#reaper limitations

[abybweisse]

Is it possible for shinigami to create children with humans? Or with demons?

I know I've had asks like this before, so please look up posts about reaper abilities and limitations. Short answer:

With humans? I definitely think so. Without that, Undertaker couldn't be Cedric, and he's pretty much got to be Cedric.

With demons? Possibly... but few would ever try....

[abybweisse]

Ch191 (p2), Narrowing it down

Layla is somehow surprised by Ronald's eyes. Doesn't she ever see Undertaker's eyes?

Perhaps Undertaker isn't completely open and honest to her and the other lords of the stars about his own identity as a (former) grim reaper....

Ronald talks about thinking it was Ada he was after, until Layla stabbed Baldo and exposed her true identity as a Bizarre Doll.

How does he know Ada isn't one, too? Couldn't there be more than one on location?

Of course, we know that Ada isn't, but Ronald chases after Layla, so he doesn't yet know that Ada and the others are about to find Baldo and take him back inside for emergency care.

Now we get some information on what reapers can and cannot do, as well as something -- still really vague -- about the reaper organization and its "superiors". This time he calls them the "brass".

Anyway, a reaper cannot see if a person has a soul, at least not until they use their death scythe to release and collect it. That finally explains why Ronald had to hit a bizarre doll on the ship to verify her soul had already been taken. Unlike demons, reapers don't directly detect souls!

What's got me interested about the org, this time, is how he says the "brass" are "observing this world" and making sure every living thing "has a soul". "'Without exception.'" "That was absolute."

That's some odd wording. No mention of a creator, really. Just the "brass" observing and making sure things operate as expected. This is sounding more and more like an experiment. It feels like the "god of this world" didn't really make the creatures but put souls in them and then keeps someone around to maintain the new norm.

Well, since Layla doesn't have a soul, there isn't one to retrieve, but Ronald has to do something to appease his superiors. Besides, Layla isn't like the mindless ones he and Grelle encountered on the Campania, and this is new to him, since he doesn't know exactly what-all Undertaker has done to improve them.

Next post coming up! This chapter has me reeling!!

[abybweisse]

Isn't unusual that Sebastian couldn't sense Grell is a Grim Reaper and Undertaker in the beginning since demons are supposed to sense every supernatural being? Maybe he does know and choose to ignore or they are very experienced Reapers that can handle against demons senses?

Demon limitations (revisited)

Seems to me that the demon can’t really tell reapers from humans unless he sees their reaper eyes. At first, Grelle’s eyes were somehow disguised to look human, and I have to chalk that up to reaper abilities and theatrical tricks that Grelle knows. Clearly, Grelle is a powerful reaper.

And Undertaker at first relied on wearing his bangs and hat down low enough to cover his eyes, or at least to shade them, which didn’t seem to matter too much to Undertaker, seeing as he’s extremely nearsighted anyway. His eyes do glow as he’s first stepping out of the coffin (ripper arc), but if Sebastian noticed that at all, then he must have waved it away, since Undertaker is so eccentric.

We know that Sebastian doesn’t even realize something is way off about Agares until they touch hands, and then Sebastian realizes he’s soulless. That’s why he couldn’t track down Arden and his pals; they didn’t have souls he could locate.

But he’s interacted enough with reapers to know they don’t seem much different from humans, unless he sees the reaper eyes, so that must mean that reapers still have souls, unlike bizarre dolls. Even reapers don’t initially understand how those soulless corpses are moving around. And the bizarre dolls were attracted to the reapers, like they were to humans… and to Sebastian. Just goes to show that reapers are living beings, with souls that are being punished for their previous “crimes” of suicide.

Makes me wonder why John Brown always wears those mirrored shades. I don’t think he’s a reaper… at least not a typical one. Personally, I think he’s an angel, which could be what “superiors” are in the reaper organization. I doubt the highest levels of their organization are managed by reapers. Whatever they are, they should be truly superior to the reapers who are being punished. Anyway, he could be an angel or a fellow demon, but he has something special about his eyes. Sebastian can’t seem to change the color of his hair or his nails, and his eyes and teeth tend to switch back and forth between looking human and looking demonic. Perhaps John Brown is an angel or demon who lacks the ability to control the appearance of its eyes….