captainteague

[captainteague]

Just want to throw out there that I am always accepting questions about Teague. I'm just unbelievably slow right now.

[captainteague]

🙋 talk to me about the process by which teague came to be in charge of keeping the code

So for context: Bartholomew was the original code keeper. He was like a father to Teague as well so the two were very close. However, Teague wasn’t officially prepped to be the next code keeper. It was an unspoken agreement that he likely would take over, but nothing was set in stone. 

Jack was seven years old when Maria died. Up until that point Teague had been rather distant and was often at sea for months on end. As such, Maria was more or less Jack’s sole caretaker. When she died that “caretaker” role fell onto Teague. Obviously, Jack was too young to be sailing around the sevens seas with his father. Instead of winding down his life, Teague took Jack to live with his mother, Anne, in Madagascar. 

Now, it’s important to note that Anne was (is?) a piece of work. She was a horrible mother and proved to be an equally horrible grandmother. Her treatment of Jack was just as abusive as her treatment of her own children. I don’t have a rational explanation for why Teague chose to take Jack to live with her. He has no illusions about her parenting. It was more of a grief-stricken moment and not knowing what else to do with Jack. He wasn’t willing to completely sacrifice his life as a pirate. So, yeah, Jack went to visit his dear ol’ grandmama and Teague basically fucked off for a year.

Then Bartholomew died.

Teague came back only to find Jack slightly worse for wear and completely miserable. With a slightly clearer head, he realized that leaving Jack with his mother was bad parenting (even by his supremely low standards). 

Shortly thereafter, Teague took up his position as keeper of the code. Doing so allowed him to split his time between land and sea. He still sailed out (Jack was eight at the time and already very knowledgeable about how ships worked) and Jack came with him, now as his cabin boy. But he was also more landbound than most pirates because he soon found that Shipwreck Cove needed a guiding hand-- technically this wasn’t in his job description but he accepted the task anyway.

tldr; Teague became keeper because it was the best compromise he could find. This way the risk to Jack was minimized but Teague could still return to the sea.

[captainteague]

thecodekeeper​:

NPC LIST

FAMILY

ANNE TEAGUE —  Teague’s mother, born to a poor Russian immigrant family. After her parents and siblings contracted a fatal infectious disease Anne was shipped off to a Catholic orphanage. It was at this orphanage that Anne met Bartholomew. They became inseparable. In her mid-teens Anne had her first child, Catherine. However, having been presented the opportunity to serve aboard Captain Henry Morgan’s ship, Anne would abandon her child at the same orphanage she had been taken to. She served aboard Captain Morgan’s ship for over a decade and a half before forgoing the male-drag entirely and gaining her own captaincy. Eventually she would become a major contributor to the Pirate Codex as well as attend the second pirate lord meeting as Pirate Lord of the Atlantic. She is the mother of Catherine, Edward, Hazel, Jonathan, and Adam. ( fc : barbra hershey ).

BARTHOLOMEW — or “Bart” to those close to him. While it remains uncertain as to whether he is the biological father of Teague Bart is the stand-in father for all of Anne’s children. Abandoned at the orphanage from birth. Bart grew up only knowing Anne (and the other orphans) as his family. As a teenager he signed them both up to serve aboard Captain Henry Morgans ship. After working his way through the ranks he would eventually obtain his own captaincy. Admired for his ferocious battle tactics and massive build. Bart would eventually help Captain Morgan co-author the Pirate Codex. Foregoing the title of pirate lord himself, he would serve as the first Keeper of the Code. Passing the title down to his heir, Teague, after his early an demise.  ( fc : ray stevenson ).

CATHERINE “QUICKDRAW” MCFLEMING — Teague’s eldest sibling. Her foothold in Teague’s life varies depending on how modernized the verse is. A deeply private person, Catherine often keeps her personal life separate from the madness of her biological family. What is known is that she grew up in the same orphanage as her mother. TBA ( fc : orla bradly ).

HAZEL TEAGUE — Teague’s twin sister, older by only a few minutes. Her life was short but influential in Teague’s childhood. Often the dominant sibling in their dynamic, Hazel was the golden child in Anne’s eyes and, even at such a young age, primed to be the heir to the families criminal empire. When they were eight they both fell ill. Hazel died, Teague didn’t. Hazel’s death was a blow to the dysfunction family which never quite recovered. Her death is also the reason Teague became the heir to the empire, despite his turbulent relationship with the matriarch, Anne. Teague rarely speaks about his sister. There are few surviving photographs of her since Anne removed most of them from view after her death. ( fc : raffey cassidy ).

