Ink's Space Story Watch

Side blog for InkArchivist. This way, I can reblog Outer Wilds Stuff I like or share my thoughts about the game. There will also be Project Hail Mary stuff here sometimes, and maybe a little bit of Subnautica stuff too since the second game is coming out soon. Don't expect much of my own content if any for the moment. Maybe just personal thoughts about the listed items. I'm 20 and He/Him, in case it matters to anyone. Also, no politics or real world issues. This is just to enjoy some media I enjoy.

[aroace-ryland-grace]

a favourite little moment of mine in the book and movie

[ink-ssw]

That's a good point. I just did some conversations from Earth years to Eridian years, and assuming they I got it correct, then 40 Earth years (I forgot the exact number) is equivalent to approximately 347.857 Eridian years.

[ink-ssw]

Major spoilers for Outer Wilds, but I'll be developing a Dark Bramble theory/headcanon under the cut. I'm open to discussion if anyone wants to give counter arguments, but I'm currently satisfied with my headcanon.

I believe I've heard about the developers officially stating that the Dark Bramble stuff functions via the fourth dimension. Unfortunately for me, I never really found that answer satisfying, especially when recently thinking about it. Every other mechanic is given an in-world explanation that we can use to figure out how something works on our own, so having the Dark Bramble use fourth dimensional stuff instead of something known to work within the game world's rules feels a little disappointing. My solution is that Dark Bramble uses quantum properties, and I can offer some proof towards that.

First point of evidence, quantum properties only apply when you can't see the object. Any time you travel in Dark Bramble, you're in a wall of fog that prevents you from seeing. The Quantum Moon has the same thing, only moving around while you're on it and have light if you're in fog. When you want to leave the sixth location, the fastest method is to jump up and have the fog take you to another location, and anywhere else gives the fog a chance to make the moon leave without you. I wanted to cover this point first because the next point hinges on this one.

Second point of evidence, the rule of quantum entanglement. We have a confirmed in-game explanation for being able to move with a quantum object, that being that if you're vision is perfectly obscured/blocked while you're in contact with a quantum object, you are in superposition with the object and will go wherever it goes until you can see again. My current thought at the time of writing this is that the quantum object being entangled with would be the fog particles themselves. If you had to have only yourself entangled, you might lose your suit the moment you came out the other side and suffocate, so I assume that as long as you're touching the ship, the ship and everything inside of it is also affected by the quantum entanglement and gets transported with you.

Third point of evidence, the Eye of the Universe. At the Eye, we can get a quantum signal from the final part of it, proving that signals can travel through quantum locations. Additionally, the Quantum Moon changes for each location, and the Nomai mistakenly warped into Dark Bramble instead of the Eye of the Universe when following its signal. This would explain how we can hear Feldspar's harmonica from the outside, and how each space is different despite technically being within the bramble. This leaves a plot hole with the fact that the Nomai's mistaken teleportation was caused by the Owlks cutting the Eye's signal early, but I have one last point of evidence to explain that.

Fourth and final point of evidence, duplicate signals. With the black hole experiment at the high energy lab, we can confirm that duplicate signals are caused by an object genuinely existing in two places at once. Feldspar's harmonica can be heard from both the Bramble itself and the Timber Hearth seed, the and the Nomai of Escape Pod 3 got duplicate signals for The Vessel. As for how this is related to quantum properties, we can go back to superposition. According to Gabbro, and confirmed by the Quantum Moon, a quantum object exists in all states at once until observed, which would be affecting the bramble. So, if there exists a path between quantum objects of the Bramble that leads to a signal traveling across them to an outside observer, then that signal's source technically exists just inside every related section of the Bramble until a part of the Bramble is entered.

[ink-ssw]

Alright @owtechnolich, challenge accepted. Thanks for pointing out some things that need extra detail. Time to expand on some things. Spoilers below the cut.

Becoming Quantum

Let's go over cases we know of for Quantum objects on planets that aren't the Quantum shards themselves.

Ember Twin: The cave leading up to the quantum shard is full of quantum cacti and quantum rocks that aren't directly connected to the shard itself. Select parts of the surroundings becoming quantum.

Brittle Hollow: The small area on top of the Tower of Quantum Knowledge has a large Quantum Shard, surrounded by quantum trees. Individual parts of the surroundings becoming quantum.

