Yeah, as many people is saying I too felt like this chapter was kind of a deus ex machina device, I don't know how to solve the tension or don't want to step on the definitive line (yeap, this or that character is a lesbian) so I make them kiss as a joke to keep my readers happy and not bother the higher-ups. I know Kishi is a yuri author but this isn't serialized in a yuri magazine, hence, there's some stuff you can't show entirely so, welp.

Look, not every cutaway or offscreen tease is a result of censorship. Sometimes authors choose not to show something because they think it has better impact that way, or because they want to focus on the reaction, or some other aspect of the storytelling.

In this case, the comic literally shows two kisses right at the beginning, they're clearly allowed to show kisses. Kishi chose not to show most of the kisses because they're not relationship milestones. The kiss itself isn't meaningful, but the moment after the kiss says something about where everybody is.

Um what?? Did we just get confirmation of romantic kisses (not as a joke) from multiple duos that weren't "there" yet? Especially Nononon/Yumimi and Haruka/Kanae, we've been getting extremely slow but steady progress between those two pairings...Why am I even complaining when I've been waiting so long for those two couples to properly hook up lol

I mean, a lot of them would probably rationalize that they did it because of the talk about electric kisses going around, so it kind of is "as a joke". Yumimi specifically seems to have been specifically trying out the "electric" part, and is...disappointed? that it didn't work. (of course it also looks like she didn't tell Nononon about it in advance, so from her perspective she just got kissed out of nowhere by her crush. Full gay panic mode)

Also I'm pretty sure Haruka and Kanae have been there for awhile. Some of their development has been kinda subtextual, but they honestly seem like one of the most explicitly romantic pairings in the comic. I wonder how many of these are people "trying out the rumor" and how many are accidents that just happened. Obviously Ayano and Miyoshi discover it first, and Miyoshi probably told everybody.

Amusingly, I think my favorite story here is Ed dodging the bullet of almost mixing up his current beau with his ex. The anxiety is real.

Damn so Tianli deliberately outed her out of spite, yeesh. "She did better than me in school and the guy I liked wanted her contact info" is a pretty goddamn petty reason to betray a supposed best friend, yeah no shit Xingyuan isn't comfortable around her. I'm not sure how one even begins to make amends for doing that kind of evil on purpose, but Tianli barely even seems to have started beyond just putting herself in front of Xingyuan and hoping it just works somehow?? Just about the only hope for her I can imagine is one where she's still being dishonest: that text to Wang was phrased somewhat ambiguous and Xianyuan might not know it was an intentional act of spite. That would make Tianli an even worse person than how she appears after this chapter, though.
This context also highlights the importance of Xingyuan's relationship to Xiaoen, someone who's very open and uninhibited and an established adult who has basically no reason to ever be jealous of her. Xiaoen probably makes Xingyuan feel safe with all those character traits the other people around them criticize her for.

You've missed some subtext, and maybe some text there. I'm absolutely sure Tianli liked Xingyuan, not Wang. That "Why couldn't it be me" isn't about the guy, it's about her. She's sitting there thinking about how Xingyuan explicitly told her she wasn't interested in her romantically, and literally almost texted her "Why don't you care about me?" The girl has it bad, and not only is Xingyuan saying she isn't interested, she's becoming steadily more distant and distracted.

Xingyuan's getting more popular as she gets more successful, and it's distracting her from Tianli, who she takes for granted. Meanwhile Tianli is realizing that she likes Xingyuan and is hurt that she's becoming more distant while also taking opportunities away from her. All of that pain and jealousy and unrequited love overflowed until she did something she regretted.

Not saying it makes her okay, but it's not the kind of jealous spite you seem to think it is.

I'm also shipping Tianlii and Yunduo

Not me. I get why, Yunduo's pain is super relatable and I'd love to see her happy, but there just isn't anything there at this stage, and I'm not a fan of "pair the spares."

Oh, yes, I see now. When you say "pair the spare" it really sounds just...pitiful.
At least at this point of the story it would be as you say.
But this is slow burn romance, and I don't think appearance of Tianli serves only to resolve history between Xingyuan and her.
Indeed, I see her as potential partner of Yunduo (observe "the hint", Yunduo came to pick up Xiaoen, but Xingyuan refused to let her go. And Tianli is the one sitting in the car with Yunduo).

