#j rewatches black sails

[naivety]

john silver is like if a dog chewed through its own leg to escape a trap but the trap is actually somebody just like. holding his hand

[kiiat]

hey man how are the hauntings

[sirtadcooper]

I was tagged by: @matbaynton - thank you! <3

Tag someone you want to know AND/OR some of your besties.

This turned into a monster of a thing so I'm sticking it under a cut!

Favourite colour: I am rubbish at this question. I love various colours in various contexts, but at the moment I am really gravitating towards greens. Green is a colour I haven't paid much attention to before, but for some reason over the last few months I have taken an interest in it. I even bought a solid green jumper!

Last song: When Things Explode by Unkle. It's a song I first heard on an episode of Person of Interest and it's now on one of my YouTube music playlists. Takes me right back!

Last movie: I had to check my Letterboxd for this - that's how often I'm watching films at the moment! It was the 1995 version of Persuasion that I rewatched at the end of August. A film I only discovered recently but has become one of those instant comforting favourites.

Currently watching: Oh heck - I'm struggling to keep track, there are so many! I'm watching The English at the moment. Also Outsiders series 2, Taskmaster series 16, New Girl (on season 2), This Farming Life series 6 with my dad on a Sunday morning, All Creatures Great and Small series 4, Fletchers' Family Farm series 2, Schitt's Creek with @phantomviola (on season 5), The Musketeers (series 2) and Black Books (series 3) with @userdjarin and who could forget Our Flag Means Death season 2 which has taken over my brain! Along with all that I squeezed in a Primeval series 2 rewatch which I finished the other night. [slaps roof of my brain] this bad boy can fit so many narratives in it.

Other stuff I watched this year: HAH! I have an IMDb list of TV shows I've watched this year! It's long as heck! Silk, The IT Crowd, Black Sails, The Last of Us, Lost in Space, Endeavour, The Terror, Arrested Development, Community, Vicious, Prehistoric Planet, Why Didn't They Ask Evans?, Ted Lasso, Miranda, The North Water, His Dark Materials, And Then There Were None, Jonathan Strange & Mister Norrell, The Great British Sewing Bee, The Bear, Blackadder, 30 Rock, Chernobyl and The Expanse. And those are just the ones worth mentioning! And some of these I watched four times! Okay, one thing. Okay, it was The Terror.

As for films, it's a poor show this year - I haven't watched as many (see above for reason why). I have seen the latest Spiderverse film and I've love to see Barbie!

Shows I dropped this year/didn’t finish: The Mandalorian (sob!), Vikings (I think I was maybe an episode or two shy of finishing the first season but... man... I just wasn't having fun), My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (to be fair this might have been last year, I can't remember, but I know I stopped a few episodes into season 2), Fleabag (I watched one or two episodes... wasn't quite for me).

Currently reading: Darwin by Adrian J. Desmond and James R. Moore (about 100 pages in but I'm taking this one slow because I'm not hyperfixating on him) and Dead Famous by Greg Jenner which I am taking even slower. I've read quite a few books related to the Franklin Expedition this year (thanks, The Terror) and for a while I was reading pretty solidly but I guess that's what hyperfixation does to you!

Currently listening to: I'm not really listening to music much these days thanks to YouTube's annoying ad blocker pop-up so I'm typing this in silence, haha! But podcast-wise I'm doing great. Three Bean Salad is probably my favourite podcast at the moment. The humour is just too good, and I look forward to hearing the lads every week. I'm also binging The Rest is History which is a bit more serious but still has its fun moments. I'm also listening to Off Menu, No Such Thing as a Fish, The Bones Booth, Taskmaster: The Podcast, The Mariner's Mirror Podcast, and odd episodes of RHLSTP if I know the guest. I save podcasts for when I'm doing something like washing the dishes, walking or driving.

Currently working on: Now that the puppy I found at the end of August is vaccinated, she can go out and about, and that has led to me abandon the polymer clay for a while to return to a hobby that I haven't spent much time on since early 2020 at the latest. I wanted to make her some nice collars and leads so she looks smart for our walks which I will inevitably be photographing. I know it's kind of hard to see but I made this collar and lead for her.

I was a bit worried that I'd forgotten how to sew the leather but thankfully not. I have a few more straps of leather lying around that I'd like to make into collars and leads as well. And several rope leads that need whipping (you wrap thinner twine around the thicker rope to finish it and protect the end from fraying) but I'm having to take my time with those because the twine is murder on my soft, delicate, feminine hands. I can whip maybe four leads before my fingers are red. It's worth the pain!

Current obsession: Our Flag Means Death has taken over my life once again. Whatever happens in the finale next week, I know I will be a mess. Heck, I'm already a mess.

I'm tagging: some recent mutuals so we can get to know each other, but no pressure! @tigerballoons, @woofety, @jackharkness, @jddryder, @ajcrowleys and @skatingthinandice! <3

[egipci]

nine people I would like to know better 💞

tagged by @lovetransaction

Last song: Bourbon Street Parade by Louis Armstrong and the Dukes (also the title of the fic I'm working on)

Favorite color: burgundy

Currently watching: I'm doing a very slow rewatch of Black Sails and Spn S4 and S12 (slow as in, an episode every two weeks lol)

Last movie/tv show: The Innocents (1961)

Spicy/savory/sweet: savory > spicy > sweet

Relationship status: single (and also living with my sister! (and forever trying to make her break up with her boyfriend))

Current obsession(s): the above mentioned fic (frustrating); "Reunion" by John Cheever (fun); Middle East news (terrible); J/D (extremely predictable).

