Ask cringe but free Ciel

I'm in my 20s. Any pronouns are fine. Learning DE/日本語.

[delicate-transformation]

January 7, 2018 thread: Grelle and Madam Red’s relationship

You may recognize the last tweet here because it has been translated into English on its own before. It is actually part of a series of tweets:

Back when the Red Butler arc was being serialized, the aim was to compile everything up to the reveal of Grelle’s real identity into two volumes, so the story was quite rushed. However, because the two of them were depicted in the anime and onstage so many times, and thanks to [the image of] Grelle of all people as a makeup-free, bespectacled butler who was emotionally supporting Madam—i.e., their relationship—capturing everyone’s imagination, it may seem like [Grelle and Madam] were good friends. 【Toboso】

So that’s why Grelle, who throws a fit whenever her fake eyelashes fall off because she loves to be flashy and fashionable, was accompanying [Madam] to a social season party with no makeup and her hair tied back, right? (Of course, she probably did it for her own sake too, but still…). I feel like all my readers do various kinds of reverse-engineering from the later Grelle and have been developing the red master-servant [relationship] for me. 🌹👓 【Toboso】

Some nostalgic sketches of Madam and Grelle around the time of the Lycoris 🌹 premiere. A red master and servant who are like sisters and partners in crime. The second one is a rare (?) picture of an off-duty Grelle who is wearing round spectacles even though her hair isn’t black. 😊 【Toboso】

[Note: The term Toboso uses for “red master and servant” is aka shujuu (赤主従), which is a common nickname for the pair in the Japanese fandom. However, people who ship them usually call them GreMada (グレマダ) or MadaGre (マダグレ) instead.]

[delicate-transformation]

I should add a slight clarification: the term akuyuu (悪友), which I translated offhand as “partners in crime,” is for a friend who is a bad influence on you. The individual kanji mean “bad” and “friend.” You could also say they are friends who “make each other worse.” 😂

[earlgreyandco]

did you know there's another kuro english dub that aired on animax asia? im losing my mind from this information

WHAT DO YOU MEAN ANOTHER ENGLISH DUB??????????????????

[anewp0tat0]

GUUUUUUYS

warning lower your volume or brace yourselves the beginning scared me

[cherumie]

prayer circle for new grelle art when the 200th chapter drops

[shinigami-mistress]

Is it any secret that I love to draw Grell?

[delicate-transformation]

I don’t understand how you can tell people to “curate your experience” in fandom to avoid triggers but then get mad at DNIs, one of the most basic ways of setting boundaries online.

[druid-for-hire]

[image id: a four-page comic. it is titled “do not stand at my grave and weep” after the poem by mary elizabeth frye. the first page shows paleontologists digging up fossils at a dig. it reads, “do not stand at my grave and weep. i am not there. i do not sleep.” page two features several prehistoric creatures living in the wild. not featured but notable, each have modern descendants: horses, cetaceans, horsetail plants, and crocodilians. it reads, “i am a thousand winds that blow. i am the diamond glints on snow. i am the sunlight on ripened grain. i am the gentle autumn rain.” the third page shows archaeopteryx in the treetops and the skies, then a modern museum-goer reading the placard on a fossil display. it reads, “when you awaken in the morning’s hush, i am the swift uplifting rush, of quiet birds in circled flight. i am the soft stars that shine at night. do not stand at my grave and cry.” the fourth page shows a chicken in a field. it reads, “i am not there. i did not die” / end id]

a comic i made in about 15 hours for my school’s comic anthology. the theme was “evolution”

[sut4tcliff]

🤨🤨🤨🤨

[delicate-transformation]

🤔🤔🤔🤔

[bobbysox]

[delicate-transformation]

January 7, 2018 thread: Grelle and Madam Red’s relationship

You may recognize the last tweet here because it has been translated into English on its own before. It is actually part of a series of tweets:

