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Gale
Image Comments 03 Dec 18:38
joined Aug 11, 2014
74914558_p0

For a minute the hair colours made me think this was another Edelgard x Byleth picture and I almost screamed.

Gale
Liberty discussion 02 Dec 19:39
joined Aug 11, 2014

Y'know. For the actual history they have, this reaction totally fits. Like, yeah, it's not like Sumire did anything particularly cruel or abusive, they just broke up. It sucked, but that's all it was. Naturally, if senpai shows up again, and acts all cool and charismatic and flirty, she's going to be swayed. Totally. Sure.

Now, if only Izumi hadn't acted like a violent weirdo for the last ten chapters, ostensibly because she's just that hurt because of what this woman did to her, then the fact that she's immediately turning to goo after spending five minutes alone with her would be fine. If her grudge held any weight whatsoever, even if it was utterly undeserved, then it would at least reflect some deeper pain on her part, but as it turns out, even she didn't care about it that much. She was just using her mildly unpleasant experience as an excuse to be an awful person. That's amazing.

God. I think the only way I can see this actually going well, is if all three of them get together, Izumi has a total meltdown, reveals their "dark" past, and Sumire's just like, "Yeah, she was always like this. That's the actual reason I broke up with her. I thought she'd gotten better, but she's actually even worse than before? Damn. But hey, you're pretty cute, let's go for a drink." And then Maki and Sumire ride off into the sunset and have an actual healthy relationship where nobody gets treated as a punching bag. The end.

last edited at Dec 2, 2019 7:45PM

joined Aug 11, 2014

Ikumi: "I went to a girls' school, I had no opportunities to kiss anyone!"

Me: "Well, actually..."

Manabu: "Well, actually..."

It's nice when the characters are on the same wavelength as you, huh?

joined Aug 11, 2014

I could still see an Uta/Kaoru ending on the horizon - from the beginning, Uta was the only part of Kaoru's life that was giving her any kind of real emotional satisfaction or happiness, but she just used that as a crutch to let her wallow in her miserable situation without having to change anything.

Now that Uta's gone, and with her, any excuse of happiness that Kaoru had, I do think we're starting to see the very early glimpses of Kaoru growing as a person - she's stopped averting her eyes from all the people in her life lying to her face. Even if she can't yet confront them about it, she's still deliberately pressing on the lies she's being fed, watching them creak under the strain. I think that Uta being honest with her, even if it hurt, has made her question why nobody else is willing to do the same.

If she can, independently, by her own strength of will, force the truth to be revealed? If she can then free herself from this situation, even if doing so seems even more hopeless and miserable than she already is? That would be following in Uta's footsteps, taking inspiration from her courage and honesty.

Then, only after she's learned from Uta, and allowed everything to fall apart, could I see them meeting up again, and maybe staying together. That part's important - I think Kaoru has to be willing to walk away with nothing, before she can justifiably start something new with Uta. Otherwise, yeah, like Blastaar has said, it'll just be them sliding back into a comfortable bog, and undoing any sense of progress or meaning any of this might have had.

last edited at Nov 16, 2019 2:07PM

Gale
Image Comments 20 Oct 05:14
joined Aug 11, 2014
Egm_u2rucaexjjl-orig

I think the Edelgard: Disaster Gay meme comes from the fact that, at all other times, she's this flawless, unassailable queen. The only time she shows weakness, vulnerability, or uncertainty, is when it comes to Byleth. So it's extrapolated from there that she must be having a complete gay meltdown whenever they're in contact and she's only just barely holding it together on the surface.

This would also be true for male Byleth, but nobody cares about him, lmao.

Gale
Image Comments 19 Oct 12:00
joined Aug 11, 2014
Ehejolqwwaeslsd-orig

I'm genuinely convinced that the only reason Ingrid has no A-supports with women is that she's fixated on her duty to have children and pass on the crest of Daphnel. If she didn't have a crest, or maybe if one of her siblings had inherited it as well, I seriously think she'd be more open.

joined Aug 11, 2014

Man, one minute I'm really rooting for Yuu, because she's obviously been in love with Minori for years and they're already so close as it is, and the next minute, I'm really deeply hoping that it doesn't work out at all, because Minori is such a useless pervert and Yuu could honestly do so much better.

joined Aug 11, 2014

Itou Hachi has a real talent for stories that feel cute, fluffy, innocent, and also dangerous as fuck all at once. It's kind of amazing.

joined Aug 11, 2014

When they first called each other their "partner" in game, I was like, "Oho, I know the game probably just means that they're both in the same knight unit or something, but hell yeah, I ship it". But then I gradually realised that they both serve completely different roles in the knights of Seiros, none of the other knights talk about having a "partner" in that way, and the only time Shamir does talk about having another partner is in the context of a former lover. So I started to wonder. And then in their A+ support, Shamir casually brings up marriage as the natural next step for their relationship, and I felt like my brain exploded with the realisation that they really were dating the entire time.