JONATHAN “JACK” TEAGUE — Teague’s younger brother by 4 ½ years.  Jonathan came into this world with a smile on his face and a bounce in his feet. Often seen as the self-appointed clown of the family/ Teague and Jonathan grew up very close. Because of the environment they grew up in Teague was very overprotective of Jonathan, often overcompensating for their distant parents. As an adult Jonathan is a bit of a drifter. He has served on an innumerable amount of ships. While he is a fine sailor who has served as high as quartermaster he has no desire to be a captain. He lives in the moment, often irresponsibly so. In modern Teague is often supporting him financially. ( fc : jeff bridges ).

ADAM “ACE” TEAGUE — Teague’s youngest brother, with a 6 year age gap between them. Often the forgotten child with suspiciously similar features to Captain Henry Morgan. Adam may be the baby of the family but he is often the only one with a lick of common sense. As a child he often idiolized his big brother, Teague. However, after Teague departed from their family home Adam was forced to fend for himself in a world with Anne as his mother. With no desire to be a criminal Adam would eventually become a criminal lawyer (circumstances for how he received his education vary). Although his relationship with his older brother, Teague, can often be strained there remains a deep bond between them. Adam often struggles between the life he has built for himself and the one he can never entirely abandon. In modern verses Adam is the one who helps Jack strike a deal with the DA after Christophe’s kidnaps him. He eventually founded a Innocence Project law firm in Britain to help find justice. ( fc : shaun evans ).

FRIENDS

SAMUEL “KING SAMUEL”  — Teague’s closest friend as a teenager. Samuel grew up poor with a mother who was often working. He was the sole caretaker of his younger half-sister. Although Teague saw Samuel as a brother there was always a hidden feeling of resentment towards Teague. Samuel envied the amount of wealth and acclaim his friend would eventually inherit and felt Teague never completely appreciated the opportunities he would be offered later in life. While their relationship could sometimes be volatile they remained close, with Samuel initially serving as Teague’s right-hand (or quartermaster) before eventually obtaining his own reputation as a formidable captain. After Maria’s death Teague broke tradition by having Samuel serve as his heir, making him the pirate lord of the Atlantic. As Samuel’s greed continued to grow he would eventually fall into human trafficking as a way of expanding his empire, pronouncing himself “King”, rejecting the Pirate Codex, and by doing so becoming a rogue pirate. Although Teague denounced his former friend it wasn’t until a former slave, Gentleman Jocard, killed him in battle that “King Samuel’s” reign finally ended.    ( fc : Francois Arnaud  ).

SARAH — TBA ( fc : ).

CAPTAIN HENRY MORGAN  — TBA (fc : )

MORE TO BE ADDED LATER

[captainteague]

@piraticalwit // Send a 🙌 and I’ll introduce you to an NPC related to my muse // accepting

—

Meet Adam, Teague’s youngest brother. On the surface, they are complete opposites. Adam is a shy, detail-oriented man with a strong sense right and wrong. Growing up he idealized his big brother, Teague, who often acted as a protector and stand-in parental figure. It was during these formative years that Adam developed his own sense of justice. However, he never had any interest in the “family business” and was more or less outcaste by Anne after he chose to become a lawyer. In many ways he is a self-made man. His goal was to cut himself off from a family which was overwhelming toxic. His perseverance and desire to protect/help others is what led to him criminal law. Adam has done everything in his power to create a normal life for himself: loving wife, three kids, and white picket fence house. But he has never been able to cut his brothers out of his life entirely. Although he maintained distant contact with Teague for years, Jack’s legal trouble post-Christophe prompted Adam to help him with his case. Seeing how his nephew struggled inspired Adam to start an innocence project.

His greatest struggle continues to be balancing the family he was born into with the one he built for himself.

[captainteague]

Misconception: Teague doesn’t care about Jack

send me a misconception you think people have about my character and I’ll explain if it’s true or not. // anonymous // accepting

       Teague’s relationship with Jack is…complicated to say the least. Since Teague is an abusive parent it’s not surprising that many people, first and foremost Jack himself believe he doesn’t care about his son. Especially since he doesn’t seem to make many overt efforts to express affection or concern. But I wouldn’t for one second claim that Teague doesn’t care. In fact, arguably a lot of his behaviors are due to an unhealthy concept of what it means to protect someone.

       To understand Teague’s relationship with Jack you must understand Teague’s own history. As is sometimes mentioned, Teague grew up under the thumb of Anne Teague, also known as “Grandmama” by the family. She was a brutal woman who was both physically and emotionally abusive to all her children. However, her eldest son, Teague, took the brunt of it.

      Growing up he was close to his two younger brothers, Jonathan, aka “Uncle Jack”, and Adam. Going so far as to often be the step in as a surrogate-parent (or the closest thing to it). This often led him to overcompensating for his brothers “softness”.

