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2020-04-10, 08:43 AM (ISO 8601)
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Paranatural: And the New Forum Thread
Link to the latest strip
Link to the start of the comic
Hey there, Playground! Here's my attempt at getting a forum thread started for Paranatural, the urban fantasy comedy webcomic by Zack Morrison. For those not in the know, the comic follows Max Puckett, a new arrival to the small town of Mayview who finds himself entangled in the extra-normal world of ghosts and spirits and falls in with the Activity Club, a junior-high organization of students who fight dangerous spirits and are led by the (allegedly) mysterious Mr. Richard Spender. At least, that's the idea at first: the scope of the comic rapidly expands outwards and incorporates a huge and developed cast that only seems to get bigger every chapter. There's much to see and read.
I only stumbled on the comic recently, but it's still one of the most consistently funny, well-written, and beautifully drawn webcomics I've seen in a very long time, and I was surprised the forum didn't have a dedicated thread for it (there's an old one from two years ago, but it doesn't seem to have lasted long). Now that chapter 7 has begun in earnest, I figured I'd give it a shot. Any other fans of the (Paranatural) Activity Club feel like giving their two cents?
Spoiler: Chapter 7 Page 1Mr. Garcia being a (former?) Cousinhood operative both explains a lot and raises even more questions.
Feels weird to see Mr. Spender wearing something other than a tailored suit. Makes him seem a lot more vulnerable than normal. But he's still refusing to mend fences with Mina, so I do wonder if he actually took anything away from the events of chapter 5.
The opening chapter blurb from last update still has me thinking. It refers to the "three remaining veteran members of the Activity Club". I'm guessing that means Isabel, Ed, and Isaac. But does it also mean that Dimitri isn't the only former member running around? And what about the vaguely alluded-to adventures Spender and Mina had when they were the same age as the kids? I strongly believe we're going to find out what happened between Spender and Lucifer when the former was thirteen in this chapter, but I don't know what else.
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2020-04-10, 12:05 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Paranatural: And the New Forum Thread
shame the comic comment section was deactivated, maybe this thread will pick up the slack.
* my emphasis
http://dmreference.com/SRD/
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/
Things that don't kill me make me strong
Things that do kill me leave me dead
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2020-04-10, 02:29 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Paranatural: And the New Forum Thread
It is over now but I wanted to say I found the last arc confusing, in the sense that I was confused that the story switched to that arc for some reason it didn't really fit imo.
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2020-04-10, 03:04 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2019
Re: Paranatural: And the New Forum Thread
I can think of a number of reasons why, at least.
- Taking a break from the perspective of the Activity Club. It gives us a chance to see how weird Mayview looks from the perspective of someone not involved in the world of spirits (answer: still really freaking weird).
- Developing characters. Zack loves to flesh out the secondary cast, and Stephen was the least-developed member of Johnny's gang for a while before that chapter came out. It also gives us some insight into Davy and what his whole deal is, without having to contort the story so he could make more appearances.
- It gives both reader and writer a break with a short, mostly self-contained story after the sprawling openness of Chapter 5, which was very good but also kind of exhausting to get through. Not sure where the latest chapter will fit in on that front; hopefully somewhere in-between.
- It allows Zack to flex their artistic muscles and do something a little more experimental with the framing device of the chapter. I'm not sure the whole DJ Mothman and Prof. Bigfoot thing worked for me, but I could see how it would make a nice change of pace from a writer's perspective.
Could be any of those reasons. Could be none of them. Shrug, I say.
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2020-04-11, 11:07 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2017
Re: Paranatural: And the New Forum Thread
My main issue with the otherwise delightful Chapter 6 is that it feels Zack still has loads of story left to tell with the main plot, and that he shouldn't waste time with "filler" side stuff. I want him to be able to finish the main comic before he either loses focus & the plot sprawls into an incomprehensible mess (like Erfworld), or he loses the time/drive/resources to finish (too many other webcomics I've followed).
