#kuroshitsuji meta

[scliffe]

I love that Ciel gets three wishes from Sebastian and he used them all to make Sebastian into someone he can trust: never lie to him, always follow his orders, protect him and never betray him. He’s a traumatized child with self esteem issues and trust issues, so perhaps it’s only to be expected—but I think that if it had been anyone else; for example if r!Ciel was the one who survived, he might not have necessarily asked for something like these. From the way Sebastian had laughed like it was something absurd, it’s highly likely that nobody else has ever asked for something like that either from him.

It must have been very strange, having such a young and innocent contractor—one who could even think of trusting a demon. The things that Ciel had gone through had ensured that he will never be able to trust another human being again—so he turned his trust on something non-human. But he’s not naive either—he had quickly figured out Sebastian’s nature—the demon is not trying to make a fair deal with him. He understood his situation—his family are dead, his brother is gone forever, nobody else could protect him; the only choice is between taking Sebastian’s hand or death.

Still, in the midst of all that, Ciel gained someone—the only one—he can trust, and Sebastian found someone—also the only one in the world—who is willing to trust him. Their relationship is strangely reciprocal. Instead of simply asking for Sebastian to solve his problems or provide instant gratifications, Ciel’s wishes made it so that the two of them must work together to achieve their goal. They are master and servant, but they are also partners in crime, co-conspirators, and devoted companions until the very end of the journey.

Someone who would never lie to you, would always listen to you, protect you, and never betray you; in any other context, it sounds so sweet. If such a someone had been human, maybe a lot of people would also willingly die or sacrifice their soul for them—in reciprocation of such love and devotion.

[shetan89]

I feel like no one has ever mentioned the fact that Ciel specifically chose a cat for the face of Funtom's confectionery branch. When he is allergic to cats. He vastly prefers dogs, and yet, dogs feature in none of his company's logos.

You know who does like cats?

[kuroposting]

White Amaryllis

This seemed to be Sebastian’s favored flower before pomegranates came into the picture. They look like lilies except they are HUGE— and Yana seems to usually distinguish between them by giving amaryllises wrinkly petals and a closed bulb among them.

The Christmas flowers are what you see most often irl, bright red. Earlier I said that red roses were associated with Sebastian, and I was going to give some examples, when I noticed that the bed of lilies he’s laid out on might actually be amaryllises:

In silhouette, it’s difficult to tell.

[ceoandslutler]

“The butler who seemed so obedient and competent… Who’d have thought I’d be wiping your ass after you played with fire?” - Chapter 215, alt translation

Isn’t that an crazy way of saying it? “Backing you up after you played with something dangerous”... He sounds way more intense in the original Japanese 🫣

I have always been of the belief that Ciel does WAY too much for Sebastian especially if you consider their circumstances (predator/prey & master/servant) and more importantly, he is Not normal about him at all. Honestly, reading the manga will have you going, “Which noble treats their servant like this???”

That’s why instead of doing my serious analyses, going through the manga chapter-by-chapter on my sideblog or even finishing the editing process of my fic, I came back to drop this long post of every single time Ciel said or did something that he did not have to do for or in relation to Sebastian. There’s a lot so bear with me. Welcome to...

Ciel Doing The Most (CDTM)

Every Instance in Kuroshitsuji of Ciel Doing or Saying Things He Isn’t Obliged To (For a Demon Butler)

Please excuse the messy panel compilations, I wanted all the bits I mention to be visible. Let me know if you can't see and I'll make sure to send you a clearer version of a panel.

BEFORE THE TURNING POINT

A look at already-generous Ciel's attitude from the beginning of the manga to the end of the Phantomhive Manor Murders arc.

At the end of the Black Butler arc (right before the Red Butler arc), we find out Sebastian has pocket money which could only possibly come from Ciel's pocket. This implies he is either paying wages or giving him a little bit of personal money, just so he isn't penniless.

During the Red Butler arc, Ciel gets annoyed at Madame Red groping Sebastian. When they go to investigate the Viscount, Ciel is horrified at the idea of dancing with Sebastian asking how he could dance publicly 'with the likes of him' (essentially pointing out his status, in the original Japanese he asks 'with a butler?') but when Sebastian says a tutor is a part of the upper classes, he agrees to dance with him. However, we know that when Sebastian was teaching him how to dance, he had no problem with it. He seems to focus on the public part more than the dancing part, this attitude is later amended.

