Girls

I was trying to color this with the original palette but everything went wrong LOL, i gave up, it’s time to search for some tutorials

Dance to this ( Troye Sivan ft. Ariana Grande )

Elizabeth and o!Ciel - Black Butler

Literary References in Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler

There are a crap ton of references to literature in Kuroshitsuji, and after re-reading all of Kuro I was really motivated to make a giant list of the literary references.

So I did.

The Admirable History of Possession (Sebastian Michaelis)

In the 1600s, a French inquisitor named Sebastien Michaelis co-wrote The Admirable History of Possession and Conversion of a Penitent Woman. It included a classification/hierarchy of demons that is sometimes referenced in esoteric literature. I’m guessing Yana named Sebastian after this guy.

Famous Poets (Snakes)

All of Snake’s snakes are named after famous canonical writers. 

These include, but are not limited to, John Webster, John Donne, Emily Bronte, Oscar Wilde, John Keats, William Wordsworth, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Peter and Wendy (Peter and Wendy from the Circus arc)

Peter and Wendy was originally a play/novel from the early 1900s and (as you’ve probably guessed) was the source material for the 1953 Disney film, Peter Pan. Peter and Wendy from Kuro have a medical condition where their bodies literally “never grow up,” which is something that happens in Peter Pan, but in that story it’s a result of magic instead of biology. Peter and Wendy from Kuro are also trapeze performers, which is the closest thing in a circus to flying.

Sherlock Holmes (The Phantomhive Mansion Murder Arc)

This might seem pretty obvious and yeah it kind of is, but there are a lot of fun little details that relate to Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle.

In chapter 39 of Kuro, Arthur admits to Ciel that he would rather write historical novels instead of detective fiction, but his editors told him historical novels wouldn’t sell. Ciel then says that Arthur should just make a name writing mysteries and that after that the history novels will sell based on his name alone. Arthur Conan Doyle has gained quite the reputation as the guy who wrote mysteries and got sick of them while no one cared about his historical novels, so this conversation is actually pretty funny.

Some of the side characters in the Murder arc have names based on characters from the original Sherlock stories. Irene Diaz shares a first name with Irene Adler (both characters are opera singers) and Patrick Phelps shares a last name with Percy Phelps (both of whom have nervous dispositions).

In chapter 45, Sebastian (as Jeremy) points out that Arthur has written a bunch of story ideas on the inside of his sleeves. The words written in his sleeves include “pearl” (”The Adventure of the Six Napoleons”) and “sign” (The Sign of Four). There’s also “India” and “secret room,” but I’m not sure what specific stories those are referring to.

Fun bonus fact: Jeremy Rathbone (aka Sebastian in disguise) is named after 2 actors: Jeremy Brett and Basil Rathbone. Both of them played Sherlock Holmes at one point in their careers. 

Beeton’s/Punch (magazines that Ciel reads)

In chapter 39 Arthur mentions that  “A Study in Scarlet” was published in Beeton’s magazine, and that he’s surprised that someone in a position of nobility would read such a magazine. Beeton’s actually exists and “A Study in Scarlet” was first published in Beeton’s in November of 1887.

In response to Arthur’s surprise, Ciel mentions that he also reads Punch. This was also a real magazine, but what makes it weird is that one of the editors of Punch was a guy named Edmund Knox. One of Edmund’s brothers was a guy named Ronald Knox, who wrote detective fiction.

…

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Propertius’ “Elegiae” (The poem being taught at Weston)

In the public school arc, Sebastian is teaching a Latin poem that relates to some themes and events in the Kuro universe. Here’s a link to a more in depth post about the quote. 

Micah Clarke (novel that Ciel buys)

In chapter 85 (the one where everyone goes shopping), Ciel notices that Arthur wrote a historical novel called Micah Clarke. This was an actual novel by Arthur Conan Doyle from 1889. It’s also hilarious that Ciel complains about the historical novel because he wants Arthur to just write more mysteries. Wow.

The Wizard of Oz (Sieglinde Sullivan) 

(This one took me forever to get because I could never pronounce her first name properly).

In German, “Sieglinde” is pronounced “See-glinda,” which reminded me of Glinda the good witch from The Wizard of Oz. At first I thought that might be a coincidence, but then I realized that’s she’s also known as the “Green Witch,” which calls to mind the Wicked Witch of the West. Furthermore, her residence is the Emerald Castle, which is possibly a reference to the Emerald City. 

Also, the werewolf stuff takes place in southern Germany (Glinda was the good witch of the south).

(Maybe Wolfram is her little dog too!)

Fenian Cycle (Finny’s name)

In chapter 100, there’s a flashback where we see Ciel naming Finny after the lead character in a book titled Fenian Cycle: Celtic Mythology. The Fenian Cycle is a real story that’s part of Irish mythology and, just as Ciel says, the lead character was named for his blonde hair. 

Othello (Othello the reaper)

Othello is a Shakespeare play (my personal favourite Shakespeare play by the by) in which the title character is tricked into thinking that his wife was having an affair and murders her in a fit of jealous rage (the person who tricked him, Iago, convinced him that this was the best course of action). Like 5 minutes after he kills her it’s revealed that she didn’t cheat on him and he just fell for a really elaborately set up lie. Othello kills himself after discovering the truth. 

