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unintentionalgenius · 3 years

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ok @ongreenergrasses tagged me in this and like, I’m here for it. No one actually follows me anymore unless they want to hear my opinions so leggo!

List 10 different female faves from 10 different fandoms, then tag 10 people! no particular order bc they’re different fandoms and also i have this weird complex around ranking people

1. Brienne of Tarth (ASOIAF) - perfect. flawless. not here for femininity all the better a character for it. Living her truth. Inspirational. A badass and has great comedic timing. What more could you ask for? No I do not know what happened to her in the last season of GOT.

2. Miranda Barlow (Black Sails) - a female character with a complex inner life??? I mean, Black Sails has so many to choose from, but I really think she’s interesting for her role as someone who was loved by two people who were the absolute love of each other’s life, and also (bonus) Max in her relationship with Ann and Jack is perhaps a foil or set up for a comparison between the two triads (and when did we last get two triads in a piece of media, with their own complexities??). Plus! She spends a lot of time being a character in her own right aside from her role as an oppositional force and erstwhile conscience for Flint.

3. Leia Organa (Star Wars) - Leia is a fucking badass and also a really interesting character! especially in the most recent trilogy, even if they fumbled the ending. She gets her happily ever after and then we see her later and honestly, in most of the ways that matter, she failed!!! Her happily-ever-after fell apart. How wild is that! But she is not A Failure she’s just a human who tried and learned that she couldn’t fix everything, but damn, she was going to keep on trying.

4. Tara Knowles (Sons of Anarchy) - this is Not a Great Show but it has the bones of a great show. Tara is such an interesting character and she’s SO angry and it’s beautiful. She has all this furious energy pent-up inside of her and also no matter what she does, she’s always a little bit of an outsider. She is both from Charming and not of Charming, because she could have gotten out. Who amongst us didn’t have a toxic teen relationship? Relatable. Incredibly morally ambiguous and I love it.

5. Rose Tyler - honestly I will fight anyone who says even one (1) bad thing about Rose. She is brave, and clever, and working class (even poor) and written in such a way that you cannot ignore this fact about her! She is not posh, she didn’t go to uni, she’s utterly ordinary and absolutely unique and worthy of love and who among us didn’t need to hear that in high school, amirite?

6. Lydia Martin - I never try to write Lydia in Teen Wolf fic because even fictionally she intimidates me. Teen media when I was a kid would have never had a smart, popular, attractive math genius who simply got to be a character. She’s not nice and that’s ok! I also stopped watching teen wolf a long time ago so if some shit went down with her character later on we will just Ignore It.

7. Basira Hussain (The Magnus Archives) - I love her. I love every woman in this entire show and there are so many to choose from, but Basira gets to make the most glorious mistakes, as a character, and has moments of incredible hypocrisy that I find fascinating. And she’s in love with Daisy Tonner and the way that love manifests for them both is ALSO so interesting. All cops are bastards and Basira does not even dispute that characterization, if anything she leans in.

8. Angharad "Harry" Crewe (The Blue Sword) - is there a Blue Sword fandom? There is now, I’m making it happen. This girl is who I literally modeled myself after as a kid. She’s a little tomboyish, a little weird, not quite conventionally attractive, and she gets magic??? and she’s funny? and she does what she feels is right even if it means her maybe-boyfriend will break up with her, or banish her? It’s a story about finding home with a people you never knew were yours and like Maybe There Is Some Resonance With My Life or whatever but man, she’s also just an excellent character.

9. Mickle/Queen Augusta (The Westmark Trilogy) - once again I have to ask, is there a Westmark Trilogy fandom or am I inventing it? She honestly had the best of both worlds; raised as a princess, lost her memory and got to go gallivanting around, leads a whole-ass rebellion, falls in love with a pretty writer (slash potential war criminal??? he definitely has Grade School-Appropriate Trauma™️) who fought for her and then they’re also pro-democracy? I love it. I love her. I love how much they care about each other and also about justice and Doing The Right Thing for The People.

10. Furiosa (Mad Max Fury Road) - This movie was about Furiosa, first of all. (also as an aside? the visual language and storytelling was unparalleled.) This is an incredible character and I love her evolution over the course of the film. We get to see so many ways to be a woman and I love that! She has such trauma and she holds it in her own way - not the way we might be conditioned by media to think of. She is an action hero that usually only boys or unrealistically pretty girls get to be, but she’s not conventionally pretty while she’s doing it. Beyond just her physical heroism and bravery, though, she saves the wives and acts as emotional support, a first-level deprogramming, and how often do we get to see that kind of salvation playing out at multiple levels and then they get to save her in return? I’m crying now

I don’t think I even know 10 people on this hell site anymore but @ragequilt you have to have some opinions about this right???? Any other mutuals are more than welcome to pretend I tagged you if you want to do this thing

#rhi I literally almost put stiles on here bc she's a female character in my head #glad we have superseded canon

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justlikeeddie · 5 years

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black sails fic recs

I have got and continue to get so much enjoyment out of Black Sails and its fandom! It's so nice that this anniversary week of posts has made me realise it is two years since my dash was abruptly filled with people having full breakdowns over the S4 finale, and I was like, “man, I don’t know why this field of corn or whatever is so important, but I guess I should watch this show and find out”. And I did. AND IT WAS.

