The Long Incoherent Thank-You Post For @CaptainSigge

This is shamefully overdue, but - I HAVE to post a little thank you for the lovely @captainsigge online, because she sent me the BEST parcel ever. A while ago I was clearing out my dress-up wardrobe, and she very kindly accepted a couple of things from me as I made room for more.

She then proceeded to BLOW my little mind with the amazing array of goodies she sent!

PLUSHY LESARO, my friends. She sent me the legendary PLUSHY Lieutenant Lesaro that she spent so much time and effort on! The UNIFORM detail! the stunningly embroidered eye! the gorgeous fluffy hair!!

(my face on receiving this magical parcel of wonder)

And NOT only that, guys - she sent me not 1, but 2 beautiful, carefully rendered resin-cast replicas! One of them is a gorgeous, meticulously painted screen-accurate one - and it even has this lovely little hidden painting of a starry constellation, hidden in the lid.

The other one is... amazing. So much so I think my sister will probably steal it for her Redd the Pirate cosplay! It's this lovely shimmering clear resin filled with soft pink flowers and golden glitter, and its the the most beautiful thing you could ever desire to keep your magical compass in, EVER.

And a beautifully sewn 18th century pocket you can see above (NICER THAN MINE, DUDE! I'm going to have to up my sewing standards!) AND a lovely matching resin cast jewellery set (probably ALSO going to be stolen by my sister)

AND so many Finnish goodies (not pictured, because they had mostly er, evaporated by this time. we are not known for our self-restraint when it comes to delicious snacks in my house)

So because I am a nerd who happened to have a lot of vaguely 18th century doll furniture lying around, you get some daft pictures of Plushy Lesaro getting some much needed R&R:

After the long journey across the seas, what better way for el Teniente to relax than with some tea and cake?

Once rested, Lesaro happily re-unites with his uncursed Capitan once more - although Salazar appears to have shrunk in the wash, somewhat...

And he then finishes the day by getting to sleep in a glorious 18th century four poster bed courtesy of American Girl's Felicity...

Thank you SO much, @captainsigge! I am so lucky to count you as a friend!

In which judgement is made upon more than one person aboard La Maria; and Theresa begins to ask the right questions...

Posted HORRENDOUSLY late for the monthly deadline - but I’m still going to blame February for not giving me my usual 30-31 days. 

In which La Maria Silenciosa makes her feelings known on the subject of mutiny...

(Narrowly hitting my monthly update deadline here folks, but here it is!)

In which Lesaro and Salazar differ over the embajadora’s future, the memory-flood takes a disturbing turn - and Theresa encounters spectral mutiny...

In which the Lieutenant is uneasy, and it is made clear that the embajadora's voyage will not be an easy one...

Writing Progress - La Viuda Marina

Chapter 15 is coming along, everyone - just adding the final touches, and we should have actual posting (I know, right? how long has it been?!)  for Sunday night! 

It’s FINALLY here, people! Apologies for the extra week’s delay!

Chapter 10 - In which oaths are sworn, Theresa is briefly amused, and Maria Silenciosa's Capitan takes an unheard-of measure in order to learn more of his guest...

TFW you have 700 words to go to finish the chapter you’ve been procrastinating on, and a character butts in with an unexpected scene... so you don’t even get to the big plot twist you were planning on including at the end...

Chapter 8, as promised! In which we meet more of the Maria Silenciosa officers, Lesaro addresses Salazar’s intentions, and Theresa has another mysterious dream...

In which Theresa makes further acquaintance with the crew of La Maria Silenciosa...

Chapter 6 is now complete! In which Theresa’s  ,er, unique situation does not noticeably improve. Sometimes knowing all the facts is worse - much worse.

Headfirst into Dead Men Tell No Tales Headcanon:  Blaz de Lezo, Real Life Badass

Well, I’ve now got a huge Word document full of real-life ideas and inspiration for the fic that’s now lurking in the forbidden depths of my hard drive, so I figured I might as well share it! Many thanks to @tockamybeloved​ and @intricatecaprice​ for the support and encouragement for the random posts I keep bombarding them with.

I’ve been looking at the sort of real-life figures everyone’s favorite Capitan Armando Salazar might have encountered as fellow colleagues, and my GOODNESS, there are some very interesting, fun figures there! This was initially going to be a “Top 5 Dashing Spanish Officers of History” post, but the hombre you’re about to meet really deserves a post to himself.

