hey y'all there's a new outer wilds lego set up on the lego ideas page- its at 792 supports as of right now and needs 10k.

We got the last one to 10k, and this looks a little better built and there's more too it, so uh. Please support? You do have to make an account (or recover the one you used for the last attempt)

Gabbro is lazy. No way around it. They’re in a time loop, aware of the time loop, and they’re spending the whole thing playing their flute in their hammock. 

But. If Gabbro wasn’t, they’d be a lot harder for us to find- always on a different planet. Since we have a traveler who also knows about the time loop, they have to be someone who won’t move around. But, they can’t be stranded- one, because there is an astronaut already stranded, and two, because the stranded astronaut can not be the other member of the time loop. Feldspar is in a difficult to reach place on purpose, because their spot in the Eye Coordinates puzzle requires them to be stuck and hard to reach.

Gabbro? You can go find Gabbro, first loop, knowing nothing about the game, easy. You’re actually pushed in that direction a little- Gabbro went back to Giant’s Deep to learn about the statue that just made weird eye contact with you, Hal tells you, maybe go talk to them? 

While you can feasibly go find Feldspar on your very first loop of the game while not knowing anything about it, it’s much, much lower odds. Like finding the Vessel first loop. 

So Gabbro, to fulfill what they need to be for the story, is lazy, and is not going to be getting up from their hammock for this, thank you. They’ve done their exploring- the quantum grove on Timber Hearth, they’ve been to Giant’s Deep at least once before the current trip and I will argue minimum twice before- they were just on the Statue Island, and now, they’re gonna stay put. 

So, why are they on Giant’s Deep? When it comes to relaxation… well, Ember Twin (if you’re not in a valley filling with sand) is calmer, the Hanging City isn’t in danger of falling or being hit with projectiles, the Attlerock has nothing dangerous going on, and they’re relaxing on a planet that periodically flings them into space. But they can’t switch places with Chert or Riebeck- there can’t be an astronomer* on Giant’s Deep due to the atmosphere, and Gabbro would be in the Hanging City, not signposting the crossroads like Riebeck needs to be (...that write up is coming I promise). And they can’t swap with Esker- the Attlerock is good to do nothing on, but Esker can’t have an effective ship-fixing base on the planet with the highest gravity in the system.

*Part of the. Our time buddy is lazy. Astronomer!Gabbro who becomes incoherent half way through the loop- and then shuts down entirely when they realize what’s going on? Not useful to the player. Archeologist!Gabbro who’s either scared of space and in a time loop or goes ‘nothing can kill me forever!’ and goes on an exploring spree? Also not great- we’re supposed to be the explorers here, not Gabbro. Adventurer!Gabbro who’s never in one spot is a pain to find- you won’t go talk to them nearly as much if you can’t reliably find them, and if you’re chasing them into areas you haven’t been, it means you’re not exploring the way the game is trying to get you to explore, chasing clues and old messages deeper and deeper, you’re just wandering into a late game area unaware of it’s significance because you’re looking for Gabbro. They’re moral support, your one other person who knows, so they can’t be useless to you or moving around. 

So. Giant’s Deep. I think Gabbro being there also helps incentivise players to come back. You can explore all the easy stuff on Giant’s Deep in a few loops- the islands you can see might take two or three, one for the cannon and one for the quantum tower, and a final one for the module. It’s the easiest, or at least the fastest, to explore after Timber Hearth (I know Dark Bramble has less and you can do everything in one to two loops, but, Dark Bramble has the entrance requirement of Anglerfish Outlook in the Sunless City and realizing how you can use that knowledge). The Twins and Brittle Hollow all have a lot of other stuff going on- two separate cities that are both big and practically require you to find the secret entrances before you can really get things done, plus other areas, and Ash Twin might be quick once you know what’s up but it has a lot to figure out with the towers and the warping and all, plus the Sun Station and the ATP. 

