Herman Hesse is weirdly common in curriculums outside the US. I hear tell he's big with kpop too. Weird stuff. There's no way Tsuruda drives a BMW tho, right?

He’s a cultural touch point in general in Korea, particularly the novel Demian. There’s a reasonable essay about it here: https://lareviewofbooks.org/blog/the-korea-blog/koreans-love-herman-hesses-demian-western-novels/

At risk of accidentally summoning project moon sleepers, it’s one of the twelve works related to Limbus Company.

I would read Behive the Woosh.

Ok so lemme get this straight, they all went to a love hotel together, got buck naked and had a grand old time?

Sort of but not straight you got that wrong it’s pretty gay

Look given Sorawo social skills this is actually literally the least awkward thing that could possibly have happened

Honestly that seems like a really damn good girls night out to me.

I’m at chapter 7 of book 1 now, and omg it’s just so much gayer than the manga. Like so, so, so gay.

wait'll you get to the equivalent of manga chapter 17, it characterizes them completely differently in my opinion.

Indeed - the novel has so much more complexity, trauma, and difficulty with vulnerability, so the payoff is much greater. Manga had a weak ending, novel sticks the landing and kills it.

I finished novel 1, it was fantastic and I’m going to start sending folks the link. Thank you for the translation, girlswhokiss.

For the sake of my heart I am going to wait until novel 2 is done before reading it, I know I cannot deal with chapter by chapter ;)

Switchy

I’m not clear that there’s any cheating going here, or for that matter any lying…

People have different thresholds for what they consider cheating, so milage may vary, but I think almost anybody would classify trying to make out with another woman while married to a guy that is calling you qualifies.

I mean, It gets stopped before going too far, but this is definitely an attempt.

I don't think it's very contemptable, honestly, she and her husband are at least separated at this point, it's not like there's much trust being broken, and she's obviously struggling with emotions she hasn't fully processed. But I'd still call it cheating.

Hm, it honestly never crossed my mind that making out with someone could be cheating… but that does make sense when you explain it that way. Is more about how the mysterious husband would regard it.

I’m at chapter 7 of book 1 now, and omg it’s just so much gayer than the manga. Like so, so, so gay.

Like Terra basically views it as her job to undress Diode with her eyes and to have feelings.

last edited at Jun 1, 2025 5:02PM

Extremely aware his majesty is a girl

Sequel to:
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/when_your_night_ends

Ah, the good ol' "pretend to be lesbians so that everyone thinks you're not actually lesbian but actually you're super lesbian the whole time" manoeuvre. A classic. Works every time.

I wrote this as a joke then I actually thought about it some more and this is literally the plot of every single fake dating story, and I freaking love those, so now I need to reflect on some of the life choices I made to get to this moment in my life.

I say just roll with it.

If this is wrong I don’t wanna be right

I’m not clear that there’s any cheating going here, or for that matter any lying…

My money is that luxi explains that that is how things were but that things are changing. Author seems to like painful cliffhangers into people behaving reasonably.

Also how cute is top luxi??????

last edited at May 26, 2025 5:55PM

Yeah, other users had mentioned an interpretation that Shou is autistic early on around special interests, and I’d mentally put it into a “huh maybe interesting” sort of bucket. I think when I hear that type of theory around a character I tend to assume projection, or that the author won’t have the skill to do more than stereotype. (Personally, I am not autistic, but I can definitely project BPD onto characters who are probably just intended to be insecure.) But in the case of Shou and Blue Star I think it’s been consistently presented in nuanced ways from the start, and I trust the author’s intentionality and skill at this point to believe the interpretation. I like that it appears to be representation without explicit naming of a condition - it is realistic that Shou wouldn’t be diagnosed, she as an character isn’t “defined” by neurodivergence vs portraying it realistically, and it keeps the story from turning into something more reductive.

last edited at May 24, 2025 2:23PM

Yep, Shou getting turned in by Umi has continued to be a thing. Their living situation being what it is, they seem to have very little 1:1 time to talk and figure things out, so good for Shou to communicate clearly that she does like being touched towards the end.

Shou’s hypersensitivity to light caresses and the message chair and also her lack of sensitivity to temperature are again very consistent with the idea that she is autistic and has different ways of processing sensations. Maybe Umi should try a firm hug and deep pressure instead?

I would prefer either of Doctor_Hoot’s story beats, now that I really think about it. Liking something doesn’t mean is doesn’t have flaws.

In the spirit of “problematic fave”…

I think it’s entirely possible to have good intentions, to misunderstand signals, and to screw up consent. This is why a lot of our ingrained culture around consent treats it as a huge deal and that there’s no room for nuance. It doesn’t help that they have had messed up boundaries including around “no” since chapter 6 and that in chapter 8 Marika’s internal thoughts seem legit conflicted and confused. Ultimately what someone considers a violation is often decided after the fact… this is a good real life reason to not mess with the boundary, as after the fact accusations do happen in dating and D/s. On the receiving end it’s super possible to be like “I’m ok with this” and then later be like “I was really not ok with that” - sort of the opposite of what Marika does here? If someone decides after the fact that they weren’t actually ok with it, then it is in fact not consensual at all. Only do D/s with people you really trust and communicate well with, full stop, and that definitely isn’t where Marika and Aya are at with each other…

In this case Marika decides to participate and eventually with some enthusiasm. I am not saying this is a good thing or that it’s good writing, but I don’t think it’s especially jarring or inconsistent. I like the characters and complexity and story a lot, but acknowledge it’s problematic and can normalize coercion if read uncritically.

I don’t mind the drama, it’s low stakes relationship conflict. It’s good contrast to a lot of content that goes love = everything works out. Young people in a fairly new relationship - even after a couple of years - are still very much figuring things out even if they have good intentions and love and shared values.

Page 5 of this chapter is one of the gayest things I’ve ever read. This is my go to link now for explaining gayness to people.
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/make_it_real_ch11#5

I love this chapter, so it’s great to see it get a better translation here :)

Things that are just good in this chapter:
- Marika acknowledging internally that she is in love and the brat tamer dynamic being better communicated / clearly consensual
- Dealing with being gay and thoughts on coming out and hurtful assumptions in a really clear and direct way that a lot of yuri side steps
- Marika being a literal card carrying lesbian and her friends definitely being like “huh”… but she’s still not mentally grouping herself as a lesbian when thinking about lesbian spaces and support

A lot of Arioto isn’t realistic, but this pivot chapter is a wholesome, gentle, grounded, and funny development in Marika’s gradual process of understanding what it means to be queer.

Worth the read. Cute, wholesome, and funny.

Oh I was talking about the giant bullets. I am sorry, I did not mean to imply anything about tags.

last edited at May 15, 2025 9:53AM

The bullets travel parallel paths, smooth and rushing through their worlds, smashing into and harming the people in front of them. They are so similar - perhaps two parts of a whole. The slipstream vortexes left by their passages pull them towards each other, each to each, but it is unacknowledged and unspoken. No, their paths were laid out the moment they were fired down the slope and even if they yearn for each other they continue their separate courses, destructive and wild and unheralded.

This too is yuri.

Is there a good way to donate to or otherwise support the translation effort?

A Yuri Story About How My Classmate Whose Only Good Traits Are Her Excessively Pretty Face, Her Straightforward Emotional Honesty, and Her Lovely Boobs Gets Me to Fall in Love With Her, Admit It To Myself, Agree to Date Her, and Come Out to My Best Friend, OMG I’m Gay and We’re Not Totally Useless Is This Even a Manga?

last edited at May 12, 2025 8:10PM