That said, anybody who hasn't picked up on all the foreshadowing that Aki's temporarily embarrassed wolf royalty is reading a different manga than the one I've been reading.

If they need it spelled out, look to ch.23 p.17 top panel.

Yeah, that's a total normie family living in a total normie house.

Easy to forget in the time between chapters, but yeah, having just re-read this, it's one of the two moments I pointed out on the previous page that may indeed point in that direction, the other being the queen's reaction to her last name.

Wouldn't call it "all the foreshadowing", but there certainly are clues that support this reading.

I completely forgot about those scenes, I would definitely not call two or three panels scattered amongst 25 chapters to be "all the foreshadowing". That said, it is definitely there, and to be honest, I am actually kind of disappointed. It seems to me to be a rather cheap solution, "surprise, the servant turns out to be of royal bloodline, all problems solved in a single stroke".

In this case, since this storyworld doesn’t seem to have science babies, a female-female marriage would seem to be acceptable for the younger royals (helping to solidify the connections between two countries without endangering the lines of succession). The whole procreation aspect might well be ignored or handwaved away, though.

I expect it probably will be handwaved away. My reasoning is that Aki was worried back in chapter 13 that Kunya was gunning for Momo and treated such a possibility seriously, without any hint of heterosexual expectations being the norm. I doubt it would even make any difference if Momo was heir apparent, the story never actually focuses on sexuality or producing offspring.

But the queen and the dressmaker are going to keep living their happy forced heterosexual / single life, the queen possibly have yet more sex with the husband she didn't want because the kingdom needs more heirs.

As Lilisionnach pointed out, the dressmaker is not single, she is married herself and has a family of her own. I think that a lot of your misplaced anger stems from you reading your own ideas into the manga. For example, it seems to have never dawned on you that the Queen and the dressmaker might not even be in love anymore. Love is not eternal, love fades, people fall out of love, people fall in love again with somebody else, it happens every day all over the place.

At no point was the Queen, whose point of view we got in chapter 25, shown to be still carrying a torch for the dressmaker, instead what we got was some nostalgic reminiscence. And the dressmaker herself is not royalty, so presumably she was not arranged to marry anyone out of any sense of obligation, yet she married anyway at some point and had a family of her own - not only did it not occur to you that she might have simply fallen in love with someone else, but you were reading your own personal pet-peeves into the story so hard you did not even notice that the dressmaker was not, in fact, single.

So basically, what you are proposing is that two happy families (one of which is not even a product of an arranged marriage) should be split apart so that the Queen and the dressmaker can pursue romantic love from their teenage years that neither is shown to still actually harbour. The fact you want this to be a tragedy and that you would be more satisfied if they were depicted as being miserable and still pinning after one another is quite frankly more messed up than any arranged marriage shown in this manga.

Yet further problem you have is that you keep assigning some sort of moral messaging to the author using these tropes. This is just a tale of two lovers separating due to circumstances, both later finding happiness with other people while also remaining friends. It is a story, not an essay on morality.

This take might be what is most likely to happen, but doesn't really make sense. The whole counter-reaction argument is "this comp-het for the queen shouldn't go away, because she is happy in the end". After you trim down the why and how around it, it's all that remains : it happens, and the characters should accept it, and we should move on.

No, that is just one part of the counter-reaction. The other part, as I explained in my previous post, is that it is a political marriage. It is how politics is conducted when you base your setting on such social structures. Those political reasons for why the Queen married are still there. Your reasoning does not make sense within the presented setting. Like, at this point I have to ask you, did you pay any attention whatsoever to the actual worldbuilding across these 4 volumes?

So... if we take that at face value, why put so much emphasis on the fact that it will definitely not happen to Momo ? She is also royalty, she is no more in love with Aki than the queen and Juju were. Their situations are pretty much identical.

Except they are not. The dressmaker was a commoner, while Aki, as people brought up, is likely royalty herself. The author has consistently put emphasis on inequality between social classes as being the main and basically only obstacle.

Then the author inserted a character who was forced to give up on her lover and sexual preferences...

Did you ever consider the possibility that she might be bi? Honestly, I can not remember any characters here actually discussing sexuality, be it regarding Aki and Momo's relationship or the Queen going down the memory lane of her own marriage.

