#Sailing Under the Black Flag

[cygnetbrown]

Finally, Book VII of the Locket Saga to be released in October!

Finally, after 7 years since I published The Anvil, I have completed Book VII of the Locket Saga: Two Rivers. Now available as an eBook and coming out in paperback on October 1, 2024. How the Locket Saga Began People often ask where I get my ideas for my books. The Locket Saga series started from a dream that I had long ago. In that dream, I saw a young man and a young woman sitting on a…

[the-golden-vanity]

You're gonna need a bigger boat bookshelf.

[artsyaprilmr]

Hello! I absolutely adore your art sm 😭 I wanted to get into digital art and I wasn't sure where to begin. Could I ask what you use for digital work? I know that's not the best way to start but I'd rather get used to whatever my favorite artists are using LOL Thank you!!

Hi! I use Paint Tool Sai and Wacom Intuos Pen & Touch tablet for digital drawing :^) Both of these things are very old though, I am not sure if the tablet is even available for purchase and there are many art applications with a much wider range in functionality than SAI. I've made a mistake of using the same software for years and now I can't get used to anything that is more complex than SAI 😔 So one piece of advice from me - even if you are a beginner, try something that has more tools and functionality like Clip Studio Paint or Photoshop. You will learn how to use them gradually and won't have to re-learn anything in the future :^)

And for the tablets - I haven't upgraded mine in years so take this part with a grain of salt but the ones by wacom are (or were) considered a staple in the digital art community. My artist friends are using Huion tablets though and they are very happy with how those perform. Tablets with a screen look super cool and professional but they are very expensive and you don't need to have one to make good art, trust.

That's it I think? If you have any more questions, feel free to send them and I'll try to help (to the best of my ability lol)

[nobilismiles]

@kaehatia || LIKED for a STARTER

"With the waves as vicious as they are today, any man who breaks port must be mad." Eyes had long fixated 'pon the darkened horizon and the mixing of angry looking clouds and tumultuous water - the mix easily one that would take down the grandest of galleons. Indeed, 't was the wiser decision to temporarily delay endeavours until dear Llymlaen had finished her apparent temper tantrum.

"I'm afraid we must delay our little ferrying, my friend- I'll not lose you to the depths if I can help it. I'll not risk life for temporary forwarding."

[unboundprompts]

Pirate Terms and Phrases

-> Pirate Lingo

-> A Pirate's Glossary

Batten Down The Hatches - tie everything down and put stuff away for a coming storm.

Brig - a prison on a ship.

Bring a Spring Upon 'er - turn the ship in a different direction

Broadside - the most vulnerable angle of a ship that runs the length of the boat.

Cutlass - a thick, heavy and rather short sword blade.

Dance with Jack Ketch - to hang; death at the hands of the law (Jack Ketch was a famed English executioner).

Davy Jones's Locker - a mythical place at the bottom of the ocean where drowned sailors are said to go.

Dead Men Tell No Tales - the reason given for leaving no survivors.

Flogging - severe beating of a person.

Gangplank - removable ramp between the pier and ship.

Give No Quarter - show no mercy.

Jack - flag flown at the front of the ship to show nationality.

Jolly Roger - black pirate flag with a white skull and crossbones.

Keelhaul - a punishment where someone is dragged under the ship. They are cut by the planks and barnacles on the bottom of the ship.

Landlubber - an inexperienced or clumsy person who doesn't have any sailing skills.

Letters of Marque - government-issued letters allowing privateers the right to piracy of another ship during wartime.

Man-O-War - a pirate ship that is decked out and prepared for battle.

Maroon - to leave someone stranded on a. deserted island with no supplies, typically a punishment for any crew members who disrespected the captain.

Mutiny - a situation in which the crew chooses a new captain, sometimes by forcibly removing the old one.

No Prey, No Pay - a common pirate law that meant crew members were not paid, but rather received a share of whatever loot was taken.

Old Salt - experienced pirate or sailor.

Pillage - to steal/rob a place using violence.

Powder Monkeys - men that performed the most dangerous work on the ship. They were treated harshly, rarely paid, and were expendable.

Privateer - government-appointed pirates.

Run A Shot Across the Bow - fire a warning shot at another boat's Captain.

Scurvy - a disease caused by Vitamin C Deficiency.

Sea Legs - when a sailor adjusts his balance from riding on a boat for a long time.

Strike Colors - lower a ship's flag to indicate surrender.

Weigh Anchor and Hoist the Mizzen - an order to the crew to pull up the anchor and get the ship sailing.

If you like what I do and want to support me, please consider buying me a coffee! I also offer editing services and other writing advice on my Ko-fi! Become a member to receive exclusive content, early access, and prioritized writing prompt requests.

[rununcal]

Honestly I did not know it was Trans Visibility Day but now that I do know, I made something for the occasion! I heart this insane middle-aged guy and headcannon his trans-ness as basically just an evil and fucked up version of his previous male identity. He’s a guy but goopy and scary now.!!

(Image ID: Ink Sammy Lawrence stands over the corpse of human Sammy Lawrence. His human form is laying in a lake of black ink with various compositions scattered around him. His hair is unkept and falls into the pools. His ink form seems to have emerged from this human corpse, and stands confidently with his hands crossed as if in a coffin. His mask is tilted to the side of his head and he grins a large toothy smile. Behind him is a dripping trans flag in the shape of Bendy, and behind that is a small room with the shadows of outstretched hands all over the wooden walls. End ID.)

