#Midwatch

[mareislandfoundation]

New Year’s Midwatch Deck Log

The year ends on this day, as the new begins to hold sway. On midwatch throughout the land, on every Navy vessel and Command. The Officers on Watch (OOWs) settle down with their pens, to continue a tradition that began who knows when. Through the quiet of the night the OOWs will compose, deck logs in the form of fine prose. It is only this day and only this time, when strict protocol is cast aside in favor of rhyme. So, as their shipmates and friends ring in the new year, the OOWs must strive to be clear. For while compliance with regulations still rules the hour, on this watch, logs must wax poetic and not be dour. Here are a few entries from Mare Island Naval Shipyard deck logs written on past New Year’s midwatches: Jan. 1, 1967. With happy memories of Auld Lang Syne Duty prevails me to render this rhyme. CDR Bill Walsh is top dog tonight; With LT Mel Bott, this watch is tight. Down on the waterfront, all's dark and still On the ways are GURNARD, GUITARRO, AND HAWKBILL. PINTADO'S the new one, she soon will start. But MARIANO G. VALLEJO next year will depart. When BASHAW left it was such a relief Then along came CHARR and all said - Good Grief! Now BAYA, SEGUNDO and SWORDFISH all wait For the day of reckoning - completion date. BAUSELL'S been extended, still being mended; In December came CAIMAN, much work to be tended. GUDGEON'S undocking we all do await - Would you believe it might be '68? It has to end now, this verse I've composed The Neptune and Chiefs' Club soon must be closed And 1966, a fond farewell to you. Your blessings were many, your troubles few. (SOPA stands for senior officer present afloat. The other ALL CAPS words are the names of ships under construction or undergoing overhaul.) Jan. 1968 Rear Admiral Groverman serves as SOPA San Fran West Sea Frontier Twelfth District, he also commands. This New Year's the Island is covered with fog Let's look at the old year, examine each Log. The year '67 brought numerous trials Met by our work force with usual smiles. M. G. VALLEJO returned for a quick PSA Completed on time (Pride of the U.S.A) The ways deposited another nuclear sub In Mare Island's waters, the proud name GURNARD The GUDGEON departed after long toil-worn days Followed closely by SWORDFISH, alike in too many ways The PERMIT left quietly after months of SubSafe To be replaced by BAINBRIDGE, we always are safe. '67 saw the end of a brilliant career Irv Whitthorne departed during his 60th year. GUITARRO, HAWKBILL, PINTADO on Ways Completing on time, of so many mandays The year '68 will inherit GRAYBACK and INDRA Shipyard workers continue with all you've got in ya. (PSA stands for Post Shakedown Availability. SubSafe was a major quality control and retrofit program instituted on the existing fleet of US nuclear powered submarines following the loss of the USS THRESHER (SSN-593) with all hands in 1963 off Maine during sea trials.) Jan. 1. 1971 The year is new, but never fear SOPA is ComWestem Sea Frontier RADM Groverman's flag flies they say At Treasure Island out in the Bay. Jan. 1. 1972. At the start of this year, on the very first day They said "Write a poem, an ode if you may." I’ve not heretofore been afforded this glory So bear with me, readers, while I tell you my story. The Watch Officer and I sit without women nor wine While the rest of the crew are off having a time There's one consolation, I'm sure you'll agree At least in the morning we'll be able to see! Four types of ships, total of approximately nine Are moored various places in Mare Island confine. Submarines, AKs, tenders and AEs Oft make me wonder, what's left on the seas? There's SEAWOLF and PLUNGER, GUITARRO and DRUM PERMIT, PROTEUS, and a few more to come I'd ring it off here, if only I could But there's VESUVIUS, CHARA, not to mention MT. HOOD. Since I'm not a poet, the above words show it There's little you have left to hear. SOPA is RADM C. J . VanArsday, Jr., USN Commander, Western Sea Frontier.

Sue Lemmon

Compiled by the Former Shipyard Historian Sue Lemmon in 1996.  RIP Sue. (An AK is a dry cargo ship and an AE is an ammunition ship) To everyone, but especially, to those who go in harms way standing those long watches on behalf of our Great Nation, Happy New Year!

[spicyvampire]

Babe wake up, new way of discussing work with your colleague just dropped

THE SIGN (2023) EP. 8

[nonglukest]

Us | Episode 3

i am cafe squad, cafe squad is me

[ecctogasm]

Anyone else picking up that Sam Britain's ex she keeps mentioning was abusive or am I projecting?

[middlegradeeveryday]

The Midwatch Institute for Wayward Girls by Judith Rossell

Summary:

Maggie Fishbone is not expecting much when she’s sent to the Midwatch Institute for Orphans, Runaways, and Wayward Girls—the last resort after causing a ruckus at the orphanage where she was living. Except . . . the Institute isn’t some dreadful, dreary place like she thought.

Instead it’s full of curious girls training to solve mysteries, fight bad guys, and keep the city safe. In between fencing lessons and discovering all the shortcuts in the building, Maggie finds herself making friends at the Midwatch and finally feeling like she’s home. And when a woman goes missing, Maggie’s off on her first assignment, with each step leading her deeper into the secrets of the city.

