I think you came up with something highly plausible (and we could come up with other possibilities), but I wonder how long their purported arc will be. Luxi's mom is written in a way where she's very isolated and seems to have no one besides Luxi, whereas the mom friendship hasn't been going on very long and had its trust severely damaged. Reestablishing the friendship without false pretenses seems like it should be its own arc, while I don't think the author will want to spend too much time away from Luxi / Tong Tong. Unless the author is going to make most of that happen off screen and surprise the MCs, I would expect it take more than one arc.

last edited at Mar 10, 2025 5:26PM

But there are many ways of dealing with trauma/issues, and therapy is not really popular in Japan. That why is always make me laugh a bit when people are mentioning therapy for Japanese characters. Talking about therapy in Japan is seeing Japanese society with a western lens and it doesn't apply very well. I'm not saying that there are no therapist in Japan btw, just saying that is not common and therefore it's not something that we can expect to see in fiction as a way to resolve characters' issues.

I don't know anything about the state of therapy in Japan, so I can't comment on that. I do know that, even in the US, many people have limited access to therapy. This can mean needing to choose from a smaller set of options (what will the parents approve if you're a minor, what's local and covered by insurance, who treats on a sliding scale, etc), possibly at random until you find someone appropriate.

Most of those options will be subject to the same general biases of your local and national culture. This is known to impact healthcare outcomes (eg, Black people being treated as being at a lower pain level than White people who make the same statements). I think it has a much larger impact where therapy is concerned. It's not like a situation where a skilled surgeon with a god complex could give you a good outcome. A therapist who's trying to stay professional but is secretly a bit weirded out by teenage gay stuff and secret BDSM coded transactional relationship will impact the whole process. For someone in an emotionally vulnerable situation, this could have long term repercussions.

I know I'm very seriously responding to an idea that was mentioned off handedly, so I hope everyone will forgive me for that.

last edited at Mar 9, 2025 4:09PM

I think the situation is delicate in a way that therapy not being on the table is something I find easy to accept, at least this early. The thing about therapy is that -except when mandated by court order or you get committed/taken in by ambulance- it's voluntary and requires some level of willingness. And it can be hard to realize that you need it if nobody around you suggests it in an encouraging, non-judgmental way.

I'm just going to go there and say therapy isn't as good as people say it is.* The therapy techniques are not backed by science (ie the techniques perform similarly, even ones that are less scientific sounding like crystal energy healing). People subjectively liking how something feels isn't the same as improved clinical outcomes. See bath salts for an example**.

I'm not saying it -can't- help people, but people act like it's a miracle treatment suitable for all people if only they are willing to give it a try. This would make it unlike any other kind of treatment that has a failure rate, even among people who properly follow the treatment plan.

Not being able to talk about their relationship with anyone at all ends up being the root of a lot of challenges for them and so a therapist might help in that sense. I can't imagine most of the ones I've seen really understanding their situation or being able to respond in a helpful way, though. As a web novel reader, I just want them to talk with Maika... Okay, who am I kidding, I want more drama as they dig their hole deeper.

*I could say more about my personal situation, but I've had more success with non-therapy measures despite trying extensive therapy with different therapists over many years while doing my best to take it seriously. There's no one size fits all approach to healthcare.

** Yes, therapy is more likely to help than bath salts. It's just an example.

last edited at Mar 9, 2025 11:10AM

Child abuse does not require bad intentions. It's frequently done thinking it's the right thing to do, even, and that doesn't make it not abuse in any way. Abusers say "this is for your own good" all the time. Their supposed ends do not justify their means. Especially in cases like this where the desired "end" is forcing someone to deny their sexuality. Luxi's mother scarred her terribly and she'll never be able to make up for it or continue having a relationship with her daughter if she clings to her supposed good intentions, because it's not up to her.

It requires it as I'm using the word, which is relevant to the meaning in my posts.

