#and then maybe lovelace’s crew

[one-sad-pancake]

Hephaestus Crew!! This is a part 2 of my Wolf 359 side profiles (Part one being the SI 5 ones I did)! *These r just my head cannons btw *

!!Also if ur into Wolf 359 ur sooo cool and please be my mutual!!!!

[officerdougeiffel]

when eiffel is talking to bob in ep 54, bob says that the captain of the previous ship that encountered them valued music more than anything else. in change of mind its shown that music is also special to lovelace, she only ever relaxes when listening to music. minkowski loves musicals and musical theatre

all the ships that encountered the aliens had people who hold music dear to their hearts. but from what I gathered they were the only ones on their crews to be like this. except minkowskis crew, because eiffel also loves music

(image IDs under cut)

[image ID] 1st picture. a screenshot of the transcript for episode 54 of wolf 359.

BOB : THIS.

He SNAPS HIS FINGERS AND-

In a corner of the room, a RECORD PLAYER COMES TO LIFE. It begins to play Beethoven's SONATA PATHETIQUE. Eiffel FROWNS, confused.

BOB (CONT'D) : THE FIRST TIME WE ENCOUNTERED YOUR SPECIES. THE MISSION LEADER, COMMANDER ZHANG, SHE VALUED THIS TECHNOLOGY MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE.

2nd picture. a screenshot of the transcript for wolf 359 change of mind.

LOVELACE : All right. See you in a few.

She floats upwards, looks down... sees the tiny figure of Lambert growing smaller and smaller... And then she looks up. The song she listened to last time begins to play. She's at peace.

3rd picture. a screenshot of the character bio for minkowski.

An immigrant of Eastern European origins, Lieutenant Commander Renée Minkowski is an accomplished pilot, expert tactician, and closeted lover of musical theatre.

4th picture. a screenshot of the transcript for episode 54 of wolf 359.

EIFFEL (CONT'D) : Well, Bob my man... you gotta check out some of the latest advancements. Otis Redding. Zeppelin. Taylor.

(snaps his fingers)

Sir Mix-A-Lot. I think he's been doing some ot the best scientific work of the last fifty years.

[ID end]

[dandyshucks]

every now and then i think about hera from w.olf 359 and ... my wife .....

[brookie9001]

Even the crews of space stations orbiting distant stars need to have new company pictures taken from time to time. Gotta keep all the company websites up to date after all, and who knows, maybe even something for the glorious return home announcements and definitely not obituaries. @ghostcat-cosplays as Dr. Alana Maxwell kiwi_cosplays_ as Doug Eiffel kaiidth_cosplay as Warren Kepler magpieclaws.cosplay as Isabel Lovelace @confusiondoodle as HERA owenisamassivenerd as Daniel Jacobi

[commsroom]

since wolf 359 is a show that puts so much emphasis on names / what people are called when / "first name moments", it puts hera in an interesting position that she only has a first name. you could maybe say the closest thing to a first name moment that she gets is in idle hands, when eiffel regains his mind, but the connotations are still a little different - it is an indicator of closeness / a significant relationship, but it isn't a shift in that relationship. i think part of the significance of first names - for anyone, when used sincerely - is the subtext of speaking to the person rather than the job they perform, but hera's name has additional stakes and significance for her when being called by her name is the baseline level of respect indicating who sees her as a person at all.

so, with that context, the other moment that interests me is the only time someone ever addresses her by rank: when minkowski calls her "officer" in let's kill hilbert. from minkowski in particular, that's also an acknowledgement of her personhood - evoking "she was a member of my crew." and i don't think this is just an honorary title bestowed by minkowski, either; in the most technical sense, i think hera probably does have a rank on the station. hera's programming restricts how she can address station officers. commonly, she addresses minkowski and lovelace as "commander" and "captain" when talking to them, and "commander minkowski" and "captain lovelace" when talking about them, while most other people she tends to refer to by both name and rank. she drops kepler and jacobi's titles after the mutiny.

but eiffel she calls (both when talking to him and about him) "eiffel" and "officer eiffel" interchangeably. (she never calls him just "officer.") in a practical sense, this helps communicate that her relationship with him is more casual - and in am i alone now? when she's talking 'to' him but not really to him, she calls him "doug", which has a whole other set of implications for how she thinks about him, when in that same monologue she still says "commander minkowski" and "doctor hilbert." - but… i think it's also pretty reasonable to assume that her rank is functionally the same as his, and that part of why she's more comfortable with him even early on is that he quite literally does not have the same authority over her that everyone else does.

[clonerightsagenda]

Since I'm w359posting this week apparently, I wanted to share something neat I learned from the AMAs about how the writers designed the characters.

Apparently, the original four crewmembers were plotted on two axes - human vs inhuman and order vs chaos. Eiffel and Minkowski were the chaos human and order human, and Hera and Hilbert were the chaos inhuman and order (metaphorical) inhuman. Lovelace upon her introduction was plotted at the dead center of both axes.

To really amp up everyone reflecting each other, when they started designing the SI5 characters, they took the original three humans' personalities and job titles and rotated them. So, they set up a commander, scientist, and technician, but gave the commander Hilbert's traits, the scientist Eiffel's traits, and the technician Minkowski's traits.

Obviously that was only a starting point, and all three characters grew into their own people very different from where they began. However, you can see traces of these influences. Least so with Jacobi, imo, but in the Rashomon episode where each person's account reflects their priorities and anxieties, he's striving to portray himself as a dedicated, safety-conscious professional frustrated that no one else takes his work seriously, which is something Minkowski can relate to. He's also Kepler's administrative officer, even if we don't see him doing paperwork very often.

Maxwell is clearer. She's the most friendly and social of her team and strikes up the closest connection with Hera. Also, as soon as she's gone, the rest of her team implodes, much as in "Pan Pan" the remaining crew is at each other's throats.

Finally, Kepler's alignment with Hilbert is obvious to me at least - they both are people with theoretically noble goals who are willing to do terrible things to achieve them, and Goddard takes advantage of that to get them to do terrible things full stop. Hilbert is just further along on the Goddard employee lifecycle of getting chewed up and discarded (he's had more of his legs eaten, to use the pig story's metaphor). They hate each other so much because they recognize each other.

... I am only thinking this now as I type it out, but I always wondered why Eiffel disliked Maxwell after only knowing her for a couple days, most of which he'd spent convalescing. I figured she was probably asking invasive questions about Hera, but if I'm suggesting Hilbert and Kepler hate each other because they recognize each other as card carrying members of the face-eating leopards party.... maybe Eiffel dislikes Maxwell because he sees something of himself in her.

[mykelneedssleep]

I will stand by the belief that the best and funniest thing Jacobi could have done in ep 52 when Minkowski, Lovelace, and Eiffel were asking him about Goddard out of curiosity and in an attempt to get Kepler to lose his Questions Only game with Hera would've been to say they hooked up once because even if it was a complete lie it because Kepler's options for response would have been:

Continue the game without acknowledging it and let the crew believe it's true even if it isn't simply because he didn't comment in the moment even if he tries to later

Admit that it happened and potentially lose if he can't spin it into a question

Lose the game by outright denying

Deny with a cleverly worded question and maybe not outright lose but still sound like a liar even if he's telling the truth and Jacobi was the one to lie about it in the first place because he's a known liar so why wouldn't he lie right now?

Ask a very targeted question to Jacobi about employee fraternization rules such as "do you think I would violate [insert hyper specific rule in the SI-5 handbook about getting with your superior officer that's probably in there because I'm convinced everything is]?" thus keeping himself in the game but still sounding like a liar because why would he know the exact rule to bring up if he hadn't at least thought about it?