Very unorganized rang about how he relates to gender identity (cause I thought it would be fun) under the cut!

SAMMY LAWRENCE GENDER RANT WEE

This artwork is related to Sammy and whatever I headcannon his identity to be, yes, but it is also related to me! Sammy’s definitely one of the guys that falls under the gender umbrella for me, and so I’m using him here as a sort of expression of how I feel about my own transness. A big part of my identity is body horror and metamorphosis. What is horrific to most is still horrific, but also beautiful, to me. I would love nothing better than to literally crawl out of my own skin sometimes and live life as some freaky creature. I don’t really understand it, with me just beginning my journey and all, but I can’t deny it permeates a lot of my dreams and ambitions.

Sammy reflects a lot of that for me, as you could probably figure out. I know he hates his body in cannon, but to me it just feels so much more logical that he’d love his new body as it was given to him by Bendy himself.

Keeping that change in-mind, and also keeping in mind the undertones I’m giving him, I really like how his change into his new identity is handled. It’s no smooth sailing. I mean, he gains the new identity by hitting bedrock and going insane. But somehow, it leads him to a place filled with more fervor for life than before. Despite how low a place he’s in now, he has never felt more alive. (I’m not trying to romanticize this type of sadness by the way, I just mean that a big realization about my identity came in a dark time). I think that relates to a lot of feelings I have personally about my identity, though I cannot say for others. I just think it’s real neat.

Anyways, rant over. I just wanted to try and get my thoughts out on paper besides just saying that he’s gender. Ty for reading!

[rea-grimm]

Full moon - Werewolf Shanks

You sailed aboard the Red Force under the black flag of the red-haired pirates for a little over half a year.

During that time, you had a chance to notice Shanks regularly locking himself in his cabin once a month like clockwork. Or when you were on land, he would disappear and only come back in the morning.

You let it go. Everyone had the right to their privacy and most importantly it didn't affect your relationship in any particular way... Maybe just a little when he pushed you away with various excuses in those days.

You were sailing the sea and there was no land in sight. You saw the captain getting more and more nervous by the day. He tried to be his classic self, but you noticed the little details that gave him away.

You tried to distract him and cheer him up a bit, but it didn't help much. Of course, he appreciated your effort, and he smiled, but there was still that unusual nervousness.

However, it disappeared the same afternoon when a new island finally came into view. You saw on him how the stone fell from his heart.

You only reached the island in the evening, when it was slowly getting dark. Shanks decided to go look for supplies while the others stayed on the ship. The ban on leaving the ship applied mainly to you.

You protested that you wanted to go too, but Shanks stood by the fact that the island was too dangerous for you. Ultimately, you had to promise him that you would stay on the ship.

As a reward, he kissed you on the lips before leaving and promised to make it up to you the next day. And with that, he left the ship. Leaning on the railing, you watched him disappear into the forest.

After some time you just went for a walk around the deck when you noticed the others watching you warily. Some hid it well, but others completely turned around and were quite noticeable.

Something was wrong. But you didn't want to ask right away. Instead, you went to the study room to look at the maps. You pulled out a few books and the right maps and started searching.

After some time you finally found the proof you needed. This island was not dangerous at all. Exactly opposite. There was no danger at all.

There was no population and no dangerous predators. Now you were even more curious about why he lied to you.

You first decided to find out from the crew members who knew more than you. But no one was going to tell you anything.

Only Benn then told you that it was the captain's secret and it wasn't his place to tell you. That only made you more angry, but you knew it wasn't worth arguing about.

Defeated, you returned to your cabin. But that didn't mean you were giving up. You just needed to come up with a plan.

You finally managed to slip out the window in your cabin undetected. You made it to the island and made your way to the forest where you had seen the captain go before.

A lot of time had passed when Yasopp came to you saying that Lucky Roux had prepared dinner. However, when you didn't answer, he peeked into your cabin and noticed the open window and your absence.

He immediately went to inform Benn and Lucky, who were supposed to keep an eye on you during Shanks' absence. It wasn't difficult to connect one and one and they immediately set out to find you on the island before something happened to you and it was too late.

You wandered through the forest and the only light was the moon. There was a full moon and not a cloud in the sky. You could even see the stars through the treetops. You called out to Shanks, but the only answer was your echo. Even so, you kept going and kept calling out to him, hoping to find him.

You stopped in your tracks as a wolf howl echoed through the forest. It caught you by surprise because according to all the books, back wolves weren't supposed to be here. No wolves, bears, lynxes and generally no predators.

You realized too late that you didn't even bring any weapons with you. You relied on books that never betrayed you, that there was no danger to be found here.

However, you weren't going to just come back empty-handed, so you moved on. You reached the edge of the forest, from where you had a view of a vast meadow where a doe and several deer were grazing.

You watched them there for a while when you noticed a large wolf-like figure in the distance. The wolf was standing on its hind legs and was missing one of its front paws. 

You hid behind the nearest bush and watched from there as the wolf got close enough to go unnoticed behind the doe before running after them.

The herd immediately fled, but it was too late to save everyone. The wolf managed to pull the largest deer to the ground and bite through its throat. Once the deer was dead, he set about feasting.

