#John Rackam

[originalleftist]

Ann Bonny and Mary Read.

Below is a screenshot of a portion of the actual trial record for Ann* Bonny and Mary Read, the two most famous female pirates in history. This is the most detailed eyewitness description of them known to survive to the present day.

Image: Screenshot of an excerpt from the trial record of pirates Ann Bonny and Mary Read.

Here is the text with some edits on my part to update anachronistic spelling and grammar, for those who don't want to try to parse early 18th century court documents:

"Dorothy Thomas deposed, that she, being in a canoa at sea, with some stock and provisions, at the North-side of Jamaica, was taken by a sloop, commanded by one Captain Rackam (as she afterwards heard;) who took out of the canoe, most of the things that were in her: and further said, that the two women, prisoners at the bar, were then on board the said sloop, and wore mens jackets, and long trousers, and handkerchiefs tied about their heads; and that each of them had a machet and pistol in their hands, and cursed and swore at the men, to murder the deponent; and that they should kill her, to prevent her coming against them; and the deponent further said, that the reason of her knowing and believing them to be women then was, by the largeness of their breasts."

Source: https://www.postandcourier.com/the-tryals-of-captain-john-rackam-and-other-pirates/pdf_68970990-ded9-11e8-be44-1b1f2868c03d.html

*And yes, its often spelled "Ann" with no e in contemporary documents- the e appears to have been an error in the trial record which stuck. Ann also seems to have used aliases, and is sometimes referred to in contemporary sources by the last name Bonn or Fulford, or the first name Sarah, leaving some ambiguity as to her real name.

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in 1697 – Birth of pirate, Anne Bonny, née Cormac, in Co Cork.

Born in Co Cork, Anne Bonny was the illegitimate daughter of lawyer William Cormac and his housemaid. They immigrated to America after Anne’s birth and settled on a plantation near Charleston, South Carolina. A headstrong young woman ‘with a fierce and courageous temper’, she eloped with James Bonny against her father’s wishes. James took her to a pirates’ lair in New Providence in the Bahamas,…

[erysium]

Has the world of Kochab been influenced by any legends beyond just “Ifrit is a fire spirit”?

the overall story arc was originally a take on Sleeping Beauty. :’) When I started writing, around the same time I also had a school assignment to do some vis dev art inspired the Aladdin fairytale, so that had a little influence. I also really liked The Firebird, East of the Sun and West of the Moon, Hans Christian Andersen’s Snow Queen, A Promise Is A Promise, and fairytale-inspired work - like soviet animations The Humpbacked Horse (1947), The Fox and the Hare (1973), Hedgehog in the Fog (1975), and fairytale illustrators Vera Pavlova, Fritz Baumgarten, Ivan Bilibin, John Bauer, Arthur Rackam, Edmund Dulac. A lot of the webcomics I was reading & inspired by at the time also had a kind of fairytale tone to them.

[bruxellescity]

Aléa Drumman - Tome 2. Afin que meure la bête.

Fille d’une légende. Héritière d’une malédiction. Infiltrée sur le navire de John Rackam, Aléa Drumman, la fille de Barbe Noire, a découvert un trésor bien gardé : la tête de son père ! Cette relique funeste posséderait un immense pouvoir mais les hommes la craignent. Il se pourrait même qu’une malédiction plane sur le Revenge… Certains sentent déjà la mort qui rôde. Tandis qu’Aléa est démasquée…

[like-ghosts-in-the-sun]

I've been drawing some pirates

[lay-me-down-on-a-bed-of-roses]

please, watch the trailer of my new story :3  here’s the link 

[st-just]

Okay watched the remaining 5 episodes of S1 of Black Sails with friends

-Oh my god literally everyone in this show is so incredibly horrible, I adore it.

-He actually killed Gates! He literally snapped his neck! I audibly gasped.

-Rackam is best (most entertaining on screen) character

-Not to misuse 'sociopath' but John Silver is really charmingly unencumbered by any sort of principles or relationships and it's kind of endearing how he seems genuinely puzzled by a) people who are and b) people who don't like him when he hasn't even done anything directly to them/made them a better offer

-Anne Bonnie is a super interesting character and her actress does a great job getting across both what she's feeling and how totally un-selfaware she is about her emotions given how little she talks. Also, incredible hat.