Moving on, in the Indian Butler arc, he gets angry that Sebastian cares more about the schedule than his wellbeing after Sebastian steps up to his defence during the fencing battle between Soma and Agni.

At the end of the Circus arc, despite being angry at Sebastian (after the snake incident), he has him sit in first class with him, perhaps due to the affect that arc had on him (Joker and Doll mentioning his noble status, we also know he felt the most guilt to them other than his family members courtesy of his mental breakdown in the Green Witch Arc). This is his first attempt at fixing his haughty noble image in regards to Sebastian. From this moment on, Sebastian is always in First Class with him whenever they ride a train.

In the Phantomhive Murders arc, he tells them to put Sebastian’s cats back into his closet and to not let them out of his bedroom, even though he could have just kicked them out of the house, there was a window there. Clearly he was angry at Sebastian for keeping them behind his back but he did not mention it at all, assuming he keeps them in his room behind his back.

Let's keep in mind that in between all these acts, Ciel was also acting like this (hiring a dude to hit Sebastian in the first chapter, trying to sabotage him during the competition for the royal warrant, hitting him when he was unable to move during the murder arc):

TURNING POINT

The Luxury Liner arc where Ciel's attitude to Sebastian softens after they face an enemy that can mortally wound him.

In the Luxury Liner arc, Ciel panics at Sebastian getting hurt, defends Sebastian verbally against Ronald Knox and doesn't fall asleep even though he is freezing/suffering moderate hypothermia (falling asleep) because he sees a bizarre doll bite Sebastian, this is also where he reaches his hand out to help Sebastian onto the boat, though this is rejected. Him asking if Sebastian can do it is also corrected by Sebastian who tells him to order him as a servant.

Ciel's attitude changes drastically here, not only worrying for Sebastian but praising him and trying to make him happy. He tells him he did well that day and gives him a day of rest in which he brings him dinner and sits with him while he eats (he brings the food himself since the other servants tell him it would make Sebastian happy if he takes it to him himself). He even 'orders' Sebastian to lie down and rest since he was refusing to). Also he teases by saying all that suffering on the Campania was worth it since he got to see Sebastian in a 'rare', 'ridiculous' state.

TWISTED TRUST & CONTROLLED CONCERN

This era of their relationship spans from the end of the Luxury Liner arc to the end of the Blue Cult arc.

In the Easter chapter, he tells Sebastian that his status does not matter in a game and he should freely attack the Double Charles if he needs to. A big change from his shame of dancing with him in public while in a disguise, he yells this out in front of the Queen's butlers as himself, Earl Phantomhive, while knowing they are high nobles who might see this as a transgression.

At the end of the Public School arc, he listens to Sebastian telling him to take the servants to London for shopping, also he trusts him to go to Somerset House when Sebastian asks to make another stop and only asks what Sebastian did there after he comes back into the carriage.

In the Green Witch arc, they once again sit in first class together and he expresses curiosity in Sebastian’s past for the first time. He apologises to all of the servants including Sebastian who is very surprised about it, considering he had just aggressively attempted to eat him (even though it was all to 'shock' him out of the state he was in).

This is also when we find out that Ciel, while bestowing his affection, has absolutely no trust in Sebastian as a person, only as a tool. Yet he still treats him like a person he cares for.

He thinks Sebastian will enjoy being a wild beast (we know he doesn't), he antagonises him but still worries when Sebastian is dragged away in at the Sphere Music Hall, even trying to leave with him. Blavat, in order to convince Ciel to stay, tells him not to worry and that they just left him outside and Ciel still asks him to make it quick. In the Halloween chapter, he tells Sebastian to be careful when it comes to humans (I don't want to get too into this but the dialogue here is wild). Also Sebastian rightfully calls him out for enjoying watching him being bossed around by Nina and trying on outfits (he was sat at the changing room door laughing, to be fair) and Ciel doesn't deny it, calling him a 'dress up doll' with that expression.

WHERE WE'RE AT NOW

The overly lenient and strangely affectionate way Ciel treats Sebastian in the narrative currently.

In the Blue Revenge arc so far, he has bought tea for Sebastian while they were together in the first class dining cart of the train (which Sebastian found strange but he provided an excuse for), he gets curious about Sebastian's relationship with Modri but after Sebastian says he doesn't know him and just wants to compensate him, Ciel even agreed to pay compensation to Modri on behalf of Sebastian (this is also where the 'wiping his ass' comment is from since it can also mean paying someone's debt for them). He also bought dinner for Sebastian (which Sebastian was not expecting but was strangely happy about) then while they were eating (why did the maitre d seat Sebastian and not the little boy...), Ciel tells him to act natural when Sebastian says people remember them from the news, he even asked if Sebastian liked the food and acknowledges his palate is different.

