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I don’t think I’ve seen Hannah Annafellows in your very cute artstyle yet. I’d love to see her and Alois in a picture, please? 🥹

little brat and proud demon mom

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I'm really happy Yana is going on a hiatus!

She worked nonstop for 20 years. Being a manga artist is hard enough, but since 2020 she has been doing two jobs!!

I have been worried about her health for a while, because keeping that lifestyle for so long is quite dangerous, so I'm glad she made this decision.

Hope you have a great time, queen! We will wait for you!

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I'm surprised there's still people who portray Lizzy and Sebastian as rivals, as if they fought for Ciel's love/attention.

When they are actually both equally important. They are the pillars of his life. You cannot remove one.

Lizzy is Ciel's Eros. And Sebastian is Ciel's Thanatos.

Lizzy represents his desire to live. His desire to be happy. She's his future. Hers is the purest, most genuine love on earth.

She's the only one left from the long-gone past days. A reminder of happy times. When he's with her, he can act his age. They can have fun. They can find love and joy together. Maybe even negative emotions as well, but that's part of being human.

At the end of the day, Lizzy is Ciel's humanity. She's Ciel's light.

Sebastian, on the other hand, is Ciel's darkness. If Lizzy means future, Sebastian is the one who will take it away. He connects with Ciel darkest desires: his hate, his fears, his desire to revenge. And ultimately, his desire to die.

As opposed to Lizzy, Sebastian will never love Ciel. He won't bring him joy nor happiness. But is because of the absence of love that he is able to give Ciel comfort.

Love is beautiful, but it has a dark side as well: jealously, insecurities, lies, fear of abandonment. Even the purest love can bring the most horrible emotions. Love can be painful, and it always come to an end at some point. Love comes with expectations.

Sebastian, as a demon, is above it all. He will never judge Ciel, no matter what he does. He will never lie to him. He will never hurt him. And most important: he will never, ever, leave him.

Not a single human will ever be able to replace Sebastian's role because human emotions are flawed. Sebastian's devotion, on the other hand, is absolute and perfect.

At the end of the day, Sebastian will never be able to give Young Master a love as pure and sweet as Lizzy's, and Lizzy could never give Ciel the trust and intimacy Sebastian provides.

For me, both characters define the two sides of Ciel. They're both important and irreplaceable. Rather than being rivals, they complement each other and that's beautiful.

(as I side note: I'm actually a Freud hater, but the Eros and Thanatos theory fits Ciel so well)

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as an asthmatic i relish in the fact he also has asthma and I like to imagine he goes though this sort of thing too.

bonus:

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Back in the Murder Arc, when Ciel is the prime subject, Charles doesn't allow him to sleep on his own room because "noblemen's rooms often have hidden exits, so they can run away in case of emergency".

That has been bugging me lately.... Could Vincent....?

I'm not a supporter of "Vincent is alive" theories, but we can't rule it out at all, can we?

He surely knew something would happen. He was definitely prepared for it.

Rachel's and Vincent's bodies were burnt, so they can't be identified. If someone found a corpse next to Rachel's in their room, with a similar body type to Vincent's, it would be natural to assume it's him.

(I dont wanna get too much into forensic stuff, but fingerprints would be gone and no dna tests by then)

So he could have known someone wanted him death and prepare an escape route beforehand. Or he could even fake the attack on the mansion to trick everyone into thinking he's gone.

As I said, personally don't think him being alive would make a lot of sense after the twin reveal... But definitely there is Something about earl Vincent Phantomhive.

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i actually have a theory that because of popular shows/books like good omens portraying demons as not ontologically evil but merely rebellious and misunderstood, it has made people less willing to engage in good faith with a text where the demon is ontologically evil, even if the text was written at a time when 'demon actually a misunderstood good boi' was absolutely not a common story trope At All.

this is why you get truly unhinged takes like 'sebastian isn't evil & really he's like a father figure to ciel & all these scenes between them are actually wholesome if you're not a degenerate pervert'. i guarantee you that with an unbiased reading of the text, his behavior was intended to be seen as a reflection of his nature as an ontologically evil predatory creature. call kuroshitsuji a product of its time for depicting demons like that if you must, but you have to accept that sebastian is not anything remotely like crowley to even begin engaging with the themes of kuroshitsuji on a serious level.

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The Black Butler revival will, of course, in this day and age, be the complete embodiment of pro-ship vs. anti-ship discourse, given the subject matter.

But for those of you who are watching this for the first time in 2024 (which includes myself!), there are certain things about the show you simply must understand, for the sake of media literacy.

The first is that Black Butler is supernatural gothic romanticism at its core. This genre alone should tell you that the relationships integral to the plot will be complex, messy, and toxic, by default. That is not only a huge part of this genre’s appeal, but very much the point of the story.

The themes are dark, the terrible things that happen to the main characters are dark, and therefore the relationships at the forefront (and in the background) will reflect that.

The gothic genre has been alluringly popular for over a century (longer, if you know your history) because audiences are entranced by the macabre, the tainted antiheroes, the monsters who live inside us all. It’s popular for a reason.

