#like Stede would appreciate ANY look by Ed

[avelera]

I have written a version of the Ed/Stede reunion where Stede thinks the black greasepaint makeup look is ridiculous, but what if Stede is just 100% Ed-sexual and thinks the scary Kraken Blackbeard look is really, really hot?

#our flag means death #like Stede would appreciate ANY look by Ed #but when Kraken Blackbeard comes rolling up like a black metal legend accompanied by thunder clouds and lightning strikes #Stede pointedly needs to cross his legs to hide how turned on he is

[virgo-79]

Did anyone else feel that the point of Stede "learning from" Izzy in ep 5 had dick all to do with Stede learning a damn thing, and everything to do with dissolving the animosity between Stede and Izzy? Stede doesn't actually learn a damn thing; Izzy, on the other hand, comes out very much changed. As other people have already noted, Stede already has his way of captaining, and it has worked so well that his crew has not just come to appreciate his kindness and sense of community, but has internalized it so thoroughly they fall back on his methods when he isn't even there. And as for Izzy...well, people skills aren't exactly in his wheelhouse. The one time we saw him captaining, the crew mutineed in less than a day and nearly drowned him, and he responded to a genuine act of kindness by calling them all cocksuckers. Not really a great source of tips on regaining respect.

Then there's the fact that nothing Izzy attempts to "teach" Stede is anything that would resolve anything between him and the crew. The discontent we see from the crew towards Stede is about Ed's presence on The Revenge. Stede learning to be better at swordplay or fistfights isn't going to do a thing to ease that tension. ( Not to mention that they've known where Stede is lacking in competency for a long time, and came to respect him in spite of those failings long ago.)

Then there's the plot with the "cursed" coat. This also doesn't really work as any kind of breakthrough in terms of Stede winning the crew's respect; that isn't really what that plot is doing. That's more about picking one's battles and recognizing that something can both be unreal and have very real ramifications for people.

Or, to look at it another way, it's Stede indulging the crew for the sake of making peace.

Which seems an awful lot like what happens with him and Izzy in this ep.

Stede hasn't become demonstrably more skilled at any of things he is supposedly learning from Izzy -- just as he doesn't believe in curses any more than he did at the beginning of the ep. But as he does with the crew's fears about curses, Stede spends the entire episode showing Izzy he is willing to listen, and by the end of the day and the episode, Izzy's animosity towards Stede is gone.

There was nothing Stede actually wanted or needed Izzy to teach him about being a captain. But when all is said and done, he's won Izzy over -- he has his respect.

#ofmd #stede bonnet #izzy hands #the gentleman pirate indeed

[tizzyizzy]

Izzy's Feelings Matter Too

As a fandom, I find that Ed's feelings are often front and center. How hurt he was when Stede apparently abandoned him. Whether he was healing or not healing in s1e10. How hurtful or triggering or frightening Izzy's threat to him was, and to what extent it motivated Ed to destroy himself and everyone around him.

But what about how Ed's behaviors hurt others' feelings? Like Izzy's? Especially in s1e9 and s1e10?

From season 2 episodes and promos, we now know:

Ed and Izzy loved each other.

Ed and Izzy have been together most of their lives, and they know one another like no one else does.

Izzy taught Ed everything he knows.

Keeping that in mind, let's look back at the Act of Grace scene.

This isn't just Ed sacrificing his old way of life for a new love. Ed is severing his longest lasting, intimate relationship with Izzy for a future with Stede.

So for Izzy, this is his closest, most beloved friend ending their relationship to be with someone new. Someone Izzy said would ruin him.

Then Stede disappears, and Ed comes crawling back.

The man Izzy loved most left him for another man, and after Ed's heart broke, Ed walked back into Izzy's life like he belonged there.

Ed needed time to heal from the heartbreak? Well, I'm sure Izzy would have appreciated a bit of time to himself. Maybe a show of appreciation or apology. Literally any attempt at all to make up for the fact that Ed had picked someone over him (who ran off).

Instead, while Ed is crying in his blanket fort, it's Izzy who has to handle the crew. A crew he is clearly struggling to manage.

Then, without warning, Ed radically changes his leadership approach, if he's even consciously making a decision about how to lead at all. He proposes that they stop being pirates.

Remember, we are now aware that Izzy has known Ed ages. Izzy has been Ed's first mate for a long, long time. Izzy's career and livelihood are deeply intertwined with Ed's.

People tend to forget that Ed is not an independent agent. Izzy Misunderstanders like to paint Izzy as controlling, but Izzy is the one being ordered by a superior. When Ed decides that, actually, the crew is going to become a travelling ship-based variety act, who do you think Ed expects to help organize these plans? Who is going to have to implement these orders? Who is going to be dealing with the consequences when it turns out this may not a practical idea?

And sure, we can say that Ed is free to choose his path, and Izzy is free to leave. But I think most of us would agree that this would require a serious, likely emotional conversation where they both talk about their expectations and needs. Remember how long these two have been working together.

But Ed doesn't think he needs that, because he assumes that Izzy will come around and do what he wants, because until recently that's what Izzy has done.

So, yeah, Izzy said some hurtful shit to Ed, shit that struck a chord. But Ed isn't, and wasn't, the only one hurting in that scene. Izzy's closet friend left him, came back expecting to resume their own partnership without apology, and turned Izzy's entire career and way of life upside-down without warning.

#izzy hands #edward teach #ofmd #our flag means death #izzy hands meta #ofmd spoilers #ofmd s2 spoilers #ofmd season 2 spoilers

[fuckyeahisawthat]

So I’m writing a fic where Ed and Stede reunite and they don’t immediately talk about what happened, and having a renewed appreciation for how the whole episode 9/10 situation must have seemed SO confusing and painful from Ed’s POV. And really the more information you have the worse it gets.

Because if you’re Ed and you don’t have any idea about Stede’s deep-seated trauma and insecurity and self-loathing, and you don’t know about what happened with Badminton, the story goes like this:

So you managed to get both Stede and yourself out of what seemed like certain death (THANKS IZZY) and you’re in service to the navy for 10 years which is not great, long-term, but you’re honestly so relieved that Stede is alive and you’re together and you can drop the Blackbeard persona for a bit that you’re not really thinking long-term; you’re just taking a minute to breathe. And then you take a chance and kiss Stede and he kisses back!! And says he wants to run away with you!! He says it three times!! You weren’t really thinking about escape plans right now but Stede keeps talking about it so you make one, and you wait for Stede, and he doesn’t show.

It seems clear that Ed was never seriously worried that something had happened to prevent Stede from meeting him--if he was truly worried about that, I think he would have gone back to look for him even if it was dangerous. So his conclusion must have been that Stede decided he, Ed, wasn’t worth the risk of skipping out on the Act of Grace after all. Hey I willingly gave up everything for you and I thought we were on the same page about how we felt about each other and I thought we were both willing to take a chance on new lives together but guess not. Cool cool cool got it.

Then imagine he hears that Stede went back to Bridgetown. Ah, okay, now it makes sense. Stede got a little too close to the very real risks of a pirate’s life and wanted to go back to his posh safe rich people world. Who wouldn’t? And maybe Ed was just a dalliance or a plaything or a means to an end of escaping the academy and it’s his own idiot fault for expecting otherwise. Why would someone like Stede ever choose him when he had all that to go back to? Why would someone like him ever get to make a life with someone like Stede?

Then he hears that Stede died. Then he hears HOW Stede died and it’s so obviously a fuckery. Then he starts hearing stories and rumors and is eventually able to piece it together that Stede’s back, pirating again.

Ah, he thinks. So he did want a pirate’s life after all. He just didn’t want me.

#ofmd #our flag means death #stede bonnet #ed teach #gentlebeard

[player-tag]

[cross-posted onto ao3]

It wasn’t like Izzy was going to stay dead.

Who the fuck do these fucking stupid half-assed pirates think they are? Burying him? He was their unicorn, for God’s sake, they said so themselves. They gave him a leg! They ruined Stede’s stupid figurehead so he could walk normally, and he hadn’t cried—he hadn’t—but he’d thought they were okay now.

So why in the good sea’s name was he buried? And buried in dirt, instead of being tossed into the sea like a true pirate? If they were trying to kill him by premature burial, the least they could do was bury him right.

Those incompetent bitches. He was going to kill them, as soon as he got the dirt and insects out of his mouth. They tasted disgusting.

He’d been clawing at the dirt above him for a while now (maybe hours, maybe minutes, you can’t expect him to know when he was trying to preserve oxygen and not die, and plus it didn’t really matter because he was going to get out). Finally, after his fingers had had the skin scratched off of them, and after his nails had turned brown, full of fucking dirt, he saw a patch of light. 

The sun! Oh, the glorious sun, he was so happy to see it, for once. 

He began trying to sit up, and did so with ease despite being buried for however long. He had core strength, that’s why. Unlike those idiots back on the Revenge, he actually trained his body, and made it fit enough to survive whatever the Cruel Mistress called the Sea threw at him, whether it be storms or fights, cannonballs or, now, he supposes, being buried alive. They hadn’t even pressed the dirt down, which meant it wasn’t dense enough, and he could get easier than you’d want from a grave.

Though, he supposes they didn’t expect him to rise from the dead. Or maybe they wanted to make it easier? He wouldn’t know. All of them were idiots.

The first thing that makes it out of the grave is his hand: it sticks up completely, as if reaching for the sky and the sun, wanting to grab it, and for some reason Izzy imagines an undead creature doing it, and he imagines how Roach or Frenchie would call it something idiotic, like… he doesn’t know, ‘zimzam’, or something of the sort? Izzy doesn’t know, he's not like them. 

