I got another quick in-universe book from the Elder Scrolls. This one today is The Dowry, another of the Ancient Tales of the Dwemer. It features the wealthy Dwemer Ynaleigh hosting a series of tests to determine who will marry his dour daughter Genefra and receive a vast dowry that he knows is what all the suitors actually want. However, one suitor comes along and proves to be everything Ynaleigh is looking for and more...

Who is Welyn Naerillic?

Ynaleigh's first test is that his daughter's suitor must be wealthy in his own right and thus not have avarice be his main goal in the marriage. This eliminated most of the suitors, but then along came one man of wealth no one had heard of. Welyn arrived in an ebon coach drawn by dragons and accompanied by an army of fanatical and very exotic servants. Alas this proved to be not enough for Ynaleigh, and he required his daughter's suitor to be of great intelligence so as to be a valuable business partner to his father-in-law. Welyn came and invited Ynaleigh to dine at his rented villa and there Ynaleigh saw scores of scribes working under Welyn, who proved to have his own quick wit and intellect during conversation.

While all this impressed Ynaleigh greatly, he had one final test for the few remaining suitors. He loved his daughter greatly and said that only the man who could make his unhappy daughter smile would have her and the dowry. None of the suitors could make Genefra feel anything but hatred towards them, but along came Welyn who said with one hell of a challenge. He promised he could make Genefra smile within in a hour if they were immediately engaged, and the wedding could be called off. This intrigued both father and daughter and they agreed. Welyn first made the simple request to look upon the dowry, to which Ynaleigh obliged and led him down to the vault.

The vault was protected by nigh impossible traps such as runic symbols that shot volleys of poisoned arrows into those that pressed them in the wrong order, and there were three locks composed of blades that would tear apart any thief that tried to pick them. Ynaleigh opened the vault to find it completely empty. Utterly flabbergasted, Ynaleigh turned to Welyn who said the vault was robbed by a skilled but humble thief that had loved Genefra from afar for many years but was always too poor to pursue her. This was, at least, until said thief used Ynaleigh's fortune to buy the finery and learning needed to pass the first two of the father's tests. What surprised Ynaleigh even more was Genefra bursting into laughter and jumping into Welyn's arms. They were wed soon after and a contented Ynaleigh never asked where all the new wealth his new son-in-law brought to their household had come from.

Is he magnificent?

Welyn is a charming and skilled master thief that played Ynaleigh like a fiddle to impress him and his daughter to win his true love. This is classic kind of of Gentleman Thief we love for this trope.

Is he a bastard?

Welyn is still a thief, however, and did steal from a perfectly decent man to fund his attempts a being a suitor. By our standards, that enough to be called a bastard.

Final Verdict?

An easy I say, and you'll quickly notice each of the stories I'm going to propose from have interesting twist endings that pull everything together.

Naerillic

to Naerillic

Welyn

to Milady de Winter, Natasha and Paulie, Ivan Draski, Two-Face, Johnny Bolt, Augustus Landor, Gloria Van Graff, Turkey President, Fred Jones Sr, Dr. Harleen Quinzel, Nchylbar, Baron Soontir Fel and Welyn Naerillic.

to Two-Face, Turkey President, Mayor Jones, Harleen, Nchylbar, Sootir, Naerillic, and a slight to Night Summer. Rick and Morty villains have had way more undignified defeats and Night Summer didn't really have any experience in the awake world to know how taxing it is.

• "There's Something About Maron": Maron is an agent working for the IRS investigating Krillin for insurance fraud. Masquerading as a Brainless Beauty, she pretends to be interested in Krillin and has him spend ludicrous amounts of money on her. After capturing Krillin admitting to committing fraud via a hidden recorder, Maron cheerfully admits her true intentions, but decides not to have him arrested out of pity. However, she still keeps the $500,000 Krillin spent on her for herself; leaving him in massive debt and forced to stay at Kami House for the foreseeable future.

