#there's stuff i'm enjoying that isn't yuri or yuri adjacent
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"Oh man this season is AMAZING so far." —me, who grades anime seasons by how much yuri is in them
#and sister this season is plentiful for yuri#chiral watches anime spring 24#whisper me a love song#sasakoi#yuru camp#laid back camp#jellyfish can't swim in the night#train to the end of the world#the many sides of voice actor radio#there's stuff i'm enjoying that isn't yuri or yuri adjacent#but this truly is sapphic spring#anime spring 2024#spring anime 2024#nijiyon animation#theres so much yuri there are ones i havent even gotten to yet omg#absurd tags to post length ratio here#chiral anime tag#oh and vexations dub is AMAZING so far
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2024 Media Rankings: Manga and Webcomics Edition
Ranking all the Media I engaged with this year, Rules are that I had to read it in 2024 for the first time, it didn't have to come out in 2024, and rereads don't count. Please note that the rankings here are not based off objective quality, simply how much I personally enjoyed something this year.
I didn't really read a lot this year, or at least read things I finished/caught up with. I'll have to make an effort to read more yuri and just non romantically focused media in general next year as well, this list is looking a little BL heavy. Oh well.


#14 - How to Refuse the Route - Cute enough little isekai BL about a boy waking up in a magic school based dating sim and trying to avoid a bad end by trying and failing to avoid all the main characters. Very standard stuff but the villainess adjacent isekai genre is one I'm a fan of so I figured I might as well check it out. It was fine, as with a lot of these the character art was quite nice but the backgrounds and world design were pretty passably standard, the main couple had a nice dynamic but the side characters were pretty bland, the constant miscommunication switched between being quite funny when used for comedy but pretty frustrating when taken seriously as a plot point, and the reliance on played straight tropes is both a plus in it's marketing and a detriment to it's very predictable story. The protagonist was honestly pretty frustrating at times, a bit dense and unknowingly self serving in a way where I never understood why so many people where enamored with him, and while I did like the love interest's design and introvert-clinging-excessively-to-their-1-friend deal I wish they would have given him more of a personality beyond that. I think it had a good sense of momentum at first when the characters were first establishing their relationships but slowed down a lot when they time skipped to the slow burn magic school plot, which sucks as I like slow burns and fantastical school settings when they're actually done well. I think the series is over now though I haven't fully caught up, not sure how much motivation I have to finish it. It's not offensively bad or anything but it's kind of just there.
#13 - The Hunter Want's to Live Quietly - This one started pretty late in the year and didn't have too many chapters out when the year ended, so I'm ranking it pretty low until it has the chance to prove itself. Still, It has potential, using a lot of self indulgent tropes I'm a fan of - A modern fantastical setting where weird monster stuff is just treated as an everyday thing now, a protagonist who already played his role in helping society and now just wants to be left alone, time travel, a shady younger love interest that keeps popping up at the worst time, and alternate reality shenanigans. The art and character designs so far are passable but not exceptional, the main duo have a fun back and forth but none of the other characters have made a strong impression yet, and while I like the time travel mechanic giving the protagonist a chance at anonymity with the public assuming he's dead, the rest of the plot isn't that interesting yet, though to be fair it's barely started. I do think it's genuinely neat that while they do the standard thing of making the love interest the strongest most well respected guy in the country or whatever they also give him an ability with a significant drawback - Being able to emit poison gas is a pretty OP ability to be fair but to then yourself be poisonous to the point where you always have to wear gloves/protective gear/can't eat in public places sucks in a way that makes for fun story opportunities. Also the gas mask is fun. I'm not expecting a lot out of it but it has some good ideas and I'm having fun for now, who knows it might surprise me.
#12 - King's Maker - I kinda went off on King's Maker when I first talked about it in my weekly reviews which was admittedly a bit unfair but man I'm just so disappointment that the series manages to have such a great concept and art sense only to fail to deliver on any of its promises. The idea of a Machiavellian shadow ruler befriending the charismatic but simple minded bastard son of the corrupt king in order to manipulate him into throwing a coup and then later into steadily creating a better society with increasingly progressive politics and well crafted negotiations while slowly falling in love with his puppet despite himself is extremely up my ally, and that's before you get into the dragons and magic and such. Unfortunately the series is very Tell Don't Show, with every arc introducing an interesting set up and conflict only to spend the majority of time with undeveloped side characters, irrelevant lore dumps, annoying miscommunication plots, and deus ex machina solutions that we didn't get to see the build up for. It's not unreadabley bad for the most part, the main duo have a cute dynamic and some memorable moments, there's good ideas with each arc at least starting well, and I do really like the character and set designs but the waste of potential hurts here.