(Though maybe he wishes he was.)

He grabs whatever is near the grave, and pulls himself up, up,up. Until his head bursts out of the dirt and he can open his eyes and actually see, observe the almost barren island around him, with a rundown looking house—more like a shabby, run-down shed, really, in the near distance. He watches as the sky clears and becomes blue, and as the sun shines on his face, and doesn't that feel nice? He appreciates some of Bonnet’s enthusiasm for life in that spare moment.

Which is obviously completely ruined when he  turns around and sees his unicorn leg, which had been turned into a cross.

“I’m fucking Jewish,” he says, exasperated, and most certainly done. Of course they wouldn’t know that about him. The crew of the Revenge could barely remember his last name, and he’d never told them he was Jewish anyways, and of course Ed wouldn’t remember, that bitch.

He’s crawling out of that grave, and then he’s pulling apart the ropes on the grave marker, freeing his leg from that symbol. It takes a second to readjust the leg: it’s difficult when he’d been buried for however long, and his arms ache from disuse. 

He’s completely out of the grave now, though, so that’s a plus. He’s sitting on the grass, and he’s close to the sea, and it’s nice and quiet and serene, and he thinks he could get used to this. Maybe he won’t have to see Ed or Stede or any of those others anyways (but maybe he still wishes he could see them, he really does).

The peace, obviously, doesn’t last.

“Izzy?” And it's so soft, so concerned, so, so, achingly longing. “You bitch,” he says, turning around, and seeing, ten feet away, Stede and Ed standing there, watching him, dressed completely unlike themselves (what have they gotten themselves into, this time?).

“You bitches,” he modifies and, glaring, he says, “I’m Jewish.”

#ofmd #ofmd s2 #ofmd s2 spoilers #our flag means death #ofmd fanfic #ofmd drabble #izzy hands #ofmd izzy #stede bonnet #edward teach

[san-sebastienne]

I don’t care that it’s been months; I’m still thinking of how to tighten up s2 and make it have literally any narrative impact/emotional growth. So here’s my chopped and screwed s2 rewrite that nobody fucking asked for, PART ONE:

The big, overarching change is that Ned Lowe is the BBEG of s2. We’re saving Zheng and, more pertinently, Prince Ricky for s3 (that’s definitely happening in my world, shhh). This gives weightier narrative stakes to the Kraken era, since the looming problem is predicated on Ed’s actions – much like the Badmintons as BBEGs in s1 were based in Stede’s actions/past.

The season begins the same: the trauma crew are raiding every day, never making port. The Kraken is making everyone’s lives difficult. They break Ned Lowe’s record, but it doesn’t seem to matter (also Lucius is hiding in the walls of the revenge, causing even more stress and probably trying to haunt Ed. Let’s add a little levity.)

Stede and co in the ROP. Stede’s bartending at Jackie’z and hears someone talking about blackbeard… but they’re being very complimentary. Calling him “fascinating,” “a dedicated man” – not the kind of language that Stede’s gotten used to arguing about. Who’s this gent who seems to actually GET Ed? His name is Ned Lowe, and he’s looking for his old pal blackbeard.

Stede and the crew hitch a ride out of the ROP with Ned, since they all have the same goal – finding Blackbeard. Besides, Ned is genteel. He seems to have the same sort of appreciation for finer things that Stede has, and it’s nice to see after spending so much time cleaning up vomit at Jackie’z. Maybe Stede and Ned have a dinner in the captain’s cabin a la Barbarossa and Elizabeth Swann in the first PotC… everything is grand and well laid out, but something is very wrong. Stede tries to ignore this, but his “this guy is bad news” senses from being a gentleman are tingling.

Meanwhile, back on the trauma ship, Jim is trying not to mourn Oluwande. They’re very “everyone I’ve ever loved is dead; why would he be any different?” They’ve thrown themselves into pirating as a way to double down on their hardened I Am Vengeance persona, and this growing thing with Archie as a rebound.

Leg thing/Frenchie is first mate now/crazy storm thing/let’s kill Blackbeard are all the same. Except Lucius is there, probably spending a lot of time hiding with drunk/sick Izzy (there’s some hurt/comfort in both directions, as much as izzy can be lucid for it). He also shows up for that final shot of the crew looking down at Ed while Jim hefts the cannonball. Ed’s not worried about hallucinating anymore; he’s finally about to die!

It’s Ned’s ship (plus Stede et al) that comes across the storm wreck of the Revenge. Our crew still has to escape over to their old ship, not because anyone found Ed’s corpse but because Izzy, in a moment of clarity, is like oh shit, Ned Lowe is super bad news, we have to get the fuck out of here right now. This way we get the beginning of a basis of trust between Izzy and Stede, since Stede listens to the insistence of the Trauma Crew and takes Izzy’s advice on when to get out of a bad situation.

Gravy Basket happens.

Someone (Lucius?) tells Stede that Ed’s body is still onboard. MerStede happens.

Jim is extremely overwhelmed that Olu is alive. The two of them have a very sweet romantic reunion. They confess to Olu about Archie, but insist that she was just a rebound. Archie tries to laugh the whole thing off – it’s fine! This didn’t matter! Shit things are bound to happen to everyone! Jim feels mega guilty and starts to realize that maybe it wasn’t just a rebound – they might actually care for Archie.

The uicorn leg half of “fun and games” is pretty much the same, the big division between the crews being that The Trauma Crew wants to banish or straight up kill Ed, but they’re still very much being chased by Ned Lowe. Stede’s crew insists that getting distance here is more important than adjudicating that mess.

We do all still come together to give Izzy his new leg.

Ed is locked in some kind of makeshift brig, making everyone tetchy and uncomfortable. Except for Stede, of course, who sees this as his chance to explain himself to LITERALLY captive audience Ed. Stede has the “I love everything about you” scene with him there, and explicitly tells Ed that he didn’t go to the dock bc of Chauncey (holy shit, how does he never fucking bring that up in the actual s2). Ed is moved but not convinced to forgive Stede… yet. They do the hand holding thing here, but don’t have the conversation about taking it slow. Instead, offering his hand thru the bars of the brig is the only thing Ed does to show that he’s heard Stede and is considering forgiving him.

The other half of this episode is the crews re-integrating emotionally. Jim/Olu/Archie explicitly discuss their relationship structure. Jim can be with both of them. Lucius and Pete get to have a moment about how Pete thought Lu was dead; Lucius admits that he kind of thought he was too, since all he did was hide and hang out with a guy who was too delirious to even really recognize him.

Somehow we still get Ed in that catboy collar. Nonnegotiable.

Part two incoming…

#I don’t have enough mental energy for a full fic rewrite but I feel strongly about this #ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd meta #stede bonnet #edward teach #izzy hands #ofmd s2 #ofmd fanfic #fanfic meta

[roz-ani]

Izzy deserved to hear that from Ed.

That's Izzy's family. It's Izzy whom the crew loves.

That was Izzy's arc, not Edward's.

Now, please, don't get me wrong. It is a part of Ed's growth. Still, the main focus has always been his relationship with Stede and his identity. You can absolutely dive into the captain's relationship with his crew, but you don't replace a character's arc with another one's, especially at the last minute.

I understand the symbolism of Blackbeard "dying" with Izzy. The gatekeeping, gaslighting, feeding the persona of the world's greatest and most merciless pirate staying in the past... I am also fully convinced that Blackbeard's right-hand man actually passing away to achieve that was unnecessary.

What this season did for Izzy was absolutely incredible. That man abandoned his ego and changed the way he perceived power, respect, loyalty, and support for and because of a group of people he despised at the beginning.

His main purpose has always been looking after any crew he was a part of. He had more contact with them than the captain himself, especially aboard the Revenge when Blackbeard was going through his mental breakdown. In the first season, we saw Izzy wouldn't be the best captain, but he did have the experience and eventually learned how to look after his subordinates. All because he finally experienced proper care himself.

He got his heart broken in more than one way, yet managed to find his people, his family. Izzy finally got to know what real appreciation looks like. He got it from the people he initially mistreated. The crew decided to look after Izzy because "he's their dick". They stopped fighting after seeing him at his lowest. They made him a new prosthesis out of the figurehead of all things, showing the audience how they see him - the crew's protector, the spirit of the ship.

At first, Izzy kept pushing them away. Not out of hatred for them, but for himself. Because healing is difficult, it hurts, it takes incredible strength and willpower to admit to yourself that your environment is harmful and that you might be the problem as well. Especially when leaving it seemingly deprives you of your identity or purpose in life. Besides that, come on, it's Izzy Hands. A man who wasn't heartless, but also not "soft", as he would have most likely put it himself. He was still rough around the edges and cynical. However, after all this time he finally allowed himself to let go and feel comfortable, so some of that bitterness disappeared over time. I still don't believe he was fully healed, but he was on the right path.

Despite changing his outlook on life, Izzy was still respected. He knew what mattered and what to do and say to make sure his crew's issues were properly resolved.

Now, Ed's apology. At first I felt like there didn't need to be any deep talk between the first mate and his captain, because they understood each other well enough. That's not what communication is about though. It's not about taking something or someone for granted. Especially is the conflict escalates to such extent. There should've been more to that. They should've both had a conversation about their relationship and what made them bad for each other. Most importantly, how they could fix that and heal together. If that would require them to part ways, so be it. At least they'd separate on good terms. Now we can only speculate.

I would say my biggest problem is not with Izzy Hands dying. It's about how he died. Although I doubt I'd support this decision in season 3, at least it wouldn't be so rushed. There was no proper build-up to it. Izzy and Richard, of all people, had a deep talk about understanding piracy, a concept that is a base for one's actions. This was probably the biggest red flag, which tragically appeared in the same episode Izzy died. The crew didn't thank him or bid him farewell. He wasn't properly mourned. He was buried in the ground.

