#the way a lot of people are about real ciel and his role in the story

[ceoandslutler]

a short analysis on the theme of kindness in kuro, in defence of the morally reprehensible protagonists. pt2

focused character analysis: ciel phantomhive (ours)

before getting into this, i highly recommend reading my last post which received a great response from @plague-of-insomnia (very much appreciated additions that i will be referring to), i wanted to do a part two to my analysis and i will likely do a post of sebastian too but for now it's ciel who i want to focus on and how he is 'different' to other humans.

firstly i would like to follow up the points i made about the blue memory arc

our ciel wants to open a toy shop because of his own condition of being stuck at home with limited activities, he wants to make indoor toys. his brother says "nobles don't sell toys" and in this chapter it is alluded multiple times that he, as the second son, should have either become a 'vicar' or 'doctor' as they are respectable jobs, unlike being a toy maker/seller. another point is that o!ciel establishes here that he knows he can't be like the other members of the phantomhive bloodline (see: pt1 talking about undertaker's quote "he is unlike his predecessors"). back to the second son point, we already know how frustrating it is to be a second son:

but o!ciel has not once shown himself to be jealous of his brother, nor was he frustrated that he couldn't be earl. in fact he constantly reassures his brother in the blue memory arc that he is like their father and he'll make a great earl. he also makes it clear he does not desire the popularity that comes with being a vicar. (we see the vicar in their land is a manager of affairs with a lot of power/responsibility/direct access to nobility and when seb takes on the vicar disguise, ciel makes it clear that he is a "popular" person, akin to a "celebrity"). roles of religious importance are shown as vain in kuro.

it's interesting because the chapter we see the real vicar rathbone is the same chapter o!ciel says he wants to make toys and r!ciel says nobles don't do that and the murder arc where sebs is disguised as an alternate vicar rathbone is the same arc we find that o!ciel reads working class magazines because the consumers of his toys/funtom products are "common folk", he even reads punch!

..that's it for vicars, those are the only two instances we see them mentioned. the doctors we see are different. we have madame red who became a killer and used her skills to kill prostitutes out of spite (edit: as well as viscount druitt who does have a medical licence and we saw him doing human trafficking although i forgot about him, thank god plague-of-insomnia reminded me lmao) but we have two other doctors characters that are very important.

this nasty piece of work ^^ in the circus arc, very selfish and inhuman, uses VERY unethical methods to create prosthetics, morally bankrupt doctor similar to madame red

this stoker guy who is also a doctor. selfish, doesn't understand what medicine he's even using on people, just generally a egotistical awful guy.

in both these arcs, we see o!ciel show humanity

he's going to the workhouse baron kelvin supported and is going to recommend it to a philanthropist. although there was no workhouse, those children were likely already the doctor's victims.

in the campania, he not only goes back for lizzy, he is very considerate of a servant who not only tried to kill him with his snakes but also doesn't even call him by a formal title (snake called him 'smile' until the end, ciel never took offence to it despite being a noble)

he not only shows this amount of consideration, he also gives up his seat in the boats which plague-of-insomnia mentioned when they rb-ed pt1 of this analysis. i genuinely think the way o!ciel treats snake is extremely perplexing, he is too considerate... perhaps guilt? perhaps the empathy he feels as he too lived a lonely and alienated life as compared to the rest of his family? he felt like his family did not tell him anything and just died/disappeared, leaving him to have to wait for the killers to come back for him just so he can get his self-righteous revenge.

finally i would like to point out a little tidbit, o!ciel generally does not seem to care at all about society's expectations. his relationship with his tenants and servants is abnormally humane. i would also like to point out his confusion at elizabeth's sobbing about being the scary kind of woman he doesn't like (something r!ciel had implied)

this boy has never shown that kind of expression towards femininity or women... even when it sounds like he's being sexist, it's usually a poorly done translation, i don't know japanese well but before anyone pulls this up, i found the japanese raw to check over it myself:

he did not say "ladies don't come in such monstrous heights", he said something more along the lines of "it's impossible/i can't stand to dance with a tall/big lady in this way"(?)

[please correct me if i'm wrong, i don't know japanese well and my forte is indo european languages]

the point of this analysis is not to say ciel is solely "good" or 'pure cinnamon roll uwu' (i would never), but just to say he is capable of humanity... in a story about horrible humans, he as a one of the morally grey main characters is capable of being a force for good. he's also pointed out to be different to others and shown to not contain the same bad aspects of the other pathways he could've gone in life e.g. vain vicar or diabolical doctor. he is at his core, a character who shows humanity and compassion and that is why he is likeable even when he does heinous things. he is more than an innocent baby and more than an evil aristocrat with zero morals. although the head honcho of this story is sebs but i will get into him in another post, he's also a VERY interesting protagonist.

[plague-of-insomnia]

I ship sebaciel but I only like their dynamic, in my head I imagine an adult Ciel and I only read fanfics when Ciel is way over 18 and can decide by himself/not be manipulated. I was raped when I was 15, I could never ship something like that. But anti pro shippers never bother to see the nuance. I'm afraid if I start publicly shipping it, people will call me a pedo lol Also I think that the ones who like the age gap still can't be compared to real pedos who consume lolicon/ realistic drawings who REALLY resemble children and explicitly are in a setting of a child being molested. I see incels doing that, and the kuro fandom is mostly women.

Hi, anon. Sorry I didn’t reply yesterday. I had COVID a couple weeks ago and now have bronchitis and i just ran out of gas to formulate a response I felt this ask merited.

First of all, I’m sorry that happened to you. I hope you’ve been able to get past it enough that it doesn’t affect your daily life too badly 🫂.

Sadly, a lot of antis act as if they’re the only ones who have been victims of (sexual) abuse, and that any survivor who doesn’t behave the way they do either must be lying or “deserved” what they got— which is absolutely awful to do to anyone.

As I’m sure you’re aware, we’re not a monolith. Some survivors find rape play (whether role play or in fictional works) helps them move past their trauma because it helps them to have the control they didn’t have as victims. But others find it triggering and upsetting and not helpful at all— and that’s valid too.

I personally don’t ship sc anymore mostly because I just don’t click with Ciel in the ship the way I do with other pairings. I also personally get very very uncomfortable with some underage depictions. For example, there was a fantastic sc fan fic a few years ago that I had to stop reading. It is one of the best written works in the fandom, but it just made me so uncomfortable (it’s underage) I had to stop.

But what did I do? Did i leave the author an angry message saying I was not gonna read it? No, ofc not. I just clicked away.

So if for you, you need situations in which you feel Ciel can fully consent/is in control to feel comfortable and happy then that’s perfectly valid! There’s no one “right” way to ship anything, and you have to look out for yourself first. Because we come to fandom to have fun and escape, so no need to delve into things you don’t like or that make you uncomfortable.

Antis are incapable of seeing these kinds of nuances, or realizing that purposefully consuming content that upsets you is self harm.

Sadly, if you openly ship sc (or even aren’t absolutely against it) you may get some hate. I know I have gotten my share, and it’s *always* about Ciel, no matter how I’ve depicted other characters or what ages they are in my stories. But I’ve also gotten hate for being a fujoshi (misgendering me at that) more than once, and some of it even before I joined the fandom… for my original work.

My point is that people are gonna attack you if they’re gonna attack you…. if you’re not willing to take that risk by being public about your ship that’s valid too. I definitely get how exhausting antis can be and if you’re just wanting to stare at your blorbos for a bit you don’t wanna be fighting of negativity left and right too.

It’s a shame that antis have started using the word pedo as a word for anyone they dislike, devaluing it, but the real shame imo is that they refuse to see that actual CSEM is bad not because it’s gross or immoral but because it harms actual children, who grow up to be adults with trauma.

I think it’s very important to distinguish actual CSEM (or “fictional works” that were intentionally modeled off real CSEM) from anything that’s purely fictional. Because you can never really know why someone made something or why someone likes something.

I write about child abuse, sexual and not, a lot because I find it very therapeutic, but someone might read my works and may draw other, completely erroneous conclusions about me and my motives.

I honestly think a huge chunk of the kuro fandom is nonbinary, but I don’t really know the demographics. I’m sure they’re slightly different depending on if you’re looking at the western or eastern fandoms…

But women can be toxic just like anyone else. Some of the absolute most vile antis I’ve seen identify as female.

Ultimately, I think that the best thing to do with the fandom (or any fandom, really) is to curate your experience. Block accounts that trigger you or don’t vibe with you. Find like-minded friends to chat with in private, so you don’t have to worry about strangers hopping on what you say. Filter tags and use apps if you need to.

I think it’s a shame that antis are so vocal in the fandom and have divided it so much. As a multishipper not much into sc, I have definitely felt that fracture more than some others, since sadly too many non-sc shippers think they need to scream about how icky that ship is and be jerks when we could just ignore sc entirely and enjoy the other ships we like instead together?

But the no matter what antis claim, sc shippers have always been and will always be the column that holds the fandom up, and you either need to make peace with it or learn to ignore it.

🫶

My ask box is open for anyone who doesn’t feel comfortable being open about their love for kuro but would like to squee over it/the new series with someone who doesn’t mind listening :)

[ryuichirou]

any sebaciel headcanons so far?

Anon! I hope you’re still waiting, because it took me a long time…as always lol

For some reason it was a bit difficult for me to write this one, mostly because a lot of headcanons/thoughts that I had were actually just… random pieces of canon trivia that Toboso herself mentioned at some point lol like the fact that Ciel’s cheeks are just like cat’s soft paws for Sebastian and stuff.

But still, I managed to write something. I hope it’s a fun read…

Despite them seemingly keeping their master-servant sense distance whenever they’re around others, there are some people that catch the tension between them. They don’t even tend to talk to each other when Ciel is having guests around, but when a person knows, they know. For example, Lau catches these things quite easily, even though he forgets about it the moment he steps out of the room.

Speaking of Lau… the real reason why Sebastian didn’t get rid of that tiny dress that Lau brought for Ciel is that he really wouldn’t mind seeing his young master wearing it; he believed there would still be a nice opportunity for it. Which is actually a big deal, because Sebastian seems to be quite picky when it comes to things that Ciel wears, so he would’ve gotten rid of it immediately if it didn’t fit his own taste.

Sebastian absolutely adores roleplay: his entire butler shtick is essentially just a very long roleplay session. So, whenever he gets to put on a new identity/any type of disguise for a mission, he gets pretty excited; it’s always one of his favourite parts of any mission. So the fact that Ciel is pretty good at roleplaying too and catches his cues quite easily and plays along so well is also something that he really likes about him. Sebastian has seen and served so many people, but this is the first time he actually got himself a decent playmate, who is quite good at playing the role of sweet and innocent child while also being quite a cruel calculating boy.

And although Sebastian always minds his distance while performing his butler duties (not to ruin the aesthetic and all), he could allow himself more freedom when playing other roles. So there could be some situations in which Ciel would look at Sebastian in a “how dare you” way, with Sebastian smiling, because “well it’s more believable that way, isn’t it?”. He knows that Ciel will have to play along.

