#everyone knows the story of them coming up under hornigold

[arsenicflame]

y'all ever think about Sam & Izzy in a no-name port, in a house, in their house, the place they've met in secret for decades? sharing the few days they can snatch from the unforgiving passage of time, holding each other, knowing it's going to end again before they're ready? knowing that perhaps this is the last time they'll ever get to do this, and they won't know until it's already happened? I sure do

[ladyluscinia]

man i have been eyebrow deep in your blackhands tag for most of the afternoon and i am co signing izzy with murderbestie anne bonny. let this stressed lil dude have a friend that isn't his codependency partner/boss please. and yes, let ed be jealous and possessive as fuck - it's unhealthy but so fun! which seems like a long way to say: do you have any izzy&anne thoughts??

I have been sitting on this ask for a while (like, months 😅) because I was super excited for murderbesties thoughts and did not feel I had the time to do them justice, but today is the end of my holiday so huzzah!

My Izzy and Anne thoughts are numerous! My Anne thoughts in general are numerous, so let's see if I can wrangle them into some kind of order...

Ok, so my Anne and Izzy murderbestie agenda started in this post, and I've been mentally building it up since then. I've also been mentally entwining it with my Izzy and Jack thoughts (especially since posting my JackHands manifesto) but I don't think I've actually posted any of the Izzy + Anne + Jack (+ Mary + Edward) stuff. If I ever write a fic with side characters I'll probably incorporate some version of it all (possibly even if S2 contradicts it) but that could be a very long wait so no point in keeping close to the chest.

I guess the best place to start would be basic Anne headcanons?

---

Anne Bonny

First, more-uniquely me thing... I know a lot of people in the Izzy sphere take their headcanons back to everyone sailing together under Hornigold - no offense intended, those are fun - but I think it adds to Hornigold's terror factor if he really is more just the demon from Edward's childhood (and Jack's), so Izzy and Anne both come into the story post-Hornigold. Izzy shortly after Edward and Jack escape, and then Anne after Jack sets out on his own.

I am a huge fan of disaster woman Anne Bonny. She is not cool. She is not suave. This woman is Calico Jack's First Mate and she matches his energy exactly! #LetWomenBeAwful

I am also a huge fan of lesbian Anne Bonny. This is in part because I love the idea that she genuinely respects Jack and likes him for his personality, and she cannot even blame trashy horniness for it. And Izzy needs a bestie with zero sexual tension to offset the whole everything he has going on with Edward, so win-win.

So Anne is Jack's Izzy - devoted to him, they've been together forever, kinda codependent but handling it better on account of not actually having massive unaddressed romantic and sexual feelings, an excellent pirate team, etc. Jack is actually impressively cunning under his frat bro exterior, and Anne has got some faintly hero-worship "Yes Captain"-ing going on too, just to really drive home the parallel (though she's a lot more boisterous and yet somehow subtle about it than Izzy). I also had thoughts on the prospect of her mutining Jack.

Complex Relationship Stuff

Anne and Izzy got along great from the start. Izzy had developed a fondness for Jack's personality before he struck out on his own, and Anne is enough like him that she easily clicks into the friend group the first time they meet back up. Also Izzy and Anne get paired up by fate for a few sidequests that cement their bond independent of Jack and Edward. They both are very good at killing people. Murderbesties for life! 😘 Anne also calls out Izzy being stupid obvious about his tumultuous love life and she conveys "I get it. Not in an In-Love-with-my-Captain way, but in a Deep-Devotion, I'd-Die-for-Him way so..." and then she becomes Izzy's Edward-Drama drinking buddie.

Important related point - Anne and Edward aren't really friends. Like she is very much Izzy's friend / Jack's platonic wife that Edward is professionally cordial with, and she does make him feel a bit like the odd man out when she visits. This is important for "world doesn't revolve around Edward" reasons, drama reasons, and funny reasons.

The drama reasons are Edward's abandonment issues getting him all worked up and possessive about Izzy having a friend, only soothed by the fact Izzy always comes back and Anne's exclusion from the romantic rival category.

The funny reasons are Anne, completely wasted, grabbing Izzy's shoulder, failing miserably to look him dead in the eye, and slurring "Leave the bastard, you're too good for him. He's a fucking... A loser. Loser bastard!" and Izzy replying, equally drunk and scandalized, "He's Blackbeard!"

Anne's romantic advice to Izzy is usually along the lines of Dump Him, but she also gets pissed at Edward on Izzy's behalf like a true bestie. Her reaction to the whole Stede thing would be a treat. Izzy frequently discounts her romantic advice because he a) is way too deep in this toxic marriage to back down that easy, and b) knows she has her own disaster thing going on with Mary so clearly is in no position to be giving advice. (This is true.)

Edward, meanwhile, is professionally cordial with Anne. He respects her skill, thinks Jack picked a good First Mate, and acknowledges her place in Izzy's life (begrudgingly, and with many private freak outs). He also feels a wave of dread every time Anne rolls up to the ship and considers her a bad influence, which is hilarious to everyone in their social circle (ex: Spanish Jackie). Izzy is a lot more chill and reckless around Anne, and she's not going to be the responsible one so Edward kinda has to... and he's not great at it. Goes from fun to anxiety inducing real fast. He's relieved when she has to get back to Jack, and thinks she's a bit better when Jack is around (mainly because Jack is leading the plans).

(Mary can help with responsibility - being a bit more of an escape plan oriented follower - but she's got those "what happens, happens" vibes and gets caught up in Anne / Jack's wake super easily.)

Cycling back to Jack, when I say Anne is his platonic wife I mean they totally got married for an insane plan once and she knows all his business, so she naturally does have an opinion on her boss's massive torch for Izzy. Mostly that it's kinda sad, but Calico Jack is her guy even more than Izzy, so she's also kinda rooting for him in that way where she doesn't really want to think about them together but hopes he moves on from Izzy happily. Jack does not get the "stop waiting for scraps of affection" talks like Izzy does, despite maybe deserving them more. He's also better at not wallowing in his rejected love when Izzy isn't in front of him, though, so that contributes.

And finally the Jack / Mary / Anne mess. I play with different dynamics for this one, but crucially Mary has (at least in the past) hooked up with Jack, and is hardcore into Anne, but their relationship is plagued by commitment issues.

If I'm feeling SteddyHands mirroring, then usually Mary is going back and forth between Jack and Anne and they have a weird thruple thing going on, only they act more like it's an open relationship / not that serious on all sides (because of the commitment issues all around) and then get pissed at each other for the same act. The ideal final form is "This is my girlfriend, Mary, and this is her [X]friend, [XXXX]." Followed by Jack and Anne calling each other husband / wife for a joke.

If I'm not feeling mirroring, then I do think it's really fun if Anne has to deal with dating her boss's ex that he's still on good enough terms to flirt with even if it's definitely over, and Mary has to deal with her girlfriend being more devoted to her ex than her for the rest of time, even if it's an entirely different kind of devotion. Also Jack and Anne are still platonically married and it is weird as fuck.

Izzy approves of Mary. He thinks she's a respectable pirate, absolutely lethal, and she gets bonus likability points because she's been backup on enough raids that she treats Izzy like a weapon of mass destruction when battle planning and he's very flattered.

Izzy has also been Anne's drunken sympathetic ear through issues with Mary or Jack (or both, when Anne gets that in her head), and he has - entirely obvious to the irony - listened to Anne sob over how she can't live without Mary and responded "Have you told her that?" (Anne had not, and would not when sober again.) He is self aware enough that he's never once advised her to drop Jack and go sail under someone else, though.

Random Other Thoughts

Hmm... Oh! Big one - I think Anne has mad tattoo skills. She's done a few of Edward's and some of her crew members (and a few small but gorgeous ones for Mary), but her real masterpiece is a really complex ship and waves on Izzy's back that she did over multiple sessions and adds details and touchups to pretty regularly. Izzy doesn't let many people tattoo him and Anne is at the top of the list.

Anne and Stede get off on the wrong foot, like, instantly. Stede is still in his "trouble remembering Izzy exists" era and entirely fails to hide his surprise that he has a friend, Anne thinks Stede is boring as fuck and openly boos his suggested activities, Stede gets the Calico Jack First Mate reveal and sours even faster... It's a whole thing. If we're doing SteddyHands she thinks Izzy is actively losing his mind when she realizes he's even considering doing that.