The wolf was thus in the middle of the meadow. You decided not to disturb him in his dinner and instead wanted to go around the meadow and continue your search.

As you walked on, your eyes kept sliding to the wolf. But that was your biggest mistake because you didn't notice the protruding root and you tripped. You stumbled and fell on your chin into the bush in front of you.

The wolf also heard this noise and immediately looked up from his dinner. He breezed through the air and heard the twigs crack beneath you as you struggled to get out of the bush.

As soon as you scrambled to your feet, you ran away. You only had to see the wolf coming towards you out of the corner of your eye. If he jumps on you like that deer, it will be the end of you.

You meandered through the trees like a rabbit, slowly losing the lead you had. Moreover, the forest slowly ended in front of you and before you knew it, you found yourself in a small clearing. It was only a matter of time before he knocked you to the ground.

You screamed as the werewolf jumped on you and braced yourself for the worst. Now you regretted disobeying the captain's order.

When you fell, you rolled and now you were facing the wolf. No, you faced the werewolf. At the same time, he scratched your ribs during your fall and was now pressing you to the ground with one paw. He was leaning over you with bared teeth.

You had his muzzle so close that you could see his golden eyes and the three familiar scars above his left eye. However, you focused more on his teeth, as they were the closest to you and the biggest threat.

You finally closed your eyes and tilted your head to the side. You didn't need to see everything before your end. You felt his wet nose on your cheek. You didn't understand what was happening, but you still had your eyes closed.

The werewolf stopped growling and you felt him run his snout over your face, sniffing you. You opened your eyes when you felt his wet tongue on your cheek.

You didn't understand what was happening. He nuzzled your face and you saw him wagging his tail. You carefully pulled his muzzle aside with your hand and he started licking it.

Then he looked at you with his mouth hanging open and his tongue lolling out. He looked much happier. He had a sort of smile on his face. You caressed his cheek and now noticed the red fur that at first appeared to be dark brown.

You recognised your captain in him and slowly his behaviour began to make sense to you. Why was he always locking himself up or walking away.

“I'll get back to the ship,” you said resignedly after a moment of scratching his ear long enough. 

You were about to head back to the ship when Shanks grabbed the hem of your shirt with his teeth and refused to let go. He slowly started pulling you back towards the meadow.

"I'm not sure…" you already broke his order like this. Besides, now that you knew the truth, you weren't worried about him. Shanks only huffed at you and rolled his eyes as he dragged you on.

Finally, you followed him back to the meadow, to the deer carcass. Shanks pounced on the deer and you sat a little further away. You didn't need to see everything. Even though you noticed how he chewed, he kept looking at you.

When he finally finished he licked himself contentedly and laid down right next to you before resting his head in your lap. You scratched his head and slowly leaned against him. His fur was as soft as hair. As the night wore on, your eyelids drooped and before you knew it, you were asleep.

You woke up in your bed in the morning. You sleepily sat up and wondered if it was all just a dream. You uncovered yourself when you noticed you were covered by Shanks's coat.

You were about to stretch when pain shot through your ribs. You grabbed the sore spot and noticed that your ribs were bandaged. This was evidence that last night truly happened.

When you came on board, everything was as before. Everyone was having a good time and laughing. 

Later, the captain invited you to his cabin. Shanks wanted to make sure you were okay but then reprimanded you for disobeying his order. You defended yourself by saying that nothing happened to you.

However, he explained to you that that was not the point. It was dangerous. He was dangerous. He could have killed you. But even that didn't deter you. 

Nevertheless, he admitted to you that he tolerated this transformation much better. Mostly he had negative memories of it, but this time it wasn't so bad.

That was also the reason why he forgave you. He pulled you closer to him and leaned so close he almost kissed you. You were already expecting his lips on yours when he told you that you would be receiving a private punishment that evening.

Shanks Masterlist

[highly-opinionated-ramblings]

(Little mid-timeskip scene with Perona, Zoro, and Mihawk:)

The castle was beautiful, but empty. And quiet. So, so quiet, aaaaalllllllllll the time. Perona had never been able to stand the quiet.

To fill the space, she sang. She wasn't the best at it, but it was better than talking to herself all the time, she thought. Plus, it was comforting, in a way.

Mihawk was typically apathetic about her singing. But Zoro, being the good and proper pirate that he was, often added his voice to hers.

This particular evening, as she set about preparing dinner, she found herself reminded of an old familiar children’s song, one that she remembered her mother singing to her while at work in her own kitchen.

“There was a boy called Johnny King, who used to ride his bike-”

“Up and down this simple country lane,” Zoro joined in, from where he was casually leaning back in his chair at the table.

Perona smiled. “Now he’s gone to sea, to sail under the black flag of death, and- ack!”

She dove for the stove as her pot threatened to boil over. As she did so, Zoro completed the verse-

“And all the people know he won’t come home again.”

“What?” Perona turned back around, having got the situation at the stove back under control, and frowned. “That’s not how it goes.”

“Uh, yeah it is. Didn’t you know?”

“No, no, it’s ‘the people far and wide all know his name’.”

“...Huh? No it isn’t!”

“Yes it is!”

“I’ve heard both,” Mihawk put in before the argument could develop any further. “Zoro’s is the East Blue version, Perona’s is the version here in the Grand Line.”