Both of them are aware that there is this vague line that they could cross if they wanted to at any moment. It would be weird to call it a “romantic” line because none of them have any romantic feelings toward each other: Sebastian is incapable of feeling it; Ciel would choke himself before admitting to having any emotional dependence on Sebastian. Because he knows that the moment he’ll start even considering anything, the demon wins. Even though, when it comes to their contract, it’s not like it changes anything….

Sebastian really enjoys the fact that Ciel is conflicted about it though. He likes playing with him, teasing him and hinting at things way more than if Ciel would act openly affectionate with him. In fact, it would be quite bothersome and even annoying to Sebastian. So this “will they won’t they” that seemingly exists between them only fuels the situation to spiral further without giving it any resolution.

Although it’s not impossible for them to cross this line, but it’ll only happen if Sebastian decides that it would be amusing and would fuel Ciel’s further decent into darkness. He wouldn’t do anything too openly, but the teasing and the talking and the touching and overall situation would lead to Ciel being so frustrated that he would end up deciding that he actually wants to cross this line. What difference does it make? He’s going to get eaten by Sebastian at some point anyway…

Sebastian teases Ciel a lot, especially if the two are together. He especially likes to take everything that Ciels says literally, because he knows that Ciel actually hates that he stops when he’s being told to stop. And the best thing is – Ciel can’t even complain about it or be mad, because Sebastian is being respectful and caring and obeys his orders. As if he’s not doing it just to piss Ciel off.

Ironically, Ciel doesn’t get triggered by Sebastian’s touch. Maybe it’s due to the overall feel of his hands being so different to what Ciel experienced years ago, maybe it’s because it’s Sebastian who isn’t even human, but the sensations he gets are overwhelmingly pleasant. Almost scarily pleasant, like the opposite side of the spectrum.

They would have at least one talk about how often Sebastian gets to touch his masters like this. It’s not like Ciel is interested or that he cares about anything at all regarding Sebastian, but for some reason he would still ask. And Sebastian would honestly answer that this actually happens quite often, although not every single time. He would also add that he hopes that this doesn’t sour his young master’s mood or make him jealous, with a smile so wide and wicked, that Ciel would  instantly regret asking him.

[kitkatopinions]

It's so weird seeing conversations about rwby basically going like

Person A: "This character had a chance to be something better than they were made to be, they have so much potential and it was wasted, they should probably be a bigger role and/or more nuanced than they were portrayed in this show." Person Be: "Ummmm that character has never been anything more than what they are?? That character isn't important and/or isn't nuanced??? They don't matter??? So idk why you're complaining that they're 'wasted potential.'"

Like.....

It reminds me of the time that I said Yang and Blake were queercoded before they got confirmed in V9 and people got angry at me for it because "Just because they haven't kissed anyone of the same sex, verbally acknowledged their feelings or attraction to anyone of the same sex, have never gone on a date with anyone of the same sex, or are written to discuss being queer in any way doesn't mean they're queer coded, because we're meant to pick up on them being queer in their energy and how they talk to and look at each other without it being said out and out." It's like, do people just not bother to understand base concepts?

When rwde posters say things like "Ciel was wasted potential" it feels very weird to have people be like "Ciel was just a bit part in V3 who didn't get any real focus and never went anywhere." Because that's what we're complaining about. When rwde posters are like "hate canon Adam because he's a two dimensional badly written for and voice acted character who was never given much depth and then got written to be nothing but an abusive incel hate sink with whatever meager personality and nuance he had had in volume 3 left behind to make him a paper-thin nothing character just used to (badly) prop up the bees, but he could've been different and better," it feels very weird to have people be like "Um, Adam wasn't written to have a lot of depth and nuance and meaning, he's just some two dimensional jealous abusive ex who only matters to prop up the bees, he isn't better." That's what we're complaining about. When rwde posters say "the Curious Cat could've actually been a better character if he was a more nuanced morally gray character instead of just being a one-season villain," it doesn't even make sense for people to be like "why are you saying the Curious Cat could've been something more than a villain? THEY'RE JUST A VILLAIN!"

Wasted potential means that they could've been something better, but they aren't. When people complain that there's wasted potential in RWBY, we mean that there's things the writers could've done that we would've found better and/or more interesting. We don't need to be told that the writers didn't make them better or more interesting, we - we know that already.

Another thing I feel like is a common response to complaints about wasted potential that I really dislike and don't understand is when people respond to complaints about wasted potential by being like "I don't care about and/or dislike that character and therefore I don't think you're right that they could've been different or better." There are characters that I feel like don't need to have bigger roles in RWBY - like Sage and Scarlet, or Ooblek who I think served his purpose well and doesn't need more - but even people I absolutely hate like Junior and Cardin I think could've mattered to more characters or to the show's narrative more with absolutely no redemption required. Like, Cardin is wasted potential because he could've been used by the show as an example of a terrible person who shouldn't be a badge carrying law enforcement officer and who the girls could get expelled - instead of Cardin just mattering as Jaune's bully (a badly done arc anyway,) and only for like three episodes or so in season one. If I say I think there's some wasted potential with his character, I don't want to hear "He was only Jaune's bully for like episodes and never mattered again" because I know that, and I don't want to hear "But Cardin's a bad person" because yeah he is I know and I hate him, but that doesn't mean there isn't wasted potential for his role and his character.

It's just weird.

[abybweisse]

I'm wondering if Vincent, Rachael, and Madame Red told/shared every story, or every real facts of wisdom of what they knew with Our Ciel and Real Ciel before they died. Do you suppose that Aunt Francis is doing the same?

Imparting wisdom?

I'm pretty sure they didn't, because our earl seems clueless about a lot of things that happened when his father was earl and watchdog. And Madam Red wasn't in Vincent's inner circle, because she wasn't shown in that pic with the evil nobles, and she didn't even know who Undertaker was before our earl investigated the Jack the Ripper case.

Beyond trying to prepare Lizzie to be the watchdog's wife, I don't think Francis/Frances is saying much of anything about what happened back then. And I don't know how much she knew either, anyway. She knew Vincent was watchdog, but her concerns had more to do with training the kids certain skills, like sword fighting, so his heir would be ready for the eventuality of replacing him... and her daughter would be ready to step up as the new watchdog's wife.

This makes me wonder what Francis/Frances thinks about many of her brother's decisions, including choosing Rachel as his wife. She might have previously argued with him about choosing a wife who would not be able to fend for herself, let alone defend him, in an altercation. I suppose he thought Rachel's personality and intelligence would be enough... and his sister didn't agree... which we see in how she raises Lizzie. Because she raises Lizzie to be the way she thinks the queen's watchdog's wife should be, and that's quite different from Rachel. Both can be girlish when the occasion calls for it. But Lizzie is intelligent but mild-mannered and physically deadly, whereas Rachel has a sharp and naughty wit but is physically frail. 🤔

Though Rachel definitely used her wits to deal with the twins, and they seem to have picked some of that up from her, I don't think she gave them much actual information about being watchdog and earl. She seems to have mostly emphasized the tradition and honor of inheriting the title and role.

The twins were being eased into the role one would eventually need to fill, when they desperately needed the nitty-gritty details as soon as possible. It's just that Vincent and Rachel were removed from their roles sooner than either of them had expected, right? Otherwise, they would have better prepared their sons... right?!?

I suspect everyone who had pertinent knowledge about the watchdog role just... thought they had more time to impart knowledge than they ended up with. Like another five years or so? It's like no one really wanted to tell these kids how dangerous their lives would be or how they would have to do all sorts of underhanded activities to bring others to some form of justice. There was a "let them be kids as long as possible" attitude surrounding them. When they needed to learn all the tools of their future trade. And when they needed to know all the dark secrets.

And the people who could have helped since then, like Tanaka, Chlaus, Undertaker, and Diedrich. Why aren't they telling our earl everything they know as soon as they see that our earl has returned to the manor and staked his claim? Simply because our earl is earl and watchdog now... and not asking? Do they assume someone else already told him?

Actually, it makes me wonder if real Ciel was getting an entirely different education whenever our earl wasn't at the same lesson....

[animeyanderelover]

Hello again, I have a request from Yandere! Black Butler (Ciel, Sebastian, Alois, Claude, Ash and another character of his choice), as it would be if the boys fell in love with an already married reader?

[ And perhaps if you want, the reader has a son or children with her husband ]

Sad to say it, but Yandere is still Yandere. I only made the humans with children since I can imagine that the easiest.

Tw: Yandere themes, possessiveness, obsessiveness, paranoia, unhealthy mindset, unhealthy relationship, manipulation, threatening, killing, self-harm

s/o is already married

Ciel Phantomhive

☕️Ciel is rather ruthless and always lingers on the borderline to being a real criminal with what he does. He dirtied his hands already a lot of times with manipulation, killing and ruining someone in the name of her majesty. It’s nothing new for him to do this stuff. But I still feel like falling in love with a married woman would be rather inappropriate for him since his reputation is important to him. He didn’t expect to fall for someone who is clearly taken, even having a small boy as her child, abother rather setting mark. I can see him as embarrassed about this, not wanting anyone to find out and probably even trying to distance himself from you. He does have a problem with you being married, it makes him feel conflicted about this all at first.

☕️But it isn’t like this will affect him for very long, he only needs a bit time to sort his feelings out. And after that he would most likely start spying on you and your husband, wanting to know everything. He would want to know when you met, how long have you been together and if you are really happy with that man. You could say that Ciel searches for something, anything that will make him feel like his dislike for this man is justified and labeling him as scum. If he would for example find out that the engagement was forced or that this guy did something bad in the past, it would be in the end his downfall. Ciel just tells himself that in the end of the day, he would be much more suited to take care of you and your child since he can offer protection and a good education for your son.

☕️But Ciel doesn’t need to find any dirt in that man’s past, he can create something that will ruin everything all on his own, a few rumors here and certain meet-ups there are all it will take until one day the police takes your husband away from you and your son, stomach-churning rumors flying wildly around that even you will start doubting your own trust. And a single woman with a child without a man to earn money is dangerous, leading Ciel to suddenly step in and offer to help you and your son, offering you a job in his manor where you can in return move in together with your small son.

☕️Starting off as his personal assistant, Ciel will work his way into your heart by courting and wooing you properly like a noble woman. Your son is another way to your hand. Ciel is rather awkward with children, especially with small ones, but he knows that if he manages to wrap your son around your fingers, it will be easier for him to get closer to you. I feel like the human servants in this household would totally start shipping you and their master since it’s obvious to them that Ciel likes you.

☕️Being in a relationship with him afterwards would be different if the relationship is a good one and since a child is in the picture, for Ciel a lot would change. He has to somehow get used to the role of being a father which is harder than thought for him and he would often let the servants do the job of babysitting which they all love doing. Won’t let your former partner anywhere near you ever again because if he does, he’s dead. It isn’t like Ciel doesn’t plan on making you and your son forget all about him and take his role as father and husband completely.

Sebastian Michaelis

🐈‍⬛For Sebastian this all is a bit different since he’s a demon. He knows about the human way of bonding together for the rest of their life, but saw so often people having multiple partner whilst being in a marriage, making him not necessarily having the highest opinion about it. A demon’s way of bonding on the other way is eternal and once a demon chose a mate, they stay as theirs for eternity. So whilst he would definitely step back if finding out that your partner is a demon and already marked you as his, with a human that’s another story. Humans are corrupted, disloyal, tempted. He just doesn’t feel any sympathy for them and especially not if that man there is acting like you’re his. Sebastian is possessive, don’t forget that.

