#k-ro

[mania-motherofsouls]

Whumptober Day 1: Race Against The Clock

search party | panic attack | "if only we could hold on"

TW: vaguely described panic attack, thalassophobia maybe

The storm was the worst Kaula had seen since her uncle had brought her aboard his ship. The waves rolled beneath the ship, heaving it about like a child's toy. Voices hollered back and forth, but the wind stole the words the very second they were spoken. 

Kaula had only been on the ship for a few months. Not nearly long enough to be of any help with the rigging. The ship tossed and suddenly there was a figure at her back. She recognized Fishbait by his beard as he bent close to her ear.

“Get to the galley! Help Zoulo tie down-”

A wave crashed over the deck. Water surrounded Kaula, slamming into her with a force beyond any she’d felt before. Fishbait’s hand was torn away from her shoulder and she was swept over the edge. 

Kaula plunged into darkness, lungs far too empty and beginning to burn as she tried to orient herself. Her mind was spinning too fast for her to process anything. Up? Down? Too dark to tell. No sun anyway. Just needed a moment of stillness. Just one moment. Just- one- she flung out her hands and the gem on her wrist glowed.

The water stilled immediately. She was still getting pushed around, but the little bubble that she occupied was still.

Everything around her was dark. No clues which way was up, but her mind settled ever so slightly. Her chest burned with sour air and she had nothing to replace it with. Still, she released a thin stream and watched the bubbles. They drifted to her right. 

Desperate for air, she broke her little bubble of calm and twisted the water to her left, propelling herself up. She breached the surface with enough velocity to fling herself into the air before splashing back down. Just time enough to take a breath. 

Surfacing a second time, Kaula twisted herself around rapidly. Where was the ship?

A sob caught in her throat as the magnitude of the ocean hit her, another wave pushing her down. Stubbornly she fought her way back to the surface. She was alone in the middle of the ocean, a tiny life in an uncaring sea. She'd never be found. Who could possibly find one little body in the vast expanse of water? 

Her breaths came faster and faster. Faster than she could afford. She was only fourteen! She hadn't even done anything yet! That storyteller didn't know anything. Kaula, do something great? Fat chance of that, she was about to die! 

Tears streamed down her face, the heat of them the only indicator that they were anything other than sea water. Her vision blurred and she screamed curses into the sky. Got a mouthful of salt water for her troubles. How was she supposed to find the ship when she couldn't even see? 

A dull shine caught her eye and she lifted her arm out of the water. It blurred out of focus. Angrily she used her other hand to brush the water from her eyes, stirring up the sea underneath her just a little bit more to compensate for her lack of arms while treading water. The shine grew brighter. 

The gem she got from the storyteller so many years ago. The gem that let her manipulate the water. She didn’t tend to notice the glow in daylight, but in the storm…

Kaula swallowed, ignoring the salt scratching at her throat. She could use this. If she got higher maybe. Gritting her teeth against the wind and rain, she pulled the water up around her in a spout, holding herself high above the twisting, roiling waves. The gem glowed brighter and she thrust her wrist into the dark sky. Now, she just had to hold on. If only, she could hold on.

“MAN OVERBOARD!” Came the call and Roka felt the chill down to his gut. Fishbait was clinging to the side of the ship, one arm waving, sheets of rain garbling his words. “CAPTAIN- KAULA!”

His gut turned to stone as the cry went up around the ship. “Hard to starboard!”

Ruza, straining at the whipstaff shook his head. “That’ll capsize us, Captain!” 

Roka grit his teeth. Curse it all, the man was right. The ship pitched to and fro, cresting the waves and getting farther away from his niece with every dip and rise. He couldn’t stop, he couldn’t turn back. He was the captain of the ship and he couldn’t do a single thing for the girl he’d raised as his own daughter. 

“Please don’t take her,” he found himself praying. “I’ll do anything, penitence, anything, Lora, please don’t take her.” 

“Bring her about! I don’t care how long it takes, we’re going back!” 

Maybe his prayer was answered. The next wave that hit them slammed the rudder in the same direction Ruza was pulling it. The ship began it’s wide turn about, navigating through the waves as best it could. 

“All eyes not on the rigging, out at sea! We’re finding her! If it’s the last thing we do!”

For far too long, all that could be heard was the howling wind and the rain pounding into the boards. 

“Captain! There’s something out there! Starboard! Off the forecastle!”  

Ruza needed no direction to alter their heading. Roka ran forward, searching desperately for whatever it was Squinteye had seen. 

The ship pitched down and it was everything Roka could do to keep his footing, but he saw it. A light shining out in the storm, far higher than he’d expected. A column of water rose up from the sea, height untouched by the waves and at the top, perched Kaula, visible only from the waist up, but there, alive!

“Kaula!”

Her answering cry was lost to the storm, but the water funnel rushed toward them, slapping the hull and dissipating against it. Kaula dropped to the deck where K-ro grabbed her, unwilling to let her wash away again.

Roka couldn’t get there fast enough. K-ro cut the distance for him, jumping down the steps and handing off the teenager he was all but carrying to his captain. 

