Ygraine FitzRoy

Characters » Ygraine FitzRoy

Registry of the Evolved Database

File #14 Aug 2008 23:02

Name	Ygraine Catriona Olwen FitzRoy	Aliases	Ceiling Cat (Liette), Debater (Cat), Ender (Lene), Henchwoman (Colette), Sudden Ceiling Woman (Doyle), Yg (general use), Yggy Pop (Rue)
Status	Registered Evolved (Tier 0)	Ability	Gravitic Bonding (Registered as "Object Adhesion")

Gender	Female	Race/Eth.	British
Birthdate	February 1, 1983	Age	28

Height	5'8"	Build	Athletic, curvy
Eyes	Blue	Hair	Brown (though often dyed)

Residence	Skinny Brickfront, New York, New York
Employment	Personal Assistant to Soleil Remi Davignon Alley Cat Courier Service part-time Creator of Liberty and Survivors Endgame operative and analyst Ferry affiliate and courier

Parents

Mariot and Dominic FitzRoy

Siblings

Anthony FitzRoy

Marital Status

Married (Jennifer Galloway)

Children

First Seen

The Threat of Peace

Last Seen

Still in play

Profile

An idealist, with a track-record of trying to save the world and help strangers in need. Also an opinionated nerd, foreigner, and academic with some combat experience and a habit of hanging out on rooftops. Created both Liberty and Survivors. Since March 2011, a member of Endgame, with a specific remit to employ her conflict-analysis training in assessing intelligence and options.

portrayed by

Victoria Pendleton

Childhood

1st February 1983: Born to Mariot and Dominic FitzRoy, in rural Berkshire (near Windsor). Mariot is a solicitor turned full-time mother, while Dominic lectures in linguistics at Imperial College, London.
Summer '86: The family move home, to spare Dominic the commute to London for work. He takes up a post at the University of Edinburgh, to which city the family relocate. In line with his internationalist and academic ideals, Dominic raises the children to be bilingual in French.
Summer '89: Encouraged by her elder brother, Anthony, Ygraine falls in love with cycling.
1996: Ygraine starts competitive racing, gravitating towards the track rather than mountains or roads for her competition. She enjoys the purity of competition with few or no external factors, and starts to excel in the individual events. Her school-work starts to drop from the heights expected by her academic parents, but she cruises through most examinations.

Adult Education

2000-2003: Ygraine reads history at the University of Manchester, though her chief interest remains cycling (which provided her chief reason for selecting her place of study, over others with higher reputations in her subject). She gains entry to national-level competitions, and has hopes of making it to World Cup and perhaps even Olympic events.
2004: Now an intermittent international competitor, but having missed out on a place in the team for Sydney, Ygraine is forced to seriously consider what she might pursue as a back-up career should cycling not prove possible in the long term. She competes at a good level in the UK and on the continent, but the expenses of her sport eat up the money she earns from it. Reluctantly, she takes a job as a French-English translator working for a publishing firm in Edinburgh.
2005: Eager to return to academia and sport (and to escape the mundanities of an office job), Ygraine borrows the money from her parents to take a Masters degree in the field of international relations, studying at Canterbury. Though she continues to be primarily interested in cycling, she achieves a Distinction and secures a year-long placement as an intern working for an analysis department at the UN in New York.
2006: After graduating, Ygraine moves to NYC, where she finds that one of the chief challenges is maintaining her training schedule. Road cycling is an "interesting" activity in the centre of the city, though she figures that fighting to survive the traffic is at least good for her reflexes. While trying to find other ways of keeping fit that carry less risk of being hit by a taxi, she falls in with a local parkour group and starts to learn the rudiments of the sport. For transit across the city and the scouting out of training routes, she acquires a motorcycle.

Disaster and Aftermath

8th November 2006: The Bomb. Ygraine is on Broadway, heading North, when the blast hits. Wearing leathers and a helmet she survives being flung through a shop-front, but to this day has only nightmarish, concussed memories of the next 36 hours or so - especially the period in which the looters ran rampant and the National Guard had not yet arrived.
10th November: Ygraine recovers her wits sufficiently to make a fuss, demanding to speak to the British consul so that she can get out of the refugee camp field hospital in which she finds herself. She also, given some of her nightmares, injuries, and the disappearance of her leathers insists on being given a "morning after" pill.
14th November: Flown out as part of an evacuation of British nationals, Ygraine is met by her parents at Heathrow and finally gives in to the temptation to break down completely.
18th November: Ygraine enters psychiatric care.
Late December: She discovers that some of her vague memories of strange things happening - most notably, crawling up a wall to hide from looters - seem to be recurring in "real life". She doesn't dare admit this to her carers, for fear of being certified at a high level of risk and never let out.
January 2007: Accepting that the odd happenings at least seem real to her, Ygraine starts to explore them - providing herself with a distraction from therapy and her mental disintegration.
18th February '07: Nathan Petrelli provides Ygraine with a reason to believe in her sanity. She becomes mildly fixated on him and the Evolved who stood with him at his press conference, but otherwise her recovery abruptly starts to make real progress. Having discovered that she's a super-heroine, of sorts, she figures that she has to have the strength to overcome what has happened to her - after all, she's not even entirely sure what did….
June '07: Released from full-time care, Ygraine moves back in with her parents.
Summer '07: For some months, Ygraine is even more of a social recluse than before, but she's determined to rebuild her life. Returning to cycling training is the start of that - even though there's no prospect of persuading the coaches that she'll be fit and ready for Beijing in '08 - but she gradually starts to resume other activities, including her reading on international conflict and her training in parkour. In private, she continues to experiment with her Evolved abilities.
March '08: Now seeing her therapist "just" once a fortnight, and able to deal with most social situations without panicking, Ygraine attempts to assume a "normal" life. She rapidly discovers that she finds conventional work-places not only dull and awkward at best, but also often intimidating and confusing.
April '08: Angry with herself for continued weakness, Ygraine discusses with her therapist ways of confronting rather than hiding from her fears, while also trying to do something useful. She settles on a return to New York, to see if she can help to repair some of the damage done to the city. She'd like to find work at the UN, but isn't sure that she could cope with daily exposure to large numbers of people at close quarters, or to constant talk of war and conflict. As a result, she winds up focusing on an alternative - her cycling can get her into NYC's corps of couriers, while her determination to confront her fears makes the prospect of riding the re-opened routes through Midtown appealing as well as frightening. Her visa application, however, naturally played on her translation and UN experience, though it's with Alley Cat Couriers that she takes up a "temporary" post after arriving in August.

Note 1: Ygraine actually has a highly detailed psych profile, having been compulsorily detained for eight months as a paranoid depressive who presented a clear danger to herself and others, with periodic manifestations of PTSD. That was in the UK, however, and the full records are not likely to be readily-accessible to even Federal authorities in the US. She did see a shrink at least once a month while at liberty in NYC, but took care not to provide full records: better for her psychiatrist to have incomplete information than to have incriminating descriptions of her early "hallucinations" of power-use lying around in the US. Since she went on the run in March 2011, she has been without any professional or medicinal aid at all.

Note 2: After the events of the Dome (in which she was suffering from PTSD before being shot), and the traumatic end of both her eight-month relationship with Quinn and her mentoring of Elaine, Ygraine became more paranoid, self-loathing and generally twitchy than she had been at any time since she was let out of the asylum. Fotunately, a handful of people managed to reach her and provide points of stability she could use to regain some sense of balance. Now, Endgame and its efforts to save the world largely stand in for her previous hopes of being a romantic dreamer, artistic muse, academic sponsor, civil rights campaigner, or elite sportswoman.

Mistrustful (as only a sort-of-former paranoiac can be), often intellectual to a fault, and confident in her abilities (though certainly not in herself), Ygraine can all too easily rub people the wrong way. Fortunately, she genuinely wants to be liked, and usually remembers to try not to annoy people. Still, she's often a poor judge of what others will find interesting, and is prone to "geeking out" about something she thinks is fascinating….

At root, and especially after being betrayed and abandoned by a protege and a partner in early 2011, she's all too often driven by fear while holding herself together with willpower. She's not just interacting with society but trying to help to fix it largely because she doesn't want to "lose" to her assorted terrors, though she's haunted by the fear that the darkness in her mind will once again rise up and overwhelm her. She wants to get back to "normal", but now suspects that she might never be able to do so. Even such a long-cherished dream as Olympic competition has had to be abandoned (the IOC having confirmed that competitors will be tested and those with relevant Evolved abilities will not be allowed to compete against baseline humanity), with no comparably clear aspiration to replace it.

She's aware that most people would find other ways of coping with life's problems, but for her, tackling difficulties head-on - effectively, challenging them to a race - gives her a chance of taking control. And, sometimes, it does work well enough for her to not only keep the dark at bay, but feel as if she's truly making a difference.

