#contract effect

❓ for a general Kuro question

In response to this?

Because neither of them grew at all since the day real Ciel was killed. Undertaker saying that he made sure real Ciel grew at the same rate as our earl was a joke.

Reanimated corpses don’t grow. Might be different if real Ciel had been truly revived, but that’s not the case here.

And we’ve been constantly reminded throughout the earlier chapters that our earl wasn’t getting any taller. Not at all. And it is really annoying to him. Particularly since people keep asking him if he’s grown.

Claus asks about it, as part of his greeting, in ch1.

Sebastian mentions it in ch2 (because they replaced the cane that Finny broke, and Sebastian says it’s a shame he didn’t even need a longer cane).

Sebastian has made other comments about it, most notably when he says that humans change so fast, so he finds it odd that his young master hasn’t changed at all since they met... and our earl kicks him, saying he doesn’t want to hear it from a demon who hasn’t changed in centuries.

Undertaker asks about his height during one of his discussions with our earl, and it’s once again confirmed that he hasn’t grown at all.

Lizzie takes note of it in ch66, after the egg hunt, when she thinks about how much taller she is than him now, how she wears flat shoes to not add to the height difference, and ponders what happened to him between the attack and his return to the manor.

Nina takes his measurements and exclaims her excitement about the fact his measurements haven’t changed. Not a single measurement. Not one iota.

So, yeah. Undertaker’s comment about making sure that real Ciel grew at the same rate was just a joke about how our earl hasn’t grown any taller in almost four years.

I guess we call this:

🤔 and 🤡 to discuss a crack theory

Well, it doesn’t initially sound realistic, of course... but it doesn’t need to be realistic, does it? Yana-san gets the final word about what demon contracts (and demons or angels) can and do and cannot do. So, the mere act of making a demon contract could possibly freeze the physical maturity/aging process of a contractor. Perhaps that’s an automatic thing that happens, in order to keep a contractor from dying from old age (or from a current ailment) before the demon can fulfill the terms of the contract?

Death from old age shouldn’t matter too much for a very young contractor, but contractors usually aren’t so young... and probably aren’t typically too affluent, either. Hard living or poor health could easily shorten a person’s expected lifespan before the contract is even made. If Queen Victoria has a contract with John Brown, as I suspect, then this might also be keeping her alive (and perhaps even not aging) until her contract is fulfilled, since she’s already quite old.

Our earl is young, and he is a member of the peerage, but his health is so-so, at best (history of severe asthma), and the contract was made after about a month of malnourishment, being drugged, and general neglect by his keepers. Making a contract in these very specific circumstances is probably rare, but people making demon contracts would typically be at wit’s end, at least, if not also at death’s door. So, as unrealistic as it might sound, at first, it kind of makes sense.

Crack theory: demon/angel contracts place the contractor in a form of suspended animation for the duration of the contract.

Like I said in the previous post about this, such a suspension wouldn’t normally be noticeable, since your typical contractor would be an adult — who wouldn’t be expected to physically change much over a few years — and most contracts (according to Othello’s research) don’t take very long, as most contractors have simple wishes that demons can fulfill quickly. It’s just that everyone notices it about our earl, even when they don’t know he’s got a contract, simply because an almost 14 yo boy shouldn’t be the same height as he was when he was 10. A history of asthma, that became symptomatic when he was 5, doesn’t explain it at all. And, just to remind readers about the slight decrease in his waistline, that’s most-easily explained by him wearing a waist-training corset for a little while (even though that’s also a bit silly, since he did only wear it for a party, as far as the readers know for sure... but it’s the only explanation we can gather from the manga canon).

Granted, Sebastian and our earl do talk about the potential for illnesses and attacks from outside forces, while they discuss the contract terms. We do later see our earl suffer from asthma attacks, and we know he’s a constant target for his enemies. It could simply be that the formation of the contract suspends growth/aging and death from whatever ails you at the time. Meaning he can still suffer from new asthma attacks, if he’s not properly taking care of himself/taken care of by others. He can still suffer from being drugged... or from significant blood loss, etc. Our earl didn’t accept (at the time, mind you) the demon’s offer to place the contractor within the demon’s own body, which would have been the ultimate form of protection available. (I say “at the time”, since this could change, if one or the other later determines this to be necessary....)

What do you think about an idea that O!Ciel is not aging because R!Ciel wasn't growing and Sebastian acts as Medium between them? Let me explain:

We can suspect that R!Ciel body still has a connection with its soul - Sebs, acted as a medium between twins ( 'couse twin magic I suppose). What if this twin magic was active all the time Sebs is with O!ciel and he connects brothers. R!Ciel can't grow, so nighter grows body of O!Ciel.

Also Also, what do you think about an idea that a demon takes place of person sacrificed to him on summoning ritual, and takes its apprentice? That would mean Sebs is a grown-up version of twins. If they were ~140cm as 10-yers-olds they could have reached 186cm. Also, Sebs is a shapeshifter jet he seems to be unable to change his face, body. He changes hair length and regenerates.

He seems to be stuck with this form, 'cause if he was able to change it would have been useful a few times in a story already.

His resemblance to Vincent could have been the same face syndrome, but R!Ciel souls impact on Sebs behavior is unquestionable. What do you think?

🤔 to discuss a specific theory

Sorry, it’s taken me a while to get to this one. Sorry again that I don’t have much to say on these topics that I haven’t said before.

I very much doubt it’s real Ciel’s soul keeping our earl from growing, but I do think it’s possible that the contract itself has somehow affected/stunted our earl’s growth.

Well, string me up like one of those Nabobs and tape a 👅 note to me!

Mun: Please see the pinned post, which has a link to this post of accepted interaction prompts. I’ve definitely discussed this subject a lot lately, so please check my blog by clicking the tags below. I’m creating the #contract effect tag right now to cover this very topic and tagging those old posts as I find them. I’m also adding some tags here that I find in those older posts.

Check out the tags below. A link to this post is included in the Tagging Masterpost.