Someone's gonna start playing some banjo's.

@karasutengu
I fully expect both princesses to fall for her.

Well we know for sure that the collar was doing something. So simply getting rid of it has some effect.

I think it's like drug addition. The slave follows orders to get that dopamine hit. After removing collar, they might still out of habit try to follow orders...but then get no hit. So the "cure" is just good old neuroplasticity. And it's not perfect, in the same way that a former drug addict may still get cravings years later.

"Lady Emma... Just please don't work too hard four our sake. I feel terrible that you have the fate of the Eastern Empire entirely on your shoulders."

If my entire nation and culture was on the verge of annihilation, and there was one person who might be able to figure out how to save us, I personally wouldn't be encouraging them to kick back and take it easy. (But, of course, I haven't personally entered Emma's charm event horizon.)

[Miguel] was Emma's very first bug-loving friend.

What about poor Joshua? He has spent so much effort pretending to be bug-loving!

Why hasn't Melisa given Joshua some pointers? Resemble a silver fox as best you can (given your age), and get buff. She has means, motive and opportunity.

The MC is bland, but the reactions of the other forest dwellers is making this a better read for me.

@Geezer-Weasalopes said in Management of a Novice Alchemist Vol. 6 Discussion!:

@Travis-Butler said in Management of a Novice Alchemist Vol. 6 Discussion!:

@Darkchaser said in Management of a Novice Alchemist Vol. 6 Discussion!:

well things are moving along. Hopefully the family shop isn't put in danger when the Feed company set up a shop. Maybe they can figure some way to support each other. Love her little tea fight in her mind, fight the good fight for good tea.

I suspect Morgan was thinking in terms of either investing in or outright buying Lorea’s parents’ shop, once Sarasa said she was worried about it.

A wholly-owned subsidiary of Feed Co.

Which does seem to be what's going down.
Lorea-chan's parents manage the shop, while Feed Co. handles dealing with the outer world.
Given Feed Co. being quite firm about not wanting to antagonize Sarasa and clearly recognizing her ties to Lorea-chan, it should work out acceptably.

"Um, no, in fact you should be looking at a bit more 'graft' if you want to ensure no one looks down upon you.
"If they can't see any traces of it you're either too naive or too effective."

I don't think Allen would even accept the title of hero if offered since he usually runs from any recognition. Funnily enough Igna didnt take the deal, not that it mattered in the big picture since he is still the catalyst fkr Io's escape

The power of MONEY, Kaiba from Yugioh would be proud

That said...in real life, fishing was more of a hobby that I only humored now and then. It was only in-game that I was totally hooked.

So in other words, in games, Kizuna is a fish... or, perhaps, a whale.

Following off of my previous comment. It seems likely that the King has been pushing her for the salt so that he can then reward her. She's been operating under the idea that she could maybe gain credit and therefore monetary reward herself.

@LightningLeaf said in Chivalry of a Failed Knight Vol 7. Discussion!:

So Ouma has a boost beyond his natural strength. I wonder what it is.

THC/CBD.

Is... the author a crazy cat person? They seem really obsessed with them.

ATLAS: Off to a great start! I'm excited about this one.
This Gyaru's Got a Thing For Vampire Hunters: The character profiles are tropey but it's really fun so far. I'm enjoying it.

Even Exiled, She's Still the Beloved Saint!: It sounds cozy although formulaic so far. I'll follow it for a volume or three.
Scooped Up By an S-Rank Adventurer: Also formulaic, makes me think of potato chips. I'll probably read for a bit.
Looks Like a Job for a Maid: cute so far.

Flung Into a New World: MC seems all right. His magic has no apparent limitations and there are no stakes; I've started to feel like I'm reading a Minecraft play-by-play. At least he doesn't have skills and statblocks. It hasn't grabbed my interest but I'll read a couple more parts. I'm a little curious about the political entities in the setting.

Old Knight, New Post: The first part seems like a clumsier imitation of My Daughter Left the Nest and Wyatt is set up like a knockoff Begrieve. There's even a town girl calling herself his disciple. Unfortunately this prose isn't as good. I don't think I'll be able to stop comparing them. Might read a few more parts.

Blade Skill Online: I looked at the cover and noped out. I don't care for video game wish fulfillment isekai in the first place.
The Goddess Says Kill the Thunder Witch: The way the MC leers at the witch girl is another nope for me.

