#meanwhile the pirate starts a war several islands away

[lore-of-the-mushroom-kingdom]

Political Themes In Mario

So there are people nowadays that complain about "politics" being "forced" in media such as Mario, whether or not this is the case. They often go on to say they just want things like Mario to be an escapist fantasy and to keep politics out. So I wanted to talk about political themes in Mario games similar to how I did for Sonic.

So to start off we have the 2 kingdoms the Mushroom and Koopa Kingdom which are constantly in conflict bringing monarchies into the mix. Peach in particular has asked Mario and Yoshi to help the Jewelry Land out from Bowser's conquest in Yoshi's Safari. She also has at least tried to met with the goodwill ambassador of the Beanbean Kingdom in Superstar Saga, she tried to deal with blorbs outbreak in Inside Story when she held a meeting, and has met with other Kingdom rulers such as Prince Florian. There is also several kings she rulers over and vast amounts of land that make up the Mushroom Kingdom such the Eastern and Western territories.

There is also the themes of exchange rates of coins and borders established in Superstar Saga. We also can't forget about the entire Koopa Army's existence. In Odyssey it is established places like New Donk City hold elections for mayors as Pauline was elected to be the mayor. Meanwhile in on Isle Delfino has an entire jury system that convicts Mario, alongside law enforcement.

In Super Mario Sunshine Bowser Junior pollutes Isle Delfino which Mario gets blamed for and has to clean up. This game as such themes are pollution ruining a beautiful island and disrupting the lifestyle of the islanders.

Speaking of pollution we can't forget about the Kremlings and how they not only polluted DK Island with Kremkroc Industries, but their homeland. As seen in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, Crocodile Island has a been almost completely ruined by the Kremlings create a dark polluted atmosphere. All of this creating an environmentalist theme to these games. Now while some people might say environmentalism shouldn't be regarded as political which I agree with, it has been made political by other people. With many of the people who complain about politics in media often complaining about environmentalism viewing it in media as inherently political. This is why I am including it.

On top of that there is the hypothesis the Kremlings and K. Rool particularly in the Donkey Kong Country 1 could possibly represent a real world event and person.

More on the environmentalism theming, there is the existence of the Wild Yoshi Sanctuary and possible rewilding of Yoshies. Plus dinosaurs are often made inherently political by some people because of prehistory and evolution.

Also, of the Kremling, pirates are also political because of their connection to monarchies historical, especially being true for the Kremlings.

Finally Mario and Luigi are immigrants which should be self explanatory. In the games they lived in New Donk City for a time, while in the movieverse they are Italian-American immigrants living in Brooklyn, and many continuities. Mario and Luigi are plumbers and went through many working class jobs in the past like construction, bottling, and cement. On top of that Mario fought in an unnamed war as well in Mario Bombs Away.

And one final thing Bowser especially in the movie can represent toxic masculinity and some who can never take no for an answer. Such a theme is often made inherently political by some people. Also, the way Peach is described by Miyamoto can also be viewed as inherently political by certain people who hate the mere thought of someone like Peach being like that.

[extravalgant]

snipped and highlighted some interesting things from the novus roundtable from the atmoplex +_+ which u can read for urself here

SPOILERS BELOW AND IN THE SCREENSHOTS as i talk about some novus story points <3 peace and love etc

I FOUND IT SO INTERESTING HOW MUCH PIRATE WAS MENTIONED COMPARED TO BEFORE... they mentioned it a lot here in this round table but i guess we kinda have some sort of confirmation that both 101 games were kind of happening at once, just in different places and times..???

BUT FIRST BAT AND MELLORI (POTENTIAL) COME BACK LETS FUCKING GOOOOO!!!!!!

anywayz i kinda went into both games knowing that they were trying to line up the timelines.. and everyone on the reddits were trying to figure out ways that the pirate and wizard were both doing things in the same world without having it cross together

THE BIT ABOUT THE ARMADA IS INTERESTING THOUGH... *spoilers* but they mention the armada ONCE when the spiral power meetings get a bit too heated and iirc a valencian says something along the lines of ''do you think were weak because of the lack of the armada?" etc etc WHICH IS LIKE !!!! WOJAK POINTING MEME.PNG THEY SAID SOMETHING ABOUT PIRATE!!! AND THE ARMADA... which also kind of confirms that arc 4 (and possibly arc 3?) takes place after valencia part 2 happens... which . also makes sense once you think about it

ALSO LIKE... the off chance that the armada has a chance to come back if situation calls for it (greed) is both funny and worrying . but also very 👁👁

OK I KINDA LOVE THAT WERE THE "BIG BAD" NOW... everyone who wanted a wizard villain arc . there ya go

I ACTUALLY REALLY LIKE THIS BIT... i think the fact that we are acknowledged as someone powerful here -- whereas we are seen as a very "neutral" party in the game. i like how we are seen as ''running away'' and not taking full responsibility when like... the spiral powers have not taken any responsibility at all lmaooo

ANYONE ELSE WHOS COMPLETED OR GONE THROUGH NOVUS DIALOGUE... what do we thiiiiink

star gator though . interesting thing to point out

[medusinestories]

(Disclaimer: I love Flint. I love Silver. This post is pretty hard on Flint because he generally gets a lot of passes in this fandom and today I didn’t feel like letting any of his bullshit fly)

I’ve recently seen several posts about how untrustworthy Silver is, how ready he is to betray Flint and... I ended up writing a bunch of thoughts about trust, loyalty and betrayal in the partnership between Flint and Silver.

Or: who betrayed who first?

The relationship between Silver and Flint starts out as a captive/captor relationship, where Silver accidentally has something that Flint wants. Flint spends the whole season acting as though Silver is a thorn in his side and threatening to get rid of him the moment he becomes useless to him - he does this even after promising Eleanor to keep Silver alive. There’s no trust between them, and there’s no loyalty. Supposedly.

Even early on, Silver seems to see himself as a potential partner in crime for Flint: “We could be friends by then”. It sounds like a joke, but then he spends most of S1 and S2 trying to convince Flint that they can work well together, that he can be useful to him, that he’s not the nobody everyone thinks he is. He can be useful. He proves it to Flint several times in S1, and saves his life several times in a short span between episodes 8 and 9. Why Silver focuses so much on Flint’s survival, putting himself in danger in the process, is open to interpretation. I personally don’t think “Flint is Silver’s best bet to get rich” entirely covers it. There are far less dangerous ways of getting rich than partnering up with a man who killed a rival (after falsely accusing him) with a cannon ball and who strangled his best friend.

Anyhow, when Silver finally does catch Flint’s attention in S2, Flint mostly uses Silver to regain control of his crew, all the while refusing to truly treat him like a partner. In the second half of the season Flint focuses on his plans with Miranda, and barely gives Silver a second glance unless he needs him to help. This in spite of the fact that Silver had made his goals re: the gold very clear, and is obviously disappointed when Flint lies to his face about still planning to get the gold off the beach. This is the first big betrayal between them: Flint betrays Silver after stringing him along for a while, and Silver betrays Flint in return by getting the gold with Max and Rackham. Silver could have done this much earlier, but only chose to do it after Flint made it obvious that he had no intention to actually be Silver’s partner.

Flint spends half of season 3 doing exactly what he wants, against Silver’s advice or wishes, and everything Flint wants to do is extremely destructive. He doesn’t directly betray Silver, but you could say he betrays his crew, which Silver represents and has come to be attached to. Flint’s reckless behaviour is the reason Silver watches Muldoon drown, and it causes the death of many men in the crew that Silver is trying to keep alive. In spite of this, Silver doesn’t betray Flint, even though Billy suggests they’d be better off if Flint dies. Instead, Silver tries to regain his trust. He, in fact, risks his life to regain Flint’s trust by admitting that he stole the Urca Gold.

And it works. Flint finally lets Silver in, and starts listening to him instead of using him as he’d been doing until then. This leads to a true partnership between them, where each is as honest and open as he can be with the other. There’s understanding, and humour, and sharing. There are no more betrayals or mind-games; they are shown to trust each other.

Except. Except that Silver can’t tell Flint about his past, even when Flint asks him to. Except that when Flint trains Silver at swordfighting, he fights with only one hand (and thus doesn’t make himself truly vulnerable to Silver, whom he defeats on Skeleton Island, using both hands). Except that Silver is forced into the role of Pirate King, a role he’s never truly wanted but goes along with because it’s useful for the war; because Flint and Madi and Billy want him to do it. Except that Flint (and Madi) ignore all the hints Silver drops about not actually being this Pirate King, about not wanting an endless war. Flint and Silver may care for each other and trust each other, but there are several important things left unsaid.

The first betrayal of season 4 is Billy’s. It has a strong impact on Silver, even though he wasn’t personally the target of this betrayal. Billy betrayed Flint, and then Madi because she sided with Flint. By betraying Silver’s partners, Billy puts Silver in a position where he has to pick a side. And Silver doesn’t want to. He plainly says that he considers Billy to be a close friend, to which Israel Hands retorts that he should to stop whining, act like a king, and choose. Silver, after months of being loyal to Flint, to Madi, to Billy, to his crew and to Nassau, is forced to betray someone again. He hates, but he chooses Flint over Billy.

He chooses Flint over Billy, even though just before Silver makes this decision, Flint has just broken Silver’s trust by choosing to give himself up to Eleanor as a hostage. Silver emphatically refuses the deal, and it makes absolutely no difference to Flint’s decision. “Trust me”, Flint says. Silver begrudgingly trusts him, and then it just so happens that Flint’s decision puts Eleanor and Madi in the wrong place in the wrong time when Nassau is razed. Eleanor dies as a result, Madi is presumed dead. Silver tells Flint that it’s not his fault, but how much does he truly believe it? He trusted Flint, and Madi died. I’d say the trust between them at this point is tenuous at best.

When we find out Madi is still alive, conflict instantly arises between Silver and Flint over giving away the cache. At this point they’re both exhausted and desperate, each frenziedly working towards opposing goals: Madi’s survival, or keeping the war going. Flint tries to talk Silver out of abandoning the war to save Madi’s life, promising he’ll save her some other way. When Silver refuses and wants to do thing his way for once (and it really is for once), Flint appears to give in. They have a deep heart to heart about the war, Flint even tells Silver, with a lot of feeling, that Silver and Madi are “the best of them all”. Silver clearly doesn’t trust Flint completely, but he staunchly refuses to betray him and forbids Israel Hands to move against him.

And so, Flint betrays Silver and takes the cache onto Skeleton Island. Silver and Flint are right back to how the situation was in earlier seasons: Flint makes a promise, and breaks it because he wants to get his own way. Is it any wonder that Silver, desperate and exhausted and betrayed again, wants to kill him?

I’m honestly not sure what Flint expected from Silver after this point, even though he seemed to hope it would blow over and they could reconcile and continue with the war. How could Silver ever trust Flint again as a partner, though? If they had gone to war, Silver knew exactly what would have happened: Flint would have done things his way, no matter the cost. Flint had proven it many times throughout their relationship, and he had done exactly the same thing to all this previous partners in Nassau, including Miranda. 

So yes, Silver betrays Flint one final time by accepting an alliance with Rackham, Max, and the Maroons who backed this option (ie, the Queen and Julius at the very least). Silver doesn’t betray Flint in anger, this time. I won’t get into in depth because that’s a whole post of its own, but suffice it to say that Silver is clearly torn up over it. He’s losing a lot with this betrayal.

In conclusion, I always find it ironic when Silver is talked about in fandom as though he’s a manipulative snake who doesn’t care for anyone and who wouldn’t think twice before betraying somebody, when his actions onscreen tend to show the opposite. Meanwhile, Flint is shown to be pretty untrustworthy, ready to do anything for his cause whatever the cost. It’s truly a moment of grace when Silver and Flint work as partners, because they’re absolutely formidable together. But when trust is broken, it’s usually Flint doing the breaking, not Silver.

[unatempesta-dipensieri]

Heart Awakened, Live Alive.

genre: pirate!au; war; almost death

words: 1,508

A LONG JOURNEY.

Where it all started.

When she opened her eyes she was no more lingering in the water but she was in a dark place, which scented like decay. She pulled herself up with the help of her hands and tried to get her eyes used to try to understand where the hell she was. The noise of boots and the sound of wood creaking dragged her attention. She saw three shadowy lights, of oil lanterns, which started from the top and reached her floor, she realized that there were the stairs there. The lights arrived in front of her cell which was opened.

“Look who woke up,” someone said.

The lantern oil was appended to a spike, letting it to brighten the cell and the people who had just come down.

“What am I doing here?” said the girl.

The chap in front of her chuckled, flaunting off his damaged teeth.

“The King desires your head”

The girl bounced to her feet. She just couldn’t comprehend why her father, the King, wanted her head.

“How the hell did I end up here?” the girl screeched taking a step towards the man, who must have been forty years old.

“Your stepmother delivered you here, but you know the rest of it so don’t act dull.” said the Royal Guard.

The girl heard a boisterous sound of boots and an extra lantern emerged from the top of the ship.

“Sir, we’ve reached the gallowa!”

The other pair guards carried the girl from the joints and pulled her by force out of the ship’s cellar. The discrepancy between darkness and light made her shut her eyes, seeking to get used to the transition.

“Restrain her, we’ll get down shortly!” said the man who was down with her.

Several meters from them stood Kaos, an island where various criminals and people arrived who, like her, meant to be hung. If solely she knew the cause for her execution she would pray God to help her, or if her older brother were there, she would ask for help but he had disappeared at the age of seventeen, abandoning her alone in a repugnant Kingdom.

“Anchor the ship and you bitch get off!” the Royal Guard took her by the arm and started pulling at her until they approached the entrance of the town that populated that island.

All its inhabitants were on the street observing and judging the girl, but she never lowered her head, she dind’t want to seem frightened because she wasn’t. It didn’t even matter to her when people began tossing food toward her, but all this ended when they reached at the square, where the gallows were. On a raised structure she could see her father and stepmother, who was grinning maliciously. She had finally succeeded to get discarded of both the Prince and the Princess and create a reign of terror. 

The Guard escorted her to the noose. He forced her to climb on the tiny footstool that was placed on the trap door and put the noose around her throat. The Royal Guard stood beside her with a sheet of paper in his hands.

“Y/N  Y/LN, let it be acknowledged that you have been judged and sentenced for committing felonies against the Crown. Related crimes, being multiple in quantity and mishievous in nature. The most remarkable of which we find stated here: supported pirates, fire and killing your own brother know as Prince of Lomilar. And for these crimes, you have been condemned to be hung by the neck until death comes! May the Lord have mercy on you!”

The death of her brother? Let it be tough to condemn her for a death that never happened, her brother had run away because the castle life wasn’t for him, but he had misremembered a more valuable person, his sister.

“Your last words?” questioned the Guard placing his hand on the lever that would activate the trap door.

“I hope you all go to Hell!” roared the girl.

“There are no problems for me,” he returned ridiculing the girl, activating the lever.

She didn’t even notice the sensation of emptiness below her feet, but the single thing she perceived was the noose that squeezed tightly around her throat, making it impossible to breathe, she was ready to die if it weren’t for the fact that she felt someone’s forearms clench her legs and hoist her slightly allowing her to breathe.

The girl peered down and noticed that underneath her was a boy clothed in black, with a hat and a mask to cover his mouth, also black.

“Doll, an influential person doesn’t want you to die, so be good,” said the guy lifting her even further.

“It’s ATEEZ! Come on, attack and shield your King!” screamed the Royal Guard who was above the structure.

Meanwhile, the stepmother had got up from her throne and had seen with outraged that the Princess was still breathing. She looked attentively and saw that someone was keeping her by the legs.

“The Princess! Someone is holding her!” her yell, if we really want to call it that, drew the attention of the guards who were above the structure, who quickly cut the noose and pulled up the Princess, who cried out of wonderment.

“Come on, be a shield!”- said the Royal Guard pushing the girl-”We have to get back on the ship!”

When they arrived on the ship they attempted to withdraw themselves from the shore as much as they could.

The Princess tried in every way to free herself from the strings that were cutting her skin around her wrists but she was unable to do so and ran to the prow in search of a place to hide.

“Y/N!” a male voice yelled captivating her concentration.

Those guys clothed in black were all on the bridge attempting to run as fast as possible to reach the Royal Ship. One of the Royal Guards noticed in and immediately rushed towards the girl with a sword in his hands. When the sword was about to hit her in the ehad, she moved, making him hit her arm, when she felt the blade piercing in the flesh, she tried to not scream, but she was relieved to feel her wrists free, so she kicked the lower parts of the Guard and ran towards the wooden balustarde that separeted the ship from the sea.

She looked up and saw one of the boys arrive right at the edge of the dock.

“Now or never,” thought the girl.

She put her hands on the wood and fisrt she passed one leg and then the other.

