#literally what’s the point of having Ed come back from the dead | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lightbluetown · 6 months

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i saw some people say ed and zheng are master strategists while stede is just some guy with ridiculous luck, but i think that's unfair. sure stede's ideas are insane, but they fit the looney tunes ass universe of ofmd perfectly. they're mostly well-thought-out, well-executed and they showcase stede's strengths and growth! so allow me to talk about them:

1- ghost of the forest - 1x02

a fuckery™ before stede even knows what a fuckery™ is! this is amateurish and stupid in every way. he's not even threatening izzy with a real dagger-- that's a letter opener. does izzy actually believe that stede has a huge crew hiding behind the bushes? doubt it! but this weird little act is enough to establish stede as a (ridiculous) pirate figure to the legendary izzy hands and to accomplish his goal of taking a hostage back

2- lighthouse - 1x04

imagine coming up with the exact same idea at the exact same time as the most brilliant tactician of the seven seas! we don't know who came up with which parts of the plan (honestly it was probably mostly ed) but this is still bloody impressive

3- stark revelations - 1x05

stede's first big success! he uses his knowledge of the aristocratic world to get a shipful of rich assholes to destroy each other, but he's also showcasing what sets him apart from them: this plan only comes to fruition because stede talks to frenchie, olu and abshir as equals. as people he can learn from, as sources of inspiration

4- duel with izzy - 1x06

this one was absolutely unhinged, but its success was far from dumb luck. only stede could think of using a brazillian cherry wood mast and ed's weird stabbing lesson to win a duel, and that's what makes this plan so undeniably stede and brilliant

5- faking his death - 1x10

i love that he just had to "die" in the most dramatic way possible. a heroic fight (tiger), a realistic accident (carriage) and the most cartoony death in the book (piano)... not only is his triple-death able to convince everyone in barbados that he's dead for good, it also allows him to have closure with his family. it's filled with stede's ridiculous unique flair, but it's designed to be a fuckery™ through and through. ed would be SO proud

6- stealing jackie's indigo dye - 2x01

quick little stealth mission. did ricky manipulate stede into trying this out? sure. did ricky also ruin it? absolutely. but it was working until then! the swede isn't part of stede's crew at this point, but his respect for stede is what gets him to cooperate and risk his relationship with his beautiful wife. also, it's thanks to his love for fine things that stede immediately recognizes the value of "blue dirt"

7- prison break - 2x03

in my eyes no scene depicts stede's growth better than this one. knocking zheng's entire crew out with tea is the most stede thing out there, and this plan uses the cherry wood mast as well! this plan relies on stede's (unrealistic) tea knowledge, overly-fancy ship and ability to coordinate his crew. what makes it breathtaking is that he secretly sets this plan into motion while actively mourning the "death" of the love of his life. he's putting his life on the line to rescue ed's "killers" because he's emotionally mature enough to look at things from their perspective and forgive them

8- inciting a mutiny - 2x06

yet another brilliant plan that could only be executed by stede. this entire episode revolves around his idea of "turning poison into positivity" and here he, well, fights poison with positivity. stede captains his pirates with respect and care (best he can) which just so happens to be the opposite of ned. he exploits this and gently gets ned's crew to turn on him. he singlehandedly saves himself and his entire crew from a notorious pirate! oh he also literally invents walking the plank right after this

9- "it's only suicide if we die" - 2x08

okay, yes, this one didn't go that well (sorry iz). but it's not like ed, zheng or anyone else had any other ideas! stede's weird suicide mission, for the most part, worked. they needed to get through british soldiers to reach their ship and they did exactly that. if only they'd remembered to check if ricky had his gun... oh well, you live and you learn

sure, ed and zheng are legends and stede is a silly newbie with wild luck. but he's also quick-witted, creative, confident and brave! he's a damn good captain and he deserves to be recognized as a good strategist!

#ofmd #our flag means death #stede bonnet #ofmd meta #i love my boy so much i will not let anyone disrespect him thank u #🏴‍☠️

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hellfire--cult · 6 months

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toot toot

Eddie has a very important question for you - just eddie being a loving boyfriend with something i know we all struggle with as we enter a relationship (fem!reader) - self indulgent

a/n: idk man. i had this talk with @ghost-proofbaby and I was like, 'yeah, i should write this' and she agreed.

Wc: 1k

“Why don’t you fart in front of me?”

You almost spat the water you were drinking all over the book you were reading as you laid on his bed with your back propped up on the headboard.

“Eds, what?”

“You never fart in front of me.” He was dead serious, looking at you while his arms rested on his guitar, sitting at the end of the bed, his legs crossed. You were blinking at him as if he had just sprouted a leaf over his head.

“What are you going on about?”

“We’ve been dating for a whole year, and I have yet to hear a fart from you!” Your cheeks flushed in embarrassment and you shook your head, looking back at your book.

“And you never will.” He rolled his eyes at you and scooted a little closer with a little jump that made the bed move underneath you, making you jump and glare back up at him.

“I fart all the time with you, with sound, with no sound… I mean, we trust each other, and darling, I do know you hold them in.” Your mouth opened with an o shape, not believing the words coming out of your boyfriend’s lips.

