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Doug and Hera from the Wolf 359 podcast for @commsroom 🩵

my gut feeling is that eiffel's "waiting restlessly in the calm before the storm" song should be "spanish ladies" à la jaws - also a traditional song that shouldn't have licensing complications? probably? - but that's a tangent. why "see me dance the polka"?

eiffel's repertoire of pop culture references is naturally full of these sort of... gabriel urbina-isms, but i don't usually find they stand out; they make sense through the combination of "growing up, eiffel watched a lot of old movies on tv instead of going to bed" and "eiffel is the kind of pop culture guy who likes things made by other pop culture guys and a lot of his references might be second- or third-hand."

and this isn't an exception, it's been referenced in other things. he could recognize it and have it rattling around in his brain somewhere. it's just that... what would remind him of this particular song, or why would he have had it recently stuck in his head? and, well, not to pigeonhole anyone, but... it feels more like a minkowski song? george grossmith was a comic contemporary and performer of gilbert & sullivan; he created the role of - most relevantly here - the major-general in pirates of penzance. and gabriel urbina is typically good at distinguishing these things; what songs wolf 359 can use, in any capacity, is obviously limited, but the theme from the great escape makes perfect sense for why eiffel would have it in mind during mayday (eiffel's "mental john williams discography" is also deeply endearing to me.)

Space woman I love youuuu

there are two things here, both of which cutter uses to manipulate her: 1) minkowski has been outcast and overlooked for her immigrant upbringing, and she desperately wants to prove that she belongs, and 2) she craves certainty and purpose, and wants to believe there's a way to make sense of her misfortune. that's what appeals to her about sunday in the park with george: "the guy who sings it is this famous french painter, and his entire life is kinda falling apart. but he can always turn what's happening around him into these beautiful paintings." at least from a performance perspective, there's a way that her interest in musical theater makes just as much sense as her military career: there's a certainty to it, and an authority to appeal to. a role to perform, a script to follow, an expected way that everything will play out.

(and so maybe it's interesting to consider her application was for writing musical theater, in the creation of her own vision rather than the execution of someone else's, and she was rejected from that.)