#Man I would LOVE to ramble on about the Story and the Characters

[rosefires20]

My brainrot today is thinking about just how incredible for a character Eowyn is.

Genuinely. The series might not have many female characters but the ones we do get go so fucking hard.

To me, Eowyn is literally the definition of defining being a woman for oneself. She rejects the roles she is given despite acknlowdging the importance and its mostly because she knows part of the reason is that she is a woman.

The reason why she is obsessed with Aragorn isn't because she loves him but because she wants what he has. She wants the freedom and courage and bravery that Aragorn has at every turn. She literally has multiple conversations during the Two Towers about how what she fears most is a cage. All this girl wants is the freedom to be and not be forced into a role. The best thing is that she literally gets that.

The segment of Return of the King about Eowyn and Faramir is literally about her piecing together what she truly wants. She doesn't want Aragorn. She wants freedom and the ability to choose. Faramir does nothing but encourage that in her. Their love story is literally one of the healthiest love stories I've seen in a long time because at the heart of it, their love is a place to return home to for both parties. Both go off to lead and help their people for a considerable amount of time before returning to each other but that does not diminish their bond. Even Faramir, I believe, falls in love with her bravery and dedication to her loved ones. The reason she went to Pelenor Fields and Gondor with the troops of Rohan was because she had things she wanted to fight for. She wanted to fight for herself, her people, and her loved ones. She is the one who protects Theoden after he is killed so that his body gets the treatment it deserves. She encourages Merry and helps him go to the battle because she sees her struggle in Merry. They feel helpless standing around when there are things to be doing.

Let's also not forget the fact that she was around Grima Wormtounge just as much as the King was. She was exposed to the same poison and awful words that eroded the king. It's even implied that her care for him is part of the reason why Theoden was savable when Gandalf showed up. She had the same power and bravery as everyone else even if she didn't see it in herself.

Then at the end of the day, SHE decides where she wants to go and what path she wants to walk. She walked the path of a warrior. The path of a princess/ruler. The path of a caretaker. But in the end she decides which elements truly mean something to her outside of gender definitions. That is what makes her character so incredible to me. In this she literally kills one of the biggest enemies in that battle with such a badass line.

#i could talk for ages about how i see the struggle of defining being a woman for oneself in her #she rejects the feminine roles given to her but she also doesnt quite want the masculine ones #she just wants the freedom to choose and have the same respect that men are given #she doesnt want to be belitted because she is a woman #thats literally what Faramir gives her and why she stays with him #Faramir loves her for her not anything else #he respects her as she does him #i am someone who is a woman but rejects the definitons of being a woman because they are toxic and caging #all i want is the freedom and respect of being a HUMAN being #i lend more masculine because that is where that freedom is more often but i also see how toxic that relam is too #niether side is good which is why i choose my own path and defintiom #the fact that eowyn gets such a similar story in a series written by a man in the mid 1900s is incredible #i am someone who would love to have more female characters but i do not want them at the expense of them being proper characters and humans #ive read a lot of fantasy women do not always get the agency they deserve #i would rather take fewer well written women then a bunch of poorly written female characters #lotr has that #eowyn arwen and galadriel are all given agency and the space to be their own individuals which makes them incredible characters #thats what i want out of books and ficition #god im making myself insane about my own thoughts lol #i could talk for ages im not kidding #eowyn #eowyn of rohan #lotr #lotr rambling #lord of the rings #the two towers #the return of the king

[namedoggo]

I keep forgetting to post this, but OC ART‼️ OC ART‼️

His name is Thomas Anakoni and I Love Him (He absolutely goes Through it)

Here's a Regular Color Version cause I think the colors I used are pretty

#Man I would LOVE to ramble on about the Story and the Characters #But uhhh 1. I want to make the story into a Future Comic Later on so I can't Spoil too much #And 2. I need to research more into certain Topics to make sure they're Portrayed Right in the Story- #So take this more as Like Concept Art for Now (Even though I most likely will Not Change Thomas' Design) #Idk what to Tag this as so Uh #Thomas Anakoni #I'll make him his own Tag for Now and Edit this with the Title for the Story (I don't have one rn-) #oc art #original character

[problemswithbooks]

BNHA 423

So, I can't say I feel much of anything reading this weeks leaks.

I'm not shocked that Shigaraki died, nor would I be surprised if his death is taken back next chapter and he gets brought back to life in some way.

The thing is despite people saying Shigaraki dying messes with the themes of the story the themes have always been more then a little shaky. IDK if it's just a difference in culture, but Hori has a way of setting something up as being a big deal/theme and then doing something that completely contradicts it.

It's really no surprise he might have killed off most of the villains including Shigaraki despite setting the story up in a way where saving villains seemed to be a theme. He did the same thing with self-sacrifice being portrayed as bad, but later showing it as good.

