I'm using BDSM loosely, but I would definitely count embarrassing someone in a sexual situation to the point they're crying to be under the dominance/submission umbrella. The older analogue in learning love is also doing all kinds of power moves in terms of how she physically positions herself. These are quite a bit beyond the typical tropes of a manga character being somewhat hesitant or embarrassed and maybe getting kabedoned.

I also don't see having shame around admitting to enjoying it as culturally specific, though culture can impact how common it is or how it's expressed. You could find plenty of real people in the US like this, some of whom would identify with the BDSM label while others wouldn't. I do get the sense that in Japan there is pressure for younger women to be cute and pure, but I'm hesitant to read too much into manga characters.

last edited at Jun 24, 2025 1:38PM

I find it funny how much you all are / were (in that one shot's discussion thread) reading into this. To me, it looks like a pretty clear BDSM coded work where the person is enjoying it, but has shame/embarrassment and can't admit to it. The crying itself is being depicted in a sexual way, rather than being a sign Asahi dislikes it.

We even have an ongoing series by the same author where what's clearly the same two character designs (albeit with different names I think) are aged up, in a relationship, and one of them is still crying in sexual situations. Sometimes the situations still involving her ear. Crying in sexual situations is something people do IRL, though it seems to be much more common in comics, where they are trying to elicit a feeling with only the visuals.

It is a good fit for dubious consent tag, but to me it's not ambiguous that Asahi is enjoying it. They are using the same type of visual framing as in the stories where the person is later explicitly revealed to be enjoying it. We simply don't get that far due to it being a one shot, but it would be very strange to draw it that way if we were meant to come to a different conclusion.

Anyway, I found out about another series to read, so thank you.

last edited at Jun 24, 2025 11:32AM

Well, illegality aside, we've got plenty of escorts in the US and some of them do provide the girlfriend/boyfriend experience of also doing non-sexual things over a longer time window. We can imagine some people hire them entirely for the non-sexual aspect, even if it's a minority.

I wouldn't be surprised if there were some rental girlfriend specific agencies in the US at this point, especially with the success of the comic and anime, but it seems to not be the structure that resonates most with people here.

last edited at Jun 23, 2025 6:22PM

I have no idea what Rent a Girlfriend is (and apparently I'm not missing out on anything, good to know!) but this is so soooo good

it's a harem story about a college student with low self estimate and limited romantic experience, who alternates between harshly criticizing himself (as his grandmother and ex-girlfriend did to him) and selfish behavior where he blames others, with rare moments of doing something cool instead. he rents fake girlfriends to go on dates with him, which is a real service in japan, and his love interest is the first one he rented. the story prioritizes drama over logic and has allegedly failed to advance the main relationship, despite being very long. it's success combining drama with cute girls got it a large audience, which led to it getting a large hatedom among those who could not accept the protagonist, and the hatedom becomes more dominant the more people who enjoyed early parts abandon the story.

the women in this comic are his toxic ex who dumped him at the beginning of the story and his main love interest.

Technically, you can even blackmail someone to do something non-sexual. Surprising, I know.

More seriously, blackmail can also lead to ambiguous situations, like where it's not clear how much the blackmail factors into the blackmailee's decision in or where it's not clear if the blackmailer plans to leverage the blackmail or not in this situation. In the second, the blackmailee may decide to go along with it to be on the safe side or to try to get influence or approval with the blackmailer.

The only consistent part of blackmail is using information to get someone else to do something to which the blackmailer thinks they wouldn't typically agree.

last edited at Jun 20, 2025 4:59PM

It's questionable if this is really even blackmail, so it's not surprising it doesn't fit with any form of non-consent. One could a argue for a separate tag. If the blackmail doesn't play a major role, it's still easy enough to tag the early chapters where it's treated somewhat seriously as blackmail, rather than tagging a non-dynamic.

last edited at Jun 20, 2025 6:57AM

That's the thing, I don't see it as bad writing at all. I think the writing is doing exactly what it sets out to do, and that being melodramatic doesn't mean it's poorly written.

This is where I am too. I like this writing style and I don't see writing in this style to be less skillful. It's perfectly valid to prefer a more realistic handling of emotions and consequences, but that was never the goal of the series.

We could even say the same about junk food. It's junk because it's bad for you, not because it's poorly made. Quite a lot of design went into making junk food exactly the way it is: profitably shelf stable, hyperpalatable to induce overreating and by extension more spending, and with nourishment or health as a last priority only relevant for marketing.

