@ people who make Ed a "naur my soft widdle baby Eddie-pie just had trauma amd that's why he traumatised the crew and did all that fucked up shit 🥺🥺🥺"

Why do you refuse to have nuanced characters? Why deny him the sauce?

i absolutely love that jim is the one to keep the heart of stede’s crew alive while ed did everything he could to destroy it.

one of the first comments ed makes to stede’s crew in season 1 is “everyone’s covered in rope!” so what does jim do? literally covers themself in rope, to remind ed that, as long as they’re alive, that hope and love isn’t going anywhere.

not only that, but, in the bible, rope is a symbolism for trust and security. jim became a secure place for the crew to tie themselves to while just trying to stay alive.

of course, i then had to look into why they have a fishing net around their shoulders as well, and found The Fishing Net Parable from the Book of Matthew (13:47-52):

"Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away.”

“This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

jim amputates izzy’s leg, despite having never done it before. they quite literally separate him from the rotten bits to save his life.

jim says, “he was your friend.” they separate ed from who he was before from who he’s allowed himself to become, not to punish him, but to remind him of the consequences of his actions.

jim tells izzy point blank, “you’re in an unhealthy relationship with blackbeard.” they aren’t trying to break them up; they’re just bringing to light whats true so things can (hopefully) get better.

jim shows archie that, just because pirating is normally done a certain way, doesn’t mean it has to—they separate archie from the toxic belief that “that’s just how things are, it’s just life,” and “why save him if he’s a dick?”

jim tries to separate the idea from the crew that ed is fine, because they immediately recognize that things are about to get much worse: “so, do we think he’s better?” “FUCK no!”

jim immediately says, “wasn’t the wedding thing a bit over the line?” they know they’re all pirates and have questionable morals anyway, but knows it was fucked up of them to massacre a wedding, an event that’s supposed to be joyful and full of life and beginnings, not death and destruction. they’re, again, dividing up the way things are vs. how they could (and should) be.

ed tries to pin them all dying on jim cause they wouldn’t kill archie, but they bite back with, “you would’ve done it anyway!” they know exactly where the lies are, and separates them from the truth, and ed can’t deny it.

jim separates themself (and olu) from the bounds of monogamy through their honesty. olu is still their best friend and lover and family even though they found and did things with someone else.

jim holds out their hand for olu to take when they’re escaping the red flag. olu’s interest in zheng yi sao isn’t bad and jim’s not trying to separate them, but is trying to keep together the things that are good: their family.

(later addition, edit) jim is also the one that “kills” ed. they’re the one to make that final choice, to say, “it’s you or us.” jim’s actions and choices entire first two episodes led them to that moment, like it was the “final judgment” of blackbeard.

jim is the rope and net of the crew. they’re trust and security and honesty, everything that stede was trying to get the crew to understand from day 1, everything stede is always trying to embody (and i dare say is starting to succeed at).

ANALysis and THEORIES- OFMD EDITION #1

Objective: PROMO GIFS

Time to analyse these bad boys, because I think I may have figured out what they are. They're lines from the show. Each individual little subtext to the official gifs are something which someone will say in the new season, and I'm determined to find out what, when, where and who (I determine that 3/4 would equal success).

I) "I've never seen Blackbeard like this."

This is the same shot from the trailer, possibly either before or after the infamous "Fuck you, Stede Bonnet." However, there may be a Clue in the second shot which may be able to somehow place this on a timeline (not by myself—this has drained my powers). I can't really tell, because of the low quality and high contrasting shadows, whether or not the side of the Stede topper has been smudged with Ed's make-up yet.

It was clear in the teaser when Ed played with the toppers that he'd caressed fake-Stede against his cheek as if he were some rather exquisite cashmere because of the smudges, but we couldn't tell during the teaser if this has already happened by this point because of the angle of the toy. But if anyone manages to get a better picture or spots something I missed that may contradict or strengthen this little thought, do let me know.

I'm pretty sure though that the person who says "I've never seen Blackbeard like this," is someone who has seen Blackbeard enough to know how he was. Someone that perhaps served by his side? So I think that the speaker in this context may be Izzy. There are two options of who he's saying this too: either Stede, once they team up, or to the crew of the Queen Anne's Revenge, this being the old Revenge crew (Frenchie, Jim, and we count Fang). Maybe even Lucius in the walls.

II) "I should have just told him how I feel."

I just want to take a moment just to appreciate the fact how much this gif resonated with me personally. This was the entire basis of all stages of grief I went through after the season finale, the bottomline of all my thoughts: "why couldn't he have just told him how he felt?". Brilliant delivery and shot planning from the designers of OFMD.

Anyways, let's get on with it. This gif is similar to the first one, in it having the potential of being also shot before or after the Vanity Fair picture with the crew (minus Swede) standing under the bridge(?) in the rain. I do think it's before the scene where Stede takes Blackbeard's poster and very confidently elaborates on Ed's goodness. He has his red cravat on, and is looking so pathetic in the rain looking at a wanted poster of his ex-boyfriend, that the scene is loveably laughable in it's entirety.