I don’t know how to make gifsets bcos I am an idiot, but luckily for this fan content Friday thing I CAN post a non-exhaustive list of fics in this fandom that I am absolutely obsessed with. You’re welcome!!!

Unaccommodated Man, The Peaceable Kingdom, and Congress by kvikindi / @septembriseur

James/Thomas, post-series

James looks at him, searching, and Thomas fears he will recognise that Thomas is not really Thomas, not quite Thomas, not the Thomas he had been, and so he says, “I have gone a little mad in this world without you, but now that you are here—” And James makes a sound, a sobbing, laughing sound, and crushes Thomas to him once more.

Like...obvs. This is one of the best series of stories I have read in any fandom, or, actually, that I have read in any context. Both on a macro level - with unbelievable fluency, this series encompasses trauma, recovery, intimacy, forgiveness, literature, the conception of madness, agriculture, 18th-century Native American tribal language, etc, etc - and a micro level, in which not a single word is wasted, and not a single sentence is unworthy of being read three or four times. Anyway. I have re-read all of these stories multiple times and Congress more times than I would admit to if I actually knew.

consider them both, the sea and the land by youremyqueen / @deathnoting

Flint/Silver, post-S3

Flint frowns, stiff and unbending, and leans down just a tad so that he is looking John directly in his eyes. If he’s uncomfortable with their proximity, he doesn’t let it show.

“Remember when you told me,” he grits slowly, each word weighted with emphasis, “that you had discovered the pleasure of being both loved and feared? Is that what you would like from me? It is not enough that you have earned my respect, my friendship. You would now like for me to be frightened of you as well?” His nostrils flare, his rage is quiet. “I am not one of your men.”

John can feel the words on his face and he bears them without flinching, says only, “And I am not one of yours.”

Flint’s brow twitches, and he moves a hair closer, disgustingly close, warm and sour with the smell of whiskey, a solid and immovable blockade between John and what he wants. And he says to him, of all the unbearable things, “Isn’t that exactly what you are?”

THIS IS LITERALLY THE FIC THAT CHANGED MY MIND ABOUT FLINT/SILVER. For like three whole series I just didn’t Get It. And then I read this and was like.....oh.....I Get It. It’s a weapon. Their attraction to each other is a weapon. And sometimes they like using it and sometimes they don’t. And I have never, my friends, looked back

and into what it will be changed by @sea-changed

James/Thomas/Miranda, pre-series

"The Hartfords left for the country last week," Miranda says; "they've merely invited us to view the painting. They cannot resist showing off, even in absentia." She and Thomas share a look, smirking at each other as if sharing an old joke. Then she looks back at James, and her mouth quirks up at him. "So you needn't worry about their judgement."

James considers protesting that that wasn't, exactly, what he was worried about, though upon second thought he wonders if it truly wasn't. "That's very kind," he says, hesitating.

"Is it?" Miranda asks, almost absently. "We do not invite you along as a kindness, Lieutenant; I believe I speak for both Thomas and I when I say we rather enjoy your company."

James feels his face heat, not unpleasantly, and he looks down at the carpet. Miranda is usually soft and kind, but occasionally she does this, speaks plain and pointed. She and Thomas both do this, push and keep pushing: Thomas seems to do so with curiosity, prodding until he finds something interesting, but Miranda does it as if she had already found the spot she wishes to target, and goes after it relentlessly. James thinks suddenly, and unexpectedly, that she would not make a bad Naval commander.

THIS IS LITERALLY THE FIC THAT CHANGED MY MIND ABOUT JAMES/THOMAS/MIRANDA. I used to be weirdly militant in the belief that James’s affairs with the Hamiltons only made sense if they were two separate affairs that didn’t even really overlap. And then I read this and was like....right okay....if they DID have a threesome it would have been like this

There’s Plenty of Men to Die by @autoeuphoric

Flint/Silver, post-S3

The five of them share a glance, passing it around the table, man to man. Flint’s mouth twitches and Madi laughs shortly. “I would wager every man here fancies themselves in charge. This is a meeting of chieftains. I say let it remain so.”

“Although…” Silver says slowly, pulling the others’ attention on to him. Flint’s eyes flick his way, and to his horror he realizes he has nothing else to say. No point, no segue, no plan for a redirection of the conversation. He had simply wanted Flint to look at him. A fierce longing for the days when it was just the two of them fills him, laying their plans together, even though the threat of sudden and nonnegotiable execution was much higher. But he knew where he stood. Here, there are complications. Confusions.

This is just a tiny little snatch of a scene but every beat of it is perfect! Silver navigating his obsession with Flint, in the midst of everybody navigating their new relationships with each other in the new fragile and tentative anti-colonial alliance.

a question of needs (and not rosary beads) by @seventymilestobabylon

James/Thomas, pre-series

Still: James wants to talk. If Thomas means this to be—what it is, what it clearly is, then he should have the fucking decency to say something about it. He also, and intensely, wants the whole business to be transacted without any conversation, but he knows better than to hope for that. Thomas is not capable of it, that implicit understanding. Even when he kissed James—

Thomas’s thumb very light at the hinge of his jaw. He felt a thrill like fear, when it happened.

