#the wlw review

[ianthe-is-a-bitch-and-i-love-her]

Sapphic vampire fiction mini reviews, ranked from least favorite to most:

House of Hunger: Bland characters, a story that barely scratches the surface of the implications of its premise, and a central relationship with nothing underpinning it make for an aimless story with a climax that hits like a limp noodle. If the dynamic between a vampire and her indentured maid appeals to you, try The Wicked and the Willing instead.

An Education in Malice: For a Carmilla retelling, the titular character really lacks bite. Laura at least has some interesting contradictions in her, and De Lafontaine could be quite compelling if we saw things through her eyes, but the central relationship isn't built on a lot, and Carmilla herself is really disappointingly bland. The prose comes off as overwrought and melodramatic in the first act, and the constant leaning on poetry feels gratuitous, but it picks up steam and becomes appropriately gripping by the one-third mark, and it carries the book enough that I had an enjoyable but rather shallow experience. I struggle to think of a reason to recommend this over In the Roses of Pieria, which plays with similar thematic and aesthetic elements much more adeptly. Also, it's a pet peeve of mine when a story makes a point to establish a specific historical era for its setting but has characters that feel utterly modern.

The Deathless Girls: This book does a much better job with its sense of time and place, and the characters and their motivations are quite strong. I only rate this one low on this list because the main characters don't actually deal with vampirism as a condition until the very end of the book. On its surface, the premise might seem quite similar to A Dowry of Blood, but there's actually very little thematic or narrative overlap.

Ex-Wives of Dracula: An excellent exploration of the queer teenage experience in conservative small town ~2015 USA along with some pretty novel twists on vampire and horror movie tropes. Strong, vibrant characters with a rich, messy, and compelling relationship carry a solid mystery plot and some pretty pointed critiques of its setting, but the actual climax and resolution don't quite hold up to the quality of the rest. Also I simply must warn anyone who didn't grow up in the time and place this book explores about the profound and casual bigotry and nastiness of that setting, which this book replicates to a T.

The Wicked and the Willing: A thrilling and compelling dark romantic drama centered on a British vampire in 1920s Singapore, her newly hired and desperate to escape poverty personal maid, and her majordomo who is struggling to keep her conscience under control after years of aiding and abetting her mistress's dark appetites. Extremely strong character writing pairs with deft exploration of themes of colonialism, entitlement, class divisions, sexism, and the ways in which certain types of status can and cannot afford one leeway to be nonconforming in other ways. Intermixes diagetic and non-diagetic BDSM very organically also, if that's your thing.

In the Roses of Pieria: Rich prose dripping with atmosphere follows an obscure academic as she digs into a series of ancient correspondences and discovers a millenia spanning love story between two vampires. The character writing is solid, if not quite as impressive as some other entries on this list, but the quality of the prose more than elevates it. The text makes elegant and powerful references to Sappho throughout, and the whole experience is heady and compelling in ways that I struggle to describe in greater detail. Funnily enough, the vampires are the least interesting part of the world building. This one has a sequel coming, and I can't wait.

A Dowry of Blood: A darkly enchanting epistolary novel that takes the form of letters written by the first of Dracula's wives to him as she attempts to make peace with killing him. She unpicks a delicious and horrifying knot of feeling and history as she revisits their millenia together, recounting and reckoning with the manipulations and abuses that defined the good times and the bad. The characters are evocative and rich, the narrative voice by turns sparse, longing, furious, contemplative, and mournful, and the story simply springs to life. It accomplishes an incredible amount in approximately 200 pages, and I absolutely cannot recommend this one enough.

[lgbtpopcult]

Best WLW animated shows 2023

Harley Quinn

The Owl House

I'm in Love with the Villainess

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady

Rwby

Disenchantment

Yuri is my Job

[bleghxy]

More GL manga recs:

Summary: Aya is a high school student who is captivated by the mysterious "Onii-san" who works at a CD store. The real "Onii-san" is actually Mitsuki, a girl in her class with whom she had never spoken to before.

Review: This is a very cute read!!! The story doesn't drag out any drama. When I first started reading this, I was afraid it'd drag the secret of Mitsuki being the "Onii-san" but it doesn't. It's very well paced while also being a slow burn. They're both very well written.

