#Sebaciel Meta

[thatgirlonstage]

Okay I’m too tired to keep listening to Dark Heir but I’ve got a whole bus ride home so I’m going to spin Black Butler thoughts at you all.

(Idk how coherent this is, I’m sorry if it’s rambly my brain is SO dead but it wants to Talk so)

I’m thinking about… the gradual build of Sebastian’s fear that he could actually lose Ciel, as we go:

The asthma attack in Circus Arc: not ultimately serious, but a danger to Ciel’s wellbeing Sebastian had not been aware of and cannot easily fix

The fight on the Campania, where Sebastian is very seriously injured himself, to the point where he’s in danger of losing Ciel to Undertaker because he can’t physically stop him from being taken,

Which leads into THIS fucking moment in school arc:

which is entirely fueled by Sebastian’s fear that Undertaker will snatch Ciel out from under him, AGAIN, because he did it before

AND THEN GREEN WITCH ARC HAPPENS, where Sebastian gets within literal minutes of losing Ciel to the gas, and WOULD HAVE if Sieglinde hadn’t been there or hadn’t been willing to help them

And still in Green Witch Arc, even AFTER Ciel has physically survived, Sebastian nearly loses him anyway because he backslides so dramatically into a PTSD episode that it nearly voids their contract

All of which is why by the time you get to the Blue Cult Arc, Sebastian is so genuinely afraid he might not be able to protect Ciel that the scent of blood from a single needle prick makes him do. This.

And now, with bizarre dolls getting ever more advanced and better at hiding from Sebastian’s senses and the whole police force mobilized against them, I’m very ready for Sebastian in Brighton to be doing everything short of wrapping Ciel in 19th century bubble wrap. I’ll frankly be shocked if he lets Ciel out of his sight for more than five minutes.

But the thing is. The thing is. Narratively, there isn’t much further you can ratchet up the stakes for Sebastian (at least until you get to the moment of truth with the contract and eating his soul, which is a different conversation). Ciel being put in danger or hurt again isn’t going to do all that much to alter their relationship at this point. Sebastian is already about as whipped as the poor guy can get.

What would be a change, is Ciel nearly losing Sebastian.

There’s been—for obvious reasons—much less risk and fear on that front. There has been some build for it:

Red Butler Arc, encountering reapers, Ciel sees Sebastian fight an enemy who can actually hold their own against him for the first time (and while I don’t think this is confirmed, I suspect Grell’s chainsaw eating his shoulder is the first time Ciel sees him get injured for real (as opposed to allowing himself to get shot and playing dead just for the sake of being a dramatic bitch))

Curry Arc, Agni successfully fights Sebastian to a tie (which is why I’m VERY interested to see if Soma turns back up in the Brighton arc as well, feat. angry Kali powers)

[The murder arc is a fake out, because Ciel knows he’s fine the whole time]

On the Campania, Ciel sees him get very badly injured. This is the one and only time Ciel has real cause to fear for Sebastian’s safety, as such.

And since then, while Sebastian isn’t quite untouchable, he hasn’t really suffered any serious injury or physical danger to himself. There have been defeats or fights that didn’t end perfectly for him—such as the school arc fight—but Sebastian hasn’t been existentially threatened. Ciel, I think, still has pretty high confidence that worst case scenario, Sebastian can always just pick him up and make a run for it (indeed, part of the reason things got so bad on the Campania was because they were trapped on a boat). And even if Sebastian couldn’t save him, Ciel—to the extent it’s even occurred to him—doesn’t have a lot of reason to think he couldn’t save himself.

This is now the second time Ciel has lost everything—his title, his name, his home, his safety, his dignity and respect. The first time was worse, obviously, but he’s got to be feeling the similarities.

The first time, Sebastian pulled him out of his despair by offering him the power to escape.

Now, the second time, he at least still has Sebastian by his side. A Sebastian who is going to be laser-focused on protecting Ciel from all possible threats.

But what happens if Ciel thinks he might lose Sebastian too?

[thefawnfallacy]

Personally, I imagine that Black Butler would be rather bland without the undertone of sebaciel. The psychosexual aspect of sebaciel that permeates the entirety of the relationship between Ciel and Sebastian genuinely helps to broaden the world around them and the ways in which they interact with it, especially Ciel as we already know about the trauma regarding sex and his body that he has.

It also adds a layer of depth to Sebastian that takes him from being a ��stereotypical” demon to a multifaceted character that could potentially see Ciel in a romantic light that deviates from his shown nature of using sex as a method of perfunctorily gathering information. This also ties into the ways in which Ciel is still his means of nourishment while simultaneously providing an undercurrent of emotional stimulation that typically wouldn’t be associated with demons. (especially since we already know demons can express familial and platonic feelings, i.e. Hannah, Alois and Luka).

[lordisitmine]

On Characterization, and the Nature of Immortality

I got a comment on the most recent chapter of TTNBD that made me realise some things about how I view the characters- namely the differences between Lizzy and Ciel and how it plays into my writing- and I wanted to re-post it here and kind of elaborate a little. TO BE CLEAR: this is NOT me calling out this commenter or being upset with them- I just thought it might be interesting to document my thought process for clarity and posterity.

The comment in question:

"I'm a little upset with sybil and lizzy, is the option not there for them to do the same as ciel and sebastian. Lizzy if she was willing, could be changed, but it sounds to me like she plans to stay a human, which sounds kind of boring to me..lol"

My response:

"I maybe should have made that clear- Sybil isn't fully a demon, so she wouldn't have the ability to change Lizzy, since they aren't already in a contract with each other. Also, I don't think Lizzy would want to live forever- not everyone is well-suited to immortality, in my opinion. Ciel living forever makes a lot more sense to me because he was already disconnected from his humanity jn a way, and had that craving for power and control, which makes living forever/demonic power a natural transition for him. I don't see that for Lizzy. I think Lizzy is too human, I think she feels too much compassion and love for her fellow humans to ever live apart from them. That's just my view, obviously. But also, no spoilers, the story isn't over yet!"

