What colour was the dress again?

White and gold.

I'm pretty sure it was black and blue.

What colour was the dress again?

White and gold.

I'm pretty sure it was black and blue.

Either way, its orientation isn't in question.

last edited at Aug 6, 2015 4:17PM

Shou is always so give and take. And I'm pretty sure the "take" part is arriving in a chapter...

I was quite surprised by Ran's reaction to her dream. Why did she look so concerned? Was that still about accepting her gayness? I thought she's way beyond that point already. Was she instead afraid that she might look weird during such a dream? Or was it a typical "WTF did I just watch" as if simply being stunned at how strong her gayness really is, like "how can I be so gay for her!"

I also liked so much the slightly more feminine Keiko of Ran's dream than the real one. The heels, the top, the nails, even the capris - Keiko's image is so much cuter. TBH the fact that there's a difference between the Keiko Ran's dreaming about and the real Keiko makes me kinda sad. It sorta points to the coming drama in their relationship. Or may be I'm too negative like always. Ran, why don't you go buy your senpai some clothes?

ColonalCat,
nice analysis btw. I can't help but recall the died flower of Keiko's from chapter 14. And your thoughts made me think that the eaten flower was actually a metaphor for the broken relationship with her ex rather than a miscarriage. The miscarriage was the monster. And that monster destroyed the relationship. If this really is the case, then you're absolutely right, with this present Keiko kinda subconsciously shows to Ran, how blooming their relationship is and how Keiko enjoys it. While on the other hand how unwilling she still is to spend effort into making the relationship real. Only the minimum effort of avoiding direct sunlight. She really wants to keep their relationship in shadow, and close[te]d, protected from the outsiders. It kinda concerns me especially that despite passionately blooming, the flowers are almost as good as fake. On the positive side, if the flowers happened to be lilies, that could also mean that Keiko simply doesn't see the lesbian relationship as something natural but rather artificial. But I guess she's less concerned about it being yuri as long as the rest of the world doesn't know about it and she doesn't have to fight but simply enjoy the relationship.

Kinda nice how Shou's into numerology and symbolism: chapter 14 and 41 both start with a dream and both use a flower as a symbol of a relationship.

last edited at Aug 6, 2015 5:05PM

Masterfully trolled Shou. Good job.

Shoujo ai? what is that?

OMG Thiaguinho-sama`s avatar picture! Does anyone knows what manga is it from? she looks so cool

It is from some other manga by author of Lily Love that she is working on. There should be link somewhere to it but I can't find it.

Sorry the late reply RoxFlO, It's basically what Nevri said, it's a one shot Ratana is making, here the original version if you want it.

Please don't use BDSM metaphors. Just don't.

Sir, yes sir, how high do you want me to jump sir

Is three meters something you're capable of?

Subtext is a bit of an understatement maybe, what about One-sided Yuri

Whatever. I fear Shou doesn't love Ran and Keiko as much as we do. So sad.

ColonalCat

-The first doesn't particularly make sense in the case of 'not bringing it into the sunlight'.

'not in the sunlight' = Not openly gay?
Those flowers reminded me of of the kind of junk you'd find in the attic of an old lady, cleaning up after she died. Remnants of a forgotten love.

takachi

I was quite surprised by Ran's reaction to her dream. Why did she look so concerned? Was that still about accepting her gayness? I thought she's way beyond that point already.

That's exactly what I mean, that was so disappointing after the chocolate story and all those other little hints. We are supposed to know Ran is gay for her senpai, and then the whole charade starts again. Shou could write the perfect Yuri, but he doesn't care. There can be no progression as long as he can milk the story as it is. He could be a great writer if he only gave a shit.

Weird thing is I can't stop reading it.

last edited at Aug 6, 2015 7:38PM

Please don't use BDSM metaphors. Just don't.

Sir, yes sir, how high do you want me to jump sir

I think there's a misunderstanding here.

The question isn't how high. You keep going until they tell you to stop.

I was quite surprised by Ran's reaction to her dream. Why did she look so concerned? Was that still about accepting her gayness? I thought she's way beyond that point already. Was she instead afraid that she might look weird during such a dream? Or was it a typical "WTF did I just watch" as if simply being stunned at how strong her gayness really is, like "how can I be so gay for her!"

sure she was slightly confused, but she wasnt concerned about her dream. she was having a dream about the birthday she wanted to have, and was sad when she woke up and looked at the calendar because she was all alone. she most likely thought that them eating out that day was payment for the sacrifice at the water park and that keiko forgot about her birthday.