-Absolutely tragic that this came out before the whole '#girlboss building her empire' meme, since that's just actually literally Eleanore. (Also, her and Mr. Scott getting a hold full of slaves freed makes them the best people in the show kind of by default I think in terms of ends achieved versus power held. Which, incredibly low bar, but.)

-Charles Vane valiantly trying to restore some gender balance to the amount of shirtless scenes/nudity in this. Also, he's like Rackam in that he kind of seems to live in a slightly different genre than the rest of the cast (though a different different genre). He should probably seem more threatening to me than he does given his position at the end of the season but, like, everything about him just screams 'con and manipulate me'.

[chibivesicle]

How GK should have ended. Looking to a similar piece of media - Black Sails

I’ve been meandering around various series as of late and finally found one that really stuck a similar chord with me and GK - the mid- 2010s drama - Black Sails.  It is a series that had so many similar themes to GK, the level of violence and brutality, a similar level of outcast/criminals/convicts to colonial powers in a territory that is intended to be tamed for a distant power.  The theme overlap is so great that if you liked all the stuff going on in GK, this show will be your jam. Most importantly, the creative team for Black Sails kept CONSTANT characterization for everyone and it paid off so well.  They make each character so clear that when they go off and do a dumbass/rash thing, you only slightly groan b/c you know that Jack Rackam cares about his identity, that John Silver wants to belong and be accepted despite pushing people away, that Max is tired of the cycle and feels guilt for having to chose between two shitty decisions, Eleanor will not allow anyone to change her mind and that Captain Flint is a carefully crafted fiction/tool for James McGraw to exact revenge upon the very nature of the British Empire.  And Woodes Rogers is just such a good guy to dislike when he enters the story. After finishing Black Sails, I just thought about how Flint/McGraw was so much better that Tsurumi and Sugimoto.  The thing that always fell short with Tsurumi’s motivations about the death of his wife and child were the feelings that were associated with that loss.  It always felt hollow to me that we still never got the full Tsurumi back story to really push his motivations.  We know he came from a family who became wealthy and then lost it and it was never resolved.  His overlap with Sugimoto is his similar tendencies to go to extreme lengths for someone who has not actual input into those motivations (aka I’m doing this for Umeko vs Thomas).  He also has that reckless ability to be shot in the shoulder with a musket and then swim, one armed to a Spanish man-o-war, board her and take the ship over is as equally unlikely, but he pulls it off so much better than Sugimoto.  I noticed that Charles Vane is the one who is more likely to use a musket as a blunt weapon while Flint does a calculated mix of precision musket shot, then sword, and then it degenerates into whatever it will take to kill his opponent - cannon ball, fists etc.

So, if you are looking for a series that is under the radar to fill that void that GK left in your soul with that last arc and flat ending - go watch Black Sails.  Season 1 is a bit lame and over the top at times but after they stopped trying to be ‘Pirate Game of Thrones’ it shines as an excellent series. This show might just make me want to scratch that itch to meta-nerd out again, perhaps doing more GK comparisons.  Plus, I can clearly state that Flint was my favorite character the entire time in Black Sails.  Which is saying a lot for me since I rarely love a MC this much.  There is no real Ogata character in Black Sails as many more of the cast are dealing with lifetimes of trauma, abuse, guilt and moments where suicidal types of behavior are necessary.  Which is a relief for me, since the thing which ruined Ogata for me in retrospect is that he should have died on that damned ice floe.  And Black Sails will not shy away from killing someone with Ogata level involvement to serve the story and motivations going forward and they feel like they make sense to the viewer.

That’s it for now, if you want to see a series that really gets it and nails it - go watch Black Sails. 

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in 1720 – One of the most successful pirates, a feisty Cork-born red-head, called Anne Bonny, avoided execution after Calico Jack’s ship was captured by a band of pirate-hunters.

