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nonpracticinghumanbeing · 8 months

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So Izzy said a thing.

The thing seems to be a part of a redemption arc and makes him sound like a human rather than a monster.

The Canyon went wild with joy and jubilation. The haters are doing everything they can to rationalize the thing in a way that would fit their point of view. One of these things makes me feel like a part of a wonderful, welcoming, and very queer community. The other makes me perplexed, annoyed, and sad at the same time - in a way that feels very personal.

OFMD is an explicitly and unapologetically queer show. And not just that, it shows a variety of non-normative behaviors (Jackie’s polyamory, Geraldo’s humiliation kink, Lucius and Pete’s penchant for “having an audience” to say nothing of Izzy’s masochistic tendencies) in a completely non-judgmental way, making the viewer feel like all ways of performing one’s sexuality are valid.

Izzy wants to be a part of this world. For all his anger and manipulations, and (yes, let’s call him out for the sake of fairness) his abusive behaviors, he desperately wants to be a part of the world where he is free to love who he loves, in whatever way he is capable of doing so. No matter how much the haters don’t want to acknowledge it, this is ultimately a story about love. Both Con and Daddy Jenkins admitted Izzy is in love with Edward and the fact that the antis are willing to contradict not only the actor (who, may I remind you, was instrumental in shaping Izzy’s character) but also the showrunner is very symptomatic of the larger issue of how queer people have been treated in society.

No one in their right mind chose to become a pirate unless they had no other option. Piracy was fraught with constant danger and meant being an outsider everywhere. The only place one could be more or less safe was between people in the same lifestyle. In OFMD that is represented by the Republic of Pirates, where not being a pirate would get one in trouble. Sure, there is some violence but it comes with the territory and - much more importantly - it’s never motivated by someone being a pirate.

Izzy claims to hate the Republic - and for someone as repressed as him it makes sense. There are people being a different kind of a pirate than Izzy would like there - drunk, rowdy, and undisciplined. He clearly takes great pride in his work and has built his whole identity around being Blackbeard’s first mate. Seeing people be pirates while taking their responsibilities lightly doesn’t fit his worldview because he’s been taught that all of his energy should be spent protecting whatever freedom the pirates managed to carve out for themselves.

Someone once wrote that despite what the popular meme says, Izzy isn’t a real pirate dropped into The Muppet Treasure Island, but rather a hard boiled queer-coded character from a 50s noir movie dropped into today’s Pride. He’s had to keep vigilant against any threat for so long he hasn’t noticed that there was a way to be a pirate/queer and still enjoy one’s life. That one can like frilly robes and be a somewhat competent sea captain. That it is possible to pine for one’s boyfriend and keep one’s crew safe. That being soft doesn’t necessarily mean being weak.

He’s willing to do whatever it takes and sacrifice whatever has to be sacrificed (Stede’s life, Edward’s happiness, his own status of the loyal first mate) to keep his little pirate/queer world safe. It’s this conviction that puts him in the way of Ed and Stede’s relationship and makes him an antagonist. But - and it’s something the haters seem to be incapable of grasping - an antagonist doesn’t have to equal a villain.

Why does Izzy react so violently to Stede, exactly? Why is he willing to go against his captain's wishes in challenging Stede to a duel? Why does he sell Stede out, making a deal with the enemy in the process? Because Stede is a stranger infiltrating Izzy’s safe space. The English are a huge threat, sure, but they are easily identifiable from a distance. Stede seems to Izzy to be something far more dangerous - an outsider worming his way into the heart of Izzy’s world, where he can do truly irreparable damage. The English are cops who chase gay boys around the park. Stede has the potential of being an undercover cop sent into a queer bar in the 1930s to get the dirt on the patrons so they can be blackmailed and arrested.

Of course, he may not be that, but it’s a risk Izzy can’t allow himself to take. With his vision of what it means to be a pirate/queer he's sure he sees through Stede’s ruse. Now, I’m not trying to excuse abusive behavior, as some of Izzy’s choices were hurtful to everyone around him. But as a queer person I do have sympathy for someone (grossly) overreacting in defense of their safe space. Constant vigilance is an inherent part of the queer experience, especially for those living in conservative countries or remembering the times before the Pride.

Like, for example, Con does. Con, who - yes, I will repeat this because it’s super important here - played a huge part in shaping Izzy’s character. Con, who despite having a decades-long career where he often clearly gravitated towards queer characters, only got comfortable enough THIS YEAR (and thanks to this show and this fandom) to publicly come out. Con, who - as a friend wonderfully phrased it - is queer as in start a riot, not as in love wins.

And Izzy is the same. He is a start a riot pirate/queer in a show full of love wins pirates/queers. His way of being what he is is so totally different from everyone around him that it makes him an antagonist. (Sure, there are other start a riot queers in the show - Jim literally kills a man who wronged them and Lucius is very outspoken about his opinions in a way that makes him somewhat radical, but neither of them is as extreme in their ways as Izzy is and neither goes against the main characters’ romance thus becoming an antagonist.) But. The thing is, when you are a part of a minority, when you are being prosecuted and targeted for who you are, you need safe spaces. And those safe spaces need protection, because every freedom can be taken away if wrong people come to power. No doubt the queer movement would look much more tame and palatable to the bigots if we were all the love wins queers. But we desperately need the start a riot queers if we are to survive.

So yeah, you can say Izzy said what he said because he needs a structure and clear hierarchy in his life. He absolutely does. Some of it comes from his submissive and masochistic tendencies, sure (I wrote a lot about that, including a piece for the Above All Else zine). Some of it may come from neurodivergence (some people read Izzy as autistic, I’m not going to discuss this because as a neurotypical person I have nothing of value to say about it). But it also ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY comes from the desperate need to protect his safe space from outsiders.

And there is one more thing the haters conveniently forget about: OFMD is also a show about growth. It’s about Stede turning from a wooden puppet into a real boy and then into a man. It’s about Edward learning there is a life beyond the legend of Blackbeard and peeling off at least some of the leather. And judging from the trailer, it’s about Izzy learning you can be a start a riot pirate while being accepting of the love wins pirates in your life.

The more I think about it, the more likely I find it that Stede’s “I don’t care what anybody says, he’s actually a good guy” line from the teaser refers to Izzy. But even if it doesn’t, I am 100% sure the haters will be proven wrong. This show never relied on stereotypes and cliches. In fact, it actively does everything to break them (from Jim’s sacred quest for revenge ending up with them befriending Jackie to the only names that get mispronounced being those of white characters) while killing off the real enemies of the pirate/queer crew (Badmintons, Jack, Geraldo) and giving all its characters place to grow.

So, maybe one day we will all learn to love Izzy?

#ofmd #our flag means death #our flag means gay #izzy hands #ofmd meta #lol i got so pissed off at a really bad take on the line that i'm back to writing meta #thanks to remy for the start a riot / love wins thing!#i'm getting emotional again damn this show #queer representation

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nanoland · 7 months

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some God Damn Acting going on in this scene, and can i note how much i love contrasting this against Ed's hilariously cringe nonpology to the rest of the crew?

like:

this shit? this shit was so easy for him. guy's been playing roles his whole life, all he had to do here was play Stede's Pathetic Penitent Boyfriend. he's wearing a costume! the bell is a prop! IT'S A CAT BELL. HE'S BEING STEDE'S POOR LITTLE MEOW MEOW.

he's not trying to communicate with these people, he's performatively humiliating himself in front of them so they'll stop being scared of him and he can stay aboard the ship.

