The Speculationorium

Punstarr · Post by **Punstarr** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 6:54 am

Aldagrim wrote:Hi, first post. I've been reading the comic and the related threads on the board.

Aren't Hunters in Vampire? I think it was someone in the game that didn't realize Mark wasn't playing. Also, old style daggers are easy to come by if you know where to look. Online, a certain store in the mall near my house, shady back alley sword salesmen.

Okay, the last one isn't real, but still.

Except in all LARPs, there's a really big rule... no real weapons, period. You aren't allowed to carry a real knife around. You'd have to make do with a prop that's obviously not real, even in the dark, or a piece of card paper with your weapon's stats on it. Actually throwing said knife in anyone's direction? At best it'll get you kicked from the LARP. At worst it'll get you arrested.

SoItBegins · Post by **SoItBegins** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 7:10 am

Aren't Hunters in Vampire? I think it was someone in the game that didn't realize Mark wasn't playing.

Then who was that standing on the right side of the end-chapter-2 strip? Also, why would the Hunter refer to geek terms (boffer night, D&D) in one of his(/her) dialogues if (s)he was playing Vampire?

-----

The way I see it, there's 4 different ways this can go.

1) Jess is not the Hunter.

'nuff said, really. She's ordinary human, and that's all there is to it.

2) Jess is the Hunter, but she's not affiliated with Joel or the other geeks.

This I could also believe. It raises more questions than it answers, but I could believe it. Evil Girlfriend Much?

3) Jess is the Hunter, she is with Joel and the other geeks, but she either didn't recognize Mark or thought he was actively playing that night.

This I could certainly believe... but what about that knife?

4) Jess is the Hunter, she is with Joel and the other geeks, and she teamed up with Joel to give Mark a special 'welcome' to the group that night.

Good god, I hope not. That's the sort of thing that can shatter worldviews-- you know, like your belief in common human decency.

Also, if this is the case, how did she know to be in position? Did Joel text her or something?

Dustman · Post by **Dustman** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 8:42 am

If she is the hunter, then I'm assuming she is not affiliated with Joel and the others in any way. In short, Joel's little "act" about the danger the hunter represents was the real deal, not just part of the LARP. As far as gait recognition, well, if we assume Jess is an actor then of course she could disguise such a thing, and besides not everyone is observative enough to pick out someone that way. Especially when they believe themselves to be in mortal danger.

Anyway, if the hunter was part of the LARP, then why did Joel refer to him/her as hunting weregeeks instead of hunting vampires? And why did the hunter follow Mark home at the end of chapter two? I stand by my theory, and will be more than willing to eat my hat if it turns out to be wrong.

SoItBegins · Post by **SoItBegins** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 9:29 am

If she is the hunter, then I'm assuming she is not affiliated with Joel and the others in any way. In short, Joel's little "act" about the danger the hunter represents was the real deal, not just part of the LARP. As far as gait recognition, well, if we assume Jess is an actor then of course she could disguise such a thing, and besides not everyone is observative enough to pick out someone that way. Especially when they believe themselves to be in mortal danger.

Ok, let's just suppose, for a second, that Jess is the Hunter, but isn't working for Joel. You'll note then, that she chased Mark into the Lair of the Vampire Geeks.

SO, what was she trying to do? Kill him? No. That's called 'murder', and is punishable by life in prison. Scare him to death? I doubt it, and it's impossible to physically scare someone to death unless they have a heart attack or something. Drive him to the geeks? If she's truly hunting geeks, why on earth would she do that?!

So, I think there's still a few unanswered questions with that approach. You might be going down the right river... but if so, you're on the wrong boat.

Thanatos5150 · Post by **Thanatos5150** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 9:49 am

Wild Speculation!

The Hunter is:
The Hunter. Not any party we have previously, or since, met in a non-disguised form, but a character in and of himself.

That being said, the Hunter hunted Mark, and did try to kill Mark, but simply failed to do so. The fact that he chased Mark into the Geek's Den is irrelevant, accidental, or simply ordained by the Great Plotline, Master of the Multiverse.

(Please note that I'm using masculine pronouns for lack of a specifically defined gender, as is allowable by English grammar)

As a side note: Scaring somebody to death is, indeed, physically possible, with documented cases to boot.

SoItBegins · Post by **SoItBegins** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 10:07 am

As a side note: Scaring somebody to death is, indeed, physically possible, with documented cases to boot.

Ok, I take it back; it's just very, very hard to do so intentionally.

The Hunter is:
The Hunter. Not any party we have previously, or since, met in a non-disguised form, but a character in and of himself.

That being said, the Hunter hunted Mark, and did try to kill Mark, but simply failed to do so. The fact that he chased Mark into the Geek's Den is irrelevant, accidental, or simply ordained by the Great Plotline, Master of the Multiverse.

I agree, except for the tried-to-kill-him part. If the Hunter had meant to immediately kill Mark, he would have chucked that knife into his back, not right next to it. I think the Hunter is trying to capture geeks and use them for his own nefarious purposes.

Thanatos5150 · Post by **Thanatos5150** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 7:53 pm

Or, ya know, he could have missed.

SoItBegins · Post by **SoItBegins** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 8:04 pm

Yeah, you have got a point... I'll stick with the capture-for-nefarious-purpose theory for now though.

Aldagrim · Post by **Aldagrim** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 9:39 am

Maybe the Hunter is actually Mark's roommate! There's no telling where he was when Mark was out.

EDIT: Maybe the Hunter was actually a hallucination or imagination that Mark got caught up in. If he was really wanting to game that night, it could be really easy to let your imagination get carried away with you. Besides, it's an online comic, characters are allowed to have a few imaginative and non-harmful psychoses that people can have in real life.