"You should've expected that. Things were going too well. A mentor character always dies after regaining hope". I have two HUGE problems with that.

First of all: a mentor character? I guess? For two, maybe three episodes at best? Izzy did meet some mentor archetype points. He was Stede's mentor for a bit, I mentioned his experience and position as the first mate, but I wouldn't say that's his main purpose. The writers did, but we're going to talk about it in a second.

Second of all: this was many people's comfort show. Especially when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community. I myself have praised this show for its take on communication and found family portrayal. It was fun, light-hearted, safe.

I understand the need to tell your story, I truly do. I know that people don't have the right to tell someone how to create, because the audience, especially the more pushy members, can be very often self-centered and don't know what's planned for a show's future. Except that these days you really have to be careful with how you plan your story with the corporations holding all the power - that's why we need to support the strikes. You need to be prepared to disclose necessary information in a proper way if needed. You need to pay attention to what you're portraying.

Now, I also believe that media literacy is dead (exaggeration) and people really can't for example understand that stories develop over time, seasons, or chapters unless they're consuming a media piece that has already run its course. They do have the tendency to take things literally and not search for the context.

Still, in the postmodern era of creativity, you need to know you don't hold all the power, despite not owning people anything. Your audience can interpret things on their own. What you believe to have no power or significance can mean the world to your audience. Remember how difficult it was for people to believe this show actually has LGBTQ+ characters and a love story in it? Or how the creator admitted he was surprised by the scepticism? I don't. Not only because I started watching the show quite late, but also because I don't consider myself to be a part of this community. It didn't mean so much to me, because I currently focus on different aspects of the content I consume. However, I know how they perceive media and their products. I may not have the same experience, but I know where theirs comes from. And I know that this show was just different. TV series, books, etc. do not belong only to the creators nowadays. Yes, they are their products, but they are made for an audience that has the right to individually approach and criticise them. And even though overinterpretation is a thing, there is no one right answer to certain issues.

BUT THEN AGAIN: THE MONEY. Was it the budget? I honestly have no idea. Perhaps it was, because literally everything is dependent on it these days...

See, we could argue back and forth about the behind-the-scenes, but I don't think I have enough knowledge of that. I also don't want to get into the topic of disability, suicide, abuse, etc., because I am not the right person for it, even though some of those things are a part of my experience. There are people out there who can give you their thoughts on their perception of Izzy's character and his significance in those areas.

I suppose my point is... I'm mad and genuinely disappointed. I can't remember the last time I was so attached to a character. I absolutely adored Izzy's character and was drawn to him in the first season. I related to him struggling with his toxic environment and finding a safe space. I was ready to see him become a captain. Heck, even if that wasn't planned for him, I still trusted the crew to let the character be happy after everything he's been through. Instead, I got this: "As long as you turn over a new leaf and heal, your death is a good one... Redemption equals no happily ever after... Remember that life isn't fair..." Aren't we tired of such narratives? What does it say about us and the media we consume? Isn't hypernormalisation of such issues exhausting?

I'm disappointed because I had hope. Even after getting betrayed by so many stories in recent years, I still had it. I had hope for a different character. Hope for a different show.

Edit: Just wanted to make something clear because I see more and more people focusing on Buttons sitting on Izzy's grave and David Jenkins liking a tweet about him being a witch. You could call me a hypocrite for pointing out people's lack of media literacy and not even considering the possibility of bringing Izzy back. That was my first thought. I would absolutely love for Buttons to do his magic and revive our man. There is something inside of me still holding onto that hope. I'm just really, really, REALLY tired of having hope in shows nowadays. I'm choosing to remain sceptical. Who knows, maybe I'll be positively surprised. Still, I stand by what I wrote: I think killing Izzy was unnecessary in the first place.

#and so necromancy is the only thing I have left #ofmd spoilers #our flag means death spoilers #izzy hands #our flag means death #ofmd #ofmd 2 #our flag means death 2 #mine #roz writes

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

I’m probably in the minority here but I’m so easily satisfied by this show. Whenever I see critical posts of the show (that offer valid takes, not talking about straight up hate posts) I’m just sort of like “huh ok I didn’t think of that. moving on.”

generally I’m pretty positive about whatever I watch unless it’s total trash and no care put into it. maybe a flaw of mine but idc. I had a great time with season 2 and maybe there are a few things I might have liked if they were different but I can’t bring myself to dwell on those things for more than like 30 seconds because I had so much fun with everything else.

I will say that the worst part of the season is definitely Izzy but I care so little about him that it did not affect my enjoyment of the story whatsoever.

I see stede and ed kiss and I’m like hmm yes absolutely genius writing right here

Hey, there is absolutely nothing wrong with just pure satisfaction from the show (and any show really). I love analysing stuff, but I'm the same way, I see Stede and Ed kiss and the part of my brain that triggers dopamine is just like "NOICE". I literally have spent the last several months doing my best to do ANYTHING ELSE (you know like.. job, family, whatever) but think about them kissing, or generally them just being them. I would say I'm very easily satisfied with this show too just by the vast majority of stuff I can get out of it depending on my mood-- and I think that's what so great about it. You can have fun with it whether you wanna dig deep or just bask in the awesomeness of it all.

Gay pirates? Check.

Hot leads? Check.

Diverse Cast and Characters? Check

Always something new and exciting to be analysed down to the second? Check.

Ability to turn it on and smile at every fucking scene just because it's gorgeous or mah boys are kissing? Check

Inspires people to create awesome art and smutty fics? Check

Real fucking relationship problems between queer people that end up happy? Check.

Sometimes I turn it on and just watch the Ed and Stede kissing scenes because it makes me smile. I don't need to think about anything, I can just look at their little goofy ass grins, and their pure love and just fucking live in it for a while.

I have to say too-- I LOVE that you generally have positive experiences with what you watch. I tend to find the good things in just about anything (unless its like crazy offensive somehow) and it's nice to just enjoy stuff, ya know?

ALSO SIDE NOTE: I appreciate you reaching out and chatting! I love reading your recommended fics and posts just fyi <3 DM me sometime if you ever wanna chat!

Speaking of the two babygirls kissing... I'll just be sitting here staring at them for a bit.

#ofmd #our flag means death #asks #asks love #edward teach and stede bonnet snogging because fuck yes I need it

[selene-and-the-cold]

So, my incredible binge journey of OF/MD is over and I consider myself officially obsessed and hereby offer my first humble contribution to what is the very soft and very squee-worthy OF/MD snz-fic community.

This is really just a drabble and a first attempt of mine to get into the swing of things. Haven't done ANY fanfic writing in ages and never for these guys, so don't known if I matched the tone, but I humbly offer a short snipped of shy and awkward Ed and Stede cuddles blatantly inspired by that pillow-fort scene, but re-imagined into something soft, not the heartbreak-hell it is in the series.

Mostly awkwardness and fluff with a bit of snz.

There was a knock on the cabin door, but Ed chose to ignore it.

Another knock

“Go away!” Edward yelled. To his dismay, it sounded rather whiny. Thank God Izzy hadn't heard.

Silence.

Then the soft turn of the doorknob. For fuck's sake, why would anyone care to knock in the first place if they just decided to barge in anyway?!

“Ed?” Stede's voice drifted into the room. Soft and tentative. “Where... where are you?”

Stede stood in the room, looking about. Edward was no where to be found, neither at the desk, nor in bed or on the couch.

“I'b here... in the blanket fortress...”

“The..?” Following the lead of Edward's voice, Stede looked around to find a construct of throws and pillows behind a curtain to his library. He smiled, then pushed the curtain aside.

“Blue pillow's the entrance door... snfff” Edward hated how pathetic his voice sounded and he would have killed anyone who'd dare to intrude into his private affairs like this. Except Stede. It was kind of Stede's thing to intrude into his affairs and Ed had come to accept it. Come to like it even.

The blue pillow was moved away with a soft whoosh that revealed Stede's face and blond locks. His coiffure was adorably tousled and askew.

“May I come in?”

Ed shrugged. “Why ndot... if you like...”

“Of course I would!,” Stede enthused, his trademark-boyish grin lighting up his face.

Stede struggled to get in, trying it feet first, then thinking better of it and crawling in on his belly, head first, carefully dragging his feet in after himself until he was awkwardly half-lying, half-crouching next to Ed.

Edward himself was resting on a nest of pillows and throws. Upon closer inspection, Stede also spotted one of his silken banyans in the mix. The one with the floral pattern that suited Ed so well.

“It's nice in here.. Comfortable, solid pillow fort...,” Stede commented, looking around with an appreciative gaze, his face doused in the flickering light of the candle.

“... and umm.. may I ask why you built this, Edward?”

Ed gave a soupy sniffle that sounded incredibly wet and thick.

“Dunno... just.. felt like I ndeeded some space for mby-... hehhh... snnnf... mbyself.”

Firm knuckles hastily came up to squash a quivering nose. Now that Stede got a closer look, he saw the shadows that haunted Edward's face, clouding the fire in his eyes to a dull, blary gaze.

“I like it. It's like your own private cave aboard the ship. A true pirate's cave.” Another appreciative nod from Stede before an uncomfortably long pause set in, filled with Ed's involuntary sniffles and Stede's unspoken thoughts.

“We umm... we missed you at dinner,” Stede finally said, shooting Edward a meaningful glance. “You know, the crew and I....”

“Wasn't hungry.” Another deep sniffle, then the rustling of fabric as Edward pulled the blanket tighter around himself, avoiding Stede's gaze.