There are only two islands on Giant’s Deep that actually have Nomai stuff on them that you can find easily when you get there the first time- the other two are Gabbro’s island and the bramble island, and you don’t know about the tower of quantum trials your first time there unless you’re really a fan of your signalscope and the quantum fluctuation sounds. But, you’ll come back to it more frequently because your time buddy is there! Go talk to them! Think about quantum stuff ‘cause the game set up that Gabbro is the quantum expert no matter what Hornfels thinks! Maybe go find the tower on accident and despair that you can’t tell Gabbro about it.…

Gabbro is also the second clue in the beginning of the DLC, pointing you at the DLC, which. I’m not sure why Gabbro of everyone was chosen to start that- Chert makes sense too, being sent out to check on a satellite- except that Gabbro you can talk to at any point during the loop and get a coherent answer, and Chert. You can’t.

fully finished my first proper quilt. Calling it 'this is why we remember to slow down and take our time and measure properly' (alt 'thats the cats quilt now'

The first thing we learn about Riebeck is they have a banjo. The second is Moraine is worried about their safety over that of everyone else in space, and the third is they’re clumsy to the point where if they had the translator, Hal is worried they’d break it. 

The clumsiness is easiest to address- why do we have the translator, not the resident xenoarcheologist? Why is our first task not ‘take this to Riebeck?’ And the answer is because they will break it on accident (and because we were half of the team that made it, but, I think that’s just another justification for us starting with and keeping it).

So, Moraine is hoping hearing Riebeck’s banjo means they’re alright- and Esker, if you read their notes, they were worried until they started hearing Riebeck’s banjo from Brittle Hollow. And when you do find Riebeck, at the far end of a trail they tell you they fell down, they tell you they’re scared of space. It’s an interesting choice for an astronaut- the other character we know of (Tuff) who is scared of space is firmly underground on Timber Hearth- so why give that trait to one of the travelers?

Because Riebeck needs to be at the Crossroads. There is a lot going on in Brittle Hollow and the Crossroads are the easiest way to get everywhere if you’re still learning the layout. And having that banjo playing loud and clear is a very handy way to find it easily.  Leading players to it, with Riebeck’s notes around the Southern Observatory and the gravity crystal workshop, and the banjo guiding them, is the best way to introduce it early before people get too frustrated trying to navigate the biggest (in terms of Nomai writing) planet in the system.

And the easiest way to keep Riebeck at the Crossroads, not at the Southern Observatory or the Hanging City or anywhere else, is to make them anxious to the point of staying right where they are despite their eventual goal- the Hanging City- being practically within view (Off topic but a detail I like, Riebeck is the only traveler without a pot full of stew next to their campfire- they have a kettle on, and marshmallows, but no fish stew. I chose to believe they were planning to keep going soon, not, they already ran out of rations taking so long to move along).

There isn’t as much of a ‘why here’ for Riebeck, compared to everyone else- they’re a xenoarcheologist, Brittle Hollow is the only planet you know has a Nomai settlement on it when you launch, of course that’s where they’ll be. Astronomer!Riebeck isn’t here, not with Hollow’s Lantern, and lazy!Riebeck never launched, adventurous!Riebeck is somewhere in the Hanging City and not useful for you navigating under the crust on Brittle Hollow. 

They could have been investigating ruins on a different planet- the only switch that would make sense is Gabbro and Riebeck (Astronomer Chert and ship fixer Esker don’t have reasons to be on Brittle Hollow, Feldspar is required to be Stuck), so we'd get Riebeck having panic attacks every time their island gets thrown into space, and Gabbro decided to stop and relax at the Crossroads and not the Hanging City. But, Riebeck won’t be on a random island if they were on Giant's Deep, they’d be on one of the two islands with Nomai ruins- so why even have the fourth island? They’d have a camp among proper Nomai ruins and be one more thing to explore in the middle of the history you’re hunting for, and the game is pretty consistent about keeping the Hearthians and the Important Nomai Knowledge from being on top of each other. Also, Gabbro’s ‘flute’ is the hardest to hear out of the traveler’s instruments- which makes it that much harder to follow them to the Crossroads.

Nah, that’s not gonna work. Riebeck has to be on Brittle Hollow, at the Crossroads, anxiously staying in one place, to make it easy for us to find them and navigate.

Hey so uh I'm gonna talk about Feldspar and why they are how they are for a bit

So Feldspar is the first astronaut of Outer Wilds Ventures, they’re a foolhardy explorer, they don’t stop and let people know where they’re going next, and they got themself crashed and stranded in Dark Bramble for an unknown (but longer) amount of time. So, why are they like this.

Well, let’s take a step out, and look at Feldspar as a plot device, not a character. 