There is probably so much I missed or didn’t think worthy for inclusion but all in all, I think that was it. Hopefully it’s clear that he is, in fact, down bad. Like DOWN down bad. It is serious, it is terminal and it is talked about way too little. Anyway, this post is my attempt to make up for my absence.

Feel free to share/add any thoughts.

[redyoshi241]

Why the Kelvin Manor Scene Feels so Creepy to Me

I have never in my life been normal about this scene and I have so much I could say about it, but one tiny detail struck me as I was rewatching BoC recently.

This is one of the creepiest Sebastian scenes in my opinion. Its disturbing how much he seems to enjoy watching Ciel in his panicked state. A lot of it is in his expression, but I've also noticed one seemingly random detail that sticks out to me and makes the whole scene feel 'off'. It's the way he removes Ciel's eyepatch:

Now, we know that the conspicuous placement of the contract seal on Ciel's eye increases its power. So I've always thought that when Ciel removes his eyepatch before calling out an order, it's not just for dramatic effect, it actually strengthens the order in some way. Ciel usually seems to do it in particularly difficult or urgent situations, such as when he gets Sebastian to exterminate the horde of bizarre dolls on the boat. Most importantly, Ciel is always the one to remove the eyepatch himself:

So when Sebastian takes off the eyepatch at the end of BoC, it feels like an invasion of Ciel's autonomy, especially since Ciel seems completely oblivious that it's happening:

And it feels really strange, because Sebastian is generally very respectful of Ciel's physical boundaries. If he wasn't, Ciel wouldn't let him dress and wash him, and he wouldn't let Sebastian carry him all the time. So for Sebastian to expose Ciel's eye like this in front of people is part of what makes this scene feel so disturbing to me.

My interpretation of why Sebastian does this is that Sebastian enjoys knowing that Ciel is completely dependent on him. I think that's why he's smirking when Ciel clings to him, and why he tells Ciel to call his name. The fact that Ciel gives the order to 'kill them all' as soon as the eyepatch is removed makes me think that Sebastian was trying to subconsciously encourage him to wield the power of the contract. It's a reminder that even when giving orders, Ciel is never really the one with power and control.

[seekers-who-are-lovers]

Sebastian Michaelis’s lies & affection

We always, always, have to remind ourselves that S lies…. BUT is forbidden to lie, not allowed to lie only to Ciel Phantomhive. He is beholden to Ciel and Ciel only.

The teenager trained that demon on the day they made a covenant in which Ciel played it like a movement in the chessboard as it was detrimental to his aim to live for his revenge. And in order to keep the demon in line, he conceived this idea.

Ergo, S can lie to anyone but Ciel P.

So if S lies his way to get what he wants to other people, including having casual sex with suspects, etc., and telling people the opposite of what he intends to do, in order for their mission to succeed, it is only natural that he still does lie.

From Yana T’s editor during one of his live reaction commentaries:

Episode 03:

Sebastian's line: "I've met demons and grim reapers, but never a werewolf." Sebastian has a contract with Ciel to "not lie." This scene reveals the truth openly, but it seems no one believed him. If he truly wants to hide something, he avoids it with indirect wording.

What is spectacular is the amount of affection he shows or the way he cares for his contractor in the course of them living together. Like S has suddenly become attuned to Ciel’s emotional needs without hesitation. A notable instance was after the Book of Circus arc where Ciel was not only exhausted physically but also mentally. He began to dissociate himself from everything even though Elizabeth was still there to perk him up. Nina Hopkins dropped by to sew him new clothes, for an Easter theme and a new dress for Elizabeth. The other wing of the manor where Ciel kept his clothes was completely destroyed due to the attack of the circus troupe and the servants had to protect the residence. Ciel was simply out of it. Perhaps shocked of what he discovered of the children/youths murdering/kidnapping children. Maybe all of it.

That’s only one example. There are dozens more as the events above happened on Chapter 37.