“Mmhmm... I see. And does this sudden loss of appetite perhaps have something to do with that raging storm we encountered a few days ago. You know, the one where you got drenched to the very bone.”

Stede had noticed that Edward had become more and more quiet over he past few days. He had even passed on a possible raid and had willingly left most of their co-captain duties to Stede – much to Izzy's dismay.

Then last night, Edward had kept tossing and turning in his sleep, the quiet of the night disturbed by stray, irritated coughs, and a few muffled sneezes. Stede could tell that Edward was unwell, but he seemed reluctant to talk about it.

Ed avoided his gaze, finding a sudden interest in one of the blanket's red tassels.

“Perhaps...”

Stede hummed sympathetically, then brought a hand up to Ed's hair, his fingers gently raking through the soft locks. Edward sighed, then relaxed back into his pillows, eyes closing as Stede's gentle touch travelled from his hair to his cheek, cool fingertips brushing over a feverish blush.

“How about I bring you a cup of tea into your pirate's cave?,” Stede suggested, his legs already shifting in preparation for him to wiggle out of the fort.

Suddenly, he felt the grip of a hand around his wrist, Ed's glassy wide eyes searching his.

“Ndo, don't go. I... I.. Hihh-ESSSHhhU!”

The sneeze shuddered through Ed's entire body, locks of hair falling into his face.

“Bless you, Edward!”

“Sniff... Thank you!” Surprised by his own sudden outburst, Ed snatched back his hand, letting go of Stede. “Sorry, I did ndot mbean to grab you like that.”

“It's fine,” Stede reassured him, awkwardly scooting closer. “Is there, perhaps by any chance some room for me under this blanket?”

“I think so,” Ed huffed, but his eyes were soft and warm as he moved his body so Stede could slip under the blanket next to him. They lay awkwardly next to each other for a few moments, Stede glancing over with a nervous smile, before Ed decided to fuck it all and just snuggled up to Stede, resting his head on the smooth fabric of Stede's waistcoat. Stede's arm immediately wrapped around him, and he felt the blond man kiss the top of his hair with such fondness that is made him smile.

“I could tell you a story while we rest,” Stede suggested, stroking the waves of Ed's hair as he pirate sniffled into his waistcoat.

“Ok,” Ed agreed with another pathetic sniffle, his head resting heavily on Stede's chest, eyes drooping close. “But only if you do the voices!”

#of/md #just fluff really #and a bit of snz #my writing

[duckprintspress]

Meet Aether Beyond the Binary Contributor Terra P. Waters

Another day, another AETHER BEYOND THE BINARY creator to shine the spotlight on!

Before we get to that, just a note: hi, I’m Nina Waters, the lead editor, the person running this campaign, and the one who writes all these blog posts. I’ll be traveling for the next four days (Friday, Jan 12 – Monday, Jan 15) to vend for Duck Prints Press at Arisia in Boston. As a result, I will be slower to answer messages, reply to comments, and post updates (I’m going to try to post one, but I’m not sure I’ll have time). I appreciate your patience while I’m less available. And if by some chance, you’re attending the con, make sure you come and say hi! I’ll be at table D14 in the dealer’s room.

Now, on to Terra…!

About Terra: Terra is a scientist by day who lives in the Pacific Northwest with her family. She has been writing fiction as long as she can remember, and has always told her partner of 17 years that if she wasn’t a scientist, she would be an author. During grad school, she discovered fanfiction and immediately began writing her own. After many years and several fandoms (including Teen Wolf, Hawaii Five-0, and Stranger Things), she returned to writing original fiction. To date, she has self-published two novellas in a 90s-nostalgia polyamory comedy series and has drafted two YA/NA sci-fi novels. When not doing science or writing, you can find Terra indulging her yarn addiction and knitting.

Links: Archive of Our Own | Tumblr (pterawaters) | Tumblr (terrapwaters) | Instagram | Bluesky

Terra has previously published one short stories with Duck Prints Press, a Patreon-exclusive entitled The Wayward Timekeeper, and she also wanted to share a few of her works from AO3: 

Kope Kamekona (Hawaii Five-O, Steve McGarrett/Catherine Rollins/Danny Williams)

Forever’s gonna start tonight (Stranger Things, A/B/O, multiple ships and ot3s)

Other Delicacies (Our Flag Means Death, Ed Teach/Stede Bonnet) – this is the piece that Terra used to apply to Duck Prints Press, and several of us reviewers liked it so much that we sought it out and read the whole thing even though we aren’t in the fandom!

An Interview with Terra P. Waters

What motivates you to create?

My love for the ideas!

How did you pick the name you create under?

I’ve been using the name “pterawaters” since 2009, when I joined fanfiction.net. “Ptera” came from an old gaming character I had, “Ptera the Pterrible,” and “Waters” was a last name I really liked the sound of. For my original writing, I decided to go with a more conventional version of the name. I moved the P from the front of my name to the middle initial as an homage to my fannish writing name.

What do you consider to be your strengths as a creator?

My ability to brainstorm scenarios and know how to outline the plot from there. Longer-form works, where I get to dig into the character motivations and development. World building.

What do you consider to be your weaknesses as a creator?

Short stories, creating characters who serve the story I want to tell, adding enough description around the dialog and plot.

When and why did you begin creating?

I’ve been writing since I was a kid, and even took a lot of creative writing classes during college (aside from my science major). I get a lot of joy out of thinking “what if…” and then turning that idea into a story.

Are you a pantser, a planner, or a planster? What’s your process look like?

I’m most often a planner. I like to outline the story beats of any project before I write. Sometimes, I’ll be more of a plantser. I’ll write 1-2k words of an idea before I do the rest of the outline, so I can see if it’s an idea worth planning out further.

Which of your own creations is your favorite? Why?

I wrote a story called “Entanglement” that was part of a long Stranger Things fanwork series. It’s absolutely my favorite thing I’ve ever written, and I’m excited to get to the point where I can incorporate the rewritten version into my sci-fi series.

What are your favorite tropes?

Polyamory, First times/Getting together, Forced proximity (cuddling for warmth, only one bed), Soulmate AUs, Omegaverse, Fake relationship, Friends to Lovers

What are your favorite snacks and/or drinks to consume while creating?

I like herbal tea, candy, or a crunchy snack like popcorn. I’ve recently gotten into eating roasted lentils, which is a nice substitute for not being able to eat nuts anymore.

What is your “dream project” – the thing you’d see as the culmination of your work as a creator?

I want to finish a series of at least 4 novels and have them all in print.

When you look at your “career” as a creator, what  achievement would you most like to reach – what, if it happened or has  already happened, would/did make you go “now – now I’m a success!”?

I would like to have at least one full-length novel printed and for people to actually buy it!

Tell us about your pet(s).

I have two orange cats, Gadget (the chonk) and Gizmo (anxiety in animal form).

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

Finish the thing. My writing got so much better once I forced myself to finish fan works so I could put them up for other people to read. Practicing the first part of writing a story without practicing how to write the end leaves you never finishing anything.

Terra’s Contribution to Aether Beyond the Binary

Title: Ancient Hearts Unearthed

Tags: academia, alternate history, cancer, character illness (serious), f/nb, f/f (background), fat, first kiss, friends to lovers, getting together, hospital, modern with magic, mystery, non-binary, panic attacks, past tense, phobia (claustrophobia), pining, professor, scientist, third person limited pov

Excerpt:

Victoria turned and ran a hand over the runes again. “What bothers me is that these are early Age of Aether markings. You see the way they’re using archaic forms of our letters?”

Sasha leaned closer. “I’ll be damned. This doesn’t match the bronze-era artifacts in the rest of the cave, either.” They made a tiny humming noise. “Who else would have this much knowledge of ancient runes?”

As Victoria leaned as close as she could to the wall, she asked distractedly, “What do you mean?”

“Obviously, it’s a fake,” they said, mulling over the problem in their head. “Sanderson has wanted my place on the admissions committee since he joined the department.”

“What if it’s not a fake?” Victoria made a tiny, excited noise. “What if this is early Aether Age work? What if this is a secret that’s been buried for almost a thousand years?”

Sasha’s heart swooped at the thought. “We have to find out what that inscription says.”

You've read the interview! You've read the excerpt! Now go back the campaign!

#aether beyond the binary #terra p. waters

[blue-b-bro]

Ed & Izzy POV in s1e4

(this episode is so rich I'll analyze it for the rest of my life)

I wanted to understand those two and I think I finally did [tell me if it's stupid]

So basically e4 is about Ed and Izzy stale, deteriorating relationship (duh). We start with Ed sitting next to Stede’s bed, fascinated by the man, who wasn’t impressed by his reputation, according to Izzy.

He then went to observe the sky. Izzy was looking for him everywhere (Ed just goes and does whatever he wants, not consulting with anyone, on a foreign vessel). Izzy starts talking how they are in danger and in need of a plan. Ed interrupts him, knowing what he was going to say anyway, not important, let’s talk about my brilliant plan (he cannot stop himself from sharing something he finds cool or interesting, his ideas included) (yeah, I hc adhd Ed)

Izzy is stressed about the Spaniards. They’re a real threat and it’s better to avoid any confrontation, because they don’t have much chances to win this fight. Ed ignores him. Of course he does, he doesn’t care about anything recently.

But he can’t just drop the topic, not this time! Fine, he will play along, as long as they can finally talk about the important stuff.

Ed sees Izzy’s disinterest. Ah, fuck it, I don’t want to share my fun with you anymore, fucking killjoy. Fine, whatever, let’s play along, what is this plan you want to discuss? 

