Ore Igai Dare mo Saishu Dekinai Sozai na no ni "Sozai Saishuritsu ga Hikui" to Pawahara suru Osananajimi Renkinjutsushi to Zetsuen shita Senzoku Mado…

[seedzero0]

I feel like I'm getting gaslit....

 

[Shiizani]

this is so god damn stupid, yea let the psycho with a god complex escape with even more power than before, she will definetly not make your or anyone's life miserable in any way

this is overextended to hell and back

 

[Knighto]

daaamn she was a POS from the start, but only actual doubt why in heaven's sake... the gods give Lloyd his job as just being her assistant, like come on dudes, give the boy a break

 

[R2D2TS]

Thanks for the chapter.

 

[Drizzy125]

That was like some OG Broly type reasoning as to why she’s a piece of shit 😂

 

[Antinomy]

is that even sad lmao

No, just shows she always had resentment in her. Thinking anything nobles did was just condescending to them.

---

Welp, Ruby deserves hard backdoor correction. Plus, always nice training a brat.

---

Thanks for the TL btw

 

[pachingching]

sympathy for a fucking narcissist?

I'd rather cut my dick and balls and add it to the pot au feu.

 

[YamiryuuZero]

And honestly, that would be fine, if not for the ending notes of the chapter '. . .they couldn't come to an understanding'. It reinforces the fact that Lloyd is also in the wrong. Lloyd's greatest 'failing' this chapter is that, yes, he didn't fully hate his humble beginnings like Ruby. To Ruby, Lloyd could never really appreciate all the hard work they did to pull themselves out of the mud together.

As far as I understand, those ending notes are made by the editors, not by the mangaka, so you can ignore them as just being a hook for the next chapter instead of what the mangaka actually wants to do.

 

[Dalek-Bob]

I wanna say, in regards to the many folks saying "just because there is a flashback to the character's backstory, you all assume you are meant to sympathize with them"...

You're right! This conclusion is all too easily jumped to! However, it is an understandable jump to make as that is a common storytelling trope in manga for as long as I can remember. It is especially common when the author is attempting a redemption turn to make a baddie into a recurring protagonist - you establish why they were a dick, and maybe introduce new baddies to come!

I don't think this was the intent here, but since this does follow that format - you can see why many feel like this is a "see, she's got pathos, feel bad and welcome her" moment. The ending doesn't help, with the odd message of "both of you stop it" said to our lead and the literal rampaging monster.

 

[xr900]

nahh
a bitch ass nigga is a bitch ass nigga
no matter their sob story background

 

[Yuyu_yusha]

Is that an attempt for the readers to feel sympathy towards Ruby? If it is, then it doesn't work that well.

 

[kciaar]

She's actually retarded. Like that backstory made me hate her even more, she's just ungrateful nasty brat with sky-high pride, I sincerely hope that she doesn't get any redemption.

 

[Qwormuli]

As far as I understand, those ending notes are made by the editors, not by the mangaka, so you can ignore them as just being a hook for the next chapter instead of what the mangaka actually wants to do.

In a good part I can agree with that, editors and suits can butt in on the original intent way too often, annoyingly enough. But on the other hand, that's not evaluating/appreciating the manga as a finished product as-is. That's closer to rating a piece of fiction from concept art alone. What the end result ends up as might differ from what was initially intended, but that end result is what it is and will be.

What it is is what it is, everything else is just retroactive picking and choosing.

 

[mutsutakashi]

I like her tenacity.

But, how bad can bad food do to woman.

 

[Jstar338]

Eh, you want me to symphatize with her NOW?

It's way too late, punish her first then MAYBE we can forgive her

I really don't think they're trying to. She's pretty shitty, regardless of her upbringing. We're seeing why she thinks she's a victim

 

[alto129]

Aww, angy "wife" left

 

[mahtan]

Yeah, yeah.
We get why Ruby acted like she did, doesn't change anything she did to Loyd nor the arrogance she naturally has since always (from the flashbacks).
She does not deserve pity.

 

[BestBoy]

nice building on page 6

We don't know what building that is, but we do know it is not in the city. It's probably the orphanage, though maybe it's the guild master's estate when he's teaching them magic (the guild master who teaches them magic and the alchemist noble are different people. Just noticed).

