I really wish there were more Sana and Arkady moments. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t ship them. I love their dynamic and the little moments between them are top tier. I just wish there were more.
Part of the reason I love The Strange Case of Starship Iris so much is that Sana’s and Arkady’s friendship is clearly foundational to both characters and it’s treated with as much importance as any romance.
Sana is also just really, really good at being a friend. She’s more than earned her position as Captain and part of the reason she’s so good at it is that it’s clear when friend-Sana is speaking VS leader-Sana.
Yes! I love Sana’s VA. She does such a wonderful job. They all do, but she does such a great job with all facets of Sana’s character.
Part of why I want more interactions with Arkady and Sana is because I feel like we really get to see the significance of their history and care for each other from Arkady’s perspective (that line Arkady says to Violet about taking a bullet for Sana, Arkady actually taking a bullet for Sana, every time Arkady is concerned about Sana) but we don’t really get to see it from Sana’s perspective. When she expresses concern for her crew, it’s usually for the crew as a whole. And even that time that Arkady took a bullet for her, her concern in the moment was overshadowed by Arkady’s reaction.
I definitely would have loved more moments/exchanges like these in Season 2, for all that we get some great development of other character relationships
Even in that one message that Sana sends to Arkady in 5.5, the way that Sana is able to let her guard down when talking to Arkady and admit how she’s really feeling, and the pressure she’s under? So much there
I almost did not get this done in time BUT here is a sleepy krejjh for tscosi week :] (image id underneath the read more!! also click 4 better quality, tumblr put this through a garbage disposal for some reason????)
it’s so funny that they all call her “other violet” like imagine that you’re organizing a revolution against a fascist state and you’re doing all the work and keeping your shit top secret and there’s this one group of people who will not call you by your name because they already have a friend with the same name
other violet: for fucks sake can you guys stop ignoring my calls and pay attention to me for once
also be sure to check out the other art by @demonickitkatshere it is stunning!!
[image description: a digital illustration of Arkady Patel from The Strange Case of Starship Iris podcast. She stands in the centre of a desert mesa environment. She is a south asian woman with brown skin and short black hair. She is dressed as a cowboy. Her jacket is dark red with white embroidered violets on shoulders. Her shirt is white with teal trim, matching her teal scarf. Her pants are orange, with a leaf pattern along the side. Her right hand clutches her cowboy hat, the other hangs at her side. Cacti and and mesa structures frame her in the background. Sunlight splits from big clouds on either side, surrounding Arkady’s head. The illustration has a warm, orange tone. End ID]
amateur podcasters try to write the magnus archives but what they really should be doing is writing starship iris
basically, people who have listened to tma want to do a similar thing of an anthology podcast with a frame story. plot develops as pieces come together from the anthology and more attention is slowly devoted to the frame story. but they get too attached to this idea of the plot and just don’t do a proper anthology! for example i’ve listened to what’s attempted to be a couple really solid anthologies where i was more invested in the short stories than the framework, and then that just broke down.
but starship iris is a really good example of something short, with a frame story that’s into the plot and basically dissolved by episode ten (the season one finale), where there are no issues with that! it’s fun, it’s exciting, it’s more character focused (like all of y’all want to make yours) and it’s super well paced!!! it’s not an anthology, which is fine, bc being an anthology doesn’t always add very much. it’s got a slowly developing plot with intrigue and the frame story works so well- we know they’re bugged by the government from the start, because the frame is us listening to these government agents who have compiled this data (park + mccabe my beloveds- and that’s a point, they really work as characters!) but they take seven episodes to fully figure it out, and it’s suspenseful!!! and there’s so much good foreshadowing and stuff. okay this is just a starship iris lovefest now i’ve lost my point but you get it right
AU In Which Everything Is The Same, But There’s A Ghost Squid
On the heels of my last comic about Episode 7 (thank you so much for all the notes and lovely tags on that, you guys are the best!), here’s another riff on Episode 7. I’ve always thought that Ricky Q’s delivery of the line “…or your ship is haunted.” is honestly hilarious. I know it’s meant to be flippant and arrogant, but something about the way he says it just cracks me up. Anyway, in this AU Ricky Q has to reconcile himself to the existence of Frankie the Ghost Squid (Brian named them) who yes, might be haunting the ship, but is very polite about it.
Drawing these comics (even just the two that I’ve done so far) has been a really interesting exercise in realising that I don’t actually have a clear mental image of any of the cast - even though I consider myself to be a pretty visual thinker normally - except for Sana. I’m not sure if that’s because I spent more time picturing her when I wrote Good For Morale in order to think up and then describe her date outfit, or if it’s because fanart of Sana tends to be, on the whole, pretty consistent in how she’s depicted? But it becomes an interesting challenge to try and decide on an appearance for the other characters. I have endless fun with Krejjh, whom I now headcanon has a thing for both wrist and neck adornments (and in case you can’t make it out, they are wearing a T-shirt with a dinosaur and the word ‘DINO’ on it, because dinosaurs!) but Ricky Q was a challenge. What kind of outfit would best sum up his smug fuckboi essence? Initially I thought of some kind of really idiotic “sneaky” outfit involving a black beanie and all-black attire, but he does work with a lot of criminal organisations, so he’d probably dress nicely to Show Them Who’s Boss. And of course, he had to have a fedora. All of which was a “fun” challenge for my limited drawing skills, but persevere I did! (Even when I had to redraw the last panel because his face looked really weird, and then I obliterated the paper by rubbing it out too many times. This is also why his skin tone is more vivid in the last panel, because I forgot that I’d originally coloured him to be super pasty).
I have an assortment of ideas for other short comics and I’m having fun with these even if they take me a while. So watch this space!
[Image ID: a colored pencil drawing of Krejjh from The Strange Case of Starship Iris. They are a humanoid purple alien with four arms, four eyes, goat-like ears that are pierced in several places, and four sensory stalks with bioluminescent tips that crown their head. They are wearing a loose white crop top and black capri leggings. They are sitting barefoot on a metal bench built into a riveted metal wall, in front of a round window through which a pink nebula is visible, looking peaceful. /end ID]
[Image ID: a pencil sketch of Krejjh from The Strange Case of Starship Iris, drawn from the hips up. They are a humanoid alien with four arms. They have a round face with four wide-set eyes and a flat nose. They are laughing, grinning widely and showing sharp teeth. They have floppy, goat-like ears pierced in several places and four sensory stalks with bioluminescent ends protruding from their head. They are wearing a loose crop top and have a surface piercing in each hip. /end ID]
Hashing out my Krejjh design, the new season has me ITCHING to draw these fabulous characters. If you like queer space pirates fighting corrupt governments (and I know you do) you should be listening to this podcast.
“Iris is still on hiatus … I hope they come back soon, cause I really liked the podcast. But i know that sometimes getting better takes time. Still, I’m worried people will lose interest”
it took me 8000 years but I’m FINALLY caught up w tscosi again!! here’s a drawing of mccabe and brian watchin soaps (?) 2 celebrate that dusnaoam
(PLEASE forgive the lack of krejjh and park, my brain would NOT cooperate w me and I couldn’t transfer my ideas 4 where they’d be onto the paper)
ID–
a traditional drawing of rj mccabe and brian jeeter from starship iris. they are both sitting on a couch talking to each other. mccabe is wearing a sweater with random shapes on it and ripped jeans. they are gesturing angrily with one hand as they speak to brian. brian is across from them on the couch, with a blanket over his lap. he is wearing a short sleeved shirt that has a smiley face with four eyes on it. he has scars scattered across his arms and one on the side of his face. his hair is in a ponytail and he is laughing at whatever mccabe is saying to him. there is a live laugh love pillow between the two of them.
I saw this sweater on here a while ago and IMMEDIATELY was like “oh krejjh 100% would wear that” so here’s this dusnaoam
(id is under the cut!!)
ID–
A traditional drawing of krejjh from starship iris. they are a four eyed and armed alien with a fluffy mohawk. they have long elf-like ears that have been pierced 3 times along the top and once at the bottom, they also have a septum piercing. they are grinning and have one hand on their hip, another holding a peace sign, and two resting at their sides. they are wearing a sweater that has a dinosaur on it, the scales of the dinosaur extend along the top right sleeve, making it look like that arm is part of the tail. they are also wearing a skirt and high top shoes. –END ID
“up and down are mere ideas, the laws of physics a polite suggestion, let’s get rude ::)”
(id under the cut!!)
ID–
A non-colored pencil drawing of krejjh, arkady, and sana from starship iris. they are all 3 standing in front of the control console of a ship. krejjh has four arms, the top two pulling on two different ropes on the ceiling and the bottom two hitting buttons and things on the control panel below them. they’re about twice the size of sana and arkady, who are both standing beside them. arkady is on their left, wearing a cropped tank top that reads “if lost return to sana tripathi”. arkady is also wearing an eyepatch and a terrified expression as she stares out the front of the ship. sana is on krejjh’s right and is wearing a headscarf and a short sleeved shirt that reads “I’m sana tripathi”. she has a reassuring arm on krejjh and looks a little anxious at their current actions.
ALT
