Erebus & Terror officers as seats in an 8+
Stroke/8: DUNDY. Mathematical, precise, no patience for bitching. Always tall. Usually gorgeous. Everyone look at me.
7: GORE. Just there to keep the boat connected. Keeps looking at the shore. Mind in boat, Graham. Also tall. 7 & 8 are the two seats most at risk for crewcest (look it up)
6: FITZ-JAMES. The second-in-command, in charge of the back of the boat, critical for relaying the stroke to the rest of the crew. Inevitably the best oarsman in the boat.
5: FRANKLIN. Able to make the difference between a win and a loss, almost never the right guy to do it. If the swing breaks down it’s almost always because of 5 seat. Still thinks he’s awesome cuz he’s part of the stern. Dump seat; where you put the (sorry Franky) Biggest Guy.
4: Two way tie between IRVING and HODGSON. Can either be an anxious little bab who knows they’re on point for half-boat warmups and worries about it all the time OR the bonkers dude in the middle of the boat who just. keeps. talking. Both types keep looking at the shore (quit looking at the shore).
3: FAIRHOLME. Who TF is this guy? Does anyone care? Dump Seat Lite (aka the guy you can sacrifice to lead a rescue party)
2: CROZIER. Watching everyone in front of him. Hates it here. Inevitably the guy coming in clutch to get the boat on the dock when the rest of the crew is exhausted. Can and will utterly fuck the set if he’s not paying attention (or is drunk AF though I haven’t encountered this in the wild)
1: LITTLE. Stressed AF. Sees everything the rest of the boat is doing. VERY aware he’ll be the the first one to die if they run into anything (and yet the last one to die except for Crozier on the show. It’s not a perfect metaphor). Always the smallest guy on the crew and as such always the first one to get thrown off the dock into the water after practice.
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BONUS Coxwain: HICKEY. Nobody has met this guy before. He literally just showed up. Nobody knows where he came from (except maybe the coach but coaches are a closed society and they don’t tell you shit). He’s not part of the crew. He’s ITTY BITTY. He yells a lot and says some really weird stuff when he gets excited. You tune him out halfway through warmup just to survive. Thinks he’s god in the stern, thinks he’s the reason you placed in your heat. Always taking off his clothes when there is just NO reason to do so. He thinks the boat loves him (the boat hates him). Can and will kill everyone on board to prove a point OR to establish his authority.
(see the 2nd 8+ here)
