William T. Spears. Itās so easy to write him off as a bland, one-note character. Heās that strict boss that no one actually wants to be around. He has little personality beyond being cold and demanding. Heās stiff and emotionless.
But is that true?
Ever since I started taking a deeper look at William, I canāt help but feel thereās so much more to him ā something that lurks just beneath the granite like surface. Itās something that Iāve written about in the past, and Iāve scoured every piece of the manga looking for that one little clue or hint to the truth about William. Now, Iāve decided to tackle Williamās character song, Shinigami no Kintai Kanri or Discipline of Diligence of the Death Gods. Here is one version of the English translation that I found online:
***
On Monday I reap souls.
On Tuesday I hold a meeting of the management team.
On Wednesday I summon the dispatched death gods.
On Thursday I wear a pure-white shirt.
On Friday I select a good necktie.
On Saturday I watch cinematic records.
These flawless rules must be quietly obeyed daily.
I wonāt allow even a brief hair-sized disturbance.
I discipline the foolish death gods and keep all the death records,
as the dust-free soundless library freezes solid.
After Iāve strictly finished my work, and have only loneliness to unravel,
my firmly darkly bitterly clinging memories grow low and distant.
On Monday there is a depressing rain.
On Tuesday I scold the rule-violators.
On Wednesday I kick Grell Sutcliff.
On Thursday I work overtime.
On Friday I retrieve souls.
On Saturday I hunt those demon eyesores.
I decline all the annoyingly incomplete applications,
but the piles of problems waiting for me are extremely unpleasant.
The endlessly pointless work and the stupid mistakes made by others
will disrupt the balance of the aesthetics of the glass walls and ceiling.
These unforgivable deviations, this imbalance caused by laziness,
and my schedule crumbled, ripped, torn, and soiledā¦ Iāll have to work overtime again today.
I complete the difficult tasks and restore the order of hard steel.
I embrace closely my cool-headed rationality in mistās shadow.
Iāll take down purgatoryās wall if there should ever be one,
even if I might end up losing my arms, my voice, and my nails.
That delicate clockās hands are playing music in the stillness;
if only that clock is the god governing the entirety of my heartā¦
Iāll kill lives without hesitation. Grant, weave, and praise
the balance and hope of all, in this dark world where even words glaciate,
grievously.
***
As I read through this song, and discussed it with intoātheāabyss, another image began to emerge. To me, I see a lonely struggling man thatās clinging on as best he can, but slowly losing hope and perhaps even a sense of self. Please allow me to dissect this song a bit deeper to show you what I mean. Letās start with the first part.
***
On Monday I reap souls.
On Tuesday I hold a meeting of the management team.
On Wednesday I summon the dispatched death gods.
On Thursday I wear a pure-white shirt.
On Friday I select a good necktie.
On Saturday I watch cinematic records.
These flawless rules must be quietly obeyed daily.
I wonāt allow even a brief hair-sized disturbance.
***
This is definitely someone with a plan or schedule in mind. He has everything laid out exactly as he plans to proceed, and heās paying attention to both what needs to be done as well as appearance. He has a meeting scheduled, but heās also wearing a pure white shirt and choosing a good necktie. It appears the aim is to look the part as well as perform it. He wonāt allow for any deviations. Itās also interesting to note thereās a certain purity as itās a white shirt and the rules are flawless. While this part of the song doesnāt sound particularly happy or cheerful, William does seem to have things under control.
***
I discipline the foolish death gods and keep all the death records,
as the dust-free soundless library freezes solid.
After Iāve strictly finished my work, and have only loneliness to unravel,
my firmly darkly bitterly clinging memories grow low and distant.
***
Now, thereās a bit of a transition. Initially, William was singing only about a schedule, the things he had planned to do each day ā which was strictly work. Here we see the first sad, depressing imagery. First, he has do discipline the foolish shinigami and keep all the death records. That doesnāt sound too bad, but the next three lines have a definite change in tone. The library is dust free and is freezing solid. Thatās a strange image. Why would a library freeze solid? Is it because itās a cold, emotionless place or has become frozen in time somehow? Also, while William is strictly doing his work, doing precisely what seems to be expected of him, but his only reward is loneliness. That last line is perhaps the most telling of that part. He is ābitterā memories that are growing low and distant. What memories are these? Perhaps these are his memories of being human. Since the memories are growing distant, maybe he is forgetting, or trying to forget, his own humanity.
***
On Monday there is a depressing rain.
On Tuesday I scold the rule-violators.
