I want to point out...Nachos and Nachos (cold) are both on the menu. And a burger at this place is nine dollars-- but what I'm *really* interested in is the Shook Milk.

First; what is it? Second; How can I get one?

Oh, Agent Day is not only a master of flirtation and interrogation, but also of subterfuge. She's subtly entering trance mode so that she will also be sped up so that she can hear what Zarei is discussing with her spirit. Thats ingenious! Agent Day, the more I learn about you, the more impressed I become.

Its a very interesting technique. It means that a spirit trance is not as overpowered as it seems, as it can be countered by going into a spirit trance yourself.

It seems like Day's spirit has a rose and greek motif. Any guesses on the name?

Whatever Zaire's secrets are, its something that Boss Leader would not be cool with. Very interesting.

I dunno about the name, but BOY that place is SUPER PRETTY!

What can I say, I like plants, and it's colored all warm, and it just seems really nice!

Maybe it's some kind of cupid-like spirit? What with the love arrow thing and all.

Gotta say, that is pretty clever. Zarei is really tripping up here, she could have just as easily gone tight-lipped instead of popping in for a spirit-chat /with the supposed enemy right there/- especially not knowing what they're capable of.

This page feels like it's setting the tone of difference between a Consortium Agent and an average spectral, even if they too are within the Consortium.

As for the spirit world... Greco/Roman art, statues, being overrun by vines- lots of roses. I'll chuck my bet in on her spirit being named Khloris, or similar. After all, of the spirits we've seen with cultural inspiration (Lucifer), they've been direct translations.

::Edit:Realization:

Oh... I just realized that, with Day being blind, she probably won't ever know how pretty her spirit world is. Not directly, at least- talk about the ultimate form of qualia.

Aren't Zarei and Day both members of the Consortium though? I can see how it might demonstrate the difference between the research division and the combat division. My main takeaway was that Day is really really clever

Yes, that was accounted for within the sentence I believe. Wording is tricky terrain though, sometimes. I think our time with Agent Day is going to be a nice peek into the Consortium, specifically their Agents. While Spender is technically an Agent, he's remained solely within Mayview and has demonstrated a clear disconnect with their themes and methods- meaning he's likely not one of their better trained individuals, at least not within the Consortium itself. He's obviously received some tutelage from other sources.

What I meant to impart was this: With how the Agents are being framed to us, specifically from Spenders' visit to the Dream Hub and the speech and behavior of the other Agents there (most specifically the group that had been knocked out by some opponent), compared with how Days' visit to Mayview is being framed, I'm supposing that these Agents must function as operatives completing tasks with generalized combat, investigative, stealth, and improvisational skills. Being on their own in the field they'd have to rely solely on their own skills in any area, so some degree of specialization must be taken into account when they're dispatched.

Comparitively, the Research Division wouldn't be tasked with completing dangerous objectives- their definition of fieldwork would be much different, and their skills would likely be mostly oriented on observation and collection- leaving them at a disadvantage if they happened to be squared off against an Agent with a wider, and much differently intended set of skills.

Also, and this may not even progress within this chapter, but I'm really feeling that we're going to get to see more of Isaacs' dynamic and learn about his blacklisting from the Consortium here relatively soon. With Zarei having already stated that should her investment with Isabel not pay off, spite would work just as well- and her being thrown off by Days' meddling, this could be Isaacs' chance to get the skinny on Consortium affairs from someone involved, but disenfranchised. That's not the right word, I'm blanking on the word that means the right thing there. It's gotta have a D though. Disgruntled. Involved, but disgruntled and perhaps a little desperate moving forward.

And Zarei is just one of the options that may take interest in Isaac for various reasons- he could just as easily be approached by Day for information on Spender, or have further interactions with Hijack (after all, we are currently being led to believe that spirit is using Garcia at the moment, from the last cutaway). It seems like a logical next step with how the story is forming together for those factions.

Though, there are plenty of cutaways to return to for various characters here- Max, Ed having been grabbed by Johnny, Dmitri/Suzy, Doorman- I'm at a loss for guessing what we'll be seeing after the Day/Zarei scene cuts.

Hmm the topic about different factions in the Consortium and their different skillsets has got me thinking.

