#as a survivor it's so fucking. hard. it's infuriating. to be written off. brushed off. told it's not that bad

[ghostsessioned]

found myself talking to my wife about curly and anya's strained friendship and found myself having the Most emotionally fueled word - vomit i think i've ever had since my dad passed.

[zutaralesbian]

If you're still doing the character thing: Anne Bonny, Azula, Karen Jackson

Anne Bonny:

My three favorite things about them:

Her loyalty. When Anne loves, she loves HARD. And you see that in her relationships with Jack and Max.

Her lack of ambition. While I LOVE ambition as a character trait (especially in female characters) Anne's lack of ambition is kind of refreshing in a show like Black Sails where almost all of the other characters are after something. At the end of the day Anne doesn't really care about treasure or power. She just cares about the people in her circle and supports them in their goals. (Those characters, again, mainly being Jack and Max.)

The way she's allowed to be dirty and say crude things. It's the trope of the grumpy warrior who is only soft for the people they care for....but in a female character. We really don't get female characters like Anne too often.

My three least favorite things about them:

I don't really like that the fact that she was the one who got Max captured by Vane in S1 was brushed over so fast. Yes she was the only person in Vane's crew that stood up for Max and she helped Eleanor free Max and murder her rapists, but she was part of the reason Max ended up there to begin with. Other than a brief comment about it from Max in S1, it wasn't even really acknowledged. Meanwhile the show allowed Anne to be angry at Max for betraying her and Jack for almost an entire season.

The fact that she killed poor Charlotte

????? I don't think I have anything else

My three favorite dynamics with them in it (romantic or platonic):

Anne/Max: Obviously! I love these two and their love story really spoke to me. I wish they had gotten a more explicit resolution :(

Anne/Jack: Another obvious choice. I think their relationship is a bit more unhealthy than some people like to admit (mostly the way she was an abuse and rape survivor and spent years feeling indebted to him because he saved her) but they are ride or die.

????? Anne didn't really have a lot of prominent relationships outside of Max and Jack. I do think her dynamic with Idelle was kind of compelling and I wish we had seen more of it. But I don't think it would have ever been a proper friendship since Idelle (rightfully) doesn't like Anne because she killed her friend.

My three favorite moments of theirs:

"I can't be your wife, Jack." I was just so proud of her

The scene where she opens up to Max about the abuse she suffered from her ex husband. It was so sad but very revealing :(

When she killed Max's rapists

Azula:

My three favorite things about them:

Her competence. I loved the fact that she was a villain that should be feared and she was not easily beaten. The other characters were always painfully aware of how easily she could win. And sometimes she did (ex: Ba Sing Se).

Her complexity, even though it makes me cry. Yes she was a great villain but she was also an abused teenage girl and a large part of her wants a sense of normalcy. We see that part really shine through in "The Beach" specifically :(

Her lines and dialogue. She truly has some of the most chilling (and iconic) lines on the show.

My three least favorite things about them:

The fandom discourse surrounding her. I feel like with Azula people are often either of two ways about her: They think she's an irredeemable monster or they think the way she ended up was everyone's fault but her own and use the fact that she was abused to excuse her of everything. I have a more middle opinion of her. I think she is deserving of sympathy and a shot at redemption since she was an abused child. BUT in doing so she would need to address the hurt she caused to people. (And yes Zuko, Mai, and Ty Lee would all be on that list of people). She's a complicated character that deserves nuanced takes on her. Other than that though I don't think I have any issues with her.

My three favorite dynamics with them in it (romantic or platonic):

Azula/Zuko: Ugh this is one of the most interesting but tragic relationships on the whole show 😔

Azula/Mai/Ty Lee: Yes it ended in flames and was problematic but a trio of villainous girls kicking ass???? How could I not love that????

Azula/Ursa: I'm into this dynamic more for the potential? I so wish we had gotten to see more of it (that's not the comics lmao) because it could be so interesting and angsty. Idk. I think about Azula and her deeply complicated relationship with her mother a lot.

My three favorite moments of theirs:

"My own mother....thought I was a monster. She was right of course but it still hurt." And just every moment in "The Beach" tbh. Such a good Azula episode.

"Don't flatter yourself. You were never even a player." ICONIC

Her breakdown when she hallucinated Ursa in the series finale. So intense and heartbreaking.

Karen Jackson:

My three favorite things about them:

Her love for Sheila. It was the first thing that drew me to her character in S1.

She's pretty funny a lot of the time. Idk. I just know that a good amount of the iconic scenes from the early seasons involved her.

Her strive to want to be successful. The scene where she asks Frank to come to her parent-teacher conference always breaks my heart because she wanted someone to be proud of her. It makes the way they wrote her character off even more infuriating to me.

My three least favorite things about them:

The fact that she raped Frank

Her ableism towards her baby. (To be clear I firmly believe that Karen had every right to not want to keep the baby. I just wasn't a fan of some of her comments.)

The way she was written off. Especially knowing it likely happened because Laura Slade Wiggins didn't want to do nude scenes anymore 😕

My three favorite dynamics with them in it (romantic or platonic):

Karen/Sheila: The relationship definitely wasn't the best at points (Sheila fucking the grown ass man that slept with her underaged daughter????) but I loved the fact that the show had a complex relationship between a mother and a daughter at one point. I miss them.

Karen/Lip: I don't ship them but their dynamic in S1 at least was honestly pretty cute. The 'I promise I don't love you' scene is one of the most memorable angst scenes from the show imo.

Karen didn't really get the chance to have any other prominent dynamics :( I will forever be pissed about the awful way they handled Karen and Mandy. They actually had a lot in common and in a better world they would have been girlfriends friends.

My three favorite moments of theirs:

Pissing on her father's grave. Iconic.

The 'I promise I don't love you' scene between her and Lip. Idk why I love that scene so much but I do. It was just so well acted.

The scene between her and Sheila where Sheila apologized to her for not always being a great mother. Just the EMOTIONS.

Thank you! :)