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Pants Donkey posted:It was never said how many pieces of the great sphinx exist, yeah? if anything it's probably the Sphinx of Vows https://twitter.com/JackOfQuills/status/984290288259788800?s=20&t=324tsGkmXJzM33JtH83y9g
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May 6, 2023 02:06
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SKULL.GIF posted: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. Absolutely. There was some overwrought writing early on but he's gotten so much better since then. Probably one of the best transitions I've seen of a comic going to text + images. I hope its sustainable and their hand stays in good shape. They are really killing it with the comic right now. JuniperCake fucked around with this message at 21:14 on May 8, 2023 |
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May 6, 2023 02:21
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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. I looked again at your post and realized I only answered the last part, about looking forward to the updates. You're bang on about the shape of the story finally having its outlines be clear. It looks like the Great Sphinx and the wight that Spender beat with a (Lucifer's?) beam are two distinct entities. Davy sundered the Great Sphinx, Polaris came to peace of his own accord, Sandman was active long before Spender. So there's a fourth, as of yet unnamed, Wight -- possibly the feminine ghost-figure that we saw in the first flashback in Chapter 7 that's "asleep below Mayview", but that'd mean Spender nuked it with a beam while he was a teenager, which doesn't have the timelines quite fitting up. (Ugh, is there a FIFTH Wight?) The Burgers entered its dream to try to figure out what's going on with it, and there's a mirror Mayview there named Clayview. Solving that mystery/problem is likely going to be deeply crucial to the plot's resolution, and it likely involves, as a secondary effect, all the factions resolving how they're addressing wights-in-generals and how humans interact with the spirit world.
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May 6, 2023 03:34
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Are you including the freaky shadow spirit possessing Spender as a potential wight?
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May 6, 2023 04:50
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Pants Donkey posted:Are you including the freaky shadow spirit possessing Spender as a potential wight? I am not, the story has given plenty of hints without actually saying outright that the shadow spirit has black energy. IMO this is part of what makes it so scary; it can possess anyone with black energy, which we know is a very common spectral color, and feed off them to awaken. Lucifer's old enough and experienced enough that he knows what Wights can do when they awaken, if he's referring to the Black Scrap as a "nuclear bomb" then it's something beyond a Wight I think.
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May 6, 2023 05:27
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Mayview's destruction will be caused by 108 Woghts all converging in the town...for thus century's top ranked festival, SpiritCon!! Mayview will never be the same!!
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May 6, 2023 05:41
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SKULL.GIF posted:I am not, the story has given plenty of hints without actually saying outright that the shadow spirit has black energy. IMO this is part of what makes it so scary; it can possess anyone with black energy, which we know is a very common spectral color, and feed off them to awaken. We know that wights split into colors when broken from the Sphinx, though. Could be Spender just specifically removed that one black chunk of the wight to cripple it, and the reason it's a nuclear bomb is that if it gets out it will rejoin and reform the original wight? Although it would be kinda cool if it was somehow a wight whose energy Polaris swapped... but no, it doesn't seem much like a wight as-is.
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May 6, 2023 05:49
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SKULL.GIF posted:I am not, the story has given plenty of hints without actually saying outright that the shadow spirit has black energy. IMO this is part of what makes it so scary; it can possess anyone with black energy, which we know is a very common spectral color, and feed off them to awaken. Spender's spirit could still be a wight, or more specifically a fragment of one since we've already seen that with the Sphinx. If the spirit from the flashback is the one that Spender sealed, it looks similiar to the wight that was attacking the dream. Lucifer had sealed and suppressed the shadow spirit by then so it's likely not the same entity. But it does seem like there's some sort of connection. edit: oh got beaten to it but yeah basically same idea as that. Spender's spirit is probably the key to whatever the deal is with the wight that attacked the dream that everyone seems to be after. JuniperCake fucked around with this message at 06:03 on May 6, 2023 |
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May 6, 2023 05:50
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JuniperCake posted:Spender's spirit could still be a wight, or more specifically a fragment of one since we've already seen that with the Sphinx. If the spirit from the flashback is the one that Spender sealed, it looks similiar to the wight that was attacking the dream. Lucifer had sealed and suppressed the shadow spirit by then so it's likely not the same entity. The flashback with Spender and crew in the dream definitely still indicates that in part or in whole Spender is housing a Wight. We know Vice Principle DuNacht was looking for this Wight, the Burgers also started researching it on orders from the previous Boss Leader, and Ultimately Spender, Mina, and some other people got tangled into a huge conflict ending. I'm guessing after the consortium moved into the area properly there was the scuffle with the Sphinx. My guess is whatever this Wight could do would let DuNacht take things to another level should she acquire it. SKULL.GIF posted:Lucifer's old enough and experienced enough that he knows what Wights can do when they awaken, if he's referring to the Black Scrap as a "nuclear bomb" then it's something beyond a Wight I think.