Gale
Slow Start discussion 26 Jun 18:06
joined Aug 11, 2014

Kamu picking the word "work" out of the speech bubble was just darling, I loved it, thanks

joined Aug 11, 2014

Lmao. I love the metaphorical parallel/savage burn on page 3. Uta literally responding to her bro's assumption that they'll all be a happy family forever with the words "I'll leave that garbage to you. Also, careful with that old bag, it's about to break". Ruthless. I didn't know she had it in her.

Gale
joined Aug 11, 2014

Between the Yuri Drill prompt and Kodama Naoko's usual antics, I couldn't believe it when I got to the end and realised that there wasn't some spicy sour twist waiting for me. I had to go back and double check that the teacher hadn't been wearing a wedding ring the whole time.

Gale
joined Aug 11, 2014

"I'm sure we're only at the starting line" is certainly one way to say "I didn't write the third act", huh.

joined Aug 11, 2014

Is it just me, or have these last couple of chapters been more obvious than usual about the author setting up the characters as models in ComiPo and tracing over them? I feel like it always looked like the author was using it as a reference, but this is the first time I had to stop and wonder if it was a screenshot or not.

last edited at Mar 24, 2019 5:54AM

Gale
Touma-kun discussion 10 Mar 15:14
joined Aug 11, 2014

Ultimately, they are responsible for their own behavior and Touma never ever forced them to do anything. And in every chapter, these girls get stronger after overcoming their own immaturity.

Well, not every chapter, evidently. Turns out that someone who thinks they have no value because they're not pretty isn't going to get better because they learn that they can, in fact, be considered pretty. Because the core issue of tying self-worth to external beauty norms is still bad, and receiving fleeting validation from Touma didn't change that, it just reinforced it.

I do agree that Touma is basically a cipher for whatever issue the girls already had, and blaming Touma for the girls' obsession is definitely like blaming society for people's personal issues. But people having personal issues doesn't mean society can't fuck them up worse, y'know?

It's funny, I actually think I like this series more after chapter eight. The other chapters don't really deal with the negative consequences of Touma-exposure, and it was too easy to read the series as uncritical of Touma and what she represents. Chapter 8 makes it much clearer that Touma isn't a purely positive influence on others, she's just a catalyst for change, and change can be good or bad.

last edited at Mar 10, 2019 3:25PM

Gale
joined Aug 11, 2014

I mean, I'm stating the obvious, but I think people are less upset that the story didn't have an incest ending, and more that the protagonist got her heart broken. If the story was told from the perspective of either of the other girls, it would be a normal love triangle. I guess that sense of novelty was what made the author write it like this in the first place, but I'm still going to think they're rude for getting my hopes up like that.

Gale
joined Aug 11, 2014

...Is "Who says that we're not allowed to do something if we just stay friends" the author's implied response to people who want Sakurako and Kasumi to confirm their relationship?

joined Aug 11, 2014

I kinda wonder. Is Hime really freaking out because she doesn't want to be gay? Or is she actually freaking out because she worries that she's straight? In other words, does she fear that having feelings for Akira means that she subconsciously sees her as a guy, and that's just about the worst betrayal she can imagine? That seems more in line with the kind of insecurities Hime has, imo.

joined Aug 11, 2014

I'm probably in the minority, but I could really care less about this backstory.

UNLESS

it is because it is setting it up for something more interesting. Like something with her cousin or one of her sisters perhaps.

I mean, she's gotta have something going for her, right? Mochi wouldn't include her as a crossover character and show her side of things unless it was to give her a chance to move on.

...Although... I guess she can't exactly move on just yet, at this point in the timeline, seeing as she still seemed pretty hung up on Ayumu the next time they meet... Unless it's going to turn out that she was only saying those things to the Daidou sisters as a way of clearing up her own feelings and doubts about herself/her family?

Like, she wanted Ayumu's advice on the pros and cons of incest, as the biggest siscon she's ever known (outside of her own family, of course) but given how they parted, she was too proud/embarrassed/awkward to just go and ask for an honest heart-to-heart. So she shows up and puts on a spiteful ex-girlfriend act, expresses all her inner fears in the form of personal attacks, and disappears into the snow after taking Ayumu's passionate rebuttal as unwitting encouragement? I guess that could work.

joined Aug 11, 2014

Wait, how could you all so sure the one in "I meet my sister on a dating site" is Daidou?

Because Tsubomi is also a character in "I Met My Sister on a Dating Site", and there's a flashback of them breaking up in the exact same way they broke up here.

joined Aug 11, 2014

Ehh. I think they didn't really do much with the "yuri lover" personality trait. The whole "but that does mean they're dating" bit was a quality punchline, but I had to read it twice to understand who was saying what because I'd already forgotten her entire 2d yuri gimmick. For the most part, it just played out like a clingy gay girl pestering her roommate. There's a BL manga (Sasaki to Miyano) that does this dynamic better but with boys, where a boy who loves yaoi and fantasy ships his friends gets super flustered when a hot guy starts coming on to him for real. I was hoping for something like that, but it didn't quite get there.

