“What in the land’s name happened to your hair?” M’Baku said, walking to him under the banian.
“Shuri said it was in her way,” Ingcuka answered placidly, as if he had not worn his hair up in messy buns every time M’Baku had seen him before. “And then the kids decided it needed color.”
One of the things that makes STAR WARS’ heartbreak tolerable to me is knowing that an afterlife of some sort exists, that it’s possible for these characters who suffered so much in their lives and deserved so much better, get to carry on as FORCE GHOSTS long enough to see the galaxy set to rights again or to find the peace they could never achieve during life. So this is a set of recs focused on characters who get to live on in the Force and get some actual closure and my fannish heart is all the more soothed for it!
What she means: I understand the Chronicles of Narnia was at its heart a fairytale with theological analogies for children. But why did Lewis never address how they had to adapted to life on Earth again. Why does no one talk about how the Pevensies had to grow up with a kingdom of responsibilities on their shoulders, only to return to Earth and be children. Take Lucy, she was youngest and perhaps she adapted more quickly-but she had the memories and mind of a grown woman in an adolescent body. Edmund literally found himself in Narnia, he went from a selfish boy to mature and experienced man. He found a purpose and identity through his experiences to come back as just Edmund, Peter’s younger brother. Did people wonder why the sullen, sour boy came back, carrying himself like a wisened king? Did his mother wonder why he and Peter suddenly got along so well, why they spent so much time together now? And Susan, the girl of logistics and reason came back with a difference in her. She learned how to be a diplomat and ambassador, Susan the Gentle had to live to endure not-so-gentle circumstances. She had the respect she wanted, only to be just another teen girl. And Peter, he entered the manhood and maturity he so wanted. He earned the responsibility and stripes he yearned for. He learned to command armies and conduct the menial tasks demanded of a king to rule a nation. But he came back, appearing to be just anther glory-hungry boy. Not to mention the PTSD they must have struggled with. Especially Edmund. How often did he wake up in a sweat, screaming a sibling or comrade’s name? His parents believe it’s the war, but it’s an entirely different one he has nightmares about. How often did he have trouble with flashbacks and mood swings? And how many times did he and Peter sit over a newspaper or near the radio listening to reports on the troops. How often did they pour over lost battles and debate better strategies. Did their parents ever wonder why they seemed to understand flight war so well? How long was it before they stopped discussing these things in front of people? Why does no one talk about this???
Why am i fucking crying
Why does no one talk about how the Pevensies had to grow up with a
kingdom of responsibilities on their shoulders, only to return to Earth
and be children
It’s not addressed because it’s understood. It was the shared experience of the generation. You are describing coming home from World War One, battle wearied and aged beyond belief, but walking around in the body of a youth. C S Lewis went to the front line of the Somme on his nineteenth birthday and went back to complete uni in 1918 after demob.
Not seen it with this very very pertinent addition before
More fanart for Domenika Marzione’s Freezer Burn. All quotes are from chapters 20-27. (Featuring Cap being sassed by Operative Baker and Corrales’ beautifully confused lunch.)
Guys, she drew Corrales! And the My Little Pony lunchbox!
Actually, there’s maybe two pictures without food? I might have earned that reputation… (But one of the ones without food is a tiny moment I’m so thrilled she picked and the choices she made for it.)
“What do I do?” Steve appealed into the phone. “I’m freaking out.”
There was silence on the other end of the line. It lasted so long that Steve pulled the receiver away from his ear and frowned at it. Pay phones were old. Maybe this one wasn’t working despite the obvious dial tone when he picked up.
“Ok,” a stranger’s voice said over the phone. “First acknowledge the fact that you dialed the wrong number, but be quick about it because my cab is a few blocks away from my own plans and I’m about to drop some truth bombs on you.”
You know what’s really hard to find in good quality?
Pirate romance.
So, here is my list of pirate romance and love stories that actually do justice to pirates, ladies, and don’t involve any (God bless it) cringe-y Treasure Island “pirate speak.”
Frenchman’s Creek – Daphne DuMaurier
Jaded by the numbing politeness of Restoration London, Lady Dona St. Columb revolts against high society. She rides into the countryside, guided only by her restlessness and her longing to escape.
But when chance leads her to meet a French pirate, hidden within Cornwall’s shadowy forests, Dona discovers that her passions and thirst for adventure have never been more aroused. Together, they embark upon a quest rife with danger and glory, one which bestows upon Dona the ultimate choice: sacrifice her lover to certain death or risk her own life to save him.
