I think people are missing something when looking at this story.
Yuriko never stated she wanted to play the princess role and while she didn't stop Koro's weird habits she never forced her into it. Koro followed her and did things for her happily, and at the end was able to openly and comfortably express her own thoughts and opinions more because they had finally connected on less of a vertical power scale.

Yuriko by the looks of it was pissed being forced into a doll position, and I think the only reason why she accepted being called cute so much by Koro is because she realized how earnest and pure her feelings were. And while people may take offense to her constantly calling her a dog I think in her own way that was her way of showing affection, seeing as she really loved that stuffed animal.

The only real reason why I find this a bit off is because Yuriko and Koro never really stated their feelings clearly which is probably why you're looking at it as aubusive.

I mean hey I'm not saying you guys have to listen to me, but I think it needs a deeper level of thought.

Yes, this is me! I finally stopped lurking and created an account just to quote you.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to be loved. Being "loved" means being "held dearly".

While adoration is more like being "worshipped and idolized".

While Koro was "worshipping and idolizing" Yuriko to an extent, it was out of genuine love and... well, if you recall how her mother treated her and how her little groupies treated her, it was what she was looking for all along.
And in that sense, Yuriko probably loves Koro for... loving her!

pssht even though she's loyal in a creepy way ~

;w; the fact that you wanted to quote me made me giddy, it seems like we're the only two thinking like this though XD

I feel the same way too many people only look at the bad side of things

When you scrape the surface of this story's possible interpretations it does look terrible and I do see a focus on the bad which is the "abuse of power through Koro's feelings"

Tomorrow, I shall create an opportunity to use 'quotidian' in an authentic context! \o/ strange, warm feeling because of the sound sex of it

I think people are missing something when looking at this story.
Yuriko never stated she wanted to play the princess role and while she didn't stop Koro's weird habits she never forced her into it. Koro followed her and did things for her happily, and at the end was able to openly and comfortably express her own thoughts and opinions more because they had finally connected on less of a vertical power scale.

Yuriko by the looks of it was pissed being forced into a doll position, and I think the only reason why she accepted being called cute so much by Koro is because she realized how earnest and pure her feelings were. And while people may take offense to her constantly calling her a dog I think in her own way that was her way of showing affection, seeing as she really loved that stuffed animal.

The only real reason why I find this a bit off is because Yuriko and Koro never really stated their feelings clearly which is probably why you're looking at it as aubusive.

I mean hey I'm not saying you guys have to listen to me, but I think it needs a deeper level of thought.

Yes, this is me! I finally stopped lurking and created an account just to quote you.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to be loved. Being "loved" means being "held dearly".

While adoration is more like being "worshipped and idolized".

While Koro was "worshipping and idolizing" Yuriko to an extent, it was out of genuine love and... well, if you recall how her mother treated her and how her little groupies treated her, it was what she was looking for all along.
And in that sense, Yuriko probably loves Koro for... loving her!

pssht even though she's loyal in a creepy way ~

;w; the fact that you wanted to quote me made me giddy, it seems like we're the only two thinking like this though XD

I feel the same way too many people only look at the bad side of things

When you scrape the surface of this story's possible interpretations it does look terrible and I do see a focus on the bad which is the "abuse of power through Koro's feelings"

Unfortunately it's far too easy to see things that way. Especially if you miss the bits where Yuriko was really attached to that dog stuffed animal (and the rest of the dog related analogies and references in the story and title) and stated with obvious hatred that she never chose to be treated like a princess and that others just did it on their own without ever considering her feelings on the subject.

The relationship between the two is definitely on the odd side (and Koro is kinda super creepy at times even if her intentions are pure) though. Koro seems to have never been in a relationship before and judging by the bit where they reference her blowing everyone else out of the water in the exam it seems to be intended by the author that she's supposed to come across as socially awkward. (Which could also be where the stalkerish behavior comes from as well.) Yuriko on the other hand ends up looking super selfish and shallow because she's simply happy to find someone who actually cares for her for who she is rather than just how she looks (as someone else stated, she probably is fine with Koro saying she's cute simply due to the fact she realizes that Koro doesn't mean it the same way as the others). As for the "Hotel. Now." bit I think I can see where Yuriko was coming from too. It's fairly clear that being treated the way her friends were treating her there was a serious pet peeve for Yuriko and understandably so. In her frustration over that occurrence she turned to the only thing that she thought was a way out of the situation. She just kinda went about it in an irrational way. (Which would be understandable considering her situation at the time, extremely frustrated with everyone. She's not going to make the most rational of decisions.)