But he isn’t listening. He knows they have a lot of time, he knows they won’t have to do anything, so he already thinks about how to spend his work free day.

Izzy tries to keep the crew in line, not getting too friendly with his boss, to keep their authority, their control over them, so he interrupts Ed, before he says something stupid like “of course I won’t kill you guys, you’re fun!”

Ed is in the good mood again, after meeting the crew, especially the bird guy. He again wants to share his interests with Izzy (the little ship), Izzy isn’t interested (he thinks they still don’t have a plan). Ed gets pissed at all this nagging (Usually Izzy probably would already stop pestering Ed), he tells about his boredom, his frustration, he spells it out for Izzy. All Izzy sees is that Ed is avoiding the question. Why can’t he just give any instructions and Then talk about his feelings? He doesn’t have a problem with the feeling talk, but for christ’s sake can we please not die first? He’s really patient with him, he just asks. He explains why he’s bothering him so much.

Ed talks about dying all of a sudden. Izzy’s completely taken aback.

Ed was starting to idealize death. I don’t think he really considered suicide. He was tired, bored, nothing would give him joy. Until today. Today he finally had fun since so long! And Izzy is just making it harder for him to enjoy it. No, if you don’t care about anything I say or feel, fuck you, I’m out (no sharing a plan for you, you probably wouldn’t appreciate it anyway).

Izzy’s is getting seriously worried Ed is loosing it (again apparently, his erratic moods and all). If Ed won’t get his shit together soon they’re fucked.

He sees the Spaniards getting closer. They don’t have much time.

Stede asks if Ed works for Blackbeard. First of all: so he doesn’t know who he is. Second of all… huh. He did feel like this whole Blackbeard was a chore after all. He really has enough of this (knowing that the only retirement for a pirate is death). 

Since he’s just Ed now, he let’s himself admit out loud that yes, yes he does fancy a fine fabric. Fabric so soft, he may have never touched one like this before, it was always out of reach, a fantasy only… And Stede happily shows him his secret passage he made for fun, his auxiliary wardrobe full of beautiful clothes. It’s like being in another realm! He’s overwhelmed with all of this, with how completely and incredibly different Stede’s life is! How colorful!

And then he hears Izzy. Ah fuck. Leave me alone, don’t wanna talk with you now. I’m not telling you about the cool stuff, you wouldn’t appreciate it anyway. 

That Stede guy tho, he knows how to have fun, he’s nice and not judging his interests, he can know his identity now. (and then he does that flirty look). They’re having an affair in the closet.

Since Stede is such a cool dude, he tells him about his feelings, about feeling trapped, about being a ghost, how being Blackbeard is like a job. And he’s working as an actor, a decoration, a prop. How nobody sees him, Ed, when thinking about Blackbeard, but some stupid unrealistic version from the book! And Stede listens! He understands! Finally Ed feels heard! 

Stede is proposing retirement. Not “retirement” as death, but to just leave (of course Stede proposed that). Ed couldn’t leave, could he? But it was his work free day, so let’s get the most of it! Stede wants to be Blackbeard? Fine, whatever, he’s not working today anyway. They are safe, because he knows the clouds!

Izzy knows they don’t have much time. Ed wasn’t cooperating and now got irritated and went fuck knows where. And now, what the fuck is he doing now?! 

So he completely lost it. That’s enough. He was cleaning his mess all this time, but today is especially maddening! He doesn’t care that they’re going to die, he doesn’t care that his crewmates died for this crazy escapade, he doesn’t care he’s stressing him out! He used to be a brilliant man, but now he’s just insane, and he doesn’t want to die because of him. 

Ed, after having so much fun with Stede, is much more disinterested in talking with Izzy, now that he know how much someone can actually engage with him, see him as a person, how invigorating a conversation could actually be.

When Izzy decided he has to fix this mess himself (again) and attacked Stede, Ed used this to again explain to Izzy how he feels, since he wouldn't listen otherwise. And when Izzy realized Ed didn't go mad, didn’t loose his connection to reality, he started to listen again. I wouldn’t be surprised if it did happen before: Ed not telling Izzy his plan, because he was angry at him. Maybe that’s why Izzy stopped and listened, instead of interrupting this game. He realized that that’s what was happening.

Everyone is impressed with Ed’s genius plan, Ivan shouts “That’s why you don’t doubt captain Blackbeard!”, you know, like Izzy did. Ed even gives him the look “What do you say now, huh?” He explains how the clouds were important, another jab at Izzy. Izzy’s mostly irritated. It couldn’t be the first time this happened. This is what they do, get mad at each other from time to time.

But Ed was wrong, and that changed everything. Now it wasn’t just a normal spat, now they’re going to die, because neither of them wanted to listen. Because Izzy was so quick to doubt Ed. (tbh I don’t know how much of it was a real doubt and how much just stress) At least that’s how Izzy feels. 

Ed gave up. He didn’t really cared about living after all. He did his job because it was his responsibility, fighting everyday just to fight again the next. But since there’s nothing to do, then whatever. 

Then he and Stede come up with the idea, and Ed actually learns something from today’s mistake. He works with people, with everyone. He’s not isolating anymore, stopped keeping his thoughts, plans and ideas to himself. And that let them escape.

Izzy decided to leave. Apparently his relationship with Ed became dangerous to everybody. Apparently it’s better for them both to split. But Ed tells him he was right, he wants to reconcile.

Ed wants to stay here with Stede, but he cannot just say that. Ed may have find something, someone who makes him happy, but he’s still deep into his pirate life, where you can’t just admit to such soft things. Izzy would nag him again that he’s being stupid and reckless, he would never shut up about it, he’s sure. So he lies about planning to kill Stede. This will buy him more time. He wants to stay here just a little longer. (and maybe he feels bad about having to lie about it, or having to lie to Izzy, his closest friend. Maybe he was sad because he realized he cannot share his joy with Izzy)

Izzy thinks he and Ed are finally good! He’s so happy! He didn’t want to leave of course, but he also didn’t want to endanger Ed. But since Ed wants him here, needs him, then he’s going all in. He will do anything and go anywhere for him! (Izzy also didn't know he could be this happy) (no, seriously, that "I need you" could be his first step towards realizing his feelings for Ed) (ah fuck I made myself sad now)

Tbh I don't think any of them knew or thought about their feelings as romantic (everyone has to have an opinin about it these days I know). More like, Izzy was in love, but thought it's just admiration. They were close, they were the closest people to each other for a very long time. I'm not saying they were buddies, more like a family, coworkers, partners, something like that. Izzy was useful to Ed, but I also think Ed was used to have Izzy around, since he was his family in a way. They would fight and then go back together, not knowing there's something better. Like Ed said, his life was boring, so his relationship with Izzy was probably rather stable, probably comforting even, for their standards. (I mean look at the last screenshots, they're close and chill and talking feelings) I think Izzy realised he was in love only when he started to loose Ed.

#not really a meta #more like an interpretation #I almost wrote a meta about this episode and then realised I was so wrong #close one #yeah I don't know if this look at the episode is the correct one or obvious but I wanted to put it into words #edizzy #ofmd #izzy hands #edward teach #ofmd meta #our flag means death #Like I'll write about later episodes but it would be too long and the rest isn't so focused on the details

[wearfinethingsalltoowell]

Frenchie was slowly but surely piecing together what had happened.

When Blackbeard returned to the ship broken, devastated, and without Stede, most of the crew assumed Captain Bonnet’s luck had finally run out.

Frenchie had other suspicions.

He knew rich people, knew how they worked. Sure, Stede seemed different at first glance, but after a few days at the naval academy, surrounded by people like him, he might have found a renewed appreciation for where he came from. Leveraged his name or his closeness with Blackbeard to escape the squalor that usually awaited a captured pirate, leaving Edward to take the heat for both of them.

A few weeks after the loss of half of their crew, Frenchie had managed to sneak off the ship at port, and heard that Stede Bonnet had escaped the academy to return to his wife and children. 

There was something about a jungle cat, but Frenchie was too overcome with rage to keep listening.

From what he could piece together, Stede had cajoled Edward into risking their lives with an escape attempt, and then used it to leave him for the old life he’d professed to hate.

Leave all of them, Frenchie realized with a pang. Bonnet had taken all of them in with his promises of people positive management and talking things through, made them feel like a family, and then left when he got bored.

As he saw Izzy approaching the Captain’s cabin, Frenchie knew he would only make the situation worse, so he sprung to his feet and shoved him aside.

“Let me talk to him.”

Surprisingly, Izzy didn’t argue. 

Frenchie gave a slight knock on the door as a formality, and then crept into the cabin.

Edward was curled up in the window that used to house Stede’s bed. His eyes were bloodshot, and he clearly hadn’t slept. He look utterly wrecked.

“What now, Izzy?” he groaned.

“It’s not Izzy.”

Ed raised his kohl-covered eyes to look at Frenchie, happy, despite everything to see a hopefully friendly face.

“What do you need, kid?”

“I wanted to see if you’re okay,” Frenchie walked over and joined him on the ledge.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I think it’s shit what Bonnet did to you.”

Ed jerked upward: “Don’t talk about him! Don’t mention his name in here.”

“He manipulated all of us,” Frenchie was undeterred, “I’ve seen it before.”

The anger drained from Ed’s eyes, replaced with curiousity, “What do you mean?”

“I spent most of my life working for people like him. This is what they do. Get people to love them, give them affection, and use it until it bores them. Saw one rich fuck about my age court a peasant girl for years, wed her in private, and then bribe the officiant to lie so he wouldn’t lose his inheritance. She was ruined. And that’s not even mentioning the ones with other interests. There was truly a shocking amount of young rich guys who like to fuck their stable boys or servants and then cry ‘he came onto me’ when their wives catch them.”