DuMaurier is often credited with the early stirrings of the modern day romance novel, but Frenchman’s Creek is without a doubt a love story, not a romance novel. If you’re looking for a HEA, this is not going to be your cup of tea.
Her prose is moody and ethereal – a perfect match to the windswept isolated countryside setting. It’s a story about an unhappy woman’s personal and sexual awakening in the arms of the ultimate gentleman pirate. Almost everything happens off-page, but DuMaurier does manage to make the removal of a single earring painfully erotic.
Dona is complicated and often unlikable in her decisions, but she never backs down from who she is and when it matters, she makes the right choices. Jean Aubrey is fun, interesting, and thoughtful without needing to be in the finest clothes or the smartest man in the room. He has a tic for drawing birds, which softens him from being a scary pirate without turning him into a teddy bear.
Siren – Cheryl Sawyer
Jean Laffite is a pirate with a brutal reputation.
A black-eyed sea gypsy, he is legendary for his plundering of ships and seduction of women.
Léonore Roncival, a pirate’s daughter, is mistress of the Caribbean island of San Stefan. Léonore, too, inspires whispered innuendo. Her island is rumoured to be awash in treasure. Her beauty is said to lure men to the peaks of ecstasy–and to their doom. Even the ruthless Jean Laffite can’t ignore her call …
Determined to eliminate this rival on the high seas, Laffite comes to raid her home. There he faces a battle of wits that he never foresaw, and risks his heart.
As the aftershocks of Napoleonic war reach America, the passionate conflict between Jean and Léonore drives them between two nations, into the Battle of New Orleans …
I loved this. Sawyer is thorough in her historical details and seamlessly weaves the absolutely true story of American pirate Lafitte with the fictional Roncival and her story. They are both pirates, though Roncival commands an island instead of a ship, and they have independent stories. Siren is a solid study in two independent people choosing to support each other, which is so satisfying.
Sawyer doesn’t hold back on one of the ugliest parts of piracy: the role of pirates in the slave trade. Lafitte is no hero, but he does evolve and grow with the narrative.
Siren had twists and turns that I did not see coming, and kept me turning the pages.
The Blue Diamond – P.S. Bartlett
Ivory Shepard didn’t want to be a pirate when she grew up but she didn’t plan on being orphaned and alone at thirteen with her three cousins either.
After a Spanish raid in Charles Towne left them with nothing, Ivory held her cousins together, trained them to fight for their lives and led them to a life of quiet refuge on the banks of the Ashley River. Out of reach of the hands of unscrupulous men, they found life on the farm a tolerable substitute for the traditional alternatives life would force onto them—until the night the pirates showed up.
Setting foot on that first pirate ship was nothing compared to the life of freedom and adventure awaiting them, once Ivory and the girls were through playing nice. Only one man believes he can stop her and he won’t need a ship full of guns to do it.
Not a perfect novel, but a fun story that features a quad of badass ladies leading the way. There is a strong balance of action (that good high seas pirate stuff I love), female friendships, and romance without ever veering too long in any one area. I like action *with* romance, and this book delivered.
Maddox is sort of the stereotypical romance novel pirate – something of an overdressed fop, which is a trend that I understand but don’t really care for. BUT the relationship between Ivory and Maddox is entertaining. It waivers on clunky at times, but when it’s natural, it’s so natural it almost gives me flutters.
TW: implied rape in flashbacks
Cinnamon and Gunpowder – Eli Brown
The year is 1819, and the renowned chef Owen Wedgwood has been kidnapped by the ruthless pirate Mad Hannah Mabbot. He will be spared, she tells him, as long as he puts exquisite food in front of her every Sunday without fail. To appease the red-haired captain, Wedgwood gets cracking with the meager supplies on board. His first triumph at sea is actual bread, made from a sourdough starter that he leavens in a tin under his shirt throughout a roaring battle, as men are cutlassed all around him. Soon he’s making tea-smoked eel and brewing pineapple-banana cider. But Mabbot—who exerts a curious draw on the chef—is under siege. Hunted by a deadly privateer and plagued by a saboteur hidden on her ship, she pushes her crew past exhaustion in her search for the notorious Brass Fox. As Wedgwood begins to sense a method to Mabbot’s madness, he must rely on the bizarre crewmembers he once feared: Mr. Apples, the fearsome giant who loves to knit; Feng and Bai, martial arts masters sworn to defend their captain; and Joshua, the deaf cabin boy who becomes the son Wedgwood never had.
