The Black Queen of Hearts

Laralyne "Lars" Aramintore - Quel'dorei rogue on WrA

[valtsv]

i can’t talk shit about the pirates of the caribbean films as if elizabeth swann becoming pirate king didn’t hand my entire ass to me and make me the gay i am today

[valtsv]

these 2 looks basically defined my sexuality and i’m not afraid to admit it

[valtsv]

things pirates of the caribbean got right:

1. will and elizabeth’s love story

2. elizabeth becoming pirate king

3. avoiding sexualizing elizabeth or the other female pirate characters in the first 3 films by allowing them to wear period-accurate pirate outfits that aren’t tailored to be revealing and impractical for ‘sex appeal’ just because they’re women

4. hans zimmer’s entire score but especially the iconic ‘he’s a pirate’ main theme

[prismatic-bell]

5. When the movie came out, morally-gray characters like Jack were actually not really a thing yet in pop culture, and it’s not Pirates’ fault that there are a ton of stupid shitty copycats out there.

6. I run a corseting panel at cons and literally use Elizabeth’s lace-up scene as a video clip of what historical corseting was actually like, because the only thing they got wrong in this scene is that tightlacing wouldn’t be a thing for about another 200 years (and you couldn’t tightlace with the corset style Elizabeth is wearing anyway). It’s one of the most accurate corseting scenes I’ve ever seen.

7. Will’s hat.

8. That scene with all the pirates on the gallows where that little boy starts singing Hoist the Colours? Yeah, that’s fucking legendary. The rest of AWE was kind of a trash fire, but that scene gave me goosebumps.

9. There’s this great shot in the first one where they really drive home the class differences inherent in this time period by having the governor talking about progress and civilization to Elizabeth in their carriage, and then they cut to a shot outside the carriage where a beggar gets splashed by mud from the wheel. It’s a perfect way to underline that everything is not, in fact, a nice little upper-class fairytale, and to give some weight to Will’s storyline, because he has a lot more in common with that beggar than with the governor.

10. For its time, the CGI was fucking amazing.

11. And let’s not forget the work of the makeup department, which had to actually invent new ways of putting on makeup for this movie.

12. The governor’s death scene. Holy shit.

13. They could have gone with a Jack/Will/Elizabeth love triangle, but they didn’t. There are some hints Jack is in love (or at least in lust) with Elizabeth, but he recognizes that she loves Will, and that’s that.

14. You’ve got to admit that wedding was unique.

[math-is-magic]

15. The introduction of fantasy elements to historical fiction outside of Tolkein-esque fantasy, and how it contributed to and expanded the Fantasy Media boom we’re still enjoying today.

[paddysnuffles]

1. They had a woman of colour play a goddess.

2. They had a woman pirate right in the first film, when the tradition is to only show male ones (hell, the PotC ride at Disney had a wench auction scene until recently). And it was a female pirate of colour at that!

3. Elizabeth may not have known how to fight in the first film, but she wasn’t helpless either. Her first instinct was to fight, but she also had the brains to recognize when it was best to hide instead. Plus when given the chance she stabbed Barbosa that one time.

4. Elizabeth’s lack of fighting ability was not simply because she was a woman, it was clear it was due to her societal circumstances, since we saw other women of different socioeconomic backgrounds being able to fight (and when given the opportunity to learn Elizabeth took to fighting like a duck on water).

5. The Hoist the Colours scene where we see pirates of multiple ethnicities and their varying flags, reminding us that pirates came in all shapes and sizes and weren’t just white men.

6. One of the Pirate Lords being yet ANOTHER woman of colour. She may not have had much of a speaking role if memory serves, but even her presence is already a big deal.

7. The pirates accepting their King is a woman without much fuss.

[chubbyooo]

Pirates is amazing I will not here a bad word

Davy Jones CGI is legendary and a ton better than some of the stuff done today 😄

[the-unnecessary-commentary]

I’m pretty sure that female Chinese pirate was a nod to a real, documented female pirate king who was Chinese and had a whole fleet of ships at her disposal but I can’t remember her name rn

[kintatsujo]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ching_Shih

[real-jaune-isms]

My favorite part about the Bretheren Court voting wasn’t that they were against Elizabeth for becoming King as a woman and newcomer. They were pissed at Jack for being a chaotic neutral who broke the decades long tradition of an egotistical stalemate by voting for someone besides himself.

Also, the deleted scenes from Black Pearl and At World’s End that divulge more of Jack’s troubled past, like how he was branded as a pirate by the East Indian Trading Company because he stole a ship full of slaves and freed them.

