🐦‍🔥

Miss Hoffman 😊

I would put my hand in the fire that the mop is her Death Scythe. I mean, come on... she's dragging it around everywhere and holding it like it's an actual weapon. Even look at her fingers: they're positioned almost like she's ready to press a button at any moment. Just like William's Death Scythe, I could totally see that mop extending and revealing a hidden blade from the end.

And we've literally seen this before. During the Circus arc, William spent the entire time undercover as a circus performer while casually dragging his Death Scythe around. Nobody questioned it. So it wouldn't be any different than her just carrying her "mop" around? That would be the perfect disguise.

And this is William's scythe when it's not fully extended (appears like any regular degular item):

Additionally, she didn't even bat an eye at that massive bloodbath, almost like she'd seen it a hundred times before... as if it were routine.

Again, she keeps holding that mop as if it were a weapon.

Fun little Reaper side note for Rodney: we already see him bandaging Modri up in this scene, but there's a very deliberate close-up of the bandage and the scissors. It almost feels like foreshadowing of a Reaper quite literally "cutting" a Cinematic Record.

Also, you're not convincing me that isn't William talking about literally smelling Sebastian. He loves demons so much~ There's clearly a known Reaper on site... if not multiple.

Hun... becoming a Reaper doesn't mean his dingaling fell off.

Food service trolleys back then were pretty similar to modern ones (they haven't changed THAT much, a trolley is a trolley). Sure, he could've concealed some knives beneath a cloth or tray, but a larger weapon would've been hard to hide without someone noticing.

Now this scene:

I can definitely believe the victim put up a fight, there's literally a handprint on the window. My guess is he got hit from behind. And judging by the blood spatter on the wall, that cut is way too clean to have been made with some tiny knife that would've been concealed in or on the trolley.

Given the sheer brutality of this scene, I again just don't buy a standard little knife. Yeah, severing a major artery can absolutely send blood spraying everywhere, but this is way beyond that. The victim was obviously dismembered too, and making this kind of mess with a tiny blade would've taken an absurd amount of hacking. The clean cuts make me think something much larger was used.

No. Absolutely not. Don't even jinx it by putting that thought out into the universe. Butler in French is majordome. Do you hear how cursed it'd sound if he suddenly went, "I'm one hell of a majordome?" Nuh-uh.

It'd be like hearing Undertaker referred to as croque-mort. I can't take that seriously.

Finally got this out of my drafts. 🥹

With all the Roman references introduced in the latest chapter, I'm not sure why I hadn't thought of it before, but it got me looking into the origin and meaning of the name Claudia.

If you ask me, it's not too far off from the parallels we already have in the Kuro plot. Claudia was an aristocrat, and the Phantomhives are deeply embedded in the political sphere, serving the Queen as her Watchdogs. Moreover, they were part of the elite. The Queen's Watchdogs weren't just ordinary nobodies; they held a title bestowed by the Queen herself, entrusting them with the responsibility of overseeing London's underworld.

I don't really think that's the case, but I'll laugh if Yana introduced all these Roman references just before finally giving us Claudia's past.

Now onto Queen Victoria: historically, she was given a fan depicting "Claudia Proving Her Innocence" (Claudia Quinta.)

● The Vestal Virgins' primary duty was to tend a sacred, eternal fire that represented the survival and continuation of Rome itself. If the fire went out, it meant "doom"/ the collapse for the empire.

​In BB, the Phantomhive bloodline is treated exactly like this sacred fire.

​UT is completely obsessed with keeping the Phantomhive line burning. When the main house burned down and Vincent died, the "fire" almost went out. - gramps working OT. 🤓

● The ship Claudia Quinta pulls carries the sacred image of Cybele, the "Great Mother" goddess. Cybele is a primeval goddess of fertility, nature, and motherhood.

​This directly mirrors Claudia Phantomhive's role in the manga. Claudia is the literal "Great Mother" of the modern Phantomhive line.

●Claudia Quinta pulls the entire weight of a massive, grounded ship using just her girdle (a belt or cord usually worn around the waist).

Now look at ​Undertaker's design: he wears the chain of mourning lockets looped directly around his hip and waist, exactly where a girdle sits.

But there’s a symbolic twist to this: Claudia Quinta is holding the girdle (something historically worn around the waist), and it’s the ship itself that is tied to it. (UT)

​In Black Butler, Claudia Phantomhive is long gone, but Undertaker is now the one physically holding/wearing that exact chain of lockets. It isn't around her waist; it's in his hands and/or around his hips. If Yana Toboso used this visual, it implies that Claudia effectively "handed the cord" to Undertaker.

There is a massive moment in the Campania arc (yeah, funny right, ships involved and mentioned in both situations 🥴) where this exact "holding it in the hands" dynamic happens in the manga:

​During his fight with Sebastian, Undertaker accidentally drops the chain of lockets, and Ciel catches it. Undertaker doesn't violently rip it back; instead, he stares at Ciel holding it and says to take good care of it as it is his treasure.

​By holding that chain in his hands, Ciel is visually echoing the myth on Queen Victoria's fan. He has just been handed the "girdle" (the hidden truth of his grandmother's forbidden life) and by holding it, Ciel is now the one who has to pull the weight of the massive, grounded Phantomhive legacy forward.

Additionally, even though she is gone, the memory of Claudia Phantomhive still holds complete power over UT. By carrying her name and her hair around his waist, Undertaker is the one being pulled by her memory.

Ciel → the current Watchdog → carrying the Phantomhive legacy forward.

Undertaker → a Grim Reaper → carrying memories forward/Cinematic Record.

It’s a beautiful thought when you think about it: a grandson physically holding his grandfather’s most cherished belongings... particularly a single piece of jewelry, a single locket, carrying the memory of the grandmother he never got to know.

I also like to think of the fan as something that belonged in Queen Victoria’s own hands, just as the girdle is held by Claudia Quinta. There’s a striking significance in these objects being carried by figures who embody power... the Queen holding authority over the Watchdogs, and the Watchdogs carrying the weight of that history. It’s fascinating how something as simple as an accessory can become a symbol of power, lineage, and the unseen connections between those who came before and those who continue to carry their legacy forward.

All in all, If Claudia’s name is the anchor of that chain, the lockets are a literal puzzle waiting to be unlocked; a hidden testimony that, once fully exposed to the public light (just like the Roman myth), will likely blow the entire Phantomhive family history wide open.

Imagine living through all of this:

Commits suicide. Doesn't get peace. Gets recruited as a Grim Reaper. Falls in love. Has a family. Loses the love of his life. His son is murdered. One grandson is murdered. His daughter wants nothing to do with him. He claws one grandson back from death, while the other looks at him like he's the villain.