Miranda Was Always What Flint Needed, And To Her Last Moments, She Remained Exactly That. Flint Needed

10 YEARS OF BLACK SAILS (2014–2017) – Created by Jonathan E. Steinberg & Robert Levine

Lately I found myself thinking about James/Miranda relationship as a reversed version of Orpheus and Eurydice’s story, especially towards the end of it. Not because these two stories match well (they do not) but just because I like making this kind of classical comparisons and I'm stuck from a bit on the fact that, right before her death, for the first time Miranda was the one to refuse the progress to look back at the past. 

After the loss of Thomas, James let himself slip into a darkness comparable to the underworld, a darkness which so often threatened to swallow him whole. He walked on a thin line between a reign of death and an island of life, and if that darkness was that reign, Miranda was his island. 

During their whole journey of processing their grief and climbing their way back to a life that could be called such, she was the one always trying to drag him towards the light. To her, the life that might have been waiting for them in the future was that light, while the past was the darkness, and not because she deemed it forgettable or unimportant, quite the contrary indeed, but because while she knew how to keep and remember the beauty of that past and the light of it, along with the sorrow, she knew perfectly well how different it was for James. How he could remember the beauty of it, of course, but also knew how to put it aside in favor of the rage and the guilt, his gaze clouded by the pain and the unacceptable shame. 

She said it herself: she didn't want to forget that past, not the bright side of it and neither the inescapable sadness of it, its tragedy being the spring of that very beauty, the ruins existing only because there was something precious to be ruined in the first place; and at the same time, what could the dark of it matter, the injustice, the grudge, when it condemned the both of them to never be able to see the light again? 

First time I heard their discussion in ep.VII after knowing the whole story, I wondered how could she ask something like that of him, to forget and pass over what they had done to him just to gain a liveable life, but recently I've actually been wondering : how could she not?

I'm not taking any side in this, as I recognize Miranda's thoughts to be the most reasonable ones as they often are but at the same time I can't say I wouldn't act as stubbornly and desperately as James did in that situation, they're just really different ways to conceive one’s own existence, influenced by their own problems and conditions and mind. All I'm saying is that Miranda was able to see the light even if just from a distance, she was able to hope that one day they would have been able to truly see it. James was never. 

He just lied to himself about the possibility of it. He had plans and tactics and strategies, but for how I see it, those were all desperate attempts to convince himself of the contrary. He couldn't, maybe because of his personality, maybe because he knew that his situation wasn't one that could ever allow him to found real light in that world, maybe just because he loved her less than how much he had loved Thomas, less than how much she loved him, but whichever was the reason, he couldn't afford to see the light after that abyss, and I think Miranda was the first to know that. The one who knew him like no other, the one who loved him like no other. She knew that without help he would have never really been able to reach the end of that dark state of being. And she tried. She tried to help him in so many ways, because she loved him, she really did, and because she had the damn right to claim at least a decent life for herself. 

And here we come to the end, to Charles town.

Charles town could have been her success. Charles town was James’ surrender. For the first time she glimpsed one real chance of having him back, she saw in him the real intention to leave all of that darkness behind, to follow her, not leaving the past behind, never, but learning to move forward, finally allowing her a chance for a new life together. 

He was actually ready to accept even that miserable condition Peter Ashe imposed on him in order to get rid of the darkness, to climb to the light -as short lived as that might have been, at this point- to give Miranda a better alternative than the ones he had been able to grant her up until that moment (as I think his whole Charles town plan was led by the purpose of doing something to save her): as useless as we all know that would have been, accepting that bargain has probably been the most selfless thing James has ever done, even if he did it also for himself in a tired, desperate and contorted way. 

But Charles town wasn't only this to Miranda. 

Charles town was the discovery of the betrayal, because I believe she understood it all the moment she first saw that clock, I'm sure of it. Charles town was her umptheen attempt and her umptheen sacrifice. 

I think that must have been to her a similar quest to the Maria Aleyne's one: respecting James by telling him the truth, something he deserves to know, even knowing how he will react to it, knowing how impossible it would become for him, then, to go on with his plan, granting him a one way ticket to that darkness, or keeping him in the dark, bearing alone the weight of that knowledge, accepting to live with the helplessness to remedy that fatal injustice, only in the hope to finally make him reach that light?  

Would Orpheus reveal Eurydike a truth which risked pushing her back into the underworld just because it might be right for her to know it?

Still, things had been different, more desperate, back to the Maria Aleyne. Now the chance to succeed was real. 

And at first she made that difficult choice, which was selfish in a way, but definitely selfless in another, all at the same time.

And she did it because she loved him. 

She loved him so much that when she glimpsed, in that light, the prospect of losing him, she had to recognize that that light was -as James would have put it in the future- only their light, the light of a world the two of them couldn’t be part of anymore. 

