This is a ficlet based on this post I made some time back for a possible fanfiction idea.
The room was silent aside from the womanâs labored breathing. No one was there to see her; to hold her hand in those final hours as her life slowly slipped from her grasp. The realization brought tears to her dull, blue eyes as she brought her arthritic hands together to pray, but she she didnât pray for a miracle. As the tears traveled through the deep wrinkles of her face, she only prayed her death would come soon to release her of the pain that was both physical and emotional. She was tired, and she was ready for it all to end. Perhaps, she could even see one of her loved ones on the other side.
She must have dozed without realizing it because she suddenly realized that there were two figures now standing in the room although she hadnât seen her door open. They were too far away at first to make out any features, but soon one of the them stepped forward. She smiled brightly when she recognized his familiar face and reached towards him. While there was something different about him, especially about the eyes, she would have known her young nephew anywhere.
âRonnie,â she whispered in a voice that sounded like little more than a tired creak, âMy dear boy, youâve come to see me.â
Ronald said nothing as he looked down at her coolly. He turned and said something to his companion, but she couldnât understand his words. As she pondered about this, a sudden realization bloomed in her mind like a red rose in a barren desert.
âI remember now,â she added, âYou died. They said it was by your own hand, but I knew that it couldnât be true. I knew it had to be an accident, and now I know that I was right. It had to be an accident because youâre an angel now. Youâve come to take me to Heaven.â Again, she reached for him; her hands shaking but eager.
Without a word towards her, she watched as Ronald raised something above his head which twinkled in the available light, but there was no time for her to feel fear before he plunged it into her chest. She felt the sharp pangs of death as her final breath escaped her mouth. At last, it was her time to die.
âŠâŠâŠâŠ..
Ronald watched the records as they spilled out of the old woman to twist and turn about the room. âThere are a lot of records,â he said as he sighed loudly.
From the far side of the room, William stepped forward and adjusted his glasses. âThe longer a human lives, the more records there are to review. It is simply a fact, but we cannot shirk our duties simply because there are more records.â
âI know,â Ronald said.
William continued to watch, but his two toned eyes were focused on Ronald instead of the records. This was the young reaperâs first official assignment after graduating, and he was doing an acceptable job so far. He had gone about the collection with the proper level of attachment, although William couldnât help but wonder one thing.
Had Ronald guessed that the old woman had known him in life?
Ronald might have as the woman had addressed him by name, but so far he hadnât asked about it, and that was good. Once they were reborn as reapers, they had cast aside all of who they had been as humans besides their names and their faces. Everything else of who they had been was gone and forever beyond their grasp. Sometimes the dying would seem to recognize them, but the recognition could never be returned. Even now, as Ronald reviewed the records, he had no idea that the blonde boy in the womanâs memories was him, and that was good.
Finally, the records came to an end, and Ronald produced his notebook. âNothing of note,â he said, as he stamped completed, âCan we return to the office now? I want to file my paperwork so I donât have to do overtime.â
âYou canât always avoid overtime,â William said, âbut it is best to return right away. Nothing can be gained by lingering.â
Ronald barely seemed to be listening as he looked as his scythe, which was the model he had been given upon graduation. âI really need to customize this thing,â he said, âThis style is just too outdated and old for me.â He continued to talk to himself as he walked away.
âHonestly,â William said to himself, but he paused to glance back at the old womanâs body. Even if Ronald couldnât remember, it had seemed to give the woman a bit of peace at the end. Perhaps their punishment could do a bit of good for someone else. Perhaps they could provide just a bit of comfort.
Yo, the pretty gal over there! Iâve been watching you for quite a while now, and you seem quite popular.
Iâll secretly let you in on something. Ah, but since itâs a secret, just quickly lend your ears, and then forget about it completely, okay?
âYou have only 7 days left.â
No matter how hard you fight, you canât change your fate anymore.
No matter how much you ask me, I cannot change whatâs on my list.
Iâll just wait quietly, and then judge your soul.
From the way you look right now⊠are you in a state of shock?
There must be a lot of unfinished business that you still want to finish, right?
Please use your limited time wisely.
I reap the worthless souls as if they are newly-sprung weeds.
No matter how hard you fight, you canât change your fate anymore.
It seems like youâve given up. Thatâs okay. Feel at ease.
I will execute my duty magnificently, without giving the demons a chance to steal you from me.
âŠâŠ.
This is another song that sound cheerful and happy, until you start discecting lyrics. On the surface, it just sounds like Ronald talking to some pretty girl. This isnât that unusual since this has been seen in the manga.
In fact, it almost seems flippant the way that Ronald can flirt with a girl that heâs fairly certain is about to die. However, thatâs not really the case in this song. Even the title is âItâs Not a Pick-Up Line.â
Yo, the pretty gal over there! Iâve been watching you for quite a while now, and you seem quite popular.