If someone can get past her tiers of mental defences and social awkwardness, Ygraine is likely to trust them near-completely: to her, trust is love and love is trust. Few manage (or want) to get so far, but if they succeed in doing so, she is prone to investing near-blind faith in them. Her usual tendency to analyse language and struggle to make sense of what other people do is largely set aside in favour of the thrill of living and interacting without the constant companion of fear. This makes her feel alive, but has at times left her utterly oblivious to things like her partner and her protege having an affair.

Romantically, she has thrown herself into her relationships with an ardent determination to make them work. Finding the first person she felt she could truly trust was a revelation for her. Even though she quite often disagrees with Jennifer's impassioned impulsiveness, Ygraine wholly believes in Jen's good intentions for both her and the world - and adores the younger woman for it.

In 2010 - with Jennifer safely out of harm's way in Britain while Ygraine continuted to try to change the world in New York - the pair agreed to allow cautious experimentation with polyamory, should either find someone suitable. Their marriage is not 'open' and neither 'sleeps around', but should someone sufficiently trustworthy be found, they could be invited to form a relationship. Given Ygraine's near-total inability to trust sufficiently to form such ties, it was frankly an immense surprise when she found a second person to whom she felt able to entrust her heart.

It was discussed carefully in advance, and to Ygraine seemed to work blissfully well for eight months – only for her partner to choose to abandon her, in early 2011, for the very woman who had just pushed Ygraine into a post-Dome breakdown. The subsequent discovery that her partner had in fact concealed multiple lovers and one long-term paramour throughout their relationship shattered a few more of her remaining mental foundation-stones of trust; believing that her happy life had in fact been a naive delusion pushed the borderline-paranoiac into a very bad place indeed. Only the acquisition of a surrogate family in Endgame and the discovery of her future-daughter stopped her falling fully back into the kind of mental collapse that had seen her compulsorily detained in 2006.

Summary: This is not telekinesis by another name. Ygraine does not generate force, throw around bolts of unseen power, make things mysteriously float, create barriers, nor manipulate motion at will. What she does do is rather more subtle, forming a bond between objects so that gravity draws them together in a manner of her choosing. Rather than creating or negating gravity, she forces all gravity affecting an object to hold it against another object of her choice. She generates nothing, instead 'merely' redefining it: i.e. having the gravity affecting something accept her suggestion to change its focus for a short time – something that offers options and imposes limitations very different to an ability that generates force.

Registered Ability: Officially, Ygraine possesses a weak Tier 0 power, listed as "Object Adhesion". According to the notes in her file she can, for very short periods, make small objects stick to larger ones. Wihle being interviewed by Homeland Security in March 2011, she admitted to now being able to attach human-sized objects to small ones – as demonstrated when she stuck (one iteration of) Sylar to a glass before dropping it, to throw him over backwards and break his invisibility.

Gravitic Bonding

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Layman's Version:

Ygraine gives one object (let's call it A) a new "down".
This new "down" has to be another object (let's call it B).
A has to be comparatively small (as of January 2011, around 600lb in weight - so a motorcycle, but not a car), but B can be any size (so long as it can be sensed by her).
All links - from her to A and from A to B - have to be very short-range for the power to activate.
The power then lasts for a short while, and until it wears off A is drawn to B just as if B were the ground. If A is a person and B is a wall, for example, then A can walk around on the wall.
A and B must remain close together, or the power terminates (which might be messy if someone was up on the ceiling!).
Ygraine doesn't generate any new forces or speed: she just redirects gravity.

Classical Mechanics:

Ygraine redirects a target's (object A's) gravity-generated centripetal force(s) to another object of her choosing (B).
For the duration of her power's effect, all gravitic effects draw A to B, whatever their source and whatever vector they would normally apply to A.
Ygraine forms a bond between the objects she connects, so that gravity can only draw A to B.
Other energies (e.g. kinetic) are not affected, however: it's quite possible for someone to resist the centripetal forces affecting an object - such as by lifting a pen (object A) off a wall (object B), exactly as they would overcome conventionally-oriented gravity to pick it up off a table.
To be explicit: momentum, velocity, inertia etc. are all preserved at the moment of the power taking effect: only the direction of the centripetal force is changed from that instant.
Since the attraction of A to B is a centripetal force focused upon an object rather than a direction, A can behave in counter-intuitive ways. For example a person (A) set to have a tree's trunk as object B could move to stand on any side of the trunk: whichever side A moves to, B is still the focus of the centripetal force and the link will not be broken, just as a planet orbiting the sun remains in orbit whichever side of the star it is on.

Speculative:

Ygraine initially suspected that she did something directly to gravitons, altering their trajectories as they entered some kind of field.
Before long, however, she concluded that what she actually did was alter some fundamental property of her target. She now thinks that she creates a gravitic equivalent of a directional resistor in an electronic circuit - any and all gravitons entering object A can only travel to her designated target (object B): no matter how much or how little gravitic power is applied, all of it draws A to B.
Of course, since gravitons haven't even been proven to exist, this is wholly speculative.

Detailed Explanation:

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1) In essence, she forms a one-way link between two objects, with gravity flowing along it in a specific manner - and only in that manner: one is bound to the other by the power of gravity, while being subject to no attraction to other bodies (such as the Earth). The object to which her target is bound, however, retains its normal relationship to gravity: if she sticks someone to a car, the car remains attracted to the Earth.

2) The primary, and most reliable, use to which she puts this is in wall-crawling. She can walk (or even risk running) on walls or ceilings, but crawling is stealthier and reduces the danger that arises from the major drawback of her power: her effective range is no more than twelve inches, and her abilities are most reliable when she can touch the object(s) she wishes to affect. Tripping while on a wall or ceiling might result in her moving out of range of her support, allowing conventional gravity to reacquire its claim on her (a process otherwise known as "falling").

3) When riding a two-wheeled vehicle (be it a bicycle or motorbike), Ygraine is able to provide significant benefits for herself and any passengers. Able to link the vehicle's burdens directly to the vehicle itself, she can give it the benefits for grip of increased weight (from the extra mass it carries) while leaving its centre of gravity extremely low: since the gravity of the Earth isn't pulling riders towards the ground, it is far harder for any rider to fall off, or for the vehicle to topple over or escape control. The same would apply, to some extent, to riding a living mount - but that's not yet something with which Ygraine has experimented.

4) More mundanely, picking up heavy objects is made a great deal easier, since (so long as she can bear their mass pressing on her) she needn't struggle against Earth's gravity while lifting them. Indeed, she can have objects settle directly into her grip, rising with her as she stands up.

5) Objects can be "charged", letting her stick one thing to another and walk away - but the charge lasts no more than ten minutes at most, and sometimes degrades much faster. It can also be fought against just as normal gravity can - so someone set to have a wall as their new "down" could accidentally or deliberately revert to normal if every part of them got more than a foot from it.

6) Objects can be sensed: to a very limited extent, Ygraine can sense objects suitable for her power to work upon. They need to be in range (so at least part must be very close to her), and she needs to 'feel' for them to some extent. But she has, for example, affected objects on the far side of an armoured vehicle's shell.

7) In combat, all of the above mean that Ygraine can play merry Hell:

Not only does the effect of a gravity shift cause instant problems for a conscious target (with everything subject to its pull, including internal organs such as the stomach and brain, instantly jerked in a new direction), it can be used to achieve more complex effects.
For example: attach someone to his watch, and he is no longer drawn to the ground - but it still is. He'll fall towards it, even as it (now unsupported by him) falls to the ground. And any attempt to get up will simply have him fall on his watch again, because every part of him is drawn by gravity to it and to it alone: trying to stand up will be no more feasible than trying to stand on the ceiling or a wall. To a viewer, it will probably look as if the victim is repeatedly and inexplicably launching himself wrist-first at the ground, until he learns to lie still, curled up atop the timepiece.
Changing the item to which the victim is drawn can let Ygraine flip people around - from the victim's watch to one boot to an adjacent wall and back again, for example. Every time the direction of pull shifts, the victim suffers the disorientation effects anew, and every time they fall they land in a new way.
And all that's without even adding in things like gravity-assisted strikes or throws. At the simplest level, she could pluck someone off his feet (get part of her within 12" of any part of him, and flip his gravity to focus upon her), then meet him with a full-strength kick as he plummets out of control towards her.
More complex options would include things like changing someone's gravitic orientation mid-way through a throw, to put intolerable pressure on joints or bones….
And once Ygraine's broken an opponent's bone or dislocated a joint, the results of falling to and fro and bouncing around off hard surfaces and receiving further strikes – they'll all be amplified.
Against machinery, she's less effective - but few devices with moving parts are designed to cope with components being pulled in different directions, and even a minor realignment can cause catastrophic failures.

Limits:

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1) The larger the object to have its gravity reset, the more her fine control struggles: by January 2011 she could cope with an absolute limit of 270 or 275kg of mass (about 600lb in weight). Charges can be refreshed to extend the duration of effect, but every use of the power takes some energy and a conscious act of will - diminishing returns tend to be the result as Ygraine tires.

