#there's also something about the use of names in wolf 359

[silverandebony]

haha noooo i'm not going to finally go memorize chunks of st augustine's confessions book x just because i found out abt it though wolf 359 and have been vaguely meaning to since then nahhhh dunno what you're talking about,

[nobodysdaydreams]

My Reaction to Episodes 7-10 of Wolf 359 (But first, an update on my reactions for those who are curious...)

Thank you to everyone for your enthusiasm. I wasn't expecting this much excitement for my reactions/liveblogs, but I love it! 🥰

Shoutout to @commsroom for sending me a list of episodes with post credit scenes which include ep 5 cigarette candy, ep 37 overture, and ep 43 persuasion. Thanks Comms Room!

I did go back and listen to the post credits scene for episode 5 and OH MY GOSH HILBERT. WHAT. What. Why. Why? like dude. You're in space! Of all the places to be conducting highly dangerous and deadly and unethical experiments on human test subjects. I've insulted Curtain (tmbs) and Uncle Andrew (narnia) a lot on this blog but I gotta give them credit: at least neither of them were stupid enough to do their experiments in space. Though in Andrew's case, I think that's mostly because he couldn't get to space in 1900s London even if he wanted to.

I currently have Wolf359 Tags blocked to avoid spoilers and will try my best to react blindly.

Tagging the mutuals who got me invested in this, and if you want to be tagged or untagged from these posts, lmk, or you can follow my blog or simply follow the tag "#bods wolf359 reactions". Anyone who has followed me for a while knows my updates are inconsistent, so I apologize in advance for that.

@sophieswundergarten @oflightningandstars @acollectionofcuriousreblogs

Anyway on to the actual reactions. I did not intend on feeling ill today, but while I take a late lunch break, perhaps I can give a few episodes a listen.

Episode 7:

Interesting that the AI has her own emotions and can fight with them. I wonder what information she's withholding from the captain?

Wow Hilbert should have been a professional chess player instead. I think that would have saved everyone a lot of trouble.

Oh hush up Hilbert I don't trust you. Um...why do I think that Specimen 34 might have indoctrinated Hilbert in his (her? its? their????) cult?

Eiffel. DO NOT TELL HIM WHERE THE FERTILIZER IS!

Hopefully that lie will buy a little time.

"Soon you will be allowed to surrender to the growth of your biological superior" ... you know, for a "biologically superior" plant, it might want to try being a tad less ominous.

Mincowski, I like you, and I agree thus far, but listen. Hilbert is worshiping a plant now. This is a huge crisis. What if he uses it to cheat at chess?

Hera and Mincowski. Please. I think this is important. I think Hera needs to be more honest, at least for my sake, because I want the tea.

...Seed of life? ...THE OPPRESSOR? What. who is the oppressor?

Eiffel. Please just get to the point. 👏 Hilbert. 👏 Is. 👏 Worshipping. 👏 A. 👏 Plant. 👏

✨Maybe you should do something✨

"Audrey 2 territory" THERE IS A LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS REFERENCE! I KNEW IT!

Oh they're calling him a plant worshipper now. Finally, acknowledging it for what it is.

Oh dear. He's back.

THE BLESSED ETERNAL?

Wait. That can't be the end. The crew was gonna watch Home Alone 2!

Episode 8:

Huh. This is a cool title. "Box953", which is 359 backwards. Hm. You also get 365 if you scramble the numbers and rotate the 9.

Okay. No more about Commander Mincowski. What happened to the plant, oh I'm sorry, "the blessed eternal". That's such a long name. Can I just call him Percival? Percival the plant. Percy for short.

Talent show???

I do not want to know what Dr. Hilbert's talent is. Creating plant monsters?

Yeah. It is scary that you agree with Hilbert. Again, did I skip an episode??? Where did the plant go??? Where is Percy?

How often has Hilbert been knocking people out? I don't like this.

AND WHERE DID PERCY GO?

I'm sorry. You have a room with HUNDREDS of crates that you've never been into? Oh. Godard Futuristics? Corporate sponsor? I sense some backstory.

...Russian dolls???

(wait...Garrison...???)

Oh no eyes, don't like that. That's weird.

Box 239...paper? Santa letters??

Box 56...canon? Yeah I agree what is all this random stuff for?

Oh that's faster. A log that will tell what's in the boxes. 217 has Lego blocks? 300 has pieces for 3 full suits of armor? Is this like an amazon delivery ship?

"Please handle with a vague feeling of existential dread" always a great thing to read.

Box 953- reserved for Douglas Eiffel. Don't open.

What does that mean?

Hilbert. You were worshipping a plant. The commander singing is not a crisis. Oh, pirate costumes! This is shaping up to be quite the performance!

Does everyone else get a box too? And how is a room with hundreds of boxes go unnoticed after a year and a half. Are the boxes not in order?

Hilbert. I would also fire a shot past your head. The captain needs her ice cream! This insubordination will not stand.

Hilbert doesn't scream for ice cream. Hilbert only screams for the blessed eternal.

Oh and apparently ice cream too. Prioritizes.

And where is Hera? Oh Hera is here? Proud of her for getting into theater.

1,000 and something crates?

Oh. The errors and access denies hurt Hera? That's awful.

Wow. That's a big box.

"Keep closed at all times". Very ominous. Don't like the cold.

HUMMING FROM INSIDE THE BOX? That sounds like a heartbeat? Don't like that. Don't like it at all.

Yeah Eiffel. You can go. You can go and figure out why nothing on the ship makes sense.

Okay. Box open. Don't like those noises.

...

...

Oh good he's back. ugh we still don't get to know about the box?

Box 56? OH THE CANON. OH BOY.

WAIT. NO. NO. PLEASE TELL ME WE DIDN'T LOSE THE BOXES. PLEASE. Wait. THEY DID? NOOOOOOOOOOOOO....

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.............................................................................................................................

Hilbert this was the ONE TIME you could have used your evil science talents for good you had ONE JOB.

There...there was a heartbeat in there. It scared me, and it could have been another evil plant, but...but what if it was a little friend? What if they killed him 🥺?

I wanted to know too Eiffel. I want to know too. This is so sad.

What were the boxes for? Why did Douglas have his own? Why couldn't Hera access it?

Well this was frustrating. I hope you all enjoyed it though.

Episode 9:

Yeah Eiffel. Space is dangerous. Maybe you should all just go home. After all, why do you have to stay here?

Yes please define safe. I don't think that's a simple question. I still wanna know about the blessed plant Percy. And the box.

Canaveral? Command? ...okay backstory the command center stopped giving them calls...I feel like they should have questioned that a bit more...

"The golden rose is ready for melting. Proceed with designation alpha. Beware 5: The empty man has awoken."

Nope. Turn around. Go home. Clearly something nefarious is a foot and WHO OR WHAT IS THE EMPTY MAN? Well, there are only two men on this ship that we know of, plus one woman and an AI. Oh, and about a thousand mysterious boxes which could contain alien life capable of surviving in space that just got launched into space, so I suppose one ought to account for that. Oh and the evil plant monster that seems to show up whenever the crew wants to avoid each other.

Godard futuristics again. Yeah they sure do have some explaining to do. TWO WEEKS TO GET A MESSAGE TO EARTH?

TWO WEEKS TO TELL PEOPLE YOU'RE IN DANGER?

Don't like that.

Don't like Hilbert's response either. He said "what? why?" not "no, why?". If the answer is no, just say no.

Oh more info!

"The andromedas are broken. The northern light should be reversed. Alert 4: The empty man approaches."

Um. What do the numbers mean? And are they telling 5 to beware of the empty man, or someone else to beware because 5 is the empty man?

"The frozen pages are blank. Decide what to do with the time that is given to you. Emergency 3: The empty man hungers."

...

Okay. So it looks like the numbers might be an extremely fast countdown.

...

Well at least there haven't been any more messages.

A lockdown is nice. Unless the monster is already inside.

Good idea: don't give Hilbert a gun.

Yep. there comes another message Eiffel. You had to tempt fate...oh shut up Hilbert I don't want to agree with you.

"The broken flower is in the vase. Don't listen to your eyes. Danger 2: The empty man sees you."

Maybe the empty man took the eyes from the Russian dolls.

OH MR. PRECIVAL PLANT AKA THE BLESSED ETERNAL IS STILL HERE????

Why. Why were they having a talent show? Should capturing and killing the plant not be priority one?

"There's no way out. There's no way out. But there is a way in. Danger 1: The empty man shall knock."

Okay so this is the second message with danger. It's an alert and level system. Beware, Alert, Emergency, Danger, with levels 1-5, with 1 being the worst. Okay.

...weird that they are warning them, and yet they seem to know exactly what the empty man is going to do. That doesn't really make sense.

Oh do NOT like that sound.

"0: The empty man is with you. Extreme Danger 0: The empty man is with you. Extreme Danger."

Is...are they the empty man? Or is the empty man...

