Context for TPM's shows
This page contains context for blurbs in various shows produced by The People's Media. It's best read by clicking a link on a news post in the Diamond Plaza Hub, or from the homepage when it shows up there.
The Daily Chat
TDC1
During Operation Argentum, commanders and senators fought a shadow war against Diamond Market Sponsor Anil Tangaroa, The Wolf of Bhilinool. On , his organisation Bank of Bhilinool led by Bhilinool Stakeholders retaliated by destroying a shuttle. (Open in Discord App / Browser) In The Vulture and The Rose (Discord App / Browser) we learn that a shuttle containing Duchess Eleanor Penrose, wife of Duke Lewis Penrose, is shot down over the sea east of Taye. Despite a search, only debris was found in the sea and the Duchess is presumed dead. In the next year the Duke makes preparations to remarry, before the Duchess reappears in The Fisher's Gift (Discord App / Browser) on .
The Operation is only known to a few select commanders involved in it, but the destruction of the shuttle is big news. When Eleanor was found alive, Alicia Mellor uses the opportunity to speculate about where the Duchess has been, what she has done in the year she has been missing, and what role the Duke may have had in it. For those curious, information about the circumstances can be found by talking to people involved in the operation.
TDC2
Vice Warden Sumurai8 (Wolt Merrow to those he has told) asked Sofia Yao to marry him on during Lady of the Ring (Discord App / Browser). Alicia Mellor refers to Sofia Yao with 'media failure' and 'former Mind intern' due to a much earlier story. Sofia, as the sister of famous The Nightly Transit host Marina Yao, and unsure about what she wants to do or who she wants to be, gets a position as assistant to Alicia Mellor. During the events of A New Chapter (Discord App / Browser) she gets publicly humiliated in a special episode of The Daily Chat (Discord App / Browser) on . Despite the reaction of the Lord Herald Rupey Bear to the entire situation in Meeting With The Lord Herald? (Discord App / Browser), Mellor cannot help herself kicking down Sofia to put herself in a better light every so often.
The episode of Sofia's public humiliation can be found by searching the holonet, and the engagement between Sofia and Wolt is public knowledge.
TDC3
Herald Marina Yao, host of the TPM show The Nightly Transit, likes cars. Very much. So much so, that she has decided to collect rental cars with very obvious problems and that people need to pay for to get rid of. You can read tangentially about it in Plans For the Future (Discord App / Browser) () or an address to Raven Tower employees (Discord App / Browser) when Marina still rented the place. Since their obvious lack of value, Mellor refers to these cars as scrap metal.
People can find out more by talking to most other commanders. If the commander wants to offload some rental vehicles to someone else, they can directly contact Marina or go to Lillian Alexander who works in Raven Tower.
TDC4
Vice Warden Sumurai8 surprisingly has not revealed his name, even when he was appointed to the position of Vice Warden. Only a select few trusted people know his real name, and that makes Mellor speculate wildly why this might be. The real reason why he doesn't use his name, is because he does not want his actions to affect his family in Simyr, as he is unable to protect them all the way from Cubeo. Additionally his name may lead to someone finding about an illegal enterprise he operated in Simyr in . You can read more about the illegal enterprise in Flashback: Xenon Rides (Discord App / Browser) and his arrest in Flashback: A Black Mark (Discord App / Browser) and a follow-up in Flashback: Making Things Right (Discord App / Browser). Originally it was also meant to prevent word of his new occupation and wealth getting back to his family. This is partly explored in Sofia, Meet The Family (Discord App / Browser) and Digging Up The Past (Discord App / Browser) on .
Finding information about this is very hard. A lot of effort has been put in to make sure that the world of CMDR Sumurai8 and his past in Simyr stay separated. But as a Commander you have options someone like Mellor does not have, and there are clues that can be exploited if you have reason to search for them.
TDC5
Riddare Naesa Achterop has a special interest in trumbles. As an alternative to people hiring an exterminator or selling trumbles to the Diamond Market and having them 'collect' the trumbles, Naesa offered to buy trumbles from people with a trumble problem. Later she started research in trumble-borne pathogens and humane ways to keep trumbles that do not involve exploding them.
Trumbles are known to be a pest. If someone keeps trumbles they quickly grow in number and eat anything they can find. Due to their small size and quick replication they are considered a hazard that the Branch of Vigor will treat with quarantines and pest control teams. This article insinuates that due to Naesa's willingness to buy trumbles, people bred them on purpose to sell to her, causing a biological hazard in the process.
TDC6
With Brewer Corporation's push to make Colonisation equipment available to Commanders (Discord App / Browser), Prismatic Imperium has shown up in many systems throughout the bubble and beyond. Sometimes this causes issues with other factions in that area asking questions about Prismatic Imperium's intentions. Other times the system enters lockdown as the Commander does not invest in sufficient security. For the day-to-day operation and government of such colonies, the Branch of Mind and Branch of Vigor in particular need to put in a lot of leg work.
Mellor has a strong dislike for Commanders. This is a good excuse for her to exaggerate the Commander's involvement in drama and problems that Prismatic Imperium ultimately benefits from.