The worst part, he was right.

You complained many times because of tummy aches, and you knew it was retained gas you weren’t letting out. You were just embarrassed about it. He didn’t care whenever he did it, and you didn’t either. You even laugh at some of his farts because they sound straight out of a cartoon, and sometimes, you die a little bit because they are deadly.

“I don’t feel comfortable doing it!” You retorted back, and he sighed in frustration, shaking his head again, putting the guitar to the side of his bed.

“I promise you, it’s normal, it’s natural, and the stigma of all the women being proper ladies is such bullshit.” You knew it was that as well. You were also afraid of it being too loud, or smelly, and just utterly repulsive to him to the point he would not be attracted to you in some way.

“I know it’s natural… But I still won’t ever fart in front of you.” He groaned loudly at your words.

“You’re impossible princess.”

“But you love me.” You grinned at him with a sway of your body and he smiled back at you and crawled towards you to plant a smooch right on your lips.

“That I do.”

But it wasn’t even a week later that you were both lying on bed again, and you both were laughing as Eddie told you a story about Steve completely fucking up his date with Heidi.

“He literally tumbled back when he saw a roach sneaking in front of him and he made her fall onto the fountain at the park! That’s why his face is fucking red!” Eddie was cracking up by now and your eyes were filled with tears as you laughed with him.

“Oh shit, she slapped him!?”

“Of course she did! It was a fucking roach! Not a goddamn monster or some shit!” You cracked up at that, and it was a bad idea, because your stomach had been contracting in pain and twisting for the past hour because you were holding your gas in.

You had tacos for dinner, and that was a very poor decision knowing that you were spending the night at Eddie’s, and knowing how the night might end. Everytime you held your gas in, sex was almost painful sometimes.

And now, with the laughter, with your belly going up and down against your stomach, it happened. And your laughter and his immediately seized, leaving the room completely quiet for a few seconds.

It was small, very thin, but it could be heard. Your face immediately heated up in embarrassment, and you turned to the other side, not being able to face him. Was he going to think you were disgusting? Not lady-like? Was it a boner killer? Why isn’t he saying anything–

“Oh, FUCK YES! I’VE BEEN SAVING THIS FOR THE OCCASION!” You felt him sit up on the bed and your eyebrows frowned, making you turn to look at him rummaging in his drawer from the night table. A small confetti popper in one hand and its string on the other. He pulled and the confetti exploded with a pop, startling you.

“What the hell Eddie–”

“Congrats on your first fart in front of me!” Your eyes were wide at his antic, but he had a wide smile on his face and you couldn’t believe your boyfriend got happy from you letting out an accidental fart from laughing so hard.

“It was an accident Eds!” You whined as you sat up next to him and you had a terrified look on your face and he shook his head, holding onto your face with both of his hands.

“It’s the first step! Next one is an intentional one, so come on darling, I know you’re holding it in~” He cooed and you pushed him away, shaking your head in utter embarrassment.

“You’re so weird Eddie… you don’t… find it disgusting?”

“Fuck no! Makes me happy you trust me enough to do it in front of me! Accidental or not!” He was smiling at you, and your heart fluttered as you stared at your loving boyfriend. You leaned towards him and pecked his lips softly, only to then shake your head.

“You’re insufferable.”

“But you love me.” He smiled at you and you couldn’t help but nod and lean in to kiss him again.

After that, you never do it intentionally, but now, if one escapes you by accident you are able to laugh it out with him.

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

a/n: purely self indulgent plus WE CANT DENY EDDIE WOULDNT CELEBRATE OUR FIRST FART WITH HIM. ALSO, FARTING IS NATURAL.

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edandstede · 6 months

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racist fucks out here acting like ed is doomed to become abusive like his father, like he is a violent monster, as if his arc isn’t about learning that he isn’t a monster at all but just a man. how are you looking at ed accepting himself, overcoming feeling like he’s the literal kraken, that he’s loveable and worthy of compassion and kindness even when he thinks the worst of himself, and drawing the conclusion that he’s an irredeemable thug - which is, by the way, what every fucking villain and antagonist thinks of him. you’re aligning your view of him with the bad guys, y’know, the ones who call him a donkey, low-born, and try goading him into violence over and over again because they think that’s all he’s worth? and yeah that includes izzy, because he did that too, it’s 90% of what he fucking did, treating him like he only deserved to live if he was performing hyper masculinity the entire time and the second he stopped he was worse than dead.

we are supposed to feel sorry for ed. the way he feels is heartbreaking. he was abandoned, had his worst fears confirmed to him by stede leaving and izzy pressing on the wound in the worst possible way, and then he fell completely into depression and suicidal ideation. he thinks it’s all he’s good for. he can’t be loved, he hates himself, he’s just the dick who killed his dad and nobody wants him for him. how can you see this very obvious spelled-out agony in him and say “hey, that guy is gonna abuse the man he loves, he’s an abuser just like his dad” you guys are just absolute bottom of the barrel scumbag dickheads, you really really are. you could not be more blatantly racist. you know damn well the show is not saying what you’re claiming it is.