Iâll secretly let you in on something. Ah, but since itâs a secret, just quickly lend your ears, and then forget about it completely, okay?
âYou have only 7 days left.â
These first few lines sound precisely like a pick-up line. He starts out with complimenting her, and then tells her something secret. The woman probably thought it was more fliring, but then he tells her that she only has seven days days left to live.
Whatâs more peculiar is that he thinks that she can just forget it almost immediately. Thatâs not the sort of thing you can just shove out of your mind. Despite being a Shinigami, it seems like Ronald doesnât have a very good grasp on death.
No matter how hard you fight, you canât change your fate anymore.
No matter how much you ask me, I cannot change whatâs on my list.
Iâll just wait quietly, and then judge your soul.
From the way you look right now⊠are you in a state of shock?
There must be a lot of unfinished business that you still want to finish, right?
Here, again, we have Ronald delivering horrible news but not thinking about it having any effect on the woman. Heâs telling her itâs hopeless. Sheâs going to die and thatâs all there is to it. Then he seems surprised that she might be in shock and casually tells her that she should take care of unfinished business. Heâs even admitting that heâs going to be the one judging her, but heâs delivering the information as if heâs telling someone they should prepare for rain the next day.
Please use your limited time wisely.
I reap the worthless souls as if they are newly-sprung weeds.
No matter how hard you fight, you canât change your fate anymore.
It seems like youâve given up. Thatâs okay. Feel at ease.
Again, heâs giving advice, but then talking about reaping âworthlessâ souls like weeds. In a sense, heâs telling this girl that her soul is worthless. Again, heâs telling her things are hopeless, yet seems surprised that sheâs given up.
I will execute my duty magnificently, without giving the demons a chance to steal you from me.
Ronaldâs assuring the woman that heâll do a good job and protect her soul. Again, itâs like he thinks this should make her feel okay despite the fact that sheâs been told that she only has a week to live.
Looking through the entire song, it seems Ronald is a decent guy. Heâs told the woman about her death a week prior to give her a chance to finish unfinished business. He tries to reassure her by telling her that heâll protect her soul. At the same time, he lacks a lot of empathy. Heâs surprised that sheâs in shock or that sheâs given up. He didnât even deliver the news in a gentle way. He just compliments her and tells her that sheâs going to die.
It seems like Ronald has forgotten a bit about what it meant to be human.
We met William first
when he went to collect Grell and prevented her from being killed by
Sebastian. It has been an iconic scene as for one, we came to know
that something like a dispatch association exists and that there are
reapers who, other than Grell, strictly follow the rules and prevent
interfering with humans/demons at all costs. Chapter 12 has also been
the marker for Will to become a reoccurring character in the second
set along with Grell.
William has no interest in a fight with Sebastian, although Sebastian seems to have noticed Williamâs strength.
Characters being early
introduced, usually is a sign of these characters holding a deeper
meaning to the plot, as they are either supporting characters to the
main protagonists or their clear antagonists. Will is neither. While
Grell could be seen as an antagonist as she often starts fights with
Sebastian, William is on neither side of the supporting/antagonist
spectrum. He is neutral and therefore a rather powerful character.
Being not bound to one side enables him to freely take sides and to
fulfill his job without any feelings of mercy and remorse.
While we could argue
that Grell as well is not bound by any party, she is often lead by
her emotions, thus often resulting in her going against her own job.
Will has no such boundaries, he only is affiliated with the dispatch
and the officers working for him.
William being set on UTâs trail. Perhaps a hint that he is some sort of inquisitor to terminate deserters? MBD has shown him in this role, when he came to kill Eric.
By creating this
character Yana showed us that she is able to tell a story from many
different point of views, often challenging the readers mindsets on
moral and justice â with William as a center of rest in between the
cruelty that is Kuroshitsuji. There is something that makes the
reader trust his intentions and gives us a safe space in form of a
character who not necessarily needs to be understood.
For most fans he
therefore seems boring, but, with him missing in the plot, the story
gets often so intense, that the reader is left with an uneasy
feeling. There are other safe haven characters, like Soma and Finny,
who take some of the darkness away, but when it comes to the real
challenging parts of the plot, it is always Will to ease the readers
mind.
We knew something was fishy about the Circus with William being present – nevertheless he was the one to give us unexpected laughs.
A perfect example is
the Circus arc. We are talking here about an arc where the victims,
as so often, are the weakest parts of society: children. And instead
of letting us fall into this pit of horror alone, Yana gives us an
arc, where Will is a very prominent character, his bickering with
Sebastian and his honesty is both refreshing and lightening the mood.
He gives us some laughs during a part of a story which in any other
way would not allow us to catch a break. Neither Grell nor Ronald
would have been able to provide such a service to the readers.
