BACKGROUND: I have zero rowing experience or knowledge prior to watching/reading tbitb. I do have a mechanical engineering degree with an aerospace minor, so I know what kind of classes the boys might take theoretically.
Quotes and interesting facts and pictures that I find online or in the book
Fanart (sometimes, rarely, I can’t really draw people lol)
FOR YOUR REFERENCE :)
Character Bio Presentation
Created by yours truly! Brief, but fairly thorough background information for each of the boys, specifically highlighting their personalities and relevant background info as described in the book. Here’s an example:
Al Ulbrickson Describes Each Boy in Article
Brief run down on each boy’s personality and the team’s dynamic, as described by Coach Al Ulbrickson
check out more tbitb writing references and my frequent tags below :)
Conibear Shellhouse
Floorplan blueprints, information, and video footage of the Conibear Shellhouse, the current Shellhouse used by the University of Washington Rowing Team (for my modern AU friends)
Coxswain Recordings and Analysis
This webpage by readyallrow.org is a compilation of dozens of videos of practices, head races, sprint races at both the collegiate and junior level, as well as videos from master and elite coxswains. At the end of on the list is a link to a post breaking down and conducting an in depth analysis on the footage.
Rowing Accidents
This is a list of rowing accidents compiled on the RowSafeUSA website. It lists details of rowing accidents in chronological order, and though it might not list every accident in history it is one of the most comprehensive lists I’ve seen.
FREQUENT TAGS
#boys n boats
where you'll find my h/c's, writings, blurbs, musings, rants, prompts, analysis, etc.
#real tbitb
any information or images or facts I come across that are related to the real story, not necessarily the movie
#wing au
stuff I’ve posted regarding my wing au WIP ft. some art where I just drew wings on top of movie screenshots because I can’t draw people
#hockey au
stuff I’ve posted regarding my thoughts on a hockey au, note that I will not be writing any actual fanfic for it
Someone should write a time loop au where Bobby keeps reliving the three days of the rowing competition at the Olympics, resetting every time they don’t win. And Bobby is the only one who’s repeating, at least maybe at first. Like they’ve crossed the finish line of the race, but when the winner is announced and it’s not the United States, literally the moment the words finish coming out the official’s mouth, Bobby is waking up in his bed on the morning of the Preliminary Races on August 12.
They can lose the Preliminary Race and still have a chance to make it into the Finals, but if they lose the Repechage the loop will reset. Basically, the way to break the loop is to win the gold medal (aka the canon ending).
And maybe it could have something to do with Bobby’s stopwatch? Like maybe it’s a special antique stopwatch his dad had given him (coxswains race with a stopwatch strapped to their left thigh btw). Like not a stopwatch his dad had made, but a piece in his collection that has been returned to the shop time and time again by the people who’ve bought it despite them insisting that the stop watch is good luck. And no one else really messes with his stopwatch so maybe as soon as people touch it they get pulled into the loop?
(More below the line because I don’t know when to stop typing)
And what I mean by the three days of the competition:
August 12: Semifinals, three heats with the winning boat of each heat automatically move on to Finals
August 13: Repechage, three heats with the winning boat of each heat moving on to the Final
August 14: Final Race, 6 boats total with medals awarded based on results
And here’s just a few examples for different loops/ Bobby’s attempt at breaking the loops to help you get what I mean:
Bobby isn’t able to convince Ulbrickson that they could win even if Don’s ill, so Coy is put in at stroke (and of course everything is thrown off)
Maybe Bobby tries to do it with Coy as stroke for serveral if not many loops, but just isn’t able to get things to click in the shell
Bobby chooses to agree with Ulbrickson, telling Don’s too sick and Coy replaces him in the shell, except this time Bobby is agreeing with Ulbrickson so he hopes that it instills confidence in the crew and Coy that they can still bring home gold (obviously not)
Don doesn’t stay hydrated enough or something and passes out (maybe pre-race or even mid race)
Bobby gets distracted and misses the start signal but they aren’t able to make up the distance
Bobby has a series of very frustrating loops and ends up starting a confrontation with the German rowers one night
Bobby eventually goes to Pocock for advice on this whole time loop thing and Pocock actually takes him serious and gives him advice
Bobby tells the crew he’s Jewish hoping it fires them up given the Nazi thing
Bobby calls up his father’s family in Switzerland for a bit of a mental escape (not quite sure how he got their phone numbers but who cares)
They won their Preliminary race and Bobby secretly takes off for Switzerland like immediately after (aka kinda goes AWOL)
Etc, etc, you get the idea
As a stressor of sorts on the situation, maybe the more time Bobby spends with Don over the course of numerous loops the more Bobby himself falls ill. Like the illness doesn’t go away so every loop he’s waking up more and more ill himself.