If Tianli and Yunduo have some future, it should develop slowly, not as "pair the spare" (at this moment, as you noticed).
If I get the story right, Tianli is here now because of business related thing? (please correct me if I got it wrong)
If I'm right, there's possibility that she will become regular citizen of Peachtown, and true future partner-prospect for Yunduo.
Maybe my shipping came too early at this point of the story, but I hope my explanation answers why (and I did not have in mind "pair the spare")

Yeah, I'm open to the idea that they could develop Tianli/Yunduo in a natural way if the story has enough time to do it. It's a common trope in fandoms to pair up characters in stories that are unattached, since they're already characters that the readers are interested in. I've seen stories that did that well, but I've also seen stories where characters that aren't really compatible are kinda shoehorned into an awkward pairing because they're "the ones that are left over."

(Sidelong glance at the Ranma fandom)

I don't think this author would do that carelessly, though. They seem like they've got a pretty deft touch.

last edited at Feb 12, 2024 2:35PM

Some preforeshadowing
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/my_dear_lass_ch08#5
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/my_dear_lass_ch31#3

Thanks for this, I'd forgotten some of the details. Man I despise her dad. Such a despicable piece of shit. I hate parents like this.

I'm also shipping Tianlii and Yunduo

Not me. I get why, Yunduo's pain is super relatable and I'd love to see her happy, but there just isn't anything there at this stage, and I'm not a fan of "pair the spares."

Well, nothing bad so far in their past, but something must have happened to cause this rift between them. Maybe Tianli's crush fell for Xingyuan instead?

From the way she's acting in the flashback and in the present, I'd say odds are greater that Tianli fell for Xingyuan. She might out her, for some reason or another, or by accident, perhaps, but all we actually know is that she said she thinks being gay is gross. It could be something as simple as "the subject came up, Tianli said something terrible to fit in, Xingyuan overheard it (or was even caught in the conversation) and was hurt by it." Time will tell, there's a lot of possible directions this could take.

Also what the hell Aya, how can you be a fan of all those western artists yet not understand English well enough to figure out the lyrics to Mitsuki's song were wedding wovs?

Well, she understood enough to propose to Mitsuki immediately thereafter, if only inside her head.

When I was a teenager, I memorized dozens of japanese songs and barely understood a word of them.

From the pov of manga ethics, Nanao has wronged Asumi real bad by not telling Asumi her feelings.

This is something I have seen in a zillion mangas. It's always an important plot point. Eg in the After School series (that I have been rereading because a new chapter just came out) Shiine and Ichika are "kiss friends" who meet every day after school to kiss and kiss; but Shiine is secretly in love with Ichika and doesn't tell her. When she finally admits it, she bows and apologizes a hundred times, calls herself a wretch and a scumbag, says she knows she has betrayed Ichika's trust by kissing her while hiding her real feelings, runs away crying and vows never to appear in front of Ichika again. Then Ichika must go looking for her to tell Shiine she loves her too, happy end.

I'm bringing this up because it seems a lot of posters here don't realize something that for Japanese readers is pretty obvious: that Nanao is kinda playing the role of the bad guy rn as she's tricking Asumi and wronging her (again, from a manga pov) by telling her she just wants friendly sex when in reality she wants much more.

I....*What?*

Nanao DID tell Asumi her feelings. She confessed. Explicitly. Then asked her out on a date, gave her a necklace, kissed her, took her to a hotel, had sex with her while telling her she loved her.

Asumi is perfectly aware off Nanao's feelings. For her to not be, it would require her to A) not understand Japanese, and B) collapse into a singularity from the overwhelming density required for her to not pick up on the blatant non-verbal cues.

I'm not sure why everyone here is on the Nanao train. Asumi liking sex and it being readily available with Nanao is like giving an addict her fix, but there was no indication of feelings from Asumi's side here.

There are definitely indications of feelings from Asumi's side, but she's hung up on her old crush. If she wasn't, she almost certainly would have made things official with Nanao by now, and that's why people are on the Nanao train. Embracing a healthy relationship directly in front of you is way, WAY healthier than continually dragging yourself to brothels in hopes of hunting down a rumor that a girl you once had a crush on might be one of the girls there.

Like the line, "at this point I'll go from having a friends with benefits to having a sugar mama" still implies that Nanao isn't really being seen as a partner, and more importantly Asumi isn't thinking about her feelings towards Nanao at all. Nothing has changed from chapter 16. If anything, the date chapter was at least more romantic than the context sex they're having.

