ill arrest you

It wasn’t anything unusual in the ongoing tale of “Leslie and the No Good, Terrible Biological Family,” but it just hit me.

There was the usual learning of just more ways the Sperados are superjerks, like how it’s unusual for children (or at least noble children) to not be given middle names, and that the instructors that the Sperados hired for her told her that she should show great respect to such important people as them deigning to teach someone like her.

palkia: oh no they’ve come for me

ALL OF IT

But like. I’d never thought about what Leslie’s name might mean. It apparently means “holly garden.”

THE MIDDLE NAME THING AND HER NAME MEANING... like my dude could you tone down the villainy for 5 seconds

like this is some active effort being put into being as big of a dick as possible...

I doubt it’s intended for anything more specific than holly in general in our world, but the character who thought about it specified “an ilex cornuta garden,” which for us is known as the Chinese holly.

the flower meaning thouuuugh

Which apparently mean in the language of flowers “a happy and peaceful family.”

FUCKING RIGHT??

This is detail work in being an abusive parent.

part of me wonders if that's like some twisted part of the tradition

name your sacrificial kids in terribly symbolic ways

I'm gonna have to go back and check the death records now

It would not surprise me a bit.

Her mom feeds her broth only for weeks because she wants Leslie to be thin and beautiful for the sacrifice.

These are people who think aesthetics are highly important in throwing their twelve year old daughter into a bonfire.

Huh! I had also thought about the death records, but I completely forgot they actually did give names of the previous victims.

a few! Lea, Litten, and Pedael

I'm too sleepy to pull out the computer to do a proper search but one of the roots for Litten translates to "grim" lol

I went and googled them.
Lea: weary (one place suggests also delicate) or meadow.
Litten: in addition to having its roots in grim, there was settlement on a hill.
Pedael: redeemed by god.

not quite as twisted as Leslie but I can see it

There doesn’t seem to be enough of a pattern to connect it as a part of the tradition, I don’t think. Which means unless I’m missing something, this may have just been “the Sperados are cartoonishly evil.”

Even if there is a pattern, yeah Leslie’s treatment is extra twisted.

...on the bright side, Leslie’s new etiquette instructor is super adorable and I love her already.

What is with the last two chapters and the sudden anime hair colours, though? I guess Ruenti’s shade of red isn’t particularly natural either, but blue and pink are headed into the anime world.

Since I already have this plurk here, I might as well mention that as I continue working on icons, I'm coming across Eli's "it's your fault for being born with white hair!" and gosh if there's anything that is more telling about how much Eli's views of the world have been completely messed up by being raised in that household, I'm not sure what there is.

Not that Eli isn't also an awful person or anything, but also she's an awful 15-year-old, so I have a bit of pity for her. (Leslie sure never will, though, for obvious reasons.)

(Also from the most recent chapter, it seems that Eli's fiancé is at bare minimum 21 years old, which I recognize is a part of noble society and arranged marriages and all, but also eugh.)

OH MY GOSH LESLIE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO RESPECT SOMEONE

like in hindsight of course not because there was no one to respect then BUT OH MY GOSH SHE HAD NO IDEA THAT'S WHY SHE COULDN'T CALL THE DUCHESS MOTHER

I'm dying a little.

Ah, another update so quickly! In which Leslie goes WHAT THE FUCK DUCHESS SALVATORE.