also, insisting that he would ever hurt stede is just completely ignoring every single fucking thing about him. ed would never. the only fucking time stede is physically hurt by ed is when he wakes up from literal death and headbutts him. that’s it. i think we can all agree he didn’t even know what planet he was on when that occurred, and he petulantly says “good it was supposed to hurt” during a squabble that ends with stede telling ed he loves everything about him. pull the other one if you think this was ever framed as ed seriously wanting to hurt stede and not an incredibly hurt and vulnerable man still acting on a half-dead brain.

like for fuck’s sake this is the same man who hides under stede’s robe and presses his head to stede’s hand when he cries after telling him - the only person he has EVER TOLD - about killing his dad. he tells stede about the plot to kill him, and he cannot do it. he can’t lift a finger to him, he never would. he holds stede’s face with both hands when he kisses him and tells him he loves him. he brings him breakfast with a bit of twine on ‘cause he panicked and thought it needed a flourish. he rubs stede’s cashmere against his cheek. the first thing he says makes his life worth living is warmth. he imagines stede with a big goofy sweet grin and gold sparkly goldfish tail coming to save his life. he just wants to retire and have his inn with the man he loves and not worry about stede ever being in a near-death situation again. he wants stede to be safe with him. at no point are we remotely told in the text that we should be genuinely worried ed will ever, ever physically hurt stede. he protects this man with his WHOLE BODY twice and signs an act of grace to avoid him being shot. he tries to get ned to leave him alone when they’re being tortured. he jumps off the boat with jack to swim back to him and he rows back to the republic to find stede too.

he loves stede, would never hurt him, and you’re all just fucking sour your fav died and you’re saying any old shite as a result. swear to god if i catch one more of you even so much as insinuating ed is abusive i’m gonna start lobbing off toes as well.

#i’m mad #so help me if the izzy apologists find this I’M going to become monstrous #quill to paper

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clockwayswrites · 1 year

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Like Betta Fish Do - Part 13

Masterpost of ao3 link and all parts. WC: 1563 (Ch 10 when on ao3)

Jason settled in, legs draped over the edge of the building, and unwrapped sandwich enough to take a large bite. Next to him, Dick did the same.

They had gotten back into the habit slowly— in fits and starts and Jason turning down Dick’s gentle inquiry (plea, it was a plea) more often than not— but now, once a month at least, Red Hood and Nightwing could be found perched on a rooftop, sharing a meal. Chili dogs to burgers to sandwiches— anything that could be easily held, quickly eaten, and was open late to serve the night owls of Gotham.

Tonight it was bahn mi sandwiches from an amazing little Vietnamese place in Blüdhaven.

It was easier to take these moments in Blüdhaven.

Jason knew that tonight's ‘Big Brother Bonding Binge’ (Dick’s name for it), had been purposefully arranged. Nightwing would have had no issue handling that bust on his own. Jason wanted to resent it— Dick had been more a mother hen than usual since Jason had been ‘sick’— but Jason… Jason wanted someone to talk to.

Every since driving Danny out to the ocean, Jason had been thinking. His little revelation that he didn’t want to stop living… no, that he need to actively start living, had been rattling around in his brain. It was leading to all sorts of thoughts and plans that he didn’t know how to handle anymore.

It was still a struggle some days to think about the fact that he had a future to look forward to.

Jason could practically feel Dick vibrating with the need to ask next to him, so he threw his brother a bone. “I’ve… been thinking about going to college?”

He hadn’t meant it to come out like a question.

“Really?” Dick asked, perking up like a damn puppy. “That’s great Jay. Are you thinking Gotham U? What do you want to major in? Wait— do you’ll need a GED—”

“Got my GED as soon as I was officially back from the dead,” Jason said, cutting off Dick’s rambling. “I was… I mean, probably Gotham U eventually? I was thinking maybe just online classes first? There’s still days that…”

There were still days that Jason just couldn’t handle people very well or that the pain was too bad.

“Online classes sound like a great way to start,” Dick said. “Are you thinking about just doing gen eds then?”

“To start, yeah. But I was… I guess there are a few things I’m considering? Mostly thinking that I could maybe get something in social sciences that would be good for nonprofit work. I’ve been doing that stuff with the foundation, but I know I’m not really qualified to do a lot. And if I got a degree that could help out maybe.” Jason made himself take a breath. “Maybe I could do some real good as me and not just as Red Hood.”

“I know you could, little wing,” Dick said with one of his soft smiles; the type that always made Jason ache a little.

Jason elbowed him lightly, more to jostle him than to wound. Dick just laughed for Jason’s efforts.

“B is going to be ecstatic,” Dick said after polishing off the last bite of his sandwich.

“You mean insufferable,” Jason grumbled.

“Overenthusiastic,” Dick corrected. Jason gave in with a little shrug. “I’ll try to hold him back, but you know he just gets happy whenever he can do something for you.”

“You’re talking like I’m going to take his help.”

“You are— you’re smart enough not to wrack up that sort of debt when you can use B’s money instead.”