Imagine trying to make doritos or cheetos at home. Most skilled home cooks wouldn't have any idea how to do it. The best they could achieve is something dorito or cheeto like after sufficient research and practice.

last edited at Jun 19, 2025 3:58PM

I think the biggest example is this official art https://dynasty-scans.com/images/31155

I'm no prude by any means and that art just...always makes me chuckle. The hilarious lack of spine in order to present that much ass. It's wild lmao

some women are really just built differently, by which I mean they have an additional joint above the hips that allows them rotate their lower body like the reptilian snake people they're descended from

Usually "she comes to like it" fairly quickly, even if she doesn't admit it. Then we get denialism, like "It's Impossible for Two Girls to Get Together", where as we readers we know wanting money or competitiveness aren't on their own enough to explain why she keeps going back.

I would see blackmail where the person is crying (not in a BDSM themed way), traumatized, and never enjoys it to be regular rape. The lack of consent is clear. Even if the person can technically refuse, social dynamics can create a situation where a person functionally can't, like a supervisor at work. These situations make good premises for dubious consent stories, but they aren't the same thing, to me anyway.

Edit: I will concede that we could have an initially dubious situation like blackmail that turns out to be fully nonconsensual as we learn more, where the dubious consent tag could be used on a chapter basis early on. It could also simply never be clarified, for example a situation involving a side character. I have never seen a story like this, but I'm open to there being some. I would still argue the tag shouldn't be used for any established fully nonconsensual situations.

last edited at Jun 19, 2025 7:32AM

So I guess this one will be used like in 80% of the works with sex scenes. Kinda irrelevant if you ask me. What's next? explicit consent? Where the characters sign a document (maybe even with witnesses) where they agree to have sex?
I know I'm being an as*hole here and I don't wanna get banned, just saying that even when there's no explicit consent, the characters are enjoying the experience and are agreeing to continue, otherwise they could just say no, and if the other(s) character continue with the lewd act, then yes, I agree with the rape tag being used.
Once again, I'm talking about fictional works and not real life rules ok?
My two cents.

You remind me of the chapelle skit about the love contract with explicit consent - admittedly a funny idea.

Dubious consent mostly is scenes where the person is implied to secretly want it or enjoy it, despite acting like they don't. More people enjoy this than people who enjoy a situation where the experience is entirely negative for the other party and they are traumatized by the experience. It's similar to consensual nonconsent roleplay, except it's not roleplay and only works out because it's fiction. Many people dislike both out and out rape and dubious consent, but many are okay with dubious consent but not out and out rape. Both would be rape or assault irl and it goes badly when someone tries to imitate a dubious consent story, which unfortunately some people do try to do.

last edited at Jun 18, 2025 8:44PM

The way the author hardcore sexualizes everything regardless of context continues to be very funny to me. Like wtf is the mom's sleeping posture in 7 and why is she sleeping in skin tight leather? Why are Yuni and Natsume painfully arching their backs at random moments, like in the large "So cute" panel at 13? Y'all're gonna have so much back pain in 10 years. Why is Natsume's skirt so short their her butt is visible in 11? In every case, no reason, other than that porn logic must flow.

Natsume is continuing to treat Yuni like her trophy wife, forcing her into situations Yuni won't appreciate rather than trying to learn more about Yuni's likes/dislikes. Just take Yuni to the aquarium like a reasonable yuri protagonist. It shows Natsume is trying to change, but not really understanding or listening to Yuni about what Yuni wants. No wonder it feels bad to Yuni. Yuni herself continues to be a ball of possessive abandonment issues who wants other people to feel a void that can never be filled externally. That's relatable to me, so I can't hate Yuni despite how much of a mess she is.

last edited at Jun 18, 2025 8:38PM

From what they've said, it's not her not being single but that she likes women. Misa needed to keep even the hookup bar a secret, explicitly to protect her work from finding out her sexual orientation. I've just parsed this as a likely cultural difference or, failing that, that I don't understand men well enough. Maybe just scumbag men, but I'm not an expert in the preferences either. It seems entirely attributable to culture and the hostess club model, though.

"Misa has a secret boyfriend" would still be an issue. It interferes with the fantasy of her as this untouchable yet simultaneously accessible high class figure. I think it would be a "drop in the rankings" situation more than "risk immediately lose your job."

Now that I think about it, likely this former is what Waka was going for - ruin Misa's image so she seems like a regular person. Not ruin Misa's life by outing her as a lesbian secretly dating a celebrity, which is worse than at least what she'd like to see herself as doing. A regular secret boyfriend is clearly what she had expected after she saw Misa's pveing the trashcans.

Edit: Also, I'm increasingly thinking that the title is not a reference to Io specifically. The story revolves around people's public face versus their private face they avoid showing the world. When Io and Misa first meet, it's with their masks on, trying to appear as respectable as they normally would. Then they metaphorically demask each other and find out they are able to accept each other in a way few people.

