Neither of them are particularly subtle showing their interest in the other, but I’m curious how long it will take for feelings to take hold, it’s exciting

Yeah, it'll be interesting to see whether things stay subtle for awhile or they actually start dating before the story ends. I feel like Xingyuan planning to leave after a certain time is our "countdown," with the question being whether their relationship advances enough to make her stick around. I could see that being a sticking point; both of them seem to have story beats centered around ephemeralness and time.

"Take what comes to you and don't go after what leaves."

I'm not blaming you, Gellydog.

I know, no worries! I meant, like, in general.

So excited to see this return! I really love these two. Especially since Komada is clearly into her teasing kouhai, she just doesn't realize it.

Sorry, I probably shouldn't have responded again. I was just very frustrated and upset because it seemed like people were going to continue arguing based off a reading of my initial argument that I felt is 100% wrong.

My point was that people should be allowed to define themselves in ways that make sense to them and improve their understanding of themselves and others like them. And that seeing fictional characters that remind them of themselves is a totally natural thing, as is speculating that those characters might share certain circumstances or struggles as them, the reader. Like how a queer reader might "read" a character as a lesbian, even if the text itself never uses that word.

I have no idea how we got from that to what we're talking about now, but it's pretty uncomfortable and upsetting.

last edited at Sep 12, 2022 3:57PM

Um...I don't know if this is the right place to take this, but I'm feeling pretty weirded out by a response to a post I made: https://dynasty-scans.com/forum/topics/20263-lass-discussion?page=4 (it's the one responding with a photo from the Holocaust...)

Disagreeing with me is fine, but this feels very uncomfortable. I'm not sure if it breaks any rules, though. Am I being too sensitive here? (sorry if this is something I should have done privately)

Maybe it's cause I'm old, but the current obsession with labeling everyone to death turns me off. She is who she is. Can't someone just be a little unique without getting categorized?

Putting a name to something can help people understand and deal with stuff. Especially when you've spent your life being dismissed by other people as being weird, wrong or otherwise broken. Being able to say, "Oh, this is actually a thing" is a powerful way to regain some perspective and sense of control.

Add in the natural inclination for people to like seeing characters that are like themselves, and it's no wonder that some folks are happy at seeing what could be representation - and relatively positive representation at that.

WOW this was such a stellar chapter, this is some classic hurt and comfort type of stuff and god I love it so much

Right!? It's so good! I love Elsa's nervousness, Evie just sweeping it away, the cheek-pinches into face caress...and the oh-so-sweet embrace at the end. I love the change from Yvonne's last nightmare, where this time she's got someone to comfort her.

Saki's dealing with internalized homophobia. Queer attraction is seen as inherently predatory and deceptive, because it's romantic/sexual feelings coming from someone who is "supposed" to be "safe" from such things.

Thus, by becoming Kanon's friend while also having a crush on her, Saki feels like she's doing something wrong because Kanon is theoretically only expecting her to be a friend, and not a potential romantic partner.

It's also why it's so easy to dismiss Kanon's expressions of intimacy and trust toward Saki as being platonic, and not a signal of romantic interest. Even we as readers often use a different set of standards when it comes to same-gender and different-gender interactions.

Kanon actually kind of pushes back against this view, interestingly enough, when she points out how annoying it is to assume that being interested in a (male) actor's work or a (male) teacher's knowledge must automatically mean she is attracted to them.

Of course, this also means we can't assume that Kanon is into Saki just because she likes her so much. I mean, I'd like to believe that blush when Saki takes her hand is a sign, but I'm sure the drama will be milked for a while as Saki squirms, heh. I'm glad we at least got 100% confirmation that she's in love with Kanon!

My thought is that Kishiya actually is 19 - "old enough to be in college," which is something she's said before - but was held back in school for some reason.

I think Yuzu is being portrayed as someone who isn't super self-aware about her feelings. I think she does love Minami, but she's basically already in "life partners" mode and so hasn't had the romantic awakening that Minami has. That's why she seems so unaware about "couple stuff." But the end of the chapter implies that might be changing a little.

"Where are Yuina and Wakana?"

"They said they were going to go have sex."