On Wednesday I kick Grell Sutcliff.
On Thursday I work overtime.
On Friday I retrieve souls.
On Saturday I hunt those demon eyesores.
***
At first glance, this looks to be just more of a schedule, but thereās no way that one for schedule for rain or know with certainty they are going to be scolding someone on a certain day. Also, the rain on Monday is depressing. For someone who displays so little emotion, heās using a lot of emotional adjectives. This almost reads like someone whoās still trying to schedule everything, still clinging to this order, but itās slowly slipping as there is simply things that canāt be planned. He even already knows heās going to have overtime.
***
I decline all the annoyingly incomplete applications,
but the piles of problems waiting for me are extremely unpleasant.
***
William is still a perfectionist. He wonāt accept any paperwork that isnāt done correctly, yet he knows that this is only adding more work for him. Despite him being seen as someone who doesnāt mind, he finds all of this work, in his own words, unpleasant. He could turn a blind eye and save himself some work, but he doesnāt or perhaps feels he canāt for some reason.
***
The endlessly pointless work and the stupid mistakes made by others
will disrupt the balance of the aesthetics of the glass walls and ceiling.
These unforgivable deviations, this imbalance caused by laziness,
and my schedule crumbled, ripped, torn, and soiledā¦ Iāll have to work overtime again today.
***
Williamās work is endless, but itās not his fault. Heās responsible for the mistakes and failings of others. Heās desperately trying to control something that is uncontrollable. The schedule heās work so hard to build up and maintain has been destroyed. At the same time, the second line might paint a slightly different picture as he talks of glass walls and ceiling. Is William saying that heās living in a āglass house?ā Is he blaming others for mistakes he sees in himself? He talks about an imbalance caused by laziness. Does he consider himself lazy? Despite him saying that these problems are caused by mistakes made my others, perhaps heās blaming himself and taking more personal ownership of the mistakes then heās openly admitting.
Thereās also the possibility that these glass walls represent walls or a shield that William has built around himself. Although heās trying to protect himself, the walls are still very breakable and, being glass, cause William to feel that heās exposed. Heās put up a front that he has no feelings, yet some of the lyrics of this song shows that he does and can feel. Perhaps William is afraid that others are aware he isnāt as cold as he tries to portray.
***
I complete the difficult tasks and restore the order of hard steel.
I embrace closely my cool-headed rationality in mistās shadow.
Iāll take down purgatoryās wall if there should ever be one,
even if I might end up losing my arms, my voice, and my nails.
***
Although he feels that he canāt get ahead because of the endless paperwork, heās determined to push ahead. Itās all about order for William. Heās stuck in all this chaos, and heās determined to order. Heās rational even if the world around him as unsubstantial as mist. Even if destroys him, heās going to move forward.
The line about purgatory is also of interest to me. When I first read the line, I thought William was basically saying heād take on even Hell in order to succeed. However, being a shinigami, a human who has died but is now being punished in a sort of limbo, actually fits the idea of purgatory. Maybe William isnāt saying heāll take on Hell, but heāll face this existence and heās going to keep pushing forward in hopes of an escape, even if it destroys his body.
***
That delicate clockās hands are playing music in the stillness;
if only that clock is the god governing the entirety of my heartā¦
Iāll kill lives without hesitation. Grant, weave, and praise
the balance and hope of all, in this dark world where even words glaciate,
grievously.
***
Time is the major image in this final part. The clock is music, but it doesnāt govern his heart. (And thereās a part about his heart and emotions again.) At the same time, in this dark world ever words āglaciate.ā We have the movement of time, yet even the words are frozen. While the two ideas seem contradictory, it makes sense that William is very aware of time as heās counting down his āsentence.ā He likes to hear the ticking of the clock and to know that time as passing, yet in this dark world time seems endless ā or frozen. Still, William is determined. Heāll kill without hesitation, or so he says. Heās willing to do whatever ā grant, weave, or praise.
This is my analysis of Williamās character song. I see a man whoās trapped. Heās been an impossible job of trying to bring order to chaos, but heās trying. Heās sealed up emotions, but he still has feelings. Heās isolated and alone ā as frozen up emotionally as the realm is frozen in time. Despite all this, heās determined and heāll keep trying.
This completely says everything about him. Iāve thought some of these things for quite awhile, but I hadnāt even heard of this song. He truly does sound pained and trapped.:(
Quick:
what are a few adjectives to describe William?
Cold. Ā Distant. Ā Detached.
Emotionless.