(insert something something about humiliating oneself as a form of self-harm, y helo thar red nightgown ed from s1)

but with Izzy?

Izzy gets a real apology.

From the real Ed.

who is btw NOT in the habit of apologizing to his fucking subordinates

who is not stede's sad shivering pet

who is in fact a tough, shitty guy apologizing to another tough, shitty guy

who HATES this and isn't bothering to disguise how much he hates this

who doesn't even need to do this because it's clear at this point that Izzy isn't going anywhere

and who's going to do it anyway because he's actually, genuinely sorry.

and then he runs away as quickly as humanly possible lol

nyoooom

anyway! i really love Ed guys, he's a fantastic character

#our flag means death #ofmd #ofmd 2 #edward teach #izzy hands #spoilers #blackhands

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celluloidbroomcloset · 2 months

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Yeah I will never understand Stizzy. Like even if the appeal is hate-fucking or enemies to lovers or whatever (not my thing but in theory I understand people like it), in canon their dynamic isn't even like that? They're not mutual enemies, Izzy seethes and rages over Stede and Stede low key forgets he exists when they're not directly interacting, he's not important enough to Stede for that!

I've spoken to a few people who are into this and I kind of get the appeal in fic (not my thing at all, but I understand why someone might want to look at them through that lens). Canonically...no. I find it very hard to read any sort of sexual or romantic tension into their relationship, not least because Izzy is so fixated on Ed and he...hates Stede. Even when he's getting better as a human being, he actively belittles Stede. That's not going to be a fun dynamic, to me at least, because it will always come down to someone who wants to humiliate Stede.

Stede largely sees Izzy as something to be overcome or integrated. Izzy's major importance to him is how Izzy affects his relationship with Ed.

#ofmd #reply

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run-me-through-but-not-like-that · 2 years

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okay, i know you already had a truth or dare game in a fic (and i loved it, i swear. the moment izzy referred to reader as the love of his life?? chef kisses), but i'd love to see a fic ABOUT it. like, maybe lucius dares izzy to kiss reader, or viceversa? or maybe he pulls the romcom move of saying "i dare you to kiss the hottest person in the room" asdfghjksxcdfghj. anyway, i'd just love to see reader and izzy kiss in a truth or dare game. bonus points if they're not even dating yet xD

Roach is hot and more people should say it!

The Hottest Person on the Ship:

When Bonnet announced that they were having a 'game night', Izzy thought he was going to have a stroke. This had to be what hell was like. Of course, he hadn't planned in taking part, but Edward wasn't about to grant him that mercy.

No, Edward had ordered that Izzy join them and play along. Buttons was the only crewmember that was excused to keep watch. Izzy planned on getting through the night with a couple of drinks to take the edge off and joining in only as much as he had too.

The crew had decided to move onto a game Lucius dubbed 'truth or date', saying something about it being the best time now that the crew was a couple of drinks in. The rules were simple. Izzy already hated it.

So far it hadn't been too bad, he supposed. It could have been worse, he had been certain the crew would take it as a chance to humiliate him. Due to a dare he had been forced to compliment Stede fucking Bonnet, and when he had chosen truth he had to assure the crew that had never slept with Edward. They had both been caught off guard by that but the crew had been mildly surprised by the answer.

"Alright, do your worst Lucius," you braced yourself as Lucius called on you for your turn.

"Truth or Dare?" Lucius asked with a smirk.

You squinted at him playfully, trying to figure out what was going on in his head. He was a good friend of yours but he could be an absolutely menace when he wanted to be.

"Dare," you chose with a shrug. He wouldn't do anything too cruel to you, you knew that.

"Okay..." Lucius grinned, "I dare you to kiss the hottest person on the ship. Excluding me, of course. That would just be unfair."

He seemed pretty pleased with himself. You just rolled your eyes.

"Seriously, Lucius?" you raised an eyebrow at him.

"You never talk about that kind of thing. I want to know," Lucius shrugged, not deterred in his choice of dare.

"What if they don't want me to kiss them?" you asked. You already knew who you were going to approach, and you had a feeling you might get stabbed for it.

"If they're playing the game, they have to play along," Lucius insisted.

"Fine," you rolled your eyes. You were still going to ask.

You stood, placing your drink down by your seat.

Izzy grimaced at Lucius' childish dare as he stared down at his drink. He chastised himself for his reaction but he didn't really want to see you kiss somebody, nor did he want to see who you thought was the most attractive member of the crew.

He would never admit it out loud but he had become fond of you. He didn't think he would ever warm up to Bonnet's crew, but you had won him over without even trying. Izzy knew how pathetic it all was but whatever, he wasn't going to watch.

He could hear your footsteps approaching, crossing the circle that the crew sat in. He was sitting beside Edward, mostly so that his captain could stop him from escaping. So, it made sense that you were approaching, you were probably choosing Edward. Which, in your defence, made sense.

Edward must have thought the same thing because he pushed his chest out a little and smirked, preening under the compliment. Of course he was happy with Stede, happier than he had ever been, never even looked at somebody else, but he still liked the flattery.

The footsteps stopped. The crew was quiet.

"Uh, Izzy?" you asked, bringing Izzy out of his thoughts, noticing the toes of your boots standing in front of him.

Izzy blinked and looked up at you with a confused expression.

"This okay?" you knew he hadn't really wanted to involve himself in the game but he was technically playing and he was your pick. Still, you thought it was best to ask as to avoid getting stabbed.

"Uh...yeah?" Izzy answered, blinking up at you again. It was kind of cute, catching him off guard like this, but you weren't sure why he seemed so surprised. Maybe he hadn't been paying attention?

You cupped his jaw in your hand, just to steady you both a little, as you lent down. You were cautious enough to not move too fast but your lips finally brushed against his.

You had intended for the kiss to be light and quick, not wanting to push his boundaries or make him anymore uncomfortable than he probably was. But then the first mate went at kissed you back. It was cautious and faint but it was enough that you couldn't bring yourself to pull away just yet.

Pressing your lips firmer against his, you were just about aware of the murmurs and playful whistles coming from the rest of the crew. Izzy was definitely aware of it, you felt him tense under the attention.

Feeling the way he tensed, you pulled away from the kiss and took a step back, giving him a smile.

You spun around, smirking at the scribe, "too easy Lucius. Better pick up your game."

Lucius just smirked from his seat, utterly pleased with himself even if he had been a little surprised by your choice. You just rolled your eyes at him before returning to your seat.

"See, you've still got it, Iz!" Edward laughed, clapping Izzy on the back in a friendly manner.

"Fuck off," Izzy muttered, taking a generous sip from his drink.

The game continued, nobody getting too caught up on your dare. Izzy received far less teasing/mocking comments or questions that he was expecting and anything the crew said as seemed genuinely light-hearted, you had just laughed it off.

Still, he found himself glancing at you now and again, trying to figure out your game. You hadn't laughed after kissing him, and neither did the crew really. So, if you were attempting a joke, it hadn't landed the way you wanted.

The again, you had seemed...sincere, Izzy supposed. You had asked if it was alright with him instead of just kissing him, even thought Lucius had pretty much told you to just go for it. Then you had smiled at him, the way you smile at him on any other day or the way you smile at the crew, no hint of mockery. You had even teased Lucius more than you had teased him.

Izzy didn't know what was more embarrassing. That he gave into the kiss without basically no hesitation or that he just couldn't fathom your answer being true. You thought he was the hottest person on the ship...what the fuck?

The game continued, various truths and dares being completed. A few more kisses were shared between different members of the crew, not being treated like it was a big deal.

