#ciel is so complicated but like I can’t EXPLAIN his character???

[sp00ky9]

Black butler rant bc I just reread up to volume 31 in the span of 4 days because of the new anime announcement:

Ciels character

Ok so Ciel has always perplexed me because of the way he acts— cold and yet there are glimpses of a sort of compassion sprinkled throughout the series. I like to think of his character as almost a split between two people— the traumatized child who was tortured and had his brother killed in front of him and then the kid he used to be/almost wishes he was.

He’s constantly pushing others away (usually in a pretty harsh way) because I would assume that he doesn’t want to get hurt as all the people he cared about ended up dead. Obvs he doesn’t want that to happen to the people he knows now. I feel like this is the only way he knows how to care about people— by pushing them away (paradox but his whole character is to me LOL) I also think it’s from the guilt of not being able to save his brother (r!Ciel) that he wraps himself up in this cruel persona and plays the part of a heartless earl— he wants people to see him this way because it’s easy. It’s easy to push people away and not form meaningful relationships. It’s easier to be cold than compassionate.

It’s ironic that the only person he’s really honest with is Sebastian, but even then I think Sebastian’s very presence reminds o!Ciel of the brother that he sacrificed (though I think it’s more of survivors guilt as the cult was responsible for his death) and it hurts him. How could it not?

In some of the recent chapters I think his persona is really highlighted as he declares himself to be the true “Ciel phantomhive” as he took on the name from his brother and accomplished things using that name that his real name probably would never have afforded him. He put in the work under that name, and it was all swept out from under him (hence the anger). As the weak and sickly brother he would have never really been seen as the earl, only a stand in for the true heir, r!ciel. This is why he took on his brothers name I think. Both to carry on his brothers legacy as well as to assert himself as someone who, despite his “sickly” nature, was not just a spare.

However despite all his cruelty, o!Ciel is still just a kid. In fact, in some ways I think he’s the same as before he got kidnapped. I think this is highlighted in the fact that he started his toy company— which had been his dream as the second son of the earl. Because he took on the responsibilities of his brother his dream could come true, albeit under different circumstances. This act in itself shows a glimpse of the kid he used to be.

Of course, this is also seen during the green witch arc when he won’t let anyone but finny near him. The green witch arc is one of my absolute favs bc it shows part of ciels motivation as well as more defines ciels and seb’s relationship. I love how he says that “I did this for me!” during his fight towards sanity, which shows selfishness. However I think that yes, his motivation for killing is somewhat self centered (he is tired of being the spare, tired of being powerless)but I think there is more layers to it. I think he is trying to convince himself that his motivation for revenge is centered in his own self. He wants to get revenge because he feels guilty that he could not save anyone, not even his brother. So he’s “doing it for himself” — as in he really just wants /his/ guilt to go away.

His selfishness is absolute and yet he is constantly taking in and taking care of others despite his whole cold guy act. I think he denies himself the trust in those relationships due to his guilt/past. I think this is especially shown when Agni dies and he kind of has a break down where he tells soma that they should have never gotten involved with him. However I find that these words show that he truly does care about those around him to an extent.

Anyways this was all written around 1am after finishing volume 31 and I just have. Thoughts. Anyways ciel still confuses me somewhat so I might add on to this rant later LOL.

[ijustsitinacorner]

Crossover idea encouraged by the author of Black Butler/Twisted Wonderland fanfiction on tumblr

+ Mikaela/self insert info

I have sent an anonymous ask to DarkSpellMaster as to self inserts being fun to imagine…yet here are some thoughts I have came up with.

1. Mikaela is my self insert, but I see her as a parallel of myself too

Mikaela is probably one to jump from universe to universe, a traveler basically (she’s been to black butler too, but I haven’t fully thought about or decided on how she would be involved in the story line of black butler) but since twisted wonderland, she is unable to leave that universe.

This means she is unable to leave twisted wonderland completely. However, she is able to travel to crossovers of twisted wonderland since it still technically counts as STILL being in twisted wonderland.

Creator informs basic information, like how twisted wonderland is a mobile game by Disney Japan while Black Butler/Kuroshituji is a manga by Yana Toboso. Simply to give Mikaela self awareness of where she is.

2. Either Creator is able to make clones of Mikaela, or Mikaela is working overtime, or something.

What I mean by this is that Mikaela has to work with multiple universes in which Ciel in one universe HAS Valerie (my oc) as an older sister, while in the other he doesn’t.

Don’t know, it’s kind of complicated to fully explain without blabbering and ranting.

3. Due to book 7 being rather popular now, I thought of something between Ciel and Mikaela.

Mostly with the relationship of Ciel and Violet (Ciel’s choice of nickname for Malleus in the A Phantomhive, in Night Raven College fanfic).

Mikaela is aware of Malleus’s future overblot, which causes her to be cautious and keeping a safe distance from him.

Ciel, however, is completely unaware of this (obviously).

Mikaela doesn’t have the sense within her to tell him. Ever since Ciel found out Violet was Malleus (Halloween event) and had tensions with Malleus…she doesn’t want that to happen again for the sake of both Malleus and Ciel.

She knows staying quiet and it’s unfortunates will come to her soon enough, as Ciel seems to be doing her job for her a bit.

What I mean by this is that MC in twst is somewhat destined to be friends/in fondness of Malleus Draconia. Mikaela however, feels as if she cannot fill that role.

Not unless someone else does it, which just so happens to be Ciel as she’s stuck in twisted wonderland (in general) with her OC’s younger brother.

Is she sort of using him? But then again, she wouldn’t be surprised if he did the same with her eventually or at some points.

Don’t know, I have to read more of the A Phantomhive in Night Raven College fanfiction to see how his character develops. The fact that this mf learned his lesson SO HARD with his secretive type of behavior (I guess?) that he tells Ace and Deuce more information that he EVER HAD with anyone in Black Butler in the span of like…what?Two months?

I mean he trusts those two the most so, plus he doesn’t want shit to repeat itself as he has to learn to eventually trust others because in Twisted Wonderland his rank and status is legit NOTHING much helpful in his situation.

To end this yapping, here’s a moment I thought of during that one chapter in this fanfic in which he did some sort of collaboration with Twisted Wonderland dorms and Bitter Rabbit plushies to make money in like book 2, during spell drive I think.

Mikaela: One medium sized Riddle Rosehearts Bitter Rabbit plushie.

Ciel: You’re asking for a Riddle one? Plus, *that sly look istg* where’s the madol you need to pay for it?

Mikaela: *legit slams the money on the counter*

Mikaela: There.

Ciel: wha- where the hell did you even get this?

Mikaela: busting my ass at mostro longue and saving allowance, I can imagine you aren’t the type to just hand out free bitter rabbit plushies just cause I’m in close relations with you.

Mikaela: Can’t blame you though, gotta make a profit somehow!

Ciel: Why aren’t I even surprised honestly…

Ciel: you fan girling and fawning over Riddle’s collaboration photo shoot pictures for the bitter rabbit & grim was enough for me to assume you would do anything to get your hands on that plush.

Mikaela: SHHHHHHSHSHSHSH, SHUSH.

Mikaela: DON’T TELL ME YOU’RE GONNA BLACK MAIL ME OR SOMETHING WITH THAT INFO! CIEL DON’T YOU DARE.

Ciel: Who knows? I think I just may.

(Yeah, trust, I was FAWNING over imagining Riddle in like…I think it was like pajamas for the photo shoot? I don’t remember exactly 😭)

(God I love him sm)

[ainchase]

KR Elsword Customer Support: Perihart and Harnier are NOT step-siblings

Hello,

Thank you for contacting Elsword Customer Support.

We sincerely apologize that it took so long to give you a reply because the query you’ve submitted required confirmation from the appropriate department.

Firstly, although Harnier was brought into the Solace Clan, she did not become part of the family through a formal adoption process. 

As with our previous reply, Perihart and Harnier simply grew up together as close as siblings would but without being tied in a legal familial bond (i.e., Perihart and Harnier are not step-siblings!!)

The NA website’s use of the word “step-siblings” was an attempt to simplify their rather complicated relationship because there isn’t exactly a word in the American culture to clearly describe this kind of concept.

Thank you.

That’s it. That’s the post.

Oh and let me remind you Perihart and Harnier never considered each other siblings because they never have and I will prove my point if you keep reading:

I’ve written about this twice already:

Perihart and Harnier - Clan doesn’t mean what you think it is

Perihart and Harnier never considered each other siblings

My previous posts’ reasons for saying Perihart and Harnier are not step-siblings (and therefore NA Elsword is wrong) are as follows:

1. 가문 doesn’t mean immediate family in Elsword

It’s 솔레스 가문 and 가문 (家��� - かもん ), while the dictionary definition of the word is “family,” it’s more like a clan. The “family” you’re thinking of is 가족 (家族 - かぞく). And when I say clan, I mean like... Clans in Naruto. 가문 is not a “family” in a similar sense as an immediate family. The clan in the Elsword universe included everyone from servants to the immediate families of the Solace Clan.