“Stop her!” one of the guards shouted. 

They were running towards her but the girl threw herself in the sea.

******

When she reopened her eyes she was on a bed, she studied the room and saw a wooden table in the center of the room on which there were numerous maps of islands. How the hell did she find herself there? The only thing she reminisced was that she launched herself into the sea and then total darkness.

She hopped out of the bed when the wooden door banged open against the adjacent wall. A boy with half of his face covered in a black mask entered the room.

“I see you’ve woken up,” he spoke softly, possibly he was grinning behind the mask, but she wasn’t sure about it.

“Who are you and What am I doing here?” the girl questioned hoarsely.

“We saved you- said the boy arranging some creams on a tiny counter near the bed- I have to take care of your arm.”

The Princess looked down imperceptibly and saw that the attire she was wearing weren’t the ones she wore earlier.

“W-Who changed me?” her cheeks turned burning red.

“Me, but quiet, I did as quickly as possible and without staring at your private parts,” said the boy.

“Who are you?” asked the girl.

“We are ATEEZ, I think you have already heard of us,” said the boy.

The girl’s eyes increased. She couldn’t believe she was in front of a pirate, but they weren’t like the others. From what the King said they were ferocious, their crimes varied from bootlegging to illegal weapons, but nobody knew what face they had considering that they constantly covered with a cap and a black mask to cover their nose and mouth. 

“Now that you comprehend who we are, Can I heal your arm or do you want to spurt to death?” he said displeased.

“Oh sorry” the Princess uplifted half of her shirt masking her breast with her hand.

“It will sting a little,” said the boy putting some lotion on the cut.

tag list:

@zaffiro99​ @atiny-piratequeen​ 

[esoanem]

I.

“Let me tell you a story, about a Spaniard named Vasquez...”

Following this fantastic video essay by Rowan Ellis (contains spoilers for the entire show), I am currently rewatching Black Sails. The first season has a slightly different tone from the rest of the show and, in particular, has a major sexual assault storyline. I know several people who have been put off from watching the show as a result

So, with that in mind, I’m gonna give summaries and content notes for the episodes of the first season as well as timestamps of any scenes with particular content people may want to avoid. Hopefully this information can allow people to either skip those scenes or, read the summaries of these episodes and skip them entirely

Anyway, this post is about the very first episode

Major Content Notes:

Violence: some bloody violence, shot fairly brutally

Wikipedia Synopsis:

John Silver joins Captain Flint's crew as his ship's new cook whilst secretly holding a highly valuable page of the Captain's Log, which he takes from the first cook, who had stolen it from the captain himself. Meanwhile, Captain Flint faces a potential mutiny from his crew and must work to secure their support. The Captain recruits his first mate Billy Bones' help to overthrow the mutineer's leader, Singleton. Meanwhile, Eleanor Guthrie tries to keep order on the lawless island of New Providence conducting her father's business, as the Royal Navy's suspicions of the pirates grow stronger.

There’s quite a lot going on in this episode, with several speeches establishing important themes, because it has to establish all the major players, and most of their relationships, so the summary is actually quite a long (albeit quite condensed from my 8 pages of notes). Below the cut are the timestamps of any scenes requiring any of the major content notes, and then the summary (which includes all the events of the episode)

Timestamps:

All timestamps are from the “Complete Collection” DVDs which includes a Starz logo at the start. Depending on your source, timestamps may vary a little, which is why I’ve included the timestamp for the opening titles. Timestamps are only given for the start and end of scenes featuring any particularly warning-worthy content

06:30: opening titles

56:23-60:30: Flint & Singleton’s fight. The violence here is pretty brutal & bloody, moreso than most of the rest of the series

Summary:

1715 West Indies

The Pirates of New Providence Island threaten maritime trade in the region

The laws of every civilized nation declare them hostis humani generis. Enemies of all mankind

In response, the pirates adhere to a doctrine of their own… war against the world

A merchant ship is attacked by Captain James Flint’s pirates on the Walrus. During the attack, the cook steals a page from a logbook, and ends up barricaded in a compartment with the coward John Silver (below). The cook plans to joint the pirates after the fight, saying a good cook is always in demand. Silver spots the pouch the page is hidden in, causing the cook to draw his sword

The rest of the crew barricade in a separate room, but eventually the pirates break in, defeat them and the pirate captain, Flint (below), gets the merchant Captain to surrender

The quartermaster Hal Gates (below) walks through the merchant ship assessing the prize as the crew breaks down the door to Silver’s compartment, in which he finds the cook dead, stabbed in the back, Silver claims to be a very good cook and asks to join

On the deck, Singleton (below, and also pictured in the background of Flint’s picture) is giving a speech to the captured merchant sailors, appealing to their sense of class consciousness

"Now that the fight is over, you have nothing more to fear from us today. Because we know this fight was not of your making, it was the choice of our true enemy, your true enemy, the tyrant captain. Many of us once sailed on ships like this one, we know what it is to be slaves to his whims, his violence, his shit wages! His insufferable stupidity! So we’ve made for ourselves a different life, where we don’t rely on wages”

The accountant Dufresne (below, note that he is played by a different actor as his original actor sadly died after the filming of the first season) assesses the prize as barely covering their costs and, after four prizes in a row with little profit, Gates is concerned about dissent in the crew, and that Singleton is angling for the captaincy

Flint and Gates appear conspiratorial over the logbook, saying it proves that this is the ship, but Gates quickly spots the missing page, the schedule, without which the logbook isn’t very useful in leading them to the greater prize

“let me see if I have this right. This is the fourth prize in a row from which the profits will barely exceed the expenses it took to win it, Singleton’s out there trying to convince your crew to torture that poor bastard of a captain simply because he hasn’t worked out how to get them to do it to you, but all’s well, because you’ve discovered, that the information we can’t tell anyone we’re looking for, exists on a page, that we don’t have“

A Royal Navy Man-o-War, the Scarborough is spotted (unusual seeing as she’s based in Boston), and the Walrus leaves behind the merchant ship so it can get away

Belowdecks, the Bosun, Billy Bones (above) introduces Silver to Randall (below), who used to be the Bosun before him, before he was beaten to within an inch of his life and “lost his wits, but not their loyalty”. Randall is mistrustful of Silver, apparently because he feels like Silver is replacing him. Billy emphasises the equality of the pirate ship, that everyone should get the same food, including the captain & quartermaster

Gates tells Flint that Singleton plans to replace him, and now has the votes to do so. Flint tries to manipulate Gates into blaming himself, even though the crew’s poor morale is due to Flint’s seemingly poor choice of prizes to chases. Flint says that with a few more days, the schedule could be reconstructed from the logbook, but he’ll need a favour from Richard Guthrie who is responsible for selling all the goods the pirates steal. When Gates is skeptical that Guthrie will help them, Flint says they’ll just go back to normal and pretend none of this ever happened & Gates calls him out for lying

The Walrus arrives in Nassau, and the crew go ashore (below). One of the pirates tells Silver that it used to be English, now it isn’t, and that now it’s “ours”. Gates tells Billy that Flint is going to ask Guthrie for a favour and is likely to react badly when he refuses, and tells Billy to go with him and, when the time comes, restrain him, so they don’t lose Guthrie’s business. As Silver is unloading the cargo, he notices one of the logbooks is not among them and deduces the page must be from the missing volume and is in Flint’s quarters

Silver then gets hazed. He is accosted and told he needs to see Blackbeard, who “meets the new ones, no exceptions”. When thrust into a smoky room he’s told contains Blackbeard, he realises that the person in the throne is not, in fact, the pirate Edward Teach, but rather a prostitute. When he questions this, she opens her coat, revealing a large black bush. The pirates laugh, tell him to yell if he gets lost in there, and close the doors. As Silver is stripped, and has sex with the five prostitutes, he keeps glancing for the page that has fallen out of his clothes

Gates goes to speak to Eleanor Guthrie (below, left), in her tavern. She is introduced berating a captain for being scared of the mere whiff of the Navy rather than going for profit, and clapping back at a drunk pirate telling her to fuck herself. Gates warns Eleanor & her right-hand man, the former slave, Mr Scott (below, right) about Singleton’s plan to take over, and asks for a loan to buy the crew’s loyalty. Eleanor eventually agrees, but Mr Scott chides her, saying that he doesn’t think her father would approve

Max (below), one of the prostitutes from Silver’s hazing pours some tea as he scrambles for the page, which she already found, having noticed that despite having “a whore for every finger on your hand, but your eyes kept drifting to this”. Realising it’s valuable, but that Silver doesn’t know anyone to sell it to, she offers to act as a middle-man, in exchange for half

Gates enters a tent with several of the black pirates and negotiates with the eldest of them, who he knows the rest will follow, to buy their votes. Despite having spent the entirety of Eleanor’s loan on other sections of the crew, he persuades them to side with him in exchange for payment taken out of the next prize. Unfortunately for him, Jack Rackham (below) spots him and tells Singleton that Gates has been buying votes

Silver sneaks into Flint’s cabin aboard the ship with Max waiting in a rowing boat, where he finds the logbook and matches the page to it, but disturbs a feather Flint had left

Meanwhile, Flint has his meeting with Richard Guthrie (below), explaining his plan, how he heard of it, how the logbook confirms his lead, and that he needs Guthrie’s contacts to reconstruct the schedule

“Let me tell you a story, about a Spaniard named Vasquez. A few weeks ago, he staggers into a tavern in port royal, takes a seat next to an English merchant captain. Vasquez, it turns out, is dying, bleeding to death from a knife wound to the belly. The knife wound was courtesy of his former employer la Casa de Contratacion in Seville”

“Colonial Intelligence?”

“Navy, more specifically. One of the top agents in the Americas, responsible for the security of one particular ship, a ship with a cargo so rich, the king of Spain is very anxious to see it launched. Vasquez warned that it was too late, storm season was upon them and no escort could be mustered to guard her, but his superiors demanded that he sign off. They advised him that if he couldn’t arrange for an escort, he should plot a course unknown to anyone but our captain, and consider that route to be a state secret of the highest order. When Vasquez refused and threatened to report his concerns to the court things got ugly. The ship in question? Urca de Lima. The largest Spanish treasure galleon in the Americas. According to Vasquez, total cargo in excess of 5 million dollars”

Guthrie refuses to help, saying that the ship is heavily armed even without an escort, and that even making enquiries would jeopardise his standing with the Spanish. Flint twists his arm and goes to break his fingers, asking Billy to threaten Guthrie with his pistol, but Billy instead aims it at Flint

They hear a commotion outside, it’s the British! Captain Hume of the Scarborough to be precise. Billy, Flint, & Guthrie have all returned to their positions to maintain the pretence of respectability, but Hume isn’t buying it treating us to his pontifications on the relationship between gossip and civilisation, and attempts to take them all into custody. Flint & Billy resist, defeating the Navy men, but Guthrie is shot in the shoulder

“Tell me something, Mr Guthrie. Do you have gossip here?

“Gossip?”

“I’ve often wondered if it can survive in so remote a location. You see gossip is what holds civilisation together. It reinforces shame, and without shame, well, the world is a very dangerous place”

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand”

“Do you know what the gossip is in London about you? The gossip is that you make your profits selling ill-gotten cargo, stolen by the pirates of Providence Island”

Singleton confronts the leader of the black pirates about his change of heart. When they refuse to change back to his side, Anne Bonny (below right) appears together with Jack Rackham and she kills them

Before the leader is killed, Captain Charles Vane (below) comes out of the shadows too

Gates tells Mr Scott & Eleanor that he’s secured the votes, only to be told by one of the remaining black pirates that their leader was killed, and his last words were “Vane”. Eleanor decides to do something about Vane

Jack, Anne, & Vane are drinking in a brothel, and discuss their plan. Singleton will become captain, fail at it, and the skilled hands will then defect to their crew. We also find out that Jack & Anne are fucking. At this point, Eleanor storms in, and punches Vane. He punches her back and then offers her a hand to help her get back up. He follows her as she goes to clean up. She explains that he’s fucked her over, and we find out he used to love her and, despite grabbing her face, he still tucks her hair behind her ears suggesting conflicted feelings about that. She threatens to cut him off from selling goods, but vane points out that her father is the one who buys the goods, and he’ll always choose profits over daughters

Max sees that Eleanor has been hit, and leads Eleanor to her bedroom, hand-in-hand. She correctly guesses that Vane is the one who hit her and, when Eleanor blames herself she scoffs at it. She nurses Eleanor, they kiss, and then have sex

Flint & Billy sail away from Mr Guthrie’s mansion, with his pale, unconscious body. Flint strips Guthrie’s rings & wig, and explains that he plans to hide Mr Guthrie, so as to avoid panicking the crew when they find out their fence is burnt

Billy calls out Flint’s constant lying, and wonders if maybe Singleton is right, and they do need a change. This causes Flint to move aggressively towards Billy, but he puts his sword between them forcing Flint to keep his distance. 

“War is coming, one ship is not the war. When a king brands us pirates, he doesn’t mean to make us adversaries, he doesn’t mean to make us criminals, he means to make us monsters, for that’s the only way his god-fearing taxpaying subjects can make sense of men who keep what is theirs and fear no-one. When I say there’s a war coming, I don’t mean with the Scarborough, I don’t mean with King George, or England. Civilisation is coming, and it means to exterminate us. If we are to survive, we must unite behind our own king”

“We have no kings here”

“I am your king”

Flint tells Gates about Guthrie, and finds out that whilst they were gone, Singleton has called a council to vote on him taking the captaincy. Flint takes a moment in his cabin and, whilst flinging some furniture, notices the feather Silver had disturbed

Taking the logbook to the council, Flint tells them of his plan, and accuses Singleton of having stolen the schedule from the logbook

"I’m sorry. For the short hauls. For the trouble I’ve caused. But most importantly, for the disregard it seems I’ve shown you

“The most important element of a healthy ship is trust. Trust between men. Trust between captain and crew. Without it, a ship is doomed

“For the past few months, you and I have been on the trail of a prize so rich, it could upset the very nature of our world. And for that reason, I felt it necessary to keep it secret

“I didn’t trust you. And that was my mistake. Right now I would like to tell you that prize is within our grasp and we are close, so close. But it would appear that my concerns about secrecy had merit

“Someone on this crew discovered my plans. And tore from this log the very page necessary to discover that prize. Stole it for their own gain. Stole it from us. And then, stoked your resentment to cover his crime, and make himself your captain”

Obviously, Singleton is confused, and protests that he doesn’t know anything about this. Gates points out that this is a serious accusation, thievery being punishable by death, and a false accusation likewise. Per the articles of the ship, Singleton must either submit to a trial (with Gates as judge, who Singleton does not consider would be impartial), or they can settle it by sword

This fight is analysed in a lot of detail by Matt Easton (a historical fencing instructor, well versed in military sabre of the late 19th and late 18th centuries, so only shortly after the period of the show) here (may contain spoilers for later in the show, I don’t remember). Flint has good form, and is clearly well-trained, but Singleton is stronger, tougher, and more ferocious, easily gaining the upper hand

There is some back and forth, with Flint temporarily gaining the advantage, before losing it again, ending up injured and covered in blood. He is finally able to grab a cannonball and smash Singleton on the head, before crawling over him and beating him to death in front of a shocked crew

Flint produces a piece of paper, seemingly from Singleton’s bloody corpse, and offers it to Billy (seeing this page, Silver confirms that he does in fact still have the real page). Billy opens it, sees that it’s a completely blank page, but as Flint coolly holds his gaze tells the crew that it is in fact the stolen schedule

“Friends, brothers, the prize that you and I have been pursuing, is l’Urca de Lima, the hulk, a prize of almost unimaginable value, now with this page securely in our possession, we can begin our hunt, and we will succeed, no matter the cost, no matter the struggle, I will see that prize is yours, I’m not just going to make you rich, I’m not just going to make you strong, I’m going to make you the princes of the new world!”

The crew all cheer whilst Billy, Gates, and Silver, who all know that this page is not real look on in disbelief

Max is called from her room, where we see Eleanor sleeping naked on the bed by Idelle, one of the other prostitutes. She goes down to meet Jack & Anne and, sitting on his lap (which Anne does not like), tells them she has something she thinks they may want to buy

[secret-engima]

I blame @talisward for this but like-

Before I get way into this, tagging @wolfsrainrules​ and tentatively @north-peach​ because FFXV isn’t your fandom but this is also part Star Wars and who knows you might find it funny.

What if in a Star Wars/FFXV crossover, a ship takes damage to the hyperdrive (pirate attack or unexpected meteor shower something) and the hyperdrive yeets them waaaaayyyyyyyyy into Wild Space and it crashes on the jungle islands of an unknown planet and the crew is killed in the crash.

But the crew weren’t the only ones on board.

