#miranda vs. both flint and thomas

[holychopshopgalaxy]

it's such an honest depiction how only the men black sails are obsessed with their legacy and their name and how they'll be remembered. almost like the women intrinsically know they'll be erased and won't be remembered anyway and therefore are motivated by other things

[flints-black-spot]

I've recently seen a few people talking about media literacy in relation to Flint's sexuality and labels and figured I'd throw in my two cents on the discourse that seems to pop up every few months.

Because, I honestly think it does a disservice to Black Sails as a whole to focus on "gay vs. bi Flint" because like... does it matter? if Flint only has attraction to men, that doesn't change the fact that he's canonically, willingly, had sex with women (namely Miranda). But, on the other end of the spectrum, it's just as important to recognize how, societally and culturally, gender is a construct, which will inherently mean that sexuality is fluid! Flint can be a gay man with some level of attraction to women (hell, the majority of the fandom agrees that Anne is a lesbian, yet she's clearly in love and has sexual attraction to Jack, and that doesn't take away from her lesbianism!), and that attraction doesn't make him any less of a gay man! Or he could be bisexual, and that doesn't take away anything from the overarching narrative of his queer relationship with Thomas! The focus on a single 'correct' interpretation of his sexuality, in my mind, takes away from what the show is really trying to say about sexuality, which isn't the "this way" or "that way" to be queer, but the overarching connection that struggle and strife can bring to a community. (For a similar issue, see James Baldwin's response to critics arguing whether the main character from his novel Giovanni's Room is gay or bisexual, his response is incredible.)

And, on the other hand, it's also not entirely accurate or even fair to try and ascribe modern labels and perceptions of queerness to a character that existed long before those terms were even coined? In Flint's time, homosexuality was something a person did, not who a person was. While, yes, his queerness is inherent to his journey as a character, and he very clearly views it as a part of his identity, it's also very much worth noting that two things (homosexual love and desire, and heterosexual love and desire) can coexist, and not either way take away from his narrative as a whole.

Finally, then, there's the common thread of 'media literacy' in determining Flint's label (which, again, I honestly think is just a non-issue because it has such little impact on anything in meta discussions?). To present an opinion like "Flint is gay" is an example of an interpretation, one which can and should exist among others! To have a single, 'correct' interpretation of a piece of media, especially one like Black Sails, is an inherently flawed idea, because every interpretation should have its own merit on its own. Flint can be both bi and gay, and both arguments have perfectly equal weight, but in the end, it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of Black Sails meta. Either way, Flint is queer, and that queerness was a defining feature of his character for the rest of the show. To assign such importance to "gay or bi" just feels unimportant.

[maremote]

Black Sails Monologuolympics! 🏴‍☠️🦜

Behold... the ultimate contest, to determine the one true monologue to rule them all!

Over the next few weeks, I will be running 8 tournaments to determine the best/most popular monologue in the whole show.

There will be 8 bracket tournaments.

TOURNAMENT 1: MINOR CHARACTERS' MONOLOGUES

berringer, dufresne, blackbeard, featherstone, garrett, idelle, mr.mccoy, mrs. guthrie, muldoon, ned lowe, oglethorpe, thomas hamilton, morley

TOURNAMENT 2: SECONDARY CHARACTERS' MONOLOGUES

billy, gates, israel hands, julius, maroon queen, miranda, mr.scott, woodes rogers

TOURNAMENT 3: SECONDARY MAIN CHARACTERS' MONOLOGUES (2 WINNERS)

anne, vane, eleanor, jack

TOURNAMENT 4: SILVER'S MONOLOGUES

TOURNAMENT 5: MADI'S MONOLOGUES

TOURNAMENT 6 : MAX'S MONOLOGUES

TOURNAMENT 7: FLINT'S MONOLOGUES

TOURNAMENT 8:

winner of tournament 1, winner of tournament 2, 2 winners of tournament 3, silver's winning monologue, madi's winning monologue, max's winning monologue, flint's winning monologue

Attached below is the bracket setup for Tournament One, which will go live Friday, February 17th, at 5 PM EST. Each poll will contain the full text of both monologue options. Every successive poll will go live at approximately 5 PM EST.

LINK TO POLLS FOR MONOLOGUOLYMPICS 1.1

LINK TO ALL POLLS FOR MONOLOGUOLYMPICS

(All posts related to the monologuolympics will be tagged #bsm. Posts will also be tagged in accordance to their situation within the tournament: for example, bracket one round one posts will be tagged #bsm11, bracket five round two posts will be tagged #bsm52, etc.)

Monologuolympics Bracket One Round One Matches:

Idelle: "You killed my friend" (408) vs Morley: "The Barlow woman's agenda" (104)

Featherstone: "And with the stroke of a pen, it's all gone as if it never existed." (305) VS Blackbeard: "A man puts a dead thing in the ground, he expects it to stay there." (302)

Berringer: "The time calls for dark men to do dark things." (403) VS Ned Lowe: "I make the men feel better about themselves." (201)

Oglethorpe: "What's to be done with the unwanted ones?" (410) VS Mr.McCoy: "Hold onto this for as long as you can."  (409)

Garrett: "Part of what you built, it worked too well." (405) VS Dufresne: "Is it possible a man could do such a thing?" (203)

Mrs.Guthrie: "It's the wrong river and the wrong woman, but perhaps to get even this close to a fantasy is something." (408) VS Abigail: "It would seem these monsters are men." (208)

Blackbeard: "There is no forever." (301) VS Featherstone: "I remember what you did for me." (406)

Tham: "We've talked and talked. And now it is time to act." (204) VS Muldoon: "What the water does to you once it's got you." (302)

[citrinekay]

I keep thinking about Flint and this James Baldwin quote: "Why, you will go home and then you will find that home is not home anymore. Then you will really be in trouble. As long as you stay here, you can always think: One day I will go home." Especially in relation to his goals and dreams for Nassau and the future vs. what he actually manages to accomplish. I've started noticing in my current rewatch that the closer Flint gets to actually executing the plan, the more reckless he becomes (i.e. attacking the fort in S2 rather than just setting aside his ego to negotiate with Vane.) He gets angry with Miranda and anyone else who steps in the way of the objective, but only a few episodes later, he turns around and changes direction himself by deciding to go to Charles Town to talk to Ashe about the pardons rather than continuing to pursue the gold. On the surface, this looks like the logical choice Flint paints it to be, but as we soon learn, the risks were not worth the reward (or lack thereof) at all. In fact, he might have actually captured the gold and his dreams of making a life for himself and Miranda in Nassau if he hadn't chosen the route with Abigail - instead he loses everything once again, putting him essentially back to where he began when the title of Captain Flint was first created. And when the pardons he sacrificed so much in trying to obtain are freely handed to him by Hornigold in S3, he chooses to sail into a storm and risk not only his life but the lives of all his crew rather than accept them; but the self-destructive behavior doesnt stop there. At the Maroon colony, he turns survival into an epic war against England, which one could argue is an even more impossible and unobtainable goal than all the discarded goals that came before. In S4, when they at long last have the treasure in their possession, he turns it over to Eleanor once again, and when Madi is taken captive, he hatches a risky plan to rescue both her and the treasure. A true pragmatist would have left Madi for dead rather than risk losing the treasure again, but Flint decides on a rescue mission... just for Silver?

Flint talks about Odysseus' journey and walking away from the sea, but in reality, most of what he decides to do runs in direct opposition to actually securing that peace for himself. I'm forced to believe that his idea of becoming a farmer and living out his days in obscurity in Nassau was only ever a fantasy, a dream meant to sustain him while he endured one hellscape after the next. (Let's be real, would Flint really be happy away from the sea? But that's another post.) Miranda was right when she told him that he had lost his will to find lasting peace long ago to this insatiable need for revenge. It wasn't about Thomas anymore. It wasn't about Nassau. It was about his anger and the humiliation of having lost everything the way he did. But we all need something to live for even if it's just an unreachable dream that someday life will be this bucolic picturesque scene sequestered in the back of our mind, far from harsh reality. It’s a place to go home to when home was lost ages ago

[seacollectsrivers]

I’m sure you’ve posted about it before but more aro Miranda thots? :))

ooooh aro miranda my beloved.,,,,,

ok so my only like, explicit support from canon is that she's never given a new love interest outside of James McGraw Flint, and even there it's (imo) a very sexual attraction only, never meant to be a steady romantic thing. there is her expression when him and Thomas first kiss, but considering her later role of being the level-headed sensible person wrt James/Thomas being illegal (vs her affairs being socially wrong, not illegal)* AND how rattled she probably is from Hamilton Sr.'s Whole Deal, i like,,,, don't want to analyse what she's thinking beyond that lollll.