May I introduce everyone’s “favourite fighting Spanish Admiral” Blas de Lezo?

(Waxwork of Blas de Lezo from the Museo de Cera de Madrid and no, the attractive blonde admiral above isn’t winking saucily at you. Unfortunately)

Blas de Lezo, although he lived longer than the fictional Salazar’s first date of death, would have been almost a direct contemporary of Armando’s working from @intricatecaprice​‘s well researched historical timeline. He was born in 1689 in Pasajes (by then still part of San Sebastián), in the Basque Province of Guipúzcoa in Spain. At the tender age of 12 in 1701, he joined the Spany Navy as a midshipman, or guardiamarina.

 By the age of just 15, he had fought in the War of the Spanish Succession, had his left leg hit by cannon-shot, and later after the battle of Vélez-Málaga had to have it amputated below the knee.

But he kept fighting. He was promoted to ensign and then ship lieutenant - and he carried on. 

I’ll let Wikipedia tell the rest:

“Participating in the 1707 defence of the French naval base of Toulon cost him his left eye. In 1711 he served in the Spanish Navy under the orders of Andrés de Pez. In 1713 he was promoted to captain. In 1714 he lost use of his right arm in the Siege of Barcelona. Later in this campaign, his ship captured the Stanhope commanded by John Combes, sometimes claimed to be a 70-gun but actually just a 20-gun merchantman. Thus, by age 25 or 27, depending on the sources, de Lezo had lost his left eye, his left leg below the knee, and the use of his right arm.”

AND HE WAS STILL GOING STRONG. “Take a licking, keep on ticking” could practically be his motto. Blas, historically is, something of the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

But his men LOVED him for it:

“He perceived his wounds and physical limitations as medals, he refused to wear an eye patch to hide his blind eye. Wearing his past battles history on his flesh won the respect of his peers and soldiers. Modern sources often focus on these salient features and refer to Lezo with nicknames such as "Patapalo" (Pegleg) and "Mediohombre" (Half-man). There is no contemporary proof that these (or others) were actually used during Lezo's lifetime.

(Statue in Madrid of Blas de Lezo - looking rather... piratical)

“Real-Life” Blas de Lezo makes Armando Salazar look cautious, reserved, and downright sensible by comparison, because he just does one amazingly reckless awesome thing after another after this. Yes, “ridding the seas of ALL PIRATES EVER” is actually the slow thoughtful route.

De Lezo served in the Pacific captured French frigates in the Atlantic, and reportedly took many more foreign ships as prizes in the Pacific on his way over to the Spanish Main as second-in command to Juan Nicolás de Martinet. Granted, Martinet then claimed the prize money as his own and then went back to Spain, but the captures? All Lezo.

On returning from New Spain in 1730, de Lezo was then made second-in-command of the Mediterranean fleet. He takes this naval force to the Republic of Genoa, who owed Spain a debt of over 2 million pesos and held the sum there in the bank of San Jorge. He then STRAIGHT UP threatens to BOMBARD the town into oblivion unless the debt is paid - because he deemed “the honour of Spain” to be at stake.

The Genoans, unsurprisingly, promptly paid up.

Oh, and AFTER that? De Lezo just goes and casually decimates a corsair stronghold of Algerian pirates in Mostaganem Bay,a bastion defended by two forts and 4,000 Moors. As you do, when you’ve got a moment to spare.

(Don’t feel inadequate, Armando. You’re doing great. 

Fashion history note: check out the glorious blue and red velvet admiral uniform Blas is wearing below! The gorgeous monochrome uniforms the Spanish forces wear in On Strange Tides and DMTNT are brilliant, but not historically accurate. I have worked it into my personal headcanon as Spain’s “Elite Anti-Piracy Unit”, which is of course different to regular naval uniform) )

   And guys: I’ve not even got to the Battle of Carthagena de Indias yet! 

