#they are wlw/mlm solidarity because they LOVE EACH OTHER

[blusandbirds]

cobra kai really tears me apart because on one hand im like "i think hawk and sam should still hate each other just a little bit. i think they should be shooting nasty little comments at each other while demetri and miguel sigh over their heads. there's no reason for them to be as friendly or supportive as they are in the show."

and then on the other hand,,, look at them :(((

be stie s <3

[fruity-fruition]

Who here is willing to hear me out on exes Mizurui. Like. Mizurui, who're unaware of what actual romantic love is supposed to feel like, and started dating because they both can't figure out what it is so it has to be romantic, right?

But broke it off when they realized that it isn't what both of them wanted, on friendly terms. Turns out, they're qpr who knew. Also, they're peak mlm wlw solidarity after that.

ALSO also. Hear me out on exes Shizukasa but not in a "they dated" kind of exes. Like, they both caught feelings, but were too busy with life and disasters being thrown at them that they never figured out what it actually was. Once one figured it out, the other had already unintentionally moved on. So they had to learn to let go.

Shizukasa in a "first love, never meant to last" kind of way. A love that showed the potential of being loved, but could never reach its highest limit.

Anyways both Mizurui and Shizukasa stayed amazing friends even after and they joke around about it a lot. Which isn't funny in Shizukasa's case because people kept looking at him like "how the FUCK did you fumble SHIZUKU HINOMORI."

(Bonus, I had this stupid Shizukasa headcanon that they're each other's first kiss and Tsukasa used to ask to practice stage kisses with Shizuku a lot for school plays n stuff because he wanted to improve. Idk just unrelated info)

Ruikasa and Mizuena endgame but dude, think of how FUNNY it would be if Rui, a Shizuku stan (a fangirl even) found out that TSUKASA. The guy he's head over heels for. Had something between him and her. Like. He's definitely jealous. Of who? He doesn't fucking know dude all he knows is that he feels weird and scared

[bougiebutchbinch]

playing with my new John Doe & Joker pre/post acid transformation... :3

character notes under cut!

he's an (almost) total amnesiac, remembering nothing pre-acid (besides Batman standing above him as he sank into the vat at ACE chemicals.... his creator, his god, his ultimate love~)

he doesn't want to know

he's terrified to know

at this point, he's practically walled off that part of his brain and even if he COULD remember, he refuses to

he will destroy anyone who tries to tell him

Metahuman, but not exactly showy about it. No obvious powers, but he heals RIDICULOUSLY quickly and is very, very difficult to kill. Immune to (almost) any toxin or poison.

with that being said... the acid fucked up his collagen <3 he's got ehlers-danlos now. (one of us!!! one of us!!!!!!)

Unfortunately, it also COMPLETELY crossed over the wires in his brain between pleasure and pain. Half the time he doesn't notice himself dislocating, and when he does, if Batman caused the dislocation, he just gets really horny about it

similarly, soft touches are fucking AGONY to him.

Lots of sensory issues. Man is constantly overstimulated by the whole WORLD and takes that extremely personally. He feeds that overstimulation and the resultant violent manic energy because he doesn't know who he is without it. He's an empty shell who filled himself with unpredictable violence just to craft a sense of identity, and now he viciously clings to that identity and refuses to even contemplate changing <3

Memory like Swiss cheese for everything (unless it pertains to his crime schemes or Batman). Doesn't always look after himself - forgets to eat, sleep, etc., for long periods; forgets what drugs he's taken and would OD if his body wasn't basically impervious to poison.

But he is incredibly intelligent, excellent at manipulating people, and able to build bombs from the contents of the cupboard under any old kitchen sink

BECAUSE THIS IS MY JOKER AND I CAN DO WHAT I WANT, I'm hereby declaring that he and Harley have a relationship far more like the LEGO movies, where they're very wlw & mlm solidarity.

They tried to date; it didn't work. They got seriously toxic and nasty, and Joker hurt Harley by manipulating her and treating her like a mook when she wanted romance and he only wanted Batman. He was only 'romancing' her because he was fucking terrified of her leaving him (even if he refused to admit it). Anywaaaaay, she did leave him and got together with Ivy (good for her!!! good for her)

Yes Joker had a full breakdown over this

No he won't admit to that either. shut the fuck up.

But she and Joker do still care about each other. Harley's very aware, as Joker's once-psychiatrist, that he genuinely struggles to look after himself. She often swings by to make sure he's not stuck in a manic mood and can't recall that food and water are things bodies need.

After the break-up, they discovered that they work WAY better as girl-besties who do crime together <3

And paint each other's toenails <33

With that being said, Ivy fucking HATES Joker and thinks he's a Bad Influence. And she's right skldfghlkdfhgs

Even if Jarley is way softer in this universe, Joker is still an absolute monster who killed Jason Todd, paralysed Barbara, etc. etc. etc. <3

Batman wants to fuck him so bad it makes him look stupid

But he feels really sad about it :c

Joker finds this HILARIOUS

[littlelesbianintern]

things i’d have wanted to see in a season 2 of rotpl (fingers crossed it gets picked up by another streaming platform 🤞) (fuck paramount+)

Nancy having to come up with most outrageous excuses to cover for why Cynthia isn’t with the rest of the pinks/tbirds when she’s on dates with Lydia.

one of the songs from grease 2! my choice would be Back To School

Cynthia and Lydia discovering a queer bar

Edward deserves a cute boyfriend in season 2. We deserved more of his and Cynthia’s mlm/wlw solidarity

Jealous Olivia and Gil with them dating other people to piss each other off - I want all the angst and pining + more scenes of him climbing up to her room because that scene was too cute

PINK LADY HAZEL!!!! 🩷

more of the pinks/tbirds home lives? Potato and his fathers struggle with PTSD? Gil with his sisters? Cynthia’s mother? Stuff like that

The tbirds terrorising Mr Daniels

More petty Ms McGee - she too would make life difficult for Mr Daniels if he was to continue teaching at Rydell

Jane as class president!!!!