It's a bit obvious as to who is the speaker for this line: our very own Stede Bonnet. He's regretting on his actions back at the sailor academy, where he chose to keep quiet about his own opinions on Ed's willingness to leave to China, fast, because of his own deep-rooted issues with speaking up about what he thinks about serious, possibly life-chaning topics. Or maybe he's thinking of why he didn't tell anyone, especially not Ed, about the happiness he felt around him, how great he felt in his company, and how much love he felt for the man.

I can imagine this pretty early on in the season (as we know they reconcile or at least get a long decently early, from the leaked promo), and for some reason I have a picture of Stede laying slumped down on some form of furniture, ragdoll-style, whining about this to someone he knows: either Oluwande (probably the most probably option) or, hear me out, Spanish Jackie. I think she's going to become better friends with the Genital Pirate this season, and be a prevelant character to the narrative.

III) "Feel's like a storm's coming."

This happens during the rapid, quick scenes which we were just able to catch from the teaser. Where Jim is half submerged in water trying their best to reach for someone which I may think might be Ed, and Frenchie working the capstan for whatever purposes needed to hoist something heavy in a storm (don't look at me, I don't sail 18th-century ships). But look, Edward has his cravat on, the cravat given to him by Stede. Why he's kept this eludes me, since this should in theory be before their reconciliation, but we all know that Ed still loves Stede, and perhaps this is his way to hang onto him close to his heart while still matching his new aesthetic.

I would like to think that Ed is the one saying this. After all, he is an expert navigator and weatherman, proving his skills during his first appearances in the previous season. (However, I don't particularly trust his date-keeping skills. He messed up the first one, and then let his other date be held at gunpoint and scared into leaving. Tut tut tut) Another reason as to why I think this is because there is no pronoun indicating that he actively feels the storm, but more passed as a backhanded quip just thrown onto the crew and/or Izzy to alert them.

This could also be interpreted as a metaphor: symbolism for something, foreshadowing to the main plot or villain of the series, which will most likely result in some form of cliffhanger at the end, I tell you that.

I wonder if they're going to have another cloud scene though, talking about how they might show signs of storm. However, instead of shape I'd assume that they'd be commenting on a rather large-scale, dark rain-cloud, and connecting it to perhaps winds stronger than usual.

I also saw someone saying that it was possible that Edward, when he falls off the ship, looses the cravat amongst the waves, and that is why he doesn't have it to what I'd assume is after this scene.

IV) I love a good pirate's tale We can see from this scene that Stede is currently fighting on the beach in the same outfit which he had during the teaser, and if one looks closely you can see that he's excellently accessorised with a beautiful looped earring. However, what we've also learn is that the shot where Ed washes up on the beach is probably in the same scene as this, and by the look on Stede's face (probably augmented by the surrounding chaos) this may be the first time that he's seen Ed in a long time.

I think, as I've said before in previous posts, that Ed has been thrown off the ship in the storm mentioned above. He's been thrown off, and has happened to wash up on this same beach where Stede is fighting, which we know to be possible because of the automatic gaydar in OFMD. (What would be funny though is that he spotted Stede off the shore and decided to make his entrance super dramatic and kraken-like, but ends up just swallowing a shit ton of sea-water and gets his leather ruined, which is why he gets new clothes.)

Why he's fighting? I don't know. But I'm still sure that it's Ocracoke that they're on, because I'm convinced that it'll make an appearance this season—it has too, or else I will send in a formal complaint with our dearest Mr Jenkins.

Now, back to the main bit. The text. Who is it that says "I love a good pirate's tale?" I think that it's either said genuinely, but by someone like Stede, eager to hear about the adventures of experienced and famous seafaring pirates, OR flirtatiously, to insinuate something directed as a romantic quip to get Stede or someone else (a pirate) to talk more about himself. By who, I can't be sure, but I have a list of possible speakers:

Edward Teach

Spanish Jackie

Anne Bonny

Anne Bonny's campy friend

Lucius Spriggs

Stede Bonnet

If there's anything I've missed that you want me to add/change, which I find suitable, do tell.

I'm not sick at all. I'm a normal functioning member of society. I have a life.

chapter 1079 early scan spoilers

Okay, if you're reading this, you've read the early scans, and it's ridiculous that I guess the raws were available from about Tuesday (a day after official release), and I could read the actual early scans from late last night (Wednesday).

It's just too early. I blocked a bunch of people. I'm sorry. Like, I don't filter out the tag 'spoiler' cos you'll never see anything on tumblr, and I read the scans usually on Thurs or Fri to stop myself from getting spoiled.

Anything that came across my dash that wasn't under a cut, or without a long lead-in got the writer blocked. I'm sorry. I'm sure that I'm blocked on a number of lists too.

Alright, Sabo is not confirmed dead as yet, so I'm not taking this as Kid's demise until we get a further "Marco talking to Raizou (was it?) about Izou and loss" scene as some kind of confirmation. We've got a break next week, and then knowing Oda, this won't be mentioned again for some time.

Maybe Shanks will be pirate king, or having the road poneglyph will help him help Luffy. He's powerful, I'm still not convinced he's evil, perhaps amoral (which sometimes sounds worse than immoral) / super pragmatic. (Edit in): In his defence, he saw the future (destruction of the lesser fleets) and did check if Kid was healed before he "fought" him. Also, reports of Kids' rampaging (but the reader should be shown more of that too so that it carries weight).

