The Holy Grail of Eris - Vol. 4 Ch. 15 - The Unexpected Guest

[Alsimec]

It's refreshing to read a manga where the minor characters aren't just cardboard cutouts for the protagonist to compare against, but actually seem to have their own lives and agendas outside the scenes we see them.

 

[sunshinelemons]

@Rodrigo-san I think the author did really poorly by making Kimberly look rich as she does. Common women wouldn't have any such dresses to wear nor a parasol like that in the "era" (vaguely based off the mid to late Victorian given the clothing.) Though maybe it does work in that she looks like a commoner pretending to be a noble? Which would go along with your better idea of them being bourgeoisie. Rich merchant's wife or some such.

 

[OutlawSMG]

I stan Kate hard.😍

 

[Tsuki09]

@MissT The same way a paparazzi works and tabloids gets published, as long as they sell well they won't stop publishing rumours as facts... well until they get sued of course.

 

[StellarIceberg]

Goodness fucking gracious Kate, marry me.

 

[Ruhrpottpatriot]

@Korvalus, @ShinGetsu, @Rugid, @sunshinelemons: See below for your answers

@iskaeil

It's about practicing, though.

Yeah, you don't really practice if you're getting thrown into cold water. For actually good results a controlled environment is crucial. Speed comes from precision after all.

If she had tried attempted to speak at least once, I'd be happy.

We know that Connie is a shy, honest and nice person and not used to talking back. Those persons have it especially hard if they are getting bombarded by another person. They don't want to be rude and "they have to stop at some point, right?"

Like, just a simple "hold on!" or "excuse me--!" is acceptable, no?

That would work, in theory. Most of the time they stop, wait a heartbeat and if you haven't said anything start from the beginning and leave you no room to breathe. That's their whole shtick, overload the other persons brain so it makes associations and then they lead you into the path they want you to be by leading the questions (that's the main reason why leading questions are forbidden in most courts; people tend to follow them).

What's that commoner going to do, check her alibi and write a story about how she was brushed off?

No, they start gossip and rumours, even if they are blatant lies. If the newspaper/journal they publish in is at least somewhat know, people will believe it (good real life examples are the Diana/Charles situation and boulevard press in general) and they start to talk. Now if a certain noble from a previous chapter wants to get back to Connie but can't do it directly, because they are protected by another noble, they just have the perfect setup.
Just "accidentally" see your servants reading the paper and then drop some remarks, you can be sure those get onto the street. W.T. Sherman put it in some nice words:

If I had my choice, I would kill every reporter in the world, but I am sure we would be getting reports from hell before breakfast.

I get your standpoint, but Connie speaking up (at least at this point in time) isn't supported by the story.



@Korvalus

The reporter is playing with fire with those kind of sensationalist articles.

This has never stopped the media. Diana/Charles comes to mind and even more crass: The Franco-Prussian war of 1871 began because the French media translated a German officials rank wrong. They used adjutant, which in French described a low ranking NCO, in German however a high ranking officer, and correctly translated with aide de camp. Naturally a count brushed off by an NCO didn't sit well with the Frenc populace and... queue the drums of war.



@ShinGetsu

And the second was basically a modern SJW.

Not quite. I know the term SJW is used pretty derogatory in certain circles and that women doesn't even fit the bill. Also, such behaviour is older than feudalism, just with different topics.
Moral Guardian fits the bill much better, especially if you take her remarks about Connie trying to imitate Scarlett (clearly taken from the newspaper report) are taken into account.



@Rugid

a countess really, now that she's engaged, and possible future duchess

That's not how the peerage system works... Depending on the country the wife of a peer may hold the title by law but isn't stylized as one (i.e. the source of the title is still the husband and the wife looses it as soon as the marriage ends) as it is done in the UK, or the wife doesn't even get the title by law, but only as a courtesy title (old German nobility).
No matter the system, however, she doesn't get the title until the marriage is consummated, i.e. vows have been exchanged and intercourse has happened.



@sunshinelemons

I think the author did really poorly by making Kimberly look rich as she does.

I don't think that's quite the case. You assume that she's a rich merchants wife and I'd concur with that. From what I have read and the personal history of my family (which would have been classified as "bourgeoisie" in the 19th century, given we owned multiple factories), this kind of people had the money to clad themselves as good, or even better than aristocracy.
Here in Germany the term "money aristocracy" was never used in a positive light, especially when said by "real" aristocracy.
So I wouldn't say she "pretends to be a noble", but rather: She has the money and she wants people to know that she has; which was common in that period of time. Not showing your wealth is really something that really came after the protests of 1968.

