#dynamic: flint hamilton

[john-silvers]

In the end, that's all I want - to walk away from the sea and find some peace.

[blacksails-rarepairs]

black sails rarepair week 2024: the week in review

a brief overview of the fics and art posted for rarepair week! there's a delightful array of work here--modern AUs and canonverse, comfort reads and belligerent sexual tension, repression and introspection, gen and queerplatonic and romantic and unrequited affections.

the event is now closed, but the fics & art posted as part of it can be read and appreciated at any time! comments, kudos, reblogs, etc. are highly encouraged!

huge thanks & all my gratitude to everyone who participated--it has been my honor to serve as your host <3

now: the rarepairs!

an introduction by Benja

rated T. Flint & Gates.

fascinating portrayal of Flint's early days as Flint in Nassau, from Gates's POV, with super sharp dialogue

The creation of Captain Flint, from Gates' perspective.

this is what you do at parties (right?) by sunset_waltz (@thenobleprincess)

rated T. Abigail Ashe/Idelle.

new college student Abigail meets-extremely-cute with local bartender Idelle. (nb: sunset_waltz's fics listed here are all set in the same modern & very queer/trans AU!)

Abigail is new in town, and Idelle is too pretty.

let me get this straight by ElectricKettle

rated M. Flint/Gates.

i'm nominating this fic for most apt use of the ao3 tag "Belligerent Sexual Tension" SERIOUSLY oooooough

Hal Gates is a man of moderation. He is not prone to impulse or hotheadedness. So why is it that this all goes out the window when it comes to a man named Flint?

i think it's magic (and i hope you'll agree) by sunset_waltz (@thenobleprincess)

rated T. Miranda Barlow/Madi.

meet!! cute!!! SO much chemistry

Miranda is Abigail's mom. Madi is her teacher.

a love lost or false by @van1lla-v1lla1n

rated T. Billy Bones/Charles Vane.

Jack Rackham reminiscing on the golden days and spinning tall tales about the love life of his buddy Charles Vane (rip).

I met Jack Rackham at a tavern once, long after the golden age of our kind, and he spun me a tale of a love lost or false, I knew not which, and I know not still to this day.

unspoken words (are preferred) by sunset_waltz (@thenobleprincess)

rated M. Bonny/Rackham/Vane but super multiship!

another installment in the author's rarepair-centric modern au, with so many fascinating poly character dynamics

Charles fucks up, and apologizing is hard.

post-XXVII by @kairennart

Flint/Vane art!!!!!! SUCH beautiful colors, amazing lovely expressions, have i mentioned that i'm in love with Flint's freckles BECAUSE. just go look at it <333

by the way (i forgive you) by sunset_waltz (@thenobleprincess)

rated M. Flint/Madi, Flint/Madi/Silver.

(modern au) Silver disappears, and Flint and Madi find each other as they grieve in his absence. & as if that weren't an amazing enough premise: BONUS OT3 AT THE END

After John Silver vanishes, Madi and Flint are left to their own devices--until he comes back.

under the stars and the sky by Veridissima (@thestagthatlovedthewolf)

rated T. Miranda Barlow & John Silver.

a very quiet and comforting middle-of-the-night Miranda-Silver interaction, with background Miranda/Flint/Hamilton/Madi/Silver. super compelling miranda-silver queerplatonic relationship

Miranda hears Silver walking past her bedroom door, and she can't help but follow him outside.

the unnoticed bulge by BilliesBud

rated M. Billy Bones/Charles Vane.

my wife's first fanfiction :''''''') a very tongue-in-cheek portrayal of a deeply repressed Charles Vane confused about why he's thirsting after Billy Bones

Billy living rent-free in Charles' head.

five times Howell was too blind to see what is right in front of him + the one time he wasn't by tahiri_veila (@twopointsinspace)

rated E. De Groot/Dr. Howell + unrequited Howell/Flint.

absolutely masterful portrayal of Howell's unrequited affection for Flint shifting to a requited friends-to-lovers situation with De Groot. (with bonus background silverflint)

"Welcome aboard." De Groot lowers his voice to a near-whisper. "Don't mind the captain's disgruntled mood. He may be a capricious bastard, but he's damn good at his job. The best, I'd say. You get used to his ways."

pourparler by @van1lla-v1lla1n

rated T. Max/Marion Guthrie.

i'll be honest this was mainly me thirsting after Harriet Walter. but don't you want to know what all those meetings between Max and Marion Guthrie were like! this is that.

Max meets with Marion Guthrie for initial negotiations.

joy, and music, and peace by Benja

unrated. Eme/Madi.

ough be still my heart this one is SO sleepy-sweet--literally sleepy like Madi and Eme have a cozy little rest together, a lovely moment of safety and security.

A moment of rest.

[panicroomsammy]

Good Omens S2 through the lens of Black Sails

At the end of Good Omens season two, Aziraphale talks with a seemingly reasonable representative of the hegemonic power and decides that he can best effect the change he desires by working within the system. Viewers are positioned to see Crowley’s perspective - that Crowley and Aziraphale should run away together - as sympathetic through the framing of the show and to therefore see that Aziraphale is wrong. I am not the first to propose that Crowley is wrong as well, but I will be using Black Sails to argue my point.

