#bertbert midnight burger

[awnrii]

what a day, huh?

hi. redraw of this. alt vers below!

no text

and squares specially edited for my playlist cover I won’t even lie. I redrew it so I could update my bertleif spotify playlist. I do not play about them

[biwonderland98]

Being Very Normal about BertBert and Leif on this Midnight Burger relisten

[delighted-mirage]

YEAHAHAHAHA that sounds so fun and sweet. it’s a basic typed up american diner cookbook of recipes aligning with what caspar thinks they should serve like burger and fries, sandwiches, salads. then his notes of variations scribbled into the margins for certain galaxies for food and a big circled one of that one vegan cult planet with red marker DO NOT SERVE MEAT and many other warnings. and then another page for how both his moms like their night breakfast. and maybe another recipe for how his son likes his night breakfast. hurriedly written in the margins of his moms’ night breakfast page like he wasn’t sure if he should write it but did it anyway.

then some notes and recipes written out by caspar for effie and zebulon full of their butchering techniques, best ways to use even old produce scraps into the best casseroles, their favorite way to grind up and blend tea leaves so it’s *just* right (and how to read them and people drinking it), and generally hardy recipes that can feed lots of people they used to use for church that caspar usually pulls out for big crowds when he needs to use the most that he can. they also have the best blueberry pie recipe that caspar Says he’s doing exactly like he says they are! but they Know he’s doing it wrong and it’s not nearly as good as the one they are enjoying right now over the radio.

*they are also the only bakers and I feel like they deserve to have that category cornered. and I feel like zeb’s the cook. effie likes figuring things out and building it so she enjoys it too but I think zeb likes the work in knowing what he needs to do and fill it with as much love as he can. if it’s effie’s recipe it’s down to the minute what you need to do, if it’s zeb’s it’s pretty well structured with room to do what you want and has a little note on which work song he likes humming while he’s working

then some of leif’s recipes on notebook paper and a few popular alien ones he picked up from all around the galaxy. like cocktail recipes for trusk’s dreg and sigius’ wine? *can substitute for beer and dessert wine - or maybe even like. alcohol made from pacific islands? I looked up hawaii’s okolehao and awa made from kava roots and stuff which would be super neat in incorporating making those types of alcohol with sigius being a planet of volcanic islands*

^also probably some cocktails that range from regular to chemically explosive of which many feature a silly straw and tiny umbrella. one of the drinks is called the xeliac and it comes with a smoky black froth in a black sparkling drink that’s physically cold but chemically hot and bitter in the moment but after a moment it’s sweet and warm.

then could even have a couple of ava’s comfort foods from new york too. like her version of a club sandwich if that’s something they Know she likes. or how to make the best new york style pizza. or quick homemade chinese food she knows how to make and helps her focus and think of tons of chinese takeout nights. and a few other street foods like mediterranean, filipino, korean, soul foods, and honestly I think she’d be pretty international.

I don’t think she’d be so nostalgic for the flavors but probably brings it up a few times when the gang eats out at some alien restaurant like this tastes like the halo halo drink from hart street I used to drink like a drug when I was still writing my first thesis. then they turn to look at her and immediately want to know what halo halo/whatever other recipe she’s talking about to make from earth ingredients while they’re drinking/eating this absolutely delicious alien drink (if you’ve drunk/eaten halo halo you know it’s a very solid mix of eating and drinking)

also probably some fun sharp traditional cocktails and coffee recipes that she memorized and by taking one sip of the drink, can tell exactly what’s in it.

then gloria comes in with her whole taqueria menu and recipes all official and with some family recipes like her abuelo’s chocolomo recipe and the best champurrado and horchata and café de olla oughgh. she hand writes all of them and adds fun doodles and none of the gang can actually do the recipes bc she writes them like “add the pepper until it feels like it’s ready <3” and they all ask her about it but she’s adamant that’s Just How It Feels she doesn’t know what else to tell them!

