#but alas it's late

[outrageouslymoonpie]

Alright.

I have finally finished black sails. Started it in April (I know), watched one episode randomly in November (got traumatized by Randall's leg) and decided to finally watch it (after seeing a post about love and monsters) a couple of weeks ago.

Safe to say that I've got an unhealthy obsession with pirates and stories about the sea that traces back when I was like four and not so able to draw, because while watching the series i put together a bibliography of medias that is quite long.

Is this related to what I think of the series? Maybe. Maybe it puts in perspective the obsession it rekindled.

Anyway. Black sails.

Beware, there'll be spoilers sprinkled down here.

I went in totally blind, besides Flint's queerness. I'm a simple woman, i love me a historical drama about pirates with a queer protagonist.

Flint's queerness - as I read somewhere here on Tumblr - is something fundamental in his development as a character, but also as a pirate. And with him being the protagonist of the story, I also thinks it drives a lot of the actual narrative of the series. Because of him being queer, of him being in love with another man, he became a pirate. He decided to retrieve that damn treasure.

So it's a series about a queer man, but not about the homophobia he experienced or experience. The show let us imagine, let us wonder why he decided to become a pirate.

But it lets us know that Flint loved a man.

You know, Flint loves a lot. I think he's not able not to. He cares, and hurts, but ultimately he loves a lot. We see it with basically every character he interacts with (besides poor billy, which is actually really funny to me.) He loves Miranda, respects Eleanor and Vane, loves deeply and unhealthily Silver and Madi.

Something I noticed is how much love there is, throughout the whole series. It's not just about the relationships between the characters (which are vital), but also about the kind of life they're living, about the love they have for Nassau. It's the true heart of the story. The characters do things out of love.

Flint manipulates the narrative in order to obtain his gold, yes, but he also does that in order to protect and save and help those who love. England betrayed him, so he became a pirate. Miranda - his tether to the memory of Thomas - got killed because of his love for her, because of her love for him, because of their hope. Silver and Madi, oh god. In the last season that particular relationship become something Shakespearian in its tragedy, in its inherent imbalance. But it's so full of love. In their scheming, in Flint's decision to help silver save Madi, in Madi's pain at the very end of the season, in silver's smile.

(I'll elaborate more in another post, but oh boy those three broke my heart in many many pieces)

And then there's the part of the story where every one of them is a monster of some kind. In the very last episode flint's tells silver how much every one of them is a monster in someone's story and that how they tell children to be scared of the darkness, because in the darkness live the monsters. And that is the second big theme of black sails. Being a monster. Being a pirate is something awful in the eyes of the British empire, but every character in this show is a monster of some kind. Flint, queer and pirate and scheming and wrathful. Silver, manipulator, scheming and later disabled. Vane, an ex slave turned pirate. Eleanor, woman, queer and super smart. I can go on, but I thing you got the gist. (Love is also monstrous)

And the very last thing in this very long ramble: the power of stories. Throughout the show we see characters hinting about being part of a story, part of something big, about having a "reputation to maintain", a "name to live in". It's almost like they know they're fictional. I felt the power of the stories: they can shape everything. Our present, our future, our past. We can do everything with a story. And my favourite thing was Silver. John Silver, the Long John Silver, starts his story with a lie. The character who's most shaped by the damned narrative is the one who refuses till the very last to tell us his story. I don't know him. I have no idea where he came from, but I saw him shape himself in a pirate, a cook, a quartiermaster, a leader and ultimately a legend. He goes around saying lies, manipulating, telling Flint I have no story to tell I think you know everything that's to known about me.

To end this too long of a ramble: black sails changed something fundamental in the way I see pirates and in the way I experience stories and in the way I shape my very own narrative. It also broke my heart, gave me brainworms and added eight books to my tbr. I don't regret nothing, but if you have some fic rec please give it to me. I miss them.

[diornies]

You ain’t gotta pray for me, me and my wild boy and all of this wild joy

a late post for day 9: “you’re married?” also kinda a follow-up to the bdilh comic

[betty-draper]

Quinn Hughes. Norris Trophy winner.

Congrats, Captain!

[obsob]

once more around the sun!! :3

[maythedreadwolftakeyou]

HE'S DONE!!!!! With my design for The Hermit finally complete, I now have stitched all 3 of the Dragon Age: Inquisition Solas tarot card triptych, as I envisioned when I first started this project back in 2021. WHEW!