🐈‍⬛Whilst Sebastian will properly eliminate that guy later on, he would before that start forming a relationship with you, becoming at least a good acquaintance of yours with which you can talk openly over things you can’t say to each stranger. He needs to be your friend first so you can run crying to him the moment he starts getting to work and break this marriage apart. He has so many possibilities given his true nature and has to make that guy pay properly for acting like he owned you. It pissed Sebastian almost off whenever he heard him telling everyone proudly about his beautiful wife. That guy didn’t own you and never had. And Sebastian will teach him just how pathetic as a human he really is.

🐈‍⬛Paying that guy back and watching his helpless expression when everyone seems to leave and abandon him, including his wife is unbelievable amusing for Sebastian. How he is entertained by this face of despair is purely sadistic and he isn’t someone to deny that he enjoys pulling the strings behind the scenes just to squeeze every bit of willpower and life out of that man. And all that whilst acting as the caring and concerned friend of yours who heard all the rumors and wants to know whether you’re fine or not, pulling you like this closer to him. And as soon as he’s made sure that you don’t trust your husband anymore, he will give him a devilish death, counting on you still being sad and searching in him comfort.

🐈‍⬛He will offer you a place to stay, to calm down and refresh your own mind from everything that has happened recently. It’s just a friendly offer from a friend of yours, that’s at least what you will probably think. But for Sebastian it’s just the next step from a bigger plan to make sure that you will become his. His love, his mate.

🐈‍⬛He will slowly isolate you from everyone else, making you stay in the house he offered you to live and to take care off. Sebastian wouldn’t feel ashamed in the least bit about falling in love with an already married s/o, he has no real respect of such rather pathetic way of bonding with your mate, the love will just never be that strong like between a demon and their mate. Not only that, but Sebastian clearly sees himself above such weak and greedy creatures and just knows that he can love and treat you better like some random man who just happened to call himself your, now dead, husband. And whilst never showing it, Sebastian will manipulate you into forgetting all about your husband or other humans. You should only think about him since you’re the only person on his mind too.

Alois Trancy

👅Alois is a rather childish boy and doesn’t possess the respect required to properly show respect and appreciate such a thing like marriage, especially when it comes to his princess. He is paranoid about many things and the last thing that a possessive and unstable freak like he needs is finding out that you’re already married to a good-for-nothing piece of trash. He would just start throwing a tantrum then and there, not being able to understand why you would ever marry someone else when it’s obvious to him that you are his. Will start blaming your husband for everything, giving him all the fault for this.

👅And different from many others, Alois doesn’t show that much patience to wait and manipulate that guy. He will just go straight into completely draining that guy from his life, ordering one of his demons to murder that man for even daring to get that close to you. In his eyes it’s nothing, but disgraceful and insulting for you, someone who deserves so much more. And of course your lovely daughter as well, constantly being with you. Alois tends to like to forget the fact that this isn’t his child biologically which is a good thing. It means he won’t hate that child for being that of another man.

👅Alois will almost instantly after getting rid of the obstacle approach you and your little daughter, already thinking about a happy and small family. He’s rather obvlious to your and your daughter’s sorrow over the loss of your husband, even being confused about it. He just sees you and him as meant to be together and thought that you would be glad about hearing that this scum is bad. He won’t be able to understand that you really loved that man, instead thinking that you were perhaps manipulated or are just confused about your feelings. Same counts for your daughter.

👅He will have you two kidnapped rather quickly, seeing as more as bringing his family into their new home. He can’t stand the thought of you two out there completely alone and defenseless. What kind of father and husband would he be if he won’t go to extreme measurements to protect his family? And from that point on, you and your daughter wouldn’t have to worry about anything anymore because Alois will do absolutely anything for you and your child.

👅It’s a ‘bird in a golden cage’ situation for you and your kid because Alois won’t let you leave the manor, he’s too terrified of something happening to the two of you. And he will definitely spoil the child beyond rotten just to be a good papa. And if your child is smaller and not able to grasp the full impact of this situation, she might just start viewing Alois as her real and new father, giving Alois the advantage because you for sure wouldn’t leave your little daughter behind.

Claude Faustus

🕷Similar to Sebastian he doesn’t have the best opinion about humans, they are just greedy and selfish creatures, only there to give him a nice meal from time to time. And it’s similar to their way of claiming each another, marrying. What a ridiculous thing to do, really. He saw so many people cheating on their partner, so many people not happy with their connection anymore. He never had a mate before, but in this case he sees his species as the more honorable one since demons mate for their entire life and stay faithful, at least the demons who found their mate.

🕷Claude has a rather arrogant opinion about himself, viewing himself as quite the gentleman and perfect partner to have. He’s confident in loving and pampering his mate better than anyone else can which is exactly the reason why he has to kill that guy, make him disappear to reach you. Your partner is tryuly disgusting in his eyes, undeserving of such a adorable woman like you. Insects have to be crushed and that’s exactly what Claude will do, crushing that guy’s life in the most humiliating ways possible and manipulating you into losing all faith in him, ending with everyone leaving him. And in the end Claude will finish his pathetic and lonely life with the snap of his fingers.

🕷And whilst cruelly breaking that loser apart, Claude will also start forming a bond with you, starting off as someone you happen to bump into very often, leading to some conversations in which you will start feeling more and more comfortable since he comes over as a very charming and nice young man. And from there on Claude will start manipulating you, telling you rumors about friends and your husband he happened to hear somewhere and start gossiping about everyone you’re close to about, making you feel more warily and leading to you slowly starting to isolate yourself, feeling suspicious of everyone.

🕷Claude will be always there to comfort you, no matter what it is. Be it you crying because you feel like you can’t trust anyone besides him anymore or be that abother heavy argument between you and your husband. It’s all just too much for you and Claude will soothe you with sweet lies, help you to calm down and to not get overwhelmed with all the stress. And after he eliminated really everyone, after they all lost their worth for him, you will be completely on your knees, having lost everyone, including your husband. And from there on he will start building you up again in his own way, offering you to help you with financial problems and to help you forgetting all about your deceased ex husband.

🕷Claude is poisoned honey, sweet and adoring yet also very mischievous and manipulative. He can and will use all sorts of lies and manipulations on you, keeping you in your now new home where you will live from now on. And he will work from there on to make you dependent on only him, make sure that you rely on only him. He will do anything for you, being the perfect gentleman as long as you don’t act up or try to leave him.

Ash Landers

▫️Your husband should honestly shovel himself a grave when you have this fanatic lunatic after you. This would be horror in it's purest form for Ash, who sees everyone as rotten and danger for you. Being married with such filth is even worse, knowing that he touched you already several times with those undeserving hands of his, that he took you away from your true pure way of living. I feel like marrying would hold some worth, a lot if I'm being honest, for Ash. It's a honorable ritual what is misused from the humans these days. But with your clean soul it has it's old glory again which makes Ash even more furious, knowing that you didn't get to experience the full beauty of this way of bonding because of that scum there.

▫️He obviously failed in protecting you, didn't find you soon enough to save you from the filthy ams of that man. It throws him into an angry and grieving loop, ending with him losing his calm and cool attitude and just letting it all go. He is not worthy of calling himself your angel if he can't even protect the person he has to keep safe under all means necessary, even if it costs him his own life. It will end with him hurting himself whilst hysterically crying, not thinking that he deserves to be blessed to even see you.

▫️But he can't just let that guy continue to have you either. Ash is extremely violent and messy when it comes to this topic, he has to serve and to protect after all, meaning erasing everyone who even breathes in the same direction as you. That guy will die a horrific death, the last thing he will see on this earth will be Ash's completely crazed expression. And it is guaranteed that Ash will kidnap you after that, swearing to you that he will never let it happen again that someone will come near you. He will cut out his eyes if it happens again since he wouldn't be able to look at you again if it should happen again.

▫️Ash is extremely hard to deal with, he's a fanatic and crazed person through and through and his twisted way of seeing things is fearsome, how he keeps saying that he will protect you with his life, make sure that nothing will touch you and that hew will create a London worthy for you living in. His manipulation works mainly in one wa, even though it isn't even intended from him to use it against you. It's his self-destructive nature. Ash sees the need to punish and hurt himself whenever you cry because of him or seem not satisfied. It's his job to ensure that you're always happy and healthy and by neglecting or ignoring him, you will give him the impression that he disappointed you which he won't be able to handle well. It just meant he failed as your guardian angel and that's a disgrace for him.

▫️Ash will not hurt you in any way possible, never. He would honestly stab his heart rather than ever touching you in a wrong way. I feel like his paranoia would significantly increase due to you being already once in a marriage with someone before. For Ash it just means that he already didn't fulfill his purpose in here once and he will be damned if it should happen a second time. He will be also so much more stricter one himself and even more dependent on your reaction and way of acing around him. He honestly wouldn't blame you for hating him, he screwed up as your guardian angel and you were forced to be next to someone tainted because of it. Be honestly careful with your way of being around him or else his body will be covered with marks.

Madam Red

🩺It's been a while since I wrote about this fine lady here, you know? Reason is that I wanted to have one less intense Yandere in here which is why I chose her. Because I feel like she would be a more selfless Yandere in here. I feel like Angelina would be totally devastated, especially at the beginning when finding out that her darling was already married and had together with her husband a absolutely gorgeous little daughter. Angelina sacrificed her first love already for her sister's happiness and lost her husband and her unborn child in a terrible accident. So whilst being certainly especially at the beginning disapproving of your husband, if you're happy with him and he treats you and your child well, she will be ready to sacrifice her own happiness for yours and the girl's one.

🩺I think she will just stay in the closest friendzone of yours, being for you like a caring and best friend and for your small girl like a aunt or second mother. She has a rather hard and difficult time when she sees you, your daughter and your husband happy together, it makes her feel like a fist is squeezing her heart painfully tight. It gives her another reminder that she will never have this kind of happiness. And yet at the same time she would also be glad that at least you found happiness. It's honestly a bittersweet sight for her. She's extremely overprotective over you and your child and whenever one of you is sick, she will rush over and check on you two, nursing you back to health. Also orders Grell to watch over you two and get ready to become a bit messy if someone tries to hurt you and your daughter.

🩺The only time she will step in and do something against this marriage is when she notices that you and your daughter aren't comfortable with him or your husband doesn't take proper care of you, even treating you badly. That's the situation where she will snap and won't be tolerating with this bastard. She was ready to give up on you because she thought you and your small daughter were safe withz that man. But if that isn't the case, she sees no reason why she should show mercy either. With her position and a grim reaper as a butler, she should have little to no problem to punish that guy for treating the two persons most important to her.

🩺Angelina is most likely already a close friend of yours at that time and will let you in her own house, preparing rooms for you and your daughter to stay in. She would instantly check on both of you, scared that your former partner might have left permanent damage, be that physically or mentally. And she will be there to listen to your and your hild's every story, comforting both of you and reassuring that she won't let something like this happen again, promising to take good care of you. She would feel terrible for not doing anything sooner to save you and your girl.