Kaula clung to him, sobbing. Maybe in different circumstances he’d chide her for it, but right now? He too had far too much rain in his eyes. 

Distantly, he heard Kopuno taking over orders. Good. That meant Roka could focus his attention where it deserved to be. Zoulo pulled them both into the galley, out of the rage of the storm. Kaula buried her face in his chest, and with his other responsibilities handled, Roka held her.

[ignotarts]

🤔

"Phantomhive Family"

[childrenofcain-if]

oh no, they’re not an RO but can be a fling option. you’ll definitely meet them again in all the routes to make the situations a little bit spicy 👀

#and by spicy i mean that punches are gonna be thrown #jealousy jealousy

Is Kyle a frat bro? I just find the idea of a frat bro (even one at Yale) being C’s love rival so funny, C would be so annoyed about it lmao.

lmao not you clocking them 😭 they’re not a frat bro/sorority sis yet, but it’s inevitable since they’re about to pledge soon 🫢

none of the ROs will be too happy about MC being involved with someone from the greek societies, especially C and M 💀

[art-ro-vert]

That’s a scene from this fic!

It made me laugh so hard, I had to draw it 😂

[midnight-in-town]

About Kuro 2024 episode 6 : Ed's genius ability

(Companion post to this one)

I was looking forward to this episode and I'm so glad they kept Edward's pivotal moment...

...totally uncut. It's especially striking when a few other manga scenes didn't make it into the episode.

I know fans like to joke that Ed is too much of a good guy (and also gay), which is how he managed to reproduce Cheslock's cricket move, but that's not it :

Like Liz, Ed is a genius, even if he doesn't realize it yet. And I'm glad that Editor K commented on this anime bit with this :

"There's one person in all boys' manga who has the ability to copy. This special skill is explained in the cricket episode, but in other words, Edward has the potential to become super strong in battle"

(by google translate)

According to Yana, Ed takes after Frances who takes after her dad, Cedric K. Ros--, so this means Ed takes after Cedric as well.

But according to several fans, including me, there is a good probability that Cedric K. Ros-- is one of the Undertaker's many identities over his existence and he's currently the strongest character of the series, who put even Seb in difficulty twice.

According to Editor K above, Ed's ability makes him likely to become super strong in battle (by the way, it's also an ability that allowed him to put on a flawless leader of a boys' band act, just like UT acted perfectly as Weston's principal, just saying).

I think we don't need more to put 2 and 2 together : Ed is going to be a very important ally on our!Ciel's side against real!Ciel's.

[captin-azoth]

BA BA BADUM BA DA~!

[amethystroselily]

Ok the Undertaker being Vincent’s dad theory is really funny to me, so here’s how I think it could possibly work.

Undertaker was a reaper 70 years ago and seems properly obsessed with the phantomhive family as a whole, and met Vincent later on in his life, so I really don’t think he was married to Claudia. Plus Claudia and Vincent’s father didn’t have the same last name, so whoever he was I doubt they were married (perhaps having to do with Claudia trying to keep her title or something). So I think he had some deep attachment to a previous Phatomhive lord (perhaps he was a servant), but then the earl died or something, and then he killed himself, becoming a reaper. Then maybe he was monitoring the family for years and they kept dying so he snapped and went rogue, maybe his experiments kept failing, so then he was like woah maybe as a reaper I should see what mixing my dna in would do (probably a rule about not fraternizing with humans to avoid this), and around then the current Phatomhive family head is a woman so like great time to test it out, then maybe the relationship fell apart because of some sort of respectability she had to maintain or they were busy or something and she didn’t want him around her kids anymore, then years later undertaker gets back to stalking the phatomhives once his son is the new earl.

Maybe he wanted to use Vincent’s body because he had a higher concentration of reaperness, but then he lost the corpse (maybe bc fire, maybe bc Vincent isn’t actually dead) so he’s using ciel instead.

Also I’ve seen the theory Francis was involved in Vincent’s death, and maybe that’s why he doesn’t seem particularly invested in her side of the family. Perhaps sibling feuds are a long tradition in the Phantomhive family and it makes him think of a previous one and that’s why he keeps getting so involved.

The way Othello talked about Undertaker made him sound like he was a lot like Francis when he was younger, and I think the idea of Francis looking down on this random strange man who worked with her brother and him turning out to be her father whom she takes after in both looks and personality is so interesting.

Also I personally think he like stole some of Othello’s research on resurrection on his way out and that’s where all the tension is coming from. Because obviously Othello can’t tell Grell that, so he has to skirt around it, but there’s obviously something more going on between him and undertaker.

[dqrkncss666]

Welcome to another Theory Show with Dora on crack.

Today we will talk about this:

So.

WHERE IS FRANCIS?!

As we can see we have Claudia P. and Cedric K. Ros- something, they have done the deed and created Vincent.... Where is FRANCIS?!

As we see on the family tree, again, Vincent continues to marry Rachel and have the Phantomhive twins. WHERE IS FRANCIS?!

Shouldn't she have been on Vincent's left?

Now, if we go with the theory that Cedric is, in fact, the Undertaker then this could be an error Yana made or, over here, the German shinigamis are following ONLY O/Ciel's bloodline going up to his father and then going up to his grandmother. Which is a logical explanation as to why Francis is not there. This is the best scenario and the one I like to believe.