That being said, understand that whether you, the viewer, ship Sebastian and Ciel or not is irrelevant. Their bond doesn’t need to be understood as romantic or sexual, but it sure as hell isn’t normal. It isn’t healthy. And the audience knows that. That’s the draw. It’s what makes them compelling to watch.

Ciel and Sebastian’s relationship mirrors many gothic novels, poems, and penny dreadfuls written in the Victorian Era (the very same time period in which Kuroshitsuji takes place). The Victorian folks who read these tales for the first time ate that shit up, because it was tantalizing. It was shocking. It was inappropriate, and monstrous, and violent, and erotic, and went against societal norms. But that was the point.

A huge part of gothic romanticism is the blatant sexualization of the relationship between the “monstrous” characters and their human counterparts in the story. Sex itself doesn’t need to take place for their bond to be sexually charged. The forbidden nature of their relationship—which typically involves layers of social taboos, moral ambiguity, or simple infatuation—is what makes their interactions erotic. Sexual contact rarely ever actually happens in these stories. It’s the taboo nature of their bond that creates the tension.

One of the many reasons audiences love this genre is the constant question of morality in its themes. Who, between them, is the real monster? Could the human character have ever been saved? This genre is often associated with tragedy, because the bond forged between the characters in these stories are destined to end in death and destruction. The reader knows it can’t end any other way. How can it?

But an integral element of these gothic tales is the catharsis that comes with this tragedy. The corrupted human often gets what they want in the end, even if it’s at the cost of their own life. Whether they regret their choice to foster this monstrous relationship varies on the story, but it doesn’t change the trajectory of their descent.

Sebastian and Ciel’s relationship is the whole plot of Black Butler. Their closeness bears a grotesque ick factor, but it is deliberate. It is a constant reminder of how unnatrual their bond truly is. Rationalizing or watering down how abnormal they are about each other misses the point entirely. They will never have a normal, healthy relationship, and that’s what moves the plot forward.

That’s why you’re watching it.

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i miss my girl Lizzy. I wonder what she is doing?

she went for a walk with Ciel !

(now I draw her with a lil tooth gap because of this headcanon, it's way too cute)

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redraw my favorite scene

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Tried doing sth quicker inspired by seson 1 ending

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Why Ciel Being a Minor is Crucial

Something that constantly catches my attention as I read Black Butler is the emphasis on Ciel being a child. It’s brought up constantly in how other characters perceive him, and it also presents itself at times within his behaviors, particularly during traumatic events. It’s intentional and vital to the story and the themes and messages within it would not be the same if Ciel were an adult.

Ciel’s childlike nature and presentation is an integral part of the overall story and his development as a character. It serves three purposes:

It symbolizes that he is not yet past the trauma he endured when he was younger.

It serves to contrast against his more mature qualities and how others underestimate him because of it.

The presence of both mature and immature qualities provide symbolism for the transient stage of adolescence and how adults respond to it.

For the first point, Ciel’s persisting youth serves as a symbol of being stuck in one’s past trauma. He is thirteen years old, and yet he looks younger, likely due to his time in captivity where malnutrition was one of the many cruelties he endured. Additionally, he maintains some child-like characteristics within his personality and actions, such as being carried often by Sebastian, having Sebastian watch over him as he falls asleep, and an avoidance/ignorance around sex/sexuality. His childlike behavior is heightened during traumatic events, such as witnessing the slaughter of children within a replicated space of where his trauma occurred (Book of Circus arc), his near-death experience with Sebastian where he had to be forcibly restrained to receive treatment (Green Witch arc), as well as when he has PTSD nightmares. He comes across as very sheltered and avoidant of topics around sex, which at least partially correlates to his cultural upbringing within Victorian era England; however, his blatant lack of awareness of sexual topics/concerns pushes even beyond his cultural restrictions into the atypical (this will be expanded upon in a separate post).

Most, if not all, of these moments show a behavioral age regression in response to trauma. He may be 13 in the present, but the scared 10 year old still lives within him.

Age regression is typically divided into two types: voluntary and involuntary.

Ciel demonstrates both of these. He demonstrates voluntary age regression by allowing Sebastian to carry him around, as well as explicitly ordering him to watch over him while he sleeps. Although I’m not entirely sure on what are considered typical butler duties, one might even see the act of dressing and washing as babying, although this also seems an appropriate duty since I’m sure Ciel never had to dress himself as a young child. Still, none of us can deny that the act of dressing and washing are an intimate and personal form of care between Ciel and Sebastian, regardless of what side of the ship/no-ship fence you’re on. The number of frames/scenes of Ciel being dressed/undressed are evidence enough that these moments hold weight for both characters. Within all of these situations, Ciel is in control; he decides how he wants to be treated, and anyone who oversteps that boundary is met with hostility (e.g., Sebastian attempting to spoon feed him). By contrast, the involuntary age regression occurs during moments of trauma, which was already described above.

Either way, the childishness of Ciel communicates the message that while trauma may happen in a specific place and time, the impact of it is lifelong and takes years to overcome.

