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musingsofanunorgainizedmind · 4 years ago

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Top 10 Things I Love About Supernatural

It’s been almost half a year since the show ended and now that the dust has settlIed, I just want to list ten reasons I love this show. Despite it’s flaws, it’s been quite the ride.

1. Team Free Will

When I first got the idea to make this list, I originally planned on doing entirely separate entries for “Sam & Dean” and “Destiel”. Except then I wanted to pay tribute to “Sastiel”. And then I wanted to do an entry for “Team Free Dads”. By that point, I was already halfway through the list and I hadn’t even moved on from the main characters. A few months ago, I made a post about why I love every single pairing in this group. Obviously, Sam and Dean are a legendary duo. Obviously, Dean and Cas have an unparalleled story. Obviously, Sam and Cas are an underrated team. As for Team Free Dads, I’ve always had a soft spot for father/mentor figure characters and and all three tackle the role in different ways. I love Jack, too. I love how everyone in this bizarro family is “broken” in some way. We’ve got the Allistair’s prized pupil, the spawn of satan, the boy with demon blood, and the angel who nearly obliterated all of heaven. But they help each other heal by being supportive and seeing the good in each other. They all love each other so deeply and when together, nothing can stand in their way. Not Michael, not Lucifer, and not God himself. They tore up the book and wrote their own story. And it was a pleasure to watch it all unfold.

2. The Suppporting Characters

To list every single supporting character I have loved and lost in this show would take way too long. I don’t know if it’s the writing or acting performances, but I love pretty much every single supporting character on this show. Even villains like Azazel or Allistair are top-notch villains. Hell, I even like characters like Metatron, Lucifer, Mary, and John! Characters like Rufus, Charlie, Crowley, Rowena, Kevin, Ellen, Jo, Bobby, Gabriel, Balthazar, Mick...how am I not supposed to love them??? All of their stories were cut so short. I’d watch a show about any of these characters. The Wayward Sisters were robbed. So many ships were gone too soon (Sam/Rowena, Dean/Jo, Cas/Meg, Etc.). So many heartbreaking deaths. I want to be best friends with all these characters. Why be a “dean-girl” or a “sam-girl” when you can be a garth-girl? A kevin-girl? A claire-girl? A bela-girl? There are so many great characters with interesting and compelling backstories and so much untapped potential. I could go on forever on this, but I digress.This show has one of the best supporting casts I have ever had the pleasure of watching.

3. The Themes

It’s no accident that I got addicted to this show at the time that I did. Namely, my Senior Year of College and 2020. Graduating college and entering the “real world” felt like it’s own sort of apocalypse. 2020 definitely exacerbated my worst tendencies. Messages like “family don’t end in blood”, “you can write your own story”, and “always keep fighting” really resonated with me. I could definitely relate to the feelings of insecurity these character’s felt and the ways they suppressed/repressed their issues instead of facing them. I could relate to the feelings of not fitting in and I could definitely relate to the loneliness. This show helped remind me that I’m not alone. That it’s okay if my values and identity don’t line up with the what I envisioned for myself. And, most importantly, that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that I should never give up. If Dean, Sam, and Cas can keep moving forward despite their demons and despite how bad it gets, so can I. Regardless of how the story ended, these themes resonated with me and I’ll still hold them with me. A single episode can’t take that away.

4. The Fun Episodes

This show has so many legendary standalone episodes. Changing Channels. Ghostfacers. The French Mistake. Fan Fiction. Tall Tales. Bad Day at Black Rock. When this show goes for the absurd, it goes all-in. It takes the risks it needs to take, it gets completely insane, and it pulls it off. So many of these episodes could have easily been the moment that the show “jumped the shark”. Yet, time after time, the show delivered on it’s potential. I don’t know how much I can say about these episodes except that they made me laugh out loud, made me fall even harder for these characters, and that they’re the episodes I remember best. If I were to rewatch any episode, it would be one of the fun ones. This show knew how to not take itself too seriously and how to poke fun at itself. I’ve always had a soft spot for shows that can make me laugh and cry (X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel, Doctor Who, etc.), and this show definitely nails the fun part.

5. The Sad Episodes

Death’s Door. Hammer of the Gods. Despair. Carry On. Abandon All Hope. In My Time of Dying. Swan Song. When this show wants you to cry, it doesn’t pull the punches. It gets downright devastating. No character is safe. Literally every character you love will either be forgotten or will die. Or both. The amount of trauma Sam and Dean have to go through is insane. Both have literally been to hell and back. Both have killed countless people, including innocents. When this show decides it wants to wreck you, it’s overwhelming. I sobbed when Bobby died. I sobbed when every single member of Team Free Will died for the final time (I still can’t watch any of those scenes). I still wish Jo, Ellen, Charlie, Kevin, Mick, and Gabriel had been given more time to tell their stories. Being a hunter means a life of endless angst. Being an angel or demon doesn’t get you off the hook, either. I remember going into this show thinking it couldn’t hurt me. My favorite character type is “mentor/father figure”. But holy hell...I don’t think every single sad moment was necessarily good writing, but when it was? Damn.

6. The Biblical Themes

I’m not a relgious person. But, despite this show being steeped in Christian mythology, it really touched on my feelings about the Old Testament in a profound way. Well, really just Ben Edlund and Robbie Thompson did. I’ve never seen a show really hit the overall feel of the bible the way this show does. The idea of Angels as mystical and terrifying creatures. The idea of God as a flawed father figure with a penchant for wrath. The sheer epicness of the biblical stories. The idea of family members constantly being turned on each other. Cain and Abel. Jacob and Essau. Moses and Ramses. Moses and Aaron. Abraham and Isaac. The bible is full of stories of family drama. This show doesn’t always give angels and demons weight. Sometimes it’s silly and stupid and cheesy. But when it hits right? It’s epic. This is more of a personal thing I love about the show, but definitely a plus!

7. The Music

The early seasons music is so good. I really miss the classic rock of the golden era of the show. I mean, there are still some great musical moments later on, but damn. I loved hearing songs I recognized and I loved learning new songs. I loved when the song and the scene hit perfectly in time (Death’s intro. Cas’s return in Season 13.). Also Supernatural wouldn’t be Supernatural without the ‘Carry On My Wayward Son’ song at the end of every season. Even at the end of a season I didn’t love, that recap would always get me pumped. Also Chuck singing Fare Thee Well? Dean and Lee singing together? Fan Fiction? All great.

8. The Cast & Crew

I never care about the actors or actresses in a show. I definitely don’t bother with the names of specific writers and directors or their styles of writing/directing. They’re just random people who happen to write for or play these characters I love. They’re not actually the characters. But these guys? Well, for one, I’m pretty sure half this cast actually is their character. At least to some degree. They’re also just...really cool people? Who are all friends? They make a point to do community service, to interact with fans, and to promote positive ideas. Jared’s Always Keep Fighting campaign. Misha and GISH. The fact that they all participate in fundraising opportunities and encourage fan engagement. Do they all have issues? Definitely. Have they said stupid things? Yes. But the good far outweighs the bad. They’re an entertaining bunch whether onscreen or not and I hope they all do well in whatever their future endeavors may be.

9. The Fandom

I joined this fandom late. To be honest, I thought this fandom was obnoxious before I found myself a part of it. Now that I’ve been in the trenches? It’s got it’s ups and downs like any fandom. There are some parts that are more toxic than others. A lot of people yelling that their opinion is the only opinion. But overall? The good outweighs the bad. And the good? The good is great. Some fanfictions I’ve read are better than actual books I’ve read and just as moving. The fanart? Incredible. I love reading all the metas about random aspects of the show I never would have noticed. I love the music videos and I love the analytical videos. In real life, I’ve made many friends through our mutual love of this show. Hell, even getting sucked into GISH once or twice has given me some solid memories and brought me closer to friends. I wish all fandoms were this much like family. I’m so glad I got to be a part of this fandom and I can’t wait to continue being a fan. After all, nothing ever stays dead in Supernatural.

10. The Chaos & Insanity

Season 16 has been a time. First, Destiel went canon. Then suddenly Sherlock was having a 5th season, Putin was retiring, and Georgia was going blue. Destiel going “canon” and Joe Biden winning the presidency will always be correlated in my mind now. Things in the fandom went from quiet to blaringly loud real fast. Carry On happened. The fandom went into a civil war. I can’t even remember half of what happened in Season 16, but it’s been a wild ride. There’s been ups (my personal favorite being the french dub and the Saileen wedding). There’s been downs (Jared’s controversial statements and the original scripts being leaked). At one point Misha Collins had sex with Bill Clinton???? It’s been a wild time. It’s honestly gotten me through the end of this pandemic. At least it’s entertaining. I would say that at least all the craziness is over, but is it ever really over? Every time I say that something else completely insane happens. But it’s been fun. I’m glad I started watching this show despite my reservations and here’s to whatever happens next.

#team free will #team free will 2.0 #castiel #jack kline #sam winchester #dean winchester #sam and dean #destiel #wayward sisters #supernatural #spn #misha collins #jared padalecki #jensen ackles

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esoanem · 4 years ago

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“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

#black sails #black sails content notes

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quiche-pocket · 5 years ago

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Not Prince Charming: Or Is He?

Here we are again. All this new Vikings 6 content and rewatching old episodes have inspired more of this story that I keep saying is not going to continue! This is a follow up to Not Prince Charming and The Beginning .

Summary: Annis is very pregnant with Hvitserk’s child and she has come to Kattegat to tell him and follow the path her dreams have guided her towards. Her mother is still the little bird in her ear telling her that her child will be the future ruler of Kattegat and beyond. When she arrives and sees the prince that forced himself on her the first time they met will she use him for her own gain? Or will Hvitserk show another side of himself and change the course of Annis’ story?

Disclaimer and A/N: I do not own any of the images, 2 I found on Pinterest and 1 has been on my phone forever, but please if they are yours let me know so I can give credit! As always, please let me know if you’d like to be added or removed from the tag list. This chapter is happier, but there are still moments where Annis is conflicted and thinks back on past decisions she has made. There is no sexual content or violence in this chapter. Feel free to share and let me know what y’all think!!!

There was a commotion outside of Hvitserk’s rooms that woke him from a deep sleep. He and his brothers had returned from another successful raid the night before and the celebration had gone late into the night. He had stumbled away from the hall as the sun was rising and fallen onto the pelts and furs covering his bed before slipping into a deep slumber.

A banging on his door and the sound of Ubbe’s voice calling his name was what roused him from his bed and when he opened the door, Hvisterk was greeted with chaos. Thralls were running between rooms with bedding and clothing, his brothers were standing there looking as horrible as he felt but much angrier.

“Hvitserk. There is someone waiting for you in the hall. I suggest you handle it before Lagertha comes.” Ubbe sighed and motioned him toward the great hall.