Jason sighed, exaggerating the sound so that the full effect would come through his respirator. There were still nights when he missed his helmet and the anonymity it provided, but the respirator, domino, and literal hood did make it easier to express himself when he wanted to. “Fine. But you getter try to make him tone it down.”

“Cross my heart,” Dick said, complete with the motion. “You’re best off telling him at a family dinner then.”

He had a point. “Next month then.”

“Or,” Dick said, drawing the word out as he leaned into Jason’s side. “You could come by sooner. You don’t have to only come once a month, Jay.”

“Wing,” Jason said, the name a sigh.

“Think about it. I promise to be there if you want to— and I’ll call in favors to get whoever else you want there too.”

Jason was a little touched despite himself. Favors were no small matter in the Wayne family. “Thanks—”

“Nightwing, Hood,” Oracle cut in across the comms.

Both vigilantes straightened up at her tone.

“Here,” Jason answered for both of. His voice roughened as he slipped back into being Red Hood. There was no room for Jason in a mission that had Oracle sounding that serious.

“Two-Face escaped from Arkham.”

Jason could sense Dick stop breathing next to him. Two-Face wasn’t Joker level, no one really was, but Two-Face was still Dick’s Joker. They had talked about it, one bad night— too cold and too haunted up on top of a bridge. Dick had spoken in hushed, short sentences— as it by saying the words quick enough and letting the frigid winter wind rip them away he could finally be free of it.

It didn’t work.

Nothing ever would.

Jason shifted just enough to press his knee against Dick’s. The forceful intake of breath the nudge caused was so sharp that it must have hurt.

---

Jason slammed the hidden door in the back of his closet closed as he shoved through it.

He had gotten through patrol.

Somehow, he had gotten through patrol while holding off the worst of the Pit Rage.

Now the green was crowding out most of his vision as he stalked into his apartment. He fisted a hand in his hair, yanking as he tried to ground himself. He should be able to get a handle on himself.

It shouldn’t be this bad.

Nothing happened.

Maybe it was worse that nothing had happened.

Every missed chance of catching up with Two-Face, every bust of his henchmen that went nowhere, every empty warehouse— Jason had been forced to watch Dick grow tenser and tenser. Jason had just wanted to take his big brother out of there— take him back to a safe house where Jason could protect him from everything.

But there was no protecting anyone from their own mind.

Jason knew that.

Jason knew that with every creeping flick of green on the edge of his vision.

He was helpless against it all: helpless to help Dick, helpless to stop this pain, helpless to stop his own—

No.

What he needed to stop was this… this spiraling. He was home.

No one knew he’d been fighting the Rage.

No one was in danger.

Da- Batman would be looking into Two-Face relentlessly.

Jason just had to look after himself, just for the moment.

Fuck he was such a failure.

No.

Stop that.

Stop stop stop.

Jason collapsed on his couch. He dragged the weighted blanket up over his shoulders. Fingers laced, shuddering, behind his neck Jason struggled to suck in a breath of air.

Another.

One more.

Just keep breathing.

---

Someone was knocking at his door.

The sound pulled Jason out of his haze and he blinked, listlessly. His world was sideways from where he had collapsed on the couch.

The knocking continued.

He ignored them.

“Jason?” Oh. It was Danny. He sounded panicked. “Come on Jason, if you don’t open up I’m coming in.”

No.

He couldn’t let Danny in.

If Danny got in, Jason could hurt him.

He couldn’t hurt Danny.

Jason surged to his feet, stumbling into his coffee table as the world spun around him. The mug he’d been drinking tea out of before patrol rocked off the edge and shattered.

The cold tea seeped under Jason’s bare feet.

“Jason.”

A drip of red bled into the liquid.

A shard of ceramic must have cut his foot.

“Jason.”

His head jerked up.

Danny was inside his apartment.

No no no—

“Get out.” The growled words tore themselves from Jason’s throat before he even was aware of speaking.

Danny took a hesitant step forward instead, reaching out like he wanted to get closer and touch. “Jason, no. Your whole haunt is— I can feel how scared you are right now, I’m not leaving you alone.”

“Get out.”

“Maybe an ectoshot?”

Danny wasn’t listening.

“I know we were going to wait at least one more week but it might help you stabilize—”

Why wasn’t Danny listening? “Get out.”

“I can always project with my core. You said you could sense me before?”

“I said get out!” Jason roared. He lost the rest of his vision to the burning green as he stalked forward.

“Jason, I can help—”

A fist slammed into the door Danny was backed up against. Wood cracked under the now bleeding knuckles that were inches from Danny’s head. Jason crowded in close, teeth bared with a growl— close enough for the toxic green glow of his eyes to reflect off of Danny’s tan skin. With a quiet viciousness he hissed, “Get out.”

And Danny did. He phased right out through the door.

Alone in his apartment Jason sagged against the bloody door with a half screamed sob.

-----

AN: We are back~ sorry for the longer than normal delay- health and work have both conspired against me. I’m sure this is still full of issues but that’s why we do a rewrite and beta before it goes on ao3~

It’s a small chapter, but it’s what it needed to be I think.

