#RNM speculation

[onion-morty]

Yeah the portal bit has been niggling my brain for years now like. Rick was apparently the only creature in the known universe who's discovered interdimensional travel and hogs the information on how to create it, but in the pilot he calls the blue portal place "interdimensional customs"

it would make sense if he called it interplanetary or intergalactic customs. We know that in the show, in-universe portals can be created by other people (The president had a giant minecraft recreation one) but interdimensional travel is what made a Rick a CFC Rick.

Maybe a retcon would be that he travelled outside of the CFC for those specific megaseeds, and Interdimensional Customs exists outside the CFC. However its already been established that no one could escape the curve unless drastic measures of massive proportions are taken (Evil Morty CFC escape), but whos to say our Rick couldnt do that? Maybe it takes a lot of portal charge to go outside of the curve. Maybe his gun's a little different. (I mean he was one of only two Ricks and three people in the entire CFC to actually invent interdimensional portal travel, but I guess that goes against the theory that one of the CFC's functions is to trap Rick Prime).

We've seen that megaseeds could come from within the curve cuz the Citadel has them. Although one could speculate that the Citadel has a Megaseed farm that Farmer Rick is super protective of because you cant get them anywhere else inside of the curve. Maybe the Ricks got a handful of seeds to create the farms before the wall was built. Much to think about.

TLDR, Maybe Rick travelled outside the CFC for Real Megaseeds not cultivated by the Citadel, because theyre not available within the curve. And since Interdimensional travel can be invented by anyone outside the CFC, they have to travel back to the Prime Dimension through Interdimensional Customs.

okay so what’s the community’s thoughts on the pilot? it’s been so long and i’m not sure what the discourse on the continuity is- even though pilots for shows are usually strange and disjointed because the show is still figuring itself out- there are still some intriguing parts to me at least?

where did rick go when he was grabbing broken leg serum, how long was he gone that his portal gun charge died? how did he implement mega seeds into his work? the galactic federation had a blue portal device thing? and that airport-esque place where aliens were traveling because ricks portal gun died, was that public portal travel? anyways might delete later

[autisticricksanchez]

i think rick would fucking love the tumblr culture that’s been built around him, it’d boost his ego so much. conversely, morty would see one rickfucker post, close the laptop, and walk away.*

*unless he found @sorrelpaws’s blog. i think that blog would make him really happy

[invisiblegarabgetruck]

2, 7 (hermit jerry), 15! :)

my god, I'm so sorry this took my ass so long to finish 😭

2. OT3?

don't really have my most faves at the moment but I do think it's funny most of 3p ship in this fandom are [me / my wife / my alternate self ] lol

7. Is there a piece of clothing you think (hermit jerry) is particularly fond of/that you imagine them wearing a lot or like to draw them in?

clothing that Hjer is fond of : this is just a speculation... but i think he like coat/cape? both S3&S6 has something to cover himself / his back. (still wondered why he went from half-naked to full-clothed lol)

clothing that I imagine him wearing a lot : really like thinking about Hjer wearing modern clothing... Like, if he is no longer in the Cronenberg world. although it usually boiled down to' I want to draw him in a V-shirt'

15. Have you noticed your style change over time?

yes! tbh RnM style was pretty hard to draw for me in my early days of this fandom lol. I was more of 'drawing anime girls' kinda guy. I wasn't made to draw middle-aged men U_U now I draw only these guys and not anime girls. truly a tragedy.

[dreamweaversfavsandthoughs]

New episode title drops (sort of) part 1

How Stella Got Her Groove Back

After reading up on the SDCC panel I'm fully convinced this is going to be a "bust birdkid out of jail" episode but I don't know how it relates to the title if it is.

The Parent Trap

Easy guess for this is that this will be a "Beth and Space Beth switch places for day" episode but I feel that would be too obvious. I had an idea awhile back that they might do something based on this movie that would introduce a variant of RnM we have not seen in the wild yet...

Air Force One

Aww yiss a President Curtis episode!

That's Amore

This is the first time they've referenced a song title before I think. It's a romantic song so maybe someone falls in love. There are also a lot of comparing love to Italian food so maybe that's where that image of Rick with the casserole dish of spaghetti comes from. Hope they pronounce Parmesan correctly.

