An analysis of Sebastian's role in Ciel's life and the occasions when he's been referred to as Ciel's parent, both in- and out-of-universe.
(Manga spoilers up to chapter 217)
The first and only time Ciel calls Sebastian his father is when he's lying to Druitt as part of his disguise on the Campania.
This was originally meant as a joke, but Toboso noticed that readers liked it:
In the Cruise Ship Arc, Ciel lies to Druitt and calls Sebas "Dad" which was just a little joke I thought up when writing the story (Sebas looks like he's in his late twenties, so I thought he was too old to be Ciel's brother), but for some reason it was a big hit with readers, and it was featured in Live Butler, and Sebas has completely become the pseudo-father.
In the story, Sebas is referred to as "father" and "uncle," but I personally think that in real life, around 30-year-old men are "older brothers"! (laughs) I guess Sebas is more like several long-lived grandfathers, skipping the uncle part.
This "joke" has reappeared after many years in the latest chapter, this time with a stranger assuming Sebastian is Ciel's father when they're out walking together.
Ciel doesn't correct her assumption, but Sebastian clears it up a moment later by referring to Ciel as his "master."
A similar joke is made by Doll in the circus arc:
Without the context of their master-servant relationship, the actions of a valet (or a butler acting as a valet in a household with limited staff), such as assisting the master with personal hygiene and dressing, especially when it's an adult helping a child, especially from the perspective of an outsider unfamiliar with the duties of servants to the upper class, are bound to come across as parental.
This explains Doll's joke about their dynamic, but why would a random upper-class lady assume them to be father and son? What did she see in the space of a few seconds (overfamiliarity, similarity of appearance or mannerisms, lack of apparent class-difference?) that would override the possibility of servant-master and make her jump straight to father-son?
In addition to the tweets and manga panels above, Sebastian has said that he "raised" (育てる) Ciel in the manga, and less ambiguously in some concept material from the anime's second season, in which Toboso refers to Sebastian as Ciel's "guardian." Toboso has also brought up the influence of foster parents vs biological parents (i.e. nature vs nurture) when discussing whether Ciel got his evilness from Vincent or Sebastian.
Outside of joking and serious references to parental or pseudo-parental titles, what exactly is Sebastian's role in Ciel's life? Ciel's uncle Alexis Midford (Aunt Francis's husband) is his legal guardian:
But Alexis and the rest of Ciel's adult relatives seem to have minimal involvement in his life. His aunts and uncle (and Undertaker?) may be involved from afar, but the duties of a parent, i.e. his physical needs and safety
emotional needs
education
and social upbringing
are all handled daily by his demon butler (regardless of his motives and whether he does it properly or if he terrorizes the child in between baking him cakes and straightening his clothes; being a parent doesn't mean you are a good parent or even love your child).
Some of this might actually be fan service. Most of the fan service in Black Butler is the straightforward sexual or shippy kind, but a lot of people enjoy seeing attractive men taking care of children, and Toboso is aware of and plays off of that.
But does this mean Sebastian is Ciel's parent? Outside of a biological or legal relationship, what exactly is a parent? If a parent is someone who fulfills the role of a parent i.e. raises a child, Sebastian is Ciel's parent (parents who raise children for selfish reasons or abuse or rape or kill their children are still parents).
But if being a parent requires the parent and child to recognize eachother and their relationship as such, things get more complicated. "Parental" is not an emotion; it is a label that can be assigned to emotions. An adult caregiver might feel invested in and protective and fond of a child, and label those feelings as parental, but those emotions can exist outside of a parent-child relationship and a parent-child relationship can exist without them.
Sebastian doesn't seem to have a problem fulfilling the role of Ciel's parent, and he might even enjoy it sometimes, but he reacts oddly to people explicitly labeling him as his father. The first time he was suprised/appalled. I don't even know what emotion he's meant to be showing in the second image.
It doesn't seem to me like he views Ciel as his child (do demons even have children?). Additionally, Sebastian might look like a human and act like (a nasty) one for the most part, but he isn't the same species as Ciel. His confusion could be comparable to a human's reaction to being asked if a caterpillar they're holding is their biological son.
I find Ciel more interesting in these scenes. During Kelvin's flashback, we see Ciel hiding from an unwanted social encounter behind his father.
On the Campania, Ciel hides from an unwanted social encounter behind Sebastian, and then calls Sebastian his father. In the latest chapter, someone calls Sebastian his father and then he hides from the unwanted social encounter behind him.
I don't think Ciel views Sebastian as his father, but I do think he's aware, at least subconsciously, of how parent-like Sebastian's role is in his life, and that if Sebastian were human or capable of human-like bonds, he might be his dad. Because of this awareness that any attachment on his part can't/won't be reciprocated, he tries to maintain emotional distance from Sebastian.
He's not his father, but he's Not His Father in a way no one else is.
as horrible as season 1 of black butler is, i'm watching it all the way through right now for the first time in MANY years and i'm just. giggling. because it's so bad. but also because i can almost faintly see the plot points we Did end up getting in the canon manga. like the linework for the later arcs was there but so weirdly executed that they made an inexplicable and never again seen piece of media truly
maybe i'll post more about the similarities between season 1 and the plot lines we've had introduced in the past few years because this is really interesting to me lol
your twenties are Also about discovering that you’re not a bad person in all the ways you believed you were but you’re a bad person in completely new and exciting ways
still caring about internet friends you lost touch with years ago is so embarrassing. yeah i had a deam we met up irl recently. the last time we spoke was maybe 7-8 years ago. i still wear the laces we randomly decided was a sign of our friendship. i dont know what any of your socials are or if youre even active on any. sometimes i see someones art resemble yours and i wonder for hours. do you still go by that name you chose? whenever i see it i wonder if its you. we couldve passed each other in this vastness a thousand times and not have a clue.
turnnoffyourmind
kianamaiart
kaledo-art
germansingergirl
ellievsbear
vaporwave