The comic started April 30, 2011. (I was introduced to the comic by a guest comic he did at Paradox Space, a Homestuck spinoff.). For almost 9 years now, we have had plot progress, but there's still a lot more to go, at least without rushing things. This little side-story took us from Jan 2019 to March 2020. I know he needs to do what he feels inspired to do to stave off burnout, but I also think he won't want to do this for the next 40 years. I don't think this comic is his main source of income, like other big ones (Sluggy Freelance, Schlock Mercenary, Order of the Stick, Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal).
As a side note, Alex was my favourite character introduced in chapter 5, so it was nice to see her have a tiny cameo in chapter 6. I wonder, given the time spent on her, if she'll have any relevance in the future.
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2020-04-17, 10:38 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2019
Re: Paranatural: And the New Forum Thread
Spoiler: Chapter 7 Page 2So Mr. Garcia is at least still semi-active when it comes to monster hunting. That might explain that time Max saw him floating in a river? Not so much how that crossbow ended up at Spender's place, though.
Curious whether the Cousinhood has some alternative method of seeing spirits and ghosts, or whether they're divorced from that side of the supernatural entirely and "Monsters" like vampires are just visible if you know where to look.
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2020-04-17, 10:52 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Paranatural: And the New Forum Thread
"Moon's not full just yet"?
So he's a werewolf/therianthrope of some kind?
Or something else connected to Luna?Last edited by Kantaki; 2020-04-17 at 10:54 AM.
"If it lives it can be killed.
If it is dead it can be eaten."
Ronkong Coma "the way of the bookhunter" III Catacombium
(Walter Moers "Die Stadt der träumenden Bücher")
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2020-04-17, 03:11 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2019
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2020-04-17, 03:18 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Paranatural: And the New Forum Thread
"If it lives it can be killed.
If it is dead it can be eaten."
Ronkong Coma "the way of the bookhunter" III Catacombium
(Walter Moers "Die Stadt der träumenden Bücher")
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2020-04-17, 05:07 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2004
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- The Land of Angles
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2020-04-17, 05:19 PM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2015
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Re: Paranatural: And the New Forum Thread
"If it lives it can be killed.
If it is dead it can be eaten."
Ronkong Coma "the way of the bookhunter" III Catacombium
(Walter Moers "Die Stadt der träumenden Bücher")
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2020-04-26, 01:22 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2019
Re: Paranatural: And the New Forum Thread
No update this week. That's a bad sign only two pages into the new chapter. Also, isn't this comic supposed to be updating twice a week?
Maybe Zack posted something on Twitter, I wouldn't know.
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2020-04-26, 04:15 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Paranatural: And the New Forum Thread
* my emphasis
http://dmreference.com/SRD/
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/
Things that don't kill me make me strong
Things that do kill me leave me dead
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2020-05-01, 07:28 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2019
Re: Paranatural: And the New Forum Thread
Spoiler: Chapter 7 Page 3Lots of ambiguous wording getting thrown out here. I'm inclined to believe the "Her" Spender and Garcia keep referring to is the "angel" that Doorman and Nin serve, for no other reason other than that it'd be convenient, and we have enough factions running around anyway.Last edited by KatsOfLoathing; 2020-05-01 at 07:28 AM.
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2020-05-01, 08:26 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Paranatural: And the New Forum Thread
good advice in the last second to panel
Last edited by Agi Hammerthief; 2020-05-01 at 08:29 AM.
* my emphasis
http://dmreference.com/SRD/
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/
Things that don't kill me make me strong
Things that do kill me leave me dead
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2020-05-01, 09:43 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2019
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2020-05-03, 03:47 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Paranatural: And the New Forum Thread
Actually, I'd wager Stephen's side story wasn't filler at all. It let Zack cover some of the less-fleshed out characters pretty easily, but more importantly he also was able to give some serious details on the vampires without having the Activity Club have to find out about them or it being a non-sequitur. While the whole Mothman radio thing felt a bit iffy, the amount of information we got with the vampires probably would have had to come up sooner or later.