      Fast forward a few decades and Teague is in the same position of having a young child in need of a parent, except in this case he is the parent. He sees that softness and thinks “this is something he needs to let go of or else he’ll never survive” while at the same time thinking “he’s too soft, I need to protect him from himself”. With only his dysfunction household to go by, his response to both these realizations is a cycle of overprotective behavior, mentoring Jack so he could potentially be a captain, and all the while losing his temper in the process. This was interpreted by Jack as his father merely being controlling (which it was).

In summary, Teague cares deeply but can’t express it properly.

Obligatory tagging of @trickstercaptain​

[captainteague]

This hc is something that I’ve mentioned a lot of posts but never made an actual post centered around explaining it in full. So, this hc post is going to cover Teague + touch (specifically physical affection). For the sake of organization, it’s going to have 3 major parts: a.) a summary of Teague’s relationship with touch b.) the cause(s) of Teague’s touch starvation/aversion, c.) the effects of his touch starvation/aversion.

As stated above Teague is both touch-starved and touch-averse. His touch-aversion is almost always evident to anybody who is in any way acquainted with him. Even if you’ve known him for years anything more than a handshake makes him noticeably tenser. For this aversion applies to everyone, even family. However, don’t be mistaken into believing this is because he hates being touched. It’s quite the opposite really. He craves affectionate touches of any kind. But because physical affection (both giving and receiving) is a very intimate act, and he’s only truly comfortable with it when he trusts the person completely (which can take years to develop), so there are very few people who have the green light. 

The origins of Teague’s touch-starvation/aversion can be traced back to his upbringing. Bartholomew, who acted as a father figure of sorts he too was, was an intermittent figure in his life, and although he never raised a hand to him save for the occasional backhand he offered little in the ways of outward affection. His mother, Anne, was incredibly abusive both physically and emotionally. In his household, his guard had to be up at all times. Showing affection and care towards even his siblings were often frowned upon, and something that Anne would most likely see as a sign of weakness and shame you for. As a result, Teague withdrew into himself and became wary of others. All the while his desire for a positive touch of any kind only grew. 

His desperate need for love, affection, approval, ect ect would eventually lead to him engaging in toxic relationships (almost always with women). The most notable and influential of which happened when he was 15, which is spoken of more in-depth HERE. His affair with Constance only further solidified his belief that people couldn’t be trusted. However, it had also exposed him to sex, which, although he didn’t find it nearly as satisfying he found it curbed his craving for physical affection.

“Meaningless sex is great. I mean it. It really is. Don’t get all conservative on me, it’s just an opinion. It’s nice to forget the heaviness in your heart and replace it with a light pressing in the small of your back. It’s easy to get high on someone else’s lips and ignore that thudding in your stomach, that constant reminder that you’re far from normal. It’s nice to have dark bruises on your neck than on your heart. I don’t even like using that word because I don’t even fuck own one anymore. Or do I? Just fuck me. I mean it. Fuck me and get me out of here.”  – Stepping into Black Leather (by me eW)

His promiscuous behavior can be mostly attributed to the point above. His inability to trust anyone combined with touch-starvation meant that he had to settle on one-night stands where little to no emotional intimacy but allowed for physical contact. Even then there’s very little trust on his end. He’s the one in control, affections such as kissing are kept to a minimum and there’s never any cuddling afterward. Teague, however, is not hypersexual. He uses sex as a substitute for what he really wants. 

In summary: He’d rather hold your hand but he’ll settle for fucking you instead.

[captainteague]

★

put ★ in my inbox and I’ll post my favourite excerpt/quote from one of our roleplays // @trickstercaptain // accepting

       There are so many threads to choose from but in the spirit of your own response, I think I’m going to cheat and go with this ask. The context to it can be found here and here. A summary is that Elizabeth 

       There are a few reasons I like this thread. One is that it alludes to several running themes which are often referenced in headcanons but not always shown: Teague’s alcoholism, Jack is forced to take over as the homemaker and play quasi-caretaker, the infamously abusive Anne, but what makes it unique is that it’s the only thread to date where Teague has apologized to Jack. And of course it took drinking a bar’s worth of alcohol to do it.

       Teague acknowledging his wrong has been something long anticipated by Jack. It was a moment I think we both thought would never come. What I think killed us both was how anti-climatic it was. There was no emotional outburst. No long dramatic thread. Because, as Jacks response shows, there is nothing to work out. Their relationship can’t be mended.

       (Bold is my ask, lottie is italics)

       One arm was thrown over the shoulders of Jack as they awkwardly staggered through the hallway of the large home. Eventually, they managed to make it to the living room where Teague threw himself haphazardly onto the nearby couch. He let out a big sigh, finding himself more than happy to be home. The wooden floorboards creaked as Jack made a move to leave but before he could to a step towards the door Teague’s hand shot out, wrapping itself tightly around Jacks’ wrist.

