#i'm clearheaded billy.

[hellgram]

i love s1 it's awesome. it really is like here's flint conjuring the reality he desires. in episode one.

[knifeeater]

actor adressing the camera: as an audience you are by passively holding witness complicit in the continuation of the story as cycle

me, twirling my hair: haha and then what

[noknowshame]

this confusing figure from a moral psychology paper by schein & gray (2014) is also a diagram of the inside of silver's brain when he says "I'm clearheaded billy"

[illuminated-in-darkness]

Black Sails XXI

Silver: So, once again, he is able to conjure the reality he desires just as it was in Charlestown. And just as it was in that storm. There is no denying a man with that kind of power. Billy: What are you talking about? You're saying Flint conjured that storm? Silver: Conjured us into it. And who's more powerful? The one who made the storm or the one who convinced us into battle to defeat it? A man of his capacities, his state of mind becomes reality. We are subject to it. And right now his state of mind's so dark, it threatens to kill us all. Billy: Take your rations. I mean it. Silver: I'm clearheaded, Billy. I see him.

[nokaru]

'I'm clearheaded Billy' I say deliriously sitting alone in my room 5 cups of coffee and energy drinks into my finals essay with 45 open tabs and exactly 100 words written out of 3000

[maremote]

Black Sails Monologuolympics BR4.2: SILVER'S MONOLOGUES: QUARTERFINALS 🥈

3/4: 307 vs 303

Silver, to Nassau, in 307: "I understand this is the place cowards come to beg forgiveness from a king. Sign your name to sleep easy. Thinking all your sins have been absolved. But some sins... even a king can't make clean. You... all of you. Every last rotten fuck on this island has crossed a man far less forgiving than old George will ever be. I come as his right hand. I come on a mission of mercy, to show you a path to his forgiveness. I come on behalf of Captain Flint. [...] Not anymore, he's not. Every name in this volume belongs to a man who first pledged his service to Captain Flint, to defend Nassau against the Crown. Every name in this volume belongs to a man who turned his back on that pledge. This volume... now belongs to me. Captain Flint returns to Nassau tomorrow. Any man who meets us on the sand will be accepted back into the fold, his name redacted from this book, forgiven for his sins against his brothers. But when we set sail, I will keep the list of names remaining. Now, those men will not be forgotten. And I assure you, those men will hear from us again. TomorroW you will join us... or you will all be looking over your shoulders the rest of your lives. [curbstomp break] My name is John Silver, and I've got a long fucking memory"

Silver, to Billy, in 303: " That has been the problem all along. That's the thing gates never understood and a thing you never understood. You cannot decide to follow a man like that and then pick and choose when you deny him. If challenge him directly, he and will be at such extreme odds in front of the men, it will be the end of this crew one way or another, and can't allow that to happen. So, once again, he is able to conjure the reality he desires just as it was in Charlestown. And just as it was in that storm. There is no denying a man with that kind of power. He conjured us into it. And who's more powerful? The one who made the storm or the one who convinced us into battle to defeat it? A man of his capacities, his state of mind becomes reality. We are subject to it. And right now his state of mind's so dark, it threatens to kills us all. [...] I'm clearheaded, Billy. I see him. During that feud with Vane over the fort, I sat in his cabin and| watched him turn himself inside out over the idea that anyone in Nassau would see him as the villain in that story. Well, now he's the greatest villain in the new world. We all see it. We all follow him because of it. think it's torture for him, and think the only way he can imagine it stopping is when there are no more of us left to witness it."

[queerofthedagger]

"I'm clearheaded, Billy. I see him. During that feud with Vane over the fort, I sat in that cabin and watched him turn himself inside out over the idea of anyone seeing him as the villain of that story. Well, now he's the greatest villain in the new world. We all see it, we all follow him because of it. I think it's torture for him. And I think the only way he can imagine it stopping is when there are no more of us left to witness it."

someone fucking sedate me oh my gOD

[regicidal-defenestration]

"I'm clearheaded, Billy" says local man who just accused his captain of changing reality to fit his own will

[elizabethrobertajones]

hey, lizzy~ I'm blissed out on a rewatch & do u agree that Sam Knows/Shipper!Sam reached a kind of crescendo last night? he's witnessed seasons of Dean pining/losing Cas (and some of Cas having lost Dean) & Sam's always trying to play peace-keeper-- but when he saw Dean storm off to his room upon Cas' return, that's when he decided to bug Cas' phone (how'd he even get the phone? haha)-- he's like NEVER AGAIN. Sam was furious, frustrated, suspicious, wondrous worried about Cas too, & I firmly

[2/2] believe downplays his own intense feelings just to be there, calm for these two idiots, trying to keep them all together. get’m to talk it out, like after Billie died. he was yellin’ about the colt & then “WHOa Why are you packing an angel blade? let us think.” but I mostly mean when Cas, drunk on nephilim, said they had to go. Dean looked devastated & Sam JUMPED on it, like no, nope, naw. never again. he’s snapping 4 them & for considering Cas his family too & I love this. oh, Sam.

