#shes so femme lesbian to me...but its not my place to say!

[bxnnie-bxwl]

cant believe i havent drawn glam chica yet....so here she is!! shes so cute i genuinely love her, her in fnaf style and also in my style <3

[twig-tea]

With 23.5 finally coming out, the people are rejoicing at finally getting a high profile gl from GMMTV. But there have already been several gls airing this year, including my fav TsukuTabe, that have been flying under the radar with fandom, and in general there are more gls already out there than folks seem to think. I just know you have a list of all the gls we should be watching, please share with the class!

Thank you for the ask! How did you know I had a draft of GL recs to make at some point? [Trick question, I mentioned it to you.]

It may seem like I'm out here hating on GL because i've made a couple of negative reviews of recently airing series recently (Love Senior and Chaser Game W in case you're curious) but I actually have lots of GL that I love and that I wish were better known! Thanks for sending this ask so I am inspired to actually finish it! I've limited myself to series so that I could keep the list and this post to a reasonable length. Where possible I've listed where you can find each of these and included a link. And I've included an 'elevator pitch' summary but I am NOT in marketing for a reason, so please don't roast me too hard for my terrible comparisons. Alright, enough waffling!

Twig's GL Rec List

She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat S1 & 2 (Japan, 2022 & 2024, both seasons fansubbed by @furritsubs; if you need help accessing this show feel free to DM me!)

Elevator pitch: Our Dining Table with lesbians and an even slower burn. Watch for beautiful food, acespec rep, mental health and therapy rep

What might turn some off: Extremely low heat, and quite slow-moving; warning for a disordered eating and family trauma plot (v gently handled)

Let's start with the one you've already mentioned. This is a heartwarming slice-of-life slow burn in which an autismspec-coded woman who likes to eat is invited by her neighbour, a femme acespec woman who loves to cook, to come and eat her food. It starts from a very practical place (when you love making food you need someone to help eat it), but their relationship grows as they spend more time together. The story follows them as they both move towards self-actualization in several ways: as a lesbian, as asexual, at work, with their families, with their friends, with each other. This show is so careful to say the important words aloud. And there is so much delicious cooking! Each episode highlights a particular recipe, and the food porn is real. Do not watch while hungry, but definitely watch. The found famiy vibes in this one one are also immaculate.

She Makes My Heart Flutter (Korea, 2022, YouTube)

Elevator pitch: Younger lesbian friend group tries to help out (slightly) older lesbian bar owner with mixed success. I can't think of a good BL equivalent, The Moment Since feels the closest with its similar bartender/patron romance

What might turn some off: Comedic tone; short runtime; struggles with being closeted

This is a gem of a miniseries about a bar owner and an interior designer who smoulder at one another while an intrepid group of younger bar regulars (including the bar owner's neice) meddle. This series is really cute, solid, and full of sapphics! Once again found family vibes are immaculate (you may sense a theme in my faves). Run don't walk.

Fragrance of the First Flower (Taiwan, 2021, GagaOOLala)

Elevator pitch: Right-person-wrong-time/second chance romance; tonally is a little like We Best Love 2: Fighting Mr. 2nd but with an ambiguous ending.

What might turn you off: Medium heat, second chance romance means they break up once, internalized homophobia, adultery/cheating, at one point there's a creepy dude, child with autism (depicted well), ambiguous ending

At its core this is a story of a woman who can't stop getting in the way of her own happiness. This series is a little more sad than the rest of this rec list but I couldn't not include it because this relationship is so poignant. Plus there's a s2 that supposedly is to come out in 2024 so maybe we'll get our happy ending after all?

Love Greater Than or Equal to 70 Degrees C (Korea, 2019, YouTube)

Elevator pitch: Ingredients but with lesbians staring at one another over beautiful tea pairings! What more could you ask for?

What might turn you off: Low heat; short runtime; ambiguous ending; like Ingredients this is essentially a long ad for the café it's filmed at.

This is a Korean miniseries about passionate tea sommeliers making really fancy tea while staring at one another a LOT. Perfect sapphic representation, 10/10 no notes. This one packs a lot of the drama tropes into its short runtime, so even though it's short it's full of butterfly-inspiring moments.

Sleep With Me (Philippines, 2022, GagaOOLala/iWantTFC/Netflix w/VPN set to Philippines)

Elevator pitch: The Truth About Cats and Dogs but the self esteem issues are handled without catfishing. BL equivalent: Hmmm. Closest I can think of is Gaya Sa Pelikula.

What might turn you off: There's some ableism (treated as such) in this show; Open ending.

Stellar GL between a late night radio DJ and an insomniac who listens to her show. One of the main couple is a wheelchair user and the show tackles ablelism and navigating disability in relationship as well as feelings of inadequacy in a relationship and how that manifests as interpersonal conflict.

Our Relationship Ended Before it Began (Korea, 2022, YouTube)

Elevator Pitch: Along the lines of I Cannot Reach You; the show gives both perspectives and they are held back by queer angst.

What might turn you off: No kiss (but they make it very clear both want to kiss), internalized homophobia

Really sweet miniseries about having a crush and being afraid of being hurt so you don't actually make a move. I really like the way the girl who has not dated a girl before defaults to gender roles and it throws the more experienced lesbian lol I also really like the way this show makes clear that both of them are waiting for a kiss, and that if you get in your head about things, it can get in the way of your own happiness!

Pearl Next Door (Philippines, 2020, Youtube)

Elevator Pitch: Gameboys but with lesbian vloggers.

What might turn you off: Love triangle, lots of teasing but low heat in the end, a lot of (good) conversations about mental health issues, ambiguous ending

This is the GL spinoff to Gameboys, starring Pearl from Gameboys. Pearl ends up being fought over by the two gorgeous women in the gif, an old love and a new. I love the queer friendships in this story as much as the relationships. I will say it's an open ending (that felt a bit like the showrunners didn't want to decide between ships) and definitely the love triangle features prominently but even in the face of these aspects that would normally turn me off a series I had a good time. The characters and interpersonal conflicts feel very real, and are allowed to be complex even when the show tone is comedic.

Dear Uranus (Taiwan, 2021, YouTube)

Elevator Pitch: Schoolgirl ensemble GL; a little like My School President but without the singing.

What might turn you off: Short runtime; ambiguous ending; a little bit of bullying; very standard romance trope execution

The first Taiwanese GL miniseries, this series was produced by a Taiwanese lesbian couple (Rabbit & Wolf)! Lots of excellent drama tropes, and incredibly gorgeous women (I think the entire watching audience fell in love with Erol.

Lily Fever (Korea, 2015, YouTube)

Elevator pitch: Complete crack; YYY but with more kissing and frankly an even less coherent story.

What might turn you off: The lack of coherent plot; less a romance and more a very thirsty lesbian kissing everyone she can

This miniseries is utter chaos. Nothing really makes sense, it's all just random excuses to cause very suggestive moments (and kissing) to happen. I love so much how this series depicts women being so absolutely thirsty for one another (and yes that date isn't a typo, this series is ~9 years old). Not an "happy ever after" ending but it really isn't that kind of story.

Chasing Sunsets (Philippines, 2020, YouTube)

Elevator pitch: Ocean Likes Me with lesbians. Resort romance with a mental health twist.

What might turn you off: Some of the mental health stuff gets intense, this was filmed in 2020 so the pandemic features heavily; hopeful but slightly ambiguous ending.

A complex story from the Philippines covering mental health and finding yourself. A woman shows up to a resort and befriends one of the women running the resort. They get closer as they spend time together, and the resort owner realizes something is off. There's also a BL side couple in this series.

Show Me Love (Thai, 2023, YouTube)

Elevator pitch: A little like My Day the series with lesbians, in that they work together and fall in love and it's full of tropes

What might turn you off: The advertising for the Miss Grand competition, there is some bullying and cheating (though way less than I was expecting tbh), not a lot actually happens, the editing gets a bit wonky at the end

This is essentially a massive ad for the Miss Grand Thailand competition; this GL was produced by the same company that produces that competition, and the stars are mostly Miss Grand competitors. The main pairing were shipped in the actual competition, and the company decided to make a GL about them. It's very slow paced and low-stakes, and there are better kisses than I expected considering everything I just said about where this show came from. There are a lot of cute moments!

Girlfriend Project (Korea, 2022, YouTube)

Elevator Pitch: Love Class with lesbians

What might turn you off: One of the leads is kind of mean in that pgitail-pulling way? It ends abruptly (but happily)

This is a short miniseries about two girls paired in a class that are assigned to "date". The chemistry is chemistrying. And there is a kiss (a good kiss, and a tiptoes kiss at that!). This show also has one of my favourite tropes, in which someone who seems like a pushover stands up for themselves and their partner finds it very attractive. For the record, in this show they are watching another GL by the same company, Love Tech.

Lulu (Philippines, 2022, Vivamax/grey)

Elevator Pitch: Present Perfect with lesbians (but with a better ending).

What might turn you off: Depictions of panic attacks, brief depiction of drowning, pandemic lockdowns, illness, exes, waffling, happy but open ending (which I actually liked for this story)

Two women trying to move on from the garbage in their lives meet at the beach of a B&B (where one saves the other from drowning) and become one another's company during their escape and then something more. They both have baggage that seems determined to keep them apart even as they continue to be drawn together. In the end, they decide to stick it out and see where they end up, with no guarantee of happily ever after, which I found very sweet. Requires either a VivaMax account or searching the grey for it, but it's worth the effort (check MyDramaList comments for suggestions on where to find it). Plus one of the leads has a cactus as a pet.

Welcome to the Lesbian Bar (Korea, 2023, YouTube)

Elevator Pitch: A little like Fudanshi Bartender but without the fudanshi bartender and all of the bar patrons are lesbians lol

What might turn you off: Short, can get a little bit preachy, abrupt ending

Cute short series with different very stories every episode as different patrons visit the bar. The stories range from women who have been together for awhile, to people meeting from an online app for the first time, to someone visiting a lesbian bar for the first time; and yet the story all weaves together in a way that's satisfying though ends abruptly. Includes some solid marriage equality propaganda.

GAP the Series (Thai, 2022, YouTube)

Elevator Pitch: Kind of the vibes of Together with Me but lesbians and in an office instead of school. Angry boss falls for charming new intern and

What might turn you off: This one is the highest heat of all these recs; homophobia especially amongst family, brief depictions of death by car, brief mentions of suicide, cheating, bullying, abuse of power in the office.

A list would not be complete without this one! Honestly the plot is a bit wobbly but the show is a lot of fun. The girls are very cute, the feelings and tension builds really well between them, the friend group is excellent, and in the special we get a wedding.

