#Me thinking about Jack Rackham: he's just such a guy I love him so much what a little man he's such a nice boy

[loftec]

No one tagged me in this but @smilebackwards kindly invited all who wanted to do this and I like to suffer so here we go!

Make a poll with five of your all-time favorite characters and then tag five people to do the same.

This was so hard and I will not tag anyone (except @mittimellan because you don't like polls or making impossible top five lists about media so I can't resist!). But please if you do this tag me so I can vote on your blorbos!

Edit: No actually I will tag four more people because it was in the prompt so here we go: @the-rat-wins @wideblueskies @deedala @michellemisfit and seriously anyone else who wants to do it!

[ladyluscinia]

Living for your black sails thoughts as you finish the series. Any thoughts on Anne Bonny and/or Jack Rackham?

They are my beloved little criminals and I want to see them sail off into that bittersweet sunset 😭😭😭

Real talk, though, I've had a soft spot for the Ranger crew since pretty early on, and I am hoping they at least survive. I enjoyed the Jack x Anne x Max plotline when it was going on and I had written it off as ending tragically, so it was definitely interesting for that to suddenly come back around. Anne's been a voice of reason wanting to get out of the cycles for a long time, and Max made a big move by turning down the arranged marriage and shadow governorship. (Good for her, tbh - she wasn't going to find much agency in life wielding power borrowed from a husband, and it didn't exactly work for Eleanor). Unless the Guthries take drastic action, they ought to get a chance to sail off and start anew.

Meaning the big question is Jack.

...they better not kill Jack. 😭 Not after they took Vane (< still distraught about the massively predictable death of my babygirl).

I do think Jack has good odds of making it back to Anne (I'm gonna be fucking heartbroken if he doesn't 💔), because like. It's a story about stories and he does love a good story. Jack's been all about legacy and asking whether all of this is going to mean anything at all. If someone other than the main guy this is all backstory for is going to make it out for bittersweet reflection, I think Jack is a good candidate.

And of course, I really want to watch Woodes Rogers get what's coming to him, and it would be awesome if Jack actually gets to take him out while Silver and Flint conclude their arcs on character beats instead of plot ones.

Just give me a bittersweet Jack x Anne x Max endgame with a *little* bit of hope / victory to offset all the tragedy. 🥺

[bookshelfmonkey]

Ok let's go. Top to bottom, left to right.

Charles Vane: Something we learn pretty early on about Vane is that he doesn't think long-term. He can't think of wanting much more than just power/control (as quite abstract concepts, and only in Nassau) and when he has them, he's never fully happy about it. His relationship with Eleanor is unhealthy both ways (i.e. it's not just him treating her like shit, but also the other way around), and he's just generally rarely in any kind of situation that's actually good for him, despite probably having the resources to create one. The joke's on you bit comes from how a lot of people (especially Flint & Eleanor), when negotiating with him, base their arguments off an assumption that he wants something more, or even has much of a sense of self worth and, through these negotiations, often fail. He does grow in late s2/s3 but, as I said in the tags, boxes must be filled for charts to exist.

Jack Rackham: Jack's almost the reverse of Vane in that people keep trying to deal with him by humiliating him and taking away his sense of self-worth and it just never works. He knows what he wants and fully believes he can achieve it and we'll all be damned if he didn't do just that.

Eleanor Guthrie: Similar to Vane, Eleanor never seems to be in a fully happy, healthy, or sustainable situation. Her being a bisexual woman in the 18th century does factor into this, making it harder for her to get and maintain the life she wants, but another key obstacle is that she does often accept bad situations. Also this was an excuse to be a Richard Guthrie hater (I'm his biggest hater, if he has no haters I'm dead, etc.)

The next row is a bit sillier but I still have shit to say.

Max: Initially I did put Max in "you underestimate how much I value myself" and I also stand by that, but boxes had to be filled so she was moved here. We have absolutely 0 confirmation that she's attracted to men and I imagine that would make a lot of straight men very upset and I love it.

Flint: Another more obvious one. This is both a comment on the intial reception of the show where a lot of, again, straight men were very upset that the hero, the (fairly) masculine guy who's in charge and fights people and all that shit, is also incredibly gay, and the fact that, among all the myths that are constructed around Flint in the show, basically no one works out what actually motivates him/what his backstory is.

Silver: In the specific context of this post, it's probably worth noting that I do believe that, in his confused, messed-up way, Silver did love Flint. This may not have been romantic but also it very well could have been. This is also a broader commentary on Silver as a character. A lot of his flaws seem to come from internalising unhealthy ideals (toxic masculinity, ableism, etc.) so it's not a massive stretch to include potentially homophobia in there. And, much like their external counterparts, internalised bigotries are learned from experience/society/other people. We never fully see him learning this, but I don't doubt that Silver's various internalised issues are very much learned.

Anne Bonny: Again, this is another case of simplifying things to fill boxes but I do find it almost a little funny that Anne was literally on her deathbed refusing to forgive Max for just surviving and sticking to the values that she's held since before they even met. Idelle had to borderline threaten her until she fully grasped why Max had acted the way she had and forgave her for it.

Billy Bones: This especially speaks to s2 Billy, where everyone expects him to lose his shit over Flint possibly trying to kill him, definitely killing Gates (i.e. his father) and Silver literally imprisoning him just after he's returned, but somehow he still stays with Flint. I know he does finally lose his shit around s4, but I'm honestly impressed he lasted that long.

Madi: This is yet another example of me simplifying things, but this is especially about the end of the show. For more context of my interpretation of things, I don't believe Madi and Silver ended up together. I believe the last scene on the cliff was the closest they ever got to each other again, and I believe this is because of Madi's strong sense of self-worth. Silver lied to her and sabotaged her plans, and, even if he did it out of a strange sense of love, it should not be forgiven. It's "unfortunate" because who hasn't been in a relationship where they want to stay even if they know it's unhealthy (and I do believe that Madi did love Silver and the pain of their breakup likely went both ways, even if she did know it was for the best), but Madi has been raised to hold a strong sense of self-worth and knows that she shouldn't settle for someone who has treated her like that.

[rughydrangea]

Okay, so, I have now watched the first season of Black Sails and I feel like recording some thoughts. Here we go:

This is one of those shows that I feel like I’ve already watched, thanks to tumblr osmosis. But I have been wanting to properly check it out for a while. What took me so long? Honestly, the subject matter. As a person who is very afraid of a) authority, particularly the kind that kills people, and b) deep water, a show about pirates was hard to sell myself on. But once I actually took the plunge, as it were...

...I actually liked it! I’m not sure I’m ready to join the loyal army (navy?) of fans, but I found it really watchable. The whole environment of Nassau is well fleshed-out, the soundtrack is very fun, and I was surprised by how many characters there were to latch on to. Which brings me to:

Okay, so. Just being on tumblr, you cannot avoid knowing Flint and Max and Anne because they’re the most prominent queer characters (with Eleanor as an honorary mention? I confess I’m not really into her so far. I like her dynamic with Flint, but she’s written way too much like a Girl Power TM character for my liking). And so far, I really like all of them (though I had NO idea that Max has such a wacky accent, 8 episodes in it still takes me out of the action. I watched The Secret Circle, I know that this isn’t Jessica Parker Kennedy’s real accent, why can’t she just speak like she normally does? It would be much less distracting!). Though I must say I can’t blame Flint’s crew for constantly mutinying, working for him seems like a truly terrible situation to find oneself in. (Sidenote: I had been vaguely aware that there was an awkward Flint/Miranda sex scene in S1, and man oh man, y’all were not underselling that, it was hellish to watch. Not to get too explicit, but I truly have never seen a man so completely bored, to the extent that I am certain he didn’t finish, and I’m honestly confused how he, uh, managed to be interested enough to even start. He looked like he was on the verge of yawning the whole time! He looked like he was going over his grocery list in his head!)

What I was not expecting was that my favorite character so far would not be one of the queer ones, but Jack Rackham. And I must say that, as someone with access to Wikipedia, I am unhappy with this situation! I always want my favorites to be survivors, and they never are. But I just can’t resist this guy, he’s so damn funny and smart-alecky, I love his nasally little voice, his weird glasses, his eighteenth-century mullet, those freaking sideburns... And I’m so excited to see the development of the Rackham/Anne/Max dynamic.

Other fun characters: I really like Silver! He makes me laugh! And Billy Bones is Sir Percival of the Sleeveless Chainmail from Merlin, of course I’m happy to see him again. And I enjoyed Gates, RIP. And I liked the nerdy accountant guy who bit a man’s throat out until he shot Flint (but then again, see my earlier comment about how these guys are honestly right to mutiny). And I don’t know that I like Vane, but every time I see him, my head just goes IT’S JODY FROM SHAMELESS, so that’s something, I guess.

It’s been a long time since I watched a Starz series--not since my beloved Spartacus, I think, and honestly it took me a while to readjust to all the naked people. Especially at first, I think this show isn’t as good at justifying it as Spartacus, where the aesthetic was just so joyously over-the-top and absurd that the copious numbers of naked people were just part of the canvas alongside the gore and violence (BS is pleasantly gory, though, I honestly have laughed a number of times at the gross corpse presentations. You can tell the makeup/effects people were having fun!). In this show, all the nakedness feels very much like network notes, especially since it skews so heavily female (say what you will about Spartacus, a huge proportion of the cast was beefcake in loincloths, it’s impossible to argue that the male body was not lasciviously displayed). By the end of the season, I’m maybe slightly less disgruntled, thanks to the valiant efforts of Vane and Rackham to even the playing field somewhat.

