#thank you manga France for reminding me that I don’t completely dislike you

[royaltea000]

1/6 of hetalia characters I’ve never drawn before

[innocentbeing]

unpopular opinion abt Lizzie

TL;DR: Ciel didn’t cause Lizzie to accept her strength, she already accepted it in that flashback scene with Frances. Her issue was wanting him to always think that she’s cute and her fear of being hated by Sirius.  

Lizzie wasn’t miserable because she had to hide her strength. She doesn’t even like fighting, she just does it cause it’s necessary. She looked unhappy having to fence even before Sirius’s infamous quote. Compare her expression from then to her big bright smile of being an unknowing angel.

(Off topic: I think the reason why everyone has such a disdain for Madam Red’s advice is due to fan translation using “weak” and “naive” while official uses “delicate” and “lovely”.

Not an ideal thing to say to a young girl in our generation, but it’s better than “weak” and “naive”. at the very least it pisses me off a lot less)

You could argue that Lizzie only dislikes it because of the social stigma of that era, and that could be true, but it doesn’t change the fact that it became a part of how she thinks and shaped her character.

She even says she would rather be cute in her flashback right after her vow that she would become a wife capable of protecting Ciel.  

She doesn’t/didn’t act cute as a way to appease Ciel/Sirius, she’s like that because that’s just her nature. Or how she was nurtured to be. I’m leaning more towards ‘nature’ since she’s shown both sides (proper lady vs knight) and still prefers the perks (cuteness/clothes/cliche girly stuff) of being a lady though it’s most likely both at play here. She also wants him to think she’s cute because she likes him. It’s normal to want to attract the person you love, no?

Lizzie never hated her strength, Sirius never caused her to hate herself. She never gave up that part of her, her mother wouldn’t allow it. When Frances told her “it’s for your sake and his” she accepted it.

This is why she was able to reveal her strength when it was needed. She didn’t need a boost of confidence or someone comforting her. She already made up her mind to protect Ciel (in her mind, Sirius) years before she revealed it. Ciel didn’t do anything to help her with that. He simply came back as a bleak former weaker shell of himself which gave her the urge to protect him. 

It doesn’t make sense, imo, to claim she had internal concerns over how strong she is when she so easily and very quickly chose to become “a wife capable of protecting Ciel” nearly immediately after he returned. I think that if she hated her own prodigious talent and struggled with accepting her strength then she should have struggled to make that choice as well since she’s pretty much embracing the part of herself she supposedly dislikes, but there’s nothing in that scene to indicate that.

The problem was “I want you to think of me as cute”. She didn’t want him to see an unattractive side of her because she likes him. It’s like what Yana said in that one post:

If someone told you to fight zombies - in underwear and with your set hair totally rumpled - in front of the person you love the most, it’d be totally devastating.

The situation would bring her to tears regardless. I mean yeah it was irrational given the dangerous circumstances they were in but add to the fact of what Madam Red told her, the fact that Lizzie genuinely enjoys being cute, and that she’s in love with Ciel/Sirius and desperately doesn’t want him to dislike her so her unwillingness was understandable?

Ofc Sirius’s “a strong wife would frighten me” comment also definitely contributed to her reluctance the most but I’m willing to bet that even without it, she would still feel grief showing that side of her to him. I’m so tired of this fandom making it seem like his comment was the entire reason for it. The most significant, yes, but not exclusive.

Besides, I don’t think Lizzie was deliberately withholding her strength the entire time they were on the boat. She didn’t carry swords around with her so she had nothing to defend with. Was she supposed to kill them barehanded like Sebastian? (geezus christ imagine) In the first place, they had no idea how to stop the things until Sebastian came and did it and the next time they ran into trouble she fought back, so yeah, I’m very sure she wasn’t like “well i’m just gonna stand here and not be helpful because Ciel might not like me”.

Conveniently there were swords hanging on the wall when her life was in danger and Ciel wasn’t able to protect her any longer and with that, she was able to protect herself and Ciel. If there weren't any swords around then, well, she probably would have gotten eaten alive right then and there. (or she would’ve run? lol) She was sad over revealing her strength due to how it looks and out of fear he would hate her, but it doesn't mean she was running around the whole time choosing not to fight back thus putting their lives at risk. That would contradict her vow of protecting him.

The part where she refused to strip to fit through the vents had nothing to do with her strength just her desire of wanting to look cute (like she explicitly says lmao. stating the obvious ik) She doesn’t want to run around in her underwear in front of him— that is what she meant by “staying cute in front of him” in that moment.

I could definitely understand why she very aggressively rejected to undress. It’s embarrassing, it’s shameful, it’s not cute at all, and she doesn’t want him to see her like that but given the situation, it’s not the time to be worried about that which is why Ciel got so angry :’D Her life was at risk after all.