Even then, Thomas said, “All right?” when it was over, and would have said more, except that James nodded mutely, minutely, and stammered something incoherent that required his presence elsewhere. Thomas and Miranda both looked hideously understanding about it, and James considered—as he walked home through ill-lit streets and inhaled familiar smells of smoke and fish and tar and shit—simply climbing aboard one of the ships in harbor and never returning to London.

This is one of the few pre-series fics I’ve read that really digs into James and Thomas’s incompatibilities and differences and misunderstandings - and sets them against how badly they want each other, and want to understand each other, nonetheless. Don’t get me wrong, obviously 1705 is The Only Time James McGraw Was Ever Allowed To Be Happy (tm), and I’m extremely into reading about him and Thomas making each other happy! But also - it’s so interesting to explore James being so frightened of how he feels about Thomas that he can be unkind to him, and Thomas being so immersed in how he feels about James that he can be complacent and sometimes a little thoughtless about it. And this pulls all of those things apart so well.

you and i survived by youremyqueen / @deathnoting

Anne/Jack, Vane/Jack, pre-series

“She’s not mine. That isn’t—we aren’t—I mean to say, do you actually understand what love is, Captain?”

“Love is possession,” Vane tells him, with his usual unselfconscious melodrama. “Not only of women by men, but of men by women. The point of owning a woman is to see to it that she doesn’t own you.” He speaks as if he’s explaining some very basic and widely known conceit.

Jack winces. “What a viciously horrible perception.”

Vane rolls his eyes. “Christ’s sake. Don’t you ever get tired of acting like a fucking woman?”

“Don’t you ever get tired of acting like a fucking man?”

And couldn’t they unpack that remark for days?

The extremely funny author’s note “if someone had told me two months ago that i would write a fic that featured charles ‘only straight person in nassau’ vane as a main character, i would not have believed them” is also a summary of how I feel about this fic. WHO KNEW that on top of every other fucking thing I have to care about in this fandom, I also care a LOT about Jack and Anne and Charles fuckin Vane! A principled, terrifying, Aslan-transfigured-into-a-human nightmare of a man! This fic is so excellent and does such justice to all of them. Their triumvirate gets kind of supplanted by the Max-Anne-Jack situation from S2 onwards, and I always forget how nuanced and odd and interesting this three-way dynamic is when we first meet them. This story does such a good job at trying to explain what the fuck that dynamic is.

Katabasis by unheroics

James/Thomas, pre-series, canon-divergent AU

There were Flint’s men, one leaving the cabin, another ransacking a chest for treasures, another still turning to speak to Randall; the words exchanged escaped Flint, as all else did, once his gaze fell to the Englishman.

He knelt barefoot on the deck, and wore the undyed, colourless linen of prison or asylum garments. For a precarious second Flint could only think that his hands had had nary a mark upon them, five years ago, and now were as scarred as those of a gamekeeper or veneur. He looked nothing like the man whose presence haunted Flint’s dreams, always at the corner of the vision, always cold to the touch and bleeding from the eyes and mouth.

In all his careful planning, and all his mirthless revenge, Flint had never thought to anticipate a variable in place of a set value. The presence of other men about was like an anchor at his feet, dragging him underwater, but it was Alfred Hamilton’s blood on his hands that kept him immobile.

“Will you kill me?” said Thomas Hamilton, in a voice harsh from paregoric. His tone had a note of morbid, queer hope. “I could pay.”

To spare you, or kill you? It was excruciating to wonder.

One of the very first James/Thomas fics I read! And certainly one of the first fics I read that started to probe and pull apart the McGraw-Flint dichotomy, by literally dropping Thomas right in the middle of it. And while the actual end of S4 is, obviously, the greatest and most narratively and emotionally satisfying thing that has ever happened on television, and you can quote me on that - one thing we do never get in canon is Thomas in Nassau, and I love getting to read that here.

#bsaaw #black sails #fic #flinthamilton #silverflint #one million emotions about one million different characters #did you mean: black sails

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3988akasha · 6 years

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So...I’m live blogging ... because...

Black Sails. It’s on Hulu now, so yeah, I’m watching.

And there’s this little cupcake:

I like him because he’s #sassy

Also his blue eyes are blue. And his jacket. He’s so so damn pretty. And a liar because you are not a cook you little bugger.

I also like the man with the nipples on display.

Because holy PECS batman. But, he makes Silver stop smiling rather abruptly which is amusing and also a bit sad b/c Silver’s smile is the thing of beauty. BEAUTY I SAY.

Then, below, we’re counting WHALE OIL and I remember this bit from history because it was used in everything, even margarine. ew

Also below we have GINGER OF THE DEEP VOICE.

Also of the blue eyes. This show is going to kill me with blue eyes, sassy boys and deep voices. (apparently, they are green, but sometimes they look blue...)