It
certainly seems that wayā¦.but this manga has a way of playing with our
expectations. Ā Because Lizzy is just a
cute little anime girl who could never defend herself, right? Ā Mey-Rin is just a clumsy maid. Ā Undertaker is just a harmless, but eccentric
old man. Ā I could go on. Ā So then, what does this mean for cold,
distant, emotionless dispatch supervisor William T. Spears?
Following
that above logic, then: thereās perhaps more to Will than he lets on.
It
took me a little while to think of all this; and much credit goes toĀ @eviltwintheory , whose extensive conversations helped us both to see William in
a different light.
Hereās
a few things about William that might reveal some hidden depth:
A reaper, alone?
In
the Circus arc, he is shown perched on a roof, looking down at the Circus
troupe, reflecting on the situation at hand; he is no longer the comic relief
tightrope walker; donning his usual black suit and gloves, he has now become a
lone observer of a group of people whose souls he has to judge. Ā With such gravity and seriousness, he
reflects on the situation at hand, which is about to come to intensify into
tragedyāa tragedy he knows is coming beforehand.
How
would it feel to live with a group of people whose time and cause of death you
knew ahead of time, and whose souls you had to collect when they died violent
deaths?
He
also likely witnessed the children in the Kelvin manor being burned to
death. Ā Itās easy to miss, but he hides
himself from view as Sebastian and Ciel arrive:
In
the next scene, he is still on the roof, waiting for backup to arrive. Ā He was likely there the whole time.
What
would it be like to witness the death of a group of imprisoned childrenāwhose
death was caused by a demon under the orders of a traumatized thirteen-year-old
boyāknowing full well there was nothing you could to do stop such a tragedy?
While
many, if not all, reapers face situation, what would this be like for
someone who is painfully aware of their situation?
He
also seems to be alone amongst his own coworkers; in his character song, he
longs to live up to a perfect ideal; he craves an impossible sense of order in
a hopeless, cold world, and under the weight of his own memories and
shortcomings, he has nothing to comfort himself but his own loneliness:
He
is plagued by memories, unable to let go, and he has nothing to keep him
company other than his own solitary ruminations. Ā Perhaps he is so detached, so unable to reach
out to anyone, that he thinks he deserves his own loneliness.
The
Cover for Chapter 27 also shows that William is prone to solitary contemplation:
Yana
drew him, sitting alone, going through the To-Die book with the caption:
āTo think and think, to ponder and ponder.
However, I cannot finish on time.ā
What is there to ponder and think about, exactly? Ā As Will says himself, isnāt a reaperās job to
collect souls and nothing more?
She
couldāve easily drawn him stressed out and complaining about overtime, but
instead we get a lonely, contemplative image suggesting a quiet, inner
struggle.
The
Lectures About Emotion
William
is prone to lecturing subordinates about how emotions should never be a part of
the job. Ā The timing of these lectures
is, however, often quite curious.
Right
after Will witnesses the death of the children at the Kelvin manor, Ronald
arrives and says how it would be easier to be at the Phantomhive manor instead. Ā William says that is unfortunate, then
launches in a lecture about how a reaper should focus on the task at hand and
leave emotions out of the job.
The
interesting thing is that Ronald isnāt particularly emotional here. Ā So who, then, is the lecture really intended
for? Ā Could it be, that after witnessing
such an awful scene, William himself was affected by what happened, and that
lecture was more of a reminder to himself?
Perhaps
William is more sensitive than he lets onāand his cold, detached demeanor is a
way for him to distance himself from the nature of his work. Ā Otherwiseāit might be too much to bear.
His
other lecture about emotions comes right on the heels of William recalling a
traumatic experience during his early days as a reaper. Ā He had almost ādiedā while collecting Thomas
Wallisās soul; which seemed to be an emotional experience for him. Ā In light of this, his lecture on judging
souls without emotion and without incident is rather telling. Ā Though this happens in the reaper OVA, it
does seem in keeping with Will in manga canon.
The
B Student
Also
in the reaper OVA, it is revealed that by-the-rules William is no perfect
student, but instead is a straight B-student.
Given that he seems rather perfectionist, could it be frustrating (and perhaps
depressing) to continuously fall short of his ideal goal? Ā I get the sense that he is rather hard on
himself; though he is harsh to his subordinates, he very well may be the
harshest with himself. Ā The lyrics in his
character song about longing for an impossible goal further illuminate this.