Iconic.
For one because Grell
spikes the readers pulse and on another note because Ronald, despite
his cheering behaviour is more of supporting nature to the lead
reapers. He has been shown as nonchalant and flirty, but there needs
to be further development on his character so that he wonât end up
being expendable to the story. So far he would not be able to
shoulder a whole arc like Will and Grell did.
William is far more important to the story than it seems.
Because he knows something that we, as readers, donât.
The only object inspiration to have officially been revealed by Toboso was Rudgerâs/Rudgarâs/Ihavenoideasorry Death Scythe, in her Tuna.be blog (post here)
She posted this photo:
So Rudgarâs Death Scythe is modelled after Boschâs Keo tool, with the exception that Toboso says she made Rudgarâs bigger in the manga.
In the post, she also mentioned that she had decided on Saschaâs Death Scythe, but time limitations kept her from including his in the manga, and that she hopes she can add it in later (well I sure hope as well; Saschaâs my favorite character!)
2. Ronaldâs Hat:
In the beginning of the Campania Arc/BotA arc, Ronald has this hat he wears when boarding the ship, and Toboso shows it in the next chapterâs front page:
Turns out my dad bought a Taschen fashion advertisements calendar that showed ads for clothing/shoes/hats from the 20th Century⊠and I found these two ads that seemed oddly peculiar:
I donât know if this company had anything to do with Tobosoâs decision to give Ronald the last name of Knox, but it sure looks suspicious (but then maybe she found out after, and decided to use the hat out of funâŠ)
I tweeted my discovery to Toboso, but she must be too busy/must receive too many tweets to have seen itâŠ
3. Saschaâs camera:
I wonât hide that Iâm proud of my discovery of this one:
I also sent a tweet to Toboso about this discovery as well, but she didnât answer probably for the same reasons as before.
I originally wanted to look at the camera for a cosplay, and having found Ronaldâs hat a while back, I decided to look for the camera as well:
After searching for folding cameras of Saschaâs style, I came across a company that had very similar styles to the camera: Zeiss Ikon, a German camera company.
Two of the cameras looked almost exactly the same, but thanks to the difference in the top right square lens, I found the right model:
And judging from the look of the real thing, I think Iâm going to be spending quite some fun time in flea markets, yard sales and antique stores this summer:
ITâS. SO. PRETTY.
(I just found out @abybweisse almost found this as well, but fell on the one that got me in a scramble (the one they found doesnât have the right position for the top right square lens), oh and also an awesome fabric with the Super Ikont B printed on it (I WANT IT TOOOOO TTATT))
Things other people have found as well:
@abybweisse found several objects as well (respect, because damn, I know thatâs not easy):
-Rudgarâs shoes (I cannot find the original post, I found this on a copy website with no links to the original posts):
Grellâs deathlist book (a Chanel, damn, thatâs cool! expensive af, but cool)
Rudgarâs watch (super expensive wtf)
Ronaldâs watch (a Cartier?! super expensive too, WTF)
(Putting the links for more info if you like this kind of post:
Ahhh, please please please search my blog for âzeissâ. I figured out Saschaâs camera over a year ago. đ But thereâs way more to it. Zeiss is predominately a manufacturer of glass lenses⊠for cameras, eyeglasses, rifle scopes, binoculars, etc. They even advertise about eye exams:
Look familiar? It should! âThe Story of Will the Reaperâ ova shows the reapers using an eye exam chart that is basically a combination of the left and middle charts above:
Haha!
I even found fabric with that camera in the pattern and had a dress made. Hereâs some extra fabric I want to use for pillow covers or something:
But, yeah⊠Zeiss. Itâs such a hugely important tech company in Germany.
On another note, though. I cannot take credit for figuring out Grelleâs Chanel planner/agenda, Ronaldâs planner/agenda, or Ronaldâs travel trunk. Also, Yana-san shows us in the design drawings that Ronald has a menâs Pasha de Cartier watch.
Um, what else did I figure out? Ludgarâs watch appears to actually be a combination of two A. Lange & Söhne models â The Minute Repeater:
And the Striking Time:
I also suggest searching my blog for âdeath scytheâ and âhistorical referenceâ. For example, Grelleâs choice of death scythe modification (chainsaw) evolved from tools initially meant to aid in difficult childbearing cases; they just ended up leading to things that are better at sawing wood than bone or cartilageâŠ.
Another example is that Ronald Knox is named after a real person. Check out my post âThe Historical Ronald Knox & The Ten Commandments of Detective FictionââŠ.
I actually have an entire side blog devoted to general references used for the manga/anime @abybweissekurorefs and another for reaper references @abybweissekuroshinigami
Though I have to give you props for the hat ad discovery!!
