Like many people Kuroshitsuji has been on my mind lately
And I know that one of the big debates is whether or not Sebastian cares about Ciel
But
What I find more interesting is how much the rest of the staff cares about Sebastian.
Bard Finny and Mey Rin genuinely give a damn about him. Bard lends Sebastian his nightclothes, he taught Finny how to read, they all admire him for the way he keeps the manor under control. When they thought he was dead, they cried for him.
It's just kind of profound, even if he loves no one, even if he's not capable of that, he's still so loved by these silly humans
Official art is so hilarious when you consider it canon and think about what happens behind the scenes. Why do Sebastian and Ciel keep on ending up in situations like that? Is Ciel-ikebana Sebastian's hobby?? What must the rest of the staff be thinking???
Then we are back to what just recently happened -- Doll and Finny fighting over who's the enemy and who's the friend.
He's got all these opposing ideas in his head about who killed whom and why... and was it deserved... and why was he offered these chances? Those sorts of thoughts, though I know there's stuff missing in the quick translations by @bitterbutlr , but that's the gist of it.
Even Sebastian pointing out our earl's bad table manners at Lau's place is a fond memory for Snake, at least sort of. It is a time of determination, to not just step aside to his young master's older twin, who has usurped what our earl has gained.
Then the memories turn into cinematic records, as all these flashbacks were just Snake's life flashing before his eyes.
We don't even learn about the mysterious place he thinks he's from. I'm wondering if that information came from some of the snakes and doesn't actually apply to him.
He apparently was human (at least partly), born to a human named Sarah Campbell (or a similar name). She was an actress. This also comes from @bitterbutlr and maybe one other person on Discord.) The NEW! reaper notes nothing worth adding, and then there's the tamping sound of the "COMPLETED" stamp.
What I don't get is why this reaper looks at Doll holding Snake's body and doesn't think there's anything else to note. Ronald once said he couldn't tell who was the bizarre doll -- Ada or Layla -- without checking their records or catching them in the act of behaving like the first bizarre dolls they saw (on the ship). He needed to see Layla attack Baldo before he knew for sure it was her.
So... is this reaper going to leave the scene without confronting Doll? Doll doesn't look normal at this point... but perhaps this reaper just plans to stick to the basics...? William says it's all just a formality anyway, right? 🤔 🤨
If so, that really leaves it open for her to ask Undertaker to make a bizarre doll out of Snake.
He has a lot of memories about what he wanted in life -- mostly to find a family to belong to, where he can live in harmony with them. However, he also has memories where he's specifically and severely angry with "Smile" and "Black" and wants revenge on them. Undertaker could cherry pick the right memories to serve as episodes that make Snake loyal to real Ciel, or at least to Doll. If that happens, we might see Sebastian destroy Snake anyway, just like he warns about in ch51... for any Phantomhive servant who turns against their young master....
I was wondering why this scrumptious dollop of Phantomfam domesticity gave me such a sense of déjà vu…
And then it hit me.
We have indeed seen the above panel before—during Bard’s dream in Chapter 189, while he lay bedridden after narrowly avoiding death by knife-wielding child.
I’m pretty sure Snake’s version of this snapshot in time takes place a few seconds after Bard’s (I love the added detail of O!Ciel being a little gremlin and grabbing an illicit snack! 😆), but, based on the chef’s singed hair and Mey Rin’s sudsy distress, it has to be the same scene.
Of course, the bond uniting the Phantomhive household has been a common theme for this set of miniarcs. However, whereas these happy memories and gratitude towards their young master have served to galvanize Bard and the other og servants into persevering through their missions, did Yana return to the above flashback in the orphanage arc to emphasize that, this time around, that love will go sour as Snake’s feelings of betrayal over the loss of his circus family lead him to oppose O!Ciel (assuming he survives, that is 😭)?
And it’s interesting that Bard and Snake both found themselves in similar predicaments when this memory drifted through their minds, since they each suffered extreme blood loss from stab wounds inflicted by one of the Star Lords. Is this simple laziness on Yana’s part, or was Bard’s plight meant to foreshadow Snake’s…a tonal shift on sensei’s part from /joking in the sanatorium arc to /serious now, when death appears imminent for the poor footman?
The parallels might not be that deep, but I just needed to get the post-chapter rambles out of my system. 😅
When will we ever find out if the kids can flood the facility, destroy it in some other way, or even save anymore of the children? Not this month, and probably not for several months to come.
Because we get a cliffhanger, just like at the end of Baldo and Lau's mission. 😭
We return to Lau's Opium den, where their clothes have been repaired and cleaned, so Seb is removing the Chinese outfit he'd borrowed and putting on his usual butler's uniform. Sorry, but there's no fan service for the Seb simps, unless you are into what's not shown... or gloved hands.
Ran-Mao and other ladies from the establishment show up with several boxes of clothes and at least one box with a hat, maybe two. One hat is from Lock & Co. Hatters, on St. James Street, in London. The rest comes from Hopkins, so that means Nina's still helping them.
They need fresh clothes for their upcoming mission to the resort hotel in Brighton. Sebastian goes to his young master's room to get him ready for travel. Our earl asks something about the clothes from Nina. Or about Nina herself.
I don't know what all they say, but Sebastian does point out that the kid's current outfit reeks of opium (which would never do for where they are headed).
So, time to change clothes. I think we've seen scenes like this a few times throughout the series. It's very methodical and almost ritualistic. In a way, for demon and master, it is a sort of ritual, though.
Are his short pants slightly longer now? 🤔
And off they go.
So! It looks like we are going to Brighton next month, after all.
I was right we'd get the kids struggling to reach the river. Anyone who guessed we'd cut to our earl and Sebastian starting their mission was also right.
A whole new scenery next month.
But when will we ever get back to Finny... or Baldo?