Noooo, my secret identity... I knew I should have added more c's to my Tumblr username!
(j/k, I just used cccipp because cipp is being hoarded by a greedy Italian)

But yeah, that be me :^) I rarely draw these days but sometimes a silly idea comes along and you just gotta run with it...

@ieeheh: "May we wait in peace and rejoice in Seolrae" makes it sound like we're all part of some FF-based religion lol ^^

@mikasamikasa77

I think that Norae wish that Seola don't left her alone with her ex boyfriend. To this she was thoughtful, Ssamba put a lot of emphasis to the message of Seola, "so you do".

It's hard to tell what No-rae was thinking in that scene. Obviously she was bothered by something, but I don't think it was about being left alone, exactly -- Seol-a originally was going to go snowboarding on her own anyways, remember? I don't think Sung-pyo is the reason either, the two of them get along and I think they got most of the awkwardness out of their systems the last time they met. Which leaves 2 possibilities that I can think of:
1. The tone of Seol-a's message was a little stiff/terse (at least this is the impression I got, though my Korean isn't good enough to know for sure) and No-rae is wondering why Seol-a is acting distant all of a sudden. It would be great if she went and talked to her directly about it.
2. No-rae is bothered specifically by the fact that Seol-a saw her together with Sung-pyo and possibly made some assumption about the two of them. But honestly I don't think No-rae has made this connection yet, though I really want her to.

@ffins07

I think--hope Sung-pyo is still around because their (his and No-rae's) story hasn't had an explicit close. If he's just present to have generated this angst for Seol-a, I think that would weaken the story telling.

Oh, agreed. Given Sung-pyo's importance to the way No-rae thinks about love and relationships, it would make zero sense if he just disappeared again after just affecting just Seol-a. Not that jealousy/angst can't be used well in stories, but I really dislike when it's the trigger for a couple to get together. shakes my fist at the ending of Aoi Hana So even if it might be quicker/easier, I don't want to see Seol-a being the one to make big moves next chapter. As you said earlier, the ball is in No-rae's court now, and from a narrative standpoint Sung-pyo is a potential catalyst for her to take action.

And complete closure doesn't have to have No-rae talking to him. He could just see that she feels deeply for Seol-a (e.g., if their relationship evolves on the trip or something). He'd probably recognize the in love/deep feelings in No-rae--if something happens.

I actually hadn't considered this scenario but yeah, that would be another good way to resolve things. On one hand, a (presumably) straight guy is not the first person I'd count on to pick up on f/f attraction, but on the other hand, Sung-pyo must know No-rae pretty well, and maybe he can read some things that she herself isn't aware she's expressing.

@takachi

if anything, I have quite high expectations about the chapter 62, simply because mathematically this is a golden ratio for a 100. [...] So I can easily last and enjoy another 100 chapters without the story progressing any further. It's this fluttering feeling of regularly reaching the edge and then taking step back for various reasons which actually makes it so interesting for me.

Wow, you can use the golden ratio for plot too? :P But yeah I'm really looking forward to the next chapter as well. As for having FF go for another 100 chapters... in some ways I don't want FF to end and will be sad when it does, because what will I read then? I haven't run across anything else like it in the f/f genre (though if anyone has, please rec me stuff). But I feel like given the current pace, 100 chapters is a good length, and I'm not just saying that for the sake of my sanity. Yeah, there's been a lot of "fluttering" back and forth, but what's great is that it's a little different every time, with overall progress being made, slowly. I don't know if it's possible to stretch out the story longer without retreading the same emotional ground.

Anon's explanation is a lot more thorough haha. Sleuthing a little further, No-rae is a Taurus (and Seol-a is a Libra). Since Chapter 19 took place partway through the fall school semester, the age mentioned there should be just +1 year compared to No-rae's Western age. So yeah, No-rae is 22. Not sure about Seol-a though.

I'm 95% sure the age stated in the comic is following Korean age reckoning. One thing people sometimes do to avoid confusion is instead of saying their age, they say the year they were born, and sort out seniority that way. But Ssamba probably doesn't want to tie down FF to a specific date.

last edited at Jan 26, 2016 12:22PM

I think Korean count their age one year extra (for the time in mommy's tummy). No-rae might be 22 Western age

Yup, or possibly even 21 because of how Korean age is incremented at the beginning of the New Year (so depending on the time of year, your Korean age can be up to 2 years greater than your Western age).

@FFF

Thanks Halmoni for translation (and not meaning to be ungrateful) I think the bubble where Seol-A calls No-Rae about snowboard doesn't translate well: sorry and always grateful for your quick translation.

An alternate translation of the part "so you do you" would be something like "I'll be doing my own thing" (implying "so go ahead and keep hanging out with your friend"). Dunno if that sounds any clearer to you?

