#because I remembered the crimson rose/candy girl concept but forgot what article I got it from

[obstinaterixatrix]

webtoon-wise:

Her Tale of Shim Chong (~90 chapters), retelling of korean folklore, solid art/pacing/writing from what I remember (though it's been a while), also good for almost-rancid (but not quite) vibes

I Love Amy (~60 chapters), high school setting, artist's goal was to have a yandere character get a happy ending, good reference for high energy/dysfunctional characters and relationship building while a main character is switching targets (as opposed to master of the fox bead which imo spent a little too much time on the red herring love interest guy)

Sherbet Above the Sea of Fog (~60+ chapters), good reference point for fantasy, one-sided relationships, and very gag-oriented super comedic writing that still leaves room for pathos and interesting developments (as opposed to hero and former general, which imo is too gag-oriented for emotional investment)

Partition (~60 chapters), office romance, hits a very BL-type vibe because both characters are high energy and the main character kinda sucks a little as a person (LOL), main story extends beyond establishing relationship

indie project-wise:

After Hours (20 pgs), office/supernatural romance, good reference for short-form genre-juggling and tension building, I LOVE THIS COMIC!!!!

Gimm*r Vol 1 (~100 pgs), anthology, a lot of good examples of short-form comics

Influenca (~80 pgs), supernatural slice of life, good reference point for more experimental/non-linear narrative stuff

Of Thunder and Lightning (~60 pgs), good point of reference for violence and vibes that don't hit explicit romance but are very loaded

Misc:

Fear and Trembling is a 2003 french-japanese film where part of it is the main character having a weird toxic unfulfilled relationship with her supervisor, watch it to get a reference point for weird toxic unfulfilled relationships

yuricon is a site run by erica friedman, who is the writer of 'by your side: the first 100 years of yuri anime and manga'--good english resource for the genre, I've been meaning to actually sit down and read it. the website has essays/podcasts/yuri news (just checked okazu and learned that galette is having a kickstarter...!), so it's a good academic/news reference. There's a lot of narratives/tropes that you kind of pick up when you learn about the genre, like class s narratives, which can contextualize older yuri and what some current yuri might be referencing/subverting.

translation of a jp blog post about yuri taxonomy

yuri made me human interview part 1 & part 2

Where Is My Place in the World?: Early Shojo Manga Portrayals of Lesbianism by Fujimoto Yukari, translated by Lucy Fraser (got the link to the paper from this tumblr post)

The Sexual and Textual Politics of Japanese Lesbian Comics: Reading Romantic and Erotic Yuri Narratives (using the archive.org link because the website is down)

Bit of an odd one here, but do you have any yuri/GL recommendations for people interested in learning how to learn and write the genre well? Stuff that fires on all cylinders and hits every target, even if it doesn't exactly break the mold (tbh I just want to write girls... no, I shan't say. But I want to do it WELL, y'know?)

YES, manga-wise:

Still Sick (3 volumes) is good for grounded but still silly office romance, the main character tables at cons selling yuri doujin and her coworker finds out her secret, the women are just some guys

Ayaka is in Love with Hiroko (3 volumes) is good for high energy high stupidity office romance (that still hits pathos, does explore internalized homophobia), ayaka is down bad for hiroko and hiroko is very ‘WOAH STRAIGHT WOMEN ARE SO SCARY… STAY BACK, TEMPTRESS’, the women are just some guys

5 Seconds Before a Witch Falls In Love (2 chapters + short extra) is good for short-form action-oriented romance with a witch hunter and a witch, the artist mainly writes BL, the women are just some guys

Hana to Hoshi (2 volumes) is good high energy high stupidity high school romance between table tennis ex-rivals, the gals are just some guy

my preferences skew towards romcom rather than drama/slice of life so if you’re looking for that I have some titles but not a lot to say (and I haven’t read all of these in-depth):

Run Away With Me, Girl where a woman reunited with her high school ex who is in a currently abusive relationship and they run away together. Good for distinct art style, heavier storyline that still wraps up in 3 volumes

Even Though We’re Adults, a woman hooks up with someone who turns out to be married; shimura is pretty prolific (I mean she wrote aoi hana), as far as I remember competent character writing and scope; good for long-form reference for heavier storylines (10 volumes)

How Do We Relationship, more coming of age than yuri imo but good for long-form messy college relationships

She Likes to Cook, She Likes to Eat, very slice of life, grounded to realistic emotions and experiences, definitely comes from a place of Wanting To Represent The Queer Experience, can be a reference for low-key romance

The Two of Them are Pretty Much Like This, age gap slice of life established relationship, good for slow atmosphere and conflicts beyond will-they-won’t-they

I have a couple webtoons to add to the list but this is eating up my snow frolicking time so I’ll add that in like 4-5 hours if I remember. also I have an ff recs tag