#black sails vii

[garashir]

Black Sails XII. // XXV.

[idkaguyorsomething]

finally started watching black sails, thought they were making a fascinating storytelling decision by starting the story in media res and withholding crucial character information from the audience. then i found out that i started on episode seven 😭

[vampiremotif]

Do you think its wise to get pissed in full view of any of your men that may stumble in here... just before they embark on the most dangerous journey of their lives? Wise? Probably not.

[illuminated-in-darkness]

The Parson's Farewell Black Sails Musical Parallels | I. IV. VII. XXXVIII.

music variation note: this almost always plays as background music that exists within the scene itself. The exception to this being in VII, where it begins as tavern background music while Gates and Dufresne talk, and builds to become much grander, introducing the hurdy gurdy and more electric-sounding instrumentation as we cut back to Gates and Flint preparing for castoff.

I spent a year rewatching Black Sails and tracking all the bits of music that repeated at any point during the show, and my findings are reinforcing that Bear McCreary is a genius and this show should have been called 'parallels that will kill you over and over again'* (tag | chronological)

[calamitys-child]

MR SCOTT. god this episode is SO . White feminism Eleanor insisting Scott is A Man who Betrayed her vs Scott being like fuck you ma'am you OWN me. Did you FORGET you are A SLAVE TRADER. top tier character thesis beat for both of them esp Eleanor honestly

[cockworkangels]

black sails said hashtag equality we're going to be showing so many boobs but also dick and balls

[illuminated-in-darkness]

#charles vane (via @thegreatblondebalrogslayer)

*rising up from loosely packed grave soil* who the fuck buried me. This is atrocious. Do a better job next time

[mushroomseb]

BLACK SAILS 1.07 "VII."

[surii]

BLACK SAILS | 1.07 ○ VII

[blacksailsblr]

BLACK SAILS 1.07 “VII.”

[garashir]

the verdict is in! this watchthrough I am convinced flint DIDNT push billy

[ai-manre]

Hang on king, a true warrior queen is coming

The strength he admires:

Val stood on the platform as still as if she had been carved of salt. She will not weep nor look away. Jon wondered what Ygritte would have done in her place. The women are the strong ones. - Jon III ADWD

Drogon roared. The sound filled the pit. A furnace wind engulfed her. The dragon's long scaled neck stretched toward her. When his mouth opened, she could see bits of broken bone and charred flesh between his black teeth. His eyes were molten. I am looking into hell, but I dare not look away. She had never been so certain of anything. - Dany IX ADWD

The shared loneliness:

Even with Ygritte sleeping beside him, he felt alone. - Jon V ASOS

She sat up with her hair disheveled and the bedclothes atangle. Her captain slept beside her, yet she was alone. - Dany VII ADWD

Lonely lovely lethal:

All the same, the wildling princess was not beloved of her gaolers. She scorned them all as "kneelers," and had thrice attempted to escape. When one man-at-arms grew careless in her presence she had snatched his dagger from its sheath and stabbed him in the neck. Another inch to the left and he might have died. Lonely and lovely and lethal, Jon Snow reflected, and I might have had her. - Jon III ADWD

Xaro took another bite, chewed, swallowed. "Daenerys, sweet queen, I cannot tell you what pleasure it gives me to bask once more in your presence. A child departed Qarth, as lost as she was lovely. I feared she was sailing to her doom, yet now I find her here enthroned, mistress of an ancient city, surrounded by a mighty host that she raised up out of dreams." - Dany III ADWD

Silver hair:

Beyond, the haunted forest waited, dark and silent. The light of the half-moon turned Val's honey-blond hair a pale silver and left her cheeks as white as snow. She took a deep breath. "The air tastes sweet." - Jon VIII ADWD

Dany's skin was flushed and pink when she climbed from the tub. Jhiqui laid her down to oil her body and scrape the dirt from her pores. Afterward Irri sprinkled her with spiceflower and cinnamon. While Doreah brushed her hair until it shone like spun silver, she thought about the moon, and eggs, and dragons. - Dany III AGOT

Wish for a dragon/wish for a rider:

We should have twenty trebuchets, not two, and they should be mounted on sledges and turntables so we could move them. It was a futile thought. He might as well wish for another thousand men, and maybe a dragon or three. - Jon VIII ASOS

The dragon has three heads. There are two men in the world who I can trust, if I can find them. I will not be alone then. We will be three against the world, like Aegon and his sisters. - Dany VI ASOS

Wishing for a dragon/wishing for someone to love a dragon:

"The Lysene pirate? Some say he has returned to his old haunts, this is so. And Lord Redwyne's war fleet creeps through the Broken Arm as well. On its way home, no doubt. But these men and their ships are well-known to us. No, these other sails … from farther east, perhaps … one hears queer talk of dragons."