🩺Madam Red is rather iffy about letting you and your child leave the safe and sound mansion of hers, scared that something might happen to you two. She really can't risk losing her family all over again. She already did twice.Would totally smother and pamper the small girl, she's in total love with her just as much as she is with you. She is also rather reluctant to let you out because many people at that time just weren't that openminded when it came to two people of the same gender loving each other. It makes her feel a bit uneasy even though she won't be that vulnerable due to her noble position. But still, she just feels safest with her small family in her own four walls.

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

fire emoji + Black Butler. insert smirking emoji here lmao. also fire emoji + grishaverse ships, fire emoji + grishaverse narrative endings/wrap-ups

Black Butler:

OMG I have so many soapboxes here, where do I even begin?? I will give you a laundry list

- Black Butler occupies this really weird place where the subject matter is incredibly dark and yet the tone is light and feels like it’s initially aimed at younger audiences. It’s something I have a lot of mixed feelings about! Because on the one hand jfc it really should not be shown to younger people. The earlier arcs especially are just really hijinksy (despite the backstory consistently being real grim) and then we get to BoC where it’s like “Ciel gets triggered so bad he decides to immolate a bunch of orphans! anyway!” like ???

But also I did personally get into it back in the day as a baby and latched on pretty hard because there’s fucking nothing out there about CSA survivors. Even now tbh? And idk it’s nice to have something with a survivor protagonist where trauma is intrinsic to the storyline while also not being overpowering/the only aspect of the narrative. It’s still a story about dumb mysteries and idk supernatural bullshit. Idk, I just wish it was more even handed in letting the audience know what kind of content to expect and also less… creepy…

- That paired with how impossible the anime is to get into, and the endless filler have really contributed to the IP just being run into the ground. Like the anime at this point is kind of just catered to existing fans. It’s already demonstrably unlikely for uninvested new people to sit through the really bad early art and weird non canon filler content in the early seasons, and a *series* ending to then jump to an entire new timeline that retcons 90% of what previously happened lmao. Meanwhile manga fans are less active because we’ve been dragged through the same fucking storyline for 5+ years at this point and there’s only just been any real movement. And like Yana is clearly putting in less effort bc of TWST (which fair, Disney’s where the money is) but yeah no fucking wonder it’s all downhill.

- 2CT was terrible writing (the way NO ONE ever mentioned a dead sibling??) but it was hilarious and also Yana Toboso’s best writing choice in this series ahgsjgd

- FUCK Sebastian! Hate that bitch! Also want to see him be more evil ASAP. It’s really funny when fans get like. upset. that he’s doing demon shit. Anyway I can’t believe we see that his true form is gelatinous eldritch eye blob (gee that sounds familiar lmfao) and it came up ONCE and never again! I demand body horror

- I know I’ve already told you this but season two was bad but Alois was good!! He used to be pretty controversial before, but atm the fandom mostly seems to like him? Finally some good taste. Also I’m forever upset that Yana apparently considered writing him into the Weston arc and then didn’t? We were robbed.

- LBR we’re never getting a Weston arc adaptation…

Grishaverse:

- I’ve somehow managed to immediately dislike any ship LB has tried to make endgame. Idk I just do not like how she handles endgame ship conflict— it’s always very Gender Roles ime? Like exhibit A is Malina’s everything.

And then Kanej (rip I know it’s both the fan favorite and your favorite) is very cut and dry goodhearted girl demands cruel dude to change. And like it was. fine I guess? I’m not meaning to insult them by including them with Malina lol but it was just boring and not my thing. And it didn’t help that Inej kept being taken hostage, hurt, or somehow threatened to spur Kaz into action. Like I don’t think it was done in a particularly bad way! It just personally put me off the ship.

Then with Zoyalai it’s like slightly better where Nikolai entire thing is like “I am a wilting flower within a gilded cage! I must marry for politics but I would like to marry for love. Specifically my hot gruff general who doesn’t seem to give a damn about me 🥺” Like that is a FANTASTIC basis tbh? But then you already know how I feel about her throwing his father’s portrait into the fire. And then the bit where Zoya has to be in mortal peril for Nikolai to learn how to control his demon completely killed it for me.

- LOL well I don’t think there’s been a truly good wrap up in this series yet? LB is good at throwing things on the page that feel conclusive/follow face value beats. But I can’t think of a single book, let alone series wrap up, that actually tied things up well.

S&B, literally the first book, comes the closest imo? And that’s partly because it’s definitively not a wrap up, it’s obviously the start of a larger story. Also points taken off for the climactic choices about mercy having fuck all to do with anything the earlier story laid out.

After that, I think it’s a tie between CK and RoW for best wrap ups? And that’s not saying much, I didn’t really like what she did with either of them structurally, thematically, or just like on a content “where are the characters at?” level. Again, I think she only understands tropes and recurring beats in endings without fully getting the function of what makes them work and why. (an example being both the SoC duology and TGT operating on an “ending right where you started” circular arc to varying degrees of um. arguable. success)

I might be slightly crankier about this because I haven’t the read the books in awhile lol. I tend to remember things either with undue generosity or ire 😂 But yeah tldr on grishaverse wrap ups: I don’t like them!

Send me a 🔥 and a topic and I’ll give you an unpopular opinion on it!

[randomanimeandmangablog]

I wish we knew more about Vincent Phantomhive. I have kind of a feeling for who he was and a lot of headcanons, but we really know so little.

Judging by Cloudia's death date, Vincent was only 14 when he took over the role of Watchdog. That's a few years older than Ciel was when he had the mantle thrust upon him.

Vincent is more evil (and while I think he's better than Sebastian, I think he is evil) than Ciel because he would do a lot of the worst of the things Ciel does, but his actions would come with full understanding and less trauma.

Vincent was raised to become the Watchdog, and it was forced on him too soon, but in many ways he lived a normal life until his mother's death. He was taught to view the world as a chessboard and people as pieces, so he was very manipulative and guided toward an almost sociopathic mentality, but he was never beaten or punished in an abusive way.

He grew up with friends, so he's more social than Ciel. He was trained how to fit in and be liked. He developed genuine attachments to people and he knew he cared about them. When he became the Watchdog, he had to start using people, but he still cared for them and tries to be as kind as possible to the ones he cared about.

However, he doesn't feel many compunctions about hurting people he doesn't know. When he does hurt people, his decisions are made in a calculated way. He fully understands each and every consequence, up to and including the effects on innocent people. He might feel a twinge of pity or guilt, but for the most part, unless they're his family or friends, he doesn't care.

This in contrast to Ciel who never got a normal childhood. His asthma made it impossible to have a normal social life, and then he lost his parents and brother at 10. He was tortured, raped, and almost sacrificed. He watched his brother die and was made to feel like it was his fault. He had no real choice but to accept the help of a demon, who as much damned him as saved him. He's surrounded by opportunities for happiness and healing, but he can't take any of them.

When he commits unspeakable acts, it's sometimes with the "for the greater good" mentality, but often it's because he is traumatized and cannot think rationally (i.e. the panic attack he has at Baron Kelvin's).

He genuinely cares for others, but he doesn't seem to realize that he does (i.e., his telling Agni that Soma's not his friend vs. his horror and hints of guilt at what happens to Agni and Soma). He's lost his whole immediate family. He was betrayed by Madame Red and more recently by the Undertaker. On top of that, his father figure is actively pushing him toward unhappiness and isolation from others. Ciel knows Sebastian, the only person who will never betray him, will one day kill him. The Queen, too, is pushing him toward corruption, and Ciel's young enough that if he were to refuse the Watchdog title and possibly be stripped of his title as earl, he'd lose all agency and what little of his old life he has left.

Whereas Vincent was able to form normal relationships and could analyze his feelings, Ciel's been traumatized into doubting everyone and believing those that won't betray him will die on him.

So, while I guess my headcanon about Vincent's upbringing means he was traumatized in a different way, I see Ciel as living in an almost constant state of trauma, never fully able to make much progress toward healing. That is what leads to Ciel committing terrible acts, whereas Vincent did so in a much more calculating and calm way. Ciel does calculate his options, but the driving force behind him doing so is fear and trauma.

[chibimyumi]

how would you describe ciel’s and sebastian’s relationship? like yes literally it’s contractor and the one who agrees to the contract. but like their day to day relationship with eachother. i dont ship them but i love how they interact with one another but don’t know how to characterize their relationship.

Dear Anon,

O!Ciel and Sebastian’s relationship is not something I could fit into any inter-human relationship categories. This is because theirs is simply something that seems very unlikely for humans to have in our society. However, that is exactly what makes this master-servant duo interesting.

Most clinically, O!Ciel and Sebastian are indeed master and servant, child and adult. Though surely very rare, child-employers with adult-employees might exist in our world. What makes O!Ciel and Sebastian’s relationship unique is by no means limited to this ‘subversion’ of child-adult dynamic. Let us unpack this master-servant bond category by category, layer by layer.

1. Child vs Adult – Age Dynamic

A unique characteristic of O!Ciel and Sebastian’s relationship is how they do not behave like any child vs adult would. Sebas treats O!Ciel like a child, but he does not see his master as a child. And by ‘child’, I mean more specifically ‘a less-than-adult’ person. To Sebastian who is centuries old, a human who is 13 is as inexperienced and foolish as a 30 or 60 year old human. Instead, it seems like Sebas treats O!Ciel like a child only because it gets on his master’s nerves and it is entertaining.

We must remember that humans are cattle to Sebas, and that O!Ciel is no exception. For analogy’s sake, let us imagine a pig. Humans usually don’t have a higher regard or respect for adult pigs than they have for piglets. We don’t take adult pigs more seriously than we do piglets.

2. Master vs Servant – Power Dynamic

The most unique part in O!Ciel and Sebas’ relationship is not that a child is the employer of an adult, omnipotent demon. The uniqueness is in the detail that this specific employer has absolute command over Sebastian, and can even use the demon’s powers against him at will. We see in the Werewolf Arc for example, how O!Ciel has practically already broken his end of the contract. Sebastian was in full right to claim his payment for his service and return home. But since the contract was technically not over yet, O!Ciel stopped the demon from exerting his right with just one simple phrase: “it’s an order.”

Sebastian may seem all-powerful, but if O!Ciel wishes to make Sebas do something against his will, O!Ciel merely needs to use the binding magical term “it’s an order”. This binding term is so powerful it can infringe all of Sebastian’s personal autonomy, and it would be ““legal””. What if Sebas doesn’t want to be touched? “It’s an order, let person X touch you and get away without harm.” What if Sebas doesn’t want to expose himself to lethal danger? “It’s an order, do it anyway.”

This is the reason why SebaCiel could never work (even if O!Ciel were an adult!), simply because the power balance is inherently tipped way too much to O!Ciel’s side. A romantic and/or sexual relationship cannot work as long as the power balance is off, and true consent cannot be given on all sides. Consent that can be coerced, or cannot be withdrawn freely, is not true consent, after all.