BUT. i LOVE reading her as aro(+allosexual, whether hetero or bi). i love her finding security in a kind of version of a lavender marriage with Thomas, where she knows she's not expected to have any feelings for him or even pretend at devotion beyond a mutual friendship. i love Thomas as this VERY alloromantic dude who also gossips about boys with his wife.

my favourite aspect of this is her abject loneliness while in the interior. it's so easy to cast aro-allos as these heartless nymphomaniacs, especially if they do enjoy a lot of sex like Miranda is portrayed as doing? but she's so lonely. her decision to write that letter and try to convince Flint to run away to Boston with her is definitely informed by how isolated she is - even if Flint tells her of his plans (which i imagine would be in very vague terms, both in a misguided attempt to protect her and in a kind of "ugh you don't know the Pirate Life" way), he definitely doesn't attempt to bring her into them beyond the Alfred Hamilton thing.

so like. you this lady who thrives in society and loves sex, who married securely and to her best friend, and is very much aware of how much scandal she can safely cause with her affairs, and then she's hidden away into a lonely lonely house, and she misses her best friend and she misses her one friend who knows her hurt, who only ever comes to her when he needs a break from being Flint.

i feel like.... had she been allo-romantic, she could've found someone willing to share her life because they'd be In Love. but it's harder when what she needs is companionship? and she can't find a reliable fuckbuddy either because Flint has willingly entered and then contributed to this web of complicated high school-level trust-no-one-not-even-yourself bullshit so all she has is the priest on the island who is as far removed from pirate society as one can be on New Providence.

in conclusion. did i see someone not coded as asexual but wihout a romantic interest and decide Ah She's Aro? maybe :)

*(i just realised, i don't know if her affairs weren't technically illegal? i but even if they were, it's definitely very different to how society and the law viewed homosexual relationships, and she's very aware of this)

i'm pleasantly tipsy and also chatty send me anything :)

[yfere]

Hey! *waves* Behind on Critical Role, but trucking on with my bestie in Black Sails: in latest news, she is having mixed feelings about Miranda. Thinks that she's delusional when it comes to regaining some of her old life back ("there is a life, in Boston!"). My bestie thinks she's still spoiled from her previous wealth. But I think Miranda is lonely, been working hard for ten years, watching Captain Flint murder his way around the Caribbean ... She wants peace for both of them, somewhere else.

Awwwww, yes, I feel I must Disagree with at least the tone of the evaluation of Miranda your best friend gave. I think like pretty much all the characters of the show, she has to reckon with the cost of making peace with an oppressive civilization, vs the cost of resisting it. It’s a hard thing, a very hard thing, especially for someone like her who learned so well how to compromise, to survive with the most of all the things she wanted with a certain amount of subterfuge, with her ability to win allies, her political mastery. Pushing the envelope, but not too far, and we all know that when she warned that pushing farther would break the lifestyle she and Thomas and James had delicately hung together, that’s exactly what happened. 

I mean, there’s no doubt she’s suffering because of the life she was torn from–she was a noblewoman, her identity and enjoyment of life came from stimulating conversation, art, music, books…and all that’s been taken from her since she and Flint came to Nassau. She can’t talk with Thomas, nor with James while he’s at sea, nor with any number of salons or interesting people she used to speak with. She tries to fill the void by talking to the pastor, who can only clumsily trade words on the Bible, who promptly goes to pieces when she gets fed up with him and beds him. She plinks away alone on the piano, she reads the books Flint brings her alone….she is intensely, horribly lonely and isolated all the time, and continues to be treated as a kind of witch by the locals. She’s in purgatory, and unlike Flint, most of the time she doesn’t have the chance to fill the hole inside her by hopping on a boat and enacting bloody vengeance. She can only stay home, hope he doesn’t die and leave her even more alone than before, play a kind of nursemaid to him when he does turn up beaten half to death. It’s not as if pretending to be a good Puritan woman represented the same kind of freedom from civilization Flint’s piracy did–she was just compromising with a different kind of society the whole time, once more hiding who she really was and having to figure out just how far she could push the envelope and live. Considering this, that there’s no functional difference in the freedoms given to her between England and Nassau, but only a difference in the material, mental comforts that gave her the ability to stand it all–is it any wonder she’d prefer a return to a place with music, and conversation, and love to dull the ache? Is it any wonder that she would take advantage of the first tool for freedom to fall in her lap–Richard Guthrie–and use it to gain some agency over her own life? She’s a bit like John Silver, in that to her, happiness in the present, even at the cost of submission and compromise–that sometimes looks a lot more appealing than what looks to her like the unceasing slog of misery of Flint’s war.

But she’s also motivated by vengeance. She’s the one who made the murder of Alfred Hamilton possible–it would never have happened if she didn’t want him dead. When Abigail Ashe comes along and finally gives Miranda another tool, more power over her own situation in Nassau, when she finally gets into the thick of the action, it is her fury over Ashe’s betrayal that destroys the negotiations, her desire to kill him and burn his city to the ground that ended up being carried out. Like with Alfred Hamilton, she had the ability to swallow that injustice, to prevent that violence, but she didn’t–she wanted to carry out the violence herself. There are things, matters of justice that even the promise of future comfort and happiness was not worth to her, and she lived on both sides of that argument. With all that happened to her, it remains hard to say which could be called more right.

[lairofsentinel]

Seriously... I finished watching Black Sail and had several thoughts I want to keep in one post.

Spoilers ahead, of course.

Flint's ending: It's queerly romantic, in the most broad sense of the word. But it felt a bit odd to me. Not because I don't like it, I find it a good smart ending that doesn't imply “bury your gays”. But it felt unrealistic for the context of the series. Through the show, we saw Miranda telling Flint that she could not recognise herself in the way she had changed compared with the woman she was when Thomas was alive. Flint agreed in that respect, and made the same comparison with the man he was in that time. They wondered if Thomas could ever recognise them both now. The scene meant “we both changed too much”.

The message along the series is that loss and pain change you, transform you. Life is a painful continuously changing process. Even the characters that were “written in stone”, like Charles Vane, changed! So, with such reinforcement of the narrative related to “change”, Flint's ending feels troublesome.

How can Thomas, such a naïve and over-idealist man, embrace this Flint, so distant to the man he left in England? The level of tragedy and horror and blood that Flint's wake spread in those years in the real world can't be overlooked, not by Thomas who was a man who cared so much about the manners and the procedures.

Flint also killed Thomas' father. Imagine that scene where he knows this news... I don't know exactly if this news could be problematic for Thomas, since we did not see him too much to infer what kind of reaction he may have. He could be disappointed for his father, but that's different to wanting him dead, specially due to his lover's hand. How much of this event can hurt Thomas' love?

And Flint, in the end, abandoned Thomas' war. Flint himself, in the first time he is asked, said that Thomas would never put aside this war due to all what it means. In the second time he is asked, when he hesitated, it was more his own desire .

After all, Flint is so fucking tired of all this war and blood. I think that letting Silver get closer to him showed that; he was tired of fighting, he was tired of killing his closest partners just because the war demanded it. When he and Silver talked privately, and Flint disclosed his story to Silver, they joked about how they would end. Silver even joked that Flint should not worry to fear to be killed by him. And Flint's response was one of a such tired man. It transpired that he was in peace with the fact that, if Silver ever attempted against his life, he was going to let him do it. Flint is a man so alike to the one that belong to England and Thomas. How the hell this Thomas would see this man? I wonder.

So, for all that, even though I think this ending is nice and Flint truly wanted this [his idea of a Pirate Kingdom to have a place where all pirates can retire and live in peace was always in his plans even though he never allowed himself to be part of it, probably because Thomas was not in that Kingdom]. Flint has changed so much, that honestly, I think Thomas would be completely horrified of him. I don't know how much Thomas could look aside or forgive. This series is also about how forgiveness has limits too... so I wonder.

Sure, Thomas probably changed a lot, but his experience was far less violent and less mutable as Flint's. I don't know. I have mixed feeling with this ending. Maybe too cheesy and open for the deep darkness it hides.  

Madi's ending: This was super sad to me.  We saw in this series that all women had always been controlled and manipulated or coerced by men. Eleanor's story is exactly this, reflected in most women in the narrative. I thought Madi was going to be the exception... but it was not. Silver, the white man, decided for her what was best for her.

I know, war is not a solution in general... but he denied her anger. He decided for her. He did not allow her to make her own mistakes. And she ended up accepting it just fine. It felt odd. I suppose the best way to describe it is “it felt grey”, like most things in this series.

Sure, war was not the solution of anything... but this whole ending of never doing the revolution and taking comfort in half-measures that can be changed so easily without much consequences.... I mean, as long as Max lives in Nassau, there will be no slaves.... once she dies... what?. I suppose the series has the answer in several repeated scenes: “nothing lasts”. I suppose the freedom of the black people is something that “would not last” either. I felt a bit weird with that idea floating in the last episode.

Eleanor’s ending: Another woman in the series whose ending was so fucked up. I would not mind her story if she were the only woman whose narration is about how fucked up men control women's lives. But sadly, her story was just taking this narrative to the extreme... since her story is the reflection of the life of most women in this series. Anne is controlled by Jack and/or the guilt or gratefulness she has for him, Madi by Silver, Miranda by Flint... most women dancing to the whims of their men. Eleanor thought she was in control of everything, she was the independent strong woman... and yet, her control jumped from man to man, from his father, to Charles Vane, to Flint, to Scott, to the governor. She was never truly free of a man's control, and this is such a devastating truth for her. Her story is so sad... and a lot of her most disgusting betrayals were fuelled by those men. Super sad her ending.

John Silver ’s ending : He is my fave char. Probably his ending is the one I like the most. He was always smart enough to avoid death in the most disastrous situations. But in the process, he started to become darker. Over days, he became closer to Flint, to his thinking process, to his darkness. I understand he saw that he was getting close to become Flint at some point, and Madi put a stop to that. She changed things in his life. Flint also helped him to stop that process, opening himself to him. It's sad to me that Silver could find a way to take control over his own life by deciding over Madi. I know, breaking the cycles is a nice narrative... but I'm not so sure I like to see it when a white man decided such a thing, when you have a wise smart black woman there to do it.... But again, this series is all about grays. It was a nice but at least, realistic shade of gray.

Max's ending: Probably the best ending of all chars. She fought so much to be in control of her own life... and she finally could do it. With a level of intelligence that it was a pleasure to see. She was not even under the control of a man... she was men's toy. Her story is so fucking painful. And somehow, she survived thanks to her intelligence. In that regard, she is like Silver: both hard survivors thanks to their brains. At least she could overcome that fate of being in control of a man. She denied that chance of marry an idiot noble because she wanted to have control over her life and her decision of trying to retake Anne. Lesbian love in gray shades.

Anne's ending: I loved her char. But again, I felt so weird when her life is, once again, restrained to what she feels she owes to Jack. I thought I was going to find a scene of relief when she fought those men that saved her crew's lives. But no. It was just more of the same... the bodyguard of Jack. I don't resent it much though, because Jack truly loves her and cares for her in beautiful ways... but that scene of Anne resenting her own feeling of being in eternal debt with Jack stuck in my mind.

Billy's ending: this char was so surprising to me. He went from one extreme to the other... and he, more than any other char, showed that life, events, tragedy, pain, and loss, change people. And it changes them in ways from where there is not return.

Charles Vane ’s ending : He was a beast. There is almost nothing to say in his favour, he was evil-chaotic to the core. But his vulnerabilities were unbelievable when you contrast them with his personality. How such evil-chaotic man could do such gestures of (twisted) love? Sure, he did a lot for Eleanor in his wickedest ways, but the most surprising love I saw in him was for Jack and Anne. And honestly, being he the symbol of the beginning of the revolution is such a gray thing that this series used. It felt, like all things in this show, wrong and good at the same time. There was probably no other char in this story more “free” and “animal-savage-like” than him. He dismissed domesticity, he hated “peaceful” times. He was a char born in battle to die in battle. Revolution had to be born from this savage to be effective, so he being hanged was a reinforcement of that sentiment that had to be inspired in the revolution. But at the same time, he was absolutely random, selfish [in the beginning] and his behaviour was mostly the confirmation of all the demonization that the stories tell about pirates. He being the symbol that starts the revolution was also a way to tinge the revolution with cruelty and dirt.

I don't know, this series is fabulous. It's so gray that you can be thinking in each char, in each concept... and nothing is sacred, nothing is clean, nothing is pure.  Nor good nor bad. Just a disgusting mixture of dirty and evilness and humanity. Masterpiece.

I loved this story, because its complexity makes the watchers think, and that's such a feat to do. But on the other hand, I felt the ending in general not very inspiring, tending to a moderate solution that, through history, we know it changes nothing. Moderate solutions [in times of slavery and empires] are absolutely prone to corruption and to return to the previous state of things.

The only thing I did not like was the unbalanced display of naked bodies or sex scenes when it came to women vs men. We saw all actress naked or having sex with other women and/or men in many, many, many times. In the whole series, only 2 men were displayed naked, and never was shown any gay sex scene. We only had 2 kisses between two men, very chaste, and almost hidden.  I mean, I can't care less about nakedness in general or sex scenes, but I'm always annoyed when I see such a big unbalance when it comes to women vs men or straight sex vs gay sex vs lesbian sex. It made me feel that this serie was done thinking mainly in the male gaze. Hell, considering how most female chars are controlled by men [mostly in their endings, showing that their stories are not exactly stories of emancipation] made me confirm this.

But putting aside that, it was a hell of a story, and I loved it.

[urcadelimabean]

"For that is the single most dangerous weapon they possess...the one they tempt. Give us your submission and we will give you the comfort you need.”

There’s something really interesting about this quote. I think Chaz is mostly right here, except the thing that “tempts” people to remain in civilization isn’t always comfort--in fact Black Sails argues that for many people it’s love.

A lot of Black Sails characters who end the war do so explicitly because of the temptation civilization offers to keep their loved ones alive. Jack is content to fight and maybe die in the war avenging Charles Vane’s death until Max appeals to his concern for Anne's safety and points out that the war has already killed Eleanor. Jack switches sides and focuses all his attention on creating an outcome that will keep Anne (and Max) safe. Silver goes behind Madi’s back to make the same deal with the other Maroons.

And although Flint seems to be disagreeing with Charles Vane in that scene in Miranda’s house, he actually comes pretty close to having the same ideology as him. Because for him the things that were the greatest sources of comfort -- Miranda and Thomas -- are gone. Before he lost Miranda he even personally removed another source of comfort in the form of Gates, his only other friend and ally at that point, in order to continue his war. So by season 4 there is very little left to “tempt” Flint to stop pursuing the war, even though he came to trust and care for Silver during the process and gained a friend in Madi. This is not to say that there was nothing noble in his effort to fight England, but there was also self-destructiveness and hopeless rage behind it as suggested at many points during the series. He has simply lost too much.

This also makes me think maybe Charles wasn't as tempted by protecting the people he loves because let’s face it, in season 3 his and Eleanor's love had completely withered and died. If she had (in an extremely out of character manner) left Rogers to ally herself with him I don't think he would have been so willing to die, because suddenly he would have had something to lose again. And I'm not suggesting that he was willing to become a martyr because he was heartbroken, because I do think he was driven primarily by ideology, but the removal of those close personal relationships and attachments, be it Eleanor or Miranda or Thomas, allows both Charles Vane and Flint to be more reckless with their lives and put themselves in more danger in a way that they were not capable of doing before.

