#skip and loafer meta

[lesbian-kyoru]

something i love so dearly about yuzumako is how the lesbian coding of their relationship is so healing, rather than self-destructive?? by that i mean, so much queer coding is filtered through the lens of, here is this character whose queer identity is so fraught that it often leads them to lashing out and misery, & you always think how much happier they'd be if they could make peace with themselves..... but with yuzuki and makoto, the safety and peace they feel around each other always serves as the anecdote to their struggles, ESPECIALLY with boys.

in ch 20 yuzuki is disappointed with boys endlessly complimenting her painting w/o looking at it—seeing her as a romantic conquest rather than caring abt her as a person. the same chapter, it's makoto who actually cares about her painting & yuzuki's artistry EXACTLY how she hoped. the loneliness & resentment yuzu experiences is directly tied to heteronormativity, with boys assuming that they can disrespect her boundaries since she's a pretty girl to be "won over"—only for makoto's actions to parallel the same set up BUT she always demonstrates a truer understanding of yuzu as a person & friend throughout the process, and every time it brings yuzu such a sense of safety & comfort that she NEVERRRRR feels around boys pursuing her!!

there's such an intense lesbian coding to yuzu's avoidance of male romantic advances as opposed to how she leans into not only female friendship but specifically to makoto's own feelings for her shining through—and again, i love this because it's so positive & warm. rather than queerness being a source of anguish, makoto brings yuzu more joy than heteronormativity ever does.

next, after mako's date that she calls a battle, it's yuzu who says she looks cute & cheers her up! mako ALSO decides she doesn't care about being boyfriendless bc yuzu makes her so happy which is sooooo baby lesbian like are you serious! the same as the scene with yuzu's artwork, makoto's date with a boy that only brought her discomfort & feelings of unworthiness is followed by joy & affirmation found in yuzu's company—again, queerness & female connection shown as the anecdote to comphet/mako forcing herself to present hyperfeminine to fit what's expected.

also of note is makoto's recurring jealousy of yuzu's beauty—even though this is a negative emotion, i love how it's ultimately overpowered by her affection for yuzu. also the lesbian pipeline from i want to be her -> i want to kiss her is alive & well for makoto. so so obviously.

then finally, probably the crowning example of my point is yuzu's arc of being set up on a date w her new classmate against her will! as an aside these chapters depict such a common lesbian experience, where to avoid being socially isolated, we give into comphet & just go along with boys' feelings for us, thinking it's best if we don't cause issues & eventually we can get ourselves to reciprocate, giving them what they want at the expense of our repressed identities—yuzu is taught that her feelings don't matter; her beauty was made for male consumption.

now in high school, yuzu decides to speak up for herself & reject the role she's been placed into, again as a beautiful prize to be won—it's common for closeted lesbians to think they can convince themselves to like men back, but yuzu won't go along with this forced set up again. after she rejects this boy, her classmates make yuzu feel like SHE'S the one who has done something wrong & don't take her discomfort into account—it's hard for them to understand why, as a pretty girl, she isn't willing to just go along with men's attraction. ENTER MAKOTO!!!

sorry makoto is frankly so smooth for this. when yuzu leaves school early & makoto hears about her date, she brings yuzu pudding & tells her that she wants yuzu to be honest with her about when she's feeling down, even though their experiences are different. when reading both characters through a queer lens, it's very interesting to see how they've had different experiences w heteronormativity & gender up to now—yuzu is constantly fighting comphet demons whereas makoto feels less than for not being as feminine or gorgeous as yuzu.

but even though their experiences with lesbianism & girlhood have been different, makoto wants to hear how yuzu truly feels and comfort her. once again, after seeing the horrible pressures & pains yuzu has experienced through heteronormative dating & misogyny, it is her incredibly queer-coded friendship with makoto that makes her feel safe enough to cry openly in front of her!!!!! yuzu's peers, but particularly boys, show a disregard for her emotions, and then we see makoto fill that role of support & care so easily. like the dream boyfriend she is :)

there's a lot more i could say about yuzumako & their individual arcs, but to tie everything up, it is so common in lesbian (or queer coded) media for a character's lesbianism to be something that brings them nothing but pain and suffering, either in its repression or awareness—so i absolutely love how skip & loafer showcases (through yuzumako but also the ENTIRE cast) that embracing your queer identity can be so healing & positive. the story doesn't shy away from presenting a lot of the pain that closeted lesbians go through, like struggles with their gender & how socially ingrained heteronormativity is—but these struggles are always followed up by such intentional examples of yuzumako's connection (+ lesbian yearning) being so comfortable & happy to them! i love angst too but seeing them, time and time again, know exactly what the other needs & be able to be that for each other is soooooo rewarding!!!