Upholder of shinigami ethics
William
seems to strive to embody the ideal grim reaper: solemn, dignified,
serious. Ā Dealing with a demon offends
him to his core; it is likely he deeply believes in these ethics and doctrines
quite passionately. Ā When someone
violates these ethics, be it demon or shinigami, it therefore might wound him
quite personally. Ā He takes the
principles of his job to heartāand that could set him up for bitterness and
frustration when reality turns out to be less than ideal.
Nervous
habits
The
character guide implies that Willās constant glasses adjusting is something of
a nervous habit. Ā What does he have to be
nervous about, I wonder?
He
also can barely tolerate being within 50 feet of Sebastian during the Circus
arcāwhereas other reapers donāt seem that bothered by Sebastian. Ā Is this just a fussy little quirk of hisāor is
there more to his hatred for demons?
He
also doesnāt take kindly to having his behavior pointed out to him, if his
reaction to Ciel laughing at him is any indication:Ā
Stuck
in a hopeless situation?
He
has a temper, that much is certain, and he always seems under pressure by some
sort of higher-up. Ā He also seems to have
little control over his situation, given that the personnel department chooses
who accompanies him. Ā Shepherding Grell
and Ronald while having to do his own work is also quite the responsibility,
too.
He
might very well be middle managementāforever stuck between his subordinates and
the higher upsādealing with pressure on both ends, and stuck in a situation
that is often beyond his grasp. Ā He
nonetheless does what he is supposed to do, but his situation could be quite
frustrating to him, especially since he seems to crave order and control over
his life.
Therefore:
All
these little clues are like tiny windows into Williamās character: he may seem so
cold and distant to be almost unknowable, but perhaps these little glimpses all
add up when taken together. Ā It may very
well be that his nervous habits, wistful longing about loneliness and order,
and perfectionism all result in a man who possesses much hidden depth.
Whether it is uncovered, however, remains to be seen.
But
in the meantime, try to look at William T. Spears a little bit more closely,
and you might notice something beneath the surfaceā¦
YESSSS, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. This is exactly how I read William. You just canāt take him at face value. (Or any of Yanaās characters really.)
And this is why I love Kuroshitsuji so much. Especially the reapers. There is much depth and hidden mystery to the characters. It’s really fascinating. There truly is so much more to the characters and story than meets the eye.
A post made by @redladydeath the other day about Grell and William showing emotions made me really think about all the Shinigami and their emotions. When I started considering the matter, the Shinigami we see the most often do seem to have some issues.
Grell:
Grell is easily the most emotional of the Shinigami. In fact, itās rare to see her calm and quiet. Even when sheās alone, sheās complaining or displaying a talent for innuendos. Even after killing Madam Red, she took the time to lecture the corpse.
But itās not always clear about how genuine Grellās emotions are most of the time. Everything is so over the top. It seems as if most of what we see is an act or at least an exaggeration.
William:
On the surface, William seems like Grellās exact opposite. Heās not overly emotional at all. In fact, he almost acts as if he doesnāt feel. The only emotions heās really displayed much is the occasional annoyance or anger.
This isnāt to say he doesnāt feel. He makes a speech about how itās pointless to bring emotions to their work, but itās seems odd to say such a thing unless you do feel.
I think he does feel, but he tries to hide the fact he has these emotions. In fact, heās more like Grell then he first appears. Both are hiding deeper emotions but doing it in exactly opposite ways. Grell exaggerates every little thing in order to hide what sheās truly feeling, while William pretends to feel very little.
Ronald:
On the surface, Ronald seems the most easy going of the three. He likes to have fun and flirt. His emotions donāt seem exaggerated nor is he hiding the fact he feels. At the same time, he can casually flirt with a woman he knows is about to die.
I donāt think Ronaldās actually cold-hearted, but that does seem a bit crude. This leads me to another possibility. Ronaldās smile and easy nature could be his method of hiding his deeper emotions. He might be doing the exact thing as Grell and William but in his own way.
It seems possible that this is a common problem for Shinigami. They were human and still have some of the same emotions. However, feeling too much when your job is collecting souls and watching people die could drive you insane. Many Shinigami would have to come up with defense mechanisms, which is what is happening with Grell, William, and Ronald.
Undertaker was a Shinigami for what we assume was a long time. The way heās always searching for laughter could have actually been the method that he learned to cope. Also, like the others, his actual emotions can be hard to read.
Whatās interesting to me, however, is that the only Shinigami we know that has deserted, is the only one weāve seen openly cry.
Thoughts?
