focus here and there.

The series I listed above have much stronger female character presence with characters with more depth and non-relationship/gender-focused stories.

I think Noragami is probably my favourite out of all of these. Even the minor female characters get unexpected depth. I love Hiyori, Bishamon, Nora and Kofuku. They're all very different characters with very different stories and plot significance.

But I have also fallen behind on it and MHA and as said I've only seen season 1 of Jujutsu Kaisen.

I've only seen about 7-8 episodes of Lupin III's fourth series, but I kind of love Fujiko. (In fact, the series is so strangely good it's wierd to me it isn't more popular than it is.)

But these are some recommendations from the top of my head.

Thank you for the ask!

[scarlet--wiccan]

your ideal billy/teddy duo comic (plot, character designs, artists and writers involved etc)

One thing that I've always wanted to see is a comic about Billy and/or Teddy that was produced entirely by mlm creators. Vecchio, Robles and Gracia are all gay artists who've worked with the characters on recent titles, and I'm eager to see more from them. While none of these artists have ever shown the characters in a way that exactly suits my wants, they've each demonstrated a clear personal vision of who Billy and Teddy are that I can respect. I find that Vecchio and Robles, as illustrators, both articulate a gay sensibility in their designs and are able to represent a range of gay identities and expressions with not only dignity, but real love, which is frustratingly hard to come by. Oh, also, Kevin Wada covers, because duh.

Writers are a little bit more difficult for me. I love Anthony Oliviera and I know that he's got a lot of ideas for the characters, so I'd be delighted to see anything that he might pitch. Vecchio also does write, and his creator-owned series, Sereno, is an urban superhero story in a modern fantasy setting-- something he describes as Batman Beyond meets Sailor Moon. Based on that, I think he'd do a great job telling a story about a witch and shapeshifter from New York. I know that Sina doesn't work for Marvel anymore, but I've always wished he could've done Billy and Teddy in a sweet little rom-com miniseries, or even just a single issue special. He's particularly good at writing tender, funny, and just unapologetically gay characters who signal authentic elements of our culture and community without making them cheap or laughable. That is a quality which I find essential for Billy and Teddy, and it's part of why I want more mlm creators to work with them.

If you had asked me this question last year, I would have had an easier time pitching ideas for these characters. I'm eager to see what the future holds for them, but "rulers of an interplanetary nation" was never part of my vision for how Billy and Teddy would be spending their early twenties. I did have this idea for an ongoing series about their "college years", wherein Billy would be studying magic with Wanda and Agatha, and Teddy would work part time with Carol or Alpha Flight while attending community college or learning a trade, like piercing or tattoo artistry. The idea was that they'd often spend time apart, as they'd each be focusing on their own careers and having individual storylines, but they'd always come home to each other at the end of the day and lend each other support, in ways both mundane and super-heroic.

I used to imagine that they'd stay in that nice apartment Sunspot got them, which would act as sort of a crash pad/base of operations for a revolving cast of their friends. They could convert one of the rooms into a magical sanctum for Billy, and another into a study room or art studio for Teddy. Tommy, America, Kate, or whoever could crash on their sofa whenever they're in town or need to do a team-up. Wanda could help Billy ward the apartment so that he and America are the only ones who can portal in and out, but then Loki would find a way to get around the wards and cause trouble, and there'd be a whole dramatic reunion. The whole idea could easily be adapted as a Young Avengers ongoing if you widened the focus from the main couple and treated it as an ensemble piece with individually chunked plot-arcs, much like the original series.

Unfortunately, that idea no longer holds as much water as I'd like because, for one thing, they lost that apartment and never explained why-- it seems like it was passively retconned out in between New Avengers and Death's Head. More importantly, they now live in space, with Teddy being a busy ruler of an interstellar Alliance, and Billy his prince-consort.

I would still like to explore the idea of them pursuing separate goals and working in separate fields while never being truly apart. Empyre introduced a clever plot device wherein Billy is now able to sense Teddy's location and teleport to him instantly, no matter the distance, which, I assume, works in reverse as well. This feat of magic is made possible by their marriage, which binds them symbolically and draws on the power of their love. They can go anywhere and do anything on their own, and still be together again at a moments' notice, which is super romantic and also affords them more flexibility than most superhero couples. I would still pitch a series about Billy doing magic work on Earth while Teddy does diplomacy in space, and one can always warp to the other when they need backup fighting a bad guy. They could even switch back and forth between staying on Teddy's throne-ship, and getting cozy at Billy's little Manhattan apartment when they want to get away from it all.

I guess my final answer is that I want the two of them to be fully realized, individual characters whose love is illustrated through mutual support rather than, like, being glued to each other's hips. The things that I want to see Billy doing are very far removed from the things that I want to see Teddy doing. Superhero characters tend to lose momentum when you marry them off, and superhero couples tend to fizzle when you keep them apart, but Billy and Teddy's unique strength is that they're never truly apart, and their relationship never seems to lose steam-- they've been a pair from the start, and... they're a little obsessed with each other.

The Billy story that I most want to see right now is a full Maximoff team-up. It could go in one of two directions: A) a quest to uncover Natalya's history and finally vanquish the Emerald Warlock, in which they're waylaid by Doom and other magic villains from their past, while teaming up with their magical friends around the world-- basically a sequel to Scarlet Witch; or, B) a showdown with Krakoa and a resolution of their relationship with Erik, which, best case scenario, partially reverses the Axis retcon and proves once and for all that the Maximoffs are mutants. If we got a longer series, we could actually do both plots-- they learn something about Natalya which leads them back to Erik, and the two arcs become a larger story.

The Teddy story that I most want to see is a Guardians-esque space romp with political elements featuring Teddy, Xavin and Noh-Varr as, like, a sexy-alien-boys version of the Gullwings from Final Fantasy X. Does that make sense? I don't have a great grasp on the political landscape of Marvel Space so it's a little hard for me to come up with details, but I know that the status quo has been totally upended, so there are going to be different factions and movements springing up, and likely no shortage of villains and space monsters rearing their heads when the dust of the war has fully settled. Teddy's a monarch now, but he's also been set up as this Arthurian hero-king, so I think there's still room for him to go on adventures and fight his own battles with his magic sword and, maybe, a crew of loyal space knights.

Having said aaaallll of that, I would absolutely die for a full-on fantasy adventure story with Billy and Teddy. I mean, Teddy's a king with a magic sword and his husband is a super-powerful witch. It's gotta happen. I'd actually be into them having a rematch with Mother, who is a pretty adaptable villain, in that her abilities and motives will differ depending on how she's been summoned. I'd also really like them to have a chance to go up against Sequoia directly, and on more even grounds. Quoi is such a great enemy for them because they represent the same generation of Avengers babies, and, actually, Quoi's origins are directly tied to Billy's-- their respective parents had a double wedding together. Sequoia and Teddy's arcs in Empyre paralleled and contrasted each other beautifully, but the two characters had no meaningful interactions. I want to see thems as arch rivals, and maybe, begrudgingly.... friends? Plus, I love that they're both alien princes who live in sci-fi stories, but whose aesthetics and powers are pure fantasy-- Quoi's a dryad wizard and Teddy is King Arthur, if King Arthur was a gay anthropomorphic dragon.

Anyways, that's my Wiccan+Hulkling pitch. The first arc is Billy and Teddy facing off against Sequoia in a magic forest that he's grown on his new planet, only to find out that they've been set up by Mother.

In the second arc, the three of them grudgingly team up against Mother while hashing out their shared backstories and giving Quoi, who's literally never had peers to relate to, a chance to fully come to grips with the way he was conditioned and manipulated by his father. Instead of conjuring dead parents, Mother seems to be able to summon dead children, which makes her particularly dangerous around the Cotati, Kree and Skrull, who've just emerged from a war and have countless recent dead.

In the third arc, Mother has freed R'kll and they've set their sights on Earth. Billy heads out with America and Tommy to ask Loki for advice on defeating her, while Teddy brings Sequoia before the Avengers as his charge in order to ensure that Quoi receives provisional immunity.

Loki is able to provide insight on how Mother might have been summoned and what the parameters might be for breaking the spell that's tethering her to Earth-616. It turns out that Mother is essentially holding Anelle's soul hostage and has been appearing to R'kll in her form. Mother's hold, at this point, has spread to the entire Alliance, and Teddy will have to defeat her or else she'll use it to destroy Earth and decimate his nation in the process.

Teddy recruits Wanda to help face Mother down. (side note, I'm desperate to see more of their relationship as in-laws.) Wanda agrees to work with Sequoia but insists on calling Mantis and making them talk.

The final showdown is the three boys, plus Wanda and Mantis, against Mother, R'kll, and an army of dead alien soldiers. Mantis and Wanda are able to pull Anelle's soul from Mother's grasp, but this doesn't banish her-- Mother's true anchor was R'kll, who'd been carrying Anelle's ghost in her heart ever since the destruction of Tarnax.

