Dear Writer,

this exchange will be a highlight in my Februar, and I'm very grateful to you for creating something for me in a fandom we share. My prompts are just that, prompts, not absolutes; if you have an idea that doesn't fit with any of them, but features (some of) the characters I asked for, I'll love it with added joyful surprise.

General DNWs:

A/B/O - if you want to write a werewolf AU for any of the canons I nominated, be my guest, but I'm really not into this particular type of story -, infantilisation, golden showers. Character bashing. If the characters in question canonically loathe someone, you can of course include this, but I think you know the difference between that and having all characters agree about how terrible X is. Rape, unless it's canon and you want to explore how Character Y deals with the aftermath, or something like that.

General likes:

Character exploration, characters helping each other recover from trauma, messed up and/or co-dependent family relationships, witty banter, friendship against the odds, the occasional light moment in a darker story or conversely some serious character stuff thrown into a comedy fic.

Treats: are very welcome.

( 18th Century RPF )

( Highlander: The Series )


( Agatha All Along )


( Black Sails )

( Star Wars: Ahsoka )

Let's start with a frivolous observation: I haven't read the Percy Jackson books, nor have I watched the two movies (though I osmosed the book fandom hated them, by and large), but I do follow the tv daption currently being shown at Disney +, and last week's episode - which belatedly also told me two of the producers were the Black Sails PTB (i.e. Jonathan Steinberg and Robert Levine) - made me sit up and gurgle in delight when I saw whom they had cast as Poseidon. Why? Because more than one Black Sails fanfic I'd come across actually had gone with a similar idea.

And that's all I have to say on that casting, she observes mysteriously. :)

Okay, more seriously now. It's been a while since my last rewatch, but Black Sails is still a show I adore. Do I have some nitpicks? Sure. But not nearly enough to lessen the fannish love. I love the way how almost every character, whether minor or major, is interesting to me, regardless as to whether or not I like them. I love how 99% - okay, 98% - another shows would not have brought a character like Charlotte again after ( r spoilery stuff happens ) This respect for its minor characters as more than canon fodder, this remembering people not in the credits are no less human, is one of Black Sails' best qualities.

Mind you: if I didn't love the major characters, said respect wouldn't be enough to make me love the show, either. But I do love (most of) them. Not everyone in the same degree, or even always in the same way, but I do, and I love how without going overboard with the meta at the expense of the characters Black Sails is among other things brilliant meta about storytelling - and story tellers.

And the tasty, tasty character development. I love how the show kept surprising me in a good way with that. For example: Max' relationship with Eleanor. In the first three episodes of season 1, when they're lovers, all the need for presentation in the world wouldnl't have made me ship them, because it seemed too uneven to me, in every sense - uneven social standing, uneven emotional investment by both parties, you name it, it's there. At the time, I did think Max/Eleanor was there because for the hot lesbian scene factor for the viewerhip of a new show. Readers, I would have been very wrong. Because while Max/Eleanor might not compel me as lovers, they have an absolutely fascinating relationship as exes, and it would not be as intriguing and layered if they did not have that backstory. By the time Max says "That fucking chair!" to Eleanor in season 3, I couldn't wait for them to share another scene again, all their scenes were fabulous.

Let's see, what else: how in this show, you could be absolutely furious at a character without being less fond of them. Jack in season 3 being a case in point. I think I spent a good third of the season inwardly going grrrrrrrr at him, but all he did was entirely ic, and it didn't lessen his endearing qualities. (Just as a point of contrast: Ed in s4 of Fall All Mankind. My positive emotions about Ed were definitely very much lessened by his behavior in that season.)

And: how many of the relationships - both romantic and not - are just so interestingly complicated, and that unfolds as we follow the story, with the show having the patience to not give us all the answers at once, but just enough to keep us hooked, and a good pay-off. (Flint and my early seasons fave Miranda being a case in point.)

And lastly: this is a show (with canon m/m and f/f and m/f/f and m/f/m along with the traditional m/f) which values its non-sexual relationships (note that I don't say "non-romantic", because there are relationships you could argue are romantic while being entirely platonic - later Flint and Silver being a case in point) and its sexual relationships alike, you never get the sense one is played out against the other. In conclusion, it's the pirate show of my heart, and thus it shall ever be.