1a) In practical terms, items she affects are likely to gain fractionally in weight: since all gravity is routed into the same source, rather than being subject to the Earth's 1g pulling an object towards the centre of the planet it'll be subject to about 1.006g, as all other effects are combined. The difference is unnoticeable in most circumstances - adding only a few ounces to a grown man's weight, and falling within the parameters of daily fluctuations anyway.

2) Ygraine cannot use her ability to levitate or propel objects: each "charged" item has to have another item (within twelve inches or so) set as its partner or target - its new "down". She's entirely unable to (for example) touch an attacker and set a car on the far side of the road as his new "down", then watch him hurtle off down the street. She could stick him to a car, but he'd need to be within a foot of some part of her (usually a hand), and also within a foot of the car.

3) If she were to try to stick A to B and B to A (or to form a longer closed chain of links), the result would not be 'floating' (as has been suggested by some in the past) - if it worked at all, the result would be an inverse mass-driver effect: the targets would be broken free of the attractions of all external gravity systems, with dramatically impressive results (akin to a stone launched from a sling, in crude terms, though in this case the Earth's orbit would provide the speed of the slingshot). This was in fact proposed by Conrad as an attack form: but since it would gain her an instant Tier 3 rating, would make her of significant interest to an array of agencies and groups, and the impact of it upon a person is morally repugnant to Ygraine, she has never tested it in the 2 years (and more) since it was first put to her.

In every darkness, there's a light. In every struggle, there's a way.

~Anmol Andore~

Hopeful	Grim	Sound of Thunder

We know what it is like to be happy, for we have felt sadness. We know what it is like to hope, for we have been hopeless. We know what it is like to feel the light, for we have felt darkness. We know what it is like to love, for we have hated.

~Joshua Neal Hartry~

Appendices

Skills and Experiences

As suggested by her formal Distinction in a post-graduate Masters, Ygraine is a rather gifted book-worm. A good volume is so much more interesting (and intelligent) than most people, after all…. She is fluent in French (to the level of professionally translating international diplomacy), has some command of Latin, and has been trained to analyse texts and situations, with some tuition in mediation techniques. She's au fait with the full range of modern research techniques in the arts and social sciences, though her ease with computers doesn't extend to hacking or cracking.

Timeline of Game Events

A Briton with a couple of degrees and aspirations to compete in the Olympics, Ygraine's life seemed set for over-achieving happiness until she found herself on Broadway as The Bomb went off. Things went rapidly downhill from there, including an involuntary stay in an asylum and the end of her sporting ambitions. Years later, she's still trying to finish rebuilding herself, and has repeatedly returned to New York to face her fears and to seek new dreams to chase.

2008 ~ Ascent, Divisions, A Collective Fear, A Taste of Armageddon

Ygraine returns to NYC for the first time since she was caught in the Bomb's shockwave, intent on facing down her personal demons. Within the first few days, she sees an assassination attempt made upon the woman she's talking to. From there, things get stranger, as she forges ties with the Evolved underground; loses a friend to kidnapping, torture and murder by the Vanguard; and gains herself a fiancée.

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14th August '08: The Threat of Peace - A first meeting with MacKenzie
14th August '08: Chai, Chocolate and Cake Adjourning to a coffee shop, they meet Grace
18th August '08: Consequences Over Coffee - MacKenzie gets shot; Jessica saves the day

2009 ~ Nadir, A Sound of Thunder, Escalation, Fallout

The year starts happily for Ygraine, but rapidly spirals into horror. She helps to save the world, but kills someone while doing so and nearly dies in the process; listens to someone sacrifice himself for the good of humanity; has her identity and illegal activities revealed to the Feds; and ends up trying to avert a smaller-scale apocalypse between her fiancée and her underground associates. Returning to the UK, she ties the knot and sees her new wife safely settled out of harm's way, before tentatively investigating a return to NYC. The world still needs help, after all, and that city most of all….

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17th January '09: How to Break a Hero in One Easy Step Oops. Poor Magnes.
19th January '09: DIY, Star Wars and Memories An encounter with Al, Cat and Conrad
23rd January '09: Revelatory Reunion MacKenzie re-enters Ygraine's life, and the pair share surprises
23rd January '09: Prelude to Armageddon, Part IV Edward sets up the grand showdown… and blows everyone's cover
24th January '09: Of Cats, Canaries and Ceilings Power-use, sympathy and serious discussion with Phoenix
25th January '09: Early Evening at Headquarters Attempted preparations for Armageddon
26th January '09: Sharing Salma Sadly not for real…
28th January '09: Endgame - Resonance Ygraine and Brian nearly die. Conrad does. Armageddon is averted.

2010 ~ Fallout, Fahrenheit, Awakening, The Hunted, Divided We Fall

At last formally inducted into the Ferry, Ygraine officially now has a role in the unofficial Evolved underground. Though she frequently returns to the UK to visit her wife and family (and Ferry members and contacts there), she spends much of her time acting as a courier and messenger for the organisation within New York, both city and state.

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2nd January '10: Open Doors, Closing Doors Colette takes Ygraine off to meet a few Ferrymen
4th January '10: Family Network Colette turns up unannounced to deliver supplies and seek support

2011 ~ Crossroads, Five Years Gone

As the world continues to slide into darkness, Ygraine struggles to find reasons to fight on. Even the near-suicidal missions on which she's going appear to be getting worse - from encountering a tank in 2009 to disabling one in 2010 to seeing Sylar cutting loose in 2011… not to mention things like getting caught in the Dome; being shot, starved, and firebombed;, then losing her lover to a former friend. Is there anything other than blind hope to keep the fight going?

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14th January '11: Three Phones and an Elevator Delivering Shirley, and an explanation, to Barbara
19th January '11: Balancing Act More martial arts and viciousness training with Koshka
22nd January '11: They're Still Machines A discussion of the hunter robots in Midtown: Grand Central will not be abandoned, but it is in danger….
23rd January '11: Broken Arrow Attempting to forestall the Institute gaining the ability to generate another Midtown Bomb, a rescue party run into the Midtown Man himself. A bloodbath ensues.
26th January '11: Let Me Sum Up Meeting Elisabeth to ask for a favour, Ygraine receives info - and passes on a little of her own. How many conspiracies are out there?
31st January '11: Bisection The Dome appears; Ygraine narrowly avoids crashing, then tends to one of the victims. She is, however, stuck inside….
31st January '11: Under the Ground Investigating beneath the streets, Ygraine confirms that the Dome is a sphere… and that there are horrors down there, as well as people to be saved.
31st January '11: Across the River Discovering more of the resources available to the Dome-denizens….

1st February '11: Birthday Cheer Celebrating her 28th birthday by talking to Elisabeth through the Dome.
7th February '11: Happy Late Birthday A phone-call with Quinn: it goes rather well, and leads to the Glass Wonderland concert being streamed online
9th February '11: Chance Encounters of the Mysterious Kind Quinn lets Ygraine know about Graeme's visit to her home
9th February '11: Chewed Nails A chance encounter with Devon leads to few revelations, but the offer of recharging his phone is at least accepted
9th February '11: Trying to Do Good A first meeting with Bella, who seems quite nice – at least to someone as-yet wholly unaware of her past….
10th February '11: No Coincidences Finally hearing from Graeme, a discussion ensues about the improbability of their having been chosen at random to be put in touch – and what this might mean.
11th February '11: Cheerful Prognostication Letting Emerson and Elisabeth know how things are going inside the Dome, and speculating on what it might all mean, doesn't make for the happiest of conversations….
11th February '11: Salem, Part I Humanis First hit Roosevelt. Ygraine dives in and out of a blazing building to rescue trapped victims, while a massacre takes place outside. The start of a grand night.
11th February '11: Wonderful Sudden Ceiling Woman and 'Tiger' Ryans give poor Eric some nasty surprises. Intel is again exchanged.
12th February '11: Holiday Camp Filling Liz in on the bloodbath of the night before
12th February '11: I Promise Fulfilling a commission from Liz, Ygraine checks up on JJ – and finds herself making another promise in return….
12th February '11: Did Something Happen? A phone conversation with Quinn
12th February '11: Bad Pennies Information and help offered: tempers flare
12th February '11: Castra A first meeting with Pericles proves quite productive, if depressing
12th February '11: Democracy in the Dome A grand meeting manages to sort out more than might be expected
12th February '11: Truth Tastes Terrible Poor Keagan tries to stick up for his aunt and his friend; information goes both ways, leaving no one with a better opinion of those concerned.
16th February '11: Personally Involved After a discussion of his meeting with the Deveaux Society, Graeme receives instructions and requests - Liberty gets a shot in the arm.
16th February '11: Tooth and Nail Supply-hoarders turn to murder; Ygraine gets shot; a riot ensues.
16th February '11: Clean Through Jaiden receives a history lesson, while dealing with that rifle-wound
17th February ''11: Guest of Honor Bella proves surprisingly comforting while checking over the wound
17th February '11: Agree to Disagree Devon attempts to mend bridges with a shell-shocked Ygraine
17th February '11: Not Yet …in the Last Chance Saloon. Quite. An exchange of updates with Elisabeth
20th February '11: Shining Armour Quinn collects Ygraine from outside the Dome: a welcome rescue
26th February '11: Mainly Social Graeme drops by, and breaks down while talking about his sister… and also says that he can't take the hoped-for public role in Liberty.
26th February '11: Comedy (Stage) Gold A charity fund-raising night; still-clueless Ygraine's last date with Quinn

