Welcome to the “Flesh&Blood” Pirate Series Reading Club
This thread is about the bonus material that was released after Volume 11.
The following extra stories were published after volume 11 and before volume 12:
手紙: Found in a pamphlet published as part of the publisher’s Chara Birthday Fair series in 2008.
眼指: Released in the 2008 edition of Chara Collection Extra, a mail-order book containing short stories from the publisher’s (Chara’s) lineup.
遊戯: Published in キャラ文庫「FLESH&BLOOD」番外編, a booklet distributed by the publisher Chara in June 1, 2008.
夏空 and 兄弟: Found in Flesh&Blood extra 5, the sixth F&B doujinshi published by the author 松岡なつき, published August 17, 2008.
欠片, 幻影, and 抱擁: Found in Flesh&Blood extra 6, the seventh F&B doujinshi published by the author 松岡なつき, published October 26, 2008.
流離: Found in Flesh&Blood extra 7, the eighth F&B doujinshi published by the author 松岡なつき, published October 30, 2008.
妖精の分け前: Released in the 2009年 01月号 edition of the magazine 小説Chara, vol. 19. Collected in Flesh&Blood 外伝 女王陛下の海賊たち , a formally published book. Click here to download a folder with F&B-related stuff that was in the magazine.
Which of the bonus materials have you read?
手紙
眼指
遊戯
夏空
兄弟
欠片
幻影
抱擁
流離
妖精の分け前
None so far
0voters
When discussing the short story(s) for each volume, let’s figure out:
When in the books’ timeline this short story takes place, and
When a new reader should read the short story for best “timeline flow” (i.e., after which volume and/or chapter.)
Finished 手紙! I’m going to run out of short ones soon, haha.
Anyway, this is from Nigel’s perspective; timeline is a bit fuzzy, unfortunately, but given that he mentions returning to Plymouth, working at a desk, and burning things in a hearth, I’m going to tentatively guess that this takes place in London, either before or after Kaito’s been exonerated. Returning to Plymouth means they’re not there and working at a desk in a place with a hearth suggests he’s not on the Gloria. There’s no mention of Kaito’s imprisonment, but given how short this story is, that doesn’t mean much. Sooo either somewhere in volume 4, chapters 5-12, or somewhere in volume 6, between chapters 1-4, maybe? I’ll leave the spreadsheet blank for this until I hear others’ thoughts. If I’m thinking about earliest point you could read this while reading the main books, you’d be fine to read this anytime after reading volume 4, chapter 5 probably.
Anyway, this was a very sweet story (I feel like I say that about all of Nigel’s stories, despite the constant heartbreak ) about Nigel trying to mentally compose his feelings into a letter for Kaito. Not a whole lot new here to talk about; I thought the line breaks 松岡 used were interesting, insofar as I’m not used to Japanese books having to break up sections that would probably normally be written in italics in English. Took me a second to figure out how the perspective was shifting.
眼指 finished! Short, cute story set (yet again) during Kaito’s tenure as a fool, so volume 4, somewhere between ch.5-12. This one’s from Kaito’s POV.
Not much to write about this story; it’s mostly just fluff. Due to Pippo’s bullying Kaito needs a new shirt, and he and Geoffrey go in search of one in one of the palace’s storerooms of extras. I got a good giggle out of Geoffrey telling the Queen about how sailors, him and Nigel specifically, often run around deck shirtless, and the Queen saying she’ll have to visit the Gloria in the future.
Alrighty, finished reading all of Flesh&Blood extra 6, which contained three stories: 欠片、幻影、and 抱擁.
Timeline thoughts:
欠片: Vicente’s POV. Between volume 7, chapter 8, and volume 8, chapter 3. I’d say you’d be fine reading this after finishing volume 7.
幻影: …Nigel’s… POV. At some indeterminate point after volume 7, likely before volume 10, chapter 10. Again, you’re fine reading this after volume 7.
抱擁: Geoffrey’s POV. This one’s much fuzzier; I’m actually not sure I can hazard a guess. Normally I’d say sometime before the London arc, basically starting in volume 4, but Kaito’s pretty okay with Geoffrey making out with him here, which gives me post volume 4 vibes, which doesn’t quite match up, so I’m not sure.