Ask a different but still very targeted question to Jacobi such as a "why would you lie about that?" type question and still sound like a liar because you don't tend to ask people directly why they're lying with no proof to back you up and this is now a hearsay argument where the people can choose to believe whoever they want (likely Jacobi because again, Kepler is a known liar and Jacobi's being so honest about everything else right now so why would this be different)

Mentally bluescreen (and lose) because he doesn't know why Jacobi would so openly say that (true or otherwise) and now cannot think of another question to keep the game going

Any of the other options but continue to be psychologically tortured in the future because while the crew may not have ever had the thought before Jacobi put it in their heads so even if they know it's not true and even if Jacobi later says he lied about it in an attempt to make Kepler lose that thought will still be floating around somewhere in the back of everyone's minds kind of all the time

It simply would have created the perfect scenario in which any action Kepler took he would still lose somehow and at this point annoying him was really all Jacobi wanted to do so I just think it would have been a real checkmate move for him

[hephaestuscrew]

I have such emotional thoughts about Ep40 Limbo and Minkowski telling Eiffel "I'm sorry, okay? I didn't want it to matter. I was trying to make it not matter." It's such an insane thing to say about learning without any context or detail that your friend and crew member was convicted of kidnapping and child endangerment.

It's one thing to learn that someone did something awful and not to care because you don't care about them or their morals (the SI-5 approach). It's another thing to learn that someone did something awful and not to care because you can empathise with them and it's who they are now that matters (the Hera and Lovelace approach). And it's an entirely different thing to learn that someone did something awful and to want desperately not to care but to be unable to stop yourself from caring.

When there was no specificity to Eiffel's tragic backstory, Minkowski successfully made it not matter. Back in Ep15 What's Up Doc?, when Hilbert was hinting at Eiffel's secret that he wouldn't want Minkowski to know about, she trusted him with no "hesitance or doubt". In principle, on an abstract intellectual level, his past doesn't matter to her. But as soon as she has some of the specifics, her ability to trust him without question is shaken, because that trust isn't just about the abstract intellectual level. It's emotional too.

Eiffel really matters to Minkowski, so of course she doesn't want what she learned about his past to change that. But part of what matters to Minkowski about Eiffel is that she trusts him, that she believes that he does the morally right thing when it counts, and that he's the kind of person she thinks he is. The particular way in which he matters to her, when combined with her personality and her values, means that the bad things he's done in the past have to matter to her too. Because the way in which he matters to her is tied up in her sense of him as an ultimately moral person, the spokesperson of Team What's Wrong With Handcuffs.

In typical Minkowski fashion, she wants to make herself not care about it through sheer stubborn power of will. Maybe if she doesn't speak to him, she can pretend she doesn't know. Maybe if she pretends she doesn't know, she won't think about it. Maybe if she doesn't think about it, it won't matter to her. Maybe if it doesn't matter to her, then she can rebuild her idea of him as a good person on her own and she won't ever have to talk to him about it. But three months roll by, and it still matters to her. It still matters to her, and she still wants it not to.

[emp-t-man]

so my friend @delaneytalks-tostatues very kindly sent me a prompt for the ask reblog and of course i had to blow it out of proportion so here’s a long and ramble-y description of what musical instruments would represent the cast of wolf 359 in an instrumental score (by a music major)

minkowski would have trumpet motifs. they’re bold, and loud, and often the leaders of the brass section, but can also have a beautiful and even melancholy sound when played in the right situation. trumpets are often used to solo, and hardly play as much as other brass or woodwind instruments in an ensemble, the way minkowski often places upon herself the entire fate of the crew and the mission and is reluctant to accept help when it doesn’t come to aspects of the mission itself. i can just imagine the slow, emotional solo that would play in the background of her breakdown in pan-pan and it’s. ugh /pos

lovelace would be repped by a trombone— very close to a trumpet, but slightly deeper, with more of a dark timbre behind it, reminiscent of the people she’s lost and what she’s had to go through to be where she is. they’re also more friendly in terms of playing with the rest of the ensemble and more flexible in moving between notes, but just as strong.

eiffel has french horn motifs. is it because the french horn is my favorite of the non-string instruments? maybe. but also it has such emotional depth behind it. it’s so full, and hauntingly beautiful, and i think it’d be a good representation of how deeply eiffel strives to be a good person to try and forget his past.

now, these three all have something in common, and that’s having their instrument be a member of the brass section. brass just seems very fitting for the protagonists of the series— it’s hopeful, it’s strong, it’s driving. but i’m missing a couple members of the hephaestus crew who i think wouldn’t be represented by brass motifs for one reason or another.

starting with hera. i think hera’s motif would be played by a flute for a number of reasons. for one, she just gives me flutist vibes. for two, flutes aren’t a member of the brass family, just as hera isn’t seen as a true member of the hephaestus by a lot of people for a long time. while the flute is a beautiful instrument on its own, it can sound sort of lonely among a big, strong brass ensemble. however, a soft, lilting flute melody above a brass accompaniment could be just what the ensemble needs to achieve the mellow timbre a piece could call for, just as hera’s persistence and determination and intelligence is often what pulls the crew through when they’re stuck doing nothing but yelling at each other. i think it could especially be really pretty with a muted trumpet as a duet, in the same way hera and minkowski grow to be very close and work rather well with one another as they go through everything together.

there’s another we gotta talk about but i gotta bring up SI-5 first—

while the hephaestus crew is represented by the brass section, i think it’d be cool to have SI-5 represented by woodwinds. they aren’t as strong aurally, but add essential undertones and accompanying cues that could make or break an orchestra.

maxwell has english horn motifs for little reason other than it just— sounds like her to me. it can either sound like a sunrise of a new day or the creeping sensation of dread as lights dim depending on what mode you’re in and what the accompaniment is like, just like maxwell is seen by hera as both a friend and someone who doesn’t respect her in the slightest at different points in the series, and sometimes at the same time. it’s bright, and beautiful, but sneaky, and i think that kind of motif would go hard

jacobi would be played by a bassoon. again, this is a little bit because two of my closest friends are bassoonists and i love the instrument to death but ALSO because it’s deep and looming and intimidating but can also be extremely moving and emotional if you listen closely enough.

now kepler, he’s represented with saxophones. the instrument that looks to be a brass instrument but in reality is part of the woodwind family, just as kepler appears to have the crew’s safety in his best interest and to want to be their friend at first, but is rather quick to let them know his only interest lies with himself and his mission. it’s also a very charismatic instrument and is used to charm people a lot of the time, just as kepler relies on to pull in and trap other people in his “big picture” before they even know it.

all of this leaves hilbert. hilbert, to me, would be played by a cello. it’s a string instrument, and has no part in the band ensemble, just as hilbert has no alliance with any of the other crew members. he does his own thing, and the decima project means more to him than any individual. it’s deep, and full, and just like eiffel’s french horn motif, hauntingly beautiful.

i’m too tired to come up with what goddard’s motifs would be (cutter, pryce, and rachel), but i might do them another time if this gets enough traction—

[stray-tickles]

Letters

Read on AO3

“Hey, Commander.” Eiffel stuck his head through the door to the bridge. “Are you busy? Got a sec?”

Minkowski looked up from the monitor. “Yeah, what’s up?”

He floated in, looking somewhat sheepish. “I- I had an idea, but it’s kind of a downer, if you’d rather…”

She rolled her eyes. “Just spit it out.”

Eiffel stared out of the window to avoid looking at her. “This- this is way worse than we knew when we signed up for it. I was thinking about Lovelace’s old logs, and…” He sighed heavily. “We don’t know if we’re all gonna make it home.”

“We are.”

“We don’t know that.” He stressed. “And I- her crew. Some of them wrote letters to go back.” Now he did turn his head to meet her gaze. “We both have people back on Earth that we’d… I thought, if you want, we could do an exchange. Just in case.”

Minkowski narrowed her eyes. She didn’t like this kind of talk. “I’ve already decided that we’re going to make it back. You’re under direct orders to do so.”

Eiffel laughed quietly. “And I’ve always been super at following orders.” He laced his fingers together. “Look, I’m not giving up, I swear. It’s just for insurance.” Because he sometimes lay awake thinking about Anne and all the things he wanted to say to her. How if he died, he’d never get to. He cleared his throat, so he didn’t sound too choked up. “For peace of mind.”

The thought of Dominik had been on her mind, ever since she’d found out they were officially dead. If that death wound up being real… It would be nice to be able to say goodbye. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah. You’re not wrong. I can’t say I haven’t thought about… having insurance sounds good.” Especially when she’d already promised herself that Eiffel was getting back to Earth come hell or high water. “Anything you want me to take back, I’ll do it.”

