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At least link the page! https://www.paranatural.net/comic/chapter-8-page-23 I kinda feel like Cherub is bad news. Vibe is way, way off. Whose are the 3 extra colors near Doorman? Davy has these earrings that I've been noticing all chapter long. Gold this time, but they're the exact same circular studs.
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Apr 29, 2023 14:27
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Also that spirit claw from the Wight was intensely familiar and I know exactly where it's from. Bottom right panel here: https://www.paranatural.net/comic/chapter-4-page-65 Wonder who he means by "hero's blade". "Is that any way to talk about a coworker?"
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Apr 29, 2023 14:33
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Agreed that Cherub's vibes are completely rancid.
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Apr 30, 2023 19:09
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its power is pretty altruist though, and I don't think we've seen a spirit with a power that doesn't match its nature?
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Apr 30, 2023 20:45
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So the possibility for Cherub to juice Forge back to his former glory is on the table? Also Zack killed it with the Davy pose.
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Apr 30, 2023 22:33
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Davy's wearing the zipper pajamas there, so I guess he's former Consortium.
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Apr 30, 2023 22:36
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Kyte posted:its power is pretty altruist though, and I don't think we've seen a spirit with a power that doesn't match its nature? Its power as Angel understands it, and therefore so far as it has revealed to him. 
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May 1, 2023 00:04
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JuniperCake posted:Cody used Davy's hook uh sword thing. So it might still be an application of Davy's power. Although Cody isn't a spectral. I don't know if it's been said whether you need to be a spectral to use a tool's power.
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May 1, 2023 00:16
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MarquiseMindfang posted:Its power as Angel understands it, and therefore so far as it has revealed to him. Yeah, that's specifically the part that's getting my hackles up. Her power is to receive and redistribute strength, but who's to say that doesn't come with a catch, or involves making these people artificially loyal to her? Look how totally smitten Doorman/Nin are and how unquestionably Angel trusts her. "Her form was meek, her powers modest, but Cherub had the potential to be something so much greater. He wouldn't let anyone snuff out that light ... not when the future so desperately needed it." Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. - Matthew 5.5
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May 1, 2023 01:29
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It's also the way the text constantly makes reference to how pure and good and incorruptible Cherub is that weirds me out. I wonder if the actual power of Cherub is inspiring fanatical loyalty in whoever it wants?
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May 1, 2023 10:34
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She reminds me so much of the Iron Maiden from Shaman King, who meant well but was a religious fanatic who harmed others and turned one of the heroes to her side through fanatical loyalty, which is making me nervous for Isaac.
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May 1, 2023 15:16
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MarquiseMindfang posted:I wonder if the actual power of Cherub is inspiring fanatical loyalty in whoever it wants? "A wave of reassurance spread through Angel and his furrowed brow relaxed" - I kinda suspect that this is Angels real power. Giving people confidence, sureness, reassurance that whatever it is is alright or good.
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May 1, 2023 17:44
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GlyphGryph posted:"A wave of reassurance spread through Angel and his furrowed brow relaxed" - I kinda suspect that this is Angels real power. Giving people confidence, sureness, reassurance that whatever it is is alright or good.
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May 1, 2023 17:53
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Issac absolutely needs that, because he has trouble believing he is right and good or that people like him and want him around. Cherub could give him literally everything he wanted by just reassuring him he's doing good and that he belongs, I feel like?
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May 1, 2023 17:56
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I wasn't clear enough with what I said. Isaac is constantly solving these quests for the deer queen or whomever else that give him nothing but the most positive praise. It's what he was expecting from his friends, and to them, he's not the messiah but a human like the rest of them. Isabel caught on to his need for belonging, but Max was right to remind him that they aren't characters in a story revolving around him.