Unforgiven

This might be a Rick Prime/ Rick C-137 showdown episode. Very interesting that it's coming in the middle of the season. Very interesting...

So what are some of your speculations, hopes, dreams?

[onion-morty]

Back when we thought Morty was stealing the portal gun to have solo adventures just for fun

but in reality he was picking up after Rick

Can we talk about how, in the promo for the S5 finale, it looks as though Morty has been sneaking out with the portal gun and doing solo adventures behind Rick’s back? He’s equipped with some scifi weapons and looks quite excited coming out of the portal, too, which I find very interesting. I wonder if he’s grown confident enough that he feels he can handle himself even on dangerous / exciting adventures, going on interdimensional adrenaline junkie rushes just like his grandfather, or if he just wants some time to enjoy fun adventures of his choosing without the pressure of Rick undermining or emotionally scarring him every five minutes. Probably both of those things, really. Either way I’m proud (and worried) for him, especially considering how this is going to backfire in his face once Rick finds out.

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here my friend here to offer some optimism maybe in this trying time?? Look I know Tim often chooses the stupidest fucking route to get places (see Vertigo plot), and I don't know where those leaks come from and how valid they are, but it would honestly make no sense for T to be part of Buck's Eddie realization in the show. We KNOW Buck is having a deep talk with Maddie this episode and all the talks he's had, about his feelings about Eddie making new friends (7x04) and specifically telling Eddie he was bi (7x05) have been with her. Both times Maddie has clearly tried to gently steer him towards his realization, even if it didn't always go that way. This last talk, the final one for Buck to see the light?? The only person it makes sense to have it with is Maddie. And I'm pretty sure both Oliver and JLH mentioned at some point that was the style of talk they were going to have this episode. T is not going to be Buck's gay guru helping him figure his feelings out, everything we've seen at this points to Maddie as Buck's last stop on his way to realizing his feelings.

So if I had to guess what that bar scene is all about?? Well it looks like Ravi at least might be there (I hope so!) and some other person and its this other person is the one everybody is tied up in knots about right? If all this is a setup to get Buck to have his chat with Maddie then it seems likely it will be someone who will join Ravi in teasing Buck about how "obsessed" he is with Eddie (so he can complain to Maddie later about how "ludicrous" they're being). Now that person could absolutely be T, but it seems unlikely since its pretty clear T already knows why he's obsessed. The more likely candidate, if it has to be an ex that shows up, is TayKay, who got to witness a fair amount of Buck being unhinged over Eddie, even while they were together. That would be my bet as to who shows up. And I absolutely could be wrong, I could be utterly disappointed by the choices the narrative is clearly set up for being ignored for "drama" and Tim is certainly not above it 🙄, but so far the back half of this season has delivered pretty well. But I get it if you and others are worried, there definitely is precedent for it and I very well might be the delusional one thinking "it doesn't make narrative sense" is a good reason for Tim not to do something (certainly my optimism about RNM led me astray plenty) but I've been trying to ignore the journalist speculation and maybe hints of this or that and just focus in on what we know for certain. Its brought me peace up till now, and I'm willing to let it get me through this episode. I don't know if any of this will make you feel better, and it doesn't necessarily have to, keeping to the mantra is also a perfectly valid and honestly probably healthier response, but giving you a hug till we see what happens tomorrow anyway 🫂.

Hello my friend! What a day 🤪🤪🤪

I'm not gonna lie, I am a) pretty sure it's gonna be that man, and b) honestly I'm fine with Tim being Petty White and bringing him back to push Buddie more than I would be with having to see tay kay in the year of our lord 2025 🤣

At least in this case it's another Abby mirror, and it also, given how Oliver, Tim and even *** talked right after 7x04, clearly the path they intended to take before the rewrites. There were multiple mentions of stepping stones and mentoring and remaining friends, all of which I would have been FINE with. After 7x04. But now? After watching T be such a dick to Buck and treat him like a child?? Nah, fam. That storyline no longer works, sorry Timothy 🤷🏻‍♀️

I do think the destination is gonna be fine, I think the talk with Maddie will be good, RAVI IS BACK!!! the emergencies look fun, and Aisha is clearly proud of her work, so I'm focusing on the positives. (let's see how well that holds up tomorrow. Tummy ache girlies unite!) Everything else will be what it will be, though it's a nice and pleasant time to remember that one time, they tried to make Buck and cheater and the audience had such a horrible reaction to the character that nearly the whole storyline got cut! It didn't stop her from being a pointless waste of screentime and taking scenes better suited for other characters, but they DID cut things so like. We'll see what happens 🤷🏻‍♀️