But what if Undertaker is not actually Cedric and Francis not being on there is on purpose? What if Claudia wasn't faithful to her legal husband Cedric and had an affair with the Undertaker creating an illegitimate daughter?

Without having done any research, I personally believe that this would explain why Francis married out of the Phantomhive family so quickly. She had no title and her position and the family's reputation were on the verge of scandal. Her marrying Alexis Midford and becoming a Marquisses would not allow any time for anyone to question her legitimacy and of course, keeping the family name clean.

Could her wedding with Alexis have been merely to cover up her mother's doing? Maybe Claudia betrothed her to Alexis when Francis was a baby so she could be sure her daughter would never face any problems with her title and fortune being on the verge.

But then we come over to Vincent, does he know his sister is his half-sister?

Over to the Undertaker now, if this theory is true why is he protecting the Phantomhives only and not the Midfords as well? Did he protect them "off-camera" as we say, in the Campania? Will we see it in a flashback?

Does the British Shinigami dispatch have knowledge of this family tree? Why have we never seen anyone speaking of it? They clearly don't know anything.

DOES FRANCIS KNOW?! Is that why every time she sees the Undertaker her face changes? Does she hate him? Perhaps she thinks he is the one who ruined the Phantomhive family and her future.

If this theory is true, are we gonna have a chapter (when Yana finally comes back from her hiatus because she clearly wrote herself into a wall) of Francis arguing with the Undertaker about him ruining her family and making her an illegitimate daughter with no title and no fortune? Him trying to comfort his daughter and calm her anger down and finally seeing those two be kind to one another?

But this is merely a theory after I got crack. We will see. :>

[liusia-piu]

[tag-if]

RO's react to MC saying "I can hold the whole world with the palm of my hands" and then cups the RO's face with their hands. Maybe even a peck on the nose right after.

AWW that's so me actually

A. Bellefleur; Laughs bashfully, peppering your face with kisses in return, they say nothing but you can tell they're delighted. They return the favour a day later, doing the exact same to you when you aren't paying attention.

K. Valiev; "Really, cherub? For you are my whole universe, so I'm not sure that quite makes sense." They tease lightly, pressing a light kiss to your nose, though you notice they are leaning heavily into your touch.

A. Caras; "You're an idiot." There is no bite to their words, and they very gently pinch your cheeks. When you turn to go back to what you were doing, you notice a small smile on their face.

T. Bellefleur; "Your whole world? Bold words, munchkin, bold words." They turn their head and nip at your fingers, taking advantage of your surprise to drape themself over you and smother you in kisses.

M. Serrel; They seem to be lost for words, for a moment, their usual smooth façade crumbling momentarily in place of a surprised giggle and a red face. They recover quickly, however, scooping you up and twirling you round delightedly.

[abybweisse]

Why I think Undertaker has to be Cedric, revisited

At this point in the series, I'm a bit surprised how many in the fandom not just don't see him as Cedric K. Ros-- but actually rail against the idea.

So, here's a long, somewhat thorough overview of the situational and physical clues that he's Cedric, the father of Vincent and Francis/Frances.

Situational hints

How he cries over the details of Vincent's death. Not just that he died but what became of his remains. I'd cry over my dead son, too, especially if I had the ability to reanimate corpses but his body was destroyed by fire so that I couldn't do that. Let alone the fact his cinematic records were destroyed, so I not only couldn't make a bizarre doll of him, but I couldn't even review his memories to see what happened right before he died. This ties in with what he later says about not wanting to lose any more Phantomhives. But it strongly suggests that whoever set the fire did so specifically to thwart the efforts of a grim reaper. Whoever did that either knew Undertaker was a reaper or was at least following the instructions of someone who knew.

The whole not wanting to lose more Phantomhives thing. Claudia/Cloudia is gone, and so is Vincent. Reanimating real Ciel is the best he can do to not let the older twin go. He tried to destroy Sebastian to release our earl "Ciel" from their demon contract and might try again. Makes you wonder just how many Phantomhives he's really lost already. As well as where others might still be alive. What exactly was his business in France? 🤔

Even his odd comment to our earl (before the attack) that he wasn't sure which twin this was... but that it didn't matter because they were both Phantomhives. Instead of seeing an heir and a spare, he saw them equally. At least he did then. I suspect he now sees our earl as a spare soul... or conversely sees real Ciel as a spare body. I guess both could be true, making them still essentially equal in his eyes. Again, this could be another attempt to save our earl from Sebastian. By putting our earl's soul into the unmarked body of real Ciel, that might void the contract... unless the seal on our earl's eye also somehow affected his soul. 🤔 Anyway. I digress, since that gets into a separate theory discussion.