"The proceeding six pulse beacon relays that you have received have been part of a psychological experiment. Please disregard the content of these messages and return to regular operational activities as soon as possible. Please report and clearly label any unusual crew behavior, deviation from protocol, or undue lack of decorum that resulted due to the transmission of these messages."

...

Sounds exactly like what the empty man would say.

Suspicious.

Also if the "empty man" was with them...and apparently they can't trust their eyes...then theoretically, the seventh message might not say what they think it says. (Conspiracy theory????)

But my wild theories aside, this was extremely unethical. And I think we ALL know who would call that an experiment. HILBERT.

Wait Douglas used to work at pizza hut? Now he works in space? Uh, congrats on the promotion I guess.

Episode 10:

Oh Nitrogen tanks. Eiffel...I think you might have messed up...

✨Yessssssssssss✨

And...boom goes the Nitrogen!

"One of these days I'll actually kill you" I hope you don't. You two need to team up against Hilbert and his crazy-crazy experiments.

Wait...did they just discover a secret room? ONE HERA CAN'T EVEN SEE?

...so they're all working with limited information...

How did they hide such a huge room? Wouldn't they need to account for that while flying through space.

Dark medical lab. Well. That could be where Percy is hiding out.

GENETIC EXPERIMENTS ON SPIDERS TO MAKE THEM BIGGER?

No. No. No. No. No. No. No. Don't like it. I agree. Why wall it up?

Elia Selburg? I can't spell but let's see. "mixed results...specimen growth and development promising but extremely high levels of toxicity unintended side effect. Contact with live specimens extremely dangerous as shown with recent exposure trial. Captain Lovelace has ordered termination..."

Hold on. Lovelace? I've heard that name, I've seen that name before I blocked the tags I think.

Why wall it up? PROBABLY FOR YOUR SAFETY.

Maybe it was walled up to keep something in!

Oh no. Looks like Hera agrees with me.

"What has it been eating?"

Probably the other spiders.

Well Eiffel's done for once again. He was a good character while he lasted. 🫡

Why would you not tell the crew about the secret lab with dangerous spiders? Tell them so they know to keep it walled up! WHO is keeping all these secrets and WHY are they keeping all the secrets?

The sneeze of death. Put your finger under your nose. That will do it.

Nice of him to leave Hera in his will.

Aw the spider is cuddling for warmth. Eiffel has a little friend. A poisonous, deadly friend who has killed and will kill again.

Oh no he snapped.

...but was that the only spider...????

At least Eiffel is okay. And it does look like it was just the one...

...I hope they're right. If they really wanted to be terrifying they could have had it be a pregnant spider. You kill one of those things and BAM! All the baby spiders, hundreds of thousands everywhere. Everywhere. Don't ask how I know this. You don't want to know.

Oh...archives and notebooks. Interesting. I hope we get a chance to look through those.

Well I have actual work I need to try to go but this has been fun. I hope I get some more answers soon, but I am enjoying the mysteries. Thanks everyone for reading, and have a great day!

[themostuselesspotato]

intro post!! Bc why not

my name is Lyss! You can call me that or something relating to my @. I'm aroace and agender and use xe/they/he pronouns, but you can pretty much call me whatever as long as it's not she/her :)) I'm also a minor, pls don't be creepy

Official intro post here! @hauntedpotat is my main blog, but I post fan content here

I made a poll in late February about taking down my fanart wall and posting that stuff, so if you want to find that it's all tagged #wall fanart on here 👍

The #potat's friend interactions tag is pretty self explanatory! #potat's caving roadtrip is from when I went on a roadtrip with my dad to Kentucky and Indiana's caves!

Now onto fandoms!!

My current obsessions are mechs and tma/tmagp!! I Cannot Escape. That's probably all I'll be posting for a while :)

Fandoms lists below cut vv

Fandoms I WILL post about (or already have):

The magnus archives/the magnus protocol

The mechanisms

Rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles (my beloved)

Danny phantom (occasionally)

PJO, HOO, TOA, etc (pretty much anything by Rick Riordan, i've read all of the books and watched the PJO show)

The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic <3

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

Spiderverse movies

Star Wars!! Especially the animated stuff :)

Nimona!!! I love this movie sm :)))

Hermitcraft. Probably

Other fandoms I am in and might (but probably won't) post about??:

Heartstopper (and anything else by Alice Oseman)

Welcome to night vale

Marvel

She-ra 2018

Arcane

Shadow and Bone/Six of Crows, etc by Leigh Bardugo

(This is a much shorter list than I thought it would be lmao)

Fandoms I plan to get into! Dont murder me for not watching these yet pLEASE:

Good Omens

The Owl House

Adventure Time

Stephen Universe

Gravity Falls

Hadestown

Ride the Cyclone

Archive 81

Wolf 359

Alice isn't Dead

Camp Here & There

The Penumbra Podcast

And more! These are my prioritized fandoms so I don't get ripped apart by my friends for being a sheltered kid :] I'm also not listing books, bc I have a really long to be read list

[violetren]

psst hi I am a huge fan of sstl, like it's probably the greatest fiction experience I've ever experienced, but I've never listened to any other works like it! would you recommend other works Ishani's been part of, or do you have any recommendations in general for, I guess, narrative fiction audio?

Oh for sure. Idk what exactly made you pick up ssttl or what about it struck a chord so for now I'm only gonna throw like 3 or 4 things out here based on vibe or plot similarities to ssttl and my personal preferences. If you wanna tell me more about what you're into I can try give you a wider range of recs.

First up, The Strange Case of Starship Iris.

If you picked up ssttl because it's sci-fi with lead characters of colour and queer rep, or because of how its futuristic in a way that feels believably fucked over by capitalism and yet still has a gentleness and hopefulness to it, or because you like character driven narrative then for sure give this a try.

It's also the reason I knew Ishani Kanetkar's name and knowing her name is why I immediately moved ssttl to the top of my "to listen to" list. The shows concept was cool enough to grab my attention but reading Ishani Kanetkar was in the leading role made me give it immediately. I haven't listened to all of the good doctor's work but I have noticed two things: 1, she is a fantastic VA. And 2, projects she's had a significant role in usually have a really cool concept behind them. She either has fantastic tastes, incredible luck, or both. Obviously read descriptions and see if something is to your taste before listening but like, no reason not to look up her other work and use it as a launch pad.

Back the tscosi rec. The story begins by following the harrowing day of biologist Violet Liu as her research vessel falls apart around her after an explosion. Against all odds someone is there to rescue her, captain Kay Grisham picks up her distress call, and the rescue comences. The rest of the season follows the fall out of that tragic explosion and heroic rescue.

The show is ongoing, currently has 2 complete seasons out with a 3rd (and I believe final) season to come.

Rec 2: Girl In Space

A funny and resourceful scientist lady, living alone in space, talking to her recorder logs and her ships glitchy AI (who may or may not have or be developing sentience), and one day being very surprised when suddenly she has a human person to talk to instead. Sound familiar?

The plot is actually very different though. Our girl X lives on a space station that can never return home and her whole existence is as much of a mystery as what exactly her mission is supposed to be. The soundscaping on this show combined with Sarah Rhea Werner's (and the rest of the casts) acting is absolutely amazing.

There is currently 1 season fully released and the second season is apparently due out this year. In reccing this I may have accidentally begun a relisten.

Rec 3: Wolf 359

This one is actually complete if that means anything to you. Figured I'd drop one in since the other two have been ongoing. Its a big one, over 60 episodes plus a ton of bonus episodes.

Wolf 359 follows the crew of the u.s.s haphaestus an isolated little research vessel orbiting a star designated Wolf 359. It starts out goofy and like there isn't gonna be much plot, this is a cunning ruse to lull you into a false sense of security before hurtling you into an emotional roller coaster that will make you fear for, cry for, laugh with, and grow to love the rag tag crew. The characters are very compelling in that they are allowed to be flawed, some to the point that they are unlikeable, but in that good way that means you're connected with the story and wanna see them get their comeuppance, not that they're badly written and make you wanna stop listening kinda way.

Also like half the cast is voiced by the writer Zach Valenti, and even telling you that, if you check the show out there are gonna be episodes where if you hear the credits list and go "wait, he was that many people!?" Amazing VA abilities.

Rec the fourth, The Penumbra Podcast.

TTP has two story lines and you can listen to one without ever touching the other but Imma rec both here because there is a reason this podcast as a whole makes so many rec lists for anyone looking to get into audiodrama series. Both storylines have very different vibes and approaches, but both deal overall subtly deal with what it is like growing as a person, how rewarding it can be, but also acknowledging how fucking hard that can be.

Story line one, the Juno Steel universe, aka the Junoverse. This is a sci-fi story with a film-noir aesthetic. It follows the titular, character private detective Juno Steel a dame with a chip on his shoulder nearly as deep as a skyscraper is tall, and the cases they take in Hyperion City, a mega colony on a futuristic Mars. There is an overarching plot even as we go from case to case until eventually we move beyond that format.

