I think Kaoru's going to be even more in love now, nobody usually holds her head and she's really into miss bouchan ^^

Nya-chan posted:

None can convince me that they are not having sex there.

Probably the most underrated couple. Chie and Ai are cute, but Mari and Yuu are living it.

Well, the series tries to appeal a lot with the cute side but if we focus on Mari and Yuu too much it becomes nfsw pretty quick! is hard to develop a pair that is already so solid.

I think Kaoru's going to be even more in love now, nobody usually holds her head and she's really into miss bouchan ^^

Well if nothing else she apparently took the hard pass better than the last time she got that from someone she's seriously into (adding a few years of age ought not have hurt her sense of perspective either). Or at least I'd imagine we'd have had some indication in the Honoka and Shizuka chapters since then if she'd gone terminally depressive again.

last edited at Aug 10, 2019 4:08PM

I think Kaoru's going to be even more in love now, nobody usually holds her head and she's really into miss bouchan ^^

Well if nothing else she apparently took the hard pass better than the last time she got that from someone she's seriously into (adding a few years of age ought not have hurt her sense of perspective either). Or at least I'd imagine we'd have had some indication in the Honoka and Shizuka chapters since then if she'd gone terminally depressive again.

Yes, but I think that missbouchan's disinterested character in relation to kaoru's charm should make her even more interested. Kaoru finds it beautiful and mysterious, the fact that it repacks it may have the opposite effect on kaoru's feeling !
To see.

I think Kaoru's going to be even more in love now, nobody usually holds her head and she's really into miss bouchan ^^

Well if nothing else she apparently took the hard pass better than the last time she got that from someone she's seriously into (adding a few years of age ought not have hurt her sense of perspective either). Or at least I'd imagine we'd have had some indication in the Honoka and Shizuka chapters since then if she'd gone terminally depressive again.

Yes, but I think that missbouchan's disinterested character in relation to kaoru's charm should make her even more interested. Kaoru finds it beautiful and mysterious, the fact that it repacks it may have the opposite effect on kaoru's feeling !
To see.

Would certainly be a healthier reaction than back in the day with Shizuka - though that isn't exactly putting the bar very high. The girl definitely isn't tuned onto quite the same wavelength as most people.

I think Kaoru's going to be even more in love now, nobody usually holds her head and she's really into miss bouchan ^^

Well if nothing else she apparently took the hard pass better than the last time she got that from someone she's seriously into (adding a few years of age ought not have hurt her sense of perspective either). Or at least I'd imagine we'd have had some indication in the Honoka and Shizuka chapters since then if she'd gone terminally depressive again.

I mean my interpretation is that her entire depressive episode was largely a manipulative ploy to guilt trip Shizuka into taking her back which isn't something that would work with someone who couldn't care less about her outside of her relationship to their friend. I expect she's going to double down because she's a narcissist who can't conceptualize not being desired.

I think Kaoru's going to be even more in love now, nobody usually holds her head and she's really into miss bouchan ^^

Well if nothing else she apparently took the hard pass better than the last time she got that from someone she's seriously into (adding a few years of age ought not have hurt her sense of perspective either). Or at least I'd imagine we'd have had some indication in the Honoka and Shizuka chapters since then if she'd gone terminally depressive again.

I mean my interpretation is that her entire depressive episode was largely a manipulative ploy to guilt trip Shizuka into taking her back which isn't something that would work with someone who couldn't care less about her outside of her relationship to their friend. I expect she's going to double down because she's a narcissist who can't conceptualize not being desired.

Given she was effectively starving herself to death or as close as makes no real difference without medical intervention that'd be quite some method acting.

I think Kaoru's going to be even more in love now, nobody usually holds her head and she's really into miss bouchan ^^

Well if nothing else she apparently took the hard pass better than the last time she got that from someone she's seriously into (adding a few years of age ought not have hurt her sense of perspective either). Or at least I'd imagine we'd have had some indication in the Honoka and Shizuka chapters since then if she'd gone terminally depressive again.

