>>161587
You're right. There is no way Teagan gets out of that situation without compromising her morals in some way. Either she lets sadistic cruelty stand or she throws away everything to fulfill her short-term desires. The way I see it, you can either rewrite the story so this conflict doesn't happen or you can lean in and turn it into character development for Teagan. My impression of Teagan is that her self-image is built around control - control of herself and control of her circumstances. She can't control living in tumblr world, she can't control her degenerate brother, so she laser focuses on the things she can control. She's accustomed to being the most "put together" person in the room at all times. The best point of comparison in other fiction is probably post-TAS Batman: Batman doesn't hope, he doesn't wish, he just does what needs to be done in that moment. He doesn't wonder if there's a way, because in his world there's always a way.
Now consider the situation Teagan is in. There isn't a way for her to get what she wants. She can't muscle or bull through this situation. She can't talk or think her way out of it. She is completely powerless and there is nothing hiding that fact. Now, why wouldn't she crack under that pressure just a little bit? I can imagine it now, her unconsciously moving to act, only to stop herself when she realizes how utterly screwed she is if she tries to intervene. This is a good opportunity to show Teagan being truly shaken for what I think is the first time. What can she do? My guesses are either flip out and do something stupid just to do something (pic related) and then try to rationalize what she just did, or else hide in the corner trying to block out the pirate's screams and telling herself it's what needs to be done. Obviously you want to follow up on this in future chapters, even if it's just Teagan being a little less sure of herself.