Upon entering he saw her and froze in place. The auburn hair was unmistakable. She was slightly older, but definitely the woman he had found in the woods after the battle. When he left her, though, she was not with child. His heart hammered and Hvitserk made a detour to one of the long tables to grab a horn of ale. Perhaps if he blacked out again he would wake from this nightmare in his own bed surrounded by beautiful women as he had been dreaming of moments earlier.

“What is the meaning of this? Why have you come here?” He growled, making his way slowly toward the woman. A crowd was forming, guards encroaching on the scene should she attack along with Ubbe and Bjorn just beyond. Ivar would be skulking in the shadows until the opportune moment to make himself known.

The woman was silent and Hvitserk approached, snatching her by her hair and pulling her head up to look at him.

“Speak!” He bellows, losing patience with her and starting to panic as his memories of their last meeting flood back.

“Prince Hvitserk I come to you seeking refuge. Your army destroyed my home and you forced yourself on me leaving me with your unborn child. Prince you must help me. This is your child, I know it to be true and he must know who his father is. Please have mercy, I have nowhere to go.” Her eyes filled with tears and Hvitserk softened, seeing the fullness of her belly and the desperation on her face. This child may be his. How he has longed for children and a family to come home to after sailing and raiding.

“Rise. You are exhausted. Did you travel alone? Tell me your name again.”

“Annis, Prince Hvitserk. I have traveled alone. I was with the few survivors but they can no longer care for me in the condition I am and I knew I had to come to you.” She was still shaken, but her voice was steadier and she kept eye contact with Hvitserk. He helped her to her feet and called to the women to bathe and care for her then bring her back to the hall.

More commotion followed, low murmuring as those who witnessed the exchange shared what they saw with those that were not present. Bjorn had left right after Annis and the women, presumably to inform his mother on what had taken place. Hvitserk and the other sons of Ragnar sat together in silence. Ivar had a smirk on his face and Hvitserk wanted nothing more than to strike him with the empty horn still clutched in his fist.

“So, brother, what are we going to do about this?”

“We?” Hvitserk questioned Ubbe. “I joined with her after the raid of her village. She told me her mother had died and brother and father had been killed in the battle. The timing is right for the child to be mine. I will keep her with me for now, here until the child is born and then she will stay in the home in the woods until I am sure I can trust her. The child will be raised here as he should be.”

“How do you know it is a he?” Ivar queried.

“I know.” Hvitserk rose from his seat, grabbed another horn and went to his rooms to prepare for when Lagertha came. He knew it would not be long.

“She cannot stay here. She should not be in Kattegat. She is a threat and so is that child.” Lagertha’s voice rang with authority as she addressed the young man in front of her. Hvitserk had never been openly confrontational towards her, but in this he was belligerent. Demanding. When she had come in the hall he had been ready and waiting. Before she had spoken, the younger son of Ragnar told her that this girl was carrying his child and would be staying under his protection. The situation made Lagertha uneasy and looking at the eyes of the other princes, including her son, she was not alone.

“I will protect her. No one will touch her or my son while they are in my home and under my care.”

“My home!” Lagertha cried. “You are forgetting who you speak to, Hvitserk. This girl means nothing to any of us and you do not even know that the child is yours. She is lying and will use this to take Kattegat from us claiming this child is the rightful king once we are all dead at her hand. Do not challenge me Hvitserk.” She stared him down but Hvitserk would not be swayed.

“No one lays a finger on this girl. Should something happen to her before this child is born it will be my hand you will worry about, Lagertha.” He stood, towering over her in her seat, and stormed from the hall furs billowing behind.

Once Hvitserk had burst from the room and the heavy doors had banged shut Lagertha studied the young men around her.

“He cannot be this foolish,” she mused and the princes chuckled among themselves.

“Hvitserk is loyal. To a fault,” Bjorn began.

“A child is something he has longed for since I can remember,” Ubbe explained. “He believes it is the will of the gods I think. He is soft when he is not slaughtering Christians.” At that all three laughed again and Lagertha began to lose her patience.

“This girl will stay. In her condition she is little threat but hear my words that she will be under watch. Should anything happen or appear she is a problem then she will be dealt with. Is this understood?” All three nodded. Ivar appeared pensive, Bjorn ready for action and Ubbe had a look of worry on his face. She would keep watch over him as well as his younger brother and new guest.

*************************************************************************************

As soon as Hvitserk had left the hall and the meeting with his brothers and the queen, he went to the chambers where Annis was being bathed and checked over. He stood to the side, out of her eyesight, and observed for awhile. She seemed worried but not unpredictable or dangerous. This was the girl who he had brought to submission more than once during their first meeting. There was no doubt in Hvitserk’s mind he could do it again if needed.

“My prince, come closer I know you must have concerns and questions.” Her voice came softly and she did not turn to him but reached a gentle hand toward him. Hvitserk took it and came to kneel by bed she was resting in.

“Why did you come here. You must know that I am not next in line to be ruler of Kattegat. This child you bear will not be a king.” He cocked his head and regarded her thoughtfully.

“Prince Hvitserk I cannot explain everything, but I know our child will be special. My god has given me dreams and visions of a child born of a prince of Kattegat. I do not know beyond that, but I trust my god as you trust yours.” Annis still did not truly believe in God, but she felt this was something the viking could understand.

“You may stay here. I will protect you until the child is born, but Lagertha will be watching. You are safe with me, Annis.” He stood and took her hand in his, placing his other on her swollen belly. “You are not alone any longer. I will protect you.” He said, eyes glued to her belly.

As Hvitserk left the room he did not notice the shadow lurking in the corner nor observe it creeping along and slipping through the door he just exited. His mind was focused on the child and the mother. What a strange woman to keep the baby resulting from a joining as violent as ours he mused. He did not regret what happened, especially with a son coming out of it, but he was still shocked by the events of the morning. This was stranger than the dream he’d woken from just hours before.

*************************************************************************************

“Annis!” A whispered hiss sounded just as the bedroom door opened and banged shut again. It was not Hvitserk’s voice and it made the young woman in the room freeze when she recognized the gravely tone.

“Mother!” She hissed back. “You should not be here! Why have you come? If you are caught they will surely put me to death and the child as well. You must leave!” Annis turned in her bed and saw her crone of a mother hunched and limping toward her.

“I needed to see you. I needed to know if we are safe and how the news was received by the prince and the others.”

“The child and I are safe for now. We will be under the protection of Hvitserk, the child’s father, and he will keep us from the queen’s hand. You must leave! I will send word to the cottage we found when it is safe, but you cannot be here. Stay there and I will protect you as he does me.”

Her mother stood by until footsteps passed the room and she slipped out the door again, heading for the cottage in the woods that she and Annis had found before the girl appeared in Kattegat.

Annis lowered herself to the soft bed, covered in firs and surrounded by warmth from the crackling fire. She rested her hand on her belly as Hvitserk had done and smiled. He trusted her enough to bring her into his home and protect her and her child. Would he keep his word after the babe was born? Was this all a ploy to take the baby and do away with her. Annis’s mother used to believe the latter but after seeing the light in his eyes when looking at her in this way, she believed the prince would do whatever it took to protect the child and her as the mother.

*************************************************************************************

During the weeks leading up to the birth of their child, Hvitserk spent his time keeping watch and did not leave Annis’ side. She slept in his bed and he catered to her. She saw his brothers watching suspiciously but none approached her. During meals he sat and spoke quietly to her, excusing them both when she finished eating. He was kind and loving in a way she did not expect. Every night as he fell asleep, he rested his hands and his lips on her belly and spoke quietly to their unborn child. He shared stories of his father and the gods. Their home and what it took to protect it. She would close her eyes and drift into dreams listening to his lilting voice and feeling the rumble of his chest glide over her body.

No matter how often she sent her away, Annis’ mother continued to sneak into the walls of Kattegat and see her.

“Mother he loves this child, I know this now. He will do anything to protect it.”

“And you? Does he listen to what you have to say? Have you told him that this child is the only way to protect the future of this place and that his brothers and that woman only stand in the way?” Her mother had been increasingly insistent that the only way to protect her child was to eliminate the others and take the power for themselves.

“Mother his desires do not include being king-”

“His desires are not important. This child is all that matters. It is up to you to convince him, or have you forgotten your dream? Has it been that long that you no longer remember why you are here?”

“I have not forgotten,” she said quietly. Arguing with her mother was not fruitful. As she continued to get older, she was angrier and more frightened. Annis worried that she would try and take the future into her own hands. No matter how often she tried to convince her that everything was progressing as planned and that her mother did not need to risk coming, nothing soothed her fears. Annis explained she would come with the baby as soon as she could, but her mother was sure that someone would kill the child.

“The future and honor of our family depends on this child!” Her mother cried and Annis shushed her and sent her away.

“I know, Mother, I will speak with him. Please go, it is not safe for you here.”

Her mother slipped away once again and Annis fell to the bed and began to cry. Hvitserk was kind. He was caring and generous and attentive. Her mother made him out to be a means to an end but the longer Annis was in Kattegat and surrounded by the comfort the prince could provide, the more she began to care for him as well.

*************************************************************************************

“Annis, I would like to take you for a walk with me. The women say it is good for the baby and will help the birth be easier. Come walk with me then I will feed you, I know you need your strength.” He smiled softly and helped her from the chair. He draped heavy furs that matched his over her shoulders and held her close as they walked through the snowy town.

As they walked he pointed out people and buildings, telling stories and making her laugh until her cheeks hurt. He continually asked if she was tired or needed to rest but the company, conversation, and fresh air made Annis feel more refreshed than she had since before her mother’s last visit. Even in the cold her heart and cheeks were warmed by the closeness and care that Hvitserk showed. She had never felt like this since her father had died. Her father that she killed in order to fulfill a destiny her mother will never let her forget. A destiny that may not be what she thought her dreams were leading her towards. Perhaps having this child with Hvitserk was enough. A way to be free from her mother and the life they had. A chance for joy and love with a child and man who cared for her.

“Annis?” Hvitserk’s voice pulled her back to the moment. She had paused at a stall of fruits and he was pointing at them as if asking which she would like.

“Whichever you think is best,” she covered her distraction and leaned into his side as he selected the ripest ones before continuing on their way.

“You seem tired. Let us return to your room and you may rest until you are ready to eat?” He questioned and she nodded with a small smile. He beamed in return and they continued on home. A heavily pregnant English girl and a prince of Kattegat, walking the streets of the town arm in arm as lovers would. Annis began to question everything she had based her path around until this point just as the baby in her womb kicked and made her heart flutter.