happiness in queer media does not need to erase the struggles of our lives, but rather showing authentic queerness not as the problem but as the SOLUTION is unbelievably impactful. long live yuzumako

#skip and loafer #sukirofa #yuzumako #yuzuki murashige #makoto kurume #skip and loafer meta #my meta #from now on my excuse of why i can spend hours writing meta about gay people is because its just brainstorming for my senior capstone LMAO #zoe.txt

[every-character-ever-poll]

WEEK SEVEN LINEUP

Soooo. I've been gone a while. What was supposed to be Week Six became more like "Two Months" Six. My bad. I can't promise that random breaks won't happen, but I'll do my level best to not let them become longer than a week if they do (knock on wood - the last time I said "I'll try not to take anymore random breaks" i dipped for a month).

Anyways, here's a very delayed Week Seven! Thank you to everyone who stuck around while I vanished.

Darkiplier - Markiplier

The Puzzler - Generation Loss

The Extinguisher - Jerma's 2022 Holiday Awards Show Extravaganza

The Giant Rat - Rat Movie: Mystery of the Mayan Treasure

Candace Flynn - Phineas and Ferb

Venus aka Kanamori - Heaven's Design Team

Han Ying - Word of Honor

Michealangelo - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)

Carrie White - Carrie (all media)

Steve the Trooper - Chuggaconroy’s Pikmin videos

The Thunderhead - Arc of a Scythe

Haruki Nakayama - Given

A - Tomorrow Will Be Dying

Doris Frances Barbara - Blood & Syrup: A Vampire the Masquerade Podcast

Juliet Capulet - & Juliet

May - & Juliet

Castiel Supernatural - Supernatural

Derek Hale - Teen Wolf

Lúthien Tinúviel - The Silmarillion

Potamos - Wedding Peach

Jiang Cheng - The Untamed

Poe Dameron - Star Wars

Asterion - Baldur's Gate 3

Dalian - Dantalian no Shoka

Shulk - Xenoblade Chronicles

Solid Snake - Metal Gear Solid

Zanza - Xenoblade Chronicles

Kuu - Haibane Renmei

Cole MacGrath - Infamous

Captain Olimar - Pikmin

Raku-chan - Nyan Neko Sugar Girls

Annie Wintersummer - Unprepared Casters

Yona - Akatsuki no Yona

Shane Schofield (Scarecrow) - Scarecrow and Jack West Junior

The Medic - Team Fortress 2

Sailor Jupiter - Sailor Moon

Orbulon - WarioWare

Mike - WarioWare

Cure Honey - Happiness Charge Precure

Crazy Barks - Drawn to Life

Ninjini - Skylanders

Cure La Mer - Tropical Rouge Precure

End (Endymion) - Beyond the End

Kansuke Yamato - Detective Conan

Mr. Crow, AKA Aldous Vanderboom - Rusty Lake/Cube Escape

Vega - Street Fighter

Izumi Miyamura - Horimiya

Aldark - Drawn to Life

M. Bison - Street Fighter

Aoi Inuyama - Yuru Camp

Klara - Pokemon

Virginia Lewis - The 10th Kingdom

Muriel - Good Omens

Nene Kusanagi - Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage/Project Sekai

Michiko Malandro - Michiko to Hatchin

Suzuki Shinya - 10 Dance

Miles Maitland - Bright Young Things

Diavolo - Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure

Burly, Blabberwort, and Bluebell - The 10th Kingdom

Natsume Takashi - Natsume's Book of Friends

Faust - Guilty Gear

Sugiki Shinya - 10 Dance

Cure Finale - Delicious Party Precure

Igarashi Vice - Kamen Rider Revice

Mitsumi Iwakura - Skip and Loafer

The Corinthian - The Sandman

Shizuku Hinomori - Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage/Project Sekai

