damn Tifa's guns @_@

well, time for her to explore something else with petals....

Now this is starting to get interesting. I counting five stars there at the end, including the one in her eye.

i actually count EIGHT stars, including the one in the eye, and 2 hidden in the hair as highlights. one on the other cheek, 5 on the cheek with the eye.

its wild to me we're talking about rape now, what are you people smoking

I mean. Baiser just made it clear she is literally averse to consent, at least as far as the Tres are concerned... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i wouldn't even call it that. More like she gets to see sides of them in fighting them that she wouldn't otherwise, and gets a thrill out of seeing them act heroic, rise up despite the difficulty. That's why she gets so pissed at Azul; Azul literally loses that resolve and force of will in front of her. While Utena says "i wanna see that face corrupted" when she actually sees it in Azul she's pissed off and disappointed.

Dridy, i never said what Utena was doing was right. look at what i typed.
"she learned losing control like that in a non-harmful manner can be fun, and it opened the door"
"she thinks Baiser is the only way to get"

All i said is that the interactions with Baiser revealed she was wired this way, not that Utena was in the right. Trust me, i know way way too much about abusive BDSM RL.

Somehow, I really loved that last chapter. I feel it pretty sound and solid.

I completely agree. One of my favorites so far. Watching her succumb to her desires and being defeated like that so pitiful was beautiful. Utena was pretty relatable as well for me in how she wanted her to come at her with all her strength and taking pure joy in facing her when she was trying her best. Also Utena showing her such a cold face was truly enjoyable. I really can't wait to see what other kind of facial expressions tres magia will be making from here on out.

Yep. a lot of people talk about abuse and breaking (as if that's the only way to do kink), but this chapter makes it clear Utena wants to PLAY with them, not break them. And Sayo isn't broken, she just has desires she didn't know she had before Baiser, and who she thinks Baiser is the only way to get.

anyone else feeling like the one least developed so far is Magenta? i mean, based on the latest chapter, we can assume that Sulfur is the latest and last to join Tres Magia, since Magenta was alone when Sayo was recruited to be Azul. And Azul has gotten the most development on the Tres Magia side.

I think that's the point. Utena is the MC but she's also the villain. She can be awful, a hypocrite, an asshole, and not be accountable or responsible for anything cause well, she's the villain. Azul is supposed to be one of the heroines. She's held to a higher standard. She's not allowed to fall that low or break, and if she does, she's expected to get back up. And I think, that's what Utena expects out of them despite her efforts to make them submit. She doesn't want them to be like her: falling cause of their desires. She looks up to magical girls after all.

Right, which is why its so jarring to see Utena of all people be the one to criticize her for it. Its like watching a criminal beat up some security guy and once the latter, wounded and tired, gives up and begs for mercy the criminal starts lecturing him and somehow the narrative acts like the criminal is somehow right. Which btw the whole idea that Azul is commiting some big sin here is also lost on me. Like these are 14 year old girls who got picked basically randomly cuz they were brave one time so her giving in is pretty understandable. Turns out, normal people cant just willpower their way through continuous abuse and not be affected by it, especially when theyre 14.

i wouldn't call it losing willpower through continuous abuse. i mean, Azul's turning point was clearly the time she was blindfolded and had her body teased. She was enjoying it despite lashing out, attacking, and wasn't even actually hurt in that instance. That's why she looks so "messed up" at the end of that chapter, she learned losing control like that in a non-harmful manner can be fun, and it opened the door.

last edited at Mar 11, 2020 8:14AM

I never noticed that Homura Subaru drew such cute facial expressions. I must have been blinded by the milk.

well, that happens when it is spraying everywhere.

::calls from the heavens:: BDSM tag.....

a massager using 'massagers'

well...that was a ride

Especiallty for Anzu.

Also....talk of tied up, orders, being made to endure? how does this NOT get the BDSM tag? again?

yus! just read this on another site and was about to suggest it. had me laughing AND jealous.

