Web Serial Novel / Dimension Hoppers

Dimension Hoppers is a web serial novel created by Rafe (RonZak) LaNore and Casper Kidner, and is written by LaNore. It can be found on Rafe's official website. The novel started out as a live action role playing game Rafe and Casper would do that involved various strange individuals jumping from dimension to dimension, trying to survive an inter-dimensional apocalypse. The web serial focuses on Ray Vantair and Ryan Senoaks, as their team of survivors work on finding the source of what's causing an inter-dimensional apocalypse that has been going on for over a decade, (despite that the journey started eight years ago from where the novel starts.) Each character of the serial has been given their own title. Ray is the "designated driver", Ryan is the "basket case", etc. Each chapter has explored a different, as well as different apocalyptic scenarios, though one has appeared more than others thus for, being the classic zombie apocalypse, but also explores other scenarios, like robot uprising, societal collapse, and eldritch horror, just to list a few.

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DimensionHoppers

• Abusive Parents: It is revealed in the chapter, "Monica in the Mall", that Ryan's parents were neglectful to him. They never let him out of the house, except if it were to go to family. When the apocalypse hit, his parents flat out abandoned him when he was twelve. Ray eventually found him and took him under his wing.
• Action Girl: Svetlana Bogatyryrova and Monica Vescovish. Especially the former, because Svetlana is a soldier where she comes from.
• Ambiguous Time Period: It always depends on the dimension the crew is in.
  • Ray and Ryan's dimension (Dimension 16894) is hinting around being in either the late 2000's or early 2010's. During the chapter, "Embers of a Childhood", it is shown that Ray had posters in his old childhood home of bands like Blondie, The Ramones, Pink Floyd, among others, which were bands that were popular in the late 70's to 90's. It is also shown that Ray left behind an SNES, and Monica found a VHS camcorder. Ray also states that he hadn't been to his childhood home in decades.
  • In the chapter, "Battleborn Kid", Whitticus' home dimension is describes as only having a railroad system for transportation, and how Emmatina, another resident of the dimension, is drawn, it points to it being around the Victorian Era.
  • In the chapter, "Assimilation A.I.", it's described as a futuristic city world, which would make sense, since the chapter is themed around a robot uprising.
• Berserk Button: Ray, upon hearing about Amber's abuse of Ryan, immediately kicked her out of the group.
  • Just upon seeing Amber sends Ryan into an unbridled rage.
• Chaotic Stupid: Ryan Senoaks in spades. If the title of one of the chapters is to go off of anything. "In Rocky Medias Res (or Why You Do Not Let Ryan Drive)"
• Deadpan Snarker: Tristan Corvinter.
  Tristan [deadpan] A windstorm? This is going to be fuckin’ great.
  • Svetlana can also get this way.
    Monica [asking] What's the exit plan?
    Svetlana [deadpan] Not the windows, that's for sure. [Beat.] “Actually...
    Flotsam [shocked] Do you want to die?!
    Svetlana [deadpan] Shut up. You clearly can’t tell what a morbid joke is.
• Designated Driver: Ray Vantair. His character was literally given the title of the "designated driver".
  • When Ray isn't driving, however, Svetlana is driving.
• Dramatic Irony: When the crew meet nivid father and son duo, Garaks and Narekos, Garaks held a gun at them, thinking they were going to harm him and his son. As Ryan tried to talk him down, Garaks fired the gun, aiming at his hand. The bullet went right through Ryan's hand, which both hands already have holes in to begin with, so it did no damage. The two men end up staring at each other awkwardly.
• Evil All Along: Amber Mirrokee. As revealed in the chapter, "Monica in the Mall", when Amber was still a part of the group, she was secretly abusing Ryan. Ryan, who at the time was still a teenager, was afraid to speak up about the abuse because he was scared it would get worse.
• For the Evulz: Amber Mirrokee. She derailed a train, for crying out loud, just because she knew the crew were in the same dimension at the time. She also wants the apocalypse to continue. She didn't cause it. She just loves the chaos. She also burned down Ray's childhood home.
• Interspecies Friendship: There are quite a few species within the Dimension Hoppers crew. Whether it be humans, kobolds, nivids, moths, robots, trazdaks, or whatever Whitticus and Emmatina are. All work together, and while they might be a bit of squabbling in the group, they all still get along.