R'kll believes that she's always acted in the best interest of her nation, and she thought that bringing back Teddy's mother would finally make him see her way. Anelle and Teddy have a tearful reunion, but he admits that the only mother he's really mourned was the woman who raised him.

Wanda, Mantis, and Anelle, as a trio of mothers united with their lost sons, are able to reverse and seal Mother's power, which was based on lost children. They are not able to banish her, however, until R'kll steps forward and sacrifices herself, believing now that the best she can do for her nation is to rid the Alliance of the curse she brought upon it.

R'kll and Anelle begin to dissipate, but R'kll's sacrifice has called forth the spirit of Mrs. Altman, who is finally granted some closure and dignity in death by getting a chance to see how far Teddy's come and the peace that he's built in her memory.

Lots of crying! I made this sad. I'm sorry.

[telehxhtrash]

Hello! Sorry, this is unrelated to HxH, but I got curious about queerbaiting in Madoka, that you mentioned in a previous ask. Could you expand on it?

Hello !! Sure! Spoilers for Madoka Magica below the cut!! Also, keep in mind that I have a terrible memory and I watched this anime ages ago so I might not be the most accurate!

Mhh so if you’re unfamiliar with Madoka Magica, it’s a dark magical girl anime. It’s very, very good, I recommend it. The basis of the relationship between the two main characters, Madoka and Homura, is that they start off as “enemies” : Homura seems to hold a grudge against Madoka for some reason, and she seems to know a lot of things about her. Her whole deal is to make Madoka avoid signing a contract that would make her a magical girl, for some unknown reason. 

The twist is, Homura has the power to go through multiple timelines. That’s why she seemed to know so much about Madoka. Because she’s been repeating the same month countless times. Why? Because she got deeply, deeply attached to Madoka in all those timelines, but in each one of them, Madoka dies. So Homura sacrifices everything to try and change the timeline because she loves her so much and doesn’t want her to die. She’s suffering through countless timelines to try and save Madoka. Homura is definitely written as having a crush/being in love with Madoka, it’s been a while since I watched the anime but it’s pretty clear by the end of the anime that she’s deeply attached to Madoka, more than friendship entails, especially considering that she’s sacrificing her sanity and health to save a girl over and over again, a girl she technically only met for one month.

Anyways, when asked if Homura was in love with Madoka, the author replied with “Probably.”. Which. Is something that disgusts me. Because he weaved queer themes into Madoka Magica’s story and then refuses to acknowledge or confirm them. Saying “probably” is a coward move. His viewers are asking if they are not crazy and if he did write a wlw character in his anime, and he just. Refuses to adress it. Refuses to either confirm it or deny it. And that’s shitty. Because by doing that, you make sure that you keep your queer viewership close with the promise of an anime that is maybe queer. You promise them queer themes, ambiguous perhaps, but they’re there. There’s still the hope that it is queer. But at the same time, by not acknowledging it, he’s making sure that he’s not losing his conservative viewership. Homophobes can keep on watching the show because they can brush over the subtext since it’s not confirmed by the author. And that’s shitty. That’s queerbaiting to me. You’re purposefully introducing queer subtext in your work and when asked about it you chicken out to keep your viewership. Leaving works, relationships and characters as ambiguously queer is a coward move, especially when it’s something you purposefully put in your story. Acting like he doesn’t know the answer to that question when he’s the author that created those characters is shitty.

An example of a good way to acknowledge queer relationships in your story : Miss Takeuchi’s interview where when asked about it, she confirmed that Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune were indeed dating. That they were in a loving homosexual relationship. It’s as easy as that. When people ask you about queer themes that you purposefully wrote, it’s shitty to not acknowledge them and leave your queer viewers in the dark about this. 

That’s why I consider Madoka Magica as canonically queer, because I’m petty and I hate queerbaiting. If the author wants to stay ambiguous for viewership reasons, then fuck off, I’m gonna yell about how gay it is to anyone who watches.

Ambiguous queer representation hurts queer people. Leaving queer relationships or character’s sexualities as “up to interpretation” is a SHITTY MOVE and queerbaiting to me. That’s why I consider Madoka Magica as queerbaiting. Simply because the author is a fucking coward.

edit : here’s an different take on this by another anon!

[tfw-no-tennis]

hxh....MUSICAL

as soon as i saw that a hunter x hunter musical from the year 2002 starring the OG 99 VAs existed, i knew i has to see this...so i set out and watched the nightmare of zoldyck (i would later find out that theres ANOTHER musical, which i plan to watch too)

luckily its all on youtube subbed! in 360 quality...oh hell yes lmao

ok i logically knew this was gonna be a musical but seeing the characters singing is like. a lot. THIS IS SO STRANGE 

musical illumi is played by a woman which is interesting. shes got a good voice 

i think they just panned to killua but it was so pixelated that i legitimately could not tell hvbadjkfbjkdsf

i have no idea whats going on vhbajdfhhajsdf theres a bunch of people falling over on stage...i think theyre dying? who are yall 

oh shit backup dancers?

lmao illumi killed the backup dancers rip.

oh that IS killua lol. s/o to the 3 pixels that are visible 

is this gonna be the zoldyck arc but a musical? lmao

OH WAIT IS THAT KURAPIKA AND LEORIO? i cant even tell lmaoooo

i can 100% tell these are fan subs lmaooo i love bad fan subs SO MUCH it makes a viewing experience even better

this is p much just a musical version of the manga/anime so far lmao i love it 

the way theyre spelling zoldyck is. a lot 

is every character gonna get an intro song. how much of this musical is singing and how much of it is dialogue cause theres defs a range w/musicals 

lmao i love gon leorio and kurapikas interactions even here, they rlly feel like two parents being dragged around by their energetic kid 

i cant even see the set at all so im just gonna assume theres like, the gate and all that behind them, but it all just looks like a dark wall to me lmao

i love singing exposition 

HISOKAS IN THIS???????????????????? oh my lorddddd 

OH i see now in the description that hes played by the 99 VA too lmao i love it 

wow musical hisoka rlly b like [writes himself into the zoldyck family arc]

oh here we go w/the song introducing the zoldycks 

damn grandpa got mad flips 

this is. wild 

its especially wild that alluka isnt here bc she like...didnt even exist yet at this point in the story 

zoldyck family sitcom wow 

i see the gon/killua romance is still going strong in the musical 

oh so they did all the training and goin thru the door stuff offscreen lol

this is actually doing a pretty good job expanding on the canon stuff from this arc lol so props. espec w/showing more of killua being scared of illumi 

oooh this is interesting actually, this is like....an AU where illumi is present during this arc, and how that would change things. And Also They Sing 

the zoldycks are so fucked up lmao 

also i feel like theres some ‘early adaptation’ character weirdness going on, like w/the grandpa, who seems much less intense here than in the anime (at least after seeing him in the yorknew arc), and milluki, who seems like a gag character here lmao

oh my god lmao is hisoka here to visit illumi?

the hilarious irony of illumi telling killua that assassins cant have friends, then going to hang out with his good buddy hisoka

kurapika is the only one here with a brain cell (for now) 

ah yes hisoka and illumi doing their nasty murder flirting thing 

HISOKA IS SO NASTYYYY I HATE HIM tho his actor is very good and smarmy

OH its canary!! is there uh. blackface goin on there. i cant actually tell, what with there being only 3 pixels present at any given time

really love how half of this is just the regular arc but with the characters singing abt stuff during it 

the lady playing killuas mom has a rlly good screeching voice jesus lmao 

ohh i love musical fighting so much

the sound fx on kurapikas sticks are cracking me up

butlers got mad cartwheels

oh theyre doing the coin thing! this is so out of order lmao

oh my god i love that theyre doing like, sick dance moves while coin flipping

ah the zoldyck messenger hawk makes an appearance. i love that thats canon and real

the 12 yr old gay romance is REAL even here 

the subs seems to be translated very literally, especially in the songs, so its honestly not clear what theyre even singing about vbsjkdjhfskjfd

gon and killua singing about each other is adorable tbh. also i love how silva asks killua abt his friends and killua is like yeah i made some friends. and then only talks abt gon ahjsduhfabhskdf gayboy 

ok so the zoldyck arc is like, ending, but theres still an hr of musical left so whats even gonna happen lmao. also where did hisoka go

oh no the audio and video arent synced anymore huvbhjadfbhjsakdf

oooh they asked canary to come w/them, thats cool

theyre having a party??? hvbajdsfbhasjkdf

oh shit??? what did zeburo just do to killua??? WHATS GOING ONNN lol this is UNCHARTED TERRITORY 

OH GOD IT WAS ILLUMI. SHOULDVE KNOWNNN

omggg all their formal outfits....everyone cheering wildly at kurapika is cute 

LEORIO AND KURAPIKA DANCING.....

the fact that both killua and gon are taller than kurapika in this is rlly funny 

the idea that the zoldycks are also highly trained ballroom dancers is super hilarious to think about, even moreso when you consider how isolationist they are 

seriously grandpas got mad flips

also i love leorios outfit 

this feels like a filler arc tbh. and i dont mean that in a bad way!