Now, let me expand on that:

It has always been important to me as a writer that the plots of my stories only exist/progress insofar as they match up with the motivations/traits of the characters therein. One comment I get more than any other is that I am very good at characterization- this is why. I pay attention to the way characters act, feel, and exist within the world of the canon setting, and I try to emulate that as much as I can while still telling non-canon stories & portraying non-canon relationships. Obviously, different writers, readers and fans have different perceptions of characters, but I will always stick to my perception, as it is the only perception I have.

I say this so when I explain why I've done things the way I have, you'll hopefully understand why.

In TTNBD Chapter Eight, Claude describes the nature of the demonic mating ritual to Alois. His explanation is as follows:

"As the story goes, there was once a demon, one who was among the first to adopt the Faustian method of existence. This demon had fallen so deeply in love with their human master, and the master with their demon, that upon completion of their contract, neither of them wished to ever be parted from one another. The demon devised this ritual as a solution...... The newly turned demon is created from the power of the existing contract- this in turn creates a perpetual exchange of energies. Each of the demon’s power feeds and is fed by the other’s."

The ritual, as I imagined it, can only be performed by a full demon, on a soul that they are already under an existing Faustian contract/bargain with. I think I have made that clear enough. Sybil, not being a full demon, doesn't need to consume souls as sustenance/cannot consume them, and therefore cannot be in a Faustian contract with a human. She couldn't turn Lizzy immortal whether she or Lizzy wanted it or not.

And, to be honest- I don't think Lizzy would choose that, even if it was an option. But why not? Ciel couldn't wait to do it, and wouldn't it be way more romantic if Lizzy and Sybil got to be together forever? I beg your patience- I'll get there.

Living forever is something a lot of us sometimes wish we could do- most of us (myself included) are scared of aging/death to some extent, some more than others. The obvious drawbacks of immortality are often discussed in literary/fandom spaces- outliving your loved ones, boredom etc. But one thing that doesn't get discussed enough (in my opinion) is the fact that immortality would require one to live separately from human beings, despite resembling them. Choosing to live forever would be choosing to other oneself from humanity while still being forced to exist within its influence. And I believe some people's personalities just aren't suited for it.

And there, dear reader, we have the crux of the issue- I think Lizzy has one of those ill-suited personalities.

First, let's take a look at Ciel. He and Lizzy have, to a minor extent, been narrative foils to each other throughout this story- going through some of the same character beats/plot arcs, but having their perceptions, motivations and feelings affected in different ways.

Ciel, in my opinion, was a great candidate for immortality. He, through both his upper-class status and childhood trauma, has always been separated from the experience of the common man (or humans in general). He already has that seed of discontent with his mortality within him, as well as a disdain for a lot of the things humans choose to do and the ways in which he perceives it to be foolish, dirty, or below him. There was always something in him that was disconnected, that put him apart from mortality, even before the ritual.

He also has an innate craving for power and control- as well as a willingness to do anything to achieve/maintain it, even at the expense of his fellow mortals. And really, what gives one more power and control than to be immune from death itself? And then there's the fact that he happens to have his fate and soul deeply entwined with Sebastian, an already immortal creature, who would do anything to stay by his side for all eternity. So, turning Ciel into a demon, making him immortal, was a no-brainer from the perspective of accurate characterization.

Lizzy, on the other hand, is (again, in my own opinion), almost too human for her own good. In my quest to break her out of the annoying childish character that she has in the anime, I discovered someone who, like Ciel, has deep convictions, as well as a stubborn streak- but, unlike her cousin, Lizzy has a love and compassion for others that limits her ability to be objective or always do what is necessary in order to succeed.

Furthermore, Lizzy doesn't have the same ambitions Ciel does, nor the inherent disconnect from the human race that is present at the core of Ciel's character. That's what makes the contrast between them work, and it's why they'll never completely see eye-to-eye, even when they're working toward the same ultimate goal.

To put it simply, I think Lizzy would miss being human too much. I think, despite that fear of death we all have, she wants to grow old, to experience all the stages of human life to their fullest. I don't think she could live in audience to humanity's saga- I think she needs to be an actor in it. Which is why the idea of making her immortal has never once been something I've seriously considered doing or have any plans to do in TTNBD. I won't say anything about what WILL happen in the TTNBD finale, but that is one thing that will NOT be happening.

That being said, this story isn't over yet! Once, again, no spoilers, but if you know me, you know I don't do sad endings! We're in the business of satisfying conclusions here, so all I'm asking is that you stick with me in this endeavor and let me get you all to that finish line!

If you read all of this, thank you so much. It means a lot to me that people care about what goes into crafting a story like this one. Love you all, and I hope to see you again soon!

[justshipit]

Is sebaciel canon yet threads

Thread 1

Thread 2

[psych3-delic]

Hi, I'm a og Sebaciel who mostly stopped following the fandom happenings after R!Ciel reveal. I still remember the old Kuro forum with its wonderful metas. I just returned to Tumblr and it is completely filled with hate for the ship now. Did something happen? Back then people mostly let others ship in peace. I'm just very surprised at the general animosity.

haha I'm perhaps the wrong person to ask. I quit reading wayy before you (Green Witch arc) and just came back to the fandom a few months ago. Surprised me too. Back then, if you're into Kuroshitsuji, you are into SebasCiel. No question.

My best guess is that these ppl are born from the sjw wave, which gave birth to the puriteen movement. They assign moral values to contents they consume and vice versa, making consuming contents their only personality trait. In other words, they believe if you condone something in fiction, you must condone it in real life as well. (In which case, they should just smell their own backside cos Kuroshitsuji is a dark fantasy and literally had a demon committing mass murders by a 13yo kid's order 🤷🏻‍♀️ but I guess murder is cute to these people).

Fandom ethics has also gotten worse. People felt entitled to dictate other's opinions. They have this unhealthy parasocial relationship with characters, idols, actors... and demand those idols/author to comply with their own moral codes. Else they boycott. Else they doxx. They're even advocating for the removal of fanfictions they deemed "morally corrupted". Most of them are Westerners too, applying Western logic and moral values on a story that is inherently Japanese by a Japanese author. These people do not know the history of fandom, how it got where it is today and what older generations have overcome. They feel entitled to not learning how to co-exist with one another.

