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Does anybody else ever think about how weird storytime with the Meltsners must be? Imagine Buck wants to hear a story and Eugene and Katrina are like, so what are you feeling tonight? The story about how your father lost his memory and we all used the Imagination Station to get it back? Or how about the time your mother and I stole some government secrets and travelled the world with them for years to keep them from the bad guys who would literally use them to destroy the world? Good times.... And Buck is just there .

I just feel like Eugene and Katrina, like pretty much any other long-term main characters in Odyssey, have some VERY dramatic and potentially traumatizing stuff in their past but like... Does Buck know about any of it??

Welcome to the Soda Shop, BuckDeservesBetter! This is quite an interesting topic!

BuckDeservesBetter wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 13, 2021 3:20 pm

Imagine Buck wants to hear a story and Eugene and Katrina are like, so what are you feeling tonight? The story about how your father lost his memory and we all used the Imagination Station to get it back? Or how about the time your mother and I stole some government secrets and travelled the world with them for years to keep them from the bad guys who would literally use them to destroy the world? Good times.... And Buck is just there .

I like how you wrote that. I never thought about it like that before.

It is indeed a fascinating thought; a lot of the characters in Odyssey, especially Eugene and Katrina, have had a lot of exciting and traumatizing things happen to them in their lives. We, the fans, have heard it all. Eugene’s memory being erased, a criminal keeping Connie and Eugene at gunpoint at Whit’s End, Eugene and Bernard surviving an earthquake, Katrina getting stitches in her mouth, Eugene being knocked on the head with a vase, and a million other things which have happened to the long-time residents of Odyssey. However, they never talk about any it. It is very rare when any past events are referenced in episodes. One of the things I really liked about the episode “Connie the Counselor” was that Eugene and Connie reference things that happened to them in the past. They talk about the events of “A License to Drive” and “Naturally, I Assumed…”. Another instance I can recall is in “Like Father, Like Wooton”, where Wooton says Connie should write about Novacom. But aside from a reference here and there, it is not often when characters mention any dramatic or stressful events that have happened to them. It is something I would like to see more often.

Now, does Buck know about any of these things? I’m not quite sure. Perhaps Eugene and Katrina have mentioned them in passing. In real life, do people usually mention the many things they’ve experienced in life? Looking at myself, I don’t usually mention the dramatic things that have happened to me very often. Unless, of course, it’s relevant to whatever conversation I’m having. But that’s just when I talk to other people; I suppose it’s a different matter entirely when you are fostering someone.

If you adopt/foster someone for a long time, I assume that the individual will eventually learn everything there is to know about you, including your backstory. I guess it would also depend on how open you are about it. Are the Meltsners the kind of people who would be willing to share some of the traumatizing things that have happened to them? It’s hard to tell. I don’t know if Eugene and Katrina sat Buck down and told him their life stories. But I’m sure they have talked about some of their experiences to Buck when necessary. It’s a question that may need more discussion. Anyway, great topic! Hope to see more from you, I enjoyed thinking this through!

Anyone else have any thoughts?

Welcome to the Soda Shop! (I'm pretty curious about your username)

I've thought of this a couple of times before. Most of the time I come to the conclusion that Eugene and Katrina telling Buck about their general past will probably not happen. I agree with Polehaus53 that it isn't very common for Odyssey to bring up concluded adventures.
Unless you count Eugene mentioning that he was a foster child in "Connie the Counselor".
Now that I think about it, I wonder if Eugene's story about his conversion experience might come out if and when Buck takes some steps in that direction.
But overall, this concept is seriously strange. Does Buck think that Eugene and Katrina are just some average citizens of Odyssey?

Remember that Buck himself has an unusual, and what most people his age would find exciting, past, growing up traveling around the country and being raised and mentored by a successful con artist, who included him in as many jobs as possible. The Meltsners' background is a little more unusual than that, but not so much that it need shock or surprise him considering what he's used to.

Also, by the standards of major Odyssey characters, almost all of whom live exciting and interesting lives, Eugene and Katrina's experience isn't that far out of the ordinary. This is somewhat debatable, but the first character I could find (in order of number of appearances) who didn't have at least one thing especially out of the ordinary (other than using the I.S./RoC) happen in their appearances might very well be Erica Clark. When literally everyone you meet in Odyssey is a secret agent or getting kidnapped or independently wealthy or involved in mysteries or having dangerous adventures out of the country, I expect it's easier to be nonplussed.

