gvenevera

[gvenevera]

Well I’m not sure if this can be considered lore, but it IS Yana’s official art! Glad to be of help. 😋

#its been 14 years since this aired #and i still scream like a lunatic

BONUS FULLSHOT GIF:

[gvenevera]

And you know the scene was so phenomenal that even Yana-sensei had to draw a “fan-art” of her own work!

#its been 14 years since this aired #and i still scream like a lunatic

BONUS FULLSHOT GIF:

#kuroshitsuji #sebaciel #other ships wish they were this smooth! #ss2 was controversial but at least they gave us a lot of romantic gems #even the author liked it! #watching this again lets me notice that Ciel lets go of his handhold in midair #before winding his arm around Sebastian’s shoulder #advanced bridal carry lol

[gvenevera]

This post is for people who accept there's some sort of sensual longing between Sebastian and Ciel (either direction or mutual) but who feel uncomfortable with the ship because they assume it suggests only sexual interconnection between the two: that's not true.

Some S/C shippers prefer to go very dark and engage with sexual agegap underage content; it's their right. However, you don't have to do that to interact with the two in the romantic or sensual manner.

Ciel might be one-sidedly longing for Sebastian without understanding it. They might have a relationship where Ciel craves and Sebastian chooses to only give him something until later time. It might be Sebastian who is longing while Ciel stops him for whatever reason and "does it properly". They could be solely romantic. They could be sensual without passing the limits of sexuality; after all, Ciel is a shy boy. They could engage in what would be considered kink in modern times - without "traditional" sex. There are many ways to ship without engaging with the part you find uncomfortable, you know.

The idea that shipping is necessarily "two people immediately fuck" is a bit restrictive. Sure, there are people entertaining themselves in that manner, but shipping is more about exploring the potential relationships, and all S/C shippers do is read the story with intense focus on rather obvious hints that the two are intimately close.

#this goes for all ships actually #you notice how general audience are happy with young het couples but immediately call mlm shippers fetishists? #they still don’t view gay couples the same way as straight ones and it irks me #as for sebacie if you’re stuck on the age gap #even ao3 fics regularly use the Adult!Ciel tag

[gvenevera]

me loves those two arsonists sitting on a tree, kissing watching fire together🥰

Just some cute date ideas ( ˘⌣˘)♡(˘⌣˘ )🌕🦉

#this was so creepy but so so on brand for sebaciel #belong in the murder husbands club

[gvenevera]

So, uh, does it mean that for your next dance, you'd be dancing as yourself, Ciel?

The wedding dance, perhaps? 😉

#i don’t recall myself seeing this scene in the manga #it’s even more romantic than I remember #Yana sensei was cooking here

[gvenevera]

a twitter user pointed out that everyone is helping izuku forward but the only one he looked backward for was kacchan and the director was like “hehe you noticed” and I’m UN FUCKING WELL

#OH so they did it on purpose! #was that why they had the frames pass by so fast at Katsuki’s scene? #you can’t even tell he’s there unless you pause

[gvenevera]

Is kacchan looking at the camera in that way and then it immediately cutting to Izuku gritting his teeth and frantically running trying to say something 🤔

#YES #the cut to Deku intrigues me as much as his dramatic face-turn #plus his cut in the Class-A sequence was way too fast and in a different angle than the others #as if we’re not meant to see him as a support in that sequence #then again could be Bones ruining his character again lol

[gvenevera]

UPDATE: Today the guy just posted on twitter that he saw some bkdk fan discussions and was apparently disgusted. Even though he said preciously that lolicon doesn’t faze him because they’re fictional characters

Then proceeded to moan on his youtube channel about how he got “cancelled”. So I guess, that’s over for positive fandom representation.

Don’t worry though, our bkdk heroes got wind of it and yanked him off his high horse so fast, he deleted his tweets from the whole last month. Now this is what getting cancelled actually means!

If any BKDK (or any casual MHA fans) here enjoys watching anime reaction videos like me - I’m spreading the news that Youtuber @ Nicholas Light TV is starting My Hero Academia!