It's made reasonably clear though, if you read into things enough, that she's not simply using Koro and that while her way of doing things seems kinda self-centered (though this is completely understandable considering the way she's been treated by basically everyone) she is fond of Koro even if she'd otherwise be straight.

I think this story would have done far better as a 2-4 chapter manga instead of a one-shot though. It needs better pacing and the author ended up communicating a lot of stuff poorly or too subtly. (Though the dog symbolism in particular, at least in my opinion, wasn't communicated all that poorly actually.) Making it longer could have allowed for more solid communication even while keeping it still subtle. (Well that was like 2/3rds of an essay longer than I was originally intending it to be, lol.)

... I think there's plenty of "unhealthy" relationships that work so long as they're both happy. And it didn't seem weird to me (maybe I'm weird :S) but all insecure Yuriko wanted was proof that Koro loved her and Koro was more than happy to pamper her. There's gotta be some give and take in relationships right.

Lol cute

Reading this again, other than the big about holding each other, their relationship by the end seems less like master/slave as much as executive/capable assistant. It's like she got her own secretary who organizes her work and keeps her schedule, with benefits.

I don't think they had sex. I think they just cuddled, since they both had their clothes on.

This was my initial interpretation as well, that the middle panel on 29 immediately follows the top panel. This fits narratively as well, as Yuriko is learning to cherish Koro's presence itself and not just use her for her own needs.

But on reexamination, I think the people here have it right. If she's meant to be clutching Koro in that panel the position of her hand makes no sense, and the flowers are suspect. As poor a way to convey it as it is, I think that's intended as a one-panel sex scene.

If true this drops the story from one I'm fairly fond of to basically a zero for me. There's no character redemption. It's just a dumb story about a bad lady.

How people see sex when she makes clear they just cuddled? In page 27 Koro says it's a hot day and in page 32 Yuriko says that now she have someone to cuddle with on hot summer days, not to mention the flowers are the same in front of Koro home in page 28 so they definitely don't mean sex, if someone knows what flower is that we could see it's meaning as they're definitely important for page 29 context, but I don't see anything that imply sex.

Another thing, as someone obssessed with Yuriko to the point she stalks her, knows everything she did and even collects her hair as shown in page 33, Koro would definitely say something or act different if they had sex.

last edited at Jan 7, 2016 9:28AM

Except, she wanted to have sex. So it was totally 1 page sex. And cuddling thing was probably reference to Koro definition of love, since she said you want to cuddle up to person when she is sad and since Yuriko was feeling depressed and wanted to have sex with Koro since she supposedly loved her, so it fit. So later "cuddle" is most likely referencing sex (or just getting a gf, but end result is more or less the same). It doesn't ruin story for me either way since I always thought it was flawed. it is my least favorite from this collection.

last edited at Jan 7, 2016 9:38AM

Now that you mentioned it she didn't just want sex but proof of Koro love, if they had sex I would say it shows in upper panel of page 28 because of the way we see their legs while next page is the cuddling after, that flower probably means something related to Yuriko loving Koro so I don't see why some have problem if they had sex or not, like you said Nevri the result is the same.

last edited at Jan 7, 2016 9:52AM

Thiaguinho-sama posted:

Now that you mentioned it she didn't just want sex but proof of Koro love

Which in context of Yuriko going "let's go to hotel" and "I never done it with girl" means she want Koro to have sex with her as proof she really loves her. To me pages 28-29 are just foreplay before them having a actually sex that happened of screen. Yuriko was clear about her intentions entire conversation, got pissed at Koro for being a damn virgin, and Koro herself blushed a lot as she understood Yuriko's intentions (aka having sex).

last edited at Jan 7, 2016 9:57AM

Not sure how anyone misses that at the top of page 29, Yuriko isn't wearing anything below the waist. Add in the rest of the context, and it's pretty glaringly obvious they had sex.

