Forum › I'm a Commoner Living My Life Beguiling the Duke's Daughter discussion

Ava
joined Jul 16, 2013

Feels very much like your classic harem fantasy setting, just with yuri. I am all in for it!

Gt00pn-odpc
joined Sep 30, 2017

Kakashi If he was a girl and a lesbian...

I was thinking Taskmaster, but that works too.

Taskmaster can copy powers too?

joined May 10, 2021

Felt a bit too cliché, but 'twas also really good fun.
Will certainly keep reading this.
Thanks for the translation!

joined Jan 8, 2016

The maids were funny and won me over at the start.

Kinda ship the mom and her assistant or the tutor or whatever she is.

Thanks for the scanlation!

fsadddfsa Uploader
Collectible_dark_prince's_crown_icon
goon squad
joined Apr 11, 2021

Uh, how does one copy magic by looking. Like, I'd assume it's a mental process with no required actions but actions would help visualize this process. To copy that would be like knowing how a computer works by seeing it running.

Lumity%20kiss%203%20low%20byte
joined Aug 9, 2019

Ah, so it's gonna be a yuri harem then. Nice.

Compressjpg20220512_150101
joined Jan 22, 2022

interesting

Hogfather
Kouyuri
joined Jan 25, 2016

God damn I like where this is going

Suisoh1el
joined Jul 14, 2021

has this been ai upscaled? or am i going crazy? it just has the kinda weird smoothness ai upscaling brings

I don't think that it was, I worked with ai upscale things a couple years ago, it had some specific anomalies I can't really see there. Though, it was two years ago, and probably the technology developed quite a lot since then (just as all the other ai did).
The style is a bit weird, I agree, but at least their eyes are on the same level most of the time, so it's not that bad...

specifically, the first chapter has some weird artifacts that are telltale for AI and loses some of the details of the backgrounds, which is a shame. i assume it was just to bring up the resolution but it does remove some of the artists' original detail. its a bit distracting.

the second chapter is far far crisper so i assume they got better scans for that one and didnt need to upscale it.

androids do not bug also has the same look to it and is from the same scanlator so i assume it was also upscaled with AI - i understand the thought process but it is noticeable if you look for it and does ruin a bit of the art for me. looking forward to reading the rest of this series anyway :)

The screentones are dead and the credits page admits it's heavily processed to make editing easier. Not the raws' fault unless they bought the first chapter from Renta and Renta's trial preview is indicative of actual quality offered there (only their trial has screentones blurred out).
For comparison: official preview (grey button; open each image in a new tab and then remove "?fm=webp&q=60&w=1000" at the end of the address for full size)

35
joined Dec 24, 2019

oh wow yeah thats def upscaled art- sucks that it looks like they didnt have another option to go with but man does it not look right

Tumblr_6092d594b3a92296a4d35bac1b1a474c_c2d1131f_400
joined Apr 4, 2022

So bad Its good Harem speedrun mary sue protagonist beguiling multiple noble girls

Moddedpolka2
joined Oct 9, 2016

Uh, how does one copy magic by looking. Like, I'd assume it's a mental process with no required actions but actions would help visualize this process. To copy that would be like knowing how a computer works by seeing it running.

Eagle Eye -style abilities are fairly common in fantasy. How well it fits depends on how magic works. For example, if the caster modifies existing natural magic flows & only gifted will see those flows, then learning by copying based on photographic memory would be logical.

joined Apr 26, 2022

YEYY NEW COMIC

Unnamed
joined Jul 23, 2017

Uh, how does one copy magic by looking.

Goku was doing it before it was cool!

last edited at Dec 24, 2023 5:00AM

Tron-legacy
joined Dec 11, 2017

Uh, how does one copy magic by looking. Like, I'd assume it's a mental process with no required actions but actions would help visualize this process. To copy that would be like knowing how a computer works by seeing it running.

Eagle Eye -style abilities are fairly common in fantasy. How well it fits depends on how magic works. For example, if the caster modifies existing natural magic flows & only gifted will see those flows, then learning by copying based on photographic memory would be logical.

Yeah, it always puzzles me when people try to pick apart magic like it's something with rules that actually exist.

It's made up! Imaginary! There are no rules to follow! It works however the author wants to pretend it works! If the authors says she can learn magic by seeing it done, then she can.

The only time there can possibly be an issue is if the rules introduced by the author in that particular story are contradicted. And even then, there's a ton of wiggle room if the circumstances are even a bit unusual.

Like, if you don't think it's interesting for the protagonist to be hyper competent, that's fair, that's a reasonable opinion, so just say that instead of trying to imply that they've violated some inviolable logical principle with their imaginary story about people who can cast ice spells.

Internet_lied
joined Jul 15, 2016

Seeing the Reaction Guys meme in the manga with nobody commenting on them has made me feel my (Internet) age. C'mon guys, it's only been 20 years...

The maids were funny and won me over at the start.

Kinda ship the mom and her assistant or the tutor or whatever she is.

Adele looks and sounds like something of a spymaster for the Mayers, so setting Lilah up with Eva was probably her plan all along. She definitely ships it, in any case, and this page has made it pretty clear IMO that the whole hire-your-female-childhood-friend-to-take-care-of-you-forever setup is a crossgenerational thing for the women of the Mayers family. Basically, Adele has picked Lilah as her next gen successor in every sense.

last edited at Dec 24, 2023 6:45AM

Kiarabg
joined Sep 6, 2018

Hmmm. The first chapter was really good--I liked the idea of a girl with observational skills and a mysterious physical aptitude carving a place for herself in this noble has and deepening her relationship with its lady.

But now it seems to be signalling a girl-of-the-week type of deal where she's just cool and they fall for her. I'm really not as interested in that, especially since they seem to be giving her mary sue powers.