De Lezo is promoted to Lieutenant General of the Navy. He returned to South America with the ships Fuerte and Conquistador in 1737 as General Commander of the Spanish fleet. He decisively defeats a huge British invasion fleet off the coast of Colombia, securing Spanish territories in the Caribbean as well as mainland Spanish colonies. There’s far more amazing details on Wikipedia. Rightly, Blas de Lezo is a huge Spanish hero:

“The Battle of Carthagena de Indias consolidated his legacy as one of the most heroic figures in the history of Spain and he has thus been promoted as one of the greatest strategists in naval history. “

Headcanon:

And he’s a contemporary of Armando Salazar.This is what Armando has in the way of work colleagues in the Spanish Navy. That’s got to be an incredible motivation, whether Armando either hero-worships the man or is envious of him. Personally, I do rather favour a sullenly admiring but envious Armando Salazar. He and his men died in 1724 - at that point, de Lezo is still up-and-coming, but he’s also sailing around the Pacific Ocean, casually battling the French and getting prize money and acclaim. 

And working on my personal headcanon that Salazar is around 36-7 when he died in 1724, Blas de Lezo is a couple of years younger than him, and already a success it had taken YEARS for Salazar to achieve. Take into account Blas is noble, blonde, good-looking and doesn’t have a traitor-father’s reputation to overcome?

There’s some real potential for interesting rivalry there, but there’s also some great motivation for Salazar’s fatal recklessness. 

Would Blas de Lezo let one miserable little pirate ship get away? Would Blas de Lezo give up on his duty/ vengeance, even AFTER death?

 It’s a real eye-opener into motivation and attitude.

 And speaking of eyes - any Lieutenant Lesaro fans might like to take a look at de Lezo too.  Lesaro doesn’t flaunt his missing eye as a badge of honour, but I headcanon he has respect for any man who continues to do his duty regardless of injury in the service. 

18th Century Haircare: Just for Cursed Spaniards Edition

A little Christmas something for @intricatecaprice , (because thanks to her and her very well-researched beautifully written fanfic I am now trash for undead Spanish Naval officers, thank you very much )Just something I noticed whilst watching POTC 5 and couldn’t help noticing, as someone who also lurks in the 18th century costuming and re-enactment world.

Half the undead officers STILL have their wigs kept in almost pristine condition! What dedication to being stylish!

Now, hairstyling, even when alive, uncursed, and with full access to a range of hair products, is NOT a simple process in the 1700s. Those neat sausage curls you see at the side of Lieutenant Lesaro’s temples there? They’re called buckle rolls, and in an age where Babyliss hair tongs and Diamond Hold L’Oreal hair spray aren’t an option... well, what’s an average 18th century hombre to do?

Before plastic rollers, there were pipe-clay rollers - cheap, easy to make/get hold of and if it breaks, you throw it away. These were used mainly through the 17th , 18th and up to the early 19th century. You can see these particular pipe clay rollers are from 1700.

Behold! Ye olde hair styling implements of yore! An ancient pair of hair tongs! Before the advent of electricity, this required holding the tongs in an open fire until it was sufficiently hot to style. Get it right, and you get beautiful heat rolled curls like those on Lieutenant Lesaro. Get it wrong and make the tongs too hot... and ... you guys remember Little Women, when Jo burns off Meg’s hair?

Catching pirates or not burning off your hair... which is harder?

But Monty, I hear you cry - what are these enterprising 18th century men using as a setting lotion? Well, my dears, the answer is pomatum.

I’m going to send you to the excellent Geri Walton for a full historical low-down on pomatum below, but it’s basically a hair cream /oil that strengthens and thickens the hair as well as helping to keep it in those extravagant 18th century styles.

That’s a pretty intense hair care regime for your everyday naval officer to keep looking his best even at the best of times, let alone when cursed, possibly missing pieces of your unquiet corpse, and aboard a skeleton wreck of a ship! And most of the principal ships officers wear their hair that way. I know there’s a lot of time in your hands when you have forever, but... honestly I do rather enjoy the thought of the cursed officers painstakingly putting in their curlers every night to make sure their hair is just right...

Sure, you may be missin the lower half of your torso/jaw - but your hair will always be immaculate.

(I notice, interestingly enough, that good old Armando doesn’t do curls pre-curse - he has a business-like plain queue, which suits his character down to a tee) Whether this is attributable to a tragic hair-curling accident, or the fact he’s just too impatient to bother, I’m going to leave up to everyone to make up their own minds.

He certainly has the best supernaturally assisted hair!

but in conclusion, the award for ‘best 18th century haircare under EXTREMELY difficult circumstances’ should really go to the crew of the Silent Mary...