[bidirectionalbci]

The science of a Bidirectional Brain Computer Interface with a function to work from a distance is mistakenly reinvented by laymen as the folklore of Remote Neural Monitoring and Controlling

Critical thinking

When you label it "RNM", the quality of your information plummets. Is it scientifically validated? No. It’s not based on empirical evidence—it’s a dead-end term that undermines credibility.

History of the RNM folklore

In 1992, a layman Mr. John St. Clair Akwei tried to explain a Bidirectional Brain Computer Interface (BCI) technology, which he didn't really understand. He called his theory Remote Neural Monitoring. Instead of using the scientific method, Akwei came up with his idea based on water. Lacking solid evidence, he presented his theory as if it were fact. Without any real studies to back him up, Akwei twisted facts, projected his views, and blamed the NSA. He lost his court case and was sadistically disabled by medical practitioners using disabling pills. They only call him something he is not. Since then, his theory has gained many followers. Akwei's explanation is incorrect and shallow, preventing proper problem-solving. As a result, people waste life-time searching for a true scientific explanation that can help solve this issue. When you call it RNM, the same will be done to you as to Mr. Akwei (calling you something you are not and sadistically disabling you with pills).

Critical thinking

Where does reliable, research-based knowledge come from? From universities and professional R&D labs—not from speculation or personal theories.

State of the art in Bidirectional BCI

A science-based explanation, grounded in Carnegie Mellon University research, defines a Bidirectional Brain-Computer Interface as a system where a computer interacts with the brain. The only novel extension is its ability to function remotely.

It’s the non-invasive BCI type, not an implanted BCI. The software running on the computer is a sense and respond system. The sense and respond system is an artificial brain (see Sentient (intelligence analysis system) for illustration). Artificial brain is a reasoning engine (rules engine) based on the forward chaining algorithm for situational awareness and backward chaining algorithm to execute actions that advance situations toward achieving goals/objectives entered by its administrators. It has a command/function that an administrator can use to weaponize the device for a clandestine sabotage against any person. It’s not from Tesla, it’s a black project from an R&D lab of some organization for black operations that needs it to do surveillance, sabotages and assassinations with a plausible deniability.

You need good quality information that is empirically validated, and such information comes from a university or from an R&D lab. It won’t come from your own explanations because you are not empirically validating them which means you aren’t using the scientific method to discover new knowledge (it’s called basic research).

Goal: Detect a Bidirectional BCI extended to work from a distance (it’s called applied research, solving a problem using existing good quality information that is empirically validated)

Strategy: Continuous improvement of Knowledge Management (knowledge transfer/sharing/utilization from university courses to the community) to come up with hypotheses + experimentation with Muse2 to test your hypotheses and share when they are proved).

This strategy can use existing options as hypotheses which is then an applied research. Or, it can come up with new, original hypotheses and discover new knowledge by testing them (which is basic research). It can combine both as needed.

Carnegie Mellon University courses of Biomedical Engineering (BME)

Basics (recommended - make sure you read):

42665 | Brain-Computer Interface: Principles and Applications:

Intermediate stuff (optional - some labs to practice):

2. 42783 | Neural Engineering laboratory - Neural engineering involves the practice of using tools we use to measure and manipulate neural activity: https://www.coursicle.com/cmu/courses/BMD/42783/

Expert stuff (only if you want to know the underlying physics behind BCI):

3. 18612 | Neural Technology: Sensing and Stimulation (this is the physics of brain cells, explaining how they can be read from and written into) https://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/skkelly/18819e/18819E_Syllabus_F12.pdf

You have to read those books to facilitate knowledge transfer from the university to you.

With the above good quality knowledge that is empirically validated, the Bidirectional BCI can be likely detected (meaning proved) and in the process, new knowledge about it can be discovered.

Purchase a cheap unidirectional BCI device for experiments at home

Utilize all newly gained knowledge from the above books in practice to make educated guesses based on the books and then empirically validate them with Muse2. After it is validated, share your good quality, empirically validated information about the undisclosed Bidirectional BCI with the community (incl. the steps to validate it).