The actions of Dorry and Brogy as retaliation for Kid's intention (so wipe out Victoria Punk and send all the Kid Pirates into the sea, Kid unconscious and Killer) were brutal, but Luffy really respects or views Kid as on his side and a strong fighter. (End of edit).

Oda has to give Shanks a show of strength, and Hawkins, Apoo and Drake were dealt with in Wano. Bonney's in Egghead, and we don't have enough of a back story for Urouge.

Okay, but Kid wasn't a small time player in Wano, and not way back in Sabaody. If we give him parallels with uncelebrated or under-acknowledged deaths, he played a bigger role than Izou, I'd say, but I'm a bit biased, in that Izou had a fairly big supporter's role in the Oden mini-arc. All the same, with the Big Mom defeat, it's messy for Oda to wipe Kid out so quickly and effectively, BUT then we saw Shanks stop the war at Marineford and stop Aramaki, but Kaidou gave him those scratches, and Kid was able to at least scratch Kaidou.

I am sure that the dudebros are now saying that because Shanks so easily defeated Kid, that Big Mom is obviously a lesser yonkou and Kid and Law's actions against her meant nothing. But she is and was terrifying, and Kid and Law did defeat her, and she has caused death and destruction wherever she went, so in opposition to all the pathetic power scalers out there, none of the three are or were weak.

SO, if Oda is in a race to the finish and just wants to get opposition out of the way, he'll need to wipe out Law too, I think. BUT, Blackbeard not only has Law, he has Pudding and Koby (and he might not have Law). Garp's on his way there, Helmeppo and others tagging along. So, yes, he's got about 6 (hundred) background storylines going on, but I feel that it would be messy of him to finish off Kid here. Or lazy.

Crossing my fingers that it's a Sabo kinda situation (cos I'm sure he's still around, or let's choose Pell, instead), rather than Pedro, cos that actually makes sense more than wiping out Kid for the sake of wrapping things up.

Articles

(Nominate a pirate here)

1. What counts as a pirate?

To count as a pirate they must: make a living by stealing things (or be known to steal things even if they don't do it on screen/page,) use a boat or ship as the primary vehicle for said theft, and not be working on behalf of any government

EDIT: Their primary living must come from theft. A smuggler who does some light theft on the side does not count as a pirate, though a pirate might do some light smuggling once in a while. (With apologies to Han Solo and the crew of Serenity.)

2. Does the pirate have to be fictional?

For the sake of fairness, yes. We can know everything about a fictional character, but not a real person.

However, fictionalized depictions of real people are fine: so you can't nominate the real Blackbeard, but you could nominate Blackbeard from OFMD, Blackbeard from Black Sails, Blackbeard from Crossbones, Blackbeard from Percy Jackson, Blackbeard from One Piece, Blackbeard from Once Upon A Time, Blackbeard from Pirates of the Caribbean, Blackbeard from Assassin's Creed, or Blackbeard from Legends of Tomorrow

3. Can I vote for the one I like best, instead of the one I think would win in a fight?

I can't control your actions. If you want to let your feelings interfere with a very serious and scientific tumblr poll, then I can't stop you. But the question we are trying to answer here is, 'what pirate would beat all the other pirates in hand-to-hand combat?'

4. What if one of the pirates is immortal?

For the sake of poll integrity, if they can't be killed, we will say they can lose the fight by being knocked unconscious.

5. Are you associated with the original Pirate Battle?

No.

One Piece Negators, Yonko Edition

Whitebeard, Unbalance - normally only works for knocking over buildings, but that may be because the original user was an architect in canon, so we’ll say that Whitebeard reinterpreted it to apply to anything that can hold itself up

Marco, Unsick - negates illnesses in others, but through reinterpretation, Marco gained the ability to treat wounds as well. [Note: I originally gave this to Chopper, but I realized that Chopper’s powers aren’t healing-based, he just is a doctor. Marco however has literal healing powers, so it works better for him]

Big Mom, Unspirit - allows Big Mom to remove a targets soul, leaving their body a husk. By reinterpreting her Rule, Big Mom gained the ability to remove portions of a soul, diminishing lifespan and allowing her to animate inanimate objects with the souls. Zeus (Kinto’un), Prometheus (still Prometheus) and Napoleon (Skull and Bones) are Artifacts that she animated with stolen souls

Katakuri, Unsurprised - allows Katakuri to accurately see into the future, though his actions can prevent the future he sees. The sticky properties of the Mochi Mochi Fruit are replicated through the Artifact, Candy Man

Kaido, Unmatched - increases Kaido’s physical abilities proportional to his opponents so that he is always superior

King, Unharmed - prevents King from taking damage; similar to Juiz's sword in canon, he has taken on UMA Burn’s flames, allowing him to weaponize them without being hurt by them

Shanks, Undeniable - allows Shanks to exert his will onto others of lesser willpower; abilities like Katakuri’s Unsurprised cannot be used to deny the future Shanks wishes to enact [Note: this is based on Shanks’ high affinity for Conqueror’s Haki and the fact that he can block future sight, but it may change once we learn more about his fighting style]

Beckman, Unforgettable - grants Beckman eidetic memory, allowing him to utilize all knowledge he has ever attained perfectly in any given situation [Note: this is based on Beckman’s status as the smartest known non-scientist One Piece character and his strategic skill, subject to change]

