It's been over a year since the last time I drew anything decent, but the new season got me so excited that I decided to do a quick drawing inspired by the ending.
This is an old piece of art I made some time ago, inspired by 'American Beauty.' I'm considering redoing it at some point, but I wanted to share it with you all anyway, as I'm working on coming out of my shell. I hope you like it.
Ps: American Beauty has nothing to do with Sebaciel, but it's one of my favorite movies, and I feel like the bathtub scene totally vibes with Sebaciel.
Hi! In the last post, I asked for some recommendations for Sebaciel fanfics, so I thought it would be a good idea to show my favorite ones, so I made a list with the fics that left the biggest impression on me, and I'll try to briefly talk about each one (although it's been a long time since I've read some of them, so I might not remember all the details).
I hope you enjoy!
1. Fanfics
1.1 Complete
Solomonās Purgatory: Ciel acting as Sherlock Holmes in a modern day's Weston College. The plot is great, it's just a shame that Sebastian doesn't appear until almost the end (yeah, Ciel falls for him during his investigation without even knowing the real Sebastian, which is kinda cute too).
Shapeshifter: Sebastian is a serial killer, and he adopts Ciel after the suicide of his aunt Ann (Madam Red), which is obviously Sebastian's work. It's kinda graphic, and I don't recommend it if you have some kind of sensibility with rape and violence. However, if you like drama and a bittersweet sensation, this fic is for you. Just a warning: there's no happy ending.
Phantom, phantom: It's a PWP in every sense, but why is this so good?? (One shot)
1.2 In progress
Those Gentle Slopes that Lead to Hell: It's a slow burn, mostly centered in Sebastian's point of view and his journey to understand the feelings he didn't even know he had. I like it because it's totally in character, specially because their relationship isn't linear.
The Siblings and The Young Master: OK, IT'S BEEN A LONG, LONG TIME SINCE THE LAST TIME I READ THIS. However, I remember hunting down the writer to beg them to finish this piece, so I could say that I really liked it that time. Besides this, I don't remember a thing, just this and the fact that the drama isn't clear at the beginning, it's a thing that grows during the plot and gets SO GOOD. Anyway, read at your own risk since, sadly, the writer probably will never post the last 7 chapters (WE WERE SO CLOSE, I WANNA DIE! *crying compulsively*).
2. Series
Evil Flowers: It's a classic, all of fics of this series are masterpieces and I don't think I need to explain anything. Every Sebaciel shipper MUST read these fics at some point in their lives!
Debate Club: Ok, I'm obsessed with this series, specially with Devil's Advocate. It's simply how I always imagined the relationship between Ciel and Sebastian if they were in a modern school setting. I don't think the trope popular guy/nerd fits them. Both Sebastian and Ciel are nerds, but both of them have too much charisma to not be popular, so I always thought they would be over competitive with each other if they studied together. Also, Sebastian being completely clueless about his feelings to Ciel, and interpreting this strange sensation in his chest every time he sees this little brat as "I hate him", is my favorite fanfic trope.
PLEASE GUYS, I BEG YOU, write more fics like this. I want to see them in a high school and competing over grades, but being secretly in love with each other in a very dramatic and confused way. I also LOVE when Sebastian turns his repressed arousal for Ciel into violence over him (not in a physical way, like punching him, but acting rude and sarcastic).
If you know any fic like these, send them to me, pleeease.
Well, I've made a list much longer than this, but since English isn't my first language, writing this was SO EXHAUSTING that I need a pause, so I'll post the rest later. I hope you liked this.
Iāve recently been thinking on why thereās 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 youāll interpret it going forward
Generally, thereās 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, isnāt how he feels.
The first interpretation (and Iām 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 Iāve 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 donāt 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 donāt 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, itās interpreted as someone finally being truthful.
This is how Cielās reaction is interpreted by the first half.
The mustard gas is simply a trigger of pain, that causes all of Ciel to unravel. Heās in pain right now, cause heās always in pain. Heās avoidant to Sebastian, cause heās always been scared of him. He doesnāt trust him. He doesnāt 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 heās being childish? Horrible.