leorio trying to get kurapika to go to the hot springs with him lmaoooo

HVDSJBJFSBFJHS HISOKAS BACK. IN DISGUISE. OH MY GOD 

hisokas stage presence is fantastic gotta say 

damnnnn dad zoldycks got mad flips too. guess it runs in the family 

props to the actors for managing to keep their wigs on while flipping around like that 

its so fuckgin funny thats hisoka just introduces himself as illumis friend, when this whole arc is all about how assassins Cannot Have Friends 

so hisoka is just here trying to get family approval too huh

gon miming a fishing trip was adorable and realistic...sometimes u get skunked and It Just Be Like That

leorio is rlly tryin to shoot his shot w/kurapika and kp is just Not Realizing huh vbjsdufjbsaukjf

wow leorio breakin the fourth wall like that lmao 

wow so illumi hacked killua. rude 

hisoka and illumi are lowkey hilarious in this 

leorio is rlly sending every signal possible to kurapika and kp is like. No 

leorio: killua is a scary murder baby, but also im adopting him 

kurapika singing abt how weird it is having friends after dedicating their life to Revenge(tm) is v on brand 

HISOKA OH BOY 

LMAOOOO HISOKA IS SUCH A FUCKING SNITCH I CANT 

no wonder illumi didnt wanna tell him abt his evil plan lmaoooo he fucked up even telling hisoka that much clearly 

the zoldyck siblings just staring at hisoka in confusion bc How The Fuck Did This Clown Get In Our House hvbhjdksfnjksdf

you can tell the subs are off when the audience is cracking up but you dont even see a joke there lmao

oh my goddd hisoka using bungee gum to make everyone dance is. hilarious 

oh my god synchronized dancing 

HVBSHDJFBJDSKFHBSJ illumi doing a dance routine independent of hisoka and hisoka being like ????? vhbjsdkhfjkjsdnfkj THIS IS HILARIOUS

supremely funny to me how illumi makes such a big point abt assassins not having friends, yet hisoka is announcing himself as illumis friend w/every given opportunity hvbhajdkdfhjskf

this feels so filler arc i love it. thats so charming to me since the 2011 anime doesnt have any filler (from what i can tell?) 

kurapika and leorio rlly feel like killuas parents here lmaooo

this is all dramatic but kurapika keeps repeating what leorio says and its cracking me up hvbajhkdhfbjsk

i lov this fambly 

ah, even in the musical illumi is still such a manipulative bastard 

i feel like the quality just went down EVEN MORE, which i didnt think was even possible hvbhjkdsfskf. at least the audio is synced w/the video again

illumis got a good evil laugh 

this is the exact brand of dramatic angsty filler content that i was hoping for in this lmao i love it 

oooh more zoldycks 

honestly this is more how i expected the zoldyck arc to go in canon hbshjdkujfkjsfdas

dramatic gay filler angst + somewhat incorrect fansubs = perfection

OH SHIT CANARY 

BRO DID SHE JUST DIE???? OMFG

the subs keep calling illumis power ‘spells’ which seems to imply that illumi is some sort of assassin wizard rather than a nen user hvbsudhfkjsdjgf

come to think of it, what point was the manga at when this musical was written? it has to be pretty early on, maybe just as nen was being introduced

gon boutta go ham on illumi...Get His Ass

OHHHH GON DOING THE ICONIC ARM GRAB....ARM GRAB REPRISE

gon doin the good ole reliable shounen ‘punch your friend and yell at them so they snap out of a funk’ lol

i do love how typically shounen this is. friendship speeches! but delivered by SONG!

illumis main hobby is butting in at the worst possible moments 

HISOKAS BACK OH BOY

hisokas playing card blocked killuas hit hvbhjakdhsfjnakdsf thats like in jojo when those manga blocked dios knives 

wow the whole zoldyck squad is here

ooh forbidden zoldyck lore lmao

killua: mom u guys are lame im joining this much cooler family now. bye 

i love how hisoka is just weirdly lurking around for all this zoldyck drama lmao

silva seems like such a bro in this but i feel like hes rlly not like that in canon vhauidfhbsjhdkjfk

oh nope there he goes w/the evil laugh lmaooooo

sorry dude but leorio is his dad now 

gon sniffing zeburo hgbajkdfshbjkdfjnsjdk oh my god

oh hell yeah some synchronized main character finale dancing 

actor showcase! everyone loves kurapika which, same 

ah so the director of this musical also directed the sailor moon musicals, which i didnt know existed but of course that exists...thats funny considering the hxh mangaka is married to the sailor moon mangaka 

anyways that was fun honestly!!!! i fuckgin love musicals, and musical adaptations of non-musical source materials can be like, SO different tonally, but this honestly felt like a fun filler 

it was really interesting seeing something based on the canon from this early on - as i said above, some of the characterizations (like the zoldycks) seems a bit different than we’re used to, but others were spot on - like hisoka only showing up intermittently to sow chaos and do nothing else vhjkadhbfhkjdsfnj im assuming the yorknew arc hadnt happened at this point, but hisokas actions in this musical were hilariously similar to how he acted in the yorknew arc, so, props. 

plus it was cool to see the ‘what if’ factor w/hisoka and illumi also being there, espec illumi interacting w/killua bc its so wildly different from how killua reacts to any of his other family members - hes clearly scared of illumi, in a way he isnt w/anyone else, and that was done well here w/the scene where illumi threatens killua’s friends to get killua to listen to him

also the angst was honestly great, and there was some REALLY sweet wholesome parts that i loved. and the music wasnt half bad either!!

i think the VAs did a great job playing the characters - hisokas VA was especially great (and i really loved kurapika too). gons hair was not very similar to how it looks in the show so it was a little more obvious that he was being played by a grown woman, but still a great performance. 

anyways fun times, i love musicals and this was a fun ole 2000s filler shounen musical adaptation

[libraryleopard]

A, E, M, and T for the writer ask!

A. If you could rec a piece of music to accompany one of your fics, what would you pick? Why?

Well, I did write almost the entirety of the Twelfth Night fan fiction I wrote earlier this year to Russian folk music (specifically Russian Sailor’s Dance by Golden Ring Ensemble and Tales of the Firebird by Derek & Brandon Fiechter and no, I can’t for the life of me really explain why). There’s probably more fitting songs out there but for a queer Shakespearean sequel about a nosy servant playing Cupid to arrange a happy ending…uh…that’s what I associate with it?

As for Azalea Summer, probably either Tam Lin by the Forgetmenauts of the Tricky Pixies, which are two of my favorite versions of the Scottish folk ballad my novel retells. I have strong opinions on variations of Tam Lin and there a lot of versions, but those two induce almost a Pavlovian “must go write” response at this point.

E.  Who’s your favorite main character you’ve written?

Josie from Azalea Summer! She has a lot of uncertainty regarding herself, but unwavering strength when it comes to helping those she loves and I got to dive into her insecurities and determination a lot when writing from her POV for 80,000 words,

M. Meta! Have any meta about a story you’re dying to throw out there?

Yeah, actually! I don’t have much meta on Azalea Summer I want to share, but the Twelfth Night short story/sequel/fanfiction I wrote is a queer reimagining of the end Shakespeare comedy from the POV of Valentine, a servant of Duke Orsino has a lot of inspirations behind it. 

The first spark of inspiration came from the fact that I I was initially cast as Valentine in a spring 2020 production of Twelfth Night that sadly never came to be (thanks, covid), but that meant I’d already memorized his very few lines and kind of thought about him as a character. I kind of came to the conclusion that I liked the idea of him as a very astute, thoughtful character who picks up on a lot of the secrets and drama present in the play, which is what lead to me using him as a narrator. 

There’s sort of an upstairs-downstairs class dynamic explored in it that’s sort of inspired by 1) reading Conrad’s Fate by Diana Wynne Jones and finding the perspective of someone who worked in a big, fancy household interesting and 2) the way the servants in Maurice (a gay classic novel by E.M. Forster and a movie adaptation with the same name) were aware of a secret gay relationship between two upper-class men in one of the households. 

My actual Shakespeare class had a lot of discussions on how forced the endings of Shakespearean comedies can be and how there can be characters who feel “left out” of the ending, which are both very true for Twelfth Night. Sebastian and Olivia’s marriage feels so forced and I’ve always felt very bad for Antonio by the end of the play, plus I really wanted to explore the fluidity of gender and sexuality that’s present in the Orsino/Viola/Olivia love triangle that kind of gets squeezed aside for a straight double wedding. All of that–Valentine, class dynamics, a desire for a queerer, more authentic ending for the play–all ended up mixing together into a short story that I wrote ridiculously fast and had a great time working on.

T. Themes, motherfucker, do you have them? What are they?

Azalea Summer is, I think, infused with some themes about what it means to hold on and let go, whether that’s in regard to phases of life, memory, relationships, or literally holding onto your girlfriend as the faerie queen tries to make her a human sacrifice. The original ballad has a very central moment of Janet holding onto her lover to save him from the faerie queen, so I wanted to explore holding on in a more metaphorical way, like when we have to let go and move on versus when we have to hold tight to something we love.