Once the game had come to an end, Stede had clapped his hands and asked Roach if he had prepared some snacks. Of course, the cook had, and Stede declared a break in games for the crew to eat.

Using the way out, Izzy disappeared up onto the quarterdeck. He would probably excuse himself saying that he was just making sure Buttons was keeping watch properly.

You hesitated but ended up filling a plate and following after the first mate.

"Hey, Izzy," you greeted, noticing him tense a little as you came up by his side. "Brought some snacks up. You really should try them, they're really good," you held the plate out to him.

Izzy eyed you for a moment, watching you nibble on a mini pastry, before sighing. "Thanks," he gave in, taking one of the finger sandwiches from the plate.

"That was alright, right? Before, I mean?" you asked, deciding not to avoid the topic for too long. It had been playing on your mind since the dare.

"Yeah, I guess," he shrugged, cursing the little sandwich for how good it was. Roach shouldn't be such a good cook, this was a pirate ship.

"I just...I just wanted you to know that you could have said no, Lucius wouldn't have pushed it if you did. If anything he would just tell me to kiss the second hottest member of the crew," you assured him with a small laugh, still anxious about how he felt. If he had said no, you probably just would have ended up kissing Roach or something.

"What's done is done," he shrugged again. Giving you nothing. Not even looking at you.

"I know, just for future reference, I guess. I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable."

"You didn't."

"Oh good," you let out a small sigh of relief, "you just looked a little...startled, I guess. Made me worry a little."

"Just didn't expect it," Izzy answered before he could think, swallowing the last of his sandwhich.

"Oh, come on, who else would I choose?" you teased but he only frowned to himself, realisation hitting you. "You're not serious?" you frowned as well before insisting, "oh come on, Iz! You're so hot!"

"Fuck off," Izzy scoffed, defences shooting up. He thought you were mocking him.

"You don't know..." you spoke out loud, surprised. You had just thought he knew how he looked, how other people looked at him. "You really don't know. Iz, I'm not joking, you're really hot. I didn't even need to think about my answer, it was obvious for me," you told him.

Izzy scoffed, looking away from you even more, but you caught the pink seeping up his neck and over the tops of his ears.

"You cannot tell me you wear those leather pants and don't know how hot you look in them," you were only half joking. He looked great in those pants.

"You're taking the piss now," Izzy huffed, shooting you a weak glare.

"I'm not!" you insisted. "Seriously, Iz. You're hot, you're just going to have to accept it," you shrugged, smile not leaving your face.

And Izzy did seem to accept that it was at least your opinion, at least he wasn't going to argue with you any further about it. "...you're not so bad, I guess."

"Oh wow, Iz, calm down, I'm going to blush," you rolled your eyes.

Izzy chuckled a little, making you smile more. If that was all you were going to get from him tonight, than that was enough.

"Come on, Frenchie wants to play charades next," you nodded back towards the deck, smirking when Izzy took one of the little cakes off of your plate.

"Charades?" he questioned before taking a bite.

"Yeah Frenchie came up with it, Stede named it. Frenchie will explain the rules, it's fun," you explained, knowing how chaotic the game could get with the crew.

"Fine," he sighed, popping the rest of the cake in his mouth.

"You can be on my team if you want, I'm pretty good at it," you offered with a wink.

Izzy chewed on the cake, trying not to blush again, before swallowing. "Alright," he nodded.

"C'mon, Hot Stuff," you tapped his arm.

"Alright, enough of that shit," Izzy grumbled, blush returning with a vengeance.

You could only laugh as you guided him back down the the crew, scavenging some of the left over food and placing it on your plate. You knew Izzy wouldn't go and get some himself but if you just put the plate between the two of you, you hoped he would mindlessly pick at it.

#israel hands x reader #izzy hands x reader #izzy hands #ofmd izzy #ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd x reader

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tizzyizzy · 2 years

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RE your Izzy post - YOU’RE RIGHT AND YOU SHOULD SAY IT. Bless you. I’m honestly so sick of the hypocrisy in this fandom, Ed can slam Izzy into a wall, permanently maim him and *force him to eat his own toe*, and Ed apologists will be all ‘poor baby angel Izzy made him do it uwu’. Yes, Izzy is deeply flawed, but so is Ed. In what world is the measured response to someone saying something (deeply unkind yes, deeply inflammatory, yes) cruel cutting their toe off and making them eat it? It’s hugely annoying to me that the OFMD fandom paints Izzy as some kind of dastardly abuser. He’s an unpleasant little man who needs to chill out, but does he deserve to be permanently maimed forever? Nah. Ed is a pos for that. Anyway, I wish I was brave enough to post my thoughts on the subject publicly but alas I fear the tumblr hate machine. You’re doing the lords work 💖

I swear I want to be normal, but how can I be when people are wrong on the internet about characters I like?

As much as they misread Izzy, the misunderstanding of Ed is truly baffling to me. Ed orders a man flayed and drowned. He reacts to being humiliated at dinner by wanting to shoot everyone. He is very good at intimidating people, and is full of confidence.

Ed is not quaking in fear because Izzy Hands, the worlds smallest, angriest purse dog, told him to "watch his fucking step". Stede and fucking Lucius have managed to get the upper hand on that guy.

And he has an entire crew willing to back him up. For fuck's sake.

It really just blows my mind the contortions of logic people will go through to excuse and justify Ed's actions.

I mean, isn't one of the most interesting things about Ed the fact that he's a bloodthirsty pirate who wants to grow as a person, but is struggling?

#edward teach meta #izzy hands meta #ed apologism

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spoiltizzy · 3 months

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Aside from Izzy, Ed, and Stede, what, if any, other OFMD characters do you have an interest in seeing gain?

In addition, do you tend to favor certain branches (ik there's def a better word but I am like 3 mins away from bed so my brain is off rn) of feedism over another for particular characters, or do your interests remain fairly steady across the board (ex: prefer to see character A getting hand fed, have a thing for character b burping, seeing stretch marks on C, vs liking to see the same scenarios for a, b, and c)?

I was in the pub when I got this and I’ve been thinking about it but that doesn’t mean my answer is going to be any less rambly than usual sorry haha. I talk about dubcon scenarios in this more than I usually would, so. Just a warning. Um, I did once write sprizzy, but unfortunately at this point I’m sort of more in the Stede, Ed, and Izzy fandom than the OFMD fandom, if that makes any sense. You’d think that I’d be more interested in the heavier characters in OFMD, given my kink, I guess? Or more interested in other characters for other reasons. I mean, Fang has his tummy out all the time, and Roach seems to be quite a passionate chef. But I connected the most with Stede, Ed, and Izzy, and sadly the other characters really just do not scratch my brain, and there are some of them that I actually really dislike, like Ricky and Jack.

Jack, at least, I’d be willing to have horny thoughts about, but the situations I mentally put him in are all sort of demeaning and humiliating towards him. Sometimes worse. Maybe there’s a market for that, haha, idk. I didn’t understand hate sex until I read a CJ fanfic one time. I find him so annoying that I’d do kinky things to him but in a demeaning way, which is weird, because normally this kink is, if not always soft, usually at least sort of loving for me. It’s almost the only time that I have any interest in gaining being used in a genuine humiliation or punishment way, rather than anything of that sort being just roleplay between characters who actually love each other. Even when I think about Izzy being humiliated or feminized in a humiliating way, which is a weird kink of mine but hey, I grew up in a society full of gender roles so I’m allowed to have kinks about shit that’s been a part of my upbringing’s culture, usually I imagine that the people doing that to him have a lot of affection towards him, whereas any cuteness Stede or Ed saw in Jack in the scenarios in my head is in an actually condescending way with no respect for him. In fact the scenario sort of rests on them approaching the exchange with animosity towards him, which probably makes this my most controversial horny fantasy about pirates. Still, just because I find Jack annoying and don’t like him, I doubt I’d ever actually be able to write a fic or draw any art of this scenario or of chubby Jack or any of that. I don’t like the guy, the only satisfaction I get from thinking about him is either in this weird fucked up capacity, OR in a very very specific scenario involving Stede which I’ll get to later, because I think it’s kinda related to the second part of the question.