Last thing you googled: "fre 804(b) steel workers national union case"

Do I even know nine people on here? @antigonewinchester, @kendalllogeroy, @wombesties, @iphisesque, @theangiediary,@reelaroundthefountain1983, @beautyandthebestiality, @setyourfireonme, you, dear reader scrolling by <3 (Answer: I don't!)

[hotniatheron]

Flint: Thomas is alive?

Silver:

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Halloo, I just wanna say that after i typed the dialogue with Jamil about wanting to ride a magic carpet, (excited for your reply) I thought why not an imagine for Jamil (perhaps Kalim too?) and mc riding on the magic carpet. Then you know the accidental kiss from Aladdin. I feel so fluffy, thinking about it. IT’S A WHOLE NEW WORLD, only if that’s okay with you to write hehe please feel free to ignore my request and i understand that you have other requests to write! :)) take care of yourself!

Hello, hello.

You can read the in-character dialogue response you’re referring to here if you have not already done so. This imagine is Jamil-centric since I felt that would make the imagine flow better--and it ties in well with the dialogue response.

I watched and rewatched A Whole New World several times to try and get a sense of the feeling of flight and wonder! I wanted to impart that into my writing. I hope it was successful.

You’re in luck, Anon. This piece exceeds my usual 1000 word limit on imagines, but I made an exception since I have a friend that really loves Jamil. If you’re reading this, my friend, you know who you are.

Please enjoy, and take care of yourself as well.

***Warning: spoilers for chapter 4 of the main story campaign ahead.***

Imagine this...

“...uu. Yuu. Are you there?”

They followed the cadence of the silken call to the balcony. Yuu threw open the windows and peered down--and there he was, standing on a magic flying carpet and set in threads of red, gold, and black. An alluring, snake-like smile upon his lips.

Jamil Viper.

“I have come to steal you away for the evening, as promised,” he announced calmly, offering his outstretched hand. “Come.”

“Are you sure this is safe? The magic carpet was pretty hard for me to control before...”

Yuu tactfully neglected to add that, when they had last been piloting the carpet, it had been to escape his clutches. Yet here they were now, just a breath away from leaping back into his embrace. Oh, the irony.

“Do you trust me?” Jamil asked, his question flat and simple.

“Yes...?”

“Then all will be well.” he offered his hand again. In the darkness, his eyes were pleading, longing. “Come.”

Yuu gingerly accepted Jamil’s hand, and they immediately fell into his arms. Was that sudden floating sensation the feeling of being in the air? Or was that their stomach fluttering at his touch?

He smirked at their blushing face when they gazed up at him.

“Good girl.”

“J-Just shut up and drive already...!” Yuu sputtered back.

“Mm. As you wish. Make yourself comfortable, and hang on tight,” Jamil advised, gesturing for Yuu to sit. He reached for the tassels on the magic carpet and tugged.

They bolted into the bitter night sky, the wind nipping at their skin. Then--they dived back down, racing through past various school buildings and into the courtyard.

Shadows lurked in every twist and turn, every crook and bend. Under the moon’s silvery glow, the college seemed mysterious, mystical.

“Everything looks so pretty at night...” Yuu said quietly, taking in the sights. “It’s like a dream...”

Jamil nodded and yanked on the magic carpet again, directing it to shoot up at an apple tree. It complied at once--and he plucked a fat fruit off of a branch during the ascent. The leaves of the tree rustled and jingled upon contact

He tossed the apple at Yuu, who caught it with a free hand.

“A souvenir,” he called it, “to prove to yourself tomorrow morning that this was, in fact, not a dream.”

“Oh, stop being so cheeky,” Yuu mumbled, averting their eyes. They were lying to themselves if they said they did not appreciate the gesture.

“Speak for yourself,” Jamil retorted smoothly. “We’re going up.”

“Huh? What, even highe--w-whoah!”

The magic carpet rippled through the sky, tumbled past birds, and tore the clouds asunder. Bursts of cool water vapor kissed Yuu’s face--unexpected, but refreshing.

The carpet slowed--

And there it was.

The night sky unfurled before them, a vast swathe of black and violet fabric encrusted with diamonds. Yuu’s mind cycles through a number of words--shining, shimmering, splendid--but none of them seemed to be able to really embody the sight.

“It’s beautiful...like a whole new world,” Yuu marveled, for lack of a better term. They tried their best to etch the view permanently in their memories.

Jamil scoffed. “Hold your breath, it gets better.”

“How does it get better than this?” Yuu asked, rolling their gifted apple around in their palm. “Free food, great sights, good company...it’s perfect.”

“Oh, you’ll see.” Jamil flashed a wicked grin.

Yuu didn’t like that look of his--but there was no time for them to process what it could possibly mean.

