The nature of the cut

[blackmantha]

I've wondered about Antimony's cut. It was made by the White Lady, disappeared almost instantly, and temporarily reappeared when Zimmy was manifesting illusions. This seems to indicate that the disappearing of the cut is linked with Annie's illusion-suppressing power. But if it's not real, shouldn't it have completely disappeared near the end of chapter 11, when Gamma was standing right next to her? Gamma is proven to be much stronger in suppressing illusions. It only left again when Zimmy was cleansed.
I think that although the cut is not real, it represents some real damage that was dealt to Annie with that sword. Supernatural wounds that never completely heal are fairly common in fantasy. Annie's power could suppress it quite well, but not when Zimmy's influence was added. That leaves the question of why Gamma couldn't stop it. She's probably strong enough, but it's something from Annie, working on Annie. Gamma can't "interdict" herself between the source and the effect.
Annie would probably be well advised to find some way of treating that wound, or it will some day become deliberating.

Anyway, that's my guess. Thoughts?

[Mezzaphor]

I suspect that Gamma's and Annie's ability to clear the head-static is dependent on their proximity to Zimmy. Zimmy's illusions/hallucinations, on the other hand, can manifest at any distance.

Page 188: The static clears as Gamma gets closer to Zimmy.
Page 191: The cut disappears as Zimmy gets closer to Annie.
Page 195 and 196: The cut reappears as Zimmy walks away from Annie and Gamma.

[philweasel]

I have this suspicion that Annie’s mother caught her ‘illness’ off that very sword. After all the injury is invisible to normal and seems to be permanent, not to mention we’ve seen the Ghost’s hostile intentions towards red haired mediums already.

[cenit]

You know... I don't think that this has to be with suppresion at all, I think the damage was real, on a spiritual/energetic/whatever way, but Annie can't see it for herself... when Ghost Lady is around she can...and Zymmy doesn't supress any ilusion (or make it appear), she simply can see it with her own eyes(?). The way the scenes rotates from seen/not seen cut is a way to show that zimmy can see what others cannot...cut included.

That's my two cents worth

[King Mir]

Of note is that every time the cut has appeared, it was bleeding, as if it were just made.

I suspect the reason the cut doesn't heal is because it doesn't ever exist long enough to close. It has manifested itself for only seconds at a time. Given the chance to exist, it should heal, or at least stop bleeding. Annie can't have an infinite supply of supernatural blood.

[Midnight Meadows]

in b4 a 'spiritual healer' makes a debut....

[Goatmon]

mezzaphor said:

I suspect that Gamma's and Annie's ability to clear the head-static is dependent on their proximity to Zimmy. Zimmy's illusions/hallucinations, on the other hand, can manifest at any distance.

Page 188: The static clears as Gamma gets closer to Zimmy.
Page 191: The cut disappears as Zimmy gets closer to Annie.
Page 195 and 196: The cut reappears as Zimmy walks away from Annie and Gamma.

Okay, let's go over this, because that makes no sense to me.

I thought Zimmy herself was the source of the illusions, and Gamma helped clear them. Zimmy herself explains that she needs Gamma around to keep reality in check. With that in mind, since Zimmy was walking away but Gamma was staying close to Annie, wouldn't the cut disappear?

For that matter, would anyone in that scene but Zimmy even see the cut at all?

[Mezzaphor]

goatmon said:

Okay, let's go over this, because that makes no sense to me.

I thought Zimmy herself was the source of the illusions, and Gamma helped clear them. Zimmy herself explains that she needs Gamma around to keep reality in check. With that in mind, since Zimmy was walking away but Gamma was staying close to Annie, wouldn't the cut disappear?

For that matter, would anyone in that scene but Zimmy even see the cut at all?

My theory is that this is different from Martin's illusions -- the Medium has to be close to the source of the illusion to dispel it. Zimmy herself is the source, so her illusions are only dispelled if Gamma or Annie are close to her. Gamma and Annie can stand as close to each other as they like, but if they aren't close to Zimmy, her illusions can manifest directly on top of them.

(If Zimmy's illusions worked just like Martin's, then Annie herself would have prevented the cut from appearing. Unless Zimmy somehow overpowered Annie, which means her illusion-strength was fluctuating at random in that chapter.)

And I suspect that Zimmy's illusions are hallucinations (or visions of some other plane of reality), so they're only visible to her. (Maybe they become visible to others if they become real.) Annie didn't seem to feel the cut, and Gamma never commented on it. Annie didn't give any indication that she could see those Men In Black. Gamma never reacted to those monsters that Zimmy saw.

[fjodor]

My guess is that Annies scar is some sort of trace put on her from the 'Inbetweenworld' (I know there must be a better phrase), and that Zimmy originates from there. So she is able to see the trace, and would probably have been able to see the Ghost Lady. I remember Rey's reaction to seeing Zimmy for the first time. He called her a demon, didn't he?

[cenit]

mezzaphor said:

And I suspect that Zimmy's illusions are hallucinations (or visions of some other plane of reality), so they're only visible to her. (Maybe they become visible to others if they become real.) Annie didn't seem to feel the cut, and Gamma never commented on it. Annie didn't give any indication that she could see those Men In Black. Gamma never reacted to those monsters that Zimmy saw.

That's my point, Zimmy is not hallucinating, she can see things that exits in other planes of reality....that's why she can see the cut. Zimmy says that Gamma effect is not as strong when she is asleep, and Annie's effect is also not that strong... so that's why she could, for a moment, see the cut here www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=191

That doesn't explain why we can see the cut here www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=184 when Zimmy is far away....but maybe Gamma can see that stuff too, onyl she can control it better, or something

[spritznar]

cenit said:

That's my point, Zimmy is not hallucinating, she can see things that exits in other planes of reality....that's why she can see the cut.

it's worth noting that zimmy also appears to see things from the past during her... episodes... so the cut doesn't necessarily have to exist at the time when zimmy sees it, it may just be a manifestation of the past.

[cenit]

...maybe other planes of reality are running behind schedule

[mudmaniac]

spritznar said:

cenit said:

That's my point, Zimmy is not hallucinating, she can see things that exits in other planes of reality....that's why she can see the cut.

it's worth noting that zimmy also appears to see things from the past during her... episodes... so the cut doesn't necessarily have to exist at the time when zimmy sees it, it may just be a manifestation of the past.

Note that Martin's burning reality continued to burn until Annie did something to help him reach resolution. I guess thats just another way of saying "manifestation of the past".

My guess is the cut will continue to bleed as such so long as "Girl with Sword's" problems remain unresolved.

Out of topic: Speaking of Annie's "Reality Restoration" powers, notice the range it exerts when Annie is touching Zimmy,
www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=194
as compared when Annie touches Martin.
www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=346

[fr4tbrn]

mudmaniac said:

Note that Martin's burning reality continued to burn until Annie did something to help him reach resolution. I guess thats just another way of saying "manifestation of the past".

My guess is the cut will continue to bleed as such so long as "Girl with Sword's" problems remain unresolved.

That's a good thought. It seems like the most likely theory... unless if the ghost girl doesn't have any problems to be solved by Annie, if they are something that pertains more to the other guides or somebody else, even.

[Tenjen]

I dont think zimmy's manifestations [which have the possibility of turning into reality] are based solely on her own being [like the dead boy from the flashback] but on her and her environment.

That ghost has left a scar on a spiritual plane. Zimmy's presence was causing it to appear visibly.

The White Lady may be a spiritual being unto her self. We arent really sure she's another human ghost unable to pass on.

Hmm speaking of zimmies manifestations. One of them looks like the rotting carcass of Sivo, the fellow reynardine last possessed.