Forum › Posts by macfluffers

Screenshot%202018-12-25%20at%2001.01.20
joined Jul 22, 2017

To my knowledge, there are very few serialized manga that actively discuss gender and sexuality, which is a deep and complex topic, so I'm a little confused about calling it immature. Some aspects may be cliche, and if there were a greater canon of transgender manga out there then I'd concede it, but it's also going into uncharted territory. The confusion in this very thread regarding agender identity and socialization is evidence of that.

Also, we're only 8 chapters in, and the manga has already discussed NB-phobia from within the queer community, internalized cissexism and homophobia, dealing with heterosexist/cissexist friends, and social isolation caused by cisnormativity. These are heavy topics, and I'm glad someone's creating a work that deals with them in an optimistic light.

Yeah the diversity of gender stuff is a little contrived, but so is the Breakfast Club for having characters from different cliques, or how characters in stories usually don't have the same first name, or any of the other coincidences that authors use to help tell the story. Having a diverse cast helps explore different topics, so that's not a weakness, it's a feature.

That said, I'm transgender so I'm obviously biased, but I hope I make sense.

Screenshot%202018-12-25%20at%2001.01.20
joined Jul 22, 2017

I can't say I'm thrilled about hopping back and forth in time. It feels like it'll get confusing soon.

macfluffers
Earth Girls discussion 03 Jan 21:27
Screenshot%202018-12-25%20at%2001.01.20
joined Jul 22, 2017

jesus christ i can't hold it together with that last page

Screenshot%202018-12-25%20at%2001.01.20
joined Jul 22, 2017

I'm pretty sure that's the end, right? Its status should probably be changed to "Completed".

That ending definitely took me by surprise. It definitely felt super rushed. I didn't hate it though...

Rikako was definitely given the short end of the stick. To be honest, her entire character could have been excised from the story and nothing would have changed.

macfluffers
Earth Girls discussion 30 Dec 00:13
Screenshot%202018-12-25%20at%2001.01.20
joined Jul 22, 2017

Regarding the world building:

For what it's worth, without large scale civilization, precious gems and similar resources wouldn't be valuable enough to risk the lives of your community's small number of able-bodied warriors, especially when you could instead have them hunt. So some of their precious resources would simply not be worth the investment.

Inter-communal conflict in sustenance-level societies is exaggerated--warfare is costly. Obviously it can happen, but it seems the village is too far from other communities for it to be likely. The archaeological record seems to suggest that inter-community violence only becomes regular when resources are scarce and the communities are close enough to each other. With natural fortifications and distance between themselves and other communities, the yuri village is safe. Another village forming a warband and marching them over is basically requiring them to go without hunters for a few weeks.

Despite the fact that resources were stretched thin, if they made it to adulthood, people tended to live decently long lives if they were free from human violence, since humans have few if no predators and migration didn't happen enough that people would be introduced to foreign pathogens. (That said, child mortality was through the roof.)

While the story is very obviously fantasy, the idea of a peaceful hamlet living in a nice place during the stone age isn't all that unrealistic. Things like the quality of their clothing and their highly sedentary lifestyle though...

Screenshot%202018-12-25%20at%2001.01.20
joined Jul 22, 2017

I love how seriously this takes genderfeels of all sorts. I definitely feel empathy for both Mei and Mogu, and the other characters are great too. Given the way Childhood Friend has acted, I'm actually optimistic--everyone at the cafe is accepting and supportive, if confused (but acting in good faith). So I feel like what's going to happen is the conflict between inclusive supportive thinking and reactionary cishet-normative thinking.

PS - Local trans pal here. Maybe I can clear up some of the confusion some people have regarding Mogu's relationship with gender.

Part of the agender experience is not wanting to be assigned, which makes it really difficult because society is so binary. That's actually something I'm loving from this series: Mogu doesn't dress femininely because they want to be perceived as female, it's because they're distancing themself from masculinity. And when they got Ten to design an outfit that's androgynous it made them really happy, and that's hard to find for AMAB NBs.

Another thing is with gender roles is that they're cultural. Japan has an interesting history with its relationship to gender and sexuality, but putting that aside, it's hard to declare yourself NB because the binary roles of male and female are so strict (not that its easy in other places). Like a lot of collectivist societies, Japan values categories, often to the detriment of people who are outliers (and all the people who would be outliers but are scared of marginalization).

And lastly, being agender doesn't mean "not caring about gender", it means refusal to be assigned with one. So, an agender person could very much care more about being assigned than a cis person. Of course, some agender people genuinely don't care what other people think, but humans are social creatures, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that many of them do care. It's especially a big deal when there is social pressure to behave one way or another.

last edited at Dec 28, 2018 1:12PM

macfluffers
Screenshot%202018-12-25%20at%2001.01.20
joined Jul 22, 2017

"I think I can love you as a friend"
dude you just came in his ass lmao

In all seriousness, exploration of gender and sexuality is good, and I appreciate that it wasn't like "it's hot bc dicks", but rather "an emotional connection is what's important in relationships, including physical ones"

Screenshot%202018-12-25%20at%2001.01.20
joined Jul 22, 2017

Are people reading different comics?? It's pretty obvious that this is very different from the one-shot, specifically in how Saeko feels about the relationship. Also, Saeko wasn't a bad person in the one-shot--both she and Miwa are simply having difficulties navigating a heteronormative world. Which is sort of the point: the theme of both the serial and one-shot is "queer dating is hard, so you have to do it in good faith".