The murderbesties do lots of murder. A typical Anne visit is short and sweet, where she catches Blackbeard's ship because she wants to borrow Izzy to back her up on a precision naval fort strike or something. They get drenched in blood, kill a bunch of people, and usually rush to get back to the ship with their loot before anyone notices. This leads to a very relaxed and bloodstained Izzy, Edward having trouble looking pretty much anywhere else, and Anne placing bets with veteran crew on when the two of them will disappear. Later Izzy and Anne split the most expensive bottle of booze they managed to grab before she heads back to her own stuff.

Anne slept with Spanish Jackie once, out of curiosity more than anything. She recommends it. Izzy still insists she was so deep in celebratory booze that there's no way she fucking remembers enough to recommend shit. Jackie doesn't kiss and tell.

---

I think that's plenty of thoughts for now. I wish I was the kind of fic writer who could have a whole series about these two out by now, but alas. Headcanon / fic concept posts will have to do.

Thank you for the chance to gush on them and get all my thoughts in one place!

[gaps-between-stories]

Fic Preview

A sneak peek at an upcoming chapter in Safe Ship, Harbored, my introduction of Anne Bonny and Mary Read to the canon timeline!

“I’ll fucking kill him.” 

Anne stormed onto the main deck, voice bellowing as she called out Israel’s name. He turned away from his conversation with Mary to be greeted by a slap across the face. The chatter on deck immediately died down, the crew startling at the action. Mary stared at Anne, mouth agape. 

Izzy reeled from the contact. “What the fuck - ” Anne grabbed him by his vest and hauled him to standing, shoving him back from her once he was on his feet. He stumbled a few feet back before steadying himself, hand rubbing his cheek where Anne had struck him. She stalked towards him. 

“The English weren’t enough for you, huh? You had to make friends with Vane, too?” She asked, voice raising as she shoved him again, harder this time, causing him to slam against the ship’s mast. 

“What are you - ” 

“Anne, what is going on?” Mary asked, trying her best to stand on her own but still needing assistance from Oluwande to get up. 

Anne ignored her, pulling her gun from its holster and pointing it straight at Izzy. He rolled his eyes at finding himself in the same position as all those weeks – truly a lifetime – ago. 

“Aren’t we getting tired of this game?” He sighed. He’d barely finished his question when she cocked the gun and fired, the bullet lodging itself an inch above his head in the mast. They both knew she hadn’t missed. 

Anne tuned out the startled shouting from the rest of the crew, focused squarely on the man in front of her. Her gaze seared Izzy to his core.

“Jesus fuck  - ” 

“What did he offer you in exchange, huh? Gold? Immunity? Your own fucking ship? What did the Dealer of Secrets give you for Montserrat?” 

Izzy’s eyes widened at the island name, genuine confusion coming to the forefront as he looked between Mary and Anne. 

“What’s on Montserrat?” Stede asked quietly. 

“Where is Montserrat?” Pete asked, Lucius immediately smacking his arm in response.

Izzy ignored them. “I didn’t tell Vane shit about it.” 

“He fucking knows, Hands!” Anne’s voice cracked, momentarily betraying her. She swallowed the lump in her throat. “Charles Vane knows what’s on Montserrat. Someone told him. Why wouldn’t it be you? First Teach, now me? Is all this about that stupid fucking vote? From ten fucking years ago?” 

“Oh please, give me more credit than that, Anne. I don’t give a shit about – ”

“So who, then?” 

“It was Jack.” 

Anne recoiled. “Jack didn’t know about – ” 

“Yes he did. He found out a year afterwards. Knew the entire time. Despite what he wanted everyone to think he wasn’t actually an imbecile.” 

“Why would Jack tell Vane?” Anne’s voice faltered, her slack on her gun momentarily loosened.

Izzy looked at her with what could only be described as pity. Anne hated it, hated the way he looked at her, as if she needed anyone’s pity. Anne Bonny didn’t need any man’s pity, she’d spent her life making sure she didn’t. She demanded every ounce of respect she’d ever earned, from her father, from James, Jack, Hornigold, Edward. From every crew she’s even been on, from the British fucking Navy.           

Anne Bonny fought and clawed tooth and nail for everything she’s ever had. 

But as she stood on that deck, surrounded by deafening silence and too many stares, feeling as if her soul was laid out bare, flayed for all to see, she felt like she had nothing. Not under the pitiful gaze of Israel Hands. 

“Where did you think the Kingston came from?” 

Those words knocked the wind right out of her. She felt like she had been punched in the gut. Her eyes widened, feeling her blood turn ice cold. 

Anne remembered the Kingston, remembered the first time she ever set foot on board. She had never been on a ship that large before. God, she had been young and stupid then. She believed Jack’s story about being in the right place at the right time, how Vane had rewarded him for his contribution to the raid, how -

Anne recovered, steadying her hand again as she swallowed the bile rising in her throat. She pulled back the flintlock, this time pointing squarely on his forehead. “Give me one reason to believe you?” She nearly whispered.  

Izzy held Anne’s searing gaze, slowly nodding as his left hand slowly moved to touch the ring tied around his neck. 

“I didn’t. I wouldn’t.” Anne held his gaze for a minute longer, searching for any sign of deception. He held steady. 

She finally broke, holstering her gun as she leaned forward, hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath.

[knowlesian]

“i can do anything.”

i’ve been thinking a lot about ed lately, and the way his capabilities are often downplayed, and that line keeps coming back to me.

“i can do anything.”

we know ed is at the top of his game. he made himself the legend izzy tells us he met and wanted to serve under; he suffered alongside jack on hornigold’s ship, making the start of that legend.

the whole time, he never killed directly. he knew jack when they were young and indiscreet, and jack still thinks ed goes even harder than he does.

jack’s known ed longer than anyone else we’ve met outside of flashbacks. he got to know ed when he was young and raw and angry, and ed still managed to fool him. jack knew him before the legend, and jack is still thoroughly snowed despite being a canny bastard under that frat boy affect.

ed makes up daring plan after daring plan. he tells us he helps enact them; he tells us it’s gotten boring. fang and ivan tell us they've seen edward plenty via “the most emotionally available”. most needs a basis for comparison— emotionally available needs interactions with varying degrees of emotional availability. and everyone respects blackbeard; ivan and fang don’t give a fuck if izzy is the only one around, even if he says he’s supposedly enforcing ed’s word. they do care if ed’s nearby.

all this says— ed spends time with them. ed is a working, functioning member of the crew, planning and implementation alike. if he wasn’t, if izzy was the main arbiter of ed’s will, then why do they immediately relax when he’s the one laying down the law?

izzy tells us he’s the one everyone respects in that speech— that the crew doubts ed, not him. in the same speech, he says ed is erratic and needs to focus.

we know ed doesn't need to focus; save for one detail missed, his plan is set. and we know izzy is not the one maintaining the crew’s respect for ed.

so why is it accepted that ed is erratic? why is it accepted that izzy is the one pulling most of his weight?

there is a very subtle joke about izzy worked into the narrative that i need to explain to get to my next point.

the story fang tells in e5 about izzy pointedly mentions his symptoms— spewing out both ends. this is the setup. in the finale, we get the punchline: when izzy, having taken control of the ship, triumphantly proclaims it to be izzy’s revenge and wee john says that sounds like an intestinal condition.

that’s a montezuma’s revenge joke, baby. this is some next level setup/payoff for a very, very subtle joke.

now, for anybody who doesn't know, montezuma’s revenge is a nickname for a somewhat apocryphal, sometimes real condition: traveller’s diarrhea, if you wanna go look it up.

the point here is the colloquial part. montezuma’s revenge is named for the last aztec ruler before the spanish rolled up and crashed the party for good (to be terribly simplistic about a deeply complicated bit of history) and essentially the idea is making white people shit their brains out whenever they cross the border is a sort of forever-curse as a fuck you very much for stealing our land and our shit and also the fuckin genocide, you jerks move.

the aristocrats!!!! 

anyway: so izzy is textually associated with the retribution that befalls colonizers, and we hear it happened when he had control of ed’s ship. then, we get the punchline when he once again takes control of the ship, during the scene where he’s making the black crew members do the hard labor. 

which means, when izzy tells us ed is half-insane and erratic? when he claims ed is somehow in need of izzy to keep himself and his emotions in line, or makes his choices for him, he drags behind him all this textual metaphor colonizer baggage. 