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May 6, 2023 07:17
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Brought To You By posted:The flashback with Spender and crew in the dream definitely still indicates that in part or in whole Spender is housing a Wight. We know Vice Principle DuNacht was looking for this Wight, the Burgers also started researching it on orders from the previous Boss Leader, and Ultimately Spender, Mina, and some other people got tangled into a huge conflict ending. I'm guessing after the consortium moved into the area properly there was the scuffle with the Sphinx. I agree that he has a wight (or part of one) but just to clarify by flashback I meant the flashback within a flashback here. The one where a spirit is reaching for spender in the water, which seems to be a different entity from the one in the dream but looking remarkably similiar. Though with the dream "walls?" covering the other it's hard to say for sure but the one in the water seems to have an extra finger. But the spirit from the water seems likely to be the spirit that Spender has (or part of it), not the one that attacked during the dream. Since by the page you linked, and the fact that Spender has dripping darkness where his eyes should be at the end of this scene, he's already possessed (with Lucifer likely suppressing it) by the time this attack in the dream occurs. Though with as powerful as a wight can be, maybe it can still attack in dreams even if held back. Though there's a decent chance these are two distinct spirits, or at least two parts of the same one. Maybe Spender just stole it's finger. Pretty rude if so. JuniperCake fucked around with this message at 07:44 on May 6, 2023 |
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May 6, 2023 07:40
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I just read somewhere that Lefty is Davy’s missing hand, and god drat it he is missing his left hand  Zack, you scoundrel
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May 6, 2023 14:28
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JuniperCake posted:Absolutely. There was some overwrought writing early on but he's gotten so much better since then. Tapping thoughtfully on the thread title
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May 8, 2023 14:10
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Bleck posted:Tapping thoughtfully on the thread title Thanks for the correction, I fixed the post!
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May 8, 2023 21:13
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Time for something completely different. https://www.paranatural.net/comic/chapter-8-page-25
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May 12, 2023 17:11
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So either it gets upset and hulks out as part of its powers or something happened to it years ago to make it a grudge. And it has since snapped out of it when the connection reawakening. Although Max could see his grudge in spirit trance, so I dunno.
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May 12, 2023 18:28
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Oh dear the Barrier Anyway relevant link back MikeJF fucked around with this message at 18:48 on May 12, 2023 |
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May 12, 2023 18:37
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The little ghost is probably only a tiny part of what Peekaboo actually is. Hence, "Peekaboo'". Whatever happened between Dimitri and Isaac, almost certainly Peekaboo is responsible.
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May 12, 2023 18:55
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MikeJF posted:Oh dear the Barrier Spender did tell Dimitri he'll literally die if he tries to leave town without the ghost train right?
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May 12, 2023 19:00
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Brought To You By posted:Spender did tell Dimitri he'll literally die if he tries to leave town without the ghost train right? Zack answered that on Twitter and Dimitri does know... However Dimitri doesn't know that the Ghost Train is currently non-functional.