“Okay.” Eiffel relaxed. “And you too. I mean out of the two of us I know what kind of chance I stand but… insurance, right?”

“Yeah.”

She’d have to write an apology for him too. For insurance.

--

Things were… okay. Doug could see that they’d all been through a lot, but given it was going to take them a few months to reach Earth, they were okay. Renée was getting stronger by the day, recovering from her gunshot wound, and he only occasionally caught her or Isabel looking at him in that heartbroken kind of way.

Despite what he’d heard of the logs, it seemed like he meant a lot to them. He’d get the hang of it eventually. They were easy to like.

Renée had been up and about for a couple of days when Hera gently reminded him that he needed to wash his clothes. He knew that, but at the same time, it had slipped his mind.

It was only in changing out of his filthy jumpsuit that he found a stack of envelopes stuck to the inside, tied together with an elastic band.

He removed it and flicked through them. Had he left something for himself?

Mom, Dad, Dominik… Eiffel. That one had his name on it. He stared at it. The handwriting wasn’t familiar, but nothing was familiar to him right now. Should he ask about it? Who would he ask? He didn’t want to bring up anything painful for the others.

Besides, he thought as he opened the envelope and slid out the folded paper within, it was addressed to him.

‘Hey Eiffel,

I guess if you’re reading this, I’m dead. I don’t think you’d expect me to write one of these for you, but then again, maybe you wouldn’t expect for you to be the one to make it home out of the two of us either. I don’t know what happened, but I promised myself a while ago that I’d make sure you made it back safe before anything else. I hope you’re not going back alone, but if you are, I’m glad it’s you.

I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to say. Something heartfelt and meaningful, of course, but there’s so much. And so little. Thank you for being here. I’d never admit it to your face, but your dumb jokes were only dumb some of the time. Thank you for being my friend. I want you to have a good life back on Earth. I hope you can hug Anne again, and I hope you keep trying. I hope there’s a new Star Wars movie waiting for you. I hope you get that pizza, and you get to really enjoy it.’

He was crying. Doug wiped his eyes on his sleeve to keep from blotting the paper and tried not to think too hard about why he was crying.

‘If it’s not too morbid, maybe you can look for Wolf 359 in the sky some time. By the time you’re back, you might be able to see the day we arrived. If you do, tell past me to relax a bit. To appreciate her dumbass Communications Officer more. Tell her that he’ll become one of the most important people in the universe to her, and that I need her to get him home.

I hope, if you are reading this, that it’s an accident, and you’re making fun of me. I’d happily play keep-away with you if we all make it back safely.

Signing off,

Renée Minkowski’

The tears were coming full force now, along with a crushing ache in his chest like someone had grabbed his heart and squeezed. Doug released his grip on the letter and fell back onto his bed, clapping his hands over his mouth as the sobbing started. It hurt, why did it hurt so much? What even was it that hurt this much?

“Doug?” It was Hera.

Oh. Hera. Hera.

He was shaking. A lot. He couldn’t seem to stop doing that any more than he could stop crying and gasping for air. He hoped Hera wasn’t too worried. She spent too much of her time trying to protect him. Oh. Where did that thought come from?

“Doug, are you okay?”

Protecting him. Why was she protecting him? He remembered being cold, feeling clumps of hair coming off in his hands. He remembered… being lost.

“Douglas Eiffel!”

He was… dying? Had been dying? He was trapped in a tiny space with no way out, cold and bleeding and alone and…

“EIFFEL!”

He gasped, coming back to himself. “S-sorry!” He gasped, the shaking easing off marginally.

“What is going on?!” Hera demanded, agitated. “Are you hurt? Are you okay?”

Doug swallowed against the lump in his throat. He remembered Hera. He remembered being lost in space. He remembered the deep pit of loneliness in his chest. “I’m fine, Hera, thanks.”

“Then tell me what is happening with you! You looked like you were having a seizure!”

“I’m okay.” He rubbed his hands over his face, eyes stinging from the tears. “Don’t worry about it, it’s… it’s fine.” He couldn’t tell them yet. This was so small. Isabel was still a blur, never mind Renée.

He was starting to understand why she’d been so sad.

Hera, predictably, didn’t listen. “Either you tell me what’s going on right now or I’m calling the others.”

“Hera…”

“Now.”

He sighed. “Okay, okay, just… you’ve gotta promise not to tell them.”

“Fine.”

“I’m serious.”

“Okay, I promise.”

Doug took a breath. “I think… I remembered something.”

Hera was silent for a few long seconds. When she spoke, she sounded breathless. “Are- are you sure?”

He groaned. “No, I- was I… lost? It felt like a nightmare, I was so cold and alone and maybe dying? I don’t know what that even means.”

“You- were lost.” Hera said quietly. “You were on a shuttle lost in space for… a long time. You used the cryogenic pod to survive.”

“Oh. That sounds right.”

“Anything else?”

Doug wrapped his arms around himself. “I think I remember you? Nothing specific, but… I remember that you- you’re stubborn and caring and- and you make me happy.”

Hera made a sound that could have been a sob.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-”

“No!” She exclaimed. “No, I- that’s right. I think.” She seemed to take a moment to brace herself. “You- you make me happy too.”

“Oh.” Doug smiled to himself. “That’s nice.” It felt nice. He felt warm.

“We should tell the others.” Hera said decisively.

He balked. “What- no!”

“Doug?” She sounded genuinely confused.

He sighed heavily. “Just- what if that’s all I remember? I don’t- I don’t remember Renée or Isabel o-or Daniel, what if I never do?” He sagged. “I’ve seen the way they look at me. I- if I don’t remember… I don’t wanna hurt them. They’re okay right now. If I don’t remember them, we- we’ll be okay.”

“I… I understand.” Hera sighed. She didn’t like it, but she understood. “What triggered this? You were reading something, what was that?”

“Oh.” He looked over at the letter floating in the middle of his room. “It’s… Renée. She wrote me a letter. I don’t know, I just… found it. There’s others but I don’t recognise them.”

“Oh.” Hera breathed. “Yes, you two made an agreement a while ago. In case one of you didn’t survive, the other would be able to deliver them to their loved ones.”

For some reason hearing her say that, hearing the words ‘loved ones’ in reference to something addressed to him sent another white-hot jolt through his heart. “Oh.” He said in a small voice, quickly wiping away a stray tear.

“I’m sorry.” Hera murmured. “I wish I could give you a hug.”

Doug sniffled. “Me too.” He said, and grabbed one of the pillows from his bed, hugging it tightly to his chest. “I’ll pretend this is you, for now.”

“Thank you.” Hera said affectionately. “It does look very cozy.” She vowed to herself that she’d get one of the others to give him a hug for her as soon as they’d gotten to the bottom of this.

--

When things came back to him, they first came back as feelings. It turned out to be a good thing to tell Hera, because she was great at helping him make sense of it all.

“Hera? Was I… super mad at Renée about something?”

Hera snorted. “Well yes, at some point over the last few years, but you might want to be more specific.”

Even without his memories, Doug got the joke. “Ha, yeah I guess. I don’t know, it was like. Like she was leaving me behind.” He muttered the last few words. That sour feeling came with them.

“Or like she was sending you away?”

He huffed. “Yeah.”

“Yes, you were mad at her about that, not long before…”

He looked down, trying not to ignore the feeling. The feeling of the door as he pounded on it. The sound of her voice, guilty but determined. The helplessness of knowing that almost everyone important to him was back there and he was leaving.

“She… tried to send me back. To Earth. By myself.” Eiffel looked up. “Right?”

“Yes.” Hera admitted. “She said that if we failed… someone would need to warn the rest of humanity of what was going to happen.”

“Right.”

She sighed. “But I- I think she mostly did it because she cares about you. Wanted to keep you safe.”

“Oh.” He ran a hand through his hair. “That kind of backfired, huh.”

“You’re still here.” Hera reminded him. “That’s enough.”

--

A few days later, Doug woke in the middle of the night with tears streaking his face. Feelings, what was the feeling?

Guilt. Horror. Despair. The sound of sirens and the smell of metal and blood.