Seriously, in regard to a comment above, I think the most important thing about schoolgirl yuri is that the characters aren’t children, at least not totally. They’re at that in-between stage where they start making choices for themselves (like being a leader or a follower in a dance pair) and exploring and developing their own identities. Surely their youth does explain and often excuse their emotional confusion and missteps, but their choices can have substantive consequences while they still have room to recover from (some) mistakes. (That’s just a qualification of the previous point, not at all a counter-argument.)

Oh, absolutely! I didn't meant to downplay the importance or realness of their feelings, more that they just last experience and perspective.

I'm so excited to get the second volume of this! It's very cute, and I love that it avoids the typical manager/idol trope of the idol being a spoiled brat. Yuria's affection for Okabe is super sweet, especially how she looks out for her and tries to support her in her own way.

Another thing to keep in mind is that these are literal children. They're not going be incredibly emotionally intelligent or reasonable, especially when it comes to crushes and emotions that many of them are probably feeling for the very first time. I'm not surprised Shion can't handle being physically close to Kiki, just as I'm not surprised that Kiki doesn't get why, and is still trying to reach out and be close to her friend in ways that they used to be.

I have no brief for the larger “society” point one way or the other, but I don’t think this series would be a strong example of “a series [that] seemed to be setting up a romantic relationship between women that turned out to "just" be deep friendship or sisterly affection,” should it turn out that way.

Yeah, I guess I wasn't speaking specifically to this one (for which I agree with all your points), and more in general. As you say, this one has done a lot of legwork to show a natural shift between the early tone and how it is now.

??? In literally the second chapter he features in it’s explicitly stated that it was “love at first sight”, and this is repeated several times throughout the chapter. I don’t see how it could be more explicit. To me, this chapter reads as an equivalent of Matsuri’s chapter 82, although you would have a much stronger for Matsuri’s romantic attraction before then.

I'm not arguing that he doesn't have a crush, I'm arguing putting a male character in a position like that with a female character is seen as inherently an invitation to romance in a way that having another woman wouldn't. And yes, there are certainly people who will do otherwise and ship female characters together, but that's an individual impulse rather than what I'd say is a general cultural thing. There's also some obvious context bias here, since this is a website where most of the stories are yuri so of course you're going to get more readers who want to see women get together.

If it's yuri, then in the context of society and the way lesbianhood is and was historically viewed/treated the connotation is that of something fleeting and fundamentally not as valid or serious as a straight relationship. In het though, the thing is that since any two people of opposite sex will be paired up together by default just by the virtue of being of the opposite sex, the purpose here is more to show that it is not meant to be or at least fairly unlikely. Shou's just "being a boy" here by crushing on an adult woman, so the attraction itself isn't less serious or valid or temporary, it's just that she doesn't reciprocate.

I don't have a problem with Shou's crush, but I do think thematically it kind of shows how differently woman/woman and man/woman relationships are treated.

Matsuri repeatedly professes her love for Miss Sunflower and acts in ways make it clear Miss Sunflower is the most important influence in her life: "Maybe she just admires her!"

Shou starts working for Ayame and shows the barest hint of consideration beyond professional: "He's totally got a crush on her."

Man/woman relationships are just seen as inherently romantic or sexual in a way that woman/woman relationships aren't. (and, similarly, man/man relationships, but this is primarily a yuri site) So even with what might be described as Strong Evidence that Matsuri has a real crush on Miss Sunflower that's evolved into a genuine romantic bond (and that Miss Sunflower has gone from seeing Matsuri as a cute little kid to, increasingly, a young woman who is an important part of her life), there's still this doubt in a lot of readers' minds because, frankly, it wouldn't be the first time a series seemed to be setting up a romantic relationship between women that turned out to "just" be deep friendship or sisterly affection.

Very cute! And I find the kind of casual, unfocused worldbuilding in stories like this interesting. Like, this could have easily been set in a mundane modern school. Just take out the magic. But I love that the author is like, "Y'know what, we're gonna make it a school for shrine maidens and just have casual magic so we can get a foot-kissing scene." It's awesome.

Here the protagonist was, happily adjusting to a life without emotional manipulation and abuse, when suddenly a wild Hwayeon appeared and used the "pretend like nothing happened, so the target of your manipulation is too confused and bound by social convention to resist your demands" technique from the Gaslighting perk tree.

