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twig-tea · 2 months

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With 23.5 finally coming out, the people are rejoicing at finally getting a high profile gl from GMMTV. But there have already been several gls airing this year, including my fav TsukuTabe, that have been flying under the radar with fandom, and in general there are more gls already out there than folks seem to think. I just know you have a list of all the gls we should be watching, please share with the class!

Thank you for the ask! How did you know I had a draft of GL recs to make at some point? [Trick question, I mentioned it to you.]

It may seem like I'm out here hating on GL because i've made a couple of negative reviews of recently airing series recently (Love Senior and Chaser Game W in case you're curious) but I actually have lots of GL that I love and that I wish were better known! Thanks for sending this ask so I am inspired to actually finish it! I've limited myself to series so that I could keep the list and this post to a reasonable length. Where possible I've listed where you can find each of these and included a link. And I've included an 'elevator pitch' summary but I am NOT in marketing for a reason, so please don't roast me too hard for my terrible comparisons. Alright, enough waffling!

Twig's GL Rec List

She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat S1 & 2 (Japan, 2022 & 2024, both seasons fansubbed by @furritsubs; if you need help accessing this show feel free to DM me!)

Elevator pitch: Our Dining Table with lesbians and an even slower burn. Watch for beautiful food, acespec rep, mental health and therapy rep

What might turn some off: Extremely low heat, and quite slow-moving; warning for a disordered eating and family trauma plot (v gently handled)

Let's start with the one you've already mentioned. This is a heartwarming slice-of-life slow burn in which an autismspec-coded woman who likes to eat is invited by her neighbour, a femme acespec woman who loves to cook, to come and eat her food. It starts from a very practical place (when you love making food you need someone to help eat it), but their relationship grows as they spend more time together. The story follows them as they both move towards self-actualization in several ways: as a lesbian, as asexual, at work, with their families, with their friends, with each other. This show is so careful to say the important words aloud. And there is so much delicious cooking! Each episode highlights a particular recipe, and the food porn is real. Do not watch while hungry, but definitely watch. The found famiy vibes in this one one are also immaculate.

She Makes My Heart Flutter (Korea, 2022, YouTube)

Elevator pitch: Younger lesbian friend group tries to help out (slightly) older lesbian bar owner with mixed success. I can't think of a good BL equivalent, The Moment Since feels the closest with its similar bartender/patron romance

What might turn some off: Comedic tone; short runtime; struggles with being closeted

This is a gem of a miniseries about a bar owner and an interior designer who smoulder at one another while an intrepid group of younger bar regulars (including the bar owner's neice) meddle. This series is really cute, solid, and full of sapphics! Once again found family vibes are immaculate (you may sense a theme in my faves). Run don't walk.

Fragrance of the First Flower (Taiwan, 2021, GagaOOLala)

Elevator pitch: Right-person-wrong-time/second chance romance; tonally is a little like We Best Love 2: Fighting Mr. 2nd but with an ambiguous ending.

What might turn you off: Medium heat, second chance romance means they break up once, internalized homophobia, adultery/cheating, at one point there's a creepy dude, child with autism (depicted well), ambiguous ending

At its core this is a story of a woman who can't stop getting in the way of her own happiness. This series is a little more sad than the rest of this rec list but I couldn't not include it because this relationship is so poignant. Plus there's a s2 that supposedly is to come out in 2024 so maybe we'll get our happy ending after all?

Love Greater Than or Equal to 70 Degrees C (Korea, 2019, YouTube)

Elevator pitch: Ingredients but with lesbians staring at one another over beautiful tea pairings! What more could you ask for?

What might turn you off: Low heat; short runtime; ambiguous ending; like Ingredients this is essentially a long ad for the café it's filmed at.

This is a Korean miniseries about passionate tea sommeliers making really fancy tea while staring at one another a LOT. Perfect sapphic representation, 10/10 no notes. This one packs a lot of the drama tropes into its short runtime, so even though it's short it's full of butterfly-inspiring moments.