When they say “Solace family” in Elsword, they didn’t mean this:

2.  If Harnier considered Perihart her brother, she wouldn’t have called Perihart “Lord Perihart” (페리하트 님 = Perihart nim = Perihart sama) when they first met

3. Perihart is 4 years older than Harnier and if they considered each other siblings then Harnier would’ve called Perihart “older brother” (오빠 = oppa = older brother)

And for all you culturally ignorant people who said “just because she didn’t call him oppa doesn’t mean they’re not siblings,” you are so disrespectful. You can’t apply your experience from your own culture to make sense of another culture you clearly do not understand. Let me explain what the hell I mean.

Everyone, and I mean everyone, in the Elsword universe, follows and adheres to Korean culture when it comes to addressing someone. If they don’t, then that was intentional -- in order to appear more rude because that’s what that character is. If they are sufficiently close enough, the younger characters call their older friends “hyung /oppa/ nuna/ unni” even IF THEY ARE NOT RELATED. Why? Because otherwise you are perceived as rude and ignorant.

Elsword and calls Elesis and Rena “noona” which means “older sister.”

Elsword and calls Raven and Ciel “hyung” which means “older brother.”

Note Elsword doesn’t call other people he doesn’t particularly consider “older” than him any of those titles - Lu, Ain, other NPCs - and he can come off as an unruly brat. Chung ends up calling Ain hyung though.

Aisha calls Rena Elesis “unnie” which means “older sister”

Ara calls her brother “orabuni” (오라버니) which is an archaic form of “oppa” (older brother) in Korean.

Laby adorably calls everyone by their names and even though it’s rude af people consider her like a child who doesn’t really fully understand these things and they don’t reprimand her for it.

Noah always always always says “hyung” when talking about Harque.

There are obviously more characters that I didn’t list

You can get smacked by your family members for calling your seniors by their first name without adding the proper title, because it is EXTREMELY RUDE. It means you see yourself as an equal even though you are a junior and you need to show them respect. Those who think this is stupid and act disrespectful are highly highly frowned upon. Noah saying “Harque” without adding “hyung” at the end would mean he’s willfully disrespecting his brother who he looks up to a lot, which uh, makes no sense. He would never.

Listen, this shit happens even with twins who are born on the same goddamn day. The first one that comes out of mother’s womb is considered the older one and is expected to act like the older one. That’s how seriously they take this shit.

4. They call each other freely with their first names as if they’re friends and 0 formal speech used ever since Perihart asks her to not call him “Lord Perihart” bullshit. They wouldn’t do that shit if they considered each other siblings.

They literally would not. THEY LITERALLY WOULD NOT BE DOING THIS IF THEY CONSIDERED EACH OTHER SIBLINGS.

----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------

I even talked to someone who worked in KOG NA and I was told they don’t get detailed character bio or reference materials to fully understand more than what they can get from the in-game string in excel files they receive to translate. Did PM/Marketing team receive something the translators didn’t? That’s what I first assumed, because why else would they write something that’s not clearly described in the actual game itself? The game never said Harnier was adopted. But why would they write on their website that they are step-siblings? 

Turns out someone was just writing out of their ass.

A long time ago, when the El was whole and stable, Fenriart and Hernia were step-siblings that were part of the Solace Clan. Fenriart was a gifted user of El energy and was poised to become the Master of the Sun. The events that would start it all unfolded when he encountered his step-sister, Hernia, being bullied by their step-brother, Sigmund. It would happen frequently where Fenriart would keep Sigmund from actively harming Hernia. It was through this series of events that the two found out about their shared Rubenian Bloodline through the necklaces which they inherited from their mothers and the two eventually shared a bond.

(https://elsword.koggames.com/elysion-dungeons-6-7 wow it’s still there)

If you have reached this far and you still think Perihart x Harnier is incest

uh

They’re not step-siblings because harnier was never adopted into the family

They have never considered each other siblings for reasons I have listed above

This was literally never a problem with Korean and Japanese (and I guess other Asian servers with similar culture) because they understood in context of the actual game, that they never saw that Harnier and Perihart are like siblings and consider each other as siblings

Only people who don’t understand this kind of culture are labeling this as incest

And if even at this point you still think they are step-siblings and it’s incest, all I can say is

Why do you want them to have an incestuous relationship so badly? Why do you so desperately love incest that you want to ignore all, not only cultural, but also clear factual evidence proving otherwise?

Why are you obsessed with incest? 

[itsclydebitches]

This is me sort of rising from the briny depths of an extremely salty ocean but re: the Penny framing I actually wonder if the whole purpose was to justify that little line Ironwood has at the dinner where he maintains that the robot is under his control. Because imho they had already sort of derailed Penny in her v7 reintroduction from a curious and rebellious girl [1/4]

I feel like my brain is rebooting after reading these asks because that is a damn good point. I’d honestly forgotten how much of a rebel---or at least a ‘child chafing against strict parental control/expectations’---Penny was characterized as in the early volumes... but you’re right. She’s someone who: 

Tackles a girl for calling her “friend” even though she’s supposed to be keeping a low profile/not interacting with people much

Continues to prioritize Ruby’s safety over hiding that she’s a robot (attacking Roman, stopping that car) 

Straight up told Ruby about her not human being even though that absolutely went against her orders 

Running off to have fun with Ruby instead of doing whatever it was she was tasked with 

Continuing to hang around when Blake went missing despite being told to get lost

Trying to ditch Ciel and not wanting to keep to whatever schedule she has planned 

Getting a magnet stuck to her head and just casually hiding it with a hat. Who needs to deal with something that would blow your secret when there’s fun festival stuff to do? 

Clear discomfort with the expectations put on her to save the world 

In contrast Volume Seven gives us a Penny who 

Apparently never tried to contact Ruby after her resurrection. If she disagreed with the (presumed) order to keep he identity quiet outside of Atlas/Mantle she never expressed that

Immediately goes off to do her job despite being reunited with Ruby. Sorry, responsibility takes precedence over friendship now

Showcases great pride in those responsibilities---the Protector of Mantle, being in Ironwood’s inner circle---as opposed to the previous discomfort 

Accepts the fact that she shouldn’t be making new friends, even if she doesn’t like it. Whatever she learned in Volumes Two-Three didn’t stick in the face of what she’s learned while back in Atlas 

All of which isn’t a bad thing (minus the idea that she shouldn’t make friends). In fact, I’d argue that our whole main cast needs to start balancing responsibility with personal desires more and doing things they don’t always want to because it’s their job/the right thing to do/The Power of Friendship doesn’t always hold in a logical, complicated world. Penny had that balance down decently well. Penny grew. The problem is we didn’t see that growth happening on screen and it was never acknowledged later. We could have easily framed this all through the lens of ‘rebuilding a robot = changing her personality somewhat,’ but we didn’t even get that. Penny is suddenly much more loyal to different people, much more responsible, much more confident in what she wants out of life, much more meek about accepting the things she doesn’t agree with... and we’re shown neither how nor why these changes took place. 

Worse, Penny is another victim of the “Ironwood is now illogically evil” volume ending because this new characterization means that she SHOULD be loyal to him with the same intensity that Winter is. Because she has been loyal! Because she’s been demonstrating a nuanced understanding of why you do hard things for good reasons all volume! She doesn’t, for example, throw a fit about sitting out on her Mantle duties post-framing because she gets that being among the people right now isn’t what they need, no matter how unfair that is to her. Penny post-resurrection is someone characterized as putting her job first and thus she should have been agreeing with Winter during that hallway conversation, not pushing back when she knows there’s currently no better option. She’s been Team Ironwood for the last year (at least) so why the sudden, “Hmm... I don’t know if he’s right”? An unexpected view Penny maintains even after Winter re-explains the logic of the situation, if we choose to read Penny taking the Maiden powers as a deliberate betrayal against them both. You shouldn’t have this power, I (Team RWBY) should. Her new characterization---unexpected as it is---sets her up as someone who would be thoroughly AGAINST Team RWBY’s flimsy “plan” of standing their ground and not following orders, so why in the world does she end up on the airship with them? Hell, we could argue that given the time jumps and depending on how long it took for her to be rebuilt, Penny has known/spent far more time with Ironwood than Ruby, so we can’t even fall back on a generic, “She’s closer to Ruby and therefore instinctively loyal to her.” 