He sniffled. “H-Hera?”

“Yes? Yes, I’m here.” He wasn’t sure if he was imagining the pale blue light that seemed to fill whatever space she was in. “Are you okay, Doug?”

He wiped his eyes. “D-did I almost get my daughter killed?”

Oh. “Doug…”

“Please. Please just tell me.” He felt wrung out. He felt like the worst person alive. He felt like he didn’t want his memories back anymore.

“Yes.” Hera whispered. “It was an accident, you…”

He swallowed thickly. “I was drunk.” Shame. The memory of his little girl’s face, how she’d looked the last time he saw her, bleeding and injured.

“Yeah. But you didn’t mean to hurt her, a-and-”

“Enough.” He said flatly. “Please. I- I think I need to be alone now.”

“Eiffel…”

“Thanks for telling me.”

--

Memories of Anne snowballed into memories of Renée. Of her not talking to him, and how much that had hurt. How it had only hurt more when he found out why, even though he knew she was right to. How the pain mattered because… because she was important to him. He knew that before, but he felt it now.

Hera helped fill in the blanks. Reminded him of how they had reconciled. It helped. A little.

He spent as much time with the others as he could. They were good people, and regardless of whether he remembered them better or not, he wanted to be with them.

It was with that in mind that he made two cups of coffee and set out to find Renée. He knew from the recording about how they had lost coffee, and how much he had missed it. Maybe she had too.

He found her alone on the bridge and carefully floated over, cups in hand. “Coffee?”

Minkowski nearly jumped out of her skin in fright. “Jesus Christ! Don’t do that!”

Doug blinked and looked around confusedly. “Who?”

He was even more confused when Renée started laughing.

“S-sorry!” She giggled, one hand trying to cover her mouth. “It’s n-not funny.” It wasn’t, he’d forgotten everything, why was she laughing?

Well, he did have a way of getting under her skin, even now. She forced deep breaths, the laughter petering out, and noticed that Doug was giving her an odd look. “What?”

He shook himself. “Oh, uh, nothing.” He held out a mug.

“Thanks.” She said, taking it gratefully. “But seriously, what?”

He shrugged. “It’s just… nice to see you happy.”

Oh. She smiled into her coffee. How was she supposed to respond to that? “Sorry if I’ve been kind of a downer.”

“Nonono! You- you’ve been through a lot, it’s to be expected.” Doug knew he was a big part of that. Still, he couldn’t shake the warm, proud feeling inside sparked from making her laugh. That had happened before, hadn’t it?

Renée sighed, feeling herself relax that bit more. “Still. I’m glad you’re here.” She tried to come off as casual. “You gonna keep me company?”

He smiled. “Only if you want me to, Minkowski.”

She stared at him, and he realised he’d messed up. “Oh, I- that’s right, right? In the recordings…” He didn’t mention how natural it felt to call her that.

“Yeah.” She said quietly. “That’s right.”

“Cool.”

Minkowski cleared her throat. “And I… yes. I’d like you to stay.”

Eiffel smiled. “Cool.”

--

It was nice spending the time with Renée. They talked about nothing in particular, looked at the stars, drank their coffee. That proud, happy feeling in his stomach didn’t go away, in fact it got stronger. More memories of her surfaced, of them arguing, her saving him, patting him on the shoulder and wishing him a happy birthday, them laughing together.

He remembered Hera, too. Him staying up half the night chattering away with her about movies and music, her covering for him when he was slacking off, her saving him. Her viciously sarcastic streak. He waited until his door had closed behind him to speak. “Hey, Hera?”

Her voice crackled to life. “Yes?”

Doug smiled to himself. “I love you.”

“Oh!” She glitched. “Did you, um, did you remember something?”

She sounded flustered. It was kind of cute. “Yeah, a bit, from hanging out with Min- Renée. Mostly her, and you.”

“Well, that’s good.”

“And that I love you guys.”

“Okay Doug.”

He grinned. “Are you embarrassed?”

“No.”

“Are you lying?”

“No.”

“Are you the bestest AI in the whole wide galaxy?”

“Eiffel!” She squeaked, seemingly incapable of saying anything else.

He chuckled. “I just want to make sure you know.”

“Okay, fine, just shut up!”

“Anything you say, sweetheart.”

--

They were having dinner the next time it happened. Isabel had slathered her food with a bottle of red sauce that Doug didn’t recognise, and when he asked about it, she offered him some. Minkowski gave him a warning look, but, well. He’d never paid those any mind before.

He was so caught up in the euphoria of knowing that, that he swallowed before registering the flavour, and the next thing he knew he was spluttering and coughing from the intense burning in his throat.

Isabel clapped him on the back, clearly trying not to laugh, and offered him some water. “You okay, man?”

Doug nodded weakly, gulping down the water.

Minkowski shook her head but said nothing.

He finished the water, but the feeling in his throat lingered. Burning, stinging. Sticky? No, his throat wasn’t sticky, where had that thought come from?

Hot, sticky, panic. He’d been scared, choking. Dying? Again?

“Hey! You in there?” Isabel waved a hand in front of his eyes.

Oh. Lovelace. She clicked right into place in his mind as if she’d never been missing. Terse, no nonsense, goofy, brave.

An alien?

Yes. She was, yes! Her alien blood had saved his life when he was dying from decima, and again when he was brainwashed.

“Doug!”

He jumped. “Sorry! Sorry, I- uh, zoned out there.”

She seemed concerned. “You sure did! You okay?”

“Yeah,” He swallowed. “Yeah.” Concerned. Why did that ring a bell?

You guys weren’t… actually concerned, were you?

When was that? Why were they concerned? He felt… bad. Guilty and upset. And lonely.

What don't you do? You lie. You keep secrets. You do whatever you want, whenever you want.

Lovelace. And it hadn’t just been her, had it? She was just the first to say something, to tell him what a jackass he was being. He didn’t mean to be, he didn’t even notice!

But he had. To everyone.

Doug stood abruptly. “I, uh, I think I’m done.” He said, trying to not let his emotions show on his face. “Gonna go to bed.”

He didn’t sleep.

--

“You should tell them.”

Doug floundered. “But there’s still so much I can’t remember! Those books, a-and what happened in second grade, the movies!”

Hera sighed. “You’re never going to remember every single thing that happened in your life, you know that. But you remember them, and me, and you remember how much they matter to you. Isn’t that enough?”

It was enough. More than enough, actually. They mattered to him so much, and what was he? He’d hurt everyone who he’d ever cared about. He was useless, lazy, and thoughtless. This couldn’t be the person that they wanted. It just couldn’t. “I need more time.”

Hera didn’t seem to care. “For what? I thought you’d be excited to tell them.”

“I’m not.” He muttered, his heart aching.

Hera paused. “Please.” She said quietly. “Talk to me.”

Eiffel hugged the pillow to his chest and buried his face in it, struggling not to cry. Hera waited patiently.

He let out a shuddering breath. “Hera, I’m… awful.” He whispered. “I almost got my daughter killed, I’ve been terrible to you, to all of you! Why would anyone ever want that guy back?”

“Eiffel…”

He sniffled, blinking back tears. “But that’s it, maybe- maybe they don’t. Wh-what if when we get back…” He was trembling. “What’s the p-point in keeping me around?”

“Because we love you, you idiot!”

“Why? After everything-”

“After everything is the whole point! We’ve been through hell together; you think none of that matters because you made a few mistakes?”

“It’s more than that and you know it.”

“What I know is that you were the first person who made me feel like a person.” Hera said fiercely. “And I won’t let anyone talk about you like that, even you.”

Eiffel hugged the pillow tightly. “Hera…”

She softened. “Are you really worried that the others won’t want you to be part of their lives when we get back?”

He tried to laugh but wound up crying instead. “C’mon. Look at me.”

Hera sighed. “I need to figure out how to do hugs.” She muttered, getting no reaction. “Look, I know you’re scared, and you feel like you- you’re not good enough. But you can’t go on like this. The only way to make that feeling go away is to tell them.”

He fell sideways onto the bed. “I don’t want to.” What even was he, without his crew? He might as well go back to jail.