Uh, I guess that’s it? I’m honestly just planning on going straight to S2, because I’m having a good time.

[battendownthewhatsit]

An Extremely Informal And Longwinded List of Black Sails Characters ordered by my Most Favorite to Least, After Watching the Series Twice, For No Reason Except It’s My Blog and I Want To 

- coming in at a Close Second to Madi, it’s every other named woman in the show ??  Max? Incredible.  Brilliant. Powerful and limited, complex and driven and deeper every time I think about her arc?? wow. Eleanor? absolute Shakespeare -level tragedy and the best blouses, amazing.  Anne? Holy Hell. Miranda? Lost too soon but still more powerful and insightful as a ghost/psychopomp than most characters on most shows when they’re alive. Full of righteous murder and I love that for her. Abigail Ash?? what a gem , deserved better family, I hope she lives to become a pirate queen. Idelle? comin’ up from left field to be an absolute force of hope and healing and defiance all in one, best stealth character arc.  The Maroon Queen? how does she rule the whole show with like ten minutes of screen time. Need a whole show about her.  Frigging. Charlotte?  an Artist. an Artist dealing with a Terrible Client and so in five minutes flat she was My character omg. Grandma Guthrie? unexpected kingmaker and I love how much of a Story she’s implied to have.  Mapleton? ...ok maybe I don’t care about Mapleton. but otherwise I can’t? pick  a favorite? my favorite is whichever of them is onscreen at the moment and extra when it’s more than one of them , which happens a lot but could never happen enough , not in forty seasons. 

- Godammit, Silver. Someone should shove him off the edge of a boat. Everyone  should shove him over the edge of a boat. But I can’t deny he’s a Perpetual Shenanigans Machine and I am always a fan of Shenanigans. Damn my weakness. 

 Vane?? I care about Charles Vane ??? How did this happen. When. What. I sobbed when he died and I’m still mad about it. 

 Billy Bones,  who amazingly did Nothing Wrong Ever until he suddenly did EVERYTHING Wrong Forever, and it made sense  and I’m upset about this too but it’s so solid and  aaaaah

 Jack Rackham, unexpectedly poignant Comedy Gold 

Teach, what a solid Dragon, what an amazing setup and payoff on a character who was only barely there

MR SCOTT , I wish he had SO much more focus, what an absolute revelation of character, absolute exemplar of planting a Character Revelation in a show , all his scenes are a thousand times richer on rewatch , the show  had to kill him bc if he’d lived he’d have solved everything 

RANDALL, CHAOS MENTOR, and rightly Judgey Food Service Worker 

Mr. Gates, F in the chat again , we only got glimpses of just how much was going on under the surface but it was eNOUGH omg I still tear up watching his speech about Billy

Captain Naft, for some reason a Genuinely Nice Guy who decided he was gonna PIrate and then was Terrible at it?? hilarious.  I’m so glad he got out . Hope he sailed away to star in a Pratchett novel. 

Tie between Featherstone and Mr de Groot (F in the chat, buddy, I hope you’re sailing on in a magical world where people respect your technical expertise and practical recommendations), champions of Just Being Good at the Job

 Julius, I’m sure he’d be top five if he’d have even thirty combined minutes of screentime but realistically I can only love him for his Potential 

likewise every person on Maroon island who never gets any focus, they All Deserved Better but didn’t get it so I can only love them Conceptually 

OH HELL, FLINT, I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT FLINT , I want to move him further up the list now but the fact that I didn’t even  remember to include him  until now tells me this is probably a Fair and Accurate ranking of where he stands in my Heart? which is. Completely wild??? he’s  one of the most main of main characters?? But (a) I really truly despise the way he treats his men like disposable straws for most of the series? I mean look how much I love so much of the Walrus crew and then this guy’s going around frigging blowing their brains out and tossing them off ships and obviously We Have a Problem  and (b) I think for me he wound up suffering from overexposure-- not in the show, but in terms of seeing him around Tumblr for years before I watched the show.  I saw all his big speeches and character reveal moments screecapped and gif’d for years, in a way I almost never saw anyone else’s, and when those moments rolled around for me in the series there was always a feeling like “oh, this is where that happens. OK then” , instead of experiencing it as a new emotional revelation. Given that the scenes where he did something I hadn’t  seen gif’d to death were still really powerful for me, I think all those years of out-of-context quotes and caps are really the main thing in play here, and that’s Unfortunate and also very much a  Me Problem, but also it’s just such a visceral emotional thing that I can’t really change the reaction.  Sorry, Captain , you’re great and well-written, I was just Spoilered out of a strong emotional reaction to you. :/ 

Thomas? Thomas.....

Israel Hands

uuuuh Hornigold and Dufresne I guess? Dufresne in particular is striking to me bc I hate his Choices but the  way he winds up making them is v. sympathetic 

uuuh Eleanor’s bodyguards in S1/early S2 I guess? 

the pastor who kind of hilariously has no plot relevance to anything ever 

....

that’s it

there are no more characters in this show :) 

no there aren’t :):) 

[jaynovz]

The Black Sails Rewatch w/ Bob Commentary (s2 e1-3)

Anddd we’re back! Happy New Year. Incoming-- questioning of all motivations and the occasional intermission for boat facts.

---

Ep 1:

Ned Lowe burns the merchant ship: “Why would they burn it? That’s a whole ship, that’s like...  10,000 gold. What a total waste... I mean, you already murdered all the crew, you have a brand new boat now... you could be Commodore Whoever the Fuck You Are.”

Silver volunteers: “That’s not helpful, I wanted to get the guy with the eyeglasses to go with so I could murder him”

Flashback to London: “They got that DC movie verse camera filter on, makes everything look like fucking wet concrete”

“Eleanor’s wearing a lot of clothes for someone who lives in the Bahamas. That leather jacket is probably sweltering”

Flint and Silver on warship: “they got toes out, that’s good, don’t want to ruin your boots”

about Jack Rackham: “you’re gonna be pariah to slightly more if you break that rum bottle”

about Eleanor and the blood-stained barrel situation: “Okay, for once, she is making a completely reasonable decision”

Flint’s crew steal warship: “This is why we always leave someone on board in Sea of Thieves...”

“I like that Rackham, even after being handed a shit sandwich, isn’t taking it out on other ppl. He’s trying to make the best of it and I respect that”

Max: It might do well if we bring it into the light “Are we gonna do kiss with a fist right now? A little knifeplay?”

Eleanor: I don’t fuck customers “Except Vane!”

“If they put all that gold on the warship they would float back to Nassau verryyy slowlllyyy”

“Anne’s like ‘y r u so close to me m’not gay’ and Max says ‘LET’S FUCK AROUND AND FIND OUT’ ”

“Legitimate way to calm an anger gremlin: kiss them until they’re honest about their feelings”

“I think Max just has lesbian powers. She turns everyone gay”

“I’m not really a fan of like... quintuple parallel stories. It makes things move unnecessarily slowly”

“Season one was more black lighting and not black sails”

Ep 2:

“Even baby Flint was just an angry ginger”

“I dislike Eleanor but I think the showrunners are trying to make me dislike her. That’s why it’s written that way. The other players at the table are succeeding at things but the GM is really fucking over Eleanor.”

“The Plot is just ruining her day... and that sucks. She seems to be learning from her mistakes but she keeps getting punished for it, whereas the Plot let Vane rise from the dead and get a whole new crew and take the fort.”

“Vane got deposed and then got a two week opium vacation and then a new, safer vocation as the fort guy. He has intense Plot Armor.”

about the warship: “I don’t think that ship had 100 guns. The Spanish didn’t have a boat like that in 1716. -he looks it up- Yep, this class of warship wasn’t commissioned til 1765--San Carlos and San Fernando, 94 cannon ships of the line”

Ep 3:

“Just a piece of advice, Flint--you’re going to have a difficult time setting up a pirate island nation without a way to manufacture cannons, gunpowder, or cannon balls”

Walrus crew member: I want to vote! “Well good civil engagement sir, I’m proud of you”

“I think they should keep the Spanish crosses on the sails, they’re very stylish”

Vane and men sparring: “They’re just grinding XP in the down time”

Lowe shows up: “Hey Mr. Ned Flanders, what’s up, how’s that depth perception?”

after Max/Anne love scene: “Small quiet holds are important”

Eleanor asks Miranda for a favor: “Say thank you! Honestly, manners!”

James opens the door shirtless: “Oh! Now he looks like he did in Die Another Day! That’s the guy!”

Flashback, Miranda propositions James: “Don’t get involved with those swingers, my dude. There is an unequal power dynamic”

Rackham: Why don’t you stop it? Anne: I can’t “B/c world is hard and cold and tiddy is soft and warm”

“Well, we were going to shell a beach but we decided it’d be much more fun to shell a fort!”

“They use the curved swords b/c they’re less likely to snag on things in close quarters and since sailors don’t wear armor, you don’t need the piercing quality”

about Vane on the Fancy: “Ned, if you were going to kill him, you should have done it while he was still on the rowboat.”

and then:

“See??? Vane has the most plot armor”

about Lowe’s severed head:

“Lol, Ned on a stick, yum.”

“All those ppl are staring at that sign like ‘I don’t know what that fucking says b/c I can’t read’”

“Anne has the libido of a rabbit in heat... She’s had sex like what??? 25 times in the last two days?”