Status: Ongoing

Summary: Bubbly, energetic first-year high school student Himari falls head over heels for her senpai Yori after hearing her band perform on the first day of school. Himari tells Yori she just loves her, and to Himari's surprise, Yori says she loves Himari back! But when Himari realizes that she and her senpai are feeling two different kinds of love, she begins to ask herself what "love" really means...

Summary: They're both so adorable!!! I love their relationship sm. There's a lot of other wlw relationships in this manga so that's a plus point. There's also some angst here and there. It also has an anime adaptation coming out next year!

Status: Ongoing

Summary: England, the early 1900s. Alice, a young noblewoman, has a Japanese maid named Hanako working in her household. The two have a fairly typical relationship…until the day Alice begs Hanako to kill her. As Hanako tries to figure out why her mistress would make such a terrible request, she and Alice grow closer until an entirely new feeling begins to blossom between them.

Review: The summary doesn't really do justice to the manga's plot but I don't want to say much because I'll mistakenly give out spoilers so I'll just say it's angsty so prepare yourself for that. Both of the characters and the relationship between them are very well written.

Status: Completed

Okay this isn't a manga, it's a manhua(chinese comic). I haven't read enough GL manhua to make a list about it so I'm putting it here. This manhua is called Tamen de Gushi. I think the English translation of the story name is called "Their Story"/ "SQ begin w/your name"

Summary: The funny romantic story of how Qiu Tong and Sun Jing met and fell in love.

Review: It was one of my first GLs so it has a very special place in my heart. I laughed a lot while reading this. It's mostly on the comedy side. Qiu Tong and Sun Jing's relationship is so so adorable. The side characters in this story are also lovable. The characters in this feel very relatable. Unfortunately due to censorship in China the author had been told to remove the confession scene of the main characters in the physical copies and the author rejected to do that. Because of this, the manhua doesn't have proper chapters anymore but the author still does post little snippets of their life together on weibo and twitter. However there's still 200+ chapters of wholesomeness so please do give it a read!

If you want more GL recs:

[kebbopulos]

In my data collection, I was also curious how many of tumblr's top 100 ships were queer!

Out of these queer ships, I also broke them down to see what percent were wlw and what percent were mlm:

Keep it Queer Tumblr <3

[randomgirl005]

[apolline-lucy]

POV: you’re on a date in a coffee shop in seoul with your favourite fictional queer character. she’s a liar, but one thing that’s true is that she’s obsessed with you.

THE ANATOMY OF DYING

[occidentaltourist]

bbc: Some sweet #Silvacre content for your FYP ❤️

[tha-star]

In a modern au of fem bingqiu, a social media influencers, I see Luo Binghe having a food channel or a gamer one (games of violence, because her OP energy would radiate, and I think this contrast in Binghe is funny), maybe both. Luo Binghe being very soft cooking, and rough cleaning battlefields like it was nothing in games.

While Shen Yuan reviews books, she also reviews other pop culture things, but more about books. Soft masc is more her style, while Binghe has the cute and baddie style.

Imagine both of them ending up on these horrible misogynistic podcasters, 'cause they heard that the other one would be there, and they are already fans of each other, the first time they will see each other in person is in this horrible situation.

I feel like they could constantly pit one against the other, like "Shen Yuan is the intellectual kind of woman, Luo Binghe is superficial, play games for the simps", "Luo Binghe has many talents of a housewife, Shen Yuan is not feminine, has no vanity."

But they constantly defend each other with passion.

Weeks later, Shen Yuan on live and Luo Binghe appears behind with cookies, kiss the top of her head and leaves. And the internet discovers that they are dating. (Or married, it would be even funnier that way)

[weedstop]

pix of smexy scene gurl? <3 xD u can haz

cashapp | venmo | ko-fi

[deepslumbrrr]

MY ORIGINAL FANTASY NOVEL JUST CAME OUT!

(Graphic design is my passion, amirite?)

A FANTASY NOVEL ABOUT DEATH, DECAY, AND LITTLE WITCHES!

Alma Evergreen lives a quiet life as a carnifex: a death-worshiping, magic-weaving, fancy-speaking little witch. When Prince Benjamin is found dead under mysterious circumstances, Alma is tasked with reaching the castle and solving the new mystery that’s befallen the great kingdom of Moonsong. Joining her is Violet, one of the prince’s faithful fixers, on a quest of her own to ensure Alma reaches the castle swiftly and safely—but can she be trusted? And for that matter, can Alma? THE SMALLEST SAPLING is a feel-good "witchy" fantasy story that is full of humor and heart, and it stands as a testament to the adage that sometimes, the journey can be just as fulfilling as the destination.