Jon: "Would that we had one here. A dragon might warm things up a bit." - Jon IX ADWD

She was the blood of the dragon. She could kill the Sons of the Harpy, and the sons of the sons, and the sons of the sons of the sons. But a dragon could not feed a hungry child nor help a dying woman's pain. And who would ever dare to love a dragon? - Dany II ADWD

Shared prayers

Gods of the wood, grant me the strength to do the same, Jon Snow prayed silently. Give me the wisdom to know what must be done and the courage to do it. - Jon VII ADWD

Gods, she prayed, you took Khal Drogo, who was my sun-and-stars. You took our valiant son before he drew a breath. You have had your blood of me. Help me now, I pray you. Give me the wisdom to see the path ahead and the strength to do what I must to keep my children safe. - Dany V ADWD

Winter rose/flowers instead of violence:

If I could show her Winterfell . . . give her a flower from the glass gardens [...]

Ygritte: "Then I'd push him in a stream or throw a bucket o' water on him. Anyhow, men shouldn't smell sweet like flowers."

Jon: "What's wrong with flowers?" - Jon V ASOS

A blue flower grew from a chink in a wall of ice, and filled the air with sweetness. . . . mother of dragons, bride of fire . . . - Dany IV ADWD

"No heads," Dany insisted. "Once you brought me flowers." - Dany VII ADWD

Ruler of ruins:

He stalked across the yard, into the teeth of that wind. His cloak flapped loudly from his shoulders. Ghost came after. Where am I going? What am I doing? Castle Black was still and silent, its halls and towers dark. My seat, Jon Snow reflected. My hall, my home, my command. A ruin. - Jon VI ADWD

I am queen over a city built on dust and death. - Dany I ADWD

Turned off by their crushes due to violence against innocent:

"North of the Wall it is. Hemlock is a sure cure, but a pillow or a blade will work as well. If I had given birth to that poor child, I would have given her the gift of mercy long ago." This was a Val that Jon had never seen before. "Princess Shireen is the queen's only child." - Jon XI ADWD

Daario: "Better the butcher than the meat. All kings are butchers. Are queens so different?"

Dany: "This queen is." - Dany IV ADWD

Compassion and desire to save an entire people:

"Thousands of enemies. Thousands of wildlings."

Thousands of people, Jon thought. Men, women, children. Anger rose inside him, but when he spoke his voice was quiet and cold. - Jon VIII ADWD

"When Aegon the Dragon stepped ashore in Westeros, the kings of Vale and Rock and Reach did not rush to hand him their crowns. If you mean to sit his Iron Throne, you must win it as he did, with steel and dragonfire. And that will mean blood on your hands before the thing is done."

Blood and fire, thought Dany. The words of House Targaryen. She had known them all her life. "The blood of my enemies I will shed gladly. The blood of innocents is another matter. Eight thousand Unsullied they would offer me. Eight thousand dead babes. Eight thousand strangled dogs." - Dany II ASOS

Warrior princess:

Val looked the part and rode as if she had been born on horseback. A warrior princess, he decided, not some willowy creature who sits up in a tower, brushing her hair and waiting for some knight to rescue her. - Jon XI ADWD

Dany mounted her silver. She could feel her heart thumping in her chest. She felt desperately afraid. Was this what my brother would have done? She wondered if Prince Rhaegar had been this anxious when he saw the Usurper's host formed up across the Trident with all their banners floating on the wind. She stood in her stirrups and raised the harpy's fingers above her head for all the Unsullied to see. "IT IS DONE!" she cried at the top of her lungs. "YOU ARE MINE!" She gave the mare her heels and galloped along the first rank, holding the fingers high. "YOU ARE THE DRAGON'S NOW! YOU'RE BOUGHT AND PAID FOR! IT IS DONE! IT IS DONE!" - Dany III ASOS