Literally the only thing we get, as you point out, is Ironwood’s comment at the dinner and Penny’s comment in the truck. Two very broad hints about how friendship is (supposedly, I don’t actually think Ironwood is arguing this here) bad so yeah, poor Penny. Of course she would go side with the Good Guys who realize the simple lesson that Friendship is Good. A reading that’s bolstered by the whole Ace Ops situation. That’s another moment where a character, Harriet, insists they’re not friends---implying that Ironwood doesn’t encourage them to be friends---but showing us the exact opposite. They are friends. That’s clear to see in literally any scene where two or more of them interact. Now here’s Penny, insisting Ironwood doesn’t allow her to have friends, even as he lets her hang out with/work with Team RWBY every moment possible. At no point do we actually see Ironwood pushing against friendship and the need to work together. We see the opposite, with him planning license parties for them to chill out and running after Qrow to hug him. Volume 7′s really just out here insisting that Ironwood and his allies think friendship is unnecessary, despite us not being shown that, and then using it as justification for why a bunch of teens beat the most elite huntsmen group we’ve ever seen and why a previously hyper-loyal ally took Maiden powers and jumped on the airship with them. Because Team RWBY are the intrinsic heroes who believe in friendship and Ironwood is suddenly the bad guy who believes in nothing but power... even though that is 100% not the characters they wrote. 

It’s... yeah. That’s all pretty bad lol 

[makku-ruko]

Warning Spoilers? I mean some spoilers.

Sooooo lemme give my thoughts on Kuroshitsuji and the ever loved yaoi fanbase.

Let’s start with interpretation. I read somewhere in another’s response that Sebastian and Ciel’s relationship somewhat surpasses master and butler but not in any conventional way whether it be: familial, friendship, romantic, etc. They appear to have an understanding that more connects their inner beings than anything else. I’ve seen it in some of the moments where they’re simply conversing (e.g. Book of Circus last episode on the train).

Ciel is ruthless, cynical, prideful and is very good with strategy. He is a good leader but not inherently on the side of good. He’s a boy that’d already given in to the dark side the moment he made the contract. At such a young age, governing who lives and dies by order of the Queen. He appears to be neutral and his moral scales seem to always be wobbling. That said, he still has his innocence, childishness and a dormant wish for ‘things to be better’. He lies without really thinking and surely feels guilt and regret despite saying he won’t and forcing himself not to. He’s brash, forever moving forward and conditioning himself not to look back if necessary. Very intelligent and rather self aware. The things he tends to deny are only conventional positives e.g. caring for people or generally being a nice person (unless he has guests.)

Sebastian has no limits. Instead, he gives himself limits to fit his job. Not short of perfection, he’s long suffering and has next to immaculate endurance. A brilliant performer and employee yet we don’t know much about his emotions. If anything, Claude appeared to be the perfect example of what a demon was supposed to be. Perhaps Sebastian is like that without the smoke and mirrors.

Now the both of them seem to bond over sin. Ciel being so accepting of his own flaws as a human and being so aware of what makes one; I feel like Sebastian really admires that about him. He who has no morals, who kills with no remorse and sees things generally through black vision. Both him and Ciel are in the darkness, eradicating smudges from Her Majesty’s ‘great vision’.

Towards the end of season 1, when Ciel flinched and decided not to take his revenge right then and there, when he’d begun making excuses and trying to run from it, Sebastian had lost the glint in his eye. Disappointed. It was probably rather anticlimactic, like seeing a dessert you’d longed for grow too watery. Ciel, being prideful, found his way back to being himself eventually after realising the main goal that he’d lost sight of and understood that his soul in that condition, wavering like that had become unappetising.

Revenge is the fire that keeps Ciel’s soul as delectable as it is; What lead him to the path he now walks that he can’t return from. As such, all his other ‘sins’ can fall neatly around him as he can pick whichever card he pleases to help him move forward. This is the aesthetic that keeps Sebastian tied to his hip— the perfect meal for a perfectionist.

Okay so I’ve rambled on a bit. Now onto the yaoi aspect. A lot of the ways in which I’ve seen people portray the relationship becoming a thing is Ciel letting out his weakness and or exposing his feelings somewhat. As much as it probably works, to me, the thing I keep saying when I see it is “Ciel would n o t let that happen”. Exposing his feelings?? HAH as if. I know he cares about Elizabeth a lot and plans to marry her out of duty (but also out of his own feelings too). That is the canon part of it. Thing is, this boy is so damn hard to read.

Before y’all start yelling, I’m not into the pedophilic 10000 something year old demon ending up with a 12 year old. That’s a no.

I like watching the relationship between him and Sebastian develop. Whatever it is, it’s a bond of some sort and if I’m honest, I see it. Some slight hints and the attachment. In another universe it could happen (just not in a conventional way). The way sometimes Sebastian is so careful and delicate when handling or holding him. I don’t see a father or brother, I see a caretaker or a tutor. But even so, I still don’t see that. Some scenes look like it’s almost past that?? It’s hard to explain but it’s never conventional. The typical ‘oooh~ blushy blushy I have feelings’ or tsundere ‘nooo! Don’t touch me you idiot!’.

It’s just. I can’t put my finger on it. But if I had to see it happening, I would imagine that they’d continue their business/teasing/friendship up until a point where it becomes possible. Whatever deeper bond is kept underneath a bunch of leaves until Winter comes and reveals everything. What I mean is: Ciel will grow up. If he doesn’t go through with the contract, he’ll grow up and whatever was dormant will start coming through. Needs or rather what he didn’t know he needed (don’t think of it like that -.-) will start coming through. And Sebastian is literally riiiight next to him. The comfort. The go-to. So. Needless to say. In my mind, I feel like the boy will be very confused.

As a duo, they’re adorable. I love seeing them together and it just works. The aesthetic, their ideals, their personalities (I use the word loosely) etc etc.

This was a huuuuge ramble and I didn’t really go anywhere but I guess the easiest thing to conclude all this with is: Yes, I can see them together. No, not right now. When Ciel is older and has his mind opened to other things? Yes. I don’t blame the yaoi fanbase but I don’t condone the pedophilia. No matter what, Ciel is a minor. The demon ending is a different story. But the boy is a boy.

Unless you wanna go into darker and realistic territory, yes it could happen but no I wouldn’t condone it. It would be the ‘it is what it is’ shrug moment bc idfk. Real life is messed up. If it ever went there, I wouldn’t be surprised- things get complicated and Sebastian is a demon. In terms of characters, I don’t think so...unless the ‘needs’ thing comes early (which is a eughhh no) but would I blame anyone for writing it? No. Just don’t romanticise it. It ain’t right.

———

Update: I didn’t really see what was behind the Sebciel ship. Turns out no matter what, it’s still impure and not a good. No no. So I’m all for the platonic thing. Not like I wasn’t before but the aged up thing doesn’t sit right anymore. (Which is unfortunate because there were some good spinoffs).

That said, I still don’t give a shit about the Yaoi fanbase. It’s a whole kettle of fish to get into. Do what you want, I won’t be shocked by anything nor will I condone it. Platonic only is good.

[argentnoelle]

Alternate Endings: Butlers & Masters in Black Butler, and how they parallel Sebastian & Ciel

read on ao3

There have been four butler/master pairs established so far: 1) Sebastian & Ciel 2) Grell & Red 3) Agni & Soma 4) Wolfram & Sieglinde Each of the other three relationships serve to parallel Sebastian & Ciel in interesting ways, and when they are introduced, how Sebastian & Ciel react to the pairs, and what happens in those parallel stories may even serve to elucidate the ambiguous nature of the relationship between the main characters.

Partners in Crime: Grell & Red

The first pair introduced is Red and Grell, alias Jack the Ripper. This is the darkest of the four pairs to be sure. The duo are on a murdering spree driven by the righteous idea (on Red's part) that she is in some way dealing out justice, motivated by an obsessive personality and a trauma that she can't get over—that of losing her family. It's a clear parallel to Ciel at his darkest; in fact it becomes even more complicated when you realize that (spoiler) among others, including the man she loved, Red lost her sister, just as Ciel lost his brother. What is established at once is that this is an unequal relationship—unequal beyond, and in a different way than, you might expect with one of them being the mistress and one the servant. In fact, their story is presented almost in the mythical way of a god becoming interested in a mortal due to some particularity of their character, or amazing talent; of course, one way or another, those stories usually don't end very well for the mortal. This is made even more explicit with the description of reapers as "death gods." At this point, with the way Grell frames his duties, he has ultimate power over the souls of those he weighs—in his words, he can decide "whether to let him live on, or to kill him" based on the assessment. Of course, this is overstating the matter on Grell's part, as in actuality, reapers are discouraged from allowing people to live. If we translate this to Sebastian, we have a parallel to when Sebastian met Ciel—what, similarly, drew him to Ciel, the connection with death as his appearance is intrinsically tied up with Real Ciel's death. Similarly, once the contract is made, Sebastian gains the ultimate power over Ciel's soul—which might even include whether to let him live, or to eat him. Grell becomes disappointed in Red when she refuses to kill Ciel; refuses, in effect, to let the game continue, to pursue her vengeance—so he kills her, saying as he does, "How disappointing, Madam Red. I am no longer interested... in an ordinary woman like you."