Thanks for asking, Ren!

[bisexualterror]

(banner not mine, simply copied from @ao3commentoftheday)

so i have a lot of bookmarks saved on google chrome (hmu if you want me to do a writing resources list or a second fic rec), and i thought might as well do a fic rec! i seperated them by fandom’s and i did my very best to tell you why i love the fic, but i think i just rambled lmao

tagging my friends who i think might b interested: @ocfairygodmother​ @phoenixwench​ @leftzonkpsychicland​ @artish-calamity​ 

minor warning, this is a long list~

Vampire Diaries:

Bits of Sunshine is my favorite Vampire Diaries fic, it has a really funny and charming OC and gives you a different perspective of the main characters and it really inspired me with my own TVD fanfic, it’s still on hiatus but it’s nearly 500k makes up for it 

The Bystander offers a unique view to OCs, where the OC is separated from the main plot for the most part but interacts with main characters that eventually pull her in

Crimson Peak is really good if you love a powerful Bonnie Bennett, it explores the magic of Expression more and her family background and OC Bennetts and it offers a interesting plot and a rare pairing of Klaus/Bonnie

The Next Chapter is a Buffy crossover fanfic, it puts Buffy in the Vampire Diaries, and though I still haven’t finished it was pretty good at meshing the two shows and exploring more of an older Buffy ~

My Paper Heart is really good if you’ve been trying to look for f/f in this fandom and haven’t found it, it not only explores the oc’s sexuality but also their supernatural identity

beneath the steady waves of fearless hope and grace is also a really good queer bennett witch oc, the oc wakes up in TVD in the body of her parallel fictional universe self I guess you could say, and it has a lot of angst like whoo boi, prepare yourself, it’s so good! 

Human is pretty good, love their oc, it hasn’t been updates in a very long while but it has 100k+ and it’s 100% worth it if you’re looking for something different

Harry Potter:

Changes Everything is really good at addressing the potential problems in the Wizarding World through the lenses of an OC, and it has Harry getting the family he fucking deserves sooner rather than later, and it goes into amazing detail and depth over the magics of the universe. also, lots of lgbt+ characters~

@nonchalantxfish ‘s Rose Petal Red is so good, like, you want Slytherins being amazing and devious, this is the fic for you! you want ocs galore?? this is for you! you want changes to the plot but with serious consequences?? this one is for YOU! Although it’s on haitus rn, it has a shit ton of words, like 500k+ and it’s 100% worth it~

The Clockwork Locket is so good guys, it’s an Marauder era fic, and it has an amazing mix of humor and mystery and romance and friendship and by the end you’ll be shipping the oc with literally everyone lmao, but overall it’s just really good if you’re looking for a Sirius/OC but still want to read about the mysteries in Hogwarts and the OC has her own plot and storyline. The second installment is still in progress but the first installment is like 270k words

Daphne Greengrass, Side Character is what it says on the tin, it’s about daphne and takes a different approach to the character with humor and wit, it’s very enjoyable, still not finished but it’s at 100k+ words

To Be a Slytherin, pretty sure everyone’s seen this one at one point, it’s a really good oc potter twin fanfic, goes into detail with magic and it’s just really good and has one of the longest word count i’ve ever seen at 1,166,349 

The Observer Effect is a MCU crossover with adult fem!Harry, it hasn’t been updating in a while, but from what I remember it’s super good and funny!

Naruto:

A Holmes in Konoha is super good, an Holmes OC is reincarnated as a orphan in Konoha, it explores the Nara’s more and it’s just so good at meshing investigation, friendship and relationships, action and drama~ 

Deja vu no Justu is a time travel fic, it’s really good, have not caught up to it since it first started but it has 500k+ words written and from what I remember it was very well written, like holy shit that was good writing ~

How to Obtain a Reverse Harem in Naruto by @burntpetal16 is pretty freakin good at making me laugh, it’s a remake of their finished fanfic, Sakura, which is equally as good, it’s about an self-insert OC suddenly waking up as Sakura, and Sakura def does what it says on the tin but also there’s an air of mystery surrounding the OC and how they got in the universe who she was before

The Yondaime’s Assistant is finished at 165k+ words and it’s good, like so good, it’s an OC reincarnated into Naruto fanfic, and it’s different from a lot of other OCs in the fandom because the OC goes into the Genin Corps instead of going out into the field, the writer manages to enthrall you with paperwork basically as the OC saves people from the background, it’s also endgame poly relationship between her, Genma and Kakashi!

After the Rain is a fem!Naruto time-travel fanfic, another fic which i haven’t finished, but from what I remember it was it’s done really well and has a lot of angst and drama and action and it’s just, prepare YOSELF for HEART wrenching ANGST!! also it’s 500k+ words!

The Witcher:

The Sorceress, The Witcher, The Bard and a Girl is what it says on the tin, it’s AU and an established ot3 situation w Yen/Geralt/Jaskier and it’s just,,, family fluff, disgusting domestic with all the drama that comes with three emotionally... complicated people trying to raise a young girl who has powers, starts off in a small town

Lullaby of the Isles is more so the game/book fandom, but it’s so good that I just didn’t care about that small fact, it’s still only four chapters but all together those four chapters have 17k+, and it’s about an OC suddenly waking up as a siren, a boss monster siren to exact, right after the siren had killed someone, and it’s just really good and different

And Yet Here We Are  is a collection of more ot3 fanfic of Yen/Geralt/Jaskier, it’s basically a lot of sexy times, but also some funny situations

to grow in adversity is the only fanfic that on this list i haven’t actually read, but the premise seems interesting enough, it’s about Renfri surviving and it has Jaskier as her baby bro

Better Love is surprise! another ot3 fanfic, only this time, you get to feel the pain of an unestablished relationship, it’s basically just Yen & Jaskier bickering while Yen tries to get Jaskier to fuck Geralt. It’s v horny, with a big hunking side of angst and some fluff. Completed and waiting for me to finish the last two chapter!

Teen Wolf: 

Sonder is @musiciatee​ ‘s OC fanfic, and it’s so good??? like every update I get to read blesses my imaginary crops, cures my depression and makes my skin glow like an goddess. If you’re looking for a good POC OC in this fandom, this is it okay. 

Kerosene Hearts and Matchbox Bodies is an OC fanfic, by @thegalanerd​, it’s being reworked right now, but 100% worth the read, but like, I would recommend any of their fanfics, it’s all very good like HOLY SHET it’s good. 

Red Rover, Red Rover is a pretty damn good OC fic, it’s on hiatus but it has 73 chapters and like nearly 500k words, it’s very dramatic, angsty, slow burn, mysterious, and the OC has their own little drama to deal with outside of the main plot

The Unconventional Life of Abigail McCall is probably one everyone has read by now, but if you haven’t, give it a shot, it made me smile a lot

Doctor Who: 

Three of a Kind, The Stuff of Legends is an male OC Tyler fanfic, and by god it is so good, very angsty, lots of drama, very AU, lowkey domestic, this drama gay OC must be protecccted at all costs

London Born is another Tyler OC, but Rose and her have different dad’s and she’s a character of color and bisexual, it’s just such a good fucking story and a favorite of mine, it’s also very AU and has a lot of original stories that the OC goes on, sometimes by themselves. It’s the first in a series, but this first installment is finished so I’d suggest subscribing to the collection for the second installment~

The Blonde Girl is the first installment of an AU of Rose’s start in the Doctor’s life, starting with them meeting randomly during different parts of their life and it basically slowly weaves Rose into the Doctor’s life/past. It’s really good, haven’t finished it yet, but I liked how they changed/expanded Rose’s character. Once you finish that you’ll want to start Defender of the Earth and The Companion Connection, the other’s I haven’t read yet so I don’t know the order they go in, but they’re all like 100k+ words and the author is still regularly updating their newest installment so enjoy~

Alexander-The Seer and Changer of Time is probably the longest DW OC fic out here, and was only last updated early last, but at a word count of  1477k+, I’m sure we’ll survive. This is another fic I haven’t finished reading, but one I’d high recommend either way. If I’m remembering correctly, don’t like quote me on this, but I believe their OC was non gender conforming.

The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday  was sadly cut short before the author finished, but the OC is so amazing and just my hero, and a character of color, will fight everyone and probably win, and just I love this OC so much and even though it probably won’t ever be finished it’s worth the read and it’s at nearly 800k so, enjoy each word~

Sailor Moon:

Rabbit of the Moon, is literally the ONLY fic I’m rec in this fandom, mainly because it’s the only fanfic I’ve ever read in this fandom, but it’s so good, like I was just feeling nolgastic over what was my first anime, but the OC is so...scary and smart and cunning and intense af

Twilight:

Twilight'd is a really good OC, it made me laugh a lot, and it makes you love the characters more than the actual writer made you like them

A Hundred Winks of Sunshine by @tsume-yuki​ is so good, like, I don’t know how to articulate how much I love their SI!Bella, like, I don’t read these types of stories a lot, but, tbh any story made them is just worth taking the risk to read because you won’t be let down. It’s very funny and charming and so good!