3. Master vs Servant - Bickering

There is a lot of back-and-forth bickering between O!Ciel and Sebastian, which is very uncharacteristic of employer-employee relationships (No way I’m going to bicker against my boss!) Sometimes the bickering is light-hearted and comical, and I surmise this is part of the reason people might have the illusion that their power-dynamic is not completely off (as described above).

This light-hearted bickering is a great appeal, and it makes the master not behave like a full master, and the servant not like a full servant. On surface their contract bears semblance to a friendly relationship wherein both parties also fulfil their respective roles in this employment. This is a powerful ingredient in their usually fantastic cooperation during their missions! O!Ciel allows Sebas some freedom (when he sees fit), while Sebas returns this ‘kind gesture’ with helpful initiatives (when he sees fit). I dare say that many if not most ‘Kuroshitsuji’ fans are here exactly for this reason. Regardless of how fantastic this cooperation might be however, at core their relationship is still ‘employment’.

On the darker side however, this bickering is also one of the fruits born from insidious manipulation. In this post I discussed how Sebastian stretches his arms and legs as WIDELY as possible within his tiny constraints. To a certain extent, O!Ciel turns a blind eye (pun not intended) to it. Why though?

Of course O!Ciel is not a complete tyrant towards Sebastian, but this is the result that Sebastian managed to fight and win for himself. All the way back in chapter 138 Sebas didn’t even know O!Ciel yet, and yet he already made very clear that:

He should not try to exert too much control over him

That if he does try to do so, he should be careful with words

That if he is not careful, Sebas will take any opportunity to punish him for careless word-choice

In this small incident O!Ciel learned that if his demon misbehaves, he’d have himself to blame. THIS is the silent lesson Sebas instilled into the boy; that if Sebas mistreats O!Ciel, it is not Sebas who crossed boundaries, but that O!Ciel didn’t set the boundaries right. “O!Ciel had it coming”. This lesson taught by Sebas leans dangerously close to – if not downright within – the category of victim-blaming. (Sebas you trashy Trash Demon™, I love you.)

3.1. Circus Arc

So far in the manga, the most obvious example of this victim-blaming dynamic is the incident with the snakes in the Circus Arc. Sebas very clearly reminded O!Ciel that he is not above allowing his master to get hurt semi-mortally. O!Ciel was seething when he found out, and justly so. But did Sebas show any remorse? Of course not. Instead he blamed O!Ciel for:

Not being careful enough with his commands

Being too boring to see the ‘fun’ in this game

3.2. Jack the Ripper Arc

Far more dramatically, this same victim-blaming dynamic can found in the Jack the Ripper Arc, and this one arguably even dictated how O!Ciel is going to become as a person.

In the Ripper Arc Sebas also obeyed O!Ciel’s order to the T. But that’s it; only to the T and nothing more. Because the demon deliberately withheld information from his master necessary for the investigation, more victims fell while the case was still in O!Ciel’s hands. Who gets the blame? Jack the Ripper obviously. But who is made to bear the guilt? O!Ciel is; through the victim-blaming Sebastian made him internalise.

O!Ciel is still O!Ciel, so he probably didn’t really lose any sleep over the deaths of 5 people. But had he not been him, then surely this guilt would have been mind-crippling. However, we need to bear in mind that O!Ciel was not unaffected; had Sebas not withheld information, then O!Ciel would have stopped the murders earlier, and presented a scapegoat to the Queen. Let’s be fair, had Madam been arrested then she’d still be awaiting capital punishment. But as the Watchdog, O!Ciel pulls some strings. He would have tried VERY hard not to lose his aunt too.

As it is however, the enormous guilt about the death of his own aunt is what Sebas made O!Ciel suffer through slow and insidious manipulation. Sebas never gave O!Ciel the time to mourn his aunt, and instead pressured the boy into admitting that he ‘callously sacrificed Madam as a pawn’. He made him mentally TAKE the blame for the murder that Grell committed, and Sebas could have helped prevent.

As we can see in chapter 13, O!Ciel was desperately trying to externalise the blame, coming up with excuse after excuse, justification after justification. None however, works. Good seasoning skills, Sebas, amazing food-prep.

I am fairly certain that O!Ciel doesn’t even realise how much he’s being emotionally manipulated by his butler throughout the years. This insight about emotional manipulation and psychological abuse is something that requires a level of abstract comprehension we cannot expect from most people, let alone a 13 year old child (however smart they may be.)

4. Conclusion

In conclusion, both Sebas and O!Ciel exist in this relationship rather amicably on surface level, but they are inherently toxic to each other. Sebas is continuously manipulating and emotionally abusing O!Ciel, while O!Ciel holds the absolute power to infringe all of Sebastian’s autonomy.

This ⇊ illustration by Yana is the perfect symbolisation of their bond.

We can attach adjectives like “f*cking toxic” and “fascinating” to this relationship, but we can’t find a category of inter-human relationship to fit O!Ciel and Sebastian into. In real life there are no children who can wield magical command to strip someone entirely of their autonomy. Likewise, there are very few adults who would not consider a child as ‘less-than-adult’. Should we try to shoe-horn O!Ciel and Sebas into a human category, then we risk over-simplifying this relationship. Over-simplification of this relationship can be very harmful, because the subverted formula of “child-master and adult-servant” SEEMS to compensate for the inherent power imbalance.

Yana however, managed to write this relationship SO brilliantly complex, that Sebas will always remain the servant who is at O!Ciel’s mercy, while O!Ciel suffers continuous mental abuse despite holding the ultimate ace card against a demon. This complex relationship is the ultimate evidence that even the most toxic relationships can look functional on surface level, and I love hating it!

I hope this helps give some insight!

[thedarkestcrow]

I’ve heard some people theorize that one of the key players is going to be Madame Red. I think this is a great theory! Undertaker prepared her for her funeral so he may have revived her corpse. She could be a crucial part of the Ciel vs Sebastian battle. She was a close family member to him and she also threw away her life for her own sort of revenge, meaning she could be one of the strongest pushes for Ciel to abandon his revenge and Sebastian and decide to live.

Yes, there are theories that one of these Star Lords (maybe Lord Canopus) could be Madam Red. And personally, I’d love that. If these Lords are people we already know, and even better whose deaths are related to our Ciel, that could lead to very interesting developments.

At this point I’m pretty sure the Lords must be people who have appeared before (otherwise why hide their faces for such a long time) and we also know that they’re Bizarre Dolls so they must already be dead. That limits the possibilities. Since the story revolves a lot about our Ciel’s feelings of guilt (for his family’s death and for the deaths of many others who died around him since he became the Watchdog)...

...forcing him to face those whose death he feels guilty about would fit very well. And maybe that’s what Undertaker believes could help our Ciel to get over these feelings so that he doesn’t just accept his death by Sebastian’s hands. 

About Madam Red, you’re right, Undertaker had the opportunity to get her corpse and to make a Bizarre Doll out of her. And if he’s trying to confront our Ciel with his guilt Madam Red is a good choice.

As for the revenge part, that’s a good point with the parallels to Madam Red. She blamed these women who threw away what she couldn’t have and punished them by killing them. But because of that she lost her own life, as well. Whether, however, she could actually convince our Ciel to give up on his revenge, I’m having serious doubts:

First of all, that wouldn’t really help our Ciel to get out of the contract because Sebastian made it clear that he’d take his soul anyway. Second, it really depends on what condition Madam Red is in as a Bizarre Doll. She’s not truly alive anymore and I don’t think she’d be able to reflect on her life choices now as a Bizarre Doll so she’s probably stuck in the mindset she had when she was killed and I’m not so sure she really regretted her decisions at that time. Sure, she didn’t want to kill our Ciel but she didn’t seem to have regrets regarding the murders she committed. And finally, our Ciel is very determined to get his revenge. He even commented on his aunt’s death as a result to her hesitation - a mistake he doesn’t want to do.

Also, since those who killed his family are likely to become a threat to our Ciel, too, he might have no other choice than to fight back. 

So in conclusion, I don’t think our Ciel will abandon his revenge. He’ll probably face those who are responsible for his family’s murder and win. But what happens afterwards will be interesting because then Sebastian will be a threat to our Ciel’s life. And then it might be crucial what our Ciel actually wants. Whether he accepts his end or wants to survive. And that decision could very well be influenced by how he processes his feelings of guilt where people like real Ciel or Madam Red could play an important part. 

I’m excited to see something like that happening so I’m really hoping the other Star Lords are people who can fill that role. (By the way, if Canopus is Madam Red, a meeting with Grell who we know is investigating in this case would surely be quite interesting too.)

Sorry for the late reply, I hope you have a nice day! :) Take care!

[plague-of-insomnia]

AAAHHH! I just finished reading the latest WDH chapter. IT'S SO AMAZING!!! I loved all of the flashbacks interwoven with the current plot. Also:1) I love Finny and Ciel's relationship. It is too pure and it makes my heart all warm and fuzzy. 2) THE INTERROGATION SCENE *chef's kiss* I loved it! Especially getting to see Undertaker work. That was a real treat. I love how you incorporated his canon quirkiness in this story. 3) When Seb bumps into Bard again- you guys ripped my heart out.

OK first of all: Ahhhhhh! Tysm for this ask, anon! Today was a rough day and seeing this first thing was a huge uplift to my 💕💕💕!

I am SOO happy you enjoyed the chapter!! We worked so hard on that baby and are so proud of it it makes us 😊 to see people who enjoyed it!

1) Finny And Ciel in WDH are friendship/sibling goals, ngl!! I adore how protective and caring of Ciel Finny is, and how he helps Ciel come out of his shell. Likewise, I adore how Ciel gave Finny incentive to train and become stronger. We will see more of them ofc as the story progresses! (And isn’t that selfie art @luci-on-the-moon did of them the best?)

2) me rn: 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😍😍😍🥰🥰🥰! The interrogation sequence was one of the toughest things to write bc there’s such a delicate dance of fluctuating characterization (both UT and Seb with their personas) and information. It makes me soooo happy to see someone who enjoyed seeing a different side to Ut (than what we’ve seen of him in WDH so far).

“Cop” Undertaker is tough to write but so much fun... to see how he is able to analyze and manipulate people into giving him information... He plays an important role in the story so we will definitely see more of him and his quirky humor— and I love the dynamic between him and Seb.

Like @luci-on-the-moon and I were joking this morning:

Seb: Where’s your eyebrows?

UT: Where’s your mental health?

Seb: Same place as yours, apparently 😏

3) The Bard and Seb moments were ofc our faves bc we love having our hearts ripped out... 😅... Honestly, the moment where Bard says “Don’t make me do this” kills me every time 💔 (and the art...ugh!)!

Next chapter will be quite interesting when Seb wakes up...!

4) Also, I’m glad you enjoyed the flashbacks! I know you’re technically supposed to minimize how much you use them, but I’ve always liked being able to see how someone’s past affects their present and learn more about a character that way (both other people’s works and my own), so I’m glad you liked them in this chapter!!

Ty again so much for reading and taking the time to send this ask!!