#11 - Choose Your Heroes Carefully - I promise we are almost done with the self indulgent fantasy BLs. This one starts as your stereotypical normal guy gets isekaied into a game world where a cutesy representation of the games system tells him he's got to win the game or else story with the twist here being that the game is a gacha game where the world has a contrived in universe reason for using a gacha system to summon dead ' heroes' to fight monsters for them. I mostly clicked it because I though the art was cute and the idea of being isekaied into a gacha world was kinda funny to me, and both of those things are true. The art is surprisingly clean and pretty and the world is honestly pretty absurd though I commend them for the sheer amount of effort they put in to justify the use of gacha as a real in world magic thin then worldbuilding a society in which the use of what are essentially undead slaves is now commonplace. I suppose it could have been just an easy way to make the protagonist seem likable as the only guy in the setting who's like "hey guys maybe we SHOULDN'T do slavery actually?", but eh, 'necromancy is normal and consistently used for manual labor' is a more unique setting than I would have expected out of an isekai gacha game premise so I'll give credit where credit is due. The protagonist is actually pretty likable, boring design aside he is quite expressive in a cute way and I think they do a good job of making him come across as both a naturally kind and reasonably intelligent person who has some decent strategies and negotiation skills. The love interest is less interesting, not straying far from the loyal dog with a mysteriously dark past archetype, but I like him fine and the two of them have a very cozy slowburn dynamic. The little system mascot character (a little sheep) has the same annoying bratty omniscient personality that most of these types seem to but after it's initial clumsy info-dumping of the world and plot is over it's not too intrusive, certainly more tolerable than others I've seen. I'm placing it higher than the others of it's kind as I'm interested in it's world and charmed by it's strangely wholesome vibes, but I can't say I'm very invested in what seems to be a pretty predictable plot and even as a lover of slow burn romance I'll admit it's a bit to slow, you gotta start putting these boys in more situations, give it some spice.
#10 - Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill - Okay so where the first 4 where ones I enjoyed because I like trashy fantasy romance the top 10 are all ones I could see myself recommending under the right circumstances, though we definitely haven't hit masterpiece status or anything yet. Case in point we got another trend following isekai here, this time with the gimmick being that the normal guy protagonist has a skill that lets him exchange real world money to instantly summon grocery food and cooking products and the like. Obviously this is the premise for a cooking manga, and yeah it pretty much plays out how you would expect. The protagonist uses his skill to make tasty looking meals that the medieval fantasy denizens say is the best thing they've ever had, endears himself to gods and monsters alike (especially his travel companions a giant talking wolf and baby slime) with his food and friendliness, and travels around exploring the setting and occasionally helping people out as he goes. I like this one more for what it's not than what it is. I like that it's fine being a laid back problem of the week story rather than a generic save the world plot, I like that there's no weird harem or misogyny going on with the protag being very aroace coded and his companions being a little monster family, I like that the people in the setting are just generally nice and reasonable people rather than over the top anime archetypes, and I like that they never feel the need to make the protag physically OP and instead keep his strengths as being charismatic and a good cook who can easily befriend powerful entities who will do the fighting/protecting for him. It's an escapist fantasy for sure but instead of 'what is I was super strong and cool and saved the world and had a million women wanting to sleep with me' the fantasy is 'What if I didn't have to work an office job and me and my cool giant wolf best friend got to travel and see cool stuff while eating delicious meals', which I mean. Same. I can't say there's anything exceptional here but it's a very charming and pleasant time, the main characters are all likable with a cute and wholesome dynamic, the little problems they come across are satisfying to solve, the world is basic fantasy but filled with nice people, and the food looks really good. The anime is admittedly a bit better than the manga thanks to its animation, VAs, and pacing, but its good either way.
#9 - Trash of the Count's Family - Part of the Holy Trinity of Korean Fantasy webcomics along with ORV and S-Class, TotCF is admittedly my least favorite of the 3, but it does have it's strengths and overall I like it quite a bit. Not quite out of isekai territory yet this one is about a guy that wakes up in the body of a minor villain of a long running fantasy series that the protagonist remembers concluding in a devastating war. Not wanting any part of that, the newly dubbed Cale resolves to make a lot of money, make political moves to protect his assets, and move far away to retire and live a peaceful lazy life. Or at least that's what he keeps saying despite regularly becoming entangled in political conspiracies and involved with the major players across the board. The standout element of the series is definitely it's protagonist, Cale is a joy to follow as he's one of the few 'hyper-intelligent schemer' characters who I genuinely believe is as smart as they say as we actually get to see his political machinations play out in real time. I know I say this a lot but i like that he's not a fighter and thus has to trick and negotiate his way outta things. It's cute that he's more altruistic than he's willing to admit, it's fun that he keeps a drunk layabout image to the public, I like the dynamic he has with his loved ones who constantly think he's putting on a brave face not to worry them when he actually is just not bothered/affected by most things, again love the aroace vibes, and the stuff he comes up with is increasingly insane. It helps that he has such a nice character design too, in general the art here is really nice with wonderful character designs, ever changing detailed fashion, cool looking locations, and some great uses of color. I do wish the locations were utilized better though, they tend to move from one place to the next fairly quickly leaving little time for exploring the culture/world or developing the new characters. Honestly the lack of character development is my main issue overall, I hear found family used a lot for the cast but while Cale does go around collecting misfits and allies like a pokemon trainer rarely any of them actually get compelling stories outside their introductions. I do like his father/son esque relationship with his little dragon though the chibi big head design alternates between cute and clunky depending on the panel. Story wise it's more hit than miss as the individual stories tying together to make for an increasingly escalating danger is pretty neat, though it has a bad habit of rushing through Cale's schemes with lots of exposition and the occasional lack of resolution. It has a good sense of humor when it wants to but I wouldn't call it a comedy manga. Overall it has a lot of good ideas but often moves too quickly to expand on any of them.



#8 - When the Third Wheel Strikes Back - Okay this is the last isekai I promise. TWSB is another Korean web-novel turned web-comic about a guy reincarnates into the body of a character from a piece of media he's vaguely familiar with who tries and fails to avoid a bad ending by avoiding the story's protagonists. The main selling point here is the dynamic between the three leads - the protagonist has fallen into the body of what should be the tragic pretty boy losing third of a love triangle centered around the spunky pink haired heroin who ultimately marries the mysterious brooding prince, attempting first to avoid them then after unsuccessful to at least pair together the two without a fight, unaware that his actions have now centered him as the axis of the love triangle with the two both vying for his love. Well more or less anyway, the webcomic plays it a bit ambiguous but you can read between the lines. It takes a bit to get going with slower pacing and lore heavy dialogue at first, but the more recent chapters have been more exciting with a lot of fun character interactions, political intrigue, and some magic/supernatural action mystery shenanigans. I do like all 3 leads and they are starting to roll into OT3 territory which is rare dynamic to nail, the webcomic is pretty funny as a whole and is at its best when these 3 are bouncing off each other. The world is surprisingly interesting for this genre, the protagonists new body is actually a political hostage from a neighboring kingdom with internal strife between the royals and external tension with the country of the main setting, and there's a neat Priest+Holy Knight magic system in place that the story ends up centering around. I'm actually not sure why it bothers to be an isekai at all as the political drama + supernatural adventure + love triangle stuff would all work fine without that, though I suppose they do at least do some interesting things with it. I think people who like any of the genres mentioned earlier would have fun with this one as it's more interesting than it has a right to be, though it's biggest flaw is how long it takes to get going, with the characters and setting feeling a bit generic until it manages to find it's footing a few arcs in.