“I know.” Hera murmured. “I guess the memories about how much we all need you haven’t come back yet.”

“Sure.” Eiffel muttered. He didn’t have the strength to question whether such memories even existed.

--

It took him a day to find the resolve to make the choice, and another after that to figure out how to do this. He’d looked Minkowski and Lovelace in the eye enough times to know that he couldn’t just casually start that conversation.

He owed them the truth, in whatever way he could deliver it.

Eiffel held the letter in trembling hands, looking over it for the hundredth time, trying to absorb some of Minkowski’s strength. It helped somewhat.

‘Thank you for being my friend.’

He’d need to return that sentiment, somehow. When he could.

He shook himself. One thing at a time.

It was a good thing he’d figured out the comms system on the Urania. Eiffel cleared his throat and flicked a switch. “Hey gang.” He said awkwardly. “I- uh- couldn’t think of a good way to do this, so I’m just gonna take the coward’s way out! Anyway, I- I got my memories back, mostly. Yay. That’s all. Um… carry on.”

He could have left the comms room. Part of him wanted to. The nervous energy buzzing under his skin screaming at him to run away, but he stayed. It was done now.

Barely a minute later the door opened, revealing a wide-eyed, out of breath Renée Minkowski. She stared at him. “If this is supposed to be some kind of joke…”

Eiffel felt his nerves melt away. “Hey.” He said softly. “Thanks for the letter.”

It was a good thing that he’d had the foresight to strap himself into the comms seat, because otherwise the two of them would have ended up slammed into the opposite wall from the force that Minkowski launched herself at him. Eiffel managed to catch her as they collided and swallowed his grunt of pain from the tightness of the hug.

He let out a long sigh. This felt right. “Hey.”

Renée took a shaky breath. “Hey.” She managed to loosen her iron grip enough that he’d be able to breathe. Letting go wasn’t on the cards right now. “How did you…”

“Like I said,” He murmured. “Thanks for the letter.”

Oh. She huffed a laugh. “I forgot.”

“Me too.”

She snorted into his shoulder. “Don’t even- it’s too soon to joke about that.”

Eiffel grinned. “Oh yeah? I swear I heard a laugh there.”

Minkowski felt herself smile. “No.”

“Okay, whatever you say.”

He was teasing her, and it felt so utterly normal. It was okay. They were going home, Eiffel was here, himself, and they were safe… Wait. “Pryce!” She yelped, drawing back, “Is she-”

Eiffel jumped. “It’s fine, it’s okay!” He said. “And jeez, don’t yell right next to my head.”

“What do you mean it’s fine?”

He sighed. “It’s fine! Hera’s been keeping a really close eye on her. We might have been linked before but… seems like this is just a me thing.”

“Oh, thank god.” There was a scare, and then there was thinking they might be trapped with a pissed off Miranda Pryce. “Wait…” Her eyes narrowed. Hera has been keeping a close eye on her? “How long have you-”

He looked away. “I mean, that’s a complicated-”

“Almost two weeks!” Hera chirped.

“What?”

“Hera!”

Hera was utterly unrepentant. “Oh, I’m sorry, I was just answering the Commander’s question.”

Eiffel groaned and buried his face in his hands. “Oh my god, you’re the worst.”

“No, I can think of someone who’s worse.” Minkowski growled.

“Ugh, it’s not- look it’s not like everything came back all at once, okay?! I wasn’t gonna say anything if I wasn’t sure it’d stick, or-” He groaned again. “How am I back for five minutes and already being court martialled?”

She forced herself to take a long breath and drop the anger. “You’re right. I’m sorry, I-I just don’t understand.”

Eiffel hugged himself. “Like I said, it was… gradual. I found your letter, but I didn’t know what it was, and it- I don’t know, it triggered something. All I remembered at first was being stuck in cryo, and I thought maybe it was a fluke.”

“And after that?”

She shrugged, not looking at her.

“Eiffel…”

“Oh, it’s nothing really, Commander.” Hera said, a steely edge to her voice. “He’s just upset because we’ll obviously never speak to him again once we get back to Earth.”

“What?!” Now she was incredulous. There was no way he could think that, right?

Apparently he could, because he looked utterly crestfallen at Hera’s words. “Hera, c’mon.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, is that not what you think?”

He looked like he was about to cry. “Hera…”

Minkowski felt something hard settle in her stomach. No. Absolutely not. “Why would you think that?” She asked, trying her best to keep her voice gentle.

He buried his face in his hands. “Seriously Renée? Have you seen me? I’m terrible. I’ve hurt literally everyone I’ve ever cared about, I’m lazy and rude and shitty.”

The venom in his voice stunned her into silence.

“And you- you’ve got your shit together! What- are you gonna come home and be like ‘hi honey, this is Doug; high school dropout, air force dropout, alcoholic jackass convicted felon, we’re just gonna- gonna hang out?!’”

Doug was crying now. He tried his best to stop, he didn’t need either of them feeling sorry for him. It was his own fault that he’d turned out like this.

A familiar hand took his. Against his better judgement, he looked up at her.

Renée started slowly. “I’ll say, ‘Hello Dominik, I missed you so much that it felt like a hole in the chest. This is Doug Eiffel, he’s my best friend. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have made it back at all, let alone as anything resembling a human being. He’s going to be part of my life now, and if you don’t like it,” She squeezed his hand tightly. “I know my choice.’”

“Wh- no.” He rasped, “Y-you can’t.”

“No, what I can’t do is move on from this and- just let you go. It’s not happening.” She spotted the letter half floating out of his pocket and took it, holding it up to him. “I don’t know what part of this made you think I’d even want that.”

He felt like he couldn’t breathe. “Please, don’t- I’m not worth it.”

Well, she couldn’t not hug him. “You are.” She said, cradling his head with one hand and running her fingers through his tangled hair. “I can’t go back to regular life without you. Promise you’ll be there.”

Eiffel sniffled. “Commander…”

“Eiffel.” She tightened the embrace. “Please. For me.”

She just had to play that card, huh? He swallowed thickly. “Fine.” He raised his arms to return the hug. For you.

She sighed in relief. “Thank you. And we’ll work on the whole feeling like you’re not worth it thing. Together.”

He wasn’t sure about working on it, but together? That he could deal with.

--

Minkowski had insisted he had some tea after… all of that. It was all he could do to stop her from making it for him. He did have to admit that talking to her helped. He didn’t exactly feel great about himself, but… well, if she was going to throw her lot in with him, he’d have to be better.

Doug sighed, watching the tea steep. He couldn’t deny the part of him that was happy from the ultimatum. He didn’t like being alone, never had.

“Um… Officer Eiffel?”

He looked up. “Hey Hera, what’s up?”

“I-” She hesitated. “I wanted to apologise.”

He cocked his head. “Apologise?”

Hera sighed. “Yes. I’ve been too harsh with you. I don’t like seeing you like that, talking about yourself like that, and I tried to… well, I can’t shame you into thinking about yourself more positively.”

“Eh, never hurts to try.”

“Yes it does!” She exclaimed. “It does, I-I feel like I just made you feel worse.”

Eiffel’s hand curled delicately around the handle of his mug. “It’s okay, Hera. You did help. It’s not like I was gonna open up on my own.”

“You talked to me about it.”

He laughed. “Yeah, well, it’s easier when I don’t have to look you in the eye. No offense.”

“None taken.” She paused. “Are you feeling better at all?”

Eiffel held the cup in his hands, savouring the warmth. “A little.”

“That’s good. I want you to be happy.”

He smiled weakly. “Thank you. You too.” He sipped the tea and grimaced at the temperature, putting it down to cool.

Hera coughed. “Oh, um… incoming.”

Doug frowned. “Incoming what?” He asked, before being tackled by a very enthusiastic Isabel Lovelace.

“Are you kidding me?!” She said, as they span in circles.

He grinned. “Oh, hey Cap.”

She squeezed him tightly, laughter colouring her voice. “The first nap I take in literally years and that’s when you decide to break the news?”

Eiffel burst out laughing. “Oh my god, really?”

“Yes! I got up, like, a few minutes ago! Ran into Minkowski in the hall and asked what I missed; I think she thought I was screwing with her.”