That this is one possible way the story could end for Sebastian and Ciel is in no doubt. In fact, it almost ended that way early on: when Ciel is recognized as Earl by the Queen, Sebastian asks him if he can be content with the life he's gained and abandon his vengeance. When he thinks that Ciel will abandon it, he starts to lose his "butler" form and reaches out to Ciel, obviously planning to eat him right then and there. When changes the story is that Ciel refuses to abandon his vengeance; and this moves Sebastian to an absurd degree. Still, you might argue that it is in that scene that Sebastian swears fealty to Ciel, that he in fact promises to play the game until the end, without messing around. Even later, during the Green Witch arc, Sebastian is driven in desperation to repeating his question, when time has run out for them to remain in the village. "Brooding over your fears and regrets, curled up in your blanket... is not what you should be doing right now. Come, get out of bed." Will Ciel abjure his vengeance, or does he still want to play the game? Ciel says, "No." "Oh? Well. You will abandon your position as the Queen's Watchdog then? Very well. You won't have to experience any hardship if you're no longer the Queen's Watchdog. No one will blame you for not wanting that forever. The servants will surely treat you well. However. Abandoning your revenge mid-way is against the contract. Ahhh. What an utterly boring end." Sebastian has turned from a human-looking butler into a darkness-tentacle-creature and starts to eat him. But even then, he doesn't stop trying to remind Ciel of his revenge, in a last-ditch effort to not end the game just yet. Sebastian asks Ciel why he actually made a contract with him, and Ciel reminds himself (or perhaps realizes for the first time?) that the reason he did it was, whatever he said or thought at the time, actually for himself. He breaks free of the cage and runs toward Sebastian. Ciel then says to Sebastian, "you... really tried to eat me just now, didn't you." Sebastian says, "No, no, I was only 90% serious." (Real reassuring, Sebastian.) He then reminds Ciel that he is both a demon and a butler. Grell compares the relationship between him and Sebastian to that of Romeo and Juliet, and that along with his comment that he is an actress, casts everything about his relationship to Red as an extended act—this is made even more clear in the anime, where Grell is introduced as a butler in an earlier episode, and plays it up to a theatrical extent. Similarly, one could see Sebastian, and his butler aesthetic, as a similar type of act, where the "play" being put on is more important than the people involved; it is all about the artifice. Grell actually replays the famous balcony scene, saying to Sebastian "you and me shall be the cast in this show," and continuing to riff off of it: "why don't you throw away the unlucky name your master gave you, and just focus your attention on me!" —wherefore (why) art thou Sebastian? Sebastian gives an answer: "all it takes is that one sentence. From the time when my master addressed me as 'Sebastian' that sentence became the newly formed contract. Since that day, I became 'Sebastian.' I made a vow to the moon." In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet says, "O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name..." continuing on to entreat Romeo to abandon the fact that he is a Montague and can therefore only ever be her enemy. Romeo answers "call me but love, and I'll be new baptized; henceforth I never will be Romeo." The way that Sebastian plays off of this exchange is clearer in the anime, and probably in the official translation too. Grell sets up the unstable dichotomy of death god/demon, who must always be natural enemies, but then positions Ciel, and Sebastian's connection to him, as what will keep them apart, and what Sebastian will have to refuse to get together with Grell. Sebastian's answer actually uses Romeo's words, saying that in meeting Ciel and in the creation of the contract, he was newly baptized as Sebastian; in other words, Grell can't be Juliet because Ciel is.   In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo begins by swearing his love on the moon, and Juliet interrupts him, saying: "O swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon, That monthly changes in her circled orb, Lest thy love prove likewise variable." So in saying that he's swearing by the moon, Sebastian is actually playing along with Grell's reenactment of Romeo and Juliet, while still refusing Grell's casting of himself as Juliet, and putting Ciel in that place instead.

Soulmates: Agni & Soma

Agni is set up from the beginning as an incredibly good butler, just as Grell was (to Sebastian's disapproval) an incredibly bad one. The usual, 'oh no the whole house has been messed up' that was set up from the very first arc is flipped around, with Agni having done all this work incredibly well... this gets on Sebastian's good side immediately. Agni is also able to get the servants to work together and not break everything, which completely baffles Sebastian, leading to one of his awesome shocked faces. Agni explains his personal philosophy to Sebastian, and then explains that before he met Prince Soma, he was a very different kind of person. "Before I met the prince, I was an idiot that can be said to be hopeless. What I owe him can never be repaid in this lifetime." He explains how he had no faith, due to seeing his father misusing his position, and how he then continued to do bad things, saying "I took advantage of my social status and committed sins every day." But just as he was about to be executed for his crimes, Prince Soma arrived to say him, saying, "I've heard you are a wild person that is as strong as an untamed beast," and choosing to take responsibility for Agni. As he cuts Agni's hair, Soma says, "the 'you' who existed before today is now dead. You're hereby reborn with a new name and life." Agni interprets this memory, saying that from that day Soma became his god. He says "that day, I definitely saw a god emitting holy light inside of the prince's body! I swerved the prince ever since that day... the prince is my king and my god!" He continues to say that he will do anything for Soma, even if it costs him his life. While Agni is set up as literally the nicest person in Black Butler, his own story places him as a reformed sinner who has found god in the man he serves. Still, even in his "reformed" state, his dedication to Soma is shown to be potentially dangerous, as his fervor leads him to do criminal acts in Soma's name. There is no unequivocal good here, it must be pointed out. Still, everything that Agni affects, day to day, seems to lead to having friends and happiness because he's just such a nice person. This seems like a pretty weird comparison to Sebastian, but he certainly is a parallel to Sebastian. Not only do they both take pride in cooking, and are incredibly good at it, not only do they both have superhuman strength, but the story of Agni meeting Soma has some interesting resonances with Sebastian's own. Going back to Sebastian's description of his meeting Ciel to Grell, earlier on, a flippant reply that takes from Romeo and Juliet and the wild overstatements made by those in love can also be interpreted through the lens of someone who has found a god. The devotion becomes religious. There is, of course, the baptism mentioned in Romeo and Juliet, and by Sebastian in relation to his own story; Agni, as well, tells the story of a baptism, in which he gained a new name and a new life. Soma's words when he first met Agni are also interesting. "I've heard you are a wild person that is as strong as an untamed beast." The connection to Agni's former existence, as an "untamed beast" is explicitly similar to Sebastian, who first appears to Ciel as a number of beasts, and is referred to as a beast multiple times, including in the Green Witch arc, when Ciel tells Sebastian that, in destroying the evidence of the laboratory, he has his permission to "feel free to go crazy like a beast." (Sebastian's reaction is notable. He thinks to himself, "My master. You're misunderstanding something. What I find most entertaining is playing the butler in my game with you. It's not behaving like a frenzied beast. However, if that's how you like me... I'll act accordingly.") Further, this sounds really similar to the meeting between Gilgamesh and Enkidu in Gilgamesh.  Gilgamesh is described as "two thirds god, one third man" and like Soma, he starts the story thinking a lot of himself; to say that he's arrogant is an understatement. Enkidu is created as someone who can temper this, basically Gilgamesh's soulmate, and spends the first part of his life as a literally "untamed beast" of a man, living with the other wild animals and having more in common with them than with humanity. But after he's shown human things through having sex with a priestess who comes to tame him, he can no longer go back to that state of innocence, wildness, or beastliness... now he is unavoidably human, and that can't change. He and Gilgamesh have a number of incredible adventures, and Gilgamesh thinks that together they can do anything, but Enkidu eventually dies, and the rest of the story deals with Gilgamesh's grief and anger at what he feels is the unfairness of death. He goes to extremes, and journeys for a long time, to try to become immortal himself, but discovers that like anyone who is mortal (even one-third mortal) death will inevitably come for him. Still, he eventually gains some measure of peace and grows as a character. Perhaps Soma is also on a similar journey. And, if Soma is a parallel for Ciel, who has been going on his own angry journey, through the manga, against the fact of death, both of his parents and of his other half—his twin brother—perhaps Ciel himself might come to some measure of peace as well. So, Agni is the epitome of a butler, and as he dies, he thinks, "Master Soma, that day, when you saved me, you were probably just acting on a whim. But from that day forward, you have always been the sun in my sky." (In Romeo and Juliet, when Juliet appears, Romeo says, "But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon...") Agni continues, "no matter the circumstance, I remained bound to you. As your orders were the light illuminating my path. What's more, just by exuding your shining confidence down from the sky, you have saved more lives than you will ever know... because you were my sun, were there for me, my days could finally begin. ... I was... your khansama was... extremely happy." Soma is, in Ciel's words, who he might have become if not for "that day". Soma's description of his life in the palace, where he as the youngest child had everything he could ever want, materially, but felt as though he was cut off from expressions of love, is what motivates him to cling so tightly to Meena, who was always there for him, though she was secretly resentful. (Oh my! Perhaps the way that Madam Red was always there for Ciel, and yet secretly resented his existence because she was jealous?) While Soma originally saved/hired Agni just because he was supposedly really good at making curry, the butler has come to mean everything to him. (This reminds me of Ciel's meeting with Klaus, where he says that one of the reasons he keeps Sebastian around is because he makes the best sweets ever. He's being flippant, it's not a serious reason by any means—and Sebastian couldn't cook when they met—but it's still interesting.) Soma says to Agni, later, "Ciel reminds me of my younger self. I would always be chasing after the love of my parents and Mina, but I never paid attention to the affection you were giving me the whole time." He says, "No, not quite the same. Even though he is aware of al the affection he is receiving, he refuses to accept any of it. It's as if he is afraid of obtaining happiness. Ciel says that he lives for the sake of revenge. That's why he lives a life of solitude." (Of course, that's the only reason Ciel is still alive instead of being eaten by Sebastian for having broken the contract.) In this iteration of butler and master, the butler dies for the master—something that Sebastian states that he finds admirable. Indeed, this has also almost happened in Sebastian and Ciel's own story. When they're on the Campania, Sebastian gets stabbed by Undertaker when he's trying to protect Ciel, and could very well have died in the process. He didn't, and so the story continues...