Yeah, Hwayeon definitely has a plan here and it's nothing good. Best case scenario, she's trying "start over" and get back with Jeognwon by being friends first...but it's far more likely she's being as manipulative as always.

She left suddenly and completely in order to make Jeongwon feel her loss more keenly (they've been living together for a while now). Then, she inserts herself back into Jeongwon's life and tempts her with those feelings of closeness and intimacy that she just took away.

And as a bonus here, she can try and disrupt Jeongwon's nascent relationship with Jisoo before it becomes stable enough to replace all those feelings Hwayeon has been using to control Jeongwon.

I just want to see some guilt-free Romance with the protagonist and Jisoo...

Jisoo's flirting with Jeongwon was sooooo cute! I know it's not "dramatic", but I also just want to see them being super sweet together. They've got so much chemistry and genuinely enjoy being around each other, and it's great. Healthy relationships for the win!

Thank you, Daphie!

I think it's interesting how younger, mysterious and manipulative girl...is actually the masochist, while the older sweet doormat lady is being set up as a closet sadist. (her stray thought about Rio's neck...) In these sort of pairings, it's usually the other way around.

But also, I got way too distracted from the main story by goddamned Karen. Holy shit woman, keep your fucking pants on. Two 14 year-olds, at the same time!? And the author just throws that in as an aside and moves on? The manga should have a spinoff series: a plucky young journalist hears rumors about this lesbian porn actress running a bar where she lures in minors and seduces them. She goes to the vice squad, but the only one in the corrupt force who believes her is a jaded veteran just weeks from retirement. After many struggles and some fun banter, they finally catch their mark and put her away, thus saving yuri forever.

Hahaha, right!?

That bumped me too in the LN, and it's basically breezed past. Like, I get that the whole story has kind of a loose take on concepts like "consent" and "reasonable boundaries," but it's OK because it's fun and smutty and everyone is enjoying themselves whether they realize it or not...but the Karen stuff is wild.

Like...Aya warns Marika about her and it's kinda like, "Aww, she's looking out for her girl and maybe a little jealous" but then it's like, "no, seriously, that woman is a child predator, stay the fuck away from her, holy shit." It's a little weird that a story that's all about how lesbian relationships are valid and shouldn't be dismissed has so many prominent lesbian characters be so problematic.

This series is making me anxious. I can feel death in the air, it's suffocating. I'm hoping for a recovery but I highly doubt that will happen.

Kaori literally says she's going to die, which is pretty blatant as far as death flags go. I'm holding out some hope that it's so blatant we'll get a curveball, but until then I'll keep my expectations six feet under.

Youzi x her best friend is the real end game ship here guys

Yeah, I was hesitant to ship Youzi and Caicai (they really could just be friends), but the fact that they're being directly juxtaposed here with Youzi's mom and Ren may mean there's actually something there.

We'll, one can hope!

wow didnt expect that ending because some of Sal Jiang's work is absolutely brutal.

Yeah, I was definitely afraid we'd get a "Oh, wow, I'm so happy I got to see you again, Kaori! Anyway, meet my girlfriend..."

I absolutely adore protagonists like Luoluo, they're so much fun. There's something about watching selfish, scummy, dirtbag characters that's just immensely enjoyable.

Is Luoluo really...any of those things? She's trying to make money to take care of a sick relative while following her dream of being an influencer. Her only real crime is being not very good at her job, and also being kinda dumb. She got taken advantage of by a kid who's known for running away and trying to manipulate people, and that resulted in her losing a significant amount of money and a video vital to keeping her job, all because of a situation that has absolutely nothing to do with her.

While Song Li's action might have been understandable, the fact that she apparently then basically left Luoluo alone to deal with the aftermath of HER issues is the super scummy and selfish part. I get that Song Li has had to deal with a lot of shit from the paparazzi and a hostile media and she assumes that Luoluo is just another scummy person trying to make money, but that doesn't change that Luoluo is only in this situation because of Song Li's daughter and her own carelessness. I don't agree with Luoluo lying about their relationship in order to get revenge, but I understand why she'd be so pissed and feel like it's her only way to hit back at someone who has given zero consideration to her so far.

It's honestly really frustrating how this situation seems to be set up to imply a kind of "both sides" narrative, when I feel like Luoluo has been screwed over at every turn by Song Li while Song Li has basically dismissed and ignored any responsibility.