Max/Anne/Rackham scene: “At least Jack has the sense to close the fucking door”

Vane: there’s something I need to show you “But I’m not gonna put on a shirt for it, this is a pants only conversation”

Silver: what if there’s no turning back? “There’s always turning back, we’re pirates. We’re really very wishy-washy”

“I don’t like your chances of taking this fort, Flint, it’s got 3 plot characters in it”

Flint: I will rain holy hell down upon him “This is why these ships have so many guns by the way, they’re made to be roaming artillery platforms, like a naval fort, but it always has a better position than the one on land. That’s what these ships are made for--they efficiently destroy and dismantle land-based fortifications”

---

See you next time folks~

[manabombs]

doing this meme for mr captain jack rackham because I think i’m finally ready to try to articulate my feelings, even if no one asked (i’m sorry this post is so long)

Why I like them:  So... here’s the thing... 

I’m kind of known for dressing like a fancy gay pirate. I’ve made a lot of cosplays over the years, but my pirate outfits are what I’m most infamous for. I met my partner over a decade ago while dressed like a fancy gay pirate. Many of my friends have seen me in pirate outfits more often then they’ve seen me in normal person clothing. Once upon a time I went to art school to study fashion design and I said “yes this is the aesthetic I’m going to cultivate” and now here we are. 

When I first heard that they were making a big budget period drama that was a prequel to Treasure Island, I knew that it was going to be My Next Hyperfixation, long before I had any notion of how much queer representation there would be or even how well-written the show would be. But it took me a couple years to finally feel like I was Emotionally Ready to delve into the series (Sometimes I’m bummed that I missed out on participating in the fandom while the show was actively airing, but I’m also glad that I was able to binge it all in its entirely, because the time waiting between seasons would have made me too crazy). 

And within those first two or three episodes, I saw that greasy rat man with his mullet and his avant garde facial hair choices and whatever the hell was going on with his wardrobe

and I said to myself “wait... Calico Jack... as in, the pirate known for his fashion sense...”

and I had one of those moments where I realized that this character was so much My Type that I was mad at myself for being so predictable. and I questioned some of the life choices that I made that led me to the point that this greasy rat man the sort of character that I immediately knew that I was going to fall in love with.

But that was only the beginning, because as I watched more of the series, I related to him more and more-- I think it was mannerisms at first, and things like “having to explain the vocabulary you just used to your coworkers” and “I would also like Anne Bonny to be my wife”, but gradually I began to relate to him for increasingly personal reasons. I first watched Black Sails after I had gone through a particularly rough couple years, and the catharsis of watching Jack go from “they pissed on me” to being the character who is ultimately victorious over the series’ main antagonist was an emotionally intense experience. I was already projecting on him by the time that he delivered the “great art has felled empires” monologue, which was the moment I knew that I was deeply invested in this character, and he hadn’t even started showing off his best looks yet. There are, of course, moments where his actions are... morally dubious, but even those instances just managed to make me more attached to him, because I respect the hell out of how well the writers succeeded in making him such a well-developed character. 

By the end of the series I realized that I related to this character on an intensely personal level, in a way that I haven’t connected with a fictional character in years, except it felt more profound than the times I’ve connected with fictional characters in the past because this time I was an Adult with a deeper understanding of the Self. I don’t want to sound like a soulbonder or a kinnie or whatever the kids are calling it these days but it really felt like this:

tl;dr I came for the wardrobe and stayed for the waxing about art philosophy and historiography

Why I don’t: ... undermining the revolution wasn’t great...

Favorite episode: I’m a big fan of 2.06 because... you know...

but also because we had to wait 14 episodes to see this pirate on a fuckin boat

Favorite season: Season three features so many of my favorite tropes it feels unreal... Jack and Charles as co-captains sharing authority and declaring their undying loyalty to each other... the way he goes full dandy the moment he has money to burn... Jack has to gain the approval of his judgmental father-in-law... his homoerotic rivalry with Rogers... getting arrested and then rescued by his significant others in the most dramatic way possible... I choose to believe that there was a brief, shining moment right before the beginning of season 3 where Jack was able to just chill and be optimistic about the future and bask in Charles Vane’s approval amidst his pile of gold and new wardrobe while Anne and Max were off doing lesbian stuff...

Favorite line: “It’s the art that leaves the mark, but to leave it, it must transcend, it must speak for itself, it must be true,” I mutter to myself as I draw vampire pirates at 1am

Favorite outfit: oof what a question...

This look is probably my overall favorite and there’s a good reason why it’s the outfit he’s wearing for the final climactic battle. He has so many amazing coats, but the details on this one make it my favorite, and I also love that gradient scarf and the pink embroidered shirt. The color and pattern mixing here is impeccable. It makes me appreciate his hot mess of a wardrobe in the first season more, seeing how his first outfit just looks like plain boring muslin and then more color & patterns gradually get introduced.

This is my runner-up just because I love the shade of blue and the prince charming vibes that are happening here, so I’m sad that we only saw this look for like 3 seconds.

OTP: I can’t remember the last time I cared about a ship as much as I care about VaneRackham.... sometimes I get mad that they succeeded in making me have these Feelings about fictional characters... I watched a show with multiple canon gay relationships and ended up fixating on the queerbait white man ship where one of the characters dies, because I have questionable taste and I love making myself suffer. 😩

Brotp: Jack and Max’s relationship means so much to me 💕

Head Canon: This might be me projecting, but because of his background in textiles I headcanon that Jack was more competent at sewing than anyone else on the Ranger and that skill came in incredibly useful on more than one occasion. The fancy coats that we see him wearing in seasons 3 & 4 most likely would have been custom tailored specifically for him, but I imagine that all of his earlier ones were acquired secondhand (one way or another) and he sometimes did patching/adjustments on them himself.

Unpopular opinion: I respect the artistic liberties that were taken with his character design, but he should have been allowed to wear some silk stockings and show off his calves at least once tbh

A wish: Obviously my #1 wish is that Jack and Charles had been permitted to kiss, but I also wish that we had been able to see them on a ship together clearly I have no choice but to assume that whenever they were on a ship together there was lots of kissing going on An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: man it would sure suck if Jack was executed for piracy within like three years of the series finale 5 words to best describe them: this adam ant looking motherfucker

My nickname for them: my guy/my dude

[all-chickens-are-trans]

here‘s an ask about black sails: who‘s your favourite character so far?? whose wardrobe are you most jealous of? and whose hair?? 😱 any plot twists you weren‘t expecting? 😉

oooohhh thanks for letting me talk about this show!!! I love it so much!!!

favorite character:

hard to say, I love them all so much for so many different reasons. gotta say, flint is just it. like. THE most character. I feel like I hit the jackpot with that one, he fills so many of my needs in a fictional character. dark, broody, drenched in shame, fucked up moral compass but with extremely intricate ways to justify his deeds, perfect fashion sense, queer. 

though it’d be unfair to quite a few other characters if I only named him. I absolutely friggin’ LOVE Anne, I want her there more. Like, all the time. And when she’s there, I want it to be about her completely, not just about her in relation to other characters like Max and Jack. Nothing wrong with Max and Jack (and I’m completely obsessed with her relationships to both of them) but I just want to know who she is outside of that. or, inside of that, but with the focus more on her. if that makes sense.

and I am absolutely 100% devoted to Miranda Barlow. ugh i’m pretty sure i’m literally in love with her?? she’s beautiful, she’s so intelligent, she knows what she wants, she’s a sight to behold when she lets her passions overtake her!! the way she says “fuck social norms” with that quiet grin of hers???? hottest shit i’ve ever seen. 

wardrobe:

all of them. I say i wanna be a pirate and I swear it’s 60% due to the looks. Jack Rackham is obviously a style icon like no one else, but then you look at Max and it’s like!! Ma’am!!! I need ALL of your dresses AND your pro tips for eyeliner!! and I gotta admit, like every hyperfixation i have this one random character - not always my favorite, not always the one character i kin the most - just one character whose look i try to emulate in the following months of my obsession. so far, i had john watson, balthazar jones, joyce byers, in recent months, sprotte, and now, if i can get my hands on some nice pirate shirts and boots, it’s definitely going to be flint. style icon. seriously. he can wear ANYTHING and I’ll want it.

hair:

this is a text i sent last night. i think it explains everything. (I also want his beard.)

image descriptions and plot twists below the cut

[image description:

a grey chat window with the following text:

“flint: *has long hair and a cute lil ponytail* me: I’m gonna let my hair grow out flint: *has a buzzcut* me: i’m gonna shave my head”

/ image description end]

plot twists:

gotta say, I was really surprised, and more importantly, really pissed at Miranda dying at the end of s2. Not just because I loved her so much, but because I also felt like it was solely done as a way to get some character development for Flint, to drive him deeper into darkness and all that. And I’m just sick and tired when women die to further some guy’s plot. It’s been a while since I saw that done as extensively as here.

not a dramatic twist per se, but I also didn’t expect the way Dufresne would turn out as a character. I was really fond of him in s1, and the way he just got darker and more selfish/focused on self-preservation is something i didn’t expect. I’m not complaining though. I still think he’s one of the most interesting side characters.

and again, not really a twist, but?? when the whole Anne/Max thing started happening and Jack was kinda weird and upset about it, I was like?? wait?? what??! they were supposed to be romantically involved?? which I just didn’t realize, because I guess I forgot that uhh, heteronormativity exists and amatonormativity and mononormativity are a part of it? I just thought they were bros for life with benefits, you know? Really funny when I realized their partnership was meant to be a romantic one. (I mean it’s not necessarily written in an overly romantic way. which is so, so good i think!! they’re partners, in the most ambiguous sense of the word. i love that.)

