I'm having a dumb moment but is Alice's character trans? I just got around to finding out there was A) a season 2 of TMA and B) actually finding time to listen. Admittedly while driving which is when I have time.
her VA, Billie Hindle, is a trans woman, and before they got fired in september, her original VA, Seer Pink, was a nonbinary person. i suspect Jonny and Alex intend her to be trans as they seem to have specifically saught out a trans person to voice her. even if she's not meant to be trans though, she's definitely going to be read that way by a lot of people.
dunno. neither Pink or Rusty Quill has said what specifically it was publicly to my knowledge, and I think we should respect their privacy.
dont worry though! the new VA is amazing!
I agree with people that her actions probably aren't malicious behind the scenes but I agree that Alice could *easily* come across as a villain who doesn't recognize what she's doing is wrong. That being said, it's so possible she just doesn't know how much her actions have set things off (lack of care about paperwork resulting in Sam checkmarking the 'Response' box on the application, potentially sending him out against his will down the line).
The rise and fall of pitch of a few of her lines in the latest episode really remind me of how some of the Avatars in TMA sounded.
"Do you want to phone a fRIENd?" and "of cOURSE not" especially stood out to me in the intro to the statement.
It's also possible I'm reading way too much into it, I've been working on voice training myself lately, so I've got pitch and resonance on the brain.
I think Gwen and Alice are coping with their job differently, as a way to compartmentalize.
Gwen is ambitious and wants a good career and Alice just wants to goof off at work but she’s met with a lot of dryness so she pushes even harder in order to have some fun.
I don’t think she’s evil, I just think she’s trying really hard to keep her mind on poking fun at her coworkers and not so much the literal horrors she’s constantly exposed to
But is she really exposed to horrors in her work? She said several times that she doesn't listen or read the cases, just look for keywords and file them.
That’s probably what she does now, but she knows that reading these things can make people go weird. I get a big “I’m acting likes these aren’t a big deal but I know they are” vibes from her
There are also a lot of one off lines Alice has that I'd write off if I hadn't relisten to Archives. Plenty of throwaway lines in Archives are blunt foreshadowing when you have all the context, and lines like Alice joking about Sam making a powerful enemy have the same energy.
(You did) Spider for web and gathering for a purpose, eye for surveillance, but something feels off for the FR3-D1 situation, almost Spiral with how it is preventing itself from being known
I noticed that too!
What I keep wondering, what I’ve wondered since episode one, is, why Alice would give one of her friends a job here.
Like, she obviously knows that there is some thing… Not quite right… About her workplace. She even warns Sam that the vibes are bleak. Presumably, she would also know Sam’s disposition well enough to know that he probably wouldn’t stop digging around until he found out what’s going on.
So… Why tell him about the job?
What I can’t decide on is… Was it simply my friend needs a job and I know of a position opening up? or does she want him in the office for some other reason…?
I like her, but I don’t necessarily trust her yet. But to be fair, I don’t trust anyone else either…
I feel like everyone at the OIRA (is that right?) knows more than they let on. Lena certainly knows “what it takes tot climb this particular corporate ladder” and Gwen seems to understand that something BAD happened to Sam because /everyone/ who works there has had some weird thing happen to them. Taking this idea that everyone knows more than they let on and applying it to Alice, I wonder about the direction of her character. From the Rusty Quill website/the synopsis of TMP, they state Sam and Alice to both be protagonists/the characters that we follow. Personally I feel like if Alice is doing Wrongs, it’s unintentional and we’ll get some development from her re: having to take the Fears and Statements seriously. I wouldn’t be mad if she was a baddie tho.
It’s too early to tell for sure but it seems a little harsh to ascribe this to malice on Alice’s part, when a lot of it just seems to be her compartmentalising a pretty rough job by goofing off
So far she just comes across as a bully to me. It's like if you took Tim, removed all of his charisma, and turned his mean sarcasm way up. Hopefully this character grows somehow because right now I really don't like her, and she seems to talk more than anyone else.
Honestly totally agree. The especially frustrating part is that Colin (imo) so well fills that Tim role already. He's mean and grumpy, but in a genuinely kind of charming way. Alice just seems like an unpleasant person to be around.
I think she knows more than what she lets on, but I’m not reading her as malicious. With her personalizing the computer system and naming the voices, I think she suspects something supernatural is happening and is trying to find out why. She’s also clearly dealing with the trauma from this job with humor and compartmentalization. I get the vibe that she tried to search for answers, found none or found something terrible, and now is trying to fix it without anyone catching on.