the writers know the world looks at men like izzy and assumes a level of competence and reliability until proven otherwise beyond an absolute shadow of the doubt (and sometimes, even beyond then).

they also know the world looks at men like ed and assumes a level of violent, almost childlike instability.

that’s why montezuma needed to take revenge at all. men who looked like izzy, looking at men who looked like ed, and thinking: you need me to manage you. you are erratic, half-insane. you will ruin yourself if i am not here to make all your choices.

izzy’s written with a much more modern lens than those men. his sins are more erasure and blindness. but he calls on those old patterns, very purposefully. 

ed tells us he can do anything; ed says he’s the one everyone is looking to, and he has to hold himself together with incredible control. ed tells us he can’t ever let go, because it’s on him to be strong— he sings a whole song about it.

to say ed needs help and has problems, and he deserves tenderness and rest— those things are true. ed’s walls, his need to keep that impeccable control in ways that very obviously harm him and sometimes the people around him, the fact that he’s reached a place where he casually mentions attempting death since hey, why not; none of these things indicate he's at an awesome place in his life. and we all need help, audience and every single character on the show alike.

but i think when we ask ourselves do we believe ed when he tells us what his life is like, or do we believe izzy’s version of events, considering the baggage they both bring into the conversation is really important.

[phenomenal1500]

The Blood In My Veins | Black Sails

Chapter 37: The Living Dead | Part 1

For Chapter 36: Change Of Mind click here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the distance I could hear Teach ask Charles what was wrong with me, with Charles reacting that I was stressed, tired and in pain. Nothing more, nothing less. Laughing to myself I kept my gaze onto the horizon not paying attention to them both anymore.

~~~

"Hey." I heard the broad man in the distance narrowing the gap between us. "You're doing okay?"

I decided to not pay attention to Charles now standing next to me and still glanced at the blue, calm ocean. I didn't answer him and let myself silently drown in my thoughts.

"I know you have troubles with understanding the change of mind, but that doesn't mean I'm turning into something I wasn't before. I respect Teach, but little one, I would never want to turn into his kind of behaviour or into him at all." He whispered and felt his piercing gaze on me. "I know how you feel about Nassau and this situation and I'm sorry...." I could hear him sigh in regret. "But Naida be honest, it wasn't just the reason I changed my mind that made you mad and you know that too. I know you better. If you're angry you'll only show it like this when it's too much and it's bottled up." I turned my head around to watch Charles as he took a step closer to hold my waist while I was sitting on the railing. I first wanted to push him away, but another part of me actually needed the comfort.

"I'm tired and...." I sighed under my breath. "I figured my body isn't capable of doing things I did before and that kinda frustrates me. I just want to spend more time with you and forget everything."

"M-huh."

He stepped closer, sliding his arms around me and hugged me from behind. I honestly had never thought he would do this in the public's eyes, but I think he couldn't care less at the moment as well. I slowly laid my head back and leaned against his shoulder as we watched the sun rise together. His way of thinking and my way of thinking was different, but I could respect that and embrace it as long as he could do the same and stay himself. Still staring at the sun, I suddenly felt Charles leaving short and small kisses in my neck and I chuckled softly while I felt his arms tighten around me.

"I talked to Teach." He spoke to me in a hushed tone.

"So what did he say?"

"After today we'll arrive at Ocracoke." I slightly turned my head around, well, as far as I could. as my eyes grew bigger. It was delightful to hear I finally didn't have to feel sick every time I tried to lay down and it meant Charles and I could sleep in one bed.

"Thank god."

"You should thank me for suggesting to take a faster route instead."

"Who said you're not a god? You're shaped like one after all."

"I could tell you the same." We both bursted into laughter as Charles helped me off of the railing and back onto the upper deck and in the distance I could see Teach smile at Charles who was busy laughing and tickling my body which I hated. I couldn't control my laughing and tried my best to push Charles away so he would stop. Sadly, I ended up with Charles winning and pulling me against him while I had my palms flat on his chest, us both smiling to each other while sharing a kiss.

~~~

Ocracoke

~~~

Sitting down onto the hot sand, sharpening my swords as I watched over the beach, I watched the waves crash against the small cliffs, foam forming afterwards. Men were for fun challenging and fighting each other while other men were messing around with the whores on the beautiful island.

Teach had left with another brown haired woman, it seemed like they already knew each other, and Charles was on the other side of the beach, sitting before a tent on a barrel while eyeing everything that happened, keeping me in his sight as well. I waved at him and he smiled back, his face expression immediately changing as he noticed Reuben walking his way. The red haired man tried to explain something while Charles in the meantime made his way to me.

"What's wrong?" I stood up, rubbing the sand from my pants.

"Flint." He walked past me like it was nothing and I quickly followed his footsteps to the waterline.

"Charles? Explanation?"

"He's alive."

I froze, standing still onto the unsteady and hot sand which made my boots warm up from the outside in as I tilted my head. I couldn't believe Flint had survived Hornigold, but Charles wouldn't lie about it. With every man on the coast we surveyed the sloop that arrived onto the shore of Ocracoke.

The first man who hopped out of it was Flint who helped the rest with the other two sloops to come  ashore before Flint and his men stepped our way.

"Jesus." The old man spoke before eyeing the alive man again. I was positioned slightly behind Charles and in my mind I started to cheer up horribly. "Welcome to Ocracoke."

~~~

"Nearly dismasted in a storm.... a storm you chased after. Nearly starved to death in the doldrums. Nearly executed by them." Teach looked at the men sitting behind Flint and stared back at him. "Either you are unkillable, friend, or way overdue."

"One way or another, I am here, and there is much to discuss about all our futures." Flint reacted annoyed, but secretly tired towards the older man on the other side of the table. I had taken my distance between them and sat around a fire with Charles' men. I was more comfortable with them. The men first had to get used to me being around their Captain, but eventually everyone started to adapt to the idea and even started to bring up conversations with me.

Either way I was lucky that they weren't that far away from the conversation so I could eavesdrop Flint and Teach with ease.

"What kind of future do you propose that to be?"

"I intend to gather forces and move to reclaim Nassau. The conquest is always weakest when the conqueror allows himself to believe that it is done. For Nassau, that point is now. Now, England may hold the island, but it still needs supplies brought in. It is still dependent upon trade. We will make that impossible for him." I didn't know Flint had these kind of manners while talking against another pirate, but he still seemed to have a little piece of his past in the way he behaved towards other people. "We will harass his ships. We will plunder his supplies. We will force him to bleed capital and support and the goodwill of the men surrounding him until he is weak enough to challenge directly. Until we can bring the fleet to bear and retake the bay." He explained while still keeping eye contact with Teach.

"You know, when I called Nassau home-...." I could feel an old habit of Teach coming up and already prepared for a new long story. "Most of the men on this beach weren't even men. I sailed with Ben Hornigold. I sailed with Sam Bellamy. I sailed with Henry Avery. Feuded with them, stole with them, questioned their motives, but we all knew what we were. Then a man arrives who would explain to us what we've been doing was wrong all those years, what Nassau ought to be, what he could make it if we would all just follow his lead. And here you are again asking to do the same."

"You let go before it's time." Flint had a hateful tone behind his voice and he shook his head.

[itmeansofthesea]

Part 2

Alright, alright, alright everyone. Here's Part 2. Let me know what you think, if I should do a taglist, what I should name this thing...? Enjoy, and as always, thanks for reading.

Warnings: language

None of them wanted to leave and look like cowards. But they were, and everyone knew it. She watched them file out and mutter under their breath about another woman coming in to run the place. Bonny, Rackham, Teach, and Vane stayed where they were and held her gaze. At one point she would have withered under Teach’s gaze alone, much less the others. Not anymore.

“And just what do you think you’re doing here?” Teach barked with some mixture of venom and pride in his voice.

Alex shrugged, strutted toward them, and tossed her jacket on the chaise. “Figured you needed all the help you could get given that Eleanor Guthrie’s on her way back.” She watched everyone’s face tense and laughed to herself, enjoying their discomfort. She knew the story they’d told themselves- at least the one that Vane, Rackham, and Bonny told themselves. When Benjamin Hornigold left the island with Eleanor Guthrie it meant one less problem for them to worry about, one less variable in play, one less player vying for control of Nassau. Alex didn’t have official word that Guthrie was on the incoming ship, but something in her gut told her Nassau’s fence was back.