I kinda want to call Flint Captain Squinty because when he’s above deck he squints.

OOOO and we have a mutiny plot by another BLUE EYED bastard with awesome I’m a pirate!scars.

Flint squints some more when he is called on his lack of control over his role of Captain. He needs to Captain better, just saying.

I also want to flail about the swards and the guards and the filigree and OMG YES.

“We like Randal.”

*flirty look*

“You, we’ll see.”

I’m going to make a guess that Silver is the fandom bicycle? Or maybe I just want him to be fucked by basically everyone now.

“This is one of those times when we both pretend that we don’t know you’re lying.”

Why does Silver’s hair always look wet?

I love how much everyone on this show lies to each other.

“You’re a highly respected member of this crew.”

“Who’s Billy?”

Oh goodie, now Silver is going to meet Blackbeard.

“Don’t show fear.” And of (course boyo looks like he’s going to wet himself. Poor dear.

OMG dramatic reveal that leads to an orgy. That’s quite a welcome to the crew party. (I want to make a bush joke, but I won’t)

I want to talk about the hat. Because Pirates. Hats. It’s a thing.

And, I don’t hate the female characters so far. This is a new and pleasant surprise. Can it be we have a show that can write female characters?!

Back to Captain Squinty and Perky Nipples to have a discussion about Flint’s lack of control over his crew - and his weakness unlucky streak.

Silver is such a bastard - he’s like Loki if Loki were a pirate.

Also, this line: “A whore for every finger, but your eyes kept straying to this.”

Wait, their ship is called the Walrus?! For real?!

And Boyo really can’t help himself, can he? Sneaking back onto the ship, getting himself into mischief. Loki. I swear.

Meanwhile, we have storytime narrative exposition with Flint.

Okay you moron with the stupid hat, where isn’t there gossip? Gossip is literally what makes the world spin. Gossip is everything. Him and every other rich British dude made their money off ill-gotten gains.

That escalated quickly.

Why all the female’s reveal with a dramatic hat?

Oooo, another hot Blue Eyed Man. Intrigue. Midnight plots. Hat reveals.

Damn. She punches. He punches.

“Your father will always chose profits over daughters.”

“I may just forget that I loved you once.” - Well, damn. That’s a character that I adore right there. That line. Sweet baby Jesus. I like him. Captain Vane.

So, I feel like things happen, and the characters are surprised by it. Even when they cause it.

“Civilization is coming, and it means to exterminate us.”

Flint has delusions of grandeur.

Is it mutiny if they vote? Is it democracy? Flint, sweetie, you can’t be king of anything if they mutiny or vote of no confidence you.

Temper, temper. As he throws his desk around. And he notices a feather. A fucking feather is going to tell him something that will save his ass?

Ooooo, Flint you lying liar who lies. You are so good at this game. You’re clever.

And that was the moment Silver fell for Flint.

I mean, swords is a bit better than pistols at dawn or fisticuffs.

Come on, Flint. You have to be better than that - don’t make it interesting, just kill him. They fight dirty.

Now Flint is dealing with all his pent up feelings. Because he’s having a feeling. Many feelings. All the feelings. Anyone want to challenge him now?! No? Thought not.

And he’s starting to trust his crew. Sort of.

Then he tells them - they’re looking for the Hulk.

I know, not that one, but still.

They’re going after a treasure ship, but still. He called it the Hulk, so it totally counts.

And, a not surprise twist at the end - she’s looking for buyers.

End Episode 1.

#live blog #black sails #i know i'm late to the show and the party #john silver #james flint

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yoyo-inspace · 7 years

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Black Sails 4x02 - 4x03 thoughts

This is late. Sorry about that. It’s because I was waiting to see the episodes with a friend of mine.

I had some thoughts I wanted to get out before 4x04, and some of you seemed to enjoy this last time, so I thought, why not do it again?

Two brilliant episodes overall. I’ve already talked a bit about my thoughts on especially 4x03, which you can find here, here and here as well as in all of my tag rants in Black Sails posts on my blog.

Going to follow the formula and do a character by character/group by group break-down below the cut. This got really long. Look forward to me having long ramblings about narrative techniques, being angry about Black Sails making me care, being very worried for everyone’s future and what’s really the deal with Berringer’s locket.

Spoilers, obviously.

John Silver A pirate king coming into his own is something beautiful to behold. I thought Silver actually took a bit of a backseat these two episodes, except for the very last part of ep3. He was, quite literally, tied up, and didn’t get as much of a chance as before to be an active player. But that won’t stop him. He just keeps on talking, and how beautifully he does it. He realizes while being held by Hands that embracing his role as the next Teach is his only way out of this, and after that, I think the power it gives him is quite intoxicating. He didn’t start out like this. He didn’t want that man to die in his name. But Silver is morphing in front of our eyes, morphing into becoming Long John Silver.

He’s also more and more taking over the narrative from Flint. This has up until now been Flint’s show, and it is turning into Silver’s. He’s even taking over the entire Odysseus metaphor with his ‘no one’ stuff going on!