Throughout Black Sails the characters are confronted with the same (false) dichotomy that Aziraphale and Crowley face. The plot of the show is set in motion when Flint is sent to help a young lord, Thomas Hamilton, to address the issue of pirates in Nassau. His plan is to grant the pirates pardons and bring them back into the nation rather than killing them as has been the policy of England, however he is still working within the system. While working with Thomas, Flint becomes romantically involved with both Thomas and Thomas’s wife, Miranda. England cannot abide by the plan to pardon the pirates, as a hegemonic power cannot allow any challenge to its power - no matter how small - to succeed. When the nature of Thomas, Flint, and Miranda’s relationship is discovered, it is used to put an end to their plan as this relationship is also a challenge to societal norms that England cannot allow. This attempt to change the system from within results in Thomas’s “death” and Flint and Miranda being cast out. Flint and Miranda now transition to running away from the hegemonic power rather than attempting to change it from within.

Even just this beginning parallels Good Omens in many ways. Crowley is cast out of heaven for asking questions in the beginning, akin to being cast out of the British Empire for questioning their policies. This positions the two powers (heaven and England) as both intolerable of the expression of subversive views. This also means that we know from the beginning there is no changing heaven from the inside, as if this was possible Crowley would not have been cast out. There is also the aspect of Crowley and Aziraphale’s relationship being considered unacceptable by heaven and hell. Queer polyamory is unacceptable to Great Britain, a relationship between a demon and an angel is unacceptable to heaven and hell.

Flint and Miranda now live in Nassau, a place away from the hegemonic power of England. They spend ten years there, away from the hegemonic power and having successfully run away. Flint has built a legend of himself as a pirate to be feared as a means of securing this existence.

This is where Crowley and Aziraphale are at the beginning of season two - they have successfully gotten heaven and hell to leave them alone, as heaven and hell view them as dangerous due to their failed executions.

Black Sails begins with Flint attempting to secure Nassau further with means to defend itself from England, but Miranda attempts to betray him, asking for a pardon for him so that he may rejoin the empire. This clearly parallels the way that the metatron told Aziraphale he could reinstate Crowley as an angel, and Aziraphale agreed. Flint rejected Miranda’s attempt to procure a pardon for him, and Crowley rejected Aziraphale’s offer to reinstate him as an angel.

Despite this initial rejection, in the second season Miranda convinces Flint to attempt reconciliation with England, once again attempting to obtain pardons for all the pirates of Nassau. She tells Flint “there is no life here, there is no love here, there is no joy here” in regards to Nassau. Despite having run away from the empire, their precarious existence is not a happy one.

Others have already written wonderful meta on this, which I am drawing upon, but this is where Crowley and Aziraphale are at the beginning of season two. Throughout season two Crowley and Aziraphale do not have the dynamic that they had for the 6,000 years prior. We never see them sit down for a meal together or have a lengthy conversation. One or the other of them is constantly running off to do something on their own. They are together, but this is precarious and we are introduced to it as it becomes most precarious with the arrival of Gabriel.

Flint and Miranda go to Charlestown, Virginia to speak with an old friend and attempt to gain pardons for the pirates again. The friend demands that in exchange for the pardons Flint publicly confess to all of his crimes, including having loved Thomas. Miranda is outraged by this and is killed for expressing her outrage.

Flint and Miranda attempted to return to the empire and work to change it from the inside once more after they realized that they could not find the fulfillment they desired in running away from it. This did not work and ended quite badly. We can anticipate that of course Aziraphale returning to heaven and attempting to change it from the inside will not go as he plans either.

In response to Miranda’s death, Flint wages all-out war on the British Empire. Meanwhile, another man working within the system succeeded in obtaining pardons for the pirates of Nassau. The two of them speak and Flint says

Thomas Hamilton fought to introduce the pardons to make the point that he could change England, and he was killed for it. His wife and I went to Charlestown to argue for the pardons to make peace with England, and she was killed for it. England has shown herself to me, gnarled and grey and spiteful of anyone who would find happiness under her rule. I’m through seeking anything from England except her departure from my island.

This shows that Flint has accepted that it is not possible to truly change England from the inside. I believe season three of Good Omens will be about Aziraphale coming to this realization regarding heaven.

Another theme that is addressed over and over again in Black Sails is that if one loves one place they will eventually have to learn to love the whole world. The pirates occupy Nassau and begin fighting solely for Nassau. Over the course of the story this expands to the entire West Indies, the entire New World, and towards the end there is discussion of the world as a whole. The pirates also gain allies in a group of Maroons living on an island not far away. The Maroons are governed by a queen who is initially wary of the pirates, but Flint convinces her that the only way to ensure the safety of her people is to defeat England. She loves her people and the place she has made for them, but she was running away from the empire and came to realize that this was not sustainable. Even if you run away, the empire cannot stand even that and it will come for you.

This means that while Aziraphale is wrong to attempt to fix heaven from the inside, Crowley is also wrong in his attempt to run from them. God is by definition omnipresent; there is no running away successfully. Hegemonic powers cannot allow things that challenge them to exist, and we have see this already in the metatron taking Aziraphale back to heaven and therefore neutralizing the threat he and Crowley present.