I mean my interpretation is that her entire depressive episode was largely a manipulative ploy to guilt trip Shizuka into taking her back which isn't something that would work with someone who couldn't care less about her outside of her relationship to their friend. I expect she's going to double down because she's a narcissist who can't conceptualize not being desired.

Given she was effectively starving herself to death or as close as makes no real difference without medical intervention that'd be quite some method acting.

It is not actually terribly uncommon for emotional abusers to use self-harm as a means to control their victims through guilt.

It is not actually terribly uncommon for emotional abusers to use self-harm as a means to control their victims through guilt.

That's fairly strong language to use about a character whose major (and only actual) malfunction appears to be an inability to grasp that her idea of "love" has some compatibility issues with most other peoples'.

It is not actually terribly uncommon for emotional abusers to use self-harm as a means to control their victims through guilt.

That's fairly strong language to use about a character whose major (and only actual) malfunction appears to be an inability to grasp that her idea of "love" has some compatibility issues with most other peoples'.

She's pretty consistently manipulative and wholly unconcerned with the emotional well being of her partners and "If you break up with me I'll kill myself" is a textbook red flag that your partner is emotionally abusive. Starving yourself until the girl you cheated on takes you back out of guilt is pretty heinous. She doesn't fail to grasp that her partners expect monogamy she just doesn't care about their feelings.

It is not actually terribly uncommon for emotional abusers to use self-harm as a means to control their victims through guilt.

That's fairly strong language to use about a character whose major (and only actual) malfunction appears to be an inability to grasp that her idea of "love" has some compatibility issues with most other peoples'.

And the fact that her love does not touch anything at all, how will she react? will she become more humble to try to approach her? in any case we see that missbouchan is a great shy person even with her friends, a big weak point by playing denial on her own emotions on reality?
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/virgins_empire_ch128#12

last edited at Aug 10, 2019 5:59PM

It is not actually terribly uncommon for emotional abusers to use self-harm as a means to control their victims through guilt.

That's fairly strong language to use about a character whose major (and only actual) malfunction appears to be an inability to grasp that her idea of "love" has some compatibility issues with most other peoples'.

And the fact that her love does not touch anything at all, how will she react? will she become more humble to try to approach her? in any case we see that missbouchan is a great shy person even with her friends, a big weak point by playing denial on her own emotions on reality?
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/virgins_empire_ch128#12

I really hope this is the start of a character arc for Kaoru where she does some major self-reflection and not an arc where she just wears Mask-senpai down through persistently ignoring her clearly expressed boundaries.

It is not actually terribly uncommon for emotional abusers to use self-harm as a means to control their victims through guilt.

That's fairly strong language to use about a character whose major (and only actual) malfunction appears to be an inability to grasp that her idea of "love" has some compatibility issues with most other peoples'.

She's pretty consistently manipulative and wholly unconcerned with the emotional well being of her partners and "If you break up with me I'll kill myself" is a textbook red flag that your partner is emotionally abusive. Starving yourself until the girl you cheated on takes you back out of guilt is pretty heinous. She doesn't fail to grasp that her partners expect monogamy she just doesn't care about their feelings.

Reminder that the... lesson she managed to draw from the whole breakup episode with Shizuka was, IIRC, that she herself was lacking in sufficient feminine graces and needed to brush up, which is where her current "gorgeous and elegant vamp" persona got started. (It probably says something that apparently about the only context where she lets go of it and goofs around more like someone her age is in private with her little sister; image is SRS BZNS.)
I can only assume the other girl was more than a little confused by that leap in logic.

And if memory serves she pretty much clued in on the whole ShizukaxMio business ages ago which doesn't seem to particularly bother her; neither, if memory serves, has she done anything noteworthy to get in the way thereof beyond her usual near ritualised flirting with the former.

Tolerably sure that ain't exactly textbook pathological narcissist behaviour...

