This story is filled with annoying stuff like husband hunting for status and profit, girls playing "love games" at an all girl school, and Nagisa's crappy taste in boyfriends. After Kirin-kun informed me that the story is going to spin its wheels for at least another 5 chapters, and still not guaranteed to have a satisfying ending, I'm not sure I can stick with it.

last edited at May 28, 2021 3:30AM

This was pretty sad...if you look at the chat log, you can also see that MC has tried to keep in touch with the ex(?) more than once, but she never got a response back (just left on read).

But this is the issue. She made a choice. She chose to leave. She has no right to expect her ex to keep in contact or wait for her or whatever. No everyone likes long-distance relationships and the MC should respect that.

That's not Fair! Expecting your high school lover to throw away their plans, for the future just to stay close is unreasonable. It's asking them to choose between you and their passions and dreams. If you really love them you would stand by their side, figuratively. Long distance relationships are hard but doabl. It should only be for a few years, and there is aways holidays and breaks. Besides now more than ever it's easy to stay in touch, just ask anyone who lived through the year 2020 lol.

It seems to me that in manga, there is nothing between kissing and sex. I mean they act like the concept of "second base" and "third base" doesn't exist in Japan. When I was in high school I never got to "round home".

Yay! I think I understand!

Girl meets girl.
The girls fall in love over time. (I got that from the changing of their uniforms, from winter to summer, and back again. I was especially proud of myself for that observation.)
Girl decides to go away for college.
Girls break up.
Girl leaves for college heartbroken, because girl didn't show to say goodbye.
Girl hid at station because facing college girl was too painful.
Girl comes back from college a woman, but still a little sad.
Girl came to see college girl return but is hiding because she is nervous college girl won't want to see her.
(Wishful thinking) Girl finds courage to go to college Girl
(More wishful thinking) Girls now adults will reunite and rekindle romance.
HAPPY ENDING!

Did I get it? Is that right?

last edited at May 24, 2021 2:38AM

I think a lot of people are forgetting how sharp-edged a Takemiya Jin story can be.

She’s done her share of fluff, sure, but when I see the word “Soulmates” in one of her stories I’m not surprised when there’s a dark twist to it.

It's not just a dark twist, it's a last minute twist that comes completely out of left field and drives the whole story off a cliff.

Oh, face it, johnb—it looked liked the story was going to deliver the fuzzy-wuzzy feels you ordered, and then it left you on your doorstep yelling, “These aren’t the fuzzy-wuzzy feels I ordered!”

Or am I wrong?

Mostly I feel that the story didn't earn it. Megu got a whiff of pheromones she thought came from to the vice president then latched on declaring she's her soulmate. Megu rushed the vice president into that weird bite commitment thing, which I gathered is the equivalent of a teenager proposing marriage to the first person they fell in love with, after just a couple dates. Only to find out that the pheromones were really from the vice president's sister and the whole thing was based on a misunderstanding. As Megu stood there and swore an oath to defy biology for the vice president all I could hear in my head was Meatloaf's Paradise by the Dashboard Light.
Megu's choices were to stay with the girl she rushed into a commitment with, while her true soulmate was right there tantalizingly just out of reach, or give into biology, and break the heart of the girl she had just built up, reassuring her that she was a good enough alpha for her. Talk about a no win scenario.
If Takemiya Jin wanted to do this right, she should have built up Megu and the vice president's relationship. I mean really show me that Megu had more of a reason to fight her instincts and stand by the vice president than a misunderstanding and the heady high of a teenager's first crush.

[EDIT]: I guess what I'm basicly saying is that I didn't think Magu and the vice president rushing into a life long commitment was a good idea to begin with. They're freckin high schoolers damnit

last edited at May 20, 2021 4:41PM

I think a lot of people are forgetting how sharp-edged a Takemiya Jin story can be.

She’s done her share of fluff, sure, but when I see the word “Soulmates” in one of her stories I’m not surprised when there’s a dark twist to it.

It's not just a dark twist, it's a last minute twist that comes completely out of left field and drives the whole story off a cliff.

I'll never understand the whole, I'm not good enough to be with this person, crap. It's like just being me is an affront to people. WELL FUCK THAT SHIT!!!

last edited at May 19, 2021 8:23PM

Just a married yuri couple being lovey dovey with each other. A yuri balm for the soul.