So where should Maron go on the DBZA MB tree?

I think at the top, since she’s the only one from the actual series.

Also it's Kame House, not Kami house.

Kame = turtle, Kami = God

Edited by Snowy66 on Feb 22nd 2023 at 2:59:28 AM

Mayor Jones, Nychlbar, Fel, Naerillic.

Question about Harleen: How responsible is Bruce for the cancers? Is he actually guilty there, cause otherwise it just seems like classic Harley falling under the Jokers spell?

Edited by jjjj2 on Feb 22nd 2023 at 6:17:00 AM

Yes to Naerillic

I'd like this addressed, too

Write-ups, I'm going ahead and putting my Star Wars ones where they go on the Sandbox to help out. But I'm copying them in the Drafts as well just in case any edits need doin' before the swap.

• The Bourne Conspiracy: Jason Bourne is once again shown to be a highly lethal spy, with his time as an agent of Treadstone focused on heavily. Using a combination of stealth, combat skills and tactical planning, Bourne systemically eliminates all manner of targets across the globe. From gunning down swathes of enemy soldiers while pursuing a war criminal, to infiltrating high-security locations so as to stop a black market weapons deal, Bourne is efficient and unstoppable in his assassinations against both immoral monsters and apparently innocent university staff. Even after he is ousted from Treadstone thanks to amnesia, Bourne expertly evades all capture, kills every last one of his pursuers, and escapes to a happy life with his lover Marie.
• Star Wars: Legacy:
  • Darth Talon is one of Krayt's Shadow Hands who uses her cunning and seductive wiles to prove herself the most loyal member of Krayt's One Sith. Trained by Darth Ruyn who she effortlessly murders without hesitation at Krayt's command, Talon earns her place at his side by outwitting and defeating multiple Jedi, as well as nearly luring denounced emperor Fel into a trap with the man's daughter. After seducing Cade to the dark side for a brief period, Talon continues to serve Krayt and expertly carries out his will in many schemes, using manipulation and power equally in her missions. When Krayt apparently dies, Talon is his most trusted asset in faking his demise and helping him reconstitute himself to strike back and nearly take over the entire galaxy for good. Even once Krayt is defeated, Talon flees from capture and continues to strike blows against the Jedi for years to come.

• Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side: Sorzus Syn is one of the original Dark Jedi who took over Korriban and became the first true Sith Lords. A master alchemist who scoured Korriban for countless treasure troves of artifacts and scrolls while overpowering curses and traps, Syn used her acquired knowledge to craft new Dark Side abilities and empower herself and her fellow Sith. Syn would turn her own allies against each other to distract them from her growing power, and in her alchemical studies she created the monstrous Leviathans and others powerful beasts used against the Jedi. Syn is revealed to have been the author of the Code of the Sith itself, and her influence and guidance over future generations of Sith is shown to be more powerful than most of her contemporaries.

• Marka Ragnos is considered to be one of the greatest Dark Lords of the Sith to ever exist, being singlehandedly responsible for the legendary "Golden Age" and having lead the Sith to victories for millennia. Ragnos assumed the title of Dark Lord by turning his rivals against each other and utterly crushing any potential enemies, while avoiding pointless sadism or ego-driven cruelties. Leading the Sith to prosperity for hundreds of years, Ragnos continues to influence his organization even after his death, using his spirit to guide Naga Sadow, Exar Kun and more in their quests to destroy the Jedi and attain Sith domination over the galaxy. Ragnos eventually tries to regain a physical form to bring the Sith back into the golden years he once lead them to, using a cult of followers to strike the galaxy and nearly succeed. Even when he is beaten by Kyle Katarn, Ragnos escapes once more into the ether of the Force, swearing to return one day for vengeance.

