Entry tags:
So You Want To Ship Some Women, pt. 2
Next round!
Also, y'all should check out![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bookshop's post - The Most Influntial YA of the Decade? + Girls, yay! - for more woman and femslash awesomeness. Also books. Mmmm, books.
ETA: And![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
resonant put out a call for YA books which has resulted in a lot of female-centric/friendly recommendations in the comments.
Comics/Manga/Etc Series:
Hayate X Blade
Folks, folks this one is my favorite. If you're only going to try one of the series here, make it this one (and I have an expanded rec post in the works, just in case you want extra convincing). Why? Because it is AWESOME - it takes all the best parts of stupid (I say this with love) shonen manga, sticks it in the blender with Utena, and hits frappe. From Okazu: The story of Hayate x Blade is an entertaining mix of comedy, action, drama, chicks with weapons, and a a Yuri-ish setup that grows ever more Yuri as the plot develops. Pairs of girls, sword sisters, competing in battles for supremacy, power and money....and mostly for tha amusement of the chairwoman of Tenchi Gakuen, the wholely whimsical Amachi Hitsugi. It's amazing, it's hilarous, and it's slashy as hell. I don't actually ship the two main characters - Hayate (the short red-head there on the cover) and Ayana (tall w/ glasses) - but there are so many other characters, some openly queer, some simply full of subtexty goodness, that you'll be spoiled for choice. Think... Prince of Tennis or, idk, Reborn!, wealth-of-pairings-wise.
If you like sword fights, slap stick comedy, people fighting to Be The Best, cat charm straps, genki!idiot shonen hero(ine)s, student councils, and stories where everyone is ridiculous but you love them anyway, Hayate X Blade is the series for you.
~*~
Strawberry Shake Sweet
By the same author/artist as Hayate X Blade, Strawberry Shake (Sweet) is also amazing, also hilarious, and an out-and-out lesbian romance. Woohoo! As an added bonus, you can find the complete series (two volumes) translated here at Lililicious.
Strawberry Shake Sweet is the story of Julia, an up and coming actress/model/idol, and Ren (the same). It's full of gags, comic misunderstandings, crossed signals, longing, and True Love (and a little bit of lust). If you like the Japanese idol scene, thinly disguised female versions of Glay, hijinks, adorableness, and happy endings, Strawberry Shake Sweet is the series for you.
~*~
Detective Comics
I have not been keeping up with this series like I ought to, because I cannot find my most recent stack of comic book purchases (so I can find out what the last issue I bought was) and I've got a thing about buying duplicates or missing an issue. Anyway.
Copypasta from myself: Detective Comics #854 features not one but *two* awesome lesbian ladies: Kate Kane, aka Batwoman, who's taking over the LEAD ROLE FROM BATMAN who is missing or in a coma or dead, idk, and RENEE MONTOYA (I will link to that essay always and forevaaaaaar), aka The Question (v2), aka MY FANGIRLING, LET ME SHOW IT TO YOU. Greg Rucka is the author and notably queer friendly.
Also, he usually writes stories about women that do not suck! Detective Comics, in fact, is so low on the sucking that some might mistake it for awesome. The art is *amazing,* Kate is well characterized, and the writing is great. Renee's not in the same story arc here - It means less screen time (only eight pages!), but what was there was a very good start.
Kate and Renee were a couple on and off for a while, but are probably off for good these days. That's okay! There are plenty of women in the DCU to ship them with (see the further reading section). If you like (nonpowered!) superheroes, kicking ass and taking names, lesbians Fighting Crime, detectives, mysteries, and sheer awesome, Detective Comics is the series for you.
~*~
Runaways
Basically, Runaways is about a group of teens who find out that their parents are evil supervillains and... run away. And keep running, from authority figures, from the law, and from their problems. It's also a story about loss, friendship, making your own family and discovering yourself. Despite some ooky racial issues in the first volume and some shaky storytelling in the current (and the previous one - Whedon! [shakes fist]) arc, it's probably one of the best titles Marvel has running.
