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It’s understandably quiet on the Rose. Everyone has kind of slipped away to do their own thing. For the first time, we get a taste of Cait’s religion. We’ve talked about the Gods, if only in the prologues, but not how people worship them. Cait has a certain eastern approach to it: a small shrine to Nibiru in her bunk, an offering, kowtowing. And Nibiru is, seemingly, a good choice for Cait: Nibiru is the goddess of the oceans and very popular among sailors. But Cait wouldn’t just praise Nibiru. If Cait were to set foot on Lat or the 21 Kingdoms for very long, she’d find a temple or shrine Tiamat or Ummo to ask for the safe passage of her crew and herself, if not full on worship. This is the norm all over the world, though not the only religion. And we haven’t even covered the veneration of the ancestors, who themselves become something like gods, though more accurately they’re like a committee of family members. We’ll get into that later.
This is a dark time for the crew of the Rose, but I can’t help but think Toby is being adorable in this scene. That wasn’t really my goal with Toby, to make him adorable, he just kind of turned out that way. More specifically, his way of coping with Nina’s death is to start cooking, especially comfort foods, though I’m not sure he thought about it that much. What he’s doing is trying to make the crew of the Rose happy, or at least happier. Also, I drew a picture of Toby being adorable:

If you’re marking on your calendar, we’re on day 13. Toby has only known these people less than two weeks. They talk like he’s staying, but he’s thinking about going home. What Cait said is surprising to him, but he’s been thinking it, even if he knows going home could lead to bad things.
And thus ends another commentary. What have I missed? As always, and questions or comments are totally welcome.
[g]
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So, I guess questions ‘n’ stuff:
*You said, day 13 and then Toby’s known them less than a week – our week, their weeks are different?
*Act 2 Banner kinda looks like a fetal position-ed person, just sayin’.
Act 2, so you like the my proffered idea of this being that?
*Last and whatev: did all the comments from earlier posts disappear when you switched servers?
_Sometimes broccoli must dance_
* Changed the week to two weeks. Also, it’s something of a misnomer, because they really don’t have a “week”, just 23 day months, each day with its own name. Dates are a subject for another post.
* A weirdly shaped island that looks like someone laid to rest in the fetal position? Man, I wonder if I’m going to come back to that…
* Yes, your idea was a good one. Gives me some structure for each new Act.
* Lastly, I hadn’t noticed, but hang on. Checking 7 Days, I still have comments there. Did you notice some that haven’t come over?