Leaving Something Out 2013-07-17

[shadowinthelight]

The adventure was only the beginning...

[Fairportfan]

Oh. MY.

Katherine and Bud need to contact Ellen and Nanase to solve this one.

[zachariah]

Whiplash! My head hurts from this sudden leap from where is Sali to what is Tsaliah up to. Talk about an extreme change in course.

When did Kathy become so knowledgeable about the grid and the details??? Sure Monica has been telling her a lot but there is no indication she has been told everything? And why is Bud accepting her so calmly while the two of them figure this out.

If the Nu Gui was branching out was the next target humanity? It must have gotten a pretty low opinion of us from dealing with the generals and power brokers of the world.

[zachariah]

I call BS! What say you?

Kathy is way to calm all of the sudden. When someone is that mad they don't let go of it in a heartbeat to stop and discuss reasons and motives calmly with someone who looked to be from the other side. While Bud is coming down on T, Kathy does know the Bud is part of MIB at a level near that of Brandi.

Why is this sudden diversion of attention needed here? Are we being delayed until Friday for Sali's return?? Or something else?

[Locuran]

I know it was asked before, but with the possible manipulation of the Hate's design into the grid, it makes me again ponder (even though on the surface they don't seem related). If the Hate had all the babies dumped out to sea, how did Kat get looked over? I don't think the Hate would have done it deliberately if there was a clue Kat would be involved with her downfall. Yes, there's the prophecy, but there's still the mechanics. Did Brandi have something to do with it herself?

Tsillah started this whole shebang, but certain things could not have happened without prior actions taken by Brandi, i.e. the buffer crystals. So I'm wondering if Kat's survival was part of those prior actions as well.

Again, not really related save that the implication of the Hate manipulating the Grid for whatever reason made me think about the wholesale manipulation going on in this entire arc.

Then looking at the Grid reasoning, I wonder if that means there are other bits/copies of the Hate still floating around. Where they could be, and how Kats and crew will find them.

I'll be over here in the pondering corner now.

[Timotheus]

"Meanwhile, Aunt Polly, having earlier gone for a tramp in the woods, is now lying in a ditch at the side of the road."




What we need to do is wait for the next eight or more installments to go up and then go back and read them in series in one sitting. I'm sure things will make much more sense.

[zachariah]

I know it was asked before, but with the possible manipulation of the Hate's design into the grid, it makes me again ponder (even though on the surface they don't seem related). If the Hate had all the babies dumped out to sea, how did Kat get looked over? I don't think the Hate would have done it deliberately if there was a clue Kat would be involved with her downfall. Yes, there's the prophecy, but there's still the mechanics. Did Brandi have something to do with it herself?

Tsillah started this whole shebang, but certain things could not have happened without prior actions taken by Brandi, i.e. the buffer crystals. So I'm wondering if Kat's survival was part of those prior actions as well.

Again, not really related save that the implication of the Hate manipulating the Grid for whatever reason made me think about the wholesale manipulation going on in this entire arc.

Then looking at the Grid reasoning, I wonder if that means there are other bits/copies of the Hate still floating around. Where they could be, and how Kats and crew will find them.

I'll be over here in the pondering corner now.

Nice speculation but would suggest calling it the Nu Gui, or Thup, rather than Hate. Since a lot of the demons have names like that it might lead to confusion of who you are referring to.

There were no other bits of the Nu Gui. It was all in Brandi and was using Brandi with her permission. I also think Brandi does bear a fair amount of responsibility of what the Nu Gui did over the years it was with her. Brandi saying I was just following orders is not a valid defense. She chose to let the Nu Gui in and that let this whole thing happen.

[Fairportfan]

I call BS! What say you?

Kathy is way to calm all of the sudden. When someone is that mad they don't let go of it in a heartbeat to stop and discuss reasons and motives calmly with someone who looked to be from the other side. While Bud is coming down on T, Kathy does know the Bud is part of MIB at a level near that of Brandi.

Impressive instinctive/impromptu good cop/bad cop routine there...

[DilyV]

Epic line from the Budster... but I'm with Zach here... Kath was entirely too upset to be so easily diverted to a tangential conversation about the Grid. Ever ask a question that everyone danced around an answer to? Deliberately (or non deliberately) trying to get you thinking elsewhere about something else? It's maddening and the more you do it, the madder you get!!! Unless you have ADOS Disorder. Attention Deficit Ooooooh Shiny Disorder.

