#yona is so cool

[soo-won]

redraw of one of kusanagi's scrapped sketch for ch238 bc i love it i wish it had made it

[givemebishies]

Muzu: Now announcing his royal highness, King Sidon! And by his side, the royal beard, Queen Yona!

[airawisteria]

[ID: a digital drawing of Yona from Yona of the Dawn where she is holding a sword after cutting off her hair. She has an upset expression, an angry one with the background of cliffs and the like being blurred out to focus on Yona.]

[neixins]

maybe if zeno realized the folly of wanting to end the other dragons’ lives along with his own without ever asking them if that’s something they’d even want (which mirrors the injustice of the dragon gods not letting him die regardless of his wishes) i might be able to sympathize with him more. or whatever it was that jane austen said

[kittyclowns]

something so funny about rocking up to the last light inn covered in blood like aww cmon why don't you guys trust me ):

[blue-likethebird]

Yona Thoughts bc I just got to Zora’s Domain:

I feel bad for this character tbh. While I doubt Nintendo cared about Sidlink shipping, her inclusion feels very much like the kind of “no homo” sexy lamp character you’d find in the epilogue of a bad shonen series. Worse, because nothing about her or the other domain she comes from was ever hinted at before you hit Zora’s domain, her establishing character moment is being introduced as the new female love interest of one half of a popular slash pairing. Nintendo set her up to be hated the second she was introduced without putting any effort into proving her detractors wrong by writing a stronger character and that’s a shame.

[kidzbopmallcop]

I love learning that all zora royalty desire Link carnally

[only-lonely-www]

I WANT TO GO TO THE YONA ART EXHIBIT SO BAD AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH 囧rz

[kirayaykimura]

This was partially written because I think Lili is wild enough to believe practice kissing is a good idea and partially because @sabraeal and I have spoken at length about a jealous Soo-Won and I thought, “Yeah, those two things will pair nicely.”

Soo-Won was engrossed in whatever he was reading at the moment and Lili was bored. So bored. The most bored she’d ever been in her life. Actually, she took that back. Nothing would ever be worse than the hours spent learning how to be a proper lady. At least with this boredom, she could lay flat on the ground in Soo-Won’s office, place the book she’d been reading over her face, and announce, “I’m so bored!” 

If she’d done that around her teacher, Eun-Bi, she would have been poked with a walking stick and forced to practice calligraphy until her fingers cramped and she could barely see straight. Soo-Won, however, simply hummed disinterestedly. 

“Entertain me,” she demanded.

“And how would you like me to go about doing that?” he asked. 

He obviously expected her to give up on her request. It was raining heavily, a rarity in the Sky Tribe that had forced them indoors hours earlier and had yet to let up, meaning a walk around the castle grounds was out of the question. The problem wasn’t either of them getting wet; it was more that everyone would fuss about them getting dirty or, worse, sick, and Lili didn’t feel like dealing with all that. If she asked Soo-Won to tell her a story, he’d just read whatever dry text he currently had open aloud. She knew this because it had happened multiple times. She knew the strangest tidbits about foreign economic relations. 

Lili groaned, directionlessly dissatisfied with her life and hoping her vague vocal displeasure would lead to Soo-Won having a good idea. Soo-Won ignored her. 

It was tragic, really, her life. Someone should write her story. It would certainly be more interesting and much sadder than the story she was currently reading, in which a woman falls in love with a man but they can’t be together because he lives on a remote island and she is too poor to afford the ferry to visit him. The fifth time the woman said, “Would that we could be together for every sunrise!” Lili got annoyed and gave up on the novel. Thus, her current state of using it as a mask instead of reading the words on the page. Just be together or don’t. She didn’t understand why she had to suffer terrible prose for a problem that could easily be solved via theft. 

“Have you ever tried kissing?” Lili asked. 

She’d stopped reading just as the two main characters were about to kiss - though they would almost certainly be torn apart at the last second just like all the other almost moments so far - and all she felt was over it. But there must be something she was missing, right? It was in every book Tetora recommended, and even some she’d found on her own. There had to be something to it if it was all anyone could talk about. And if he wasn’t going to offer up any entertainment himself, she was going to choose this as their topic of conversation. 

There was a pause before Soo-Won said, voice light with just a hint of nervous laughter, “Pardon?”

Lili sat up, letting the book fall from her face to land gracelessly on her lap. “Kissing. Have you ever done it?” 

“I, uh-” Soo-Won said, “no?” 

