RJ Writing Ink

Luz Clawthorne: Hexside’s Number One Delinquent Witch Review

Halloween may have been yesterday, but I’ve still got one last surprise before next year. If you’ve kept up with my blog, you’ll know that I’ve been a fan of The Owl House since day one. It’s easily one of the best cartoons Disney’s put out in recent years, not to mention great representation of the LGBTQ+ community in kid’s cartoons. Still, if my reviews of Star vs. Fanfics tell you anything, it’s that sometimes, watching the show’s not enough. I want to experience what the fans have come up with for something I love. That’s why I want to tell you about one of the best fanfics I’ve ever read, Luz Clawthorne: Hexside’s Number One Delinquent Witch.

Written by: JP-Ryder

First Published: October 17, 2020

Type of Fan Work: AU

Status: Ongoing

Synopsis-

In an alternate timeline, fourteen years ago, Eda the Owl Lady’s rummaging for garbage on Earth to sell when her palisman Owlbert leads her to a nearby wrecked car. Inside the vehicle is Camilla Noceda, who, tragically, did not survive the crash. However, her sacrifice ensured that her infant daughter, Luz, did survive. Taking pity on the infant, Eda brings her back to the Boiling Isles. Despite initially wanting to return her to Earth, Eda grows too attached to the baby and eventually decides to raise her Luz herself. 

Flashforward fourteen years, and Luz Clawthorne’s every bit the troublemaker her mom was at Hexside. She enjoys picking fights with bullies, regularly scams kids and adults, and is the bane of authority figures everywhere. Unfortunately, all of Luz’s hellraising starts to catch up with her when Principal Bump gives her and her mom an ultimatum: she has to turn her life around, or she’ll face the consequences. Yet changing for the better proves to be harder than Luz could imagine, as she and the people around her all have to deal with some serious issues. This is the story of a human girl living in the Demon Realm.

Sweet mercy, this story is so good.

If The Owl House Didn’t Have Disney to Hold it Back

One of the great things I love about fanfiction is that it lets fans tell stories without some groups’ limitations. For example, a kid’s show that likes to delve into serious issues like prejudice, sexuality, and abusive relationships but has to hold back because it’s meant for kids? In fanfiction, there’s no such restriction, letting writers explore mature concepts to their fullest extent. In other words, they don’t have to hold back, which is what Luz Clawthorne does, and it does it well. 

The initial premise of the story is already darker than what Disney might allow. Luz was orphaned as a baby, only to be adopted by Eda the Owl Lady and raised on the Boiling Isles. As sweet as it sounds, keep in mind, Luz grows up never knowing her birth mother, and while she may not say it, it does bother her. And that doesn’t even begin to cover the prejudice she faces being a human on the Boiling Isles. While one would think her tougher, delinquent personality results from being raised by Eda, that’s only partially right. Truthfully, it boils down to an incident from when she was little that broke her in every sense of the word, causing her to put on a tough persona to survive. Luz spends most of the first book trying to overcome her past trauma, which can be downright heartbreaking to read.

The same goes for the rest of the cast. Most, if not all, of the story’s main and secondary cast members have their own issues to work out. Rather than just simple teen drama, though, JP-Ryder veers into very dark places, touching on subjects such as PTSD, self-destructive personality traits, abusive parenting, and especially the consequences of one’s actions. In fact, the whole theme of the story is everyone learning that their actions, both good and bad, have lasting results. Unfortunately, they may not often like what happens.

Different Relationships Found

One of the great things about Luz Clawthorne is that it completely shifts the dynamics of the relationships between the characters. Because Luz has spent her whole life on the Boiling Isles, everyone’s either known her for years or heard of her in rumors. As a result, the relationship she has with everyone drastically changes. Willow and Gus are her childhood friends and among the few outside the Detention Track who will hang out with her. She starts off the series with a very poor relationship with Amity, and an even worse one with Boscha. In addition, she’s not well-liked by many of the teachers at Hexside, and the feeling are mutual.

