#you decide who's miranda and who's flint

[frodo-of-the-nine-fingers]

treasure island black sails edition where it starts out with silvermadi having sad sex that's choreographed almost exactly the same as the sad flintmiranda sex

[heycarrots]

Recently, I read a comment that Flint “barely won” the fight with Singleton and . . . I’ve got some thoughts.

Previously, I talked about how we initially view Flint mainly through the eyes of the crew in season one and it’s absolutely most applicable in the series premiere. We don’t even get a glimpse of “James” until he collapses inside Miranda’s door at the end of the second episode. Up until then, we are deliberately fed not lies, exactly, but deliberate misdirection. Twice during the first season, we are tossed into the story through the eyes of a newcomer like a cat tossed into a bathtub.

First, we see the story from Silver’s perspective. Granted, we have NO idea what his history is, but as brand new baby viewers, ourselves, (on our first watch, that is, because who the hell stops at a single viewing?) Silver is the perfect cypher to dress up in our own naïveté. So that bathtub that our Silver kitten gets tossed into is INSTANT unrest and a failing captaincy with no real power left, grasping at control like sheafs of paper caught and scattered on the wind. The second time, we see it through Dufresne’s first boarding. Both times, we are wrong about the character of the cat in the tub.

In this first instance, we are meant to doubt Flint’s cunning and even more, we’re meant to doubt his strength. We’re all familiar with the Gregory MaGuire effect (even if you don’t think you are). MaGuire wrote Wicked, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Son of a Witch and many more. Basically, he flips well known stories on their heads and repaints the protagonists in slightly less flattering lights, giving deeper, more human motivations to the stories antagonists.

We’re meant to expect that here. Jumping on the Oz example, we’re meant to find that the legendary Flint, casting such long shadows over the story of Treasure Island, is in essence, a little old snake oil salesman behind a curtain.

That’s our setup going into this duel. We’re supposed to think this elaborate facade of smoke and mirrors is finally going to collapse, revealing Flint to be incompetent.

So let’s take a look at the fight Flint “barely” won.

We see him flipping tables in his cabin just prior to the fight. He’s just learned he doesn’t have the votes, due to Vane’s murderous intervention. He’s frustrated because he doesn’t yet have a plan.

I’ve seen speculation about him finding the feather in the wreckage and this proves that he notices every little thing out of place. Sure, Flint is fastidious and detail oriented, but we also, if you recall, saw him carefully placing that feather with the log book in the drawer. It’s a security measure to know if someone comes snooping. So he finds the feather and knows that someone who was onboard the Walrus knows about the page, so he immediately formulates a plan. He’s gonna frame Singleton for the theft of the page. He decides right then.

*edited to add: I’m 100% sure he knows Singleton is NOT the one with the page. It’s likely Singleton can’t read, which Flint would be well aware of, perhaps not just as a member of his crew, but as someone who is challenging him for the captaincy. He knows whoever DID steal the page can read, because they came back to look at the log to read it for context clues. He gets all this from that feather. Flint is openly declaring Singleton to be a thief in front of the whole crew to force the hand of the real thief, hoping the fear of retaliation would press him to more quickly try to move on it or, as Silver does, attempt to get the hell outta Dodge.

So, stepping out on deck, he’s had zero contact with Singleton, which means the blank page is folded up somewhere on his person. At the end of the fight, we see him take the page out of Singleton’s pocket. He doesn’t search him, hoping to find something, he goes right for it.

He wasn’t “losing the fight”, he was allowing Singleton to get in close enough that he could plant the page in his coat pocket while still managing to not die, so stealthily, that the entire crew, watching the fight, wouldn’t see it happen.

Flint wasn’t a weaker fighter than Singleton. We see clearly his technique is far superior from the very first parry, he just needed time to plant the page. I’ve seen a lot of commentary on this fight and no one seems to really get this. It wasn’t just a fight, it was a deliberate misdirect, one choreographed to the audience in Flint’s interaction with Billy.

Flint: “The men think I’m . . .”

Billy: “Too weak?”

Flint: “I was gonna say unlucky.”

In conclusion, Flint could’ve taken Singleton out immediately, but chose not to.

[storkmuffin]

Ah! I'm so glad there's someone else who can't stand Silver! I started watching the show for the first time a couple weeks ago and I genuinely cannot stand him. I was so confused to find out that basically everyone else seems to adore him despite everything.

you 🤝 me. I've been well aware from before I started watching that Silver was very loved. I was sincerely hoping something would click on for me the more I watched so I could get why, but the opposite has happened. I'm sad about this. I have to decide if the amount of passion for the characters I DO care for who are still alive (Flint, Billy, Anne Bonny, Max) can withstand the aversion I feel for John Silver, and to a much lesser extent Eleanor, Vane, and Jack. When Gates and Miranda and Thomas were prominent in the narrative the Yays outnumbered the Nays but not anymore.

[outrageouslymoonpie]

Alright.

I have finally finished black sails. Started it in April (I know), watched one episode randomly in November (got traumatized by Randall's leg) and decided to finally watch it (after seeing a post about love and monsters) a couple of weeks ago.

Safe to say that I've got an unhealthy obsession with pirates and stories about the sea that traces back when I was like four and not so able to draw, because while watching the series i put together a bibliography of medias that is quite long.

Is this related to what I think of the series? Maybe. Maybe it puts in perspective the obsession it rekindled.

Anyway. Black sails.

Beware, there'll be spoilers sprinkled down here.

I went in totally blind, besides Flint's queerness. I'm a simple woman, i love me a historical drama about pirates with a queer protagonist.

Flint's queerness - as I read somewhere here on Tumblr - is something fundamental in his development as a character, but also as a pirate. And with him being the protagonist of the story, I also thinks it drives a lot of the actual narrative of the series. Because of him being queer, of him being in love with another man, he became a pirate. He decided to retrieve that damn treasure.

So it's a series about a queer man, but not about the homophobia he experienced or experience. The show let us imagine, let us wonder why he decided to become a pirate.

But it lets us know that Flint loved a man.

You know, Flint loves a lot. I think he's not able not to. He cares, and hurts, but ultimately he loves a lot. We see it with basically every character he interacts with (besides poor billy, which is actually really funny to me.) He loves Miranda, respects Eleanor and Vane, loves deeply and unhealthily Silver and Madi.

Something I noticed is how much love there is, throughout the whole series. It's not just about the relationships between the characters (which are vital), but also about the kind of life they're living, about the love they have for Nassau. It's the true heart of the story. The characters do things out of love.

Flint manipulates the narrative in order to obtain his gold, yes, but he also does that in order to protect and save and help those who love. England betrayed him, so he became a pirate. Miranda - his tether to the memory of Thomas - got killed because of his love for her, because of her love for him, because of their hope. Silver and Madi, oh god. In the last season that particular relationship become something Shakespearian in its tragedy, in its inherent imbalance. But it's so full of love. In their scheming, in Flint's decision to help silver save Madi, in Madi's pain at the very end of the season, in silver's smile.

