I almost added another page of memories before this one, but decided to return to the present time because I feel like this was enough to illustrate enough of what they were going through at the time they were first friends. I’ve always made it a point to try and get readers of my work to think in more subtle tones than good or evil by way of making all the characters flawed. The hope has always been that it would foster deeper thinking about what other people are going through and what motivates them to become at odds with us, or us with them. Thomas has already expressed that he’s open to rekindling his friendship with Patty, but he’s someone who internalizes betrayal very deeply. Just jumping back into what they had isn’t easy for him. At the same time Patty forgives easily because she spent her whole childhood trying to rationalize her father’s flaws. She’s trained to find the good in people as a survival tactic. Additionally, she knows that she was in the wrong on some level in various situations. Not maliciously, or even consciously in some instances, but still not exactly on the moral high ground. Humans desperately want things to be yes or no, but a lot of the time things are kinda. She made mistakes. Without spelling it out I expect her goal wasn’t to ruin a friend group, she just didn’t realize the course she was on was going to end at that outcome. People don’t always deserve mercy, or sympathy, but in the vast majority of situations, in the course of everyday life, they do. You don’t have to render it up the second they’ve trespassed against you, but giving yourself even a few seconds to consider it is generally wise. I can sit here and try to explain it for hours and never be able to deconstruct every situation satisfactorily. Even the most mundane situations can be so infinitely complex that it would take years to fully lay out all the contributing factors. Sometimes you just have to make a call in the moment and I hope that my work makes a little room for grace in your calculations.
Just to be clear however, there are evils and harms that are inexcusable. I also hope that in the moment you will be able to recognize those as abhorrent. Even that is not always easy.

I guess I’ll leave it here for now. I should probably call attention to the Patreon, Subscribestar, Ko-Fi, and what have you, since I haven’t been doing that regularly for some time now. Since ads are functionally valueless now sustaining this story really does fall to the people who enjoy it. I hope there are more to find out in the world even if I’ m not sure how to do it. I found my document with the reviews I asked you for in the comments the other day. It seems like that happened a lifetime ago, but it was just before we found out about mom’s cancer. It hasn’t been that long, but it feels like month and months. I foolishly believed that things were going to start trending upwards right before that. I had a loose plan. Now I’m just holding things together. Still, holding things together is better than picking up the pieces. That’s something at least. I will return on Friday with more of my suboptimal saga. Until then, construct additional pylons.

3031 Speed Of Memory 3: Age Of Apocalypse.

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