In keeping with the theme of actions having consequences, Luz spends most of Book One trying to deal with her relationships with others. Unfortunately, due to her own actions, both past, and present, several key relationships in her life get severely strained. While Luz ultimately overcomes most of these hurdles and builds stronger relationships in the process, Boscha’s continued hatred leads to the demon girl retaliating in the cruelest way possible. I almost cried when I read what happened.

And then there’s Lillith. Of all the characters on the show, Luz being Eda’s adoptive daughter, ends up changing Lillith far more than anyone else. Having been kept in the dark about Luz for years, Lillith’s world is turned upside down by the knowledge that she has a niece, and a human one at that. This leads her character down a very different path than in the show, and one that ends up putting her through the wringer for what she did to Eda.

An Absolute Thrill Ride From Start to Finish

Currently, Luz Clawthorne is on hiatus while JP-Ryder writes up the second book. While I won’t say what happens, I will say that you shouldn’t expect things to turn out like they do in the show. This might end up being for its betterment, though. At the end of the first book, we’re put through an absolute rollercoaster of emotions. Most of the cast is in a far different spot than when we found them, and it makes me genuinely want to see what comes next.

In addition, The Owl House is not the only Disney property to make up this story. While I won’t spoil the surprise, let’s say that it feeds into the fan theories that The Owl House and another popular Disney cartoon are connected. And this makes for some interesting stories that I hope to see the payoff for in the future.

Honestly, Luz Clawthorne is one of the best fanfictions I’ve ever read. If you like The Owl House or want to get into it, then I cannot recommend this story enough. 

Just, be prepared for singing. JP-Ryder likes the musical numbers found in a lot of Disney Properties, and it carries over.

Hello, everyone! Jay of RJ Writing Ink here with two big announcements that I think you’ll be very interested to hear about. They both have to do with taking the next step in my work as a blogger and a writer.

I’m Writing My Own Fanfic Now!

I can no longer deny this fact anymore: I’ve been sucked into the world of fanfiction. I started reading it right before Star vs. ended last year, and from there I’ve just spiraled further and further down the rabbit hole. Lucky for me, I have a pretty solid grasp on what I consider to be good writing, so I’ve managed to keep my interest limited to the stories worth reading.

However, just reading them isn’t enough anymore. I wanted to start writing fanfics, which led me to become a beta-reader for a few writers. But it’s been my goal to do my own fanfic for some time now. That’s why I’ve spent the last four months coming up with a detailed outline and character chart for my story. Granted, I haven’t finished it yet, but I’m so far ahead by now that I think it’s safe to start writing it.

The point that I’m trying to make is that as of Friday, September 25th, 2020, I’m started publishing my fanfic. BEHOLD: COMET VS. THE FORCES OF EVIL!

The premise behind this story is simple: I take the cast of Star vs. The Forces of Evil , genderswap most of them, and then come up with my own take on how the show could have ended. The plans that I have for this story are big, too. I’m settling for nothing less than something worthy of being published into an actual book.

I Have A Patreon

I’ve decided that if I want to make any money off of my YouTube Channel or this blog, then I can’t rely on just the revenue streams that both websites provide (at least, my blog does). So, I’ve decided to set up a Patreon page.

Now, it doesn’t have anything to offer people at the moment, but that may end up changing in the future. For now, though, I’m just looking for people to donate money. Every dollar will go to helping make my blog, YouTube channel, or fanfiction’s better. In the fanfic’s case, I’d use the money to commission artists to make drawings for my stories. .

I hope that you guys will continue to support my blog and my new fanfiction!

Click Here to read my Fanfic

Click Here for My Patreon Page

Hello, everyone, Roderick J Fritz here with another round of Fan A&A Spotlight. Today, we’ll be taking a look at a fanfic writer that I should have covered months ago. He’s one of my personal favorites on fanfic.com, I talk to him frequently in PM’s, and I consider him to be a good friend. Meet the Wandering Hippie!