@x-valhalla @athroatfullofglass @ainatirb-j @westcoastselkie @lol-haha-joke @hissouthernprincess

#hvitserk #vikings #Marco Ilsø #vikings fanfic

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swainlake · 6 years ago

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Hello! So now that got has ended I'm looking for some tv shows that I could watch after I'm done with my exams. Do you have any suggestions? I'm not looking for anything specific, although if you have watched some good period dramas, I'd love some recommendations. Also wanted to add how much I love your blog, it's really beautiful

tysm that’s so sweet!! i love giving recs so i’ve got a bunch that you might like under the cut; i’ve put a ♡ next to my favs

period dramas:

NEW WORLDS (2014)this one is a mini series, only 4 episodes long, but please don’t let that stop you! it’s about anti-monarchism and rebellion and forbidden love in the 1600′s & is set in both england and america. i cried more than once but the ending is so bittersweet and hopeful!!

POLDARK (2015—)i have a love/hate relationship with this one tbh. i started watching because of the main relationship but i ended up really into it for the side relationships instead?? the actual political plot doesn’t interest me but i love the drama between the family members. also i adore the women in this show, every single female character is well-written and realistic and you’ll love them all (even if at times you hate them). the men tho? the men are pretty much collectively the worst. “what’s wrong with the women in this family?” “the men.”

SPARTACUS (2010—2013) ♡i started watching this before i ever got into game of thrones but if you like the fight scenes in got, you’ll enjoy this! great characters, great fight scenes, great friendships. this one is based on gladiators who are fighting for their freedom.

THE WHITE PRINCESS (2017) ♡okay firstly and most importantly: jodie comer stars in this so you know it’s good. it’s also got michelle fairly (catelyn stark) in it though tbh she wasn’t my favourite character in this and i didn’t find her likeable at all. it’s not very historically accurate ofc but the relationship between henry/elizabeth is honestly the perfect enemies to lovers rep & always lowkey reminds me of book!sansa/jon possibilities

PAN AM (2011—2012)this one isn’t like game of thrones at all but it’s only one season and it’s super cute and has a lot of famous actresses in it like christina ricci & margot robbie. based on the adventures of a crew of pan am stewardesses, this is a good combination of lighthearted fun and chilling cold-war drama. an old favourite.

THE MUSKETEERS (2014—2016) ♡i’ll be gushing over this for years to come tbh it’s really just that perfect. the relationship between the musketeers is so lovely, the personification of ‘brotherhood’ really, but also the romantic relationships are really good too?? which for some reason i personally hadn’t expected. my fav couple is aramis/anne (anne is played by the actress who played roslin frey!) because the forbidden love & the respect and adoration between those two is just perfect but really every relationship (even the ones that don’t become endgame) are written very well

OUTLANDER (2014—)i haven’t watched every single episode of this one but from what i have seen it’s very good, and has some similar themes to game of thrones!! the sex scenes are epic, the main relationship is lovely, and overall its a very realistic show that features supernatural elements!

THE LAST KINGDOM (2015—) ♡i’m not going to lie: i started this series by skipping straight to 2x7 because i’d seen gifs of the relationship between aethelflaed and erik but it was so good i ended up going back and starting from the beginning! this show reminds me of ‘vikings’ more tham game of thrones but it’s not as gory and the characters aren’t all assholes. side note: if you love sansa stark as much as i do you’re gonna love aethelflaed, lady of mercia! she’s actually a real person but this show is based on a book series that looks super interesting! honestly the main character also kind of reminds me of jon snow

HARLOTS (2017—) ♡oh my gosh how do i describe this show?? the family dynamics are so! intricate! and! beautiful! honestly just stunning. everything about this show is s t u n n i n g. the costumes are colourful and vivid and honestly i’d recommend watching just for that but the storyline really does keep you hooked!! also: liv tyler and jessica brown findlay are love interests in this which is honestly a dream come true

BLACK SAILS (2015—2017)okay full disclosure; i haven’t actually seen this but i’ve heard very good things and it’s on my list!! it’s about pirates, i think there’s some queer rep (can anybody confirm??), and there’s lots of amazing women. again, allegedly.

dramas:

THE SOCIETY (2018—)i literally watched the entire first season in a single night so it must be alright, right? basically all you need to know about this is that a town full of teenagers go on a field trip & then return to find all their parents mysteriously missing and their town closed off from the outside world. it’s basically lord of the flies but modern! with some kick-ass friendships! and amazing young women (one literally teaches herself to be a doctor can you believe?)!

SHARP OBJECTS (2018)if you haven’t heard about this one yet idk what rock you’ve been living under but welcome back! this one is a m a z i n g but also hella chilling and the ending is such a shocker if it hasn’t been spoiled for you yet!

THE BOLD TYPE (2017—) ♡i always describe this one as ‘sex and the city for millennials’ but i’ve never watched a single sex and the city episode in my life so i honestly don’t know how accurate that is?? but it’s about a group of 20-something year old women who are best friends and work mates and they love each other so much?? the relationship between the girls is my favourite thing about the show but the show honestly tackles a lot of relevant issues; trump, age gaps, queer rep, immigration, racism, etc. i can’t recommend this enough!

CODE BLACK (2015—2018) ♡you know those episodes in greys anatomy where everything is life-or-death and you’re on edge for the whole episode? that’s basically every single episode of code black. this is hands-down one of my most rewatched shows ever. i love medical dramas and this one balances well written characters with action-packed medical miracles so honestly what’s not to like??

A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES (2018—)okay admittedly the only reason i watch this show is because of the main couple but i can’t help it when they’re just so gosh-darn cute!! they love each other so god damned much! i wasn’t completely sold on this straight away but by ep 3 i was HOOKED. if you like supernatural romances/dramas that are more mature than your usual cw show, this one is a good choice!

THE OA (2016—) ♡i can’t even put into words how much i adore this?? but also: it will confuse THE SHIT out of you. no matter how smart you are, this one will leave you scratching your head. basically: a group of people who’ve had near-death experiences get kidnapped and experimented on. it’s not as brutal as it sounds, in fact the show is exceptionally beautiful, but it does deal with some hard themes and the good guys don’t always win.

12 MONKEYS (2015—2018)do you like time travel? do you like forbidden and yet totally-still-devoted-to-one-another-anyway love? then this is the show for you! this one is dark and gritty and deals pretty realistically with the concept of time travel & self-sacrifice and what people will give up to create a better world. it’s got a happy ending & you wont regret watching!

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE (2018)oh this one will make you cry. in a good way though! long story short a family grows up in a haunted house and it affects them in ways they cannot imagine. it’s hauntingly beautiful and poetic and everybody should watch it at least once imo

comedies:

THE MARVELOUS MRS MAISEL (2017—)okay so this one counts as a period drama as well but it’s about a COMEDIAN so i put it in the comedy section lol. okay so long story short, a woman is left by her husband, she’s worth 1000 of him & everybody else knows it because you seriously can’t help falling in love with this woman but ofc there’s period-typical sexism she has to face as she struggles with being a single woman, a single mother, and an up-and-coming comedian. def recommend.

SANTA CLARITA DIET (2017—2019)drew barrymore is a zombie!! who lives a normal life but also eats people!! it’s only weird for the first couple of eps. the family dynamics are snarky and witty and they manage to make gore funny?? honestly this entire show is legit laugh-out-loud darkly hilarious.

#if you like any of these & want some recs that are similar please feel free to send another message!#i've got some movies you might like as well #cool ask tag

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nothing-personal-my-dear · 6 years ago

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Spartacus : Vengeance Rewatch - Episode 7: Sacramentum

Sex Scene: there’s like 4 whole scenes in a whorehouse, all the sex is happening here.

“Cock”: 5

“Cunt”: 1

“Kill Them All”:

“Fucking Gaul”: 1

Slow motion Face Punch: 2

Episode Name Dropped by: Glaber

Memorable Death: MARCIA (for my heart), Sedullus (because brains).

Favourite Line: “I rival any fucking man, in all things.”

- I have basically one clear memory of this episode. AGRON IN THAT HOODED CLOAK IN THE RAIN SMIRKING FOR ALL HE’S WORTH! Hot damn, I am excited for that scene!

- Holy shit, Agron is even hotter in this scene than I remembered!!!

- Ahh! Donar helping to free the Germans! I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, you can pry German Donar from my cold dead hands!

- I love me some silent killing.

- GERMAN SPEAKING AGRON GIVES ME SO MANY DAMN FEELS!!!! Seriously, when was the last time he spoke his native language? Does he do it with Donar? Was the last time with Duro? According to history slaves weren’t allowed to speak their native language, so maybe it’s been longer than his captivity. SO MANY FEELS.

- The way Sedullus looks when telling Agron the other guard also speaks German, it almost looks like a test, like he wants Agron to prove himself first.

- SAXA BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- Lucius kills someone, I’m oddly proud!

- That face slice though.

- Sedullus is just …. He’s the reason Germans are given a bad name, you can see it already.

- LUGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH DAMN, HES SO PRECIOUS! I forgot he spoke English (though really, I’m assuming their speaking latin) in Vengeance, I thought he was mainly all German until WotD.

- “Cock” in German, still counts!

- AGRON’S SMILE! CALLING THE GERMAN’S BROTHER! HE IS SO HAPPY! FUCK!

- OH THIS, THIS I REMEMEBR, AND I FUCKING HATE IT! By “this” I mean Sparty and his jealous suspicions of Agron. Sparty has such a double standard with Crixus and Agron. Crixus is allowed to be the leader of the Gauls with Sparty having basically no say in the matter, but the second Agron wants the same fucking treatment Sparty throws a hissy fit! I’m not trying to be biased, I can see there could be legitimate concers for Sparty with the Germans, as in Agron might separate from the cause and do his own thing with the Germans. BUT, the reason I have such an issue with this whole thing is that Crixus gets to do the same fucking thing BUT HE STILL GETS SPARTACUS’ RESPECT AND LOYALTY! Agron gets none of that, ever. I could write a fucking essay on this subject. To sum up, fuck you Sparty.

- That Eagle is fucking majestic!

- Okay, I have always liked Gallienus, he’s kinda adorable.

- I wonder if Ashur feels a little sorry for what happened to Seppius when he sees Seppia crying. I mean she’s basically still a kid and she has no one, it’s hard not to feel for that.

- Does Gannicus believe Glaber’s speech or does he recognise the propaganda for what it is? In other words, a load of shit.

- Love how all the women around Glaber look empty, depressed, absolutely crushed.

- Poor Thessela, you can see the betrayal in her eyes when Ilithyia lies. Poor baby.

- That crucifixion is pretty intense.

- Okay I’ve been doing a hell of a lot of research on Spartacus (and Ancient Rome in general) but I now know the names of some background characters. Hey there Lydon patrolling the wall ;)

- Crixus looks so damn attractive when sparring with Naevia, I think it’s because he doesn’t look angry when he’s fighting her. He looks calm and focused, it’s very sexy.