Blackbeard, Unable - negates the abilities and powers of others, both Negator and UMA; darkness abilities come from a partnership with UMA Shadow and earthquake abilities either come from UMA Quake or Artifact Tremors

Burgess, Unburdened - negates the weight of objects he carries, allowing him to lift essentially anything with ease. He only uses his power while lifting the object, returning its weight while attacking so the target is hit with the full force of it

Buggy, Unslice - negates all cutting damage; Buggy can still be cut, but he can reassemble himself without harm. Reinterpreting his Rule allows him to control the disparate pieces at will

Alvida, Unfriction - removes all friction from Alvida’s body, forcing any and all attacks to simply slide off of her body

I posted 23,351 times in 2022

62 posts created (0%)

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Blogs I reblogged the most:

@hidingoutbackstage

@hotvampireadjacent

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I tagged 15,268 of my posts in 2022

Only 35% of my posts had no tags

#ofmd - 1,835 posts

#critical role - 1,417 posts

#video - 1,398 posts

#edward teach - 989 posts

#blackbeard - 981 posts

#aew - 657 posts

#stede bonnet - 645 posts

#homestuck - 632 posts

#exu calamity - 546 posts

#cr3 - 542 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#loved how initally all the leftists were like 'oh it was possibly because of all these conservative policies and actions that abe has commit

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

People say that plinko horse and the children’s hospital joke are the same in how they are overused jokes but we need to understand there is a strong difference. Plinko horse is running the normal tumblr joke cycle of relative popularity into constant barrages of the joke on everyone’s dash until it will eventually smolder down once enough edits have been done to it, with some people hating plinko, and others still having fondness for plinko. The children’s hospital joke is so fucking different because it has been around for fuckin YEARS and only had moderate popularity, and then all of a sudden it rose up from the ashes and people decided it was actually much funnier this go around than it’s original tumblr joke cycle

47 notes - Posted January 5, 2022

#4

if it is ethan whos writing the messages in the walls i think its very fitting and a powerful family trait that ethan is desperately writing to his child “PLEASE GET THE FUCK OUR OF HERE YOU DIED HERE ONCE PLEASE DONT DIE AGAIN” and rose going “well now i really have to check this out”

56 notes - Posted June 13, 2022

#3

every day i think about giorno being mixed and how the racism he experienced from that influencing how he presented himself

66 notes - Posted May 10, 2022

#2

“The gnome is a combo of the ai’s from hlvrai, the gnome is its own original ai, the gnome is broken-” you fools. The gnome is the son of final pam, specifically metal baby

73 notes - Posted January 19, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Stoker really said “you fuckers think you can be hot for vampires? ok then let me remind you they literally eat multiple babies”

230 notes - Posted June 24, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

The Dancing Pirate

by blackbeardsboylass

Edward Teach, renowned silent film actor, is tired of the same-old action stunt movies. I mean, he doesn't even do his own stunts anymore. After falling into a wannabe actor's car, the introduction of sound, and one poor test screening; Ed realizes that to save his career, he needs a major re-filming, re-editing, and the help of a beautiful blond. Will love and music prevail, or will Ed be stuck with his macho image and clingy co-star? -- It's a Singin' in the Rain AU. Ed is Don Lockwood, Stede is Kathy Selden, Izzy is Lina Lamont, and the rest of the crew is Cosmo Brown. This will be a light-hearted, quick AMAU. -- Originally posted on: https://twitter.com/shoshannahnah/status/1575731293026865152

Words: 1471, Chapters: 2/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Our Flag Means Death (TV)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Blackbeard | Edward Teach, Stede Bonnet, Israel Hands, Frenchie (Our Flag Means Death), Oluwande Boodhari, Lucius Spriggs, Crew of the Revenge (Our Flag Means Death)

Relationships: Blackbeard | Edward Teach/Stede Bonnet

Additional Tags: Singin' in the Rain AMAU, smau, amau, Social Media AU, analog media au, Mixed Media, Alternate Universe - Singin' in the Rain (1952) Fusion

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/42043827

Thoughts on the OFMD s1 finale: The complexity of being human

Okay, folks. Welcome to another OFMD-meta edition. I just can't get over a few interesting connections my brain made when rewatching OFMD for the something-something-billionth time:

What if Ed is actually NOT suppressing his Edness?

What if he made a conscious decision to go back to being Blackbeard/The Kraken in order to protect their Stede's crew?

*spoilers ahead*

Listen, we KNOW Ed is heartbroken. We know it's his first heartbreak, and as show-runner David Jenkins said, that really fucks him up. But, this isn't a first-time heartbreak of a teenage boy. This is still a middle-aged man who has seen some shit in his time.

Here's the thing about being a somewhat-functional, 40+-year-old person who has seen some shit: You get really good at still reasoning and problem-solving while concurrently feeling like a complete manure pile. Grief often shows up when you don't have time to stop (or at least, not for as long as you want to). Gotta still look after the kids (if you have any), go to work to pay the bills, holy shit pay the bills (!!!), eat enough so you can still function, take the car in for repair (cause it's like a universal law that it has to break while you're grieving), get a rental car and/or take the bus around while it's being fixed, etc...

