#earl butler residence

[sleep-0-deprived]

Hello! I have one interesting idea for you 🐱

How about if Sebastian Michaelis is in love with the music and astrology teacher who comes to teach Ciel (he is kind, but not stupid. He himself realized that Sebastian is not a human). ->

One rainy evening, Y/N and Sebastian are making cookies or something sweet for the others, it could be something like a fluff (sfw) . Cute ~

If you don't like the idea, then skip it! I wish all the best!o(〃＾▽＾〃)o

Written in the stars

Sebastian Michaelis x male astrologist/music teacher reader.

Sfw/fluff

I hope you like it this is my first time doing something like this

As a music teacher for the nobles you knew a few things you knew the gossip the idle chat and you knew what was meant to be, you knew all these things after all they are written in the stars all things considered you knew that there were other things out there supernatural “things” I mean you were never the naive type but you had never met any supernatural being well that was until you went to the phantomhive resident, you were there to give music instructions to the young earl as you arrived something felt off but you ignored it as you were soon greeted by a man you assumed was the butler “ welcome to the phantomhive residence sir L/n” the black haired male spoke with his signature closed eye smile “glad you could have me” I spoke trying to be as polite as I could “but of course you are the best music teacher around” the man spoke showing his red eyes, as soon as I seen his ruby red eyes I knew that he was in fact not a human and by the look on his face he knew that I seen through his secret “well look at the Time we must not dwell around you have lessons with my young master after all” the demon spoke “indeed I do” the demon soon turned around and showed me to the earl, once we arrived to the arts room I was greeted by a Ciel holding a violin “shall we get started I spoke” “we shall” ciel spoke while y/n was teaching Ciel how to play the violin Sebastian was checking the shorter male out looking at him in aw as the male played the violin Sebastian felt entranced by the humans beauty but more than that his talent and before he knew it the lessons where over “you have gotten better” I spoke “indeed I have” Ciel spoke feeling proud of himself, right as I was about to leave I heard Ciel say “would you like to stay for tea and cookies?” It took a second for me to process “I don’t see why not I have nothing else on my schedule” as I said that I could have sworn I seen Sebastian smile widely “well then I should go get started on it right away my lord”

“Yes they are”

Sebastian spoke “I can help if you would like after all my family has a lot of bakers” “that would be great” ciel said making it obvious he just has a sweet tooth, as me and Sebastian start to walk towards the kitchen he speaks “what type of cookies would you like to make?” “Hmm how about f/c they are really good for rainy days and everyone will love them” “that sounds like a lovely idea” “thank you” you gave him a smile and walked into the kitchen leaving the demon a blushing mess as you start to look around grabbing ingredient and setting them down on the table you try to get the flour off the top shelf when suddenly you hear “do you need some help” “that would be really nice” you say blushing with embarrassment, you and Sebastian get started on making the cookies “so do you have a partner?” The demon asks trying to break the silence “no, no I do not” I say thinking about Sebastian “oh well would you like to go out on a date with me then” the black haired male asked “I would really like that” right as I finished my sentence the timer for the cookies ringed “well looks like they are done” Sebastian said “yep!” I said enthusiastically, sebastian and I took the cookies too the dinning room where I see three clumsy people breaking things and a annoyed looking Ciel “cookies?” I said trying to lighten the mood, after Ciel took a few cookies I was soon attacked by three people who I found out where called finny, mey rin, and bardroy they all started to ask for a cookie so I caved in and the next thing I know they where all gone “I saved you one” I said to Sebastian as I handed him a cookie “thank you” he said smiling I looked at the time it was 8:23 and it was getting dark “thank you for having me” I spoke as I walked out to my carriage, on my way out sebastian stopped me “don’t forget about our dinner” he whispered in my ear giving me a closed eye smile “I won’t” I replied smiling ear to ear

#black butler x male reader #black butler #x male reader #chubby male reader #sebastian michaelis x male reader #sebastian michaelis #sebastian Michaelis x reader

[kywaslost]

What’s up. I too have gotten hooked on Black Butler. After 3 years of not being in the fandom anymore. I have a fanfic idea for you.It’s a Ciel x reader so it’s going to be more on the angst side but still fluffy and funny if you look at it from an angle. It’s Ciel. C’mon.

So basically the reader is very similar to him. Being that she also has intense trauma and is extremely stoic and cold. On the other hand she’s also considered eerie and ominous looking. Soon Ciel after a while starts having feeling for the reader, he sees her as someone who understands him completely and fully. Ciel starts showing that he’s interested in being in a more intimate relationship with the reader other then just being partners. The reader of course rejects all these moves even though she also likes him, not only because he’s engaged but because she knows he’s a manipulator. After a long time of driving Sebastian insane with the pinning and rejecting, Lizzy finds out about Ciel’s feelings for the reader and confronts both of them. She’s lightly bitterly and is crying at first but she does want Ciel to be happy and is good friends with the reader (and she’s an Angel) so she doesn’t hold him back. Now the reader and Ciel are in a situation where they can show there feeling for each other freely but have no idea where to start.

Just so that you have a small reference to what I mean by a stoic and eerie looking reader I have a drawing of my Black Butler OC that you can take notes from (you don’t have to just here if you want lmfao)

Thank you, hopefully it’s not too long or complicated. You don’t have to write this if you don’t feel comfortable enough just tell me if you’re not going to write it or not. Have a good day!

Troubled Love - Ciel Phantomhive

A/N: I’m so sorry this took so long! This is a long one that I wanted to take time on and work on when I felt like I could write this to the best of my ability. First of all, your drawing is ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!! I’m literally in love with it! I hope this turned out ok! I also completely skipped over the part where the reader is an angel and didn’t see it until I finished this, so I hope it’s ok that I left that bit out. Let me know if you’d like me to rewrite this properly <3

Warning/s: mentions of night terrors, mentions of panic attacks (no descriptions)

You had met the Earl Phantomhive around the time his parents had passed. You had met the Phantomhive through the grapevine of the Queen’s ‘guard dogs’, and didn’t really get to know the young boy until he returned, demon butler by his side. It was then the two of you were paired for missions. The Queen saw similarities between the two of you, and thought it would be well for you to become friends with the Earl.

You see, due to your past, you weren’t the most sociable person out there. You preferred to keep to yourself, and refrained from interacting with others as much as you could. It played in your favor that most feared you, both due to your reputation with the queen as well as the way you presented yourself. It was almost as if no one could touch you.

Until you officially met Ciel. The two of you worked well together. What you lacked in skill and intelligence, he made up for, and vice versa. It also helped that Sebastian was there. In fact, the demon butler and his master took a liking to you, even going as far as inviting you to stay at the Estate when they learned that you didn’t have an official residence. You agreed hesitantly. While you were comfortable around the two, you couldn’t bear the thought of being vulnerable around them. You were traumatized at a young age, leaving you plagued with nightmares and flashbacks from time to time. Opening yourself up to Ciel was a huge step for you, one you were unsure how to handle.

Ciel, on the other hand, was ecstatic. He’d never admit it, partially due to his personality and partially due to his engagement to Lizzy, but the Earl had begun developing feelings for you. It was more than a petty middle school crush that other boys his age experienced. He had been feeling this way for quite some time now, and couldn’t quite name his emotions until he spoke of it with Sebastian. It was worth the endless teasing that lasted weeks, but Ciel had now finally realized how much he truly loved you. And now you’re going to be living with him.

Ciel was unsure of how to show his love for you without a) making it obvious, and b) letting Lizzy know. Don’t get him wrong, Ciel truly did like Lizzy and he didn’t want to do anything to hurt her, but he loved you more than her. The boy opted to spend time with you doing small things, such as reading together or just simply sitting in the same room as you as the two of you worked separately. You were hesitant of all this at first, because you were used to being alone so often, but over time you became more comfortable.

This time spent between the two of you went from silence to small chatter. Ciel would ask how your day has been, and you’d answer then return the question. It took months of living together and getting accustomed to each other’s emotions to begin discussing deeper topics. You were both severely traumatized children who never learned how to cope with said trauma. Sure, Ciel had Sebastian, but he was a demon and therefore was incapable of feeling human emotions. So he tried talking to you.

Ciel wouldn’t ever say much about the death of his family or the events that came afterwards, but he wanted to be vulnerable around you. The boy hoped that this would bring the two of you even closer, and then he’d be comfortable enough to confess his love for you. Except every time he tried to have a deep conversation, you would turn him down almost immediately. There was one week in particular when you were having vivid night terrors, causing you to get only a few hours of sleep a night. You would wake up screaming until you couldn’t anymore, and often suffered intense panic attacks afterwards. Usually Sebastian would try and help but you would only push him away, barely muttering about how you were alright and didn’t need any help.

These night terrors always woke Ciel, and after the third night he came bursting into your room in the place of Sebastian. He desperately tried to calm you down, to try and talk to you, but you refused his help. It broke his heart to see you this way, and to know that you were unwilling to accept his help hurt him even more. How could the two of you be together if you wouldn’t let him help you?

The next day during breakfast, Ciel offered to let you speak to him anytime about anything you needed. Whether it be to get something off of your chest, or just to rant about anything, he would be there for you. You weren’t sure how you felt about his offer, so you only nodded and took a bite of your food.

The Earl Phantomhive invited you on an afternoon walk after dinner. At first you hesitantly agreed, only because Sebastian would be following closely. Yet once you saw the extravagant clothing the boy was wearing, you quickly retreated back to your room and feigned illness. It took some convincing, but Ciel finally left you to ‘recover’. In reality, you curled up on the floor, leaning against the door as you silently cried to yourself. 

You were so torn between your emotions. It was blatantly obvious that Ciel saw you as more than just a friend, and he wanted to take your relationship to the next level. You wondered if your own emotions were just as easy to see. You wouldn’t admit it just yet, but you were beginning to fall for Ciel yourself. Although you hadn’t opened up much to the boy, it was easy to feel comfortable and see him. The two of you shared similar pasts, and you hadn’t met anyone else that made you feel as safe and comfortable as the Earl did. 

Despite your feelings for the boy, there was one major red flag following closely behind him. Ciel was a master manipulator. It was clear as day that Ciel knew just how to act to get what he wanted, knew what to say to get his way. You weren’t even sure if he had manipulated you at some point, he was that good. Oh, and he’s also engaged.

You wanted to take Ciel up on all of his romantic gestures. You wanted to go on late night walks with him, go to balls (even though neither of you particularly enjoyed them), or even just spend the evening together almost every night of the week. Yet you couldn’t bring yourself to give in to the urge.

This carried on for months. Ciel would ‘discreetly’ ask you out on small dates, and you would turn him down and most commonly retreat to your room. Once you left, Ciel’s small smile would fall and he would immediately turn to Sebastian with downcast eyes.

Sebastian was the only one Ciel could confess to at this point. He couldn’t go to Izzy, obviously, and he couldn’t go to you, so he was left with his demon butler. It was a part of their bedtime routine now. Sebastian would dress Ciel for bed, asking him about his day and his plans for the next. Ciel would grumble about paperwork before quickly changing the subject to his failed attempts of asking you out. He’d seek advice from the demon before turning in for the night. 

It wasn’t until six months after Ciel’s first attempt to ask you out that Lizzy was caught in the crossfire. It wasn’t intentional, and Ciel would have never said anything if he were aware of her presence. 

Lizzy had planned another surprise visit and stay at the Phantomhive Manor. She had arrived later than expected due to an extreme thunderstorm causing a delay in travel. Upon arriving at the manor, she let herself in and immediately ran to where she assumed Ciel would be in his study as her maid carried in her baggage. Lizzy quickly but silently ran to Ciel’s study, throwing open the door.

“Ciel!” she squealed in the highest pitch her voice could achieve. “Supri– oh.” Lizzy frowned slightly when she noticed the empty room. It looked as though Ciel hadn’t been there in a while. Shaking her head, the girl grinned widely yet again when she could hear faint voices coming from down the hall. Upon further expectation, she realized the voices were coming from the library. 

Elizabeth wasted no time in bursting into the room rather loudly, causing you and Ciel to quite literally jump out of your seats with fear. Ciel’s hand even ghosted over the firearm he had tucked into his boot. 

“Ciel!” Lizzy squeals again. She runs over to the two of you, about to tackle the poor boy in a hug before realizing what was going on between the two of you. 

You had to admit, this wasn’t the ideal position to see your fiance and your best friend in. It wasn't anything too terrible, but it could definitely raise some questions. You were practically laying in Ciel’s lap, your legs draped over his as your head rested against his shoulder. A book rested against your legs where Ciel was reading to you a mere moment ago. You both were dressed in your night clothes, and overall this was a very rare sight of Ciel. 

Lizzy’s smile immediately dropped to a deep frown, her bright green eyes welling with tears. “Y/N? Ciel? What’s going on?”

You jumped out of Ciel’s lap and to the other side of the couch. Your heart was beating out of your chest, fear coursing through your veins. This is exactly why you never wanted to act on your feelings for Ciel, for fear of ruining not only his relationship with Lizzy, but also your own. “Lizzy,” Ciel says quickly, standing and tossing the forgotten book onto the couch. He tried to reach out to the girl but she only took a step back and wiped at her eyes.

“I should have seen it coming,” she chokes through a broken cry. “I knew this day would come.” It takes a moment for Lizzy to calm herself down, but she wipes the last of her tears away as Ciel tries to comfort her.

“It’s ok,” she cuts him off from his senseless babbling, pushing his outstretched arms away. “I’ve known for a long time that this day would come.” Glossy green eyes met your e/c ones as she smiled softly. “I can see how much the two of you love each other,” she confesses. “And as much as I love the two of you, I can’t bear knowing I am what is keeping you from being together.” Lizzy’s gaze shifted to her fiance. “I love you Ciel. So much that I want you to be happy.” Her warm hands slowly reached for his own, giving them a gentle squeeze. “So I’m ending our engagement.” Pressing one last kiss against Ciel’s cheek, Lizzy let go. 

“I can only hope the best for the two of you.” Just like that, she was gone.

You and Ciel couldn’t bear to look at each other, let alone speak. You weren’t sure how to feel. You finally had the freedom to be with the man you were learning to love, yet at what cost? Did you just lose your best friend? What do you know? Ciel was asking himself the same questions. But it didn’t take long for him to drop beside you back on the couch, slowly turning to you. 

“What do we do now?” you asked, voice barely above a whisper. 

“I don’t know,” Ciel confessed. “To be honest, I think I need some time to process this.”

You nodded, then stood quickly. “Of course, I understand.” You retreated back to your bedroom as soon as possible, diving under the covers and staring at the ceiling. You were finally free to express your love for Ciel, yet unsure what the next steps were. It was going to take time to figure out your relationship status with the Earl, and what to do next, but it will be worth the wait.

#ciel #ciel phantomhive #ciel x reader #ciel phantomhive x reader #black butler x reader #kuroshitsuji #blabk cutler #black butler ciel #black butler ciel phantomhive #lizzy midford #sebastian michaelis #comfort #platonic #x reader #black butler fanfiction #black butler sebastian #black butler #ciel fantomhive #ciel phantomhive x reader comfort #ciel phamtonhive

[collinhasregrets]

Here's Adaline Goldfinch! 39-year-old heiress to the Goldfinch Tea fortune and long-time (now former) sweetheart to Ashton Roosevelt.

The two have been arranged for marriage since their teenage years, while Adaline is genuinely happy and loves Ashton, Ashton himself is emotionally absent and always busy.

The two even have two matching pet doves to symbolize their love. (More info after the break, warning for angst and murder)

She's a suspect in the murder of Royal Creek resident Charles Benedict in "Public Disservice" (case 7). It was known she drank Earl Grey, ate beignets, and played darts.

She appeared again as a suspect in the murder of Mayor Andrew Helms in "A New Height" (case 10). It was known that she was allergic to cats and used shoe polish.

She appeared once more in the murder of elementary school principal Bianca Aprils in "Too Good for this World" (case 17). It was known she used a fountain pen.

In the middle of Jackpot Row, Ashton grew tired and finally broke up with Adaline but didn't bother saying why so it made Adaline blame herself and started going on a downward spiral of self-loathing and fear since she grew up with her family saying her only goal and purpose should be to be the wife of Ashton or else she would be disowned and disgraced.

Before she became the killer of butler Jean in "On a Silver Platter" (case 44). Where it was known she was left-handed, owned birds, and ate buttered lobsters.

And she was sentenced to 50 years in prison with psychological counseling.