GOT/ASOIAF:

How To Lose Your Dragon is not really what it says on the tin, trust me I would never read a fic that would have anyone steal Dany’s dragons, it’s just the dragons like Jon, hmm I wonder why?? kind of fic, and I really love the way the writer writes Dany 

Can beauty come out of ashes is another Dany-centric fanfic, and it’s really good so far, but I’m only on the second chapter so I can’t say much but I like the idea of the Starks and Dany becoming pack. It ignores s7-8, so we already love~

MCU:

The Scientist is a good Loki/OC fanfic, like it’s so good because the OC doesn’t put up with any shit, and is very smart and it’s just so freakin good and cute and such a fucking slow burn, like get ready for some slow burn

Just An Old Fashioned Love Song by @izhunny​ is such a good Frostiron fic, like, so fucking good, just THE FLUFF~ THE DOMESTICS??? SO GOOD!! ALSO!! ALMOST ALWAYS MAKES ME FREAKING HUNGRY!!! haven’t finished this, but I’d highly recommend it 

Code Blue by @jarvis-is-my-copilot​ likeee, I haven’t finished reading this either, haha sorry, but I really like the OCs and it’s just.....SO....GOOD!!!

The Wooden Puppet is a really good OC fanfic, very different from ur usual OC, love the way the OC interacts with the characters and I love the way it started, it’s hilarious

Archaic Kinds Of Fun is like, all of my dreams and hopes for the Avengers put into one fic with an amazing OC, like did you want the team as a family, or hell even friends??? do you want them to get fuckin therapy??? HERE YOU GO! It hasn’t been updated in a while because the author has been through a tough time, but it’s at 370k+ and it’s just really good. an inspiration to me. Bruce/OC too, which is rare, but like, it’s just so fuckin cute and the OC is super fucking close w Tony too and Loki joins in later in the fic and it adds some comic book characters but, WOO, it’s just...SO GOOD!

Lilies Say Sorry is another Loki/OC fanfic that I liked that didn’t make me concerned over the power dynamics of Loki being a, well god. It’s the first in it’s installment, still haven’t finished the second installment, shocking, I know, it’s almost like I have a habit of doing that. But I’d highly suggest reading this, it’s just so good and the DRAMA!

I Need You is a Tony/Reader, and like, I usually don’t read Reader fics, but holy shit this is so good and the Author doesn’t do Y/N to address the character, but like, it’s just really good at drawing you in and it’s good at putting the character into the movies in a fresh way. It cured my acne. Very regular updates. almost at 400k. 

Caught Hot-Rod Red Handed is a Stony fic, it’s really fucking good at making me laugh so I’d highly suggest reading this if you’re feeling low, but also don’t read this late at night, you’ll wake up ur family and make them think ur laughing in ur sleep

Life In The Fast Lane is a Fast and Furious crossover fanfic, it’s the first installment, but you don’t need to know anything about the movies to be able to read it, it’s Tony/OC, (hahha you can literally see who I favor from my recs), and it’s so good, and the OC is bisexual and I love her and more people need to read because the author writes romance and action so freaking good

ps: please leave a nice review on their fanfics if you do read and enjoy some of these, because just one nice comment can make a fanfic writers day if not week, it lets them know that real people really are reading their stuff, even if it’s just a ‘good chapter’

[lozbotwfanart]

For the soft, stay at home ask game, numbers 5 (tv shows that cheer you up), 18 (book series), and 25 (game that takes your mind off things). I love seeing all the great art that comes across your blog; thanks for your great work!

5.       5 tv shows that cheer you up

Well, I’m currently going through the original Sailor Moon (1992) TV show right now, and its cheering me up quite a bit. Or making me really nostalgic. Its like a really happy sadness. It’s like I’m going to the mall when I was five, which was awesome cuz it was big and pretty, but I look back and remember “oh yeah, this is the reason the world sucks now.” This is bad metaphor. But, YAY Gay Villains!

Let’s see, other shows that make me happy….

Level E makes me happy, but it is a deeply deeply flawed show. Like, I hate just about every ending, yet, I love that main character, WHO WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING YET THE SHOW PUNISHES.

Thunderbolt Fantasy makes me EXTREMELY happy. In the age of streaming, I watched that show week to week and then watched it all over again, and then watch it again to prep for the new season. GODDAMN I love that show.

The new Harley Quinn show made me pretty happy. Too much blood for my taste, but the writing was so good. Gotta look at it with a critical eye though, it does not treat its Jewish characters that well, but there are multiple Jewish writers on the show itself. So, idk.

Versailles made me happy, because I used to watch it with my friend. But then they cut the gay subplot with Phillippe and turned him into a cop so I’m like ????? You just got rid of the best thing in this show.

The Netflix Castlevania series makes me SO HAPPY!! Again, so much blood, but I guess that just comes with the territory when dealing with vampires. But the treatment of Alucard makes me unhappy.

That’s more than five, and I could still keep going. I love talking about cartoons. (though Versailles isn’t a cartoon)

 18.       a book series you can always escape in

Hmm, I don’t read a lot of books. Well, I don’t read a lot of fiction books. My room is so full of books, they are taking over. But they are mostly non-fiction. I also don’t read series, like at all. If a story is more than one book, I just can’t. Though there was a series that I quite enjoyed ‘Blood and Feathers” by Lou Morgan. This was about the time Twilight just came out, so this is kind of a young adult romance, except with angels and demons. Though, the main protagonist does not romance a demon or an angel. (I did read another book where the protag did though). Idk, I liked it. but the series never finished, so there’s just two books. I highly doubt the story will ever finish.

But, if you’re talking about single books, Alice in Wonderland is really my go to. I love it to pieces. I don’t know, I seem to always read it when a death happens. When this whole pandemic mess started, I watched the Disney movie like five times.

25.      a game you’re playing that takes your mind off things

I was playing Animal Crossing, but I got a little bored of it, so I’m not playing it anymore. I might pick it up later, but who knows. Unfortunately, Breath of the Wild is on my Wii U and not my switch, and I don’t have my Wii U set up at the moment, otherwise I would probably be playing that.

Thank you so much for the wonderful questions. i think I got a little long with it, lol. but I appreciate it

[hatake-kakashi]

What are some of your fave animes

OK LET ME PREFACE THIS BY SAYING I HAVEN’T BEEN INTO ANIME SINCE 2014 AND I AM JUST RECENTLY GETTING BACK INTO IT!! BUT

- DEATH NOTE (netflix, crunchyroll, funimation, kisscartoon)

it follows a guy named Light Yagami who discovers that a shinigamai(god of death) dropped a notebook into the human realm and that whoever’s name is written in it will die(and you can specify how, if you’d like). it shows how he becomes sort of a vigilante to put criminals in place. he is then under suspect as the killer by L, a smart and elite person who works with the police and has never lost a case. 

seasons: 1 total episodes: 37

RATING: 10/10!!!

warning: violence/murder, major character death but like thats expected, religious themes(i guess), light swearing

fave characters: matsuda and L are high up there...as well as Mello, Mikami, and Gevanni ships: i mean the most common ship is Lawlight(LxLight) but i think my main are lawtsuda(L x matsuda), mikalight (mikami x light), mikanni (mikami x gevanni), and mellodramattic(mello x matt)/nearlymellodramattic(near x mello x matt)!!! remisa is also cute:( notes: i just spent all my money on the manga! i’m so excited to read it!!! 

- SIRIUS THE JAEGER (netflix,  probably kisscartoon but i havent looked)

the main character, Yuliy Jirov, is the last of his tribe (he is a sirus. so like...sorta like a werewolf) and he is set to revenge his family’s death as a jaeger(hunter. but like. a vampire hunter) but it turns out his brother, Mikhail, is alive and was turned. the main goal of the plot is to find and also somehow protect this thing called Ark Of Sirius , which is sort of like sacred power that was given to Yuliy’s tribe, from falling into vampire hands. 

seasons: 1 total episodes: 12

RATING: 10/10!!!

warning: violence, action, major(?) character death

fave characters: Yuliy...i love him so much; Mikhail, Hideomi, Willard ships: so uh i wouldn’t recommend going thru the ao3 tag because its a common thing to ship the brothers(*disgusted emoji*) but i am working on writing something to fill the tag with hideomi/mochizuki, hideomi/willard, and yuliy/phillip

notes: i think the way the creators did the vampires is really interesting. honestly i watched it bc of the pretty vampire man in the cover. i learned that i hate him but he’s still pretty. THIS SHOW IS REALLY SHORT PLEASE WATCH IT I AM BEGGING TO HAVE SOMEONE TO TALK ABOUT IT WITH

- CASTLEVANIA (netflix, ???)

