random ponderings

[Sage]

Well perhaps, to a degree.
Scarlet doesn't really strike me as gthe new agey sharing your feelings type; with his military background and everything else. There are plenty of people who suffer less dramatic things (well, relative to acquiring retrometabolism) and still don't share them because they just plain don't want to compromise their privacy, it's too painful to share/relive, or they don't have the right outlet.

Also, consider Blue himself. The guy goes gthrough just as much, and probably has his own issues from the past. It would surely be very selfish and unfair to expect him to be an emotional crutch for them both.

They probably do share and vent as friends generally do; but that for the most part Scarlet keeps his burden inside, and has to be dragged along to psych evals.

[Shades]

Now that would be all sorts of fun for all involved, considering Scarlet's probable reluctance to talk (I think someone else brought it up, how could a shrink relate to the fall out of multiple deaths?) and his training.

One part of the selection for the SAS is to resist three days of torture and questioning, and considering that they get additional training and conditioning it'd have to be either a pretty wiley shrink or something pretty big for Scarlet to willingly open up and talk about it.

I can very easily see Scarlet turning any 'unnecessary' (from his point of view) psych visits into something completely different, like interrogating the psychologist instead.

[Mary]

I can very easily see Scarlet turning any 'unnecessary' (from his point of view) psych visits into something completely different, like interrogating the psychologist instead.

I actually had Scarlet doing just that in "Chance for a Lifetime," though that could hardly be called unnecessary - this was after he had awakened for the first time as his "new self" but before he was cleared for duty. And the reference was that he was questioning Senior Agent Wade rather than the shrink, but maybe the shrink was still too shell-shocked to give the colonel the report... Anyway, Blue said that the "new" Scarlet was acting just like his old self...

[Shades]

I actually had Scarlet doing just that in "Chance for a Lifetime,"

I knew that someone had done something like that somewhere, just wasn't sure where it had been or whom by.

Random idea, but would it be plausible to collectively figure out a rough guide/timetable of how long it takes for various injuries to repair themselves?

[chrisbishop]

Okay, I'll be first to put in my two cents.

I've always imagined it would depend on the gravity of the injuries.

I think that, basically, it was said somewhere (have to research where, and/or would need confirmation from other fans), that it takes him roughly six hours to fully mend his injuries, when he 'died' and/or is gravely injured.

A scratch would probably heal very quickly, in the space of seconds or minutes, depending on the depth. Flesh injury, like a gunshot, would take a little more - and still, would depend on the gravity. Broken bones and intensive injuries might need some time to mend themselves, and probably grave head injuries as well, so that might got him close to the six hours previously mentioned.

Of course, we might consider other factors as well, such as Scarlet's degree of tiredness at the time of the healing, or if he was to go throw one healing after the other... I proposed a theory that electricity, if not fatal to him, might actually hinder his power of retrometabolism, and might cause for his healing to extend beyond the six hours.

Maybe other such factors might be consider as well. What about the complete loss of an organ, or a limb? How much time would that need to retrometabolise then - if possible?

Note that in comic strips, retrometabolism time varies from one story to the other (you can count hours, days, and even weeks in some stories). In some stories, Scarlet heals by himself, but in others, he definitely needs to be taken back to Cloudbase to heal, and to be taken care of by Doctor Fawn and his team. Strips stories are semi-official, so you can either dismiss what you read there, or take whatever suits you best.

Now... those are my observations and thoughts on the matter, but others might have different ideas (or a variant of the above) as well.

Building a timetable, in these circumstances might be difficult - but let's see what others have to say. This could be very interesting.

[Marion]

I basically agree with Chris; it would be hard to draw up a graph of accident/recovery times for Scarlet.
I think the six hours to recover from death is mentioned somewhere in the show - I suspect it is linked to Colonel White's comment that Scarlet was under the control of the Mysterons for six hours - or is it Fawn who says that in 'Winged Assassin'? - Oh no, back to watching the DVDs again..
In my stories I have used various recovery times, as suits the narrative, and have had Captain Blue postulate to Dr Fawn that recovery time might be linked to adrenalin - as Blue is the chap who sees what happens most often, he's come up with a theory that when there is still danger about, Scarlet recovers quicker, although the recovery may not be as thorough as if he recovered in Sick Bay without any outside catalyst to speed things up.
(It seemed like a good idea at the time )
I have also used the notion that Scarlet recovers quicker when he has company. Blue's habit of sitting with him while he is retrometabolising, and chatting to him, seems to help. Blue does it as a kind of superstition, which started when Scarlet was blown up in the lift when the bomb exploded in 'Big Ben Strikes Again' and Blue kept chatting to him over his radio until Scarlet was rescued. When Scarlet recovers, he can never remember to tell him how much it helps by giving him a focus... but that doesn't seem to matter - Blue keeps doing it whenever possible.
Hey - it's my fiction, I can do what I want to!