  • Ryan ends up getting a close friendship with the Trazdak, Lincoln, of who he named.
  • Cartier swears to protect Jenny and Ashley, who are a moth person and a robot respectively, to his death.
  • Tristan and Svetlana bond with being warriors. Whitticus also looks up to Tristan.
  • Ray gets along with everyone in the group.
• Interspecies Romance: Emmatina seems to have a crush on Ryan, likely from him saving her from infected individuals trying to tear her asunder inside a toppled over train cart.
  • Cartier clearly cares deeply about Jenny.
• Killer Robot: The chapter, "Assimilation A.I.", is all about killer robots. One killer robot ends up killing Flotsam as the crew try to flee into an underground subway system.
• Lack of Empathy: Amber Mirrokee. Especially when it comes to Ryan.
• Parental Substitute: Ray acts as Ryan's father figure. He even refers to him as a father.
  • Svetlana also seems to act like a mother figure. She's been able to calm him down when he is hyperactive.
• Robot Kid: Ashley was built by Jenny. She is like a daughter to Jenny, especially sense Jenny is actually infertile. Ashley's mentality is that of a 11-13 year old child during the events of Dimension Hoppers.
• Shout-Out: Rafe is known to add in a lot of shout-outs to things, specifically music, in his works. Dimension Hoppers has a lot of those, but even references to movies and authors.
  • In "The Battleborn Kid", a snippet of the song "Shut-In Tourist" by Band of Horses is used, and the song is referenced in the following chapter.
  • In "Embers of a Childhood", a snippet of the Arcade Fire song, "City with No Children" is shown.
  • Monica Vescovich's defunct band, "Chasing Something Obscure", is a self-reference to the band I Remember 2006. That was the name of the album closer to "Living With Paradoxes".
  • In the chapter, "Monica in the Mall", Ray tells Monica that the crew has a number of movies on VHS.
    Ray: [describing] We have Ghostbusters, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Breakfast Club, Poltergeist, and the first three A Nightmare on Elm Street movies, as well as Wes Craven's New Nightmare. We have a few more tapes than just those.
    ** Later on in the chapter, Brandon is described watching A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. Later on, Brandon and Monica talk about the franchise.
    Monica: [stating] I think Dream Warriors should have been the last Nightmare on Elm Street movie
    Brandon [discussing] I would agree, but then we wouldn't have Wes Craven's New Nightmare. Get rid of all the shit after Dream Warriors but keep Wes Craven's New Nightmare. Part five was a fucking joke
    Monica [agreeing] Part five was terrible.
  • When watching Monica's home video recording of a strange acting fire in the woods, Flotsam reacts by saying it's "some Stephen King shit."
  • Yuri Vetrovsky's name is a reference to the Russian musician, Yuri Shevchuk, who is the front man of ДДТ.
  • All of Ray's childhood band posters described in the chapter, "Embers of a Childhood."
    Author There's poster(s) for Yes, Pink Floyd, Metallica, Billy Joel, Talking Heads, Blondie, and the Ramones still hanging up in Ray's childhood bedroom.
• Trigger-Happy: Tristan Corvinter to a T. During the climax of the chapter, "Monica in the Mall", he shows immense pleasure at firing at bandits with a machine gun.
  • Another example, is during the chapter, "Assimilation A.I." When the crew meet Cartier and Jenny, Tristan instantly takes note of Jenny being a moth, which a sign in the city had warned about, and starts to pull out a weapon, but is stopped.
    Flotsam [asking] Is that a moth person?
    Tristan [remarking] It did say to not trust the mot-.
    Flotsam [interrupting] No, stop.
    Jenny [pleading] Don't listen to the banners, okay? I'm not bad!
  • Another example in the same chapter is when the crew meets Ashley, whom Jenny built. Tristan comments on Ashley being a robot, and tries once more to pull out a gun, but Jenny jumps in the way of Ashley, and both Jenny and Cartier yell at Tristan
    Ashley [tired] Who is here?
    Tristan [reacting] That's a robot. Time to shoo-.
    Jenny [screaming] Don't you dare!
    Cartier [growling] Don't you even fucking think about it!
• Unfortunate Names: Flotsam Senesha. He's named after a type of shipwreck, and his life is definitely like a shipwreck.
• World of Snark: The cast loves to work off of each other's snarky remarks.