I Favour the Villainess by Inari

[alias_sqbr]

This is a translated Japanese f/f comedy romance light novel, about a Japanese lesbian who finds herself in the world of the m/f dating sim she was playing...and does her best to avoid all the male love interests the game throws at her and instead win the heart and good ending of the game's haughty villainess.

It's pretty silly, and the romance didn't quite work for me, but it's a lot of fun, and a lot more queer and generally thoughtful than I expected.

An English translation

Here's my full review including content warnings.

"Head of a Snake, Tail of a Dragon", by Zen Cho

[hebethen]

On the heels of finding out that "Winter Sojourn", the Muna/Henrietta fic I recced, was in fact essentially a postcanon bonus story from the original author herself, I 1) was filled with awe and glee and 2) thought it was a good opportunity to reread some other recentish short fiction of hers.

"If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again", about an imugi trying to become a dragon, took the Hugo for Best Novelette and made quite a bit of a splash (at least among my circles), but did you know she also wrote a sequel short story? "Head of a Snake, Tail of a Dragon" (2,369 words) is a wry, sweet follow-up about love, loneliness, and second chances of all kinds; less a coda and more a new adventure, and tropey in the best of ways. It can be read on its own, but I think having read the novelette made it funnier. ( Very minor spoiler )