She loved him so much that she had to look back. To the past, to him, because her James was still behind her, still in the dark, the only place where he was allowed to stay, and only that version of him was the one she truly loved. She loved the real James, with all his broken parts, not the one that could be seen under the lights of their lies. 

So she couldn't help giving up that false light, because she had wished for tranquility, a normal life -as probably anyone in her conditions would have done- but she was not disposed to give up the man she loved in order to gain that, as she hadn't been in the past, when the prospect of the future had been only dark and still she had not deserted the ones she loved. 

And when she turned back, this time trying to shield him from that light, the darkness at the pit ended up swallowing them both. 

Miranda died, and James was dragged back full force and imprisoned into the worst version of himself, the ruthless, autodestructive one. 

There are two versions of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, and I think that the two of them taken together perfectly represent James’ reaction to her death and its circumstances.

In Virgilius’ one, Eurydice slightly resents Orpheus for his action, for his “folly” -as it is called- and (if we may call it that) for his selfish gesture of looking back, that she paid with her second chance to be alive. 

After Miranda's death, James dreams of her reminding him how he had resented her “because they were so close” and of course since that's a dream is what he knew he had felt. But that was…collateral to the condition he had been left stuck in. That was the childish resentment of having explicitly denied something he knew deep down he couldn't have. 

In Ovidius’ one instead Eurydice doesn't blame him because she can't resent being loved, and I think this is what James really felt. After all, looking straight at the truth of the situation and looking back at their shared history, I think there were no ways for him to actually, rationally resent her. (And in fact in his last dream about her she uses a past tense, “you resented me”, hinting that was something he had felt only in the moments when he was at his worst as when, always in the dream, he heard her apology).

Moreover, I think he perfectly understood the meaning of those last moments of hers, how important it was to her to make her voice be heard in that moment. In fact, despite the clear and growing doubt and rage (and worry) on his face while Peter and Miranda spoke, he didn't say a word, he let her speak, despite knowing the risks  and I think this is amazing and just proves how beautiful and respectful their relationship was, and that there were no way he could actually deem her responsible of their failure in that mission (doomed to failure since the beginning ‘cause of the truth).

What hurts even more about her death is the fact that it looks like they got closer to each other once again during that trip, as they hadn't probably been in years, and then…everything got lost forever.

His smile😭😭 it was never again so bright.

I love them so much, we had finally got them so close in this scene and then...

Black Sails | XVI.

Someone please tell me how this scene was not meant to be what it looks like.

After all these years I still can't get it.

SWAN QUEEN AT ENCHANTED 2018

Just to clear up the controversy. (PLEASE SHARE!)

I was the one who asked Lana the SwanQueen question at the Enchanted Con. I want to take this time to apologise for the confusion I’ve caused. This was my first Con and I was very over-excited and nervous all at once. I was the last scheduled question before the Q&A closed and I wanted to take the opportunity to ask Lana a, unique, question but I didn’t anticipate how crazy the fallout was going to be. Here is the transcript of my question:

“In season 7, as a result of the season 7 curse, it was revealed that the story travelled back in time and the events of Hyperions Heights ran parallel with an older time of Storybrooke. Wherein there exists another Regina and another Emma in addition to the original Storybrooke timeline. With the laws of time, including the ripple effect, do you care to give your opinion on whether you believe that in this alternate Storybrooke - SwanQueen exists?”

Watching Season 7, I perceived the time-jump as a creation of a second, alternate, Storybrooke that ran parallel with the original timeline as well as the Wish Realm and Hyperion Heights. So, I saw at least 4 active universes, in Once, running at the same time. I was curious to know if, like me, Lana believed that SQ existed, or could exist, in this older, alternate, version of Storybrooke.

Despite the confusion, my question received a positive reaction from the audience. Shout out to my fellow SQ shippers! Lana answered by saying that she believed that Regina was single, living with Henry in the mansion. She even joked about Granny possibly living there to which Bex bantered back about a ship with Granny! 😂 Lana continued saying that, from her perspective, she couldn’t answer honestly and that my question was more suited for Adam & Eddy. Bex, bless her, added that SwanQueen COULD exist in a parallel universe! THANK YOU BEX! 💚

Later, when receiving my autograph from Lana, I apologised to her personally for the confusion. She very graciously said that she wasn’t at all confused and elaborated by telling me that the events of the time-jump Storybrooke take place after Season 6 and that Hook and Emma were already married. I told her, “We can dream.” to which she agreed, “We can.” ❤️ I told her she was an angel and that I loved her very much. I blew her a kiss and she responded with her trademark MWAH! 💋 THANK YOU LANA! 💜👑

So, to everyone responding controversially to this whole situation, please remember that Lana has always openly supported all the ships and the LGBTQ community! As do I! Please be kind to everyone in the fandom and remember to love and love each other.

Once again, I apologise for any trouble I’ve caused in the fandom, to my fellow Swan Queen shippers, or to Lana!

THANK YOU ALL AND SEE YOU AT ENCHANTED 2!