Guild Handyman / Zero Damage Sword Saint / Worthless at Home, Whiz to the World:
I'm generally not interested in overpowered awesomest-ever dudes. (Noor is an exception, I think; his defining character trait is being fundamentally decent and humble, and his ridiculous power is secondary.)

Guess who’s getting kidnapped?

So I just finished my re-read with the novel now fully released and having given myself a bit of time away from it. Here are some bullet pointed highlights compared to my original thoughts for any interested.

On my initial read I was really critical of the pacing and order of events. With the weekly release schedule it felt like everything took a long time to actually get to the plot and resolve, especially with the MC's habit of going on narrative tangents. On re-read though it isn't nearly as bad as it seemed. The author actually did a really good job of using things like the camping trip to work in character details. The MC struggles to take anything seriously because she just legitimately doesn't feel any of the danger that everyone else feels. As she tells the wannabe knight, in the forest she is at the peak of the food chain.

The author would have helped themselves so much by topping off the Sienna plotline. She is the evil sneaky stepsister but the story totally forgot about her beyond waving a flag occasionally to say "See! She's still here!" I don't think anyone would have wanted a total resolution but simply mentioning in the final chapter if anything at all happened to her or if she was up to anything, even just implying that the brother is now actively suspicious of her. It would have helped a lot!

I could say a lot more but I wanted to point out one amusing thing that I totally missed on the initial readthrough. The books synopsis makes this incident seem like a major deal to the world at large, but if you read the first chapter prolog carefully you'll notice that it only actually says that this is a major deal to the academy with repercussions for the nation.

Oh and unfortunately I'm giving up my pet theory that the first prince is a reincarnated version of her second life's husband. On re-read it's clearly stated that she didn't actually "love" her husband in the traditional sense and instead treated it like her own political marriage. She appreciated the safety and comfort he gave her but with that so clearly stated it wouldn't make sense to have him show back up in this life. Instead I'm guessing that it is just the cliche that she interacted with the prince when they were very young and she showed off magic/intelligence beyond her years making him fall in love with her.

@Phabiohost
She was shocked before the sneak.

@Michael-Simmons-kwkv650 said in The Despicable Duke Settles His Affairs Discussion:

When will romance authors realize that consent is way more sexy than rape?

Right?!?!?!

I was excited for some cute gay romance and got something really messed up

Yes. Cute gay romance would have been great. I could go for some cute gay romance.

I actually would like to read more stories with sexually explicit content, and was glad to see J-Novel Club experimenting with offering a racy boys love novel. But then, disappointment.

I know it's prevalent, but I do not want to read stories where sexual assault is something that the main romantic interest does. This seems like it would be a low bar, a standard that would be easy to meet. And yet.

Give me some higher quality smut, dammit. I feel like singing that Tom Lehrer song.

A lot of stories would be improved by people discussing things a little bit. Like,

"I want to do X, Y, and Z with you"
"Go for it"

or

"Would you like me to...?"
"By all means."

I wish people would use their imagination more about what kinds of interactions people could have that are fun and exciting and healthy. Or at least, not at sexual assault levels of badness.

Karina and Dia actually do make a really good team when strategizing for an attack.

Aisha just assumed they'd be keeping Dia.... Hah. I guess she knows Karina pretty well at this point.

I wonder if Maririn will join the team as well after this is all done. Maybe Maria will let Karina keep her in lieu of punishment.

My neverending quest to catch up on everything I'm behind on has finally reached this series! Hooray!

@dragon3010 said in Mythical Hero Vol. 12 Discussion!:

Wow! A king actually saw through the war and noted right out of w.e is going on because he wants 0 part in it whatsoever, Liz and aura being cute is always welcomed.

This, 100%. Setting aside supernatural forces and what that entails, the ONLY thing that makes it look like the Empire might be doomed is that every member of the royal family who could rally the people and lead it are on battlefields. Should they all be killed, that might do the trick but any of them still living would still likely be able muster the forces to push them out eventually.

There's also a huge difference between taking land and holding, defending, and settling it.

And Aura is still my favorite character. Her threatening to tie Hiro up and make him read the Black Chronicles for 3 days straight made me snicker

@Sebastien-Lelievre-pbm2m4m

Hello,

Yes, it is already up for pre-order and releases in September

https://j-novel.club/series/the-magic-in-this-other-world-is-too-far-behind?buy=volume-10