we don’t know for sure if Stede’s father is still alive or not, but assuming he hasn’t kicked the bucket just yet, please consider a fic where he meets The Gentleman Pirate out on the open sea.

Post-canon, post-reconciliation, The Revenge raids a merchant ship and discovers Mr. Bonnet on board. They take him hostage, or rather invite him to stay on the ship as a guest and quickly realize that they probably would have been better off killing him. He constantly belittles Stede, both to his face and behind his back, calling him a fake pirate and demeaning him for leaving his old life behind and tarnishing the family reputation. The crew watch as Stede shrinks into a hollow shell of himself and loses all the confidence he has gained. Ed offers to help get rid of Mr. Bonnet, preferably in a way that’s very permanent, but Stede won’t let him. Even if he’s a dick, he’s still his father. And besides, Stede reasons, he wouldn’t be saying all those things if they weren’t at least a little bit true.

The issue is that Mr. Bonnet is also a racist, classist asshole and isn’t just cruel to Stede but the whole crew as well. The only one he even vaguely approves of is Izzy, because “if you’re going to be a pirate, Stede, you might as well be a proper one.” And maybe Ed was once Blackbeard but the version Mr. Bonnet meets is much too soft, and in his opinion, not white enough. Stede does eventually stand up for himself, and it is initially because he hears the crew complaining about his father’s treatment of them. Because while he can stand people insulting him, he will not abide anyone making his crew, his family, feel like they aren’t welcome on their own ship.

However, once he gets the ball moving, it just won’t stop and he soon ends up ranting about how he hates all the things his father says about him. How he hates that he’s spent so long hating himself because of his father’s words. How he hates that he managed to overcome that self hatred and make a life for himself, a life where he’s happy, just for his father to come back and ruin that peace. How he hates that a part of him wishes his father had died in the raid before Stede saw him. Stede pours his heart out to his father, with tears in his eyes and Ed and his crew by his side. He speaks his truth and at first, it seems like it might make a difference.

Except it doesn’t. Stede finishes his speech and Mr. Bonnet isn’t impressed. Instead, he just begins scolding him, getting angry at Stede for “giving him backlash” and after everything he’s done for him too. Ultimately, the only difference is that this time Stede refuses to listen to that crap.

He may not be willing to directly kill his father, but he has no qualms leaving him in a dinghy with a couple days’ worth of rations and a pair of oars. They’re on a trading route, a ship will probably come by and pick him up soon. And if one doesn’t, well, it won’t be easy, but the shore is still in rowing distance. He’s sure his father will be fine.

Although that doesn’t prevent him from crying into Ed’s chest the moment they’re alone. He’s unsure whether they’re tears of grief or relief or both, but they’re loud and messy and wet. It seems that cutting off a loved one is always difficult, even when you know they probably never loved you back.