So, given Ed's age, his success as renowned pirate (who isn't actually isn't a complete ruthless), and his vast experience with chronic shit piles of societal, generational, and inter-relational traumas, I'd love to see his actions at the end of the finale to be a testament to the complexity of dealing with heartbreak and grief while still trying to function as an adult in whatever world you inhabit (i.e, being a ruthless pirate).

The facts season 1 established that set up the complexity of his character:

-Blackbeard/Ed was established as a "strategic genius" -He clearly loves a good Fuckery™ -He really embraced the "found family" of Stede's ship even after being abandoned on that dock by Stede (per his leaning on them for support through his heartbreak). -He only went back to his Blackbeard persona after Izzy literally threatened his life. Meaning, he realized in that moment that being openly soft™ through his heartbreak meant he was endangered himself and Stede's crew by being easy targets to any "normal" pirate (like Izzy). (And he's not really in the right headspace for being able to really protect all of them rn.) -He chose to keep Jim and Frenchie on the ship while putting the others on the island. -He also chose to not directly, explicitly kill any of Stede's crew.

What can this all mean???

Maybe, just maybe his actions with the crew (i.e., Lucius, the island and such) was a Fuckery actually intended to protect them???

So what would this look like?

Here's my head cannon for the "Save the Crew Fuckery™" (provided for free if some amazing fanfic author wants to use any of it):

The crew members abandoned on the island are the ones who Izzy could easily double-cross, kill, and/or injure easily either onboard the ship or by Izzy putting them on impossible and dangerous missions.

I personally am thinking that island was: 1) Close to an important port such that ships go by there a lot (and would be why Stede to could reach them fairly quickly); and/or 2) Is in the middle of a popular route for merchant ships and a crew dressed as an acting troupe would be very likely to be rescued from said island--especially with the whole, "We were stranded here by Blackbeard!" story. (Versus the unlikeliness of them being rescued if they look like a bunch of hobo-pirates.)

Jim can take care of themself (i.e., Is safe from Izzy) and clearly will not be fucked with by anyone on BB's original crew.

Frenchie is a FANTASTIC grifter (like, "Leverage" level grifter) as seen during his "Egyptian Prince" scam. So he can run a scam around anyone in BB's original crew (including Izzy) and could come in handy for any future Fuckery Ed needs him for (like...idk...keeping an eye on Izzy without Izzy realizing it).

Ed just might have planned for Lucius to be saved (via scheming with Fang and/or Ivan). He did this because he knew he needed to appear to go "full Blackbeard/Kraken" for Izzy to back off. So, he planned a Fuckery in which he appears to publicly (i.e., out on the deck of the ship) kill Lucius. Also, Lucius would've been smart enough to suspect something was up when being taken to that island, while also simultaneously not being smart enough to not say something about his suspicions. So he couldn't be put there with the others--hence, the alternative option of letting him hide out in the hidden compartments on the ship.

That last scene of him crying next to the window/looking at the lighthouse painting becomes so much more in this context. He's simultaneously dealing with heartbreak/abandoment stuff while also morning the loss of his co-parent-captain and the fact that he can't act as their lighthouse alone*.

Ed getting rid of Stede's things could be part of the Fuckery, but I think it's actually a part of the heartbreak (i.e., he's hit the "anger" stage of grieving.)

*So, all this head cannon goes pretty well with my thoughts (posted here) on the lighthouse analogy also representing found family--and of Ed & Stede being the parents of the family. Cause Ed can't be a guide alone. He needs Stede as his partner to really supply the guiding light the crew needs in order for them all to stay safe.

I've Rambled About Our Flag Means Death Once or Twice

This is going to be an ongoing masterlist for all the OFMD stuff my brain does - it's somewhat organized by its subject/style with little descriptions! But if you wanna check out my fics or drabbles... Click Here!

Art: Ed has a big Kraken Tattoo on his back Fanart + Mitski's A Burning Hill

Stede diving into dangerous waters to save Ed from the Kraken Fanart + Mitski's Pearl Diver

Edits: Lovers? Partners in Crime? - a BlackBonnet edit of scenes from Eps. 8 & 9 to FINNEAS’ Partners in Crime

Clips: Look at Roach being the cutest crewmate ever, please

Wee John Playing the Piano - god I love him so fucking much

Proper Thoughts:

Their Flag Means Death, Because They May Begin Again - a short comparison between the title of the show and Lucius's line in ep 10 and what they mean thematically for The Revenge operating as a safe haven

Ed and Stede didn't believe they were really allowed to love until it happened

How Ed and Stede learned about Love - long post analyzing how Ed/Stede's lives affected their perceptions of love and how they realized they loved each other

How Ed and Stede Mask themselves - long post analyzing how Ed/Stede's lives have shaped how they walk through the world. Ed learned to mask through his personality to survive while Stede learned to mask through his actions to survive.

Stede was so Traumatized, can we not bully him please? - I know Stede leaving Ed hurt, and I hope we're all just being silly, but bestie went through a lot over the course of the show.

Why Stede believes he breaks beautiful things - short summary of all the bad things Stede blames himself for in Ed's life, aka why Chancey was so easily able to convince him to stay away even after he died

What if Stede told his crew he was worried he was cursed in S2? - Frenchie and Buttons are going to assure him it's not as silly as it seems. It's very serious.

