Shiosai no Lily - Vol. 1 Ch. 4 - The Town of Pirates

[Litreara]

I did read it, because I checked the Vietnamese TLs and I'd already surmised that was Lily's motivation from the second chapter.

Which, I guess is where we just have a difference of opinion. Lily's motivation does make sense to me, personally, because even in these four English TL chapters, Lily's deal has been very direct - she wants Al's attention and for him to actually play with/be with her.

From the time they were kids though, he ignored her. When he was old enough, he went off to the Navy to fight the pirates he was obsessed with, and ignored her even more.
I can certainly understand Lily becoming a pirate, because all evidence points to that being the only way Al would ever look in her direction.

He says he wants to keep her safe, but his idea of "safety" sounds like he wants her to sit in a gilded cage while he's off for gods know how long hunting pirates, and completely ignoring her. At what point is that going to make her happy, being the character she is?

I'm sure it's subjective at that point, whether Lily's character is "reasonable", but she's not doing anything that feels out of pocket, given all the setup for her character and her motivations.

Her childhood friend has a one-track mind and an established history in ignoring her. What better way to get him to look her way than to become the thing he's obsessed with?
If he truly cared, he'd put more effort into their relationship and meet her halfway.

Spoiler

I didn't say Lily's motivation doesn't make sense. I just said I can't sympathize with her.

I think that's the core of our disagreement. You're looking at whether her actions are understandable given the setup, and I agree with you there. They absolutely are. The author set it up well, and Lily acts exactly like someone with her wounds would.

But for me, "understandable" and "sympathetic" are two different things. I can even see why Lily would burn the world down just to get a scrap of Al's attention. None of that means I automatically feel for her.

I actually don't think Al handled things perfectly either. Joining the Navy without really talking to her, deciding what's best for her future without treating her like an equal in the relationship is its own kind of failure. He's been absent, and his version of "protection" clearly isn't working for the person he's trying to protect.

But her response is: "Your love makes me lonely, so I'd rather have your hatred instead."

That's where I fall off. Hatred isn't connection. It's just the other side of not being seen. She thinks filling his mind with pain and worry means she's won something, but she's really just trading one form of isolation for another. She's so desperate to escape the loneliness that she's willing to become someone Al can never truly be with. I can't root for that, no matter how much sense it makes.

 

[UdenEmpati]

Spoiler

I didn't say Lily's motivation doesn't make sense. I just said I can't sympathize with her.

I think that's the core of our disagreement. You're looking at whether her actions are understandable given the setup, and I agree with you there. They absolutely are. The author set it up well, and Lily acts exactly like someone with her wounds would.

But for me, "understandable" and "sympathetic" are two different things. I can even see why Lily would burn the world down just to get a scrap of Al's attention. None of that means I automatically feel for her.

I actually don't think Al handled things perfectly either. Joining the Navy without really talking to her, deciding what's best for her future without treating her like an equal in the relationship is its own kind of failure. He's been absent, and his version of "protection" clearly isn't working for the person he's trying to protect.

But her response is: "Your love makes me lonely, so I'd rather have your hatred instead."

That's where I fall off. Hatred isn't connection. It's just the other side of not being seen. She thinks filling his mind with pain and worry means she's won something, but she's really just trading one form of isolation for another. She's so desperate to escape the loneliness that she's willing to become someone Al can never truly be with. I can't root for that, no matter how much sense it makes.

Understandable. I also don't fault your interpretation; I can see where that crosses the line for where sympathy can be maintained for a character.

 

[Xandersenpai]

Understandable. I also don't fault your interpretation; I can see where that crosses the line for where sympathy can be maintained for a character.

I agre with your POVs. Nither Al nor Lily are doing things the proper way. I want to drop some predictions about the future of the story. Will it be possible that Lily will annoy some big pirate captain when doing her daily stuff? I think that might happen and Al might have to team up with her at some point to fight a common foe. Let´s see how the author handles this cursed romance. Thnaks for the comments and all the insight from the transalations guys.

 

[detarameMangadex]

Thanks for the chapter :D

Side couple alert?

That aside, Lily is a really questionable character. I get her motivation, but she is still quite extreme... I think whether or not I can see her as a character rather than a force of nature will depend on whether or not she has actually killed.