Sleep With Me (Philippines, 2022, GagaOOLala/iWantTFC/Netflix w/VPN set to Philippines)

Elevator pitch: The Truth About Cats and Dogs but the self esteem issues are handled without catfishing. BL equivalent: Hmmm. Closest I can think of is Gaya Sa Pelikula.

What might turn you off: There's some ableism (treated as such) in this show; Open ending.

Stellar GL between a late night radio DJ and an insomniac who listens to her show. One of the main couple is a wheelchair user and the show tackles ablelism and navigating disability in relationship as well as feelings of inadequacy in a relationship and how that manifests as interpersonal conflict.

Our Relationship Ended Before it Began (Korea, 2022, YouTube)

Elevator Pitch: Along the lines of I Cannot Reach You; the show gives both perspectives and they are held back by queer angst.

What might turn you off: No kiss (but they make it very clear both want to kiss), internalized homophobia

Really sweet miniseries about having a crush and being afraid of being hurt so you don't actually make a move. I really like the way the girl who has not dated a girl before defaults to gender roles and it throws the more experienced lesbian lol I also really like the way this show makes clear that both of them are waiting for a kiss, and that if you get in your head about things, it can get in the way of your own happiness!

Pearl Next Door (Philippines, 2020, Youtube)

Elevator Pitch: Gameboys but with lesbian vloggers.

What might turn you off: Love triangle, lots of teasing but low heat in the end, a lot of (good) conversations about mental health issues, ambiguous ending

This is the GL spinoff to Gameboys, starring Pearl from Gameboys. Pearl ends up being fought over by the two gorgeous women in the gif, an old love and a new. I love the queer friendships in this story as much as the relationships. I will say it's an open ending (that felt a bit like the showrunners didn't want to decide between ships) and definitely the love triangle features prominently but even in the face of these aspects that would normally turn me off a series I had a good time. The characters and interpersonal conflicts feel very real, and are allowed to be complex even when the show tone is comedic.

Dear Uranus (Taiwan, 2021, YouTube)

Elevator Pitch: Schoolgirl ensemble GL; a little like My School President but without the singing.

What might turn you off: Short runtime; ambiguous ending; a little bit of bullying; very standard romance trope execution

The first Taiwanese GL miniseries, this series was produced by a Taiwanese lesbian couple (Rabbit & Wolf)! Lots of excellent drama tropes, and incredibly gorgeous women (I think the entire watching audience fell in love with Erol.

Lily Fever (Korea, 2015, YouTube)

Elevator pitch: Complete crack; YYY but with more kissing and frankly an even less coherent story.

What might turn you off: The lack of coherent plot; less a romance and more a very thirsty lesbian kissing everyone she can

This miniseries is utter chaos. Nothing really makes sense, it's all just random excuses to cause very suggestive moments (and kissing) to happen. I love so much how this series depicts women being so absolutely thirsty for one another (and yes that date isn't a typo, this series is ~9 years old). Not an "happy ever after" ending but it really isn't that kind of story.

Chasing Sunsets (Philippines, 2020, YouTube)

Elevator pitch: Ocean Likes Me with lesbians. Resort romance with a mental health twist.

What might turn you off: Some of the mental health stuff gets intense, this was filmed in 2020 so the pandemic features heavily; hopeful but slightly ambiguous ending.

A complex story from the Philippines covering mental health and finding yourself. A woman shows up to a resort and befriends one of the women running the resort. They get closer as they spend time together, and the resort owner realizes something is off. There's also a BL side couple in this series.

Show Me Love (Thai, 2023, YouTube)

Elevator pitch: A little like My Day the series with lesbians, in that they work together and fall in love and it's full of tropes

What might turn you off: The advertising for the Miss Grand competition, there is some bullying and cheating (though way less than I was expecting tbh), not a lot actually happens, the editing gets a bit wonky at the end

This is essentially a massive ad for the Miss Grand Thailand competition; this GL was produced by the same company that produces that competition, and the stars are mostly Miss Grand competitors. The main pairing were shipped in the actual competition, and the company decided to make a GL about them. It's very slow paced and low-stakes, and there are better kisses than I expected considering everything I just said about where this show came from. There are a lot of cute moments!