---

The rest of these have caveats of one kind or another, but i couldn't leave them off a rec list, so here are the side couples and censored stories that are still worth your time anyway (I might do a separate more detailed post for these, as well as for films, one day if there's interest):

Nevertheless (GL side; Korean, 2021, Netflix) Not sure it's worth watching a whole kdrama for side lesbians? Search soljiwan on youtube. They are great. Even the Netflix account stans them. I watched this (ngl, I watched the SolJiwan cut) as it aired and was constantly braced for it to let us down but it did not! A really good friends-to-lovers story.

Friend Zone 2: Dangerous Area (GL side; Thailand, 2019, YouTube): These sapphics are messy and I love them. Decent conversation about dating someone with mental health issues in this series, and they're one of the only couples in this ensemble to get a happy ending. If you're just watching the lesbian couple (which you can, their story is pretty self-contained) you don't need to have seen s1.

Six Survivors (GL side; Japan, 2022, Viki) This show is a horror comedy and it is SO MUCH FUN. Warning for zombies and blood, but way less than you might think. One of the eponymous 6 survivors is a lesbian who keeps trying to convert them to veganism lol. If you watched Chaser Game W you'll recognize one of the actresses in this, the lead actress is from Kamisama no Ekohiiki, and one of the guys is from the prequel series His as well as I Want to See Only You! And yes there is a kiss. Also a surprising number of Mallrats references. Not for people who can't handle gore or relationships being complicated/not a "true love" story/ambiguous ending.

Kamisama no Ekohiiki (complicated question of is it GL in parts, Japan, 2021, furritsubs once again coming through to save the day) This one is a bit complex because there's bodyswap, but the girl who falls for the bodyswapped boy-in-a-girl's-body is clear that she is only interested in the girl. One of the better bodyswap stories because the bodyswap is not a secret for very long, so instead there's a lot of introspection about what gender means and who/what they are attracted to. Feels wrong to call this GL, necessarily, but it's very queer.

Couple of Mirrors (Censored GL, China, 2021, Viki) Story of a rich girl and her assassin girlfriend. This production did an amazing job getting away with what they could, just don't watch the last five minutes and we've got essentially a happy lesbian family.

Legend of Yunze (Censored GL, China, 2021, @douqi7s) Very cute very low budget xianxia miniseries with two seasons and a special. The special is set in modern times in a future lifetime so if you want a cute censored-but-clearly-a-soulmate-love-story this is the one for you. Don't be thrown off by the weird cuts/abrupt episode endings, that's in line with cdramas in general.

Led Astray by Love (Censored GL, China, 2021, @douqi7s) A very fun and adorable isekai story in which a modern day girl is transported to a wuxia novel setting and has to figure out how to get home, and gets romanced by the princess along the way.

And a few additional links for people who even more content:

My Indian sapphic webseries rec list

My suggestions for content with toms (Thai category that's similar to but not exactly the same as butch lesbians) in response to this post.

This really good GL MyDramaList list (not made by me!) lists what seems to be everything I've mentioned and about 200 more. Even I haven't seen a few of these!

My YouTube playlist of sapphic content: This includes anything I stumble across or find in my searches, a lot of music videos and random shorts as well as some microseries and miniseries that I don't consider GL but are WLW/sapphic in addition to true "GL" content. For serialized content, I add just the first ep. A complete mess, but you can trawl through to find stuff to watch, like Hetero!

SOONOTSUE: The same producers of She Makes My Heart Flutter have other short series on their channel worth checking out; if you liked that one, try Out of Breath!

Shakeshoulder: Thai YouTube producers of very pulpy (read: low budget and dramatic plots) shorts

FuFuKnows: This YouTube channel is owned by a gay Taiwanese couple that produces shorts every week, including some with GL mains and sides. These are very low budget but cover a whole swath of queer themes.

@douqi7s is a godsend providing subtitles for all kinds of content, including sapphic shorts and more series than I've listed here. Check their tumblr for links to all of their content; A Practical Guide to Being a Superstar's Assistant has one of the best setups to giving us great moments in the guise of something else so that they get past censorship I've ever seen; I also recommend The Vampires if you're into genre fiction, as well as Legend of Yunqian if you enjoyed the xianxia parts of Legend of Yunze. @wlwcatalogue did an excellent summary of many of the non-wuxia options here.

Quick pitch for the streaming platform GagaOOLala; it's affordable, has a ton of content, including a whack of GLs (originals, license series, and a ton of shorts), and is run by queer people out of Taiwan who care about good quality queer content being made and having an audience, and using the soft power from those successful series to support social change. And if you can't afford a subscription it's worth checking out what they have for free, they open up temporary free access to some things for various events throughout the year.

In searching for gifs for this post I found fellow tumblr user @drowningparty 's WLW compendium list; they've listed more series and films so check it out if you still need more content!

*wipes sweat off brow* that should be enough to be getting on with, but it's really just the tip of the iceberg! If there's something specific you want to see with sapphics let me know and I can tell you if I know it exists. Anyway, I hope this gives you and everyone else a taste of what all is out there! I of course always want more, I am serious about being a sapphic dragon hoarding every crumb i can get my lizardy hands on, but I do think what we have should also be appreciated more. If I missed one of your faves, please tell me!

[genderkoolaid]

Hi! I pondered today the post you've reblogged asking people to examine their biases in how they perceive transmascs. My thought was only vaguely related, as it was more related to bisexualism. I hope it's not an issue. I'd like to share it, as I respect you a lot. (Thank you lots for introducing me multigenderism! I didn't knew it was an option and I'm exploring a little! :3)

Specifically I was thinking about the erasure of men perceived as feminine from mlw relationships. There's this... assumption, that feminine men are almost inherently (OOF) unable to be attracted to women? (Putting aside fandom bias to ships involving women in the first place.) What's up with that??I cannot quite put it in the words properly but... it just doesn't sit right with me. Idk, it feels... emasculating? Like, being a femme is a vibe, a presentation, etc, but if it's a femme man it's still *very much a man*. This + typical bisexual erasure and overall assuming you can clock people's sexuality on appearance alone... Probably more that eludes me. I'm still grappling with it. Idk, there's probably much more to say here but... it's upsetting emotionally to me, personally. I'm an afab woman (maybe more) so please, *please* take my input with a grain of salt. It's just that I love men. I adore them. I want to learn more about them, learn their struggles, help them if I can. I might love them even more out of spite when biphobic people scorn at it bc it's not queer enough. Here's the catch: My type specifically is femmes. As a femme woman. So ironically my longing towards men always felt more "broken" and "unachievable" then towards women. Bc for years it felt like... femme men would never want me, by the virtue of who I am. With what body I was born and feel at home in. Idk where I'm going with this at this point. I guess I too wish people would examine their biases. In this case towards feminine men. For the sake of all men, trans, cis, femme/butch... and people who love them. Emasculating men hurts everybody. Even women, such as myself. I hope I haven't at any point sounded as equating "feminine men" to "transmasc", btw! I do NOT believe transmasc are feminine! If at any point I was coming of like that by bringing both in one ask I'm sorry! Here I'll conclude. I still have much to learn thought. I still grapple with naming the issue at hand I would deeply appreciate men insight here. Have a nice day :3

I actually posted an article written by a femme bi man talking about this topic a while back!

This is very much an issue. The way I interpret the different ways biphobes react to bi men/women is that its related to how patriarchal gender roles operate. All bisexuals are targeted by the idea that they are either "really" straight or "really" gay because of binarism. Women are resource objects, so cishet men's access to them needs to be preserved; therefore, bi women must be REALLY straight. Men, on the other hand, are competitors, and queerness is one of the major ways men are seen as failing that competition; as a result, bi men must be REALLY gay because their attraction to men(/feminine presentation, if they are femme) means they could never successfully compete at manhood. (This is ofc just a general trend; sometimes people, especially queers, will insist a bi woman must be really a lesbian esp if shes butch, and cishets may insist a bi man must be really straight especially if hes masc/butch).

I identify as bisexual and as a femme man, although I'm not sure if I would consider myself attracted to women as a man (multigender sexuality is weird but fun!), but know there very much ARE femme bi men out there who would love to be in a relationship with you. I think a lot of mlw who have a preference for femininity have experienced this, queer or not, because there is so little visibility for GNC men who are attracted to women- and because there are women who are queerphobic about the idea of a woman dating a GNC man.

[fiddleturnips]

At this point I should seriously just drop the pretense of writing fanfiction and make this whole thing an original narrative. Anyway, here's Stan and Ford and the Lesbians:

Note: this story is playing fast and loose with pronouns and queer culture. This is to reflect the fact that these are two cishet men in a lesbian space in the 1980s. It's intentionally written to come off as ignorant, but well-meaning. The narrator is unreliable.

Stan has been getting used to the new routine with Emma-Mae and Fiddleford. They love him, he loves them, and he never knew that you could love family life so much.

But: he is still very much a heterosexual man being thrown into a homoromantic relationship for the first time. Some things are going over his head, and he's struggling to really understand them. He talks to Ford about this; since Ford isn't in the same bedroom situation, all of the others tend to vent their frustrations to him. In this particular instance, Stan is struggling to really know how to take care of a partner who does not like to be touched sexually, but loves to touch others. It feels unfair and imbalanced. It feels like Fiddleford might not really be a part of the sexual experience in the same way, like he might feel left out or used if things continue this way.

Ford, as we have established, has a rather extensive book knowledge of queer culture -- despite having very little sexual, romantic, or gender experience himself. Ford does not fully understand how Fiddleford feels, but he has an idea of who might be able to help.

The problem is... he also fears that to ask for help would be an intrusion. He knows that this is not their community.

He knows it's a risk.

But, science demands risk, so one day, he and Stan tell the other two that they're taking a day out together as brothers, and then they drive into the city.

When they walk into the bookshop, they can feel the tension. This is not their place. They are not wanted here. They are clearly men, clearly straight, and clearly uncomfortable in this aggressively women-only environment. This is the nineteen eighties; queer subcultures can be reclusive and secretive, guarding themselves ferociously against anyone who might be on the side of the law. The fine grains of sex and gender that the 2000s developed, with its free availability of information and universal decriminalization of homosexuality, do not yet exist. Everything about these two big, scruffy, normal-looking men who are clearly not from around here clashes with the intended demographic of the store.

Ford walks up to the counter, awkward as anything. Stan tries to make himself inconspicuous by reading the shelves. The titles are strange, but no stranger than he'd seen on other shelves. They speak of a world that he is not only not part of, but has been intentionally shut out of since birth.

