I know Sebastian is very refined and committed to the aesthetic, but I really want to see him as a horrifying feral monstrosity more often. Give me more monster dad 🙏
From 2023
Based on a dream I had the other day, quick sketch because I really needed to release this idea into the world 🤲
If Sebas has unlimited shapeshifting abilities and can turn into whatever animal he wants then what’s stopping him from turning into a huge furry (… er, feathery)? 😂 So I’m adding this to my AU because I can 😎
From 2023
From my Kuro AU, Ciel doesn’t have an eyepatch here bc they become contracted later than in canon.
From 2023
Another sketch from my main Black Butler AU that I now think looks awful and plan to redraw. Also including my original ramble:
Trying to write a Black Butler AU with some fluff where Sebastian and Ciel have a parent-child like relationship WHILE keeping them in-character (Sebas more than Ciel tbh) and still basing it on canon material but making changes and making said changes make sense requires a bit of work ngl.
I mean, I know it’s just a project I’m doing for fun and technically there’s nothing stopping me from going nuts and making them completely OOC and disregarding canon at all, but I feel then it’d become a separate story with new, original characters who simply happen to be inspired by Kuro (which is also okay, and who knows, maybe in the future I’ll repurpose the whole thing to create my own Kuro-inspired original story, even if I don’t think I’ll ever fully lose interest in Kuro, this cursed series has me in a chokehold lmao).
Sebastian is the hardest one to write, though I think I’m finally more or less figuring it out. I didn’t want to write him as suddenly learning to love the way humans do thanks to the power of cute children or something, as it just didn’t feel natural (or I couldn’t personally make it feel natural, I know other people have managed to write that concept very well). What I have so far is that when he does act nurturing he’s simply imitating the behavior of human parents he has observed, but he doesn’t love the kid the same way humans do because he literally doesn’t have that ability. BUT that doesn’t mean he feels nothing at all and that it doesn’t mean anything to Ciel, after all this weird creature is the one who saved his life and raised him with care and patience. The closest comparison I can think of is the relationship between people and “unusual” pets like reptiles, amphibians, insects, etc. We know they can’t love us the way other people (or even other mammals) would but that doesn’t make our bond any less significant! Some bits of canon material also come in handy here, for example I based the fact that familiar Sebas finds Ciel adorable as a kitten on the canon fact that he likes squishing his cheeks because they remind him of a cat’s paws 😂 Just know he’s an awkward demon who doesn’t know how to human but is doing his best 🥺
I think in Ciel’s case I have more freedom since he is, after all, human, and a human’s personality is strongly shaped by their environment and life experiences. Like, what exactly counts as making a character OOC? Sure, I can agree that in a fanwork set in the exact same universe with the exact same events as in canon there’s some things a character would never say or do, but I think AUs were created as a way to explore what-if scenarios. What if this character had been raised by different people? What if they had grown up in a different place? What if this or that event hadn’t happened or had gone differently? Tbh I think it’s just fun to explore endless possibilities, it’s maybe a form of character analysis in some way. And if we think about it, canonverse Ciel was originally sweet, shy and affectionate, and if he’s the complete opposite now it’s only because he went through an utterly horrific and traumatic event that forced him to grow up before his time and toughen himself up because it left him with little to no support system, on top of having to be hyper vigilant because the only thing that “saved” him from that is a literal demon who wants his soul and is haunting him.
So I just wanted to create this alternative timeline where maybe things aren’t as terrible, or they start out as terrible but then some good things come from the most unexpected sources. Ciel is five years younger and thus has more time to process everything and try to heal as he grows up. Sebas isn’t entirely a bastard and willingly does nice things for the child, even if he still doesn’t understand human needs, and while he stills views him as a potential meal (at least at the beginning) he’s actually respectful. There’s another demon who understands humans all too well and is happy to lend a hand. His friends and the relatives he has left are more involved in his life. So Ciel more or less has a support system now, albeit a weird dysfunctional one, and doesn’t entirely lose his sweetness (also like… he’s 5/6 at the beginning of the story, we really can’t expect a preschooler to be an edgy emo who craves violence and revenge ☠️). I imagine he grows up to be just as calculating and cunning as canonverse Ciel, maybe even just as ruthless in his job because it’s a requirement, and is still pretty much a little shit, but this Ciel is not as cold and undemonstrative. He’s still very much an introvert who prefers to be left alone, but he smiles (as in genuinely smile) more often and it’s a little easier for him to express emotions and feelings (more through actions than words, but still meaningful). Hell he may allow himself to be playful and silly sometimes if he’s in the moment.
And if it wasn’t clear from the picture, little Ciel ADORES Sebastian. Sure he’s (understandably) a bit skittish around him at first, but once they bond he comes to fully view him as a parental figure. Yes, he’s hurt, sad and traumatized, but he’s still a resilient little kid, and with enough kindness Sebas can coax his old self to come out of his shell, and until the kid becomes more independent they’re like a mama duck and her lil duckling. Their constant banter and bickering when he’s older is more a teens being teens thing than anything.