His shoulders shook with laughter. “Jesus-”

“You’re officially on my shit-list, Eiffel.” She said, though the effect was ruined by the massive smile.

He pulled back enough to grin at her. “I wasn’t before?”

Lovelace laughed. “Oh, you really do remember.”

He hugged her tightly, squeezing his eyes shut. “I really do.”

She buried her face in his shoulder. “Good to have you back.”

“Good to be back.” It was. Despite himself, he was happy.

She drew back. “Oh my god, I wanted to tell you, you should have seen the look on Minkowski’s face when she realised you were gonna ram us with the Sol.”

Oh yeah. He did do that, didn’t he. He winced. “Was she mad?”

Lovelace snorted. “I don’t know if mad is the right word. Definitely surprised, but like,” She broke into giggles, “I swear she aged like twenty years; it was like a parent finding out their kid set fire to the classroom on the last day.”

Eiffel covered his eyes with one hand, laughing silently. “That’s such a specific picture.”

She nudged him. “But you know exactly what I mean.”

“Oh yeah, I’m familiar with all the annoyed faces of Lieutenant Commander Renée Minkowski.”

“You sure about that?” Renée asked from the doorway, making them both snap their mouths closed. “See, Hera? It’s when they shut up that I know they’ve been talking about me.”

Hera laughed, and Doug grinned. “Heeey, bestie!”

“Oh Jesus-” She buried her face in her hands to hide the smile. “Well, it’s good to see you’re feeling more yourself.”

“Is it? Are you sure?” Lovelace teased.

She rolled her eyes. “Yes.” Even at her expense, she’d missed that smug grin.

--

It was late in the supposed evening when Minkowski found him alone on the bridge. “Hey.” She said quietly, to avoid scaring him.

Eiffel looked up. “Oh, hey. What’s up?”

She shrugged. “Just checking in.”

“Oh.” Pause. “Why are we whispering?”

“I don’t know.” Hera whispered.

Their eyes met, and all three burst out laughing.

Renée straightened up, stray giggles still leaking out. “What are you doing up here?”

He shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep. I figured I might as well enjoy the view.”

“Mind if I join you?”

Eiffel smiled gently. “’Course not.”

“Thanks.” She floated up to the middle of the window, beside him. Maybe she’d actually miss this kind of view when they got back.

“Really doesn’t feel like we’re going very fast, does it?”

“I could always add some whooshing noises for effect?” Hera said.

Minkowski barked a laugh. “No, thanks Hera.”

“Happy to help!” She chirped, in that sweetly insipid voice that she only used when she was joking nowadays.

They floated in silence for a little while.

Minkowski spoke first. “How are you doing?” She asked, not looking at him. Knowing that being stared down was the last thing she’d want, in his shoes.

“Better.” He said. “I slept a ton last night, and… it’s nice, having you guys back.” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I was thinking, getting hit with every bad day you’ve ever had in rapid succession like that probably isn’t great for the ol’ self-esteem.”

Oh. “Yeah, probably not.” Suddenly remembering all the people she had gotten killed would probably take a toll on her too. “Still. If you need to talk…”

“Thanks, Commander. I’ll keep you posted.”

She stretched. “I won’t be that for much longer.”

Eiffel groaned. “Ugh, don’t remind me, Renée.” The disdain in his voice made her grin. “Can’t believe I called you that, it feels like a weird taste in my mouth.”

She elbowed him gently. “You’d better get used to it.”

“I only just got used to Minkowski!”

That earned an eye roll. “You can stick to that, if you want.”

He raised his eyebrows, floating upside down. “You sure? Doesn’t feel like normal civilian behaviour.”

“You really think we’re gonna be normal civilians?”

Eiffel chuckled. “Fair point. I’ll try though.”

“What about you? Got a preference?”

“Huh?” It took a moment to realise what she was talking about. “Oh, not really. As long as it’s my name I’m good.”

Minkowski smirked. “Good to know, Fernand.”

“I hate you.”

“Sure you do.”

He laughed. “Jackass.”

She grinned to herself, then noticed something floating out of his pocket. “Hey, you got a man overboard there.”

“Huh?” Eiffel looked down and spotted the letter making an escape attempt. “Oh, thanks.” He pushed it back, buttoning the pocket, and looked up to find her giving him a strange look. “What?”

Minkowski wasn’t sure if she was touched or mortified. “Are you… carrying that around with you?”

He put a hand over the pocket the letter was in. “Why not? It’s mine.”

She groaned, but couldn’t quite put the messy feeling into words.

Eiffel’s mouth quirked into a grin. “I like it. I think when we get back, I’ll get it framed.”

“Don’t you dare.”

“Aw but it’s so sweet!” Eiffel teased. “Who knew the big bad Commander was such a sap?”

Minkowski grumbled, her face flushing, and Hera scoffed. “Oh please, like yours was any better.”

His face dropped immediately, seeing her expression shift into a grin. “No.” Doug said, pushing himself right way up. “No, don’t even think about- No!”

With a laugh, she took off in the direction of her quarters, Eiffel hot on her tail.

He couldn’t help but laugh too. “Minkowski! Don’t you dare!”

“It’s only fair!” She shouted, punching in the code to her door.

“No!” Eiffel yelped, catching up just as the door opened and quickly darting in before she could. He was triumphant for a moment, right up until the door closed and locked him in. “Shit!”

She took a moment to laugh and catch her breath. “Hera?”

Hera laughed. “Okay, it is only fair. I won’t let him out.”

“Traitor!” He yelled through the door.

“Aw, that’s not what you really think, is it?” Minkowski teased, digging around in her pockets for the stack of envelopes.

He banged a fist on the door, grinning helplessly. This was what she’d said in her letter, wasn’t it? Something about how it’d be okay to be made fun of if they were all safe. They were all safe, and it was okay. Embarrassing, but… he could live with that.

“Did you seriously keep them on you?”

“You didn’t?” She said, skipping through the admittedly not numerous letters.

“No, I-I did.” He didn’t mention that they’d been jammed in his armpit for several months.

There was only one blank envelope. Seemed like he’d gone a step further than her in the hopes of it not being noticed while he was still alive. She opened it, pulled out the contents, and snorted. “Is this a pizza voucher?”

“I’ll have you know that place is amazing!”

“It’s expired.”

“What? No!”

“It expired before we left!”

“Well…” He floundered. “It’s the thought that counts! Anyway, that’s the only thing in there, so you can just let me out now…”

“Nice try.” Minkowski grinned, audibly rustling the paper.

Eiffel groaned, completely unable to stop smiling. “C’mon!”

She paused. “Seriously.”

He groaned again, burying his face in his hands. This was worse, somehow. He could remember setting out to write something for Minkowski; he knew she’d blame herself if she was going home without him, but he’d been stuck on what he could possibly say that would make that better. Hera helped. She’d asked him what he wanted to achieve and he’d come up with two answers. He wanted it to be sincere, and he wanted to make her laugh.

He pouted. “Ugh, it’s fine, I guess…” Knowing she’d get the message. This warm, happy feeling buzzing inside him from the sheer joy of being understood, of how much he loved them all.

Minkowski ran her thumb across the folded letter with an affectionate smile. She was almost tempted to put it away and save it for another time. Almost.

The first thing she noticed was that it wasn’t so much a structured letter as a series of disconnected fragments. The second thing she noticed was a cartoon that he’d drawn. “Is-” She coughed to hide a laugh. “Is this supposed to be me?”

Eiffel was smiling, she could hear it in his voice. “What, you can’t tell? I thought the harpoon would be a dead giveaway!”

Did he… He didn’t even know, did he? “I killed Cutter with a harpoon.”

“Oh yeah, sure, very funny.” There was a long pause. “Wait, for real?!”

It wasn’t funny. She’d impaled a man, it wasn’t funny. She laughed anyway. “Yep.”

He cackled. “Oh my God, badass. I wish I’d seen it.”

“It did feel pretty badass.” She glanced over one of the small paragraphs scribbled in the margin and felt her eyes get a little misty. Eiffel’s loyalty had surprised her before, but seeing the words ‘really special person’ written about her… shit, maybe she was a sap.