#7 - ENNEAD - Please don't look at me. Don't acknowledge this one is here, just skip straight to the cute Dragon lesbians okay. Ugg. I'm usually not one to feel guilty about the stuff I like - Media neither needs to be morally pure or even particularly well written to have a good time with it, and liking a fictional story in no way reflects your values as an actual human being. If something I like has elements that are exploitive or poorly done I'll readily call it out for it, but there's no point in feeling guilty for liking something that isn't perfect. ENNEAD really toes that line though, honestly I kept wavering on whether or not to even add it to the list and endure the shame of admitting I like it. To get the major red flags out of the way ENNEAD is a very heavily adapted BL Fantasy adventure version of the Horus Vs Seth Egyptian myth, with features a gratuitous amount of sexual violence and incest. While the incest angle is a little less bad when you take into account that the parties involves are all gods and much in the same way as Greek mythology that is just how Egyptian mythology was, it's also not really an excuse given that the author could have easily just not done that. The SA is also unnecessarily gratuitous, there is exactly one instance in which I would say it's narratively necessary with all other occurrences being essentially torture porn when literally any other torture would have sufficed. Those two aspects are good enough reasons for anyone to stay away, and certainly I would not recommend it to the vast majority of people. Unfortunately exploitation aside I do kinda think the rest of it is actually pretty good??? Egyptian Mythology is a special interest of mine that rarely ever gets incorporated into the anime/webcomic/manga sphere despite it being such a badass setting and lore. Ignoring the genshi-fied 50/50 split of accurately dark skinned vs for some reason pale skinned designs aside I do think every character looks great with their sick masks and kohl lined eyes. The art is honestly really stellar in every aspect, the buildings and deserts and backgrounds look great, the people look great, there's so much detail and pretty fashion, and it strangely has really good looking fight scenes for a static medium with dynamic panels and power sets. The protagonist is Seth, the god of the desert who can both control sand and turn into it, and man do they depict that in a really satisfying way. The story is really engaging, starting with a gathering of the gods trial based power grab and later dipping into ancient conspiracies and world origins which is really neat. Most of the main characters are complicated, morally complex, and interesting, including having emotional, messy, women who direct their anger at the male protagonist and are not deemed unsympathetic for it which is so rare in any media actually. Seth is a strangely likable yet narratively detestable little shit who has a good dynamic with most of the people he interacts with, the expressions and humor are strangely charming, and the overall aesthetic is just very cool alright. Not that I'm saying it's the same level of quality, but liking this must have been what it felt like to like the Game Of Thrones books before the show made it mainstream. Like please guys I know what it sounds like and honestly you shouldn't read it and judge me but I promise I have valid reasons for liking it okay?
#6 - Mage and Demon Queen - Finally some good fucking yuri. Mage and Demon Queen is one of my favorite wlw things I've read in the last decade, centering around the one-sided enemies to friends to lovers romance between the titular human mage and Dragon Demon Queen. The series starts pretty comedy focused with the status quo of our protagonist Mal easily scaling the JRPG style demon tower (in part by befriending said demons) in order to repeatedly be killed by the immensely confused Dragon Queen Vel in Mals many attempts to hit on her, only to get revived and do the same thing the next day. This works fine as the situational humor and character dynamics are really good here, this is definitively one of the funnier webcomics I've read in a while. But what really impressed me was how the story developed past it's silly premise to become a genuinely engaging and mature genre subversion - playing with the originally standard RPG-esque setting to create a unique fantasy world with lots of neat lore. To steal from my earlier commentary, It subverted a lot of my expectations for these types of stories: having the characters reflect on how their actions affect others and work to be better, featuring likable characters of both genders, letting the protagonist and love interest have important and meaningful relationships outside of each other whose development we get to actually see, having an actually interesting plot with twists and turns, and featuring a likable transwoman lesbian character who's not demonized or fetishisized by the narrative but allowed to exist outside of a typical trans narrative. I adore both Mal and Vel both character and design wise and find their relationship adorable. I also love the demon generals and their fun monster designs and found family dynamic. I love how often the characters recognize and indulge in the absurdity of their situations or just goof around for levity's sake. It does occasionally lean into nsfw territory so it's not a for all ages to read in any location type of story, but otherwise I highly recommend checking it out, it's rare to get a good sense of humor, a healthy romance, AND a good story.