PS - To be clear, what I mean wrt Saeko is that just because they broke up in the one-shot doesn't mean they'll break up in the serial. It's pretty clear that serial!Saeko is smitten with Miwa and has been holding back because she though Miwa was straight, compared to oneshot!Saeko who wanted to date Miwa out of mutual convenience (which isn't a criticism of Saeko, just an observation of different motivations).

last edited at Dec 24, 2018 1:06PM

macfluffers
Screenshot%202018-12-25%20at%2001.01.20
joined Jul 22, 2017

Hell yeah, I love used disposable cameras.

Screenshot%202018-12-25%20at%2001.01.20
joined Jul 22, 2017

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/11/30/national/osaka-probes-schools-hair-color-rules-lawsuit/

For what it's worth, it's not as widespread as it may seem, and things are improving. More and more educators in Japan are getting on page with what effective schooling looks like. Basically it's a tug-of-war between authoritarian pedagogy and educators who are like "uh...what if we tried treating students like people instead of machine parts in a factory"?

Screenshot%202018-12-25%20at%2001.01.20
joined Jul 22, 2017

the classic lesbian dating experience

macfluffers
Screenshot%202018-12-25%20at%2001.01.20
joined Jul 22, 2017

To be honest, I'm really not a fan of when people say things like "That an obvious twist!"

Because firstly, that's clearly subjective; what is obvious to someone isn't always going to be obvious to another person. Also, if you're on the lookout for twists then yeah, the clues are there. Noticing foreshadowing doesn't make you clever: if you're looking for it, you'll probably find it, and if you're not looking for it, then you're probably not going to see it. That's all it is. I think that the biggest issue I have with it is that how good a twist is should not be measured by how much of a surprise it is. After all, foreshadowing is a really interesting element in a story, and it helps tie the beginning and end of a plot together, but the existence of foreshadowing in a story makes the existence of the twist more obvious and also helps readers pin down exactly what it is.

An easy example are the many Sherlock Holmes short stories, where a clever reader could figure out who the culprit was before Holmes reveals it to the rest of the cast. It's all logical, so a solution to the thought puzzles in the stories could be figured out with enough patience. Naturally, this is a merit of the series, not a fault.

Anyway, I think the author did a very good job here by making it seem like Natsu is a part of the conversations around her when she really isn't. The fact that she is clearly unaware of her own identity was very interesting and added a layer of both tragedy and romance to her past-the-grave attachments to Chihiro.

Screenshot%202018-12-25%20at%2001.01.20
joined Jul 22, 2017

talk about a power play lol

that's some big gay energy right there

Screenshot%202018-12-25%20at%2001.01.20
joined Jul 22, 2017

so she's like some sort of lesbian chessmaster

macfluffers
Screenshot%202018-12-25%20at%2001.01.20
joined Jul 22, 2017

I mean, it's still yuri imo even if the protagonist doesn't enter a relationship with the subject of her interest. It's pretty clear that the protag is a wlw.

macfluffers
Screenshot%202018-12-25%20at%2001.01.20
joined Jul 22, 2017

Can somebody explain what the whole "apple" and "seal" nonsense was? The conclusion was just "okay, Tsuki and Sora met again, everything's good now"

Also the whole "Karin told Sora everything but she forgot because it was a lot to take in, but then she remembered it in a dream"? Like WOW that's uhhh definitely some quality storytelling right there

Honestly, this series was incredibly disappointing. On top of the 3deep5me symbolism, constant references to literature that only exists in the manga, and janky storytelling (like the whole dream thing), at first I was like "oh wow a story that's about an analogy to misogynistic violence" and then very quickly it shifted to "abusers are suffering too!" Fuuuuck offffffff

macfluffers
Pieta discussion 10 Jul 20:56
Screenshot%202018-12-25%20at%2001.01.20
joined Jul 22, 2017

"Fix her like a machine" indeed. It's interesting to see something that deals with how ableism manifests in East Asian cultures. The idea that people with mental illness can be permanently fixed is prevalent, and when reality looks different, there's a lot of doubling down (leading to claims that people do things "for attention", for example). There's also the matter of people caring more about appearances than mental health.

All in all, this might be one of the most mature comics I've ever read. I'm really glad I stumbled on this.

macfluffers
Screenshot%202018-12-25%20at%2001.01.20
joined Jul 22, 2017

You thought this was a yuri romance story? Surprise! It was actually a gun safety PSA.

macfluffers
Screenshot%202018-12-25%20at%2001.01.20
joined Jul 22, 2017

protect and cherish Robert at all costs

macfluffers
Screenshot%202018-12-25%20at%2001.01.20
joined Jul 22, 2017

"Bel" is also the Akkadian word for "master", so it's been used to refer to many Mesopotamian and Levantine gods; for example, there is a story of a false god named "Ba'al" in the Old Testament, most likely referring to Hadad. That said, it has also been used to refer to Yahweh. This is also where the name "Beelzebub" comes from (it literally mean "master of flies").

It could also be short for "Belial", a demon in the Ars Goetia with the rank of King (there are only ten kings, so this would make Bel one of the eleven strongest demons). Belial is also one of the many names of Satan.

So I think there's much more to suggest that Bell is a demon rather than an angel.