#demon abilities

I titled this post as such because there's a continuity issue. The title page shows Sebastian having finished his food, as the empty plates are being taken away.

But then our earl says he's never seen Sebastian sit down to a meal before. Doesn't Sebastian have a meal on the train on their way to Brighton? Even if that was only tea for him on the train, he has definitely sat down to a meal (and drinks) at the circus, after he turns the hacked up potatoes into fried "chips" (French fries for us 'muricans). And hasn't our earl asked him before about how human foods taste to him? Definitely during the curry arc.... And we saw our earl watch Sebastian forced to eat overly sweet porridge or whatever while wearing a nightgown and sleeping bonnet (the extra chapter accompanying the Book of Atlantic movie, showing his day for recovery after being injured on the ship).

Anyway, it does serve as a reminder to readers how different Sebastian's senses of smell and taste are to those of a human. It also lets the demon tell us how he knows the food must be top notch: the ingredients are fresh, and the human contractor has eaten extra, showing he really enjoys it.

I'd also like to mention the Charlotte Russe that our ear has before him. The Charlotte first appeared in England, but a French chef upscaled it with the addition of lady fingers and Bavarian cream. Others liked to call this new version the Charlotte Russe, even though the French chef didn't name it that. Perhaps they liked to harken back to his time working for Czar Alexander I? I have a feeling that Yana-san has chosen that dessert and that name specifically because of the two Slavic (potentially Russian) characters we've recently been introduced to.

So, the smoking room isn't always ready, and people only have access to it once it's prepared in the evenings. Finally, they are allowed to attend.

And they are greeted by the two characters foreshadowed by that dessert: Modri Vladis and Irina Petrovna.

- IMMORTALITY (though he can be killed by outside forces and can experience pain and the like, time is something that doesn’t affect him)

- POSESSION

- CONJURING/MANIPULATING FLAMES and fire (especially powerful in a fit of anger)

- PSYCHOLOGICAL MANIPULATION & high charisma

- ENHANCED SENSES in all forms as well as EXTRASENSORY PERCEPTION when it comes to identifying other super natural entities and beings in his proximity.

- FLAME RESISTANCE unless the fire is brought on by a Holy object or incantation.

- REGENERATIVE ABILITIES depending on the severity of the injury. Cannot regrow limbs unless they’re severed in his true form (save for his head which will end him immediately if ever one is able).

- FEAR INDUCEMENT (to distract/temporarily paralyze enemies)

- SUPER STRENGTH & AGILITY

I haven't seen anyone mention this yet, so my apologies if I've simply missed those posts, but our earl says "based on the information you collected":

Over the past few days, Sebastian has been going around, either eavesdropping or interacting directly with people -- possibly both inside and outside the hotel -- to gain an idea of how many visitors should be there now.

That's got to be Sebastian in the middle image:

That looks like either servants brought along with paying guests in the hotel... or possibly just some blokes at a local pub outside the hotel, but Sebastian is there. Dressed as a commoner or working class man.

So, what's going on in these two other images? Is Sebastian wearing a mask like "Vicar Rathbone" (and a light colored wig) to visit an opium den? (Or is he taking the appearance of the dark haired attendant?!?)

And is he taking the appearance of a dark haired maid to hear gossip from a maid at a nearby townhouse?

Because if he's just eavesdropping in the scenes on either side, where is he? Typically, we would see him hiding behind something or hanging upside down behind a window or grasping the walls in a ceiling corner. But we aren't seeing that at all here. Is he capable of shapeshifting into women (while under this contract) or is he just using masks and prosthetic boobs and shoving his feet into smaller shoes?

Because he seems to be interacting directly in all three scenes....

The best I can tell is because Sebastian is bound to our earl in that contract, which has some wiggle room for him... and even though there's some novelty about this contract, it's not his first. He knows the loopholes in the contract and can act accordingly. And he knows what makes his young master tick.

But he's still trying to process exactly how real Ciel even functions as well as he does. He ate real Ciel's soul, but that doesn't seem to bond them together. Not like that, anyway. He's honestly confused.