“She’s gone,” Vane growled from his place across the room. “Dead.” All eyes shifted to him, Rackham and Teach watching his face carefully. She didn’t know how much Rackham knew, but she knew how much Teach knew. He knew everything because he’d been there to watch it all. He was the one to separate them after all.

She arched an eyebrow. “You don’t honestly believe that.” She stepped carefully toward Vane, knowing she was on thin ice with him, but she didn’t particularly care. She’d heard what happened after she left, the way he took up with Eleanor and the drama that followed. She would have thought it funny if it wasn’t so tragic. She stopped about three paces away from him. “You know she’ll be back. She always comes back.”

“What’s it to you?” Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Anne Bonny’s lips curl into a sneer, perhaps even a challenge. She also noticed Rackham placing a hand on her arm as if to tell her to stand down.

Alex shrugged, turned on her heel, and walked away to pour some whiskey into one of the glasses Rackham kept in his rundown mansion. “S’pose it really isn’t anything to me,” she swirled the caramel liquid around and watched it rise and fall against the edges of the glass. “It shouldn’t be anything to me, at least. And yet,” she took a pull from the glass, drained it in one long swallow, and relished the burn in her throat to distract from the burning in her eyes, “here I am.” She leveled her gaze back at the assembly on the other side of the table.

“I’m afraid that isn’t an answer, Captain…” Rackham trailed off at one harsh glance from Vane.

“You’re right. How rude of me. Please forgive me, I was raised on a ship by my uncle after all.” Alex swore she saw steam rising from Teach’s ears. She stopped trying to suppress her grin and poured herself another glass. “I’m here because you need help. Because even though Nassau once threw me out and swore never to have me back, I don’t blame her. I blame you.” Teach’s breath hitched somewhere in his chest, but one would have to know him as well as Vane and Alex did to know it even happened. “Nassau doesn’t deserve to burn because I withheld my help over an old family grievance. If anything, it’s for Nassau’s rejection of the great Edward Teach that I came back to save her.”

“You shouldn’t be here,” Teach enunciated slowly, measuring his words in an attempt to hold back his full fury. “You are supposed to be in the colonies. Married. With a family.” Teach sneered first at Alex, then Vane. “That was the agreement after all.”

Alex finished her glass and set it a little too harshly on the table. Rackham winced. “No no no,” she walked back around to the other side of the table. “You agreed. You were the one to find some rich dandy fucker in the colonies for me to marry. You were the one that tore me away from the only life I’d ever known.” She stopped a hand’s breadth away from Teach and stared up into his eyes. “I never agreed to anything.”

“Where is he now then?” Teach nearly spat in her face.

Alex smirked, “Unfortunately deceased.”

Teach began to quiver and Alex noticed the twitch in his hand. She glanced over to see Vane recognize the look crossing Teach’s face before he roared and reached back. Vane barely caught his wrist before Teach brought it to bear on his niece. She just smiled and shook her head.

“You really think hitting me would make a difference,” she whispered. “After all the hell you caused, you really think that hitting me would be enough to break me?” She let out a bitter chuckle. “No,” she turned around to leave. “I will be on the Lillith in the morning. Meet me there for the plan, or don’t. It doesn’t matter to me. I would rather we work together,” she stated flatly as she threw her jacket around her shoulders, “but if you’re going to refuse my help then don’t even bother.” She cast one last glance back at Vane, Rackham, and Bonny. “Whether or not the infamous Blackbeard joins you, I hope to see you there.”

She pulled the doors closed behind her and let out a deep, shuddering breath. She had survived the worst part of her return to Nassau, or had she?

[a-man-for-hire-and-his-archives]

Are you ready for few stuff I learn from previous chat? Here we go, but I will cut short because some question contain spoilers and some still under working process (ie transcribing)

First of all, this chat supposedly 30 minute but went to 1 hours because of technical problem on Skype.

1. What’s his friends reaction reading his book?

More compliment and positive feedback from his friends, his family and his Black Sails friends.

2. What city inspired him to write in Sunder City?

Amsterdam and New Orleans. He talks about how beautiful Amsterdam was, and New Orleans for swamp (?) and he compared Sunder City with LA and New York for city and their aesthetic.

3.  Toby Stephens read his draft. What his feedback to him?

Toby’s such beta reader, loved it, support it.. but he didn’t say much on his book. (Luke was mimicking his face and voice lmao) Luke said there will be question like this someday, so he jokingly said “locked and loaded”

4. Fans loved him and Toby Stephens in Black Sails. Is there any unforgettable story want share with us from the set?

“Anyone who have fake moustaches couldn’t laugh, because it’s all glued on. So like Toby Schmitz (Season 1) it was his real moustache. But Seasons 2,3,4, you know, we didn’t get any scenes together. But you ever saw him run around and make him laugh he got.” (Luke actually mimics laughing awkwardly lmao)

He also mentioned Paddy (Hornigold) and Toby used to always give Paddy shit. Paddy is so lovely but there was a time when Paddy couldn’t get his lines. (Luke think it’s episode 2.04) and he gets a big scene and every time he, like, him searching for line, Toby Stephens would just crack up. Toby has just such, like, a great joyous laugh. “ If he starts laughing, everyone… you see a little twinkle in his eye, everyone starts laughing.”

Luke also mentioned there are blooper reels of every season. Luke said they are fantastic and, “if I end up on my death bed it’s.. I want to watch them on the last day of my life, I would love to watch those goofs. They are so great , the blooper reels, and everyone’s great. It’s just really funny, it’s really joyous, but um, yeah, Toby and I had so much fun.”

5. Toby Stephens mentioned Devil Theory - that Silver killed Flint on Skeleton Island. In your version, what do you think actually happened to Captain Flint?

* coming up next! I still can’t get over with his answer *snob*

6. Luke is big fans of INXS and he mentioned how he met up Garry Gary Bears when he was in LA. 

7. Luke actually sang Simple Simon at first but not sure what’s title for second song. He sincerely apologize said he cannot sing like late Michael usually do (he admit that he isn’t good singer, for me he actually good at singing you know) 

8. He actually love playing as Douglas Fairbanks in Mary Pickford film. He said that films are weird, some are quite technical but he also mentioned that he did headstand (he looked at me like.. You know what I am talking about! You saw that photo too! Opps!) and he said it was hardest part to do that.

9. If his book gonna be adapted into TV or animation, which one he prefer to:

Luke said it’s tough choice as both of them have pros and cons. But what he actually wants is the details on his characters and city.

10. His favourite anime all time (will put up soon, under progress) and he loved Power Rangers but his costar from Shakespeare in Love always talk about Power Rangers all time. He also mentioned Box Peek too. 

11. Which Shakespeare play he’d love to play someday (coming up soon)

12. He already done horror, western, thriller and he’d love to play noir detective someday. He took few minute to recall if his characters actually killed before. (He mentioned Deadman Standing) He said he did not expect his character in Glitch killed suddenly, as he said you never expect what will come out next *shrug*

13. Luke said he did heard about ghost haunting at shooting scene. He couldn’t hear anything, it was whisper.

- To be continued - 

[esoanem]

VIII.

“I didn’t want to believe you could be capable of doing something like that. But I couldn’t convince myself that you weren’t“

Major Content Notes:

None!

Wikipedia Synopsis:

The hunt for the Urca de Lima begins when Silver divulges the schedule to Flint, taking them to the ship's location. Rackham stops paying Ms. Mapleton, which causes her to threaten to blackmail Rackham. She threatens to tell the locals what really happened to Mr. Noonan. Meanwhile, Vane makes his way back to New Providence with his new crew. Eleanor's situation changes when a small band of men take over Hornigold's fort and start sinking supply ships in the bay. Gates threatens to call off the attack of the Ranger, so Flint kills him. The final scenes of the season show that the Walrus has beached itself upon the same isle as the Urca de Lima.