Mary's Painting and Stede's Model Ship - a comparison on the gifts they gave each other on their anniversary and what they meant

I think Stede got dressed to leave a long time before he left - a smaller analysis on all the building stresses in Stede's life that led him to wear his day clothes under his pajamas (which I believe he did for many nights before) the night he left.

Who is Stede as a Father? - an analysis on how Stede behaves with his bio children in contrast to his crew children

Stede Bonnet is Bound by Duty - analysis + headcanons of Stede's relationship with responsibility and how it lead to him and Mary having Alma and Louis despite their lack of affection

What would happen if Ed tried to call Stede his "baby"?

Ed mentioned dying to a jungle cat, and maybe he'll hear about Stede and worry it was his fault he died like that

Let's not compare Ed to an Abusive Ex, thanks - a response to someone saying Ed becoming Blackbeard post-Stede/Izzy was like an Abusive Ex, they also compared OFMD to GO which- no

If only Ed had asked Buttons for Advice before Izzy broke him

Why Ed thought he had to kill Lucius

Izzy Hands was what really broke Ed - Stede leaving Ed really hurt him, but among his crew he was actually healing, until Izzy threatened him. That's when he spiraled.

Izzy Hands and why he's willing to break Edward to secure his hold on Power - a long analysis specifically comparing the interactions Izzy has with Ed in Episode 4 vs. 10 and why he does the most detestable things in the finale

Ed x Mitski's Francis Forever and Remember My Name - a messy analysis of Ed's character rollercoaster compared to two beautiful Mitski songs

I want Ed to have a "You're a Bad Friend" Moment with Izzy

Izzy called him "Ed" as a power move, Stede calls him "Ed" because he loves him

Izzy doesn't love Blackbeard, he loves controlling him - long analysis about how I see all the different scenes between Ed and Izzy, and it looks more and more like Izzy barely even cares about him and is just trying to gather as much control as possible.

Anyone else notice Izzy being racist in Ep 9?

Silly Stuff: Voltron Rhys Darby is why I started OFMD

What are Ed's Tattoos?! I NEED TO KNOW!

I thought Ed was gonna fuck Lucius in that one scene tbh

Black Pete's going to go from Blackbeard #1 fan to his biggest hater when S2 drops and I'm so excited

The Crew of The Revenge has called Stede "Mom", you can't convince me otherwise

Rhys and Method acting for Stede Bonnet? Fucking Never.

I love Stede making sure Bridgetown leaves Ned alone after his fuckery

I put together some thoughts on character redemption, particularly regarding Izzy and Ed. Whole thing under the cut:

It’s true that Izzy and Ed (and really all the pirates) come from a culture of abuse, as Stede expresses in Episode 1, where they were likely abused, AND it’s true that trauma does not excuse your actions of hurting other people.

Ed came from an abusive home and the Blackbeard persona likely was constructed to protect him, but he’s also the same person who was cutting off people’s toes and making them eat em (he was doing this before Ep 10) and having people skinned. Maybe he “outsources the big job,” but he still gives the order.

Stede says in Episode 1, “Traditionally, piracy is a culture of abuse; floggings, keelhaulings. And my thought is, ‘Why?’ And also, what if it weren’t like that?” As we see with Ed’s arc, this show is about healing. I think it would be wasteful storytelling if all the main characters weren’t given an opportunity to heal, including Izzy.

Now redeeming a character is hard; lots of shows try to do it and do it poorly. The best example we all know is Zuko, and I think Zuko’s redemption worked so well because he not only realized what he was doing wrong, but he also apologized and made the effort to repair his relationships with the people he hurt. He did this over and over again and we see that he means it. The show makes it clear that his abuse by Ozai is a reason for why Zuko acts the way he does, but it isn’t an excuse.

If any of the OFMD characters are gonna be redeemed, they also need to realize what they did wrong, apologize, and actively and consistently work to make things better. This is gonna take a lot to be able to unpack all the bizarre shit inside Izzy’s head, so I sincerely hope the show gets another couple of seasons to properly flesh everything out and not rush anything. I think they’re doing a pretty okay job with Ed so far; he realizes he’s done some shit things and has been getting better with the help of Stede and the Revenge crew. He doesn’t want to go back to “...drinking all day and biting the heads off turtles, or making some poor bloke eat his own toes as a laugh.” And he was starting to heal from Stede’s abandonment until Izzy dragged him down and started the Kraken thing. But in future seasons, we need Ed facing the consequences for pushing Lucius overboard, Izzy facing the consequences of generally being a dick and provoking Ed into the Kraken persona, Stede facing the consequences of just leaving Ed without saying anything, etc.

Tldr: I hope all the characters get a happy ending complete with growth and healing and friendship, because this show is about healing and love. I also hope that Izzy gets redeemed because imo he’s too important of a character to be killed off. And I also really really hope that if they do go down the route of redeeming him, that they do it properly. These characters are grown adults who can and should take responsibility for their actions well apparently the real Izzy Hands was 16 but whatever.

And yes this show is a romantic comedy and yes most of the violence is played for laughs, but we know the show has the potential to be serious and thus deserves serious thought put into it.

Edit because I had one more thought: I have no ideas for how exactly to redeem Izzy. Fuck if I know a good way to go about it, I just want it to be entertaining and well-written lmao

Hey Sanjuno, how are you holding up in current times? I love your fics! Would you be willing to share something from ‘those who favour fire’? A snippet or just some meta, I don’t care, I just love that story. Thank you and have a good day!