(I'll elaborate more in another post, but oh boy those three broke my heart in many many pieces)

And then there's the part of the story where every one of them is a monster of some kind. In the very last episode flint's tells silver how much every one of them is a monster in someone's story and that how they tell children to be scared of the darkness, because in the darkness live the monsters. And that is the second big theme of black sails. Being a monster. Being a pirate is something awful in the eyes of the British empire, but every character in this show is a monster of some kind. Flint, queer and pirate and scheming and wrathful. Silver, manipulator, scheming and later disabled. Vane, an ex slave turned pirate. Eleanor, woman, queer and super smart. I can go on, but I thing you got the gist. (Love is also monstrous)

And the very last thing in this very long ramble: the power of stories. Throughout the show we see characters hinting about being part of a story, part of something big, about having a "reputation to maintain", a "name to live in". It's almost like they know they're fictional. I felt the power of the stories: they can shape everything. Our present, our future, our past. We can do everything with a story. And my favourite thing was Silver. John Silver, the Long John Silver, starts his story with a lie. The character who's most shaped by the damned narrative is the one who refuses till the very last to tell us his story. I don't know him. I have no idea where he came from, but I saw him shape himself in a pirate, a cook, a quartiermaster, a leader and ultimately a legend. He goes around saying lies, manipulating, telling Flint I have no story to tell I think you know everything that's to known about me.

To end this too long of a ramble: black sails changed something fundamental in the way I see pirates and in the way I experience stories and in the way I shape my very own narrative. It also broke my heart, gave me brainworms and added eight books to my tbr. I don't regret nothing, but if you have some fic rec please give it to me. I miss them.

[donotexterminateupgradepudding]

Black Sails - Captain Flint’s reading list.

Books are a key point of the storytelling in the first two seasons of Black Sails.  They help to reveal various aspects of characters and their relationships.  Being the nerd that I am, I decided to create a reading list based on Captain James Flint’s key books.

Not only did I bother to compile this short list, but I’m actually reading the books in the list.

The list in sort of the order that they are introduced to the viewer.

De Jure Belli Ad Pace - tr. On the Law of War and Peace by Hugo Grotius.  Published in 1625.  This is the first book Silver sees in Flint’s cabin.  Grotius was a well rounded Dutch intellectual who contributed to many fields but this piece in particular laid down a clear framework for [western] international law.  It is pretty easy to find used copies of this but it is split it up into three books and annoyingly not all online booksellers label it well.

Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes.  Published in 1651.  One of the two books on Flint’s desk that are partially illuminated by the lantern.  Important modern philosopher, interesting spelling inconsistencies (dude, decide if you want to say ‘we’ or ‘wee’) and clearly doesn’t have a great opinion on humanity but has great random quotes.  Like ‘of accidents of bread in cheese’.  However, holy crap, if you think what James struggles with in regard to war/civilization/pardons/human nature.  Yeah - spot on for Flint’s excellent character.

Free as an ebook or easy to find used copies or new.

The Republic by Plato(n).  ~375 BC.  This is the book underneath Leviathan and took me way more time to figure out than I’d like to admit.  Mainly, I could only make out the letters of ‘ton - he - public’ for each line on the spine of the book with the crappy lighting and not enough time from the camera shot to get a better look.  I wondered if the public was part of something else but thrown off by the ton in the author name until I figured out that Plato went by Platon and then I knew it had to be a translation of The Republic.

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. Published 167.  By one of the most famous Roman stoics and Emperors.  James’ most precious book due to who gave it to him and how it likely helped him try to take perspective in situations.

It is easy to find free ebooks, though I’m reading one of the older English language translations to be closer to 1715.  Overall, a very enjoyable read.  I may seek out one of the newer translations. La Galatea by Miguel de Cervantes. 1585 tr by Gordon Willoughby James Gyll in 1867.  This is the only English version I can find and describes it as a ‘pastoral romance’.  Miranda gave James the original version of Don Quixote to read and this book is his way to apologize to her when he left Nassau angry at her.  It takes some digging around to find the English version of this - Spanish copies are much more numerous and I couldn’t find an English ebook.

I’m not including Don Quixote b/c I just can’t seem to read that book.  All my previous attempts have failed so I’m not going to use it to understand Thomas Hamilton.  I also don’t know which Middleton play James gave to Miranda - he just said, “Middleton, I thought you’d like it.” and then smiled all proud of himself while bandaged drinking tea.

So there you have it.  Captain Flint’s season 1 and 2 reading list. 

[asterofthevoid]

Fissure and fucking warship!

Thanks for playing! And sorry for the wait, work ate my life for a bit.

Fissure is a little SilverMiranda fic set during season 1, when Flint is hunting the Andromache. Basic premise is that Silver's confrontation with Mr. Hammund goes bad, and he ends up fleeing Nassau Town and ends up at Miranda's house. Miranda patches him up, and things go swimmingly from there.

I actually really love this fic, despite it sitting in my wips for months.

That woman doesn't know what no means. Silver thinks bitterly as he trudges through the sand to the dock, rotating his sore shoulder. He's glad at least to be free from the shackle that chained him to Eleanor's couch like a wild animal. Wild animals have the good sense to run when set free, a small part of his mind chides. Instead, he was walking towards danger. Silver finds Hammund at the end of the dock, taking a piss. He steels himself, taking just enough time for the brute to tuck his member back into his pants before Silver reaches him. His consideration goes unnoticed. "Excuse me, Mr. Hammund?" "Who the fuck are you?" "My name is John Silver, and I have a proposition for you." "Piss off," Hammund spits into the water in response, expressing his disinterest. He begins to walk away. Silver very carefully doesn't chase him. "I was the whore's partner." "I only fuck cunt," He calls over his shoulder. "The one who stole the page from Flint and then tried to sell it to you. " Hammund looks interested now. Heavy footsteps on the old wooden planks are all the warning Silver gets before he is grabbed unceremoniously by the shirt collar. Too interested. ( this was the sort of thing he'd charge a patron extra for, if he was in a position to bargain.) "Seeing as we theoretically already had a deal, I imagine we could work something out. At a steep discount, of course."

Fucking Warship- This one is a little spicier. Content warning for dub-con/non-con. It's basically a Fuck Or Die scenario during the warship side quest. Silver takes the money for giving away their position, and their captives decide they want a little more in return for their lives. It's still in a really early draft.

"Sorry", silver says as he scoops the money from the table. Flint rages, nudging his chair forward, as if he could strangle Silver from his position. The movement yanks on his bullet wound, but he ignores the pain. Fucking lying cowardly cocksucking thief- Silver turns to leave, and is met with the business end of a cutlass. "On second thought, there might be something you could do to convince me to spare both of your lives. " "Ay Fernando, not this again." One of his companions shakes his head. "Shut the fuck up. We have all the time in the world. " Flint glares at both of them. It figures that the gold would be guarded by mercenaries rather than true Spanish military, the type of men that don't think twice torturing their enemies. They could very well drag this out for hours. Silver narrows his eyes. It seems he'd had the same realization. "Really? and what would that be?" "You're pretty enough, aren't you?" Silver stills. A chill goes up Flint's spine. Fernando jerks his chin over to Flint. "Go on. You don't have to, of course. We could just kill him. Your choice. " Flint can see a muscle in Silver's jaw clench.