Page 10 Panel 1 I see no cracks, but I do see shading (to indicate night time). I also see a door too nice for a back alley shady part of town. Panel 5 I do see what could be considered cracks (only 2 though) mixed among the shading, but cracks would be common in a city as big and old as the capital. Cracks can manifest over time due to shifts in weather and moisture.

So yes, I do think shops in a shopping district would have cracks. If the artist/author wanted us to think this area of town was shady, they would have included much more obvious signs. Boarded up windows, beggars sleeping on the street, garbage in the streets. We see none of that.

PHYSICAL abuse had not started but she was already verbally abusing him.

If you consider a remark as benign as "bratty" as verbally abusive I can't help you. That's such a low bar. She's calling him childish (bratty -> like a brat -> like a child -> childish) because he's comparing their new living arrangement and workshop to a "secret hideout." It's literal child behavior from Lloyd and she's teasing him about it.

You can also compare how Ruby treats Lloyd here with how she treats him in earlier chapters (especially chapter 1). She's happy and excited to do the quest and Hecate Light plan together with Lloyd. Very, very different from how she treats him later. Which is why I'm so confident she wasn't abusing him yet and his self esteem issues are his own.

Page 8 he references the incident of page 7 where he used bread to bait him into becoming an assistant mage.

This is a call back to chapter 1 page 16 and 17. Using the bread as bait is entirely Lloyd's interpretation and doesn't take into account the context of the scene. Ruby gave Lloyd her bread because he was crying due to being hungry. She explains that she'll become an alchemist and eat all the bread she wants and then all but offers to bring Lloyd with her.

We also see that same building again with it's iron fence which is neat of the author to keep that continuity.

I don't think we're meant to take any of what Ruby and Lloyd are saying to each other in chapter 20 as honest. They are both highly emotional and being dishonest with themselves and each other. Not to mention Ruby is currently fused with a bunch of monsters and a super evil demon who hates Lloyd.

intelligent and has a pretty high level of awareness

Being intelligent and aware of danger does not equate to having the emotional intelligence to pick up on the feelings of others. This is Lloyd's flaw with Ruby.

Also the hit didn't knock her off her feet. What is getting mad going to do?

Uh, so what if it didn't knock her off her feet?? He hit her hard enough to leave a mark on her face. Standing up for your friend when they've been hit in the face can be anything from punching him back (ill advised) to yelling at him not to do that again. Yelling at the shopkeep isn't going to hurt them in any capacity especially since they probably never went back to him. Lloyd doesn't stand up for her at all and it's incredibly disappointing.

she's not his childhood 'friend'.

By Lloyd's own account they are childhood friends (ch.6 page 14) and lovers (ch.1 page1). I wonder if the lovers thing has been retconned/thrown away?

They didn't change as people

I like that you brought this up because it does play into her world view. Ruby's idea of "handling" someone who looks down on her only applies to herself because she was selfish and immature like a child would be (arrested development perhaps?). So improving her station so that the alchemy shopkeep and the noble's daughter can not look down on her solves the class disparity for herself, but not anyone else.

Her worldview is flawed no doubt about it. But it's not her feelings towards class disparity that are the issue, it's that she's only looking to solve the issue for herself and Lloyd. I'd bet this shifts to just herself when she realizes Lloyd doesn't actually share that sentiment with her. He's fine being an orphan or being poor as long as he's full, warm, and having fun.

When I said you were misunderstanding her, I thought you were originally referring to her arguing back with the shopkeep. Arguing with the shopkeep isn't really what she was talking about when she said she knew how to handle people like that.

And if Ruby suggested going to that shop she probably talked big about getting the best deal there or something of the like. Imagine talking up this "great place you found" and then it turns out to be 100% a scam. That hurts your ego.

This is entirely something you fabricated, though. All we have to go by is the aftermath. They go on a quest together and then head to a shop to sell a potion they've made together (we can maybe infer the quest and potion are related). The shopkeep undercuts them and when confronted about it he backhands Ruby (hits her right cheek with his right hand and her head turns left). Instead of defending his friend, Lloyd does nothing, then later tries to shift the blame of the offending party onto themselves insinuating that this potion they made together was somehow their fault.

Lloyd is not trying to protect Ruby's ego here. He is letting his pre-existing self-esteem issues get the better of him.