I will say I don't necessarily agree with how some people are framing Shigaraki's death as throwing abuse victims under the bus. I do get the frustration because Hori did focus a lot of how Shigaraki was used by AfO and in a lot of stories that would be used to absolve him of guilt for all the destruction he caused. But Hori never had Shigaraki change his mind. His last words are him continuing to wish he could have destroyed more and wanting Izuku to relay to Spinner he never stopped fighting for destruction.

I think if this had been a more thought out and focused story you really could make it a great tragedy. It feels unfair that he couldn't be saved, that despite Izuku's effort, at the end of the day Shigaraki wasn't able to break away from the destruction he was manipulated and groomed into believing.

In that way I can understand the anger of some fans, because the story is essentially a tragedy framed as a simply triumphant narrative. It always felt like it wanted to have some deep meaning, and always seemed on the verge of it, but never stuck the landing. The one thing I've always been left wondering is: what is Hori trying to say with this story?, and IDK if the ending, given what's on the page right now will really give me an answer.

If anything I think perhaps Hori was trying to say to much at once. I'm sure a lot of it gets lost in translation and cultural differences, still part of me thinks he bit off more then he could reasonably flesh out. Thinking back many writing choices feel like he had an idea or passing thought and added it because it was cool or thought he'd have time to do more with it latter but due to shitty writing conditions couldn't implement properly.

#mha #bnha #bnha spoilers #bnha 423 #boku no hero academia #bnha leaks #idk #im sick and rambling #at this point i check in on bnha to see how it ends #because i genuinely have no idea how it's gonna end #it does sort of feel like a story that was so much cooler in Hori's head #like I honestly wish I could just have him explain it to me #cuz I do think alot of stuff got cut or dropped because he didn't have the energy to draw it #I think it's a huge lesson in why working conditions matter #and why some stories and authors don't do well when released chapter by chapter #let alone weekly #over years of time #I think One Piece is a huge outlier #and should not be counted #i guess I feel like BNHA could have been really good if it had been released more like a novel series #like one book every year or two #because I think Hori needs time to edit and really pick a direction sometimes #which a weekly schedule did not give #and as disappointing as it is I can't help but give the man props #I can barely start my stories #let alone finish them #and I don't draw them ontop of that #like his art is fantastic and I loved a lot of his characters #never would have bothered to keep checking back if I didn't like something about it

[vegaseatsass]

I have to pry myself off the computer for real but tomorrow will someone please talk to me about Love Between Fairy & Devil now that I've finally watched it a year after the rest of the internet, and how Fairy Danyin is the best character, and Danyin/Changheng is the most lesbian (and/or gnc)/gay solidarity ship ever, and I am so stunned that they textually ended with Danyin admitting her original thing for Gods of War is that she wanted to become one herself - i.e. there was some "idk if I want to be him or be with him" to her Changheng pining - and with her demonstratively labeling Changheng her xiongdi???????? They are bros in every lifetime!! And should go on Chidi/Danyin Changheng/Ronghao double dates!!!

Someone please talk about this with me.... tomorrow.

#also was very into the canon ships. i wanted to hold out forever for xiao lanhua/jieli and i still do love them #but FIRSTLY yes ok dongfang qingcang and his cheekbones and his childlike innocence hidden beneath Devil robes compelled me #SECONDLY when shangque started getting jealous of jieli for thinking another man was stupid #and yelled like 'i'm the stupidest one here!!!' or something to prove he was the man of her dreams. he won me over forever. #ronghao committing all the war crimes for 30k years just so he could see his shifu again also compelled me #he makes an A+ sadface #but i was even more compelled by his ambivalent love for changheng #and i just can't get over how much danyin can be shipped with every woman in the story #who would have guessed it when she was first introduced? #SO many terrifically fun things done with her character #ily qu shui #xiao run died for you and the narrative confirmed that love was DEEP BROTHERHOOD #DEEP BROTHERHOOD!!! not last inning romance like i expected #but just the truest brotherly love which was stronger than anything that mortal felt for fairies he'd been dreaming about but barely knew #ok i think if i tag rambled for this long if i tag this it won't show up in the tags... sorry to fairy devil connoisseurs if it does #sorry but also if YOU wanna talk to me about my important danyin feelings please do feel empowered #clj

[ourhouseishaunted]

70% of my trigun thoughts are abt how plants (independent and dependant) work and what they symbolize and their relationships with other characters and the world and stuff and the implications of independent plants coming with the earth forces and what it says about how earth has progressed since SEEDS left the planet, 20% of my thoughts are "hope those guys (meryl milly vash livio ww knives) are having fun" and 10% is rotating trimax Rem Saverem around in my head at all times