Timber Hearth: This could seem like a dead end. The quantum grove is completely separate from the Museum Shard. However, I believe it would be a little too convenient for it to have communications appeared on three perfectly placed stumps. Therefore, it could be proposed that the shard was moved there from the grove after its properties were discovered. Therefore, the trees and bushes round have been quantum due to the shard. Individual parts of the surroundings becoming quantum.

Giant's Deep: If I remember correctly, the Tower of Quantum Trials has a Quantum Shard inside of it and it allowed other objects in the tower to be quantum. Individual parts of the surroundings becoming quantum.

This is enough of a pattern to realistically assume that objects can become quantum given enough size. Not entire planets, but parts of them.

Dark Bramble's Quantum Cause

So how does Dark Bramble have it happen? No quantum shard is nearby, so there must be some other explanation. Let's take a look at those other planets again, but through the eyes of the Quantum Moon.

Each quantum moon location is similar to the area around it. At the Hourglass Twins, there's sand areas and a... Reverse canyon? I'll go with that. At Brittle Hollow, you don't see a black hole or the surface falling apart. It's just uneven like the surface. At Timber Hearth, it resembles a grove. At Giant's Deep, it resembles a water surface, and a cyclone guards the north pole.

Now for the bramble, it takes on the appearance of the icy surface, yes, but also the branches. The big thing with the Bramble is that it's all connected, so what does it mean for the Bramble to be in one of the superpositions of the Quantum Moon? Following the pattern of other quantum objects, the entire planet (network of planets, in this case) can't be made quantum all at once. But fog is disconnected molecules of some gas that fill up the area. The fog could be our quantum object. Individual particles surrounding a material currently connected to quantum properties. This could explain why a quantum object on the planet is not needed to provide quantum effects.

Noteworthy Alternative

Someone gave this idea on the Outer Wilds discord (for anyone who doesn't know, owtechnolich has a post about it). Not sharing the name in case they don't want it shared. For the sake of fair argument, let's suppose this is true. What does that imply about the Bramble?

For one, this implies that Dark Bramble fog could be equivalent to Eye/Quantum Moon fog. This does actually make sense. Fog allows us to leave the Moon's sixth location, and always brings us to the north pole when entering successfully. Therefore, it has some ability to transport us. Additionally, the fog is what takes us into the parts of the Eye that get us to the end. So in all three cases (Eye, Moon, and Bramble), the Fog can cause us to move.

I'm unsure of how exactly it would have originated in this scenario, but I'm unsure of what the Bramble comes from even without this being the solution. Feel free to expand on this.

[ink-ssw]

I got a silly PHM idea. I've been seeing posts where Rocky, Adrian, and/or the science team (some combo of the three) figure out how to make Grace live a lot longer, so he ends up surprised by his life span or his extended youthfulness, or they put him in an Eridian body somehow to extend his life. But what if he wasn't surprised? What if they had to get his permission first, and he accepted out of light-hearted spite? (That meaning he doesn't hate anyone, it's just like "hah, take that!")

He's accepting because he wants to show that he doesn't need Earth to live. He wants to defy the odds and live longer on Erid than he ever could have on Earth. And then if he lives long enough for earth to find a way to get to Erid, he gets to say "Stratt sent me against my will to die, but I'm living better here than I did on Earth." It would be even funnier if this was outside of his dome and the EVA wasn't working anymore, so he was stuck in the lower mobility suit that Rocky made for him

[pointnclick]

"we live in an uncaring universe." sorry the special planet full of beauty and animals and food literally growing out of the ground isnt good enough for you. i guess

[lioness--hart]

“In the same way your heart feels and your mind thinks, you, mortal beings, are the instrument by which the universe cares. If you choose to care, then the universe cares. If you don’t, then it doesn’t.”

~Brennan Lee Mulligan

[ink-ssw]

This feels like the Nomai vs the Hearthians.

Nomai, basically: "I no longer believe that there was any specific purpose for us to be here. The universe is, and we are."

A Hearthian at some point, probably: "Marshmallow! ::D"

[rockrockgrace]

You're an Eridian Now!!!

Wheel of Names

Enter names, spin wheel to pick a random winner. Customize look and feel, save and share wheels.

Spin the wheel to see what rock or mineral your Eridian's carapace is made up of! I put a LOT of rocks and minerals on the list! Also maybe useful if making an Eridian OC??? HAVE FUN (I got Corundum)

[ink-ssw]

I got Chalocopyrite. Consults Google

If I understand correctly, it looks like I'm basically made of copper? Neat.