No one was calling her Daenerys the Conqueror yet, but perhaps they would. Aegon the Conqueror had won Westeros with three dragons, but she had taken Meereen with sewer rats and a wooden cock, in less than a day. - Dany VI ADWD

A coppersmith had fashioned her a suit of burnished rings to wear to war. She accepted it with fulsome thanks; it was lovely to behold, and all that burnished copper would flash prettily in the sun, though if actual battle threatened, she would sooner be clad in steel. Even a young girl who knew nothing of the ways of war knew that. - Dany I ADWD

Ten years ago I would have sensed what Daenerys meant to do. Ten years ago I would have been quick enough to stop her. Instead he had stood befuddled as she leapt into the pit, shouting her name, then running uselessly after her across the scarlet sands. - The Queensguard ADWD

Wildling/no southron lady:

"And yes, I will take your women too. I have no need of blushing maidens looking to be protected, but I will take as many spearwives as will come." - Jon V ADWD

The carcass was too heavy for him to bear back to his lair, so Drogon consumed his kill there, tearing at the charred flesh as the grasses burned around them, the air thick with drifting smoke and the smell of burnt horsehair. Dany, starved, slid off his back and ate with him, ripping chunks of smoking meat from the dead horse with bare, burned hands. In Meereen I was a queen in silk, nibbling on stuffed dates and honeyed lamb, she remembered. What would my noble husband think if he could see me now? Hizdahr would be horrified, no doubt. But Daario … Daario would laugh, carve off a hunk of horsemeat with his arakh, and squat down to eat beside her. - Dany XI ADWD

Shared pet plays!

Jon squatted to let the direwolf close his jaws around his wrist, tugging his hand back and forth. It was a game they played. But when he glanced up, he saw Ygritte watching with eyes as wide and white as hen's eggs. - Jon VI ACOK

Drogon looped his neck around to nip at her hand. His teeth were very sharp, but he never broke her skin when they played like this. Dany laughed, and rolled him back and forth until he roared, his tail lashing like a whip. It is longer than it was, she saw, and tomorrow it will be longer still. - Dany IV ASOS

Add more please!

[queenlucythevaliant]

the stories are true

i. Caspian’s nurse told him a story about a dwarf and a talking badger who were best friends.

ii. As Dwarf and Badger returned from a long walk through the wood, Dwarf noticed that a button has fallen from his jacket. Dwarf and Badger retraced their steps in search of the missing button, and together they found five buttons, none of which were Dwarf’s. Dwarf grew angry (as Red Dwarves are wont to do), and eventually returned home in a rage, only to discover the missing button sitting on his threshold. In apology to Badger for the afternoon wasted (and for his temper), Dwarf sewed all six buttons they had found that day onto his jacket and gave it to Badger for a gift.

iii. Caspian did not understand what a talking badger would do with a dwarf’s jacket, but such mysteries of life were best left to grown-ups, like his nurse.

iv. She told him other stories too: centaurs that had conversations with the stars. Giants that built and guarded bridges. A naiad who made a basket of reeds so perfect that it could hold the wind. They were light, almost frivolous sorts of stories: the kind that make good sense to a child.

v. When Nurse left, there were no more stories. Caspian invented his own sometimes, and whispered them to himself while he played with his toys. When his aunt caught him at it, she struck him.

vi. Doctor Cornelius's stories were not like the ones Nurse had told. They were solemn, grand tales that sounded almost like they might have really happened. In his stories, there were two kings and two queens who ruled Narnia together.

vii. Caspian imagined King Peter like a high tower, all straight lines and immovable might. He knew better now than to tell the stories where he might be overheard, but at night he whispered them to himself as he sank into sleep. King Peter, who was like a tower, went off to fight the Giants in the north. Queen Lucy and King Edmund sailed over the sea on a ship to another country. The water was blue like the sky, and it glittered. Queen Susan kept a light burning at home.

viii. Part of Caspian was afraid of not telling the stories. They were like strangers’ hands reaching out to him in darkness. He was afraid of not reaching back, of letting those strangers fall away into the pitch black night.

ix. On the castle’s highest tower, Doctor Cornelius threw back his hood and declared himself the blood of Old Narnia. The stories are true, he said.