The second story line is Tales from the Second Citadel. Set in a post apocalyptic high fantasy setting, the Second Citadel. This story follows the intersecting tales of several of the kingdoms knights (and a few not knights too). One of the knights will sound very familiar, Sir Damien voiced by Matthew Zahnzinger who also voices Mikail Reza in ssttl. In a truly hilarious turn of events Sir Damien also has a life changing (romantic) encounter with a scale covered non human entity.

Both story lines are highly character driven and contain a lot of heart. They also both feature a cast that is diverse in terms of race, sexuality, and gender.

As I said if you tell me more about what you liked about ssttl or why you chose to listen to it I'd be happy to give some more refined recs. All of these save for the second citadel portion of tpp involve space stuff but if you're open to more supernatural or just more terrestrial sci fi I definitely have more options you could consider.

If you ever wanna shout about ssttl or any of these shows if you end up listening to any well then you know where to find me.

Oh left field bonus rec because I just got a note about a post I made about it, Where the Stars Fell.

Unkillable lady scientist specialising in cryptid studies moves to the strange little town of Jerusalem Oregon. Becomes roommates with a reclusive author. They get along much like oil and water, it is all very gay.

I am typically a little turned off by shows with so many religious references but this one manages to be religious in the way that Good Omens is religious. That is, it's not preaching religion, its just using characters and concepts people may be familiar with from Christianity and using them to tell a funky little supernatural story with naturally high stakes grounded by very human characters. (human in the sense that they are emotional and flawed and brilliant).

It just finished its first season a couple of month ago so everyone is waiting for season 2, myself included.

[aliasjanedoe]

Picard discussion/theory

SPOILERS through episode 3x08.  I don’t know anybody on tumblr, I’ve no idea where the Picard fandom is, but I’d really like somebody to talk with about the show.  So if you’re out there, please say hi.  Thanks.

Anyway, here’s my theory for what’s going on with Jack...

I think we’re dealing with the Borg again.  Let’s start at the beginning (of S3).

Picard’s log entry about the Borg is playing in the opening scene.  Foreshadowing??

Moving on in no particular order because I can’t remember which ep is which.

Shaw makes sure we all remember Wolf 359 and that PICARD WAS A BORG!

Jack talks with Seven about feeling alone and needing connection.

That voice Jack keeps hearing is kinda Borg Queen vibes.  “Come home... to the collective.”

Jack’s brain thing is happening much younger than Picard’s.  But what if Picard’s brain thing started later... like when he was a Borg!  Now the time frames match up.

Data says Picard’s brain thing was misdiagnosed.  And come on, we all know Jack’s is something else.

Data also said what they wanted Picard’s body for.  Something was in him.  Like Borg nanites.  Something he could have passed along to his son.

Seven is constantly there with her name and her implant by her eye, reminding us of Borg bits left behind and not completely removed.  And do she and Picard feel entirely human again after what happened?  Nope.  (Their discussion in S1 came to mind.) 

The big bad says it’s fitting Seven’s there when she reveals what Jack really is.  Because BORG!

Does he feel guilty for what he is?  He’s hearing voices.  So many voices.  The collective.

Troi also says there’s an ancient voice inside him that isn’t his own.

Why would the Changelings be working with the Borg?  Like Lore said, the enemy of my enemy...

Why can Jack take people over?  It’s a hive thing.  But they’re human.  Well, I’m sure they’ll explain it later.

Jack’s red eyes.  Honestly don’t make a ton of sense either.  But remember every time Locutus looked at the camera and that red laser glare happened next to his eye?  Yeah.

Why is everything fucking red?!  I don’t know!  Because red is a very strong color cinematically??  Also, goddammit, Terry!!

[acaciapines]

i know you have your own conlang pronouns but have you considered using "thou" in daemon aus? cause thinking about it, people would probably still use "you" most of the time cause youre talking to a pair, but with "thou" to specify. like "where are you going?" vs "what are thou eating?". fun way for human-daemons to refer to daemonless people too

ooooh ive never considered this but i do really like it! much as i love conlang i think theres something really powerful in using like...the same words we use in english today but twisting their definitions so you gotta really sit n think w/ them for a sec (ex. in pseudalopex i have 'you' specifically meaning the half on their own, while the conlang 'eue' is for human-daemon pair). it adds another layer that is very fun to think on and this touches on that!!

dkdfgdfg YEAH fun fact the daemon pronouns originally were for my wolf 359 daemon au....they got cut for readability (this thing is 280k+ words long. its for a relatively small fandom. i already knew i wasnt getting much of an audience and figured not to make it any worse) and i think the fic honestly works fine w/out them because then later on when i used them in other fics those were more like....directly about that language but i do think sometimes. i think keeping them wouldve added A Lot.

like i was also gonna have pairs be called by last name and then first names are when you're talking to a specific half, but that was also cut bc most of the wolf 359 characters you know more by last name anyways, so. its an idea! i turn it around in my head sometimes but overall i still really like the final product.

where was i going with this. oh right poor daemonless (or humanless) people in daemon aus...there is so MUCH that you can do there!! and your language idea fits perfectly with the stuff i like to explore that i dont really see explored ever elsewhere.

[mothlegs]

dreamt of. unreality..? and illness

idk how to content warn this so read at your own risk

the first of my dreams were like...a zombie apocalypse, i think, but the zombies were extra stupid and...made..of sand..??

a guy helped me get a shotgun and then immediately got shot by someone??? i felt kinda guilty but it's not like i couldve done anything- the aim thingy on the shotgun sucked

something abt explosions. couldnt find my family, was really just running around trying not to get eaten. some of it was in a mall, which was like hoh similar to yesterday where i ran around a mall with something that looked kinda like the Baron from wwdits after escaping from the cops who were after me cause i ran away from school with a punk girl

i dont think i remember anything else from that dream. but then there was illness

im pretty sure the illness was Decima from Wolf 359 ??? and it made people like...idk what it's called, like doing a bridge pose kinda but with their limbs bent and their back flat, and then having the creepiest expressions

i saw one that was standing like that but on the tips of its toes and eueurghh creepy

i was so scared of this illness i was considering suicide just so i wouldnt get infected (this happens fairly often in my dreams ???)

there was more creepy shit to the illness that i dont remember

thenn dreamt something about. i dont even know what the point of the trip was

so like. im with this guy in a camper van and we're going to this place, the rest of my group home is in the normal van. we get there and i dont remember anything from it except i watch some creepy videos that like...break me

my neck is all wrong. im wearing a pearl necklace?? and when i take it off my neck is. broken. like theres a big, opposite of a dent on the upper part, and each time i move the necklace theres different weird stuff with my neck

like im slightly out of reality

we go home and things just get worse. i cant figure out how to turn off some sound, it keeps playing when i stop the video

i try playing other things but it just plays as they play. it's a sound of unreality

one of the videos i saw was with some freaky doll..? like a monster doll, almost gorey but not actual gore it was just so freaky

and the creator was a japanese man, and in the preview of the video he faints? and the title was something like..."moments from [the show] that make [creators name] seem almost human" ??

i get food somehow. something is wrong with it

we stop at like...a drive thru pizzaria but it's not a pizzaria, they just give us food when we stop there. we see a van on the other side covered in perfect scribbles

something is wrong with that entire place, and the food

we stop at an abandoned grocery store. i steal deodorant but it's...weird..?? like theres 3 parts and apparently you have to mix them and then it's some weird paste?? also it was made by nestle

we pick up the guys parents?? and his dad. eats. the deodorant mixture. cause he thought it was candy. ???

we talk a bit about hating nestle and how unethical most chocolate production is

at some point i hallucinate a doll walk past me. and other things, i start hallucinating badly and consider going on antipsychotics

the guy im with feels bad for me

at some point i slightly phase through my seat

i try rewatching the videos that broke me but it doesnt work

we've been driving for half an hour. i ask how long till we're home. he says two hours. im not sure i'll survive the trip

in a dream that feels related to all the others. me and someone else go to a ladys apartment. her window is open, and front door, and apartment complex door. we worry.

we get up there and theres some kinda lock? but the person im with figures it out fast. we're there to help her, apparently

there are three cats. one of them is my irl cat bella, and then theres a new kitten. it's screaming. the lady and other person dont handle it very gently, i worry for it cause it's very very small, shouldnt be away from its mom

i hold it and sway it gently like a baby, and i think i feed it. it stops yelling and seems to feel safe with me

i sit down with it and bella

then. my mom is there? maybe she was the other person. shes been...playing genshin??? and she says bella is named after a character she hates and she shows me her playing as barbara and i say her name is bella. there was something about the kittens name too but i no rememby

aaand i think thats it. i pet bella also, she was so big in the dream compared to irl. shes very tiny irl, grew a lot less than sia or even just her twin brother, hes as big as their dad now but shes teeny.

