#blue memory arc

[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. :))

[grelle-sutcliff-propaganda]

[e-steamedtea]

Spoilers for Black Butler chapter 137

Y'all I am not okay. How could I ever be happy after this. Oh my God it's even worse than I remember. It's so painful listening to him say things like this and the everything that happened afterwards and I just-

O!Ciel.... you're so much stronger than you think.

Man the anime did him so dirty. Making him seem so much more like a brat than he actually is. I'm just so upsetti rn. Because then you remember how old he is and it just gets so much worse.

Man I just need someone to appreciate his character with me because oh my god.

[bapydemonprincess]

Oh no, why ever would such a thing happen? In a situation like this or otherwise...

[zexapher]

A Fond Farewell

With Rooster Teeth beginning its draw down, an era has truly passed. The company has lasted more than two decades. 18 (soon 19) seasons, five mini-series, and cameos and references in Halo itself for Red vs Blue. 9 volumes alongside two movies, a chibi series, Ice Queendom, and its own games for RWBY. And so much more beyond that, RT Shorts, podcasts, Achievement Hunter, The Slow Mo Guys, and on and on. That’s a lot, especially for a little startup launching off a web series. I was listening to “This Isn’t Goodbye, It’s See You Later” by Richie Branson while I was making this little memorial post. It’s a song made for another Rooster Teeth show, Camp Camp, and I have to say it’s some very appropriate music for this moment.

The day the news dropped, I wrote up a little comment in response to Rooster Teeth beginning its closing down, and I thought I’d share some of it here. I grew up with Rooster Teeth, a bit of a cheesy line I know, but it’s true for a lot of us. I was just a little kid way back in the early 2000’s, a kid that liked Halo (a game I didn’t even own for a long time, but played at a friend’s house), and was just getting curious about what I could find about it on YouTube. And that brought me into the world of music videos and skits and montages made for that little game I liked.

From there, I discovered a small web series called Red vs. Blue. I’d sneak onto my folk’s computer to watch it since they didn’t appreciate the language, and in doing so I dipped my toes into the wide world of the internet for the first time. As I got older, I eventually hopped onto Reddit for its discussion threads of Rooster Teeth’s latest show, RWBY. I began my first in-depth fandom interactions, speculating about the show, enjoying the flood of fanart, even got into fanfics about RWBY (those fics have had their own amazing evolution alongside the show) and to this day it’s the fandom I’ve followed and bookmarked the most fics from. All the while I was making friends and bonding with people through the community this company and its shows have created.

Watching the shows and people grow over time was, looking back on it, just like watching myself grow. I was never really a social media/internet kind of guy, until it came to Rooster Teeth. The shows, shorts, podcasts, it all opened up a whole new world for me. It’s sad to see it coming to a close, and I hope it gets picked up in the future. But I’m happy, too, that it’s left so much behind, and had such an impact on me. It’s left me with so many good memories. Rooster Teeth, its shows, those that created and worked on it, and above all the community around it will always have a special place in my heart.

So, I bid a fond farewell to Rooster Teeth and its crew, and anyone who may drift away from the fandom in time. I wish you all the best.

[rogueyami]

Found the KFC where Gojo and Geto broke up

This area is called 思い出横丁(memory lane)

[luck-of-the-drawings]

oh the dread, oh the worry! you love your sister so much and you need to know shes okay. you trust her but you cant trust the world, and more than anything else you cant trust yourself

[weirdagnes]

cant believe my favs from the akazaya nine are the traitors

[sskk-manifesto]

Atsushi's back in the game!!! ۶( ˆ o ˆ )

[midnight-in-town]

Elizabeth's family is one of the most influential, richest, and most powerful families in England. Why wouldn't she immediately report Undertaker to them so they would take the initiative and minimize the damage with their influence in the police department and the newspapers?Why doesn't she show her parents the courtesy to let them know the truth at least a day before everyone else?Have her parents chosen to ignore her emotional needs and allow her to deny her true identity and strength?

Listen Anon, on the one hand, I get that you might want to project a very realistic and 100% logical explanation onto the events of the Blue Sect arc, but the truth is... Kuroshitsuji isn't that kind of story so much. In fact, Yana-sensei often ignores the simplest way to rather craft up complicated plot twists, in order to explore tropes or character developments and to put her main duo at the center of everything. xDD

On the other hand, there is an in-universe explanation that answers your questions and I’m personally fine with it so far. To use your own words, Liz belongs to two very influential and powerful families: one is a chivalrous one but the other is...

...And Lizzie was raised with that duality all her life, taught to protect with her strength all of this family’s secrets.

Primarily now, she's "the Watchdog's fiancée" and I think her family understands (and actually expects of her) that she would make her fiancé (real!Ciel in this arc) a priority upon realizing the truth that he was back and not "in good health", because that is what was drilled in her head since being a little girl.