From 2023
“Hush now, you’ll wake the dead with all that noise. I’ve heard animals can bring humans comfort, there, is this better? Listen to me, child: if you scream and cry all night like that, then you won’t rest at all and you’ll only weaken yourself and delay your recovery, do you understand? If I stay with you like this, do you think you can try to calm down and sleep? Can you do that for me?”
The concept of Sebas as an emotional support animal and Dadbastian fluff in general was so well received back then on Tumblr so I wanted to add another panel 🙂 I actually want to write a drabble (or whatever the term is for a short story that depicts only one scene) about this moment but writing isn’t my strongest point so have some patience lmao.
From 2023
Daily old piece 260!
From my Black Butler AU, smol bean and his emotional support Sebunny 🐇 I'd like to redraw it one day.
From 2023
Daily old piece 248!
Bby Ciel and Crowbastian from my main Kuro AU :]
From 2023
First sketches I drew about a Kuro AU feauturing 5 years old Ciel and a new demon dad who’s doing his best. Suddenly this little scene popped into my mind.
During his days in the cult all little Ciel could do was try to survive the best way his young mind could think about, and when he had just been rescued by the demon he was weak and sickly, barely alive even, and then pretty much catatonic. Once the dust has settled, however, the realization that his family won’t come back dawns on him, and he starts having nightmares about monsters with deformed faces that laugh while hurting him. Moreover, even though he’s supposed to be back at his house the place doesn’t feel too familiar. The first night the demon hears the child screaming and crying, they try to comfort him as best as they can with the scanty knowledge they have about comforting children. After a while they have an idea, based on the partially burned portrait they found from which they could make out the shape of the family pet.
(You ain’t foolin’ anyone trash demon, you’re starting to care about the smol).
When Ciel wakes up the next morning, he’s still surrounded by the borzoi’s slender but fluffly body. He yawns and rubs his eyes, and then sits up and just stares at the creature that looks so much like his late pet.
“Good morning, child.” the voice coming from the dog says, without really expecting an answer, “Did you sleep well?”
After a pause, the child that up until this point hadn’t spoken at all utters a single word, albeit almost in a whisper.
“Hm? I am afraid I could not hear that. Come again?”
Ciel lifts a little hand, points a finger at the animal and raises his voice a bit. “Sebastian.”
“Ah. Well, yes, I guess you can call me that from now on, if you so wish.” the demon answers with a small nod, and Ciel could swear he sees his snout twist into a faint smile.
Sebastian then sleeps on Ciel’s bed, in the form of the soft borzoi, every night until the child is a little older and can be alone at night.
I may redraw these one day.
From 2023
Kuro AU where little OCiel is so sick that he probably won’t have another birthday. In their desperation and after running out of options, Vincent and Rachel turn to forbidden practices and try to summon an ancient demon in hopes that it will save their child. However, they end up summoning a demon that is very battered and weak themself after a previous encounter with another powerful demon. They can’t do much for the child in this state so they offer the parents a deal: instead of accepting a sacrifice, they’ll possess the child and lend him their supernatural powers to strenghten his body and keep him healthy, and in turn the child will provide them a vessel to help them rest and recover. But they will be bound permanently, meaning that even when they recover they can’t stay too far away from each other.
Vincent and Rachel accept and so demon’s and child’s fates are sealed.
The demon thinks this isn’t exactly an ideal situation but it could be worse, they just didn’t want to die. The child is ok, after the initial freak out he slowly gets used to having a horror beyond comprehension inhabiting his body, even starts to curiously experiment will all the things he can do with his new strenght. He directly addresses the demon, more and more often, does this child have any idea who he’s talking to? And why does he talk to them like they are best friends? The audacity! What do you mean? Of course the demon starts to look after him only because they are bound by contract and nothing else! No, they do NOT find similarities between him and a kitten.
Little Ciel recovers and grows up into a healthy young boy, then into a fine gentleman. People who have gotten to know him personally share rumors about the strange aura surroundig him, how he’s so smart, talented and successful but also uncanny, as if he wasn’t entirely human, even getting the feeling that when he talks, they could swear they hear two people talking at once.
Btw y’all can bet there’s gonna be sebagni in my dadbastian AU. Not the usual way people write it tho. I write this as a world where some demon species have no concept of romance, sexuality or intimate affection and their reproduction is a bizarre demonic version of cell division. However some of them, mainly those who have lived in the human world enough, might find humans (or other sentient creatures tbh) that they develop a special bond with and become close to, tho it’s a kind of bond that can’t be described with human language. So Sebastian just meets Agni and is like “he’s the one”, I call it a queerplatonic relationship because it’s the closest human term for it but if Seb tried to explain it we wouldn’t understand a word lol. But still sebagni nonetheless 😌
Tl; dr:
[BITES YOU]🎨📷🔞