The Galahdians of various Clans, for once all united, swarm over the strange thing that fell from the sky very warily, scuffing and chirping at each other (because this is totally an A/B/O verse, maybe even an a/b/o spin-off of Thrown to Wolves verse who knows) and they finally pry open part of it to look inside and- dead bodies. Dead bodies of strange adults and non-human ... beings that still looked vaguely humanoid and didn’t dissolve like daemons. Sprawled over in what was clearly death from the crash. They explore and find no survivors or even anything familiar. The letters on the walls are strange, the technology is strange. Everything is strange.

Then one of them finds a body dressed differently. Rather than strange, unpleasant smelling synthetic fabric, this one is dressed in spun clothes, rough and simple and practical. The body, not human but very humanoid, is curled up near a door, an expression of odd serenity and determination on their face even in death.

It’s one of the Ulrics that notices the area AROUND the body is miraculously untouched. There is destruction and crumpled metal and sparking wires in the hallway leading up to the spot, but the door behind the body and whatever is beyond is undamaged. Protected.

One of the Ostiums sniffs carefully, stiffens as he finally catches a scent other than sparks and foreign metal and strange blood, “There’s something alive on the other side,” he whispers.

An Arra presses her ear against the door for several seconds before growling, “I hear pups.”

And that’s the only incentive they need to start forcing the door open, because pups are sacred, even in a place like this, a metal ship that fell from the night sky and is filled with the dead bodies of human and non-human beings alike.

The door finally gives way with a scream of metal, letting the light spill into the room.

The collection of Jedi Younglings stare at them with wide, frightened eyes, some human, others not, all smelling of sadness and terror and the need for reassurance.

The Galahdians glance at each other meaningfully at the sight of non-human pups, then carefully set about coaxing them all out despite the language barrier, soothing the tears that come at the sight of the dead protector (who must have been protecting the pups with magic, surely) and herding them out into the jungle sunshine. While some of the Clans start working on removing the bodies for as proper a funeral as they can make (they hope star people don’t mind being burned and released to the winds, but it’s all they can do), others start trying to figure out what to DO with the new children. They can’t separate them, but these are a lot of strange children and that will be a lot for any Clan to handle. They settle on giving them to the more famed and long-standing alliances, the Ulric-Ostium and the Lazarus-Furia-Arra because the joint clans will have an easier time raising the kids and figuring out ... well. Non-human biology.

One of the Ulrics meanwhile is carefully distracting the poor scared kiddos by trying to establish some rudimentary communication. She finally coaxes their names out of them and smiles when one of the humans (human-like? If he’s a star person does he really count as human?) in the group, a boy no more than eight if she doesn’t miss her mark, steps forward and shakily bows in greeting and carefully enunciates “Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

Some other notes on this AU that I apparently have now: a/b/o is an Astral fiddling thing that happens over time and all the Jedi younglings are young enough that THEY develop it too as they’re raised by Galahd.

Galahd guards their Star Children zealously. Keeps them secret and treasured.

If this is not a Thrown to Wolves a/b/o spin-off, then this is still an AU where “magic” (ie the Force) can be used by almost everyone to some degree or other, just for simpler things than the specialized and extremely powerful magics of the LCs and Oracles because of Bahamut’s Blessing. Other people can still do amazing stuff with their “Magic” but it’s not armiger or Walls or superhealing/purification and it’s not as overwhelmingly powerful as LCs (who are all like- up there with Anakin Skywalker Force-power wise).

The younglings are Obi-Wan’s crechemates, they were on their way back from Illum or something when the hyperdrive yote them to Eos. They quickly figure out they’re on a planet so far away no one knows Galactic Standard and that no one has space travel. Eventually they settle in their new lives.

Everyone picture Feral Galahdian Jedi bbys. It’s like- Feral Mandalorian Jedi bbys but without the helmets and heavy armor XD.

They did end up splitting the creche between the various Clans, but tried to keep at least two kids near each other at all times so that they wouldn’t feel abandoned and organized regular “play dates” for all their Star Children (with the added benefit of the adults getting to share their meltdowns over the weird things their Star Children do and need). Also Ramuh is watching from on high and running damage control, which is why no Galahdian falls over dead from space viruses and no youngling dies in spasms from Eos viruses. He’s also the one to tweak the kiddos to fit into the a/b/o dynamic.

Obi-Wan would like you to believe he’s an Ostium. He is not. He’s an Ulric. Bant is his long-suffering Ostium braincell.

Other members of the creche include: Bruck Chun, who after multiple hard lessons on bullying is actually a pretty decent (if aggressive) bby Furia. Quinlan Vos because I find him fun (or, in this AU, Quinlan Ulric), and a couple OCs because I can’t remember who all else is in Obi-Wan’s age group/creche. There’s a Togruta in there somewhere because Togruta are cool.

Meanwhile in the Galaxy at large the Jedi are searching for their lost ship of younglings with more than a little alarm, but they don’t find them. While wandering for clues even years later, one Qui-Gon Jinn stumbles across a slave woman and her year old bby on Tattooine. The bby is extremely freaking Force sensitive so he Qui-Gon Jinn’s his way into buying both of their freedoms and taking them to Coruscant to introduce the woman to the Jedi so she can decide if she wants her bby in the Jedi or not. The woman is Shmi, the bby is Anakin.

Obi-Wan uses the schematics found on the ship (it was a ship for building lightsabers and stuff like in that one Clone Wars episode), his own instincts, and bits of the Elemency crystals/meteor shards lying around to “re-invent” the lightsaber. All the Galahdians are enamored and immediately figure out how to make their own.

Niflheim was Not Prepared to tackle a jungle full of Feral Galahdians with Laser Swords. Galahd does no fall and the Kingsglaive are still formed but not out of refugees. Instead Regis approaches them hoping to form an elite force of laser sword wielding jungle maniacs warriors. The Galahdians agree after some haggling for extra autonomy/privacy to hide their Star Children.

I feel like Obi-Wan joins the Kingsglaive. Just- because OBI-WAN. He’s curious and interested and he doesn’t particularly like war but he has that very strong Protecc instinct and people appreciate his diplomacy.

Years and years later, when the Star Children are teens/young adults, either they figure out how to repair their old ship or somehow another Republic ship finds Eos and all the Jedi proceed to collectively lose their minds over finding their Feral Galahdian former-Jedi younglings and their culture of laser-sword wielding jungle Packs.

Also the secondary genders is NOT a thing outside Eos so all the Jedi are ALSO freaking out over that and trying to figure out how their younglings have it (BECAUSE IT’S A THING. THERE ARE HORMONES AND VOCALIZATIONS AND STUFF THAT NORMAL HUMANS/MON CALAMARI/ETC CAN’T PULL OFF). It ... it never occurs to the Jedi that the Astrals did it because no matter how many times the Galahdians say it’s an Astral-granted thing, no one believes them because everyone “knows” that must be their primitive mythology and culture. There is no such thing as beings who can materialize out of thin air and are made of pure Force. Pssh.

Ramuh the Troll, Bahamut the Drama Queen, every other Astral who is professionally insulted that their existence is brushed off by the idiots who should know better: Behold, we shall ruin these arrogant space monks’ entire careers.

Also Palpatine tries something funny near the Galahdians and is murdered discreetly via an Arra because they can SMELL the madness and near daemon-like corruption on him kthanks.

Also also all the Galahdians take one (1) look at Anakin and go BBY SPACE ULRIC and promptly adopt Shmi and Anakin both while the Space Monks look on and sputter in confusion.

[lua-born]

A spawned AU plot bunny that spawn when I was playing Warframe like the nerd I am. I am also a GOC/ROTG cultist fan who loves rainbow snowcone / frostbite. Bless @aleikats / @alei-kats for wonderful coconut club and Jayson Frost. Thank you for birthing this AU with your art!

Toothiana is a princess coming to age in a kingdom far into space (think like Star Wars Naboo but floating islands) and her parents (king and queen) throws a grand and extravagant festival/ball announcing her coming of age and celebration of her newly found engagement to another neighboring kingdom.

As the festivities went on, Toothiana felt unhappy and upset that her parents had decided to marry her off instead of letting her go on an adventure like she had read in many stories. She wished there was something more than being a barter chip and a princess and sat unhappily in the gardens while the party went on.

Suddenly there was a large overcast above her and screams could be heard as she looked up to see so many pirate ships up close. Pirates descended onto the land, attacking both civilians and guards alike. Then another group descended and found and grabbed Toothiana, dragging her back into one of the smaller ships to depart.

Realizing there was no escape that could leave her in one piece right away, she partially gave up letting them, but not letting them off by giving a few of them some bruises and a black eye.

In turns out they were looking for several targets to capture for ransom and conveniently they managed to nab only at least the princess and a child of a noble, Seraphina.

Few weeks pass (and deep in the outer reigion of the galaxy) Toothiana and Seraphina was held for ransom far from the kingdom and there were several attempts to take them back. But the pirates were cunning and slippery to boot, almost avoiding all attempts but gaining substantial damage on their ship.

Nearly out of fuel and the ship in major need of repair,the pirates dock into an obscure docking port. The pirates attempt to reach their other crew member ship to transfer both Toothiana and Seraphina into separate cargo to prevent losing some ransom money.

Just before they were going to be transferred out into the loading area to be split up, a space pilot comes breaking in, kicking the door open and started fighting the worn down pirates.

As both Toothiana and Seraphina watched (Seraphina becoming more excited and shouting joy as the space pilot kicked ass), Toothiana had several thoughts. ‘Goodness gracious, that’s it! I want to be a space pilot, that’ll be my way to adventure all over the galaxy!’ and another stray thought was ‘oh my, what a nice ass he got there.’

As it turns out the space pilot, now newly revealed ‘Jayson Frost’, wasn’t exactly there to save them but it seems like a plus to return them back home, took them into his ship after they pleaded (more on Seraphina’s part because she got a guardian waiting for her) to be taken home. Toothiana, who had become interested in becoming a space pilot, convinces him over a few days to teach her a space pilot.

He calls her princess several times jokingly and teasingly, not knowing Toothiana is actually a princess.

Jayson eventually has a crisis and figure out he really like Toothiana because of her quirks and he hoped to ask her if she would become her partner in bounty hunting and just deep diving into space for treasure, with the added bonus of traveling everywhere.

Meanwhile Toothiana is also freaking out because damn he is funny with his dark humor and she loves how he would treat her and Seraphina right and not like fragile glass. He also acts like a really good father/big brother to Seraphina so that was a major plus in her books if she wanted to make her own family.

As they travel far back to Toothiana and Seraphina’s Kingdom, detours had to be made while oddly Jayson was suspiciously being slow and stealthy in the neighboring kingdom. The two girls then figure out as he was exposed by a guard at a checkpoint, revealing him to be the lost prince of the King (MiM) who had lost his only son in an invasion. Nearly escaping the guards Jayson takes them into a wild goose chase into the asteroid labyrinth, effectively losing their pursuers.

Toothiana is shocked that this could be the prince she would be expected to marry if he wasn’t a space pilot.

It eventually ends up as an action/comedy/romance as the three runs all over the galaxy, avoiding authorities of certain kingdoms and beating up pirates and completing bounties.

During their travels, Jayson picks up a special artifact from one of the old ruins of a derelict kingdom and it also turns out there's a huge conspiracy around it and they also have to fight a big baddie who threatens the whole galaxy. Which they end up saving with some cliche power of love thing and because Seraphina remembers thats her dad, Kozmotis Pitchiner, the lost and best Head General of Jayson’s kingdom.

Kozmotis ends up hitching for a ride and get them a better ship with the untouch money vault he had hidden away. It was more of a thank you for saving him and letting him reunite with his beloved daughter.

Meanwhile amongst all this, Jayson and Toothiana becomes a couple and unofficial become this weird family where clearly they are to young to get married and have a former Head General and his daughter as family.

Seraphina is pleased about the two getting together and teases both of them about when she’s going to have a little sibling and it always gets them beet red. She often get scolded lightly by her father but she most often gets away with it due to certain incidents.

There’s later in the future, Jayson and Toothiana does get married but then suddenly both their home kingdom crashes in to see them tie the knot. Of course both the couple and Pitchiners escape (Seraphina was both the flower girl and ring barer and Kozmotis was the best man in the wedding.) in a blaze of glory.

[the-desolated-quill]

A Stronger Loving World - Watchmen blog

(SPOILER WARNING: The following is an in-depth critical analysis. if you haven’t read this comic yet, you may want to before reading this review)

When people read Watchmen for the first time, I’d be surprised if any of them expected the story to end like this.

A Stronger Loving World opens with the aftermath of the fake alien arriving in New York and slaughtering millions. Three splash pages of harrowing artwork by Dave Gibbons. Corpses littered everywhere. Blood in the streets. Giant tentacles wrapped around various landmarks. It’s an extremely unsettling opening and lets the reader know that Gibbons and Alan Moore are not fucking around here. Doctor Manhattan and Laurie arrive to see the carnage and deduce that Adrian was behind it before heading to Antarctica to confront him. After several confrontations involving Manhattan getting disintegrated again and Laurie pulling a gun on Adrian, it’s revealed that Ozymandias’ plan has worked. The nations of the world have put aside their differences and decided to cooperate for fear of an impending alien invasion.

This then leads to the big moral dilemma. What Adrian has done is despicable, but he has succeeded in bringing about world peace, and revealing the truth behind the giant squid runs the risk of dooming the world all over again. So what would be the heroic thing to do?

Well there’s no point asking these characters because as the graphic novel has been emphasising again and again, these guys are not heroes.

This is an extremely complicated moral conundrum with no real right or wrong answer, and I very much appreciate how Alan Moore doesn’t try to shove one down our throats. I also like how each character comes to their decision. Doctor Manhattan is of course a godlike being who sees beyond our world and so shares a somewhat similar view to Adrian’s. That the deaths were justified because the end result is peace. Rorschach on the other hand cannot square what just happened with his own rigid morality, and refuses to keep the secret, vowing to tell everyone the truth, which leads to Manhattan killing him. Nite Owl meanwhile, being weak willed and pathetic as ever, decides to go along with Adrian’s plan, but it’s less to do with him agreeing with Adrian and more to do with the fact that the moral implications are so hard to comprehend that he doesn’t even want to try, instead taking the path of least resistance. Finally Silk Spectre, so shocked by everything she’s learned and witnessed, clings to the one stable thing she has. Dan. The two then have sex, serving as a dark inverse of the sex scene in A Brother To Dragons. In both instances, sex is used as a metaphor for power, but whereas the motivation in the first was Dan overcoming his own inadequacies, the second is both Dan and Laurie desperately trying to retain whatever shred of power and independence they have left after such a shocking and twisted act of mass murder.

It’s great because it demonstrates just how well Moore understands his own characters and how well we’ve come to know them. They behave exactly as we would expect them to and there’s something oddly satisfying about that despite the moral ambiguity of their decisions.

In fact lets discuss Rorschach for a bit, considering he’s the only one that refused to keep the secret. Bit surprising considering the horrid things he’s done throughout the graphic novel. What’s so different about this? Well it could be the sheer scale of it. Could be that he didn’t believe those who died truly deserved it according to his own strict moral code. Except I’m not entirely convinced. In the extra material provided in The Abyss Gazes Also, there’s a letter written by a young Walter Kovacs about his father. Or rather the person he imagines his father to be because he never actually met him. Apparently his parents split up because ‘he liked President Truman and she didn’t.’ Interesting in and of itself that Rorschach, a right wing bigot, was fathered by a Democrat. But wait, it gets more intriguing. He then goes on to write about how he believes his father was an aide to President Truman before talking about the events of Hiroshima and Nagasaki when the US dropped atomic bombs, killing millions. Except here he expresses that he believes that Truman did the right thing because it ended the war and saved millions more lives. Curious, wouldn’t you agree? So, in Rorschach’s mind, what made the nukes in Japan morally justifiable while Adrian’s giant squid in New York wasn’t? We can only really speculate at this point. Some think it’s because Rorschach has realised that there is no place for him in Adrian’s new world order, which I guess is kind of true, but I think it runs the risk of romanticising the character again. It could be that the nukes were a last resort whereas the squid was preemptive... maybe? Personally I think it’s just good old fashioned racism. Rorschach had no issue with the millions of Japanese lives lost because they were Japanese. The enemy. This is different. This time millions of American lives have been lost. To him, this is more than just mass murder. It’s an act of treason.

We may never fully know the reasons behind Rorschach’s actions, but it’s nonetheless interesting to discuss.