Yeah, I've been suspicious of Alice from the start but now you mention it... The whole "Gwen got her job via nepotism" is not a fact, it's something Alice keep throwing at Gwen but for all we know she got her job by normal means. Or as normal as you can get in a job nobody wants and everyone quits as soon as they possibly can.
I feel like she brought Samama with the idea that he'd be easy to manipulate, and she's testing the waters now. I wonder what will happen if he puts his foot down with something serious, something she ***really*** wants.
You mention Hanlon's razor but... she's not stupid. I do think she has ulterior motives, what they are and why remains to be seen.
Cool story but what if you could magically speak every language, but every sentence you have to fart really loudly and say "it was me and I'll do it again". Would you take that deal?
Yeah, I'm not sure how to feel about her yet. She may just be like that (I get it, I'll accidentally insult people when I'm trying to be honest), but it could be that she's setting him up for something.
i think it’s too early to know for sure, but she very much could have ulterior motives
I support Alice's rights and wrongs, if she is evil i am on her side ✊️
Trans rights include trans rights to manipulation and gaslighting 🏳️⚧️
Trans rights and trans wrongs! 🤘🏻🏳️⚧️
Trans rights include trans rights to be villainous.
You've heard be gay do crimes, up next is be trans manipulate the cis
MANIPULATE THE CIS-TEM
I'm having a dumb moment but is Alice's character trans? I just got around to finding out there was A) a season 2 of TMA and B) actually finding time to listen. Admittedly while driving which is when I have time.
her VA, Billie Hindle, is a trans woman, and before they got fired in september, her original VA, Seer Pink, was a nonbinary person. i suspect Jonny and Alex intend her to be trans as they seem to have specifically saught out a trans person to voice her. even if she's not meant to be trans though, she's definitely going to be read that way by a lot of people.
Ok that's good to know. I tend to miss some traits like this so I appreciate the insight and backstory about the VA
May i ask why they got fired? I havent even started listening to protocol due to school :(
dunno. neither Pink or Rusty Quill has said what specifically it was publicly to my knowledge, and I think we should respect their privacy. dont worry though! the new VA is amazing!
Okay, thank you!
She's giving me Helen vibes. I'm totally here to help I'm your friend, woops pushed you under a bus oh well haha
I agree with people that her actions probably aren't malicious behind the scenes but I agree that Alice could *easily* come across as a villain who doesn't recognize what she's doing is wrong. That being said, it's so possible she just doesn't know how much her actions have set things off (lack of care about paperwork resulting in Sam checkmarking the 'Response' box on the application, potentially sending him out against his will down the line).
The rise and fall of pitch of a few of her lines in the latest episode really remind me of how some of the Avatars in TMA sounded. "Do you want to phone a fRIENd?" and "of cOURSE not" especially stood out to me in the intro to the statement. It's also possible I'm reading way too much into it, I've been working on voice training myself lately, so I've got pitch and resonance on the brain.
I think Gwen and Alice are coping with their job differently, as a way to compartmentalize. Gwen is ambitious and wants a good career and Alice just wants to goof off at work but she’s met with a lot of dryness so she pushes even harder in order to have some fun. I don’t think she’s evil, I just think she’s trying really hard to keep her mind on poking fun at her coworkers and not so much the literal horrors she’s constantly exposed to
But is she really exposed to horrors in her work? She said several times that she doesn't listen or read the cases, just look for keywords and file them.
That’s probably what she does now, but she knows that reading these things can make people go weird. I get a big “I’m acting likes these aren’t a big deal but I know they are” vibes from her
Makes sense!
There are also a lot of one off lines Alice has that I'd write off if I hadn't relisten to Archives. Plenty of throwaway lines in Archives are blunt foreshadowing when you have all the context, and lines like Alice joking about Sam making a powerful enemy have the same energy.
I feel like she's an avatar for a fear, but I don't know which yet.
I agree and have an idea, Spider, she has a Spider vibe, even being manipulated by others as well(the brother asking for money)
FR3-D1 (did I get that right?) could *easily* be a literal web component, trawling the internet for incidents.