#i think abt rem a lot for a character that is like important but also isnt materially present in the story much #like idk her relationship with grief and regret and the idea of her looking at the shambles of her life and having to say #'well at least i can start over since theres nothing left for me' multiple times (after alex dies and she joins seeds #and after failing to keep tesla alive and getting a 'second chance' with vash and knives) idk its just so fascinating to me #and her idea of a blank ticket to the future and what it means in terms of how vash shapes his worldview in trimax #where it seems to be about how. death stops all future potential of a person. if they die they can never get better they dont learn #they cant change and experience consequence #like smth i find fascinating in trimax is that vash doesnt kill people but he will let somebody that person has hurt punch them in the face #and he thanks ww for killing to save the colony that one time. hes not opposed to killing/consequence entirely #i think it comes down a lot to how rem behaved in the aftermath of him finding out about tesla. how the potential for things to get better #would have died with him or rem and it would have just stayed horrible #idk idk im Rambling im turing things around in my brain #also man my main complaint with the manga is i wish it focused on the dependant plants more. they clearly experienced a big emotional #struggle esp in the final volumes and i wish we got to see more of it #but also i just like the wacky small town hijinks esp in the 98 anime i love when the main cast is just goofin around. i think they should #get to goof more #trigun #.txt #Dont Look At This Post Man its EMBARRASSING nobody should let me talk abt anything #the secret special bonus tjoughts are about chronica bc she fascinates me but i cant draw her good the way i can draw meryl and rem :(

[raayllum]

like here’s the thing, right. when a work like TDP has a variety of races in it, you’re bound to have some fave characters who are white and some who are not. in my past fandoms my fave characters were a dark skinned black man, a dark skinned black woman, and a disabled, mentally ill asian man. if i didn’t have that background in writing subversive fic centred on their experiences, and seeing how their fandoms treated them with varying degrees of racism, stereotypes, and ableism - yeah, i may question my fave being the one (1) white girl amid a main trio of 2/3 boys of colour.

however

representation wise the odds are stacked that you will have more ‘white faves’ than non white faves. certain archetypes also tend to be based more in race than others

however

if you only ever love white characters, and hate the characters of colour that are canonically important or involved in their lives (harrow with viren; terry and callum with claudia; callum and ezran for rayla, etc) i will and am absolutely side eyeing you so hard & sincerely hope you do some major self reflection

#tag ramble #in regards to #like i still remember the way a lot of white afabs who Love claudia & insisted she was a lesbian #responded to terry #a brown trans man #and even lesbian claudia being the hill ppl would die upon when like don't get me wrong she wasn't head over heels for callum #but like?? there was still very clearly Something there #every time a white character gets their canonical attraction to a character of colour erased so they can be Gay #esp when asian men rarely get to be love interests either?? #it's my villain origin story #like rayla is very much allura from vld so again: i know My Fave Archetype isn't dependent on race #but it was absolutely exacerbated in allura's case as a dark black woman and her writing was informed by racism #100% #thus i don't think rayla is effected much by race (whereas someone like claudia or ezran absolutely) in fanon spaces #but i think she is defs impacted by misogyny #like janai is my fave non Main character and the way ppl talked about her plot line in s4 #as though How Dare she take more focus than amaya and it's like. cool ur colourism maybe

[charliespringverse]

rewatching house led to me infodumping at my mother about ao3 and gen z purity culture and honestly . if she didn't want these things to happen to her she shouldn't have had children with a man so incredibly neurodivergent

#there was a logical progression to the infodump . but i fear it was only logical in an adhd way #bc my friend went ''u can rlly tell this is early 2000s bc they wouldn't let him say things like that today'' #which led to the ''they Could theoretically make it but like . toned down and also no character would ever be able to agree w him'' #which led to the thing of how audiences seem unable to separate depiction from endorsement #like the whole ''if a character is transphobic and nobody in-world calls them evil and wrong then the creator must be transphobic'' thing #which led to the tag system on ao3 and the proship/anti thing abt whether the existence of the archive warning system means they're — #- endorsing/supporting works that contain 'problematic' themes and content #which led to me ranting abt the reasons Why ppl create dark media (eg a story abt csa could be written by a nonce or a survivor) #and my mother was just Sat There like 🧍🏻‍♂️ bc she's a 60 yr old woman and doesn't care about fanfiction or proship/anti discourse #i do this rant/infodump a Lot tho like it's on my mind very often . i love rambling for nearly an hour abt stupid internet culyure #also the quote i think best sums up my entire stance on the proship vs anti thing is from sarah z's video on it #''i am a tax paying adult woman not a member of a fucking fandom war sports team'' which is so me except that i'm a man n i don't pay taxes #((i'm not a tax evader i just don't meet the threshold to pay them)) #anygay . i get on a plane in like 15 hours and i need to sleep #jay screams into the void

[igneouswyvern]

being the only fan of something is so great because i am the sole ruler of this kingdom. no one is around to tell me my headcanons suck or that all the characters are ooc

however it also sucks because i am the only fan. no one is around to support my headcanons or tell me they love my portrayal of the characters