Masterfully trolled Shou. Good job.

Pretty much this.

Sigh...

Now direct our attention to the kind of flowers Keiko got...I won't go through and describe them because, well, you can go back and read for yourself. I can find them as a microcosmic symbol for any sort of romantic relationship between the two. Which can be good, bad, or both:

-The flowers are meant to be preserved for a long time, which means Keiko wants their relationship to continue 'blooming' for a long time.
-However there "Is no need to water them"...this might be a language idiom barrier, but that could suggest that maybe Keiko is warning against developing the relationship any further; or it could mean that since the flowers are already going strong and at their peak, there isn't a need to bother putting much effort since the relationship is already at its best point.
-The first doesn't particularly make sense in the case of 'not bringing it into the sunlight'.

I did actually also wonder about whether the flowers were a metaphor for their relationship but kinda dismissed my thought because I thought I was stretching (pun intended) it. But since someone has brought it up...

I actually interpreted "there is no need to water them" in a more positive way - that their relationship would develop naturally (i.e. "bloom") without the need for Ran or Keiko to pay any special attention to growing it ("water them"), which I feel is what we've seen of their relationship so far.

As for keeping them away from sunlight and heat, I guess it could mean the external pressures that could affect their relationship? Like Keiko's ex, for example.

last edited at Aug 7, 2015 10:30AM

I have given up on Ran and Keiko a while ago already, so Shou may troll away as much as he likes. I will certainly follow this one, but I don't think anything will happen soon.... or at all.

Yeah! I think Stretch is one of the few subtext mangas that actually seeks to educate readers in the healthcare aspect! (Y) :D Ran x keiko is getting interesting hehe

ps. after months of lurking on Dynasty scans, I've finally plucked up my courage to create an account!! (don't laugh at me, I know I'm pathetic T_T) anyway, this is my first post and i'm so looking forward to commenting on this site!! ^^

Please don't use BDSM metaphors. Just don't.

Sir, yes sir, how high do you want me to jump sir

I think there's a misunderstanding here.

The question isn't how high. You keep going until they tell you to stop.

If I could take off into the sky like Poochie that'd be great.

What colour was the dress again?

White and gold.

I'm pretty sure it was black and blue.

...bees?

What colour was the dress again?

White and gold.

I'm pretty sure it was black and blue.

...bees?

Aren't we already at the point of subtext with this?

What colour was the dress again?

White and gold.

I'm pretty sure it was black and blue.

...bees?

Black and yellow.

What colour was the dress again?

White and gold.

I'm pretty sure it was black and blue.

...bees?

Black and yellow.

(Better version) Black and yellow

Or maybe I'm dissecting why the curtain was colored blue when Shou is like "It's because I decided to make it fucking blue".

I used to joke about this a lot, too, but ever since I started writing, I was surprised how much I think about little details like that. Chances are, if a writer takes the time to emphasise something -- e.g., noting within the narrative that the curtains were blue, and even noting that there were curtains at all -- they're doing so for a reason, whether that reason is that it fits the character who was decorating, or whether it fits the atmosphere they're trying to create.

So how many chapters will this have total

Or maybe I'm dissecting why the curtain was colored blue when Shou is like "It's because I decided to make it fucking blue".

I used to joke about this a lot, too, but ever since I started writing, I was surprised how much I think about little details like that. Chances are, if a writer takes the time to emphasise something -- e.g., noting within the narrative that the curtains were blue, and even noting that there were curtains at all -- they're doing so for a reason, whether that reason is that it fits the character who was decorating, or whether it fits the atmosphere they're trying to create.

Maybe you write that way but most writers, from what I understand, don't. "The curtains were fucking blue" story apparently has its origins in a statement made by an author tired of people over analyzing his works. Granted the story is likely apocryphal but there are still several major authors who have objected to people trying to interpret the little messages in their stories as being part of some bigger picture. TVTropes has an article on it, I believe its called "What do you mean its not Didactic?".

Or maybe I'm dissecting why the curtain was colored blue when Shou is like "It's because I decided to make it fucking blue".

I used to joke about this a lot, too, but ever since I started writing, I was surprised how much I think about little details like that. Chances are, if a writer takes the time to emphasise something -- e.g., noting within the narrative that the curtains were blue, and even noting that there were curtains at all -- they're doing so for a reason, whether that reason is that it fits the character who was decorating, or whether it fits the atmosphere they're trying to create.

