#canyon critical

[medievill]

okay. okay. I think I've finally figured out the worst part of the "Ed's going to be an abuser just like his dad" headcanon some of y'all have.

let's go for a ride.

abuse is cyclical, and not just in a micro sense. it's not just "I love you, you're garbage, I'm sorry, I love you, I'm the only one who loves you because you're garbage, I'm sorry, I love you," etc. I mean macro. I mean generationally.

I mean that parents teach their children how to have relationships. we show our kids how adults interact with each other, how adults interact with kids, how kids should interact with kids. we model this behavior constantly. it's one of the most nerve-wracking things about being a parent, actually: you live in a fish bowl now, and the fish bowl is your home, and your children are constantly observing your behavior and interactions, even when you don't want them to, even when you think they're not.

growing up in a home with an abusive parent doesn't just expose you to the abuse—physical, emotional, psychological, religious, whatever it is—it teaches the child that this is how relationships work. and then this kid goes out into the world, interacting with other humans all willy-nilly, and bringing all the knowledge that their parents armed them with to bear. and when the kid (hopefully) realizes that wait, actually, shouting and throwing things and hitting people isn't good, that's not the way you interact, it is solely up to that kid to fix their shit. if they're lucky, they've got someone in their life to help them with that. but even once you've recognized that there's Bad Stuff happening in your interpersonal relationships, you have to retrain your brain. you have to change your go-to reaction. because you can recarve your neural pathways, but it is fucking hard work.

I didn't grow up with a physically abusive parent; I grew up with an emotionally abusive one. every time my partner does something that annoys me, or we disagree on something, and my reaction is "well, I don't really feel like talking"—if you don't think that I don't half- to full-on panic about wait is this the silent treatment, am I doing what my dad did, you are absolutely incorrect. it is a constant fear, that my reactions are inherently abusive. I am constantly gaslighting myself into believing that everything I do in a relationship is bad, hurtful, abusive. I am constantly having to convince myself that it's okay sometimes not to want to talk, and to sometimes be annoyed, and to sometimes disagree, and that none of this is inherently abusive.

now. Ed fucking Teach. do you not think the guy's spent some time introspecting? examining his inner most self? he's smart, and he's depressed, so, yeah. I bet he has. so do you not think, you absolute monsters, that he isn't doing the same fucking thing? Ed Teach, who convinced himself that defending him and his mom against constant violence (a white man, and as if this was a random choice)—ultimately saving their lives (and no, this is not an exaggeration)—made him an unloveable, unlikeable monster. Ed Teach, who is so desperate for love and friendship that his biggest fantasy is owning an inn, where people stay because they want to.

do you really think that one of the thousand internal battles Ed my beloved is fighting isn't don't be your dad don't be your dad don't be your dad? fighting, fucking tooth and nail, to be different. (same as Stede!) this reactionary headcanon literally misses so much of the point of the whole character; it buys into the British Navy's propaganda about him, and worse. it buys into the narrative that a man of color is inherently violent, inherently incapable of change.

#tw: abuse #tw: domestic abuse #tw: emotional abuse #ofmd #our flag means death #ed my beloved #ofmd meta #canyon critical

[iamadequate1]

The canyon is Big Mad right now that Gypsy dares to make "Con's" WJW appearance "50% a filler episode."

You can find similar chirps around this that if Con praises Gypsy at all, it's an Oscar winning performance; that Con is the third biggest player in the whole thing and he shouldn't be disrespected; that they can't believe that people were paid to write S2; that people who aren't happy with scene cuts is reinforcing the canyon claims of Bad Writing; that Lucius should've married Izzy; and on and on it goes. I thought I had already blocked the most vocal of these people, but I guess not.

Look... if you thought that the antagonist who spent years abusing one of the romantic leads and tried to kill the other romantic lead on multiple occasions was going to skip off into the sunset with a cute romance instead of being dead, that's a You Problem, not a Writing Problem.

If you cannot comprehend that Ed thought of Izzy only as a toxic father figure and never a romantic or sexual interest, that's a You Problem.

If you thought Lucius was going to abandon his cute, canon romance for an abusive POS he never showed interest in besides disdain, that's a You Problem.