Girlfriend Project (Korea, 2022, YouTube)

Elevator Pitch: Love Class with lesbians

What might turn you off: One of the leads is kind of mean in that pgitail-pulling way? It ends abruptly (but happily)

This is a short miniseries about two girls paired in a class that are assigned to "date". The chemistry is chemistrying. And there is a kiss (a good kiss, and a tiptoes kiss at that!). This show also has one of my favourite tropes, in which someone who seems like a pushover stands up for themselves and their partner finds it very attractive. For the record, in this show they are watching another GL by the same company, Love Tech.

Lulu (Philippines, 2022, Vivamax/grey)

Elevator Pitch: Present Perfect with lesbians (but with a better ending).

What might turn you off: Depictions of panic attacks, brief depiction of drowning, pandemic lockdowns, illness, exes, waffling, happy but open ending (which I actually liked for this story)

Two women trying to move on from the garbage in their lives meet at the beach of a B&B (where one saves the other from drowning) and become one another's company during their escape and then something more. They both have baggage that seems determined to keep them apart even as they continue to be drawn together. In the end, they decide to stick it out and see where they end up, with no guarantee of happily ever after, which I found very sweet. Requires either a VivaMax account or searching the grey for it, but it's worth the effort (check MyDramaList comments for suggestions on where to find it). Plus one of the leads has a cactus as a pet.

Welcome to the Lesbian Bar (Korea, 2023, YouTube)

Elevator Pitch: A little like Fudanshi Bartender but without the fudanshi bartender and all of the bar patrons are lesbians lol

What might turn you off: Short, can get a little bit preachy, abrupt ending

Cute short series with different very stories every episode as different patrons visit the bar. The stories range from women who have been together for awhile, to people meeting from an online app for the first time, to someone visiting a lesbian bar for the first time; and yet the story all weaves together in a way that's satisfying though ends abruptly. Includes some solid marriage equality propaganda.

GAP the Series (Thai, 2022, YouTube)

Elevator Pitch: Kind of the vibes of Together with Me but lesbians and in an office instead of school. Angry boss falls for charming new intern and

What might turn you off: This one is the highest heat of all these recs; homophobia especially amongst family, brief depictions of death by car, brief mentions of suicide, cheating, bullying, abuse of power in the office.

A list would not be complete without this one! Honestly the plot is a bit wobbly but the show is a lot of fun. The girls are very cute, the feelings and tension builds really well between them, the friend group is excellent, and in the special we get a wedding.

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The rest of these have caveats of one kind or another, but i couldn't leave them off a rec list, so here are the side couples and censored stories that are still worth your time anyway (I might do a separate more detailed post for these, as well as for films, one day if there's interest):

Nevertheless (GL side; Korean, 2021, Netflix) Not sure it's worth watching a whole kdrama for side lesbians? Search soljiwan on youtube. They are great. Even the Netflix account stans them. I watched this (ngl, I watched the SolJiwan cut) as it aired and was constantly braced for it to let us down but it did not! A really good friends-to-lovers story.

Friend Zone 2: Dangerous Area (GL side; Thailand, 2019, YouTube): These sapphics are messy and I love them. Decent conversation about dating someone with mental health issues in this series, and they're one of the only couples in this ensemble to get a happy ending. If you're just watching the lesbian couple (which you can, their story is pretty self-contained) you don't need to have seen s1.

Six Survivors (GL side; Japan, 2022, Viki) This show is a horror comedy and it is SO MUCH FUN. Warning for zombies and blood, but way less than you might think. One of the eponymous 6 survivors is a lesbian who keeps trying to convert them to veganism lol. If you watched Chaser Game W you'll recognize one of the actresses in this, the lead actress is from Kamisama no Ekohiiki, and one of the guys is from the prequel series His as well as I Want to See Only You! And yes there is a kiss. Also a surprising number of Mallrats references. Not for people who can't handle gore or relationships being complicated/not a "true love" story/ambiguous ending.