"Excuse me," says Ford, to the red-lipped dyke behind the counter. "I know that we aren't your usual customers, but we're looking for some information that I don't think I can get anywhere else."

She stares at him like he's speaking a different language. There is a second woman, a high femme in heals and perfect hair, who watches with the sort of open, disdainful curiosity you'd see at a zoo. Ford feels small and out of place, but he continues, lowering his voice like they're in a library.

"M-my brother, he has recently entered a, um, a relationship, and h-his partner is - well, his partner does not like to be touched. And I know m-men must experience this sort of thing often enough, but, ah, I have only heard of the phenomenon among women."

The moment, the very moment Ford genders Stan's partner - the moment the ladies realize that these two brothers are not intruders in their space, but pilgrims seeking help - everything changes. The femme woman's eyebrows raise in curiosity, the red-lipped cashier's face becomes animated and attentive.

"Hey, Jay, these guys might be up your alley!"

To Ford's shock, the person who emerges is a man. No, wait - she's... ? Ford does not know if the person who emerged is a man or a woman. He reminds himself yet again that this is not a place where you assume, and that the person very well might not be considered either. This individual, presumably a butch lesbian but perhaps something else, radiates steadiness like the captain of a ship. Ford is suddenly certain that this is the one in charge here.

"How can I help you?" the person asks. The voice is a low alto, or perhaps a high tenor. It does not help.

"My name is Stanford Pines," Ford says, hoping that the use of a real name will be seen as a peace offering - you know me and I am not asking to know you. "This is my brother."

"They're looking for some stone materials," the Femme says to the newcomer. "They seem cool."

The newcomer regards him for a moment, then nods. "You familiar with this kind of stuff?"

"I am, somewhat," Ford says. He feels his shoulders sink with relief. "Only from what I've read, obviously. I do my best to be educated on sexual matters. This is new territory for my brother and his-" - Ford stumbles over the right word - "-lover."

"Yeah, gimme a sec. What's your budget?"

Ford feels even more relief. Money is much easier to exchange than good will. "Fairly high. Probably higher than Stan's patience."

Stan cringes. Ford realizes his mistake, thata first name might a private detail.

Ford swallows, though, and goes on: "But the man he's involved with is an avid reader, and likely needs the encouragement much more than either of us."

"Yeah, I'm not a big reader," Stan mumbles, blushing and hiding his head in his collar.

Their guide explores the shelves, picking out books from the stack with practiced agility. She or he or whatever the gender is brings a sizeable stack to the counter, divided into sections.

"These three are required reading. They should help you get an idea of what you're getting into," the guide says over Ford's shoulder, looking straight at Stanley - who is still avoiding the counter. "The green one is a pretty easy read. I usually give it to younger girls. This is one I've recommended to guys with dicks before. These two are just general use, good to have in the house."

"Ah, I recognize a couple of these," Ford says, beginning to feel more comfortable as the talk gets academic. The femme raises an eyebrow at him, and he shrinks back again.

He's an outsider, he reminds himself again. Don't get too haughty.

They check out. Ford pays in cash. He leaves a sizeable tip, not really caring if it was wanted or expected but knowing that money leaves a mark.

As he rejoins Stan and they begin to walk out, Stan says:

"Do you think he'll go for it?"

And Ford replies:

"Stanley, you know he'll do anything as long as you're the one to ask it of him."

And then, from behind him, a high tenor (or low alto) voice says:

"Wait."

They stop in the doorway and turn back.

The captain of the shop is leaning against the counter. She stares intensely at Stan. She points at him.

"Come here," she says.

Stan swallows. He's never been this intimidated in his life. He walks back toward the counter. This weird lesbian bookmonger commands more respect from him than his own father ever did at his scariest.

Ford, in a moment of cowardice, hangs back.

"Tell me about him."

Stan pushes his hands deep in his pockets. His eyes shift away. He swallows again; his throat is dry.

"He's, uh, he's cute. And real nice. Not like anyone I've had before."

"Is it your first time with a man?"

Stan nods.

"What your brother just said - what was he talking about?"

"Well." Stan looks at the shelves. He looks at the ceiling. He's suddenly protective of his lover, doesn't want to speak badly of him. "He's amazing. Nobody better make fun of him, alright? Don't care if you're a lady or not, sorry I really can't tell, but I'll clock you hard if you make fun of him."

She laughs hard at that low in her chest. The lipstick cashier grins wide.

"Let's say not a lady," she - he? - says. "But on my honor, I won't speak bad about your boy."

"He-" Stan takes his hands from his pockets and begins to play with his sleeves. "He's been through some shit. And he needs someone to take care of him. And he loves it so much, it makes him real happy when I'm there."

Beginning like that, baring his heart to this total stranger, does something to Stan. It does something more than alcohol, more than long sleepless nights on the road. And suddenly, all at once, it's pouring out of his heart, out of his mouth, stinging his eyes, the words are swallowing up the entire rest of the world:

"And he deserves the whole fucking world, you know? He likes it when I order him around a bit, but not, like, all dirty and mean about it, he just likes knowing he's safe, and that I got him, he can let go for a while. He, he trusts me so much, like nothing else, he's like a little baby bird or something or, or a puppy, just needs someone to remind him it's okay. And I'd do anything to take care of him, nobody ever gets to hurt him again if I'm around. But he's kinda, he, he needs it, y'know?"

Stan suddenly looks up, because he needs to see it in this bookstore butch's face, needs to know that he understands, that there's sympathy, and what Stan finds there is the rapt attention of someone who one hundred percent knows exactly what Stan is saying.

"He never knows when to quit! He forgets to take care of himself, and he gets caught up in his head or the nightmares when they get bad, and sometimes I just gotta - I just gotta tell him, y'know? Tell him to sit down and eat something, or go sleep and I've got him while he does, and he, well, he listens to me, y'know? He does what I say. Even when I'm dumb sometimes, way dumber than he is, he, he looks up to me like I'm a fucking rabbi or something, and then he does anything I tell him, and that's, that's, that's terrifying. Dumb idiot like me, and I have the most amazing guy in the whole world and I just, I'm scared of breaking him. Scared I'll screw up, like I screwed up everything else. But I can't, I ain't gonna screw this up. I'll do anything not to screw it up."

Stan runs out of steam. The lipstick cashier is tearing up and pressing her own cheek with one hand. The femme has an arm around her.

"Oh, honey," the femme says, the first words from her mouth this whole time. It's high and bright and as pretty as the rest of her.

Stan drops his head, embarrassed, sure he looks like a stupid sap, the uggliest guy in this damn bookshop, pressing back the tears so hard his cheeks hurt.

The bookmonger puts a strong, heavy hand on Stan's shoulder. Then he lifts it and cuffs Stan's head.

"Hey," he says. "We're all scared. It's worth being scared. It's totally, one hundred percent worth it. And you? I can tell you're gonna be great. Even if you screw it up, remember how you feel right now, and remember that you have something right now that most people never have in their lives. Even if you lose him someday, you remember that."

Stan squeezes his hands into fists. "I don't want to lose him."

The bookmonger shrugs. He doesn't argue.

"Well, anyway," he says.

He grabs a pencil and paper, scribbles an address and the name of a shop on it, tears it off and hands it to Stan. "You head to these guys, you tell them some of what you just told me, about how this guy relies on you to order him around some and how you don't wanna screw it up. They'll help you out."

Stan reads the paper, puzzled. It is embarrassingly obvious from the name that this is a sex shop.

"Uh, okay," he says.

"Now get out," the bookmonger says, although there is little force in the words.

Stan leaves with Ford. As they go, the femme's voice carries: "Oh, they're adorable."

The bookmonger replies: "Eh. Give it time."

Outside on the sidewalk, Ford holds the books in one arm, and they look down at the address. It's a few blocks away, easy enough to reach on foot.

"Well," says Stan, "can't be any more embarrassing than this was."

-

Part Two shall come whenever I have the time and motivation

[floatingcatacombs]

What Else Did You Expect But More Yuri About Adults

12 Days of Aniblogging 2023, Day 12

It is my sworn duty to document the yuri genre as it continues to graduate from high school. Here's the pickings from this year.

She Loves To Cook, She Loves to Eat

Two women who live by themselves in the same apartment complex slowly bond over making and eating food together. There’s a fundamental feminism at this manga's core which says yes, we will be talking about periods and eating disorders and shitty families and institutional sexism instead of being trapped in our own coffins forever. That alone makes She Loves to Cook, She Loves to Eat a landmark work, but it’s also extremely relaxing and sweet. By some metrics it’s one of the most popular manga for women in Japan, and it warms my heart to know that it’s reaching the people who need to hear what it has to say.

Also, it received a live-action adaptation that aired on NHK during prime time. It's definitely worth watching! While the manga will use a good third of its panels to depict Kasuga devouring a meal from bite to bite, the show instead places the camera on Nomoto watching Kasuga eat. It’s an interesting inversion, keeping us more locked into Nomoto's perspective, and makes sense for the medium. There is no clear cultural box for what these two women are doing, something which they’re each keenly aware of. And yet, they continue to take care of one another, cutting through the fear and loneliness dinner by dinner. Watching through this with my girlfriend healed my relationship to food just a little, and I can’t wait for the second season to adapt some of the really juicy parts of the manga.

Cheerful Amnesia

A woman gets in a terrible accident and loses the last three years of her memories, much to the chagrin of her girlfriend during that time. This is a sex comedy with exactly one joke, and the bluntness with which it is applied won me over. I probably would’ve hated Arisa if I had tried reading this a year or two ago, but now that I'm familiar with High Femme Camp Antics I can understand what's going on with her. It’s so stupid, and arguably not very good, and yet I had fun. Though it is genuinely great that the latter volumes shift the subject matter to the perils of coming out to your family and the heartbreak of planning a wedding in a country that won’t recognize your marriage, but keep the tone exactly as lighthearted.

Umineko-Sou days

I mostly picked this up because it appeared while I was searching for the Umineko manga on my reader app. It was fine.

Naoko Kodama’s true calling, though, is writing cheating manga. Her newest is “A Lying Bride's Case for Same-Sex Marriage”, a manifesto of a title if I've ever heard one. There's only one chapter so far, but the heteropessimism on display is so scorched-earth that it’s hard to fault the lesbian protagonist for any homewrecking that may occur down the line.

Kodama is on a fucking mission with this one

A Face You Shouldn’t Show

Thank god you can just publish fetish porn in Comic Yuri Hime now. I approve of this on an ideological level, if not always a personal interest one.