The part where she’s surrounded by zombies crying “I wish I could have stayed cute in front of you till the very end, Ciel” is referring to her strength, considering she whipped out the swords right after. While Lizzie didn’t want him to see the “ugly” side of her, she has always been accepting of her strength. She wanted him to see her as cute but when he needed protecting she tossed aside that selfish desire. (I don’t think she calls it ugly out of self-hatred but because she genuinely finds it uncute. It’s just now she doesn’t care if she doesn’t look cute)

fghjm let me just reiterate, Ciel really… like… didn’t have to do anything. There was nothing he did for her when it comes to her strength. There really wasn’t anything he had to help her within that area. Sacrificing her cute side was all Lizzie’s choice, decided only by her, with the help of no one. The obstacle in her way was her personal feelings of “I want to look cute in front of you” and the only thing it took for her to reveal it was her’s and Ciel’s lives being in danger.

Actually, it could’ve been Ciel “If you die it’s all over” speech that helped Lizzie break out of her obsessive desire for being cute. Not that she isn’t still obsessed with it since it’s something she loves, but thanks to his words she’s now content with not looking cute for the sake of something more important? It had more to do with her thing with cuteness instead of strength and I don’t believe Lizzie had conflict over the latter but perhaps it did give her a boost in a sense.

She started crying because of Ciel & Seb’s reaction to her ‘I’ll carry you on my back!” The fact that she could say that so thoughtlessly and normally to him proves to me that Lizzie never hated or tried to dismiss her strength. She didn’t need Ciel to say he accepts her in order for her to accept that part herself.

can i just say that this panel is my fav Lizzie moment ever so far? it’s small and easily overlooked but it’s so cute. she just wants to help!! she’s so precious!!

Now if she cried first after everything was over and had to have Ciel comfort her then I would think that she loathed that part of herself but that’s not the case.

It went like this:

Lizzie, completely comfortable and no signs of distress from revealing her strength: I’ll carry you on my back! Ciel and Sebastian: reacts unfavorably Lizzie: oh no he must hate me

The way they were shocked and exasperated by Lizzie’s statement reminded her of her extreme fear of being hated by Sirius. She thought he wouldn’t like that she was strong so she cried because she doesn’t want him to hate her, which falls back to ‘wanting to attract the person you love’.

Lizzie’s just a young girl after all so hearing even a gentle critique from someone she likes would cause unease in her heart.

sdfghjkn I can’t explain things well, I don’t think I’m getting my point across clearly so I’m going to use an example from the popular manga Bleach.

(i know. just.. bear with me…)

There’s a scene where a character named Chad asks the main character Ichigo what he thinks of his female friend, Orihime’s, outfit. Orihime is in love with Ichigo so this question embarrassed her, and when he didn’t really give his approval she took things way out of proportion.

His actual response isn’t as mean as in her imagination (it wasn’t mean at all) but since it’s coming from someone she loves, the effect it has on her increases significantly so she unintentionally exaggerates the harshness of it.

I CRINGE AT MYSELF FOR USING THIS AS AN EXAMPLE WHEN IT’S A MANGA THAT’S SO DIFFERENT FROM KURO but this scene reminded me of Lizzie’s reaction. this is the feeling I’m trying to describe. this is what I think was the source of Lizzie’s worry when showing her strength to Ciel 

She is on her knees crying over how Ciel/Sirius must despise her now since she’s so strong and scary when he actually never said anything like that lmaoo

The reality is he was just a small boy scared by his aunt’s strength/strictness, which is a normal understandable reaction for a child his age. Let’s not forget that even Sebastian has his moments with Francis lmao.

He never intended to hurt Lizzie’s feelings and also she just exaggerated the meaning of it since she liked him and doesn’t want him to dislike her. I think such a feeling is very normal.

It’s like how Ciel explained. It was a long time ago. I think she realized that there was no need for her to worry about that anymore since it was said when he was younger and has yet to experience dramatic hardships.

At least that’s what I think. It’d be REALLY funny if Sirius, who fearlessly confronted a demon, would still be scared of Francis and by extension, Lizzie. xD

This happened in her flashback meaning it was before Lizzie unveiled her swordsmanship talent to Ciel. She attends fencing tournaments and based off of this panel we can assume that she has no problem with it by the way she cheerfully announces that she got a present for winning which supports my thought that she didn’t have a dilemma regarding herself and her strength all this time and didn’t need for Ciel to accept it to be comfortable with herself. She was already accepting of it. Her biggest concern in hiding her strength was the thought of Sirius hating her, even after all that time.

I’d also like to point out how happy she is getting that cute pair of shoes. :’) She definitely genuinely loves cute things with all her heart.

Lizzie literally asks him “You haven’t come to hate me?” which gives me another reason to think she kept her strength hidden due to a deep hope of ‘Please don’t hate me / I want you to see me as cute’ rather than an ‘accepting her strength’ issue. 

If that were the case I think asking “So it’s ok if I’m like this?” or something along those lines would better convey that she struggled with self-acceptance. I believe she never had that problem with herself, she just... reallllyy desperately wants him to like her? That’s what I’m getting from reading the manga at least lol. but that’s an unpopular opinion it seems? maybe i’m misunderstanding something..? 

(> - <)

I wonder if I’m just overlooking things and misinterpreting Lizzie’s character?

Edited On 10/5/17