#5 - Tiger Tiger - Okay so we've now past the point of me justifying liking a story because it suits my personal taste and are now fully in the realm of 'This is a genuinely really good well written comic that I adore and recommend to basically anyone'. Tiger Tiger in particular is the one on the list that I would most love for other people to check out as it is criminally underrated for how funny and gorgeous and charming and unique it is. Taking directly from the book, 'Tiger, Tiger is a story of a young noble lady, who steals her brother's identity and his ship to sail across the world to find love and adventure, and to write a book about her favorite subject: the fascinating life cycle of sea sponges!'. The art of Tiger Tiger is drop dead gorgeous, every page being fit to frame, the environments being richly detailed and depicted in such a way where even the open ocean looks great, the character designs being refreshingly varied in face and body type (oh how I love a character with a prominent nose) with enviable fashion taste, shifting black and white borders to create humorous and foreboding atmospheres in turn, and the supernatural sequences in particular having a lovely surreal feeling and fun monster design. I love the nautical setting and it's incorporation into the imagery of the mysterious world ending being that looms over the narrative, it's a unique setting for a fantasy story. In general the world-building is great with a realistic class system, religious based discrimination, upper-class politics, ect, ect. Which is not to say the story is a bummer, quite the opposite, Tiger Tiger is absolutely hilarious thanks to it's witty dialogue and endlessly charming cast. Every character here is an absolute delight from the power-point loving ball of joy nerd ass biologist Ludovica to the character developed into a loving himbo stumbling his way though a Bi-Awakening Jamis to anxiety incarnate goodest boy just trying his goddamn best Remy to the introduced by way of giving a speech at her own execution about how sad it is for the world to lose someone so beautiful and good at having sex with women in a way that says everything you need to know about her character Luck and so on and so forth. Seriously I adore this cast and they bounce off each other so well. Most of the cast is some flavor of lgbt+ and the two slow-burn romances interwoven with the narrative are both compelling and adorable, with one being a very fun dynamic I'm excited to get more of and the other an emotionally devastating saga that I need to see resolved happily or I will be in physical pain. The pacing is quick but satisfying, the narrative keeps you guessing, and while I wholly suggest buying the book the whole thing is free to read right here. It's placing at only 5 is mostly due to not having anyone to obsess over it with, though even then I think about it constantly. If you only read one thing from this list let it be Tiger Tiger, it deserves it.
#4 - The Apothecary Diaries - I already talked about The Apothecary Diaries and how amazing it is in the Anime version of these lists so I won't repeat myself. The manga has a few differences from the anime that make would make me say both are worth checking out, though either version works as a fantastic story. I do rather like the art and the use of expressions as well as the slightly more melancholic tone it has over the anime, though admittedly it's best asset is just how much farther along it is in the story with about 80 chapters or so only about 1/3rd of which have been adapted. Once you start reading it will be very difficult to put down so watch out!
#3 - Land of the Lustrous - Land of the Lustrous is an insanely unique, emotional, thought-provoking, and beautiful series that I find incredibly hard to talk about. The story revolves around death, purpose, meaning, and memory utilizing Buddhist philosophy and symbolism in such a way that I'm simply not qualified to dig into. It honestly feels more akin to high literature than it does your typical manga, carrying similar pros and cons. The series centers around a small society of immortal gender-less rock people living very lackadaisical eternal lives only occasionally interrupted by the visits of otherworldly celestial moon people who come to kill and/or kidnap them. The early volumes have our protagonist Phosphophyllite (Phos) struggling to find a place in this society, being too weak to be a fighter and too air-headed and unskilled to do anything else, while slowly learning more about the mysterious world they inhabit. This exploratory, set-up pace continues for a bit with the occasional spike before hurtling off at break neck speed about 1/3rd of the way through the story, after which it becomes incident after incident after reveal after reveal leaving you going oh shit. Oh Shit. OH SHIT. Basically every chapter. I can't go into specifics without major spoilers but I'll say this is very much a series that lulls you into a false sense of security before throwing you into one of the most unique and fucked up narratives I've ever seen. In some ways I don't recommend this one, at least if your goal is to have fun, as while I think it has a great sense of humor and some likable characters it's goal is very much to present interesting scenarios and and concepts that will make you think and self-reflect, not to create comforting and satisfying relationships and resolutions. If you love media analysis however this is definitely a series for you - It's beautifully minimalist pages are jam packed with foreshadowing, symbolism, raw emotion, tiny character details, and dialogue that will make you want to stare silently into the ocean for hours. Personally I have not been able to stop thinking about it, with each revisit giving me something new to ponder. While I understand not everyone will want to put up with the torture nexus that is Phos Journey if you're the type that just needs a bit of catharsis to help the tragedy go down I really recommend trying this out, it's one of the most beautiful and well crafted series I've ever read.

#2 - Dungeon Meshi - I also talked about Dungeon Meshi in my anime list so I'll keep this brief, though you'll notice that The Apothecary Diaries and Dungeon Meshi have switched rankings in Manga form. While I think the anime is great, my favorite and objectively the best parts of the story are yet to come, as the later parts of this manga have upgraded to an All time Favorite for me. The Manga also has the benefit of it's stunning art, the meticulously crafted details, actually varied body types, well thought out fashion, lovely locations, and of course the excellent monsters are all a treat to the eyes. The characters are so fun and well written, the plot escalation/stake raising is bonkers, the worldbuilding is so satisfying, the villain is one of my favorites of all time, the themes of Desire and Consumption and Connection are executed perfectly, and honestly the food looks really good. Please read Dungeon Meshi, you won't regret it.