Villain buddy? I love the theory that he starts the rival gang to the tbirds as a big “fuck you” to his dad

More wally x hazel!!!! (also what about wally as a tbird???)

THE WHOLE ZUKO PLOT!!! i hope it wasn’t another love triangle for jane

More of the pinks/tbirds racing cars

the pink ladies getting their own car!!!!

[aeoris4lovers]

thoughts on verin getting to know the mighty nein:

fjord: voted most likely to be verin's crush. each of them thinks the other is way cooler than them and sometimes it just makes them really awkward around each other but once they get comfortable they're just very loud about Look At My Badass Friend. they fall into the habit of shooting each other "can you believe this" looks when the others start making ridiculous plans, as if they don't also love the chaos. verin is committed to being fjord's personal hype man, and he takes his job very seriously.

beau: at first, beau mostly just thinks verin is kind of annoying (though funny to watch when he annoys the shit out of essek), but he turns out to be a good workout buddy and is more than willing to get wrapped up in her and fjord's shenanigans. the first time they really hit it off is when beau is connecting the dots on her latest mystery of choice and verin jumps in to start bouncing off of her ideas, and everyone else just watches in awe as they frantically unravel it together.

caleb: verin is not immune to the urge to manhandle the resident scrawny wizard, and is even less so after finding out he's the one essek is in love with. he plays the part of the "if you ever hurt him i will make you pay" brother for a while (mostly because he thinks it's funny and it annoys essek) but ultimately, he becomes like a brother to caleb too. also, he's obsessed with any and every cat that caleb brings his way. bring him a particularly small cat and he will shed a tear.

veth: verin thinks veth is hilarious, but he's also a bit terrified of her (which absolutely goes to her head). he does, however, prove to be fantastic with luc, and the presents he brings for luc start being accompanied by particularly nice trinkets he thought she would like. sometimes veth teases fjord talking about how strong verin is, which immediately makes verin blush every time.

jester: these two together are literal sunshine. they bring out each other's excitement and absolutely light up a room once they set each other off. if you see them whispering to each other, expect the unexpected, because they might be planning the prank of the century but they also might just be planning on surprising everyone with baked goods. (sometimes both. usually both.) essek fears seeing them in a room together because it exponentially increases his chances of getting hug-attacked.

kingsley: kingsley flirts with verin constantly and verin is adorably confused by it, which only makes it more appealing for kingsley. verin thinks it's really cool that kingsley is an actual pirate, and kingsley absolutely eats up the attention and awe. they sometimes gossip together, and kingsley manages to bring out a catty side of verin that essek didn't even know existed.

caduceus: while verin was the odd one out among his generally serious family, he fits right in with the chaos of the clay family. he easily falls back into the role of "lovingly shitty little brother," so much so that caduceus' own annoying brother side tends to come out while they're together. unsurprisingly, caduceus is also the only one able to get verin to talk about all the things he tries to pretend aren't weighing him down.

yasha: beefy blonde besties, classic introvert-extravert pair, and mlm/wlw solidarity at its finest. it's not uncommon to find the two of them staying up late talking about anything that comes to mind. verin is no less convinced of yasha's ability to send magical messages than yasha herself is. when her wings are out, he begs her relentlessly for a ride until she gives in. he has a certain brightness to his personality that yasha didn't want to admit she missed when molly became kingsley.

bonus:

astrid: verin is, respectfully, absolutely terrified of astrid. not just because she used to be an assassin for the other side of the war he was trained to fight – he gets over that part quickly enough, he just thinks she specifically is intimidating, and she regularly leans into it just to amuse herself. eventually, he works up the confidence to start trying to retaliate and fuck with her; he's not often successful, but it's a fun game and they're both irrationally competitive about it.

eadwulf: tied for most likely to be verin's crush. verin also thinks he's intimidating, but more in the "if you put a knife to my throat i might just have to make out with you" way than in the "if you put a knife to my throat i would say my goodbyes and accept my fate" way. eadwulf is particularly hard to get a real laugh out of, but verin gets good enough at it over time that even caleb is impressed. very rarely, verin even manages to get a snort-laugh out of him, which caleb never lets him live down.