Book Type: Novel

Genre: Historical Fiction/Science Fiction

[jbupsy]

Midwatch Poetry Magazine Articles

The Midwatch in Verse Project authors published two magazine articles about this 100+ year old tradition. The first appeared in the December 2024 issue of Submarine Review and is titled Midwatch Deck Log Poetry Aboard U.S. Submarines: The Early Cold War Years (click on title to read article). The article compares and contrasts submarine deck log poetry with verse written on surface vessels. The…

[thequietabsolute]

Take all, keep all. My soul walks with me, form of forms. So in the moon's midwatches I pace the path above the rocks, in sable silvered, hearing Elsinore's tempting flood.

— James Joyce, from Proteus, Ulysses.

[krastbannert]

FFF #284 - between all the lines

Well, last time I did one of these, it was two weeks between prompts. Now it's been six months. Gotta love the way life works. Anyway, here's...whatever this is.

@flashfictionfridayofficial

Posted on AO3 as "between all the lines".

------

“Reading between the lines lets us see all our darkest fears - and our brightest dreams.” - Unnamed Demitrian poet

------

He’s not sure when he starts noticing.

(That’s a lie. He knows exactly when.

It’s after he gives her the saemma she’d been talking about for months, after she’d kissed him on the cheek and hugged him and told him, so simply,” Thank you,” but with so much meaning that he was still unpacking.)

(Corvin’s cheek had been buzzing for days afterwards, and he couldn’t explain it.)

Every time he looks at her, it’s like he sees something new.

The way she twirls her hair when she’s anxious. The way she sticks her tongue out when she’s concentrating, or how her eyes gleam whenever she’s excited. The way she plays with her sleeves when she visits him on the midwatch, or the grateful sigh whenever he gives her his jacket - even if he’s freezing, the happy sigh she makes as she burrows into makes it all worth it.

(It even makes Aris making kissy faces at him whenever she gets the chance worth it.

Almost.)

The strangest part, though?

Corvin can’t explain it. At all.

Torauk and Murray just give him knowing smiles and shake their heads. Hakim barely says anything, but his lips crack into a smile. Rya? Yeah, he’s still terrified of her - he’s not going within fifty feet of the engine room until the smoke clears from the tattoo incident. Gunnar would just make fun of him, and Aris already does; she clearly knows what’s going on, but won’t tell him, and it’s infuriating .

It’s not until they’re at a festival in Rivair that it hits him.

He watches Ilaera - Lily, he’s learned she likes to be called - help a small girl with ribbons in her win a prize of some sort at one of those stupid festival games, and as she lifts the little girl into the air and flashes a beaming smile at him that seems brighter than the sun that it hits him.

Corvin’s heart skips one, two, three beats, and he gulps as he smiles back.

(He loves her.)

(Gods above, he loves her.)

He runs, runs to the first person he finds.

“Skar,” he pants,” Skar, I need your help.”

The wiry karan raises an eyebrow as he glances down at him.” Help? With what?”

Corvin opens his mouth, closes it, opens it again - then closes it. How the hell does he…?

“I’m in love with Ilaera,” he finally blurts out.

Whatever he’s expecting, Skar does the opposite: he grins, actually grins , the points of his teeth poking over his lips.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” he chuckles.” You finally figured it out.”

Corvin shakes his head.

“Look, grumpy, that’s not what I need right now!” Corvin hisses.” I need help ! I keep seeing all these little things about her and I…I don’t know what to do!”

Skar just sighs.” Listen, kid, you just have to ride this one. See what happens. Even if you think it’ll end badly, just…go for it. Trust me. It’s better to be happy for a little while than live a lifetime without it. The little things just...make it all better. They’re all you have left, sometimes, so…enjoy them, as long as you can.”

Corvin stares up at him. That was…also not what he’d expected. Usually, Skar didn’t say more than six words at a time. He was always just…grumpy, and taciturn, and quiet, and doing anything but talking to him.

“Skar,” Corvin says slowly,” are…have you been in love before?”

He doesn’t know what makes him ask the question, but it gets out of his mouth before he can think.

Skar doesn’t answer, not immediately. Instead, he just sighs, and looks away, over the heads of the crowd, down the long avenue toward the front of the parade - and somehow, it seems, to another place, and another time. Corvin follows his gaze, and lands on a carriage. Some Heliran royalty - he’s not sure who, really, he’d just seen it on a poster a block away. He can barely make out who it is, but something tells him that Skar can.

“Once,” Skar whispers slowly.” In another life.”

By the time Corvin has turned his head, another question on his lips, because what the fuck does that mean, Skar is already gone, disappeared into the crowd.

(How did he do that? Corvin has no idea, and it freaks him out every time.)

“Corvin!” Ilaera’s voice calls, and his heart skips another beat.

“Over here!” he calls back, pushing through the ever-growing crowd, back towards her voice. When they finally find each other, he can’t help but stare into her eyes, and had there always been sparkles on her eyelashes?