I also appreciated that we do get a moment where Adrian questions whether he did the right thing, expressing his doubts to Doctor Manhattan, to which he receives a cryptic response about how ‘nothing ever ends.’ (does Manhattan know what happens in the future? We’ll never know). It’s a nice moment that helps to humanise Adrian a little bit and remind us that he’s as flawed as all the other characters. The arrogant bravado he displays when he succeeds in achieving world peace could easily have slipped into pantomime villain territory if there wasn’t just this small moment near the end, possibly as the scale of the things he’s done dawns on him. Like the pirate captain in The Tales Of The Black Freighter, Adrian means well and his intentions are noble, but his actions are either highly questionable or just downright villainous. This is basically what Watchmen has been talking about since the start. Once you start taking more frequent steps outside the bounds of what is legally and morally acceptable, it’s not long before you’ve effectively joined the criminals yourself.

There’s a lot to like about A Stronger Loving World, however I do have a few complaints here and there. Yes, lets talk about that giant squid.

If there was ever a moment where Watchmen jumped the shark, this is it. And quite frankly I have no idea what Alan Moore was thinking at the time. So Adrian wants to unite the world together using an outside force that will encourage everyone to put aside their differences and team up with each other. Okay. Makes sense so far. But the plan itself requires so many leaps of logic, it kind of loses all credibility. Take for example the idea that it was cloned from a psychic’s brain. Well that came out of nowhere, didn’t it? Yes this is a world where a giant naked blue guy can manipulate atoms, but the story explained to us how this was possible, allowing us to suspend our disbelief. Now suddenly we’re supposed to believe that human psychics exist with no build up whatsoever. It’s just dumped on us, which makes it feel more like a convenient excuse than an explanation. Yes they do kind of foreshadow it with Adrian’s pet lynx Bubastis, but it’s a bit of a leap, isn’t it? It’s one thing to genetically alter an existing animal. It’s another thing entirely to create an all new creature with psychic abilities as though this was Build-A-Bear Workshop.

Not to mention, in order to explain how in God’s name someone can go from inventing electric cars to creating aliens, Alan Moore has to resort to a gigantic infodump in order to make sense of the bloody thing. The initial teleport incinerates people, then the psychic ‘death throes’ or whatever cause others to go mad and start killing each other, and then those even further away have bad dreams or something. Presumably the person furthest from ground zero probably has a moment where they forget where they put their car keys and leave the gas on. It’s just overly complicated and way too daft.

Also I can understand Adrian kidnapping scientists, but why artists and writers? And why tell them the creature is for a movie? Was no one a tiny bit suspicious of the amount of work, resources and effort being put into this supposed ‘special effect’? What about the fact that they were taken from their homes and put on a tiny island? Don’t they have families? Are any of them concerned about how ridiculously secretive this film production is? And more to the point, why let the rest of the world believe them to be kidnapped? If you’re going to go with the Hollywood movie cover story, why not just tell people that’s what they’re doing? I guess you could argue that Adrian was concerned this would draw unwanted attention to his plan, but... what?... them getting kidnapped wouldn’t have drawn attention?!

And then there’s just the sheer randomness of it. Why aliens? He doesn’t even plant the seeds for this anywhere. Maybe have some fake UFO sightings or something. He just dumps a dead alien on New York’s doorstep. Also, if genetic engineering is common knowledge, why would people assume it’s aliens? Surely government scientists testing the thing will discover it’s of terrestrial origin. Which leads to the biggest flaw. Would this plan really have worked? Killing millions of people in one city? Would that be enough to unite the world? Perhaps in the short term, but there’s no way you could possibly sustain that lie for so long. Plus, call me cynical, but considering how quickly Russia mobilised when Manhattan left the planet, surely it’s more likely they would take advantage of the situation while America was reeling from this act of carnage. If Adrian is supposed to be the smartest man in the world, I’m amazed he didn’t consider any of this. Maybe he has contingency plans in place, but I don’t know. It all seemed pretty final to me. He genuinely believes that this will fix everything. It just makes him look a bit stupid.

The whole giant squid plot has got more holes in it than a colander. Which is why (and I know I’m going to get some flak for this) I much prefer the version in Zack Snyder’s adaptation than I do the graphic novel. I don’t want to go into too much detail because I’d rather save that for when I review the movie, but I do honestly think Adrian’s plan in the movie makes more sense than the source material does.

Another side effect of having to explain the alien is that Silk Spectre’s story never gets proper closure. There’s a moment where Laurie confronts her mother over the fact that the Comedian is her father, but it all just feels a bit rushed and unsatisfactory. Especially when she starts talking about wanting to change her costume and start using guns, implying she’s going to be more like the Comedian in the future. It’s just too big of a leap in my opinion. One minute she’s distraught that her father was her mother’s rapist, the next she’s following in his footsteps. It’s such a sharp turn, it practically gave me whiplash.

That being said, I did like the little detail of Dan taking Sally Jupiter’s porn magazine, which I think implies how superficial their relationship is. They’re together because of the power and sexual rush they feel in their superhero identities, not because they actually love each other. Maybe that was what drew Sally to the Comedian despite everything he did. Who knows?

I also really like the ending. I haven’t been talking about the New Frontiersman in these reviews because it’s largely been inconsequential up until now, which is kind of the point. Seymour, a downtrodden, inconsequential man working a soul sucking job at a right wing newspaper, is suddenly given the power to change everything. Will he reveal the contents of Rorschach’s journal and thus expose Adrian’s plan or keep quiet in the name of peace? I want to believe it would be the latter, but considering his livelihood depends on his racist editor having material to rant and complain about, it would seem the world is truly doomed. 

As Doctor Manhattan said, ‘nothing ever ends.’

Hey guys! Thank you so much for reading these blogs. It took longer than I thought to write them, but honestly I think it was worth the extra time because there is just so much about Watchmen to unpack and I really enjoyed analysing this story. I’ve been wanting to review Watchmen for ages now and I’m very proud how these have turned out. I personally think it’s some of the best stuff I’ve ever written. Next I’m going to be reviewing the movie adaptation directed by Zack Snyder and then after that the HBO TV series. In the mean time, please feel free to like and reblog and share your own thoughts and feelings about Watchmen. Which character did you find most interesting? Do you think Adrian did the right thing? What would you do in Seymour’s shoes if you found Rorschach’s journal and discovered the truth about the giant alien squid? I’m genuinely curious :)

[thecomicsnexus]

The Judge of All the Earth

WATCHMEN #3 NOVEMBER 1986 BY ALAN MOORE, DAVE GIBBONS AND JOHN HIGGINS

SYNOPSIS (FROM DC DATABASE)

Doctor Manhattan is having problems with his relationship with Laurie when he multiplies himself and she finds out that 'one of him' had been working while she was being romantic with another. Laurie walks out on Manhattan, going to meet up with Dan Dreiberg.

Meanwhile, Manhattan's ex-wife Janey Slater is giving an interview with a news editor of the Nova Express. She states that she has cancer that she presumably received through connection with Manhattan.

Manhattan gets dressed and transports from his home to his television interview where he meets up with a government official named Forbes telling him what to, and what not to say. One of his questions that he cannot say is about his involvement with the Russians in Afghanistan. Then, one of the audience members is Doug Roth of Nova Express who ask Manhattan of his relationships with his colleague Wally Weaver, Slater, and his former nemesis Edgar Jacobi, if he knew that all of them had a fatal form of cancer, among others. Forbes quickly intervened and stopped the interview, but while he and Manhattan were leaving Manhattan became overwhelmed by questions. A very distressed Manhattan yells "I said leave me alone!" and transported everyone outside of the building.

Laurie meets up with Dan who gave her some coffee and they talked about her troublesome relationship and where she will stay that night. She decided on a hotel and walked him to Hollis Mason's place, but while walking through an alleyway they were almost mugged by a gang of knot-tops. They take out the entire group. Leaving the alleyway, Laurie decides to go find a hotel and to leave Dan alone. Once arriving at Hollis' place, Hollis shows Dan the interview of Manhattan's incident on television.

Manhattan arrives back at his home to find out that it is being quarantined. He decides that he is leaving, telling a soldier to leave a message for Laurie and his superiors. He said he is going to Arizona, and then Mars. He goes to the Gila Flats test base in Arizona, where he took a picture of himself and Janey Slater many years ago at a carnival. On Mars he explores in a childish excitement and then finds a rock to sit on.

Laurie goes back to the base to find that everything is being taken away by military personnel in hazmat suits and she is told by Forbes that she is ordered to undergo a cancer scan and is ask about whether she has put Manhattan in emotional stress. Unaware of Manhattan's incident, she is offended by Forbes for considering herself responsible for something until the man, deeply exasperated, snaps to her that she is no longer welcome to the base, since his superiors believe that Manhattan is not coming back in which his absence has severe global consequences.

The next day, Dan awakes from his bed to find Rorschach has broken into his home (again), whom shows Dan a newspaper with the front page of Manhattan's departure from Earth. This news also makes Rorschach being more convinced of his mask killer theory.

That night, the news vendor receives the evening edition and is shocked to read from the headlines. Anxiously, he gives the kid a copy of Tales of the Black Freighter for free, and even his cap. The headline he read is "Russians Invade Afghanistan".

Tales of the Black Freighter A young mariner is the sole survivor of a battle with pirates and wakes up on a deserted island where dead bodies are piled next to him. The mariner recalls the disaster of the attack and about thinks about the pirates of the "black freighter" bearing down on his home and his unsuspecting family. He then begin the arduous task of burying his shipmates throughout the entire day.

UNDER THE HOOD

Chapter V Hollis described the 1950's as cold and bleak, both for himself and for masked adventurers in general. The Minutemen have become irrelevant in society as their exploits were being reported less frequently and treated as a joke. Sally Jupiter have her daughter Laurie in 1949, when her marriage began to deteriorate. Her marriage ended in 1956, and since then Sally has been successful in raising her daughter. The Comedian remained the only member of the Minutemen who has been treated seriously in the eyes of the public partly due to his government connections, and was turning into a patriotic symbol.

During the height of the McCarthy era, the remaining active masked adventurers testified before the House UnAmerican Activities Committee, and were forced to reveal their identities. The Comedian was excepted because of his allegiance. This doesn't present any immediate problems for most of the Minutemen, such as Captain Metropolis' outstanding military record and Hollis' service in the police force. But Mothman met with more difficulty due to his associations with left-wing friends during his student days. He was eventually cleared, but the investigations were both lengthy and ruthless, and Hollis speculates that the pressure may have prompted his drinking problem that later contributed to his mental ill-health.

Hooded Justice remained the only masked adventurer who refused to testified, on the grounds that he was not prepared to reveal his true identity to anyone. When pressed, he vanished. Hollis presumed that the Hooded Justice retire rather than revealing his identity. But almost a year after Hooded Justice vanished, the New Frontiersmen publish an article about the disappearance of a circus strongman named Rolf Muller, who quit his job at the height of the Senate Subcommittee hearings. Three months later, a badly decomposed body was found washed up on the coast of Boston. The body was identified as Muller's that was shot through the head. The article further stated that Muller, whose family was East German, had been on the run for fear of being uncovered during the Communist witch hunts, and implied that Muller was executed by his Communist superiors. Hollis speculated that Muller and Hooded Justice are the same person, but find this troubling to accept his fellow costume fighter was a spy, and leaving him to wonder who had killed them. This has took Hollis a long time to realize to accept it as a mystery.

Another problem that contributed to the downfall of costumed adventurers was the absence of costumed criminals. These criminals turned in their costumes along with their careers, but some opted for a less extroverted and more profitable approach as "ordinary men in business suits" who ran drug and prostitution rackets.

By March of 1960, Doctor Manhattan came, whose presence make the term "masked hero" and "costume adventurer" obsolete. Hollis recalled how the public reacted with feelings of disbelief of an actual superhuman being with incredible powers. The presence of Manhattan made Hollis to conclude that the regular heroes are replaced. In the closing months of 1958, Ozymandias first appear after busting a major opium and heroin smuggling racket, and earned a reputation amongst the criminal fraternity for his boundless and implacable intelligence and a large degree of athletic prowess.

Hollis first met Manhattan and Ozymandias during a Red Cross relief in June of 1960. His encounter with Manhattan was described as a strange experience which lasts for a short time until it almost seems normal. It was then that Hollis decided to retire his heroics and opened his own auto repair business. Soon, he was visited by a young admirer who proposed to borrow his identity as the new Nite Owl. After visiting his admirer's home and seeing his technology that will be use on the war on crime, Hollis permitted. Hollis also learned of Sally Jupiter's daughter, who was also carrying on her mother's legacy. Hollis conclude that the super-hero has become a part of American life for better, or for worse.

REVIEW

Tales of the Black Freighter is still the thing about Watchmen that I don’t like. I understand “why it’s there”, but it doesn’t make it more entertaining to me.

There is one thing that I can take home of that, and it’s the relationship between the news vendor and the young reader. When I started reading comics, newsstands was the only accessible place for kids to get them. As a result, you would cultivate some sort of friendship with your local news vendor. That is very similar to what we’ll see during Watchmen. It is interesting that this comic book came out through the direct market (I assume because of its content, quality and lack of bar code), so that relationship is a bit ironic.

Narration in this issue is sometimes coming from a comic-book, and other times it’s other people’s dialogues. Usually when people talk, we see something that tends of be the opposite of what they’re saying.

This is the first time we see full frontal nudity in the comic. According to the annotated version, this may very well be the first time in a mainstream comic-book... but I hardly doubt that. Even for mainstream, this is 1986.

To be continued...

[sepublic]

Skull Raiders

           Originating from a distant, harsh land, their leader Kulta was forced to take leadership at a concerningly young age following his parents’ deaths. After hearing tales of a mythical island that everyone supposedly came from, an inspired Kulta, seeking to move his tribe away from their wartorn home, led a great emigration in search of this fabled land.

           Although massive storms and terrifying sea beasts sunk many ships, the Skull Raiders’ hopes and prayers worked out in the end. Sighting the shoreline of Okoto, the pirates quickly landed, and sent several scouts who kidnapped local Okotans, interrogating them furiously about the culture and lifestyle of the island. After assessing the situation, Kulta chose to attack.

           The Skull Raiders are by no means inherently evil or violent, and they’re clearly the same type of being as the Okotans. However, generations of backstabbing, bloodshed, massacres, and other atrocities in the wars of his homeland scarred Kulta. For the Skull Raiders, attacking the peaceful Okotans under the assumption that they would inevitably seek to kill them was a rational move; They thought the natives unable to be trusted after their trauma.

           Thus, while peace WAS an option, it was one left unchosen in favor of war. And once the Skull Raiders led their first series of massacres, conflict became the only option for either side; Either the Okotans would be conquered, or the Skull Raiders would be rounded up and/or slaughtered.

           Despite Okoto initially having the advantage of greater numbers and technology, the Skull Raiders were able to adapt by utilizing a series of cunning guerilla tactics from their homeland. Led by the brilliant Kulta, they made good use of an indestructible metal called Bohrok, utilizing secret smelting techniques passed down from generations to hone the ore into powerful armor and weapons.

           Likewise, the Skull Raiders were able to overwhelm the Okotans with the ferocity of their attacks. Okoto, up until then, had never faced an actual threat or war, as it had been unified underneath the Emperor. Thus, its royal army had no experience facing a threat like this, whereas the Skull Raiders were intimately familiar with war and brutal tactics. To make things worse, Okotan culture dictated some actions in war as unfavorable and immoral, no matter the ends; The Skull Raiders, unsurprisingly, found many ‘war crimes’ to be commonplace tactics, and had few qualms, if any, taking hostages, among many other under-handed tactics.

           The Skull Raider wars commenced for several months, with the Protectors and the Mask Makers leading the Okotan defense. Ekimu and Makuta’s godlike powers were able to conquer any Skull Raider opponent they faced, their Hammers of Power easily shattering Bohrok, but the Skull Raiders were fast, spread-out, and many, and quickly adapted to the presence of the brothers, making sure to keep note of their locations as much as possible.

           The Skull Raiders soon changed the war in their favor once more once they began using stolen Masks of Power to their advantage, helping them level the playfield against Okoto. As they began to pillage cities for many Life Automatons, even hijacking a few Airships, the Skull Raiders eventually got their hands on some of Makuta’s hidden, Forbidden Masks. They gleefully used the questionable weapons to their worst extent, and with the Forbidden Masks revealed, the Emperor eventually had to commission Makuta for more of them.

           Despite the skill and tactics of the seasoned Skull Raiders, they were ultimately no match for the Mask Makers. The twins constructed bigger, stronger weapons, and the Okotans quickly grew to adapt to war after enough time. The Skull Raiders had a poor understanding of Life Automatons, and were thus unprepared for some of Makuta’s more devious traps; One infamous example was a Mask of Power that when ‘dropped’ by an Okotan for a Skull Raider to use and activate, would unleash bladed limbs from its sides that would tear into their victim’s head.

           The final battle of the Skull Raider wars eventually ended with Kulta, his top commanders, and his army of his finest warriors, the Kal, being rounded up and imprisoned. To their surprise, Kulta and his fellow Raiders weren’t immediately executed, but soon found out it was because the Okotans were busy devising the worst possible punishment.

