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Agent to the Stars

229 statements
44 feature instances
9 referencing feature instances

Agent to the Stars	type	TVTItem
Agent to the Stars	label	Agent to the Stars
Agent to the Stars	page	AgentToTheStars
Agent to the Stars	comment	Agent to the Stars is a 2005 science fiction novel by John Scalzi.Tom Stein is a rising star in a major Hollywood talent agency. One day, after securing a $12.5 million movie deal for his A-list client Michelle Beck, he's called into a meeting by his boss Carl Lupo. Carl introduces him to a blob-like alien named Joshua and explains that Joshua's people, the Yherajk, have traveled for many decades in their asteroid-turned-ship to initiate First Contact with humanity.Unfortunately, after arriving and picking up on the latest media transmissions, they have realized that, to humans, they would appear as typical Blob Monsters despite their peaceful nature (the fact that they normally communicate via awful odors doesn't help). So, instead of going with the typical Take Me to Your Leader tactic, they have chosen to, first, hire a human agent to prepare humanity for the contact.Since Carl is a well-known figure in Hollywood circles, he asks Tom to take on the entire Yherajk race as his clients. Carl also wants Joshua to move in with Tom for the time being. So, while trying to figure out how to make an unattractive alien race presentable to humanity, Tom has to keep a bored alien hidden from everyone else, fend off an annoying reporter, and keep his other clients (namely, Michelle Beck) happy. Cue hilarity.The novel is freely available on the author's blog, here.
Agent to the Stars	fetched	2023-06-02T15:13:45Z
Agent to the Stars	parsed	2023-06-02T15:13:45Z
Agent to the Stars	processingComment	Dropped link to AlienArtsAreAppreciated: Not a Feature - ITEM
Agent to the Stars	isPartOf	DBTropes
Agent to the Stars / int_115b9907	type	Starfish Language
Agent to the Stars / int_115b9907	comment	Starfish Language: The Yherajk communicate with one another by emitting complicated smells, with the identity of the "speaker" stated by a unique molecular marker. To a human, it all smells awful. The considerate Yherajk make nose plugs for all visiting humans, although even thoes fail during heated arguments or loud cheering.
Agent to the Stars / int_115b9907	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_115b9907	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_115b9907
Agent to the Stars / int_1777688d	type	Genre Savvy
Agent to the Stars / int_1777688d	comment	Genre Savvy: Thanks to intercepting human broadcasts for decades, the Yherajk know enough from human movies and TV to realize that they would never be accepted by the human society, if they simply landed on the White House lawn and asked to see the President. Besides, they also know that the President of the United States does not speak for the whole world... but Hollywood does.
Agent to the Stars / int_1777688d	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_1777688d	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_1777688d
Agent to the Stars / int_1cb68381	type	Pom-Pom Girl
Agent to the Stars / int_1cb68381	comment	Pom-Pom Girl: Michelle is a former cheerleader who was still cheering and waiting tables when Tom met her. She is definitely a Brainless Beauty, but is also a well-meaning and good-natured person who wouldn’t think of being intentionally rude to anyone.
Agent to the Stars / int_1cb68381	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_1cb68381	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_1cb68381
Agent to the Stars / int_1fa5ae07	type	The Prima Donna
Agent to the Stars / int_1fa5ae07	comment	The Prima Donna: Tea Reader is a semi-popular singer, represented by Tom, although it's revealed that nearly half of the revenue from her albums comes from teenage boys buying them just for the cover picture of her coming out of the pool. She's also a complete bitch, who treats everyone around her like crap (apparently unaware of the teenage boy demographic). After Tom asks a rookie agent named Amanda Hewson to take over as Tea's agent, Tea shows up and drives the inexperienced agent to tears. Tom then puts Tea in her place by pointing out that he's the only good agent willing to work with her, so she better shut up and treat Amanda nicely.
Agent to the Stars / int_1fa5ae07	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_1fa5ae07	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_1fa5ae07
Agent to the Stars / int_23698fa8	type	Aborted Arc
Agent to the Stars / int_23698fa8	comment	Aborted Arc: Amanda, the junior agent Tom set up with most of his old clients (and those clients) drop out of the story after just two or three appearances despite getting some hints of a subplot.
Agent to the Stars / int_23698fa8	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_23698fa8	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_23698fa8
Agent to the Stars / int_23a06c52	type	TheUnReveal
Agent to the Stars / int_23a06c52	comment	The Un-Reveal: Thanks to "Michelle"/Joshua revealing her/himself to the public, it's never revealed if Hard Memories wins the Best Picture category at the Academy Awards.
