The Endless Night

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A monthly science fiction audio drama Podcast, produced and distributed by An Art Lawful Productions, that both honors and subverts the classic Space Opera genre. Doesn't seem to exist on the internet any more, as the page previously linked to here is now an advert for server space.

The Endless Night follows the rough-and-tumble crew of the interstellar cargo freighter, The Unconstant Lover. Unlike similar premises aboard Star Trek’s Enterprise or Firefly’s Serenity, the crew of the Lover are successful pirates, hardened criminals and remorseless murderers. The show gleefully subverts the ethics of traditional space opera, detailing the criminal exploits of the ship’s somewhat hapless crew as they raid, pillage and plunder across the galaxy.

The show keeps a delicate balance between comedy and drama and is set in a grim and bloody galaxy ruled by The Endless Empire. Most of the show’s episodes, thus far, deal with the crew’s employment under the terrorist faction known as the Watchers of the Dawn. Subplots mostly center on the often rough inter-crew relations.

Notable characters include the impulsive, rash and thrill-seeking Captain Nemo; his dour, mirthless bounty hunter first mate Moira Quicksilver; the mercenary and untrustworthy cut-purse Flask; the big furry otter-like mechanic Odisseus; the reluctant, kidnapped navigator Bel8, the sexy automated weapon system "Ishmael"; and the personality-less, nearly robotic six-year-old Gideon.

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Tropes used in The Endless Night include:

• All Work vs. All Play: Moira and Nemo, respectively
• Announcer Chatter: 46th Annual Khali Rhon Classic in “The Coming Dawn”
• Animals Hate Him: Flask (more specifically Odisseus)
• Answering Echo: The Watchers of the Dawn in “The Coming Dawn”
• The Apprentice: Gideon’s tutelage under Bel8
• Asteroid Thicket: “Calm Waters Won’t A Skillful Sailor Make”
• Avengers Assemble: “The Coming Dawn”
• Backstory
• Badass Crew
• Badass Driver: Flask
• Badass Longcoat: Moira
• Baddie Flattery: Griffon, despite current sentiments, seems to really admire Nemo.
• Bash Brothers: Nemo and Moira
• The Battlestar: Imperial Cruiser Asterius in “My Heart As A Stowaway”
• Beleaguered Assistant: Most of the crew can play this trope opposite Nemo (with the exception of Ishmael.)
• Berserk Button: Implying he works for the Empire seems to do this to Nemo in “Mantled In Mist”
• Blank Slate: Gideon
• Blind Jump: Alluded to in several occasions – Bel8 uses “dirty jumps”, implied to be blind jumps that don’t use warpgates, the standard means of faster than light travel in the galaxy.
• Blood Brothers: Nemo and Odisseus refer to each other by this title.
• Boarding Party: Subverted in “Up Jumps A Crab” when there’s no one aboard the Odonata.
• Boisterous Bruiser: Ishmael
• Born Lucky: Nemo
• Bounty Hunter: Moira and the supporting cast of “The Line Between Angler and Prey”
• Break the Badass: Moira’s fear of Dmitri Ilyriov and The Scar in "Call Me Ishmael" and the Spith in "Up Jumps A Crab"
• The Bridge: Though the helm is most often the setting for scenes aboard the Lover, the trope is somewhat subverted in that most of the crew meetings either occur in the galley (“My Heart As A Stowaway”) or the gundeck (“Up Jumps A Crab”).
• Bruiser with a Soft Center: Odisseus
• Car Cushion: "The Line Between Angler and Prey" (albeit, an aircar)
• Carnival of Killers: "The Line Between Angler and Prey"
• Casual Danger Dialog: Nemo. All the time. Much to the chagrin of his crew.
• Casual Interstellar Travel: Warpgate System
• Chronic Villain: Nemo
• Closer to Earth: Moira largely fits this trope, though she hardly claims the moral high ground to the male crew members. It could possibly even apply to Ishmael.
• Contract on the Hitman: Moira in "The Line Between Angler and Prey"
• Cower Power: Gideon behind Bel8 in “When His Canvas is Rent”
• Deflector Shields: Comes in two varieties – bombard shields, which deflect physical objects and ray shields, which deflect energy weapons.
• Drownin My Sorrows: Nemo in “The Coming Dawn” and “Mantled In Mist”
• Five-Man Band
• Future Slang
• Got Volunteered: Bel8
• Gunpoint Banter: Frequently. Nemo is fond of this.
• Guns Akimbo: Moira (Righty & Lefty)
• Gunship Rescue: Ishmael in "Call Me Ishmael" and "When His Canvas Is Rent".
• The Gunslinger: Moira
• Hero Stole My Bike: Nemo and Moira in "The Line Between Angler and Prey", though, in this example, the bike was an [spoiler:aircar].
• Impossible Mission Collapse: Multiple uses. "Call Me Ishmael", "Up Jumps A Crab" and "When His Canvas Is Rent".
• Improbable Piloting Skills: Nemo
• Indy Ploy: Nemo’s preferred tactic
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Nemo in "Call Me Ishmael"
• Not in This For Your Revolution: The crew works on behalf of the Watchers, though not on any political grounds
• Open Says Me: Odisseus in “The Coming Dawn” and “Mantled in Mist.”
• Shaggy Search Technique: Discovering Gideon in “My Heart As A Stowaway”.
• Skeleton Crew: The Odonata in "Up Jumps A Crab", where the crew had already been killed by Spith, who then turn on Nemo and the others.
• Soft Glass: Bounty Hunters in “The Line Between Angler and Prey”
• Space Is an Ocean: This trope is particularly present, in the decidedly nautical theme of character names and episode titles.
• Space Pirates
• Spaceship Girl: The Unconstant Lover (although, in part, Ishmael herself exemplifies this trope.)
• Tagalong Kid: Gideon
• Team Pet: Odisseus
• The Big Guy: Ishmael
• The Chick: Flask
• The Lancer: Moira
• The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Moira, to some extent, with her bounty hunting. Though, in all fairness, it’s implied that she’s retired.
• The Smart Guy: Bel8
• They Have the Scent: Odisseus in “Up Jumps A Crab” and “When His Canvas Is Rent”.
• To Catch Heroes Hire Villains: Basically the foundation of the series. The Watchers hire dangerous murderers to do their dirty work and are surprised and outraged at all their dangerous murder.
• Token Non-Human: Odisseus
• Villain Protagonist: Nemo, Moira, Flask
• Watching Troy Burn: The Unconstant Lover in “When His Canvas Is Rent”.
• Welcome Episode: Flask, Bel8