Hope you enjoyed and stay delightful, darlings!

The endless tag list that maybe will work, maybe won’t. Who know! I sure don’t! @fisticuffsatapplebees @thegatorsgoose @wolfeyedwitch @lazy-bouqet @confusedandghostly @glomsk @kailithiel @bahfev @d4ydr34min9 @claudiashq @someonebored0100 @pastalavistamf @samgirl98 @angelheartgamer @lehana37 @spiteismymiddlename @rosecinnamonbun @demon-cat-goes-woof @violet-catsarelife @avelnfear @undead-essence @basilf1res @amillionandonefandoms @stealingyourbones @sarcastic-yami @bun-fish @aconitewolfsbane @dontfightmecauseillcry @omgnectarina @vehan-tikkun-olam-and-stuff @the-blind-one-speaks @mimilikey @wolfe-marvin @learning-to-fly-on-my-own @multplelifes @yurijay @bae-graphomaniac @fan4rt1st @weirdestarrow @wolfjackle @allulily @onyxlightdragon @zotinha456 @wwwwyamd @river9noble @starscreamlover @michealawithana @robinmedea @spideypoolalways @jesus-camp-the-sequel @persephoneblackrose @f4nd0m-fun @mady-is-ace-trash @ascetic-orange @renwilson @ace-aro-as-shit @rangerhorsetug @thatrandomsarahchick @holygoldfish @mlpizza @chrysanthemum9484 @justwannaseesomebrozawa @newgraywolf @crazylittlemunchkin @fire-glass @autumnrosnor @the-nerdy-fangirl @faithblob-says-things @a-star-with-a-human-name @winged-scaly-attic-dweller @mistermetalmaker @apersond @mustachebatschaos @joaniejustwokeup @that-dumbass-on-a-horse @plainly-colorful @blackcatsandhaunteddolls @booklover223 @alice-hazelwood @answrs @enbydemirainbowbigfoot @felicityroth @wanderingrutabaga @seraphinedemort @write-it-right-2 @my-mom-calls-me-rat @01101010-01100001-01111001 @arc-777 @crystalice067 @phoenixdemonqueen @icedbluesoul @itsparadoxlacuna @wisp-wishes @spikedlynx @redhoneysugarorange @russetfur1128 @mutable-manifestation @stargirl1331 @chaoticchange @living-on-borrowed-time @orshie @britcision @littlefeather345 @sunflowershine03 @aro-acedumbass @thefanficcup @shibanoh @icefirecrystal @thatonejumbledmess @cy-ella @kobol1 @metal-sporks @tired-yet-awaken @currant-owo @firegirl108 @stupidlovepurplepeace @drowningroane @imagineshazamlokimight @immakittybear @justalittletotheleftofnormal @chrysanthemum9484 @kawaiikenna @imaginationmademanifest @a-salty-sal @mentalcarebear @mj-arts-n-stuff @xysidhe @cottonscrambles @manapeer @yjfk @ryisc @666deaddash999 @nutcase8691 @idontgetpaidenoughforthisshit @dr-syko-pharm-4 @i-have-opinions @ballzfrog-blog @mysoulspiralbound @istillhavenosociallife-blog @gin2212 @annabethchase0 @basementloser @plotwholls @minnowmarsh @neverlandingbird @rootsmudge @fandom-reblog-central @serasvictoria02 @mnemovoid @taniaundertaleau @kirineo-kiki @ironicvixen @violetfox2 @redhoneysugarorange @jaxinkh @naluforever3 @horribly-lost-and-gay @nutcase8691 @babblingbat @frostedthroughghost @kyrianclawraith @caspertheloudassghost @the-forgotten-dragon-anankos @lyra689 @v-inari @idfk-man10 Magic-pincushion @terzatheunderscorerima @mysticalcomputerdetective @fallenangle67

#dp x dc #dead on main #dead on main ship #jason/danny #jason x danny #jason todd #danny fenton #like betta fish do

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stevebcks · 7 months

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Okay so I haven’t been able to stop thinking about episode three and especially Ed’s plotline in it (and the final scene of course), so here’s a not so short messy analysis of what I’ve been thinking.

MAJOR SPOILERS JUST IN CASE…

As a short background, we start with Ed almost dead after he has basically been begging the rest of the crew to kill him. First Izzy, when he gives him the gun, then the rest of them when he sails them into a storm, trying to get them and himself killed, but instead still getting what he wanted when they turn against him. We get our final hint at how this is what he always wanted when he says “Finally.” as Jim lifts the cannonball.

And we start with Ed now in this purgatory state. I would assume this entire place is created by Ed since it is so deeply connected to him. And we learn that he also creates Hornigold as a representation of himself, of the subconscious parts of himself talking to him, and he hates this guy deeply.

This place puts the cards on the table for Ed.

“So if you hate me and I am you, then…”

“I hate myself.”

He gets to understand the hate he feels for this guy is really what he feels for himself. But it’s not only that, we see the reaction he has when he first sees Hornigold. He fears himself, what he is capable of doing to others, disgusted by the stories of what Hornigold has done (like Felix’s death) in the place of what he has done.

