I've realized that all my fussing over what 1/1200 scale ship I want to build is because I essentially want two different things.
I want a model to sit up there with my books, and I want a story. I can write a story about some Canadian-born ship Captain in the Napoleonic era any day, and I was honestly overthinking it, as it applied to the model.
So. I'm going to build a model ship. Possibly not a Canadian one, just one with clear, complete plans and instructions, and if I enjoy that, maybe I'll work on a slightly harder one. (Re: Prompte.)
This sort of overthinking is certainly a flaw of mine, but I see it in others, and even (especially?) in communities, as well.
Twenty years ago when I first got into Warhammer, a picture of a Skink or a gallery of Space Marine chapters with nothing but names was enough to inspire me and make me dream up endless stories. Now if I don't know the entire life story of every single member of that chapter, I feel like I can't tell an effective story. And, okay, with historical fiction you do need a bit more depth to your research. But in the end I just want a little toy ship that looks neat. No need to trying to wrangle how a Canadian-born captain in the Royal Navy went from a captured Dutch fourth-rate to a Bermuda sloop named after the former to a "Canadian-built" frigate.
I can just build the damn thing, slap a name on her hull, and let myself dream.
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