[Intensity Angel]

Here's a question. Would Scarlet tell anyone in his family, someone who he is really close to and can trust to be accepting of it and keep their mouth closed? Would he keep such a large turmoil rumbling inside of him. It is human to keep thought private but there are times when it gets too much.

[Marion]

There is nothing in canon, as far as I know, to say whether he does tell anyone or not - although there have been several fanfics that deal with the topic.
I believe one story suggested that Scarlet's father - a general himself - might have found out through official channels. Whether his mother knows, and, if she does, how she found out, is anybody's guess.
What is generally accepted as 'canon' is the lengths Spectrum agents are expected to go to (fake assassination) to keep their new identities and jobs hidden from family and friends; yet even so, in the comics there are references to members of the public knowing that Paul Metcalfe is Captain Scarlet.
It is - as with much of the Anderverse - a quandry, and I guess you decide which option you prefer and go with that.

[Intensity Angel]

So in other words, write a fan fic based around what I believe. Now that's an idea to keep me busy while I sit around waiting for my exam results.

[Shades]

Y'know the retrometabolic coma state that fanon has for when Scarlet dies and his body goes about repairing itself? Would be possible for him to shake it off partway through, at the point where he can support his own life functions but he's not completely healed yet? What sorta problems do you think it'd cause later on?

The scenario is that he's been taken out partway through a mission (he looks like he's been mauled by an animal and fell off a short cliff) so he was ferried back to base and Adam is still out there with whatever it was that attacked him and the threat that he doesn't know about (I haven't decided what it is exactly) so Paul does his level best to wake up before his body decides he's ready.

[hazel]

That scenario is used in one of the stories in the 1993 Scarlet comics. Scarlet wakes up part-way through a recovery with the urgent sense of being needed during an on-going mission. Fawn gets all dramatic about it, but lets him go. This being a modern children's comic, nothing untoward happens, and Scarlet is perfectly OK, which I felt was something of an anti-climax. I'm sure fanfic can do much better than that...

[Shades]

I've got to get my hands on the comics somehow. Living on the far end of the globe does tend to cut into what actually gets over here.

Hehe, I think you're quite right. Fanfic does tend to be a bit more... evil. Mwahaha

[Intensity Angel]

I agree with you there. Fan Fiction can be really evil!

And linking onto that, what would happen if someone were to disrupt the healing process, someone like, Captain Black? What if there were a device for example that can dsirupte metabolism, and not just retro either?

[RhapsodyAngel8]

And linking onto that, what would happen if someone were to disrupt the healing process, someone like, Captain Black? What if there were a device for example that can dsirupte metabolism, and not just retro either?

On that subject, I wrote a particularly dark fic that involves Black administering a drug to Scarlet that would suppress the speed of his retrometabolative powers (purely malicious intent where Black is concerned, of course) – the aim being to make Scarlet suffer as long as possible from his injuries.
It did raise the question of why the Mysterons would develop such a drug in the first place – if it fell into Spectrum’s hands, might they not turn it to their advantage by creating a weapon to use against the Mysterons? After some suitable tweaking I decided that, of course, being developed by the Mysterons, there would probably be certain aspects to its molecular make-up that would make it impossible to synthesise on Earth. Hey presto - my solution!
I know it’s probably cheating, but, hey... this is fanfic.

[chrisbishop]

In my case, I stipulated that electricity would hinder the healing process. It would depend on the voltage and length of exposition, to explain how much longer it'll take for retrometabolism to kick in, do its work - or EVEN work, for that matter.

A sufficient amount MIGHT even be lethal - but THAT I only suggested so far.