       Teague swallowed as he struggled to bring his unfocused gaze to meet Jack’s. Suddenly he found his heart pound in his chest prompting him to swallow dryly once more. He let out a shaky breath and spoke, “I’m sorry, Jack. For, uh, leavin’ you with Anne when you were a young lad. Nobody knows as well as I how cruel she can be. And I, uh, I know she hurt you. And I’m - I’m sorry. I’m sorry for letting that happen. I’m sorry I wasn’t a better father.”

     He quickly TENSED as the man’s hand seized upon his arm, taking a moment to steady his breathing before he turned to face the pathetic excuse for a parent on the couch ( for he truly did look a state ), irritated even before he’d begun to speak. And when he did, the look on Jack’s face only darkened further.

     Of course it would take a state like this to come out with an apology like that.

    His expression was as stoic and unchanging as ever, surprised by how unaffected he was by the APPARENT sincerity of the drunken apology being offered to him. He really didn’t want it. It had been so many years that he was past hearing anything like that anymore – and besides, if that was truly the only thing he was sorry for, then in Jack’s mind he couldn’t have been sorry at all.

     It wasn’t just grandmama. It had been every single day of his childhood that he’d been made to feel like a burden, an INCONVENIENCE. It had been all of the times he hadn’t shown up to parents’ evenings at school, all of the school reports he hadn’t taken the time to read, all of the praise that had never come his way despite his best efforts. The little things had hurt him the most, and he was not in the business of forgiving.

     ‟ Sober yourself up, will you. ” Jack jerked his hand out of the man’s grip – which wasn’t much of a challenge, considering how drunk he was. With one final, glowering look in his direction, he turned on his heel and made for the door. ‟ You’re a fucking embarrassment when you’re like this. ”

This thread shows the other side of the coin. It’s not just that Teague’s pride will get in the way of any (sober) form of apology or reconciliation, but Jack has no desire for any such thing. Teague simply doesn’t deserve his forgiveness. Personally, I enjoyed this simply because I rarely get to explore Teague in a more vulnerable state, much less one where he apologizes. I also liked being able to reference in a more serious tone the cycle of abuse within this family from Anne to Teague to Jack, because it’s generally something very normalized.

Also, as muns, I don’t think either of us was really expecting this kind of interaction between them ever.

Runner up thread that’s a bit lighter (and I love): here

[captainteague]

Anonymous said:“What the fuck did you do now?” - ur mom

a meme // @oceanscxrge & @drxdlocks // not accepting

       He was in the principles office, again, glaring at the ugly, stained oriental carpet for what must have been the third time this month. His legs dangled from the all too familiar black leather sofa. The principle - a man who was no less old than ancient and who smelled as old as he looked - had tried to talk to him about his feelings and home life. But all he had received from Teague was cold silence and eventually, he gave up. 

       After what seemed like forever Anne arrived. Teague didn’t look up right away. But he knew it was her simply by the way the door was opened, a little too much force so that the doorknob hit the wall with an audible thud. It wasn’t until he felt her seething gaze drilling into him, and heard her question as harsh and accusing as ever that he finally glanced up. Her glare made him feel hot and uncomfortable causing him to look away suddenly regretting having headbutted the kid in the face for having stolen his book. He fidgeted in his seat unsure of what to say or do. When he finally spoke his voice was unusually timid and soft, “ he started it… ” 

[captainteague]

Anonymous said:❛ No, no, no, no, no, no. The bat is for killing, not for taking to school. ❜ - ur mom

idk some meme // @oceanscxrge & @drxdlocks // not accepting

      He opened the door, having chosen to ignore Anne and her dumb rule. However, before he could take a single step outside Anne wrapped one arm around his middle and lifted him off the ground with ease. Teague squirmed in her grasp but despite his best efforts, she wrestled the baseball bat from his hand. “ Ay!, ”  He swiped a few times, at the bat which was now being held hostage by Anne before realizing that it was futile. Clearly displeased by the turn of events he squirmed, even more, kicking and twisting until she finally released him. Of course, she hadn’t bothered to lower him first - payback for kicking her no doubt. He dropped to the ground and stumbled forward, just barely managing to catch himself. Still upset about having the bat confiscated from him Teague whipped around and looked up at Anne with a scowl he grumbled, “ what if there is a person who needs killing at school? ”

[captainteague]

▼ - childhood headcanon

headcanon meme // @thomashamiltcn // not accepting

       He was a high energy child and slept a lot less than most kids even back then. He was one of those kids who was constantly on the go. Not in a hyperactive, bouncing off the walls way but he was always looking around with bright, intelligent eyes. When he finally learned how to walk he would constantly get into things he wasn’t supposed to. It was innocent child curiosity of course but he didn’t have the most hands on mother so at least 15% of his scars are due to childhood accidents. When he wasn’t getting into shit at home he was out exploring, usually dragging Hazel along for the ride. Even as a child he rarely told Anne where he was going or when he planned to be back. 