x. All of them? Caspian wanted to ask. What about the naiad's magic basket? If dwarves were real, then why shouldn't the old Kings and Queens be real too? And if King Peter was real—if his stone-heavy feet had really trod on Narnian earth— then why shouldn't every fanciful thing he'd ever heard be just as true too? It made Caspian giddy to think.

xi. The night Caspian’s cousin was born, he fled the court with Queen Susan’s horn hanging from his saddle. It made him think of lights in windows as he rode away from the only home he’d ever known.

xii. When he woke, he found himself gazing into the faces of Dwarf and Badger from his nurse’s stories. They were arguing over what to do with him, but Caspian thought, absurdly, are you missing any buttons today?

xiii. They went about the next day, issuing invitations to the Great Council on Dancing Lawn, and Caspian put out his hand to greet centaurs and fauns, talking Mice and talking Bears. Each one of them reached back. No wonder Caspian woke the next morning half-convinced he'd been dreaming.

xiv. King Peter was real too, and there was King Edmund at his elbow. Caspian greeted them, inclining his head and saying in a voice that only trembled a very little, "Your Majesty is very welcome," and it felt like carving his name on the bones of time.

xv. And soon he knew that King Peter really was a tower, facing Miraz with the kind of stalwart might that Caspian had been imagining for years. Queen Susan was a light in the window: her horn had called them all home.

xvi. And Aslan. Aslan. Wonder of all wonders, he was real too.

xvii. Caspian said farewell to Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy, and it felt like reaching out across the planes to a world he would never see, except for a few minutes— but that wouldn't be for many years yet.

xviii. In the end, Queen Lucy and King Edmund sailed over the sea on a ship to another country. King Caspian was with them.

[illuminated-in-darkness]

Deciding the Course Black Sails Musical Parallels | VII. VIII. XIV. XVI. XXII. XXVI.

music variation note: the first three scenes are all in high sounding strings. The scenes in XVI and XXVI are played on lower strings and a couple octaves down. The scene in XXII is in a mix of high and mid strings, and in an octave between the other scenes.

I spent a year rewatching Black Sails and tracking all the bits of music that repeated at any point during the show, and my findings are reinforcing that Bear McCreary is a genius and this show should have been called 'parallels that will kill you over and over again'* (tag | chronological)

[calamitys-child]

Actually kinda nuts how much of S1 you get through knowing on some level that That's Long John Fucking Silver and he's just hovering faintly alternately having and causing problems in the background without doing shit. Points at him GHOST.

[facts-i-just-made-up]

What’s the history of software piracy?

The first known instance of software piracy took place during the privateer resurgence following the War of 1812 when the pirate Limebeard, under a commission from the British Admiralty, made a copy of “Lemmings” for the Amiga 15 from American forces in Bermuda.

As the first act of software piracy, this was a difficult and unprecedented undertaking. Computer software in those days was inscribed on metal punchcards, and Lemmings took up 8 tons of them. Limebeard had three of his frigates split up to the load, and two sunk on the way to Britain. Their cargo was rescued by the others however and King George was able to play the game, though rumor has it he never got past level 3 before giving up and returning to Shufflepuck Café.

Over the next decades, piracy evolved along with technology. As floppy discs became popular around 1850, pirates such as Napster Rackham began to sail in the Altdotbinari sea and through the Norwegian Torrents. This was known as the “Golden Age” of software piracy when thousands of tons of software infrastructure was stolen from the huts in which it was stored, mostly Adobe huts.

When sea warfare hit its stride in WWI, software piracy diminished and had died out entirely by WWII. Luckily, WWIII, IV, and VII proved a boon to the pirate trade. Russia and America had a battle of interests in which programs ranging from music players to ICBM launch software were traded across the ocean at phenomenal rates. One program, "Hypercard," which was used to hide launch codes from the lower chain of command, sold for $8 million to a bidder in San Francisco known only as "Sjobs69xxx420," who was never found or heard from again.

Entertainment based on software piracy also became popular, and movies such as "Tron" and "Pirates of the Copyrightian: Curse of the Decentralized P2P" made box office history. Today, software piracy enjoys protected status across the globe as an exercise of natural law, and is never prosecuted at absurd degrees given its minimal harm, which is levied strictly upon the richest corporations.

Nah just kidding they sued a 12 year old for $45 million for downloading Metallica’s Black Album. Real justice shit going on here.