Yeah…I think it’s fairly easy to figure out that Othello (in the play) has a parallel to a character who we know committed suicide at one point. TBH this is my favourite reference in all of Kuro because we can kind of guess the character’s backstory based on his name.

Side note: Othello (the Kuro character) works in forensics, which is fitting since the field of forensics involves finding hard evidence to prove guilt or innocence. Shakespeare’s Othello had to rely on sight, verbal information, and assumptions, which led to him falsely accusing his wife of cheating on him.

Other stuff: In chapter 14, Ciel has a nightmare involving Poe’s “The Raven” and the early part of the circus arc mentions the Pied Piper. Both of these are well-known/explained in the story, so I didn’t feel the need to write a whole thing about each of them. 

If you noticed anything missing, please add it to the post! (Although make note that these are only the literary references. There are like 10,000 historical references in Kuro and I’m not experienced enough in history to notice all of them, so those can be another post.)

LIZZY wtf

Chapter 4: Fangs

A lineup of some of my favourite Black Butler characters! Some which I’ve never drawn before too :O

They just brought finny back to the house and Sebastian was assigned to train him.

The colours omg

finally finished this ;v;

The reality of living in a Workhouse in the Victorian era

For a while there I misunderstood the notion of a workhouse versus an orphanage in “Black Butler/Kuroshitsuji.” I mistakenly took them the same. Though both institutions were wretched and subjected to cruelty and hierarchy, workhouses don’t exist anymore. Whereas orphanages are still relevant and still part of the modern society (fortunately or unfortunately). Poorhouses already existed in England throughout the centuries. The first workhouse was built in 1835 in Abingdon, Oxfordshire under the Poor Law Amendment Act. They officially closed in 1930 after the Local Government Act in previous year. Though a few still thrived till the 1960s. These were now converted to hospitals and care homes. Their existence coincided with the growing number of paupers living in England in the Victorian era.

There were several ways of accommodations for those “too poor” during that time. From doss houses to temporary lodging houses, anonymous living quarters, to living in a workhouse to, last but not the least, staying on the streets. London was a filthy, stinking witness to those who couldn’t afford the standard of living either by chance or intent (the sick, the old, the alcoholics, prostitutes, the orphans, the jobless, etc.). The Southwell Workhouse was said to be one of a kind as it was the model workhouse, lovingly well maintained by its inmates. In fact, one can visit it and be informed of the life living in that kind of institution.

In the manga and anime (Chapter 35: In the Afternoon, The Butler, Executor/Book of Circus, Episode 10) Yana T painted an ideal picture where her troupe of Noah’s Circus Ark first-stringers had a “better life” in a workhouse after living roughly on the streets. Joker went on to become Baron Kelvin’s butler/personal assistant and Beast and the rest as the domestic help until they were asked to form a circus group. Joker still believed that children still resided in the workhouse until he fell into a harsh realisation during the course of Ciel and Sebastian’s summary execution that the doctor, with the permission of the Baron, made an experiment on the remaining children.

In reality, this was quite the opposite. According to Hallie Rubenhold’s recollection of the forgotten victims of Jack the Ripper, “The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper,” Londoners would rather stay for a night on Embankment or camp on Trafalgar Square than be stuck in a grim workhouse. She recounted the tale of an old couple whose husband was used to be working in a theatre as a musical director when an injury occurred, found himself soon to be jobless. They couldn’t pay the rent and lost the privilege to live in dignity.

“The thought of throwing themselves upon the mercy of their local workhouse was too shameful and frightening even to consider.”

They opted to live on the street sleeping on one of the stone benches of the square.

Families were also separated once entering the premises of a workhouse. Furthermore, to be able to stay in a Victorian workhouse one should be willing to work, demeaning it might be, in exchange for lodging and nutrition.

The original scheme of classification of inmates categorized females under 16 as 'girls' and males under 13 as 'boys', with those aged under seven forming a separate class. It probably came as a surprise to the Commissioners that, by 1839, almost half of the workhouse population (42,767 out of 97,510) were children. ( x )

The men, women, and children were all housed separately. Children were only allowed to spend a brief amount of time a week with their parents. However, most children in a workhouse were orphans.

Men and women (inmates) were expected to work 10 hours a day seven days a week. It was so demeaning that people chose it as a last resort.

Both men and women had to work doing something called oakum. This was a task where old ropes were unpicked for many hours at a time, so that the threads could be mixed with tar on board ships to waterproof sailing vessels.

… Men were expected to stone breaking, grinding corn, work in the fields, chopping wood. While women did the laundry, cleaning, scrubbing walls and floors, spinning, and weaving.

… Girls had some lessons, but generally they were taught needlework and other domestic skills so that they could become a maid or servant at the age of fourteen. ( x )

One famous inmate of St. Asaph Union Workhouse, Henry Morton Stanley, who found the missing explorer Dr. David Livingstone, only had this description for his former accommodation: “A house of torture.”

One way or another, Yana T’s imagined ending of her own version of a workhouse was not that far off. Ciel looking at the ruins and then having a breakdown.

A little Ciel Phantomhive redesign! Doing a kinda sorta historically accurate version of his dress disguise