I left a small hint in this chapter, and I’m sure some of you clever readers noticed it right away.
Thoughts and feelings welcome! Discuss away.
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Thoughts:
It’s not always smart to ignore hedge witches in place of science. Usually there’s something in superstition that is yet to be quantified by rigorous analysis. Death of a child is deeply concerning and could have been what led to the misery down the line.
I actually like the tough, gamey hens. Odd, I know, but you can tenderise it a treat with a nice acidic marinade.
Ah, Siobhan thinks older is more attractive because more powerful. This explains so much.
One eye blood shot - I remember this look from the jail break. There was a definite hint of wrongness in the memories of the witnesses that I dismissed as being (probably) due to their fear and panic. It was repeated when she was having her mental break. Interesting.
Also, grandfather doesn’t approve of him telling her the…truth? Perhaps?
The conversation he had with the man subsequently could mean anything. I’m not delving into it yet. The talk of stabilisation could well feed into my pet theory of what his project is, but it could just be a red herring. I wait.
I’m glad nothing too serious kept you from posting yesterday - I was concerned! Please look after yourself! Scammers are the bane of existence, I’m glad you got it sorted out.
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Siobhan corrected her own posture slightly and lifted her chin in the pose that looked a little like the one she had seen Thaddeus Lacer using in the newspaper. She had practiced it in the mirror.
she’s so cute i’m giggling.
gritty egg – like the anomalous sand she found earlier perhaps? hmm
card counting – S’s approach to cards (and reading people) reminds me of her approach to muscle movement: she doesn’t understand it instinctively and so bruteforces through overwhelming data/mental focus.
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You pointing this out and me going back to read the Chapter 244 discussion thread gave more weight to another newer theory of mine. As the series went on, I went from guessing that the creature in her head was an aberrant of her grandfather, then an aberrant of her mother (with the side theory that aberrants are actually spirits), to now thinking that Claudio is most likely the one in her head, as an aberrant or something else.
My reasoning for why he is now my frontrunner is as follows:
- She met Claudio before her grandfather introduced them, meaning she has a memory of him her grandfather doesn’t know about.
- The eye similarities you pointed out.
- He messed up his eye by “ trying to look at something not meant for mortal eyes.” Spirit realm anyone?
- I always found it interesting how he appeared right after she broke the window. It could be a coincidence, of course, but breaking the window could also have broken protections that were keeping something in.
- His morning introduction and the casualness/afterthought nature of it seemed odd. Why wasn’t he introduced the day before? It reminded me a bit of how Nightmare aberrants can make odd things seem perfectly normal.
- He says, “ I’m afraid I am quite useless outside of my small area of expertise.” Aberrants can basically only do one thing even if it expresses itself in more than one way. Spirits are also limited, if not as much, right?
- Claudio’s playfulness and theatricality also reminds me a bit of the creature’s as well.
This may all not be pointing in that direction, but it is fun to guess!
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Mm so spirit world exploration, trying to map out potential influences in the physical world to potential dynamics in the spirit world. Grandpa focusing on what may affect what they bring into the area while Claudio is trying to allow them to simply endure and be within it more easily and thus note effects. I can see the logic for both though given the Spirit World doesnt seem entirely local, or really locked into structure beyond like symmetry of information.
I could see routes for stabilization if its interacting with Spirits, can also actually see how a Aberrant specifically may be the answer to stabilization, at least in part that Claudio and Grandpa came to the question of how to explore the space.
This is the kind of crackpottery I applaud and am here for. Yes, I back your speculation. Let’s see how long his eye stays like this.
The grittiness is a good catch, I knew there was something about that egg that was bothering me. We should see if there’s any more unusual sand in strange places in the coming chapters!
Siobhan apparently got her knack for careless magic from dear Claud. 
Claudio also specifies that theatricality is useful in his profession. What kinds of thaumaturge tends to lean heavily on theatrics? Possibly certain types of diviners, but definitely shamans.
Why would Siobhan’s grandfather bring a shaman in? Well, as Siobhan notes, among his many talents she has no memory of him ever practicing that art (probably too dangerous for him) but it seems likely that he has recently come into the possession of an artifact (read:aberrant) that creates some sort of stable portal to another realm. I think this is Siobhan’s mother’s remains, and the “mirror” in her later nightmares.
The spirit realm is also called the realm of dreams, so if there is a portal to the spirit world being adjusted and studied like 30 feet above her head at night it seems unsurprising that information about it would make its way into Siobhan’s dreams and draw her interest.
I think that they are studying the Mirrorakoda (sorry for the bad pun but after it entered my brain I couldn’t stop it) and using it to map the spirit world, but an incautious shaman may mess things up quite a bit.
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