Mickey Muldoon - The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns

Natsuki Shinomiya - Uta no Prince Sama

Sasha Braus - Attack on Titan

Virtue Courtenlock - Krillverse

Goop Lyn - veryextraincorrectfegbaquotes.tumblr.com

Jean-Francois - Bunny Maloney

Tome Kurata - Mob Psycho 100

Seras Victoria - Hellsing

Pang Pawaret - The gifted

Viren - The Dragon Prince

Brawne Lamia - Hyperion

Dai Lee - Let Dai

Haruka Kiritani - Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage/Project Sekai

Minori Hanasato - Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage/Project Sekai

Cube - Gather Ye Power

C-53 - Mission to Zyxx

Cynte - Endoparasitic

Ged/Sparrowhawk - Earthsea

Sniff - The Moomins

Soren Baltimore - Camp Here & There

Mellow - Endacopia

Eunhyung Song - Let Dai

Rufus - Deponia

Sheik - The Legend of Zelda

Lee Ping - Detentionaire

Kasane Fuchi - Kasane

Shigure Sohma - Fruits Basket

Aymeric de Borel - Final Fantasy XIV

Meta Knight - Kirby

Luka Couffaine - Miraculous Ladybug

Satō - Ajin: Demi-Human

Mudkip - Pokemon

Death of the Endless - The Sandman

#not a poll #the week ahead #mod comment disclaimer #I kept the submitter's choice of Castiel's last name because it made me laugh #Also. There are a lot of 'cure's and 'precure's out there. Why is that? #It's week me!! Get it? because. I'm Seven. #i think i'm hilarious

[dl6incident]

1, 12, 4, 19 for the manga ask game :)

1. your top 5 reads for 2023

AH this will be hard, but it would probably be something like this (not including rereads, of which there are a lot!):

no home

skip and loafer

dungeon meshi (thank you for so many years! really bittersweet to see it end)

she loves to cook, and she loves to eat

naoki urusawa's pluto

12. a manga that you look forwards to every update

NO HOME AND SKIP AND LOAFER! i have images saved to send my friend for every no home monday and i drop everything i'm doing for skip and loafer when i get the chapter drop notification. it's so nice to see how everyone is developing and maturing in both stories, and the character writing in them is so good that i feel like these are people that i know in my real life. if i was a meta-analysis guy, these would be the series i would be writing about ^^

19. your highlights of the year

this sounds really silly, but just taking a step back from genres that were starting to pick up trends i really hated (even moreso than before) + making a point to read things for the sake of enjoyment and not solely to keep myself busy. i've read a lot of really amazing romances, and my yuri rec list is ever-growing. i'm getting more comfortable in saying that i'm just a slice of life guy and becoming mutuals with more slice of life warriors has been really nice (⁠ ⁠◜⁠‿⁠◝⁠ ⁠)⁠♡ i need to fill my life with stories that show me new angles on common situations and are able to make my heart sing, slice of life is able to do just that for me.

i hope that next year i'll be able to find even more food-based/driven romances so that i'll be able to grow that list some more as well ^^

#thank you maddie!! #asks

[neonscandal]

Hello, when I read your post, that you don't mind if someone gave manga recs, I feel relieved. Because, some people (that I know) kinda mind if someone gave manga/manhwa recs. These are my top 7 favorite BL and bonus 2 GL (thanks if you want to read & sorry if maybe you already know and don't like them) :

1.) Therapy Game (my first BL and my all time favorite, never got tired of re-reading, HEA).

2.) Dear Gene (it's more LGBTQ themed and just so good, HEA).

3.) A Home Far Away ("If I were a woman, loving you would not be a sin", angst not happy ending, but worth it).

4.) Welcome Back Aureole (coming of age kinda story, realistic BL, from the mangaka of Skip and Loafer, HEA).

5.) Sankaku Mado (I read this before JJK, and I understand more about curses after reading this, for me it's not like the usual BL, but you just want to keep reading it, kinda spooky).

6.) Fake (90'S BL that is just so fun and interesting, love how their relationship develop, and also quite funny)

7.) Love for Sale (what a ride, when you think it's just the usual trope, then you'll be surprised, love all the characters and also how they handle their relationship).

