#madi deserves better 17kforever

[queers-of-nassau]

In defence of Billy and Eleanor? kinda?

(you don’t have all the facts? which are? I love them)

Okay, but first things first I think so many decisions they make are bad for them and for the other characters, but they’re understandable and tragic and come from a place of genuinely wanting to protect others or become better, more than being cowardly or knowingly villainous (like when Woodes Rogers does that whole keelhauling bit, hooboy sir, lemme stop ya there) - 

1. hindsight knowledge means we know how this story ends, historically and individually. so we can say nooo don’t do x, it’ll drive you further into bitterness and/or betrayal or but the end of slavery and destruction of colonialism is a good ultimate goal and worth fighting for. For them personally? For people generally? they want to survive and have a good life and protect those closest to them. Especially if this goal is being touted by a man like Flint, whom I love, and who is a bit fucking fanatical in his goals (I sometimes think if Eleanor hadn’t died she would’ve rejoined the cause for Madi, especially once hearing about some of Woodes Rogers nastier deeds). 

2. the reasons for their choices make sense for their characters. Billy’s father figure was killed by Flint and it cemented something he’d suspected from almost the very beginning of the series: Flint has a disregard for other people. and he’s right, Flint cares about the bigger picture and that requires massive sacrifice. Sure, he’s willing to make that sacrifice himself, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s kind of an awful captain (I’m sorry James, I love you and always will).

Meanwhile Eleanor is chained to Nassau more than anyone else. She wants that stability that is impossible to find on that beach and it supersedes her relationships with others, except for the times when she fights against it. (Eleanor - “amazing this place, somehow it leaves no options other than to hurt the ones you love)”

3. it’s so fucking tragic. they’re both so fucking tragic. they’re doing their best and those decisions end badly and in another world maybe that would’ve worked out. Maybe Gates wouldn’t have been killed or Flint would’ve died or he could’ve secured the pardons for Nassau in season 2, or or or... everyone on the show makes decisions that’re often balanced on a knife’s edge of going horribly wrong, but they’re the two most often at odds with other characters after season 2.

4. the story needs to fill the roles. Obviously the story we’re watching, but also the story within the story, the one Silver is kinda telling. Billy in season 4 is against doing what both Flint and Madi want, Eleanor aligns herself with Woodes Rogers (and so does Max) and this makes them Silver’s villains - or later on, in Eleanor’s case, a victim. I always think about how close Max is to falling into this space as well, except she juuust turns it around, which, speaking of...

5. Nassau vs the Bigger Picture. Nassau is so symbolic of what people want, but it also risks becoming all-encompassing - what Eleanor wants is respect from her father, stability perhaps, a healthy kind of love for once, not to be a pirate, etc. Billy wants to help people, in particular those he’s serving with, and maybe for bad things to stop happening to him idk - but these wants become Nassau instead.

While watching there’s no way one wouldn’t side with a slave rebellion, an attempt to destroy colonial rule, and freedom for all over, “I want me and mine to be okay on this island I’ve decided is where all my happiness rests, because I cannot fathom who I am without it.” 

all the characters fall into this in some way or other, but they get killed by it (so do Vane and Teach in a way in my opinion, because they’re drawn back to it) - Jack and Max are near-victims of it too. 

tl;dr I love tragic characters and billy and eleanor are so darn tragic I want to scream

#billy bones #eleanor guthrie #black sails #black sails meta #funnily enough there's a point near the end #when you know flints cause is falling to pieces #and you see how that has also become its own monster #not because it's not admirable but because it risks eating everyone in service to it #and so *I just want to protect me and mine on this island* becomes the goal we're rooting a little bit more for #in terms of max and jack and anne and featherstone and idelle #it's that thing vane talked about - resisting comfort with every fibre of his being #while flint at heart just wanted to find a reason to rest #in a lot of ways it's madi i feel the biggest tug for - she has SO MUCH RIDING IN THIS #and all of these people eventually go - i cant fight anymore... ive found a comfort I'm willing to live with #wanna talk more about madi at some point #she really landed in all these peoples drama and promises and they were just fucking dropped #madi deserves better 17kforever