And if you disagree and think the author meant to show that this is not okay for the queen, please point where you saw that to me; showing her happiness with the current situation very strongly points in the other direction.

So, your own life is nothing but moral virtue? Everything that has happened to you and everything you ever did had a clear moral dimension? When bad things happened to you, you never once found some unforeseen happiness as a result? When good things happened to you it never led to something bad further down the line? I wish I had such a life, it sounds very straightforward and simple, good only ever results in good, bad in bad.

If you paid attention, you would have noticed that not only were both the Queen and her husband talking freely about how bad they felt initially about their own marriage, but Momo's father actually muses that it might be better if they did not do the same to their own daughter. In other words, they are not using the fact they ended up in a happy relationship as meaning that it would automatically play out like that for everyone.

When you think about it for even a moment, you realise that the author is not saying arranged marriages are fine and dandy, quite the opposite. I provided links for all of this in my first reply to you, so it was pointed out, you just chose to ignore it.

And as for the Queen's happiness, that is just how life turned out for her. It is not in any way, shape, or form a statement saying "arranged marriages lead to happiness".

I do not think the "comp-het is a bit sad but okay in the long run" is an acceptable statement for the author to make.

You are putting entirely too much emphasis on the het part. Again, at no point does sexuality get discussed here, all any characters bring up are differences in social classes. It was not the fact that the reindeer prince was a guy that was truly important here, but that he was royalty. When Princess Kunya expressed interest in Momo, Aki actually got worried, clearly indicating that Kunya had a chance as an actual suitor for Momo, despite being a girl. I do not think this setting cares all that much about gender or sexuality, as it is never brought up as a point in anything.

I mean, if the plot line end up with the queen and Juju actually being freed of their forced separation and having a chance to become lover again, I will happily take back my complaints

So, two adult women being "freed" from their families, whom they love and cherish (and bonus points for the dressmaker, who was not pressured by others into marriage and who thus likely married out of love) in order to pursue a romance they shared as teenagers, despite there being no indications they even have romantic feelings for one another in the present, would make you happily take your complaints back. As I said before, messed up. Seriously, seriously messed up.

They were both victims of their forced marriage and seem to be pretty much on the same line of thought, "you're a good person, but I don't feel love towards you", while also having the power to choose to divorce and marry out of love if they want to.

First of all, "I don't feel love towards you" is something you read into the story (kind of amazing, the sheer quantity of stuff you are projecting into all of this). What we were shown of the Queen and her husband points pretty clearly to them loving one another, even if it is not an earthshattering love that only Shakespeare could put into words.

Secondly, no, they do not have the power to choose to divorce and marry out of love if they want to. That is not how arranged political marriages work. That is not how politics within hereditary social structures works. That is not how this setting works. Marriages are done for political reasons in these societies, those political reasons do not go away once you succeed to the throne. Say a princess marries a prince to secure an alliance or prevent a war. Then she becomes queen and divorces him, because now she "has the power". What do you think happens next?

To illustrate this point, Mark Antony was married to Octavian's sister. It was a political marriage linking the two triumvirs. Mark Antony then allowed "power" to get to his head, divorced Octavian's sister, married Cleopatra and had children with her. Guess what pretext Octavian gave to the Senate and the Roman people for why war was needed. That Mark Antony divorced his Roman wife and then married a foreigner was a grave insult in the eyes of ordinary Romans and helped greatly for Octavian to justify going to war against Antony and Cleopatra.

Yikes, you're sure making a lot of excuses for a woman who has only shown same sex attraction being forced to marry a man and pro create with him. She is very clearly still in love with her dress maker, who she makes promise to stay beside her even in her old age. And while she does care for her husband, a nice man who she has shared the better half of her life with, there is no evidence that she romantically loves him or is attracted to him.

"She is very clearly still in love with her dress maker", I would like you to point me to the scene or scenes that very clearly show this. "...who she makes promise to stay beside her even in her old age", because only lovers do that. Friendship is for losers. As for her husband, there is also no evidence that she is not romantically interested or attracted to him. Those same scenes that you interpret as "caring" I interpret as "maybe even loving" and I would like to know what conclusive evidence could you provide me to change my mind.

Also, it is kind of amusing how so many people are making such a big deal out of sexuality, when this aspect was literally never brought up in the story. Personally, I think this was written as "everyone can be attracted to everyone", seeing that nobody bats so much as a single eyelash at two girls being together and foreign princesses are treated as serious contenders for Momo's hand.