Agent to the Stars / int_23a06c52	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_23a06c52	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_23a06c52
Agent to the Stars / int_256664a8	type	Death of Personality
Agent to the Stars / int_256664a8	comment	Death of Personality: The worst thing for a Yherajk is not physical death, although they fear that too. To them, their unique personality is all that distinguishes them from each other. As such, they consider their memories to be their soul. While not common, it's possible for a Yherajk to Mind Rape another Yherajk and overwrite its personality with another. This is called "soul death" and is tantamount to murder in their culture. For the most part, the Yherajk maintain mental defenses to keep that from happening. The only real way for a malicious Yherajk to do this to another is during their equivalent of reproduction, which involves two or more Yherajk joining their minds to create a personality for a new Yherajk. This requires all participants to drop their defenses, leaving them vulnerable.
Agent to the Stars / int_256664a8	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_256664a8	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_256664a8
Agent to the Stars / int_27c09b00	type	Camp Straight
Agent to the Stars / int_27c09b00	comment	Camp Straight: Award winning director Roland Landois has a polite, cultured and sophisticated manner, but has an active romantic love life with the leading ladies of his movies (which may be interpreted differently after the Me Too movement, though the text implies that his romantic success stems from being the only heterosexual male in Hollywood who isn't a complete goblin).
Agent to the Stars / int_27c09b00	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_27c09b00	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_27c09b00
Agent to the Stars / int_28a5213a	type	Small Name, Big Ego
Agent to the Stars / int_28a5213a	comment	Small Name, Big Ego: Inevitable given the Hollywood setting. Tea Reader is the most prominent example, being a moderately successful singer most well known for looking like a real life Barbie doll. Also mentioned but not seen are a character actor who refuses anything less than leading roles after being nominated for Best Supporting Actor once, and a Telenovela star who wants roles in English speaking media but refuses to learn the language. Michelle is a borderline example; she has the looks and the talent to have a successful and lucrative career as a scream queen or piece of B-movie eye candy, but insists on trying for an artsy project she has neither the skills, intelligence or appearance to pull off.
Agent to the Stars / int_28a5213a	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_28a5213a	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_28a5213a
Agent to the Stars / int_317629db	type	Embarrassing Nickname
Agent to the Stars / int_317629db	comment	Embarrassing Nickname: Carl Lupo's college buddy calls him "Wolfman", a nickname he seems chagrined to here.
Agent to the Stars / int_317629db	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_317629db	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_317629db
Agent to the Stars / int_44606d14	type	Becoming the Mask
Agent to the Stars / int_44606d14	comment	Becoming the Mask: After merging with the brain-dead Michelle, Joshua inherits her memories and mannerism, and partially identifies as her.
Agent to the Stars / int_44606d14	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_44606d14	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_44606d14
Agent to the Stars / int_5313c266	type	Bookends
Agent to the Stars / int_5313c266	comment	Book Ends: Both in the first and in the last scene of the book, Tom is sitting in his office, talking to someone on the phone through a headset, and bouncing a little rubber raquetball against the window.
Agent to the Stars / int_5313c266	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_5313c266	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_5313c266
Agent to the Stars / int_5874eb12	type	Organic Technology
Agent to the Stars / int_5874eb12	comment	Organic Technology: The landing "cubes" used by the Yherajk are grown when necessary and dissolved into usable organics after.
Agent to the Stars / int_5874eb12	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_5874eb12	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_5874eb12
Agent to the Stars / int_5a963d1c	type	False Reassurance
Agent to the Stars / int_5a963d1c	comment	False Reassurance: At one point Tom earnestly assures Michelle that she didn't just get the action heroine role of her star-making film because the producer wanted to sleep with her. Tom then mentally notes to himself that the other reason was because she was incredibly cheap to hire at the time.
Agent to the Stars / int_5a963d1c	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_5a963d1c	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_5a963d1c
Agent to the Stars / int_5e3c35bd	type	Badass Bureaucrat
Agent to the Stars / int_5e3c35bd	comment	Badass Bureaucrat: Miranda Escalon. She spend several years as a teenage gang member, then turned her life around, went to college, and became an office assistant.
