@souleater: as Piisu alread noted, "writing your girlfriend's name over and over again", so she is writing み(mi)ら(ra)い(i)

So it's been a while.... someone pls remind me: who are those two characters again?

I think they are just two random customers of the AT from one of the chapters? In any case, there is probably some kind of weird recursive inspiration loop going on between Fujieda and the author of Wife and Wife here. :P

...which wouldn't be too surprising really.

https://dynasty-scans.com/series/alice_quartet

This was published on Hirari #13, the Hirari magazine ended on the #14 issue. I haven't read it yet, but Fumie's listed on the cover as one of the authors in that issue, so the second chapter of this was probably in it.

Still, with hirari dead, I'm guessing we won't see a third chapter of this.

That might help explain why the ending just feels a tad rushed. The thing about not really having enough space / time to complete what you were trying to accomplish, but also not wanting to leave your readers hanging without any conclusion at all. Would have been nice to see at least one or two more chapters.

Still, I really like Fumie's work, and this one is no exception: sweet, but including the trademark light drama undertones.

What do you interpret of the end of chapter 2, and the bow removal? What do you think it signifies?

If I had to spin a just-so story, my guess would be:
--She either does something like compensated dating for reasons which are strong if you're in her shoes (poverty, abuse etc), OR She desperately loves a married man who is taking advantage of her and she is heading off to "see" him.
--Whoever saw her at a love hotel did see her, but the person with her was not her boyfriend.
--She has short and superficial relationships with boyfriends in an attempt to reach for some kind of normality and as camouflage; she does not tell them about any of this.
--She does not, in fact, have sex with any of her boyfriends, for various reasons revolving around being alienated from sex as a pleasurable thing, self-esteem issues and feeling distant from them

Or, similar to other stories (although I forget the names), she is going to a love hotel because she works there. At the reception. Because it belongs to her family. Queue about two hundred misunderstandings.

majere posted:

Can we stop calling a teenage girl a slut now?

Nope, we have to make snap judgments and refer to her derogatorily after only a single chapter. There's no room here for refraining from passing judgment on her at all. It's as vital as breathing.

Sounds depressingly accurate...

On the plus side, the story looks nice, and seeing as it is being published in Galette, I'm very much looking forward to the next chapter.

Very cool. There was a lot of discussion about legalising it last October at Taiwan Pride, so it's great to see that they actually went through with it. Hopefully it will have a lighthouse effect on the other countries in the region (even if it is only Australia being shamed into lagging behind; Japan will still take a while though...)

Again, how are they sleeping with their glasses on?!

Carefully!

True that... A bit surprised though, as Megane has managed to depict that properly in other writings.

Adding some ancient ones, both of which tend toward the adult and partially gloomy:

http://brunostrip.com/ -- follows the main character Bruno over the course of quite a few years, including her hook-ups and escapades with both men and women (she gravitates more toward the latter over time), and her development as a person

http://www.nowheregirl.com/index.html -- unfinished, and will forever remain that way, but still something I like to go back to every now and again

I... I like it. Even though it's about cheating but it's still pretty cute lol

Agree. In some ways it reminds me of a more light-hearted version of Amano Shuninta's "The Feelings We All Must Endure".

The only part that bugs me about this one is that Anna is such a messy eater, visibly getting her food everywhere.

^ there's something odd about that twitter post methinks. "45-49% leg" might be to the base of the pelvis, but seems way too little when referencing the top of the hip (the 69% proportion though is unsurprisingly still pretty extreme).

Oh... Songs! Sitting in a cafe in Tokyo with smooth jazz as the background music, but let me post something slightly different: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwuG8FFwvjg

While only one of the band members is officially an out lesbian, watching some of the older videos may make you seriously think it can only be a matter of time for the rest... (for those wondering: the bass player)

I'm not sure about "using" a friend, even gay, even if you can trust him.

With a sperm bank, I guess the donor would not be involved at all, but then can lay no claim to the kid.

With a friend, things could turn complicated for a variety of reasons.

Yes. That's exactly what I thought. I don't know, it was just kind of an 'improper' choice.