8.) Her Tale of Shim Chong (one of the best GL ever, please read this, felt so realistic even if there a fantasy element).

9.) Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon (so sweet and cute but also really felt like every day life).

Sorry if my reviews are sloppy, @neonscandal and I hope you'll enjoy some of the above.

I want to thank you, because of you now I became AshEiji, BakuDeku and SatoSugu shipper. Really love your metas and all your posts, thanks for sharing your hard work...🌷😆

For as long as I live, I may never finish my TBR or TBW but I'll certainly try. ✨ I only had five of these on my To Be Read list so thank you for sharing (one of them was ofc a GL)! Don't apologize for anything, especially for such succinct synopses.

I regularly think about if there's a way to include a "Currently Reading" and/or "Currently Watching" on my blog without just... posting that regularly. Admittedly, it feels like exposing a bit too much of myself but, at the same time, I really enjoy being able to connect with other people about the stuff that I read when I'm deep in my thoughts and feels. IDK if you care but, if you do, I'll be sure to reblog this post with my thoughts on your recs as I read them.

As I said, sometimes I feel like I'm exposing myself a bit. When I was younger, I used to think you learn a lot about someone from what they read and listen to. I still think that. I tended to be really furtive while being really eager to learn more about others, especially in this way. Now, here I am, constantly telling strangers about my favorite ships, characters and stories and, all the while, wondering what it is you guys take away from that. It's just funny to think about. Maybe it's growth. And now you're giving me the chance to learn about you. I appreciate the opportunity.

You thanking me for your ships is hilarious. I'm sure it was only a matter of time before you found and loved them, too. Sharing my hard work? Baby, I'm sharing my mental illness. Welcome to the misery, I'm glad you like it here 😂💖

#neon asks #anon asks #manga recs #tbr #shonen ai #yuri #queerness in anime #anime #manga #to be read #anon recs

[animebw]

In case you wanted an indication of how fucking stacked the rom-com meta is this season, we are in a situation where a new show from the Takagi-san director, a new show from the Ore Monogatari director, and fucking Skip and Loafer are all losing out on the top spot because Lidenfilms decided to do justice to one of the rare manga I’ve actually read before it was turned into an anime.

Watch Insomniacs After School, I am begging you.

#anime #the anime binge-watcher #tabw #insomniacs after school #kimi wa houkago insomnia

[muninnhuginn]

Thanks for the tag, @roseofcards90!

Last song listened to:

Currently watching:

Move to Heaven (kdrama) - this probably isn't my usual fare, but I think I'm liking it so far? (Finished the first two eps) It's basically about telling the stories of the dead and making sure they get the respect they may not have received in life. One of the main MCs is autistic (as in, literally diagnosed) and the writing/acting seems to have a good balance so far with not babying him by showing he is competent but just has different rules and different people "get" him to varying levels? (There are definitely some little bits like the implication that his dad learnt sign language for him that feels warm rather than some writer just googling "common autistic traits") Will see how it goes anyway. It seems like the story of the day is episodic but the character stuff is building in the background.

Link Click (donghua) - Started watching this when s1 was airing but it was airing in the same period as Oddtaxi so the mystery parts of my brain were focused more on that at the time. To simplify it, it's a time travel donghua where the MC has to go back in time in order to retrieve info without altering the timeline. Season two is airing now and whilst I prefer s1 still overall s2 is still pretty interesting? Season one is more episodic/structured into arcs with a character focus, whilst season two is more full pelt mystery (so it's a bit surprising I prefer s1 tbh).

Jujutsu Kaisen (anime) - I'm an anime-only with this and am probably going to remain that way (especially from what I've gleaned about the manga - I might just watch to end of season two then leave it be?). Season two so far has captured me more than season one, though I've not seen the latest episode yet so will see if that holds when we return to the main cast. Either way, the openings and endings are genuinely so well-made. Even if the series goes entirely in a direction I hate I know I'll always have them.

