"At least there's a chance..."

Czhorat · Post by **Czhorat** » Mon Feb 25, 2002 7:29 am

Rikk seems to be stubbornly hearing only what he wishes to hear. As someone who's had a loved one in the hospital recently (and had to deal with ultra-depressive familly members), I can fully understand the impulse to want to put the best face possible on things. Still, there is a time when one must admit that things are serious, even dire. In some ways, what Rikk is doing is essential. SOMEBODY has to be the standardbearer, rallying the troops around an unshakable faith that Things Will Get Better. It is not an easy role though, and he's setting himself up for a great fall - whether Clara recovers or not. It might be days later, it might be weeks later, but at some point he'll run out of faith and realize how close to the edge they really were. I hope he has some support when that happens, because I think he'll need it.

Grifter · Post by **Grifter** » Mon Feb 25, 2002 8:37 am

I don't think so. At no point has Rikk said they will succeed. The closest he's been was stating that the club has a past record of making the impossible happen. They never succeeded in the past b believing vistory was predestined, all they did was do their best. I think the same thing is going on here. Rikk's "so there's a chance" just confirms that the group has created a chance for her.

WildMartin · Post by **WildMartin** » Mon Feb 25, 2002 9:03 am

Hope, my friends, is one very important aspect of the kind of faith which Rikk inspires in others. The fact that there is always a chance to conquer insurmountable odds is what makes much science fiction appealing. When Clara was without hope, the probability of her survival was 0%. I don't think Rikk can be let down by this because they gave her a small chance to survive and more importantly a reason too.

KingLeon · Post by **KingLeon** » Mon Feb 25, 2002 7:34 pm

I think in a way, it's BOTH ignorance and hope... Which is very Rikk, being ignorant and hopeful at the same time.

Doublespeak · Post by **Doublespeak** » Mon Feb 25, 2002 7:47 pm

On 2002-02-25 19:34, KingLeon wrote:
I think in a way, it's BOTH ignorance and hope... Which is very Rikk, being ignorant and hopeful at the same time.

And yet, I think it is safe to say, Rikk hasn't been let down once. The universe just doesn't have the heart to burst his bubble. It just kind of "um's" and "ah's," shuffles its' feet nervously, blushes, and gives him whatever he wants.

T Campbell · Post by **T Campbell** » Mon Feb 25, 2002 8:39 pm

Doesn't it?

Pennyangelos · Post by **Pennyangelos** » Mon Feb 25, 2002 8:46 pm

ACK! T! What a thing to say!!

RebLaw · Post by **RebLaw** » Mon Feb 25, 2002 9:56 pm

bleh, rikk's wife's dying, not going to live much longer, i don't think that the universe really caters to him...

RebLaw

FlyingFish · Post by **FlyingFish** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 12:58 am

On 2002-02-25 21:56, RebLaw wrote:
bleh, rikk's wife's dying, not going to live much longer, i don't think that the universe really caters to him...

Which is the reason this is so important to him. Clara's survival (provided T doesn't decide to dash his hopes after all) is proof to him that Alisin can do the same.

Vitriol · Post by **Vitriol** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 4:13 am

So far, Rick and the gang have overcome hackers, vampires, gods, government agencies and their own dreams. Since Rick came to power, everything they have tried to do, they have succeeded at (sort of). Perhaps it's time for them to find out that there are some things that they can't accomplish; there are some things that are immune to the pressures of faith, teamwork and effort; perhaps this disease is not one of them, but sooner or later Skiffy is going to come up against one of these things.

This may well be the greatest danger to the organisation; just about everything that makes Skiffy different from a standard sci-fi group hinges on Rick's faith that, by working together they will overcome. There is a danger that, if he truly exerts himself towards some goal, and fails to attain it, that it will destroy the group.

He claims to realise that all they currently have is a chance of victory, but he has seen far smaller chances pan out, so why should this time be any different? Believing too much can be just as dangerous as believing too little.

Czhorat · Post by **Czhorat** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 8:11 am

T, your reply was supposed to be in the form of a URL.

For everyone else:
I agree that Rikk is a good person who, through hard work, the help of his friends, and a little bit of plain old-fashioned luck, has always managed to come through when it mattered the most. What scares me about the aftermath of this is the aftereffect it is likely to have on the entire group.

Yes, Shanna is better - and there is, as there should be, much rejoicing. Rikk already seems a bit drained, and I don't see it getting better. Look at the problems he faces:

Alisin doesn't really understand why he's there, and is getting increasingly jealous of rumy.

Alisin's own health is likely to fail before too much longer.

