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brigdh · 7 months

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I want to talk about Izzy's rant to Ed in episode 10, the one that brings out the Kraken. I've seen a lot of different descriptions of what is going on in this scene – death threat, homophobic slurs, etc – and I don't think either of those are what's actually what's happening.

Let's look at it closely, line by line, and the way Ed reacts, from the very beginning of the scene.

Ed: Well, feels nice to tidy up a little. Can't believe I was living like this. Can you, Iz? Izzy? Izzy: I'm going to speak plainly. Ed: Wonderful. You know we share our thoughts on this ship.

Izzy, cont: This, whatever it is that you've become... is a fate worse than death.

Okay. So there we've got what some have interpreted as a death threat. But does Ed seem threatened? He's startled, certainly, put on his back foot – literally – but he doesn't look afraid or alarmed to me. He draws in a slow breath, assessing the situation, but overall seems more confused than frightened.

In fact he laughs it off with his next line:

Izzy then escalates the level of aggression in the conversation:

But Ed, again, looks more confused than anything. Check out that furrowed brow, that head tilt! This is a man going "what is your deal?", not a man thinking "uh-oh, you might kill me!".

Extremely noticeably, even when Izzy storms right up into his face, Ed holds steady. He doesn't run, doesn't lean back, doesn't hunch his shoulders or drop eye contact – there is no vulnerability or defensiveness in Ed's body language at all. Ed is in supreme control of this confrontation – look at the slow way he deigns to turn back to the paper Izzy's holding! As though he's making the point that he chooses when to turn, not Izzy:

Then we have the "homophobic slur". But watch closely:

Ed does not react to "namby-pamby", "silk gown", or "pining" at all. He doesn't even blink. He barely seems like he's hearing Izzy. His entire attention is on the picture.

Ed's body language and behavior changes at one word and one word only, and that is "boyfriend". As soon as Izzy says it, Ed's furious:

(It's even easier to notice when you actually watch the scene instead of using gifs, because Izzy really draws out 'piiiiiiining', putting a lot of time between the first half of the sentence and 'boyfriend'.)

Why is the use of the word 'boyfriend' so important?

Well, what has Ed been doing all episode? He's been crying in a blanket fort and singing sad songs, yes, but he's been keeping a careful level of mystique about why he's doing it. Ed often uses distanced circumlocutions instead of directly acknowledging his emotions, but he's doing it in this episode even more so than usual:

Here are the lyrics to his song:

(Version one, with Lucius) Hanging on By a thread Hanging on Shouldn't let go If I let go, all will fall Fingers bleeding down to the bone now Can't let go Nothing makes sense Hold on Hold on Hold... on

(Version two, performed for the whole crew) Just let go Make yourself let go Make it go away Away, away today Life's a hard sad death And then you're Deaaad

Notice something? There is no mention of Stede, or love, or break-ups, or abandonments, or relationships in general. All Ed discusses is a vague life-sucks attitude, which could apply to basically anyone under any circumstances. He seems pretty okay with people knowing that Blackbeard is having some sort of weird emotional breakdown as long as he convinces himself that no one knows it's specifically from having his heart broken

This is true of everything Ed says and does for this entire episode. He never once even mentions Stede's name, unless "Farewell, Bonnet's playthings" at the very end counts. The only thing Ed openly admits to feeling bad about is a fictional character who's having a hard time "holding on" (holding on to what? he never says). There are no allusions to heartbreak or romance anywhere in his dialogue.

Now, Ed's not stupid. I'm sure he knows Izzy and Lucius and the rest of the crew can connect the dots and realize that something bad happened with Stede, even if Ed doesn't fill them in on the details. But Ed is also traumatized, and has a whole host of coping mechanisms set up to help him avoiding thinking about things that he doesn't want to think about. If he's not a murderer because "technically the fire killed those guys", then no one knows he's heartbroken because technically he hasn't acknowledged it.