[sappsorrow]

OKAY THESE ARE SOME QUESTIONS much to think about @stripedroseandsketchpads thank you

1. It’s been so long since I last watched Black Sails I’m probably forgetting all the nuances of the characters but lbr those guys are gonna start eating each other way sooner than the Terror lads. Okay no wait I was just going to write something stupid but actually Silver and Flint / Fitzjames and Crozier parallels……I’m too exhausted to make a clever point but like Silver and Fitzjames’ whole concept of identity (yeah I know I know Jack Rackham wore it better) and Flint and Crozier getting shafted by the English bc gay/irish/gay irish and having to leave the love of their life behind, and the pursuit of something that you don’t even really want as a slow masochistic means of ending your own life. Hmmmmmm. Basically sword fighting scene/“are we brothers francis” idk where I’m going with this except I suppose to say they would all wind up in roughly the same place because stories about gay people on boats is all the same. But pirate Fitzjames gets a big hat with a feather in it.

2. GOOGLE SEARCH HOW MUCH COCAINE CAN YOU DO BEFORE YOU DIE ...the contrast in gay energies...Copley’s wall of photos except it’s just instances of Primo causing problems on purpose. fbskdfndk I love him but he’s not going to live forever, and the novelty would wear off once he outlived his normal lifespan and had to start switching identities and sleeping in shitty traincars and keeping his head down. Can’t wear such loud outfits if you’re trying to be incognito :((

I guess Nicky did canonically live during the 70s and since I think moustache marinelli is his peak look then I hereby submit my petition for 70s Nicky moustache. Why are you booing me I’m right. Maybe still gets to snipe someone from the top of his car idk. Probably doesn’t kidnap anybody but if he ran into Paul in Rome would maybe buy him some shoes because the kid’s a charity case (and Paul would immediately hawk them for a bottle of cheap champagne and some face glitter)

[angryhausfrau-writes]

I Travel Troubled Oceans: Chapter 9 - In Which Charles, Anne, and Mary Hang Out

Charles flops down next to Anne on the sofa, right on top of the blanket she's trying to pull out of its artsy drape and into something that will actually cover her. It's pouring rain outside, which explains why Charles is home instead of out working on his tan – but it don't explain why he's bothering her.

“Fuck do you want, Charles?”

Charles ignores Anne's snarling with the ease of long familiarity. “We haven't hung out in a while.” He shrugs. “Thought it might be nice.”

Anne scoffs. “Jack kick you out, then?”

Charles laughs. “He's reading on the shitter-”

“So we'll see him sometime tomorrow, then,” Anne interrupts.

Charles grins. “I'll follow him a lot of places, but that's not one of 'em.”

Anne laughs and moves her legs so Charles can sit down without breaking her legs. And they sit in silence for a while, neither of them being all that inclined towards talking.

But eventually Anne breaks it to say, “Used to be him, following you around like a puppy. It bother you it ain't like that no more?”

Anne's blunt as always. But it's probably the reason her and Charles get along so well – neither of them one to mince words.

Charles shrugs. “This is Jack's world. Max's world. I wouldn't know the first thing about navigating it.”

But Jack's always been sharp. Been able to read people. To plot the course through troubled waters and come out the other side victorious, teeth bared and bloody from the fight.

So no, Charles doesn't mind following a man like that.

Anne nods in understanding. “It ain't a world I know much about either. But I don't mind it as much as I thought I would.”

That's a bit of an understatement, if she's being honest. She's not Charles, she hadn't lived in rat infested leaky shitholes out of some sense of strength or pride. She'd done it cuz she'd had no choice.

And now that she's got the choice of being inside, nice and dry and warm, instead of out on a corner somewhere, pushing. Well, she's willing to fight to keep it. Even if she's gotta go through every rich fuckhead in London.

Although she's looking forward to a little action, if she's being honest. They've been gathering intel on various upper-class creeps for a while now. And Anne knows that they're playing the long game, here. And that Max is more interested in blackmail and leverage than any immediate material benefit. But Anne's itching to knife someone – or at least lift a wallet or two. She wouldn't want to get rusty.

“Things have been a little slow, though, lately, ain't they?”

Charles looks consideringly at her for a long minute.

“You want to go out?”

It's not an ideal day for it, given it's pissing rain. But Charles has a list of a few lower-level bureaucrats in the Councilor's office he's allowed to intimidate. And, thanks to his own tireless efforts collecting gossip, a whole list of ways to keep them in line. Some of which don't even have anything to do with threatening their lives, which is novel.

Anne shrugs. “Beats sitting around here.”

A pause.

“Think Mary'd want to come?”

Which from Anne is as good as an admission that she wants Mary along. That she likes spending time with her and wants to do it as much as possible And that is as good a confession of sappy love-like feelings as Anne is going to make.

So Charles, as a good friend, says, “Doesn't hurt to ask. She can't be busy with Jack's social media shit all the time.”

Jack emerges from the bathroom to a silent and empty house. Which is unusual – there's enough people living there that there's always someone around, even if it's one of the housekeepers and not the people who actually live there. And Charles has a penchant for loud music with lots of pounding basslines, so it's never really quiet when he's around.

But, as Jack wanders through empty room after empty room, it's becoming apparent that he's by himself in the house for once. And if that's the case, then it doesn't hurt to indulge in a little “me time,” now does it?

Jack makes a beeline for Anne's bathroom – the one with the nicest bathtub, even though she hardly uses it. And he lights some candles and puts on some soft music and lets the tub fill with hot water and lavender scented foam. And Jack may even pour himself a glass of wine, even though it's barely past noon. But he's a man of leisure now, and surely that allows for the occasional bout of day drinking.

He relaxes into the warm bath, his head cushioned on a folded towel, closes his eyes and breathes out all the stress and anxiety and worry about succeeding that he's been holding since this whole venture started.

Eme drives them all to the posh councilor's office downtown. One of those real bullshit steel and glass monstrosities that are meant to make you feel like some kinda insignificant piece of shit out on the sidewalk. But Charles has never been one to be plagued by self-doubt.

They strut into the towering, ostentatious and austere lobby. No appointment. No credentials. Just sheer chutzpah. Mary feels a little out of place, next to Charles and Anne. But she's also really looking forward to Charles Vane and Anne Bonny putting the fear of God into some of the sick fucks she's been putting files together on.

There's one guy in particular she'd – well, she wouldn't mind too much if Anne or Charles actually killed him. Preferably gruesomely.

But Charles isn't looking so much like a killer right now as he flirts with lobby security. Or at least Mary thinks it's flirting? It's vaguely menacing but there seems to be quite a lot of sensuality going on for it to be entirely threatening. Just lots of intense eye-contact and smoldering happening.

But whatever the fuck all that was works and the handsome Spanish security guard lets them through the little turnstyle barricade and Charles saunters towards the elevators, with Anne and then Mary following.

Charles grins and he can see in the mirrored door of the elevator that it's more of a snarl. He hadn't been lying to Anne when he'd said he didn't mind Jack leading them. But it feels good to be on the hunt again, with a crew – a crew he trusts - at his back. An adversary in front of him (or behind him, at this point, though Charles can also see the way the security guard's eyes stay on him, piercing) who understands who they both are – who sees and recognizes who Charles is, just as Charles recognizes him.

And then the elevator doors open to deposit a blonde woman in a skirt suit and Charles, Anne, and Mary disappear into the heart of the building, rocketing towards the thirty-eighth floor and the man they've come to threaten. It's too late to stop them. Too late to raise the alarm. Too late to do anything about their presence but wish them happy hunting.

It's not that Jack doesn't like running the crew. He'd been gunning for that position since before Charles ran away. Not to replace Charles, you understand, but to be on equal footing with him. To be seen by him, respected by him as an equal.

And then Charles had gone away for that two-stretch and there had been something of a power vacuum. One which Jack was all too ready and able to exploit. He'd been running Charles's former crew within a month and just sort of kept on running it even after Charles got out of prison.

Because he'd done a good job of running the crew. It's not boasting, it's just fact.

But then the whole Flint versus Eleanor debacle had happened. And now there's another power vacuum to fill – an even larger one, what with one of the richest men in London's extensive crime empire and one of the best street-level bosses out of the game. And Jack would be an idiot not to exploit that fact, even without Max and Mr. Scott there to convince him into it.

But it's so different to what he's done before, to what he knows.

He agrees with Max's end goal, of course. Integrating themselves into the existing power structure so thoroughly that they can get away with all the crimes the ruling class gets away with by dint of their name or lineage or wealth. And maybe make some of those fuckers pay their due along the way.

But that doesn't make it easy, leaving behind everything he's ever known for this scam. And it's even more difficult to know if he's plotting the right course. If he's doing right by his crew, who are his responsibility now.

The books never really prepare you for the harsh realities of leadership and glory and renown. Probably because the people writing them don't actually give half a shit about the people who got them there.

Like Flint, who both reviled and needed his crew and fell short of his goals because he underestimated them.

Like Eleanor, who refused to listen to anyone about anything and it cost her everything.

Jack refuses to be like either of them. Refuses to fall the way they did. If he's going to fail, it's going to be as Jack Rackham – and no one else.