How she appeared in "On a Silver Platter"

How she appeared in "Public Disservice", "A New Height", and "Too Good for this World"

#criminal case oc #Cherry Acres #Diamond Alley

[jaketrains]

PAW Patrol: 10 Year: Characters (2023)

Characters

Ryder

Chase

Rubble

Marshall

Rocky

Zuma

Skye

Robo-Dog

Everest

Tracker

Tuck and Ella

Rex

(Cat Pack)

Wild

Rory

Leo

Shade

Liberty

Al

Coral

(Rubble & Crew)

Charger (Debut in PAW Patrol)

Mix (Debut in PAW Patrol)

Wheeler (Debut in PAW Patrol)

Motor (Debut in PAW Patrol)

Auntie Crane (Debut in PAW Patrol)

Grandpa Gravel (Debut in PAW Patrol)

(Junior Patrollers)

Mini

Tot

Nano

Mayor Goodway

Chicketta

Julia Goodway

Julius Goodway

Gustavo Goodway

Uncle Otis Goodway

Mayor Greatway (Debut in PAW Patrol)

Mr. Ducky-Doo (Debut in PAW Patrol)

Mr. Porter

Alex Porter

Mr. Hudson

Katie

Cali

Cap’n Turbot

Francisco Turbot

Tilly Turbot

Dr. Tammy Turbot

Taylor Turbot

Codi Gizmody

Elly-Dee

Cassie

Eddie and Emmy

Mayor Humdinger

Kitten Catastrophe Crew

Meow-Meow (Hench-Cat)

Harold Humdinger

Cheetah Humdinger

Helga Humdinger

Farmer Yumi

Farmer Al

Ms. Marjorie

Maynard

Hurricane Harrigan

Adventure Bay Cameraman

Cletus

Adventure Bay Residents

Ladybird

Sweetie

Busby

Princess of Barkibgburg

Earl of Barkingburg

Butler of Barkingburg Castle

Henry and Elizabeth

Duke of Flappington

Jean-Claude

Claw

Sparks the Dragon

Henry

Luke Stars

Traveling Travis

Mr. Wingnut

Mrs. Wingnut

Cowgirl Beryl

Tough Guy (Debut in PAW Patrol)

Carmen (Debut in PAW Patrol)

Marty Muckraker (Debut in PAW Patrol)

Adventure City Camerawoman (Debut in PAW Patrol)

Butch and Ruben (Debut in PAW Patrol)

Window Washer (Debut in PAW Patrol)

Kendra Wilson (Debut in PAW Patrol

Tony (Debut in PAW Patrol)

Carols

Jake

Cora Colors

Mother Mer-Pup

Baby Mer-Pup

Kelp

Moby

McSquidly

Victoria Vance

Flight Controller

Captain Gordy

Hailey Daily

The Copycat (Mr. Nibbles)

Big Hairy

Little Hairy

(Ruff Ruff Pack)

Hubcap

Gasket

Dwayne

Speed Meister

Mr. McTurtle

Lily

Lucas

Omar

Juniper

Camila (Truck Driver and Pilot Airplane)

Grocer Gabriel

Cafe Carl (Ice Cream Shop and Popcorn’s Cafe)

Shopkeeper Shelley (Bike Shop and Toys Shop)

Sierra Sparkle

Farmer Zoe

Park Ranger Rose

River

Builder Cove Residents

Precious Owner

Precious Owner’s Father

Precious Owner’s Mother

The Great Wendini

Ace Sorensen

Daring Danny X

Diredre

Arrby

Sid the Swashbuckler the Pirate

Shaw

Sarah

Raimundo

Cake Judge

Chili and Pizza Judge

Spud

Little Boy

[caffedrine]

Rio Ortiz Romantic Epilogue

This is mostly a summary for me - I make no promises on the accuracy of what’s happening. I’m not nearly fluent enough to get half the jokes/innuendo much less accurate plot points.

After completing her duties as Belle, Emma has started a new chapter in her life in Benitoite, the country of sea and trade. She is together with Rio, who regained his memories and returned to his life as the third prince of Benitoite.

She resides in the Benitoite Palace as a guest of Rio and the King of Benitoite. Within a few days after arriving in Benitoite, Emma started to receive invitations to social gatherings hosted by Benitoite nobles. This was an expected development, as she is continuing her guise as a noblewoman with some connections to the Rhodolite Royal family started when she was named Belle.

As Silvio had once warned her, Emma is being judged and valued by the Benitoite aristocracy. In her role as a goodwill ambassador, she must attend social gatherings. Even though the thought makes her nervous, she won’t run away.

Since he has returned to his duties as the Benitoite court, Rio’s schedule has been very busy and packed. Still, he has made time at the end of every day to visit Emma with tea. Emma asks Rio about a particular invitation that has caught her interest.

Rio looks over the invitation and admits that it seems like a good choice for her first social gathering in Benitoite. He warns her that the host, an earl, has a notoriously difficult personality, but several of the guests would be good to cultivate as acquaintances. Emma leans over to look at the invitation list, and Rio uses the opportunity to kiss the crown of her head.

Rio warns her that this party is being held on a ship and asks if Emma has ever been on one before. Emma has been on boats on the lakes and rivers in Rhodolite, but not a ship in the ocean. Rio talks about the waves and the rocking feeling but assures her that she will get used to it. Looking out her ocean view window, Emma wonders what it feels like and admits that the anticipation makes her heart pound.

Rio praises the sparkle in Emma’s eyes and muses that if she shows up with that expression, people would love her. She’s charming enough on her own that if she spends too long talking to one single person, doubtlessly she would charm them. Rio asks if she’s planning on taking her maid with her as a chaperone.

During her stay at the Benitoite palace, Rio had arranged for a maid to attend Emma. She was supposed to consult with Rio to have the maid accompany her when she attended social occasions, however from Rio’s expression things would be different this time.

Rio doesn’t think he can arrange a maid to come with her, so instead, he will send a butler. At Emma’s protest, Rio insists, explaining that there will be a lot of drinking in an enclosed space with a party that is made up of mostly men. Emma thinks that Rio is deflecting from his real concern. The events with Emidio are still fresh, and she still isn’t experienced enough to judge where the next attack will come from. It is obvious to her that Rio wants to send a bodyguard more than a chaperone, so she decided to accept Rio’s offer. Rio is delighted and promises to arrange for the best butler in all of Benitoite to accompany her.

Just before the party

‘Butler’: Hello master! It is I, your one and true butler, here to serve you!

Emma: Rio.

‘Butler’: I have been waiting in anticipation to be exclusively yours for this evening.

Emma: I know.

Butler Rio: You could pretend to be surprised, you know.

Emma explains that Rio had been all too pleased with himself after she agreed to bring a butler, which gave his ruse away. Rio is delighted that Emma knew him well enough to anticipate this turn of events and hugs her. Emma knows that technically this PDA is far beyond what a true butler should show their master, but she can’t bear to stop him.

She can, however, ask if there will be any problems with the third prince attending the party as a butler. Rio assures her that he is still relatively unknown to the aristocracy and that if anyone suspects anything he can pass himself off as a look-alike. Besides, he wouldn’t miss Emma’s first time on a ship for the world. Emma has so many firsts coming up, he can’t bear to miss any of them.

Emma still thinks that there are a lot of problems with this arrangement, but when Rio looks so genuinely happy, she can’t tell him no. Instead, she thanks him and tells him that she is delighted to have him accompany her. Rio kisses her on the cheek charmingly, and again Emma is too happy to bring herself to reprimand him.

 Upon reaching the ship, Emma realizes that her limited experience with the boats of Rhodolite is nothing. This isn’t so much a vehicle as it is an entire building in the sea. Emma is surprised at how large the top deck is, and how many people it could accommodate. And the inside dining room is large enough to be considered a mansion on its own.

From the railing of the deck, the water shines like a polished jewel reflecting the sunlight. It is far more beautiful than any night sky she has seen.

Rio tells her that Benitoite’s shipbuilding technology is the best on the continent. It’s considered a status symbol amongst the aristocracy and other wealthy people to own a ship, so everyone is competing to show off the most advanced and luxurious ships. The host of this soiree is a shipbuilder in his own right, making this one of the highest-class ships in Benitoite. If Emma likes the ship so much, Rio offers to one day give her one.

Knowing that Rio would actually do it, Emma quickly declines. But Emma decides that she really likes the ocean and the ships on it. And the pride in Rio’s voice as he talks about the shipping industry is proof enough to her that it is worth that love.

Suddenly a man approaches them and calls out Emma’s name, bringing her back to reality. The man is wearing a lot of jewelry, though he barely holds a candle to Silvio. Emma surmises that this must be the host of the party, the earl.

Rio quickly whispers to Emma to keep some distance between her and the Earl, and not quite understanding, Emma agrees. She apologizes for the delay in greeting him and thanks the earl for his invitation. The earl is delighted that she has accepted his invitation, he has several ties and relatives in Rhodolite and relishes the opportunity to make more acquaintances. He offers her a drink to celebrate their auspicious meeting, and motions a nearby servant to bring them drinks.

Emma recalls from Rio’s Love Book Letter that drinking alcohol together was customary in Benitoite society. Mentally thanking Rio, Emma accepts the glass gratefully and is nearly blown away by how strong the drink is. She wonders if all Benitoite alcohol is this strong.

As she mentally compared Benitoite and Rhodolite alcohol, the earl closed the distance between them. He can’t speak long with her for now, but he would love to talk more about Rhodolite. Together. Alone. Privately.

Just before the earl can touch her, Rio pulls her back strongly enough to stumble. Rio immediately fusses over her, asking if the drink was too unexpectedly strong. Rio apologizes on Emma’s behalf to the earl and asks if there is a cabin that she can recover in, as Emma has a low alcohol tolerance. Suddenly a caring host again, the earl directs them away. When the earl isn’t looking, Rio gives Emma a quick wink and she is relieved that he was able to save her from that very uncomfortable encounter.

After securing Emma in a cabin and promising to bring her water, Rio makes a beeline for the earl. He recognizes Rio as the butler from earlier, and Rio kindly thanks him for providing room for his master to recover. The earl makes a polite inquiry after Emma’s health, to which Rio assures him that she’ll be fine. More importantly, Rio was entrusted with a message from Prince Valerio to the earl.

The air grows tense as Rio leans forward to whisper into the earl’s ear.

This will not happen again.

The earl looks at Rio, and instead of seeing the polite and cheerful butler, only sees a mad dog poised to bite him.

In the blink of an eye, the butler has the demeanor of a loyal dog once again. With a cheerful smile, Rio explains that his master is waiting for him so he must be off now. As Rio leaves, the earl thinks about his blonde hair and blue eyes. Blonde hair and blue eyes. It couldn’t be, but could it?

As the rumor of Emma having a terrifying guard dog began to bud and spread amongst the aristocracy, the remainder of her time on the ship went off well. It was only when the party had ended and Rio and Emma were back in Rio’s rooms at the Benitoite palace that she remembered that she had not formally said goodbye to the earl, a minor faux pas.

But on the other hand, with Rio’s warning, it sounds like this earl has a reputation for propositioning women, so it probably won’t negatively affect her too much. She thanks Rio for helping her out of that situation, she is horrified to think of what would have happened if she had been there alone.

Rio warns Emma not to let her guard down in front of the aristocracy or any strangers until she is certain of their intentions. Then again, it would be nice if she could use the threat of Rio finding out about their actions to clear up any similar situations. Emma appreciates Rio’s offer, but she doesn’t want to use his name to solve all of her troubles. She has to find her own way in Benitoite’s social circles to support him.

That said, Emma wonders why the earl never tried to approach her later. Considering how much she had to drink while mingling with other guests, she was certain that the earl would try again later. Emma looks at Rio, scrutinizing his face.

Rio jokingly asks if she’s looking at him like this because she wants to kiss him.  Emma thinks about all the fun she’s had since coming to Benitoite. Sure, she’s had minor worries and anxieties, but with Rio, every day was fun and new, like a gentle world. She wants to thank him.

Emma reaches out, grabs Rio by his butler uniform’s collar, and pulls him forward to kiss him. She meant for it to be a light kiss, but the moment her lips meet his, her heart starts screaming that she loves him. When she finally releases Rio, he is dazed and asks what kind of kiss that was. Emma tells him that she just wants to share her happiness and tell Rio that she loves him.

Rio tells Emma to stop being so cute, his self-control can only take so much. Emma tells him that she doesn’t need his self-control right now.

It occurs to Emma that she may have made a mistake just now, but unfortunately it is far too late. Rio’s heat makes her shiver with its ferociousness, and she pulls away from him to beg him to be gentle with her before she’s pulled back to his mouth. As Rio works his tongue in her mouth, Emma clutches at his clothes.

She tries to retaliate by using her tongue and dominating the kiss and feels Rio tremble under her hands. It makes her happy as she desperately tries to maintain control, and parts again to ask if he likes it. Rio does.

Rio takes off everything Emma is wearing, from her dress down to her undergarments, leaving her bare. He picks her up and carries her to his bed, losing his jacket in the process.

As they continue, Emma thinks back to three years ago when she first met Rio. She never expected that she would end up in this kind of relationship with him. Back then, Rio had been so wary of everything and everyone, but he had gradually opened up to her, becoming first her friend and now her lover. In the end, they accepted each other, both the good and the bad, wholeheartedly.

Emma admits that she has recently come to understand why Rio feels so passionately devoted to her, she feels the same way about him. Maybe this is what it means to love, the feeling that she would do anything for Rio. She tells Rio not to hold back tonight.

Rio tells Emma that there is nothing in this place that he cherishes. Surely by now, she has noticed that his room is bare except for the minimal essential furniture, correct? This is because the only thing in the palace, in the world, that he truly cherishes is Emma.

Rio will cherish Emma forever and begs her not to leave him.

Emma feels herself melt into Rio and promises that she won’t ever leave him. Her first love has also become her last love.

#ikemen prince #ikepri #rio ortiz

[sterlingsilverrosepetals]

Black Butler, Chapter 1 Analysis

Welcome to my analysis of Black Butler. I'm going to write one for each chapter. These will contain thoughtful analyzing, research, and my own feelings on some scenes in each chapter. I don't know how many people will read this regardless I've been having fun writing these and looking into depth at each chapter. I particularly love to focus on history, characters, relationship dynamics, and odd little details. I italicized the summaries I made for each page that way it's easy to differentiate my thoughts from the actual story.

Here we go.

Black Butler Volume I

Cover Art

Sebastian is pouring tea, and there isn’t a lot to the cover on the surface. However, I find it interesting how it appears he is walking while pouring tea. That’s an impressive feat in itself. Also, the stream of tea is so long on this particular cover. The tea also seems to a similar color to Sebastian’s eyes. I think it’s a great cover regardless of the early stage Sebastian. This cover is iconic what else can I say about it? 

Title Page

The title page is perfect for the first volume of the manga. Having the Phantomhive staff and Ciel all together sets the story stage. They all have an important part in the story and it wouldn’t be the same without any of them. After all, that’s where everything starts. I love how it’s all done in black and gray almost like a portrait of everyone together. Yet there is always a hint of one color added each time. 

For this one it was red. I was curious about this inclusion and why Yana used it for the manga. I almost think it is intentional and the color gives a hint to what may occur in the volume or what to expect. Red is a color connected to passion, love, and anger. Since it’s more of a crimson tone it could also reflect warning, revenge, and ruthlessness. It’s also a very powerful color. But the most intriguing thing associated with it and particularly I think one of the main intentions is its association with Devils. And since our titular character Sebastian is a demon it makes perfect sense and is rather genius. The crimson red also compliments the fact that Ciel has a covenant with a demon for revenge and how ruthless he can be.

I also find out of everyone who has something red to accent them it is intriguing how Ciel’s one visible eye is red. Could this symbolize his contract with Sebastian? I almost think it does hint that even if first-time readers don’t recognize it the hint is there. It is a bit menacing in a way. In adjacent Ciel is the only one adorned with roses both on his coat and his top hat. Usually, roses are symbolized by passion and love but they can also be connected to secrecy and confidentiality. Which I found interesting because it almost plays with the fact that the Phantomhive Earl is full of secrets. The secret here most likely is his contract/covenant with Sebastian the demon.

I just love to discover new things like this and try to surmise by the artwork the artist’s intention. I’m not sure if I’m right but I do think this could be what it was hinting at.

Chapter 1: The Butler, Skilled

The first page features a view of the Phantomhive manor. A head peeks from underneath the bedsheets. Our resident Butler awakens his young Earl with a cup of tea and a delicious looking array for breakfast of poached salmon and mint salad. Along with Ciel’s choice of toast, scones, or pain de camgne. The Earl picks a scone. On the next page, Ciel recognizes the tea as Ceylon tea. Sebastian confirms this and explains it’s from Royal Doulton, as well as the tea set being Wedgwood Blue and White. They go over and schedule as the Butler dresses him for the day including Professor Hughes teaching in Kingcraft. In the last panel, someone is hitting a gong commencing a great event.