If you’re reading this, Hippie, I’m only saying what you’ve told us on Fanfic.com. No personal info.

The Life of the Hippie

Hippie’s been very open about the details on his life, enough that I can get a clear picture of him. He grew up in Pittsburgh and is currently in his early-mid twenties and an aspiring writer. From what I can gather, he was a huge geek growing up, being a fan of many popular cartoons, anime, and comics. In addition, he’s also an avid play of Dungeons & Dragons and a proficient Dungeon Master.

However, it seems his early years of adulthood were rough on him. According to his author’s notes, he made some poor decisions in his last years of college that made him feel like he wasted his time. On top of that, his friends started to drift apart, and he lost a ton of money to an online scam. As a result, he wasn’t in a good place for a while. All that changed, though, in June, 2017, when the Wandering Hippie published the first chapter of a fanfic story called “A Tale of Moon and Monsters.”

As it turned out, working on his fan writings was just what the doctor ordered. It gave him a sense of purpose in life, and within months, he turned things around. He got a full time job as a caretaker and bird handler at a pet store, joined a volunteer fire department, and found a new group to play D & D with. Most importantly, though, he found recognition from the fans he gained from his stories.

As A Writer

Thanks to his time as a Dungeon Master, the Wandering Hippie became proficient in the delicate art of world-building. That skill would translate well into his recreation of the universe of Star vs. The Forces of Evil, letting him build up a complex and storied world that not only builds upon the show, but even improves it in some aspects. At the time of this writing, it’s basically at Game of Thrones levels of complexity. Some may think that’s a bit much, but I see it as pushing the concept of Star vs. beyond what Disney allowed. If you read my character analysis for his stories, you’ll know he gets bonus points for fixing characters with less than desirable personalities (*cough* Rhombulus *cough*)

The best way I can describe the Wandering Hippie’s writing style is taking the comedy and drama of Star vs., mixing in PG-13 elements. Then he stirs in some tastefully chosen soundtracks and songs from shows and movies, the complex history of a Game of Thrones world, add fourth wall breaking Author’s notes and numerous pop culture references. The result is a story that, somehow, manages to work really well.

Messing with the Fourth Wall

One of Hippie’s trademarks is that he likes to use his Author’s Notes to mess with the fourth wall of the story. By the time he starts Star the Monster Princess, he uses them to speak to the readers directly. More often than not, he uses it to tell jokes or act out some cool scene he wants to do. I.E. pretending to be a thief, facing down the embodiment of reality, fighting an evil squid version of himself. However, he also uses them to discuss serious elements, letting us know when something’s of personal importance to him. Heck, he even admits that he cried during some of the more serious moments of Monster Princess, which he says is a sign of a good writer. I’d have to agree with him.

He’s also not alone in the author’s notes, either. He’s joined by three other people who help him. The first one is Omnitraxus Prime who, thanks to being aware of the multiverse, can somehow hang out with Hippie. There’s also the Narrator Guy from Spongebob Squarepants, who gets into arguments with Hippie every now and then. Lastly, we have Janna, who’s trolling abilities in his story have risen to fourth-wall breaking levels. Hippie tried getting rid of her at first, but since she’s Janna, he gave up on that; now she just hangs out with them.

Pop Culture Aficionado

I dub the Wandering Hippie as a pop culture aficionado because his stories are filled with references to various cartoons, books, and other mediums of story-telling. In fact, this goes beyond simple references and using other brands soundtracks. Many chapters of his stories include characters from the many cartoons and movies he watched growing up. Since this is a fan work, he can get away with it without those pesky ownership rules.

I personally enjoy the entire concept, because almost every reference or character he uses are from things I’m already familiar with. The latest chapter alone included cameos from Hellboy, Jackie Chan Adventures, Ed Edd n’ Eddy, and The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.