[worldcatlas]

DS9: Emissary (Part 1)

After an oddly Star Wars-esque text crawl, we meet Benjamin Sisko in a flashback to his time on the USS Saratoga, during the battle of Wolf 359. The ship is captained by a Vulcan named Storil, played by J.G. Hertzler, who would later come back to play the Klingon General Martok. Both are wearing TNG-style uniforms, and both are having a very bad day.

One of these characters is about to gain a tragic backstory, and it’s probably not the one we’ll never see again.

Oof. Thankfully, the plot fast forwards three years, and we see Sisko’s son Jake holo-fishing in some cute space overalls. The shirt appears to have an interesting texture, and the slightly darker fabric on the shoulders is a nice touch, with the double piping at the seams giving it just a hint of “space suit”.

You can eat whatever you catch, but it might leave you feeling a little… hollow.

Interestingly, this outfit would later find its way to the Delta quadrant, as we often see it worn by Rebi, one of the Borg twins in season 6 of Voyager.

Look, we all just want to be Super Mario in our hearts.

Next, it’s time to meet an old friend in a new uniform: it’s the universe’s favourite punching bag, Miles O’Brien! In contrast to the old uniforms, which displayed rank pips on a stiff collar, the new ones have a soft grey turtleneck under the jacket. As well, where the old uniforms had black shoulders and a coloured body and sleeves, the new ones are only coloured on top.

It saves on coloured ink in the replicator.

A tour of the dilapidated station wouldn’t be complete, of course, without a spooky Bajoran monk making ominous invitations, and Sisko is in luck! I love this look; the cowl and long sleeves convey religious modesty, while the asymmetry, exotic fabrics, and metallic accents give it a distinctly alien flair. Given the importance of Bajor to the plot of Deep Space Nine, it’s not surprising they’ve given this much care and attention to the Bajorans’ costume designs, but it’s still nice to see this level of detail on a one-off character.

He may be a harbinger of your cursed destiny, but he’s got his aesthetic locked down.

Speaking of Bajorans, we soon meet a very angry Major Kira in the uniform of the Bajoran militia. We’ll see different earth-toned variations around the station, but Kira’s is a rusty orange colour, made with heavy corduroy and quilted fabric on the sleeves. It’s a nice contrast to the primary colours Starfleet brings to the table, while still using rank pips and a communicator on the chest.

What, do you want me to do a twirl?

Elsewhere on the station, some last-minute looters are causing trouble, and we get a quick look at Ferengi fashion. Nog wears a typical Ferengi headpiece with shimmering sequins, and Quark adorns himself in heavy, patterned fabrics.

Rule of Acquisition #47: Don't trust a man wearing a better suit than your own.

Even better is Nog’s partner in (literal) crime, an unnamed alien in an impressively monochrome outfit. The alien wears baggy pants and a cowl similar to the Bajorans’, but also carries a spiked flail on his belt. He also wears a leather-looking vest with a strange bar across the front, and heavy bracers and boots, all in varying shades of brown.

It probably works great as camouflage… outside of a space station.

The two are busted, however, when security chief Odo shows up to out-brown them all.

Don’t make me go all the way to beige.

On board the docked Enterprise, Sisko has a very tense meeting with Picard, who asks him if they’ve met – before realizing they have, kinda, when Jean-Luc sort of uh… murdered Ben’s wife in his Borg phase. Oops.

Haha awkwarddd

The final straw was Sisko’s realization that they’d worn the same outfit, so he returns to the station to change into something else.

New year, new you(niform).

He gets a fit check from his new pal Odo, who wears a slightly different uniform in this scene than the one we saw on the promenade. This version is yellower, which doesn’t do any favours for his complexion, especially since the makeup also seems to be, uh, droopier.

You good, Odo? Need some bucket time?

Of course, a good captain always gets the opinion of his second in command, so he goes to see Kira as well, who is hard at work cleaning up the mess left behind by the Cardassians. It’s sweaty work, so she has removed her uniform jacket, revealing a very lovely sleeveless blouse underneath.

Redefining high-waisted pants for the 24th century.

In a helpful bit of exposition, she explains to Sisko how the Bajoran religion is the only thing holding her people together, and we get a glimpse of her earring – an important symbol of her faith.

However, their heartfelt conversation is cut short when the ominous monk from earlier returns to tell Sisko, simply, “It’s time.” He’s too Starfleet-polite to say no, or “who the heck even are you,” so we find ourselves whisked away to a temple.

Welcome! Get comfortable. It won’t last long.

The monks here, too, do amazing things with robes, using the same layering as before in various colours and textures. We meet Kai Opaka, an important religious leader, who insists on showing Ben a magic box. Suddenly, we’re transported to a beach, and our stoic commander is wearing some extremely purple beachwear.

I need to stop saying “yes” to everyone.Once the shock wears off, Sisko realizes his dead wife Jennifer is here too, in a killer teal and gold bikini! This would be great, except she doesn’t know who he is, so he just kind of weirds her out a little.

Excuse me, you’re blocking the radiation.

Sisko is nothing if not determined, however, and as he pursues Jennifer down the beach, we get to see some interesting swimwear in the background, too. I dig the pattern on the left suit, and the guy on the right is a great example of the old Trek standby of “colour blocking = futuristic”.

My man looking like an early aughts DVD menu.

Just as Ben’s about to win Jennifer over with aubergine stew, we’re thrown back to the present. Fortunately, it’s a present where we have Dabo girls in metallic latex dresses.

We’re all winners at the Dabo table.

Not fashion related, but I’m 99% sure this alien is playing his instrument with two cucumbers.

…?!

Anyway.

Gul Dukat comes aboard the station to spread smugness, wearing armour consistent with the Cardassians’ last appearance on TNG, though considerably updated from their first appearance (pictured: TNG season 4 “The Wounded”).

Is it just me, or do all Cardassians look alike?

Don’t expect to get any great fashion inspo from these guys, though, as they never leave the house without their pointy black security blankets.

Seriously, these guys have one look.

Lastly, we get a good – if all too brief – look at the outfit worn by Morn, the chatty barfly often seen in Quark’s. He’s wearing what appear to be studded leather gauntlets, to match the sleeves/pauldrons(?) on his top, which is obviously just stretched tight over his rippling muscles.

Some folks are just built different.

[reconditarmonia]

Dear Rule 63 Author

Hi! Thank you for writing for me! I’m reconditarmonia here and on AO3. I have anon messaging off, but, er, I can answer any questions you might have about my requests in my mod capacity if you contact the exchange email ;).

Fullmetal Alchemist | Hadestown| Machineries of Empire | Moby Dick | Sleep No More | Spinning Silver | Wolf 359

General likes:

– Relationships that aren’t built on romance or attraction. They can be romantic or sexual as well, but my favorite ships are all ones where it would still be interesting or compelling if the romantic component never materialized.

– Loyalty kink! Trust, affectionate or loving use of titles, gestures of loyalty, replacing one’s situational or ethical judgment with someone else’s, risking oneself (physically or otherwise) for someone else, not doing so on their orders. Can be commander-subordinate or comrades-in-arms.

– Heists, or other stories where there’s a lot of planning and then we see how the plan goes.

– Femslash, complicated or intense relationships between women, and female-centric gen. Women doing “male” stuff (possibly while crossdressing).

– Stories whose emotional climax or resolution isn’t the sex scene, if there is one.

– Uniforms/costumes/clothing.

– Stories, history, and performance. What gets told and how, what doesn’t get told or written down, behavior in a society where everyone’s consuming media and aware of its tropes, how people create their personas and script their own lines.

Smut Likes: clothing, uniforms, sexual tension, breasts, manual sex, cunnilingus, grinding, informal d/s elements, intensity.

General DNW: rape/dubcon, torture, other creative gore; unrequested AUs, including “same setting, different rules” AUs such as soulmates/soulbonds; PWP; food sex; embarrassment; focus on pregnancy; Christmas/Christian themes; infidelity; unrequested polyamory; focus on unrequested canon or non-canon ships; unrequested trans versions of characters; swapping female characters to male; unequal levels of investment in the relationship (including concerns about same that turn out to be unwarranted), or the idea of a character accepting something they're unhappy with as the most they're going to get.

A note: if we matched on an / ship, I generally don't require you to include a kiss, sex, or overt romantic language if you feel that you'd have to shoehorn it in. I'll trust that you wrote it with shippy intent.

About Rule 63 Exchange specifically: I have no strong preference for character names, with a slight preference for sticking with their canon names; it’s up to you whether you want to justify any resulting names that would be unusual for women or just gloss over it. As far as characters’ personalities and gender expression are concerned, I tend to want to see them as similar to their canon selves, just female. I’m probably fine with unrequested characters also being swapped to female, but feel free to check if you’re not sure. I don't expect, nor particularly want, a big deal made over characters' strong gender identity qua identity as female or whatnot.

It's a little confusing to tell with the AO3 interface, but I've requested General Audiences on everything, and additionally Explicit on FMA, Hadestown, Machineries, Sleep No More, and Wolf 359.