Feldspar has a unique designation among the other travelers; their role, in the game, their purpose, is to be a late stage clue to a puzzle (I can’t say ‘crucial puzzle’ because let’s face it, all of the puzzles are crucial, except maybe, maybe the Quantum Moon, in that you don’t need that one done to finish the game). 

Feldspar, and their first campsite on Dark Bramble, are the last clues in what I’m gonna call the Eye Coordinates puzzle before you actually get there. Their purpose, in game, is to point you towards thinking about how you can use the jellyfish to get past the core of Giant’s Deep, to find the probe tracking module and the coordinates. So they can’t be easy to find, but, you have to have reasons to go find them.

So, we have the most Hearthians involved in any of the puzzles for this specific puzzle- the mini museum under the launch pad tree sets up Feldspar, then first Gneiss tells you they’re missing, then Hornfels and Tephra. Then Esker’s notes tell you they’re hearing a harmonica from Timber Hearth, and Tektite, in Youngbark Crater, tells you the harmonica you’re picking up from the seed that must be from Dark Bramble. There are also Feldspar’s notes on the bramble island; those are both another pointer for where to find them and your first introduction to why you need to find them (the fact that they’re missing aside); they found a way into the core of Giant’s Deep. 

And then you have to figure out, how to get into Dark Bramble safely, how to get past the current (taking you from the canon workshop to Brittle Hollow and following Riebeck’s notes to the equator and then south), and why you even need to try (in the orbital probe canon). 

So. All of that, to make Feldspar hard to find, but to make you want to find them. 

And all of that is what informs their character. 

None of the travelers had to have the personalities they’ve been given; Riebeck did not need to be an anxious wreck, Gabbro did not need to be lazy, Chert not… let’s call them detail oriented, Esker not lonely. But any other personality is not going to have a reason to still be stuck in Dark Bramble, where Feldspar needs to be for their role in the puzzle and the overall story. Lazy Feldspar never went in in the first place, detail oriented (or astronomer) Feldspar told Hornfels where they were going (if they even went), anxious Feldspar told Hornfels and made sure it was very easy to find them, lonely Feldspar was looking for a way out. 

Feldspar, as a plot device, needs to be in Dark Bramble with no intention of leaving. And so thrill seeking, glory hunting, the first astronaut in the program, the one who never got killed by any of Slate’s contraptions, went flying off to the least known planet in the solar system without telling anyone, crashed and got stranded, and isn’t in any hurry to go home and be the center of attention when someone manages to find them. And so their character is fit into what the plot needs.

hey if you saw the Outer Wilds patch notes that there's a can of expired marshmallows somewhere (location under the readmore)

Esker's cabin, under the eaves, with the rest of their food. You'll know it when you see it (This link goes to the reddit post that I needed to find it)

You can pick it up even! Try one! marshmallows don't go bad it's fine

Esker, as much as I love them, has one major character trait

...okay everyone has one major character trait, it's that kinda game

Esker’s main thing being ‘lonely’ is, well, because they’re on the Attlerock. Someone had to be- the other astral bodies all have a representative- but there’s not much there. You can explore the whole Attlerock in under ten minutes- faster than exploring Timber Hearth itself- and there’s no deeper layer to any of the puzzles present; everything on the Attlerock is an early puzzle piece, to the Eye, to Dark Bramble, to Feldspar. It’s unlikely most players will go there more than once or twice. And Esker doesn’t get any new dialogue the other travelers get- you don’t have a reason to go back to them. But it didn’t need to be like this- there could have been a lot of things, later puzzle pieces, hidden areas, the same kind of stuff you’ll find on the other planets. So, why not?

Esker, and the Attlerock, are extensions of the tutorial that is walking from your sleeping bag to the observatory. You woke up, you talked to people, you messed with the model ship and your signalscope and the zero g cave, now launch- and you can go wherever you want, but Hornfels tells you, if you’re not sure or you want to start small, to go say hi to Esker on the Attlerock. It’s an easy place to find, to land on, it introduces you to the idea that you’ll get different gravity on different planets, reinforces using your signalscope (and points you towards Feldspar again) and introduces the Nomai’s vision based tech and the Eye of the universe by name (and has some of Chert’s notes but). It’s a very useful extension of the tutorial, if you need it or not. 

And you don’t go back to a tutorial area, usually. Most people playing aren’t going to go running through the village multiple times just to get the same dialogue from the npcs; they won’t go redo the zero g cave or mess with the model ship beyond what they need to for the achievements. And they won’t go back to the Attlerock, because they know everything they needed to learn, and there’s not going to be anything new.

All that together, well, no wonder Esker’s main trait ended up being ‘lonely.’ And trying to swap them with another traveler- Chert instead, Riebeck, maybe, if they never moved on, or Gabbro being lazy- but you’d have to swap purposes with them; Esker who keep eyes on things and fixes ships as needed can’t be burning up with Ember Twin' close solar orbit or in Giant’s Deep's 2x gravity or under the crust on Brittle Hollow. 

They are also, essentially, Timber Hearth’s representative in the very end- you’re the conscious observer, but everyone else is representing the celestial body they were on, and the Attlerock and Esker have to stand in for Timber Hearth as a whole. Despite waking up there, most players aren’t going to be running through the village a lot- they might talk to Slate occasionally, but, most people aren’t going to go run into the rest of the village except maybe once to see if anyone gets new dialogue. 

Of course, the npcs there all have each other, but, you’re off exploring the other craters on the planet- you’re not going back to talk to anyone on Timber Hearth for the most part. And that includes Esker, whistling away on the Attlerock, waiting to see if one of the three astronauts left- of those three, only Chert is stated to fly more than as needed- is going to ask them to fix a ship so they can do something and see someone. Or if Hornfels- who's now downstairs in the museum- or Gossan out in the zero g cave are going to radio them. But no one is, because Esker is alone up on the moon, with no new dialogue, with no new reason for you or anyone to go talk to them.

Because they're an extension of the tutorial, and you don't go back to that once you know how to play.

Finished it this is Elizabeth Hartman's Lana Lemur quilt pattern! I. Jumped right in and made the big one for my first quilt (the front of this was finished before the rainbow lone star quilt was started)

The Kazoo Is Not An Indicator Of A Good Hatchling

just a friendly chat introducing Chrys! no issues or fighting at all*

*....jk its all one big fight

*Ominous Backup Singers* A Three Hour Tour

Feldspar centric fic maybe they'll let me write Not Them for a while

In Search Of Certainty

Third fic with Chrys nothing else is actually planned rn and the other way they're ending the time loops

Achievement Unlocked!

@the-nebula-sys since you asked for it specifically you get a tag

...the plot might have been a little misleading (on purpose)

Translation Loading: Please Don't Touch The Core

doing this plot again but with Graphite

Executive function isn’t right now

so

*several of these will be Done before the Tephra fic will be because it’s Big but getting my brain to settle on it for a while would be solid progress

This Maybe Shouldn't Be A Dialogue Option

it'll mostly be shorter stuff from me for a while

rambling a bit about family units/raising i think (little bit of dlc spoilers)

Short, obvious ones out of the way- Nomai tend to raise kids communally, but, kids know who the parents are and that's usually where they go back to for meals/sleeping. Any Nomai nearby will help with the kids and is willing to watch them for a while but they're not The Person usually.

I do still like 'Owlk have three sexes' and their hatchlings will usually stay with whoever laid the egg but they do have everyone pitch in to help more than Nomai; on a sliding scale of 'almost nucluear family but not Nomai' to 'whats a 'parent' Hearthian' they're more or less in the middle. Hatchlings usually know all their parents, but, may not.

Okay, Hearthians- gonna preface this with. I'm weird about taking some things from canon and just not letting go of them (while also ignoring other things like Timber Hearth being mostly a grass land without seasons) and that, in the village, there's no 'hey your parent would be-' 'your siblings' or any mention of family like, at all, have lead me to the headcanon that it's considered not important to know to the point of most people don't care. (And i've mentioned somewhere, since theyre genderless, you can have 1+ genetic donors for a given Hearthian- some have just one, some have two, some have three or more but that gets less and less likely as the number goes up.

So the obvious worry is inbreeding, but, I think how I'm handling that is pheromones. The more closely someone is related to someone else, the more they smell... it's not, bad, but it's something that grabs a bit of their brain and goes 'no this one's not attractive' (Found out recently certain lemur species do this kinda thing!)

most romantic relationships don't last forever? even longer lasting ones they'll go on and off periodically.