One has to go back to the Indian Butler arc. Particularly one has to thank partially or completely to Agni for influencing S’ growth. The demon, whose aspiration in this lifetime is to be the best good-looking butler in the whole universe, took Agni’s advice when it comes to putting the profession of being a butler in the highest order. Like it is the highest form of art. He took Agni’s tips to heart. Agni has become his role model. During one of the promotional sessions for the Valentine’s, where the cast of Japanese voice actors had to live-dub the scenes, there was that extra portion of the show where once again S asked Agni’s advice how to make one’s master the happiest and healthiest person in the whole world.

It has become S’ ethos to emulate Agni’s subservience without compromise. This makes S care for Ciel Phantomhive more. Perhaps it is arrogance, a part of his design and his contract, but one can see, without any prompting—even though the two are having a banter or playing their games—that he does indeed care for his master. That’s his desire talking.

But there’s another thing that I find interesting: that is, a prerequisite to his master’s satisfaction, he even finds the way to appreciate the Phantomhive servants’ unique abilities and dearly respects Tanaka-san.

For the demon: Credit where credit is due.

[nataliaphantomhivesblog]

BLACK BUTLER ENDING

Okay so honestly, since we are reaching the climax of the manga, i can't help but realize how after the climax, there's the falling action...and then finally, the ending. We are getting so close to it and honestly I still can't even begin to elaborate how anxious I am about how it will all wrap up.

There is still many characters and plotlines that are yet needed to wrap up, so I do think building to the climax AND falling action will take a few years (give or take...5-10 years? maybe more if the chapters continues on being cut down and overall slow).

But no matter, I will put my trust in Miss Yana (as i have for years), and she's rarely let me down, so I can only count on her and believe that she will continue to raise the stakes and expectations for Kuroshitsuji.

Now, as for the ending, there's many theories out there, and i'm not in the mood to fully fledge out my theories at the moment, but I do want to talk about what I would wish for the ending of Black Butler as someone who has stuck by this story for years.

For starters, i think the majority of the fandom can agree that the most predictable and plausible ending is o!Ciel fullfilling his revenge, and Sebastian to be able to consume his soul at last.

Honestly, I think if that’s how it ends, it might feel a bit disappointing to some readers—especially since it’s what everyone expects. But there’s also an inevitable tragedy in knowing from the beginning that o!Ciel was always doomed to face a bitter end.

If Yana goes to the safe route of Sebastian eating o!Ciel's soul, here's some elements that I think could add so much nuance to the narrative:

The revenge while being climatic for the readers, being unsatisfying for our earl.

A recurring theme in Black Butler is the inescapable downfall that comes from sacrificing others for your own ambitions.

The BOC arc completely solidifies this ongoing narrative and message:

Ciel isn't laughing mockingly, if anything, he's spiraling.

The circus trope was kidnapping children in order to protect their own, in the end however, it is revealed that Baron Kelvin had already killed these children.

The futility of all their efforts stands out, and you can see a clear parallel between them and their goal, as well as o!Ciel and his pursuit of revenge.

Each of them strayed down a dark path, driven by desperation to achieve something they once believed in—resorting to actions they likely never imagined themselves capable of. Just for it to all be for nothing.

o!Ciel must sense that this might be his own fate too—that when his revenge is fulfilled, it may leave him with nothing but emptiness.

And I don't even need to spell out how deeply the boc arc haunts our earl and the overall narrative: Snake becoming a Phantomhive servant, Joker and Doll resurfacing in The Green Witch arc to taunt o!Ciel’s psyche, Doll’s tragic return as a Bizarre Doll… the echoes are constant.

It's clear that the themes and consequences of BoC don't just linger—they bleed into nearly every arc that follows, casting long shadows over the entire story.

And i dare say that the message boc conveys was slightly shown even before said arc: (i.e: in the red butler arc, madam red killing prostitutes driven by grief and anger, forcing her to confront her own nephew and getting killed in the process by the one reaper who was fueling Red's blood lust.) So Yana has had this theme loom over the story for years, but in my pov it became fully prominent in the boc arc as stated before.

So i can only hope, that while the revenge that o!Ciel is able to obtain is satisfying for the narrative, I hope it leaves our earl the same way it left the circus trope and many others he has trampled: empty and with a desire to continue living.

It's lowkey crazy how much I want this to be portrayed for this particular ending considering o!ciel is lit my favorite character and I want him to be happy, but at the same time, I am a sucker for tragedy, and if this story will end with o!ciel's demise, I can only hope it follows one of my favorite theme's of the story.