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May 1, 2023 18:05
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Kyte posted:its power is pretty altruist though, and I don't think we've seen a spirit with a power that doesn't match its nature? Is it? "Receiving and redistributing strength" could mean all kinds of things, that's what a wolf eating a deer is doing. Similarly the 'selflessly' part - even if that's true and not just Angel getting all giddy over the supernaturally charming spirit critter, selflessness is pretty subjective and morally neutral on its own. And since when were Forge's motivations selfless? Bending the on-the-surface limited terms of a spirit's gimmick to do whatever you like is kinda a recurring theme in the comic, and the summary of Cherub's deal here isn't something straightforward like "swapping spirit powers" or "helping you heal your friends" it's a lot of charged language that carefully avoids actually saying anything. A Wizard of Goatse fucked around with this message at 17:05 on May 2, 2023 |
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May 2, 2023 16:53
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A Wizard of Goatse posted:Is it? "Receiving and redistributing strength" could mean all kinds of things, that's what a wolf eating a deer is doing. Similarly the 'selflessly' part - even if that's true and not just Angel getting all giddy over the supernaturally charming spirit critter, selflessness is pretty subjective and morally neutral on its own. And since when were Forge's motivations selfless? About Forge. I wasn't sure if we knew his motivations precisely so I went back to check. Towards the end of their fight, Spender laments losing to a fire spirit like Forge because he was mentored by a pyrokinetic spectral. So uh yeah. Forge is 100% June's spirit. Though we still don't know what he wants in exchange from the Angel for serving her. Though it seems likely it has something to do with June? JuniperCake fucked around with this message at 00:08 on May 3, 2023 |
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May 3, 2023 00:05
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Cherub being evil feels a bit too obvious for Zack, but we’ll see. I feel like they’ll be set up that way, but as a double fakeout either be taken out by the real villain or prove to be good but not powerful enough to save the day.
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May 4, 2023 13:12
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Perhaps this question is answered in the latest page https://www.paranatural.net/comic/chapter-8-page-24
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May 5, 2023 06:46
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drat Zack, could have given me at least a chapter before embarrassing me
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May 5, 2023 11:56
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Oh wow, this is major progress for the story and I think I've figured out a few of the future story beats because of it. Really wish this wasn't stuck on a weekly update schedule, I'm really looking forward to more pages.
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May 5, 2023 13:40
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This page says that a Spectral with white energy is nigh-impossible, so did Ángel use Polaris’s power to shift Penny’s energy from black to white? And this will likely make Max’s energy color relevant, as I imagine it has to be black so it can polar shift to white.
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May 5, 2023 15:17
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I think Cherub is just unaware of Penny, since whenever Penny's around Ángel makes sure to have black energy.
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May 5, 2023 16:01
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I posted this page earlier up this page, from last week, but I think it's extra relevant today given what we found out about Angel/Cherub. "Working pragmatically for the greater good" Is exactly what Angel thinks he's doing here. The next page also has some interesting comments from Master Guerra re: trusting others and comparing it to relying on spirits. I have good reason to believe the rift between Angel and Guerra was explicitly over trusting spirits, and given what Penny remembers about Angel's teaching on the "true strength of Spectral Fist", this is probably related to why Guerra gets upset about Isabel "messing" with what Spectral Fist is "supposed" to be. Also, take note of the panel where Spender asks Guerra to finish him if he strays from the path. Guerra's face is shadowed, at the time I figured it was just to focus on Spender as he's talking, but today I think it's because Guerra tried to kill Davy after he strayed towards darkness (or became a vampire, either way). This is probably how Guerra died, actually. He stuck around as a ghost because there's still a job to finish re: fixing whatever's going on with Mayview. Given that we just found out The Angel is not only a fake, but also being orchestrated by Cherub for reasons she's not sharing with Angel, it seems to have been entirely correct for Isaac to distrust Doorman and cut him off.
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May 5, 2023 16:32
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Oh. The effect works because Angel has black energy, and Polaris flips it. So it is significant that he has black energy and also y'all were right, that dog's vibe is/was rancid as hell.
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May 5, 2023 18:09
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Hey. Cherub's a fragment of the Great Sphinx isn't she? She speaks the words "Bark" and "Woof", but she purrs when Angel pets her.
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May 5, 2023 18:41
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Ángel’s also not totally on the level. I mean he had Bad Dad Vibes already, but the paragraph about changing his energy color has him going on about how only he could wield this power for good. Which again beings Penny’s white energy into question, and both the how and why of her getting it. Her spirit does involve mimicking other spirit powers, and having white energy might be the “shortcut” Penny used in lieu of forming bonds with those spectrals/spirits to use their powers.
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May 5, 2023 18:46
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SKULL.GIF posted:Hey. Cherub's a fragment of the Great Sphinx isn't she?
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May 5, 2023 18:47
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Pants Donkey posted:Also Ángel mentions how she always knows the right words he wants to hear…right after mentioning the Great Sphinx’s ability to control people through their voice. And it might explain how the evil factions keep on finding out about Ángel/Doorman's plans. Cherub's snitching on him while acting as the leader. A level beyond mole... SKULL.GIF fucked around with this message at 19:02 on May 5, 2023 |
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May 5, 2023 18:49
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How many Sphinxes are there, then? The three that met with the witch were Truth, Rules (formerly Games?), and ???. Did anyone say what that third one could be? Promises (Contracts?) is possessing Max and that leaves Cherub, masquerading as a little dog with Angel. Clocking that she says Bark and Woof is exactly the kind of silly joke Zack would actually make plot relevant. Any idea what domain she'd have?