Agent to the Stars / int_5e3c35bd	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_5e3c35bd	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_5e3c35bd
Agent to the Stars / int_5f52cfcf	type	Intrepid Reporter
Agent to the Stars / int_5f52cfcf	comment	Intrepid Reporter: Jim Van Doren of The Biz. He spends much of the novel being a thorn in Tom's side, writing ridiculous articles about him, right at the time Tom needs the spotlight to be as far away from him (and Joshua) as possible. Unfortunately, Tom's secretiveness only piques Jim's interest. He ends up accidentally hitching a ride to the Yherajk ship, and Tom gets him to agree to hold off on writing anything about the aliens until the official First Contact. Jim reluctantly agrees and, eventually, ends up cashing in on the reveal by writing a book on his experiences aboard the Ionar. He also agrees to relive Michelle's last memories, with Gwedif being used as a conductor, in order to determine if she really did intend to kill herself. He proves that it was all a terrible mistake, which convinces the Yherajk to try letting Joshua "inhabit" Michelle's brain-dead body.
Agent to the Stars / int_5f52cfcf	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_5f52cfcf	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_5f52cfcf
Agent to the Stars / int_617f0563	type	Heelâ€“Face Turn
Agent to the Stars / int_617f0563	comment	Heel–Face Turn: After being a persistent thorn in Tom's side Van Doren the entertainment reporter is swung over to their side with the promise of an exclusive story and book deal abotu the alines upon stowing away aboard the ship.
Agent to the Stars / int_617f0563	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_617f0563	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_617f0563
Agent to the Stars / int_64e975cf	type	Manly Tears
Agent to the Stars / int_64e975cf	comment	Manly Tears: Anyone guy who witnesses Michelle/Joshua's performance as Rachel Spiegelman is invariably driven to tears. It helps that Michelle/Joshua is working with the personal experience "downloaded" from Tom's grandmother, who is herself a Holocaust survivor.
Agent to the Stars / int_64e975cf	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_64e975cf	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_64e975cf
Agent to the Stars / int_658854ee	type	I'm a Doctor, Not a Placeholder
Agent to the Stars / int_658854ee	comment	I'm a Doctor, Not a Placeholder: Tom asks Carl how "the stuff in the aquarium" can talk. Carl responds with "I'm not really sure about the physics of it, Tom. I'm an agent, not a scientist".
Agent to the Stars / int_658854ee	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_658854ee	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_658854ee
Agent to the Stars / int_6cc39b20	type	Puppeteer Parasite
Agent to the Stars / int_6cc39b20	comment	Puppeteer Parasite: A rare benevolent example. The Yherajk are technically slime monsters who can enter another being's body e.g. a human and take over them. However, the Yherajk are strictly against this behavior, and it takes no small amount of effort for Tom to convince Joshua to take over the brain-dead Michelle.
Agent to the Stars / int_6cc39b20	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_6cc39b20	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_6cc39b20
Agent to the Stars / int_72e1bd14	type	Bungled Suicide
Agent to the Stars / int_72e1bd14	comment	Bungled Suicide: After being left alone with latex on her face, Michelle pulls out the straws from her nostrils in a teenage-like tantrum (of the "I'd like to see their reaction, after they find me dead" kind), before realizing that she was suffocating. By the time the paramedics arrive, she has been without oxygen for too long and has received significant brain damage.
Agent to the Stars / int_72e1bd14	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_72e1bd14	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_72e1bd14
Agent to the Stars / int_9ab0aec0	type	The Dog Is an Alien
Agent to the Stars / int_9ab0aec0	comment	The Dog Is an Alien: Joshua eventually "inhabits" the body of Ralph, an old retriever, who suffers a heart attack. He explains that his people are normally against "inhabiting" the body of someone against their will, but he could sense that Ralph wanted it.
Agent to the Stars / int_9ab0aec0	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_9ab0aec0	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_9ab0aec0
Agent to the Stars / int_a036d3df	type	Sarcastic Confession
Agent to the Stars / int_a036d3df	comment	Sarcastic Confession: Maybe. At one point, Jim Van Doren asks Tom directly what he's up to, and Tom tells him the truth, knowing fully well that Jim will think he's mocking him. It isn't mentioned how much, if any, sarcasm there is in Tom's tone of voice, though.
Agent to the Stars / int_a036d3df	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_a036d3df	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_a036d3df
Agent to the Stars / int_a19135a6	type	Mind Control
Agent to the Stars / int_a19135a6	comment	Mind Control: The Yherajk are able to exert control over lesser beings (i.e. animals) by sticking tiny (invisible to the naked eye) tendrils through their orifices into their brains and instructing them directly mind-to-mind. Back on their homeworld, they use this means to control a large frog-like animal (with more legs), their version of a beast of burden. When Tom shows his distaste for such method, Joshua points out that it's more humane than whipping or spurring an animal to get it to obey. They are strictly forbidden from doing that to other sentient beings, though.