This is the final episode of the season so quite a lot goes down, but for the first time I don’t think we’ve needed any major content notes. There is some blood & gore, and nudity at various points, but nothing especially graphic

Summary:

Rackham is docking Mrs Mapleton’s pay because of her skimming. She threatens to tell all the merchants that he murdered Mr Noonan, saying that they’ll band together and see Jack hanged for it. Jack calls this insubordination and fires her. As she reiterates her threat, Max arrives, and points out that the merchants are all enjoying steep discounts (affordable now the books are in order) right now and that because of that, they won’t much care what Mapleton has to say

At sea there is a terrible storm, with the Walrus and Ranger climbing waves as tall as their masts. Belowdecks, as the crew play music and card games, Dr Howell has made a peg leg for Randall and is trying to get Silver to convince him to wear it, saying that a crutch is too big a risk in this weather. Randall is reluctant. Silver tries to convince him by sarcastically pointing out how he’s helped Randall in the past, before throwing the peg leg to him, but Randall just tosses it to the floor and goes back to eating his apple

“Oh, Mr Silver, how can I ever thank you? First you save me from ending up as a stain on the Walrus’s underside, then you secured my position on the crew on the verge of an historic haul, and if that weren’t enough, you’re still trying to find something comfortable to put at the end of my stump. From the bottom of my heart, thank you“

Two crewmen come down from the deck saying that a launch from the Ranger has arrived with Captain Gates. Logan wonders “what could be so fucking important that he has to row through all that shit out there for it”. Silver hears this and hurries to Flint’s cabin

He sits down, and Flint pushes an inkwell over to him saying they’ll make landfall in the morning and need the last part of the schedule. Flint compares what Silver writes out to a book of his own reconnaissance, of bays and inlets in the right area that could reasonably be used for the Urca to take on water. Flint tells Silver to take the information to de Groot and set a course for Division Bay. As Gates says he better get back to the Ranger, Flint says it’d be better not to tempt fate and pulls a bottle up

“Talbot Rhodes’ private stock. I’d been waiting for an occasion. My reckoning is, tomorrow we’ll be able to afford a lot more of it or -”

“- we’ll be too dead to care”

Mr Scott comes into Eleanor’s office to tell her that Captain Lawrence is almost ready to leave. She is worried by the storm, calling it a ship-killer and wondering if God is on Mr Scott’s side in opposing this plan. Mr Scott reassures her, saying that the trouble might have happened anyway, with or without the schedule

“Tomorrow, a thing that you conceived out of thin air becomes real. A thing that will give this place a chance to find some small measure of peace. That is not nothing”

Back on the Walrus, Gates & Flint are finishing the bottle, and reminiscing about the man who found it, Mr Cregg, the carpenter’s mate who could sniff out booze on a prize ship like a bloodhound. Flint tells a story of one time he found a bottle hidden behind a baseboard on a prize and, thinking it was the captain’s best booze he took a big swig in front of everyone, only to realise it was piss.  Gates is trying to seem friendly, but in cutaways he seems melancholy, mourning his lost friendship with Flint, whilst Flint seems to be acting as if nothing has happened between them. Gates remembers that he brought Cregg over with him, having both served under Avery together as kids, before getting up to leave, a tear in his eye

"For years, he went on how he’d got this huge stash hidden away, and I should live to survive him because one day, I will be a rich man. As you know, we lost him on the Pembroke. 

So I open his locker and what do I find? 

Twelve pesos, a busted pocket watch, and a letter with instructions to deliver it to his sister in New York.

Lying sack of shit was Mr Cregg!

So I bought the boys a round with the pesos, traded the pocket watch for a bit of tail, and spent two weeks that winter in New York, trying to deliver that fucking letter to his sister. Looked high and low, never found her. So on the way home, I waited until we were in open water and I could see no land in any direction and I dropped it over the side. Return to the sea. 

There are no legacies in this life, are there? No monuments, no history. Just the water. It pays us, and then it claims us, swallows us whole as if we’d never been here at all”

Anne bursts in on Jack whilst he’s taking a bath. She yells at Jack for cutting Mapleton loose without telling her, saying she could tell the entire island about them killing Noonan. She then says the fact he’s keeping council with Max is bothering her even more, and accuses Jack of fucking her

"Jesus H Christ I can’t win with you. She’s in the camp with the men and it’s ‘come on Jack, let’s go kill everyone see if we can’t get around there, hope you don’t mind, made that decision on your behalf’ and now she’s out making us a small fortune by the way and you’re pissed off about that too, might you consider making up your fucking mind about her, please!”

After telling him to fuck himself she leaves, and sees Max standing by a mirror naked, drying her hair. Anne looks bashful, and hurries downstairs as Max turns around and puts on a dressing gown smiling

Vane arrives at Nassau with a few rowing boats full of the men from the lumber camp. They row past a series of lobster pots before beaching the boats and stepping ashore

The Walrus & Ranger are sailing along the coast flying Spanish colours, Division Bay is just past the next headland. Flint gives a brief speech to the crew, before ordering full sails for their final approach

“Llisten here! When we clear the point ahead and spot the Urca at anchor, we’ll begin our final run at her. The Spanish banner may earn us a few hundred yards of confusion before the captain identifies us and opens fire so we’ll close fast on her, hammer her well with our guns, and then take the fight to her decks. That fight will be the fight of our lives make no mistake. But on the other side lies paradise!”

As they round the point though, there is no ship to be seen. The entire crew, including Flint are dumbfounded, and after asking de Groot if he’s sure of their position, Flint storms into his cabin leaving the crew bemused on deck

Eleanor meets Naft, Frasier, & Lawrence at the end of the pier, where she hands Lawrence two manifests, one true, one false, and a substantial purse and wallet for bribery. Lawrence is impatient and wants to leave. As Eleanor comes off the pier she is met by Hornigold & Scott. She tells them that she still needs to remove her father entirely, that she knows he’s on the Underhill estate scheming to undo everything they’ve done. Hornigold reacts in disbelief

“You’re truly amazing, in the moment when stability is at hand and the world is at your feet, your first instinct is to go out in search of someone new to fight”

Scott asks for a moment with her but is interrupted by cannonfire, the shot landing near Hornigold’s ship. After a couple more shots, they realise the cannons being fired are from the fort. Hornigold realises someone other than his men must be in the fort and, as we see a mast break Scott says they need to get off the beach. As they march towards the tavern, Jack comes out of the brothel to ask what’s going on, when he’s told that someone’s taken over the fort he looks over at Anne who swallows anxiously

Gates comes aboard the Walrus and is led to Flint by Dufresne who tells them that the crew have agreed to Flint’s plan. They will land the Walrus and then he has two days to send out scouts to find the Urca. Flint gives the order and heads into his cabin. Dufresne tells Gates that de Groot is bitter that they didn’t listen to him about the cook, that he says there’s no Urca out here, that justice has been delayed long enough, he wants Flint tried immediately, and he believes that for all his talk Gates is just protecting Flint

“I’m protecting all of us! These men are right on the edge, and he wants to rile them up more by talking about a lying thieving captain, then stand on a deserted beach and talk about elections? Before you know it, half a dozen men will have laid claim to the captaincy, council will divide. it won’t be dark yet before the fighting starts

We’ve got to see Flint pay for his crimes, but we’ll do it at home, and we’ll do it like civilised men and that’s how we avoid the abyss!”

Dufresne asks how they can trust Gates, as they know the two of them spent the last night together drinking. Gates hands him a letter asking if it’s good enough, which Dufresne reads and seems surprised by

Sails are spotted, a Spanish man-o-war, and it will be on them in half an hour. Flint signals the Ranger to raise the black and fire two shots off the Walrus’s bow, as well as rigging a spring to the foreward anchor and dropping her immediately. Below you can see, the main anchor cable connected to the bow of the ship running straight up, with a second line, the (slightly slack) spring tied onto this and connected to the stern. By tightening the spring, he can pull the stern out to windward, and turn the ship without moving

De Groot is astounded that Flint means to fight the man-o-war, but Gates shouts to the crew that they have their orders before dragging Flint into his cabin. Dufresne and de Groot share their concerns

"If he engages that ship in battle, we’re dead!”

"I know”

"I know you know, but does Mr Gates?”

Gates tells Flint he can’t let him go down this road. Flint ignores this and explains his plan to Gates, the man-o-war will see them as a Spanish merchantman under attack by pirates, the Spaniard will pass them by to give chase and, before she realises her error they’ll turn and have her trapped, the Walrus raking her stern to bow, and the Ranger raking her bow to stern, and that the warship shows that the Urca is here after all

"all I see is an empty bay, a gardacosta warship, and a captain that’s lost his fucking grip on reality!”