Hope you enjoyed! More to come in the future!

[blacksailskmeme]

Miranda and Anne fight sex :) maybe a Miranda lives au or just set sometime in s1 or 2, but Miranda decides she wants to learn how to fight. flints fight style doesn't work for a thin woman, and Miranda hears about how skilled and feared Anne bonny is, so she seeks her out for training. during the course of the training, the sexual tension grows and then breaks and they have nasty rough sex on the ground - something neither of them could get with flint or max who love them too much to be rough nd dirty with them

This is PROMPT #117

AO3 Collection (if you like this prompt, please submit a fill of at least 500 words to this anonymous collection with the prompt number in the summary/description. If you need help submitting or tagging, please reach out to event host @jaynovz)

[starkblazer]

18 and 21 for the wip meme? :3

well fuck, you hit two of my least developed wips so... i guess i'll do some thinking on the fly :))

okay so for 18. the people you love leave a mark on your skin au i don't have much except the concept and some ideas.

There is a handprint on Flint's neck. It's been there since the man arrived to Nassau or at least that's what they say. They say a lot of things about Flint, most of them not flattering but no one can say that he is a man unable to love with such a visible display.

that's a little piece and that mark belongs to Thomas, but i do have placements for the rest of them. Miranda's is inside his left elbow and it's decently sized; and Silver's kinda grows from his right hand all the way to his chest

On Silver there are no visible marks but he does have one behind his ear that belongs to someone who took care of him when he was young. Madi's shows up on the left side of his torso and Flint's is on his back but he doesn't notice it, Madi does, after the finale.

I have the idea to explore a bit of outsider pov with this one, along with Flint noticing that his love for Silver is growing. But I mostly want to explore Silver's head when he realizes that his love for Flint is forever on his skin but he didn't know about it before reuniting him with Thomas.

as for 21. identity porn... i am a fucking sucker for this bullshit but the most i have for this one is a bunch of notes but let me tell you.

On episode 1, Silver hides in the hull with the page until the pirates are gone and because of this, Silver and Flint arrive in nassau separately (I have the idea that Silver arrives later in a lil rowboat) Since Silver has the page, he decides to look for the log in the warehouse and obviously doesn't find it there because it's on Flint's cabin buuut Max sees him sneak into the warehouse and she's like mmm... Then we find Flint in the tavern thinking about not having the page and Silver finds him there while looking for a place to sleep. They flirt a little and Flint is already frustrated with the page business so he's like yeah, I'll relieve some stress with this beautiful and unknown dude.

Silver is conflicted cause he wants to figure out where is the log but he's like fuck it, better after a good fuck so he rents a room in the brothel and Flint goes in the back. After they fuck Flint falls asleep and Silver sneaks out but Max finds him coming out of the brothel and confronts him. Silver slips away to go look for the log in the walrus and finds it, then he makes arrangements with Max to sell the page. The everything happens like in canon, Singleton dies and Flint leaves with Billy to talk to Gutherie. Then Max talks to Gates to sell him the page, and of course Gates knows what the page is. While this is happening Silver is watching and hears them talk about how insane Flint is. Of course he doesn't know that the dude he slept with is Flint and if he's being honest, he is half enamored with James (cause that's the name Flint gave him) and would love to get to know him but sure this Flint dude sounds insane.

That's all I have for this one but fuck me for not continuing because it's really good.

[powerpolyculeshowdown]

Black sails descrips! Not sure how long you want them, so hopefully this gives you something to pull from

Jack Rackham/Anne Bonny/ Max

.

Jack and Anne have been partners above and below decks for years, sailing under the black. They go into business with a prostitute named Max, making her a Madame of their brothel, and after some very intense stuff goes down, the Very Reserved Anne falls for Max, and the three enter and oft- tumultuous, oft-satisyfying, heavily negotiated relationship Which persists on and off in different strengths and permutations throughout the run of the series.

Jack is more bluster than blade, Anne is more Blade than almost anything, and Max is smarter (and more emotionally literate) than either of them (and neither of them see it coming).

.

Capt. James Flint/Thomas Hamilton/Miranda Barlow

Thomas and Miranda Hamilton are a well-off couple engaged in the Salon culture. Thomas has a dream of taming the oceans and building the pirate-port Nassau into a stable, reputable settlement and thereby solving the Pirate Problem that way. He's an idealist with a supportive (if more shrewd) wife, and just enough money and influence to think he can do it.

Somewhat jaded Lieutenant James McGraw is stationed with him, and falls in love with him, and Miranda.

The three carry on their affair a long while, as close to blissfully happy as a threesome like that could be, at that time.

In the end, they are found out and separated and, believing Thomas Dead, Miranda leaves and takes a new name, Barlow, living in Nassau, continuing to help or cohabitate w/James when they can, always with the memory of Thomas in the room with them.

James becomes the notorious pirate Captain Flint and decides to take on the entirety of the British Navy, if he has to, and Force his love's dream into reality- one way or another, and damn anyone who stands in his way.

thank you! with this i have descriptions for all the prelim round contestants!!!! ill release the list later because rn my son (cat) is screaming (hungry) so i have to feed him and the girls (also cats)

[cinelitchick]

Unwrap My Heart / CHAPTER 1

Rating:

Mature

Archive Warning:

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories:

F/F

M/M

Fandom: Black Sails

Relationships:

Captain Flint | James McGraw/Thomas Hamilton

Captain Flint | James McGraw & Eleanor Guthrie

Thomas Hamilton & Max

Miranda Barlow & Thomas Hamilton

Anne Bonny/"Calico" Jack Rackham

Captain Flint | James McGraw & "Calico" Jack Rackham

Anne Bonny & Captain Flint | James McGraw

Eleanor Guthrie/Max

Characters: Captain Flint | James McGraw Thomas Hamilton Max (Black Sails) Eleanor Guthrie Anne Bonny "Calico" Jack Rackham John Silver (Treasure Island) Miranda Barlow Alfred Hamilton

Additional Tags: Christmas Romance Canon Queer Relationship Gay Sex Holidays Books Alternate Universe - Bookstore Coffee Shops Christmas Shopping Christmas Party Christmas Fluff Christmas Tree Christmas Music Christmas Eve Fluff and Angst Angst with a Happy Ending Families of Choice

-------

While Max scanned the barcodes on the tickets and instructed the audience on where to sit, Thomas wondered where the bloody hell James McGraw could be.

His own British upbringing and accordant posh English accent flared up in moments like this that had him on edge and agitated. He kept his muttered utterances to a minimum so as not to spook those in attendance. It wasn’t easy.

“Please tell me your Thomas Hamilton,” a different British accent implored from behind him. 

The dialect sounded coastal. Cornwall, perhaps? Thomas was a little rusty as he hadn’t been home to England in nearly two decades. Not that any of that mattered right now. He spun around to find himself face to face with a dashing ginger man with a neatly trimmed beard, who stood four inches shorter and wore an expectant look on his face. His lips quirked into a smile. 

Not that Thomas was looking at his mouth.

He really wasn’t.

“I am,” he replied with a touch of haughtiness to make up for the relief that was flooding his system as he recognized the man before him. “Mr. McGraw, I presume?”

