In October of 2018, WEBTOON launched the Original Freaking Romance created by Aidyn Arroyal also known as Snailords. Snailords is also known for their ongoing thriller webtoon, Death: Rescheduled as well as being the creator of Snailogy and Snailed It, which are two slice-of-life comic series also available to read on WEBTOON.
Freaking Romance would become a hit with over 3.4 million subscribers and over 468 million global views, and WEBTOON Unscrolled is bringing it to print with Volume 1 available and Volume 2 scheduled for June 2024. Furthermore, Wattpad WEBTOON and Skybound entertainment are developing a film adaptation of the hit series.
Avery Kaplan last interviewed Snaillords prior to the release of volume 1 of Freaking Romance with the reveal of the cover art. You can read the article here.
We reached out to Aidyn again to learn more about how he got his start with WEBTOON, talk a bit more about Freaking Romance, the WEBTOON Unscrolled volumes, news surrounding the upcoming film adaptation, and possible future adaptations to come.
JUSTIN GUERRERO: So let us start this interview off by introducing yourself to the readers.
SNAILORDS: Hi, hi~ I am Aidyn/Snailords. Creator of “Freaking Romance,” “Snailogy,” “Death: Rescheduled” on WEBTOON.
GUERRERO: So seeing as you have a few series on CANVAS — did you get your start with WEBTOON from there before having a WEBTOON original?
SNAILORDS: WEBTOON hosted a contest for $30k. It was their first contest in the US. I joined. Didn’t win but got hired. Lost the battle but won the war, heheh. I actually didn’t start off on Canvas at all. Went straight from the contest to their full time Original creator. I posted a few Canvas series as test storyboards to gauge audience interests in my future series.
GUERRERO: With all these series you have created in the past, what gave you the idea of “Freaking Romance”?
SNAILORDS: I went through a breakup prior to writing “Freaking Romance.” It seemed to me like someone could go to the market and come back married, meanwhile, I keep struggling to find love. Even now, I’ve been single for 8 years. I always jokingly thought, “Maybe my soulmate got hit by a bus or got born into a different dimension. Billions of light years away from me. What if he and I are living parallel lives, I’m looking for him and he’s searching for me. But we’re from different worlds so we’ll never collide.”
GUERRERO: Were there any highs/lows when it came to the creation of “Freaking Romance”?
SNAILORDS: I didn’t read any romance stories prior to making “Freaking Romance”. I exclusively only consume thriller/action/horror/fantasy contents. It was challenging having to read through a bunch of romance stories, in order to write a romance. The high was completing the series. It felt good to finish something. It was also very shocking to learn that the audience liked it.
GUERRERO: Any favorite moment in the webtoon you had the most fun writing and illustrating?
SNAILORDS: I love the parallel, cross worlds aspect. I had the most fun drawing the initial “spooky/mystery” scenes and most fun where they fell into another dimension with monsters. Can’t say this part due to spoilers but the near-ending eps where the audience cried out of frustration in the comment section, that’s sugar to my boba. They wrote things like, “WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!??? WHY DO YOU ENJOY HURTING US!?” Hilarious. Really cute.
GUERRERO: When working on “Freaking Romance” did you ever expect it to get the reception it has?
SNAILORDS: Not at all. I was two steps from quitting my career. If “Freaking Romance” didn’t perform the way it did…I might have been one step away from quitting my career. It’s still shocking, to this day, that a story I wrote as “learning practice” because I didn’t know what I was doing, was the story that resonated best with the audience. My mentality during that time was, “if I can’t write something as simple as two people in a [parallel universe] room, falling in love, I’m incompetent and should just quit my job, go raise horses in a field or something.”
Morals of the story, don’t try too hard to impress. Once you try too hard to impress, fear of failure holds you back. You doubt every story decision, direction you make, wanting to be “perfect”. When you’re not afraid, you have nothing to lose and you end up writing more genuine, relatable stories that connect better with the audience.
GUERRERO: Do you have any involvement in the creation of the graphic novel version of “Freaking Romance”?
SNAILORDS: Not at all. I wanted to be as least involved as possible. That was all WEBTOON Unscrolled handiwork. They’re amazing.
GUERRERO: With Volume 2 of “Freaking Romance” coming out by WEBTOON Unscrolled, was there is any challenge with reformatting your WEBTOON into print?
SNAILORDS: I would hope not. With Volume 1, WEBTOON Unscrolled team was kind enough to adapt my entire Season 1 into a book. I didn’t do anything. I loved that for me. I really appreciated them for it. I hope I never have to be involved in the unscrolling adaptation aspect. It looks…difficult.
The Film Adaptation
GUERRERO: How excited are you for the news that it’s getting a film adaptation?
SNAILORDS: I’ve known the news for awhile but wasn’t able to share until it was official. Even then, when I got the email that the adaptation was going to be officially announced, my sister and I jumped and screamed in her room. Then I called my mom saying, “Mother, drop everything, I have to brag.” I also texted my one friend that it was official. I’m thrilled.
GUERRERO: How did you find out your Webtoon is getting a film adaptation? did the studio reach out to you? or was it through WEBTOON?
SNAILORDS: WEBTOON acted as my agent. They’re the one updating me throughout the entire process, from pitching to studios to now.
UPDATE: WEBTOON representatives clarified that WEBTOON is not an agency and does not act as agents for creators. However, WEBTOON works with creators to help their IP find opportunities in new formats as business partners.
GUERRERO: Did you ever expect your WEBTOON to even have a film adaptation during the creation of your series?
SNAILORDS: You know, I didn’t. However, while constructing the premise, I told my sister, “This is the easiest movie they could make. Three people in an apartment and one cat.” I didn’t even think one person would read the series, much less have a live-action adaptation for it.
GUERRERO: Will you be involved in any way with the production of the film adaptation?
SNAILORDS: I would love to be if that’s an option!
GUERRERO: Do you feel as if any of your other series might get a film adaptation in the future? Is there any you’d wish will get one?
SNAILORDS: I would love to see “Death: Rescheduled” as an anime. “Dead on First Date” sounds like a movie I would watch. Actually, just adapt all of my future stories. Hahahah, let me grab popcorn and just watch my imagination become palpable to other people outside my head.
GUERRERO: Anyone you’d like to shout out or thank as we wrap up the interview?
SNAILORDS: Shout out to my editor, KennyComics for adopting me and helping me with “Freaking Romance.” Shout out to David [Shinok Lee], Head of Content at WEBTOON for meeting me eight years ago, bringing me “God of Highschool” WEBTOON plushies and inspiring me to take this job. Thanks to my amazing artists for making all my stories a reality. WEBTOON Unscrolled team for their hard work. Bless the audience for their love and affection, that’s loud enough to reach live adaptation.
Thank you for interviewing me!
GUERRERO: And thank you for your time, Aidyn!
So Do you look forward to the upcoming film adaptation of Freaking Romance? Will you be buying volume 2 by WEBTOON Unscrolled? Let us know down in the comments below!
UPDATE: This article has been updated to clarify the role WEBTOON has with its creators in finding opportunities for the creators and their IP.
FREAKING ROMANCE Volume 1 is available from WEBTOON Unscrolled, with volume 2 set to release in June 2024. Freaking Romance is also serialized on WEBTOON, with episodes 1-16 free to read with the rest available with Daily Pass.
Feel free to support Snailords by following him on Twitter/X at @SnaiLords, or even becoming a patron on his Patreon.
An interview with Snailords from last year with Avery Kaplan about the cover art reveal and more can be read here on The Beat!
Until next time my adorable nerd birbs <3