“Shitheads,” Ed muttered.

“My point is, you aren’t alone here, Edward. He’s the asshole. I’ve held plenty of my friends while they cried over people just like him. Please, don’t let one man ruin your entire life.”

“I..am sorry, about your friends. About Lucius. He’s the one who convinced me Stede liked me, and I thought he was in on it. Some big plan to get one over on Blackbeard.”

“Don’t worry about Lucius,” Frenchie was thrilled to be able to give good news, “he’s hiding in the walls! Nothing happened that can’t be fixed.” “Nothing can be fixed with Izzy here,” Ed sighed, “he’s watching like a hawk, for any signs that Blackbeard is slipping away again. I already took a toe, I’m not sure how else to hold him off. I can’t bring myself to kill him.”

Frenchie put a hand on Ed’s shoulder: “You have Jim.” 

[asgardian--angels]

I've been seeing a lot of mixed emotions and frustration surrounding what we heard today from Samba on Wee John Wondays, regarding the immense amount of deleted scenes, cut material, original episode concepts etc, from season 2. And I just wanted to give my two cents here.

Look, it is absolutely valid to be pissed at HBO Max right now. They slashed OFMD's budget, cut their runtime on a per episode and a season basis. This resulted in plotlines having to be reworked, character & relationship development compressed, and some minutiae & connective scenes omitted. The thought of that sucks! It would have been nice to see the polycule shown more directly onscreen, and to see Ed & Stede dance, have a longer goodbye to Izzy, and maybe work through Ed and Stede's relationship rollercoaster a little more gradually. I'm sure this hurt no one more than David himself, who's had a clear vision of all three seasons from the start - who's now had to deal with not only a truncated s2 but a cancellation soon after to boot.

But I think it does a great disservice to the entire cast and crew who worked immensely hard on season 2 to dwell overlong on what we could or 'should' have gotten. They worked their asses off to bring us something phenomenal! Season 2 was incredible - and your mileage may vary, but all analytics indicate season 2 was even more popular and well-received than season 1 by audiences and critics alike. There was a whole team of writers who worked deftly and skillfully to crunch ten episodes into eight without compromising the core elements, themes, and plotlines they wanted to include to tell this story, plus a talented cast who brought their own improvisation to set every day and gave us some of the season's most iconic moments. Everyone on the OFMD crew is proud of what they made, as they rightly should be. It was beautiful television.

Expressing dissatisfaction with what was cut is fine to an extent, but let's not let it take away from our enjoyment and appreciation of the final product we did get, or give the crew the impression that what they worked so hard to give us wasn't good enough. They want more than anyone to have had those extra scenes in there to show off the hard work of the whole team! I'm seeing this a lot especially with the talk about the early draft of Calypso's birthday (and this info is not new, Samba spoke at length about it during his baking class back in November). Regardless of your opinion on whether you think that would have been a 'better' version of the episode, it was just that - an early draft, that never came close to being filmed. David and the writers revised this concept because, apart from time constraints on the season, ultimately they felt that the concept they ended up going with best served the narrative. Even Samba agreed that he preferred the final version. There's no secret footage of this other version, we didn't 'lose' anything - this is one of the dangers of scripts getting released for any piece of media, because the mind runs astray dreaming of the possibilities of what may have been, when the reality is all shows go through moderate to sometimes heavy editing before the final version, and the audience probably doesn't need to see that process!

The fact that season 2 turned out so beautifully, with some of the most moving and iconic sequences television's seen in quite a while, and a love story that has touched so many, is truly a testament to the passion, dedication, and skill of the entire cast and crew. They have achieved the status of cultural phenomenon, season 2 was the 5th most watched series in the entire world on streaming services, outperforming shows like Loki. They've got several dozen articles with glowing praise from major media outlets, a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, multiple award nominations, and more than anything a loyal fanbase who's in it for the long haul to fight for a season 3. They have succeeded to this level despite all the stumbling blocks HBO Max has thrown in their path. If season 2 was OFMD held back from its full potential, then I think they should be damn fucking proud of what they've made.

Samba pitched an official bts documentary for both season 1 and season 2 and was turned down. This show deserved better than HBO Max was ever going to give them. He's going to try and post deleted scenes and a blooper reel if he can (not all heroes wear capes, folks). And it's very likely none of these things will ever be officially released (though, we can make a stink about it!). Be angry about it, absolutely. But we need to channel that energy into the fight for renewal. Double down on efforts to get the attention of Netflix, Prime, Apple TV, and FX, get more signatures on the petition (87k as of this writing!), and just keep talking positively about the show on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook with our hashtags. We need to show the crew that we're upset for them, but so grateful for the beautiful season we got too.

So let's not bicker and wallow about what was 'stolen' from us - the final canon product is ultimately the final canon product, and any other tidbits are fun but neither owed nor necessary. They trusted that we could put the pieces together, that we'd be able to read between the lines when scenes that would have made things more explicit, or developed them further, had to be shortened or cut. And that trust was well placed! We sussed it out. Celebrate the ofmd fandom for all the excellent meta, art, fic, we've gotten, and celebrate season 2 for its joy, its profoundness, its nuance, its enduring hope and how much it's given to so many. Air your grievances respectfully, and then get back to fighting to give OFMD the well-funded third season it deserves!

#our flag means death #ofmd #personally i'm glad we got the version of calypso's birthday we did #the matchmaker thing did not really jive with the sort of seriousness and softness they were treating the ed/stede relationship with #it's a good comedy trope but i think it'd work better on a side pairing than on them #THAT BEING SAID i think it would be hilarious in season 3 to have the crew give bad advice to both ed and stede at the same time #about how they should propose to each other #until they fumble the whole thing so badly they just give up and be like 'hey you wanna just ditch these guys for a bit' and take a walk #and do this sweet soft proposal together (still not realizing that the other was planning to) #those sorts of hijinks would be hilarious. anyway

[tizzyizzy]

There are two wolves inside me.

One says that the odds of Steddyhands happening are impossibly low. It’s just not the direction the show is going .

But the other wolf says...

This is How Steddyhands Can Still Win

1. Polyamory Already Exists in the Narrative

Polyamory isn’t really a thing in most TV shows. The narrative in the audience don’t expect it to be brought up as a possible, legitimate relationship dynamic.

But through Lucius, OFMD has introduced polyamory as a possibility into the universe. Not only that, Lucius tells Izzy, a man agonizing over his precious pseduo pirate husband falling for Stede. Was this this show planting the seeds of Izzy contemplating a Steddyhands dynamic?

2. Stede and Izzy’s First Meeting Was Turbohorny

When I first started watching this show, I knew that Stede ended up in a romance with Blackbeard, but I did not know when he would appear in the show or what he would look like. I wondered when Izzy appeared if this might be him. And holy crap, that first interaction did nothing to dispel that impression. Izzy ripped up Stede’s shirt in the style of Zorro. Stede said he’d enjoyed their encounter in a low, sexy voice. The rivalry style sexual tension was off the charts.

Sure, the rest of the season pivots to Ed and Stede, but that doesn’t mean the choice of first meeting with Izzy wasn’t significant. Stede even met and established a bickering dynamic with Izzy before meeting Ed. Maybe future seasons will pick this up again.

3. Ed Has Two Sides

While we all know that Izzy gave an ultimatum rejecting Ed in favor of Blackbeard, Stede kinda of rejected Blackbeard. Ed was having a great time with Calico Jack. He wasn’t being pressured into behaviors he wasn’t proud of or acting out due to heartbreak. He was surprised and baffled by Stede distaste for his violent behavior. 

Wouldn’t it make sense for the people who are closest to each side of Ed to come together in some way? They could teach one another how to love and appreciate Ed in different ways.

4. Izzy Balances Them Out

Throughout the show, Izzy has been a spokesman for practicality and realism. It’s really sweet and charming that Ed began get understand one another and get along on their first meeting, but it’s clear they are both reckless in their own ways. Ed wants excitement, and is will to let his mood and whims govern his actions. Stede is naive and inexperienced in piracy. While there haven’t been any lasting consequences or much narrative weight to these issues in the first season, it seems like s2 is a good time to introduce Stede to the dangerous realities of piracy, and to show the consequences of what happens when a pirate doesn’t take their job seriously.

While Stede in particular will likely evolve on this matter, I doubt he’ll even play the role of cynical realist trying to keep everyone alive. They both need that person. Why not Izzy?

5. Ed and Izzy Were Happy Once

Well, happy is probably not the best word. But from Izzy’s loyalty and Ed’s reliance on him, it seems likely they had a closer relationship that soured over time as Ed lost enthusiasm for piracy and continued to neglect Ed in favor of Blackbeard.

While it has sad moments, OFMD is a romance and a comedy that will likely end with all sympathetic better off than they started. For Ed and Izzy, that naturally seems to be a better, stronger, more genuine version of their current relationship. And if Izzy is Ed’s metaphorical pirate husband, then the end point would be a happy, healthy, pirate marriage.

#steddyhands #ofmd #Our Flag Means Death #izzy hands #Edward Teach #Stede Bonnet #coping so hard

[mysteriouslybluepirate]

Hey,

I just wanted to make sure: have you been in the ofmd fandom during s1 coming out? I'm very interested in meta from that time (I'm not asking for any links, I can search myself, don't want to bother you, unless you would like to recommend something, that would be great of course)

(Forgive any spelling errors for now, im in bed on my phone lol)

Hello! Yes I have! I started watching the show a few days after s1ep7&8 came out, and watched eps 9&10 the moment they came out!

