Will keep the comments section for this page brief, final page of the chapter will be up tonight, and the full 45-pg original pencilled comic PDF will be up for Patrons then as well. See you in a few hours~
I only know what you’re talking about because of memes. Never watched a single episode, yet still know most of what’s going on because you can’t escape the memes.
Oh, no, honey. Being royalty has not treated her well. First it was all that stupid Pasori disappointment about her gender, and now she’s basically just getting tossed aside like an inconvenience. Like, I guess that dude is technically (and dubiously) Luca’s best friend, but that isn’t saying much.
Just weird as hell. I hope she manages to strike back somehow. She clearly had active interest in finding love the proper way, based on her dreams.
It’s neither her father’s nor Ulyer’s, certainly. I think it might be a general purpose military uniform sleeve though, not enough to tell us who it is yet.
I hope the sleeve/shoulder/’Miss Rana’ shout at her just showed her passing by random people on her way up to the tower and the last panel turns out to be Suda stopping her from doing anything stupid like the stand-up brother he is.
But.. but… Rana is not a 21st century American girl! In her culture she’s of marriageable age and the parents choose their daughter’s husbands. AND she’s a princess. Princess’ marriages are political, even in our world. Surely she can’t have expected to pick her own husband? Has she been living in a rosy cloud all her life? Even if Luca is a difficult father, she had an intelligent and compassionate mother for 17 years. Surely Phe TALKED to her daughter now and then? Surely she must’ve had some lessons which covered history, culture and… surely she must’ve grown up with stories and songs in which arranged marriages were the norm?
WHY IS SHE SO SURPRISED?!! WHY DOES SHE THINK THAT HER MARRIAGE BEING ARRANGED IS SOMETHING LUCA DOES OUT OF HATRED TOWARDS HER?!!
This is what annoyed the heck out of me in that Pixar movie ‘Brave’. The anachronism of a Celtic Princess of the third century AD behaving like an American girl of the 21th century.
There has never been an Emperor like Luca before… and never children like the royal kids. In Pasori culture there can be arranged marriages and outright selling of children, but again they are extremely far from Pasori culture. They were raised culturally a lot closer to Santri people like Phe, and more modern expectations of personal freedom. With Phe in the picture, Rana also had some model for personal expression and the right to choose the path her life went, as both her parents did. There is also no obvious suitor for her given that her father technically has no equal… so yeah, not the 21st century, but not exactly medieval times either. There hasn’t been a situation like this before and her mother would never have allowed Luca to do what he just did, so it is a betrayal.
Thanks for the explanation, this makes a lot of sense. This is the “first” royal family so they wouldn’t have that many pre-established notions like “of course my marriage will be arranged” or “I’ve been betrothed since I was five, I can’t take any of my crushes seriously.” This also explains why Suda is so shocked by his father’s “divine right” as an emperor to just straight-up murder the captain.
I get the impression that Luca is far more like that depressing but all too common figure in our own near-modern history; the Liberator turned Dictator. Tradition is probably more or less what he makes up as he goes along. I may be completely wrong but the political entities of this world don’t really seem to have European-style hereditary aristocracies. It’s significant that he’s marrying off Rana to a wealthy manufacturer, which sounds much more like what a Third World dictator would do to shore up their (never really completely assured) political position as opposed to what, say a Hapsburg (who really did rule by “divine right”, or, at least, tried to.) would do, who (like all European royalty did) used princesses as counters to annex territory and increase dynastic power. (“Others make war, you, happy Hapsburgs, marry.”) Luca’s “empire” is really a modern (for lack of a better term) nation state; pre-modern traditional European royal familes (i.e. “l’ancien regime”) married and fought each other for the sake of their respective dynasties, and were not necessarily tied to any particular nation; the idea of the “nation” is a (relatively) modern idea. And Luca does not represent an ancient established royal or imperial family, accorded respect just by existing; he’s a self-made man, probably (even leaving aside issues with giant spectral tigers) all too aware how quickly what has been made can be unmade.
All of my confident assertions above on my part about Luca, Rana and their world are, of course, merely speculation on my part; the true authority is the immensely talented Der-shing Helmer. Apologies if I have (as often happens) misinterpreted what’s going on, and also sincerest thanks for your gift of THE MEEK to your readers!
32 Comments
oh no….
Please Rana, don’t do anything stupid.
Just tell your dad you want to be just like him. Then kill him. Problem solved.
Nonono. It wouldn’t be proper unless you waited until he sits on the loo. And just where should she get a crossbow anyway?!?
I only know what you’re talking about because of memes. Never watched a single episode, yet still know most of what’s going on because you can’t escape the memes.
Oh, no, honey. Being royalty has not treated her well. First it was all that stupid Pasori disappointment about her gender, and now she’s basically just getting tossed aside like an inconvenience. Like, I guess that dude is technically (and dubiously) Luca’s best friend, but that isn’t saying much.