I don’t want to believe his pseudo-friendship with Max is completely over, though it definitely took a pretty bad hit these episodes. I totally understand them both here, really. John have obviously no idea about Max’s intentions. He still thinks he’s the same as he’s always perceived her. He’s getting caught up in this cycle of vengeance and violence that he can’t understand that she’s not up for playing that game anymore, something that we see is quite constant with all the ladies here.

His reunion with Madi was beautifully done, from both actors. Like, some A+ filmmaking there. I was actually really happy to see them reunited.

I really enjoyed his banter and relationship with Hands. I’ll get to that more a little later, but damn, I didn’t expect to enjoy it that much. His reunion with Flint was a bit cut short for me, but it kind of made up for it with all the “we” and confidant-type talking, and bringing another grumpy ginger onboard and trying to make them get along. All these grumpy gingers and princesses and random townsfolk falling for Silver. He needs to stop being so damn charismatic or this is going to turn into a harem anime

His entry into Nassau was basically him being pirate Jesus, and I quite enjoyed that. He was super badass in the fight, and in the end, he’s the one who gives Israel the nod to cut Berringer’s throat. Again, with a look he can get someone to kill for him. He inspires loyalty in people, something I don’t think he ever expected. I’m really worried however where this road is going to take him, and those closest to him.

Israel Hands DAMMIT BLACK SAILS, YOU’VE GONE AND DONE IT AGAIN. FIRST FLINT AND NOW ISRAEL HANDS? STOP MAKING ME CARE SO MUCH ABOUT RANDOM CHARACTERS FROM TREASURE ISLAND.

Now don’t get me wrong. Israel Hands is a terrible terrible person. He slit the throat of a nine year old. I mean yes, we can argue all day back and forth that Flint attacking Charelstown/the fort probably killed quite a lot of kids (actually, we saw it do so), but we have to keep in mind that this is fiction. If we were going to judge all of these characters on actual real life moral standards, we should probably not be behind anyone. The narrative of these things are set up to get us to sympathize more with Flint, and there is something more horrific to most people about the calculated murder of a nine year old by slitting his throat than a bombardment of a beach with casualties. I think those are important things to take into calculation (though I mean, still all horrific, you know).

And yet. AND YET. Black Sails somehow manages to make me intrigued by this murderous, old, sad man. Why did he stay? Did he really hate Teach, or was he still waiting around for him? He’s clearly one of those people who feels like he needs a leader. He wants someone to follow, to believe in, who tells him what to do. Silver was able to win him over with words.

As I see it now, he still hasn’t become that Devil on Silver’s shoulder that they talk about in interviews. But I can see how that’s going to play out. His murder of Berringer was very symbolic. He’s creating a new pirate king, and a new Nassau, just like last time.

What fascinates me, is that ten-twenty years down the road, Israel Hands is still with Silver. Still somewhat loyal, if questioning. He’s still there. It’s curious.

They’ve done a marvelous job either way of mixing the historical Israel Hands with the fictional Treasure Island one. He welcomed John Silver to step into their legendary roles, and he’s going to guide him through it.

“I’ve never seen good come from goodness yet.” This man has one messed-up way of looking at the world. And I can’t wait to see it impact the rest of our characters.

James Flint Oh Flint. He’s mellowed out so much, hasn’t he? Like yes, he had his thing with Billy in episode one, but here all his arguments are rational, he’s calm, him and Madi are getting along so well, which makes me so happy. When she quoted Don Quixote at him I nearly died, okay?

I was so glad he realized the risk to the slaves when taking the Underhill estate. I live for Flint being rational and logical. Also how he spared that lady and her child, and didn’t mortally injure Underhill. That probably all went out the window later, but still. I’m so glad.

Then on the other hand, without his anger and hatred to lead him, with him letting Silver take the lead, what is left for him to fight for? Is he in the end going to let Captain Flint return to the sea? Is Captain Flint going to bring James with him? Who knows at this point.

I think it’s a really valid interpretation to say that he’s in love with Silver at this point. I think it’s also valid to say that these are not romantic feelings. It could be both at this point. At the same time. The point is, Silver means a lot to him, and this is acknowledged by everyone. Would I like them to go in a silverflint direction? Yes. Do I think it would damage the story if they didn’t? No.

That look he gives Madi and Silver when they reunite is interesting. Or rather, it’s interesting that they focused on it. I didn’t see it as sad, per say, more melancholic. Bit happy to see them reunite. Maybe sad that he doesn’t have that anymore. But I think it’s really just as valid to read in any kind of emotion in that scene, Toby Stephens plays it very ambiguously.

I think my favorite Flint moment from these two episodes though, is his little speech about England, and how no one can remember the world before it, so no one can imagine it after it. It was really nice. And I sat there, and I was thinking “You’ll never see it, but slowly, slowly, the New World will revolt, England will go away. Others will take its place, but slowly, the world will become a better place.” (Which, really, I know we live in a scary world and there are scary things happening. But we have never been better off. And we need to hold onto that as well as we can, because we don’t need to move backward.)