Python Project

Someone who knows Python should try to train an AI model to detect when what you hear is not from your ear drums. Here is my initial code: https://github.com/michaloblastni/insultdetector You can try this and send me your findings and improvements.

How to do research

Basic research makes progress by doing a literature review regarding a phenomenon, then identifying main explanatory theories, making new hypotheses and conducting experiments to find what happens. When new hypotheses are proved the existing knowledge is extended. New findings can be contributed back to extend existing theories.

In practice, you will review existing scientific theories that explain i.e. the biophysics behind sensing and stimulating brain activity, and you will try to extend those theories by coming up with new hypotheses and experimentally validating them. And then, you will repeat the cycle to discover more new knowledge. When it's a lot of iterations, you need a team.

In applied research, you start with a problem that needs solving. You do a literature review and study previous solutions to the problem. Then, you should synthesize a new solution from the existing ones, and it should involve extending them in a meaningful way. Your new solution should solve the problem in some measurably better way. You have to demonstrate what your novel solution does better i.e. by measuring it, or by proving it with some other way.

In practice, you will do a literature review of past designs of Bidirectional BCI and make them your design options. Then, you will synthesize a new design option from all the design options you reviewed. The new design will get you closer toward making a Bidirectional BCI work from a distance. Then, you will repeat the cycle to improve upon your design further until you eventually reach the goal. When it's a lot of iterations, you need a team.

Using a Bidirectional BCI device to achieve synthetic telepathy

How to approach learning, researching and life

At the core, the brain is a biological neural network. You make your own connections in it stronger when you repeatedly think of something (i.e. while watching an expert researcher on youtube). And your connections weaken and disconnect/reconnect/etc. when you stop thinking of something (i.e. you stop watching an expert on how to research and you start watching negative news instead).

You train yourself by watching/listening/hanging out with people, and by reading about/writing about/listening to/doing certain tasks, and also by other means.

The brain has a very limited way of functioning because when you stop repeatedly thinking of something it soon starts disappearing. Some people call it knowledge evaporation. It’s the disconnecting and reconnecting of neurons in your biological neural network. Old knowledge is gone and new knowledge is formed. It’s called neuroplasticity. It’s the ability of neurons to disconnect, connect elsewhere, etc. based on what you are thinking/reading/writing/listening/doing.

Minimize complexity by starting from the big picture (i.e. a theory that explains a phenomenon). Then, proceed and do problem solving with a top-down decomposition into subproblems. Focus only on key information for the purpose of each subproblem and skip other details. Solve separate subproblems separately.

[gra-sonas]

HusbandsFiancées 😌🌻

[angrycowboy]

my mind has been going a million miles a minute since that episode. it was so good! i swear all i need to be fed some good malex scenes, less overt pop culture references, and i’m a happy camper. but of course, this meant i went into full speculation mode regarding what’s happening to alex...

the liminal space or “pocket dimension” is an interesting concept. but what i think we may actually be looking at right now, is some form of alex’s mindscape.

alex has spent his entire life in survival mode. first with jesse, then in the air force. and this liminal space reflects that. when we see him, he’s in survival mode yet again - this time from an unknown element causing his death. he assumes radiation because chemical warfare would match up with his military background and upbringing.

why the 1940′s? given this is the only instance of the liminal space we’ve seen, it might be because that’s when it all went wrong in alex’s mind. that’s when the ship crashed, that’s when his ancestors began their targeted genocide of the aliens. 

(could this also be indicative of theo’s hand, where the setting of the liminal space for anyone would be the same? it’s possible. when alex fell through, the “open” symbole illuminated on michael’s console. perhaps the liminal space only takes the shape of the mindscape of the first person dropped into it? perhaps that’s why nora and louise locked jones up - to make him the first one to use it?)

alex sets up the faraday cage trap at the drive-in. this is another method of his survival - gain the upper hand on anyone who may be dangerous. 

all of alex’s scenes take place at the drive-in. and in alex’s mind, his first date with michael was back in 1x03 at the drive-in. to alex, we learn, it didn’t matter that it ended poorly, he still has fond memories of it, and it holds special importance to him. 