Given I am mostly only interested in my three favourite pirates, I can only really answer that second part of the question in relation to them, so I hope that’s ok. But yeah, there are different things that I like best for different characters.

I tend to favour Izzy in I guess what you’d describe as more submissive roles. That doesn’t necessarily always mean him being bigger. For example, the idea of a fat Stede and Ed feeding Izzy because their baseline for what he should weigh is thrown off by their own ideas of how big someone should be, given what they’ve done to themselves. Izzy also tends to be the only one who I’d put in more dubcon situations, like… force-feeding (though it’s worth noting I want him to secretly enjoy it) or weird fantasy intox scenarios where he’s being fattened up and might not be fully aware of it. He’s also my favourite pick for being the spoiled pet out of the three. In general, though I adore Izzy, he’s unfortunately the one that I tend to put in the weirdest most demeaning scenarios of the three. I have also been guilty of making him so fucking stupid because I think it’s funny, cute, and sometimes a little hot in the right scenarios. Like, if the crew realises giving Izzy food shuts him up and he has no idea why it’s happening and doesn’t realise he’s getting fat because of it, or, like I said, in weird fantasy intox scenarios where he’s just… not especially aware of what’s happening. He likes it, though. And he’s always very very loved. The only scenario I can imagine Izzy being somewhat akin to dominant in is just under the circumstances in which he’s petting Ed’s hair and saying sweet comforting things to Ed while Ed “some kind of mommy issues probably” Teach nuzzles and mouths and sucks on Izzy’s tits. Um. What can I say, dude, I’m a weirdo.

Ed’s really hot, and though he may not be suave at heart, he’s capable of acting all cool and sexy and stuff, and for some reason that kinda inspires the desire to see him be completely unabashed about his gain more than I want to see that with either of the others. Or even perhaps unaware of it, or at least acting unaware of it. Ed’s the sort of person where I can totally see him always eating whatever the fuck he wants, and then one day his metabolism really starts to slow down but he keeps eating like always and it just doesn’t occur to him that gaining weight is ever on the agenda. Sneaks up on him because he’s never worried about managing his weight in his life, so he’s not prepared for getting a little older and his sweet tooth having consequences all of a sudden. But I don’t think he’d be ashamed when he realised he was getting chubby, or at least he definitely wouldn’t if he realised Stede and Izzy liked it. And because he’s never had any shame about his food choices, he remains shameless about his sweet tooth and his appetite. That’s a specific fantasy I have quite regularly about Ed, but wouldn’t necessarily put to any of the other characters. And this is related to intox more than tummy, but this is my kink blog so I’ll just say whatever I want on it, but I also sort of like the idea of an Ed who somehow still expects his alcohol tolerance to be what it was when he was in his 20s and partying a lot— I imagine this is sort of just Ed lore in every universe, lol, in some context. Even if “partying” was just getting drunk with Jack on pirate versions of shore leave or something. So he might overdo it and then just insist, while tripping over his words a little and hiccuping, that he wasn’t drunk. But not cause he’s lying, just because he genuinely didn’t expect to be drunk already, and he’s a cute silly billy who thinks he isn’t drunk. Ed’s versatile. He can be a good kitty or a sweetheart who deserves to be spoiled or he can be the kraken demanding to be fed more with a gun in his hand. He can be using his appetite and his pudgy belly to fluster Stede or Izzy on purpose, or he can be so unprepared to have gained weight but so unabashed about his cropped tops and appetite he’s doing it accidentally.

Stede’s a funny one because I usually make him slightly more dominant than the others, in a soft way, in my head. Though that is NOT a rule. I will write flustered or submissive Stede or Stede being teased sometimes. I like a lot of things for Stede, I love it when he feeds another character or fattens them up, I love it when he has those desires and he executes them, but obviously mutual gaining is a really big thing for me so I like him to gain and/or be pudgy too. Though I always want Stede a bit chubby, and usually pudgier than he canonically is by a notable amount, I don’t necessarily feel a need for him to be as big as the others, whereas if I were writing a scenario where Ed or Izzy were not as fat as Stede I would want them to catch up or surpass Stede in weight/size. Maybe it’s because I relate more to Stede, but I tend to give him the most feedery role in my head and though I don’t mind the thought of him catching up or matching the others if they were gaining, I don’t have anywhere near as much of a desire to see him surpass the others. Ed or Izzy on the other hand I would love to see surpass the others. I know I’ve just repeated myself but oh well.

Also, though I like it when all of them burp, I have more of a thing for Stede burping. It’s odd because to me it counts as a sort of subversion of expectations that I adore applying to Stede, but it’s hard to explain exactly why. After all, Stede’s not exactly polite. I guess, though, that he doesn’t come across as gross or messy, so the idea of Stede burping aloud, or aloud in front of others, unabashedly, or letting out rather loud/big burps is kinda hot to me BECAUSE Stede… though he’s willing to pick up pickled noses in his bare hands or dig around in the dirt, he doesn’t have gross vibes, or the vibes of a man who would burp aloud.

That’s where that other Jack fantasy comes in, actually. It’s purely this: I think it would be sort of hot, if say, Jack and Ed were drinking beer and trying to one-up each other’s burps, you know, like the frat boys they were, and Stede just. Got fed up of it, and tried to get them to stop by proceeding to burp in such a manner as to win whatever silly burping contest Jack and Ed were up to. Or if Jack and Stede got catty with each other and it somehow lead to some sort of competition like that, and Ed and Stede’s crew were like “wow, ok, didn’t see that coming” about it. Haha.

So yeah, it is rather different for all the characters, and my rules do all tend to have exceptions. But in general, Izzy’s the one I’m most willing to demean, lovingly. Izzy’s not the only one I tend to make stupid or under the influence of something that makes him so so silly and dumb, but I tend to enjoy doing that to him a lot more than the others. I don’t really like Stede to be the biggest one in the endgame but he can be equal to the other(s). Also, this has nothing to do with tummy, but I like Stede to top. I think this is because Stede is sorta my projection character a lot of the time, and I have an unwavering preference for topping. I like the idea of like… force-feeding as roleplay for both Ed and Izzy but not really for Stede. I tend to like my Ed shameless and my Izzy more often full of shame but for horny reasons, though when Stede’s full of shame it’s usually for angsty reasons.

Basically, yeah, I have a set of different preferences depending on the character, but it’s all sort of weird and complicated and full of exceptions and not really following all that many patterns. I mean, it does follow patterns, but… ah, I don’t know.

SORRY for talking this much, have fun tackling this fucking CHUNK of text, lmao. um. oops.

