11/08/09 [AS2 #77] - Rather Jarring

[Goatmon]

Poor Abel looks pretty shaken.  Can't really blame him, though.  

[Darkdragon]

Poor Abel looks pretty shaken.  Can't really blame him, though.  

I agree, although I think that it is an understatement.

[tikitori]

At least Kria is there to comfort him-and unchanged.

I have a feeling she'll wake up-maybe Abel will be able to say goodbye.  

EDIT~Had to also say how emotional the page was-I honestly felt a deep sadness. Miss Mab, that is amazing storytelling.

[Caraig]

It's way, way too accurate.  Abel's reaction, that is.

Amber, you captured the shock of that moment perfectly. ;_;

[Tipod]

eeeww, she's so ooollldd

[LionHeart]

Yep, that's jarring, all right...

Looks to me like it just hit Abel all at once just how long he's been away. He's spent the last 39 years around people who don't age much, and cut off from most other cues of time passing.

[The Lurking Dragon]

Now that's a real kick in the teeth. Agreed on it being good Kria's around. Whatever else she may be, she seems to truly want the best for friends and family.

[Escher]

Oooh. I can imagine how much of a shock that must be... Indeed, at least he has Kria (and Fa'lina) around to console him. Here's hoping that his mother finally receives closure after all these years...

Yep, that's jarring, all right...

Looks to me like it just hit Abel all at once just how long he's been away. He's spent the last 39 years around people who don't age much, and cut off from most other cues of time passing.

I imagine this must be a fairly common experience for half-cubi -- suddenly realizing that you're going to outlive most, if not all, of your former friends and family.

It makes me wonder how Dan will take it once he realizes this.

[Zedd]

I don't know what's more disturbing..How May looks like my friend Tom mother after she well...you know...or it's just too much for words it makes Abel crawl into a ball of self hate again

[Azlan]

That is a pretty stressful thing to see, and it must be very sobering indeed.

[Demont]

I wish I could do something to help Able cause this is huge shock for him. plus this makes me hate his dad more.

[Lucheek]

Wow. Amber...

she looks like my grandmother....if she were a cat.

....

[MT Hazard]

May looks pretty good for her age I reckon. There are some elderly people who (and this is no disrespect to old people whatsoever) who I find troubling to look at, where the line between person and well, ex-person is rather thin, it's an uncanny valley issue.

And yes, there is a name for the fear of old people or getting old, Gerontophobia or Gerascophobia.

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

It makes me wonder how Dan will take it once he realizes this.

see here and here.


I do wonder though, where May's money is coming from. Seems odd, considering Aniz's taunting as he was taking Abel seemed to imply that she wouldn't really have any source of income.

Not the most emotionally pulling aspect, but hey, I'm weird.

[Tapewolf]

I do wonder though, where May's money is coming from. Seems odd, considering Aniz's taunting as he was taking Abel seemed to imply that she wouldn't really have any source of income.

In strip 92 he says that he's leaving her the house and a full bank account.  Depending on how much he left her, she might be able to live off the interest.  Or hell, she could get a job as a grocer or something...

I wish I could do something to help Able cause this is huge shock for him. plus this makes me hate his dad more.

Something like this would likely have happened even if Aniz had had the best of intentions.  Unless of course you mean that Abel might have been able to visit her previously.
At the end of the day Abel would have to confront May's death even if he was a Being himself - he'd just be physically old himself when she died.  (Assuming he didn't die first, of course).

[joshofspam]

From Abel's point of view this would be a terrible realization that any being friends that he has will be temporary when he out lives them all. Lets not forget that Abel can read minds and he might of tried to asses his mothers state of mind.

Old age tends to make you more susceptible to things like cancer and other things that are considered not very pleasant.

So confronting someone suffering that you know and feel very close to will be very jarring to say the least.

[MT Hazard]

This shock seems to be the Third of Abel's major reasons for wanting to be alone all the time.

His thinking is probably thus, anyone you get to know will either
1.Betray you
and/or
2. Take advantage of you
or
3. Die, leaving you devastated

This doesn't seem rational thinking in a school full of cubi, but such feelings are seldom rational.

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

In strip 92 he says that he's leaving her the house and a full bank account.  Depending on how much he left her, she might be able to live off the interest.  Or hell, she could get a job as a grocer or something...