Kamisama no Ekohiiki (complicated question of is it GL in parts, Japan, 2021, furritsubs once again coming through to save the day) This one is a bit complex because there's bodyswap, but the girl who falls for the bodyswapped boy-in-a-girl's-body is clear that she is only interested in the girl. One of the better bodyswap stories because the bodyswap is not a secret for very long, so instead there's a lot of introspection about what gender means and who/what they are attracted to. Feels wrong to call this GL, necessarily, but it's very queer.

Couple of Mirrors (Censored GL, China, 2021, Viki) Story of a rich girl and her assassin girlfriend. This production did an amazing job getting away with what they could, just don't watch the last five minutes and we've got essentially a happy lesbian family.

Legend of Yunze (Censored GL, China, 2021, @douqi7s) Very cute very low budget xianxia miniseries with two seasons and a special. The special is set in modern times in a future lifetime so if you want a cute censored-but-clearly-a-soulmate-love-story this is the one for you. Don't be thrown off by the weird cuts/abrupt episode endings, that's in line with cdramas in general.

Led Astray by Love (Censored GL, China, 2021, @douqi7s) A very fun and adorable isekai story in which a modern day girl is transported to a wuxia novel setting and has to figure out how to get home, and gets romanced by the princess along the way.

And a few additional links for people who even more content:

My Indian sapphic webseries rec list

My suggestions for content with toms (Thai category that's similar to but not exactly the same as butch lesbians) in response to this post.

This really good GL MyDramaList list (not made by me!) lists what seems to be everything I've mentioned and about 200 more. Even I haven't seen a few of these!

My YouTube playlist of sapphic content: This includes anything I stumble across or find in my searches, a lot of music videos and random shorts as well as some microseries and miniseries that I don't consider GL but are WLW/sapphic in addition to true "GL" content. For serialized content, I add just the first ep. A complete mess, but you can trawl through to find stuff to watch, like Hetero!

SOONOTSUE: The same producers of She Makes My Heart Flutter have other short series on their channel worth checking out; if you liked that one, try Out of Breath!

Shakeshoulder: Thai YouTube producers of very pulpy (read: low budget and dramatic plots) shorts

FuFuKnows: This YouTube channel is owned by a gay Taiwanese couple that produces shorts every week, including some with GL mains and sides. These are very low budget but cover a whole swath of queer themes.

@douqi7s is a godsend providing subtitles for all kinds of content, including sapphic shorts and more series than I've listed here. Check their tumblr for links to all of their content; A Practical Guide to Being a Superstar's Assistant has one of the best setups to giving us great moments in the guise of something else so that they get past censorship I've ever seen; I also recommend The Vampires if you're into genre fiction, as well as Legend of Yunqian if you enjoyed the xianxia parts of Legend of Yunze. @wlwcatalogue did an excellent summary of many of the non-wuxia options here.

Quick pitch for the streaming platform GagaOOLala; it's affordable, has a ton of content, including a whack of GLs (originals, license series, and a ton of shorts), and is run by queer people out of Taiwan who care about good quality queer content being made and having an audience, and using the soft power from those successful series to support social change. And if you can't afford a subscription it's worth checking out what they have for free, they open up temporary free access to some things for various events throughout the year.

In searching for gifs for this post I found fellow tumblr user @drowningparty 's WLW compendium list; they've listed more series and films so check it out if you still need more content!

*wipes sweat off brow* that should be enough to be getting on with, but it's really just the tip of the iceberg! If there's something specific you want to see with sapphics let me know and I can tell you if I know it exists. Anyway, I hope this gives you and everyone else a taste of what all is out there! I of course always want more, I am serious about being a sapphic dragon hoarding every crumb i can get my lizardy hands on, but I do think what we have should also be appreciated more. If I missed one of your faves, please tell me!