I’m holding up okay. Better than most, anyway.

So because I’ve gone and created a crew for Riot I need to edit some of the flashback scenes in Those Who Favour Fire because yeah I totally stole the drunk ducking trio and shunted them into Wildfire Hearts instead.

...

Have a snippet to tide you over.

=/=

OP: TWFF

“The Baratie, huh?” Ace scratched his chin as he thought. Back in his first life, before Ace had really realized how deep Blackbeard’s evil ran, he had met up with the Straw-hat Pirates as they rampaged through Alabasta. Ace had been determined to catch and punish the brother killing traitor back then, but he had not been so hyper focused on his revenge that he neglected his duty as a big brother. One by one, Ace had cornered each member of Luffy’s crew and questioned them extensively as only a paranoid elder brother could. So extensively, in fact, that there was a good chance that Ace knew more about the personal histories of the Straw-hat pirate crewmembers than Luffy had bothered learning.

Ace knew that Luffy had found Sanji on the Baratie. More than that, Ace knew that Red Shoes Zeff had founded the ocean-going restaurant after being shipwrecked and nearly starving to death. Zeff had given Sanji all the food, and ate his own leg rather than take the food away from the blond child. It was a deep bond forged from personal sacrifice that made Ace wonder more than once how Zeff had ever managed to convince Sanji to leave. The point of all this though, was that if Sanji was the same age as the rest of his past-future crewmates then there was a very good chance that Sanji and Zeff were still recovering from the starvation damage.

So far their journey away from Dawn Island had been an eerie echo of the stories Ace had been told about an older Luffy gathering his crew in the East Blue. Luck and accident and happenstance. Was this the Will of D in action? Even a life and a death and a world apart, were the Strawhat Pirates meant to come together and be nakama?

“Ah, too much thinking!” Ace slumped over the rail with a pout. “My head hurts now.”

His heart hurt now. When would Ace’s crewmates make their appearance? The Spade Pirates might have been absorbed into Whitebeard’s crew in the end, but they had been Ace’s crew first and foremost. Ace knew that the chances of meeting Pops and the others on friendly terms was vanishingly unlikely, so the least compensation the world could provide would be Ace’s Spades showing up to be recruited again.

After all the headaches they had caused him with their antics, Ace had never imagined that he would miss them all so much. More so even than Thatch and Marco… after all, the Spades had been Ace’s people first, last, and always. The only people he had ever picked for himself, other than Sabo and Luffy. Sands and shells, Ace hoped that they had refrained from doing anything too stupid after he had died back in the old world. Especially Deuce. Ace’s former First Mate got nasty even by New World standards when he was vindictive.

With a sigh, Ace tipped his hat down over his eyes. Stupid insomnia, he was exhausted but nightmares kept him from getting any rest. At this rate his narcolepsy would stop being funny and start being a liability.

Damn it, he would worry about this shit after securing them a decent cook.

=/=

More One Piece Negators, Shichibukai Edition

Crocodile, Unsplash - normally used to negate fluidity, but with proper reinterpretation of its Rules, Crocodile can use Unsplash to negate fluids themselves, reducing objects to dust by removing their moisture. [Note: I went with Unsplash because Splash is the only water-based UMA we’ve met so far, but Unquench could also work]

Mihawk, Unaffiliated - negates Mihawk’s associations, preventing anyone from considering themselves his ally; to circumvent this, Mihawk does not consider transactional relationships as affiliations, allowing him to be around those who at least stand something to gain from him

Moria, Unconscious - Moria can rob the consciousness from a victim; originally he could only knock the victim out, but later learned he could use the stolen consciousness to animate corpses or borrow the owner’s knowledge or power temporarily

Kuma, Unadjacent- negates the proximity of objects by pushing them away; can even push away concepts like pain

Hancock, Unrequited - if a target feels desire for Hancock and she does not reciprocate, she is able to turn them into stone, making them fragile and allowing her to crush them as she does their hearts

Doflamingo, Uncontrol- allows Doflamingo to force a target to behave in a way that they do not wish to, negating their control over their own body; the more resistant to the action they are, the greater control he has; cannot use this ability on opponents with Rules like Luffy’s Unrestrained that prevent inhibitions

Weevil, Unoriginal - by emulating someone else, Weevil is able to produce a facsimile of their abilities, although weaker or more limited in some ways. [Note: we don’t actually know what Weevil’s abilities are like in canon yet, so I’m just basing this on him emulating Whitebeard. Once we know what he can do, I’ll probably change this]

Not including Law, Buggy, Jinbe or Blackbeard since they’re in other posts, but funny enough that means this list is almost entirely the original seven with the exception of Weevil replacing Jinbe. Funny how that works out

Sundance 2021: Day 5

Films: 4 Best Film of the Day(s): Judas and the Black Messiah

Prisoners of the Ghostland: For years now, Nicolas Cage has found projects that allow him  —  at this point, encourage him  —  to indulge his innermost acting Id. Never particularly one for thespian discipline before (with a few notable exceptions), he’s been freed of these petty restraints in favor of further and further unhinged “performances” that consist of his hyperbolic, twisted up line-readings and little more. For this film, he’s teamed up with Japanese gonzo auteur Sion Sono in a bizarre, cultural mash-up that includes western, samurai, comic book noir, and sci-fi all colliding together in a tedious heap. Playing largely without rules does allow for an exploration of creative impulses, but without narrative drive, or stakes of any real kind (beyond Cage’s character’s testicles  —  don’t ask), the film drowns itself in nonsensical, self-conscious oddities, with everyone seemingly taking the direction to “act weird!” until it all bleeds together. Even Cage’s various Cagisms (“Tes-ti-CAAAAL!”) get lost to the cacophony. Be careful what you wish for, Nic.