Even though we can all see how deeply Silver hurt Madi by lying to her and how deeply he hurt Flint by betraying him, I honestly think most of us would have made the same choice--end the war and avoid the continuation of bloodshed. Maybe in a better way than Silver did, but for the same reasons. It's human to want to live a safer and more peaceful life. Very few of us are willing to die in an effort we aren't even sure will change civilization. We do not have Charles Vane’s recklessness/destructive tendencies/stupidity/ bravery/whatever you want to call it. Most of us who like Black Sails, assuming we didn't completely miss what the entire show was about, see huge injustices in the world and want to change them. But the temptation to try to keep ourselves and our loved ones alive is what makes us decide to do this from within civilization as opposed to doing it from without.

It’s also always struck me as a very hypermasculine and overly simplistic idea that the best and ONLY way to change civilization is through violence and that anything less is the act of a coward. Again this is not to say there isn’t something fucking tempting and satisfying about waging war against England, but as usual in Black Sails there isn’t always one right way and one wrong way, but multiple paths which all have negative and positive consequences.

For a lot of the characters it's less about right vs wrong (we all know the cause of the war is just) and more about weighing costs vs benefit. It’s interesting that some of the characters who are the most vehemently against the war in the end -- Max and Silver -- are themselves survivors of violence both on screen and in their backstories. They are done living lives of sacrifice. To them, the costs of war greatly outweigh the benefits.

When Silver said "I don't care" I think he was - wait for it - lying. (Shocking I know. Silver, lying?) I believe he does care that they will be seen as monsters. He cares deeply, painfully so, and is trying to remove himself from the narrative as he has so many times before. When he says "I don't care," he is saying the costs of war outweigh the benefits. They may control the narrative but we will be alive.

So while I think Charles Vane was right that civilization “tempts” us, I don’t think it’s wrong to be tempted. It makes us human and it means we’re thinking of our futures and the futures of our loved ones and trying against all odds to survive. It is also a HUGE oversimplification to say that not waging war on civilization = submission. Max’s story arc proves this and I think that’s really interesting considering both she and Charles were formerly slaves but had such insanely different philosophies about how the world can be changed.

Charles Vane’s death was brave, to be fair, and I loved his speech before he was hanged, but the fact of the matter is you can do a whole lot more to fight civilization when you’re still alive and working from within it than you can if you’re dead. Even Anne, the quickest to want to stab anyone, bless her angry heart, prioritized survival for herself and her loved ones over any war or ideology. "It ain't fear to want to do a hard thing smart."

I know in some ways it's open-ended whether Flint's war could have succeed or not. What's inevitable and what isn't? In some ways we can't know, and Flint's words about inevitability are extremely powerful. I know it's not necessary to use historical parallels because Black Sails is fiction and not history. But at least for me when having discussions about the moral choices these characters make I look at the context of what happened to slave communities in the Caribbean that were able to secure peace treaties and what happened to Haiti after their rebellion.

There are so many possible types of resistance here, from all out war, to some piracy being tolerated in the Bahamas, to attacks on slave ships, to creating an underground railroad like I think many fans imagine Max and Madi would be involved in after the war. Not all types of resistance would bring the same response from colonial powers or the same degree of risk to the people involved. And the degree of risk is hugely important when calculating the chances of success and ability to continue the operation.

So even as part of me wishes Flint's war could continue, I resent the idea that ending it was wrong specifically because victory was assured, or the idea that anything short of full-fledged war = submission to England.

[bthump]

idk if you're interested in getting into anything new, but i feel like you'd really like this show called Black Sails. It's basically a period drama about pirates, and since you like complex, morally grey characters (which black sails is chock full of), you might dig it.

You’re very correct, I’ve actually seen Black Sails and I loved it. Flint is probably one of my favourite protags ngl. spoilers bc i kind of just want to gush about it now lol.

It was so refreshing to see someone declare violent bloody war on the oppressive system and be portrayed as p much morally correct lol. “This ends when I grant them my forgiveness, not the other way around,” is like, one of my favourite lines. The ending was a little disappointing but it was also portrayed as bittersweet rather than happy - like we were meant to be sad that Madi didn’t get her war! it was great! so I was pretty satisfied with it overall.

Also solid ship content. Max/Anne and Max/Eleanor are both great, v interesting and complex ships, and both Flint/Thomas and Flint/Silver have their appeal. (Also Flint/Vane. You can’t tell me they weren’t enemies with benefits.)

And you just can’t beat setting up a protagonist as a mysterious dude, seriously driven by something but teasing the audience about what exactly motivates him to be so hardcore and incredibly awesome, only for the surprise reveal to be that he’s gay and motivated entirely by the loss of his relationship w/ a dude (which then turns out to be surprise endgame! truly unkillable gays and unbury your gays are the best tropes).

I mean the first half of season 3 had me a little :/ with the focus on Miranda, but then season 4 got back on track w/ revolving around Thomas and I was ok w/ it.

Plus a lot of awesome also complex and interesting secondary characters, and a fast paced engaging plot, and a fun real world/treasure island mashup, that whole monster vs man theme which i always love w/ flint vs mcgraw (team flint tho, like one of my favourite moments of the series was the end of season 2 when he leveled that town), 2/3 endgame ships being gay, idk it was just solidly enjoyable. ty for bringing it up!

[intolerablexsacrifice]

tagged by: @zzapzzaptasers, whom I adore <3

name of your muse: James Flint / James E. McGraw (no I don’t know what the E. stands for, it’s on one of the bags or some shit in his little London flat)

aliases: Captain Flint

one picture you like best of your character’s fc:

two headcanons you have for your character that you never told anyone:

I doubt there’s anything I’ve never told anyone but there’s shit I haven’t like, put into words properly? I’m too tired to go into full detail right now BUT:

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Flint’s view of Thomas is... extremely distorted by the time we reach the postcanon reunion, and in general, he’s a traumatized, codependent mess with no fucking idea how to Do Healthy Relationships anymore and no real self-awareness of how unhealthy some of his behaviours and beliefs are. There’s a lot to be said about both how he ties his entire fucking identity to Thomas, and the disconnection between Flint and James - perhaps surprisingly, James is the one that... can think straight, basically. Flint, on the other hand, has a real fucking difficult time seeing Thomas as ever like... wrong??? Which naturally leads to all kinds of fucking problems like “maybe it’s actually not a good thing that Flint would literally do anything for this man no matter the cost, Especially Now That Thomas Is Alive And Flint’s Terrified Of Losing Him”. Also, y’know. There’s the dissociation issues re: Flint vs James (which isn’t to say they’re two separate people, by the way, it’s not as clear-cut as that, but James himself structures his identity and his life through literary narratives etc so. It’s Complicated.) ANYWAY I usually avoid talking about it because a) I don’t want to get into some Discourse with the purity police about whether or not their relationship is Unhealthy In Some Regards Therefore Shouldn’t Be Written At All and b) it makes it sound like Flint can’t stand up for himself against Thomas or some shit which... ISN’T TRUE it’s just that his judgment and perceptions are compromised when it comes to him (and it’s specifically a Flint mindset; when he feels more like McGraw, it’s... less of an issue).

(tw for manipulative father figure in this next point) Hennessey plays a fairly big role in like... why James, even as McGraw and not Flint, has always been fairly easy to manipulate despite being manipulative and cunning himself. James has been under his wing since he was a child, after his grandfather died- there was a lot of fucking time for Hennessey to influence the way he views the world and the way he views other people’s treatment of him. I’ve talked about the “darker, wilder” / “I told you to be careful of those people” shit before and I won’t go into it again but G-D ANYWAY being exposed to shit like that from a young age, no matter how low-level, changes the way your mind works and perceives things and. Handwaves. James doesn’t view Hennessey’s pre-betrayal behaviour as wrong, and he’d certainly never believe that he was being mistreated or spoken to wrongly in any way (especially during that time period, like...). Until, you know. The betrayal. But We Don’t Talk About That, James Literally Never Talks About Hennessey And All Of This Shit Is Why.

three things your character likes doing in their free time:

Listening to music. One of his favourite things about returning home to Miranda is just being able to hear her play the harpsichord again while he rests or reads or whittles to keep his hands occupied.

If you think the Walrus crew don’t stage drama productions whilst at sea you’re wrong. Flint isn’t usually in them (but he can stand in for pretty much any part, because He Knows Everyone’s Lines, More Or Less, unless it’s something he isn’t intimately familiar with), but he watches every single one. Even the awful ones. Because they’re all awful.