On a final note, I'll tell you that the Asian fandom are doing just fine :)) we remain somewhat the same and the Japanese fans especially don't give a shit about these proship-antiship discord. To them anything is fair game. I much prefer staying on that side of things than going to the trenches with these immature imps tbh :))

[drinksglue]

tbf all I'm hearing is that I need to be more open and annoying about all my favorite not-in-depth-200-page-meta-analysis headcanons and it'll be more rent-lowering gunshots just like shipping sebaciel and wincest and all of these things combined will keep all the right people away

[soubiapologist]

WHO IS LIKING MY TWO YEAR OLD LOVELESS META ON TWITTER WITH A FUCKING BLACK BUTLER ICON AND A PAGE PLASTERED IN UNIRONIC SEBACIEL!!!!!!!!!!!!! IN GOD'S YEAR 2024!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS AIN'T ABOUT YOU

[k-s-morgan]

I find your metas, ideas & fics really great! I love your hannigram and SebaCiel ones! They are so well thought out and written beautifully!

Do you have any headcanons or particular things you like to write for hannigram and/or SebaCiel?

Thank you so much!)

I think I'm enjoying pretty similar tropes and elements across most of my fandoms and ships, Hannigram and Sebaciel included. Such elements as obsessiveness, jealousy, and betrayal/argument & the need to make amends give me perpetual enjoyment.

For Hannigram:

I love exploring Will's darkness in particular. Describing his conflicted and changing attitudes to murder always delights me, as well as watching him become more confident and self-assured.

Possessive Hannibal, whose jealousy is quiet but lethal, who will smile at a potential rival in public and then attack them away from others, in some dark parking lot, making a delicious meal out of them and feeding it to Will.

Protective Hannibal who understands that Will doesn't really need protection but who feels wildly defensive of him anyway. This is far from canon, but I love the idea of Hannibal who's hovering over Will every time he as much as breaks a nail :D

Both Hannibal and Will losing control of their cold masks and letting rage/passion/violence surface.

For Sebaciel:

I enjoy describing the endless layers of denial Sebastian is experiencing in regard to his feelings for Ciel. In canon, I always found it funny how he's obviously attached, is ready to die in his urgent need to protect Ciel, goes above and beyond demon butler aesthetics, feels jealousy, tries to prolong their contract, clearly enjoys himself, and yet he's still certain that he'll be able to kill Ciel when the time comes.

Protective & possessive Sebastian and Ciel give me life.

Writing about the games they play with and against each other is my most favorite thing ever. I often don't know who's going to be a winner myself, so it's very exciting.

Ciel's coldness/cruelty. I adore Ciel in his darkest moments, it always says so much about him, and including these moments in my fic is delightful.

I have a lot of headcanon, but they tend to be small, so I cannot readily recall them. Just, in most cases, as I watch Hannibal or Black Butler, I keep finishing/expanding different scenes in my mind, coming up with numerous details I find fitting.

[lunatic-fandom-space]

Oh god so, since ive been watching and reading black butler a lot again Ive obviously also been thinking a lot abt it and it made me unlock this memory qnd have this kinda harrowing realization

For context, I was pretty active on Wattpad at the time, specifically the german side, specifically the german minecraft youtuber side, although I was slowly getting into fully fictional ships at that point as well. One day, one of the people I followed made this "book" or whatever that was like, a roleplay ? Idk the way it worked was that you would 'apply' by just making your character under the comments of one chapter and then go to the comment section of the next chapter where the creator had a comment that was like "RP starts here" and then you replied to that and thats where the rp took place. There wasnt really any direction to this whole thing lmao it was called like "Wattpadtown" or smth and the "premise" was literally just "a bunch of people who got some weird bullshit goin on hanging out in this wacky town" and the entire roleplay was basicalld just one extended shitpost, I really wish I could find it and read through some of it because it was WILD

We ended up being like 8 "main" people in this roleplay (rip to all the other people who applied lmao there were a lot surprisingly enough) and I actually became somewhat close friends w/ the person who started it although we never took it out of the wattpad comments section, at me most we would pm eachother so we've unfortunately lost contact lol. One thing to note about all 8 of us was that we were all pretty big billdip shippers. This is important bc the reason I got into Black Butler because of billdip basically lmao

Like, idk if these were that popular in other fandoms, but there were a lot of these Ask or Dare book for Billdip were you would ask your favorite characters/ships questions or tell them dares or whatever and then someone would write the weirdest most poorly written bullshit around it and its really funny I hope they still make those. But yknow, just having two guys interact in your ask or dare book is kinda boring so you'd get a lot of crossovers with other pairings, popular ones were like Willdip, Mawill, Tomco I remember a german one that had the bluehaired guy x the redhaired guy from Assassination Classroom that was fun. And obviously they would do Sebaciel, like, those two ships are soooooooo in the same ballpark its insane. Anyway, so Im reading this one ask or dare book, mostly for the billdip stuff but Sebastian n Ciel are also there and in one of the chapters they get this dare: "everyone, watch the corset scene from the anime" I remember this very vividly. These ask or dare books could get very meta btw. So they do that ig, and we get their reactions idk how Bill n Dipper reacted but Ciel is all flustered and Sebastian is all flirty or whatever bc the characterization in these books is the bane of my existence. Whatever, the important part is, Im kind of intrigued now bc I was coming out of that in that phase where anything gay seemed like, Scandalous and Exciting(tm) because I was starting to get used to it by that point bc I read a lot of gay fanfic HOWEVER media that had like, canon gay shit in it still seemed Scandolous and Exciting(tm) because yknow, i didnt know a lot of that and its also just different consuming fan content vs Actual Media(tm) yknow. So I watched it and I enjoyed it and I got to The Corset Scene and.. I was not disappointed thats for sure

So thats my story, lets get back to the roleplay stuff. Me and those 8 people would often talk (still in the wattpad comment section) about like, other stuff and one evening the creator wrote like "Heyy can anyone recommend an anime to me, I just binged attack on titan again but now Im sad again because my fave Marco died and like, yeah I have this theory that hes still alive as a titan but still :'( need something to cheer me up" idk why I remember this so vividly now because Ive only watched a single episode of aot so this is borderline incomprehensible to me to this day but whatever. I know she liked billdip and since I liked billdip and then I watched black butler and really liked it I jumped on the chance to tell her to watch it. ALSO I knew that she looooved pretty anime guys and Sebastian is a very pretty and very anime guy so I knew she would adore it. So then she tells me that shes gonna go find and watch it and Im like "YESSSSSSS pls tell me what you think"

Less than 10 minutes later she writes me back like "okayyyyy Im loving it so far (and Sebastian is reaaaallly cute xD) I just have one question tho: why do they have british accents" and I didnt really think anything of it I was just kinda like "Yeah it takes place in 19th century england ig" but I just came to a weirdly upsetting realization; she was definitely not watching it in japanese but also, they dont do accents in the german dub which means......... Ciel and Sebastian have british accents in the english dub.