Until Izzy says the word 'boyfriend'. Suddenly the secret is out, and Ed can't handle it. Izzy knows his weakness. That's why this word effects Ed more than anything else Izzy says in the whole scene.

At the end of the confrontation, he hears the crew calling for another song. Look at Ed here. He looks as haunted, as disturbed, in this moment as he does at any point in Izzy's rant.

This is an important part of the scene, not just a closing note. Because if Izzy (the Caribbean's most emotionally constipated man) can see through him, obviously the whole crew can too.

Obviously Lucius – who advised Ed on his and Stede's relationship, who played along with Ed's 'fictional character' claim, who wrote down Ed's lyrics – can do so most of all.

There's a direct emotional logic to Ed killing Lucius because he had a fight with Izzy, and it doesn't involve Ed having been threatened or hate crime'd at all. Ed doesn't deal well with his own feelings (from Stede), so he chooses to become Blackbeard/the Kraken and gets rid of all the witnesses who saw otherwise.

#meta #our flag means death #I've been thinking about writing this up for a while but finally got motivated to finish it before S2

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celluloidbroomcloset · 4 months

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So, after the discussion on this post, I spent some time considering if Ed was indeed truly plotting to kill Stede at first. I'll start by saying that I think there are several different ways of understanding this and there are some great comments on that post, so this is just my own interpretation.

The scene begins with Ed's conversation with Stede about remaining on board the Revenge and exchanging knowledge—Stede teaching Ed about high society, Ed teaching Stede how to be a better pirate. They come to an agreement, then Ed hears Izzy down below, preparing to leave. Ed's final words to Stede before he goes down to speak with Izzy are "well, I should deal with this."

The conversation with Izzy proceeds with Ed providing reasoning why they need to remain on board, offering the idea of killing Stede and taking his identity, and giving the Revenge to Izzy.

There's a lot going on in this scene, but I think it's important to note that Izzy especially stands in for all piracy as Ed has experienced it (this is born out by the behavior of Spanish Jackie and her husbands, as well as Calico Jack later on).

Through the first few episodes on board the Revenge, Ed is already opening up, as Ivan and Fang notice. He’s having fun. He’s excited about life again. He’s enjoying being around Stede and around the crew. When Ed claims that he wants to inhabit Stede’s life, he’s trying to find words for something he’s been longing for and that Stede represents.

But what Ed is saying and what we have seen between him and Stede are two different things. Ed enjoys what Stede shows him, but his behavior is not covetous—throughout the scene in the cabin, Ed is a combination of excited and fascinated. He praises Stede directly, not just Stede's things. He doesn't dress in Stede's clothes or take Stede's things without permission, but engages with him in play. What we the viewers see, and what Stede sees, is someone who's excited about Stede's things, but also excited about Stede himself. It's not just a man who wants fine things, but who wants a friend.

The entire conversation in the cabin takes place away from anyone else, as does the plan about the lighthouse. What Izzy and others would likely perceive as Ed’s genius is the combined abilities of Ed and Stede, as they come to the same conclusion at the same time, and make the plan together. What Izzy in particular praises about Ed still having it (Ed always had it) is brought to the fore by Stede's presence. In taking some of the weight of command off Ed, Stede has enabled Ed to be more himself and to become a better captain.

But Blackbeard acts as Ed’s protection—not just from other pirate captains, but also from internal threats. He’s learned that Izzy is capable of insubordination, calling him “insane” and a shell of a man who is "merely posing as Blackbeard" to his face. The lighthouse event makes Izzy respect him again—even apologize and praise him.

We learn throughout the show that trusting a pirate, any pirate, is a dangerous undertaking, and that the assumption most pirates make is that even their friends will fuck them over. Ed trusts Stede already, he knows he's a different kind of pirate, but he's hedging his bets—there's a chance he might be wrong. Stede is an unknown quantity, but Izzy is not—Ed knows how to play him, and Izzy's presence enables Ed to maintain the persona of Blackbeard as a guard.

