#circus members

[abybweisse]

Ch209 (p4), The queen of tragedy

⚠️ Long post ⚠️

You might be wondering where that heading comes from. I'll get to that in a bit....

So, we are back to recent events, where Finny and Doll fight over Snake, each one claiming the other is the enemy. Both parties are involved in deception; he wonders why they helped him but lied the entire time. Out of the circus troupe, he seems to have been closest to Doll, and she never told him the truth about the circus. He also becomes particularly close to Finny, who immediately likes his snakes, but Finny doesn't inform him about the true fates of his circus friends. Then there're our earl and Sebastian, who lead him to believe the circus members are still alive and just on the lamb.

Why would the people closest to him all lie to him?

Then we get a couple scenes before his and Finny's assignment begins.

But this flashback switches from what Snake is recalling... to what a reaper is reviewing. Born March 15 -- the Ides of March -- to an actress named Sarah Kemble. More on her at the end. Death on December 9, 1889, from blood loss.

The expression on this (new to us!) reaper's face makes me wonder what he's thinking. He says "no additional remarks", but I believe he's thinking some additional thoughts.

He must realize there's something odd about Doll, who is holding Snake's body and grieving over him. Doesn't he realize she's a bizarre doll? Has he not taken note of the blood transfusion equipment in the room down the hall? What about all the veins popping up all over her body? Hasn't he been informed about the search for Undertaker and his moving corpses?

Does he not yet have info from Othello regarding Layla/Al? We have to keep in mind that this is all probably happening around the same time that Ronald and William are taking Layla/Al into custody, so this reaper might not be fully informed and so might not know what all signs to look for.

Besides, Ronald is sent to Norfolk ahead of the impending deaths, because there was word a bizarre doll is stationed there. He just has to figure out which person it is. Ronald can't tell who the bizarre doll is just by looking, so he has to wait and see who starts acting like one.

This reaper apparently isn't sent to investigate FOL Orphanage, suggesting HQ didn't have similar intelligence regarding a bizarre doll there. If he's not looking for one, he might not bother to take much notice of Doll's appearance or the medical equipment.

Everything is happening at about the same time:

Mey-Rin and Ran-Mao are heading to their next meeting spot while Polaris makes his report to real Ciel and Undertaker. Heathfield is arrested, and the legal investigation there is still underway.

Ronald and William are dealing with Layla/Al, with the intention of taking her back to HQ for examination. Baldo, Lau, and the others are still planning their getaway; they have not yet escaped the sanatorium.

Othello is probably at HQ, working out the finer details of the transfusion machine he has just recently confiscated from the underground facility at Bath. Beyond that, the dove he sent back to HQ might be the only call for help he's requested to deal with Undertaker.

And this reaper is (as far as I can tell) just responding to the assigned task of collecting souls from Snake, Susan, and the head matron. He really might not be in the loop about Undertaker and his moving corpses... just yet.

This gives an easy setup for him to go about business as usual and leave Doll to her grieving. If he doesn't confront her and just leaves, she can ask Undertaker to turn Snake into a bizarre doll -- even if it's just to be her companion. Undertaker would see old goals of revenge in Snake's cinematic records and could potentially turn him against the Phantomhives, through creation of his "episodes" by cherry-picking the memories and goals that would compel him to seek that revenge again. If that happens, we could get Snake confronting our earl and Sebastian... where Sebastian fulfills the implied threat he makes (to Baldo, about any servant who turns against their master) in ch51.

So, there's that.

Then we have a couple other things to discuss: the current date and Snake's mother.

It's December 9, 1889. This works great with my Mother3 theory, which states the contract should end before our earl is officially 14 years old. December 13, 1889 is the eve of that birthday, and it's also a Friday the 13th. This is highly symbolic because of when his father is born and when his paternal grandmother dies. I'm sure there are absolutely zero coincidences in this.

We will go back a few days (again) for the start of our earl's and Sebastian's assignment in Brighton, then we will catch up to December 9th with them. During this time and soon after, they will receive word about the other three assignments, as word trickles in. Or perhaps they are bombarded with all the reports in quick succession. Then we've got another four days for them to finish not just their own assignment but also their contract. Perhaps their assignment finishes around the same time as the others. If so, they have three or four more days to address whatever they have learned.

Now onto Snake's mother. She's based on a real person, or a combination of a few people in a notable family. My own initial research pulled up a Fanny Kemble, who was a British actress who lived in this time period but was too old to be Snake's mother. She bore a daughter named Sarah (Kemble) Butler, but Sarah wasn't an actress. Fanny was well known as a former actress and an abolitionist -- who separated from her husband (Butler), partly over disagreement about slavery -- and returned to the stage, where she renewed her focus on the works of William Shakespeare... performing public readings of his plays.

Discussing the chapter in Discord, I got word -- from @mjmj2994 -- about a Sarah (Kemble) Siddons who was an actress, though she was from the mid-18th to early 19th century. Her mother was also a Sarah Kemble. Turns out that Sarah Siddons (née and a.k.a. Sarah Kemble) was an aunt to the Fanny Kemble I'd found! Small world, eh? Anyway, Sarah Kemble/Siddons (wiki article here) became known as the "queen of tragedy" for her portrayal of Lady Macbeth and other Shakespearean tragic characters -- including numerous cross-dress performances as Hamlet himself. Even though Yana-san would have to change the timeline to fit our Sarah Kemble, this is most likely the historical reference for her. Here's more information about the Kemble family line and their extensive involvement with the acting industry.