People will also say their intentions are all sorts of things, sometimes even convincing themselves. How they respond when confronted with evidence that what they did isn't helping is much more revealing than what they say. There's a reason why I included subconscious intent.

last edited at Mar 7, 2025 7:09PM

I also am up for differing perspectives, but I feel the need to clarify here. Luxi did not lie to her mom, nor did I say she did. Her mom thinks Luxi lied to her because she thinks Luxi was in on Tong Tong's mom lying to her. Luxi's mom came up with a narrative where everything is related in a way that confirms her worst fears about herself.

I also don't see thinking homosexuality is a disease as abusive, so much as ignorant and deeply harmful. I think she genuinely believed it was dangerous and that pursuing the gay stuff would be extremely bad for Luxi. It's the parent's job to step in when their child is about to make a major mistake, especially one that could ruin their life (eg alcohol addiction). The problem is that, when they don't check their biases, they can end up being the biggest source of harm, despite genuinely wanting to help.

It's like a parent denying their child life saving medicine because someone on social media convinced them that the medicine would kill their child. The effect is the same as if they were trying to harm the child (that is, as abuse), but it's a genuine attempt at good parenting. People define abuse in different ways, but for me it cannot be abuse when both the conscious and subconscious intent is to help someone.

If I'm right, realizing that Luxi is both successful and happier will make all the difference to her, along with finding out that Luxi never lied to her and still values her. Neither of these are information she yet has.

last edited at Mar 6, 2025 9:28PM

I think the mom is more upset that
1 she was lied to about this and her daughter couldn't trust her
2 the friend she thought she had was also lying to her and their own relationship was built on manipulating her .
I think she's more than likely gotten more accepting of her daughters queerness and is hurt shed hide it from her ( even though her daughter has no reason to trust her with it )
Clearly she was wrong about lin and tongtongs relationship effecting her hard work . I think she'll talk to tongtongs mom and come to a realization that she's no longer homophobic .

Being lied to almost certainly the major part of what she's upset about.

Her past depictions were less abusive to me and more overworked and stressed, but while feeling like there was a reason for her to sacrifice that much. With her purpose gone so to speak and the years of her life never coming back, she has to figure out what to do with herself. She also has to live with the fallout of the social skills and network she didn't adequately developed. We know her marriage/romantic life didn't go well.

With the latest chapter, she took all this as a rejection: no one trusted her, no one appreciated her, and now that her daughter doesn't need her anymore her daughter is done with her. This will be a lot of motivation to come around on the gay stuff, especially when she sees her daughter doing better than she is (good grades, social network, etc in addition to a successful relationship). We also know Luxi does appreciate her, which is part of why this is hard for Luxi.

She really needs some time away from Luxi and to hear that she is appreciated. In the mean time, she has Tong Tong's mom to help her figure out what she enjoys and how to live more independently. Really fairly realistic without the mangaisms (the present, the phone calls, etc).

last edited at Mar 6, 2025 7:24AM

Slenderman does seem to be meant to be both comical and someone who likes to make convenient nonsense as they go along. The premise of the story is still Itou learning about normality from the perspective of other outsiders, the monsters. I think we are meant to read into it a little, rather than entirely dismissing Slenderman's perspective.

"Kill the normies" may also appeal to certain demographics for obvious reasons, even if they wouldn't really want it to happen.

last edited at Feb 24, 2025 4:14PM

They're engaged now, so naturally they would be doing things like aquarium visits.

Slenderman may have been trying to draw out the worm to get more information about her abilities, since she could be both a threat and ally to the plan. I'm not sure the last part was sincere. We haven't had a lot of scenes, but it felt out of character to me compared to what came before.

I will say I don't otherwise see hypocrisy. Wanting people to be free to do things like murder doesn't mean you want to be personally murdered. It just means you want people to be free to try. A comparison: I might want someone to be free to tell me their real feelings about me, but then end up being disturbed by how they really feel. This doesn't mean I wanted them to lie to me, as I wanted the truth, but I would have preferred that the truth was something else if that had been possible.