Does anyone have any idea where the concept of Eric Slingby being Scottish came from? I cannot find the original post/fic/comment.
It was lifted from Will mentioning Glasgow, Scotland meaning the London Dispatch actually get dispatched outside of London. We were a tiny handful of a fandom then, so we kind of took that and ran RAN FAR AWAY with it. Londonâs a melting pot anyway, so whoâs to say there arenât Reapers from Scotland and Ireland?
I remember hearing something about Slingby being a Scottish last name, though I donât know how accurate that is, and also Ericâs got a tassel on his belt like the ones on kilts, at least in the character sketch.
Slingby is a name originating more from Yorkshire. I think where it came from was in Ericâs character design.
Not saying there are not bulky and broad English people, but just looking at Eric gives you an idea that he doesnât entirely look English with his broad shoulders and wide hips. Heâs a big person, even taller than William by an inch or two. And yes, Eric does wear a tassel thatâs attached to what is like a wallet chain. With the Scottish kilt, you wear a bag called a sporran. On the sporran is where you normally put tassels. Eric possibly could have kept it from his attire in Scotland and wears it with his reaper uniform in London.
Also looking at the way he speaks and acts might give some insight. He acts very different from the other reapers in terms of how he addresses people and handles relationships. Again, not saying English people donât act that way, but we are just characterizing the way Eric acts and looks with how someone from Scotland might act and appear.
I did make a post about a year ago showing Ericâs tassel as well as what the kilt looks like to show a comparison.
With more people roleplaying Eric as a Scotsman, it grew as an accepted thing among a lot of the fandom is my best guess.
Hey Anon! And yep, from the moment a demon who shape-shifted into idk how many animalsâŠ
can have intercourse with humans
then Shinigamis who originally are humans should be able to as well. đ
As for the âbut theyâre deadâ part, well yeah, but we donât know exactly what their condition is (Iâll elaborate below) and furthermore, they have primary needs like sleeping and eating so why not other needs?Â
Itâs kinda illustrated by Grell having the hots for several guys so far or even Ronald with most women actually, so to me it seems Shinigamis can feel attraction towards humans, which means they can surely be aroused and seek physical intimacy as a result.
Being able to have sex =/= being able to have kids: thatâs a different debate.Â
Just in case you were asking with this in mind though, I want to precise that personally I think itâs possible for Shinigamis to have kids (so for example, I believe that the UT = Cedric theory is a possibility) because the Shinigamis arenât exactly âdeadâ, the way final death is meant to be in Kuroshitsuji.
A human being is defined by two parts: their cinematic record and their soul. When they die, the CR is stopped by Shinigamis and to remain in the body, while the soul is collected. Thatâs what it means to be dead in Kuroshitsuji.
Now, if you look at UTâs bizarre dolls that are basically undead: they have no soul (because it was collected when they died and UT canât make one from scratch), but they have edited cinematic records which is what makes the corpse mistakenly think itâs still alive.Â
As for Shinigamis, well thatâs the thing: we know they killed themselves so they should be deadâŠ
but it seems they still have their soul and an unstopped cinematic record (otherwise how could they still move, think and feel?), in spite of their peculiar eyes or their ability to teleport, amongst other supernatural things.Â
FurthermoreâŠ
âŠclearly they can actually die for real again if theyâre hit by a death scythe (a death scythe being used to stop a CR and collect the soul, which is why I think they still have both).Â
Becoming a Shinigami is a punishment to humans who took their own life so maybe theyâre not exactly âdeadâ. Maybe, similarly to how some humans can be âjudged worthy to keep on livingâ by Shinigamis when theyâre fated to die, Shinigamis are special cases of â(not really) dead peopleâ.Â
All that to say, if theyâre not exactly dead, then why wouldnât they be able to have kids? Donât get me wrong, we know they have superiors who are most likely scaring the shit out of them and as such, rules to follow were mentioned likeâŠ
âŠbecause Shinigamis are supposed to be âneutral between Gods and humansâ, meaning theyâre not supposed to be meddling with humans and have kids with them (or with other Shinigamis I suppose).Â
As far as UT is concerned though, clearly he fails at being a Shinigami, so him having kids (the UT = Cedric theory) would just be one more broken rule to add to his record. No biggie.Â
TL;DR yes, Shinigamis can most likely have sex with humans and with other Shinigamis.Â
And from the moment theyâre scared to die if stabbed by a death scythe, they might not be exactly dead the way other humans who donât kill themselves are dead, so they might be able to have kids with humans or other Shinigamis, even though it is very probably 100% forbidden (since they are forbidden from meddling with life, death and humans).
I hope it answers your question Anon, sorry for the length! As with everything, itâs just my opinion, no one has to agree!Â
đ„ There is beauty in destructionđ„ 