THE YURINOMICON

EXORDIUM1 ANATOMY OF GOOD YURI10 EXAMPLES OF GOOD YURI17 YURI PROMPT GENERATOR23

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the yurinomicon defines yuri as a primarily lesbifocal genre of media with explicit romantic and sexual connotations and themes and considers "yuri" a catchall for female/female pairings, femslash, and lesbian fictional pieces. the yurinomicon's interpretation of yuri is solely that of its author and acknowledges the distance its own definition has to its japanese origin. the yurinomicon seeks to endow its audience with tips on writing and portraying (subjectively) better yuri.

this page was made for the 32bit.cafe's fifth community code jam. it will continue to be edited after the submission period, but the original submission-ready version will be kept here (coming eventually).

yuri (japanese: 百合 - translation lily) is a genre of media that focuses on relationships between women. although it isn't inherently a romantic genre, yuri has a heavy association with female homosexuality, and is often compared to the yaoi genre.

yuri can be an exploration of female sexuality in a way that media depicting heterosexual and male homosexual couples cannot. in yuri, there is a complete absence of males; the focus can only be directed onto the female body.

character designs

two butch, masculine, or androgynous leads. i feel that these pairings experience less of the same trappings as femme/butch couples and femme/femme yuri pairings, i.e. sexualized yet sexually sterilized, consumer-ready ~friendships~ and the recreation of the heterosexual dynamic. bifauxnens and tomboys are peak yuri, moeblobs and porny succubi women are the festering mold at the bottom of a rotten barrel.

character dynamics

arguably the most important part of a good yuri, though anything that's more complex than childhood friends to lovers is suitable. i don't like using booktok tropes to describe relationships, but seriously, using your imagination and dreaming large about how the leads know each other is key. the more dubious and complex the origins and operations of the characters' relationship, the better. it's important that both characters have rich interiority and goals, and that the two leads interact with their ambitions and values in the same space.

plot and settings

must take place somewhere that isn't high school, must not involve past relationships with men. the blushing schoolgirl "but we're both girls" or slightly more mature, equally as trite "she's the exception to my heterosexuality" could be replaced with... anything else. "good yuri" should have an emphasis on dramatic flair and height of emotion, one that preferably comes from the two leads' immediate circumstances.