WHERE THE FUCK IS ATS... Oooooooh... Shiny!!!

[Timotheus]

I'm still not convinced there isn't a second (physical) Brandi somehow.

And Katherine is once again showing signs of multiple personality syndrome. I wonder if this is going to turn out to be a thing where Dr. Gilchrist has six distinct emotional personalities linked to one intellectual personality? Intellectually she's always herself, Katherine Gilchrist, but emotionally she can switch between reclusive, authoritative, rationally dispassionate, angry, nurturing, etc. depending on the circumstances. She's been locked in reclusive and shy since the dead sea massacre and it took the mine ride from hell to start reshuffling the deck.

[Aed]

Hmmm, branching out? That might explain sending all of those babies to drown at sea -- creating more hate like itself. Now how does the "Grid" figure into this?

[TheSkulker]

I call BS! What say you?

Kathy is way to calm all of the sudden. When someone is that mad they don't let go of it in a heartbeat to stop and discuss reasons and motives calmly with someone who looked to be from the other side. While Bud is coming down on T, Kathy does know the Bud is part of MIB at a level near that of Brandi.

Why is this sudden diversion of attention needed here? Are we being delayed until Friday for Sali's return?? Or something else?

This is a test! This is not much different than surviving a 700 mph crash in a mining cart relatively unscathed, exploding a nuclear device in a foreign country without permission and without repercussions, or calculating your geo position to six decimal places in your head from 7000 year old star charts without a sextant or without even being able to see the stars! It's just getting harder and harder to suspend belief.

[Yamara]

Hmmm, branching out? That might explain sending all of those babies to drown at sea -- creating more hate like itself. Now how does the "Grid" figure into this?

By keeping the methodology secret, and the gods from intervening. Better to rule in hell and all that.

Shoot, there's critter out there that'd make Architeuthis look like an appetizer at some French restaurant.

[Radical_Knight]

Bud's starting to resemble E.T. considering that neck in the last panel.

[zachariah]

zachariah - I call BS! What say you? That line was unbroken!
Why is this sudden diversion of attention needed here? Are we being delayed until Friday for Sali's return?? Or something else?

This is a test! This is not much different than surviving a 700 mph crash in a mining cart relatively unscathed, exploding a nuclear device in a foreign country without permission and without repercussions, or calculating your geo position to six decimal places in your head from 7000 year old star charts without a sextant or without even being able to see the stars! It's just getting harder and harder to suspend belief.

You've got that right. We've all gone a long way with Paul and accepted a lot. But this type of character change from rage to calm analysis in a heart beat is just too much. Kathy should still be shouting, "WHERE THE F* IS SHE?" Not what she is doing. While the exposition for another plot twist, or reveal, is good they way we're getting it just doesn't fly. There is also no way Kathy was just acting when she was mad about how Sali was just poited away like she meant nothing to anyone else. If she was acting that would imply Sali did not mean anything to her, which we know is wrong.

[Julie]

I don't think that Kat's behavior is as whiplash/spastic as some of you seem to feel. If you go back and re-read the past few pages, you'll see that her anger was at being manipulated and put in danger...and then she also happened to be mad when the Library vorped Atsali home without warning and mid-sentence. After getting an explanation for where Atsali was, her only remaining anger surrounding the little siren was Tsillah's apparently callous verbal treatment of Atsali (as a nonentity instead of a person with value and a name)...which she already addressed. When Bud showed up, Kat returned to being angry about being part of a set up and/or used like a pawn. If you really look at today's page, she's not really "calm" in panels 1 & 3...there's residual anger/frustration there. She's just not raging out of control...and I actually was surprised (and impressed) by her outbursts from the previous pages since she never struck me as the overly-outwardly-emotional sort.

Honestly, I think it's reasonable to think that Kat might be one of those people who gets angry, and then turns that anger into a kind of hyper-focus as a way to redirect the energy into something effective/useful instead of just spouting off and achieving nothing. Goodness knows I've met people just like that. They might get some shouting out of their system, but once they've been given some information to work with, they channel their anger into a heated focus in an attempt to resolve a problem. *shrugs* Seems legitimate to me.

Now, that being said, I'm truly interested in where this is going now. I can't at all imagine how Thup would have been able to use the world grid to "branch out" so I'm definitely looking forward to what Kat & Bud come up with...and I also wonder if Tsillah wasn't so much hiding something from them as she just hadn't figured out that there was more to the situation that hadn't been corrected yet. Time for some popcorn in the Confusion Corner!