Parent and Child: Wolfram & Sieglinde

Sieglinde is a genius brought up believing one story—that she's the Green Witch, someone with a special duty handed down through the generations to keep her village safe—when really she's being manipulated by an old woman (her mother, though she doesn't know it) into making a gas that will cause death and destruction. This is rather interesting. If Sieglinde's story is a parallel to Ciel, just as Madam Red and Soma's stories are in a sense a parallel with Ciel, then Ciel might be believing a false story too. He, like Sieglinde, takes pride in his position—in his case, of being the Guard Dog, and keeping order in England. It's couched as a special duty, but perhaps he, too, is being manipulated by an old woman (the Queen? Hm). It's certainly made clear that the Queen has her own aims, and that she's interested in preparing for war. The idea that she might even be the one behind his parents' murders isn't so far off, and indeed, in the anime, she *was*. On an even more disturbing note, perhaps Vincent Phantomhive was more manipulative than he appeared...? Wolfram is in a similar situation as Finny. Both were used in experimentation in Germany, and both didn't have a name until they met Ciel, in Finny's case, and Sieglinde, in Wolf's case. ("For this mission, we gave you a name," he was told. "Lieutenant Wolfram Geltzer.") That's a pretty long list of people who were given new names, including every single butler—besides Grell—to date. (But, quite interesting is the recent reveal that reapers are, along with their names, which most of them use, also referred to by a number code within the organization.) (As a side-note, Wolfram is responsible for Sieglinde's crippled feet, just as Sebastian is responsible for Ciel's blind eye, but beyond that obvious similarity, I'm not sure it has any significance.) Wolfram describes his life before Sieglinde as being colorless, and that they had a duty, and acted, but without ever knowing the reason. This "patriotism" is then set against the personal loyalty he ends up having toward Sieglinde. Wolfram's past, on learning how to be a butler, is similar to Sebastian's, as he is baffled by having to deal with a child and with the idea of having to play with her and deal with her whims, instead of just killing people. He thinks, "after meeting you, for the first time... I discovered the bright colors of the world... and felt the desire to protect something. I found a reason to fight." He thinks this as he has been wounded, and reaches for Sieglinde through the haze of his memories. There is even a shot of their hands reaching out toward each other, as Sebastian and Ciel reached out to each other when Sebastian was wounded on the Campania, and he slipped into his early memories of their time together. Wolfram is saved though, and Sebastian says, gently, "Mr. Wolfram. A butler... isn't allowed to die before their master." (Agni should've listened to you!/Tanaka. But Agni, of course, is really the only one who can get away with disagreeing with Sebastian, and still change his mind.) This story isn't really told to it's end, but it's different from the others in that Wolfram was originally working at cross-purposes to Sieglinde, and was in effect on an undercover mission to use her. But instead, he ended up throwing in his lot with her, and abandoning his army. Furthermore, at least to the present moment, though he would give his life for Sieglinde, he doesn't have to. Sieglinde actually forgives him for his deception, realizing that his actions since then show his care and his regret.

read on ao3

[midnight-in-town]

at first I thought your new icon was a bitter rabbit from black butler but I just realized it isn't. It doesn't look familiar, can you say if it comes from somewhere?

Haha, no it’s not a bitter rabbit at all Anon, although I find it’s just as cute even if it has an entirely different meaning. :)

It’s from this (very old) manga, which I talked about a little here (first paragraph)!

I ended up developing context a little below (@milese333 tagging you, in case you were interested in the additional details :3)

Originally, it’s the emblem of a squad

that was sent on a suicide mission from America (iirc codename: “Operation Jesus” and it was initially about liberating a country from its autocratic government), unbeknowst to them. 

The main character survived though and was hella pissed at how things turned out, so he made that emblem into a tattoo…

to remember his anger, deciding to get revenge against the ones who sacrificed his unit. It’s kinda the start of the plot of the first series, but it would be complicated to explain further than that (+ it’d most likely bore you). 

Anyway, the point is…

I love when he showers, ahem, that he also took on the codename of his operation, “Jesus” (when his initial name is just “J”). 

So y’know when some people in fandoms kinda need Jesus? They don’t need our Lord and savior, they actually need this guy xDDD

Nah, honestly, the main reason is that I was feeling nostalgic of this series (of the whole crossover actually) and it’s hard to explain simply but the tattoo kinda represents all that he went through before and after he got it, how much he changed, so it’s pretty meaningful, at least to me.

Finally, he’s also a teacher, one who ends up specializing in “problematic kids”.In his case, it’s more abducted-and-turned-into soldier/murder children than kids “getting in the way of ships” or whatever other criticism there can be, but anyway, I found it was fitting considering the state of my dash sometimes.

The thing is, whenever we actually do have “problematic kids” in series (Gabi Braun in SnK, the Oggai in TG, or even Ciel in Kuroshitsuji are what comes to mind), the bloggers who try to explain that they can’t exactly be blamed for their actions (because they’re kids, generally put to the task by adults) tend to get attacked and that’s just not fair to them. 

Maybe it makes 0 sense to anyone but me, but I have a lot of people I follow  who are targeted for having opinions about the circumstances of kids prone to violence needing to be considered (which is a valid point) and, well, if we were in this guy’s universe, he would have taken care of all of this in a heartbeat. 

So I guess I chose this guy’s tattoo as my new icon for all these reasons. :) I could have chosen his fine butt instead but alas, we’re past December 17th already. xDD

Sorry for rambling Anon, I hope I answered your question! Have a nice day :)

[inuyomekag]

Black Butler: Chapter 131

an unexpected amount of brotherly love.....

There wasn’t any real plot development in this chapter, but it did give us real insight into Our Ciel’s childhood. Which, apparently, we’ve never actually gotten to see.

What a precious boy. I can’t believing we’re seeing this image, after being given the opposite view of this scene one hundred chapters ago. And believing at the time that that image was of the boy we know.

This was so cute oh my god. I love that the narration is written in a way that clearly makes it from the point of view of a child. I think it lends more to the narration to read it in a child’s voice rather than reading it as if Our Ciel were telling the story in the present day (if that makes any sense).

The idea of him being afraid of Sebastian the dog is adorable, but I know in the official, more accurate translation he just says he “wasn’t fond of him.” I never really considered that Ciel might’ve not liked the dog, and this just makes the fact that he named Seb after him so much funnier!

Then it had to go and get sad.....

again, not an entirely accurate translation. He says “...he’s so lucky” in the official one. 

I feel so much for this poor kid, having to watch from a high window while his whole family has fun outside

So these are the only two panels that show Lizzy in the same room as Our Ciel. I’ve really been wondering how close she was to him when they were children. Obviously not as close as she was to Real Ciel, but she was at least friends with both of them, right? She looks like she’s genuinely concerned for Our Ciel’s health, at least. 

So now we know that this flashback was indeed not Our Ciel.