“Oh. Ohhh, well, I guess that makes sense, doesn’t it? Maybe he was a real guy, and he went from the East Blue to the Line.”

“Maybe so,” Zoro nodded. “That would also explain the difference in the two lines themselves. If he died at sea, he never actually would come home again, would he?”

“But then, the other version isn’t necessarily wrong. I mean, we do all still know his name, don’t we?”

“I guess we do.”

“So he must have had at least some success as a pirate. That’s…I don’t know, it’s kind of fascinating.”

"If you say so," Mihawk shrugged.

“That guy Noland ended up being a real guy," Zoro said thoughtfully, "from that North Blue children's book."

"You mean Liar Noland?"

"Yeah, but it turned out that he wasn't lying."

"What," Perona frowned as she began ladling steaming pasta onto plates for each of them, "are you saying you found the lost city, then?"

"Yeah. It was on a sky island."

"...That's a story I haven't heard."

"I'll tell you sometime, then," Zoro said around a huge yawn.

"As long as it's not at the dinner table, please," Mihawk sniffed.

"Hey, Hawkeyes, how come there's no songs or books about you out there?"

"I don't know, but I am thankful that there aren't."

"I bet we could make our own! Mihawk, Mihawk, with blade of steel and, uh, eyes of gold..."

"Lord of the sea and Kuraigana cold," Zoro added with a snort.

"Yes, that's genius! We've got to write this down!"

"On second thought, I believe I will just take my meal in my room."

[campaignskyjacks]

The more I think about piracy, the more I believe it is the most structurally sound work situation under capitalism.

Every pirate ship was a worker owned company. If you were part of the crew, you were a literal shareholder. You got paid at least one share out of whatever venture you were involved with, and you got to vote on what the ship would do and who would be captain. That's already a pretty ideal situation, but it gets better.

The Captain is paid a double share as the position was seen as difficult and important work. But that is only twice as much as your general crew. Compare that to today's CEO and it's laughable how much more reasonable it is. It goes even further than that though.

The Captain is likely actually working way more than the rest of the crew. Most pirate ships were heavily overstaffed. The general strategy was you would catch up to a prize, board their ship and have like 200 guys. Merchant ships were staffed by capitalists, so they favored lean staffing. They wanted to pay as little wage as possible to maximize profit on the cargo they were transporting. A ship that would be comfortably staffed by 40 was probably being run by 25 to 30. Pirate ships would have way more people, so if they caught up to you there would be absolutely no way you could fight them off.

All of that means pirates didn't actually have to work that hard¹. There were way more people than actual things to do on a pirate ship. Even considering the fact that there is alot to do to keep a ship running, it's diffused over so many people that you really have a lot of down time as a crew. People like the Capitain, the quartermaster, the navigator, the doctor, or the cook all got somewhere between 1.2-2 shares, but they are working so much more than the average buckaneer.

I know some of you must be thinking "well that sounds very nice but the job gets pretty ugly when you're raiding." And the answer there is sort of. Pirates most certainly engaged in some pretty unsavory work and as crew you would be on the front lines of a lot of that. However situations where crew were actually getting in fights and putting their lives in the line were not the norm. A lot of the time pirates were hitting merchant ships, which once again were really understaffed. These people aren't crazy these people are hired to do a job so they're not going to throw their lives away over a couple dozen barrels of coffee or spice. Most of the time a pirate ship would catch up with a merchant ship, raise black flags, and and the captains of each ship would negotiate a surrender. Most of the time pirates were not requesting all of the cargo because the ideal situation is being able to hit the same ship over and over. You want to skim enough cargo that whoever commissioned the merchant ship isn't going to gripe too much about cargo being lost and complain to the navy. That way your crew can have a steady stream of whatever goods coming through to keep your vessel afloat. So most pirate merchant relationships were pretty transactional. The pirates would show up the merchants would give up abortion of their goods and everybody would go on their way.

Which means most of the time your average crew didn't have to do shit!

Pirates also had benefits. Remember when I mentioned you were going to be paid out "at least" one share? Well, if you lost a limb or something in the line of duty you would be afforded bonus shares to compensate the loss. They had entire systems of calculating disability compensation based on what injuries could be expected and how they saw it affecting your life. So if something bad did happen, you'd have pay to cover it.

It gets even better than this. The name "buckaneer" comes from "barbacoa" which was a type of mobile grill that was popular aboard ships². The folks who sailed were so commonly associated with these grills that people created a nickname for the profession based on the grills they used all the time. You'd see a privateer or a pirate at Port Royal and go "oh look, it's one of those guys who barbecues all the time."

Also, they were fucking queer. You've probably already heard that the term "matey" was a form of piratical gay marriage. If you designated someone else on the crew as your mate, if you died your share would go to them. I have to acknowledge that there is a slight chance that this isn't a 100% gay practice, there are conceivably reasons that someone might identify another person as their mate that doesn't have to do with romance or sex. Not a lot of pirates were literate and not many of them kept records of day-to-day life that really survived for historians to document. We can guess but in most circumstances we don't know for sure. But come on, grow the fuck up. These seadogs were banging.

Piracy and the type of sailing adjacent to piracy was a way for a person to make a life for themselves very far away from most of European society. And because of the way gender roles existed at the time, it's pretty much only men hanging out with men. If you happen to have desires that are unpopular at that time which involve other men, this is a pretty good situation for you.