Flint says that the ship isn’t a gardacosta (coastguard) here on patrol, that the only explanation for it being here at this time is that it’s an escort. Gates points out that the entire justification for the venture was that the Urca would have no escort. Flint suggests that they changed their plans, at which point Gates says he’s leaving with the Ranger, leaving Flint dumbstruck in disbelief. They hash it out, furious at each other

“What did you just say?”

“I’m going to weigh anchor, I’m going to make a run for it, and if I can keep ahead of her before dark there’s just a chance we could slip away”

"Without the ranger, I have no chance against that ship”

"I know”

"So you’re deliberately challenging my authority here? Deliberately violating you duty?”

"My duty? My duty is to them, not to you! Although I have violated it more times than I can remember in your defence. Helped you deceive good men, who put their trust in me because I was convinced they would be better off for it! But not here! Not this! This is fucking madness!”

"Mr Gates, if you walk through that door with the intent of subverting my plans, I will have no alternative but to interpret that as an incitement of mutiny”

"You think I’m inciting mutiny?

"You are inciting mutiny!”

"I’m managing one! There are men out there right now that know about Singleton, the book, the cook, all of it! They know! And they mean to see you hang for it!”

Flint goes quiet, asking if Gates told them

"After Billy, I just, I didn’t want to believe you could be capable of doing something like that. But I couldn’t convince myself that you weren’t. That’s when I realised that this has got to end.”

"So what then? You preside over a trial that sees me hanged?”

“No. I’m going to go home. And I’m going to see you and Mrs Barlow secreted away before anybody knows you’re gone. You’re going to go to Boston. You’re going to take the pardon that she’s offered you and that is the last that you and I will ever see of each other”

Flint looks ashamed, and downcast, and begs Gates not to do this. Gates tells him to take a moment, that he’ll deal with the crew, and goes to leave. Flint looks up, and stares intently at the back of Gates’ head, his lip quivering into a snarl

He starts up, slams Gates into the door, and chokes him from behind, repeating “this is not what I wanted, I’m sorry” before snapping Gates’ neck. He repeats “I’m sorry” as his snarl softens and he starts crying, cradling the body of the closest thing he had to a friend

The door creaks open, Flint’s face immediately hardens again and he draws his pistol. It is Silver, saying he came to back Flint up in his case that the Urca can still be won. Flint drops his arm, looking exhausted. Silver comes in and hurriedly closes the door behind him, locking it, before checking Gates’ neck for anything incriminating. Flint bats his hands away, asking “what the fuck are you doing to him” before telling Silver to stop. Flint is utterly defeated, but Silver tells him there is still a way out

"There’s no way out of this”

"Take it from me. There’s always a way”

A letter is delivered to Hornigold and the rest of the consortium, saying that a small band on men were seen approaching the fort from the west that morning, but no-one could identify them, and all the local crews are accounted for. Mr Scott asks if the fort’s great guns could be repositioned to aim at the street. Hornigold’s only response is that he hopes whoever it is won’t be mad enough to consider that and proposes to retake the fort when he is interrupted by Vane & his men on the street outside demanding to speak to Eleanor

Flint steps out of his cabin and, looking Dufresne straight in the eyes tells him that Mr Gates’ heart gave out. He gives orders to signal the Ranger with the plan, telling Mr Thompson he’s in charge, to sail North and, when the Walrus fires on the target, to tack hard to port and join them. Dufresne barges past de Groot into the cabin. As he looks down at Gates’ body, Silver starts speaking

“The question you need to ask yourself is what good can I do. 

You can call this murder, a number of the men might even believe you, but will that be enough to stop this fight that is about to happen? 

Because if it’s not, a fight we might win becomes a battle we are doomed to lose because the men went into it infected with your suspicions, with your doubts.

 So, Mr Quartermaster, is that truly what’s in their best interests?”

Dufresne steps out and walks straight past de Groot again, over to Flint.

"When the warship draws close, she’ll ask our last port of call. Saint Augustine is the closest and as she’s likely a customs ship, we must identify our cargo as anything but tobacco; Seville regulates the trade heavily”

Vane is Eleanor’s office, his boots up on her desk, rolling a cigar as she comes in, and sweeps his feet off asking what the fuck he did

"Spend enough time on an island, you begin to forget there’s a whole world out there. A world where the rules are different” he puts his feet back up and goes back to rolling his cigar “I went out there and found men who don’t know the rules here and who don’t much care to learn them. They helped me surprise Captain Hornigold’s men, we took his fort, and not once were any of them burdened with the though ‘what if this were to upset Eleanor Guthrie’”

He threatens to keep sinking ships, and maybe even sink the Walrus when she comes back with the Spanish gold, just out of spite. He says that because the fort controls the bay, Hornigold was her partner when he controlled the fort and so now, he should get to be her partner. He says being a tenant didn’t work out so well, and now he’d like a stake

He then describes the first time he saw her, when she was thirteen, and sneaking out despite Mr Scott’s rules. He says that despite her age she walked between the camps like she owned the place, completely fearless. He then suggests that all she really wants is to not have any men bossing her around, and that he has no intention of telling her what to do as long as he gets what he wants. She begrudgingly agrees, but promises that she will drive him out once he inevitably gets comfortable

“I know you. Better than your father, better than Scott, maybe better than anyone. You don’t give a shit about money, or respect, or the things you’ve built here. I think you’re just tired of fathers telling you what to do and so I’m offering you a life free from them. With me in that fort, you do as you like as long as it doesn’t cross me you’ll hear no complaints”

"You know I have no choice but to say yes. But before I do, know this: you’ll sit in that fort for a while, you’ll get comfortable, and that’s the day I’m going to push you and your men right into the fucking sea”

As Vane saunters out, he dismissively nods at Hornigold, calling him “Ben”. Eleanor tells him that Vane now has his seat on the consortium. She tells Hornigold that it’s no use him trying to take the fort, because she told Vane about the tunnels he’d have used to launch a surprise attack. She defends this as acting in everyone’s best interests and Hornigold leaves, promising that this won’t be the end of this

“You told me to keep emotion from clouding judgement, to act in everyone’s best interest. I believe that’s what I’m doing”

Vane enters the brothel and is met by a nervous Jack. He says that in some ways it had to come to this: him deciding if Jack lives or dies. We see Mapleton standing behind Vane’s men. Vane confronts him about killing Hamund and his men, and we see Jack speechless, and Anne wearing a frightened expression for pretty much the first time

“Hamund brings you out of bed, marches you down to the wrecks to look for a stash of stolen pearls and somehow only you and your dog make it back alive?”

“Quite a moment. Jack Rackham with nothing to say. Had I a shrewd quartermaster right now, he would tell me that I can’t let what you did stand, he would say that an offence like that demanded an example be made of both of you, the bloodier the better, but today I’m a little less worried about perception than I used to be. As long as I own that fort, it doesn’t really matter, so the street will know what you did, they will know that you betrayed your brothers for a woman. That story will spread far and wide, and you’ll never sail beneath the black again. You’ll sit in this place and rot with the rest of the whores. Something tells me that will sting worse than dying”

The man-o-war comes alongside the Walrus, and Silver shouts across, with Flint behind the rail next to him feeding him lines. He says that they were attacked by pirates, that their last port of call was Saint Augustine, and that they are carrying tobacco. De Groot questions Dufresne about this

"If I’m not mistaken, you told him to state us as anything but a tobacco trader did you not?”