For the magic carpet plummeted like a falling star.

Yuu’s hair flew up, and they screamed, clutching on for dear life.

The carpet flew in arcs and loops, throwing the couple every which way and back. Then, picking up speed, it dived again--and the wind barked in Yuu’s ears, sending shivers of fear throughout their whole body.

Yuu squeezed their eyes shut, bracing for impact.

“Don’t you dare close your eyes.”

Jamil’s voice was at Yuu’s ears, drowning out the whistle of wind. It was low and seductive, yet gentle...and it soothed them to their quivering core.

“Look.”

Slowly, Yuu peeled their eyes open.

The world around them unraveled.

The sky and stars above, the river they skipped across below, the grass and the trees sailing by. Mesmerized, Yuu reached out a hand and ran it across the waters. Moonlight and midnight magic dripped from their fingers.

Yuu laughed.

Yuu laughed and laughed, relishing in the moment until, at last, the magic carpet whisked them home to Ramshackle.

The ride back was a tranquil one, wordless but full of feeling. Yuu leaned against Jamil’s chest all the while. Warmth and love and tenderness enveloped them.

“I had a great time tonight!” Yuu confessed as they stepped off of the magic carpet and onto their balcony. “It was all so...magical. Thank you.”

“It was my pleasure.” Jamil brought a hand to his chest and gave a mocking bow. “It must be well past midnight by now though--and you must be off to bed.” He smiled smugly. “Do try to remember that tonight was not a dream.”

“I will,” Yuu promised. The apple remained in their hands. “Good night...” Their voice trailed off, but they were quick to throw in a last-minute remark. “Good night, my handsome prince.”

Jamil’s poker face faltered. “I am no prince.”

“You are to me,” Yuu reassured him softly.

Jamil pulled his hood over his face. The darkness of the night--and the shadow of his hood--did little to obscure the faint blush creeping onto his cheeks.

“...Rest well, princess,” he mumbled back, bringing his eyes to meet Yuu’s.

They stared at each other--knowing that they should retire for the night, but not wanting to leave the others’ presence.

If only time could stop now.

Suddenly, Jamil stumbled, lurching forward by the motion of the magic carpet. Before he--or Yuu--knew what was happening, their lips were locked.

The apple in Yuu’s hand clattered to the floor, forgotten.

Their eyes drifted shut--and they savored the feel, and the taste of one another. He cupped their face and pulled it toward his, deepening the kiss. A mewl, a whimper, escaped from Yuu’s mouth against his.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl.

A magic spell cast by the stars.

But a cheer soon pierced the silence and shattered the magical moment. “Whoo-hoo! Good going, magic carpet!”

Yuu and Jamil broke their kiss. They snapped their heads in the direction of the voice--and there stood a familiar face nestled between shrubbery and the trunk of a dead tree.

“K-Kalim?!” Jamil sputtered, his cheeks flaming. “What are you doing here?! Y-You should be asleep at this hour...!”

“Heheheh! There’s no need for sleeping when there’s love afoot!” Kalim planted his chin between his pointer finger and his thumb. “Operation make-sure-Jamil’s-First-Date-♡ ♡ ♡-is-super-duper-♡-heart-♡-thumping-and-lovey-♡-dovey is a huge success!”

“KALIM!!”

[sanktagenyas]

still doing the black sails rewatch and two things: silver and the whole saga of him neglecting his bad leg because he can’t let people take care of him is just both heartbreaking and frustrating because i love this character and want him to be ok and the motherfucker is actively sabotaging his own health like please someone slap him. or ya know give him a speech about the burden of being a leader and hold his hand through the pain. either works apparently. sidenote: i too was a in love with madi on sight so i am relating very very much indeed to john here.

second thing though: i didn’t remember jack’s real name and i am just about dying of laughter over here. JOHN. of course the smooth talking scheming bastards would have the same first name. go figure. but also jack had to change his name and this idiot choose another four letter name that starts with a j. i’m questioning this dude’s imagination

[snoopctm]

CtM Thursday Thoughts

Christmas Special 2020

Shelagh and Gloria

Hello Nonnatuns! Here’s a special Thursday post with some thoughts about the 2020 Christmas special, and particularly about this one plot that I thought was the best thing about the episode--the continuing story of Gloria Venables, and how Shelagh figures into that story. More thoughts follow:

So, I rewatched episode 6x04 in preparation for this post because it was the last time we saw Gloria on the show, and I noticed a bunch of parallels not just in this story, but in others as well. Those include(briefly)--Valerie is hired in 6x04, and her departure is announced in CS2020. There’s a birth in which Patrick is called out at night for a forceps delivery in each episode, and a brave young man (Tim/Reggie) is given beer. Also, Sister Julienne drinks from a “Lady’s glass” in the Black Sail (whiich is also featured in this CS),and Phyllis drinks from one in this episode. The biggest parallel, though, is the obvious one--the continuation of the interaction between Shelagh and Gloria. 