Standing in to help young Mr. Pitt take a photo of the twins. That's right after telling our earl it doesn't matter which twin he is. Then the other twin and Mr. Pitt arrive, the latter holding a new camera. It's odd that Mr. Pitt would ask a non-relative of the kids (besides a nanny) to help stage the photo, though Pitt is perhaps the non-traditionalist anyway. Undertaker seems like he's shocked to be asked, but he also seems amused. Mr. Pitt likely doesn't even suspect Undertaker is the twins' paternal grandfather, otherwise he might have seen it as a scoop, á la "LOWLY UNDERTAKER IS SIRE TO PROMINENT NOBLE FAMILY" or something equally scandalous. Because undertakers were considered low class citizens. So, Undertaker acts shocked but complies with giddy delight. By asking Undertaker to help stage the photo, he has likely, unwittingly asked a relative of the boys, which would be considered completely appropriate for the time period.

How he treats the Midfords. He recognizes Lizzie's talents and skill with a sword, otherwise he wouldn't have wanted her at Sphere Music Hall as a protector of the lords of the stars, while he kept them and Blavat hidden away. So he probably had Blavat bring her into the cult. Undertaker might see some of himself in Lizzie, but he definitely sees it in Frances/Francis, and I don't just mean physically. Both women fight in a similar manner as he does: highly skillful and graceful. Idk what he thinks of Edward, but I know he got a great laugh from watching the Phantom Five (including Edward) perform onstage. He doesn't interact much, if at all, with Alexis, who isn't a Phantomhive.

What he says to Francis/Frances, as well as how she responds. Again, he hardly acknowledges Alexis' existence, but Undertaker speaks directly with "Lady Phantomhive". That's really important because she's married into the Midford family and hasn't gone by her maiden name in many years. As long as Edward is old plus at least a bit longer, since she strikes me as too proper for a shotgun wedding, even if she weren't a noble. So, he sets her apart from her husband because she was born a Phantomhive. He doesn't want to lose her, either, because she is her mother's daughter. Then, when she nervously states he hasn't changed in roughly four years, he pokes fun at the fact he hasn't changed in a much longer time frame. He says her birth, over 30 years ago, seems like just yesterday. She's sweating bullets, and it's not just his creepy vibes. She knows he means it -- that 30-some-odd years is nothing to him... and that he very specifically recalls her birth. I'm pretty sure she knows he's her father, and she's horribly embarrassed by the fact. Alexis doesn't have a clue about it, and she'd rather keep it that way. But what he says strongly implies that he was present at her birth. Maybe down the hall, like Vincent was when his sons were born, but there... and just as anxious and excited and proud.

How the years for Cedric's birth and death dates are hidden by a speech bubble. Cloudia/Claudia's dates are fully shown because she's a regular human being. Well... a human, anyway. But if Undertaker is Cedric, then the birth and death dates for him would be from when he was a human, before he committed suicide and was sentenced to serve out his punishment as a reaper. That death date could be decades or even centuries before Cloudia/Claudia was even born. Remember that this family tree isn't one prepared by humans; it's part of the dossier that the German reapers have for our earl. The focus is purely biological ancestry, not marriages. Cloudia/Claudia and Cedric don't have to be married to be on this family tree; he is biologically the father of both Vincent and Francis/Frances.

Physical hints

He looks a lot like Francis/Frances and Edward. And Yana-san tweeted years ago that Francis and Edward look like Cedric. Here's a comparison between Edward and Undertaker. Here's one between Francis/Frances and Undertaker.

The place on his right where his hair has a long braid seems to match up with Lizzie's and Francis/Frances' right side locks that tend to stick out. He's got it tucked behind his right ear, but the braid might originate from the same spot. If Lizzie and her mother pushed those locks back, behind their right ears, the placement would be the same as Undertaker's braid.

He has the exact same baby hairs at the nape of his neck as Lizzie and Francis/Frances. They might be a bit shorter, but they are definitely there. Here's an old post about it. Edward possibly does, too, and we could tell if his hair was grown out and pulled up, but his hair is short and a bit shaggy on the nape of his neck, so we can't be sure.

[ignotarts]

"Right now, you are just . . . beautiful."

[childrenofcain-if]

I was wondering if you could add a shy option for the person that you dance with at the party (sorry I forgot their name already 😭) it’s not a big deal really, but I didn’t feel like that direct flirty option made sense for a more shy MC. Maybe another option that is accepting of the proposition while not being too forward.

ooh good idea! i got too swept up in the drama of it all to add an option for that 😞 needless to say, K will think that shy MCs are even more delicious. if you thought they were insufferable before, just you wait 🫸🏻

[art-ro-vert]

🔥 Version for grown-ups here!

Spock is trying to look unaffected (he fails of course). Jim is just fighting for his life!

Bones… well, Bones is not excited to be the only sane person on the ship…

I could not finish the thing for a month 😅

During this time I got married, my whole team at work got fired except me, and I finally learned to play D&D.

[midnight-in-town]

Let's talk about the "Fenian brotherhood" theory !! :D

Firstly, in case you don't know about it, please go read the theory that our!Ciel's birth name might be Fenian/Fionn/Finnian by @azuresins. It is incredibly relevant to what I'm about to explain next !

TBH, I don't really care about discovering our!Ciel's birth name. However, I truly enjoy this theory and I think it makes a lot of sense, because I absolutely agree with the idea of Vincent supporting (secretly or not) Irish independence, turning him into a political enemy of Queen Victoria...

