#I think there's a way to make the Jim Olu backstory kind of work in this universe

[batsarebetterthanpeople]

Reposting this from my twitter because I think you guys will appreciate this more. I've made some Edits because i have more words to work with tho.

All modern AUs are valid however the easiest way to get the vibe of OFMD right is to make Ed a rock star. The fuckery looks like rock concert gimmicks. Black Pete kinda acts like a groupie at times. Ed has a stage name.

Because of this I am rotating a rockstar AU in my brain. Izzy is the annoying manager with no artistic talent and no respect for Ed's craft. Ed loves his art but he's sick of the lifestyle and the paparazzi and everybody treating him like he's some sort of god and not a human being, and it's not fun anymore when he can't have a life outside of it. In order to match the vibe this makes Stede an upstart musician who hired a garage band because he has no friends to start a band with. Either that or he went around recruiting small musicians who needed the money but he found them all separately which I think could be funnier. He is independently wealthy but he's also doing something unique so Ed respects it. His genre is something bat shit, probably a blend of two genres that don't make sense together. Ed is definitely screamo tho.

I know this completely fucks with the Jim and Oluwande backstory, but my desire to see Jim and Frenchie in leather is down right overpowering so for this AU I would like to propose that Jim and Frenchie are part of Ed's band instead of Stede's. Jim is the drummer, Frenchie plays guitar, Ivan plays bass guitar. Fang is either another guitarist or on keyboard. Ed is obviously the front man.

Stede's band consists of Olu, The Swede, Buttons, Wee John, Roach, and Black Pete. I'm not sure who's doing what and I couldn't even begin to guess because I'm not sure of what genre Stede's doing yet. I am dying for suggestions. This post is open ended. Lucius is also involved here he was hired to do manager shit.

I also have thoughts on Calico Jack in this AU because I am obsessed with him. He and Ed were friends before they were famous, and then they both independently of each other made it big, Ed in metal or screamo or pop punk or regular punk or whatever and CJ in country. (Ed got famous the normal way and Calico Jack did to some famous country star what Kesha did to Prince i.e. broke into their house to leave his mix tape. Only difference is that it worked).

[khruschevshoe]

Lucius Spriggs (In the Gravy Basket)

I think I might be scared

Of the world and the way it makes you feel afraid

And I found Jesus, what a liar

So, I trade licks with muddy waters

And I, well I found what's best for me

And now I see no tragedy

And now I won't be packing little pistols

No, no, no more

-Mother Mother, Little Pistol

He knows that heroes get punished for their hubris. He knows that heroines are turned into spiders, that dryads are turned into constellations, that men have to bury their lovers on the battlefield.

He knows what fate awaits those who dare to question gods.

That's why he ran from his father. That's why he wasn't surprised when Blackbeard drowned him.

Lucius Spriggs’ fate is to question and be punished for it. Sisyphus was condemned to forever push that boulder up the hill, failing for all of eternity; Lucius was punished by an endless cycle of being held just on the edge of life, precariously clinging to a cliff face like Prometheus while his lungs are slowly clawed open by seawater.

The water hits his waist, his chest, his shoulders.

Maybe this is his way out. Maybe this is the way he finally manages to escape the purgatory that Blackbeard sealed him within.

Maybe this is the way he finally accepts his destiny.

Lucius sits down and lets the water close over his head.

-aletterinthenameofsanity, you're brave because they broke you (yet broken still you breathe)

So this fic came up and ripped my heart out of my chest. It has a happy ending, thank god, but it's probably the darkest fic in this series? It basically tackles all of Lucius' backstory in this 'verse (abusive childhood, guilt over running away and leaving his little sister behind, his borderline suicidal thoughts when he is kept in the trunk in the hold during Blackbeard's kraken-era, etc.) by putting him in the Gravy Basket and making him face the end. (It also has a killer little subplot about Jim and Archie fighting/killing god (Blackbeard) right as Olu, Pete, and Stede arrive back onboard.) The religious symbolism is INSANE in this one, not just in Blackbeard terms but also there's a sprinkling of greek myths and the like as well. A really great exploration of Lucius' trauma and what a darker/less comedic take on this storyline/the gravy basket could have ended up with (though thankfully still with love and kindness and community coming through at the end).

@polikate @possumsmushroom @yuenity @bricksbloggyplace

[soapbubbles511]

In S2 I want to learn how the crew ended up on the Revenge. Like was Stede checking up on the ship being built and started recruiting anyone who would come with him? What kind of desperate do you have to be to take him up on it? I'm not even sure they were all even pirates before this.

Jim & Olu - We have the most backstory for them. They're trying to get away from Spanish Jackie. They need an escape and with someone that they're fairly sure won't immediately hand them back to her. I'm not sure either of them has really worked on a ship before but figured that they're smart enough and it wouldn't matter on the Revenge.

Lucius - I don't know that he's ever worked on a ship before. I'm half convinced Stede hired Lucius when he thought it was going to be his family on the ship. He wanted someone to document their adventures. Then Lucius shows up and Stede's all "btw my family didn't want to come... we're going to be pirates now :D". Lucius is not amused but doesn't have other options.

Buttons - May have sailed with non-pirate ships before. He's an actual competent pirate but is getting older and is deeply weird. He's got the fangs because he's too old for hand-to-hand combat. Better pirate ships think he's starting to become a liability (and makes them less willing to tolerate his nude moonbathing and seagulls). On the Revenge he can be useful and do whatever weird things he wants.

Black Pete - A thoroughly mediocre pirate who thinks he should be captaining a ship. He's bounced around a bunch of ships and nobody really wants him. He may have been planning mutiny before he accepted the job. Pete figures a rich guy that has no clue what he's doing is a good way to get his own ship.

Roach - Seems to be actually competent enough for a better pirate ship. He likes the more violent side of pirating. As the cook/medic he'd be useful on plenty of ships. Stede seems like he'd like to eat fancier things than the typical pirate ship so maybe Roach wanted somewhere to show off his cooking skills.

Wee John - He may have worked on a mix of pirate and non-pirate ships in the past. An ok pirate that's getting on the older side for a pirate so doesn't have a lot of options.

Frenchie - We know he was in "service" before. I can imagine he was on a ship like the French party from ep 5 when it got raided by pirates and he joined up with them. Not sure he's a particularly good sailor/pirate but he's clever. He seems happy enough to play his little lute and scam some people instead of being on a real pirate ship.

The Swede - No idea how he wound up on the Revenge. I'm not sure he knows either.