Wei Wuxian Made The Bonding/Binding Talisman...

This aspect, at least for me, is definitely what did the magic. I mean, I don't think I'd be here talking about it if it hadn't included such an important theme (current for those times but still very current today too).

Probably is because I understand it personally , but also I think you don't necessarily have to experience something first hand in order to understand it and emphatize with it. So yes, I think there are also people foreign to this problem who can appreciate it.

Moreover, I heard also of a lot of people which are part of this problem on the other side, the one which causes it, that however enjoy very much the show, so I guess each one can find their own attractive aspect in it.

Just...don't know, maybe emphatize with it about this subject specifically makes the like for the show way more personal, in a way. But it's not necessarily the only way to like it.

I wonder what the cishet experience of Black Sails is like — or more accurately I suppose the experience of the show for people who have not known shame and who have not been made to feel like monsters, for one reason or another.

Because there is something so compelling to me about Flint's rage—and his ruthlessness. There is something so satisfying to the way he turns into a monster because that's what England tells him he is, and the way he lies and kills and believes in a better, different, impossible world and will stop at nothing to fight for it—even if the fight is doomed from the start. "This ends when England apologises to me," he says and all I can say in return is go off king.

I wonder what this show is like for the normies who never felt that rage—and that shame—burning under their skin and had to swallow it down.

Agathario AU | part 2 insp.

Madi ✨👸🏿

— it’s not just men who are made great by the relentless pursuit of a better world. By being unwilling to give up that pursuit, because they don’t know how. And if we don’t, we, too, can be invincible.

This is about all of us Swen! Go to listen to it! Thanks to SwanQueen715

That's amazing😂

So… I tried to make a thing.

Lately I went rewatching ep.I. It was the third time, but the first one being as obsessed with this show (and having the full picture of it) as I am now. And, wow, it really could be called an “introduction”. I mean, besides all the main characters' introduction, in those 60 minutes there are hints to all of the main themes treated in the show.

They give a sketch of the pirate figure they are going to deepen throughout the seasons (free men who keep what they want) and also of the way they are seen and conceived by the civilized world (as fearsome monsters).

They also start to give some hints about the nature of that “civilized world”.

They even introduce the concept of shame! I didn't remember that.

Captain Hume says: ”gossip is what holds civilization together. It reinforces shame. And without shame the world is a very dangerous place.”

Which, wow, is pretty ominous considering what we are going to discover in season two.

They also start to make it pretty clear how things work in Nassau, how important it is to have allies and at the same time how easily those alliances may change, with poor Gates trying to gain votes for Flint (and I'm going to say it once again: he didn't deserve to die. Like, I love Flint, but this I can't forgive him.)

And speaking about Flint, they already give very important informations about him.

Sure, we see him being the bossiest and the strongest of the bunch, all determined with his actions and plans and all, but what I'm really talking about are the hints to his personality.

Of course we don't know him yet at episode one (and I'm sure the first impressions of him must have been the most disparate. I can't even remember my very first impression of him, but considering my actual tastes in characters I think that if I had first known him now I would have loved him at once) but they drop things which are very important considering what we are going to discover about his character.

Like, we know at first that he doesn't trust his men at all (“I don't trust them with the truth”+ the various lies lol), and we see that he definitely is not “one of them”, because they find him too different from them to be considered such and probably this is where all those mistrust in him come from (“I know they've always found me aloof, too educated” which really, really, tells a lot about him).

And I just thought: how strong must he have been to gain and hold the power over those men in a world where there are no rules, no indisputable ranks, where trust and submission is granted (and only barely promised) to the stronger ones or to the ones who are considered the most fitted to receive it only basing on one's subjective judgment and advantage, without even being liked by those men?

And also, Dufresne says that “he loves his books” which is another one of the things that in my opinion are so beautiful about his character for the deep links those books have with his story and his development (I could write a whole essay about Flint's books lol).

Anyway, I just finished rewatching season 4 some weeks ago and since I can't stay for long without BS anymore I thought: why not starting it again? And so. Btw, I really needed to rewatch the first season since I feel like I still haven't appreciated it enough.