So slightly jacking this post to add thoughts:
Okay I know a lot of people would argue using musical canon is iffy but Yana has adhered to literally every other bit of musical canon as far as theĀ ārulesā of shinigami apply. Theres a line in Shinigami Haken that actually somewhat addresses this. As They are going through their rules this line comes up-
Number 5! We work coldly without even a smile.
The fact that this is an actual rule not just a habit of theirs, is curious. Also looking at musical canon this is probably predominantly to avoid risk of Thorns, which is something that hasnāt been exactly touched upon in the Manga. In short The Thorns are contracted when a soul destined to die becomes vengeful and fight against the reaper and eventually will kill them, it wasnāt named but shown in the Tale of the Shinigami William OVA, and in TMBDitW Alan is stated to have been sympathetic to the souls he reaped and allowed them to attack him.Ā
That being said I highly doubt this is the ONLY reason for the rule but it could be a reason.Ā
With how much Undertaker is lingering on those amulets, with his experiments of trying to reanimate the dead, he might of cared ALOT about some people he had to reap.
Heres where things get real interesting. There is no known cure for the thorns. Theres only the rumor of collecting 1000 pure souls (collecting not reaping there is a distinctive difference). Even in TMBDitW we dont know if it would work since Eric only reached 999.Ā
Grell got reprimanded for killing a few people not on the list. Eric was going to be not just eliminated but any and all record of his existence was going to be wiped out.
Now Im not saying that Undertaker cares way too much about (some) mortal lives, developed the thorns, and went rogue trying to cure himself so he can continue trying to find a way to save those he lovedā¦ but Yana choosing the point of time to bring Eric and Alans death into manga canon seemed fishy to me and im totally saying undertakerĀ
In the Kuroverse there are a plethora of Grim Reaper characters, with at least 9 distinct Grim Reaper personalities all meddling with the human world. But why would Yana Toboso bother to include so many Grim Reapers? Surely one or two could get the single job they all do (reaping souls so you can see backstory) done? (like Scotland Yard with its 2 members)
A characteristic the Grim Reapers share is boredom (like the Undertaker, William, Ludger) or a longing for innovation in their monotonous jobs, and lives (Grell, Ronald, Sasha, Othello).
Sashaās reaction goes to show how boring and unchanging the Grim Reaper world is. The Grim Reaper institution as complained about by many, is a strict and rigid society.
And when you want to start a revolution, you need multiple people to make an impact. So the Undertaker could be helping them in a revolution to change the way their society is run, bringing attention to his work to give them a shock or bribe with the reanimated corpses that seem to be causing trouble for them, so that the world of the Grim Reapers is ultimately reformed, allowing more innovation and individuality, and better working conditions, and help for those who are sick
(A reference to the Musical āthe most beautiful death in the worldā, in which Alan and Eric leave the Grim Reaper department because Alanās rare illnesses requires a sacrifice of one thousand souls to be cured).
Why does William hate overtime so much anyways. What are the hobbies he does outside of work? Not organising a revolution group I hopeā¦
(In the official translation, the words to piss him off are āIāveĀ always been part of the anti- overtime school to begin withā) I see him as the mostly likely candidate for the leader because why act like such a goody-two-shoes, punishing everyone for breaking rules he knows off by heart, when he clearly hates his job, and doesnāt want to be there doing it for a second longer than he has too?
Basically every character introduced by Yana Toboso plays a further role somewhere down the track (and if they donāt, they die), so Iām pondering the role of the abundance of Grim Reaper characters.
We know basically NOTHING about the supernatural elements of the Kuroverse, especially the home worlds and societies of demons and Grim Reapers, so I donāt really have any hard evidence for or against this Shinigami uprising theory, itās just food for thought.
As someone else has already pointed out, Ronald seems to have a rather particular and oddly light approach to what would seem to be ādark mattersā.
First, he mumbles on how heāll beĀ ākilled for realā if heās late for his job on the Campania ship.
Then, once he manages to board the ship, he says thatĀ āthe future is looking brightā.
He seems to laugh at Sophie Smithās dead body.
Sure, in these circumstances, these would appear to be casual statements made in moments of respectively hurry, relative calmness and āordinary administrationā but considering how:
A) heāll beĀ ākilled for realā when heās a shinigami exactly because he killed himself;
B) theĀ āfutureā he talks about is circumscribed within the actions perpetrated by the bizarre dolls and it comprises blood, deaths, despair, and tragedy;
C) he doesnāt seem to be a totally unsympathetic person in general (see his reaction at Sebastianās weakness at the end of the Arc. If he really was a cold-blooded bastard with no moralsĀ āpicking on the weakā wouldnāt have been a problem to him in the slightest)ā¦
Ronaldās behavior is a bit off.Ā
On one hand, as someone whoās not human anymore and who, thus, hasĀ ālost his humanityā and is now a superhuman creature, certainly factors that could be typically considered to be of human concern do not pertain to him and as a natural consequence of this fact itās only obvious that aĀ āhuman tragedyā doesnāt come across asĀ ātragedyā at all from his non-human point of view.