[funishment-time]

Kaito for the ask thing^^

kay ee toes

Sexuality Headcanon: Kaito is gay af. look at him and his non-Euclidian hair. straight people can't do that

Gender Headcanon: this here space man can fit so much Cis in it

A ship I have with said character: i don't really hardcore ship him with too many folks, but i can't help but see him as Shuichi's other half a lot (even though i personally also headcanon Shuichi as mostly ace and aro. i have a lot of variations of a character going at once, Generally Speaking)

A BROTP I have with said character: see below - i really prefer him and Maki being best buds. i also love his one scene he has with Hina in Summer Camp where they pump each other up and i think they'd be adorable friends

A NOTP I have with said character: you are all going to hate me for this but i don't like the idea of him with Maki. they seem more like MLM WLW Solidarity Bros to me. but i'm also not done with v3 so i may change my mind by the end of it. i also don't mind making memes where she has a Crush on him because it's easy shorthand that the whole fandom would understand

A random headcanon: dude loves him some Sonic the Hedgehog butt rock

General Opinion over said character: 10/10 would curse Komatsuzaki while trying to model his hair in Blender

[dwindlinghaze]

omg would love if you could write something platonic with remus where him and r have a really flirty/affectionate relationship and ppl who dont know them think they’re dating but they’re both gay and it’s just mlm and wlw solidarity 😭💓

hiii omg i love this idea so much (considering the fact that i am somewhat gay lol😭) i hope u like this 🤍☁️🫧

something anyone can see

(remus lupin x platonic!reader)

contents: blurb, platonic relationship, implied mlm/wlw

　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

it was funny to see people outside your friend group thinking you and remus were dating. it's not their fault tough, you never really spoke about your sexuality publicly. you feared the nonacceptance of people so you kept it only to yourself and the friends you trusted.

remus being one of them.

you came out to remus a few months ago; he was the first person to know. you trust him with all of you. he's your best of best friends.

he was completely supportive of you, and he ended up coming out to you also. you both laughed at the end. it was a comforting feeling to know that your best friend you couldn't imagine living without will always be there.

it was relieving almost- to know that your relationship with remus will always be the same platonic thing. nothing will ever change between the two of you. nothing silly will bring you guys apart.

the reason why he can be so affectionate towards you is because he knows you will not find it weird at all and things wouldn't go awkward between the two of you.

you both love each other a lot, just platonically.

"rem, do you wanna go? it's dinner time," you said lowly. you two have been studying in the library since four.

this is also one of the many reasons why people thought you and remus is something. he seems to always be wherever you are. spending time late at night until your eyes gave out. he gives you chocolate and flowers just because because you love them.

mostly, he's just there to be a good friend and make you the happiest. not to mention, both of you are very respectful of each other too.

"let's go," he agreed, taking yours and his books.

as you two walked down to the great hall, some students were giggling at the two which made you grew wary of your surroundings.

"let's guy their idea of us," remus said, hovering his lips over the corner of your eye to tease the students around. it looked like he was kissing your eyes, which in fact, is not the case.

"rem!'," you chuckled.

"what is that?"

"nothing!" you giggled, punching his side jokingly.

when dinner finally started, you heard little murmurs about a certain couple. it was obvious that that is circling around you and remus.

you felt remus kicking your feet under the table, sending you a sheepish grin. from the outside's point of view, it seems like you two were having a nonverbal lovey dovey communication.

students don't usually care about hogwarts couples and whatever, but remus' love life was somehow intriguing for them. maybe because it was so unlike remus to get close to a girl. he is mysterious and it was interesting to see the two of you getting together.

to make the people around grow even more giddy; you blew remus a kiss, winking at him with the most flirtatious eyes you can manage. it turned out to be more comical than flirty.

he puts his hand over his mouth, muffling his laughter at the shocked faces people are making as he looked around.

james let out a snicker, looking at his friend with a funny look. only you and the marauders knows about remus' sexuality, so seeing people getting so worked up about a love story they narrated on their own was amusing.

"imagine if they know how gay i am."

[petz5]

2 for ryoga and akane

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

Ryoga: he never clears this up with akane (or ranma) 💀 akane probably thinks theyre mlm wlw solidarity while ryoga has baby names for them picked out in his head. either that or “i’ll just be akane’s pet pig forever and babysit their kids” like bestie PLEASE youre so pathetic

Akane: SO MUCH… can i just talk abt her bisexuality? I’m gonna talk abt her bisexuality.

Its so obvious when kasumi was telling her “i feel like i have a little brother, you need to stop acting like that or dr tofu won’t like you anymore” the underlying message was “people are going to think you’re gay if you continue to act like a tomboy past puberty” and thats clearly what she internalized bc its brought up when nabiki tries to talk to her abt ranma’s curse in the first volume and calls it cool and akane responds “its NOT cool, what if people think I’M a pervert too?!”

ITS SO OBVIOUS THERE WERE SPARKS BETWEEN THEM WHEN THEY MET… TO THE POINT RANMA DIDNT EVEN WANT TO REVEAL HIS CURSE BC HE DIDN’T WANT AKANE TO STOP LIKING HIM

Akane fights so hard for so long against being seen as gay even though its very obvious to everyone (how many times has nabiki pointed out that akane doesn’t mind the curse at all)

Her growth over the series and eventual acceptance that she isn’t as straight as she thought is so important to understanding the series as a whole 😭 i think people who hate the ending because ranma didn’t get cured don’t even realize…. it’d be a BAD ending if ranma didn’t come to terms w his curse and akane didn’t love ranma regardless. The reason ranma and akane work as a couple is bc they KNOW neither of them fit the Perfect Cishet Form they’ve been pressured to conform to their entire lives and they very openly love each other not in spite of but BECAUSE of that

[our-gay-experience]

My favourite thing in the world I think is that I am gay transmasc and my best friend is lesbian transfem… and yeah wlw mlm transfem transmasc solidarity sometimes means u kiss each other… and yeah both of our partners are supportive of that because they’re just cool like that.

solidarity hell yeah!! so cool to have queer relationships of any capacity

sometimes queer solidarity is shitty jokes and sometimes it is kisses and sometimes it’s cuddles and man i love queer people

when you think about it we’re so free yk? that’s what i love about being queer, taking the “perfect relationship” ideal and fucking it up until its fun and wonderful and suits you better

thanks for sharing!!