           With their leaders taken out, the remaining Skull Raiders went into hiding, splitting into smaller groups. Although some of these stragglers attempted to continue the war, it was discovered to be a futile effort, and save for the occasional banditry and theft, the Skull Raiders ceased their war entirely in favor of just surviving, growing accustomed to the lush Okoto.

           As Makuta worked on ways to the better of his brother and one-up him, he became intrigued by Bohrok. His curiosity getting the better of him, he stealthily snuck into Kulta and his warriors’ prison beneath Destral, inquiring the nature of the metal and the best ways to smelt with it.

           Seeking an opportunity, Kulta seized it and struck a deal with Makuta; in exchange for extending the date of the commanders’ execution (Kulta knew Makuta was in charge of this), he would teach Makuta about Bohrok. Makuta, feeling the Skull Raiders’ deaths were inevitable, agreed, and began to collaborate with the commanders.

           More deals were struck as Makuta began to see the Skull Raiders as useful allies who understood the concept of harsh means for a greater end, unlike the Okotans. The Skull Raiders themselves were wary, especially since they could tell how Makuta looked down on them; But beggars couldn’t be choosers. Kulta, through Makuta, would send messages certified through ways only possible through himself to the remaining Skull Raiders scattered across Okoto. Underneath his directions, they would instruct Makuta on Bohrok, and even provide him with ample amounts of the metal, which they had plenty of.

           These deals led to a strange, secret symbiosis between Makuta and the Skull Raiders. Makuta would often rely on the tribe for some of his more hidden, controversial actions and projects, and in return he would provide favors, including better prison conditions, hidden homes for the Skull Raiders to hide in, etc. Of course, Makuta never let the commanders be free from their prison, as he still needed leverage over them- The feeling was mutual.

           The dealings culminated when Makuta, desperate to create a Mask of Life, hired the Skull Raiders scattered across Okoto for a horrific series of harvests, requiring hundreds, if not thousands of Okotan souls. In exchange for such a bold undertaking that would easily risk many Skull Raider lives, Kulta finally negotiated the freedom he desired from Makuta, who at that point was more concerned about the Mask of Life and the glory it’d give him than anything else.

           With Makuta’s intimate knowledge of army rotations and procedures, the scattered Skull Raiders reunited under Kulta’s guidance and led a series of massacres, slaughtering many minor villages and harvesting their victims for their Life energy. With the help of Makuta’s brotherhood, the harvested energy was secretly sent to Makuta’s workshop in the Great Forge, even as the tribe celebrated and anticipated their leaders’ freedom.

           Unsurprisingly, Okoto noticed the Skull Raiders’ sudden increase in seemingly senseless massacres, and the Protectors and Ekimu began to investigate. Fearing being outed, Makuta struck one final deal; During the Festival of Masks, Makuta would give his servants a cue to release the Skull Raider commanders from their prison beneath Destral. Armed with their Bohwork weapons and armor, Kulta would lead his warriors in escaping to the surface and storming the area, providing backup and protection for Makuta.

           Kulta, who was considering killing Makuta during said plan, readily agreed. On the day of the Festival of Masks, Makuta convinced many guards to take breaks, even as his servants provided Kulta and his warriors with their old tools. Meanwhile, the Protectors’ investigations led Ekimu towards the remaining Skull Raiders, where he engaged in a civil duel and avoided casualties entirely. Earning the respect of the pirates, Ekimu learned of Makuta’s crimes, with the Skull Raiders figuring out that their leaders would be freed by the time Makuta realized they had betrayed him.

When Ekimu arrived at Destral and revealed Makuta’s crimes to the Okotans, Kulta and the Skull Commanders armed themselves and began to break free upon a cue from Makuta. As they marched towards the surface, however, Makuta donned the Mask of Life, starting off the Great Cataclysm and causing a series of earthquakes that blocked Kulta and his warriors off from the surface.

Trapped, Kulta and his group were helpless as Ekimu shattered the Mask of Life. Makuta’s creation unleashed a powerful wave of pure life energy upon breaking, one that engulfed Destral and pertrified anyone who wasn’t protected like Ekimu.

The Skull Raiders beneath Destral were an interesting case, however. The life energy struck them, travelling through the ground and searing their flesh away. Their Bohrok armor reacted strangely to it, warping as it melted and fused with the Skull Raiders’ bones, trapping their souls in their bodies and keeping them from truly dying.

As the Great Cataclysm ended, Kulta and his commanders were left smelted and immolated, their souls trapped in their metallic corpses as the catacombs collapsed upon them. Kulta and his warriors quickly went dormant, entering an unconscious state of hibernation.

Across Okoto, the other Skull Raiders in hiding were devastated by the Great Cataclysm. Luckily, having always been somewhat nomadic and not having been in a city at the time, they weren’t hit as badly as their Okotan enemies.

Regrouping, their scouts attempted to enter Destral, and after multiple attempts braving the hazardous terrain, finally came across the Capital City, strewn with the petrified corpses of those caught in the explosion. Terrified and feeling a horrific chill down their spines, the scouts retreated, relaying the news.

The Skull Raiders mourned the loss of their leaders, lamenting their mistakes and blaming Ekimu. A new leader was elected, and while some initially broke off to exact revenge against the weakened, scattered Okotans, the tribe as a whole ultimately chose to retreat to the newly-created mountain borders separating the Elemental Regions. There, they carved an intricate series of tunnels and caverns, creating an underground city that they lived in.

In the aftermath of the Great Cataclysm, subsequent generations of Skull Raiders dealt with vengeful Okotans who remembered their ancestors’ crimes. The Skull Raiders were disinterested by then with conquering Okoto, and chose to remain in their new home as they developed a new lifestyle, trying to avoid Okotans who deliberately sought them out to lynch them.

Attempts were made by Raiders in establishing peace and co-existing with the Okotans, but the Okotans still viewed the tribe with hostility and refused to let them participate in trade in other interactions, with some considering hunting down the Skull Raiders. Consequently, feelings of war and vengeance came into the hearts of many, and war advocates called for a take-over of the vulnerable Okoto, or at the very least the use of violence to get what they wanted.

These efforts wouldn’t come into fruition until Makuta’s reawakening. As Makuta formulated his ultimate plan and began reassembling a new Brotherhood in his name, he immediately sought out the Skull Raiders. While he had suspicions that they’d outed him to Ekimu, he figured that the original traitors were long dead and their descendants more subsceptible towards him. Besides, they were the group most likely to ally with him, and beggars couldn’t be choosers.

Using his influence, Makuta discovered the immolated bodies of Kulta and his commanders beneath Destral and revived them with Life Energy. Reawakened, Kulta and his commanders clawed their way from the dirt, taking in their new forms in horror; They were now metallic skeletons of Bohrok, their armor and masks fused to their faces, some parts of themselves blazing with the energy of their souls. Worst of all, they had lost their sense of smell and taste, with their sense of touch likewise dulled, and could not feel the comforts that a living being enjoyed.

Pained and wracked by their cursed new bodies and fate, Kulta and his commanders initially despaired, but when reminded of the other Skull Raiders, focused on a new agenda. Assessing the situation, Kulta decided that the best course of action was to ally with Makuta –who wasn’t planning to give them much of a choice, anyway- and swore subservience to the Mask Hoarder as a member of his new Brotherhood of Makuta.

Kulta and his commanders reunited with their descendants, who were horrified, but ultimately amazed and overjoyed, to see their heroes of legend return in powerful, immortal forms. Makuta won over the hearts of many Skull Raiders, as he was the one who resurrected Kulta and his commanders in the first place, and readily agreed to become part of his Brotherhood of Makuta.

Acting on Makuta’s orders, the Skull Raiders helped him amass the resources he needed, eventually assisting in the production of Skull Spiders. To further cement his alliance with the Brotherhood, Kulta even accepted part of Makuta’s soul, fusing it with his own and symbolically becoming a Rahkshi, a Son of Makuta. He was likewise entrusted with new, powerful abilities, and a Vampire Trident that could drain Life from objects.

The time came to strike, and the Skull Spider wars commenced with Fenrakk, the lord of Skull Spiders and another Rahkshi, seizing multiple key locations, including the City of the Mask Makers. Kulta and his Skull Warriors helped secure the location and assisted in setting up a foundry and catacombs meant to harvest the energy of kidnapped Okotans.

As Kulta began to supervise the reawakening of the Great Forge, stationed at the City of the Mask Makers alongside Fenrakk, his commanders set out to find Masks of Power and other potent tools and sources of Life energy. With the path paved for them by the Skull Spiders, Kulta’s commanders were easily able to find many helpful items, not having to deal with the Okotans who were holed up in their Mega-Villages, although they occasionally came across complications and more ambitious orders from Makuta.

Although Kulta insisted that his tribe stay within their city in the mountains, hoping they would never have to be haunted by war, many young war hawks arose. These hot-headed generations were influenced by the dominance of their leaders over Okoto, and felt emboldened by the Brotherhood of Makuta’s control, which they considered themselves to be a part of. The fact that Makuta subtly influenced many of these youths definitely didn’t help, and many saw the dark spirit as a hero in his own right, much to his enjoyment.

Nevertheless, Kulta kept the terms of his alliance firm to Makuta, and thus had his tribe stay within the confines of their city, forbidden from venturing out too far, and definitely kept from participating in any battles. When Makuta began inducting Okotans into his Brotherhood, many were turned into Skull Puppets, and hearing of this, many Skull Raiders volunteered.

Despite Kulta’s protests, at least a few tribe members were converted into Puppets. In the years of the Skull Spider wars, Kulta found himself frequently interacting with Fenrakk, the two forming a strange friendship of sorts. When the Toa arrived on Okoto and led a counterattack against the Brotherhood, Kulta and his commanders led efforts to sabotage and contain the Okotans, and especially harvest the Toa, if not outright killing them on the spot.

Their attempts ultimately failed, and the Okotans managed to unite into a stronger fighting force and stormed the City of the Mask Makers. The Skull Commanders and Puppets led a final defense against the Okotans, even as the Toa infiltrated the city and fought with the Skull Warriors.

When the situation became dire, Kulta ordered his forces to retreat, even as he donned the Mask of Creation in a last-ditch effort to stop the Okotans. He failed, and was captured alongside the Skull Basher Kodo. Back in their mountain city, the Skull Raiders called for a more active support of Makuta in Kulta’s absence, desiring to rescue their leader. Led by a youth named Axato, this group got their wish at a cost;

After forming an alliance with Umarak, Spirit of Shadow, Makuta had his new ally rescue Kulta from the City of the Mask Makers, even as the Skull Raiders assisted the Brotherhood in capturing Lewa and Uxar, Spirit of Jungle. As Kulta reunited with his tribe, the Okotans, Toa, and other Elemental Spirits stormed the Skull Raiders’ home. In the ensuing battle, Kulta was finally killed, the Toa succeeded in becoming Kaita fusions with the Elemental Deities, and the Skull Raiders’ home was destroyed.

In the wake of his death, Kulta was made a martyr against his will by Makuta, he seized control of the Skull Raiders as he always dreamed of. The tribe mourned the loss of their leader and home, and thus began openly fighting alongside the Brotherhood. As some fought as flesh and bone, others submitted themselves to the painful process of becoming Skull Puppets, all while their commanders, old comrades of Kulta, helplessly watched.

When Makuta seized control of Umarak and his Elemental Beasts, the Skull Raiders fought alongside their new allies in Makuta’s attempts to raze Okoto. The Elemental Beasts proved themselves berserk and hard to control, with some even attacking the Raiders and other Brotherhood members. After Ekimu defeated Makuta, seizing the Mask of Control and apparently killing his brother, the Elemental Spirits regained their full power, stolen to create the Elemental Beasts, and struck down a weakened Umarak. With their leader and a huge portion of their army destroyed, and the Okotans having gained a huge boost in power, the Skull Raiders retreated with the rest of the Brotherhood.

[takerfoxx]

Jesus fuck I'm not active on this app anymore, schools a bitch.(I think I'm swearing too much) I've been curious for a while bow, are you planning on ever wanting to publish your own book/s? I love your fanfictions a lot and am so damn excited for everything else you're planning to write in the future, so I'm curious if you'd ever want to publish an own book.

Damn dude, we talk so often that I actually forgot that we only just met earlier this year, long after I stopped talking regularly about this!

But yeah, definitely. Becoming a published author has always been my lifelong goal, and it’s actually the reason I took a several year long break from publishing on FF.net, so as to get that novel done.

Right now I got two projects in the works, one is already done and is being shopped around for an agent (still have yet to hear back from any, sadly), and it’s the start of a series called Subconscious, which takes place in the world where everyone’s dreams go when we wake up. As if in, all the people, monsters, and other things we meet in dreams become real and have started their own society there, and it details a situation where a brother and sister from our world end up there and kick of a series of events that eventually erupt to a major war with the two of them winding up as principle players on opposite sides, almost by accident.

The other is something I’m working on now and admittedly started as a self-indulgent joke that I ended up taking seriously, where I challenged myself to create a cohesive story made up of all the aesthetic story elements that I’m an easy lay for, specifically pirates, vampires, dinosaurs, and yuri. In this case it’s about a young pirate girl gets caught stowing away on a ship during a storm and is thrown overboard and washes up on an undiscovered island populated by various prehistoric creatures and has to use her wits to survive. Meanwhile, it turns out that there’s something else on the island that takes notice of her immediately and is watching her from the shadows, doing her small favors, driving off predators from her camp, leaving her little notes, etc. And well, it’s actually a vampire girl that got marooned there as well sometime earlier, who is super lonely and has become kind of enamored with her new island-mate but doesn’t know how to approach her. Anyway, there’s jungles, there’s rexes, there’s raptors, there’s vampire stuff, there’s survival stuff, and also a treasure hunt because I love treasure hunt, and of course lots and lots of gals being pals. 

[rollforpersuasion]

The idiots go to Saltmarsh pt. 2

Sept. 16

Illyria glanced up from her novel, a thrilling and eyebrow raising Dwarvish saga, and said hello to the tiny stranger. The goose hissed at the interruption, furious at being woken before dawn.

The gnome, Rackham Byrnne, told them to head toward the deck and lend a hand to the sailors who were struggling to navigate through the burgeoning storm. Cleis immediately sprung to her feet and tossed her satchel around her chest. She was three steps away from the door when Len began tossing on a pair of discarded shoes and a cloak… though as she was lacing the boots she realized absentmindedly that they weren’t hers. 

In moments Illyria was at Cleis’ side, clinging to her arm as if it were a life raft. The pirate scowled and shook the larger woman off as best she could and began climbing the stairs to the deck. Illyria clung tighter and followed her into the night. 

As Len and Talia emerged they heard faintly from the cargo hold, “Where’s my boots? Wait, where’s my cloak?” Len glanced at Talia and shrugged before turning to assess the chaos into which they had emerged. Several sailors that had been sleeping below burst out behind them, one barefoot and cursing his bad luck. 

The sky was black and the waves were rising ever higher, sloshing onto the deck with frequent fury.

They were fucked. 

But the tiny gnome was yelling for them to make themselves useful. 

The wind whipped back and forth and the rain continued to pelt the deck. Illyria let out a soft hum at the sight and then shrugged .

“It’s just, I don’t know, drizzling,” Illyria said. She held up her holy symbol with a smirk, casually remarking that she would be fine before turning back toward the stairs. 

Still clinging to Cleis, Illyria inched closer. She lifted one thin, auburn hand and ran her fingers down the side of Cleis’s face. 

“Bless you child,” she whispered. Cleis stared in rising horror the longer the cheek cupping lasted. Illyria suddenly patted her cheek with a firm pop. The elf cast guidance on her still bewildered counterpart before letting go completely, turning dramatically on her boot, opening her book and descending the stairs back toward her cot. 

Cleis peered up toward the stars, or what few she could glimpse among the rolling clouds. She used her navigation tools and began to quickly calculate a course toward the still invisible shore. Sprinting to the quarterdeck (thank you very much to the roll 17) she was able to discern a familiar constellation. They were 15 degrees too far west. Pointing toward the east she yelled directions and Captain Grendanna Stormbreaker immediately shifted the wheel. Perhaps she was in awe of her confidence, perhaps she had nothing to lose. 

Talia glanced around and with a rising wave of determination she strode toward a barrel at the center of the ship. The warlock knew a riveting prayer would rally the gods toward their plight and boost the morale of the crew. She felt it in her bones. And who was she to let the crew down?

She hefted herself up onto the barrel and eyed the hustling sailors. At the top of her lungs she began. 

“We cal—” and immediately Talia fell through the rotten lid. (You see Talia unfortunately had rolled a three). From within the now cracked and sagging barrel she glanced around and thankfully realized no one had noticed. Though that also filled her with frustration. How dare those peons not listen to her call upon the gods?