“Yes. Oh!” James McGraw held up one finger to indicate that he needed a second. He turned toward his assistant, a young blonde carrying a large black tote in the crook of her arm. She handed him, what? Thomas couldn't see as the other man’s body blocked his view. Then, James faced him once more with a huge grin cutting across his face as he held up a copy of his latest book, with the back of the cover towards Thomas displaying the author’s portrait. “My ticket. Just so there’s no confusion.”

It should have irked him horribly. He should have found the joke obnoxious, vanity writ large. Instead, Thomas was charmed by the humorous display and smiled warmly, even letting out a small chuckle.

“I thought perhaps you decided not to come,” he told James, whose cool blue eyes widened in horror.

Read the full chapter on AO3.

[flyingkoalaandsloths]

fave Flint quotes in every episode | S2

IX.

Civilization needs its monsters.

X.

In less than two days, I intend to be the captain again.

XI.

I know how you all must feel. How desperate you must be to go home and be embraced by Nassau again. But I'm here to tell you, that place no longer exists. It has been taken from us by a madman. Held hostage by threat of force that no one on the island seems able to resist. Now I would like to say that the Urca beckons us. That we should look the other way. That the affairs of the beach should never take precedence over those of the purse. But in this case, these issues would seem to be one and the same. Even if we could make it ashore safely, even if we could refit amidst the chaos that has been sown, even if we could ignore all of this and go on to win the Urca's gold, what then? We return home only to have Vane extort from us the very prize that we have sacrificed so much to win? Nassau was unable to resist him. But we have yet to have our say. So at sunrise tomorrow, we make our terms clear with no room for bargain or compromise. Charles Vane and the animals he commands have until sunrise tomorrow to vacate that fort or so help me God... I will rain holy hell down upon him.

XII.

I support it. I found his argument persuasive. I find his intent to be good and true. And I find yours wanting, sir. I will be relaying my findings to Admiral Hennessey in short order. And now I think it's time you left, sir.

XIII.

The only thing I am ashamed of is that I didn't do something to save him when we had the chance.

XIV.

I'm seeming unconcerned.

XV.

Those men listen to you. They give a shit about what you have to say. What you think, what you want them to think. Where else in the world is that true? Where else would you wake up in the morning and matter? You walk out on this, and where the fuck are you going?

XVI.

What lies ahead, I'm afraid I might be wholly unprepared for. I always thought this journey would end in battle. A fight to preserve the things we held dear. I understood that. I was ready for that. Now, as it turns out, something else lies at the end of this road. Judgment. Not of Nassau, but of me and the man that I've become. And this entire endeavor hangs in the balance of that judgment. [...] I will make my argument having no sense of my footing with [Peter Ashe]. No sense of the things he knows about me, the lower things. The darker things. And the moment he reveals that he knows these things may be the moment that this all comes crashing down. He is going to render judgment. And it all depends on what he sees standing before him: Me or my name.

XVII.

I told you of my grandfather who raised me. A fisherman in Padstow. Well, in his youth he was a deckhand on a privateer off the coast of Massachusetts. And one night he was alone on the late watch at anchor in the Boston Harbor when he sees this man climbing out of the water and onto his ship. A stranger. Now, my grandfather thought about ringing the bell, but curiosity got the better of him. The stranger approaches my grandfather and asks him for a little rum. Man said that he'd fled his fishing trawler, accused of killing another man. And when asked his name, the man simply replied Mr. Flint. This stranger, he never said whether he was guilty of the killing or why he chose that ship or where he was bound, he just just sat there. Eventually, he asked my grandfather for a little more rum from below. My grandfather went off to fetch it, but when he returned the man was gone. My grandfather was in Boston for a month after that. Never heard a word about a killing or a fugitive at large. It was as if the sea had conjured that man out of nothing and then taken him back for some unknowable purpose. When I first met Mr. Gates and he asked me my name... I feared the man I was about to create. I feared that someone born of such dark things would consume me were I not careful. And I was determined only to wear him for a while and then dispose of him when his purpose was complete. And I thought of that story. Am I ready to let him go? Truth is every day I've worn that name I've hated him a little more. I've been ready to return him to the sea for a long time.

XVIII.

I have one regret. I regret ever coming to this place with the assumption that a reconciliation could be found. That reason could be a bridge between us. Everyone is a monster to someone. Since you are so convinced that I am yours, I will be it.

S1 S3 S4

[kajaono]

Canon poly relationships

Todays media gets more diverse every day but we still have a huge lack of poly relationships. So i decided to collect all the poly relationships I am aware of and that are confirmed CANON in this post. Sadly they are often limited to three people and not really diverse, mostly containing white, abled bodied, cis people.

Be aware this posts contains slight SPOILERS. I will mention if they are still together and alive. Feel free to add further confirmed poly relationships. I will update that post from time to time.

Updated: 16.02.2024

Polo/Cayetana/Valerio - ELITE

This triad first appears in season 3. Polo and Valerio are  in the show confirmed as bisexual. Polo is already shown in an another poly relationship in season 1 but it is not necessarily healthy and not 100% build on consent so I am not featuring them here. The triad below is really happy, healthy and cute. Sadly they split up by the end of season 3 and one of them dies.

Eliot/Parker/Hardison - Leverage

They are confirmed canon poly outside the show by the writer. The ending of the first arc can be easily read as a wedding vow. The woman , Parker, gets kissing scenes with both dudes. And they are all really affectionated toward eachother with a lot of hugs. There is a second arc: „Leverage Redemption“. I haven’t watched it yet, so I can not say how they treat the OT3 there but as far as I am aware they are still together, happy and alive. And Parker is confirmed to be on the spectrum.

Leverage Redemption:

I only have watched season 1 so far. In Leverage Redemption the team comes back together to steal stuff. The OT3 still works perfectly together, Sadly the actor of Hardison was so busy with other projects that he was only able to stare in the first two epsiodes and in the finale. And they gave Eliot a girlfriend, so the Ot3 is sadly split up a tiny bit... which is a shame. But in the end they are together again, and as far as i Know Hardison is more in season 2, has a lot of emotional scenes with Eliot, who appearnetly is hevaily bi-coded in season 2?!

Wolfgang/Kala/Rajan - Sense8

The show was originally planned for five seasons. If you know the poly relationship is coming you see bits of the build up throughout the first two seasons but because the show was cancelled after the second season the relationship was kinda rushed in the two hours finale. Anyway, it is still wholesome to watch. The triad contains two people of color. They are happy, alive and together.

Lito/Hernando/Dani - Sense8

Nobody knows to be honest. Lito is confirmed to be gay (so shouldn’t actually be romantically or sexual attracted to Dani), Hernando is probably bisexual. But sexuality is really fluid in this show. Anyways, they are confirmed to be a family with multiple sex scenes, kisses and dances. They are also happy, alive and together

Lantis/Hikaru/Eagle - Magic Knight Rayearth

As far as I am aware they are only confirmed and explicit canon the manga. And the manga is from the 90s so the poly relationship has some flaws but they are happy, together and alive in the end. Hikaru confesses in the manga she wants to marry both Eagle and Lantis.