[azuresins]

tw: suicide mention, mentions of SebaCiel, at the end.

I got into it today... with like a million people, I’m... so tired.  I’m not tagging this because it’s not for the faint of heart and it’s not really a ‘meta’ so much as it’s. ... just. Rambling and screaming into the void, but.  This is really sad (duh), but I feel it must be said: O!C was suicidal; the minute he lost everything... and he still is. I feel like that gets overlooked; often.  Just because he made the contract and found a goal; doesn’t mean he hasn’t stopped being Suicidal since.  O!C has a lot of drive for vengeance, but that fuel is temporary, he has acknowledged it is temporary, and Sebastian knows this as well. Sebastian knows this. What is interesting is Sebastian’s reaction; learning how ready O!C was to accept his fate surprised him. However, similarly to Ciel’s panic attack in the Green Witch Arc; I don’t think the weight of that reaction, has sunk in yet for the Demon-- and what that actually means. Just how little value O!C sees in himself and by extension, his soul. He knows it’s valuable to Sebastian; but for himself? It’s currency. This was established right away, within the hour of them meeting. (I’ll come back to this).  In case it wasn’t obvious, O!C is likely deeply, deeply looking forward for the sweet release of Sebastian ending his life; because he’s in constant emotional anguish. He admitted that he knows he can not go on pretending to be his twin forever, and doesn’t want to. 

Sebastian saved his life in more ways than one that day; even if it was meant to be temporary, so he could consume him.  I’m not saying their dynamic is healthy; or that Sebastian is ‘good’  All I’m saying is, that if left to his own devices, I don’t believe O!C would have lived very long, had Sebastian not come along. We know he was in a dire situation... Even if he had survived that; are we really going to believe that he would have gone home, to face the others as ‘the spare?’ The survivors guilt, trauma, and suicidal tendencies would have been right there waiting for him; with no outlet or means to get revenge. That much would be unchanged. I doubt he would have considered impersonating Ciel forever; when he already said, he couldn’t keep that up forever.  It’s a well-known undisputed fact that sometimes suicidal people often fall into patterns of living “for all the ‘wrong’ reasons”. For some examples; an abusive boyfriend, living to get high one more time, living to hurt their enemy... these are perceived, as piss-poor reasons to live by outsiders looking in. ...But many suicidal people have done this before. Lived, for a ‘foolish’ reason.  The truth is, there are no foolish reasons to live. Everyday that someone makes the choice not to take their own life is a victory, a battle won, regardless of that reason. There is potential in life. Life is so valuable; so precious, and I think that’s one of the messages that this story is trying to convey in one of the darkest ways. Life is so valuable, that a Grim Reaper would would try to play god and defy his own existence; bring life instead of death.  So valuable, that those who dare end it in suicide, get punished to work in the afterlife; until they reach some abstract state of nothingness.  So valuable, that I think, the two main characters of the story are going to have some kind of conflict about it.   I’m not saying that they’ll ever say it out loud, or put it into words. Perhaps in actions. But the fact of the matter is...  O!C’s soul means everything to Sebastian; he’s admitted he enjoys being a butler more than a ‘demon.’He knows that he is picky about the souls he chooses and countless times people have been confused as to why he is relentlessly pursuing O!C. O!C’s soul is precious to him.  And at the same time; it means. Nothing, to O!C. O!C is content to throw it away without a second thought; living only for selfish revenge and nothing else. That’s what makes the Green Witch Arc so important; but that’s a whole other ramble for another time.   Coming back to Sebastian learning this when they first met: I’m NOT saying that Sebastian is going to go as far as to change his mind, of his own accord. I’m not saying he’s going to have a change of heart either, or be so selfless that he gives him a chance to opt out just to test him (like in the anime; what the fuck was that?).  ...But I do think that in time it WILL sink in, really sink into the demon’s complex psyche, that urging and encouragement for the vengeance, is one thing; but. It’s going to his him like a train that O!C wont exist after he ‘eats’ him; and the potential of him becoming something even more and greater than he is, will be gone. Sebastian wont get to taste an O!C overcoming his feelings of wanting die; an O!C truly knowing he is giving Sebastian something that is more precious, than he realizes now. He wont ever get to taste an O!C with a will to live.  The soul he craves, is a soul that wants to die. -- Is that honestly what makes it taste better? No, because every interaction they’ve had, implies the opposite. When O!C is defeated or starts to lose his resolve, Sebastian has been known to absolutely flip his shit.  Sebastian likes his Master burning with passion and strong, wants him to feel the satisfaction of revenge and to feel like a whole bitter, angry, cackling evil boy.  But we as humans know, that feeling will be temporary. What will happen to him, or the contract, should the revenge go awry? Or even completed; without that satisfying kick they’re both hoping for?  My gut tells me, Sebastian will feel very, very weird and torn about it all before the end. And I think it’s just... All going to go terribly wrong for him; maybe for both of them.  But it doesn’t even matter what I think--  The facts remain: If the contract is fulfilled and Sebastian takes his soul... in O!C’s mind he’s easing the burden of O!C taking his own life; and becoming a WORK HORSE as punishment for that suicide. Because that was easily O!C’s fate if left to his own devices.  O!C doesn’t WANT to exist anymore, he wants to NOT exist even as a soul. Suicide-by-Demon; our Ciel’s perceived salvation.