Maybe Agent Day had to deal with some really tough interrogations and threats throughout her time (or maybe I'm just confusing her faction to be like actual government agents), at least she could have been through some serious dangers and situations. So much so that maybe Zarei's little threat actually did seem quite adorable in comparison.

I love this page. I never considered two people using their spirits to respectively slow down to the point where they could hear each other. I mean, Zack set it all up especially clearly in the whole Isabel/Eightfold final segment, how time slows down but still moves. It's just not something I ever considered. Major props to Agent Day for being so sneaky/clever.

I also want to point out how cool it is to see two spirit world representations of the same place! Between Patchworms mushroomy, undergrowth-like thicket and (Khloris)' overgrown roman ruins, lightly filtering the sunlight to feed the bountiful rose vines and flowers, I have the sudden urge to start taking perspective shots and doing sketches. I'm terrible at sketches, but it makes me want to do it.

@UniversalMonster: Agent Day being a secret badheiny is the best thing that could maybe happen.

@Westbrook: It's also interesting to consider the applications of popping into your spirit world for the speed boost- having those fast perceptions and actions translated into the real world could have all kinds of practical applications, as we've seen plenty of with Ed in this chapter popping into his spectral in public and zipping around. Getting into a fistfight? Pummel them before they can react. need to be across town in ten minutes? Find a backroad and ZOOM. Need to have a strategy meeting in front of someone you shouldn't reveal your plans to? Duck under the table an- wait, this is proving to be a bad idea. We're all getting dissected by the government.

Since using the speed boost in such a manner would probably be overpowered, I wonder if its limited by interference. Isabel getting too far away from the book threatened to break her trance, maybe hitting a person would be enough to knock someone out of synch with their spirit

We've also seen that the spirits themselves have the ability to pull or repel their spectrals from trance-state. While distance from the tool will break connection with your spirit, as will emotional distress (As seen on 5.114). We know from Spenders initial explanation that anything that happens to your body in the spirit world translates to the physical world- including any injuries. Whether physical contact with the outside world is enough to desynch a spectral is something we can only guess at for now- it would make sense that an unexpected contact would surprise them and cause them to shift their focus, breaking a trance (like being tapped on the shoulder from behind perhaps), but physical contact that was intended to happen would seem less likely to trigger the same response. This is something I hope the story examines in closer detail- we've already seen plenty of spirit combat by experienced spectrals, but none of them have made use of that exploit as of yet. Even using it to dodge a blow or create distance would dramatically improve your odds of victory in a fight.

Perhaps it's not so much a question of what conditions will break a spirit trance, but rather what conditions will allow a trance to be entered in the first place. In high-tension situations where danger is involved, we've only seen two instances of entry into the spirit world at all- When Max first encountered Scrapdragon in his store during the Gorf    event, and when Eightfold used the connection to distract Isabel mid-fight against the Pixelhounds. While it's arguable on Maxs' encounter that it was more of a timed manifestation, both would seem to have been cases of the spirit drawing in the spectral without their (the spectrals') intent. Neither instance had a positive benefit to the fight, practically speaking. (Practically in the sense that Eightfolds' distraction was meant to force one split-second choice over another- save a human ally, or Eightfold- with no direct effect on the flow of the fight in real time).

Tl;Dr: Perhaps there is a mental barrier that prevents Spectrals from intentionally entering their Spirit Worlds when their focus is directed towards another task.

And now, for something not related to this entire tangent- a question that just occurred to me about the current panel.

Agent Day has entered her spirit world. Where is her tool? That bouquet isn't exactly subtle, and I can't see it anywhere on her person, unless the bouquet was never actually her tool- we were never directly told that was the case, after all. I mean, I'm still under the impression that the bouquet is the tool that (Khloris) is possessing, but that makes this question remain and poses several others- a bouquet of flowers is a collection of several individual organic objects, loosely bound. Does a spirit possessing a plant prevent that plant from decaying? Does the plant remain alive on its' own, or is the plant already dead and considered a non-autonomous object by the time the Spirit is able to possess it? We've seen spirits possessing wood before- the pencil from chapter 3, Eds' paintbrush (presumably a wooden handle), the handle of the plunger Gorf possessed... Come to think of it, what defines a tool with distinctive elements as a single object? The plunger, the brush, and the various pairs of glasses (and Isabels' new umbrella) are all things with distinctive separate, but attached pieces. Does the spirit possess all elements of the object, or simply its' main 'body' or frame? Is it more of an archetypical definition, that they are possessing the object as its' idea? That the thought of an object is its' form, and the object itself is the body? Does this mean that all things have 'souls' or 'essence'?