This page is in color (if you have the Japanese or digital version) and looks quite lovely with the food, especially having a nice texture. This type of beginning is almost a comfortable happenstance right now to the daily life in Black Butler. We don’t even completely see Sebastian or Ciel on the first page as the beginning morning routine begins. It paints a quaint picture befitting one who lives in Victorian England. Since I don’t live in England I wouldn’t know if this is a normal breakfast however what I’ve read in my research Poached Salmon has a lot of high-quality proteins and fats making it a good way to start the day. This elaborate breakfast and choice of accompaniment demonstrate Ciel’s wealth and status. 

The second page is pretty interesting. I actually looked up Ceylon Tea and it’s a black tea but a lighter one with a bit of citrus flavor with honey and spice. It seems like a nice tea to wake up to. I’ll have to try it. I love tea personally so don’t mind me if I go over silly details like this from time to time. Ciel’s eyes are closed at the moment which is interesting in a way because it keeps a beginning reader from seeing what is under his eye patch. Sebastian himself is not in frame completely and is diligently working on tying Ciel’s bowtie. Purposefully it seems like the view is blocked adding a bit of mystery to our two protagonists. On the subject of the lesson, I looked up Kingcraft because, in the beginning, I thought it had to do with fencing but it actually has to do with leadership, authority, and the governance of a king. Indicating again Ciel’s status and what was expected he learned as an Earl. Both these pages give the entire opening a quaint Victorian English feeling and a spark of wondering what will occur. 

The Earl and Butler are now in a new location in front of the manor. Ciel and the servants watch Sebastian face off against what appears to be a Chinese Martial artist with an elaborate fighting technique. Sebastian tightens his gloves and takes the man down with little to no effort. Even though the man claims the technique was a secret one passed down in his family. He demands who Sebastian is.

I feel like this entire fight was to appeal to the main Japanese audience. It doesn’t seem historically accurate although I could be wrong. The tumbleweed flying by like a good old-fashioned shoot-out on the first panel makes me chuckle. Either way, it is a beginning demonstration of Sebastian’s ability and strength. He took down an expert fighter easily which is not an easy feat for anyone. Makes you wonder just how strong he is. Also fascinating how still, in these two pages, we do not entirely see Sebastian’s face. 

Finally, the big reveal comes on the next few pages showing Sebastian Michaelis’s face for the first time. He seems to be looking down on the man as if he’s insignificant. He claims that mastering the technique was no effort for a Phantomhive Butler. Then with a sly smile, Sebastian tells his young master to review his lessons and prepare for the next day since he won the battle. The other servants Baldroy, Finnian, and Mey-Rin are dazzled by their Butler’s display of skill. Each is introduced and they praise Sebastian’s accomplishment. Mey-Rin points out that was his fiftieth win. Ciel is bummed that his attempt to find someone who can beat Sebastian didn’t work out. Sebastian takes it with a sly grin and accepts the drink that Ciel offers him with his praise. Then Sebastian turns to the three servants and asks with a hint of animosity why they are there.

Sebastian’s overall beginning design wasn’t bad. I prefer his newer designs better but this was in the beginning. It has a slick look to still very upper crust and yet kind of frazzled. The sly smiles Sebastian shows don’t seem to have any level of sincerity with them. They almost have a mocking quality in these panels. I like how now that we can see Sebastian and Ciel's faces there is a place card to show the names of each member of the household. The servants are impressed with Sebastian’s skills but Ciel seems bothered and annoyed by the display of his butler. He also seems to go to great lengths to challenge Sebastian he appears to want to see his perfect butler fail. I almost think that the only reason Sebastian fought was for his amusement and the opportunity to mess with Ciel. While Ciel wants him to fail Sebastian seems to feel the same about his young charge. Already building a passive-aggressive relationship between them.

Sebastian asks if each of the servants has already finished their tasks since they had been viewing his fight. He commands the servants to quit relaxing about and get to work. Ciel says on that note that Chlaus from Italy called and Ciel needs to speak with Sebastian privately. They arrive in a large office room where the two speak. Chlaus will be arriving at the house at 6 pm. It turns out he has procured the item Ciel was after. He asks Sebastian and the butler confirms they will show Chlaus an entertaining visit. During their exchange Sebastian grimaces holding his chest as he asks about the lemonade that Ciel offered him. Ciel tells him breezily that it is Tanaka’s special lemonade with AjixMoto apparently the house steward had mistaken it for sugar. He had enough after one sip.

These two pages tell a lot about the current status of things and give a glimpse of the idleness of the other servants. Sebastian has clear command and though they admire him they are also rather frightened of the butler. On another note, I find it interesting Ciel always has a walking stick with him. This particular one seems to have a diamond shape at the top. Now I know this is a staple for him but I think we take it for granted. Not only do I want to analyze the artwork but also the various things on the pages. I found out in my research of the period that walking canes were quite a fashionable adornment not only for mobility but also for society. They indicate the wealth and status of an individual, fairly clever. It definitely also has to do with Ciel’s limited depth of vision because of the eyepatch. Yet I do think that one of the reasons he uses the cane is for the aesthetic. Sebastian is very attentive to his young master following his lead. Both of them speak in few words conveying to the other what is to be done. Sebastian grimacing after the drink makes a good impression of Ciel being spiteful with his butler. He forced him to drink something he didn’t care for after a sip. I almost think that it is also a sign he wants to see his butler struggle we’ve seen how strong and capable Sebastian is in a fight and Ciel wanted to take him down a peg. It also shows that Tanaka the House Steward isn’t completely competent at the moment adding another layer that hints at things to come. 

Sebastian doesn’t look impressed by his young master’s answer, a twitch is present on his forehead. However, he affirms to Ciel he will begin working on things immediately. Ciel leaves him to it. Sebastian tightens his gloves prepares to start his task. We are then treated to Sebastian’s inner monologue on a series of panels. Sebastian works diligently to polish the tableware and selects a spotless tablecloth. He trims the master’s favorite sterling silver roses and weeds the lawn. He prepares a beef slab with choice ingredients for a feast and plans to go to the market to buy other supplies. All this preparation is Phantomhive Hospitality at its finest. A ring interrupts his work alerting him to Ciel’s call he wonders what his little master could want. A silhouette of individuals secretly watches the butler adjust his clothes as he heads out. 

Sebastian is obviously upset with Ciel’s prank but he keeps his answer's calm. I find it interesting how he is upset but he holds it all in. Ciel isn’t even looking at him now focused on his newspaper he leaves everything to his butler. The focus on tightening Sebastian’s gloves demonstrates a strong and efficient worker. Whenever the artist brings up this I can’t help but think it’s partially on purpose. It demonstrates Sebastian is about to get serious. It’s like in that instant Sebastian switches to his finest work mode. The panels here are quite lovely they give an almost whimsical appeal showing Sebastian’s diligence. Apart from the scene, I was curious about Sterling Silver Roses so I looked them up. I always thought they were a white rose but it’s a lavender rose with silver undertones. It’s quite pretty and has a citrusy scent. Ciel seems to like that scent given the Ceylon tea he had earlier. Anyways, Sebastian almost seems disconcerted when Ciel calls yet he brushes off his gloves and slips on his coat heading out anyway. Another interesting thing to note is all of the things he’s doing could have been done by the other servants as well so why is he working on it alone? Quite clever how the author handles this segment of events given what is about to unfold.

The silhouette is revealed to be the rest of the Phantomhive servants there is a gleam in their eyes as they watch Sebastian leave. The trio of Mey-Rin, Finny, and Bardroy confirm that Sebastian’s preparations mean that a guest is coming to visit. Bard tells the others this is their chance to make an impression and demonstrate their skills. Each of them has an image of what they believe they will be able to pull off. Finny with the gardening, Mey-Rin polishing the china, and Bard cooking a classy meal. They are now gung ho to get started on their tasks. Meanwhile, Sebastian is arguing with Ciel about having dessert early. Sebastian firmly tells him he will spoil his dinner even though Ciel continues to protest.

Nothing good can come from gleaming eyes like that. It is nice to see them all getting excited about a guest coming to the manor. This whole situation definitely shows that Bardroy is the brains behind the trio. He’s the one that gets the others excited to demonstrate their skills. The images of the servants daydreaming about completing their tasks are elegant and refined. They have this picture in their head of how things should look it’s not bad but there is such thing as an ideal and reality. I find it funny how each of the tasks they decide to start are ones Sebastian has already begun. On the side I love the little interaction between Ciel and Sebastian it shows the butler is more or less a parent most of the time. Ciel likes to push boundaries and he’s being rather childish demanding treats. Sebastian is firm in denying this request. Definitely getting the parental impression.

So the other servants had a dream of completing the tasks perfectly. Sadly that is not the case reality is they make a disaster. The gardener Finny completely decimated the yard it looks like a barren wasteland. The maid Mey-Rin shattered the china as well as the cabinet. The chef Bardroy charbroiled the beef that Sebastian had set out for the meal. With a tight smiling face, Sebastian asks what all of this is about. The servants are terrified of the butler Sebastian’s smile but each tries to explain their actions. Finny left the lid open on the herbicide sprayer, Mey-Rin slammed into the cabinet, and Baldroy used his blow torch on the meat. Sebastian takes everything in stride and says the fault was his since he left all his tasks open. Now Sebastian ponders the dilemma this mess makes on all his preparations trying to decide what to do before Chlaus comes at a little past six. He checks his pocket watch for the time. His conclusion is he cannot fix the meat or tea set in time. 

Everything is a mess thanks to the other servants. All of Sebastian’s hard work has been destroyed. He has quite a terrifying ominous presence as he listens to their explanation. Although he takes it all with ease and seems to find this a daily occurrence. He shows quite a bit of patience for the other servants despite his anger. I find it interesting the appearance of the servants in this scene. I checked the last few panels and Mey-Rin’s glasses were not cracked before this point. Bardroy is sporting a classic afro (hilarious) and Finian is dirty. Sebastian seems to ignore the other servants' groveling and sets his mind on the task at hand. He considers the time and attempts to remedy the situation while the other servants are panicking.

Sebastian tries to calm down the other servants and tells them to follow Tanaka’s example. Sebastian suddenly has a brilliant idea. Clapping his hands together he gets the other servants' attention. He grasps hold of Tanaka’s tea cup and bases a plan around it. Bardroy watches as the butler starts thinning out the burnt crust on the beef. He isn’t sure about this plan. Mey-Rin bursts in with a stack of boxes she found.

The other servants are a wreck but Sebastian is calm and perhaps a little annoyed at their emotional response to the situation. I love how Tanaka was calmly sipping his cup of tea. Tanaka either is the most collected in the chaos or he simply is in his blissful world. Sebastian demonstrates his skill to make use of the things around him in a bad situation. He focuses on a task but also pay attention to all the things occurring around him, he has a striking alertness. Also, there’s the use of gestures again to continue the scene the artist likes to focus on them in this chapter to display Sebastian’s thoughts and character. Only Bard seems a bit hesitant the others seem to have complete trust in the plan at this point. The others are quick to follow Sebastian but Bard questions things.

Mey-Rin slips and falls toward the ground along with all the boxes she is carrying. Luckily Sebastian manages to effortlessly catch her and all the boxes. The butler scolds the maid for running in the manor and the poor girl blushes admitting that her glasses are broken. Her vision is bad. Finny comes in and excitedly tells Sebastian he managed to get everything he asked for from the garden shop. Sebastian thanks them for their hard work and he will handle the rest. He slyly grins through his teeth telling the servants twice not to touch anything. In the last two panels, a gentleman pulls up in an automobile to the Phantomhive mansion.

I feel for Mey-Rin a lot here. Her lenses are cracked so she isn’t able to get a clear level of vision. I also have to wear glasses so I can understand how that will make it very difficult. Here Sebastian demonstrates his skills by catching everything along with the maid in one swoop. Not an easy thing to do. There's a little sweat on his face which makes me think it was a close call. Finny is so cheerful and helpful here. Sebastian himself is holding in any feelings he has grinning almost mockingly at the other servants. It makes me chuckle but if I was in the servants' shoes I’d definitely find it foreboding. Also, this last page is interesting because the visitor pulls up in an automobile at this time period not everyone had a car and I’d assume it was expensive to have one. So this demonstrates his wealth.

The new arrival approaches Ciel who is sitting reading an economics book on the front step. Ciel identifies him as Chlaus. The man warmly greets Ciel with a hug inquiring about his growth rate. Ciel says he hasn’t grown any taller yet. The two have a friendly conversation as they head inside where all the servants greet the new guest. Chlaus is impressed at the state of the mansion. He has a friendly conversation with Sebastian and comments on the new staff while placing his hat on Finny’s head. Sebastian guides Chlaus towards the courtyard where dinner will be served. The man is confused by the venue but Sebastian assures him Ciel ordered them to entertain him for all his hard work. 

There are seriously a few interesting things to note on these pages. First is the beginning, Chlaus responds with a lot of familiarity towards both Ciel and Sebastian. The man is obviously an important part of Ciel’s life or he wouldn’t have been able to give the young earl and hug. That is something we find out later on that only select people can do. Ciel’s attitude also is very laid back usually you’d expect the servants to greet the guests but he made an effort to wait at the front entrance for Chlaus' arrival. Sebastian also seems to already have relations with him yet the other staff members do not know him yet. This makes me think that the other servants were hired only recently or that Chlaus has not visited in a long while. I do hope we see more of this man in the future.

The courtyard has been transformed into a Japanese Stone Garden with blooming irises. Sebastian’s efforts have pulled it off and Chlaus is deeply impressed. The butler seats the guest at a table nestled in the garden. Using Tanaka’s tea set Sebastian serves them traditional tea. Chlaus is impressed by all the details he put in to make everything authentic. The other servants watch Sebastian’s work from behind the flowers. The truth was that they didn’t have any other tea sets but Sebastian used what they had to his advantage. Ciel seems content with the whole thing. He asks Chlaus if he brought the game he promised to procure him. Chlaus confirms it but admits it was difficult to get it, he had relayed this to Cie over their phone call. 

Here is a stroke of brilliance. Sebastian managed to mask the others' mistakes by using the Japanese traditions to his advantage. We find out from these panels that Chlaus is Italian, not only does he refer to retrieving the game for Ciel from there but he also compliments the stone garden with this language. About the game Chlaus brought here’s one piece that is a bit controversial when considering the period the game he got Ciel is in a box that looks like it came from Nintendo Gameboy. The entire name is sort of similar. The name though is interesting it’s called Mouse3 which makes me consider the following chapters about the mice issue. So the entire thing isn’t very authentic but I will say the first few books had some little tendencies here and there. I still think if the anime used it but changed it a bit the game would have worked. The important thing is this puts Chlaus as an key associate along with being a close acquaintance of Ciel. The entire meal and entertainment is for the benefit of a job well done on the man’s part for the earl. Ciel also seems to be a little playful here teasing Chlaus openly about the struggle he had retrieving the game for him.

Chlaus seems to play along with Ciel and is thankful for the reward for his effort. Ciel comments that he hopes the game will be entertaining the last one had a tiresome ending. His guest scoffs lightly at Ciel’s response and says that as a child the game will probably be complete pretty soon and the boy will want another game from him. A sinister smirk appears on the Earl’s face and he confirms children are greedy when it comes to games. This brings up another point by Chlaus about Phantomhive company being the top toymaker in the country at the age of 12. He fears for the boy’s future. Sebastian interrupts them serving dinner. Courtesy of Chef Bardroy (who only sliced the meat and arranged it on rice.) the meal is gyuu-tataki-don. Chlaus is shocked he expected a Kyoto-style-full course meal. Sebastian interrupts him with a glimmer in his expression. 

I feel like this scene was both hinting at the actual focus of their conversation and a bit of insight into Ciel. Ciel himself seems to be very excited to play this next game and he is not above admitting children are greedy about them. Ciel seems to have a bit of a mocking attitude to the whole thing as well as confidence in the future. He is also strong in aptitude in ability if he can finish a game so quickly. The theme of games is played well built in the series. Here it foreshadows Ciel's viewpoint on challenges. He treats them as a puzzle something he needs to dissect and figure out. Games are also a competitive way for people to demonstrate their skills and the goal is always to win. Ciel seeing life from this viewpoint shows his hunger and determination to tackle each situation with a detached outlook. We also learn here that he runs a successful toy company which would explain why he had Chlaus get him an Italian game. Yes, this is all on the surface but the later chapters reveal the truth behind the conversation and it’s a lot more than just a game Chlaus’ procured for him. Yet I wonder if the two of them are speaking this way to make sure no spies find out what was truly going on? After all the Phantomhives have many enemies. And now we have Donburi ha ha it doesn’t really fit the venue but wait the spark from Sebastian means there is more to tell.

