Kim is dead, so whatever her sins in Harry's world she paid the price. Ditto for Susan. And Harry bears no responsibility for either of those deaths. There is nothing about his behavior in either case to improve. Would this be a cogent summation?
Yeesh. I thought the Kincaid microfiction was an interesting topic, then I got swamped. May as well get this out of the way.
As in other threads, other subjects here, people seem to see a topic as black and white. It's not a binary solution set. Is Kim largely responsible for her own death? Yes. Is Harry partially responsible for Kim's death? Yes.
The important point being that Harry
feels responsible for her death. Because...Harry.
Yep. Also that kid from Zoo Day.
Austin, IIRC. And since he seemed to have more power than some (his summoning ability may be on a par with Molly's talent for veils and illusions), I'm wondering if Harry will have a new full time apprentice as of Peace Talks.
You are a minority depending on what you consider magic.
Hah! Pardon me while I digress. I was speaking with an author who had written an urban fantasy series that seemed to include...more than its fair share of truth, based on my experiences. I mentioned what I thought was too close to "real", and the author was silent for a minute.
Then proceeded to tell me A. that my (what I thought I had imagined) "abilities" were real, B. Not to do a certain thing, because it would have a certain result (he couldn't know that I had already done that--with that result), and C. was surprised that I hadn't picked up on this being real on my own. Apparently there are...resources.
And then clammed up.
And while I looked, I still have absolutely no idea where I was supposed to look. If there is a Paranet parallel for that fictional universe, it's in a niche that isn't easily found.
Which I think the Dresden Files' Paranet would be.
Anyway, as far as the actual microfiction is concerned:
A. Yes, Ivy did indeed fire Kincaid. She didn't want to have to look at the face of someone she knew had shot her only
other friend.
B. Kincaid realizes that he "didn't say good-bye" because he knows that Ivy isn't going to give him a chance to after he does what he does.
C. Having friends isn't about driving Ivy insane. It's about keeping her human, from
being insane. Harry understands that.
D. The Archive/Ivy
is neutral. Because we're talking "neutral" in terms of the Accords. She doesn't make alliances, or officially help people. Come to think of it, the only time we've seen her acting against anyone is when someone has violated those Accords. At which point they are dealt with. With extreme prejudice.
E. Ivy would be about 16 as of Peace Talks, right?
Just a thought, She's going to have to have a baby one day to provide her own heir. See "C" above. I don't think it's likely that she conceives artificially--or fails to raise her own child.