To expand on my ‘Kane’s court are all slimy bastards’ thing, this is an overview of them in my canon:
- Bishop is easiest to explain. He’s interested in the human body in a “if I can figure out how all the parts work and go together I can make myself one of them” because he wants to ~experience life~ or whatever, but he plays it off to Kane as research for how to more effectively fight organic enemies. Kane sees through his bullshit but doesn’t do anything to stop Bishop’s experiments since he’s curious to see the results himself, and it gets rid of pirates, too.
- Deacon is a very quiet sort of unnerving. He’s extremely manipulative and arguably more ruthless than Rooke; he’s been successful on converting several pirates to the Armada’s cause only to kill them off at his convenience. He has some mechanical faults that he “hides” from Kane but again, Kane Knows and doesn’t do anything since he wants Deacon to actually come to him to be fixed. Deacon might believe in Kane’s cause, but he does not harbor any love for Kane. Deacon’s faults cause him to glitch when he gets too stressed, which causes either his legs to lock up or stop working (hence his cane), or a shutdown of his ‘consciousness’ for a 5-10 minute period. I like to headcanon that he glitched out in CR when he realized the pirate actually had the upper hand in the fight, which is why he doesn’t move on the battle board.
- Rooke is an utter powerhouse and, besides Kane, is probably the only member of the Court who legitimately feels some semblance of an emotional range. Unfortunately, it tends to focus on battle and bloodshed, as Rooke occasionally finds himself in a battle frenzy and feels elated at personal victory. Because of this, he’s straight up terrifying in direct conflict as he wants so desperately to win and get that rush. A rational part of him wonders if it’s an imperfection, and he and Deacon exchange a lot of letters on their respective bugs; the loss of Deacon sends Rooke into despair, a new emotion for him, and contributes heavily to the intensity of the battle on the wreck of the Victory.
- Phule is canonically buggy as we all know, but I tend to see him as more of a player in the game than anyone expects. His warring sides parrot two narratives; I personally think he exemplifies the conflict between the pirate and Kane while he does his own thing to confuse both parties. He’s got conflicting black and white views, but they’re steeped in a lot of gray area. However much he’s helped the crew, they in no way trust him, and neither does the rest of the court. He has the capacity to drastically change the course of the narrative, and Kane dislikes him for that.
- the Queen is a bit of an antithesis to Phule. Kane describes her as the pinnacle of his invention; she’s supposedly perfect, and alongside that is completely aligned to him. She is not a player in the game until Kane is defeated. Either she’s been biding her time, or her true nature was not able to be revealed until Kane was gone. She’s as dangerous and unpredictable as Phule, but wholly committed to the Grand Design.
- Finally, Kane. At the least, he’s terrifying. Digging more into him reveals a very complex but flawed line of thinking with regards to the Spiral and its “imperfection” but the rest of his court (save Phule) so blindly believe in him out of both love and fear that they wouldn’t cross him. For supposedly being the ‘perfect being’ he tends to treat his goals like a cosmic game, with himself separate from it, until the pirate directly threatens him and forces him to realize he’s not just the player, but a piece on the chessboard. Why a gaggle of children so doggedly pursue him, he’s not sure, but they’re utterly determined to wipe him out before he’s finished with his plans and he is afraid. He schemes until the very end and ultimately there’s doubt that his destruction was even the right course of action...if he was actually destroyed.
hey, not to. demoralize your timeline stuff since you seemed thorough about it, but if you have a chance, you might want to review the dialogue from the new wiz catacombs stuff. it kind of adds another wrench into the pirate101/wizard101 timeline overlay?
That’s a good point, and I had completely forgotten about it.
To recap, during the new Catacombs questline, the wizard travels to Valencia and meets King Casmir and Queen Margherita. The latter laments that they no longer have their “mindless automaton soldiers”--an obvious reference to the Armada, implying the Catacombs quest takes place sometime after the Armada’s defeat. (Listen to it here).
I’ll be honest--I do not have a good refutation for this, at least not at this time. But the catacombs are ultimately side content (albeit very interesting side content) and the King, Queen, and mention of the Armada aren’t actually vital to any part of the questline. It’s just a fun easter egg. With that in mind, I feel comfortable ignoring it.
Thanks for the ask! If I ever come up with a more satisfactory answer to this question, I’ll be sure to revisit it.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
i wrote another thing! this one is twice as long as my first fic and the styles do not match up in the slightest lmao. kudos and comments are appreciated!
You seem like you would know of good pirate101 fanfics, cause like, I can NEVER find any. Do you have some recs?
Oh, gosh, I’m flattered! I can’t say I’ve read every Pirate fic out there, but here are links to a few of my personal favorites:
Tale of A Cabin Girl by CubanCracker62 on AO3--A rewrite that follows the quest for Gunn’s Gold. Lots of worldbuilding and funny moments, with a focus on character interaction. It’s currently on hiatus, but it’s accompanied by a loosely related one-shot that revolves around some OCs and is also a fun read.
A Mad Plan by WonderAndDoubt on AO3--A bite-size, Phule-centric fic that puts a lot of character study into very few words.
Like Clockwork by Zafaria on AO3--A chilling/heartwrenching look at potential backstories for the Neufarious Five in Moo Manchu’s tower.
Pirate Legacy by Nroque18 on Fanfiction--This one starts off with a bit of an expository slog, but it takes some interesting liberties with canon, has its share of funny moments, isn’t afraid to lean on the fourth wall, and is part of a series that runs all the way up to events in Marleybone. Sadly, it is abandoned.