#in a way i'm really glad there's no celceta fans. i don't think i could take meeting another person who knows the game #building your house out of donuts and all that #same with zestiria i'm very glad there's no one around to tell me how ooc sorey is in my mind palace or any of that #but god it would be nice to have a friend to bounce ideas off of once in a while. get some positive reinforcement in this echo chamber #of mine #altho the thing is i don't really have these kinds of elaborate aus and stories and headcanons for stuff with an actual fandom. #i love psychonauts with all my heart but the simple fact that there are other people who enjoy it just makes me feel shyer or smth #like i know that these people have played the games a million times more than i have and are a million times more obsessed with the charact #characters than i am so why should i bother developing my own headcanons abt these characters when there are people out there who do it muc #much better than i ever could. so why bother at all you know #that's why i tend to be a passive enjoyer of most things i care about on here #i'm not out here giving complex and unique takes on psychonauts or mario plots or characters #i'm just gonna enjoy what's presented to me by people who are cooler than me #and when i do have original thoughts it's only gonna be about stuff nobody else gives a flying fuck about. like tales or ys or tok #which is kind of sad! i'm not gonna lie! #but i guess i do this to myself huh. if i managed to find an ys fan they'd probably scare me out of my own theories #idk man. theres not really a solution is there #wyvern rambles

[astrxealis]

my ocs..... i love you

#⋯ ꒰ა starry thoughts ໒꒱ *·˚ #i came across a . almost 3 years old note on my phone last night i think? my original world and characters stuff aaa #:(( !! awh man i always vaguely remembered it but i thought i never wrote it down but i actually did #i had a realization earlier that the reason why i like ayer so much is probably because he reminds me a lot of nico as well LMFAO emo #younger brothers who act angry at times but are strong but also yeah and T_T anyways damn my favorite characters have always influenced me #so much. anyway. my ocs ... okay i love them all and a lot of it is underdeveloped but merle and lyra in particular stand out #i actually rambled about my main original world ocs on my priv twt. like. pronouns and simple backstories and sexualities lol #anyway merle and lyra mean the wooorld to me !! merle was formed off a very old oc that was very important in my childhood #lyra was first originated from an oc i created from the idea of my first and only ever irl crush. so yeah. yeah #i would say uhm... akira & merle are very similar and then lyra with aerith. to give a small idea. #the whole original story and world of mine really gives off square enix vibes LMFAO ff and kh fr mostly #would love to share more sometime but maybe i want to keep it a little secret. idk. i don't want to make it incredibly realistic but moreso #realistic still? it's super self indulgent but it has become less op from 3 years ago. but yeah? yeah

[five-moreminutes-pls]

I truly believe that if the writers didn’t include that scene with Luther or like written it off better, a lot more people would’ve stood by Allison this season

#but then again some of these people are just racist but let’s not open up that can of worms shall we? #the umbrella academy #tua #allison hargreeves #tua allison #listen Allison slayed as a villain and ngl has every right to be upset and do the things she did #am I defending the terrible things she has done? no I’m not #but I do understand her and I wish that some people didn’t call her a bitch this season unironically #lowkey I’ve been waiting for her snap and the pay off is worth it having her be in the forefront of the story and taking charge #and yet she’s painted as a villain #well I mean other than the manipulation and junk #i Just shdodbdskdbsk #she’s very complex and I love that about her #she was done so dirty Allison I love you #I’d say next to five would be Allison in terms of complex characters #i mean it’s no contest trying to put which siblings in the best but still I’m rambling so much jeez LOL #there’s white man favoritism about innit #actually I don’t wanna die imma keep my mouth shut

[flashbic]

The "heel-face revolving door" trope name has lived in my head rent-free for all these years just so I could apply it to Dazzle specifically, love that for him yes good

Also: love these gay cats 10/10

#karvolf reads Hunters unlucky #book was good!!! #as someone who doesn't read much romance i will admit the more action-y second half clicked more for me #but even then I am never complaining about getting to read more about these characters #I'm so there for Halvery's entire character arc yes good!! #it's also interesting how between this and the short stories you get a pretty cool picture of creasia society changing #becoming something more stable and kinder #I would love to see that for the ferryshafts at some point! bc the environment Storm grew up in was Rough #and the younger herds I'm guessing would have to relearn A Lot without really having elders around #since iirc more of them went with Sedaron at the end of the original book #guess we did get a glimpse of ferryshaft society changing in that short story w Sauny and Valla #im a simple man i love me some ferryshaft content that's all #rambling in the tags bc Hunters Unlucky universe my beloved

[leronboi]

Bruh if there was a Ring fit adventure sequel, it should be open world or something. And it should explain more lore of the fuckin world cuz mann I wanna know what's up.

#lerons rambles #I love playing the game and looking at the distance and thinking man I wish I could actually explore this place #It could be lik a Okami thing where waking into enemies initiate a battle #And the four Masters would and could follow you and help you in battle #Sometimes they attack or buff you. Or they don't even have to do anything at all #I just want more story and more character interaction #And Ik its a bit silly to have these kind of expectations for a exercise game #But I really enjoy playing the game and wish I could learn more about the characters #Instead of it being solved and never mentioned #I want the game to make me feel involved with the characters' conflicts #Maybe the idea of maintaining good relationships could also be beneficial to good health #Idk #Lol #I just really like rfa haha

[dangoulains-devotion]

every time I have to wade through inane ship wars where people are willfully ignorant to the depth and facets of cloud strife's character, circumstance, and story just so I can find some cool screenshots or fanart my 'cloud is ace' agenda simply grows more potent out of spite