I mean as I said in my notes when your brother is packing an angel blade just because he’s pissed off with his angel you probably react to peace keep no matter what if you’re not a dick, but yeah :P 

I am curious about why Sam bugged Cas’s phone just because it shows he saw Cas was seriously off and Dean couldn’t. Dean’s been kind of the beacon of seeing the truth and knowing what’s up all season but Cas completely hoodwinks him, and Dean’s blinded by his weird obsession with the Colt (which was getting kind of creepy in a “my precious” way that he was sleeping with it under his pillow :P) and even puts that over Cas for a moment especially feeling Cas put it over him to steal it from him (power corrupts >.>) and Sam was clear headed about THAT (12x14 showed pretty well that Sam cried to see the Colt again in horror while 12x17 shows Dean immediately adores having it back - Sam’s got an objective view of what awfulness it’s been connected to but Dean is emotionally compromised)… 

So I feel like Sam is sort of at a remove where he’s supposed to be clearheaded and not emotionally compromised on what’s going on this episode while Dean gets totally blindsided by it and it HURTS. And obviously that’s not *just* about the Colt. It wasn’t a personal betrayal when Bela stole the Colt :P They knew if they didn’t leave it nailed down around her it would disappear, even if they didn’t know she knew what it was or that she wanted it. Cas violates the privacy and sanctuary of Dean’s bedroom to steal it, and Bela may or may not have tried to uh, get Sam’s guard down with dream root (I still think she tested it before going to see them and that’s what Sam’s weird dream was because why would he dream something in a dream episode that we saw on screen when we knew this mechanic was around and then Bela walks in teasing him with the dream? TOO NEAT) Anyway she kind of did that to Sam but it wasn’t a personal thing in the same way because they really did not have a connection. 

So, yeah, Sam was being used in the dynamic as the one who was not so compromised but also seeing what was going on with Dean and Cas… I don’t know if he ships or even is totally aware of it tbh but he’s caught in the middle of a Dean and Cas nightmare this whole season, so he’s being made to deal with their crap, and it’s putting him as a third wheel. Which can be dangerous when he doesn’t understand that Dean has different affection for him and Cas, because he can be insecure… (as Garth said :P)

In this case, though, being at a different emotional level to Dean literally powered their part of the plot since he was tracking Cas while Dean was a mess and not prepared at all. (Sam could have WARNED Dean but I guess he did it as a precaution because when Cas pings Sam as weird, Sam doesn’t get all emo about it, but starts actually THINKING about what might be wrong and what he can do and how he can look out for Cas in a sensible way with practical results… I mean even if Cas hadn’t been weird Sam might have bugged him anyway just so if he disappeared again he wouldn’t have to go through ANOTHER round of Dean angst about it…)

[maremote]

Black Sails Monologuolympics BR4.1: SILVER'S MONOLOGUES: ROUND 2 🥈

6/8: 406 vs 303

Silver, to Billy, in 406: "Flint is my friend, but know what he is. have no illusions about it. But for all the dangers he presents, for all his offenses... the one thing he's never done is force me to choose between him and you. That, you did. But it isn't too late to find a way to remedy it. You made a terrible mistake and you paid a terrible price. But we're at war.. and you're an asset. Despite what's gone on, you are my friend. And the men out there have had their pound of flesh. And our men... Billy, I could walk out there and tell them the sky is red... and they'd believe me. That's the power you've given me. But have to know this is over... your vendetta against Flint, your need to see him dead or departed from our story. have to knoW you'll never put me to a choice between you again. Swear it... and this all ends.:"