For the second point, it’s also important to recognize that while Ciel is childish in many ways, this youthfulness of him is always put in contrast to other aspects of him that are very mature. He’s an earl and has the responsibilities of an adult, the heaviest of which is to fulfill the Queen’s orders as her watchdog. Additionally, his intelligence and wry humor are very mature for his age, partially thanks to Sebastian’s influence and education - we saw on the flashbacks how little he knew at first and how much Sebastian had to teach him. If it weren’t for the childlike aspects present (physical smallness included), he could easily pass as an adult character.

The fact that he is technically a teenager and not a preadolescent is an important one. He knew early on that he would be perceived as a younger than he was due to his small stature. In order to carry out his vengeance, Ciel knew he had to integrate adult society. He had to work particularly hard to grow up as quickly as possible, which was why he allowed Sebastian to educate him so strictly. It worked; the queen recognized his position and maturity and allowed him to take his place as her watchdog, granting him the ability to pick up his father’s mantel and become part of the dark, seedy (and very adult) underworld.

However, it goes without saying that his youth is never forgotten amongst the adults that surround him. He is constantly looked at/treated as a child by others, including his enemies, and as such, they think they can either manipulate him or don’t see him as a threat. Ciel uses this to his advantage to best his enemies with his superior intelligence and Sebastian’s supernatural skills. He’s throwing their assumptions of him back into their faces. He isn’t a child; not anymore, and especially not after what he went through. Within the world of Black Butler, children are often treated as less than human, not worthy of respect or autonomy. They’re often compared to tools, dolls, or animals. Children are ‘things,’ created by adults and for adults. It’s a beautiful irony that it’s the cruelty of adults that has transformed Ciel into the very thing that’s going to destroy them (i.e., the adults responsible). Their hubris and the fact that they underestimate him due to his youth will be their downfall.

Of course, the conversation of whether Ciel is a child or adult is, in a way, a false dichotomy. The reality is that he exists somewhere in the middle; Ciel is neither fully a child nor fully an adult, and it’s this power struggle between his trauma and the world he lives in that provides symbolism for what it means to be an adolescent. Adolescence is a transitory period that is often overlooked or de-emphasized, particularly in western culture. Adolescence is often lumped in under the category of “child” with emphasis on the younger years of childhood, especially when it comes to topics of sex/sexuality (again, this will be discussed in a separate post). As such, there’s an invisible divide that exists in western culture between being a “child” and being an “adult.” This, of course, does adolescents a disservice, as adolescents are also going through major physiology changes, as well as dealing with a change in expectations from those around them. It’s a combination of adults restricting personal autonomy and self-identity for the adolescent paired with the pressure/expectation of the adolescent to behave as an adult and provide adult-level results.

This is what makes Ciel and Sebastian’s relationship so interesting. Due to the nature of the contract, Ciel is the one in control, rather than Sebastian. It’s a strangely balanced relationship between them, where Ciel is the master and Sebastian is the servant; and yet, at the same time, Sebastian is the mentor/guardian and Ciel is the mentee/apprentice. Sebastian is able to teach and establish rules that follow his role as his butler and play along with the game of upholding Victorian values (mostly), but in the end, Ciel is the one who has the final say on what happens. In this sense, their dynamic grants Ciel the autonomy and control that he craves, while also providing him with the support that he continues to need. In this way, Ciel is able to exist in both spaces at once: being a child in some ways, and being an adult in others. Both are central to who he is, and both are important.

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I do agree with op for the most part, but just wanted to add something.

Sex is not exactly like violence because we're told since we're kids that violence is bad. All kids know they can't kill nor hurt others.

However because of the lack of sexual education (which is heavily tied to puritanism), a lot of young people dont have information about what's good or bad, nor what's normal or what you should expect. So when they're exposed to sexual content at a early age, it may define their relationship with sex because that's their only reference.

I, as an adult, can watch porn and understand it's just fantasy, that some things are fake and other ones should not be done in real life. But younger people may not have enough information to do so.

At the end of the day, it's an endless circle of "sex is bad because people lacks sex education" and "we cannot give proper sex education because sex is bad".

That being said, as op said, being normal about sex is pretty much what we sould do. Aswering younger people's questions and giving them safe and healthy information is way more effective that just ranting about "problematic" media.

There's no such thing as "problematic" media anyway, the only problem is people's lack of critical thinking.

Something that’s always baffled me is so many antis being into really violent or dark media and that’s totally fine for some reason, but as soon as anything is suggestive or sexual it’s evil.

Sex isn’t special. It doesn’t have some special power to corrupt people more than violence. If watching horror movies or playing violent games isn’t going to make me into a murderer, then making or consuming sexual content isn’t going to make me a predator either.

Putting sex on this pedestal as something sacred or special is a big problem. It’s just another activity a human can do like eating or sleeping. The sooner people can just be normal about sex, the sooner all this Puritanism will stop I think. Easier said than done tho…

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Happy mothers day!

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wanted to draw grell. wanted to draw a furisode. bone apple teeth.

i'm sorry i don't post much, the day job storyboarding continues to destroy all motivation to draw for myself.

this was drawn for the reaper day tag on twitter. i was trying to channel this shigaraki drawing i did a few years ago. it's been a hot minute since i did anything with ink and brush.