So yeah piracy is a worker owned endeavor with reasonable compensation for management, benefits, frequent barbecues, and plenty of downtime to have all the queer sex you want.

It's one one those things that only exists because of capitalism, but as a response and a rebuke to it. These were endeavors that were so much more reasonable and fair then the legitimate businesses operating at the time.

And yes there were horrors. There was fighting and killing, torture, and worse. That is what the capitalists and colonizers would like us to remember. These things did really happen. However part of that was an effort to preserve and defend this better life people had made for themselves. To keep it alive inspire of the corporations and nations who would exploit or destroy their way of life.

So yeah, there was a lot about piracy that was violent and fucked up. But the truly wild thing is that it probably made more sense for the people involved then whatever you do right now. The next time you get bummed about your job or place in the world remember that piracy makes more sense.

Then go eat some barbecue and have queer sex.

¹This means in OFMD when Izzy was being a little piss baby about the Stede's crew not working hard enough he was 1000% wrong that's how the vast majority of pirates live their lives.

²Worth mentioning that these grills were originally used by native people, so this cool thing was adopted/appropriated by sailors. It did not originate with them.

[jasmemes]

pirates of the caribbean: the curse of the black pearl

all starters are taken from pirates of the caribbean: the curse of the black pearl. feel free to change pronouns as needed!

i think it’d be rather exciting to meet a pirate.

yes, that’s what worries me.

man overboard!

sir, the rocks! it’s a miracle she missed them!

can you swim?

pride of the king’s navy you are.

there seems to be some sort of high-to-do up at the fort, eh?

someone has to make sure this dock stays off limits to civilians.

there’s no real ship what can match the interceptor.

you’ve seen a ship crewed by the damned and captained by a man so evil that hell itself spat him back out?

it’s bad luck to have a woman on board. even a miniature one.

i intend to see that every man who wears a pirate brand or sails under a pirate flag gets what he deserves: a short drop and a sudden stop.

i can’t breathe.

women in london must have learnt not to breathe.

i’m told it’s the latest fashion in london.

are you decent?

i’m watching over you, [name].

that’s all i’ve found out.

where did you get that?

clearly you’ve never been to singapore.

you’d best start believing in ghost stories, [name]. you’re in one!

you have your trinket, i’m of no further value to you.

the code is more what you’d call guidelines than actual rules.

take what you can, give nothing back.

you’re supposed to be dead!

that’s interesting. that’s very interesting.

thank you, [name].

am i not?

parley! that’s the one!

gents, take a walk!

because it was [name] who said it.

we’re all men of our word, really.

me? i’m dishonest. and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. honestly, it’s the honest ones you want to look out for, because you never know when they’re about to do something incredibly stupid.

there be the chest. inside be the gold.

now will you shoot him!?

[name], my effects, please.

not without my effects.

i make a point of avoiding familiarity with pirates.

you seem somewhat familiar, have i threatened you before?

you’re the one they’re searching for.

just doing my civic duty, sir.

you threatened [name].

oh, so it is that you’ve found a girl!

that’s not good enough!

this is either madness or brilliance.

you are, without doubt, the worst pirate i’ve ever heard of.

but you have heard of me.

these are his, sir.

that’s got to be the best pirate i’ve ever seen.

not you, we named the monkey [name].

he strapped a cannon to [name]’s bootstraps.

i’m telling a story!

he plays things close to the vest now.

reason’s got nothing to do with it.

if he was telling the truth, he wouldn’t have told us.

unless, of course, he knew you wouldn’t believe the truth even if he told it to you.

i said no lies!

[ltwilliammowett]

The final door is no. 24 and that means today is Christmas Eve and so let's see who greets us today and it's the old lady herself. HMS Victory is here to wish you a Merry Christmas.

HMS Victory in Snow

More about her here:

Our famous lady was designed by Sir Thomas Slade, Senior Surveyor of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1765 and used around 6000 trees of which 90% were oak, the remainder being elm, pine and fir. She was not commissioned until 1778 and this long period of weathering resulted in her timbers being well seasoned which was a major reason for her long life. She was a First Rate Ship of the Line with an outfit of 100 guns on 3 decks.

She was in active service for 34 years. She served as the flagship to a number of distinguished Admirals and fought at the first Battle of Ushant in 1778 (Keppel), the Second Battle of Ushant in 1781 (Kempenfelt) and the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797 (Jervis). In 1797, she was pronounced unfit for further active service and was due to be converted to a hospital ship. However, when HMS Impregnable was lost in October 1797 leaving the Admiralty short of a First Rate, the decision was taken to refit Victory which took place at Chatham between 1800-1803.

As part of an extensive reconstruction, extra gun ports were added, increasing her guns from 100 to 104, the magazine was lined with copper, the masts were replaced and the paint scheme changed from red to the black and yellow seen today. She sailed for Portsmouth in April 1803 and Nelson hoisted his Flag onboard in May 1803 as Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet. Admiral Lord Nelson was Victory’s most famous Admiral.

On 21 October 1805, she led the British Fleet under his command into battle against a Franco-Spanish force off Cape Trafalgar. Nelson was shot at the height of the battle and died at 16.30 when victory was assured. SHe suffered a lot of punishment, 57 men were killed and 102 wounded, and the ship was so badly damaged that she had to be towed to Gibraltar for emergency repairs before returning home with Nelson’s body onboard.

