Jess, they/them, 30s, queer | AO3 | bsky | might have fallen in the Witch Hat Atelier rabbit hole along with everyone else | pic by saturdaysky | title quote by Jane Hirshfield (x)
Who I am: hey, I'm Jess, also known as Mlle Kurtz (pronounced 'mademoiselle curse', which is very funny written out like that) and TheKnittingJedi (pronounced 'I chose my AO3 nickname during my brief Star Wars hyperfixation'). My pronouns are they/them.
What I do: I write for Critical Role, mainly Shadowgast (Caleb Widogast/Essek Thelyss), and for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, with my blorbo, Neve, paired with Lucanis and/or my Rook, Aglais. I also wrote for Good Omens, The Magnus Archives and a couple of other fandoms.
Notable examples of my Shadowgast fics include the Scourger AU series birds of prey and my modern AUs. My latest fic is a continuation of my Shadowgast/Witcher fusion, Fox's Claw, which is complete and updating every Wednesday.
My latest Veilguard fic is it's always raining in minrathous, a post-canon character study of The Polycule (Rook/Lucanis/Neve).
You can find all the posts that link to my fics here.
If you don't know where to start, my fic playlists (as in themed lists of fics) is a good place if you're into a specific mood or topic.
Other stuff: I like compiling fic recs! Here you can find the ones I posted so far. I also craft in a number of mediums.
Sideblog: I enjoy taking artsy-fartsy screenshots of the video games I play, which I post in toussaint-touring-club.
I guess I also do Art now 😅 you can find it under the #my art tag.
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I was talking on discord about some good yuri for beginners, and figured I'd repost here.
I get way more detailed some of these recommendations in this post, and there's great recs from another person too! Check it out!
I'm doing this accounting to various tones and tastes, so what works as a beginner yuri for one person might not for another, just read the info to figure out what your jam is.
I'll put a star by the ones about adults (which is the majority of them) since I've found that's always something people want.
Goodbye my Rose Garden (Victorian yuri about literary ladies w/ beautiful art, just beautiful all around)*
How Do We Relationship? (messy adult relationships and lots of actually realistic intimacy)*
She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat- (A woman loves to cook but doesn’t have a huge appetite, only to find the woman next door to her does! She cooks for her and they really start to bond over food and the trials of being working adults. Yes, this is the one where the woman googles lesbian. It's really good)*
Bloom into You- a common go-to yuri for beginners for a reason, about a girl who believes she can't fall in love meeting a girl who wants to date her specifically BECAUSE she can't fall in love. Find out more about it and hear my thoughts here. It has a gorgeous anime that doesn't cover the complete story.
Doughnuts Under the Crescent Moon (sweet office lady romance, ace rep) *
Love Bullet (After dying tragically without a chance at romance, a girl is assigned to be a gun-toting "modernized" cupid...and if she can get enough people to achieve romantic happiness, she earns a chance to live. This is really fun, action packed, full of bold characters, and with a touch of bittersweetness and tragedy. Physical release happening.)
Catch These Hands! (These two women were delinquents and rivals in high school, they meet up again, one reveals she was always into the other, she challenges her to a fight on the condition that if the other woman loses she'll date her. Lots of slapsticky fun and great for any lover of girl delinquents)*
Run away with me, Girl (there's some abuse shown in this one, but it's a story about healing, the premise is these girls dated in high school, but one of the pressured herself "normal" and marry a man, that man turns out to be abusive, so when the former lovers reunite, they decide to run away together. It's got beautiful art and a well done story)*
The Moon on a Rainy Night (absolutely spectacular, explores the relationship between a hard of hearing girl and her closeted classmate, the characters are complex and the writing is so good!)
Kase-san And...- Starting with Kase-san and the Morning Glories, this is a very fluffy and sweet high school romance. It also has a short movie. (as the manga goes on they become college students, too)
The Two of Them Are Pretty Much Like This (slice of life about a voice actress and anime screenwriter who live together as a couple. Unfortunately the ending is a bit abrupt (and likely premature) but I love their relationship)*
My fave Otherside Picnic is great for scifi and (mild) horror lovers. It's Scifi creepypasta adventure yuri. It's a slow burn but does truly spectacularly deliver on the gay. Has an anime, it's not great, you should start with the novels. Wrote an article here. https://www.animefeminist.com/how-otherside-picnic-masterfully-uses-horror-to-explore-abuse-and-show-healing-queer-love/ *(v young adults, college students)
The Guy She was Interested in Wasn't a Guy at All: (A web manga about a girl who works at a record shop. Her classmate , Aya, wanders in but doesn't recognize her because she has her hair hidden with a hat and is wearing a face mask, and Aya assumes she's a guy. They bond over music and slowly start to get closer...and Aya's finds her heart is fluttering not only over this mysterious boy, but her female classmate that seems a lot like him...) It's got a physical release too!