This is an excellent story! It’s been so well written and filmed, even with the COVID restrictions. Even though I would have loved to see more “normal” filming conditions, this worked for the most part, and especially in this plotline. The re-introduction of Gloria has been handled especially well and Katie Lyons has done a great job of playing the same character a few years later, and showing us in just a few quick scenes how much those years--and additional lost pregnancies--have changed her. The Gloria in 6x04 still seemed to be holding on to hope and focusing on trying to be cheerful (at least before her miscarriage in that episode), but here she seems weary, more fearful, although she does talk about wishing she could be more cheerful.  It’s an excellent performance and strong writing.

I also think this was a great story for Shelagh, and the bond between her and Gloria is portrayed believably, even after a few years of not seeing one another. Shelagh is there to be a supportive friend as well as a midwife. I’ve noticed that before on this show, that when there’s a midwife with more of a bond with the patient and it’s a two midwife birth, the one who’s closer to the patient has been there as the emotional support while the other midwife delivers (I’m thinking of Shelagh delivering the baby for Lucille’s patient with tokophobia while Lucille was there as the primary emotional support). 

In addition, while I think the whole story is great, I think the whole sequence (about 7 minutes long by my count) in which Gloria is in labor and is talking about her lost babies by name is up there with the best scenes this show has ever done. It’s so perfectly pitched and expertly edited, and when it becomes time for Gloria to push and deliver her baby, it seems like just the right moment. And even the use of masks in this scene by the midwives adds to the dramatic effect, as when Shelagh takes hers off to respond to Gloria after Rachel Rose is born, to remind Gloria that she’s been a mother for a “long, long time”. It all works so well, and I’ve rewatched this whole sequence a few times now.

Also, on another note--it’s good to finally “meet” Gloria’s husband Tony in this episode. He didn’t appear in 6x04 (mostly for filming convenience/brevity reasons, I’m guessing), but here we get to see that Gloria is married to a kind, devoted man. I’ve written before that I want this whole family to become recurring characters, and I mean that. It would be great to check in on them from time to time, and also see Shelagh with a friend who isn’t part of the Nonnatus crew (although I love her friendship with Sister J). 

That’s all for now. At some point, I hope to share a few more thoughts about this episode in general, but I especially wanted to write about this one story because in my mind, it’s the highlight of this Christmas special.

[gender-snatched]

in no particular order whatsoever, I present you some good queer media: ((very minor spoilers for some things))

- black sails! it's a series, 4 seasons, 30 something episodes total, I haven't watched it yet but someone just recommend it to me and it sounds amazing. they're pirates, it's got a lot of queer characters, characters of color, and it deals (really fucking well, from what I heard) with topics of racism, misogyny, cissexism, poverty and how all of these relate and how systems oppress marginalized people and a bunch of other stuff. there's also at least two different poly relationships (a triad and a V). also it's got legit really fucking good writing, like legit legit good.

- the penumbra podcast!! I have listened to this one and it's a fucking masterpiece. it's got two main storylines; the first one (Junoverse) is a noir detective type but it's in Mars in the future (with a non-binary he/him bisexual lady as a main character and it deals (really well) with a lot of mental health issues, mainly depression) and it turns into space pirates in the third season and I think there's only one canon cis/straight person in the whole thing everyone else is queer and the other main storyline (Second Citadel) is more classic fantasy knights and monsters with a lot of questions of morality and "what's really a monster" and a poly relationship (and scaley monsterfuckers) and honestly a lot of queer characters

- Welcome To Night Vale!! I feel like this would be right up your street, honestly. it's a podcast, it follows a radio show from this town, Night Vale, where a lot of really weird supernatural shit happens, and the radio host, Cecil telling us (the town) about what's up. it's really fun and weird, it's not scary at all if that's a concern, it's very explicitly queer (in the very first episode Cecil falls in love with a man and tells the whole town about it) and it depicts a very healthy gay couple and great character development and it's honestly really fun, you get to know a lot of the townfolk and their stories and it's great

- The Adventure Zone! it's an actual play podcast, the McElroy brothers (you may know them?) and their dad play d&d. they just finished their third campaign and are starting the 4th one this week I think. the first campaign is by far my favourite. it starts kinda rough, they're playing dnd for the first time and the story and characters are pretty weak, but by the third or fourth arc you can tell how much they've learnt in the process. the fourth arc is where the story starts picking up and by the end (there's 69 (ha) episodes divided into 8 or 9 arcs) you'll be sobbing your eyes out for the last ten episodes. it's classic dnd fantasy stuff with at least three explicitly queer relationships (one of the main characters is gay and in a relationship) and w at least one explicitly trans character. it was their first time, they tried and did fairly well tbh. the second campaign is shorter, settled in modern real life Kepler, West Virginia where basically cryptids are real and the main three kill monsters in a monster of the week type of thing. (one of the main three is bi and in a queer relationship, there's one nb they/them character). and the third campaign just finished, it's real fun too, three college students of a heroes and villains school, in a (fantasy) world where heroes and villains are like A Thing and The System sucks and the message is basically to overthrow capitalism lmao

I swear I consume more media than just podcast but rn I just can't think of any...

also not exactly queer media but:

- Phineas and Ferb, it's a classic, you probably watched it on TV as a kid (I did) but it merits a rewatch

- Gravity Falls, same thing, I'm still not over how fucking good this show is

- Steve Universe, I know things got heated up in the fandom at some point but I ignored the fuck out of everyone and enjoyed it anyways because it's good

- how to train your dragon, they're all good okay, they are, watch them again

- Big Mouth. you're like 15 right? you can watch big mouth, I highly recommend it, it's really good. it's for some queer characters but they're even the main focus of some episodes/storylines, but it doesn't even matter, the whole series is just really good.