Feeling much better after his strange, reverse-psychology internal monologue, Jack gets out of the bath to dry off and perhaps luxuriate in a robe on one of his many tasteful divans. Because really, there's no point in pretending to be a rich gay drama queen if he can't have an excessive number of divans in his home.

Unfortunately, his plans are ruined by the return of Charles, Anne, and Mary, back from- wherever they were. Probably up to no good, if the rather bloodthirsty smiles they're sporting is any indication. But Charles knows better than to cross Max – and Anne wouldn't unless there was a very, very good reason. And they come bearing take away. So it's probably nothing to worry about.

Everything's going to be fine.

Probably.

[missbrunettebarbie]

Black Sails season 1

Welp, I just finished this. And let me tell you, it was a ride. I think in the last two episodes the show truly shined and I hope it keeps going on in season 2. I enjoy the entire format, with no true leads and just a list of characters allowed to have their own personhood and agendas.

Honestly, I am not sure how faithful this post is to my actual thoughts as they changed from one episode to another, but I'll try to break down my opinion of the characters below, in no particular order.

Miranda Barlow

Probabil the first character that truly made me love (actual love, not mere like+fascination) her. From the moment she refused to be intimidated by that pastor, I was very into her. Also, unrelated, but she has such a nice voice.

Her backstory is tragic, but not depressing. Her relationship with Flint varies from heartwarming to heartwrecking. I love how divided people's opinions about her are: either a witch who controls Flint with her sinister magic or a poor woman kept away under a pirate captain's reign of terror. Yet, she is neither, lol.

If she was maried to the eldest son of an earl iirc, she was probably of high birth too. I imagine living in Nassau as a puritan wasn't easy for her and I kind of liked she latched into Richard to provide a better life for her and Flint.

On the note of her "betrayal", I know where she's coming from, but did she really think Flint would give everything up? For her? I kinda enjoy her confidence, lmao.

James Flint

The captain was like an onion for me, I had to peel away layers to understand him. The end result? I like him. He is probably one of the smartest people, yet his ego is his biggest enemy. (@wisteria-lodge I think he is a perfect example of Snake secondary who really knows how to use his skills for leadership. Idk, I thought you'd like to be tagged in since I think I might use your terms a bit.)

I can't believe he basically murdered his chief cheerleader??? God, this man has no reservations. Tho again considring what he did in the pilot this is tame for him.

But he was right about the Urca. And he was right about wanting to keep a part of the gold bc we all know his men will waste it all away. So, I hope he still gets to be captain next season.

His relationship with Eleanor is really touching, for some reason? I already said I find them similar and I love how they more or less think of themselves as king/queen, the most intelligent, yet their egoes>>>>any other trait they have.

He is yet another Snake secondary whose skills of deception are unebievably good.

John Silver

I liked him so much in the pilot when he stole the page and prentended to be a cook and now the finale brought back all the feels. Silverflint is so amazing and I adore their journey and Silver's strange sense of loyalty towards him.

He and Max are another duo that was delicious to watch. To qoute @laufire : they are indeed birds of a feather.

I am also hear for his confidence and his ability to get out of trouble. I cannot believe he won both Randall AND Eleanor over.

Max of Nassau

Not many things to say about her since I could hardly tolerate her storyline this season. But well, she did end up the Madame, didn't she?

The moment she got rid of Eleanor was O: but also :DD. You go, girl! And why are all their emotional talks related to send? Anidala is haunting me.

I can't believe how smug she looked when her naked body pretty much quelled Anne's rage. This woman is something else.

Billy Bones

I refuse to belive what episode 8 told us. I just refuse. He and Silver were the only attractive guys in this show, so bring him back.

His relationship with Flint was chef's kiss. And how the rest of the crew was like: "We can forgive everything, but not Billy." Be still my heart.

Jack Rackham

If it wasn't for him, I couldn't have stomached the first five or so episodes. He is a delight! I need his sunglasses and I need them now.

He is another person whose brain amazes me? If Vane would have just listened they would have been the one chasing the Urca and all thanks to Jack.

I already talked about Jack and trust, but now I wonder if Max chose him to sell the page to because he knew he was trustworthy while also extanding his trust towards them.

Him and Anne are hawt together, lol.

Jack better be a captain next season. Not that I don't enjoy his pimp role, but... he needs adventure.

Eleanor Guthrie

Maybe it is her outfits, maybe it is how Maxanor developed, maybe her relatable daddy issues, but I actually like Eleanor.

Girl is smart, but sadly not on the same level as Flint, Jack or Silver. Yet, she doesn't want to give an inch to so....yeah.

I think the moment I was truly sold on her was when she was in control of the island and her next order of business was killing her father. Can she actually do it, show? Pretty please.

....Lau made me hope for a change in dynamic for her and Mr. Scott cause I don't like it rn.

And like, the others:

I think I will be much more interested in Vane and Vane/Eleanore if he was played by a different actor.

Anne is the woman pirate I never knew I needed. I loved how she felt about Max and her abuse and how she took things in her own hands. She and Jack are also sweet.

Idelle looks too good not to have more screen time.

I will say one thing about Mr. Scott storyline: I really liked he helped the slaves and they got good things out of it.

I am most likely forgetting something, but eh. I will just make smaller posts later if other things come to mind.

[fluorescentpipedream]

Dark and Stormy 

“Ugh...” Bill scowled as he set down the tall glass on the polished marble bar-top Baccarat Bar and leaned back in his seat a little. Taking the lime off the side of his glass, he bit into it and held his hand up for the bartender, ordering a jack and coke instead. As the man took the glass away, he turned to see Rob staring at the ornate glass thing ahead of him them, behind the bar itself. After a moment or two, Rob blinked and looked away from the thing, nodding his head to Bill and came over to him. The two talked for a moment before agreeing to move away from the crowded bar and off to one of the small enclaves. They settled into one that had a long couch, where Bill sat and crossed his legs at the knee and crushed blue velvet chairs across from it, which Rob sat in, leaning forward slightly as he tried to get situated in the thing. He seemed a little uncomfortable for a moment or two, while he got settled but when the waitress came over he seemed to relax a bit more. The waitress asked them for their order and Bill shrugged. 

“I’d ask for a dark and stormy but I already know how that’s going to play out..can I get a glass of water to go with my jack and coke?” He raised the glass he’d brought with him from the bar. Rob ordered an old fashioned and Bill smirked. Of course...he was an older man, after all. After a pause, Rob asked the young woman to bring around the cigar box as well. 

“Do you mind?”  Bill shook his head, he didn’t smoke himself but he wasn’t going to tell Rob he couldn’t indulge. When the young woman left them, Bill leaned back on the gold couch and pulled his t-shirt down a little as it rode up his stomach. 

“What’s a dark and stormy?” 

“It’s ginger beer, dark rum and a lime to calm the spice down”

“It sounds awful. How did you come to try that the first time?”

Bill chuckled. Adam had the same reaction the last time he’d seen him.

“It was in Nassau. I’d been on Paradise Island for a book signing and had a few days to kill before heading home. The hotel manager where I was staying originally suggested a little bed and breakfast near Fort Nassau. I’m a history buff so I booked myself a room and ended up staying for a few weeks. Took some tours, saw things I never imagined...spent the better part of a few days just sitting on the beach.”

“Ahh. I was there once for training but didn’t get to see a whole lot. What was so special about that particular B & B?”

“It’s one of the oldest buildings on the island, having been there since the Golden Age of Piracy and according to the man who owns it, it was the brothel where Jack Rackham and Charles Vane once lived. No telling how much of that was true, but there were some convincing historical markers all over the place He actually went with me to the Exuma Cays and had a little adventure with the swimming pigs.” Rob repeated the words and Bill took his phone from his back pocket, pulling up a picture of him and another man in crystal blue waters and surrounded by wild pigs. 

“Well alright then...how did they get there?” 

“I asked the same thing...no one really knows. The myth is related to the golden age of piracy, they swam to an uninhabited island after a shipwreck and eventually took over. No one actually lives in the Cays so it’s pretty much a free area for them. We also got to feed manta rays and see...” He held up a picture of himself holding a starfish. “It was a hell of a day trip actually. After we came back to the B & B, Jack made us some dinner and we sat beside a fire, bare feet in the sand, watching the moon over the water. He’s an odd fellow, very old soul.”

“So were you and him....?”

“No, Jack is -mostly- straight.” Bill laughed and leaned forward, taking a drink before setting his glass back down again. “ But I’d consider him a friend. He seemed kind of lonely, honestly.” Hearing his name, he turned his head slightly and held his hand up to acknowledge a large group of the 30 somethings that were standing near the edge of the bar. Excusing himself, he moved over to the side to talk to them for a moment. 

“They’re all heading to the Crystals, but apparently Joey is splurging at some steak house in the Aria tonight. We’re expected, of course.”

“Hmm..” Rob was looking at his phone and Bill raised an eyebrow as he sat back down again. His own phone beeped at him and he leaned back, taking a small pill case out of his pocket and took one of the white pills inside with his water. As he washed it down with a sip from his drink, Rob had put his phone away again. The waitress came and brought him his cigar, cut it and lit it for him and set down another round of drinks for them as well. After he took a drag, Bill motioned to his phone. 

“Boyfriend?” Bill asked.

“Hmm...I’m not sure what we are really. Mike is....I don’t know”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s strange having someone my sister’s age”

“You need a man”

“Hmm”

“Rob,” Bill sighed and took a moment to choose his next words carefully. The bar was relatively quiet for mid-afternoon and soft jazz played around them. As he looked over Rob he wrinkled his nose. 