Waiwai, so many new chapters! Thx to the translators!

And if memory serves she pretty much clued in on the whole ShizukaxMio business ages ago which doesn't seem to particularly bother her; neither, if memory serves, has she done anything noteworthy to get in the way thereof beyond her usual near ritualised flirting with the former.

Tolerably sure that ain't exactly textbook pathological narcissist behaviour...

I would argue that she simply doesn't view Mio as an actual barrier between her and Shizuka because as far as she's concerned she's the most important and desirable person in any space she occupies so of course Shizuka will continue to be available to her, extraneous romantic entanglements or no. Viewing Mio as a rival would be less narcissistic than dismissing her out of hand.

last edited at Aug 10, 2019 6:29PM

And if memory serves she pretty much clued in on the whole ShizukaxMio business ages ago which doesn't seem to particularly bother her; neither, if memory serves, has she done anything noteworthy to get in the way thereof beyond her usual near ritualised flirting with the former.

Tolerably sure that ain't exactly textbook pathological narcissist behaviour...

I would argue that she simply doesn't view Mio as an actual barrier between her and Shizuka because as far as she's concerned she's the most important and desirable person in any space she occupies so of course Shizuka will continue to be available to her, extraneous romantic entanglements or no. Viewing Mio as a rival would be less narcissistic than dismissing her out of hand.

Well it's not like she appears to harbor any particular doubts about the inevitability of eventually regaining Shizuka's affection, though I sort of got the impression she'd started getting more proactive presumably in view of the fact that they're both third-years and it'd probably be a good idea to reach the finish line before graduation. But really, it can be argued she's just being consistent there; as most people's standard of fidelity apparently just... doesn't compute to her at all why then, within the framework of her own idiosyncratic valueset about such matters, should it bother her at all if Shizuka too has other dalliances?

Going off memory here since I CBA to hunt down all the relevant chapters for the sake of the argument but IIRC she mainly seemed to be mildly amused by the whole thing (and presumably also Shizu's unconvincing denials about it).

never thought id read something like "santa, your boobs are so huge!"

And if memory serves she pretty much clued in on the whole ShizukaxMio business ages ago which doesn't seem to particularly bother her; neither, if memory serves, has she done anything noteworthy to get in the way thereof beyond her usual near ritualised flirting with the former.

Tolerably sure that ain't exactly textbook pathological narcissist behaviour...

I would argue that she simply doesn't view Mio as an actual barrier between her and Shizuka because as far as she's concerned she's the most important and desirable person in any space she occupies so of course Shizuka will continue to be available to her, extraneous romantic entanglements or no. Viewing Mio as a rival would be less narcissistic than dismissing her out of hand.

Well it's not like she appears to harbor any particular doubts about the inevitability of eventually regaining Shizuka's affection, though I sort of got the impression she'd started getting more proactive presumably in view of the fact that they're both third-years and it'd probably be a good idea to reach the finish line before graduation. But really, it can be argued she's just being consistent there; as most people's standard of fidelity apparently just... doesn't compute to her at all why then, within the framework of her own idiosyncratic valueset about such matters, should it bother her at all if Shizuka too has other dalliances?

Going off memory here since I CBA to hunt down all the relevant chapters for the sake of the argument but IIRC she mainly seemed to be mildly amused by the whole thing (and presumably also Shizu's unconvincing denials about it).

Yeah, mild amusement is how I remember her response to Mio as well. I don't think Kaoru has a "finish line" in mind as far as her and Shizuka go I think she just expects her to continue to be available to her until she gets bored of her too. I don't think she views Shizuka as particularly special outside of the fact that she's likely the first girl to dump her before she lost interest in them and that challenged her narcissism so now she needs to reassert her desirability. Mask-senpai's complete and utter rejection of her advances is probably gonna take priority over that now because it's a greater challenge to her self-image.