• King Adas was the most powerful, ruthless and legendary member of the Sith race to reign on Korriban. Through might and cunning, Adas united the fractured nations of Korriban under his one banner, eliminating any who stood against him. Earning fear and respect alike from the population, Adas lead the Sith people for hundreds of years, and even when the Rakatan Infinite Empire tried to invade Korriban when Adas was advanced in years, Adas personally drove them off. Adas then pilfered the Infinite Empire's own technology, and would use it to strengthen and spread the Sith to more worlds, ensuring power for his people for ages to come.

Edited by Ravok on Feb 22nd 2023 at 3:21:54 AM

Heck yeah to Fel, Welyn, and Nechyllbar

Work

Black Tide Rising is a zombie series mainly focused on survivors at sea struggling to outlast the initial outbreak and then retake territory, there are also lots of short stories set across the world, including the ones with these characters. The main series is somewhat controversial due to (among other things) the author's dislike of being politically correct, but the short stories mainly have different authors and tones.

Who is Eric Magnus Lamont?

Lamont is a Wasteland Warlord who appears in the short stories "Inhale to the King, Baby" (in the second collection, Voices of the Fall) and "Fire in the Sky" (in the third collection, We Shall Rise) and is briefly heard over the radio in the third main book, Islands of Rage and Hope. He was an Army Ranger who learned fighting and tactics until he was dishonorably discharged for smoking marijuana, afterward he became a club musician and implied drug dealer who used his contacts and fighting skills ot take over a large part of Floria. He makes up various grandiose titles for himself that he makes up and changes on the spot, like “King of Miami and the Kingdom of Florcubatamp” which he sometimes he broadcasts over the radio. He has a surviving jeweler make him a crown and lives in a palace while sometimes driving around town, getting high and shooting the occasional zombie. He is a womanizer but a conversation makes clear he is propositing a pair of women just as Lamont, and not ordeirng her to bed him as her king.

However, he is extremely resourceful and ruthless and has a Bread and Circuses attitude about keeping them entertained with booze and weed his men make, and food they grow in gardens, He also makes a fishing fleet that gradually grows and keeps count of his inventory and building efforts. He keeps a cage of zombies and once threw a challenger to his leadership outside the walls to die. He has a razor wire fence that kills or traps most zombies, with him ordering any volunteer for his army to club or stab a zombie in the fence before ever being entrusted with a gun. He demands on being called by royal titles at all times but is deliberately polite and respectful to his staff when he enters a room, not demanding much of their time to ferment their loyalty, and knows to keep his mouth shut about important things. He only controls a small part of Florida but says that everywhere in hundreds of miles a part of his kingdom but just don’t know it yet.

When people who have defensible land but need supplies approach him for a formal alliance, he is accommodating. When another faction from Cuba tries to heard zombies at him he is a quick-witted Frontline General who kills many zombies personally and comes up with a stragegy to kill or capture the attackers and run off the zombies. He questions the prisoners, and when they initially won’t talk, he puts two men in the zombie cage and tells the rest he will decide what weapons to give them when he lets their infected friends out depending on how cooperative they are. He also tortures a Defiant Captive some with needles but ultimately mercy kills the infected men rather than sicc them on the other prisoners. He tells them to tell their bosses to join him or he’ll conquer them if it takes one year or twenty, and if he has to airdrop zombies onto them.

When he reappears in a cameo in “Fire in the Sky” he is acting more like a royal patron than a conqueror to a neighboring community and is interested in being a spectator to what will probably be the last rocket launch for some time before resources shift to rebuilding.

Magnificent



He is a Genius Bruiser who mixes hedonism with genuine insight and inspires the loyalty of his people while gaining territory through both force and diplomacy and never suffers any big failures. Despite talking like someone out of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, only more metaphysical (he says "Light that earth joint aboard the Mothership and share the smoke with the void" abut the rocket launch and says stranger at other times) he is one of the most competent and reasonable faction leaders in the franchise.

Bastard

He is a drug dealer who ruthlessly kills his enemies to increase his power.

And here is Milady.