Sebastian breaks out into a passionate speech about Donburi and its significance as a feast for workers. He speaks of the history of Donburi and almost admits that he believes Chlaus has grown tired of elaborate dishes. The servants cheer the butler’s work in the background. Chlaus chuckles genuinely impressed by all the effort and finds it very humorous. He believes Ciel and he will continue to be able to work well together. Ciel is honored by his words. Chlaus admits to Sebastian he did not know anything about the history of the dish and compliments Sebastian. Another panel shows that Sebastian had spent a lot of time in the study learning about Japanese Food Culture. Chlaus is happy and agrees with Sebastian’s assessment of needing lighter meals he thanks him.

What a display from the Japanese-style wave background to Sebastian’s passionate rant about Donburi it truly suits the situation. Chlaus is very delighted and it seems that he and Ciel will continue their business relations. I’m pretty impressed by the fact Sebastian spent time going over the history of Donburi. It wasn’t just a random conversation they show the effort Sebastian went into to sell his story. Demonstrates a lot of dedication and commitment to his job. It also is shows honesty because he could have made up a story rather than researching it. When Sebastian sells something here it is truthful. Chlaus seems to not just take everything at face value though here he shows he found the whole situation funny and is delighted by Sebastian’s efforts. In the anime the other guy who poses as Chlaus just seemed overwhelmed by it all but Chlaus himself recognizes that they went to a lot of trouble for him and he even seems to understand the humor of it all. I won’t always talk about the anime but this is a big difference between the stand-in and him. 

Sebastian informs Chlaus that he has selected an Italian wine for him. He gestures towards Mey-Rin with the trolley. She just stands there for a moment until Sebastian prompts her to pour Chlaus a glass of wine. The others notice she’s acting strange. Mey-Rin is in her own world after being so close to Sebastian. She misses her aim for the glass and the wine spills all over the table. The others gasp and try to tell her to stop her. Inner thoughts of the group are that the mess she is making will make all their efforts go to waste. The wine is dripping very close to Chlaus at this point and the servants are panicking.

Like I said before I don’t think we can entirely fault Mey-Rin she can’t see well with those cracked glasses. Also, having someone handsome like Sebastian right in her face would make it very difficult. The pressure gets to her. Everyone else is sort of panicking besides Sebastian and Ciel who look more paused in disbelief if anything. I love this entire exchange.

Sebastian effortlessly pulls the soiled tablecloth out from under the meal and decorations. Ciel looks a bit shocked by the whole thing. 

I love these pages so much. Doing something like that isn’t easy. You’d expect a magician to at least fake it but he pulled the entire tablecloth like that so effortlessly. Everything on the table was barely disturbed.

The whole scene brings the moment to a pause. Sebastian pulls off the tablecloth so quickly it brings everyone besides Chlaus who was too busy eating to a halt. Ciel is at a standstill and the rest of the servants are shocked minus Tanaka. The wine glass shifts before setting into place. While Finny and Bard retrieve Mey-Rin, Chlaus finally notices the tablecloth is gone. Ciel gives a little chuckle and a slight smirk. Ciel explains he had it removed because of a stain and Sebastian apologizes for the inconvenience.

That mix of reactions from everyone is interesting. Ciel paused with his food close to his mouth. He doesn’t seem entirely shocked but at the same time, he was probably panicking at that moment. The other servants are wide-eyed and Bardroy spits out his cigarette. Ciel easily composes himself and acts like nothing happened. He tells a lie about why the tablecloth was moved with a straight face while Sebastian stands behind him humbly apologizing. Why is this important? Ciel basically tells a fabrication and Sebastian goes along with it. The boy can easily put on a facade and smirk as he resumes eating like nothing happened. He is the one to cover up the situation whereas Sebastian follows his lead. It gives yet another glimpse into the outer view of Ciel's character. I know we have the anime to see this scene now but it is like everything happened in an instant. I still love this scene so much.

Sebastian breathes a sigh of relief and the others compliment his work. Bardroy compares him to Superman. Sebastian says he’s merely a butler. Chlaus also compliments Sebastian’s skills but Ciel said he only did what was expected as his servant. Chlaus disagrees and argues talent like Sebastian would be hard to find in Britain. Ciel concurs but says that’s not the only reason he hired him. He claims he has never tasted sweets better than Sebastian’s. 

Crisis averted for Sebastian and company. I find it interesting how Bardroy compliments him on being just like Superman it's a hint that he's not of this world. However on a factual note that character did not appear in comics until 1938 we are still in the 1800’s at this point so it was a rather inconsistent dating. I think it was used more to hint at Bardroy’s heritage since he is from America. It also speaks of Sebastian’s potential inhuman skill. Sebastian doesn’t even use his regular catchphrase in response here. Ciel himself is calm and thinks nothing of Sebastian being so skillful as he seems to expect him to be. I like how the panel focuses on Ciel’s spoon in a mirror view rather than his face when he speaks of why he hired Sebastian for his culinary arts. It describes his sweet tooth better than just an ordinary panel of his speaking.

Chlaus is shocked by Ciel’s response but chuckles assuming sweets to be important to a child. Ciel smiles secretly and claims he’s looking forward to dessert. The dessert is Apricot and Green Tea Mille-Feuille. The other staff watch as Sebastian prepares it in the kitchen with eager looks. Sebastian finds himself sweat dropping at their hovering. Sebastian tells them if they behave 'like good little children' he will reward them with some of the treats. While Bardroy tries to wake Mey-Rin, Tanka is already eating his share. Finnian on the other hand is considering the whole event that transpired. Also apparently, Finny bought Iris bulbs but the flowers displayed in the garden were in bloom. Sebastian apologizes on the last panel for the delay.

Ciel’s love of sweets knows no bounds. The desert prepared looks excellent though so I can’t blame him. Sebastian even made it to compliment the atmosphere of the Japanese Stone Garden. I love seeing the other servants hovering yes in many ways Sebastian truly is a dad to the whole staff and the Earl. The way he calls the staff children is telling as well. Finnian pondering brings up a good point about the garden how could the irises be in bloom? It makes the entire situation at this point more mysterious. 

The final page has Sebastian arriving with the cart arrayed with the sweet treats he prepared. He proclaims to the Earl and his guest that dessert is now served. The scene is adorned with those mysterious blooming irises. Back in the kitchen Finnian considers how the butler managed to make the flowers bloom yet ultimately decides who cares. While Bardroy tries to arouse Mey-Rin and Finny is pondering things Tanaka has already finished off all the desserts placed aside for the staff. 

Ultimately at this point I think Finnian and the others consider Sebastian’s skills abnormal but either ignore or don’t have the observant mind to pay attention to the details. Although Finny was on the right track of the mysterious situation he is more inclined to let things be since it all worked out in the end. I find it hilarious that Tanaka managed to finish off the entire desert while the others were busy with things. It kind of hints again at their lack of observance. Yet quite often that happens to people so it’s not uncommon. Humans tend to not look past their noses. We the readers notice things more because we are focused.

Final thoughts on the chapter:

Truthfully I enjoy this first chapter. It starts building dynamics with the Phantomhive staff and the Earl. Particularly showing well what the others lacked and how Sebastian handled things on his own. You have to wonder at this point as a first-time reader why Ciel hired so many incompetent staff members when Sebastian can handle everything. In my opinion I think besides their special talents (we learn about later) they were hired to make the Phantomhive household look more realistic and like a true home. I love the staff truly I do it with all their antics. But they can be lacking at times in skill. It is put to great comedy effect. That’s where Sebastian comes in he balances out the entire situation and makes things effortless. How can any normal person compete with that?

I loved the dynamic between Ciel and Sebastian here. There is a bit of tension. Ciel is trying to test boundaries and see what he can get away with. He almost at times seems frustrated that Sebastian can do so well at everything. He tries to find areas where he will fail. Yet he’s not surprised by his skill or talent. He likes to poke jabs at his Butler too. They clearly have a bit of a passive-aggressive relationship. Yet at the same time, there are hints of an understanding between the two. Sebastian plays the part of the straight man to all of Ciel's lies which given who he is is rather ironic. I did see even in the beginning a bit of Sebastian being the dad of the Phantomhive group. He cleans up the mistakes of the staff and he also keeps Ciel on task. Typical parent situation. 

Chlaus was a nice addition as an outsider to everything going on. Yet he has a bit of a relationship with Ciel since he can speak with him with such familiarity. The staff does everything they can to impress the visitor and he is treated in high regard for all his efforts. Those efforts will come into view in the following chapters and I can’t wait to read more. Yes, this was a good first chapter despite some inconsistencies in the historical timeline it has always been a fun read.

~

Any who read this to the end I hope you enjoyed my analysis I had a lot of fun writing it. And I'm currently working on chapter 2. This will probably very on when it's released because of work and irl but I will try to post a chapter as often as I can. I want to get this done before Season 4 but we shall see.

#kuroshitsuju manga #black butler manga #reread #analysis #chapter 1 #black butler chapter 1 #black butler #kuroshitsuji #sebastian michaelis #ciel phantommhive #chlaus #finnian #mey rin #baldroy #tanaka #phantomhive staff #black butler arc #thoughts #my analysis #manga #chapter analysis #my thoughts #yana toboso

[forgwater]

Hi! I have a quick question about your Victorian AU. What statuses can we pick for our MC? I know aristocrats exist but I don’t know what else is there besides that. I know practically close to nothing, but I am so intrigued by the idea of this AU 😅

Hi anon!

Anything, really.

MC's status is quite dependent on their occupation, or relation to a character. If they are a character's fiancé/fiancée in a pre-arranged marriage (also mc can be engaged to a character, but fall in love with someone else) MC will be either of the same rank as the character or one lower... or maybe one higher?

Do you want them to be royalty, an aristocrat, middle class, working class?

They could be poor, the under trying to make it big by doing less than legal stuff. Maybe they just got hired as a maid/butler/footman/kitchen maid/any other kind of domestic servant by the NRC. Maybe they're one of the staffs family member or protégé. Maybe they work in a factory. Maybe they work directly under one of the staff members, or maybe even one of the residents.

(you can request the staff as well)

Maybe MC got knighted and work under/for the current monarch.

Maybe MC is someone's bastard child.

Maybe Crowley picked them up from the street with the promise of a roof under their head. Maybe they made a deal with Crowley after they got directed towards the Ramshackle.

also, some

Noble Ranks (from highest to lowest):

King-Queen

Prince-Princess

Duke-Duchess

Marquess-Marchioness

Count/Earl-Countess

Viscount-Viscountess

Baron-Baroness

(now I need to write the boys' ranks 💀)

(I'm here to brainrot not be completely historically accurate)

I hope I didn't go on a tangent and answered you question well enough.

Also I'm very happy to see that people are interested in my au. :)

And don't forget, if you have any questions about a particular place or character... Louise-Elene is quite knowledgeable. They hold quite a bit of information... perhaps too much of it. Come back to the greenhouse whenever you wish. They'll be happy to welcome you back.

#forg answers #victorian au #twst victorian au

[wildfire317]

Dear wildfire317,

Hello. Going through the mailing list of the 'blog' askblackbutler, I see you are still following the Phantomhive Manor and aren't a deceased address. I am sending out this letter through the post as an apology for the Manor's silence, as duties called the young master and I away from answering the fan mail and questions in our mailbox, leaving some to rot away for years. Well, as of today, the Phantomhive Manor's mailbox is open yet again, and we swear to dutifully answer any new asks, as that is the Phantomhive way! All of this to say, if you are still interested in the affairs of the manor, we invite you to once again write down the desires of your heart, and the questions in your mind, to have the residents of the Manor (and otherwise) answer them. We are always one letter away! Thank you for your continued interest in the Phantomhive Manor. ~ Sebastian Michaelis, butler to Ciel Phantomhive, of the Phantomhive Manor

(Admin Ciel: Hi! I noticed you were still following the blog, and have been active, so I thought this ask would be nice to send in case you're still interested in Black Butler and ask blogs. Feel free to post this publicly, answer it privately, or just delete it! I wanted to try to drive engagement from people as the ask box is relatively low on quality asks.)

Evening, terribly sorry but I am more active on my other blog these days: @wildfire317s-oc-box . I will however be sure to follow you on there and if I have any questions for you I will be sure to ask. But for now feel free to enjoy some earl grey tea and cookies.

#mod speaks #black butler #kuroshitsuji #other blog mention

[twis-world]

I have the most weirdly specific crossover I want to do for Twisted Wonderland that has just been rotting in my brain for weeks but I still have no clue how to execute it yet so Imma just blurb

I M A G I N E

Twisted Wonderland x Black Butler

Silver x Phantomhive Bodyguard

NOW HEAR ME OUT

Instead of Yuu our resident Earl of Phantomhive got transported to the magical realm of Twisted Wonderland. Along with him Sebastian and our wonderful reader were dragged, the latter who is also bound by contract (which WILL be explained once I get this shit sorted but I can't just give you all the details just yet). During their time there they deal with overblots, give closure to the different dorms, yada yada yada

BUT WAIT, THERES MORE

Silver and reader who eventually meet and bond over their life long assigned roles, though notice the explicit differences. Silver, who if he ever wanted, is free to defect from his role of a Knight. He doesnt, though, he does it not because he has to but because he wants to. The reader, on the other hand, is completely and utterly bound. There is no free will nor autonomy in their line of work, everything they live and breath for is for the protection of Ciel Phantomhive.

Deciding that this just wont do, Silver decides to show that they are not just their title. There is joy to be found outside of risking their very life for the protection of another. Even Papa Lilia tags along, seeing the obvious fondness his beloved son holds for the outsider.

However, despite what the fairytales may have told, there will not always be a happy ending. Ciel is determined to get home and a certain butler will ensure that his protégé will follow through with their duty when the time comes to return.

YALL SEE THE IDEA???

Idk, once I get my shit together I think it would be pretty sick.

And by god do I need to branch away from this fucking silly little mobile game DAMMIT (I still have so many more ideas...)

#.

[the-letter-horror-lover]

Definitely the smarter of the pair," Ciel commented as he settled back to enjoy the ride. He would never say so to his demon, but he quite enjoyed being carried on outings like this; it was surely far better than those "roller coaster" amusement park rides in France and America that he'd read about in the newspapers. Sebastian went so much higher, but also carried him far more safely, than those little cars on wooden tracks could ever manage, and the ride could go on for miles instead of a few hundred yards at most.

Soon they reached the College of Arms, easily evading the night watchmen there, and Sebastian set him on the roof for a moment while he climbed spider-like down to a fourth-floor window to open it. Once they were inside, Ciel tried the snacks Agni had prepared for them—the meat in the sandwiches was far too spicy for his liking, but the churma sweets were quite tasty; Sebastian would have to get the recipe for them—and ate while his demon flipped through book after book after book, searching for the heraldic record that matched his drawing.

After roughly half an hour, Sebastian came to him with a book open to a particular page. "Here is the match, my lord: the coat of arms for one Baron Kelvin."

"Kelvin?" Ciel echoed in mild surprise.

"Yes, my lord; do you know him?"

"I don't much care for philanthropists and such, so he's not a personal acquaintance, but I think we exchanged greetings at a party that my predecessor took me to," Ciel said with a thoughtful rub of his chin. He focused on what he could remember of that brief encounter, and though the perspective from a small eight-year-old boy's height was quite different than that of the photographs, he recognized that the round face, glasses and bushy mustache belonging to the man in his memory could well match the man in the photographs. "Well, we have a name as well as a face, but now we need an address. Where is this baron's residence?"

Getting that information quickly and at this time of night required a visit to the main offices of the Board of Inland Revenue; after scouting out that establishment and its immediate surroundings, Sebastian politely requested that he be permitted to conduct that break-in alone. "It goes without saying that I can get inside and acquire the information with ease, but the risk of detection and of danger to you would be greatly increased if you accompanied me. Their offices are much more heavily guarded than the College of Arms, my lord; perhaps because they have had more frequent and unpleasant experiences with intruders."

"People breaking in that are unhappy with the tax collectors. Can't imagine why," Ciel said with a perfectly deadpan expression. Sebastian's smirk in response seemed to hang in the air for a moment after he departed, like the Cheshire cat's smile; the young earl sat on a rooftop, wrapped his heavy cloak around him for warmth, and waited rather impatiently for his butler's return.

Ten minutes later, the demon dropped down out of sky right in front of him, landing soundlessly in a crouch that turned smoothly into a servant's bow. Ciel refused to be impressed; he simply arched an eyebrow and said, "Well?"