Right now it sounds like we have two main long-term conflicts that the Activity Club is subject to, with the first one being in the town (as represented by Davy and the vampires) and a second one in terms of spirits (as represented by...either Doorman's group or the people the dogs were reporting to, it's rather ambiguous). I'd say there's another side in the form of the Activity Consortium, but for brevity I'd say they're close enough to being "good" for all intents and purposes.
There's still a lot of stuff that the plot has to reveal or trim away, but Chapter 6 helped give some background to let Zack maneuver through the plot more readily.An explanation of why MitD being any larger than Huge is implausible.
See my extended signature here! May contain wit, candor, and somewhere from 52 to 8127 walruses.
Purple is humorous descriptions made up on the fly
Green is serious talk about hypothetical
Blue is irony and sarcasm
"I think, therefore I am,
I walk, therefore I stand,
I sleep, therefore I dream;
I joke, therefore I meme."
-Squire Doodad
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2020-05-03, 04:41 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2019
Re: Paranatural: And the New Forum Thread
Yeah, there's a lot of factions in play. That's not even counting the "Broken God" possessing Max (which may or may not be tied to either of the spirit factions), the vice principal/"The Witch" and whatever her deal is, and the Cousinhood. Also, the people the Pixhellhounds were reporting to were in turn reporting to somebody else. It's complex, in a word.
Doorman and Nin claim to be the "good guys" in the spirit conflict, but neither of them particularly care for humans and they were willing to work with Forge, who's not exactly a nice guy himself. Though the black robe dudes can command the Pixhellhounds, who instinctively obey the most evil person in their midst, so they're probably the bad guys in that situation.
Also, I'd like other opinions on a question I've been pondering for a bit: is Lisa a vampire? She certainly seems to know about the supernatural, and there are a few scenes in Chapter 5 where her eyes do the same ghostly-glow thing as Cody's (and they're the same shade when fully open, too). Thoughts?
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2020-05-03, 05:07 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Paranatural: And the New Forum Thread
Oh shoot, I forgot about the vice principal and the spirit possessing Max. It'd be both hilarious and probably save a lot of time if it turns out the vice principal is just a terrible person that Zarei hates, but otherwise has no real role in the story. A bit like the gym teacher from Dr. McNinja.
Personally, I'm going to assume the Cousinhood isn't going to be overly relevant unless you count Garcia.
There's no evidence to suggest the ominous spirits (?) are backing any given side except for that they're almost certainly working against the angel.
What page does she do the glowing eye bit? Lisa might be a vampire, but given the Davy/Cody interactions she's on Cody's side if she is. Davy specifically is not the one in charge of the..."operations" at the middle school, and Cody is against his father. Assuming Lisa isn't a vampire sent to keep an eye on Cody, I'd assume she's either just a spooky person who has an inkling about what's going on, or doing stuff under Cody.
EDIT: Unrelated, I just noticed that at https://www.paranatural.net/comic/chapter-5-page-136 "Mr. Spender" only knows about Isabel's shoulder because Hijack is talking through him. (Hijack takes over at a bit before page 100 or something, right? When Spender opens the door for him)
Huh, looking back and rereading this with that one tidbit in mind makes this feel very intricately arranged.Last edited by Squire Doodad; 2020-05-03 at 05:35 PM.
An explanation of why MitD being any larger than Huge is implausible.
See my extended signature here! May contain wit, candor, and somewhere from 52 to 8127 walruses.
Purple is humorous descriptions made up on the fly
Green is serious talk about hypothetical
Blue is irony and sarcasm
"I think, therefore I am,
I walk, therefore I stand,
I sleep, therefore I dream;
I joke, therefore I meme."
-Squire Doodad
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2020-05-03, 06:06 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2019
Re: Paranatural: And the New Forum Thread
I forgot about Max's spirit too until my second read-through.
