Help Out 2016-11-04

[AnotherFairportfan]

Don't think Castela quite understands her situation yet.

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

And what's it going do to her when she realises that she can't help at all...

[Alkarii]

How about when she realizes she was there the whole time, the first time?

[Opus the Poet]

Yeah, that's gonna really hurt,

[ChattaStarhawk]

How long do you think it will take before she realizes that she's seeing shades of the past and that there is nothing she can do to alter anything?

[oldmanmickey]

She will realize about 3 seconds after she tries to get involved and finds her fists hitting nothing. Then she has to figure out just when and where she is, that's when the feels start.

[DilyV]

She will realize about 3 seconds after she tries to get involved and finds her fists hitting nothing. Then she has to figure out just when and where she is, that's when the feels start.

It's like a waking dream that you have no control over... and you know how to resolve the problem but nothing ever works in those dreams... ever. No matter how hard you try, nothing follows common sense guidelines... everything works in exact opposition to your intent...

I fear that what will destroy Castela's mind is not being able to do ANYTHING to help.

Man I'm gonna hate reading the next few strips...

[oldmanmickey]

She will realize about 3 seconds after she tries to get involved and finds her fists hitting nothing. Then she has to figure out just when and where she is, that's when the feels start.

It's like a waking dream that you have no control over... and you know how to resolve the problem but nothing ever works in those dreams... ever. No matter how hard you try, nothing follows common sense guidelines... everything works in exact opposition to your intent...

I fear that what will destroy Castela's mind is not being able to do ANYTHING to help.

Man I'm gonna hate reading the next few strips...

I don't think it will destroy her but i do firmly believe she will be vastly different when she comes out the other side. She doesn't know she was created to be a weapon. That is gonna have a big effect imho.

[chicgeek]

Actually, she does. Remember the cafeteria scene where she was stomping Cricket? She was told about being rescued from a lab, where they were trying to hybridize the blackthorn. And Cricket lying to her about the fae young Castela killed, pretending it was from the Unseelie court and not one of her father's guard sent to protect her-so she wouldn't realize what she'd done and feel bad.
I know when Katherine showed up, she told her the fae were not her enemy, that they'd have a long talk at home, and that she would never be abandoned. We never saw that talk, and there's a limit as to what she could have told kindergartener Castela anyway...probably reassurance and brownies.
But even if she refused to believe it or forgot it, Cricket did tell her about the lab.
I may have been going on an archive binge...
Still, poor Castela! Be careful what you ask for.

[Dave]

I don't think it will destroy her but i do firmly believe she will be vastly different when she comes out the other side. She doesn't know she was created to be a weapon. That is gonna have a big effect imho.

Actually, I think she'd pretty much figured that out already.

What she didn't know (I think) was that she'd been fought over... or just what the damage from that battle had been.

[FreeFlier]

And the damage would be enough to give anyone issues . . . I suspect that 17-year-old Castela is trying to be The High Protector.

Which would explain the threat display.

--FreeFlier

[AnotherFairportfan]

And the damage would be enough to give anyone issues . . . I suspect that 17-year-old Castela is trying to be The High Protector.

Which would explain the threat display.

--FreeFlier

Twenty-one year old Castela has it down even better.

[FreeFlier]

Got crossed up on which was which.

--FreeFlier

[TazManiac]

"... And just as you are weighing which self-defence response to make as the Scary-Lady charges at you full speed-- right before the moment of impact, she 'POOOF!'s out into a Ballistic Tumbleweed, enveloping you in a thorny mass, sending you ass-over-tea-kettle, to your doom... "

[AmriloJim]

My guess on the next plot development:
Castel's path intersects with either a player or projectile. She quickly realizes the holographic properties of this room. Aghast, she sees the gunfire pierce the door/wall of the safe room and discovers she can "walk through" the door to check on A'sawi.

[Catawampus]

What I find noteworthy is that Castela's immediate response is to protect the kid and get her to safety. That gives a good bit of insight as to what sort of a person she is.

[TazManiac]

What I find noteworthy is that Castela's immediate response is to protect the kid and get her to safety. That gives a good bit of insight as to what sort of a person she is.

And you know she's sincere cause she is salty like a Sailor...

[eee]

Extreme existential horror in 3, 2, 1...

You have to wonder why Phix is doing it this way. Why not a MiB report, a dry forensics recreation, a simple narrative? Why the Q room, and showing her all this in living (and dying) color? This is like Monica throwing Calista to her demons without explaining what was going on. This is going to be very traumatic.

I'm wondering if, ever since Bud and Shelly discovered just how dangerous Castela is, the MiB have been in full panic mode about having the equivalent of a walking nuclear bomb - or worse - around. And they and Phix have come up with this to try to forcibly mature Pickle and show her that with great power comes great responsibility, and she needs to be VERY careful what she does. Which I think is a lesson she already knows. I'd be more afraid she'll see what we think is coming and decide "Humans created me to be an ultimate weapon. Humans killed my adoptive family and orphaned me and Atsali when I was too young to realize it. Humans destroy and damage everything. Humans are the ENEMY, and they have to go!!!" Which would not be good for anyone...

[GlytchMeister]

I think the reason Phix is using the Q room is to ensure Castela gets EVERYTHING. Not just one person's version of the story. Not some biased view. The Library is simulating the reality as it was observed and reported by everyone who wrote anything factual about the event.

She is trying to ensure there isn't a titanic misunderstanding. No "oh, I wish I'd have known that before I jumped off the slippery slope" situations.

If Castela can't handle this, Phix will have to take responsibility and try to help Castela get her mind right. If, however, Castela CAN handle it, and does so correctly, she will be given the tools, the knowledge necessary to help her sister. And possibly to make some big changes and improvements regarding that damned shadow government.

[FreeFlier]

Point.

Even official reports miss things, especially about events with no survivors.

Though in that case, at least none of the witnesses should be lying.

--FreeFlier

[GlytchMeister]

Point.

Even official reports miss things, especially about events with no survivors.

Though in that case, at least none of the witnesses should be lying.

--FreeFlier

True, but this is a reconstruction based on every report written on the event. Including what the Shadow Government probably wrote.

Between all of that, it's probably gonna come pretty darn close. And that's better than nothing.

There's also less chance of a "lost in translation" issue. A lot is lost when someone takes an event or a thought and puts it into text... And then someone else re-translates that text back into thoughts and events. This approach at least partially negates that... I think. Maybe.