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twstgarden · 2 months

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❀ ❝ 𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 ❞

━ diasomnia (malleus draconia, lilia vanrouge, silver, sebek zigvolt) x gn! reader (separated) ━ you happened to like their scent and decided to wear their cologne, but they immediately found out you were using their fragrance. (f/n means first name) (reader can be yuu or an oc)

this work does not contain spoilers for chapter 7, diasomnia’s arc.

do not steal or translate without my permission.

ko-fi here if you want to support me <3

━ 𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙪𝙨 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙖 ━

scent: deep oak moss

you were alone in malleus' room as he was still on the campus grounds, possibly taking his afternoon classes while you had already finished yours. you lay silently on his comfortable bed, staring at the canopy while waiting for him.

the scent of his sheets brought you a sense of comfort as you let out a soft exhale, turning to your side and burying your face into his pillow and blanket.

minutes have passed and he still was not around. you decided to cure your boredom a little, getting out of his bed and roaming around the room to look at all the trinkets and things you have already seen before. you then stood before his table, seeing regular school documents, dormitory-related documents, and whatnot.

then, there it was.

his cologne. you had not seen this before, but now that you were about to get your hands on it, you can finally see what scent he's been using all along. you reached out to the bottle and grabbed it, reading the name of the perfume as you mumbled, "deep oak moss...?"

taking off the cap, you sniffed it and hummed, "a forest-like scent with a hint of spice and sweetness... it's exactly like him." you then decided to do just a single spray on both sides of your neck before placing the cap back on the bottle and returning it to the original spot.

after a while, you sat back on his bed, his scent engulfing your body as you soaked into the feeling of warmth and comfort. suddenly, his door opened and he entered the room, smiling at you before he shut the door and approached you.

"there you are," spoke malleus as he held his arms out, and you did not hesitate to stand up and embrace him. as soon as you hugged him, he leaned down and buried his face on your hair and your neck, placing a soft kiss on your skin before taking a soft inhale and freezing for a moment.

'hm...? that fragrance...' thought malleus before he pulled away and looked at you before leaning down and taking another sniff, "did you use my perfume, sweetheart?"

'oops. discovered too soon,' you thought to yourself as you smiled sheepishly at him, "yeah... i... saw your cologne and i liked the fragrance so..."

he smiled at you and planted a soft kiss on your forehead before embracing you once again, "if you liked my scent, you should have told me. i would gladly give my cologne to you."

your arms tightened a little around his figure as you looked up at him, "i like your cologne not because of the scent, but because it reminds me of you."

━ 𝙡𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙖 𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙚 ━

scent: historical depth

you and lilia were having a study session for the finals - rather, he was stating historical facts while you were studying. at one point, he got up and decided to get some snacks and drinks for you, leaving you alone in the room.

seated on his bed, you stayed silent as you eyed the door, awaiting his return before looking back down at your book. you continued reading until you glanced at his bedside table, seeing a bottle of perfume resting on top of it.

"mm? oh, old man's perfume," you mumbled as you reached out towards the bottle and took off the cap, taking a sniff as you seemed pleased, "hm... a citrus with a hint of floral and sandalwood scents..."

you then sprayed your wrist, taking another sniff as you smiled to yourself, enjoying the fragrance as you looked at the bottle again, "historical depth... fitting name..."

"fitting name for an old man's perfume, is what you wanted to say?"

you shrieked at the sound of another voice in the room that it almost made you drop the bottle. you held onto it before looking up to see lilia smiling down at you innocently before laughing a little, "did i scare you, my little bat~? kufufu~"

a soft sight left your lips as you had a deadpanned expression, "don't sneak up on me like that." another laugh was heard from lilia before he got down and sat beside you, wrapping an arm around you before grabbing his perfume from your hands and spraying your hair and neck with it.

"wha━"

"there, now you smell just like me!"