Madi She really is the one holding all of this together. When she whistled to her men to draw their weapons I actually went “YES” out loud. Her concern for not only her people but all of the slaves on the island is touching and so important. Her talking with Eme was great. Just. Madi speaking with other ladies, with Featherstone, with Idelle. Madi making way for Silver to go into Nassau. Madi keeping the peace between Billy and Flint for as long as she could. Madi defending the pirates that stayed loyal to them, defending Flint. Love it.

Speaking of her talking with Eme, what a great scene. Both her talking about how much both her and Flint has lost (I mean, whether or not that’s ever going to be canon, on a fanfiction level? I’m all for this ot3) when Eme questions why she’s still with the pirates. And when she finds out Silver’s alive? Such a great scene.

I mentioned above, but her reunion with Silver was amazing. The slow turn, the running. Yes. I like. Though someone should give Flint a hug in the process. I don’t think Israel Hands is volunteering.

I’m still worried for Madi. I don’t think she’s completely safe just because of her most likely being John’s future wife. My mind actually most go back to that shot from a trailer with John looking completely destroyed. But who knows what causes that? But with Billy bringing up that Madi could be in danger, that feels like such a Chekov’s gun that something is bound to happen at some point. I’m just worried what.

Billy Bones *Sigh* Where do I start with you, Billy? I mean, I know you don’t grow up to become the greatest person, swindling a kid for money and stressing a man to death, but still.

No but, to be fair, I get where Billy’s coming from, how he’s putting his men first. But from the viewpoint of myself, I just can’t empathize with putting the slaves’ lives at risk like that. And if he really killed the Underhill family (even though that could be a lie by Berringer), that has basically killed most hope I had for Billy to pull through this in any way a likable character for me. However, I was glad to see him join with the rest of the pirates in Nassau when the big battle went down.

I’m pretty sure he’s trying to sow distrust between Silver and Flint, and I am not liking it. I don’t approve, Billy. I’m gonna sack Dr Livesey on you soon.

Max I really just want to put Max in safety somewhere. Out of all the ladies right now, who are all being the voice of reason, she’s embodying that most of all. Violence breeds more violence. Oppression breeds resentment. She is fighting for civilization, but she’s fighting for the type of civilization we should strive for. Because let’s not fool ourselves, while it’s all fun to joke about war against civilization, the pirate world is far from perfect.

The civilization they’re fighting is oppressive, but that’s not the civilization Max is fighting for. She wants to be safe, she wants to be loved, she wants to be respected. She’s a lesbian, a woman, and a woman of color at that. She’s everything English civilization would deem unfitting. And yet she’s on that side. Because she sees hope in civilization. She doesn’t want the world Rogers or Berringer represents (and really, their version of civilization is just a thin layer covering up more brutality, on an even larger scale than the pirates). She doesn’t want the world of pirates to return either. What she wants is a world where she, as she is, can be respected. And I’m sorry Max. It’s going to take a very long while until the world going through that kind of change. And yet I hope that by the end of this, Max will escape and get out unharmed. She’s trapped in the middle of a war she wants no part of, between two versions to view the world that she doesn’t agree with and doesn’t fit with. And I think now more than ever, Max is one of the most relatable characters in the show.

Berringer I’ve seen a lot of complaints that by having Berringer look sadly at a portrait of his wife and child, the show was trying to force some sort of sympathy on us for him.

I disagree.

I think what they did with Berringer was actually quite brilliant. He’s an absolutely loathsome person. He’s by no means supposed to be seen as anything but the villain. But just like with Peter Ashe, a despicable human being, we’re still giving a glimpse of that they’re people. With lives, sorrows, losses, dreams. That doesn’t make them any less villainous. It just makes them human. It’s not meant to give us sympathy for them. But it’s there to show us that there are no black and white villains in this show, just as there aren’t in the real world. Yeah, there are characters they haven’t done this with, like Alfred Hamilton or Ned Low. Because there are just straight up butcherers out there.

But with a character like Berringer, they showed us that, hey, yeah, a character can be a human, everyone has a past, everyone has relatives and a background and a story. This story wasn’t relevant to our understanding of this character - but he had it. He was a person. With a life. And who knows what kind of life drove him here. That’s not meant to give us sympathy for him. That’s realism. We still hate him. It still feels like a triumphant moment when he dies. But to have him drop that locket in the moment of his death - it’s reminding us that we’re not cheering on for the death of a cardboard cut-out. We’re cheering the death of a person. However loathsome he might be.

By that I don’t mean we should feel sorry for it. This is, after all, fiction, and as I said earlier, we are allowed to have different morals in fiction or else we wouldn’t be able to consume any fictional media whatsoever. I’m currently in a production of Medea, and to be able to discuss, say, the feminist implications of that play, you can’t treat Medea as you would treat an actual human being that you knew who killed her children. That’s not how it works. You need to be able to separate two different realities and sets of morals in your head.