"II did. He means to prove that ship is not gardacosta, that it’s here for the same reason we are. If that ship lets us pass, he will have both renewed the men’s lust for gold and their faith in his judgement”

“Time and again he gambles with our lives, that is when he’s not taking them in cold blood and once more his influence grows. We’re at his mercy with no way to challenge him”

The Spanish ship sails on and Flint orders all hands to quietly go to their stations, and to fire at 300 yards. The Walrus starts pulling on its spring line to bring the stern out slowly, so the Spanish ship thinks they’re just drifting. At 100 yards, he orders the gunports opened and sights down a gun saying “we only get one shot at this. If we miss, we die”

Just after 200 yards Dufresne pulls his pistol on Flint, accusing him of piratical crimes against his crew, that he murdered Singleton, Billy, & Gates, and that he planned to steal a portion of the treasure fleet for himself. Flint gives the order to fire, but the crew do not. Belowdecks, de Groot is taking Silver into the Surgeon’s cabin. Dufresne hands the letter to Logan saying it is a confession from Mr Gates of his knowledge of & complicity in Flint’s crimes, and Logan confirms that it is written in Gates’ hand

Flint continues to repeat the order to fire growing frustrated at the crew’s inaction, shouting that they’re going to lose the enemy and don’t have time for this. Eventually he strides down and grabs one of the slow matches used to fire the cannons and goes to light the touchhole firing the cannons, but is shot in the shoulder by Dufresne

Silver wrestles with de Groot, but is knocked to the ground. As de Groot readies his pistol, he is knocked out by Randall who has hit him on the head from behind with the peg leg. Flint is pressed against the side by a gunport watching the Spanish ship slip away when one of the Walrus’ cannons fires, taking him, and the entire crew by surprise. Silver looks out at them, saying that it had to be done. Flint tells Dufresne to fight

“There’s no running now. Fire, Mr Dufresne. Everything you’ve got. Don’t waste this moment”

Dufresne hesitates, and the Spaniard’s sternchasers fire, hitting the Walrus. At this, Dufresne and Flint both start shouting orders to hire, and the crew slip into battle. Both the Walrus and Ranger get some volleys in, scoring several hits and causing a small explosion and fire onboard the man-o-war

The man-o-war comes about, her gunports open, and she fires. The Spanish broadside tears into the Walrus sending yard arms crashing down, and gun carriages flying. We see the Ranger’s magazine explode, and more and more holes be shot into the Walrus. As Silver tries to help an injured man, crying out for the doctor, Flint is knocked into the water. Seeing people and debris continue to be sent flying from the Walrus, he stops treading water and allows himself to be dragged under by the weight of his clothes and equipment

Eleanor is on the bridge between the tavern and brothel and Max comes out to meet her halfway. Eleanor starts to apologise to Max, but she tells her not to, saying she was “standing between you and your dreams for this place, you did what you had to do” and Eleanor reminds her of her words, that Nassau is just sand and cannot love her back but Max pushes back

"Sand has its virtues. On sand nothing is fixed. Nothing is permanent. Fates change so quickly. 

Yesterday Captain Hornigold was immovable from that fort and Captain Vane was a beggar, now look at them today. 

Yesterday I was a whore of little consequence, easily dismissed, easily forgotten, today I am a madam with an income and allies, and a woman who has learned the most important of lessons, never let anyone stand between you and your ambitions. Thank you for teaching it to me”

Vane sits in the fort as we see Lawrence push off, Hornigold’s damaged ship still in the bay, and Hornigold and Scott look on. Eleanor watches in the shallows, teary-eyed over what her ambitions have lost her

Flint wakes up on a beach, topless, a bit of cloth pressed to his wound as a dressing. He sits up and we see Dufresne, Silver, several other pirates, and the Walrus next to them on the beach with several holes clean through her hull. Flint asks why he’s still alive and Dufresne tells him to get up. As Dufresne leads them over the island they’re wrecked on, Silver says he was certain about his information regarding the Urca

“Unfortunately, you & I failed to take into account the weather. The Urca de Lima wrecked at sea last night. Dashed by the storm”

As we peek over the brow of the hill and see the Urca broken in two on another beach, the Spanish sailors unloading her onto the beach with the man-o-war at anchor in the bay, Flint seems to regain his resolve

[fansplaining]

Hi guys! I recently marathoned Black Sails and i loved it! the only thing I'm sad about is that i didn't watch it in real time... I don't care if my ship is cannon, but I found that seeing it all at once means i know what happened to everyone, and I'm having a hard time shutting it off. I want to be into it, bc there are so many characters and ships i like in BS, but i don't know how to make the story feel open for exploration. any ideas or thoughts on how to incept myself into BS fandom?

Hello! Of course Elizabeth is answering this. This is a GREAT ASK, thank you, and not just because the entry point to this question is Black Sails ⚓⚓⚓. 

(I’ll have you know this is one of, like, three gifs of Flint smiling in the entire series. I also googled “Black Sails happy” and…no one looked happy.)

OK so it seems like there are a few things going on here. Apologies for taking what’s ostensibly about one show and turning it into something broader, but I think it gets at fundamental questions of fannish engagement, so I’M GOING IN.

1) Watching/reading a series all at once 

Flourish and I talk about this one a lot, because we (and many others) have observed that younger/newer Harry Potter fans approach characters and plot elements VERY differently than we do, and we chalk a lot of this up to reading the books as a complete text versus reading it with miserable long gaps in which to turn over every freakin detail only to have 75% of it jossed when the next book came out. In 2002 I legit read this one page of Dumbledore dialogue in GoF 100 times thinking there was a clue that was just…under…the surface.

I think that with some texts and with some fans, the serialized nature of TV and book series are the way in—we climb into those gaps and lingering there, waiting and obsessively turning things over and imagining all the branching possibilities, all the future reveals, all the resolutions, is part of the pleasure. I sure as hell wouldn’t have fallen for Sherlock if I hadn’t shown up to poke at the gaping emotional wound between s2 and s3. (Frankly if you showed me all four seasons at once I’m not sure I’d even like the show—my lingering emotional loyalty was the only thing that kept me saying anything nice about s4.) 

If I had not watched Black Sails all in one go it would have been LITERAL TORTURE FOR ME. I had to pause for a week while traveling and I started to read fic that actually spoiled parts of the fourth season WHOOPS. :-/// But I can also understand how watching it all in one go wouldn’t give you enough space. But then, we watched the same way and I am deep in it, plotting out fic and everything. So maybe… 

2) A complete text can stay with you but might not give you a way in

This happens to me with books *all the time*. I’ll read something that shakes me—I’ve often used the metaphor “knocks your world off its axis” when describing a really great book, like it can be the subtlest tilt and you’ll feel like everything’s changed. I think it’s pretty normal for texts to stay with you? If they’re good or if they touch you in some specific way? Especially if you’re fannish and really feel the media you’re consuming.

But one thing I often find about books is they’re more…complete. Even when television shows end properly, rather than being cancelled, they might stretch for longer than what was initially planned, for example, so it doesn’t feel like the arc of the plot was as carefully constructed—often it can’t be, especially with long-running American shows (and of course with classic episodic television, say, a monster-of-the-week show, it’s not even structurally designed to have the same sort of ~ABCDE structure as a novel might). 

Black Sails is not one of those shows—they knew they were bringing the story to a close, and the entire show rests on carefully-plotted narrative arcs. (Not to mention there was an actual ~canonical endpoint for all the Treasure Island characters, ie where the book begins (like, sort of). I mean, there were also canonical endpoints for Jack, Anne, Vane, Blackbeard, Hornigold, and every other historical figure, but…)

Over the years I’ve joined fandoms for WIPs as well as finished products, and often for me fandom’s been a way of trying to mend the wounds of a media property I found incomplete, either narratively (with bad writing) or literally (like, when a show ends abruptly). I think for some fans, this is a crucial piece—they say that when they find something too complete, there’s nothing to mend. 

3) Different modes of fannish engagement

So here’s another thing I’ve observed—different friends have different definitions of “fandom.” So people are like, “Oh yeah, I’m in the fandom, I love that show!” And I find out that means they enjoy the show and livetweet it and look at some gifs and that’s that. Which is totally fandom! And then there’s me, nodding nervously as I debate mentioning that, “Oh yeah, I’m in the fandom, I love that show!” for me means “THIS IS THE ONLY THING I WANT TO THINK ABOUT, HELP ME, I AM DROWNING.” It’s funny, sometimes I think about archetypal nerdboy fandom and its dick-measuring fact recitation, and then I think about all the times I tried to read the room to see if it was safe to let another person know how much I thought about something I loved, how much I felt about it. Even in totally fannish spaces, I still hesitate. :-/

There have been some things in the past few years that I’ve really enjoyed and toyed with checking out fandoms for, but what I’ve come to realize over the years is for me, it needs to be like falling in love. I think for some people, interest and obsession grows, and for others, you fall in head-first. And for others still, it depends on the thing. 