Slenderman clearly is also proposing rules, from what I can tell, to the point even he must be aware of it. His end goal is to create a media human farm. That presumably will involve protecting those humans from monsters that don't value entertainment media. He wants a very different social environment than what exists now, but still is envisioning one.

last edited at Feb 24, 2025 7:48AM

I'm fairly certain what happened is that she had to stop reading due to Luxi coming home early, so she never got past the part about building anticipation. She did this part very well, but eventually Luxi got annoyed about it being drawn out and took over.

last edited at Feb 23, 2025 8:00PM

I agree that police often have good intentions, though what they always have is guns. Most of us have done something we shouldn't when scared or angry, maybe even convincing ourselves we were justified after the fact. There's a limit to how badly this can go if you're unarmed, which I make a habit of being partially for this reason.

Anyway, it does seem like this story is likely to end with the self acceptance route. We have the example of the grandma who is very strange but also considerate, which is something of a middle ground compared to our protagonist. Both the worm and protagonist don't seem very happy with themselves. It would be satisfying seeing them get to the point where they both are okay with themselves while having made their peace with society.

last edited at Feb 23, 2025 7:22AM

US stuff about Trans...Yeah I am not going to touch that with a 10 foot pole but the people representing them as a group in the court/City council...They need better well educated people to represent them...I am starting to think those people are just hired to make the Bi, Queer, Trans etc. group look horrible and stupid. There must be more better and intelligent people part of the LGBTQ group that can do a better job...

You did, in fact, poke it with a ten foot pole.

I wasn't referencing entertainment media anyway, more social/political things like healthcare access, bathrooms, sports, etc. Most people didn't care that much about these topics 20-30 years ago. Of course, trans people didn't have access to what many now have access to it, nor can you call the police on a trans person for simply using the bathroom* in most of the US (except Florida). In the past, many carried around letters from their doctor so that they could explain why they were in the bathroom when the police got called on them. The cultural environment was very different.

None of this was a reaction to trans people per say. Things were set up that way due to cultural norms and legal precedent, which often had been set without being aware of trans people. That 'normal' got challenged once people started becoming more aware that trans people are a thing and once doctors realized there is medical evidence in favor of supporting transition. The average trans person was not trying to make a statement about gender politics, but nonetheless society became forced to consider it.

Edit: *I should say that people can and do call the police on people in the US for all sorts of stupid reasons, which sometimes leads to violence. Nonetheless, the response in the past would have been both more reliable and more reliably dangerous.

last edited at Feb 22, 2025 6:59PM

Clearly they were both gay, with the story having been written about their presumed straight love interest to try to force themselves to move, and then- hang on, we're not supposed to post these online.

@ Gutterslob

Not to put words in anyones mouth, I think its the original "model" for the figure also having been a real person that sets the precedent that this wouldn't be AS immediately offensive to her.

I think this too. It's obviously different when it's about -you- rather than someone you've never met, but I don't think she would in general think less of someone who did this.

I don't really have a problem with the idea of Japan being more rule abiding. It seems to be somewhat true (albeit I'm simplifying it to the point of absurdity) that following the rules is seen as the way to show respect in Japan, whereas in US it's by letting people do whatever they want.

Despite that, I would agree everything about normality also applies to the US. The standards of the group are simply different (despite significant overlap between all cultures). Sometimes the standards of normality in the US precisely relate to giving people the space to do what they want, even if it's selfish or not strictly a good idea.

Also, I didn't know this one was on dynasty. I'll have to read through the comments at some point.

Edit: I think people may have misunderstood the concept of not getting in people's way to some extent. If, for example, someone sees heterosexual relationships as both standard and correct, having an openly gay relationship challenges their understanding. This manifests as unease - getting in the way of how they want to see themselves and society. Hence you can get in their way simply by existing.

Since people have mentioned trans people, this is really evident in the US right now. Most trans people just want to live their lives. However, if trans peoples' needs and experiences are acknowledged, it invalidates a lot of the traditional understanding and choices around gender. This leads to trans people being subversive by their nature, even if they'd very much prefer to be seen as normal (or even as uninteresting, as far as their gender status goes) and embraced by society.