Say Hello to the Hippie

Now, there’s another reason why I wanted to make this post. A while back, I had suggested to Hippie that he get a new logo for himself. So to surprise him, I hired a fan artist by the name of Gogola on Instagram to make a drawing of him. Thus, I figured that this post would be the best way to share it with him. Hippie, this is for you, man!

Hope you enjoyed this, guys!

Click here to read Hippie’s awesome stories.

Click here to see more of Gogola’s work

Hey there, everyone, J here with the first in what will hopefully be a series of posts I’m calling “Fanfic Author Spotlight.” It’s where I give a shoutout to some of the fanfic author’s that I’ve gotten to know fairly well. That can mean both through their writings or through conversations I’ve had over the Internet with them. First up, we have a good friend of mine, someone’s whose talent as a writer’s only matched by her skill as an artist, KPRS4Ever!

A Little Bit About Her

I first met Sarah, AKA KPRS4ever, on Twitter not long after Star vs. The Forces of Evil ended. We both loved the show and were sad to see it end, and after chatting a lot on Twitter, we got along great. So now, I guess you could say that we’re friends or Internet buddies.

From what she’s told us, KP’s a New Jersey native who’s currently attending college and pursuing her major. She’s worked as an intern at Disney World, and said its one of the best experiences of her life. So much so that once she graduates, she plans on moving to Florida and getting a job working with Disney. And if Disney doesn’t hire her, then the mouse fails to see a talented writer and artist.

Brilliant Writer and Artist

KP may be one of the biggest fans of Star vs. The Forces of Evil that I’ve ever met, and she channels that passion into her fanworks. Having already written some fan works for Miraculous Ladybug and Kim Possible, she turned her focus to Star after the show ended. Her story, When Two Worlds Collide, picks up where the show left off as the cast deals with their new world. While I think the story starts out a little slow for my tastes, once it gets going, its as good as the show. Plenty of others seem to think so, too, as her story’s one of the most popular for the show on Wattpad:

In addition, KPRS4ever’s talents extend to fan art. She’s a passionate fan artist who’s made plenty of drawings for shows like Kim Possible and Star vs.. You wouldn’t be alone if you mistook one of her drawings as an image from the actual show:

As a matter of fact, KP’s so good that she’s even gotten recognition from the cast of the show. In October, Adam McArthur, the voice actor for Marco Diaz, hosted his first ever Boba Meetup at New York Comic Con. Not only did KP help organize and attend the event, but she made a special print to be signed by Adam himself for the occassion. Adam even went so far as to give her a shoutout on social media for it. Now that’s recognition!

KPRS4ever Needs Help

Between her writing and her artwork, all signs seem to point to a good future for KPRS4ever. However, not all is well for her. A few months back, she told us on Twitter that, due to some dumb technicalties, she was unable to get the final 0.5 credit she need to graduate college. As a result, she’d have to pay for an entire semester for a single class, or something. I don’t remember, I was too busy ranting about how unfair it was.

I believe she was able to work something out in the end. However, she still needs to take a final semester of college in order to graduate. The problem is that it’s going to cost her an extra $2,000. So instead of taking out more loans, she’s going the entrepreneurial route. That’s where you come in.

Right now, she’s got a Gofundme campaign running in order to make the money she needs for her last semester. In addition, she’s begun selling merchandise featuring her artwork over on Redbubble. All you need to do is to go to either of those places and give her the money she needs. That way, she can graduate when she wants, fulfill her dreams, and potentially make the next big cartoon at Disney in 8-10 years. It’s like a long-term investment!

So, what are you waiting for? Go over to these sites and check her out. You can also find her on Tumblr, Instagram, and Wattpad. Know that you’re helping to support a talented artist and writer by doing so!

KPRS4ever’s Gofundme page

Here’s her Redbubble page! I just bought myself a phonecase from her with the wand on it!

Click here if you want to read her fanfic.