[bludhavensbirdboy]

I would actually love to hear more of your headcanons

I def have a soft spot for deaf/HoH Steve. There is no way he went through everything with 100% hearing intact.

Ok so first of all you now have my heart for asking about my Headcanons secondly I love your account it’s one of my fav steddie accounts third these are like random HCs anyway HC time:

I’m a firm believer in Steve getting a cat after the events in S1 (he is a cat person no one can argue with me) because the house felt lonely and he wanted more than just him in the house without bothering the rest of the group but when he realised that his hearing was getting worse which progressed to losing his hearing fully he found a lot more comfort In the cat because he liked the vibrations he felt when the cat purred while laying on him and he likes how the cat rubs itself against parts of his body when he is wandering the house like they are telling him they are near him, basically him and his cat are co dependent and he will choose the cat over anyone any day

I think I’ve talked about how I think eddie is autistic but I shall expand to say I do believe his hyperfixations are metal and dnd obv but when I was looking at Eddie trailer there was a lot of hats and cups and fully believe that’s eddies doing like he can’t not get them when he sees a cool cup or hat and if you ask about the hats/cups which he loves people doing cause he’s proud of his collection he has like knowledge of exactly where he got each one and why he picked it

Steve is very touch averse or afraid of people touching him due to his ocd it’s overwhelming for him when someone initiates touch he isn’t ok with it makes him feel out of control and he also hates touch because he has a thing with germs so his whole body basically shuts down when someone he hasn’t consented to be touched by touches him however he is very touch starved because of this so when he does get someone he is fully comfortable with allowing to touch him he thrives and basically is like a koala bear sometimes to these people

Eddie and Chrissy were t4t mlm wlw solidarity and I won’t have it any other way Chrissy and eddie imo would have the same dynamic as robin and Steve just platonic besties

Steve makes multiple deaf jokes like right after telling the group he was going deaf/is deaf and he’s met with just the groups disapproving looks like pls stop this is a serious thing like pls process your trauma like a normal person for once (Steve does not and continues to make deaf jokes cause what else can they do)

The adults like all the kids but they all have a fav Steve’s is dustin obviously but I think eddies would be will when they meet and robins is max

Steve’s bisexual awakening wasnt Eddie (doesn’t really have a bisexual awakening like a certain man anyway) Steve just like knew men were hot and accepted it one day and sure they had a lot of internalised homophobia that came from their home life but Steve knew he liked men before Eddie and was quite happy about it cause whole worlds his oyster and all that so when Eddie turns up and starts flirting Steve knows what’s happening and flirts back leaving Eddie malfunctioning and like wtf is happening

Eddie stims constantly and when he feels comfortable with the people he’s around it’s like full body stims like just violently shaking his limbs until he feels better but one of his subtle stims is chewing on things like pencils, guitar picks, dnd dice, blanket corners, his hair basically anything in his reach (Steve starts to notice the hoodie drawstrings are chewed to fuck)

Jonathon is nonbinary don’t feel the need to explain this one if I’m honest mf just chillin

Such a random one but if Eddie is going to the shop he’s touching everything in sight lifting random shit to feel it and what should have been a quick in and out to get like 1 thing turns into an hour long shopping trip with random little things bought that he has no need for but he wants

[danggirlronpa]

It's Mikan's birthday! Do you have any Mikan headcanons? Or perhaps your favorite ships with her? What about platonic relationships you like with her? I'm interested in any Mikan thoughts you have!

Now that I've said I don't often ship Mikan, let's talk about the ships I do have!

My absolute favorite Mikan ship is actually Mikan/Twogami (which I'm justifying talking about on this blog because you COULD choose to interpret it as sapphic. I personally don't, but you can!). This is one of my favorite ships in the entire series, and I'm working really hard to restrain myself from writing multiple pages of meta right now. In essence, I think they're two caretakers who both aren't used to being cared for, and their interactions in DR3 are exceptionally sweet and show that they complement each other incredibly well, along with sharing body dysmorphia issues. I think they'd be a very caring & supportive relationship!

The next one is Junko, who causes those issues. I Have The Range. I've waxed poetic about this before so we don't really need to get into it again. Toxic yuri...can be Good

The first time I played SDR2, I remember REALLY liking Mikan/Ibuki. Which I feel like is probably the most common Mikan ship! They just complement her really well. And Ibuki Loves Boobs. I feel bad for not talking about the F/F Mikan ships as much but like. Gestures to blog. You know the gist. I Love Them

And this is another one with a lad. But since you brought up friendships, my Mikan brOTP is absolutely Nekomaru. Firstly: MLM/WLW solidarity. Secondly: I think that, since their work would easily coincide as they develop physical therapy and nutritional plans for athletes, and Nekomaru has such strong memories related to his time in the hospital as a child, they could have a really nice, low-pressure friendship! (Not to imply that a Nurse, a PT, and a Nutritionist are all the same. But DR proper doesn't draw a distinction, so it's probably fine!) I think Nekomaru also has exactly the kind of open, friendly personality that would put Mikan at ease, and that his work helping athletes would put him in a really good position to encourage her to be kinder to herself.

