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blame @drorey for this one

i was just relistening to the Feywild arc again and oh boy i think i may have found some connections with episode 114.

right so in gills section of episode 79 when he enters the meeting room and does his sniff thing for evil and good he notices that one of the figures does not smell completely evil, in fact, it is only one part of him that smells like that. He also notices many others who are the same and some who are fully evil-smelling

pulling directly from the episode grizzly says "That same figure on the other side of the room that you attacked..." who we find out later to be Jayson Ferin "... a bubbling of evil within but it's not fiendish, it's not undead, it seems to be mixed with what is also a good energy as well. It's almost as if they've been fused together... you get this noxious odor but it's only like one part of this person."

this is especially concerning when we pair it with what we learned in the navy base. between the weird memory machine and the message left by faye ferin stating that her son is "stable" it makes me wonder if maybe the experimentation has been going on for a lot longer than we know and for more people than we think. especially because shortly after we hear about that small bit of evil in jayson we also hear about it in many others around the room.

now obviously some of these people could just be a little evil by nature but the discovery of triton skin on the ground before gillon is taken puts doubts about that in my mind.

anyways all this is to say i think maybe jayson is not full himself anymore and has lost a very integral piece to himself and is now just following orders, and i think maybe some of the members of the council in the undersea may also be under that effect, or are full clones so that the navy can spy on them.

this would fit with the undersea being in favor of lunadeyis and faye being in favor of aster, and we can assume that faye is very very high up in the navy.

i am worried.

AVA FERIN MIGHT STILL BE ALIVE

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS IN GENERAL

HEAR ME OUT, READ BELOW THE CUT AND TELL ME IF IT'S SOMETHING OR IF I'M SIMPLY LOOSING MY SHIT OVER NOTHING... BECAUSE IT MAKES SENSE TO ME—

Fey Ferin wants R.A.F.T to seize control over the world, and there's nothing that can stand in her way, not even her own family.

There might have been a time when Jayson Ferin was a good man. Based on what May says about him and glimpses we get from Jay's early memories (I recall one with the pin), it appears he once was. Perhaps Jayson desired change for the navy too, but that would be such a pain for Fey to deal with. So, she seems to have brainwashed him for months, possibly years by now (ep 79, Gilly detects corruption in him mixed with good energy), molding him into the perfect soldier who doesn't question orders and neglects his family for the sake of helping his mother to carry out this great fucking world domination plan.

Fey likely harbors resentment towards Drey for not being obedient like his brother, opting for a pirate's life over being loyal to his family and their ideals. Yet, Fey can't bring herself to kill him, so she puts him in a top security prison to let him rot instead.

Ava was the ideal soldier—strong, brave, and revered by all. However, for Fey, Ava's kindness, compassion, and desire for change is simply another pain to deal with. But of course, she would not kill her own family. And she couldn't let her just vanish either.

Perhaps Fey suspected that Ava had a soft spot for pirates, given her upbringing in Eagle's Den and being raised by such a softhearted daughter-in-law. But perhaps, on one occasion, someone witnessed Ava together with a pirate, and somehow that information reached Fey. And after learning that her granddaughter, her esteemed captain, had feelings for a pirate from the crew of the last remaining pirate lord she aimed to get rid of, Fey simply couldn't let this opportunity slip by.

Maybe Ava cooperated willingly, fought like hell, or simply was faced with a deal she couldn't refuse. R.A.F.T. wouldn't just eliminate their top captain, such a vital asset for the upcoming war. Instead, they created a doppelgänger, and chucked the real Ava into some top-notch secret confinement. Letting the dopple to become their pawn. A perfect martyred hero to be killed by those bad bad pirates. A perfect excuse to wage a war over.

But the doppelgängers aren't perfect. So when Lizzie tells Ava about a pirate who is like a father to her, Ava doesn't remember. And when Lizzie begs her not to fight, Ava doesn't listen because she doesn't remember the numerous times they sneaked out together to simply talk like normal people do. And when there's an order to shoot, Ava doesn't move away, as she remembers she was only created to destroy and to be destroyed.

Would Jayson know? Probably not. His hatered toward the pirates responsible for his daughter's death would likely fuel his brainwashed self even more. Very convenient for the long run.

Fey might permit her youngest granddaughter to infiltrate the pirates, banking on her own hatered over her sister's death to maybe one day make her an even better soldier than Ava ever was.

But maybe Fey was wrong.

And she knows it when she receives news of her son's escape from prison, and when her other son suddenly takes leave, or perhaps when a navy base on the Black Sea is breached.