I'll keep an eye on this, but my expectations have dived from potential new fave to passable yuri pretty quickly here. Alas.

Devka
joined Nov 30, 2023

has this been ai upscaled? or am i going crazy? it just has the kinda weird smoothness ai upscaling brings

I don't think that it was, I worked with ai upscale things a couple years ago, it had some specific anomalies I can't really see there. Though, it was two years ago, and probably the technology developed quite a lot since then (just as all the other ai did).
The style is a bit weird, I agree, but at least their eyes are on the same level most of the time, so it's not that bad...

specifically, the first chapter has some weird artifacts that are telltale for AI and loses some of the details of the backgrounds, which is a shame. i assume it was just to bring up the resolution but it does remove some of the artists' original detail. its a bit distracting.

the second chapter is far far crisper so i assume they got better scans for that one and didnt need to upscale it.

androids do not bug also has the same look to it and is from the same scanlator so i assume it was also upscaled with AI - i understand the thought process but it is noticeable if you look for it and does ruin a bit of the art for me. looking forward to reading the rest of this series anyway :)

Ahhhh, that makes sense, I used only the second chapter to look for ai upscaled things, so that explains why I didn't see anything of the sort there...
And now that I reread the first chapter, it's DEFINITELY there, good old mashy trees and smoothed lines

last edited at Dec 25, 2023 4:42AM

joined Dec 22, 2023

why is she overpowered

Ad3popdgqsfc1
joined Apr 18, 2023

B E G U I L E D

Purple Library Guy
Kare%20kano%20joker
joined Mar 3, 2013

Uh, how does one copy magic by looking.

Sharingan!

Cglishmini
joined Apr 12, 2018

First chapter and the first half of the second got me interested, though gonna share the sentiment that the magic copying seemed kinda... ehhh... Especially after it was stressed earlier just how much training is usually required. Like, I can buy her being hypercompetent in a mundane way and the mystery being just what she went through before this to develop those skills, but I was hoping it would be a case of Badass Normal next to all these noble ladies and mages and stuff. Also wish we'd get to develop the other gal a bit better before leaping right into adding a third.

2
joined Apr 14, 2022

The only time there can possibly be an issue is if the rules introduced by the author in that particular story are contradicted. And even then, there's a ton of wiggle room if the circumstances are even a bit unusual.

Like, if you don't think it's interesting for the protagonist to be hyper competent, that's fair, that's a reasonable opinion, so just say that instead of trying to imply that they've violated some inviolable logical principle with their imaginary story about people who can cast ice spells.

I think the critique is valid.

The author literally did just establish that you aren't supposed to be able to copy magic by looking at it. She went out of her way to establish that it does in fact contradict this universe's rules, because contradicting universal rules is what makes the protagonist so Special and Cool and Unique.

Beyond that, even if rules tend to vary between fantasy settings, there's still a general central concept. You would feel deceived if The Hobbit spent the entire book talking up Smaug, a legendary dragon, and when they finally visited his lair, they discovered a rabid Chihauhau. You generally expect dragons to be large, powerful, reptilian, breathe fire, etcetera, etcetera. Individual traits can be broken and still remain recognisable as a dragon as long as the rest remain faithful, but if you forego too many iconic traits then your readers will feel like the thing you're telling them is a dragon is not a dragon, even though you say it is a dragon and it's your universe so Chihauhaus can be called legendary dragons if you want them to.

...that was really long-winded and kind of tangential to my point, but anyways, one of the things I'm getting at here is that the central concept of magic is that it's not physical. Regardless of story, it's the opposite of physical. You cannot see the process behind it, that is quite literally what makes it magic. Magic is virtually always associated with intelligence or spirit, things that are invisible to the naked eye. So no wonder it tickles somebody's suspension of disbelief wrong... how are you supposed to copy something by observation when you are incapable of observing somebody's mind or soul? If the setting's rule of magic was that ice magic depended on how well you yelled out the word "Freeze!", that would be one thing, very silly in its own way but at least observable. As it is this just looks like a nonsensical cheat skill to my eye.

(I want to go on record and state that the length of this reply is not proportional to how much I care to argue about this particular thing, but rather, suspension of disbelief and worldbuilding are very dear subjects to me and I simply enjoy thinking about them.)

Sdm%20ladies%20cheering
joined Apr 10, 2023

In Dead Mount Death Play (an extremely good manga/anime that is full of gays, you should give it a try if you haven't), whenever Corpse God casts any magic he forms magic circles in the air with symbols and such, all implied to be important to the effect. The season antagonist is someone who can learn extremely quickly from watching him work, and they show that by making that character's magic circles progressively get better drawn and more detailed as he repeatedly tries. That detail makes the ability make perfect sense and not feel like they're cheating or anything, without ever slowing down to explain a rigid system of magic.
This MC? "Oh she just did it, don't worry about how it's just cuz she's so cool and strong". That's a lot less satisfying, especially when it's our protagonist and not an antagonist we're establishing as threatening. Unlike that antagonist, this MC apparently doesn't even need to practice to nail it, she can just Kirby up someone's lifetime of practice and talent through her eyeballs.

last edited at Dec 28, 2023 10:29AM

Surprise(2)
joined Jun 17, 2021

Can't wait till we're a few more chapters into this and lose the "I'm gonna drop this" crowd. Like, heck, OP male protags with harems are dime-a-dozen, but yuri has to be some kind of masterpiece to be allowed to exist?

I'm all for being like "I'm not into this because of this and that reason", but since when has "I'm dropping this if it doesn't improve to match my sensibilities" ever added to a discussion.
I always want to be "this isn't an airport, you don't have to announce your departure." Can't people keep that sentence to themselves, at the very least?

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