#anyways i love jay ferin

[stormsandskies]

Every once and a while I think about Jay and Ava and wonder what they were like when then were younger

were they super close? did they go on little adventures together? did ava braid jays hair? did they play dress up? did they give each other bad makeovers? was there fashion shows for their parents?

what was their girlhood like? was it happy? or was there an underlying note of sadness under all of it because someone was missing?

did their father taint the happy family memories?

or was he actively present and involved until their teens?

Did he come home from work and tuck them in?

Did he play dolls with them?

[wasyago]

they have so many belts....

[twiyke]

doodle page i hashtag miss my stupid gay little freaks

[madkiska]

watching the entirety of jrwi: riptide again. here's some important things from the first few episodes that I feel we forgot (<110 mentions too though)

Jay

Had night terrors similar to those of Kubakinta's curse in episode 5, and they eventually start returning even after Loffinlot's curse is lifted ○ All of them were about her family and/or the navy ○ I simply think people leave her out of the nightmare stuff and she deserves it. Hurt her more, please (he said, lovingly)

was actually very upset at having to use her medal to get a Loffinlot rebellion to shut up ○ This could be because she didn't want them to guess she was a spy, but I choose to believe it's because she felt guilty

"If you're gonna be sailing with someone, you should have a good relationship with them. [nervous chuckle]." She says, while asking him for information about the Black Rose Pirates (ep. 10)

Said "thank god they didn't find me" after a nightmare about the navy attacking. Even when she was supposedly a spy, who one day would have to return to the navy ○ Very unclear if she was scared of her dad, or if it's because she was a secret spy so the navy would've just killed her

Rewatching, she was suspiciously into the plundering and gold and stuff. Like that was real sus. It doesn't fit her current character much

The only one among them who's gambled before

Chip

The entire thing literally starts off with Bizly holding a lit match

Called Gillion "Gill" and Jay "Sureshot" from an early stage

Was SO much more of a bastard. Lied to Gill constantly, didn't care about anything but the money, etc.

Had aggressive hand tremors alongside Jay's night terrors ○ Gill cures it with lay on hands

When he gets drunk married, they talk extensively about how he'd be released when he's dead. Welp.

They did actually break up and it was fine and they were still friends. They parted on good terms

Is really fucking good at chess ○ Beat Earl twice and Jay once. Jay had a point of exhaustion after a nightmare but Earl had no excuse ○ Lost to Gillion though, but only cause of prophetic screwup ○ This kid is smarter than he lets on, y'all

Was the first one to have a backstory dump while Jay is asking him about the Black Rose Pirates, yet still we know jack shit about his life before them other than "orphan"

Gill

Charlie has referred to Gillion with 'they' many times. I can pull receipts.

When describing Gill, Charlie said: "He's more.. elven, if you had to make a comparison. 'Cause I don't wanna be a fish guy". Oh, honey.

Smote a bald person by using his hair as a whip (ep. 4)

Was given anxiety and self-doubt alongside jay's night terrors and chip's tremors ○ "What do you want?" "I want the feeling of satisfaction I've been chasing my whole life." ○ This was episode FIVE.

First mention of the prophecy and how Gillion wasn't their ideal student is ep. 7, after he divine smites + prophetic screwups and deals like 60 damage to some beetles ○ Chip spends the next 30 seconds in gay awe

He refers to the crescent moon Niklaus tattoo as "my zodiac" (probably a bit) ○ It's not a lil basic white girl moon this thing is the entire size of his forearm

Gill had never heard about the Black Sea - it's unclear if the Undersea just don't know, or if that's just how sheltered he was (ep. 10)

Biz: "What would Gillion do. If he just had no goal - was just sitting there." "Gillion always has a goal." "Would his goal ever be to just.. Sit there?" "Absolutely not." ○ Later, Chip expresses that he doesn't know what Gillion likes. What he would want out of winning a bet. Gillion doesn't have an answer

Other

Apple, in a couple of early battles, acted like Gill's familiar (see: ep. 7)

They also pecked at his Niklaus tramp stamp and looked all confused at the idea of eating seeds

The specific crescent of the moon in the Niklaus tattoo is known as a symbol of "corruption" (ep. 9) and its antonym is the sun, for "life", similar to the yin and yang ○ Interesting to consider after what the tree said in 110 <_<

Pretzel has a masters degree in couple's therapy (ep. 10)

The Albatross/Millennium Chipper was described as the colour of rosewood or mahogany

Captain Lizzie's first introduction was a wanted poster, and Chip wanted to turn her in for the prize, then decided to try learn from her instead

Chip/Bizly called Old Man Earl "Erol" for a loooong time ○ Maybe it's an accent thing but I have an uncle called Erol and so this stands out to me

[luck-of-the-drawings]

EVERYONE SEEMS TO HAVE MOVED ON SO WELL, ITS LIKE NO ONE EVEN CARES THAT SHES GONE. ISNT ANYONE ELSE FUCKING MAD? OR CONFUSED? I WILL TEAR THIS WHOLE WORLD APART FOR AN ANSWER, SINCE NO ONE ELSE SEEMS TO WANT TO.