Is it cheating if I say ‘sucking dick’. Can you believe I nearly wrote Flint as ace way back. Can you even imagine.

seven people that your character loves and/or likes:

Not necessarily ships, and also in no particular order.

@harriedwritings‘ Silver, primarily modern Silver (and likely postcanon Silver once they like... chill out and talk about shit), but good luck getting him to admit they’re anything but ‘flatmates’. (No genuinely he doesn’t even use the ‘friend’ word.)

@oceanfoamed‘s Abigail! They’re adorable and it’s kind of the saddest fucking thing in the world considering he killed her father, but y’know.

@unwilling-ships-surgeon‘s Marcellus. -v- Pointy bastard.

@tidefated‘s Joji g-d he loves Joji so fucking much it’s unreal.

@metalzerotruck‘s Truck, who is just super fucking chill to be around even if he also occasionally makes Flint flustered/nervous. >:0

@zzapzzaptasers‘ Darcy is surprisingly fucking likeable to our resident modern demon!Flint. THEY’RE GOING TO BE SUCH BAD INFLUENCES ON EACH OTHER G-D.

??? UHHH FUCK I DON’T KNOW I know there are more but I’m TYRED.

two things your character regrets:

Not doing anything to save Thomas while they had the chance.

Killing Gates. ;^;

two phobias your character has:

Uhhh fuck I genuinely have no idea he can’t stand the feeling of blood spattering on his face or in his mouth after what happened to Miranda, and all that shit Silver said about patterns repeating themselves re: his partners fucking haunts and terrifies him to this day.

tag ten people to do the same: if you’re looking at this please do it

[riisinaakka-draws]

Under the cut there are some thoughts on the process and ideas behind the drawing JOURNEY INTO THE DARK if you are interested :)

I thought it would be too big of a burden to mention all of this within the art post. This is also for my own archiving purposes (so I won’t forget what was involved! :D) and it’s always nice to see how things start and develop...

Long post ahead! (contains spoilers for the show)

COMMENTARY:

I continued this work bit by bit over a period of several months (I started this just when s4 started airing) and only finished it recently. A few hours then and then (whenever I felt like it or had time for this), but I can’t really say how much time it took all together. Occasionally there were weeks/months that I just forgot about it and was more focused on other things...

Most of the thoughts here are fleeting ideas during the process (how a thing X lead to thing Y) and some personal fun and not something I actually spend too much time on dwelling or planning (or researching lol). I have probably forgotten some already and some happened by accident and some I am just incabable of putting into understandable words.

None of these are any actual instructions (or limits) of “this is how it’s to be seen”. Art doesn’t have to be or even shouldn’t be explained in some cases, but I just wanted to document the process and open up the symbolism since there were a lot of (random) things involved.

It’s also fun to look back on things and how they evolved and what their connection to other things were.

You are free to have your own interpretations of course and I hope this additional post doesn’t ruin any of those :)

The initial idea and motifs:

Flint decends the steps from light to darkness and Miranda is standing behind him as an accomplice/orderer. Stepping stones get bloodier by every step and gold coins are glimmering on the path (Urca de Lima’s gold). Sword is drawn out for war and slaughter. Black water as in the opening credits + general darkness to represent the abyss. Reflection shows James when he was happy (him returning to Hamiltons) and how much he has changed compared to that (McGraw vs Flint). Sort of stage / antique/ greek tragedy(?) setting with marble columns, red curtains (like a myth, a monology or a story or something).

A white feather shining in the dark to show there’s always hope and another way out. I already explained this in another post, but here it is again:

Short answer: Silver (although some of you may not like it) Long answer: the feather is for “hope and an alternative for war” (the dove of peace..haha). Also remember the trap Flint laid in season 1? The feather and the logbook in his drawer -> leads to Silver’s capture later.

The feather is also a reference to the swan of Tuonela (in Finnish mythology the river of Tuonela separates the world of the living and the dead (compare Styx in Greek mythology I guess). Flint decents to the world of death (also represented here by the pale and dead-looking organic shapes of the opening sequence’s sculpture… thing).

Anyway, the feather is mainly about Silver: both how they end up meeting in the beginning (the trap, and then some new hope along the way and eventually some light in Flint’s miserable life) and what (who) also ends up being “the end of Captain Flint” (a tiny nod to the swan guarding the border between the living and the dead).

Visually I wanted something to shine in the darkness to remind there’s always hope and another way out. At one point it had an additional thin string leading to Thomas’ hand. You know, a connection to the memory (and to the reason of Flint’s revenge and war path and so on) but the idea didn’t work so well and felt too distracting so I left it (the string) out. And then the finale happened (!!!) and the reflection became also the future.. :D

a way out of the darkness… :)

There was also a post going around a long time ago about the empty space (the absence of Thomas) next to James and Miranda in some scenes, so I incorporated that in here, too. Unfortunately I cannot remember who did the post, so I cannot link it right now :| It was something about how some of the New World scenes were framed in a way that it looked like there was something missing (aka the third person of the trio).

Here’s the early drafts again so you don’t have to scroll back:

I didn’t like the first composition that much and continued it into another direction with similar elements and the main ideas.

The stepping stones changed to wooden planks: angrier zigzag lines (rage) and also the idea of “walk the plank” (except that you don’t know when and where the nightmare ends...)

I ditched the gold coin idea. The overal setting became more spacious and gloomier to emphasize the vastness of abyss and the smallness of people. The stage / arch became the staircase seen in Flint’s dreams.

The whole thing is sailing on a similar sculptural thing seen in the opening sequence which for some reason made me think about the floating theatre in the Moomins (when the Moomin valley is flooded in one dangerous midsummer. LMAO):

(*coughs* lots of water, a stage and some drama after a disaster...so..)

(At one point I was also thinking about Howl’s moving castle and how that too is a monstrous looking vessel travelling between worlds (well, opening doors) but how the moving castle itself is also composed of various other things... and how in the drawing Flint would be stepping out of the ride for a moment to do some dark deeds in one of these ‘worlds’ etc.)

Black Sails opening sequence - is there a term for that cool monstrosity?

Some other inspiration and references:

Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s “Lemminkäisen äiti” (Lemminkäinen’s Mother, 1897).

(notice the swan, the black water, blood-covered stones, ‘the mother’ and the red-bearded ‘son’ waiting/asking for a spark for new life after the mother has combed his broken parts out of the river and assembled them back into the shape of a man)

I must admit that I didn’t bother to think any deeper parallels with Lemminkäinen and Flint (or the Mother and Miranda) beside this (more about it later though) and mainly had my thoughts just on this painting and its visuals because it is so well known (and liked) in Finland.

Moving on.

Screencaps from season 2 (source here):

I chose the latter stairs for the reflection (although modified) only because they were in London and there is an arch above them (to mirror the window in the drawing)

Some steps futher when the needed elements are more clear:

At some point I tried things with a lot more light and coldness (below, left pic) to channel some of the the dream sequence in s3 but in the end I chose the darker atmosphere, faces in shadows and I also wanted to preserve the red colour somehow (right pic):

The reflection sketch (at some point), although most of it cannot be seen in the finished work and thus didn’t need too much details. Young lieutenant James McGraw returning to London from his voyage:

Also, (and I am so sorry about this, but it was “fitting” and I decided to keep it..) in the reflection (when flipped and put in its position) the plank (their unfortunate blood-covered war-path and future) accidentally hides Miranda’s face and decapitates her so to speak and she won’t be there anymore ;_;

Thomas, on the other hand, is in the reflection to meet James -  both in the past and again in the future - but not in ‘the present’ where Miranda is.

Miranda in Flint’s visions (s3 ep3):

When I first met you, you were so Unformed.

And then I spoke and bade you cast aside your shame, and Captain Flint was born into the world. The part of you that always existed yet never were you willing to allow into the light of day.

I was mistress to you when you needed love. I was wife to you when you needed understanding. But first and before all I was mother. I have known you like no other. So I love you like no other. I will guide you through it, but at its end is where you must leave me. At its end is where you will find the peace that eludes you, and at its end lies the answer you refuse to see.

And then in s3ep5: You can't see it yet, can you? You are not alone.