2nd March '11: A Brave New World A montage scene: Ygraine attempts to find hope and motivation
3rd March '11: I Need to Go Fishing Koshka comes to ask for help after (her) Brian disappears
4th March '11: First for Everything Graeme unexpectedly delivers breakfast - and friendship
4th March '11: Survivors Jaiden takes Ygraine to lunch: they meet a battered Devon
5th March '11: Everyone Has Issues Elisabeth offers news, support, and more hope
5th March '11: Seeking Security Laura Morgan might be able to provide it….
7th March '11: More Friends than Realized An unexpectedly successful effort to provide hope and support to Liz
8th March '11: The Kindness of Strangers An amiable argument with JJ over who deserves credit for efforts in the Dome
10th March '11: It's Nice to be Normal Providing mutual support with Liz
10th March '11: Peaceful Change A mixed, but overall successful, first meeting with Savannah
12th March '11: Escape to Potterverse a.k.a. Humanis First Blew My Brains Out - not exactly a normal afternoon with Liz
13th March '11: Service and Rights Recruiting Jaiden - for Liberty, Survivors, and to mount an exhibition of his work in the Dome
14th March '11: Love and Hope Relationship talk over an early breakfast with Graeme
14th March '11: Survival Lunch with Devon and Jaiden
14th March '11: It's Survival Ygraine corners Alice Shaw of the Deveaux Group. Revelations are made…
15th March '11: Bombshells Updating Liz on recent discoveries: being invited to an Endgame meeting
15th March '11: To Protect and Inform Filling in Remi on her family, and getting a job
16th March '11: Conclusions and Connections Being brought on board by Cardinal and Elisabeth
17th March '11: Why Edward Got Headaches A big Endgame meeting
17th March '11: Artistry and Trust Photography, information and trust with Jaiden, who agrees to help guard Remi
17th March '11: Dancing on a Lake A ballet party, crashed by two Sylars. Remi and Graeme are hurt.
17th March '11: By Some Definitions Elisabeth checks if Ygraine's all right, and gets an info-dump
17th March '11: Another Time War Ygraine theorises to Quinn about what's going on
18th March '11: Situational Assessment Planning how to look after Remi, with Jaiden and Graeme
21st March '11: Give Me A Month Alia hacks into Ygraine's laptop, then promises to help Liberty
22nd March '11: We Need to Talk After HomeSec take control of Remi, the trio of protectors try to figure out what to do
22nd March '11: So, Did I Miss Anything? Having arranged to introduce Graeme to the Surly Wench, the pair run into Trask.
23rd March '11: The Unforeseeable Poor Liz gets a Trask-shaped shock when turning up at Ygraine's.
24th March '11: Reminders Remi finally manages to get in touch with Graeme and Ygraine
25th March '11: The Waterdale Sorting out Jaiden's photography exhibition about the Dome
25th March '11: To Catch a Tiger by the Toe An interview with HomeSec about the ballet party. A possible trap is laid for the Ferry, but Ygraine feels obliged to bite.
25th March '11: Hospitality and Trust Out of the blue, Graeme shows up to invite himself to stay. The pair reveal more of their own flaws than originally intended.
26th March '11: Intelligence and Warm Bodies Elisabeth gets the intelligence dump. Graeme gets somewhat confused.
26th March '11: The News Sucks High tea and doom-laden dreams with Quinn
28th March '11: Authentic Hope Endgame-assisted musical breakthrough with Nate.
29th March '11: Take Care of Yourself Koshka provides reassurance and worry for both Ygraine and Graeme
29th March '11: The Care of Freedom Liz helps to confirm how thoroughly screwed they both seem to be
30th March '11: Plans on Top of Plans Trying to make some to avert personal disaster, with Graeme and Jaiden
31st March '11: Oh, Shit Delivering a present and an apology to Quinn (and Elaine) turns into a situation briefing
31st March '11: Not the Definition of Photobomb The Survivors exhibition's grand opening: it gets stink-bombed

1st April '11: The Fear of Tomorrow “Your one isn't Ezekiel.” Ygraine tries to comfort Liz; at the least, she conveys how proud she is of her.
4th April '11: Concentrate on the Moment Liz has an all-too-real nightmare about the bait she and Ygraine were fed being confirmed as set-up for a trap; Ygraine, Trask, and Jaiden help her to recover
6th April '11: By Bond A dream of a never-to-happen future, in which Ygraine has a family that a young Lene wants to be part of
7th April '11: Acting in the Dark After her dream of a future with Quinn and Lene, Ygraine has bounced off rock-bottom; Liz thinks she's just hit it herself.
9th April '11: A Second Pair of Eyes Liz and Ygraine go over draft scripts for Endgame's planned media campaign. The creation of further bolt-holes and acquiring emergency supplies are also discussed.
9th April '11: God Bless After scouting a subterranean route to the Ferry base in Grand Central, Ygraine encounters Rue and Joseph. The pastor is as lovely as might be expected; Rue surprises her with reassurance that they're fine, too. But Ferry business is clearly afoot.
9th April '11: Five Banquets a Day Lene arrives with food; her first face-to-face meeting with (this version of) Ygraine… who can't help but stare rather a lot.
11th April '11: Give Her Two Choices and She Will Kick in the Door A slime-covered Ygraine returns from spelunking; talks to Liz about Cardinal, Xiulan's tattoos, relationships and anger; then Liz provides a briefing for her and Jaiden on Remi's impending deportation. The decision is made to watch but not intervene, since it seems so likely to be another trap.
13th April '11: Authentic Hope Pt. 2 Harmony comes looking for Liz; she instead finds someone Nate told her about – a British woman with an ambitious musical project on the go. Enthusing ensues.
15th April '11: If These Walls Could Talk A dawn chat with Liz; then the pair of them are joined by Jaiden to visit the Central Library, where Cardinal's string map has been destroyed and blood stains are visible.
15th April '11: How Bad Does it Get? JJ and Lene visit the safehouse; Jaiden and Monica meet their future son; Lene identifies herself to Ygraine; Liz counsels caution regarding time-travel.
15th April '11: Now, Then, Forever Lene promises friendship and confirms reality for Ygraine, who offers unconditional aid if it's ever requested
16th April '11: Properly Rue and Ygraine manage to have their first proper conversation – with the aid of a kitten
26th April '11: Commissions and Cupcakes Lene arrives with cupcakes, and departs with portraits of herself; she commissions Ygraine to provide images of both herself and Robyn.
27th April '11: Not Just a Visit Graeme provides Jaiden and Ygraine with news that Remi has been kidnapped and rescued (but delivered to the USA, where she'd be arrested if found) by two iterations of Magnes; warnings are issued to him – beware the Varlane!
29th April '11: Big Girl Panties Revelations from Liz: Quinn wants to talk to Ygraine; Liz used to be a music teacher; she's returned with a keyboard as a gift to them both from Quinn; Liz met her and Richard's son, who tried to kill Richard – who is now lost in time after being rescued by the other future-children. Being big girls is required; Sting songs help.

For future-Ygraine logs, see Ygraine

Relationships

To Treasure

Anthony: Ygraine's elder brother, who was originally responsible for getting her hooked on cycling. Now a specialist in international markets, working at the London Stock Exchange.
Dominic: Ygraine's father is a senior lecturer in linguistics at Edinburgh University.
Mariot: Having spent many years as a housewife, her mother is once again working part-time, now taking occasional consultancy jobs. She lives with her husband in Edinburgh.
Mark and Rachel Galloway: The in-laws. Laid back, open-minded, artistically-inclined and resident an hour's drive away in upstate New York. For as long as she was free to travel, Ygraine frequently visited them: she counts herself distinctly blessed in her family-by-marriage. Now, they look after Alfred for her.

Jennifer – Overseas since 2009 and wholly out of reach for most of 2011, but still adored
Young, passionate, idealistic, and gorgeous. Ygraine is rather bewildered as to quite how and why she acquired this beauty as her girlfriend, let alone her wife. Even before she wound up on the run in an increasingly fascist state, Ygraine was sure that she was getting a better deal than Jennifer. The pair wed (or formed a "civil partnership", to be legally accurate) in 2009, and sport matching knotwork rings. Jen is in the UK pursuing her studies as an actress (and staying out of the way of the perils of the US, not least because of her key role in Phoenix's Day of Miracles), and until she went underground Ygraine frequently flew back to visit her. Most recently, the couple were together when Jen came over to Toronto for a New Year holiday in 2010/11, during which she met (and approved of) Quinn.