Funny. He doesn’t remember seeing them before. But still, her eyes sparkle, and for a moment, lost in those sparkles, Corvin can’t breathe - and then Ilaera kisses his cheek again, and it’s like a bolt of lightning through his chest.

He doesn’t know much about love, he’s never really believed in it - but in that moment, Ilaera’s laugh in his ears and her hand on his arm as they walk away from the crowd, he can’t help but think that if seeing all the tiny little things that made this girl a thousand times more than she already was…maybe being in love wasn’t so bad.

(And if he forgets about what Skar says, about being in love once, in another life, well…he’s okay with that.

All he knows for sure is that he has Ilaera, and even if there’s nothing there, even if she’d never accept him like that…he still has the little things.

And at least for now, that’s enough for him.)

[miumiumandoodz]

Currently rewatching old seasons of Law and Order: SVU and now I understand better why I loved (and still love) the show

Regardless of your personal opinion about Olivia Benson, the show consistently show that ACAB and the police force (and to the extent the ADAs) will use any means necessary to convict someone regardless of whether or not they actually committed the crime or if it’s ethical. Typically crime drama shows portray the law enforcement as the hero and sporting good ideals, and it’s packaged in a “Let’s go solve the crime! We did it gang!” format. But not SVU. All the main characters are assholes. They’re multifaceted humans, sure. But they’re also cops, and ACAB.

Destroying the “perfect victim” myth. Sometimes the victims are the perps, sometimes the victims commit other crimes and are assholes themselves. Regardless, victims are victims.

While inspired from real life cases, they don’t just copy the scheme of the crime alone. They drag the social discourse with it. One episode is never formatted in an identical way. One episode feels like a fictional mini sized true crime documentary and each crime is different. The episodes are not made for you to root for the main characters. The episodes want you to know that this is the realest it can get and always leave you reflect it back to what’s going on irl. Often times, they don’t make you sympathize to the main characters (related to point 1 with ACAB). Often times it makes you sympathize to the family, the victim, the perp, the community, and to everything else but the main characters.

The twist. Sometimes they’re cheesy and drama fueled but it still relevant to whatever discourse the episode is trying to get across. Also, because it tends to be wild, sometimes it’s hard to guess and guessing it midwatching can be fun.

ADA Casey Novak. I realized I never loved her because she’s a “good guy” who puts people behind bars. I realized I’ve always loved her for how insufferable she can be to get a conviction. If anything, she’s in the lawful neutral - lawful evil territory and why she’s such a formidable enemy to the actual “bad guy” (perps like serial killer/rapists, etc.) is due to her lawful evil tendencies. This woman just needs to win. You don’t get a 71% conviction rate without playing in the dirt along the way. But she does put the more dangerous criminal behind bars for good because of this. She’s the perfect embodiment of “I support women’s rights and women’s wrongs”. And she’s a gorgeous oneesan 😍. People are more drawn to Olivia for her tremendous emotional depth and sympathy for everyone which is so valid. She's a great female main character. But I love me a shady-ass woman who uphold "rules" just because. She’s my favorite character in the series. I love Alex Cabot too for similar reasons, but Novak is out there, she’s out for blood. No one in the defense chair is safe, not even the sympathetic victim turned perp. I probably don’t wanna be friends with people like her irl in a way that maybe you don’t wanna be killed by a 9ft vampire lady with retractable claws irl, but as an idea, yeah, sure. Step on me, prosecutor.

[petrichoraline]

saw this on the side midwatch and almost stopped the show to listen to it; this show truly has an ost worthy of attention

@stormyoceans smth to enjoy while normally functioning all regularly

[tanasha-not-yet]

stopped midwatch bc i Had to. the night and the fury.

[evilrat-sabre]

don't know whether i forgot, or if i'm a blind idiot, but, are you in the UHCG discord?

Nop! I am really normal and insane about them. But I am still midwatch! I have plans to enter it when I actually get to Josh's part! I am currently mid Leon's.

[muchtodoonterror]

reasons you should hire me to work on your ship:

1. i am so good at midwatch. everyone else is cranky, i’m thriving, on alert

2. i already slew exclusively at random so if i’m on first watch one day and mid the next: no problem! i probably would have done that anyway for free

3 i am so good at staring the water for extended periods of time and pointing out fish and birds and clouds

thank you so much for your consideration

[mintmatcha]

New Quinton Reviews video just dropped, how’re we feeling Mint?

I'm midwatch

[jbupsy]

Upcoming Article Announcement

The Midwatch in Verse Project is pleased to announce an upcoming article to be published in the January issue of “Leatherneck Magazine” published by the Marine Corps Association. The article titled, Leatherneck Bards: Marines Embrace Unusual Duty Aboard U.S. Navy Ships highlights US Marines’ deck log poetry from the 1950’s through 1970s. The team found 20 midwatch deck log poems written by…

[nightwanderers12081]

we

we might have to create a side blog because our hermitcraft hyperfixation is starting to come back in full swing

but more specifically the midwatcher au

which i think its about time we shared it here because it is by far our most noterious hermitcraft au, @found-wings and @piece-of-hweat can confirm that

to our dp friends i am sorry in advanced WNDN ~ ender