#my kuroshitsuji thoughts

[icantdothistodaybruh]

Lazy sunday

#I needed this little distraction more than I thought #also sebastian is playing with ciel's bow like a kitty🥺 #and lies on his lap like one🥺🥺 #i can't with them #best antidepressants core #sebaciel #kuroshitsuji #black butler #ciel phantomhive #our ciel #sebastian michaelis #my art #sketch

[cangrellesteponme]

wife

#yeah i'm not dead woo let's celebrate #my art #kuroshitsuji #kuroshitsuji fanart #black butler #black butler fanart #grelle sutcliff #grell sutcliff #anyway i didn't draw SHIT for a good while and when i got back to it i suddenly hated using the flat marker brush??? #it's part of what makes my signature distinctive so i used it for that but yeah i switched brushes #oddly enough i'm not hating the more textured look? it gets very pixelated at times but it's not awful #back to the signature- it felt weirdly nice to sign things again #i haven't in a while #if you're one of the very few people who also follow me on instagram you'll know i don't use it on there #and the only art i've been doing these days has been original work so yeah nothing on tumblr #and thus the words 'brain exhaustion god stan' have not been written by this comically large hand in a hot minute #enough rambling this is just grelle art because i love her and i know y'all love her too so i thought it would be a nice comeback piece

[anewp0tat0]

looks like I can draw again!!

Sebastian called him "orphan" for the rest of the week.

#YEHAAAAAH MATEE GUESS IM GOING TO ANIMATION SCHOOL #IT WAS ALL WORTH IT. and now it's all over #actually this may mean I'Il be busier later... but for now- I'm back into the swing of things! kuro art; thoughts; tears; and what have you #it feels like a while since I've posted a big project so I hope I can make it up by finally getting back to the one's ive had in my WIPs! #thank god I got this thingy done. my brain is firing again so i gotta keep up #I know how to draw cars😅🙃 #sorry if the eccess of screen prints is annoying I was experimenting #modern!au #kuroshitsuji #black butler #kuroshitsuji fanart #fanart #sebastian michaelis #ciel phantomhive #digital art #o!ciel #this would make a good ad but no not sponcered😌 #sebastian starts vibrating

[stardustizuku]

I’ve recently been thinking on why there’s people who interpret Kuro in such a drastically different way.

And something I notice is that you can easily tell how someone experiences the series, based on what they think of the GWA.

The way you interpret the Green Witch Arc is indicative of of how you have been interpreting the story so far, and how you’ll interpret it going forward

Generally, there’s two interpretations:

1.- The Reaction Ciel had to the mustard gas, are his true feelings coming afloat

2.- The Reaction Ciel had to the mustard gas, isn’t how he feels.

The first interpretation (and I’m really not trying to be mean about it this time) comes from a very, uhm, shall I call it Teenage-Like? mindset of how pain and trauma works.

I call it Teenage-Like, because I’ve seen it in mostly literature aimed at teenagers, be it fanfics or YA. It comes from an inability for teenagers to actually voice how they feel towards their parents. A helpless feeling of being ignored.

I don’t wanna point fingers but this is the basis of a lot of Self Harm tendencies (physical, emotional, psychological, or others like EDs or digital self harm) come from. A need for people to notice you are in pain. But because you feel like you cannot voice it yourself (or don’t deserve it, it can vary) you start to lash out. Put yourself in higher risks, to have someone find out there is something wrong with you.

So the moment the main character finally breaks down, or has a moment of weakness, it’s interpreted as someone finally being truthful.

This is how Ciel’s reaction is interpreted by the first half.

The mustard gas is simply a trigger of pain, that causes all of Ciel to unravel. He’s in pain right now, cause he’s always in pain. He’s avoidant to Sebastian, cause he’s always been scared of him. He doesn’t trust him. He doesn’t trust adults. Finny is the only one who actually cares.

This makes the fact that Sebastian ,essentially, slapped him to get him to react, come off as cruel.

The boy is finally being honest, and you just tell him he’s being childish? Horrible.

Obviously, that’s not my interpretation.

Okay so, what happens once you’re not a teenager? Once you don’t have an adult figure to take care of you? What happens once you start avoiding telling your parents the pain you’re in, not because you think they won’t care, but because they’ll care too much and get worried and you don’t want them to get worried?

You start to realize pain is not the end of the world.

While, when being a teenager, getting sick meant someone gets to take care of you and maybe notice you aren’t okay, as an adult getting sick potentially means - not going to work. Which means your won’t have money to buy food, which means you’ll probably go hungry.

So getting sick becomes less of a way to get away from the responsibilities you have, and more of a burden.