However, one thing I do like about this story is how having sex doesn't change everything. In fact, it changes very little about their relationship, other than Yuriko acting less insecure about the whole thing, and seems pretty genuinely happy. Koro, well, she's not a heck of a lot different from before.

But Yuriko is using a long dress, to me what we see below her waist is her dress, she's still using it, if it was pulled up it would be obvious, and I agree the sex doesn't change anything, I don't get why some are making a big deal out of it.

Not sure how anyone misses that at the top of page 29, Yuriko isn't wearing anything below the waist.

I don't see this, why do you say that?

Add in the rest of the context, and it's pretty glaringly obvious they had sex.

In my initial reading this was the point - we're led to believe Yuriko is merely rapacious, but at the critical moment we find she really cares for Koro.

I agree the sex doesn't change anything, I don't get why some are making a big deal out of it.

The point (again in my initial reading) isn't that they didn't have sex but that we don't know and it doesn't matter.

I think Corvus is spot-on here except for the fact of that hand. If Yuriko's meant to be holding Koro here some part of her should be visible there, unless Yuriko's got Kawhi Leonard's arms. And the way her hair's spread out suggests to me she's lying on her back.

Stalker-issues person and Abandonment-issues person. They are so perfect for each other!

I think Corvus is spot-on here except for the fact of that hand. If Yuriko's meant to be holding Koro here some part of her should be visible there, unless Yuriko's got Kawhi Leonard's arms. And the way her hair's spread out suggests to me she's lying on her back.

I don't think Yuriko is holding Koro, it looks more like she's just lying on top of her, we can see clearly on page 29 that Koro is holding Yuriko, who have her hand on Koro head or just near her head, as for the middle panel it makes me think she's more or less in this position, like you said what make this panel confusing is how her hair's spread out, but if we ignore that we can easily assume she's still on top of Koro.

last edited at Jan 8, 2016 11:48AM

She's learned to love Koro, it's just that at first she's testing her. And the reason she's comparing Koro to a little dog, aside from she's really like one, we've seen that Yuriko had that dog stuff toy she really liked back then. On Koro's part, she even stated that she's glad to be of use to Yuriko. And the last part, blushing Yuriko while teasing her beloved is just too adorable.

Very well explain! =)

Seconded.
That omake too,lmao

Not gonna lie compared to the ashes story, this one seems leagues healthier. And unlike the words one, this one has a actual ending.

I really like the way "Koro" responds to Yuriko's questions. They are really simple answers . . . they might not work in real life (though who knows really) but in the context of this story, they certainly make the whole thing well worth reading (for me, at least).

last edited at Feb 5, 2017 5:50AM

EEEeeeeeeeh..... kinda shit to be honest. It does not respect 2 of the biggest rules of yuri.... meh

andrei posted:

EEEeeeeeeeh..... kinda shit to be honest. It does not respect 2 of the biggest rules of yuri.... meh

Which are?

andrei posted:

EEEeeeeeeeh..... kinda shit to be honest. It does not respect 2 of the biggest rules of yuri.... meh

And what might those rules be exactly?

You are right. First rule is kinda given in any romance story if you want it to feel genuine (unless there is some good in-story reason to break it), but second rule is stupid. Yea, it's just your superficial rule, so don't make a "yuri rule" out of it.

andrei posted:

Riiiiiiiiiiight i remember now.... well dont hate me since you guys were the ones to ask, and i am superficial so bear with me. First rule: Both girls must have a mutual feeling of love towards each other. In this case, sempai was using Koro to fill her void of wanting to be loved.

Not going to go over the second rule since Nevri more or less said what I would have. This one though I'd have to disagree with in this specific instance. While normally that'd be a very important detail, in this case it's a bit odd since the reason she's with Koro is specifically because she knows that Koro appreciates her. So in her own way she does love Koro, it's just not what you'd typically think of is all.

It's easy to overlook it because it's subtle and said through symbolism but note that during the flashback bit she specifically addressed how she was very attached to the stuffed dog. Then think about how she sees Koro, as a doglike person.

That was nice. I liked nabe's character evolution.

We're we supposed to take something away from the stomach pains? I thought it was just some kind of trigger to show the audience that sebody was about to either care for Nabe or blow off her needs. Was there an actual medical condition or something?

last edited at Nov 27, 2017 8:58PM