Rotten potatoes clung to her clothes and squelched inside her shoes as she pulled herself from the wreckage. At least the rain was cleaning the muck from her. She’d have to give her socks a good washing though. 

Len meanwhile had decided her best bet at being any matter of assistance would be to ascend to the heavens. She headed toward the mainmast, determined to lower the highest sails. (Len rolls a 5) Leaping up she grabbed the first and second handles with ease. 

If only Goose could see this, she thought as pride at her own incredible acrobatic skill rose within her.

As she reached for the third peg her hand slipped on the wet wood and she fell, knocking the wind out of her lungs upon the brutal impact. 

An hour passes. Len climbs over and over and never makes it more than halfway up the mast. She was thankful Goose had stayed below deck after all. Talia prays and mutters — perhaps the words “powers that be” and “eternal darkness” slip through — she’ll never admit just who she had attempted to summon to save them. The sailors start to wonder if she is the cause of their obviously celestial damnation. 

Cleis and the Captain plot course after course and fight the wheel as they attempt to remain pointed toward Saltmarsh. Illyria discovers the next chapter has a saucy turn of events she hadn’t predicted and eagerly turns the page. The thin paper slices at her fingertip and she frowns before sucking the gently bleeding thumb and starting the next paragraph. When she reads what was oh-so-thoroughly described her eyebrow raised. 

The waves are now the size of the mast. Captain Stormbreaker yells to her crew, muscles straining to hold the wheel in place. 

“I’ll need everyone to try even harder! We have to work together in order to —”

A wave crashes over the side of the boat sending Cleis face first onto the floor. She banged her head on the wheel on the way down and saw a new assortment of stars when she closed her eyes to block the pain. Illyria went flying from her perch on the cot. Thankfully her quick reflexes shoved her finger inbetween the pages of the book so despite the tumble she didn’t lose her spot. Len and Talia luckily are able to stagger and remain on their feet. 

Captain Stormbreaker grabs Cleis by her drenched black linen top and lifts her to her feet. “Do. Something.” She growls. “Anything!”

Illyria — as if sensing someone else was touching her new favorite creature — runs from below deck up toward Cleis. She possessively rips her away from the captain and holds her face in both of her hands. Gazing into her eyes she asks, “Do you understand boats?”

Frustration wars with disbelief and Cleis glares back at the elf. Her fingers flex, itching to rip the dagger free from its holster in her boot, but when the orange elf begins speaking again she pauses. 

“Tell me what to say and I can use Thaumaturgy to project my voice across the ship,” Illyria promises with a smile as if she had suddenly solved all of their problems with one compassionate gesture.

Cleis hates the fact that she needs her. But the plan isn’t bad so she nods once and closes her eyes in an attempt to abate the murderous thoughts running through her mind. Tapping into the plethora of stressful fights against the sea she’s been a part of over the years Cleis takes a breath, glances at Illyria and turns to the rest of the crew.

“You will listen to me. Listen!” Cleis bellows. 

Illyria raises to her full height and gestures dramatically toward the crew, her voice ringing in all their ears. 

“You will all listen to me! Listen!” She echoes and sends a wink Cleis’ way.

“Sailors all over the world will be looking to us, to the Sharkfin to lead!”

“Sailors! Blah blah blah… Sharkfin! Leaders!” Illyria yells. Her hand gestures intensify. It’s obvious her years of community theatre are paying off. 

“And what will they see? Frightened bilge rats aboard a derelict ship? No! No! They will see free men and freedom!” Cleis continues with narrowed eyes glaring at the elf beside her.

“Umm are they going to see rats? Probably. Maybe free men? Freedom? Not sure how you can literally see that, but alright. You’re the director.” 

“Here’s what you’re going to do,” Cleis said. “Man the stations to which you were assigned at the start of the voyage.” 

“Do this! Actually wait, I don’t understand what she’s saying right now,” Illyria says with a finger raised to her chin. As she taps she mouths the words Cleis had just said as if attempting to solve some ancient riddle.

“Man the fucking stations you were assigned.” Cleis breaths out through gritted teeth. 

“OK, OK I see. Man the stations you were assigned! At the start of the voyage?”

“Do your fucking jobs or we will die!” Cleis says. Her nails dug into the railing as she dares Illyria with the sheer weight of her gaze to screw up such a simple statement. 

“What is fucking?” The elf asks, voice still booming. She turns to the captain. “What is fucking? I don’t know this word. We don’t use it on my island back home. What does it mean?”

“YOU’RE OLDER THAN ME BY SO MUCH!” Cleis yells. “How do you not know what I’m saying?” “You’re older than me by so much!” Illyria echoes to the now staring crew. 

“I’m ending the speech,” Cleis says as she runs her hand over her aching brow. 

“I’m ending the speech!” Illyria repeats before waving her hand and bowing to the crew. (Cleis rolls a 17)

The crew found the performance...  confusing. However, upon watching Cleis’ face turn bright red and a vein emerging along her neck and forehead they began to get the gist of the message, or at the very least the threat behind it. Lightning flashed in her eyes and Cleis’ skin began to turn green with unchanneled magic. 

To say the least they are terrified and the soaked sailors begin to work even faster at their tasks. 

“I think it worked, but you’ll have to explain what a fucking was for me later alright?” Illyria whispers to Cleis as she passes. The half elf grinds her teeth and keeps moving. 

TBC

[fortnitehack4579-blog]

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[esoanem]

III.

“No matter how many lies we tell ourselves, no matter how many stories we convince ourselves we’re part of, we’re all just thieves awaiting a noose”

Major Content Notes:

Sexual Assault: implied off-screen rape. In a second scene, the rape of the same woman in front of a crowd of onlookers is interrupted part way through. In a third scene, the same woman is shown sleeping naked next to a man, implied to be a continuation of the earlier events

Wikipedia Synopsis:

Flint asks Gates to seek additional help from Captain Hornigold to borrow his ship, Royal Lion, in search of the Urca de Lima. Meanwhile, Silver and Billy tackle a morale problem while they work together on discovering who the remaining mutineers are. During a captain's meeting to strike a deal, Eleanor is impressed by Vane's voice of reason and calm demeanor, which leads to them having an intimate encounter. However, once she finds out Max was raped by his crew, she punishes Vane by giving them an ultimatum. Also, Gates is promoted from quartermaster to captaining his own ship.

This episode is a rough one, and the main reason that I’m doing this series of posts at all, the sexual assault plotline (especially the second scene) is uncharacteristic of the show as a whole & protracted, and definitely should be skipped if you are likely to have a particularly bad time with such scenes

The timestamps section below says when each of those scene are, as well as giving a brief synopsis of those scenes so that you can skip those particular scenes without having to skip the whole episode reading the summary (although that is also a totally fine option)

Timestamps:

As ever, all timestamps are from the “Complete Collection” DVDs which includes a Starz logo at the start, as well as a recap. Depending on your source, timestamps may vary a little, which is why I’ve included the timestamp for the opening titles. Timestamps are only given for the start and end of scenes featuring any particularly warning-worthy content

00:57: opening credits

36:41-39:16: Max is seen chained to a wall, naked. It is implied she has been raped by Vane’s crew. When he finds out Eleanor chose profit over Max, he tells Jack to put her on a boat

43:41-49:58: Eleanor has sex with Vane as Jack takes Max away. The crew surround her and rape her. In response, Eleanor says she’s cutting Vane’s crew off entirely, unless they join Flint, which most do, leaving Vane, Anne, Jack, and a small number of other pirates still loyal to him. Max says she blames Eleanor for this more than Vane and goes to Vane’s remaining crew saying she’s theirs until her debt is paid

51:42-53:54: this scene intercuts between a framing scene and several other characters. One of the characters cut to is Max (52:58-53:08), who is naked in bed next to a sleeping man, it seems this is a continuation of the earlier events

Summary:

Flint wakes up and wonders into the kitchen. Mrs Barlow spots that he’s dripping blood and changes his bandages, saying he should have told her last night. As she tells him that Pastor Lambrick is keeping an eye on her, Flint tells her he found the ship with the schedule, and calls her by her first name, Miranda

Silver is writing out the schedule, supervised by Billy & Eleanor. Mr Scott calls Eleanor outside to tell her Max has gone, and the boat she had waiting for her has left. She says that Max chose it, not her, and returns to Silver, cross, telling him that he’d better be worth it

Miranda seems preoccupied and Flint gives her a book from Parish’s cabin, saying he hoped she’d like it. She says she’d started to think it was a lost cause and, though she isn’t disappointed, she’d hoped to have him all to herself. At that moment Gates pulls up outside with Richard Guthrie lying, still unconscious, in the back of the cart under the sheet, and Flint says he needs a favour

The Ranger’s crew confront Jack about losing the 5000 pesos. He says he’s disappointed too, but they’re welcome to elect a new quartermaster if they don’t think he’s valuable to the crew any more. They don’t comment on this, but tell him to make it right, and quickly. Anne & Vane are watching

Silver finishes transcribing the schedule, but Flint spots that it still isn’t complete. There should be a stop in Florida to take on water, where the Urca will be most vulnerable to attack, but Silver’s schedule stops miles short of the coast. Silver points out that they’d probably kill him if he did give them it all, and that they will have to take him with them, he’ll forgo payment for the schedule in exchange for a share of the prize. Flint points out he stood kill him once they have the gold, but Silver says that’s a few weeks away and, by then, they might be friends

Billy shakes his head, but Flint accepts this, after confirming with Eleanor. He says they’ll need extra powder & shot, as well as at least a dozen new 12lb guns, as well as a second ship as consort, which Eleanor agrees to

Gates takes Billy outside, where Billy points out how dangerous Silver could be onboard, as he knows Singleton wasn’t a thief and, just one day from a mutiny, the resentment won’t have just disappeared no matter how much gold they’re promised. Silver might say something to the wrong person, and set things off. 

Billy takes Silver to Randall, and tells him that, after losing a wager, Silver has to spend all day helping Randall peel potatoes, and asks Randall to keep an eye on him, and yell if he wanders off. As Billy leaves, Randall screams, before saying that that’s what he’ll do if Silver leaves

Mr Scott asks Eleanor how she could promise Flint the guns, when he’s not seen even a pair of 12lbers on the island for months. She says Captain Bryson (of the Andromache) will be back in two days, and he’s always used 12lbers. Scott points out that they’re Bryson’s guns, and he won’t want to part with them, and that the Andromache is likely the last of her father’s ships that will arrive, as the others will all have heard of her father’s arrest (whilst the Andromache was already en route when it happened), and so they’ll have an empty warehouse in less than four weeks. Eleanor says her father will have to help them

Silver asks Randall why he doesn’t like him, and it seems that Randall feels like he’s being made useless by them getting a new cook. Silver then says that he’s still trying to understand how things work, that Singleton seemed to make a lot of sense, but now he’s dead, and Flint remains, those grievances seem to have been forgotten, and asks if Randall knows anyone who still holds a grudge against Flint. Randall stops peeling, and says he isn’t meant to talk about that

Back at the cottage, Richard Guthrie is woken up by Eleanor. He sees that he is being guarded, on Flint’s orders, to make sure he doesn’t interfere. She asks for his help, saying they need a new partner with legitimacy, that they can trust, and who won’t cross them, but he just turns away silently

“who the fuck are you kidding? 

It’s help me, or flee to Boston. Beg your father, and brothers for sanctuary. 

Oh they might save you from the gallows, but they won’t spare you their scorn. You’ll be right back in the parlour room, listening through a crack in the door to where the real business is being done, back to where you started, before you brought mother and myself here, and we made you into the man that you always insisted to them that you were. 

Think on that, whilst you sit there and pretend that helping me isn’t the only choice you have.”

Against Gates’ advice, Billy is asking around the crew about anyone still angry at the captain. We meet Joji (below right), a Japanese pirate whose katana is being sharpened at that moment, and who, after being given back his sword inspects the blade, before silently returning it to the pirate with the whetstone

We see the two pirates who maintained Singleton’s innocence meet up, and note that Billy’s been asking round. The older one, Mr Morley (below left), says Flint doesn’t know, and won’t find out, which the younger one, Mr Turk (below right), takes as an indication that he’s giving up. Silver sits down the Mr Turk to play dice as he returns to his seat, saying he’s been speaking to Randall about suspicions about the captain, and that he thinks they might have that in common

Gates walks from the beach to the fort, and is introduced by a man named Philip. We meet Captain Benjamin Hornigold (below left) of the Royal Lion, an older pirate, Jacobite, and steward of the fort, smoking on a chair. Gates previously served under Hornigold, and the two banter, as Gates threatens to throw him and his chair off the fort into the sea if he has to climb those stairs again

“Philip, do you know the provenance of the chair in which I currently sit?

This chair once sat in the Plymouth office of one Sir Francis Drake. I took this chair from a prize off the coast of Boston. I lost six men in that fight. 

Ever since then, this chair has resided here, atop my fort from which I survey the harbour that I protect for the good of an ungrateful island. 

Philip, if Mr Gates should ever lay a hand on my chair, you have my permission to shoot him where he stands”

Gates says Flint wants Hornigold’s ship and crew, but not with Hornigold as consort. Instead he wants Gates to command it, as they understand each other well, and the crew trusts him.

“You assume too much, I’m not even certain my men trust me at this stage

The last I heard, James fled to France. They call him the pretender now. 

I promised my men that if they stayed with me that they’d be soldiers again that they’d be part of a rebel navy, fighting a war to restore a rightful king. 

But now - who knows what they’ll do. 

They’re coming to terms with a very uncomfortable truth that no matter how many lies we tell ourselves, no matter how many stories we convince ourselves we’re part of, we’re all just thieves awaiting a noose”

Hornigold begrudgingly agrees, saying “that after fifteen years at sea, you’re the only man I’ve ever met that’s got dumber with age”

Guthrie wakes up and Miranda brings him some food and a book. When he asks who she is to Flint, she ignores him, saying the book is Marcus Aurelius, that he might find it helpful, and offers to discuss it once he’s finished it

Billy spots Silver leaning on a post, away from Randall. Silver points out Mr Turk, Randall, and Morley, saying he’s identified the remaining crew who still harbour resentment to the captain, in the hopes that earning Billy’s trust will keep him alive. We find out that Turk has been spreading rumours about Flint for years, that Randall isn’t surprising either, but that he had no idea about Morley

“Turk thinks Flint is undead. Walks the earth without a soul. He believes that there’s a witch who lives deep inside the island who controls his every move”

As Gates is looking over a chart in a tavern, Jack Rackham comes over, saying he’s come to offer his congratulations on Gates’ first command. Gates tells him to walk away, saying “I don’t know what you’re after Jack, but you sound like one desperate mother-fucker to me”, deducing that the Ranger’s crew have given Jack an ultimatum, and advising him to get on a boat away. 

“It won’t take much for you to lose that new crew of yours. You may have the fooled now, but at sea? 

Perhaps you’ll oversleep the bells and need to be roused. 

Perhaps you’ll be had at the glass, and need help with where to point it. 

Perhaps you’ll slip and fall and that knee of yours will finally give out. 

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps… 

No-one will say anything of course, they respect you too much for that but the moment the Urca looms close and the first shot is fired in anger you know exactly what every last man in that crew will be thinking: Christ almighty, I wish we had a cap’n thirty years younger”

Gates seems taken aback and goes to Flint, interrupting him going over the accounts with Dufresne. He says they need a different captain - Charles Vane. Flint laughs at this, an gets angry when he realises Gates isn’t joking, saying that on top of the fact he certainly won’t even consider it, asks why Gates thinks Vane would even consider it

Jack goes to Vane to persuade him to follow the plan and gets told to fuck off. Vane says Jack is just digging a deeper hole for himself, but jack persuades him by pointing out that Eleanor would appreciate Vane supporting her plans

Jack, Vane, Eleanor, Flint, & Gates all meet to discuss terms. After some diplomatic niceties from Jack, Flint interrupts saying he wants an apology from the “cowardly fuck of a captain” who killed his man, and Gates takes him outside

“That was my fault.

Entirely my fault.

I should have been clearer when I prepared you for this meeting. When I said we would need to keep our tempers in check if we were going to make this meeting happen, I should have specified we’d need to do so for the duration of the meeting as well. 

Not to worry, simple setback, now we have clarity and a unity of vision, I feel good”

Gates tries to keep the peace, but has to take Flint back outside to yell at him. Jack comments that “at this rate, the Urca will get to Cadiz and back again before we can resolve anything” and goes for a piss, leaving Eleanor & Vane alone, and he jokes

“Be honest, are you as surprised as I am that I’m the only one here behaving myself?”