Dracula sends creatures of the night(? literally don’t know another way to describe them. uh. monsters?) to attack the cities of Wallachia because they killed his, albeit human, wife (her name is Lisa)because they thought she practiced witchcraft. It follows Trevor Belmont, the last son of the Belmont family (a family that basically killed these creatures + vampires); Sypha Belnades, a badass speaker magician; and Adrian ‘Alucard’ Tepes, the son of dracula. their goal is to end the war against the human race. It also shows Dracula’s side of things and follows the two humans that are on his court, Hector and Isaac (they both denounced humanity because of their bad upbringings/experiences)

seasons: 3 total episodes: 22

RATING: 10/10!!!

warning: violence/gore, action, death/killing, sex, angst, religous themes, swearing

fave characters: really love the main three of course but like i also love Hector ships: trevor/sypha/alucard, hectorcard, alucard x happiness, hector x happiness

notes: it’s based off the video game. season three fucked me up(it’s AMAZING THOUGH!) i cannot wait for season 4 omg:(((( 

- NARUTO (netflix, cruncyroll, funimation, probs kisscartoon)

naruto uzumaki wants to gain recognition from his peers and also become the leader of his village(hokage)

seasons: 5 (i didn’t watch shippuden. i’m talking the OG naruto) total episodes: 220

RATING: 10/10 but like tbd bc ive only seen the first 3 seasons so far

warning: violence, action

fave characters: kakashi, iruka, gaara, rock lee ships: uhh kakairu(kakashi x iruka) i don’t really ship a lot of things. kobuto x orochimaru is kinda good too but like LKASDFASD

- B: THE BEGINNING (netflix, ???)

Genius investigator Keith Flick rejoins the royal police force, RIS, just as serial killer "B" emerges and commits a double murder. Mysterious youth Koku may be an ally of the group's -- or a target. When the RIS investigates a death that appears to be linked to B, Keith disagrees with the crime being connected to the criminal mastermind. An attack on a member of the RIS leads members of the group to suspect a traitor within their ranks. After being declared a murder suspect, Keith turns himself in. Koku is forced to fight for his survival

i copy and pasted that bc i cannot remember it that well but i do remember liking the show!! i will rewatch and update accordingly w my own summary

RATING: 8/10??? i can’t remember it that well which is why the rating is lower than the others

fave characters: oh dear i cannot remember a lot about this show but it’s good i promise. MINATSUKI was pretty tho ships: idk....

notes: yeah i need to rewatch it but its good i swear

OTHER NOTABLE ONES ::: 

- tokyo ghoul ( i haven’t seen the new season so i don’t want to review it before that)

- free! (i haven’t seen it in a while aa)

- one punch man (i watched it on a bus w this guy i used to like so it has a place in my heart aa)

- yuri on ice (honestly the fandom sucks but if you ignore that it’s actually pretty cute)

- dramatical murder (uh. this was a bl game and the game was very bad but i think the characters are cute.)

- haikyuu (currently watching)

- bleach (currently watching)

- 7SEEDS (currently watching and like it’s good but it’s kinda slow for me so i might give up on her...)

SHOWS I PLAN ON WATCHING/LOOKING INTO:::

- d.gray man/d.gray man hallow

- psycho pass

- k

- death parade

- darker than black

- devil may cry

- kabaneri of the iron fortress

- hunter x hunter

- kakegurui (?? idk yet but i like the art)

- inuyasha

- god eater

- hero mask

- sailor moon

- fruits basket

- blue exorcist

- no.6

- sword gai: the animation

- wave!! (when it comes out!)

- hellsing (?)

- fullmetal alchemist

- devilman crybaby

- psychic detective yakumo

- 91 days

i have no idea if any of these are problematic and some probably are and if they are and i find out , i will keep that in mind but like sometimes i just like to enjoy things lol

[kclenhartnovels]

🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻-(obvi u don't have to do em all)-🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻

119 flowers, Lisa. 119. You think I won’t answer all of these? You’re a fool. I’m a fool. I’m going to answer all of them, and they’re all going to be Wolf at the Gates related so I can break your heart again. Buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride. I’m putting it all beneath the cut so that not everyone has to suffer through this. Just you, Lisa. Suffer with me.

🌻 Here we go. Let’s go. First of all, WatG is about 18 years old. It’s older than most of tumblr. That being said, I found a fun game someone else did that has first and last lines of characters, so I’m gonna do that with the major players:

🌻 T’ke: “T’ke” and “I haven't lost it yet.”

🌻 Medvetis: “What has this man done?” and “Isthe, don't.”

🌻 Isthe: Is mute, has no dialogue

🌻 Constantine: “I don’t recognize him.” and “Long live the King.”

🌻 Delgos: “You’re supposed to be socializing, Con—my Prince. I’m not sure your father would be pleased about—”  and “May the stars guide his spirit.”

🌻 Alastair: “Just a few words. Can you spare the time?” and “I am sorry, but we will have to bind your wrists, in order to maintain appearance.”

🌻 Samantha: “Sir Alastair Lobane, am I right?”  and “Well, that could have gone worse.”

🌻 Valerian: “Mine ran off when I was attacked.” and “Away with you, rogue, before I lose my composure entirely.”

🌻 Kamin: [Not counting songs, because his first and last lines are actually both songs] “Any requests, my Lord?” and “If you would allow it.”

🌻 Jinx: “Pitiful crowd tonight.” and “Anger is all I have left, Delgos. Don't try to take that from me, too.” 

🌻 Ashleigh: “Oh, I can hold my own. Why do you ask?” and “Stay in here to sleep tonight, otherwise the men will raid your bags for scraps.”

🌻 Silas: “Only one word? From Valerian? I didn’t think it possible.” and “Dismissed. Both of you.”

🌻 Aashiq: and “Safe journey, little cousin. Don't lose that bright head of yours.”

🌻 Tallest character: Ash, followed by Medvetis

🌻 Shortest character: Kamin, though narrowly, and of course Constantine is next

🌻 Most popular: Valerian 

🌻 Least popular: Silas

🌻 Smartest: T’ke

🌻 Dumbest: Isthe is the least educated, but Con is the biggest dumbass

🌻 Oldest: Major characters only, Valerian. Otherwise, Silas.

🌻 Youngest: Kamin

🌻 Most talkative: V a l e r i a n

🌻 Least talkative: Not counting Isthe, Alastair

🌻 Since it’s pride month, let’s talk about orientations! Main character first! T’ke: Cis, Aro/Ace (touch-repulsed)

🌻 Medvetis: Cis, Demi-romantic, asexual

🌻 Isthe: Trans, ???romantic ??sexual, canonly has sex with a woman, probably at least bi

🌻 Constantine: Cis, super gay both romantic and sexual

🌻 Delgos: Cis, panromantic, pansexual

🌻 Alastair: cis, heteromantic and heterosexual (and so in love with Samantha)

🌻 Samantha: cis, ??? but definitely in love with Alastair

🌻 Valerian: cis (but honestly more gender-flexible if he allowed himself to be), bi but in denial about it

🌻 Kamin: cis, also extremely gay

🌻 Jinx: Cis but genderflexible, aromantic, pansexual

🌻 In the original draft, Samantha’s child from the first marriage died. But there was no real reason for it, and now she and Alastair just get to keep collecting children and they’ll all star in book 3 whenever I get around to it.

🌻 The original original draft was a short story. A short story. A short story. Save me.

🌻 This story has been around so long, the good news is I’ve been able to develop a lot of the world and backstory, such as:

🌻 Three generations of Vendave Kings and what happened during their rule: Marius, Silas, and Constantine

🌻 Two generations of Cielan Kings and their rule: Antony and Kendrick (after he takes out his brothers)

🌻 Two generations of Reckson Kings: [Ash and Xav’s father which I have not named], then Xaviastriuos and Ashleigh fighting over the throne.

🌻 Tawrivers, which was conquered by Vendave during Silas’ rule

🌻 Jinx is one of my favorite characters to write because she’s so unapologetically angry, bordering on feral. She is passionate and injured, and ready to take revenge because no one else will help her and her people.

🌻 Honestly, Jinx would have joined Medvetis and company in a heartbeat, if Valerian and Alastair hadn’t given them shelter and respect first. They are the only reason she didn’t join the rebellion.

🌻 T’ke has dysthymia, and is touch-aversive due to trauma in childhood. He is also very sensitive to sunlight due to his albinism. He wears so many layers both to protect his skin from the sun, and to hide his scarring as much as possible.

🌻 Isthe is mute thanks to a dog attack in his youth, and the attack led to a high fever for many days that nearly killed him. The infection damaged part of his memory, and as a result he has trouble learning new things. This is why T’ke is never able to teach him how to write. He prefers expressive communication anyway.

🌻 T’ke also gets seasick and it cracks me up every time because he’s so annoyed by that fact.

🌻 Valerian has severe agoraphobia, and after he was harassed by bandits in the beginning of the book, he never leaves Angaroth again. Samantha goes in his stead whenever he has to represent the area.

🌻 Alastair has lung problems thanks to his town being razed when he was a child, and severe smoke damage from the fire. It gets progressively worse as he gets older, but he tries very hard not to let it affect his work. 