Depends on the country actually. In some countries, such as Germany, sperm donors do not have guaranteed anonymity. Once the child comes of age, it can demand the files to be opened and obtain the information. This can even lead to child support cases after 18 years...

I find this a rather interesting story. On the one hand it shows how laws are in other countries and how ppl have to struggle with them. On the other hand it makes me look up laws in my own country. And here I thought Germany was rather liberal and rather advanced with their laws. Turns out there is a discussion about this for years. At the moment there is only something called "Stiefkindadoption" (step child adoption?) where one partner can adopt the biological child of her/his partner. Or one of them could adopt a child on their own and their partner would get a limited form of child custody. But apparently same sex partners are not allowed to adopt children together. On the other hand we DO have a law stating that children adopted by BOTH partners in a FOREIGN country have to be recognised by the state and registered as such in official German documents....

My country is weird. cO

At least they changed the part where the "biological father"had to be added to the birth certificate when one person in a lesbian couple got pregnant. Nowadays you can actually have your partner entered as the co-parent instead. Adoption still sucks though, which hits gay couples pretty hard (the co-parent thing is, unsurprisingly, a bit more difficult in their case - we lesbians have a bit of an advantage there).

"On the hottest day of summer so far, two girls were found in a severe state of dehydration after having made love excessively in a music room without functioning air-conditioning. The younger of the two is the daughter of a renoun doctor, but both are expected to make a full recovery after having been treated in the family hospital."

Considering that GRS is, many times, quite literally a life saving surgery and therefore very much a medical necessity, I never could understand why most insurance companies refuse to cover it. It seems likely the friend I've mentioned before would no longer be alive if she hadn't had the chance to get that surgery.

Edit: At least insurance did help her pay for the hormones.

Even more so, given the overall size of the population even if we all wanted hormones and surgery (which of course all of us don't) it wouldn't be all that expensive from an insurance perspective. It's cheaper than a lot of stuff they do cover.

Think it is Argentina where they actually implemented that. Basically anyone can have GRS on the state insurance, no hurdles, no x-years living in the new gender required, etc. The predominantly male, conservative opposition raised a howl about the expenses and whatnot, until they were asked for a show of hands how many of them would be going for the chance of genital reconstruction on a whim... :P As far as I know, their expenditures didn't even budge.

That sort of confronting generally seems to work quite well. A trans* friend of mine uses a similar approach when guys start to ask her rather rude questions about having "stuff cut off": she simply describes the process in quite a bit of detail - queue some rather pale faces hugging their beer tightly and apologising for asking.

Office lady calls her "girl in the cap" (though I don't even know if "girl" is in the original) when calling from behind. That's the only hint we have. It's very tenuous, but the You character doesn't deny it. It would be enough in any other circumstances.

But then, the whole sex scene, with the missionary position and the "let it all out" comes into play and it goes awry from there, because the lack of reaction from the office lady at this way of making love shows that's something she expected, or isn't surprised by.

I like the story. If PITO hadn't labeled it differently, I honestly would have simply seen it as a yuri doujin. I know enough girls who love their harness, so the position is nothing unusual. The "did you let it all out" piece struck me as "did that help your frustration", as the inebriated office last was rather surprised (albeit not unhappily it seems), by the earlier "let's go to a hotel" part, which indicated that the young girl had something on her mind and just wanted to let off​ some steam.

Then of course I read the tags and ventured into the forum... :P

Hmm. On re-reading this one, there is one part that does surprise me a bit, considering how fluffy the whole thing is: https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/natsusuki#26 : "Either mouth works"...

http://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/our_journey_to_lesbian_motherhood_ch03#5

and thus the wonderful gift that cristianity gave to Japan has NEVER been forgiven

Still, only about 1% of the population there is actually Christian.

You also don't want to know what Imperial Japan did to Christian missionaries.

To be fair, only after they had tried to use converted houses to overthrow the emperor and government. Japan was very nonchalant about the whole missionary thing until then. After that they hanged the lords, gave the missionaries a few weeks to get off the island, and told the Portuguese to take a flying leap after they said their trading ships always come with missionaries. The Dutch traders then got the contracts. That some missionaries continued to insist on having to preach to the heathens was met with corresponding opposition.