Just weird as hell. I hope she manages to strike back somehow. She clearly had active interest in finding love the proper way, based on her dreams.
“Miss Rana you’re late for your lesson!”
lol
NO
Oh nooooooo!
Uh… is that the sleeve of the dude she was kissing in her dreams from the beginning of the chapter?
It’s neither her father’s nor Ulyer’s, certainly. I think it might be a general purpose military uniform sleeve though, not enough to tell us who it is yet.
If so, it would echo the location of the dream at the beginning of the chapter, which I could see happening.
Rana: You are the worst dad eveeeerr. You couldn’t get any worse if you tried!
Luca: Hold my beer.
I wish there was a way to upvote comments on here.
Seconded.
Thirded(?!)
OH MY GOSH.
UPVOTED
Everyone is crying in Der-Shing comics right now!
If she runs away, chances are Hyla’s going too.
Hopefully only the second floor and not a significantly High balcony…
Poor Rana. Really digging those worn stone steps though.
DO A FLIP
how ungrateful, why doesn’t she want to marry my friend old enough twice over to be her own father
I DOn”T LIKE THIS GUY, HE’S A BAD DAD >: (
I hope the sleeve/shoulder/’Miss Rana’ shout at her just showed her passing by random people on her way up to the tower and the last panel turns out to be Suda stopping her from doing anything stupid like the stand-up brother he is.
I just made the greatest decision of your life for you, and you never bothered to thank me.Truly ungrateful!
But.. but… Rana is not a 21st century American girl! In her culture she’s of marriageable age and the parents choose their daughter’s husbands. AND she’s a princess. Princess’ marriages are political, even in our world. Surely she can’t have expected to pick her own husband? Has she been living in a rosy cloud all her life? Even if Luca is a difficult father, she had an intelligent and compassionate mother for 17 years. Surely Phe TALKED to her daughter now and then? Surely she must’ve had some lessons which covered history, culture and… surely she must’ve grown up with stories and songs in which arranged marriages were the norm?
WHY IS SHE SO SURPRISED?!! WHY DOES SHE THINK THAT HER MARRIAGE BEING ARRANGED IS SOMETHING LUCA DOES OUT OF HATRED TOWARDS HER?!!
This is what annoyed the heck out of me in that Pixar movie ‘Brave’. The anachronism of a Celtic Princess of the third century AD behaving like an American girl of the 21th century.
There has never been an Emperor like Luca before… and never children like the royal kids. In Pasori culture there can be arranged marriages and outright selling of children, but again they are extremely far from Pasori culture. They were raised culturally a lot closer to Santri people like Phe, and more modern expectations of personal freedom. With Phe in the picture, Rana also had some model for personal expression and the right to choose the path her life went, as both her parents did. There is also no obvious suitor for her given that her father technically has no equal… so yeah, not the 21st century, but not exactly medieval times either. There hasn’t been a situation like this before and her mother would never have allowed Luca to do what he just did, so it is a betrayal.
Thanks for the explanation, this makes a lot of sense. This is the “first” royal family so they wouldn’t have that many pre-established notions like “of course my marriage will be arranged” or “I’ve been betrothed since I was five, I can’t take any of my crushes seriously.” This also explains why Suda is so shocked by his father’s “divine right” as an emperor to just straight-up murder the captain.
I get the impression that Luca is far more like that depressing but all too common figure in our own near-modern history; the Liberator turned Dictator. Tradition is probably more or less what he makes up as he goes along. I may be completely wrong but the political entities of this world don’t really seem to have European-style hereditary aristocracies. It’s significant that he’s marrying off Rana to a wealthy manufacturer, which sounds much more like what a Third World dictator would do to shore up their (never really completely assured) political position as opposed to what, say a Hapsburg (who really did rule by “divine right”, or, at least, tried to.) would do, who (like all European royalty did) used princesses as counters to annex territory and increase dynastic power. (“Others make war, you, happy Hapsburgs, marry.”) Luca’s “empire” is really a modern (for lack of a better term) nation state; pre-modern traditional European royal familes (i.e. “l’ancien regime”) married and fought each other for the sake of their respective dynasties, and were not necessarily tied to any particular nation; the idea of the “nation” is a (relatively) modern idea. And Luca does not represent an ancient established royal or imperial family, accorded respect just by existing; he’s a self-made man, probably (even leaving aside issues with giant spectral tigers) all too aware how quickly what has been made can be unmade.
All of my confident assertions above on my part about Luca, Rana and their world are, of course, merely speculation on my part; the true authority is the immensely talented Der-shing Helmer. Apologies if I have (as often happens) misinterpreted what’s going on, and also sincerest thanks for your gift of THE MEEK to your readers!