I'm looking forward to the next episode of "Crossbones." I'm eager to enjoy and learn what I can about the pirates as they brawl, pillage and cavort, and to relish the way they speak in this weekly series. The writers have won my heart for their colorful terminology as a means to depict a bygone era where words such as succeedingly generous, bastard thwarting, supplicate, recount, transpires and my favorite so far: discommoding are used. As a writer, I am impressed with the way they did not do as "Black Sails" did on Starz, mixing old English with vulgar profanity by both men and women. I suppose that pirates curse and use such words and so the actors use them, but for viewers like me, I find it very offensive and distracting. Yes, of course, I don't have to listen to them as they portray uneducated criminals who can only express themselves with four letter words and the like. Yes, many a pirate may not have been fortunate to learn how to read and write, but "Crossbones" doesn't feature only pirate characters. Some of the characters are well-educated and high ranking. And John Malkovich? Well, I better check my history book about how educated and eloquent the real Blackbeard was. John does a wonderful job so far. I was so impressed and eager to learn some of these words I sought and found a place online with scripts for TV shows. Here is the link should you wish to study the scripts for your own studies.
Crossbones - Episode Scripts
What does this pirate series have to do with Tiaera? Simple. Anyone who has read my stories here, as well as Realmwalkers and The Priestess and the Ravenknight, will know I have an affinity for using archaic words. They will also know I have pirates in my medieval fantasy world. Thus I am inspired by the dialogs in "Crossbones" as I am in many historical dramas on BBC America and PBS. I've sat with pen and notebook while watching "Mutiny on the Bounty" and "Sense and Sensibility," jotting down phrases and words that are clearly archaic or seldom used these days. I still take the trouble to look up words I'm not familiar with and check when they were first used so that I may incorporate them in my future stories about Tiaera. My aim is to make the language used in Tiaera somewhere between the 15th - 17th centuries and still try to make the stories understandable by modern readers whenever possible.
"The Musketeers" have just premiered on BBC America and I didn't get the chance to see the pilot yet, but I did record it so I can see it later today. I hope the script there is also entertaining and enlightening for this medieval fantasy writer. No, I don't have musketeers on Tiaera, but pirates are often known as swashbucklers as are the knights, rogues, guards, etc... Tiaera has them all. If they carry a sword, let it be so. Better get my pen and notebook ready!