Again My Life (kdrama) - Lawyer guy gets into trouble trying to take down a powerful guy. Gets killed (shocker). Gets sent back to his younger self to do it right this time. Not a super original plot admittedly, but it's a chill story so far and the relationships between the main cast in it (pretty much all platonic at least at this stage) are all really sweet. It's also doing surprisingly well in giving the female characters interesting conflicts

Adventure Time (US cartoon) - Not watching the whole thing and I have seen a number of random episodes out of order before, but am trying to crash course my way through enough to watch Fiona and Cake. Just finished the episode about Finn's ocean phobia and um, bit more yikes than I was expecting at this stage, but okay. Also, unfortunately, I can entirely see what people mean about Bubblegum&Finn being inspiration for Makima&Denji

Currently reading:

Klara and the Sun - first arc complete, extremely worried about some flags I'm picking up, rip. It's from the POV of a robot (AI kinda deal) and narration-wise, it really shows. Klara's pretty naiive in some ways, but the world-building and clues still make their way through the narration filter

House of Leaves - okay, ngl, I'm not far into this at all, but I've been confused about references to it for years and it seems meta so I'm going to get through it

Will bundle manga in together for ones I'm properly keeping up with rather than checking in every few months to catch up so: Skip and Loafer (monthly release), Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun (monthly), Spy x Family (fortnightly). Webtoons: Rebirth (weekly), unOrdinary (weekly).

Current obsession:

idek what I'd count because I'm into a few things rn and none of them to the extent I've done the whole deep dive? I'm being relatively chill, for me, I'd say. I'll say Link Click, Good Omens, Spy x Family are the things I'm most into nowadays? Good Omens is definitely what I have the most reblogs queued up relating to by far. There's just so much art and meta and I'm not used to being into a fandom here that just has so much. It's a bit overwhelming, honestly

Not sure who to tag but anyone who sees this and wants to have a go feel free (and feel free to ping me in it, I'm nosy) ^^

#tldr I have waaaay too many things pending. I've not included stuff like eizouken and poppy war I stalled on literally months ago #ask meme #roseofcards90

[curvygirlthin]

September has just flown by; it feels like only 2 minutes ago that I was talking about the harsh month that was August.

September has been better, but mostly because it has been busy.   I can’t say that I’ve felt much better in myself, but I’ve been too busy to worry too much about my health and general discontent with life.  I’ve also been putting plans into place for feeling better  … they will take quite a while to filter through to life, but I’m hopeful that great things, both personally and professionally, are just around the corner.

One of these plans, and the only one that I’m ready to talk about, is my need to regain some semblance of creativity.   I’ve always been a naturally creative person; art was always my favourite subject at school, but with work and life pressures, creativity has slipped.   I simply haven’t made time for myself to be creative these past few years.   I’ve talked about it – but haven’t acted upon it until now.

This month I’ve taken time to practice some photography.  Its not taken any effort – I’ve just made sure to always have my camera on me.   I’ve read photography blogs for years and have started to act on some of their tips and tricks.   I will, probably, write a whole post about this further down the line.  But for now, these are some of my images from this past month …

Scarf – Jacket

Autumn Photography – Nature

Autumn Photography – Nature

Autumn Photography – Nature

Barbour Beadnell

  September has been a month of travel.   The first weekend of the month was The Curve Fashion Festival, an excellent chance to meet up with fellow bloggers and indulge in a weekend of sheer fashion frivolity.

Liverpool is one of my favourite cities and I loved exploring the restaurants, meeting old and new friends, and enjoying the general party atmosphere that seems to embody the entire town.

I spent my days with blogging pals turned firm friends Amber In Red and Miss Kathryn’s Mistakes; ate a long, lazy breakfast with the beauty that is Becky Barnes; finally got to meet internet friends Chloe Pierre and Chloe in Curve (both of whom are just as lovely in person as they are online); and got a sneak preview of all the amazing forthcoming fashion from brands like New Look, In The Style Curve, and Navabi.

Jacket – Blouse – Jeans

Robe (similar) – Wacoal Embrace Slip – Coated Skinny Jeans – Ankle Boots

Me: Navabi Dress – Loafers – Jacket (similar)Mic: Elvi Dress

It felt like just a hop, skip and jump between Liverpool and heading to Berlin with work, I was lucky enough to have some time to explore (in-between conference meetings and dinner dates) and you can read all about my time there in a post written earlier this month!

I was blessed with good weather and an amazing workwear wardrobe courtesy of Navabi and Elvi.