#rebirth literally said in bold letters he has multiple feelings. like humans do #and yet in the year 2024 i am still forced to see 'this ship was canon since 1997 unlike the other one' #do you have a brain that you use #are you capable of actually delving into the details of a character #without reducing them to barbie dolls that get smacked off one another #i just want to look at cool fanart man #dont even get me STARTED on how zack slots into all this #my boy has not haunted the narrative for you to go and ignore character developments like this #this is all coming out more blunt than i would normally try to write things #but brother i am so tired #i could write a whole post on how it is very real and normal for humans to feel affection for more than 1 person #and how it manifests in cloud and the whys #if the game itself is somehow not clear enough to you then you are simply choosing to close your eyes at that point #trying to act superior and objective about your ship while ignoring the material you claim to have gotten your Objective Facts™ from... #good gravy. #shipping is supposed to be a fun thing secondary to enjoying the content #not a primary objective to use it to argue with people #i would say peace and love on planet gaia but im sure some people would read it as peace and you can only love one person at a time forever #on planet gaia. haha. #anyway...... now that that's out my system i can be at peace again #shout out 2 my fellow multishippers who take this bountiful wealth of content and have fun with it #i think im gonna replay rebirth's story soon #want to see how much more i can pick out about new/updated approaches to characterization #rocket town will be very interesting in part 3 i think #yuffie too with wutai supposedly becoming a much more fleshed out thing #if this post somehow breaches containment: #if your first thought is to um actually me and whip out 'evidence'. i am not going to give you rhe time of day #because my rambling clearly went over your head and im not interested in 1sided discussion where i am being talked at rather than to #anyway have fun stop wasting time arguing and pls look forward to remake part 3 where i lose my mind over vincents waist. again #look what you did you raised my blood pressure enough to hit the tag limit. anyway peace and love on planet g-

[nymphaerie]

GOD LOUISE REGAILIA MAKES ME SO FUCKING INSANE EVERY TIME I THINK ABOUT HER I FEEL LIKE IM GOING TO EXPLODE INTO A MILLION LITTLE PIECES. ITS JJUST LIKE. girls when they havce to kill their former selves in order to survive. girls when the self they take up in turn is constantly destroyed and remade in order to never be attached to one life. girls when the only way they know how to save themself is to lock themself away. girls when they’ve forsaken their home and in turn been forsaken by it. girls when theyre both the abandoner and the abandoned. girls when they think theyre the most sane completely normal one hundred percent hinged person in the world. girls when they already know they didn’t deserve what they went through but can’t imagine a world in which they can heal from it. girls when they won’t let themselves heal because they don’t know who they are without their hurt. because they killed that girl. and theyll keep killing her forever and ever and ever and pretend thats the same as healing her.

#decided to post this drubnkenly adter reblogging that one post . anyway all my tags after this are from whenebvr this draft was first saved #which were all written as though no on ewas actually going to see this. but oyu are all now going to see this. so. deal i guess lmao #me when i post about my ocs as if theyre well known characters even though ive literally never talked to anyone about them #anyway. *hits you with a beam that makes you love louise even though you don't know who she is* #oc tag #n talks #god knows im never going to make qtts into something finished and tangible because i just. man. #its been in my brain for sooooo long and changed sooooo much that i kind of can't even imagine it being like. Real. #im not even sure what a 'finished' version of this story would look like in my ideal world you know. #it was originally conceived as a comic but. mmh. i dont know. #i feel like its so close to my heart and so malleable and intangible that its going to just stay something cobbled together #in pieces of character sheets and random illustrations and worldbuilding notes and unorganized rambling #just. like. forever. #and maybe that's fine! i have other projects that i Can imagine as 'finished' pieces #like nightsparks and ghost puzzles which were conceived as games so have very specific goals #even wolfepress feels more tangible to me because even though it was also conceived as a comic it was done so with a pretty distinct goal #but qtts has always been. like. Big. #which makes it different than any of those but also different from. like. parfait partea which were pretty much Meant to just be #fun characters who wouldn't ever be part of a ~project~ #like qtts IS something. but i can't conceptualize what that something IS. #im being dramatic it would jsut be like a comic or a show or something but like in terms of my wmotional connection to working on it #i can't imagine it as something static i guess. #like all those other things i can imagine being. whole. as something a Finish and Publish. and that would be how theyre seen and understood #but with qtts its so. grrrrrrrrr i just can't imagine it being One Singular Thing because its always changing so much . #ok wow this started as gushing abt one character and ended up being a vent about my inability to finish things LMFAO anyway. yeag #LONG POST #sorry i have things. to say

[yokoyas]

whatever the third prince’s name is in the king’s beast i hate him soooooo much i hope he dies i hate it when shojo series use the threat of sexual assault as a plot point but don’t take it seriously if we’re using this to show what a bad person he is why are none of the characters taking it seriously INCLUDING RANGETSU

