Crack theories

[themoonlandian]

I can kinda get the tail thing

But yeah, I don't get why demons can host things and affect things, but tend to be invisible.

But how would the reversing the 'physical' and 'spiritual' sides affect it??

That makes Gehenna seem even more toxic °~°

[Wikkelsoee]

But how would a physical thing possess a spiritual thing? Or am I missing something?

[tardar-sauce]

Hrm. I was about to say some sort of mental magic, but I am sure the demons disappear entirely when they possess something.

They can also drag their physical hosts down to Gehenna.

(In reality I'm betting both are physical places)

[cottontailcake]

... Rin's tail (and fangs and ears I guess) can be perceived by normal people? This is news to me.

I can't get my head around this. Every time I try... something fails.

If it was just possession... I could get that. I can accept that Coal Tars possess dust... but then you get things that go completely against that. Like ghosts. Ghosts seem to, by their very definition, not possess anything (except maybe the memories of those who died -- wait that's a different kind of 'possess' )

So then I think... either possession is a doorway, and the spirits can enter through it and past the doorway -- out of the possessed object, or demons can pass through Gates.

Which then begs the question why Satan doesn't just open up a gate and waltz in. <-- that is currently the question that is bothering me the most.

So... I headcanon that the Gehenna Gate can only be summoned from Assiah. Maybe it's a place in Gehenna, and needs to be created in Assiah to work.

My biggest crack headcanon is that Kazoe knows what she's doing.

[themoonlandian]

Rin's tail:`Yes, they can be. When they are out people don't really notice them, though. (Like n that scene with Godaiin, Rin's tail came out. It's not like people couldn't really see it, they just couldn't notice it).

Ghosts: It was said that they possessed something...they were air-related demons but I can't rmember exactly what they possessed (last breath a person took before dying ro something?). It was more than simple memories, though.

Satan can't just open the Gehenna Gate and come through because in order for a demon to be in Assiah it does in fact need a host.


Hmm I'm not sure if there's anything against Gehenna Gates only being made in Assiah.
How often have they even been made? Satan made one to transport Rin - and then there's the fake ones.
But they were made in Assiah..right?

[cottontailcake]

Rin's tail:`Yes, they can be. When they are out people don't really notice them, though. (Like n that scene with Godaiin, Rin's tail came out. It's not like people couldn't really see it, they just couldn't notice it).

Satan can't just open the Gehenna Gate and come through because in order for a demon to be in Assiah it does in fact need a host.

Hmm I'm not sure if there's anything against Gehenna Gates only being made in Assiah.
How often have they even been made? Satan made one to transport Rin - and then there's the fake ones.
But they were made in Assiah..right?

I thought they've always been made in Assiah.
Can't see... don't notice... well I suppose 'don't notice' is a more thorough way of hiding. Gehenna things probably have an SEP field a la Hitcherhiker's Guide to the Galaxy if you get my meaning -- somebody else's problem not gonna pay attention to it 'cause it's weird.

But that then makes my puzzlement 'Rin's tail can be noticed by normal people' which I think is then 'no'. I am assuming you need mashou/temptaint to notice Rin's tail (that's what I took away from the scene with Godaiin.)

*thoughts go whirling in strange circles* confuusing!

[themoonlandian]

Well with the Rin's tail thing, there's a part in Noragami that explains it well. It's the exact same logic applied to it.

Ah! I  love Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy! But I haven't read/seen it in so long I can't remember much at all ;A;

Anyways, I'm too lazy to find out how it was said word-for-word in Noragami, but it was explained kind of like this.

They were in a restaurant, and it was asked how many waitresses there were. The girl answered with two, when there were actually five.
All of them were in plain view, but only two of them stuck out, so it was perceived as two. If she has paid more attention, she would have seen the five.

Or something like that....I can't remember it's been a few months.
Basically, people need to actually be looking for it to notice it. They aren't giving any focus to it, so the miss it - their brain doesn't really register it as being actually there.
So, they see it...but....it doesn't get registered really so it's like they don't.

[cottontailcake]

It has to be at least half SEP-field though, right? what doesn't stick out about a guy with a tail? What doesn't stick out about a creepy-stalker-thing? What does stick out about goblins?

Do you consider Rin's demonishness to fall under the same category as other things which normal people don't see/perceive/notice?

I wonder if Rin's not noticing Mephisto is tied into it all.

[tardar-sauce]

What is a SEP field?

So far, Rin's tail is the only thing that can be percieved if another person is looking for it, mashou or not. And I'm betting they can't see his unsealed form. Katou says they can't see his fire, but it makes the most sense if they only can't see the fire from his body. (If he were to blow something up, they'd see red fire.)

It falls under a unique category.

Crack theory 2: Rin's human soul is merged with the satanic power. So humans can see the Satanic traits if they are looking hard enough, because it is merged with something Assiah-ly that they can perceive.

Mephisto can legitimately astral-project his consciousness, turn invisible, and shape shift.

[Elaedan]

^Was it that humans could also see his ears and fangs though? It would make sense, and the fire is not visble I you don't have mashou. (Rin saw in first chapter the demon's ears and fangs etc from the start?)



Rin is really unique half-demon, I support that crack! :3

[cottontailcake]

@Tardar SEP fields aren't terribly relevant here so I'll stick them under a spoiler:

(click to show/hide)

According to Wikipedia, Somebody Else's Problem is a legitimate psychological phenomenon (I find it a strange name for a legitimate psychological phenomenon, but hey.) In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, natural psychological SEPs are helped along with SEP fields, to make them almost impossible to see. Anyway, I googled it and found a quote from THHGTTG that describes it (sort of):

An SEP [...] is something that we can't see, or don't see, or our brain doesn't let us see, because we think that it's somebody else's problem. That's what SEP means. Somebody Else's Problem. The brain just edits it out, it's like a blind spot. If you look at it directly you won't see it unless you know precisely what it is. Your only hope is to catch it by surprise out of the corner of your eye.

Got a question for you, though:

So far, Rin's tail is the only thing that can be percieved if another person is looking for it, mashou or not.

Lots of people are saying this but I can't think of a single thing that supports people being able to see Rin's tail outside of those who have had mashou. (Godaiin doesn't count IMO, 'cause he shows every sign of having one but an obvious injury)

I had a crack theory! It was delightfully crack! I swear! but now it's gone!

For a moment I thought what you were saying about Mephisto was crack too. >.>

[Wikkelsoee]

A bit late, but here's the bit about Ghosts from volume 3:

Kin pf Azazel, King of Spirits. A ghost is a demon that inhabits vapor released by the dead bodies of people and animals. Ghosts are often characterized by the emotions the deceased had in life. As with Ghouls, the manner of exorcism depends on the deceased's practices and beliefs in life".

That SEP-theory kinda makes sense. I think I'll accept that as a headcanon.

[tardar-sauce]

@cottontail: Katou said the bit about the tail in a character interview. It might be supplementary material, but Word of God is Word of God.

[cottontailcake]

@cottontail: Katou said the bit about the tail in a character interview. It might be supplementary material, but Word of God is Word of God.

I can accept that. Atm I'm still wrangling it so that it's an ordinary Gehenna thing, but I'll go take a look-see at the interview if it's translated, and that might change my mind.

Crack theory: Assiah, as a world, behaves like our IRL world. Gehenna things are not of Assiah and therefore do not necessarily follow a logic that Assiah-things(people) can readily understand or put into words.

[tardar-sauce]

It's at the end of Volume 11, but was mentioned somewhere in one of the supplementary materials threads floating around...