@ffins07 & @Tiger

What evidence has been presented that No-rae thinks Seol-a is straight?

I don't think that No-rae thought about it in depth and concluded Seol-a is straight. But I do think she just assumes she is, because heteronormativity lol. That's why she thought the best possible outcome is staying close to Seol-a as friends. But you're right that there's no evidence. I can't really draw any definite conclusions about this because there hasn't been much info about how queer relationships are perceived in the world of FF. The only time it came up was pretty early on when No-rae's friend was jokingly all "omo you went to Australia and now you're playing for the other team? I don't have anything against people like that but please give me some time to get used to this."

As an aside, at least that quote lets us know it's not some unrealistic paradise where everyone is all "you're gay? Hooray!" which is a relief to me. But I'd also prefer to avoid the other extreme of omg realism!! tragic gays!!! and read chapter after chapter about Seolrae dealing with homophobes/backlash from friends and family. Well, I'm trusting Ssamba to find a good middle ground and address that aspect while keeping the focus on the main relationship. Despite the current angst levels, overall FF is supposed to be a happy story. I mean just look at that pink fluffy title :)

What do you two mean by "hasn't had the benefit of having her hand forced"?

My wording wasn't great here, sorry. I actually meant that on more of a meta level, the story (via the ski trip ex situation) has given Seol-a more opportunity to show the depth of her feelings, and gain the understanding/sympathy of the readers. This was in response to some earlier comments which seemed to be implying that Seol-a loves No-rae a lot more strongly than No-rae loves Seol-a. Which I disagree with. It's true that at the moment, Seol-a is hurting while No-rae is kinda oblivious, which is super frustrating, yeah, but that's more of a product of the situation than being indicative of some sort of inequality in feelings.

Reading the words from Seol-a's head, it sounds like she's in a bit of denial at this point. She stated very clearly that her feelings weren't platonic a few chapters ago, but her words this past chapter were much more ambiguous. Clearly, she's scared.

halmoni's additional translation notes (which anonymous posted earlier) address this, it's not really denial/reverting back to thinking maybe her feelings are platonic after all. She's not scared, she's frustrated and tired of having these (as far as she knows) unreciprocated feelings that are only causing her pain. As for the narrative purpose of these lines, maybe it's just to heighten the angst, or maybe it's pointing to Seol-a hitting a limit soon and doing something (confessing, or running away) that will in turn require some action on No-rae's part. Who knows.

What we got from No-rae's inner monologue is that she's somewhat content with things as they stand--or so she thought then. I think that that thought was a bit naive. Cause she's clearly bothered by Seol-a not being present.

Yup, agreed. Going back to chapter 37: "Right now I just want to stay by her side and remain there, that's all... What if my desires grow? What would I do then?" Since then, No-rae's desires have grown/are continuing to grow, and I think she would eventually have come back to this question on her own... it just would have taken a while because like you guys said, it's No-rae's character to go with the flow and not take direct action on her own. But the ski trip has created a situation in which No-rae will have to answer it much sooner that she would have otherwise, possibly before she's really prepared to do so. The catalyst being either Seol-a's increasing frustration manifesting itself in a way that No-rae definitely can't NOT notice, or some move on Sung-pyo's part. Enah will also be involved of course but I don't think it will be as blatant as "hey, I found out your feelings are mutual, win-win, now kiss" as that would be too contrived, I think she'll continue the conversation she had before with No-rae and guide her towards answering the question of "what I want to do with that person."

I think it would be a good growth sign if No-rae finally did consider: "Oh, Seol-a's affected, maybe it has something to do with me". Or, "Oh. I'm affected. Maybe I should talk with the person about whom I care most." Stop beings so complacent. Grr!

Agreed 100x. I really want to see this happen (No-rae taking the initiative, and the two of them having a proper conversation).

Thanks muchly for the typeset thatanon!

The action sequencing of the entire chapter was a bit hard to follow, but I think it flowed well emotionally up to that shift.

It might've been a "last minute" pick-me-up for the readers after that devastating frame of Seol-a's heartsick face. ...It still...seems like a mistake. Did that work for anyone?

Who knows what Ssamba's really thinking or why she did things the way she did, but trying to look at things from a purely technical standpoint (disclaimer: IANA comic creator)... both scenes (Seol-a's and No-rae's) needed to happen this chapter to clue in Enah as setup for something next chapter. However, having No-rae's scene first (so not in flashback form anymore, but just chronologically) would have dampened the emotional impact of Seol-a's scene, because what makes her scene hit hard (at least for me) is that the readers can relate to Seol-a in that we don't know No-rae's feelings. Well to be more accurate, Seol-a doesn't know No-rae reciprocates at all, and as for the readers, though we do know No-rae has at least admitted to herself she loves Seol-a, we have no idea if or how she's going to act on that.