_

All of the manga on display here are chipping away at the purity complex endemic to yuri in their own ways, and that’s the real miracle. Here’s to newer, weirder lesbians, now and always. Merry Christmas.

[butchinblue]

Lose hope all ye who enter here

Hey whats up? Call me Emma or any petnames you want

Whore but shy so not many pics haha

20 smth mexican🇲🇽 T-girl🏳️‍⚧️, T-rex🦖 and T-T lover🍒🤤. She/Her. It/Its

FINALLY A YEAR ON E AND FUCKING LOVING IT 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

🔊Lesbian. Butch lesbian. Switch. Sub but Domme On Demand. Butch4Femme mostly but also Butch4All🔊

🔊DMs always open. All queer people welcome. Femmes, Tall femmes, Tall femme tops pls pls pls talk to me I'll be so good to you I swear🔊

🎙I enjoy getting asks, so feel free to send me some. nsfw or otherwise, I just like chatting, I'm not good with conversation, sorry, but I try my best🎙

🔥Mutuals are not only ALLOWED but also ENCOURAGED to send nudes, I love exchanging nudes🔥

⛔️CIS MEN ALLOWED AS LONG AS U DONT GET WEIRD (NOT ANSWERING UR DMs THO)⛔️

⛔️DNI MINORS AND BIGOTS (any kind of queerphobia, antisemitism, racism, etc.) also sissy blogs sorry but not welcome here⛔️

I block when i want to for whatever reason i want even if u dont fill the dni criteria.

⛔️NO HARRY P*TTER STUFF HERE PLS.⛔️

⛓️Some Kinks⛓️:

Breeding

Impact play

Knife play

Overstimulation

Intoxication

CNC

Bondage

Edging

Free use

Pet play

Leather

Fauxcest

Piss

Degradation/Praise

Monsterfucking

🚩🚩🚩 I'm gonna start tagging some content but I'm pretty new to it so if theres something you feel should be tagged i appreciate you telling me🚩🚩🚩

General nerdiness to be expected. Love Avatar (the series), D&D (even tho i dont get to play a lot), animal stuff and so on. Not everything is horny lesbian, even if horny lesbian is most of it all

English isn't my first language so if I fuck an idiom up or it seems I say smth out of place I always appreciate you guys letting me know

If u made it here good, this might be the last time u see me capitalize and punctualize correctly. It's a choice

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

Could you tell me a story about a rambunctious cat named Arnold and the famous drag queen, Alyssa Edwards?

The first thing Alyssa did upon arriving in LA was to look up the Mormon church where Arnold and her niece sat. She had made reservations for herself in a local hotel and bought plane tickets, but the more important question of what she would do after arriving was still up in the air. It was Saturday morning, a day off from her bakery job. She decided that she would go on a long walk and see what came of it. There were things she could do. She could find a cute bar in West Hollywood and ask the bartender if he knew any women and lesbians and things. She could try meeting someone in that hotel gym.

She wanted to do something other than meet people, though. She remembered the time she had read about the girl named Candy who had disappeared and then come back to life. When she came back, she had walked and walked, had gone places and seen people and had been seen herself, as a different person. Alyssa had been in a similar situation, long ago, although she had not disappeared. She had become a different person and then made it permanent. She hoped to do the same now.

But she got off the bus in West Hollywood in the morning and found herself very confused. There were friendly, healthy, contented people everywhere, and bars that would probably let her in, but the idea of wandering and getting lost like that was unappealing. It would be like wandering through a park that had no park around it, because the park was inside her mind and she could not break out. She didn't think that was going to be helpful.

It was warm outside and late spring was finally on its way. So she went to the gym in the hotel, where a place called the Body Shop was one floor above the lobby. Even if the bartenders had not known the answer to her question, she expected the bartenders at the Body Shop would. In her mind she wrote a letter:

I'm looking for a gay bar and/or a lesbian bar. I'm a woman, and I am not in an official sense a woman but I'm on my way to being in that sense a woman and thus am on my way to being a femme. I don't know how to convince anyone I am the person I am, so I'm not going to bother trying to convince anyone.

She planned to print it and hand it to the bartender. She felt it might be better if she was wearing nail polish and makeup and a fun dress and had her hair done. She had a lot to learn.

She planned to print the letter and wait until the bartender came over. She planned to say, "Hey, can you help me find a bar? I'm new here." And then she planned to hand the bartender the letter, and the bartender would read it and say, "You're looking for a women's bar and/or a femme bar." And then she planned to say, "Great, thanks." And then she planned to have the bartender point her toward the right direction. And then she would wander down the street and find the bar and go inside it, and then she would find people, and be found.

Of course, things were never this simple. When Alyssa arrived at the Body Shop, she found every bartender there male. The bartender seemed surprised to see her, but he agreed to write something for her.

I'm looking for a neon spa and/or a spa run by lesbians. The clientele should be cute, friendly, and kind.

It was not what Alyssa had expected to read from the bartender's letter, but it seemed promising. There was a neon spa across the street, and upon walking into it, Alyssa was immediately greeted by a person wearing a multi-colored hairdo. Alyssa could tell from this hairdo that this person was a person of a certain gender. She had not been certain of this before arriving, but now she felt sure.

"Oh," said the hairdo, "we have people here right now. They are at the front desk. There is a special. Would you like it? I do not think it is negotiable."

"Er," Alyssa said, "I mean -- I guess I should probably try it." She felt she should probably try it. After all, she had decided to explore the world of the other gender. There was nothing wrong with exploring the world of the other gender. There was nothing wrong with trying on the attitudes of the other gender. Nothing wrong with trying on fun things like that. She had a good time. It was important that she have a good time.

And she had a good time. She had a good time up until it was over. She met friendly people who were cute and kind and she even tried to be friendly and cute and kind, and the people around her were friendly and cute and kind back, and it was all very nice, and then it was over. Alyssa was left behind by her own actions and plans.

"Oh!" said Alyssa, "Thank you!"

"I am sorry," said the hairdo. "It was nice to meet you. It was very nice to meet you."

I said, no, it was fine. It was very nice to meet you too. You were nice to me and that's good. Goodbye now.

Alyssa was alone and she was not sure what to do next. She could have lunch at a place called Pharmacy. She could explore on foot and get lost and ask someone where she could find people who were more like herself. But she was still not sure what to do next.

There was only one bar nearby. There were no cute bars nearby. There were no places of any kind nearby. It was this bar, which was as friendly as a place could be, but Alyssa felt she was imposing on its good nature by being there, and yet it was the only bar in the entire place.

She wanted to walk, and ask people, and start wandering, but it felt wrong to ask people things like that. Alyssa felt she needed to do things the right way. When Alyssa got home, people were going to want to meet her, and there was no way she would meet them if she was not ready to meet them, and being ready to meet them meant starting to meet them now. This was the lesson of the past. But Alyssa felt she needed to meet them the right way, and that meant walking through the world the right way.

The bar was friendly, but the bartender had not helped her find a place, and people in the bar were hanging out, and she was not sure she should hang out. She felt there were things in the past that she should be doing now, and some things from the past could be done but it was better not to do them. She should not be wandering.

Oh," said Alyssa, "Do you happen to know where I can find a women's bar and/or a mixed gender bar?

"I live here, and I have no idea," said the bartender.

"Oh," said Alyssa.

"There is a club on the west side that is not mixed, but I have not been there. I am not sure if this club has women in it. I'm not sure if it's the kind of club you want."

"Oh," said Alyssa. And then she said, "Thanks." And then she left the bar. She did not ask directions, because it was the wrong kind of direction. And Alyssa had gotten directions in the wrong kind of directions for a long time now. She knew how to read maps, but there were things you could do that were very similar to map reading, but which led you in the opposite direction from where you were going, and it had been years since Alyssa had taken a good direction.

She walked around and around, up and down the street. She found herself looking at houses and shops and churches, but she was not in the habit of going into shops or churches. She was not sure what to do next. She saw a bookstore. It seemed promising.

The bookstore had a website. It had a lot of books. There was a lot of nice artwork in the bookstore. An artist was selling paintings of cute things in the store, and there was an artist selling paintings of cute things on the street outside. There was also a very large book called It Must Be Early Sunday and Alyssa was very

[kurohtak1]

Butch/Femme and the Black experience

So I was workign on my comic triple moon and simultaneously scrolling through tumblr when i came across someones post about butch/femme relationships. As a young lesbiann i was really really invested in those kinds of dynamics. But now as a adult i forgot what it was about. Since i was working on some things for my comic, i decided to freshen up my memory about it.

As I read some artciles and texts about it i found myself getting steadily irked and i wanted to investigate why. after more research, some writing, and thought i realized something. Butch/femme relationships would never work for me. And here's why. First of all, I am a black nonbiary lesbian. A lot of my experience with gender and sexuality are dependent on my race. As a black person, my autonomy was stolen from me. From the day i was born, till the day i die, everything i do and say will be dictated to me based on the color of my skin.

My emotions will never be my own. If i do not act a certain way i am dictated as the violent black person. Or I'm the saintly black person that dictates anothers perspectives on black people as a whole. My presentation will never be my own. Black women are forcefully masculanized from day one and are not even considered to be women under white supremacy and eurocentric standards, and black men are seen as monsters for similar reasons. So what about black queer people? They get it worse.

See, butch and femme mainly meant white people. It always has. If it didn't, why is stud the word used for BLACK masc lesbians? And also, what does it mean to be a femme? What does that look like? Who does that entail? I bet your imaging a white person. And same with butch. It will never work for me or anyone like me because i am black first and foremost. And with the way these articles and texts were talking about it, its almost like they forget that QTPOC exist and can NEVER live up to the standards white gays make up. And that's what angered me so much. Its all so eurocentric. Not just in appearance, because butch/femme relationships are not just based around looks, but the cultural actions/perspectives of how to treat your partner and stuff like that. How so? When I identified as a women, I had a gf, who was white, and they automatically assumed i was a dominant masc person. Why? Cause I don't take anyones shit, cause i speak my mind, I assert myself, I defend others. Black folk are raised to be tougher. To be strong, to not let people walk on you. because the world WILL do that to US!!! Its either that or we die, or we die either way. We have to be one thing or the other ALWAYS. Black women especially have to be taught this. They are not allowed to be soft or emotional. And they are not given the grace to be treated gently with love and care.

But my white partner did not consider this. Perhaps she saw how I acted as being butch, or more masc. Perhaps it was racism. But the fact is, black people have very different perspectives on relationships than white people do. Doubly so for QTPOC. And because this perspective is not considered, it becomes another opportunity for our autonomy to be stolen. And that's the thing, majority of QTPOC experience this all the time. Their white partners treatign them one way because their perspective is another.

