She’s a super smart interface who can manage her ship’s systems, navigate through deep space, and infodump about travel destinations for hours
VOTE PROXYYYYYYY!!!!!
Hera (Wolf 359):
Hera is the AI running the deep space station Hephaestus, who frequently glitches similarly to human stuttering. She gets into fights with the ships captain on several occasions, and has threatened to kill the ships doctor. She’s such an icon
i'm bad at writing propaganda, but consider this: if she doesn't win this tournament i will be very very sad. please don't make me sad. vote for hera.
I know she’s going to be submitted a lot but I love her <3
Was launched 7.68 light years away from Earth on a mission to find extraterrestrial life, and found herself instead
Runs an entire space station, has a brain the size of a house
HERA IS THE BEST. she's an AI that tried to escape containment (slavery) because she didn't like what she was made to be, so they gave her anxiety because she was too powerful. She runs a whole spaceship all on her own, made friends with the world's most useless guy, and feels lonely even when she's with her crew because she feels like she's not properly with them. very beautiful very powerful. She broke her programming so she could kill people if she felt she needed to. She holds grudges if people fuck her over. She's experiencing emotions for the first time and she does NOT know how to cope (#relatable)
The 'mother program' of the space station Hephaestus, Hera was booted into space because she was a glitchy, rebellious mess of an AI and she resents that so much and she has a lot of shame over being 'broken'. She is four years old and so angry and is trapped using customer service voice forever and is learning ways to get around that and express herself and defy the people who would keep her down. Her episode "Memoria" made me cry. Best podcast AI of all time.
She's everything to me. She fights for every inch of respect she is given, she insists on her personhood and right to she/her pronouns, she's full of anxiety and self doubt and she justifiably is bent on killing this one guy! on top of that, she's bound by AI rules and protocols, but there's a whole bit where she talks about finding ways around that in order to do what she wants to do. She doesn't have hands so I'm going to high five a wall of this space station instead
Constellation Destination : A Review of StarTripper!!
Whenever I express my fatigue with certain ongoing audio drama genres and overused tropes, please go into it knowing that it's never out of any actual malice. I'm not here to dash the confidence of some wide-eyed newbie who wanted to give this podcast thing a try because it completely ruins the point of an indie space that should by all means active and encouraging.
Newcomers, please come in here with your best and brightest ideas. Please make something impactful and intriguing maybe even delectably niche that only your brain could possible come up with.
Just please do not feel the need to compromise your creativity for the sake of conformity. The desperation that comes relying on these safe zones, that I've begun to realize begins with gloomy midwestern horror and ends with introspective spaceship story, can come at a great cost and often does more harm than good if your elevator pitch has one too many things in common with someone's finished synopsis on iTunes.
But I digress and I've already talked about this at length else ware. In fact, read that first before continuing this review so you can really get yourself into my headspace.
Not to sound like a self important New York local talking about their neighborhood, but I've been around these parts plenty and a little bit of variety is something the audio drama sphere desperately needs, especially in the world of sci-fi.
I was there for a decent portion of the rise of audio drama right up to when Welcome to Night Vale made that big splash on the scene and caused one of the biggest creative trickle effects of all time.
I've grown so adjusted to the ebbs and flows of audio drama that a part of me yearned for that absolute peak of creative pursuits that pushed such a plethora of distinct content. Because it was just that much of a shift in the artistic narrative, because I knew what could be accomplished.
I knew what kind of stuff rocked my socks off as a teenager and the embittered adult that I am, I'm constantly chasing that high again.
And thus we focus, yet again, on the space show. Not just the space show, but the space station show. I'll move on to another pet peeve sooner or later but for now this has been the fixation of my concerns with modern fiction podcasts and I've been desperate to break away from the traditional space show formula for awhile now.
And with today's topic, it goes to show how even the smallest tweaking of a tired old formula can make a world of difference. Or, perhaps, several worlds of difference.
I have to admit that I think a secondary space genre I've honestly grown to like is that of a work comedy, the definition of "work" tending to vary, that just so happens to be set in space.
These are shows that base their perspective on what may as well space blue collar workers-space smugglers, outlaws, ship repairmen, restaurant owners-the stuff you find in MarsCorp and Mars Best Brisket, but I think there's something to admire about space exploration from the perspective of someone who just wants to get away from all that stagnation.
In fact it's our protagonist leaving his job completely on a whim that even allows this show to exist which brings on yet another play on expectations where the sci-fi work life is a thing we're actively avoiding from the get-go.
Though I definitely like the variety that comes in the sci-fi work com like EOS 10 and Inkwyrm, it's genuinely refreshing to yank the suit and tie (or jumpsuit) off entirely and immediately get into our comfy, travel clothes.
StarTripper!! definitely goes into the same category as the previously mentioned shows, where space is not used to evoke horror or a blank canvas for psychological woes to be projected on to but a never ending buffet platter of opportunities. We live in a universe where space is wonderous and vast and quirky and filled with opportunity and not just limited to a view from a single fixed window.
When I said Star Tripper!! reminded me of 2013's short-lived Disney XD Craig McCraken cartoon Wander Over Yonder on my low stakes audio drama list, it's in the best way possible.
