#chapter 3 masterpost

[pnattheories]

Final notes on the possible evils of those in power

There are totally things that the kids aren't being told. I've made this point before. Mr. Spender even said it:

He knows a great deal more that the kids are "authorised" to know. Which presumably means that it's the kind of thing whoever's in control here (be it the Guys in Charge and Trenchcoats, or whoever else it is if my assessment of the situation is wrong, and they're just Guys with Some Power and Trenchcoats) don't want getting out. Which presumably means it's compromising somehow. So either someone in power is doing something evil (or at least morally grey), or there's something not very nice in the physics of the world, or there's something going on that might cause a panic if widely known about. Or all three.

There are some more things I have to say about that in my next post, which is actually gonna be broken up into several posts on several similar topics, because yet again I have a million things to say and I know walls of text appeal to nobody.

/Chapter 3 Masterpost/

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[pnattheories]

Varying realities

This is just a thing I just think it’s important to consciously take note of:

The supernatural world and the normal world are usually two different worlds, for normal people it's like the supernatural world doesn't exist, and for most spirits and ghosts, the opposite is true. (Except for poltergeists, who can choose to interact with the physical world.)

But Spectrals see both and interact with both in such a way that both worlds are completely real - Zack’s example on a page was that if a spirit stood between a Spectral and the sun, the Spectral wouldn’t get a tan. (Not to forget one commenter's rather grisly assessment that if a large spirit walked through a building with a Spectral in it, the spirit could crush said Spectral easily without harming anyone or anything else. Zack confirmed this to be in line with the physics of the world.)

And in turn, the vision a Spectral sees when in communion with their spirit is similarly real for them, everything there is something they can interact with, but it’s not real for anyone else.

This seems to be a bizarre reoccurring theme of worlds within worlds that less and less people can interact with. That which you perceive is your reality.

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[pnattheories]

What defines whether or not a power is "invisible to normals"?

Ed's can't, Isabel's and Isaac's can, and Max's can only be detected by it's effect anyway.

I'd say that any power which had a result specifically generated by that power rather than any other source would be invisible to normals, because Ed's ink is invisible because it's generated by his tool, and Isabel's paper is actually a part of her book, which is a physical object, so it's not invisible. But Isaac's lightning is a result of his power, and yet he claims it to be "external materials" so either his lightning is actually a result of his power interacting with the physical world, or it's different for mediums, or there's something going on here.

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[pnattheories]

A note on how tools may effect a power

What bloody use would Scrapdragon's powers have been? Magnet powers that don't affect spirits. Unless, of course, magnet powers are only the bat's manifestation of Scrapdragon's powers.

As Max points out here:

Ed and Isabel's powers are a little too convenient.

And at least in the case of Isabel's book, it's possible her spirit doesn't have paper powers at all.

As Isaac says on that same page:

And let's think about Isabel's tool: it's a book with one black cover, one white cover, a grey spine, and this symbol:

on the black cover. And you know what? I didn't actually know what that was until the commenters referred to it repeatedly as a "black widow" symbol. So I went and looked that up, and it turns out that that's the shape of the red spot on a Black Widow spider's underside.

The theory the commenters were posing is that her spirit is actually some kinda spider spirit, and that paper powers are simply how the spirit's (presumably spidery) powers are manifested through the tool.

(heh but just think about it, if Isabel had been possessed directly she'd have been spiderman :O)

But what else magnetism could be, who knows. I wouldn't have guessed a spider for Isabel's spirit without the details though.

(although, chapter 4 relevant theories suggest it probably still is magnetism)

/Chapter 3 Masterpost/

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[pnattheories]

Who was the previous fourth club member?

I'm in the large group of people who think it was probably Dimitri.

Why? Well for starters, the cast page claims he is "oddly disinterested in journalism"

then he says this about the Activity Club in chapter one:

And also he seems more than a little concerned while watching Ed, Isabel and Max exchanging contact details:

oh and in the comments on that page is THIS:

Which is basically Zack code for "if I tell you if this is relevant, it'll spoiler important plot details"

And then in chapter three, in the middle of Isaac's complaining, we have this:

Not only are there bits of known Activity Club members, (And a dog. Possibly a spectral dog??) there's what looks like most of a kid with dark skin. And literally the only character in Paranatural with dark skin is, you guessed it, Dimitri!