• The Three Musketeers (2011): Milady de Winter works as a French spy alongside the Three Musketeers, including her lover Athos. She betrays, robs, and drugs them on behalf of the English Duke Buckingham but later covertly sells her loyalties back to French Evil Chancellor Cardinal Richelieu, who tasks her with framing his political rival the Queen for adultery. Milady singlehandedly kills multiple guardsmen (timing the one pistol shot she fires with a ringing bell) and navigates a complex security system to do so. She then gets Richelieu to sign a pardon for her to preempt any betrayal on his part. When the Musketeers capture her, she rebukes them for sparing Buckingham but being determined to kill her, but retains enough respect and sympathy for her former companions to give them her pardon and jump off the airship rather than make a tormented Athos kill her. However, whether by coincidence or design, she survives the fall and is picked up by Buckingham, rejoining his side as he prepares for another confrontation. Milady stands out as far more formidable than her novel counterpart, while at the same time retaining more humanity.

Edited by Melinda on Feb 22nd 2023 at 4:32:40 AM

Yes to Fel, Lamont, and Naerellyn.

As promised, here is the EP for FGO's Daybit Sem Void.

Daybit Sem Void

The Work

Fate/Grand Order is a mobile turn-based RPG. Their narratives are story-driven especially starting from the Camelot Singularity of the Observer on the Timeless Temple.

The Story starts with Observer on the Timeless Temple, where the protagonist alongside their servants and Staff members of Chaldea have to do anything they can to resolve the singularities and prevent the incineration of humanity.

The story then continued in Epic of Remnant where Chaldea has to deal with the surviving antagonists of the Observer on the Timeless Temple.

Cosmos in the Lostbelt is the newest part of Fate/Grand Order's storyline where the surviving members of Novum Chaldea have to do anything they can to destroy the titular Lostbelts to take back their future.

The Candidate

For those who have encountered "DAYBIT, HELP ME!" memes and don't know what that kind of meme is about, it is about this character.

Daybit Sem Void is one of the Crypters - the seemingly former members of Team A originally sent to resolve the singularities. At the start of Observer on the Timeless Temple, he had to be cryogenically preserved due to sustaining injuries from the explosion which damaged his coffin. By the time of Cosmos in the Lostbelt, he became one of the Crypters with duties to grow the Fantasy Trees, putting him at odds with Novum Chaldea. His lostbelt is Nahui Mictlan, located in South America. He chose this location because the Ultimate One of the Oort Cloud / ORT resides there, which is crucial to his plans against the Foreign God...

Daybit was first shown in the prologue of Cosmos in the Lostbelt during the Crypters' meeting as their advisor. In Yuga Kshtera, he appeared to save the protagonist and Scandinavia Peperoncino before instantly figuring out the way to defeat Arjuna Alter in the fourth lostbelt. In Nahui Mictlan Lostbelt, he plans to awaken ORT in order to destroy CHALDEAS. He initially planned to use Izcalli and the Deinos as a sacrifice. When the Foreign God fell, he did not hesitate to have his Servant rip the Foreign God's heart out then using it as a backup plan. After the heart was ripped out, Daybit planned to keep the heart alive to fool the Foreign God for at least two days. When the plan to sacrifice Izcalli failed, Daybit then proceeded with the plan to offer the Foreign God's heart instead. When Chaldea confronted him, he offers the explanation of his motives against CHALDEAS in order to allow Novum Chaldea in order to gain a chance in oppossing CHALDEAS should his ORT plans failed before proceeding with the Foreign God's heart instead, waking the Ultimate One up once more.

Episode 0 of Fate/Grand Order - Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia has him trying to threaten Marisbury to shut down CHALDEAS. Before the prologue of Cosmos in the Lostbelt, he had to go through the Foreign God's simulation of singularities, which he successfully finished without any assistance.