If you thought the paper thin antagonist who was missing for half of S1 was "third most important" over Lucius, Jim, or even other side characters like Jackie and now (especially with the spinoff rumors!) Zheng, that's a You Problem.

If you invented storylines around Izzy's queer arc, his disability arc, his suicidal arc, etc, and you can't accept that none of those arcs actually happened in canon, that's a You Problem.

If you're still shaking in rage at people associated with the show or fans of the *actual* show (not your shitty HCs) still after over four months of being unable to find mute and block functionality, that's a You Problem.

If you don't see a problem with the canyon's harassment of Nathan during his WJW and the canyon driving people to instantly have well founded concerns about the canyon's upcoming behavior during Gypsy and David's WJWs, that's a You Problem.

#our flag means death #ofmd #izzy hands #fandom critical #canyon critical

[piratecaptainscaptainpirates]

Okay, I wanna talk about the popular Izzy canyon claim that Ed gets inappropriately painted as a "damsel in distress" by people who are fans of Ed and Stede and their relationship.

Does Ed truly get made out to be a damsel in distress in fanon? Eh, if he does, I don't see it. There's lots of sweet sweet hurt/comfort fics in this fandom, and especially after s2 a lot of them do focus on Ed getting the comfort, but most of them are just about Ed getting to feel supported and loved in his relationship. No one says that Ed needs protecting, he's a very competent character, but he likes being protected. Like, when Stede gets revenge for him in s1e5, Ed's shocked that Stede went out of his way like that for him and you can just see him falling in love.

And...that's where my sticking point here is. It reminds me of how White feminists often don't get that stories about a princess being rescued from a tower or whatever may be demeaning or infantilizing for a White princess, but if she's Black? That's a whole different story. Even if Ed was being made into a damsel in distress - when was the last time you saw a brown gay man fill that role? It's different because we're not used to being valued enough to be worthy of that protection and defense.

There's a point where stories about Ed being helpless or clueless are just racist and even too close to White savior stories (fics about Stede or Izzy teaching Ed to read come to mind). But fics about Stede just being there for Ed, supporting him emotionally, and helping him with his problems? That's just...being a good partner. And I do think it's kind of telling that there's such an idea in certain spaces that Ed can't be shown as needing support without him being a "damsel in distress," because men of color so often can't be shown as vulnerable or needing help without White fans getting uncomfortable.

#ofmd #our flag means death #izzy critical #it's not but i mention the canyon so like. tagging just to be safe!

[izzyhandslightofmylife]

ofmd really said okay imagine there's this guy that's been desperate for love his entire life and was so convinced that he was destined for tragedy that he actively tried to bring about his own downfall and pain because he was convinced it was all he had. now imagine that there's this guy that got accepted despite the darkness inside of him for the first time in his life and instead of being scorned ended up bringing light to everyone around him. imagine him with a family that he had convinced himself he didn't deserve. got him in your head, this little guy? is he there? do you love him? we're killing him now. sorry

#izzy hands #ofmd #izzy canyon #izzy deserved better #ofmd critical #izzyposting #ofmd finale #izzy hands apologist

[unicorndeathrace]

I just saw a canyonite claim that Stede kept Buttons as a slave and I am once again asking WHAT SHOW DID THESE PEOPLE WATCH.

#ofmd #fuck the canyon all my homies hate the canyon #izzy canyon critical #what (and i cannot stress this enough) the fuck.

[edsrosetattoo]

Yep………………

#ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd s2 #izzy hands #izzcourse #izzy canyon #izzy critical #ofmd izzy

[tizzyizzy]

Got randomly annoyed, crawling out of my hole to bitch.

S2 really did kill Ed as a character for me. He just...sucked, so outrageously.

It's one thing to have a subconscious death wish that causes you to put yourself into situations where you're likely to die It's something else to be so much of a pathetic coward you'd rather methodically feed your first mate his own toes than pull the trigger yourself.

I'm supposed to feel sympathetic to Ed due to his suicidal tendencies, when his suicide attempt ended with most of his crew dead? It was just lucky they were found The crew were starving to death, resorting to eating raw seagull.

He couldn't even apologize to Izzy properly. He only showed open affection when he was crying on his own behalf because he didn't want to be left alone. Couldn't even say something meaningful at the funeral.

Then there's the whole fisherman thing. He was passionate enough about this that he wanted to leave Stede to take up fishing, but he didn't learn. He didn't work hard. He didn't treat his employer with respect. He wasn't even really aware of his own incompetence.

As fucked up as it sounds, it made Ricky's comment about Izzy being the brains behind the operation and Stede saying Ed told him Izzy taught him everything he knows sound like canon??? Where is the brilliant pirate Blackbeard, and what is he capable of besides lots of murder?

Because the whole sympathetic not killing trait is gone to. He's just cool with it now for no particular reason.

The fact that Izzy of all people managed to integrate with the crew indicates a remarkable lack social intelligence, regret, and effort, tbh. I mean, it's Izzy. What did Ed do? Help fund a party the crew came up with with treasure the crew earned with their own labor under appalling working conditions under Ed?

#ofmd critical #izzy canyon #izzy hands #edward teach critical #tw suicide

[forgottentothefog]

To The Izzy Canyon

Despite my dissapointment with s2 and the crushing realization that this show was never actually as smart as we thought it was, I will say one, actually two, good things. The OFMD cast, especially Con, Vico, and Kristian, were a huge part of what made OFMD season 1 (and 2) as beautifully queer as it was, and I will forever be grateful for all the joy and passion that they put into it. I will stand by the fact that OFMD season 1 was, intentionally or not, a beautifully executed story and one of the best pieces of queer media I have ever seen.

But what really made OFMD so special to me was the fanbase, especially the fanfic that you all have blessed this world with. I read mostly Izzy-centric works, and so much of the stuff I've read, even the darker stuff, has been both intelligent and kind in a way that I rarely see in other fandoms. It's just... beautiful to experience, and I hope that all you OFMD fic writers know that your contributions are what make this fandom so special and worth staying in, even if I've been dissapointed by canon. Your works, as crazy as it sounds, have helped me gain confidence and self-acceptance in ways I didn't even think were possible. If the angry little rat man can deserve to be loved and cherished and healed, then so can I. So can all of us!

I cherish you all so much, even if I don't interact much with anyone, and I hope you all know that your works have been a bright spot in my life, and that I can feel the love, kindness, and defiance radiating from them, passing from your heart to mine <3

#thank you #our flag means death #izzy hands #izzy our flag means death #izzy canyon #ofmd critical #ofmd fandom #ofmd

[cononeillbreastingboobily]

The saddest thing about the finale is that it only deepened the already existing rift in the fandom

#ofmd #ofmd spoilers #ofmd s2 #ofmd season 2 #ofmd s2 spoilers #ofmd s2 finale #ofmd s2 finale spoilers #like i know there used to be pretty much izzy canyon vs. everyone else #but now it's even worse isn't it #sigh #ofmd critical

[something-about-sunflowers]

OFMD fandom:

Stop minimizing the severity of harm and manipulation that happens to people in cults by comparing a small fandom subgroup (literally, there are fewer than you're imagining) to cults. Stop acting like people disagreeing with YOU means they're incapable of seeing another point of view. Stop acting like people disagreeing with you is somehow policing you. Stop. . . just. Stop.

For the love of all that is good and joyful in this world just. If you don't want to see Izzy fans or the Canyon then just. Stop. Leave them the fuck alone. Get out of those tags. Stop commenting on their posts. Stop sending them rude shit (or ANY shit) in their ask boxes. Stop making up hypothetical Izzy fans/Canyonites to get mad at. Go get mad at your boss or your government officials or something actually productive instead.

I do genuinely wonder if the more normal people in the fandom see any of this and like. Question this behavior because. Like. Jesus fucking christ.