TDC7
Aeris Dajin, also known as CMDR Dark Dajin, is the owner of Dark Dajin Enterprises. She claimed a piece of land in Evermore and has built up a farm called Aeris Agriculture on it. With the Evermore War she built up a small army of mercenaries. Duke Lewis Penrose got granted a plot of land by King Delray on which he built Lurkwater. He too has a fairly large number of mercenaries.
While it is not surprising that two parties who exploit land in a warzone would raise troops to defend it, Mellor does not shy away from speculating that they intend to attack each other.
TDC8
Aeris Dajin, also known as CMDR Dark Dajin, used to rent a property on a market in Chelomey Orbital from Marcus DiPalo. During that time it was called Dark Dajin Diner, or D3 for short. Eventually CMDR Alessa Koa started renting the property. Alessa used to be Imperial, working for 'logistics' (Imperial Intelligence), but thanks to a galaxy-wide technical glitch and a careful plan, she escapes the chains that bind her to that organisation and she flees towards the Alliance. Specifically Kaine. The events start at Pit Viper (Discord App / Browser) and continue in [I The Magician] (Discord App / Browser) on .
TDC9
Vice Headmaster Luxsublima is the owner of Sublima Defense. He is dating Miriam Samira Al-Rashid. She originally appeared in a story where Ryu, CMDR Ashen One, finds himself locked up a cell after meeting a dangerous adversary alone on a Federal planet in A Meeting With The Snake (Discord App / Browser). Miriam has served time in a prison herself and used to be a drug addict. She was pardoned and became a missionary instead.
TDC10
Herald TTMJ is a half-metal man who protects us against putting ice in soup (Discord App / Browser) and who routinely protects us against bad cuisine by closing restaurants that do not meet his standards. He himself is a very accomplished cook who always has the ability to make a meal on the spot, no matter the situation he finds himself in.
Of course, Mellor does not shy away from making up stories and insinuating that TTMJ has a much darker side.
TDC11
In an amusing RP session Open in Discord App / Browser on , Diplomat Damien Morreti crashed a transport cart with very low speed into a decorative pillar. Nevertheless, Mellor does not mind blowing the event out of proportion, obviously.
TDC12
Commanders are famous for having mannerisms that are not completely Imperial. Commanders tend to shake hands where, in the Empire, people bow to each other. The Empire has nobles and Prismatic Imperium has patrons that want to be treated in certain ways. Commanders tend to be outside of this social structure, and it tends to produce situations that are equal parts hilarious and embarrassing.
Such situations are Mellor's bread and butter, and she will use it to keep her gossip engine flowing.
TDC13
Marina Yao's show, The Nightly Transit, gives weather information as part of its program. Sometimes it will tell people that the temperature for today will be 0 Kelvin. (Open in Discord App / Browser).
TDC14
Yggdrasil Succour Foundation (Map) is a non-profit from Vice Warden Sumurai8. They train Amica Compsognathuses (compies) to perform a variety of tasks from mental support to visual assistance. Compies themselves are plentiful in Capital City, on the level of pigeons or rats in modern-day cities. It is unclear who the compies for the Ruby Citadel from the Branch of Vigor are for.
TDC15
This headline is based on Memorable Occasions (Discord App / Browser) on . A commander caused a ruckus above Capital City with flak cannons and had a talk with CMDR Lancel.
TDC16
CMDR Jester Star made preparations to start a circus. The eventual circus came to be a fleet carrier called Cirque de Stella, announced in a spacebook post (Discord App / Browser). Jester also owns two Asp Explorers named 'The Flying Circus' and 'The Flying Circus II'. (Open in Discord App / Browser) The opportunity is just too perfect to not mention something completely different though.
TDC17
Given the ready access Commanders have through the Diamond Market to buy very fast vehicles, it is not surprising that Commanders end up breaking road laws on more than one occassion. This article is about CMDR Lancel who drove a Jiminez Dragon in Underworld (Discord App / Browser) on . She is not even close to the first one, and probably not the last one, that does risky things driving a vehicle.
TDC18
Princess Rupey Bear rents Trapeze Island (Map). Trapeze Island can only be accessed by air, and the air space around the island is restricted. Commanders and other guests are required to ask for permission to approach and get assigned a landing pad then. Communication is handled by Draco de Langvey when Commanders radio in.
Every so often someone, usually a commander, ignores the rules. Either they land without asking for clearance to enter, or to request a landing pad. Sometimes they loiter over the beaches and scare the guests with loud engines and powerful shockwaves. Some just dent the landing pads after descending too fast. Some of the crazier ones might even fire some weapons.
TDC19
In Duke Lewis Penrose's show, The Duke's Discourse, Lewis appeared dressed as a vampire during Halloween. Open in Discord App / Browser
TDC20
Duke Lewis Penrose pledged to provide scholarships to aspiring classical musicians through his philanthropic organisation The Penrose Foundation. Open in Discord App / Browser
TDC21
On , CMDR Silver-Dragon ran a session Dust and Diamonds (Discord App / Browser) in which he protects miners from a pirate attack. In the end he lets the pirates go with the aim to deter the pirates from operating there, rather than to murder them. Mellor, who really dislikes commanders, frames his actions in the worst possible light.