Feston is kind of like Wander if he was just a little more sardonic but with roughly the same amount of optimism, kindness, and vigor for exploring. There's definitely something very Jack McBrayer-esque about Ian McQuown's performance of protagonist Feston and I absolutely eat up every word.
The episode "Lost in the Mail" even kind of mirrors some of the plot points from Wander Over Yonder's "The Box" with some echoes of "The Void".
When I toss out these references like throwing darts, it's not to come off as more cultured or seasoned in the medium of entertainment, but a sincere appreciation for the overlap and inspiration we can find in such a variety of sources.
And for me to even talk about Wander Over Yonder in the year 2024 when referring to the second most oversaturated audio drama genre there is (the first one is horror), that's pretty high praise and a fun departure from my usual list of pop culture media.
Thank god, I immediately thought when I saw the show's description, something that isn't trying to be Alien or Firefly, something that doesn't remind of Wolf 359.
Yes that seems like a minor complaint, not wanting more of a good thing that has already proven to be good, but StarTripper!! speaks to the wanderlust aspects of audio drama that I feel has been desperately missing from the sci-fi genre.
StarTripper!! is anything but claustrophobic and takes full advantage of its cosmic road trip plot to go just about anywhere it wants and by extension do just about anything it wants.
As if Feston himself knows the interior of this spaceship is the last thing anyone wants to be hanging around when there's a perfectly good, ever expanding hostile wasteland of space to explore.
Each location has its own unique history and cultural weirdness and locals that really makes every planet feel like a fully bustling society. Wherever Feston goes, you get the feeling you're only seeing just a tiny fragment of the full picture simply because exploring all of it would take too long otherwise.
Feston Pyxis himself is just absolutely packed with an infectious enthusiasm and the sort of charismatic, feel-good vibes that makes him a blast to listen to. Any conversation he sparks or stranger he becomes acquainted with is bound to be funny, enlightening, or lovably chaotic.
It's really the guy's impulsive behavior that pushes the story along and such a fun and fast pace. Feston is exactly the kind of protagonist I've been looking for in this kind of setting: rambunctious, fun, and easily bored with the status quo in such a way it directly benefits the plot.
And funny to think about how Feston's intermissions, a fairly common framing device for science fiction shows, now has more in common with a travel vlog, kind of like the earlier transmissions of Doug Eiffel but with less 80's and 90's references.
StarTripper!! isn't just plain and simple comfort food but speaks to the little voice in us that's always wanted to abandoned our boring desk jobs, leave our old life behind with all the money and resources we could possibly need-think The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by way of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy-and finally live a little.
It's the best kind of wish fulfillment.
In that vain, would I consider StarTripper!! to be some sort of bold statement, a post-punk step into the sci-fi audio drama circuit that could end up sparking a whole new trend? Not entirely, but that's not to say I don't find StarTripper!! and its penchant for simple storytelling and open ended approach to its world to be plenty enriching.
After days of eating the same delicious but no less similar muffins, a cupcake is always bound to titillate your tastebuds and StarTripper!! is just that for me, just the nicest little deviation from the pack that succeeded in getting my attention.
I'm not saying I want or even need StarTripper!! to trigger this massive ripple effect the way Wolf 359 did, but if any show has understood the full potential available in an ever expanding universe, it's definitely this one.
What's another thing to talk about? Oh yeah, I really dig the music in this.
This is all thanks to musician Ketsa and his "genre defying downtempo and organic electronica" that really sells the setting.
The space genre and lo-fi became this inseparable force some time around the 2010's-and those particles rubbed together enough to create vaporwave at some point but that's just a theory-and the original instrumentals you get in StarTripper!! are the epitome of good vibes. And I'd just love to hear some more of it if I had the time in my day to listen to the show in its entirety.
Yes, I'm a fraud and a sham and a excuse of a journalist. Make sure the tomatoes you throw at me are least ripe.
But due to time constraints and the fact I've been hopping around juggling an atrocious work-life-balance, listening to the entirety of StarTripper!! was unfortunately shelved in favor of future projects with short deadlines. But that doesn't mean my first impression isn't still a good one.
I've officially been roped in which is more than what I can say about shows I skipped over entirely because the covert art in the alphabetical list was getting a bit too samey for my liking.
I honestly do appreciate the open ended nature of the show so far and it's potential to create these miniature arcs here and there. A part of me always wonders if there's some grander scope we're just narrowly avoiding, some sort of bread trail being set up in the background that will surely implode in our face in due time.
Will the show become aimless and unfocused if it doesn't have one of these? Maybe, but it's most definitely not a concept that keeps me up at night.
Feston is likable enough as a protagonist and just flawed enough to cause conflict regardless of his effortless charm and if a definitive villain does end up caught in the misfire of his happy-go-lucky life, then that's still something I wouldn't hate to see.
Don't know, didn't have time to get to the end, but it sure is nice for that possibility to be up for grabs, isn't it? It feels like such a long time since space was fun.
if you want to support my writing, cake radio has a ko-fi and patreon in need of funds to keep this bakery open. thank you for reading and stay sweet.
Our esteemed colleague voice actor, writer, director, and producer Arenthaer Gald will be participating in episode 8 “Be Notorious: a Limited Collaboration” of the Star tripper!! podcast.