- LOOK AT THAT LITTLE SMILE!!!!! CRIXUS IS SO PROUD OF NAEVIA!!!!!

- NASIR AND MIRA FRIENDSHIP!!!! We were robbed!!

- Oh, you can see Mira’s heart breaking. She’s not a fool, she knows Spartacus doesn’t love her.

- Oenomaus and Nasir shaking hands……..WHEN THE HELL HAVE YOU TWO ACTUALLY MET?!?!?!

- Oenomaus should smile more though, it’s so damn beautiful.

- I wanna cry!!!!! Every one is so happy to see Oenomaus, and he’s looking all proud of his children!!!! I NEED SOME TISSUES!

- I seriously cannot get over the amount of love I have for Agron kissing Nasir in front of his kin without any hesitation!!! All the feels man.

- I like that Mira keeps on smiling genuinely when the Germans are brought in. She doesn’t care that she can’t understand them, there is no suspicion in her eyes, she accepts them. Unlike Crixus and Oenomaus.

- Nemetes (you fuck) looks at Sedullus with heart eyes.

- Agron introducing Nasir to the Germans, Nasir smiling and shaking hands with all of them!!! MY HEART CANNOT TAKE THIS! Nasir feeling more comfortable with the Germans for the simple fact that they are Agron’s kin, it’s fucking beautiful. I just wanna stay in this happy little family without all the drama.

- LUGO PICKS UP NASIR IN A HUGE BEAR HUG WITH SAXA SMILING AT THEM BOTH!!!!! THIS IS THE DAMN FRIENDSHIP I ALWAYS WANTED!!!!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!! There was like a split second hint of this threesome in WotD, BUT I DIDN’T KNOW WE GOT IT RIGHT AWAY!!!!!!

- “Who will they follow?” SERIOUSLY CRIXUS ALL THE GAULS FOLLOW YOU NOT SPARTY AND YOU KNOW IT. fuck this whole jealously shit.

- “Yes Dominus.” Oh fuck. Oh fuck. That is the most heart breaking, soul shattering thing Lucretia could ever say. fuck. Ashur needs to die all the time.

- Talking about yourself in third person isn’t a sign of sanity Ashur (I will vehemently ignore Lugo’s desire to refer to himself as such, he’s my baby).

- Oh the wig, poor Lucretia. But the red colour had nothing to do with Quintus, it was all about Gaia right?

- How deluded is Ashur, how can he think Lucretia is falling for him, how can he think this is real? He is raping her.

- Holy crap, Ilithyia is actually lying on that chair!! We hardly ever see the Roman’s lying on the chairs in the way they are historically supposed to!

- I may not really like Seppia, but hot damn she is so SO attractive and especially in black. She should always wear her hair down, she’s gorgeous.

- Does Ilithyia at least suspect that Glaber had a hand in Seppius’ murder?

- Glaber has wanted Seppius’ men for fucking ages, but they don’t look like much….

- I killed your leader, I forced you to come here, I conscripted you, I basically fucking own you….now swear your loyalty. -___- Do Romans not understand how to earn loyalty?

- I really love it when Ilithyia isn’t playing games with Lucretia, like she genuinely really cares for her. That little smile, her soft voice. Shipper heart is sailing. (I just wish that Lucretia felt the same dammit)

- Is Lucretia wearing the same dress she wore last episode? Or does she suddenly have 2 navy blue dresses when she’s never worn that colour ever before.

- Seppia’s body slave is an older woman, I really like this idea.

- “I seek vengeance.” –Get in line Seppia.

- The Seppia / Glaber stuff is gross.

- “I now gaze into his eyes and tremble at lurks behind them.”

- Oh gods, Ilithyia and Lucretia talking about the cliff….yikes! But also, I mean it’s basically canon that these two are together right? They basically confess their love every chance they get (in their own fucked up way).

- No one should look that happy with their hand inside an animal carcass pulling out organs. That’s just weird Agron.

- OMG I WANNA CRY HE IS SO HAPPY TO BE SURROUNDED BY KIN!

- Oh fuck shit. You can see the moment Agron gets it, when he realises that Crixus will always be above him in Spartacus’ eyes. He could offer Spartacus Glaber’s head and Sparty would find fault with it. This is the moment when I feel so much for Agron. All he’s ever wanted was for Sparty to trust and respect him, as he trusts and respects Spartacus, but it’s never going to happen.

- “I give you my word.” –THE LOOK ON SPARTACUS’ FACE WHEN AGRON SAYS THIS. FUCK YOU SPARTY!

- Dude I really ship Gannicus and Marcia!

- OMG GANNI ASKED MARCIA TO JOIN HIM!!!!!!!!!!AHH!!!

- Fucking Ashur.

- OMG look at how they clutch at each other, I SHIP IT SO DAMN MUCH! Actually might be the only woman I ship Ganni with!

- Ganni insulting Ashur is a beautiful thing.

- “Gannicus has always been a man of few words.” LUCRETIA LOOKS SO FUCKING AMUSED, I LOVE IT.

- Comparing Ganni to a Phoenix, I can dig it.

- Can I just say that Craig Parker is a phenomenal actor. His voice and his movements are so much darker and slower than they were in s1, it’s like his whole body has switched with Glaber’s darkness. It’s truly amazing. Kudos!

- “Ashur’s talents are of the shadows.”

- Ganni don’t lie, you never stop craving the roar of the crowd.

- Mummy and Daddy talking about the kids, it’s so sweet.

- I’m confused though, now suddenly Sparty is on Agron’s side?!

- “Absent choice,” –those words get to me every time.

- Please stop talking about hypothetical Agron death!

- Seriously Ilithyia totally thought Lucretia was talking about double suicide, AND SHE WAS ALL FOR IT. shit man.

- Also, I super don’t find Lucretia slitting her wrist at all traumatic. Is that what all the blood and gore in this show does to you? I don’t actually mind.

- FUCK. YOU. ASHUR!

- I actually don’t like Oenomaus and Sparty being buddy buddy…and like, just beucase his wife cheated on him suddenly Oenomaus is all for Sparty’s cause?!?! I just feel like there were some conversations missing.

- Oh look how quickly Agron loses his smile when Sparty comes around!

- “I’m glad I risked my life for this lot,” – I love salty Lucius.

- “I tire of hiding like frightened rabbits.” –why is it always the rabbits?

- CRIXUS CALLING AGRON PUP HURTS MY FUCKING SOUL BECAUSE HE USED TO CALL DURO PUP!!!!!!!HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!! AND THEN HE TALKS ABOUT WILD DOGS, WHEN THAT’S WHAT PEOPLE CALL NASIR!!!!!! FUUUUUUCCKKKK!!!! This brings a whole new meaning to hitting below the belt.

- You can really see how hurt Agron is by all this, and I know the leaving early was on purpose and he was being petty but shit man, after all he’s put up with he deserves a moment to act like an idiot. the thing is, is that no one seems to see that he’s grown. He’s not the angry boy he was when he was GRIEVING HIS FUCKING BROTHER WHO WAS HIS FUCKING HEART. He’s healing and growing and genuinely wants to see their people safe and free, but everyone is stuck on him being angry and impulsive when drowning in grief. Give the boy a fucking break.

- Seriously the amount of shit I can spew about Agron is endless.

- MARCIA BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- “What would you have me do? Take up offer and turn on those I once called brother?”

- “The whole world has slipped from reason.” –and it just keeps slipping and slipping.

- I love that Lucretia’s plan give all the info for Ganni’s own plan.

- LUGO TAKING ON SEDULLUS! I LOVE IT!

- Fuck me, every time Agron looks so happy at his Germans I get all warm and fuzzy. LET AGRON BE HAPPY!

- OMG NASIR IS SO HAPPY TO SEE AGRON HAPPY! I LOVE IT!

- The wrestling is fucking beautiful, and everyone happy and smiling is beautiful.

- Seriously what is going on with Crixus? He’s super fucking depressed and not even Naevia’s smile is helping. He has his heart back and she is fighting to regain herself, but he had more life in him when she was gone. What gives?

- Lugo is fucking tragic. I love him.

- Lugo making friends with Oenomaus, it’s precious.

- WHY CAN’T THESE PEOPLE JUST GIVE THE GERMANS A FUCKING CHANCE!

- “Would that we were never parted.” – my heart is fluttering.

- Oh my scheming wives.

- It’s like, for one second you actually like Sedullus and it seems like he just wants everyone to get along, BUT THEN THE FUCKER TOUCHES NAEVIA! YOU DEAD BOY!

- Naevia’s fighting face is beautiful.

- I FUCKING LOVE THAT AGRON IS THE ONE TO RUN UP THE SECOND HE NOTICES NAEVIA IS IN TROUBLE!!!!!!

- “Now I fuck the other side of you pretty little face.” –I dunno if I’m just being dumb, but I don’t understand this….like she one has one face, and there’s only one hole of someone’s face you can fuck……I’m so confused.

- Fuck you Crixus for finding it funny that Agron is getting beat up.

- Also, can no one tell that this isn’t a fight for fun??

- I’m sorry but everytime Lugo is on screen I shout “LUGO” in my mind.

- OH WHAT, Nasir has on this super intense (and fucking gorgeous) face when Lugo starts fighting.

- HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!! AH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM ACTUALLY SCREAMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE GOT A FUCKING HISS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!! AH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- Okay but in all this tumbling and fighting, what the fuck happened to Agron. One minute he was on the ground under Sedullus, now he disappeared?!

- I love this huge brawl more than anything. BUT I have issue with pairing Mira and Saxa together. They do it because they are both females and it’s a huge feminist thing right? (I ain’t hating on feminism at all here) but Saxa is a fighter with immense skill and Mira is not, at all. She is just learning how to fight, she’s nowhere near the level that Saxa is. It seems stupid to pair them together just because they are both girls. It’s almost an insult to Saxa, she should be fighting someone as skilled as she is.

- Sparty and Oenomaus taking shit down with one hit is everything!

- Despite everything I said about Saxa and Mira fighting, seeing Mira kicking ass is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen! QUEEN MIRA!

- Agron has suddenly materialized from nowhere to fight Sedullus again, okay sure.

- Oh shit, dude right over the fire.

- There is the briefest of seconds were I’m worried for Agron’s life, and clearly so is he!

- Seriously, I get so annoyed with the editing sometimes. One clip, Agron is on his back, next clip he’s on all fours, clip after that he’s on his back again. C’mon people!

- Where is Nasir though? Who did he end up fighting? Did he win? Did he aggravate his wounds?

- That face slicing though is fucking brutal. Holy shit. I remember when I first saw it I had a few moments of “oh that’s gross”, then it was “shit that’s kinds cool”, to “super fake but I appreciate the shot”. Now all I can think is that it’s so fucking extra. SERIOUSLY, Spartacus has no idea why the fight broke out, he honestly has no reason to kill Sedullus but he does it anyways……. I don’t think that’s a good leader, even if it does work in Sparty’s favour.