I’ve been a fan of his channel from his Attack on Titan reactions. I’ve seen people say he’s too hyperactive, but imo he’s actually a guy who’s super excited about everything and it doesn’t feel fake.

But the best part is his media critical thinking skills is top notch. The guy was a Gabi fan and enjoyed the (anime) AOT ending, he also recently started Naruto and loved it too, so that’s a guaranteed winner in my book!

Just look at his reaction to the first Deku vs Kacchan fight: he’s already got the romance pinned down from the bullying lol.

Like yeah he’s being 90% sarcastic but he actually gets it, unlike antis these days who would immediately scream “Abusive Proship!”

He says: Deku has a lot of love and admiration for Bakugou from his childhood, but he doesn’t accept that love!

He sees All Might’s interaction with BKDK and feels like he could be a father figure for Bakugou, just as much as for Deku!

(He also thinks Bakugou has parental issues or is fatherless lol, that’s the only thing he got wrong. He roasted Bakugou a lot in the early episodes, as expected, but even he says that he’s sure Bakugou will become one of his favorites in time.)

One Disclaimer! I am NOT claiming he is a BKDK shipper, in fact I hight doubt it since he’s a straightforward male anime fan. But it’s nice to hear some fresh, positive perspective instead of all the hate towards us. Look at the comments in the first episode and you’ll see commenters say that “MHA is good but the fandom is toxic.” Yeah, I’m so tired of hearing that shit.

Anyways, if you’re interested in an MHA rewatch, go watch Nick’s channel!

#bnha #bakudeku #the tweets are deleted but bkdk on twitter got all the receipts #idc about the vengeance but I gotta set my record straight #had me in the first half ngl #instead of making neutral comments about the series he just let the homophobia jump out #you think mha fandom is toxic? we had to be when we always encounter people like this

[gvenevera]

I'm very sorry you're feeling so sad today.

How about Sebastian and Ciel with flower crowns?🌸✨

Or a beauty and the beast AU?

I had a choice...

and I ended up doing both🥀

[gvenevera]

Calling it right now in Kuroshitsuji

the moment we get Ociel’s real name is gonna be the very last panel of the manga with like a reaper striking his name off a list or smth

#or perhaps Sebastian will say it #the first and last time he will ever call him by his name #oh I’m sad already

[gvenevera]

I don't know what everyone else is saying about the new ED but the main thing I wanna say is that it leans heavily into the "Izuku and Katsuki are two halves of one whole hero" thing to the point where it subtly implies their child selves merge into one person and I really really hope that's a cheeky hint about the ending somehow

#interesting #i think it’s the foreshadowing is that Izuku’s hand is yet to come #metaphorically laying down their cards you know

[gvenevera]

I was in a mood😔

[gvenevera]

Don’t mind me, just remembered that Ciel has canonically undressed Sebastian.

#i like that these two has probably seen all there is of each other #like Sebastian was undressing himself before Ciel in this arc too #and not to mention the whole demon form thing #they’re perfect for each other

[gvenevera]

Let's talk about Jump GIGA

Jump GIGA covers, 2016-2024. Volumes are published (left to right per row) as Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn releases, with 2018 and 2019 briefly breaking the pattern by having three Winter and three Summer volumes each. 2023 has an Early Spring volume in addition to the standard four.

So, people have pointed out that the 2024 Spring cover is, uh, not like other covers.

But I've only seen comparisons to other MHA GIGA covers and MHA Weekly Shonen Jump covers. Out of curiosity for what GIGA's typical marketing aesthetics might be, I put together a comparison between all of Jump GIGA's covers to date.

And, um. Some things stand out, to say the least.

First, let me clarify what Jump GIGA even is: it is a seasonal magazine from Shonen Jump, published separate from Weekly Shonen Jump. SJ is an absolutely massive brand and they have a number of magazines serialized outside of the most well-known weekly magazine.

The content of Jump GIGA is primarily made up of one-shots and spin-offs. From the beginning, a lot of the appeal has been the cool cover illustrations which showcase special merchandise that comes with the purchase of GIGA. Usually the cover also promotes big things going on related to the WSJ series, like movie events, new games, or special figurines for sale.