[EDIT]: Oh no it's totally going be about Nao becoming a suuogate mother figure for Haraka while fighting off Haraka's misguided sexual advances isn't it.

I don't think we need to go quite so far, but I have a strong feeling that there will be some drama to resolve with the family (art and plot strongly hint at it) and I don't see Nao successfully fending off Haruka's advances.

I mean, if you're gonna play the drama buildup card this hard in the first chapter, you gotta follow through with it and make it a relevent point of plot and character development at least. I haven't read the original release but my guess would be: Haruka convinces/blackmails Nao into letting her stay as a runaway from home, comedy ensues as their living habits clash and they struggle to maintain their elder-junior-relationship while slowly (?) falling in love with one another. Ultimately they'll be a good influence on each other and whether they end up together or go their separate ways after growing as persons is entirely up to the author.

[Edit: doesn't have to be a really big plot point, though. A bit of initial drama about her running away, her "family" finding out and settling for her living with a "responsible person" (teacher) instead would do for a while. One less mouth to feed, and the personal conflicts of that dynamic can flare up occasionally.]

Honestly I'll be happy if the story keeps the drama down and doesn't rely on Nao trying to avoid the temptation of Haraka's advances for comedy. I'm pretty tired of the sexually naive adult flustered by the precocious teen trope.

Also curious how much of a double meaning was intended to Haruka's "Help me!", because I'm not entirely sure she was just referring to helping her sell Manga...

It all seems rather predictable, but that's fine, I'm game anyway. [edit: Maybe "well foreshadowed" rather than "predictable"?]

I hope it doesn't go too deep into the double meaning of "Help me!" I dont want it to turn out that Haraka's home life has turned her into an emotional mess that Nao has to fix by being a surrogate mother figure, while fighting off Haraka's misguided sexual advances. Like that one series, The Rain and the Other Side of You. The story doesn't have aDrama tag and I want it to stay that way. I'm looking forward to a lighthearted yuri comedy about a student and a teacher having a romantic relationship on the DL.

[EDIT]: Oh no it's totally going be about Nao becoming a suuogate mother figure for Haraka while fighting off Haraka's misguided sexual advances isn't it.

last edited at May 19, 2021 5:39PM

Excellent start. I doubt anything she may imagine happened yet, though, seeing how they're still in their underwear.

You yuri pigs! :D

[EDIT]: Given manga's long history of sex fakeouts, there will probably be a weird, but totaly innocent explanation. Like Nao is super weak to alcohol, and she ended up accidently eating some rum candy, and got totaly smashed. Haraka had to help her home. Then Nao either threw up, or spilled something on both their clothes, Haraka naturally had to strip them both, to wash the clothes. Then with no clothes to wear Haraka obviously had to stay the night.

I expect Nao drinking too much to be true, yes, based on her headache, but as for the rest, seeing how Haruka had already packed her bags earlier to leave home, she likely needed a place to stay in any case and either used the chance or was offered the help by Nao. Probably did have to help Nao home, yes, but I expect she simply helped her to bed, no need to have thrown up or spilled anything. Well, predictions are just that, we'll see what's true the next time...

I was more setting a rediculious scenario, to poke a little fun at manga tropes than making a prediction. Lol

last edited at May 19, 2021 11:59AM

johnb posted:

...
...
...
Well that was a fucked up ending.

I don' think so.

It was a twist, but it doesn't preclude that she will succumb.

It was great Takemiya, as usual.

Fight your destiny!

I get it the fight your destiny stuff, I guess. However it was needlessly cruel, to put a teenage girl in between, her first girlfriend, and her biological soulmate. Commit your life to the very first person you crushed on in highschool, and spend the rest of your life fighting the nigh uncontrollable urge to be with your soulmate, or give in to biology and cruelly break the heart of someone you love, with her sister to boot.
If the story was about fight your destiny. I think it could have done a far better job. First off it needed to be longer. A complete series, or at least a couple chapters longer. It should have taken time to build the relationship, between Megu and the vice president. Make the reader feel like it was worth a lifetime of fighting off the siren call of biology. As it is now, it feels like Megu is rushing into this bite commitment thing. Hell I would object to the young couple rushing into it without the complication of the soulmate thing.
The second off, I think it shouldn't have ended in a cliffhanger. The story should have set up a climatic moment where Megu fights off the urge and learns that her love gives her the willpower to push it aside once and for all. True love conquers all, kind of thing.

