#this isn't about seb*ciel shippers it's about the fanservice just btw if any shippers come across this

[warmmilk-n-honey]

So lets talk about why the psychosexual elements of Sebastian and Ciel's relationship don't work for me and why I don't think it's thoughtfully addressed enough to justify its existence within the manga. I've wanted to write about my thoughts on this for a while and since my dadbastian post like two people have said they want to hear about this, so here you go.

Warning for discussions of CSA and the sexualization of children within the manga

The main reason, it's just fanservice and the thing is, even if this aspect of their relationship was explored or addressed the fact that it is used as fanservice fotter shows that Yana has no intention of exploring this in a thoughtful way, she just likes sexualizing kids. I'll be repeating this point a lot because it's like basically my thesis... So strap in!

I've seen people say that Yana is trying to illustrate that Sebastian takes pleasure in human suffering, and they use Ciel's panic attack during the circus arc as an example. I would say even if this was her intention-which it definitely could be, it still falls flat because ultimately the reader is meant to be titillated by the way it's framed. It doesn't matter what is trying to be said when we as the reader are meant to be taking pleasure in Ciel's pain and exploitation. That's why it doesn't work for me regardless of Yana's intention, there is no empathy for Ciel's trauma, not actually if we are meant to enjoy his suffering on some level. Lolita for example may be from Humbert's perspective but Dolores herself is not fetishized by the framing, the erotic scenes between the two are written as gross and unappealing, but this couldn't be less the case in the way she draws scenes of Sebastian and Ciel, we are meant to find it sexy. You could say we are meant to see it as Sebastian sees it, but I still don't see that as an excuse to sexualize a child character for the reader's enjoyment. Besides, there are many instances where Ciel is sexualized completely independently of Sebastian. For example in the public school arc there's that scene where Maurice ambushes Ciel...

It is very clear that Yana has fetishized Ciel's trauma and powerlessness in this moment for the sake of the reader's enjoyment, Sebastian's not even in this scene. I can't think of any other reason to frame the scene this way other than that we are meant to find a 13 year old csa victim sexy! What does this scene actually say about Ciel's character? That he finds some kind of masochistic pleasure when he is victimized, perhaps as a coping mechanism? Well that's never addressed within the actual text, that's not consistent with his character. See how I can just make shit up to make the fanservice seem like it serves an actual purpose? Like it's pretty clear Yana didn't think too hard about this scene other than the fanservice aspect of it.

On that note, Yana also likes to sexualize Sebastian and Ciel's power dynamic while not fully addressing the psychological effects this would have on Ciel. All of it is too sub textual for her to actually explore why a child survivor might have complicated feelings/desires towards a protector who is also being predatory towards him. It honestly makes me understand peoples love for Alois more, even if that aspect of his character isn't written in a respectful or descent way. At least his sexual feelings towards Claude are somewhat acknowledged, and Alois shows interest in his own sexuality (again doesn't make sexualizing a child okay but y'know what I mean). On the contrary we are meant to see Ciel as an effectively heterosexual character who hates Sebastian and has no complicated feelings/desires for him what so ever, so the fact that they are sometimes framed in a way that can be taken as romantic is rlly weird, both narratively and character wise. Also unlike Alois, Ciel shows no interest in sex or his sexuality-in fact he seems quite repulsed by anything sexual, so I find it even more insidious that the "camera" constantly has this voyeuristic view of his body-in the fan service and in the official art. Unlike Alois, Ciel clearly doesn't want to be perceived as "sexy," so why does Yana sometimes draw him posed in suggestive ways or with a sultry expression on his face? 🤔

this is kind of a bad example cause he's not "trying to look sexy" but still, sexualizing his body!

This next point is a bit disconnected from Ciel and Sebastian's framing but I feel like it still relates to some over arcing issues with how Ciel is portrayed.

So let's talk about Ciel's sex repulsion, and only being a survivor when it's coinvent for the plot. Let us not forget that Ciel was also victimized by women, but Yana shows a complete disinterest in what a survivor would actually be feeling in moments where he has his boundaries violated by girls and women. We all know the scene with Sieglende that's played only for laughs, or when Nina violates his boundaries, or when Ran-Mao shoves her tits in his face. We see Ciel is visibly uncomfortable by these instances and even when he sees a scantly clad woman, but all of this is played for comedy in the typical shonen manga way of guy gets flustered when he see big booba. Again none of it is meaningfully explored nor addressed. Is he actually sex-repulsed because of trauma? Or is his displeasure in those situations meant to be funny manga hijinks? Sometimes I truly think Ciel's status as a CSA survivor is just there for shock value (or worse titillation *shudder*) and to tie into her themes about the dark depths of humanity. The problem with that is that she is not thinking through the implications of having a character with this kind of trauma. Like he's triggered by someone touching his scar but not a grown woman shoving her tits into his face?! Make it make sense. Also by making it into comedy I find it dismissive of the fact that boys can be abused by women.

Before my conclusion, I just want to add that often times the fanservice can be taken as extremely subjective. There are many scenes of Ciel and Sebastian that can be taken as sexual if you want to see it that way, but can also be seen as parental. I fully believe this is intentional and you are meant "to see what you want to see" so to speak. It's one of the reasons I find it so funny when people who sexualize their relationship get mad at dadbastian, like you do realize she also makes them have pseudo parent child interactions on purpose right? (it can also be seen as a part of the fetish, eww)

In conclusion, basically what I'm trying to say is that Yana never thought of deeper reasons for why Sebastian and Ciel's relationship is portrayed the way it is, she is simply catering to shippers as well as fulfilling her own desires. She also handles Ciel's status as a survivor of sexual abuse very poorly. I've never read her past work because I'm not subjecting myself to that shit, but I have seen some panels of it compared to Black Butler, and I think it's is very clear that she has certain kinks that she likes to slip into Black Butler with no regard for how this muddies the narrative. She is the definition of the author slipping in their poorly disguised fetish! Even if I didn't think it was fundamentally gross, which I do, I also think it's just shitty story telling, most of this fandom is convinced that Sebastian and Ciel are romantically interested in one another, when the text itself couldn't be more to the contrary! And I can't even blame them for thinking that because Yana directly feeds into it! It's like a fucking ouroboros of shitty fanservice and lowbrow humor.