Another translation error, and this one’s a little more significant. In the official one Vincent says (to Diedrich) “...you will be of assistance to him...”  Not them or you two. He was only talking about Real Ciel. Vincent was probably referring to Diedrich acting as an adviser to Real Ciel if Vincent were to die before Ciel was really old enough to act as the Earl. In which case it makes sense that he wouldn’t include Our Ciel in that statement, since he won’t inherit a title or position or anything. But at the same time it comes across as if Vincent doesn’t care what becomes of Our Ciel after his death, just as long as the heir is successful in inheriting the title. Which must not have been fun for little Our Ciel to hear from behind that curtain.

I’ve seen a lot of people ready to throw hands at Diedrich for saying this, and I agree that children should never be told that they should be “more like” anyone but themselves (also “other one” sounds a little harsh but half of that might just be Yana avoiding his real name lol). But the rest of it...he’s really just stating facts. I mean yeah he didn’t have to say this to a 7 year old, but what he’s saying was the reality for younger sons back then. They pretty much got jack shit and had to find a way to build their own life while their eldest sibling was set for life. A lot of times the younger sons would end up in poverty because of this. That’s what Our Ciel’s life would have been farther in the future if Vincent and RC hadn’t died. (though i like to think his brother would have found a way to help him out a bit). Diedrich really isn’t saying anything that’s not absolutely true.

So this bitch out here making children cry:

I’M LAUGHING SO HARD can someone tell me WHY Undertaker was just in the manor, casually walking around the halls??? Does he even have a purpose for being there? Who let him in??? Is he allowed to be there?? 

So here they are taking that infamous photo that was destroyed in the fire. And I think it’s important to note that it was real Ciel who was burned away.

And now we’ve confirmed that the entire 99.5 side story was about Real Ciel the whole time (with Our Ciel only appearing at the end)

Y’know, I wonder if Our Ciel was actually telling that story to Sebastian as if it happened to him, or if he just said “yeah so my dad and my brother made dinner for me and my mom.” since Sebastian always knew about the twin anyways. 

Like do Seb and Ciel just casually mention the twin sometimes off-screen?  Or is it just a mutually-known piece of information never to be discussed aloud, not even in private? I know there are a few instances in the manga where they kinda vaguely allude to it to each other, but do they ever talk about him outright? (this doesn’t matter at all but I’m curious for some reason)

Anyway I really hate seeing Our Ciel worry that he’s being a burden, and think that his brother would rather be doing something other than spending time with him. It gives you so much pity for OC because his mindset is so generally relatable and hits home for a lot of people. It’s not fun for anyone, of any age, to genuinely believe that they’re a burden just for existing, much less a kid who’s only seven years old. 

But honestly Real Ciel is such a sweetheart

Look at him saying exactly what his brother needs to hear, making him feel better, and spending time with him :) the forehead touch god they’re precious :))))))))))

Really, the amount of brotherly love in this chapter is overwhelming

Does this remind anyone else of that scene from the Campania flashback where Sebastian brings OC the milk? 

Also in the ch99.5 side-story, Sebastian made the same meal for OC when he was sick, that RC and Vincent made for him when he was sick.

I’ve been thinking that Sebastian is like....playing a small part of all the members of Our Ciel’s family, if that makes sense. Right down to having the same name as the family dog. Like Sebastian’s taken a little bit of what each member of the family was for OC, and moulded it into himself, (maybe not necessarily of the character’s own volition, but for the sake of some author-induced symbolism). (this makes no sense I just thought of this yesterday).

So anyway

look at this absolute angel wow I love him. 

I love RC too, or at least the child that he used to be.

(don’t know who tf that staircase gremlin is)

Tanaka’s words here make me a little sad, because we know that Our Ciel in the present day isn’t...all that kindhearted....I mean I know his attitude and actions are more complicated than simple evilness or just being a dick (pushing people away because he gets involved in dangerous jobs, not accepting affection because everyone thinks they’re giving affection to the real Ciel) but still...he’s not the best. 

It just really kills me how he went from this sweet, shy boy, to the boy we know now. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love Our Ciel and all the angry, bitter, selfish parts of his personality that make him, him. But sometimes I do mourn the person he could’ve become if it weren’t for the fire and the cult.

And now I’m mourning for Real Ciel too. He was such a great kid in this chapter! He loved his brother, and it didn’t seem like anything he did directly caused Our Ciel’s insecurity...He just happened to be born first, more healthy, and more outgoing. You can’t exactly blame him for those things, and he made a real effort to talk his brother out of his insecurity and make him feel better....

But the sweet and caring Real Ciel of this chapter is definitely not the same kid as that staircase gremlin. He’s just as lost as the shy, weak, easily frightened version of Our Ciel. 

(Real Ciel’s clumsy ass, aw)

This chapter honestly surprised me a lot, because I really expected to come out of it seething with fury at the Phatomhives on Our Ciel’s behalf. But everything that made Our Ciel’s childhood a bit sad...it was nobody’s fault. He was the younger son and wouldn’t inherit anything, that was the law. Nothing the family could really do about that. He was shy and easily frightened while Real Ciel was outgoing and friendly, and it made him insecure. But since Real Ciel never tried to make Our Ciel feel like he was inferior, Real Ciel isn’t to blame for Our Ciel’s insecurity. And finally, he was sickly, so he had to miss out on a lot of events. Again, no one can be blamed for him getting sick. 

So like...what do I do with this??

Now I think my biggest guess regarding why Our Ciel took his brothers identity was because he didn’t think anyone would trust his shy, sickly, weak self to take over the Earldom. Even though he would technically be the next in line, no one would take him seriously.

But that doesn’t explain why he tried to completely erase the existence of a second child...couldn’t he have been like “yes I am Ciel Phantomhive, RIP my dead twin brother” ? 

And who was he trying to hide the existence from even? His whole family, and all of Vincent’s old friends know that there were twins.......

As much as I love bittersweet flashbacks, I still need answers.

[thedarkestcrow]

Hi there!!! I love your blog and has became my ultimate info source. So, can anybody think of Soma now? What do you think he will do now and how will he behave with OurCiel? Do you think that after he finds out the true Agni killer is, the relationship with OC will be like always? Thanks for answer!!!

Hi. :) Thank you! ^^ Your questions regarding Soma have been asked by others as well so I’m putting these asks here, too. ;)

Ahh, my poor Soma! T_T He looks so broken in this chapter.

And to see him of all people talk like that about revenge breaks my heart. ;_;

(Though I can understand his feelings.)

I really fear a bit that Soma may jump to conclusions too quickly. He said he saw the attacker and his words…

…make me fear that he may actually think our Ciel was the attacker. In that case he would probably assume that Sebastian was the guy with the knives. And to be honest that’s how it must seem like to Soma, right? I mean, the person with the gun most likely was the twin so he looked like our Ciel. And then there’s someone accompanying him who’s able to overpower Agni like that? Soma saw the fencing duel between Sebastian and Agni so he knows that Sebastian is unusually strong and capable, even against Agni. If I were in Soma’s position I’d probably think of Ciel and Sebastian first, as well. Soma is still overtaken by emotions, by grief and anger, he can’t think straight at the moment.

So I hope he’ll overthink his first assumptions since he’s also Ciel’s friend and I can’t believe that he would really think Ciel would do something like that to him. He may have seen the photo that Agni gave to him. And while there may have been only one of the twins on it (and in that case Soma must think that was our Ciel since he doesn’t know about the existence of a twin) maybe he’ll get that something in his perception may be wrong here. And maybe Sieglinde will have an idea about what may be going on, especially since our Ciel told her not to let anyone in even if it’s him.

Maybe when Soma tells her what he has seen she can conclude that there may be another Ciel running around.

So maybe at first there may be a misunderstanding but I think that issue should be resolved sooner or later (our Ciel could explain the situation, his servants can give testimony, the Midfords should be able to confirm the twin’s existence,…).

But things might be complicated between our Ciel and Soma for a while, anyway. Soma and Agni became the target because of their connection to our Ciel. And every time Soma will see our Ciel now he’ll be reminded of the attack. That’s probably not so easy for Soma to handle after what happened.

Also, I hope he won’t follow the path of revenge like our Ciel does. Soma may only get hurt even more in the end – physically and emotionally. He’s such a good-hearted loving character. I hope he’ll get his smile back without having to go down the same dark road as our Ciel. ;_; And eventually, I hope he and our Ciel will get along again (maybe even better) after some time. They both could need a good friend at the moment. :/

And as for the question about the 2CT from the 3rd Anon, I can’t speak for others. But hating a theory doesn’t mean that one doesn’t see all the hints. You can dislike something even if it’s obvious or if it’s canon. ;) As for reasons for disliking the 2CT, I can only tell you my reasons and they are listed here, though I’ve made my peace with it more or less and I’ll give it a chance. ;)

[finnyisanactualrayofsunshine]

But he DID burn them. Why did he had to kill them that painfully? He has a demon, couldn't he tell him to kill these Children without any pain? I still don't get why he burned them. Because he was traumatised at that moment? Well... that isn't a excuse for killing a bunch of children. And I'm not here to troll or anything, I'm totally serious.