“It’s okay to start at this life late. Better late than never”

Rob frowned and took another long drag from the cigar. It was a Opus X Rare Black, one of the newer ones they had and definitely one of the more expensive ones on the menu. Even from where he was sitting, Bill could taste nutmeg and leather and as Rob breathed it in, he was pleasantly surprised by the spicy flavor. 

“What’s that look for?” 

Bill smirked and licked his lips. “I never considered cigars to be sexy before...that smells like leather and chocolate.” Rob laughed and offered it to the other man who turned it down. 

“Tell me about the first time you realized you were gay.” 

Rob looked a little taken aback and Bill narrowed his eyes at him. “You need to be able to say the word, if we’re going to get anywhere. Rob...You’re gay. There’s nothing wrong with that...from what your sister has said, your family isn’t against you, which is lucky. So where’s this coming from?” 

Rob sighed. “The first person I was ever with was my best friend. We spent every waking moment together since we were in Elementary school I think. The first time I really noticed him in that way though....it was back in junior high school. It’s cliche but we went swimming and for some reason seeing him get out of the water floored me. We kissed but we had to keep it a secret and somewhere in the middle of that, I panicked. I enlisted almost immediately after my 18th birthday to try to run from it....I broke his heart. He got married and still lives in Nawlins...” Rob was irritated and blew out a cloud of smoke, exasperatingly adding “I’ve had 3 wives, five kids and one of those sons tells me that he doesn’t feel he was ever a son in the first place. I’m 52 years old and feel like I’ve wasted my life...” 

Bill frowned and scoot forward so he could lay his hand on Rob’s knee, though the other man looked almost nervous when he did so. Seeing his discomfort, Bill took his hand away and leaned back again. 

“That’s part of your issue right now...you’re so ashamed of who you are you aren’t giving yourself a chance to actually figure out who that is.” 

Rob scowled but he knew the other man was right. “The first time I start dating, I do it with a guy who is half my age and more flamboyant than a damn peacock...sometimes. Mike is weird..” 

“He’s young. He’s still trying to figure out what kind of gay he is.” 

“He’s a damn genius, certified.”

“That doesn’t mean he’s got everything figure out.” 

“Honestly, I think I’m a rebound.” 

“What makes you say that?” 

“His ex beat him and tried to get the upper hand on him, Mike told me about it when I got a little rough with him and he coiled up like a snake. Told me he’d bashed the other man on the head with something and left.” 

“He’s upgraded then” 

“He still loves Travis though...”

“That’s his problem, not yours. What kind of man could you see yourself being with?” 

“I’ve never really given it much thought...” 

“Surely you’ve...experimented? The military is about as gay as it gets.” Bill winked at him and the two laughed. 

“I’ve had a few...” 

“Top or bottom?” 

“What?” 

“Are you in control or not?” Bill looked at him and Rob shrugged. “Both...I think I actually like being the one not in control though...” 

“You’re a bottom then...huh I never would have thought, honestly.” 

“I can’t believe I’m having this conversation in the middle of a cigar bar in Las fucking Vegas.” 

“Would you rather have it at the pool? You need to be able to be open about this kind of shit...this is your life. So...what do you want?” 

“Every time I think about it, every single times, I end up falling back into the box that I’m too old to even worry about it anymore.” 

“A lot of young men love the father figure idea, which I’ll never understand. That ‘daddy’ kink just kills me. But that’s their thing. Do you like it?” 

“Eh...there’s something about a younger man on his knees, looking up at me with all the desire in his eyes but honestly I can’t see that turning into much more than a couple of rounds and then us parting ways. Which is the issue I think I have with Mike. I find myself wanting to actually treat him like my son.” 

“So you need someone your own age.” 

“Eh...I’ve never met a lot of old gays.” 

“I’m an old gay, Rob. What do you think, we all dissolve after 35?” 

“You’re not that old though. I’m a senior citizen for fuck’s sake” 

Bill pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned forward, sneering slightly as he spoke. “For fuck’s sake, Rob! You are NOT that old! Sebastian told me how you put him in his place with the parkour/pull up thing...that’s not easy to do. Fuck, you showed up half of the little punks at the gym this morning.” 

Rob looked down and smiled a little, thinking about it. The boys had been younger than Frankie and been making snide comments about the sexy girls in the gym and the old fart that shouldn’t be in there in the first place, he might break his hip. Bill had been doing pull ups beside him, with Rob counting, when one of the boys had started on him again he benched three times what the little pissant had, without even flinching.  

“You know the answer to the question I keep asking you...what do you want?” 

“I want to walk up to my former friends’ house and see if there’s any way he’d ever take me back.” 

“I thought he was married.” 

“His husband died a few months back...” 

“That’s terrible...but maybe having a friend like you coming back into his life would actually be a good thing...The least you can do right now is see where he is in the situation...would he be interested or should you move on. It’s a lot easier than you’re making it. But if the kid isn’t making you happy...there’s no shame in telling him that. Maybe it’ll give him a chance to find out what he really wants to do with his life.”

“Or he’ll go back to an abusive drunk.” 

“There’s no shame in keeping up with him but once you break it off, you aren’t responsible for what he does. You’re not his father...” Bill leaned forward and picked up his drink and with the glass pressed against his bottom lip he said “you’re his fuck buddy.” Rob looked bewildered and the other man laughed into his drink, setting it down again. 

“What about you? All of your friends are -mostly- straight.” Rob fired back at him. 

Bill frowned and dropped his head to one side, pushing his blond hair out of his face when he pulled it up again and sighed. “I’m almost 40 years old and AIDS positive.” Rob knew but still looked shocked at how cavalier he was about it . 

“I’m not ashamed, Rob. I fucked up, shared needles while I was an addict and paid for it...ultimately with my life. But I refuse to let this thing kill me without actually enjoying my life. I was in love once, but he and I turned out to be better friends. Anyone else I’ve been with never really takes hold and honestly...” Bill thought about it for a moment. “I don’t want someone that can make me scream into a pillow or beg me to make him cum. I’ve had some time to think about this and what I want is someone I can talk to, travel with, see the world and just...spend the days with...” He trailed off for a moment. “Those nights on the beach with Jack, that’s what I want. Except with him, I know it’s just friendship and I’m fine with that, though I’d love to have someone that loves me as much as I do him, is as adventurous as I am and will be there to hold my hand when I take my final breath.” 

It was sad when he really thought about it and often tried not to do so, but the biggest thing about him, Bill wasn’t ashamed of where he was in life. After his diagnosis, he’d decided to make the best of it and to do everything he possibly could. He had a bucket list and was slowly ticking things off of it. He’d climbed Everest, been to the Bahamas and was hoping to get to Argentina to go fishing specifically but he wanted to go from there to Chile and see the ruins and before he’d come on this little birthday trip, he’d been training to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. Bill wanted to live and do all the things people would tell him he wouldn’t be able to because of his diagnosis. After a moment, he leaned forward and picked up the cigar Rob had been smoking, taking a drag off of it and coughed a few times before setting it down. 

“Good god...I guess I can cross that one off my list too...” 

Rob sat in silence for a moment while he tried to digest most of what Bill had said and had told him about what had happened in his life and how he’d just picked up and turned it into something else. For himself, Rob had wasted most of his life hiding who he really was, and what did he have to show for it? In two days, his little sister was going to be surprised with a wedding, he knew about it, and their parents were going to be there too. He was here early, having told her that he wanted to do something spontaneous and randomly decided to come to Vegas. Mike couldn’t come with him or hadn’t wanted to come or...whatever the reason was and Rob knew Frankie was smart enough she was eventually going to figure out that something was going on. Which is one of the reasons he was spending as much time away from her and her friends.

As  Bill suddenly leaned forward and took his cigar from him, Rob chuckled, though stopped when Bill mentioned his list. Bill took a couple of drinks of water to clear his throat and wiped the corners of his mouth as he tried to breathe without coughing. 

“So...what do you think of this surprise wedding thing? I don’t think I’ve seen anyone as totally in love with another person as I have with Sebastian and your sister. I see why he turned me down when I met him.” 

“Considering her his---...wait. You hit on him?” Rob’s eyes widened. 

“Oh yeah...wouldn’t you?” 

“He’s not really my type.” 

“Oh so you do have one....” 

“I have questions about Joey but he’s a good kid. And Jasper....” 

“Yeah....he’s definitely easy to look at.” Rob smiled, in spite of himself and Bill only grinned at him. 

“You old fag...Want to get your hands on that ass, huh?” 

“...”

“I’m teasing. I think he knows honestly..” 

“That makes it worse.” 

“The man’s a professional fighter and spends most of his time in tight shorts and no shirt, he’s got to know there are people that jack off to his pictures.” 

Rob went quiet for a moment before suddenly laughing. “I used to have the issue of Men’s Health in my office...” 

“Oh so did I.” 

After a few minutes of silence their conversation turned to Bill’s next book, or next adventure and if he would ever consider writing an actual travel book...the stuff they don’t tell you when you have an illness and still want to see the world. Rob invited him the New Orleans to go fishing in the spring for red fish. “They’re a trash fish but they’re actually really good if you cook them right...” And then it turned to the two of them planning a trip to Argentina to go fly fishing with a company called Solid Adventures. 