Our Snake comes from an esteemed family of actors, and I suppose we are to assume he's an issue who was so quickly covered up and forgotten that he was perhaps never even named. Who was his true father? And how did he come to have such strong snake-like traits? We might never know.

Now we wait to see if this reaper does anything about Doll. And then onto our earl and Sebastian in Brighton!

[chococovered]

I am what you kids call new

[an-albino-pinetree]

Gecko energy

[awful-little-goose]

GOD IVE BEEN EXCITED TO SHOW YOU THIS ONE

@sm-baby I REALLY hope you’ll like it!!!!

To clarify things: while Buzzbuzz does appreciate Kinger, they’re also very much aware that they are MUCH weaker than him, and lack the presence he has due to his power and authority. And they are…very envious of it

After all, unlike what Kinger said, Buzz is no worker bee, they’re a Queen Bee, and queen bees are known for their despise of other crowned heads

[dent-de-leon]

Gently cradling this one mention of Mollymauk from the cookbook in my hands,, colorful little peacock tiefling my beloved. Also I like the Dust of Deliciousness “recipe”—

[petitprincess1]

Why do I feel like Caine would be trying to hype up the cast for a new exciting adventure, and then all of the sudden he's just blasting:

The FitnessGram™ Pacer Test is a multistage aerobic capacity test that progressively gets more difficult-

[imperatoralicia]

I absolutely adore the kobold characters in Baldur's Gate 3.

[blondeaxolotl]

What kind of animal is the Noah's Ark Circus in your Beaststars AU

Joker - Maned wolf Dagger - Cheetah Beast - Curly-coated retriever Jumbo - Rhinoceros Wendy and Peter - Canary birds Doll/Freckles - Red Fox and ofc once again, Snake - Grey wolf/Python hybrid and if you're curious, Baron Kelvin is a cougar

[so-muchstardust]

yana toboso stop hurting my feelings with your manga challenge (impossible)

[kaiko55]

Watch goose confirm that Jax isn't even ticklish and neither would the rest of the cast be💀💀💀

[iindigoeyed]

two things about félix are factual:

he is a theater kid

he can do card tricks and other forms of stage magic

this means that it is entirely possible that félix fathom can juggle. thanks for your time

[abybweisse]

Ch209, Spoilers part two

⚠️ updated text ⚠️

Then we are back to what just recently happened -- Doll and Finny fighting over who's the enemy and who's the friend.

He's got all these opposing ideas in his head about who killed whom and why... and was it deserved... and why was he offered these chances? Those sorts of thoughts, though I know there's stuff missing in the quick translations by @bitterbutlr , but that's the gist of it.

Even Sebastian pointing out our earl's bad table manners at Lau's place is a fond memory for Snake, at least sort of. It is a time of determination, to not just step aside to his young master's older twin, who has usurped what our earl has gained.

Then the memories turn into cinematic records, as all these flashbacks were just Snake's life flashing before his eyes.

We don't even learn about the mysterious place he thinks he's from. I'm wondering if that information came from some of the snakes and doesn't actually apply to him.

He apparently was human (at least partly), born to a human named Sarah Campbell (or a similar name). She was an actress. This also comes from @bitterbutlr and maybe one other person on Discord.) The NEW! reaper notes nothing worth adding, and then there's the tamping sound of the "COMPLETED" stamp.

What I don't get is why this reaper looks at Doll holding Snake's body and doesn't think there's anything else to note. Ronald once said he couldn't tell who was the bizarre doll -- Ada or Layla -- without checking their records or catching them in the act of behaving like the first bizarre dolls they saw (on the ship). He needed to see Layla attack Baldo before he knew for sure it was her.

So... is this reaper going to leave the scene without confronting Doll? Doll doesn't look normal at this point... but perhaps this reaper just plans to stick to the basics...? William says it's all just a formality anyway, right? 🤔 🤨

If so, that really leaves it open for her to ask Undertaker to make a bizarre doll out of Snake.

He has a lot of memories about what he wanted in life -- mostly to find a family to belong to, where he can live in harmony with them. However, he also has memories where he's specifically and severely angry with "Smile" and "Black" and wants revenge on them. Undertaker could cherry pick the right memories to serve as episodes that make Snake loyal to real Ciel, or at least to Doll. If that happens, we might see Sebastian destroy Snake anyway, just like he warns about in ch51... for any Phantomhive servant who turns against their young master....

[citnamora]

For two girls whose first interaction is a literal compliment contest gushing how cute the other is, Maya and Regina are severely underrated as both a ship and just dynamic in general

[an-albino-pinetree]

-v-

[vividblaze]

S5Ch1... definitely my top favorite of the story so far 👌

Is it crazy that I kind of want to see Mizuki try to make his own team... again lmfaooo

[goth-automaton]

Once again arguing with my parents about neighbours' cat and, that they don't give a fuck about him and we should adopt him. The answer? "It's not our cat!" YES AND THIS IS THE MAIN PROBLEM FFS, IF HE WAS OURS I'D HAVE ALREADY BROUGHT HIM TO OUR FLAT AND HAD HIM STAY IN MY ROOM INSTEAD OF FUCKING LETTING HIM WANDER AROUND.

The worst thing in all of this – my parents fucking recognise that shit's fucked. They see the cat is dirty and often gets into fights and are well aware, that the threat of him not returning from his endeavours one day is very fucking real. But nope, not our cat, not our problem, I should shut the fuck up and stop complaining.

Jesus fuck, I'm so fucking done.