That’s why you’ll see, in media aimed at adults,mental breakdown less depicted as an opportunity to be honest, and more of a sickness that needs to be healed.

You can have a more honest and truthful conversation, while you are sound of mind. There’s no power dynamic between friends, like it would with adult figures and children. So this song and dance, isn’t necessary.

You don’t have to be sick to be understood. And your friends will rather try to help you, than understand you when you’re suffering. That’s the nature of adult relationships.

This is more or less the framing that comes from Ciel’s breakdown (in the second interpretation).

The Mustard Gas isn’t showing Ciel’s true nature - it’s showing Ciel at his most vulnerable. This means, not in his sound mind.

Saying things he normally wouldn’t, hurting people he normally would hold close, and clinging to people he generally would never try to get close to.

Simply put, it isn’t just “a bit of pain to make him unravel” but a “Ciel is getting psychologically tortured by a weapon used for chemical warfare”.

He’s past being honest. He’s having such a severe reaction, that he cannot function. He’s being tortured and broken, to the point he is no longer himself.

He isn’t being “truthful” he’s scared.

And fear can make you do things that, in your sound mind, you would never do.

The point is that, Ciel isn’t saying what he truly feels or being “honest”. It’s him scared out of his mind, saying everything and anything to make the fear stop.

And the biggest proof is how he treats Sebastian.

The fact that Ciel asks Sebastian to “go away” or “not come near” is perhaps the most glaring reason as to how badly this Gas messed with him.

I’ve said this before but to Ciel, Sebastian is a lifeline. He’s the only tool he has for his revenge. The thing that, even after he lost r!Ciel, he was willing to sacrifice it all to achieve.

And at this point in time, Sebastian is also the only emotional anchor Ciel has.

As far back as the second episode, Ciel has asked Sebastian to stay. Even when he’s having flashbacks, even when he’s having an episode. In fact, Sebastian leaving him is a great source of anxiety - since as seen in BoC in the Asthma Scene, without him Ciel feels powerless enough to die.

He feels more protected with him, because he KNOWS Sebastian will protect him and that Sebastian will follow his orders.

Again going with the analogy of a dog - He feels more comfortable having the chained beast by his bed, simply bcs others are trying to hurt him and the beast won’t eat him right now.

So him asking Sebastian to go away, is throwing away his biggest safety net for a surrogate for r!Ciel, just means he’s reverting to the mentality he had during the cult.

If Sebastian is constantly telling him “it’s okay, they can’t hurt you anymore, you’re outside the cage, you can do what you WANT”

Ciel clinging to Finny is him going “no, im staying in the cage bcs at least the cage is familiar”

And no matter what the first camp tells you, staying in the cage, trapped inside your pain ISNT the healthy option.

(We could argue Ciel’s need for revenge rather than healing is also unhealthy, but no one in the second camp would even call Ciel anything other than a villain in someone else’s story)

So, Sebastian slapping him and going “no, that’s not what you want”, isn’t as cruel as it would be in the first interpretation. Because as we see, he’s right. That’s not what Ciel wants. And it’s proved by the next scene where Sebastian talks to Ciel about what he truly wants.

Rather than Sebastian telling Ciel to “get over it”, it’s closest to a “snap out of it, something’s wrong”

This is further proved by the fact that, Sebastian first instinct isn’t to scare him. He does back away, he does try to wait and gently coax him. But Ciel literally cannot reason with him.

That small but significant difference in interpretation has wildly different outcomes in how you perceive both, the characters and the story.

If you pick the first, you’re reading Sebastian as an enemy. Someone who does not respect Ciel. You see his attempt to eat Ciel’s soul as a breach of trust, and proof that he doesn’t care for him.

But if you pick the second option, you see Sebastian as an ally. Someone who’s running out of time and ways to save Ciel. His actions, while crass, ultimately help Ciel. What he was trying to do, was help.

Yana, very clearly, wanted the second interpretation. However, I cannot, in good conscience, tell you it’s the only interpretation. People are free to pick and chose how they read the text, irrelevant of how little of the actual text they’re reading.

But I will say, picking the first is symbolic of a less mature way of thinking. Common on those who like to infantilize trauma and trauma responses. It’s the easy, safe and comforting way of reading the text. As I said, it’s common in those who want their pain to be acknowledged.

That reading of Kuro is one that speak to me, that you’re not really ready to confront pain. And someone with that mentality, is not someone who’s reading of the text I find particularly interesting. Sure, you can share it, I’ll never stop you, but know you’re speaking to me in an entirely different language. You’re interpreting the text so differently, that I don’t think it’s even the same text anymore.