[mistermaf]

[noimreallynice]

[girlinthepark]

Jess Henderson | Corfu, Old Town. 

[quotemadness]

I am good at walking away. Rejection teaches you how to reject.

Jeanette Winterson (via jackleansparrow)

[kelseylorene]

Passing, Copenhagen, Denmark.

[hopesumners]

[effyeahchickenstrips]

[miyamanga-deactivated20191223]

Character Development “Hard Mode” Meme: send a number & character to my ask box  and I’ll write an answer/headcanon in reply.

Does your character have siblings or family members in their age group? Which one are they closest with?

What is/was your character’s relationship with their mother like?

What is/was your character’s relationship with their father like?

Has your character ever witnessed something that fundamentally changed them? If so, does anyone else know?

On an average day, what can be found in your character’s pockets?

Does your character have recurring themes in their dreams?

Does your character have recurring themes in their nightmares?

Has your character ever fired a gun? If so, what was their first target?

Is your character’s current socioeconomic status different than it was when they were growing up?

Does your character feel more comfortable with more clothing, or with less clothing?

In what situation was your character the most afraid they’ve ever been?

In what situation was your character the most calm they’ve ever been?

Is your character bothered by the sight of blood? If so, in what way?

Does your character remember names or faces easier?

Is your character preoccupied with money or material possession? Why or why not?

Which does your character idealize most: happiness or success?

What was your character’s favorite toy as a child?

Is your character more likely to admire wisdom, or ambition in others?

What is your character’s biggest relationship flaw? Has this flaw destroyed relationships for them before?

In what ways does your character compare themselves to others? Do they do this for the sake of self-validation, or self-criticism?

If something tragic or negative happens to your character, do they believe they may have caused or deserved it, or are they quick to blame others?

What does your character like in other people?

What does your character dislike in other people?

How quick is your character to trust someone else?

How quick is your character to suspect someone else? Does this change if they are close with that person?

How does your character behave around children?

How does your character normally deal with confrontation?

How quick or slow is your character to resort to physical violence in a confrontation?

What did your character dream of being or doing as a child? Did that dream come true?

What does your character find repulsive or disgusting?

Describe a scenario in which your character feels most comfortable.

Describe a scenario in which your character feels most uncomfortable.

In the face of criticism, is your character defensive, self-deprecating, or willing to improve?

Is your character more likely to keep trying a solution/method that didn’t work the first time, or immediately move on to a different solution/method?

How does your character behave around people they like?

How does your character behave around people they dislike?

Is your character more concerned with defending their honor, or protecting their status?

Is your character more likely to remove a problem/threat, or remove themselves from a problem/threat?

Has your character ever been bitten by an animal? How were they affected (or unaffected)?

How does your character treat people in service jobs?

Does your character feel that they deserve to have what they want, whether it be material or abstract, or do they feel they must earn it first?

Has your character ever had a parental figure who was not related to them?

Has your character ever had a dependent figure who was not related to them?

How easy or difficult is it for your character to say “I love you?” Can they say it without meaning it?

What does your character believe will happen to them after they die? Does this belief scare them?

[lsleofskye]

Turbulence | kdkuiper

[slytheringlow]

[absinthundblut]

[pinksvoice]

[gentlemansoldierarchive-blog-de]

Reblog if you're willing to do fairly violent RPs

Y'know, just in case I feel the need to bust some heads.

[larsaramintore]

Resurrection

Night had fallen over the harbor.  There was little sound save the gentle lapping of the tide against the moonlit harbor and the quiet creaking of the half dozen or so heavily laden ships that were moored there.  She crept silently down to the wharf, freshly oiled boots sullied quickly by the day’s dredgings as she skirted along the boardwalk, making her way towards the outskirts of Boralus.  The pale-haired Quel’dorei would hardly raise an eyebrow as she wove her way through the dwindling crowds, drunken sailors filtering one by one out of the town’s many taverns as their day’s pay began to fail them.  She fit well enough among them, dressed mostly in the Captain’s clothes with her chest bound and hair tied back into a masculine knot.  She’d smudged enough dirt and oil on her face to obscure what was left of her feminine features, the remaining half of a partially severed ear and scarred eye serving only to further her purpose.

It was a risk to leave the ship, and one she knew well, but after months aboard and only the Captain and his less than social crew to keep her company, it was one she deemed necessary.  Pulling the tri-pointed hat down over her brow, she set her hands deeply into her pockets and set about the business of finding a quiet corner to get drunk in.  