So interesting, thank you! I'm going to see what you linked too, as I was saying, I'm not skilled in history but I might be interested in some topics in particular (like this one), so thank you for sharing such precious infos!

Yeah they never named that ship, the original name is beautiful but a bit long I'd say. Still it would have been interesting to know, you're right.

The Man O'War

One of the mysteries of Black Sails is where the Spanish man o’war captured in season 1 vanishes to after Captain Flint and his crew return to Walrus…but another mystery is exactly WHAT is this ship. I’ve seen her referred to as a frigate, but now that I’ve captured a good screenshot (season 2, episode 4), that this is definitely no frigate.

The man o’war has three full gun decks. Counting gun ports, it looks like each has approximately fifteen guns, plus a short gun deck back aft near the main deck. This averages to 45-49 guns per broadside, which makes this grand bitch not just a ship of the line, but a first rate ship of the line. That's the age of sail equivalent of a battleship! Take a look at the gif below of the man o’war savaging Walrus and Ranger.

(Frankly, if she was a frigate, I don't think Flint would've worried much; Walrus has the throw weight of a sixth rate frigate and would've stood a good chance; with Ranger along, they would've been just fine and no one should've panicked.)

So, what ship is this? The Urca de Lima was a real ship, though Urca was only a nickname for Santissima Trinidad, and she was part of a combination of two flotillas that made up the 1715 Treasure Fleet. This fleet consisted of eleven ships, of which at least two were ships of the line.

The first was ex-Hampton Court, a British built third rate ship of the line of 70 guns that was captured by the French then sold to the Spanish. Sources say that she was renamed Nuestra Señora del Carmen, but contemporary sources such as the governor of Jamacia, Archibald Hamilton indicate that this was a separate ship and the flagship of the second part of the fleet. (More on that in a moment.)

The second confirmed ship of the line was the French Griffon, which was the one and only survivor. (Cool fact: the captain of this ship was also likely the informant who gave Hamilton his information).

The third ship is the mystery ship that brought up the rear of the formation. This ship is harder to place, and was either a different "massive war galleon" or Nuestra Señora del Rosario, a third ship of the line. This may have been a third rate or fourth rate ship of the line, but sources make it very hard to tell. Given that the wrecks that have been found have never been positively identified, it's even harder to determine which ship was which.

Back to Black Sails. Historical evidence says that there wasn't a first rate ship of the line in the 1715 Treasure Fleet, but the show does also indicate that the Urca was traveling alone, so a bit of dramatic license says that we've got a first rater along for the ride. It's far from outside the realm of possibility, given the contemporary evidence that the Spanish definitely did use ships of the line as escorts for treasure ships.

I think it's safe to say that the ship isn't Hampton Court, however. An ex-British officer like James Flint would 100% recognize Hampton Court, who would've been captured (1707) after he left England but was a distinctly British design. Additionally, the characters continuously refer to her as a Spanish man o'war, which indicates she's Spanish-built.

Spanish-built ships of the line with three decks have 94 guns or greater. Until 1700ish, they frequently were referred to as galleons, a term that faded out of use and was replaced by navíos. If I'm going to be a real history nerd, Spain didn't really have a three deck ship of the line in this era; they'd scrapped the only one they had in 1705, Nuestra Señora de la Concepción y las Animas. But prior to scrapping, this ship was sent to the colonies to harass settlers around Panama, so she was on the right side of the world in the early 18th century.

Historically speaking, Nuestra Señora de la Concepción y las Animas (Our Lady of the Conception and of Souls) is the best candidate for the Man O'War in Black Sails.

In-universe speaking, that big bitch is a three deck, first rate ship of the line of somewhere between 94-100 guns, just based on the number of gun ports and the mincemeat she makes of two ships at the same time. Why did she vanish? Probably because it'd be hard as hell for anyone to beat Flint if you let him keep that ship, and Woodes Rodgers would've had a much harder time taking Nassau when she was protected by a ship of the line.

Have you seen this post before? Probably a close cousin of it. Dimwit me deleted my tumblr and had to remake it.