...which could be very much why he ended up dead.

This theory comes from a private convo with my friend, @dorkshadows and I'll sum up their thoughts (and some of mine) below the cut !

First of all, while we think Claudia, Vincent's predecessor, may have been a personal enemy of Victoria because of whatever happened when Albert died in 1861, Vincent strikes us more as a political enemy precisely because of Brown's comment in ch108.

After all, if our!Ciel, who just managed to thwart their plans of getting the sulin gas, is "more like his father everyday", then it makes sense that Vincent "got in the way" of some of Victoria & JB's war/political plans too. >_>

Now, about the Fenian Cycle book: it was an important symbol for Irish independence and the Fenian Brotherhood that started in the 19th century before it got dissolved in 1880. To quote Wikipedia:

"The Fenian Brotherhood traced their origins back to 1790s, in the rebellion, seeking an end to British rule in Ireland initially for self-government and then the establishment of an Irish Republic. The rebellion was suppressed, but the principles of the United Irishmen were to have a powerful influence on the course of Irish history."

But how would Vincent even get involved with it and why?

In the theory that OC's name is Fenian/Finnian, @azuresins mentioned that maybe it's all related to Cedric K. Ros having Celtic origins. Since we do have one sketch by Yana of one twin bringing the Fenian Cycle book to the Undertaker (the most likely candidate for Cedric K. Ros)...

...it might indeed be a partial answer.

There is another possibility though, entirely thought by @dorkshadows, which is that Rachel (and Ann) might have been of Irish origins too.

After all, a common stereotype for Irish people in many stories is red hair and it's hard to forget that it was a very distinctive characteristic of Ann, Rachel's sister !

In fact, one of their first interactions is Vincent telling Ann to be proud of that hair, which we were told she inherited from her dad, the twins' maternal grandfather.

So Vincent might have not just been talking about Ann's hair color in that scene, but more specifically about her taking more pride in her Irish origins. Obviously though, Dalles/Durless aren't very Irish names, but it is possible that their original family name got anglicized into a more traditionally English name.

In any case, Vincent met Rachel and Ann after already knowing their father :

So it's possible that Vincent was, as the Watchdog, investigating Lord Durless as a nobleman with Irish lineage and possible ally of the Fenian Brotherhood. After all, to quote this article, "the Fenians in England and the British Empire were a major threat to political stability". Then Vincent met and fell in love with Rachel, thus deciding to support the Brotherhood instead.

I'd add that Vincent supporting such a cause simply makes sense, considering that the Phantomhive family, too, might have been burdened by the Watchdog's duty generations ago, because of their "different" lineage (full theory here). On top of that, if you add the possibility that Cedric/UT also was of Celtic origins (many decades or centuries ago) and that Vincent knew Claudia's death was Victoria's fault, it only makes sense that he'd eventually politically antagonize the Queen (both for his parents' sake and for Rachel's).

@dorkshadows also pointed out that, to this day, we don't know if the twins' maternal grandfather is alive or dead in canon : he was important enough to be mentioned in Red's flashback but has been missing from the narrative ever since. Timeline-wise, he could be dead, especially since we never saw him in the Blue Memory arc (our!Ciel's flasback), but we never know with Yana (look at Claudia being hinted in panels ever since the circus arc and probably being incredibly relevant), so it's worth keeping in mind.

Then, moving on to ch132 we know that, when the twins were born, Rachel is the one who named them.

Coincidentally (read: it's probably not a coincidence xD), ch132 had the cover with Vincent reading the Fenian Cycle book to the twins and it's also the chapter in which Vicar Rathbone casually says that one twin/both twins (it's deliberately ambiguous in Japanese) have a name that is "rare for England" :

Many fans, myself included, thought that "Ciel" was the name being discussed there, but maybe they were actually talking about our!Ciel's celtic birth name ! To quote @azuresins, in that case that'd basically mean that, in that scene above, "Vincent said to an ENGLISH PRIEST [...] that people of Celtic origin deserved freedom, and to be treated better and that it probably was soon to come".

No wonder that Vicar Rathbone would immediately change the topic lmao ! xD

Vicar Rathbone be like

It is also very meaningful that Rachel decided to give the "Fionn/Fenian/Finnian" name to our!Ciel ("the spare"), as if to emphasize that he was free to make his own path in life, as the second son, unburdened by earldom. Choosing such a meaningful name might even be a parallel to Vincent's own situation with Frances as his spare, since both also have names with a meaning relating to victory and freedom.

Another important detail, as @azuresins already explained here, is that Fenian Cycle is also a tale of revenge and that our!Ciel parallels Fionn big deal, making it all even more relevant. And maybe Yana left other hints in her artworks too...

Finally, historically the Fenian Brotherhood officially got dissolved around 1880 (the twins were 5 years old), but it's always possible that, in Kuroverse, Vincent managed to make it thrive secretly as the Watchdog. The Fenian Brotherhood caused several incidents, including after 1880 (they assassinated a British Chief Secretary in 1882), so it wouldn't be impossible that the Queen eventually found out that Vincent didn't properly take care of them, because he was supporting them.