and while we're on the subject, I know Bobby's yearbook has been dissected to death but I have to raise this - did Bobby not go to his senior prom? he went to junior prom but there's no mention of a prom prom here 🥺
This must be one of those geographical differences things because for me there was no junior or senior prom, it was just prom.
In my school, prom was only for juniors and seniors, but it was definitely more for juniors. The junior class voted on the candidates for prom king and prom queen, all of whom were juniors as well. The only reason seniors could go was because our school was so small there’d only be like 40 kids there maybe if it was just juniors.
I also know that back in the day (and in many places around the country) prom is a junior only thing, like you could only go if you were a junior or dating a junior. At least that’s how it was for my parents. It’s very likely that it was the same for Bobby.
Hear me out, an AU where Bobby doesn’t get invited back to the team. Somehow the boys still make it to the Olympics and they’re socializing with the other US athletes at the banquet before they on the SS Manhattan when suddenly Chuck and Stub recognize a familiar face. Come to find out Bobby’s going to the Olympics for fencing, having put all his time and effort into getting better with the help of his father on occasion.
Or maybe Donny starts talking to this guy while they’re on the SS Manhattan over to the Berlin and develops this massive crush on him. Maybe he and the others watch Bobby fence against one of the other US Olympic fencers or something, and Bobby obviously wins because plot and when he removes his mask Chuck and Stub and they’re like, “holy shit it’s Bobby!”
main themes: bobby & the boys, emotional angst, basically just banter and backstory, a lot of feelings
summary:
Bobby sighed, his patience fraying at the edges. “Come on,” he said, exasperation slipping into his tone. “We’ve seen them before. During practice,” he added, his voice firm but still trying to nudge them toward the answer. Still, the silence held, their confusion palpable.
Bobby turned to Don, his expression sharp and pointed, his eyes locking on the man. But Don’s brow merely furrowed as he tried to follow. Then, suddenly, something clicked. A flicker of recognition passed across his face, and Bobby could tell Don had figured it out.
“See, you remember, don’tcha, Donny?” Bobby prompted, leaning forward slightly.
December 25: ITS HERE go wild, share your favorite dialogue!!! Your favorite kiss!!! Your favorite spicy scene!!! Favorite pictures!!!Favorite boy!!! The world is yer oyster!!
ok but peep that newsies reference (i think it is anyway…)
Here are some of my favorite pics from the set:
And my favorite quotes:
“Sometimes young horses need a louder jockey.”
I love how they just immediately knew what Pocock was talking about. Like they’d all been thinking it but didn’t want to be the one to admit that Bobby would be the perfect cox for the boat. And I kind of read it as them acknowledging that kicking Bobby out of the boat was a heat of the moment sort of thing. Because if it was something Ulbrickson and Bolles had say and thought about then they probably wouldn’t have been willing to bring him back. (Unless they weren’t and we just weren’t shown them protesting the idea)
Come on! Your hands are too high! Fix the catch. One catch, let’s go. Look like a team, fellas. Legs through, eyes up. Legs through. You guys are out of sync. Find Hume. Take it off Hume. Watch those blade heights. Hey, Rantz, you with us? Get with Hume. Legs through. Legs through. Come on! Day, you’re catching too high. Lower. Morris, you’re late. Enough! Way-nuff! Way-nuff!”