Anne Bonny was the illegitimate daughter of lawyer William Cormac and his housemaid. They immigrated to America after Anne’s birth and settled on a plantation near Charleston, South Carolina. A headstrong young woman ‘with a fierce and courageous temper’, she eloped with James Bonny against her father’s wishes. James took her to a pirates’ lair in New Providence in the Bahamas, but in 1718, when…

[amphibious-thing]

Like Stede stealing the plant in ep1 is funny and all but the actual real historical Calico Jack once raided a woman in a canoe:

Dorothy Thomas deposed, That she, being in a Canoa at Sea, with some Stock and Provisions, at the North-side of Jamaica, was taken by a Sloop, commanded by one Captain Rackam (as she afterwards heard;) who took out of the Canoa, most of the Things

~ The Tryals of Captain John Rackham and Other Pirates, p18

[mxflintoldblog]

So a black Sails thought just popped into my mind: basically, in season 3 when Woodes Rogers arrives in Nassau and he pardons all the pirates and Jack and Anne leave, Jack decides to come back because he wants to keep his name, he doesen't want to give it up and he still believes he can keep it. The thing that I remembered is that when they ask him his legal name he says 'John Rackam', a name we've never seen him being addressed by, he's always been 'Jack' for us, not John. And I think it's interesting because he goes back specifically for his name, and while it's his 'legal' name, this is the first time we hear it. It's ironic, isn't it? For someone who's so invested in legacies and in his name he doesen't seem like he cares at all what his 'real' name is.

[captainflirt]

“The Tryals of Captain John Rackam and other Pirates” from the book “Under the Black Flag” by David Cordingly. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Under-Black-Flag-Romance-Reality/dp/081297722X/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1

[feebledungeons]

Do you have any resources on pirates? I’m going into my first roleplay heavy game, and I’d like to be a good pirate lol

HURRAH FOR PIRATES!

I love playing my Pirate PC, Kit Snaplock. She’s an ex-pirate-turned-rogue gnome and whirlwind of manic energy. She dual wields daggers that have been shaped into cutlasses and believes that it’s not possible for her to die until the prophesy foretold to her by a drunk oracle comes to pass. The prophesy involves red ballgowns and a rainbow dragon. For this reason, Kit has a phobia of formal wear.

In terms of resources... hmmm....

For Official 5E Resources, I believe the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide is what you’re looking for. I haven’t got it myself but I hear that’s where all the best official 5e swashbuckling can be found.

You can also get inspiration from ‘real life’ pirates (their lives may have been somewhat embellished by history):

* Anne Bonny

* John Rackam (aka Calico Jack)

* Mary Read

* Bartholomew Roberts (aka Black Bart)

* Cheng I Sao

And many more that you can find by looking at the contents of A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious Pyrates.

You’ve also got a wealth of fictional pirates to have a look at. Here’s some of my faves:

* Long John Silver from Treasure Planet DAD PIRATE

* Captain Hook from Hook (tw suicide played for a joke) FOP PIRATE [bonus Smee as GOBLIN PIRATE]

* Morgan Adams from Cutthroat Island CHEESY ACTION PIRATE (I know that movie bombed but I saw it as a kid and loved it)

Lastly, I’d say listen to as many SEA SHANTIES as you can! They are awesome inspiration!

Any of my followers have any other Pirate resources they can add?

[random-senpai]

GBF Husbando Spotlight: Rackam

IT’S HERE IT’S HERE!!!

It’s been ages since the last one, but with me sparking him and the balance patch arriving I’ve finally felt confident enough to write this. 

If you know me at all you knew this was coming, for my lust and love for thisman burns with the intensity of a thousand suns. Yes tis time for my #1 Husbando’s Spotlight, The Sexiest Meme Alive himself, Rackam!

Note: This was actually really hard to make into actual words instead of just inarticulate screaming.

The 2nd story character and first official member of the crew. He’s been with you since pretty much Day 1.

First story character to get his 5* uncap, giving him the rare wind atk- debuff and sweet new art with Tiamat.

