TV-Series
Description
Barbara, known as the holder of the stars, holds the position of leader within the Children's Wing, a role that places her at a high rank among the shadow nobility residing in the mansion. Her physical form mirrors that of her living doll, Barbie, appearing as a soot-black silhouette with fluffy long hair decorated with blue roses. She wears a blue-purple dress with a white triangle trim and a light blue neckline shaped like a rose stem with thorns. Despite her elevated status and immense power, Barbara is a deeply anxious and emotionally volatile individual, often overwhelmed by the crushing weight of her responsibilities. While her living doll projects an intimidating persona, Barbara herself possesses a fundamentally sweet and caring nature, particularly towards her fellow Star Bearers, whom she considers friends and is fiercely protective of. However, this gentleness is frequently overtaken by intense anxiety and irritability, which triggers uncontrollable and dangerous outbursts of soot that cause her significant physical pain.
Barbara's past reveals a very different personality from the troubled leader seen in the present. She was originally a timid shadow, considered an inferior student among her peers and often teased. Her transformation began when she met her classmate Maryrose, whose willingness to befriend her served as an emotional anchor, acting like an older sister and helping Barbara become more positive. Her growth was further inspired by Christopher, the former leader she deeply adored and looked up to. She made a promise with Maryrose to become an adult together, but this hopeful period was shattered when Christopher left for the adults' building and subsequently lost contact, followed by Maryrose suddenly shutting herself away without explanation. These traumatic abandonments drove Barbara to a breaking point; she suffered a massive, destructive seizure that left a permanent slashed scar on her living doll Barbie's face. Although she was supposed to be discarded after this incident, a figure named Thomas recognized the value of her abnormal soot output and gave her a second chance, installing her as the new leader of the Children's Wing. The pressure of leadership, combined with the unresolved grief and confusion over her lost friends, twisted her personality into its current volatile state, and Thomas further manipulates her with false promises of adulthood, keeping her in a cycle of stress and dependency.
Barbara's primary motivation is her desperate wish to become an adult, believing this is the only way she can finally reunite with Christopher and Maryrose and receive their praise once more. This hope is tragically ironic, as one of the conditions for her to become an adult is to heal the scar on Barbie's face, a wound that Thomas ensures never heals by providing poison instead of medicine. Within the story, she serves as the highest-ranking authority among the children, tasked with maintaining order. Initially suspicious of the protagonist Kate and acting on the orders of the warden Edward, Barbara eventually has a change of heart and begins to see Kate as a necessary ally to confront him. She demonstrates a strong sense of responsibility and a willingness to lie to adults to protect her peers, earning her absolute trust from the Star Bearers despite her unpopularity with others.
Her most notable ability is not a refined power but a raw, uncontrollable quantity of soot. Barbara produces the highest soot output of any child in the mansion, single-handedly accounting for an estimated sixty percent of the house's soot exports. This volume is so immense that it prevents her from developing any specialized soot abilities or controlling the timing of her emissions. Her outbursts are involuntary and hazardous, capable of generating explosions that can destroy structures and injure those nearby. Because she cannot control her power, she must be brought to the soot training ground periodically to release it safely, often while her doll, Barbie, suffers seizures.
The relationship between Barbara and her living doll, Barbie, is deeply interdependent. Barbie acts as Barbara's emotional anchor and public face, cultivating a harsh and violent exterior to enforce Barbara's authority and prevent others from seeing her master's vulnerability. Barbara relies entirely on Barbie's counsel and trusts her completely. Despite the fact that Barbie has been physically injured by Barbara's uncontrollable outbursts, she holds no ill feelings and is fiercely protective, taking care of her master during painful seizures and covertly monitoring her declining health. Other key relationships include her complicated dynamic with Patrick, whose presence is uniquely noted to have a calming effect on her during soot seizures. She also holds respect for Edward's authority but privately questions his methods, a conflict that eventually drives her to seek an alliance with Kate. Through it all, Barbara remains a tragic figure, a naturally gentle leader whose immense power is both a valuable resource and a painful curse, driving her closer to ruin even as she desperately clings to a future that seems forever out of reach.
Barbara's past reveals a very different personality from the troubled leader seen in the present. She was originally a timid shadow, considered an inferior student among her peers and often teased. Her transformation began when she met her classmate Maryrose, whose willingness to befriend her served as an emotional anchor, acting like an older sister and helping Barbara become more positive. Her growth was further inspired by Christopher, the former leader she deeply adored and looked up to. She made a promise with Maryrose to become an adult together, but this hopeful period was shattered when Christopher left for the adults' building and subsequently lost contact, followed by Maryrose suddenly shutting herself away without explanation. These traumatic abandonments drove Barbara to a breaking point; she suffered a massive, destructive seizure that left a permanent slashed scar on her living doll Barbie's face. Although she was supposed to be discarded after this incident, a figure named Thomas recognized the value of her abnormal soot output and gave her a second chance, installing her as the new leader of the Children's Wing. The pressure of leadership, combined with the unresolved grief and confusion over her lost friends, twisted her personality into its current volatile state, and Thomas further manipulates her with false promises of adulthood, keeping her in a cycle of stress and dependency.
Barbara's primary motivation is her desperate wish to become an adult, believing this is the only way she can finally reunite with Christopher and Maryrose and receive their praise once more. This hope is tragically ironic, as one of the conditions for her to become an adult is to heal the scar on Barbie's face, a wound that Thomas ensures never heals by providing poison instead of medicine. Within the story, she serves as the highest-ranking authority among the children, tasked with maintaining order. Initially suspicious of the protagonist Kate and acting on the orders of the warden Edward, Barbara eventually has a change of heart and begins to see Kate as a necessary ally to confront him. She demonstrates a strong sense of responsibility and a willingness to lie to adults to protect her peers, earning her absolute trust from the Star Bearers despite her unpopularity with others.
Her most notable ability is not a refined power but a raw, uncontrollable quantity of soot. Barbara produces the highest soot output of any child in the mansion, single-handedly accounting for an estimated sixty percent of the house's soot exports. This volume is so immense that it prevents her from developing any specialized soot abilities or controlling the timing of her emissions. Her outbursts are involuntary and hazardous, capable of generating explosions that can destroy structures and injure those nearby. Because she cannot control her power, she must be brought to the soot training ground periodically to release it safely, often while her doll, Barbie, suffers seizures.
The relationship between Barbara and her living doll, Barbie, is deeply interdependent. Barbie acts as Barbara's emotional anchor and public face, cultivating a harsh and violent exterior to enforce Barbara's authority and prevent others from seeing her master's vulnerability. Barbara relies entirely on Barbie's counsel and trusts her completely. Despite the fact that Barbie has been physically injured by Barbara's uncontrollable outbursts, she holds no ill feelings and is fiercely protective, taking care of her master during painful seizures and covertly monitoring her declining health. Other key relationships include her complicated dynamic with Patrick, whose presence is uniquely noted to have a calming effect on her during soot seizures. She also holds respect for Edward's authority but privately questions his methods, a conflict that eventually drives her to seek an alliance with Kate. Through it all, Barbara remains a tragic figure, a naturally gentle leader whose immense power is both a valuable resource and a painful curse, driving her closer to ruin even as she desperately clings to a future that seems forever out of reach.