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brushapocalypse[Originally from Tumblr]
so i’ve had this theory in my head for quite a while but i don’t think i’ve mentioned it anywhere before? and i figured hey maybe i should make a post about it already, so if in the far-off distant future of paranatural maybe it’ll be proven canon.
so, i understand the title is a pretty bold claim, but i can explain. it all started back when i was trawling the paranatural wiki looking for trivia when i came across this page about comments made by zack in the no-longer-extant comments section. more specifically, i came across this:
[Pictured: part of one of Zack’s comments, which says “Who or what a spirit possesses is a time vs. what’s available thing. Ideally, they grab a spectral, because then they could start recovering immediately. It gets a bit harder, though, to choose between a normal person who could take years to turn spectral and an object that might end up abandoned in a landfill.]
The relevant part here is “could take years to become a spectral”. Now, we don’t exactly have a lot of data re: how long it takes for mediums to become spectrals - that is, we have one example.
[Pictured: Johnny getting possessed and Johnny starting to see shades. Note that these were less than 24 hours apart.]
Now, I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure that didn’t take years. You know who else became a spectral awfully fast in Mayview?
[Pictured: Max seeing shades for the first time. This happened within 24 hours of him entering Mayview.]
Max.
Though it’s not entirely confirmed that Max is possessed (I’ll get to that later tho) this is still two examples of new spectrals forming remarkably quickly. The only thing we know of that could have triggered the change of Max into a spectral is him entering Mayview, but how could that cause anything you ask?
Well, we know Mayview has an unusually large spirit population
[Pictured: Speech bubble said by Agent Day, which reads “Mayview’s abnormally high population of ghosts and spirits.”]
and we know exposure to ‘supernatural phenomena’ causes spectrals
[Pictured: Isaac listing ways to become a spectral: “A near death experience, prolonged exposure to supernatural phenomena, a diet obnoxiously high in citrus...” Emphasis mine.]
so all that remains is the question of ‘why isn’t everyone else in Mayview a spectral too?’
To that I just point back up at the post title. 'Everyone in Mayview is on the brink of becoming a spectral' I said, and what I mean by that is simple: Because of the abnormally large spirit population density, everyone in Mayview is constantly exposed to just enough supernatural ‘energy’ to fill a metaphorical cup to the brim, and as long as nothing happens to disturb that cup they can live their entire lives without ever realizing ghosts exist.
On the other hand, if something does happen to fill that cup up a little bit more, such as for example getting possessed...
[Pictured: Closeup on Johnny’s eyes when he starts seeing shades.]
...they would become a spectral much faster than they would anywhere else.
There still remains the question of how Max became a spectral so fast though, if the entire theory hinges on people living their entire lives in here building up the nearly-a-spectral status from ambient ghosts. I propose he's in the opposite situation.
[Pictured: Mysterious Glowy-Eyed Entity speaking through Max.]
He’s possessed, and probably has been for quite a while. He was probably on the brink of becoming a spectral anyway, and would have relatively soon, but entering Mayview and the dense spirit ambiance tipped him over the edge that little bit quicker.
It’s possible this is all one big coincidence. You could argue Johnny had some exposure to supernatural phenomena from picking a fight with Max and Isaac/witnessing the ghost train, though that seems pretty weak to me. It’s possible it’s entirely a coincidence Max’s possession finally turned him into a spectral right after he crossed the barrier into Mayview, which I don’t really have an argument against other than ‘thats a real convenient coincidence’ but I still disagree with.
However, if this theory is true, it means that all these coincidences aren’t coincidences, and have an explanation behind them, which is always cool. And it also means other people could also probably become spectrals pretty easy, which definitely doesn’t have anything to do with the super secret literal novel-length fanfic I’ve definitely not been writing since november. which is definitely not gonna come out soon. (february 14 check it y’all) [Note: the fic in question has been finished for a while now :3]
so i’ve had this theory in my head for quite a while but i don’t think i’ve mentioned it anywhere before? and i figured hey maybe i should make a post about it already, so if in the far-off distant future of paranatural maybe it’ll be proven canon.
so, i understand the title is a pretty bold claim, but i can explain. it all started back when i was trawling the paranatural wiki looking for trivia when i came across this page about comments made by zack in the no-longer-extant comments section. more specifically, i came across this:
[Pictured: part of one of Zack’s comments, which says “Who or what a spirit possesses is a time vs. what’s available thing. Ideally, they grab a spectral, because then they could start recovering immediately. It gets a bit harder, though, to choose between a normal person who could take years to turn spectral and an object that might end up abandoned in a landfill.]
The relevant part here is “could take years to become a spectral”. Now, we don’t exactly have a lot of data re: how long it takes for mediums to become spectrals - that is, we have one example.
[Pictured: Johnny getting possessed and Johnny starting to see shades. Note that these were less than 24 hours apart.]
Now, I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure that didn’t take years. You know who else became a spectral awfully fast in Mayview?
[Pictured: Max seeing shades for the first time. This happened within 24 hours of him entering Mayview.]
Max.
Though it’s not entirely confirmed that Max is possessed (I’ll get to that later tho) this is still two examples of new spectrals forming remarkably quickly. The only thing we know of that could have triggered the change of Max into a spectral is him entering Mayview, but how could that cause anything you ask?
Well, we know Mayview has an unusually large spirit population
[Pictured: Speech bubble said by Agent Day, which reads “Mayview’s abnormally high population of ghosts and spirits.”]
and we know exposure to ‘supernatural phenomena’ causes spectrals
[Pictured: Isaac listing ways to become a spectral: “A near death experience, prolonged exposure to supernatural phenomena, a diet obnoxiously high in citrus...” Emphasis mine.]
so all that remains is the question of ‘why isn’t everyone else in Mayview a spectral too?’
To that I just point back up at the post title. 'Everyone in Mayview is on the brink of becoming a spectral' I said, and what I mean by that is simple: Because of the abnormally large spirit population density, everyone in Mayview is constantly exposed to just enough supernatural ‘energy’ to fill a metaphorical cup to the brim, and as long as nothing happens to disturb that cup they can live their entire lives without ever realizing ghosts exist.
On the other hand, if something does happen to fill that cup up a little bit more, such as for example getting possessed...
[Pictured: Closeup on Johnny’s eyes when he starts seeing shades.]
...they would become a spectral much faster than they would anywhere else.
There still remains the question of how Max became a spectral so fast though, if the entire theory hinges on people living their entire lives in here building up the nearly-a-spectral status from ambient ghosts. I propose he's in the opposite situation.
[Pictured: Mysterious Glowy-Eyed Entity speaking through Max.]
He’s possessed, and probably has been for quite a while. He was probably on the brink of becoming a spectral anyway, and would have relatively soon, but entering Mayview and the dense spirit ambiance tipped him over the edge that little bit quicker.
It’s possible this is all one big coincidence. You could argue Johnny had some exposure to supernatural phenomena from picking a fight with Max and Isaac/witnessing the ghost train, though that seems pretty weak to me. It’s possible it’s entirely a coincidence Max’s possession finally turned him into a spectral right after he crossed the barrier into Mayview, which I don’t really have an argument against other than ‘thats a real convenient coincidence’ but I still disagree with.
However, if this theory is true, it means that all these coincidences aren’t coincidences, and have an explanation behind them, which is always cool. And it also means other people could also probably become spectrals pretty easy, which definitely doesn’t have anything to do with the super secret literal novel-length fanfic I’ve definitely not been writing since november. which is definitely not gonna come out soon. (february 14 check it y’all) [Note: the fic in question has been finished for a while now :3]