This is also honestly, the number 1 reason why... I don’t ship Sebastian and O!C in the context of canon. Even after O!C is aged up; I hesitate to call it ‘shipping’ and not ‘hate-fucking’ if that’s the only thing, that has changed. So much has to change. If they are to really love each other. I want to see O!C overcome his own self-hate  ... find. Other. Goals. And still want to see the demon. Because he wants to. Because he grew fond of him.

People liken O!C as a lamb being raised for slaughter, but I want that stupid demon to realize he’s gotten attached to said lamb; realize the weight of the stupid lamb’s words about himself and realize WHY he was so willing to throw himself away; and for it to actually affect him, a bit. To have to choose between eating the lamb, or knowing one day, that Lamb will become a powerful Ram that changes the fate of many, and he had a part in it. That satisfaction of knowing “I raised that thing and he’s fucking up the whole world...” That isn’t to say he can’t pursue him another time; but he’d have to sit and think about his own attachments, think about how much he values them and his own aesthetics and place and role in the universe, and come face-to-face with his loneliness as a demon, and saying goodbye to the name and role of “Sebastian.” 

And no I’m not even saying this hypothetical love even has to be romantic because there’s so... many forms of love. 

It’s just as they are now? Right now in the manga?... all of what I previously mentioned, is exactly what Undertaker meant when he told Sebastian that all he does is make O!C miserable. As things currently are... 

To LOVE Sebastian and encourage his presence, is also, to hate himself.

Unless you’re into the angst or don’t give a fuck if the dynamic is healthy or not, in my humble opinion, for relationship between them to be any semblance or stretch of the imagination of what could be considered actual ‘love’ --  that has to change... 

[smorgasbordofobsessions]

shoutouts...

sorry this is late it just took a while to compile it’s been SUCH a great two months!! i’ve enjoyed myself so much with kuro/bb and i’m honestly sad to say goodbye to a series that i love. these are the blogs that i followed during my two months, and they’re all great! i’ve seen so much from them all, and the talent in this fandom is truly unreal!!

i’ll sort them by category, and list their last update if it’s a dead blog:

ART/GIFS:

@peonacotton​ : truly a doll and their artwork is sooo good! glad they’re a part of the fandom!

@silvercrystal​ : their gifs are beautiful and i have been know to reblog them right after posting haha

@l-amour-du-ciel​ : beautiful, beautiful art

@yilanoff​ : the realism!!! stunning work across the board. i highly encourage you to check out their work and shop

@blackbutlerfanzine​ : a nonship fanzine that shipped out earlier this year; from the link provided on their blog, it is not possible to buy this anymore; last updated 2months ago

@earlgreyandco​ : art, edits, shitposts; their sebagni art is cute!

@thotseb : into bottom!seb and more shitposts? here you go haha; more sebagni too!

@stale--baguette : AMAZING COLORINGS!! i’m super into the pastel

@smilexblack : cosplayers! and their art is cute, too

@qtpiecaps : screencaps! these are the ones i used myself

@meannalee​ : ah so good! i especially like their fanart of mey rin.

@digdig0319 : i really like their style!

@sebastian--art : love their style and their lighting choices are really great

FANFIC:

@chromehoplite​ : everything they write you need to read

@a-smutty-wuss​ : nsfw blog that posts other content besides kuro but it’s mainly kuro

@lushcorp​ : more aesthetic than shippy but it fits here

@rabiid-bunny : their cyoa fic was quality!!!

@amanitus : their fic “prepositions” is just... i would buy this. their writing is stunning, and the back and forth between sebatian and ciel is something yana needs to take notes on

@teasmudge : ooohhhh boy oh boy the smut is real nice

@ladyvexll : nsfr for a great reason

AESTHETIC:

@demxnicfiend​ : not a lot of kuro, but the vibe for sebastian is on point

@ggreyearl​ : love the theme for this blog

@noirserviteur : theme and content are on point

GENERAL/MISCELLANEOUS:

@todaysreapers​ : posts about the daily life of reapers

@kurolizzie​ : “all about lizzie!”

@heartciel​ : a regular blog that has some kuro

@kuroconcepts​ : a kuro meme blog haha

@ociel-namesuggestions​ : what it says on the tin

@abybweisse​ : the meta is great

@abybweissekuromother3​ : same person but the blog for their major meta theory

@akuma-hoshi​ : multifandom but has a lot of kuro

@funtomrabbits​ : has asks and theories about the series; i like the theme of this blog

@just-sebaciel-things​ : what it says on the tin

@phantombrothers : general kuro blog

@crunchy-snowflake : this blog makes me so happy because soma IS best boy

@kuroshitsuji-effervescence : general blog for kuro

[momomaid]

i promise i swear that if kuro ends with sebaciel vibes i will do a masterpost with ALL evidence/moments/meta and i will keep it updated in case yana drops more tea after the finale this is my lifetime commitment

[lavosse]

Things the kuroshitsuji fandom could have thinking about instead of obsessing over sebaciel for all this time:

Soma/Agni

Angela? I 100% expected way more "I wish angela blanc would raw me" posts what are y'all doing

Introspective character meta

Grell,,,,, why are we sleeping on her shes a gnc icon

Lady Elizabeth, the only valid character in the whole series

The many fantastic plotlines in the manga that never show up in the anime due to fucking season 2 (wtf was up with that bs??)

Finny, Mey-Rin, and Bardroy, compelling, 3-dimensional characters who for some reason get sidelined for humor in fic exactly the way they do in the anime?