[captainteague]

♥ - family headcanon

headcanon meme // @elizabethneeswannturner // not accepting

       Teague comes from a big family and growing up it was instilled in him that your family should be the only people you are loyal to. However, in almost all my verses he’s not particularly close to anyone outside of his immediate family. The only time this changes in @trickstercaptain and @hangtherules sparrabeth au in which he is close with his three grandkids. Otherwise, his loyalty towards most of his family comes from a sense of duty, believing he should be loyal simply because he’s related to them rather than there being any significant emotional attachment. 

       As far as his immediate family is concerned Teague has a very rocky, complicated relationship with his mother, Anne. However, his relationship with his assumed-to-be-father, Bartholomew, was much more stable. Growing up he was also close with his now deceased twin sister Hazel, his youngest brother Adam (they later become estranged), and is still very close with his younger brother Jonathan. There is also an older sister named Catherine whom he keeps in touch with despite not seeing her very often (they’re much closer in modern). And of course, there’s his son Jack who Teague does genuinely care for, despite not being close to him.

       Many of the people Teague truly considers family are not related to him. People like Maria ( @materpasserem ) , Mr. Gibbs ( @yohoitsalex ) , Henry ( @likehiisfather ) , King Swann ( @hangtherules ) and Dodger ( @dxdger ) are simply people were have been loyal and cared even when they didn’t need to. And whom Teague eventually bonded with. 

       Teague has a very ride or die idea of true family. For the people he does care enough about to consider family there is very little he wouldn’t do for them because at the end of the day, even if he doesn’t always express it, his family is incredibly important to him.

[captainteague]

★▼ൠ

headcanon meme // @princessbcrn // not accepting

★ - sad headcanon

Teague’s life is just a series of unfortunate events tbh. Okay, but, Teague had a twin sister named Hazel. She was older by only a few minutes but she naturally took on the big sister/caretaker role, because Anne was a horrible mum even before the abuse began. Her personality was a lot more naturally laid back, patient, and kind. Although she was his opposite in almost every way they were still incredibly close growing up. They did almost everything together. When one (Teague) jumped the other followed, and when one got sick inevitably so did the other. When they were 8 they both got sick with smallpox. Anne refused to get them treated by a doctor with the rationalization of Survival of the Fittest. Teague got better. Hazel didn’t. For the first time in his life, Teague was entirely alone. This event marked the end of his childhood. 

▼ - childhood headcanon

Teague isn’t a naturally quiet, withdrawn person. In fact, for the first few years of his life (from 0-7) Teague was very much the opposite of what he acts like now (sans his temper which has always been there). He was outgoing. high energy, and a lot more obviously extroverted. He also had a tendency to disappear if you blinked for too long and was always getting into (and out of) things that he shouldn’t have been able to (eg. somehow manages to stack pillows and climb out of his crib to go exploring.) It wasn’t until Anne began to physically abuse him (on top of the emotional neglect and abuse which had begun sometime earlier) that he began to pull back into himself.

ൠ - random headcanon

Teague has a tendency to give people nicknames both as a form of endearment (or in Jack’s case mocking) and because he’s horrible at remembering peoples actual name’s. A few nickname’s he’s given out over the years are:

Adam Barrington (nee Teague) - Ace

Jonathan Teague - Jack

Catherine McFleming - Quick Draw

Jack Sparrow - Jackie

Bonus:  He started calling jack “Jackie” because both Jack and Uncle Jack were in the same room and he was like ‘jack come over here’ and they both looked up at him and he realized this wasn’t going to work. One of them needed a new nickname, and, well, pirates have never been the best at naming things.

[captainteague]