::Edit: Derp:

Wait, Day's definitely carrying the bouquet. She's using the stem as a cane, and her hand is fully submerged in the flowery bush of it. Exactly as it's always been portrayed. It's really not even so much describable as a bouquet as "Thorny rod with flowers on top". I don't know how that managed to slip my mind there. It's definitely time to go take a nap.

The cane probably even looked like a normal cane prior to being possessed- spirits do warp the appearance of the objects they inhabit over time after all.

I think the scrap dragon one occurred because his powers were kicking in. It is possible that Scrappy did it on purpose in order to give him a chance to fight back, but its also possible that trances just happen when a spectral first gains their powers.

I am pretty certain that her walking stick is her tool, unless she somehow acquired a novelty walking stick that looks like a bouquet . I think it was just a walking stick that now looks like a bouquet due to her powers changing the object.

I remember seeing Zack adress your questions somewhere on twitter or tumblr once. I believe he said that it worked based on if the object was a conceptual whole. However, there is a size/power ratio. If a very large object was possessed, it would have to be an equally large and powerful spirit. he gave the moon as an example

Whew, that's a relief. I'm not the hugest fan of Twitter so I miss out on things from time to time. One thing I can say for certain is I don't want to meet the spirit that could possess the moon.

Anyways, there's a NEW PAGE!!

Thankfully, I can stop referring to Venus as (Khloris?). That was certainly not what I expected from the reveal, but it's definitely better than I could've imagined hoping for! All the vines make so much more sense now, and the statues and roses playing into Venus' clumsy enthusiasm as a performer certainly balanaces well with Days' cooler demeanor cracking to let her goofy energy show through.

Venus is even holding her own introductory plaque! How great is that?! It's like an elaborate nametag, with style! Boy howdy, if they hold onto that for every appearance they make, I'll melt. Pure joy, puddle, don't drink me I'm poison. There's just so much that's great about this, especially that Venus' spirit transference ability allows Day to fire /love arrows/! Guytrap is literal! Poke, love, eaten. Is Venus even doing their 'thoth' schtick on purpose or is it a lisp from that adorable floppy tongue?! There's a definitive 'S' in 'secret', and in 'hast', and there's all those 'thy's, so I'm going to go with the theatrics. Just, yes. Puddle. The accents on the text bubbles, too, just. EEE.

Haaaaaaaaah that's better than I expected! Pretty cool design on that guy!

Really, 'tis just adorable all around!

On the topic of Day's "bouquet," it always reminded me of a rapier...

I don't really know how I feel about Venus. I don't really even understand most of the words coming out of his mouth-wait is Venus a guy or a girl? 'Guytrap' tells us that they're probably good at "trapping guys" somehow, but not any form of gender. I guess we'll have to wait for any pronouns that Day give the plant. Anyway, I assume the Old English speech is influenced but the status and the Era and culture they came from.

If a spirit was able to possess the moon, should we be scared? I mean, yes it would have a powerful spirit in it, but who the heck would be able to use the moon as a tool?

That was the counterpoint to using a large object. It would be harder for spectrals to wield and thus recharge. I'd be more worried about this and I quote: "fisticuffs asked: Based upon the idea that the paranatural universe is infact a universe with other planets and of course space, could there be ridiculously massive spirits floating about in space? If so would it be likely that sometime in the history of the paranatural universe a hypothetical giant spirit space whale flew through a planet containing spectrals, and ala-thatonegiantinthebackgroundofpage69 result in all the spectrals being either squished deep into the earth or being flung into space? Zack: Yes, definitely

browsing Zack's tumblr was a worthwhile read

I thought that it was a walking stick, but it does look more like a rapier.

Its possible that Guytrap has no gender. I mean, plants don't reproduce in such a fashion, so it might be genderless like plants.

