#paranatural spoilers

[uglywizardhat]

world's stupidest foreshadowing

i just realized. the shirt johnny's wearing during the hitball game. when he's already possessed by forge.

[cacowhistle]

courtesy of a discord friend pointing this out but.

when he thought he was gonna die. he called to june. punches a wall.

[tatangadragon]

2 AM FORGE DOODLE IN LIGHT OF.RECENT EVENTS

[shimada-death]

Ed not only being Non-binary but also transitioning along the story is really cool and something i have barely seen in other media (esp fem presenting nb) but i think deep down their current stance is just a culmination of their wish to being "someone else" while also being unable to

They were "adopted" by the Guerras yet after the divorce Angel never cared for them, he only has Isabel's custody and doesn't seem to be bothered for this. Francisco calls them a freeloader and they never call any of them "family" even if they legally are

Yet they're still asked to fill the "older brother" role for Isabel

This has led to Ed seeing Isabel has their only link to their family, even if they hadn't realized it yet. With that in mind their mental breakdown in chapter 5 changes a lot. It's not about "losing a friend", deep down it's about not filling the only role they've been asked to.

When they aren't asked to be"the older brother" then they're "the Burger's son", a living memento and reminder of their parent's disappearence

Bruce and Gwen don't really mean anything to Ed since they were too little to remember them, but they're asked to be on a constant mourning, Spender remembers all of the club members yet the only thing he can share about Ed is that they're the Doctor's child and what it means to his relationship with the doctors

This roles are no problem for them, they like to fill the mold that people assign to them after all

But they have become a core part of their identity. And when Ed starts questioning their gender identity they start to question why they can't fill those roles too.

And the wish has come true! they're someone else! they're smart and cute and aren't lacking anything in particular! They've broken the mold!

But that "someone else" is still the kid who wishes to fill the "Isabel's sibling" and "Burger's child" because Ed has entangled those concepts so tight to their identity and self that they can't imagine a version of themself without them.

Ed's identity as a whole has been what others have built for them and they have just accepted to be the reflection of that, realizing they're non-binary and be open about that (even with a big push from the wish) has been the first step to unbuild all of it, but they still need a lot of reconstruction to do which i think they're currently not smart enough to see.

[crypt1dcorv1dae]

hurts to see his fire dimmed :( i will usurp his father and be his new dad

[kaoinim]

ya dig?

[flashybaby]

[incomprehensi-bull]

paranatural is a really good comic

[paxcallow]

more well thought out chapter 9 predictions

[cassiancreating]

[cripplepunkbarbarian]

Heartbreaking. Both of your fandom assigned primary love interests are in your house at like 7am on a school day and they’re both being insane.

[uglywizardhat]

i haven't seen anyone point this out but the way that johnny's dad is waluigi'd coach oop is so fucking Much. character design choices of all time

[cacowhistle]

i was going to say "well this throws forge being june's spirit out the window" because different colors

but then i remembered .

did we ever find out who "she" was?

[tatangadragon]

can't stop thinking about forge and june actually. the fact he says her name in cursed tongue.the fact it's stated a spirit learns a cursed word with each foul deed they commit. do we know if it only applies to objective foul deeds or can it be a percieved one too. what if the guilt over not being able to save june haunts forge to the point he knows her name in cursed words. can anyone hear me

[dangerismylastname]

It seems to me that part of the reason Spender is so secretive is that he sees it as a way to hide the magnitude of his mistakes. He believes he has the sole responsibility of protecting Mayview from whatever is coming, but he can't stand the idea of failing or being seen to fail. So he imagines that as long as no one knows about the problems, no one can know about his various blunders trying to solve them until the very end, when he's fixed everything and becomes the noble hero he wants everyone to see him as. "Pay no attention to the growling and Wailing behind the curtain, I've got it Handled".

There's an analogy here to how his spectral abilities work, specifically how he dealt with Forge; shroud the problems in darkness then wash them away with light, and in the end it looks like they never even existed.

The snag here is that, of course, problem solving is often a collaborative process because problems are often multifaceted and need multiple perspectives just to be properly understood, one person even if they are the super duper Strongest can't solve all problems by themselves. Here for example: he tells Mina that Everything's Fine, keeping to himself that he thinks he's uncovered a secret organization when in fact there are two. The fact that Forge is still alive (?) completely slips his mind. Most importantly, he's too busy keeping up his secretive facade to check if the kids are okay. Dropping it would mean having to explain why he left 4 middle school kids to fend for themselves, which has the potential to expose more egregious fuck ups like almost killing two of them with his secret shadow spirit; the thought has him in sweats.

Of course, Spender has confidants in the form of Francisco Guerra and Lucifer and he imagines they are enough to "keep him in check", but really they only enable his worst impulses because they-like him-overestimate the value of secrecy and acting alone. Like:

^this is not helping his hero complex. If you want him to stop being brash and impulsive, talking like this isn't helping Lucy!

Spender's secrecy is basically a gamble in that he's betting on his own ability to save everyone without falling apart first. This chapter shows that this is a losing bet, though; Richard Spender is a hot mess who can barely save himself.

[crypt1dcorv1dae]

Oh my god the jang is gonna have a fucking field day when they find out Johnny has a fucking crush on max. They're going to destroy him. With friendly ribbing and also love and acceptance. As they do everything.

And then they will all collectively give max the most vague, confusing shovel talk of all time, where none of them actually make it clear what they're talking about so max just thinks they're menacing him for some other reason (he's still fully oblivious to the crush also. Of course.)