His smile did not look comfortable. The tilt of his eyebrows was all wrong. Plus, there was the fact that he was smiling at all. The most she’d ever seen from him was a small quirk of the lips that she had interpreted as fond, and that hadn’t even been directed at another person. It had been to a cat who let him rub her belly for ten whole seconds before wriggling up off her back and out into the gardens again. Over the months spent with him, she’d learned that he only ever smiled when he was either faking hospitality or trying to politely redirect someone’s energies. This, of course, just made her want to pursue the topic even harder. 

“Have you ever wanted to?” Lili asked. 

“Oh, maybe,” he said. “When the time is right. At the moment, I have other things-“

“You can stop lying,” Lili said, cutting him off. She didn’t know if it was amusing or insulting that he thought she couldn’t tell he was lying through his teeth. “I don’t think I really want to, either, but other people seem really interested in it. I wondered why.” 

“Oh,” Soo-Won said. He instantly relaxed, shoulders falling away from where they’d crept upwards and mouth smoothing out to something more thoughtful. It was quite the transformation. 

“Wait,” she said before he could comment on her curiosity, “why do you look so relaxed now?” 

“What’s that?” he asked evasively. 

“You were really freaked out just now. What was that about?” 

“Nothing at all!” He gave another fake laugh that Lili refused to dignify. She simply crossed her arms in front of her chest and waited for him to fess up.

Sensing it was a lost cause, he gave an inaudible sigh, then said, “I thought you were going to ask me to do it.” 

“Do what?” 

She watched, delighted, as a blush spread across his soft, delicate cheeks. She had no idea why her question had inspired such a reaction, but it was always a good day when she could mortify the man to this point. 

“Kiss you,” he forced out. 

What? It took her a moment to piece together the broken fragments of his side of the conversation, but when they clicked, she asked, “You thought I was asking you to kiss me?” and then fell over with the force of her laughter. 

“Okay,” he said softly. 

“That’s hilarious,” she said, still very much laughing. “Why would I ever-“

Hold on. Pause. She sat up, abruptly serious, and said, “That’s not a bad idea.” 

“Oh no,” was all Soo-Won said. 

“You should kiss me.”

“I really shouldn’t.” 

“We’ll finally get to see what all the fuss is about,” she said, ignoring him. “At the very least, we’ll get some practice enduring it, I guess, for people we actually like.” 

“No,” he said. 

She groaned, but his refusal wasn’t surprising. He really, obviously didn’t want to kiss her if the earlier part of their conversation was anything to go by. That was fine, though. She didn’t really want to kiss him either. She just needed someone.

She stood, tossed her abandoned book on a nearby table, and said, “Fine. I’ll go see what Ju-Do’s doing.” 

“Ju-Do?” Soo-Won asked. 

“Sure.” Lili shrugged. “He’s single.” Plus, they might yell at each other for a little bit and it was always fun to rile up Soo-Won’s staff. 

“You’re going to ask Ju-Do to kiss you,” Soo-Won said. 

“Yep,” Lili said. Then, “See ya.” 

She made it about four steps before a hand caught her elbow. Soo-Won turned her back towards him and cupped her jaw with his free hand. She just barely registered that palm wasn’t as soft as she’d expected before he kissed her. 

Oh. 

Huh. 

So this was what it was like. 

It wasn’t unpleasant, she supposed. It wasn’t much of anything at the moment. Just a boy pressing his face close to hers. Though it wasn’t what she had planned, and though that plan had been formed less than five minutes ago, she’d be damned if she was going to let this opportunity pass her by without trying to get some sort of reaction. She moved her lips against his as he moved his hand from her elbow to her lower back, pulling her in closer and tilting her head just so and oh. 

This was what it was like?

Well, hot damn. It seemed everyone was on to something after all. 

Eventually, after an untold number of exploratory kisses, Soo-Won pulled back far enough for their lips to disconnect. Lili blinked her eyes open to a world in which she knew what kissing felt like and knew Soo-Won was kind of good at it. It was unfair that he’d picked it up quickly enough to give her goosebumps, and she would have been more upset if she had been thinking about anything other than how to get his mouth back on hers immediately right now. 

“Don’t go to Ju-Do,” Soo-Won said. 

She stared up at him, then asked, “Who?” two seconds before she registered what he was talking about. 

