#b.au

I'm talking about it I don't care I'm a blabber

if Edward dies

The strong parallelism between o!Ciel and Lizzy, as she's understands O!Ciel's position what it's like to lose a brother. Alexis and Frances look upon the lost of the next head of family, the symbol of a bright future, laying at their feet. The implicit understanding from the entire family that, oh, once again the same tragedy took place and we were unable to do anything about it. In fact, were we not the ones who caused it through our complacency...?

if Alexis dies

Immediate responsibility is thrust upon Edward as the inheritor to his father's legacy and feels how every action of his, past and future are weighed in blood. And Frances who lost so much already, could at least believe in her own strength, because after all how did she survive? How did she make it out of there, how did she escape from the tragic fate that fell on her brother? She walked towards the lion in the bright sun. But she was unable to protect her most beloved. What strength? Lizzy looks upon her teacher, and only sees failure. If she can't believe in her mother, what's there to believe in...

if Frances dies

And yet another one of Ciel's family members die! Another aunt he cherished dies! How many adults he could trust, before they betray him with death, death, more death! Lizzy stares, asking if she fulfilled her teachings in the end? But look at her now! A broken father and child is all she left. A mangled body, and a grief more twisted than that. Is that how she, Lizzy, would have ended up? The beacon is abandoned and everyone is left adrift.

if Lizzy dies

personally? I think she do worse with Vincent. cause remember, it's Rachel that she based her life on, both out of love and envy. It was Rachel was helping Red recover from her accident. as much as Red loves Vincent, it's questionable how strong that foundation of love is. does she know him personally at all? does he have any interest in her beyond as a sister-in-law? if so, at the start things are already shaky.

I think Rachel's death would depress her, but i can see her being elated at first. she has an excuse to stay by Vincent's side and nurture him. they both lost their spouses and children recently and here's a chance to start anew! but after a while she's starts falling apart.

I can't see Vincent moving on (especially with Rachels sister). Even worse he would compare her to Red, reminisce about his family constantly, etc. She couldn't get Rachel out of her mind. Rachel's presence at the house would haunt her, and the guilt, the unresolved resentment, would gnaw at her stomach every night.

And she still can't give birth! What chance to start anew! she'll never have a child with him, and he'll never stop obsessing over his dead ones anyway. and eventually envy would still spike after dealing with the prostitutes everyday, so I just don't see it turning out well.

I actually think she would do so much better with Rachel. yes the envy, yes the grief. I could see Red becoming openly bitter towards her. but this time, her sister didn't triumph. her sister that did everything right and was perfect, lost her husband and kid. she's a burned, widowed, pathetic woman! just like her. Red would forgive this. She would nurture her sister back to health. She'll never be as beautiful again, with burn scars across her face and body, but Red would forgive this too. No man will hold her sister again, and she'll love her for this. She'll love her more because she's as miserable, no even more miserable than her.

And they would develop this happy-miserable, toxic relationship. Always relying on each other, always resenting each other, sort of co-dependent relationship that could last for years on end. Ironically, I can see this stabilizing Madame Red in some twisted way, as she finds catharsis through complete control over her sister.

In a sense, it's very reminiscent to r!ciel's desire of control over o!ciel after everything they went through. like how r!ciel will "forgive" o!ciel for his lies, while clearly still resenting him for what he's done. And it's because he's torn between this confusing, hatred at his brother while still having this intense attachment and love for him, that this desire of control comes for over the whole situation. That's why he can forgive his brother despite his thinly veiled hatred.

bardroy

a rather crass, pyromaniac, middle-aged lady that doesn't know how to cook, makes old man jokes, and hides the sharp intellect of a military strategist, would be an amazing character to interact with ciel and sebastian in day-to-day life.

This would also fix bardroy's rather gross sexist comments he was making at beast "a gal he would've like to have met at a bar", when she's holding the dying figure of her family?? perhaps fem!bardroy would have been a bit more like jane, "a job's a job" attitude about it.

it would also make bardroy more sympathetic in my mind if she was a lady from America who lost her husband and child and decided to join the war at the front lines (perhaps as a nurse, taking every chance to fight) compared to a man who had better opportunities in life. HOWEVER she is still complicit in the genocide of Native Americans and it would take a lot more fixing up of bard's backstory to find him sympathetic again.

lau

lau's whole thing is acting unsuspected and clueless, way more than he knows right? then i think the average british man would be even more unsuspecting making business with a retired female courtesan running an opium den/brothel (which i assume so, i'm not sure if we ever got explicit confirmation lau's girls offer that kind of service)

if fem!lau has personal experience with brothels, even being raised in one, then we could explore an aspect deeply woven in the story that would connect her and ciel, human trafficking. How ciel justifies his actions as watchdog actively fighting against trafficking rings and the trauma he endured being sold in the black market.

She'll have intimate knowledge how human trafficking in england works and how it preys on the vulnerable, especially on minorities and children. a difficult ally to trust, because she could know a lot more about the earl and possibly what happened to him, all the horrible ways one can die in such rings or be abused to the point of envying the dead (perhaps all the girls working at the den are victims she has saved... or we could question if they were really saved without any other options... like a certain troupe i know...)

while male lau just comes off as a pimp. there's not much depth to be explored with his relationship with women even though so much is to be suggested, such as with ran mao and their pseudo brother-sister relationship. it's hard to take their relationship or even ran mao seriously with the constant fan service (the anime was egregious with this aspect). and it comes off so much worse with the sibling aspect.

wolfram

still appalled we had to watch all those women raise sieglinde and get mutilated for her fantasy roleplay, yet die in such horrific ways while wolfram gets completely off the hook? as well as not questioning if they were coerced by the military to go along the plan, just like wolfram was? why is he treated like the one who only cares?? how much agency did these women even have??