Additional sources:

1715 Treasure Fleet Information

Ship resting places, armament, and educated guesswork

Archibald Hamilton's information

It's not my blood.

Oookay I think it would fun if you could do a fic where the reader has a crush on Riley and is part of same social circle as Riley and Harper so she knows what Harper did to Riley and also knows how Abby was lowkey using Riley for comfort only to go running back to Harper. So the reader is comforting Riley and telling her she deserves better but ends up confessing her feelings for Riley in the process of that and it escalates from there.

At last! What can I say, this turned out to be a pure lesbian romcom, I hope you enjoy it.

Closer

Riley Johnson x Reader (Happiest Season) Warnings: go figure, but there are none. Word count: 3.1K

‘So my parents were so attached to me believing in Santa that, even after years went by and I stopped believing, and they knew about that, still we just kept the charade going,’ said Riley.

‘Yeah,’ the blond girl sitting next to her nodded, staring into the void.

‘They were struggling, and I just felt so bad for them—that I eventually murdered them.’

‘Sounds fun,’ Abby muttered without even looking at Riley.

‘Ahem…hello?’ Riley ran her hand in front of the girl’s eyes.

‘Sorry I just…I think I need to go—’ Abby looked confused and all over the place.

'Hey, what’s happening?’

Riley got vexed as she really was trying to cheer Abby up and be there for her, knowing that being among Harper’s family on Christmas Eve could be quite a challenge, especially if you’re taken hostage and forcefully pushed back into the closet again.

‘It’s just…I was going to propose, but now it feels like she’s a totally different person. Like with me and here with her parents and…Connor.’

‘Welcome to the club,’ Riley chuckled.

‘What happened with you by the way? Harper was vague about that.’

‘Well, in school we were really close for years, like, inseparable, and in the freshman year we became…more than friends,' Riley rolled her eyes. ‘But then her friend suspected something, and Harper freaked out and told everyone that I was like obsessed with her, and she basically outed me in front of the school, which made my life awful for a while.’

‘Fuck, I’m sorry, I didn’t know that…’ Abby was genuinely shocked right now, discovering another layers of her girlfriend’s past.

‘It’s alright, it was a long time ago,’ Riley shrugged and took a sip of the red wine.

‘Do you believe people change?’ Her face was almost pale with tears in her eyes, ready to burst any second.

‘Honestly, I have no idea. How about we get you a real drink?’

‘Sounds good, thanks,’ Abby said as she gave her a nod with a strained smile and continued piercing her gaze at Harper, who was talking enthusiastically with Connor near the Christmas tree.

***

As she walked over to the bar to fetch drinks, you finally saw her up close. Riley was at arm's length and looking stunning as always. You'd wanted to talk to her for quite a long time, but it hadn't been easy since she'd been chatting with Abby furtively in the corner of the room all evening; besides, there was a bunch of people here, mostly former classmates with their families, who were eager to know everything that had happened in your life while you'd been out of town. By and large, everything that was going on at this posh party seemed bizarre and uneasy, and there was some kind of lesbian drama in the air.

You left this town first thing after graduating, and normally spent Christmas with your friends in New York, but this time decided to visit just to check up on your old parents. You didn’t have the best relationship with them, especially after your awkward coming out, but it was actually good to be there for Christmas, get lost in a crowd of familiar faces and some childhood memories. Plus, someone in a group chat said Riley would be there. You came across her post on insta and thought that…It’s probably stupid, but this Christmas you were free like a river and lonely as a wolf, so why not take a chance?

Seeing those people conjured up high school memories, especially the year Harper outed Riley in front of the students. It had been horrible, to say the least, and suddenly you remembered it so clearly, as if it had happened yesterday. You wanted to stand up for Riley then, but unfortunately you didn't have the guts to do so in those days, and you were still processing your own sexuality. Given what you saw happening to gay people at school, it goes without saying that you were shit scared of those bullies. Whatever the case, you did your best to show Riley that you were on her side and never made fun of her. Still, being a shy little person, basically a wallflower, you probably didn't get her attention, so she was unlikely to remember you.

She was now a few inches away, and the scent of her sandalwood perfume hit you hard, provoking a faint panic attack inside you.