If Ed presented Izzy with the actual agreement he came to with Stede, there's very little chance he'd accept it (we already see how he reacts when Ed does things he deems "insane") or that he'd remain on board. Ed's keeping a support system close to him—he needs Izzy and Ivan and Fang to feel safe, to reinforce the concept of Blackbeard to the other people on board.

Ed never once makes eye contact with Izzy during the entire conversation, keeping his eyes either averted or his head turned. Ed is proving himself, again, the superior tactician—he's made Izzy an offer that Izzy will not refuse, maintained his own persona for protection, and secured the ability to remain on board the Revenge with added leverage if something goes wrong. He knows that the plan he's made is serious, though, and he's primarily bought time, not a reprieve.

If Ed truly wanted or planned to kill Stede, he could have done so easily. He could have had someone else kill Stede if he wanted to outsource it (Izzy offers to commit the crime himself in "The Art of Fuckery"). It’s a mistake to assume that Ed’s go-to will ever be violence or murder, especially considering what we learn about him as the show goes on. Ed knows he doesn’t really kill people, but everyone else does not; it is part of the Blackbeard persona, the mask that Ed puts on to survive and succeed and to be respected by (and protected from) people like Izzy.

By "The Art of Fuckery," the plan conceived to keep Ed on board and Izzy present is out of control—Izzy is no longer placated, and he makes it clear that he will kill Stede if Ed refuses to. Ed becomes trapped by his own need to remain shrouded in Blackbeard. It tells on him—he's near tears when Izzy offers to kill Stede, but he's not yet able to find enough safety on the Revenge to lose Izzy's respect.

The way Ed frames it during the bathtub scene with Stede is significant in how he perceives the plan: "I'm supposed to kill...you." The "supposed to" indicates, not quite coercion, but a sense that he felt compelled to kill Stede—he was supposed to do it, not he was going to do it and decided not to. It could be argued that Ed is lying here, or downplaying his role, but the entire scene is about Ed confessing to Stede his perceived unlovability, fully expecting Stede to reject him. So him being calculating at this stage and downplaying his own monstrosity seems a bit of a stretch. Nor does he specify that Izzy, or anyone, was compelling him; the crime, as far as Ed is concerned, is all his. Which, once more, is not proof that Ed ever intended to go through with it when he proposed it at the end of "Discomfort."

By the end of "The Art of Fuckery," where he has confessed his darkest self to Stede and been assured of Stede's friendship (something which he never expected), Ed no longer has need of the protection afforded by the Blackbeard persona or, by extension, Izzy's presence. Stede is indeed a different kind of a pirate, and a different kind of man, and Ed can be safe with Stede, on Stede's ship, surrounded by Stede's crew.

(I'll also tag @daria-meoi, @diningpageantry, @meanmisscharles, @scarrletmoon, @quarterblindsocialworker, since they were a part of the OG discussion!)

#ofmd #ofmd season 1 #our flag means death #ed teach #edward teach #stede bonnet #izzy hands #gif #ofmd meta #long post

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ourflagmeansdeath-kinkmeme · 5 months

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Any ships — Ed doesn't remember what he did as the Kraken, guilt angst

Post reunion when Ed is back to being Ed, he has no memory of the events/ things he did as the Kraken. His last memories are of people getting ready for the talent show and fighting with Izzy.

So he's confused by weeks or months having passed, and Stede suddenly being back. His first new memory is Stede declaring his love an apologizing, but stede is different, beard/new confidence.

So Ed doesn't understand why Stede's crew is suddenly resentful of him, why Lucius keeps his distance and is scared of him, why Frenchie is terrified of him and Jim keeps trying to stab him. He's confused and guilty, trying to figure out what exactly happened and what he did.

The real shocker though, are the changes to Izzy.