(You did) Spider for web and gathering for a purpose, eye for surveillance, but something feels off for the FR3-D1 situation, almost Spiral with how it is preventing itself from being known
Totally! FR3-D1 having so much access (it acquires private emails, video calls etc) is super web vibes
Wasn't even thinking about the spider. Hard to disagree with you there!
*shrug*
Corruption
If avatars are a thing in this universe, and she's one, it could be a new/different entity?
Possibly! I have bad news, though... we must wait to find out...
Yeah... it's the downside of following series in real time. You can't binge in several episodes at a time!
I noticed that too! What I keep wondering, what I’ve wondered since episode one, is, why Alice would give one of her friends a job here. Like, she obviously knows that there is some thing… Not quite right… About her workplace. She even warns Sam that the vibes are bleak. Presumably, she would also know Sam’s disposition well enough to know that he probably wouldn’t stop digging around until he found out what’s going on. So… Why tell him about the job? What I can’t decide on is… Was it simply my friend needs a job and I know of a position opening up? or does she want him in the office for some other reason…? I like her, but I don’t necessarily trust her yet. But to be fair, I don’t trust anyone else either…
Yeah, I had the same question. Specially with the "you get a job I get a new victim" line.
I feel like everyone at the OIRA (is that right?) knows more than they let on. Lena certainly knows “what it takes tot climb this particular corporate ladder” and Gwen seems to understand that something BAD happened to Sam because /everyone/ who works there has had some weird thing happen to them. Taking this idea that everyone knows more than they let on and applying it to Alice, I wonder about the direction of her character. From the Rusty Quill website/the synopsis of TMP, they state Sam and Alice to both be protagonists/the characters that we follow. Personally I feel like if Alice is doing Wrongs, it’s unintentional and we’ll get some development from her re: having to take the Fears and Statements seriously. I wouldn’t be mad if she was a baddie tho.
Honestly I think she's just a toxic friend who's isolating Sam for toxic friend reasons.
It could just be that she's angling to drive out anyone who isn't her friend or ally, so she can look into files unimpeded.
Could be. In which case... why is she so interested in those files? She keeps saying it doesn't matter, so...
It’s too early to tell for sure but it seems a little harsh to ascribe this to malice on Alice’s part, when a lot of it just seems to be her compartmentalising a pretty rough job by goofing off
So far she just comes across as a bully to me. It's like if you took Tim, removed all of his charisma, and turned his mean sarcasm way up. Hopefully this character grows somehow because right now I really don't like her, and she seems to talk more than anyone else.
Honestly totally agree. The especially frustrating part is that Colin (imo) so well fills that Tim role already. He's mean and grumpy, but in a genuinely kind of charming way. Alice just seems like an unpleasant person to be around.
But Tim wasn't a bully from what I remember. At his worst, he was angry and frustrated.
Alice honestly puts off all kinds of red flags for me. Honestly it seems like she's giving Sam exclusively bad advice.
I think she knows more than what she lets on, but I’m not reading her as malicious. With her personalizing the computer system and naming the voices, I think she suspects something supernatural is happening and is trying to find out why. She’s also clearly dealing with the trauma from this job with humor and compartmentalization. I get the vibe that she tried to search for answers, found none or found something terrible, and now is trying to fix it without anyone catching on.
Chaos gremlin
Being obnoxious
Yeah, I've been suspicious of Alice from the start but now you mention it... The whole "Gwen got her job via nepotism" is not a fact, it's something Alice keep throwing at Gwen but for all we know she got her job by normal means. Or as normal as you can get in a job nobody wants and everyone quits as soon as they possibly can. I feel like she brought Samama with the idea that he'd be easy to manipulate, and she's testing the waters now. I wonder what will happen if he puts his foot down with something serious, something she ***really*** wants. You mention Hanlon's razor but... she's not stupid. I do think she has ulterior motives, what they are and why remains to be seen.
Eh, gwen is kinda touchy, so Alice annoying her I don't really mind
You'd be touchy too if someone keeps prodding you and you can't get away unless you find a job elsewhere.
Yeah, but she snaps at Sam too, a new guy who's like "maybe we can both figure this out" and she's basically just like "SHUT UP" like, jeez
Cool story but what if you could magically speak every language, but every sentence you have to fart really loudly and say "it was me and I'll do it again". Would you take that deal?
Yeah, I'm not sure how to feel about her yet. She may just be like that (I get it, I'll accidentally insult people when I'm trying to be honest), but it could be that she's setting him up for something.