Black Butler: Blood Winter - Episode 2

"'Devil In The Crystal'. Armed with his first major clue, Alexei journeys to Vienna, where the enigmatic Madam Serafina, mystic extraordinaire, is busy relieving the wealthy of their 'otherworldly' problems. But is that all there is to her..."

So, the idea of mystics, real and fake, is something that I'm kind of surprised 'Black Butler', in either anime or manga form, hasn't really tapped into much, given the twilight of the century, and now well into WW1, was the height of society's fascination with magic and the beyond, especially the popularity of seances and mediums, people with the power to supposedly communicate with the dead. Even the likes of Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a firm believer in their powers, so much so that it cost him his friendship with master magician and mystic-buster Harry Houdini. From a writer's standpoint, there's just something appealing, as well as atmospheric, about a seer and their crystal ball, a power to see into the future and commune with otherworldly powers. Well that or put up a damn good show through everything from wires to projectors to even just playing with the light.

Indeed, with all its opulence and storied history, Vienna is every bit the ideal place to set this story. A marvel of architecture to rival any of its cousins in the Western half of Europe, it's loaded with monuments and attractions, such as the Griechenbeisl restaurant and the Karlskirche church, a place that honours and reveres its past, which fits and contrasts this series' themes well. I also wanted to use this story to expand further on the other Romanovs in order to strengthen the audience's ties with them and not just have them be this vague background presence who help kick off Alexei's entire journey. Plus, the story of Alexei's fondness for the troops' rye bread (based in true events, also) provided a perfect springboard to do something with Nicholas, and have them interact.

The Likho is much as the episode describes, another infamous figure from Eastern European, or more specifically Russian, mythology. Often in the BB-verse, demons all tend to be very similar, all cunning and suave, so I wanted to do one that was more animalistic and vulgar, something that fits the more monstrous mold of demons that a lot of mythology goes for. Plus its skillset made it ideal to team up with a false mystic who, ironically, is using something that is indeed supernatural. Furthermore, its violent and lowly nature allowed me to do something more with Alexei's hemophilia and hit home how delicate a situation like that is and why, probably more than any other canon or fan master/demon team, Alexei would need someone like Beatrice.

Introducing, or rather re-introducing, Rasputin went through a few changes, as initially I wanted something more low key and vague as to where he was and what he was up to. At first, it was done at a snowed in tavern where Rasputin was partaking of, what else, vodka. However, it just felt a little generic and without much grounding, and I wanted something that more clearly foreshadows the direction I'm going with him, as well as fit his infamous nature much better. Plus, it's a little nod to the more raunchy and malevolent Rasputin as portrayed by the late great Christopher Lee in Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966). Look up the trailer here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLmZkV…

Damascus steel refers to what was the supposedly sharpest blades in the ancient world, though its preparation is now a mystery, lost like a lot of knowledge from antiquity through various wars and purges of certain 'branches' of knowledge, usually with a religious bent, and many weapons scholars and smiths have tried to make their own versions over the centuries.

---- NEXT EPISODE -----
The series' first two parter. Stopping off in the Czechoslovakian city of Brno, Alexei and Beatrice visit a travelling freakshow, 'Dr. Calimonstro's Gallery of Human Abominations'. What is their hand in the disappearance of children from military families, and what is their tie to a forgotten and hideous chapter from the Great War's Eastern front?
Next time on 'Blood Winter': The Un-Men.
'Well Majesty, what is your wish?'
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Episode 3: savagescribe.deviantart.com/ar…

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