━ 𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙧 ━

scent: musty green

"hmm... where is it..." you mumbled as you rummaged through silver's bedside table, looking for his notebook that you wanted to borrow for reference purposes. his roommates were not present in the room, leaving you all alone as you continued searching for the notebook.

during your search, you happened to stumble upon a bottle filled with a certain liquid. out of curiosity, you reached for it and looked at the label, "musty green? oh, a perfume."

taking off the cap, you sniffed the scent and realised it faintly smelled like silver, "hm... spice with a hint of wood smells and sweet scents..." you looked around for a quick second before spraying yourself twice and returning the bottle back into the drawer as you continued your search.

you eventually found the notebook, grabbed it and left silver's room as you went to the library on campus. on your arrival, you sat back beside him and went through your notes while he was trying his best not to doze off while studying.

silence overtook the atmosphere for a while as you were busy studying. silver then continued writing in his notes, occasionally drifting off as he ended up leaning his head on your shoulder. you glanced at him and smiled a little, letting him rest his head on your shoulder while you continued to write.

"mm..." a soft sound left silver's lips as he shifted his position a little, his nose on the crook of your neck as he took a soft sniff of your scent. he opened his eyes a little, taking another inhale of your pleasant and somewhat familiar scent.

'the scent is familiar... is it my perfume...?' thought silver to himself as he spoke softly to you, "...you smell nice."

you blushed a little at his words as he spoke in a drowsy tone while rubbing his eyes and sitting up properly, "...sorry, i'm falling asleep again..." you merely smiled and patted his cheek, "it's alright. i'll wake you up if you ever fall asleep again..."

a smile found its way on his lips as he mumbled, "thanks..."

━ 𝙨𝙚𝙗𝙚𝙠 𝙯𝙞𝙜𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙩 ━

scent: honest aroma

it was the weekend and you decided to spend some time with sebek. you were currently in the lounge of diasomnia, scrolling through your phone while sebek sat silently next to you and silver, sipping on a drink while lilia and malleus were having a conversation.

a few minutes passed and the conversation was still ongoing. you leaned your head on sebek's shoulder, which made him flinch a little as his cheeks went pink, freezing in place as he did not want to suddenly make you uncomfortable by moving too much.

you did not notice his stilted posture, however, as you were preoccupied with your phone, texting the rest of the first years in a group chat. the comforting atmosphere was relaxing - at least for you.

then, a floral scent with a hint of spice and oak filled your nostrils as you took a soft inhale, liking the scent as you realised it was sebek who smelled so nice. you made a mental note to look for his perfume, wishing to spray it on some of your clothes to remind you of him.

a few days have passed and you have just finished your afternoon classes. you made the decision to visit sebek, and so you did. you entered his dormitory room and realised he was nowhere to be found, "...ah, right. i forgot he has club activities."

you sat on his bed, placing your books on his bedside table as you looked around his room, humming to yourself until your gaze landed on a perfume bottle neatly placed on the table. your eyes lit up as you remembered wanting to borrow his perfume, and so, you reached for the bottle and sniffed the scent before spraying it on your wrist and your hair.

"how lovely~" you cooed to yourself before looking at the bottle, "honest aroma...? huh, it fits him perfectly." it did not take long for sebek to return to his room, only to see you lying on his bed in a starfish position. he blinked, surprised to see you so relaxed as he approached you and spoke, his loud voice waking you up from your short nap, "human!"

you flinched and sat up, sighing as you held a hand over your chest, right atop where your heart should be, "dear me, seb. you scared me." sebek quickly felt bad as he spoke, "my apologies... i was not expecting you to be sleeping on my bed at this hour."

you rubbed your eyes, feeling awake now as you got off his bed with a smile, "i was waiting for you!" then, your arms were wrapped around him, giving him a tight hug which made him surprised. 'why is she so affectionate all of a sudden...?' thought sebek as he tried not to let his cheeks turn pink.

he leaned down a little and took a whiff of your scent, realising you smelled exactly like his perfume. he took another sniff, wrapping his arms around you as he spoke in a loud voice, "you smell pleasant! i shall gift you my cologne if it pleases you!"

"what? no, it's alright, seb━"

"no, i insist!"

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