[houkagokappa]

More Yuri, More Manga

It's been a year since I embarked on my journey to read more yuri manga and it's time for a second update!

After all the yuri manga I read for my previous post, I set my eyes on josei and came to the conclusion that josei that either focuses on wlw or contains wlw relationships, is the best kind of manga there is. I read a lot of josei, and as for works that were also yuri, I read Love My Life, Indigo Blue and Free Soul by Yamaji Ebine, based on a recommendation from @theurbanfuturesoftherecentpast (thank you!!!). Yamaji Ebine has a neat minimalist style and she writes messy complex characters. All her manga had a realistic feel to them, which I enjoyed.

I explored other queer works and stumbled upon Yuri to Koe to Kaze Matoi by Renjouji Mei, which is a yuri manga focused on two asexual women and their relationship. Once again, I found the characters highly relatable and realistic. It's nice to see some asexual representation, but at the same time, I wouldn't have minded more development between them, although that might be on me and the expectations I have when I pick up a new yuri title, that unfortunately didn't fit this manga or topic. Both characters were ace, but the protagonist felt romantic attraction whereas her crush didn't. While they got a happy ending, I didn't feel fully satisfied, and would've liked if the manga had explored the partially unresolved feelings more, mostly due to personal reasons, even if the conclusion would've been the same (which it probably would've).

Back to some high school yuri, I finished Omoi no Kakera by Takemiya Jin, which I actually started reading early last year. It's another manga that's relatable to me, as it portrays characters with different sexualities, who befriend each other due to the shared experience of being young, closeted queer people. We got wlw/mlm solidarity, and characters who are more secure with their sexualities looking over those who are still trying to figure theirs out. The interactions and communities reminded me of the queer youth group I used to be part of :') In addition to that, I liked the portrayal of different kinds of attraction, and how the focus was on the life of a queer person, rather than a specific romance they experienced, since there's indeed more to being queer than some singular love story. Out of all the manga on this list, this is one of my top recommendations, and at some point I should check out Takemiya's other works. She's out as a lesbian, and you can tell she writes based on lived queer experiences.

One day when I didn't have anything else to read, I picked up Luminous=Blue by Iwami Kyoko (same author as Kyou wa Kanojo ga Inai kara). It had the same beautiful artstyle as Kyou wa Kanojo ga Inai kara, was slightly less toxic, but equally messy when it came to the relationships. Luminous=Blue is about a transfer student who loves photography. She starts taking photos of her two new classmates, who unbeknownst to her used to go out with each other, and still harbour some lingering feelings towards each other. I was a fan of the different relationship dynamics and happy with the direction the manga and the relationships took, although the last pages included a twist which felt a little out of place. It's a shame, because if it had been given more time, it could've been a very interesting and welcome development, and I'm curious if Kyou wa Kanojo ga Inai kara will go in a similar direction, since it has the prerequisites for it.

I also read Toumei na Usui Mizuiro ni by the same author, which had an interesting premise of a girl with a crush on her female childhood friend, who was dating their other, male childhood friend. Normally I like this kind of setting with love triangles that include both straight and queer relationships, but since this was only 3 chapters long, the characters and their dynamics weren't established enough for the story to feel as cohesive and satisfying as it could've. At least the art was gorgeous once again, and I enjoyed the messy relationships. The volume contained two one shots as well, which I think were kinda fun, but I cannot remember that well anymore.

Next up, I read Moonlight Flowers by Tsukumo Mutsumi, based on a personal recommendation from someone who has since escaped tumblr. It's one of the older yuri works there are, as it was written in 1989. It's only one volume long and contains two stories about women who are pressured to marry men, and end up in miserable marriages, until they decide to leave their husbands to be with the women they love. It has a strong feminist message and I've seen a lot of people praise it online, but I wasn't too fond of it. I couldn't quite connect with the characters, and because of that, I didn't particularly enjoy reading about women lacking rights, or homosexuality not being socially accepted. However, I can see how others might be able to feel inspired or empowered reading about characters who overcome the obstacles in their way. It was also quite dramatic, but I will always be in favour of that (even when it's ridiculous, like it was here).

I continued with Sakura no Sono by Yoshida Akimi, which was another recommendation from the same person. It's another old manga, first published in 1985, about the romances of four girls in a drama club of an all girls high school. I found Yoshida's style charming, but it's not among my personal favourites. Some characters looked quite similar and were hard to distinguish. It was disappointing to realise that only one chapter focused on a girl crushing on another girl, while the other romances and the majority of the manga were about straight characters/relationships. If I would've known that from the start, I could've adjusted my expectations accordingly, which is a shame, because now I'm mostly disappointed by the lack of yuri, and it's harder for me to appreciate the work as a whole. It was decent, but quite forgettable.

Then I completed Watashi no Muchi na Watashi no Michi by Momono Moto (same author as Yuunagi Marbled and Kimi Koi Limit from my previous post). I first started reading it 5 years ago, but didn't finish it due to the scanlation taking its sweet time. Now I read it from start to finish. It's about a woman in her early 20's, who's spent all her life pleasing others, and is on the path to marry a male childhood friend of hers, simply out of duty to him and her mom, before her female coworker steps in and swoops her away. The manga takes a weird turn after that, as it turns out the coworker might've had some ulterior motives getting close to our protagonist, but it's interesting, until a somewhat abrupt ending. It was nice to read about a young adult who never cared for romance until she fell in love with her coworker, and for once I didn't even mind the plot point where she was about to marry a man, since it made sense for them and he wasn't overly vilified for how he reacted to her rejection or the reveal of her relationship with another woman (not that it was great either). The art was nice and I liked all the characters. It wasn't anything groundbreaking, but it was a fun read.

