Traal Anno 12
We can see Penk coming to a sort of stopgap conclusion in his thinking, as he reconciles his natural empathy (“the humans aren’t lying about wanting peace”) with Harky’s cause of vengeance (“but their peace isn’t justice”). This compromise will work for him, for now.
Iver looms over Magda’s thinking here, not only because she worries about his Penk-v-Harky prediction, but also because she is facing the very choice she describes in panel 4. Iver is looking worse and worse in her sight. At what point will it start to feel more treasonous not to oppose him than to oppose him?
Readers found the final moment a bit ambiguous… “Is Magda edging closer to making Penk ‘family’ by making him her lover or husband?” And I know that head-on-shoulder gesture is intimate by some standards.
But that wasn’t our intent. I think Flo would say “no means no” here, not “no means ask again later.” Magda gave her “no” about as clearly as she could, while permitting Penk to save face by pretending he wasn’t making a pass. Sorry, shippers! Not every couple that seems meant to be actually is.
(Wish I could say I planned for this one to rerun on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day. Image from Best Life.)
I imagine Penk’s probably thinking there’s some mixed messages, here, too.
But he’s shot his shot, and isn’t a creep, so…
I can’t remember whether I shipped these two first time around, but they make a good pair, whether it’s ‘husband and wife’ family or ‘brother and sister’ family.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good knight!
Merry Christmas!
Nice accidental timing! Merry Christmas, everyone.
Yeah no, you can be close and not be in an intimate relationship. You can mean something to each other without having to be “together.” Found-family can be a family of two, y’know?
Yes. I agree.
I think it’s a bit too soon for Magda to snuggle up to Penk, though. It could be misconstrued as her sending mixed signals, especially by someone as young and inexperienced as Penk
Oh, and Merry Axemas and Merry Traal to all of you!
This is why Penk always felt like the Captain America of his squad. He’s an intensely, and intentionally good person, so when the ideals he’s fighting for stop making sense he tries to dig deep and understand how to reconcile that. Does it make him naïve sometimes? Maybe.
Not sure if I’d be quite so comfortable with getting that chummy with someone who just put up the wall on romance like that. Feelings aren’t just something you turn off, and that might feel kind of crummy until those had worked themselves out a bit more. I’d at the very least likely be like “Okay, can we please be really specific here?” But, perhaps Penk’s a better person than I am.