But I do find it interesting that they choose Berringer to do this with. Unlike with Peter Ashe, were we learned of his ‘good’ sides before the bad, we are completely overwhelmed with just how brutal and awful Berringer is. The show does go out of its way to show us that we should loathe him. And I don’t think the show is trying to tell us not to. But no one comes onto this show, this narrative, as a blank slate. They all have stories. Berringer’s story isn’t something we are told, it’s hinted to us. We can still cheer his death. We don’t have feel sympathy for him. I barely think think we’re supposed to. But he didn’t come here as a blank slate to spread terror among the people of Nassau. He came from somewhere. And in his mind, he was going somewhere. All these characters have their own stories. We just happen to focus on some of them. And to show us that so blatantly, in a story that’s ultimately about stories, I think was perfectly fine, and actually just shows how much thought is put into every character they bring onto this show, even though we will probably never know the half of it.

Eleanor Guthrie Oh, Eleanor. It feels so fitting that it’s Max who makes her see clearer. She tries more than Max to hang on to this idea she has about what civilization is supposed to be. She’s willing to make so many compromises, because she feels that in the end, that’s how it’s supposed to be. But men like Berringer doesn’t factor in to her idea about civilization. She presumed that monsters were something kept to the pirate side of things. But monsters are everywhere. Very human monsters, but monsters all the same. And then it doesn’t matter if you have civilization at your back. These are monstrous actions done in the name of civilization. And I think Eleanor is slowly starting to realize that while she wants to play the game, in the civilization she’s fighting for, there is hardly any room for her.

I do think she honestly loves Rogers, or rather, what she feels he represents. I think she wants to distance herself from the person who loved Vane, who was to her eyes, brutal and uncivilized. But I think Eleanor is about to realize, that there’s no line drawn between when a man is civilized and uncivilized, it just depends on where you put them, in what situation. She inspired Vane to brutally murder Low. It was to protect her that Rogers brutally killed Teach. It’s a circular story. And I am starting to doubt that Eleanor is ever going to be able to escape from her own narrative, that seems to be just running in circles, trying to find a way out.

We shall see how her escape from the fortress (because that’s what I assume will happen) goes, and if she does manage to appease her grandfather. Even if she does, I wonder if that’s going to turn out to be the world she has imagined it to be, the world she wants. Out of all the ladies, Eleanor is the one that I think is most likely to die. Not that she necessarily will, but she’s a character so closely tied to Nassau. And if Nassau perishes, which we know in the end it will, what is left for Eleanor?

Woodes Rogers Woodes Rogers have finally shown his true colors, and it’s not quite what we were expecting. I think we as an audience made the exact same mistake as Rackham (I’ll get to that). We assume Woodes is who he presents himself to be. But he told us already. We just didn’t listen.

“But there are things you leave out of the book. Things you leave out because if it got around polite society what you’re capable of when pushed, they might stop inviting you to their dinner parties. All you know about me is what I want you to know.”

We mocked him, along with Rackham, saw the polite civilized facade of a British gentleman, representing the system but not quite sure what he’d gotten himself into. Yet Rogers proved to be better at managing his story, the story people told about him, than nearly everyone else has been. This show is ultimately about what story you build around yourself. And Rogers has crafted a pretty good one.

He is the perfect symbol of civilization. He’s the British gentleman when he has to. But when dark times calls for dark men to do dark things? He’s there. Surrounded by violence and fear and anger, he exhibits those exact traits. Yes, he did it to protect Eleanor. And yes, Blackbeard would probably not have been much kinder to Eleanor had he gotten hold of her. Yes, the pirates have done terrible terrible things.

But I think the key is in how this scene is presented, and also the context of it. Woodes is trying to present himself as the civilized option to the pirates. But what he did was such a display of cruelty, showing a planned, calculated approach to torture, which I think is what for us, as an audience, sets what he did apart from things we’ve seen the pirates do. It’s very classical narration, in that sense. We have a much easier time seeing the horror of this, and being terrified and disgusted with it, than to see the horror of the people of Charlestown dying or fleeing for their lives as Flint attacked, because we felt Flint’s anger at Miranda’s death, at Peter’s betrayal. We felt justified in cheering for Flint at that moment, even though we logically know that what he’s doing is terrible. This is how storytelling works, when you have these types of protagonists.

I think also what sets what Rogers did apart, is how proud he was of it, how he saw this as his ultimate display of power. He didn’t have to torture Blackbeard. He was making a point. Which in the end, turned out to be his mistake, as I’ve talked about at great length here. He loses this fight, because the narrative is taken from him by Teach. His display of power becomes a display to his men of what kind of person he really is. It becomes a display to the pirates what they’re up against. Because who would side with someone who refuses to give a man like that a simple death? By trying to show that he too can be monstrous, to make an example and to make them fear him, he became the worst monster himself, and at that point, people won’t be scared, they’ll rise up.

By showing is the crew and the pirates horrified reaction to his actions, the show’s creators have very clearly stated that “This is not something you’re supposed to be okay with”. That’s the story they’re telling. Whatever his reasons where, and I understand them, it was motivated by pride and he fell into some sort of manifestation of hybris. I’m not saying don’t keep on liking Woodes as a character, because the show is saying he did something awful. I like my fair share of characters that have done far worse. But whatever your opinion on Woodes is, the narrative they’re telling is clearly saying with everything it can, that this was wrong, and that Woodes lost that fight.