Waka's arc here is also figuring out how her public face as a kind, hardworking person differs from her desires / what she is willing to do, currently in the context of "Just how far am I really willing to go to reach #1?"

last edited at Jun 7, 2025 8:38AM

The impression I got was that he eventually talked her into going through with it, even if she didn't feel good about it. So she still did it and what I'm understanding is that it was her idea in the first place, with that in mind that man is an awful piece of shit. I think the man here is some generic bastard that probably won't be an actual character, the woman is an actual character though and she will probably or at least hopefully have to come face to face with the repercussions of her actions. I'm focused on her for that reason since I think she at the very least has the possibility to grow, though I want the truth to come out and for there to be some consequences for what she did. The man though can get hit by a meteorite for all I care.

I'm behind this interpretation. Men mostly don't exist in what I've seen of Flowerchild and it's the same here: if they're mentioned at all, it's as a plot device to set up the attractive female characters with emotional issues.

The reason why we have the detective is because they are setting up Misa's rival to not be totally unlikable. In the detective, they have a morally questionable outsider who has no duty or rivalry with any of the characters. He then eggs Misa's rival (Waka I think?) on to get Waka to do what she wants to do for very understandable reasons, but that she ethically knows she shouldn't do. Like many characters in this story, she then goes with what she shouldn't do (proceeding with the investigation, not trying to destroy the photos or discourage him more).

And yeah, she is showing more moral concern than many people would here. A lot of people would say "Well, it was going to get out eventually anyway; I might as well benefit," but we have this possibly heterosexual red light district worker in an Asian country going "Maybe I should reconsider if it's two women, given the extra risks involved." That's a level of complexity that wouldn't be necessary if -she- were simply a plot device as the #2 worker to screw Misa over. Likely we have more complicated dynamics with her coming up, where she will have to grapple with what happened and decide how to act going foorward. Maybe she can date Io's mom or something - okay, probably not really, but you can't rule it out with this one.

last edited at Jun 5, 2025 7:36PM

Also, maybe the crosses they're all given (even the adults have one) are bugged, and that's how the school knows what they've achieved, and whether they're following their assigned roles or not.

Much like Santa and God himself, they're always watching. Always.

Thanks for the update - I'm glad we didn't drive off the translators back in April.

Y'all theorizing on how Kotori has passed her test, when it's real simple -- behold, the indirect kiss!

I legit think this is what happened; otherwise the milk would be a nonsequitur with a lot of time spent on it.

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I appreciate that Misa as a character is cognizant of the tension in her desires. An example is wanting to take care of Io versus not waning Io Io feel dependent. Another is wanting to stake a claim on Io against the people Misa feels jealousy towards versus wanting to give Io the space and confidence to figure out what Io values.

This isn't evidence that Misa in universe is going to handle this well, given that Misa has often thought about what she should do before doing the opposite. Still, the inclusion of these ideas can only be coming from a place of understanding on the part of the author. The author must have grappled with some of these very relatable issues in their own life, at least to some extent.

A lot of times with BDSM stories we either get a very sanitized, best case version or else the story leans into unhealthy dynamics in an unrealistic way. Both of these can make for a valuable and enjoyable story, but with this one we are getting a more nuanced take. People come to their relationships, both BDSM and otherwise, with their traumas, their admirable qualities, and their harmful impulses, all at the same time. Then they try their best to proceed, making many mistakes in the process. That's both true to life and one of the most engaging parts of this story.

last edited at Jun 1, 2025 6:58PM

so what's going on with this manga? is it dropped? axed?

Sorry, I've been dealing with some chronic health issues for a while which have made it really hard to work on this recently. Hoping to have something for you all soon.

For sure prioritize your health. We need you in good enough condition to crank out comic updates for years to come.

More seriously, thank you for working on this as you're able. Chronic health issues are relatable as far as I go.

For once, I'm not writing after doing a reread. Instead, I've been thinking about some of the previous discussion strands: the idea that BDSM has a relationship to trauma, Io's feelings about Hase versus Misa, and Io's particular emotional issues.

"BDSM is because of trauma" is something I've never seen depicted in any story, including this one. I notice people still bring the idea up a lot in different discussion threads. This may be due to the popular idea that submissive people are reenacting their trauma, while dominant people are predators taking advantage of them. Being seen this way understandably isn't what people in relationships that involve BDSM want. In the process of rejecting that idea, they often go to the point of denying that there is any reason for their preferences at all. This is very silly to me. While one may not know or even benefit from knowing the reason why something happens, the fact that it happened means it had some kind of cause.