The theme here is a woman being forced to marry a man and pro create with him with no option to say no. Anyone who is not opposed to that idea does have a lapse in ethical judgment, period. The question isn't whether the story endorses arranged marriage, because there is no message being conveyed aside from a telling of events. The question is whether or not you grieve for the queen who was forced into her relationship, animal girl or not. Seeing fictional characters in tragic situations and being unable to evoke emotions over them is definitely a sign of something wrong.

You were on such a good trail here with the part I bolded, but alas. The Queen is not miserable with her life (and you are right, there is no message in that, it is simply a telling of the events). The dressmaker is also happy, seeing that she is also married but without the whole "arranged" part. The two of them are close friends. Why in the world would we grieve if the characters themselves are not?? The tragic situation depicted here is in the distant past and everyone found some measure of happiness afterwards.

Also, no one here expressed support for arranged marriages, so I have no idea whom you are even addressing with your second sentence.

The theme is see the groundwork being layed out for, and the theme I see constantly with this trope, is the idea of the second generation being strong and brave enough to break out of the social confines that held their parents and find a greater happiness...
...where older generations look at younger generations as being outspoken and brave, and able to break down social structures that older people thought were concrete.

If Aki really turns out to be royalty herself, then no social structures will be broken down, in fact, it will be the epitome of maintaining status quo. I would actually prefer if she is not royalty, as that would produce exactly the kind of struggle you are talking about, which is something I would enjoy more.

All that nonsense about "forced marriage" I will not even touch upon, Blastaar and luinthoron covered that rather well.

Aaand as I scrolled further and further I basically gave up. Blastaar addressed most of the points quite well anyway, so I will quit the topic of the arranged marriage now. It is abundantly clear that no matter how many times one points out the gaping flaws in the arguments of the complainers, they just come back and repeat their original points almost verbatim.

In short, no, the author was not making any sort of a positive message about arranged marriages (if anything, the Queen and her husband being so scared when they were engaged and the fact the husband is openly musing about not subjecting their daughter to that same practice would indicate the message about arranged marriages, if there is any to be found, is actually negative, but I guess unless printed out in bold all-caps it will go completely over the heads of some people). These specific characters finding some measure of happiness in this specific example are not an endorsement of the practice of arranged marriages, it is just a story.

As a side note, I got desensitised to the word "tragedy" after reading it so many times during this discussion. If a broken teenage romance that people involved have actually managed to move forward from is your definition of a "tragedy", then you must live one hell of a sheltered life.

last edited at Feb 17, 2023 4:57AM

Those doujins and magazines also are produced solely in Japanese, with no way for non-Japanese-speaking individuals to read them even if they were to jump through the hoops to obtain them. We're talking about an artist who specifically wrote in English to please not repost their work. I also think it seems extremely disrespectful to ignore their request.

Then your argument should be about sales and royalties, not respect or disrespect. The only reason the site is not flooded with takedown request from Japanese artists without English releases is because they are unaware of its existence. The moment they become aware, they do what Nekomura just did. Fact is, you are disrespecting those same Japanese artists just as much, you are only using the language barrier as a thin excuse. The vast majority of those artists are decidedly not fine with sites such as Dynasty hosting their art, regardless of the availability or lack thereof of official English releases of their works. If it is really about respecting them, you should not be on a pirate site to begin with.

last edited at Feb 14, 2023 12:59PM

A lot of websites like these rely on legal loopholes or specific interpretations of local law in order to be left alone by governments. Kind of like AO3 and the whole concept of "transformative works".

Fanfiction is fundamentally different than manga scanlation, though. The equivalent to scanlation in this case would be taking a book, The Hobbit for example, and making an unlicensed translation rather than any kind of a fan work based on the characters or the setting. There are many who argue that fanfiction is illegal anyway, as it is using copyrighted characters and settings, but it is certainly a more grey area than just outright making a 1-on-1 translation of the original work into a different language.

I do not know of any scanlated manga site that could be said operates legally, even in some grey sense. You can have a legally scanlated manga, though, if the author gives you permission (it is the author who is the important factor here, as in Japan the authors generally keep copyright and do not relinquish it to publishers), and there are examples even on this site of such cases, but I do not know of a dedicated website that hosts solely such scanlations.