‘Hey, Riley,’ you uttered awkwardly.

‘Sorry, I’m so clumsy,’ she said, trying not to spill the drinks, ‘hi!’ She bestowed her perfect smile upon you.

‘It’s Y/N, from a freshman year, you probably don’t remember.’ 

‘Of course I do! It’s been a while since you’ve visited this godforsaken place, right?’ Riley said.

‘It’s actually cute out there. I mean…almost poetic pastoral, isn’t it?’ You faintly chuckled, giving her a subtle flirtatious look.

‘Yeah, I know, just fooling around. Can you believe they are still doing that ‘white elephant’ thing?’

‘I think I missed that stuff. Living in New York, you know…’

‘Oh yeah, that explains a lot,’ she playfully pouted and shook her head exaggeratedly.

‘Well, I guess being there on Christmas, kinda comes with the territory,’ you said.

‘When in Rome…’ she smirked.

‘Do what Caldwells do.’ Then you both laughed, still figuring out the mood of this small talk. 

You blushed in a second, as you saw her laughing at your jokes. How could she be so gorgeous all the time? Years later, it only got hotter—a sexy brunette with sharp eyes and a deadpan expression. You could barely pull yourself together and put words in sentences, but on the outside you seemed to be nailing it.

‘Sorry, I should—’ she pointed to the lounge as she had beed expected by someone. 

‘Oh, I didn’t mean to distract you,’ you briefly apologized with a dash of disappointment on your face.

‘It’s fine, it’s just…’

She glanced back again and realized that Abby was suddenly gone.

‘Hm,’ she looked a bit lost.

‘Everything alright?’

‘Actually, I think I need a breather. Do you mind?’ Riley tilted her head pointing at the front door.

'Absolutely not!’ You tried your best not to show your childish excitement.

Looked like the party had just started.

***

You both snuck through the crowd and went outside of the house. It was cold, but the fluffy snow lying softly on the porch surface and the Christmas decorations of the Caldwell's upscale home with warm lights, wreaths and mistletoe made it look like some Hallmark fantasy. But you couldn’t take your eyes off Riley’s beautiful features and her perfect curled strands, slightly blowing in the wind.

‘Sorry if it's none of my business, but Abby and Harper?’ You finally brought up the elephant in the room. 

‘Hm?’ Riley looked a bit puzzled. 

'I mean, something is obviously off. Harper is still in the closet, isn’t she?’

Riley was probably figuring out if she was supposed to gossip about them.

‘Yeah, she surely is.’

‘Frankly, I don’t care about what’s going on with Harper, it’s just…I’m so sorry about what happened back in school.’

‘That’s okay, it doesn’t matter now,’ she stuttered.

‘It does matter, Riley. What she did was unforgivable. Period.’

‘You think so?’ She looked at you rather carefully and surprized.

'I’m sure there were ways to get out of that situation, but she chose to betray you. And…I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. It frightened me so much, that I was sitting in my own closet until graduation,’ you said, realizing that you had just come out in front of Riley.

‘Oh, so you’re…’ Riley’s face broke into a sincere smile.

‘I’m gay, that’s right,’ you chuckled with a relief, ‘and watching you confronted everyone helped me accept myself earlier, so thank you for that.’

‘Basically I was forced, but you’re welcome,’ she chuckled, ‘besides, it was enough not to be bullied by at least one normal person there.’

‘And as I said,’ Riley added, ‘it doesn’t matter now. Honestly, that made me even stronger, so I should probably thank Harper for that.’

You felt the blood boiling in your veins. No way Harper will benefit from her own shit. Of course, you knew what Riley meant, but nevertheless, you felt jealous.

Suddenly, you heard some screams and sounds of breaking and instinctively ran inside the house.

***

‘Harper is a lesbian!’ Sloan shrieked, adjusting her messy hair. Seemed like you had almost missed a once-in-a-lifetime Caldwells performance.

For a while, there was a total silence that heavily hung in the living room, stealing everybody’s breath.