🌻 Constantine is an excellent swordsman and a terrible horseman. He gets thrown from his horse at least twice over the course of the book. May have been three times. 

🌻 He also almost dies from sickness, gets strangled twice by Isthe, trips up the stairs during a swordfight, and generally gets his ass handed to him over and over again.

🌻 The beginning of each chapter has a journal entry from T’ke. If you take them all out and read it in order, it is a singular letter of sorts explaining his feelings about the whole story.

🌻 Delgos and Alastair have a very quick bromance that stays a strong friendship to the end of the book.

🌻 Alastair is the first person that Delgos comes out to. Unfortunately, Delgos confessing his love for Constantine flies way over Alastair’s head, and the response is more or less “you’re such a good guard, of course you love your king.” Whoops. He tried.

🌻 T’ke makes a binder for Isthe so he stops bruising his ribs with bandages. It then becomes a battle to make sure Isthe takes the binder off every night to sleep so he doesn’t injure himself. 

🌻 T’ke is such the mother of the dynamic trio and he would hate it if anyone points it out.

🌻 That being said, he also spends most of the book making all three of them immune to poisons by gradually introducing them all to it. 

🌻 One of the things that changed very little between initial writes and editing is Valerian’s dialogue. It remains paragraphs, rambling, warm, and ridiculous. I love him.

🌻 I need to make it more clear that Delgos is mixed race from a low-ranking family, because his change from middle child of a merchant sailor to Captain of the Guard speaks a lot about him, and about how much Constantine cares for him.

🌻 Valerian has two pet deerhounds that he adores, and are never used for hunting. They just lay all over everyone in the house instead. They were a gift from some nobility, but he never leaves the house to hunt with them.

🌻 T’ke keeps a pet hawk for a good portion of the novel. Isthe is inexplicably jealous of it.

🌻 Alastair gets incredibly attached to his horses, and names all of them after flowers from his mountain home.

🌻 Aashiq is also very attached to his donkey. 

🌻 Uh, let’s see. Book one is technically Medvetis’ story arc

🌻 Book two is Alastair’s arc

🌻 Book three is the next generation

🌻 T’ke’s story spans books 1 and 2. His journals cause book 3

🌻 Alastair’s sons are identical twins. Poor Samantha.

🌻 Seeing how Alastair was raised by a single man makes Constantine think very long and hard about adopting an heir rather than trying to make one by blood.

🌻 Most of the reason why Silas passed such terrible laws was because he was in love with Elophia, Kamin’s mother.

🌻 Kamin is the youngest of three. His two older sisters were taken to Tawrivers for sanctuary, but Kamin was too young to travel so far, so he was adopted by Jinx’s family.

🌻 Constantine and Kamin are about the same age, and should have been King and chief advisor if Silas hadn’t been a raging bag of dicks.

🌻 Constantine’s mother died from complications of childbirth. Silas blamed Elophia for not saving her.

🌻 Kamin was an unplanned child. They didn’t think that they could have any more children after the two girls. His name roughly translates to gift.

🌻 Which, incidentally, is what Nafal’s name translates to. Aashiq adores his son beyond all measure.

🌻 Jinx is not her real name, but it’s what she’s been called since she was a toddler, and she protects her real name as if she could some day go back to it.

🌻 Harper is Kamin’s title, not his last name. He is, after all, royalty.

🌻 Kendrick is Alastair’s cousin. There’s no accounting for family sometime.

🌻 I fixed Patience’s autonomy, and I can’t wait for her to pop back up later in book 2 or 3

🌻 At one point, Constantine accidentally breaks Medvetis’ nose. 

🌻 It probably wasn’t the first time Medvetis had his nose broken.

🌻 Speaking of single dads, Medvetis was raised by one, too! His mother died from the plague that rocked Vendave and its surrounding lands when he was young, and Cohen took over teaching and protecting him. Medvetis loved his father.

🌻 Oh! Apparently I have a wealth of single dads. Valerian more or less raised his daughter alone, as his wife’s schizophrenia got so bad she confined herself to her room for fear of hurting them. 

🌻 Silas theoretically raised his son alone after his wife died, but let’s be real, Silas didn’t do any raising. The servants did. 

🌻 Delgos was raised primarily by his mother and older siblings; his father was at sea most of the time.

🌻 T’ke was raised by Khalid and the rest of the merchant caravan, and they ruined him. 

🌻 Isthe was raised on the docks with the other street orphans, running with a group of kids and probably one or two pseudo-adults that kept them in line. I have no idea what happened to his parents, but it’s likely they died at sea.

🌻 Delgos really wants to have kids, and Constantine is slowly warming up to the idea. They will likely end up adopting later, and have the discussion about it in book 2

🌻 T’ke hates children. He actually just generally hates people. 

🌻 Medvetis wouldn’t mind having kids, but he would adopt and not have them naturally. As much as he would want kids, he doesn’t want to have sex.

🌻 Isthe loves kids. He loves people. Kids usually find him weird.

🌻 Isthe is also incredibly lucky at gambling, specifically dice games. I guess it balances out his poor luck when it came to the dog attack.

🌻 Isthe isn’t his birth name! He refused to let anyone know his birth name after he was attacked by a dog; he thought someone had used it to curse him. So, he made up a new one.

🌻 Delgos has a tattoo of the Runnemede lion on his chest. (Constantine thinks it’s incredibly hot)

🌻 Isthe gets a tattoo of Medvetis’ wolf on his arm at some point.

🌻 Kamin, of course, has his stars on his cheeks.

🌻 Jinx has the stars on her neck, plus another tattoo in her lower back

🌻 In the dark!AU, Delgos has a tattoo of the Cielan dragon instead :D

🌻 Speaking of defining marks, Medvetis has freckles and it is the most adorable thing

🌻 Also defining, Jinx’s red, red hair.

🌻 Ashleigh’s full name is true Reckson style: Ashleigh en Crowenne Brighton di Reckson

🌻 Originally, Wolf at the Gates and Dragon on the Mountain were one big book named Vendave because I had no idea what to title it. One big book. Thank god I had the sense to cut it in half.

🌻 Book 3 has nothing written on it yet, and only a vague idea of what the heck I’m doing with it.

🌻 Book 2 needs major rewrites but it’s not on the next “to do” list

🌻 I have no idea what any of the characters’ birthdays are, even though Medvetis turned 18 during a battle in the book.

🌻 These dumb kids are all so young in the book, it’s no wonder they suck at everything.

🌻 That’s a lie they mostly just suck at emotional stability and the ability to compromise.

🌻 Literally half the plot would fall apart if they all just sat at a table and talked it out.

🌻 All of the plot would fall apart if Silas hadn’t been a raging bag of dicks when he was alive.

🌻 Honestly I’m so mad that he just died in his sleep. He deserved a worse death and a shorter life but unfortunately the author let him get away with all of it. Damn it.

🌻 I thought a lot about cutting all the songs in WatG, but you convinced me otherwise. And no other beta readers were bothered by it. 

🌻 Have I mentioned yet that I had the best beta readers for this book? Because I had the best beta readers for this book. They were SO helpful.

🌻 I’m both tired of editing it, and very excited about editing it.

🌻 I’m debating on commissioning someone to make a map for me because I don’t want to, but the book really needs it. I have a rough sketch, but that’s it.

🌻 A part of me wants to go back and rewrite the book as pure medifant, instead of low fantasy, but I don’t want to develop a complex magic system, and it would change too many things. I just want it for the aesthetic really.

🌻 That being said, it’s heavily implied throughout the book that T’ke may really be magical, which is fun in a no-magic world. 

🌻 I was able to weave in some of the Ekanti “magic” though, including healing songs and tattoo work! 

🌻 Valerian is slightly magical too in that it seems like he doesn’t need air to keep talking. He just goes without ever pausing for breath.

🌻 When Samantha married Alastair, she takes Valerian under her wing too, and tries to keep him from getting beheaded by the crown, or at least getting his tongue removed.

🌻 Speaking of, an assassin later in the book has his tongue removed. Gross.

[graceomeallain]

11/11/11 Tag Game

I was tagged by @igotablankpage and @rainy-rose, so I’ll answer both sets. The rules are, answer 11 questions, ask 11 new ones and tag 11 people.

My answers for my OCs in Back From the Dead Red:

1. Who out of your OC’s would get (or has) a tattoo?

Most of them - almost all of them are sailors, so have nautical tattoos. Jack has three, and toys with a fourth.

2. What element do your OC’s bend (ala Avatar the last airbender)

Definitely fire for Jack and Matt, and probably for Fernando as well. Anne, probably earth, and same for Nicolas and Bonny. Water for Lilian, and air for Cal. (This WIP has a big cast, can you tell?)

3. Who is your favourite OC to write?

Jesus that’s hard. Love writing Jack and Anne of course, but of the secondary characters it would have to be Bonny, she’s such a badass.

4. Favourite book and author?

This is pretty hard, since I don’t actually read nearly as much as I should - I don’t know about author, but I love Alice in Wonderland (still a child I guess).