Agent to the Stars / int_a19135a6	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_a19135a6	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_a19135a6
Agent to the Stars / int_a2cbad1	type	Half-Human Hybrid
Agent to the Stars / int_a2cbad1	comment	Half-Human Hybrid: A variation. After making contact with Carl, a Yherajk named Gwedif explain that they wish to create a new Yherajk who has both the collective memories of the entire crew of the Ionar (about 2000 individuals), as well as a human (Carl), in order to serve as a bridge between the two races. Carl agrees, and Gwedif serves as a conduit for Carl's memories to the rest of the crew (Gwedif himself does not participate in the melding, but he explains that he will write the epic of this historic event). The result is a Yherajk, whom Carl names Joshua after his father (he rejects the Yherajk original idea of "Jesus" as being too offensive for a large percentage of humanity, instead opting for a translation of the same name). Joshua's first words to Carl are "Hi, pop". Compared to Gwedif (who mostly learned English from watching human TV), Joshua speaks English with perfect ease and understands American culture.
Agent to the Stars / int_a2cbad1	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_a2cbad1	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_a2cbad1
Agent to the Stars / int_a4c37cbe	type	Mood Whiplash
Agent to the Stars / int_a4c37cbe	comment	Mood Whiplash: The first half of the novel is fairly light and involves plenty of humorous moments. Then Michelle has an accident and ends up brain-dead. The rest of the novel is notably much more somber and darker, although there are some lighter moments.
Agent to the Stars / int_a4c37cbe	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_a4c37cbe	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_a4c37cbe
Agent to the Stars / int_a672255e	type	Doing It for the Art
Agent to the Stars / int_a672255e	comment	invoked Doing It for the Art: Despite just landing a $12.5 million deal to star in a sequel to her Alien Invasion blockbuster Murdered Earth, Michelle Beck is determined to try to get the lead role in a relatively low-budget biopic about a Holocaust survivor/civil rights advocate named Rachel Spiegelman. This is despite the fact that she barely has any idea what the Holocaust even was and that she looks nothing like the real Rachel Spiegelman, not to mention that her acting ability is average at best. She wants the role to work on her "craft", not wanting to be stuck doing sci-fi flicks for the rest of her career. Unfortunately, the Spiegelman family has veto power over the role of their late relative, and they don't believe that a twenty-something blue-eyed blonde like Michelle Beck deserves to play someone they consider a saint.
Agent to the Stars / int_a672255e	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_a672255e	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_a672255e
Agent to the Stars / int_a7caa5b5	type	First Contact
Agent to the Stars / int_a7caa5b5	comment	First Contact: The Yherajk decide to postpone doing that, until humans at large are ready to accept a Blob Monster-like race on good terms. It finally happens during the Academy Awards, as "Michelle Beck" (actually, Joshua) is receiving her Oscar for playing a Holocaust survivor, she makes a grand speech about universal acceptance before becoming transparent (although retaining the shape of Michelle) and announcing that humans are not alone. It works. The unofficial first contact took place when Gwedif called Carl's cell phone and introduced himself, asking him to turn on the pool lights. Gwedif's pod then landed into the pool and dissolved. Gwedif then spoke to Carl. After coming to (he fainted), Carl spoke to Gwedif and found out what the Yherajk wanted. Gwedif and Carl then went up to the Ionar to meet the rest of the crew.
Agent to the Stars / int_a7caa5b5	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_a7caa5b5	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_a7caa5b5
Agent to the Stars / int_adbbb5c5	type	Writers Suck
Agent to the Stars / int_adbbb5c5	comment	Writers Suck: Tom's explanation of the difference between gross and net points. Gross points are a share of the film's box office take, whereas net points are a share of the profits. However, movie studio accounting can ensure that a quarter billion dollars of gross vanishes into vaious black holes, meaning that gross points are the ones that matter, and net points are offered to "the gullible, the desperate and the screenwriters".
Agent to the Stars / int_adbbb5c5	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_adbbb5c5	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_adbbb5c5
Agent to the Stars / int_b2407a69	type	Talk to the Fist
Agent to the Stars / int_b2407a69	comment	Talk to the Fist: Tom's reaction after finding out that another agent in a neighboring office has stolen several of his clients, after deliberately sabotaging him in an article. After walking in on the guy, in the middle of a meeting with a Playboy playmate, he walks around the desk, and breaks his nose with a single punch before warning him to never poach his clients again. He then sits in the vacant seat, smiles to the playmate, and asks her if she needs an agent. She runs away screaming. Tom does later admit to his secretary Miranda that his hand hurts like hell.