[Yamara]

Bud seems to have mastered anger and demolition in her time. Her stepping in yesterday helped defuse Kath's rage down a step.

Remember, the Library will fill requests for information. It's what it does. But not when you're driven to burn it down to get what you want.

If Atsali has a file, it should fall gently into Katherine's hands. Once she's calm.

[kingklash]

I don't think that Kat's behavior is as whiplash/spastic as some of you seem to feel. If you go back and re-read the past few pages, you'll see that her anger was at being manipulated and put in danger...and then she also happened to be mad when the Library vorped Atsali home without warning and mid-sentence. After getting an explanation for where Atsali was, her only remaining anger surrounding the little siren was Tsillah's apparently callous verbal treatment of Atsali (as a nonentity instead of a person with value and a name)...which she already addressed. When Bud showed up, Kat returned to being angry about being part of a set up and/or used like a pawn. If you really look at today's page, she's not really "calm" in panels 1 & 3...there's residual anger/frustration there. She's just not raging out of control...and I actually was surprised (and impressed) by her outbursts from the previous pages since she never struck me as the overly-outwardly-emotional sort.

Honestly, I think it's reasonable to think that Kat might be one of those people who gets angry, and then turns that anger into a kind of hyper-focus as a way to redirect the energy into something effective/useful instead of just spouting off and achieving nothing. Goodness knows I've met people just like that. They might get some shouting out of their system, but once they've been given some information to work with, they channel their anger into a heated focus in an attempt to resolve a problem. *shrugs* Seems legitimate to me.

Now, that being said, I'm truly interested in where this is going now. I can't at all imagine how Thup would have been able to use the world grid to "branch out" so I'm definitely looking forward to what Kat & Bud come up with...and I also wonder if Tsillah wasn't so much hiding something from them as she just hadn't figured out that there was more to the situation that hadn't been corrected yet. Time for some popcorn in the Confusion Corner!

I also get the feeling that Tsillah may have been jerked around a bit herself, and is just now figuring it out. Bud and Kat suddenly talking like she isn't there may just give her enough time to realize she may need to ask her Pops about what's going on.

[sheik]

Epic line from the Budster... but I'm with Zach here... Kath was entirely too upset to be so easily diverted to a tangential conversation about the Grid. Ever ask a question that everyone danced around an answer to? Deliberately (or non deliberately) trying to get you thinking elsewhere about something else? It's maddening and the more you do it, the madder you get!!! Unless you have ADOS Disorder. Attention Deficit Ooooooh Shiny Disorder.

WHERE THE FUCK IS ATS... Oooooooh... Shiny!!!

Upset, yes. Irrational, no.
Remember our observations about Drill Sergeants? That kind of outrage is calculated for its maximum effect. Kath might not have been cool and calm but she certainly was collected, and the calculator is still turned on.
We're watching an impromptu think tank in operation.

[DilyV]

Epic line from the Budster... but I'm with Zach here... Kath was entirely too upset to be so easily diverted to a tangential conversation about the Grid. Ever ask a question that everyone danced around an answer to? Deliberately (or non deliberately) trying to get you thinking elsewhere about something else? It's maddening and the more you do it, the madder you get!!! Unless you have ADOS Disorder. Attention Deficit Ooooooh Shiny Disorder.

WHERE THE FUCK IS ATS... Oooooooh... Shiny!!!

Upset, yes. Irrational, no.
Remember our observations about Drill Sergeants? That kind of outrage is calculated for its maximum effect. Kath might not have been cool and calm but she certainly was collected, and the calculator is still turned on.
We're watching an impromptu think tank in operation.

Well, Drill Sergeants are a different animal though... Non Commissioned Officers (NCO's) in general for that matter. They (we) would feign anger in training situations to make a point... but not really take things seriously. Case in point... at one point in my career, I was put back into a basic training setting as a non commissioned officer to gain a certain set of skills. The Drills would treat us pretty much the same as the 'cruits' around them, but would pull us off to the side and have NCO discussions with us. Things like... "Hey... Watch this." At which time he would jump into a shark attack on some poor unsuspecting cruit that thought the Drill wasn't looking, and leaving us trying not to visibly laugh as the Drill went ballistic.

This is totally different... Kath has reason to be angry, and it's not all about Atsali... The fact that she put aside the fact that she'd been set up to care for Atsali shows where her priorities are... It's just odd to see her about to blow her top, and all the sudden go off on a tangent with Bud... Just.... seems odd is all