I understand this ask might have been specifically looking for resources or suggestions and while I’d just say if you’re not feeling it in this way, that’s cool, there are lots of different ways to fan, and you can keep thinking about something even if you aren’t drawn to, say, create transformative works about it? But maybe I should say something about Black Sails in particular…

4) Black Sails-specific: unreliable narrators and transformative works

If anyone hasn’t finished Black Sails, stop reading here, I’ll keep it vague but there’s only so much I can do. This is one thing that’s especially interesting to me about this ask: while I’m going on about how final and precisely plotted it all was, it’s not…that final. Because the entire point of the show is about narrative, right? Who gets to write them, who gets to own them, how they can be manipulated, how they shape “civilization.” Characters constantly talk—and constantly show—how both Flint and Silver (and, like, most of the characters, from Max to Thomas to Vane to Woodes Rogers) are these masterful shapers of narrative. Flint is the victim of clashing narratives: what’s actually happened to him, what he tells the world he’s doing, what he’s actually doing (note that explosive scene when Miranda calls him on this, ahhh I love Miranda). But the show’s choice to shift to Silver’s narration to wrap up events is a really fascinating one: the man who works so hard to obscure his past, laying out the narratives of the future. Should we believe him? 

I recommend this interview with creators Johnathan Steinberg and Robert Levine—the Flint section at the start is really delightful if you’re into artists being super into open-interpretation of their work. “Do we have a sense of what we imagine is happening?” Steinberg says when asked if we should believe Silver’s speech to Madi. “Yes, but if I was someone else, I wouldn’t want to watch it with my interpretation coloring it.” They talk about how this is essentially a transformative work (they don’t use that term)—a certain decision “made sense as a way to both acknowledge the book and spin it.”

So this is like the literal opposite of, say, JK Rowling, who seems intent on letting us know every freakin detail of canon and post-canon and seems genuinely unhappy at the idea that people will interpret things in ways that “aren’t true.” (At least in interviews I’ve seen/read of hers in the past few years.) Steinberg and Levine seem to be the ultimate “open to interpretation” guys, which really is like this big blank slate for fandom building on and playing with this world they’ve created. That being said, if oppositional fandom is your cup of tea—if you love fic and fandom as a corrective, as a way of wrestling a creator over the text—then the, “Go for it, interpret however you want” thing is probably not super appealing. 

This is the first time in my entire fandom life, going on two decades now, that I have simultaneously been really satisfied with a show’s ending and still wanted to write and read fic. And that seems…weird to me? So I don’t think it’s that weird that it wouldn’t work for someone. TL;DR: I’d just say if it happens, it happens. But it’s OK to love something and not find a way into the fandom. But if that changes for you, I’ll be there. :-)

[phenomenal1500]

The Blood In My Veins | Black Sails

Chapter 2: ~II~

For chapter 1: ~I~ click here. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Welcome to Nassau Everybody!" She smiled and everyone began whistling and screaming in excitement, finally able to settle somewhere for a bit. Something they hadn't done for a long time.

~~~

"Prepare the main anchor to detach and swing down into a vertical position!" The woman shouted, noticing that they approached the shallowest part of the bay and the ship had to be docked before it or they had a big problem. "Mr. Newton, attach the anchor buoy to the anchor and drop it!"

"Aye captain!" He yelled back and followed her instructions, making sure their ship was safely settled in Nassau's bay before Mr. Dovis took control over the sloops.

When the last sloop was rowed back to her ship she climbed down into it and took a seat, her mind wondering what Nassau was like before she left it behind. The smell, the morning silence and all the different crews in one place....

Old memories started to bottle up and she lifted her chin to look from beneath her black cavalier hat, glancing at the island ahead of her in excitement.

~~~

[Charles Vane]

Sighing, Vane chugged another sip of rum to smooth his throat and drink away the boredom. Nothing interesting had happened so far and thus he was sitting on a barrel outside of his tent with some gorgeous whores he spent the morning with. Nothing happening was suspicious behavior for Nassau. Especially for an entire month.

Where were the drunk fights? Where were the new arrivals? Where were the religious protesters no one listened to?

It was.... not quite right for Nassau.

Taking another deep inhale of the cigar he had resting in his other hand, he watched Jack hurriedly heading his way from the beach and he could already feel the stress Jack always brought with him affecting his curiosity even though he wasn't in the mood to deal with him.

"Fuck." He whispered beneath his breath, blowing out the thick before handing the cigar over to one of the women to put out. He didn't need Jack to tire him and ruin his mood even more. "What do you want?" He spoke lowly, his piercing eyes wandering off to the women snuggling into his sides once more.

"Well." Jack began, giving the two women a sort of greeting nod before keeping his eyes at his captain. "A group of our men just now informed me that Benjamin Hornigold let an unfamiliar pirate ship pass through and he even let her dock in the bay this morning."

"What?" Vane sat up a bit more and narrowed his eyes. "You mean to tell me that Hornigold allowed an unknown pirate ship to pass through, without even knowing who it is?"

"Yes." Jack nodded, assuring his captain that he was very much serious and not joking around.

"No time to waste then." The captain took his weapons and brown leather jacket from the dark haired woman next to him and tapped her under her chin to thank her, slipping on his jacket while watching Jack standing still with a questionable look on his face."Let's fucking move!" Vane growled when Jack didn't make a move to walk with him.

"Oh yeah." Jack shook his thoughts away, quickly following his captain to the white beach right after.

It seemed like they weren't the only ones deciding to go see the unfamiliar ship however.

Many people such as pirates, drunk workers, whores, had all come together because of the incomprehensible news the crews spread across the island. Even the usual lone wolves made it to the beach and emerged with the crowds to hear the stories of men screaming in the distance. Stories about the white ship being that of a dead man, working for Davy Jones. Stories about sirens and ghosts. Vane knew it was nonsense of course, yet it was fun to listen to them while glancing over the calm waters to the white ship docked in the bay.

"They are going insane." Jack mumbled, expecting his captain to cut him off but he didn't. All Vane did was hum and hook his thumbs behind his belt before paying his attention back to the ship.

"THERE IS ONLY ONE SHIP WITH TRUE BLACK SAILS AND PURE WHITE WOOD!" One of the men yelled over the sounds of the crowd, shushing the other screaming men.

"YOU DON'T REALLY BELIEVE IN THOSE FAIRYTALES, DO YA? HE DON'T EXIST!" Another male pirate shouted back.

"YOU'RE ALREADY MAKIN' A MISTAKE! IT AIN'T EVER PROVEN THE CAP'AIN HAS A COCK!" A whore followed suit from one of the sea side balconies, everyone continuing to argue with each other while thoughts filled Vane's own mind. Them certainly feeding his impatience very quickly.

"Captain? What are you thinking 'bout?" Jack asked with a raised brow, but all Vane did was simply make eye contact with Anne who was staring back at them with a slightly curious look on her face before sighing.

"All these people are all losing their minds over the thought of a legend being back, but my curiosity turns to a different question: Why did they return to Nassau?" He moved his gaze back to his quartermaster. "If you are so feared, if you have so much money and power and you can go anywhere you want, why come back to this shithole?"

"That is something still left unanswered, but aren't you also a little curious about the appearance of the captain? What if the whore is right?" Jack shrugged a bit and watched the crowd slowly dissolve again after it became afternoon.

"We'll see, Jack." He responded and watched everyone calm down and leave as well, the people finally starting to interfere with their own work again right when the first few men arrived by sloop.

Some whores who did notice them arriving instantly tried to seduce them into their bed while others who noticed tried to interrogate or even challenge them. The exhausted crew just wanted to make their way to the inns and taverns however and Vane somehow felt empathy for them. They were constantly bothered by everyone the second they came on shore even though it was their own choice to step in the light like this and it was their own fault that they sailed with the Captain Jones.

Sadly, even after 5 more sloops, there was still no captain and it made Vane grow impatient.

It was already known that it was indeed The Serpent's Medallion, but the captain being nowhere to see got under his skin real fast.

He almost had the urge to give up waiting and leave the bay if it wasn't for the beautiful, young woman stepping onto the white sand right after she smoothly climbed out of the last sloop.

God, she was absolutely gorgeous.

The woman had light brown hair with strings highlighted because of the time spent at sea and hazel eyes almost looking golden from afar because of the sun lighting them up. She was short, around Vane's shoulder height, and her body was perfectly curved and muscled from the hard work she probably did on her ship. She also wore no dress to his surprise, instead she wore a white blouse with some buttons open stuffed into her black leather pants and a coat covering the rest of her. Probably to move around smoother and not stand out too much either.

The captain couldn't help but wonder if this was indeed Captain Jones and Jack couldn't stop staring either, with wide eyes, at the girl as he cursed under his breath.

"Fuck~ Vane, I think we found the Captain."