Anne Bonny Scene Of All Time. Woman Of All Time

Gosh. So powerful.

This is exactly the spirit, the very soul of his fight and of his being.

I completely agree. It may seem sudden and it surely is unexpected, at least it was for me, but once you know it you finally can put all the pieces into place and that's just wonderful. I love this show for this thing they do of leaving nails all around and then giving wire to connect them all.

And yeah, that episode is not only a great work speaking about directory and scenes and all, but is also what definitely caught me in the Black Sails' web. Sure, the show has a lot of interesting point and themes that keep you into it, but making the main character bisexual in a pirate show and making of his lost love the cause of his whole fight and rage? Well, let's just say that their braveness was definitely rewarded. Absolute geniouses.

one time I looked up the ratings of each episode of black sails. I expected to see s2e5 near the top, but I wasn’t exactly surprised when it was actually at the bottom (free us from the clutches of homophobia man). I read some of the comments and they were saying that the reveal felt out of nowhere. Okay, so actually you just have no media literacy skills. For me, the revelation made so much sense that I experienced something akin to ascension. I felt I had unlocked all of the knowledge there was to unlock. My whole engagement with the show changed. That thing that had been bubbling under the whole time, in every interaction between Miranda and flint, in every mention of Thomas, in every display of rage from flint, in each one of his desperate schemes.

I just find it so hilarious that people thought it was out of nowhere? Louise Barnes and Toby Stephens were actually the only two cast members aware of the backstory from the beginning of the show, and you can see it so much in the way they act their characters. So much unspoken, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there. Season 1 ep 7 — that whole altercation they have where he refuses to apologise to England, the way she says ‘if he were here he’d agree with me’, the tension of it all. The note Thomas wrote in the front of their copy of meditations? It’s so obviously not out of the blue, it’s set up so brilliantly so as to evade perception but also to lodge itself in your brain before you even know what *it* is.

Tom Hopper (Billy) said it was the best episode of television he’s ever seen. Literally years later, in a promotional interview for the umbrella academy. I agree wholeheartedly.

saying that it was out of nowhere is just wrong. It’s either a) just a guise for your homophobia or b) a betrayal of your evidently terrible media literacy and critical analysis skills.

When I saw the episode so many things from season 1 finally clicked in to place inside my head. The enigma of Flint, for the first time, began to slightly unravel.

MXTX interview

This is a partial translation of an interview given by the author in March 2018, it can be found on her Weibo. There are actually 40 questions in the full interview about all three of her books, her upcoming fourth book and also about herself and her writing in general. I’ve only kept the parts pertaining to Mo Dao Zu Shi for the sake of clarity and because I doubt many people have finished reading all three books. Some parts were a bit confusing, hopefully I got it right…

Mild spoilers for the main story.

Original interview: https://www.weibo.com/6049110380/G7RfoEcj9

Where did Wangxian perform their third marriage bow? How did Lan Wangji call his rabbits?

The names of Lan Wangji’s little rabbits is a secret that only he knows, even I don’t know. 

Anyway, Wangxian’s third bow was done before their second time together.

Luo Binghe likes using Immortal-Binding Cable, Lan Wangji likes using his forehead ribbon, what about Hua Cheng? Can the skills of the three be scored? [1]

The most skilled of the three is without a doubt Hua Cheng. He is talented with his words and even more with his actions as well as extremely appealing. Even though Xie Lian is easily embarrassed, he will obediently do anything he is asked.

Lan Er is the hard-working and straightforward type, but that’s all right, Wei Wuxian can tell him himself how to play.

It goes without saying for Luo Binghe. Shen Laoshi, please be a little more patient with him.

What is Wei Wuxian like when he is drunk? Does he act any different than his normal self?

Not really, there’s no big difference between him drunk or sober. It’s not everyone that has a change of personality when drunk, it’s just really over-the-top in the case of the Gusu Lan Sect.

What did Wei Wuxian go through during the three months he spent in Burial Mound? Was there really a mysterious book artefact left there by a master? [2] When Lan Wangji healed Wei Wuxian after the massacre at Nightless City, what did he say to him? How did Wei Wuxian pass the time during the thirteen years he was dead?