All three are pretty much fluff pieces, with one or two notable thoughts: 欠片 has a small bit on Vicente’s musings about Leo needing to leave his care after he hits 16 and becomes an adult (which I need to revisit; I was skimming through that section a bit), 幻影 has (as of volume 11) Nigel’s first recorded dream of having sex with Kaito, and 抱擁 has dolphins in it.
The あとがき was an interesting read in this one; 松岡先生 talks about her choice of image for the cover of this doujin, a sea chest. I’ve often wondered if the doujin covers are significant, and it seems this one is, at least: it represents the feelings and thoughts our three men want to keep hidden and personal. Not bad, especially considering how well-balanced the narrators were in this doujin.
I think I enjoyed 幻影 the most out of the three, especially reading about Nigel’s dream about chasing an illusory Kaito through the underdecks of the Gloria in his dreams. It had a very ephemeral feeling, if that sounds right? Sad and happy at the same time, for sure.
Finished chapter 1 of 遊戯. Looks like a pretty fun setup so far: it’s set during Kaito’s tenure at the Queen’s palace, and a masquerade ball is being planned to impress a Russian diplomat in order to get a favorable trade agreement. Kaito’s been told that he’s going to get to dress up as a nymph with all the rest of Elizabeth’s lady attendants, which is he not thrilled at. Elza (Raleigh’s future wife) tells him the Queen might even be thinking of having the diplomat guess which of the pretty nymphs isn’t a girl. Kaito was more effective than anticipated in Kit’s play, haha.
Finished 遊戯 this weekend, covering chapters 2, 3, and the epilogue.
Geoffrey takes on the challenge of identifying Kaito among the other nymphs, betting the Queen 100 pounds that his mystical “bond with his brother of the sea” will see him though. Kaito’s all for it, since he’s feeling kind of insecure in this book in Geoffrey’s feelings for him. Things go swimmingly, however; Kaito asks Geoffrey how he was able to pick him out time after time, but Geoffrey refuses to say.
The epilogue is from Geoffrey’s POV, surprisingly, and he confirms that the trick is sensing Kaito’s killing intent at the thought of Geoffrey picking some other girl. 松岡先生 had some fun stuff to say in the afterword as well; apparently she got the idea from a game show, where husbands had to pick their wife out of a lineup. She also said that, despite Geoffrey bragging to himself in the book that only he would be able to do what he did, Nigel and Vicente would’ve (of course) been able to manage the feat as well: Nigel because of his “maniacal” focus on all things Kaito () and Vicente because (did I read this wrong? ) Kaito acts like a tsundere around him and he’d be able to pick it out.
Overall a cute story!
I have also started 流離, which, amazingly, appears to be a continuation of 誓い so far @NicoleIsEnough. It picks up from Nigel’s POV after Geoffrey finds him lying on the Hoe, with him and Joe back on the Gloria. I wonder how far through the books it’s going to go? All the way through volume 11?
Finished chapter 2 of 流離. Man, that was a rough chapter. You open with horrible opium-induced nightmares and close with Nigel’s confession to Geoffrey and the subsequent breaking of their friendship. Hopefully we can only go up from here, right…?
Edit 4/27/23: And done! Chapter 3 was like half the book, haha. This last half was much happier reading than the first for sure; Nigel talks a little bit about how he’s come to really like Blackie, and recounts an evening he shared with Kaito at the Queen’s palace. The scene he recounts takes place after 幸福, which was really neat. We end the book with the scene at the end of volume 8, with Geoffrey and Nigel finding Geoffrey’s keys wedged in the wreckage of the Vicente’s ship’s foremast.
夏空 done. This is set after volume 7, chapter 6, after their session in bed and before Geoffrey has to get up the next morning to check on the Gloria, set in Geoffrey’s POV. Mostly cute fluff; the two give each other handjobs, but other than that it’s mostly Geoffrey thinking about how much he loves Kaito.