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May 5, 2023 19:20
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I just realized her tool is a bell that she wears around her neck…something more suited for a cat.
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May 5, 2023 20:27
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Pants Donkey posted:I just realized her tool is a bell that she wears around her neck…something more suited for a cat. Leaping in a "graceful arc" onto Angel's shoulders, and then nuzzling his neck is very cat-like behavior... as well as veiled contempt for their "owner".
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May 5, 2023 20:29
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Pants Donkey posted:Ángel’s also not totally on the level. I mean he had Bad Dad Vibes already, but the paragraph about changing his energy color has him going on about how only he could wield this power for good. I mean him being too far up his own rear end about the rightness of his methods and actions would be quite in line with his father and also his daughter (who fortunately has other moderating influences).
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May 5, 2023 21:13
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I mean, no bet at this point Cherub is the 3rd Sphinx. It's color is also yellow and it's power cancels out Truth's, although it's unclear if it's because it's powers are deception-based and counter's Truths or it's the Sphinx of Deals, between Truth wanting to negotiate with the Witch and their power getting stifled by Yellow coming down to interfere, and even Angel thinking it's power is granting strength for the greater good when it could just be Power for a Price and Angel is just ignoring the terms. The latter makes much more sense with the other three parts of the Sphinx being Rules, Truth, and Contracts. I guess it depends on how flawed a character they want Angel Guerra to be, which... Oof. Dude may have deluded himself into all this.
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May 5, 2023 21:19
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I'm confused. There are 3 unbound Sphinxes right now. Games/Rules, Truth and the third that nullifies powers within the area. Then there's the one that's all but confirmed to be inside Max and is probably Contracts. So how does Cherub fit there? That Cherub is the third one? But Cherub's pretty clearly bound to the bell. It's part of her narration that she loses contact with the outside world after losing Ángel's white energy.
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May 5, 2023 21:25
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It was never said how many pieces of the great sphinx exist, yeah? So we have four: Rules, Truth, Cool Shades, and Promises (presumed). I am saying the last one is Promises because Max and his mother have a thing about making promises and a contract is just a legal promise. Seems appropriate. All of their power involves speech: Rules binds you to spoken/written rules, Truth makes everyone speak the truth, Cool Shades seems to make you doubt what you are saying, Promises presumably binds you to promises you make, and that would probably make Cherub’s power something involving persuasion. Or maybe believing lies. Also, a clue to how many pieces of the sphinx exist: color spectrum. Rules is Red, Cool Shades is Orange, Cherub is Yellow, No Green, Truth is Blue, and there is no Indigo or Violet. Promises would presumably be black, but if the Great Sphinx is a wight then you’d presumably have a lesser sphinx of every major color. Or they’re a darker shade of Indigo/Violet that allows them to possess Max.
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May 5, 2023 23:21
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It's kind of crazy how much plot development we've gotten recently, it's a refreshing change of pace from the slow drip that the comic has been giving us for the past few years. I think for the first time we're starting to get an of what's being fought for and all of the factions at play here with their motivations, though notably we're still missing key info about the Death Cult. It's been a while since I've looked forward to updates as much as I have lately
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May 5, 2023 23:55
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I assume that if Cherub is a Sphinx, then its power is to make you believe whatever it says, yeah. Given that they're cats I'd almost expect there to be 9 of them. Nine lives and all... Sphinx of Cool Shades might have something to do with ambiguity, because he seems to pick up on double meanings and puns? And he's not as stupid as he pretends to be, clearly. Also, cute that Angel makes an I/O with his hands to activate Polar Shift. MarquiseMindfang fucked around with this message at 01:01 on May 6, 2023 |
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May 6, 2023 00:51
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Simsmagic posted:It's kind of crazy how much plot development we've gotten recently, it's a refreshing change of pace from the slow drip that the comic has been giving us for the past few years. I think for the first time we're starting to get an of what's being fought for and all of the factions at play here with their motivations, though notably we're still missing key info about the Death Cult. It's been a while since I've looked forward to updates as much as I have lately It helps that Zack has been getting better and better with the prose. The previous chapter, when they were still very new to it, was wayyy too wordy and long-winded, and even on rereads it's rough getting through it. I nearly dropped it entirely because of that, but when I saw Chapter 8 started I picked it back up (rereading Chapter 7 in the process) and I'm glad I did so.
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May 6, 2023 01:33
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I'd have to re-read to see what the timing was, but did the death cult emerge after the sphinx was sundered? I'd be willing to bet there's another of the sphinx siblings operating out of their camp as well.
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May 6, 2023 01:34
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