Distant Utopia - from ひきだしにテラリウム (Terrarium in a Drawer) by Ryoko Kui
now that Dungeon Meshi has an official English translation, i hope someday Kui’s other work will get translated too. this anthology was really good, and this story was one of my favorites
It’s not a Discworld joke unless you read it, don’t parse it as a joke, and then carry on with your life for ten years until someone stops you to say something like “It’s a pavlovian response because the dog ate a pavlova” and you scream Terry’s name with enough indignant rage you hope it rattles the pillars of the multiverse so wherever his soul is he’ll hear it.
You lot see a woman dating a camp or "effeminate" man and go "haha does she know she's a beard" as if bi men don't exist and don't have cause to subvert gender norms/have a complicated relationship with masculinity, regardless of who they're dating.