Rhea

1. It is a four season story arc that ended when the writers thought it should end, and didn't get dragged out or cut off though season 4 should have been longer.

2. It sticks to its fucking themes all the way through so that when it circles back to them in finale it feels like a concluding paragraph and not a last minute grab for meaning.

3. The character arcs are beautifully consistent and all the main characters get a complete story, regardless of where that story ends. They're also informed but not exclusively characterized by their demographics in a way I appreciate-- no one is there to be The Gay or The Black Guy or The Woman, and no one "just happens to be X": their experiences of being gay and/or Black and/or women impact how they see and interact with the world in ways that are unique to each character's personal experiences.

4. The women have varied and complex relationships with each other as friends and lovers and rivals and mentors (supportive) and mentors (derogatory) and enemies and allies, and those relationships are key to huge swaths of the plot. Even the character archetypes that are traditionally Smurfetted (the #girlboss, the One Of The Guys) are just. Surrounded by other women. It's great. Especially since Treasure Island has no women on purpose.

Treasure Island is itself a pretty dark tale. The content is not actually all that different in terms of it vs Black Sails, but where Treasure Island hedges around some things in order to preserve its narrative tone as an adventure story (and due to its POV character having been a child when the narrative events unfolded), Black Sails delves into the social dynamics and brutality head-on.

It's a prequel with a lot of liberty to recount events, since Treasure Island only barely touches upon the subject of Silver's past. So nothing much of Treasure Island itself is shifted around to try and create a more "adult" story.

like. imagine you are james flint. you have a horrible secret tragic backstory you won't tell anyone about how you became the fearsome and capable pirate captain you are today. that tragic backstory involves being the bisexual unicorn for a rich couple's poly triad dreams in 1700s england. you confide in someone outside of this dynamic for the first time after everything happened about what happened because they asked to know. you bare your soul uncharacteristically about being bisexual, polyamorous, and griefstricken. nobody else but one person in your life has seen this of you. the person you confide this to is someone that genuinely worried about you killing them in front of your entire crew like, literally 10 days ago, for confessing to betraying you abt smth that took months of efforts and dozens of death to try to achieve. this person, who is the most kindly understanding and softspoken person on your ship of ragtag hardened pirates, looks you in the eyes by the soft lighting of the campfire under cover of nightfall after burying literal and now metaphorical secrets, and says, in order, to your FACE, that 1) firstly he is a hashtag gay ally (in the 1700s) and so sorry for your loss but 2) he's been thinking lately it's kind of weird everybody around flint dies and he doesn't want to be next bc everybody flint trusts is a dead man walking bc 3) hey flint have you ever considered maybe it's your fault this happened and that you are doomed bc of just who you are as a person? and 4) but it's okay actually bc if it came down to it i think i've grown as a person enough that if anyone dies in this partnership it will be you 😤

like. to his face. i repeat, to the face of the most feared pirate this side of the americas, who has considered killing him within the past month or two, who opened up to silver in the most baring way possible for a regular man, much less a man like flint--to his FACE silver said that "maybe the homophobia you experienced that ruined your entire life was actually your fault for existing and everybody you love is doomed to die because being around you is a curse :/" in the most GENTLY understanding tone of voice while staring deeply into his eyes and professing genuine care and friendship and respect for him.

i'd lose my mind. i'd implode. no fucking wonder flint takes a preparatory, longsuffering swig of liquor with the most exasperated expression i've ever seen on a 40+yo man's face the literal second silver's mouth is open for longer than 2 sentences. silver is SO goddamn lucky this man stopped seeing him as an enemy 6 weeks ago and instead switched to begrudgingly ominous mentor and weird older brother.

Lxc: nonprofit ed who got promoted way too young with no management experience who is excellent at executing the mission and whose heart is in the right place but bless his heart you would not put him in charge of a pet rock because the pet rock would die. Gets away with an incredible amount of dysfunction because he's really nice. The person in charge of operations is g-d's strongest soldier and whatever they are getting paid it's not enough.

Nmj: ex military blue collar union guy. Thinks he's very fair and moral and thinks he runs a tight ship because he whips out drill sergeant stuff when people aren't acting right, meanwhile the amount of hazing going on would shame a british prep school. Confuses "yelling at staff" for "addressing the problem." If you're bringing problems with your coworkers to him then you're the one at fault. Man up and work harder. Does inspire big loyalty though.

Jiang Fengmian: checked out head of a family business who swears *he's * not the one bringing his family problems to work, it's his family doing that (he is absolutely doing that). Always says he's going to give people bonuses and always forgets. Actively jeopardizing the business with the family shit he refuses to deal with. Lets his kids and wife terrorize staff and then at most is like "now now, see this is why I can't finalize a succession plan."

Jin Guangshan: do I even need to say it.

Wen Ruohan: fully insane and delusional tech ceo who genuinely believes that like. If they don't build a superintelligence on the moon then the libs will win. Basically peter Thiel.

Wei Wuxian: startup nutcase. Sends you 10 emails for immediate reply at 3am. Misses your scheduled check in because he just HAD to try his new idea Right Now. Ethics and testing are for people who won't be remembered by history. Eats your lunch out of the fridge even when you lable it.

Jiang Cheng: he's on 30 under 30, his org is tight, they are famous for getting things done and done well, but nobody who works there smiles and its because boss man has never said a single nice thing about anyone's work and is always pissed off. Regularly makes staff cry by just saying mean shit. Sadly, he does not mean any of it and doesn't understand why turnover is so high. He does pay really well and the perks are great but is that enough to make up for him taking everything personally and making everything personal?

and exomis:

Since we are here might as well share the dhoti and the lungi

https://www.wikihow.com/Wear-a-Lungi

https://www.wikihow.com/Wear-a-Pancha-Kachcham?amp=1

It’s only men in the photos but really anyone can wear them. I am wearing a lungi right now.

Bhupen Khakar