He also says in the same strip, that it would be enough to live off of for "a few years." I assumed few in that context means what it usually does, say, 2-4 years.

But I guess I'm also making a secondary assumption, that whatever life extending procedure Kria is referring to is something magical, expensive and/or not readily available to any person who asks. The only other beings that we've seen (implied) having their lifespan extended are Jyrras's parents, who seem to be both *very* well off and presumably have some connections. (Moira being cited as the most evil and feared person in Furrae )

But those are really assumptions and working off impressions, not hard data.

[Tapewolf]

He also says in the same strip, that it would be enough to live off of for "a few years." I assumed few in that context means what it usually does, say, 2-4 years.

It might be 10-20.  'A few' can mean many things.  Also, she could get a part-time job which would extend it a bit, or move to a less expensive property and invest the difference.

I'm interested in the "using her savings on others" thing, though.  Who and what?

[ChaosMageX]

Hold on a minute...May could have paid to have her life extended?

I was not aware that there was a magical form of the Gerontological treatment from Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Series of novels.
In those books it was more a plot device to keep the main characters from dying off and not being able to witness Mars' terraforming to the end.
In Amber's comic it could be a way of keeping her being characters around for a while longer as well.

[tikitori]

Er..people today can pay to get their life extended. It can be from any reason, cancer treatments, a failing organ, or whatnot. Maybe even a cancer that could be controlled with medication, or any other type of illness. I just took it as May had the same option, but chose not to.

It's probably because my family had to make the choice recently with our dog that I saw this side of the quote. She's old, about 10-but dying. If we gave her an operation, it give her maybe 3 more years, or we could let her go. We chose the operation, but...next time may not be the same way.

It doesn't have to be futuristic.

[Garsemor]

May looks surprisingly well for someone her age, but what interested me is Krias comment on her not waking up, couldn't Abel just enter her dream?

[Naldru]

When you mentioned half-cubi, I think of the character from Iolanthe that was fairy from the waist up and mortal from the waist down (Mother was fae, father was mortal).  In the play, he mentioned that at some point in the future, he was going to have to go to the funeral of his lower half and that it would be quite disturbing.

There is also the possibility that the life extension procedure would involve taking life from other beings, and that is why she refused it.  There were a few science fiction novels and movies where that was the case.

[Alondro]

*Charline grins*  Hmm, so Beings can choose to have life-extensions, eh?  *thinks of various euphamistic 'Naturally Enlarge Your Life!' spam-mail adverts*   

[ChaosMageX]

*Charline grins*  Hmm, so Beings can choose to have life-extensions, eh?  *thinks of various euphamistic 'Naturally Enlarge Your Life!' spam-mail adverts*  

Life-Spam Emails XD

Also, the price of organs will get a lot cheaper once we've perfected the technology to CNC print living tissue.

Can you get paid big bucks for donating one of your kidneys or something?  Especially if you're a rare blood type?

[Tapewolf]

May looks surprisingly well fore someone her age, but what interested me is Kria's comment on her not waking up, couldn't Abel just enter her dream?

I had wondered this, but chances are Abel doesn't know how yet.  Also, being in someone's dream when they die in their sleep might possibly kill you too.

[SpottedKitty]

Also, being in someone's dream when they die in their sleep might possibly kill you too.

I don't like to think it, but there's also the question of how rational May is in her condition. Going tippy-toe through a mind when the owner might drastically change the geography without warning can't be good for the health (or sanity) either.

[Chakat Blackspots]

Just how old is May?  My guess puts her around 70 to 80.

[tikitori]

Just how old is May?  My guess puts her around 70 to 80.

If May had Abel at 16, she'd be 79 now-according to the math in my head.

[inuhanyo]

It makes me wonder how Dan will take it once he realizes this.

see here and here.

It's interesting that Dan perceived the implications right off when Mab said "...you'll have centuries...".   Got the screaming over with early.   Though Dan is overreacting slightly, his mother and Mab are likely to be around for a long time.  And there is Azlan, at least an occasional comrade.

Part of it may be that Dan has a lot of friends.  Abel hasn't had a lot of friends,  and at this point in his life, the only remaining person he feels close to is his mom.  Kria clearly is trying to be there for him,  the question is how close he already feels towards her, and how close he's going to let her get.