- Megamind, it's probably better than you remember

- also, you're into star trek right? have you watched discovery? I haven't watched s3 yet but it's good

I went completely off the rails halfway through this but still, hope you check out some new thing!! (and if you do post about it, I wanna know) (also can you guess who I am? I feel like it's kinda obvious sjsksk)

- j

Thank you!!! I really like WTNV, and I've been meaning to watch/listen to those other ones! And I never actually watched Phineas and Ferb, but I've heard it's good. Gravity Falls and Steven Universe are both on my list! And I hella hyperfixated on HTTYD in sixth grade. Megamind is amazing!!!!! And I sadly can't watch Disco cuz I don't have Paramount+, but I wish I could!

And surprisingly I can't guess who you are but that's probably due to me being a dumbass who can't really tell typing styles apart

[naivety]

in my black sails rewatch, i was tempted to say i was noticing a pattern of two kinds of characters in it, but as i continue to watch i think there are mainly three. three, but two of them take up the most room, and they are the storytellers, and the characters in the story they're telling. the third is the audience, and it's the place we see the most intimacy in. it is a role associated with being an audience to a truth, not a story. it's bearing witness to someone once they trust you with their truth in place of whatever story they tell for everyone else.

when silver first meets flint, he clocks him as our main storyteller right away but it's not until he directly cues flint he can see straight through it that flint pays him any attention at all. silver doesn't see his storyteller status because he's a character becoming self aware, like gates, or even billy, or because he yet loves flint enough to be his true audience, like miranda, but because silver's a storyteller too. gates is too smart not to be aware he's in a story, but he can't quite breach the containment of character into storyteller. they have just enough awareness to judge the story, but not to escape it, while someone like miranda, who plays the role of audience, sees through the narrative enough not to judge it, but to love it. for it's honest truth alone, not for it's ability to tell a compelling story. she loves it enough to want to live it, not tell it. she loves flint the man, not the storyteller, and yet he is a storyteller, and so she loves him too much to end it either. almost, when flint is willing to cede his storyteller status himself, for her, who he loves in return. however brief it lasted, almost.

after flint kills gates, he starts becoming too self aware to continue, he becomes aware that he too is a character in it and he's the villain. he becomes aware of the story and so it must come to an end, as stories eventually must from the audience's perspective. for the audience, there is no way out for a character like him, and he's too aware of which character he is. in the moment he kills gates, he becomes him; sees the story being told and his role in it, and that it's a story he doesn't want to be a part of, not in that role. there's no way out for that role. little does he know, it remains true even after he rescinds the awareness to become storyteller again. there's no way out for him anymore, not in that state. then silver walks in. and he sees not flint's story but flint's truth, crying over a man he just killed because he hates his character, hates being that character, and silver reacts not like another character, not like the audience, but like a storyteller too. he offers him the way out, and the next we see flint, he is walking back out on deck, and he is telling a story again.

i didn't even see the significance of this kinship on my first watch, how even a match it is, and how not just important that moment was for the story, of course, but how intimate for both silver and flint. it's the first scene that establishes their equality in the narrative to each other. fellow storytellers now telling a joint story, and because of it, it starts to become a story only both of them together can tell. if one loses the other in the finale of season one or the premiere of season two, the story would end. they need each other because they are equals, both refusing to let their story end against all odds.

which is why i also believe flint genuinely lost silver's respect after he lost his leg! silver's decision to protect the men had nothing to do with telling a story, he was subject to one. he wanted to be a part of the crew and that story, he wanted to live it, and the crew are just characters to flint. for a moment, he let someone else write his story. silver, as we later find out, lives life uninterested in joining stories, but telling different ones of his own, one after the other. until flint's crew. until flint! flint had him there too. he wants to be a part of that story because it's the first time in maybe forever he's felt like he could be a part of something, not just see the parts and create more favorable shapes to survive in. he is a storyteller by necessity, not an artist. it's just as likely flint loses respect for silver after the season two finale because he suspects silver backed out of their joint narrative to start telling a different one, one in which flint is just another character to right off and no longer an equal to write with. either way, it's not until silver rescinds that threat and flint believes in silver's desire to keep writing a story with him that they see eye to eye again.

it's not until they genuinely care about each other that flint lets silver see the truth of him, not just his story, and it shifts their balance of power immediately. flint gives up his storyteller position for silver and silver alone, to tell him about thomas. it is no story, it is just the truth only miranda had ever born witness to, and he tells it to him! and silver can't do the same in return. he can't be an even match to that, he can't be an equal to it. whatever his truth is, he can't tell it. he offered himself as flint's audience and flint accepted the vulnerability and offered to be silver's audience in return, but in silver's own words, there is no story to tell. the narrative falls apart for him as soon as he tries to make enough sense of it to speak out loud to someone. he can't speak of it without giving up the position of power as storyteller. he refuses flint that intimacy of stepping out of the story with him, he refuses it even to madi. the closest intimacy he can offer is to write a story in which he can pretend he's just a character in it existing alongside them. a character who loves them.