THE FIRST TIME YOUR MUSE…

The first time they got a scar: as a kid; he probably got a few scars from just being a kid but the first real scars he got (the ones that you can clearly see) were from Anne’s beatings. He can’t really recall the first time Anne drew blood while giving him an ass whooping but by his teens, he had quite a few scars because of her. The first they got into a physical fight: probably the minute he was born tbh. In modern he was around 5, but in canon, it happened a little later since his only exposure to other kids was to his siblings. He was probably 9(ish) in canon. Physically pushing Anne away from his brother Jack (and then immediately regretting it). The first time they ran away from home: Never tbh. But when he was about 8, almost 9. Bartholomew had made port and when he found out about Hazel’s death he offered to make Teague his cabin boy, to which Teague agreed.  The first time they got drunk: in canon, it was probably thirteen maaaaybe fourteen. In modern it just around the time he turned 15. He had gotten tipsy before of course but that was the first time he had gotten completely hammered. The first time they tried a cigarette: In canon he was probably 9 (if that). Both his parents smoked (Anne a lot more frequently than Bart). In modern he was 12, stole a few from Anne to try it. The first time they got high: in canon he was probably in his early 20′s, trying opium for the first time. In modern he was 13 when he began experimenting with softer drugs like pot and 16 when he began using harder stuff recreationally like cocaine. The first time they got their period: n/a The first time they bought a cd/record: god…he must’ve been 6-7. Bart took him to the record store for his birthday and bought him his first records and record player. A year or so later he began playing the guitar. Ever since then music has been a big passion of his. The age they were expecting their first child: he was a 29, nearing 30. He wasn’t “expecting” it either. Maria ( @materpasserem ) told him at the last possible moment. The age had their first kiss: in canon, he was fourteen and in modern he was thirteen. The person they had their first kiss with: in canon, it was some peasant girl he met while on his travels with Bartholomew. In modern it was the classic boy next door. Teague didn’t really have any friends outside of the other boy and his own siblings. It was just two lonely boys experimenting. The other kid moved away a few weeks afterward so it never turned into anything more than that. The age they lost their virginity:  fifteen for both modern and canon verse. The person they had sex with for the first time: in canon, it was some sex worker in a brothel. It’s been so long Teague doesn’t really remember the details beyond that. In modern it was with an older woman named Constance. It was very turbulent and only lasted a few months before she got back with her husband. The first person they loved romantically: Maria The age they got into their first relationship: if you want to get technical in modern it was with Constance, although that was more of a torrid love affair. His first and only true relationship was with Maria. They were together for 9 years before her death. Their first significant other: Maria The age they got their driver’s licence: sixteen The first time they got arrested: in modern, they were 12 and it was for shoplifting. spending a couple of days in juvie was Anne’s punishment. Taught him not to get caught. In canon, it was 10 when he and Bart had a run in with the navy. The age they got their own home: shortly after he turned nineteen in modern. In canon, he was 27 when he was made captain.  The first time they did something illegal: in canon, his birth was basically an illegal act lmao but in modern he was around 12. The first car they bought/were gifted: 16

Tagged by: @trickstercaptain Tagging: @hangtherules @dxdger @materpasserem @mayhemist @overdove @grincarved @mxdam @invictusmanet @thepromiseofredemption @ofscalesandbetrayals @opposes @royalsadist @ringwinning

[captainteague]

Modern Muse Information

please repost don’t reblog.

Name: Edward Middlename: None Lastname: Teague Age: 63/64 in main arc Gender: Cis male Sexuality: Bisexual     Family: Anne Teague ( mother ), Unknown ( father ), Catherine Mcfleming ( half-sister ), Hazel Teague ( twin sister ), Jonathan “Jack” Teague ( half-brother ), Adam “Ace” Brannigan ( half-brother ), Jack Sparrow (son), Isobel Sparrow (unborn daughter). Household: When underage lived with Anne. He moved into his own apartment when he was 19 and his brother Jack moved in a few weeks later, moved in with Maria when he was in his late 20′s, and after her death, he continued living with Jack until he moved out when he was 18. Technically he now lives alone but his brother Jack stays over a couple of times a week. Hometown: London, England Current location: Verse-dependent, normally London but he has done a shitton of traveling and spent a year living in America. Nationality: British Ethnicity: Caucasian Spoken languages: English, Spanish (fluent). French and Italian (passive speaker). Religion:  Agnostic, because while his mum exposed him to all types of religious beliefs as a kid, but he doesn’t practice anything and is actually quite resentful of the Church’s beliefs.  Height: 5′8″ Bodytype: lithe and lean Haircolor and type: varies from light brown to black. The longest he allows it to get is just down to his shoulders. He keeps it neat but it looks a bit floofy/wild on occasion because it’s very wavy, even a bit curly in nature especially when it’s long.   Eyecolor and shape: brown, although how dark they are seems to depend on the lighting. He actually has really nice eyes and  sometimes he’ll wear kohl/eyeliner, but not as frequently as in canon Tattoos: 3 sparrows flying into the distance on the underside of his right wrist [HERE] and a few others Piercings: both ears Educational background: in his all his arcs, he drops out of secondary school when he is 16.  Career: he’s always been a criminal and never really considered any careers outside of crime. When he was in secondary school he did a bit of lowkey drug dealing. After he dropped out he dropped out he worked as a bartender for a few months (the only legit job he has ever had). But he had been groomed to take over the family crime ring since he was a young kid so the minute Anne stepped down he took over and that’s what he’s been doing ever since. Social media used: none. Smoking: never / occasionally / often Drinking: never / occasionally / often Drugs: never / occasionally / often If they do drugs, what kind?: he has tried everything except meth at least once tbh. Athletics they enjoy?: swimming is the only athletic thing he still does but when he was in his teens/early twenties he was also part of a fight club. Hobbies: playing the guitar, reading, listening to records, gun & knife collecting, trouble-making, sailing, gambling  Virgin?: yes / no If not, how old were they when they lost their virginity?: 15 Favorite drink: whiskey Favorite food: he’s really not fussy and lives off of take-out and microwave meals for the most part, but he does enjoy rare red meat  Favorite music: he’ll listen to anything as long as it isn’t rap or hip-hop, but blues, classic rock, jazz, and classical music are his favourite genre’s. Favorite movie: he doesn’t really have one. He enjoys historical drama’s and documentaries. Dodger has persuaded him to watch Batman with him at least once (it wasn’t as bad as he expected, even if it was still pretty horrible). And he’s also watched shit like Frozen with the grandchildren more times than he’d like to admit. Favorite tv show: he’s not big on telly because he prefers to read. Usually, if he flips on the TV it’ll be on the history channel with some kind of documentary. Also, he plays soap opera’s in the background for the noise sometimes. Favorite book: he can’t pick one he likes loads of books. Clothing style: less gaudy than you would expect lmao. He wears a lot of sleek and expensive suits for business. When he’s at home his style is still a lot more formal than most, he’ll usually wear some sort of button-up shirt and a nice pair of slacks. His shoes are Italian and expensive, always. He wears a lot of jewellery, everything from necklaces to earrings and most of it is incredibly flamboyant. [a more complete array of clothing can be found HERE and an example of his day to day outfit HERE]  Underwear type: plain briefs Heroes: he has a few music idols but as far as people who really stuck out in his life Bartholomew, the man who is probably his father and who was his stand-in father, is probably his biggest hero. Tagged by: @trickstercaptain Tagging: @materpasserem @hangtherules @wineinthewidow @dxdger @grincarved @thepromiseofredemption @mxdam

[captainteague]

what was his relationship like with his parents? did he have a favorite parent? how did he view their relationship with each other and how did it impact his own relationships as an adult? - sent by @twistedwit

Deep breath. Okay, folks, this is a weird one. So I think the best way to explain this is to give a summary of Anne and Bartholomew’s relationship. These two met at an orphanage located somewhere in Britain (I’ve not decided where yet). Anne was around six and Bartholomew was five. From childhood, they were practically inseparable and this didn’t change much as teenagers. They do love each other deeply but it’s definitely an atypical relationship (especially in non-canon settings). To start with, it’s an open relationship. They both sleep with other people and, honestly, I’m not joking when I say that all of Anne’s kids are probably from separate fathers. Furthermore, by adulthood, they do have separate lives. They don’t live together, although the manor on Madagascar did serve as a residence for both of them. I lay this out because Teague didn’t grow up with a traditional “father”. Bartholomew was a father figure and mentor but not someone Teague ever called dad. I this is an important distinction because you can see the reflection of this in how Teague acted toward Jack. While Teague was definitely closer with Bart than he is with Jack there’s this ‘never quite a father’ nature of the relationship. 

Okay, so circling back to Teague and his parents…

Anne: Teague’s relationship with Anne is a fuckfest of awfulness. Just a complete disaster. She’s completely unfit to be a mother and I will forever be horrified that a bloody book series targeted toward children birthed that awful excuse for a woman. Teague and his fraternal twin sister, Hazel, were actually Anne’s second and third children respectively (Hazel was born first by a few minutes). Even then, Teague was the scapegoat between the two. It’s not clear why. Perhaps he was too fussy or kicked too much while in gestation. Whatever the reason, Anne and Teague’s relationship struggled from day one. Perhaps it would have just lived and died as just that except when Teague was seven he and Hazel got sick and, well, I’m sure you can see where this is going. Hazel, the golden child, and presumed heir died. So Anne was left with Teague. This led to a very intense trauma bond. Anne was incredibly abusive but also groomed him to take over the family legacy/business (what it depends on the verse). The result was Teague was left resenting Anne but never feeling assured in his own identity enough to break away from her. He also desperately craved approval which was rarely given. I literally can’t stress enough how deeply their toxic relationship has impacted Teague. 

Bartholomew: Teague’s relationship with Bartholomew is less clear-cut. On one hand, Bartholomew was 100% the superior parental figure.  It was an incredibly low bar but hot damn if he didn’t clear it. Bartholomew rarely raised a hand to Teague, and while he had high expectations which could be very hard to reach, he never made Teague feel lesser the way Anne did. He was also a mediating force between Anne and Teague (technically all her children, but Teague received the worst of it so). Teague naturally looked up to him and idealized Bartholomew both as a captain and mentor. Yet there was always something unreachable about Bartholomew. He was stoic and…much of his advice could be chalked up to ‘suck it up and push through’ which is what Teague did. Basically, emotional vulnerability was nearly impossible in his family. Bartholomew was somewhat more sympathetic toward it but ultimately thought that boys needed to learn to be men. 

That said, Teague loved Bartholomew and was very close to him. Bart was definitely the “favourite parent” and Teague was 100% Bartholomew’s favourite kid. He groomed Teague to be the next keeper because he trusted him more than Anne or any of the other children to uphold the code and keep Shipwreck afloat. 

