Fannish Fifty #1

[popkin16]

I saw elayna post hers and went OH CRAP. Might have to post a couple fannish fifties this week 😅

So, post #1, where I yell about one of the (many) fandoms I've been hopping through:

 

This is technically a webtoon (comic) based on a Korean webnovel. Here's the official description:

When civil engineering student Suho Kim falls asleep reading a fantasy novel, he wakes up as a character in the book! Suho is now in the body of Lloyd Frontera, a lazy noble who loves to drink, and whose family is in a mountain of debt. Using his engineering knowledge, Suho designs inventions to avert the terrible future that lies in wait for him. With the help of a giant hamster, a knight, and the world’s magic, can Suho dig his new family out of debt and build a better future?

Seems kind of...meh, right? But it turns out it's absolutely hilarious. Suho Kim is an orphan that comes from a very poor background. Now that he's in the body of a noble, he wants that sweet lazy lifestyle, so he sets out to scheme, intimidate, and work hard to make money to get the Frontera family out of debt. He's got a good heart, but if he can help people AND make money off them? He absolutely will. And because he read the novel he's now living, he knows of future events and can plan accordingly.

Here's Lloyd:

In canon he's considered "plain" or "ugly", but I think he's pretty cute. Unless he's making faces, which he does whenever he gets something he really wants. The faces he makes are HILARIOUS, and he comes across as a villain when sometimes:

Lloyd is accompanied by a knight sworn to serve the Frontera family. Javier is the protagonist of the fantasy novel Suho Kim transfers into. As the protagonist, he's incredibly handsome and insanely talented - things that take people entire lifetimes to learn, he can learn in a matter of months. In the original novel, he loses everything and everyone he cares about, and ends up wandering the country. He comes across as very cold, but he's very dedicated to helping the weak because it's the right thing to do. But he's also incredibly loyal to the Frontera family. At one point, he and Lloyd come across this man who swindled the Frontera family out of money, and Javier threatened to cut his legs off and make him crawl to the courthouse for reparations.

(bonus: Lloyd's reaction ⬇️)

As you can imagine, he's not very impressed by Lloyd Frontera. Before Suho Kim took over the body, Lloyd was a mean, violent drunk that everyone was terrified of. He beat up his younger brother and, as a child, broke a wooden sword that was special to Javier. Javier is incredibly suspicious about Lloyd's sudden change of heart, and Suho Kim doesn't want him to find out that he's not the REAL Lloyd as he's certain Javier will kill him. But Lloyd knows things he shouldn't, can do things he shouldn't know how to do, and Javier is no idiot... He disapproves of Lloyd's manipulations and the way he goes about making money, but Lloyd always fulfills his end of the contract, works hard, and DOES help people. So Javier has mixed feelings about him.

As the webtoon goes on, he becomes more and more trusting and loyal to Lloyd himself. He was absolutely alone in the original novel, but now he has someone he can rely upon.

Since this is a fantasy novel, Lloyd has cute little summons that help him complete his construction projects (which is one of the things Javier is suspicious about, because Lloyd shouldn't know how to cast a summoning):

Javier and Lloyd are unrepentant little shits to each other. Here's Javier trying VERY VERY HARD not to laugh while Lloyd gets romantically rejected. In the most recent chapter, Javier has to go undercover and thus dresses as a woman. Lloyd tells him, "I accept your preferences" (referring to crossdressing) and refuses to listen when Javier says it's not a preference, he's just trying to get the job that Lloyd gave him completed, until Javier is FURIOUS. Javier gets all kinds of love letters (and Lloyd gets none), and he's not afraid to rub it into Lloyd's face. Just when you think they're sharing a nice moment, it turns around and leaves you laughing. Javier tends to get one over Lloyd more often in terms of insults, but Lloyd is the driving force of the plot, and he's the one coming up with all the plans - Javier just trusts him and does as he's told.

They bicker and insult one another, but it doubles as a way of calming themselves down during tense situations.

Despite this, they look out for one another. Javier has insomnia - his senses are heightened due to his mastery of "mana", which is sort of like magic here. So Lloyd offers a lullaby service every night, and Javier sleeps in a chair next to Lloyd's bed.

(not pictured: the cute pink bunny slippers Javier usually sleeps in)

(sharing a horse! and Lloyd fell asleep lmao)

(Javier using his own body to protect Lloyd)

(Javier thinks Lloyd is dead here after a fight against a gigatitan)

Honestly, this tumblr post sums them up pretty well:

llojavi is so funny because they’re both soooo against it they’re like “you’re insufferable (i spent every moment im awake with you) i cannot stand your face (ill follow you to the end of the word and beyond) sometimes i want to strangle you so bad (you’re the person i trust most in the world) if you say one nice thing to me i’m gonna throw up (there’s no one i’d rather be with) i cannot believe i have to put up with you (i plan on living the rest of my life standing by your side) i wish i could throw you out of a window (i will face heaven and hell just so you can be happy) please die (i’ll give my life for you)”

they’re so funny they’re sooo devoted to the other and they’re both appalled by it lmao

 

The most recent chapters have been super interesting because Javier all but comes out and says he knows something is up with Lloyd. Part of what makes Lloyd so effect is he has this "RP system", which stands for Relationship Points. The better he improves his relationship with key characters (Javier, the Baron and Baroness Frontera, etc), the more points he earns. He can use those points to upgrade skills, which look like magic. At one point, Lloyd upgrades a skill, and Javier goes, "What is your story going to be this time? You stole this spell from a black magician, or perhaps you have a magic necklace that makes this possible?" 

Lloyd responds with a wary, "...what seems most plausible to you?"

Javier says, "The necklace. Make sure you wear one from now on, and I'll back you up." 

When Lloyd offers to answer any questions Javier has, though Lloyd can't promise good answers, Javier says it's more important to him that Lloyd continues to help the people, and he doesn't care as long as Lloyd continues that.

I'm actually reading the webnovel and there are some differences between it and the webtoon, but both are super enjoyable. The novel is finished, but a translated chapter comes out 5 times a week. I'm also working on a fic, but the fandom is MINUSCULE (there are 79 fics on ao3) so it's hard to keep enthusiasm going, but every week a new chapter of the webtoon comes out and it rejuvenates me. It helps that a friend introduced me to the webtoon, so I have someone to yell with 😂
To end this on a funny note, here's a post where Lloyd is being a dramatic shit and feeling 'deathly ill' because they're out of money...until Javier enters his bedroom with money from the Queen.

 

Comments

[melagan]

Great post!

[popkin16]

Thanks lol

[trillingstar]

Ooh, I'm glad to see you doing this too! woot

[popkin16]

Thank you :D It makes me happy to be able to post something that ISN'T complaining about work, you know? Even if it's about stuff people have never heard of 😂😂