It means a lot to us...! And my asks are always open (if they don’t work on desktop try mobile). 😊😊

[jclvni]

𝐡𝐬𝐡𝐪𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐤𝟎𝟑𝟑            𝐣𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐧. ' ̖-

we got a little bit carried away but this is v2 of our jelimpia kids ( our first au kinda made us sad so we sent them to therapy ).  / @olimpiacroy​

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐮𝐩.

after a tumultuous number of months and years, olimpia and jelani kind of get their thing to work and then bam ! olimpia gets pregnant by accident. it’s their ( misguided ) optimism that makes them think that they can handle a baby. terminating the pregnancy would have been a tough call for olimpia anyway, keeping the baby seems like a natural decision.

the first kid is definitely olimpia’s ; jelani’s still trying to figure out if he has it in him to be a dad. olimpia never forgets to complain about how she’s doing so much. in true jelimpia style, the quips escalate, and then it happens. one night, she so much as implies he’s behaving like his father and he snaps. jelani mwezi, whose tongue is so readily dipped in poison, had not a word to say as he slams the door shut behind him and disappears. it doesn’t last long ( a couple of nights, more than enough to have fanni pestering olimpia to forget him ), but he returns, of course ; he knows where he wants to be, and it’s with oli and kai. it’s a rocky couple of years that drive them to go to therapy, get their shit together — they can’t be stupid 20-something-year-olds forever. 

the first two kids are born in europe but they move to tanzania before the youngest is born. it’s olimpia’s way of saying every past mistake is water under the bridge. all the kids are baptized in budapest though, it was not up for debate.

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬.

the kids have names that the parents liked. malakiàs is the name of a prophet, olimpia wanted a biblical name and it was pretty. safiri sounded nice. safiri and malakiàs both kind of sound like gemstones ( sapphire & malachite ) so it’s an added plus. akina was a name with attitude and it sounded pretty too. all kids are croy-mwezis because jelimpia wanted the kids to have an obnoxious name probably.

𝐢. 𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐈 ( jordan bolger fc )

zodiac sign: sagittarius name meaning: ( biblical ) messenger ; god-fearing

olimpia wants malakiàs to be living proof of how her relationship with jelani is not as hopeless as people think it is. she has high expectations for little ki and is a very hands-on parent the first years of his life. jelani is a bit absent — there, but not really there ; being a dad is difficult on him and he isn’t quite there yet. but these are formative years for ki. he’s relatively young when he gathers that his dad is not like the ones on tv. preschool aged and already bitter, ki begins to act up. aggressive brawls in the playground, snarky just-under-breath backchat to his nanny. olimpia is sad, but jelani is crushed — after all, it’s much too familiar ! a rough twenty years prior, it was he who was throwing messy punches in the school yard. this was a reality check for him. he’ll seek help before turning drowning in the rabbit hole that transforms him into andrew mwezi-rhodes.

malakiàs has many names but the most common nicknames are ”kai” which is used internationally and ”ki” which is used by family. olimpia usually calls him malakiàs though because it’s a name she chose and loved. ki starts acting out the older he gets and eventually olimpia just gives up. she doesn’t know what to do and kind of sees ki as a lost cause. ki grows up to be an independent adult.

the shame is that ki is the smartest kid of the three. just a bit smarter than average. but he never  applies himself. he does the bare minimum in school. he gets average ( sometimes excellent ) grades, so he has no reason to spend time and energy on studying. 

ki has only one passion: american football. he was three when he attended his first match, club seats to a cowboys vs patriots game, sat on the lap of grandpa andrew ( a big money american with friends in higher places ). he was four when his grandfather gifted him his first football, complete with mini goal posts and a helmet. and how jelani envies ! he envies his ki, who at four years old has garnered more affection from the man that he has over two decades ; and he envies his father, who had ignited a little spark in those chocolate brown eyes that not even olimpia had managed. how dare he ? so he overcompensates. every game day is a game day. new jerseys for each game, signed by all the big names at post-match meet and greets. little league games were proceeded with a feast of ki’s choice ( all too often, mcdonalds ). he does what he feels is necessary to ensure ki would pick him over grandpa andrew. 

olimpia had long backed off, and jelani was never all that paternal, so his teenage years divulged in a rebellious streak. he most certainly has a fling with a zulu ( kenny’s kid most likely ) and he’s bffs with karla de braganca ( a fact, no one can contest this ). 

godparents: @imanv, @lcvcntc

𝐢𝐢. 𝐒𝐀𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐈 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐈 ( addis miller fc )

zodiac sign: libra  name meaning: journey ; second

safiri was jelani’s redemption arc. he was planned, he was wanted & he was cared for. he was born five years after ki. safiri grows up wanting to fix the family. he sees the cracks in his parents’ relationship and the issues his brother has. safiri does everything in his power to keep the family together. family life is probably the main source of stress for him.

safiri is popular though. he takes after jelimpia the most: stubborn, social and so sure of himself. his squad is the it squad of instagram. had he been born in the 90s he would have been bffs with kendall and sofia richie. he’s the luka sabbat / fai khadra of the next gen.

his real bff is céleste d’orléans. ciel likes taking pictures and safiri loves posing. they do projects together and just click. safiri gets along with both of his parents but he’s definitely jelani’s child. 

godparents: @siljcs, @aurcls

𝐢𝐢𝐢. 𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐀 𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐙𝐈𝐀 ( tasha green fc )

zodiac sign: aries name meaning: solidarity ; summer

akina happens because olimpia needs a daughter. a bit less than two years after safiri. two kids should have been enough but no. akina is luckily a girl and olimpia is over the moon. olimpia tries her hardest to have the most iconic mother-daughter relationship one can hope for. akina definitely talks to olimpia about everything but olimpia can be a bit suffocating. 

akina is a late bloomer. jelani tells olimpia to take her to speech therapy when she’s almost two and hasn’t learned to speak. akina has always been quiet. she’s an observer with a million thoughts running through her head. she doesn’t really like the role she has in her family.

so when she graduates from high school she goes to live with the savari kids. she redefines herself outside of her family and realizes what she wants to do and that is art. after her gap year she applies to central saint martins to study textile design. she loves london and her new freedom. she sends postcards to her parents and lots of polaroids. social media is so uncool.

godparents: @fannicroy, @bastivvn

[abybweisse]

Ch63, Claiming the earldom

While doing research for an upcoming fanfic… I am reminded of a couple things, regarding our earl officially gaining that title:

He and Sebastian learned their respective roles in a mere 2 months. Since the demon contract was made ~ January 20, 1886…

…and our earl officially gains the title March 17, 1886 (which happens to be St. Patrick’s Day. Is there any significance to that? 🤔)

I’m also reminded of this confirmation: As soon as the Phantomhives were killed/displaced from their estate, the entire earldom was, in fact, relinquished to the crown. Victoria could do with the manor, the estate, the Phantomhive coffers, and even the surrounding village as she pleased in the three months she controlled them. (Dec 14/15, 1885 — Mar 17, 1886)

And I bet she did as much as she possibly could. I still say that could be one of the reasons for the attack on the Phantomhives to begin with. Perhaps Vincent didn’t send as much money or as many workers to London for the Tower Bridge project as the queen wanted, and one way to get the money and the workers was to have direct control over them.

I mean… the estate was apparently having some money issues, due to cheaper prices on American goods coming into the country. That might have started before Vincent’s death. Vincent said the earldom only prospers because of its people. And in ch132, he specifically states how bridges and ditches take a lot of money and physical labor or “help”. So, this is reason enough for Vincent to not send the funding and manpower the queen likely requested of him. He needed all the resources he had — money and laborers — to stay on the Phantomhive estate and in the surrounding village.

As our earl later (in ch85) tells Sebastian, regarding Tower Bridge not being complete, people have their own priorities. I believe Vincent tried to put his family and the earldom ahead of the crown, and that would have gotten him into trouble from time to time.

Plus, take note of Tower Bridge’s timeline in the manga. Plans laid out in 1875, the year the twins were born. Hardly anything for ten whole years. Construction finally begins in 1886. (In 1889, Sebastian says “3 years ago”.) And this kid returns to the manor to find that the manor itself isn’t the only thing in ruins. The family finances are poor, and the village is suffering, too. I don’t think it’s just about competition from foreign markets. Perhaps that’s what our earl (and later real Ciel) was led to believe? I really do expect to find out the queen was funneling money and even moving people from the Phantomhive estate and earldom to her beloved Tower Bridge project. Don’t forget she built it as a monument to Prince Albert, after all….

And, according to Mother3 theory, Vincent is being punished (partly) for disobedience, just like Flint’s house gets burned down for not showing loyalty to King Porky.

[grelleswife]

So as a person wanting to possibly fic write in the future.. how do you get into a character so you can focus on a fic that's about them?? I've never been too hooked on a particular character but in order to write about some I feel like I should get into them more and more besides just watching and reading anime and mangas!

Hi, anon! Based on my own experience, I'd advise you to follow your passion. If you strongly dislike a character or just feel kind of "meh" about them, you probably won't enjoy writing a fic where they're the protagonist. However, if you're writing about a character you love, you'll have a great time, even when the drafting process is giving you a headache. As in real life, liking a person isn't something you can force; if you're not vibing with a ship or a character, your readers will usually pick up on that. If you haven't found a character with whom you "click" in this way, take a moment to consider what traits really draw you in. In addition to things like sex appeal and cool magical powers, what intrinsic qualities do you like to see in a character? A strong sense of justice? Compassion for others? Moral ambiguity? A razor-sharp intellect? You shouldn't get bogged down in loading every single fic with weighty, complex themes, but if you take the time to learn who the character is and convey that in your work, it will be richer for it. Readers appreciate depth of characterization. Also, think about characters who make you go, "Man, I wish the author/creator had done X, Y, and Z differently!" Maybe their canon story arc started strong but later went off the rails. Maybe they're a woman with potential that was squandered by misogynistic writing (side-eyes Ohba from Death Note). Maybe they're an LGBTQ(-coded) character who deserved much better than what their creator was willing to give them. This is how many people, myself included, got into fic writing: They want to explore the possibilities that canon neglected and fill in the gaps left empty. For example, I really wanted to read fics where Grelle Sutcliff achieved better mental health and was happy and loved, or where Sebastian and O!Ciel had a softer parent-child relationship...so I decided to create them.

For that reason, I'd encourage you to go beyond the source material and explore the fanon about the character, whether that's reading people's headcanons on Tumblr, browsing their tag on AO3, or scrolling through fanart. Fic writing isn't (and shouldn't, in my opinion) be all about canon compliance...creativity and pure self-indulgence also play important roles, even if that makes the character seem a bit OOC. What depictions of this character in fanon really appeal to you? Conversely, do you feel that the fanon is god-awful and completely misses the point of the character? Those opinions can help guide how you want to portray the character in your fics. You mentioned in your ask that you wanted to get into a character "besides just watching and reading animes and mangas." But here's the thing--you aren't obligated to know everything about a character in order to write about them. The Death Note franchise is multifaceted: In addition to the original manga, there's an anime, a live-action TV series, a spin-off novel, live films, and more. But if your only exposure to Death Note was via the anime, you could still write fic about L Lawliet! It's your fandom experience, and your right to decide how much of the canon you want to reference in your work. It's important to keep in mind that different versions of series can diverge radically in tone and characterization (i.e. Seasons 1 & 2 of Kuro vs the manga). However, if anyone tries to be a gatekeeper and tell you that you can't write about a character because you're "not informed enough" or "not a real fan because you only read/watched this version," ignore them. As a final thought, remember that it's okay become attached to minor characters or characters that most of the fandom overlooks, and it's also valid to steer clear of characters that are fan favorites. There are lots of people in the Kuro fandom who simp for Sebastian Michaelis (sadly, I am one of them XD), but if you can't stand him, you shouldn't feel obligated to sing his praises in your fic. And while it can be discouraging to stan a character who doesn't receive much attention, I promise you there will be at least one person out there who loves them as much as you do, and who will be grateful that you created content for them.