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May 12, 2023 19:20
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In place of this week's delayed update, I think I'll call my shot on predicting what happens to close out this chapter: Cherub is deceptive/manipulative (I don't think I'd go so far as to say "evil" yet), and (one of?) her power(s?) seems to be calming people and erasing self-doubts. Her energy is yellow, and we've been told she's close to a full recovery, at which point I suspect she'll start looking for opportunities to jump clear of Ángel. She doesn't respect him and views him as nothing more than a pawn. (Plus The Angel suddenly vanishing leads to some very awkward questions, which is entirely in keeping with the comic's theme of "no one communicates properly".) Who do we know in the story has crippling self-doubt and yellow energy? Rick Spender. Think of it! Lucifer's angel-themed too, but Lucifer's a hardass who's trying to set him on the right track instead of reassuring him. If Rick got the chance, don't you think he'd take to Cherub much, much more readily? How does this happen? We know the vampire gang are trying to break free of Davy's control; Paige knows about spectral energy and that it's color-coded; Paige now has a yellow vampire on her hands; and that Paige's planning to use specifically Ritz's spectral powers in a gambit against Davy. If she finds out about Rick (and Lucifer) -- through, say, seeing him show up at Max's dad's convenience store -- I suspect she'd try to steal Mr. Spender's sunglasses and have Ritz use its powers to dust Davy. What happens if that happened? The black spirit inside Spender, no longer constrained by Lucifer, would be unleashed and likely wreck most of Mayview -- unless Cherub steps in to take Lucifer's place as guardian. Or it escapes, we get the Sphinx of Truth's prophecy fulfilled (as well as the chapter title "Dark before Daybreak"), Cherub joins Rick to cheer him up and use him as a much more active and aggressive pawn for her plans.
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May 21, 2023 19:34
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Clearly Peekaboo will handle this new direction in a mature and rational manner. Who wants to bet that Peekaboo heard "Didi doesn't want to leave and to make everyone happy" as a new directive, rather than the implied "grin and bear it like I am" that Dimitri tried to say?
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May 26, 2023 15:35
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that's the implication, yes
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May 26, 2023 19:08
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So whatever happened was apparently Peekaboo forcibly interfering with Dimitri's ... appearance? shape? which triggered Isaac into reflexively zapping him, before Peekaboo followed Dimitri's instructions to leave him alone? No chance the little bedsheet is its real form. Previous pages mentioning the incident / Peekaboo: 5.287 & 7.84 The "dilapidated mansion" is probably the Slanted Manse, which connects the loop on how Doorman and Isaac came across each other and why Isaac needed Doorman's guidance.
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May 26, 2023 19:15
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Hmm... For some reason, I keep catching my brain on the fact that Spender called the shadow he holds an empty promise in that second page linked. I wonder if that'll become relevant later?
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May 27, 2023 01:22
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Peekaboo may not even be a spirit. It isn’t recovering as far as Dimitri can tell, it hasn’t altered his physical appearance despite being possessed for nearly a decade, and I don’t think we’ve ever seen Peekaboo’s energy color. And yet in this chapter alone we’ve seen Angel, Polaris, Flipflop, and Phantomine all giving off their color while in trance. That’s a broad range of spirits, so “it’s a wight” or “it’s not in a tool” won’t explain it away.
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May 27, 2023 01:51
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Pants Donkey posted:Peekaboo may not even be a spirit. It isn’t recovering as far as Dimitri can tell, it hasn’t altered his physical appearance despite being possessed for nearly a decade, and I don’t think we’ve ever seen Peekaboo’s energy color. And yet in this chapter alone we’ve seen Angel, Polaris, Flipflop, and Phantomine all giving off their color while in trance. That’s a broad range of spirits, so “it’s a wight” or “it’s not in a tool” won’t explain it away. This is a completely wild guess that I don't mean to be serious speculation at all, but what if Dimitri himself is a ghost? Isabel's line about "About ghosts. Sometimes they can use tools. And they can last for a really long time." That'd fit with the shapeshifting which no other character, even accomplished spectrals, has been able to exhibit. The closest they've come is Spirit Fusion. We know Dimitri had a near brush with death while he was young, which is what turned him into a spectral, and he met Peekaboo briefly after. But look at Dimitri's character, he doesn't like being acknowledged or scrutinized, he prefers being in the background observing things. And yet, like PJ, he's drawn to people with very high energy and zest-for-life (Isabel, Suzy). All that fits with being a shy, reclusive spirit, and Peekaboo's fixation on its youth and refusal to grow seems to fit with being a baby/toddler ghost.