5. Are any of your OC’s avid readers?

Anne! Her cabin is stacked with books. A lot of the others either can’t or don’t like to read, but Lilian quite likes to as well.

6. If your OC had superpowers, what would they be?

Hmmmm. I’m not sure what they would have, but I think if Jack could pick, she’d want to fly, and Nicolas would probably choose x-ray vision so he could see through an opponent’s hand in cards.

7. Which of your OC’s is always early? Who is late?

Lilian was raised as a lady, so she’s always perfectly on time. Harry and Fernando are always late because they oversleep.

8. What are your OC’s dream jobs?

This one’s pretty hard, because it’s historical fiction. A lot of them became pirates because they wanted to be, but Nicolas’s dream job would probably be something different - anything that would make him enough money to gamble.

9. How do you stay motivated to write?

It’s usually a toss up between write and study, so writing is definitely the lesser of two evils, even when I’m not feeling it.

10. What social media do your OC’s have?

Again, historical fiction makes this one pretty hard, but if they lived in the modern day, Jack would have Twitter (mostly to take the piss out of Donald Trump) and Anne would have a readblr with really aesthetic pictures. Bonny would have a catstagram that she’d never tell a soul about.

11. Yours, and your oc’s favourite tv show?

Mine is black sails atm (go watch it, gay pirates). Jack and Matt would probably love something comic like South Park, and Anne would like something with more of a plot (Game of Thrones, maybe).

1. Is your WIP part of a series or standalone?

Part of a trilogy - so far I’m nearing the end of editing the first one (and hoping to find a beta for it) and a couple of chapters from the end of a VERY rough draft of the second.

2. Do you have any abandoned WIP’s? What made you abandon them?

Tons - I would just start with no outline and fizzle out. Most of them are deleted now.

3. Do you create the characters first or the plot?

Usually one or two major characters, then plot, then the rest. I think I had four characters in mind when I started plotting - Jack, Anne, Matt and Nicolas.

4. Do you use face claims? If so, who?

Yes. For Bonny and Cal I couldn’t help using Clara Paget and Toby Schmidt from Black Sails because they were so good, but usually I just put the character’s major features into google and find a stock photo who fits.

5.  What is something that you wish you knew before you started writing?

It’s okay if the first draft sucks.

6. If your wip got a tv adaptation what kind of adaptation do you want it to be? Tv series? Mini series? Movie?

Probably TV series - movies always cut things out, and there are too many characters to properly develop in a movie.

7. Which of your OCs keeps surprising you and why? 

Edward - I intended him as a fairly minor character to make the plot work, but he’s ended up being more major than I planned, and he and Jack end up getting along, which I didn’t anticipate.

8. Which age group is your wip addressed to?

Literally anyone who will read it. (Please.)

9. Where does your main OC spend the most time? 

On her ship, specifically in the rigging, because she loves being high up.

10. What is your OC’s family situation?

Jack’s is much better than most of her crew - she’s an orphan, but she has her grandma, grandpa and little brother, and she’d do anything for them.

11. How did you come up with the names for your OCs?

Jack and Anne are both (dubious) historical characters, as are Bonny and Cal (although I had to be a little bit imaginative for those two, since their first names historically are also Jack and Anne, and that would have been confusing). Matt was originally meant to be called Will, but then I realised that having a Captain Jack and quartermaster Will was a bit too pirates of the Caribbean, and changed it.

Tagging: @mvcreates @quilloftheclouds @jexxabella @quartzess @livingthedragonlife @rainy-rose @amaranthine-inscriptions @rosella1356 @waterfallwritings @elizabethsyson

My questions:

1. What’s the age gap between your oldest and youngest OC?

2. If your MC was dropped in a high school setting, which clique would they fit in with?

3. Which of your OCs is the funniest?

4. Who’s an early riser, and who sleeps in?

5. Which draft of your WIP are you on?

6. How many main characters do you have in your WIP?

7. Which of your OCs is the best looking?

8. What do your OCs do at Christmas? If nothing, why not?

9. Do your OCs have any piercings?

10. What are their favourite foods and why?

11. If your WIP has any couples, which is your favourite?

Hope you enjoy, and would love to be tagged to answer your questions!

[creeksecrets]

Leah on the Offbeat Interview!

Leah on the Offbeat releases tomorrow, and we were able to do a quick interview with Becky! We hope you’re all ready to read all the wonderfulness that is a New Becky Albertalli Book tomorrow! And yes, this interview is SPOILER FREE. 

Hi Becky, thank you soooo much for letting us have another interview with you for The Tumblr! We’re all super excited for the release of Leah on the Offbeat. So without further ado, let’s get this interview rolling!

Can you type out one of your fave scenes from LOTO using only emoji’s?

What’s your favourite part about delving into Leah’s POV?

I loved a lot of things about getting into Leah’s head, but one of my favorites was having the opportunity to completely reframe and reinterpret certain events, moments, and dynamics from Simon Vs. Simon’s cluelessness makes him a very unreliable narrator. Certain aspects of Leah’s story began right under his nose, and he had absolutely no idea.

Was it difficult to write someone who isn’t a Hufflepuff?

It was, at first – and it was especially challenging writing a Slytherin! I think sometimes people assume that I’m much more like Leah than Simon, and that’s not quite true. I pour a lot of myself into all my main characters, but Leah is probably the character whose voice is most different from my own. When I explain that in terms of Hogwarts houses, people tend to get it.

I know you always do your best to use sensitivity readers for your works, how do you take their feedback and enhance aspects of the book?

I’m so grateful to my sensitivity readers – my books have grown so much as a result of their feedback. In Leah’s case, I brought in readers to help me better capture the nuances of my major bi, gay, and black characters in particular, but I also made sure to include readers whose socioeconomic experiences more closely matched Leah’s. So many of the details in the book have been made stronger because of their notes. For example, a reader checking for socioeconomic details made sure I accounted in the text for where Leah got money to pay her cell phone bill. Another reader helped me understand that, while she agreed with the narrative’s message about particular issues related to race, she noticed that many of the conversations themselves centered white characters. That was a major blind spot for me because of my own privilege, and it was hugely important to fix.

You shared with us some characters full names and birthdays, could you tell us Cal’s?

Calvin Samuel Price, March 13th, 1998.

Leah and Cal are both Bi and both like to draw, do you think they’d become friends because of these connections/interests?

I do think they’d get along! They don’t necessarily get to have that moment in the book, unfortunately, just because the circles they run in aren’t 100% the same. But I like to imagine they’d connect as closer friends during or after college. Maybe someone can write me this fanfic?

Do you have a playlist for LOTO that you’d be down to share? Or some songs that you feel totally helped with the creation of the book?

I don’t know that I have an official playlist, but some of the songs and albums that were important to me while writing this:

All I Want For Christmas is You – Mariah Carey

Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours) and For Once In My Life – both by Stevie Wonder

Rebecca Loebe’s album, Blink

Driftwood Scarecrow (also known as Chris Greene)

Stills and I Just Want Your Jeans – both by God Help the Girl

Gorgeous Thing – Thao

Breakin’ Up – Rilo Kiley

Why/When did Leah decide to start playing the drums?

In the Simonverse narrative, she started sometime around freshman year – I imagine it had something to do with how good it felt to bang things. Interestingly, though, I just uncovered a notebook with some very early notes and Simon scenes. I didn’t even remember this, but apparently, Nora was the drummer in my initial planning stage.

I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of Anna and Morgan, can you tell us some interesting facts about them?

Anna and Morgan do play a much more prominent role in Leah On the Offbeat! Anna is pretty blunt and no-nonsense. In LOTO, she ends up kind of stuck in the middle of a conflict between a few of her friends. Morgan is pretty idealistic and sensitive, and she considers herself to be an activist.

What would you say are Leah’s top five favourite anime? Her long-time anime crush/crushes?

I’m not sure I’m up-to-date on anime enough to give a real top five, but there are quite a few Sailor Moon references in the book. She’s been in love with Mamoru/Tuxedo Mask for a long time, but I think she’s most invested in the Haruka/Michiru ship.

Is Leah a morning or night person?

Our girl is kind of grumpy in the morning and the night, to be honest.

I feel like we’ll be seeing more of our resident Angel Bro, Garrett Laughlin, so the question is: In your opinion, and without getting into spoilers, what makes him an “Angel Bro”?

Garrett is the original Angel Bro, and he’s even more of an angel bro in Leah On the Offbeat. In my mind, an angel bro always has his bro’s back, is an awesome wingman, and is an all-around amazing friend. One example of Garrett being an angel bro is the fact that he went with Bram to see Simon’s play three times in one weekend. Gotta support his bro.

Could you share a notsuperspoilery quote from the book with us?

“EYE ON THE BALL, GREENFELD,” the coach yells.

And that’s a wrap, thank you so much Becky for doing this interview with us!! 

We hope you all enjoyed this short interview, and we hope you’re all excited for the release tomorrow!