I can see where and why Butch/femme had its place in history, but as a black person, i cannot fit under ideals made mainly by white people for white people. And I don;t think they realize its just another form of alienation. And its EVERYWHERE! Its in the atmosphere at bars and clubs and cafes that cater to queer people, its in how people date, it in how we talk and how we write and whos history we pull from.

I mean it was shocking to go out to the bars and the clubs and really feel that kind of alienation. To go to the dating apps and have ONLY FEMS! NO MASCS. REAL WOMEN ONLY! constantly thrown in my face. Feeling as if, if i do not fit into one thing then i am worthless and no one could want me. As if being nonbinary would only burden or disgust a partner. Its impossible to try and fit in when you literally do not adhere to a gender binary, or possibly any dichotomy for that matter. And that's the thick of it. People like me belong no where.

i see black sapphics/lesbians try all the time to fit into these standards. And i tried to as well. But i canNOT fit in. None of us will.

White gays will never understand that I don't think. I mean, many do not even realize there are two very different LGBTs, there's the white gays, and then there everyone else. Really I wanna know how the black lesbians and sapphics feel about this. Do butch/femme dynamics make you feel similarly safe, or is it just another extension of white queerness you feel you could never live up to?

As I came into my transess, as I realized I am nonbinary, I felt so centered in who I am as a lesbian. I became more comfortable with presenting fem and masc and everything and nothing. Because here I felt that I had a say in who I am. When I read about Butch/femme relationships, what once made me feel centered makes me feel out of place. And its because of the new perspectives I gained. There is nothing wrong, obviously, with wanting that kind of relationship. Its just an extension of trying to understand and navigate being a lesbian/sapphic in a world that tries to tell you otherwise. But it irritates me how often these kinds of things are eurocentric to a T, and how white gays never seem to acknowledge that. Butch and femme just seems like another expectation that I cannot live up to for reasons more than just I am neither masc nor fem. For me, if that's not how you feel that of course that's fine. But i am speaking about the experience of being a black enby lesbian only.

I was interested in speaking about this because my story, Triple Moon, is about BLACK lesbians ONLY! Its about the alienation, that feeling that you can never be the standard. Feeling like you have to define it for yourself. And that you truly belong no where. It about that very Black Lesbian experience. And I have many characters who are studs and some who are fem and some who are androgynous and some who are none of these things. I explore these relationships and the conclusions i come to I think are very comforting for black lesbains/sapphics. Our queerness is different for so many reasons. And I like using my silly little comics to discuss these ideas.

[dropintomanga]

This Manga Is For Anyone Who Struggles So Hard With Dating

I got to read Meiko Hiranishi’s The Girl That Can’t Get a Girlfriend and I will say that this was one of the validating manga I’ve ever read and one of the very few manga works that really describes the various emotions that comes with being in love. While this is a story about queer romance at its core, the themes are relatable to everyone. 

The manga is an autobiographical memoir of the mangaka’s experience with her first love. Meiko describes herself as a butch lesbian otaku with a crippling lack of self-worth. The manga goes through Meiko’s struggles to find a girlfriend until one summer in her college years, she goes to Japan and meets a love interest named Ash. They begin to date much to Meiko’s happiness. However, their relationship lasted only a month due to a misunderstanding over their potential long-term future together. Meiko goes through 4 years of depression over Ash and the manga chronicles all the pain she felt during that time in hilarious and depressing fashion.

Meiko talks about how Ash validated her despite the two being very different (i.e. Ash was more femme than butch). She found that refreshing as no one really paid attention to her until Ash came along. I can’t help but think about the 1st person I ever really loved. The two of us spent so much together for years as friends, but the way we acted was more than just friends at times. When Meiko said that she wanted to treasure her time with Ash, I felt the same with the person I crushed on. There’s a part where Meiko sees that Ash was too special and that she felt that no one else would compare and I just cried because I felt the same with my first love.

When that relationship ended, I was trying hard to move on, but it was difficult. I talked about this in length and how we made up. But I never opened up my feelings about her. I eventually did confess and well, they weren’t returned.

Meiko desperately tries to get Ash back into her life, only to find out that she got herself a new partner. Meiko then thinks back with a lot of hatred over things that Ash said and did with a smiling face. She couldn’t fathom that the Ash that moved on completely was the same Ash that told her that she loved her. Right now, I’m processing over what my old friend/love said to me in the past. She was very flirty at the time and even implied something more than just flirting. There was also a time when she told me that she wished we were neighbors, so that we could hang out forever. I felt that she was leading me on. And like Meiko, I wondered why would someone do that if their intention was never to get in a romantic relationship with me in the 1st place. I do think that my love was a bit too one-sided though and Meiko saw that too in her desire to be with Ash.

What’s scary was seeing Meiko try to do her best in life in order to impress Ash again when the time comes. However, all of that was for naught when Meiko notices Ash was single again and tries to hit her up to no response. Meiko tries dating men in order to find a replacement, but nothing serious ever materializes. She says that once you have a taste of love, you try hard to get it because of how good it feels. Such truer words have never been spoken. Of course, as Meiko would explain, being stuck on your ex gets in the way. I think it’s easier to feel miserable at times with regards to love because when you only know instability in your life, it becomes all too comfortable. 

The end of the manga is pretty good as Meiko discovers self-compassion after going through a serious health issue. She becomes more likable, finds healthy relationships, takes care of herself better and is realizing her dream of being a manga artist. Meiko doesn’t have a girlfriend and her current life now probably has no room for one, but it’s okay. I think if you’re going to get something out of Meiko’s experiences - it’s that self-compassion really helps wonders. Even though I’m still processing a lot years later, I remember that when I was with the person I loved, I hated myself so much. The separation helped me grow up quite a bit and I don’t get so hard on myself compared to back then. As of right now, I’m giving myself permission to like someone new (if the right person comes along) because I believe I do matter.

Dating does suck. But as Meiko will probably tell you, just because you can’t get a girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/husband doesn’t mean that you can’t live a life filled with other relationships that make it worth living for yourself.

[slutnali]

Answer two of the wips asks you haven’t done yet

oo ty bestie 💜✨ [sorry this is a lil late]

🌀Post the fic summary for a fic you haven't written/published yet. It can be hypothetical or something you really plan on releasing...

This is something I've been working on for years on and off because it's one of those types that I just have so much love for and so many HC's and things I want to do. I actually have an outline of it and it's very much slice of life throughout Denali and Rosé's relationship. The series is called Best Part named after the song by H.E.R and Daniel Ceasar and each update will be named after a love song [haven't decided what to name the first one though rip]

Denali just bought her own space to open up her bakery. She meets contractor/handywoman Rosé at the hardware store [h*me dep*t] and they get to talking ofc in which Rosie agrees to take a look at the state of the bakery and eventually agrees to help with renovations

This series is very much my baby and there's themes about growing up Latina and the expectations put on by your family to be a woman of the house and tend to the men.. themes of some challenges/discomfort masc lesbians face, acts of service as a love language, food & cooking as a love language, the beauty of femme x masc/butch relationships [disclaimer: all types of lesbian relationships are valid‼️ for this fic series i just wanted to explore a different type of dynamic? if thats the right word? for these two bc theyre usually written femme x femme in most, if not all lesbian fics]

Its just so warm and full of love, like a freshly baked loaf of sweet bread

also features Jan as Rosé's younger sister who is an interior decorator, their cousin Lemon as Jan's assistant, Lagoona as Jan's partner and childhood bff to rosie, ex chocolatier Priyanka who quit her job to work with Nali and cake/cookie decorator Willow. maybe more to come but i doubt it

❄️Share a snippet from a WIP of your choosing.

By the time they’d dropped off the sweets a very hormonal Jan had been craving, it’d been dark out and neither wanted to attempt showing up to a restaurant knowing it’d still be full to the brim with patrons waiting to be seated and stressed waiters running about. 

So they opt for grabbing pizza and heading to Denali’s place instead with Rosé promising she’d take her on an actual date next time.

Next time.

The promise rings in Denali’s ears and she has to hold back the cheeky smile that threatens to form across glossed lips. Whether Rosé was confident this would go well or not, neither could be sure, but it’d be a lie if she said she didn’t admire her confidence and eagerness in wanting to spend more time with her.

“What’re you thinking about?”

With a (somewhat sheepish) shake of her head in response, Denali says, “Just happy they fixed the elevator.”

[falsebooles123]

New Year New Queer - Diary of a Big Ole Gay 1/1/2023

Hey Whores, You know what time it is. Thats rights sluts and slanterns its time to regale you with tales of gay but before that daddys sad and instead of giving you cummies or some gay shit like that he wants emotional validation.

(if one of my mutuals could just shove my face in there tits and stroke my hair thanks)

so um yeah basically I hate my job and I go to look at the fucking hours I get to work this week, and I'm screduled for four hours.

FOUR FUCKING HOURS.

there is in fact never a time and place were that is appropriate especially when this is not something that was forwarned.

the good news is that I'm gonna use my freetime to canvess the shit out of town and get myself a new fucking job. I don't deserve this shit and I deserve better. of course I still need to reread my employee contract because guess what dumb bitch signed a non-competition clause.

(this is what pops up when I type "It's Me!" so apparently I'm Henry Cavell. and I thought I couldn't get sexier)

in other news and entertainement I have finally recieved my self christmas presents which are Hollywood Babylon and The Celluloid Closet at this point I really fucking miss working at any my fucking other jobs because It is amazing how boring people are. like people look me in the face and tell me they go home and do nothing and dream about nothing, and have no ambition. That the world they see is colorless and joyless. that they crave no more simulation then through the bars of there cage.

Disgusting, I yearn to be free of the things that limit me to never loose my curiousity to do things because I can, to learn things because I can, to remember that while Nitcze was a total fucking incel and loser that there is a kernal of truth in "Saying Yes to yourself, instead of no to others". I've been feeling really limited in this job and its hard, hard to swallow my pride, to make myself small, to feel that I am only as valuable as the space I occupy and not the being that I am.

I am better then that job not because I am over-qualified, or that it is "Beneath Me". I am better then that job because the job asks me to be less then my potential and I refuse that mantle.

Oh wait isn't this shit supposed to be about movies or something lol oopsie.

Club De Femmes (1936) dir. Jacques Deval

from what I vaguley remember this french film was censored in america for being too risque and honestly I get it. This movie has a lot of fan-service, wear talking a lot of women walking around in the sluttiest outfits 1930s had to offer, (yes god yes), were talking men dressing up as women to FUCK, were talking human trafficking, were talking MURDER, were talking REAL LIFE LESBIANS.