"and they called it....puppy love"

REALLY need to start using the BDSM tag for more than just light bondage and/or spanking images.

last edited at Feb 4, 2020 1:48AM

OK then, so the sole fact she protest and ask to stop all time long was for nothing. Just for show. I don't think she was "happily going along" like at what moment of her protest she was happy ?

I mean, that is largely the point of a safe-word, right? It allows someone to put up a protest "just for show" while still maintaining a way to actually stop things if they go to far.

Yeah but, I mean, there wasn't any safe words.

Most kink and BDSM doesn't actually USE safewords. at least, in the way most people think of them. The idea of a safeword started as a roleplay tool; a way for someone to say "no" or "stop" without it actually stopping the scene. But it's become this all-encompassing thing that people assume is the end-all be-all of kink, when it ISN'T. The idea of a safeword nowadays also gets used to avoid blame as an abusive dominant. "Oh, my sub didn't safeword, so must've enjoyed it!" despite, you know, subspace and other things cause the inability to watchdog your kinks and limits.

::blink:: how is it a pair of wrist bindings not connected to anything restrains the arms so thoroughly in these? the Training Diary was better in this regard >.>

HISHE?

well, that's very....um. Why not BDSM tag?

so, Sayo's super-subbiness prevented her from being mindfucked like the other two?

Yeah. The mascots are definitely working together.

Also, I don't think I like the new girl. Her design is nice and all, but her power is a bit too broken to be interesting. It seems like she just wins unless a deus ex machina stops her. Sure, she technically has some sort of time limit on her power use, but that's so ill defined that it's no better than plot convenience.

I don't think that's much of an issue in the sense that power levels have never really been a thing in this story. I'm going to guess that her power is meant as a thematic foil to Baiser's; Alice strips away their agency and pushes them into roles that she defines. Whereas Baiser physically restrains them but ultimately pushes them into discovering new things about themselves.

This is all wacky, galaxy-brain media analysis though, so more likely the author just liked the idea and rolled with it lol

I mean, when you think about it, this all plays into the villain team’s BDSM theme. Baiser’s just a straight up dominatrix, Kiwi’s abilities focus on inflicting pain, and Alice’s focuses on taking control. In a way, Utena’s teammates are just extreme versions of Utena herself.

You realize this means all 3 girls represent all 3 aspects of the trifecta? Kiwi's the SM (sadomasochism), Baiser's the B&D (bondage and discipline) and Alice is the D/s (dominance and submission)?

last edited at Jan 31, 2020 11:03PM

welp, she's a ladykiller.

Get down on it?

...Dad totally baited her didn't he?

Yeah she got completely owned in that argument. The correct response would have been,"You have it backwards I'm not ashamed to have my father meet my lover. I'm ashamed to have my lover meet what passes for my father." Then again that might not have gone over well either.

Was rather more referring to how she swallowed hook line and sinker what's just about the most elementary reverse-psychology gambit in the book but sure. Though in Miko's defense between her temperament and longstanding frustrations with Daddy Dearest she was really susceptible to the "prove me wrong" ploy...

As an aside, didn't she kinda lowkey out herself there? Had the impression "Kaoru" isn't the most common male given name...

Kaoru is a unisex name according to Wikipedia, but also because I've seen male characters named Kaoru.

::cough:: Nana to Kaoru?

last edited at Jan 21, 2020 3:47PM

Hairdresser: "hmm, she'd look great as a butch, and then she can be the top...."

Just because she isn't literally indulging in some kind of "painful" play in the chapter doesn't mean she's not a masochist.
The title+context make it clear that regardless of whether the chapter explicitly enacts it or not she's intended to be a masochist, and that's all the confirmation/evidence that's required unless something which actively contradicts that claim takes place to bring it into question.

Absence of explicit confirmation does not equal confirmation of the claim being wrong.

Tsuki is right though; whereas in the west the catch-all term is "submissive" despite it having specific connotations, in Japan the catch-all is masochist, or M.