I'm sorry I took so long to answer this. I intended to answer it earlier, but then I got caught up in seeing a lot of things that frankly disgusted me, blocking 30+ people, and having a complete breakdown due to stress and lack of sleep as well as a series of bad days due to personal issues with my own mental health. I'm not saying this for attention or sympathy (although to be fair I do try and get those things a lot). I'm just explaining that at that time I wasn't able to deal with answering this or getting more involved. The topic still really stresses me out so this will be the only ask I answer on the subject, but I am answering it. I'd also like to remind that this is entirely my interpretation and although I feel personally that it is the correct one, I'm not Yana and I can't say I have the final word on the subject. It's only my humble opinion and what I got out of it when I first read kuro and what I still get out of it now. My opinion hasn't changed, and it probably never will.So. As I said in the original salty post, there are multiple factors here, and I'm not saying that there is a wrong or right side to this. It's shades of grey. So I'll list what I got out of the scene, both good and bad, when I originally watched it having never interacted with the fandom or their opinions.So there's the basic matter of the PTSD attack. A lot of people bring this up as an excuse for his actions, which fine, is valid. He is a 13 year old, put in a horrifying situation, with an undeveloped brain that's probably barely functioning, having to make split second decisions. I don't think that really would cover it if he was still just going and killing some kids for shits and giggles though. It's still a bad thing to do right? So although I think he'd deserve some sympathy and understanding for that, that's not enough.LEADING to the second point which literally everyone forgets?? And was like a huge obvious plot point?? Which was discussed several times?? You fucks?? HE WASNT JUST BURNING THEM FOR KICKS OH MY GOD HOW THICK DO YOU HAVE TO BE TO INTERPRET IT THAT WAY JESUS CHRIST YOU DICKNUTS look. He looked at these kids and he saw that they would NEVER be able to have a life. He has terrible trauma himself and not to be melodramatic but it kind of ruined his life. THESE KIDS HAD IT WORSE AND HE KNOWS IT. Like, they were going to live a life of pain and suffering in the BEST case scenario. In the scenario that they have healthy rich supportive families. So what happens if their families don't support them the way they are now and drop them off at psychiatric hospitals which would DEFINITELY be abusive at that time?? What happens if they remain unresponsive to everyone and everything and their families die and they end up starving on the streets? All this included with what they're dealing with and carrying emotionally?? Ciel looked at them, saw that situation, and UNDERSTOOD that that is WORSE than death, and he only had a short amount of time to make that decision. He was a thirteen year old having a panic attack faced with the choice of whether to kill them without having any sort of consent from them (which would make it more of an assisted suicide, however they were not in a mental position to be making that choice for themselves) or leave them to what awaited them which in any situation was probably going to be worse than death. Was it the right decision? I don't know. I'm not saying it is. But saying he burned kids as if he did it for fun or to be a dick is the most basic one dimensional view of the story, and misses the entire point of the scene. It was an attempt at mercy. To add to that, there's literally the scene on the train where Ciel explains what I just said?? And then he goes to help the orphans that actually could still be saved?? He had literally no reason to do that, you absolute fucks. But y'all are determined to demonize him because you aren't thirsty for him, don't feel any sympathy for a trauma survivor, don't bother reading between the lines of the story, or want to fetishize his immorality (I don't mean that's everyone but a lot of people talk about him being evil in a weirdly sexual way, like calling him dirty, and it's VERY uncomfortable given the character and context.)However, I am in no way saying Ciel was in the right either. What he did was HELLA problematic. Of course it was. It wasn't evil, but it was problematic. You brought up the fire, couldn't he get Sebastian to kill them painlessly. That's absolutely right. Going with the above logic, fire is not the best way he could have gone about it. I think that has a lot to do with the first point, about the PTSD attack. Reminder, 13 year old kid, undeveloped brain, horrifying and traumatic circumstance. Unfortunately, he's not going to be thinking clearly. He's not able to. So yeah, it's bad that he went with the fire method, I absolutely agree. However, I can also understand. He wasn't able to coherently think the situation through, at best he could do was see the flame and come to that conclusion, as opposed to working through it and calmly asking Sebastian to quietly and painlessly kill them all. Once again though, I'm not saying that was in any way okay. I'm just explaining the reasoning, and that even the fire part was not with bad intent. Never the less, the action and choice was bad. There's also the matter of him playing god. Which is honestly one of the more problematic things about Ciel's character. I don't think Ciel is evil but he's definitely problematic with darker sides, and he has too much power through Sebastian and tends to play god. I think there's valid reasons why he chose to kill the kids. On the other hand, it wasn't his choice to make. Whatever way you look at it, he made a huge Fucking choice for a bunch of people with NO say in the situation, and yeah. That's...not good. I remember in like grade 10 we had a debate in civics about the death sentence and my arguement was "you can argue both sides, whether people deserve it or can be rehabilitated, whether it's more humane to kill someone or keep them in a concrete box their whole life...but what it comes down to is no human person should have the power to decide if someone lives or dies." And that's what this is too. Was he right or wrong? I don't know. I've thought about it a lot and honestly, I can't give you an answer for that. But it wasn't his choice to make. He should not have been deciding whether they were better off alive or dead, because it just. Wasn't. His. Choice. To. Make.So in conclusion. I'm in no way saying what he did was okay or good. But looking at it with the viewpoint of "uh he burned a kid, evil, blocked and reported." doesn't make any sense. It was a complicated situation with several sides you fucks. As my fave said when I brought this up, "are we even reading the same manga as them?"Also disclaimer, I've already been salty about this for too long on my blog, so this is the LAST thing I am saying on the subject. I would strongly prefer that people don't reblog or add comments, partly because this is just my opinion and official statement on a subject that bothers me and several of my close friends, and partly because for personal reasons to myself that frankly aren't the business of strangers on the Internet, I am TERRIFIED of people arguing with me or getting angry with me and I have been in a really bad place this week because of the previous drama so hey, show some sympathy to your neighbourhood Lau ho and let me live my life in peace, drama free. And on that note, if I ever do post things that are salty and likely to start drama, I want you all to understand the magnitude of how much that thing upsets me, that I'm risking people beefing me over it. Anyways thank you, and goodnight.

[midnight-in-town]

Thank you for your posts I seriously can't understand why the fandom wants all the characters to turn against OC by siding with RC. Lizzy, the servants, the Midford family, Undertaker and now Tanaka. IDK OC should file a claim for defamation. This is crazy.

Hello Anon and thank you for reading in the first place. :)

To be quite honest, I tend to feel like you ever since June’s chapter and that is not the best feeling, but the fandom always was like that, wavering between two completely opposed ideas for future developments. 

The thing is, I know our!Ciel lied to everyone for 4 years but thankfully his relationships to others do not rest just on a name, it’s about what he did and what he represents to these people. So yeah, sometimes it’s a bit complicated to understand why everyone should now flock to the twin’s side simply because he’s the one who’s truly named “Ciel”. :/

I know that he lied and that’s definitely a bad thing, but his reasons (or those that we guessed) were understandable considering his trauma, and besides:

the servants owe their current home to our!Ciel opening his door to them, it has nothing to do with his brother, so there is no reason for them to choose the twin’s side? Snake is really the only one who might want to leave our!Ciel in case he learns of what really happens during the circus arc.

Lizzie fell in love with our!Ciel over time, which is why she feels so terrible and depressed for having to choose between doing her duty to Real!Ciel or her feelings for his twin brother who lied to her for 4 years. As a result, I’d say the Midford family will just support Lizzie’s choice, since they surely want for her to be happy (and besides, I do think it’s not that far-fetched for Frances to have always known that our!Ciel was lying about his identity when he came back). 

I also explained my take on Tanaka’s position here and I also think he knew from the beginning that our!Ciel was lying about his identity. 

Finally for UT, I can understand why people think he wants to bring back the twin, really I do. What I can’t get for now however are his motivations when you see how the arc turned out for some of Ciel’s closest associates, as well as people saying he likes the twin more than our!Ciel, because I miss the logic/proof for that last part.

Now I’m waiting for some people saying that Soma will somehow end up on the twin’s side even though he’s responsible for Agni’s death, just like Sieglinde, because yeah, why not have the entire cast ganging against our!Ciel and Sebastian? Would be the most logical thing in the world. 👍👍

Ah wait, never mind, I forgot that some people were wondering if Seb wouldn’t actually end up as Real!Ciel’s butler, since he’s the one really named “Ciel” and all, so get ready for a full ganging against just our!Ciel: he who shall die alone all because he lied about his name.