[slices-of-naranja]

Thinking about just roll with it riptide and my interpretations of it as a work as an aroace person and the commentary of what love is.

I think Chip and Gillion and Jay all care about each other the Same Amount. Because obviously. They���re all co-captains, all a crew. But I think Jay sees them more as the siblings she loves and needs to protect and look out for. Because she loves her sister and in looking to avenge her, she found some more family along the way. If that makes sense.

I think Gillion sees them both as the physical manifestation of the love he never got growing up, outside of his sister. Familial and other things too. Not quite his siblings. But like a pack. Closeness without a name. Love without a label. And that’s scary to him because there’s a part of him that’s more devoted to them than he’d like to be. Maybe more devoted to them than he is to his so-called “destiny.”

And chip. Chip is just looking for someone, I think. Anyone. Yes, he’s looking for Arlin. Of course he is. That’s basically his pirate dad. But he’s also just looking for someone that cares for him as deeply as he needs them to. That will be proud of him and love him. In whatever way possible. Someone that will protect him, as much as he doesn’t want to need protecting. And he found that in them too. Evidenced by how he was going to give up being a pirate, his life long dream, his mission in life, for the sake of his crew.

Their love for each other fucks me up. They’re a crew. They’re captains. Maybe two of them are a little gay. Maybe two of them are siblings. Maybe all three cuddle at night when their dreams get scary. It doesn’t matter. These labels aren’t real. Because the word we’re all (or, at least, I am) looking for is friends.

Friends means whatever the fuck you want it to mean. They kiss, they cuddle, they sing, they fight the world for each other, they bicker, they love. They all see each other differently. They all love each other differently. There’s not gonna be one word for it. One description. I see most people going “yeah I don’t want fnc to be canon” because they don’t need to be!! And they wouldn’t work either!!! Because their devotion to each other, all three of them, goes beyond words and typical labels! They’re friends!!! They’re a crew!!! We don’t need to put other words to justify the deepness behind their friendship!!

They love each other. They know they’d fight the world for each other. I don’t know. I am so exhausted and got up in my aroace feels so let me know if none of this makes sense.

I don’t know. I don’t think we need to get caught up in “these three are all romantically dating” or “these three are all siblings” to justify closeness with each other. Using familial ties (yes, I know I used familial ties for Jay, sue me, family is the most important thing to her so it’s how she labels her love for them) or romantic labels to justify intimacy and love is just kind of silly to me. No offense to anyone who enjoys those headcanons. I personally love fnc and love people comparing chip and Jay to siblings. Do whatever you want, creativity is fun and encouraged! Different interpretations are valid!

But sometimes, as an aroace person, seeing them just being acknowledged as close friends means a lot. Like, yeah. They are. And just calling them “friends” doesn’t diminish how deep their love is. Because that’s what they are. Friends.

[chlortville]

missing my wife (the entire cast of jwri)

[knighterofjulianthatonetime]

i think im going insane

[gilliontidestriderchampionoftheu]

its like that spongebob episode where plankton tried to teach him to be assertive, but if spongebob was ready to kill. i forgot where i was going with this analogy

reminder my commissions are open ^_^

[ava-ferin]

any non romantic albatrio fans out there please raise your hands i need to see more of my own kind

their dynamic means so much more to me when they aren’t dating or pining or anything, they’re just buddies :] they’re friends and that friendship is the strongest damn bond you’ve ever seen

I’m a firm believer in “platonic friendship is just as (if not more) important than romance” so maybe that’s skewing my beliefs but like albatrio where they’re the best friends you’ve ever seen to the point where they ARE in love, just platonically. like brothers and sisters are. they hug, they fight, they’re odd and confusing to a stranger but to everyone that knows them it’s “kinda just how they are”

bonus they’re all collectively Ollie’s older sibling figures but they have different styles of raising children so gillion is trying to train him in the art of the blade and being a hero and whatnot while jay practices gentle parenting and chip trains him in the art of being a little rascal

the riptide crew is one big family and i would not trade that for a canon romance any day of my life

[stormsandskies]

Jay Ferin is so “Stop, you’re losing me”

Chip is so “You’re on your own kid, You always have been”

Gillion Tidestrider is so “I just wanted you to know That this is me trying”

the Riptide pirates are so “I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you”

[wasyago]

into the plant island

[twiyke]

every time someone mischaracterises jay ferin as the therapist friend a fairy loses its wings btw. put some respect on her emotionally-constipated ass.