See the fire

Lene – The never and forever daughter
Lene saved Ygraine's life, or at least her mind.. initially doing so merely by existing in a timeline (which they are both working to prevent) that Ygraine saw in a manner that should have been impossible. That probably shouldn't be much of a foundation for a bond, but the dreams that Ygraine was granted of future-Lene came at a time when she was in genuine danger of falling back into helpless insanity. Showing her a life in which, decades hence, she was loved, trusted, and wanted, and in which she could raise a strong and capable daughter amidst an apocalypse – that gave Ygraine just enough faith in herself to pull back from the brink. Then she met Lene in person, and on each occasion found her to be kind, charming, funny, brave and – to Ygraine's eyes, at least – quite simply a wonderful blessing. Though they share no blood and she is terrified that their own efforts might lead to their bond never having come into existence, she adores and unreservedly trusts her future-daughter. It's probably not an intended effect of the time-travellers' plan, but Ygraine would now willingly sacrifice herself to preserve Lene's own chance at a future.

Noteworthy Scenes: Not the Definition of Photobomb, By Bond, Five Banquets a Day, Now, Then, Forever, Commissions and Cupcakes, How Bad Does it Get?, Time Travel Etiquette is Hard

Robyn – Holding shards of a broken heart
Beautiful, musical, from the right side of the Pond, and not one of the teenagers who sometimes seem to surround Ygraine: Quinn would be interesting even if she weren't also charming, something of a geek, and appreciative of the Brit's Gothic inclinations and artistic dabblings. And, above all else, it seemed that she trusted Ygraine. She adopted Ygraine's notion of making the Ravenfall persona a steampunk DJ, let Ygraine introduce her to corsetry and Victoriana, and encouraged the Briton to draft designs for a tattoo as well as for logos and imagery for her musical projects; some of those have now appeared in print on Quinn's releases. Ygraine set Quinn on the path to consciously developing her Evolved abilities, teaching her the basics of optical physics and helping her to break new ground. It was also Ygraine who introduced Quinn to the 'Sailing Club' and encouraged her to take a stand. Even while imprisoned in the Dome, it was Ygraine who came up with the idea of live-streaming her concert - opening up a whole new audience for the performer. Deep and meaningful conversations had led to other things, and in the Summer of 2010 the pair embarked on a carefully-discussed and cautious romance, alongside which Ygraine mentored her lover's career and skills as best she could. It all seemed to work surprisingly well for eight months, and inspired more than one song… yet the actions of a third party during and immediately after Ygraine's incarceration in the Dome brought it to an horrifically painful end. In spite of being ditched while in the midst of an emotional and mental breakdown, and discovering that honest disclosure had been very one-sided in their relationship, for some time thereafter Ygraine adored Robyn virtually without reservation. She even aspired to retain her status as a muse. Now, half a year spent hiding in a ruin has provided plenty of time to consider how much trust might actually be deserved by someone who secretly slept around during their relationship, leapt into an engagement to the woman who sabotaged it, and promptly dropped every promise made to Ygraine. Yet… she can't help but feel she's stuck with adoring her beloved, infuriating, faithless Robyn. That's all the more true, thanks to multiple visions of their sharing a decades-long marriage: one that endured an apocalypse, and saw them raise a truly wonderful young woman in Jolene.

Alfred%20-%20Triumph%20Tiger%201050%20Small.jpg

Alfred - Trusty steed and fellow speed-freak
Initially just a vehicle to be used when lazy and as an occasional speed-freak indulgence, Ygraine's Triumph Tiger 1050 became more important when she started to have other people to take with her on trips. More significantly, Alfred has provided her (and the Ferry) with an at-times vital means of transport during harsh Winters and unnatural blizzards. Much-repaired, frequently cleaned, and now thoroughly loved, the bike is sometimes talked about as if it were a close friend. Fortunately, the powerful engine is still in good nick, and he coped well with his sometimes-arduous workload. Since emerging from the Dome (in markedly better shape than his mistress), he has been resting in the safe keeping of the Galloways.

The Sanctum - The place the darkness couldn't reach swept over everything
The Bomb and its aftermath broke Ygraine. She underwent repairs, and in time was issued with a formal certificate allowing her release from the asylum in which she had been compulsorily detained… but she remained acutely aware of deep fissures and cracks in her psyche. A key part of dealing with those, upon her return to New York, was the acquisition of an apartment that she could make hers. The state of the property market meant that – with parental support – she could afford to buy one outright, and she did so, thereafter making it into a safe haven. The worse the world got, the more tiers of security were added (both physical and counter-surveillance, the latter courtesy of the Manhattan branch of the Spy Shop)… but it remained somewhere that served as a physical substitute for the emotional and mental walls she normally maintained around herself in the outer world, and it became ever more precious to her. To be invited into her home was a distinct sign of trust; to be given keys to it was literally to be given a way past her defences. Over the course of three years Jennifer, Quinn, and Elaine successively received keys; the first two as a critical (for Ygraine) step in committing to romance, the last to provide a frightened young friend and protege with somewhere to seek shelter and feel safe at any time of day or night. A few weeks after that last gift, her sanctum became the scene for a confrontation that pushed her into complete breakdown. Thereafter, it gained a security cage around the door and a new house-guest in Graeme… before being hastily signed over to her father and fled from as she went into hiding with Endgame.

Liked

Brian – The one I leaped from a roof to catch, that time we saved the world
Though somewhat socially inept, with anger-management issues and occasional bouts of confusion (as demonstrated by him trying to introduce her to the concept of Phoenix when he'd actually been asked to give Helena a prod about Ygraine's already-underway induction), Brian's amiably well-intentioned nature ensured that he made a good impression. Ygraine likes him and wants to protect him (especially from mental torture like that handed out by Edward) - and was rather surprised to discover that she acted without thought to spare him from suffering the death of a clone, at severe risk to her own (single) life. That he responded to her criticism of how things had been handled by turning on her hurt rather badly: of all the people who had proof both that she'd been committed to the operation and that things could have gone better, he was surely the one with the most, wasn't he? More recently, he seems to have become a den-father to the Lightouse kids, consistently showing responsibility and maturity far beyond his initial persona. Ygraine is once again very favourably impressed.

Click to see the many faces

Colette – Formerly Loved, but she walked away too many times
Ygraine's inclined to sympathise with anyone who's broken, and Colette inadvertently pulled a few of the right heart-strings early on. The Brit also sympathises with social klutzes. And, to her, Colette's usually been rather sweet. For a long time, she didn't see the girl's bad side - but instead encountered Colette being cheery, helpful, guilt-ridden, worried, and scared. How it happened, she doesn't know, but Ygraine wound up as something of a mentor-figure for the teen, offering advice on matters ranging from love to evolved power-use… only to have Colette, right after being given total freedom to ask for help, disappear without even saying goodbye. Given her own trust issues, and the amount that she opened up to the younger girl, Ygraine still feels deeply hurt - even betrayed - by the apparent ease with which she was discarded. Of course, it wouldn't hurt so much if she didn't care…. A string of reunions, however, have left her more than a little confused: Colette seems to have grown up a great deal, to have taken (some) responsibility for herself, and to have come to appreciate the impact she has on others… while still repeatedly disappearing without warning. The Briton has often worried that she blew it at some point, not being around when a friend might have needed her – but is acutely aware that she was rarely turned to in a crisis anyway. Colette says Ygraine's "family", but what that means to the maladjusted orphan, she's really not at all sure. Ygraine has all but given up hope that Colette will ever let her be the friend she wanted to be.

Devon – Formerly an Oddity, now a comrade
He seemed like a nice kid - willing to help Ygraine with the just-maimed Jacob Anderson, and keen to provide assistance while she and others sought to work out just how bad things were inside the Dome. But he drifted (or was pushed) into a conflictual mindset, and became one of those apparently viewing events in a binary "us" versus "them" manner - anyone offering any apparent opposition was to be condemned as a Humanis member, it seemed. Still, she thought that there was a good person in there somewhere, if only he could be reached… and after they both wound up sheltering with Endgame, the familial feel of the Skinny Brickfront brought them closer together again over the ensuing months.

Noteworthy Scenes: Bisection, Under the Ground, Across the River, Chewed Nails, Agree to Disagree, Survivors, Survival, Not the Definition of Photobomb, The Visitor, A Phoenix is Reborn in Fire, What You Helped Make

Doyle – Fondly (and cluelessly) trusted
Whatever his name is, the former superintendent of Gun Hill has earned Ygraine's respect. He appears to be cared for by Kaylee - which certainly counts as a vote in his favour - but he has also appeared to be imaginative, wacky, truly concerned for the well-being of his charges, and willing to stand up to Magnes when Idiot the Wonder-Boy goes off the rails. The only black mark is that he seems to regard himself as having a deeply dark past - which does concern her. But hints were picked up that he might have had mental problems, and Ygraine is always inclined to give the formerly-insane the benefit of the doubt. Even the revelation of his scary power hasn't put her off him: she thinks he's frankly rather wonderful, in part because of his efforts to overcome what she has seen of his flaws.