So what is the third option? I believe Crowley already said it at the end of season one: all of us against all of them. Humanity against heaven and hell. This was not a fight it was possible for humanity to win at the end of season one, but I believe now it is. Crowley and Aziraphale were shown to perform an extremely powerful miracle together in the show, which is what caused heaven to take interest in them again in the first place. Heaven and hell are also both now missing the beings most capable of effectively carrying out an actual war, as Gabriel and Beelzebub have left. This may just be the Black Sails fan in me, but I think that there is a real chance we might get a story of rejecting both working within the system and running away from the system next season.

[etoilesombre]

Series: Another Troy to Burn

Way back in the day, before I had even finished watching Black Sails, I became totally convinced that Silver and Flint could have been fucking for the whole show and their dynamic would still work, and it wouldn’t necessarily change the outcome. That is the premise of this series. It is canon compliant perhaps to a fault, and evolves in many of the same ways as the show in terms of tone. As such - do not expect it to hurt any less. This is a love story. That does not mean it's happy.

---

This has now been my baby, my pride and joy for a couple years and I'm re-dedicating myself to finishing it. The first two parts are complete and work as a stand alone. A million thank yous to @jaynovz, who made this incredible moodboard and has been an indispensable support for all things writing. They also recorded podfics of Part One and Part Two, which I highly recommend, impeccable voice acting, they truly channel the boys.

[image id: a collage of photos arranged into a moodboard in a dark color palette. includes photos of: a promo shot of Flint shoving Silver against the rocks from Black Sails episode 1.2, Flint drunk at a table holding a bottle of rum in Eleanor's tavern from 1.7, Thomas Hamilton, Miranda Hamilton and James McGraw (slightly off screen) standing in the Hamilton house from 2.5, a shot of the warship sailing away with Flint's flag raised from 2.1, a flintlock pistol next to a bottle of rum on a wooden deck, Silver smirking smugly at Flint at the end of 2.1, a profile of a majestic black horse, Silver on the warship window seat post-amputation from 2.10, a shot of the Urca gold in the hold of a ship from the end of 2.10, ominous looking island cliffs, a shot of the Port Royal bay with several tallships in harbor, Silver facing away from the viewer belowdecks in 3.1 holding a guiderope in one hand and his prosthetic leg in another, a promo shot for s3 of Flint standing in an ocean of blood with his sword unsheathed, ships and the British flag aflame behind him. /end id]

---

The poem from which the series takes its title, because I think it's perfect for Flint:

No Second Troy, by William Butler Yeats

Why should I blame her that she filled my days With misery, or that she would of late Have taught to ignorant men most violent ways, Or hurled the little streets upon the great, Had they but courage equal to desire? What could have made her peaceful with a mind That nobleness made simple as a fire, With beauty like a tightened bow, a kind That is not natural in an age like this, Being high and solitary and most stern? Why, what could she have done, being what she is? Was there another Troy for her to burn?

---

One more bit: there is a playlist for this series! I will never be over them, and here are all the songs that make me cry.

[heycarrots]

Miranda to Flint: 1X07 “The door is open. I’ve opened it for you.”

Flint to Silver: 3X05 “Thank you for opening that door.”

Miranda to Flint: 1X07 “There is a life in Boston. There is joy there, and music, and peace.”

Silver to Flint: 4X10 “I see a life for myself with her, and I will not live it wondering if tomorrow is the day your nightmare finally takes her away for good.”

THE PARALLELS!!!

So most of season two sets up the “strange partners” dynamic with Silver, which lets him step into the Thomas Hamilton space with Flint.

Most people point to season 4 in terms of SilverFlint shipping dynamics, but I’m going to say that the major setup for “romantic sexual tension subtext” was actually in season two, because he’s being directly compared to Thomas.

HOWEVER . . .

Silver is also VERY much Miranda. And throughout season 3, we are shown this parallel, as well. Flint sees it, too. He isn’t haunted by the ghost of Miranda, reminding him what she was to him before telling him that he is not alone. That’s his subconscious. He knows this. He’s telling himself that if he actually wants to live, if he wants a tether, Silver is BOTH his Thomas and his Miranda. He is the balance of the two and it’s why James is so drawn to him, while at the same time, “Flint” is repelled.

Not only was James the undoing of Thomas and Miranda, they were VERY MUCH so, probably even more, the undoing of James. They gave birth to Captain Flint.

Flint sees both in Silver and it’s that internal push and pull, the abject terror of vulnerability and the very real emotional and physical gravitational pull that Silver has that provide much of the dynamic through the mid-section of season 3.

Season 4 . . . Season 4 he’s gone. He’s blissfully in love with Silver. He gives into it, overcoming his fear, in his fireside confession to Silver, and there is peace, FINALLY, peace, that we see in him in season 4. Whether it’s because he’s determined to die in battle, as well, or not, it’s also because he’s decided to give back to make a better world, however naive that notion might be in terms of actual viability, for the person he loves most in the world. Silver.

“You are the best of us.”

He loves him so much and in such a pure, selfless way, it’s almost overwhelming, James’s capacity for it.

That’s it. That’s all. I’m going to cook, drink wine, and cry about it.

[alexwatchesshows]

Black Sails X review (S2E2)

Spoilers for up to and including E10.