and also got leif to help her experiment making those korean corn dogs with cheese or potato or squid ink, tteokbokki /spicy korean rice cakes or bbongupang / fish shaped bread filled with red bean or chocolate or custard. just bc I think gloria also watched mukbang / eating videos from bts and other korean artists and with an unlimited pantry and kitchen she deserves to experiment and fulfill her mukbang dreams LMAO

there’s also entries of

ex’s favorite food (she has many opinions and it needs to come from This specific galaxy because she can’t eat food but she loved the feeling of being there with people eating it)

shel’s favorite type of light and soil/kind of water/booze

tamara’s quick and easy snack recipes for long shifts and survival tips specifically for surviving for long periods of time on the run from shopzies

clementine’s favorite beets recipes and some other hardy ones she learned as a kid

terric’s favorite foods from jerusalem, england, france, brazil, and america

scribbled handwritten conversations in the margins (ava calling caspar a loser/caspar calling ava a dick) with their handwriting’s clearly distinct from each other <3

and at the end of it is a small collection of

leif’s notes on engineering (maybe the basics of some inventions in case anyone needs to fix a tool in the kitchen? or some other useful things. like a laser gun.)

ava’s theoretical notes (written in code - and one third is real notes, another third mocking caspar, and other third journal entries expressing how a part of her is afraid she is of finding the answer shes looking for)

caspar’s basic cleaning and customer service tips (based around different alien elements, points in time, and universes-he’s had 173 years of experience, I hope he knows how to clean and deal with all kinds of customers everywhere and when)

new notes on how to fix effie and zeb’s radio and their favorite songs/bible verses (“DO NOT CHANGE THE STATION- but if you do here’s ava’s code to fix it” is written in bold black ink now)

and gloria’s basic cooking tips and maybe even some self love affirmations. just as a hc I think gloria’s used to having to support herself in order to face the day and affirmations are a pretty good way to do that. and I think it means a lot to her that she gets to share them with her new family now to support them. <3

If the midnight burger pod ever release merch, one of them should be a cook book that starts off like a regular cook book that focuses on diner staples (burgers, fries, sandwiches etc) but then it transitions to mexican recipes (im thinking chile rellenos, pozole, cafe de olla). But then it transitions to weirder recipes like how to not burn coffee and how to make moonshine. Then Like the end of the cook book is like diagrams of quantum machines and math notes calculating the universe.

[ariartcor]

Berts and young Leif!!

(Tagged as requested @awnrii )

[catblackard]

When intergalactic chuds got you on the run, who you gonna call?

😎🤍🚀

My themme fatale, Verge, is back - this time in the main Midnight Burger storyline.

They're the friend in low places that BertBert needs to save her blue butt. Tune into Midnight Burger and let me nibble the scenery (and your earlobes) for a spell. 🫦

LISTEN HERE (and on your favorite podcast app)

Art by the amazing @awnrii

[pained-expression]

Parallel between Leif’s dad and BertBert’s mom goes so hard

[budgies-with-pencils]

I have some insane BertBert fanart planned but for now. I think I've gotten my designs for these two down. I don't think these are SUPER finalized yet but they're concrete ideas on paper and I'm pretty happy with them.

[YAPPING ABOUT DESIGNS DOWN HERE. THERE'S PICTURES OF COOL BUGS.]

BERTBERT

The main thought processes here were

Volcanic islands

Journalist

NOT a fish

Originally, I was going to make her owl-like, but I really badly wanted to lean into the tropical area of Sigius. Workshopped a few bird concepts but Blue and Golden Macaws stuck out the most.

So pretty. So majestic.

I gave her large ears (Big ears are great for hot weather!) and that was that.

Bert's design came to me fairly easily. So to end off this section I give you a fun fact.

Macaws blush! When they're happy or excited, their face will turn red.

How cute.

VERGE

Now Verge. Their design gave me some trouble. My main thought process going into it was

Bug

Legally has to serve.

Canonically at least Mostly humanoid.

And that's about all I had. Originally, going into it, I went with a stag beetle.

You can tell this Really wasn't going in my favor. I was already branching off to other concepts before really giving it a chance, the hair and horns especially, though cool, weren't really giving me what I wanted. It really didn't look alien enough for me to be satisfied. I scrapped this concept entirely and went back to the drawing board, carrying the mantis concept with me.

Did a lot, and I mean a LOT of mantis research. How their mouth worked especially. It seemed like such a cool thing to incorporate into a design.

And in the end I ended up with these concepts. Obviously I wasn't going to go with the fully bug version, but drawing two extremes helped me find a healthy medium I was happy with.