The end part of it is seen in the fandom as a reference to Silver (and his partnership) and how Flint’s mind is telling himself to see it too. And I agree on that. I don’t think James had any hopes for Thomas being alive (especially in s3). As I mentioned earlier I originally did the reflection to show him (Thomas) only as a memory. Then the finale happened and the reflection got its double meaning :)

And here again Miranda as the mother (there has been better discussions about this topic and speech in the fandom so I won’t go more into that now). In the inspiration painting that I showed earlier the mother had assembled his son back together (for rebirth / reanimation) <--- Miranda being part of the creation (birth) of ‘Captain Flint’.

Aaaaand here’s the feather again and Silver’s words (and sort of motto):

“Take it from me, there's always a way.” (season 1)

“Nothing is inevitable here. I'm showing you a way in which we can survive this.″ (season 3)

Some further fixed details and adjustments. In the end the wall almost disappeared and to me it made this feel a bit like “floating alone without a shelter on your back or a place to return once you leave its premise”... I fixed the perspective of the planks (took me surprisingly long to notice what was wrong) and got the bloody red back on the planks (and not leaking too much on the water).

I wanted the water to be quiet, pitch black and endless and the reflection to seem like a dream. I probably should’ve done everything a bit more detailed or sharper, but in the end it didn’t feel so necessary (and it would have been way too much work, haha).

The final drawing:

The planning and initial idea was done after seeing s3 and just when s4 was beginning so there weren’t any thoughts linked to s4 while making this (other than the surprise connection with Thomas). Most of this I did paint after s4 though, but only to finish what I had already started.  

One more thing. I also made “the doors of the warship” -drawing after planning the JOURNEY INTO THE DARK (although I posted the doors pic first, since it was finished earlier).

It has a similar lighting and the theme of James and Miranda facing together ‘the civilization’ although this time they are stepping towards the light again (in hopes of closure and the promise of new life... which doesn’t go well as we already know ;_;).

James and Miranda about to leave the warship and meet Lord Peter Ashe in Charles Town:

So, here we sort of have a beginning and an end for their journey in the dark (together)  - believing that there are just the two of them left from the original trio.

Aaaaaand, that’s about it. Sorry about some repetition and messiness.

As I said in the beginning of this post, you are free to have your own interpretations (and I hope this post didn’t ruin any of them). These were just the things and thoughts that went into this work (or were stumbled upon along the way...), but you don’t have to take them to your heart.

Thank you so much for checking out this post and I hope it was worthy of your time! ( ˘ ³˘)♥  

[runawaymarbles]

Black Sails Fic Rec

Silver/Flint

shaking at the sight by vowelinthug | 1k | T |

two pirate kings, united vs. an entire island's naval forces.

the island didn't stand a chance.

look for something left in this world by vowelinthug | 2k | M |

it’s a nice day for a white wedding

too bad they aren’t having one

yer mother darns socks in hell by youatemytailor | 4k | M |

Christ, Flint thinks. He fucking hates Freetown.

el cuentacuento by straddling_the_atmosphere | 4k | NR | +Silver/Madi

At the end of the day, John Silver is an unreliable narrator.

Or: a storyteller’s story.

show me the way to go home by vowelinthug | 8k | NC-17 |

set during 2x4, in which Silver and Flint take a much-deserved time out and enjoy a drink or seven

and they both learn a valuable lesson about each other

namely that neither one has ever had any chill whatsoever in their entire goddamn life

let us possess one world by vowelinthug | 8k | NC-17 |

They return to Nassau after their defeat of the British Navy, only to be met by Agitator Billy and his propaganda machine. This is why Captain Flint tries not to let other people decide things.

In which: Flint wears a disguise, Silver tells a terrible story, one bathes the other, and only one man died the whole night which is, like, definitely a record for them.

What's in a Name? by Craftnarook | 9k | NC-17 |

Some conversations in the dark between Flint and Silver, set during episode 3x09. They have a moment alone in the Maroon camp, after Mr Scott's death, and what begins as curiosity and sharing develops into rather a lot more.

you are the queen and i am the wolf by vowelinthug | 10k | NC-17 |

They call him John the Giant.

Flint calls himself James the Early Risk for Heart Failure.

Don’t Fear the Ships (Fear the Black) by farasha | 11k | NC-17 |

“You can’t read sea charts.”

“Can’t is a strong word.”

Flint teaches Silver how to sail. As with everything they do, there’s a lot more going on unspoken.

Or, Silver tries to convince Flint that it would be a bad thing if he died.

ya filthy animals by vowelinthug | 12k | NC-17 |

Flint and Silver could be rulers of an illegal organization, major mob bosses, kingpins, criminal masterminds, etc.

But then they could also be petty shoplifters who like to drink during the day and fool around on their houseboat.

With Nothing On My Tongue by RosieTwiggs | 14k | NC-17 | +Silver/Madi

“Silver thinks: Maybe God likes it when I fight with him.

He wonders now, whether he’s been playing into God’s plan all along. Because no matter how angry he gets, how defensive, how many “fuck you”s he flings to the heaven, isn’t it all just proof that he still believes God is there, despite it all?

Silver doesn’t know how to counter that.

Maybe he doesn’t want to anymore.

Blue all in a rush by twofrontteethstillcrooked | 16k | NC-17 |

There were dozens of questions Flint wanted to ask. He chose, "Did it not occur to you I would find out you were here almost immediately?"

st. augustine is that way by vowelinthug | 18k | NC-17 |

James Flint had yet to meet a conversation he couldn’t avoid.

John Silver had yet to meet a routine he couldn’t disrupt.

(post-show domesticity, with oranges)

we must unlearn the constellations to see the stars by lacecat | 19k | M | + Flint/Thomas, Silver/Madi

Silver wakes up each time to a different day in his past.

He thinks that if this is his purgatory, he can’t say he doesn’t deserve it.

Sail These Roads and Back Again by neverfaraway | 20k | M 

James has fled the New World for the Old, shed his name and found quietude in his solitary existence. That is, until his favourite worst memory appears on the farm track, collapses upon his sopha, and refuses to be shaken loose. While Corsica smoulders and war becomes ever more likely, Flint and Silver enter a war of their own: to reclaim their past and forge an uncertain future.

gonna need a bigger boat by lacecat | 20k | Not Rated

“You really want to say that, when you’re sitting across from a man who lost his leg to a shark?” Flint scoffs. "There is no way a shark took your leg!" "Of course not," Silver says, smirking. After he draws the silence out, for what feels appropriately dramatic enough period of time, he adds, "It was two sharks."

Tell me we're dead and I'll love you even more by Craftnarook | 22k | M |

In the year 1725, or thereabouts, John Silver finds himself driven by a storm into an inconsequential little port town, barely a speck on any civilised map. Returned to the life of a drifter, tired and rough around the edges, he is resigned to waiting for the weather to pass before he can sail on again to the next town, and the next, and the next. That is until he overhears a conversation in the inn about a local fisherman, one Captain Barlow, and his tall tales of tempests and becalmings, devils and sharks, and Silver finds a new future opening up to him, haunted by the spectres of his past.

John Silver Can’t Get There From Here by Apetslife | 33k | Series, G-E | + Silver/Madi, Anne/Jack

Or: Fuck Treasure Island, And Also Actual History, And Probably Season Four Canon, Too

“He is so terribly in love with you,” Madi murmurs to him from out of nowhere, sitting easy in the curve of his arm in the shade of their small porch.

Fifteen Men in September by ballantine | NR | 34k |

Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! Drink and the devil had done for the rest Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!

A Black Sails origin story for the song.

turning saints into the sea by lacecat | 86k | NC-17 | + Flint/Thomas, Silver/Madi, Miranda/Flint

They say she arrived in Nassau during a hurricane. They say that she brought with her a priest she had kidnapped to father her children, whom she then turned into storms to guide the direction of her ship. They say she has sworn to kill as many men on this Earth as she could, that she bathes in the blood of young children ripped from their mother’s breasts to attain immortality, doomed to serve the seas forever in return.

In reality, Silver has seen Flint conjure exactly zero storm-like offspring, but she does know how she speaks with the sort of conviction that if she were a man, they would write books about her. There’s a stiffness to her posture that speaks of someone who might better be found in a London parlor rather than a dusty brothel in the Bahamas, and yet she has a fierce temper that rivals any man’s on the island, a dangerous look about her like the air rippling over fire.