"Strange pairs, Lieutenant, they can achieve the most unexpected things."- Thomas Hamilton

Billy's back! I mean, he's being tortured, but he is still technically back. Unfortunately, because my brain only ever wants to cause me pain, my first thought was of what he's going to go through when he finds out Gates is dead.

We go from that awful biblical torture, to Thomas Hamilton reading the Bible (I want to say Genesis, but I truly know so little about it), and I'll get to the flashbacks later but the way the camera pans over to Flint as Thomas reads "it is not good that he is alone" just breaks my heart.

Anyway, first to Nassau, where shit's getting real. Ned Low's quartermaster is mad at him because he did massively fuck up with the blood on the crates and all that, but Low's violent, vulgar humour and whatever the hell that personality is has somehow won over his men. It's a bit like the season 1 Flint/Gates dynamic, in that Low has convinced his men to go along with his bullshit under the promise of some kind of passive payout, while painting the logical quartermaster as some kind of villains for pointing out flaws in the plan. In this situation, however, the captain seems to be completely irredemable and his plan for massive riches is to endanger and exploit a teenage girl. It's a much harder sell for the audience than attacking an empire. Missing the support of his crew, Meeks seeks support from Eleanor, who is less than happy about her reputation as someone who "(deposes) captains", given what it did to her the last time she did it. I mean, as it was with Vane, it would probably be a good idea to get rid of Low, just on the basis of him being kind of evil and also a massive dickhead, but, again, looking at where Vane is now, I can see why she wouldn't want to risk it. Speaking of Vane, he has somehow been talked into attending the consortium meetings, even if all he does during them is smoke and look general detached from everything. Baby steps, I guess.

Vane's attendence is the only thing that's going well for Eleanor and the consortium, though. The whole shipping plan that was presented as the solution to everything last season is barely working, and, even worse for Eleanor, it's her family name that's the problem. Vane's reputation is proving useful, but, as he (at least feels that he) holds all the power, it's down to him to decide whether Eleanor and her consortium can coninue to hold any power in Nassau, which is not ideal, because he's unreliable at best. Still, he's not entirely wrong when he refers to Eleanor as "a tyrant too weak to enforce her own tyranny". It's a harsh interpretation, sure, but it's not necessarily fully incorrect. Maybe it's this accusation of weakness that pushes her to take a harder stance with Ned Low. That was probably a bad place to start, though, because that man does not care about anything and angering him only results in further violence. Like, a lot of violence.

This level of violence is probably what causes Eleanor to relent and go to Vane for help. She knows that she can't appeal to him with her power, as he's already expressed his disdain for her "tyranny", so she appeals to his "concern" for her. Honestly, these two just keep making each other worse, but maybe if Ned Low's downfall can be brought about as a result of their dysfunctional relationship, maybe it's worth it. And then there's the "prize" Eleanor mentions. Poor Abigail Ashe.

And while violent shit is going down at Eleanor's bar thing, soft, romantic shit is going down at the brothel. I love this plotline so much-- the way it shows Anne slowly coming to terms with her sexuality and processing what it means for her and Jack is just so well-done in all its complexity and,,, emotion. Oh god I love them all so much. This is also possibly the first relationship in the show that is portrayed in a genuinely romantic way, and it's a sapphic relationship, which is one of the many reasons I love this show. It would also have been so easy to just take this whole Anne/Max/Jack dynamic and just put Jack in the role of jealous boyfriend and portray Anne and Max's relationship as just cheating, but my beloved Black Sails had better plans than that. Instead, we show Anne's internal conflict between her feelings for Jack and what she feels she owes him and her feelings for Max-- ones she probably hasn't let herself acknowledge before. Similarly, we all know by now that Jack isn't the kind of person to cause a massive scene and confront the other two, nor does he necessarily even want to. Instead, he just turns up to talk about his business plans. I mean, those are some good ideas, but there's a time and a place. They could also have had Jack go down the route of just completely ignoring the relationship, diminishing the importance/significance of sapphic relationships, but instead we get his wonderful reaction: "Darling, I can understand why you wouldn't want to tell me about this, but please know that all I have ever wanted is for you to be happy. Come to bed when you're through." Just everything about it, from the tenderness of the darling, to the acknowledgement of the conflict Anne must be feeling, and the way his love for her just radiates off him. I don't think I've ever loved Jack (or Anne for that matter) as much as in this moment.

Now to the Walrus crew (technically not on the Walrus but I can't be asked to differentiate at this point). Our unlikely couple are finally getting their shit together and making each other worse. Silver is still asserting that he does not want to be a pirate, and is simply sticking with the crew for the sake of Flint's get rich quick scheme. Flint is so committed to being a pirate that he's going to take down the british empire... somehow. These two are obviously going to work so well together. Both of them are using manipulation as their tactic of choice, but on different levels. Flint knows what he wants and goes directly for leadership. He starts with a slightly misguided attempt at small talk about books with Dufresne (he's so me fr), then turns the conversation into a confession, as if he believes that he can convince Dufresne that he's really really sorry and then Dufresne will just let him be captain again. Don't get me wrong, I do believe Flint when he says the guilt is killing him, but I just don't thing D is the best audience for this. Flint also knows this, as he (maybe) goes for a different tactic. It's never made explicit whether Flint meant to deceive or advise Dufresne. I'm sure his intentions weren't purely to help Dufresne, but he might have genuinely been advising Dufresne for the reasons he believed-- that if Dufresne had successfully taken a prize, his position would have been much more secure. I think it's much like the scene with Billy, neither we nor, possibly, Flint, know what his intentions were. Either way, Dufresne goes ahead with Flint's idea, one that De Groot approves of from a sailing perspective, which really says something about Flint's talent not just as a leader of men, but as a sailor. It really makes you think about what would have happened had he not had to leave London for whatever those reasons were.