Cusp: The specific physical details change and evolve a bit, but much of the thrust of the American coming-of-age doc remains as fixed as a mountain range. Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt’s film, about a trio of teen friends growing up in small-town Texas over the course of a long summer, hits many of the usual sorts of points: With not much else to do, the kids amuse themselves with endless smoking, boozing, and drugging (and, this being Texas, an alarming amount of playing with firearms), get into and out of relationships they think might be love before they aren’t, and disagree vehemently with their parents, and the choices they’ve made in their lives. Still, Autumn, Brittney, and Aaloni each have their own burdens to carry  —  Autumn and Brittney are both abuse survivors, Aaloni’s father seems callous and harsh to all of his children to the point that they all hate him  —  and the intimacy with which Hill and Bethencourt’s camera captures their struggles and experiences is refreshingly candid, especially in the day of the endless social media montage. The young women are caught somewhere between child and adult, but unavoidably hurtling forward, an understanding we are all forced into accepting, but hasn’t yet hit them. “I’m sixteen,” one of them says near the end, “I have forever to go.”

Night of the Kings: On the evening of a blood-red moon at the MACA prison deep in the heart of the jungle in the Ivory Coast, a new, young inmate (Bakary Koné), having just been named “Roman” by the reigning Dangoro, Blackbeard (Steve Tientcheu), is forced to tell a story to the rest of the inmates as an entertainment. As soon as he has finished, he’s been warned, he will be put to death. Ivory Coast director Philippe Lacote, who grew up in the city of Abidjan, where Roman’s story takes place, has created a sort of recrafting of Arabian Nights, with Roman as its Scheherazade. The thing is, as Roman begins to stammer out his story, attempting to elongate it as much as possible in order to stay alive, the inmates make it a fully interactive affair, jumping in to demonstrate the action Roman describes, breaking into songs glorifying the characters he creates, and responding favorably or unfavorably to every detail as he lays it out to them. In this way, Roman’s halting, confusing story  —  which changes time frames, and details as Roman rethinks them  —  becomes a collective experience of the entire prison, even as Lass (Abdoul Karim Konaté), a rival to the ailing Blackbeard, plans his overthrow. Ironically, Roman’s story might not rise up to the mythic elements he keeps trying to interject, but the film’s story  —  with its colorful cast of descriptive-name characters (Half-Mad, Razor Blade, Sexy, Petrol), magic realism components, and multilayered intrigue, plays like its own sort of myth.

Judas and the Black Messiah: It’s maybe one person out of 100 who would actually act in the best interest of everybody else instead of themselves. Which means there are about 99 who would look out for themselves, if push came to shove. Shaka King’s shattering film about Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya), the charismatic chairman of the Chicago sect of the Black Panther party in the late ‘60s, and William O’Neal (Lakeith Stanfield), the man who would betray him to the FBI, is a testament to this most egregious human principle  —  memorialized, as the film’s title strongly asserts, in the Bible  —  and one of the confounding bedrocks of human civilization. Hampton was a young man when he became the chairman of his chapter, and his successes immediately grabbed the attention of J. Edgar Hoover (here played by Martin Sheen), who was obsessed with the idea that the Civil Rights movement had inlaid ties with the communists. Putting pressure on his Chicago office to diffuse Hampton, agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons) brings in O’Neal, recently busted for impersonating a Fed, and offers him a chance at his freedom, but at the cost of playing snitch on “Chairman Fred.” King, who co-wrote the screenplay, boils to story down to its essence without getting needlessly choked in the details. We see Hampton’s savvy, and his ability to connect with people of any creed or color  —  easily, the most frightening element of his program to the FBI was the so-called “Rainbow Coalition” that banded together the Panthers with black street gangs, but also Puerto Rican groups, and, shockingly, all-white coalitions, all untied under the rubric of being poor and abused by Chicago’s notoriously corrupt and racist police department —  but also, his absolute belief in keeping political power in the hands of the people, not the government. King’s film features absolutely blazing performances from its two male leads, in addition to a strong turn by Dominique Fishback, as Hampton’s wife, Deborah Johnson, and a strong, driving narrative focus that keeps the line taut, even if you know exactly what’s coming. King manages to portray Hampton in purely human terms, grounded in the reality of the struggle, and avoids needlessly deifying him in the process. It’s true, O’Neal, though the primary protagonist, remains more unexplored  —  this isn’t The Killing of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, exactly  —  but Stanfield gives enough breadth to the performance to keep the film properly balanced. It’s shatteringly good.

Sundance goes mostly virtual for this year’s edition, sparing filmgoers the altitude, long waits, standing lines, and panicked eating binges  —  but also, these things and more that make the festival so damn endearing. In any event, Sundance via living room is still a hell of a lot better than no Sundance. A daily report.