#phil is captain noland

[tenmillionthfirefly]

[nobodysdaydreams]

🌹:)

Thank you! I appreciate the flower and hope you're having a great day! Here's a TMBS quote:

“Now many of you may have heard that the sea is a dangerous place,” began the captain, who had introduced himself as Captain Noland, in a very serious tone. “Full of terrible sea monsters that feast on the flesh of the innocent and sirens with haunting voices that lure weak and unsuspecting sailors to their wretched deaths.”

Nicholas nodded while some of the other passengers, particularly those with young children, began giving the captain strange looks

“But those that have heard such things may be reassured to know that we have no such dangers on this ship. The creatures from those stories are merely myths and legends. Or at least, their existence can’t definitively be proven…”

Noland's voice trailed off and he paused, glancing across the horizon with a worried look in his eyes, as if he was remembering something terrible. And indeed, he was. They said it was the exhaustion, perhaps a flashback from the war, but…Noland would never forget what he’d seen that night. It haunted his nightmares, for just as the sea was beautiful yet terrifying and mysterious, so were the creatures that inhabited her.

“Captain,” prompted one of the officers, Officer Zhao, as he’d been introduced.

“Hm? Ah, yes,” said Noland, snapping out of his trance. “Yes…nothing to worry about there.”

[sophieswundergarten]

Does anybody want to hear about my 100% fabricated Cannonball backstory?

So, imagine this kid. Maybe he's got parents, maybe he doesn't. I think he probably lost his family at a young age and was sent to live with a great aunt/uncle who has a huge house and doesn't really mind if he runs around on his own all day.

At age seven, he gets his hands on a copy of Treasure Island it becomes he favourite book. He reads it cover to cover in three days, staying up as late as he can and reading under the sheets until he falls asleep and wakes up with his face on the still-open book.

There's a small stream on the edge of the property, and he spends every day down there, studying the water currents and watching the different kinds of leaves drift down it. Once he steals an entire package of toothpicks and takes an afternoon holed up in his room making as perfect a model of a ship he can.

After that, his guardians begin to take notice. He receives model kits and books on the history of sailing and every space second of his is devoted to knot-tying. He always keeps a slender piece of rope in his pocket, and it becomes a soothing habit for him to tie and untie it, often without looking, or under his desk to avoid attention when he's at school.

He doesn't get along with the other children very well, though not for lack of trying. They just aren't interested in hearing him list each part of a sailing ship or debating the merit of a sloop versus a schooner. So, he spends most of his free periods reading and sketching and closing his eyes and imagining what it would be like to feel the wind on his face.

What he does excel at is history, especially navy battles. He loves the strategy and the careful planning and the weighing of pros and cons and it delights him whenever the topic in class turns to maritime warfar.

As soon as school lets out he runs the whole way home, back up the hill to the empty old house that has far too many rooms full of stagnant air. He relishes the feeling of the breeze through his hair, seeking out storms and studying the sky to catalogue weather patterns.

All he wants is to be free. To be free of the small-minded people, and the children at his school that regard him strangely, to be free of the same streets and the same sights and the same people who seem content to never set foot anywhere but the dirt they and their family had grown out of.

He comes home full of tales of distant lands and the people and cultures there and dreams of the smell of the sea.

As soon as he turns thirteen, lying awake as the clock strikes midnight as he is taunted by the sound of waves crashing still echoing from his dreams, he decides he's had enough.

He packs a bag, just the necessities (And his well-worn copy of Treasure Island), and leaves a note on the breakfast table.

Then he sets out, following the path to the sea that he'd charted in his mind hundreds of times, chasing the faint cries of seagulls.

He finds a ship, even in the early morning light he can recognise the different classes of each vessel in the harbor. He slips aboard, hiding himself away behind some crates below deck, exhausted from his journey but feeling a thrill of exhilaration as the gentle rocking sends him into the most peaceful sleep of his life.

He figured he'd sleep here so he could find the first crew member aboard in a few hours and beg for a position on the ship, but when he wakes to the afternoon sunlight slanting down into the hold, he knows instantly that this is not the tender rocking of a boat moored not ten feet from the dock. These are the waves only found when one is really truly at sea.

And, despite himself, he can't help but be excited.

Cautiously emerging, he sees a flurry of motion that sparks something in him he hasn't felt in years. He makes note of each task being done, hoping his expertise (Academic though it is) will prove a good bargaining chip with the captain.

He knows exactly where the captain's quarters would be on a ship of this size, and carefully makes his way to the door, knocking hesitantly before hearing an invite to enter.

He is greeted with a slightly shabby but nonetheless friendly looking man, studying a map on his desk. He looks up in surprise at the sight of an unaccounted for child on his ship, but quickly masks it with a professional look.

The boy is too smart for that, though, and he's seen that look shared between teachers before they gently but firmly tell him that while impressive, his report on why a field trip to the marina would be beneficial is of course ridiculous.