Another recommendation from @theurbanfuturesoftherecentpast was Maka-Maka by Kishi Torajiro, an adult manga about the close relationship between two best friends, Jun and Nene. The manga is two volumes long with short chapters in full colour, which required some adjustment from me as I'm usually only reading manga in black and white. It didn't feel like any other yuri I've read, in a good way! My absolute favourite part was how comfortable Jun and Nene were with each other, with a strong mental connection, and frequent, casual sexual encounters. Their relationship felt real and I loved how they kept smiling throughout the sex scenes, which made for an interesting combination of wholesome and horny. I highly recommend this manga, as I'm still thinking about it months later...

Next up, I read Watashi no Sekai wo Kousei suru Chiri no You na Nani ka. by Amano Shuninta. It's about seven university students and their ever changing relationships. Once again, the protagonist was a whole mood as she complained about all her friends having boyfriends which she hated, having a very relatable crush on one of said friends, before getting to live the fantasy of ending up with her. I looooved the inclusion of a toxic lesbian (and her toxic lesbian clique) who would sleep around and toy with others, letting lesbians be flawed people too, but also having wholesome and genuinely good people in the cast, as a counterbalance and showcase of the whole spectrum of different people with different views on love and sex (especially fitting for the university age/setting). There were happy times, but also angst and heartbreak, and bittersweet love, between women who truly cared for each other, but weren't suitable for each other as they had different needs when it came to their relationship and sex life. At first it was a little challenging to keep track of seven different characters, but by the end of it I really enjoyed the various relationship dynamics and the somewhat unlikely friendships that formed between them.

I also read Sweet Guilty Love Bites by Amano Shuninta, which consisted of three short stories about four cabaret girls. The first story was about one of the cabaret girls taking in a random woman she came across, which I didn't care for that much. The second story was about a single mother who unknown to her, hooked up with her child's kindergarten teacher. First she freaked out, thinking she'd be judged for her profession, but the kindergarten teacher was chill and only looking to date her. It was very sweet to see them take care of the child together. I also loved the third story about two cabaret girls who were best friends and roommates, with one of them being very vocal about her love towards women and other cabaret girls, which is a trait I always appreciate. Seeing her pining for her friend/roommate/coworker was great, and precisely the kind of stuff I love! Amano has a lot more in her library and after enjoying these two manga, I think the rest are worth checking out as well. I especially like how her characters are allowed to be horny, but there’s more to her manga than just sex.

Then I picked up Kimi to Shiranai Natsu ni Naru by Keyyan, thanks to the premise which sounded relatable. It’s about two women who are at the end of their university studies and looking for work in Tokyo, facing rejection after rejection. They’ve had enough of it and decide to run away from all the expectations and responsibilities to a small island. First of all, what a mood. Second, I really liked the art, especially the character expressions, and how well their excitement was conveyed. The island setting was also A+, and I loved the portrayal of young adults who were in an established relationship, with no uncertainty or drama about the same-sex relationship itself. They were devoted to each other, and the reason both of them wanted to work hard, so they could provide for one another. Besides that, my feelings towards this manga went back and forth quite a lot. First I enjoyed the escapism, but then I had to take a break because it became too idealised with conveniences you can't count on in real life. Once I picked it back up again, I realised that the story actually does stick to reality, when the characters start to worry about money and finding permanent work on the island. While I was happy with that development, it backfired as I was reading this while I was away from home myself, and anxious about my own future in regards to my education and employment, so reading about their struggles felt a bit too real and stressful. Unfortunately, it seems like the series got axed, because the ending was sudden and can be interpreted in two opposing ways, one depressing, one hopeful, and neither fits the story I can only assume the series wanted to tell. It's still a manga worth reading, but maybe in the right mindset.

Although I try to stay away from ongoing works, Dore ga Koi ka ga Wakaranai by Oku Tamamushi seemed fun, so I couldn't help but check it out. It’s about a girl who is unable to confess to her high school crush of 3 years, and starts university determined to find a girlfriend. And oh boy does she find potential girlfriends! She instantly meets and falls for five different women, who also become enamoured with her. What follows is a bunch of flirting, some deliberate, some accidental. The catch is, she doesn't know which one to pursue seriously. The tone is lighthearted and comedic, and the series is best described by the tagline to one of the chapters as "an endless conveyor belt of yuri encounters". I like all the girls, the girls and their embarrassed or flustered expressions are very cute, and instead of the setting falling apart with five people never confessing or trying to seriously pursue the main girl, some do, while others have believable reasons to hold back. The pace is quick enough for any interruptions or miscommunications to not feel aggravating, with several encounters each chapter. I'm curious to see how the manga will continue and potentially end, with some ships seeming more likely than others, since there has been some actual development! I'll also throw it out there, that this manga is a good example of why dark haired girl/light haired girl is an established pairing, since the main pursuer at the moment has light hair and bangs like the protagonist, and it can be a little difficult to tell them apart from some panels or angles.