This card was by far the hardest to translate into the stained-glass style I used (as seen in the DAI dialogue wheel icons, special options, etc). Designing it was a big pain but I'm really happy with how my hopeful vision translated to the finished piece, with using the gold to outline the inner sections instead of black to mimic the gold "magic" symbolized in the original card. This one also had soooo many tiny sections that I regretted once the design was printed, but just powered through anyway, and I do think the final version turned out great despite the frustrations.

More detailed shots of my Heirophant and Tower designs at the links! I do also sell patterns for these on ko-fi and etsy, the newer ones will be added eventually (or message me if you really want one and I'll make time to get it up sooner).

[realstrap]

09/01/2024

Please help us get our dogs speciality food!

I'm sorry to keep asking for help, but we've run out of food for my gfs service dog in training

His body is changing and he needs more food as he grows, I do not get paid until Thursday so this goal is very time sensitive! I do not want our big baby boy to go without food!! We need $70

CA: $lezsalt or $sleepyhen

VM: wildwotko

Dm 4 PPL

[bisclavret]

and people say season 5 is bad

[nnobodoodles]

Detectives. Arriving. On the scene.

I can't stop thinking about this game, I can't stop thinking about them, I have to play it at least 20 more times-

[ricky-mortis]

It’s the perfect place for a picnic!

[awkwardbirdsdreaming]

January Endangered birds 7 (#66) - the Brazilian Merganser (CR)

Habitat loss of wetlands/rivers have been a big problem for these birds. In 1992, their numbers were estimated at less than 250! Three decades later, estimates are still at less than 250 adults - however, a decline is expected to have occurred, which might just mean the 1992 estimate was too low at the time.

[starbuck]

Flint and Billy’s dynamic is really so much because you get the impression that Flint thinks about Billy 0.05% of the time at most, whereas Billy thinks about Flint 80% of the time at least.

And Billy also KNOWS that Flint doesn’t think about him and that’s what at least 20% of his thoughts about Flint are about.

[kiwiitin]

Time to uphold my yearly tradition of offering my time and effort to the altar of the Outsider, my patron whale twink god

[a-pastel-edgelord]

Despite all the commonly held beliefs about him, Atsumu is not a bad guy. He knows this because he hasn't moved from his spot at his desk once today. And sure, maybe his eyes wander over to you and his mind keeps conjuring vague questions about how your day is going—regardless, he's not going to budge. He may end up burning a hole into his math work sheet from his staring, but it's a small price to pay.

He's taken you for granted. After you got a boyfriend. Little ole you, who never quite changed from being a snot-nosed brat in his mind until all of a sudden you couldn't hang out. The space you used to occupy (somewhere between Suna and Samu) is conspicuously empty. It's not right.

You don't eat lunch together anymore: instead, your stupid boyfriend (he's in Kita-san's class, and not even that good-looking by the way) collects you and off you skip to some obscure corner of the school where you guys probably make eyes at each other over your bentos. You don't walk home with him and Samu these days, no it's Whatshisname doing it in their place while holding your hand and calling your name with sugary familiarity. Like that guy knows something he doesn't. Well, jokes on your boyfriend because Atsumu knows how ugly you are when you cry or how spine tingling your whoops of glee are, or how your eyes absolutely sparkle when you eat something you like. Atsumu is willing to bet a month's worth of Osamu's cooking this scrub doesn't even know what your favorite café order is.

Fuckin' ridiculous.

But what's Atsumu supposed to do about it?? If you like this guy seriously, it's the least he can do to not get in the way of you being happy.

Are you happy? You deserve it, more than most people, in his opinion. Life hasn't been super fair to you, so the least it can do is give you someone who treats you well. Yeah, maybe it's just the universe balancing itself. This thought sustains him for a little while as the days pass.

Until he misses a spike serve in a particularly spectacular fashion. The ball ricocheted off the wall and out of the open gym doors. He rounds the corner of the gym, snatching up the wayward ball, only to look up at a sound. On the other side of the chain link fence that separates the gyms from the fields is your boyfriend with his tongue down the throat of the captain of the soccer team.

A grin, all teeth, cracks across his face. He can hear his heartbeat in his ears as blood rushes to his brain. His breath becomes shorter, and he checks himself before he starts hyperventilating. Atsumu Miya is not a bad guy, really he's not. After all, who wouldn't be happy to get what they want?

[ruporas]

feast (ID in alt)

[ohno-the-sun]

They used to be so close

[springypaws]

I manifested this at 3am last night and I don’t know how I feel about it but it exists now so this is my contribution for @jonmartinweek day 5, Criptids | Webs and Weaving <3333

Cue silly color palette moment