Noteworthy Scenes: Casting Stones, Wooden Inquisition, The Girl Ain't Dumb, Security Risk, Dead Man's Party, Wonderful, Democracy in the Dome, Arkfall Part III

JJ - Modest hero, and his father's son
Even before Ygraine found out that JJ was the future-child of Jaiden and Monica, she thought that he was a thoroughly great guy. Brave, competent, and with his moral compass seemingly pointed firmly in the direction as her own, she admired him; yet he also seemed to be genuinely likeable. That was further confirmed after the Dome, when he seemed sincere in attempting to evade any credit for what things had actually gone right in the paranormal prison. Then he turned out to be the son of one of the handful of people she truly trusts, and the ally of Lene.

Noteworthy Scenes: Bisection, Under the Ground, I Promise, The Kindness of Strangers, Not the Definition of Photobomb, How Bad Does it Get?

Kaylee – The one I rescued twice
Wholly unaware of Kaylee's dubious past, Ygraine sees her as simply being nice, friendly, intelligent, and caring. That she's a Ferryman and seems to share Ygraine's protective instincts towards Colette just make her even more highly regarded. Definitely someone Ygraine hoped to get to know better in future, after their initial encounters. Oddly, they later met in the past - Ygraine helping to rescue Kaylee from temporal exile and evil assailants alike… before carrying the wounded woman aboard a refugee ship under military assault a few days later. They've still not talked much, but they've shared some rather significant bonding experiences.

Noteworthy Scenes: Casting Stones, Picked for Paint Crew, Lunch Break Conversation, Worried, Net and Pin, Part I, Exodus Part III, In Exile

Koshka – The grumpy teen
A sparky, feisty young woman whom Ygraine rescued from some trouble in the ruins of Midtown. She's attempted to act as a mentor, but fears that Koshka simply doesn't believe that the Briton actually knows what she's talking about when it comes to the perils of violence - be they spiritual or physical. Still, she seems to have a good heart, and Ygraine is always inclined to try to protect and help the broken and the fragile.

Noteworthy Scenes: Some Kind of Trouble, There'd Better be Coffee!, Flumpy Pillows, Balancing Act, I Need to Go Fishing, Take Care of Yourself

Remi – To protect and serve
Rich, pampered, head-in-the-clouds, but at times really rather sweet. Ygraine has dim memories of kissing a very pretty Frenchwoman who might have been Remi, at a post-race party in Paris in 2006. The following day, she woke up at Remi's apartment, to be served breakfast by the householder. For years, she thought that the pair of them had pulled a couple of hunky cyclists (or dancers), and that Remi was just rather sweet. They stayed in touch for a time, but drifted apart when each one's life fell apart after the Bomb. In 2011, Remi belatedly realised that Ygraine was in the same city, stopped having the Briton's attempts at correspondence dealt with by her butler, and arranged a meeting – taking Ygraine to dinner for a late celebration of her birthday. Thereafter, Ygraine revealed to Remi that the Frenchwoman might have family ties to the Company, and agreed to try to protect her from and inform her about the underground war for control of the Evolved. Ygraine's last job before going wholly underground was (officially) as Remi's personal assistant, though most of her duties were those of a bodyguard and information source; she even engaged (a) Sylar while protecting the ballerina. A couple of months later, they wound up sharing a safehouse – though the telepath found being surrounded by so many traumatised people to be rather hard work.

Noteworthy Scenes: To Protect and Inform, Dancing on a Lake, Reminders, Arkfall Part III

Rue - Potential friend
By no means a close ally, but someone for whom Ygraine feels a considerable amount of sympathy – and whom, rather to her surprise, she actually likes. Their first meeting was a three-way disaster involving Quinn, in which the musician's ex met her then-current girlfriend and everyone put their foot in it. Yet second and third meetings saw Rue cope very well with Ygraine's nervous babbling, some bonding over a kitten, and confirmation that the pair have a good deal in common. More recently, that has expanded: Ygraine is now the second ex-girlfriend to find herself the subject of a song released by Quinn.

Noteworthy Scenes: All the Best Ways to Cock Things Up, God Bless, Properly

Sable – Firebrand and friend
The feisty little fire-breather initially made a distinctly poor impression upon Ygraine. Foul-mouthed, socially aggressive, and at times overbearing, the pint-sized rebel seemed to try to bully Ygraine in some game of social dominance. Responding to a direct challenge in customary fashion, the Briton duly butted heads. But over time, and in spite of awkwardness caused by Sable's flirtatious manner and Ygraine's relationship with Quinn, the pair concluded a truce. And in the aftermath of the Riots, Sable showed a new - responsible, mature, selfless - side that won her considerable respect. Later, and alone among those whom Ygraine personally asked to collaborate with Adelaide Naimarc, she came through with not just one song but multiple offerings for the Liberty album. Similarly, she put effort into staying in contact even once Ygraine had gone into hiding at the end of March 2011. Though she's one of Ygraine's oddest friends, she very definitely is now counted as one.

Noteworthy Scenes: Casting Stones, Memories and Trust, Bengal Tiger, Wind Tunnels, Studying the Whupping of Ass, In the Same Boat, Dead Man's Party, It is Time, In Exile, A Call to Answer, Good Kid

Tamara – Time-lost fae
Having spent time in an institution herself, Ygraine recognises some of the fracturing in Tamara's brain. Across all their conversations she's only been wholly lost by one cryptic comment, and - with effort - can make a fair amount of sense of most of what the oracle says. Initially partly for Colette's sake, partly because Tamara seems to be a sweet and gentle soul, and partly because of what she sees of herself in Tamara's fracturing, she would do just about anything to help or protect the girl. Having learned of Tamara's ability, there is now the added imperative of protecting a potentially-vital defender of the world.

Noteworthy Scenes: Of Stars, Strays and Quadruplets, Through a Mirror Darkly, It's Better That Way, False Teeth, Arkfall Part III

Trask – The good guy
This cop, who came to interview Ygraine at Alley Cat, seemed to have some sort of half-hidden agenda… but he also appeared to agree with much of her commentary on the perils of bigotry and excessive government. She liked him, but wasn't sure how much she could trust him - though she made use of him more than once: trying to sound him out about how to reveal corruption within the police (as discovered by Dani) and attempting to get him to check up on Dani's whereabouts without alerting Linderman. Since then, she has gradually learned more of his role in the Evolved underground, and has more than once used 'trusted by Trask' as a confirmation that she herself should extend her trust to a stranger.

Noteworthy Scenes: Legwork, Freed From Carbonite, It was a Mobile Minefield, Hope Springs, Of Cacti and Cops, We've Had a Few Riots, So, Did I Miss Anything?, The Unforeseeable, Concentrate on the Moment, Normality Break

Loathed

Edward – Uncaring puppet-master
The man she holds responsible for much of what went wrong for Phoenix in January '09. Supposedly some form of precognitive who designed their operations, he actually revealed to the Feds the identities of everyone involved, failed to make any use of at least one major asset (Claude), and provided no plan for her own mission other than "come up with something". She now suspects that last point might have been a blessing in disguise: her team seems to have been the only one that didn't lose anyone to Federal custody or direct enemy action. Going without Edward's "guidance" might well have been what let her, the portion of Brian, and the Ferrymen with her keep their lives and liberty - though saving the world cost Conrad his life. Now, she's learned that Edward's supposedly behind the creation of Endgame – but she still thinks he was an uncaring fuck-up.

Noteworthy Scenes: Prelude to Armageddon, Part IV

Magnes – Formerly Liked
An odd kid, who seems unremittingly determined to see the world in the simplest possible terms. It took Ygraine two conversations to persuade him that their own abilities weren't identical… something that did actually disappoint her, having hoped to be able to study his talents in order to provide direct insights into her own manipulations of gravity. For a time, he seemed nice enough, if painfully young – but now, she's wholly persuaded that he's certifiably insane, and desperately needs full-time assistance if he is to recover. Even ignoring rumour and judging solely by confirmed actions and the assorted declarations he has made in her presence, he's a violent narcissist with blatant sociopathic inclinations and an inability to associate his actions with their results; he also views people as pawns to be sacrificed in pursuit of his goals and sees women's sexual favours as commodities to be traded as he pleases. He has literally endangered the entire world at least once (by massively screwing up a time-travel mission), single-handedly changed (for the worse) the Evolved policy of one of the world's major powers, and has freely chosen to work with both the Company and the Institute. In short: the kid casually risks Armageddon, gets even his supposedly-dearest friends beaten unconscious and lined up for torture, publicly reveals other Evolved's unregistered powers, and never learns. He might not mean to be a danger, but he's one of the most potent threats she knows of.

