Rock Tumor | Star Master Log: Everything We Say Is Canon (w/ Stephanie)

Star Master Log

Jun 30

START HERE·EPISODE·SWN RULES EXPLAINED

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Starting with Episode 25, the Star Master Log gets a new format: Jeff sits down with a rotating cast member for a spoiler conversation about the episode that just dropped. First up is Stephanie, who plays Haleyy with two Y's, breaking down Rock Tumor — the Spigot arc premiere and the episode that introduces Iso.

They cover:

(0:05) - Introduction: "Rock Tumor" — new SML format explained
(0:48) - First Impressions: Stephanie re-listens after months away from the episode
(1:38) - Haleyy's Two Sides: The sister dynamic, the corpo past, and what Haleyy chooses not to remember
(7:13) - Rapid Fire: Canonical facts about Haleyy — favorite food, what's in her bunk, one word per crewmate, and her most prized possession
(10:50) - Looking Ahead to Episode 26: Haleyy's "keep moving forward" mantra and the weight of everything she's ignoring
(14:09) - Outro: Episode 26 teaser

New Star Master's Logs drop every other Tuesday, bridging the gap between our main adventure episodes.

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[00:00:05] Star Master Jeff: Hey everyone, Star Master Jeff here and welcome back to the Star Master Log. Starting with this episode, we're going to be doing something a little bit different with the SML. We're going to be having a simple conversation between me and one rotating cast member. We'll be talking through the session a week after it drops. And today I'm joined by Stephanie, who plays Haley with two Ys, sometimes one Y. We're all still a bit confused about that. And we're talking about Rock Tumor, also known as the ISO episode or the first episode in Spigot. If you haven't listened to it yet, go do that first. Because what follows is going to be a spoiler conversation. You have been warned. Stephanie!
[00:00:46] Stephanie: Hello! Go listen! Welcome!
[00:00:48] Star Master Jeff: Hello! So you just re-listened to the episode and it's one that we played a few months ago because we have such a big backlog of things that we've recorded. What was your kind of first impressions going back and listening to an episode that you haven't really thought about in a couple months?
[00:01:06] Stephanie: It was a lot of fun listening back through this episode, especially because what's most recent to me is I'm working through Haleyy with two Ys and Haleyy with one Y is still an ongoing conversation. We've just really started to figure out Haleyy with one Y versus Haleyy with two Ys. And now we're being introduced to more characters immediately who know Haleyy with one Y. So it was really interesting to listen to how I handled that a few months ago versus how I handle it now.
[00:01:38] Star Master Jeff: That's really interesting because in this episode, Rock Tumor, Haleyy, towards the beginning of the episode actually says, I don't necessarily like what I'm remembering.
[00:01:48] Stephanie: Yes. So Haleyy with two Ys, the way that I always envisioned her is she had a very rose-colored-glasses version of what her sister did. Haleyy with one Y — she's a member of the corpo military. She's a leader of the clones. She is not going to necessarily be a great person. She had to sacrifice any morals that Haleyy with two Ys thinks that she had to be able to do her job effectively and to be successful at it, which she was. And so Haleyy with two Ys, she's getting this other perspective coming to her of, oh, here's the hard stuff of this job, not just the beautiful things you might remember of it. And Haleyy with two Ys has done a very good job in her memories of ignoring or glossing over the dark parts of their work. And going back to one of those Patreon posts about Haleyy's first mission, she's describing this trip she took that took her to this gorgeous planet that was full of alien life, alien plants that she had never seen before. And just her being like in awe of that. And having that be in contrast to the actual goal of her mission, which was to help harvest this planet of its resources and help the scientists figure out where to land, where to do this work. What we see in the episodes themselves, in the sessions themselves, is like, oh, they were helping out rebels and whatnot. But who was that in service for? A corpo. While we might not necessarily be addressing that because like in the podcast specifically with, you know, with Robert and Haleyy, that's the reality of what they were doing.
[00:03:41] Star Master Jeff: Right. And now with Haleyy with two Ys, she's fairly anti-corporate, even though Haleyy with one Y was enlisted in the Omnitech army.
[00:03:49] Stephanie: Yes.
[00:03:51] Star Master Jeff: So Haleyy with one Y was a squadron commander of clones. She herself is not a clone. Robert is a clone. And it was a squadron full of people just like Robert, as we heard in his backstory. And in this episode, Rock Tumor, we met Iso, who is a surprise clone that is from the same stock as Robert. And as we were going into that episode, I let you and Doja know that Iso was a Robert clone, but I didn't tell Brian or Scott. So what was it like for you to kind of hold that in and know something they didn't know?