Miranda/Thomas/Flint - Black sails

Again a case of: nobody knows. Miranda and Thomas are married. They are having, as confirmed in the show, an open relationship. And Miranda loves Thomas. And Thomas and Flint are in love, while Flint also sleeps with Miranda. Sadly they are only in season 2. One of them dies, but the other two come back together in the end and are really happy and really in love.

Jack/Izzy/Emma - You me her 

I have watched the first three seasons. This show is about the married couple - Jack and Emma - who want to spice up their marriage life again and both hook up, seperatly, with the call girl Izzy. Of course they all fall in love with eachother. It is the straightest queer show I have ever watched, with A LOT of drama. But the characters call themselved bi and poly which is really refreshing to watch. And this show has one of the healthiest potray of sex I have ever seen on TV. In the end they are alive, happy and together. The show is closed in five seasons.

Neo/Miw/Shin - 3 will be free

This is a Thai crime drama, closed in one season. You can find it on YouTube for free with englisch subtitles. The story focuses on Shin, the son of a mafia boss, Neo, a male prostitute and Miw, the manager of a Go Go bar. After they commit a murder in an act of self defense, they are forced to run away together and fight back against the mafia trying to hunt them down. The show is super well written. It has no Hollywood clichés and thats really refreshing to watch. It has a trans mtf main character, bisexual coming outs, gay coming out, sex work is work, don’t touch women, metoo and many more important messages. I can highly recommend to watch it. Beware many people die in this show. Not the trans character and also not the poly main characters. In the end they are alive, happy and together

Ben/Ryn/Maddie - Siren

Its a fanatsy show about mermaids, which aired on Freeform. It is closed in three seasons and can be watched on Disney+. After a few fishermen accidently catch a mermaid, her sister, Ryn, transforms into a human and comes into town to find her. Maddie and Ben, an already established couple, find her, discover her secret and hide her. Both Ben and Maddie show romantic and sexual attraction towards Ryn in season 1, but if this was already supposed to set up the polycule or just to show how alluring Ryn is, considering she is a siren... is unclear. The romantic relationship is established in season 2. The triad has sex, shared kiss and even has love confessions. Sadly the triad breaks up in season 3 and one of them dies (as far as I know) and then the show got cancelled. So better stop after season 2.

Honorable mentions

Here I am mentioning shows I have not watched (yet) but that contain poly relationships in the main cast. So there can be some errors, feel free to correct me

Gossip girl - the reboot

I am really not aware how well gossip girl is writing poly relationships (no offense) but by the end of season 1 they are together and happy.

Edit: at the end of season 2 they are not together anymore because they split up for drama reasons and then the show got cancelled. The writers nevertheless confirmed they were always ment to be endgame and will always end up together.

Professor marston and the wonder women

The movie is about the writer who invinted Wonder Woman. He was in a poly relatinship with two women back then which is also shown in the movie. One of them dies in the end (which you can not change, considering it is based on a real life person) but they are getting their happy end nevertheless.

Castlevania

Appearntly it is heavily implied that they are loving eachother, two of them are also in a relationship but it is never a 100% confirmed in the show itself. Not long ago Netflix made the tweet below so they are still kinda confirmed to be poly? I have no knowledge what the writers are saying about the topic.

 The Expanse

I stopped watching the Expanse after episode 1 so I can not really say anything about the poly-ship in this show, but it is definitly worth mentioning that here we have a poly ship that contains of more then three people. They are called PolyBelterFam and are all married together. If i am not wrong they are also a minor ship?

The bastard son & the devil himself

This show is on Netflix. As far I know the two boys are a couple and most of the fandom focuses on that. But there are multiple polyamorous scenes between the three characters: sharing one bed, hugging, cuddeling, hand holding. While the poly relationship is not a 100% explicit confirmed in the show itself, all of the actors confirmed it in different interviews. They are alive at the end and together

Las Chicas del Cable

The spanish show is about four female telephone operators in the 1920s. There is a lot of drama, social as well as romantic. According to @ dylan-is-deryn (thank you for your help) Carlota is dating Miguel, but then meets Sara and they're very attracted to each other, and Sara and Miguel also have chemistry. It seems that Carlota will cheat on Miguel, or that Sara and Miguel will get together, but instead they all get together.

They are not together anymore and the show has a really bad ending for all main chatracters, so beware

Riverdale

I honestly have no idea how we ended here, and considering it only happened in the finale i wouldn’t argue it is good poly representation but its endgame. Like always, watch Riverdale on your own risk.

Trigonometry

Its a british TV show by the BBC and is realstic. Its about a happy married couple who meet a third person and start a poly relationship. As far as I am aware it has a happy end but has some dark topic, such as alcolism and cancer.

Deep Night (Ken x Seiji x Japan)

Thank you @made-in-rivendell​ for brining this show to my attention. Like “3 will be free” this is a Thai BL series. It is closed in one season, with 8 episodes. The story takes place in a host club. I have not watched the show (yet) but accoring to made-in-rivendell the polycule is canon, happy and everyone is alive.

Minor Poly Ships and poly characters

Newly added here - to make the post even longer - I decided to add poly ships that are formed by side characters but still there for a long period of time.

The Wheel of time

Alanna has formed a poly relationship with her two male warders. It is explicit shown that the two male warders - Maksim and Ihovn - are also in love with eachother and we see them cuddeling together before they get up with Alanna to have sex with eachother... which is not shown btw. The relationship of the three is openly discussed by the other characters. It is also mentioned that Alanna would be more then happy to greet even more people in her polycule. While we see them together on screen multiple times over the course of multiple episodes, we sadly do not have good shot or promo pic of all of them together, so I am taking the BTS pic of the actors. Remeber: They are backgrund characters. By the end of season 1 they are alive and still together.

Ted Lasso

The character Dano Rojas is confirmed poly in the finale. But it is already implied a few seasons earlier. Him being poly is not part of the plot. I think apart from two scenes we never see him with his girlfriends.

Avenue 5

This sci-fi show has Hugh Laurie in the main role. His character is poly. I think apart from this pic you never see his spouses.

Our Flag Means Death

The character of Spanish Jackie is poly in the pirate comedy Our Flag Means Death. She appearntly has 20 husbands. So far we saw one of them. But the sequel is confirmed so I will provide further informations soon

Our flag means death (2)

OFMD also features a poly triad in season 2. Containing the characters Jim (who is played by Vico, an actor who is poly irl as well), Archie and Olu. The relationship is not a 100% explicit poly but heavily implied. At the end Olu falls for another woman. It is not clear if she will join the triad but it is suggested by the other three.