Everything Hornigold says, is really just his most hidden inner thoughts coming to the surface.

“You’re not very good with people, are you, Jeff?” His biggest fear, the one he has only ever been able to admit to Stede is displayed right there for him. How he believes every bad thing he has ever done is the reason he is unlovable, why he doesn’t have any friends.

“Maybe you wanna strangle me like you did your old dad.”

“How the fuck did you know that?”

“Grown man covered in tattoos. Ay? With daddy issues.”

“I never told anyone about that.”

“But you did, though, didn’t you? And he left you.”

“Fuck you.”

“And it all boils down to this. You’re afraid you are unlovable.”

Not only that but he believes that is also the reason Stede leaves him. Stede leaving puts salt in a wound he was only starting to heal. He once again believes he is inherently an evil person, unworthy of anyone but even less, of Stede.

“You gotta move on, man... or you blow your brains out.” But to some degree, he knows what he has to do in order to continue, he knows that if he really wants to live, to truly live, he needs to forgive himself of the past things he has done. It’s either that or… or what he did which is getting himself killed.

His choice is final (or so he believes…) when he is on the edge of the cliff. Hornigold, or really himself, has tied the rock to his waist and is ready to throw it. And as he said it with the pros and cons list, “I don’t think anyone’s waiting for me.” so there really is no point for him to go back.

“I’m not lovable.”

“And you’re scared to do anything about it. But old Hornigold, he ain’t scared.”

Ed knows, he knows "doing anything about it" is going back to life, face what he has done, fighting for Stede and for the person he wants to be. But his subconscious, his fear, is stronger.

“You’ve made your choice.” Hell, not only is this admitted by Hornigold, we literally see him at the beginning of episode two throwing himself, or really his little cake topper, to the water from the window. And Hornigold, or really his subconscious, throws the rock.

Then Stede finds him.

And when Stede finds him all it takes is for him to remove the towel from his face for him to open his eyes as he sinks in the water.

Him feeling Stede’s presence sparks something in him in this purgatory. And he starts fighting against the rope that he put himself in. But this is a world he has created so he still has control over it, and subconsciously, he still believes he is unlovable, unworthy, he is still not sure he deserves to be untied.

And then Stede starts asking HIM for forgiveness, and he fights and he fights, and he wants this so badly that in the real world he starts fighting too, tapping his fingers against the wood and begging Stede to keep talking, to keep leading the way with his voice. And he does.

As he takes Ed’s hand, he literally also shines a light and illuminates the surface. In the midst of this world of self-hatred, there is the voice of a person who, seeing past everything, loves him.

And the rope unties itself, in this moment his whole self fully believes that he is worthy of love, that he deserves this and he deserves Stede and that he deserves to live. This is Ed allowing himself to have this.

The flashbacks start, Ed remembers these moments and sees what he can still have, thinks “Maybe someone IS waiting for me.” as Stede keeps begging him to wake up.

And then, through the light, he sees merman Stede. And oh, how important this is. He has been seeing Hornigold, the person he hated the most in life, during all his time in purgatory, but now, now the reflection of his subconscious becomes the person he loves the most. Stede, Stede as a sea creature coming to save him. Stede, as a reflection of Ed’s subconscious telling himself, you are worthy of this, you are lovable, and you can love yourself.

The kraken, this fearful sea monster, is saved by the merman.

Stede is finally right there, and when they are finally face to face, Ed reaches for a kiss, and in that moment, he opens his eyes.

#our flag means death #ofmd #ofmd s2 #ofmd spoilers #stede bonnet #edward teach #ofmd season 2 #blackbonnet #gentlebeard #ed x stede #taika waititi #rhys darby #i'm sorry if this is kinda dumb i really had to let my thoughts out #hope this even makes sense lol

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izzyhandsmybeloved · 6 months

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I don't believe Izzy is dead.

In season one they "killed" off Lucius and none of us believed that he was gone. I believe an argument for that was that David Jenkins doesn't want an unhappy ending.

This season we literally got Ed coming back from the dead after a trip to purgatory; and he was dead for how many ever days. Buttons literally turned into a fucking seagull. Izzy was literally established to be an "indestructible little fucker." He survived multiple toe amputations, got shot in the fucking leg, lost said leg to infection and had to have it amputated. Then survived an attempt at suicide by sheer fucking luck. He was up on a peg leg in no fucking time. Like seriously!

They cannot just kill him with a shot in the gut. That's just piss poor story telling, especially because of the things above that they already set into place.

Additionally, one of the last shots was Izzy's grave and a seagull, which 100% was Buttons. If that's not foreshadowing that that man isn't dead, I don't know what is.

I want him to wake up, crawl out of that freshly turned dirt, spitting out said dirt, cursing to any God that might exist. Extra points if it's storming and Izzy limps to the house Ed and Stede are fixing up. The door opens up as lightning strikes, scaring the hell out of Ed and Stede.

Anywhozle, denial is a hell of a drug and I'm not giving up on Izzy.