- Also that brain is a little stupid.

- OH I SEE NASIR, I have no idea who he was fighting though.

- I fucking hate the look Sparty gives Agron. He’s so clearly telling Agron that he is not in charge of the Germans….WHY DON’T YOU FUCKING DO THIS TO CRIXUS TOO!!!!

- Aww, Nasir’s all bloody. I’m weirdly proud!

- Also, Sparty’s speech about animals and being brothers ….. the rebels were fighting the German’s too, so is he calling the rebels animals too?

- Fuck, Agron’s speech. I’m not ready for the feels…. THE LOOK OF UTTER SURPIRISE ON SPARTACUS’ FACE WHEN AGRON DECLARES HIS LOYALTY MAKES ME KINDA MAD, Agron has never not been loyal to Sparty, fuck you Sparty.

- Agron basically renouncing his kin for Sparty….it honestly breaks my heart, and not in the good way. CAN’T AGRON JUST HAVE SOME HAPPINESS FOR ONCE!

- Ooohhh I love the way Lugo says “Sedullus”.

- “Lugo follow.” –guys, I seriously love Lugo.

- OH OH IT’S THE BEATING OF WEAPONS THING!!!!! SHIT MAN THE BROTHERHOOD DID THIS TO DURO WHEN HE PROVED HIMSELF AGAINST CRIXUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS EPISODE IS GIVING ME SO MANY DURO FEELS! WTF!!!!! I’M SO EMOTIONAL!

- Agron beating his chest, what a sweetie.

- Oooohhhhhh I see you Nemetes! Shit, I never saw him being so hesitant and wary and not actually giving a shit about Spartacus and his cause….i thought this whole Nemetes being a dick was a WotD thing, BUT IT STARTS FROM THE FUCKIGN BEGINNING. Shit man, I feel like there’s so much of this show that I missed.

- Why is Ganni always at a whorehouse.

- Seriously what is with all these blue dresses lately?! BUT LUCRETIA IS A FUCKING GODDESS WALKING THE HALLS WITH THE FLOWY DRESS!

- I don’t even have words for Seppia and Glaber sex.

- I’m smiling so much at how brutal everything is, and seeing Ganni fight always makes me smile.

- “Gannicus has made his decision.” –and in such a beautiful way. I love how he killed Ashur’s guy, it was beautiful and him giving up the Rudis is also beautiful and in this one moment in time I really like Ganni.

- I have the urge to watch GotA now.

- Lucretia should stop scheming with anyone but Ilithyia. All these men she tries to persuade do the exact opposite of what she wants.

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elfstuck · 7 years ago

Text

War in the Chessfields

I have realized that, no matter how busy my life gets (guys, guuuuuyzzz, it’s Night of the Nocturne right now and I could be searching for Strange Chests that might contain the new Smirch gene!), I really need to get farther along in Homestuck because it’s starting to creep into mainstream politics. (He was told about Homestuck, and then he started reading it.) Also, Chibipaw says there is “good stuff’ coming up soon (that’s as much detail as my anti-spoiler policy allows) and I need to hurry up and get to it.

So... where did I leave off? Oh yeah. NinjaJade had taken out the wearer of my future cosplay project, but had missed PM sailing off into the sunset (moonset? Prospitset? Do they even have a sun on these planet-things?), so she’ll have to get the ring back to her later. To expediate that, Jade marries herself.

Oh wait. The four dots. Agh. I mean, aside from being equally spaced in a way that would make them endlessly annoying to wear, they... they may signify the four fingers. Homestuckians have four-fingered hands. I’m not sure if I’ve noticed this before.

Jade is immediately overwhelmed with the Spirit of the Ring: she gains wings, a tri-pointy hat with horns, tentacles, and a fake through-the-body sword. So... an amalgam of all the sprite encodings so far.

Next panel, turns out she was only thinking that happened. It doesn’t work that way on humans.

Elsewhere (dammit, I should’ve stuck with the last post a few more panels so the POV shift happened at the beginning) we have yet another WV. This one is WARWEARY VILLEIN who is either an animated stick-man, or is waving a stick on a banner: crossed beams, ragged red-and-purple robes and a white sash. He/it has a bucket on its head with the familiar Sburb spirograph.

Next up (aagh) is something with flash and sound. This is probably the Cool Thing Coming Up Soon that Chibi told me about. eep. Flash takes forever.

WV is being told to “Rise Up,” which is probably not supposed to make me think of Hamilton as this was written several years ago. But those words are gonna be attached to that song for a long time.

I click to the next screen. I am faced with this:

And I remember two things: (1) Firefox always thinks Flash is out of date, because every time Firefox updates ANYTHING, it decides Flash is out of date. My Firefox is a couple of editions behind (I’m not “updating” to Quantum that will kill several of my beloved extensions), so I’m going to see this A LOT. Sigh.

And (2) aaaaagh my laptop does not have a “print screen” button. It had a “print screen” macro that stopped working. (I have an Alienware laptop. WHODAFUK decided that a gaming laptop didn’t need a “print screen” button? Like, is that now an obscure and rare function? I STILL HAVE A CAPSLOCK BUTTON. I DO NOT NEED A CAPSLOCK BUTTON; CAN I REPLACE IT WITH PRTSCRN? (I typed that without using the capslock button, because remembering to un-capslock is always worse than just holding the shift button with my left pinky and using the wrong finger for “A”, and I guess “q” and “z” but those don’t come up as often.)

Quick check to the Alien “TactX” command center... huh. Print Screen is working now. It wasn’t last week. Yay, I guess? (Someday, I will once again have a boyfriend who speaks fluent Linux, and this time, I will get him to TEACH IT TO ME and I will defenestrate my laptop.) Anyway. Here we go.

3x3 chessboard; the kings move a bit, and then run into each other and the whole thing turns white silhouette. This means this is a meta-story-thing, related to the previous Grand Chessboard event, which I have mostly forgotten. (I have the link saved, though, so I can watch it again anytime. It’s on my schedule. “1. Run out of Stucky and Stony fanfic. 2. Rewatch Homestuck chess scene.” Blame dsudis for the delay.)

Clownsprite image appears. Chess pieces keep moving in the background. I have to screencap several times to get a good picture of the chess pieces (sometimes there’s only one visible) and the sprite with the pretty shade of aqua in the middle instead of white. I’m sure you’re all thrilled that I’m focused on the important parts of the story.

Next, he flickers and I fail to s’cap the transition between that and the full-layout chess set.

Please, someone tell me that someone makes these chess sets. That several people make these chess sets. Tell me the are sold with the label, “This Is A Chess Set, Not A Collection Of Marital Aids. We Promise.”

Birdsprite appears. (At least, I think that’s birdsprite.) Oh wait, no, that’s catsprite in the princess outfit. It is lavender, Rose’s color. Or one of them. Does that mean the davesprite will be red? (Do I really need to screencap all of these? Probably not, but this is as much for my entertainment as anything else. Also, I want to be able to reread them and figure out what I was thinking.) I considered re-trying to catch one with a darker purple circle or other higher contrast, and decided not to bother.

The music seems nice enough, what I can hear of it before I hit stop so I can screencap. (If you’re new - various suggestions have been made on how to deal with the Flash bits in ways that aren’t “stop & screengrab every couple of seconds.” I have nixed all of them. I enjoy doing this one fragmented piece at a time.)

And then the scene changes: the board is replaced with a WHOLE PLANET BOARD.

Rose and John’s sprites are in the upper corners, starting with top right and moving widdershins. Widdershins is a destructive direction; they are unmaking the world. (Erm. As obscure as Hussie gets sometimes, I have doubts that that particular bit of symbolism applies here.)

Aaaand here comes the davebirdswordsprite. Orange, not red.

Davesprite tucks away into the bottom left corner, continuing widdershins, and the cubeworld backs off or is replaced by a round world, very bright and faint, with VERY BRIGHT FLASHING blue lines around it. (Same blue lines as above. They just got brighter.) Then the planet darkens (this is what happens when you stop the Flash every second or two; you wind up giving far too much import to transition scenes.)

Imma make a prediction: Jadesprite is due to make an appearance. (Does Jade have a sprite yet? Something with a pumpkin?)

BUT NO! The world gets bigger, moves closer, until it FILLS THE WHOLE SCREEN! Then it fades out to white, and gradually (well, gradually if you’re stopping every time something moves or flickers), we get a new scene:

Aww, the rolling hills of Chesslandia, with its famed pixeltrees. We float over the landscape until we reach the castle. (Or maybe, “a castle.” I dunno. Maybe there are hundreds of castles in Chesslandia.) The pixelgrass fields bring color to the landscape, and a couple of pixelfolk play hide-and-seek in the tall grass near the aqua river.

Well, it’s got a turret and banners, and that kinda says “castle,” along with the whole, y’know, chess kings & queens motif, but that looks kinda small for a castle. Also rather isolated. Why build a castle if there’s nothing near it to defend? I see that there are people, but no town. Is the castle all that remains? Am I looking upon the desolate post-apocalyptic wasteland of Chesslandia?

We pass the people and zoom in, seeing the yellow banner waving madly in the gale-force breezes near the castle turret. This is, apparently, to introduce the army of Chesslandia, because the scene whites out again, and then switches to the marching hordes.

I am probably not supposed to think their little ± symbol reminds me of a leviathan cross, a.k.a. the Satanic cross. (Hey, if I make a CD cosplay outfit, can I have a purple banner with a pentagonal ± symbol on it? Or is he not part of this army?)

Then we pull back to see the huge crowd of them, and they fade, and a different banner fades in: this one is purple - and behind it is a yellow-clad army.

AAAH! The yellow flag is for Prospit, and that’s the Dersian army marching on it. And the purple banner here is Derse, and the Prospit army - complete with the same ± symbol - is marching. Here, have some Prospit army:

This isn’t because you need the picture, but because I captured the flash at that point so I can watch them marching and waving weapons, with the sky flickering in the background. It’s very soothing. Wish I could capture it as a gif.

And then... FIGHT! Armies meet on the battlefield! Sparks fly from their blades, which are apparently made from different metals. They both wear stripey shirts and chessboard tabards, of different color combos.

Guys. Gals. Whatever. Readers. I have been cheated. I thought Homestuck cosplay was limited to “t-shirts with a zodiac symbol + horns & weird sunglasses,” or “one of these four kids (also t-shirt with symbol).” There is AWESOME cosplay opportunities in this series. Nobody told me.

I mean, they told me about the tentibulges, because my friends know where my interests lie (or squirm, as the case may be), but even the friends who knew I’d done 6+ years of RenFaire didn’t bother telling me, “omg you should see the amazing costume options, and also, they wouldn’t be impossible to make!”