As Dufresne's mission to capture a merchant ship goes on, it becomes harder to believe that Flint has the crew's best interests at heart. He narrates the whole thing to Silver and clearly knows what Dufresne should be doing, but makes no effor to advise him on this. As a result, the attack quickly goes downhill. Dufresne also runs into another problem-- aside from his lack of experience-- which is that he doesn't have Flint's notoriety and nor does he have the charisma to make up for it. It's probably this that tips the merchant captain off and gives him the confidence to call for his crew to resist. Then Dufresne's lack of experience also comes through as he doesn't know how to handle the crew in such a situation. Controlling a crew under fortunate circumstances is one thing, but, as we've seen with Flint, retaining their loyalty under hardship and chaos is something else entirely. Dufresne took control of the Walrus crew after a patch of difficulty under Flint, then found fortune under his time as leader but, as soon as he has to deal with something like this, he crumbles. As Mr Logan points out "no one is in fucking charge" on the ship-- Dufresne is too stubborn to give up on a mission that the rest of the crew have lost faith in, De Groot, voice of wisdom though he may be, doesn't hold much authority as a leader, and Flint is still disgraced. Ultimately, Flint is essentially decided as the best option, helped by his willingness to immediately order an effective retreat. Then he heads off to the captain's quarters with all the confidence in the world. The vote hasn't even happened yet, but he knows how to lead well enough to know exactly what he's just done.

At the end of the day, he's still nice to Dufresne, reassuring him that the vote was close-- Flint isn't the type to gloat, at least not in such an over way, and Dufresne could still be a powerful ally. And, most importantly, Flint has a new jacket.

Silver, meanwhile, is taking a different approach to winning back his position on the crew. Honestly, this showcases what I love about S1/2 Silver: he's scrappy. He's not necessarily inherently a team player, but he knows how to work with and against people to ensure his own survival, and, unlike (sorry) Flint, he does it in such an entertaining way that he also ensures that he's well-liked. Flint, god bless his autistic heart, has absolutely no idea what the hell Silver is playing at, and Silver gives him some kind of story about his past. Now, given Silver's track record of lying his ass off, we have no idea whether or not this is true, but, regardless, it's the only insight we've got into his life pre-merchant vessel. Honestly, it doesn't tell us a whole lot that we don't know-- well-off men were rarely conscripted onto merchant vessels as crew members-- but it still fleshes out the sense of powerlessness and potential tragedy in Silver's past. Either way, as the days go by, Silver's ploy of playing the men off against each other starts yielding some results, and, as Flint-- who he has formed an uneasy alliance with-- comes back into power, his survival becomes almost guaranteed.

And now we get more London flashabcks, i.e. backstory of Flint's previous unlikely partnership. In this partnership, however, Flint/McGraw is the realist, and Thomas is the dreamer. He's the one who tells McGraw that, in approaching Nassau, he should forget the pirates. Sure, he's not necessarily wrong in framing piracy as a symptom of a wider issue, but very few men, let alone members of the nobility, would have had the optimism and insight to take that approach. McGraw still tries to point out the flaws in the rest of the plan, listing the extensive resources that would be needed to establish stability on Nassau, and still Thomas is unfazed. I'm not sure whether he's being incredily smart or incredibly stupid about this, but honestly I support him.

Then we get a little insight into the other side of McGraw's life-- his relationships within the navy. It's clear that Admiral Hennesy holds him in some regard, and sees his potential (honestly, he's giving father-figure vibes in this scene, not necessarily good ones though), but, because of his class status, his peers don't hold him in that level of regard. This is yet another problem with the empire/civilisation that we haven't explored much yet, but classism is clearly a massive problem in both James' life and British society as a whole. Then, as the taunting continues, we see what we recognise as Flint's kind of passion and violence arise in McGraw, and a fight breaks out. Hell, he even looks more like the man we know as Flint as he gets roughed up and even gets some blood on him (a key aspect of Flint's appearance). I don't blame him for reacting, but Hennesy isn't wrong when he expresses about "the thing that arises in (James) when passions are aroused [where] ... good sense escaped [him]", and what it could become when "exposed to extremes", which we have already seen with Gates, and which I can't help but think is going to make some kind of comeback in episodes to come.

[cptnflints]

about

em. they/them. millennial. scorpio. cql, tgcf & shl blog i also have black sails gay pirate brain rot i'm a villain apologist, i'm pro shixiong-fucker rights, love me a gay pirate i make things sometimes

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yin yu and quan yizhen 

xie wang and his yifu issues 

nieyao or 3zun

captain flint getting railed by thomas hamilton 

being choked by valley master wen kexing 

eming being best boy

why jgy should have killed more people, actually 

captain flint being the character of all time

the homoeroticism of being obsessed with your percieved enemy

any dynamic where the characters are divorced despite never being married

DO NOT talk to me about SVSSS unless it's about moshang

[daeneryssansa]

“And He formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed life into his nostrils and man became a living soul. And He beheld all He had created, and He said it was very good. But the Lord beheld the man made in his likeness and He beheld his solitude and He said, ‘It is not good that he is alone.’” And the moral of the story? Everybody needs a partner.