‘She’s…she’s lying!’ Harper screamed, looking embarrassed, though all you can feel now was rage. You looked sideways at Riley, and her face spoke for herself. 

As you said, people less likely to change. Especially Caldwell people.

Guests started to leave and you briefly took your coat and were standing in the doorway, waiting for Riley to join you; but she walked up to Harper as if to say something in private.

***

‘Great party,’ Riley grinned gazing at Harper, standing alone in the middle of the hall. It was hard to tell whether she was sorry for what had happened, or pleased with kind of a payback for the old days. But knowing Riley, it was probably the first one. 

‘Oh yeah…’ Harper mumbled sheepishly.

‘You okay?’ Riley asked softly.

‘I’m so sorry,’ she said with her reddened cheeks.

Riley looked right through her eyes and suddenly put her hand out to shake. 

‘She’s a really good one,’ she pursed her lips and nodded her head in Abby's direction who was standing not far away with her friend. Harper was trying hard not to burst into tears.

Riley said goodbye to other members of the Caldwell family and approached the doorway; you handed her a coat and finally you both left the house. Yet you felt that something was odd.

***

‘Is everything fine?’ you cleared your throat, breaking the silence as you walked toward the main road.

‘Yeah,’ she sighed, ‘maybe just some flashbacks or whatever.’

‘I can imagine. She’s such a coward.’

‘Well, that’s her family. She couldn’t have it any other way,’ Riley seemed to defend Harper, and you had been trying your hardest not to rant and rave.

‘I don’t know,’ you let out a loud sigh.

‘What?’

‘Am I supposed to react the way I want?’

'Yes, Y/N, you’ve been thinking too loud,’ she chuckled.

‘Okay. I get it, it’s hard to be out to parents like hers, but why the hell inviting your girlfriend to the family party, where you’d need to hide her from everyone? I think Harper’s an asshole, let alone she never said sorry to you after what happened. But you are so kind to her, feeling sorry for her even now…I mean, you must have been really in love with her. Like really—’

‘Hey that’s sweet. Thank you, Y/N,’ she gazed at you as you were walking down the road under the falling snow. ‘I guess, I left that school stuff behind and buried it deep down, trying not to think about it for a hell of a lot of time. But now it was like it triggered something.’

‘Don’t you feel angry?’

‘Somehow I don’t. Maybe seeing her so broken made it even. Or maybe I just know her family too much to judge. I’m lucky my parents love and accept me, it’s a privilege, you know. That’s why I forgave Harper long ago.'

‘Anyway, I wish I kicked her ass back then at school!’ you still couldn’t let it go being emotional.

‘That’s cute!’ she laughed, ‘I’ve never been fought over before!’

‘I’m fucking serious. You have a big heart, Riley. You deserve to be with someone who shouts their love for you from the rooftops,’ you blurted it out.

Riley giggled but remained silent, only the slight blush on her cheeks giving her away.

‘Do you wanna go somewhere, like to grab a drink or whatever? My folks are gonna sleep early, so I’m totally free,’ you said trying not to make it too obvious that you were hitting on her all evening. But probably it was a little too late for that.

‘I thought you’d never ask,’ Riley smirked and took you under her arm. The proximity sent waves of warmth and shivers to your body, and you couldn’t help but grinned as if you were in high school again and you’d just asked her out.

‘There’s one tiny problem,’ you said, ‘I don’t know any decent places in this town.’

Riley just laughed and said: ‘Leave it to me, baby.’ And that baby immediately turned you on.

***

A guy with rainbow makeup in a sparkling silver jacket opened the door, welcoming you to a local queer bar. There was a Christmas drag show, and lots of people were standing close to the scene, but gladly there were a couple of free tables. Riley ushered you to one of them, and in a minute, the rainbow host fetched you two glasses of champagne.

‘Compliments from a bar, Merry Christmas, darlings!’ he said in a high-pitched voice and disappeared into a dimly lit space with a haze of rainbow-lit light.

The music was loud and you needed some time to adjust to the atmosphere; Drag Queens were singing Christmas carols alternating with Lady Gaga songs, and everything was a far cry from the previous ‘party’, so it took just a few moments to forget about what happened before and to switch to a cheerful mood.

