An Important Offer 2013-07-11

[DilyV]

Awwwwww Poor Atsali...... The kid looks like she's about ready to fall apart.

I kinda figured that would be Kath's attitude to this whole thing... and rightfully so!

[Fairportfan]

Atsali figures Katharine is going to accept the MiB offer and dump her like useless baggage.

Whatever Katharine decides, i suspect that Atsali is gonna be along on any future adventures.

[Dave]

Yeah... her first "break away and be independent" adventure was a setup, she ended up being frightened and injured and turned into a convenient data-receptacle for the Library's benefit, she's had a harsh lesson in how horribly cruel the world can be... and she's still an orphan.

Not her best day ever. Not anyone's best day.

[nerf-dweller]

Yeah... her first "break away and be independent" adventure was a setup, she ended up being frightened and injured and turned into a convenient data-recepticle for the Library's benefit, she's had a harsh lesson in how horribly cruel the world can be... and she's still an orphan.

Not her best day ever. Not anyone's best day.

But tomorrow, it's Kath to the rescue. She's not going anywhere w/o her partner.

[Wyvern]

Seems to me the MIB should offer Atsali a place in the Junior Troublemakers Division.

[shadowinthelight]

Yeah, I doubt she'll take the job if she is adopting a teenage girl.

[GuySmiley]

Yeah, offering Katherine a job where she's involved in actively covering up the truth from the rest of the world........ Not likely. She wasn't exactly approving of Monica's lack of enthusiasm over sharing some of their discoveries that didn't match the history books way back when.

[DilyV]

Atsali figures Katharine is going to accept the MiB offer and dump her like useless baggage.

Whatever Katharine decides, i suspect that Atsali is gonna be along on any future adventures.

Having been in combat, there is a bond that soldiers gain that is hard for anyone else to fully understand. When you've looked death in the face and shouted "Fuck you! Not today!!!" at it, and survived due to the actions of yourself and your fellow soldiers, something takes place... a bond is formed that most who experience it can't even put into words. I've found that The Saint Crispin's Day Speech from Henry the V by Shakespeare comes close.

St. Crispin’s Day speech from Henry V (1599) by William Shakespeare

WESTMORELAND. O that we now had here
But one ten thousand of those men in England
That do no work to-day!

KING. What’s he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin;
If we are mark’d to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God’s will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires.
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.
God’s peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more methinks would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
We would not die in that man’s company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call’d the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam’d,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say “To-morrow is Saint Crispian.”
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say “These wounds I had on Crispian’s day.”
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he’ll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb’red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

I imagine right now there is nothing more on Kath's mind than keeping Atsali close for she has bonded with the little bird brain in a way that maybe only Accacia, Jin and Brandi might understand.

[Atomic]

Atsali is facing up to that horrible place between "Oh Boy!" and "Oh Shit!"

For a moment, she held an entire civilization in her mind. What did they leave behind for her?
And what can/should she do about it?

[Dave]

Atsali is facing up to that horrible place between "Oh Boy!" and "Oh Shit!"

For a moment, she held an entire civilization in her mind. What did they leave behind for her?
And what can/should she do about it?

It may be "What did the Library leave her with?" We don't know yet whether it (or the stargate, or both together) have simply suppressed the data/program/memories to save her sanity, or actually stripped them out of her.

She may just have lost everything she had acquired (except perhaps that horrible burning aftertaste in the soul which comes from watching torment take place).

[zachariah]

Sali is in post-adrenaline let down. This entire ACR has been one heart stopper to another. Now it's over and the rush has stopped. She's faced with the story ending and not a fairy tale ending either. To her the best thing she has to look forward to is back to the orphanage and a hum drum life of action adventures she now knows are not real. You can't recapture your childhood after reality comes knocking on your head. Kathy knows this and will act.
The bond they built living through this. Sali became a part of Kathy's heart and Kathy is not the type who will abandon her. Her reaction to MIB fits perfectly with her earlier reaction to the suits. Just surprised she didn't deck Tsaliha, and yes she would have been justified in doing so. Tomorrows scene Kathy catches Sali and asks her were do you think are you going? You signed up as my adventure partner and we ain't done yet.

Wear ear protectors the sequel will be deafening.

[NOTDilbert]

TSILLAH: Ms. Gilchrist, we have an offer for you....

KATH: Oh yeah, you're Death's daughter, right?

TSILLAH: Well, yeah, but this offer....

KATH: I saw your dad today.

TSILLAH: Um - huh?

KATH: I SPIT IN HIS EYE. If you don't want me to do that to you, pack up your offer and your MIB's and VACATE!

[Fairportfan]

Having been in combat, there is a bond that soldiers gain that is hard for anyone else to fully understand. When you've looked death in the face and shouted "Fuck you! Not today!!!" at it, and survived due to the actions of yourself and your fellow soldiers, something takes place... a bond is formed that most who experience it can't even put into words. I've found that The Saint Crispin's Day Speech from Henry the V by Shakespeare comes close.

In Up Front, Bill Mauldin said you might call it the Benevolent and Protective Order of Them That Has Been Shot At.

Have you encountered the military SF of David Drake?

For a look at what soldiers do when everything turns to poo, i recommend Roiling Hot. (After you read the review, click the link to go to Amazon, and read the first review on the page - by SF author Michael Z Williamson.)

For a story about a project - that could never happen - that attempts to reclaim and return to society troops suffering from hideous PTSD, Redliners - which Drake has said is his own favourite of his books, will wring you out.

=============

EDIT to add: I'm rather proud of both of those reviews, BTW.