The femslash comes via Karolina Dean, one of the runaways and sparkly lesbian alien extraordinaire (the blonde on the cover), her fiancé Xavin (a shape-and-gendershifting alien prince - brown hair on the cover), and her object of UST Nico Minoru, a powerful witch and team leader. I'm a hardcore Xavin/Karolina shipper (because Xavin is my favorite), but Nico/Karolina is the more popular of the two.
If you like evil parents, witches, aliens, robots, gender issues, mutants, dinosaurs, time travel, conspiracies, demons, and preteen girls beating up the Punisher, Runaways is the series for you.
~*~
Gunnerkrigg Court
Gunnerkrigg Court is a webcomic! A fantastic webcomic about Antimony Carver, her strange school, and the people (and spirits, and monsters, and creatures, and robots, and...) who live there. It's a beautiful, quirky, carefully plotted story and Annie and her best friend Kat are adorable (as BFFs and, someday, maybe more). Plus there's a bonus slashy couple in the background!
If you like ghost stories, wolves, stuffed toys who are also wolves, robots, monsters, legends, politics, magic, science, slowly unfolding plots and red-headed heroines who don't have fiery tempers, Gunnerkrigg Court is the story for you.
~*~
Girly
Girly is also a webcomic! From the website: Well gee whiz, even as the artist of the comic, I often find it hard to describe, but I'll try my best. Put simply, Girly is a comic about two girls, and the adventures in the town they live in. It's a story-based comic which is supposed to be sort of funny and romantic from time to time. It contains a lot of people trying to awkwardly live their lives in a really bizarre setting. It is, basically, a story about hijinks. And shenanigans. With lesbians. It's not perfect (it's very, very white, for one thing) but really, how many women get to have crazy, zany, wacky adventures? Otra and Winter are two of the few.
If you like elephants, knights, sidekicks, cats made out of marshmallow, adventure, romance, giant vibrators, happy fun times, and so much more, Girly is the story for you.
~*~
Further Reading - Where do I start? Let's see... the DCU is crawling with slashy women, as is the MarvelU (although I know less about that. Why do I know less about that? Clearly it's a gap that needs filling). Bleach is my go-to shonen manga for fantastic women (seriously, it's crawling with them - especially in comparison withNaruto One Piece Reborn! every other shonen series. There's Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou which is gentle and lovely and really should have gotten it's own rec, shoot. There are dozens of translated yuri series available at Lililicious.
~*~
Other Things:
Bayonetta
I don't know much about this game except thathalcyonjazz talked about it pretty much nonstop for 24 hours and I want to play it so bad. Alas, I do not own a PS3 (or an Xbox, I guess). Apparently it is very slashy!
~*~
RPF
If we're going to talk about fanfic as subversion, I can't help but think that history is the text most in need of it. Plumb your history books! If there aren't women anywhere to be found, invent them. Give them back their voices and their stories.
~*~
Books
There are a ton of books out there (/ridiculous understatement) - slashy books, books with lesbians, books with established couples... so, some favorites. The Jane Bond series by Mabel Maney is a fun parody starring James Bond's lesbian twin sister. The Summon the Keeper series by Tanya Huff is one of my favorite urban fantasy series (although I have issues with her in other areas - the fandom bashing in Smoke and Ashes was not cool, Huff) - the second and third books feature Diana Hansen, teenage lesbian witch, and her sort-of-elf girlfriend Kris. Also there are cats and angels and demons and Canadian boyfriends and things, good times. The Hollows series by Kim Harrison is more urban fantasy, this time with a witch+vampire team with buckets of UST. Other titles include Fire Logic and it's sequels, the Vows and Honor books, and the Magic Circle books (Daja/Tris only makes me feel a little dirty).