Sure, but the point isn't that they are more romantically entangled, the point is that they should be, and they aren't because Asumi is so hung up on a fantasy of someone she knew years ago that she's ignoring a golden opportunity directly in front of her face. It's amusing, fairly human, leads to lots of sexy situations, and makes for a fun story, but it's definitely granite levels of stupidity on Asumi's part.

last edited at Jan 29, 2024 1:17PM

I refuse to accept "friendly" as a descriptor for a wasp.

It's how you know it's a fantasy world.

Heavensrun posted:

I think I am getting more and more confused because it seems to me that both series are on different time line.

Me too. Like, Saori and Shizuku are dating now? Since when?

They're not dating, Shizuku's just acknowledged her own feelings for Saori. This is probably why Saori is asking about confessions, either she's thinking of confessing, or she's recognized that Shizuku has caught actual feelings and is expecting one. But they're not official, so Saori says "I'm not dating anybody" and describes the planned shrine visit as being "with a friend."

Huh. There was a confession.

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/fuzoroi_no_renri_side_stories_ch19#14

As far as I know, they're now dating.

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/fuzoroi_no_renri_side_stories_ch19#16 (vertical text)

She was just eluding her sister's question.

Yeah, I must have missed that chapter. Appreciate the correction.

Should've called this chapter "Naked Cake and Kase-san".

Cakes don't wear clothes, silly.

Which is why it's naked! C'mon, keep up.

Uh oh, stalker again?

Possibly papparazi.

Is there a difference? Seriously, send those creeps to jail.

Eh, I understand the sentiment, but freedom of the press is actually important. There will always be people who sit on the absolute edge of what is defined as legal like psychic vultures, but anything you do to inhibit them could also limit the ability of the press to actually report on things that matter.

Uh oh, stalker again?

Possibly papparazi.

You know, it would be nice if any of them would have somewhat normal human responses. Really, what the heck is this?

I had no problem following any of this. What's the issue?

Gujou likes Ibuki, but Ibuki and Botan are a thing now. Gujou caught on to it at the art museum, so she's working on moving on. Lin-Ran confessed to her around the same time, so she's been thinking about her. They're talking about movies and directors, and Lin-Ran cuts to the chase by confessing again. Gujou's not there yet, but she's been thinking about her, so she mentions that she's been watching Taiwanese films as a way of saying that she's interested.

It's....It's a different character? People can have more than one relative.

Her uncle works in the fishery and her aunt works on the docks, from what I can tell.

No they're the same character, the uncle now aunt lived alone before Furuka crashed there. The author retconned the character into being a woman.

Citation? I'm not saying you're wrong or lying, but there's nothing in the manga that indicates that. The uncle can live alone while also having a sister who lives elsewhere on the island. They have different jobs and different appearances, and we've never seen the aunt at home with Furuka.

I just don't know where it's coming from. Have the early chapters actually been changed in the tankoubon? Did the author say something about it somewhere? Or are people just making assumptions because the aunt started showing up in the last few chapters, and the uncle hasn't been seen since the early ones?

Starting to think Yeetgirl was the figure in the shadows. She saw the other two being cosy and flirty, and was either into it and wants a piece, orrrrr thinks she can get revenge by seducing her to expose her.

I still can't used to the gender bended uncle to aunt

Look she just transitioned so hard, she transitioned backwards in time as well.

Until you two mentioned it, I thought I was just mis-remembering that there was an uncle.

It's pretty wild for this to happen with zero explanation. I wonder if this is somehow an intentional plot point or if the author just forgot.

It's....It's a different character? People can have more than one relative.

Her uncle works in the fishery and her aunt works on the docks, from what I can tell.

Oof, Rio. Friend-zoned in the closing pages.

Given the entire premise off the manga, all I can think of is

"All of this has happened before, and all of it will happen again."

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.

Nao actually wants an harem..

Given Nao's general proclivities, I'm pretty sure this is more in the vein of public molestation more than harem fantasies.

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/anemone_is_in_heat_ch02#10

"You're way too light."

This still worries me.

Given the fluffy tone of the series, and the fact that her health has been improving, not deteriorating, over the course of the series, I'd be extremely surprised if there was anything to worry about.

Just channel your inner Nao-san and go commando, Ran - chan

That's a naive idea!