diff anon Also, taking in disgraced members of aristocratic families was an additional source of profit, not a main one. I highly doubt there were many of them. Half a dozen at most. It’s not like aristocratic families were staging deaths of their family members on regular basis. Everyone else are convicts from British prisons, so nobody pays for them. And from what we’ve seen it’s a huge plantation with vast sugar cane fields. Lots of work.

diff anon, let’s not forget that Oglethorpe solicits convicts from prisons in England and I do not think anyone pays for them, I am wrong?

You are not wrong, Anon. Oglethorpe does in fact solicit convicts from English prisons – Max says as much. He still might get paid for them, but it would be a much smaller fee given that it would be the English court system essentially thanking him for taking them off their hands and saving them the cost of feeding, housing, and eventually burying them. It’s far more likely, though, that Oglethorpe is essentially buying men from England and transporting them to the New World to work on his farm, and to continue doing that, he’d have to make much more profit than he’d make off the disgraced relatives of the nobility when they actually had someone to dispose of.

Edit: As a related note – there were about a billion crimes that you could be imprisoned for in English law at the time which is to say that their prison system was just as much legalized slavery as the American one is today. Even were those men all convicted murderers, though, no one deserves to be enslaved. Ever.

Thank you for your answers, and sorry for the confusion. I agree with you about everything but english is not my native language and I thought I misunderstood something in the show. thanks again :)

No problem, Anon! No – you’re not misunderstanding, although I think an awful lot of people must be. I’m happy to nerd at you any time about the whole thing – I just tend to get a bit worked up because the idea of that place is enough to make my blood boil. Glad we agree!

(2)I do agree on working conditions being terrible back on those days, but not in this particular farm. You can argue that Silver is a terrible human being, but for other reasons other than “Flint will have a bad time in the farm”

Friend – we’re going to disagree on this, because the prisoners are being forced to harvest sugar cane. I’ve done other posts about this, but I’ll say it again for emphasis – sugar cane farming is horrible work for anyone. It doesn’t matter if someone’s doing it voluntarily or not – sugar can harvesting at this time especially was deadly. There is a reason that white men stopped using other white men there as indentured servants to do that work and started enslaving Africans, and the reason is that too many of those indentured servants were dropping like flies in the process of trying to do as their masters bade them. If the farm wanted to make enough profit to be a plausible cover, someone was doing enough work to make it viable, and that someone was the prisoners. I’m sorry, but as much as I too would like to believe that Thomas was being treated well, the truth is that I really, really don’t think he was or that James would be.

As to my other reasons for feeling Silver’s actions are unforgivable – yes, there are lots of other good reasons to be very angry at him without ever once mentioning what he did to his best friend in all the world. Let’s talk about what he did to the woman he professed to love, since it’s her appreciation week this week!

I found this comment about the farm on a forum :”The farm’s business is NOT growing and selling stuff, that’s just a cover. It is actually supported on the money the workers’ families pay. So lowering production costs and growing more vegetables is irrelevant to the farm owners; they don’t need to exploit the workers.” I am perplexed,,,,what do you think about it?

Uh. huh. Sure. I’ll be over here, wondering how in the flying blue fuck anyone doesn’t get that it doesn’t matter what Oglethorpe states his mission to be, his actions make him a fucking slaver.

Oglethorpe is making money off of keeping his workers there. That much is absolutely true. He is getting paid by these people’s families to take them off their hands, and what we see in the show seems to imply that it’s a one-time transaction. Money changes hands, men are brought to the place against their will – and then they… what, according to this person? Just randomly volunteer to, what, help Mr. Magnanimous Oglethorpe to bring in his crops? They just willingly pick up tools they’ve never before had to touch or even consider in their lives? Give themselves blisters and do back-breaking work out of the goodness of their noble, privileged, wealthy hearts? That’s why there are guards with guns and cudgels watching the field, because they’re there voluntarily?

Bullshit, Anon. Oglethorpe is making those men work, and he’s doing it with the specific intent of making money off their labor which they will never see any of. I don’t give two shits what Oglethorpe tells himself at night so he can sleep in his feather bed while the men on his farm presumably lie down on straw mattresses or blankets – he’s a goddamn slaver in that he brings men to his farm against their wills, forces them to work, and has no intention of ever letting them leave. I don’t care what portion of his profits come from the farm itself, even if it’s fucking miniscule, and I guarantee you that it’s not, because, newsflash, rich men don’t ever, ever, ever give up any profit they can possibly make. Slavery is slavery is goddamn slavery. I’m honestly kind of sickened at the argument presented, because they’re essentially going “the prisoners aren’t making Oglethorpe much profit so therefore it’s not slavery.” Um… excuse me? Just….

