We spoke to Webtoon creator Aidyn Arroyal, also known Snailords, at this year’s New York Comic Con (NYCC). Snailords is known for his hit webtoon Freaking Romance, which has been translated into graphic novel format. A film version of Freaking Romance is also in production.
Interview with Snailords at NYCC
The NYCC Experience
At an event as massive as New York Comic Con, Snailords gave us a glimpse into his experience as of day three (Saturday).
Jenna: I’m just gonna start off by asking you what’s been your favorite part of New York Comic-Con so far?
Snailords: I like meeting the fans. I like meeting the fans in person. They’re so cute. Some of them follow me for a while, so when they come up, they get really nervous. And I’m like, I’m just as equally as nervous.
Jenna: I think that people forget that everyone’s just a person.
Snailords: Yeah. Because we are all, I feel like comics people, we’re like, going into the fantasy world. We spend more time with fictional people than humans. So when we see a human and we’re like, we have too many hands. What to do with all of this? Right? There’s a lot of anxiety.
A Journey of Self-Discovery in Webcomic
Snailords has become one of the most popular creators on the Webtoon platform. But where did that journey start and where did it lead him?
Snailords: I’ve always loved reading comics growing up, especially manga. That was my escape, whenever we had a lot of school related stuff and we weren’t allowed to watch TV. So manga was my go to for entertainment. And then as I grew older, I kept finding […] whenever I zoned out, I started writing stories in my head. So it’s meant to be.
Jenna: So at what point did you start actually taking those stories in your head and putting them down onto paper?
Snailords: I think officially starting 2012, around the time of college or something, I was just very stressed and I needed a place to vent. So I started drawing little slice of life comics and then it was back in the day of TV and art. So when I was posting that online, there were a few people who started reading and I was like “oh my God.”
Jenna: Did you expect that?
Snailords: No, not at all. I didn’t think anyone was going to read it, so I kind of treated it like my online diary that I just sent out into the void. If someone sees it, they see it. If they don’t, they don’t. And then gradually people just found that relatable, right?
It was way back when we didn’t have a lot of information on non-binary and gender fluid kind of people. I didn’t even know the term for it back then either. So those people found me and found the stories relatable. So yeah, we can have that inclusivity. It’s like slice of life. So it’s about my life. But my experience with back then being like, “oh my God, what is going on with me? I don’t feel either male or female.”
Jenna: So you kind of put those thoughts out.
Snailords: Yeah. So I figured myself out through the writing and then I started posting to writing online.
Jenna: And that must be a really nice way for you to, to find support in your own journey.
Snailords: Exactly. It’s very hard to find people that I could connect with. But since the internet is such a vast world, you can easily find people or they’re going to find you.
Diving into the Romance Genre
On day two of New York Comic Con, Snailords appeared on Webtoon’s “Love’s Revival: A Perfect Storm of Passion in Pop Culture” panel. During the panel, Snailords discussed how his first time delving into writing romance was with his hit Webtoon, Freaking Romance.
During our interview, we continued to discuss Snailords’ experiene with writing romance.
Jenna: You have said that your first attempt at writing romance was with Freaking Romance. So can you tell me about that experience on working with a brand new genre?
Snailords: I don’t know why. I was kind of dumb and I thought it was going to be easy to write, but surprisingly, it was a lot harder than other genre that I’m used to writing. Because without a genre, I get to distract people with dragons, ghosts, spirits, and all the other things that they could find, grab on and find interesting. I feel like with romance, you have to be very good with building characters that are lovable, that people want to follow. And now you have to go to people that they want to follow and they have to fall in love.
So my challenge was [the characters in Freaking Romance weren’t allowed to go anywhere. They could interact only in the apartment. And that was very difficult because how did it go on dates? How do they connect outside? Like what do they even do? So the whole time it was about figuring out how do I make the dialog interesting enough when it’s literally just two people in the same room? That was a challenge.
Jenna: And then you have that love triangle, so you have three people.
Snailords: But that was by accident. So the Verose, or Vera in the book printed version, wasn’t supposed to exist. And then my editor suggested that the main character needs someone to share their thoughts with. And then I just tossed the character in last minute. But they became pretty popular, and I didn’t intend for that. But then I was like, how do I bring them into the pages? More so,that’s why you see Vera appearing more towards the end of the series.
Dispelling Tropes
While many stories in the romance genre lean into classic tropes, Snailords’ plot in Freaking Romance subverts what is expected.
Jenna: What I really like about [Freaking Romance] is that you didn’t go the route [of a competitive love triangle].
Snailords: [Verose and Zelan] became friends. They became besties. I thought it would be funny. Honestly, I just wasn’t brave enough. But the ending that I wanted to do was the three ending up all together. Because the chemistry, just like the way they interact with each other, I’m like, “dang, that could work.” So I wanted to draw it out, but I wasn’t sure how that was going to be received. So I stuck with the safer route.
The Future of Freaking Romance
Jenna: Speaking of Freaking Romance, without giving away any spoilers, it ends in a way that’s kind of hoping for more story. Do you ever intend to dive back into that world?
Snailords: I actually have, yeah. More story that I’m not going to work on, but I could tell you right now. So the story ended with the brother in the apartment, Zelan’s apartment. And he was seeing the girl in the bathroom. She’s supposed to be the missing tenant that they were talking about the entire series. That was her. So she. The one that she saw in her apartment was a monster from a different dimension, but it looked like what she wanted it to look like. So she accidentally crossed dimensions for a monster. It’s monsters when they fall into the other dimension. So she went to that dimension and got trapped there.
So season two would have been about the brother and the girl trying to get the girl out of that dimension. So they have to pretend to fall in love within like 24 hours or a very short amount of time so they can close the gate and have her be back in their dimension. That would have been my plan for if there was ever a season two.
Where to Find Snailords and His Work
Snailords is the author of Freaking Romance, Death Rescheduled, Snailogy, unAlived on the First Date, and Snailed it. You can find all of his webcomics on his Webtoon creator page. Freaking Romance is available for order in collected print edition on Snailords’ website and the Webtoon shop, as well as other booksellers.
Follow Snails on Instagram, Twitter, and find more content on his linktree.
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