—

Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist

Ship(s): F!Roy Mustang/Riza Hawkeye

I love Roy and Riza's loyalty kink in canon so very much, so...what if they were lesbians

There are definitely some worldbuilding-y places this could go - the Amestrian military obviously has female soldiers in it, but not as many as male, especially at the higher echelons, apparently, and we don't see any female State Alchemists; does Roy's status as a powerful alchemist also vault her into a position of command and influence that most women, barring Olivier, don't get to? With regard specifically to how their relationship is different worldbuilding-wise, some kind of document or documents (newspaper, history book) or other outsider perspective on President Mustang and her decades-long professional relationship with Riza Hawkeye, so close they even live together/travel together/entertain guests together, neither of them ever married, that sort of thing? Is Roy's obfuscating public image in this AU still about going with a lot of women, or are they men? (butch or otherwise known lesbian Roy is great, but also not necessary)

But I'd be equally happy to see a fic that didn't deal with that, and that was just canon dynamics but more so and with lesbians. I love their trust and competence and stoically hidden but very very intense feelings, the willingness to risk oneself or the other person, or to stake a lot on the other person’s competence (and willingness to hurt or sacrifice the other person because their shared cause says it’s right, too, all the times that comes up), the fighting together in tandem. Is there a dangerous mission (or intelligence-collecting situation) where their deep familiarity/trust/awareness of each other’s presence and fighting style and communication come into play (god, that bit in canon where Hawkeye shoots two guys right over Mustang’s shoulder), or where they worry about each other’s safety? I love the "protect my back" exchange so, so much (I'm particularly interested in fics set during a time when that is already part of their relationship history, rather than fics set in Ishval or shortly after, and I am not really interested in fics set when they were children or young adults at all) and the way that, eventually, ends up playing out with regard to Envy. I love the intimacy of their work relationship and personal history, on levels from casual to very intense, and would love it with sexual tension in how they notice and appreciate each other’s physicality and presence and competence (hands??? muscles?) Pining up to 11, or resolved sexual tension? (I would prefer Riza as dom if you write a d/s take on this.)

Fandom-Specific DNW: framing of the Ishvalan genocide as a bad situation that happened to the Amestrian characters; canon-typical loss of body parts.

—

Fandom: Hadestown

Ship(s): F!Orpheus/Eurydice

There are a lot of things I like about making Orpheus a lesbian. (Can be butch, maybe passing as a man, doesn't have to be.) I like how much it emphasizes how much on the margins she and Eurydice are and their love is, how lucky they were to find each other (and how much stronger their joy in the spring and in their community is, when they have it), I like that it undermines the show's unnecessarily relentless heteronormativity (c'mon, you could have told an Orpheus story without Orpheus appealing to Hades on the basis of them both being straight men specifically; the archetypal "Boy" and "Girl" one-of-each thing that the libretto does). I like having this musician who's determined to single-handedly bring down not only the economic system but also, uh, climate change, with music - to save her partner/wife, or to save everyone who's screwed over - be a lesbian.

I'd really love anything about them. I feel like some of my likes are already prompts, but I'm definitely also interested in an expansion of them getting together. Trusting Orpheus is already a leap for Eurydice - is it harder for her in this world when it's not a socially sanctioned relationship, or is it easier because she's finally getting something she wants and doesn't just need in order to economically survive? I'd love first-time fic for them - maybe this Orpheus isn't used to being desired, and maybe there are ways this is new for Eurydice too. (to be clear, I'm fine with bi!Eurydice too, this doesn't have to be a "first time Eurydice gets to have the kind of sex she wants" thing even if it's a "first time with a woman" thing) If she is passing as a man, how does that affect her whole desperate journey to rescue Eurydice (an expansion of the journey summed up in "Wait for Me" could be cool); does that get revealed/are Hades and Persephone able to see through it because they're gods?

Fandom-Specific DNW Exception: I'm explicitly okaying references to previous non-consensual sexual experiences, whether during Eurydice's experience as a sex worker or otherwise, or to Hades Hades-ing, if that comes up. I'd still like the requested ship to be consensual.

—

Fandom: Machineries of Empire

Ship(s): F!Shuos Jedao/Ajewen Cheris; F!Shuos Jedao & Ajewen Cheris

I know sound like a broken record throughout this signup, but I love Cheris and Jedao’s friendship and loyalty kink (“Now and forever, I’m your gun” and the kneeling! aaahhh!) and, you know, what if that, but also Jedao were a hot woman.

I don’t have a lot of specific plot prompts - just a general interest in intense feelings, “codependency” as understood by fandom, loyalty and trust holding up under strain, deferring to someone’s competence or sense of ethics even though you don’t know how it will turn out, making difficult choices, verbal or nonverbal displays of loyalty like the kneeling and swearing and the WHOLE KEL GLOVE THING. I’d be excited to read something set during the Ninefox timeframe when Jedao is in Cheris’s head, but I think I would be most interested in something set post-Glass Cannon when oh my god, they were roommates telepathically bonded, after all the plot events that create that strong Jedao->Cheris loyalty. Jedao’s canonical kinks are *thumbs up* (I’ve requested general audiences fic as well as explicit, so it’s also fine if they don’t come up or if they’re referred to but not, er, acted out onscreen).

Fandom-Specific DNW: I’m aware that there’s a lot of torture and dubcon in canon. I don’t mind if you mention that they exist but I’d like to reiterate that I absolutely do not want any onscreen, or any details of torture even mentioned. DNW (explicitly) male Kujen or Ruo in this AU; if you don’t feel like swapping them to women I would rather they not be mentioned.

—

Fandom: Moby Dick

Ship(s): F!Captain Ahab & None; F!Captain Ahab & F!Pequod Crew; F!Ishmael/F!Queequeg

I'd love to know more about these female sailor(s) and what drives them. A female Ishmael might still decide to sign on to a ship whenever she gets the blues, but it'd be socially fairly different, mightn't it? (Worldbuilding-wise, I'd be more interested in a world where sailing and whaling are still typically male things as in our world, even if you make them a little less exclusively male, than an egalitarian or matriarchal world; something that women might do, without necessarily disguising themselves as men, but a GNC thing to do.) Would her already diverging from the "expected" female path in this regard affect her reception of Queequeg as someone who's an outsider to Nantucket society, and the intimacy she offers? What does she still find outlandish? As for Queequeg herself, is her life a typical female life for her home culture, or not?

As for Ahab - just imagine this fanatic, tragic, vengeful character as a woman - with the willpower not only to do all the things canonical male Ahab does but also in a society where women aren't really supposed to sail or kill or lead! Is she the odd one out in an otherwise male crew, or are there more women in the crew by the time she's captain? Was she already a whaler when she lost the leg or, in this AU, did this drive her to become one?

I love pastiche for this, if you're interested.

—

Fandom: Sleep No More

Ship(s): F!Speakeasy Bartender/Hecate

Speakeasy was played by a woman when I last visited, which INSTANTLY, massively raised my interest in the character. (It feels like a bit of a fever dream in itself, I don't know how frequent that casting is! Apparently the role was played by a woman for at least part of the Boston run, but on the other hand, people that I mentioned the current casting to thought I must have been mistaken because it's a male role.) The character's easy confidence and utter mastery of their domain, combined with that animal devotion to Hecate, are very cool and sexy when the person in the waistcoat and the sleeve garters is a bald butch woman with tattoos, apparently. I loved seeing this fairly small and wiry woman get to do those fighty dances (the one with Fulton!!) and the lifts with Bald Witch.

So - what's her story? Were her GNC presentation or sexuality a factor in her getting involved in the underground booze business and/or Hecate's service, and how do they affect her dealings with people now? Did she do small magic before becoming Hecate's familiar, or did that come after? (How does it work to be or to have a human familiar? How/why did Hecate choose this?) How do they think about each other - is Speakeasy in love with Hecate, or is sex just one of the ways Hecate controls her? And what does Hecate think about her human pet? Does she like having Speakeasy's devotion and service? (THE VIAL OF TEARS SCENE asdsjhasjkhd)

Fandom-Specific DNW Exception: dubcon is fine for this, as is "unequal levels of investment in a relationship" as long as no one is under any impression, in that event, that it is equal and Speakeasy isn't upset by that.

—

Fandom: Spinning Silver

Ship(s): Miryem Mandelstam/F!Staryk Lord

I love Miryem, and I’m so interested in the ways that making the Staryk Lord a woman would change Miryem’s entry into the Staryk world and the romance that eventually develops between them. Maybe same-sex marriage is common among the Staryk, and that’s one of the customs that are new and unfamiliar to Miryem in this new world. Would this be a Miryem who had never imagined being attracted to a woman before but comes to fall for the Staryk Lady, or one who simply couldn’t have imagined being able to marry one and have that be a normal life? (For values of “normal” that include ice lands and gold magic!) How does the fact of the marriage being same-sex affect Miryem’s initial understanding of it as a business arrangement, or for that matter, affect her understanding of the offer of queenship as a marriage at all? What makes them fall for each other?

