A Pirate Persona

Now I’m not actually a very violent person. Sure, I play video games, and my favourite video game involves being a yellow mass-murdering space ninja, but I’m rather tame. Heck, my online alias, Arkay, is named after one of my Phoviverse characters, a friendly death god who doesn’t like his job and spends way too long explaining that he’s more than just death, he’s also the personification of energy changing forms. However, out on the Sea of Thieves though, I’m a monster. I even have a persona for my pirate.

My pirate is, well, not evil, but definitely not the friendly pirate that Ramsey, the Pirate Lord, wants me to be. Ramsey is a jolly fellow who kinda wants to be a king and rule over a bunch of happy pirates who share their loot. I don’t do that, I don’t share loot with pirates that don’t deserve it. No, I’m a proud representative of the Reaper’s Bones. I’m not just anyone, I’m Pirate Retvik (Ret for short), I’m here to sink ships and steal treasure, make tons of gold and set shit on fire. Especially that last thing. I love setting shit on fire. Heck, my title is Bearer of the Flame. I do have other titles, but I mostly use Bearer of the Flame as a reference to the Phoviverse character Retvik, who uses the title Flamebearer.

But yeah, Pirate Retvik is a cool dude pirate lass in her fancy Naval Commander gear, her dirty Sailor’s Jacket and her Ashen Curse. Sure, I do have the Gold Curse, but Retvik is the Bearer of the Flame and likes to burn things, so a curse that sets you on fire is more fitting.

That being said though, I don’t think my pirate follows Flameheart. Flameheart is just as much a hypocrite as Ramsey is. Neither of them are advocates for true piracy, they just want to be kings and rule over the Sea of Thieves. No, Pirate Retvik is more interested in the original Reaper’s Bones tenets, of proving your worth and being the strongest pirates around. Being true pirates, not being playthings to Ramsey or slaves to Flameheart. Admittedly, I can’t wait to be able to take over the Burning Blade in season 13, but that’s not the point.

I even have a second, unofficial title. I am the Beef of the Stormcloud. Granted, my pirate isn’t THAT beefy, but Pirate Retvik is probably the beefiest and hunkiest member of the Stormcloud and the Calcium Kings. It’s not so obvious in my normal getup, but whenever I cosplay as Captain Briggsy (because apparently I sound like her) or wear anything with padded sleeves, my pirate looks mighty. This is made more intense by the fact that most of the Stormcloud are stick insects, particularly Baxcaber and Fox, the guild leaders. Weirdly, I haven’t actually seen many other female pirates with Retvik’s build. Seen a few male pirates (Zach’s pirate is nearly as broad-shouldered as mine is) with my build but no females. Most females I see are thin.

But what’s weird is that I am very used to how my pirate looks. To the point that my pirate looks wrong to me if she’s not wearing an eye patch. I’ve built a pirate persona for myself, and I love it.

While I might be a fair little thing in real life, on the high seas, if Pirate Retvik is after you, you’ll probably end up full of holes. Mostly cannon holes, since Retvik is a bilger and cannoneer, and normally leaves the boarding to her gilded captain, the Stormcloud’s own Captain Braxby.