His lips quirked upward in a small, rare, real smile. It was probably a good thing that he didn’t really smile at anyone because that thing was dangerous. Her heart gave a painful thump in her chest knowing that smile was meant for her, not some random cat that had wandered into his path. If it made him smile at her like that, she’d never remember Ju-Do again. It wouldn’t be much of a loss, anyway. He wasn’t old enough to interest her. 

He stroked his thumb across her cheek, grounding her in the moment, and said, “Don’t ask Ju-Do to kiss you.” 

“I’ll do whatever I want,” she said. It was a token protest at best, and they both knew it. “But you did a very thorough job of it, so I don’t need to ask anyone else for now.” She punctuated her statement with a friendly punch to his arm that she had never attempted before and never would again. 

He glanced down at where she’d struck him, amused, before finally letting her go. The loss of his warmth as he stepped back made her goosebumps return for less pleasurable reasons. It was embarrassing how needy she was being at the moment. Over a boy who was obviously unaffected by all this. Over Soo-Won. Unacceptable. She dusted off her pride, raised her chin, and said, “Good work today.” 

“You as well,” he said, clearly trying not to laugh at her. 

They were saved from any more awkwardness by two short knocks on the door and Kye-Sook letting himself into the room. He spared her a brief, disdainful glance before focusing on the person he’d actually come for. 

“Your majesty, you are needed in the library,” Kye-Sook said. 

“Right now?” Soo-Won asked. 

“Yes, sir. Immediately.” 

“Would you excuse me?” he asked Lili. 

She waved a hand. “Go.”

“Lady Lili, you cannot-” Kye-Sook started. 

“I’m not going to stay here,” she said.

It was an argument they’d had many times before. She wasn’t allowed to stay in Soo-Won’s office without him because he was afraid she would snoop, which was funny because, one, she already knew the big secrets and, two, Soo-Won routinely let her poke around when he was in the room. Nothing had ever been made off-limits. He obviously hadn’t realized that because he was still enforcing the rule that she left when he did. Just like he hadn’t realized what she’d been doing with his precious king moments ago. His eyes narrowed slightly at her smug grin, confused by the departure from her normally annoyed reaction.  

“Have fun at your meeting or whatever,” Lili told Soo-Won. Then, because Kye-Sook was watching, because she still wanted to, she stepped back into his space, rose up on her toes, and pulled his face down to meet hers for a brief goodbye kiss. 

She left two stunned men in her wake, which was, frankly, her favorite way to exit a room. If she never got to kiss Soo-Won again, at least she went out on top. 

[undedkat]

I love the character designs in Yona of the Dawn so much but it feels like a crime that they got rid of Hak’s headpiece and feathers.

[soo-won]

"Well in that case, pretend you're aiming at Su-won"

I'm so obsessed with the musical with just the practice videos and the previews of the songs I feel possessed. I had to draw Suwon throwing flowers in Akatsuki no Negai no matter what it's sooo good. I won't make it when I will see it with the stage lights and costumes.

[stealthnoodle]

And Squall Gets Impaled by Ice, See, It's All Connected: Let's Play Tears of the Kingdom

We've hit the "shitty manips made using a laptop trackpad" era of this playthrough, sorry and/or you're welcome. Also I have (mostly) finished playing Captain Planet for the Zoras.

I put four eyes in a statue and all I got was this lousy stamina container and expanded Poe shopping options

That's not a bad reward, actually, it's just not getting me any closer to the bottom of the ice pond

Time traveler Zelda is expressing her desire to develop control over time itself and this is not getting any less hilarious to me. Just having tea with her GGGGGGILFs, gossiping about her cool pal Link, casually wishing for control over the flow of time itself. I'm not expecting this game to let Zelda enter her Ultimecia-esque villain era, but I sure wish it would!

Hear me and this shitty manip out:

Rinoa is Zelda and Link dies at the end of Disc 1, change my mind

I have rebuilt Lurelin Village in the name of the ice pond, and met another deeply unrelatable NPC:

Could never be me, champ, I have died repeatedly because my armor rating is trash and I've looked damn good doing it

Hateno dye and parachute pattern guy gets me, though:

I have traversed a labyrinth for once by following a trail of nuts (literal) and now I am going nuts (figurative):

Uh oh that's my dump stat:

My reward is getting to go back underground, where I belong.

And my reward for clearing the corresponding underground labyrinth is a neat mask that I will never wear because it's not my good hat.