One of the queens approached your table and handed to you a glitter eyeshadow in a tiny box:

‘Everyone’s slaying today, don’t be shy, lovebirds!’ she said.

You looked down, nervously giggling, but Riley took the glitter without hesitation and gazed at you.

‘Want some?’ 

You shrugged and leaned over her, but the table was wide and Riley quickly moved to your side.

‘Close your eyes,’ she was bossing you around.

In a moment, you felt her delicate fingers touching your face, covering it with soft glitter. She was so close to you, that you could feel her fragrance and her breath on your face—it gave you a huge vertigo; not to mention that she was cool with the queen calling you lovebirds. Perhaps it was silly, but you got the impression that maybe she wouldn’t mind.

‘You’re so beautiful,’ she said, observing her artwork on your face.

‘So do you.’

‘Not yet! I need you to help me with this as well,’ she said, closing her eyes and preparing her face for a makeover.

‘Eyelids?’

‘Wherever you want, I trust you.’

It was an amazing opportunity to legally study her face and touch her skin. Luckily, she didn't know about your crush on her, which had escalated to oblivion over the day. 

She opened her eyes as you finished—silver sparkles were glowing on her skin, paving the way from her eyelids to her temples.

‘You look fabulous, Riley,’ you gasped, ‘do you mind?’ You took your phone to take a selfie.

‘Definitely not!’ she responded, ‘I need evidence that we’re slaying anyway.’

She pressed her face against yours while looking at the camera, and at this point, you were calculating your moves, trying to tread carefully so as not to spook her.

‘I’m so glad I bumped into you, Y/N, and that you happened to be in town this Christmas.’

‘Oh, the pleasure is all mine,’ you couldn’t believe that you were actually on a date with her, and something told you that this was the perfect moment to reveal the cards.

‘You know,’ you muttered, ‘I’ve been dreaming of meeting you this holiday, to be honest.’

‘Really?’

You took a little pause.

Was it the vibe of this bar or the Christmassy mood or champagne or whatever, you suddenly felt brave enough to caress her cheek, slowly moving your hand to twist her hair around your fingers.

Riley just smirked, gazing at you up and down, teasingly sliding her tongue along the inside of her mouth. You’ve taken your shot, but still were a bit uncertain about her feelings and too scared to say a word right now.

No words needed, in a while you felt her body respond as she leaned in and pressed her lips against yours. You swiftly cradled her face and returned a long, passionate kiss, cherishing the precious moment. Riley grasped your wrists softly, caressing them, while deepening the kiss, sending twists to your core. At last, you broke away to gaze into each other's eyes.

The glitter smeared all over your faces, with some landing on your eyelashes, creating a shimmering blur when you looked at Riley's face. She kissed you on the lips a few more times and said:

‘Dance with me.’

She stood up and took your hand, and in the blink of an eye you were on the dance floor. ‘Closer’ by Tegan and Sara was coming from the speakers, and Riley was seductively singing along, staring at you with her big brown eyes:

All I wanna get is, a little bit closer

All I wanna know is, can you come a little closer

She waved you over with her hand, swayed her hips to the beat, and flipped her hair to the other side. You were utterly spellbound by her moves, and her lips drew you in like a magnet.

So let’s make things physical

I won’t treat you like you’re oh so typical

On impulse, you put your hands on her hips, pressing against her body, merging with Riley in a hungry kiss as if you were doing it for the first time; and then she smiled and kissed you again and again and again, and you just couldn't get enough of her, bewildered like a teen at the queer prom, dancing with the homecoming queen.

‘You’re such a good kisser, baby,’ Riley whispered closely to your ear, so you could hear her through the loud beats of the music. 

‘And you’re such a good dancer, hot stuff,’ you took hold of her waist, so she was just a hair’s breadth away, her perfume intertwining with yours.

Finally the song was over, but you were still standing in the middle of the room, kissing under the disco ball reflecting iridescent colors. She wrapped her arms around you, running her fingers through your hair and giving you a beckoning smile, and you felt like the happiest person in the whole world at what was truly the happiest season.

***