Tansy: Sorry again about this betrothal, little brother . . .
Thorn: It’s okay, Tansy! Your marriage was a political move too, and that’s gone well, right?
Tansy: Sure, but I was already in love with Larch. You haven’t even met your betrothed yet! What if you don’t like each other at all?
Thorn: It would be nice if we did, of course! But getting this alliance with Sønheim is important. Throwing that away so I can marry someone I like would be irresponsible!
Birch (footnote): Hey! Me and my beloved common gem-miner wife resent that!
Thorn: And at least you have kids, so I’m not under pressure to produce an heir, right?
Announcer: Arriving from Sønheim, the Royal Highness . . .
Thorn: Aha! At last, I get to meet . . .
Announcer: . . . Princess Ragnild Nibelungsen!
Thorn: But you’re . . . How old are you?
Ragnild: Ten.
They told me he’d be old, but nobody told me he’d be so loud!
Thorn: She’s TEN!!
Tansy: Like you said, you’re not under pressure to have kids . . .
Thorn: That doesn’t mean I wanted to marry one!
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…now I’m just wondering how political marriages work in a world with no homophobia.
I’d say it probably doesn’t change too much, given that an heir is usually a requirement. If it isn’t though, well, they may just decide to throw gender preferences out the window entirely and try for whoever’s most advantageous.
After all, it’s all appearances
Well, in Dragon Age: Origins they addressed (in a codex) the fact that, in Ferelden at least, since there was no stigma for homosexuality and minimal/no restriction on gender roles, the only real expectation was that at least one of the kids is expected to produce an heir to continue the family, but other than that you can marry whoever you want to.
At least she’s not a vampire, Thorn.
Or an eternally-ten-year-old vampire.
Or… well, you get the idea.
I’m not sure if the message here is “if you don’t worry about things, the universe will provide things to worry about,” “pay attention when your siblings are apologizing to you,” or just “read the fine print before you sign the marriage contract”
“Today on Ceannis News Network, a special on why nobody is allowed to be on the board of both an adoption agency AND an internet dating service. It’s the law. ThisMessageHasBeenBroughtToYouByTheCommitteeToReElectOliveRomarinAndTheNationalPieCouncil.”
Edit: “and the national pie council”
I was going to say that it kind of defeats the purpose to have it run off the side of the box, but actually…
“What are you, like six years old?”
“I’m ten.”
“She’s like six years old!”
“I’m TEN.”
“I can’t marry a six year old!”
“I SAID I’M TEN AND I’M GOING TO START IMPOSING TRADE SANCTIONS IF YOU DON’T SHUT UP RIGHT NOW.”
Did this actually happen? I mean, this is a good joke and all proverbial but did this actually happen often in history?
You mean on our world? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_child_brides … youngest will likely be Anne de Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk (age 6) was married to Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York (age 4) in 1477 … note that the list doesn’t seem to be complete, there is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_of_Valois for example …
… we can only hope that they didn’t forced them to have sex immediately after wedding.
Child brides and grooms happened a lot throughout history, and in some places still do. Take China for instance: At certain times, it wasn’t uncommon for marriages to be arranged when kids were 11 years old. The bride would go to live with her in laws, but they had separate terms for “new” married couples that indicated they were not sleeping together.
I’m not an expert, but I do believe there are several famous examples of a child being married to an adult for political purposes in the west, especially the middle-ages. It was also possible to have a proxy marriage, meaning that a couple who had never met would be legally married (I think Marie Antoinette was married this way at first.). The general expectation was that the couple would meet when they were both old enough to produce children themselves
And yes, it was often creepy.
Yes. In fact, it still happens today in some parts of the world, despite it often being illegal in those countries.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/01/27/sunday-review/29Exposures-child-bride-interactive.html?_r=0
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/06/child-brides/gorney
Until relatively recently (i.e. since this comic was published), it was not unheard of in the US. Usually requiring only parental consent. In the past decade multiple states that formerly had no restrictions have passed laws setting the minimum with parental consent alone to 16, and either not permitting marriage or requiring judicial oversight under 16.
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