[00:04:31] Stephanie: It was so much fun. I really enjoyed it. The role playing through that was really funny and enjoyable. And, you know, like meeting Iso being like, oh, we're exploring the side of the clones and what it means to like not be part of the corpo side of it anymore. But having this like RP meta story going on where Doja and I have this like extra layer beyond what Brian and Scott have was so much fun. You know, they're such good role players that getting to play through that or see how it played out was great.
[00:05:09] Star Master Jeff: So listening back over the episode, was there a moment that you feel like if you played it now, five months later, would you have played that moment differently? Or do you feel like listening back to it that it's exactly how you think Haleyy would act even now? Or do you think that she's been changing a lot since that episode?
[00:05:30] Stephanie: So for me as a player, when I listen back to episodes it can be simultaneously frustrating and really exciting. So one of the things that when I listen back on episodes and specifically the beginning of this one — there is so much more depth that I could add now. And this might just be because of the format, but because of the way that we do this, a lot of the role play, we're coming up with it as we go. And so six months later, I'm coming into this with like, there's so much more context I could provide that I've built off the decision making that I made in this episode. If I was to write my own fan fiction about my character, or I guess original fiction, there is so much I'd be layering into what she says here. So there's not really anything that I would change about what my character says or does here. I would just be like so excited to fill in those extra details of tying it back to her experiences that have been either in previous episodes or in those character focuses that we've posted on Patreon. But I think that's just part of us recording something live as it happens versus making a fully edited story where it gets to be completed and then you go back and reiterate something.
[00:06:49] Star Master Jeff: Right. Emergent storytelling. Whatever comes out of our mouths instantly becomes canon.
[00:06:54] Stephanie: Yes. And that's been a really big challenge for me because I'll forget something that I may have said and then I will remember it later. I try to take pretty extensive notes during our sessions of the different actions people might take or different people that come up. I just worry about forgetting things sometimes.
[00:07:12] Star Master Jeff: Mm-hmm.
[00:07:13] Star Master Jeff: Well, then you're going to hate this next segment because I'm going to ask you some rapid fire questions about Haleyy. And I need you to answer very quickly. And all of these things are going to instantly become canon.
[00:07:24] Stephanie: Awesome. I'm so excited. Yeah. Here we go. Okay.
[00:07:28] Star Master Jeff: What's Haleyy's favorite food?
[00:07:32] Stephanie: Sushi.
[00:07:33] Star Master Jeff: Oh, first thing.
[00:07:34] Stephanie: Actually, sushi is an interesting answer too. You gotta do it quickly. She likes sushi, but she grew up on a desert planet. Hmm. How interesting.
[00:07:44] Star Master Jeff: Oh, interesting. The second she had sushi, she probably was like, this is gross. You know, sushi is really big on Polyphn. What's the first thing Haleyy would do with 10,000 credits?
[00:07:53] Stephanie: Oh, my God. She's never seen that much money at once. So the first thing that she would do is go shopping for new gauntlet sort of things or new armor. Realize that she can't afford it and then put it into savings and give it to Thorne so he can spend it later.
[00:08:10] Star Master Jeff: What's in Haleyy's bunk that nobody knows about?
[00:08:13] Stephanie: Um, the set of Lokipon cards because she is not an accomplished Lokipon player. She's not very good at it.
[00:08:20] Star Master Jeff: Oh. But she does keep a deck in her bunk. Interesting. Why?
[00:08:24] Stephanie: The cool kids are off playing Lokipon cards and she wants to be a cool kid. She wants to be a cool kid.
[00:08:28] Star Master Jeff: We're going to do one word for each crewmate. Give me one word for Thorne.
[00:08:32] Stephanie: Cool.
[00:08:33] Star Master Jeff: Felix.
[00:08:34] Stephanie: Dorky.
[00:08:35] Star Master Jeff: Robert.
[00:08:36] Stephanie: Um, um, a friend. Friend.
[00:08:38] Star Master Jeff: Froggy.
[00:08:39] Stephanie: Oh no. Wrinkly. Wrinkly. Wrinkly. I imagine his forehead being very scrunched and him having like those worry lines.
[00:08:46] Star Master Jeff: How about Voss?
[00:08:48] Stephanie: Round. Round. Round. Just round.
[00:08:50] Star Master Jeff: What is Haleyy's most prized possession?
[00:08:52] Stephanie: Honestly, it's probably going to be her compad because it is something that — it's her sister's. It is her sister's old, ancient, broken compad, which is why it does not work and why Haleyy clings to it so hard.
[00:09:21] Star Master Jeff: What is your favorite planet that Haleyy's been to? And then which planet is Haleyy's favorite planet?
[00:09:27] Stephanie: Sibylen sucks!
[00:09:29] Star Master Jeff: Is that your most hated for both you and Haleyy?
[00:09:31] Stephanie: I think so. Well, not for me necessarily. I thought Sibylen was really fun because I just loved all the segments about finding more of the untethered, the Felix going into like the pool is probably one of my favorite segments of the show and that whole discussion and discovery of like what's going on. That whole discussion he had with Voss that episode I really loved. So I really love that as a player. In character, Haleyy hates Sibylen because she had a previous mission there and she wants to be gone. She really loved Kibiri 4. It was a little bit run down, but she really loved Rogers, which is why she also brings up Rogers in this most recent episode.