But yeah, the result is the chapter ending on a weird uptick that feels emotionally inconsistent with the the rest of the chapter. I would have liked it if post-flashback we returned to Seol-a's scene, even briefly. Maybe showing depressed Seol-a leaving, or a lightbulb going off in Enah's head and her being serious for once and wondering what to do with the situation. But there's only so long a chapter can get :( If only Ssamba were superhuman.

--Oh. And the whole time I was reading/looking at the scenes with No-rae and Sung-pyo walking together, I wanted her to tell him she's not interested. Seriously?! No, she's not leading him on, but, come on? Has she yet said anything to let him know their chapter is very much over. I mean, look at his face!

I definitely want to see closure with Sung-pyo but don't think the pressure should be on No-rae for that, I think it will be hard for progress on that front until the dude makes a move, which the beginning of the chapter seems to hint that he will. It wouldn't really make sense for No-rae to out of nowhere say "oppa you still don't like me right?" or "boy, I'm sure glad we're completely platonic friends now ^^" haha (though it would be kind of hilarious). I'm fairly confident that things will get wrapped up though (i.e. highly unlikely that they're going to start dating again) and in a way that moves things forward. Maybe Seol-a will overhear No-rae turn him down...? Maybe even by admitting there's someone else she likes now? One can dream...

As for all the discussion about No-rae reciprocating...

I don't think No-rae's feelings are less deep than Seol-a's. As others have already pointed out, POV is important and we have been getting a very one-sided view of things for the last couple chapters. If you look at the end of chapter 57 (No-rae's internal monologue when she sees Seol-a in the bakery), taken out of context, the scene looks like one-sided No-rae ---> Seol-a because at that time, we're getting a (unfortunately rare) glimpse of No-rae's POV. I hope we get more of it going forward because things are starting to feel a little unbalanced.

Also, unlike Seol-a, No-rae hasn't had the benefit of having her hand forced. She's said that she's content to stay by Seol-a's side forever and as far as she knows, there's nothing stopping that from happening/the status quo seems nice, happy, and stable. Though at least, she's noticed and is bothered by Seol-a acting distant at times, and I really want her to connect the dots and realize that it happens when Sung-pyo is involved... meanwhile, Seol-a is under the impression that No-rae and Sung-pyo are this close to getting back together and she's about to be friendzoned.

Okay, getting back to work now >>;;

last edited at Jan 25, 2016 11:55AM

Seconding what ffins07 said, I'm sure it's not anyone's intent but some of the last few posts feel like an unfair pile-on onto one person. And I know halmoni's late response post was probably her being super snarky as per usual but at least to me, the tone of that particular post came across as pretty harsh/mocking.

I still disagree with Nya-chan's assessment of the quality of FF's storytelling, and took issue with 1) they initially seemed to be framing themselves as a lone voice against an establishment of a mindless, non-critical mass of FF fans 2) a lot of the things they presented as writing/literary flaws, I see as being as a matter of storytelling preference. But, in their last 2 long posts they more clearly explained where they were coming from and showed at least they're invested in the story and that their criticism comes from that, rather than being negative just for kicks (which is what a lot of their previous posts came across as). Which I appreciated. It would be nice if things would go back to that type of productive discussion, instead of reverting to drama after one old post showed up again.

@Nya-chan

What I think about the current chapter? Useless. Seol-a is still at the "what is this feeling?" stage? After nearly confessing? It took a huge step backward.

As a functional part of the story arc, it's not useless, it's obviously setting up Enah to facilitate the good ship Seolrae in some way. As for it being a step backwards, well, how do you know that the confession at that time would have led to progress for the the relationship? Plus stories with no ups and downs are boring :) But also, even though the literal text is "what is Kim No-rae to me," given the context this isn't a rehash of "is what I'm feeling love or friendship," Seol-a definitely knows her feelings are of the romantic kind. Ssamba is highlighting Seol-a's increasing heartache/frustration and showing that's she's reaching a breaking point, i.e. what is Kim No-rae to make me feel this miserable/make me act this way, and (this is more conjecture on my part) "is it worth it?"

My prediction is that Seol-a will go cool off somewhere, and Enah, now with more awareness of the situation, will nudge No-rae to reflect more on her feelings and act on them. At least I'm hoping for more No-rae POV going forward.

Next it will probably go fast forward. The pace is all over the place, in my opinion.

Okay, the above is the type of thing that makes it seem like you're looking for a fight, even if that's not your intention. How are people supposed to discuss/respond to this? You know that multiple people have said that they enjoy the pacing and find it realistic, and this definitely won't change their mind. If anything people will chime in in defense of FF. Or are you hoping to find others who agree with you? I'm sure many do, but a bunch of people posting "yeah! Ssamba is so bad at pacing!" doesn't make for a great discussion either.

idk, it would be more interesting to me to hear what kinds of scenarios would work better for you pacing-wise, what you wish would happen in the next chapter, etc. Just my onion.