Gale
Slow Start discussion 13 Feb 20:14
joined Aug 11, 2014

I've been wondering for a while how the Kiyose - Eiko - Kamuri triangle was going to shake out, when Kiyose and Kamuri haven't really interacted with each other so far. Having them team up to go on snack dates and tease Eiko sure adds a whole new dimension to the relationship, huh? I think I'm starting to understand the true potential of the OT3.

Come to think of it... I don't know if it's just because it's the highest-impact running plotline the series has going, but the Kiyose x Eiko stuff is really starting to overshadow everything else for me. I usually find yuribait slice-of-life stories pretty tepid, but Eiko's over here starring in multiple spicy romantic comedies at once, and all the awkward ronin stuff ends up feeling like an amusing side show in comparison. Like, I'm into it, I wouldn't be nearly as eager to keep up with the releases if it wasn't for her, but I can't help but feel like the main draw of the series has strayed somewhat.

last edited at Feb 13, 2019 8:16PM

Gale
Slow Start discussion 23 Jan 20:09
joined Aug 11, 2014

Headteacher: "...And that's why it's important to maintain a professional image in front of the students, and refrain from becoming too personally involved with any single one of them. Your behaviour lately has really failed to- hey! Are you listening to me?"
Enami: "Sorry, is this going to go on for much longer? I told a student to hold on to some candy for me, and I don't want to keep her waiting."
Headteacher: "What kind of excuse is that? A student isn't going to wait just so they can give you some candy."
Enami: "Oh no, she will. I put it in her mouth, so she's definitely going to wait for me to come take it back."
Headteacher: "Eh? Huh?"
Enami: "Personally."
Headteacher: "Our responsibility as teachers is-"
Enami: "With my tongue."
Headteacher: "If this is some kind of sick joke, then I am really not- wait, are you talking about Tokura Eiko?"
Enami: "Yup."
Headteacher: "...You can go."

joined Aug 11, 2014

Also that comment about training your voice to be high pitched made me curious. Can girls also do that to make their voice sound like male? Is there an age limit on when you can start? This manga is pushing me further and further to actually try cross dressing and idk what to feel ; ×;)

I've only had training for the other way around, so I don't know too much about it, but it's certainly possible. Like a lot of other things, it becomes harder to make big changes to your voice after you're about twenty-five or so, but it's still doable after that point, it'll just be a bit more difficult. The three big things to think about are your pitch, your resonance, and your tone. Changing your pitch is pretty similar to expanding your range as a singer: sing scales, going up and down (spending most of your time at the desired end of your range, obviously) and over time you can gradually become more comfortable producing lower or higher notes.

Resonance is about changing where your voice echoes in your body - to sound more masculine, you want to project your voice downwards, towards your throat and diaphragm, and to sound more feminine, you want to project your voice forwards and upwards, into your mouth and nose. It's hard to explain, and harder to consistently get right, but I think it makes the biggest difference in how people hear you, even more than your pitch.

By tone, I mean your manner of speech: men tend not to change their pitch too much when they talk, and accentuate words by changing how forcefully they say them, whereas women tend to modulate their pitch more widely and frequently. At least, that's what I was told - I think it's a bit iffy, and kinda plays to stereotypes, but if you're trying to sound like a man or a woman without drawing much attention to your voice, it's probably easier to sound like a stereotypical man or a stereotypical woman, than a man or a woman with a quirky voice. I guess.

Once you've put all that together, it's a matter of training your vocal muscles until they're flexible enough to make the sounds you want, and practicing talking with it until it's become second nature. You want to be careful not to overwork your voice too much, since you can easily hurt your throat if you try and force yourself to hit notes that are right at the edge of your range or beyond it, but as long as you take it easy, keep at it, and pay attention to how you sound, it's not particularly dangerous. The results vary from person to person, of course, depending on the kind of voice you're starting with, and I've simplified things a whole lot, but that's roughly what's involved.

joined Aug 11, 2014

I mean... polyamory is one thing, but it's pretty shitty behaviour to unilaterally turn your ambiguous sex friends/vaguely romantic couple relationship into a threesome when one partner clearly isn't into it but doesn't want to just give up and walk away, regardless of your preferred upper limit on partners. I mean, it's gotta feel pretty bad for Miko, to have spent so long getting Tae to open up and trying to go at her pace, to suddenly see her chasing this other woman so aggressively and not really caring that Miko doesn't want to share.

I'm not saying it's bad storytelling or can't be fun or whatever else people are liable to get defensive about - Kurogane Ken has always been into questionable relationships and hazy consent, so I was kinda expecting something like this to happen anyway - but just calling it polyamory doesn't actually make it any less morally ambiguous.