Books with poly couples

On multiple requests we now have a new categorie. Poly couples in popular, in english avaiable, book stories

Mark/Cristina/Kieran - The Dark Artifices

This is a triology written by Cassandra Clare, who also wrote the Mortal Instruments aka Shadowhunters. The book is set in the shadow-world and mostly revolves around Emma Carstairs and her best-friend and parabatai, Julian Blackthorn. The story focuses mostly on the forbidden love between two Parabatais and the general political struggles in the shadow-world. You need some knowledge about the previous books to understand this one. Emmas friend Cristina falls in love with the faerie Kieran and the half-Faerie Mark. Its more of a subplot but nevertheless present from book 1 onwards. They are all alive and together in the end

art by @cassandrajean​

Zetian/Yizhi/Shimin, Iron Widow

This book was written by Xiran Jay Zhao, you can also find them here in tumblr. The book is kind of a poly Pacfic Rim fan fiction. But believe me: nothing can prepare you for this book. It is about Wu Zetian who lives in a world where the army fights with big mechas, called Chrysalis. Zetian joins the military to take revenge for her older sister. Slowly she discovers that the whole operating system of the Chrysalis was only build to oppress and control women and people who are “different”. The story starts as the typical love triangle but Zetian quickly decides that she can do better then just one boyfriend. So she takes two. All three are bisexual and it is multiple times implied that Zetian is genderqueer. The book is dark. Zetian isn’t a hero, she is kinda a villain but you can totally understand all her actions, even though you might not agree with them. Go queen, burn the world. The book ends with a cliffhanger. Xiran Jay Zhao is alredy working on a sequel. Most likely it will be published mid of 2024.

In the end the are not happy, not together but alive.

[eleutheryaflint]

Hey listen have you heard the soulmate au where you have your soulmate (not necessarily romantic) on one wrist and your worst enemy on the other but you don't know which is which? It just had bs potential off the charts!!!

-Thomas having James and his father, the assumption being that this means he will be Alfred's perfect heir, his realization as he grows up that it has to be the other way around bc his dad SUCKS, parallel that realization with his discovery of his queerness!!!

-Eleanor having vane and rogers, and her thinking, in the very moment of her death, that she honest to god still doesn't know which is which!!!

-Anne having her husband and Jack, and her immediately trusting Jack enough to go with him because he must be the good one, cause it sure as shit isn't her husband

-Jack having Anne and blackbeard, and desperately thinking to himself at his lowest that someone whose worst enemy is blackbeard must be worth a page in the history books, right? RIGHT?

-silver having flint on both wrists!!!

-MADI HAVING SILVER ON BOTH WRISTS!!!

I fully cannot decide what James would have but literally every combination you can think of is delightful

bestie... oh my god.... holy shit...... i cannot believe you chose to send this as an anon instead of raking in the notes on your own post because this concept SLAPS?????? i'm a sucker for soulmate au worldbuilding and i have Many Thoughts????

like... my gut says miranda's worst enemy would be peter but realistically she is cautious enough not to trust him in the first place if she had his name, and his betrayal first requires her trust. so maybe her worst enemy has to be alfred, and isn't that a fucking doozy, knowing all along that her soulmate and enemy are from the same family

also?? the Potential that comes from people changing their names. silver with 'james mcgraw' on his wrists and suspecting, from early season 2, that flint is mcgraw, but not getting confirmation until flint trusts him enough to share his story

maybe madi has solomon little or maybe silver is so strongly divorced from his past that the universe knows, all along, that he will be john silver when he meets, loves, and betrays her. whatever name she has, silver would surely see it eventually and realise he is doomed to hurt her, but in a selfish way it's a relief, seeing someone else with the same name on each wrist

ANNE GETTING MAX TATTOOED UNDER JACK???? silver getting madi tattooed???? if anyone would say "fuck soulmates, it's about who we choose" it would be pirates!!!!!!

or maybe society rejects soulmates, especially in the context of men having other men's names, as giving into a "baser instinct" — and it's listening to that call of fate that is actually the radical act of love???? (it's thomas on flint's wrist — know no shame)

either way tattooing a soulmate mark as an act of love to a non-soulmate fucking slaps in every soulmate au regardless of the worldbuilding

max has anne and hamund and she ends season 1 with a new tattoo where his name used to be, because she refuses to let a man, even a dead one, even in name only, claim any power over her ever again

or maybe it's anne and eleanor, because men have never truly had power over her in the first place, and she loves eleanor so fiercely pre-betrayal because she believes eleanor to be her soulmate and not her enemy

silver never, ever, not even when bathing, not even in bed, leaving his wrists uncovered, because no one gets to know something about him without his say-so.... flint, also, only ever uncovering his wrists around thomas and miranda (and silver, potentially, if his enemy is alfred and not silver) (maybe even if it's silver)

anon i have to stop and GO TO WORK but i hate you and love you for awakening my soulmate lore sleeper agent jesus christ

[bring-it-all-down]

Much has been said about the Black Sails finale and its statement of the show’s themes, so I’d like to focus instead on the penultimate episode, specifically the following speech Jack gives as he’s headed back to Nassau with the goal of killing Flint:

The result ahead of us promises to be a victory of a different sort. A true victory. Freedom...in every sense of the word. How many men in the history of the world have ever known it? How remarkable a moment is this? How fortunate are we to be standing on the threshold of it?

I think this speech really gets to the heart of the show: it’s ultimately about what it means to be truly free. While this notion of freedom is discussed in Flint’s unparalleled final speech about dragons, it’s perhaps in 4.09 that we get the fullest exploration of freedom.

There has obviously been a lot written on the subject of freedom throughout human history, and rather than foolishly attempt to summarize thousands of years of philosophy, I’m going to refer to one of my favorite understandings, written by W.E.B. DuBois:

I dream of a world of infinitive and valuable variety; not in the laws of gravity or atomic weights, but in human variety in height and weight, color and skin, hair and nose and lip. But more especially and far above and beyond this, is a realm of true freedom: in thought and dream, fantasy and imagination; in gift, aptitude, and genius—all possible manner of difference, topped with freedom of soul to do and be, and freedom of thought to give to a world and build into it, all wealth of inborn individuality. Each effort to stop this freedom of being is a blow at democracy—that real democracy which is reservoir and opportunity” (The World and Africa: An Inquiry into the Part Which Africa Has Played in World History, pg. 165.)

DuBois here notes three central elements of freedom: the physical (“to do and be”), the mental (“thought and dream, fantasy and imagination”), and the generational (“give to a world and build into it”). The first two components of freedom are understood by much of Western political philosophy through the terms “negative liberty” and “positive liberty” (coined by Isaiah Berlin), freedom from external threats and freedom to engage in philosophic activity. To these conceptions, DuBois adds a third that all the white dudes who conceived of the other two wouldn’t be concerned with: central to achieving them is the recognition that every individual owes prior and future generations their efforts to maintain liberty, that liberty is not just a theoretical principle but an action.

Turning now to episode 4.09, I think we can begin to understand how each of these three types of freedom overlap.

To start, the conflict of the episode deals with negative liberty. Silver and Flint to some degree know that if one catches the other with the chest, there is a chance they will be killed, and Silver wants the chest to ensure that Woodes Rogers does not kill Madi. In short, they are fighting for their survival, their physical freedom.

Moving on to the flashbacks between Flint and Silver, we begin to see the connection between negative liberty and positive liberty. First, because Silver and Flint are equals without the same political obligations to each other as they have to the crew, the people who serve them and who they serve in turn, they can be honest with each other. Silver recognizes this in telling Flint: “The men...I have to manage how they see me...But for pride to be an issue between you and I, well, I think we’re playing past that by now.” Because they, at that point, have physical/negative liberty with each other, they are then allowed to pursue mental/positive liberty, that being the revelation of their true selves. 