[00:10:14] Star Master Jeff: I was going to say in this episode, you're like, you've got to tell Rogers about this place. It's another shitty bar.
[00:10:20] Stephanie: It's this whole through line I really like about Haleyy — she always is focused on family. I remember when we're on Wafisa, we go to that abandoned house and there's that recipe book that I get fixated on for like a whole episode that I just wouldn't let die.
[00:10:37] Star Master Jeff: Yeah, the Harlow family recipe book.
[00:10:39] Stephanie: Yeah, the Harlow family recipe book that Haleyy is now been carting around space with — like the same way that the team treasures the Aurora. She has this recipe book.
[00:10:50] Star Master Jeff: So moving into the next session, the next episode, episode 26, the group is now going to be trying to figure out what's going on with this assassination attempt, as well as trying to figure out how to acquire the black market ownership module over at Helium Dock 7. So moving into episode 26, if you put yourself back into Haleyy, what do you think that she was most concerned about going into this next session?
[00:11:17] Stephanie: What Haleyy is really worried about going into the next episode — and what she's kind of just going on in her mind right now — is we have these really urgent things we have to take care of. The ownership module is number one. And she's — despite getting all this information of, oh, there are suddenly these like calcifications in your brain. We don't know what it means. We are meeting like other clones and whatnot and there's these increasingly complicated relationships that we're having with everyone around us. But she has to keep moving forward and that's something that I've kind of really tried to emphasize with Haleyy — is that ultimately she just will keep moving forward until she can't do it anymore. Which is kind of a little bit destructive and probably not the best for the team at times.
[00:12:08] Star Master Jeff: But it is coming kind of to a head here.
[00:12:12] Stephanie: Especially early on, she got to the brink of death quite often. But she always bounces back. She suddenly has these new powers. We don't have time to figure it out. So she's increasingly concerned about it in the back of her head but really leaning on — we have to keep moving forward and things have been okay. She is still able to function. I think that's part of Haleyy's mantra — going to keep moving forward.
[00:12:37] Star Master Jeff: Exactly, yeah. It's like, what is next?
[00:12:43] Star Master Jeff: Right. And we heard it at the end of Haleyy's focus episode, her dream sequence episode at the end. Haleyy's like, what happens if I hug you to her dream self? And she's like, I don't know, but we'll find out together. And Haleyy says, okay, well, I have to keep moving forward. I can't stay stuck in one place. So let's do this. Is that a Haleyy with one Y thing or a Haleyy with two Y thing?
[00:13:07] Stephanie: That's definitely a Haleyy with one Y thing. You know, Haleyy with two Ys does have rose-colored glasses. Haleyy with one Y had to do a lot of things that, honestly, we don't know yet if she was chill with. Because I think we haven't really explored the depths of just how cruel the corporations are and how much Haleyy and Robert participated in being part of like a military corporation and what you might have to really numb yourself to to be successful at a job like that. Part of her "keep moving forward" is like, how do I continue to survive in my own way, given the circumstances around me? And so that's definitely a Haleyy with one Y thing, but a huge through line to Haleyy with two Ys. And Haleyy with two Ys might be a bit more jumpy about it because she's very fast to punch things.
[00:14:03] Star Master Jeff: Always have to keep moving forward. Right. Scapegoats forever.
[00:14:06] Stephanie: Scapegoats forever.
[00:14:09] Star Master Jeff: Well, Stephanie, that's all my questions I have for you. And that is our time for today. So Stephanie, thank you so, so much for being here today.
[00:14:16] Stephanie: Thank you for having me and, you know, exploring Haleyy with one Y and Haleyy with two Ys. I really enjoy where she's going in the story right now. And it's been really fun to have such a significant change in the character.
[00:14:30] Star Master Jeff: And I hope that everyone at home enjoyed hearing about Haleyy. If you have any questions for Stephanie about Haleyy, you can hit us up on Bluesky, or you can always message me on the Patreon chat. Next time on the Dark Star Adventurecast, Iso is pissed, and the crew still needs their ownership module stat. With time running out, they desperately attempt to turn the tables on the assassin, and run into a face they truly didn't expect to see. So people at home, if you want to get these episodes two weeks early, head on over to the Dark Star Adventurecast Patreon at patreon.com/darkstaradventurecast. We really appreciate each and every one of our patrons, especially Brad and Holly, our Scapegoat Syndicate patrons at the highest tier. Big round of applause for them. And thanks so much to all of you for listening and keep following that signal.
[00:15:19] Star Master Jeff: Bye. Bye.