(I mean, I’ve looked into WV’s costume, but it looks difficult and too hot to wear at most conventions.) (See how I focus on the important parts of the story?)

Spaceship takedown attempt. Or maybe this is a drop ship. Looks like there are many such ships. Anyway, we see battles, and it pulls back to show the larger scene, and the horrors of war:

Well, the horrors of neon, purple-vs-yellow war. ... Is that a giant horse shadow with tentacles on its back?

Why, yes it is. Knight vs... King? Queen? We’re back to the chessboard, with only a tiny hint of a pixeltree in the corner to let you know this is the large-scale war happening above the ground. Then we get this:

I’m not sure what’s going on here, but they’re too cute to pass up. There are 9 little fellows, so they’re not “pawns.” Then a giant black chesspiece stomps into the center of them and they fall aside, scattering (I didn’t catch that picture), and then... the WV banner thingie is raised again.

That makes it seem like we’re wrapping up this storything, because that’s the image that we started on. It slowly pulls back to show an empty Chesslandia with a flower stand, waving a red banner.

The pixelgrass has return to the fields, although the pixeltrees have not. Or maybe they just don’t grow here.

AAuugghhh nooo... that was a picture of the past. Now, the lovely flowerstand is in ruins; fire everywhere, and a lone derseling wanders the war-ravaged fields of Chesslandia. :( We pull in tight to his grief-stricken, bleak expression (don’t ask how I can identify that from two white dots on a black circle; I just can) and then he (or she) oversees the huge battle on the fields below.

Woe. Woe has come to Chesslandia. Woe, and fire. Woe, and fire, and pixels.

Zir face is shadowed by woe and fire and pixels.

Zie is not looking nearly as woeful in this image. Hrrm. Then we see the Black Queen rise...

Then we zoom in again, this time to the scepter, which is full of clouds and the spirography thing:

This is all getting a little too “Men in Black,” with the world in a marble and all that. Are we going to zoom into the scepter again, to the center of the spirography symbol, and find ourselves moving into John’s balcony?

Well, no. We do zoom in, into the world and the cubeworld and such, but we get a black-and-white image of something shadowy flying over Chesslandia.

We zoom in again, and we see... not Spades Slick, despite the cut on the eye. That other character with the same appearance.

It flies with malice (don’t ask me how I can identify malice from that), but is faced with a lone Dersian defender:

We cut back to the war on the ground, the clashing swords and all that, but the combatants move aside. And this had better wrap up pretty quickly, because my printscreen macro just stopped working. (WTF? If anyone knows how to give advice on this, plz contact me.) Anyway. They move aside, and then snap into line.

Our lone Dersite with the tattered red banner leads them through the pixeltrees toward a set of checkered ruins.

Elsewhere, PM lands, and notices the missing ring. White Queen is not happy. There’s another huge scepter waving. White Queen flashes white all over, and shrinks - and hands the scepter to PM.

Looks like PM is in line to be the new WQ. However, the handoff is spotted by someone who is Definitely Not A Member Of The Midnight Crew.

Meanwhile, the Dersite hordes march to confront the Black Queen. Our purple-robed hero(ine) glares, and then looks upward, sees the flying not-a-bird person overhead. The Spadesy-person waves a swords and slices through the black scepter.

(I think I figured out the screencap problem. It won’t work if I have the Flash selected. Which is stupid. Really stupid.)

Black queen, missing her scepter and its four spinny baubles, also shrinks.

Heartsy spy leaps out and attacks the new white queen. (Gonna knock her into next week. This is a problem, because next week is a massive international holiday and it’ll be hard to find time to liveblog.) White scepter goes flying over a waterfall.

We see, inside the white scepter, the purple-robed defender, and it pulls back to see the world, and then the scepter itself, which lands by the banks of the aqua river surrounded by pixelgrass.

(That picture’s superfluous; it’s not relevant to the story. It’s here becaue I think it’s pretty.)

Aaand now I should watch it again and get a sense of the whole story instead of stopping every two seconds to ponder the meaning of each cut scene.

***

Two minutes and 15 seconds of flash that takes me an hour and a half to write about, all the while worrying that Tumblr’s going to have some weird hiccup and lose the whole thing.

So: back queen dead; white queen deposed by losing her marbles; new manager of each; war possibly stopped at the moment. White scepter maybe recoverable and could be combined with Jade’s ring to fix it. Black scepter broken; would need something else to fix. (Superglue?)

Jade has not yet entered the chessgame at the macro level. Jade needs to install Sburb and get into the game.

#homestuck #homestuck liveblog #prospit v derse #white queen #black queen #elf meets trolls #act 4

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stilljumpingback · 7 years ago

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Black Sails Episode 108 - VIII Recap

REWATCH REACTION

This episode is FANTASTIC, and my notes while rewatching it become increasingly caps lock-y, culminating in a brief mental breakdown because of my love for Flint.

BEST FLINT MOMENT

Literally every scene with Flint in this episode is Top Notch, but I’ll highlight one in particular:

After aligning the ship to fire on the Spanish Man O’ War, Dufresne accuses Flint of “tyrannical crimes” against his crew. When no one will obey Flint’s orders to fire, he strides down the stairs to light a cannon himself. Dufresne SHOOTS HIM, at which point he CRAWLS along the deck to light the cannon. Even though the fuse is taken from him, it does not stop this from being the sexiest display of determination I have ever seen.

TODAY’S RUNNER UP

Silver! I suppose it is fitting that in Gates’ last episode (RIP), we see Silver stepping up to be Flint’s right hand man. Their partnership is the show’s central relationship, and I think this is really the first time we see how powerful they are when acting together.

It’s just one thing after another: When Silver walks in on Flint after he’s just murdered Gates, he immediately sides with Flint, no questions asked about what has just happened. Then Flint hides and tells Silver what to say to the Spanish ship. Silver later tries to talk Dufresne into being calm, and when that is unsuccessful (leading to Flint’s being shot and unable to light a cannon), it is SILVER who shoots at the Man O’ War and makes the fight inevitable. Finally, when Flint allows himself to sink, it is Silver who pulls him out and makes sure his wound is bandaged (this is explicitly addressed in episode 1 of season 2, but it’s implied here).

In the previous episode, we saw how desperately Flint needed an ally that shared his vision. Although Silver shares this vision only so far as it pertains to him acquiring some gold, they are undeniably a good match. Both smart men who can create new plans in an instant, they are formidable when working together.

LOL MOMENT

Jack’s finally got the brothel in order thanks to Max, and Mrs. Mapleton is unhappy to see her profits decreasing. When she threatens to expose his past misdeeds, Jack pauses before saying, “Well, Mrs. Mapleton, that sounds like gross insubordination to me. That, coupled with the graft you’ve been responsible for, leaves me with no choice but to terminate your employment here.” And later, when he and Max are basking in their victory, he says, “Please don’t judge me, but I really enjoyed that.”

WELL-FORMED THOUGHTS

We’ve got to talk about Flint murdering Gates, yeah? WOW, is that not any easier to watch, even knowing it’s coming. This is mostly because the previous scene between Flint and Gates, in which they share a drink and laugh about old Craig who drank a bottle of piss, is so much weightier when you know what’s about to happen. I love the ambiguity of the scene: does Flint think things are okay between him and Gates? Is he hoping a boy’s night drinking will MAKE things better? Or do they both just truly realize that they might die next day, so they may as well set politics aside and have a good time?

But it’s not enough. When Gates sees that the Urca isn’t where they thought it would be, he’s done. Flint is mad, thinking that Gates means to see him hung as a pirate. But he is FURIOUS when he realizes that Gates wants something worse for him: to be sent with Miranda to Boston. This is DEVASTATING to me, because in his attempt to do something “better” for Flint, it shows just how little Gates understood him.

As Daphne and Liz always say in their podcast Fathoms Deep, this is the scene in which people really get sold on Black Sails, because how can a show present us with a scene of a man murdering someone he called friend…and we’re left pitying the murderer?? God, Toby Stephens is amazing, and the writing is just gut-wrenching. “Please, please don’t do this.” “This is not what I wanted, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” And after it’s done, he is so protective of Gates against Silver, and even strokes his cheek!

All this, and we’re left wondering, “What could POSSIBLY be fueling this man to do such heinous things that even HE obviously finds heinous?” He he he, we’ll have to get there in season two!

FRAGMENTED THOUGHTS

Just in time for the season finale, we’ve got a ton of boobies again. Alright, whatever. I guess this is meant to show us that Jack is running the business well again?

I want more scenes of Silver as Caretaker for a curmudgeonly Randall.

After Silver successfully tells Flint the final piece of the schedule, he says: Silver: Now that I’ve fulfilled my end of our bargain, I’m just wondering where you and I stand. Flint: Keep wondering. Silver leaves, and then FLINT GRINS. I am so in love with this Flint who enjoys messing with his crew (see also: “Billy, who?” which I think I have successfully proven had to have been a joke).

Eleanor is still surrounded by men, but instead of them fighting against her, they’re all on her side. It’s very cool to see her varying reactions to their praise: With Hornigold, she couldn’t care less. With Vane, she is mildly impressed by his observations (but not fully – I think his assertion that she doesn’t want fathers telling her what to do should be enlarged to include MEN telling her what to do, which includes you, Vane!). But with Mr. Scott? She’s genuinely touched. And that’s because Mr. Scott knows her and validates her. That scene between them is entirely lovely.

“There are no legacies in this life, are there? No monuments. No history. Just the water. It pays us, and it claims us. Swallows us whole, as if we’d never been here at all.” This is a gorgeous observation by Gates, though it unfortunately only highlights how different his perspective is from Flint’s. While Gates lives in the here and now and expects nothing different, Flint is determined to live bigger and bring about change for himself and everyone else.

Runner up for the LOL segment: Jack and Anne saying, “Fuck you, Jack” in tandem. Poor Anne has caught FEELINGS for Max and doesn’t even know what they are yet.

Flint’s inspirational speech is so great, and when they see the empty bay, the disappointment is heart-wrenching.

During this rewatch, I’ve been able to be more objective about my feelings for Flint (this might not be obvious, but trust me). Honestly, I can see why people are terrified of him. Beloved, powerful people keep dying around him. I mean, Dufresne and DeGroot were scared Gates would betray them, but then Flint CLEARLY murders him and carries on as though nothing has happened, and they’re left believing that no one is sacred to that man. They don’t know Flint’s history or plans. I get why they want him gone.

HOWEVER, Dufresne really has the most appalling timing.

I think his decision to read Gates’ letter is half sincerity, half annoyance that Flint took his information (don’t say tobacco from St. Augustine) and twists it to his own purposes.

