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visualjyushiShare your favourite piece of original canon.
The first thing that came to mind was just the general depiction of Shu and Mika's relationship in Ensemble Stars. I think it would be fun to go through some of my favorite stories/moments involving them, but that's an entry for another day (and a long one, at that). Instead, here's a summary of how they met and why I'm drawn to their story:
Shu and Mika have a very endearing relationship that revolves mostly around growing together as equals. They are often shown dealing with their own mental health struggles and/or character flaws and trying to help each other through it all. They met as children by coincidence, and then again as teenagers when they attended the same performing arts academy. Mika thought Shu was ethereal when they first met as kids because of his physical appearance and clothes. Mika was an orphan, so he didn't have access to nice clothes; it's also implied Shu gave him some during this meeting. Due to this, Mika began to view him as a "god". Shu is a year older, so Mika later sees him on TV, already leading his own idol unit at the academy. Mika is inspired to get into the same academy/pursue an idol career specifically so he could meet Shu again. And, somehow Mika is recruited into Shu's unit (I really wish they addressed how exactly this happened in canon but alas). From there, they have a really great development. Their relationship can be seen in almost any way, but as Mika lived with Shu in his family home, it is implied that they did everything together, including sleep (and cuddle!), and they took care of each other.
Recent stories mostly focus on Mika trying to become his own person, because he struggles with codependency issues. Shu also often demonstrates effort in trying to understand Mika better, not only as a person but as a partner in the arts. In essence, they are gay to me your honor.
In your own space, create a list of at least three things you'd love to receive, something you've wanted but were afraid to ask for - a wishlist of sorts.
Literally any fanworks involving Cloud and Vincent from FFVII (separate or as a romantic or platonic ship, etc). They are new blorbos moving into my brain, and I want to consume them.
New friends that will listen to me ramble about FFVII or let me listen to them ramble about it. I love FF, and somehow, none of my friends do. I'm rattling my cage about it.
The first thing that came to mind was just the general depiction of Shu and Mika's relationship in Ensemble Stars. I think it would be fun to go through some of my favorite stories/moments involving them, but that's an entry for another day (and a long one, at that). Instead, here's a summary of how they met and why I'm drawn to their story:
Shu and Mika have a very endearing relationship that revolves mostly around growing together as equals. They are often shown dealing with their own mental health struggles and/or character flaws and trying to help each other through it all. They met as children by coincidence, and then again as teenagers when they attended the same performing arts academy. Mika thought Shu was ethereal when they first met as kids because of his physical appearance and clothes. Mika was an orphan, so he didn't have access to nice clothes; it's also implied Shu gave him some during this meeting. Due to this, Mika began to view him as a "god". Shu is a year older, so Mika later sees him on TV, already leading his own idol unit at the academy. Mika is inspired to get into the same academy/pursue an idol career specifically so he could meet Shu again. And, somehow Mika is recruited into Shu's unit (I really wish they addressed how exactly this happened in canon but alas). From there, they have a really great development. Their relationship can be seen in almost any way, but as Mika lived with Shu in his family home, it is implied that they did everything together, including sleep (and cuddle!), and they took care of each other.
Recent stories mostly focus on Mika trying to become his own person, because he struggles with codependency issues. Shu also often demonstrates effort in trying to understand Mika better, not only as a person but as a partner in the arts. In essence, they are gay to me your honor.
In your own space, create a list of at least three things you'd love to receive, something you've wanted but were afraid to ask for - a wishlist of sorts.
I'm humbly wishing for:
Literally any fanworks involving Cloud and Vincent from FFVII (separate or as a romantic or platonic ship, etc). They are new blorbos moving into my brain, and I want to consume them.
New friends that will listen to me ramble about FFVII or let me listen to them ramble about it. I love FF, and somehow, none of my friends do. I'm rattling my cage about it.
no subject
Date: 2025-01-14 05:13 pm (UTC)(if you're okay reading scanlations then i have more recs...)