#LIKE ARE THEY NOT GOING TO ADDRESS THAT?? #like sure i get that taihaku and rangetsu would be worried about her resistance to poisons blah blah blah #are they not gonna address that the third prince straight up tried to assault her???? #and tenyou doesn’t have the full story sure but come on man the least you can do is be like hey brother pls stop harassing my servant #personal ramblings #don’t get me wrong i fucking love this series #and the third prince is an interesting character. i just hate him #beth reads tkb

[bicth-and-in-that-order]

Rambling thoughts of various Yuri manga I’ve read

1. Kase-San and Yamada (Morning Glories sequel series) by Hiromi Takashima

notice how Kase’s name is first, which is representative of her being the main one to cause problems in their relationship

If you asked me what my favorite yuri manga was like 2-3 years ago, I’d say Morning Glories and Kase San everytime. Every avid yuri fan has either read or watched Morning Glories because, at the time in 2010, it was groundbreaking, and I stand by the fact that the original series still holds up to this day. It was cute, sweet, wholesome and only had a few obligatory “we love each other but we’re giRLs😳😳😳” moments. Most of all it wasn’t a pseudo-incest-straight-male-porn-pandering-garbage-fest—also known as “Citrus”. Was it cliche at times? Yes, but they all are lol. Did they add to the dumb ass “blonde femme and dark hair masc” trope? Also yes. But it was adorable and it was my first ever yuri so it holds a special place in my heart.

And it SEEMED like it was only going to get better in Kase San and Yamada, the sequel. The girls would be heading to college and the story could theoretically focus on more mature topics while they navigate their new relationship. Keyword: theoretically. Unfortunately, instead of exploring interesting relationship dynamics and storylines, the plot of each story arc boils down to: Kase is insecure because a man breathed next to Yamada or Kase is being completely insensitive to Yamada’s feelings…again…—> ✨miscommunication drama ✨—>big over dramatic apology scene—>boring makeup sex or other romantic gesture.

Literally that’s how every single plotline goes. Kase is so goddamn dumb and insensitive to Yamada’s feelings and Yamada’s a complete doormat who can only stay mad for 0.2 seconds before getting pussy whipped like a spineless ass bitch. And for all that Yamada sacrifices for Kase; her hometown, her dreams, her apartment, what does she get in return from Kase? Oh that’s right; bare minimum romantic gestures and a neglectful partner who can’t even call her “girlfriend” in front of others:

Like I thought we were over this shit. It’s been THREE years of them together, a whole anime production, and god knows how many irl years and we’re going back to “we love each other but we’re giRLs😳😳😳” WHY???

And then Kase later goes onto bet her entire three year relationship over the ugly bitch in the next panel, so now I’m questioning whether or not Kase even loves Yamada with the amount of bullshit she’s put her through. Which COULD be an interesting plot point, but Kase never gets any consequences for her actions and the creator genuinely thinks this is romantic and full of tension so I’m 10000% positive that this arc, just like all the others, will end with some makeup sex and we’ll be right back to step 1. Sigh.

2. Tamen De Gushi by Tan Jiu

Tamen De Gushi’s problems are interesting but it’s NOT because of the Chinese government💀

So today’s dark haired masc and blonde femme of the day are Sun Jing and Qiu Tong, respectively. Their personalities aren’t anything to write home about, if you read ANY high school yuri romance, then you know exactly what happens in this story beat for beat. But, BUT, however derivative it is, I find their dynamic very endearing and down to earth. Idk maybe it’s just the translation, but other yuri stories often have this very inauthentic “anime” vibe to it. Which is to say the characters act very cutesy, overly dramatic, and have this stilted, caricature-esque acting of how the creator thinks teenage girls are supposed act.

However, I’m happy to report that Tamen De Gushi is a breath of fresh air in this regard. The characters and interactions they have are grounded and feel organic, which makes them feel like real people, not aliens pretending to be human. This really elevates the humor in turn, oh did I mention that Tamen De Gushi is super funny? Because Tamen De Gushi is super funny, here’s one of my favorite panels and it’s all because of Sun Jing’s goofy ahh expression:

Like go girl give us nothing

If you’re wondering why I haven’t spoke much about the actual romantic relationship between the girls, that’s because there isn’t one💀 Which, okay, that’s not a fair assessment, they have a ton of romantic tension and they flirt a lot. It’s certainly building to a great romantic relationship, but it can’t quite get there due to legal/political reasons sadly. 😔

Edit: I received new information in regards to what happened to Tamen De Gushi. While I reached my limit for posting pictures, I want to point out that the Chinese government had nothing to do with Tamen De Gushi getting censored, rather it was a dispute between the author and the publishing company. The prior information I received was false and I prob should’ve looked it up more so sorrrry. The fact still remains though that after their big lesbian kiss towards the middle of the story and maybe a few other moments, that’s just kind of it. You’re stuck waiting for something to develop, but nothing really happens. The comic very quickly becomes a collection of slice of life segments and cute pictures that imply a relationship between the girls, but not really ;) ;).  Now things are just kind of left in purgatory for the foreseeable future and, well, that’s Tamen De Gushi y’all.