I got this on a recommendation and what a recommendation. Like Frenchman’s Creek, Cinnamon and Gunpowder is not a romance novel. It is however a beautiful love story that left me ugly crying.
One of the best parts of a good pirate novel is the squad of diverse malcontents and misfits that is the crew, and boy oh boy does this novel deliver. I fell in love with each member of Mabbot’s crew and they’ve all left an impression on me.
Written in the first person as a journal, the style was a bit hard for me to dig into, but the writing is so strong it didn’t take long for me to become fully invested. If you like food and sailing, this novel will hit all your happy places. The story is exciting and emotionally compelling from start to finish, complete with well developed, messy, sympathetic characters.
For the record: middle aged-to-older eccentric lady pirate captain? Who is also allowed to be in a romantic relationship? Sign me the frak up.
The Rebel Pirate – Donna Thorland
1775, Boston Harbor. James Sparhawk, Master and Commander in the British Navy, knows trouble when he sees it. The ship he’s boarded is carrying ammunition and gold…into a country on the knife’s edge of war. Sparhawk’s duty is clear: confiscate the cargo, impound the vessel and seize the crew. But when one of the ship’s boys turns out to be a lovely girl, with a loaded pistol and dead-shot aim, Sparhawk finds himself held hostage aboard a Rebel privateer.
Sarah Ward never set out to break the law. Before Boston became a powder keg, she was poised to escape the stigma of being a notorious pirate’s daughter by wedding Micah Wild, one of Salem’s most successful merchants. Then a Patriot mob destroyed her fortune and Wild played her false by marrying her best friend and smuggling a chest of Rebel gold aboard her family’s ship.
Now branded a pirate herself, Sarah will do what she must to secure her family’s safety and her own future. Even if that means taking part in the cat and mouse game unfolding in Boston Harbor, the desperate naval fight between British and Rebel forces for the materiel of war—and pitting herself against James Sparhawk, the one man she cannot resist.
Pirates and spies and family drama, oh my. This is a fun read that featured action on ship and on land during the American Revolution.
Thorland put in work researching the time and setting (on and off land) and it shows. The subplots and supporting characters are well developed and interesting without overpowering the plot. Thorland does an excellent job fleshing these stories out and using them to further the primary story rather than distract from it. It even features a secondary LGBTQ character with a complete storyline, which is an important part of history – ESPECIALLY naval history – that is often overlooked, ignored, or glossed over.
Fic recs:
I would be remiss to not include these two stories, especially since the first one is also the read that got me scrambling to find more pirate-themed romance once I knew what I was missing.
These are both Black Sails fanfiction and both about the ship that was never to sail, Billy Bones/Abigail Ashe. You don’t have to be a fan of the show however to appreciate the high quality romance on display here. These stories are so well-written, they honestly put 90% of the pirate romance genre to shame. I consider them better than most of the published novels on this list.
I would, however, seriously recommend googling Tom Hopper as Billy Bones in Black Sails. This is not the weird smelly old guy you’re picturing if you’ve only seen Treasure Island.
As I said above, pirate romance has a tendency to write heroes who are overdressed and effeminate. While I understand that that’s appealing to a large portion of readers, it isn’t *to me*. I live for the rough, overdue for a bath and a shave, dressed for function and calloused to match heroes. The Black Sails corner of fanfiction is rife with that.
“My point being, unless my crew decides that they don’t want to give me up for dead, and if what you say is true and no one will come looking for you, then we are very much stranded on this island.”
Abigail Ashe awakens to find herself shipwrecked on an island. However, she is not alone.
Shipwrecked! is easily one of my favorite tropes, and the author gets all the details you’ve ever wanted about surviving that scenario without crossing into a grim survivalist story. The relationship develops naturally and is so pure™ it could scrub a deck. It’s watching two people I really, really like get something they both deserve, and it’s infinitely satisfying.
Pretty independent lady who sacrificed her standing in society to do the right thing shipwrecked alongside her long-ago crush, a handsome, honorable, pirate with a code of morals that puts Arthurian knights to shame (let’s pretend that fourth season didn’t happen, k)? Just kill me. Bury me in the sand.