Got another flashback and it's MURDER ZELDA

Let's all give a warm welcome to Zelda: Puppet Ganon edition! I was going to ding her for a very obvious and poor assassination attempt, but it was of course just setting Ganondorf up for the real kill. RIP Sonia, may Zelda inherit your time magic and go absolutely hamballs with it

Also RIP my Quantum Leap dreams

Now I'm craving sushi so let's get back to the Zoras

Same energy:

"Don't worry about me, sweetie, have fun fucking your boyfriend!"

I have to swim up some waterfalls, so I am once against being bullied into wearing a shirt >:(

Bad news for everyone but especially for me: I am too stupid for Water Temple puzzles

OKAY FINALLY FIGURED OUT HOW TO MAKE THE DAMN WHEELS TURN ARGH

My reward is the worst boss, the sludge boss. I am out of arrows. I will solve this later.

[kekeslider]

I like Yona just fine and her coloration is pretty and all but like DAMN it clashes with Sidon so bad when they stand near each other

[c0rpsedemon]

i'm not saying that i think good smile is convinced that they can just genderswap approach to shonen romances (where they can just make the love interest and maybe if a series is big enough they'll consider making the protag to make it a set) to appeal to fans of shojo romances but i'm also not not saying that. why is there a tomoe nendo without any announcement for nanami.

[metalandmagi]

Romance Anime Starter List

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m sick and tired of seeing “Top ___ Best Anime of All Time” lists that are nothing but shounen. So, with "My Happy Marriage" getting a little attention from the anime community, I wanted to put together a list of some romance anime that I consider good “starters” for the genre. Because if I were just now becoming an anime fan, I’d think all there was to offer was shounen action series.

And by “starters” I mean basic stuff that’s not too…out there, and actually involves the characters getting together instead of just harems or using romance as a side plot (sorry Ouran High School Host Club and My Next Life as a Villainess). 

So if you’re new to anime and want stuff that’s not just guys beating the shit out of each other (which is also fun, don’t get me wrong), here are some basics.

Taisho Maiden Fairy Tale- When the pessimistic Tamahiko Shima loses all function in his right arm, his family sends him away to live in the mountains with the cheerful, hard working Yuzuki Tachibana…who was purchased by the Shima family to pay off her family’s debts and basically act as a caretaker/future bride for Tamahiko so they’d never have to deal with him again. It’s a more cheerful version of My Happy Marriage (without the supernatural stuff), except in this one, the guy is the one who has massive self-esteem issues and an abusive family. There are still very serious themes, but ultimately it’s not meant to make you cry every episode. I swear it’s so good, but nobody watched it!

Horimiya- A slice of life in which pretty and popular high school queen bee Hori, finds out her quiet, unassuming classmate Miyamura is hiding piercings and tattoos that could get him expelled. The two gradually find out more about each other and get together in the most realistic way I’ve seen depicted in an anime. It’s also fucking hysterical and genuinely emotional.

Recovery of an MMO Junkie- Another slice of life that focuses on two adults who meet in an MMO game without realizing they also know each other in real life. I don’t want to say much more than that. It’s adorable, and the main character is so relatable it hurts.

Love with Yamada-kun at Level 999- Speaking of MMOs, this is a newer series about Akane Kinoshita, a college first year who’s reeling from a bad break up. In an attempt to get back at her ex, she winds up meeting Akito Yamada, a popular gamer who happens to be in her guild in the MMO they both play at an IRL meetup. The two go from acquaintances to something more as they keep running into each other. Even more relatable main characters and just wholesome relationships all around.

Snow White With The Red Hair- A fantasy in which an apothecary named Shirayuki (meaning, you guessed it, “snow white”) runs away from her home in order to escape becoming the concubine of her town’s prince. While fleeing, she is rescued by Zen, the prince of a neighboring country, and she ends up becoming an herbalist to repay him. It's super cute with some genuinely swoon worthy moments and a couple that just works so well together. I have a habit of comparing this to Akatsuki no Yona, even though the two aren’t really that alike. This is more romance driven while Akatsuki no Yona is more of a serious historical fantasy with romance elements (Yona manga is amazing, but the anime barely scratches the surface, so that’s why I didn’t include it).

Sasaki to Miyano- When the shy, easily flustered Miyano meets Sasaki, a cool “delinquent” upperclassmen, the two end up bonding over manga…specifically BL manga. That’s right, Miyano is a fudanshi, but due to his small stature and somewhat feminine appearance, he’s constantly trying to convince others that he’s not interested in having his own love story where he’d be reduced to a stereotypical doe-eyed uke. But as Sasaki and Miyano spend more time together, they realize that what they have is more than friendship, and they have to come to terms with their own perception of gay relationships. This is my favorite romance of all time. It’s a slow burn, but boy is it worth it. Their relationship is so natural and realistic, just like Horimiya. Just two people hanging out and bonding over things the way people do in real life!