During the early days of fandom meta, you had a lot of straight up show analysis. Songs, motifs, symbols and explaining characters actions and the like. Back then I don't think I ever posted, just reblogged some stuff relating to Ed/Stede.

For that, I'd recommend looking up the topics I listed from lighthouse symbolism, music in certain scenes. Bare bones, but fun stuff! The tags 'ofmd meta' 'Edward Teach meta' or character + meta. That or ofmd symbolism, ofmd mental health, Ed's heart(referencing the red cloth), Oranges, Oluwande's earing.

My biggest draw here is I just love characters and analyzing character arcs in stories. So I have always been on the more meta sides of fandom.

I started posting light meta for Ed and Izzy maybe around June ish of 2022? Maybe? Nothing big, but from then on I focused mainly in the Izzy spaces. FOR ME: I was more intrigued by the meta on the cycles of abuse, classism, refrences to historical piracy, and just sheer angst and heart and emotional honesty of the Meta on this side of the fandom. I grew up and still live in a very red very rural US state and cant safely be visibly queer, so i latched onto Izzy's caution around visable queerness/vulnerability and habit to cling onto the established norm vs. Stede and Ed's story on 'The Love Shack' Carribean eddition. (and the fact Izzy's side treated Ed and Stede like characters that COULD still make mistakes.)

Some fans prefer the romance of ofmd while others prefer the story of family/acceptance/angst. We as a fandom split pretty quickly after ep 10. Trust me.

I sadly can't recommend you anyone specific due to essentially texting this post rn (and if any fans at the time comment down below any notable meta writers they can remember, I'd appreciate it-im drawing a blank besides my mutuals-hell give yourself a shout out if youd like). What i can give you are the disagreements that split meta writing in the fandom during the hiatus. Hell some of these even have trickle-down effects to this day as to how the fandom portrays these characters TO THIS DAY. This is where I see the clear line between what ofmd fandom will call the Izzy 'canyon' of meta vs general fan posting.

1.) Did Izzy influence/order Ed to become the Kraken? [Ed meta: (to be a bit uncharitable) Ed felt like he was alone and he'd only be able to keep Izzy in his life is if he became the Kraken (or Izzy is somehow abusing Ed to make that choice to become the monster he feared)] [izzy meta: izzy wanted blackbeard back, his friend and captain, not the Kraken. He cares about Ed being safe, and for them, that means hiding behind the blackbeard shield. Even if it keeps them both stagnant]

2.) Does Ed want to kill? How does he frame killing? How does he moralize it? How does this trauma affect him as a character? How does he value the lives of his crew ('they're pirates, that's their job' s1ep4 vs his dad or the ship he lit on fire for example)

3.) Is izzy homophobic/racist/a colonist/more of a piece of shit beyond just being an antagonist(if i were you I'd also just stick away from a post if it seems like the writer is framing all of Ed's actions like Izzy is his 'puppet master controlling the strings'.)

4.) Why do Stede and Ed seem to struggle to care about anyone else in their lives beyond each other? (Not really popular outside of Izzy spaces unless discussing ADHD/AUTISM. Honestly I don't know how you'd look for this in a Tumblr search bar, but it's some good stuff)

5.) Edward Teach has Adhd/BPD/Depression or the cycle of abuse, Stede Bonnet has Autism/Adhd/emotional childhood neglect including some amazing meta on masking. I think I even wrote something about Izzy and autism actually....

If I were you this is where I'd start. The mental health discussions in this Fandom are intriguing. S2 did basically confirm the ADHD 100% for anyone who was doubting, and healed Ed's btd with stedes dick, but other than that. There's some really good stuff in there. An easy way to find some good writers!

>) ALSO: Does piracy represent masculinity?? (S1 says maybe, it depends. S2 throws that whole meta out the window, but it was fun to talk about equating Izzy and Ed's leather daddy ship and more masculinity presentations of queerness to traditional masc gender roles)

6.) Do you define Ed and his actions as his own or as that under labels? This one is super frustrating to me personally. It does nothing for me to look at s2ep1 and say 'see that's the Kraken, that's a mask, that's not Ed'. But a lot of the general wider fandom do see Ed masking as somehow putting on a role, like in a play, and carrying out his evil actions under a pseudonym. These people usually will also believe the 'Izzy is manipulating a mentally ill man' stuff. As if Izzy isn't also SUPER fucked up.

THIS lack of character direction affected our fandoms fanfic and fanart too. I look at Ed and see a man who is and has fucked up. But hell, go back to S1 fic and you can read a fic where izzy slaughters puppies and Ed stands by with 'sexy cow eyes' unable to stop him. Then the next read 'Ed/Stede slowburn post s1 where Izzy goes to get Stede and learns to be apart of the crew' in 40k words.

7.) Jim's religious trauma, what is up with Buttons, Lucius/Izzy and Polyamory dynamics, or other topics with side characters that are brushed off. I bet right now if you look at people writing S2 Frenchie trauma Meta, they wrote stuff for s1

8.) Also- was izzy turned on by the toe thing/getting slammed into a wall. Yes. This is still debated. As a con oneill fan, those are not his 'I'm hot for this' faces. But No. You will still see that interpretation today that he wanted Ed to do something to him only because he got off on it. Even after s2. (Izzy being a masochist however? Fan theory that was embraced and made into a refrence in s2 which was fun)

I've just rebloged a post with some meta from a writer I enjoy and I will tag you!! But yeah! OFMD mutuals if you can recommend any meta writers, don't be afraid to!! Thanks for the ask!!! ❤️(I will likely add to this post when I think of more lol)

#ofmd meta #ofmd meta meta #lol #izzy hands #ofmd s2 #thanks for the ask! #god...am i a meta writer now? shit... #weird to think about #you read 1 meta about Izzys microexpressions and BAM here we are #ofmd #ofmd s1 meta

[dreamingticklee]

A Little TLC ~ Squealing Santa 2022 ~

Ho ho ho! Hi @silviesilviesilvie it’s me, Santa!! Oh dearest friend, I very much enjoyed bouncing around your prompts and creating this for you and I hope you enjoy your gift and have a very merry christmas and a wonderful new year! <3 Biggest thanks and applause to @hypahticklish for hosting, your hard work has not gone unnoticed and I appreciate you! @squealing-santa

Fandom: Our Flag Means Death

Pairing: Lee!Ed, Ler!Stede

Words: 2.5k

It was a relaxing evening at sea, golden sunlight gently caressing the water, creating a dancing glimmer on the surface. Ed's eyes sparkled in the reflecting light as a calm ocean breeze played with his hair, combing through it like a comforting hand. In his zen-like state, Ed took in a deep breath and stretched back with his arms reaching to the sky. He wouldn't admit it out loud (he's fucking Blackbeard) but here in this moment, he felt truly happy.

"How's it feeling, Ed?" Stede's voice cut in.

Ed, still stretching, turned his head toward Stede. "Hmm? What do you mean?" Had he been caught basking in the moment?

"Your stab wound." Stede moved his arm to point at the exposed area of skin below the hem of Ed's leather jacket.

Ed quickly brought his arms down from their stretch as he looked down at the scabbed mark on the left side of his stomach. It had been about a week since Ed had performed his signature maneuver to "avoid all the important bits" in a raid against a Spanish ship.

"Oh, it's fine."

"Hmm…mind if I take a closer look?"

"Uh, sure, go ahead."

Stede started to slowly bend down until he was at eye level with Ed's middle and gingerly placed a hand on the side of Ed's hip.

Ed froze. Something about Stede's hand at his side and the way Stede's face was so close to such a vulnerable part of him felt so…intimate? Stede's focused eye contact was making his skin tingle under the surface.

Suddenly, Stede stood back up straight and looked into Ed's eyes.

"It's looking a wee bit red still. Does it hurt at all?"

It took Ed a second to snap his brain back into focus.

"Oh, uh…I don't know. It's fine, Stede."

"Would you mind if I cleaned it a bit for you? Don't want it to get any more infected." Stede's voice was so calm and full of care, Ed couldn't help but agree to letting him.

"Sure, if you want to."

________

Down in the captain's quarters, Ed was laying on the couch, with Stede kneeling at his side, and Ed was trying his best to be nonchalant about being asked to pull up his shirt. But he would be lying if he said the action of doing it under Stede's watching eyes didn't make him blush.

Stede had a soft piece of fabric to use as a rag and a small bowl of water, in which he mixed in some lavender soap (he knew it was Ed's favorite.) He dipped a portion of the cloth into the soapy water.

"Ready? Let me know if it stings at all, but it should just take a moment."

"Aye aye, Captain."

Stede huffed a laugh and tenderly brought the wet cloth to Ed's skin.

Oh, Ed thought, that feels…nice.

Stede, ever so careful, dabbed the fabric along Ed's healing wound. He was trying his hardest to not hurt Ed at all, but when he took at quick look at Ed's face, he could see that Ed looked relaxed, and Stede let out a quiet breath he didn't know he was holding. The fact that Ed was willingly letting him care for him like this and, seeming to enjoy it, made his heart swell.

As Stede continued his cleaning, they made soft conversation, and once Stede had felt he had sufficiently cleaned the area, he grabbed another cloth to then begin to dab it dry.

"There," Stede smiled, "all clean." He set down the cloth and gently brought his hand back down, letting his thumb take a few soft swipes on the skin around the wound to ensure that he had dried it properly.

And Ed jumped with a gasp.

Stede quickly stopped and pulled his hand away.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Ed. I didn't mean to hurt you."

Ed stammered a bit. "Uh, um…no Stede, uh…no, you didn't." Ed cleared his throat.