Noteworthy Scenes: How to break a hero in one easy step, Weighty Matters, Casting Stones, Wooden Inquisition, To Hell With Charity, It is Time, Happy Xmas, Comedy (Stage) Gold

Vanguard: She never had a proper conversation with any of them, but she knows that they were responsible for the kidnap, torture, and murder of her friend Dani. They've been added to the array of people she thinks about when burning off stress with a savate work-out. She fought against them for real on the 28th of January '09, and has suffered some PTSD about her experiences - which included coming face-to-barrel with a tank and personally shooting a Vanguard trooper.

Noteworthy Scenes: Endgame - Resonance

Oddities

Abby – Former renowned healer, present enigma
A near-universally admired healer, who helped Ygraine when she was a total stranger, and with whom open-ended offers of future assistance were exchanged. Ygraine was hugely impressed with her. But apparently she's not a healer any more, and on their last meeting Abby avoided Ygraine's offer of a hand-shake - only to immediately touch another woman. What Ygraine might have done to cause sufficient offence she's beyond touching, she has no idea - but at the least, she's perplexed and worried.

Noteworthy Scenes: Miracles, Massage and Make-overs, Just Call If You Need Me, To Hell With Charity

Bella – She seems nice…
The nice doctor with whom she exchanged contact details on one of her visits to the Suresh Center inside the Dome, "I. Sheridan" turned out to be someone to whose name Elisabeth had a startlingly strong reaction. Apparently, she's thoroughly untrustworthy, is affiliated to the Institute, and is someone of whom Ygraine should be deeply wary. Yet she was the person who checked over her bullet-wound after Jaiden's first aid and gave her an X-ray, while still seeming nice. Ygraine doesn't trust her, because she trusts Elisabeth - but perhaps Sheridan is seeking redemption of a sort?

Noteworthy Scenes: Trying to do Good, Guest of Honor

Jacob Anderson - The first one I saved in the Dome
An unfortunate Private Military Contractor who lost part of his foot when the Dome came up. Ygraine hauled him out of the wreck of his van, gave him first aid, and then visited him in the Suresh Center while he was being looked after there, attempting to keep up his spirits and also keep him updated on events as they unfolded. She's not sure that she likes him, but she feels responsible - and helping to save his life has left her with something of a bond, she hopes.

Noteworthy Scenes: Bisection, Talk in hospital

Niki – Owed a profound debt
Though her name's unknown, Ygraine does very clearly remember Jessica as the woman who apparently saved MacKenzie's (and possibly her own) life. She's part of the reason that Ygraine thereafter frequented Erica's coffee-shop, in spite of its rather mixed memories.

Noteworthy Scenes: Consequences Over Coffee

To watch

Federal Authorities
Though she's trying not to fall into conflict-inspired paranoia, Ygraine often finds it hard not to view "the Feds" as a single body of united ill intent – especially so after the events of the Riots. In practice, she knows that some Federal agents assisted on the 28th of January '09… and there're some suggestions that they might not, after all, have sold out Phoenix to their colleagues. Her basic instinct (as an educated, well-off individual raised in a very free, low-violence country) is to trust law enforcement officials - but for the time being, it's a very rare Fed who might now receive more than a hint of that. One such is Felix Ivanov, whose name she's come across on a few occasions, and who seems to be another of Colette's disparate carers and mentors.

The Deveaux Society
Everything she knows about them seems good - but they are also ostentatiously mysterious. The manner in which they sent Graeme to her confirmed that they knew more than she had made public about both her involvement with Liberty and her personal details… while doing so in a manner that didn't reveal to anyone else that such things were secret or that they were making a point. Frankly, she really wants to know more about what they're up to, what they want - and what they might be able to offer her, now that they have her attention. Of course, being on the run from the government probably dramatically reduces her use to them.

Endgame
Soon after being brought into Endgame by Liz, Ygraine felt that she had finally found her real home in the Evolved underground. Both the leaders seemed inclined to put their faith her and (at last!) wanted her to use her skills; the membership included some of those she trusted most; and there was an overall impression of both competence and resourcefulness. From secretly-stashed Horizon armour to a covert broadcast network, Endgame showed both imagination and success in building up its capabilities. Though she remains firmly committed to the Ferry's role in getting civilians to safety and would spring to its defence if called upon, it's Endgame that provides Ygraine with a surrogate family and the chance to try to change the world for the better.

Ferrymen
Ygraine was delighted by "the Sailing Club" when she discovered its existence, and was frankly impressed by what she knew of its eclectic membership. Jennifer was initially meant to recruit her into it, but things took a different tack following Phoenix's close association with the longer-standing group…. As it is, Ygraine came to see the Ferrymen as the "adult" wing - efficiently organised, staffed by people willing to take risks when required (she was with two Ferrymen on the mission to Consolidated Edison), and clearly competent. After some debate, she went ahead and established full links with the group: after all, an organisation that recruited aged British professors might not refuse to utilise her non-physical skills. However, she served almost exclusively as a courier and occasional maintenance worker for safehouses, and became frustrated that once again her skills and knowledge were seen as irrelevant. In 2010, she joined with Jaiden to offer martial arts instruction to Club members. At present, she maintains an affiliation to the Ferry, and has helped deliver 'strays' to them, while also maintaining underground supply routes for their remaining bases of operation. But with Endgame willing to make active use of her skills and mind, she has come to view the Ferry more as allies than colleagues. Still, several of its senior members are deeply respected.

The Institute
Though she had been briefed in the Summer of 2010 that the Institute was an enemy of the Ferry network, they only really registered on Ygraine's personal radar in the opening months of 2011: from then on, they made quite an impression. Apparently eager to get their hands on someone capable of replicating The Bomb, they also have a reputation as bad as the Company, and seem to have tortured some of Ygraine's own friends. Not good people in the slightest – except that one of the (reputed) worst of them, Bella, was first met while doing seemingly-sterling work on behalf of the wounded in the Dome. Odd… but definitely not to be trusted in the slightest. And word that Mr Varlane works for them now only confirms that.

Liberty
Ygraine's personal creation, though she can't take any public credit for it. Inspired by her own idealism, and drawing upon campaigns mounted in the UK and internationally, she's done her best to create an American-focused entity that is resistant to anything that might be thrown against it - yet can still bring about change. Simple, eh? Frankly, she's terrified that it'll implode and take down everyone associated with it – especially Adelaide, its public face.

Linderman Group
Ygraine has no details - but she knows that Dani was deeply wary of them, had uncovered some sort of serious dirt on them… and then somehow wound up working for the public face of the company. She's been assured that Dani's demise can be placed wholly at the door of the Vanguard, but she still harbours vague suspicions that the Group might at least have turned a blind eye. But they do host a good Hallowe'en party.

Phoenix
Ygraine's chief source of infuriation in recent years (as opposed to fear, loathing, terror, or despair). Though Jennifer's passion drew Ygraine to the actress, she doesn't like fiery enthusiasm as the sole motivator for an organisation. Told before joining that the difference between Phoenix and the Ferrymen was that the former took the risks needed to actively help the world, she has since been in deadly combat beside both. Inclined to agree with Brian's post-action comment that Phoenix was made up of "kids", she harboured severe doubts about the group's past and future. To her, any organisation has huge problems if it responds with hostility to a member pointing out wasted resources or saying that an outcome involving multiple deaths was not optimal: death should be all the reason needed to seek to do things better - even if significant assets hadn't been left wholly idle while those deaths occurred.

Having been told at the outset that her skills and education (including her study of political violence) were of no interest to the politically violent group, Ygraine was giving Phoenix a probationary period: she'd hoped to show what she had to offer, but found internal communication to be so rudimentary that she had to fight even to find out what abilities her team-mates had before going up against the Vanguard. There were two reasons she didn't ask to move up to the Ferrymen: her ignorance of the kidnap and torture performed by some in Phoenix, and the chance that the leadership of Teo and Cat might offer a new approach. In the end, Minea inadvertently convinced her that she was under Federal surveillance, while Jennifer became vehemently opposed to any contact with Team Firebird. Though she never resigned membership, after she let Teo know about the Federal stalker Ygraine's association with Phoenix was allowed to slumber for mutual safety….

Lost

Alison - Liked
A rather unusual woman, whom Ygraine met by accident - and wound up talking to about future work in the genetic research industry. They met a few times thereafter, with somewhat mixed results. Given the present 'hot topic' in genetics, Ygraine has a few suspicions about Alison's work - but knows nothing definite. She's unaware of the woman's Evolved nature, her proclivity for unlicensed experimentation, and (thankfully) of her horrific demise.