They agree terms, but Jack says that as Eleanor has shown Flint favour in the past he wants her father as a more impartial guarantor of terms, but Vane overrules him, saying Eleanor’s word is good enough, and their hands linger together as they shake on it

Jack protests that he could have got better terms as they leave, and he puts on his bizarre (but historical!) sunglasses. We find out Vane has captured Max, as she left the brothel, and is being kept, naked and chained to a wall in a shack. It is implied Vane’s crew have been raping her. Vane talks to her, tries to justify his actions, and asks why she left the brothel even though she was being guarded and kept safe

“I’ve been meaning to ask you, our mutual… ‘friend’… she put guards at your door, tried to protect you, yet you left anyway, why?”

“You really have to ask? How did you feel when she threw you aside?”

Realising Eleanor chose profit over her, Vane tells Jack to put her on a boat after dark, and quietly

Richard Guthrie wakes up, sees Miranda setting out a tea set on her porch, and his guard asleep and starts poking around the cottage. Pastor Lambrick (below) shows up and Miranda invites him to join her for tea, saying he comes every Wednesday. He offers her his Easter sermon asking for her thoughts, it describes love through suffering as the truest form of love and, when he protests that this is God’s gospel truth, she quotes the song of songs as he looks bashful. She ends by saying “true love shouldn’t require suffering, and you don’t have to take my word for it”

Guthrie finds a portrait propped against a wall, one half covered. It is of a couple, and at the bottom is written “Mr & Mrs Thomas Hamilton”, the woman, who had been covered, is Miranda

Pastor Lambrick says he had an ulterior motive visiting, at which Miranda smiles coyly. He says that he’s heard rumours the English are coming and there will be judgement in this world for people on the island, but that his flock’s righteousness will be beyond doubt. Miranda says that it’s not quite that simple for her. He asks if “he” is keeping her there, before she bids him good day

Eleanor visits Vane, straddles him, and they have sex. Jack is leading Max away when he is confronted by the crew who stop him. Jack fetches Vane, and we hear Max scream, causing Eleanor to run out. Max is surrounded by Vane’s crew, being raped as a crowd gathers round. Eleanor grabs a stick and shoves the man off her

“Listen to me very carefully, you are all of you, this whole crew, as of right now, finished!

You will not sell anything, you will not buy anything, you will not eat anything, unless you decide right now to elect yourselves a new captain” 

At this point Eleanor switches from rage, to a voice of authority and self-interest, and Flint & Gates appear 

“Unless you decide to join the crew of Captain Flint. You will join his crew, and you will grant him disposal of his ship, so what will it be? Beggars under an old captain, or rich men under a new one?”

One by one, most of Vane’s crew move towards Flint, until Vane is left with Jack, Anne, and a few loyalists. Eleanor says she’s “so sorry he did this to you”, but Max says that Eleanor did this to her, not Vane and, rather than letting Eleanor take care of her, she goes to Vane’s remaining crew saying  “my actions cost you your pearls. Until the debt is paid, I am yours”. Anne appears concerned, and Eleanor storms off

On the Walrus, Billy approaches Morley who asks if Billy is there to threaten him. He says he has a right to think what he thinks: that Singleton wasn’t a thief. Billy repeats the lie that he saw the stolen page and Morley says that he may be wrong about Singleton, but he isn’t about Flint, and that to him they’re all disposable. When Billy says he doesn’t believe that, Morley says that’s because he doesn’t know about Mrs Barlow

Guthrie is reading the book as Miranda walks in, and he says it is a remarkable book. She flicks to a chosen passage and, as she reads particularly appropriate lines, we cut to different characters

“How should you be? 

You should be like a rocky promontory against which the restless surf continually pounds. 

It stands fast while the churning sea is lulled to sleep at its feet. 

I hear you say ‘how unlucky that this should happen to me’ but not at all, perhaps say instead ‘how lucky I am that I am not broken by what has happened, and am not afraid of what is about to happen’, for the same blow might have struck anyone, but not many who would have absorbed it without capitulation and complaint”

We see Eleanor & Mr Scott as she says “how unlucky that this should happen to me”, to Max, naked in bed next to a sleeping pirate as she says “how lucky I am am that I am not broken by what has happened”, to Billy & Morley talking as she says “and am not afraid of what is about to happen”, and to Silver watching them as she says “the same blow might have struck anyone” before cutting back to her

Flint opens the door, she leaves with him, going into another room, and he closes the door, leaving Guthrie alone in bed

[chriskarrtravelblog]

Hidden Cornwall: Top sights in West Penwith

Discover the beautiful, beguiling and rugged land of West Penwith by visiting its top sights in the far reaches of Cornwall. By Felix Rowe

It’s called Land’s End for good reason. Tucked away in the extreme southwest of mainland Britain, the Penwith peninsula feels like the very edge of the world. Flanked by the Atlantic on all sides – and often bearing the full brunt of its rages – the landscape here is as wild and rugged as it comes. And it’s all the more beautiful for it. If you’re looking to escape the throngs of city and enter the wilderness then West Penwith is not a bad place to start. A land where the myths and legends are as impenetrable as the fog that rolls in from the sea. Welcome to the Wild West.

But in fact, with a direct train line to London Paddington, recently improved road links, and Cornwall Airport Newquay linking the wider county to cities across the UK, Penwith today isn’t as inaccessible as you might first think. And upon arrival you’ll soon find yourself swept away by its myriad charms.

When a relatively small area boasts not one, but two of the country’s most magnificent wonders – in the form of St Michael’s Mount and the Minack Theatre – it’s perhaps understandable that surrounding treasures can get overlooked. St Michael’s Mount is a dramatic tidal island, connected to the mainland only via a granite causeway at low tide, on which is perched a medieval castle, itself built on the site of an 8th-century monastery. It bears striking resemblance to its Normandy namesake, Mont-Saint-Michel.

The Minack, meanwhile, is a construction as breathtaking as its clifftop setting: a magical place for outdoor theatre in the warmer months. Both landmarks enjoy wide coverage for good reason and they must be experienced. Yet deeper exploration of West Cornwall reveals so much more.

Another highlight of Mount’s Bay is the harbour village of Mousehole – that’s ‘Mowzul’ to locals. Poet Dylan Thomas famously found it to be “the loveliest village in England”, and that sums it up quite neatly. A day watching the boats come and go is always an absolute delight. Spend the afternoon with a well-thumbed copy of iconic children’s tale, The Mousehole Cat, and a slice of the local speciality, stargazy pie.

The Minack Theatre is magical. Credit: incamerastock/Alamy

Nor is the Minack the only reason to explore Porthcurno. This sleepy headland was once the communications centre of the world, the terminal for the 19th-century submarine telegraph cables connecting Britain to her empire, with huge cables landed on the beach from as far away as India. The Telegraph Museum and underground Second World War tunnels make a fascinating detour.

Long before Cornwall’s influx of tourism, the county relied on its lucrative mining industry: it was once the mining capital of the world. Look out for the ruins of engine houses lining the coastline, including Botallack, managed by the National Trust. Some local mining tunnels extend out miles into the sea. Fans of the TV series Poldark may recognise scenes from their screens, and the crew are often seen filming locally over the summer months.

The abandoned engine houses of Botallack Credit: © National Trust Images/David Sellman

Despite its remoteness, Penwith has been inhabited for thousands of years. At first, it’s hard to fathom what would bring people to settle somewhere so extreme, until you encounter the almost magnetic draw first-hand. The area is positively littered with prehistoric monuments and henges, less publicised than their more famous cousins, yet no less beguiling. Cornwall is said to host a particularly high concentration, from standing stones to burial chambers, some variants entirely unique to the area, and invariably accompanied by their own local legends.

Men-an-Tol is said to be guarded over by a fairy. Credit: Paul Williams/Alamy

Men-an-Tol, for instance, is said to be guarded over by a fairy, or piskie as they are known locally, with miraculous healing powers. According to local mythology, passing a naked child through the hole of the central circular stone nine times will cure them of rickets. Women are advised not to pass through the hole seven times backwards during a full moon if they wish to avoid becoming pregnant. Nearby Madron Holy Well has been revered for millennia for its legendary remedial qualities. Look out for offerings, or ‘clouties’, such as ribbons tied to the surrounding trees.

The Neolithic stone circle, the Merry Maidens of Boleigh, complete with two further stones known as the Pipers, is equally intriguing. Supposedly the 19 maidens danced as the pipers played, only to be turned to stone for daring to enjoy such frivolities on the Sabbath. Kiss your lover while standing in the centre of the stones to ensure enduring happiness. 

The Iron Age and Neolithic coastal villages of Chysauster and Carn Euny are uncannily reminiscent of the equally remote Skara Brae in the Orkney Islands at the other extreme of the British Isles.

Penwith is home to scores of beautiful, ancient Christian churches, often built on earlier pagan sites. St Senara’s Church gave rise to another legend of Cornish folklore – the Mermaid of Zennor, who fell in love and subsequently eloped with the local churchwarden’s son. A 15th-century carved chair, which may have inspired the tale, can still be seen in the church today.

Owing to its abundant scenery and famed quality of natural light, West Cornwall has long been a haven for artists. The Newlyn, St Ives and Lamorna schools are particularly well known, as is St Ives’ Leach Pottery. Painters drawn to the area have included the British abstract artist Sir Terry Frost and SJ ‘Lamorna’ Birch. 

St Ives is clustered around a little harbour. Credit: Matt Jessop

The scene’s prominence was significant enough to tempt the Tate to take residence above St Ives’ Porthmeor Beach in 1993, and the gallery has recently been extended. The Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden is a tranquil haven hidden away within the town, and there are many smaller independent galleries across the region that equally delight. Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens occupy a wonderful position overlooking St Michael’s Mount, while nearby Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange and Penlee House Gallery are must-visits too.

Many revere Cornwall as a top foodie destination. The beloved pasty, Cornwall’s signature snack, now has ‘protected designation of origin’ status. St Ives has its own popular food festival in May, one of many similar events across the county. Pick up an ice cream from Jelberts in Newlyn – don’t be fooled by the low-key shopfront or the fact that they only do one flavour. Made with fresh Cornish clotted cream, many say it’s the best you’ll ever experience. But, in the name of balance, Moomaid of Zennor is pretty good too. 

If your thirst needs quenching, pay a visit to the family-run Polgoon on the outskirts of Penzance, for a tasting and tour of the vineyard and orchard. Meanwhile, being a small-batch operation hasn’t stopped St Ives Cider from winning international awards. There are several enterprising microbreweries in the area, helping to propel the country’s artisan ale revolution.

With provenance on everyone’s minds, you don’t need to travel far to experience fantastic, locally-sourced produce. Enjoy fish as fresh as it gets, straight off the boats from Newlyn, St Ives and other local harbours.

Mousehole Credit: Pixel Memoirs/Alamy Stock Photo

Cornwall’s fishing and seafaring heritage goes way back. Many will know Penzance for Gilbert and Sullivan’s eponymous pirates. Today, walking down its narrow alleys and opeways you can stumble upon historic taverns, once frequented by seafarers of a decidedly nefarious nature. 

But it’s also home to a grand promenade and the recently restored Art Deco lido. A regular port of call for cruising yachtspeople, Penzance is also the gateway to the Isles of Scilly, reached aboard the Scillonian.

West Cornwall boasts a rich pilchard-fishing history. Sadly, overfishing swiftly saw an end to the trade, but not before significantly contributing to the vernacular architecture, with pretty whitewashed stone fisherman’s cottages and pilchard cellars lining the coast. 

So, there’s much more to West Cornwall than first meets the eye. Replete with independent boutiques, bistros and galleries, and glorious scenery at every turn, Penwith harbours many hidden gems just waiting to be discovered.

The post Hidden Cornwall: Top sights in West Penwith appeared first on Britain Magazine | The official magazine of Visit Britain | Best of British History, Royal Family,Travel and Culture.

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[tuesdaydnd]

Pirate’s Creed part two

Pirate’s Creed

02- The Flying Gang

           Everyone feels much better after their last adventure, in fact they seem to have developed new skills and have more life. Reynaud uses the crystal skull to contact their mentor. When he describes the page of parchment and the strange vision he saw, Mentor recognizes it at once.

The Eye of Thoth uses pages from an ancient Atlantean book to gain their special powers, but Atlantis wasn’t the only power in the prehistoric world. There was another island on the other side of the world in the Pacific called Lemuria. The Lemurians were brutal dictators who used their power to enslave people. Atlantis defeated them in a great war, but apparently some of them survived and fragments from Lemuria occasionally surface. These Lemurian writings served as the basis for the Ophidean Order.

The page is very important and Mentor promises to send someone to translate it as soon as possible. Reynaud also mentions that the Sunderland was ordered to kill Captain Hornigold and his crew, but to spare Jennings and his people. Mentor doesn’t know for certain why these orders were issued, but obviously they should keep an eye on Jennings.

In New Providence, the pirates are delighted to see them and Hornigold wants to hear all about their raid on Havana. Although it’s true they only brought back a fraction of the gold that was there, just the fact they were able to strike at the heart of Spanish power and escape gives the pirates hope.

There is a meeting of all the pirates. Hornigold proposes a pirate republic, but Reynaud suggests a council of captains to make decisions. Every pirate gets a vote, and the council is overwhelmingly approved.

Jennings isn’t satisfied with one island. He wants to use it as a base of operations to expand their power, taking over more territory. No one thinks this is a bad plan, but they must start small before they can expand. Reynaud lays out his plan to take the Spanish Treasure fleet. He will need every man and every ship to pull this off, but if they succeed it will be something that will go down in the history books.

Attacking the ships at sea will not be easy. First, they have to find them. Ships are sent out on a reconnaissance mission to locate the fleet. They know the fleet can’t sail until they repair the damage done when the Santa Maria’s gunpowder blew up. The only advantage they have is that the fleet will be relatively easy for them to catch once they sail past New Providence and enter the straights of Florida.

The last time they went up against a Man O’War most of the crew was on the shore. Now they’ll be facing a full crew who are ready for trouble since both the Santa Maria and the Conception have been attacked. When the fleet leaves Havana their scouts give them word of how the fleet is formed. The two Man O’Wars are at the front and back of the fleet with five treasure galleons between them. The ships are far enough apart that they won’t collide, but close enough that if one ship is attacked other ships will be able to see it. At night the flash of cannons will be visible for miles.

The decision is made for the two Eye of Thoth ships to attack the Spanish Man O’Wars and put them out of action while the rest of the pirate fleet sweeps in to take out the galleons. They have thirty ships altogether, with Jennings and his Bathsheba and Hornigold in his Ranger leading the rest of the ships. Reynaud and Xi are on the Basilisk, the Doctor and Max are on the Kraken.

They approach the treasure fleet under the cover of night. The Kraken and the Basilisk separate and approach the Conception and the Santa Maria. The plan is to hit both of them at the same time in the dead of night. As the two ships near their targets, the wind shifts and the sky grows dark. The sea swells, making navigation difficult.

The Kraken heads for the most northern ship which turns out to be the Santa Maria, the Basilisk goes for the last ship in the fleet, the Conception.

The wind and rain reduce visibility so badly that they have no trouble approaching their target. Swinging the Basilisk around they attach it to the stern of the Conception with grappling hooks. Reynaud and Xi lead the men on board. They move quietly at first and only wound rather than kill. Soon they are spotted and the Spanish open fire.

Xi uses his powers of suggestion to take control of one of the sailors, but the sound of gunfire snaps him out of his trance. As the crew swarms him, Xi has to fight to the death as waves crash over the side of the ship.

Reynaud cuts his way across the deck. He tries to go below deck and is stopped by gunfire. At the bottom of the ladder he sees Captain Diaz, who he last spoke to in Tortuga.

Meanwhile the Doctor and Max manage to get the Kraken into position and fight their way onto the deck of the Santa Maria. The ship is rocking violently and when the Doctor throws his knives the wind simply whisks them away. He is forced to fight with his hand axes. Fortunately the wind and rain make it impossible for any of the guns to be of use.

Max finds his uncanny sense of balance is the only thing keeping him upright as the violently rocking ship tosses the Spanish sailors to the deck. A powerful wave washes several of the Spanish over the railings of the ship to their doom. From his position Max sees the treasure ship behind them wildly waving a red lantern. It is the well known signal for a ship in distress.

On the Conception Reynaud is speaking with the captain as one gentleman to another.

“If you do not disengage you ship neither of us will survive,” Diaz warns.

“Surrender and join our republic,” Reynaud counter offers.

“I serve my king.”

At that moment the Conception lurches violently to one side. Reynaud loses his balance and falls part way down the ladder before catching himself. Fortunately the Spanish soldiers were tossed about by the movement of the ship and couldn’t shoot. All around him he hears the wood creaking as the full power of the storm strikes them.