Canon Miryem wonders what her role as queen is, thinking that she’d know about managing a household and having children and sewing if she were married to a human lord - is it the same if she has a fairy wife instead of a fairy husband, more so because there’s not even the hope of a gendered complementarian aspect to fall back on, less so because the Staryk Lady is there as an example of what a female monarch in the Staryk lands does? Does Miryem try to be more like her, or to find her own accounting-powers-and-personal-bonds niche?

It’s so important to canon Miryem to have a Jewish wedding with the Staryk Lord - what would that look like here? What happens when she comes back to the human world not only the queen of a magic country, but married to a woman (and in love with her, depending on when you set it)?

—

Fandom: Wolf 359

Ship(s): F!Daniel Jacobi/F!Warren Kepler, F!Daniel Jacobi/F!Warren Kepler/Alana Maxwell

The SI-5 trio are my favorites, and I'm absolutely wild about the way they openly value and prioritize and trust each other over everyone else who's nominally on the same side. So much of the Kepler/Jacobi dynamic goes directly to my id almost from their first introduction (of Jacobi as Kepler's "good right hand"!) to Jacobi trusting Kepler with his life and following whatever orders Kepler gives and getting angry about Kepler treating him like one of them, not to mention the weird d/s vibes. But I also love their dynamic with Maxwell, not only Jacobi's devoted friendship for her but also the trust and respect Kepler has for her and vice versa (I love the conversation they have about fixing Hera, and the whole episode where Kepler has Jacobi blow up the door to save Maxwell, at the risk of the whole ship because Maxwell is that valuable and Jacobi is that good, and "maybe you were my friend but the Colonel and Daniel were family"). So...f/f? I'd love to see them on some sort of mission or in the aftermath of some sort of mission where that mutual loyalty, even as fucked-up as it can get, comes into play, with Jacobi, Kepler, and Maxwell deferring to one another's judgment and/or orders, protecting each other or deciding when they can risk each other for the sake of the mission, sorting themselves out after... Or just some d/s-y sex, possessiveness etc. Anything really about how they're the only people to each other. (Pre-canon is great, during is great, canon divergence that allows any of this to happen post-canon is great. I think my actual headcanon headcanon in the show is that it's mutual UST and pining that doesn't go anywhere before or during canon, but I happily read things that are not my headcanon because...I want them to be together.)

I suppose I envision Jacobi and Kepler fairly similar to their canon versions presentation-wise, which would make them somewhat gender non-conforming as women - there's possibly something interesting there with whatever flavor of performative masculinity canon Kepler has going on - but honestly I haven't particularly given much thought to how they might be different as women, other than that I would find it hot and enjoy a three-way relationship with Maxwell (if that is what we matched on/what you're interested in - I'd be just as happy with Kepler/Jacobi and Maxwell just a friend) more than I would with their canon versions.

Fandom-Specific DNW: role reversal or "subbing to let go/relax" Kepler

—

[mokutone]

Hi hi! do you happen to have any favourite watercolor artists/ inspirations? specifically ones that rlly influenced your art style? I've tried searching up keywords like "favorite" etc but tumblr search engine is a little iffy, anyways! i adore your art and seeing your process videos make watercolours look like such a fun process and tbh less daunting than what it seems. Your blog is sending me down a rabbit hole of inks and watercolors and aaa its so fun to find gems on this nonfunctional website

OOOOOOH i dont think ive actually been asked this before!!! ty!!!

the truth is when it comes to watercolor im mostly flying by the seat of my pants 😅 but there are definitely watercolor artists that i love even i do not consciously do studies of their work! i should really study more watercolor artists bc its probably foolish to practice a medium while remaining ignorant of the big names within it.

i hope u find these interesting:

This is one of my favorites, it's called The Meeting on the Turret Stairs by 1864 Frederic William Burton. this is WATERCOLOR. good god. help. if you get really in close you can see how he built it up with delicate different colors. Anyway, the solidness of the bodies, the like...the romance in it all, the way the metal reflects the fabric, the detail in the chainmail and the absolute softness in the background...ough. its good. this is a painting which in all ways knows exactly what its about and executes it perfectly

and then there's the watercolor sketches of Hayao Miyazaki obvs skgjhdskgh, i like how loose he is and how clear, and how he isnt scared of the white spaces between where colors meet. i know these arent meant to be final products just like. indications of how the animation should be...but they enchant me so much...i want to be able to do watercolor sketches like that!

Albrecht Dürer does a lot of very detailed illustrations in watercolor, he's a weird guy from the 1500s, look how you can tell how the texture of the hare changes from its back to its underbelly. also, unrelated to his watercolor skills, i just like how he signs his work by putting a d beneath a little A arch. His mastery of textures is delightful and his attention and carefulness with detail is admirable

also i'm gonna mention Akihiro Yamada's watercolor + ink illustrations, specifically for 12 Kingdoms. I haven't spent a lot of my time looking at them but every time i do i find that there's something i want to emulate abt them...something abt the detailed inks and the way he does shadows with watercolor...something abt it rlly speaks to me. i think a lot of my weird shadow experiments are trying to achieve a feeling i get from his work. I think that these are the most like...the most like what I want to do? While also being definitely something other than what I would pursue. Hard to explain. Love to look at them though here's three of them

also

i would absolutely be remiss if i did not mention one of the people who inspired me to get back into watercolor originally, @marina-does-things and here is an excellent example of their work. Here is another (squid game fanart!) They're SO skilled at watercolor and gouache, and especially at conveying light + shadow, highlights and playing with color...when I think of their artwork I think of the light in it the most, u can really tell just by looking at their work that theyre so comfortable with the medium + have put a lot of effort and work into playing with it and gaining skills, theyre also a skilled digital artist too, all around triple-threat. They also do comics and WATERCOLOR comics at that (here is a link to a post of their excellent 80 page watercolor comic piece based on an episode of the podcast WOLF 359) !!! just an extraordinarily cool and talented artist

anyway, i hope this was useful to you!

[ofdreamsanddoodles]

making a post about the new designs made me realize that not everyone is probably aware of everything the penumbra podcast has done, so in light of the fact that they’ve officially stated they will eventually release a statement, here is a brief list of everything to keep in mind if/when they apologize:

hiring on an artist, Michaela Buckley (@/disasterscenario on tumblr) who’s designs were both racist & transmisogynist (post about it here) and then declaring these designs as canon, despite the cast being almost exclusively white vas, which is an issue with all her podcast art (like drawing damien from the bright sessions, a literal mind controlling villain, black, as well as a villain from wolf 359) here’s an example of some of the art in question

then, after being called out, said the designs were never really meant to be taken as “completely” canon (meaning any complaint of them hiring an artist who saw juno, an alcoholic with a broken home & anger issues, & making him black was just something they couldn’t control or change) and then only released an apology after said artist had left of her own choice to pursue other projects 

here is a twitter thread on disasterscenario’s apology. she’d said something previously, but it looks like she’s come back to it & apologized more thoroughly which i appreciate, though she hasn’t actually mentioned any of the racism involved. one thing she mentions is them wanting to do something “subversive” by having a black lead, despite doing none of the work for it.

despite the penumbra’s apology (which was more an apology for making the art canon than the racism) merch using those designs are still available on their store despite them saying they’ve discontinued merch. not entirely impossible for it to all be leftover, but considering it’s been several years i feel like it maybe should just be taken down entirely

not only that, but there has been a history of transmisogyny and racism in the story itself, as far back as the first penumbra episode, which described an asian family as “breeding like rabbits” (though i believe that was corrected with the newer version of it) issues that are only more prominant  in the latest season, which also included deadnaming vespa and constantly misgendering ale, the later of which was was excused with “but i’m too attracted to him for him to NOT be a woman.” even if your story is intended to show people that your characters can learn to be better despite living in a bigoted kingdom, misgendering a guy about a hundred times despite his clear frustration doesn’t really work, because all you’ve shown is that angelo doesn’t want to learn about this, since clearly ale’s distress isn’t worth him correcting himself over

despite getting feedback from fans from all of these fronts, still hired artist Ellison Estephan, who is also transmisogyistic and racist, which i’ve already talked about here, and when fans understandably were upset, harley tagaki kaner made a post about people “bullying in the name of social justice” on twitter

all of this is important to remember to make sure they honestly take responsibility for their actions. if they claim to still be learning, ask yourself why the effort and energy of all their trans fans & fans of color hasn’t been enough to teach them anything so far, and how much emotional labor these fans, as well as allies, will have to go through to continue to hold them accountable. if they claim they hadn’t realized the designs were racist, what proof do you have that they actually understood the criticism the first time? how can you promise they won’t do this again? even if they do genuinely want to do better, how many of their fans of color & trans fans will they keep hurting in the process?