“The idea of a 38lb glacier king salmon is too much to pass up in my short lifetime” Bill laughed as he had the waitress come back to their table, though this time it was for the check. Rob paid this time, and Bill playfully asked him if this was a date as they stood up and walked out of the bar. Sebastian had texted that they were on their way back to get changed for dinner, Joey’s dad was going to have a car take them over in an hour.  

“Do you really think Frankie is going to be surprised by this wedding thing?” 

“I think so. She’ll never go through another one that she’s got to plan, I think it’s better that its getting sprung on her. And as much as I want to hate him, you’re right. No one has ever loved her as much as that man does.”

[alltid-og-for-evig]

Tagged by @captstjohn​ <3

Five male characters I love:

(Look, I like villains)

1. Klaus Mikaelson

I don’t have the right language to describe how much I love him. I guess I’m just a sucker for a tragic backstory? And characters who are a little murderous. He’s been working so hard just to survive and have a home and he deserves happiness!!!! 

2. Topher Brink

Just trying his best. Is definitely the smartest one in the room. Love a nerdy boy and look at all those button ups over t-shirts!! The writers need to leave him alone because he’s just trying to be a science boy and he didn’t mean to start an apocalypse...  

3. Oswald Cobblepot

Look, if you give me a character who’s been abused/bullied, give him the goal of rising the ranks to become leader, then constantly knock him down five pegs only for him to climb seven, I’m going to love him!! I have no choice! Dude just wants to be king and we should let him!

4. Jack Rackham

I like smart guys with quick tongues, what can I say? Jack drinks his Respect Women Juice and just wants to be a legend. He also galaxy brained when he decided Anne would be the love of his life and I respect him for that. 

5. Spike

Again... I love the good guys turned bad guys. Spike just wants to prove himself, he just tries so hard to be bad and I love him for that. He’s really only one of my faves because he’s the first character I can remember loving. I have adored his character longer than I can remember. (which probably explains a lot about the type of characters I love)

Honorable Mentions!

Leonard Snart Another smart villain who could talk his way out of hell. I cry every time I see him. Idk what happened but I was just innocently watching the Flash and then suddenly he was my favorite character and I cried harder over his cameo after his Legends death than the actual angst plot-line that was happening in the Flash at that point... 

Larry Trainor Gay boy just needs love!! This boy can fit so much internalized homophobia in him. I just want to give him a hug! Deserves all the love in the world. 

Hannibal Lecter Gotta love a cannibal psychologist. The most dramatic man I’ve ever seen. I love every iteration of him. 

Damon Salvatore This one is very predictable. He gives me Spike vibes and I just want him to be happy. 

Tagging anyone who wants to do this because it’s too early for me to think and I haven’t had my coffee yet. 

[stephantom]

I’m a few episodes into Black Sails, and I want to say a couple things:

“My name is John Silver, and I happen to be a very good cook.” I knew going in that it was a Treasure Island fanfic, in part, but I kept forgetting. But this moment and delivery was perfectly Long John Silver. And overall, I feel the execution of the character feels like a really good blend of the character as we see him in Treasure Island, and some satisfying extrapolation. It makes sense that this guy can later see young Jim Hawkins and tell him, “You remind me of myself when I was young” with a tiny hint of truth. Because he is a wide-eyed adventurer in over his head, even if a self-serving and cunning one.

Good music, costumes, sets.

I love that, having recently played through Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, all the Nassau sets feel extremely familiar. (lol really, I feel like I’ve practically been there. and I just want to do parkour in the background of all these scenes.)

Familiar faces too: Jack Rackham, Anne Bonnie, Charles Vane. Different from AC4:BF’s interpretation, of course, but still familiar-feeling. Especially Rackham, I think.

Vane seems the most different between these adaptations. I remember not liking him in AC4:BF, but without much conviction. BS Vane is more viscerally unlikable (and partly because I have a suspicion that they’re going to try to make him sympathetic--and the combined effect of him repeatedly hitting women, and him having this ridiculously chiseled porn-star look, makes that thought kind of repulsive (I know I’m being a bit of a hypocrite here because people have said similar things about being repulsed by any hint of sympathy for William in the writing of Westworld and I get annoyed by that, but, I feel how I feel is all. (But it’s different because William doesn’t think any of it is reeeeal--ok, sorry, not going down that rabbit hole in this post.))

Ok, look, maybe I just resent characters with too-perfect-for-the-story-and-setting bodies in tv in general, lol. Why would these people be this fucking ripped? And hairless? lol And oiled? Like, I know they do physical labor, but physical labor required for a job doesn’t give you a fucking six-pack and v-cut. (Billy is guilty of this too, but I’ll get to him.)

Somewhat related, I want to say: something I am not digging so far is the love scenes. Damnit, you can���t introduce characters and/or character relationships with love scenes that seem to just say, “Aren’t we a ridiculously sexy cast?”, before people even have a chance to feel at all invested in them as characters. Like, I’m not against porn, but it just feels like such a cheap move? It could be so much more effective if they trusted in the story a little more from the beginning? (This is nothing new in tv the past few years, and it feels like the show just following trends, but you could say that about a lot of shows that have merit, so. Idk.)

Max Did Nothing Wrong and I am really upset by everything she is going through, what the fuck. Like, Silver and Eleanor are both very likable but the fact that they are both equally if not more culpable for Max’s “crimes” and yet neither of them has had to face any consequences like her (while she’s essentially been punished, brutally, by BOTH sides) makes me less inclined to like them.

Billy reminds me of Rowdy a little bit, so that’s nice. (Almost-awkwardly-tall blond 20-something or a young 30-something, extremely earnest and hardworking, and super conflicted about his shitty, paternalistically secretive boss*...)

*And yeah, I don’t have much patience for Flint the Gentleman Pirate Who Has To Put Up With This Rabble so far, and the show sure seems to want me to fall in love with him, and I’m a little resentful of that, but also: I guess it could happen. We’ll see what they do with him. I am weak for character development, whatever.

I’m being a little harsh on it, but I could be harsher on other shows which I’ve actually loved. I am actually enjoying it so far and will keep watching. I have just finished episode 4. Getting hooked within the next few episodes feels likely.

[queerwalrus]

I’ve got two shorts I’ve written a bit of and now I’m interested in which you guys would like to see more of - both snippets are under the cut.

I Guess You’re Digging The Show (aka the Hard Knocks AU)

Billy Bones is 100% sure that letting the Hard Knocks camera crew follow him home one day is the worst decision he ever made.

(His family, as genuinely crazy as they are, think it is one of his better choices)

"Billy Bones is a franchise quarterback," declares his head coach, "but nobody bothered to look before us."

Just to one side of the camera crew, Billy flushes a little. He's been with the Jets for three years now - one as a backup and two as a starter, mostly because he took the team to the playoffs after an early injury to the starter before him. He's well liked by his teammates, but he's got a reputation with the press and the fans as being notoriously close-mouthed about his personal life.

He has - reasons for that.

Two days after he arrived in New York, when nobody knew his name or his face, Billy went out to the city, got a little tipsy, found somebody to hook up with, and then had tripped and fallen into a family of actual crazy people.

The show wants him to open up about his life outside of the game. Billy absentmindedly considers what would happen if the team met his family, and thinks it for the best of they don't. He says as much. PR insists otherwise.

"It's your funeral." he tells them, and texts his roommate, who's been on standby all morning for precisely this purpose.

After two short interviews about his college career and a pause, just enough time for John and the others to have made it to their location, another fact occurs to him.

"I'm - well, you should probably know that, you see-" Billy starts.

"That his family are a bunch of flaming degenerate homosexuals?" declaims John from the doorway. He's still got glitter on his skin from last night's performance and he's wearing five inch heels.

"I'm not." says Jack, hand over his heart like he's been personally attacked.

"Jack," says Billy, tiredly, "you have business cards for your cafe that actually in print give your middle name as 'protect the lesbians'."

Jack seems to consider this for a moment. Anne and Max give him identical murderous looks.

"Fair." he says, at length.

"Can you introduce us?" says the producer, a little weakly.

"John Silver, my roommate." says Billy. John does an elaborate curtsey.

"Jack Rackham, owner of the Calico Cafe in Greenwich Village." Jack bows, hand folded neatly over his heart.

"Anne Bonny -" starts Billy.

"The MMA fighter?" asks his head coach.

"Yes." says Anne, making it the end of the discussion.

"And her girlfriend Max." Billy finishes. Max smiles, disarming as ever. Half the people in the room swoon.

"James Flint, professor of colonial history at Columbia." Billy continues. James winks, roguish.

"And his husband, Thomas Hamilton."

Thomas bounds forward to shake everyone's hand, ever the politician. Billy internally crosses his fingers that no one asks any potentially inflammatory questions.

"So how did you all meet?" asks the producer.

Like that one.

"I," says Billy, with the deep gravity that only comes from either celebrating or regretting something immensely in hindsight, "made the abysmal life choice of sleeping with John Silver."

"HEY!" say John and James in unison.

***

Tender Loving Kisses On Your Stab Wounds (aka The Arrow AU)

John Silver stretches his legs out across the cobblestones of the path in Nassau’s main square, and tilts his head back to look at the stars.

“This seems like a terrible plan.” says Max Gold, gorgeous as always in her tight black leather, gold gun strapped to her thigh. Her bike is parked next to them, and her helmet is half-hooked over her knee. She’s sitting forward, ready to run.

“It probably is.” John admits. One hand drifts up to his forehead and pushes his hair back, while the other rests on his knee, letting his thumb rub back and forth across the denim of his tight black jeans. “I’m still going to do it.”