Davy also makes reference to the vice principal (as "the witch", before we learn who that refers to), so she's definitely supernatural to some degree. Why she reacted the way she did when she crossed paths with Mina is what I'm really curious about. Doesn't recognize her somehow? Chose not to instigate a conflict in front of innocent bystanders? Something else?
Personally, I'm going to assume the Cousinhood isn't going to be overly relevant unless you count Garcia.
There's no evidence to suggest the ominous spirits (?) are backing any given side except for that they're almost certainly working against the angel.
What page does she do the glowing eye bit? Lisa might be a vampire, but given the Davy/Cody interactions she's on Cody's side if she is. Davy specifically is not the one in charge of the..."operations" at the middle school, and Cody is against his father. Assuming Lisa isn't a vampire sent to keep an eye on Cody, I'd assume she's either just a spooky person who has an inkling about what's going on, or doing stuff under Cody.
As for Lisa and Cody being connected... I dunno. They're part of the same friend group (which also includes Ed, Violet, and Jeff), but we've yet to see them interact outside of that context. They're also the leaders of the Student Council and Resistance at Mayview respectively, which has... interesting implications for the ongoing school plot.
EDIT: Unrelated, I just noticed that at https://www.paranatural.net/comic/chapter-5-page-136 "Mr. Spender" only knows about Isabel's shoulder because Hijack is talking through him. (Hijack takes over at a bit before page 100 or something, right? When Spender opens the door for him)
Huh, looking back and rereading this with that one tidbit in mind makes this feel very intricately arranged.
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2020-05-03, 06:24 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Paranatural: And the New Forum Thread
It's reasonable to assume that the VP was at least going to be supernatural in some regard. It doesn't stop her from being yet another thing on the story's plate though, which is annoying for predictions.
I'd imagine "angel" is more of a title given to a strong spirit with an angelic appearance. Sphinxes "exist" as what seems to be a subsection of spirits. One of the assumptions with this kind of story is either that the afterlife in the stereotypical sense does not exist, or exists in such a way that it can barely be seen in the main story.
This is certainly something that's got plenty of meat on its bones, but we have to wait for a bit longer. I'm pretty much only assuming that if Lisa is a vampire and not sent by Davy, then she's working for Cody or something to that general effect. No better way to keep a town running happily than by playing the game from both sides, after all, and this applies to overwhelmingly elaborate middle school plots too.
You could also see them as being representative of opposite ends of a friend group too, with both sides trying to get what they want out of the deal. Of course, that's more just the school itself, and in that case Lisa being supernatural isn't as relevant, though it would be fitting.An explanation of why MitD being any larger than Huge is implausible.
See my extended signature here! May contain wit, candor, and somewhere from 52 to 8127 walruses.
Purple is humorous descriptions made up on the fly
Green is serious talk about hypothetical
Blue is irony and sarcasm
"I think, therefore I am,
I walk, therefore I stand,
I sleep, therefore I dream;
I joke, therefore I meme."
-Squire Doodad
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2020-05-04, 06:49 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2019
Re: Paranatural: And the New Forum Thread
A discovery while rereading the last few pages of Chapter 6: One of the members of the cult that the psychic lady is a part of is the same person that the Pixhellhounds report to. I'd thought he (they?) was some kind of humanoid spirit, but this suggests they're actually human, which raises... all kinds of additional questions.
I could see that being a possibility, though the divine imagery surrounding her still leaves me wondering.
This is certainly something that's got plenty of meat on its bones, but we have to wait for a bit longer. I'm pretty much only assuming that if Lisa is a vampire and not sent by Davy, then she's working for Cody or something to that general effect. No better way to keep a town running happily than by playing the game from both sides, after all, and this applies to overwhelmingly elaborate middle school plots too.
You could also see them as being representative of opposite ends of a friend group too, with both sides trying to get what they want out of the deal. Of course, that's more just the school itself, and in that case Lisa being supernatural isn't as relevant, though it would be fitting.