Everything about this is perfect.
“And my favorite part is how my nuts vibrated when you guys were all hitting the water at different times.”
December 24: Favorite fic/art and why Whether you created or experienced, please spread the love!!
My fic, of oarsmen and osprey, is my baby because it’s the longest fanfic I’ve ever written and for a long time I was convinced I’m better at one shots because my adhd brain makes it hard to finish multiple chapter fics.
ps. sorry no new chapter this week because of the holidays, but there should be one next week :)
December 22: Which dynamic do you wish we had more time with in the movie?
I wish we had more of all of the boys together. Give me a scene at the island or somewhere we can see all of their personalities more instead of just Joe (not that there’s anything wrong with Joe, it’s just that there’s more than one boy in the boat). Or give me them comforting each other more. Think of the campfire scenes but more and longer.
December 21: Current WiPs!! Share as much as you'd like!!
of oarsmen and osprey is still a WIP
and so is this mfer
also December 21: If you could have one extra scene in the movie, what would you want it to be?
There’s a lot, like I would love to see the boys going to Huckleberry Island, the almost-fight at the Olympics. But most of all I think I would have loved to see them out at night at Poughkeepsie was it? Where they’re rowing in the dark and just sort of magically hit swing. All the boys talk about that night being special so I feel like it would be really cool to have included that.
December 20: Have you watched any other media the boys have been in? If so, which ones do you recommend?
Honestly I have not… but if you need a general movie recc I suggest watching Snack Shackj :)
also December 20: Have you read the book? What parts did you like best?
Yes I have!!! The best parts are where Bobby is being a little shit and riling people up or getting tossed into the water. I also especially loved when the book talks about how stressed and anxious they all were before faces, like how they would meet up at night to comfort each other or how Ulbrickson would go room to room to check on them.
Masters of the Air means the world to me. It combines my passions for history and aviation. I’m not a fan of Callum Turner’s character because I find that Buck and Bucky were a lot smaller of a part of the 100th Bomb Group’s story than the show made them seem, but it’s still definitely amazing and deserves a watch. Callum Turner is still really really good in it. And I have a whole blog (partially) dedicated to it like I can’t believe I just forgot it
December 20: Have you watched any other media the boys have been in? If so, which ones do you recommend?
Honestly I have not… but if you need a general movie recc I suggest watching Snack Shackj :)
also December 20: Have you read the book? What parts did you like best?
Yes I have!!! The best parts are where Bobby is being a little shit and riling people up or getting tossed into the water. I also especially loved when the book talks about how stressed and anxious they all were before faces, like how they would meet up at night to comfort each other or how Ulbrickson would go room to room to check on them.
Back at it again with my wing au as it’s the only piece of fiction I’ve written for this fandom. The hardest scene to write was probably… all of it jk idk
Ok but for real the hardest part was connecting all the scenes I had written, like I have all these chunks and things I want to happen but putting them in an order that makes sense and also somewhat follows the historical timeline is hard. It’s the big decisions that are the most difficult for me. Once I decide where I want things to go or how they happen, it’s not too bad.
Fanart wise, this bit here is currently kicking my ass (and has been for weeks now)
December 18: Choose a fic/artwork and talk about how you came up with the premise, what the process was like, anything you want to share!!
Sorry I’m late I didn’t really process the fact that Dec 18 meant Wed, Dec 18. Anyway, of oarsmen and osprey is my wing au fic that I’m working on and have made pseudo-fanart for. Coming up with it was based on this one post I made on April 15, 2024 (see post below). It came from my head and I have no idea how or why the inspiration struck me to do a wing au.
OG POST:
My all time favorite fanart I’ve done is this one of Ebright which is a shame because why can’t my Bobby ones look that good. I have one WIP one that’s really good but I feel like I can’t get it right. How do I draw it? I have a picture of the bird wings for reference on my phone and stare at it excessively while I’m drawing on my tablet.
I used to do a lined style but then accidentally hid the outline and realized “oh shit it looks so much better” and hence why I don’t do outlines for them anymore.