Click here to see my review of When Two Worlds Collide

And if you still need convincing, here’s some of her artwork. All rights go to KPRS4Ever, Daron Nefcy, and Disney.

Happy New Year, everyone! It’s me, Jay, from RJ-Writing Ink ringing in the new year. I know I’ve been quiet for the past few days, but I wanted to take some downtime after the holidays. That, and I wanted to make my New Year’s resolutions.

Speaking of which, I decided one of my top resolutions growing this blog. I came a long way in 2019, and I want to keep that trend going in 2020. So, in the spirit of the New Year, I decided to share some of the plans I have in store for RJ-Writing Ink in 2020.

More Star Wars

Even with Star Wars on vacation from movie-making, I feel like’s there plenty I can do with it. After all, some of the best stories and characters in the franchise aren’t in the films. Thus, I want to spend this year talking more about Star Wars and reminding people that it’s amazing. And I’ve got a few ideas in mind.

First, I have this idea called Star Wars Stories Abridged. I take some of the best stories and characters from the Expanded Universe and summarize them. This way, I can get more people interested in what Disney shunted aside and explain why they should add them back. Or if they’re already back, why Disney should add their EU content back.

Next, I plan on doing more with Star Wars: The Clone Wars. That show’s one of the best things in the franchise, and the final season comes out next month. So, in the spirit of nostalgia, I’ll be revisiting some of my favorite arcs, characters, and moments from that show.

Other than that, I’ll be trying to do more misc — articles about cool characters, stories, and events from the franchise. I’ve got a whole galaxy to go through, so I’ll have plenty of material. May the Force be with me!

Other than that, I’ll be trying to do more misc — articles about cool characters, stories, and events from the franchise. I’ve got a whole galaxy to go through, so I’ll have plenty of material. May the Force be with me!

FanFic Corner

At one point, I had little interest in the concept of fan fiction. However, as you may recall, I started reading it after one of my favorite cartoons came to an end. After that, I kept getting more and more into it. Then I started writing about what I read. At this point, I’ve pretty much fallen down the rabbit hole with no hope of getting out anytime soon.

In the spirit of fandom, I’ve decided to embrace this newfound interest. Thus, I’m dedicating an entire page of my blog to fan fiction. This FanFic Corner will be an outlet for me to talk about the things I’m reading, as well as give shoutouts to the authors. Several of whom I’ve actually befriended online. 

And no, this won’t just be Star vs. There are others that I’ve read.

More Anime and Manga

Last year, there were a lot of anime I wanted to write about, but never had the chance. The Rising of the Shield Hero remains a big regret, even if I did that one episode that felt so cathartic. In addition, I never got to do Dr. Stone, and that was one of the best anime of the year; not to mention, it had one of the best waifus of the year. I even wanted to celebrate 2019 with a list of best waifus, only to realize I didn’t see enough anime to justify it. In other words, I want to do more with anime.

As a result of my regrets, I’ve decided to try and incorporate more anime into my work. I will be continuing with ongoing series like My Hero Academia, SAO: Alicization when it starts up again, and the manga I cover. However, I’ll try and keep up with other anime that I want to write about. If you guys have any suggestions, let me know.

Cartoons Are A Must

I’m not ashamed to say that I’m an adult who loves cartoons. Thus, cartoons have been a big part of what I write about. There are going to be a lot of cartoons I want to write about this year. There’s shows that I already cover like South Park, Rick and Morty, Steven Universe Future, and more. In addition, there are new shows that I plan to take a crack at, such The Owl House, Adventure Time: Distant Lands, Close Enough, and the Animaniacs reboot on Hulu. In other words, expect a lot of new cartoons to be covered.

That’s All Folks

Well, that’s everything I can think of off the top of my head. I hope you all had a happy New Year! I would also like to give a shout-out to the people who have started following my blog in the past year. Thanks for all your support. As for those who haven’t shown up in a while, I look forward to seeing you guys again.