Al is also a nuanced character: he is not the pillar of justice he thinks he is. His hatred of pirates stems from his desire to protect Lily, yet now he is struggling to balance said hatred with said desire...? His protection of Lily, who clearly just wants to have fun, also definitely contributed to Lily becoming the way she is.

 

[RezaKingA]

I assume theyre going to reveal eventually that shes not just fucking insane?

If she's not Insane... that'd just make her a massive asshole dude. If she can't get rehabilitated, they gotta slime her out.

 

[19801980]

Spoiler

So, I want you guys to take this with a grain of salt, because this is just my understanding of the story that I got from MTL.

What I’m about to say is mostly from chapters 6, 7, and 8. But first, let’s start with some basics.

Is Lily a pirate? Yes. But from what I understand, she mainly attacks other pirates. Also, she’s working with Al’s tutor, who we see in Chapter 1. In a flashback, Lily calls the tutor “Pi.”

What happens in chapters 6, 7, and 8 revolves around Lily stealing some classified documents about the Barant Pirates. Al was chasing them, and in order for him to be free from work, Lily decided to handle them herself.

Anyway, to get the documents, she knocks Leo out, takes her uniform, and disguises herself as her (Chapter 6). Then she steals the documents from Al.

Using the information in the documents, Lily and her pirate group attack one of the Barant Pirates’ ships. While Lily is fighting, the tutor is watching and reading the documents that Lily stole, and he says that Al is going to get mad about all this. It’s worth noting that Lily is still disguised as Leo.

At the end of Chapter 7, we see a pirate rushing to inform the boss of the Barant Pirates that one of their ships got attacked. And at the end of Chapter 8, we see that the boss is looking for Leo (Lily in disguise), because the information they have is that they were attacked by a navy woman with black hair who is missing a piece of her ear.

I’m not sure about the timeline, but it seems that while Lily was attacking the Barant Pirates’ ship, Leo was found. She had no external wounds, but she had a pretty bad fever from being left outside. Al then realizes what happened and goes to look for the Barant Pirates’ ship. He finds it, but Lily has already left. They treat the survivors and arrest them.

Later, at Al’s home, Lily shows up to hang out. She attacked the Barant Pirates so that Al would be free from work and have time to spend with her. As expected, Al is furious. He attacks her and tries to persuade her to stop being a pirate.

This is where we get Lily’s motivation. While she’s on the floor trying to reach for her sword, we see a flashback of her training with the tutor when she was younger.

In the flashback, the tutor tells Lily that he understands why Al joined the navy and why Lily wants to be a pirate, but he doesn’t think her choice is the right one. Becoming a pirate means becoming Al’s enemy. He asks if she has the resolve to be hated by Al.

And here is Lily’s reply:

“…To be hated… no, I don’t want that. But even more than that… what I realized I hate is living in a world without Al. If we can’t be together, then at least I want to fill Al’s mind with me. If nothing else, I want to fill it completely with me. If it’s for that… I don’t mind even if I’m hated. No matter what form it takes, I just want Al to notice me. That’s why I’m taking up the sword. Because the sword will connect Al and me.”

Then the tutor says:

“But Lily, what about Al’s feelings? Al joined the navy because he was thinking of you. He chose that path to protect your future and happiness. Can’t you understand that kindness?”

And Lily responds:

“…Yeah, I know. I understand. But still, why is it that even though he's being kind to me, I feel this lonely? Ever since that day*, I’ve been lonely all this time. I know Al is kind, and I know he cares about me. But that kindness isn’t kind to me. If that kindness only ends up making me feel lonely, then I’d rather he fill me with pain instead.”

*That day refers to when Al left to join the navy.

Needless to say, Al can’t convince Lily to stop being a pirate, even when he says that if she gets caught, she’s going to be hanged. Al asks if doing what she’s doing makes her happy, and she says yes. Then a devastated Al tells Lily to do whatever she wants.

And Lily says, “Thank you. Then… see you, Al. Let’s play again.” And she leaves.

So yeah, Lily is very twisted. She can’t deal with the loneliness she feels when she’s not with Al. And the thing is, I can’t sympathize with her at all. She’s too selfish. In stories like this, I think you’re supposed to sympathize at least a little, but I just can’t. I suppose what I’m feeling is exactly what the author wants me to feel… but I really don’t like it because I can’t connect with Lily.

True brother