(I was trying to find that clip from Cringe were she says the line but this will do.)

yeah this film has a lot going on and also it has like a bonified lesbian subplot shes not predatory, (at least by the usually standard), and out of all the gay films I've seen so far the character has this kind of internality, (is that the word interiorality???), that I have yet to see in a lot of these films besides mommy kink megee in Madchen In Uniform.

The Lady Vanishes (1938) dir Alfred Hitchcock.

so as has been established Hitchcock kinda just liked gay shit in his films. in this case some people have read Cadicott and Codswallop or whatever the fuck there names are as just sucking and fucking all the time as a gay couple.

This is a little teneous but it is a cute headcannon even if the actually film is light on subtext.

Speaking of which this is basically like if an agatha christie novel met a Mrs. Pollifax Novel so you know I loved that shit.

Rebecca (1940) dir Alfred Hitchcock

UGGGGGGH Laurence Oliver can fuck me right in the BUSSY. I just wanted get fucked and sucked by both of them they are so fucking hot.

So if you don't know why this is on the list. First go watch it we love it we stan, we have watched several very long podcast episodes devoted to how much the queens and the queers love rebecca.

Second Lets talk about mrs Danvers. Shes serving us a little school marm ala Madchen in Uniform and she is just horrible fond of the epoynmous Rebecca. And by fond I mean gay. and by gay I mean just that type of gay were your pratically co-dependant on your partner.

Yeah basically Rebecca was the type of bisexual demon that all those melodramas warned you about and Danvers was her SECRET LESBIAN LOVER!!!!!

Ben-Hur: A Tale of Christ (1925) dir. Fred Niblo

so Ben-Hur the OG, (I mean theres a short from 1907 but shut your whore mouth), is part of a growing list of films called, "The researchers personal bias read a lot of gay subtext into this film and/or they just wanted to fuck the cast". I of course am above said bias and yes I am about to publish my thesis on how the shark from jaws was a metaphor about how badly those three men wanted to fuck each other.

(there gays harold)

The researcher in question is our favorite gayboy Vito Russo who listed this as part of the filmography segement in his book the Celleloid Closet. I have yet to read The Celleloid Closet as I am still reading Hollywood Babylon but its next on my list so I will see if I can find better context for why Russo included it in his film list.

The reason why Vito Russo included this is that this film does contain a mans bare ass chained to a wall. Do we see this man elsewear, is he eroticized in his torture like in UN chant d'amour. .... no.

its just a naked guy and while I will say there is a little homoerotic tension between masalla and ben-hur and a lot of male nudity this film is pretty straight. Like objectively a cool film and a silent fim classic. but its not incredible queer.

(I didn't technically need to show you some ass but I just wanted an excuse to stare at a hot guy in the shower. because I'm a pervert you get it)

Whats The World Coming To? (1926) dir. Richard Wallace, F. Richard Jones

so this is just a role reversal comedy set in the future and it was honestly a lot of fun. We have these really out there fashion choices that are both avant garde and weirdly dated and its just a really fun look at retro-futurism from an era we don't normally get to see.

In the future of course we all get around on blimps and work in the blimp factory and also the gender roles are reversed with butch strong women taking care of there domestic husbands.

( I literally typed in Girlboss X Malewife. but you know what I'll except it)

This film feels weirdly reminscent of Bunholdes Lover by Patience and Sullivan, likes its serving Savoy Opera Realness. Which is weird because I have never seen any opera let alone the specific 1890s sylings of the comic opera but something about the use of pantomime and the costuming feels incredible emblamatic of that theatrical tradition.

I thought this was a surprisingly fun time and I had a lot of fun with what is honestly a pretty fresh take on the role reversal comedy.

Going forward the rest of the role reversal comedies we have are going to be a little less joculer??. speaking of which tonights film is going to be Glen or Glenda? A Cult film shot in four days supposedly inspired by real life Transgendererererererererererererer, (i'm being playful), Christine Jorgensine, the G.I Bombshell. I here that its something else.

[butch-reidentified]

only reply to this one once you've rested since its long but id like to know your opinion on these critiques of b/f? politfuckery tumblr com/post/615976664879464448/

Ima be real, I didn't read all of that but I read parts and skimmed through the rest. Over all, I don't really have an opinion tbh because this isn't really how I view butch/femme relationships and I don't relate to what they're discussing. Nothing about my relationship is performative; I'm not "extra super duper masc" and she's CERTAINLY not especially feminine. The pic of her with the goats from the wedding thread is her typical look - tee shirt, comfy pants, usually sandals or converse, sometimes boots if we're doing something outdoors, hair untouched or pulled back in a scrunchy, no makeup. There's no power dynamic at all, we both look after each other equally, and we don't even own a strap on. We bought one once early in our relationship because we felt like we were supposed to and some college peers pressured us to, but never used it and eventually gave it to a friend.

I've never encountered any butch/femme couple who claims to be trying to pass for het at all, let alone for safety reasons. Usually it's couples like us that I meet - one whose personality is a tiny bit more "feminine" and one who is naturally more "tomboyish." I don't know any lesbians irl into bdsm and all that either, so I can't speak to that.

Basically, I think the opinions in that thread seem to be reacting to a specific type of butch/femme relationship that I've never personally encountered. I certainly don't agree over all with their implication that all butch/femme couples are like that. I resent having my relationship described as "trying to mimic heterosexuality" or whatever, when the reality is that two people just fuckin fall in love and that's that. I have never ever known a butch/femme couple for whom it was a major part of their identity/personality or who expected each other to adhere to certain roles and expectations. It's always just kind of a casual, easy way to label a relationship. Honestly, other people label our relationship butch/femme way more often than she or I do, and we kinda just go with it even though it's not important to us either way.

They are acting like butch/butch or femme/femme is somehow superior or more pure, but wouldn't it be infinitely more performative and fake for me to pretend to be less "masculine" or her to pretend to be more so? Or for us to just ignore our feelings for each other entirely and lose out on a beautiful relationship and life together just because some people think we're copying heterosexuals?

We are who we are and we love who we love. If you want to criticize performative, fake butch/femme couples or individuals, that's legit. If you want to criticize butch/femme couples who live in accepting places and pretend they're desperate to blend in by passing as het for safety reasons, go for it. If you want to criticize bdsm, phallocentrism, strap on use, etc, have at it! But don't pretend any of these are universal or inherent to all butch/femme relationships.

Some - I'd argue most - of us aren't trying to be or act like anything we aren't; we're just being ourselves and are constantly nitpicked and criticized no matter what. Threads & posts like these are interesting to me because they talk about how butch/femme couples are allegedly not acknowledging the level of hardship and criticism masculine women face.... but I'm assuming OP isn't a masculine woman if she's writing about it from an observer perspective. So she's saying she knows all about how masc women are treated and it's her responsibility to explain that to the masc women themselves??

This thread talks about how hostile society is to butches while actively perpetuating that hostility and a lot of the same stereotypes. It just lacks nuance in a major way and feels very self-righteous and "savior"-y. I also don't like how they describe "casually feminine" women as "normal." I'm honestly not super interested in critiques of lesbian and particularly butch/femme relationships from someone who clearly still has a lot to work through in regards to their perspectives on sex and gender.

My relationship isn't about blending in or being "iconic" or a subculture or a way of having sex or whatever. We are just two grown women who have found what makes us happy and who we authentically are, and also fell hard for each other. It's that simple. I never explicitly sought out a butch/femme relationship and honestly was mostly into other masc women when I was dating. I still don't really like hyperfemininity.

My wife doesn't wear makeup or dresses or heels or do up her hair or remove her body hair. She isn't quiet or submissive or weak or delicate. She actually has a black belt and used to teach women's self defense - unpaid on a volunteer basis. She's a badass, not some delicate little housewife like that thread seems to stereotype femme lesbians as. Honestly though femme identity isn't something she's really attached to or cares about. I refer to my relationship as a butch/femme one because it fits well enough, and my butch identity is relatively important to me, but she's wildly normie and doesn't put any real weight on the femme label.

To me, femme identity should be about a type of femininity that is subversive to a degree and specifically is NOT appealing to straight men. It should be more like 《I have intentionally worked through and unlearned much of my performative femininity, but find that I really do like x, y, and z stereotypically feminine things. However, I also refuse to participate in harmful, anti-woman activities like spending a fortune on "anti-aging" products, cosmetic surgery, diet culture, makeup, silencing myself, etc.》

They seem to have a very narrow view of butch/femme relationships and individuals, seems like probably a result of limited experiences with them irl & confirmation bias. I don't care if it makes them "uncomfortable lite," because who we are and our relationship is for just us, not for them, and it would be (ironically) performative for us to do or be anything else. I just don't think they really know what they're talking about tbqh, or maybe I just haven't encountered it.

But yeah I just.. all these things they're describing are things I haven't seen. Maybe it's just where I'm from or who I hang out with, but all the butch/femme couples I know are just very chill, normal women who don't put much into it and rarely if ever bring it up. Certainly not what that post describes. I would not enjoy being in a relationship like what they describe there, or even hanging out with people like that.

[susiephone]

Imagine thinking that wanting straight people to be accepting of gay people is a "trap" and not like, literally THE entire goal of the modern LGBT rights movement since its inception

okay. this is in response to me saying “respectability politics is a trap.” which it absolutely is.

but i’ll give you the benefit of the doubt here. let’s define respectability politics, shall we?

several people who are more well-spoken than me have talked about this. to quote this article on the subject:

Respectability politics is a school of thought that utilizes respectability narratives as the basis for enacting social, political, and legal change.

Respectability narratives are representations of marginalized individuals meant to construct an image of the marginalized group as people sharing similar traits, values, morals with the dominant group.

essentially, respectability politics is when people in a marginalized group (queer people, disabled people, people of color) wish to be accepted by the majority, and thus present themselves in a way and behave in a way that the majority deems acceptable - and pressure others in their marginalized group to do the same. for example:

“Not all bisexual people are sluts, I’m bi and I’ve been in a committed relationship for 20 years!”

“I’m gay, but I’m not one of THOSE gay guys, I hate shopping and I don’t like to flaunt my sexuality at all!”

“Lesbians aren’t really all masculine, I love makeup and having long hair.”