However, Flint becomes aware that this physical liberty is an illusion because Silver is unwilling to meet him equally in their pursuit of positive liberty: 

You know my story. Thomas, Miranda, all of it. Know the role it played in motivating me to do the things that I've done, the things I will do. It has made me transparent to you. Not only that, but when I told you this story, you insinuated yourself into it. The latest in a line of ill-fated partners, situating yourself such that...were you and I ever to come to blows, I'd be forced to hesitate before doing you any harm.

Thus Silver actually has a physical advantage over Flint, negating any semblance of Flint’s physical liberty in their relationship. Through Silver’s attempts to kill Flint in this episode and in the finale, we see that without both physical/mental (or negative/positive) liberty present in any relationship, neither will exist; you cannot have one without the other.

This brings us to what I’ve decided to call generational freedom, though I suppose it could also be called communal freedom. In this episode, the concept of generational freedom is brought up in relation to both Jack and Madi. First, we see it in Jack’s conversation with the man he chose to navigate him to Skeleton Island:

Jack: You sailed with Avery.

Old man: Long time ago.

Jack: 20 years? More, even, maybe?

Old man: More, aye.

Jack: Mm-hmm. You do know where you're going, yes? No, seriously, I've got quite a lot riding on this.

Old man: One day, you'll leave the account. Take a wife, father children. See less and less of the sea until she becomes like a painting hanging on the wall, static and irrelevant to your daily existence. But she'll keep on calling you. And when she does, you'll step into that painting and feel the swell beneath your feet. It'll all come back as if it were like yesterday.

Jack: Is that so?

Old man: I've watched you and yours handle the account since I and mine left it. Accomplish things that no one I ever sailed with could dream of. From what I've overheard, if you reach Skeleton Island, might mean the end of the governor. Maybe keep the account alive a little while longer. Is that so?

Jack: That and more.

Old man: Then I'll take you to it. Hold on to this for as long as you can, for all of us who once had it...and walked away.

In this conversation, we see the generational connections within piracy. The old man sailed with Henry Avery, the person most responsible for establishing the current status of piracy in Nassau, and he is conversing with the person who will usher Nassau into a new era. He is careful to remind Jack of this link and of how unseverable it is; no matter how far away Jack gets from piracy, he will never be able to leave it fully behind. There is some sense of owing his existence in this world to Avery and all those who came before him, a debt he must repay with his actions (namely, removing Woodes Rogers and continuing the life of piracy in Nassau).

Immediately after this conversation, we get Woodes Rogers’ bargaining with Madi. He offers her an ultimatum: accept his treaty or he will kill Silver and all of Silver’s crew, which includes many of Madi’s people. Madi rejects his ultimatum with one of the most poignant speeches in the show:

The voice you hear in your head, I imagine I know who it sounds like, as I know Eleanor wanted those things. But I hear other voices. A chorus of voices. Multitudes. They reach back centuries. Men and women and children who'd lost their lives to men like you. Men and women and children forced to wear your chains. I must answer to them and this war, their war, Flint's war, my war, it will not be bargained away to avoid a fight, to save John Silver's life or his men's or mine. And you believe what you will, but it was neither I nor Flint, nor the Spanish raider who killed your wife. That, you did.

Because of her existence as a former slave who had lived in hiding for most of her life, Madi most fully understands generational freedom. She knows that the supposed freedom Rogers’ treaty offers her and her people is not actual freedom because it fails to address the unfreedom of her ancestors, of the rest of the enslaved people in the Caribbean, because she knows that freedom will never be achieved on the terms of the oppressor. She knows that she owes this war to every victim of England’s empire and that it is the only way to achieve what DuBois calls the opportunity to “give to a world and build into it.” 

This episode thus introduces the idea that “freedom every sense of the word” depends on one recognizing one’s duty to one’s community that consists of not just its current members, but its past and future members. Complete freedom is achieved when one begins to fight to protect the freedom of those who do not yet exist. Madi understands this about freedom, as does Flint, but despite Silver’s insistence that he and Flint are true friends and equals, he is incapable of grasping the generational component of freedom and he therefore ensures that physical and mental freedom, too, will fall outside of his grasp.

[medusinestories]

Black Sails, IV (S1, ep 04)

- Silver's horrified face when he finds out he's going to have to roast pigs is a Journey, starting with shock, then fake smiling, and then this horrified shuddery expression. It's just as interesting when they drop the dead pig at his feet and he clearly doesn't know what to do with it and also finds it disgusting. I can absolutely see where all the Jewish John Silver headcanons come from, especially since it's unlikely that a London urchin has never seen a dead pig and raw meat in general before.

- Here we have the first performance of Cassandra DeGroot: he knows that the bay they'd chosen to do the careening was too dangerous, and warns the crew. He's immediately countered by Flint, who has much more persuasive arguments to get the careening done fast but in a risky manner. (this whole thing reminds me of our current COVID/climate situation, where scientists get talked over by politicians, and people prefer listening to the latter because they seem to offer much better prospects than the “catastrophist” former)

- In this episode Billy is now quartermaster and he shows himself to actually be really good at disciplining the crew, something Gates, DeGroot and even Flint recognise. However, he also agreed to do the careening only because he's afraid to say no to Flint and allowed the men to have a fuck tent, which he feared would distract them - and it did, the two men who placed the rope on the wrong tree decided not to follow his orders and go fuck instead. This all weighs on him enormously after the disaster with Randall and Morley, who accuses him minutes before his death of already being in Flint's pocket. It's pretty clear that more responsibility doesn't do Billy's mental state any good.

- Morley's story about the Maria Aleyne gives some idea of a timeline, albeit a faint one. The incident took place "a number of years back", before Billy joined. This means that Billy is a somewhat new addition to the crew. We know that Randall was bosun when Billy joined. This also establishes that Lord Hamilton has been dead for several years, which now begs the question: who is the Lord Proprietor that Richard Guthrie is now in touch with? Did Thomas have a younger brother who inherited the Bahamas? Was someone new appointed? Was there a gap between Proprietors that allowed the pirates to establish themselves even more after Lord Alfred's death?

- I just adore the fact that Miranda actually went to stinking, violent Nassau because she was just too impatient to wait at home and wanted to be there when the Walrus came in and immediately hear the news of Lord Alfred's death. She is that vengeful and angry and I love her <3

- Speaking of which, this episode gives us the Passive-Agressive Sex Scene which makes so many people doubt of Flint's attraction to Miranda. Just look at Flint’s face: this man isn't uncomfortable or sad he is PISSED. He plays starfish and glares at Miranda all through it (while maintaining an erection all the same!). Miranda must be hella frustrated (or determined) because she manages to get off in spite of all of this (also, how uncommon is it for a sex scene to end when the woman climaxes rather than the man?) It's only when it ends that both Flint and Miranda are both shown as vulnerable and sad and reflective, with Flint reaching up to touch her but not quite getting there - imo because he's still angry but knows that she (and he) needs comfort.