This Monster Wants to Eat Me: (A depressed girl who's been searching for death gets approached by a mermaid who wants to eat her...but the thing is, our monster mermaid is a gourmet who wants her to be as delicious as possible, which means she's going to make her happy first (as apparently that enhances her flavor), and fight off all the other monsters who want to kill her. This is TOP TIER yuri horror and a must read for any lover of monster girls, especially monster girls drenched in the blood of their enemies, it's so good)
I Married my Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up (girl and her friend get married simply so her parents will stop bugging her about being single. You can probably guess where it goes from there) *
I Married my Female Friend (similar premise, except no parents involved, it's a platonic marriage they both agreed to with the promise they'll divorce if one of them falls in love. But one woman has decidedly not platonic feeling for the other that she's hiding from her, so things start turning a bit romantic...the ending is a little rushed but good)*
Whisper Me a Love Song: (A girl named Himari sees her upperclassman, Yori, perform with her band and falls in love with her music. She confesses her love of Yori's music, and Yori mistakes it as Himari confessing to being in love with her. Yori falls head over heels at first sight. (if you don't like miscommunication, dw this is cleared up fairly quickly and new drama ensues) Has an anime covering early material)
Monthly in the Garden with my Landlord* (it didn't really hit with me but I might give it a shot again, it's solid despite the terrible title, a woman moves into a house and finds she'll be cohabitating with an idol) (Some more titles I haven't fully read that could appeal: Still Sick*, Cheerful Amnesia*)
Hana and Hina After School: (a cute three volume about a gyaru and shy girl working together at a shop after school and catching feelings)
After Hours: (A cool punk girl meets a girl who's been abandoned by her friend at the club, and she introduces her to the world of DJ'ing...and romance!)*
My Cute Little Kitten (two roommates adopt a cat...and maybe fall in love?)*
I think all of those work as solid intro- though it does depend on what flavor you're looking for!
This article also covers some of these recs and some manga I didn't mention due to not having completely read it. so check it out: The Beginners Guide to Yuri Manga.
Here's some titles to try when you're a little more familiar with yuri (or you can try them now! I'm not your boss!)
SHWD (action yuri that's finally got a full physical release, featuring extremely muscular women fighting monsters. I think it was forced to end prematurely too)*
Kiss and White Lily for my Dearest Girl: (The main storyline is about two academic rivals, where one is determined to rank first in class, and the other is an effortless genius who becomes intrigued at the possibility of someone beating her. Honestly they have the kind of messy combative sexual tension I wish we'd see more often in yuri because it's so good. The story follows other couples too. However, big warning for some nonconsensual kisses in early volumes, and a storyline in volume 7 that has implied incest and an age gap, though the older sister doesn't go through with it onscreen).
Sweet Blue Flowers/Aoi Hana- (This one is a little bit dated, and boy is the ending weirdly paced, but a lot still holds up imo. A painful and sweet coming of age tale, it also has an anime that's good but ends too soon.
One teenage characters backstory involves some very heartbreaking statutory rape/csa that's also incestuous (older cousin). The perpetrator is extremely manipulative and she even pulls the "oh no did I turn you gay? thing" but it's definitely framed as a bad thing.)
The Summer You Were There: (For tragic and doomed yuri lovers. A deeply depressed girl starts her journey to healing thanks to a girl who courts her and enjoys her writing. Unfortunately, said girl is terminally ill. The manga is a heart wrenching meditation on grief, redemption, and how being sick doesn't mean you can't still be loved).
Yuri is My Job- a story about messy lesbians in a yuri-themed cafe, and how their real relationships differ from the personas they put on. Read more about it here. Big warning for sexual assault of a minor (by an adult villain) in volume 12. Has an anime covering early material.
whenever Qifrey has any screen time i zero in on his hands to watch with rapt attention whatever anxious little fidgeting they're doing this time. him clutching his emotional support ribbon in that season 2 announcement poster was way too sweet and sad, had to redraw it
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it is honestly amazing how much of writing and editing is just. logistics. like... do i use a name here or a pronoun? if i move this dialogue tag to the middle of this line and break it in half, does the end of the line hit harder that way? what if i move the tag to the front? what if i remove it entirely? ...wait, whose point of view am i in; can i reasonably say this character is appalled, or must i say they look or seem or sound appalled? is this a deliberate action or a step-removed one; is her hand closing on his shoulder, or is she closing her hand on his shoulder? environment environment environment, we need to break all this dialogue up with some narration, the scene is coming untethered. what! are! they doing! with! the rest of their bodies that are not hands! fuck fuck fuck FUCK i forgot we covered this two chapters ago and now i either need to cut this whole chunk or find a reason to reprise the conversation from earlier. name or pronoun? name or pronoun? name or pronoun? move this clause around in this sentence? oh i'll add this phrase-- nope, never mind, past!me added the same phrase two lines down. okay, if i add too much environmental narration it's going to take away from this bit, but not enough and it won't feel grounded. what if i move this to its own line? where the FUCK are their hands?
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Villages Inzer and Kaga with a beutiful Christian church, on a way from Ufa to Ural mountains where Shulgan-Tash cave is located, containing Palaeolithic rock art
Shulgan-Tash cave and the Blue Lake at its entrance are believed to be home of evil spirits, and the locals call that funny relief in the nearby rock "Shulgen's eyes" (villain from Ural-Batyr poem)
Obsessed with Qifrey because what we see of him is 50% him being the best most kindest teacher and 40% a suspicious and desperate wildcard. But very rarely, just 10% of the time, we get to see him when he’s not being a teacher or being around his friends and family and not being a witch at the scene of a disaster, and he’s like, the most bitchy and hateful creature. Guy who is sick of being in a space. Acting in a way that makes you go “ah, that small withdrawn child grew up into a withdrawn adult who is just barely better at hiding it”. Obssessed. Guy of all time.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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1- @Bluewmist on Twitter / 2- Roly Poly is Taken on Twitter / 3- About Time (2012) by Richard Curtis, image from Mita Park on Unsplash / 4- Sherri Turner on Twitter / 5- Cold Solace by Anna Belle Kaufman / 6- The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green