Izzy and Ed have sailed together for so long, and know each other so well. Maybe he's limping around deck refusing to make eye contact with Edward and doesn't trust him anymore. If you want to go harder, maybe he's stuck in his bunk with a nasty infection, or stating they need to go to the nearest port because he needs to see a doctor now that he wont be punished for that. Maybe Izzy is thinking about leaving for good. Izzy hasn't told anyone what happened to his foot or who hurt him, but that in itself is answer enough because there's only one person he'd protect like that.

If you want to go exceptionally dark I saw some gorgeous heartbreaking fanart where Ed burned the x signature tattoo off of Izzy's face, or maybe Izzy's ring is gone. This, and putting together the pieces of what happened, really hurts Ed and the he feels a ton of guilt.

Only dnw is permanent character death.

Fill: None

#C: Edward Teach | Blackbeard #C: Israel “Izzy” Hands #C: Revenge Crew #P: General | No Pairing #T: Amnesia #T: Angst #T: Guilt #T: Israel “Izzy” Hands' Ring #T: Israel “Izzy” Hands' Toe #Fill: None

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celluloidbroomcloset · 3 months

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idk i just don’t see ed getting quiet for like 10 seconds in the breakfast scene as ed “disassociating” like he rlly seems to be having fun blowing up stede’s furniture, doing whippies on deck, being the main ringleader in turtle vs crab. we also know from 1.09 that “the old days” included “biting the heads off turtles” and “feeding some poor bloke his own toe for the laugh” so like i rlly don’t think it’s a stretch to say ed likes (or liked) hanging out with jack, even if the end of the episode is abt him rejecting his relationship with jack full of constant backstabbing pirate camaraderie in favor of an actual genuine and emotionally intimate relationship w stede.

(also the whole crew liked hanging out w jack up until karl happened so like it’s not just ed who thinks jack is fun. like i think there’s actually more scenes of jack hanging out w the crew in one episode than there are of izzy hanging out with the crew in the entirety of season 2)

He does not "get quiet for ten seconds." He looks into the middle distance, he doesn't make eye contact with either Stede or Jack, he becomes increasingly agitated, attempts to say that he has "mellowed," which Jack dismisses. I go into the entire scene here, so I'm not going to make my argument again. Take it or leave it.

I also wrote about this here: https://www.tumblr.com/celluloidbroomcloset/740183962272546816/since-this-was-being-discussed-i-think-it?source=share

No, Ed does not "like" hanging out with Jack. It does not end with Ed being like "ok, cool, yeah, I'll go off with my good buddy here!" It ends with Ed telling Stede that "you were always going to see what I am." If you cannot read that as Ed's self-loathing coming out, something that is expanded upon in the rest of the season and into Season 2, I doubt I can convince you further.

I AM getting increasingly bothered that you, or anyone, types Jack as some dude that Ed likes hanging out with and not as an abusive asshole who mistreats Ed, Stede, and the crew, calls Stede a "fop" (and that ain't the word he means), and manipulates Ed via "I saved your life." Roach is fucking terrified with "yardies," but feels pressured to participate. The Swede is hurt when Jack whips his finger, but tries to laugh it off. Poor Olu is drunk and despairing because Jim left. Jack is not their fucking buddy; he is an abusive asshole who makes everyone around him worse, and Stede clocks that immediately. As, indeed, does Ed, a bit later. The defense of Jack reads a helluva lot like some of the defenses of Izzy, with the layer that "oh, he's just a frat boy!" and "boys will be boys!" Yeah, well, I've met some frat boys who are rapists and Jack sure as fuck talks like one. So maybe that's not the best defense.

So. No. Ed does not like Jack. Jack represents a toxicity that Ed believes is endemic to himself and that is 100% a part of the same toxicity that Izzy represents, and Ed sees that over the course of the episode. He just hates himself so fucking much that that's all he thinks he deserves.

#ofmd #calico jack #edward teach #i'm getting angry

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