Many people are trying very hard to change the norms for this very reason, to allow more inclusion and acceptance to a wider range of people. People who don't want to change their understanding feel angry and threatened for this reason, despite generally not being materially threatened in any way.

last edited at Feb 22, 2025 12:50PM

Well, Remu did consent to being the model. That makes a difference with this kind of thing. The nonconventionality of it isn't the part that would be an issue for her.

The public nature of it is indeed the biggest issue, along with her seeming unwillingness to consider that Remu might not like her that. Both of these could create a lot of problems in a way a private journal or even a story with the names changed wouldn't.

It's not clear how recognizable the stories would be, but they seem to involve real places they have been. It potentially could be pieced together by someone. Given that's the most dramatic and harmful possibility, it seems like an event that will happen at some point. At least, that's one way this could go, but it's hard to predict where this story will end up.

last edited at Feb 21, 2025 7:57PM

I don't expect Remu to -like- that Niji is posting these stories. However, the parallel between Azuki's situation and Nijis should be obvious. She has however many years of trust and connection with Niji. She's not going to want to turn Niji into the next Azuki by being shamed by possibly Niji's first love, nor is Remu going to want Niji to be stigmatized like she was.

If we have problems, I expect the it to start on Niji's end, like the art in the bonus chapter art indicates. Niji and Meguru are really the antagonists of this story, as far as specific characters go. They are very sympathetic in terms of their backstories. They are however willing to act out their trauma on others, compared Azuki and Remu who hide or blame themselves.

last edited at Feb 21, 2025 3:11PM

Others posted about this earlier with previous chapters, so it's not really my catch. We do learn this chapter that Niji's version of Remu essentially has a different personality, rather than simply being Remu fan fiction. Remu wouldn't act like that even if she did like Niji. Niji seems to distinguish between real and fictional events, but is hazy on Remu's true personality.

Remu is at least the character least likely to react badly to someone posting this type of fiction about her online. She is fairly carefree and accepting. She also probably prefers this to someone thinking she's strange or bad.

The real question is how Niji reacts to Remu not being interested in her romantically. Remu might like that a lot less, especially if there's a risk of "rival" Azuki being negatively impacted. Anger has a way of making normally reasonable people become unhinged.

It's interesting that all three nonRemus are using models to represent someone in a way that isn't accurate to the real person, while Remu is using Azuki and her models in a way that doesn't validate how Azuki relates to the models. Remu seems to realize some of this, but can't think of anything better to do.

last edited at Feb 20, 2025 7:39PM

The main thing that's weird about Niji is that she's posting it online. Otherwise we have someone with slightly unusual sexual preferences who's overfocusing on someone who's not interested her, like many lesbians have done at some point. Arcane was talking about how the characters' issues are related to how they respond to anti-gay prejudice (the type of love that's seen as disgusting), which is still true with this update.

The failing to distinguish between the Remus is also strange, but without that it would never really impact Remu. It's the twist we need for her to be sufficiently weird to be a manga character. It's also not new information, but this update we find out that at least she is still aware there is a difference.

last edited at Feb 20, 2025 3:22PM

I thought it was pretty clear that Fuuko isn't as emotionally strong as she acts. That's why her behavior can be unhinged and why she ends up being a driving force of the weird sexual behavior. It's part her finding a way to work through her emotional issues and part that her experiences with Yuni are now her formative sexual experiences. She is trying to become for Yuni what she lacked in her life, hopefully gaining some peace and self acceptance in the process. That might happen if this weren't a manga.

We don't know exactly what happened before Yuni got there, but plot wise we likely need the flushed reaction. Yuni's reaction will be key to the immediate developments in the story. Fuuko crying while having a bloody nose would get a very different reaction from Yuni than what we saw, even if both are equally nonconsensual. Whatever got that reaction is less important, though I'm sure we will still be getting more information.

last edited at Feb 20, 2025 9:04AM

I really hope Yuni does right by her next chapter instead of going "oh you're clearly together with that person who you obviously are refusing consent to so I'm going to act hurt and leave you alone with them".