Silver/Flint/Hamilton(+)

The Isle of Hope by ElDiablito_SF | 16k | M |

When a heartbroken John Silver arrives in Georgia ten years after the events on Skeleton Island, he doesn't quite have it in him to face Flint. Instead, he concocts a scheme to befriend Thomas, and gets more than he bargained for in exchange

The Tether Series by stele3 | 58k | M |

“So you did find him,” the man says faintly. When Thomas looks up he finds himself caught in perhaps the strangest regard one person has ever given another, a gaze that absolutely does not dissuade Thomas from the notion that a feral, scavenging animal has broken into their home.

Smallpox Verse by vowelinthug | 70k | T-NC17 | + Madi

post-finale, where everyone learns a valuable lesson about communication and smallpox. (no one actually gets smallpox.)

The Canterbury Tales by Wind_Ryder | 133k | NC-17 | +Madi

Pirates. Attacking Georgia. A part of Thomas wants to believe that there’s nothing at all relating the events outside to the events in his personal life.

But when he turns around and sees John Silver slipping in through the backdoor, he very much doubts that’s the case. “Tea?” Thomas asks blandly, throwing the latch and shutting his blinds like a good Puritan man.

Flint/Hamilton(s)

the stars and she who runs with them by alovelylight | 1k | G |

When she declared Peter Ashe a traitor, her heart beating fury into the expanse of her body, she knew this was what James felt like. The constructed castles of civilization falling to the ground, dragons from the dark breathing out and destroying all the lies they hold dear. This was what she wanted; this would be her peace.

Time Covers All Things by lilithi|ien | 12k | T | +Silver/Flint

She imagines it will be liberating to take a new name, to adopt a new life. The next day, as she steps off the gangway onto the island sand, she tries to leave who she was behind like a snake shedding its skin. She can almost get away with it. How Lady Hamilton becomes Mrs Barlow.

The Witch Queen of Nassau by shirogiku | 12k | NC-17 | 

After James is captured by the Navy, it falls to Miranda to organise the rescue. Nothing goes according to the plan.

Revenant by BethWinter | 18k | T |

After Charlestown burns, Abigail Ashe meets a man who says he was a friend of her father’s. He gives her a choice.

The Far Waste of the Waters by more_night | M | 22.5k |  + Silver/Flint, Silver/Madi

James McGraw removes Skeleton Island from his mind.

Somewhere in Boston by redwhale | T | 29k | + Laura Moon/Shadow Moon

Mr. Wednesday tries to recruit the dread pirate Captain Flint for his war against the New Gods, and runs afoul of Thomas Hamilton in the attempt. Meanwhile, Shadow just wants a new goddamn book to read, is that so much to ask?

Soon after, on the trail of Wednesday and Shadow, Laura and Mad Sweeney find themselves in a charming bookstore in Boston...

Unaccommodated Man by kvikindi | T | 27k |

It is at this point that, for the first time, Thomas Hamilton begins to consider that he has gone mad.

The Sundering Sea by x_art | 137k | NR | Flint/Thomas

Stepping into the foamy surf, gasping at the force of it, the surprise of it—it had been breathtaking. Thomas had been that for him, his boundless sea, and he wasn’t ashamed.

Max/Anne (+)

you'll always paint my sky by mapped | 2k | T |

She still loves Max, and it gets harder and harder to deny it to herself.

(Anne through the second half of S4.)

histoire à tiroirs by straddling_the_atmosphere | 3k | T |  +Max/Eleanor, Max/Idelle

histoire (n): a story, a fictional tale, a narrative account, a lie

Or: Max and shifting sands

Bounteous by willowbilly | 4k | M | Anne/Max/Mary/Jack

It’s a queer hurt, almost like the relief of peeling off an old scab, to feel her heart pulling in three separate directions and to feel it expanding to encompass the whole damn rest of the compass rose rather than be so fragile as to rip itself asunder. Anne never would have thought, before, that she’d be this fucking caring. That she’d had such a deep well of love waiting untapped within her, way down.

kintsugi by princejake | 6k | T |

Anne nestles into his shoulder, her hair brushing against his cheek, and suddenly Jack can breathe properly for the first time in weeks. Here they are, together, in balance as they’ve been from the beginning. Complete again.

When he opens his eyes Max is watching them from across the street. Her posture is carefully neutral, but her eyes are… solemn. Stoic. Filled with a kind of barren peace. She always could convey so much with just a look.

Something twinges uncomfortably behind Jack’s breastbone. /Oh./ Perhaps not so in balance after all.

Other/Misc/Gen

no man’s land by rhllors | 2.5k | T |  Jack/Anne/Mary

The man on the deck looks back at them, considering. He’s handsome but he oozes violence; armed, scarred, tall, hair slung round a bandana, the same colour of a recently opened wound. “I’ve heard of you,” he says, with an infliction she’s not familiar with: somewhere from the continent, not French. Perhaps Holland. “The name’s Read.” he continues, eyes tracing the rim of her hat. “Mark Read.”

armed with the past and the will by whimsicalimages | 3k | T | Silver/Madi

The language of winning and losing, this language that men favor – Madi can speak this language, though she disagrees with its precepts. Success takes different forms, and failing once does not mean failing forever. It does not even mean failing the next time.

Gone to Port Royal by Apetslife | 3k | G | All the pairings

Definition of Valhalla 1: the great hall in Norse mythology where heroes slain in battle are received 2 : a place of honor, glory, or happiness : heaven

same bottle, same gun: two shots by AstronautSquid | 5k | T | minor Flint/Thomas, Max/Eleanor

„I will walk,“ Flint interrupted her objections. „You have just maneuvered yourself into a position of considerable power on this island, and now you have gone and cast aside a man the island admires and fears. It won’t do for you to be seen sharing a horse with me like a wounded young girl.“ Eleanor stared up at him; a wounded young girl full of curses, with a rifle resting like a sleeping babe in her arm.

[Nassau, 1708. Eleanor Guthrie remembers a moment in the life of Lieutenant McGraw. Captain Flint doesn’t.]

what’s a king but a heavy name by thatsarockfact55 | 51k | T | Mr. Scott/Maroon Queen, Madi/Silver, background Flint/Silver 

In the quiet night, one stranger tells another what he has always known: “I have been so many names, Long John Silver, and if not for love I would be no one at all.”

-

One story of a spirit, a slave, a father, and a pirate king, told in seven parts.

Winds of Change and Chance  by PanBoleyn | 60k | T | (eventual Silver/Flint, Miranda/Thomas, Flint/Hamiltons, Flint/Silver/Miranda) 

In which a thief and his daemon make their way onto a pirate ship, and vastly underestimate how hard it will be to get off again.

Well, the thief does. His daemon had a feeling this might happen.

[imperatorreyes]

Ever think about how Black Sails is, in its core, a tale about a conflict between ideals and love? Now this is of course oversimplification and the ideals might be closer to ambition in some instances, and love might look just like a “simpler life” in others. Sometimes it’s Nassau vs escape somewhere else. But this has proven right in the last season especially, becoming clear with Eleanor’s words directed at Max, about not repeating her mistake, because after all it’s true that “this place is just sand and it cannot love you back”.

Flint and Silver were at completely opposite sides of the conflict, and thus their choices were always going to be different.

Now we might argue that what motivates Flint is mostly an anger over Thomas, but I honestly believe that he was an idealist. His ideals are the reason he started working with Thomas in the first place and their shared ideals are why they fell in love. Kindred spirits. And so when Flint fought it was not simply to have vengance against England for what it did to Thomas, to Miranda, to him, and how it destroyed their lives, it’s because he honestly believed it is a corrupt system that needs to end. He believed in a war against England with his whole self.

Silver on the other hand had never fought for anything in his life - the life we get to see at least - except for his survival until he met people he chose to be loyal too. And it’s not just Flint and Madi. We can see the way the crew changes him. They were loyal to him, they counted on him, so he chose to repay with the same. Loyal to the point he lost a leg (granted it was a play that ended badly but he never named even one pirate to be killed and he could have stalled). Now if he sacrifaced so much for the people he never felt particulary close to, it seems there must be no end to things he would do for the people he loves. Even if it means loosing them in the process. Because in the end he lost both Madi and Flint, believing he is saving them from the war that would cost them their lives. He never believed in this war. He said so himself multiple times: do not make me choose between a war and a wife. Silver chooses people, he chooses love, because he knows no ideals besides these.