And when she found out? Well, she branded Vincent a political enemy and we know the rest (the household was massacred in 1885 and the killer most likely received help from real!Ciel, more details in the real!Ciel mastermind theory hehe).

The idea that Vincent ultimately became a political enemy of Victoria because he fell in love with Rachel makes their death...

...even more emotional to me, since Rachel probably died trying to protect Vincent. T_T

TL;DR that's the Fenian Brotherhood theory: because they supported an Irish rebellious group that wanted freedom, Vincent & Rachel were branded political enemies of Victoria and she & JB plotted their deaths, which led in happenstance to the RCMT.

(friendly reminder that the twins are 7, when Vincent asked Dee to look after them should he die)

I hope it was clear ! Thanks for reading. :))

[cedric-k-rossignol]

In trying to explain to a friend the plot of black butler via the iceberg meme, I've become so convinced that I've figured out Cedric K. Ros-'s (aka Undertaker's) last name that I've rejoined this site to scream into the void.

At least, I haven't been able to find anything on the English/French speaking internet suggesting this theory has been floated before.

Placing my bets now that Undertaker's last name is Rossignol, the French word for nightingale. 

Of course, this is assuming you subscribe to the Cedric K. Ros- = Undertaker = Undertaker x Cloudia affair = Grandtaker pipeline. And, that you think he is of French/Breton origin (more specifically, I think he's from Plouha, Brittany...but that's a different post). 

Important to note that dates and numbers are important in Black Butler's story, both within the fictional narrative and in connection to real historical events (emphasized with the first arc lining up with the actual 'Jack the Ripper' murders). Some examples of this;

1819 is the year in which the real Queen Victoria (and her cousin-husband Prince Albert) were born. 1819 is also the year in which the name 'Cedric' first appears in the novel 'Ivanhoe'. Within the story, this is also right around the time that reaper 136649 attacks Reaper HQ.

1837 is the year in which the real Queen Victoria ascended the throne. In Black Butler, this is year in which Molly G., the first chronological locket on Undertaker's chain, died. 1837 would also be right around the time that Undertaker is noted as having absconded with his death scythe, officially deserting the organization...20 years after a workplace shooting (he must be union).

Vincent Phantomhive is born on Friday June 13th, 1851. Cloudia Phantomhive dies on Friday July 13th, 1866. She is 36 years old when she dies. If you believe that Undertaker's reaper serial number 136649 means he died in the year 1366 (an interesting time period in Brittany, what with the Breton War of Succession, the Hundred Years War, the Black Death...), this would mean Cloudia dies 500 years after he unalives himself.

Prince Albert dies on December 14th, 1861, in the real world. The Phantomhive twins are born on December 14th, 1875 - the 14th anniversary of Prince Albert's death. Vincent is 24 years old when he becomes a father. The manor is attacked on December 14th, 1885 - the 24th anniversary of Prince Albert's death. Vincent is 34 years old when he dies. There's speculation that the story will end on Friday December 13th, 1889 - the twin's last day of being 13 years old, before they turn 14 years old on December 14th, 1889, the 4th anniversary of the attack on the manor.

TLDR, dates matching up with historical events/publications is not coincidental. Yana pays attention to her numbers.

Now, back to Cedric K. Ros-

I've read speculation that the 'Ros-' must have something to do with roses, since Phantomhives are so often associated with roses (and their thorns). Guess what little bird is very commonly associated with roses? Whose song is often associated with melancholy, longing, and mourning? Who so often seems to unalive themselves on thorns?  

"the nightingale...can also be seen to provide a link to something, opening out onto something beyond the self. Heard but not seen, the nightingale represents an intangible presence; a longing that can be either terribly earthly, in the guise of sexual desire, or soaringly spiritual, as when the nightingale represents the soul, rising above."

Some fun facts about nightingales;

Female nightingales are mute, only male nightingales sing - though historically people thought the opposite, so many of the nightingales in literature are female.

It is one of the only birds that sing throughout the night (name means 'night singer').

In Persian poetry, the nightingale is a symbol of a lover who is "eloquent, passionate, and doomed to love in vain" - the object of their affections is the rose, which "embodies both the perfection of earthly beauty and the arrogance of that perfection."

The oldest appearance of nightingales in literature goes back to the myth of Philomela, who was turned into a nightingale by the Gods.

In Shakespeare's poem 'Lucrece', the titular character is inspired to commit suicide when a nightingale leans their breast against a thorn to inspire a song and ward off sleep.

The nightingale also makes an appearance in Shakespeare's 'Romeo & Juliet', when Juliet mistakes the song of a lark for that of a nightingale.

I have read a ridiculous amount of poetry about nightingales recently (there is a lot of it), but I'm going to focus on one Breton piece from the middle ages and two English pieces from the 19th century because they have the most relevant dates (which as previously mentioned, are important).

Laüstic

There is the Breton lai 'Laüstic', composed in the late 12th century by Marie de France (Laüstic' is the Breton word for rossignol/nightingale). Breton lais are a form of medieval French romance literature that often involve supernatural and fairy-world Celtic elements.

"In most of Marie de France’s Lais, love is associated with suffering, and over half of them involve an adulterous relationship... In Marie's Lais, "love always involves suffering and frequently ends in grief, even when the love itself is approved."" 

