Moonie's Ramblings

[Prof. Moonie]

PULSINGVOID:
me: where does blackbeard sleep? why does he only have 3 men around? where's the rest of his crew? where did his ship go? i get that he prefers stede's cozy ship but shouldn't it at least be hovering around nearby since it's clearly superior when it comes to battle?

the show: strong questions! love that. but did you notice when they get arrested that not only blackbeard's boot nudges stede but stede lifts his own heel over ed's boot? in reciprocation?

me as my analytical brain dies a quick death: :'O

So... actually... there's more of Blackbeard's crew around. If you pay attention to the background of certain scenes (such as the attacking-a-ship-like-a-pirate lesson and the "Art of ********" display done by Blackbeard), you will spot more of his crew doing stuff. Now whether they are staying aboard the Revenge like Ed, Izzy, Fang, and Ivan are or back on the unseen Queen Anne's Revenge, it's hard to tell since we never see them during the non-action moments. I think we just see Fang and Ivan more because they have higher ranking than the nameless individuals.

That aside... it should be understood that when a pirate captain had multiple ships in their fleet, they would often assign someone to be Acting Captain in their stead, either while they are away from their main ship or to command a new addition to the collection. Ed even stated "I don't even have to be aboard" when he is talking about how people react to his Blackbeard persona. So... it's possible Ed assigned someone to be a stand-in to continue sailing the Queen Anne and do "Blackbeard" stuff while he personally is taking care of the Revenge. After all, the original plan was Blackbeard killing Stede Bonnet and taking the Revenge for his own... but then Ed fell in love and that plan was tossed overboard.

As for where Blackbeard (and the others) sleep. I'm assuming they go into any of the unclaimed cabins on the ship. Most of the time we see the Revenge crew sleeping on deck but the few times we do see them sleep below decks, they're usually sleeping in pairs (Olu & Jim and later Frenchie and Wee John) or wherever they find a comfortable spot (i.e. Wee John napping in the storage room). The other time we see sleeping arrangements is towards the end where Kraken!Ed awakens Izzy; Izzy appears to be in a small room. I have a feeling Fang and Ivan would be chill sharing a room.

Now Stede had been building the ship originally for his family to go out to sea on. Obviously the captain's cabin was built big enough for Stede and Mary to share as a couple. Then we can assume he would've made two nice cabin arrangements for his two children. Where these are, it's hard to say. I don't think Olu/Jim's room or Izzy's room would've been these; they're a bit too small for luxurious comfort. So... either we haven't seen the children's rooms... or Stede ended up having them become any of the re-purposed locations.

 

[Prof. Moonie]

 

[Prof. Moonie]

 

[Prof. Moonie]

I've seen a lot of people comment about traveling in OFMD as well and how it appears they travel instantly from place to place. I just had to look into how far one could travel in a ship from the known places mentioned.

So... it's over 800 miles from St. Augustine, Florida to Tortuga, Haiti. A sloop (like the Revenge) can travel up to 115 miles per day, if the wind is good. Thus it would take about 6-7 days to travel between those points.

Now let's consider the events that have taken place in OFMD during these two points. Stede had an unsuccessful attempt of selling his English soldier captive while at Tortuga but Geraldo (barkeep husband of Spanish Jackie) states he has a side business and knows a "client" who would be interested; this client turns out to be the Spanish. While the Spanish controlled most of the Americas (especially Florida) and the Caribbean area, they didn't own Tortuga (that was given up a few years before the 1700s). So, seeing the Spanish in these waters wouldn't be all the unusual. When Geraldo takes him to the Spanish, it's day time; after being attacked and Blackbeard comes to the rescue, it appears its now night time (or appears that way for aesthetic reasons). Obviously it wouldn't be smart to stay in place after being attacked by the Spanish, so they would've been sailing while Stede recovers. Where they would go, I can't say for sure. But historically, Blackbeard was quite fond of the Carolinas area... so... let's just assume they're going that direction. We can assume a few days have passed based on the various illusions/dreams we're shown. Once Stede recovers and the exchange of clothing, we learn that there's a few Spanish ships chasing them down which sparks the Lighthouse scene. Now assuming these Spanish seafarers actually know what they are doing, we have to assume the ships are close enough (relatively speaking) to land to adequately convince them there's now a lighthouse before them. Another couple days pass as they do their sword practice (night time) and evening with aristocracy (full day occasion). So, by the time, we learn Swede might have scurvy and they're out of oranges, they're really only a couple days away from landing at St. Augustine for their orange hunt... and Ed and Stede's treasure hunting outing.

Next up is considering how long it truly would've taken for Izzy to row from the Revenge to Tortuga. Looking at the chain of events, Ed and Stede have just returned from their day/evening with aristocracy and essentially setting the ship on fire. So, again, they obviously will want to escape from the scene after that fiasco. Based on the previous discussion, they should be at the half way mark between Tortuga and St. Augustine. The Revenge crew puts on their "Art of F*ckery" performance for the Dutch and Izzy is "banished" from the ship after losing the duel with Stede when his sword is rendered useless. Now rowing that far of a distance (about 400 miles) back to Tortuga would take an extremely long time. But who is to say he rowed that entire way? Maybe he hitched a ride from someone who was traveling to Tortuga? After all, Izzy looks pretty well put together when he arrives at Spanish Jackie's place. He doesn't appear tired or out of sorts from being out in the elements for days on end. And Calico Jack appearing in a row boat? Again we can't assume he travelled all the way from Tortuga by row boat. He was sent as bait for Blackbeard by Izzy who struck a deal with the English. Perhaps the English gave a ride part of the way to get everything into place. Sure, they made an arrangement with Izzy, so he might have a pardon for his piracy... but Jack - he's a pirate captain. I doubt the English would let a pirate captain out of their sights without the fear of losing such a well-known figure. After all, what is more exciting than not only capturing one famous pirate (Blackbeard) but two?

 

[Prof. Moonie]

I know I'm putting way too much thought into all of this... but it's really quite fascinating to consider the amount of time we see pass and how that would equate to distance travelled. Plus getting more familiar with that particular area of the map and where everything is in relation to each other... and to see the history of which country owned what part of America at the time.

 

[Prof. Moonie]

Definitely learning a lot about historical events through all of this pirate focused content though. xd

https://captain-flint.tumblr.com/page/276

 

[Prof. Moonie]

Who would've thought I would be so fascinated with history?

And another part of me is like "Why couldn't I have known about this piece of info back then when I was doing such-and-such project?" Like my whole "connecting the dots" of my ancestor's wife potentially having a family connection with Blackbeard's wife. It would've given me so much more material to work with and possibly pull textual content from our assigned reading to pair up with. *sighs* Oh well.

 

[Prof. Moonie]

Half hour left until I get off work.

 

[Prof. Moonie]

La di da...

 

[Prof. Moonie]

 

[Prof. Moonie]

*flails at a realization*

Sorry. I was just thinking about the meaning of Mary Anne again and how it would connect with my idea of a OFMD version of her.

So, obviously I mentioned Mary Anne means "Star of the Sea". Now in the nautical universe, when you did have compasses or other fancy equipment to help determine your whereabouts, sailors would rely on the stars to guide them. Specifically the North Star.

Now in my mind I've been imaging my OFMD!version of Mary Anne showing up on the scene after Ed becomes the "Kraken" persona and envision her being the one to help bring Ed back to his true self. And she also helps reunite Stede with his crew and eventually bring Stede and Ed back together. I didn't even realize that I was making her literally be the "star" to guide every one back "home."

Love how everything is coming together! biggrin

 

[Prof. Moonie]

 

[Prof. Moonie]

OURFLAGMEANSGAYYYY:
Never in a million years had I thought that my mental health would rely so much on whether or not a middle-aged actor would post another video of him being an absolute dork while he's traveling across New Zealand with his kids.

And then with Season 2 of "Dads On Tour" is traveling through England and France. Like... I'm traveling around the world and learning of places to go check out that's outside of the usual touristy places because of him. Especially with the New Zealand stuff. Like I knew there was Hobbiton over there but all of that other stuff. Amazing!

Side note: It feels weird not having an adequate conclusion to this second season. Like... is it still technically going on? Or was that it?

Taika! I want more Instagram stories from you of your adventures.

 

[Prof. Moonie]

 

[Prof. Moonie]

BLACKBONNETBLOG:
Don’t mind me. Just sitting here imagining Mary’s next show. Stede’s death is still on everyone’s minds and his old friends are talking quietly about him again. Mary mostly ignores it, until something catches her attention. “He did have an exciting life though, didn’t he? You know he even sailed for a while with Blackbeard. That’s right. Edward Teach himself.” Mary spits out her tea. Ed?!?!?!

Haha! Okay, that actually would be quite hilarious to see.