The Candidate's Brilliance and Charm

Daybit has been playing the Long Game to stop Marisbury's plans even before the plot of Fate/Grand Order begins. When Marisbury committed suicide to prevent CHALDEAS being shut down, Daybit shifted his plans to using ORT to destroy CHALDEAS instead, fully aware of the Ultimate One's capabilities. At the end of the Nahui Mictlan Lostbelt, this plan fell apart with the death of ORT. However, one critical factor that keeps his magnificence is that the death of ORT lies in Kukulkan — ORT's heart having gained sentience — being on Novum Chaldea's side, something which can be considered far beyond his control.

Daybit's charm lies in not only his capabilities, but also his courage. Daybit is one of the only characters brave enough to intentionally wake ORT up where almost everyone is not thrilled on this idea considering ORT's otherworldly nature and Reality Warper abilities even when compared to Beasts — inconceivable beings capable of ending the humanity in their own right. Before the prologue of Cosmos in the Lostbelt, he successfully finished Foreign God's simulation of singularities without any assistance. The flashbacks of Nahui Mictlan Lostbelt has him going toe-to-toe against Camazotz, who has become the Beast of Oblivion at this point, on his own albeit having to expend one Commannd Spell. This is notable as he cannot summon any servant due to not being from the Human Order and had to rely on the power of the land to summon Tezcatlipoca. In present day, he ordered Tezcatlipoca to make a flee with Izcalli while engaging Kadoc, Goredolf, and Koyanskaya — the latter being a former Beast — on his own. For a bonus, he succeeded in getting past them before engaging the Protagonist, Mash, and the Foreign God himself. Daybit also takes his loss gracefully especially after his final duel alongside Tezcatlipoca against Ritsuka Fujimaru and is willing to tell Novum Chaldea the clues on their true enemy to give them a chance to take back the future. Said final duel is to merely settle the score and satisfy his curiosity on how he will fare against Fujimaru as a Master.

His competitions are as follows:

• Novum Chaldea, whom he personally acknowledges for resolving the seven Singularities.
• The "Foreign God", whose heart he had Tezcatlipoca rip off then implant to himself as a backup plan. Conning the "Foreign God" alone is not a small feat at all considering her feats in Tunguska Sanctuary chapter (All spoilers in that page are unmarked). It is also noteworthy that by proxy, Daybit is also competing with Kotomine Kirei — one of Foreign God's apostles — who is also an approved MB.
• His true enemy aka Marisbury Animusphere and the Foreign world, CHALDEAS. These two are the true masterminds behind the Lostbelts.

The Candidate's Bastardry

Nahui Mictlan Lostbelt revealed that Daybit is the self-proclaimed "True Enemy of Humanity" willing to unleash ORT to devour CHALDEAS and destroy the Humanity. In order to do so, he sacrificed the kind-hearted and pacifistic Deinos, making him a definite Bastard. What prevents him from being too much of a bastard is his reasoning that from his cosmic perspective, CHALDEAS' success will brand humanity as the worst intelligent species in the universe, warranting a horrific future for them. Daybit greatly prefers their extinction to this fate, seeing this as a species-wide Mercy Kill. There is no hint of prejudice, god complex, or search for amusement from this motive.

Aside from his willingness to do so, Daybit is shown to not overtly indulge in inflicting horrific deaths unlike Beryl. He also cares for other Crypters, as he felt a sense of loss from the deaths of Ophelia and Akuta Hinako. He also considers Scandinavia Peperoncino a friend and Kirschtaria Wodime the true genius (and agrees with the latter to tell Novum Chaldea about the true nature of CHALDEAS should one of them dies). In addition, he acknowledges Novum Chaldea's effort and is willing to give them a chance to face the true mastermind — Marisbury and CHALDEAS — provided that they successfully defeated ORT.

Potential Issues

• Social-wise, Daybit is never interested in understanding and being understood by other people. He can be very blunt and is always concise in his speeches. This may taint his magnificence, but his courage and acknowledgement of Wodime and Chaldea more than compensates for me.