Since Dynasty has a general rule of taking down works licensed for English language release, I wondered whether this might be the case here.

This is done to encourage the purchase of legal copies, in order to support the authors (as they generally get royalties on sales - not much, mind you, but something nonetheless). And even then, this rule is not strictly enforced, you will find plenty of licensed works that are still on Dynasty, they generally stay here unless directly DMCA'ed.

It is essentially a nicety, rather than being done for any legal reasons. Whether manga is licensed in English or not is generally irrelevant in regards to the illegality of scanlation. And mind you, this is something that people should be kept aware of, as many incidents were had over western fans openly posting on social media about scanlated manga they are following, leading to DMCA's when authors discover such tweets (which is also what happened in this particular case). Be smart, people.

Anyone know how to block certain tags so that don’t show up in searches? Reading all the comments and I guess admin is just going to let hetero stuff be uploaded here? Thought that kinda defeated the purpose but whatever. So can I filter the tags/ searches somehow?

For someone who is on the site since 2014 you seem strangely ignorant of the fact that Dynasty always hosted het and was never a yuri exclusive site, so the "purpose" you are talking about never existed but whatever. You have the option to blacklist tags under Manage Profile.

Edit: Never mind, I checked your (thankfully) small post history, I can see you never read these replies and just complain for complaining's sake.

last edited at Feb 8, 2023 2:51AM

I would suggest downloading while you still can. While most of this stuff can be found elsewhere on the internet, some things are solely on Dynasty (like Akaga Short Comic).

Not sure how the rules apply here (or the law, for that matter).

How the law applies to a manga pirate site?? As for the rules, as BlueDsc said, Dynasty honours takedown requests without much issue.

AngelsDoNotCry posted:

Personally don't really understand the need for the "cancer plot point" but hoping she beats it and get to live out her life.

Also, obligatory Fuck Cancer.

The "cancer plot point" is to give her an impetus and the motivation to go for broke.

"If I don't do it now, I may never be able to".

It actually explained so much, as I was reading the beginning I kept wondering why she went for such a skimpy outfit when she was clearly uncomfortable with it. I kept wondering why not start with something less revealing and then just gradually work your way through different fashions if you feel like it. Also "based on true events", so the story elements may not have been chosen entirely for plot convenience.

Edit: I also completely... well, I read the title but for some reason the word "cancer" did not register... hence my puzzlement on why she was pushing herself.

last edited at Feb 6, 2023 3:30PM

i miss the artist's green tea bitch series, why suddenly no chapters?

Tragically axed due to unspecified personal circumstances

I believe the scanlators said this was not the case. The series was originally planned by the author to only run for roughly a year, if memory serves, and she always intended to end it more or less the way she did. It was just that she posted on her social media about some personal issues unrelated to anything here which simply coincided with the manhua ending anyway. Fans on Dynasty then took that coincidence and made wrong assumptions. The series was not axed.

According to Shou's fanbox, chapter 46 will be the end. Savour these last few chapters, folks.

I cannot find the info from fanbox, link please? or you have to be a patron on a certain level?

https://akilim85000.fanbox.cc/posts/5131345 I am told this is the post, though you have to be a patron in order to actually see it.

According to Shou's fanbox, chapter 46 will be the end. Savour these last few chapters, folks. Regarding the plot thus far, I must confess, I am not a fan of the whole "can not bring myself to kill her" shtick that Aria has for Al-Kamil. We are talking about someone who not only killed countless innocent humans across thousands of years, but also literally eradicated Aria's entire tribe, wiping out everyone she cared about for most of her existence. I just can not find it believable that Aria would still hold enough warmth in her heart for Al-Kamil to be literally incapable of killing her at this point.

The fact that the queen was forced to break up her relationship with the tailor was a tragedy, but wishing to have her current relationship crumble yet again seems counterproductive to me. That would just be yet another tragedy and wouldn't actually "fix" anything.

Because, in the current state, the author is making a statement that a good story (in the happy romance genre at least, as drama and tragedies would follow different rules) can use forced marriage (with all the heteronormativity associated, and the dark implications of being forced to bear someone's children without having a say) and it is perfectly fine for the characters to follow that plot line. It's also directly supporting that forcing someone to break up with their beloved and become the wife and mate of someone they never met is fine, "as long as they are happy in the end".