- This leads into the argument over Meditations, and Miranda explicitly talking about Thomas and not wanting to forget him. The book hasn't been touched in a long time, confirming the idea that Miranda shared it with Richard Guthrie because Flint refuses to touch it. Her grief, her loneliness, are incredibly poignant in this scene, and we see Flint shift from bristling and stonily glaring at her, to absolutely melting (Toby's facial expression shifts here are just *chef's kiss*) and finally being gentle and tender with her. However, even though he promises to make things better, Miranda clearly doesn't believe him anymore.

- This brings in a big theme in the episode: betrayal from people you care for/trust. Mr Scott asks Eleanor not to do anything rash in order to get the Andromache’s guns, only to discover her Plan B: to kill Bryson if he didn't comply. In the meantime, Richard Guthrie tells (a very sceptical) Miranda that he can only support Eleanor and Flint, because he pretty much has no choice in the matter. He then proceeds to betray his daughter by making a deal with Bryson and with Mr Scott, who’s still smarting from Eleanor’s betrayal and who Guthrie tries to convince by saying that Eleanor's endeavour will lead to her death and Nassau’s destruction (considering what we later find out about Mr Scott, Eleanor’s safety is probably not be the argument that actually compels Mr Scott - but he certainly doesn't want the Navy searching the area and finding Maroon Island, and needs a stable Nassau to continue supplying his island).

- The Undercooked Pig scene and Silver's attempts at communicating with Flint will never not be funny. Silver looks so small when Flint glares him down, but that doesn't last all that long: once Flint has taught him how to cook the pork, Silver seems much more bold, asking Flint how he learned to glaze the pig, insisting that Flint should trust him and not Billy. This is also a moment where Silver shows that, unlike Flint, he is incredibly perceptive: he noticed that Billy is "straining at the seams" because of the lie he told. And while Flint spits a "there is no we" and calls Silver a rodent, it's obvious that Silver's words still have an impact on him. Their collaboration is sealed when Silver hands him the cleaver so that he can save Randall (and himself). When Flint returns the cleaver to Silver, he's ready to accept that Silver is actually on his side (albeit for selfish reasons) and listens to him for the first time.

- Max believed that she could charm Vane's remaining crew into being kind to her - and overall it seems to have worked. While again I hate this plot, it does give an interesting insight into how even the worst pirate crew is portrayed: most of the men are happy to comply with Max and get sexual rewards "for gentle obedience". Most of them, basically, aren't violent monsters deep down. However there's always one, in this case That Big Bastard (I'm sure he has a name, I just can't be bothered to google it), who clearly gets a kick out of torturing/raping people and hates the idea of a woman taking the lead.

- Fuck You Jack is another theme of this episode. Vane is high on opium and booze and has basically lost the will to do anything. Anne has been courted by several other crews, but Jack hasn't received any offers (note there's no loyalty to Vane here, Jack’s ready to leave, but nobody will have him) and nobody is willing to help him after the pearl cock-up. Then Noonan wants Max back, which Jack refuses because she's the only thing keeping the few members of his crew loyal - and Anne isn't on board with that, leading to her telling him to fuck himself. This, btw, might have crossed Jack’s mind considering the position she was in when he found her. I think it’s easy to forget that Jack is portrayed as pretty callous and happily willing to treat people like pawns too.

- When Richard Guthrie talks about Nassau, he describes it as a place "a place where she [Eleanor] matters, a place where you [Mr Scott] matter", and adds that a place like this isn't meant to last. Nassau, then, is currently an utopia where women and black people can have some semblance of power - and he doesn't believe that this will ever be allowed to exist because this kind of story never has a happy ending in their current society. But when Flint talks to Eleanor about their project, he's of the opposite view: people don't believe that it's possible, but when they succeed, they'll say it was inevitable. It seems Flint is firmly in the camp of "winners get to tell the story", and that the story will influence how the rest of the world sees them.

- When the Walrus tilts and squashes Randall, Flint stops Billy from intervening and rushes to rescue Randall himself - even though he knows the ship will be cut loose at any moment. He puts himself into incredible danger in this moment. Why? Theoretically, it could be for a manipulative purpose: to look good to the crew, or to get rid of Morley. But Flint seems genuinely involved in the struggle to save Randall, and he barely had time to think before he ran off. I feel that this is a rare spontaneous moment for Flint, where instead of thinking about his plans or his position as Captain, he just thinks like a person in an emergency who wants to rescue someone else. He absolutely could have died out there. And while Billy seems to suspect him of having killed Morley, I don't find that reading compatible with what we're shown of Flint trying to save Randall. True, he may have kicked/pushed Morley at the very last second, but we’ll never know that for sure.

- Back to the theme of people betraying their loved ones, we have Richard Guthrie getting back to Miranda, telling her he knows who she is and revealing the "Thomas went mad because Miranda and Flint cheated" story which he heard from Lord Alfred himself. So now Miranda knows that her identity has been revealed and that Richard could spread the story to, say, Pastor Lambrick (let's not pretend this didn't cross her mind, she keeps her identity secret for a reason). And then Guthrie offers her a way back to civilisation. This, right after a kid threw a stone at her, calling her a witch. This, after Flint has promised to make things better, even as he goes deeper into reckless/utopian plans of fortifying Nassau. Backed into a corner, was Miranda ever going to refuse, if she could be safe and have him be safe? And obviously, Richard Guthrie isn't doing this out of the kindness of his heart. He apparently figured out that Miranda was a way to get in touch with Pastor Lambrick and that ridding New Providence of Flint and winning over the “good”, normal inhabitants would be a perfect beginning to buying back his influence on the Island - the end goal being named Governor, of course.

- If there was any doubt that Vane’s tough guy thing is part of an act, his opium hallucination of Eleanor makes it crystal clear: "you're alone, you don't have to pretend with me". That is, pretend that he's not afraid and that he's not vulnerable. The hallucination also offers Vane an explanation for why Eleanor is how she is: like him she's afraid of appearing weak. He's actually spot on, a big problem in their relationship is that they're too alike and are struggling for dominance. Which is probably why Vane wants to overcome his fear and weakness, and regain power by confronting his old slave master (btw, nice parallel with Flint haunted by Miranda in S3). The scene where Vane kills Noonan also shows him in a very animalistic light - at first he's cornered and somewhat pathetic, beaten, throwing up, only saved by the fact that a gun misfires. Then he turns violent: quick, instinctive and relentless, deaf to Noonan's plea to leave him alive, even if theoretically it could have been profitable for him.

- I have to say, I snickered quite a bit when Pastor Lambrick sees Richard Guthrie and tells him "God teaches us not to cheer when someone stumbles, in your case I may ask his forgiveness". I mean, I really see his point. He leads a group of Puritans who are trying to make a life for themselves on this island. Historically, people who lived and farmed in New Providence were constant targets for errant pirates, who robbed, raped and killed a lot of them. This is what the Pastor is trying to protect his congregation from (and Miranda, since he doesn't understand why she's with Flint and is likely terrified that a pirate lives so close to his congregation, hence the spies he sends out). There's a bit of a parallel with Billy, where both Lambrick and Billy are presented as being very preoccupied with the well-being of the group they're responsible for, and both are presented as, well, Goody-Two-Shoes - (self-)righteous, loyal, honest, caring. Except they're both human, and sooner or later they falter.

[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.