No. Absolutely no. Fuck this argument and fuck the person who made it.

oh, i personally only see them as friends, i was just curious about your perspective. our interpretations don’t sound /too/ different – i think jack and anne would stay close, as they share a strong (platonic) bond, but at no point is jack considered a ‘part of’ max and anne’s relationship.

cool! yeah – basically, Jack, Anne, and Max belong together in whatever way and I’m happy to imagine them functioning as a team post-canon because they’re adorable.

so do you see jack and anne as being platonic soulmates? or do they kiss/cuddle/share the same bed etc.

They might cuddle, but for comfort rather than in a sexual context, and they might still share the same bed now and then, with Anne sandwiched in between Max and Jack. I’m not sure if I see them as having sex that way as we see in s2 though. I see them as being platonic, mostly, and I don’t think that cuddling and sleeping in the same bed is necessarily at odds with that. With that said, we definitely still see Anne kiss Jack from sheer relief at finding him alive in s3. I think that’s probably as close to a definite as I’m going to get – basically, the level of physical contact depends on how they’re feeling that day with most of it happening between Max and Anne post-canon. How about you, anon? Thoughts and feelings?

Can you explain your thoughts on shipping jack/max/anne considering you said you view max and anne as lesbians?

Sure! I think they’ve got a complicated relationship going on wherein Anne and Max are lesbians, but Jack is Anne’s platonic life partner and Max and Jack have a mutual understanding and respect for each other that in some ways surpasses friendship given what they’re willing to forgive each other for Anne’s sake. They’re the definition of “it’s complicated” because while I don’t see Jack and Anne as a sexual pairing after s2, they’re soul-mates. idk – they’re just better together than they could be apart and I think s4 actually proves that. They fall apart, they’re all miserable, and then they come back together and within a few months they’re ruling Nassau together.

Since you’re a fan of Harry Potter books, do you like the movies? I don’t. They are ok-ish here and there, but they cut out and changed too much.

I do not, Anon. I liked one and two, but after that I honestly did not feel like the movies did justice to the books at all. I wore the color off of the cover of my first copy of PoA and that movie was one of my least favorite ones of the series. Similarly I adored Half-Blood Prince when it came out, and the movie was hideously uninteresting by comparison. I liked movie number four, though – that one was at least close enough that I could pretty much live with what wasn’t there/what wasn’t accurate about it. I will, however, be forever bitter about the fact that Sirius, James, Lily, Remus, and Snape were all meant to be in their early thirties and yet the people they cast to play them were at least twenty years off the mark in most cases. Like – no, that’s the point? these people were kids at the end of the first war and only young adults not even close to middle-age for a wizard at the start of the second.

Lotr and Black Sails

Thanks, Anon! I’ll do Lotr first:

Favorite character: The prize has to go to Boromir, I think, for a whole host of reasons, but I particularly love that he’s the voice of reason and caution in the Fellowship, and also just an awesome character in the movies.
Least Favorite character: you know, I’m not sure I have one? I love them all for their own reasons, and I mean – even Gollum is a good CHARACTER. um…. can I say Wormtongue? There’s just nothing redeemable there, really, and he’s creepy to boot.
5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): Faramir/Eowyn, Aragorn/Arwen, Legolas/Gimli, Frodo/Sam (because OH COME ON), and Eomer/a good night’s sleep
Character I find most attractive: Has to be Aragorn. I mean – speaks god alone knows how many languages, highly skilled with various types of weapons, AND canonically soft-spoken and gentle? sign me up please
Character I would marry: Again – Aragorn, if he weren’t slightly massively in love with Arwen and she with him. So, barring that – idk, Eomer seems pretty decent.
Character I would be best friends with: I feel like Gimli and I would get on just fine. And probably Eowyn – similar interests, and we’ve both gotten saddled with the burdens of older relatives who don’t have their shit together (voluntary or not).
a random thought: my random thought of the day is that Thorin Oakenshield saved Frodo’s life and in the process the entirety of Middle Earth by giving Bilbo that mithril shirt
An unpopular opinion: idk if I have any of those really? I’m not involved at all with any fandom drama I see happening. I don’t see Aragorn/Legolas, I guess? idk
My Canon OTP: Celeborn/Galadriel
My Non-canon OTP: Legolas/Gimli
Most Badass Character: let’s be real it’s Eowyn
Most Epic Villain: the Witch King. Sauron is an eyeball, Gollum just likes that juicy fish, and then you have the Witch King riding a dragon-thing and getting shit done. Of course, then too, you have Khamul his lieutenant who nearly murders everything in Mirkwood off-screen so… toss-up?
Pairing I am not a fan of: Merry/Pippin oh my gods they’re COUSINS stop
Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): none of them, they’re all good. ask me about the Hobbit and I’ll go on a rant for you
Favourite Friendship: there are so many good ones! there’s Aragorn + Legolas, Bilbo + Aragorn and Eowyn + Merry and Pippin + Faramir and… ok you can’t possibly make me choose, they’re all amazing, it’s what the whole trilogy turns on
Character I most identify with: Eowyn. Been there, darling, done that, good gods hand me that sword because let me tell you I get the frustration
Character I wish I could be: honestly? you couldn’t pay me enough to have Aragorn’s life, Boromir’s life is equally shitty, good gods no I do NOT want to be Faramir or Eomer or Eowyn, Elrond’s life is a whole pile of fuck no, Galadriel’s life is also filed under “too much drama in the early years” – um. I guess what I’m saying is that I’d rather be Treebeard? Gets to sleep for long periods of time, wakes up for long enough to fuck up everyone’s shit, and gets to live in a forest. Or maybe Tom Bombadil – again, seems to have it pretty cushy despite living at the edge of a Very Scary place.