On the deck of the Santa Maria Barnaby uses his whips to clear the deck of sailors. As the Doctor, Klydell and Max fight alongside him they hear a terrible sound as their ship the Kraken suddenly tears free, pulling off part of the railing on the stern of the ship. Trapped on the Spanish vessel they continue to hold off the crew, the only thing saving their lives is that the storm is too bad for guns to fire.

Looking back over the railing Klydell sees a black ship with torn and tattered sails sweeping back and forth between the ships. It seems to have no trouble maneuvering despite the storm. There are nets draped over the side, dragging the water.

“It’s the Black Freighter!” one of the sailors calls out. “He’s come to take the drowned men to crew his ship.”

It seems like a good many people are about to drown when the call comes up from below that the Santa Maria is taking on water.

On the Conception Reynaud makes a deal with Captain Diaz. They will agree to a truce until the storm ends if Reynaud will disengage his ship to keep both ships from being smashed to pieces. Reynaud orders the Basilisk cut away, leaving him and his boarding party on the Spanish Man O’War.

On the Santa Maria Barnaby heads below decks and finds that the Spanish crew is far too busy trying to pump out the water to fight. Although he is trapped on a sinking ship, Barnaby decides to take the chance to destroy it. He goes to the powder room and begins to set it to explode.

Meanwhile the Doctor has become obsessed with the Black Freighter. He manages to get a grapple onto the ghost ship as it glides by and swings on board. On the rain swept deck he confronts undead sailors. The captain is a sinister skull faced figure wreathed in lighting. The captain orders the Doctor to be killed.

When the undead sailors attack the Doctor defends himself only to find that the men have sea water instead of blood. When he hacks at a limb he finds his sword stuck fast, for the bones are as hard as iron.

Before he is overwhelmed the Doctor dives into the hold through a gaping hole in the deck. There in the space where the nets are emptied he picks his way through the drowned men to find the ones that are still alive. He tries to arm them and get them to fight back, but they are too overwhelmed with terror to be much good. When the crew moves in on his the Doctor descends a ladder to the next deck.

This turns out to be the gun deck, where strange brass cannons are watched over by the undead crew. The master of the gun deck hurls fire at him, forcing him to climb out a gun port. Outside he sees another net being drawn up. Handing his knife to a man to cut himself free,  he encourages the still living men to fight back against their fate.

On the deck of the ship the sailors make a stand, but the undead crew make short work of them. Grabbing another rope the Doctor plans to swing down to the gun deck with his grenados and hope that he can do some damage.

On the nearby Santa Maria Barnaby has planted his charges and he emerges on deck to find the Doctor gone. On the Kraken Archibald lowers a few of the sails and manages to regain control of the ship to bring it around. Barnaby, Max and Klydell quickly attach ropes and swing across.

As they do so there is an explosion from below decks. The Doctor is in the process of trying to use his grenados when the sudden explosion causes him to lose his grip in the rope and he falls into the churning sea.

The Black Freighter vanishes into the storm. The Santa Maria burns. The crew of the Kraken spots the Doctor in the water and pull him on deck. Even though he is safe, the Doctor has become obsessed with the Black Freighter. He wants to go after it. Finally, Barnaby has no choice but to lock him in the brig.

The next morning there is little sign that the Spanish Treasure Fleet ever existed. Every ship has gone down and one of them has been smashed into the beach where it has become the meeting place of the Spanish survivors.

The pirates and the crew of the Conception put to shore where Reynaud and Captain Diaz will fight a duel over the ship. It is a contest between gentlemen. When Diaz unexpectedly loses his sword early in the fight Reynaud graciously allows him to pick up the blade and continue. Both men are wounded in the duel, but finally the Frenchman has the upper hand and Diaz is forced to surrender.

As per the terms of the duel Diaz and his men are given longboats and enough provisions to reach the nearest Spanish outpost. Diaz tells Reynaud that the ship has recently been careened and the barnacles scraped from the hull, but the mast is cracked and it only survived the storm because a metal brace.

Renaud decides to rename the Man O’War the Waterheart. Max is given command of the Basilisk.

On the Kraken Barnaby has to decide what to do with the Doctor. Even in the light of day with the ghost ship vanished he continues to talk about it and wants to go after it. He begins babbling about glowing eyes and crystal skulls and shows his captain a notebook full of gibberish.

When given a chance to rejoin the crew the Doctor refuses to stop talking about the Black Freighter. Finally Barnaby allows the crew to vote. The Doctor is put to death. He struggles to the end and tries to break free, but there is no saving him, the contact with the ghost ship has driven him mad. Perhaps this is the fate of anyone who dares to challenge the Black Freighter.

Meanwhile Xi takes Clydell and a few of the other men into the woods to cut a tree for a new mast. After they’ve gathered most of the wood they need they are attacked by Natives. A Seminole warrior goes after Xi with a club that is spiked with alligator teeth.

Most of the men take cover when a rain of arrows falls on them. Clydell goes after them with his knife and hatchet. He calls to them in the language of the tribe that raised him, the Nez Perce. At first, he gets no response, but one of the warriors finally answers him in a heavily accented voice.

When the warrior tells them that this is their land, the pirate replies “Not anymore.” This enrages the warrior who calls out for the rest of the tribe to kill the intruders. Clydell drops from a tree onto the warrior and kills him with a hidden blade. Before he can scramble to safety, he is hit with two arrows.

He manages to make it back up the tree, but he is trapped in the branches by the natives. Some of the pirates were sent back to get help from the beach, but will it arrive in time?

On the beach Reynaud hears the gunshots and heads into the woods with Hans and Zahara and some of the crew.

Barnaby takes Max and the rest of the crew to attack the beached ship where the Spanish soldiers are starting to gather.

In the woods Klydell tries to leap from one tree to another, but falls and is at the mercy of the Indians. He decides to play dead.

Reynaud arrives with his men and begins to cut into the Indians. Xi and his people come out from cover and join the battle. Zahara and Afia flank the natives and attack them from behind.

During the battle Klydell tries to make a break for it. He wounds one of the Indians with a thrown knife, but is stabbed with a spear before he can get away. Xi rushes in to save him. They manage to escape, but both are hit by arrows.

The tide of battle turns, and the Seminoles retreat. Once they are no longer under attack Xi shares his healing salve with Klydell which saves him from bleeding out.

As Barnaby leads his men onto the beach they have to attack under the rifle fire of the Spanish. Several men ar struck down until they get close enough to use their pistols. Finally they are able to take on the Spanish in hand to hand. Max stabs one soldier and lifts him into the air, filing the rest of the soldiers with terror. Barnaby is using his twin whips and grenades are being thrown.

The Spanish retreat to the remains of their ship and continue shooting under cover. Realizing it would be suicide to attack their position, Barnaby orders his men to grab the longboats and turn them upside down. By carrying the boat over their heads they can attack the Spanish ship with some cover of their own. The wood of the boat isn’t thick enough to stop the bullets, but the Spanish are shooting blind and most of their shots are harmless.

Throwing the boat into the mass of soldiers, the pirates strike with swords, hidden blades and whips. The soldiers are overwhelmed and have no choice but to surrender.

The pirates patch up their wounded and mourn their dead. The wrecked ship is searched for treasure. Meanwhile the timber is finally brought out of the forest and Xi goes to work on the new mast. Once he is done with that he and Klydell still want to go into the swamps to try and catch a baby alligator.

As the wrecked ship is being searched a figure suddenly appears and attacks them. He seems to have come from nowhere. The man spits venom into Zahara’s eyes, blinding her. Reynaud and Barnaby immediately attack and a furious battle is engaged with a foe who clearly has supernatural powers.

Meanwhile Xi, Klydell and the new Doctor go into the Everglades to try and find an alligator. After nearly sinking into quicksand they encounter Seminole Indians. This time, instead of attacking, they seem amused by their quest. Since they don’t feel threatened by the three pirates the Indians agree to help them.

They find a full sized alligator basking in the sun. They try to kill the animal, but it proves to be tricky, rolling over and nearly drowning Klydell before Xi is able to stab its soft underside.

Back at the shipwreck healing salve restores Zahara’s eyesight. The attacker appears to be subdued, but almost escapes. “I work for the masters of the world,” he declares under interrogation.

After getting rid of the leeches that clung to Klydell the three pirates bring the alligator carcass back to the beach. They also find alligator eggs and bring three of them.

Just as it begins to get dark a cannon ball suddenly hits the beach. One of the pirate ships salvaging the Spanish wreck has unexpectedly fired on them. As the cannon fire tears up the beach and destroys the wrecked ship, everyone returns to the Waterheart. The prisoner tries to dive overboard and drown himself, but he is caught. They find a strange black cube in his pocket. It is made from some unnaturally smooth substance and has tiny gold filament no thicker than a human hair running through it.

Max, on board the Basilisk moves to intercept the attacking ship befoe they lose it in the dark. When the other ship opens fire on them, the red hot cannon balls start a fire on the Basilisk. As the crew is fight8ing the fire, the shifting currents pull him away from the other ship.

On the Waterheart Reynaud and Barnaby continue questioning the prisoner. Meanwhile Xi is taking the skin off the alligator and cutting it up. Zahara is stunned to see the bones of the alligator start to reform, coming together to form a whole alligator skeleton which rises up on its hind legs and approaches her.

Apparently the voodoo training with the Baron is paying off. The alligator spirit warns Zahara to beware the man of fire who is laying in wait. “He works for the snakes,” Zahara is told. “Soon you will burn.”

When the message has been delivered the bones fly apart again and return to their original positions. No one else in the room saw anything unusual happen.

The fire on the Basilisk has been put out, but they have lost the attacking ship in the darkness. Since Barnaby and Reynaud are still interrogating the prisoner the rest of the pirates decide to get a ride from another of the pirate fleet to pursue the attacking ship. They still don’t know why one member of the fleet would turn on them.

In the interrogation room Reynaud and Barnaby continue to question their prisoner. He admits he doesn’t know what the cube is. All he knows is that he was supposed to take it back to Spain and deliver it to Von Hellinger. Reynaud gets a chill down his spine when he hears the name. Von Hellinger is his arch enemy, a Dutch mercenary he fought during the War of Spanish Succession. He thought that he killed Hellinger, but not only is the man alive, he is working with the Ophidian Order.

The pirates on their borrowed ship follow the ship that attacked them all through the night and into the next day. When the sun rises they see that the ship is the Asp, a nimble sloop with cannons on her open deck. Zahara tries to communicate with the other ship, but the pirates are warned to stay back or they will be killed.

“I am your death!” the captain roars before opening fire. The two ships exchange cannon shots, with the Asp’s heated shot starting fires. Xi climbs overboard to sneak onto the enemy ship, but before he can reach it, the Asp rams the pirate ship.

Xi climbs on board and begins to fight. Most of the rest of the pirates swing over on ropes. During the furious battle they don’t notice that the captain leaps onto their own ship where he faces Zahara and Afia. The captain is swinging two red hot cannonballs on a chain over his head as he storms the ship.

The cannon balls smash down and sear anyone who gets in his way. The fires on the ship are growing even as the pirates start to take the other vessel. Afia manges to shoot him in the leg, but the powerful captain keeps fighting. Zahara is forced to take him on with only a pair of hand axes. During the course of the battle it seems as if the red hot cannon balls will tear through her.

Zahara mutters a silent prayer to the Baron. From Zahara’s point of view it seems as if everything freezes. Into the strange frozen deck the Baron suddenly appears. He tells Zahara that he will save her life if she does something for him. He wants the medallion that Captain Jonas of the Black Freighter wears around his neck. Zahara agrees to get it, although he knows nothing about the Black Freighter, and the one pirate who was on board went mad and had to be hung.

Instantly everything starts moving again. The chains holding the cannon balls snaps, sending them rolling across the deck. Zahara cuts the captain very deeply, and brings him down to the deck. Driven by an almost supernatural frenzy the captain continues to fight, until Zahara has no choice but to finish him off.

On the Asp the pirates are victorious. The ship is theirs. The surviving pirates are more than hapy to have a new captain. They feared and hated their old captain. His name was Fiera, and he seemed immune to fire. He used to take hot coals from the fire and juggle them. There is a forge on the deck so he could heat up cannon balls anytime he wanted. In addition he talked to people in his sleep who somehow gave him orders.

Captain Fiera’s worse offense in the eyes of his crew was that he refused to let them pillage the wrecks like the rest of the pirate ships were doing. After finding a single object he insisted that they stop, and then ordered them to attack the beach for no apparent reason.

Doctor Hans Grubermeisterberg gets a chance to dissect the corpse. He discovers that Fiera had bones and muscles that were much denser than normal. It’s possible that this is what happens to anyone who unlocks the hidden powers of the human body, such as they have with their training.

In the captain’s quarters Xi finds the object that the crew described. It is a large gold plate, probably used by natives for cocoa. On the back has been scratched a map of South America with a strange star shape and a line coming out of it.

After repairing the damaged bow, they sail back to New Providence to meet up with the rest of their team. They find the once shanty town is now buzzing with activity. There are numerous new buildings and new docks have been built for the arriving ships. Jennings has exchanged cannon fire with the Spanish and warns the rest of the pirates that the wrecks won’t be easy pickings anymore.

Hornigold has big plans for New Providence. To make it a proper pirate city they will have to be defended from attack. Fort Nassau has started to collapse since it was abandoned and the rusting cannons should be replaced. It would also be a good idea to have an old ship serve as a gun platform in the harbor. Hog Island mostly blocks the entrance to the harbor, allowing just two places where ships can sail in. With the fort operational and a gun platform, they can effectively hold off attacks.

At a meeting of all the pirate captains it is decided that they will take gold off the top to cover defenses and then split up the rest of the spoils. Although there is some debate, Reynaud is able to sway some people over to his side and the vote passes.

When the gold is divided up everyone is still very wealthy. This is fortunate since everything in town is very expensive. The merchants know that the pirates are flush with gold and are taking every advantage of it. On top of that the island has so few resources that everything has to be imported, which drives the prices up.

The largest trading post on the island belongs to Kaitlin Rowe, an elegant, sophisticated woman who buys and sells almost anything. As a member of the Rowe shipping family she can place stolen goods in stores in Boston or London with no questions asked. Of course she makes a very good profit.

When she asks Reynaud for the Lemurian fragment he realizes that she also is a member of the Eye of Thoth. She is able to translate the writing on the shard and says that it contains the secret to becoming invisible. She can have the translation ready for him in three days.

Outside on the streets of New Providence there is a commotion. Captain Cazalla announces that the captains have held back the best spoils from the wrecked Spanish ships. He specifically mentions a gold plate that wasn’t put with the spoils to be divided.

Barnaby sees the riot brewing and knows that Reynaud has the gold plate with the mysterious map and is going to sell it to Kaitlin Rowe. Barnaby goes and gets the plate. After making sure the map has been scratched off the back he shows the plate to the crowd.

Barnaby demands to know why Cazalla is stirring up trouble over the plate. Under intense questioning by Pierre, Cazalla admits that Vane told him about the plate.

Meanwhile in the bar known as the Old Avery a new recruit named Bobbob makes the acquaintance of Anne Bonny a pretty but tough new barmaid. When someone is too forward with her Anne decks him. One of the other men tries to bash Anne’s head in with a bottle, but Bobbob stops him. One of the pirates pulls out a sword, but Bobbob shoots it from her hand, earning a free drink from Anne.

Barnaby and Pierre arrive in the Old Avery looking for Charles Vane. They find him at a table with Calico Jack and some of the crew from the Bathsheba. Barnaby demands to know why Vane nearly started a riot. Calico Jack tries to calm everyone down, but is ignored.

Reluctantly Vane admits that he saw the plate in a dream. He sent Cazalla out after it because he knew Cazalla had the biggest mouth.

Barnaby decides to take it up with Jennnings, Vane’s captain. As they leave they see Calico Jack flirting with Anne Bonny. On the Bathsheba Barnaby demands that Jennings do something.

“If you don’t get your crew under control, I will,” Barnaby threatens.

Jennings is unfazed. He declares that his crew is his responsibility, and there aren’t any laws against what Vane and Cazalla did. On impulse Barnaby touches his eye, making the sign of the Eye of Thoth. Jennings gives a start and reaches for his sword.

When Reynaud hears what has happened he calls for a meeting of all the captains. They need to decide on the rules for their pirate republic. There is much raucous debate, with Jennings arguing that the more rules they have the more they will be like England or Spain. Most of the captains think that there have to be rules of some sort. After spirited discussion they settle on:

1.      No murder.

2.      No riots

3.      No raiding other pirates

The punishments are death for violating the first two. Death by guillotine is voted as the most popular form of execution. For the lesser offenses there is to be punishment by the stocks, flogging or having to clean all the ships in harbor. The offenders are to be judged by three captains who are impartial. The accused can have someone speak for them, which will undoubtedly lead to pirate lawyers.    

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