After further service in the Baltic and off the coast of Spain, she was placed in reserve in 1812 and was moored off Gosport as a depot ship. Flagship of the Port Admiral, Portsmouth from 1824, she became flagship of the Commander-in-Chief in 1899. She then slowly deteriorated at her moorings until a campaign to save her was started in 1921 by the Society of Nautical Research (SNR).

In 1922 she was moved into No 2 dock Portsmouth, the oldest drydock in the world, for restoration. The work was completed in 1924 and preservation continued under the supervision of the Society for Nautical Research. The ship subsequently underwent another extensive restoration programme to make her appearance as close as possible to that at Trafalgar, for the bicentenary of the battle in October 2005. She is still in commission as the flagship of the Second Sea Lord/Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command.

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

Can you elaborate on the Our Flag Means Death thing? If you want

Yeah! So I get that realism isn't the be-all end-all of fiction, but. I really wish Taika Waititi et al. had done even 30 seconds of research on 18th century American history before they wrote an extended joke about the protagonist having a "man for sale" in episode 3. Yes, it's a white man being sold, but a guy still gets led to a market by a rope around his neck and then auctioned off... and this is played for laughs. I don't know a ton of Caribbean history, but even I know that no one in Nassau in 1717 would have been confused by the idea of selling a human being, the way they are on OFMD.

That was all before I found out that the real Stede Bonnet was a known enslaver and possible rapist. I think his story could be a horror comedy about a horrible person being horrible (see: What We Do in the Shadows) but the Stede we see on OFMD spouts progressive pop-psych slogans and is allegedly here to teach us radical self-love. Not a great combination.

Also, I'm one of the people who found OFMD unwatchable partially because I'd seen Black Sails. Black Sails came out 8 years before, features a lot of the same historical figures and Treasure Island characters, and has more queer rep than OFMD. But Black Sails's main plot is about a doomed-yet-glorious fight to end slavery in the Americas in the 1700s, and it is unflinchingly honest in its depictions of racism, imperialism, and homophobia. So it's jarring and deeply unfunny to see some of that same material cleaned up (the polyamorous main character is now a monogamous gay man; the kill-or-be-enslaved stakes are now potted plant thefts) or else swept under the rug (acknowledging slavery and homophobia would ruin the fun! let's pretend they don't exist!) for a different show that gets lauded as "groundbreaking" for its milquetoast repackaging of queerness.

[sailundertheblack]

"The Mangrove"

Artwork by Raphael Lacoste

[kaitcreates]

Over analyzing the Sword Catcher official art because I can.

First up Kel. He has his sword catcher medallion on and his clothes look blue then green like he’s described wearing in the book because the Queen wanted him to wear her home country’s colours and it doesn’t look like what we see Conor wearing in his portrait so Kel might’ve picked this outfit himself. The coat also ruffed up’s little, one of the sleeves even has a tear in it, he doesn’t start getting into any serious fights in the book until he sides with the Ragpicker King, around the same time he starts finally exploring his own identity if only slightly so this’s probably around that time frame. He has the scar on his eyebrow that Conor is described as having which I can feel has some sort of importance to their characters. The background is some waves, clearly referencing his love of the ocean and sailing, along with swords indicating his sword catcher title. His foreground is one of the less interesting with just a pile coins for his wealth as the prince’s fake cousin, a pile of scroll for how much reading he does, and a pile of something back that I’m not quite sure what it is. It looks like it might be some black powder but he hasn’t done anything with black powder yet in the story. Maybe it’s a metaphor for life as he knows it getting blown up as the story goes along, who knows. It’s also worth noting that he doesn’t have any flowers in his portrait, this might be nothing but it’s almost like a theme with most of the other portraits so it’s worth noting.

More characters under the cut because this got long:

After that we have Conor. His clothes and jewelry aren’t anything to write home about, it looks properly royal with plenty of jewels showing of his wealth. Though I do take not that the eyebrow that has a scar though it is covered in his portrait. His background depicts the Castelane lion on top of the city state’s national colour of red obviously a nod to him being the prince of the City-State. The hour glasses seem to represent his limited time as pressure begins to build on him, and I’m not quite sure what the falling rings represent, maybe they’re supposed to be coins and represent something about his debt. Again the piles of money, books, and scrolls represents his wealth and being well read. We can see what one do the scrolls says but it’s not very clear and seem to be written in one of the world’s fictional languages, if anyone can translate it please send it to me but it might not be anything special. The banner/flag in the corner is certainly important but I can’t remember anywhere that it would belong to at the moment so again if you can think of anything that would be a huge help. It’s also once again worth noting he’s one of the few character to not have flowers in his portrait.

Lin’s is arguably the most obvious. She has her mystery-stone brooch, her ashkar ring, is wearing the ashkar’s mandatry colours of blue and grey, and her medical satchel. The background has a glyph behind her with runes in it since she’s trying to bring magic back, the golden whisps also look magical, and the herbs and plants are for healing. There are diagrams of human anatomy behind her and the flowers have vials of what I presume is medicine strewn in them. This is also the first showing of flowers in a characters portrait, I thought it was representing her medical herbs and flowers. In the flower bed you can also see a split open pomegranate which could symbolize her growing doesn’t into darkness and crime as she tries to find a cure to Mariam similar to Persephone and the underworld.