by the end of the show, silver must pretend he is more like gates and less like miranda in order to end the story. gates was at one point one of the biggest threats to flint's narrative throughout because his self awareness as a character in a story he didn't like threatened the story being told at all. the self awareness of being a character threatens to kill the story altogether, just as the self awareness of being an audience threatens to end a story for the sake of letting truth be a fact, not something to convince everyone else of, which is why both gates and miranda are killed for the story to continue. you need the mutual agreement to suspend your belief, and gates' struggle is that he couldn't make peace with that and still be in the story which is why it becomes his end, just as miranda loved the storyteller too much to not either be its end or be ended by it herself. silver, on the other hand, as a storyteller himself, knows how to be both. furthermore, he loves flint enough to try. especially if he thinks it will save madi's life. as much as flint changes to him throughout the show, he can't give up his storyteller position either, not even to just live it. so silver tells one final story, and it's the last chapter of flint's. he ends it and himself as the author, and becomes a character he is himself constantly in the process of writing. a character to himself. he becomes all three; storyteller, character, and audience. but then again, isn't that what he always was from the start?

[swanimagines]

FANDOM CHECKLIST

Got inspiration from @moonlit-imagines because her list is so much better idea than my old one XD

I created this list to keep you in track on what I’m planning to watch, and these fandoms at the list party are possibly coming to the fandom list after I’ve checked them out.

You can ask me to include you in their taglists already if you want, but keep in mind that I necessarily am not starting to write for these after checking them out if I don’t like them enough.

As a side note, I’d love to get show/movie/game recs to check out so if you don’t find a fandom you’d like to see me writing for in here or in my fandom list, you can always send in a rec and I’ll check if it’d be something I’d be interested in c:

IN PROGRESS

The 100 (S6E5)

Peaky Blinders (S2E3)

Bones (S8E24)

Timeless (S1E12)

Teen Wolf (S6E10)

Nevermoor: Hollowpox by Jessica Townsend

Horizon Forbidden West

PS4 Avengers (I’m stuck at that prison fight and keeping a break from it because of that + the game is kinda boring tbh 😅)

Guardians of the Galaxy (stuck at the final fight)

Watch Dogs: Bad Blood (stuck at the beginning of it)

Watch Dogs: Legion (stuck because the game is boring...)

Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla (stuck because I have no idea how to gain power without raids, all the raiding locations have too high difficulty compared to my power state and I can’t go to Asgard because of that)

IN LINE

TV SHOWS

9-1-1

Anne with an E

Arrow

Beforeigners

Black Sails

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Chicago Fire/M.D/P.D series

Cobra Kai

Criminal Minds

Deadly Class

Euphoria

Grey’s Anatomy

His Dark Materials

Shadowhunters

BBC Sherlock

Suite Life with Zack & Cody

The Flash

The Mandalorian

The Mentalist

The Vampire Diaries

Killing Eve

Marvel series (Defenders, Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Punisher, WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier etc)

Merlin

Outer Banks

Outlander

Pretty Little Liars

Sex Education

Timeless

Multiple Disney XD/Disney Channel shows

MOVIES

Back to the Future movies

To All the Boys movies

Unknown Soldier with English subtitles (2017)

Dead Poets Society

Descendants movies

Dunkirk (rewatch since I didn’t understand anything the first time)

High School Musical

Indiana Jones

Kingsman movies

MCU movies I haven't seen yet (anything that came after Far From Home, Black Widow, Shang-Chi, No Way Home etc)

Mission Impossible movies

Night at the Museum (I’ve seen the first and parts of the rest)

Pride and Prejudice

Any Disney and Pixar movies I haven't seen yet

GAMES

Infamous: First Light + Second Son

Hitman

The rest of the Dragon Age games

Forspoken

Mafia series

BOOKS

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

Caraval Trilogy by Stephanie Garber

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Lukitut by Salla Simukka

Taikuri ja Taskuvaras Trilogy by Anniina Mikama

Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare (reading them before watching Shadowhunters)

The Smoke Thieves series by Sally Green

A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas

Shadow and Bone Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo

Six of Crows + Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

King of Scars + Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo

[captain-k-jones]

Top 10 Ships

I have been wanted to do a post like this for the 2019 decade thing or Valentines day -- but I have been super lazy recovering from surgery. I guess late is better than never, right?!?!

1. Kastle: Frank Castle/Karen Page - The Punisher/Daredevil

What can I say about these two that has not already been said?! I remember how much I loved Matt Murdock in DD1. I raved about the show for months. Then DD2 happened and from the moment Frank Castle stepped into that hospital I was a goner. Then, Karen Page shoved a photo in his face and down the rabbit whole I went. This ship took over my life and still has not let go. I will die loving these two. The are one of those ships that will last a lifetime. Lets hope Disney/Marvel comes to their senses and puts the show on Hulu ASAP.