You seem to not understand that an author using certain tropes in fiction does not mean they support those same tropes in real life. There is no "statement" here.

You also completely missed the point, it is not about gender, it is about social class. Kunya was also interested in Momo and it was never implied that such a relationship would have been impossible. Note that in the linked scene Aki at no point thinks that Kunya does not have a chance on account of being a woman. And immediately afterwards when Kunya confronts Aki over the relationship between Aki and Momo, she lists Aki's social status as the obstacle, the fact Aki is a girl is not brought up at all.

When the Queen catches her daughter with Aki her only source of worry is the disparity between their status. "A love between social standings", I do not know how the author could have made it any clearer.

Honestly, I find the inclusion, and in particular portraying in a good light, of that situation highly problematic and disturbing. That's why I'm suggesting a divorce plot direction would correct this - it doesn't have to be a tragedy, just both characters agreeing that their marriage was not out of love but political interests, and that they would both be happier if they separated and were free to pursue their true love. Considering the queen and the dressmaker still see each other and, indeed, seem to still love each other, that would be a perfect solution to get a happy ending for everyone in-universe; while narratively, the story would distance itself from the positive portrayal of forced marriage, without shifting its tone by hurting the characters.

You also misread the portrayal of the arranged marriage in this specific example. Both the Queen and her husband express they were scared of marrying a stranger chosen for them by their parents. It is portrayed more like a "thank gods it turned out not horrible in the end". Plus, Momo's father is openly musing whether they should maybe not force an arranged marriage on their own daughter. In other words, not only is the "statement" you imagined the author made about the "positivity" of arranged marriages nowhere to be found, but what is implied in the text is actually exactly the opposite.

If anything, despite the Queen being adamant about Momo doing her duty towards the realm, the backstory we were now provided is actually more likely to make her sympathetic towards her daughter's love interest.

You also seem to have serious issues about understanding the setting itself. "...both characters agreeing that their marriage was not out of love but political interests, and that they would both be happier if they separated and were free to pursue their true love." Even though this is a fantasy setting, it operates on pretty clearly established principles of hereditary social classes and monarchical governance. I hate to break it to you, but marriages under these circumstances are made for political interest, it is how politics is conducted when you have such social structures. It is the duty of royal children to secure the future of their country through marriage. "Pursuing their true love" could realistically lead to war.

In other words, your idea is unrealistic within the confines of this setting and clashes horribly with it, forcing decidedly modern concepts on a story set in markedly different times. I have no doubt that Momo and Aki will make their own relationship work, but they will obviously have to fight for it. Expecting not only that, but that every other character should now throw all logic that the setting is based on into the wind and just start divorcing willy-nilly is pushing it too far, though.

But as I said, I'm not holding out on hope. I feel that the author is making this situation seem okay, and that the queen will just continue to accept her role as a victim of abusive authority. I'd love to be proven wrong, obviously. But right now, it's making me very uncomfortable, and I'm actually considering whether I should support an author writing such stories, even if the rest of the story (e.g., regarding Momo) is happier.

You are reading this on a pirate site, I am fairly confident the author is not being supported by default.

last edited at Jan 26, 2023 11:42PM

Well, that felt incomplete... good art, though.

That argument does not work if they were comfortable with their previous gender as well.

I'd honestly be willing to consider these as falling under the umbrella of genderqueer, and thus trans, as well.

Fair enough. I worded my original post needlessly harshly, apologies for that. I still do not agree with your core argument, that genderbending and being trans is implicitly linked (and especially that this is categorical, as your wording suggests).

I think that the issue people have is that "genderbender" stories are treated as wholly separate from trans identity. It's treated as a fantastical or fetishistic thing, rather than a very grounded reality that many people experience.

You use the word "treated", but the thing is, many of these stories are written like that.

It comes across as something meant for cishet men to enjoy "safely," without having to consider any messy issues like gender identity or discrimination.

Again, the stories themselves more often that not do not consider these messy issues at all, so I do not understand why you see them as a "very grounded reality that many people experience". Looking at these works as escapism or wishful thinking (easy transitioning and no social discrimination) I get, but that does not equate to "grounded reality".

