Chapter 31 Family Ties Part 2

[Godsendunlimited]

Man KC... Kalani, then Angel, then Shirley, and then finally Burt's trigger finger! Your scarring me now. I love a good villain and you are making scratch a really good villain, but damn! Do not have her kill Burt there needs to be an epic battle between good and evil.

[PuddleWhite]

Can I ask (and am not being sarcastic, just trying to understand) what would Scratch have to do for you to acknowledge that she has proven to be evil and sadistic.

Refusing to be my girlfriend would do it for me personally.
Joking aside, i think we've reached a point where no one's debating what scratch does, and we even have a sort of consensus why she does things, and all thats left is our own personal opinion of her. And i cant see how we can reach a consensus about that...

[yarri]

Still doesn't matter, it's an inanimate object, and not the only thing he has to remind him of her, he has actual memories. I do understand the connection, and I do think he would react, but it was too much for me and when I listened I thought scratch overplayed it, the bit that followed was very good though, it was just that short section that I didnt feel sat right. Of course, others will disagree, which is fine.

Memories fade in time and the weapon is ... was a trigger to relive those memories.

I can see where you are coming from, but I have possessions that would be considered junk to other people that are worth more than ten times their weight in any precious metal. I would be gutted to lose them. Hell, of all the momentos I have from my time in the Marines, I'd trade all of it for a simple patch. Not because it's especially nice, it's not worth any money, but because it holds value to me because of the people that wore the same patch as me. They were my brothers, and not having that specific patch eats at me every day because I have looked through literally everything I own and I can't find it.

Sometimes memories aren't enough, sometimes it only feels real when you have a physical object to remind you of the people and experiences. The world has literally ended, he was left for dead in a bathroom, and the only person that saved him is dead for all he knows. He wasn't cool with the Tower guys at first, but they were really his only family. Now he's surrounded by people that will willingly beat him, cut him, and starve him to death just to get information from him that will allow them to kill the only family he has left. It may be an inanimate object to you and others, but I can see his pain.

OH awesome someone understands me. I have this pin my first husband gave it to me when I made e4 as a storekeeper in the USN. Its my crossed keys its a nothing item but it had been his before he gave it me and it meant the world to me as he had given it to me. Even after all these years when the sound of his voice has faded and the memories of how bad things were when it ended have faded the memory of that pin and the feelings that went with it are still strong.

[7oddisdead]

The only difference I can see in what you all are describing with mementos (I have a few of those myself) and what Shirley was to Burt is..burt seemed to treat the gun as if it was the physical embodiment of Shirley. In that way, its as if the real Shirley never died...having keepsakes to remind you of something/someone is perfectly fine, perhaps even healthy in most cases...but when an item replaces a persons physical being in your everyday life?...no. That's not good, no matter how you try to spin it otherwise.

[yarri]

The only difference I can see in what you all are describing with mementos (I have a few of those myself) and what Shirley was to Burt is..burt seemed to treat the gun as if it was the physical embodiment of Shirley. In that way, its as if the real Shirley never died...having keepsakes to remind you of something/someone is perfectly fine, perhaps even healthy in most cases...but when an item replaces a persons physical being in your everyday life?...no. That's not good, no matter how you try to spin it otherwise.

Which is why I agreed with Osiris that maybe its destruction will free him to grieve fully. He's never really grieved for her.

[Eviebae]

I'm torn with Scratch. I love her for her evil maybe that's it. I love to hate the bad things she does but the mother in me wants to hug her and kick the shit out of whom ever hurt her so badly. I realized tonight I REALLLLLLY want to know more about her and her history. What was she like as a child cause no one starts out bad. The things in their world and the choices they make make them bad. Did she laugh did she have dreams hell when she what did she want to do when she grew up. TO many unanswered questions Kc... to many....

I don't remember ever hating her, more thinking she was a roadblock to our heroes. I've always cringed when our "heroes" called her names because she was scarred. She seems so trapped by her past and present. I love that you can read her past through her present behavior and I love that you can also read it in her tone of voice. I thought you could hear feelings of rage, triumph, sadistic glee AND like a part of her didn't want to do this. Like a part of her was scared at how far she was going.

There has to be a disconnect between what someone does and how you react. If only so that you are in charge of your reactions not them.

[7oddisdead]

Which is why I agreed with Osiris that maybe its destruction will free him to grieve fully. He's never really grieved for her.

Exactly..must have missed that one. Just woke up.

[yarri]

I don't remember ever hating her, more thinking she was a roadblock to our heroes. I've always cringed when our "heroes" called her names because she was scarred. She seems so trapped by her past and present. I love that you can read her past through her present behavior and I love that you can also read it in her tone of voice. I thought you could hear feelings of rage, triumph, sadistic glee AND like a part of her didn't want to do this. Like a part of her was scared at how far she was going.

Totally spot on. The more I reflect back on what I felt for her it was't really anger at her but at what she was doing. I've also heard fear in her voice.

[forgottenone]

Wow.. I have finally made it through all the posts. This was some chapter. I think we all like it soo much that we think it’s short because we don’t want it to end.

Anyway, I guess I’m the only one, but I totally missed that Burt’s finger was actually cut off. I heard the lead up to it, but it sounded like something happened and it was ‘cut’ but not cut off. Burt seemed too calm for it to have actually been cut off. Burt took a big fall off a building right? He should have been in some serious pain/disposition. From this chapter, I got the feeling that he didn’t have many injuries. Sure it has been a few months, but he seemed to move and react pretty quickly. (OK relistened.. I got it now. Sheesh, was I slow. )

What I’m thinking, hoping, is that Saul and Victor in going to get the SAT parts and looking for Lizzy will find Burt and rescue everyone. I wonder if Lizzy even knows Burt is even there (guessing not).

Regarding Burts relationship to Shirley. I think unless you have been in that situtation, you can only speculate how you'd feel and/or handle the situation. It's different when you are there and its close to the heart.

BTW, what is the relationship between Durai and Scratch? Who's running the show? It sounded like Durai is the lead man, but Scratch sure seems to run everything. Most leaders, Durai, would give the orders and everyone (Scratch) would carry them out.. I would have expected.

[Eviebae]

BTW, what is the relationship between Durai and Scratch? Who's running the show? It sounded like Durai is the lead man, but Scratch sure seems to run everything. Most leaders, Durai, would give the orders and everyone (Scratch) would carry them out.. I would have expected.

I think she gets things done; but, when she needs to do something she knows he won't like she "handles" him. I don't think she has the perspective to be a great leader but with time...who knows. It's sort of implied by what Scratch thought the Family's reaction would be to her pregnancy that within the family structure women are second class, maybe third. We really haven't seen anything to imply that there are anyone else from the family involved in the Mallers but she might capitulate out of habit.