[ink-ssw]

I officially finished the first chapter of my Outer Wilds AU story. I have it up on AO3 here, or you can just look up "What doesn't kill you" to find the story. It was fun to get the first chapter written, and I look forward to doing more. No guarantee on the pace, though. There's only so much story, and I only have so much time to write it.

[ink-ssw]

I was writing my AU where the loop starts causing adaptations, and I had a scary thought about Outer Wilds. The advanced warp core has both a tiny black hole and a tiny white hole built into it. The warp core in The Vessel is broken, though. What happened to the black hole and white hole? Did they teleport somewhere? Was there a tiny explosion? Did something in the Dark Bramble nullify it or eat it.

We can be fairly certain they didn't nullify each other. They had existed just fine for however long the vessel was in operation, and the lab on Ember Twin shows that a black hole and white hole can exist in close proximity without cancelling each other out. But then, what happened to the warp core's black hole and white hole? And why did the frame break in the first place?

The only thing I can think of would be that the messed up warp into the Bramble jostled it and caused whatever blew open the part of the Vessel that we enter from, but that wouldn't make sense because the Nomai would have needed to take to the time to get to the Escape Pods after the warp to not have been in the vessel. And why would they be eager to get back if they heard it blowing up while they were being blasted away from it? Plus, this likely would have been the only case where the warp core had a structural failure like this if the Nomai all agreed that it was a good decision to use it.

[solanumwarrior]

The Outer Wilds Ventures Experience

[hackademic]

enough iron lung, where's the outer wilds crossover

[ink-ssw]

Here's what I imagine would happen if they were to talk:

Grace: "How... How does your rocket even work? It looks like it was duct taped together."

Hatchling: "Oh, I don't understand the exact functionality, but Slate's quite good at making ships."

Grace: "Like, one guy? It took us all the brightest minds on Earth working together!"

Rocky: "All of Erid come together to make ship. How only one member of species make ship?"

Hatchling: "I mean, it's not like it needs the most perfect possible seal or perfect durability. We can always just plant our emergency tree seeds if we need oxygen. It only takes a few minutes, and we you get use some of the wood to roast marshmallows."

Grace and Rocky are then both confused how the little blue alien is so nonchalant about seemingly impossible physics.

[taumoebros]

mysterious next door neighbors~

bonus:

[ink-ssw]

This is pretty funny. I don't personally ship characters (unless platonic "shipping" is a thing), but I can imagine this happening.😆

It's also funny how everyone seems to agree that stick Adrian is a triangle with legs, and that Adrian is both taller than Rocky and some shade of blue.

The cut is just for a quick @, don't worry about it.

@stick-eridian-collection, stick Adrian and stick Rocky, if you're interested. :)

[jeonjam-deactivated20180304]

GO ON ANON AND ASK ME ANYTHING YOU WANT

[ink-ssw]

I just had a potentially awesome Outer Wilds AU I'm going to write with my Hearthian OC. "What Doesn't Kill You". Basically, the hatchling sustains a lot of injuries during any given loop, so imagine if they slowly adapted to things they went through without dying. Almost drowned, but you made it out? You can now hold your breath for longer. Fell off a rock and barely survived? You're gonna be able to survive a higher fall next time. I'll make a post on here when I get it started, because now I'm invested in it.

[ink-ssw]

yellooo ::]]] for your own ask game, i'd like to give you a feldspar and/or an esker !!

Hello there! ::)

Feldspar: I'd say that I had medium Feldspar-iness during my playthrough. I often preferred jetpack flight to normal walking, and I tried to use speed to traverse the Interloper. Funnily enough, the most Feldspar-y maneuver I did was when I found Feldspar. Outside of having the advantage of the signal scope, I pretty much got to Feldspar's camp in the exact same way they did. Came in unprepared, ran away from an anglerfish, and arrived with my ship decently damaged before getting out to talk to them.

Esker: Since it didn't end up happening in the last ask game, I kind of feel like yapping about the ending to Outer Wilds, so major spoilers under the cut. Also, it's kind of long. 😆

So, the hatchling has successfully gotten the warp core to the vessel, and now they're at the eye. Not yet aware of what comes next, they take a tentative step into the warp that will take them to the surface of the Eye, then drop into the Eye itself...