On the other hand, Iād like to point out how his and Williamās attitudes were different in regards to lobotomized childrenās souls having to be reaped back in the Circus Arc and I think the anime has somehow emphasized it (well, the dubbing helped, no doubt).
William starts to repeat how shinigami only have to reap souls accordingly, without leaving emotions getting in the way (letās not forget that he cried the first time he did, heh), he keeps his usual cold, mechanical and professional mask but still, his OVA makes it very clear that itās fake so Iām fairly certain that even in that moment he was probably having an internal conflict with himself to fight against his intimate and deeper feelings.
Ronald instead seemed to be pretty chill by contrast.Ā He comes late (even if he says he hurried), he teases William as soon as he arrives, he muses on finishing the work fast to go to party and in general he acts rather laid-back and easy-going.
(I donāt exclude the possibility that perhaps Ronald was actually coping as much as William was, just in a different way, but stillā¦ Also,Ā to know that Grell was assigned to the Phantomhive Manor and as someone who seems to check his Death List pretty often, I doubt Ronald wasnāt aware of the situation at hand. Also, the anime reinforced this point, having him witness the kidnapping of the little girl and the killing of the officers while smirkingā¦).
Making light of subject matter that is normally considered serious or painful to discuss such as death is the literal definition of black comedy also known asĀ black humor, darkhumor or gallows humor.
Studies indicate that appreciating black humor indicatesĀ higherĀ intelligence and emotional stability.
Higher Intelligence?
A team of researchers asked 156 people, who had an average age of 33 and included 76 women, to rate their comprehension and enjoyment of 12 darkly humorous cartoons.
Participants were also tested for verbal and non-verbal IQ and asked about their mood, aggression, and educational background.
The study found three groups of participants. The group with the highest sick humor appreciation and comprehension scored the highest in verbal and non-verbal IQ tests, were better educated, and scored lower for aggression and bad mood.
The findings suggested that the link between IQ and affinity for black humor is likely due to the fact thatĀ appreciating black humor is a ācomplex information-processing taskā in which negative moods and high aggression levels could cloud peopleās ability to get the joke.
Emotional Stability?
Other researchers have tried to give an explanation as to how laughing at tragedy would indicate emotional stability, formulating the ābenign-violation theoryā.
The theory is grounded in the idea that people are amused by moral violations ā threats to their normal worldviews, for instance, or disparaging statements ā but only so long as those violations are harmless. When the tone of the threat is playful, or the setting safe, a violation that might otherwise elicit sadness or fear instead leads to laughter.
What transforms these threatening violations into harmless jokes, according to the theory, is psychological distance. That distance comes in four varieties. It can be:Ā
Spatial (a tragedy on Mars isnāt likely to haunt many minds on Earth),Ā
Social (if your grandparent is a survivor of a certain tragedy, he/she might find jokes related to that specific event more disturbing than amusing),
Temporal (yesterdayās hardship is different from one that occurred decades ago),
Mental (hypothetical events arenāt as threatening as real ones).
I think this theory is rather interesting because it reinforces the point that thereās indeed a certain psychological distance that this character apparently puts between himself and everything human else.
Of course, thatās what heās supposed to do as anyone else like him but I find it particularly interesting in Ronaldās case because as the youngest shinigami he committed suicide at the youngest age and the most recently.
Before these experiments and theories were put in place, Freud had something to say about it as well.
The ego refuses to be distressed by the provocations of reality, to let itself be compelled to suffer. It insists that it cannot be affected by the traumas of the external world; it shows, in fact, that such traumas are no more than occasions for it to gain pleasure.
Meaning that black humor could also be viewed as a coping mechanism as well.
Black or gallows humor has long been recognized as having therapeutic value, particularly when used by individuals dealing with traumatic incidents. [ā¦] It is a coping mechanism which can contribute to the resilience, health, and well-being [ā¦].Ā Ā
They say thatĀ ātime heals woundsā but looking at all the shinigami,Ā I wouldnāt say so.
š„ There is beauty in destructionš„ 