"I have the location of Baron Kelvin's country manor, my lord; his primary residence as well as the most isolated property in his holdings, and therefore the most likely location for keeping captive children. From London it would take the whole of a day to reach it, traveling by rail, then carriage."

"But you can get us there in less than an hour, can't you?" Ciel asked as he stood up and dusted himself off.

"If you so command, yes," Sebastian said with another bow, that turned into smoothly scooping him up into the carrying position.

"Then I so command it. We shall solve this case, and then return to the manor without delay," Ciel said firmly, getting a good grip on his hat and walking stick as Sebastian seemed to coil his strength like a great black spring before leaping out over London. He very much wanted to return home before his fiancée turned his entire mansion into an over-decorated lady's parlor...

00oo00oo00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Many miles away but less than an hour later, Sebastian gave one final leap over a wooded area and landed on the great drive in front of a large country manor. Ciel looked the edifice over with a critical eye; not as large as Phantomhive Manor, but still of respectable size. "This is Kelvin's manor?"

"Yes, sir," Sebastian said as he set Ciel on his feet.

"Well? Do you smell them?" He didn't need to explain who 'they' were.

After drawing a deep breath, Sebastian replied, "I do indeed. I cannot tell whether they are all here, but those present are still alive."

Alive, but likely asleep at this hour, being nearly midnight on a cold winter's night. Hopefully all the residents of the manor were asleep, but that was not a fact to be counted on. What part of the manor was most likely to be deserted at the moment, the best spot to break in? The conservatory, if this manor had one, but Ciel didn't see the typical giant windows that marked such a room on the front face of the manor. Perhaps it was located around the back—but then Ciel stopped his musings when he realized Sebastian was walking right up to the front door, as if he expected the house's butler to just let them in!

...Well, why not put a bold face on it? If his demon was confident that they could walk right in without risk, then the demon's master could hardly be less confident. Holding his head high, Ciel strode up to the front door and knocked imperiously, thrice; when no butler appeared promptly to open the door, he gave a short nod of approval for Sebastian to break the lock and let them inside.

The foyer of the manor was unlit and even darker than the moonlit night outside, but a snap of Sebastian's fingers lit the candles in the wall sconces. Ciel looked around—and gasped in shock when he saw corpses hanging everywhere!

...No, not corpses; mannequins, or pieces of mannequins. Tied into frames like grotesque parodies of bas-relief sculptures, tied up and dangling from wires suspended from the ceiling. Even though they were not true bodies, the effect was still horrific; this was a true 'manse macabre'.

"Master, we are no longer unobserved," Sebastian murmured, looking towards the grand staircase at the end of the foyer. Ciel followed his gaze, and saw a boy of perhaps ten years of age standing there; a boy smartly dressed, like the butler of a well-to-do-household. Acting somewhat like a butler as well, for the boy bowed to them, though rather sluggishly instead of the crisp movements expected of a fine family's servant. But as they drew near him, Ciel saw and was further disquieted by the boy's sunken eyes, his dull and lifeless features; as the Queen's Watchdog, he had seen even corpses that had died with more expression remaining to them.

"Take us to your master—your captor," the earl grimly corrected himself. Though he didn't recognize the boy from the photographs that were with the police records, he had no doubt that this child was a kidnap victim, not here by choice. The boy bowed sluggishly to them once more, and then turned and led them up the stairs.

"How should you like to proceed?" Sebastian murmured into Ciel's ear as they followed the child up the stairs. "Would you have me kill the baron immediately and extricate the children?"

"Wait," Ciel murmured back. "If the children are still alive, we should apprehend Kelvin first; obtain a confession. I cannot make a full report to Her Majesty the Queen, if I do not understand his objectives and the actual facts of the case."

"Understood, sir." Then Sebastian fell silent again, as they reached the top of the stairs and turned right, still following the child, into a room that appeared to be a typical nobleman's study, with a fire blazing in the hearth.

Two other servant-children were standing in the room, serving trays in their hands, as mute and expressionless as life-size dolls. And facing away from the door, someone adult-sized was seated close to the fire's warmth, reading. Without looking up from the book in his hands, the adult said in a curiously lilting voice, "Well, did you find out who had been naughty enough to make such noise late at night? Bring him here..."

The air of casual authority, the expensive silk dressing-gown; there was only one man that seated figure could be. Ciel declared in his most forbidding tones, "Baron Kelvin."

Clearly startled, the man lifted his head and turned his head to face them. Then it was Ciel's turn to be startled, because the face he vaguely remembered from the party five years ago and that he had seen in the pictures was now covered in bandages; only his mouth and one eye was visible. And the chair he was sitting in rolled slightly as he twisted in it; it was a wheeled chair such as they used for transporting invalids! Had the baron recently been in a carriage accident or similar incident?

The baron gasped, "Earl Phantomhive!"

The disquiet Ciel had been feeling since stepping into that macabre foyer, dissipated in his satisfaction at being instantly recognized for who and what he was. Not that he let that satisfaction show in his face or voice as he declared, "Yes. The Watchdog of the Queen has come, to demand an accounting of your criminal—"

Then Ciel was startled again, when the baron clapped his hands together in clear delight instead of the expected fear or anger, while crowing, "You've come at last! I've been waiting for this moment for years, and you've come at last!"

.

To be continued!

Notes:

P.S. Yes, the circus has a lion as well as a tiger in canon; he only appears in one panel of chapter 25, and is never mentioned by name, so I gave him one.

Chapter 7: Black Butterfly

Notes:

AKA: The Part Where It All Changes

Sebastian had witnessed a great deal of human behavior over the course of his exceedingly long existence. He had observed more than once that while human technology had changed a great deal over the millennia, human behavior had changed very little overall. But one of the reasons he appreciated his current contractor more than any other human that he had served before eating, was that he was often surprised by his little lord and the behavior of those the young master came in contact with; indeed, he had been surprised more often in just the last three years, than in the full three centuries prior.

Case in point, this Baron Kelvin that they were currently confronting for having orchestrated the serial kidnappings of children all across England. Upon recognizing that he was facing Earl Phantomhive, the Watchdog of the Queen, it would be expected for the baron to react with fear or anger; not to clap his hands together in rather childish glee while crowing, "You've come at last! I've been waiting for this moment for years, and you've come at last!"

Then the baron leaned over in his wheeled chair in an attempt to peer past the demon and his master, while shouting gaily, "Job well done, Joker my lad! Well done indeed!"

"Job well done?" the young master echoed, his curiosity well-flavored with incredulity at the heavily-bandaged man's behavior.

"In bringing you from your home to here, of course!" the baron replied, as if there could not possibly be any other answer. And then he asked with what appeared to be an eagerly curious smile under all the bandages, "Tell me, did they set fire to the place as well? I forgot to tell them to do that in my letter, didn't remember until after I'd already sent it off, but it would have been even more perfect if they had!"

Well, that rather answered the question of where Joker and the other first-tier members had gone that afternoon, didn't it? Sebastian checked his pocketwatch as he did a few quick calculations: starting from the circus's current location and ten hours ago, assuming that they had kept their horses to a steady and sustainable pace for the journey, the troupe would have reached the Phantomhive Estate... right about now, actually.

But the attack elsewhere was of little importance; the lot of them would be dead within minutes of their arrival, likely less than five minutes after crossing the first line of the silent tripwires Sebastian had set all around the estate as warning systems. They'd last perhaps ten minutes at the outside, unless they had the sense to either flee or surrender at the very first sign of violence. Those three idiots were utterly incompetent when it came to serving guests, but they were quite effective indeed at killing intruders.

Then Baron Kelvin exclaimed, "But where are my manners? You must be famished after your long journey here... and we must have some entertainment, while waiting for a late supper!" Then he picked up a small silver bell and rang it merrily, the tinkling notes filling the air and drifting out into the hall beyond, before he began barking orders at the children in the room with them.

Two of the children went to the kitchens to prepare a repast as ordered, and the other two moved to push the wheeled chair out of the room and down the hall while the baron called out, "Joker, we need entertainment; go set up the acts! The tightrope, and the dagger-throwing, and oh! we mustn't forget the lion!" That last statement quite caught Sebastian's attention; dare he hope that the lion was actually a lioness?

But the young master had other priorities, of course. "Joker didn't bring us here; I discovered your connection to the circus on my own, and came here to investigate further!" he declared while stepping in front of the wheelchair, to bring it to a halt—except the boy and girl pushing the chair just guided it around him without stopping.

"D'you mean Joker isn't here?" the baron asked in surprise. "But who will be the ringmaster for tonight's circus acts? I know; I'll do it myself!" as he clapped his hands with rather gleeful resolve.

"I didn't come here for circus acts!" the young master declared impatiently, as he trotted forward and stepped in front of the chair again. "I want to know what you di—hey!" he exclaimed quite futilely, as the children pushing the chair just dodged around him again, since the hallway was far too wide for one person to block it. Keeping pace with the procession but far to one side, Sebastian wondered with some amusement just when his little contractor would remember to give him an order to stop it himself.

"Being a ringmaster will be fun! And it's easy, too," Baron Kelvin babbled mostly to himself, as other children began appearing in the hall, likely having been summoned by the bell earlier. They lined up silently against the wall, but the baron put them no heed as his chair rolled forward past the grand staircase to the foyer, heading for the mechanical lift that had been added on the far side of the hall. "Let's see, how do they always start it... Ladies and gentlemen! (Yes, that sounds right.) Ladies and gentlemen! We start our show tonight with an acrobatic act," as he unexpectedly reached back behind him to grab the boy of the pair pushing him, and dragged him forward by his shirt sleeve. "Watch this boy as he gracefully cartwheels down the stairs!" he declared, before giving the boy a hard shove to the side.

Unfortunately, there was nothing graceful about the boy's descent. With his superior hearing, Sebastian quite clearly heard four—no, five bones breaking on the first impact, about twelve steps down from the top stair. From that point on, the action could be better described as flopping rather than cartwheeling. But when the boy finally came to rest in a heap at the base of the stairs, Sebastian judiciously gave the corpse a little artistic credit, for the elegant patterns in two of the blood-spatters that had been made on the way down.

00oo00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Ciel stared down at the what remained of the boy, thirty feet below at the base of the stairs. There was no need to ask Sebastian if he was dead; Ciel knew from prior Watchdog cases that no human could live with their head at that angle. The flash of shock he'd felt, when the deed had been done so casually right in front of him, converted into a disgusted rage with that odious, boorish, basest excuse for nobility still prattling like a lunatic as he rolled towards the lift... but the skin of his forearms prickled with growing unease as he also observed the reactions of the other children:

No reactions at all.

No screams, no shouts, not even any gasps of surprise or horror; it was as if they hadn't even noticed what had happened. No, they'd noticed; another boy came forward and took the first boy's place in pushing the wheeled chair. But other than that, they took no more notice of a boy being pushed to his death right in front of them, than normal children would of a common fly buzzing through the room.

Ciel remembered too damn well the last time he'd seen children with so little reaction to death in their midst, and his stomach roiled and churned at the memories. But he fought back the nauseating horror as he marched up and stiff-armed the boy away from his post, making him stumble back from the chair's left side. The girl on the right didn't stop pushing fast enough, making the chair veer to the left as it slowed, and as Ciel drew his pistol from its concealed holster.

The criminally insane baron abruptly stopped his prattling and childlike giggling, when his left turn brought the drawn and cocked pistol into view, pointed right at the center of his bandaged forehead. Glaring past the barrel at his prey, the Queen's Watchdog snarled, "I've seen enough! Vile, wretched vermin... Where are the kidnapped children?!"

The madman actually had the nerve to look surprised to see a gun pointed at him. "Eh? What's this—oh, you want to see them? They're in the basement, so I'll just show you the way now! And there's something else downstairs that I want to show you besides!"

Baron Kelvin, his chair pushers, Ciel and Sebastian all rode in the lift to the ground floor, while the other children made a silent procession down the stairs. When they reached the bottom, two children began tugging away the corpse sprawled there, while two more fetched a bucket of water and scrub brushes, and all in eerie silence... broken only by the baron's bizarrely cheerful comment over his shoulder to Ciel, keeping pace with his gun still aimed and ready. "To be strolling beside you this way is really like a dream come true!"

"Enough of your idle chatter," Ciel growled. "Just take me to the children!"

"I'm just so very happy now," the madman said in what he probably thought was an explanation, as they proceeded down a narrow hallway. "I've been full of regret ever since that day!" The hallway ended in an anteroom capped by a wide set of stout oaken doors as he continued, "I wondered over and over why I couldn't have been there by your side, on that day, in that place."

"That day?" Ciel echoed. "By my... side? What the hell are you going on about, man?"

Instead of answering him, the baron yammered on as the children who had been pushing his chair stepped forward to open the doors. "I can't turn back time, no matter how much I regret it. But then I realized it! That if I can't turn back time, I can just do it over again!"

The doors swung open, and the baron announced, "There! Feast your eyes!"

Ciel looked... and then his innards turned to ice.

Oh god it was all too sickeningly familiar: the circular amphitheater, the altar at its center, the pentagram carved into the floor, the cages around the altar, the children in the cages...

He dimly heard past the roaring in his ears, the baron's declaration of "It took me three whole years to prepare this. Now let us recreate it anew, Earl Phantomhive! That fateful day which came to pass three years ago!"

00oo00oo00oo00oo00oo00oo00

My, my... the sight did indeed bring back memories.

But Sebastian was drawn from his pleasant reverie by Baron Kelvin's babbling, doubtless trying to explain himself to the young master, though Sebastian could tell through that the boy was in no state to hear him. Well, of course the memories would be far less pleasant for his contractor; that was to be expected.

Listening to the baron's monologue, describing how he'd first met the Phantomhives at a ball and been struck by their cool beauty and changed himself to be worthy of them, et cetera, et cetera, Sebastian had a thought as to a possible underlying cause... inhaled deeply, while opening his thoughts and stretching his awareness wide to encompass the entire estate... But no, by neither scent nor thought, he could detect no other demons in the vicinity. A Grim Reaper's presence hovered at the edge of his awareness, doubtless coming to reap the soul and cinematic record of the child who'd fallen down the stairs, but no other demons.

Sebastian had noted the changed pattern in the baron's tax documents, while researching his holdings at the Board of Inland Revenue to get the address of Kelvin Manor. Up until five years ago, the baron had expended quite a bit of money on charity and philanthropy, but that had changed quite suddenly. And from what the baron was saying now, that change in expenditures had evidently been caused by his sudden obsession with the Phantomhives. It would explain quite a bit if another demon had come along five years ago and decided to meddle with the baron's mind; such an act was possible, though Sebastian never bothered to do so. (It took rather a large amount of power to warp a human's mind enough to create such an all-consuming obsession in them, and he had noted millennia ago that humans were quite capable of sinking to glorious depravities all on their own; why extend such effort, when all one had to do was wait a while and see what developed?)

The current atmosphere of Kelvin Manor was certainly enough to cause a lesser and unrefined demon to lick his metaphorical chops; the very air was saturated in misery, in fear worn dull by its omnipresence. (Of course Sebastian had higher standards than that; he preferred souls flavored with more than just sheer misery, just as his little lord preferred sweets that were more than simple sugar cubes.) But he could not detect any other demon's presence in the manor, or even any residual essence; it would seem that Baron Kelvin had twisted and sunk to such perverted levels all on his own.

Ah, the monologue seemed to be coming to an end now, with the baron turning his chair to address Sebastian's little lord directly. "It was you, wasn't it, Earl? You did them a favor and killed them all. Ahh, how I envy them! One couldn't ask for a most beauteous final moment, bidding farewell to life with the cold moon attending one's deathbed. Please! Let me join their ranks!" He flung his arms in an expansive gesture that encompassed the entire chamber as he continued, "This is all as it was on that day! Look; I've got everything ready: the venue for the ritual. The lambs. And last but not least, you, my dear earl! To be honest, I've wanted to come get you myse--" the baron's voice cut off abruptly, as the earl shot him in the stomach.

...How odd; for just an instant, Sebastian had the impression that there was someone else down here in this chamber, someone that threatened his young master and therefore also merited a slow death. But there were no other threats down here, just the children in the cages, and the two who had pushed the baron's chair here and still waited silently off to one side.

His master's breath came in quick, harsh pants, and not just the boy's hands but his entire body trembled, as the baron screamed and toppled from his wheeled chair. Sebastian waited, wondering if he would need to intervene; to rouse the boy from what was likely another of his unfortunate episodes.

From time to time since they had formed their contract, his little lord would become lost in what some might call a 'waking nightmare', though Sebastian favored the term 'involuntary traumatic recall'. Memories of Ciel Phantomhive's terrible experiences at the hands of the cultists would rise up and temporarily overwhelm his mind, to the point that he lost all awareness of his physical surroundings and thought himself back in that cage again. When that happened, occasionally it was necessary for someone else to rouse him, to bring him back to reality.