From my perspective, someone like Io might have some 'hard-wired' physiological preferences. This would make much sense to me with sensory preferences, like how one relates to pain. However, rather than being a fun way to spice up sex, all of this seems very fundamental to her to an extreme degree. In my experience, when someone is like this, it is because they had some unusual experiences that affected how they relate to sexual feelings and affection more generally. This includes non-sexual experiences, like the relationship to one's parents or friendships in early childhood. These can influence what leads to someone feeling safe and cared for.

In Io's case, her unusual childhood is the most defining trait of her character. We know she was closely managed by Hase and her mom while not being allowed to have autonomy or proper boundaries in any area of her life. She also never questioned this and saw it as something good - it's how she expects someone who cares about her to act.

As I quoted in a previous post, Io says:

I think she was just looking out for me. I've been with Hase-san since I was a teenager. Because it's her job to manage me, that's why I trust her. Until now I thought nothing of it, but I hated it today.

We also know Io was under incredible pressure to maintain a pure, good girl image to fit her "character". She was given these roles in her work, while Hase used her control of Io to try to mold Io that way. This led to Io having a lot of shame around sexual desires. In the scene where Hase walks in on Io masturbating, Io is doing it over her underwear, without direct contact. I think this was a way to show us that Io feels guilt for having sexual desires even when alone by herself. Hase, the one who pressured Io to present a nonsexual image at all times, walking in on Io leads Io to question her relationship with Hase for the first time.

Misa, of course, doesn't do this at all. She seems to struggle with friendship and other types of deeper affection, but is extremely comfortable with physical affection. Misa has no issue figuring out Io's desires and acting on them, even when they end up being atypical. Misa forces Io to admit to what she enjoys, but never shames Io or makes her feel like she is bad for having those feelings. Io appreciates this enough that, after the photo shoot, she tells Misa that the "real her" is the person she can be with Misa.

I think this is what's different about Misa versus Hase to Io. It's not who is the most attractive or who she trusts the most. Currently, she trusts Misa most, but she had a similar level of trust for Hase before. The real difference is that Io sees Misa as someone who can completely accept her for who she is, without needing to hide anything or keep up appearances, and still be willing to support her. The latest chapter where she stops hiding her sickness as soon as she sees Misa shows us that Misa has totally won over Io at this point.

Misa remains somewhat mysterious, but I expect we will get a similar level of detail for her soon. Spending your whole life in the red light district would have an impact, but there's more going on that we don't know.

Edit: Also, a lot of the drama comes from there being both a toxic and positive undercurrent to Misa/Io. The positive is Misa learning to trust someone and experience long term closeness, while Io learns to accept herself and pursue her own desires as well as what it's like when someone supports her in that. The toxic is that Io feels like she can only have that freedom and safety when someone with control over her gives it to her, while Misa feels like the only way she is safe trusting and being close to someone is if she completely controls them so they can't abandon her. Both these dynamics are always present, but often one is more dominant than other, leading to unpredictability in the story.

Second edit: Another thought - if the woman in the flashback is really Io's mom, this would tie a lot together. The similarities between Misa and Hase could be because Io's mom impacted both of them in a similar way, Misa's latent dom tendencies could be because her formative experiences where with Io's mom, and Misa's fear of commitment and vulnerability could be because of Io's mom suddenly leaving after getting Misa to do all fun toxic BDSM stuff.

Misa's way of processing this could be that she tried to keep her distance from people and tried to avoid being in a vulnerable position emotionally, while wanting to take better care of people than Io's mom did with her. She tries to avoid vulnerability in both a BDSM and non-BDSM context. We see her desire to take care of people in the pickup bar, where she has a good reputation and states she never fails in "pillow talk and aftercare," and also with Io where she tries to assume a caretaker role (helping Io vomit, cleaning Io, helping Io relax, etc). This results in someone who tries to have a good impact on people, while never opening up to them about her own issues.

Hase is still the throes of Io's mom, so she is instead imitating the way Io's mom treats her. Io herself never was allowed the independence Misa was forced to develop upon reaching adulthood and remains vulnerable. It could also be that Io's mom was nicer when Misa knew her and that's where Misa learned the caretaker role, or she was a caretaker to Io's mom in some way. Then Io's mom did whatever let her escape the mold apartment, but went through some stuff that led to her being materially well off but more twisted in personality.

It might be more interesting if Io's mom wasn't responsible for everything, though. I'm not sure how long the author intends this story to be or how many new characters will be introduced.

last edited at May 4, 2025 4:03PM

I'm aware and, in fact, the reason I became a city dweller among leftists is largely for my own safety. The state government where I lived was doing scary things; now the national government is too.