However, it doesn't mean that she wasn't feeling guilty about this (on top of her inner conflict about which twin to side with, the one she loves or the one she's supposed to be betrothed to?), as she tells Edward in ch144. 

In other words, she was lost and scared and she focused on protecting real!Ciel, rather than trying to do the “morally right” action, even if it bothered her because she knew UT and real!Ciel were up to no good.  I don’t blame her for that and I think that’s unfair that anyone would: she’s 14 years old and the authorities knew something very dangerous was happening and they took their time and had to rely on another kid (our!Ciel, the Watchdog) to figure it out. 

Blaming her is similar to blaming our!Ciel for never telling Soma he has a twin thus for indirectly causing Agni’s death because Soma didn’t figure out that the “Ciel” before him wasn’t his friend. It’s senseless and these kids have enough on their plate already. 

TL;DR I’m pretty sure her parents didn’t expect Lizzie to save England from UT’s crazy BD plans when themselves were worried sick about her disappearance but didn’t have any way of forcing her to come back (unlike Ed who, you know, went all out but indirectly caused more civilian deaths, oopsie). 

It’s a complicated family for sure, and Lizzie is currently in so much anguish that she definitely needs her mom’s guidance to figure her feelings out [x][x]. So blaming anyone for how things turned out is counter productive (unless you wanna blame UT), considering the giant scale of this damn long arc. 

My opinion. :) Have a good day!

[grelle-sutcliff-propaganda]

[sootsunrise]

hello? I thought I heard someone out he-

(footsteps stop dead in the grass.)

... hello?

-@phoenixchick

[there's still tears in her eyes, capturing the glow of that beautiful, beautiful sunrise. then she turns to face the person behind her, but the light remains- it might always remain, now. she feels like light, at long last.]

...niki?

[bapydemonprincess]

I THINK I remember Soma and Agni were brought up when they were talking about escaping to another country with Lau. I think?? Maybe only a panel or two though... :/

Sooo I didn't remember anything like that at all myself (hence making my post about the possibility of everyone not knowing), so I scrambled around to find anything like this and ahhh all I got was this one page in Chapter 147:

And boy...

THESE LOOKS SAY IT ALL DON'T THEY 😭

And I think that's all we get brought up about them, and we haven't- so far -seen a moment in a flash back or anything while during the servant mini arcs where Sebastian or O!Ciel talk about their dear old friends Prince Soma and Agni again.. 😔

And to be clear I GET IT, they don't have time to talk about it, they aren't canonically the type to suddenly draw everyone together and gently break the news on what happened. O!Ciel and Sebastian are, well, when it comes down to it SELFISH and SELF-SERVING. They are currently driven by their need to trump Undertaker and the smug ass bizarre doll form of r!ciel. They CANONICALLY DON'T CARE about dwelling and focusing on emotions if it gets in the way of progress. And as foolish and upsetting and toxic as that sounds... it is what it is in the canon kuro manga verse.. 🤷

But on a final note? I personally doubt this will be the last it's brought up ever or something. In fact I would not be surprised if at the climax of all this long ass arc with mini-arcs extravaganza, maybe at the hotel, maybe circling back to the manor after finish up at the hotel, o!Ciel or Sebastian bring up something along the lines of how the know by now that Agni and Soma were compromised because of their influence. As well as what Agni discovered that very day he was killed while recovering that photo in the fireplace. It makes sense what the antagonists did there, and it'll make all the MORE sense if our protagonists confront it. (You know, like how they always do at the end of every storyline..? The Madam Red confrontation, the big campania confrontation, the Aurthur Conan Doyle Discovers the Horrible Truth confrontation, the midnight tea party confrontation... HELLO??)

So, these are all my thoughts overall on the situation, reader-wise, and writer-wise- and whatever I count as besides that-wise... I know there are SO MANY different takes overall on what happened, how it happened, and what should happen next regarding it. And I hope whether there's agreement or disagreement on the whole thing, ya'll don't mind my take here. I don't normally have time to make big posts about plot points in kuro. Nor brain power.. (it's rough going right now lemme tell ya 💀) so... uhhh.. enjoy??? 🖤

[katierosefun]

deranged thought of the day is that each of harvey specter’s exes reflect mike ross somehow. anyways

[purpleandstarlight]

Y'all what was your reaction to the 2CT being canon?? Both if u were reading the manga before finding out or if y'all are anime only watchers and discovered abt it trough other manga readers.

I'll start: I was a believer in the 2CT before it became canon. I don't have all my memories straight, but i DO remember the amount of "THIS SHIT MUST BE REAL!!! WE WERE FUCKING RIGHT" as the chapters were coming out and suddently Agni's dead and Soma tries to slap o!Ciel and then they find the wall carving AND THEN HE GOES TO SIEGLINDE AND FUCKING TELLS HER "YO DONT FUCKING OPEN THE DOOR EVEN IF ITS ME" AND THEN

AND THEN

THAT UNDEAD MOTHERFUCKER'S THERE

I felt so satisfied frfr