#the dork is being a dork #izzy hands #the izcourse #ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd fandom critical #our flag means death fandom critical #not to mention like #fucking hell #if you actually thought the canyon was a cult and you're still treating the people in it like you do? #do you like #just #not care about people who are victims of cults? or like? #cause if you really GENUINELY believed it was a cult and you're out here mocking and joking about it? #harassing the people in it? #you're not actually like. helping anyone. #that shit is how cults RECRUIT and KEEP recruits #'look at how the outside world treats people like us you're safe here' #so like. either you actually do believe it's a cult and you're being fucking VILE human beings to vulnerable people who need help #or you know it's not and you're being fucking vile human beings to vulnerable people by using their experiences as some dumb fandom 'gotcha

[inkdrinkerofthevoid]

loving a dead fictional character is so insane. I saw you in myself. You don't know me but my voice is part of your body. I made a playlist for you and the songs are for funerals. You fell in love again and again and still you died. My love wasn't enough to save you. In another universe I would have saved you but since I can't I'll make you suffer. The only parts of you that are real are the parts that I can see. Your past is a black hole that I am trying to fill with just my hands. You died in your best friend's arms and I was mourning you long before then. I would have buried you better than they did. I loved you better than they did. I will never see your grave. I hate you for how it ended. I'm sorry

#yes this is about izzy #rip izzy hands #izzy hands #izzy canyon #ofmd critical #this is also about #hannibal and will #loki #him too #fanfic writing #ao3 writer

[magnusthepuppet]

leaving the ofmd fandom

i’ll be completely honest. i just. cannot deal anymore. the constant negativity in this fandom has grown truly rancid because some people (you know who your are) just refuse to leave it. i’m not going to let this bullshit ruin my enjoyment of the best show i’ve seen in years.

i’ll be blocking the ofmd tag completely for…ehh idk a couple of months? and just generally cutting off most engagement with the community as a whole. i’ll still post art about it whenever i make some, but otherwise expect mainly tf2 and tma posts from now on.

#the reason i say a few months is because i’m *hoping* that this is just another good omens s2 #and that when i come back the people who are saying they’re leaving the fandom because of the finale will have just #done it #and have stopped posting about ofmd in general yk #im not unfollowing anyone either #i just really don’t like the stuff that’s been on my fyp since…the beginning of october really #so yeah that’s why #fuck you izzy canyon 🖕🏼 you’re a bunch of toddlers who got their toy taken away #fuck you izzy haters 🖕🏼 y’all are just real bitter people huh #i’m tired. i’m done. #ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd s2 #ofmd s2 spoilers #i guess in the tags #ofmd fandom critical #fandom critical

[iamadequate1]

Bitchy Stede, LOML, giving my reaction every time Izzy oozes into S2.

Piss off, Izzy, I don't wanna hear from you

My thoughts on S2 Izzy

#our flag meets death #ofmd #bitchy stede #izzy critical #ofmd gifs #izzy hands #izzy hands doesn't belong to just the canyon #stede tosses izzy aside to talk to frenchie #ed should have done that sooner

[stay-funky-ponyboy]

I'm just going to pretend Team Issylra fucked around for five days because technically the timeline is off otherwise

#critical role #cr spoilers #its not a huge deal but it is bugging me a tiny bit #by the time team issylra got to the canyon the other team was still getting molaesmyr #i just need it for my peace lol

[izzyhandslightofmylife]

haha haha so funny

#izzy hands #ofmd #izzy hands apologist #izzy canyon #izzy deserved better #ofmd critical #ofmd finale #still not over this #everyone else got to live in a comedy #oh but not him. not him #yeah. yeah

[bromelads]

Done with vacation, prepping for a big workday tomorrow and finally got a chance to look at the container worksheet for ""the izcourse"" and it's been really nice to see people's responses to it and to the post.

Thank you to everyone who’s given their two cents, reblogged, and who’s expressed support to the idea of a restorative approach to harm (especially racist harm) in the fandom.

In the spirit of seeing this bear fruit, I've decided to make the spreadsheet "view only" since the last time it got a response was three days ago. I think it's reached a point where there's enough to glean useful information (DM me if u wanna add more).

@ourflagmeansgayrights thank you for doing the work of disseminating the post within your circles. and for keeping this dialogue open. I hope your tumblr break goes well 👋🏽 Tho I was hoping for other voices to join in on the conversation, I didn't expect for them to come in thru our dialogue like that.