Obviously, thatās not my interpretation.
Okay so, what happens once youāre not a teenager? Once you donāt have an adult figure to take care of you? What happens once you start avoiding telling your parents the pain youāre in, not because you think they wonāt care, but because theyāll care too much and get worried and you donāt 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 arenāt okay, as an adult getting sick potentially means - not going to work. Which means your wonāt have money to buy food, which means youāll probably go hungry.
So getting sick becomes less of a way to get away from the responsibilities you have, and more of a burden.
Thatās why youāll 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. Thereās no power dynamic between friends, like it would with adult figures and children. So this song and dance, isnāt necessary.
You donāt have to be sick to be understood. And your friends will rather try to help you, than understand you when youāre suffering. Thatās the nature of adult relationships.
This is more or less the framing that comes from Cielās breakdown (in the second interpretation).
The Mustard Gas isnāt showing Cielās true nature - itās showing Ciel at his most vulnerable. This means, not in his sound mind.
Saying things he normally wouldnāt, hurting people he normally would hold close, and clinging to people he generally would never try to get close to.
Simply put, it isnāt just āa bit of pain to make him unravelā but a āCiel is getting psychologically tortured by a weapon used for chemical warfareā.
Heās past being honest. Heās having such a severe reaction, that he cannot function. Heās being tortured and broken, to the point he is no longer himself.
He isnāt being ātruthfulā heās scared.
And fear can make you do things that, in your sound mind, you would never do.
The point is that, Ciel isnāt saying what he truly feels or being āhonestā. Itās 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 āgo awayā or ānot come nearā is perhaps the most glaring reason as to how badly this Gas messed with him.
Iāve said this before but to Ciel, Sebastian is a lifeline. Heās 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 heās having flashbacks, even when heās 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 wonāt 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 heās reverting to the mentality he had during the cult.
If Sebastian is constantly telling him āitās okay, they canāt hurt you anymore, youāre outside the cage, you can do what you WANTā
Ciel clinging to Finny is him going āno, im staying in the cage bcs at least the cage is familiarā
And no matter what the first camp tells you, staying in the cage, trapped inside your pain ISNT the healthy option.
(We could argue Cielās 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 elseās story)
So, Sebastian slapping him and going āno, thatās not what you wantā, isnāt as cruel as it would be in the first interpretation. Because as we see, heās right. Thatās not what Ciel wants. And itās proved by the next scene where Sebastian talks to Ciel about what he truly wants.
Rather than Sebastian telling Ciel to āget over itā, itās closest to a āsnap out of it, somethingās wrongā
This is further proved by the fact that, Sebastian first instinct isnāt 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, youāre reading Sebastian as an enemy. Someone who does not respect Ciel. You see his attempt to eat Cielās soul as a breach of trust, and proof that he doesnāt care for him.
But if you pick the second option, you see Sebastian as an ally. Someone whoās 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 itās the only interpretation. People are free to pick and chose how they read the text, irrelevant of how little of the actual text theyāre 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. Itās the easy, safe and comforting way of reading the text. As I said, itās common in those who want their pain to be acknowledged.
That reading of Kuro is one that speak to me, that youāre not really ready to confront pain. And someone with that mentality, is not someone whoās reading of the text I find particularly interesting. Sure, you can share it, Iāll never stop you, but know youāre speaking to me in an entirely different language. Youāre interpreting the text so differently, that I donāt think itās even the same text anymore.
Again, youāre essentially writing analysis on fanfiction. And Iām not all too interested in dissecting your own trauma sloppily painted over British Aesthetic.
Hi! It's my first post, I'm kinda shy and English is not my first language, but I would like to chat about kuroshitsuji (specifically when the new season comes out).
Meanwhile, can anyone indicate some sebaciel fanfics? Please, show me your favorite ones (in any language)!
theartofmadeline
areudirty
blakekathryn