/Naomi

SCREAM THAT!

I still can’t get over the fact that Aubrey Plaza got Kathryn Hahn pregnant on a Disney Plus show. This year has been wild.

Flint and Anne deserved more time on screen together. They are pretty incompatible I fear, but nonetheless...two great warriors!

Pride of the lgbtq+ community😍

What I said here is still true because that's really their only conversation (Anne doesn't talk here, only Jack and Flint) but I can't believe I never noticed Flint's look in her direction when Jack says that, it flew over my head every time I've rewatched this show ???????? And it's been a few ??????????

He HAS TO know Jack is talking about Max, he is enumerating every loss they have suffered because of the cash: for Jack, it's Vane; for Flint, it's Gates... and for Anne, it's Max. Flint has to know about the close relationship between Max, Anne and Jack but I think he is now realizing how close the women truly are.

I'm reading this just now. I can't come back to that place. I'm over it. I was over it. Like...I'll never stop being a Swen, but I was resigned, somehow. Guess I'm digging up too many memories lately, which is not good for my sanity. But then I read analysis like this one, very beautiful and complete and explicative, and I just remember why I'll never really be over them or out of that place.

To tell it in modern terms: SwanQueen is my scar 😢

THE SWANQUEEN HUG

I completely understand why your upset Swen about this hug. Sur it was about the engagement, but it actually show us the dynamic between Emma and Regina. We know they are friends now…friends do hug.

Nevertheless, I agree that the scene was off. Entirely. First of all, Emma seems more embarrass than anything when her mother looks at her ring, and even more when Henry asks her how Hook proposed. We all know he didn’t really do it, Emma pushed him to. She could have said she found the ring and then explain how it turn out, but she chooses to tell:

“I kind of say yes before he had a chance to.”

While saying it, she forced a smile. Note that this conversation happen with Henry and more importantly Snow, the woman who represents the fairytale world and so the Savior’s title given to the blonde. The conversation feels rush, tense, like Emma doesn’t want to talk about it. Bravo for Henry ironic tone, by the way! Snow doesn’t even notice her daughter’s behavior, and the first thing she wants to do is planning the wedding. My bet, she would want for Emma to have the same kind of wedding they done in the Enchanted Forest. A fairy tale wedding. Instead of being happy, the blonde cuts her and tell her mother, the wedding had to wait.

“We’re going to wait a little while before we start planning…”

Did you notice the chill in Emma’s voice… She doesn’t want her mother to freak out at this news, but she seems more in touch with herself than before while saying they want to wait to get married. Saying yes is one thing. Marrying the man is another.

“OH why?”

Ok it’s because of the Gideon thing, but did you see Emma deflecting eyes? BOUM, downcast, like she was sad to disappoint her mother and then she brings Gideon justifying the delay.

After, we have Zelena and Regina entering the loft. Zelena is the one noticing the ring. Why that? When they enter the loft, we can see Emma going to place her hand in her jean’s pocket, as she doesn’t want other to know. Except that when you’re engaged to the person you love, you want the world to know. Emma’s hiding it to Regina. Zelena sees the ring and in a wicket smile exposes Emma to Regina.

“Is that an engagement ring?!”

Stop the video when Zelena pulls Emma’s ring to her eyes. Focus on Regina who is literally shocked to hear and see the news. The blonde is awkward in this moment and sad. She doesn’t even know how to respond. Emma’s attitude is worst than with Snow.  Zelena doesn’t say anything, not even congratulation. Nothing. Then we have this shot of Regina; open mouth, eyes cloud with tears. That’s not joy, that’s saddest.

“Hook proposed.”

Why saying this now instead of the conversation whit her mother?! The smile she gives is hypocrite, forced and a façade. So now Hook proposed. I thought she kind of say yes before he had a chance to… Way to go Emma. She chooses to say Hook proposed when Regina learns of the engagement. Really?!

“Oh… Emma…”

It sounds reprimanded no? Like she was going to add to this: “I thought I told you you’re too good for him…” Emma’s face after…Is she daring Regina to say something?! Chin held high, smugness. She is clearly daring her to say Something… and when the brunette says:

“I’m happy for you. I really am.”

It sounds like a goodbye. Regina is letting go. “Really” shows us Regina tries to convince herself. The hug was a way to feel each other close, one last time before letting go. Exactly as the conversation topic changes just after that. Remark Emma’s face in the hug. She is disappointed in the brunette, and sad that Regina didn’t say a word.

“That’s means a lot.”

Of course it does. For Emma, it means, Regina would not fight. But in reality, it means, the brunette cares so much about her that she rather watching the blonde marries a pirate than letting her know she has feeling for her. It means actions speaks louder than words. It means Regina is in love with Emma and chooses to sacrifice her happy ending in order for the blonde to have one. It means. Regina is Emma’s True Love.

you didn’t think i was gonna miss this, did you?