Yeah, mild amusement is how I remember her response to Mio as well. I don't think Kaoru has a "finish line" in mind as far as her and Shizuka go I think she just expects her to continue to be available to her until she gets bored of her too. I don't think she views Shizuka as particularly special outside of the fact that she's likely the first girl to dump her before she lost interest in them and that challenged her narcissism so now she needs to reassert her desirability. Mask-senpai's complete and utter rejection of her advances is probably gonna take priority over that now because it's a greater challenge to her self-image.

We know preciously little of pre-breakup Kaoru beyond a few glimpses in a rare few flashbacks and her relationship standards apparently being as abnormal then as they are today (such being the whole reason for the breakup in the first place); but given she went to the trouble of more or less reinventing herself in order to, and has put no small amount of sustained effort for years into, correcting what she quite erroneously but apparently very earnestly thinks is the personal shortcoming that led to the relationship failing I'd say she sees Shizuka as very special indeed.

You simply don't sink that much sustained effort into "winning back" someone if you don't attach great importance to them.

Mask-san is a bit anyone's guess since we haven't had a Kaoru chapter yet after she got totally broadsided in the face and hence have no real idea how she took that fusillade (other than presumably not as extremely as with Shizuka), but she did seem to be originally quite taken by not just her looks but also her various idiosyncrasies - "birds of a feather" in a certain sense I suppose, Kaoru herself hardly being what you'd call normal. That rejection was rather interesting in itself too; "Bou-chan" didn't just unequivocally turn down "onee-sama's" advances, she rather eloquently more or less declared that what the two of them seek in life are dramatically different "and ne'er the twain shall meet" so to speak - leaving Kaoru just standing there with a look that I believe is teknik'ly termed poleaxed.

I can certainly see her taking that as a challenge of sorts (once she gathers her wits anyway), all the moreso given her interest in the girl, but also not having the slightest idea where to even start.
...it's probably going to involve bothering dear lil' sis Honoka to get a better idea of what makes fujoshi tick, though. >_>

All of the above posts are true, but I still can't help liking Kaoru. I want to see more of her interacting with her sister and the fujoshi group.

Yeah, mild amusement is how I remember her response to Mio as well. I don't think Kaoru has a "finish line" in mind as far as her and Shizuka go I think she just expects her to continue to be available to her until she gets bored of her too. I don't think she views Shizuka as particularly special outside of the fact that she's likely the first girl to dump her before she lost interest in them and that challenged her narcissism so now she needs to reassert her desirability. Mask-senpai's complete and utter rejection of her advances is probably gonna take priority over that now because it's a greater challenge to her self-image.

You simply don't sink that much sustained effort into "winning back" someone if you don't attach great importance to them.

You do if you're a narcissist whose self image hinges on the belief that you're supremely desirable. I don't think she cares about Shizuka as a person I think she cares about her as a living representation of her failure as a seductress.

All of the above posts are true, but I still can't help liking Kaoru. I want to see more of her interacting with her sister and the fujoshi group.

I actually really enjoy those chapters they give a glimpse of her humanity and give me hope for like actual character development for her beyond the (kind of stale at this point) "cold player" archetype she fulfills.

last edited at Aug 10, 2019 7:54PM

What is interesting is that kaoru is really hypnotized by mask senpai ^^, she won't want to stay there despite the failure of her classic approach.
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/virgins_empire_ch113#9 Love at first sight ^^
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/virgins_empire_ch116#8
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/virgins_empire_ch116#13

Their shizuka noticed her well and made her a little jealous.
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/virgins_empire_ch117

So much has happened in the latest chapters that I almost forgot about braids-girl and her new friend. It gives me the warm fuzzies seeing them getting along so well.

I think Kaoru and Masked girl became my favorite ship already and I don't know why.

Because unlike the other potential couples, everything is currently opposing them? it's a bit of fire and ice and precisely the 2 characters are in the extreme in their personalities and must therefore perhaps evolve to leave "their world".