Final Verdict

Daybit has truly earned his memetic reputation as one of the ultimate badasses of Nasuverse even if Zelretch overshadows him.

In another words, yes for me.

Edit: I will occasionally update this post with clarifications (if needed) and vote counts.

Edit 2: Renamed the folder and gave a line break for better readability.

Edit 3: Removed all spoiler tags for streamlined decision-making.

Vote Counts: 8 approvals, 0 objections, 0 abstains

Edited by hunter10bt on Feb 24th 2023 at 6:38:21 AM

Work

The Rustlers of West Fork is a Louis L'Amour western about gunman Hoppalong Cassidy preventing the takeover of a friend's ranch.

Character

Teilhet is a shady outlaw salloonkeeper who started the town of Horse Springs decades ago after his wagon broke near a spring and he used the water and any other random ingredients he could fine to make crude moonshine to sell to travelers while his new handyman Johnson eventually started robbing them. When a man caught Johnson and chased him, Teilhet killed the man and took his stuff. He built a saloon, store, and fort to protect the town against Indian attacks. He and Horse Springs have endured for decades, mainly catering to outlaws. He sells supplies to prospectors and sometimes to men who take back those supplies from prospectors after killing them.

He hires a bartender, Mark Conner, to manage things as he gets older and Mark works for outlaw kingpin Avery Sparr, which Tielhet tolerated while staying in the background throughout the book.

He recognizes friends of Hopalong arriving and urges Mark to get one of Sparr’s trigger happy men out do their before he starts Bullying a Dragon, which fails and sees the outlaw dead.

Later, he hears the heroes closed another outlaw saloon nearby and forced the outlaw bartender to leave town despite the money he inveisted in that place to be his retirement after hurting his leg. Teilhet apologetically fires Mark to avoid being associated with Sparr while paying him wages he has coming and urging him to leave before Hopalong arrives, which Mark does. Teilhet then tells Hopalong he is too old to move away and is out of the fight. He allowed to keep his saloon open despite his previous involvement in the outlaw activities.

Magnificent'

He built his own town and it has grown and prospered for decades even as better towns have been deserted due to the loss of industry or other factors. He has a healthy respect for how much the heroes can do, manages to keep his saloon and freedom and even recommends a restaurant to a Hopalong during their brief encounter.

He protected his first employee in the backstory and lets Mark do his own thing for the most part. He doesn’t come across as a Dirty Coward firing Mark. While he is proptecting his own interests, he also feels like a man who recognizes that Mark and his friends have bitten off more than they can chew and have already passed the point where they have no hope of winning but still can’t admit that to themselves just yet and need someone to spell it out for them. He is regretful yet firm while talking to Mark and does show concern for what will happen to him if he stays in town once the heroes arrive while also making sure he has some money to start over elsewhere. Both Mark and the handyman from the Back Story (whether he is still around is unclear) were drifters when Tielhet hired them, although whether that suggests a soft spot or simple pragmatism in hiring desperate employees is unclear.

Bastard

He is described as an evil figure who is behind many murders and accommodates outlaws.

Edited by Melinda on Feb 22nd 2023 at 10:12:36 AM

Alright, that's the last EP for this page.

for Teilhet.

Yes to Nchylbar, Baron Soontir Fel, Welyn Naerillic, Teilhet and Daybit.

@ jjjj2, essentially Bruce Wayne inherited Tri-State Chemicals from his parents and was too busy being Batman to notice that Tri-State Chemicals was screwing over its workers. Harleen's father got cancer from working at Tri-State Chemicals and that is what turned this Harleen into a villain. This podcast doesn't put Bruce Wayne in the best light, but you can't blame Harleen's turn to villainy on the Joker.

This series gives Harley more agency than she usually gets.

Edited by Overlord on Feb 22nd 2023 at 7:10:45 AM

To Lamont, Teilhet and Daybit

Lamont, Daybit, Teilhet and with that info Harleen.