Black Sails:

Favorite character: James Flint McGraw, hands down, no question
Least Favorite character: Alfred Hamilton, closely tied with Peter Ashe and Silver. they’re the unholy trio of straight white men who just don’t get it
5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): James/Thomas, James/Thomas/Miranda, Madi/Vane, Featherstone/Idelle, Max/Anne/Jack yes as an OT3 wherein the first two are lesbians but Jack is there in the relationship as part of the throuple in whatever context they’re comfortable with
Character I find most attractive: James Flint McGraw but Thomas Hamilton is a close second and Max comes third with the proviso that I’m ace af so this is all at an aesthetic level
Character I would marry: um… speaking realistically? Jack. He’s probably the most well-adjusted of the bunch with regards to actually making certain he’s taking his partner’s needs and feelings into account.
Character I would be best friends with: Probably Idelle? She’s just.. she’s cool, ok? and protective and loyal and smart
a random thought: I need to write Idelle at some point because I have not yet and that is a shame
An unpopular opinion: um… anyone who’s been following me knows that I have lots of those. I am a fount, if you like, of unpopular opinions in this fandom, the chief of which is that Silver isn’t worth the air he breathes and that Madi and Vane should have gotten together
My Canon OTP: James/Thomas
My Non-canon OTP: Madi/Vane
Most Badass Character: James Flint McGraw, there can be no other, although the runners up are Charles Vane and Madi, they are my darlings and I love them
Most Epic Villain: Hmm. Are we measuring in terms of “damage done”, or are we measuring in terms of being memorable? Because I’d say in terms of “good gods you just… you just absolutely fucked up everything completely what the FUCK dude?” that’s Silver and Alfred Hamilton. They both just… just completely betrayed the people closest to them for their own gain and I’m sorry but they’re both villains on a scale I can’t forgive. Ever. If we’re talking in terms of being memorable as hell – that’s got to be Ned Lowe, because seriously wow talk about being sadistic and standout in terms of just sheer brutality. And also a great reminder that there are pirates and then there are Pirates and that there’s a reason society cast all pirates as monsters.
Pairing I am not a fan of: S*lver/fl*nt. sorry, just can’t. similarly Madi/Flint is just not my jam, even though I love both characters individually.
Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): um… they slightly did not do a good job of Vane’s character arc, in that it took me several months after the finale of s4 to figure out wtf was going on in his head in s1 because it just does NOT match the rest of the character after that point at all. There’s coherence to his arc, there really is, but it’s just not telegraphed very well at all, and they could have done better, I think. Also Julius was underused – you have this badass ex-slave freedom fighter with his own agenda and then he gets what – three, four scenes at most?
Favourite Friendship: Madi and James. They’re just so fucking good for each other throughout s4, I have so many feels
Character I most identify with: depends on the day, but I seem to have found my inner Flint since the finale. Prior to that I would probably have said Miranda or Thomas.
Character I wish I could be: let’s face it – at the end of the day, Anne’s got it pretty good. She’s got Jack, she’s got Max, she’s got a command position on their ship, and she still gets to stab people when necessary. Yeah – I could stand being Anne.

Charles

Ah, Anon, I do believe you’ve guessed what I’m working on! There’s a decent amount of Charles in this chapter:

Charles starts, and she sits down next to him.

Charles bows his head.

Charles nods.

She has just enough time to shake her head before Cornelius walks back through the door, and then there is only the washing, and blood, and Charles’ hand on her own, squeezing until it is over.