2. Bangel: Buffy Summers/Angel - Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel

These two were my first ship, ever. They will always be special to me -- even if they are not my top ship anymore. I recently started rewatching BtVS with my daughter for the first time and these two still make my heart melt. 

3. Captain Swan: Emma Swan/Killian Jones - Once Upon a Time

The ship that got me writing again. These two hit me like a hurricane. I had been silent in fandom for years, just lurking really. These two inspired me to make a blog and start writing. Because of these two I made lifelong friends who, even though we don’t speak as much anymore, I know will always be there. 

4. Gannibyl: Gannicus/Sibyl - Spartacus (Starz)

From a little known -- but amazing -- show called Spartacus on Starz. This ship didn’t happen until the last season but it was so nice to see my favorite character so settled despite the war raging around them. 

5. Charles Vane/Eleanor Guthrie - Black Sails

I loved these two so much. He would have given up everything for her and, in a way he did. From the moment he told Max he did want to know how to forget her, I was hooked. 

6. PB&J: Pam/Jim Halpert - The Office

I mean, do I really have to say anything about these two?!?! From the moment I started watching The Office it was Pam/Jim, it was always Pam/Jim.

7. Pepperony: Pepper/Tony Stark - MCU

I don’t normally ship so hardcore in movies but, I mean, it was Tony and Pepper. When you love Tony Stark/Ironman as much as I do, you love the woman that takes care of him.

8. SethKate: Kate Fuller/Seth Gecko

These two were so unexpected. I loved the From Dusk till Dawn movie series and when I found out there was a show, I immediately searched it out to watch it. The chemistry between these two was off the charts in season 1, then season 2 happened and I was hooked. Enemies to friends to love(ers) will always be one of my favorite tropes and these two played that trope to the tee!

9. Polar: Michael Guerin/Liz Parker - (The Original) Roswell

I remember watching Roswell back in the day. As with 99% of the audience, I shipped the canon couples for the first season. But, as the show went on, I got so annoyed with how Max treated Liz (who was my favorite female character)  and how Maria treated Michael (who was my favorite male character). By the end of season 2, I’d jumped ship on both of those ships and found I wanted Michael and Liz to get together. Even though it never happened in the show... I still ship these two something fierce. 

10. Sam and Dean Winchester (non-romantically) - Supernatural

I love these two brothers, they are the reason I still watch this show. The lengths they will go for each others is part unhealthy and part #siblinggoals. When this show ends this year, I will be left with a void that I don’t know how I will fill it. 

[undeadmanbun]

Hi @nanyallen13 ! Thanks so much for the asks and blog compliments and sorry for the delay in replying. To make it easier to reply in one post I’ve screenshot the asks and anyone reading will need to go from bottom to top (they’re numbered).

I’m so glad you got in touch, it’s really great to get other opinions and takes because the nature of our ship and theories (and people’s knee-jerk reactions to them) means we’re often in our own corner of fandom, so non-jonsa opinions and input is great to hear. I hope all the jonsa meta people see this, they’ll be please to hear you enjoy their posts. And your English is amazing btw!

We never, ever ask that anyone ships it, all we really are out here doing is saying to folks “look, look at this foreshadowing, look at this evidence! we’re not crazy like you say we are!” and mostly we get crickets or yelled at, so it’s really nice to hear from a "neutral” that you think it could happen. Ok, this might be a bit messy because I’m out of practice, but to answer your questions...

What did I think of Dany before season 7?

I agree with what you said, but I began to take issue with her a little ahead of season 7, maybe season 5. I was still thrilled when she left for Westeros in season 6 because this is what we’d been waiting for all this time, but season 7 really sealed the deal for her arc taking a darker trajectory. I didn’t have especially strong opinions on Dany after season 1, I actually found her non-Westerosi arc kind of uninteresting for a long while and cheered on her “badass” moments, but, in hindsight, I think that’s because on first/second/third viewing I hadn’t realised where this was going.

I think I started to question some of her actions in season 5, when she burns the guy using the dragons, when her dragons are out of control and burn the child, when the teacher tells her it’s not a black and white situation (I’m writing this quickly, haven’t gone back to check names etc) but didn’t think too much about it until she was on the doorstep of characters I care for. That’s when it really hit home. Suddenly she was a threat to the characters I love. I wasn’t convinced of her being a full blown antagonist for a long while, but I’m more and more convinced she is as time goes on. A recent rewatch solidified this for me because when you go back in looking for it it’s kind of obvious (season one is FULL of foreshadowing, it’s amazing).

And you’re right. Perfect hero Dany is absolutely not an interesting character, she’s bland, unrealistic. But beautiful, dangerous, complex, flawed villain origin story Dany? Well, she’s a different matter. Dangerous and unpredictable “dark!dany” is a far more interesting character, and one that will go down in the history of female characters. We’re getting to see how a Cersei comes to be, and that’s fascinating stuff.

The stans have sadly created some power fantasy projection of the character wherein they want her to not only get everything in the story, but to be everything all at once to them, and she simply cannot do/be that, she’ll be human, she’ll be flawed, she’ll fail, she’ll die (and I agree, definitely not in childbirth, which is a dreadful ending for her, she deserves much better).