Ducking down a particularly dark alleyway, her good ear twitched at an echo. The sound of a pair of boots behind her, likely another sailor hoping to accomplish the same end as herself, though the feeling still hit in the pit of her stomach like a bad shot of ale.  Faltering a step, she shrugged the thought away as she continued on, reaching up to adjust the collar to the overly large jacket she found herself suddenly nearly drowned in.  The footsteps continued...too steady to be a drunken wharf rat...not steady enough to be a guard.  She could turn to check, but it would leave her vulnerable and exposed.

Another few steps and she reached the end of the alley, the other presence…man, by the judge of his footfalls...just feet behind her now.  Her breath stilled as she nearly froze, fingers twitching by her sides as she felt him draw close, breathing hot against the back of her neck.  You smell of stale whiskey and cheap cigars…. Her mind hissed in opposition as she felt a hand reach for her slender shoulder, time seeming to still with every successive blink of her pale blue eyes.  The dusky cackle that filled her ears confirmed her suspicions, before even the hoarse whisper of admission that followed.  

“You’re not as tough as all the fuss about you, are you girl?”  He breathed another foul breath against her neck, all rotting teeth and bad decisions.  A human...of course...her nose wrinkled with a sneer of arrogance as her hand snapped up, grabbing his wrist and twisting hard.  In a single, fluid motion, she felled the man, stepping into the abyss of void and then back out again, this time with her boot knife at his neck and her knee in the small of his back.  

“Tsssk…”  she chided with a hiss as she leaned over his shoulder, a hubric smile of all white teeth and pearly fangs showing in the dark of the empty street.  “You should have listened to what they told you...stupid man.”  A dark laugh rattled in the back of her throat as she slipped the knife gently into his jugular, holding him steady until he fell limp and dead against the wall beside them.  With a cursory glance at her surroundings, she wiped the blade clean of blood before tucking it back into her boot, stepping quietly over the hearth of the next tavern.

[soderso]

[mykukula]

[3leapfrogs20-deactivated2019010]

🐸 🐸 🐸 3leapfrogs.com/archive Visit the archive 150,000 posts 

[moncheri-wra]

The ill request

Just another room in an inn.  Like its copycats it was above the bar cheap and worn.  Cheri rested once more in bed made of sheets she didn’t own.   Often alone for her companions were not welcome by most innkeepers.   It was normal the night-borne had grown used to but did not prefer.

Her Benny was an older raptor who prefer to stay beside Cheri in hopes of treats while Oliver her manasaber preferred to stalk nearby if ever needed still there were few inns that allowed the large beasts inside their doors.  One loved overstuffed stalls with layers of bedding, the other loved to dangle paws off a high branch in a tree.

Benny was tucked in the stables nearby dreaming of hogs, not sheep.   Oliver free to roam out in the woods for he could blend in.   He was still a predator in his prime, though she worried often of the manasaber, she knew he was best on his own.

As for Mon’cheri herself, she still had no clue where she preferred to bed at night.  Tent or Inn,  Rustberg or Silvermoon?  Alone the worse, with someone better.  While Benny and Oliver had their basic wants and needs down, Cheri changed her mind more often than a noble lady changed her shoes.

This morning she still sat in her rented bed with sheets tangled around warm cobalt skin.  Sleep had betrayed her, a feeling she was used to. It was why she demanded so-called loyal friends to stand up for or she would send them off without second thoughts.  Another reason not many knew her full story or did she allow them to get emotionally close to her.

The written words that kept her awake rested on the costly decorated paper.  The letter was still stuffed in the pocket of her pants that she wore last night.  Her name, two simple lines, and an address to where he was.  Nothing more.

Miss Astraeus

Nanthus Astraeus and his husband have been admitted to the clinic for overdose.   We have contacted you at Mr. and Mrs. Astraeus request.  

—————-

No doubt written by her mother’s hired help.  The poor person, no doubt. Slaving away to Lady Astraeus while never given a glimmer of hope to raise ranks unless they crawled on bloody knuckles.

As little as she own, it would not take long for the Nightborne to stuff all her belongs into the enchanted bag.   Benny would be left behind and Oliver took along.  He was given to her after all by Nanthus himself.  For her brother she would go, the address was not one of her first home after all.

Letters and messages would have to be sent to her workers and friends.  What an odd little week it had been. Lars called her family only for her true family to call her home.  She lost a friend because of her own high demands, found Benny by chance, and often wonder how close others saw her as a friend or just as a person to help pass the time by.

Those last thoughts she could worry on her return, for now, she had to make sure her brother pulled through. Her mask had been removed when she left the city, once more she had to wear it.