The marketing aesthetic has been clear from the start: the cover consists of one core illustration and a number of ads surrounding it. Most often you get a cover illustration of a protagonist, and then ads and merch for other series, e.g. Food Wars protagonist cover with One Piece film promotion and Haikyuu!! merch.

The purpose of this marketing direction is pretty obvious. Spin-offs and one-shots are not likely to generate a ton of interest consistently, so they lure people in with the cool covers and tempting limited edition merchandise of the series they already know and love. In this way, highlighting one series with the cover and different series with the merch makes sense, because maybe somebody doesn't care about Food Wars, but they definitely want those Haikyuu!! stickers, stuff like that.

Starting from 2020's Autumn volume, you can see a shift. For the first time, basically all of the merchandise is for the cover series. The Demon Slayer manga had already ended five months earlier in May, but a two-chapter spin-off was scheduled for release in WSJ during October. This GIGA was released exactly one day before the second chapter was published and it capitalizes on the hype.

After this point, only MHA and Jujutsu Kaisen dominate the cover and the merch in quite this way, with Black Clover getting attention last volume as a way to highlight the fact that it actually switched syndication from WSJ to GIGA.

Anyway, most commonly the cover illustration is a solo shot of a core cast member (usually but not always the protagonist), and if it's not a solo, it's a big cast illustration.

Only a few covers focus on two characters, and usually it's a crossover as opposed to characters from same series sharing the limelight.

Here we've got Food Wars' protagonist with the main characters from Dr. Stone and Act-Age.

The two covers most similar to the Izuku & Kacchan cover are 2022 Winter and 2023 Autumn.

Winter depicts the main trio of Blue Box in a seasonally-appropriate aesthetic. Not gonna lie, this one kinda makes me laugh--Blue Box is a romance and sports manga, and even though Christmas has a romantic air to it in Japan, instead of depicting any sort of like, hesitant but hopeful romantic energy between the heterosexual couple that actually get together later in the series, they focus primarily on the two girls being cute with the guy is a wee footnote? I mean, all right.

Meanwhile, Autumn depicts one of the protagonists with the series antagonist with a typical cool action style. I'm not very familiar with JJK, but I hear these two have got Some Drama going on, so, there's that.

The merch itself has also evolved over the years. Stickers and posters were present early on, but they have since expanded to decorative folders and now acrylic stands and coasters. 2021 Summer sees the first time the cover illustration is marketed as merch, with the Jujutsu Kaisen cover included as a decorative folder.

Right after that, the Kacchan cover of 2021 Autumn is included as a poster alongside earlier covers featuring Todoroki and Izuku.

2023 Summer's cover is a huge, wrap-around MHA cast illustration and it was published three days after chapter 396 came out, strategically timed to highlight the big shift in the final battle as Ochako vs Toga ends and All Might vs. AFO begins. Merch includes a decorative folder of the wrap-around cover and character motif stickers.

And then we get this!?

A duo cover illustration where the cover art itself has been merchandised to hell and back!?!?

Acrylic stand and pin set!?

Double-sided coaster showing bkdk greatest hits!? With volume 29's river scene cover!?

There's also a double-sided poster featuring the Spring cover with the ninth popularity poll art and a decorative bag with the anniversary art. The cover art itself is plastered all over the volume, front, back, and spine, apparently a total of 21 times.

I honestly don't know what to say about this. It feels wild that this is actually what the cover is. Obviously it is a huge marketing push in anticipation of season 7, and Izuku and Katsuki are the most popular characters, but. it just feels... unique.

In the course of Jump GIGA's publication, this direction is kind of unprecedented. Genuinely no one could have expected this. This seems to be the first time there's been this much merch for a cover. And it was a solid fucking move, marketing-wise--it's sold out basically everywhere, everyone is talking about it. And even people who don't follow the series or ship these two can't help but comment on how strikingly romantic it looks!?