So, when her promising soldier begins to rebel, it might be time to reveal the secret that she's been keping. Maybe it will help her granddaughter decide which side to choose in the end.

me rn:

But idk, that's just my speculation. If it turns out to be a load of bullshit you can point and laugh, but at this point it makes so much sense in that smooth brain of mine as I'm writing this at 7am after getting no sleep whatsoever.

ALSO, just something fun to think over:

In the rolled for 114, Grizz mentioned that the doppel/brainwashing machine had buttons with dates on them. And if pressed, it would display the people who had previously used it. I can't help but wonder if my theory about Ava is true if she might have showed up there. Or maybe it could have shown Jayson getting his fucking brain blasted. BUT WELP, someone rolled like shit (pointsatgillionpointsatgillion) and we'll never know now—

JRWI Riptide episode 112 spoilers

Without filter:

Who up Feeling Haunted

jayson ferin 🤝 mark winters

being accepting of their trans daughters' identities but vehemently disapproving of the rest of their life choices

I love the mounting pile of evidence that jay's grandma is genuinely like a cartoonishly evil supervillain . Like what you mean there's a whole ass Navy stronghold with a fully dedicated torture chamber and cloning machine. Just completely committing various war crimes kidnapping and doing unethical experiments on Tritons. Just out here giving employment to reincarnating cat demons.

Like I'm assuming this is all is juxtapose with Jay's context of her grandma as just an old lady in government. Like same woman who probably went to family gatherings to passively aggressively criticize her daughters-in-law cooking and who gave Jay/Ava those weird hard candies as kids (cuz ur not grandma-ing without those candies). Who probably said "oh wow you've gotten so tall" to Jay as she grew up and in same day went to just annexing islands and turning All-Port into navy territory breaking an international treaty of neutrality so no other power can effectively oppose you

Admiral Faye Ferin = Evil Grandma

(Also also this is another post but Jayson fear of his mother totally outweighs his love for Jay and probably May too) (also don't really know what to make of this but Faye will still refer to Drey as her son but Jayson won't (or at least loathes) to refer to Drey as his brother; idk maybe it's something about control)

average ferin family interaction

remember everyone! Jay and Ava share the same age gap as Drey and Jayson! Drey was almost certainly around Jay's age when he joined the Black Rose! Jayson was most likely a captain by that time too!

Jayson, as he saw his two girls grow up to be the age he was at when he saw his baby brother fall through his hands like sand, tries to do everything he can to make sure that won't happen again; that they won't go through the same things he did.

it takes Ava's death for him to learn two very important things: 1) no matter how hand you try to manipulate the future, fate has its own agenda and will stick to it religiously and 2) the world is a series of sick fucking cycles.

if anyone can clear the gauntlet, its the riptide pirates!

made an animatic about the BLOCK arc :] you should give it a watch itd mean a lot to me

Thinking about an AU in which Jay, Chip and Gill meet much later in their life. When the things they used to believe become much more deeply rooted within them and they never get to see the other side. Chip, never betraying Price and sailing underneath him, maybe even working as bounty hunter in Reuben's little organization. Jay staying in the tavern and then training to become a Navy solider despite her father's protests. Gillion never getting banished and effectively becoming the Undersea's perfect weapon so alarmingly close in behavior to the evil version of himself he saw during his second trial in the pearl.

I imagine Jay allying herself with Reuben's bounty hunters, under Navy's orders of course, and being forced to work with Chip in one way or another. And at some point they get roped into something much much bigger, when that one fishgirl that has been working with the Navy for a while turns out to be affiliated with pirates as well, and after being found out she begs Jay and Chip to help her save her brother, who is being manipulated by the Undersea to make a devastating decision against his will, to fulfill a prophesy that may as well doom them all.

And in time they do just that. They work together, they get Gill out, they meet all over again, once more saving each other from the futures other people planned for them. I just think it would be neat.

Because I do genuinely think that no matter what happens or could have happened, these three would alway end up meeting. Cause the only destiny that will ever matter in this universe is that they belong with each other.

hey guys remember how jayson ferin would've been like 19 when jay was born and like 16 when ava was born. i don't really. have anything to add to that. just felt like saying it.

i think we need to talk about how YOUNG Jayson and May were when they had their kids. because

my god.

Ava was 23 at her death. Jay said that Ava died about a year ago. So we will take her word that Ava would have been 24 now. Jayson being 40 minus Ava's age will give how old he was when she was born.

ah.

May would have been 15. Jay was only a year or two younger than Ava. So both of them would still have been teens when Jay was born.

Jayson was a teen dad with Faye Ferin as his mother. It could not have gone well.