That's not to say people can't enjoy genderbender (as many trans people will tell you, it's super common to be drawn to GB stories long before being aware of their own transness), but I feel like the themes are inescapably trans no matter whether you use the term or not. And attempting to say it's somehow some separate, totally unrelated thing is at best tone-deaf and at worse active erasure of trans identity and perspectives.

And yet those same perspectives then lead to criticism like that expressed by SillieHonka, which ends with the conundrum of all of this being inescapably trans and yet at the same time not accurately representative of that same trans experience. My whole point is that this is an unfair criticism, faulting a work for something the work itself never intended to convey.

There was a reason why I mentioned futa in my first post, as it shares many of the same issues and arguments as this discussion. Some of these tropes are just that, tropes. As you yourself later wrote, being transgender is not a trope. Genderbending, on the other hand, is. It is a fictional device whose primary theme overlaps with the trans experience, but at the end of the day it is just a passing similarity.

To be honest, I think it's kind of obtuse to argue that genderbending -- someone's body changing to the other sex due to magic or fake science -- and transitioning -- someone deliberately changing their body's sex with real science -- are totally different and incomparable.

While not necessarily totally different, they are separate things in my opinion, as obtuse as it is. I just fail to see a meaningful connection between a deliberate action that comes with a plethora of emotional and psychological foundations, and a magical story device thrust upon a character by pure chance that more often than not comes with none of said foundations.

These concepts are very similar, a similarity that many genderbending manga themselves discuss and use.

I would actually be interested to see a genderbending manga that discusses and uses the similarity between its concept and the experiences of trans people. So far I have not read a single one which did that, thus the claim that "many" do it seems dubious at best from my perspective.

Now, I don't agree with the argument that manga like this are inherently cisnormative. This is fake science, we can pretend that (for example) the "genderbend disease" also changed Takkun's gender identity because it's all made up.

And the reason we have to resort to pretending in your example is because the manga does not address the issue of gender identity at all.

I actually think the genderbending trope can potentially be used for some interesting and nuanced explorations of gender identity, like in the excellent Ore Ga Watashi Ni Naru Made.

I agree, I can see it potentially being used that way. All I am saying is, it very rarely is in practice, and it is certainly not in this specific work. Most of Takkun's issues regarding the changed body are superficial and revolve around whether Roko still feels attraction.

Dam just found a gem and then found out it’s cut short! Hopefully it’ll resume one day

Unlikely, the cancellation was because of copyright concerns, as the images Shou traced were copyrighted. A small consolation is that the point at which the manga cuts off can sort of work as an ending, at least we were not left on a cliffhanger.

You do realize Genderbending is in itself a separate trope right? Genderbend and Trans can exist separately.

Technically they could exist separately, but in practice, by implication they don't. If the genderbent people in these stories don't transition back, they'd be confortable with their "new" gender -- hence they were trans before.

That argument does not work if they were comfortable with their previous gender as well. I know that you are a fan of the "death of the author" theory, but sometimes it seems to me you go into absurdity with it. Genderbend and Trans more often than not are separate, and not just technically. The vast majority of genderbending manga were not written with any serious thought about actual trans people, in the same way the vast majority of futa content is not representative (nor was it intended as such) of trans women.

While you as a reader are absolutely free to pencil in whatever impressions and implications you want into the story, I still think it is utterly pointless to do so in these cases, imposing an interpretation upon a work that was never intended or likely even thought about by the author. Extra points for pointlessness if you then go a step further and criticise a work for not being something it never intended to be in the first place, as SillieHonka did.

last edited at Jan 17, 2023 5:22PM

Can she vomit up different species ? Can she do whales? Octopus?squid? So many questions.

Considering that she ended up in a hospital with a dislocated jaw because she threw up a large carp, I imagine the results of her throwing up anything larger would be rather horrifying...

Guys just think about it, she kinda vomits the fish related to her feelings, so make her feel koi fish and then they're rich bc that fish is expensive af

That was actually my very first idea when I read the story. Fish in general can be pricey, and she can go somewhere inland where fresh fish needs refrigerated transport to even get there. She has no need for fishermen or for said transport, allowing her to undercut virtually all competition. The fish is still alive when she vomits it, and therefore fresh, and she vomits copious amounts as well. Basically, "free money" was my first impression.