Again, you’re essentially writing analysis on fanfiction. And I’m not all too interested in dissecting your own trauma sloppily painted over British Aesthetic.

#kuroshitsuji #black butler #sebaciel #this is a bit less refined than both the Twitter thread i wrote and other essays #but I had to share my thoughts on this

[another-kshit-blog]

Do you think Ciel uses the glow of his contract eye to read in the dark under his covers?

#sebastian realizes what he's doing one day and is surprised because he's never heard of anyone doing that but has to give him a lecture #“young master reading in low light is terrible for your eyesight” #ciel just stares at him #edgar allen poe is so much creepier when you read it by the light of your cursed demon eye #ciel phantomhive #kuroshitsuji #black butler #my thoughts

[kenchann]

kuroshitsuji is back O(∩_∩)O heres a lil alois doodle

#kuroshitsuji #black butler #bb #mmarts #alois trancy #jim macken #i know hes not in the newer seasons also hes not real but hes my fave okay lol #i thought he was the mc before lmaoooo #thats what happens when you discover bb via doujin 😂 #anyway #wahoo new season (i have yet to watch the anime properly tbhtbh) #ill get to that later oop also prolly read the manga #enough yapping #non twst art jumpscare

[chaos-the-raven]

I always had a weird thought about Sebastian's wound, being a little bit hilarious...

Because...

It reminds me of a f*cking piggy bank

Bonus:

That butler: A Piggy Bank

#kuroshitsuji #piggy bank #LolxD #sebastian michaelis #Shitpost #my silly thoughts #black butler #my art skills are dead #but at least i can do memes

[bull-shit-suji]

kuro modern au stuff that i word vomited into my notes app

kind of a Vincent summoned sebastian to save ciel so ciel doesnt actually owe sebas anything

amnesia? idk

single dad moment! except theres this other dad whos kinda find.. (cough agni)

i think vincent was like do NOT let ciel know ur a demon so sebastian keeps it a secret but he doesnt have a good handle on like. Humans. so he kinda does a bad job and ciel definitely knows that he's weird but doesnt say anything. will go out of his way to gaslight you when sebastian does weird shit because he thinks its funny

"hey uhh is your dad levitating?"

"no?"

"he's flying above the school rn"

"that's a bird"

u think suddenly being a butler is hard? have fun being a dad bitch

alois is there but thats complicated. claude and hannah are DIVORCED but on decent terms (i think claude is like. toxic alpha male podcast type guy) and claude sees alois on alternating weekends!

are they demons? i dont know

i think ciel and alois can be friends. platonically. alois would probably say yes if ciel wanted to be romantic but i Promise you he does not. they are just pals :)

im saying ciel has a crush on elizabeth because i can (she's not his cousin here). emo boy x sunny church girl. said sunny church girl has to ask the mcdonalds employees for the blue raspberry slushie they forgot to put in ciel's order because emo boy is too scared.

IM 13 EVERYTHING SUCKSSSSS

grelle is actually living her best life transitioned with anne so they are ciel's aunts on his late mom's side. i think grelle likes ciel. mom figure moreso than anne is.

ciel owns four bongs and definitely a vape or two. come on now

he's also probably got celiac and is lactose intolerant he is just a feeble boy i think

he listens to twenty one pilots. sorry! sorry.

ciel is goth alois is punk those r kinda just the rules

ciel is insanely smart top of the class this shit is easy for him.

yells at sebastian daily. figured out what happened with his real parents around the age of uhhhh 12 or 13? has been an absolute terror ever since

"it was really nice of your dad to bring cookies for the field trip!"

"i hope he fucking chokes on one"

"oh!"

sebastian and claude are pta rivals.

"is this lemon bread store bought? my, how... efficient!"

"you made these from scratch? i can tell."

"i've never seen an interesting looking salsa! very exciting."

ciel purposefully invites alois over constantly bcus it pisses sebas off. alois is Terrified of that man.

"go grab the chips from the kitchen"

"but... what if mr michaelis is in there?"

