Is that last shot of Io panting and blushing a sign that Hase being violent on her actually does the trick too, or is it just she's afraid?

Both, but that isn't the blushing you should be concerned with. She was blushing when her manager slid up her body while pulling up her dress--even had the typical heart pound to make it clearer. She had a similar reaction their first time. She seems to only catch herself after a bit of time passes with Manager. In this scene only after manager had already slid down her back and pulled up her clothes did she catch herself. Those aren't quick motions and the blushing and heart pound aren't there for show. It's not the first time her manager interactions have been depicted this way before shifting. The implication is not something I'm a fan of. I see it as something predictive and I'd rather the story not go there, especially with them now living together.

She seemed to have some involuntary physical reactions but that only really says something about how Hase was touching her, rather than Io's preferences or feelings about Hase. Those are defined pretty clearly by Io fighting her off and then putting a locked door between them, and she's definitely "scared and overexerted" not "horny" in that final panel of the chapter. Io's BDSM interests aren't anything in Hase's favor. Subs don't just take on anyone just because they're subs.

We'll have to see where the story takes it. I'm not that confident in your interpretation of her behavior, or what it's implying. Would love to agree with you though and it's possible that's all it is. I'm a bit skeptical at the moment.

You can go back and compare the look on Io's face in this scene compared to her scenes with Misa. The only thing they have in common is that her face is flushed, and when the way that's drawn is different from how her blush is normally drawn.

Is that last shot of Io panting and blushing a sign that Hase being violent on her actually does the trick too, or is it just she's afraid?

Both, but that isn't the blushing you should be concerned with. She was blushing when her manager slid up her body while pulling up her dress--even had the typical heart pound to make it clearer. She had a similar reaction their first time. She seems to only catch herself after a bit of time passes with Manager. In this scene only after manager had already slid down her back and pulled up her clothes did she catch herself. Those aren't quick motions and the blushing and heart pound aren't there for show. It's not the first time her manager interactions have been depicted this way before shifting. The implication is not something I'm a fan of. I see it as something predictive and I'd rather the story not go there, especially with them now living together.

She seemed to have some involuntary physical reactions but that only really says something about how Hase was touching her, rather than Io's preferences or feelings about Hase. Those are defined pretty clearly by Io fighting her off and then putting a locked door between them, and she's definitely "scared and overexerted" not "horny" in that final panel of the chapter. Io's BDSM interests aren't anything in Hase's favor. Subs don't just take on anyone just because they're subs.

We'll have to see where the story takes it. I'm not that confident in your interpretation of her behavior, or what it's implying. Would love to agree with you though and it's possible that's all it is. I'm a bit skeptical at the moment.

You can go back and compare the look on Io's face in this scene compared to her scenes with Misa. The only thing they have in common is that her face is flushed, and when the way that's drawn is different from how her blush is normally drawn.

She blushes like she always does. We're talking about page 28. The only persuasive argument I've heard is that she's blushing (and having the typical "ba-dump" heartbeat effect) because of the mention of Misa's name. But she is definitely having an aroused moment there and until she reaches her room. It's not any different from any other time.

last edited at Jan 13, 2025 7:36PM

She also looks this way when Hase is directing her in early chapters, before the sexual assault and with no physical contact. My interpretation is that Hase is the first person she subconsciously enjoyed telling her what to do and being in charge of her. She wouldn't have wanted to do anything with her for stated reasons: Hase loves her mom, she has a professional relationship with Hase, and she's known Hase since she was a child. Then there was the unwanted sexual assault (as oppose to the wanted ones by Misa), which likely permanently damaged Io's trust.

We know that, prior to these events, she valued Hase and saw her behavior as following from her job as manager. She says Hase walking in on her masturbation is the first time she felt uncomfortable with what Hase was doing, meaning she had felt okay with what came before. Hase, a valued interpersonal relationship and trusted person, was very different than a random person off the street.

Ultimately there is some ambiguity. Since the author is the type of writer to "go there" in every sense of the word, I interpret it this way. I wouldn't say someone who is blushing wants or deserves to be assaulted because that would be insane, whether in reference in this story or real life. Most do still find people they aren't dating attractive sometimes, which can stem from behaviors or personality traits in addition to appearance.

That has already been used as a source of tension for Misa that pushed her to engage in some questionable behavior, so it wouldn't be surprising if that was used to fuel future narrative conflict.

last edited at Jan 13, 2025 7:39PM

She also looks this way when Hase is directing her in early chapters, before the sexual assault and with no physical contact. My interpretation is that Hase is the first person she subconsciously enjoyed telling her what to do and being in charge of her. She wouldn't have wanted to do anything with her for stated reasons: Hase loves her mom, she has a professional relationship with Hase, and she's known Hase since she was a child. Then there was the unwanted sexual assault (as oppose to the wanted one by Misa, which was also assault), which likely permanently damaged Io's trust.

We know that, prior to these events, she valued Hase and saw her behavior as following from her job as manager. She says Hase walking in on her masturbation is the first time she felt uncomfortable with what Hase was doing, meaning she had felt okay with what came before. Hase, a valued interpersonal relationship and trusted person, was very different than a random person off the street.

Ultimately there is some ambiguity. Since the author is the type of writer to "go there" in every sense of the word, I interpret it this way. I wouldn't say someone who is blushing wants or deserves to be assaulted because that would be insane, whether in reference in this story or real life. Most do still find people they aren't dating attractive sometimes, which can stem from behaviors or personality traits in addition to appearance.