[hephaestuscrew]

Every Time I Can Think of When Names/What People Are Called Is Significant in Wolf 359

Cutter using everyone's first names as part of his terrifying over-friendliness thing. It's also definitely a power move because the crew aren't permitted to call him by his first name. They have to address him as Mr Cutter.

Alexander Hilbert / Elias Selberg / Dmitri Volodin. Since Hilbert has been working for Goddard for a long time, we can assume that these aren't even the only names he's gone by. The repeated identity-switching illustrates how Hilbert doesn't really have a life outside Goddard.

When trying to find out about Hilbert's past in Ep25, Eiffel asks him for his real name, like he thinks this might tell him who Hilbert really is.

After learning Hilbert's original name, Eiffel agrees to the continuation of the Decima experiments, although he says "I still don't trust you, Dmitri Volodin." I think this is the only time we hear Hilbert being called by his original name on the Hephaestus. Even at the funeral, Eiffel calls him Alexander Hilbert. The name that sticks is just the one he happened to die whilst wearing.

Lovelace sometimes calls Hilbert Selberg (e.g. "I've seen Selberg's dark side")- this seems to indicate when she's feeling most mistrustful of him.

Although the aliases are a practical measure, they also create a degree of separation between Hilbert and his previous selves. I think the most notable example is when he yells "Selberg not here today" at Lovelace in Ep26. When Hilbert is trying to save Eiffel from dying of Decima, he does not want to be called by the name of a man who killed two people using that same virus.

Like Hilbert, Cutter has gone by many names (William Carter, Marcus Cutter etc). He sheds identities to suit his purposes.

Andrea Nash /Rachel Young also took on a new name when she joined Goddard.

In her logs from the first Hephaestus mission, Lovelace says about Lambert, "I wish you were here Sam, I wish you were here to ask me not to call you that"

In her first meeting with Hilbert, Lovelace insists on being called Isabel.

I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that the only people who call Lovelace "Isabel" at any point are Cutter and Hilbert. Cutter calls her it because he does first names with everyone, but Hilbert asks "Isabel... are you listening to yourself?" in Ep38 after she's given an any-means-necessary revenge rant. And he calls her Isabel again in Ep44 when they are inspecting the mind-reading chair thing before the mutiny. In a twisted way, it's an acknowledgement of their shared history. Hilbert thinks he knows Lovelace better than the rest of the crew do, so he feels entitled to call her by her first name.

For Hera, her name (as opposed to her designation of Unit 214, which places her as just one among many, rather than an individual) is an assertion of personhood. Pryce insists on calling her Unit 214 and chides Cutter for calling AI by their names, because she doesn't see AIs as people.

The crew call Hera Unit 214 when they are being mind-controlled and Eiffel gives away his non-brainwashed state by automatically calling her Hera, indicating his inability to see her as a mere machine.

In Hera's first meeting with Minkowski, Minkowski initially calls her Unit 214 because she had heard that AIs prefer to go by their serial numbers (incidentally, the fact that Minkowski looked into this is wonderful. I wonder whether its true that most AI like to be called by their serial numbers or whether this information is put out by Pryce to deprive AIs of identity.) Hera responds "Oh, no, no. Hera. Definitely Hera."

In Hera's backstory ep, it is revealed that Goddard doesn't name their AIs until after they've been assigned to a posting. This really illustrates Goddard's attitude of "we won't consider treating you like a person unless you're useful to us".

Hera doesn't always have control over how she addresses the crew. She is forced to call Hilbert Commander during his Christmas mutiny. After Kepler's arrival, she starts calling Minkowski 'Lieutenant' rather than 'Commander' without even noticing. This is a symbol of her lack of autonomy over who to respect/ obey.

When Eiffel's freaked out about Lovelace being an alien, he keeps calling her "Cap" and she picks up on this as a sign of something being up.

Minkowski's surname and its correct pronunciation as a representation of her Polish heritage, which Eiffel disrespects by mispronouncing it. He says he initially tried to get it right, but stopped trying after they started fighting. After she tells him how much his mispronounciation bothers her in Ep51, we do hear him start to try to correct himself.

Eiffel insisting on calling Minkowski "Commander" even when she isn't officially the Commander - at times, it almost feels like a nickname or a term of affection. Even when she's voluntarily given up command to Lovelace, he still asks "Do I really have to call you Lieutenant?" It's an indication that, even though he doesn't always show it, he does see her as the one in charge.

I remember seeing a post which suggested that Eiffel calls Minkowski "Commander" when he is showing full respect for her and "Minkowski" (pronounced wrong) when he isn't, and I think there's definitely some truth to that.

He calls her Commander in his last words before being stranded in deep space (Ep28), before launching himself into the star (Ep52) and before the mind-wipe (Ep61).

I'm pretty sure that the first time Eiffel calls Minkowski 'Renée' is when he is begging her not to send him off back to Earth in the Sol. This is followed by Minkowski saying "Goodbye, Doug."

Minkowski does call Eiffel Doug several times in the early episodes but I think this is more because the writers hadn't fixed on the significance of names at this point. I think I remember seeing the writers saying that they wish they'd held back on her calling him Doug so that it would have more power later on.

During Eiffel & Minkowski's first meeting, she cuts herself off from asking him to call her Renée, and says Minkowski instead (perhaps because she's trying to be more formal/authoritative). After he butchers her surname a few times, she tells him to call her Commander.

Minkowski reintroducing herself to Eiffel after the mindwipe. Eiffel pronounces Minkowski's name correctly first time. This time she does ask him to "call me Renée".

This might be a stretch but arguably it's significant that she reintroduces herself with "my name is Renée Minkowski. I'm the Commander of this space station" rather than "I'm Commander Renée Minkowski"- she isn't defining herself by her military position.

The si-5 have a similar thing going on where they don't often call each other by their first names, so when they do, it gives those moments extra emotional significance.

Kepler calls Maxwell Alana in Ep39 when telling her not to get sentimental about Hera.

Maxwell first-names Jacobi twice in Ep42 (the Outside Jacobi Incident), once to tell him that if its a joke, it isn't funny and once to say a firm No to the idea of leaving Outside Jacobi to die.

When Maxwell is calling out for an answer from Outside Jacobi, our Jacobi says "Alana... I didn't go anywhere."

In Ep43, when Maxwell is about to lay into Jacobi for losing his cool over the Outside Jacobi Incident, she begins with "Daniel? Look at me." He eventually responds with "Alana, you're... You're absolutely right."

You could even argue that the classic introduction of 'This is the audio log of Communications Officer Doug Eiffel' draws attention to names as a key motif.

[commsroom]

My most speculative, personal take about post-finale Eiffel is that he has to still be Doug Eiffel, not from a philosophical standpoint but from a narrative one. Because if he isn’t, then it absolves him of his mistakes and his responsibilities;  it doesn’t seem like he intends to run away, but the weight of it is... not the same if he’s making up for the actions of someone else.

I think a lot about the scene where Eiffel apologizes for not telling Minkowski about his past sooner, and he says, “I didn’t want to be that person. [...] And then the longer I didn't say anything, I felt like I was getting farther and farther away from that person.” There’s always been some part of Eiffel that wants to escape who he is, and there’s a way in which... he can’t fully begin to move forward without accepting who he was and who he is. His mistakes are his, but they don’t define him in the way he fears.

There’s a part of me that thinks... post-memory-loss Eiffel doesn’t seem especially fond of hearing his past self talk. That version of Eiffel (... and probably any other version of him, too) might consider himself a better person, an easier person to deal with, if he isn’t the person in those recordings anymore. And that’s exactly why I feel he has to be.

A real strength of Wolf 359 is its ability to use science fiction concepts as mirrors of real-world issues without trying to create a direct analogy or replacement for those things - i.e. a lot of the things Hera struggles with are related to her being an AI, but she is also a person with anxiety and trauma. And Lovelace’s trauma leaves her with questions of whether she’s the same person she was before and after it happened, if she’s been fundamentally changed or replaced somehow. But the literal, metaphysical question there is different from the psychological one. It’s not just a stand-in or a symbolic representation; it’s something personal.

I feel like that has to extend to Eiffel’s situation, that particular blend of the speculative and the hauntingly real. And I like the idea of him coming to terms with these two contradictory ideas, that maybe the person he was and the person he is are both Doug Eiffel, and they are both the same person and not the same person, in the same way that the Doug Eiffel who ruined the life of someone he loved and was prepared to rot in prison for it both is and isn’t the same Doug Eiffel who became the heart of the Hephaestus crew and held them together long enough to get them back home.

There’s also something to be said about how the determination and reclamation of identity in Wolf 359 - in all its many individual forms - is tied very closely in dialogue to characters’ names and their assertion of who they are, and how much that self-realization is tied to their bonds with one another. And with that sense of connection always at the heart of it all, I guess there’s just something to how... the final question the show leaves you with isn’t just, “Am I still Doug Eiffel?” but also “Wanna find out together?”

[bearcina]

Olarom!