[john-silvers]

Know no shame

[theghostinthemoon]

Hi I just want to say that I love Miranda, Thomas and James very much

[citrinekay]

can we just talk for a moment about how Thomas literally quotes the story of the creation of Adam and Eve to James and then proceeds to draw a comparison between that story and the two of them??!! Like God there are a lot of reasons to love Thomas and his insane brand of progressivism but for me, this has got to be his most top tier galaxy brain Hot Take of all time to quite literally label James as his Eve, his partner in birthing an entirely new nation into the world. I am just obsessed with the fact that while pretty much everyone in this time period - and to this very day - uses the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, to decry homosexuality, Thomas Hamilton, in 1705, looked at that story and said, yes this is a story for me, about me, about me and my lover and the beauty of our partnership/what we can accomplish together. And that does not even touch the implications on James' side of things. Cast as Eve, the weaker half of the dynamic who succumbed to Adam's suggestion to bite into the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, James is initially portrayed a youthful and almost innocent creature despite his incredulity/cynicism toward Thomas' plans; and like Eve, he eventually has his eyes opened beyond what God/Society finds acceptable, led there by his lover, the man he trusted above everyone else.

So much has been written about the "the Fall" and the "Original Sin" but I honestly haven't viewed the story of Adam and Eve as a tragedy in years. As tragic as Thomas and Flint's story is, I can't view it as a complete tragedy either. What's better? To never know any pain or suffering and thus never know how blessed and happy you truly are, or to be fully aware of all the joy and love and beauty because you have the context of agony and ugliness? To never recognize the injustices of the world because you are swaddled in an innocent bubble of privilege, or to be completely awake and wholly autonomous in your informed knowledge separate from what society tries to tell you? There is no empowerment in living a life within someone else's parameters, even if it spares you a little suffering, and you can't really know real joy if you've never been sad. At least in my opinion. I think Flint would agree with me. Anyway, Black Sails writers, c'mere .... come here, I just wanna talk <3

[etoilesombre]

👀 + 🧠

For the fanfic ask game:

👀 Do you have any WIPs that you would never let see the light of day? If yes, what are they about? : Nah, I would post basically any heinous shit I would write, especially in this fandom. Know no shame etc.

🧠 What’s an idea you have that you can’t quite call a WIP yet? Oh dear. Oh, my lovely mutual who asked this question, I do not know you well enough to know if it is fair to subject you to this, but I'M GONNA ANYWAY. Awful grimdark Flint/Rogers. HEAR ME OUT. (but under the cut, bc while I may not have shame I have decency. It's pretty thoroughly spun out, you have been warned.)

So I think Rogers knew about Flint and Thomas Hamilton. He knew what he was doing when he said it that way. He's exactly the sort of petty gossipy London society person who would have heard rumors, if there were rumors to hear, when he was looking into going to Nassau. I can imagine a world in which he gets obsessed with Flint. Because Rogers is consciously trying to project himself as what Flint just effortlessly is, and is VERY tied up with appearances and probably buys into a bunch of toxic masculinity stuff, and probably had some idea of what Flint would be, and then Flint showed up and was -gestures-. And Rogers can't stop Thinking about it, can't reconcile what he knows with who Flint is, can't stop picturing shit.

Flint of course would not give one half of one fuck about Rogers, fucking awful boring pretentious piece of shit. But, he knows Rogers knows, and that's interesting just because there are so few people left in the world who do. So he has like, filed it away for future knowledge, whatever.

BUT. AU diverging from canon when they think Silver is dead. Flint goes on some sort of stupid negotiation/mission/whatever because he's back in sad broken self-destructive burn the world mode. He gets captured and imprisoned by Rogers. Who, again, is Fascinated, and can't resist coming to see him and talking to him. Flint is in a horrible fucked up burn the world headspace because he thinks he's lost Silver too.

So fic would be basically an escalating series of conversations/encounters, because Flint immediately realizes Rogers is Fascinated and uses it, and they play awful escalating psychosexual power games with each other. Flint is very, *very* scary mean dom in this, has big Chained Feral Beast energy. And Rogers sure does keep coming back for it every day. This is very much one of those scenarios of things getting weird in isolation, and the dynamics within the space slowly shift until, while Flint is nominally prisoner, Rogers has given all of his power away and been completely broken and also addicted to it.

I think it would end/culminate with Rogers finally unchaining Flint and letting Flint fuck him, and it's awful brutal terrible and Flint makes him basically admit to a bunch of horrible shit about himself and what he wants. And then Flint snaps his neck and walks out.

Now Woodes Rogers has all of the sex appeal of a soggy day old sandwich, and I spin all of this out here for the world to see because I am probably never going to sit down and prioritize writing something that is going to make me think of him that way in detail. But I COULD MAKE IT WORK and its been stuck in my head for months. And I really just want to write Flint being as terrible as possible, just one time.