I didn't come here to surround myself with people who have the same views, experiences, or understanding as myself, though. I think there's a bridge that needs to be rebuilt, albeit not always short term and on an individual level, but certainly in the long term and on a collective level.

last edited at Apr 29, 2025 12:27PM

I completely agree with this, it baffles me how Americans think that they will bring people to like queerness or to be comfortable around queer people when they insult and kick out anyone who says something they remotely don't like, you only give fuel to bigots to talk shit about it, trying to talk to people without being patronizing or insulting seems impossible for the American folk.

Usually they're more concerned with avoiding people they see as intolerant, rather than trying to change what they see as a personality flaw in another person. Things may be different if that intolerant person apologizes and makes the first step in learning more. At least this would make a difference for many, though you won't see them well represented on social media which boosts extreme opinions.

I recently moved to a city where leftists (in the US sense, not like marxists) reign supreme. It's interesting to see the extent people never expect to be talking to, for instance, someone like a Trump voter or a conservative Christian. It's like they see those people as being from a rival nation that seeks to harm them and the people they care about. You would see something similar as you get into more isolated rural places in the US where eg gay or non-christian people are treated with similar suspicion, though it can be hard to distinguish that from regular rural distrust of outsiders, or in conservative subcommunities in southern cities. If the outsider behaves ethically and has a good reputation (eg, engaging in social service for the local community) then that may make a difference for many conservatives, at least on an individual level.

US society is becoming increasingly ideologically delineated like this. When I was a child, the refrain used to be to avoid talking about politics, but now it's to avoid talking to people with the wrong politics. I'm not sure what to do about it. Of course, I don't want the government to jail me either, so I'm also glad there are people who care about what's happening.

last edited at Apr 29, 2025 7:38AM

Unless something changes we're somewhere around half way, so should be more fun to come.

This would explain the unresolved Matsuri plotline, but I can't even think of where the author is going with this, considering everthing.

@Blastaar

I have to admit that I admire the yuri mangaka community for continually scaling new heights in the depiction of useless idiot lesbian couples. These two are basically married but don’t know/won’t admit it.

This comment is very funny to me. "They are basically married" is the type of obvious exaggeration people like to post on social media, but it wouldn't qualify as an exaggeration after their engagement and honeymoon this chapter.

I feel like we are likely getting near the end, though I'm on board if the author can find a way to take this further.

last edited at Apr 21, 2025 3:58PM

The bondage isn't that common, but the author still gets really into writing those scenes when they happen. Though that could just be me instead of the author. The latest update on avelilium is a good example of what I mean.

last edited at Apr 17, 2025 7:11PM

If you think being gay is equal to being a burden, what are you even doing on this site ? Seriously, fuck off. Calling gay children a burden is literal homophobia and should not be accepted in a safe space such as here.

Even today there aren't many places where you can grow up gay and not make it harder for yourself and your family. People told me I'm a satanist for liking girls and that I'm a burden to society for not wanting kids and get married. That was in germany which is not super religious. Imagine living in a more conservative country. You can't always just cut off your community and go move somewhere else.

I really don't appreciate this ( mostly american it seems) twitter culture of attacking anything and anyone. People aren't your enemy just because they say something you don't want to hear. How can this create a "safe space"? Not being allowed to say anything that could be seen as uncomfortable creates toxic positivity. This is not punching nazis, this is hurting our own side.

Anyway, maybe now the Doer of Nothing will become a Doer of Something in her next training arc.

I don't know what Germany is like, but the US nowadays doesn't really value family bonds or being a parent. Children are expected to move out at 18, lest they become a burden on their parents, the extended family is not expected to help with child raising, parents are expected to pay for their own retirement and may be shunted into an abusive nursing home if they don't, children are expected to place their life goals over the parents (in terms of career choice etc), an impoverished person having children is seen as irresponsible rather than someone worthy of support, and similar. I'm speaking in generalities, but this is the overall tendency.

I believe this leads to some cultural differences in terms of how fictional works are interpreted, even if LGBT authors in both countries are broadly interested in the LGBT characters becoming self actualized and having successful relationships. A lesbian entering an arranged marriage with a man due to wanting to please their traditionalist parents would not really even be conceivable in a US work, for instance, whereas it's something that could happen in an east Asian work depending on the character's specific background. Even if the character doesn't go to these extremes, the character trying harder to please the parents in other ways becomes likely.

last edited at Apr 17, 2025 6:55PM

I use the RSS feed since it has one as a wordpress. https://avelilium.com/rss. Much better than using discord IMO, unless for some strange reason you want to interact with other people

last edited at Apr 7, 2025 7:10AM