This Arc Was A Ride

crying shaking throwing up thinking abt this

— A surprisingly long and in depth look about symbolism in the recent G-Fantasy cover by Yana Toboso ✦

Including references, flower language, how to decode the meaning of flowers, and a little too much brainrot. As well my personal interpretation drawn from all the sources I looked at. And of course what all of means (and maybe hints at?) for Sebastian and Ciel… and maybe even Sebaciel? 

Originally posted as a twitter thread, but threads suck and I forgot a couple things. so here now.

Disclaimer :

I don’t know FOR SURE that all these things were directly referenced by Yana when creating this art. But being a fan of her work for over a decade I've become familiar with her use of symbolism and reference, and believe myself to have a good eye for it at this point!   I'm also pretty familiar with the use of flower language, including different languages, due to having been involved in a project about it and having to read wayyy too much about this. 

Some of it also includes my own personal interpretation, but the meanings and info I based myself off of ARE factual. I think I made it pretty clear when referencing my personal interpretation. You're welcome to reach your own interpretation based off of the stuff provided!

And lastly, I'm not a sebaciel shipper. I'm not an anti (the complete opposite, actually) and have nothing against the ship, I like the narrative around them and how they're written but I don’t actively ship them romantically or sexually. So I'd say this is actually a pretty unbiased interpretation. Personal taste is one thing, but I don’t deny the author's intention and whats written in front of me! That is what this post is about.

Kuroshitsuji takes place in the Victorian period (1837~1901) in 1889.

The following are both important Victorian books on the language of flowers that I will be basing myself off of.

Language of Flowers by Greenaway Kate (1884), and The Language of flowers: An Alphabet of Floral Emblems (1857).

(Also, I’m treating Ciel’s rose as a deep red rose. Which is a bit different than red roses. But I am adding some relevant information about roses in general, anyway.

Now, on what they say about these flowers.

Deep rose, meaning "bashful shame". White lily, meaning "Purity and sweetness."

— The White Lily

Most people assume that the lily refers to Ciel's purity, and that’s a fair assumption. But I disagree. 

Firstly, the one holding the lily is Sebastian. Holding it on his right hand, tilted towards the right. However what's relevant here is the VIEWER. From the viewer's POV he's holding it to the left. Note he also holds the scissors on his left hand, where he bears HIS contract seal.

How you hold a flower, what position you give it to someone in, changes the meaning of the flower. These context clues are very important. It tells us that 'purity and sweetness' doesn’t refer to Ciel, but actually refers to Sebastian (…sorta).

This may be a little confusing. Purity and sweetness, Sebastian?! I know, I know. bear with me.

These books provide poems to help us understand how you may interpret the intended meaning. The lily poem is about enduring trials out of love because of the purity and sweetness he sees in his lover's eyes and soul. I believe Yana directly references the poems I will include in this post in her new artwork.

— My Interpretation

the meaning of Sebastian's lily is:

"I do all out of love for the sweetness and purity within you."

Him holding it to the contact seal and cutting the flower could stand for him destroying this sentiment (affection within himself) that has arisen in him as a result of their contract by destroying the sweetness and purity—the source of it—within Ciel (consuming his soul).

Note: This is debatable, as 'reversed' almost always means upside down. But if you consider the lily facing away from the viewer as reversed then it could mean "impurity and bitterness" which fits pretty well with Ciel, and it being held against the contract seal which is a physical representation of his impurity, brought on by his bitterness.

— The Deep Red Rose

There something I find very interesting. The rose is in a teacup, standing in for tea (I think there's even tea alongside it in the cup.) From Yana herself we know that Sebastian's eyes are a reference to the reddish brown colour of tea.

Like I said, I believe this rose to be a deep red rose, which is a bit more specific than the meaning given to red roses. However I think the poem included for roses in general very much applies here.

I was going to add my thoughts but I found this interpretation that sums it up pretty well if you replace the carpe diem theme with a more "running out of time" or "impending death" theme, which seems to be a more accurate reading for this artwork.