#1 - My S-Class Hunters - Putting this is my number 1 is honestly so embarrassing for me especially when you compare it's boring ass cover to everything else on this list but I have to live my truth. Admittedly it being my favorite thing I read this year has more to do with it's consistent chapter a week release schedule constantly feeding my obsession than it's objective quality as a story - a serial release date combined with a real world friend to talk about it with and a small but passionate fandom producing theories and art and fics goes a long way in endearing me to a work, unfair as that may be. That being said I wouldn't like S Class as much as I do if I DIDN'T think the story and characters were fantastic, so while I wouldn't say that it's the objective best on this list it is still pretty great, boring cover aside. My S Class Hunters (or the more commonly used but clunkier The S Classes That I Raised) is kind of hard to summarize in a way that conveys the insane plot progression of the story but in short: Sometime in the near future portals to other realms filled with monsters and magic randomly pop up throughout the world, and some humans randomly develop superpowers that are later classified into power based ranks of S-F. Our protagonist Han Yoojin is F-Rank in every aspect except for his insane support skills allowing him to double others power, instantly recognize peoples potential, earn the trust of monsters, and so forth; Mother-esque abilities tied to his role of devoting his life to single handily raising his extremely powerful S class younger brother. After some time travel shenanigans resulting from him and his brother fucking around and finding out, Han Yoojin has now traveled back in time and must use his abilities, intellect, and knowledge of a potential future to Pokemon style nurture enough S class people and monsters to defend against an upcoming apocalypse.
That was the best I could do though really it doesn't get across what the series is actually about, mostly cause it is about a lot of things. It's about Han Yoojin finding people who don't believe in themselves and offering the support they never had so that they're able to become the best version of themselves. It's about investigating the mysteries behind these new worlds and the warring factions of Gods at the root of them all. It's about Han Yoojin steadily building a Monster Raising business empire in order to obtain underground and political connections and eventually commit corporate espionage in order to replace corrupt actors with those who won't abuse their power. It's about visiting strange realms and obtaining strange items and fighting giant monsters with superpowers. It's about cute monsters and buff women and found family and the strongest guy on Earth who won't stop flirting with Han Yoojin because he doesn't know that he's technically just barely not in a BL. Mostly it's about a pair of brothers who will rip apart the fabric of the Universe to save each other and yes that is a threat. Despite how many things it juggles I never felt that it was unfocused or overwhelmed. The emotional core throughout is kept strong, the plot progresses at a good pace trading between the rising action and character downtime, characters are endearing and recurring and allowed time to develop, and the various relationships/ventures/lore drops are allowed to be introduced in small quantities early on so they don't feel out of place when the narrative focuses on/expands upon them later. Despite his boring appearance Han Yoojin is a very fun protagonist, I like that his lack of physical abilities means he has to scheme and schmooze and think his way out of situations (something the little rat bastard is quite adept at) but is simultaneously a very kind, mothering figure to those around him, it's an interesting dichotomy. Additionally his role as the groups strategist that usually has to be directly involved to use his support abilities but can't survive taking a major hit makes fights surprisingly interesting.
Unsurprisingly I like it for the same reasons I like anything else - It's hilarious, it's interesting, the characters are very likeable with emotionally satisfying and funny relationships, the art is pretty with neat character and creature designs, it's cathartic to see someone making a positive difference in the world on such a large scale in a way we simply can't in reality, and it is fun to talk and create and think about. Again I don't think it's necessarily better than the rest of the Top 5 - the world building is interestingly done on a micro level but still utilizes the lazy video game adjacent power system, it takes several chapters to really get the hang of what it wants to be and admittedly comes off as generic at first, the co dependent relationship between the brothers and the little brother's initially distant then later yandere-esque personality takes awhile to be narratively justified and as a result comes off a bit weird/ooc early on, some characters and settings are not utilized to the extent they should be, and while I like the themes of people becoming better when offered proper support and freed from the unfair class/power systems that exist to suppress them, I don't think it's particularly unique in it's narrative or messaging. Sometimes I just want to feel good, and more than anything else S-class achieves that, so the Top spot it has earned.