This is, tragically, on hiatus, however she did put the writing on pause at a natural break in the story. There’s no happy ending (yet!) but the leave off feels natural and their time on the island is resolved.
I’d never demand an update, but I am patiently holding out hope that one day she’ll pick this up again. It’s seriously one of my favorites and I find myself re-opening this story and re-reading it when I really, really want a good happy pirate love story.
When word reaches Nassau that Captain Derrick of the Nemo has kidnapped Abigail Ashe, daughter of the Lord Governor of the Carolinas, and intends to sell her to the pirate crew offering the highest bid, Captain Flint and his crew take matters into their own hands and mount a rescue.
Though she is no longer a prisoner, Abigail’s journey is far from over.
This story is a break from Black Sails, and dear God it’s a good break. Prim and well-bread Abigail Ashe ends up a prisoner on a pirate ship, then rescued by the only pirates scarier than her current captors. In order to protect themselves, they take her back to Nassau until they can arrange to return her to her father. Living with these men her father called monsters first on their ship – where she learns the ins and outs of sailing! – then in their homes forever alters Abigail’s view of the world. She cannot return to her old life knowing that everything her father has fought for is wrong. Her inevitable return is made all the more complicated by her growing feelings for a certain tall boatswain assigned to watch after her on the ship and on land.
This writing team knows their stuff about sailing. All the details are there without it being an overwhelming infodump. It’s all worked seamlessly into the story. They have stayed simultaneously true to the show and true to the mores of the time period, which has lent itself to being the ultimate slow burn. It’s so well written and the Romeo and Juliet angst of a pirate falling in love with a territorial governor’s daughter is poignant. There is no need to reach for reasons to keep these characters apart, so the conflict never feels forced or contrived.
The conclusion is still to come in the third part, Setting the Stormsails, and I cannot wait to read it.
So, did I forget anything? Leave off a novel or story you think is a classic? Reblog and let me know! I live for good recommendations!
Very honoured that we’ve made this list! And also crying over the price of ebooks because I want to read a couple of these now but I just… can’t afford. I really want authors to be paid fairly but I also don’t want to spend €12-13 on a digital file I guess that’s why I mostly read fanfic…
Despite all the obstacles, Foolproof Thanksgiving turns out to be an
excellent guide for dinner preparation by two morons who have no idea
what they’re doing and only 3 hands.
Oh, you
sweet summer child, you have asked for the unaskable, for that rare,
precious beast that hides so deep in the fandom grass that only the
boldest, most stubborn and intrepid McShep fan has ever been able to
capture but a few such stories in the wild. I had to enlist the efforts
of such a fan, @em-kellesvig, in my hunt for that elusive beast,
“Oblivious John/Pining Rodney,” and here are a few tasty ones for your
feast:
Kid A by @cesperanza – in which John gives Rodney a new gun and things get blurry.
+ Face Value Part 1 & Part 2 by minnow1212 – Rodney becomes telepathic, but can’t read the minds of people with the gene. But being telepathic isn’t all that fun. + That Which by darsynia –
When Teyla’s still missing, Rodney’s done pining, and John’s just trying to figure out where to go next.
(Rodney’s totally not done pining) + Environmental Controls by kalimyre – Rodney is cold and climbs into John’s bed. + In Too Deep by altyronsmaker – An AU where the team is searching for a famous shipwreck, but John’s past won’t stay there. + Stuck On You by trillingstar – Aliens make them do an obstacle course. + Wish List by velocitygrass – “If you really want me to get into the Spirit of Christmas, here’s a list.”
+ Beau of the Ball by velocitygrass – John is the CEO of a compnay, Rodney is his utterly devoted assistant.
“You can’t steal things just because you like them,” Sam tells Bucky, feeling innately that this is a losing battle, and Bucky cocks his head to the side, considers Sam very thoughtfully.
“Really,” he says. “I’m stealing you, aren’t I?”
hello, here is that long painfully slow-burning Sam-centric fic that’s been killing me for the last month. 33.5k words spanning from post-Winter Soldier to… well, to A Time. featuring art theft, meaningful conversation in hotel rooms, burning undercurrents of tension, Steve Rogers being Steve Rogers, moments of softness and breathless stillness. have fun. I’m dead.
I guess that’s why I mostly read fanfic… 
Steel Phoenix Studios 