one of the first things dallas asks about is the fruit, to which alex answers that he’s seen a grove of weird looking trees. it’s only after this that bonnie and dallas return later saying the grove has been burned down. this is information that had he known about, alex surely would have provided. 

alex mentions is that he’s noticed a drop in barometric pressure - something he’d also referred to in 4x01 right before the st. elmo’s fire happened. the presence of an electric magnetic storm is “new” he says, but it’s not the first time we’ve heard about one on the show - in 1x12 alex mentioned it outside caulfield.

the fractals on his chest appear similiar to the ones that appeared on liz’s arm in 4x09 while she was in her mindscape and under the influence of the mist. liz’s mindscape adventure was for her to try and work through her internal conflict regarding the science and max, and whether max was holding her back. in alex’s case, he’s faced with michael’s ongoing decision - stay on earth with him and give up seeing the planet he’s been looking for, or travel back to oasis and the home he’s been searching for since he first crawled out of the pod. the alex we’re seeing in the liminal space right now is seemingly making the decision for michael - alex gets the shred of happiness he believes he’s allowed, and he’s also freeing michael from having to make that choice.

so why would tezca need to throw alex into the pocket dimension as a contingency plan? well in 4x11 we learn that anyone with the triad symbol can’t make the jump to oasis through the portal. it’s entirely possible that jones found out not only about max’s tattoo but michael’s as well. so when jones found out about alex (”there is someone you care about as much as nora”), he realized if he was going to try and use liz to bypass theo’s lock, there needed to be stakes. trapping michael in the pocket dimension knowing he would go after alex means that liz will be unable to say no any longer.

and lastly, sometimes this show still gets music right. the lyrics playing at the end of the scene where alex begs michael to let dallas marry them? “it’s all in your head”

[mazzystar24]

Words cannot express how much I want (if they kill Alex temporarily) a scene where when Michael sees this and he just full on breaks down over his body and like his powers go CRAZY like I’m talking give me a season one type storm or a damn downpour give me telekinesis pushing and destroying everything and cracking the very earth give me a fucking fire I wanna see it soooo bad

This trope is absolute perfection and I live for the angst im not gonna lie

[letstalkabouttvshows]

So, if Bonnie was in charge of Eduardo, that means that Tezca might've put Clyde in charge of Alex?

I mean, considering Alex isn't dead or wrapped unconsciously in a cocoon of quicksand, buried deep in the desert.

I'm so here for Michael to find out that they quicksanded his boyfriend while they were luring him with tales of home.

I love you, Guerin, but I need to see you go ballistic on them and on yourself too.

[stillcosmic]

so it sounds like alex was thrown in so michael would go in after and it would crumble?

[itsjustmouse]

Next episode theory.

When Michael opens the ‘portal’, Alex is there but neither can get through. They hold their hands up to each other’s at the threshold. This will be the cliffhanger.

Then in the next episode, they find out that the only way to free Alex/break down the barrier is to bring about the Alighting.

That’s why in the episode synopsis it says Michael fears that he’ll never get Alex back.

[lambourngb]

Hindsight is always 20-20 but when you’re in the moment, you go with the information you have.

I’ve seen a ton on this hellscape platform about how RNM could have handled TB’s absence better. But.. what if they didn’t know how much he would be able to film? What if... it was an episode to episode decision from Tyler about what he could handle healthwise since he got his surgery AFTER they finished filming? From 4x03 through 4x07 we all could see spaces where the gang could discover that Alex was being held in quicksand and maybe that was a deliberate choice by the writers and showrunner.

Anyway I’m working on a long WIP, that had a very general “here’s where we end” outline but as I write, other stuff starts to occur to me, so I add it in, I make room. I just feel like RNM season 4 plots did the same thing, they left room for Alex, but ultimately couldn’t reintroduce him to the story until the actor gave them a go-ahead. Script drafts become shooting drafts sometimes right up to the 11th hour. 

We’ve all see how much can change from a script draft to a shooting draft, look at the pilot of RNM - they had Michael as a foster brother to Alex ffs.

Anyway that’s my .02 on season 4. YMMV.

[youngsamberg]

what happens when alex is dead/dying and michael remembers “what i can’t live without is you so why don’t you put your hand in mine and we’ll start with that” and that’s what gives him the idea to do the handprint WHAT THEN

[space-malex]

WTF DOES THIS MEAN