#asks #god this is probably more than you wanted anon #i’m sorry #i should have made this more concise but i got overzealous and went into SOOOOO much detail

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thesmallworldofsamizayn · 2 years

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Obviously you can like what you like and hate what you hate as is your right but I can't deny being baffled by people who like actively want izzy to die. Like if you hate him, I'd get wanting him to piss off and/or be humiliated but how does him dying, or worse being killed by stede or Ed, square with the tone of the story and the romance at all... people don't DIE in romcoms... and he's hardly a threat like he couldn't even kill stede after impaling him. The worst thing he's done, like, narratively and thematically, was say some awful things to Ed that pushed him back inside his emotional walls. Which is bad behaviour sure but a death sentence seems a tad extreme is all I'm saying. For a fun pirate romcom

#ive never really hated a character to be fair so this is generally something i dont get #some people want him to die a painful horrible death which is also funny cause #thats what id imagine wanting for a character that lives in your brain rent free #izzy hands

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laceratedlamiaceae · 2 years

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I feel like I somehow swapped around my feelings about Izzy and Stede, based on the way the majority of the fandom views them. I want nothing but good things for Izzy; I want him to feel safe and loved and happy. On the other hand, I hate Stede (affectionate). I love seeing him put in Situations. I want to see him being a badass. I want to see him being a publicly humiliated. I want him to suffer. I want him to make other people suffer. I want him to be happy and in love. I want him to die tragically.

#this is why i can't get too mad about all the really mean-spirited izzy content i see from like 90% of so-called izzy enjoyers #i feel the same about stede #although i would still feel bad posting stuff like “stede is such a pathetic loser he cries during sex and that's funny” or whatever #which is the kind of thing i can't get away from no matter how many people i block #sorry for venting i just saw like 5 posts in a row shitting on izzy in a way that was meant to be funny(?) but they really got to me #okay maybe i do still get too mad about it #rambling

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avelera · 2 years

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Yo, super Izzy critical post incoming but I just want to take a moment to go back to the text and point out how sweepingly incompetent Izzy is across the board

I can’t get over the fact that Izzy gives himself so much credit for being this amazing competent pirate doing his best to keep his half-insane legend of a boss on the straight and narrow and yet we never see him succeed fully at anything he tries, most of the time he’s the chief architect of his own misery. Worse, he’s also objectively bad at pretty much everything he does and everything he claims to be god’s gift to pirates about, especially being a first mate. He is terrible at it.

1) He doesn’t succeed at stealing Stede’s hostages. Unprompted he picks this fight to poach another pirate’s win, underestimates his opponent and loses, only getting one hostage and getting soundly humiliated in the process.

2) He doesn’t even cover up his failure successfully, instead he stokes Ed’s interest in Stede by telling him what happened (or failing to lie about it). Arguably Ed never would have taken this level of interest in Stede if not for Izzy, unprompted, deciding to poach those hostages.

3) Izzy as a first mate doesn’t even take orders well or execute them as requested. Ed gives him one simple task, invite Stede to meet him. Izzy bitches and moans about it then lies by omission to Stede about who wants to see him then lies to Ed outright about what he said to Stede. The guy is just a bad lackey! He doesn’t even succeed at dimming Ed’s interest, he stokes it more with the lie!

4) He apparently loses men in the surprise ambush on the Spanish! And before we blame Ed for that, that was IZZY’S MISSION to bring Stede to him that got members of Ed’s crew killed. Sure, Ed ordered the mission but he delegated the operation (as would be his prerogative as captain) to this supposedly competent first mate who, if he had just done what he was told the first time by being honest with Stede (and/or done a better job planning the attack), wouldn’t have lost those men in the battle that he now blames on Ed and Stede.

5) He spends all of episode 4 bitching and moaning at Ed and griping about how Ed is going to get them killed by not having a plan. He claims HE will be the one who will save everyone. Yes, this is aggravating for Izzy. Yes, Ed should have shared that he had a plan. But Ed still saved them all, with Stede. Izzy did absolutely fuck-all (from a Watsonian perspective). He vanishes the moment Ed realizes the date and does absolutely nothing except leave in a sulk the next day. I thought you were going to save everyone since Ed wouldn’t, Izzy?

6) He spends the entire fancy party episode ordering around the captain’s (Stede’s because he is in fact objectively the captain of this vessel!) secretary, and. ordering him around to puff himself up because his pride was hurt. Lucius slacks off but it’s also objectively not his job to take care of the ship, his job IS calligraphy! Izzy presents himself as a hardass who gets shit done but he’s actually just a terrible middle manager that operates on pride rather than common sense and leads with abuse from the back instead of by example or from the front. He delegates tasks to the wrong person to enforce discipline on a ship that isn’t even his by giving it to the person who is least skilled at the job AND gets himself humiliated and his authority undermined in front of the crew for his trouble. Top notch managing skills there, Iz.

7) Finally, after ignoring the evidence before him that Ed likes this guy Stede that Izzy hates, and doesn’t want to kill him, Izzy takes matters into his own hands to kill Stede himself. And he STILL fails! It’s a completely unforced error. He’s outwitted by this buffoon that he underestimated not once but twice! He was given multiple outs to not fight that duel yet he forced the issue and then lost. He also disobeyed his captain multiple times I mean seriously for a guy claiming to be such an ideal first made it’s just insubordination as far as the eye can see. He sulks about getting banished from the ship when HE set the rules!

8) Izzy proceeds to outright betray his captain by calling the English down on them to express his petty grievance. Even Spanish Jackie is exasperated by his constant jealous bitching in their scene together. It’s not badass or cool, it’s just him feeling sorry for himself because Stede has captured Ed’s attention in a way he doesn’t like. And the bitching makes it clear just how personal and petty his grudge is.

9) Izzy doesn’t succeed at getting Ed away by sending Jack. He doesn’t succeed in getting Ed out of the situation that Izzy caused, at all, because he is deliberately blinding himself to reading the room about the fact Ed doesn’t want this guy Stede dead. Ed’s throwing himself in front of bullets to save Stede and Izzy is somehow shocked by all this, despite knowing how close they’ve become. It’s just willfull blindness at this point. Ed signs the Act of Grace and Izzy once again failed at his goal spectacularly. He’s just lucky the British didn’t decide to kill every pirate on board including Ed and Izzy jfc.

10) Izzy becomes captain of the Revenge and is immediately and gleefully terrible at it in the most nightmare middle manager of ways possible. He goes mad with power, forcing others to wait on him hand and foot, once again leading from the back while wielding the whip (TERRIBLE management style I’m just saying) and instantly losing what little respect the crew had for him through unforced errors of judgement and cruelty. He’s a worse captain than Ed, who he gave so much shit to. The man has no ability to command without Ed’s legend to hide behind. His longtime crew mates immediately sign up for the mutiny. Hell, he gets mutinied faster than Stede did!

11) He can’t pull Ed out of his post-abandonment funk and literally at the moment Izzy gets what he wants, with Ed emerging from his despair to clean up the cabin and start addressing the crew again, Izzy insults him, jabs a knife into the open wound of Ed’s recent heartbreak, THREATENS his CAPTAIN with death (insubordination AGAIN) and gets what he “wants” when Ed has an emotional breakdown and cuts off Izzy’s fucking toe to reestablish the hierarchy.

Well done, Iz, permanent maiming of an important limb on a ship is definitely a sweeping success. You sure won that round. Now everyone on the crew is either miserable and drowning themselves at the bottom of a bottle of rum, unwilling, overworked/understaffed because of the marooning, or a MURDEROUS ASSASSIN with every reason to kill you for murdering their boyfriend. Yeah, absolutely nailing it.