Vane is a selfish bastard. The loyalty he extols (poor Jack and Anne!) is very small – it doesn’t extend to anyone beyond his crew even while the rest of Nassau is learning to band together.

I do love the ambiguity of why he took the fort. Is it to prove his power? Is it to piss off his enemies? Or is it to give Eleanor the defense she needs to run Nassau effectively? Because this is Black Sails and our characters are wonderfully complex, I think it’s all three.

RANDALL SAVED SILVER AND IT WAS SO GOOD.

Dufresne is an idiot!! It is physically painful to watch him make decisions too slowly.

OH SHIT, that is the only reaction to watching the Man O’ War turn and open her gunports, and OH SHIT OH SHIT that is carnage like we have never yet seen.

Oh my GOD, the sadness of Flint watching his ship and his crew be destroyed, slowing fixing his hair, letting himself be blasted overboard and then sinking, sinking, sinking.

Max and Eleanor finally have a real conversation, and it is so sad.

Max: You have nothing to be sorry about. I was standing between you and your dreams for this place. You did what you had to do. Eleanor: I thought you said this place was just sand. Max: Sand has its virtues. On sand, nothing is fixed. Nothing is permanent. Fates change so quickly.

And then we get Flint, alive and shirtless, wondering why this is so. It’s because the Urca crashed in a storm the night before, and everyone is at least smart enough to realize that FLINT IS THE BEST and they need him if they’re going to get their gold.

He is looking SO GOOD standing there in his tight black pants, billowing shirt, and loose hair. Toby Stephens has ruined me.

That’s the end of the first season! Shaky at first, steadily better, and ending with SUCH a great twisty finale! Can’t wait to keep going – season 2 is my favorite!

(via Episode 108 - VIII)

#Black Sails #blacksails #108 #VIII #s01e08 #Captain Flint #James Flint #Gates #Urca gold #John Silver #season finale

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iwasnthere622 · 7 years ago

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Hi My Name Is... (Ch. 3)

AO3 Link

Jaylee moved quickly, locking up the house and grabbing her lockbox, shutting herself up in the bathroom. She had a solid three hours before she'd have to worry about cleanup and she didn't want to waste a second of it.

She propped her phone on the counter as she dug around and pulled out the different things that she would need, loading the video she'd bookmarked a week ago. It was a new one from her favorite makeup artist and the look was amazing and she wanted to try it.

She followed along slowly, priming her face, applying highlighter and contouring and blending, making it work despite none of it quite being her skin tone's natural shades. She didn't have any setting powder, but then again she wasn't doing this look to last so she skipped that step, moving on to her eyes.

It took a while to get the gradient right because she didn't quite have the shades for it, but when she finished and looked in the mirror... it actually didn't look that bad. It was even, which was the hardest part according to everyone she watched, and the purple color actually made her eyes look really bright.

Encouraged, she picked up the eyeliner she'd stolen from Kim and watched that part of the video, rewatching a few times until she felt confident enough to try, leaning close to the mirror and keeping her hand steady, wanting to do the wings at the ends.

These didn't end up quite as even, but she didn't hate it, putting on mascara and then picking out a lip color from the few she had. She ended up with a nude color that just made her lips a bit pinker and shinier.

She finished, pressing her lips together one last time, before leaning back and blinking at herself in the mirror.

She reached up to tug at her hair, at the way it was just starting to curl behind her ears -- getting long, her dad mentioned going for a cut soon just the other day -- but the curl helped with the image she was trying to create, able to imagine her hair longer and fuller and framing her face.

Smiling to herself, she grabbed the bottle of clear nail polish she'd borrowed from Pearl and sat on the edge of the tub to apply a fresh coat to her nails -- this at least she could keep on and no one noticed.

She nearly dropped the bottle when her phone started ringing on the counter, only her faster reflexes saving it from spilling everywhere. She set it aside and reached for her phone, heart racing. Zack?

"Hello?" she said, answering and immediately bolting up into a stand at the chaos on the other line. "Zack?!"

"Putties!" Zack shouted, a loud crash sounding as she got an earful of Mandarin curses. "At work, I can't -- fucking -- morph!"

"Hold on, we're coming!" Jaylee said, hanging up and quickly dialing Trini. "Putties are attacking Zack at work, he can't morph!" she shouted, shoving makeup into her lockbox and hanging up on Trini when she started cursing, knowing she'd get to Zack as fast as possible.

She slammed the box closed, looking around frantically for anything she missed as she called Kim and repeated the message, hanging up and dialing Billy last. She hung up and spun around, meeting her own panicked eyes in the mirror.

The makeup!

Zack needed her, needed everyone, she didn't have time to remove it properly, it took forever to take off eye stuff, why did she do a full face...!

She didn't have a choice -- her team needed her. She ran out of the room, hiding her box and throwing open her bedroom window, morphing and jumping out, belatedly hoping none of the neighbors were watching as she ran into town.

Trini was already there, smashing putties who were destroying the diner where Zack was a waiter. "Black?!" she yelled, shoving in right next to Trini.

"Don't know!" Trini answered, frustration and worry clear in her tone if you knew her.

Kim and Billy showed up just as they made it inside, people hiding in the booths screaming and crying in terror, most of the place destroyed, with another six putties bashing their way into the back.

"Pink, get the people out of here," Jaylee ordered firmly. "Blue, Yellow, let's finish this!"

She charged forward with Billy and Trini, leaving Kim to get everyone out and away from the diner, searching for Zack but unable to call his name, as that would be too dangerously close to revealing his identity.

Trini and Billy made a hole in the putties and Jaylee dove through it, finding Zack backed into a storage closet with two girls hiding behind him, the teen brandishing a mop.

Relief flooded her that Zack was okay, tapping her helmet to switch to internal comms. "Found Zack, he's okay," she said, switching back to the open channel. "It's okay, you're safe," she said, grinning back at Zack though he couldn't see it through her mask, turning back around to fight the putties from this side.

The putties were quickly turned to dust with three rangers focused on them, and Jaylee helped Zack lead the two girls out, who seemed to be in shock.

Kim stepped up to join them as they exited the diner -- or what was left of it -- Jaylee watching the girls and Zack head over to the rest of their coworkers. She nodded at Zack, then tilted her head in the direction of the mine, watching him grin and hoping he'd gotten the message.

"Let's go!" she said, leading the morphed rangers away and up to the mine, stopping them at the cliff overlooking the water entrance to the ship.

"That was crazy!" Billy said once they were alone.

Kim nodded. "I'm just glad Zack's okay."

"He should be here in a minute," Jaylee said. "If he got my message."

"Do you think the putties knew he was there, did they attack him?" Trini asked, hard edge in her voice.

"You think...?" Kim asked, clearly not having thought of that.

Jaylee shook her head. "I don't know. But I think we all need to be extra careful, now."

"You got that right," Zack said, huffing as he ran up.

"Zack!" Kim said, hugging him. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Kinda weird to be hugging you when I'm not morphed, too," Zack laughed, the press of the armor interesting to feel on this side.

They laughed, all demorphing.

"So were you really planning on fighting putties with a mop?" Trini asked, punching Zack's shoulder, teasing.

Zack rolled his eyes, knowing he'd worried her -- worried everyone. "Well I had to do something! There were too many people, I couldn't morph, and it's not like I could let them see me smash them with my bare hands, either," he protested.

"That was quick thinking," Billy agreed, smiling at him.

"See, Billy approves," Zack laughed. "I'm just glad Bossman got the bat signal out to you guys so quickly!" he continued, turning to grin at Jason, blinking in confusion.

Jaylee had gotten so caught up in the relief of getting to Zack in time, protecting the team, adrenaline crashing as they all joked and laughed and everyone was okay, that when they demorphed, she did, too, without thinking, it an ingrained habit.

She'd forgotten about the makeup, until Zack was suddenly grinning at her in confusion and now everyone was staring.

Her heart started racing, stomach dropping out completely, feeling like she was going to be sick, breaths short and panicked. She quickly pulled on her armor, the morphing grid responding to her fear -- she was terrified, she'd ruined everything -- and quickly morphed again.

"I'll report to Zordon, you guys go home," she said quickly, voice shaking, throwing herself off the edge of the cliff and sailing into the water with a splash.

She stumbled as she landed, looking up but no one was following her which was good... oh god... what was she going to do, what could she possibly tell them to make this okay?

She felt like the walls were closing in around her, finding it hard to breathe, tears pricking her eyes though she tried her best to swallow them down.

It took ten minutes before she felt controlled enough to walk to the ship, shoving everything down -- she was good at that, she'd handle it, tell them she was playing with Pearl, make any excuse, bury it -- and heading to the command room.

"Master Jason?" Alpha-5 said, clearly surprised to see her.

"The putties attacked Zack at work," Jaylee said shortly, giving Zordon and Alpha-5 the full report of what had happened.

"You did a good job of protecting your team," Zordon said. "But it's troubling to think the putties would have enough access to Rita's lingering power to be able to track you..."

"So this wasn't a coincidence," Jaylee said, worried.

"I'll run some scans," Alpha-5 said.

"Be cautious," Zordon said, Jaylee nodding and heading out.

She walked slowly back to the water entrance, staring up at it, trying to psych herself up. It was fine, she'd told Kim Pearl likes to do makeup for other people, she could just lie and say Pearl did it, they'd probably tease her a bit but they'd accept it as her being a good sibling.

Comforting herself with the thought, she jumped back up and landed on the cliff, standing and stilling at the sight of everyone sitting around, apparently waiting for her.

"What did Zordon say?" Trini asked when no one moved or said anything, Jaylee keeping her armor on.

"He doesn't think it was a coincidence, he thinks the putties are pulling on Rita's power to track us," Jaylee answered.

"What about our families?" Zack asked, worry clear in his tone and posture.

"We'll protect them, all of them," Jaylee promised, voice firm. "Alpha-5's working on something, maybe it can find the source."

"We can't be with our families all the time, though," Kim said, worrying her lip, glancing at Jaylee and then away, Jaylee not quite prepared for the hurt that stabbed through her in response.

"They should only be able to track us, though, so when we aren't with them, our families are probably safer," Billy pointed out.

"Great," Trini muttered.

"We'll figure it out," Jaylee said, already mentally preparing to do nightly checks on the town, to up their awareness.

They fell silent, all worried and trying to think of ways to protect everyone.

"Jase?" Kim said hesitantly.

Jaylee stiffened, heart picking up, hands flexing. "...Yeah?"

"It's... okay, if you like makeup," Kim said hesitantly, Billy nodding encouragingly next to her.

"That's not a girls-only thing, you know. I do eyeliner all the time," Zack added.

Trini rolled her eyes. "We know, Zack, you always run around yelling at us to look when you get it winged."

"Well, yeah, you guys gotta appreciate my art," Zack grinned.