The lais of Marie de France explore courtly love, a popular theme in medieval literature that began with Troubadour poetry in southern France in the 11th century.

"The courtly lover existed to serve his lady. His love was invariably adulterous, marriage at that time being usually the result of business interest or the seal of a power alliance. Ultimately, the lover saw himself as serving the all-powerful god of love and worshipping his lady-saint. Faithlessness was the mortal sin...The courtly lover, while displaying the same outward signs of passion, was fired by respect for his lady."

Basically, courtly love emphasized the importance of a man's respect and devotion to their lover, and I don't think anyone could doubt Undertaker's devotion to his cause.

Sidenote: I think the French story 'Floire et Blancheflor', one of the oldest and most popular romances of the middle ages, is also incredibly relevant to Undertaker & Cloudia's love story. It also explores this concept of 'courtly love' (involving a fake tomb, a prince disguised as a merchant, and an attempted suicide, no less)...and the flowers associated with the lovers are red roses and white lilies...But I digress.

A plot summary of 'Laustic' from Wikipedia: 

Two knights live in adjoining houses, in the vicinity of Saint-Malo in Brittany; one is married and one lives as a bachelor. The wife of the married knight enters into a secret relationship with the other knight, but their contact is limited to conversation and the exchange of small gifts, since a "high wall made of dark stone" separates the two households. Typically, the lady rises at night, once her husband is asleep, and goes to the window to converse with her lover; whenever her lover is home, she is kept under close watch.  Her suspicious husband demands to know why she spends her nights at the window, and she says she does so to listen to the nightingale sing. He mocks her, and orders his servants to capture the nightingale. When it is caught he brings it to the lady's chambers, denying her requests to release the bird. Instead, he breaks its neck and throws it at her, "bloodying the front of her tunic just a bit above her breasts". After he leaves, the lady mourns the bird's death and the suffering she must accept, knowing she can no longer be at the window at night. She wraps the nightingale's body in silk, and embroidered with writing in gold thread, and charges her servant to deliver the bird and her message to her lover, who, in response, preserves the nightingale in a reliquary, a small vessel which he has encased with small jewels and precious stones, and carries it with him always. 

From the Wikipedia on reliquaries;

"A reliquary (also referred to as a shrine, by the French term châsse, and historically also referred to as a phylactery) is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a fereter, and a chapel in which it is housed a feretory or feretery."    "Relics may be the purported or actual physical remains of saints...The term is sometimes used loosely for containers for the body parts of non-religious figures; in particular, the kings of France often specified that their hearts and sometimes other organs be buried in a different location from their main burial."    "In Buddhism, stupas are an important form of a reliquary and may be buried inside larger structures such as a stupa or chorten." 

Interesting, because the wooden grave markers Undertaker carries/uses to conceal his death scythe are considered to be a variant of stupa (as far as I can tell). The grave markers are sotoba inscribed with sutra - also interesting to note that in Japan, nightingales are considered a religious bird because "its song is reminiscent of the intonation of a Buddhist sutra", which in turn ties into the Buddhist prayer beads he wears around his neck.

The concept of reliquaries is somewhat similar to that of mourning lockets, especially if you consider that in the context of courtly love Undertaker was whipped likely worshipped the ground Cloudia walked on and would have treated her like a saint (good for her).

"Reliquaries are decorative vessels, often in the form of a hand, cranium, or other body part that contain the fragment of a saint or someone of holy importance. Some fragments could include remnants of a garment worn by the individual or even a piece of bone that was part of their body."

A famous reliquary is the Holy Thorn Reliquary, commissioned in late 14th century France by John, Duke of Berry (this dude has relevance to Brittany and the Hundred Years War) to house a relic of the crown of thorns.

"The jewels, which would have been keenly appreciated by contemporary viewers, include two large sapphires, one above God the Father at the very top of the reliquary, where it may have represented heaven, and the other below Christ, on which the thorn is mounted."

Sapphires and a crown of thorns are not new symbols in this story - imma leave it at that because I'm getting off topic and this is already ridiculously long.

The Nightingale and The Rose

The short story The Nightingale and the Rose by Oscar Wilde (snake's snakes) was published in the book of bedtime stories The Happy Prince and Other Tales in May 1888 (which lines up pretty closely with when the first chapter of the manga takes place). This is a bleak tale about the selfless and sacrificial nature of true love.

But the Tree cried to the Nightingale to press closer against the thorn. ‘Press closer, little Nightingale,’ cried the Tree, ‘or the Day will come before the rose is finished.   So the Nightingale pressed closer against the thorn, and the thorn touched her heart, and a fierce pang of pain shot through her. Bitter, bitter was the pain, and wilder and wilder grew her song, for she sang of the Love that is perfected by Death, of the Love that dies not in the tomb.  And the marvelous rose became crimson, like the rose of the eastern sky. Crimson was the girdle of petals, and crimson as a ruby was the heart.  But the Nightingale's voice grew fainter, and her little wings began to beat, and a film came over her eyes. Fainter and fainter grew her song, and she felt something choking her in her throat.  Then she gave one last burst of music. The white Moon heard it, and she forgot the dawn, and lingered on in the sky. The red rose heard it, and it trembled all over with ecstasy, and opened its petals to the cold morning air. Echo bore it to her purple cavern in the hills, and woke the sleeping shepherds from their dreams. It floated through the reeds of the river, and they carried its message to the sea.  'Look, look!' cried the Tree, 'the rose is finished now;' but the Nightingale made no answer, for she was lying dead in the long grass, with the thorn in her heart.  