Is Izzy interesting because of all of this? Yes! Is he a great antagonist and plot device? Double yes! But black leather and a raspy voice do not a competent manager make. The guy is a textbook toxic caretaker and the kind of person who should never be given power, like ever, much less captain his own ship.

#our flag means death #Izzy critical #ofmd meta

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malvolios-yellow-stockings · 2 years

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Some thoughts on the final two episodes and why what happened had to happen because they weren’t ready to be in love your honour

disclaimer - did i basically just describe the plot of episodes 9 and 10 without much analysis, yes i did, but this is self-care so it doesn’t count

After becoming coherent again, after processing what happened in episodes 9 and 10, I can safely say

Guys, guys, this needed to happen.

This right here ↑, this was never going to work. Stede and Ed have both been desperately trying not to deal with their past one way or another.

Both of them have shame and guilt over it (relating to themselves, each other and other people as well). And terrible amounts of self-loathing and self-doubt that make them unable to deal with their problems in a healthy way also dwell in both of them.

Don't get me wrong, these two are definitely in love, but to me it seems to be a „meeting the right person at the right time, they change each other’s lives but neither of them is emotionally ready for a relationship yet“ kind of situation.

Let me explain what I mean in a semi-coherent way (which means throwing my brainrot at the walls of my atrophied analytical brain and seeing what even remotely sticks, you have been warned):

Let’s go over their pasts real quick

So, we know Stede has been in a sense traumatized, made fun of and humiliated for being a weak-hearted, soft-handed, lily-livered little rich boy, in his father's words, since his childhood. Where every act of kindness and unwillingness to be cruel just meant he wasn't a proper man. Where him picking flowers as a kid resulted in being bullied and his hands being tied to oars with rope, being made to row across a lake (river?) while the other kids threw rocks at him.

The society he grew up in has never really appreciated his eccentricities, but has made him extremely insecure in himself to the point of believing there's something wrong with him, that he really is weak, a monster who destroys everything he touches because he is just unlovable and a burden.

↑ from episode 1

my dear brother

your own family

↑ from episode 9

And when Badminton (the balding one who says he doesn’t pay much attention to the fact his twin had more hair although he totally does) says this to Stede's face - Stede Bonnet is not a human, he validates every deepest fear and hatred Stede has for himself, every single doubt he has ever had.

And the worst of it all:

God's perfect little rich boy

And this is where he completely breaks down

He believes he ruined Ed, that Ed will be so much better off without him. And we know, from the way he reacts to Ed's plan and the way he reacted to Ed's perceived calmness in the Royal Privateering Academy before that, that the doubt of what he has done to Ed is finally settling in. Stede hates himself and he carries that hatred 24/7.

Stede has always wanted to feel accepted, to belong, to feel his thoughts and opinions matter to someone, that there must be someone willing to listen to him and respect him. He left his wife and kids because he felt like a burden, which doesn't really justify his selfish actions but does make them understandable, sincerely believing his disappearance would be better for them (even if he used that as another excuse to leave and to make himself feel better about the decision). But there's almost no point in time where he doesn't regret his decisions, especially when he's at his most vulnerable. Although he acts selfishly quite a lot, and displays either naivety or unwillingness to process the consequences his actions have on others, he still cannot help but feel deep guilt over what he did to his family by fucking off to the sea and abandoning them "on a whim". He feels responsible for that.

So when Badminton dies after making him completely crumble, of course he reverts back to his old life, wanting to forget Ed. He thinks Ed will be better off without him, that he has somehow made Ed weak like himself. But he also feels like Ed will realise everything Badminton had previously said to him is true, and it's better to run away than ruin something directly, by being himself, the parts of himself he cannot change and the parts the society he grew up in has ostracized him for (I believe, that at this stage, Stede hasn’t fully realized that Ed likes and „understands his idiosyncrasies“). I think that fear of Ed "seeing through" him and finding nothing but a spoiled, weak man also propels Stede to do what he does, and that is to run away (or back, I guess, to his wife and kids with an excuse, while also trying to make himself sincerely believe, that he’s doing this to make things better with them, to reconcile and correct his past mistakes) because as Stede has said himself - he's a coward. Both for leaving Mary and the kids, and now for leaving Ed.

Fun, now onto Ed. So, Ed isn’t the primary main character in season 1, he gets fully introduced a few episodes in. We also don’t know much of his backstory. There are a few incredibly important character moments for Ed, an in many ways, his narrative can seem incredibly similar and also incredibly different to Stede’s. As I’ve already mentioned, the things that link them together are the shame, guilt, self-doubt and self-loathing they experience. The boredom Stede feels before he runs off to become a pirate and the lethargy we find Ed in while Stede is recovering from his stab wound.

The first bit of his childhood we learn of is when the crew prepare their first „fuckery“ and the mythical Kraken gets reintroduced (first time obviously being the traumatic memory Ed disguises as a cool monster story he tells to the crew). (Holy shit, that part when Ed falls down and retreats visibly upset is so fucking sad).

The display reinvigorates Ed’s memory and Stede witnesses his distress. He reveals to Stede he was the one who killed his father, to protect his mother and himself. The thing is, Ed struggles with the fear of being unlovable as much as Stede does. He has grown up in violence and poverty, using ruthlessness as the only way to get by and to survive the harsh conditions in which he lives. He has been brought up on violence, he’s enacted it, and he remains haunted by the memory of strangling his father, and has not directly been the cause of another’s death after that but has always outsourced the job to someone else (mostly Izzy presumably, but many others as we see in the scene where he tries to learn to dine). He is driven to feel unworthy of love and kindness because of his past behaviour, like there is something fundamentally wrong with him. While Stede hates himself because of his perceived weakness and soft-heartedness, Ed, on the other side of the same coin, feels ultimately unfixable because he considers himself to be violent. Still, he doesn’t go through killing Stede, instead growing even more attached to him. Stede, who is one of the first people who has shown him kindness and friendship, gentleness, and the man to whom he has introduced himself as just ’Ed’, not mentioning he is Blackbeard until later.

And throughout their developing relationship, while Stede learns about pirating, Ed’s change is more fundamental, Stede’s kindness is „rubbing off on him“. Calico Jack returning brings out some of the carelessness and rudeness from Ed Stede hasn’t seen before and the whole episode proves a challenge to the question of Ed’s nature. Seemingly, his self-doubt, and trauma-born (or at least informed) Blackbeard persona come back, Ed ready to leave with Jack. But as he finds out Stede is in danger, all of that goes into the water as he tries to get back to The Revenge in time, while Jack is baffled to realize Ed considers Stede his friend. Ed is beginning to shed Blackbeard as the only facet of his personality more and more.

So, when the big disaster™ happens, much like Stede’s biggest fears are awoken by Badminton, Ed’s deepest insecurities of being unlovable and outright evil are, in his mind, confirmed, when he waits the whole night for Stede and Stede doesn’t come. I think that deep fear is the reason why Ed doesn’t even consider Stede might be dead, not trying to search for Stede, thinking „of course he doesn’t love me, even at my most vulnerable, most kind, most Ed, he doesn’t love me, he doesn’t even know Blackbeard like others do and I’m still not enough, I’m not good enough, I’ll never be, I’m broken and I don’t deserve to be happy“. So he goes. And cutting someone out of your life is hard this time, it’s not Izzy or Calico Jack, even though he is attached to them, it’s Stede, the first person he allowed himself to fall in love with and the man who has changed him.