Maybe you write that way but most writers, from what I understand, don't. "The curtains were fucking blue" story apparently has its origins in a statement made by an author tired of people over analyzing his works. Granted the story is likely apocryphal but there are still several major authors who have objected to people trying to interpret the little messages in their stories as being part of some bigger picture. TVTropes has an article on it, I believe its called "What do you mean its not Didactic?".

And that author's name was....Albert Einstein!

Thing is, there are a lot of things in a scene to describe, and an author only has so much space to describe them. A good author will primarily specify something like the colour of drapes for one of three reasons. Because it's relevant to the plot, as a red herring (thus using it as misdirection from the eventual twist), or to reflect something about one or more of the characters. A hack will do things more or less at random of course, so that doesn't necessarily apply. But I wouldn't consider Shou a hack.

Now taking the curtains thing as literal, in comics if something is a certain colour or if there's an object in the room, it might just be the whim of the artist, and nothing relevant at all to the story. Still a limited space to work with, but the rules are slightly different.

As an aside, the Beatles were famous for putting stuff in their songs and album covers in order to mislead and generally mess with people doing minute analysis of their work. The whole "Paul is dead" thing being a great example.

As an aside, the Beatles were famous for putting stuff in their songs and album covers in order to mislead and generally mess with people doing minute analysis of their work. The whole "Paul is dead" thing being a great example.

Ah yes, the "Trolling Creator". I think we are all familiar someone like that...

Or maybe I'm dissecting why the curtain was colored blue when Shou is like "It's because I decided to make it fucking blue".

I used to joke about this a lot, too, but ever since I started writing, I was surprised how much I think about little details like that. Chances are, if a writer takes the time to emphasise something -- e.g., noting within the narrative that the curtains were blue, and even noting that there were curtains at all -- they're doing so for a reason, whether that reason is that it fits the character who was decorating, or whether it fits the atmosphere they're trying to create.

Maybe you write that way but most writers, from what I understand, don't. "The curtains were fucking blue" story apparently has its origins in a statement made by an author tired of people over analysing his works. Granted the story is likely apocryphal but there are still several major authors who have objected to people trying to interpret the little messages in their stories as being part of some bigger picture. TVTropes has an article on it, I believe its called "What do you mean its not Didactic?".

And that author's name was....Albert Einstein!

Thing is, there are a lot of things in a scene to describe, and an author only has so much space to describe them. A good author will primarily specify something like the colour of drapes for one of three reasons. Because it's relevant to the plot, as a red herring (thus using it as misdirection from the eventual twist), or to reflect something about one or more of the characters. A hack will do things more or less at random of course, so that doesn't necessarily apply. But I wouldn't consider Shou a hack.

Now taking the curtains thing as literal, in comics if something is a certain colour or if there's an object in the room, it might just be the whim of the artist, and nothing relevant at all to the story. Still a limited space to work with, but the rules are slightly different.

Actually the author I had in mind specifically was J.R.R. Tolkien, who was rather annoyed with people assuming The Lord of the Rings was an allegory for his experiences in World War I when in actuality he had merely created the fictional realm so he had an excuse to make up his own languages (Tolkien was an exceptional linguist and could speak twenty languages fluently and had decent comprehension of a dozen more. In fact, the Elven language was the first thing he ever created while crafting Middle-Earth) This is where the concept of applicability comes from; Tolkien basically said if other people wanted to use The Lord of the Rings as an allegory for World War I they were free to do so, so long as they recognized that he hadn't intended to create an allegory WWI (and so they would stop sending him letters asking about whether TLotRs was an allegory for WWI)

This "the curtains were fucking blue" argument is more or less the same; people assume the color of the curtains is important or meaningful or allegorical, when in actuality the author just felt that, for one reason or another, the room in question needed to be described to the reader and when they got to the curtains, they went with blue. Maybe blue was the author's favourite color or maybe they chose it randomly, maybe they had blue curtains themselves or maybe they were aware of the "the curtains were fucking blue" meme and decided to throw in some blue curtains to fuck with us; we will likely never know, unless you feel like pestering the author over they're choice in interior decorating.

Point is, don't over think this stuff. The simplest answer is usually the correct one and its a bad idea to make wild guesses like "the blue curtains represent the protagonists immense depression" when there is no evidence to support that idea beyond the fact that people sometimes associate the color blue with sadness.

Hell, we don't even know what shade of blue the curtains were. They could be bright baby blue for all we know, which isn't exactly the color of depression and immense sadness and grief.