That has already been used as a source of tension for Misa that pushed her to engage in some questionable behavior, so it wouldn't be surprising if that was used to fuel future narrative conflict.

Yes, this is all my feeling, especially considering the Author's previous tendencies. I just would rather it not go in that direction, but it's not set in stone. It wouldn't surprise me if nothing came of it, but it wouldn't surprise me if something did. There's a narrative benefit in either direction. I just wanted to make a note of it.

last edited at Jan 13, 2025 7:45PM

It makes some sense to me. Threatening Misa at this point is likely more effective for manipulating Io than threatening Io herself. Future contact between Hase and Waka provide an in - they can say they're doing it to protect Io and will stop if Io gives up Misa. Once Io distances herself, out of context information like photos could be used to try to convince Misa that Io is actually choosing Hase. This will help the unhinged evil villain of cred of team mom, that they would use information about Io that way. Misa can do whatever is a level above kicking trashcans and try to reassert herself. Then they can reaffirm their relationship since in reality they were always 100% comitted to each other.

Or something like that, since that was way too specific. Whether either of their careers survives is another question. They seem to have no leverage here.

I took her panting and blushing because hase had reminded her about the marks . Which we saw earlier she was excited over when thinking bout them . That's how I understood it but I'm kinda dumb

Is that last shot of Io panting and blushing a sign that Hase being violent on her actually does the trick too, or is it just she's afraid?

Both, but that isn't the blushing you should be concerned with. She was blushing when her manager slid up her body while pulling up her dress--even had the typical heart pound to make it clearer. She had a similar reaction their first time. She seems to only catch herself after a bit of time passes with Manager. In this scene only after manager had already slid down her back and pulled up her clothes did she catch herself. Those aren't quick motions and the blushing and heart pound aren't there for show. It's not the first time her manager interactions have been depicted this way before shifting. The implication is not something I'm a fan of. I see it as something predictive and I'd rather the story not go there, especially with them now living together.

She seemed to have some involuntary physical reactions but that only really says something about how Hase was touching her, rather than Io's preferences or feelings about Hase. Those are defined pretty clearly by Io fighting her off and then putting a locked door between them, and she's definitely "scared and overexerted" not "horny" in that final panel of the chapter. Io's BDSM interests aren't anything in Hase's favor. Subs don't just take on anyone just because they're subs.

We'll have to see where the story takes it. I'm not that confident in your interpretation of her behavior, or what it's implying. Would love to agree with you though and it's possible that's all it is. I'm a bit skeptical at the moment.

You can go back and compare the look on Io's face in this scene compared to her scenes with Misa. The only thing they have in common is that her face is flushed, and when the way that's drawn is different from how her blush is normally drawn.

She blushes like she always does. We're talking about page 28. The only persuasive argument I've heard is that she's blushing (and having the typical "ba-dump" heartbeat effect) because of the mention of Misa's name. But she is definitely having an aroused moment there and until she reaches her room. It's not any different from any other time.

The start of this quote chain is talking about the final shot of Io lol. On page 28 her heartbeat is lined up with the mention of "being under Misa's thumb" so if there's any emotional level to her reason it's there. I think this is likely also a good explanation for how Io got to the point where she's willing to use force to defend herself from Hase early like this, because the statement and Hase's touch risked crossing those streams (a thing Hase might have even been intending to do) and Io reacted violently to that. She emphatically does not want Hase anywhere near her sexuality imo. I would be both surprised and very disappointed if the author really went for Io in any way warming up to Hase sexually as the story continues.

The way I speculate this is that Hase is reenacting some of what she's experienced with Io's mom. It seems to be imbalanced in the sense that Hase likes Io's mom much more than the reverse. This was likely the case with Hase and Io, where Io saw Hase as a trusted person and Hase saw Io as a tool to please Io's mom.

In terms of "warming up", this is very unlikely. Io has experienced someone who actually likes her and would sacrifice a lot for her well being, whereas Hase has been destroying Io's trust in her. Hase's efforts are doomed in that sense and, if anything, Hase is also someone who needs help. Hase is nonetheless going to pull some stuff. While Misa is the type to act out in response to conflict, Io is likely to shut down emotionally if things get too bad. There may be some degree of physical or emotional reaction to what Hase then does, even if it goes into Io's "unwanted sexual assaults" list, that can be used to guilt Io or try to discredit her to Misa.

I do think Io is different with Misa than Hase, which is why I said she looks similar. Her feelings are clearly much more intense with Misa, she trusts Misa much more, and she (mostly) seems to be enjoying herself in a way she never did with Hase. Not surprising when they are the real pairing and Hase is the villain of this arc. I don't see this changing for the entire story, at least without some major new plot developments that it's too early to predict.

Edit: What I think will be interesting will be see if Hase and the mom's relationship was once more positive and became like this over time. Io has a similar fear of abandonment with Misa as Hase does with Io's mom and Io is willing to do anything to keep her relationship going. Misa has not asked Io to do anything that would negatively impact other people, so how Io would handle that is an open question.

I could see Io becoming more willing to act unethically over time if that were Misa's goal, though of course it never has been. Misa does have a vindictive side, at least in situations where the other person started something first.

last edited at Jan 14, 2025 10:15AM