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Date: 2025-01-14 07:54 pm (UTC)also anti-rec for last gender if you go looking for recs don't waste your time on that
Date: 2025-01-14 09:29 pm (UTC)- Love Gene XX/Renai Idenshi XX: In a future where a disease has rendered men extinct, women are split into "Adams" and "Eves" in order to keep society running. Aoi, who has been assigned as an Adam, quickly becomes rivals with Sakura, a fellow Adam. Oh No What Will Happen. "Yuri" manga written by the writer/artist team who created Love Stage, if you've heard of that. The explicit moral of this series is about how we should dismantle the gender binary.
- Villain: The English scanlation is technically unfinished, but it's a manga adaptation of the Teniwoha! As expected, it's about, to quoth my journal, "miserable genderqueer teenagers completely unable to articulate their own feelings" in modern-day Japan.
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Date: 2025-01-14 05:32 pm (UTC)- the seaside stranger series if you're looking for cuteness and fluff. the first two volumes feature the main couple getting together, and the rest are domestic, fluffy snapshots of their life as an established couple. cw for smut and a small age gap.
- madk if you're looking for a more mature and messy 'toxic yaoi'. follows a sadist teen who summons a demon to use as an outlet for his more extreme sexual desires... with unexpected consequences for him. obvious cw for smut, but also noncon and blood/gore. i've only read the first two volumes so idk how it ends, but i really enjoyed what i read!
- for a mix of fluffy and mature, the classmates series is a very sweet yet grounded highschool romance with the main couple going through realistic teen relationship problems such as drifting away for college, insecurities about sex, being closeted, etc. cw for a grooming situation (not the main couple), it is portrayed as something wrong in the story though.
- a 'bonus' one since it isn't available on kindle* and also not really a bl** but instead a queer manga, j no subete is one of my all-time favorites. the story of a transfem marilyn monroe imitator/night club performer making a name for herself in 1950s new york. cw for some very brutal transmisogyny, period-typical homophobia and transphobia, noncon, antiblackness and antisemitism. all played straight and meant to criticize the bigotry of the time though. this cw list might seem intimidating but trust me if you can handle the topics it's so worth it.
* and that's because it has never been licensed on english, but there's fan translations floating around, and it has been licensed in spanish.
** kinda. despite being a transfem m/f love story, due to (i have to assume) the time period's queer knowledge and language, the characters in-universe treat the main couple as a gay couple, the ML even has a meaningful scene where he comes out as 'homosexual' to his family.
no subject
Date: 2025-01-14 07:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-01-14 05:37 pm (UTC)Our Dreams at Dusk: Shimanami Tasogare - It's one of my favorite manga I've ever read. It's got gorgeous art and is a heartfelt story with all sorts of queer characters.
X-Gender - A autobiographical manga about someone's awakening in their thirties!
Claudine - If you want to read something older, this was created by the mangaka of Rose of Versailles. it's a very ahead of its time story of a trans man given the time period it was created in.
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Date: 2025-01-14 08:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-01-14 10:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-01-14 08:56 pm (UTC)My husband reads way BL more than me, so I also asked for his input for this one! He gave the following:
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Date: 2025-01-17 07:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-01-16 12:20 am (UTC)- Cherry Magic (kind of a goofy premise but it's a very cute manga)
- My Love Mix-Up! (a high school romcom I found very funny and sweet)
- Shimanami Tasogare (not a BL but more of a queer coming of age manga. this made me cry at parts)
- Mitsuya Sensei no Keikakuteki na Edzuke (short manga about a magazine editor and an older chef)
- FAKE (this this an older series, no idea how easy it is to find now lmao but I read it in high school and I'm very nostalgic about it)
- Given (ok I watched the anime and haven't read the manga but I have to assume the manga is good because I really liked the anime)
- Sasaki to Miyano (same as with Given, I watched this rather than read it, but it was very sweet)
- MDZS/Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (og source is a novel but I watched the donghua and got obsessed)
- TGCF/Heaven Official's Blessing (same note as MDZS)
- this is a GL but I also really enjoyed Bloom into You
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Date: 2025-01-17 08:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-01-17 08:55 pm (UTC)Bloom Into You had a unique take on romance (for a romance series) that I really liked.