~*~
And this is more of a question then a rec. - is Wicked (the musical) as slashy as it looks? Is there a fandom for it? [will get to see it... someday]
How about you folks? What are your favorite slashy comics, books, and video games?
Also, y'all should check out
bookshop's post - The Most Influntial YA of the Decade? + Girls, yay! - for more woman and femslash awesomeness. Also books. Mmmm, books.ETA: And
resonant put out a call for YA books which has resulted in a lot of female-centric/friendly recommendations in the comments.Comics/Manga/Etc Series:
Hayate X Blade
Folks, folks this one is my favorite. If you're only going to try one of the series here, make it this one (and I have an expanded rec post in the works, just in case you want extra convincing). Why? Because it is AWESOME - it takes all the best parts of stupid (I say this with love) shonen manga, sticks it in the blender with Utena, and hits frappe. From Okazu: The story of Hayate x Blade is an entertaining mix of comedy, action, drama, chicks with weapons, and a a Yuri-ish setup that grows ever more Yuri as the plot develops. Pairs of girls, sword sisters, competing in battles for supremacy, power and money....and mostly for tha amusement of the chairwoman of Tenchi Gakuen, the wholely whimsical Amachi Hitsugi. It's amazing, it's hilarous, and it's slashy as hell. I don't actually ship the two main characters - Hayate (the short red-head there on the cover) and Ayana (tall w/ glasses) - but there are so many other characters, some openly queer, some simply full of subtexty goodness, that you'll be spoiled for choice. Think... Prince of Tennis or, idk, Reborn!, wealth-of-pairings-wise.
If you like sword fights, slap stick comedy, people fighting to Be The Best, cat charm straps, genki!idiot shonen hero(ine)s, student councils, and stories where everyone is ridiculous but you love them anyway, Hayate X Blade is the series for you.
~*~
Strawberry Shake Sweet
By the same author/artist as Hayate X Blade, Strawberry Shake (Sweet) is also amazing, also hilarious, and an out-and-out lesbian romance. Woohoo! As an added bonus, you can find the complete series (two volumes) translated here at Lililicious.
Strawberry Shake Sweet is the story of Julia, an up and coming actress/model/idol, and Ren (the same). It's full of gags, comic misunderstandings, crossed signals, longing, and True Love (and a little bit of lust). If you like the Japanese idol scene, thinly disguised female versions of Glay, hijinks, adorableness, and happy endings, Strawberry Shake Sweet is the series for you.
~*~
Detective Comics
I have not been keeping up with this series like I ought to, because I cannot find my most recent stack of comic book purchases (so I can find out what the last issue I bought was) and I've got a thing about buying duplicates or missing an issue. Anyway.
Copypasta from myself: Detective Comics #854 features not one but *two* awesome lesbian ladies: Kate Kane, aka Batwoman, who's taking over the LEAD ROLE FROM BATMAN who is missing or in a coma or dead, idk, and RENEE MONTOYA (I will link to that essay always and forevaaaaaar), aka The Question (v2), aka MY FANGIRLING, LET ME SHOW IT TO YOU. Greg Rucka is the author and notably queer friendly.
Also, he usually writes stories about women that do not suck! Detective Comics, in fact, is so low on the sucking that some might mistake it for awesome. The art is *amazing,* Kate is well characterized, and the writing is great. Renee's not in the same story arc here - It means less screen time (only eight pages!), but what was there was a very good start.
Kate and Renee were a couple on and off for a while, but are probably off for good these days. That's okay! There are plenty of women in the DCU to ship them with (see the further reading section). If you like (nonpowered!) superheroes, kicking ass and taking names, lesbians Fighting Crime, detectives, mysteries, and sheer awesome, Detective Comics is the series for you.
~*~
Runaways
Basically, Runaways is about a group of teens who find out that their parents are evil supervillains and... run away. And keep running, from authority figures, from the law, and from their problems. It's also a story about loss, friendship, making your own family and discovering yourself. Despite some ooky racial issues in the first volume and some shaky storytelling in the current (and the previous one - Whedon! [shakes fist]) arc, it's probably one of the best titles Marvel has running.