[buildarocketboys]

flinthamilton baths. that's all

YES. 

Big bath and James leans back on Thomas and Thomas washes his hair and runs his hands through it and James fucking purrs because it feels so good.

Also (maybe not in canon? but maybe because Thomas is a ballsy motherfucker) that scene in the hour before bel and freddie are together and bel just casually goes into freddie’s bathroom while he’s having a bath bc that’s what bffs do, right? RIGHT? That but with Thomas and James. Pre-relationship, Thomas making James come in while he’s having a bath (there are bubbles...idk did they have bubble bath in the 1700s?? but there are bubbles) and discuss Nassau plans while he’s just chilling and James is there having a fucking coronary. 

[noknowshame]

The dynamic of every Silver/Flint/Hamilton fic:

[jaynovz]

flintmadi headcanons, yes please? if you feel like :eyes:

Oh yay I just talked about this with another person in DMs! So here ya go:

Well as far as sex because might as well just go there immediately lmao-- for BDSM Stuff, I headcanon Flint as a switch and Silver is ofc the subbiest sub to ever sub. But Madi is definitely a domme. 

Anyway something something Flint gets properly dommed for the first time since the Hamiltons 😌😌😌

As far as sweet and soft things go: imagine Flint cradling Madi in his arms while she holds a book in her lap and she turns the page for them as they both read. Also just book club in general, book club all day. These big old nerds sitting over tea talking passionately about literature <3 <3 Madi making Flint grow his hair back out, running her hands through it, braiding shells and other pretty adornments into it. 

Flint just really needs someone to be soft with him, yknow? I feel like he's probably extremely touch starved. And Madi knows all about tending to rather than being the one tended to, so she would know the effect of like an affectionate cheek caress, or head scritches, or a shoulder massage when war meetings and stuff run late. 

I imagine them being super, super supportive of each other in their ideals. But also Madi wouldn't let him withdraw emotionally. She would be supportive in that way too, which is very important; she’d make him talk about what’s going on in his head, and listen patiently. 

She's a tether, as is shown in canon. A tether to the light that both Flint and Silver need. I feel like she balances them out. Balances their relationship out.

As far as power dynamics, I feel like Flint would be relieved to give over power to Madi. He can trust her to be like a good benevolent leader. I think leading for him has been a very toxic experience in general. He carries so much guilt over the things he’s done, and he’s honestly too Machiavellian sometimes to be a good leader.

It's just a huge release of tension to be told what to do by someone you trust even if it's not sexual. Just like "okay James now it's time for bed. Undress, come here." And then y'know, snuggles.

What I’m saying is that Madi is the most emotionally healthy in the ot3 and she knows how to just Say Things. She expresses herself clearly and tells others what needs to happen, but she’s also compassionate. Anyway I love her to pieces, she’s gonna show the lads how to talk to each other.

(Bonus: I like OT4 Dynamics with Thomas, who is also a balancing influence. Thomas and Madi, the adults in the room who make the pirate bastards deal with their trauma. Oh and Thomas is also a dom in case u were wondering LMAO)

[be-not-afeared]

Black Sails fic recs

Working titles: 12 fics for christmas? 12 days of ficmas? 12 fics none of which actually have anything to do with christmas?

OKAY, so I love nothing more than a fic rec post, and I’ve seen a few Black Sails rec posts floating around but they mostly seem to be a couple of years old and they all recommend a similar bunch of fics (and deservedly so! they are all amazing!). But I thought I would make one to highlight some newer or less shouted-about fics, because I may have only been here for a couple of months but jfc there is so much talent in this fandom and more of it deserves to be hyped. 

So, here are 12 of my favourite fics for the 12 days of christmas! (i.e. an excuse to put an arbitrary number cap on the list or we’d be here all day)

The majority of these are Silver/Flint and the ones that aren’t still all feature Silver prominently because that boy owns my soul, sorry for who I am as a person.

we should rip it straight out by minormendings

45K (Silver/Madi, Silver/Flint, Flint/Thomas)

Madi has always wondered if Silver understands what is between him and Flint as well as she. To her, it has always been obvious, from the way the two of them had fit together, had worried about each other, had acted as one. She had tried to bring it up with Silver back when they were together. But Silver had shaken her off, too enmired in the idea that he or Flint would prove each other’s downfall. Or perhaps just unwilling to open his eyes to the fact that he had loved Flint.

It was, unfortunately for the both of them, even more obvious after the thing between them had broken. Just as Silver had thrown away the war out of love for her, Flint had let Silver take away the war rather than kill him.

God. What a group the three of them were, showing love by betrayal.

Post-canon. Madi and Flint find their way back to Silver.

This fic diverges from canon right at the end of the 4x10; Silver has Flint held in a cell in Port Royal and Thomas delivered to him rather than taking him straight to the plantation. It is a BEAUTIFUL character study of how Flint and Madi could both come to forgive Silver, and has a great FlintMadi dynamic too. It also centres Madi’s struggle between wanting to provide for her people and wanting to experience the freedom of piracy, and fleshes out Julius’ character in a way the show never did. 

we can lose and call it living by I_wouldnt_be_one_of_them

31K (Silver/Flint/Thomas, Silver/Flint, Flint/Thomas)

It's been twelve years since everything fell apart, and John Silver is settled in New England. He has a nice house and a job he likes, and he's gotten used to the loneliness. It's a good life, he thinks, but of course that's cast into doubt when James Flint and Thomas Hamilton show up to find closure and, apparently, to see whether he's happy.