The other days

Briefly, a few aborted attempts at consumating new canon:

1.) Latest version of Persuasion at Netflix: too ghastly to endure for longer than ten minutes, and that was ghastly enough. Not even fun in a "so bad it's amusing" kind of way.

2.) Mr. Mercedes, tv version of a Stephen King novel I haven't read yet, because Castle Rock put me in a Stephen King mood: starts fine, but then it's revealed the villain is a a dark haired nerdish loner/serial killer living with his mother in an incesteous relatinship with, and look, if I want Norman Bates, I'll watch Psycho or Bates Motel. End of attempt to watch Mr. Mercedes.

3) The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater: no, sorry, I don't care about any of you.

On the bright side, mildred_of_midgard unearthed some more 18th century diaries and letters for me to enjoy last week, and also I just rewatched the Black Sails pilot for the first time in years and saw I still love my pirate show a lot. ( Spoilers for the Black Sails pilot ensue )

News of the World: essentially: a Western/odd couple road movie directed by Paul Greengrass starring Tom Hanks as a Civil War veteran Captain Kidd who accidentally during his travels through post war Texas comes across Johanna (played by Helene Zengel, an excellent young actress who made her film debut in Systemsprenger), daughter of German settlers whose parents were killed while she was taken in by Kiowas; more recently, her Kiowa family was killed as well. Initially, the two don't understand a word the other says, and the emotional plot of the movie is of course these two people who are for different reasons grieving and traumatized forming a bond and adopting each other. The movie takes its time for this, and the occasional action interlude - a chase scene, a shootout, a sandstorm - is the aberration, not the norm. What the title refers to is Kidd's post-war job, travelling from place to place armed with a lot of newspapers and reading selected passages from them to the still largely illiterate population. It also allows the director and scriptiwriters to make a point about storytelling; at one point, Kidd and Johanna are in a very dangerous situation where only his ability to play Sheherazade get them out of it.

On the downside: for a movie which keeps earnestly highlighting racism, and making the connections to how it's used to gain power, complete with parallels to the present (no sooner do some ruthlessless powermongering ruffians appear that the phrase "Texas First" is uttered), this one is utterly white. Early on, there's a lynched black man; we don't see the body, we just see enough to know this has happened. Late in the movie, we see a silent black man - and that's it for African Americans. And while Johanna speaking only Kiowa (with some half forgotten German words) and considering herself Kiowa is a big plot point, we don't actually see any Kiowa until two thirds in, and then at a distance; we don't ever hear them speak. It's clear that Kidd in the current day is horrified by racist actions and doesn't stand for them, but the movie vagues on how he felt when, you know, he was part of the Confederate army.

All this said: if you're in the market for what is essentially a gentle chosen-father-chosen-daughter story, with Tom Hanks putting his decent-man-even-in-dark-times persona to good use, and a good hurt/comfort story to boot, then it's suits very well for the purpose.

My Cousin Rachel: starring Rachel Weisz in the title role and Sam Claflin (whom I last saw as Finnick in The Hunger Games) as Philip the narrator. (Holiday Grainger and Ian Glen in supporting roles.) I have never seen the first cinematic take on this from the 1950s, with Olivia de Havilland as Rachel and a young Richard Burton in his first Hollywood role (which famously did not lead to a career in Hollywood; after a few more attempts, he returned home to Britain and didn't try again until Cleopatra), but I did read the Daphne du Maurier novel both are based on. As opposed to the recent Netflix Rebecca, about the less said the better, this film from 2018 actually turns out to do justice to du Maurier's strengths - the deeply neurotic characters, the moral ambiguity, the suspense building, the Cornish setting. Rachel Weisz is fantastic as Rachel; if you haven't read the book, the essential "gimmick" if you like is the "is Rachel a femme fatale/black widow, or is she an independent woman in Victorian times on whom the narrator is projecting his fears and desires?" question. I've seen complaints that Claflin as Philp isn't her equal, but that's part of the story. Another part of the story is that it reverses the Gothic formula that's used (but also twisted) in Rebecca - if you believe his own narration, Philip is essentially the young Gothic heroine enthralled by a mysterious stranger and then in fear of their life. Since, however, Philip, who changes his mind about Rachel repeatedly, going from one extreme to the other, is also a less than reliable narrator, you can also read the entire story as Philip trying to justify himself (and failing). Since first person unreliable narrators generally work better in a book than in a movie, I was curious how and whether the film would pull this one off. It did by mostly staying in Philip's pov, with the very, very rare moment of the camera showing us something he can't see (such as Rachel's expression at a key point, which, however, can be interpreted completely differently depending on whether you believe her or Philip later re: what is going on thiis particular scene), but with Rachel Weisz' performance exuding all those layers where you as the audience are made aware that you're projecting as much as Philip. And the end, the film leaves you unsettled, as it should.