Another ongoing work I began reading because it ticked the right boxes for me was Sukeban to Tenkousei by Fujichika. As the name suggests, it’s about the somewhat unlikely relationship between a delinquent girl and a sweet transfer student. The manga is set in the Showa era in the 80s and has very charming art. I thought it would be pretty lighthearted and fun, opposites attract type of story, but then one of the characters saw how romantic love was defined as feelings towards the opposite sex, heartbroken by the fact there wasn't a name for her feelings, and I was in tears thinking of anyone who's ever felt that pain. Otherwise, it's mostly a comedy and a fun, easy read, with not that many chapters out yet.

Finally, reaching the anniversary of my year long yuri journey, I finished reading the manga adaptation of Murasakiiro no Qualia, by Ueo Hisamitsu and Tsunashima Shirou. It's a sci-fi series with psychological and mystery elements, about Yukari, a girl with purple eyes who sees humans as robots, and Gaku, the protagonist who befriends her. There are a lot of twists and turns to the story, and it gets gory and dark, as Yukari uses her abilities to help the police solve murder cases and later gets involved with a secret organisation. It's also very philosophical and a bit difficult/slow to read at times, when characters get surprisingly deep into quantum mechanics. I liked the narration a lot, because there's a lot of repetition and Gaku, who's telling the story, jumps back and forth on the timeline, giving the reader more context and insights each time. I was also a huge fan of the character development she went through, starting to exhibit truly unhinged behavior to a level that's hard to find elsewhere, but also oddly reminiscent of Madoka Magica? The ending was satisfying, and it was cool to see it circle back to the beginning. I didn't know anything about this manga beforehand and after a curious start, it kept getting better and better. I originally found out about it in the tags of a tumblr post complaining about variety in yuri, so this is me giving back to the community and passing on the recommendation.

...That was a lot more yuri to add to the library, and there are still so many different works I look forward to reading! I don't know if I'll continue documenting my journey, as I'm probably going to slow down on the yuri a bit, but who knows if the bug bites me again and I won't read anything else for months on end! Again, thank you for reading through all this, I hope you're inspired to read some yuri yourself, and if you have any recommendations I'm always happy to hear them!

[crimsalwaysawake]

the valentines letters have all but confirmed poly ralsei and I now have kralsusie on the brain can you bastards get out of my head pls

why are deltarune characters so shippable??? krisuselle is an obvious one but kralsusie is also an obvious one and I could see them both tbh (kralsuselle???) but at the same time I have my biases because im the only person on ao3 to have written krerdsei and I fucking love krerdsei I doubt it would happen in game but a boy can dream then we have the potential that comes with kralselle like you have kris walking around with these two nerds who love them and either love each other in a very bi way or are queerplatonic mlm/wlw solidarity similar case with krerdelle except if you think about the ship and then think about snowgrave you may cry then you have kruserdly idk the what that would be called but like its fun and we get to kill Noelle with it

This just proves how shippable kris is lol

also bonus shout out to krattsuselle we love lesbians

[73647e]

here are my todd and chris thoughts because the more I think about them the more I think they'd be really good friends.

so I think that todd being the quietest and least annoying of the poets was the original reason for why chris started talking to him. she tagged along with ginny to any of the poet's meetups that neil invited them to, and often saw todd at rehearsals whenever neil managed to drag him to one. and while ginny was off being a menace with neil and occasionally charlie (not in rehearsal, but during the meetups), chris happily started talking with todd.

in the beginning, todd was generally confused why a random girl was talking to him. god knows he's never spoken to a girl that wasn't his mom in his life because he never really felt the need to in the first place, so he was extremely confused as to why a girl seemed to actually want to talk to him. at first he was scared that chris was interested in him, and that idea made him completely panic because, holy shit how was he going to tell her that there's no way he'd even ever be interested because he's not into girls like that.

but a single word out of todd's mouth that had anything to do with that instantly made chris bend over in laughter, because, holy shit, who was this small child who looked ready to shake apart at the seams that was asking her if she was interested in him, when she knew damn well he wasn't interested in her. she happily explained to todd that, no, she wasn't talking to him because she was romantically interested in him, because she liked girls the same way he liked boys.

and from that time on, the tension between them was essentially gone. todd was happy to learn that he and chris had many similarities, from shared french heritage (though chris' was a tad further back than todd's), to their shared interest in reading and crafts (todd taught chris the basics of whittling, while she very happily taught him how to sew and crotchet).

as adults, chris and todd still made sure to keep in contact, which wasn't very difficult, as neil and ginny insisted on the same with one another. the four of them continued to meet up for double dinners well into adulthood.

chris and todd's friendship was one that shouldn't have worked out as well as it did. however, their tempers were extremely similar, especially as todd grew more comfortable with himself. they are both deeply emotional people that do their best to think rationally, attempting to put aside their knee jerk reactions to problems. they have similar, dry senses of humor, and overall, are just incredibly good friends.

idk I don't really have an ending for this so I'm just gonna stop here but yeah. I do think they were totally besties, and neil and ginny were too. I love the idea of them just going like "men?" "nah, women?" at each other in the most perfect mlm and wlw solidarity way