#this might be repetitive to my last two posts #but fuck it #he just cannot be yoinked out of existence #its not fair to him #ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd s2 #stede bonnet #ofmd season 2 #edward teach #ofmd s2 spoilers #gentlebeard #izzy hands

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finchxs-revenge · 7 months

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I've been having some Oh No Will Izzy Actually Die thoughts that I'd like to stab on the right side so let's get into it.

I don't think Izzy will actually die. He might seem to be dead for a minute for some other plot point to work, or do the whole die then come back to life thing, ala indestructible little fucker. (Though, considering both of these have already been done in the plot, I find it unlikely, unless it comes about as a meaningful parallel, but I won't speculate much on that.) However, permanent, canon character death doesn't seem plausible from the vibe I get off the writing so far in S2 (For context, this post is being made before episodes 6 & 7 have aired). Hopefully not being tainted by the fact Izzy is my favorite character, here is my reasoning.

Of course the writers want us to feel something, so stakes are going to be high and the waves are going to be big. But the writing so far has delivered the emotional impact by catching the audience after the big waves. Stuff this season just lands, and it is sooo good. It wouldn't make any sense to swell up Izzy's plot line/character in so many different ways only to dash him against the rocks at the end. To have him die, even in a way that is symbolically important or for a reason that lines up with his character motivations would just be garish compared to how every single other conflict or plot point has been handled this season.

Yes, some stories do just use the emotional impact of destruction instead of a proper landing. The writer can't or won't do the heavy lifting of actually showing a character work through their shit, opting instead to kill the character with some symbolically emotional fireworks thrown in. It leaves the audience with this ache like, oh, ahh, they were so close to being able to fix their problem or get out of the situation, but at least we get some action and another character will stare whimsically into the flames so their death wasn't in vain.

Yeah, that's not this show.

If Izzy were still yelling at his reflection about "Who are you even" we would at least have a set up for the answer being, "No one" and the only way for him to get out of that situation is to die. It's been done in other stories and it's honestly boring and not what OFMD is even about.

OFMD is about change and being brave enough to confront our own broken and scary parts, and to carve out safe space ships regardless of what society expects of us or even what we expect of ourselves. It's about showing that this work is worth it and life is better on the other side of it.

I don't think this show would have a character begin to find who he is, become a part of the ship (literally), and start mending relationships with all the characters only to choose the destructive-symbolic-fireworks-death ending for that character.

Regardless of Jenkins comments about how the opening scene will be "satisfying" after we have seen the finale, the fact that everything about that scene is the opposite of what actually happens is, I think, a gesture the writers have put in so we might trust them when the wave gets big. We're going to get in over our heads, crew, but at least we know, even subconsciously, that Stede doesn't have a beard and Izzy doesn't die.

Now, regarding the comment Jenkins made about Ed, Izzy, and Stede's fates being intertwined, I think it would be completely unsatisfying, as well as just bad writing, to throw all three of them up in the air only to catch two. Honestly, we've already gotten some solid emotional landings from Izzy's plot (when he shoots the torch out of Ed's hand and when he reads the unicorn note the second time at the front of the ship to name only two), so I feel inclined to believe the emotional landing around whatever happens to Izzy will indeed fall on Ed or Stede. But I have enough faith in the writers and the story that it will not entail dealing with Izzy's death. That he doesn't have to die in order to contribute to their growth and understanding of themselves and the relationships they are in, with each other and with the crew. It's going to be something big, but not death.

I have absolutely no fucking idea what that something big might be, but honestly that just makes me trust the show and writers even more.

At least. That's what I'm telling myself to survive these next two weeks 🦄🦄🦄

#ofmd season 2 #ofmd s2 #ofmd #izzy hands #ofmd speculation #our flag means death

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suffersinfandom · 4 months

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So. Magic.

[Text of an AO3 comment, cropped to leave out the writer: "I finally got a chance to finish S2 (unspoiled!) and came directly to this document after to devour its contents. But by the very first chapter I was taken aback by the concept that anyone in the world thinks Izzy's death is permanent. Did we even watch the same show? You can ignore literally every excellent piece of analysis here if you want - the fact remains that Buttons turned into a bird, through magic, in the third(?) episode, it never got mentioned again beyond maybe one throwaway line, and then that bird returns to Izzy's grave marker in the very last scene (other than the end stinger). There is zero reason for that to happen other than foreshadowing for Izzy/Buttons/magic/resurrection stuff to occur in S3 (if it hasn't already). What, do they think that Buttons was just super sad and paying his respects? I have like less than zero media analysis skills, I noticed basically nothing of what you pointed out in this entire document on my own, and yet I STILL picked up that there's more going on here."]

The thing is.

IS magic real in the world of OFMD?

I believe in my heart of hearts that Buttons is a seawitch who transmogrified himself into a seagull and I believe that cunty suit was cursed as heck, but I don't think that magic is strictly, technically, literally meant to be understood as real in OFMD.

(I know there are a few posts about the show's magic, so apologies if I rehash a half-remembered idea. Feel free to leave a link if you have any of those posts handy!)