As for how the hell Suzy lets him be a member of the Journalism Club, it's possible she doesn't know. She's implied to have shown up at Mayview Middle School in sixth grade here:

And I don't know very much about the American school system, but I'm pretty sure the first year of middle school is fifth grade? (how the hell do I know that even????)

And if Dimitri was ever a member of the Activity Club in the previous year, before Suzy was at their school, then possibly she never knew. In that case I don't know why he would have quit. Possibly he got tired of life-and-death situations, or he discovered something he wasn't allowed to know.

Either that or Dimitri is a super underground spy for the Activity Club, and Suzy doesn't know because ......??? Mind control powers maybe??

Oh and in chapter one Isaac says this

And a lot of people think that refers to the previous member, and that's not impossible, but I think he was gonna finish that with "like I did". Mostly because this also looks like Isaac to me, sans his silly possession hair:

But I'm pretty sure that we already know the person who was the previous fourth member, regardless of who it is.

/Chapter 3 Masterpost/

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[pnattheories]

Who is Doorman's Master?

She’s referred to only as “she” by Scrapdragon. Well that's half the population of the world (wait spirits can be male and  female? I only refer to spirits as 'he' because most of them seem like they're male).

But because of a theory I have, that at least sometimes Spectrals become spirits when they die, I have this vague feeling that Max's mother was a spectral, and when she died, she became a spirit, and that is who Doorman’s master is.

I mean, look at it this way: they’re the only two people at some point specifically referred to as only the feminine pronoun “she”.

-----------------------

Oh and here's a little thing I noticed just yesterday:

Doorman is keeping his master secret from Isaac. If Isaac had known about whoever was being referred to, wouldn't Doorman have just said who he was waiting for?

Enough proof has been added to a previously unlikely theory: it's possible that Doorman and whatever group he belongs to aren't actually the best of people.  It's possible that they're trying to use Isaac, even.

/Chapter 3 Masterpost/

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[pnattheories]

Why is Max’s mother’s death important to the plot?

Because seriously, it has to be more plot relevant than just "to fuck up the main character" or otherwise it wouldn't be a thing.

But unless she was a spectral, I can’t really say how it’s important. But Max specifically wants to see her for some reason, and it’s probably partially because he misses her, but I think it’s also because she died mysteriously and he has some questions pertaining to her death: 

I mean, not to mention that he agrees that his mother’s death was “sudden and grisly”!

And I also have another theory, which I will discuss in the next post.

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[pnattheories]

What did Isaac do?? Why is nobody telling him things because he's posessed?

For a kid to seek redemption I mean he'd have to do something pretty bad, yeah? Frankly I think he either killed someone, or worse, blew up at least one building and killed a lot of people. By accident, of course. Or it could just be something that only Isaac thinks is bad, as a joke, but that would be very disappointing.

Since I’m pretty sure Mr. Spender is possessed, I don’t think it’s just possession is strictly what makes Isaac off limits for knowledge. Partially I think it’s cause he’s twelve, (there are things the kids aren't allowed to know due to a lack of "authorisation") But mostly I’m thinking Isaac’s spirit is a bad guy, or at the very least a guy who might flip the fuck out at certain knowledge.

And since bonded spirits can take over their host, since spirits affect the thing they’re possessing, including their personality for mediums, I’m thinking that the reason that Isaac in particular is left out of the loop is that nobody wants a rampaging Montezuma on their hands.

(Doorman mentioned "the more subtle forms of darkness" and I'm pretty darn sure he was referring to Montezuma)

And Isaac did something pretty bad Possibly it was recognised that it was Montezuma’s influence, and decided that only after that spirit was gone would Isaac get told the things he wants to know.

And since we know Mr. Spender is actually sorry for Isaac, this seems a lot more like a hint than being an "enormous Jerklord", but Isaac can’t see past his irritation at being kept in the dark to notice.

/Chapter 3 Masterpost/

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