Looking at the rose itself, it has no thorns or leaves.

It is not a youthful rose as its already fully open and losing petals. "No hope, and no fear" fits with the poem, the rose is basically an hourglass referring to Ciel. His fate is unavoidable, but this isn't a deterrent. He's dancing on the ledge.

The deep red rose means 'bashful shame'.

When you compare it to the lily, which is a direct proclamation, the deep red rose is a quiet confession one cannot verbalize.

Debatable, to be fair but given the tie in to Sebastian's eye colour and the fact that he is always the one pouring tea for Ciel, I believe the Sebastian to be the speaker here too, but this time speaking on Ciel's feelings (Hence why he's the one holding it) rather than Sebastian's own. 

— My Interpretation

The meaning of the deep red rose Ciel holds, speaking about Ciel's feelings of guardedness, and in response saying:

"Abandon your bashful shame, and let yourself be admired without expectations (hope) or fear"

Sebastian speaks about Ciel's feelings, the deep red rose acknowledges his feelings but they remain unspoken.

The Waller poem is a plead for his beloved to seize the day, for time is short, and allow herself to be loved completely. 

Her beauty is one to be appreciated, she is not meant to be a rose unacknowledged (unloved) in the desert.

Regarding 'expectations', I think this is more about rigid ideas of how 'appreciation' or 'admiration, might be shown or received. Sebastian and Ciel's relationship defies normality or 'expectations'. So this, too, would defy expectations a young boy like Ciel, or a traumatised boy like Ciel, may have.

From Yana herself, we know Sebastian's dedication and how highly he holds 'beauty', specifically Ciel's beauty.

The author of the poem proclaims that beauty not appreciated is not beautiful indeeed, and so he calls his beloved to come to him and be appreciated wholly during the invaluable, limited time they have.

We see the deep red rose's petals fall away, in my opinion not only symbolising the withering away of time, but also the crumbling away of this "bashful shame" that Sebastian ascribes to Ciel.

How Sebastian wishes to "appreciate" this beauty is debatable. How he wants to "admire" and "desire" (per the poem) Ciel is rather open ended. Wether it be in a romantic way, a sexual way or by consuming his soul.

However, I don’t think these are mutually exclusive. And consuming Ciel can easily be a metaphor for the former two. 

— The Lily and The Rose

The Greeneaway book has this poem which im sure was directly referenced. This poem speaks about the lily and the rose in a direct power struggle and fight for dominance, until they eventually unite and reign as one.

Now when speaking about this "union", you could say it refers to their contract, but I don’t think so.

The contract ties them to each other, but it doesn’t necessarily unite them. So I believe 'unity' to be about the appreciation Sebastian speaks of Ciel opening up to. 

"The Lily" and "The Rose" might be interpreted as directly representing Sebastian and Ciel, and the unity that would come from them joining and becoming a truly complimentary pair. I think a power struggle and fight for being the one in control is very accurate way to describe their current dynamic in canon.

It may also be interpreted as "The Lily" and "The Rose" as being representations of their feelings and ideals previously. And then it would represent these two conflicting expressions—a loud  unrelenting and destructive devotion, and a guarded, bashful, unspoken reluctance— coming together and turning from conflicting to complimentary. 

Or as it tends to be with these things, both!

Either way all of this is expressed under the sense of impending doom created by their circumstances and the contract. So there's a sense of urgency permeating all of it.

Also clear to me is a sense of internal conflictedness coming from Sebastian's message that is usually only hinted at like this, and some people end up overlooking.

Sebastian desires Ciel deeply, but having him would also mean not being able to have him anymore.

Sebastian is torn and that’s why he attempts to cut the root of his wavering feelings represented by the lily. 

All of this makes me wonder about what's next, and if we will see these things said more blatantly. Foreshadowing with flower language and references like this, isn't exactly rare for Yana. I wonder if we will see this 'unity' come to be, and what necessary development Sebastian and Ciel will need to undergo to make it possible. As well as what shape it will take.