[datbugboi7]

Drawing the sillies again :)

[justablah56]

HEY HEY HEY I SEE UR DOING JRWI ART MAY MAYHAPS COULD I GET A SILLY  SKETCH OF MY DAUGHTER JAY👁👁

ee hee you are being given slightly more than a sketch , have a jay

[enjoyerofsoup]

listening to ep 100 of riptide and thinking about the parallels of the encounters with jay’s dad

in their first encounter, at the block, jayson ferin (grizzly, man, i’m sorry but why does it have to be spelled that way) knows exactly what to say to intimidate jay. he ridicules her choice to become a pirate, insults her friends. but he also shames her for having left featherbrook island. for “leaving her mother all by her lonesome.” jay’s response is that her mother can handle herself, though her father continues on, speaking at her rather than to her.

the majority of the conversation, jay pleads more than argues. she doesn’t need to prove him wrong. she just needs to convince him to let her friends live. she doesn’t move to attack or defend, just walks up to her dad, head down, and puts her fist on his chest. she immediately surrenders. says she’ll return home, do what he says, begging him to let the others go.

this doesn’t pan out of course. gillion acts, fights against jayson for the sake of his friend, for her freedom. but jay’s internal conflict, the secret she’s spent all this time lying about, her genuine care for her friends but her want to somehow appease her father, to find out what happened to ava. there’s uncertainty. and jayson sees this, and uses it to punish them. by forcing her to punish them. there’s nothing else she can do.

she shoots gillion in the chest.

in episode 100, as the crew has just left zero, they’re ambushed by the navy. as jay’s father lands on their ship to arrest them, something is different. jay has committed to her choice, to her co-captains and her crew. jay speaks against him.

“you shouldn’t be here.”

jayson ferin doesn’t know his wife is sick, that her magic is leaving her. jay herself has only just found out, but it makes sense that she hasn’t been able to return home as a wanted pirate. jayson doesn’t have that same excuse, yet he’s been absent for years. he doesn’t visit home often, not even before jay left to be a pirate.

when her father asks why, jay says “of course you wouldn’t know. always blind to everything around you, especially your family.”

he speaks as if he’s looking past her, trying to separate the person he sees from the daughter he raised. trying not to think about how much she looks like ava.

“my family would never forsake their duty on some immature whim of emotion. i see no family-“

jay interrupts him. “yeah? and what about mom? you ever once think to look over her? check in on her maybe?”

and jayson’s response is what really stands out to me.

“my wife can take care of herself. how dare you use her to provoke me. is this how far you have fallen?”

he’s contradicting his words in the block. not that he really meant what he said, as he didn’t truly care about jay leaving her mother. he cared about controlling the situation, and his wife was an easy card to play to make jay feel guilty.

as jay challenges her father, he assumes she’s trying to play the same game. weaponize their remaining family to gain control. she isn’t.

“when was the last time you saw her?”

jayson ferin is silent.

“i saw her a week ago. she’s very sick, dad.”

he doesn’t seem to even consider that she’s telling the truth. skirting around the subject to insult jay’s character before addressing it.

“try to trick me all you want. but it will not be me who dies a fool. and do not dare use my wife to bargain.”

“that’s just like you, dad. just like you to think i’d use mom as a bargaining chip and not tell you out of pure concern for her. i would’ve stayed and helped. but, y’know, you have so much navy on the island no i couldn’t even do that for mom.”

there’s such a contrast in how jay holds her self during the block and now. her father never allowed her to be her own person, wouldn’t have acknowledged it even if she’d tried to do so. and she knew that in the block, knew it long before she left featherbrook. it may have been easier had she gone back home with jayson after the block, but it would have been a betrayal. not just to her crew, but herself. she knows better now. knows what she wants and what she’s worth.

“so you know what? you continue to do your thing. be a bad husband, be a bad father, i don’t care. right now? i’m gonna get you off my ship.”

and she shoots at him.