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Post by imaginaryfriend on May 16, 2016 16:35:58 GMT
Just please be careful not to cut the red string that leads to Parley. I really do understand your feelings... but I can't stop thinking about how awesome it would be to cut that string and attach Smitty's end to, say, a ham sandwich, and Parley's end to... maybe a '71 Ford Pinto and then kicking back and watching the fun. Or if you're still against cutting it even after that eye-opener, how about we just loop it around someone else (like Jan's dad)? Annie needs some kind of really damn sharp slicing thing to do her job properly. She'll need two slicing things, because she has to cut the thread from both sides so they don't regenerate, right? I suspect that anything cut with The Tooth stays cut. Some regenerating things might grow into two separate things, maybe.
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Post by Jelly Jellybean on May 16, 2016 16:55:34 GMT
Annie needs some kind of really damn sharp slicing thing to do her job properly. She'll need two slicing things, because she has to cut the thread from both sides so they don't regenerate, right? Ankou seems to get by with a single edged slicing thing. Maybe regeneration isn't a concern if the slicing is infinitely fast. I do agree that sewing scissors would more Annie's style, but you take whatever really damn sharp slicing thing you can get.
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Post by Daedalus on May 16, 2016 17:56:25 GMT
The Ether being a place where belief takes shape, I don't think it really needs such a thing as inner consistency. It's a place where several 'truths' can coexist. We know there are different layers - which Annie experienced first-hand, what's with her (mis)adventures as a Psychopomp and being invited to the one where Coyote looked like Cosmic Band Saw. I wonder if it is similar to how Annie and Kat saw things in completely different ways in the Realm Of The Dead. annie saw magnificent and terrifying beings who controlled access to the dead, Kat saw a bureaucracy trying to make itself look scary. Annie might see Smitty as she sees his powers: he has etheric strings on his hand, acting like a puppeteer pulling on the strings of fate, while Bugsy might see Smitty as she sees his power, Smitty looks boring to her as his power is to make everything boring Also good point. Re:layers of the ether, I think Coyote looks like a Cosmic Band Saw ( dot tumblr dot com) in any layer of the ether. Annie had just never seen him before and was startled by how BRIGHT he was. philman makes a good point about the RotD too, though. I always forget how much people's perception of the ether is shaped by their own mind as well as what's "actually there" (as much as that term means in the ether).
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Post by CoyoteReborn on May 16, 2016 18:26:46 GMT
but you take whatever really damn sharp slicing thing you can get. Me: "You're welcome for the really damn sharp slicing thing, Fire-Head Girl!" Her: "Why do You care? Your tooth regrew instantly." Me: "That tooth was My favorite really damn sharp slicing thing! Ugh. Kids this millennium, they're never thankful for anything anymore! I expect offerings to be left at My altars and sacrifices in My name! Why, I remember when I once gave away My other favorite really damn sharp..." Her:
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Post by zaferion on May 16, 2016 19:14:33 GMT
...You know, there were theories that Zimmy's abilities came about because of experiments done on her that made her that way. What if Smitty or someone in his family was a much more stable and successful example of the same, and that's why etheric beings can't see his abilities? I'm going to toss my hat in with this theory. I've always thought that Zimmy's abilities seemed too, I dunno, human. An etheric being with Zimmy's level of power would surely swim/live in the ether like how Coyote says he, Rey, and Ys do. Furthermore, etheric beings have this sense of freedom and whimsy that Zimmy (as well as Smitty) flat out lacks (would Zimmy look non-etheric gray viewed through the ether too?). Then there's Jones's machine metaphor for Zimmy's powers; coming from someone who clearly understands the ether, even if she can't directly interact with it, and as someone who is described as a poet by Tom himself, the machine metaphor feels too literal. Like, Zimmy's powers are a machine in that they are man made. What really cements this theory for me is that Zimmy and Smitty's powers both influence the real, corporeal world. So does every other etheric being's powers, but Zimmy and Smitty's powers affect the real world at a much more fundamental level. It feels to me like Zimmy and Smitty's powers affect the fabric of reality itself, as opposed to just making some fire or body hopping.
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Post by arf on May 17, 2016 0:14:41 GMT
Really damn sharp knives cutting the ether may not be a wise thing to try, as anyone who's read the whole of 'His Dark Materials' can attest.