Silver, to Billy, in 303: " That has been the problem all along. That's the thing gates never understood and a thing you never understood. You cannot decide to follow a man like that and then pick and choose when you deny him. If challenge him directly, he and will be at such extreme odds in front of the men, it will be the end of this crew one way or another, and can't allow that to happen. So, once again, he is able to conjure the reality he desires just as it was in Charlestown. And just as it was in that storm. There is no denying a man with that kind of power. He conjured us into it. And who's more powerful? The one who made the storm or the one who convinced us into battle to defeat it? A man of his capacities, his state of mind becomes reality. We are subject to it. And right now his state of mind's so dark, it threatens to kills us all. [...] I'm clearheaded, Billy. I see him. During that feud with Vane over the fort, I sat in his cabin and| watched him turn himself inside out over the idea that anyone in Nassau would see him as the villain in that story. Well, now he's the greatest villain in the new world. We all see it. We all follow him because of it. think it's torture for him, and think the only way he can imagine it stopping is when there are no more of us left to witness it."

polls for this bracket tagged #bsm42

[maremote]

Black Sails Monologuolympics BR4.1: SILVER'S MONOLOGUES: ROUND 1 🥈

9/12: 303 vs 409

Silver, to Billy, in 303: " That has been the problem all along. That's the thing gates never understood and a thing you never understood. You cannot decide to follow a man like that and then pick and choose when you deny him. If challenge him directly, he and will be at such extreme odds in front of the men, it will be the end of this crew one way or another, and can't allow that to happen. So, once again, he is able to conjure the reality he desires just as it was in Charlestown. And just as it was in that storm. There is no denying a man with that kind of power. He conjured us into it. And who's more powerful? The one who made the storm or the one who convinced us into battle to defeat it? A man of his capacities, his state of mind becomes reality. We are subject to it. And right now his state of mind's so dark, it threatens to kills us all. [...] I'm clearheaded, Billy. I see him. During that feud with Vane over the fort, I sat in his cabin and| watched him turn himself inside out over the idea that anyone in Nassau would see him as the villain in that story. Well, now he's the greatest villain in the new world. We all see it. We all follow him because of it. think it's torture for him, and think the only way he can imagine it stopping is when there are no more of us left to witness it."

Silver, to Madi, in 409: "Can't you see it? It isn't utility that's behind his investmernt in me.. nor necessity, nor dependency. I understand you fear a false motive. But this much is clear to me now... have earned his respect. And after all the tragedies that man has suffered... the loss of Thomas, the events of Charles Town... have earned his trust. have his true friendship... and so he's going to have mine. And as long as that is true, cannot imagine what is possible."

BRACKET FOUR ROUND ONE // BRACKET FOUR // ALL POLLS

[maremote]

Black Sails Monologuolympics BR4.2: SILVER'S MONOLOGUES: QUARTERFINALS 🥈

"I'm not the villain you fear I am. I'm not him." VS "Your demons are a part of our reality."

"I'm nobody, from nowhere," VS "The world is a place of unending horrors."

"My name is John Silver" vs "im clearheaded billy"

"I stole it from you" vs "The number of times I followed you blindly"

[maremote]

Black Sails Monologuolympics BR4.2: SILVER'S MONOLOGUES: ROUND 2 🥈

Polls go live Friday at 5:00 PM EST.

I'm not the villain you fear I am. VS "I'm not the first to have been there..."

"I can't let this be for nothing." VS "The number of times I followed you blindly."

"I cannot look weak" VS "I'm nobody, from nowhere,"

"I will be the end of you" VS "The world is a place of unending horrors."

"That isn't a war. That is a fucking nightmare." VS "My name is John Silver, and I have an excellent memory."

"I know what Flint is" VS "im clearheaded billy"

"I stole it from you" VS "And I thought... my god, did Flint do this?"

"Your demons are part of our reality." VS "I see a life for myslef with her."

[knifeeater]

Anne Carson - Autobiography of Red | Black Sails XXI | Aase Berg - Dark Matter

[knifeeater]

What Silver tried to do was give Flints monstrous story a meaning retrospectively. All the hardship and loss would have happened to lead him to his Odyssean ending. But we know that Silver is truly Odysseus when he exclaims 'i am no one' and that Odysseus is a character that stays in our stories as the man who could never rest, always roaming across the sea, an idea of home driving him through tempest and godly wrath. And home is not a place in this haunted tale. Silver proved this with his story about Thomas as the soil and thus spoke into the world this fact. That he would always search for something which he could only find in his old stories now memories and in a haunted cache of pearls and gold. So he returns to the beginning of the story.