 

[canigetauhh]

EAT THAT KAREN UP, KATE

 

[onionskins]

GET REKT PEASANT

 

[Mivy]

HELL YEAH show up her big BS in her dumb ass

 

[sunshinelemons]

@Ruhrottpatriot

I worded that wrong, looking back on it now. Would agree with you. My ancestors were farmers and only had good clothes for Mass.

I think some quotations around the fact that it is a commoner's group would've helped my comprehension of it being more of a bourgeoisie group wanting to nose about and demean the fallen nobles. But it's time to hit the books again if I cannot imply that on my own.

 

[IrregularPerson]

yesssss! yessss!

 

[iskaeil]

@ Ruhrpottpatriot I mean the point here is that I didn't expect for Connie's interruption to work, but an attempt to show that she is improving in her confidence to speak up on her own behalf. I didn't expect her to win the encounter. I merely wanted her to TRY, not to win. Again, it's all about things that prove she is trying to improve, not that she magically becomes competent and and can beat back this reporter. I fail to see how Connie trying to cut her off to leave would have caused that journalist to post that article under her real name. So she might as well have tried to leave early, because based on how that journalist presented anyway, her leaving wouldn't have affected anything significant. Connie clearly wasn't thinking about how a journalist could slander her if she spoke up, she just wasn't thinking at all. That's my problem.

What I'm getting at here is that yes, Connie is shy and far too kind to everyone of every background. But she should also be showing that she is starting to believe that she herself is worthwhile and is willing to stand up for her and her family's name. We're probably going to get some eureka moment where Connie ends up contacting one of the reporters for her own means, but it's less satisfying now since I'm guessing it will come as a follow-up to some cliffhanger moment where her life is yet again in danger and then Scarlet is either helping her get to that conclusion or is impressed that Connie came up with the idea. But I believe there should be some in-between, because in every other situation besides critical, stressful life-altering events she is a literal punching bag.

The fact of the matter is that several days go past after her life was legitimately in a dangerous position where Scarlet could not help her, at all, and she had no options until an outside force stepped in, and then she gets trapped again by an overbearing woman. Like, where's the tension? The fear? She legit had no back-up plan for that situation, and by sheer circumstance she scraped by. You would expect there to be more thoughtful growth on her part, but now she's getting saved from another awkward social situation by someone else. I know it's Connie's selling point to just have allies she's charmed with her sheer innocence that save her constantly, but I wish for her to graduate gradually from the damsel-in-distress role she's constantly found in. Even if she can't actually solve anything in the moment, if she just tries to speak up for herself then I'd feel satisfied on the character growth aspect.

 

[Jachinz]

Connie just keeps getting saved from everything and everyone.

 

[yannickq]

I mean, she's not a journalist, she's a novelist. Unfortunately those sorts of people do exist, and they're the sort of people that need to be slapped across the face

 

[icekatze]

This chapter was honestly baffling. I've worked at a newspaper before, and this was so far divorced from actual journalism that it was almost unrecognizable... but even without that experience, I can see that Amelia's tirade was incredibly pointless.

Why even ask questions if you're not going to wait for an answer? It's not like she needs to confront Constance if she's just going to make up whatever she wants anyway. All she's doing by confronting her target is letting her target know who to retaliate against.

 

[xwenqix]

Go Kate!!

 

[Someone2Love]

Yes! Kate! You go girl!

 

[hakunoyuuki]

@icekatze I think the point is the dangers of rumours. It isn't journalism, it's literally gossip put on paper. As Martha (the maid) says it was published in a "third-rate magazine". Magazines filled to the brink with rumors and gossip and few actual facts exist today/in real life too, se e.g. the British tabloid "The Sun". There's no adherence to journalistic honor, whether what's written is true or not doesn't matter as long as it sells. I don't think Amelia planned to confront Connie; they met conicidentally. I interpreted it as Amelia brainstorming out loud in hopes that Connie would react and say something incriminating.

 

[Kalamel]

We really need more people like Kate in real life. Someone who can drag out a bigot hidden in people and beat it badly without resorting to more drastic and violent methods.

There are so many bigots here who just never, ever, even refused to realise they are.

MVP of the volume, Kate Lorraine. Personally MVP of this week of mine too. So many unfortunate things recently.

 

[RHen]

Alright bois..... We found the best girl