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Post by Daedalus on May 17, 2016 0:26:00 GMT
Really damn sharp knives cutting the ether may not be a wise thing to try, as anyone who's read the whole of 'His Dark Materials' can attest. If I could like this comment multiple times, I would
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novia
Full Member
Posts: 225
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Post by novia on May 17, 2016 1:30:43 GMT
Guys, what was Smitty looking at? Was that a cell phone? If so, I don't recall seeing one of those in the comic before now.
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Post by teacup on May 17, 2016 1:52:40 GMT
It's so weird, he's firmly in the physical world, but seems able to influence a level of ether deeper than the faeries (I agree on the pelagic zone, I was envisioning a similar sort of fog analogy). It would be interesting to see him in a page with truly etheric beings.
Perhaps this is reading into it too much, but the latest image makes me think he cannot influence his own life, only the lives of others, which in turn affects his own (kind of like Jones in a way).
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Post by arf on May 17, 2016 1:57:07 GMT
Guys, what was Smitty looking at? Was that a cell phone? If so, I don't recall seeing one of those in the comic before now. Jones used one here. (coincidentally just after the last episode with the Foley gang.)
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Post by zbeeblebrox on May 17, 2016 5:49:13 GMT
It's possible that this isn't etheric at all, but instead related to the seed bismuth, which may also not be etheric. I've decided. Just now.
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Post by intotheether on May 17, 2016 12:39:03 GMT
...You know, there were theories that Zimmy's abilities came about because of experiments done on her that made her that way. What if Smitty or someone in his family was a much more stable and successful example of the same, and that's why etheric beings can't see his abilities? You know, that's actually an interesting point. Just how far do Zimmy and Smitty's powers extend towards the etheric? And if they're not divined from the ether in nature, or indeed are even man made, what is the source of that power and how much can it affect the nature of the ether? The ether is shaped by belief, right? So what happens when you have a group of beings that believes in something that perhaps not outright contradicts but at least is on the opposite end of the spectrum as the ether-that is, science and the rejection of magic as a force? Can the ether be "forced" or "manipulated" through non-mystic means? Is this part of the interest the Court has in its projects that we saw back on that island in Spring Heeled Jack? Can a non-etherially inclined individual such as Smitty unconsciously manipulate it if given the right powers despite not being aware of it? And if his powers are a gift of the Court, towards what end game?
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Post by goldenknots on May 17, 2016 15:20:19 GMT
I'm not sure I believe Bugsy's denial. Maybe she knows something about it and is afraid to admit it.
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Post by sleepcircle on May 17, 2016 17:30:58 GMT
I'm not sure I believe Bugsy's denial. Maybe she knows something about it and is afraid to admit it. i was beginning to wonder why no-one had suggested this yet. my first thought was that she might be just a very blithe and open liar.
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Post by imaginaryfriend on May 17, 2016 17:59:19 GMT
Really damn sharp knives cutting the ether may not be a wise thing to try, as anyone who's read the whole of 'His Dark Materials' can attest. It's for science. It's so weird, he's firmly in the physical world, but seems able to influence a level of ether deeper than the faeries (I agree on the pelagic zone, I was envisioning a similar sort of fog analogy). It would be interesting to see him in a page with truly etheric beings. Perhaps this is reading into it too much, but the latest image makes me think he cannot influence his own life, only the lives of others, which in turn affects his own (kind of like Jones in a way). My suspicion is that we could classify creatures on their position on the etheric/material continuum into zones and possibly make some general statements that would carry from this comic to other works of fiction where magic operates in a similar fashion... Perhaps counter-intuitively, the abyssal and hadal would be the material end of the spectrum when you're talking about etheric abilities if you're making the pelagic zone into a metaphor. The few oddballs and freaks at the very bottom are that way because they're around "vents" so to speak, and they have more rules they have to follow. Otherwise, it's etherically dead down there.
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Demonsul
New Member
Seven years a new member
Posts: 44
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Post by Demonsul on May 17, 2016 21:24:09 GMT
You know, I literally only just noticed that ex-fairies have never had pupils in their eyes.
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Post by Storel on May 20, 2016 2:31:46 GMT
Guys, what was Smitty looking at? Was that a cell phone? If so, I don't recall seeing one of those in the comic before now. Jones used one here. (coincidentally just after the last episode with the Foley gang.) Coincidence? I think not.
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Post by teacup on May 25, 2016 3:39:54 GMT
It's possible that this isn't etheric at all, but instead related to the seed bismuth, which may also not be etheric. I've decided. Just now. And bismuth is rainbow, just like the threads!
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