Agent to the Stars / int_b2407a69	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_b2407a69	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_b2407a69
Agent to the Stars / int_b9d334b2	type	Aerith and Bob
Agent to the Stars / int_b9d334b2	comment	Aerith and Bob: Of the spoken Yherajk names (translated from their "smell" language), some of the names are Gwedif, Ionar, and Uake. Then there's Joshua. This is justified, though, as he's a Half-Human Hybrid of sorts, whose name was given by Carl (in lieu of "Jesus").
Agent to the Stars / int_b9d334b2	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_b9d334b2	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_b9d334b2
Agent to the Stars / int_bbcdd673	type	One-Gender Race
Agent to the Stars / int_bbcdd673	comment	One-Gender Race: The Yherajk don't have a concept of sex or gender, given their nature and method of reproduction. However, for ease of communication, the pronoun "he" is employed. Additionally, Joshua behaves in a more masculine manner than the rest of his kind, but this is likely because Carl (a human male) is one of his parents and is the one who named him Joshua. Joshua's manner changes slightly after becoming "Michelle", and Tom makes it a point to refer to "Michelle" as "she".
Agent to the Stars / int_bbcdd673	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_bbcdd673	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_bbcdd673
Agent to the Stars / int_c0d32460	type	Sexy Secretary
Agent to the Stars / int_c0d32460	comment	Sexy Secretary: Miranda Escalon is Tom's assistant. Besides being attractive, she is very good at her job, and her relationship with Tom has traces of Sassy Secretary. While in a vulnerable state, Tom ends up kissing Miranda, and she responds in kind. She later finds out about the aliens and even allows Joshua to rummage around in her brain to learn how to control a female human body, although she demands that Tom not be present during this. During the montage at the end, it's mentioned that Tom and Miranda got married and are expecting a baby.
Agent to the Stars / int_c0d32460	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_c0d32460	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_c0d32460
Agent to the Stars / int_c6102eb0	type	Grand Theft Me
Agent to the Stars / int_c6102eb0	comment	Grand Theft Me: Played with. Joshua enters Michelle and takes over her, body and memory both. However, that is only because she is brain-dead, and her final moments are of her wishing desperately to live. In order to ensure Michelle's legacy lives on, Joshua reluctantly inhabits her body to continue living as her.
Agent to the Stars / int_c6102eb0	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_c6102eb0	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_c6102eb0
Agent to the Stars / int_c9e5a0db	type	Legacy Character
Agent to the Stars / int_c9e5a0db	comment	Legacy Character: Due to the Yherajk's belief that memories are the soul, Michelle does technically live on in the form of Joshua inheriting her memories and body.
Agent to the Stars / int_c9e5a0db	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_c9e5a0db	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_c9e5a0db
Agent to the Stars / int_cac6d1d2	type	Mental Fusion
Agent to the Stars / int_cac6d1d2	comment	Mental Fusion: The Yherajk are capable of melding with one another to transfer memories. This is done as a method of teaching and for reproduction (to create a new personality from bits and pieces of the "parents"). On their homeworld, they also do it with animals to control them via tiny (so thin, they've invisible) tendrils they insert through orifices into the brain. This also works on terrestrial creatures, including humans, although controlling another sentient being is a great taboo among their people. After becoming Michelle Beck, Joshua is taken to meet Tom's grandmother, a Holocaust survivor, who has lost the ability to speak after her stroke. Michelle/Joshua melds with her to discover what that horrible experience was like in order to ace Michelle's casting for Hard Memories. It works beyond all expectations, as "Michelle" plays the role of a Jewish woman in the Warsaw ghetto as if she herself was there.
Agent to the Stars / int_cac6d1d2	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_cac6d1d2	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_cac6d1d2
Agent to the Stars / int_ce165390	type	Casting Couch
Agent to the Stars / int_ce165390	comment	Casting Couch: Averted with Tom. It's mentioned that he first met Michelle, when she was working as a waitress at a restaurant, and he was a young hot-shot agent, looking to make this trope a reality. Michelle turned out to be too smart for that and convinced Tom to take her on as a client through determination alone. This is also what the agent who has previously worked with Tea Reader hoped before finding out that she was The Prima Donna.