[thaliaarche]

Sebaciel and “Love Suicide”

(cw: suicide, violence, underage relationship, canon-typical dark themes) A meta about interpreting the first season of Kuroshitsuji’s anime as a Sebaciel love suicide story. In the centuries-old Japanese genre of love suicide stories, lovers caught in a forbidden romance escape their troubles by committing suicide together, preserving vows of love through death. Kuroshitsuji clearly follows many conventions of love suicide stories, and so we can view Ciel and Sebastian as lovers who commit a double suicide, even undergoing extended journeys to reach their place of death, as is typical in love suicide stories. In this interpretation, Kuroshitsuji’s characters preserve their vows-- the stipulations of a Faustian contract-- through a love suicide of their own. Specifics below (with citations and everything! There's also a tl;dr, because this got long):

Part One: The “Love” I and many others have already identified instances of Sebaciel subtext in the first season of the anime, so I won’t talk about those at length. Here are a couple highlights:

The implication that Ciel is “fonder” of Sebastian than of his dead parents+the near-kiss in “That Butler, Ghost Illusion”

The corset scene (scholar Anna Maria Jones wrote more extensively about the subtext here in her article "The Victorian Childhood of Manga: Toward a Queer Theory of the Child in Toboso Yana's Kuroshitsuji”)

The second anime opening

Part Two: The “Suicide” Kuroshitsuji suggests that a sort of “love” exists between Ciel and Sebastian, yet it is not as obvious that a mutual suicide occurs. The anime heavily implies that Ciel dies in the moments after its ending, yet it is likely Sebastian, advancing with a predatory smile, who literally slays him. Taken alone, this is a murder scene, not a suicide. The previous episodes, however, establish Ciel as an agent of his death. After all, Kuroshitsuji does not immediately commit itself to a love suicide ending, and it instead presents Ciel with multiple courses of action, flirting with other potential outcomes. Ciel makes clear that he has agreed to being killed by Sebastian by systematically rejecting these alternatives. For instance, even in the very first lines of the show, Sebastian tells Ciel that humans who contract with him will never go to heaven and then poses a question: “I’ll ask you again: do you wish to make a contract?” This opening scene indicates that Ciel makes an informed, deliberate decision when he forms the contract. But that's not necessarily a real choice, you might think. Being killed by cultists isn’t a valid option for a scared little kid. Later on, the first season of the anime-- even more so than the manga, perhaps-- goes out of its way to give Ciel other options. Still, he turns down at least two clear chances to reject his demon:

Angela tries to help Ciel give up his revenge, back when she seemed relatively sweet, before she revealed her "angel of massacre" side. There would have been some body horror involved, but I think this was still the best chance to escape the contract that Ciel's ever gotten. He apparently turned it down because he wanted to keep his "hatred" and complete his revenge, more than because the body modifications grossed him out.

In the second to last episode, while Sebastian's temporarily ditched the contract, Undertaker informs Ciel that he's doomed to die soon. Ciel could choose to ignore this warning entirely. He could choose to take it into account but fight his death by staying on the apparently safe boat he's currently on, or by sticking to his servants for protection after disembarking in London. And even if he were totally convinced that he can't escape an imminent death, he could choose to die while participating in rescue efforts and sacrificing his doomed life to help someone else, or while wandering aimlessly through London and waiting for a burning building to collapse on him, or while doing a thousand other things. Instead, he believes the warning, plunges into the ruins of London alone and tries to single-handedly complete his revenge, explicitly wishing to act in a manner that would impress Sebastian. Sebastian is indeed impressed, and he comes running back to complete the contract and then kill his master. Ciel does not seem the slightest bit upset by this turn of events.

To sum up, Ciel actively pursues the contract with Sebastian, and so I think he inflicts his own death, even if he does not deal the final blow. Thus, I argue that we can interpret Ciel's death as a suicide. Sebastian's suicide isn't a clear-cut matter either, since this near-immortal demon is at no risk of literally expiring when his human master does. However, as his witty catchphrase states, Sebastian is “akumade shitsuji”-- “a demon and a butler,” or “a butler to the end.” Indeed, he shows deep dedication to his role as a butler, taking pains to act in-character even in extremely risky situations when no other characters observe him and denouncing his demonic body as “unsightly, disgusting, [and] repulsive” compared to his human appearance. Clearly, Sebastian has grown attached to his butler self, and so he commits a sort of metaphorical suicide when he gives that part of himself up at the show’s end. Part 2.5: Who's Chikamatsu? In the 17th century, a playwright named Monzaemon Chikamatsu wrote lots of plays about love suicides-- often based on real-life events-- and, as far as I can tell, these plays are still considered important and influential works within the love suicide genre. In parts 3 and 4, I will highlight parallels between parts of Kuroshitsuji and passages from two of Chikamatsu's most popular love suicide plays-- Sonezaki Shinju and Shinju Ten no Amijima. Part 3: The "Journey" For centuries, Japanese stories have commonly featured a michiyuki, “a literary set piece” describing an important journey. Michiyuki scenes became quite popular in Chikamatsu’s love suicide stories, where the journeys would bring the lovers to the places where they intended to die (Miner 289). The ending of Kuroshitsuji also revolves around journeys, as Ciel and Sebastian metaphorically approach the end of their contract and literally travel to an otherworldly realm where the final death scene takes place. In Kuroshitsuji, these metaphorical and literal journeys parallel a love suicide play’s in several aspects, exemplified by the michiyuki scenes from the last acts of Chikamatsu's Sonezaki Shinju and Shinju Ten no Amijima. Kuroshitsuji’s metaphorical michiyuki begins near the start of the season’s second half, when it changes the music and art of its ending credits. In the fourteenth episode, the credits’ tone suddenly turns solemn, indicating that the characters have embarked on a metaphorical michiyuki towards the end of the contract. The background music switches from "I'm Alive," an upbeat rock song, to the semi-operatic “Lacrimosa”-- “Tearful” in Latin. On a general level, “Lacrimosa” alludes to the michiyuki right from its opening line, “arta via.” The Latin “via” is roughly equivalent to “michi,” meaning “road,” “way,” and “journey,” and the line as a whole can be translated as “a narrow road”-- easily a reference to the michiyuki. Later lines more firmly establish “Lacrimosa” as a song about a journey: “I move through the blue night’s stillness. Lacrimosa! I want to love once again the dazzling world that crumbled in the distance (translation from the official subtitles on Funimation's Youtube channel)."  In this section, the speaker is both physically traveling and metaphorically leaving behind the brighter world of the living. Voila! Michiyuki. Now let's talk more specifically about Chikamatsu. "Lacrimosa" happens to integrate two key features of the poem-song recited during Sonezaki Shinju's michiyuki (quoted and translated in Miner 73). Here's a long-ish quote from the play, which I'll break down further:

"Pipe by well pipe-- The pipe well gives forth water-- That once ran clear-- But now with salty tears It starts to soil And on their moisted sleeves the moon-- Also starts to cloud-- The morning clouds and evening dews At the Cove of Evanescence where the hollowed boat-- Tells that they will lose themselves although they knew this, too . . ."