I also wonder very much about Ciel's perspective in all of this, as this was almost entirely from Sebastian's POV, but I think that's intentional. Ciel has his own goals and a lot on his mind. Sebastian's goal IS Ciel. So I assume he spends a lot more time thinking about Ciel and this kind of thing.

Thank you if you read the whole way through. Like I said before, even though the sources defending it are, my interpretation is not law and you're welcome to reach your own with the things presented.

Links for sources, including free public domain PDFs of the books mentioned are found at the end of my twitter thread.

— Thanks for reading! —

Shout out to women

Things To Never Say To Someone Who Just Came Out - "houseki no kuni" version...

BACK TO HNK POSTING LETSSS GOOOOO

i changed few things so it could be more "accurate"

anyways, these are canon bcs i say so

Teenage love

Few mp100 doodles to finish the year!!

my greatest pride is whenever no-psi-nan reblogs a saiki k birthday post from that fictional characters birthdays blog and its some ass backwards character that no one should know my mentally ill autistic ass can come in and be like "actually this is this specific single gag background character that is from one of the least remembered chapters/episodes in the whole series". without fail.

Obligatory Kuboyasu analysis consisting of me spewing his praises for his birthday

It always continues to astound me how well adjusted Kuboyasu is, considering everything. Yeah his anger is bad, but beyond his moments of getting triggered (whether from moments that remind him of his past, i.e PTSD, or things that genuinely upset him) he’s the most rational out of all them, sometimes even beating out Saiki. More than that, Kuboyasu is evidently more willing to act like a kid than Saiki. The thing is, Saiki is a kid at heart; he just represses those desires. Kuboyasu doesn’t. I’d argue it makes him more mature than Saiki.

More than that, he’s a really good friend. He’s one of the few people who approach Saiki with minimal false assumptions beyond the ones Saiki pushes and the ones Kuboyasu has toward civilians. And those disappear rather quickly. He’s cunning and confident, and knows how to be a competent leader. There’s a lot of traits about him that make him just a genuinely good guy for the others to have in their lives, and definitely has fewer attachment issues than Saiki, making him easier for people to latch onto.

This is one of the reasons Kaido and Kuboyasu stick together like glue. I think both Kuboyasu and Saiki adore Kaido in similar ways, and also seek to protect him. Kuboyasu is just willing to actual let himself be on the same level as ‘his people’ because he doesn’t have a cocktail of god complexes and self-hatred like some people. Kaido would be as close to Saiki if Saiki let him, but Saiki has to heal some wounds before he feels comfortable doing so.

And I don’t CARE that they called it cliche, Kuboyasu wanting to be a teacher is such a fantastic sign of both his desire to do good in the world and his aims to better himself. This is one of the few people Saiki has almost no influence on their character development. Kuboyasu did that.

TLDR, Kuboyasu is amazingly well-adjusted and likely actively seeking to better himself, and despite not showing up as much as the other characters, still manages to prove himself to be a genuinely good friend and person. Happy birthday to one of my favorite characters!

aiura really is That Gay for teruhashi huh

Although Kuboyasu doesn't have as much screentime as some of the other characters, I still think his dynamic with Kaidou has a lot of "shape".

What I mean by this is that the audience gets the general idea or "shape" of how their personalities interact with each other even if we don't see it as much.

Take for example the time where they startes making the secret base together. It was clearly something only Kaidou wanted to do at first but because Kuboyasu appreciates Kaidou so much as a friend, he was willing to go through with it and even find joy in the act.

Entertaining Kaidou's whims brings Kuboyasu happiness not only because he avlues their friendship, but also finds interests in the thing Kaidou likes when he actually tries them.

At the same time, Kaidou's tolerance/open-mindnedness towards Kuboyasu despite his past shows just what makes Kaidou so great. He's a little "childish" but those "childish" qualities (like his open-mindedness, eagerness, and courage) are also what makes him a great friend for someone like Kuboyasu.

Because while other people would find their traits weird for the most part, Kuboyasu and Kaidou THRIVE off of each other's personalities.

Yeah that's it. I just love Kubokai, both platnoically and romantically.