His SSR is a great damage dealer, and with the patch one of the most reliable as long as he has a solid source of MA. Along with his passive to hit all enemies 70% of the time, now he can also build 2 stacks of Spitfire in 1 turn, giving him 40% atk boost each on a unique modifier. With Elysian he can ougi turn 4 with 3 stacks and 120% atk up. Plus Spitfire increases his ougi cap to around 3.2 mil and the chain burst to over 2 mil. Duration II is also incredibly handy against HL bosses with their OD phases being more dangerous. He shines alot in Rose Queen as he leads to a much faster break in 2nd phase and in Tiamat HL where he gives easy honors as he auto attacks all heads most of the time.

10/10 would spark again

It’s also heavily implied that Grand Series are getting their 5* uncap soon too, so his kit is going to get better. His SR gained a crit buff, mirror image, and wind atk- so there’s a good chance his SSR will too.

His personality is that of the Crew’s team dad (funny enough with the actual dads in the crew) and boy is it my weakness. He has a soft spot for children and younger members of the crew, and takes it upon himself to take care of them.

He’s an expert Helmsman and is actually quite famous for it. It’s even gotten to the point where other Helmsman ask him for his autograph. The sheer size of the Grancypher and how he managed to restore it single handedly is a testament to his skill and love for airships. And the chapter where he navigates the harsh winds of the Grim Basin is the ultimate testament to his skill.

In fact his SSR Fate episodes revolve around him helping a little girl who dreams of being a helmsman like him. When he discovers she’s in danger he goes off on his own to rescue her without endangering the rest of the crew. Of course in the end it’s too much than he can handle on his own and he gets shot. The crew comes by in time to rescue him and the girl and he realizes that everyone has grown enough for him to rely on them.

Fun fact he’s actually named after the famous pirate captain John Rackam (aka Calico Jack). The man most well known for his relationship with Anne Bonny and Mary Reed and his first mate designing the iconic Jolly Roger. 

He’s hot. Like....really hot. I fell in love with this man at first crash. That styled brunette hair.....the facial hair....the cigarette..his face. All of that gives me the ossan feel that I’m a plain sucker for. Plus his gun and even the sword he never uses just gets to me. A prime reliable Ossan design. 

HE HAS A BLUSHING IMAGE AND IT’S ADORABLE

Plus Hiroaki Hirata’s voice as him is just perfect! Older and experienced but not super old man status. I don’t know how to describe it exactly but it’s so damn attractive.

He’s 29 years old, putting him slightly above average in the crew’s rather young age range, but not as old as the clear elder members of the crew. While he has all the points of Ossan appeal (at least in my book) calling him one might be a bit of a stretch. It doesn’t stop him from feeling old though, as he talks about getting older a few times. 

He might not be the most muscular of the crew since he is one with bara gods like the Soiya Squad and Male Draphs. But he does have a nice muscular frame of his own. It’s most prominent in the meme comics and brief bits in the anime. In comics he strips time to time for certain gags revealing a nice body. In the anime he sports a black tank top for a while allowing you to see the musculature on his arms, and even takes off his armor for a bit, revealing that that the shirt he wears under it is skintight as you can make out the outlines of his pecs through the fabric. (I’m still angry he never stripped in the beach episode)

His charms have not gone unnoticed too. The man is straight up primal bait as Lyria’s Tiamat and Noa are really close to him. The little girl from his SSR fates even falls for him as she asks if he has a girlfriend in the end of the 2nd one. According to Lowain and Bros he has a decent sized following of fans as well. They described him as “the type of guy who would spoil you”. 

He’s also is pretty good with the Bass (after some practice). He plays in a band with Vryn and Aoidos. So he fills the hot dude on bass niche too.

In fact before Lowain and Bros decided on making Jin the Sexy Sensei of Albion High. He was considered for the role before they gave it to Jin, feeling that Rackam already had too many fans to be their Sensei figure.

He’s a Sexy Santa

His Christmas Fates were some of the cutest things I’ve ever seen. It literally revolves around stealing Christmas cake in the middle of the night.The second fate literally called “Friendly Feels” is a search for a Christmas tree for the crew. It ends with him holding a ladder for Vyrn, Lyria, and Gran/Djeeta to put the star on. After the star is put on and the tree is decorated he gives his thanks as he never thought he’d ever spend a Christmas like this before. The fate ends with Lyria telling him that all Christmases are going to be like this one from now on, as he smiles and while having his doubts about the certainty of her statement, enjoys the warmth of the holiday on the cold winter night.