So either Nao went drinking with Haraka, or Haraka ruffied Nao?

It was stated that they went to celebrate together. Nobody got drugged, please let's not go there.

So the preferable alternative is, a teacher took a high school student drinking, then, apparently, had sex with her???

[EDIT]: Given manga's long history of sex fakeouts, there will probably be a weird, but totaly innocent explanation. Like Nao is super weak to alcohol, and she ended up accidently eating some rum candy, and got totaly smashed. Haraka had to help her home. Then Nao either threw up, or spilled something on both their clothes, Haraka naturally had to strip them both, to wash the clothes. Then with no clothes to wear Haraka obviously had to stay the night.

last edited at May 19, 2021 1:47AM

...
...
...
Well that was a fucked up ending.

last edited at May 19, 2021 1:14AM

So either Nao went drinking with Haraka, or Haraka ruffied Nao?

I've never heard anyone talk about faces on kneecaps before, that sounds like the basis for a, shoe string budget, syfy channel, horror movie, with some washed up former child actor in the lead role.

I would like to give kudos, to that joint kiss joke at the end. As a big fan of the groaner, that one was a doozy.

last edited at May 17, 2021 5:08AM

Can anyone tell me how to create posts with credited quotes from other posts?

Need to use this userscript

Thanks a bunch.

Polite request

Take your problems with ABO to a thread about ABO and not into stories that have ABO as part of the theme.

I'd rather read what your takes are about the story and how the ABO is used here than your opinion about ABO.

That seems kind of tall order, because readers feelings for this story would be inexorably leaked with their feelings about the ABO.
For me I don't think I like the whole ABO thing. It seems to be applying our two gender sensibilities to a world where that would be meaningless. Also I stopped fantisizing about girls going into heat and uncontrollably craving sex, when I was 14.
For the story itself, it's cute so far. I'm looking forward to the next part, but nothing in the story itself struck me as comment worthy, outside the ABO thing.

You're still commenting on the story. There were literally comments here that were nothing but "I hate omegaverse".

Fair enough.

last edited at May 16, 2021 8:49PM

Can anyone tell me how to create posts with credited quotes from other posts?

Polite request

Take your problems with ABO to a thread about ABO and not into stories that have ABO as part of the theme.

I'd rather read what your takes are about the story and how the ABO is used here than your opinion about ABO.

That seems kind of tall order, because readers feelings for this story would be inexorably linked with their feelings about the ABO.
For me I don't think I like the whole ABO thing. It seems to be applying our two gender sensibilities to a world where that would be meaningless. Also I stopped fantisizing about girls going into heat and uncontrollably craving sex, when I was 14.
For the story itself, it's cute so far. I'm looking forward to the next part, but nothing in the story itself struck me as comment worthy, outside the ABO thing.

last edited at May 16, 2021 8:56PM

I really don't get the whole omegaverse thing. There seems to be 6 genders, but 2 of the 6 are hermaphrodites? Is that right? I think this calls for one of those flow charts manga artist sometimes use to show relationships between character.
It seems a long way to go to creat a world where "same sex" pairings can become proper couples in society. I think I like unisex yuri better. Yes sir give me good old fashion 404 men not found yuri any day.

I found it weird, that in a world where there are six genders, all girl schools, and the concept of "yuri" are stil a thing.

last edited at May 16, 2021 4:51AM

I don't get why people are talking about Sumire suddenly aging. Manga artist do that
cute childification thing all of the time. I think it's called chibi style or something.

Yes I know, we're just being silly.

Thought so. It just seemed weird to me, because I didnt even notice it until I read the message board. I had to reread the chapter to figure out what all the fuss was about.

I don't get why people are talking about Sumire suddenly aging. Manga artist do that
cute childification thing all of the time. I think it's called chibi style or something.

Onee-chan: What's this...? Sumire's saliva is mixing with the water...
Me: WELL DUH!

I seriously can't tell if this was a sad ending, or a hopeful door to a new beginning. I'm a stupid american, damnit! I need to be spoon fed a happy Hollywood ending, with all plot threads wrapped up in a neat little bow, or I just can't deal!

last edited at May 10, 2021 3:12AM