(Fionna And Cake Spoilers!!!)

you're kidding.....

edit: these are from 2022 AND THERES MORE!

Benjamin & Miriam In Season 2

I have not been the same since Zheng Yi Sao became a character in our flag means death. It means so much to me that pirate-related media is representing her more because I never would have known about her and she is too cool to be forgotten.

For years pop culture either portrayed her as the racist "submissive asian woman" stereotype or ignored her completely. It's infuriating. Now though we have a strong portrayal of her in both doctor who and our flag means death!! Let me tell you a few things about the rightfully named "Pirate queen".

On average, most pirates died 2 years after starting piracy. Edward Teach died after two years, Stede Bonnet died after one and Israel Hands impressively died around 8 years after starting, all executed. Our pirate queen died at 68 after a successful 9 year career. In fact, she only stopped because she was made to surrender and lived the rest of her years in effective retirement.

She inherited her late husbands pirate fleets and commanded around 1,800 ships. Blackbeard is believed to have a maximum of 5- likely because he didn't get along with people well enough to amass enough crews to run them. She had the largest fleet in history.

Zheng Yi Sao was a leader and undoubtedly one of the most successful pirates ever and yet we dare to forget her.

An intro to the historical Zheng Yi Sao

Ruibo Qian's character in Our Flag Means Death is based on a real person, though like all its real pirates, she is a loose interpretation. In particular, the real Zheng Yi Sao wasn't born until 57 years after the real Blackbeard died!

In real life, she lived from 1775 to 1844. She was known by a variety of names; her birth name is usually given as Shi Yang. Zheng Yi Sao is the name most often used, which literally means "the wife of Zheng Yi" (more on him later), and you may also see variations like Ching Shih or Madam Cheng, depending on transliteration. Calling her Zheng, as Oluwande does, is good, or ZYS in fandom chat, but if fic writers crave a more personal connotation for a scene, Yang is a good choice for a given name consistent with the real woman. It's like the difference between Mr. Buttons and Nathaniel.

She was born in the Guangdong province, and many bios of her claim she worked on one of the boat brothels there, but this is speculation only.

When she married Zheng Yi, he was a successful member of a pirating dynasty, working as a privateer for emperors of Vietnam. The couple collaborated to unite six different pirate fleets operating off the Guangdong coast into a confederation, sealed with an agreement signed by the captains of each. Zheng Yi was informally recognized as the overall leader of the confederation until his death in a storm two years after the signing.

Zheng Yi Sao had the respect of other key figures in the alliance, and her smooth assumption of leadership was followed by a period of huge success and expansion for the pirate confederation, driving the Chinese government to desperation. This is where her reputation as a pirate "queen" comes from in real life, though I'm excited to see where the show goes with her fictional conquest of China!

In 1810, Zheng Yi Sao recognized that the confederation faced internal fractures and additional opposition, as Portuguese and British military forces allied with Chinese ships, so she led the confederation to bow out on a high, and use their immense power to bargain for a peaceful retirement, surrendering ships and weapons for pardons, supplies, and money. Although it's fictional that her crew was predominantly women, when Zheng Yi Sao surrendered, she did so accompanied by a delegation wholly composed of women and children who belonged to the confederation. At that time, the confederation consisted of 226 ships, 24 of which personally reported to Zheng Yi Sao.

If you're doing the math, she was only in her mid-thirties, and was far from done with life. She remarried, to one of her former captains, Zhang Bao, and accompanied him to the Penghu Islands, where he commanded a garrison. After his death, she returned to Guangdong and had another career of twenty-odd years, becoming the owner of a casino until her death at age 68 or 69 (nice).

She was one of the most successful pirates in history, both because of her power and her ability to survive it. I think she's neat as hell, and so have a lot of fiction writers! You might have encountered versions of her, or characters inspired by her, before, in things like Pirates of the Caribbean, the Bloody Jack novels, Assassin's Creed, and Doctor Who. It's fun to see a form of her in this! We can expect her arc to progress differently, but I hope having some context will help.