We used to eat it a lot

I interpret that "we" as in everyone at orphanage as a whole. So I don't believe he's thinking specifically of himself and Ruby.

I hate this Pot-au-feu / None of that indicates she doesn't actually like it

Well, the italics are your addition, and we can gather from context clues later this chapter and in previous chapters that she hates all pot-au-feu.

chapter 6 is AFTER the incident

I brought it up because it's relevant to the story. Not necessarily because it's helpful to my argument.

I think you're right that it happens after, but I don't think all your arguments surrounding it are sound.

I don't think she was trying to stop Lloyd from eating/liking pot-au-feu by stealing his sausage. We don't know why she did that at all. It could be that the sausage is the only part of that meal she eats. It could be that she used to eat the dish and then stopped once she realized what pot-au-feu meant to her.

I think the sausage line is not all that important, actually.

What we do know is that in her eyes, it was clear she despised the dish. Whether she never ate the dish or just ate the sausages, it doesn't matter. She was visibly treating that dish differently than others.

I think it's definitely possible that Ruby projected her internalizd shame and anger onto the dish and thought Lloyd was the same. It's why that moment with the pot-au-feu feels like such a betrayal to her. She's thinking that even after all this time we strugged to rise above our origins you didn't actually care about all that? Similar to Lloyd, she wasn't picking up on his feelings, though, his easy agreement in going along with her plans probably masked this to her.

If he didn't help Ruby and Lloyd would've never learned the skills

We don't know that. We know he donated money and we know the guild master is who taught them magic. I'd bet they are unrelated.

the orphanage probably would've shut down and they'd be on teh street

I don't know where you're getting this idea from. Nothing in the story has indicated that the orphanage was on the verge of shutting down before the alchemist noble's donation.

The only thing shown in the flashbacks is that they were gloating.

That's all we need, though. Gloating is literally bragging about your success and someone's misfortune. They've come there to gloat to a bunch of orphand children about how much money they have to spare.

Additionally, they're teaching them the "value of mercy" while doing so. Note how it's not the value of charity. Meaning they believe these children require mercy from some kind of punishment. A punishment can only be given out after a wrong has been committed. The only "wrong" these children have committed which would put them in this orphanage is losing their parents or being abandoned by them.

Following this logic, the noble's view these children as deserving their lot in life for something entirely out of their control. It's a vile point of view by the nobles.

We can also look to the politics of this kingdom. We know the queen values "elegance" above all else and that it applies to presentation. The nobles dress stylishly for her, she forces the main characters to wear "elegent" clothing, etc. (ch 10)

We also don't need to exclusively pull from the context of this story when it comes to how nobles treat those below them. All stories are informed by the real world when being written so we can look to our own world's history when trying to ascertain the motives and morals of these nobles.

 

[BestBoy]

feel bad and welcome her

I'm not even try to do that. I just pointed out a flaw in our lead's character and everyone thought I was trying to redeem Ruby. A character with a complex background and reasoning is immensely more interesting than a one note "mean" character. I think the power fantasy of this story is doing it a little injustice and folks just want to see Lloyd win every fight and never be wrong about anything.

I can understand why someone would see my long posts and come to that conclusion, though. It's all just explanations for why Ruby isn't (and shouldn't be) a one note character. That maybe she had a point about some things but her immaturity and selfishness prevented her from acting on it in a good way.

 

[jojoka]

Y'all always think back stories are made to make you feel sorry for someone, sometimes they're done to give insight into how a character thinks and why they do the things they do. The backstory was not meant to make you feel sorry for her, it was to show you why she is the way she is.

The reinforcement of Shounen tard taking everything at face value in forums will never not be funny. Someone who is bad and is portrayed as bad and is never ever portrayed as being in the right has a tragic backstory to make you understand why they act this way and still never ever at any points portrays it as an excuse is still taken by shounen tards as an excuse.
I can't wait for the meltdown Blackbeards tragic backstory in One Piece is going to cause.

Bestboy has also been objectively correct about everything he said and people still getting mad because they feel like they're getting cucked out of a black and white good vs evil scenario because Ruby isn't just an evil abuser and has more to her than that while Floyd isnt just a victim of Ruby and is also more than that. People are mad about the slightest amount of depth in this stupid ass manga i cant lmao.