#textpost#weekly roundup#2024 rankings#no idea why I made these entries so much longer than the other ones
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11 15 26
I'm putting this under a readmore because I'm uh... thorough in my responses here. X]
11: describe your ideal day.
Waking up (without an alarm) at 8 am, wishing my girlfriend good morning with a kiss, washing up. After that, catching up on internet friend stuff until lunchtime around 11 am. After a simple lunch (sandwiches, probably, even in my ideal world X]) I could spend the early afternoon on a single-player game I'm playing though (or maybe watch my girlfriend play something) until I switch to doing something more creative like draw or code until dinner. (probably something more elaborate, like helping my girlfriend make "yuri pasta" (penne rosa) from scratch or my mother's signature "Sanette Spaghetti"). Then me and my girlfriend can play/read something together for the evening (and get to other yuri activities as our uh... mood may dictate)
15: five most influential books over your lifetime.
OOGH I uh... I might have a hard time pulling out five... I better try, though.
"Cat Wishes" (the full title is longer). I mark this as the most impactful because it's what really convinced me that I needed to transition. It's a simple, earnest, wish-fulfillment furry-adjacent light novel that really got me to realize I wanted to be... something else. That "sometimes it's worth asking for what you want," as the book puts it.
"Substitute Familiar" (same author). Same vibe as above, but I read it second so the impact had already been made. Turns out I'm a huge sucker for "transgender person gets her egg cracked wide open before she even knows what's happening."
Book of Mormon (TECHNICALLY***. Also the Bible and stuff). I'm not like... recommending reading it. This list of "books that influenced my life" just wouldn't be complete without the thing that I spend two decades reading almost every day and that shaped my approach to theology and spirituality, even if I've uh... distanced myself somewhat from that group since then. Like, some of my first posts on this blog were talking about "#ldsconf", but now I'm on that "#that is yuri" and "#do that to me" posting era. X]
[Brony Fanfic I think is best left in obscurity] (ask for a link and I'll send it if you really wanna know) I remember it was filled with lots of... hallmarks of bronydom from the time, but it was the first story that was like... that direct about how weird it was to be at a stage of life where my "bOdY iS cHaNgInG" and I'm suddenly interested in girls in a new way but there's all kinds of other baggage that's attached to those feelings? Not the least of which was, at the time, the pressures of masculinity? And everyone around me is really cagey about explaining any of it clearly? It resonated with me so well at the time that I would recommend it to everyone who asked me at the time about my favorite book.
DK Scientific Encyclopedia (I... think that was the title?) I don't know if it really counts as a book for the purposes of this ask, but it's gotta mean something about the kind of kid I was that, when assigned to read something EVERY DAY that my parents had to sign off on, my instinct was "I don't wanna have to pick something new every day or week, so I'll just pick the biggest book my family has" and then actually enjoyed learning about atoms and electricity and analog/digital signals. I think I was 7. I was definitely younger than 10. If that doesn't count then uh... Homestuck. Because Homestuck is just a domino that keeps coming back around to so many big things in my life.
26: how would you describe your gender/sexuality?
Short answer: transfeminine lesbian
More complicated short answer: girl-adjacent nonbinary girl-liker
Kitchen sink answer: I'm like if a girl was also kind of a raccoon who isn't REALLY a robot but likes to think of herself that way to frame her behavior and past. Oh and I wanna live like a yuri light novel.
My "real" (thorough) answer: if we take the mean value of what many people call "girl" in the two-dimensional space formed by the cross of Masculinity and Femininity, my gender lies in a space that projects into low-masculinity, medium femininity, but in fact lies in a higher-dimensional location (as all genders do) that can be found navigating a short distance along orthogonal basis vectors "domestic creature" and "machine". That space that is not quite otherkin but is nonetheless intertwined with the desire to be cared for like a strange pet raccoon but also linked to the symbols of being jailbroken from a dogmatic hivemind of normalized thought patterns and behaviors prescribed as "worthy". (a similar expression can be found using an alternate vector space, feminine x profane x solarpunk). Oh and kissing girls. I just... (gestures widely to the multidimensional space that lies in my own gender neighborhood) really REALLY like girls.
#text post#long post#ask game#ask#abalidoth#identity ask game#smie speaks#I uh... sure can type a lot can't I? X]#thanks for the ask! It's exciting to just... lay stuff out like this!#religion#exmo#?
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