There’s a word for this kind of incest-like business behaviour…

… Monopoly? Recreation of the modern feudal fiefdom? Corporate welfare? We will find it.

Sea dog(s)

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Port City in Holland, by Oswald Achenbach, 1874

so...willow. willow is mastermind in action. it’s a love potion bubbling, an aphrodisiac seeping through your veins as you follow the red string of fate to your lover, your soulmate, your predetermined destiny. it’s the pull between fate and control. ‘wherever you stray, i follow.’ is this your choice, or are your feet merely following the path set for you by the alignment of the planets and the fates and all the stars during your birth? you find yourself trapped in a box of your own making, trapped in the clutches of fame, of patriarchy. you’re a doll on display in a white wedding dress. ‘i’m begging for you to take my hand / wreck my plans.’ are you the hunter or the hunted? a witch or the bewitched? ‘wait for the signal and i’ll meet you after dark.’ can you escape your fate, and will he come with you? was it your fate to escape it all in the first place?

[emerging from the black sails tag covered in blood] I'm going to be soooo normal about this

ASTV AU idea

Wherein Miles Morales did NOT snark at his adversaries while chomping on an empanada to cope, and listened reluctantly to Spots instead. Them both unlocking an unexpected intergenerational friendship. Spots and Miles being high-key chaotic science bros, grudging mentor-mentee relationship, a highschooler as a leash to thy sanity, most reluctant reintegration of a supervillain to society. Ever. Maybe slightly codependent.

Someone I haven't talked to in a while asked me what was going on in my life, and I just didn't have the words to explain

Anybody ever think about how fucking weird this exchange is?

Flint: Oh, matter of ship business. I've noticed the berths for the vanguard are less than ideal. I'd like to have them set in here. Give the men a little more space to breathe. Dufresne: You want the vanguard to quarter in the captain's cabin? Flint: I'm not a tyrant, Mr. Dufresne. The ship belongs to all of us. This seems a way to ensure that we all benefit from it equally. Dufresne: It also seems a way to ensure that the next time someone raises a pistol towards you, well, the vanguard has a rooting interest.

ok so FIRST this does not make sense just on the face of it. Half their crew is dead, and they just moved to a MUCH bigger ship. There are other cabins around you know. But Black Sails doesn't care about things like that, it's fine, moving right along.

This man was JUST almost deposed as captain. When he was reinstated barely more than half of the crew voted for him. Sleeping in a room with a bunch of people who wanted to hang you three days ago seems... like a poor choice. Is he completely 100% sure nobody on the vanguard would have opposed him? Then why would he need to win their favor? Is he just not going to sleep? Does he think he's so intimidating no one would even try?? Because you're setting up the ideal situation for letting somebody get away with it. I get that they basically just needed a logistical excuse to have those last couple lines spoken, but I've been doing confused dog head tilt about this for like two years.

Team Chaotix in Sonic Prime

My headcanons for what Vector the Crocodile, Espio the Chameleon and Charmy Bee are like in the Shatterspaces.

New Yoke City

Vector’s variant is called Missile (a missile is a vector, having direction and magnitude). He embodies Vector’s responsibility, practicality and seriousness. He was trying to make a difference as a teenage detective when the dystopian city appeared around him four years ago and it became clear that, with the Chaos Council’s control of the new justice system and law enforcement, the person he aspired to be would never make it. Of course he wants to fight, but the Council is brutal and their absolute power seems impossible to overthrow. He soon ended up with two children in his care, one only a toddler. If he got arrested, killed or roboticized, what would happen to them? If the three of them had the Council’s protection, on the other hand, as per the contract of an exclusive, specialized detective agency who would do whatever dirty work they were ordered to… he knows that those tyrants are the reason his kids have nobody else. He knows that the vast majority of people he leads the robotic police to don’t deserve any punishment, and none of them could deserve the cruel horrors they get. He knows that he isn’t a hero - that he may even be the exact opposite. And he hates it. But any money that keeps his family alive is money worth having, he’s regretfully decided. Big concepts like good and evil are none of his concern. He’s just trying to pay the rent. It’s too late to back out now, anyway. Now that the people are rebelling en masse and the Council is busy exploring the Shatterverse, he’s desperately waiting for things to stabilize and daring to hope against hope that some positive change occurs. And that the citizens don’t recognize the collaborateurs in their midst and turn on them.