Compared to Kase San and Yamada, the characters were much better, which is not saying much, but without an actual romantic storyline, there’s just not a lot for me to comment on to be honest. It’s really pretty though, look at this art :

3. Beauty and the Beast Girl by Neji

my personal favorite and the BEST yuri I ever read

So next on the list is Beauty and the Beast Girl (I’m going to abbreviate to BatBG from here on) , which I already spoiled my feelings on the matter so this will basically be me gushing about this story for several paragraphs straight, enjoy.

Contrary to what the title suggests, it really has nothing to do with Beauty and the Beast’s story except in name. The main girls are Lily Blind, who is actually fucking blind 💀 and Heath the monster girl. Already I’m happy because instead of blonde femme and dark hair butch, it’s blonde femme and of-course-you-have-purple-hair-and-pronouns masc. Lol, all jokes aside, Lily, unlike her blonde femme counterparts is quite assertive and voices her opinions all the time. In fact, she’s the one who pushes Heath to be more open and communicate with her rather than the other way around. This is, in part, due to the story BatBG is trying to tell. I say BatBG is in name only to Beauty and the Beast because Lily isn’t trying to find the “beauty” within Heath or learning to love a beast or whatever, she’s fine just the way she is and her love for Heath is unconditional. Plus the only thing beastly about Heath is her appearance…which I’ll harp on later, but her behavior is in no way different from a regular human except in very rare, specific moments.

At its heart, BatBG is a story about forgiveness (the creator literally says as much) , but it’s also about the cycle of violence that results from being outcasted and deprived of love. BatBG is set in a world of humans and monsters, where the monsters are outcasted and either have to stay away from human society like Heath or assimilate themselves by hiding away their monster like traits, which is a really queer narrative on top of an already queer story. I don’t want to go into too much spoilers, but sometime before the beginning of the story, Heath in-directly hurts Lily before they ever meet. However, it’s not about Lily needing to forgive Heath, or trying to get over the pain she inflicted upon her, rather its Heath learning to forgive herself and in effect, learning to love herself as much as Lily loves her.

Another big aspect of BatBG is disabilities, Lily Blind is in fact Blind lol and while there are times she struggles with her blindness, she never views her disability as something she needs to be ashamed of and never, ever, blames Heath for it or holds it against her unlike what many, many, many, many other stories end up doing. Her blindness isn’t treated like a super power either, it’s a legitimate disability. She just accepts that it’s a part of her and goes onto say that if not for her blindness, she would’ve never met the love of her life, which I found to be an incredibly profound thing to say.

Now that I’ve gotten this far, I suppose I can add a bit of a disclaimer. So BatBG is waaaaay more explicit about the physical affection between the girls than in any of the previous stories I talked about. Heath and Lily are constantly kissing on, hugging, and almost always flirting with each other, and make no mistake, these girls do be fucking. The sex scenes are never perverted or gross, but genuinely super sweet and romantic, which makes it way hotter imo (huh imagine that🤔). And aside from being hot, it also serves a purpose! Lily’s pretty damn horny underneath all her nice girl antics and while it’s not a major part of her character, it does give a slight edge to her personality and, most importantly, balances out the dynamic between Heath and Lily. It would’ve been very easy to fall into that boring trope where Heath is aggressively horny and Lily is the submissive blind girl, but by making Lily be the one to initiate the sexual encounters, it not only compliments Heath’s more reserved nature, but breaks the stereotype that people with disabilities are pure precious being who couldn’t possibly have sex, which is ableist af btw. Many people think the existence of any sex scenes at all is superfluous, but in BatBG, it truly elevates the story, the characters, and the romance in ways that wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying without it.

Now, with as much praise I gave BatBG, there is one criticism I have, but it’s a quibble really, and it can be explained in a single image:

There is a dissonance between the story and the art, the story says: “Heath is a big, ugly scary monster”

The art says:

And like yes, it can be argued that Heath is simply regurgitating the things bigoted people have said to her, but at no point in the story is this ever challenged or brought up in any meaningful way. Lily is blind so she doesn’t know what the hell she looks like and the other characters aren’t any help either. It’s not a big deal or anything, it just would’ve elevated the story if Heath was actually kinda ugly/more monstrous and not incredibly beautiful because right now it’s giving skinny girl who calls herself fat all the time, and it’s like, babe, who tf are you fooling? 😭

Other than that, BatBG is incredibly profound despite its premise being so deceptively simple and I love it to pieces so …yeah! READ IT.