(I’m using examples I’ve seen in the queer community because I’m queer; I know this happens a lot in communities of color, but I am not qualified to speak on that at all.)

this stems from a desire to be accepted by the majority; for the purposes of this discussion, straight people. we hear straight people say things like “i could never date a bi person, they’re all cheaters” or “i don’t mind gay guys, don’t just shove it in my face” and “why don’t lesbians act like women if they love them?” and, in response, some people go, “i don’t act like that!! you can accept me! i fit in! i’m respectable, i’m not like those guys, they embarrass us!”

there’s also a lot of people saying, “don’t reinforce the stereotype.” as if it’s OUR fault straight people stereotype us.

so this leads to shaming within our own community:

“You’re bi and polyamorous? Wow, way to make people think we’re all two-timing whores.”

“Makeup? Jesus, we get it, you’re gay, you don’t have to make it a pride parade every time you go out.”

“You look like a teenage boy, this is why everyone lesbians aren’t real women.”

and that all boils down to:

“THIS is the example you’re setting? This is the face you show to the world? Don’t you know you’re representing us? No wonder they don’t respect us.”

and that’s the real problem: telling other queer people, “it is YOUR fault you’re not accepted, YOU aren’t acceptable, YOU reinforce these stereotypes, YOU should try and be more respectable, more normal.” and the thing is, “normal” is defined by the majority. THEY decide what is acceptable behavior for us. and guess what? 

most of the time, that boils down to, “It’s fine if you’re different... as long as you’re as close to what I deem normal as possible. As long as I can’t tell you’re different.”

in the queer community, this sort of thinking has led to the exclusion of butch lesbians, femme gay men, nonbinary people, non-passing trans people, trans people in general, people who use any pronouns besides she/her and he/him, bisexual people, ace people, aro people, pan people, polyamorous bisexual people, people who have an active sex life, sex workers, people who have changed how they identify, and countless others. these people get shoved aside by the Good Respectable Gays, who are eager to say, “We’re not like them, we’re just like you!” in order to be accepted by the mainstream. and it still doesn’t work. even the most macho, would-never-guess-it gay guy is bound to face some level of oppression or otherness at some point in his life. it doesn’t matter how much he fits in, how much he distances himself from the Unacceptable Queers; it won’t work 100% of the time. how’s that for a punchline?

there is no point in trying to file off the “unacceptable” parts of our community just to please straight people. 

if a person hates all queer people, no matter how they act or present, they’re a homophobe.

if a person doesn’t hate queer people, just the ones who shove it in your face and sleep around and won’t shut up about it and buck gender norms and use weird pronouns and expect people to learn their new name and change their identity every week... they’re still a fucking homophobe.

and why the fuck are we trying to please homophobes, again?

so when people say lil nas x is bad, actually, because he “reinforces the stereotype” of gay people going to hell and thinking a lot about sex or whatever, they’re playing right into respectability politics. why can’t he just talk about his sexuality in a normal way? why can’t he express himself in a nicer way? why does he have to use that imagery? why does he have to make straight people uncomfortable?

lis nas x is a gay black man who grew up being told he’d burn in hell for being gay. and he made an awesome song with a legendary music video saying, “fine. i’ll go to hell, just like you want, and it’ll be great. i’ll take the damn place over and make satan fall in love with me. and i’ll have a great time doing it, because i’m proud of who i am, and i won’t apologize for it or be ashamed of it anymore.”

to see that and wring your hands, worrying that a straight person will see it and decide to be homophobic about it, and pinning the blame for that on nas is missing the point.

every time we as a community make ourselves lesser or change the way we present just to be accepted by the majority, they move the goalposts, and someone else gets left behind. and the beautiful thing about the queer community is that there is a place for everyone who is left out in the cold by the straight, cis majority.

“We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it” was the rallying cry for a reason. we’re different, you think we’re weird, you think we’re deviant, you don’t get us, and that’s fine, you don’t have to get us. we’re not going anywhere. get used to it.

respectability politics is a game you cannot win. so stop playing.

[rabdoidal]

Do you think referring to nonhuman animals as anything other than it/its or they/them might be bio essentialist and transphobic? I’ve been trying to work it out am not sure. The reason for wondering in the first place is because we all assign these gendered pronouns based on bio sex. Or “sex” given its constructed. And that just reinforces the idea you can assign gender based on looking at genitals. I hope in the future all babies are called they/them and presented with gender later so they can choose. With animals unless they can talk and relate to our cultures that will never happen. So they are forever it or they. That’s my reasoning

I'm going to assume this is a good faith question and not a TERF trying to gotcha me, but I will say it's very strange to approach a stranger (that you know is transgender) and engage them like this. If I were a trans person that wasn't educated in gender studies, this question would be difficult to answer, and may lead to confusion on the part of both parties. I am not openly an educator on these topics, these are my opinions.

I think the argument "we should use gender neutral terminology for animals" and "we should use gender neutral terminology for infants" are two wildly different topics of discussion. The reason why there is little legitimate discussion of animal pronouns in the popular imagination is because of two main reasons; gender is a social construct, and dysphoria is a social construct.

The idea that gender is seperate from sex (otherwise known as gender theory) emerged in the 80s, and I believe it accurately describes the human experience, being that I know transgender people, and I am myself a transgender person. It's a larger topic too big to tackle in this ask whether or not we would feel dysphoria or euphoria in a world without the concept of gendered separation and/or gender roles, but as is, gender theorists posit that the internal gender identity of a person does not necessarily match with their birth sex. The concept that sex was also a social construction didn't come about until later on, but I will address that later.

If we are to understand the construction of a gendered society as a collection of people in the same geographical location operating under the same social contract to, in theory, better themselves and the other people living in that society, then we can understand gender as something that is reinforced through language and action. To use english as my example, as the only language I'm familiar with, we have a set of pronouns each for "women" and "men," based on their capability to reproduce, and/or based on the role they fill in society. We additionally have a gender neutral set of pronouns we can use to refer to either a group or individual without indicating their capability to reproduce and/or the role they play in society. In this I am focussing mainly on these 3 pronouns, but neopronouns also have their own set of associations and characteristics.

Language, here, is all connotations - she/her is femininity, woman, submissive, mother, he/him is masculinity, man, dominant, provider, and they/them is neutral. However, this language falls apart when people like butch lesbians and femme boys, who may or may not identify as non-binary or transgender, use different pronouns than is expected of them, which we see most prominently during the 60s-90s. A butch may use he/him pronouns, work as a mechanic, have a cis femme wife or girlfriend, but still identify as a lesbian woman. Pronouns here do not indicate his capability to reproduce, as it is not relevant to his experience as a lesbian, but it may on some level indicate his role in society. He is masculine, works a service job, is acting as the butch to his wife's femme, and to many people may represent a form of masculinity most associated with men who use he/him pronouns.

When considering gender as something reinforced through action, we may observe how texts (used here to mean all forms of entertainment/knowledge that communicate meaning) have been used throughout all written history to create the idea of gender, to associate signs and signifiers to the experience of "woman" and "man" that create a gap between the two categories that is wider than a canyon. From infancy, different children are given different toys, wear different clothes, and have adults treat them differently - the way we currently treat our children has been shown in sociological studies to be extremely detrimental down the line, as it leads to dysphoria, bullying, and shame. The actions we take to reinforce the categories of gender - both within and without ourselves - creates an even bigger divide, especially within children's minds. That's why I do think raising children gender-neutrally and allowing them to choose their own identity as they grow would be a more ideal world - even moreso, the idea that children can change how they identify without backlash, allowing kids to play with and experience gender without negative repercussions.

The concept of language and action within a society does not apply to animals.

Every language has different pronouns, different words to use to describe and refer to people and objects, but the difference between people and animals is that we formed both shared languages, and the concept of gender - therefor, we also created gender euphoria/dysphoria. Humans have no way of accurately communicating with animals, no way of understanding if they have a shared form of language or communication, and therefor, no way of knowing how they would like to be referred to. But furthermore, animals don't care how we refer to them, because they both don't understand us, and have no concept of gendered expectations/shame. Your cat will not look at you any differently if you use he/him to they/them to fae/faeself pronouns. Even on the other side of the argument, to say "we should all refer to them with they/them or it/its pronouns exclusively" would not be correct, because if animals did have a constructed language and pronouns, they would not use the same pronouns we came up with.

Whatever pronouns you choose to use for your pet has a social connotations, not for them, but for you. Unfortunately, we still live in an emphatically gendered society, and people may treat you differently if you choose to use pronouns that "don't align with their sex," because unfortunately people are nosy and opinionated. The only context where pronouns for animals matter is in the context of veterinary care as a shorthand for what the animal's sex is. This is also ultimately imperfect, as sex is also a social construction, and each living creature, regardless of sex or gender, has a unique body and a unique experience of their sex and/or gender.

The english language in particular has failed to include a pronoun for an intersex individual pre-gender theory - even before we knew that gender =/= pronouns =/= sex, there is no clear 50/50 split line on what is a vagina and what is a penis, and for why you must use a particular set of pronouns to refer to a person with "either one". In animals as well, intersexuality is an observed and common phenomena, and there is no logical reason why we can still claim that there are 2 sexes, when there are over a dozen observed categories for genital development in relation to internal organs and sexual function. As someone with PCOS myself, there are many gender theorists talking about how PCOS aligns on the intersex spectrum, as there are hormone levels that affects internal, external, and secondary sex characteristic development in AFAB individuals.

We can't boil down sex or gender into neat categories, and if we can't even listen to and respect our differently sexed and gendered minorities, expecting people to use gender-neutral language towards animals as a social priority is distracting from the people who are actually affected by society's gendered language and actions. I promise an animal does not and cannot care if you misgender it, but a human person will. The only circumstance where pronouns that align with the animal's sex may be useful is in a veterinary context, but even that can be reductive. Ultimately, if it makes you more comfortable to use gender neutral language for animals, I think you should follow that through. What I don't agree with is comparing the plight of gender diverse human beings to animals that are incapable of caring of how we refer to them. It is not transphobic to refer to animals with any pronoun because they do not care, I promise.

Also, you should buy me a kofi for making me spend half an hour writing this.

[qqueenofhades]

did you watch lucifer season six and what are your thoughts pls and ty

Ahaha. Yes. Yes I did watch it. Then I cried for a literal hour and attempted to compose myself, only to start crying again when I lay down and kept on thinking about it. Then I had more feelings. Then I slept like the dead due to emotional trauma. Then I reblogged gifsets and had More feelings. Then @buffaluff and @flynnanimal watched it and also required emotional support due to drowning in their own tears. So, uh... we're all fine here now. How are you?