Back when the Red Butler arc was being serialized, the aim was to compile everything up to the reveal of Grelle’s real identity into two volumes, so the story was quite rushed. However, because the two of them were depicted in the anime and onstage so many times, and thanks to [the image of] Grelle of all people as a makeup-free, bespectacled butler who was emotionally supporting Madam—i.e., their relationship—capturing everyone’s imagination, it may seem like [Grelle and Madam] were good friends. 【Toboso】

So that’s why Grelle, who throws a fit whenever her fake eyelashes fall off because she loves to be flashy and fashionable, was accompanying [Madam] to a social season party with no makeup and her hair tied back, right? (Of course, she probably did it for her own sake too, but still…). I feel like all my readers do various kinds of reverse-engineering from the later Grelle and have been developing the red master-servant [relationship] for me. 🌹👓 【Toboso】

Some nostalgic sketches of Madam and Grelle around the time of the Lycoris 🌹 premiere. A red master and servant who are like sisters and partners in crime. The second one is a rare (?) picture of an off-duty Grelle who is wearing round spectacles even though her hair isn’t black. 😊 【Toboso】

[Note: The term Toboso uses for “red master and servant” is aka shujuu (赤主従), which is a common nickname for the pair in the Japanese fandom. However, people who ship them usually call them GreMada (グレマダ) or MadaGre (マダグレ) instead.]

[xlerotl]

had a dream about grell w shorter hair! sigh.. i love

[delicate-transformation]

Hello, back again. I didn’t have a lot of energy and my iPad (where I access Tumblr) was dead. I am still working on translating Twilight Bride, which should be done in about three weeks.

[shittymoviedetails]

I can finally watch this old boring black and white movie without getting too bored

[delicate-transformation]

Maybe I will translate the other Grelle doujinshi from Rainbow Butler II…

[delicate-transformation]

🦀🦀I hope they are fun🦀🦀

I didn’t even realize it sent an ask when you gave me Tumblr crabs during Halloween??

[blackshinigami]

Bc Grell is the best actress ✨💅

[emeeedee]

MADAM RED. She was an incredible character! Thank you Yana for this masterpiece!!! (ﾟ▽＾*)☆

[delicate-transformation]

Red Virgin

Hi everyone! I’ve been working on an English translation for a little gothic doujinshi from volume two of the Rainbow Butler anthology called Red Virgin (赤聖母 or Aka Seibo, literally “Red Holy Mother” in Japanese), which has never been published in English. It depicts a darker side of the relationship between Grelle and Madam Red than Mimori’s Red Theater doujinshi from volume one, which some of you might recognize. It’s one of the longest chapters in the anthology, at 14 pages, and is written by Chiaki Nagaoka (長岡千秋), who later became one of Yana Toboso’s assistants on Black Butler. I included some notes on the translation below the cut.

Translation Notes

“I’m so disappointed in you!!!”

In Japanese, Grelle says gakkari yo (ガッカリよ). This is identical to the line she uses when she kills Madam Red in chapter 10 of the manga, translated there as “I’m so disappointed in you.”

“A woman who lived a sinful life”

Grelle is referencing Luke 7:36-50, a passage in the Bible describing a “sinful woman” who begged Jesus for forgiveness. This woman is often thought to be Mary Magdalene, which is the origin of the legend that she was a sex worker.

“Prostitute” and “whore”

Madam Red and Grelle refer to their victims as shoufu (娼婦), translated here as “prostitutes” or “whores.” While these are outdated terms, they capture the meaning of shoufu. More modern Japanese terms for sex workers include the English-derived “sex worker” (セックスワーカー) and its direct Japanese translation, sei roudousha (性労働者).

“I gave up on that kind of thing”

The kanji for the word Madam Red uses is 希望, which is normally pronounced kibou and means “hope,” but the pronunciation specified in the furigana is mono (モノ), which means “thing.” This gives her sentence a double meaning, since she is saying “I gave up on that kind of thing” out loud, but she really means “I gave up on that kind of hope.”