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2020-05-06, 10:31 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Paranatural: And the New Forum Thread
It occurred to me that in this context, "witch" could hypothetically refer to a member of a cult instead of actual magic power. Given that we know Mayview does, in fact, have it's own local Doom Cultists, it's plausible that the Vice Principal has political power within the town. In a bit of a stretch, since we know Davy wants to cover the land that makes up the circumference of the two hills (presumably linked to whatever power lays in Mayview), "the balance of power" may refer to having the VP be occupied with the school to stop her from trying to use her influence in the cult to counteract Davy's efforts.
A cult would also be something that could traumatize a child, especially given the VP's behavior.
It's perfectly plausible that the cult is also mixed up in this supernatural stuff, and maaaay happen to be related to the dark robe guys (seems to be the same outfits, they could have a spectral or two in it), though it's equally possible that the cult mentioned is completely irrelevant and just is going to show the many stacked layers of sinister plans that are occurring in the town.An explanation of why MitD being any larger than Huge is implausible.
See my extended signature here! May contain wit, candor, and somewhere from 52 to 8127 walruses.
Purple is humorous descriptions made up on the fly
Green is serious talk about hypothetical
Blue is irony and sarcasm
"I think, therefore I am,
I walk, therefore I stand,
I sleep, therefore I dream;
I joke, therefore I meme."
-Squire Doodad
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2020-05-07, 09:12 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2019
Re: Paranatural: And the New Forum Thread
Given that the cult and Davy are involved in both human and spirit affairs (though those two tend to go hand-in-hand in Mayview, it seems), I could certainly see something along those lines being a possibility.
It's perfectly plausible that the cult is also mixed up in this supernatural stuff, and maaaay happen to be related to the dark robe guys (seems to be the same outfits, they could have a spectral or two in it), though it's equally possible that the cult mentioned is completely irrelevant and just is going to show the many stacked layers of sinister plans that are occurring in the town.
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2020-05-07, 09:23 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Paranatural: And the New Forum Thread
An explanation of why MitD being any larger than Huge is implausible.
See my extended signature here! May contain wit, candor, and somewhere from 52 to 8127 walruses.
Purple is humorous descriptions made up on the fly
Green is serious talk about hypothetical
Blue is irony and sarcasm
"I think, therefore I am,
I walk, therefore I stand,
I sleep, therefore I dream;
I joke, therefore I meme."
-Squire Doodad
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2020-05-08, 09:56 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2019
Re: Paranatural: And the New Forum Thread
Spoiler: Chapter 7 Page 4Alright, let's get this show on the road (probably by explaining what happened to Ed's parents).
Peep the edge of Dimitri's afro in the picture on the right. And I guess Spender used a shovel as a tool at some point?Last edited by KatsOfLoathing; 2020-05-08 at 09:57 PM.
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2020-05-11, 05:36 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Paranatural: And the New Forum Thread
An explanation of why MitD being any larger than Huge is implausible.
See my extended signature here! May contain wit, candor, and somewhere from 52 to 8127 walruses.
Purple is humorous descriptions made up on the fly
Green is serious talk about hypothetical
Blue is irony and sarcasm
"I think, therefore I am,
I walk, therefore I stand,
I sleep, therefore I dream;
I joke, therefore I meme."
-Squire Doodad
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2020-05-18, 11:47 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Mar 2006
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- Germany
Re: Paranatural: And the New Forum Thread
Thanks for reminding me of that comic. I forgot about it when it went on hiatus.
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2020-05-22, 09:50 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2019
Re: Paranatural: And the New Forum Thread
Spoiler: Chapter 7 Page 5Good to know Zarei and Spender haven't changed much since their teenage years.
Two-year-old Ed is freaking adorable. And apparently had already broken through as a spectral? Wonder how relevant that detail is going to be.
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2020-05-25, 06:05 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Paranatural: And the New Forum Thread
I'm pretty much the opposite of concise. If I fail to get to the point, please ask me and I'm happy to (attempt to) clarify.