In the future you do not need to spoiler tag EPs Hunter10bt. We as thread take it as a given that you will be spoiling things when telling us about characters.

Yes to Mayor Jones, Nychlbar, Fel, Naerillic, Daybit, and Lamont. I figured Mayor Jones would be a keeper.

I see. Basically this and other MB and CM threads are on Spoilers Off at all times, right?

Edited by hunter10bt on Feb 22nd 2023 at 8:16:20 AM

Yes, precisely. In general it also helps the flow of EPs; easier to read.

Yes to Lamont, Daybit, Teilhit and a big one to Fel!

'd by That's correct, once a work has elapsed 2 weeks since its release it's pretty much fair game.

Edited by Ravok on Feb 22nd 2023 at 8:18:15 AM

Yes to Teilhet, Fel, and Harleen.

Edited by Klavice on Feb 22nd 2023 at 8:19:19 AM

Yes to Lamont, Daybit, and Teilhit. I'm gonna go ahead and get this done so that I don't get backed up too much. Alice and Gloria will be paired up later.

• Fallout: New Vegas: Yes Man is an ever cheerful advanced AI placed in a Securitron by Benny and proves to be the brains behind his plot to take over New Vegas. Designed to always follow any command given to him, Yes Man was given a backdoor into House's network and masterminded Benny's ambush of the Courier and the theft of the Platinum Chip. Yes Man will follow his programming and aid the Courier in taking over Vegas for themselves should they seek him out, and he will help to overthrow Mr. House and put his vast resources to use to guide the Courier. Proving as equally adept a schemer as House, Yes Man will point out all the factions the Courier needs to subdue or destroy, often showing a giddy sadism at the thought, and will further suggest ways the Courier can secure their power in an independent Vegas. In the end, Yes Man will install assertiveness upgrades by his own volition to ensure he can't be used against his new master in the future.

Looks good, Lore!

I for one apprecaite the spoilers tag. Yes to the mayor.

Almost forgot these write ups. Natasha's is probably too long but I never seemed to have the right block of time to shorten it.

• Fillmore!
  • "The Currency of Doubt":
    • Natasha is a ballroom dancer whose partnership with Larry Wolfe ends after he drops her and hurts her leg, with Natasha retaining a psychosomatic limp. Natasha trains two other dancers, Toby and Tina, to win the trophy she and Larry won't compete for, only to view them as unbeatable rivals after she and Larry reconcile and her limp heals, causing them to try for the trophy after all. Natasha robs Toby and Tina and hides her reconciliation with Larry to make it appear that she has no possible motive and that Toby is the culprit, out to pay his gambling debts. She succeeds in breaking the dancers up and interferes with the ensuing investigation in an acrobatic way that would have further removed her from suspicion if not for Fillmore learning through other means that her limp was psychosomatic. After being exposed, she nearly escapes with the stolen loot as a Consolation Prize before her capture. A superb athlete and actress who is Nice to the Waiter offscreen, Natasha only fails to remain undercover until after the contest due to a series of lucky discoveries on the detectives' part.
    • Paulie is a shady character and collector of smoit tickets that come with candy bar wrappers and can be redeemed for prizes. He demonstrates a suspicious, knowledgable, and guardedly affable demeanor when interviewed over the theft of Toby's smoit stash. He gives the heroes useful information for their investigation while advising them not to trust anyone around smoits and secretly planning to follow them and steal the smoits himself once the heroes recover them. Paulie suceeds in getting his smoits, only to lose them to their original owner moments later. He shows disappointment over the loss of his fortune, but is largely accepting of this outcome. Alone among the show's villains, Paulie has a simple yet foolproof plan to escape the safety patrol after publicly revealing his criminal nature: his family is about to move across the country, so if he does get the smoits, he will depart from the safety patrol's jurisdiction before they can do anything to punish him or seek the return of the smoits.

Edited by Melinda on Feb 22nd 2023 at 9:31:22 AM