He’s a perfect mixture of both my love for memes and hot older men. For he has not one, or two memes, BUT 3.

Legend of Rackam: Not touched upon recently but a damn good one. Rackam and his exploits are so legendary that kids years later learn of his heroic tales thanks to a wise old scholar. His frog suit meme had actual white day chocolates sent to it by fans.

DURRAY DURRAY DURATION!: Rackam’s amazing moves leave afterimages that confuse and somehow relax the enemy’s rage. A meme so powerful he taught it to others for protection and almost durrayed himself out of existence against a great foe. In fact this meme is so powerful that it’s leaked out of the Grand Blues verse into reality long ago and nobody even questions it. His Casino skin and Santa version both end battles with the Durray~ dance with sound effects and everything.

RACKAMUUUUUUUUUU!!! (also localized as plain RACKAAAAAAAM!!!): Rackam fucking explodes and dies. Well to be more specific the first Rackamuuu! didn’t even have an explosion as he died falling off the ship riding on a icicle and Katalina screamed it. However with later variation most of his deaths have been explosion related, resulting in the meme being tied to explosions now. Despite the fact that he explodes he actually ends up fine due to a scientific phenomenon known as Rackam’s Law, but details have yet to be divulged to the public from the former nobility of Iristill. 

Him and the MC/You share a very close bond due to all that they’ve gone through together. He basically entrusts the fate of the Grancypher to your judgement when he’s forced to fight you as an enemy by that little douche Gilbert.

He gets flustered around Djeeta and it’s noticeable in the voiced skins. Where he stumbles around for a bit after battle replying to her compared to his fater response to Gran.

Like most of the GBF cast come Valentines and White Day he catches feelings for the captain of the opposite gender, however unlike many he’s kind of unsettled and in denial of it due to the age gap.

It’s most detectable in the Valentines and White Day lines in year two. Year one it’s rather quick with him being flattered to get a chocolate and blushing with embarrassment when he gives the return gift on White Day.

However year two has him joke about waiting for Djeeta to give him chocolate and telling her not to think about all the serious stuff since it makes him nervous. Then he promises her to get something great for White Day.

Come White Day he calls her over to give her his present (no CG yet sadly sadly) and thanks her for always working so hard. Then he literally says “ Well, not just thanks. But I can't say any more than that, all right? You shouldn't pry into the mind of an adult, you know. “ Then says he’s gonna keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn’t drive other people crazy.

I probably forgot or missed something but this post is long enough.

This is most likely going to be my longest husbando spotlight solely because

I FUCKING LOVE THIS MAN

[st-just]

So have been peer-pressured into finally watching Black Sails with a couple friends and, 3 episodes in

-Wow TV was a lot hornier in 2014 (was going to say 'but hey, it's not as rapey as game of thrones!' and then the ending of episode 3 happened)

-I appreciate Vane's principled opposition to ever wearing a shit

-Rackam and John Silver (and to a lesser extent Gates) are just by far the funnest characters. I love an sleazy scheming snake.

-Anne Bonnie has done literally nothing but lounge around stylishly and stab people and she is already in my top 4 characters.

[mydearest-espresso]

When Anne Bonny became a pirate after meeting John Rackam (aka Calico Jack) and joined his crew, a man (whether as prisoner or sailor is debated) later joined. Anne tried to seduce the man, but he, in fear of being hurt by the captain, who was with Anne, opened his shirt to reveal breasts and confessed to being a woman. This woman was Mary Read. Her, Anne, and Jack actually became very close during their time as pirates, blundering many ships until they were captured and sentenced to death, though the women's lives were prolonged using the excuse as being pregnant (I'm not entirely sure if they were actually pregnant or not).

One of my favourite anecdotes about the first Golden Age of Piracy is that, at one point, Captain Henry Morgan left England in one ship, and arrived in the Caribbean commanding a completely different ship, and nobody knows why. What happened to the first ship and how he acquired the second one are entirely unrecorded.