To start off, “Lacrimosa” echoes Sonezaki Shinju’s michiyuki when it speaks of moonlight and mourning: “The moonlight that reveals sorrow was coldly illuminating/the despair and the future which grew intimate in the dark.” In Japan, moonlight is associated with transience, and Chikamatsu played on this same symbolism. Sonezaki Shinju uses “an ages-old association, [in which] the tears are thought to be on the sleeves that wipe their eyes and therefore glisten in the moonlight, which is fading, along with their lives” (Miner 73).

The art that accompanies “Lacrimosa” shows further resemblances to Sonezaki Shinju’s michiyuki scene. The play refers to an “utsubobune,” a boat made from a hollowed-out tree and associated with death (Miner 74). Does this sound familiar?

(Look, more moonlight!) And yep, Kuroshitsuji’s credits show Sebastian rowing a hollow, wooden boat while Ciel lies inside, outstretched and apparently lifeless. Clearly, the second version of Kuroshitsuji’s ending credits alludes to the michiyuki, incorporating specific elements linked with classic michiyuki scenes such as Sonezaki Shinju’s. In Kuroshitsuji’s last episode, Ciel and Sebastian's symbolic journey moves out of the credits into the main plot, and the pair undertakes a literal voyage that closely echoes the last act of Shinju Ten no Amijima. Both Kuroshitsuji and Amijima feature a poetic and surreal michiyuki scene that follows a river, since love suicides are often connected to watery settings (Shively 43 and Miner 74). Here's a shot from Kuroshitsuji's michiyuki scene:

(Side note- this episode's title is translated as "His Butler, Fluent," which doesn't make much sense unless I interpret "fluent" as "flowing," as if he's flowing along the river . . . and that would serve to really emphasize the importance of this michiyuki scene!). During both journeys, the characters pass a series of bridges; the first such bridge mentioned in Amijima is “Tenjin Bridge,” or “Heavenly God Bridge,” while the last bridge to appear in Kuroshitsuji bears the similar name “Tenshi Bridge,” or “Angel Bridge” (Chikamatsu 91). Maybe that's a coincidence, or maybe it's an explicit allusion . . . At any rate, bridges-- especially ones whose names have such clear spiritual connotations-- carry symbolic weight, and they may here represent a crossing from the land of the living to the realm of the dead. Indeed, characters in both works explicitly allude to such a crossing. In Amijima, the male protagonist Jihei remarks that, “The farther we go the closer we get to the road to Hades.” In response, his mistress Koharu asks, “Is this road already Hades (Chikamatsu 92)?” Likewise, Kuroshitsuji’s michiyuki brings the protagonists to a misty otherworld after they pass Tenshi Bridge in the hollow boat previously shown in the credits, at which point Ciel asks Sebastian whether he is already dead. In both works, the michiyuki positions the characters at an ambiguous border between life and death. The very end of Kuroshitsuji’s journey scene also parallels the passage immediately following Amijima’s michiyuki. In Chikamatsu’s play, Koharu reminisces about the people she has leaves behind, remembering that the double suicide will break the heart of Jihei’s wife, Osan (Chikamatsu 93). Similarly, Ciel thinks of the world he has left while memories of his life literally appear as film reels floating in the river, and he and Sebastian predict that Lizzie, his fiancée, will grieve for him. However, both characters give up those reflections on their past lives and on the abandoned third members of their respective love triangles at a clear turning point. Koharu cuts her hair, becoming like a “Buddhist monk” and thus freeing herself from worldly obligations (Chikamatsu 94). In Kuroshitsuji, the water turns clear, and Ciel looks up to a crescent moon with its connotations of impermanence and declares he is “just Ciel Phantomhive,” doffing the titles of “earl” and “Watchdog” that defined him for so long. In these dramatic moments, both characters mentally sever their bonds to their previous life and permanently surrender themselves to suicide. Part 4: The "Love Suicide" At the conclusion of the michiyuki, the characters of Kuroshitsuji and Amijima arrive at their chosen places of death and commit suicide, in final scenes that once again closely mirror each other. For instance, Ciel resembles Koharu-- they're both the younger, seemingly more feminine members of their pairs-- as he considers the different fates of his body and soul. Koharu muses that, “Even if we die in different places and these bodies are pecked at by kites and crows, I ask only that our two souls be bound together and go together to hell or to Paradise” (Chikamatsu 93). In a remarkably similar scene, Ciel glances at a black bird of prey, likely a raven or crow, and orders Sebastian to let it finish off his corpse, once the demon has consumed his soul and perhaps tied their damned spirits together by this consumption. Thus, both characters dismiss the importance of their physical forms, instead emphasizing the souls that may now be joined to their partner’s in an eternal afterlife.