Some things that were said were not to be taken seriously, there is no mysterious book from a master. I don’t really like the kind of plot where predecessors do the hard work and plant the trees and their successors can just cool off in the trees’ shade.

Please do your own research. 

He was in a confused and chaotic state [3], not quite conscious but not completely unable to feel anything either. It’s like being stuck in an unending nightmare.

When Wen Ning went berserk at Qiongqi Path and Koi Tower, was that an accident for both times? After changing into a fierce corpse, how long can he live?

When Wen Ning attacked at Qiongqi Path, it was Wei Wuxian losing control.

What happened at Koi Tower wasn’t an accident. 

It depends on the maintenance.

Is Jin Ling’s courtesy name the one chosen by Wei Wuxian, Rulan [4]?

That’s right. But he never ever uses it. Jin Ling dislikes it because it sounds sissy.

What was the relationship between Cangse Sanren and Lan Qiren and why did she cut off his goatee? Does Lan Qiren have prospects for elderly marriage? What are the criteria Lan Qiren looks for when choosing a spouse?

It was because Lan Qiren was not as understanding and sensible during his youth as compared to now. At some point it resulted in Jiang Fengmian and his servant Wei Changze running into trouble while night hunting and they almost lost their lives. But Lan Qiren deemed that he was only following the rules and that the fault was not his so he refused to apologise, angering everyone. Then Cangse cut off his beard to play a trick on him. To tell the truth, beardless Lan Qiren is still very handsome, there’s no one bad-looking in the Gusu Lan Sect! 

It’s unlikely to happen so there is no criterion.

PS. Why are there people asking for Lan Qiren’s spouse criteria…

What is the age difference between Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang and how is their relationship? Was the part of Nie Huaisang’s partner [5] that was mentioned before deleted from the book or was the design simply scrapped?

Five or six years. Although they are half-siblings with different mothers, they get on pretty well. 

Scrapped as I found out afterwards that the story remained consistent without adding this character. Adding the character would instead make things difficult and the final result might not have been satisfactory.

Translator’s Notes

[1] Skills in bed.

[2] That’s how Wei Wuxian explains his demonic powers to Jiang Cheng when he returns from Burial Mound.

[3] 混沌 (Hùndùn) means literally ‘muddled confusion’ and also refers to the primal chaos that existed prior to the formation of the world and in which nothing could be distinguished or perceived according to Chinese classic texts.

[4] Rulan (如兰) means literally 'like an orchid’.

[5] It’s mentioned in an older interview that the author had planned Nie Huaisang to have a subordinate helping him behind the scenes so the meaning was a partner in crime.

If you ask me, the three of them deserve a whole show just for themselves. Like...only fragments in only five episodes? Absolutely not enough.

RUPERT PENRY-JONES as Thomas Hamilton, LOUISE BARNES as Miranda Barlow, and TOBY STEPHENS as James McGraw in Black Sails, Chapter XI.

I've been wondering about Urca de Lima's true story for a bit, and after reading some pirate history I thought it was the Hampton Court.

I'm greatful for this explanation, it's very interesting to me to know all these details about those magnificent ships they used to have (also, I'm not very skilled in history, so...if someone else offers their researches it's way better lol).

thank you!

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.

Black Sails x Oceans Brawl by Cœur de Pirate

Part 3/3

Black Sails x Oceans Brawl by Cœur de Pirate

Part 1 (follows part 2)

Yeah, it's not really fair, right? I watched ep.1 years ago thinking I was going to see a pirate show and then said 'pirate show' turned into a social analyses of humankind throughout history, pushing me to do social/historical/political/ideological reflections I never felt the need to do before in my life.

Yeah, that's not fair, that's Black Sails.

:) come closer I’m just a normal pretty-good raunchy pirate adventure macguffin caper show I’m just a regular little “prequel to treasure island” Im not a thesis about the very nature of fiction itself or one of the most devastating brain rewiring existential things you’ll ever watch or anything that’s ridiculous. come on pspspsps you can trust me

They eyes, I mean...😍😍

“I miss him too.“