The emphasis on the nightingale's song also brought to mind the Mother 3 theory and the importance of the music in that game - and the idea that the last names of Undertaker's lockets make a chord progression. IDK that much about Mother 3, so I can't say if there are any other further parallels to draw.

Also who would read this to a child as a bedtime story???

Undertaker. Undertaker would totally read this to Ciel as a bedtime story, who am I kidding.

An Ode to a Nightingale

Finally, there is the poem "An Ode to a Nightingale" by John Keats (another one of snake's snakes). 

There is a clear theme of death in this poem, and of life after death/immortality. There is also a sense of longing for death, of the relief death brings - very relevant for all reapers.

My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk, Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk: 'Tis not through envy of thy happy lot, But being too happy in thine happiness,— That thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees In some melodious plot Of beechen green, and shadows numberless, Singest of summer in full-throated ease.

The first stanza mentions 'Lethe', which is one of five rivers in the Greek underworld. "The shades of the dead were required to drink the waters of the Lethe in order to forget their earthly life. In the Aeneid, Virgil writes that it is only when the dead have had their memories erased by the Lethe that they may be reincarnated."

Afaik the only reaper to reference their previous life is Sascha, and there weren't many specifics. This could just be because speaking of their human life is painful, given they all made the choice to end it...Or is it possible HQ alters their memories?

O, for a draught of vintage! that hath been Cool'd a long age in the deep-delved earth, Tasting of Flora and the country green, Dance, and Provençal song, and sunburnt mirth!

The reference to Provencal song is once again a reference to the concept of courtly love (seen in Laustic) that began with Troubadour poetry in Provence, France in the 11th century.

Already with thee! tender is the night,   And haply the Queen-Moon is on her throne,  Cluster'd around by all her starry Fays;  But here there is no light,  Save what from heaven is with the breezes blown  Through verdurous glooms and winding mossy ways. 

Stars and heaven reference (Astre/Sirius & Ciel), and a reference to the moon as in the Oscar Wilde story... The Queen Moon, on her throne...

I cannot see what flowers are at my feet,  Nor what soft incense hangs upon the boughs,  But, in embalmed darkness, guess each sweet  Wherewith the seasonable month endows  The grass, the thicket, and the fruit-tree wild;  White hawthorn, and the pastoral eglantine;  Fast fading violets cover'd up in leaves;  And mid-May's eldest child,  The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine,  The murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves. 

A reference to May (we will come back to this), to musk-roses (symbolizes 'capricious beauty'), and to 'the murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves'. As previously mentioned, Cloudia dies in July...

Darkling I listen; and, for many a time  I have been half in love with easeful Death,  Call'd him soft names in many a mused rhyme,  To take into the air my quiet breath;  Now more than ever seems it rich to die,  To cease upon the midnight with no pain,  While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad  In such an ecstasy!  Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain—  To thy high requiem become a sod. 

The suicidal ideation is strong here.

Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird! No hungry generations tread thee down; The voice I hear this passing night was heard In ancient days by emperor and clown: Perhaps the self-same song that found a path Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home, She stood in tears amid the alien corn; The same that oft-times hath Charm'd magic casements, opening on the foam Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.

Immortality. The last few lines immediately brought to mind the theory that Undertaker drowned himself.

The last stanza has the poet bidding 'Adieu' - the French word for goodbye forever which translates literally as 'until God'. Gotta love how dramatic the French are.

Forlorn! the very word is like a bell To toll me back from thee to my sole self! Adieu! the fancy cannot cheat so well As she is fam'd to do, deceiving elf. Adieu! adieu! thy plaintive anthem fades Past the near meadows, over the still stream, Up the hill-side; and now 'tis buried deep In the next valley-glades: Was it a vision, or a waking dream? Fled is that music:—Do I wake or sleep?

From Wikipedia: 

"The nightingale described experiences a type of death but does not actually die. Instead, the songbird is capable of living through its song, which is a fate that humans cannot expect. The poem ends with an acceptance that pleasure cannot last and that death is an inevitable part of life." 

And here's the thing...Keats composed this poem in one day after a nightingale built its nest near his home. Specifically, he wrote it in one day of May, 1819 - the same month and year in which Queen Victoria was born. 

The rest might be me just grasping at straws but the connection to Queen Victoria's birth is what I find most convincing, since Yana has seemingly already sourced Cedric's first name from literature in 1819. I think the setting/plot of the novel 'Ivanhoe' and her name choice of 'Cedric' reveals a lot about Undertaker's past and his motivations, and I think the same could hold true for his last name. I am convinced his name is Cedric K. Rossignol.

God only knows what the 'K.' stands for.