Started and finished 兄弟 this weekend; should just be one story left for volume 11. Anyway, 兄弟 was an interesting one: it’s a series of short drabbles centered around sailors on the Gloria. 松岡 goes out of her way not to name names (even Geoffrey’s, Nigel’s, and Kaito’s), so it can get pretty confusing pretty fast if you lose track of who’s speaking and who they’re talking about. It sounded like, according to the あとがき, all of the POV sailors are people we should know/be able to guess, but I wasn’t really able to aside from Geoffrey/Nigel. Here are my notes for each story:
優しい人: POV: Geoffrey. Nigel helps a sailor (Rufus? Someone else?) to read.
流れ者: POV: ???. Okay, this one I definitely had the most trouble with. I lost track of who/what/where fairly quickly and never really got back on track. Some sailors (?) talk about crushing on G/N.
お気に入り: POV: Ewan? Kaito is cute playing with Blackie and Nigel is nice to him.
おおとら: POV: Kaito. A sailor makes a cute shirt for Blackie, which leads to Kaito asking to learn to sew himself and initiating cat play (?!) with that sailor.
お人よし: POV: the sailor from last chapter. Says ‘no homo’ to some other sailor who saw them playing.
懲りない男: POV: the sailor who was talking with last POV sailor (this one isn’t Will or Mark). He sees Nigel acting all fuzzy with Blackie and is threatened with death.
要注意人物: POV: Nigel. This one’s set just after (?) La Rochelle. Nigel’s still fighting off his water poisoning and Kaito takes care of him.
The stories are loosely connected, insofar as a few definitely take place one after another (but not all, though), and it ended up being a pretty eclectic bunch. I think 松岡 mentions in the あとがき that these were originally published on her website, so she probably just collected them all together here.
These weren’t necessarily my favorites group of stories; I appreciate the idea, but they all just felt too short, and not explicitly identifying anyone made it a tough read. I would like to see more day-to-day on the Gloria from a perspective other than the trio’s for sure, though.
Timeline-wise, it’s too hard/impossible to say when most of these take place except the last story. If you read these after Blackie joins the ship in volume 3 chapter 7, then you should know all the info needed here.
Finished 妖精の分け前 this past weekend; another good story! The 小説Chara ones have all been consistently good so far; probably because of their focus on G/N’s past, most likely. There’s just the right amount of fluff, just the right amount of showing what’s made them the men we’re familiar with in the main series.
Timeline-wise this takes place after ミニアと呼ばれた男 and before 女王陛下の海賊たち (which makes me kind of wish their places were swapped in the Gaiden); for readers coming in from the main series I’d say finish vol. 7 ch. 1 (since that’s when the ブッカブー is first introduced, along with Nigel’s history with it). It’s from Nigel’s POV.
Anyway, this story does indeed cover Nigel’s first encounter with a/the ブッカブー, as well as his first encounter with powerful storms in the Bay of Biscay. Interestingly, Nigel’s the only one who can see the ブッカブー; I’m trying to remember if it was the same for Kaito or not. Makes a lot more sense in vol. 8 ch. 8 (spoilers) when no one on the Spanish ship mentioned seeing the ブッカブー. Also interesting is the fact that the ブッカブー Nigel saw looked like his younger brother Thomas. Makes me wonder what criteria the ブッカブー uses to pick to show how it appears to people, and to who.
Man, that scene where Nigel was getting tied up and about to be thrown overboard was tense. I knew he’d be okay, but still. @.@ Scary stuff. I hope we get to meet Captain Watts in a future side story; he seems like a good guy.
Geoffrey throwing an orange as the ブッカブー’s “share” was really interesting; I need to do some more reading on the creatures. Just looking at the Wikipedia page, it seems food was considered a valid offering, which is pretty neat.
Added a link to 妖精の分け前 with any F&B-related stuff I found in the magazine it was printed in. The illustrations are with the new artist, so there’s nothing new there not included in the Gaiden reprint.
) about Nigel trying to mentally compose his feelings into a letter for Kaito. Not a whole lot new here to talk about; I thought the line breaks 松岡 used were interesting, insofar as I’m not used to Japanese books having to break up sections that would probably normally be written in italics in English. Took me a second to figure out how the perspective was shifting.
Kaito was more effective than anticipated in Kit’s play, haha.
Here are my notes for each story: