An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
This is a roundup post to showcase the lovely stories written for the Black Sails Confinement Challenge in April and May 2020. Thanks and Kudos to all the wonderful authors who wrote these stories! <3
Because tumblr hates external links, I’m linking to the collection, where you will find all the stories, as well as instructions on how to join the challenge if you feel like it! Yes, you can still join anytime!
The half-forgotten house by @agarlandoffreshlycuttears (Silver/Miranda + thoughts of Flint, Rated E)
Original prompt: Silver is stranded at Miranda’s house, could be with or w/o the captain.
Or
Miranda get some slightly less depressing sex and everyone is a bit sad about James Flint. The author included.
Easily Caught by @sunoficarus (Silver/Flint, Rated M)
Original prompt: Silver and Flint are trapped in an elevator in an office building, nobody’s responding and it’s Friday night. Extra: one of them isn’t feeling well because of a medical condition (can be claustrophobia) but is trying to hide it
(Also: Silver is hungry in more ways than one, he really needs to start listening to his therapist, and being trapped in an elevator might be the universe yelling at him to quit his job. Or maybe that's just Flint doing the yelling.)
So You Were Boarded By An Imperial Customs Ship by @mistbastard (Rackham & Anne & Vane, Rated T)
The Ranger trio gets stuck in space prison and tries to escape.
Or: Jack thinks he's in possession of the group's shared braincell. Vane thinks he can use the Force. Anne thinks the guys are making this escape plan way too complicated.
tell me what you see (a lover or a thief) by @sparrowsfallingfromthesky (Silver/Flint, Rated E)
Written for the Black Sails Confinement Challenge for prompt G25 - "Place: a room in the brothel. Reason: they're hiding from someone/something. Mood: pining, ust. Extra: everyone is having sex around them but they're not (yet) and it's driving them nuts."
Confinement at 201 by @bisexualpirateheart (Silver/Flint, Rated E)
Flint and Silver are neighbours, but haven’t spoken before. They both have gardens and can see each other through gaps in the fence. During the lockdown (because of a disease), Silver and Flint become aware of each other in close proximity but separated by the garden fence. So begins an odd flirtation involving sunbathing and topless gardening and water fights.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Black Sails
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Captain Flint | James McGraw/John Silver
Characters: John Silver, Captain Flint | James McGraw
Additional Tags: Modern Era, Confinement Challenge, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Voyeurism, Accidental Voyeurism, Sunbathing, Masturbation, Lust at First Sight, Developing Friendships, Flirting, Sexual Tension, Water Balloon Fights, (technically sorta), Masturbation in Shower, Phone Sex, Texting, Late Night Conversations, Anxiety, lockdown worries
Summary:
For the prompt: S22
Flint and Silver are neighbours, but haven’t spoken before. They both have gardens and can see each other through gaps in the fence. During the lockdown (because of a disease), Silver and Flint become aware of each other in close proximity but separated by the garden fence. So begins an odd flirtation involving sunbathing and topless gardening and water fights. Mood: Sexual tension. Flirting. Maybe voyeurism?
There’ve been times I know I’ll stand up at the bow
And the waves of our bodies and the smell of our follies rips into the bark of my bones.
– King, The Amazing Devil
Maybe Silver was losing his mind after all. Maybe the hunger and the dehydration were getting to him after all. Maybe Billy had been right.
Although there had been lean times in his life, he couldn’t remember a time where he had been this hungry. If anything, it was a relief that the lack of fresh water would kill them all first.
“He’s conjured us into it,” he had said to Billy, speaking as if Flint was some kind of sea god, knowing the bosun would question his sanity. Sanity had begun to slip from Silver’s grasp more and more since he had decided to stick with this crew. It didn’t much matter.
Maybe he was delirious, maybe they all were. If the wind didn’t pick up soon or they happened upon a miracle, in a few days, it wouldn’t make much of a difference. Strangely, the thought didn’t scare him all that much.
He stood by the bow of the ship, sea salt-dry hands keeping him upright on the railing. The sun was unyielding while the air remained entirely still, barely even moving the hairs that had come loose from the leather band at the back of Silver’s head. Breathing was exhausting but he kept staring across the silent water. Waiting for something. Anything.
If was like the sea had tired itself out, attempting to drag the Walrus and its crew to the bottom of the ocean in a storm wilder than Silver had ever experienced, before simply … giving up. More and more, he had begun to think of the sea as a living, breathing entity. And more and more, he wondered how Flint fit into this.
He seemed like a natural extension of it, born from the waves, appearing and disappearing with them. Relentless, unyielding, miraculous.
Silver pried his lips apart, wet them with a tongue that felt entirely too dry. Most of the crew was strewn across the ship, some seeking shelter from the sun below deck, others simply too exhausted to move. That twinge of guilt in Silver’s chest was back when he thought of the ones with the smallest rations, the least amount of water. The ones Flint had deemed “expendable”. He shuddered.
Silver had never wanted to be a pirate, never wanted to be part of a crew, and most days he barely tolerated half of them, but the coldness in Flint’s eyes, the rational pragmatism of it, had shocked him. Although he didn’t exactly know why it should. Flint had proven nothing if not willing to make sacrifices. His own and those of others.
Silver had no desire to ever be captain and have to make decisions like that. He might not have much pity for Flint but he certainly didn’t envy the man.
Half an hour later, they spotted the bulging whale carcass floating in the distance and, right there, Silver knew what he had to do.
Silver knew that drinking rum on a more than empty stomach was the worst thing he could do, and maybe, on a different day, in another universe, he would actually care that it might kill him.
Flint had been quiet since they got back. Not that Flint was very talkative on other days. Generally, he had little more to offer Silver than a dismissive wave of hand when he didn’t agree with him, or a quirk of his brow when he was vaguely interested in something Silver had to say. He hm’d and hem’d his way through the days where Silver had always talked too much. Talked himself out of trouble. Into trouble, sometimes. He didn’t know why he felt the urge to fill the silence so strongly when Flint always seemed unperturbed by it.
Maybe it was the hunger, the cold sweat that had broken out over his body in the past few days, making him dizzy and cracking his dry skin. The air on the ship smelt stale, as if they weren’t still in the middle of the ocean but already frozen in time, preserved in the moment.
Silver was slipping, he could feel it.
It was satisfying to see Flint, unmovable Flint, startle when Silver stumbled into his cabin, nearly crashing into his desk with how unsteady he was on his feet.
It stoked the fire in him when Flint’s eyes widened, even for just a moment, with concern before narrowing. He looked hesitant, like he wanted to ask, wanted to say something maybe, but then thought better of it.
Good, Silver thought. Whenever Flint started talking, terrible things happened.
And to make sure the Captain didn’t change his mind, Silver kissed him. Leaned all the way over the desk, overbalancing and trusting Flint to catch him, and pressed his dry lips hard against Flint’s.
Catching James Flint off guard wasn’t easily done and Silver reveled in it, even if it didn’t last for long. Flint made an indecipherable sound, in the back of his throat, and he might have pulled away if Silver’s weight hadn’t pushed him down in the chair.
Silver had his eyes screwed shut, head swimming, delirious, he told himself. Otherwise, what was he doing here?
Flint’s hand came up to his throat, resting instead of pushing away, accepting instead of rejecting, and Silver was already lightheaded enough from lack of food and water, he didn’t need this.
Flint’s mouth had barely begun moving against his when he wrenched away, his scalp searing when Flint’s fingers didn’t detangle from his hair fast enough. Silver wanted to shake himself, like a wet dog, clear his head, get rid of the fog, and suddenly the Captain’s cabin was stifling. He stumbled backwards, out the way he had come.
“Progress,” Silver had said to Billy after all of them had eaten more than they had in the past few days combined. He suspected that if half the crew weren’t still on the brink of collapsing, they’d be celebrating.
Silver wasn’t much for celebrating but even he could not help the relief that coursed through him when the wind finally picked up and the sails fluttered for the first time in weeks.
Before most of the crew registered it, a change had come upon Flint. Silver was most likely the only one who noticed it, who had been watching. As everyone sprang into action and Silver made his way painfully to the stern of the ship to sidle up to Flint’s side, where he was slowly learning he belonged, Flint had grown younger somehow, smoother, the exhaustion leaving him in waves as the air swirled around them and ruffled the sea into foam.
It was unlikely that Silver would ever fully understand – Flint, the sea, a life on a run, but he could make do with the moment. He could be content for a while.
Flint turned his head towards him, eyebrow crinkling in silent confusion and Silver smiled for perhaps the first time since they’d left the harbour.
Here it is! The list of 50 prompts to inspire confined fic writers to write about confined characters. Here’s how I broke them down:
The General (G1 - G25) prompts only contain ideas for settings and sometimes simple plot ideas. They can be used for any ship or character. Please fill these prompts as closely to the general idea/mood as possible.
The Specific (S1 - S25) prompts tend to be more detailed and contain a ship request. If you choose a specific prompt, please write the ship/main characters requested in these prompts, whose names you have been bolded for your convenience.
Tomorrow I’ll be posting a form to let authors claim prompts.
Prompts can be claimed anytime during the challenge but prompts are granted on a first-come, first-serve basis (this list will be updated to reflect which prompts are currently claimed). Specific prompts can only be claimed once. General prompts may be claimed several times AS LONG AS the writers are working on different characters/ships (they will be asked who they plan on writing in the submission form).
There is no deadline or minimum length, but authors must make some progress within one month of claiming the prompt (ie, at least an outline and a few paragraphs). Prompts for which the author has gone radio-silent or made absolutely no progress in one month will be put back up for grabs.
Authors can fill as many prompts as they like, on the condition that they claim one prompt at a time and finish each prompt before starting working on another.
As always my inbox or PMs stay open if you have any questions about this challenge!
And now, without further ado, let yourself be inspired by these prompts and choose your favourites (1 main, 2 backup) for signup tomorrow! (write down the FULL code, fx G5 or S22)
GENERAL PROMPTS (any ship/character)
G1
Place: inside a whale
Reason: the whale swallowed them
Mood: banter, done with this shit, crack-y
G2
Place: a subaqueous lab
Reason: the inaccessibility of the lab
Mood: UST and a tinge of horror
Extra: the heater is malfunctioning and they have to huddle for warmth
G3
Sexy times feat. character 1 being tied up and waiting for character 2 who's left them alone for a while.
G4
Place: a safehouse
Reason: they're in witness protection
Mood: sexual tension, banter, funny?
Extra: Character 1 is in witness protection but hates it, thinks it's unnecessary and is trying to leave. character 2 is personally responsible for their safety.
G5
Place: at the Oglethorpe plantation
Reason: fear of disease
Mood: bittersweet
G6
Place: a part of the ship
Reason: punished by the crew
Mood: cracky, ust.
Extra: there is only 1 hammock
G7
Place: an elevator in an office building
Reason: it broke down, nobody's responding and it's Friday night
Mood: banter, arguing, enemies-to-friends-to-more?
Extra: one of them isn't feeling well because of a medical condition (can be claustrophobia) but is trying to hide it
G8
Place: at the top of a Ferris wheel
Reason: power cut
Mood: funny, bickering
G9
Place: a supposedly haunted house
Reason: the door is mysteriously stuck
Mood: creepy, funny, possibly UST/smutty
G10
Place: a closet/wardrobe
Reason: they're hiding from someone
Mood: ust/smut
G11
Place: a tent
Reason: it's pouring with rain
Mood: first time, smutty
G12
Place: a store (grocery, book, clothes, you decide)
Reason: they got locked in after closing
Mood: funny, cracky, fluffy
G13
Place: a ship
Reason: becalmed
Mood: angsty, delirious, desperate
G14
Place: Miranda's house
Reason: someone is sick/wounded
Mood: angsty, hurt/comfort, confession (no death please)
G15
Place: mysterious Aztec/Mayan/Inca ruins
Reason: they were looking for the Eldorado and got lost/trapped in the ruins.
Mood: adventure, friendship, maybe hurt/comfort
Extra: there's a jaguar lurking about
G16
Place: the Otherworld (heaven, limbo, hell… you choose)
Reason: the last thing they remember is getting hit on the head.
Mood: thoughts about the Afterlife. Could be as dark or as cracky as you like.
Extra: The Good Place AU?
G17
Place: a library
Reason: someone dared them to stay in after closing time
Mood: fun, cracky, adventurous
G18
Place: two houses far away
Reason: quarantine
Mood: longing, lonely, horny, smutty
Extra: they're writing/texting/talking on the phone to keep in touch but It's Not Enough and it's driving them nuts
G19
Place: a steampunk Jules-Verne-ish submarine
Reason: there's a giant squid outside
Mood: spooky, adventure
G20
Place: a lighthouse
Reason: a terrible storm with crashing waves
Mood: intense, passionate
G21
Place: a cabin in the middle of nowhere
Reason: zombie apocalypse (or other supernatural invasion/pandemic)
Mood: horror, tension
Extra: Character 1 arrives at the cabin after having fled the monsters, thinking it's empty. It's not, and Character 2 isn't all that happy about the intruder.
G22
Place: Skeleton Island
Reason: marooned or left for dead
Mood: spooky, angsty, paranoid
G23
Place: a hut on Maroon island
Reason: Hurricane
Mood: ust, angst, comfort
G24
Place: the Fort in Nassau
Reason: they took the fort but now they're besieged
Mood: bickering, going stir-crazy
G25
Place: a room in the brothel
Reason: they're hiding from someone/something
Mood: pining, ust
Extra: everyone is having sex around them but they're not (yet) and it's driving them nuts
SPECIFIC PROMPTS (specific ship/character)
S1
Ranger trio is stuck in space prison and have to try to escape ft. Space ship Captain Vane, Anne with blaster shooters (or maybe a lightsaber if it’s a star wars au) and hacker Jack. Mood: Funny.
S2
Thomas and Silver are stuck in James' flat... without James. They're stuck there separated from James until the shelter in place order is lifted (pick your poison - pandemic? Bad storm? Dangerous escaped convict on the loose?). Sexual tension ensues.
S3
Inspired by S4: Madi and Eleanor are confined together in the hidden cellar of Miranda's house when Spanish troops are invading the island (and this time they don't get assaulted/killed). Unresolved sexual tension, unresolved sibling-like rivalry. Bonus: just some angry ✂️✂️✂️
S4
Eleanor is imprisoned in England and thinks about Max. Mood: angst, broken heart, angry.
S5
Silver is stranded at Miranda's house, could be with or w/o the captain. Reason: suspect outbreak on the Walrus, Silver can't go back on board, Flint doesn't want his map wandering around Nassau. Mood: funny, smutty, up to the writer.
S6
Israel Hands + character of your choice. Place: a ship, in a locked room Reason: misbehavior? crew shenanigans? Mood: writers choice.
S7
Utley pisses off a superior officer and gets locked in with Flint. Place: the cell in the fort. Mood: ust, smut!
S8
John Silver and the companion of yr choice. Place: an island. Reason: marooned by a pissed off crew. Mood: up to the writer (not too tragic?)
S9
Flint is stuck on shore and runs into someone he knew (and liked) in his old life. Place: a terrible tavern or a room above. Reason: too stormy to return to ship. Mood: friendly to smutty? I just want Flint have a little bit of happiness.
S10
Miranda comes to meet Flint but gets stuck at the brothel as things get dangerous on the streets. Reason: some kind of unrest, riots. Mood: fluff or smut or anything as long as Miranda is not miserable.
S11
Modern au first meeting Silver & Miranda. Place: Elevator. Reason: breakdown. Mood: up to the writer.
S12
Muldoon is sick and no one knows what with. Silver is worried and Flint extends a rare offering of comfort.
S13
It's 1721. James and Thomas are still incarcerated at the plantation but at least they live together in a separate little cabin. With smallpox spreading from Boston to the rest of the colonies, Oglethorpe shuts down work for a few days and has everyone shelter in place.
S14
Silver showed up on Flint and Thomas' doorstep and the reunion isn't going well. Just when Silver is about to leave in a huff, they get stuck indoors (b/c weather, plague, authorities looking for Silver, etc) and Thomas is stuck with Flint and Silver's angry/awkward UST. He knows the only way to resolve this is in bed, and starts dropping less-than-subtle hints. 👉🏻👌🏻 Mood: funny, smutty.
S15
A scientific research station in space (Solaris AU but with a happy ending!). Flint is sent to investigate a space station after receiving some weird reports. Silver is one the few remaining members of the crew. An incident make them unable to leave without some major repairs. Angsty, slow burn, where Flint slowly accepts to move on after the death of Miranda&Thomas.
If you're not familiar with Solaris (book or movie) check wikipedia but: the space station is doing research on a mysterious planet covered with an ocean; but that ocean gives the crew some strange "side effects". Their secrets/fears/guilt take a material (often human) form. Flint sees Miranda (or Thomas, or both, as you prefer) for example. As Flint learns to deal with the loss of his loved ones he grows closer to one member of the crew, Silver.* Their bond help them break from the planet's melancholic influence, give them motivation to repair the station and finally leave together. *That could be a great opportunity to write about Silver's (probably very dark according to the BS writers) past!
S16
Silver / Flint - modern era, fake dating for some reason, now they're stuck together for a long time. Place: Somewhere travel related like a hotel room. Reason: quarantine like we're in now. Mood: angsty, UST.
S17
Flint's cabin on the Walrus. Silver is recovering from the leg amputation and discovers Flint has locked him in the cabin. Mood: angsty, angry, fluff if you want?
S18
Flint and Silver captured by the Spanish and Flint learns the truth about Silver’s past. Place: The plantation. Reason: Took control but hit some problems. Mood: Hurt/comfort or angst with happy ending.
S19
Silver & Flint reunion fic – they are stuck together in the room because of the snow and there is only 1 bed. Place: an inn. Mood: UST
S20
horror movie au (not really scary) silver & flint spend the night at a scary cabin after reading one too many ghost stories. Reason: someone locked the keys in the car and there's no signal. Mood: cracky.
S21
Silver and Flint in a magical au get stuck together by either a spell gone wrong or a curse and they find this frustrating in every possible way but have to get on the same page to reverse it.
S22
Flint and Silver are neighbours, but haven't spoken before. They both have gardens and can see each other through gaps in the fence. During the lockdown (because of a disease), Silver and Flint become aware of each other in close proximity but separated by the garden fence. So begins an odd flirtation involving sunbathing and topless gardening and water fights. Mood: Sexual tension. Flirting. Maybe voyeurism?
S23
Place: a house with large backyard (probably farmhouse?) Reason: Snowstorm for a week. Snowstorms happened and they had blackout in the house. Silver doesn't like darkness and he keep clinging to Flint. Flint doesn't like Silver's but he had to because Flint doesn't remember their house (floor plan, I mean) and ended up spending their time in other bedroom. Mood: sexual tension, confession, first kiss and first time.
S24
Silver and Flint bicker about emergency prep and then make up. Place: modern apartment. Reason: some disaster.
S25
Silver is talking to Flint, Flint is avoiding De Groot and so Silver finds himself manhandled into a very small compartment he'd never noticed on the Walrus. Mood: silly, ust
Hello, is the BS Confinement Challenge still happening? I just fell for this show hard but I'm not sure how active the fandom still is.
Hello!
We haven’t had entries for the Confinement Challenge for some time, but you’re absolutely welcome to choose a prompt and sign up!
(anyone else interested in the challenge - there’s a link to it in the top menu on my blog)
The fandom is really quite active considering the show ended 4 years ago - none of us want to let it go, and lots of people are still reading and writing fic and producing graphics and lots of discussion and meta! Welcome to the fandom!
This is where you can submit prompts to inspire writers for the Black Sails Confinement Challenge. All prompts have to be about being confined and can be for the show's original setting or an AU. You can submit two types of prompts: general and detailed - you'll find more information in the poll description. Anyone can submit prompts, including prospective writers. You can submit as many prompts as you like until the end date, Sunday April 12 at 12pm GMT.
I did a thing!
Prompt collection has started, so submit to your heart’s desire until the end of the week! If you have questions/find things unclear, don’t hesitate to pm me or leave me an ask.
I’ll be using the tag “#bs confinement challenge” for all answers and news about this event.
This is where authors can claim prompts for the Black Sails Confinement Challenge. Please click for more info and a link to our awesome prompts!
We have 7 writers signed up, which is great! But there are still 25 general (depending on your ship of choice) and 23 specific prompts up for grabs!
If you’ve been thinking about signing up, this is your reminder to do it!
And if you’re not up to it today, please remember that claims are open indefinitely and latecomers are absolutely welcome!
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Just in time for our first fic, I set up the AO3 collections page for the Black Sails Confinement challenge. Keep your eyes peeled as writers progress!
You can still sign up at any time! All the details are on the collections page, so if you’re looking to write some fic, choose a prompt and have fun!
