Frances Midford and comic relief in Kuroshitsuji
Guess you didnât see that one coming, lol
Friendly reminder in advance that itâs only my opinion and you donât have to agree. However if you donât, no need to get aggressive because, guess what? I donât answer violent arguments. :)
Also very lengthy post ahead.
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Comic relief has always been a part of Kuroshitsuji since the very beginning, after all we know how Yana loves her jokes and it also helps to cope with the darker side of the story. However for every comical touch that we see too often, itâs natural to wonder if making us laugh is all that Yana has in mind when she draws these moments. A few examplesâŚ
Elizabethâs strength whenever she almost strangles Ciel or when she KOâed Edward with just one punch -> considering how she fought on the Campania, one might wonder if itâs just a joke.
Lau being an air-headed opium dealer haha -> there have been several theories explaining that he could be betraying Ciel before the end (my fav is this one by rationalkuroshitsuji)
Ciel apparently never growing up -> how many people wondered if that wasnât a hint for the 2CT or other theories about him?
And one of my favorite, the Undertaker asking for laugh as payment for his information, Iâm sure we all smiled once -> we now know he is a Shinigami because he killed himself, so laughing and having fun are probably feelings he discovered post mortem and thatâs actually really sad. Â
So itâs hard to really draw a limit between comic relief and small hints meaning more serious business, which is why Frances Midfordâs character is quite complicated to theorize about, because sheâs one of the best examples of âcomic reliefâ in Kuroshitsuji. Iâll try though.
1) First introduction and her dislike of Sebastian
It starts right at the moment sheâs introduced for the very first time in ch14.
What a way to start, huh? Ah well, but itâs true that Ciel has known her since his birth so he probably had a few bad experiences with her, especially since we know that his own mother was definitely not as physically strong and at this moment, he doesnât know about Lizzieâs strength either.
So itâs understandable that he sees his aunt in a different light when the other women of his family certainly arenât as terrifying as her, and terrifying is the accurate word since even Sebastian isnât at ease with her.
After all, Frances hates two things: Sebastianâs indecent looks and every haircuts with bangs (and unfortunately for SebâŚ..). Iâd like to emphasize that these are 2 different things: hate for haircuts is general (which means that even Snake and Ciel are sometimes punished)âŚ
⌠While her dislike for Sebastianâs face is very personal.
And everyone knows what problems are hiding behind this recurrent joke:
Sebastian is in general considered to be quite the handsome man, both by women and men (Arthur Conan Doyle :)) and it was confirmed by Yana that him sharing similar looks with Vincent, Francesâ brother, was on purpose. eviltwintheory is asking the right questions about this point in this post, highlighting two possibilities: either Frances also made this kind of comments to Vincent (itâs true we have no idea what their relationship was like, but with Lizzie and Ciel engaged so young and the two children often spending time together, Iâm guessing they were close) or the matter really is about Sebastian himselfâŚ
There is only one kind of characters whoâd disagree about Sebastian being a handsome man, outside of Frances (whoâs supposed to be human as far as we know): the Shinigamis.
According to the 3 panels above, it seems Shinigamis are able to perceive demonsâ aura and also to see past their disguise, which explains Grell knowing how Sebastian was a demon at first glance, even though they still find him to be quite hot. In other words, Shinigamis are not fooled by Sebastianâs disguise since they can see right through it and because of that, they often see demons for what they are: âbeastsâ.
The question is, is Frances like the Shinigamis or does she just have a strong dislike for her brother and Sebastianâs faces? Is it just comic relief, because we need one character to be able to impress Sebastian a little, or is it deeper than that?
2) Frances in the Campania and Weston Arcs
This happens right after he helps her in the Campania arc and itâs the first verbal mention of the 2 things she dislikes about him since ch14.
As you can see, Sebastian understands the âslovenly hairstyleâ part but he doesnât exactly get why sheâd call his face that way (lol). Doesnât it make sense though? After all sheâs supposed to be human, so all she can technically see is what many people consider to be his âhandsome faceâ. But no, Frances Midford call that âslovenlyâ.
The more interesting part is still during the Weston arc in which, might I remind you, butlers and servants were forbidden, which is why Sebastian had to become âProfessor Michaelisâ.
Druitt annoying her aside, as you can see (Iâm sure you can recognize Alexis Midfordâs haircut under the red arrow) a crowd is separating Frances from her disguised target, who she couldnât have known was present in the first place.