"mr m- you mean my dad? tell him he can shove a faucet up his ass"

"id rather die on the spot"

sebastian will yell at ciel and is maybe a little emotionally unavailable but he's trying!!! it's hard :(

does that Dad thing where he comes into ciels room and is like hey bud......... what r u up to..

ciel and seiglinde r also palls. the smartest people in school

lizzie is a JOCK. she plays softball.

alois is a theater kid come on now

ciel is best at writing and literature analysis, specifically fiction. enjoys history, language, and Some sciences as well.

nerd

au where myspace is still a thing ciel has a myspace account

he definitely writes shitty poetry

wants to major in business

alois is a glee and pitch perfect truther

#thats all i got #these thoughts have been roaming around my brain for a while so #here #please add more im begging i want to hear other peoples thoughts so bad #kuroshitsuji #black butler #ciel phantomhive #sebastian michaelis #dadbastian nation rise up #angi #elizabeth midford #alois trancy #claude faustus #hannah annafellows #grelle sutcliff #madam red #textpost #mine #modern au #vincent phantomhive #cielizzy

[sebastian-ciel-mutual-bullying]

Does anyone know if butlers bathing their masters is historically accurate?

If it's not, I have lil idea as to why he bathes Ciel.

This scene from Sebastian's cinematic record:

Sebastian's only assurance that Ciel won't die from an illness is his own care for Ciel. So he bathes him to be absolutely certain that his little master is at no risk for infection or anything of the sort.

Because Sebastian wouldn't want his strong willed little master to have such a boring end.

also these scenes are all so damn cute. Ciel is so itty bitty.

#Please ignore the scanlation logo #I have volumes 1-15 at my house #and the rest are at my local library #i was just out of town and had silly Thoughts #black butler #kuroshitsuji #kuroshit #sebastian michaelis #sebastian black butler #sebastian kuroshitsuji #ciel phantomhive black butler #ciel phantomhive kuroshitsuji

[blondeaxolotl]

Madame Red visiting her sister and her family, and she brings along an extra sister with her to introduce!!

#Finally drew Madame Red and Mey-Rin in Red Butler #and yeah as I promised Mey-Rin is giant and buff and Vincent is scared #also if you can't tell new headcanon Madame Red is a chubby woman unfortunately her hanfu hides most of her chubbiness :brokenheart: #RACHEL IS ALSO CHUBBY BTW but not as much as Madame Red #also ignore the fact that Paru Itagaki's style is affecting my style more than I thought #black butler #kuroshitsuji #black butler fanart #kuroshitsuji art #black butler art #black butler swap au #red butler au #mey-rin #madame red #angelina dalles #vincent phantomhive #rachel phantomhive #black butler mey rin #black butler angelina #black butler vincent #black butler rachel #my art #doodles #fanart #swap au #art

[so-bitya]

predecessor gang time!

in modern time, who would have been the worst driver in the group? I'm talking like they pick you up in a beat up sedan. like they are not allowed to pick up the twins & lizzy from daycare ever again. their glove box is stuffed with driver tickets.

(Alexis isn't here, be honest, he would be the most responsible driver there).

#reblog with my thoughts afterwards ^^ #i think everyone here qualifies actually lol #poor kids #kuro #kuroshitsuji #tanaka #vincent phantomhive #rachel phantomhive #madam red #frances midford #diedrich #b.polls

[icantdothistodaybruh]

I have no words

#I was (and still am) doing something for valentines day but it's taking way longer then I thought it would #and so I needed a break #not sorry in the slightest for these #10\10 would recommend to a friend #sebaciel #kuroshitsuji #kuroshitpost #black butler #ciel phantomhive #sebastian michaelis #grell sutcliff #my art #sketch

[cangrellesteponme]

ngl i have no idea what spirits possessed me to draw this but i like it

#no but fr i... let jesus take the wheel on that one it has apparently been an hour???? went by like five mintues #i just put on a random music playlist and drew whatever came to me lmao #which is apparently mey rin. nice!! #my art #kuroshitsuji #kuroshitsuji fanart #black butler #black butler fanart #kuroshitsuji mey rin #the sketch was really cute lmao that's the only thought i had

[anewp0tat0]

lil doodle to end the week

#dunno why I come up with little scenarios that focus on such minute details. lol anyway I GOTTA improve my line shading #my crosshatching has taken a dip. gotta pick it back up again #kuroshitsuji #black butler #kuroshitsuji fanart #fanart #sebastian michaelis #ciel phantomhive #digital art #elizabeth midford #lizzy midford #sketch #also wow I can't believe i missed reaper day. I was literally doing something and then got side tracked but i didnt stop myself cause i #thought 'eh I have time' #oh well it'll be done someday. plus i didn't see yana do anything so far so I guess i didnt miss such a big holidays after all... #welp it's expected. be happy for the reapers anyway!!!