@Tiger

Man, it makes me want to learn Korean. It's got an alphabet and everything, so reading would be easier.

I'm probably not the best person to comment on this as my Korean is embarrassingly basic, but you could probably learn to read/write in just a few days because hangul (the alphabet) is really intuitive and awesome. But for actually understanding what you're reading, learning the grammar and vocab would take as much time and effort as with any other language. Though I guess the rules are probably more consistent than in English.

BUT Korean comics seem to take themselves a lot more seriously, and I like that. Thoughts?

Not sure what you mean by seriously here? :O

here's a (really rough) translation of the top 3 comments on comico, i thought they were kind of funny, looks like the korean readers are on the same page as most of us:

뉴스타: President Yoon... please be the bridge that brings these two together ㅜㅜ
snsd6938: So Ssamba drew President Yoon to resemble Seol-a on purpose? So that this kind of situation would happen (☞´ิ∀´ิ)☞
ancco: I'd like it if Sung-pyo doesn't show up ㅠㅠ this guy who's like carrots in fried rice

The Mountain Lion, err I mean, cougar turns out to be El Capitan who will hopefully help our 2 social Mavericks!

geeky but really impressive haha. also as a lifelong pc user i thought they just stuck to cats and didn't know there was a version called mavericks, that word just gives me flashbacks to Sarah Palin in the 08' campaign... shudders

all aboard s.s. seolrae!

Thanks so much for the translation halmoni!

So when Seol-a is saying "if it wasn't a coincidence" is she worrying that No-rae and Sung-pyo are secretly dating again? Or is it in a more vague sense, like she's worried it's fate for those two to be together or something?

Also, I completely missed the "30 minutes earlier" box on my first readthrough, and just assumed that Seol-A left after that scene and ditched No-rae with Enah, which I thought was weird. But since that was a mini-flashback, that means that all 3 of them are still in the room, and Enah just got the other piece of the puzzle (Seol-A's actions/crying) complementing the one from earlier (No-rae's drunk/sleep-talking)... she has to put two and two together right? Please... I'm dying....

last edited at Jan 24, 2016 1:19PM

Poor Seol-a. Did anyone notice how she was bringing some vending machine coffee for No-rae but then she sees that Sung-pyo already bought hot drinks... it's such a minor detail but it must really hit on the insecurities/uncertainties Seol-a must be feeling right now.

Hopefully, either we get explicit closure from No-rae on the possibility of another romantic relationship with Sung-pyo (which seems reasonable considering what we know about the current state of No-rae's feelings) and/or Seol-a taking on this "challenge" and being direct with No-rae. (Alternatively, Seol-a could talk to Sung-pyo, but that could be ugly...and kinda weak. Not interested in seeing that.)

Yeah I think the first option seems pretty likely, at this point there's no way a relationship will happen there. The open question is whether Seol-a will be aware of it or not. I'm hoping we actually see some action from No-rae in regards to that. Nothing as explicit as a confession, but maybe something parallel to what happened at the amusement park (Seol-a on the ferris wheel saying "I didn't like those guys, I was waiting for you").

Unlikely but I kind of want to see it happen: Enah getting in Sung-pyo's way (intentionally or not). Though honestly he seems like a good guy and wouldn't push it if No-rae turned him down, but it still would be funny :) I need some romcom hijinks after the sad note this chapter ended on.

One last (being rational) thought: How likely is it that Sung-pyo randomly ran into them in this place? (I had to ask... >__>)

Korea is a pretty small country so probably there aren't that many ski resort options... but I for one always have trouble finding people when skiing because it's so crowded. So it's pretty amazing that these 2 managed to run into each other without even trying lol. The timing is pretty coincidental too. It seems Sung-pyo was discharged the day before and he and his friends decided to vacation here for a few days to celebrate.

last edited at Jan 17, 2016 3:28PM

dead @ the snow scene and seol-a checking out no-rae's luscious lips. no-rae bursting into laughter was really cute too (as much as i want them to kiss, it would have been really ooc if it happened here)

looks like seol-a reevaluated her option of enah a bit, maybe she'll go back and reflect on the conversation from the previous chapter. and lol enah's gift to no-rae. that bikini is going to blindside us all in some future chapter...

perhaps it's still too early to start speculating about the next chapter but omg extended ski trip... so many possibilities... what if we go full-on tropeville and the two of them get stuck in a cabin during a snowstorm, and have to cuddle all night to stay warm?

...i mean i'd also be really happy with just fluff of seol-a teaching no-rae to ski :)

edit: also thank you halmoni for the translation!

last edited at Jan 10, 2016 4:08PM