Anyway xD the fandom agreeing on anything is impossible, so all we have is our personal opinion and only Yana’s canon will reunite us at some point. :)

Thanks again for the nice words and for reading Anon! Honestly, I don’t care if I turn out to be wrong in one, two or five chapters, as long as my ideas make sense with the current canon content that we have. 

Have a nice day! :)

[midnight-in-town]

Hi! I discovered some theories about Kuro following your blog and I have become interested in them. I tried to look into the 2CT through your tag and I don't understand one thing: why can Ciel be Ciel even if he had a twin? I mean, why there must be a part in which Ciel took over his brother identity? I imagine it's because of many hints I am missing, so if it's too complicated feel free to ignore my question or simply redirect me :) Also about the twin being alive couldn't he be one of the cont

Hey Anon :) Aww, thank you so much for reading, even if I’m sorry that some things appeared to be confusing!! 

why can Ciel be Ciel even if he had a twin ?

Sorry for badly explaining, but basically, if the 2CT is correct then it means that Ciel did steal his twin’s identity (out of survivor’s guilt most probably) and that his real name isn’t “Ciel”. 

However, what I was trying to say is that I don’t think Yana’s purpose through the 2CT is to give our!Ciel a completely new identity after 24+ volumes so, even if the 2CT turns out to be canon, I think we will still be able to call our!Ciel as “Ciel”, even if that’s not his real identity. 

“Ciel” was his twin’s name but it became the name of our protagonist too 4 years ago, and as he said himself “if you believe in a lie for a long time, then it can become the truth”, so to everyone who’s worried about having to refer to Ciel with a different first name, I don’t think that it’s what Yana herself wants.

Our!Ciel will still be “Ciel” for me, even if it turns out it’s not his real name and I’m not really sure Yana will ever tell us his real name. :) I hope it makes more sense explained like that.

if the twin is alive, was he judged worthy?

That’s definitely a good idea, especially since that scene in ch35…

…always seemed important and yet we never came across any cases like that yet, so maybe this arc could finally give us an example of a character who was judged worthy. I’d like that personally.

That being said, I’m not 100% sure it would work with the twin, since the 2CT also implies so far that our!Ciel somehow sacrificed his twin 4 years ago which is how Seb ended up being summoned [x]

So, seeing how Seb is licking his lips as he says “you have given a big sacrifice […] the price to cross the river has already been paid”, I just wouldn’t be surprised if somehow Seb had eaten the sacrificial lamb’s (aka the twin’s) soul. :/ Which means that, in case the twin really was sacrificed 4 years ago, then he really died because his soul was eaten.

Your idea is still possible though, if just because we can’t be really sure of what happened yet, especially since Shinigamis (who are the ones who can judge someone worthy) are supposed to get the souls of people back to their superiors. However when a demon is involved…… well, since demons eat souls, Shinigamis can’t exactly bring the souls of the dead back, can they?

So, if we say that the Shinigami who was collecting the souls at the cult’s place 4 years ago judged the twin worthy but that somehow Seb ate the twin’s soul…………… then I have no idea what that would do. xD

Sorry, it’s really hard to write coherent thoughts since we don’t know a lot of things and can just make speculations for the moment, but your idea definitely is interesting in case there is the slightest chance that maybe the twin’s soul didn’t get eaten!

I’m hoping it made sense :3 Thank you very much for passing by and for your thoughts!

Have a nice Kuro positivity day, Anon! ^^

[midnight-in-town]

You said that Ciel wouldn't be able to get any development if the 2CT would be introduced in this arc, but I don't really get why that is. Is it because his revenge would be accomplished quicker and he'd have no time to develop? Or because the dissociative aspect of his character (like in the Green Emerald Witch Arc; I've also seen some posts you made about it) wouldn't be there anymore?

Hey Anon! Ah, I’m sorry that it was confusing, especially since I was mainly speaking about UT’s and Lizzie’s characters instead of focusing on Ciel’s, but I’ll try to explain again in a better way :)

Simply considering the basis of Ciel’s characterization, the two characters he has the most important dynamics with are Sebastian and Lizzie:

For Seb, no big problem, he does things by the rules so that the contract still holds no matter what and he probably won’t ever betray Ciel. After 4 years they have found a good balance, even if as a demon, all Seb is interested in is Ciel’s soul (even though it’s fun to play the butler game alongside Ciel).

It’s a rough summary since the last arc introduced possible complications to their duo, but the current arc doesn’t really focus on this so I’ll leave it at that. 

As for Lizzie… well the current arc complicated everything, now didn’t it? She remains important to him and she always had some sort of influence on his character, differently so from Sebastian since they can be considered as total opposites. That being said, before the current arc she would have done anything to make him happy and protect him and now… well, since she ran away, we don’t know how she feels anymore.

Until the current arc, the balance between Seb’s and Lizzie’s respective influence on Ciel had stayed the same since the very beginning of the series, but this arc changed it all when Lizzie initially disappeared and even ran away from Ciel and her family a second time (ch117).

So I think, considering all that I said above, that the dynamic between Lizzie and Ciel is one of the main focus of this arc. And so, all I was saying in the other post was that depending on Lizzie’s reasons to join the sect and to stay there all this time, it could mean different things when it comes to Ciel’s character development. 

In other words, a part of Ciel’s development that could be happening with this arc is linked to Lizzie’s character and why she ran away in the first place. In case you disagree though, just please remember how Ciel is growing restless with every chapter + how very angry he was when he realized that Bravat might be using Lizzie as a hostage. [x]

Anyway, now if we fastforward a bit and take the 2CT as the explanation for the current arc, the general consensus is that it means:

that Sirius = Ciel’s twin (aka Real!Ciel) as a BD thanks to UT

that Lizzie ran away and remained all this time at the sphere music hall because she was told about the 2CT (namely that our!Ciel wasn’t Real!Ciel and that Real!Ciel was not really dead anymore)

so she stayed for the twin

and she’s been looking depressed ever since (because she “can’t save Real!Ciel”, since the Ciel in ch113 would be Real!Ciel in this theory)

And so, when you consider the implications of what Lizzie’s decision means in the 2CT possibility for this arc, that’s why I mentioned that Ciel might not get a lot of “positive” development in case Lizzie really decided to side with his BD!twin. 

(the rest under read more :3)

To make this simple, from a theoretical point of view let’s say Sirius = the twin:

Lizzie chose Sirius aka the twin, which is why she doesn’t want to leave the Sphere music hall

Ciel is “???” about why Lizzie doesn’t want to leave Bravat’s side

Ciel finally finds out that Sirius = his twin and he is very probably horrified

Lizzie tells Ciel that she knows he isn’t Real!Ciel and that she wants to side with his twin (as it is how people who vouch for the 2CT explanation say things will go) which is why she stayed with Bravat so far

The balance Lizzie/Seb, when it comes to their influence on Ciel, is completely broken with Seb getting 100% of the space he used to share with Lizzie.

So if Lizzie doesn’t want to have anything to do with Ciel anymore, then I don’t have any idea about how the part of his character linked to Lizzie is supposed to keep on developing

However all the parts of his character linked to Seb will keep on developing

Thus Ciel’s development will be almost completely one sided and mostly linked to Seb, the contract and his revenge.

So Ciel’s development won’t be inexistent but it will mostly become one-sided and, in my opinion, minimalist because Ciel isn’t a 2D character. He is multi dimensional because he interacts with many different characters: Seb, Lizzie, the servants, Soma & Sieglinde, UT…. with Seb and Lizzie being the most significant. And that’s because there isn’t just Seb in his life that sometimes he can still do good deeds, even if he believes he’s a 100% despicable and selfish person. 

TL;DR if the 2CT is the explanation behind this arc, then according to its supporters it implies that Lizzie will probably side with his twin (their words, not mine) and so, in my opinion, this reduces greatly the possibility of Lizzie’s character triggering more positive development for Ciel’s character (again please remember how important Lizzie is to Ciel).

Thus if Lizzie gets out of the picture (because she decides to dedicate herself to the twin), then Ciel will be left with mainly Sebastian to significantly interact with, which means probably no questioning himself about all the decisions he took over the last 4 years (contract included), as an example amongst all the developments Lizzie’s character could possibly trigger. 

Of course, all of that is if Yana-sensei actually writes Lizzie as this shallow girl who chose a ten year old dead twin instead of her current fiancé, with whom she went through many different things over the last 4 years. It would be different if for example the twin were to be back but Lizzie refused to stay by his side in the end.

That’s why I was trying to explain in my other post which aspects of the 2CT as the current arc’s explanation seen by the readers didn’t please me and why, and Lizzie “staying in the sphere music hall because she chose the twin” in particular rubs me in the wrong way. 

I… hope it makes more sense? Sorry if not :/

Thanks for passing by in any case and have a nice day/evening Anon :))