She’s 100% gonna misunderstand, bet. Literally every character in this story lacks common sense + MC gets jealous easy and is hella moody, it’d be OOC if she suddenly gained sense now

It does feel unfortunately likely, but, like... She very clearly heard Fuuko saying no and stop and enough. She can see Fuuko very clearly being distressed by this situation. So I don't think it would be OOC for her to put these very obvious signs together... But it is sad that we're doubting her to begin with lol

I bet on her understanding it's nonconsenual, getting upset anyway, and being upset with herself for feeling that way despite it not changing how she feels, leading to some type of strange sexual situation. That's not counting the whole dynamic of her not committing to Fuuko while wanting the reverse. She will also realize this is unreasonable without being able to change the feeling.

I was trying to keep my post simple, but people do see what they expect to some extent. I'm reminded of one of Terry Pratchett's novel I'm rereading. It's a running joke that people can't see Death (the grim reaper) because it doesn't parse that a skeleton could be casually walking around outside with them. He doesn't have to disguise himself, use magic, or anything like that. I could give less extreme examples from my own life.

With this story, I'm also not very convinced that they're the same person, though I wouldn't be surprised if there was some kind of connection. For example, she could be the sister of Io's mom that the mom abandoned. It would be fine for them to be unrelated, but it's interesting to think about how this could tie in.

last edited at Feb 17, 2025 7:13PM

This place is incredible. I feel like I have a place, with the people I banter with, the people I see in the same comment sections as me, talking to each other in this big interconnected web of community. I don't feel as lonely anymore. I can always look at pictures of women in love feeling safe and happy and loved together and know that I'll be in a relationship like that someday. And that's all because of you all, that feeling of safety, of community. Maybe some people hate you, but they don't matter. There are so many more people that love you. hehe, i'm getting a little emotional. whatever.
You do so much work every day to heartwarm and entertain people, all for free. And you deserve all the happiness in the world. Thank you.

Personally I'm just here for the How to Break a Triangle flame wars. /s

Misa had no idea who Io was and Io is famous, albeit more recently. We've also never seen Misa show any interest in celebrities. It seems like the kind of thing Misa wouldn't know. Speaking as someone who has no idea who the vast majority of celebrities (especially actors) are, for me it's a believable level of ignorance.

Or in her own words, women she can't have sex with are boring. Misa has her priorities and it's not pop culture. She even claims to only sleep and eat in her apartment. That could be an exaggeration, but it's not clear how much media she consumes in the first place.

Edit: Also, she hasn't seen this person in around a decade, so not recognizing her while googling would also be believable for me. People look different after that long while memory gets foggy.

last edited at Feb 17, 2025 5:34PM

This was a nice chapter with support Misa. The author is good at portraying how Misa wants quickly became someone who wants to take care of Io, with all her behavior stemming from that to some extent. If anyone still wasn't sure how she differs from Hase, this chapter should make it clear. It also explains her level of self denial in past chapters since she doesn't want to deal with the vulnerability of feeling that way. And we have Io becoming a bit more independent, but also really suffering from the burden of needing to do that in her current environment. The way she totally let down her defenses as soon as she saw Misa says a lot about how she relates to Misa.

The mom does look very similar to the person from Misa's flashback - maybe a different hair color, but it looks like the same color as Io's hair. I could def see flowerchild going there. It would tie a lot together, with the mom having set off both these situations, and be part of why Misa had that instinctual reaction to Io back when they first met. It could also explain why the mom is confident in being able to break them up if she thinks she still has influence over Misa. It would also make the mom a little more sympathetic if she's been through a lot of difficult situations herself, enough to avoid the 'cartoonishly evil' problem so that she's only mangaishly evil.

More plot arcs were set up too. I'm looking forward to future chapters.

last edited at Feb 17, 2025 11:33AM