This is an inverse of the ‘silver arrives on flint and thomas’ doorstep’ trope and has Flint and Thomas instead being the ones to interrupt Silver, who is living a sad and lonely existence post-series. I love the ThomasSilver dynamic here. And this Silver feels so true to canon he makes me want to WEEP.

Tell me we're dead and I'll love you even more by Craftnarok

21K (Silver/Flint)

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.

All of Craftnarok’s fics are amazing but I am particularly drawn to this one; it’s set 10 years post-series and is a delightfully angsty exploration of how Flint and Silver could find their way back to each other in a scenario in which Thomas wasn’t at the plantation. It doesn’t let Silver off easy and I love that.

armed with the past and the will by whimsicalimages

3K (Silver/Madi, Madi & Julius)

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.

Post-series, Julius teaches Madi how to fight. This fic is BEAUTIFUL - give me anything that centres Madi post-canon - and it explores Madi’s relationship with both Julius and Silver so well in so few words. 

Always In Season by mycapeisplaid

60K (Silver/Flint, past Flint/Thomas, past Silver/Madi)

Towering sand dunes, crystal-clear water, miles of forest, vineyards, orchards, and very spotty cellular service -- John Silver finds himself in a part of the state he's never been before and decides to take on seasonal work. Meanwhile, back from his yearly wintering in Florida, James Flint thinks that perhaps he'll take on a new business venture, even though it means he might have to interact with people other than his two close friends. Their summer employment fosters a friendship that could become something more. Like construction season in Michigan, the two must navigate through their own obstacles in order to seek an alternative route toward happiness.

This is an AU and so much fun!! Silver finds himself in Michigan and takes on some seasonal work at Guthrie Dunes. The whole cast features and the setting just WORKS SO WELL. And this Flint feels brilliantly in character despite the difference in setting.

to make a life by gone_girl

53K (Max/Anne, Max & Silver)

“What am I going to do with your name?” Max asks, a little incredulous.

“Whatever you want,” the salesman says. “Didn’t you want something real?”

Max heard a story once about the importance of answering questions like that carefully. If something emerges from the forest and asks for your name, don’t give it up, the story went. Offer only what you know you can live without. She’s never heard a story that tells her what to do when something emerges from the forest and offers its name to you.

I literally only finished this this morning but holy shit this fic is amazing, it’s a Max-centric AU set in Missouri the early 00s and it’s all about found family and building community and platonic love and it has a brilliant SilverMadi dynamic. And there just aren’t enough fics out there that focus on Max & Silver!! 

the straight walk home by vowelinthug

73K (Silver/Flint)

Let me tell you a story, about a vaquero named Vasquez…

Obviously vowelinthug’s fics are recc’d all the time and rightly so as they are AMAZING, but one that I don’t see featured as often as the more prominent ones is this incredible Western!AU. It’s 73K guys!! It adapts the canon narrative into the Western setting SO well!! It has background Vane/Billy which I was not at all sure about going in but just WORKS!! Go read it.

The Truth about Eros by Aisalynn

21K (Silver/Flint, Silver/Madi, Flint/Thomas)

Silver understood one thing very well.

Being Fated did not mean you were safe.

It did not mean you were loved.

This one is hot off the press! I am not normally a fan of soulmate AUs but this is such an interesting take on the trope, and the world building fits around the polyamory theme of the show really effectively! And it is SO well written.

With Nothing on My Tongue by RosieTwiggs

13K (Silver/Flint, 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."

An incredibly well written (and angsty! read the tags!) Jewish!Silver character study. This one has really stayed with me.

Maybe in Another Life by samedifference61

31K (Silver/Flint/Madi, Flint/Madi, Silver/Flint, Silver/Madi)

At the rail of a ship James doesn’t command, they stand shoulder to shoulder.

“John still thinks you’re dead,” James states, because it’s something that needs to be said aloud before they continue.

With eyes unblinking toward the rolling sea, Madi says, “And he still thinks you should be dead.”

James’ lip curls in anger. The wounds of betrayal are too fresh for either to say anymore.

Canon-divergent from 4x09, this is a brilliant MadiFlint centric fic exploring their relationship post Silver’s betrayal, and how he could find his way back to them both whilst acknowledging the weight of his actions.

in a vault of starlight by whimsicalimages

7K (Silver/Madi/Flint/Thomas)

The distance between Nassau and Savannah can be measured as: six hundred and thirteen nautical miles, five thousand pounds’ worth of pearls, or four extraordinary lifetimes.

Alternatively: in the aftermath, Madi writes her own story.

There aren’t enough Madi centric fics out there! This one is a lovely extension of canon with a great MadiSilver dynamic in particular.

the aftershocks remain by pdameron

31K (Silver & Miranda, Silver/Flint)

For as long as he can remember, John Silver has been able to see ghosts. He has no trouble keeping this secret from Flint - until Charlestown. Until Miranda.

Again all of pdameron’s fics are brilliant but I loooove this SilverMiranda centric one, plus who doesn’t love a ghost!au.