Hope that helps, and my inbox is open if you have additional questions! >w<

[psyga315]

Fixing RWBY Volume 3

Volume 3 is most likely not going to receive a lot of changes due to how this is the lynchpin for which all other RWBY volumes make or break. It is because of Volume 3 that people were either turned off or were re-engaged by the tonal shift and it is because of Volume 3 for which people compare all other finales to, as well as scenes that were clearly made to recapture that feeling from Volume 3.

So, instead of going episode by episode in trying to change plot elements, I’m going to go in broad strokes with this.

Like before, I’d recommend Celtic Phoenix’s Fixing Volume 3 video, though only for the Vytal Festival Tournament and Cinder’s overall plan. After that, all bets are off.

Though, we need to address the Goliath in the room. Midway through Volume 3’s production, Monty Oum passed away and, if Shane Newville is to be believed (which, given how they used Adam’s V3 fight footage for V6, might be more likely), a lot of stuff was changed last minute, much to Shane’s chagrin. Now, some rewrites would simply go for “let’s go with the original plans” route, but I find that would be not only too easy, but would go into the route of “this is what Monty wanted”, which is not only a stupid complaint in more ways than one, but a real slap in the face to his friends.

Instead, I want to go with a somewhat more… meta route. I understand that this is a little more controversial, so if you wish, you may skip this. The long story short is that we’d be getting a 2.5 where we see the Vytal Festival Tournament and its ulterior motive is to get animators that hopefully would not lead to the fight scene drought of Volumes 4 through 5. Also, Jason Liebrecht is Qrow instead of Vic because Vic was busy in another role by the time RWBY finishes up with 2.5.

Those Who Treasure Monty

We begin in our world, on February 2, 2015, news of Monty Oum’s passing breaks out onto the web and a long, lingering shadow is cast over RWBY’s future. Even with multiple confirmations that RWBY will continue, it’s clear that without Monty Oum’s animation, RWBY would eventually slow to a crawl in fight choreography.

So, RT is forced to make a decision. They need to put RWBY off for a year while they figure out how to proceed. To ensure the RWBY fans stay sated and to search for talent that could either replicate or even succeed Oum’s, they create short, five-minute fights set during the Vytal Festival tournament that anyone with an animating talent can use. While some used Poser like RWBY, the fact that Maya is used more gets RT to thinking… Perhaps they should make the switch to Maya.

It’s been stated that Monty insisted on Poser when Maya was a superior option, and I wanted to reflect that in this meta-arc. This would also pave the way for animators to get RT’s spotlight.

In the middle of this hiatus, we’d also get Grimm Eclipse, which, given how not a lot of attention is given to RWBY proper, means that RT would funnel more support into the game’s first year than they did originally. This might also get Gray to try and put his name out by doing Gen:Lock, or at least releasing teasers for it, much like how Monty hyped RWBY through the four trailers.

The fights are in a purgatory of “semi-canon”, where it technically happened, but don’t expect RT to actually call back to it. Much like the DC Comics. HEY-O!

By the end of this hiatus, RT will most likely get their new talent and will definitely cut ties with Sheena and Shane, much like they did originally, but hopefully with less resentment given the cooldown. RWBY would get an October 2016 premiere which would be predated by RWBY vs. ABRN, JNPR vs. BRNZ, and SSSN vs. NDGO being the final three fights for Volume 2.5, done by people who would end up being lead animators for RWBY going forward. The last of the fights will end on a familiar scene.

“Wow, now that was a match!”

“Pheh, that was a mess…”

The latter of which being delivered by Jason Liebrecht. I reason that, in the time RWBY took to process the passing of their brainfather, Vic would most likely have been in another role and be too busy to do Qrow. This would also avoid the… unfortunate circumstance of which we shall not name.

With that, we shall properly proceed to…

RWBY, Volume 3, The Vytal Festival Arc

By the time 3 kicks off, we’re already done with the first round, having already seen most of it from 2.5. We instead open up with Ruby talking to her mom, the final moments of RWBY vs ABRN, and Ruby and her friends celebrating their victory, much like V3. What changes is that JNPR is also celebrating their victory over BRNZ.

However, it’s clear that not everything is bright. Ruby’s still scarred over the Breach, Blake is frustrated with the lack of closure they got and believes that the case is still not over, and Yang is thinking back to what Raven said, to which we get an extended flashback of Raven explaining that she saved her once and that Yang should not expect her to save Yang again and also how Summer was a pawn in a larger game. She doesn’t say much, but she leaves enough information for Yang to know who Summer was a pawn for: Ozpin.

We end Episode with a ship entering Vytal and Qrow deliberately going over to face it as Weiss looks on in a bright smile. Episode 2 kicks off with Qrow vs. Winter, now being a lot more vicious as Qrow believes Ironwood to be putting his jackboot over Vale and strangling what free will the people had remaining. We get to see his bad luck be put into motion as bystanders get attacked by debris and getting injured in the process. His Semblance is literally uncontrollable. However, the trick is to not show that this is his Semblance until Volume 4.

Glynda and Ironwood arrive and chew out both Winter and Qrow for their fighting. Even though they have differing opinions on Ironwood, Qrow is explicitly told that his drunken fits only help to cause fear, something Ozpin does not want in the Vytal Festival. Qrow brings up that Ironwood’s army is bringing fear and while Ozpin agrees, also agrees with Ironwood that it also brings some form of safety. Bottom line with how the scene plays out is that Qrow, while a valuable asset on the battlefield in more ways than one is outright a liability in social situations, made apparent when he hangs out with his niece(s) and only makes a bad situation worse by making his “cut one Taijitu head and now the other one calls the shots” speech sound way worse than it sounds.

However, there’s also subtle nods that imply that the only reason he’s such a drunken wreck with social skills so bad that he’s actively making things worse is because of the trauma he received from his days of being in STRQ and serving Oz. Basically, downplay the comedy of Qrow being drunk and show off that Qrow being drunk is a bad thing like in Volume 6.

Winter also has her hangups. Because of being raised by her abusive father, Winter inherited a bit of that. Think the DC Comics version of Willow. Weiss notably sees just how much like her father Winter’s become and Winter tells her that her ambition of being a Huntress has done more harm than good, bringing up her scar. Winter then tells her why she came. Not just to oversee the deployment of new robots, but also to warn Weiss. Jacques cutting Weiss off and constantly calling her is his way of saying “Okay, this is getting out of hand, come home or I will take you myself.” This kinda worries Weiss quite a bit.

The doubles match are the ones that are a major focus for episodes 3 & 4, showcasing Yang and Weiss vs. Neon and Flynt, Nora and Pyrrha vs. Sun and Neptune, Mercury and Emerald vs. Coco and Yatsuhashi, and Penny and Ciel vs. some random members of CRDL. Not a lot of changes here. With a whole episode to ourselves, we can spend that to see our cast one final time before the plot throws them into hell. Weiss talks to Ruby about her father, she assures her that RWBY will not leave her side. Blake tells Yang about her worries for the White Fang, especially since her name had been publicized by the tournament, even knowing that Yang is hiding something.

We end the episode with Glynda asking Ozpin if he’s sure about something and he reassures her that time is of the essence and that they have no other option. “The only one with a choice will be her.” Before we cut to Pyrrha.

Episode 6 is unaltered, except there’s a heavier emphasis of Ozpin pushing the issue onto Pyrrha and making it clear that it’s making her mentally unstable.

RWBY, Volume 3, The Fall of Beacon

Okay, the only thing that changes for Episode 7? NO BLACK SCREENS! It works for some mystery with the Grimm and Salem, but for meeting Roman?! So, no black screen. If you need to add mystery, just add dark shadows and for the Grimm, glowing eyes. The biggest change would be how Cinder interacts with Adam. Obviously, we keep how he acts in the flashback… But we get a bonus scene of Cinder talking to Adam and manipulating him into resenting Blake for leaving him. Boom. We got our transition covered.

The only change for Episode 8 is that Blake doesn’t go “lol, okay” when she gets Yang to say she’s sorry for kneecapping Mercury. In fact, she expresses doubt on Yang and does not change her mind about it, believing that the thing she was hiding had something to do with injuring Mercury. We end Episode 8 not with Ruby encountering Mercury, but Hazel.

Episode 9 remains relatively unchanged, as it’s the necessary lynchpin to cause the Fall of Beacon. Really, most of the final act can remain unchanged for the most part, save for some quality of life changes like “how come no one called out Emerald when she was in the middle of the crowd even though they were told that her team went home?” or all those tiny nitpicks that really makes Cinder’s plan fall apart if you think too hard about it.

The most that changes is that Hazel fights Ruby reluctantly. Obviously, he doesn’t want to fight Gretchen’s partner. Cinder would have no idea Ruby’s incompetence led to Gretchen’s death, so Hazel wouldn’t use that to guilt trip Ruby. He does, however, rant about the flawed system that Ozpin has made and it’s clear that this is him talking about how flawed the system is, not Cinder whispering sweet nothings in his ear. He lets Ruby go just as the fight between Pyrrha and Penny ends.

Yeah, this still takes place despite Cinder not knowing, since she lacks her virus for now. Cinder is smart and is able to put two and two together when she sees that Penny is doing a lot of the heavy lifting during her fights. I mean, it was obvious to us that she was a robot from Volume 1, Cinder didn’t need no fancy scroll to tell her “hey, Penny’s a robot.”

I should add that, throughout the tournament, Cinder had been rigging the tournament so that it’d come down to Vale vs. Atlas, using the narrative of the Breach to set the stage. She’s also making sure the losses for Mistral and Vacuo sting so the Grimm get attracted sooner. How is she doing this? Via the backdoor program she had. As I said previously, the virus feigns being dead and can only be reactivated by a backdoor program. However, this isn’t the full extent. Cinder is basically using the program to activate a few nodes in the CCT to rig the randomizer enough so that no one stops and goes “wait, this is fishy”. It doesn’t help that the way the tournament is held, each Kingdom representative is guaranteed to face an opposing Kingdom once per round, so if one Kingdom was really good, they’ll overcrowd the subsequent doubles and finals. Two Kingdoms? Then you essentially guarantee that the rest of the fights can be nothing but Kingdom A vs. Kingdom B.