Given: The story of some boys in a band with trauma. Enough said. It's great. Go watch it.

Bloom Into You- Yuu Koito is a high school girl who’s been waiting her whole life for her own perfect romance to start…but when she receives a confession, she realizes she doesn’t know how to respond when she’s just not into the guy. And then she gets another confession…this time from the cool student council president Touko Nanami, who basically jumpstarts her lesbian awakening. Very cute story about how we perceive the concept of love vs actually feeling it. Also has a canonically aro/ace side character, so that’s a win for me. Another show like this is Adachi to Shimamura (but I honestly don’t remember much about it. It just didn’t stick with me as much).

Ore Monogatari- Takeo Gouda is a tall, bulky high school first year with a sensitive heart of gold. He wants nothing more than to find his own true love, but most girls are intimidated by his enormous stature, and they end up falling for his conventionally attractive friend instead. That is, until he meets the tiny, adorable Rinko Yamato. He falls in love instantly, but he’s sure she’s interested in his best friend like everyone else, so he vows to help get them together, even though his heart is breaking. Peak himbo behavior. Pure of heart, dumb of ass.

Yuri on Ice- Yes it’s the gay figure skating anime everyone knows. And yes it’s a fucking romance, okay? I will die on this hill. The romance between Viktor and Yuri is just as important as the plot!

Kaguya-sama Love Is War- Two insanely smart high school students both have a crush on the other, but since they’re…you know…high schoolers, neither of them wants to admit it first. So they come up with increasingly convoluted plans to get the other to confess first. This will go down as one of the best of all time. It’s a hilarious yet poignant modern classic.

Fruits Basket- I’ve talked about it before and I’ll talk about it again. A romance “comedy” that slowly morphs into a drama about a girl named Tohru who finds herself living with the mysterious Sohma family after her mother dies. Little does she know, the Sohmas are the victims of a  (somewhat silly, but ultimately tragic) curse that she must fight to break. Even though I’m more into it for the family drama, the romance is still top tier and plays an important role in the story. This is my second favorite anime of all time, and it’s a classic for a reason. If anyone hasn’t watched it yet, GO WATCH IT! IT WILL RIP YOU TO SHREDS!

And now for some honorable mentions that didn't quite fit into the regular list:

Ride Your Wave- A movie about a surfer who falls in love with a firefighter……and I’m not going to say any more than that. Go into it blind. If you like stuff like Your Name, this is a good one to watch.

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun- A comedy about a high school girl who finds out the upperclassman she has a crush on is actually a shoujo manga artist, and no matter how she tries to confess to him, he just never gets it.

The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague- A slow burn slice of life that focuses on a guy with ice powers who has a crush on his coworker. That’s it. That’s the show. When I say slow, I mean SLOW. It’s perfectly cute and fluffy, but my god does it take forever to get anywhere with these two.

Skip to Loafer- A high strung, small town girl decides to go to high school in Tokyo, where she meets a variety of classmates, including the laid back Sousuke Shima. The unlikely pair become friends, and soon enough, she starts to feel something more than friendship. The only reason I didn’t include it in the main list is because they don’t get together by the end of the first season, but it’s still really cute (also canonically trans character for the win!?)

So that’s my starter list. And no, I didn’t include Toradora, even though it’s a classic. I know it’s blasphemous, but I like it more as a comedy than a romance. It kinda lost me with the ending. But anyway, maybe someone will find something they like. Or maybe you'll just want to roast me and my picks 😅

[aqua-tear]

I wanted to practice to draw different types of faces and use a more cartoony style, so I drew some sketches of different versions of the egos and some captainsonas.

Credits to the creators of these characters, from left to right: Doc Iplier from @obsidiancreates, Snactor from @shabeeboothedrawingender, Elaine from @strangeguitar, Mermaid Convict from @andaboop, Captain Annie from @annie-quill.

Yona from @infinite-infinite-stars, Deity Heist Mark from @amee-racle-ofmyown, Yin my Iswm oc, @arcade-artmachine’ s captainsona and of course, a cool cartoon version of Wilford, from @midnightnautilus.