2. Sebastian regretting taking o!Ciel's soul to parallel our earls lack of satisfaction with revenge.

Guys I swear I don't mean this in a uwu s*baciel way or in a "awe bassy is so soft !! I want him to cry after eating his soul in regret!!"

What I DO mean however, is Sebastian to be hit with the realization that his whole motivation of wanting to acquire and eat the most delicious soul meant nothing in comparison to the life he led as the butler, as Sebastian.

We know that this demon actually enjoys his life as a butler, i mean in the GWA he literally states how he prefers it over unleashing the beast:

He also takes into consideration advice from human!butler's and even goes an extra mile and compliment a human butler if they do their job in an admirable manner (albiet, he only does this with human butlers whom he deems respectable, like Agni and Tanaka):

Sebastian takes his role as a butler very seriously, sometimes im convinced he gets lost in it:

Sebastian in this pannel teases o!ciel about how he needs to eat well in order to grow up, the irony is that our little lord will never get the chance to, considering the butler himself will cut his time short.

That's why he stares at Sebastian like this, and what I find intresting is that the demon butler genuienly didn't catch or understand why o!ciel is looking at him this way. If he was really taunting him about never growing up, there would've clearly been a smirk on his face, but he looks actually confused.

(I got this interpretation and example from another post, i can't recall if it was twitter or tumblr, I really wish I could give credits to OP. If you find the original post, please link it down in the coments)

So i think it's safe to say that overtime, Sebastian really started to enjoy and have fun with his butler life, and he will loose that the moment he gains o!Ciel's soul.

I don't want him to miss o!Ciel persay, I want him to miss the life he led as the butler Sebastian Michaelis.

If Sebastian has shaped the boy into what he is now, then maybe the boy can, in some small way, reshape the demon too.

And not just the young master—I want the entirety of Sebastian’s butler life to leave its mark. The loyalty of the Phantomhive servants, Agni’s unwavering warmth, the chaos and quiet of every mission, every case, every twisted corner of human nature he’s come to know.

I want all of it to shape him. I want the accumulation of these experiences to shape Sebastian, not just as a flawless servant, but as a demon who cannot come out of this unchanged.

all in all, I want sebastian to feel miserable and bored as karma for eating my childs soul/hj

3. For the story to not just end the moment Sebastian consumes o!Ciel's soul.

I mean, yana herself has told us how Sebastian is the true protagonist of this story. So for it all to end with o!Ciel’s death and nothing more would feel incomplete.

If they do end up showcasing signs of regret from Sebastian after eating our earls soul (fingers crossed), I want the weight of his actions to loom over the Phantomhive manor, over the servants, Elizabeth, Prince Soma, and everyone who’s been touched by Ciel’s life. The loss is universal, not just limited to Sebastian, and I hope they do showcase that tragedy.

But more than that, I want Sebastian's longing to be palpable. After devouring Ciel’s soul, I want the demon to be trapped in a kind of haunting limbo, unable to shake the life he once had as a butler. It should feel like he's yearning for what he lost—his purpose, his role, that delicate balance between master and servant. His regret would not be just a burden, but a twisted kind of desire for what came before.

To wrap all this ranting up:

If we’re not getting a fluff ending for this manga, then the tragedy better hit so deeply, so irreparably, that it even shakes the protagonist demon we first met as cold, calculated, and entirely unfeeling.

I want the grief to linger in the silence of the manor halls, in the absence of a young master’s voice, in the routines that no longer have purpose.

Because if Ciel’s story ends in devastation, then Sebastian’s should end in the quiet, unbearable echo of everything he can’t unsee, unfeel, or undo. I want the tragedy to crack through that perfect façade—and leave something raw beneath it.

[chaos-night]

Snake, his clothes, and his exploitation

This post will contain spoilers for chapter 206 onward.

I find it very interesting—and I haven't seen anyone else point it out—that whenever we see Snake nearly naked, it's in a moment where he is being exploited.

"The Snakeman's Dance" is his circus act, but this isn't his usual costume he wears around the circus. It's meant to show off his skin, especially his scales, and make him more snake-like. Snakes are often associated with sin—especially in Christianity. Given the Christian undertones of the manga, it can also represent sensuality. Making it perfect for his exploitation within his own performance.

When he's in his casual circus attire, we see his skin covered more. His sleeves are long and drape over his hands, and the collar extens pretty high as well. His tunic is long too, going past his hips. His boots even are long, extending up midway to his thigh. His chest and face are really the only visible skin, and his chest is more so open because of the way his clothes wrap on his body. I would imagine as well that this makes it easy for his snakes to wrap themselves under his clothes for warmth.