It was off to the races with the coloring stage, and again I was stuck on Verge. Namely, the color. Red made them look too much like an ant, and green.. just wasn't doing it for me. Back to research I went, for more different species of Mantis. I, of course, found the motherload.

MEET THE CONEHEAD MANTIS OOH YEAH BABY

It was at this point I also changed the antenna on Verge's head to match my new inspiration, and Purple Verge is born. I hope you've enjoyed my yapping.

[everdrawinglittlebee]

got inspired to draw some bertbert after seeing a leif animatic made by @awnrii !! i know she's not Technically aquatic, but to me she Could be. anglerfish bertbert is real in my heart.

also you should reeeeally go watch the leif animatic here !! what a guy he is. need to study him under a microscope tbh

[heycerulean]

lowkey obsessing over an album right now because the songs are just. go listen to The Trick To Life (15th Anniversary Edition) by the Hoosiers PLEASE i love all of these songs - caspar midnight burger (worst case scenario) - LEIF MIDNIGHT BURGER (goodbye mr. a) - CASPAR MIDNIGHT BURGER (a sadness runs through him) - ava midnight burger (everything goes dark) - ted midnight burger (?) (killer) - bertleif (the trick to life) - CASTED!!! (money to be made) - leif midnight burger (also kind of gloria) (rules) - gloria midnight burger (also kind of leif) (song for the uncertain - demo) - lafftrax and verge (swear it on your life) - this is what ava's internal monologue is to me (holding on for july - demo)

[artidepressants]

the first time leif got arrested

[awnrii]

berts redraw because… I love her.

old/comparison under the cut!

(left, 1/2/23, right, 17/8/24)

[359midnightburgers]

Normally Im a bit meh on making Patreon supporter names part of the story cuz either it takes you out of the story a bit or I just don't get what those patreons get out of it.

However, I think Midnight Burger is so blatant with it, and also just names IMPORTANT RECURRING characters after completely shitposting patreon names, that it totally works. 10/10 no notes.

[msvelawciraptor]

Relistening to Wayfaring Stranger and it's interesting to compare how Eldin and Verge's relationship evolves from when Berts first hands Eldin over.

[z-and-the-space-child]

uhhhh ep 38 scribbles

[motheringbird]

And when I say that Too Sweet by Hozier is Leif trying to push Bert Bert away when she somehow contacts him while he’s working for Låfftrax because he doesn’t want her to get involved in more dangerous things?

What happens then?

[delighted-mirage]

rotating trans leif trans bert bert and canonically trans nonbinary verge in my head.

rotating leif being a trans woman and constantly fending off the pressure of being born a man and feeling constantly out of place in her own world, so she takes a ticket out to the stars.

rotating trans man leif struggling under being born a woman in male dominated spaces and fearing being stuck remembered as a woman for his work as well, and taking that same trip on up to finally leave everything behind and figure himself out.

rotating bert bert having to prove himself as a trans man and most likely have the added pressure of his mother either being supportive or strained that bert bert again doesn’t fulfill her expectations (and subconsciously putting another terrifying label on her back. gender varies but I imagine if it’s like earth enough there’s still bigotry and transphobia in certain cultures.) and adds fuel to the fight between them.

rotating also bert bert feeling more left out if his mom’s tangle is still the same one and feeling like he isn’t a good enough child.

rotating trans woman bert bert and the fact leif commented on her muscles as large and maybe feeling some dysphoria there.

rotating also the reunion of two trans ppl finding each other with no clue about the other’s past, only their identities, and the relief from dysphoria leif and berts could have felt knowing gender presentation doesn’t matter to each other. the universal feeling of knowing relief when you’re with your kind.

rotating vapians maybe still having a gender binary, although loose and in between, and verge finding themself through all that they’ve been through. rotating how they carry their identity with them and sometimes still hear an echo they’re betraying their culture by being themself over adhering to their ex-culture.

rotating them not hearing those echoes when they’re around leif when they see him/her being so unabashedly Leif, exuding that wonderful personality that’s so vibrant and s/he doesn’t even know it.

rotating verge carrying that feeling from that part of their time together even when their heart is broken and they know they need to forget leif to survive.

rotating verge realizing how to be unabashedly Verge, the monarch of cunning and crime, and maybe taking the experience to realize all they want is peace.

and rotating the hopeful idea they some day get it. <3