After the slap, lets go and does not follow her. It is a sad state of affairs that it takes that much to make him realise he stepped over the line, but even in western culture it is not uncommon for it to go that far. This is problem with the way all too many societies see us women as something to be conquered, and is even more pronounced in many Asian cultures.

Not gonna disagree on any of this.

Actually one of the reasons why I am rather ambivalent about the whole "kabe-don" trend. It tends to be depicted as cute-and-all in many of the images here, but in real life it would certainly be prone to triggering my fight-or-flight response...

I am honestly a bit confused here... How and where do you see this story containing anything akin to rape? The guy was pushy and harassing, yes, but no more than that. The two main characters always respected each others wishes, never going farther than what was comfortable for both of them.

It seems a bit odd to call a guy who dragged a girl into a secluded area with her shouting "No" and "Let go of me" the entire way, threw her against a tree, and then tried to force himself on her as just "pushy and harassing" and no more than that. I mean, I guess we could be incredibly generous and assume that he wasn't going to actually do something, but generosity is typically something you don't want to give to someone who was clearly about to sexually assault someone.

Also, are we meant to believe that whoever took the photos just came straight to the company to hand them over? Because my first thought is that their boss has people following them around waiting to catch them if they dare slip up and engage in any activity that implies that they're not the property of their fans, who will also refuse to help someone who is clearly being forcefully dragged into a secluded area to be assaulted.

He is being pushy and harassing her. He fully deserves the slap and more, being a complete and utter douchebag. He fails to respect her "cut that out" and "stop - let go of me", which is deplorable and a real world issue that we see all too often. Still, those actions do not constitute rape. The distinction is important.

After the slap, lets go and does not follow her. It is a sad state of affairs that it takes that much to make him realise he stepped over the line, but even in western culture it is not uncommon for it to go that far. This is problem with the way all too many societies see us women as something to be conquered, and is even more pronounced in many Asian cultures.

As for the "idols being photographed" piece... That's an entirely different can of worms, one that is similarly infuriating. The whole "property of their fans" thing is pretty nasty, as the case of Minami Minegishi demonstrated. But that's a story for another day.

What? I wasn't sure so I tried my chance with a guy. If this wasn't dynasty that story would be rape. And what would happen if you liked it , would you do it with him. Natsukichi should dump her but I love this pairing so it's okay.

I am honestly a bit confused here... How and where do you see this story containing anything akin to rape? The guy was pushy and harassing, yes, but no more than that. The two main characters always respected each others wishes, never going farther than what was comfortable for both of them.

If you are willing to use goggles, "Saihate Nite: Yasashii Kaori to Machinagara” (“The Furthest End Awaits") might be a candidate. Basically the relationship is pretty strong toward the end, but there is no kiss or anything like that. Also be forwarned that it also contains het scenes; although they, and what they represent, also becomes obsolete in the last third of the movie.

Nezchan posted:

Ugh, I want to explain how this story works wonderfully from a literary point of view rather than a psychological one, but I can't seem to get the words to make sense. iFail.

I'd be interested though. Because (I think) I can pretty much understand everything about the psychology. But while I can feel how it's good from the a literary standpoint I can't really work it out

The problem with using psychology is you're basically second-guessing the author's understanding of psychology, rather than the mental state of actual people. So they likely don't map anywhere close to 1:1.

Methinks you're not alone in that interpretation, but some draw a different conclusion it seems... Let me quote Isaac Asimov from his book "Opus 100" here:

I once listened to a German philosopher (he was really German and he was a professor of philosophy) discuss one of my stories in detail, when he didn’t know I was in the audience. After his lecture, I came up to dispute the points he had made in his interpretation and presented him with what I felt was a blockbuster when I said, “After all, I happen to be the author of the story.”

“Oh,” said he, “are you Isaac Asimov? I’m pleased to meet you and I admire your work but tell me – What makes you think, just because you wrote the story that you know anything at all about it?”

I’ve tried never to forget that little lesson.

warm and fuzzy feelings

Last few days here have been full of bliss: first Mezashi, Takeshisu, Chisako, and Tamamusi; and now Matsumoto Tomoki (!) and Ootomo Megane... Loving all of it.