What did I think of J*nerys before Jonsa/Season 7? 

Hmmm, let’s just say nothing good lol. I started to take issue with Dany around season 5 and I also had finished reading the books around the same time so I expected the ship to sail in some form. It was the obvious ship, too obvious in my opinion. It seemed like the dreadful, predictable male hero + female hero ship that I expected from a lesser series. So I expected it, but my hope was that the likely Chekhov’s gun of all these sycophantic men surrounding her that want to serve and love her (which is terrible, tedious storytelling unless there’s a twist) would go off, and that it would be a Jon-shaped pistol hanging on the wall.

When season 6 happened I was blindsided. I never, ever expected to be here now loudly shipping Jon with his “sister” Sansa (bear in mind I shipped nothing in this show really, but was aware of Brienne and Jaime being a slow burn, it’s hard to miss). I obviously had a clue they could reunite because season 5 had Sansa escaping Ramsay and she knows where Jon is. But when they reunited I assumed it would be platonic and it just didn’t have the sister brother platonic vibe it should have had. Suddenly Jonsa was doing all these tropes and by episode 10 of season 6 I’d jumped on board as a fully fledged jonsa shipper, and then down the theory/book/show evidence rabbit hole I went for another 2.5 years (jesus fjfdjfhkdjf). So by the time season 7 came around I was convinced of another endgame that wasn’t J*nerys.

On the topic of season 7, I totally agree with you regarding Political Jon, and my hope is obviously that it’s true, but if it isn’t, well, I will be very frustrated with Jon (because I love that dumbass). Fortunately there’s a lot pointing towards it so I’m hopeful. If he’s legitimately in love then it’s just a truly awful love story and an insult to “the north remembers” narrative (and to Jon’s character). 

As you said, it seems like it is very intentional on the part of the show runners that all of these things are happening at once. They’re not mutually exclusive theories, but they are incredibly complimentary. You have to believe that a lot of people are crazy to be able to rule this “theory dissent” out, and I just don’t believe we are as “delusional” as we’re accused of being.

So, in summary, I never expected a) dark!dany or b) jonsa, but much analysis later I’m convinced of both, there’s just too much evidence for these theories for me not to expect them in some form. Maybe me and everyone else here will look like clowns in a few weeks, but I’m quietly optimistic. And absolutely nothing in the promo season has convinced me otherwise, only 22 days to go!

[olincino]

tv show tag:

thanks for tagging me ♥ @ceraunos​

Your favourite TV show: Black Sails. !surprise!

Favourite TV show character: Captain Flint  !surprise!

Show you thought you wouldn’t like but did: Surprisingly BS. Let me tell you a story about an awful prick, lets call him J - friend of my husband who heavily recommended this show to him, somewhen after s03 was aired. J introduced it as something like GoT, full of action, intrigues and rivalry and schming etc. You know I like GoT but really wasn’t interested in some imitations. Few weeks later when my husband kept insisted that I should watch it I googled the show and some pics - I remember it was some pics of Max and Eleanor, so I assumed that there was lots of women intriguing against each other what i really hate so I stayed uninterested. Thanks god my husband kept persuading till I yielded and bs became the love of my love. And also now I have to be grateful to J for the rest of my life. blleeee.

Favourite TV show ship: If I have to choose only one it will be silverflint.

A show you used to like but don’t like anymore: I’ve been thinking about this for a while. Hanibal, I guess. S01 was rather good, s02 still passable but s03 was almost unwatchabel. Even though I am a huge fan of MM I was glad it was canceled. 

If you were able to be a character in a TV show, which one would you pick? I really don’t know at this very moment. Maybe Anne Bonny? To be able to kick anyone’s ass?

A show you want to watch but still haven’t started: lol Too much, like dozens. 

A TV show you started way after everyone else: Most of them, I guess. I am going to watch Twin Peaks. Here, I think, I am really late to the party.

Last TV show you watched: I am currently rewatching Vicious and s03 Stan Lee’s Lucky Man because of I really missed RPJ - omg why I am punishing myself so badly????  

[thekneesofthegods]

rewatching black sails but jumped in at s3 and miranda j said 'i was mistress to you when you needed love' and i cannot stop thinking about the like. tragic sex scene they have where they both just look so depressed about it

[kananjarus]

rules: answer the questions and tag 9 people you want to get to know better/catch up with.

tagged by @mellaithwen 💕 tysm!

Three ships: Buddie obviously ❤ Silverflint, and Finnpoe, causing i’m missing them :(

Last song: Littlebitwild by Golden Vessel. been obsessedddd with his stuff for a while now

Last movie: The Old Guard! I can’t believe we were gifted this movie a whole ass year ago 

Currently watching: rewatching Black Sails though very slowly. I just made it to season 3

Currently reading: The Unfinished Land by Greg Bear, also rereading the Saga comics

Currently craving: a PB&J!!!!! going to the store later to buy jelly and then I’m making some to take to the beach tomorrow. so excited

I’ve seen just about everyone on my dash do one of these this weekend so i’ll skip the tagging, but if you want to do one, go for it!