(These crow lines are freakishly close!) Ciel’s behavior further imitates Koharu’s as the moments of their deaths approach. Both characters face their ends calmly, with minimal carrying-on; Ciel refrains from crying and wears a neutral expression even from the start of the michiyuki, while Koharu conquers her initial tears and replaces them with a smile (Chikamatsu 95-96). Thus, the characters project a calm resolve that might almost justify their suicides, specifically in the eyes of a Japanese audience (Miner 74). Moreover, the two characters instruct their partners to brutally kill them, taking charge of their deaths even without dealing the final blow. Both Sebastian and Jihei initially hold back from violence-- Sebastian assures Ciel that he will be as “gentle” as possible when taking his soul, while Jihei’s blade falters as tears blur his vision. Ciel delivers a surprising response: “Go ahead and be brutal. Etch the pain deep into my soul as proof that I lived.” Similarly, Koharu insists that Jihei “hurry” and thus inspires him to stab her, as the narrator observes that “it is the woman who has the strength to spur him on” (Chikamatsu 96). Though these two characters seem to have less power in their relationships and are killed by more physically able partners, they claim agency in their final seconds, directing their own deaths. Sebastian and Jihei also demonstrate similarities in their concluding scenes, treating their partners with apparent tenderness even as they prepare to murder them. Prior to stabbing her, Jihei pulls Koharu into an embrace and holds her close for some time (Chikamatsu 95). Sebastian also cares for Ciel in a surprisingly intimate manner. He first uses his lips to pull off his glove-- an article of clothing which Yana Toboso likens to underwear-- and, with his now-bare hand, softly strokes Ciel’s hair, brow, and cheek (“エロい”). He then leans in towards the boy’s mouth, implying that he may extract his soul through a kiss. In this way, the two characters exhibit a romantic gentleness that contrasts strikingly with the violence they are about to inflict. Finally, the music that ends the two works imbues them both with a sense of spiritual transcendence, slightly tinged with tragedy. In Amijima’s ending lines, the sole reciter chants that his characters reach “Buddhahood and deliverance [from reincarnation] . . . In the eyes of all [who see it] there are tears” (Chikamatsu 96).  This ending elevates the suffering of two rather ordinary characters to near-mythical proportions (Miner 74-75), yet it then states that this “deliverance” is no happy ending and that spectators still weep over the tragedy.

Kuroshitsuji likewise infuses its last moments with somewhat contradictory transcendental and tragic overtones, using an excerpt of a Latin song, “Si Deus Me Relinquit,” or “If God Has Abandoned Me.” While the anime previously plays this theme over a variety of sad scenes, it now presents it anew, omitting the usual choral elements and complicated orchestration and allowing a sole voice to recite the text. Remarkably, the song breaks off and leaves a sentence grammatically incomplete, drawing special attention to two words before buried in a longer line-- “nigram clavem,” or “the black key.” As Sebastian advances towards Ciel to take his soul, the show declares that this boy alone holds the “key” to unlock the afterlife, whether it be heaven or hell. He thereby escapes his troubled life and may reach eternal rest, yet the weak, solitary voice, echoing against silence as it sings of misery and damnation, reminds us that this scene is tragic nonetheless. The anime then fades to black, leaving the details of Ciel’s death ambiguous, so we can imagine bloody horror scene, a transcendental merging of two souls, or both at once.

In part through this careful use of music, both stories leave us with bittersweet feelings of both awe and mourning. Tl;dr- Kuroshitsuji draws on the same literary conventions, symbols, and associations that have been inspiring Japanese love suicide writers for centuries, and Ciel and Sebastian’s behavior in the final scene closely resembles that of the main couple in a famous love suicide play. Even if the creators of the anime did not refer specifically to the work of the great love suicide writer Chikamatsu-- and I really think they might have-- they most likely intended to situate their work within the broader genre of love suicide literature. Ultimately, Kuroshitsuji’s use of love suicide tropes heightens the romantic subtext we see elsewhere in Ciel and Sebastian’s relationship. Sources: Anna Maria Jones. “The Victorian Childhood of Manga: Toward a Queer Theory of the Child in Toboso Yana's Kuroshitsuji.” Criticism, vol. 55, no. 1, 2013, pp. 1–41. www.jstor.org/stable/10.13110/criticism.55.1.0001. Black Butler. Dir. Toyisha Shinohara. Perf. Daisuke Ono, Maaya Sakamoto, et al. A-1 Pictures, 2008-2009. Youtube. Funimation Entertainment. Web. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdglf3Tna0k&list=ELzukJMElcwvc>. Chikamatsu, Monzaemon. The Love Suicide at Amijima. Trans. Donald Shively. Print. Miner, Earl Roy., Hiroko Odagiri, and Robert E. Morrell. The Princeton Companion to Classical Japanese Literature. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1985. Print. Shively, Donald. "Introduction." Introduction. The Love Suicide at Amijima. 2-60. Print. Toboso, Yana. "Re: 26:エロい." Blog article. 落書き帳. 30 June 2013. Web. 15 Dec. 2016. <http://yanatoboso.tuna.be/?mon=2013/06>.

[k-s-morgan]

I hope you're okay. Whenever I see more terrible news out of Ukraine I think of you and how you're doing. I hope you and you family are alright and I desperately wish the horror would end.

Anyways, since I was thinking about you I wanted to drop in to say that I love your stories and all of your meta. You really dive so deep into all of these characters and it's always a joy to read.

All told, with everything going on, it's hard not to feel a bit hopeless lately. Those Gentle Slopes is basically my comfort reread fic (Though I absolutely love Tomarry and WHGTB, Sebaciel has wrapped its inky claws of hyperfixation around my heart). Reading and enjoying such a good story makes me feel like maybe we're all just swapping fanfic as if we were telling tales around the campfire, tending our little flames to help keep the darkness at bay, and it makes things a little bit better.

Sending good vibes and hugs for all your pets from the other side of the planet.

Thank you so much for your kind words! Today, unfortunately, I’m feeling down as well. Things have been mostly quiet for the last few days, but the situation overall... I don’t think anyone is interested in stopping this war any time soon, and the perspectives are bleak. I don’t know how to live in a world like this, constantly fearing the end of everything. This isn’t normal and such pressure is slowly dragging me down.  

I’m really glad that you liked my stories and metas. These things are giving me a lot of joy, and I’m happy if other people find them useful/entertaining. 

Hoping for the world to live on peacefully and for us to keep enjoying fandoms for years and decades to come. 

[k-s-morgan]

Hi katrin! There's a lot of shitty people In the Hannibal fandom (newbies) talking crap about you because you ship tomarry. I thought it would be funny if you blocked them because I can bet they do enjoy reading your metas (God forbid they accidentally like one of your posts)

Haha, I’d think antis would dislike Sebaciel more than Tomarry! 

Honestly, I have no idea what antis are doing in ‘Hannibal’ fandom in the first place, and I’ll definitely block them if I come across them, but until they bother me directly, let them read the metas - maybe they’ll learn something about the show :D Because I’m scared to imagine how people with these mindsets understand the events in it.