I don't know how much say Horikoshi had in what the cover was, but damn it sure feels like he drew this with immense affection. I kind of wonder if he personally pushed for it to be these two, rather than the typical solo shot, cast shot, or even a protagonist vs. antagonist shot.

I'm KO'd, man. idek if this post is useful to anybody I'm just on my hands and knees here.

Everybody knows what we're all here for, and it's these cute boys finally getting their happy ending.

#either Jump wants to cash in on the shippers or Hori told them the ending #I’m inclined towards the latter!

[gvenevera]

Going through the whole manga once more to make sure I've saved every sebaciel carry instance and I cannot help but stop and appreciate some things in this mini-sort-of-reread like

Ah yes, classic woman enjoyer behaviour

Shit talking in french has to be another level of "mean gayness"

Yana when she's not sexualising the shota

More on this at 3am! ...or not!

#like ofc Ciel was trying to sell his vulnerability to the side characters #but no one questioned how he was basically sitting over Sebastian’s chest? #in a nightgown? #with his blood all over him? #this is NOT normal master-butler behavior lmao #maybe Bard/Meyrin/Finny are used to it but the others had to be quite sus right

[gvenevera]

IF I SPEAK—actually I will, and laugh while I’m at it

what do you mean bkdk was ALSO given a rooftop shot that iz//chs SWORE was the epitome of romance? LMAOOOOOO with a pink gradient sky nonetheless, AND with Deku acknowledging that Bakugo’s sacrifice severely affected him???

[gvenevera]

The Romantic Tragedy of Soul Consumption

The contract between Sebastian and Ciel stipulates that when Ciel finally completes his revenge, he would give his soul to Sebastian, the demon whom he bargained with.

I noticed that throughout the anime-canon, soul consumption is put in a romantic frame. The contract between Sebastian and Ciel is reminiscent of a marriage, with Sebastian vowing to be at Ciel’s side until the day he dies, until the day lies become truth, that he will never lie, and he will never betray him. He will be his loyal slave, until the day where he can consume Ciel’s soul. The way he speaks in anticipation of that moment, that is reminiscent of the consummation between two lovers, since he talks about “desiring” Ciel’s soul, and “being hungry” for Ciel’s soul. As I talked about in my other post, hunger is a metaphor for lust. Basically, the day Sebastian consumes Ciel’s soul, that will be the day the “consummate” their union, where they will finally become one.

The soul is the memories and feelings, the very essence of someone’s being; thus, Sebastian desiring Ciel’s soul is essentially Sebastian desiring Ciel, utterly and completely. Sebastian consuming Ciel’s soul would be the consummation of that desire.

Ciel giving his soul to Sebastian would essentially be Sebastian treasuring those memories and sentiments that the soul possessed, but tragically ending his life. I also drew my conclusion from the last scene in the anime, which has a clear romantic subtext, with an aspect of tragedy. Ciel and Sebastian go to the isle of the dead, where Sebastian will at last to consume Ciel’s soul, thus complete the contract. Yana also made some commentary in regards to that specific scene, where she called it “incredibly erotic”. I can’t say I completely agree, as I see it more as a classical Shakespearean tragedy, such as Romeo and Juliet, rather than mere erotism, though I do acknowledge the “erotic” depiction as being intentional from the animators.

The erotism in that scene is evident. They talk in double entendres, with Ciel asking Sebastian if it will hurt, and Sebastian promising to be gentle. The way Sebastian removes their clothing to ultimately reveal their contract marks beneath the light of the moon, and the way Ciel longingly stares at Sebastian as he leans towards him. It is erotic, and instead of consuming his soul, it is portrayed as if Sebastian was going to take Ciel’s virginity. It truly is depicted that way, and it was intentional.

Yet, even through the erotism, lies the tragedy. They go to the isle of the dead because they know that by the end, Sebastian is going to be all alone again. It was a doomed love from the beginning, bound to end in tragedy. Sebastian will savour the soul he so desperately desired, but he will be left without Ciel. He will be nothing but a lonely demon without a master.

#well said #black butler has always been a romantic tragedy at the core