I wonât mention the fact that she recognized him from afar and with dozens of people separating them, howeverâŚ
âIâm amazed you managed to grab me.â
True isnât it? I believe this part is a very important one. After allâŚ
she managed to distinguish him through the crowd, which was the easiest part since she knows him and heâs not exactly that well disguised
she managed to go after him and to stop him from running away, even though he had decided to back off and heâs a demon
as always he looks nasty to her
That moment is immediately broken by her usual tantrum about his hair which makes it look like it was all for fun but honestly I donât buy it.
You can argue over whether she rather noticed him through the crowd or if she âfeltâ him (like a Shinigami would feel his demonic aura, I have to say I canât decide myself), but I donât think you can argue over her apparent speed.
Sebastian is a demon, we witnessed his strength, speed and powers several times, and he said it himself âIâm amazed you manage to grab meâ: because he wanted to back off in order for her not to notice him; and not only did she notice him but she also managed to stop him when he was about to flee, even though she wasnât exactly near him in the first place (big failure there, Sebby).
As always, itâs my interpretation and you donât have to agree. :) However, when you add the scene of ch75 to the âsuperhuman strengthâ joke of ch14 and to what we witnessed of her on the Campania, without forgetting Lizzie whoâs quite amazing herself and who learned from her mom, I donât think you can consider Frances to be just the âfunny and fearful aunt able to scare the bad demonâ.
And if itâs more than that then it definitely stops being comic relief.
3) So⌠badass character with a true potential?
As I said above, aside from Frances, only Shinigamis showed an equal distaste for Sebastianâs appearance (oops, Grell aside) and we do know of one Shinigami who deserted but who also seemed to have a close relationship to both Francesâ mother and brother (and with her nephew until a few months ago in the story)⌠The Undertaker of course.
We donât know for sure yet what kind of relationship he had with Claudia Phantomhive, so there are several possibilities. However, if you take in consideration the possible lineage Rudgar mentioned for Ciel in ch103âŚ
âŚWell, you might as well think seriously about Francesâ superhuman strength and the fact she was able to stop a demon who was trying to get away from her.
I know quite a few people arenât fond of the theory saying that the Undertaker might have procreated with Claudia Phantomhive (because for some of them, intercourse is okay but not procreation, seeing as he was dead while Claudia was alive, and seriously I understand) but unfortunately, only Yana has the answer to this for the moment. Still:
From Book of Circus and a close up on Claudiaâs funeral locket, she was dark-haired like Vincent and Ciel while Frances is probably blond or has an even lighter hair color, so if Yana plays by the laws of genetics, her father preferably had a similar hair color (and the Undertaker matches for this criteria)
I already mentioned her strength and Shinigamis are known to be stronger than humans (and sometimes even stronger than demons) so even if she doesnât have as much as strength as a Shinigami or as a demon, she could probably still be stronger than a normal human if her father was extraordinary
Even though this started as a joke, I wouldnât even be surprised if it turned out to be true: they look like they tried to stop a storm with their bare hands and one cricket bat
Finally, as for her eyes: Iâm hesitating on whether or not she really knows about Sebastianâs nature. As wondrouswatchdog once commented here, she might have the feeling that something about him feels wrong but she might not know exactly why. Or she really knows but proof for that is hard to find. She thinks heâs nasty so she might be able to see through his disguise but this is another point on which weâll need Yanaâs confirmation.
Last point is, Frances is Vincentâs sister (and heâs one of the main points of the plot since we still donât know why he was killed) and the only real Phantomhive left outside of Ciel, as in she knows what this life is like because she was raised in the same world and saw her mother probably die of the Watchdog job at a young age (if Vincent was 15 then she was probably 13 at best).
For now sheâs not getting involved directly in Cielâs business, but Vincent was her brother and even if we donât know if they got along or not, she might be really grieving over his murder. And as far as we know, she could even be after revenge herself (also, if Claudia died of unnatural causes like Vincent, it could be an even more motivating factor for her, especially considering her daughter is supposed to join the Phantomhive family in a near future) .
Between you and me, I donât get why Ciel doesnât realize he probably has 2 ways to find info on Claudia and the Undertaker if he really needs them: the first way is Frances who, as Claudiaâs daughter and Vincentâs sister, probably knew him at least a little and the second way is Tanaka who was Vincentâs butler which means he was acquainted with the other Evil Nobles (but this part is irrelevant to this post :)).
So Iâm guessing Frances could turn out to be important or more present when Yana will really start to link everything back to the main plot which, outside of Cielâs own story, is probably also linked to the Phantomhive family in general and their duty as the Queenâs watchdogs.
Sebastian once said he was hoping to see Ciel take example on Frances (ch14) and I donât know if he really meant it or not, but if Ciel ends up seeking advice it will have to be from someone who knows how to play this game and she might be the only one left.
(Thanks for reading, as always feel free to ask/add anything)