Agent to the Stars / int_ce165390	featureApplicability	-1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_ce165390	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_ce165390
Agent to the Stars / int_d0bf8a6d	type	No Periods, Period
Agent to the Stars / int_d0bf8a6d	comment	No Periods, Period: Menstruation is mentioned a total of one time, when Gwedif explains to Miranda the reason why Joshua needs to literally dig around inside her brain to figure out how to control a female human body. As Gwedif points out, a human male brain doesn't know how to handle things like menstruation. Miranda quips that this is true on so many level, and Gwedif agrees, presumably aware of the trope from watching TV.
Agent to the Stars / int_d0bf8a6d	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_d0bf8a6d	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_d0bf8a6d
Agent to the Stars / int_dc579c91	type	Contrived Coincidence
Agent to the Stars / int_dc579c91	comment	Contrived Coincidence: When talking to Roland Lanois, the director of Hard Memories, Tom discovers that Roland is planning to direct another Holocaust-related film, based on the life of a Catholic Polish poet, who was put in a concentration camp for helping Jews. Roland is having some difficulty getting the rights from the poet's surviving family. Tom recognizes the poet as Krysztof Kordus and explains that he has the rights to Krysztof's works, which were passed down from Tom's father, a literary agent.
Agent to the Stars / int_dc579c91	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_dc579c91	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_dc579c91
Agent to the Stars / int_ee19d278	type	Blob Monster
Agent to the Stars / int_ee19d278	comment	Blob Monster: The Yherajk are shapeless blobs with the ability to change their shape. They are, actually, a sentient colony organism with no specific organs. Their individual cells are fully interchangeable and do the tasks necessary for the moment. It's difficult to physically harm a Yherajk, although they are not immortal. According to Joshua, their natural lifespan is about the same as a human's (roughly, 90 years). As their method of reproduction is very similar to mitosis, all Yherajk are identical on a genetic level (which means they really do all look the same). Since learning that humans typically fear blob monsters thanks to Hollywood, they wish to first attempt to change humanity's view of such creatures before making first introductions. Should they fail, they are fully prepared to turn around and head home.
Agent to the Stars / int_ee19d278	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_ee19d278	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_ee19d278
Agent to the Stars / int_f0982bbf	type	Aliens Steal Cable
Agent to the Stars / int_f0982bbf	comment	Aliens Steal Cable: How the Yherajk first learned of humanity. It took them awhile to figure out that not everything they were looking at was a reflection of reality. They even thought that reruns were ritual reenactments of some important cultural events. This is also how they learned English, although, due to the time lag, they thought that "groovy" was still in wide use.
Agent to the Stars / int_f0982bbf	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_f0982bbf	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_f0982bbf
Agent to the Stars / int_f9a85905	type	Planet Spaceship
Agent to the Stars / int_f9a85905	comment	Planet Spaceship: The Yherajk ship, the Ionar, is a converted asteroid. It can only move at sublight speeds, so the journey from their homeworld took them several decades.
Agent to the Stars / int_f9a85905	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_f9a85905	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_f9a85905
Agent to the Stars / int_ff369faa	type	Symbiotic Possession
Agent to the Stars / int_ff369faa	comment	Symbiotic Possession: A variation. Tom later discovers that the Yherajk are able to "enter" other living beings and control them from the inside. This first happens during a hike Joshua takes with Ralph, an old dog that belongs to one of Tom's neighbors. During the trek, Ralph has a heart attack, and Joshua is forced to "inhabit" him to save him. However, in doing so, Joshua absorbs Ralph's personality, and his body is slowly taking over, as Ralph's cells are dying. Eventually, nothing is left of Ralph besides parts of his personality in Joshua's mind. After Michelle's accident leaves her brain-dead, Tom convinces Joshua to do the same thing to her.
Agent to the Stars / int_ff369faa	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_ff369faa	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_ff369faa
Agent to the Stars / int_name	type	ItemName
Agent to the Stars / int_name	comment
Agent to the Stars / int_name	featureApplicability	1.0
Agent to the Stars / int_name	featureConfidence	1.0
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Agent to the Stars / int_name
Agent to the Stars / int_name	itemName	Agent to the Stars

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Aliens Steal Cable / int_a9860543
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Benevolent Alien Invasion / int_a9860543
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Blob Monster / int_a9860543
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Casting Couch / int_a9860543
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Extra Parent Conception / int_a9860543
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Girl Friday / int_a9860543
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Pom-Pom Girl / int_a9860543
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Sexy Surfacing Shot / int_a9860543
Agent to the Stars	hasFeature	Writers Suck / int_a9860543

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