[pain-in-the-butler]

can’t wait to get to the next arc so I can watch a dessert-deprived O!Ciel immediately blow his own cover when he spots a cake

#kuroshitsuji #um yeah that's right! I'm actually secretly an artist! #a real Michaelangelo! a regular Matisse! #capable of rendering my blorbos into extra shapliness #and you thought I could only write. boy did I have you all fooled #anyway I should probably go to bed #cielbug #a

[another-kshit-blog]

I want to talk about just how different the characterization of Ciel and Sebastian is in the original anime versus in manga canon, because it's very drastic. I'm not even talking about Ciel refusing chocolate or Sebastian being an emotionless robot man who never emotes, but just how their dynamic seems essentially different on a base level.

This is just based off of observations made from seeing clips of the anime and others' summation of it, I haven't actually watched it so if someone wants to clarify things for me or just have a big long conversation about kshit that is what this blog is for, I'll turn on anon asks as well but reblogs, replies, messages are all welcome.

Anime Ciel treats his servants poorly in comparison to canon Ciel. He injured Finny with a dart in the first episode for his own amusement, but canon Ciel would never hurt his servants and actually treats them quite well and is close with them, Finny in particular. Yes he bops Finny on the head in the first arc, and Sebastian does the same to Bard, but that sort of slapstick tone has been moved away from, and we haven't really seen it again. Sebastian did punch Bard in a much later chapter, but it was a flashback to when Bard was still in his initial training when Bard and Sebastian were still getting to understand one another, Bard had insulted Sebastian repeatedly and spat on him, and Sebastian himself said he wasn't partial to this method but would use it if it was the only way to get through to him. We don't see Sebastian feeling the need to strike Bard or any of the servants in current time, and they all adore him and cling on him and fear only his "scolding," so I think it's safe to say that they are not being injured even in punishment, let alone for Ciel's amusement. Ciel doesn't hit his servants, not even Sebastian. And no, I'm not counting all the times he slaps someone's hand away when he doesn't want to be touched, that's the action of a traumatized kid, not a master looking to slap around his underlings.

Ah, but what about that time Ciel slapped Sebastian with all that he had in Book of Murder? I'll get to that. I really think Ciel using Sebastian being forced to play dead in the murder arc as an opportunity to slap him is a good example of how they're characterized so differently in the first anime versus in canon.

In the first anime Ciel is always going for Sebastian's face, slapping him or throwing plates of food in his face, and he just takes it and has no reaction. Sure, nothing Ciel can do could cause real harm to Sebastian in either canon, but attacking the face is quite rude and personal and a huge disrespect. In canon, Sebastian is immediately pissed from Ciel just splashing water in his face during the first night in the manor, and when it's clear Ciel needs his help he quickly sets the status quo straight that while he is servant and Ciel master, Ciel is a child in need of care and that Sebastian isn't going to tolerate him acting like that.

It comes up again in the Green Witch Arc, Sebastian is not happy with how Ciel is acting and decides the contract is over if Ciel doesn't shape up. Sebastian has disciplined Ciel from the very beginning, and continues to do so. Look at how he gets on Ciel for his bad manners at Lau's opium den in front of everyone there. Whether or not it is "right" or "proper" for a butler to grab his master's face and scold him, especially in front of all of the other staff and in front of an important business partner, Sebastian will do so regardless, because Ciel needs structure and discipline, so Sebastian is going to provide it.

Ciel is a child, so of course he's going to test the limits of what he can get away with. He playfully kicks at Sebastian for asking why he hasn't grown. He tosses pillows at him when he's mad. He hits him with a pillow when he's having a breakdown and scared/mad at him for eating his brother's soul. He sneaks extra sweets. And he thinks its a really funny, sneaky trick to slap Sebastian when he's playing dead! Look at how he's barely holding back laughter afterwards. That's a naughty child playing a mean trick. And Sebastian immediately knows it. His comment about it to Arthur suggests that while he was surprised Ciel would think of doing that, he wasn't impressed with him for it. Indeed he looks surprised when it happens, even as he keeps his dead act up! And I wouldn't be surprised if Ciel later got in trouble for that, though Sebastian might just let it go considering there isn't really a standard for how to treat someone when you're pretending they're a dead body you're distraught over.

Ciel does not respect Sebastian on a personal level, at least not initially. (That's another conversation, but I do believe they've come to have some respect and even a level of fondness for each other as of the current arc.) He calls him a dog, a vicious beast, and says he will commit any atrocities, which he will. Ciel may hate and fear Sebastian, but Ciel respects Sebastian as an authority figure who keeps watch over him, and as said authority figure, Sebastian has laid down the rules for how things work between them, and what behavior he expects from Ciel, and he will correct him when he gets out of line. And this aspect of their relationship seems to be entirely missing from their relationship in the anime.

#black butler #kuroshitsuji #sebastian michaelis #ciel phantomhive #the anime #character analysis #my thoughts