Now we go to The big disaster™

The big disaster™ hits because of a few things, but I’ll focus on the two I think are the main reason(s?). Stede and Ed aren’t on the same page when it comes to their relationship to their respective pasts. Both are held down by them, but Ed (thinks) he’s ready to move on while Stede still feels some form of regret and need to see his (previous) family again. Ed, it seems, doesn’t get that, and wildly suggests China which scares Stede even more, the whole „leave everyone behind to be together and create new identities“ thing. It pulls Stede even more back to his past. He is confronted with what he has done to Mary and we get this little flashback I think is important.

Now, obviously, this flashback can take on a completely different context and meaning to Stede, Mary and their relationship in episode 10, but in episode 9, right after Ed suggests going to China, Stede realizes he cannot do that, he feels he doesn’t deserve it because of what he’s done to Mary and their children. So while I’ve seen others suggest this expression Stede is wearing is one of complete adoration for Ed and belief in his plan, I suggest this – this is the moment Stede becomes more determined to go back to Mary and kids, and the face he makes really looks like he’s second-guessing himself and Ed, it’s the continuation of his doubt while becoming aware of what him leaving Ed in that moment might do to him although not completely understanding the scope of what will actually happen to Ed. In other news, Stede doesn’t actually take his own advice to talk about his feelings.

After The big disaster™ strikes and the parallels

I’ve already written about what happens directly to Stede and Ed, now let’s talk about the character evolution/devolution aspect of it all and what flips them over.

As episode 10 moves along we see Stede devolving and relapsing into this old life, still a shoe that doesn’t quite fit, Stede trying to make it happen at all cost. Him being a pretty terrible husband, he and Mary, as Mary says, „can’t seem to stop hurting each other“.

Meanwhile, Ed is taking the heartbreak harshly, obviously, and through a bit of Lucius’ help, he expresses his feeling, trying to get over it in the way Stede has taught him. He even dresses in Stede’s clothes, to comfort himself and to take on Stede’s management style for just a bit. He’s becoming more comfortable with appearing feminine, expressing himself, opening himself up to others and listening to their feelings too, something he hasn’t quite done before. He’s experiencing his first real heartbreak, and even though Stede’s a massive dick for leaving him, his advice and the way he’s changed Ed are currently helping Ed heal.

Then shit hits the fan and flips the scenarios big time. Why? Because of the people Stede and Ed have surrounded themselves with and deemed important, people who have, for better of worse, been a part of their lives for years and possibly decades.

And these two people, who flip the switch, couldn’t be any more different – Mary and Izzy. Neither likes what they see in front of them, both want to return to their „normal“ lives by dealing with the person who’s making that a difficulty. But, Mary has found love in Doug, is loved by her community, friends, and children and has a blossoming painting career while Izzy wants to return to ruthlessness, pirating and generally being a stinky little bastard git a piece of shit. Mary wants to have kindness and happiness in her life, while Izzy wants that eliminated. So, they obviously have different ways of dealing with Stede/Ed.

After a failed murder attempt (girlboss), Mary and Stede talk things through, realizing they absolutely do not belong together. Mary helps him finally understand what being in love feels like, something he hasn’t felt before and therefore hadn’t known how to recognize, and he tells her - „His name is Ed“.

To finally grant himself and Mary the freedom they both deserve, Stede uses the knowledge Ed has passed onto him, to create a „fuckery“ and fake his own death, ready to get back to Ed.

No specific reason why I put this in, I just think the whole scene with Stede faking his death is really entertaining.

Meanwhile, Ed’s healing is interrupted by Izzy pushing him more and more into becoming Blackbeard again, insulting him at every step. While Mary has uncovered the man underneath Stede and helped him, Izzy has uncovered Ed instead of Blackbeard and he fucking hates Ed.

Izzy doesn’t want Ed, he doesn’t see Ed, he only sees his captain as Blackbeard. He rips out a page Blackbeard has explicitly made fun of in Stede’s presence well before they became as close as they were, and shoves it in Ed’s face, solidifying the fact that Izzy has never really understood the man underneath Blackbeard.

After this, due to many factors, being emotionally distressed after being left by a man he was in love with being one of the biggest ones obviously, Ed reverts back to his coping mechanism, something he has built for survival, but this time, it’s an entirely different beast, not Blackbeard – the Kraken. The beginning of this is symbolized by two actions – the throwing away of his red fabric which has become a stand-in for Ed’ heart and the raising of the new flag with a heart being stabbed through.

Three things that directly portray him coming to „the dark side“ are throwing Lucius overboard (Lucius was a crew member Ed was closest to, whom he confided in and was also the least oblivious to the feelings Stede and Ed had/have for each other, so interpret that as you wish, although I’m pretty sure Lucius is unkillable, bless him), cutting Izzy’s pinky and making him eat it (a parallel to the scene where he is ready to leave this all behind for Stede, when he tells him about „making people eat their toes for fun“ which makes Stede react, reasonably, in disgust, so I interpret this as Ed trying hard to distance Stede from himself as drastically as possible) and leaving Stede’s crew, „Bonnet’s playthings“ as he calls them (notice the shift from using Stede’s name to his surname), to die on a small „island“. His transformation is apparently, assumedly complete. He is donning a mask he has used to survive this long.

Closing thoughts A.K.A. It’s going to be alright

While Stede's journey is more focused on him grappling with heteronormativity and what he thinks he ought to do, Ed grapples with toxic masculinity (Blackbeard, in my opinion, being a real part of Ed, not a performance, a fractured image of himself he used in order to survive, the only way he knew how, and the Kraken being an exaggerated, almost parody performance of Blackbeard, taken to the extreme, as I’ve written beforehand) and what/who he is. Although this is obviously simplified.

In the end of episode 10, the season finale, we see Stede accepting himself, realising he cannot fit into the upper-class bubble he has tried "correcting" himself into. He finally accepts his feelings for Ed and what they mean for both of them, taking what Ed has taught him with him on the journey, determined to make things right again. On the other hand, the last shot of Ed we get isn't that of the ruthless Kraken, but of Ed himself, heartbroken, crying, alone, trying to exorcise every trace of Stede, reminded of what happened as he looks at the lighthouse painting, the only thing he has presumably kept of Stede’s, we see that the Kraken is something he is trying to "correct" himself into, although it seems not to be working.

Stede is finally starting to accept himself and he had his closure with Mary, now it's Ed's turn.

It’s all going to be okay and CHEERS TO SEASON 2 Y’ALL!!! 🌈 🏴‍☠️

did i basically just describe the plot of episodes 9 and 10 without much analysis, yes i did, but this is self-care so it doesn’t count, i apologize to anyone who has read this

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run-me-through-but-not-like-that · 2 years

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Hellooo I really love your writing so much, all your stuff are lovely! If you're up for writing more for Izzy would you consider making one where reader is an artist and he basically catches them sketching him? Maybe they don't even know each other very well yet/don't have an established relationship and he catches them staring at him and realizes they are actually drawing him🧍‍♂️

Thank you! Here you go!

Izzy Hands x Artist!Gn!Reader:

At first Izzy thought the crew was just mediocre. Awful and he hated them but surely they could be whipped into shape.

Then he found out that Lucius' only role on the ship appeared to be transcribing whatever Stede fucking Bonnet pleaded.

He assumed that had to be the worst of it, until he found out that the ship also had an artist aboard.

Sure, he had noticed you scribbling in some sketchbook before, furious at the laziness of the crew, but when he found out that your art was the main reason Stede hired you? He was ready to stab somebody.

Stede liked to have you around, sketching the places you visit.

There wasn't always many references to draw from at sea. There are only so many drawing of the ocean you can do, and you have done many.