Welcome to my page, I’m your host, Bear! I’m a 20yr old aspiring author and OOAK doll customizer!

Masterlist (Amazon wishlist)

My pronouns are they/them/he/she/dude

I’m always looking for new friends, I don’t bite! I just write kinky stuff!

My Ask Box is always open, feel free to ask any questions!

Presenting, under the cut!: Q&A!

I see you’re here for the rest of the post!

Where can I find you off of Tumblr?

You can find me on Discord, Bearcina#5637!

My Steam is the same, Bearcina!

My AO3 is Bearcina, and here’s a direct link!

My KakaotalkID is bearcina! My kakao name is Bear'ika (little bear)

I’m on Wizard101 as Maria Rainbowbreath, a level 50-something Balance wizard, I specialize in supports, hit me up for a True Friend code! I just finished Dragonspyre!

What do you use to draw?

I use an XP-PEN brand tablet for digital work!

I do doll face-ups with Arteza watercolor pencils, soft chalk pastels, mica powder, Mr. Super Clear UV Matte Flat, and LOTS of DuraClear in Matte, Gloss, and Ultra Glossy!

My sketchpads are off-white and textured for watercolor pencils! I use Pilot pens for inking, and these pencils for sketching!

Do you have a Masterlist of your fanfics and works?

Yes, and here’s the link to the Masterlist!

I’m into Astrology, what’s your birth chart?

I am a Gemini (sun), Sagittarius (Mars), Libra (Rising), Taurus (Venus), Ares (Moon) and a Gemini (Mercury)!

What the FUCK is wrong with you?

A LOT. I’m disabled and mentally ill from some serious childhood trauma! Here’s a nonexhaustive list of my problems!:

C-PTSD

PTSD

MDD

BPD

Generalized Anxiety

Dissociative Identity Disorder

Panic disorders

More Depression, but make it ~Seasonal~

Fibromyalgia

Migraines (a LOT)

Arthritis

Herniated spinal discs

Chronic fatigue

And so many more!

I’m also autistic, I have ADHD, dyscalculia, and my brain is about as functional as a goldfish! (surprisingly smarter than expected but still dumb as a damn rock-)

What fandoms are you in? What interests you?

I currently enjoy: (current fixations are bold!)

Katamari Damacy

The Outer Worlds

Fallout: New Vegas

Fallout 4

Fallout 3

Spyro the Dragon

Hades (game)

Pokemon! (Sinnoh, Alola, and Galar right now! I have one of every gen but Hoenn)

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team, and Explorers of Darkness/Sky (I don’t have time!)

The Legend of Zelda (Ocarina of Time, Skyward Sword, Minish Cap, Link’s Awakening (all three editions), and A Link Between Worlds and many others!)

Portal

Portal 2

Portal: Aperture Tag

Portal Stories: Mel 

Animal Crossing (Check above for my switch codes to play NH with me!!)

Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer

Star Wars, specifically The Mandalorian and things related to Mandalorians! (I’m learning Mando’a with help from the Oyu’baat!)

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld 

Good Omens

Prospect (2018) (I love Ezra!)

SCP Foundation

The Penumbra Podcast: Juno Steel! (podcast)

The Magnus Archives (podcast)

Wolf 359 (podcast)

Elaines Cooking for the Soul (podcast)

MarsCorp (podcast)

Oz 9 (podcast)

StarTripper!! (podcast)

The Strange Case of Starship Iris (podcast)

Welcome to Night Vale 

Mars’ Best Brisket (Podcast)

EOS 10 (podcast)

Distractable Podcast (by markiplier)

The Sims

Sewing, I do mine by hand and machine! (ask me about my machines!)

Crochet

Historical sewing

Cosmetology (I grew up in a salon, my mother is a beautician and I love dying and cutting hair!)

Acrylic nails (they’re so pretty!)

ToonTown ReWritten (Find me as Fancy Lolipop the bear or Deputy Biscuit the deer!)

Wizard101 (I like playing!)

Gardening

YuGiOh (I collect the cute cards >w<)

Martial arts (I did karate for many years and i got my black belt! I also like playing with rope darts, though I’m not good!)

Tarot Cards and other such fortune telling things, I’m a pagan and a witch!

Any other questions? Send me an ask!

[lycanthrology]

Wolf 359?

I need to do a relisten desperately. I didn’t listen to any audio drama at all in 2021 what!! <- I started Greater Boston and Mabel last year I’m lying

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most)

Eiffel!! Yes he’s the main character but I love him so much he’s probably my favourite podcast character ever ever (joint with juno steel) he’s so funny and relatable and funny and tragic and also a massive dickhead sometimes and I really like him ok. If Eiffel had a podcast of his own where he talked about his favourite media at length I would listen to every single episode and send in anonymous fan mail. HOWEVER if we ever met irl I’d be SO annoyed by him and the feeling would be mutual. what if i told you he helped me figure out i was trans can you imagine how cringey that would be thank god thats not true omg..

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)

Hmmmm this question is really hard for me because I don’t really think this way. If I had to choose potentially Hera? She annoyed me at the beginning but now I really really like her. Especially after Memoria that’s when it clicked and we were like yes I do like her a lot more than originally thought. Also her and eiffel are so sweet, again i didnt used to like them but ive been enlightened since

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave)

Plant monster. No. I don’t really know who’s underrated or not. I want to say Lovelace but I don’t think she’s underrated. I’m just going to say Lovelace anyway because she’s incredible and I love her a lot. Her and Minkowski should’ve kissed at least once wake up

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)

Mace Fisher rip to the most realistic fake Australian accent I’ve ever heard in my life. Also I forgot his name but the British guy in the finale I’m 99% sure he had a Pompey accent (I can’t remember) and it threw me because I’d never heard a Pompey accent in anything ever before

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave)

All of SI-5. They’re great I love them so much. I mean I hated them but also whenever they were on screen I was losing my mind waiting for something to get fucked up. They’re so funny and I love their dynamic and how they clash with the Hephaestus crew. Yes I am a Kepler enjoyer. I am NOT a kepler fucker but i am an enjoyer in the way someone enjoys watching birds with binoculars from the safety of inside a hide. I like evil people i like manipulation i like lies i like murder and conflict and violence and i like this scotch i like the taste i like the a smell i like the fe

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)

Hilbert because I want to see him suffer and die in agony i hate doctors. sorry doctors. Would also torment jacobi for fun i think it’s funny when he gets mean

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

Hilbert (see above) and Cutter and Pryce (normie choices but i really do hate them)

[this-is-a-podcast-fanblog]

A Summary of the Magnus Archives, written by someone who has never listened to it

So there’s an archive, and they keep scary stuff in it. The archive is one really long hallway like the one in the penitentiary episode of Buzzfeed Unsolved, and I think every door has a monster behind it? It looks like this. The main character is just roaming around with a tape recorder. 

For the first few episodes you aren’t aware there are characters. Then later you meet the archivists. They have names like Peter Lukas, who is a rip-off of Peter Nureyev but also is kind of like Cutter from Wolf 359, Elias Pritchard I think is how you spell it, Basirah, who is a bad-ass I think, Martin, who is very soft and sweet and looks kind of like Aziraphale, and Jonny Sims. The guy who writes the show is also named Jonny Sims, like Night Vale. 

The whole show is kind of a weird mash-up of Night Vale, Wolf 359, The Bright Sessions, and Death by Dying. It takes the oh-no-weird-paranormal elements of WNTV and DBD and the oh-no-Capitalism-is-going-to-kill-us-all elements of TBS and W359. Everyone has a British accent. (I’ve listened to one audio clip and the guy had a British accent so I assume they all do.)

The man that built the archives was named Magnus. I think. Magnus must have been a really f-ed up guy. Then he died. He got eaten by the big crab thing, because apparently there is a big crab thing. Now the archives are run by the Johnny Sims guy, and he has major depression. He’s in denial over the fact that he is gay for Martin. Martin knows he is gay for Johnny but won’t tell anyone. There are lesbians but Elias somebody is lesbophobic. The fandom fights over this a lot. 

Basically, the show tells you about the ways that people have died by the monsters, especially the crab-monster, and some other monster that I think is called the Silencer? I imagine it as looking like the Nightmare from Metroid Fusion. I mean look at this goddamn thing. 

That’s what the archive is hiding. It’s clearly hiding something. I think Elias and Peter are the bad guys? One of them dies, or maybe both. The Silencer eats Peter I think. Elias gets eaten by the crab. All I know is someone gets eaten by the fucking enormous crab. 

I think the show is very diverse, but I see a lot of people yelling at each other about it, so maybe it has issues? Maybe it’s like Voltron. Is this show like Voltron? I used to really like Voltron. Then Season 5 happened and I stopped liking it. I’m not sure how many seasons this show has. Six, I think. 

I think the archives are set somewhere where there is snow, because I see snow in fanart a lot, and big sweaters. Maybe like Northern Ireland. That explains the British Accents.