The most helpful things to note for the rest of the season for ofmd fans will be that Zheng is her surname, she wasn't really a contemporary of the other historical figures, and that her connection to sex work should not be treated as a fact, whether you want to include it in this fictional interpretation or not.

“You’re so great, Marceline, someone else would definitely find you and take care of you. Maybe even someone rich! You’d be living in a castle with food, and medicine and trained squirrels to tend to your every need.”

"As for me... uh..."

I’m not okay.

oh hozier the man you are

So far:

Bella Hadid — Palestinian American model, said: "There have been so many brands that have stopped working with me. A lot of friends have also turned their backs on me," because of her support of Palestine and how she's talked about the genocide of her own people.

Nemahsis — Palestinian Canadian singer, got dropped by her label 11 Acres for her posts about Palestine and the genocide of her own people.

Melissa Barrera — Mexican actress, fired from American film franchise Scream because of her posts about Palestine and specifically for a pro-Palestine article she shared by a Jewish anti-Zionist journalist and professor in Holocaust and genocide studies. Spyglass Media Group called this journalist and his article anti-Semitic. Spyglass's CEO Gary Barber is a white South African who supports apartheid and Zionism.

Mia Khalifa — Lebanese American media personality, lost her podcast deal with Playboy because of her posts about Palestine. Playboy's CEO Ben Kohn is a Zionist who tweeted "I hope no one calls for Israel to show restraint today or in the future" on Oct 7.

Anwar El Ghazi — Moroccan Dutch football player, fired from German football team Mainz over his posts in support of Palestine. Other players for Mainz have posted in support of "Israel" and Zionism and have faced zero consequences.

Susan Sarandon — white American actress, dropped from her talent agency, United Talent, for her posts in support of Palestine. United Talent's CEO Jeremy Zimmer is a Zionist.

Guz Khan — Pakistani Punjabi British actor, fired from Our Fl*g Means Death specifically because of his support of Palestine. The show's executive producer Taika Waititi is a Zionist (And before any freaks show up in my mentions: he signed the letter in support of "Israel," saying NO to a ceasefire, and encouraging the US military to send more money and weapons to "Israel" + he liked posts about "Israel's" "military rights")

Maha Dakhil — Libyan American talent agent, was almost fired from CAA (one of the biggest talent agencies on the planet) over her posts in support of Palestine, but wasn't fired because some of her very famous clients (apparently including Tom Cruise?) stepped in and protected her. CAA's CEO Bryan Lourd is a Zionist.

Let me know if I missed any 🥴

Meanwhile, just a few examples:

Noah Schnapp — white American. Said "You either stand with Israel or you stand with terrorism." Has not faced any consequences.

Sarah Silverman — white American. Said that “Israel” has no reason to allow food or water into Gaza, and that Palestinians should be "grateful" they were ever “given” water from “Israel” in the past. Has not faced any consequences.

Jerry Seinfeld — white American. Went to the "Israeli" military base/"fantasy camp" nicknamed "Camp Shoot-a-Palestinian" and played target practice with the soldiers, where the targets are pictures of Palestinian human beings. Has not faced any consequences.

Con O'Neill — white British dude from Our Fl*g Means Death. Liked, replied complimenting, and shared an article by far-right racist Zionist terf Eve Barlow, all about how "coming out as a Zionist is harder than coming out as gay." Has not faced any consequences.

Amy Schumer — white American. Made a post that said "Gazans are rapists" (not even Hamas, but all Gazans). Has not faced any consequences.

James Woods — white American (voice actor of Hades in D*sney's Hercules, executive producer of Oppenheimer). Said "Bomb the savages who did this back to the Stone Age. There are no grey areas. Kill them all. Every Hamas savage and every Hamas supporter on earth. Bury them with the entrails of pigs." Has not faced any consequences.

I wish you

Clear skin

4.0 GPA

Focus

Clear goals

Love

Affection

Peace

Self love

Good things from the universe

My name is Chappell Roan. I am your favorite artist's favorite artist. I am your dream girl's dream girl.

MY KINK IS KARMA Chappell Roan