This panel is such a great contrast to how we've seen people interacting with the Jägers up until now.
First of all, Borislav knows the best way to put a 10 year old girl at ease with his sudden appearance is to offer to teach her violence. He is also correct, partly because Mechanicsburg crazy is in their genes, and partly because that's just what 10 year old girls are like.
Second, greeting Mitko and complimenting him on his kids, and Mitko's warm welcome in response. They're friends! They're happy to see each other! (Mitko would have been a young man during Saturnus' reign and almost certainly rode with the Jägers. Just look at that hat!)
This single interaction shows us that the Jägers belong here. Mitko's son is startled by the sudden appearance, but not frightened. The granddaughter doesn't even flinch.
They're not scary, they're not intruders, they're home.
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With Gkika manning the fort and fixing up any of the more injured Jaegers who came to her door, I just bet that there were gangs of Wilds, who would deliberately get themselves injured just enough for it to count as an ‘injury’, just as an excuse to visit home.
Caught a sudden craving for Miss Folger’s gingerbread armies? Time to find the nearest villager mob to fling yourself into.
I also imagine that some Wildies tended to roam a bit closer to home, so that - on the not inconsiderable chance someone did actually manage to slip through the Empire’s watch and take a shot at them in the name of revenge- there’d be at least a few relatively fighting fit jaegers around waiting for them.
And, seeing as they’re jaegers, I also have absolutely no doubt that they’d make a competition about it. There’s a few criteria: Speed, Style, and Stupid.
Some villagers can get a bit overenthusiastic. Just ask Lyubov about that lady with the clothes hanger. Or the time Hercule got lost down a chimney.
listening to “what can you do with a general?” and “The Old Man” is making me think about the jägers from Girl Genius and like, yeah weirdly I can see it fitting in a hilarious way? Like imagine a bunch of jägers just singing those two songs.... lmao
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Girl Genius character alignment nonsense I could not get out of my head.
I know the dungeons and dragons alignment charts are up to a LOT of interpretation, which is why people always argue when someone assigns blorbos to the wrong square.
HOWEVER.
We are all generally in agreement that the "lawful" part of lawful good, neutral, and evil does not mean the 'things you can go to jail for' type laws, yes? You can do evil things without doing anything illegal (gestures at capitalism) and you can do good things that are illegal (gestures at capitalism again). "Lawful" means a personal code of ethics and honor (or dishonor) that a character follows.
(if you DON'T agree with that, just pretend for the duration of this post; play with me in this space)
Lawful evil can do chaotic evil things without compromising being lawful--the archetype of evil characters who are convinced they are good because everything they do is a means to a greater end. Chaotic evil is when you, at your core, first and foremost form your beliefs and make your choices based on a foundation of "because I want to".
An evil paladin who burns down people's houses for fun can still be lawful evil because of their devotion to their oath--if they have the kind of oath that allows or encourages house burning.
(you can probably guess where I am going with this)
Jägers have done and are in no way opposed to chaotic evil stuff. That is not up for debate. They enjoy violence and destruction, and they will cause it whenever they can, but they don't leave Mechanicsburg on a raid for the fun of it. The Mechanicsburg citizens who ride with them absolutely do it for the fun, for the glory, to get chicks. The Jägers ride with their Heterodyne.
In the novelizations, it's specifically mentioned (in my favorite gag in the whole series) that Bill and Barry turned the town from chaotic evil to lawful evil, and managed to do so because they had the support of the Jägers. When Bill and Barry did good, the Jägers were fascinated, even curious about trying it, because there is nothing in the troth that says you serve your Heterodyne only by setting things on fire.
Mechanicsburg and the people within were chaotic evil; the Jägers, by virtue of their troth, were already lawful evil. Hell, you could make the argument that they were and are lawful neutral, and where they are on the morality scale is up to the Heterodyne.
and bill and barry could have made them good if they hadn't decided unilaterally that all monsters are evil and not worth saving unless they are human on the outside I GUESS
Whispered over childrens cribs like a prayer before their parents turn out the light.
“Sleep deep my darlings, sleep well, and don’t fall under the Heterodyne’s spell.”
It would have been kinder not to leave their children in the dark, jumping at long shadows, at every whisper, every creak. Some nights through their bedroom windows, crowned in iron, they could even swear that they saw bright yellow eyes looking back at them.
Everyone’s heard the stories.
Whispered in the streets, children all in a circle trying to frighten, trying to scare.
“I heard that they steal children out of their beds.”
“Everyone’s heard that one, stupid, it’s just a story.”
“I heard that they hunted down a criminal, you know the one.”
“That fellow who suddenly dissipated?”
“You mean disappeared.”
“Dissipeared.”
“Don’t just invent words.”
“Whatever, Boots can mangle words if he wants. But yes him. ‘Parently they could hear the screams a full night and day and night again.”
“Killed by wolves or summat, tripped over a tree root and broke his neck, there’s nothing to say that fairies did it.”
“What about the screaming.”
“... Might not have died slow.”
“Three days is a long time to die.”
“Long enough for the Lady.”
“Shush, no naming names, stupid.”
“Well I heard that a whole town vanished, and in their place there woz only patches of flowers in the shape of people.”
“No!”
“When!”
“No way.”
“I heard it from momma who heard it from poppa who heard it from whats his face, him with the fish shoes, you know, who heard it from his cousin, who heard it from his cousin!”
“Just coz people are saying it doesn’t mean it’s true.”
“Yeah but what if it is?”
“As if. Fairies don’t exist.”
If the conversation dies, then that’s just how it goes.
If they laugh uncomfortably, and scatter back to their warm homes with iron over the door and their salt and the warmth of their parents arms then it is only natural.
If one or two might sing a little song, then that’s just children being children. And if the wind nips at their scarves and at their heels and laughs a quiet laugh, well everyone had heard the stories of how She loved a little song.
