Boat Trolls planning thread! (full of spoilers, non-players enter at your own risk)

additional thought: what if as a kid pancho did not have very good control over their morphing powers and so they'd roll out of the slime like LET'S SEE WHICH PANTS FIT ME TODAY!

what if pancho would get taller when you scared them, like a bird. and like, small and round when they were content or sleepy or having licentious thoughts about sitting on bel and brushing his stupid hair out. what if they did subliminal mirroring to the extent that if they were really involved in conversation with someone they'd actually start looking like the other troll too.

 

well, give it a couple days, see how you feel later. any time can be a good time for baby fights if you believe in yourself and the power of friendship, or something.

also, consider: small erskin just taking it for granted that bel will do as he's told because erskin tells him to do perfectly reasonable things that are fine, like, 'take care of my swords for me while i'm away, thanks'. and then bel is like 'i'm not your servant, fuck you' and erskin is extremely puzzled. yes? he is though? schoolfeeding says that's what bluebloods are for? it's not like erskin is asking him to chop his nose off???

he's perfectly nice to pancho tho. schoolfeeding says greenbloods and lower are basically animals compared to seadwellers, and he likes animals.

 

and personally motivated by a nontrivial amount of buttmad

 

yeah i think that's one of the things they're really clashing over in the space navy au! erskin's got respect conflated with obedience, and is personally insulted when bel won't do as he's told. because obviously bel thinks he knows better! because obviously bel thinks his captain is an idiot who doesn't give reasonable orders! because obviously bel is too good to just grit his teeth and do unpleasant things that he doesn't want to do like everyone else!

then even when bel turns out to be right, erskin is still mad about the principal of the thing. i think it's like, bel questioning him and arguing with him up front is okay, because then he can explain why bel needs to do the thing, or adjust the orders ahead of time so they both agree on what thing bel needs to do. but after bel's been told to 'just do the fucking thing' and then doesn't, it's infuriating— and it's also just a huge extra scary helping of stress.

maybe after another half-sweep erskin will trust that when bel improvises, things will turn out okay, because they'll have worked successfully together for longer. but right now erskin's still really mistrustful that bel won't blow things up or make more enemies or fail to come through at a critical time because he doesn't trust erskin.

anyway. it's just an interesting dynamic. they really want the other dude to respect that they know what they're fucking doing, when, at least part of the time, they really really do not.

 

oh no that's adorable. i think before he went on adventures and learned how malicious and duplicitous strangers could be to a lone troll, erskin himself was very frank, forthright, and trusting, if a hell of a lot more puckish than bel or probably even pancho. i wonder how his sense of honor would develop alongside bel's? and on the battlefield as one army against the other, rather than as one boy alone against the world.

 

...also, MAN, it's difficult to map out troll emotional development, considering they're in charge of themselves from the start, rather than gaining an independent identity from a family unit during adolescence like humans. i like to think that young trolls start off as very aggressive, very territorial, in order to come out of the caverns and establish a homestead with their lusus... trolls might be most unlike human counterparts in the toddler stage, though they'd both be extremely selfish.

anyway i guess a desire to connect with others, and the emotional skills to negotiate that, would show up at the child stage? human kids want friends by 2-3 years i think. so curiosity about other trolls would come first, a desire to watch and then interact, rather than just anger at seeing anyone else in THEIR SPACE using THEIR RESOURCES. i have no idea when compassion and empathy and generosity would kick in— it might be late childhood, or even during puberty, and linked with sexual/concillatory development. terezi was clearly interested in justice in her late childhood. she had a sense that there should be a society, and it should be ordered, and that actions like theft were crimes. aradia and tavros wanted to have fun with each other and share victories and resources...

how about this:

sweep 1: a bug underground.
sweep 2: selfish animal, only cares to share with/protect lusus. busy building a hive and learning how to eat, keep clean. may have strong or weak instinct to group with other trolls in hivestems or lawnrings. may have strong or weak instinct to interact, trade, make simple treaties.
sweep 3: language skills develop, complexity of deals and treaties develop. coalitions and friendships start to be formed based on mutual interests and goals. compassion starts to become a thing, marking specific individuals out as non-murderable. trolls start to play games with each other. a sense of humor develops, though it is of course very cruel.
sweep 4: normal trolls now have enough of a friend network that revenge is a thing. grudges are formed. trolls with regular social development start to understand things like fair play. they begin to seek out team games rather than one-on-one. specific hobbies and interests develop along with patience and motor skills.
sweep 5: just about everyone is involved in one revenge cycle or the other, and it hones their understanding of friendship, fairness, social caste, and calculated violence— trolls start to understand the seriousness of murder, and the importance of social groups. they want to belong, and be liked. kids also become increasingly specialized in skills and interests.
sweep 6: puberty kicks in. hormones encourage further development of compassion and empathy— trolls begin to feel conciliatory and concupiscent desire. self-restraint and forethought develops further, modulating social aggression: trolls are extremely anxious to belong to a group now. violence becomes more calculated and less reactionary. hatred becomes less about simple murderous aversion to others and more about ambition and attraction to specific individuals.
sweep 7: compassion and forethought continue to develop. trolls are increasingly self-reflective. also most trolls have their first sexual relationships in this sweep. philosophy and morality are concerns— more compassionate trolls are firmly against murder at this point, and may hesitate to kill even their enemies. trolls start to take ascension seriously.
sweep 8: basically just more thoughtful, reasonable, and experienced. few trolls are still casual killers at this point: even the genuinely cruel prefer organized violence or bullying more than solitary slaughter. kinder trolls have developed senses of social responsibility and wish to be useful to others rather than merely powerful enough to arrange things to their liking.
sweep 9: normal trolls have families by now. many trolls are willing to die for partners or causes. specialization is brought to bear on job training, as ascension looms. normal trolls almost never engage in reactionary violence, and are skilled at resolving each other's conflicts: most revenge cycles have concluded. they've chilled out, and they're ready for the close quarters and constant socialization of shipboard life.

 

you know what i just thought about an erskin who had actual formal combat training alongside bel and went oh. because: oh. that would be very impressive.

 

erskin's leadership skills at nearly-six, hmm.

-dauntlessly self-important
-cheerful and optimistic nature makes him more appealing to listen to than grumpy or mean peers
-extremely imaginative, and the kid that sets the game, runs the game

he's far too shortsighted to be a good leader in any sort of technical sense, but i think he'd be popular, and that would probably hurt bel's feelings. at six sweeps, a lot of kids would prefer to orbit the guy who's fun and jokes around with them, not the blunt, serious, academic problem-solver. if they fought head-to-head, bel would probably attract a small team of vicious kids who want to dominate, and erskin would have a much bigger rabble of kids who want to have a good time.

 

new thought: erskin's very introverted, and as a little kid i think that would translate to INTENSE social anxiety. but he's brave, so his social anxiety comes out as being aggressively friendly. but maybe bel would be the guy who could actually see how incredibly stressed out and manic erskin was getting in group settings, and could try to take care of him. like, haul him off for a break or something

 

Important question: of young loggan and young reggie, which would be smitten by the other first? I vote reggie because consider how cute it would be for him to be hovering around and preening alluringly all the time, but maybe loggan trying to court a baffled catduck would be cuter.

Ps i think smoll reggie was VERY self important