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

huh, is there any way for erskin to like... be possessive of bel's flaws and weaknesses? like they're not a problem for anyone else, bel getting tired or sad or shook up is his problem, not anyone else's, because erskin is there to make it his problem. let's see bel try to care about anything as abstract as letting anyone down because of his flaws, when erskin is doing his best to be the foremost consequence.

might be a particularly obscure angle on a blackrom, though. not much there that maps to a human situation.

 

HMMMMM. i think erskin has taken seriously that bel was hurt by him being condescending about his vulnerabilities, and is going to give not doing that a shot. erskin isn't at all listening to bel when he says 'stop thinking i would do really horrible stuff to you' because thinking that people will do really horrible stuff to him is a manifestly reasonable survival strategy. bel's wounded pride on that subject is his own darn problem, erskin won't, and maybe can't, believe much better of anyone. i think if jethro realized that erskin has one ear cocked for the minute he does something really horrible, he's gonna be pretty upset. but 'i was vulnerable, like you, and you weren't there for me, like you wished i was there for you, we've both let each other down' really struck a chord.

i think a continuous frustration for erskin's quadrantmates is how selectively he listens to them, heh. from the outside it must be so baffling what gets through to him (new information) and what doesn't (anything that contradicts anything he's already got an opinion on).

 

Hm, the scenario I was thinking was like— bel's stressed and run-down and despairing, and running himself mercilessly into the ground, and erskin comes along and pushes him over and easily wins what should have been a much harder fight. and is like, don't worry about the rest of the world, worry about yourself. everyone else's disappointment is far away and hypothetical, and i am here right now, sitting on you, giving you a hard time.

i'm here. i'm taking advantage of your late mornings and early nights and caffeine addiction and twenty straight hours in front of the computer and the way you've let the enormity of the tasks you've set yourself grind you into something so fragile and absurd. when you fuck up, you answer to me. the effect of your failed attempt to be perfect on anyone else is irrelevant, because first and foremost i am here to be the effect on you, roughing you up, laughing in your face at all the 'what ifs' and 'but thens', taking you over your fussy paper-clogged desk.

it would... refocus bel's problems, i guess. reduce the scope of his potential failures from a catastrophic 'everyone i love is going to die' freakout to a sort of chagrined 'erskin is going to make fun of me' dismay.

 

okay, cool! i like us knowing there's a healthy equilibrium to work towards, but i too am very ok with all the operatic kerfluffles they're getting into. i think having jethro in the mix is also nice, since both of them like him so much.

(i'm a little disappoint about no pale threesome. maybe someday!)

 

bro you have no idea how delighted i would be about a black threesome. i am all about black threesomes, and also situations where galley hauls off and hatemacks on erskin and erskin is like ???? and !!!! and bel gets the fastest erection of his life.

anyway i'm snoozing now, i'll pick stuff up some time tomorrow, gnight.

 

Can do.

BECAUSE NOW I HAVE THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS ABOUT THIS JERK: Clarke's lusus was a winged monkey but she lost it in a campaign two sweeps back. She wasn't relying on it for protection, as it was capuchin-sized, but she still toughened up a bit after she was on her own. She doesn't like to talk about it, because people start thinking she's mean because she's a sad wounded soul longing for comfort and protection, when actually she's mean because she's just kind of an asshole.

She's a dedicated war gamer, though she mostly signs on as support staff. She has no intentions to quit— it would be absolutely pathetic to quit just because her mom bit it— but she also has no intentions to die, so she'll unapologetically switch allegiances on a dime if the other side's winning. Her absolute self-interest and lack of loyalty makes it a pretty decent compliment if she stays on your side for a whole campaign— and it means whatever team she wants to sign on to, if they've heard of her, take it as a great sign if she invites herself over. the fact that she's nine and so generally one of the oldest kids on the field also gives her actions and advice the weight of authority, whatever her rank.

She's probably half a sweep or so older than bel, i figure, and is starting to focus on composing whatever the troll equivalent of a resume is. ascension's coming up for her.

 

I definitely think she likes scrapping and fighting. Like, fighting just for the satisfaction of confrontation and conflict. Bel's pitch feels are about competition and rivalry, a very side-by-side kind of relationship. In contrast, her preferences would be more about directly clashing. Locking horns, shoving matches, talking trash, brawling. A head-to-head relationship. She liked when Jethro started pushing back at her challenges of invading his space and eating his food and asking rude questions.

She's not exactly liar but she's unabashedly mercenary and self-interested. She's not nice, generous, cooperative, stuff like that—she's very comfortable being abrasive and callous. The way she treated Bel is pretty standard handling, and Bel's probably a good friend and a respected commander.

Isn't Jethro a bit younger than Bel? The age gap wouldn't be as creepy as Erskin and Cloris, but it could make for Clarke having kind of a 'cool older girl' vibe, I dunno. She's in the market for a new hatefriend, since the one she had died and she wasn't that into her anyway. Plus: drones. Soon.

I think she could be a good, casual starter-girlfriend for Jethro? She's got a time limit built in and would show him a good time without any sentimental 'you're my fated rival, i'll hate you forever' kind of stuff. More like 'hey, it was fun, see you around, good luck with your next hatepal (now that i've scratched the noob off of you).'

 

On another note, it would be nice if Erskin manages to feel well enough to actually have a scuffle with Bel, instead of just being a sickly and/or fucked up victim at him. Active participation in sexy times would probably sooth Bel's ruffled feathers, right?

 

this made me laugh. no, they're a terrible example, and swing way too close to pale way too much of the time, plus erskin has spent half the relationship getting beat up by other shit. if they had a larger social group i think someone would be raising an eyebrow that they haven't had a red vacillation yet.

i'd kinda like to see if i can write him as struggling against that conditioning, because he wants to be fighting bel, not meekly rolling over for him. bel mocking or goading him instead of just disappointedly complaining would probably help.