The first time the young master had experienced one of those unfortunate episodes, while they were still training each other on the skills required of a butler and an earl, Sebastian had lightly shaken the boy's shoulder to rouse him... and immediately been shot for his troubles. Which stung a great deal more than the average bullet wound, as any blow from a demon's contractor always had more impact on him, and moreover left holes and gunpowder stains in his uniform. Thereafter, he had taken to disarming the boy even while rousing him, but Sebastian was quite sure that the young master would object most strenuously to being disarmed while they were still on a case for the Queen. Singing to him was an option; he and the servants had discovered quite by accident over a year ago that the sound of someone singing nursery rhymes or other happy melodies from Ciel's childhood would bring him out of the episode quite painlessly. But Sebastian had to admit that a happy tune seemed singularly inappropriate for their current venue.

On the stone floor and sobbing from the pain, Baron Kelvin writhed about as he wailed, "It huuurrrts, Earl; I'm in agonyyy!" One of his flailing arms caught the young master's leg, and he hung onto it as he moaned, "P-please, I... I beg you... If-if you're going to kill me, kill me just like you did them!"

"Like I did them?" the boy echoed—and Sebastian relaxed, watching with what some might call a fond smile as his young master brutally kicked free of the baron's grip, and kept one high-heeled shoe on that bandaged head. The Queen's Watchdog was plainly in full possession of his faculties as he sighted down the barrel of his pistol and ordered the baron, "Then get on your knees like a worm, and plead with the devil."

"The baron might have difficulties getting on his knees, with you pinning his head down in that manner," Sebastian felt obliged to point out with a smirk.

"Shut it, Sebastian," the little lord ordered irritably, exactly as expected. That was followed by, "Are all the kidnapped children down here?"

Sebastian just gave his master a look with his eyebrows raised, and pointed with a gloved finger to his closed lips. The boy audibly gritted his teeth before barking, "All right, you can talk now!" He glared at Sebastian while accusing, "You're enjoying every minute of this, aren't you?"

"Quite so," Sebastian admitted with a fang-filled grin. He was really feeling quite playful, likely due to this heady atmosphere of misery, pain and horror, and now his contractor's spike of frustrated anger was really the icing on the cake!

Then he heard, beyond the closed doors to the chamber, the squeaks of more wheels approaching. "I believe someone else has arrived at the manor," he informed the earl.

"Likely whatever vicious thugs helped this vile, boorish madman keep so many children prisoner in his home," the young master opined while giving the baron another small kick to the head. "Go fetch them down here, Sebastian."

"That won't be necessary, young master; they are already headed this way," Sebastian said as he produced a dagger from inside his coat.

The squeaking of wheels grew louder, loud enough for even a human to hear them, just before the double doors to the chamber swung open. The new arrival called out cheerfully, "Apologies for having kept you waiting on additional reserves!" And even Sebastian, who had seen a great deal in his innumerable years of existence, felt a stirring of surprise as he gazed up at the circus's wheelchair-bound doctor.

The doctor was clearly surprised to see them as well. "Eh? Black and Smile?" But after a rather awkward pause, the doctor said knowingly, "Not father and son at all, are you? I've heard of you," as he gripped the armrests of his wheeled chair—and smoothly rose up out of it. He descended the stone steps leading towards the altar as he continued, "The legendary watch-pup of the Queen, all the more trouble than the Yard because money has no hold on him."

The young master must have been far more surprised than Sebastian was, because he only now found his voice again, and moreover felt the need to state the obvious: "Doctor, you can walk!"

"Hm? Oh, yes; my legs and back are just fine," the doctor said with what appeared to be a confiding grin. "Children like you and the ones in the baron's circus are less suspicious of folk in such circumstances, so I just always stayed seated."

But then the doctor caught sight of the bloody heap on the floor behind them, and his confiding grin disappeared. "Baron Kelvin?!" He rushed down the steps to look over the baron, who was now barely conscious after being shot in the gut and kicked in the head, and after only a cursory examination the doctor shook his head in dismay. "He's beyond my help now. How could you? And after I'd finally met a patron who understood my ideals..."

"Your ideals?" Sebastian echoed, mildly curious.

"Yes. Since long ago, I've continually developed and experimented in the quest for the perfect artificial limb. And as a result of my research, I succeeded in creating the best material possible!" as the doctor's voice waxed enthusiastic. "Lighter and more durable than wood, and still possessing the inhuman beauty that is particular to ceramics... I came to create something that no one had ever made before. However, gathering the raw materials for it is a rather complicated venture, you see."

Touching a gloved hand to his chin, Sebastian recollected aloud, "Indeed, the artificial limbs of your making were enchantingly silken to the touch... almost like tableware of bone china." He of all demons would know that sensation, having handled so much bone china tableware over the last few years of being employed as a butler.

"So you understand the beauty of my creation, do you, Black?" as the doctor gave him a wide, almost mischievous-looking smile. "But in reality, you're still slightly off the mark!" He wagged an admonishing finger as he said, "If you don't mind, I'd appreciate it if you didn't lump my creation in with bone china, which is made with the bones of cows and other livestock."

"Ah, yes. You did mention that you use special materials, did you not?" Sebastian now had a rather strong hunch he knew what the doctor's creation consisted of, but he still preferred to have that guess confirmed.

"Yes, that's right, and I can only obtain them here," the doctor confirmed, as Sebastian sensed as much as saw his little lord go pale and shaking once more, breathing out an almost inaudible word of denial. His contractor did have an exceptionally quick mind for a child...

Leaning on one of the cages containing his "supplies", the doctor continued with a positively cheeky grin, "This way, I don't have to trouble myself with their disposal, either. Isn't it the best recycling scheme you can think of?"

The doctor unlocked the cage and reached in for one of its occupants, a girl whom he dragged out by the collar of her ragged dress; she put up no resistance as he tugged her towards the altar, ranting the whole while about how genius his work was but nobody appreciated it, due to some arbitrary rules of the society they lived in. Sebastian supposed he could stop the doctor from killing the girl on the altar, but at the moment he had a far more pressing concern; his little master had just begun vomiting from horror-induced nausea. And unless Sebastian misremembered the medical text he had read only the night before—which was impossible—his contractor's panic attack showed symptoms of becoming a full-fledged asthmatic attack! Oh dear, this would not do at all...

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The cages

Cold

Filth

Bloody

Altar

No!

Stop

please

Someone stop it

Somebody, anybody!

Whomever, however, please help us!

Stop

Don't

please stop—

"Young master," someone said—Sebastian said tenderly, squeezing his outstretched hand, and then holding him close and warm. He murmured gently, as a father to a frightened child, "What have you to fear?"

Firm arms cradled him and garnet eyes held his own as Sebastian said firmly, "You are outside the cage now, my lord." And then garnet turned to glowing cerise as Ciel felt the ties of his eyepatch being loosened; the black silk fell away, exposing the seal of the contract between them as the demon purred, "Now... call my name."

And at first he couldn't, couldn't get the breath for speech, his chest squeezing inwards to crush his lungs while his heart threatened to burst inside him—but he kept trying, he could do this, he had to do this! "Seb-! Seb-! Sebas-! Stian! Sebastian! Sebastian!" as he gripped at his butler's jacket, and finally drew enough breath to give his order: "Kill them!"

Sebastian pressed him closer, leaning his small body against the demon's right shoulder, while he freed and struck out with his left hand. Ciel was shielded from the sight, but he didn't need sight to tell him that the bloody squelch full of crackling sounds that he heard, was Sebastian shoving his hand right through the doctor's ribcage.

Four paces forward and to the right, and then a stomp with more squelching and cracking sounds... that would be the abominable baron, likely with a now flattened head.

"It is done," Sebastian said softly, reassuringly, his words meant to say: It's over.

But it wasn't over yet; Ciel opened his mouth to give the final order—

"please..."

...Who said that?

He pulled back to look Sebastian in the eye, but the demon was looking off to the right, at the middle of the three cages. Inside it, a little girl dressed in soiled rags was leaning up against the bars, looking out at them. One skeleton-thin hand crept forward, to slowly and shakily reach between the bars towards them, and they heard again, "...please..."

"Let me down," Ciel ordered his butler, and Sebastian complied. He crouched in front of the cage, staring hard at the girl, and demanded, “Please what?”

But she could only stare at him and whisper once more, "Please..."

After a second of just staring at her, Ciel said almost angrily, "Never mind, I already know. Whether it's to be rescued or to be put out of your misery, you just want out of this damned cage!" He glanced at the other children in the cages, some of them lying apparently asleep but others staring wordlessly back at him, and then jumped to his feet with his cape swirling about him, and shouted, "Sebastian! Get all these children out of the cages and out of this house—and then burn everything to ashes! Burn it all till there's nothing left, and Do it NOW!"

"Yes, my lord," Sebastian said with a bow, and then

—he moved—

Ciel's ears were assaulted by a cacophony of screeching metal as the cages around him seemingly burst open all at once, while a blurred black form swept through the room fast enough to leave a sudden fierce wind howling in its wake.

The cages burst open, the children stuffed within them vanished two or three at a time, and then Ciel was left in stillness, a seemingly muffled silence after the concatenation of moments before. A silence that lasted for a full ten seconds, much longer than he'd been expecting; Ciel frowned, opened his mouth—

And then Sebastian appeared before him with a bow and a polite, "If you will permit me, my lord." He then tugged off his left glove, revealing the contract seal, and stuffed the glove into his tailcoat's pocket before sweeping Ciel into his arms.

Sebastian touched his black-nailed hand to the small flames atop the candelabra... and the tiny flames became an Inferno that roared up to the ceiling an instant later. The Hellfire swept through the basement in seconds, and then raged across the whole mansion as Sebastian swiftly carried his master upwards and out, the searing flames parting before them at the demon's wordless bidding.

When they reached the safety of the wide expanse of lawn outside the mansion, Ciel thought he saw someone approaching, a man who was pushing something that looked like a lawn mower of some sort. A lawn mower, in the dead of winter? But then he blinked and the man was gone; had he really seen it at all?

The thought was driven away a moment later, as he stared in dismay at the much larger sight before him, one that refused to disappear:

Dozens of children, some in dirty rags but most in either fancy clothes or servants' outfits, laid out on the frost-covered grass in orderly rows like silverware in a giant's drawer. Some of the children were lying down, some were sitting up, but none of them were moving from where they'd been placed by a demon butler in a hurry.

"Bloody hell," Ciel groaned, clutching at his hair in sheer stress. "I didn't mean all of them!"

"My lord?" as Sebastian gave him a perplexed look. "You said 'get all these children out of these cages and out of this house'. Your precise words, my lord."

Ciel groaned again, covering his eyes and shaking his head. "I meant, get all the children in the cages out of the house! Just the ones who still had some spark of life, some hope of recovery. The ones in the rest of the house... you saw their condition! Their dead eyes, their complete lack of will, dying without protest at the baron's slightest whim... They're so far gone, they're scarcely more than corpses that haven't stopped breathing yet!" as he gestured in disgust out at the assembly before them.

One hand clenched into a fist at his side, he raised the other to start pointing and counting by the light of the inferno behind them, even as he continued ranting. "Even some of the children in the cages had reached that stage already! I just didn't want to take the time to sort out the living from the barely-living while we were down in that hellish place. Now what the hell are we going to do with... eighty-seven?! Eighty-seven children, most of them walking corpses, and here we are stuck with them in the middle of the countryside, and in the dead of winter!” He gestured angrily at the assembly as he shouted at Sebastian, “What do you expect me to do now, stuff them all in my pocket to carry back to the Queen?!"

"This is a problem," Sebastian agreed while looking over their human harvest, rubbing his chin in thought.

Ciel finally sighed as he dropped his hands and shook his head, "Well, it can't be helped now. Even I'm not hard-hearted enough to order you to carry them back inside to burn." Not now that they were outside that horrible place, breathing fresh if bitterly cold air, with the moon and twinkling stars shining down on them... No, he wouldn't toss them back into their prison to burn, even if a swift death would probably be the kindest solution for everyone concerned.

He pitied the families out there who were hoping to get their children back, but would instead receive only broken shells of what used to be their children. But his servant was a demon, not an angel; true miracles were beyond even Sebastian's abilities.

He continued aloud, "We'll have to put them somewhere safe until the Yard can collect the lot of them." A barn or large stable should do for overnight, provided one was nearby, and assuming it had plenty of hay that could be used as primitive insulation from the cold. Though feeding the poor wretches would be another matter...

Sebastian nodded acknowledgment, still looking thoughtfully at the rows of children on the frost-covered grass. "It is a large task, but I believe I can manage that for you... if you will give me the discretion to use my full abilities. With your permission, my lord?"

"...All right," Ciel said wearily, slumping over to brace himself on his knees; now that the danger had passed, he felt exhausted from the sheer stress of having relived the horror of that month in captivity. "Just this once, you can use outright sorcery for whatever we need. It's likely that most of these pitiable creatures wouldn't care even if you made Buckingham Palace and a thousand elephants appear right in front of them."

"That isn't quite what I had in mind," Sebastian said with a soft chuckle under his breath, as he gestured off to the side at a very large hay-wagon, one that definitely hadn't been there earlier. The wagon was as wide and long as a railroad car, and instead of hay, it was heaped with thick black blankets all along its length.

It was the work of mere minutes for Sebastian to load all the children into the wagon and bundle each one of them in a blanket, covered completely from head to toe. Meanwhile, Ciel clambered up into the driver's seat, and then reached back to the cargo area and, anticipating a drive of some distance ahead of them, grabbed a blanket to wrap himself in—an exceptionally soft blanket of velvet weave, but composed of a material that was neither silk nor wool, or any other fiber he was familiar with. As he rubbed it between his fingers, the thought flickered across his mind that he’d quite like a full set of bedding made out of the material, if it could be made in colors other than black.

But as he bundled up and lay down the last child, Sebastian shook his head at his master and said, "I most humbly beg your pardon, Young Master, but in this instance it would be far better for all concerned if you rode back here with the other passengers, and similarly covered as well. I have saved a space for you to rest here, at the front; please take advantage of it."

Ciel frowned, but acquiesced without comment; he knew Sebastian would not group his contracted master in with these pitiable creatures unless he had good reason for doing so, likely something to do with his supernatural abilities. And he was right; as Sebastian wrapped him in the blanket, the demon butler explained, "We are about to travel through an extremely unpleasant area. I will of course protect everyone in the wagon from harm, but it will save considerable trouble if you neither see anything, nor can be seen directly." Sebastian's look was grave indeed as he said just before covering Ciel's face with the black material, "Master, I ask this in all earnestness; please restrain your urge to peek."

Ciel glared at him, though mostly for form's sake, and then the butler vanished from his view. Staring up at darkness, Ciel felt the wagon lurch into motion, heard the wheels creak as they rolled—

And then his eardrums were nearly blasted inwards into his brain by a horrible noise, indescribable, though it reminded him simultaneously of both shotgun blasts going off at close range, and fingernails screeching down a chalkboard. An image flashed into his head, of a corpse they'd stumbled across at the docks last summer while working on another case for Her Majesty; the victim had been killed by someone driving an ice pick into his skull through his ear, and Ciel was abruptly sure he now knew just what that must have felt like.

The cacophony was so horrendously loud, Ciel literallycould not hear himself think. But he grimly counted in his head anyway, and when he reached the count of six the noise abruptly cut off. Through the sudden ringing in his ears he managed to hear his demon servant say,"You may uncover your face now, Young Master. We have arrived at our..." Sebastian's voice trailed off for a moment, and then he spoke again, sounding distinctly annoyed. "Oh, this simply will not do."

Ciel struggled to a sitting position and pushed the blanket off his head and shoulders, to discover that they were parked on the lawn directly behind Phantomhive Manor. "We're home?!" Normally he would have been quite pleased at such a swift return and the prospect of sleeping in his own bed, but these were hardly normal circumstances; not with over seven dozen children in the wagon with him!

"There are plenty of other places that could be considered 'somewhere safe'! I don't—hn?" Ciel interrupted his own grouching when he began noticing signs of violence, dimly illuminated by the stars and crescent moon overhead. Two of the ornamental trees had been knocked over, and in the distance he noted that a wall had been smashed in.

It was the wrong season for Finny to get overexcited while chasing butterflies again, so they must have had a battle recently. Most likely cause: the circus performers/kidnappers had arrived at the estate already...

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When he stepped inside the grand hallway leading up to the mansion's main staircase, Sebastian saw:

Joker, Beast and Dagger, roughly a quarter of the way up the stairs, with their weapons out but beating a retreat.