Side note: I had a friend in college with a snake and I always held her when we would chill and watch TV. She always managed to find her way under my clothes and snuggle up against my skin for warmth. Snakes can't regulate their own body temperature since they're cold blooded, so they seek out warmth. Being right against someone's skin is the perfect warmth, so I imagine Snake's snakes doing the same.

In the (dreaded) chapter 206 cover, we see him half naked with Doll in her circus costume, covering his eyes. The symbolism is clear: Doll was hiding the truth about the first string members, which Snake was blind to. Every night, he would perform, putting himself on display for the sake of the circus, wrapped in his snakes which were his truest allies. In this sense, it was his naivety that was exploited, considering his snakes told him details about Sebastian and Ciel sneaking around the tents which he relayed to Joker and the other first string members. Despite this, they still kept him in the dark about the truth.

We also see the stars in the background. Stars are a big motif throughout Black Butler, so their here representing that Doll is actually one of the bizarre dolls, again something that Snake was lied to about initially.

Of course, his backstory is filled with images of him half naked and locked in a cage, put on display as a half-snake-man like an animal in a zoo. He's made to eat raw mice for show, which he spits out when no one is looking. It's degrading. It's humiliating. He's kept in brutal conditions and considered not even human at all. This is the clearest example of his exploitation, but the saddest thing is that even after being rescued by the first string members in the circus, his exploitation didn't end.

We don't see him properly covered until he joins the Phantomhives. His footman uniform is dapper and classy, covering his body fully even down to the gloves on his hands. He's timid and shy when he's introduced to the other servants, but Sebastian reminds him that a footman needs to be confident. Footman were often for show, they had jobs to do (as we see him often helping with chores around the manor), but they were also supposed to be handsome and stand in the rooms looking pretty.

This could be taken as exploitative by contemporary society's standards, but it’s so different here from his previous exploitation. Ciel lied to him and hired him telling Sebastian that it wouldn't do to have him try another assassination attempt on him. He thinks the snakes can be useful as well, as all of his servants were hired to assist him in his dirty work. Having them play these roles as servants is really just for show, their real jobs are more aligned with Ciel's goals.

Snake doesn't shy away from any of this. He does his chores around the manor diligently, he and his snakes lend assistance to Ciel and Sebastian without question, and he even worries about his appearance affecting Ciel when they're on the Campania. His exploitation shifted drastically, as he too gets many benefits from working at the Phantomhive manor. He got an edcuation for the first time in his life and also recieved proper wages. He had a warm bed and meals that he didn’t have to fight for daily (although as a first string member he got to eat first, but I think it's safe to assume that the food at the manor is a hundred times better than at the circus, even for servants). He got to bathe regularly, in a real bathtub instead of out in the open. He even acknowledges that the manor is the only place where he actually got to live as himself and not as a spectacle. After all, the Phantomhive manor has become a twisted sanctuary for those who were starting over.

Even when we see him taking part in operations for Ciel, he's still covered in proper clothes. He works hard to complete his missions. Even as he was dying, he admits that he always knew there was something off. He knew he was being kept in the dark by the circus troupe, but he hoped deep down they would open up to him fully over time. He had a sneaking suspicion about being hired by Ciel, yet he thought if he kept going, he would eventually figure out the truth.

In the chapter where we see his cinematic record, the chapter cover is him reaching up towards a hand giving him salvation. He's in his casual circus clothes, therefore, this hand offering him "light" must be Ciel's. This is made clear when we see Ciel's hand (who reached out with his right hand) versus Doll's (who reached out with her left).

Special note from my English bestie as I'm reading this to her: the reason we shake with our right hand is because it was the sword hand. By offering the right hand, it's showing that you have no weapons and are being honest. When you genuinely want to help someone, you always reach out with your dominant hand which is—for most people—the right hand.

Snake is such a tragic character through and through. All he's ever wanted was a place to belong. He just wanted to be treated as a person, and to be himself. Yet, in the very end, one of the last moments we see in his cinematic record, is him smiling while sitting AT the table with everyone in the Phantomhives. He was clothed, warm, and fed. He was smiling with the others. Servants don't sit at the table and eat with their master, but in that moment they did. For that moment, they were equals. In that moment, he felt true happiness. Which is all he ever wanted out of life.