Coat – Trousers – Body – Trainers (similar)

In between trips, I had a weekend to relax and practice some self love.   Pampering was high on the agenda, as was clearing out the lounge.   I’m trying to minimise my belongings and this includes making my dark little lounge a bit brighter.  I’ve rid the lounge of one bookcase (the books safely stowed away in storage for when I have a house more capable of storing them) and a new sofa (well, borrowed from a friend) arrived.   Already the lounge is looking brighter but I still have a way to go before it is as I want it.

I was also able to fit in a little lingerie photoshoot for my a/w lingerie lookbook.   I shot the images out in the wild … well, the woods near my village and felt utterly invigorated after prancing about the woods in my underwear.

You can see the first of the posts here … but below are a few outtakes …

Pour Moi? Cherish 

And the end of the month saw me getting off to Spain for a little city break with the reluctant photographer pictured above.   You’ll have to wait to see pictures for that though … unless you follow me on instagram.

How has your month been?

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September – What a Month September has just flown by; it feels like only 2 minutes ago that I was talking about the harsh month that was…

#A/W17 #autumn #blogger events #creativity #photography #travel

[lesbian-kyoru]

skip and loafer chapter 55 thoughts

this chapter was so poignant but one aspect that stood out to me was all it told us about mika & mukai's dynamic so far!

mukai followed along on a whim & subsequently ended up witnessing a lot of vulnerability on mika's end, someone who he still doesn't have a good grasp on yet—after seeing her worst + being surprised by her capacity for kindness, his perception of her is continually being challenged & muddled. we've seen already how mukai is a very logical, cut & dry person in his thinking, so imo mika's Layers are both confusing & intriguing to him.

at the same time i thought it was interesting how mukai realizes that mika ALSO doesn't have a clear perception of him—though their scenes always feel very Intentional, they actually have not interacted a ton within the context of the friend group, esp given their rocky start.

so from there, we get this juxtaposition within mika & mukai's relationship where they are v unsure of each other and yet there's an odd sense of trust there. it's definitely not an ACTIVE trust, but something more peripheral; mika doesn't mind mukai being there while she talks to nao because, in her mind, mukai already knows abt this insecurity so she isn't revealing anything new to him. after opening up to nao, she apologizes to mukai for getting him caught up in her venting; despite this, it really struck me how this felt like such growth for her to simply move on rather than carrying the feeling around shamefully. it's like a weight lifts off mika's shoulders & it's cathartic for this to happen in front of mukai, who was the accidental catalyst for her confession to shima. mukai, in contrast, seems more unsure than ever.

he's puzzled to realize that mika's confession to shima wasn't fueled by a desire for reciprocation but rather the courage it took her to express her feelings openly, instead of always attempting to hide behind a facade & never experience the vulnerability in risking rejection. we know that mukai's experience of romantic confessions is almost entirely filtered through shima, since he's never been confessed to himself—and it's interesting how mika's confession to shima directly flies in the face of how negatively shima feels about being confessed to.

for shima, girls confessing to him has always been a sign of what's expected of him, people wanting something specific FROM him rather than liking him as a person—now that mukai knows how drained that makes shima feel, it's interesting that he learns mika's reasons for confessing & how they're entirely different, motivated by a desire to be brave rather than expecting something of the other person. nevertheless, this leaves mukai with a lot of conflicting thoughts in his head about how a confession should make you feel. again, he's very logical, so the ambiguity is confusing to him! (and all of us honestly)

but then, back at the house, we see mika through mukai's point of view—she shoots him a look!—at which point he decides that he couldn't think of being confessed to as "not that great." i'm just gonna let that sit there :)

so with that!! i loooooved all this chapter gave us to work with in the development of these characters, esp mika & mukai's dynamic!!!! with a character like mukai who spends so much time as an observer, it's so fun to see him start to actually reflect on his own point of view within the story, like he feels himself going from being the background character in everyone's lives to really developing his own outlook—and it's all thanks to girl of all time mika egashira who inspires EVERYONE to think nine million thoughts trying to understand her.

#skip and loafer #sukirofa #mika egashira #mukai tsukasa #mikamukai #tagging for before they get famous #this chapter had such powerful moments w nao chan and mika so ofc i was a mess reading that and then mukai thoughts were my most coherent #my meta #skip and loafer meta #zoe.txt