The Drop: It's interesting how, in a world that had such consistent patterns if you look hard enough, the source of it all would be so chaotic in appearance. Yet the patterns are still there, in the repeating space and the large curves that make up its appearance. I remember something I read in Minecraft: The Island when I was younger. "Just because the rules don't make sense to you, doesn't mean they don't make sense." I think this drop demonstrates this pretty well. While it's hard to understand how the space works, it's consistent with itself. It doesn't need your approval to exist, but you don't need to worry about why it exists either. "The universe is, and we are." From here, it has to be fully headcanon since there's no universally agreed upon interpretation of the ending.

The Quantum Museum: A conscious observer collapsing the possibilities is what happens at the final campfire. Your own perception of reality is what makes the new universe exist. I always thought of this museum, and the rest of the Eye, as the Eye itself communicating to you. So what's being communicated here? Each museum exhibit explains the history of your journey, the past and present of what you've discovered. You're not expected to be satisfied, you're just being given a conclusion to your own findings and major questions. If you missed something, it's too late now.

But there is a museum exhibit of note here. "Of all the life forms that will perish in the oncoming death of the universe, we will miss the anglerfish the least." Not that it won't be missed, but that it'll be missed the least. It's okay to be sad about loss, it's okay if you find it difficult to move on. Even the anglerfish weren't a complete waste of carbon, they had some form of value that you just couldn't see, so you can't be expected to be completely okay with losing what you love. And the same goes for you. You have value, even if you can't see it.

The Forest: Your home environment. A forest is what's most familiar to you, so it's how the Eye will work with you. The lights fade out, signifying the end of all the old universe's stars, and then you hear your own breathing. You, the last remnant of what was, and you are going to facilitate the creation of what will be. This time, the lesson won't necessarily be about yourself, but about demonstrating some last lessons to carry over through the help of your old friends. These lessons will serve the new universe in maintaining a good order to things, and they can give the player an insight into their own life. Most of the demonstrate a good and bad principal each.

Esker, the loneliest Hearthian. They're the ones to inform you that you can hear music. They're the first around the campfire, your indication that you're going to need friends. Total isolation can break a person, so it makes sense that one so lonely would be the first to hear the music.

Chert, the most scientific of the Hearthians by self proclamation. They were always looking through their telescope, always looking at what they couldn't affect. When their greatest fears came to pass, they were so used to observing what they couldn't affect that they didn't have the needed experience to contain their own emotions, one thing they could affect, causing a full emotional breakdown into numbness.

Riebeck, the Hearthian that was most afraid. They tried to stay in their comfort zone, built up walls that they hoped would keep them safe. Though it's good to be prepared, they were so reliant on the walls and comfort they had built up that everything came crumbling down when they were confronted with what they hadn't prepared for.

Gabbro, likely the most relaxed of the Hearthians. They were never concerned with what happened, all things pass after all. But they became complacent, doing only the things that weren't overly difficult, and leaving them unwilling to take action when it would have been most helpful to do so, even though they did have the tools they needed for it.

Feldspar, the bravest Hearthian. Their bravery was valuable, and it got them far enough to help make your journey possible. But they didn't guide their bravery into their reasoning, and in the end their own recklessness led to them being stranded without help.

Solanum, the last Nomai. The Nomai were incredibly intelligent, their technologies made the hatchling's journey possible. However, they went too far with this curiosity, being willing to blow up the sun if it meant achieving their goals, making them a danger to themselves.

The Prisoner, the only inhabitant of the stranger that had accepted the end. The inhabitants single mindedly pursued what they perceived to be best, destroying their own world in the process. When what they thought to be a blessing was found to cause destruction, the prisoner was the only one with the courage to keep looking, the only one with the courage to realize the truth and give others a chance to seek the opportunity themselves.

The Final Campfire: Here is where the Hatchling, and the player by extension, gets one final lesson. You can't do everything alone. If the hatchling had been on their own, the forest would have been the end. But they had friends and found new ones. With the help of those they know, the hatchling is able to make the new universe possible, make new life possible. As for why you can talk to Solanum and The Prisoner, I think the eye is giving you a chance to say goodbye to everyone. You decide when you've accepted this, and you decide who to say goodbye to. You don't get to decide how or when the end comes, but you get to decide how you treat the people in your life before you go.

I rambled a bit, but I hope that made sense.

[ink-ssw]

Hello! I come to offer Gabbro and Chert for the Ask Game ::)

-@laniakeas-horizon

Hello there! Thanks for the ask. ::)

Gabbro: I'd say that the place I found most relaxing was the Quantum Grove. I didn't think about it much before this ask, but it is pretty nice there. A small river next to you, a little forest that changes just enough to not feel repetitive, and a poem nearby that I can always check out a new version of. I'd probably set up a campfire there if I was one of the Hearthians.