Noteworthy Scenes: Not a Job Interview

Conrad - Disliked then (deeply) Respected
A jerk, prone to excessive familiarity and enthusiastic conversation when not appropriate, yet markedly closed-mouthed about anything important. He's the one who tried to get her to create the inverse mass driver as a weapon, firing people off into space to dispose of threats - a notion which terrifies her. Annoying, irreverent, arrogant, and thoroughly irksome - yet also someone for whom Ygraine now feels a mixture of pity and deep admiration. She strongly suspects that he knew in advance what his part in the mission to the ConEd plant would be, and thinks that his refusal to discuss (or even describe) anything resembling a coherent plan was a deliberate act meant to make it all but impossible for anyone to stop him from doing what needed to be done. Having listened to him die, she's now hugely impressed by the man's heroism. And as a last act goes, saying "Groovy" while saving the world is about as good as it gets.

Noteworthy Scenes: DIY, Star Wars and Memories, Sharing Salma, Endgame - Resonance

Danielle - Loved
One of the few real friends Ygraine has ever had in the city, Dani was someone with whom she could go clothes-shopping, from whom she requested advice, and on whose behalf she twice tried to get the police to intervene. She still feels guilty about failing to chase up the disappearance of Cat and Dani earlier, having blithely assumed for the first couple of days that they were just busy…. In reality, poor Dani had been kidnapped, tortured, and then murdered by the Vanguard.

Noteworthy Scenes: Back to the Stage, Of Death-Threats and Demons, It's Your Call

To meet again — Inactive and retired characters

Adelaide – Very warmly Liked and deeply admired
Ygraine's partner in the creation of Liberty, Adelaide has been brave enough to become its public face - something that the non-citizen Briton couldn't be, but that nonetheless entails considerable risk. Given the warnings received from consulted lawyers, it seems clear that any success for Liberty might lead to serious repercussions for those held responsible by the administration. But the pop-singer accepted the risk: for that commitment to their shared ideals, she is deeply admired by Ygraine; that she seems thoroughly likeable is a welcome bonus.

Noteworthy Scenes: We're all Mutants, Liberty Unveiled

Claude - Liked
Grumpy, reclusive, aggressive, and British. Ygraine frankly rather likes Claude, and has the impression that he's a major asset wholly wasted by Phoenix in their planning for the counter-Vanguard operations in January '09. She respects the man's aura of competence and determined independence, in part because she first met him when his power was misfiring hopelessly. She gave him a little help when he needed it, and is glad to have done so - and hopes that he might think well of her in future.

Noteworthy Scenes: Claude, Charity and Confidence, Prelude to Armageddon, Part IV, Personae non gratae

Elaine – Once a Loved protege; now viewed with abject fear and confusion
A Francophone faux-Scotswoman, whose cover Ygraine saw through simply because she grew up near the origin of Elaine's assumed accent. Intrigued, Ygraine hit it off with the orphaned (and seemingly kind-hearted) young linguist. As one of those rare souls who could revel in Ygraine's geekery, she used to credit Ygraine with inspiiring her to take an interest in academia in her own right; an introduction to Professor FitzRoy resulted in a formal recommendation that his peers at Columbia take Elaine on as a student. And though Elaine had already been 'with' Magnes for months it was Ygraine who took her on her first-ever date, while the Briton gave Quinn $1000 to buy Elaine at the same charity date auction. At the very end of 2010 Ygraine gave Elaine the keys to her sanctuary/home - something only previously done for Robyn and Jen - so that she had somewhere she could feel safe while alone in the city. Yet only a few weeks later, and while Ygraine was stuck in a Hellish trap from which she might never escape alive, Elaine pressed Quinn both to start a formal relationship and to terminate her ties with Ygraine; just after the Dome came down, Elaine blind-sided a traumatised, half-starved and recently-shot Ygraine with claims that Robyn was secretly unhappy in her relationship with the Briton and was only holding off from an immediate break-up out of pity. The resulting mess wound up with a great deal of pain on all sides, and Ygraine struggling to find any reason to view her erstwhile protege and friend in a favourable light.

Noteworthy Scenes: Wooden Inquisition, To Hell With Charity, Babelfish, You Tricked Me and I'm Disapproving, Happy Xmas, Oh, Shit

Gigi - Liked
A rather odd, but apparently also rather nice, acquaintance. Ygraine has no idea who she is, but likes her. Sadly, she's never shown up again at the Surly Wench while Ygraine's been there, but she still hopes to see her again - the Wench is the sort of place to draw back in strays, after all.

Noteworthy Scenes: The Socialite and the Cyclist

Judah - Respected
Colette's long-suffering adoptive father, and also a protector of Tamara. Everything that Ygraine knows about him speaks of solid reliability and a kind heart. She suspects that he's a sad and rather lonely figure, with his love for the two fey young women unlikely to offer him much solace to go with the pain and worry. She fought alongside him to defend a past version of Tamara, cementing her high opinion of the man.

Noteworthy Scenes: I'm a Monster, A Central Park Castle Vignette, False Teeth

Linus - Liked
Socially awkward, nervous, rather a nerd, and seemingly both gentle and sweet… Ygraine would feel protective of Linus on instinct – but as it is, he's also someone whom she has attempted to help directly. Along with Quinn, she endeavoured to provide Linus with with some training in the use of his Evolved abilities.

Noteworthy Scenes: Definitely Not a Hero, Light Bulbs

MacKenzie - Loved
Intelligent, friendly, and willing to put up with Ygraine geeking out. MacKenzie got shot in front of Ygraine, who came to feel somewhat responsible for her. Kenzie expressed interest in direct involvement in pro-Evolved action, and Ygraine considered recruiting her - but now feels glad that she was unable to do so before the chaos of the January '09 events.

Noteworthy Scenes: The Threat of Peace, Chai, Chocolate and Cake, Consequences Over Coffee, Revelatory Reunion

Melissa – Too cool for me? - Oddity
Damaged goods, or just someone with a lot of walls? Ygraine's not sure, but she suspects from what she's seen that the former keeper of The Den has many of the same problems that the Briton has struggled with herself. High defences appear to surround her, and trust seems to come in small, intermittent doses. That, or Ygraine's over-analysing things again: frankly, she's not sure. The Goth seems to be someone she can like, but Ygraine has little real idea what's been made of her in turn. Certainly, Melissa seems to be exceptionally prickly when around her - even to the extent of refusing aid in dangerous situations.

Noteworthy Scenes: Meeting the Den Mother, Guinea Pigs, Puppies and Tricks, Penguins, Prophets and Plagues, An Invitation to be Sold, To Hell With Charity, Net and Pin, Part I, Salem Part I, Bad Pennies, Democracy in the Dome

Pericles - Liked
In the Dome, Pericles was competent, calm, and committed to helping people. Intelligent, thoughtful, and determined to avoid mistakes he made quite a good impression on Ygraine - one only enhanced by his intellectualism and nerdishness. She's not got the slightest inkling of his Messiah connections, and was startled to discover that he and the spitfire Melissa were an item - but perhaps the ice and fire make for a good combination.

Noteworthy Scenes: Under the Ground, Castra, Democracy in the Dome

Tony – Odd and intriguing engima
Only met once, but the illusionist made an impression. Talented, confident, charmingly funny - albeit in a sleazy sort of way - and seemingly lacking either excessive youth or a major chip on his shoulder. If he weren't a self-confessed habitual criminal, Ygraine would be very impressed with him. As it is, he seems to have an altruistic streak… but it's unclear how far that should be trusted.

Noteworthy Scenes: Puppies and Tricks

Zachery - Oddity
An odd, morose medical examiner who seems to have a not-quite friendship with Trask, and to hang out occasionally at the Surly Wench. Ygraine rather likes him - if nothing else, he gets Star Wars jokes - but can't really consider him a friend… and he did rather spectacularly put his foot in his mouth on their last meeting.

Noteworthy Scenes: Freed from Carbonite, Catch 'em While They're Stunned, Jabba

Memorable Quotes:

”For me, trust is love.”
"I'm not going to let my brain atrophy simply because I spend a lot of time on a bike."
"There's money in tanning salons and not much in peace. War and preparations for war are immensely profitable, especially in the US. For far too many of those with influence, peace threatens their profits and power just as much as the aftermath of a nuclear blast threatens the local population."
"I'm scared my superheroine days are over. And I never even got to parade around New York in a spandex thong and thigh boots."

Music

Inside, by Stiltskin

Embrace the crazy

For all those end-of-the-world events and the pervasive sense of things only getting worse…. Leonard Cohen's Everybody Knows.

Click to show lyrics

Trivia and Notes:

The player's a Brit and a geek, as you might have guessed. Invite Ygraine to start talking on one of her favoured topics, and I can probably oblige…. Do feel free to tell me if I go on too much. =)
The player is also chronically ill. Should I be wanted for something and not be logged in, please do drop me a line - I can often dose myself up and arrange to be around for something specific if my presence is desired. Drop me an @mail on the game, send me a private message through the wiki, or ask people to prod me via email: several have my address.
If I am online, I'm generally available for RP.
I came up with and have written the info for Liberty, which would always welcome help. If you'd like to be involved, get in touch with myself or Adelaide!
Ygraine also created Survivors, a group set up to support and help those affected by the Dome.