Antonetta’s is relatively simple. Her outfit is what her mom forces her to wear throughout most of the book and she’s wearing her heart locket. Her background is also pretty simple with no special patterns or symbols to speak of, just some lace patterning at the edge of the circle similar to her outfits. It’s really the foreground that interests me. The perfume bottle is slightly odd as we never get any focus on her using perfume or smelling nice, but it does fit the perfect noble woman image so it’s not out of place. The sword being mostly hidden except the hilt is a nod to the secret sword lessons she takes, which she’s hiding from nearly everyone. The rose is obvious symbolism for looking beautiful and pretty but having thorns if you try to grab it. Around this I started thinking that maybe the flowers represented characters who were trying to get more then their current position in life was giving them. The most confusing thing about her portrait though is the bloodied handkerchief and golden locket around it. Bloodied handkerchieves are pretty much solely used in fiction for someone with a deathly illness but as far as I know Antonetta isn’t sick in anyway and defiant not of the fatal kind. Maybe it’s a nod to her friendship with Mariam.

For The Ragpicker King I would like to bring your anterior to his right hand. As you can hopefully see it looks like some slights scars are peaking out from his sleeve. What does this mean? I don’t know. I have no memory of this being described in the book, and was just something interesting I noticed. In the background you can see something that almost looks like a jail cell, likely referring to him being a criminal. There are also many playing cards flying around behind him for some reason, I’m not really sure since it’s never made note of him being especially in to card games or to use card metaphors in his plans. The piles of envelopes are likely his letters to and from the King and the books represent him once again being well read and his enjoyment of research. The evolvement of flowers once again confuses me because from what we see he seems perfectly content in his current life. Maybe it’s about how he escaped a life he was unhappy in.

Ji-an doensy have much going on, neither do most of the characters moving forward. The most interesting thing I could find about her appearance is that she’s wearing makeup. She has the two black swans, which I’m pretty sure I’m not remembering the full importance of, from her line about the swan pulling her carriage. She has a variety of swords in the back ground, one of which is she is holding. This could both represent her status as a killer but also as sort of like ghosts of the family she killed. Her flowers continue to feed into my “escape from current life/escaped from past life” theory and there isn’t much else to say.

Merren has nothing super interesting about his appearance in this portrait. It suits his personality and that’s about all I could say. The background is an obvious nod to his poisoner status with the wisps of smoke(possibly from hot tea?) leading up to a skull. I’m not entirely sure what the quills are supposed to represent, maybe it’s supposed to be because he’s a student so quills are like pencils in their world. Mostly his foreground also just seems to be about him being smart if a little messy when it comes to parts of his life outside of poisons and antidotes. The most specific thing I can find is the spilt concoction which is likely poisons. Once again the flowers are confusing, I had a theory that the flowers represented someone studiously seeking out knowledge, except Ji-an and Antonetta don’t follow this pattern. Merren also doesn’t fit into the “run/ran away from a life they didn’t like” theory unless there’s a part of his backstory that we don’t know about that fits into it. If anything he was pushed out of a life he liked. The flowers aren’t a super big part of the portrait and more of just an accessory anyways so fine, maybe it’s not meant to connect to the other flower portraits.

Joss’s portrait has two elements worth taking note of. First, the abundance of arrows and bows. This is mostly likely a nod to indoor archery, but I do hope we get more archery in his character and fighting style down the line. Second, he has some flowers in the foreground. Which just adds to the confusion because, as far as we know, he’s pretty happy with his current life and he almost definitely hasn’t ran away from an old life.

And the flowers continue to be confusing. Vienne is special in the fact that the flowers are pretty much the only other element of her portrait outside of herself. They do kind of make it look like she’s buried in flowers, especially with her helmet resting on the bed, and does work with the fact that she died at the end since giving flowers is a common way to pay respects to the dead, at least in western culture. In my admittedly short research session, the flowers seem to be Marigolds. These flowers are commonly used in day of the dead and symbolized grief and mourning in the victorian era, continuing the idea that these flowers are being used to represent her death. In renaissance times(the time period Cassie says she took the most inspiration from for those world) Marigolds were gifted to woman that men wanted seduce. What this means for Vienne I have no idea but it felt worth mentioning.

Now at this point you might be thinking “Couldn’t the flowers not actually mean anything and instead it’s the lack of flowers that represents something?” And I was think that too until Jerrod and his lack of flowers came along! Why are the only characters without flowers Kel, Conor, and Jerrod?! In other news Jerrod has basically nothing to take note of. His fingers look much paler then the rest of his hand from the chalk and the daggers facing towards his head could either represent that he’s being threatened or that he’s threatening. That’s really it. The rope and keys seem to be vaguely related to being able to get into places, but at the current moment they don’t seem to really be that personally connected to him.

So over all I have three main questions after this:

What in the world do the presence or lack of presence of flowers mean?

Were the details that don’t make sense to us right now cut after the art was made or are they hinting at future developments?

Why didn’t Mariam get a portrait?

[nobilismiles]

@kintsugiscars || LIKED for a STARTERS

"My, my-- if it isn't our prestigious Warrior-" The smile 'pon the captains face is as charismatic as it is cheeky, he poise of his person entirely relaxed where it leaned against the sturdiness of a railing overlooking the docks.