(in another note drey would have been THIRTEEN when ava was born. but that is besides the point here, just interesting)

i love the Ferins and their fire motif

Ava Ferin is a controlled blaze, she is a fire that burns what it is supposed to, she is strong and her flames rarely lash out but when they do they burn who they touch. She has control and poise and elegance. She is the beauty that comes in destruction. The unfortunate thing with a controlled burn though is it will go out, and it goes out by those who set its hand.

Jayson Ferin is the match, he started all the fires. his fire is destructive and it destroys what it wants. there is a control to it, setting what he wishes ablaze yet it burns bright and powerful. He is the fear that goes through your gut when you smell smoke.

Drey Ferin is the embers, his fire has been burned out but he is still fighting still trying to burn despite the dark smoke that curls away. He finished his destruction yet he won’t go out. those around him nurture the embers trying to relight that blaze inside him.

Jay Ferin is a wildfire. she was started by man, yet she broke from her confinement, she burns out of control. she is a bright flame that licks out at everyone around her. She is an angry blaze that refuses to be contained and tamed by that which made her. She will not be put out, she will burn herself out eventually but on her own time. She will not go down without a fight. she is destruction, she is warmth, she is light.

Jrwi Riptide 114 Spoilers

And my own theory about some underlying implications

SO

Gilly had a silly moment while he was also GillyGone™

Jay developing trust issues from Grandma

Chip rollin with the punches as always

NOW onto why I'm here.

Now, I noticed smth rather interesting during the Grandma Recording

She mentioned her son. And him being Stable.

Now. One could assume she was talking about Drey being in the Block trapped and not going anywhere his location "Stabilized".

However, I don't think that's right. I think she was talking about Jayson.

I think, we haven't once seen the REAL Jayson Ferin. That in his grief for his daughter Ava, he had been in a vulnerable state, thrown himself into his work, didn't really question orders.

Now, in comes his Mother, someone he knows and trusts. She tells him about this new device the Navy has created. How it could help him better serve the Navy, better protect his family.

She used the brainwasher on him, not to a significant degree, not to get rid of his base personality. But enough for him to never question orders, always bring in a pirate (regardless of who it might be), to be a good soldier, and a father that can protect his daughter. Being more a puppet than a dutiful Father and Soldier

I believe there was a point where Drey mentioned that Jayson changed. That he went from being more neutral, to more antagonistic towards Drey and pirates in general. Odd how that was called out...

He may have been stoic before, but he got aggressive and cold at some point.

But of course, we have no real way of knowing until Grizzly clues us in more.

I cannot wait to see how the implications of brainwashed soldiers changes the course of what we know of the world of Mana

anyways cause i love hair headcanons and minor pieces of symbolism in things like inherited appearance--

mae (may?) ferin has brown hair, but it's very curly.

jayson ferin has the fiery orange hair that's the signature of the ferins, but it's straight.

thinking about ava ferin having the same hair as her father, because she took after him and fit the role she was meant to. became a navy captain(?) and allat

thinking about jay ferin having her father's red hair, but her mother's curls because she doesn't fit the mold of being a ferin in the way her sister did. she's a pirate, first of all-- she never becomes the navy icon she was meant to, but she still has that lingering loyalty that comes from family. she's caught between her rebellion and her love for her family and i love how her alignment isn't black-and-white.

someone on twitter pointed out that this means jayson had ava at like 16/17 and this completely changes my understanding of his character. my assumption was always that jayson had done things by the book - had a nice normal nuclear family, wife and kids and successful career by like 28. but he was way too young to have had kids. he was way too young to have held that high of a rank in the navy. i assumed he was a shit dad because he was raised traditionally and rigidly and ended up with no emotional intelligence but in reality he didn't have the chance to develop that part of himself before he was thrust into work and fatherhood. i speculate that part of the reason he holds his family to such high standard and is so militaristic with them is because when he was younger he fucked up and got punished and has been trying to compensate for it since, because he definitely was not supposed to have had kids that young. he's been projecting that regret and insecurity onto them. from the point of view of the story we're getting told, jayson is the face of the abusive and corrupt navy structure but he got his ideas from somewhere. jayson isn't just the perpetuator, he's also a victim. it's that depressing truth of the cycle of abuse. i wonder what he was like when he was younger, before all this. i wonder if his relationship with drey was better. drey would've been 13/14 when he saw his brother get into trouble for getting a girl pregnant, when he saw him get punished and whipped into shape and get thrown into things he wasn't ready for. do you think that might be the reason that he left? do you think the realisation hit him then, that his family didn't have their best interests at heart? did he see his brother become cut off emotionally and throw himself into working to earn the family's approval back? or did he see that the same desire for approval that existed before only got stronger for all the shit he was put through? is that what scared him off? there's so much to unpack with this