Now, on the topic of how Teague perceived Anne & Bartholomew’s relationship… he knew that they loved each other. More specifically he knew that Bartholomew loved Anne and Anne loved that he loved her. Their relationship was typically warm. In the privacy of their own home/family they didn’t hide the fact that they loved each other. In fact, there was a warmth and familiarity to their relationship which you often see in old married couples. Neither Anne nor Bartholomew are particularly healthy people (although Anne is definitely the worst between the two of them). But I guess you could say their relationship was as healthy as it could be considering who they were.  Teague was also semi-aware that their relationship wasn’t monogamous (he never sat down to question the ins and outs though since he’d rather not think about their sex life). Anne and Bart were devoted to each other in their own way and Teague knew that. 

Interestingly, Teague does believe in love and can even be labeled a bit of a hopeless romantic (you’ll pry that information out of his cold dead hands though). I’d say that when Teague is in a relationship you can see some impact of how he was raised on his distaste for loud arguing (which he never really saw growing up), one of his biggest love languages being ‘spending time together’, and his devotion. However, Teague generally avoids committed relationships but when he’s in them he’s in them for the long haul. The issue isn’t that Teague doesn’t know what a loving relationship is, or that he’s not willing to put the work in. The issue is that Teague’s ability to open himself up and be in a healthy relationship is very limited. He has an okay idea of what it should look like but isn’t willing to go through the pains necessary to obtain it. This aversion has more to do with household abuse and losing Maria than any dysfunction he witnessed between Anne and Bart.

[captainteague]

HEADCANON. Teague was a handful as a kid. Not necessarily in an ‘oh he’s a bad kid’ sense but rather he was very daring and adventurous. He wasn’t the kind of child who would ask what a thing was, no, this kid would just march forward and experience it for himself. From the moment he could walk he was on the move. Neither Anne nor Bart were the types of parents to intervene unless they absolutely had to (although Bart was a bit better on this front) so many of his earliest scars came from climbing where he didn’t belong and jumping headfirst when caution was needed. When he inevitably became injured there was always a very unsympathetic ‘see, this is what happens’ attitude. He came out of it all feeling as if he were very independent, but I think this can be more accurately attributed to him realizing the only person who would look after Teague was Teague. 

[captainteague]

Was there ever a point at which Teague pushed against the way things were and tried to break from all the generational trauma going on or did he just not have the tools or resources for that? Does he think of his life in terms of, like, "that should not have been that way" or is it more of a "that's just the way it is" ?

I think I can say that I sorta answered part of this here. But this is definitely more specific so let's delve into it a bit...

I think what's interesting about Teague is that he understands Anne was abusive, at least to a point. One of the reasons he received the worst of it is because he pushed against the grain and refused to be totally cowled by her. While he never really made a break from the family he did call her out and shield his brothers whenever possible. But, as I said, this was only up to a certain point. Teague understands the physical abuse was abuse but fails to fully recognize that the mental and emotional stuff was just as severe. I mention this not only because it influenced the way he treated Jack but also because it played into his toxic family values.

I think when it comes to his inability to break free from the generational trauma it often circles back to his unhealthy relationship with family (specifically Anne). Okay, so I'm not sure if I'll explain this well but his identity is deeply intertwined with family and piracy. He never broke away from the family (specifically Anne) because as bad as it was, as horrible as SHE WAS, it was better (in his mind) than losing that connection.

In some ways, you can say that Teague managed to unshackle a few limbs, even if he wasn't entirely free. He's far more prone to intervening when he sees wrong being done than either Anne or Bartholomew ever were. He also did try to do better by Jack. He took the position as keeper not because he wanted the job but because Jack wouldn't have to live with Anne. In verses where he's not Jack's captain, there are also some very awkward attempts at being some sort of parental figure....he sucks at it though.

I'll never excuse his actions. But he's one of those victims who never really made it out of the trenches entirely.

That said, Teague doesn't lament his lot in life. He accepts the cards he was dealt. I don't...I don't even think he would blame his trauma for the mistakes he's made, either. Even if he had a true understanding of everything. It's very much, 'this is the lot I was given, these are the choices I made'. Maybe they weren't the right choices. But they're his and he'll own them (likely without apology).

I'll sorta end it on this note... Teague was a piss poor father and isn't always the best person (definitely not the most likable one). But I don't consider him a bad one either. Having come from a household where the mother was a raging narcissist Teague has gone in the opposite direction. He has focused on being a good brother, captain, and guardian of Shipwreck. All of these positions require you to think about the group/others. In a world where he was constantly encouraged to look after himself and his family (Anne's interests) before everything else, Teague rejected that mindset.

That's something, and as you @lighthouseborn have pointed out. Something is more than nothing.