"--What brings you to the Seventh Sage this fine afternoon--? A spot of shopping-? Or perhaps visiting your favorite captain-?"

[fuckyeahdindjarin]

First of all congrats once again on the milesone bby!!! for the sleepover can I as a micro drabble for jack and pirate AU ?? honestly at first I was going to ask for frankie but jack just felt like a better fit fbfgb love u <333

Sil my love! I had the time of my life sailing the seas with Pirate!Jack. Inevitably, this Captain Jack is partly inspired by the OG Captain Jack Sparrow and POTC. I loved POTC fanfic back in the day, so thank you so much for sending this prompt!

Jack Daniels x pirate AU

Fuck Yeah 2222 Sleepover micro drabble request | 889 words | warnings: non-graphic mentions of violence, angst, childhood sweethearts, mention of arranged marriage, historical romance

The last time you saw him was seven years ago, when you hurled words dipped in hurt and  teenage venom at him as he held you, his beat-up leather bag at his feet by the water.

‘I need to go and earn my fortune, or your father will never let you marry me. Can’t you understand that?’ he pleaded with you.

‘We can run away!’ you insisted, your cheeks streaked with ugly tears.

He shook his head, kissing you on your forehead. ‘I want you to have a life you deserve, and I can’t give it to you if I don’t do this.’ 

Taking off the only thing he has of value - his mother’s gold ring set on a chain - he slipped it over your head and kissed you one last time.

‘I’ll come back for you. Wait for me, darlin’.’

You stand on that very same dock now. You’ve grown up. You’re taller, sadder, and you wear your melancholy like a shroud. You’re set to sail across the seas to England, a country you’ve never set foot on; and to marry your betrothed, a man you’ve never met.

You’re numb, resigned to your fate. Jack is dead. Or he’s found someone else, married and happy in a distant, exotic land. It doesn’t make a difference either way.

His mother’s ring, the only thing you have left of him, hangs between your breasts, digging into your skin under your corset, the same place it’s been all these years.

Your chambermaid asks gently, ‘Are you ready, my lady?’

You nod.

And you walk the plank.

The sound of cannon fire jolts you violently out of your sleep, and you bolt up from your uncomfortable little cot. It sounds like hell unleashed up on deck above, the sound of boots and violence right on top of your head.

Your chambermaid bursts into your room with one of your coats in her hands.

‘What’s happening?’ you ask frantically.

‘Pirates!’ she screams.

She throws the coat over your shoulders, and you hastily pull on a pair of boots. Once you’re decent, a lieutenant appears to escort you both to safety.

It’s bedlam above. The bitter tinge of gunpowder stings your eyes and nose, the smell of blood turns your stomach, and then the screams and the clang of swords - the lieutenant presses a hand to the back of your head so you’re looking at your feet as you sprint across deck, or you surely would have fainted.

Your entourage makes it to the back of the ship, where one of the rowing boats is ready to be lowered into the water - when you hear a gun being cocked at the back of your head.

‘Not so fast, darlin’.’

Darlin’.

You’d know that voice anywhere.

Your chambermaid shrieks in fright when the lieutenant falls onto the floor from a blunt crack of the butt of a pistol against his head.

Slowly, you turn around.

His eyes are the same. The same brown, but now, there are lines around them and creases at the corners. He’s obviously seen a lot of sun, freckles and marks pepper his face, and curls peek from underneath the wide-brimmed hat he wears. Behind him, you see the looming figure of a ship flying the unmistakable black flag of a skull with two swords underneath it.

Jack grins at you. ‘Hello, darlin’.’

You walk straight up to him and slap him across the face, with everything you got. From the corner of your eye, you see the other bedraggled pirates gasp at your bold action as his head whips to one side at the force.

But he only grins wider and pulls you into him by your wrists. He smells of the sea, musky, with the distinct whiff of ocean salt.

‘Where the hell have you been?’ you spit at him, your traitorous eyes brimming with tears.

He clucks teasingly. ‘What a tongue you’ve got on you now, darlin’.’

You shove at him with your whole body, but he barely budges. ‘Fuck you, Jack. I waited for you, and you never came back for me.’

He cocks his head to one side. ‘I did come back for you, darlin’, I was at our hometown but three days ago - only to be told that you were on your merry way to marry some landed gentry across the sea. And that simply won’t do - I’m a pirate darlin’, and I don’t share what’s mine.’

You scoff. ‘I’m not yours, Jack. You lost me when you left me seven years ago.’

‘It’s Captain Jack to you, thank you very much,’ he retorts playfully, unfazed by your ire. You gasp when he unceremoniously rips open the lapels of your coat, and one rough fingertip trails down your bare neck, curling around the delicate gold chain that you never take off.

His eyes soften at the sight of his mother’s ring. ‘You lie so well, you’ll make an excellent pirate yourself, darlin’.’

Grabbing him by the scruff of his collar, you kiss him hard, his big hands gripping your waist, crushing you into his embrace. Brushing his nose against yours, he pulls back. 

‘I should’ve asked you all those years ago,’ he says, regret colouring his words. ‘Will you marry me?’

You palm his cheek, grinning through tears. ‘Yes, my captain, a thousand times yes.’