He has no control over anyone who is soulless. I don't think he can comprehend their thought processes and might not be able to anticipate their moves or choices too well, because of that. Hell, he can't even tell a bizarre doll is in the same room, let alone anywhere within the vicinity, without actually seeing them. That's why he couldn't detect Arden and his friends at Weston when he used demon senses to search for them, felt weirded out when he touched Agares' hand, and couldn't locate any of the star lords at Sphere Music Hall -- they were probably simply hiding just out of sight.

This is a major learning experience for the demon. This is completely outside the purview of his knowledge. It's new to him... and kind of scary.

I should think it worries him also because he must now question what he's said in the past about not being able to get back what was lost.

Of course, what has returned isn't quite the real Ciel that our earl once knew and cherished. It's a nightmarish approximation. Merely a physical manifestation, literally without soul. But the physical manifestation still evokes deep emotions.

So, the demon finds himself in the weeds on this one. How do you handle a reanimated corpse that's "chock full of episodes"? Can you just cut it down in front of its loved ones? Our earl doesn't accept this bizarre doll of his brother as "his brother returned", but I don't think he would handle it well if Sebastian just went over and crushed real Ciel's head. He has to let his young master decide how to handle the situation.

I'm not sure what happens to demons when hit hard enough by a death scythe, but they definitely have cinematic records... and they seem to have souls. Maybe bizarre dolls are attracted to whatever is left of the souls that demons have devoured, or maybe demons actually have their own souls, too? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Either Sebastian has the ability to reform (like respawning in a game), or he doesn't. If he can get back to the human realm to finish the contract, that's what he would do. He seems to suggest, at one point (early-on), that if he were killed he would return... all due to the terms of the contract.

I have at least half a dozen posts about that. Some of them are pretty detailed, too. 😊

Check out #series end, #end of the series, #series ending, #end of the manga, #soul devouring, #dec 13 1889, and other tags about what I expect to happen, if Sebastian gets to devour our earl’s soul. I’ve included a bunch of those tags on this post, too, so you can just click to see what comes up. There’s also a link in the Tagging Masterpost called “How and when the series might end.”

Here’s a pretty good post about it from March 19, 2020.

I don't see many people talk about this but I'm still really fucking mad at Sebastian for hitting Lizzy in chapter 117 . If he wanted to , he probably could have gently knocked her unconscious like he did in the atlantic arc . But instead he had to use his demon powers ( his eyes turning red and him smirking . ) In order to get at her level , which you'd think would be unnecessary since it's still a grown ass man against a little girl in petticoat . Moreover he obviously severly injured her looking at her expression and the power of the hit . Like yeah he's a demon , but imo that's not a way to treat your masters 14 year old fiancée who has been treating you with nothing but kindness ( her confiding in him about her feelings , talking to him casually , buying him gifts and personally giving it to him when he was sick , literally what noble does that ? She's so precious )

Idk man it felt like such a low blow coming from him . And Lizzy's got all my respect for actually managing to touch him twice like ??? Why aren't we as a fandom talking more about how impressive and powerful that is ?

End of rant , thank you v much!

❓ for a general Kuro question

Ahhh, that scene. You know, he actually comments afterwards how hard it is to control his power when he’s fighting humans. He wasn’t accessing his demon powers so much as trying to not use his demon powers. He still wants, even then, to seem “human” to her, so he’s holding back. However, she’s good, and that’s why he’s getting close to breaking the facade — slitted eyes, being condescending. That’s also why he apparently hits a bit too hard, and he realizes it. So, he checks to make sure he didn’t break anything. I say a bit too hard, because if it had been way too hard, she would have ended up like the circus doctor... with a hole in her chest. Later, he scoops her up under one arm... checks himself again... and then holds her more gently. Not long after she wakes up at the townhouse, she’s climbing out the window and down the sheets to run away, back to Sphere Music Hall. So, as much as it knocked the wind out of her, she’s probably pretty much okay. She might also heal somewhat quickly (Undertaker = Cedric theory).

I won’t entirely understand this until I see the translations, but it looks like Sebastian knocked Bard out — maybe he drugged him with the tea?!? — and got him all the way to England using demonic speed, kind of like how he transported our earl to Kelvin’s manor. 😳 😂

Bard wakes up in bed at Phantomhive Manor, and his head is wrapped up as if he’d had a head injury.

Edit to add pics to the original post: