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plantsjustwannahavefun · 7 months

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I keep seeing so many people here getting angry that this season is "vilifying Ed", and it's depressingly fascinating to see how others can watch the same show and somehow see something completely different. Is it simply the lack of media literacy? Is it the inability to appreciate and enjoy complex, nuanced, morally grey characters without willfully blocking out anything even slightly unpalatable about them to the point where the character they think they love isn't really that character anymore?

Because, uh... Season 1 already "vilified" Ed plenty. Except "vilify" is the wrong word, of course. It wasn't in any way malicious or mean-spirited, quite the contrary, it was often played as comedic (until the end of episode 10 when it was anything but) - Ed was always meant to be a sympathetic character, he's a protagonist after all, and the show's portrayal of him is very compassionate. It merely refused to sugarcoat or shy away from his darker side. He's literally history's most famous pirate, you don't become one by being nice and treating everyone gently. He ambushed and strangled his own father to death when he was like 9 years old (100% deserved and justifiable ofc, but it still bears saying it out loud like this just to comprehend how unhinged this actually was). He loves torturing and maiming people for fun, and sometimes even animals (that scene with forcing a turtle to fight a crab). He didn't give a fuck about his crew members dying to satisfy his whim to meet Stede. He entirely failed in his role as a captain in ep 4. He effectively played a double agent with Izzy and Stede for a while before changing his mind. He attempted to murder Lucius. And while you could try to argue his punishment of Izzy was at least to some degree deserved, not only cutting Izzy's toe off but forcing him to eat went beyond punishment, it was sadistic torture.

So, yeah, please just read all that and take it in. And then remember once again that Ed is also a traumatised, lonely, depressed, sensitive, creative, curious, deeply passionate person yearning for true love and for something different in life... just like Stede. He loves music and can play the piano. He wrote a very vulnerable song and sand his heart out. He likes his tea with seven sugars. He enjoys fashion and dressing up. He has such a limitless sense of wonder for the world. He went on a trek with Stede just to make him happy, even though he hated nature and was in a shit mood that day. He wants to host a talent show. He wants to become free. He's clever and funny and fascinating. I love Ed.

Yes, it's possible to reconcile those two sides of him and accept both sides as the "real" Ed. You have to reconcile the two sides if you want to enjoy him as a character, because if you don't, you're going to either detest him to the core (which would make enjoying the show practically impossible since he's sort of a main character...), or you'll only be able to enjoy a diminished, crippled, cardboard cutout version of his character, which would be such a pity and a massive disservice to the creators of this show who worked hard to create interesting, multidimensional characters.

Not to mention you'd be missing one of the core messages of the show - the idea that people still deserve love and can be loved even if they're imperfect, or not necessarily good people. Because love is a human condition. It's not a sole dominion of "good" people. "Bad" people can fall in love too - even if, just like them, that love isn't exactly "nice" or "pure", and neither are the relationships that stem from it. They can be messy and exasperating. But "bad" people can also grow and change because of it. That's what OFMD is ultimately about - growth and change, learning to accept yourself but also become better. That can't happen if the character is already 100% perfect the way they are.Ed is far from that. So is Izzy. They can both become better, and they both still deserve compassion and understanding, because that's the environment people need to become better.

So, if you're mad that at the start of S2 the crew are sympathetic to Izzy's suffering and want to help him instead of kicking him when he's down, and what Ed did to him is being acknowledged as cruel and wrong... congratulations, you have completely missed what OFMD is all about.

#normally I hate fandom drama and hate getting involved but I've seen too many of those posts #so unfortunately it needs saying #and tbh there seem to be a few Izzy fans out there who are unreasonably hateful and unsympathetic towards Ed too #so they need to hear this as well #izzy hands #blackbeard #ofmd ed teach #ofmd #our flag means death #our flag means death s2 #ofmd s2 spoilers

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bakasara · 6 months

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Trying to parse my thoughts on Izzy's death and why I had a different reaction to it than I thought I would. To summarize: I thought I wouldn't like it, but also that they wouldn't do it; the opposite happened– they did it but I'm ok with it.

I'm also feeling like talking through some mourning for an amazing character, so follow along if that's you, too 😌

(I should probably clarify the following thoughts are coming from someone who deeply enjoyed this season.)

I first wondered what would be of Izzy around the end of season 1. I expected him to have a heel-face turn – which I object to calling a redemption arc and I'll get into why, because the distinction ties into his death imo. A lot of antagonistic characters' changes of heart end directly in death, but I thought they'd subvert that trope. And they... did, actually, despite Izzy dying. Not an option I had imagined.

What the show avoided is the logic, the set of tropes attached to the deaths of this kind of character. These deaths usually come as a consequence of the character's changed ethics or "redemption". My being against that scenario came from the diverging natures of traditional redemption arcs and OFMD's rhetoric.

A traditional redemption arc functions by a kind of catholic logic, if you will: the villain can become one of the good guys by balancing out his "sins"/bad deeds with enough good deeds to tip a moral scale. This often involves a purifying suffering, which acts as an agent to expiate one's faults. To the viewer, this suffering can serve to activate our empathy and make the character more sympathetic. It can also legitimize his quest: our trust in the character's good intentions comes from seeing that the character is ready to make sacrifices to become better and he isn't deterred by the hardships of doing the right thing.

The death occurring at the end of a traditional redemption arc acts as the ultimate sacrifice and/or purification. A number of ideas might be at play behind it, depending on each story: only in death can the soul become fully pure, or a final sacrifice is "needed" to demonstrate the change once and for all, or change was only possible up to a point after which there is no viable/acceptable future – the character deserves moral points for changing, but not so many that he also deserves a full life, or past crimes make him more expendable, etc.

But these are all ideas that aren't evoked in any of the crew's journey in OFMD. For starters, the show isn't interested in "catholic" redemption; its focus is on reintegration/rehabilitation into the community. Rather than appealing to the more traditional (in Western media) and more christian principle of "purification of the soul through mortification of the body", it plays with notions of restorative justice.

We see it especially this season with Ed and Izzy. Ed's arc is a whole little lab for it. We have the community being made to decide whether he can stay or should leave; catbell!Ed is made to apologize to the people affected – which he initially does abysmally, with what fandom has dubbed his "CEO's/YouTube apology". Later, he's given the opportunity to have a more honest and genuine conversation with Fang where he learns about how he hurt him. He's made to repair some of the material damage his behavior caused. Some members feel repaid by the idea that they did to him the same he did to them (Fang) while others don't (Lucius), and the show touches on what this means for each/legitimizes both feelings. Arguably, Ed using his treasure to throw Calypso's birthday party – a much needed refrain and moment of social (re-)connection within the community – is an additional form of reparation. While Stede's belief in Ed has a clear role in helping Ed change for the better, Izzy's s2 journey focuses even more intensely on the role of social support within an individual's constructive (re-)integration into their community. The show is condensed by choice of format, but the beats are all there.

With that kind of rhetoric set up, I'd never be able to accept Izzy dying in a way that feels like a punishment for his past crimes, nor in a way that should "confirm" his positive change/"purify" him for good. And he doesn't! By the time he dies, we know full well he's deeply changed, it's already established to completion. How it happens has nothing to do with proving himself – he's randomly shot in battle. It's never questioned that the time he got to live surrounded by affection mattered. The speech he gives Ed is only possible because he's changed, accessing a completely different perspective on piracy/life than before, like we see when he talks to Ricky earlier. The reason the whole crew is paying respect and crying is because he became "the new unicorn", a treasured member with a defined role. But his death itself is the show going back to the initial symbolism of Izzy as ultimate pirate. The narrative function of his death is underscoring that the age of piracy has come to an end. It's nothing to do with his change. It's posited as the "natural conclusion" (again, by symbolic function) of a character that represented piracy through-and-through, not the "natural conclusion" of a process of becoming better.

And for me, that difference changes everything. I can see and accept the logic behind it, even as I mourn Izzy as a character. It makes the grief feel like a catharsis I experience within the context of the story I'm watching, rather than a grief I feel from a show "betraying" me.

It's also a difference that completely changes how Izzy's death relates to his queerness. Izzy's change is intertwined with being able to express queer affection openly. Becoming "a unicorn" is this extremely queer imagery already – a magical rainbow creature. His role becomes akin to a mother to the crew (the mother hen!Izzy many headcanoned last season, tapping into his potential), a position that isn't extraneous to older queens, including our honored real-life mean-old-queer men. Last season he threatened another queer man for showing too much delicacy, effeminacy, vulnerability. Now, his change is a process that culminates in him singing a tender love song among the crew in drag. He's given the privilege of playing the soundtrack to our protagonists making love for the first time, which ties him symbolically to the event in a way it does no other crew member. Suffice it to say that insinuating his process of change should end in death would have been disastrous, as far as I'm concerned. Antithetical to the show's supporting ideology.

But that's not how it went. Grief occupies a big role in the queer community, but it's so rare that we get to experience it cathartically. In real life, we often have to contend with the ways queerphobia causes us trauma or even shortens our lives, or the lives of our friends. In fictional narratives, a lot of characters that get to express queerness unabashedly still die for the transgression. They're still usually the only queer character with relevant screen time or at all, at best one of two that formed a tragic couple.

We almost never have the opportunity to just mourn some motherfucker who died because they meant something else as well that was central to their character. To mourn and know we're mourning someone who wasn't ever punished for being queer-as-in-fuck-you and going all out. To mourn and not feel like it's another message of queer doom, because for once the character is surrounded by an entire crew of other queer characters that go on to live and be happy. To know the story is saying something about life, not about being queer. To know this kind of crafting was deliberate, too, because the creator has talked about working to avoid those tropes. I struggle to remember another time I had the opportunity to grieve for a queer character like they're a human being, without the implication that it's queerness itself that's a death sentence.

And honestly? It feels good. It feels like a form of catharsis I do not dislike. That I'm maybe kinda glad for. OFMD is and stays a magical world. Beyond that, in a show full of queers, one of them dies after getting some extraordinarily meaningful happiness, and it's peaceful, and I get to just be sad for the fucker without the gutting of being reminded that if you're gay, better not shoot too high. It feels like a completely different emotion that no other show, for now, would give me, but OFMD. To me, it's yet another thing it's pulled off.

As it's been known to do.

#ofmd #having warm izzy thoughts in this chili's tonight #ofmd meta #my meta

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figmentof · 1 year

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It didn’t even occur to me until anon brought it up, and now I’m going to make it everyone’s problem /lh (special thanks to @celestialsblues, @demolitiondyke and @transgenderpirate for helping me with this! ilysm)

If you are of the camp to believe in race-blind casting in that Ruibo Qian and Madeleine Sami (who are Chinese and Fijian-Indian respectively) are to play Anne Bonny and Mary Read in the same vein that Taika who is Māori plays Ed, please then also consider the lengths the show went through to make sure that Ed is explicitly a man of color. His backstory, the abuse his Māori mother suffered under his white father who he subsequently killed, his motivations of becoming a pirate is stated by Oluwande in 1x01 “[Jim and I] do this (piracy) because we don’t have any other choice”, the microaggressions that Ed clearly experiences from white people, and needless to say, the way Izzy treats him as nothing but a poster child of monstrous existence and even threatens his life when he dared to deviate from his violent persona-- all of this connects to him being brown.

If Anne and Mary were to be portrayed by two woc, then their entire story would have to be overhauled in the same way Ed’s was. But why bother going through all that trouble when Chinese pirates are part of pirate history? Why take yet another two well known white/western pirates and make them woc when Zheng Yi Sao is right there and has the same level of notoriety as Blackbeard in Asia? Now I’m definitely not insisting it has to be her, if the show wants to make Ruibo’s character an original Chinese pirate queen that would be splendid too! If we are to have lesbian pirates, why does it have to be the two women who we (and historians) have already heavily speculated to be sapphic? At this point it’s not about re-imagining white characters as poc but rather focusing on creating original roles for poc or incorporating lesser known pirates of color. This also goes without saying: all of the characters within the show are definitely informed by their race, poc or otherwise, so this sort of casting goes entirely against the message that the show has made thus far.

Now you may ask, but they re-imagined Ed (and to a lesser extent, Stede) so why can’t they do the same for Anne and Mary?

OFMD has been under valid scrutiny for using two existing historical pirates as their leads and subsequently making them not only queer, but deeply sympathetic people. This has lead to tone deaf behavior from fans who actively went to the graves of these two pirates who infamously participated in the slave trade to honor them. Their real life counterparts are racist, and in Blackbeard’s case, also a rapist. Regardless of how anachronistic OFMD is, and no matter how hard they’ve tried to distance their narrative of Ed and Stede away from the horrors caused by their historical counterparts, it’s still ultimately not the smartest decision David Jenkins and his writers could’ve made. Several bipoc have expressed that it would’ve been better had David said he was inspired by Stede and Blackbeard’s story and thus made original characters with different names if they really wanted to create a separate narrative. This is something that is constantly on my mind as a fan of color: the origin of this show wasn’t great. But what’s done is done, we just have to be cognizant of this fact as we enjoy this show going forward. One of the things the show did do right was actively create original OFMD flags as well as the new mermaid flag in s2 that clarified that the story they’re telling is a love story above all else (though that didn’t deter fans from getting tattoos of the Jolly Roger, sadly).

The show has made Stede to be an entirely original character that shares nothing in common with the real Stede aside from being white and born from wealth and abandoned his wife and kids. They have made it painstakingly obvious that despite us possibly witnessing Stede becoming more pirate-like in s2, he’s still not going to adhere to the traditionally toxic masculine norms that piracy has set and will do things in his own way (albeit he’ll be a bit more hardened and experienced compared to s1). Stede is obviously still white and the show doesn’t shy away from the fact that he has his own internal biases that he has to overcome as a white person, which is a huge part of his journey narratively along with navigating being a gay man. Compared to the villains (who are all white), he comes from a place of ignorance and learned behavior from the racist upper class society he was born in that he plainly aims to reject, which is one of the many reasons why he’s compelling.

Ed on the other hand, has this entire myth about him being this infamously vicious and terrifying pirate, but this legendary status is contrasted with the fact that he is a brown man. Now what the show chose to do with him is brilliant because we as the audience already have a preconceived notion of who he is based on our understanding of history. But then the show tell us, no, that Blackbeard you know is not this Blackbeard, our Blackbeard is a gay Māori man who truly does want to be a good person but is pushed into this role of violence. The show even made it clear that Ed hasn’t killed anyone aside from his abusive white father, and at the most only maimed people. He uses his wit and intelligence and the art of fuckery to make things happen for him, while the person who carries out all the dirty work (i.e. the violence) and builds upon the Blackbeard myth is Izzy, a white man. Ed despises the weight of his legend and the weight of toxic masculinity and senseless violence that comes with the responsibility of being Blackbeard.

Ed and Stede cannot and should not be disconnected from their races as it’s an integral point of the show, just as it is for the rest of the cast and even minor characters like the servants who are all poc. Taika constantly talks about how the show asks the question of “what does it mean to be a man?” and we’re getting more of that answer as the seasons progress. What if we had lesbian pirates who have a similar story but they’re not connected to western piracy? Instead have them have their own nuanced narrative that connects deeply to their ethnicity? In my opinion, making two woc Anne and Mary just seems reductive; and in a way, wouldn’t David and his writers be making the same mistake that bipoc have rightfully said they made with Ed and Stede?

#Our Flag Means Death #OFMD #my meta #this is really long lmao #my first serious lengthy meta triggered by getting anon hate. imagine that hahahaha 💀

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ourflagmeansgayrights · 11 months

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9, 10, and 17

9. worst part of canon

ofmd's "slavery is happening but it's all going on *gestures vaguely* somewhere over there" is a topic that's been criticized and discussed at length by people who can talk about this way better than i can. but i will say the part where canon is egregiously brushing over this the most is the fact that mary is portrayed as sympathetic while the show just brushes over the fact that she is still benefiting from land and wealth gained via the colonization that is actively ongoing throughout the world.

10. worst part of fanon

to the surprise of nobody my answer is Fanon Izzy

like there are a lot of fandom brain warping things going on at all times, the one i mention all the time is when i realized on a rewatch that ivan and fang are barely in the show at all. i knew they were minor characters, but i forgot how minor for a while. but this is a normal part of talking about a show online for months on end.

but i swear to god almost everyone in the ofmd fandom has forgotten that izzy is not a main character

there is. so much analysis. that gives izzy's feelings the same weight as ed or stede's. which is cool, for a fandom analysis! but when this goes into how they think the rest of the show is going to play out, the izzy flashbacks they assume they're going to get and the redemption arc that's treated like an inevitability, that's when im like "oh baby you are not going to like season two i dont think." (i've seen Several posts call izzy the show's third protagonist, which is so fucking rude bc jim is right there)

like, izzy being very deeply important to ed is a headcanon. we get a few joking word of god quotes that say shit like "izzy's like a jilted spouse," but there is no hard on-screen evidence of an intense emotional bond there, or of izzy ever knowing ed outside of being blackbeard. every ounce of depth added to izzy came from con o'neill's acting choices, which is GREAT but does not give any evidence for where izzy's storyline is headed.

also, canon izzy is not loyal. canon izzy is not a jerk with a heart of gold (con o'neill HIMSELF has said all of izzy's layers are bad). canon izzy is not dedicated to serving ed. canon izzy is not sitting sadly on the sidelines just waiting for an invitation or a single kind word.

canon izzy is a freak with as much emotional depth as badminton the second. he is a very fun antagonist. he is not the secret hero of ofmd. if he died in a comedically gruesome way, that would tonally match the rest of the show.

he might get a redemption arc! not saying he won't! im saying there is currently no groundwork laid out for it to happen it's not narratively necessary for him to be redeemed.

17. there should be more of this type of fic/art

IM GOING TO REPEAT MYSELF AND SAY WE NEED MORE FRENCHIE/ED CONTENT IN THIS FANDOM

🔥choose violence ask game🔥

#ask #mine #og #chocolatepot #ofmd #our flag means death #izzy critical #frenchie #edward teach #fred #ofmd crit

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izzy-b-hands · 1 year

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"Broke is such a...term," Stede chuckles nervously.

"You mean we're poor again?" the Swede asks softly.

"Oh love," Lucius pats his shoulder. "We were never rich; we just worked for a rich guy."

"Oh."

"I know."

Stede frowns. "You all did want a more traditional pirate employment experience, so this-"

"Sucks," Pete interjects. "I needed you to help fund Lucius' R-I-N-G!"

"Babe, I can spell," Lucius smiles. "A ring, hm? Of the kind that goes-"

"On your cock, yeah, that one, definitely," Pete stammers. "Not the finger one because I love you or whatever, but like. If you DID get one of those, and you had to put at least three stones on it, which-"

Lucius lovingly tackles him to the sand and peppers him with kisses.

"See, Pete came to terms with it and he's fine," Stede says. "Money isn't all there is to life."

"Yeah, but it does help to have it," Olu says. "And in bulk, if possible."

"I can never please you guys!"

Stede flops face first onto the hot sand. "Ow."

"Okay," Olu sighs. "You need a minute like that?"

"...yes."

"Okay. We're gonna look for ships to steal so we can start searching for Ed. Wanna come help once this is over?"

"I'm sorry, Olu."

Olu pats his back. "It's...yeah. Is what it is, Captain. You're okay."

"I have no money, my boyfriend tried to kill my scribe, no ship, and everyone hates me," Stede mumbles into the sand. "Pft. And now I have sand in my mouth! Life is endless miseries and little more!"

"...yeah, right, so when you're done, come join us. Or, see if Lucius and Pete want a third, if that would help you and they're interested."

"Maybe."

"Captain, seriously, this is so sad and not in an entirely sympathetic way-"

"I miss Ed."

Olu looks to the waiting crew, eye rolls waiting in the wings. "He'll be fine. This is fine."

"We're all gonna die," Roach nods.

"Not helping."

"Davy Jones will cradle us like a-"

"Buttons," Olu hisses. "Not helping!"

"Who said I was trying to be helpful? Was a bit of poetry ye might have appreciated, but never mind me."

"You think Ed and everyone else are doing better?" Stede sniffles.

"Broken," Ed nods. "I might have guessed, as we are listing entirely to the side."

Frenchie winces. "Yeah, that last battle...well. We all worked really hard, and that's good, but even so we're going to die, so..."

"Please get on the fucking dinghy already!" Izzy limps over and points to the dinghy full of Jim, Fang, Ivan, and as much of all their stuff as possible, waiting for them. "I am not dying here."

"Nah, the infection will do that later," Ed remarks. "You're right though; we should probably go."

"Probably?!"

"Oh my god," Ed sighs deeply. "Let's go before he makes a Thing out of this."

"The ship is almost sideways!" Fang calls from the boat. "We're already sort of in the water now here, so can we PLEASE-"

"Bitch, whine, kvetch, does anything else get done on this fucking ship?" Ed stomps off to the dinghy, leaving Frenchie to help Izzy limp along after him.

"I'd argue it's one of the finest," Stede says seriously. "Swede, give him a turn?"

The Swede obliges and shows off his ass, saying something Stede doesn't understand in Swedish but that sounds fairly sexy at least.

"Uh," the pirate coughs awkwardly. "No thanks."

"The prostitution thing didn't work before when you weren't even trying for it," Lucius sighs. "Why would you do it again?"

"Because we are, indeed, hawking fabulous booty of many kinds, and-"

"Your wife handled most of the financials, didn't she?" Lucius pats his shoulder. "Awww."

"I can handle money! And I know how to make it!"

"And I didn't get hard watching Pete try to roleplay as Izzy, sure."

"What now?"

Lucius shrugs. "He's grown on me. Pete just likes the idea of us wearing more leather, I think."

"We really should," Pete interjects in between posing for the passing crowds.

"Sure, I'll buy us some with my NO MONEY!" Stede shrieks. "I hate this."

"If you need money," a passing pirate pauses to say. "Spanish Jackie is running a sort of contest you folks might be interested in."

"Huh," Ed studies the flyer. "Stripping isn't anything Izzy's done in awhile-"

"Sorry, he's done this before?" Frenchie asks. "Not judging, just didn't expect it, Iz."

"I'll die up there," Izzy mutters. "Literally, at this rate."

His foot has been attended to by a doctor at the port, but he's understandably still feeling shit.

However, they need money and a ship, and at least having more of the former would help until they can steal the latter...

"Hi," Stede says awkwardly.

"Bonnet."

"You didn't buy anything special to wear for this?"

"Can't afford it at present. Judging by your outfit, you're in the same boat."

Stede snorts. "Is Ed..."

"Um. You do know Jackie's made him a last minute judge, yeah?"

"Oh no."

Izzy nods. "Yeah. I'd say may the best man win, but we're up against Jack."

"He's alive?!"

"Against all odds and as usual, yes."

"This day can't get worse."

"Also, Ed's expecting a theme for each performance, so-"

"Oh my god."

"Yeah."

"Uh," Ed steps onstage and gently pulls Stede and Izzy up from it. "Jackie, can I finish judging in a moment?"

"Everyone's still buying drinks and Jack wants to dance again," she replies. "Don't worry about it, just get them off my damn stage."

"So," he says as he drags them back to the assembly of chairs for both their crews. "Izzy I know is sick, that's his excuse for whatever the fuck that performance was-"

"Pardon me for tripping because I'm missing my fuckin' toe," Izzy grumbles.

"And Olu says you've been avoiding food to save money? Which I assume explains the passing out. What the fuck is all this?"

"Been asking myself that for the last twenty minutes," Jim interjects. "I. I've learned things about myself here. I don't know how to feel about it."

"Jack has that effect on most people," Es says. "I mean, I know it would be a bad idea to fuck him again. However, after that performance..."

His gaze softens and his eyes look somewhere beyond anything visible before he shakes his head. "Sorry, anyway. What the fuck are we doing about this mess?"

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Jack screams from the dock, cock out and flopping as he runs. "Ed! Edward! Park my ship and get over here, now!"

"We're all in various stages of fucking each other over!" Ed calls. "You said it yourself!"

"I didn't mean like this!"

"You should have been more specific then!"

"I don't feel great about this," Stede admits. "But this is really good soup."

"It is," Izzy nods. "Almost makes a person tired. Maybe that's just the day."

"I laced it with morphine so they rest," Roach whispers to Olu. "Don't worry, I dosed it carefully."

Izzy and Stede slump forward, wooden bowls of soup spilling onto the deck.

"Carefully?"

"Carefully enough. Captain Ed has requested a serious conversation with each of them; I figured they could use as much sleep as possible before that."

"Odd question, but is there more of that soup available for the rest of us?"

Roach nods. "Roach's Sleepytime Soup is only made in large batches, specifically for situations like this."

"When your estranged captains sort of get back together but not really and everything is a fucking mess?"

Roach shrugs. "Also weddings. Because they're stressful, but you can't be stressed if you're sleeping."

"I love it; what's the recommended amount to sleep through until the three of them are done with all that talking Ed wants?"

"...just keep eating until you pass out or it feels right."

"Okay."

Which things aren't really. Okay, that is, but the soup is warm and fast-acting, and Ed seems happy enough as he directs the rest of the crew.

That's maybe as much as they can ask for, while broke and now living on a ship with a dedicated 'whippies' area of the deck (as labeled in paint by presumably Jack.)

#text post #long post #idek im sick and this Happened aksjkfngky #im just going with the flow #but would also love some of Roach's Sleepytime Soup for myself tbh lmaoooo

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obsidiancreates · 2 years

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Ed's Sea Cred (Part 10)

Mashing Canon Moments Together In A Fic-Worthy Stew

Stede jolts as someone knocks on the bathroom door.

"Captain?" Lucius calls through. "Are you still in there?"

"Yes," comes Stede's shaky reply. He hears a sigh on the other side of the door, and then Lucius steps in and slowly shuts the door behind him.

"It's been a couple hours, you know."

"Oh."

"Are we having another incident?" Lucius gives him a sympathetic look that makes Stede feel like a child. "Because the water looks like a shark frenzy, and your lips are turning blue from the cold."

"Are they?"

Lucius sighs. "Okay, Captain. I'll go grab Olu and we'll get you into bed, okay?"

"I can take care of myself, Lucius."

"Mm-hmm. Can you make yourself get out of the freezing bloody tub?"

"... Eventually."

"Yeah, thought so. I'll go get Olu."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ed watches Izzy stomp around deck, looking under ropes and pressing on masts. "Fuck're you doing, man?"

"Looking for rigged traps," Izzy replies.

"You think that shit was planned?"

"How else could that happen? Fuckin' bloodbath and he didn't raise a finger. Must have the whole fuckin' boat rigged."

"And people say I'm the crazy one," Ed mutters. He picks his nails with a knife, idly watching the crew of The Revenge scrubbing fabrics and trying their best to remove any traces of the prior, well, Izzy said it right. Bloodbath.

He had tried helping, but The Revenge crew seem to have the methods down to a science. So now he just observes. One of the things he observes is Wee John snickering while glancing at Izzy, who's walking in circles around a mast and examining it closely.

"Gonna get dizzy, Izzy," Roach says with a gleam in his eyes. Quiet snickers arise from the whole crew.

"Shut the fuck up," Izzy growls, stepping on a plank and testing it's weight.

"... Dizzy Izzy feelin' pissy." Wee John gives Izzy a look like he dares the other man to comment, not an intimidating look, but a genuinely hopeful and chaotic look.

Izzy just scowls and stomps away, grumbling under his breath. He storms into the lower decks, shoving Lucius into the doorframe as he goes.

"What's got him in such a pleasant mood?"

"New nickname," Roach says with a gleam in his eyes.

"Mmm, bet you gave him a good one." Lucius's smirk falls a little. "Right, but, not up here for that. Olu, need a hand with Captain again."

"How bad?"

"Like, might get pneumonia again bad."

Oluwande sighs deeply, and gets up-

Ed is rushing to the Captain's quarters with shouts of protest quickly fading away behind him. He tests three different doors before he finds the one Stede is behind.

Stede sits in a tub of bloody water, shivering slightly and staring at the other end of the tub. He doesn't seem to notice Ed's panicking and not-so-quiet movements and breathing.

Ed takes a deep breath, and sits in a chair next to the tub. "Hey, Stede."

Stede leans his head back, resting it on the edge of the tub. The water isn't even see-through, and the pile of sopping wet clothes nearby suggests that's because he washed his clothes in with himself at some point. It's just... red-brown muck. "Embarrassing for a pirate captain, isn't this?"

Ed isn't sure what to say. He just sits there, and notices a little spot for a fire under the tub. He finds some matches and lights it. It's probably okay for Stede to be in the tub with it lit, right? Probably some fancy rich people thing for warm baths. He didn't handle any bathroom things as a servant, but it seems like it could be a thing.

"My crew think it's a good thing," Stede says, lip trembling. "They are killers, like the merchant said. Sometimes they get upset that I say no to torture. They want to be real pirates."

"You're a real pirate."

"I know. ... You don't have to stay, Ed."

"Why wouldn't I?"

"All of this. It's a lot of-" Stede looks at the water. "Of... of this."

"Blood doesn't bother me, mate. Fed a guy his own toes a few months ago, just for a laugh."

Stede wrinkles his nose. His glassy eyes clear up a little as he processes the mental image. "... Yuck. Where's the laugh there?"

Ed shrugs. "Point is, man, I'm stickin' around. ... Do you need help getting out?"

"... Maybe. My legs have fallen asleep a bit."

"Yeah, 'cause you're fuckin' freezing." Ed reaches into the tub and snakes an arm under Stede's shoulders, helping him stand. He helps him dry off, goes into the closet to grab him some new clothes.

"You're awfully kind, you know. For your reputation," Stede says as Ed helps him get his jacket on. "Bit of a bloodthirsty one."

"So? People can be complicated." Ed steps back. Stede's curls are extra curled from the dampness of the room and the bath, and they're falling in his face without any restraint or anything keeping them coiffed. "You know, your hair is lookin' a lot more cool-pirate-y right now."

"It is?" Stede looks into the nearest mirror. "Oh, I don't mind this, actually. Though maybe if I just."

"Nope." Ed catches his hand. "It's perfect the way it is. Suits you."

Stede turns, and Ed's breath catches. Suddenly his heart is hammering in his chest, and he's aware of Stede's own much calmer heartbeat under his fingers as he holds Stede's wrist-

"Well, you're the expert here." Stede smiles a little, and Ed's breath comes back as a sigh of relief. There's still a dullness to Stede's eyes, but not as bad as before. "I ah... don't suppose we got the needed leather, out of the whole disaster?"

Ed takes a moment to process that before realizing he's still holding Stede's hand. He lets go, and scoffs a little, something between a laugh and genuine upset at the doubt. "Fuckin' course we did, man. Enough to make you a whole 'nother wardrobe."

Stede's eyes sparkle. "Then let's gather the crew. I have an idea!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Why am I here?" Izzy growls as Ed sits him down and then takes a seat next to him.

"Just shut up and listen, mate," Ed says, not with any real anger or malice, just reactionary.

Bonnet steps up to the group as they sit on deck, the leather goods gathered in the middle in a pile. "Alright, everyone! Now I know I said Jim could pick the next craft, and they will get to soon enough, I promise. But! As you can see we have a good haul-"

He gestures to the pile.

"-and have more than enough to craft the perfect badass pirate outfits! So I thought, let's turn it into a group project!"

Izzy stares in disbelief. Somewhere to his right he hears Fang quietly rejoice and clap a little, and he shoots the other man a glare that could wither an oak tree. Fang wipes his smile away.

When he looks back up, Bonnet is watching him with a prim frown set in place. Izzy scoffs at him.

"Iggy-"

"Izzy-"

"I don't care, actually. You're here because you have experience in working with leather. Now I know that group projects don't seem to be your thing, but perhaps you could bless us with a bit of shared knowledge before storming off?"

Izzy isn't sure exactly what Bonnet just did, but somehow it feels like being stabbed with a needle. Not enough to kill, but enough to hurt. His scowl deepens.

"Great." Bonnet uses that same weird smile he always uses on Izzy. It feels like an extension of the odd unkind-politeness the words held. "Now, everyone! You don't need to create an outfit for me, if you want, you can also create one for yourselves! There's more than enough to go around, so have fun with it! Fang, Ivan, Izzy, if you wouldn't mind helping everyone with the detail of working with leather?"

"Don't see why not." Ivan grabs a vest. "Can I cut this up to show how to do that right?"

"Of course! This is shared loot! That does mean sharing is required, so everyone just remember to ask if someone is already using a piece you want, and on the same note, if someone asks to share, try to figure out a good compromise!"

And somehow, minutes later, Izzy is shredding a leather shirt with a knife while Buttons next to him chews a boot "to add texture" and Ed on the other side works diligently on cutting up a pair of pants and adding colored fabrics underneath the shapes he's cut in.

"This is gonna look fuckin' awesome, man. Should do this with our own stuff while we're here."

"Pirates don't do arts-and-crafts, Edward," Izzy says, stabbing his piece. "This is fuckin' demeaning."

"Lighten the fuck up, would you? Stop pissing on the party." Ed shows Izzy the messily-sewn pants with the crude shape of a knife cut out, and then backed with red fabric. "Look at this. This is fuckin' awesome."

Izzy looks away and keeps shredding his piece without any intentions to make it look like anything.

The worst part is that Ed's pants do look fuckin' awesome.