Baldroy the chef at the first landing, armed with a frying pan but coughing harshly, with assorted daggers and the shards of two small glass spheres scattered about him. There was some sort of gas wafting upwards from the shards of glass, likely the reason for Bard's violent coughing.

Finnian standing on the eastern landing, preparing to throw one of the many decorative busts and statues that lined the wide staircase.

The remains of two more statues scattered on the stairs, and a total of eleven steps already damaged from the impacts of the statues.

Then his black blurred form whipped through the great hall. Less than two seconds later, Bard and Finny saw:

Four heaps at the base of the grand stairs, all spaced several feet apart. Three of the heaps consisted of the three crazily-dressed people who had been attacking them, each one looking both bewildered and outraged at being manhandled so abruptly and efficiently. The fourth heap was a pile of daggers and brightly colored spheres, and... artificial limbs?! A right leg, a left leg, and a downright skeletal-looking right arm.

The whip that the female attacker had been using wasn't in the pile of weapons; instead it had been torn into three pieces, and two pieces already used to bind the hands of the female and the smaller male behind their backs. And the black blur had slowed down to become Sebastian, using the third piece of whip to tie together the feet of the third attacker.

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Joker, Dagger and Beast had already been freaked out by the sight of a blond-haired boy throwing full-sized marble statues around as easily as Joker threw his juggling clubs. But that was nothing compared to their reactions as a black blurred form, moving far too fast to be human, grabbed at them and they abruptly found themselves separated and forcibly disarmed—and de-legged, in Beast and Dagger's cases! And their shock was complete when the blurred form finally slowed down enough for them to see that the one who'd captured them was—Black!

Bewildered and outraged, they still found their voices enough to demanded of their new friend and fellow performer, "Black?! What are you doing here?" "How did you get here? Why are you—" "Black, get these bastards for us! We've got to complete our mission!"

"I think not," Black said coolly as he finished rendering Joker helpless, in a manner both effective and tauntingly cruel; he simply yanked the man's puffed sleeve down over the remaining hand, and swiftly tied a knot at the end of the sleeve. "And in this place, I am not referred to as Black; I am Sebastian."

"Sebastian!" the little blond statue-thrower shouted happily as he dashed down the stairs and threw himself at Black in a hug. "You're back! Is the master with you?"

"(cough) Glad to have you back, man," the cook said as he tucked the frying pan under his arm and came down the stairs at a slower pace, wiping at his face and thumping his chest to get the last of Joker's gas out of his lungs. "You didn't have to rush, though; we (cough) had a handle on things here."

"Your method of handling the situation has already resulted in considerable damage to the master's home," Black replied with clear disapproval, making the little blond Samson back off and cringe guiltily. "I felt it necessary to step in to prevent more damage from being done."

Just then a housemaid came dashing down the staircase, her uniform skirts hiked up and her cap askew, with one hand holding a thick pair of glasses onto her face. She gasped, "The master's coming! Right now, he is!"

At the base of the stairs, the maid fell in line with the cook and the statue-thrower, just as an elderly and well-dressed gentleman appeared at the top of the stairs. The circus performers glared up at him, guessing that he was the master that the maid had just referred to; the upper-crust bloke that owned this fancy mansion and was related to their target Ciel Phantomhive. But to their surprise, when he reached the bottom of the stairs the elderly man fell in line with the other servants, just a moment before they heard the sound of a door opening behind them.

Still bound on the floor, the trio twisted around to face the door to outside, and saw a midget dressed all in black—no, not a midget adult, a little boy instead... and a boy they recognized! "Smile?!"

The boy glared at them as he said coldly, "No, not Smile! I will never again answer to that.You will address me by not just my true name but my title! I am the Earl Ciel Phantomhive."

"Phantomhive!" Dagger gasped. "You?! You're the targ—"

"I am the Queen's Watchdog," the little boy interrupted and overrode him, his teeth bared in what was definitely not a smile. "And I infiltrated your circus on Her Majesty's orders, to find the connection between the circus and a series of kidnappings and then to put a stop to them, by any means necessary!"

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"And that's all the time I'll spare on explaining my mission to kidnappers," Ciel declared, all but spitting the last word out, as he turned away from the circus performers to face his servants. "Now, are these all that's left of the strike force?"

"Near as we can tell, Sir," Bard said with a crisp salute. "Mey-Rin reported killing two of them, and Finny got another."

"What?!" "Th-they're dead?!" "NO! No, damn you all, how dare you—"

"Sebastian, gags on the lot," Ciel said while jabbing a thumb over his shoulder at the captives, not even bothering to look at them. Their shouts and curses were abruptly silenced, and Ciel continued on, "I was told Lady Elizabeth is here; is she all right?"

"Her sleep was momentarily disturbed, when Mey-Rin dispatched an attacker who then crashed through a window near her bedroom," Tanaka said with a short bow. "But she has returned to bed, still unaware that an attack occurred. We shall need to do a spot of cleaning in that hallway, however."

Mey-Rin looked embarrassed. "Sorry! I'll get to it right away!"

Ciel shook his head as he said, "That will have to wait; right now we have a far larger matter to deal with. Because somebody couldn't think of anyplace better to take them on short notice, right now we have eighty-seven children loaded into a wagon outside, and most of them more than half-dead from abuse." He continued over the servants' gasps of shock and dismay, "They won’t be here long, or at least they’d damn well better not be here long, but tonight and for probably the next few days, we’ll have to take care of them as best we can. Particularly since the Queen herself has taken an interest in their recovery!"

"Yes, sir!" the servants shouted as one, with crisp salutes or in Sebastian's case with an equally crisp bow.

Ciel nodded acknowledgment before he began giving orders. "Mey-Rin and Tanaka, open up and pull the dust covers from every bedroom in both wings, and throw the thickest blankets onto the beds. Once that's done, you’ll be giving baths to the children that need them most. Finny, you and Sebastian will carry all the children in out of the cold, and once they're all inside, you’ll be fetching buckets of hot water from the kitchen as they’re needed. Bard, first we need lots of hot water for baths; all the children you'll see dressed in rags were being kept in cages like animals, and they'll need baths to clean the filth off before they're put to bed. Sebastian, how many did you pull from the cages?"

"Twenty-two, my lord; thirteen boys and nine girls."

Ciel swore a particularly vile curse under his breath. "Right, then; empty out my closets and Finny's cupboard for temporary clothes for the boys, and... dammit, it can't be helped; wake up Lady Elizabeth and ask her to donate some clothes for the girls. Once you have enough clothes and all the children are inside, start the baths until Tanaka can take over. And Bard, after you start the water heating, heat up whatever milk we have on hand as well, and then go out and wake up the farmer that minds the dairy herd, and tell him we need all the dairy cattle milked immediately." Ciel sighed wearily, and his next words were slightly muffled as he ran a hand over his face. "We're going to need so much warm milk with honey..."

While the servants dashed off to carry out the orders they had just been given, Ciel went up to his study, to call the palace and make his report to Her Majesty.

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Ever the perfectionist, Sebastian took a few moments before going outside to deal with the circus performers still breathing and get them out of the way, while he directed Finny to clear the largest chunks of rubble to one side of the hall. Then he dashed into the kitchen to advise Bard in a pleasant tone of voice, “Do remember that the master said ‘warm milk with honey’, not ‘hot milk with honey’. The milk should be only a little warmer than the temperature of your own blood. If you overheat it with your usual methods, then I shall be happy to spill a sufficient quantity of that blood to provide you with a reference for heating.”

Bard gave a curt nod of understanding as he poured milk into a pot and set it on the stove, and pointedly put the burner on the lowest setting before he resumed filling all their other pots with water for heating. Satisfied that he’d gotten his point across, Sebastian dashed back into the main hall.

Once they had a large clear area for bringing the children in, he led the way outside and pointed Finny towards the wagon he’d created, and told him, “Start with the closest; uncover their faces so that they’ll know you’re not one of their former captors and mean no harm, and then simply carry them inside, blankets and all. Once they're inside, take their blankets off and fold them into floor cushions. Start now, and I’ll join you in a few minutes.”

Clouds were rolling in overhead, heavy with snow, and Sebastian thought it best to tidy up the worst of the messes that the servants had made outdoors before it fell. They would have visitors arriving at the manor very soon, certainly Scotland Yard and possibly parents looking to reclaim their kidnapped children, and it simply wouldn’t do if one of them stumbled over a corpse buried in the snow; that would reflect ill on the master’s household.

He sniffed for fresh-spilled blood, followed the scent to the nearest corpse… and found the shinigami William T. Spears standing over the corpse of Jumbo, making a final note in his notebook before snapping it closed. Spears noticed him in the next instant, and gave him a glare of sheer dislike before snapping his Deathscythe in the demon’s direction, in silent warning to keep his distance.

Sebastian had the same amount of affection for Reapers as they did for him—absolutely zero—but he set that aside for a moment as he stared at the shinigami, that odd feeling of ‘something is out of place’ from a few days ago coming back to hit him full-force. “Spears. You… you did not appear at the circus.”

“You have an amazing grasp of the obvious, demon,” Spears commented dryly as he shouldered his Deathscythe. “Now move aside; I’ve one more to reap here before I can clock out, and if you get in my way, I’ll reap you.”

“Oh, but that would put you into overtime, would it not?” Sebastian felt compelled to taunt him, while nonetheless standing aside, he really had no time for fighting right now. But he still asked, “Were you not supposed to be… on assignment at the circus? Investigating?”

Spears gave him an arched eyebrow as he said, “For your information, a special investigation is warranted only when there is a high enough concentration of deaths at one specific time and place... and that is not the case, here and now. For which I’m quite thankful, as we are understaffed at the moment. Particularly since that idiot Grell is only now coming off probation, thanks to his…” Spears’ grumbling trailed behind him as he went off to Reap another performer, likely the one that Tanaka had said left a mess in the hallway outside Lady Elizabeth’s guest room.

Sebastian left the death god to his work without further interference, while he quickly rebuilt the wall Finny had smashed in and hauled the corpses off into the woods for later disposal. The demon would have bet his next two contracted souls that the shinigami had additional knowledge of the situation that he hadn't been willing to share... but that odd sensation he'd felt was already fading, and battling a hostile Reaper solely to obtain information would take more time and energy than he had to spare tonight; he had quite a bit of work to do.

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.

To be continued...

Chapter 8: The Very Long Night

Chapter Text

After Tanaka had reassured her that she must have dreamed about hearing a loud crashing sound, Lizzie got back into bed, nestling gratefully under the covers that were still toasty-warm. She had almost drifted back into sleep again when she heard a knock at her door, and a moment later heard it opening. She quickly sat up just as Sebastian came in, with a candelabra in hand and his brow creased with concern instead of his usual placid smile. "Lady Elizabeth? I deeply apologize for disturbing you..."

"Sebastian, you're back! Then is Ciel back as well?" she said excitedly as she started to get out of bed—and then froze for just a moment, as realization turned her excitement into growing apprehension. Ciel wouldn't have her woken up in the middle of the night just to tell her he'd returned home; something must be dreadfully wrong!

"Yes, my lady; we've just returned. And unfortunately, we must ask a great favor of you..."

00oo00oo00oo00oo00oo00oo00

Sitting at the desk in his study with the phone receiver pressed to his ear, Ciel found himself starting to yawn, and bit it off violently. Agents of Her Royal Majesty simply did not yawn like sleepy toddlers while on the telephone! But he'd been awake for over eighteen hours, judging by the clock on the mantle, and that had included several hours of vigorously practicing his circus routine before they'd finally gotten the break they needed in this case, and gone hunting for Baron Kelvin and the kidnapping victims. But he had to put the delightful idea of going to sleep in his own oh-so-comfortable bed off for a few hours more; there was so much that needed to be done before he could rest...

It took over a dozen rings for the telephone to be picked up on the other end of the line at Buckingham Palace, and it was all Ciel could do to not snap at the man who finally answered it. For heaven's sake, didn't Her Majesty employ someone to mind that line around the clock?! This was supposed to be a private line that went straight to Double Charles, the Queen's own butlers; no one would dare use the line for trivial matters like invitations to ribbon-cutting ceremonies!

He tried to be civil, but the lateness of the hour and his irritation at being kept waiting so long made it rather more terse than polite. "This is the Watchdog. Please inform Her Majesty that the Pied Piper is dead, and most of his known minions either dead or captured. Regrettably, a few of the Piper's kidnapping victims were killed before their rescue, but the rest were found alive... and there were three times as many victims than were listed as likely 'Pied Piper' kidnappings in the police reports."

"Th-three times as many?" gasped the butler on the other end of the line—clearly not either Charles Grey or Charles Phipps, who would not be so rattled at the news. Ordinarily Ciel would have wondered why they had left some under-butler to answer their line and where they had gone to, but this was not an ordinary night.

"Yes; a total of eighty-seven children were pulled out alive before their prison was burned down with their captors inside it. But most of these children are in a deplorable state, more dead than alive, and it's doubtful that many of them will recover completely from their ordeal. Still, all 87 children are currently at Phantomhive Manor, and we'll try our best to keep them alive, warm and fed until other agents of Her Majesty can come to collect them... but please arrange for that as soon as possible." And then he hung up while the sputtering fool on the other end was still trying to decide what questions to ask; he was in absolutely no mood for dithering, not when there was so much left to do tonight.

As he left the study, Lizzie came running up to him wearing a robe over her nightgown and a worried expression. "Ciel! Sebastian told me you just freed dozens of children from a vile captivity and brought them here, and now you need to bathe and clothe some of them!"

"That's right. I’m truly sorry to ask it of you, but we need to borrow any clothes you can spare," Ciel told her as he led her down the hallway, towards the stairs.

"I told Sebastian to just take everything but the clothes I'm wearing now," Lizzie said as they stepped out onto the grand staircase—and then she stopped in her tracks and gasped with dismay at the scene spread out before them in the great hall below; rows upon rows of children sitting or lying on the floor, with Finny carefully setting down another one in the seventh row before dashing outside for more.

After descending the staircase, Ciel faced the first row of children, all of them wearing servants' clothes; Sebastian and Finny were separating out ragged from decently clothed children as they were brought inside and sat down. They were all staring blankly at him, with sunken eyes and hollow cheeks from continual lack of sufficient or sufficiently nutritious food; their expressions unchanged from how the children had all looked back at Baron Kelvin’s manor, despite their circumstances being different now. He heaved a great sigh, feeling the press of duty bearing down on his thin shoulders, before he started at the head of the row and walked a few paces, tapping heads as he went. "One, two, three, four. You four that I just tapped, on your feet and follow me; bring the blankets you were given."

The four boys he'd tapped rose obediently if sluggishly to their feet, and once they were all standing, Ciel gestured for them to follow him upstairs. He climbed the stairs at a slow pace, glancing repeatedly behind him to be sure none of the boys were lagging behind, or stumbling and falling to their deaths; the sight of that boy splattered at the base of the stairs back at Baron Kelvin's mansion was still fresh in his mind's eye. Keeping pace with him, Lizzie asked anxiously, “Is there anything else I can do to help?”

“If you really want to help, watch what I’m doing, and then do the same with girls in groups of four,” Ciel told her as they climbed up to the second floor and proceeded down the hall, passing Tanaka on the way; the elderly man's arms were piled so high with quilts from the linen closet that it was doubtful whether he could see over them.

Ciel advised Lizzie, "The best thing for the moment is to assume they have no minds of their own, and have to be told every little thing; their free will was entirely beaten out of them by their captor. I'm quite serious; you must tell them every little thing, including this," as he stopped to line them up outside the water-closet, and then pointed at the first in line. "You, get in there and tend to business."

The boy obediently walked into the lavatory, while Lizzie blushed and turned away to look at a hall painting. Ciel joined her in inspecting the painting for several seconds, but when the sounds that started coming from the lavatory weren't the ones he expected, he hesitatingly turned to peek through the slightly open door... and then buried his face in his hand and groaned through his fingers, "I didn't mean, start polishing the fixtures with the washing-cloth! I should have guessed by your clothes, you were on cleaning duties... Dammit, just sit on the loo and void your bladder and bowels! Go pee and poo; is that plain enough?!" And with that he turned back around, ranting, "You see, Lizzie? Every little thing!"

#black butler fanfiction

[heatherfordpark]

Who Are The Prescotts?

Our legacy story begins in 1861, with the 8th Earl of Bagley, William Prescott, and his family, which consists of his wife, two sons, and two daughters. The household also consists of essential servants: the butler, a maid, the cook, and a gardener.

Earl Bagley is an amiable, if somewhat hedonistic and unambitious man. He is generous, and takes a larger personal interest in the well-being of the land tenants who reside in the village, often providing them with financial support and hearing their every concern. While he governs his land quite well, he does not take much interest in formalities. He enjoys drinking, gambling, eating, and is something of a libertine, conducting many affairs and having a history of keeping mistresses. He is overweight, flamboyant, and jolly. Other members of society and the nobility find him a little ridiculous, and consider his genuine openness, accessibility, and raucous personality to be indicative of foolishness. However, they strive to remain on his good side, for it is at his fêtes and balls that the most important of social connections are often made.

Lady Bagley, Victoria Langtree, is the daughter of a minor lord and his diamond heiress wife, Arthur and Cecilia Langtree. Extremely beautiful, poised, and sophisticated, but cold, calculating, and ambitious, unlike her whimsical and good natured husband. She views everyone around her as a potential pawn in her eternal quest for wealth and status, especially her children. The other ladies in society strive to remain on her good side, as her connections, along with her own status, give her a large amount of power to make or break them socially. She is considered a sort of ‘It Girl,’ and is rumored to be carrying out affairs of her own with extremely powerful members of state at the highly exclusive parties she throws, but no one has ever been able to prove it.

Thomas Prescott, Viscount Bagley is the eldest child and firstborn son of William and Victoria. He inherited his mother’s swarthy looks—tall, dark hair and eyes, handsome. Unlike his father, Thomas is a bit of a bohemian; he enjoys smoking and drinking of course, but he also enjoys music and poetry, both writing and reading it. Somewhat roguish, he has gotten into his fair share of drunken brawls, and enjoys engaging in mischief. If he had been a young man 100 years in the future, one might have described him as a beatnik. Earl and Lady Bagley have been attempting to prepare their son for assuming his father’s position and estate some day, but his wayward and somewhat eccentric personality makes him hard to reign in. Plus, some salacious rumors are beginning to surface regarding his love life and dalliances that will not only make it harder to find him a wife, but could threaten his family’s reputation. Will Thomas settle down and fulfill his ancestral duty?

Lady Alexandra Prescott, Heiress to the Langtree Diamonds, is the eldest daughter and second child of William and Victoria. Beautiful, charming, vivacious and kind, she has her father’s large eyes and round cherubic face. Her fresh angelic beauty and enchanting personality earned her the nickname “the County Rose.” A jolly young girl, she enjoys dancing, singing, flirting, and socializing with her young lady friends. For the most part, Alexandra plays the role of the perfect daughter quite well: she makes a splash at her society debut, she is well-educated and eloquent, her manners are perfect, and she seems every bit as obedient as she should be. But she has a quick wit, a wonderful sense of humor, a sense of altruism, and an insatiable lust for life, many of which are traits she shares with her father. Because of her intelligence and grace, her mother desires to marry her off to the passionate and incorrigible Marquess of Henford, the son and heir of the Duke of Windenburg. But the young lady has desires of her own: secretly, her heart belongs to the family’s sweet and quiet gardener. Like so many girls her age in her time, at first it seems Alexandra must choose between love and duty. But things are not as they seem— as time goes on, people and circumstances change. Will Alexandra’s heart change as well?

The Honorable Arthur Prescott, the third child and second son of William and Victoria, is a precocious child, with evident genius qualities and his mother’s sense of ambition. However, from an early age, is is apparent he shares his mother’s coldness, as Arthur exhibits a lack of remorse and a ruthless sense of pragmatism, as well as an acute awareness of his rank, and the power and privilege it affords him. Along with his mother, Arthur aspires for a position in politics, maybe even reaching as far as chancellor. Having a brother as earl, and a sister as a duchess, could help him rise and take the family along with them. And if he marries right, who knows what the limit could be? But what would happen if someone like Arthur had unmitigated power and status..?

Lady Charlotte Prescott is the youngest child and second daughter of William and Victoria. Pretty, but lacking her elder sister’s beauty and grace, creative, but lacking her eldest brother’s charisma, and intelligent, but lacking her other brother’s genius and discipline, Charlotte is often overlooked. While her relationship with her two eldest siblings is quite good, especially with her kindly elder sister, her other brother Arthur is aggressive toward her, as is her mother who views her as useless and heavily implies she was unwanted. It is believed she is the child of her mother with a long-time secret lover, whom no one has ever been able to identify, and that is truly why her mother resents her. But because the young girl is neglected by her parents, she forms a camaraderie with the servants. The cook, Mary Parker, takes on a maternal role in her life, and the child becomes inspired to one day open a bakery all of her own. This requires leaving high society, and learning the skills she would need in the middle class. Will Charlotte be able to pave the way for herself and take her family in an entirely new direction?

Summary

The Prescotts are titled, ancient, wealthy, and powerful. They are well-connected and highly charismatic, making them influential and notable. Their business is often made public, and they are frequently the subject of much discussion amongst their community and abroad. The Earl of Bagley is known for his hedonism and careless generosity, as well as the splendor of his social gatherings, while his wife Lady Bagley is an affluent It Girl who has every powerful man in the county in her pocket, and can make or break anyone in Henford society. Their eldest son is a roguish bohemian, their elder daughter a whimsical romantic, their middle child a precocious megalomaniac, and their youngest child a down-to-earth and humble pragmatist. All-in-all, they are a family of strong personalities which often clash with one another. It will be interesting to see how the family dynamics evolve as time passes and each generation addd their influence to it. How long will the Prescotts be able to maintain their sense of affluence and dignity?

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 7.10

138 – Emperor Hadrian dies of heart failure at his residence on the bay of Naples, Baiae; he is buried at Rome in the Tomb of Hadrian beside his late wife, Vibia Sabina. 645 – Isshi Incident: Prince Naka-no-Ōe and Fujiwara no Kamatari assassinate Soga no Iruka during a coup d'état at the imperial palace. 988 – The Norse King Glúniairn recognises Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill, High King of Ireland, and agrees to pay taxes and accept Brehon Law; the event is considered to be the founding of the city of Dublin. 1086 – King Canute IV of Denmark is killed by rebellious peasants. 1212 – The most severe of several early fires of London burns most of the city to the ground. 1460 – Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, defeats the king's Lancastrian forces and takes King Henry VI prisoner in the Battle of Northampton. 1499 – The Portuguese explorer Nicolau Coelho returns to Lisbon after discovering the sea route to India as a companion of Vasco da Gama. 1512 – The Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre commences with the capture of Goizueta. 1519 – Zhu Chenhao declares the Ming dynasty's Zhengde Emperor a usurper, beginning the Prince of Ning rebellion, and leads his army north in an attempt to capture Nanjing. 1553 – Lady Jane Grey takes the throne of England. 1584 – William I of Orange is assassinated in his home in Delft, Holland, by Balthasar Gérard. 1645 – English Civil War: The Battle of Langport takes place. 1778 – American Revolution: Louis XVI of France declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain. 1789 – Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Mackenzie River delta. 1806 – The Vellore Mutiny is the first instance of a mutiny by Indian sepoys against the British East India Company. 1832 – U.S. President Andrew Jackson vetoes a bill that would re-charter the Second Bank of the United States. 1850 – U.S. President Millard Fillmore is sworn in, a day after becoming president upon Zachary Taylor's death. 1877 – The then-villa of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, formally receives its city charter from the Royal Crown of Spain. 1882 – War of the Pacific: Chile suffers its last military defeat in the Battle of La Concepción when a garrison of 77 men is annihilated by a 1,300-strong Peruvian force, many of them armed with spears. 1883 – War of the Pacific: Chileans led by Alejandro Gorostiaga defeat Andrés Avelino Cáceres's Peruvian army at the Battle of Huamachuco, hastening the end of the war. 1890 – Wyoming is admitted as the 44th U.S. state. 1920 – Arthur Meighen becomes Prime Minister of Canada. 1921 – Belfast's Bloody Sunday: Sixteen people are killed and 161 houses destroyed during rioting and gun battles in Belfast, Northern Ireland. 1924 – Paavo Nurmi won the 1,500 and 5,000 m races with just an hour between them at the Paris Olympics. 1925 – Scopes Trial: In Dayton, Tennessee, the so-called "Monkey Trial" begins of John T. Scopes, a young high school science teacher accused of teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act. 1927 – Kevin O'Higgins TD, Vice-President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State is assassinated by the IRA. 1938 – Howard Hughes begins a 91-hour airplane flight around the world that will set a new record. 1940 – World War II: The Vichy government is established in France. 1940 – World War II: Six days before Adolf Hitler issues his Directive 16 to the combined Wehrmacht armed forces for Operation Sea Lion, the Kanalkampf shipping attacks against British maritime convoys begin, in the leadup to initiating the Battle of Britain. 1941 – Jedwabne pogrom: Massacre of Polish Jews living in and near the village of Jedwabne. 1942 – World War II: An American pilot spots a downed, intact Mitsubishi A6M Zero on Akutan Island (the "Akutan Zero") that the US Navy uses to learn the aircraft's flight characteristics. 1943 – World War II: Operation Husky begins in Sicily. 1947 – Muhammad Ali Jinnah is recommended as the first Governor-General of Pakistan by the British Prime Minister, Clement Attlee. 1951 – Korean War: Armistice negotiations begin at Kaesong. 1962 – Telstar, the world's first communications satellite, is launched into orbit. 1966 – The Chicago Freedom Movement, co-founded by Martin Luther King Jr., holds a rally at Soldier Field in Chicago. As many as 60,000 people attend. 1973 – The Bahamas gain full independence within the Commonwealth of Nations. 1976 – Four mercenaries (one American and three British) are executed in Angola following the Luanda Trial. 1978 – President Moktar Ould Daddah of Mauritania is ousted in a bloodless coup d'état. 1985 – The Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior is bombed and sunk in Auckland harbour by French DGSE agents, killing Fernando Pereira. 1985 – An Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-154 stalls and crashes near Uchkuduk, Uzbekistan (then part of the Soviet Union), killing all 200 people on board in the USSR's worst-ever airline disaster. 1991 – The South African cricket team is readmitted into the International Cricket Council following the end of Apartheid. 1991 – Boris Yeltsin takes office as the first elected President of Russia. 1991 – A Beechcraft Model 99 crashes near Birmingham Municipal Airport (now Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport) in Birmingham, Alabama, killing 13 of the 15 people on board. 1992 – In Miami, former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega is sentenced to 40 years in prison for drug and racketeering violations. 1997 – In London, scientists report the findings of the DNA analysis of a Neanderthal skeleton which supports the "out of Africa theory" of human evolution, placing an "African Eve" at 100,000 to 200,000 years ago. 1997 – Miguel Ángel Blanco, a member of Partido Popular (Spain), is kidnapped (and later murdered) in the Basque city of Ermua by ETA members, sparking widespread protests. 1998 – Catholic Church sexual abuse cases: The Diocese of Dallas agrees to pay $23.4 million to nine former altar boys who claimed they were sexually abused by Rudolph Kos, a former priest. 1999 – In women's association football, the United States defeated China in a penalty shoot-out at the Rose Bowl near Los Angeles to win the final match of the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup. The final was watched by 90,185 spectators, which set a new world record for attendance at a women's sporting event. 2000 – EADS, the world's second-largest aerospace group is formed by the merger of Aérospatiale-Matra, DASA, and CASA. 2000 – Bashar al-Assad succeeds his father Hafez al-Assad as President of Syria. 2002 – At a Sotheby's auction, Peter Paul Rubens's painting The Massacre of the Innocents is sold for £49.5 million (US$76.2 million) to Lord Thomson. 2006 – A Pakistan International Airlines Fokker F27 Friendship crashes near Multan International Airport, killing all 45 people on board. 2007 – Erden Eruç begins the first solo human-powered circumnavigation of the world. 2008 – Former Macedonian Interior Minister Ljube Boškoski is acquitted of all war-crimes charges by a United Nations Tribunal. 2011 – Russian cruise ship Bulgaria sinks in Volga near Syukeyevo, Tatarstan, causing 122 deaths. 2012 – The Episcopal Church USA allows same-sex marriage. 2017 – Iraqi Civil War: Mosul is declared fully liberated from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. 2019 – The last Volkswagen Beetle rolls off the line in Puebla, Mexico. The last of 5,961 "Special Edition" cars will be exhibited in a museum.

#Events

[danismm]

The residence that Earl Butler built in Des Moines, lowa, between 1935 and 1937. Working in close collaboration with his architects, Kraetsch and Kraetsch, Butler constructed a fire, tornado, earthquake, and termite - proof residence , permitting no conventional decoration since he believed that “simplicity and good design are much more restful and inherently beautiful in a home.” Among the special features were an unusual central ramp, air conditioning, dishwasher and disposal, an electric eye to open and close garage doors, a small storage room for freezing game, an extra ice - cube freezer with a 675 - cube capacity, and an intercommunicating telephone system .

#Architecture #earl butler residence #des moines #1930s architecture #1930s #1930s interior #modernism #stairs and corridors

[artsbysakurachan]

Even Sebastian simps for Lady Dimitrescu! 

#black butler #lady dimitrescu #resident evil #resident evil village #sebastian michaelis #ciel phantomhive #earl phantomhive #simply one hell of a butler #simply one hell of a SIMP #kuroshitsuji #tall vampire lady #lady dimitrescu fanart #black butler fanart #kuroshitsuji fanart #parody #yana toboso #horror games #anime art #manga #phantomhive twins #phantomhive servants

[loveanimehatereality]

Black Butler #293 - She succeeded so incredibly as well! I don’t think many other mangaka could pull an arc like this off so magnificently. ~ LoveAnimeHateReality 

#anime #manga #otaku #black butler #kuroshitsuji #black butler fandom #black butler manga #black butler fans #titanic #resident evil #zombies #Yana Toboso #book of the atlantic #movie #sebastian michaelis #demon #Demon Butler #ciel phantomhive #Earl Phantomhive #manga meme #meme #black butler meme #campania

[nightkarmaqueen]

(ACT 3?) Sebastian’s Last Page Records of the Mansion

Please, I beg you to tell me why...

Why... Why I feel like that Sebastian will be like Tanaka from Black Butler? JUST WHY?!

I couldn’t find the scene but if you remember that one scene where the Phantomhive Mansion burned down for the second time, Tanaka wrote a note on the last page of his journal. He wrote about how it was the second time he saw the Prideful Phantomhive's Family and Mansion fall alongs with its two earls in row. And Tanaka left the ruin of the mansion, leaving the book on the table.

NOW IMAGINE IF IT’S SEBASTIAN!!!

After I watch the trailer of Ikemen Vampire ACT 3 / Chapter 3 I CRIED!!! I SERIOUSLY CRIED!!! WHY IT LOOKS SO ANGST!!! 

Now imagine if Sebastian do what Tanaka did.

I remember that Sebastian has a journal about the residents of the mansion.

After the vampires dissapeared like in the PV, imagine Sebastian wrote this :

I became the witness of the disappearance of all the lives of blood-sucking creatures, vampires, from history.

We may not have much time to bid our farewell, but I have no regrets in accepting my master's offer, I’m very grateful for this chance.

Now I, and the fair maiden of the mansion will live on and continue to live the dreams that our masters once had. We will make sure that their dreams will continure to shine in every generation.

Regardless of which timeline, the past, present, or even in the future, they will always shine brightly like the star constellations in the sky.

It has been an honor to be in the presence of the amazing figures of all time until their last existences. Should we meet again in the far future, I will continue to serve you with all of my might.

- Sebastian Paris, 18XX

And then Sebastian would close the book and put it IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DINING TABLE AT THE DINING ROOM AND LEAVE THE MANSION TO WE DON’T KNOW WHERE!

AND THE MANSION WOULD BE AN ABANDONED CREEPY, SCARY, AND HORROR MANSION WITH SOME LEGEND ABOUT VAMPIRES NO ONE DARES TO APPROCH!

WHILE THEY DIDN’T KNOW THAT THE MANSION LOCK A REALLY WARM AND BEAUTIFUL MEMORIES OF A MAIDEN, A HUMAN, AND VAMPIRES IN IT!

NOW CRY WITH ME, BECAUSE THE ACT TO WILL BE ALL ANGST!!!

#ikemen vampire #ikevamp #ikemen series #cybird #ikevamp act 3 #ikevamp chapter 3 #ikemen vampire act 3 #ikevamp sebastian #ikevamp napoleon #ikevamp leonardo #ikevamp arthur #ikevamp comte #ikevamp mozart #ikevamp isaac #ikevamp dazai #ikevamp vlad #ikevamp charles #ikevamp faust #ikevamp shakespeare #ikevamp theo #ikevamp theodorus #ikevamp vincent #Talk with the Lady #nkq_twtl #nkq_concept #nkq_ghd #Great Hall Discussion