The Nefarious Sixth by Heaven’s Wordsmith on Fanfiction--A novelization of the events in Moo Manchu’s tower, with a focus on the crew’s emotional struggle as they’re forced to fight their captain.
Letters Home by Arameyy on Fanfiction--This one is actually a Wizard101 fic, but I felt the need to include it here because it’s flat-out the best Wizard fic I’ve ever read. It takes a much darker and more realistic look at the events of the Malistaire arc, complete with lots of OCs and actual consequences for making teenagers deal with powerful magical beings, world-ending threats, and separation from their homes and families. This one is, sadly, abandoned, but the author has released their outline so readers can still see how the story would have played out.
Hopefully these give you something new to chew on, and thanks for the ask!
“They are supposed to be right there. See, I kept them in these strong cuffs.”
“You were supposed to make sure nobody got into the ship.”
“Kane, I was going to!”
“Oh really?”
“Yes!”
“So go get the pirate!”
“Alright, I will!”
Deacon pushes his way past Kane. He then stops in front of the hole in the wall. He carefully steps out. He looks around. He goes back into the cell. He puts his hand on the edge of the wall.
Probably because we keep messing with their well-laid plans to further our own desperately-laid plans and they take offense to that with weapons.
In all seriousness, though, some lines of dialogue suggest that our pirate does have a cheeky/smart-aleck streak to them. Here’s one example (pay attention to Avery’s lines at the end). I can see how that would rub some people the wrong way.
I’m back with another teaser, this time a brief excerpt from Chapter 1. Our intrepid hero meets her rescuers and has some doubts about their sincerity.
(I say brief but it’s like 700 words send help)
* * *
“Get down, she’s going to blow!”
The muffled voice echoed through the cell block, only an instant ahead of the promised explosion. Coughing echoed down the long passage, suddenly much clearer than it had been before, and accompanied by a clatter of metal. Hannah pressed against the bars, trying to make sense of the situation. Attacking an Armada ship was bad enough. Surely someone couldn’t be stupid enough to board one?
The next words, however, seemed to confirm that this was exactly what the intruders were doing. “It’s one of these prisoners! Check the ones down there, Monkey.”
“I’m on it,” a second voice replied in a thick Polarian accent. Two sets of footsteps, one heavy, the other small and light, echoed through the brig, coming closer and closer to Hannah’s cell. The interlopers advanced down the passage, pausing briefly outside each cell before continuing deeper into the brig. It was obvious that they were searching for something—or someone.
She was still puzzling over the situation when a Monkey dressed in a blue naval uniform came to a stop in front of her cell and let out a cry of triumph.
“Aha! I think this is the prisoner we’re looking for!”
The heavy thumping of feet announced the arrival of the Polarian Monkey’s companion. He was a heavyset Human who carried an ancient spark thrower in his right hand. His left had been replaced with a hook, which combined with his massive white beard, red jacket, eyepatch, and bicorn hat, fitted the stereotypical image of a pirate to a T.
“Could be,” the newcomer replied, squinting into the cell. “You, there! You’re standing on me blind side. Scoot over a little.”
Hannah reached for her hip, then let her hand drop to her side when she remembered that the clockworks had confiscated her weapons. “Who are you?”
If the massive pirate was bothered by the curt reply, he didn’t show it. He hummed to himself and adjusted his position slightly to get a better view. His eyebrows went up as he studied her.
“I told you! She is the one!” the Monkey insisted.
Once again, the larger pirate appeared skeptical. “Maybe so. She sure looks young.”
Hannah slapped a hand against the wall. Both pirates jumped. “Now hang on just a minute! Who are you two, anyway, and what do you want?”
“Ah, our apologies! We haven’t introduced ourselves!” the Monkey said, shooting a look at his taller companion. It might have been intimidating if he wasn’t three feet tall with his hat on. “This is Boochbeard, and I am his first mate, Mr. Gandry. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
Boochbeard and Gandry—she’d heard those names. The dim-witted captain of the Flying Sloth and his first mate, who had deserted from three different navies before turning to piracy. To say that their exploits sounded unbelievable would be an understatement.
So what were they doing here?
Boochbeard frowned, unmoved by his comrade’s glare. “Don’t forget the important part. You wouldn’t happen to be an orphan, would ye?”
Hannah rocked back on her heels, her jaw dropping as she processed the implications of the question. What were these two getting at? Why was that the important part?
And, more importantly, how had they known?
“What kind of a question is that?” she demanded, as though the answer hadn’t just been written all over her face.
“You are!” Gandry gave Boochbeard a pointed look.
“What difference does it make?”
Boochbeard beamed. “Well, in that case, we’re here to rescue you! Now, let’s get ye out of this confounded cell. There’s piratin’ to be done!” He tucked his pistol into his belt and rubbed his hands together eagerly.
Hannah stared, her mouth opening and closing wordlessly. Right now, she didn’t trust these two as far as she could throw them. She had no connection to them. There was no reason for them to rescue her, if it was even her they were looking for.
On the other hand, here was her chance to escape. She could get answers once the Erebus was nothing but a distant memory.
I was going to save this for the big announcement, but it’s Christmas and I couldn’t wait, so have an art of my main character, Hannah. I couldn’t decide which I liked better, so have both the shaded and unshaded versions. if anyone has tips on shading please send them in because i’m improving but still not happy with it
romaincrisis
jbbartram-illu
jacobvanloon
ellievsbear
kianamaiart