Penny is killed and this becomes the straw that broke the camel’s back. I also would make it so that her big speech, while imposing and setting the tone for the fall, doesn’t sound like “I’m the big bad evil guy and I’m going to announce my terrorist attack!” Also, Adam can get involved too, saying how humans are so sad over a dead robot, but when it’s a Faunus, no one gives a crap, white guilting the crowd. When the Beacon staff cut the feed, Cinder goes “OMG! CENSORSHIP!” and riles up the crowd that way. Basically, her speech causes fear and panic. The Grimm and White Fang attack, we kick off the Fall of Beacon Arc.

One major change to kick off the finale: Port and Oobleck are killed. It doesn’t have to be shown, but it would be implied as Ozpin notices that he lost contact of the two. Really, this is your chance to get rid of all the characters that won’t make an appearance in later Volumes or wouldn’t really matter. After all, there will be no rest or love. Hell, kill off CFVY while you’re at it. Hammer home that the dark tone is here to stay. Also, the backdoor is the thing Roman puts on that ship and thus reactivates the virus.

Of course, the major change is Adam’s fight with Blake, since they fought before. Blake tries desperately to ask why he’s hurting people, but Adam gives her his response: “Because this world doesn’t reward the kind-hearted people. You should know that after what happened to your father!” This puts Blake in a lot of fear and anxiety, requiring Yang to interfere. The one thing I’ll change from this is that Adam does not one-shot Yang, because that horribly unbalances him in the grand scheme of things. Instead, he relies more on manipulation to put Yang in the absolute worst spot throughout the fight, absorbing the increased blows he got from Yang before letting it all out in his Moonslice, taking off her arm.

The other major thing I’d change is the handling of Pyrrha. The bit where they’re underground changes immensely as Ozpin explicitly instructs Jaune to wait by the door, thus separating him from Pyrrha. Ozpin and Pyrrha go to the pods, but as Pyrrha begins to have second thoughts, Ozpin activates the switch as Pyrrha screams in pain.

Meanwhile, Jaune finds Cinder entering the chamber via a superhero landing (No one’s gonna acknowledge that she managed to follow the group down a longass shaft?) and as Jaune tries to fight Cinder, realizing she’s the one who organized all of this, she tells him “I didn’t cause this… I merely exposed Ozpin for what he truly is… Arrogant and willing do to anything to win.” Jaune pieces together what Cinder could possibly mean and enters the chamber, seeing Pyrrha in pain. Just then, Cinder kills Amber and takes her power.

Ozpin decides to hold Cinder off while Jaune and Pyrrha go to get help. While this will be revealed in Volume 5, it’ll be revealed that Ozpin threw his battle with Cinder so that, not only would he reincarnate quicker, but also to avoid the Council chewing his ass out. This leads to the consequence of Cinder forcing Pyrrha’s hand, however…

Like with the show, Pyrrha fights Cinder by herself since Jaune did enough. We’ll have him try to contact Glynda and the others, but they’re unfortunately busy and it’s this poor communication that causes Jaune to panic call Weiss. The fight proceeds like normal and Pyrrha is killed by Cinder, making her sacrifice seemingly in vain before Ruby, having enough with all this bullshit, Silver Eyes the fuck out of Cinder and the Dragon, turning the latter to stone and Cinder into a cripple.

Ending remains the same, but give a lot more emphasis on Ruby and Yang coping with the new change and the losses of their friends. One day, Jaune comes by and asks Ruby if she and Yang would like to accompany them to Mistral, figuring that Cinder came from there and that they’d be able to find some answers. Ruby, having had enough of moping around, leaves much to her father’s chagrin. Salem’s speech remains the same and we get two stingers, split by Divide and Cold. Divide’s credits would be for the Volume and Cold would be for all the animators who helped out during Volume 2.5 and a tribute to Monty. The first stinger is Qrow following RNJR in bird form, the second is Cinder, literally on the edge of death before the parasite Grimm begins to heal and nurture her. She’s furious that Ruby managed to hurt her and this negative emotion causes a Grimm to stalk her. She tries to sing to it, but her voice gives out a rasp.

Just as the Grimm is about to kill her, it gets killed by an unknown assailant, who just scoffs to Cinder. We don’t know who it is, but the shadow of a scorpion’s tail and the creepy voice pretty much gives those with foresight a good idea who he is: “Poor, poor little girl… Bit off more than you can chew, hmmm?” before cutting to black with him giggling.

DVD Extra

This would basically be an encore of Volume 2.5, where animators that nearly made the cut were invited to animate doubles and finals battles and even have a speculative RWBY vs. JNPR battle for ol’ time’s sake.

And that’s RWBY Volume 3 tweaked. Only two more left to go and they’re the most… interesting ones to tweak. Well, with this isolation, I might as well give a little bit of time to this…

[animeyanderelover]

R!Ciel and O!Ciel fighting for childhood female darling (Do you think they could share?)

Here again, please keep in mind that I’m not completely finished with the manga yet.

Tw: Yandere themes, unhealthy mindset, unhealthy relationship, possessiveness, obsessiveness, manipulation, paranoia, threatening, blackmailing, bribing, controlling behavior, sabotage, kidnapping

R!Ciel and O!Ciel fighting over their childhood friend

☕️🍵I don't think they would be able to share, at least not with both of the twins agreeing willingly or even reluctantly. Ciel thinks that he has the right to be the heir of the Phantomhive manor since he fulfilled all the duties of one the last four years whilst his brother wasn't there. He was clearly enraged due to the inauspicious return of his older brother and declared war to him by dismantling one of the blood factories which "Ciel" needs to function. He is exceedingly competitive and doesn't stop fighting until a victor is declared. It's the same with fighting over the same darling

☕🍵"Ciel" on the other hand desires a rivalry between his brother and was somewhat excited when finding out about the blood factory. On the other hand he seems to have an obsession over his little brother and it probably intensified after after he became a Bizarre Doll. Such creatures run on their past dreams and "Ciel's" past dream used to be with his little brother and the darling. So his obsession became stronger too, for both the darling and Ciel. He still wants to be with his brother, but after he nearly died and was saved from Undertaker, he became so much more willing to cause his little brother great troubles. I can see him planning to win against his brother, for the position of the heir of the Phantomhive and the darling, and afterwards get his hands on his brother as well and controlling and keeping them both for himself. Despite all he does still care for his brother, in a twisted sense, but it's there! He would still not be above taunting his brother if he should win.

☕🍵Even when all of you were younger, "Ciel" was already very possessive of the both of you. He was most likely more lenient with letting his brother spent time with you since Ciel suffered from asthma and for that couldn't leave the house for a longer time until it slowly got better and he was able to leave the house more often too. "Ciel" wanted to protect you even back then, together with his brother you were very important to him. I do not doubt that he might have liked you even back then, just like his younger brother did. Back then Ciel had a bit more of an advantage, most likely because he wasn't engaged to Lizzy. So the small boy sometimes talked that he wanted to marry you later on since you were together with his older brother one of the very few people who he was able to play and spent time with. He shared maybe the dream of opening a toy store in England together with you.

☕🍵"Ciel" was jealous because of this all, because his little brother and the girl he liked didn't have to be forced into the things he had to do. His partne had already been chosen, his life was already decided. He cared for his brother and knew that Ciel liked you, but he got jealous nevertheless and it might have led him to pleading his father if he could eventually not be the fiancé of Elizabeth, but with you. He had this dream of marrying you, just like his brother had. His parents most likely knew about his and Ciel's love of you and it worried them a bit. But separating you from the twins was a bad idea. "Ciel" would express his frustration an his anger and Ciel would be saddened and in a bad mood with his older brother reassuring him that you'll come back to them.

☕🍵But "Ciel" was from a very early age on just so much more charming than his younger brother was. He was more open, more playful, more fun to be with and could do much more with you than his brother could. It made Ciel worry a lot, knowing that due to his sickness he couldn't do all the things his brother could do. Due to that he always clinged somewhat onto you whenever you were with him. He was insecure, knowing that his brother was more of a fitting partner you might later on desire than him and due to that like him better later on that him.

☕🍵After "Ciel" died, his brother took his identity and the name of the Earl of Phantomhive. He had become a more cold and cruel individual. He had lost his brother and went through a terrifying experience which made him much more possessive over his childhood friend. He most likely managed to break off the engagement, using Sebastian as a way to set up rumors which led to the Midford's and him ending the engagement. He would be very smart about it just like his brother would be, though he would be more colder about it. I think since you knew them since childhood, you might realize that this isn't the real Ciel, but his little brother. And Ciel himself wouldn't want to keep this a secret for too long either. He had to go as a child through the fear of the darling potentially ending up liking "Ciel" more than him and whilst he didn't plan on his brother to die, he takes this advantage to make the darling his.

☕🍵He most likely kidnapped his darling so she wouldn't tell anyone about his real identity and locked her just up in his house with Sebastian and the servants making sure she doesn't escape. The servanta have unswaying loyalty towards their master so they wouldn't really believe you whenever you tell them that this isn't the real Ciel. You're somewhat stuck with Ciel having the upper hand.

☕🍵So the sudden appearance of "Ciel" ruined his plans and if it wouldn't have been for Lau and Ran Mao helping him escape, he would have ended up in a lot more troubles. "Ciel" would be for now the one who has a hold on his darling since she would be really thankful for his appearance since Ciel kept her isolated all for himself and it is also good to finally have the truth spilled out. Whilst "Ciel" isn't necessarily angry with his younger brother taking his identity, he is mad that Ciel treated you the way he did, abusing you directly mentally and being harsh with you. This isn't "Ciel's" style. I don't say he's any better, he is actually the more terrible one. But he is just so much more sly and charming about his way of manipulation and after years of being kept from the world, and since Ciel isn't the best in showing affection and his feelings too openly, the darling is just starved for more human feelings which "Ciel" uses to his advantage.

☕🍵He brings his darling into staying isolated anyways, whatever love he held beforehand for her became twisted and enhanced due to his transformation into a Bizarre Doll, though he doesn't tell his darling from this so she doesn't feel freaked out or scared. But he does uses his sudden physical dysfunction and weakness to guilt-trip her into staying with him. He was for years away and went through too much so it would be no wonder in her mind that he himself is love starved as well. He would be so much smarter about the engagement and use Elizabeth's confused feelings to break off the engagement again, but this time officially since the previous break up wasn't real due to his brother playing his role.

☕🍵He would quickly progress into courting his darling and making her his fiancée. He would just end up confessing his love after just spending time with her and given the circumstances, she might not have the heart to reject him and there is probably also the thought in her mind that this is "Ciel", the charming and caring boy. Nothing like his brother. That's what he is counting on, but in reality he is so much more fearful and terrible than his brother, instead of threatening and blackmailing, he relies more on gaslighting and effective guilt-tripping. He makes you paranoid of the world without you even knowing and you have to attend to him anyways more due to his weakened body.

☕🍵Currently Ciel is in a worse position, mostly because he doesn't have you. He is of now seen as a criminal, but at the very least is not alone. He has all his servants, Ran Mao, Lau and Sebastian by his side. He knows that his brother wants a fight, over power just as much as you and Ciel doesn't back exactly off from this. He's frustrated with the current situation and wants to turn the tables around. He knows "Ciel" can only function as long as he has plenty of fresh blood since his body needs it to function. So he plans on starting with cutting off all the places where he gets that blood from to beat him once and for all.