Silent tears start dripping down his cheeks, as he lays out his whole story for the captain and begs for even the smallest position on his ship. He won't even ask to be paid, all he needs is to be on the ocean. He's been longing for it all his life, and now that he's finally experienced it the siren song will surely drive him mad if he's deposited back in that horrible landlocked schoolhouse.

The captain is slightly taken aback by this, but his first instinct is to give the boy a hug. He tells him that they will have to dock soon, and then he will be having a very frank discussion with the child's guardians, but he sees no reason why he shouldn't be able to take up an apprenticeship with them.

And, as Cannonball heaves a sigh into the captain's shoulder, he recognizes that feeling that's been calling out to him for so long, the one that immediately slid into place in his heart. The feeling of coming home

[bi-demon-ium]

i love captain noland someone asks him if he's alright and he goes "oh i've just got a little low blood sugar and also a divorce and crippling debt"

[mbsgifs]

TOP MINOR CHARACTERS as voted by our followers - #3: CAPTAIN PHIL NOLAND.

↳ "Aside from a slight case of low blood sugar, my faltering marriage, and the liens on my house and my vehicle, I am top drawer."

[phtalogreenpoison]

I remember thinking when I reread the mysterious benedict society series in high school that Mr. Benedict and Captain Noland had some sort of gay vibes going on? But like in a completely aroace or qpr kinda way. Idk how to explain this but huh might as well put that out into the world.

[the-no-name-system]

Nicholas: You can address me as Number One. Phil, code name: Been There, Done That. Milligan is Currently Doing That. Curtain is It Happened Once in a Dream; Rhonda, code name: If I Had To Pick a Girl. Pencilla is... Number Two. Number Two: Oh thank God.

[nobodysdaydreams]

🌹?

Thank you! 🥰 Here's another TMBS snippet:

“Well, impressive as it is, I know firsthand that too much dedication to one’s work, while admirable, can begin drive a man mad,” noted Noland. “Not to mention the negative effects of all that stress. High blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease. Those are the silent killers.”

Nicholas nodded, unsure what to make of the captain’s sudden ominous tone.

[sophieswundergarten]

I think Dr. Garrison and Cpt. Noland should get to be friends. As a fun little treat

[sophieswundergarten]

Something something Captain Phil Noland being So Very neurodivergent and loving the sea So Very deeply and finding young Cannonball stowed away on his ship desperate to escape the same heartache and keeping the kid because he's the only one to Understand him

[nobodysdaydreams]

SQ, Captain Noland, and Sticky for the ask game? also Book Martina because of your fic :D

Thank you Milk, and I love the appreciate for my fic (and thank YOU again for the ask game that inspired it!). I hope your day is going great! 🥰🥰🥰

SQ:

SQ, my precious boy, the fandom's son. He can do no wrong, he deserved better, he needed more screen time, WHY DID THE SHOW DO HIM LIKE THAT, I love him so much! I checked the "I relate to them" boxes because as a kid, I strongly head canoned SQ as neurodivergent and really related to his character's clumsiness and awkwardness and comic relief moments, but also his kindhearted nature and how he tries so hard just to be good (and he is good. He is the best boy).

Captain Noland:

Oh Noland. Reading the books I related the to children and now, as an adult watching the show, I relate to the adults. Nicholas' woods breakdown, Curtain's standback dance, Milligan's monologue, and then we have Noland. That poor poor man. I relate to his wonderful dramatic tone, but sadly also to the way he seems to always be in crisis mode. I have so many questions about his vague and briefly mentioned troubles, yet it's almost funnier the less context you have. Such a silly man.

Sticky:

I mainly put the canon did them dirty, more screen time, and wasted potential answers because of how the situation with his parents was handled (I think everything else is self explanatory). The book scene of Sticky reuniting with his parents was so special, and I'm glad I was able to rewrite that into show canon in my fic because it has been bothering me. Sticky deserved his own family reunion scene after what Curtain put him through.

Book Martina:

For this one, I filled out two cards. One is Baby Bod's card when she read these books as someone who was younger than Martina (red). The second card is my current card looking back on the character as an adult and realizing she was a bully, but also an abused child who needed a lot of help (teal).

I think these cards are pretty self-explanatory as to how and why my opinion of her changed over time, but let me know if you have questions.

[nobodysdaydreams]

😍❓ for the ask game :)

Thank you for responding to the ask game I made! 🥰 I hope you are having a lovely day!

😍-published lines or a section of a fic that you loved writing?

Oh this is a good one. I'll go with a section from Chapter 2 of my Book Martina redemption fic (Who You Were Meant To Be on AO3)

"I know you don't want to see or speak to them. But now that I know that you really are sorry, all that's left for you to do is apologize. I'm sure Mr. Benedict and the Society would accept your apology. And then we could all be friends, and you wouldn’t have a problem celebrating my birthday with them!” SQ exclaimed, excited to have found the solution to his predicament. 