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spirit-of-the-chaos-gospel · 2 years

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As painful as episode 10 of OFMD is, you know what’s great about it?

It finally highlights Stede’s most major faults. Like, he spends the entire episode kinda being a dickhead, from unfairly surprising Mary to almost stabbing Doug. He is petty and stubborn for like half of the time he’s on screen in that episode. There is a point where he is extremely unlikable due to how much he disregards his effect on his family. I find the whole thing incredibly interesting because we finally get to see Mary’s side or the story and realize how Stede hurt her through the actions that were first justified as being his attaining freedom. Mary becomes the more sympathetic character before the title even hits.

Even more so, Stede never once throughout the episode expresses guilt or remorse for having abandoned Ed. He tells Mary he’s found true love, but never speaks of how deeply he fucked up in leaving that true love alone on a pier. He avoids speaking of Blackbeard when the men ask, despite knowing “Blackbeard” is more a mask than a true person.

I still love Stede, he’s my favorite character, and I fully enjoyed seeing what an ass he is capable of being. I do hope to high Heaven that next season (I’m manifesting a second season) we’ll have to see Stede properly atone for how seriously he hurt Ed.

(I do also wanna see him be a dickhead and angry little man again 😂 it is strangely funny and attractive I don’t know why)

#spirit rants #i love my idiot son #fucking superb you gay little pirate #I believe in Mary supremacy #stede bonnet #blackbeard x stede #angry Stede is attractive I will not elaborate

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piratecaptainscaptainpirates · 4 months

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I keep coming back to one question: does Izzy know how cruel he's been to Ed?

In s1e3-s1e4, we're shown that Izzy has made a habit out of controlling Ed's perception of situations, demeaning and insulting him to the crew and monitoring his social interactions to isolate him from everyone except Izzy himself, and insulting Ed to his face in order to make him think he needs Izzy around. Ed is clearly desperate for human connection, but Izzy shuts down any topic that isn't an Izzy-Approved Blackbeard Topic, not letting him talk to him about what he's excited about. Izzy is frequently shown lying to Ed in order to get what he wants out of a situation. His behavior is manipulative and controlling from the start, and it only gets worse once Stede enters Ed's life and Izzy tries to pressure Ed into killing him, going as far as to attempt to kill Stede in front of Ed after Ed's told him explicitly to back off. If we're being charitable, we can say Izzy doesn't know how much pain he's causing Ed because he's too focused on trying to "protect" his lifestyle and control Ed's behaviors, so he never really thinks much about Ed's feelings - but, even then, he says in s1e6 he knows Ed "adores" Stede, so he has to know how much killing him will hurt Ed!

And in s1e10, the way he talks to Ed genuinely still gives me goosebumps. He tells Ed he's better off dead than behaving the way he is, painting his nails and writing songs and telling everyone to call him Ed. Izzy goads Ed into reacting with violence by refusing to back down and continuing to mock and berate him, and reacts with glee when Ed chokes him, laughing at Ed's horror once he gets him to respond with violence.

As Izzy himself tells us on his deathbed, the reason for this behavior is clear: he felt like he needed Blackbeard. But how much did he understand what he was doing?

Given how Izzy tends to shut Ed down when he's talking about topics Izzy doesn't think are important, I like to hope Izzy doesn't actually know Ed very well at all. I like this interpretation becasue it makes it a lot easier for his s2 arc to sit well with me.

Because if Izzy really understands how much violence is a trigger for Ed, then his actions in s1e10 move from simply cruel to downright despicable. He would be actively using Ed's trauma response to get what he wants. Izzy's behavior is manipulative, but I like to think he doesn't understand how deeply he's really hurting Ed, because that makes it easier to stomach.

I think it's clear that, even on his deathbed, Izzy doesn't seem to really get it. He admits he's been awful to Ed, saying he "fed your darkness." But he's spent the whole season understating his role in triggering Ed's self-destructive spiral and misunderstanding what caused some of Ed's reactions (like saying Ed shot him because Izzy said he loved him, which is just not what happened).

Izzy says he understands Ed, and I think we're meant to understand he doesn't know jackshit about Ed. Even if Izzy really meant to do everything he did out of "love" for Ed, it wasn't about wanting Ed to be happy, it was about controlling him.

Izzy is, I think, at his most sympathetic when he has absolutely zero emotional awareness. I find his s2 arc much easier to be satisfied with when I assume Izzy still has no idea how much he hurt Ed, because although that still sucks and it makes Izzy seem like a controlling, abusive parent who wanted to ""protect"" Ed and deeply hurt him in the process, it at least doesn't mean Izzy knowingly and willingly took advantage of Ed's trauma when he was in a deeply vulnerable place. It's a lot easier to sympathize with Izzy when you assume he knows as little about Ed as it's possible for him to.

#ofmd #our flag means death #izzy critical #i really like izzy as a character but i am so glad ed will never have to talk to him again frankly. go heal babygirl

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