My next answer has spoilers, so I'll put it under a cut for anyone who hasn't beaten Outer Wilds.

Chert: I mentioned during the last ask game that I pretty much perfectly predicted the way the loop worked super early into my playthrough (before even learning about the ATP) as a theory. I'd say the most surprising to me, though, was that Feldspar wasn't linked to a memory statue. I saw that there were three activated pretty early on, and it took me until after finding Feldspar to learn that the third statue was for the probe, so I had built up a theory in my head when I first used the Ash Twin projection stone that Feldspar had been on the third one for a while, and that the reason for his disappearance was that he was using it to explore somehow. When I found him and there wasn't even a dialogue option to talk about the loop, I didn't understand what information I could have missed. (It turns out, it would have been helpful to actually land on the launcher.)

[ink-ssw]

Ask games have been fun so far, and I kind of felt like making one. This time, it's character names. I don't mind if you want to just use the question sentences, the rest of each prompt is just context to help with answering the questions.

Chert: What's something that surprised you about the story or world when you discovered it? Whether it's something you didn't know about, or something that majorly affected your theories, or even just something you didn't expect that you found funny.

Esker: I can't really think of anything for Esker, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind a conversation. Free yap spot. This ask is repeatable because it's fun to yap and Esker deserves the company.

Slate: This ask has two options. What's a funny way your ship messed up, or what would you say was your favorite ship maneuver you've managed?

Riebeck: Was there a moment that you found particularly intimidating or scary during your playthrough? Whether it was intended to be scary or not.

Gabbro: What would you consider to be the most relaxing place in the game? Criteria for "relaxing" is up to your interpretation.

Feldspar: How reckless were you during your first playthrough? How Feldspar-y were you?

Solanum: Is there a point where you felt like you were stuck, or a point where you believed that you could have handled a particular obstacle if you just had enough information? It's okay if you were wrong.

Prisoner: I can't think of anything for the prisoner, so this is a funny spot. Share a time when a glitch or some weird timing gave you a laugh during your time playing.

Hatchling: I've seen one asking what got you to play, and one asking about the ending, so let's go in the middle. At what point did you go from just trying the game to feeling genuinely invested? What kept you "looping" back to the game?

You can reblog to show interest, and I hope whoever sees this and participates has fun with it.

[ink-ssw]

I had the thought that it may be worth reblogging this to mention that I'm up to receiving asks for this ask game, just in case there's anyone that only sends asks to the people who reblogged after it got set up.

(If the reason I didn't get any asks is because I'm not very well known in the Outer Wilds community (as far as I know), I understand, but I wanted to try doing my own reblog of it in case that was the reason.)

[ink-ssw]

I decided to make a bio for my Hearthian OC so that I can write stories with them if I want to. I'll add a link to it if I make a reference image.

It's just called Character Bio: "Sid". If anyone is interested in seeing it.

[ink-ssw]

Ask games have been fun so far, and I kind of felt like making one. This time, it's character names. I don't mind if you want to just use the question sentences, the rest of each prompt is just context to help with answering the questions.

Chert: What's something that surprised you about the story or world when you discovered it? Whether it's something you didn't know about, or something that majorly affected your theories, or even just something you didn't expect that you found funny.

Esker: I can't really think of anything for Esker, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind a conversation. Free yap spot. This ask is repeatable because it's fun to yap and Esker deserves the company.

Slate: This ask has two options. What's a funny way your ship messed up, or what would you say was your favorite ship maneuver you've managed?

Riebeck: Was there a moment that you found particularly intimidating or scary during your playthrough? Whether it was intended to be scary or not.

Gabbro: What would you consider to be the most relaxing place in the game? Criteria for "relaxing" is up to your interpretation.

Feldspar: How reckless were you during your first playthrough? How Feldspar-y were you?

Solanum: Is there a point where you felt like you were stuck, or a point where you believed that you could have handled a particular obstacle if you just had enough information? It's okay if you were wrong.

Prisoner: I can't think of anything for the prisoner, so this is a funny spot. Share a time when a glitch or some weird timing gave you a laugh during your time playing.

Hatchling: I've seen one asking what got you to play, and one asking about the ending, so let's go in the middle. At what point did you go from just trying the game to feeling genuinely invested? What kept you "looping" back to the game?

You can reblog to show interest, and I hope whoever sees this and participates has fun with it.