Espio’s variant is called Trace. He embodies Espio’s stoicism and pragmatism. His ninja training was cut short - and his village razed and everyone he knew killed or taken prisoner - when the Chaos Council remade the world in their image. But he’s gained plenty of experience in stealth, deception, infiltration, espionage and combat working in the Chaos Detective Agency. Dishonour means nothing to a ninja. That’s what he tells himself, at least. On the outside, he’s reserved and aloof, a cold, ruthless foe. He will only show his family the slightest show of emotion. Internally, however, his repressed grief for his old family, community, home and life; guilt, shame and self-loathing due to his service to the Council; and years of accumulated trauma are brewing into a storm that he barely keeps contained under the surface. He’s afraid of his feelings burdening his teammates and distracting them from what’s most important: survival.

Charmy’s variant is called Sting. He embodies Charmy’s eagerness to be helpful and fighting spirit. He can’t remember anything except New Yoke and doesn’t understand much of how his society works, but he knows that his family’s work is very important to them being alive and wants to be a part of it. He does notice their stress and the general unpleasantness everywhere and can infer that circumstances could be improved. But their work being dangerous is all the more reason he should help! Teamwork makes the dream work, right? Danger just adds to the fun of stopping ‘bad guys’. He’s also terrified that if they leave him behind, they might not come back. So he kept breaking out and running away when Missile and Trace went on missions until they agreed to train him and let him join them. He revels in the thrill of action and finds people getting hurt amusing the way a six-year-old boy can, not emotionally connecting to anyone he’s told they need to catch and earnestly believing that their enemies must be in the wrong. He often imitates Missile when trying to be tough and intimidating.

Boscage Maze

Vector’s variant is called Reed. He embodies Vector’s optimism, lightheartedness and musical side, and tends to have his coarser manners too. He, the other two and Cream and Vanilla’s variants are in a different small tribe to the Scavengers and haven’t yet met them, so Thorn Rose didn’t banish them to the emergent layer; they are nomadic and moving toward the Scavengers’ territory. He’s cheerful and generous, always ready to raise the tribe’s morale. He can be immature and irresponsible at times, more focused on enjoying life and entertaining his companions than applying maximum effort to practical tasks. He’s highly resourceful when it comes to instruments and has invented drums and a reed flute. He loves to play them and sing. He’s also bold enough to flirt with Vanilla and the casual first stage of a romance is budding between them.

Espio’s variant is called Berry. He embodies Espio’s caution, wisdom and love of art and culture. Yes, that’s in this dimension. The tribe took him in after they crossed paths when he was eight, him having previously had to survive on his own for as long as he can remember. He’s mature beyond his years, highly knowledgeable about the forest’s flora and fauna, wary and prepared to defend his tribe from any threat using his carved flint blades and hand-to-hand skills. He used to find it difficult to relax, but has learned to unwind through playing a shamisen-esque string instrument Reed built for him and painting with plant pigments. While acutely aware of nature’s hazards, he can still appreciate its wonder and majesty and respects it.

Charmy’s variant is called Honey. He embodies Charmy’s innocent kindness, friendliness and trusting nature. He and Cream’s variant are best friends and adoptive siblings, since his parents entrusted their friend Vanilla with him when they left on an exploratory expedition in his infancy. They didn’t return. But Honey doesn’t mind. He has everything he needs right here. The one thing he can think of that would make his life better is a friend who can fly like he can.

No Place

Vector’s variant is called Bullion (because of precious metal and a male crocodile is a bull). He embodies Vector’s sharp intelligence, charisma, greed and courage. He left his home island in a modest but sturdy vessel, dubbed the Treasure Trove, to seek his fortune and established himself as a travelling merchant. Cunning, socially savvy and theatrical, he is willing to (if you insist on using such accusatory language) ‘scam’ customers and has an endless supply of get-rich-quick schemes. He and his crew live in a fiercely competitive, unpredictable environment full of pirates! Material wealth is essential! That being said, he isn’t all talk. He will brave high seas and stormy weather, chart uncharted waters and do business with anyone to obtain the best goods and things no other merchant is selling, and the genuine quality and rarity of a lot of his stock keep people endeared to him despite his rough edges and occasional bad deal. He takes pride in his competence as a salesman and seafarer and part of him is more fulfilled by honest work. Not that he’ll admit that. He’s very attached to his swashbuckling rogue self-image.