The fish are a metaphor for social anxiety

I think that was just the case for the big carp that dislocated her jaw. When she confessed, it was a different species, whose Japanese pronunciation was a pun on "kissing" (plus, the fish literally kissed as well). It seems the various fish species represent different emotional states, social anxiety being just one of them. Note that she says people started avoiding her because of the fish vomiting, there are no indications she was a social outcast or that she was particularly anxious before this point.

I read it as a metaphor for being queer. Once she started vomiting fish, as in once she came out, people starting avoiding her. Tsucchi stays with her because vomiting fish, or being queer, doesn't bother her. Myaako thinks she might be cured of her fish vomiting, or queerness, if she kisses the person she likes. And in the end, it's not something that can be cured.

See also "Still Sick" for another work that compares queerness and sickness.

That is also a good explanation, I like it. Though, now I am kind of wishing we are all wrong and the author just wrote is as a what-the-fuck, would be kind of funny. "Huh, people see all these layers in my fish vomiting doujin..."

The fish are a metaphor for social anxiety

I think that was just the case for the big carp that dislocated her jaw. When she confessed, it was a different species, whose Japanese pronunciation was a pun on "kissing" (plus, the fish literally kissed as well). It seems the various fish species represent different emotional states, social anxiety being just one of them. Note that she says people started avoiding her because of the fish vomiting, there are no indications she was a social outcast or that she was particularly anxious before this point.

did i miss something it feels like mask totally changed how she regards kaoru out of no where

They interacted plenty, maybe you just missed those chapters? Their interactions are my favourite amongst all the pairings, so far Mask is the only person who turned out capable of bringing out a side of Kaoru that we do not normally see, blunt and dorky and almost childishly smug, often dropping the "gorgeous vamp" persona completely.

Mask too proved to be an exception, being apparently completely resilient to Kaoru's womanising ways and also giving as good as she gets when the two of them are trying to one-up each other. Watching them sarcastically spar and being smug when they think they scored over the other is a treat. And then there are moments where they have genuine heart-to-hearts.

Probably my favourite sequence with them is when Mask is doubting herself over her mangaka talents. In chapter 236 she actually goes to the library hoping to stumble upon Kaoru there, but does not find her. In the end she basically talks to herself while pretending to speak to Kaoru in what is essentially a moment of extreme emotional weakness - this was almost 30 chapters ago and is a pretty big indicator that Mask has positive feelings for Kaoru, even if she still verbally spars with her.

Then in chapter 249 they actually do end up having this conversation for real, after Kaoru catches Mask sleeping on the train and gets worried, accurately deducing the latter stayed up all night drawing manga, fuelled by her feelings of inferiority in regards to Onibi. Kaoru offers genuine praise, completely free of any seduction undertones, is blunt and even ends said praise by literally calling Mask an idiot. Mask, for her part, breaks down in tears.

Mask is also aware of Kaoru's reputation and nature (keep in mind that Mask is friends with Kaoru's sister), so if she decides to let Kaoru get close to her it will not be a decision made out of ignorance. I mean, in that same chapter 249, she actually decides to wait for Kaoru on the train station after the latter missed their stop and when the return train opens the doors to reveal that Kaoru passed the time on the ride back by flirting with some random grill, Mask gets instantly pissed and storms off.

Well, it doesn't help that Mask has a very peculiar way of speaking, reminiscent of very old Asian literature and characters

In Japanese she even uses a female pronoun from the Edo period. It is one of the reasons for why Shizuka considers her to be a weirdo, lol.

last edited at Jan 6, 2023 9:24AM

Agree, it seemed Al planned to get hurt so she would need to turn into a vampire. I'd just add that this is not a regular child way of thinking and acting. And since is just a manga with fictional characters, I can say this without being a psychiatrist: Al seems a psycho, and turning a psychopath into a vampire should also be a no no. And this adds another layer of tragedy to it all.

I disagree, I think it was exactly what a child would do. A mortal child surrounded by immortal beings, wishing to join them. It would be more surprising if she had the patience and foresight to know that waiting until she grows up is preferable.

Plus, as a child she would have a very loose grasp of her own mortality to begin with, coupled with the fact she was living surrounded by people who literally could not die and she knew she could join them; I can easily see a 9-year-old kid not making a big deal out of jumping off a cliff under such circumstances.