"So it's okay," Kim said, smiling at Jaylee. "You're still a guy even if you like it."

"We would never make fun of you for something you liked," Billy said earnestly.

"Well, we'd probably tease," Zack mused, yelping when Trini smacked him. "What, I'm being honest! We wouldn't take it too far, though!"

"It's fine," Jaylee choked out, grateful to the armor for making her voice even. "It was Pearl anyway--"

"I thought Pearl had gymnastics class on Thursdays," Billy said, frowning.

"Yeah, don't you usually have the house to yourself today if your dad is working, since your mom has to take her to the class?" Kim added.

Jaylee sucked in a breath in panic -- why did they all know her family's schedule?! -- stammering out, "Y-yeah."

"Look, Kim was right. It's cool if you like traditionally feminine stuff," Trini said, tackling it head on and not wasting any words, something Jaylee usually loved her for but now was making her heart race and her palms sweat and her eyes burn. "We've all seen you dancing around some stuff and we just want you to know you don't have to hide anything from us. You're still Jason, the Red Ranger, regardless of what you like. And society's gender roles are fucking useless anyway, so fuck them. Do what you want, J. We've got your back."

"Yeah, dude," Zack said. "It's totally cool, do what you want. You're still a guy and besides, girly shit is fun sometimes."

"Well, as long as what you want isn't, like, mass murder," Kim teased. "We aren't jerks who would judge you for something like this, Jase."

"Well, technically, we are all mass murderers considering how many putties we have killed," Billy pointed out. "They are technically sentient so I think it counts as murder when we stop them."

"Okay, so you can even be a mass murderer," Kim laughed.

"Not of people," Billy clarified, "just putties. But yes, you should be able to like what you want. We're your friends."

"I..." Jaylee said, not knowing what to do, listening to their support but for the wrong thing, shaking because she should just accept it, it'd make everything so much easier, but that felt like she'd be confirming she was guy and she wasn't and while she'd never told anyone she was a woman, she'd also never told anyone she was a man, either, people just took one look at her and assumed and it would break something in her to confirm that assumption.

"J, we're good," Trini said, smiling softly. "You're a badass dude, even in purple eyeshadow."

"Seriously, man, I didn't get that good a look but damn your liner is on point," Zack complimented easily.

"Jason," Kim said softly. "It's okay, I promise. We don't see you any differently, you're still a guy, the leader... our friend."

They all just kept saying it, over and over, just assuming that she was a guy who liked makeup and that was fine -- Zack was a guy who liked makeup -- but that wasn't her, and her chest ached and her eyes burned and she just needed them to stop saying it.

"I'm not," she said, all of them blinking at her in confusion and she flexed her hands, terrified, god, so terrified but somehow the idea of coming out to them was less terrifying then accepting the lie. She was so tired of pretending and they were asking her to basically say the pretend life she presented was the real one when it wasn't and the reckless courage that got her into all the trouble she'd ever been in in her life welled up and she couldn't hold it back. She refused to.

"Not what?" Kim asked confused.

"A guy," Jaylee answered, keeping her head up because if she was doing this, she was doing this. "I'm not a guy."

"Okay," Zack said slowly, dragging the word out, clearly confused.

"I'm a girl. I've always been a girl. You all just assume, everyone assumes I'm a guy but I'm not," Jaylee said, breathing in short pants, feeling lightheaded with how hard her heart was beating. "I'm a girl."

"You're trans?" Trini asked, the first to get it.

Jaylee nodded, studying the rest of them.

"Fuck," Zack whispered, eyes wide, staring at her.

"Oh my god," Kim said, sharing a look with Billy.

"What's your name?" Trini asked, stepping forward.

"Jaylee," Jaylee answered, voice a bit shaky because she'd never actually said it out loud.

Trini nodded. "Hi, Jaylee. I'm Trini," she said, offering her hand.

Jaylee stared at her, glancing down at her hand then back up at her face, cautiously reaching out to shake her hand.

Trini gripped her hand tight. "Can you demorph?" she asked quietly.

Jaylee glanced around, they were all staring again, it looked like Kim might start crying, and she was confused and scared. But it's not like she was hiding anything now, they knew, so she let the armor dissolve, letting go of Trini's hand.

She stumbled back a step when Trini hugged her tight, cautiously returning the hug, just waiting for them to shove her away, call her a freak, tell her to give up her power coin...

"I'm sorry," Trini said when she pulled back, "for assuming. I'm so sorry."

"Me too!" Billy said, stepping up closer but not touching her. "I saw that you didn't seem to like your name, but I didn't guess... I'm sorry. I should have asked."

"I'm so sorry, Jase -- fuck, I'm sorry," Kim said, pulling her into a hug and feeling her flinch at her slip up. "I'm sorry."

Zack punched her on the arm -- when had he walked over? -- grinning at her. "Just like I thought, killer liner, girl," he said, and it was something about the easy acceptance in his voice -- in all their voices -- that made the tears Jaylee had been swallowing down finally spill over.

They all moved to hug her, collapsing into a pile right there on top of the cliff and letting her cry.

She clung to them, afraid they would leave, slowly calming down, makeup ruined now and smeared by her tears.

"It's... this is really okay?" she asked, trembling.

"Of course it is," Kim said firmly.

Jaylee wiped at her face. "I look like a freak," she mumbled, knowing she wasn't as pretty as Kim or Trini and knowing she'd ruined her makeup and knowing that it didn't look quite as right on her as it did on real women.

"Hey," Trini said, waiting for Jaylee to meet her eyes. "You are not a freak."

"You're fucking gorgeous," Zack said.

"You are really pretty," Billy agreed.

Jaylee laughed, wiping away tears and snot, looking around at them all.

"So, you've really been a girl the whole time?" Kim asked.

Jaylee nodded, nerves coiling.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Billy asked.

Jaylee sighed. "I'm Jason Scott," she said, mouth twisting around the name she hated. "You wouldn't have believed me."

"Dumbass, of course we would have," Trini said, smacking her shoulder.

"Yeah, dude," Zack said, feeling Jaylee stiffen and stiffening himself. "Ah, shit, sorry. Dudette."

"It's fine, I'm used to it," Jaylee said.

"That's bullshit," Kim said. "You should get to be who you are and be called what you want."

"Definitely," Zack agreed.

"Does anyone else know?" Billy asked.

Jaylee shook her head. "No..."

"We'll keep the secret," Trini promised, not about to forcibly out her.

Jaylee slumped into them, not sure she really believed this was happening but relieved at how it was going. "Thank you," she whispered.

"C'mon, we're having an emergency sleepover at my place," Kim decided. "My parents are out of town, and we need to get to know Jaylee better."

"Good idea," Billy grinned.

"I'm totally in," Zack said.

"Red?" Trini asked, smiling at her -- you're still the leader of this team.

Jaylee sucked in a breath, smiling hesitantly. "Okay."

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woozapooza · 7 years ago

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Black Sails 4x02

(posting this after watching 4x03 but I wrote it right after watching 4x02)

I have no idea how to organize these thoughts so this is going to be messy!! ahhhhh

This show is so hard to watch because it makes me very morally conflicted about where I’m putting my loyalty. Like, first of all, objectively, I don’t think piracy is a very good thing to do, so I should be on Team Eleanor/Woodes/Max. Second, although I miss the days when they were friends of the pirates, I’m still very fond of Eleanor and Max, so, again, I should be on their team. But on the other hand, I’m similarly very fond of Flint, Silver, Billy, Jack, Anne, Madi, and Teach. Plus, looking beyond individual characters, this show is about pirates. It’s made me fond of pirates within the world of the show. So I can’t help but put my loyalty with the pirates and be distraught at the thought of civilization conquering them. I have the same problem with confrontations between characters as I do with the larger war. When Max told Silver that she intended to banish him, that she wanted to be done with him and everything he stands for, I was like 😩. On one hand, I love Max and she’s one of the only characters who is an actual good person. I want her to get what she wants—for the war to be over, which probably can only be accomplished by getting rid of Silver—both because I’m fond of her and because she’s morally in the right. But I’m also fond of Silver and just cannot help but want him to prevail. It’s especially sad because they used to be allies. Max was the first person to really know Silver. Maybe that history is exactly why she’s able to resist him and stand up to him. Oh god I’m sad.

It’s kind of a similar thing with Billy and Flint. They were never friends, not remotely, but they weren’t always at literal war with each other. Billy is definitely the better person and has legitimate claims to authority over Flint and also I adore him, but I just am so attached to Flint I want him to maintain his status as #1 pirate. I don’t know what to feel!

Silver’s comment that “I am the reason grown men lie awake at night” reminded me of something Jack said to Woodes last season: “I heard Henry Avery’s name when I was a boy, heard the way people spoke it—grown men in awe of it.” Avery, who’s basically the dad of Nassau’s pirate society, has been an interesting presence in the background of the whole show. If I ever have the strength to rewatch I’m going to pay attention to the references to him. Anyway, the point is that Silver, who is determined to give Nassau a new start, is made into a parallel with Avery, who gave it its original start. It works especially well because Jack was talking specifically about Avery’s name, and when Billy and the gang were crafting the fictionalized image of Silver they were going to use to scare people, Billy made a big deal about choosing the right name. By the way, I love how whenever any character says “Long John Silver,” they draw...it...out.

The conversation between Jack and Teach was so nice??? Up until now their interactions have consisted of Jack trying to play it cool and Teach being like “you know you’re a nerd right” but by reminiscing about Charles they were able to just talk as equals. The love they both had for Charles gives me Feelings.

It occurred to me today when I was walking around thinking about Black Sails (because what else am I going to be thinking about) that unless I missed something (very possible, since I’ve been watching this season in one window while doing other things in another window to keep my stress level down) Max probably doesn’t realize that it wasn’t Silver who delivered the Black Spot, killed Throckmorton, and wrote the "Until then I remain Long John Silver” letter. She probably has no way of knowing that it was Billy, not Silver, who turned Silver into this character that he’s become.

I have no clue if Madi is bluffing about knowing where the treasure is. If she is, that makes her a great match for my dear deceptive Silver. It’s the fourth season and I’m still in awe of how clever Silver is, how good he is at creating advantages for himself. In this episode it was when he figured out how to make an ally of Israel Hands.

I already said this but Max is such a decent person in the face of so much badness. Like, being a good person is one thing, but being determined to remain good in the middle of a war where everyone is terrible is incredible. Anne’s observation that “that fucking island makes you do shit you don’t want to do” was such a good sort of meta observation. I love when characters on shows say things that are basically analyses of their own show.

#'that fucking island makes you do shit you don't want to do' would be a good title for an essay about Black Sails #or just an alternate title for the show lol #x #Black Sails #Anna watches tv #Anna watches Black Sails #I have many thoughts

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