When you shared that list, I saw an opportunity to contribute skills and knowledge I have in service of a fandom community that I really care about. A lot of people have expressed in tags that they want to see this go somewhere. Even if its just out of curiosity, even if it’s A Lot, even if it’s really intense, and even if they’re not invested in “the izcourse” itself.

Community care, especially liberation-centered community care, takes vulnerability and creativity and courage and discomfort. I’m sure a lot of us didn’t sign up to do “community care” as part of our fandom experience. We also didn’t sign up for verbal abuse, targeted harassment, and strangers on the internet threatening our livelihoods.

As I mentioned before, I’m a trained facilitator and educate community members on anti racism irl. Creating spaces for people to come together and learn from each other is just what I do 🤷🏽‍♀️ and this IS A Lot. It’s also well worth the trouble. I think @blow-me-a-kis put it beautifully in these tags.

#the izcourse #ofmd #I fucks heavy with the work Snann is doing to improve the conditons of fandom #we don't all have to be best friends #but we can make this fandom better and we should try #because ofmd means a lot to all of us and we deserve to have accord in the few places in the world where we get a say #talk it through as a crew #also Hell Yeah to my fellow BIPOC canyonites!!! #the responses to the worksheet are brilliant and such a satisfying read #| want yall to understand this is LOVE #Bell Hooks said # Love is a combination of care commitment knowledge responsibility respect and trust #thats what we are building here

(I know that the bit about the Izzy Canyonite responses won’t resonate with everyone. I left it on the tags because believing one can be objective about anything is a trap. 🌻 I can own that “Izzy Canyon” is the subset of the fandom that I’m in and still be invested in the well-being of fans of color and other vulnerable fans throughout the fandom. Also leaving Kis’ words of affirmation because it feels good when ppl recognize that work’s been going into this. Loving and freely given but work nonetheless)

Love is caring about the well-being of the people in the ofmd fandom matters in both concrete (I want my friends to be ok) and abstract ways (other fans deserve to have a fandom experience that’s life affirming). It’s standing up for fellow fans, especially People of Color and other vulnerable fans, when we see them being abused in our digital sandbox. It’s accepting that our hearts beat faster (and not in a pleasant way) when we talk and think about these things because they matter to us.

So this is a direct request to everyone, particularly “Izzy critical” fans, who’re interested in an effort to address harm in our ofmd fandom community restoratively.

Little explanation for each point

Illustrates the “social landscape” we’re working on, particularly the extent of our common ground. Especially useful for an online community

What are the wounds we’re dealing with? Where does repair need to happen?

Compile the responses to harm listed. This will help determine what responses actually mitigate and discourage harm. It could also help us see where there’s room for culture change/innovation.

Identify the grievances expressed by Izzy fans (particularly fans of color) as well. @ourflagmeansgayrights suggested this. I’m pretty sure this information can be gleaned from the sheet itself and any of the earlier posts that brought us here.

This is not the only way to proceed, but it’s an idea.

The end goal is “come up with restorative ways to address and reduce harm, especially racist harm, in the ofmd fandom.” I don’t know exactly how we’ll get there but it’d be really neat if we could do it by honoring one of the show’s iconic lines and central themes:

#the izcourse #izzy critical #izzy canyon #ofmd discourse #ofmd fandom discourse #fandom racism #fandom discourse #restorative justice #long post #tl;dr something’s gotta change so #if you won’t do it for love of community or a commitment to anti racism and anti oppression #do it because ppl engaging with my last post really fucking pissed off izzy/Stede anon #like they really went on a field day last week #I won’t repost the extreme shit they sent ppl #Izzy-anti-archive is doing the hard work of keeping that #anyway I turned off anon after the last message I got #yes I see you. no you’re not getting a platform from my little fandom blog #and yes the shit you say is very racist AND hurtful #you get no freely given access to me #I strongly suggest others turn off anon too #izzy critical fans are right about the fact that rn all that we can do about anon is to ice them out #🤷🏽‍♀️ #didn’t add this to the body of the post because it’s long enough as it is