[zachariah]

Paul's being sneaky. This tender little scene playing out will distract all of us from noticing that we are NOT getting the answers we want about the loose ends left dangling.

Kathy to MIB: Put you offer in writing. Fold it so it has nothing but sharp corners. Then shove it.

I doubt Bud knows anything about this offer and will be mad that it was made in the way it was. Bud has more compassion in her than she likes to show.

[Yamara]

I do hope Kath has a chance to go meta on Tsillah, and ask what the purpose of putting some placeholder token of an offer, some checkmark on a cosmic bureaucratic form, some gilt oak leaf pin in a paper box, in front of her when it's obvious the Powers That Be know damn well what is going to next transpire.

Is the 'no' supposed to be delivered with a specific pitch, or precise degree of repulsed enthusiasm to satisfy some quota of Clotho Moira? Is this an odd faerie ritual to avoid some curse of inhospitality while drawing a neon line around the exit? Would it help to say 'Tsillah' backwards, or slam the door on Bud's stomach for emphasis? What tude and sitch remain unknown by all parties here?

All this stagecraft, when what's going to happen next is Kath inviting Sali to a non-stop non-adventure watching a goldfish. In a home.

[Dave]

Paul's being sneaky. This tender little scene playing out will distract all of us from noticing that we are NOT getting the answers we want about the loose ends left dangling.

I'd say "Paul is being Paul", and that I recommend that you learn to enjoy the pleasures of delayed gratification

I don't think it's his style at all to wrap everything up in a neat little package at the end of each episode. He might do so, of course, but I'd be tempted to PM him and ask him if he needed aspirin and an icepack to help with that nasty fever he must be suffering from!

Rather, I expect that we'll be seeing the "loose ends" and implications of this little adventure play out over the next several years... just as this adventure turned out to have a great deal to do with "loose threads" that were woven into the story years ago, and have been sitting around unresolved until now. Brandi's "deal" (about a year and a half), the "little dead girl, caught up in the Chimera" (discussed well over two years ago, and "dreamed" by Bud well before that), Brandi's "I don't want to know too much" and "chessmaster" characteristics (at least 18 months, with other hints going back even further), the role of the Library as a sentient player in the game (years, back to the big Nudge Punch-out when Tina became 2.1).

What you see as loose ends or inconsistencies... try looking at them as clues, instead.

This isn't Star Trek, or The Simpsons. Not everything is neatly shrinkwrapped when the credits roll. There is a tomorrow, and some things won't be apparent until then (or the day after, or next year).

And that's my $.02 worth... hope it helps a bit.

[My2Cents]

Yeah... her first "break away and be independent" adventure was a setup, she ended up being frightened and injured and turned into a convenient data-receptacle for the Library's benefit, she's had a harsh lesson in how horribly cruel the world can be... and she's still an orphan.

Not her best day ever. Not anyone's best day.

Days not over yet. She may be in for a happy surprise.

TSILLAH: Ms. Gilchrist, we have an offer for you....
KATH: Oh yeah, you're Death's daughter, right?
TSILLAH: Well, yeah, but this offer....
KATH: I saw your dad today.
TSILLAH: Um - huh?
KATH: I SPIT IN HIS EYE. If you don't want me to do that to you, pack up your offer and your MIB's and VACATE!

Unfortunately Kathryn doesn't know about Tsillah's relation to Death. Look at Tsillah's expression in the 2nd frame, she probably has a couple 'near Death' experience almost every day (breakfast and dinner with daddy?) and is laughing to herself at Kathryn's unwitting joke.

A question for knowledgeable people out there. Kathryn is the result of the combination of 6 unborn, wouldn’t that mean she also has 6 souls? If so, what would be the mythological implications?

[Locuran]

I wish I could have commented sooner, seeing as I was one of those griping to see more Kats prior to this arc, but meh, life is life. Still, I have never loved Kats as much as I do in today's page. And thank you, Paul.

A question for knowledgeable people out there. Kathryn is the result of the combination of 6 unborn, wouldn’t that mean she also has 6 souls? If so, what would be the mythological implications?

This is just my own guessing, but I'm thinking everything from the physical to the spiritual just merged into the one being, so it would be a 'compound' soul.

My question concerns a person's demons. I don't know when a batch is assigned to a human, like at birth or at moment of creation. So does Kat have one set, or the set from all six, giving her as an individual six times the demons? Even though I suppose some would be duplicates and may have merged themselves over the years, but really, I can't call that at all.

[Jay-Em]

Well, I think the most "important offer" is going to be by Kat to Atsali: An official start of the Adoption process.

C'mon, the kid needs a Mom and a hug. And it would also be great for Kat to be taken out of her recluse-style. Her traumatic past has been hampering her social life for far too long already, and medication is only a stop-gap solution for managing traumas.

[Jay-Em]

I do hope Kath has a chance to go meta on Tsillah, and ask what the purpose of putting some placeholder token of an offer, some checkmark on a cosmic bureaucratic form, some gilt oak leaf pin in a paper box, in front of her when it's obvious the Powers That Be know damn well what is going to next transpire.

Is the 'no' supposed to be delivered with a specific pitch, or precise degree of repulsed enthusiasm to satisfy some quota of Clotho Moira? Is this an odd faerie ritual to avoid some curse of inhospitality while drawing a neon line around the exit? Would it help to say 'Tsillah' backwards, or slam the door on Bud's stomach for emphasis? What tude and sitch remain unknown by all parties here?

All this stagecraft, when what's going to happen next is Kath inviting Sali to a non-stop non-adventure watching a goldfish. In a home.

Nanase's "Hammer" on Tsillah's noggin would be appropriate. (EGS-comics)