The Protector - Blog Posts

TV Shoutout: Continuum

Another underrated series of recent years, Continuum.

What it is about: A cop (Rachel Nichols) from the year 2077 gets stranded in present time--making her the only one who can stop future terrorist group Liber8, with no way to go back home.

Why you should watch it: 

Kiera, and basically every other supporting characters

We have Rachel Nichols in cat suit. Need I say more??? Actually, yes, because Kiera Cameron (Nichols) herself is a very interesting character. She’s a very skilled and determined policewoman, but born in a time a lot different than ourselves so she does have different values. She’s also a mother and a wife, and that makes temporal separation from her original time a little problematic, to say the least. She’s not perfect, but she’s perfectly relatable no matter what crazy situation she’s in.

But the rest of the characters are incredible too--both in terms of the actors, or the way the characters’ stories are handled. Throughout its 4 seasons, all of the characters changes and grows a lot, and it’s a beautiful thing to watch. Alec Sadler (Erik Knudsen), the tech-wiz kid who helps Kiera out with her gadgets, has the single most interesting character trajectory ever written, but that’s like picking your favorite child. All of the characters are worth watching for.

No one’s a “good” guy

We thought we knew who the bad guys are, but we actually don’t. I don’t mean it in a doom and gloom sort of way, or in the “anti hero” sort of way--it’s just with Continuum, nothing has an easy answer.

Curveball, curveball, curveball Oh boy, those curveballs. Continuum has this amazing ability to give us twists that NOBODY SAW COMING. Repeatedly. They’re the kind of twists that don’t cheapen the story at all, instead enrich them. It’s damn good storytelling.

Those sweet, sweet tech Obviously, with Kiera and Liber8 coming from the future, we get to see some cool gadgets. Bulletproof suit? Cloaking device? Continuum got it all. We also get to see the future quite a bit, and learn why 2077 isn’t all fun and games.

But in the end, it’s all about humanity I might be a broken record, but I always say that the best science fiction are the ones that are, in its core, about humanity. This is one of those stories. Continuum never stray from the characters, never stray from how our decisions shape us, and never stray from the repercussions of time travel.

Who should watch it: Unfortunately, this is one of a few shows that I could only confidently recommend to those who are familiar with genre or science fiction. Not because it isn’t “good” enough for anyone else, but because it does necessitate the viewers to have a high level suspension of disbelief, a tolerance for timey-wimey plot, and willingness to be challenged about characters, plot, and even politics. I never want to be limiting about genre, it’s just that sci-fi fans are the ones I reliably know would love those qualities in their entertainment, but if it sounds interesting to you, definitely go for it.

Where you should start: It started out as a procedural, so I think anywhere in season 1 is okay. If you start too far into season 2 you’d miss a lot of its worldbuilding so I wouldn’t recommend that. But as with any show worth watching, I’d definitely recommend starting from the very beginning although the second season, for me, is when the show started to gel a lot better.

Status: Just ended last season. It had 4 seasons total, with the final season being a shortened season (only 6 episodes).

Regarding the Protector Error (that concept is so fricking interesting), what would Ink's role be? Would he be like the co-guardian?

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So, what I was imagining for Ink in this situation because he is technically soulless, and he’s a chaotic neutral at best, I kinda cut him out the multiverse's plot/story. 

So think of it this way, Error literally took his place/role/existence therefore he kinda faded into another plane of existence where he just gets to spectate like the viewers/readers do. I kinda found this as a cute side story. As Error progresses and gets character development, Ink will be watching, observing, and comparing his own experience as the Protector of Aus to how Error does it. Assume he has the ability to feel real emotions at this point because he technically isn’t bound to a mortal empty soul anymore, and is just part of reality as a whole now.

I think I’m gonna call him, either Plain!Ink or Plane!Ink. 

You decide.

Prompt Idea: Error, The Protector

Has anyone ever questioned how impactful and fitting it would be if Error was protecting the multiverse rather than destroying it?

Like, he’d have that critical eye for all the mistakes that the creators made in their AUs, or creations, and he’d just be like, “delete that, you don’t need that” or “that scene is a waste of time, work and effort, get rid of it” or “THIS IS AN ABOMINATION! YOU HAVE TO COLOR IN THE LINES!!” or “what did I tell you to do which you dID THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF!?!” or “More stars. … MORE FXXKING STARS!!!”

Yeah, like a “really-harsh-critic-for-creators-that-actually-makes-them-better-and-create-better-content” kind of Error. Or, I guess, just Error in Ink’s place with but with less restraint, more corrections, and a “let’s-get-down-to-business” smooth attitude. 

Wait-, this is starting to sound like that auto-correcting application!!! Ӧ

(Error being the equivalent of an angry Grammarly just popped into my head-)

I asked a lot of people on my many different accounts, on other sites, their opinion. And so far, my favorite witty comment I have received is “Error as a multiverse protector already exists. It’s called Gordon Ramsey.”

So feel free to make me laugh or get serious on how you would approach this concept. Pfft- or even ask your own Undertale fandom related characters/ocs what they would think of this. Cause, I found it astonishing how this idea does not have, like, more content or discussion about it. I have looked pretty much everywhere I have a account on, and that is saying a lot.