Jack Rackham I’ve always liked Rackham. But I think this season more than anything, I’ve come to care a lot for him. It might be because he and I share that weakness. Of wanting to be remembered for something. Anything. Even if it’s just a footnote next to someone like Charles Vane or Blackbeard.

What he and Anne wants are so different, and while I feel for Anne, and I want them both to get away to safety, I identify more with Jack. And I felt so sorry for him here.

I was confused at first as to why he raised the white flag. But then I realized, he fell into the trap we all also did. He thought Rogers was not much more than he appeared to be. He thought that by giving up, he could save the woman he loved and the idol he looks up to. I think he just couldn’t see himself killing them. Because that’s what he would be doing if he attacked. While not the strategic choice to make, it was definitely the emotional side of him. And it hurt. Because he must feel so guilty. He didn’t know what would happen. And every time Teach was dragged out of the water, you bet he thought it was his fault. He underestimated Rogers’ capacity for cruelty.

And in the end, once again, just like when he lost Charles, he’s left standing at the side-line, being saved by the people he admires and looks up to. I’m scared for Rackham. I don’t think he’ll make it out of this season alive. And I think that to see that happen a second time, he’s going to become more reckless than ever. He wants to prove himself, and now he feels guilty not only for Charles but for Teach, and I think his promise to Anne of a simple life is going to be left in the dust. He admire Teach so, so much. And to see him die and saving him in the process, while also feeling that it’s his fault, it’s going to mess him up big time.

Don’t get me wrong, Jack has done some horrible things. When I say I identify with him, it’s mostly for that specific reason. But I do feel sorry for him. He tries so hard to do what he feels will help, but he’s constantly having that instinct competing with his need to be remembered. He wants to be brave and be remembered, and he keeps failing. In the end, the bravest thing he ever did was slitting the throat of Anne’s abusive husband. But no one will remember him for that except for Anne, and he doesn’t realize that that could be enough.

Anne Bonny Anne is stuck. And I’m scared what it will take for her to get out, if she even will get out alive.

She’s this brutal killing machine to the outside world, which is why I find it so fitting that once she found herself in s2, her goal has simply been to settle down. To live a normal, happy life. And she wants to do that with Jack (and I bet with Max, if she actually knew the truth of what had happened).

Speaking of Max, I loved Anne’s conversation with Jack in the dark. This island makes you do things you don’t want to. She doesn’t want to kill Max, but I think she also starts to realize that maybe this island made Max do things she didn’t want either. And I want them to reunite but I’m worried that might not actually happen.

The moment she and Jack promised to retire after this was all over, I knew that that would not happen. I think her happy ending with Jack is not possible anymore. The question is if there’s still a chance that she can get away on her own. Jack can’t figure out a way to prioritize his life with her over his own legacy. In front of Anne are two roads, as I see it: Be destroyed with Jack and his quest for legacy, or leave him. And I’m not sure what she’ll choose in the end.

Edward Teach RIP Dadbeard.

Of course, Black Sails managed to make me care for Teach just as he was about to die. Because why not?

I mean, I find all the jokes about Blackbeard being boring funny, but I never saw it like that. I wasn’t as invested in him as the others, but I saw his pain and anguish about Charles and I felt sorry for him, I did. But it was even more at the front in her conversation with Jack. And I admire those two men being able to take their feelings of wrongdoing and vengeance and place them into something that is productive to their cause. They both loved Charles, and in the end, I was impressed that for two characters that are so focused on this kind of toxic masculinity ideal (one in upholding it and one in achieving it) were able to think about what Charles would have wanted, and that he would not have wanted them to take revenge on the woman he loved.

I actually really loved the story about Charles and the bird. I thought it was a nice bonding moment between Jack and Teach, because they are more similar than they think. It reminded me of Gates and Flint talking in the storm in s1. I don’t quite know why.

But back to the point, it is their decision to follow what Charles would have wanted that what leads both of them to their ruin.

Or is it? Again, I’ve talked at length about how Teach, even in this darkest hour, takes the narrative away from Rogers, and turns into a martyr for the pirate cause. And that’s a victory in the end, just like Charles’ hanging. He followed in Vane’s footsteps. Which makes his death shocking, yes, but not for shock value, just like Vane’s.

I do have to say that I got very fond of the Teach-Rackham-Bonny dynamic, and I’m going to miss it.

Quick notes

I loved all the people of Nassau coming together to revolt. Such a good scene. An angry mod is stronger in the end than a few soldiers.

Especially all the ladies that you could see.

I LOVE IDELLE AND FEATHERSTONE

The Flint-Silver-Madi parallels with Thomas-James-Miranda is killing me.

I have so many fanfic ideas

Israel waiting for Silver to give the command is so important to me and DAMMIT I care about Israel

#black sails #starzblacksails #james flint #john silver #madi #billy bones #israel hands #bsmax #captain berringer #eleanor guthrie #woodes rogers #jack rackham #anne bonny #edward teach

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