I'm so excited to share this with everyone, and I hope you all have as much fun reading this as I did writing it!

I can't wait to create more stories for all of you 💚

You can find the story in multiple formats here!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CP3XVKZW

[ianthe-is-a-bitch-and-i-love-her]

In one of life's great ironies, S.T. Gibson has managed to write one of my favorite sapphic vampire novels as well as one of the ones that I found most disappointing. I stand by A Dowry of Blood as a masterful character study and deep exploration of vampirism as abuse; however, as much as An Education in Malice wants to be about cycles of hurt and obsession and loves turned bitter viewed through a lens of poetry, it doesn't do anything that In the Roses of Pieria doesn't do better.

[lgbtpopcult]

Best WLW TV of 2023

The last of us

Harley Quinn the animated series

Lucky My Love

NCIS Hawaii

wtFock

Special ops lioness

The Morning Show

Station 19

Everything now

Love Senior

Las Pelotaris 1926

Fall of the house of Usher

Stupid Wife

Wheel of Time

XO Kitty

Yellowjackets

The Owl House

4 Estrellas

Deadloch

Disenchantment

[bleghxy]

GL manga recs:

Summary: Maki's first love was her high school classmate, a girl named Midori. But Midori broke up with Maki at graduation, saying they were now "too old to be fooling around dating girls." Ten years later, Maki still can’t get Midori off her mind, and when the two women reconnect after a chance encounter, Maki realizes that, while her feelings haven’t changed, Midori has long moved on—in fact, she's engaged. Yet the more Maki hears Midori talk about her soon-to-be-husband, the more red flags she notices. And Midori has another secret, one she hasn’t yet shared with Maki. Will it be the last blow to Maki's hopes that their romance might be rekindled? Or will it be the push that sets them on a new path—one they'll travel together?

Review:

There's so much depth to this. At a glance it looks like a simple story. You read the summary and think oh well it's the same old plot of getting back with your ex but it's not. It deals with heavy topics like abusive relationships, comphet and the fear of being alone. It's very realistic in its portrayal. Both of the women are very well written especially Midori.

Status: Completed

Summary: Cooking is how Nomoto de-stresses, but one day, she makes way more than she can eat by herself. And so she invites her neighbor Kasuga, who also lives alone. What will come out of this dinner invitation?

Review: This manga is such an excellent read. There's so much that I love about this manga. I don't wanna spoil it so I'm gonna let you find out on your own. It points out the troubles women face due to the stereotypical portrayal of them in society. There's a good amount of discussion on lgbt especially on Nomoto's end. I won't say much about Kasuga because I don't wanna mistakenly spoil her past. There are also new characters in vol 3 who are as well written as the main characters. The women in this story are very well written! I really recommend this one! Also trigger warnings are given before anything heavy or disturbing is mentioned in this manga.

Status: Ongoing

Summary: Dani's promising future as an elite athlete is cut short when, during the middle of the television broadcast competition, her heart collapses. This ordeal will not only affect her health, but also destroy her relationship with her mother and skip her tennis career. In order to get away from the hustle and bustle of the big city and all its problems, she decides to go with her cousin to the small coastal town Levant and it is there where she will meet Blanca, a girl full of life and love for astronomy who will remind her that life can be beautiful and that Dani can shine again as the stars do.

Review: This is very short but still a good read. Even though I wished it were longer, it still managed to carry out the development between the two main characters. The only issue I had with this is, since the manga is very short, it fails to properly carry out the development between Dani and her mom.

Status: Completed

If you want more GL recs:

[kebbopulos]

I was curious how a ship being queer interacted with whether it is canon. So I graphed Tumblr's Year in Review top 100 ships based on whether they were canon and whether they were queer

(the percentage stands for what percent of queer ships each queer column takes up and what percent of straight ships each straight column takes up, NOT percent of all ships)

so queer ships were more likely to not be canon, and grey area ships (such as mutual pining) were more likely to be straight ships

[apolline-lucy]

hey i did a little redesign of my book cover because i didn’t like the way the blurb was written before… how do you like it now?

check out my book, THE SILVER BIRDS, if you’re into sapphic dark fantasy with witches, monsters, spooky deaths, and a whole cast of grey characters!

[homeless202]

they know. THEY SEE IT TOO.