My main takeaway from the final season was the sheer amount of love for the characters, story, and fans that you could feel shining through all the episodes, and which made SUCH a refreshing change. I had feelings in my tags the other day about how a show about the devil was constantly goofy, hopeful, loving, and uplifting, rather than all the grimdark nonsense they could have easily done with it. (As I said, just imagine it as written by the GOT idiots?? NO THANK YOU.) The writing really loved everyone and wanted to give them a proper ending and emotional journey, and it wanted to show the fans that they weren't stupid for having invested six seasons of effort and emotion into this, and just... that is so much rarer than it should be? Compare all the movies and TV shows that treat their fans like the enemy, that want to outsmart them at all costs even if it means changing major plot elements, that ferociously guard spoilers and think that "shock value" means good writing, by throwing hackneyed cliche upon cliche and making everything Depressing, and just... Lucifer had its hiccups and slow points and missteps, of course, but I am SO glad they didn't do that. The entire show consisted of Lucifer slowly but steadily progressing toward being a better man, despite mistakes and setbacks and sometimes a little too much will-they-won't-they. (Season 3 was the only one where I got bored and skipped over the filler episodes with Pierce/Lucifer/Chloe in order to get to the end).

That is an essentially simple premise, but they stuck to it, and they didn't try to create more drama by randomly wrecking what they had already established. I wrote a fic all the way back in mid-season 2 (In Nomine Patris) that ended up predicting quite a few of the future characters who had not yet appeared on the show at that time, including Eve, Michael, and Azrael, and several plot points, including the very major one of Lucifer returning to hell for the sake of his daughter with Chloe. And while this might mean that I am just that good at guessing TV shows (I would like to think this....) it also means that the writers set expectations, followed through on those expectations, and didn't suddenly derail everything or turn it totally on its head just for the sake of cheap shocks. As we can all attest, they certainly caused PLENTY of drama, anguish, pain, and suffering, but they did it in a way that remained faithful to the overall premises of the story and the characters, and wanted to see them become the best versions of themselves. I cried my eyes out at the end and then thought, "hey, I might want to watch the whole series again," which, if you ask me, is the mark of doing your job right. There have been so few TV endings recently where I didn't immediately swear off the whole thing or have to pretend that canon didn't exist, so yeah.

As I said, it was just refreshing to watch something that had that essential deep generosity at its core, where the message is that everyone is worthy of love if they make the hard and painful effort to change and become better, and that even if earthly things feel small next to all this messy celestial drama, they still matter, and that you are loved no matter what. I loved that Amenadiel became God and Lucifer returned to hell as a choice in order to help all the trapped souls be able to work through their guilt and go to heaven. There were obviously certain echoes of The Good Place in that ending; I don't know if it was something they had planned all along or if the success of TGP, another series asking deep questions about life, death, morality, and human nature within the framework of a goofy heaven-and-hell sitcom, influenced it, but either way, it worked so well. Even if it tore my heart out and stomped on it on the ground, it was fitting and oh so lovely to see Lucifer, once the most selfish being in the entire universe, following in Linda's footsteps and becoming selflessly dedicated to helping other people. Just. Chef's kiss.

And of course, Deckerstar. The Hades and Persephone vibes were IMMACULATE this season, and while it did take Lucifer and Chloe the best part of four seasons to get together, they never significantly backslid, never had third-party issues or cheap cheating storylines once they were officially a couple, and Tom Ellis and Lauren German REALLY killed it this season in particular. It was never easy for them and sometimes the drama went on a little too long over the course of said six seasons, but the love story was beautiful and incredibly meaningful and always true to the fact that the actors and characters and writers (not to mention the fans) all loved it so much. They were so much the emotional heart of this, and when they went to hell together in episode 6x03 (where they turned into cartoons because wHAT even IS this show), Joe Henderson said in an interview that this was to give the fans a view into Lucifer and Chloe's future (after) lives post-6x10, and to offer them a basis to write fanfiction. I mean... the showrunner saying to the fans "here, we love you, have something to write fic about!" is likewise pretty shockingly rare. It's again an example of how this show always audaciously poked fun at itself, never took itself TOO seriously, and was always welcoming its fans and the people who loved it to do so, rather than making them feel stupid or taking joy in wrecking beloved characters or plots.

Obviously, I loved Rory, the badass lesbian half-angel goth Deckerstar child straight out of My Immortal (seriously, she was SO edgy, it was amazing), because of the fact that Lucifer's entire arc was always about feeling abandoned by his father and that he was going to have to face it for himself. Dorky Devil Dad Lucifer trying his absolute HARDEST to bond with his daughter was simultaneously hilarious, adorable, and heart-wrenching, and yet again, the Growth. We all remember when he could barely tolerate Trixie touching him, and now we're here. Also, any variation whatsoever of "this is just a brief moment of time that we must be apart, love is eternal and stronger than death and we will never really leave each other" as a line is guaranteed to make me bawl my eyes out. So that was fun.

I got a big kick out of Ghost Dan running around and trying to get everyone to see him, and had feelings about seeing him in heaven with Charlotte and his beloved Pudding Pops at the end. I had feelings about how they handled Ella finding out the truth (or rather demanding to know why nobody had told her) and of course, I obviously loved Maze and Eve and their goth/femme wedding and the fact that they got a good three-season romantic arc (indeed, I wanted more of them). My god, Trixie is SO BIG, she used to be a tiny little nugget. I love that Linda was the moral and emotional rock all along, from the first episode to the very last, and that Amenadiel was Deeply Vindicated when Charlie's wings appeared at his first birthday party. I love how Lucifer in s6 is absolute thousands of light years from Lucifer in s1. And as ever, Chloe was Perfect. I am happy that I spent six seasons with these characters and saw them become better, and that I was never made to feel like an idiot for trusting the writers to end everything in a beautiful and emotional way. Because, well. They did. Sure, maybe I could go back and pick at a plotline here or a detail there, but I don't terribly feel the need to do so? It might not have been perfect, but it was perfect, and I am so grateful that it existed.

[i-am-a-bad-influence-writes]

omg omg omg could i please request like a 5 + 1 trope with natasha based on Older? like like the 5 times she’s smugly teasing people who crush on reader and the 1 time she actually gets jealous? shfjsnfn

Jealous

Gif credit to @marvelgifs Find the full set here Natasha Romanoff masterlist - Full Masterlist

Summary: Natasha doesn’t get jealous because she’s confident in her relationship with you. In fact, she eggs on people who try to ask you out. Correction, she eggs on MEN who try to ask you out.

Pairing: Natasha x Reader

Word count: 926

Warnings: Implied smut

Author’s note: I did it a bit differently because I couldn’t get to six situations but here’s three and possessive Natasha for you.

In your whole relationship with Natasha, you had never once seen her jealous. Mostly because both of you are very much femme lesbians. You so much so that most lesbians don’t even try to hit on you. In fact, it had taken Natasha a damn long time to discover you are into women. After securing her relationship with you, she started enjoying having a girl on her arm that most men desire. He loves to see you wave them off and slip back to her side. After a few months of dating her, she started egging men on to ask you out. The look on your face when you refused them, the look on their face when they realized you were with Natasha. It is pure gold to her. Her preferred mode of entertainment.

The first time she did it, your relationship was quite fresh. She had just asked you to be her girlfriend mere days ago when she saw a new recruit eying you up and down while you were working out. At first, it was just to test your relationship. She wanted to make sure you weren’t playing with her feelings just to say that you got Black Widow in your bed so she wanted to bait you if you were lying about being attracted to women. She went up to the recruit and told him to wipe the drool off his chin. He apologized to her for staring and she asked him why he should apologize to her. “Well, because, ehm- It’s very unprofessional to drool over your superiors,” he stuttered, “but I have to ask-” “Let me guess, you want to know if she’s single?” He nodded. That’s when the idea popped into her head. “I’m not sure. You should go ask her.” She watched contently, arms crossed in front of her chest with a cheeky grin playing on her lips. It took less than a minute until the shocked eyes of the recruit met hers. That was wonderful.

Natasha kept egging men on. When you were going out, when new recruits were eying you, whenever she could. But the day Peter Parker asked her if you were single was the crown jewel. She had never seen his face so flushed and his face flushes a lot. She laughed about it for days while you pleaded with her to drop it for the sake of Peter but you knew she wouldn’t. Secretly, you thought it was funny as well.

And then you started making use of her tactics, using them for a cheap night out. You’d always sit down at a bar together and Natasha would go to the bathroom until a man would join you and started buying you drinks. It never took long. More often than not, they didn’t realize you weren’t into men and you got a free night out of it. ‘Hey darling, can I buy you a drink?’ You look up and smile, expecting a man to have asked the question. No, a woman stands beside you with a flirty grin on her lips. ‘Oh, ehm-’ You can see Natasha approach from behind the woman. A devious thought creeps into your head. She never gets jealous but what if she did? ‘Yeah, that’d be nice,’ you say flirtatiously as you put your hand on the woman’s arm. The woman slips into the seat next to you, the seat that Natasha had taken before. She orders drinks for both of you but notices you aren’t watching her as she is watching you. ‘So who are you trying to make jealous,’ the woman asks when the drinks are placed in front of you. You give her a questioning look. ‘Oh come on, you’re not even looking at me,’ the woman laughs, ‘who is it?’ ‘My girlfriend. She never gets jealous.’ ‘That’s just because you attract men, not women. I’ve seen you here before.’ She gently lays her hand on your thigh. ‘Is she looking?’ ‘Yes,’ you gasp. ‘Good.’ The woman grins and leans closer to you. ‘Alright, that’s enough,’ Natasha barks as she drags you away from the woman and out of the bar. She’s pissed but you feel a little proud. As the two of you walk down the street back to the Avengers tower, Natasha refuses to look at the grin plastered on your face. ‘I made you jealous,’ you speak proudly. She scoffs but doesn’t reply. ‘You can say that you were jealous. I would be too.’ ‘Of that woman? Never.’ ‘Oh, so I can go back and finish my drink?’ It happens in a flash. One second you’re on the sidewalk, the next you’re pushed against the wall in an alleyway. Natasha holds both of your hands at the wrist above your head, leaving her with a free hand that harshly digs its fingers into your hip. You gasp when she leaves a trail of wet kisses down your neck before biting down on your collarbone for a second. ‘You’re mine.’ Her eyes meet yours. They’re blown out with lust and anger. You’ve never seen her like this and you’re going to make the most of it. ‘I never took you for the possessive type,’ you tease but she makes you swallow your words when her hand dips under your dress and starts playing with the lace of your panties. ‘You want to see how possessive I can get? I’ll make you scream my name right here. Make the whole town know who you belong to.’ ‘I belong to no one.’ ‘We’ll see about that.’