“You hanging in there, Minkowski?”

“Spoiled for choice.” Wait… “Is this a poem?”

Eiffel snickered. “I don’t know, is it?”

She stared at the letter incredulously.

‘There once was a man with a face Who almost drowned out in deep space His commander she saved him But then it was mayhem And she was really really cool’

Any chance she had of maintaining composure went up in smoke at the last line. She clamped a hand over her mouth in an attempt to stifle her laughter, but knew it was futile. “That- that doesn’t even rhyme!”

“Oh, it doesn’t?” He sounded delighted with himself. “Silly me.”

“Idiot.” She snickered, smiling so widely it hurt.

Eiffel grinned. “Can I come out now?”

Minkowski rolled her eyes and pocketed the letter. “Fine.” As if she wasn’t going to cherish that scrap of paper for the rest of her life.

The door whooshed open after a moment, revealing Eiffel standing there with an expectant smile and his arms loosely outstretched. She rolled her eyes again and dragged him into a hug. “Thanks.”

He squeezed her tightly. “Eh, it didn’t trigger decades of missing memories, so nothing too special.”

“Or tears!” Hera said.

“Hey! That was the flashbacks!”

“Sure, sure.” She said, amused. “And the second time?”

“Hera!”

Minkowski grinned, pulling back. “Eh, not his fault he’s a softie.”

Hera scoffed. “Oh please, you’re soft peas in a sappy pod.” They both flushed. “You do realise it was never part of the agreement to write something for each other?”

Eiffel fumbled. “It- it wasn’t not part of the agreement!”

“Uh huh.” Hera teased.

Minkowski smirked. “Okay, so maybe we’re saps.” She conceded, slowly reaching a hand into her back pocket. “You sure it’s just us?”

“Commander!”

“Yes?”

Eiffel looked between her and the nearest camera, confused. “What?”

Hera sounded mortified. “Okay, okay, you made your point!”

She smiled smugly. “Oh, good.”

“What is going on?”

“Nothing!” Hera said.

“Don’t worry about it.” Minkowski said with a wink. “You’ll find out.”

--

Doug returned to his room the next day to find a folded piece of paper on his bed. He frowned at it. “Hey, Hera? What’s this?”

Surprisingly, there was no reply other than the slight buzz of the speakers. So, she was there. But she wasn’t answering him.

He sat down and carefully unfolded it. This time, he recognised all of the handwriting. The slightly untidy scrawl, the meticulous block letter, and of course, the one clearly typed and printed.

He smiled as his eyes scanned the words, and the signatures at the bottom of the page. “Thanks, Hera.”

She didn’t respond.

Eiffel’s smile grew and he hugged the letter to his chest. “I love you.”

Hera paused nervously. “I know.”

He laughed quietly. “Yeah, yeah. Wait, that’s Star Wars, isn’t it?”

“Um. Yes?”

He laughed delightedly. “Oh my god! I remember Star Wars!”

Oh. “I’m happy for you.” She said warmly.

Eiffel pressed himself against the wall, hugging it as best he could. “I love you so much, Hera.”

“As much as Star Wars?”

He laughed quietly. “So much more than Star Wars.”

She softened. “I love you too.”

[nobodysdaydreams]

Unpopular opinion, but while I’m not a fan of random or spontaneous musical episodes of media in general (there is usually no reason, they add nothing to the plot of show, they’re awkward, the members of the cast who can’t sing are mysteriously absent from the episode or shameless dubbed, it’s weird when they parody a specific musical and force it to tie into the plot), I would have been strangely fine with a Wolf359 musical episode and think it would have actually fit the show extremely well.

The Dear Listeners’ whole thing from the beginning was about music, so it fits the theme extremely well, it’s not like the musical vibes would “come out of nowhere” and if the Dear Listeners are the ones that cause it happen, it would actually make sense. It’s also plausible in the Wolf359 universe as the Dear Listeners can create time loops, clones, and do a ton of stuff that’s already way more impressive than forcing people to sing, and AI like Eris can trap them in a virtual reality so that’s also a possibility.

Not to mention the entire cast would have ATE UP a multi hour special musical episode. Just imagine:

Lovelace. We heard her sing already in Change of Mind, she would rock this. A song about her old crew perhaps?

Minkowski. The whole plot to her musical and her Broadway dreams. Her talent show performance. All of it. Maybe a song about Dominik or whether she regrets coming here. Her dreams of seeing the stars and how now all she wants is to see home again.

Kepler. He’d turn the Whisky speech into a villain song and what a villain song it would be. Casually and smoothly threatening their lives as he twirls the glass in his hand. He sings a reprise on the way out with old lyrics meaning something new or with entirely new lyrics and the final line of the song is cut off when he’s blasted out of the ship, leaving a haunting silence where his last words should be.

Speaking of villains, Rachel. Her rotating between the characters, condescending each of them as an aside, talking about everything she’s done and will do to get ahead, interrupting David Clarke when he tries to have a solo.

Hera. She’d have a nice heartfelt song about her inner feelings, anger, sadness, heartbreak, etc. that Pryce would do a villainous reprise of that has disturbingly similar emotions related to her own disability, but takes a dark and vengeful turn at the end as opposed to Hera’s more hopeful and resilient attitude about her situation. Also the way Pryce sings hers can lead the audience to thinking it’s Hera singing at first until they realize.

Jacobi and Maxwell. They sing a duet about how they doubt what Goddard is doing sometimes, but it’s allowing them to follow their dreams and discover who they’re meant to be (plus how they found family in each other). After Maxwell dies, or the musical hallucination of her disappears, Jacobi has to sing the reprise alone and the hopeful tempo is replaced by one of sadness, anger, and ultimately acceptance as he wishes Alana goodbye.

Hilbert. He would either resist for such a long time then sing a short sad song about Russia and his sister that he claims means nothing, or he’d refuse to sing and finally be forced to sing in a monotonous unenthusiastic off key bland voice with a heavy accent. Go girl, give us nothing. Another option is this is Blessie’s song sung through Hilbert.

Cutter. Do I even need to restate it, this man dragged a grand piano to space so he could dramatically play it before his evil plans. He would eat up a villain number and enjoy every single second of the performance too. Starts out falsely pleasant and sweet, the ominous vibes slowly come in until they’re in full swing.

Eiffel. He’d also insist this was stupid and try to refuse to sing or would awkwardly or sarcastically sing a weird song, but would eventually break down and sing something quiet and heartfelt about Anne and whether he can even be a hero now after all he’s done.

I hope this post finds the right people. Please someone understand my vision!

[soph-the-podcast-nerd]

I was thinking about dnd and i think it would be really funny to watch the Si5 crew play dnd. So I will be head cannoning them.

(also this is just kind of how they would play because I’m too tired to decide what I think they would all play as lol)

Minkowski would DM of course. She would try to get everyone to follow the rules, and she loves to torture her players. She would make these entirely too complex story that no one follows and have voices for all the characters. Dnd really brings out her fun nerdy theater kid energy

Eiffel has no respect for the rules and does whatever he wants. And by whatever he wants I mean he makes up random shit left and right. Like he makes up random spells/weapons/items/etc and minkowskis just like THAT. IS. NOT. HOW. THIS WORKS. While he wont admit it hes having a lot of fun. Also probably the type of player to roll to seduce.

i think Hera would really really love playing dnd. She would make a really complicated character with a complex background and interesting traits and whatever. I think she would probably be the most into it, and she would be really OP just because shes good at it. She would also probably be pretty chaotic imo. Like immediately choosing violence for her character.

hmm i bet hilbert would be into making his own spells, home brewing characters, and being like. a necromancer or something . Idk. He seems like that kinda guy yknow. He would suggest more unethical stuff in the game, beyond normal dnd insanity. But still like. In a fun way.