Finally, Clara did recover, but only after the group was told that she had a better than 80% chance of dying. That really hurts. If Rikk does reflect on it, he'll realize how improbable this recovery really was. Perhaps there'll be a day he can't reach her on her cell phone and he'll wonder.. is she OK? Did the cancer return? Is she dying somewhere, unseen and unhelped? Or is she just perfectly safely driving through a long tunnel someplace? This is the kind of thing that nightmares are made of.

*Kludge* · Post by ***Kludge*** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 8:48 am

On 2002-02-26 08:11, Czhorat wrote:
T, your reply was supposed to be in the form of a URL.

T needs a database that he can type simple answers into, and a cgi-script that can access it. That way, when he just wants to say something like "Doesn't it?", he can add a URL that just pops up a box with "Doesn't it?" in it.

Ought to be fairly simple to do...

Catz Bartlett · Post by **Catz Bartlett** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 9:09 am

*applauds wildly* Way to go, Rikk!

Once again, he comes through against all the odds and saves the day!

Applause as well to Tim - both of 'em, actually - who saw past their grief to find the way to bring Clara back from the brink!

Of course, if T switches this around somehow I will have to be duly PO'd...but for now, rejoicing! ^_^

It's always cool when the little guy wins...

Tom the Fanboy · Post by **Tom the Fanboy** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 10:40 am

On 2002-02-26 09:09, Catz Bartlett wrote:
Of course, if T switches this around somehow I will have to be duly PO'd...but for now, rejoicing! ^_^

Like having alien invaders blow up the hospital as they're leaving?

Passus (if he WAS responsible) already did Fantasy with the LotR thing, what if he decided to rip off War of the worlds on a different scale?

I can see T catching everyone up in the fervor of the invasion with only little reminders that Clara was killed until it's over and the question is raised.
Would she have recovered?

Catz Bartlett · Post by **Catz Bartlett** » Wed Feb 27, 2002 10:00 am

I don't think it was Passus who did "Chord of the Rings"...it was more of a lesson to be learned by the Skiffies (though *what* lesson I can't figure out quite yet), taught by Gandalph...

I'm still hoping/waiting for a reappearance by Sully and Miller...even if it's just the altselves, they're still cool!

FrustratedPilot · Post by **FrustratedPilot** » Wed Feb 27, 2002 11:12 am

You want to talk twistiness? This sequence in hospital reminds me of the sequence in LOTR in which Faramir and Eowyn were recovering from battle injuries taken from Sauron's forces. Was that before or after the Mount Doom climax in "Return of the King"? (I don't have a copy of the book now, so I can't look it up.) Anyway, LOTR didn't end with Mount Doom; it ended when our surviving heroes returned from there to the Shire and found they had this bloke name of Sharky to deal with. (Sorry if I'm spoiling this for you. The Rankin-Bass version cut this part out as it had little to do with the overall plot other than a loose end that needed tying.)

Somehow I think Will's reunite with Jackie and Rikk's likewise with Alisin are both going to be a bit shocking.

Nullset · Post by **Nullset** » Wed Feb 27, 2002 2:01 pm

To continue FP's thought, that reunion might not happen for quite some time. With Jones on campus and the rest of the group near DC, they could effectly be kept out of contact and distracted with their individual problems.

I'm still not sure that Clara is coming through this alive. Alisin is also moving away from Rikk, it appears, and he's (we've been led to believe) is what is keeping her going. Too much lack of trust in him will be her undoing and likely death.

Waiting in the shadows in the alternate universe with its 'widowed' Rumi and time-stream hopping General. Also the being that has been using the power of stories to comunicate, a la LOTR.

Thinking... Perhaps Alisin is almost the embodiment of the Skiffy group. Both her and the group require Rikk's optimism and belief to continue to exist. Currently his faith is shaken. If he cannot come to terms with this, will those who depend on him, girl and group, survive?

Khavren · Post by **Khavren** » Thu Feb 28, 2002 5:36 am

On 2002-02-27 11:12, FrustratedPilot wrote:
You want to talk twistiness? This sequence in hospital reminds me of the sequence in LOTR in which Faramir and Eowyn were recovering from battle injuries taken from Sauron's forces.

"The hands of the King are the hands of a healer" So who touched Clara and who is the king? Will? Rikk? or Tim who thought of it first.....

Tom the Fanboy · Post by **Tom the Fanboy** » Thu Feb 28, 2002 8:12 am

On 2002-02-28 05:36, Khavren wrote:
"The hands of the King are the hands of a healer" So who touched Clara and who is the king? Will? Rikk? or Tim who thought of it first.....

"Hail to the king, baby."
Ash is the king, but he only has ONE hand.

Actually I think that the twistiness is going to come from how everyone acts when they get back together and not before everyone joins up. I think we'll have another meeting or two where the feelings get highlighted before the troops are "mobilized" again.