4. Superwomen in Love! Honey Trap and Rapid Rabbit by sometime

Well, at least there are no blondes

So imma just abbreviate to SiL btw

Alright, let’s get started. The premise is that a villainess falls for the super hero girl and then that plotline is dropped in about 16 pages. I’m not even joking, the villainess falls for the hero, loses her job as a villain and then joins the hero all in one chapter. The REAL plot is actually about a council of evil alien-humans who want to destroy humanity because of generic super villain reason #434: the leader of the aliens is sad and misunderstood :( I’m not even going to lie, I had 0 interest in “X” (the generic ass name of the main villain) and her band of useless lesbians. They did literally nothing in the story except be a nuisance and contribute to X’s incel breakdown at the end. Their inclusion actively made SiL worse because the story has this weird tonal problem where in one breath the villains are portrayed as complete jokes and then you turn the page and now they’re shooting children like girl what💀 And these useless lesbians hog sooooo much of SiL that desperately needed to be given to Honey trap and Hayate to develop their relationship.

When the story DOES actually focus on Honey Trap and Hayate, it’s pretty good, even cute at times, there just wasn’t enough time given to them to flesh their relationship out. As it stands, Honey Trap and Hayate don’t have much of a dynamic, or personality for that matter. Honey Trap’s main gimmick is that she’s extremely horny for Hayate and delulu:

Aside from that, she’s a great value version of Heath, but even a watered down character is better than, like, nothing. All I really know about Hayate is that she’s nice, heroic, likes wearing tacky clothes and ….that’s it. She loves Honey Trap because…………they fought together a few times so why not🤷‍♀️ I’d say at least that’s better than Tamen De Gushi, but actually it’s not because these grown ass women don’t even kiss , all we get is a love confession and their gremlin love child and that’s supposed to be satisfying I guess.

And the worst part is that SiL has the audacity to pretend the romance was something that it clearly wasn’t:

Girl…yall were “””enemies””” for 10 panels.

Now, it’s stated they have been rivals for a while, but I guess Honey Trap forgot all of that because the moment she sees Hayate’s face, my good sis is pussy whipped for life. And that’s in spite of apparently being the evilest one out of the evil group because Honey Trap has no grudge or baggage toward Hayate. She immediately turns good with no issues and Hayate is only distrustful of Honey Trap for 1 or 2 speech bubbles and then she’s not. Anything else that happened was off screen, which means it didn’t happen. Ironically, the very next entry on this list will do a MUCH better job at an ex-villain love story, but for SiL, there’s just not much going on.

Another reading of this story is to call it a “parody” but…no, it isn’t. SiL isn’t a comedy, yes there are comedic moments that poke fun of the genre, but the rest of the story genuinely wants you to take it seriously. Except it can’t. X and her league of dimwits are boring as piss and they oscillate between Saturday morning cartoon villains and child murderers seemingly on a whim. So I can neither be endeared to them nor take them as a serious threat. Honey Trap and Hayate are there, but I lament on all the potential lost from what could’ve been an amazing relationship.

5. Yamujiburo/Kianamaiart’s Hanamusa webcomic

This one is kind of cheating, but I also don’t care let me talk about hot MILFs💀

So the final entry on this list is a webcomic series by one of my fave artist: kianamaiart! And it’s right here on tumblr so check it out!

I stumbled upon this webcomic a few weeks ago, fell in love and now I want to talk about it. This yuri pair thankfully has no blonde femme in sight and instead features two popular Pokémon characters: Jessie from Team Rocket and Delia Ketchum, Ash Ketchum’s mom. What I love about this ship and the world Kiana creates around them is that it’s a very unconventional pairing. There’s just not many romances where a single mom falls in love with an ex gang member and the best part is, Delia being a mom is a big part of her character and she doesn’t ignore Ash in favor of her new relationship with Jessie. She has time for both and doesn’t prioritize one over the other, which many ppl fail to do even irl so good on you Delia!

Now, as for the romance it self, Jessie and Delia are a unique pair. Jessie’s overconfident, brash, drama queen personality doesn’t automatically put her in the “dominant” role and Delia’s sweet, motherly personality doesn’t automatically put her in the “submissive” role. Their dynamic in the webcomic actually plays out in the reverse, Jessie is the one who gets easily flustered and Delia’s…intense, to say the least:

(But Tbf if Delia looked at me like that I’d be at her beck and call too💀)

This subversion of these tropes creates a fun dynamic for the couple and it’s super adorable to see how their energies bounce off each other in each new situation Kiana puts them in. I also love how both Jessie and Delia inspire each other to live out their dreams and they become better versions of themselves by being together.

And one last thing, I don’t have any smart commentary to go along with this, I just really like this drawing of Jessie:

no thoughts, head empty

Final Thoughts

Soooo yeah, that’s the end of my dissertation on yuri comics. I know I ended up dragging a lot of popular yuri, but it wasn’t my intention to make you guys hate any of things I talked about. These were just my thoughts as an avid yuri fan, so let me know your thoughts as well, especially if you read any of the yuri I talked about. And even though I’m super picky about the type of yuri I read, I’d still love to hear any recommendations. Who knows, it might dethrone the undefeated champ that is Beauty and the Beast Girl.

#Yuri #yuri manga #long post #Anime #manga #lgbt #lgbtq+ #wlw post #kase san and morning glories #tamen de gushi #beauty and the beast girl #superwomen in love #hanamusashipping