Lovelace would either like to be really chaotic or really focused on the plot. I think shes a nerd and would either show a new side of her playing dnd and like just be a chaotic murder hobo, or be really into the plot and making sure everyone stays on the right path

i will probably add jacobi, kepler, maxwell, and maybe cutter later lol

[faededaway]

Can I ask for some help from the Douglas Eiffel fandom? (Wolf 359 gang)

So I forgot which episode I stopped at. And I used to listen to the podcast on Google Podcast but that apps no more. I just wanna know where to start

I stopped at the part where the gang knows that Captain Lovelace has been dead and replaced by an alien since long ago. The crew also hears the old recordings of the first crew who came across these aliens. Kepler (or maybe I got the name wrong?) is on board with everyone else and his last remaining crew is SO heartbroken with him for keeping secrets.

Also, I was listening to the crew's backstory. I know the Hephaestus crew's backstory. I don't remember if I remember the other crew's stories.

[crossguild]

thinking about wolf 359 & imperialism and the thing is that, like any media about capitalism and space exploration, it unavoidably is also commentary on imperialism and settler colonialism (whether or not it's intentional is maybe up for debate). recognizing the series as written by a costa rican-american lends it a bit more complexity in that sense

goddard is the imperialist power, and the hephaestus crew, who are officially employees of goddard, represent an exploited & unwilling, but active participant in it. there's no absolution from it-- they're in space because they were offered a great deal, that they accepted, even though it turned out to be a different situation than they were led to believe. but they bought into this deal that they thought was too good to be true, so they faced the consequences. they ultimately win and survive by not just rejecting that framework, but by taking initiative to take it down

the si5 are more complicit, but are ultimately just as disposable to goddard. kepler's monologue about power as a zero-sum game, his perspective that the earth has to be defended from a technologically superior civilization, is a perspective that exists within the framework of imperialism... as the perspective of the colonized. he's in a unique position of having power within the existing structure of GF, but who's also at the mercy of powers above him, both within the company and without, so he's probably the most cognizant of the levers of power and potential for harm from all sides

cutter is the stand-in for for-profit corporate & imperialist interests, not really any way around that lmao. the entitlement & arrogance, the aim of extracting information/resources/labor from not just a foreign civilization but from vulnerable members of his own, it's almost... hamfisted in a series that usually has a much lighter hand with that kind of messaging. pryce literally killing the hermes crew and parading their bodies around for hard manual labor...

but cutter never even imagines that he might come out of an encounter with the dear listeners at a disadvantage, and he never imagines that he might lose to minkowski and lovelace. man lost to hubris. there might be some commentary about how the dear listeners, a kind of macro-scale imperialist power of their own who exchanges information with civilizations they find useful and exterminates civilizations they deem a threat, couldn't get the upper hand on cutter & co, but the ultimate conflict was down to hephaestus crew v. goddard management so if there was any kind of a point to be made about them, i think it got a little lost in the mix.

[commsroom]

hi! I want to make a patch for my jacket with the names of all the crew members of the first hephaestus station, and I kinda want to sort of mimic their handwriting, so do you have any headcanons for what their handwriting is like? (not only them but any of the other characters if you want— I love character's handwriting headcanons haha)

oh, that's a fun project!! i'd love to see it when you're done. and an interesting question; i cannot say i've ever thought about lovelace's crew's handwriting before, haha. you probably know more about handwriting styles than i do, but here are my ideas:

lovelace: generally legible, but not concerned about aesthetics. maybe a little slanted. mix of printing + cursive with no particular logic, just depends on her mood. has a semi-consistent signature, maybe with a bit of a flourish on the L that she thinks is fun.

lambert: even printing with frightening consistency; might as well be typed out. the only real variance in his writing is that you can tell how frustrated he is by the intensity of the lettering; he starts really gripping the pen when he gets mad. signs his initials and then writes his full name out underneath it.

selberg / hilbert: unreadable. barely even words. his written notes are indecipherable to anyone who isn't him, but he doesn't think anyone else should be reading them anyway. has one of those quick scrawl Doctor Signatures that doesn't look like his name at all. ... any of his names.

rhea: i hate to just assign her Digital Typeface, but all we really know about her is that she's professional and takes her job seriously. she gives me the sense that she'd prefer to type than write by hand, even if it was a viable option, but her handwriting would be very neat.

fisher: doesn't write much if he can help it, mostly fills out forms in big block all caps with whatever abbreviations he can get away with. definitely readable, but not exactly neat or even.

fourier: ... well. her diaries are proof she spent a lot of time writing by hand, and i would guess that's a lifelong thing for her. maybe it's just her appreciation for jane austen and similar writers, but she strikes me as the kind of person who would've gotten very, very into writing cursive. there's kind of a romantic, old-fashioned flair to even her casual note taking. definitely practiced a signature.

hui: complete opposite. he was supposed to practice, but was much more interested in other things, and his handwriting is notoriously kind of a mess. thinks much faster than he writes, and so will skip over words sometimes, etc. he also practiced a signature, but he wanted it to be abstract. hui and fourier definitely teased each other over their respective note-taking styles, especially given how often they were reading each other's notes.

i like to think maybe hui dictated his letters to his family to fourier, and she was the one who actually wrote them down - as a way to keep her close, and to give her some way that she could help him, near the end.

this is already long, but, briefly: the other three characters i have to talk about...

minkowski: incredibly neat handwriting, as a result of lots and lots of practice "standardizing" her penmanship as a child. keeps white-out on hand just in case. signs her full name in cursive.

hera: fairly neat, if sometimes shaky, and it bothers her if it looks too uniform; intentionally incorporates writing quirks that catch her eye; also a mix of printing + cursive in whatever way she thinks flows best.

eiffel: usually not unreadable, but definitely not neat. if he makes a mistake, he'll write over it to fix it and make it worse to the point it's illegible and then just leave it like that. has difficulty with writing in straight lines or even-sized lettering; it's all over the place. you know he's a doodler.

we do, in fact, have writing samples for him, courtesy of the dssppm:

... and he crosses his z's. i think that's cute.

[clonerightsagenda]

Ok this might actually be my meanest (?) w359 opinion so I'm not tagging it but I'm bored and was spurred by posts I saw from another fandom to consider relationship analysis and shipping trends so

The way the fandom approaches the Jacobi/Eiffel ship is kind of fascinating to me. Sure on the surface it is a classic two men standing next to each other manifestation, particularly as they are the last two men with a pulse, but there are Layers. I've lost count of how many people I've seen insisting on the fascinating and undeniable canon dynamic these characters have when imo each of them has more interesting interactions with literally every other character. And listen, while I'm not a shipper by trade, I find relationship analysis fun! Especially if you can map everything out tidily and then go 'yikes'. I used to write posts like that all the time for kicks. In the spirit of good will I dedicated an entire relisten to trying to see where people were coming from. I really tried! Maybe I just didn't care enough about the men. Maybe I was insufficiently equipped with shipping goggles. Surely there had to be something here for so many people to insist on it.

Not really. I came up empty.

(Sidenote, one moment I see people comment on is Jacobi asking for both Maxwell and Eiffel to promise they'll reconnect with him in "Time to Kill". However, there are three people in the capsule besides himself - Lovelace, Maxwell, and Eiffel - and Lovelace was the first one to say "I promise". Jacobi isn't singling Eiffel out. He's getting a promise from everyone.)

But here's what fascinates me and what elevates this from just another garden variety 'we gotta smash the guys together'. This lack of a fleshed out dynamic is arguably an asset. At the end of the show, Eiffel (or, rather, Doug, as I tend to distinguish the two) has had his memories erased. Most of the crew are expecting things from him and likely putting a lot of pressure on him to be a certain way. It must be incredibly stressful knowing people look at you and wish you were someone else, expect you to behave a way you can't and maybe don't want to anymore.

Not Jacobi though. He doesn't give a shit. And that might make him more appealing to Doug. Finally someone who doesn't have expectations of who he ought to be, and whose bland disinterest might be preferable to tearful disappointment. Would Jacobi want the amnesiac hovering around him for a break from the sad facial expressions and probing questions? Probably not. But this is the take on a connection between them that's most believable to me, and it's intriguing that most people seem to pass it up in favor of insisting there's a pre-existing dynamic that I just can't find.

Of course, perhaps the real reason most people don't want to dwell on postcanon Doug gravitating toward people who don't miss him is because they do not want to embrace the best postcanon headcanon dear to my heart, Doug and Miranda being weird friends.