Martina laughed.

“Is that supposed to be a joke?” she asked.

“No,” SQ replied, “I’m being honest. They accepted my apology, and I’m friends with them now.”

“Yeah, but I’m me and you’re you.”

“What does that have to do with anything? We both worked for Mr. Curtain. We both hurt them.”

“Yeah, but it’s different. You’re… you’re nice.”

“So are you. Or maybe you could be if you wanted to be.”

“No, I couldn’t,” Martina replied. “Look, we both worked for Mr. Curtain, but it was never the same. You actually believed that what we were doing was good and right, and you never wanted to hurt anybody. I thought what we were doing would bring me success and make me happy, and I enjoyed hurting other people. You had selfless reasons, I had selfish ones. People like you get redemption and forgiveness, okay? People like me don’t. That’s just the way the world works.”

SQ paused and thought a bit about what Martina had said.

“I’m not sure that’s true,” he observed, “or at least, it can’t be true all the time. Because I forgave you.”

Martina struggled to think of something clever to say to SQ’s objection, but she couldn’t find the words. And strangely, a part of her felt like she didn’t want to find them. That for once in her life, she was actually, surprisingly, okay with losing an argument. Because she just wanted to accept what SQ was saying was true, even if she knew it wasn’t.

“You shouldn’t have,” she finally mumbled.

I loved writing these lines. It's hard for me to articulate exactly why, but I love the concept of forgiveness and how it's discussed here. Martina points out that intentions matter, which is true, but SQ counters with his own point that even if you did something bad intentionally, that doesn't mean forgiveness is impossible or unattainable. He's the first person to show Martina that kind of love, friendship, and understanding, and Martina doesn't want to fight it (even if she can't accept it yet). It's hopeful, and I love the message, I love redemption stories, and the way the dialogue shows it... I'm sorry, I can't articulate, but I hope you get what I was going for here.

❓-any WIP snippet you want!

Hm...now this is a hard one. Because I have a lot to choose from, but I think I'll go with a funny snippet from a character who I haven't written a lot for yet, but was a character than many encouraged me to write for.

“Oh, I’m afraid it’s far more serious than that sir,” warned Cannonball in grave tone. “It appears that one of our passengers was caught smuggling illegal contraband into the country.”

“WHAT!” exclaimed Noland, then suddenly conscious of the fact that others could be listening, began to whisper.

“And…what exactly did they attempt to smuggle in?” he asked.

Cannonball leaned in and whispered.

“Tangerines.”

Noland gasped in horror.

“Tangerines? Cannonball, this may be the greatest threat to my career yet! Just think of the ecological damage that even one single tangerine could inflict!”

“It would be truly catastrophic,” agreed Cannonball seriously, shaking his head at the senseless tragedy.

“It’s hard to imagine what sort of cold-blooded individuals would dare attempt such an infamous plot,” continued Noland.

“Oh, they’ve caught the culprits,” explained Cannonball. “Don’t worry sir. Things might not be hopeless yet. We’ve been asked to deal with them personally. If our punishment is harsh enough, that is if we can make an example of these fruit filching criminals, it may yet redeem us. And show the world that we do not tolerate environmental carelessness aboard our vessels.” 

“Very well,” agreed Noland. “Then though it may be harsh, we shall do what we must.”

[nobodysdaydreams]

Below are links to some posts related to the divorce drama (I’m sure there are more, but if you have never heard of one, I thought the kind thing to do would be to give context):

Crawlings (read the reblogs)

Captain Noland

Curtain and Garrison

[bi-demon-ium]

okay so at this point we pretty much know captain noland was not part of the scavenger hunt but i still think it would be extremely funny if he was like. just. still an old friend of mr benedict's--whether this was by complete coincidence or if mr benedict chose his ship on purpose just because, even if he didn't actually get into contact with him--and like. they just. don't realize this for a bit. and then sticky is like "oh yeah the captain of the ship gave me this :)" and mr benedicts like [squints at business card] CAPTAIN NOLAND? or like. they meet him again and they're like oh!! hi captain noland!! this is our friend mr benedict and nicholas just goes PHIL????? and it's all very spiderman point and the kids are like what the hell is going on

[sophieswundergarten]

I really like how pretty much all the "good" characters in MBS have proper names that, while they may have symbolic etymology, just sound like names

However, the trend in the villain names is that they are very thinly-veiled puns about what horrible people they are

[bi-demon-ium]

i think it's unlikely captain noland was part of the scavenger hunt/knows about it but i hope he's still an old friend of mr benedict's bc i can't get over the idea of him catching them and one of them blurting out they need to save mr benedict and him just going... nicholas benedict? my old friend nicholas? and they're like you KNOW HIM? and like. ending up risking his job to help them, help his old friend, and cannonball doesn't get it, and like bonus if he helps them again later when they actually have mr benedict back and he's like [double take] PHIL?