The femslash comes via Karolina Dean, one of the runaways and sparkly lesbian alien extraordinaire (the blonde on the cover), her fiancé Xavin (a shape-and-gendershifting alien prince - brown hair on the cover), and her object of UST Nico Minoru, a powerful witch and team leader. I'm a hardcore Xavin/Karolina shipper (because Xavin is my favorite), but Nico/Karolina is the more popular of the two.
If you like evil parents, witches, aliens, robots, gender issues, mutants, dinosaurs, time travel, conspiracies, demons, and preteen girls beating up the Punisher, Runaways is the series for you.
~*~
Gunnerkrigg Court
Gunnerkrigg Court is a webcomic! A fantastic webcomic about Antimony Carver, her strange school, and the people (and spirits, and monsters, and creatures, and robots, and...) who live there. It's a beautiful, quirky, carefully plotted story and Annie and her best friend Kat are adorable (as BFFs and, someday, maybe more). Plus there's a bonus slashy couple in the background!
If you like ghost stories, wolves, stuffed toys who are also wolves, robots, monsters, legends, politics, magic, science, slowly unfolding plots and red-headed heroines who don't have fiery tempers, Gunnerkrigg Court is the story for you.
~*~
Girly
Girly is also a webcomic! From the website: Well gee whiz, even as the artist of the comic, I often find it hard to describe, but I'll try my best. Put simply, Girly is a comic about two girls, and the adventures in the town they live in. It's a story-based comic which is supposed to be sort of funny and romantic from time to time. It contains a lot of people trying to awkwardly live their lives in a really bizarre setting. It is, basically, a story about hijinks. And shenanigans. With lesbians. It's not perfect (it's very, very white, for one thing) but really, how many women get to have crazy, zany, wacky adventures? Otra and Winter are two of the few.
If you like elephants, knights, sidekicks, cats made out of marshmallow, adventure, romance, giant vibrators, happy fun times, and so much more, Girly is the story for you.
~*~
Further Reading - Where do I start? Let's see... the DCU is crawling with slashy women, as is the MarvelU (although I know less about that. Why do I know less about that? Clearly it's a gap that needs filling). Bleach is my go-to shonen manga for fantastic women (seriously, it's crawling with them - especially in comparison with
~*~
Other Things:
Bayonetta
I don't know much about this game except that
halcyonjazz talked about it pretty much nonstop for 24 hours and I want to play it so bad. Alas, I do not own a PS3 (or an Xbox, I guess). Apparently it is very slashy!~*~
RPF
If we're going to talk about fanfic as subversion, I can't help but think that history is the text most in need of it. Plumb your history books! If there aren't women anywhere to be found, invent them. Give them back their voices and their stories.
~*~
Books
There are a ton of books out there (/ridiculous understatement) - slashy books, books with lesbians, books with established couples... so, some favorites. The Jane Bond series by Mabel Maney is a fun parody starring James Bond's lesbian twin sister. The Summon the Keeper series by Tanya Huff is one of my favorite urban fantasy series (although I have issues with her in other areas - the fandom bashing in Smoke and Ashes was not cool, Huff) - the second and third books feature Diana Hansen, teenage lesbian witch, and her sort-of-elf girlfriend Kris. Also there are cats and angels and demons and Canadian boyfriends and things, good times. The Hollows series by Kim Harrison is more urban fantasy, this time with a witch+vampire team with buckets of UST. Other titles include Fire Logic and it's sequels, the Vows and Honor books, and the Magic Circle books (Daja/Tris only makes me feel a little dirty).
~*~
And this is more of a question then a rec. - is Wicked (the musical) as slashy as it looks? Is there a fandom for it? [will get to see it... someday]
How about you folks? What are your favorite slashy comics, books, and video games?