SoItBegins · Post by **SoItBegins** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 9:41 am

Now that is an interesting idea... the roommate part I mean. If the Hunter was a hallucination,

1) Why could Joel see him too? and

2) Who's that standing on the right side of the final panel of the last Chapter 2 strip?

Punstarr · Post by **Punstarr** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 9:44 am

No, the Hunter is actually Tipper Gore.

Aldagrim · Post by **Aldagrim** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 9:46 am

Eh, you posted as I was editing.

SoItBegins · Post by **SoItBegins** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 10:29 am

Punstarr wrote:No, the Hunter is actually Tipper Gore.

Har, har, hardy hardy har, hardy har har, har, har, har.

Aldagrim · Post by **Aldagrim** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 3:46 pm

SoItBegins wrote:Now that is an interesting idea... the roommate part I mean. If the Hunter was a hallucination,

1) Why could Joel see him too? and

2) Who's that standing on the right side of the final panel of the last Chapter 2 strip?

1) Perhaps it is an overactive-imagination-induced-hallucination that was caused by Joel's pretending the Hunter was there. What? Don't tell me you haven't had those!

2) See above, or the Hunter could be Joel. At least in that instance.

SoItBegins · Post by **SoItBegins** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 4:43 pm

Perhaps it is an overactive-imagination-induced-hallucination that was caused by Joel's pretending the Hunter was there. What? Don't tell me you haven't had those!

No. I have two rules for navigating in fictional worlds that I will never break. They're practically embossed on my DNA by now. This sort of situation is handled by Rule #1, the most important of the lot:

1) No bleed-over to the real world. EVER.

This means that what happens in my head, stays there (unless I'm posting it on the Net, or putting it into someone else's head... so on). It's intended to keep my existence in the real world from spiraling out of control.

More importantly, the rule bars me from seeing anything fictional. If I see it, it's there.

Unfortunately, not everyone got such a high Willpower stat at character creation (...oops, I mean 'birth'), so Mark may well have seen the impossible. However, he seems to have at least medium Willpower, so the chances of his seeing something that wasn't really there would be (in my opinion) pretty low.

Alina P · Post by **Alina P** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 10:00 pm

<artist_interruption!>
Just as a side note - This thread makes me. So. Very. Happy!
</artist_interruption!><resume_speculation>

Dustman · Post by **Dustman** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 10:46 pm

She's happy? Not having a panic attack? This can only mean one thing...

We're. Not. Even. Close.

(Or you aren't at least. I'm definitely on track. Probably of the railroad variety.)

SoItBegins · Post by **SoItBegins** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 11:31 pm

No, she's just happy that there's so many rumors flying around. I mean, we've brought up all the potential possibilities in this thread, so she's going to be happy no matter what.

Aldagrim · Post by **Aldagrim** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 10:45 am

SoItBegins wrote:
Perhaps it is an overactive-imagination-induced-hallucination that was caused by Joel's pretending the Hunter was there. What? Don't tell me you haven't had those!
No. I have two rules for navigating in fictional worlds that I will never break. They're practically embossed on my DNA by now. This sort of situation is handled by Rule #1, the most important of the lot:

1) No bleed-over to the real world. EVER.

This means that what happens in my head, stays there (unless I'm posting it on the Net, or putting it into someone else's head... so on). It's intended to keep my existence in the real world from spiraling out of control.

More importantly, the rule bars me from seeing anything fictional. If I see it, it's there.

Unfortunately, not everyone got such a high Willpower stat at character creation (...oops, I mean 'birth'), so Mark may well have seen the impossible. However, he seems to have at least medium Willpower, so the chances of his seeing something that wasn't really there would be (in my opinion) pretty low.

Ah, but remember that Joel already broke your rule of no bleed over by the way he yoinked Mark into the game. Why do you think Sarah got so ripping mad at him? I think the Hunter is Joel (he was enough of a jerk to do that in the first place, why not stage the stunt with the knife too?) and the shadow that we saw before when Joel was there could have been a random passerby that he was using to capitalize on the opportunity.

Also, I think Sarah and Joel used to be a couple but broke up because of his being...well, Joel, and her temper.

SoItBegins · Post by **SoItBegins** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 11:55 am

Ah, but remember that Joel already broke your rule of no bleed over by the way he yoinked Mark into the game.

No, you've got it a bit mixed up. That rule only applies to me, personally. It doesn't apply to Mark. That said, if I ever found myself in a similar situation, I'd immediately start trying to break out of the story. That's how I would keep Rule #1 intact.

I think the Hunter is Joel (he was enough of a jerk to do that in the first place, why not stage the stunt with the knife too?) and the shadow that we saw before when Joel was there could have been a random passerby that he was using to capitalize on the opportunity.

You actually might have a point. In the strip immediately before Joel brings up the Hunter (the first time), you can see that there's no one following them. Joel also could have done that stunt with the knife. However, this brings up 3 questions:

1) Who's that on the right side of the final strip of Chapter 2?

Ok, this one could be Joel.

2) Where did Joel learn to throw knives like that?

There could be a convincing explanation for this one as well... but it's not easy to throw knives, from what I hear. And if anyone ever got wind of the fact, Joel would be dead!! (I mean, more than (as a vampire) he is already.)

Finally, 3) How did Joel get in place so quickly?

If Joel's chasing Mark (as the Hunter), then you'll remember that the Hunter chases Mark right up to the cellar door. However, Joel was waiting for Mark when he 'arrived', not a hair out of place.

So... that leaves Joel about 1 minute to get to the side door (or whatever), quick-change to a vampire before entering, get to his place in his 'nook', and get his breath back. Not an easy feat.

Also: The 'Merry Christmas 2006' poster may or may not be canon, but if it is, then you can be quite certain that Joel is not the Hunter (because he's standing next to Mark, while the Hunter's peering in the window.)