Finally, a Black Sails fanfic rec: The Putative Earl is an excellent post finale healing and hurt/comfort story for ( spoiler cut just in case ), with flashbacks to earlier times. It's that rare gem, a Black Sails story without a villain, and ideally if you want to read about lovers who've been through hell finding each other again in more than one sense.

Quickly, a Black Sails fanfiction rec: Gossamer, which is a beautiful, poetic Max pov, set in early s3, and bringing out her complex feelings about her own (new) place in life, and Eleanor.

Black Sails:

each sad lost wave: Miranda at two very different points in her life, and with two very different men. Captures her relationships with Thomas and James beautifully.

your hair was long when we first met: Flint between seasons 2 and 3, pondering Miranda - and becoming aware of Silver.

Star Trek: Discovery

High Tide Or Low Tide: Missing scene between Michael Burnham and Paul Stamets in the last but one episode of the season which feels just right as to where these characters are emotionally.

All Along The Watchtower: Ensemble vid which uses the theme of doubles and counterpoints very well indeed.

Impossible to start my argument without spoilers, so I shan't even try.

( Spoilers are a character stuck in the wrong story falling victim to fanservice )

The Other Days

Some years ago, I joked about shows Least Likely To Do A Christmas Special, and I think I picked Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and then came up with a Christmas Special Type of scenario.

This year, I think my pick for Least Likely But Wouldn’t It Have Been Fun In An Absurd Way would be Black Sails. Leaving aside that Black Sails takes place more than a century before good old Albert introduced the British to the joys of German Christmas celebrations and thus Christmas would have been celebrated very differently anyway…

( Spoilers, natch )

Black Sails:


Talking with ryda_wong about Max, Idelle, Charlotte and why the two scenes of Idelle confronting Max in s2 re: Anne and Anne about Charlotte in s4 has reminded me of this meta I've been meaning to link for ages:

In praise of Charlotte: Female legacy on Black Sails

Also, have some fanfiction, this one about Miranda:

And swallowed darkness whole:


Moving away from pirate fiction, you may or may not have heard that on Sunday night, coalition negotiations (which were ongoing since the election this fall) came to an abrupt halt when the FDP walked out. Now while this is indeed serious, I can't believe the hyperbole in the foreign press. No, this isn't the biggest crisis in post war Germany. (I'm not expecting British or US journalists to be experts on decades of post WWII Germany, but you'd think at least that bit about a certain wall being built in the early 60s, or the Chancellor's right hand man turning out to have been a Stasi spy in the early 70s, triggering events culminating in Willy Brand stepping out as Chancellor, would have stuck in mind. And that's before we get to the terrorist-ridden 70s themselves (this year, we had the 40th anniversary of the so-called "German Autumn" of 1977). Anyway, this article puts current events in a welcome perspective for the English speaking world.

1. Norma Bates (Bates Motel version)

2. Philip Jennings (The Americans)

3. Missy (aka Gomez!Master) (Doctor Who)

4. Jimmy McGill (Better Call Saul)

5. Rachel Duncan (Orphan Black)

6. James McGraw/Captain Flint (Black Sails)

7. Ahsoka Tano (Star Wars: The Clone Wars)

8. Bernie Gunther (Philip Kerr: The Bernie Gunther Mysteries)

9. Sarah Connor (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles)

10. Alfred of Wessex (The Last Kingdom)

11. Andra'ath/Miss Quill (Class)

12. Londo Mollari (Babylon 5)

13. Phyllis Crane (Call the Midwife)

14. Doc Holliday (Wynona Earp incarnation)

15. Jessica Jones (MCU version)

And you came up with some awesome prompts!

( Now the questions: )