Now said that, I think Silver had no right to make their choices for Madi and Flint, both so similiar in their belief they are fighting the good fight and it’s bigger than their lives. Silver thought he is doing right by Flint, finding Thomas and “undoing” captain Flint in the process. But this is not what happened, this is just a story Silver wants to believe in. It’s not possible to get James McGraw back just by taking away James Flint’s anger because these are not two separate beings. As much as I love Thomas and Flint together, I don’t think this life that Silver imagined for them, for James, is going to be enough for him (and not just because it lacks Miranda who both Flint and Thomas loved deeply, but because they both have changed and you can’t just fight for a cause for years and then simply forget about it). Just as the life that Silver constructed for Madi on the island is not going to be enough for her. Silver’s love proved to be selfish and was in fact his undoing.

You can’t have just love without believing in something first, because your love is then all you can offer and sometimes it’s not what other people want.

I believe that James was happiest when he was doing what he believed in with Thomas and Miranda by his side. I think it’s going to be hard for him to find that happiness with just one part of this equation. I think Silver is not going to be happy with Madi but without Flint, but I also think he wouldn’t be happy being with both of them because he would be fighting for ther cause, not his own. I think Madi is never going to forgive Silver for taking away her chance at changing history.

So yes, Black Sails in its core is about a conflict between ideals and love, but most importantly I think it’s a story about how there should be no conflict. Perhaps choosing between your ideals and love is not the answer. You should just find people who believe in the same things you do.

(The happiest ending went to Max, Anne and Jack and this is because they learned that lesson, no?)

[maremote]

Black Sails Monologuolympics BR2.2: Secondary Characters: Round 2

5/8: Miranda vs. Billy

Miranda, to Peter Ashe, in 209: "You destroyed our lives! You caused our exile! Thomas died in a cold, dark place… […] What do I want? I want to see this whole goddamn city, this city that you purchased with our misery, burn. I want to see you hanged on the very gallows you've used to hang men for crimes far slighter than this. I want to see that noose around your neck and I want to pull the fucking lever with my own two hands!"

VS

Billy, to Madi/himself, 410: "Please know… I was so conflicted about all this when it began. I knew it would be difficult to separate them… Flint and Silver. They'd grown so close, it was hard to know where one ended and the other began. I worried that the act of separating them might destroy them both… when what I wanted was to remove Flint. And I saw no other way. But the things I've done in the pursuit of it… were intended to honor my oath. But somehow, here I am now. What I've just done… there's no coming back from that. There is no difference between Flint and Silver now. Or between Flint and any of them. They are all enemies of mine. Now, I believe they are outmatched today. I believe at the end of the day, there will be no more of them left alive. But if somehow… they are able to prevail today against us… fight their way through the British soldiers above, through the governor, through me.. I will ensure that at the end of it all, when they walk through this final door, there is defeat awaiting them.”

BRACKET TWO ROUND TWO // BRACKET TWO // ALL POLLS

[newtkins]

not to start discourse™ because apparently ppl have strong feelings about this, but what are ur thoughts on flint's sexuality? personally i swing both ways (pun intended); i can see him as a gay guy dealing with compulsory heterosexuality in 1705 england, and i can also see him as a bi guy who was genuinely into both thomas and miranda. i'm curious what your thoughts on this are

I don't have a STRONG opinion on this because I think both readings make sense but I personally read him as gay. The writers & Toby use the word "gay" so I think that's how it was intended, if they were portraying bisexuality here I think they would have said that it more obviously. To me Flint's relationship with Thomas is so different than his to Miranda's, plus he doesn't seem interested in women after Thomas (..that sex scene really isn't proof to me, lol). And there's Toby saying "I think he became himself with Thomas Hamilton" vs. Miranda in Flint's dream telling him "before all I was mother". I think both relationships are extremely meaningful to him but in different ways. I mean, it could just be that Flint and Thomas are literally soulmates. But in terms of intent I think he was definitely written and played as gay, so that's how I read him. I mean, I can totally understand people who read him as bi, but if he was written this way they clearly left it up for interpretation, and I think if that was the case they would have made it more of a point?To me Flint's relationship with Miranda isn't an obstacle to a gay reading, I can totally see why a gay man in these times & place would try to perform heterosexuality. And I think something definitely changes after he gets with Thomas. I'm not trying to diminish his relationship with Miranda's or her importance to him, I think he loved them both very much, just not in the same way

[char7]

Why is "no body = no death" rule that the show's been scrupulously following should stop working in Flint's case? We never saw Silver kill Flint. But for some reason the next time we see Flint (plantation sequence) it has to be fake instead of proving that "no body = no death". Suddenly it must be a visualisation of fake story (which show never did) or a visualisation of afterlife (which show never did). Suddenly a bunch of new rules appeared out of nowhere that would deny him happy ending.

You are spot on, Anon, and this is probably going to be longer and more rambling a reply than you wanted but here goes …

Black Sails built itself on “no body, no death”. Steinberg said himself that any “death” reported by a messenger doesn’t mean that person is really dead. That they always had it in mind to revisit Thomas, just when and where was the question.

They made a point of showing us deaths that were real vs. unconfirmed deaths. Billy – fell of a boat, believed dead but no body, not really dead. Vane – openly hung in the square, body, definitely dead. Madi – alone in a burning house, thought dead but no body, not really dead. Miranda – shot in the head, body, definitely dead. Silver – went into the water in battle, others assumed he was dead but had no body, not really dead. Blackbeard – keelhauled and shot, body, definitely dead. Thomas – told to us by a double-crossing, lying liar who lied that he had died off-screen, no body … . so why is there any reason to expect he’s definitely dead? Same applies to Flint – we don’t see him die so there is no proof he did.

You’re right that the show never did a scene visualizing one of Silver’s lies or stories. We saw/heard them but then a scene or flashback revealed the truth. Case in point when the men returned to inform about the Urca gold. We see Silver meet them, then go to him telling everyone that the Spanish retrieved the gold and it’s gone. But later on we have the scene with Max where he reveals what the men really told him. We hear Silver tell tales of being in a boy’s home, we never see it, only to have it confirmed they were fake. Billy returns in season 2 and claims he escaped. But later we get a scene/flashback showing him offered a deal. The show never did fake story scenes so why start now? If they  wanted us to really question Silver’s story they would have just showed him telling Madi the story without the scenes playing out before us.  That would’ve made it much more questionable if all we got was his verbal recount.

The show never did afterlife but did “ghost/spirits” but always in context to how their loved one saw them and what was going on in their loved one’s head. Ghost Miranda appeared as Flint remembered her both in her death (with the bullet wound) and in life, too, when he dreams of her as she had been in London. Ghost Eleanor haunting Rogers. I know her with knitting needles was not Eleanor but, again, this is a representation of Roger’s mind. She’s wearing the dress she died in. She has the knitting needles but what did women usually knit for in that day? For babies. The knitting, the click of the needles as Madi is talking grows louder and louder until she says to him that he killed Eleanor and then they stop. It’s all driving home what’s in Roger’s head. 

And that brings us to Flint/Thomas – why would Flint’s “Heaven” be Thomas slaving in a field wearing a workers’ uniform as opposed to Thomas in an office or a library as Flint would’ve remembered him? Why would Flint’s afterlife be a plantation he never saw and a man he never met but we know is real because of the opening.

There is the theory of the plantation representing Hades as this show has been compared to a Greek tragedy. Entering the gates no one can leave, being judged by the 3 Fates, paying a toll, taken down the river to the Elysian Fields. But that could easily be symbolic of the “death” of Captain Flint. He enters the gates of “Hades”, the 3 Fates sewing/pulling string, a toll paid (the money handed over). But the walking down a dark tunnel into light? Symbolic of death, sure, but also of birth.

Captain Flint, “birthed” by tragedy, “unmade/killed” by Silver, now dead and in his place James McGraw is reborn. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. :D