The Demonization of Traumatized Children In Media: Alois Trancy.
In this post I refer to Alois with they/them pronouns because I refuse to believe they’re male /lh
TW for mentions of Abuse (more specifically Sexually Abuse) do not read if this content is triggering for you.
If you have been in the Black Butler fandom for more than a week, you will have probably come across slander of the 14 year old antagonist/protagonist of season two of black butler, Alois Trancy. As someone who has only recently watched Black Butler (In November of 2021, to be precise) it shocked me to see the strong detest towards them. I was always curious : why do people hate alois so strongly?
The conclusion(s) I have come to is that A) Alois is the rival to our favorite protagonist of the series, Ciel Phantomhive and B) Alois outwardly displays how their trauma has affected them.
Personally, I believe that point A is very straight forward; people do not like a character who goes against the main protagonist. We naturally get attached to the main character as we follow them along their journey, seeing their brightest moments and their darkest. We, therefore, also naturally have a strong hatred for anyone who attempts to become a ‘threat’ to the protagonist, so-to-speak. However, the main point I would like to explore today is point B.
Through the show, Alois is shown displaying ‘weakness’. By this, I simply mean them showing signs of being affected by their trauma. One example of this is when Sebastian makes the lights go out in one of the earlier episodes of black butler, Alois cries out for Claude in fear, highlighting their fear of the dark. This is most likely related to their trauma in some way.
A further reason/example is Alois’ clear signs of mental illness. It is theorized by the fandom that Alois might have BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder). Symptoms of BPD include : fear of abandonment, intense/severe mood swings (rage, terror, despair, etc.), having a favorite person who cannot do anything wrong in their (the person with BPD) eyes [ Claude ], disturbed/distorted patterns of thinking, impulsive behavior, emotional instability, intense/unstable relationships and more that i’m probably missing. As many of you may know, BPD is caused by abuse and trauma. People who have been physically, emotionally or sexually abused tend to have a higher risk of having BPD. Being neglected is also a risk.
In Alois’ real backstory it is revealed that they were living in a village with their brother where they were consistently neglected/hated by the other villages. Luka made a contract with a demon, Hannah Annafellows/Anafeloz, in exchange for his soul. The contract was that Hannah was to kill every villager in the village apart from Alois (who at the time was called Jim). After all the villages died, Hannah consumed Luka’s soul. Alois found Luka’s corpse and (obviously because they were siblings and they cared for one another) was distraught. Then, soon after, some people come that are collecting boys for the current Earl Trancy and they collect Alois. The Earl Trancy is a pedophile. Alois ends up ‘rising to the top’ so-to-speak, and is a victim of sexual abuse and rape by the Earl Trancy.
On a further point, another thing I see many people in the Black Butler fandom doing is Slut Shaming Alois, referring to them as things like “slut”, “whore”, etc. This is disgusting behavior, not only is Alois a victim of rape, Alois is also a child. One of the main reasons why people Slut Shame Alois is because of the fact that it is implied that they are hypersexual. They act kind of sexually throughout the show, and show a lack of boundaries. Like when they unbuttoned their shirt when Claude was changing them, when they seductively interacted with Sebastian (when he was disguised during the storm) on their first meeting and when they licked Ciel’s ear.
It’s honestly so appalling to me with the way Alois is treated within the fandom literally based on how they acted in the show. It’s completely valid if you just dislike Alois, but i’ve noticed when people say they dislike Alois, they literally just bring up their BPD traits or any of their sexual (?) behavior. Many people who are victims of SA don’t see a problem with lack of boundaries and sexualizing themselves because of how normalized it is for them. Alois is probably used to them behaving like that being viewed as ‘normal’ and as a way to get attention and affection. I’m not saying you have to love Alois, but stop demonizing them for their behavior when a majority of their actions/behavior/thought process is literally a result of trauma. Alois is a traumatized child who has no support system, please stop treating them like they’re some monster.
Moreover, Claude’s neglect and manipulation of Alois makes their condition even worse. All Alois wanted was Claude’s affection and love and even though Alois did everything they could to receive it, Claude still neglected Alois and treated them as nothing more than a pawn. People dislike Alois because they openly show their need for love and attention and acknowledge, something that many children need and want, but because their ‘weaknesses’ are openly put on display instead of being hid deep down inside of them, people despise it. Unlike Ciel who (even though traumatized himself) does not express need for love and affection, Alois craves it. Both of their reactions are COMPLETELY normal and justified. Everyone’s brains work different as we are not the same people, therefore, everyone’s brains will respond differently to different scenarios.
Alois is a literal prime example of many real traumatized children. People reject traumatized children because they don’t like having to admit that children ARE traumatized. People are barely now coming to terms with that fact, and even then, if traumatized children (traumatized people in general tbh) don’t act or think or behave EXACTLY like how they deem a ‘normal’ trauma reaction to be, they ridicule and hate them.
Thanks for listening to my rant, I’d like to hear other’s opinions on this. If you have any extra points you’d like to add or just need me to explain any point i made further, let me know :DD
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