(from left) Kimchi, Pumpkin, Vajra, Baxter, Soliloquy, Sherman, Amalthea, Lilly, Izzabeth, Crystal, Marco.
A Tumblr-based webcomic, Kimchi Cuddles began as a Slice of Life following the relationships of a community of mostly polyamorous people, centering on main characters Kimchi and Vajra, a couple in an open marriage looking to meet other partners, though many of their friends were major characters as well. It later grew to cover a larger number of characters and storylines, along with non-storyline comics featuring characters explaining misconceptions about polyamory and related topics.
This comic provides examples of:
- Accidental Kiss: Happens between Kimchi and Amalthea at one point.
- Author Avatar:
Word of God names both Kimchi and Marco as this. - Bookworm: Sherman, who at one point is more in the mood for reading quietly than going out on a date; Kimchi understands, and the two of them spend the afternoon reading together instead.
- Break the Cutie: Crystal is often having her confidence knocked by transphobic people, including her parents.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Soliloquy tends to be quite controlling of her partners, but it seems that she may mellow out after having established her solo poly identity.
- Closet Key:
- Nora is this to Izzabeth, who previously regarded herself as being strictly monogamous.
- Emma is this to Alex, who was also pretty mono before.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: London, who also brings out a similar side in Kimchi."Let's climb this tree and talk about activism with sock puppets!"
- Everybody Has Lots of Sex: Subverted for London; while he is in two relationships, he and Otter have become a Chastity Couple over the years, and Vajra isn't yet comfortable with him sleeping with Kimchi.
- Give Geeks a Chance: Several of the characters, most notably Baxter and Sherman, are rather nerdy, and seem to have just as much luck romantically as the other characters.
- Granola Girl: Lilly is very interested in eco-friendly farming.
- Happily Married: Kimchi and Vajra.
- High-School Sweethearts: Kimchi and Dave.
- I Can't Believe a Guy Like You Would Notice Me: Deconstructed with Luuk; he dislikes when women put him on a pedestal, and is attracted to Amalthea for her independence.
- The Idealist: Marco is frequently asked how they can be so happy and positive about everything.
- Incompatible Orientation:
- Kimchi had a crush on Amalthea for a while, who is straight.
- Alex finds himself having feelings for Sherman, who is straight.
- It's All About Me: Izzabeth tends to not see things from other's points of view until Marco is able to break it down for her.
- Leave Me Alone!: Soliloquy finds polyamory works for her in terms of her independence, but also finds having numerous partners draining when they start to make demands of her.
- Love Dodecahedron: Naturally, given the nature of the relationships explored.
- Love Epiphany: In comic 253, Izzabeth realizes she likes Nora.Izzabeth: It was like electricity suddenly shot through my whole body. We turned to look at each other and I felt like I saw her for the first time...
- The Masochism Tango: Baxter and Soliloquy, leading to their eventual break-up.
- May–December Romance: London is twenty years older than Kimchi.
- Meaningful Name: Amalthea's name is a Shout-Out to The Last Unicorn, in reference to the term "unicorn", used in the poly community to denote a person chosen by a triad as their third partner.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Kimchi, after hitting Anja. It was based on a real-world event, and this was such a My God, What Have I Done? moment that the panel was later deleted.
- Oblivious to Love: Tulsi and Aziz, a poly couple, are looking for a third partner, and remain blissfully unaware of Kimchi's interest in them.
- Of Corsets Sexy: Nora is rather delighted to find out Crystal's wearing a corset under her dress.
- One Thing Led to Another: "There's going to be a lot of processing tonight!"
- Picky Eater: Marco just wanted to make dinner for their partners…Marco: Surprise! I made everyone dinner!
Crystal: Is there MEAT in this? I'm vegan, remember?
Marco: Opps
Baxter: And I'm doing the super paleo thing, so I only eat RAW meat
Marco: Oh
Soliloquy: That stew looks gross. I only eat white bread with gummi bears on it - Polyamory: The premise of the comic.
- Put on a Bus: Sherman, who has been absent from the comic for a while due to going back to university. He's now back for the summer.
- This actually happens to a lot of characters, as people tend to come in and out of the protagonist's lives.
- Sickeningly Sweethearts/Crush Filter: Amalthea admits to going into "Disney Princess Mode" at the beginning of new relationships.
- Shipper on Deck: Being a poly-focused comic, compersion is a frequent theme.
- Socially Awkward Hero: Kimchi describes herself as a "shy extrovert".
- Theme Naming: The children in the comic are all named after food (Pumpkin, Popcorn, Bean, etc.)
- Thinks Like a Romance Novel: Amalthea's idea of telling her ex she still has feelings for him involves putting a piece of ribbon in a book and leaving it out in a bookshop in the hope that he'll notice.
- Twofer Token Minority: Crystal deconstructs this in one comic, saying that as a biracial polyamorous trans woman, she's always being asked stupid questions about some part of her identity or other.