[rollercoasterwords]

ok i'm back at a desk for 8 hours w nothing 2 do so here's the longer post re: nwlnw (nonwoman loving nonwoman) + nmlnm (nonman loving nonman). i think my issue with these terms as labels is that. i see their origin + use coming from this urge to draw really clear + distinct lines around labels in a way that ultimately reinforces gender essentialism. like here i'll trace it:

people use "gay" and "lesbian" as umbrella terms to broadly describe relationships involving two men or two women. so, in the context of fiction + fandom, people will talk about gay + lesbian fics/ships etc

some people decide that "gay" and "lesbian" aren't inclusive enough as labels, because what if one of the partners is bi/pan/identifies as something other than gay or lesbian??

ok, so we need a more inclusive term! let's use words like "sapphic" and "achillean," or "wlw" (woman loving woman) and "mlm" (men loving men)

wlw + mlm start to become more popular as umbrella terms

but wait!!!!! what about nonbinary people?!?!?!?!?!?!!??!

once again, people decide that mlm + wlw are not inclusive enough umbrella terms, because they do not encompass every possible label that someone might identify with

"nmlnm" and "nwlnw" are introduced as even more inclusive umbrella terms

so here are the issues i'm seeing in the evolution of these umbrella terms:

1. hyper-focusing on labels in this way is not productive

like. let's go back to "gay" and "lesbian." let's say, for example, that two women are in a relationship. even if both id as bi, there's nothing wrong with calling that a lesbian relationship, because functionally, that relationship is going to be treated as lesbian by society. like, if we are focusing on experiences and not labels, then gay + lesbian work perfectly fine as umbrella terms. their purpose is not to encompass every single possible configuration of identity that two people in a relationship might hold; their purpose is to communicate to people looking at the label that this relationship falls under a broad category of relationships that are received a certain way by the world at large. y'know?

no umbrella term is ever going to encompass every specific experience that falls beneath it, because that isn't the point of umbrella terms. umbrella terms are useful for grouping broad categories of people who share experiences, even if they don't necessarily share specific identities.

furthermore, both "lesbian" and "gay" are, in and of themselves, somewhat nebulous terms that not everybody is going to use in the same way, and they are also culturally + historically specific terms that have changed over time. if we start to try and draw really clear lines around them, or set firm rules around who does + doesn't get to identify a certain way, eventually you're going to encounter someone who doesn't fit the rules you've created, and that's how you get stupid fucking online debates about shit like whether or not trans men are "allowed" to identify as lesbian.

the utility in labels is in identifying shared experiences. ok? what matters isn't nitpicking each other's language, it's looking at the way we're treated by the world as queers and finding sites of solidarity. so somebody referring to categories of relationships as "lesbian" and "gay" isn't excluding anyone, unless you're hyper-focused on labels rather than experiences. it's like fucking.....vampire rules. like i'm throwing a party, and the door is wide open, and then u come up to the door and ur like "umm u need to invite me in." and i'm like ??? the door's wide open if u want to come in u should just come in....and ur like "no u don't understand i have to follow VAMPIRE RULES and that means u need to follow them too or ur excluding me!!!"

like. ur not a fucking vampire babe. just come inside.

2. feels like....a weird conceptualization of "nonbinary." to me.

because "nmlnm" and "nwlnw" have basically just become interchangable with "wlw" and "mlm," it kinda just feels like....people grouping whatever they consider women and Women Lite, and then men and Men Lite. y'know? like babe i'm sorry but if u are actually trying to break down all gender binaries here to include every single possible nonbinary person...well where is a boydyke like me supposed to go between ur little labeled "nonman" and "nonwoman" boxes hmm?? sorry but ur gonna have 2 get rid of the "man" and "woman" from ur labels altogether i fear. which leads into...

3. saying "non-man" and "non-woman" still ultimately leads back to gender essentialism bc it requires u to define "man" and "woman"

like. either we accept that umbrella terms have leaky borders and will never fully encompass every possible identity, but that's okay because, again, the borders aren't these clearly drawn lines but rather porous and amorphous and shifting--or we insist that labels must exist within clearly delineated boxes so that we can Categorize Every Identity, in which case you end up with labels like "non-man" and "non-woman" which, though supposedly inclusive, require you to provide a set definition of both "woman" and "man" in order to explain what you are defining your category against. and once you start trying to find set definitions to categorize "men" and "women"....well guess what's gonna happen babes!!!!!! that's right!!! we're gonna stray back into the territory of gender essentialism.

like. at the end of the day i basically just see "nwlnw" and "nmlnm" labels as an extension of this exhausting tendency to try and draw really clear borders around every identity in the queer community, which is antithetical to what queerness even is and ultimately leads to a bunch of useless in-fighting. i'm sure the people using these terms are just trying to be inclusive, but the issue is that your "inclusivity" relies on exclusivity in the first place by treating labels as strict borders that are exclusive to anyone who doesn't fit the criteria you've decided they need to fit to claim them. y'know?

in conclusion: i will be sticking with lesbian + gay + dyke + fag for my umbrella terms thank u very much <3

[kalcifers-blog]

Gabríel Corbin (he/him)

Salvia "Sal" Mayson (she/her)

SOME CHARACTER TURNAROUNDS I MADE FOR UNI‼️‼️

I originally planned for them to be completely separate from each other but I do think their dynamic would go so hard.

The "tired newspaper artist, with the physical appearance of a plague ridden stick, who lives off of black coffee and cigarettes who just wants to get his work done" + "buff energetic cowgirl is having wayyy to much fun playing the role of his partner and is only doing so because she finds it funny" (also they're both gay BC we love WLW/MLM solidarity hostility)