A look of doubtful confusion graced Stede's face. "Ed, are you sure? Your reaction seemed like I had hurt you…"

Ed signed before admitting, "It wasn't pain, Stede…," his blush from earlier creeping back onto his cheeks.

"Then what….oh." Stede's eyes went wide with surprise and a smile started to grow on his face. "Ed, are you ticklish?"

Ed let out an embarrassed groan and closed his eyes, his whole body going hot now as the blush took over his entire being.

"Hmmmmmm somethinglikethat." Ed quickly confirmed in his best attempt to seem casual about it.

"Oh, Ed," Stede smiled fondly, "it's quite alright to be ticklish. Almost everyone is somewhere!"

Stede playfully gave Ed's tummy a quick scribble and Ed jumped again with a little squeak.

"Stede!"

"Alright, I'm sorry," Stede smiled in apology and pulled his hand back, "I won't do it again."

Stede shifted and stood from his kneeled spot next to Ed on the couch, grabbing the bowl of soapy water and the makeshift rags he used to clean Ed's wound. He began to make his way to the ship's washroom, but Ed's voice stopped him.

"Stede…"

Stede turned back around to look at Ed still laying on the couch.

"Yes, Ed?"

Ed didn't know how to say it. He felt like he physically couldn't. He wanted to curl up into a ball of embarrassment and be swallowed by the couch. But Ed wanted it, and knew Stede would stay true to his word unless he said something.

Ed opened his mouth to speak words, but when nothing initially came out, he sighed and brought his hands up to hide his face.

"I…don't want you to….not."

Ed could hear the slow, confused footsteps of Stede coming back to his form on the couch.

"You don't want me to not….what?"

Letting out a huff, Ed squirmed in his spot on the couch. He was hoping that'd be enough for Stede to get the hint. Goddammit.

"I don't want you to…not…t-...." Ed cleared his throat again and took a breath, "....tickle."

The footsteps stopped and it was quiet for a few seconds, but to Ed, it felt like a lifetime.

"Ed," Stede said softly, "do you want me to tickle you?"

Ed made a noise behind his hands and brought his knees up before letting them drop down to the couch again and then gave a small, hesitant nod.

Hearing the footsteps walk towards him again, Ed felt Stede's presence settle next to him with the dip of the couch cushion as Stede sat himself on the edge next to Ed's legs.

"There's no need to be embarrassed, Ed. Why, I happen to think it's actually quite fun!"

At that, Ed shifted some of his fingers to take a peek at Stede and was met with an expression so sweet and genuine that he could hardly stand it. He let out a little whine and moved his fingers back to fully hide again.

Stede giggled, thinking Ed looked absolutely adorable, and brought his hands to hover over Ed's still exposed belly, letting his finger tips just barely graze the skin. Ed's body stiffened in anticipation underneath him.

"And of course I'll tickle you."

Stede started to lightly wiggle his fingers against Ed's tummy and Ed squeaked, his back arching up for a moment before falling back to the couch. He began squirming back and forth, a flood of giggles starting to stream from his lips. The skitter of Stede's fingers on his bare skin felt like tingling, electric sparkles and oh was it a fun feeling. And the fact that it was consensually deliberate, that Stede was wanting to do this with him, made every sensation that much more sweet.

Sweeping and spidering his quick, light fingers all around Ed's belly, Stede was beginning to giggle himself, the act of tickling Ed bringing him so much joy.

Suddenly, Stede darted his hands down to test a few quick squeezes on Ed's hips and was rewarded with a surprised squeal.

Ed's hands shot down from his face and he lurched forward, his reflexes instinctively making him grab at Stede's wrists to pull them away.

Stede stopped instantly and let Ed take a breath.

"Is that spot too much, Ed?" Stede asked sincerely.

Ed paused and let go of Stede's wrists. "Um…no, not too much…just tickled a lot...but in a fun way."

A smug look made it's way onto Stede's face.

"Hmm. How about a game then?" Stede gently pushed down on Ed's shoulders to lead him back to his laying position on the couch. He then cupped his hands around Ed's elbows and maneuvered his arms above his head before letting go and sitting back. Stede smirked.

"Keep your arms up, Ed."

Ed's eyes went wide and he bit his bottom lip, already fighting back more giggles at those words.

"Mmmhmmhmm, and…what if I can't?"

Stede raised his eyebrows and wiggled his fingers. "I think we both know the answer."

That made Ed pull his hands down to hide his face again when, "Shit!," he put them back up above his head. 

Stede laughed. "Trying to lose already, Ed?"

"Nohohohooo…"

"Don't worry, there are plenty of tickles to come."

Stede started again slowly, following a circling pattern around Ed's tummy, letting his fingers wander around the curve of Ed's sides and up across his ribs.

As the ticklish sensation kept building, Ed was fighting his arms from trying to come down and interfere. He truly didn't want to interfere, but this game was proving already to be quite difficult.

But then again, maybe he did want to lose to see what Stede's punishment for him would be…

Stede's voice snapped him back from his own inner battle. "I can see you're trying so hard for me, Ed," Stede let out a little mischievous chuckle, "but shall we up the intensity a bit?" His fingers now started to quickly skitter around Ed's torso, jumping around from spot to spot, with the occasional surprise armpit tickle that made Ed's arms jump down halfway before managing to bring them back up again.

Squirming around with more vigor, Ed felt like he was being electrocuted with tickles, and it was getting harder and harder to keep his arms up as the zipping sensations coursed through his body. Ed's laughter was freely pouring out of him and it was wind in Stede's sails.

"Now, Ed, what was it that I did before that made you squeal? Hmm…," Stede continued his tickling as he pretended to think, "Was it this?" He jumped his hands to Ed's underarms and gave the centers a quick taser with his fingers.

Ed squawked and his arms jumped down again, but just as quick as Stede's hands were there, they were off to the next spot and Ed brought his arms back up and gripped the pillow sitting against the arm of the couch for dear life, bracing himself.

A squeeze to his ribs.

"This?"

A vibrating, clawed hand to his belly.

"Or was it this?"

Pokes going up and down his sides.

"Was it here?"

Ed was about to combust. All the various changes of tickles and sudden movements from spot to spot and the smug teasing had him faltering, his grip on the pillow going white-knuckled.

"Ah! I remember!" Stede, in his utter delight, didn't wait another second before jumping back down to squeeze at the junction where lower tummy met hips.

A high pitched squeal rang through the air as Ed's arms came crashing down, pillow still in hand, and it smacked Stede in the face.

There was a sudden still and quiet in the room. Ed looked at Stede with wide eyes realizing what he had done, and the eyes that looked back at him with rising eyebrows told him one thing: he was in trouble.

"Now, Edward…" Stede began, and just those words alone already sent Ed into a giggling, playful beg.

"Stehehede! Nohoho, it was an accidehehent, I promise!"

Stede narrowed his eyes, teasingly skeptical. "Mmhmm, I don’t know Ed. I think I see your nose growing." He grabbed the pillow out of Ed's grip and flung it across the room in a display of joking outrage. "This definitely calls for punishment!"

Shifting from his place at Ed's legs, Stede flipped himself around so that he was sitting on Ed's chest. Placing his hands back on Ed's hips, he began to repetitively squeeze.

Ed went ballistic. His legs were flailing about, unable to do anything about the shocking jolts that had taken full control of his body. He tried to arch his back, but with Stede's weight now on his upper body keeping him in place, he couldn't do much else besides push at Stede’s back with his hands. The way Ed couldn't even see Stede's ticklish movements seemed to make it even worse.

"Fuhuhuck!! This isn't fahahahair!"

"I don't know, Ed, this seems perfectly fair to me! It's not my fault you're so adorably ticklish."

Shit, Stede's teasing was getting to him so badly, and paired with the insanely tickly pulses ruminating into his bones, Ed was in tickle Hell (Heaven.) His eyes squeezed shut as his bubbly shrieks got higher and higher in pitch with every evilly calculated pinch at his hips and it wasn't long before he was in full hysterics.

"Steheheheede! Nononono nahahahaha! Shihihit!! I'm sorryyyy!"

And just like that, everything stopped. Ed's legs slumped back down to the couch as Stede's weight lifted from his chest and was replaced with a gentle hand rubbing up and down his side.

Ed's remaining giggles continued to filter out past his lips as his chest heaved in order to catch his breath. He slowly started to come back down to earth and opened his eyes to see a softly smiling Stede looking down at him.

"How are you feeling, Ed?"

"Hmhmhmhmmm, you're mehehean."

"Oh? Is that right?"

Ed nodded.

"Well," Stede continued, "just know there's more to come. That was just punishment for hitting me with the pillow. I haven't given you your punishment for bringing your arms down…"

Ed's eyes went wide.

Stede chucked. "And I'm going to have to keep checking and cleaning your wound…that is, if you'd let me?"

Ed looked directly into Stede's eyes and was met with a hopeful, questioning stare. This caused a new flush to rise to Ed's cheeks and his heart fluttered. Knowing that Stede was wanting, and was essentially asking, to tickle him more had his insides vibrating and he was filled to the brim with a childlike glee.

Ed excitedly squirmed under Stede's gaze. "Hmhmhm um…might have to check it frequently…just to be sure."

Stede beamed. "Of course, Ed." He then stopped his hand rubbing Ed's side and gave him a couple pats on his tummy. "How about we go and have a nice cup of evening tea and relax for a bit, hmm? Then we can take care of your other punishment later tonight…and, mayhaps, I can look at that knee of yours..." Stede winked.

Oh, Ed couldn't wait.

#squealing santa 2k22 #squealing santa 2022 #ss 2k22 #ofmd tickling #ofmd tickle fic #lee!ed #ler!stede #blackbonnet tickle #tickle fic