“Are they worth potential jail time?” asks Max.

“Those leather costumes are tight enough that I can tell you they certainly are.” says John, leering in his sister’s direction.

“Size Queen.” bitches Max.

“Jezebel.” John shoots back.

“Jerk.” says Max, not without affection.

“Trainwreck.” says John, in the same tone.

“If this all pans out, I want all the details. You’re taking me to brunch on Monday. With mimosas. And you’re paying.”

John grins.

“Naturally. Now leave me be so our local superheroes can kidnap me for a weekend of kinky, kinky sex.”

Max rolls her eyes, but kisses him on the cheek and straddles her bike.

“Be careful, Johnny.” she says, and pulls on her helmet.

“I’ll make sure they know my safe word.” drawls John, and Max looks unconvinced as she flips down her visor and kicks up the kickstand.

John knows she meant he ought to be careful with his heart, and he hasn’t the courage to tell her he’s already lost it.

He hears them before they reach his bench, two men, quietly bickering, voices saccharine with love, bitter with lust. Their feet crunch across the fallen leaves, marking their progress towards John. He closes his eyes against the possibility that they had bought the police with them.

“Hello, Mister Silver.” purrs the Black Canary. John opens his eyes and looks back at the stars.

“Pretty Bird.” he purrs right back. He can feel the Green Arrow bristling at the nickname, and he smirks to himself. There are no policemen here. If there were, the Green Arrow would be too smug for the nickname to phase him.

“Have you been good for us?” asks John’s Pretty Bird, and John nods.

“Don’t be absurd.” says the Green Arrow, and there’s so much command in that tone that John has to fight his instincts down from sitting bolt upright to a full-body shiver. “There’s not a good bone in his body. He’s a disobedient little shit that we’re going to have to discipline until he submits.”

Oh, fucking hell. John’s not going to be able to walk to brunch with Max on Monday, and he’s going to love every second of the next two days and nights.

“I think he’s perfectly capable of being a good boy, given the right - inducements.” says the Canary. “Shall we test that theory?”

The Green Arrow grunts an agreement.

“Stand up, Mister Silver.” says the Canary. “And then turn around so we can see you.”

John does, and then laughs.

District Attorney Thomas Hamilton smiles back at him, an immaculate and benevolent god in his bespoke suit and black silk tie. At Thomas’ left is returned hero Lieutenant James McGraw Flint, Thomas’ lover and Nassau nightlife icon, looking dangerous in his worn-soft and see through white t-shirt and leather motorcycle jacket.

“No wonder you’re not selling me out to the police.” says John. “Do you think they’ll put us in the same cell block at The Fort, if they caught us all?”

Flint smiles, bright and dangerous.

“The police won’t be involved in this relationship.” he says. “But there’s a definitely possibility this ends with you being ours.”

John shivers a little, despite the lingering warmth of the day.

[woozapooza]

Black Sails: The Verdict

not to be obvious but this was a really good show

If I try to get into all the things I want to say about this show I’ll be writing this post for the rest of my life so I’m just gonna touch on the most important things.

I’m not sure there’s ever been a show that had this much of an emotional impact on me. I woke up in the middle of the night last night thinking about the show. I guess I must have been dreaming about it and dreamed so hard I woke myself up. I’m sincerely hoping that the day is not far off when I can think about this show more calmly. I think I’ll be able to enjoy it more when the very thought of it doesn’t make me drown in feelings. I’m grateful for the BS humor videos on youtube that are helping me take the show less seriously.

I’ve been looking at other people’s reactions to the finale and two things are clearer than ever (and they were already pretty clear): 1. This is a very complex show where no one is ever totally right or wrong. 2. My standards for TV are a lot lower than many TV fans’. I’m impressed by people who are able to be like “here’s why such-and-such episode didn’t make sense/was dissatisfying” and I sort of envy people who are that good at watching TV but I’m a lot more willing than some people to accept what a show gives me and that’s just the way it is. So I understand some people’s complaints about various things about how the show ended, and I also understand the people who have the complete opposite points of view because this show is wicked complex and there are no right answers to a lot of the big questions about it. Anyway, the following are just my onions.

Ultimately I think my favorite character was Silver. I’ve never seen a character with development like his. I know his actions in the finale are very controversial and I’m trying not to take too hard a stance on them in one direction or the other, but I think what he did was ultimately right. He prevented a war that would have been devastating (because it’s a war) and that England probably would have won anyway. It’s not like the fact that the war got cut short means people aren’t going to keep resisting the bad things about the British empire. As for what he did to Flint, I’ve seen some people get very angry with Silver for essentially selling Flint into slavery, which okay yes, but…what was he supposed to do? If he wants to end the war, he has to sacrifice Flint. Flint’s whole identity was built around fighting civilization. If Silver wanted to end the war, he had to end Flint, and the only ways to do that were to kill him or “unmake” him, and what’s the best way to do that latter? By forcibly removing Flint from his life of piracy and reuniting him with the very thing whose loss turned James McGraw into Captain Flint in the first place: Thomas Hamilton. Flint’s life was basically miserable and I can’t see any way Silver could have found happiness for Flint except by reuniting him with the man he loved. It sucks that Flint is basically trapped on the plantation, but he hates the world anyway, so I’m not sure he’d be all that devastated about being shut off from the world for the rest of his life. Plus, it was repeatedly stressed that this is place as humane as it could be while still being what it is—I mean, no one got mad at Thomas for stopping work and hugging and kissing his lover—so it’s not like he’ll be treated terribly. I’m not trying to pretend that what Silver did was totally fine, but he gave Flint the happiest ending realistically possible. What else was he supposed to do?

I know some people suspect that Silver actually killed Flint and made up the story about sending him to the plantation, but not only is that needlessly depressing when the show is throwing a much happier option at us, it doesn’t even make sense. I mean, I don’t understand the logic of literally seeing something happen and then being like “well what if that didn’t happen!” Like, it’s a show, none of it really happened, but there is still a reality at the fictional level and if the show is clearly telling us that an event is part of that reality I don’t understand the impulse to reject that event as real.

It’s striking—and pleasing—that for such an angsty show, the ending was relatively happy. The world changes, civilization wins out, but that doesn’t mean everyone’s lives are over, that there’s no room for them to be happy going forward. Flint gets to “walk away from the sea and find some peace” with his true love. (Also note that he and Thomas were separated for approximately ten years, which is, well, half the time Odysseus and Penelope were separated? So the parallel sort of works. Half works.) Silver and Madi have gone through a very rough patch, but Madi returns to Silver and I have to believe that that means she’s come to see that his point of view is legitimate, that the issue of the war was an impossibly complicated one and the fact that they had different opinions on it doesn’t make either of them wrong, and that he really loves her. I know Silver has a wife in the book (which I CANNOT WAIT TO READ), so I assume we’re supposed to think he and Madi worked it out and got married. I’m more than willing to think that. Jack and Anne are still together (till they put us in the fucking ground!), still doin’ piracy, and Jack got another lesbian for his collection. (Hi, Mary Read!!!) Max is still running Nassau, happy, powerful, able to make the world a better place, and on good terms with Anne and Jack. Featherstone is governor! I love it! Everything sucks for Woodes Rogers, which, while I didn’t really like him, is not entirely fair, to be honest. He was no more a one-dimensional villain than Flint. Billy is, uh, marooned on Skeleton Island, I guess? Well, I know he can’t die yet because he’s in the book. Actually, let me start a new paragraph about Billy.

I know a lot of people ended up straight-up hating Billy, but I didn’t. I don’t want to go into too much detail because quite honestly I’m afraid I’m going to end up saying things that are just factually incorrect but I think Billy had good intentions that led him astray. It’s sad, really. His hatred of Flint was honestly totally justified but it led him to do things he shouldn’t have done, like going through with the raid on that one plantation. I don’t know, maybe I’m going too easy on him because he was so wonderful in the first three seasons, but maybe it’s not a bad thing that I choose to remember who Billy used to be and try to see that person in who he became.

I have a ton more things I want to say but those things will have to wait for other posts. Some of them I won’t be able to articulate unless I rewatch, and god knows when I’ll have the strength to do that. I’m just so fascinated by the theme of stories (one of my favorite themes for any show to have) in particular as it relates to my dear boys Flint and Silver. Both of them take on identities they didn’t start with—civilized lieutenant James McGraw becomes “the bloodthirstiest buccaneer that sailed,” Captain Flint, and tiny precious happy John Silver becomes Terrifying Indestructible Pirate Long John Silver—and we see the stories that spring up around both of those characters but we also see these guys for who they truly are underneath all the legends and ahhhhh I’m becoming inarticulate so I’m gonna just stop that thought here. In fact, I think it’s time to wrap up this post because if I even try to say more I’m gonna be here forever. Oh, but let me just say bless Jack Rackham for that beautiful speech about stories. Whenever a character in a show or movie makes a grand speech on that topic I’m GUARANTEED to just lose it emotionally.

Last thing: the reasons I wanted to watch this show in the first place were simply that it was a period drama about pirates that had quality gay/bi representation. I built it up so much in my head that I was apprehensive about watching it but guess what, it totally met my expectations! The representation was beautiful (I want to say more words on that topic but I’ll save that for another post) and, like, there were pirates. If I may end on a shallow note (which I may because it’s my blog and I’m in charge) anything with pirates is guaranteed to be awesome.