Theory: the way the vines use pieces of the statues to fill in for emoting is symbolic of Guytraps ability to control other living beings. Maybe Day only uses her powers Cupid style to downplay her true power

Giant. Space. Ladies.

The moon would be just one of their cosmic string of pearls, its' spirit, an asset of great power.

As for Venus... They have some feminine aspects, certainly- even the common mythology surrounding the universal symbols of gender are Mars ( ♂ ) and Venus ( ♀ ), and there are some pretty deep astrological teachings about that influence.

However, Venus Guytrap is both a spirit, and a plant- and the ability they grant Day is to shoot Love Arrows that cause the target to become infatuated with the first thing they see. Such a broad-ranging pheromone would be great for a plant trying to lure in anything that it could eat, but that doesn't necessarily give us any insight on how we'd define that plant with our classifications of gender. There are ways to discern the specific [sex] of plants, though- but in the case of a sentient and autonomous spirit plant it's probably a better idea to wait for them to give us a prompt or a pronoun to use for them, yes.

::Edit2:Information Found: The Google Results description of the page has Zack using male pronouns for Venus.


::Edit:Addition: I'd intended to keep this post shorter than other posts I make but the topic is just so fascinating to learn about that I can't resist- Plants do possess sex-specific reproductive organs, and can either be monoecious (having both 'male' and 'female' organs) or dioecious (possessing just one 'sex')- the entire field of plant morphology can get pretty weighty even to summarize, but on the topic of gender assignation, botany will often express the symbol for Mercury ( ☿ ) to represent the monoecious plants- the same symbol is one of those used by intersex people and descends from Hermaphroditus in greek mythology. Greek, like the statues Venus is carrying 'round with them. What fun!

Fun fact- Taurus ( ♉ ) is the astrological symbol ruled by the planet Venus, and Venus is the second brightest star in the night sky second to the moon. This is something which I find particularly amusing as a female Taurus engaging in this specific conversation. This one post gave me a reason to briefly look into the fields of Botany, Astrology, activist history, alchemy, Greco/Roman mythologies, and some themes of the Renaissance- what a great day.

So for the sake of character drama, this page almost certainly foreshadows that when either Zaire's or Spender's secrets are revealed, she will suffer a crisis of faith that challenges her optimism and face the broken pedestal trope. at least, thats my guess for her character arc

Also Guytrap evidently sees through roses. Thats pretty neat. I wonder how that works

Alternate way of viewing the final panel- Day didn't go into her spirit world to eavesdrop, she really did just want to know how much the Shook Milk and A Burger were. Happy coincidences abound.

I'd still prefer to think that she was just being super clever there.

Though I didn't know how to feel about Venus on the last page, I am actually loving this page.

It kinda contains a bunch of info, though most of it is explaination of things we already figured and some is hypothetical warnings, but all of it has interesting visuals that kinda match what's being said.

Like with the second panel. "Still, remain thou vigilant, lest thine OWN affections betray thee.", and right below the speech bubble is visual representaion of "in other words: don't shoot yourself in the butt"

There's a new page up! It would appear that Day may not have been the only fly on the wall to Zareis' tactical meeting! *badumts*

I sure do hope their waitress gets a nice tip after... that.

Indeed.

Speaking of which, I think Zarei looks very cute there, when she's calling for the fly to come back. I wonder why she'd take notice of it, though? Does anybody have any plausible reasons?

(Also that cafe totally named their food the "wurst burger" just to make that comment. I wouldn't be surprised. I mean, it's Mayview, and do you know who grew up in Mayview? That's right. His Sillilord Max's Dad!)

I'm just marinating in the delicious irony that there's a fly so brazenly close to a spirit who is literally a flytrap. Well, a guytrap. You know what Venus probably wouldn't even bother with a fly that size anyways.

New page!

Haha poor fly. Narrowly escaped a very "pen-y" death, only to fly into a glass of water and drown. RIP fly pg.151 - pg.152

Also Penny in the background on that last panel. Hah! It took a moment for me to figure out what she was doing, but then I realized that she was still holding onto the pen and Zarei had twisted her hand.

I only have one thing to contribute verbally to this discussion right now: That there's a ghost fly. Amazing.