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May 27, 2023 04:16
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TBF trying to fade into the background is 100% consistent with someone who feels like they are constantly a burden
Xand_Man fucked around with this message at 04:21 on May 28, 2023 |
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May 27, 2023 21:40
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SKULL.GIF posted:This is a completely wild guess that I don't mean to be serious speculation at all, but what if Dimitri himself is a ghost? Isabel's line about "About ghosts. Sometimes they can use tools. And they can last for a really long time." That'd fit with the shapeshifting which no other character, even accomplished spectrals, has been able to exhibit. The closest they've come is Spirit Fusion. Have we seen any ghosts that can be seen by non-spectrals? There's some that can affect real world objects like Fransisco but even a powerful spirit like him couldn't be seen by Isabel's mom. I'm pretty sure Dimitri was interacting with quite a few folks during the hitball segment, so it seems fairly unlikely he'd be a ghost? With all the secrets everyone has though, it feels like you can't rule anything out 100%.
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May 28, 2023 02:01
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Dimitri frequently interacts with Suzy and Collin, both of whom are not spectrals. He's not a ghost.
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May 28, 2023 04:12
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Yeah he's clearly a zombie
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May 28, 2023 04:16
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Pants Donkey posted:Peekaboo may not even be a spirit. It isn’t recovering as far as Dimitri can tell, it hasn’t altered his physical appearance despite being possessed for nearly a decade, and I don’t think we’ve ever seen Peekaboo’s energy color. And yet in this chapter alone we’ve seen Angel, Polaris, Flipflop, and Phantomine all giving off their color while in trance. That’s a broad range of spirits, so “it’s a wight” or “it’s not in a tool” won’t explain it away. fwiw the only other time I can think of a spiritual entity not exuding a color is the shadow creature inside Spender which is black but doesn't have any whisps emanating off of it. If the sphinx got broken up into a rainbow of smaller parts, maybe the timeline for Dimitri's infancy and Spender assimilating the shadow creature matches up and Peekaboo is another fragment.
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May 28, 2023 04:51
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Peekaboo may have a true form but I'm not sure he's connected to anyone else besides being another example of spirits having strained and traumatizing relationships with their hosts. However, the only other examples of childlike spirits with strange traits are Mina's artificial spirits. They do have the color wisps though, So make of that what you will.
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May 28, 2023 07:41
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Maybe we are seeing peekabo's energy and he's secretly a white wight 
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May 28, 2023 12:44
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MikeJF posted:Maybe we are seeing peekabo's energy and he's secretly a white wight That's definitely one way to explain the weirdness with Peekaboo in general. So it doesn't seem impossible?
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May 28, 2023 13:26
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i think it’s just a case of the sheet covering it up as like, a gag/bit.
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May 28, 2023 21:55
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Alternate theory: he's a "ghost of the living" created by Dimitri's near-death experience and Dimitri is being haunted by, effectively, himself, which is why Peekaboo doesn't mature.
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May 29, 2023 17:46
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Suzy's back! https://www.paranatural.net/comic/chapter-8-page-27 Dimitri's parents are overseas? Also he has an earring now.
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Jun 2, 2023 15:29
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if me and my friends were there we'd beat peekaboo with hammers, ill tell you that much
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Jun 6, 2023 19:15
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Suzy is a STARCHMAN and that's even more ridiculous than being a Spender. There's an update!
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Jun 10, 2023 04:37
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I get the sense that everyone sort of likes Starchman and this isn't nearly as big of a deal as Suzy thinks it would be.
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Jun 10, 2023 04:49
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