Espio’s variant is called Fathom (a measure of water depth and a verb for contemplative thought and understanding). He embodies Espio’s firm sense of morality and diligence. He met Bullion when the crocodile docked at his home island and, struck with wanderlust and needing a job to get by, Fathom offered to manage his finances with his advanced mathematical ability and do some manual labour. Bullion agreed, but it didn’t take Fathom long to figure out that he was both running a con and a broke mess. A weirdly likeable broke mess. In the aftermath of Fathom exposing the con, the customers angrily demanding refunds and the Treasure Trove being hastily undocked, they made a deal to support and protect each other, with Fathom promising to follow his boss’s lead on the strict condition that Bullion stayed on the straight and narrow. He’s a dutiful hard worker, patient and polite. He tries to remain calm and be civil to everyone no matter how wild things get. He grounds his crewmates, restraining their more energetic, eccentric and, most frustratingly for him, selfish and amoral behaviour. He knows they can be better. And when they are, it’s extremely rewarding. But they certainly test him - though he won’t deny that the motley crew all truly care about each other and would stick together through anything.

Charmy’s variant is called Dodger. He embodies Charmy’s mischievous, irreverent side. He was born to pirates and left at an orphanage on one of the larger islands, but could never follow rules or be satisfied with a simple, mundane life in one place. He wanted excitement, and usually made his own by causing trouble and playing tricks. He totally wasn’t lonely. One day he stowed away on a ship. His plan was to steal all the stuff he could carry on him and fly off. Bullion and Fathom, the sailors who caught him, took a liking to him and were hesitant to send him back to his boring, miserable old home once he explained his life before. They were nice and cool and made him feel wanted and like he belonged more than anyone else ever had, so he hung around. Bullion makes him do chores, but respects his pranking prowess and nerve. Fathom is a great listener and playmate, albeit sometimes a killjoy.

I’m not dead I promise

Leith Harbour [Edinburgh, Scotland], by Robert Salmon (1775- 1844)

The Wire 1.10 × Black Sails 3.01

Oh I forgot to list this as a reason I'm obsessed with the show despite all my Silver issues: THE PROFESSIONALISM of all these sailors. Jack Rackham is literally going THROUGH IT right now, with the love of his life, who has just told him that the force of love she has for another person overrides even her well honed homicide and vengeance urges, asking the most potent existential question. And yet, when a Situation arises, he's immediately able to pivot, put his professional pirate captain hat on, and is so even toned and polite about it when he needs something done. HOW TO BE A PROFESSIONAL A+++.

—   Defining the problem, by Wendy Cope

Between OPLA, rereading some WCI, and catching up on Wano, I've been suffering a great deal of LuSan feels this week, and they need to come out. I should probably make it known that LuSan is my One Piece OTP. It just kinda lounges up there above all the rest.

So thoughts...

To me, the pairing is strictly LuSan. Sanji will never be the dominant party. Not because I don't think he's man enough to be dominant. Rather, it's because of the very nature of Sanji's canon relationship with Luffy. It's different from any other Straw Hat.

Luffy would never view that he owns any of his nakama. They are people, not objects or property. But when it comes to Sanji, there is this possessive streak in Luffy that comes out. You see it heavily in WCI. Sanji is HIS, and he is not shy about saying it. I feel it stems from all the stupid shit Sanji has pulled over the years. Personally, I think it all started with Luffy's anger about Sanji's behavior on Drum Island.

Now, to get more into the realm of headcanons. Just a few things because I'm a sap.

_ Everyone knows Zoro is Luffy's usual snuggle buddy. That would never change, they're best friends. Sanji would never come between the two. That's why it feels extra sweet whenever Luffy decides to snuggle into Sanji instead of the moss ball.

_ Luffy likes to sit and watch Sanji cook. Yes, if he's good, sometimes he'll get snacks. But mostly to observe Sanji. Sanji has a lot of mental health issues but most tend to ease when he's cooking. Luffy likes to watch Sanji slip into a relaxed mental state.

_ between WCI and Wano, Luffy definitely cornered Sanji about misbehaving and disobedience. For doing something stupid without speaking to Luffy first. The kind of behavior Luffy scolded Sanji about on Drum Island.

_ It's rare to see but when Luffy's wearing formal attire, usually Luffy's dress shirt or suit, Sanji starts to feel pretty hot under the collar. His captain cleans up nicely, even in flip flops, and it would be criminal not to appreciate it.

I’m having a whole crisis over the ending of Black Sails fully 2 years after I finished watching it bc it’s finally sinking in that Silver maybe killed Flint and just told everyone he had retired happily ever after with his long lost boo. And we! Have to decide! Whether we believe Silver or not based on our knowledge of the show and his characterization!