In fact, this might be the reason why she became a psychopath as a vampire. Aria and her entire posse act pretty immaturely and closer to what you would expect from their apparent age if they were mortal. I think it is pretty obvious that at least on some level they are mentally frozen in time (which would also explain why Aria's entire personality did not just collapse under the weight of four millennia of memories and boredom - she explicitly compares eternal life to boredom). Now imagine a literal child subjected to this.

Children do not have their personalities developed, they do not have emotional maturity or the feeling of right and wrong (there is a reason why kids can be so excessively cruel - they literally do not have a frame of reference for their actions until they are taught by adults). Al-Kamil was still in the middle of this process when she was turned, gods know what that meant for her psychological development, or if she would even be capable of having psychological development after that point.

Put it this way, even if literally nothing about her was said before now and this background story was the very first time she was mentioned, I would have alarm bells going off immediately just the same.

last edited at Nov 20, 2022 4:13PM

So how old is Aria exactly? I thought at some point she said she was born a few hundred years ago. Maybe I'm misremembering.

This page says 4000
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/vampeerz_ch38#26

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/vampeerz_ch31#12 When she first said it she was actually unsure if it was 4000 or 5000, lol. She had to use the fall of the Sumerian king Ibbi-Sin at the hands of the Elamites to jog her memory.

Eh, sometimes there is overlap.

In grad school, I had a friend who at the age of 21, was told "I'm sorry dear, you have to be at least 14 to volunteer at the library". And she wasn't medically unusual, just 5'0 or maybe even 5'2, and somehow looking youngish.

In the same period, my advisor's daughter regularly looked 4 years older than her age, to people. When she was 11 people guessed she was 15, when she was 13 people thought she was 17. Maybe 5'6, dressing more 'maturely' with European influence. Darker coloration, not sure if that affects people's perceptions.

A year ago I was rushed to a hospital and the nurse thought I was a minor (which means under the age of 18 here). I was 31. It happens, and it is not even that rare.

"Well, this could be fun, as long as the age gap isn't too- never mind."

Dynasty desperately needs a tag for stories that go beyond "age gap" to actual pedophilia. You can read what you want, but people should have a reliable way to avoid it

I've tried to suggest this before, but people didn't seem to like the idea. The argument being: most "Age Gap" stuff on the site involves a minor, so there's no point. Not a very convincing argument, since there's even a tag for lizards and several other rarely used joke tags... But what can you do.

In this case I wasn't that surprised due to the author's previous work, but I am a bit disappointed because it seemed cute until the last page.

You and the person you are responding to should really google what the word "pedophilia" actually means, as you are using it completely wrong. Maybe then you will also understand why your suggestion received pushback.

It's anyone who is currently paying taxes, or more specifically, pays for our public health care (which is usually taken care off for you if you're working or are assigned to some welfare system or w/e).

Not actually true, it is not taken care of for you if you are working. In fact, if you are working, that is literally the only instance where you do pay for it yourself. Every month a certain amount (not even necessarily a small amount either) is deducted from your paycheque in order to cover the mandatory government health insurance, this is usually done directly through your employer.

Also, in some countries (France, I believe), the amount you pay is proportional to your income, so the bigger the income, the bigger the fee you have to pay.

And it doesn't matter how much money you paid before that. You could be paying for 30 years in a row, without a fault, but if you happen to not have work this month and don't gain public health in any other way, sucks to be you, you'll be paying for everything.

I mean, "any other way" usually means simply registering as being currently unemployed. There are certain protected categories and these can vary between countries, but generally the elderly, the underaged, college students (primary and high school students are automatically covered under the "underaged" category), disabled people, people with very low income, and unemployed have their mandatory insurance covered fully by the state and do not pay for it at all.

Where taxes come into this is that you have certain products and services whose taxation goes largely, mostly, or even fully into funding the national health insurance (like tax on gambling in France, or tax on tobacco products and similar), and of course, whenever additional funds are required the state covers the bill, and the state is funded by taxes.

I am talking primarily about Europe here, and I believe so were you, so just clarifying these couple of points.

Everyone is talking about the hotel staff grill preferring non-tanned skin, yet my first impressions were "damn, parents keeping their child locked up in a windowless room for 18 years, how did she not straight up go clinically insane, this is pure abuse" and "wait, you will just causally shrug it off that she drugged the employee with sleeping pills in her drink". I realise that this story is not supposed to be taken too literally and that it is all basically a tortured metaphor, but I mean, it is a bit too tortured.