ASmouseInTheHouse wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 14, 2021 4:38 pm

Welcome to the Soda Shop! (I'm pretty curious about your username)

I've thought of this a couple of times before. Most of the time I come to the conclusion that Eugene and Katrina telling Buck about their general past will probably not happen. I agree with Polehaus53 that it isn't very common for Odyssey to bring up concluded adventures.
Unless you count Eugene mentioning that he was a foster child in "Connie the Counselor".
Now that I think about it, I wonder if Eugene's story about his conversion experience might come out if and when Buck takes some steps in that direction.
But overall, this concept is seriously strange. Does Buck think that Eugene and Katrina are just some average citizens of Odyssey?

Funnily enough this is the exact scene I'm working on for a fanfic. without giving any spoilers, I realized that events would force Katrina to tell Buck the whole truth, including her father's death. it was said that in Washed away, Katrina was visiting her Mother with Buck, so he does know about Armitage's death, but probably not the whole truth.

Also, by the standards of major Odyssey characters, almost all of whom live exciting and interesting lives, Eugene and Katrina's experience isn't that far out of the ordinary. This is somewhat debatable, but the first character I could find (in order of number of appearances) who didn't have at least one thing especially out of the ordinary (other than using the I.S./RoC) happen in their appearances might very well be Erica Clark. When literally everyone you meet in Odyssey is a secret agent or getting kidnapped or independently wealthy or involved in mysteries or having dangerous adventures out of the country, I expect it's easier to be nonplussed.

I used to think about this, and I ended up having a dream where every villain (I remember that there was more than 10) returned at the same time and there was no one left to do the negotiating, as they'd all been kidnapped. If I remember right, Bernard ended up doing the negotiating as Corelli (from "the Other side of the glass') who'd grabbed Bernard really wanted Wooton, so he teamed up with the one whoever it was who'd kidnapped Wooton. Bernard ended up calling the police and the the bad guys swore revenge on Bernard, who was just unhappy he'd missed dinner, and blamed his friends for not being more careful.

That's really cool! That's another thing I've wondered about a lot--how would Millie react to Buck? Based on what we know of her, I feel Like she would just NOT be a fan of Katrina taking in known "hoodlum". Think about what a hard time they had accepting Eugene and he was a stand up guy, just poor and kinda awkward. I'd really love a like 2-3 part episode exploring what it was like for Buck to go to Chicago and meet Katrina's family. I feel like there's a lot of super intriguing stuff to be looked at there!!

BuckDeservesBetter wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 13, 2021 3:20 pm

Does anybody else ever think about how weird storytime with the Meltsners must be? Imagine Buck wants to hear a story and Eugene and Katrina are like, so what are you feeling tonight? The story about how your father lost his memory and we all used the Imagination Station to get it back? Or how about the time your mother and I stole some government secrets and travelled the world with them for years to keep them from the bad guys who would literally use them to destroy the world? Good times.... And Buck is just there .

I just feel like Eugene and Katrina, like pretty much any other long-term main characters in Odyssey, have some VERY dramatic and potentially traumatizing stuff in their past but like... Does Buck know about any of it??

How about "did we ever tell you Eugene once faked a murder just to prank Whit" or "the time Eugene literally experienced his own idea of hell" "oh and we were once prisoners in the same cave Eugene's mother died in while she was enslaved by her ex-boyfriend" or "stopping a bull with nothing but a broken tape recorder"

BuckDeservesBetter wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 16, 2021 12:52 pm

That's really cool! That's another thing I've wondered about a lot--how would Millie react to Buck? Based on what we know of her, I feel Like she would just NOT be a fan of Katrina taking in known "hoodlum". Think about what a hard time they had accepting Eugene and he was a stand up guy, just poor and kinda awkward. I'd really love a like 2-3 part episode exploring what it was like for Buck to go to Chicago and meet Katrina's family. I feel like there's a lot of super intriguing stuff to be looked at there!!

True! Though I figure it'd just be something like "Katrina's father died from a heart attack, and Buck's an orphan they took in, as his previous guardian was arrested." No lying, just not saying everything.