You had sketched everyone on the ship, not the same way Lucius does.

You liked capturing the moment, when the crew don't know they're being sketched. Whether they're working or laughing together. Those were your favourite pieces.

You were glad to have new subjects to work with when Ed and his crew joined the Revenge.

You had a few sketches of Fang and Ivan interacting with the rest of the crew.

Some sketches of Edward, he was quite an interesting subject to draw.

But your favourite person to sketch had become Izzy Hands.

You had done a few reference sketches and studies of him at first, not thinking much of it. But the more you sketched him, the more little details you noticed and the more you enjoyed putting his face to paper

You sat on the deck, curled up on the steps, out of the way in an attempt to go unnoticed.

Izzy was watching over the crew with a scowl on his face, his usual expression.

Your hand moved over the page, adding the details to the rough sketch you had put together.

Your gaze repeatedly flickering between the pages and your unknowing model.

You full attention turned to your work as you focused on the shading of his eyes, frowning when a shadow was cast over your sketchbook.

Lifting your head to figure out what had blocked the sunlight, you completely froze when you saw Izzy glaring down at you.

"What are you fucking looking at?" he asked but your voice caught in your throat, worried he would throw you overboard for daring to sketch him.

You hadn't even spoke to the man before, not really, definitely nothing friendly. You weren't even sure if he knew your name, nor if he cared to.

Before you could reply, Izzy had snatched the book from your hands.

You shot to your feet, reaching for the sketchbook. Hoping he didn't toss it into the ocean, but also embarrassed by the amount of time his face shows up in those pages.

"What the fuck?" Izzy muttered to himself as he looked down at the sketch of him you were working on.

You reached for the book again but he turned his back to you, blocking you.

Then he started flipping through the pages.

Yep, another one of him.

And another...

And another.....

Okay, this was humiliating.

"You sketched me?" Izzy turned back to you with a look of disbelief on his face.

"...I sketch everyone" you shrugged, assuming he would be angry with you. He was always angry, about everything.

You glanced down at the sketchbook in his hands, a small smile tugging at your lips when you saw the piece he had stopped on.

"That's my favourite" you confessed, gesturing towards the pages.

Izzy frowned, looking down to see the only sketch you had of him smiling. It wasn't a bright smile, only a small one, but the most genuine expression you had seen him wear.

"Why?" he asked before he couldn't stop himself. His voice quieter than he had planned, catching you off guard a little.

"Because you look kinda happy, relaxed. You don't look like that a lot" you told him.

You would have been embarrassed about the way your face heat up at your confession, if he wasn't blushing as well.

Oh that was adorable, and you would be committing that expression to paper as soon as you could.

"I've never really asked anyone to actually model for me before. I mean, Stede sometimes I guess when he asks me too...but maybe I could sketch you properly?" you asked, knowing that you were pushing your luck.

"Fuck off" he snapped, seemingly coming back to his senses, as he slammed the book shut and pushed it into your chest.

"Yes, sir" you nodded, clutching the sketchbook to your chest as you scurrying off. You just considered yourself lucky to get the sketchbook back.

You didn't stop sketching Izzy, you couldn't help it. You just made sure to be careful as to not get caught.

Izzy tried to forget catching you sketching him but it had only made him more aware of when you were around, of when you were glancing at him.

Everything went normally for a while, until you just so happened to place your sketchbook down in the kitchen and walk away from it.

Izzy had come across it, noticing nobody else around, and he couldn't help himself.

He picked up the book and flipped to the most recent pages. The sketches were mostly of him, with other people and scenes scattered in between. But it was obvious that pieces of him had been your focus recently.

When he heard somebody approaching, he left with the book in his hands, heading to his cabin to have a better look at your artwork.

He sits on the edge of his cot, sketchbook open in his lap as he flipped through the pages.

He just couldn't quite believe it, that you had taken so much time to sketch him, to put so much detail into the pieces.

It's flattering...it's unfamiliar.

When you couldn't find your sketchbook, you panicked. Stede would not be happy if you lost it but you were more worried about Lucius finding it and teasing you about all your sketches of Izzy. He would never let you live it down.

You couldn't find it and nobody else had seen it.

Maybe Izzy had found it and thrown it into the ocean like you thought he would when he first find it.

So, against your better judgement, you headed towards his cabin when you couldn't find him.

You knocked on the door and waited anxiously before Izzy opened the door with a glare, his face softening slightly when he realised it was you.

"Uh...I can't find my sketchbook, I was just wondering if you had seen it?"

He looks at you for a moment before sighing. He didn't say anything as he stepped back into his cabin, returning with your book in his hand.

"Here" he handed it to you.

"Oh...did you like the new pieces?" you asked as you took it from him, wondering why he would take it in the first place without destroying it...just to look at it?

"You're, uh...you're talented" his compliment put a bright smile on your face as you thanked him.

That night, you slipped a page of your sketchbook under his cabin door. Accompanied by a note along the lines of 'this is one of my favourites, you look good. You can keep this one.'

And he does keep it, tucked away somewhere safe where nobody will stumble upon it.

He'll occasionally look at it, wondering what you saw in him to be so interested in drawing him. He liked the way he looked in the drawings, how he looked in your eyes.

While Izzy is always telling Lucius to do something more useful.

He never tells you that anymore. If he noticed you working in your sketchbook, he leaves you to it, feeling a little bit of pride whenever he notices your gaze flick up to him.

You could absolutely convince him to let you sketch properly at this point but only if the rest of the crew don't find out about it.

So, it's in the bad light of his cabin one evening but you make it work.

He's light enough to notice his blushing when you compliment him.

Feeling more comfortable with you, he confesses that he doesn't know what you see in him.

He crumbles when you tell him, "everything."

After that, Izzy seems to spend more time around you.

During the quiet moments, he'll sit beside you, finding it calming to watch you sketch. Occasionally giving you a compliment.

You see beauty in things that he wouldn't even look twice at. You see beauty in him...

Seeing him so relaxed around you, only inspires you more.

There are new expressions you've never seen on his face before, postures you never seen from him before.

You made him laugh once as you covered a double spread page with that image. You wouldn't give him those as a gift, those were for you.

You were sitting together one night, enjoying the quiet, but you were buried in your sketchbook, capturing how the moonlight made Izzy glow.

He glanced at you and you noticed the hesitation, the silent questions. He still didn't understand why you drew him so much.

"I think you're beautiful, Iz" you whispered, answering his unasked questions, knowing that he heard you.

His breath hitches before he lets out a heavy breath. Nobody's ever told him that before.

You placed the sketchbook down, deciding to try to live in the moment rather than trying to immortalise everything, and moved to sit closer to Izzy, shoulders touching.

You figured that you come this far and didn't think Izzy would throw you overboard...so, you cautiously slipped your hand into his.

Izzy tensed at first, unused to such contact, but slowly relaxed again, holding your hand in return.

You bid him goodnight and he lets out a sigh when you kiss his cheek, like the gesture had lifted a weight from his shoulders.

You take mercy on him and take the risk before you talk yourself out of it, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips.

When you pull away, he follows you before stopping, making you smile.

You leave him sitting on the deck, smiling slightly to himself.

When he goes to stand up, he noticed a folded piece of paper you had tucked into the pocket of his waistcoat when you kissed him.

Unfolding the paper put another smile on Izzy's face, it was the sketch you had been working on only moments before.

He wondered how he could find the words to tell you that it's your image that should be immortalised through art, not his.

#izzy hands x reader #izzy hands #ofmd izzy #ofmd #our flag means death

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