OFMD's world is full of little magic. The Caribbean is easily traversed; people can find each other with no real issues (or avoid detection when that suits the story better); time and space are all hand-wavey. The world operates on vibes and convenience. If something needs to happen for the story's sake, it just does. Don't worry about it.

The show's big magic works the same way: we can analyze and try to parse out how stuff happens, but we're not asked to. Is the suit cursed or is Frenchie just allergic to peanuts? Did Stede bring Ed back to life or was Ed in a head injury-induced coma? Did Buttons turn into a bird or did an addled Ed lose track of Buttons in the woods? It doesn't matter, don't worry about it! What matters is that Stede (kind of) learned a lesson about listening to his crew and respecting their beliefs. What matters is that Stede's presence gave Ed the push he needed to save himself. What matters is the message behind Buttons' transformation: people can change.

The show's magic has some rules. When it comes to the big magic, there's always a logical out -- a way to explain it away and keep the story more-or-less grounded in reality. OFMD isn't going to give us some big, literal, onscreen magic act. It's not going to tell us that the Gravy Basket is an actual metaphysical location that souls swing by and anyone can be called back from. It's not going to show Izzy mystically resurrected after we saw him die a bloody death right in front of us.

Let's look at Buttons' transmogrification.

It's important that Ed is the only witness to his change because Ed is explicitly set up as an unreliable POV character in S2E4. We are told, in three different ways, that we can't trust what he sees (and what we see through him).

First: Roach, the closest thing we have to a medical professional, says that Ed is half-dead and brain-scrambled. His mind isn't right.

Second: Buttons says that Ed has one foot in the Gravy Basket and isn't entirely present. (Side note, but I don't think that Buttons using the term "gravy basket" is meant to establish it as an actual place. I believe this line is just meant to set up Ed as witness to the transformation; we don't need to read too much into Buttons, the character who Knows Things when convenient, saying it. Or, if you want to ground this in reality, you can assume that Buttons has talked about the Gravy Basket before and Ed subconsciously picked up on it.)

Third: Ed refers to a rabbit as a wolf, confirming that, yeah, he's having some issues with reality. Like, we don't really think that Ed can't identify a rabbit, right? I know the guy spends his time primarily on the ocean, but he's a genius who does, sometimes, set foot on land.

So Ed's out of it, and not even he has eyes on Buttons when the transformation is meant to occur. One minute we have a chanting Buttons, the next we have a seagull flapping around his transmogrification vessel. We all know that seagull is Buttons and he's off to make sweet love to the sea, but also... do we?

What matters is that Ed believes he saw a man turn into a bird so he could better love the sea. That's it! Ed, someone who desperately needed proof that people can change -- that he and Stede can change -- has that proof and can truly start healing. It's beautiful and I love it, ten out of ten, five stars, no notes.

If we're lucky enough to get a season three with Ewen Bremner in it, I fully expect a butt-naked Buttons to show up with absolutely no explanation. Maybe we get a few little wink-wink nudge-nudge moments hinting to his time as a seagull, but straight confirmation that magic is real would break the rules the show has established.

Anyway. All of this is really just my way of saying that Izzy's dead and it'd be extremely fucking weird and world-breaking if he crawled out of his grave thanks to bird magic.

#ofmd #ofmd meta #ish #me typing things #buttons #edward teach #magic #i hope this makes a lick of sense #or barring that someone states my idea better than i did in the notes #alt title: IZZY IS DEAD AND HE'S GONNA STAY THAT WAY #featuring tangents about #the narrative purpose of ed's gravy basket moment #and how lucius' “death” is different

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not-she-which-burns-in-it · 2 years

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OFMD and Breathwork Part 2 - The Kiss Scene

Much later than intended but I’m back, as promised, with the part 2 of my breath and voice work thread, this time looking at the kiss scene in Episode 9.

I really thought this was going to be more fun, but turns out it was mostly sad. Oh no. But before we get sad, let's do a part 2 of the basics. If you’re just joining, please read the other thread (https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/not-she-which-burns-in-it/686892030208638976?source=share) for info on where breath comes from in your body (in an acting sense) and how it affects the tension of the scene. This time we’re gonna focus on the pace of the scene, and when in your breathing cycle you begin speaking, and how that reflects the acting choices you make.

LET’S DIVE IN!

BREATHING 202 - PACE

Ok, we’re working with my crude drawings this time, I’m so sorry. Here is a line of your breath. Line goes up for breathing in, line goes down for breathing out. Pretty self explanatory.

When you’re awake and talking, the breath cycle isn't really gonna look that smooth. The lower line for instance is more like your deep relaxed breath - breathe in deeply, quick at first and then slowing down as your lungs reach a comfortably full level. Then slowly breathing out in a long tail. As soon as you’re done, you breathe back in, no pause. This really makes more sense when you try it. Try breathing in following the lines, we’re all gonna learn today.

Now here are some simplified spots where you might start speaking in your breath cycle, meaning how much air is in your lungs when you start making words happen. Let’s take a look at them:

So, we put all this together and we get a map of intentions. Especially when we combine this breathwork with the info from part 1, and all the other pieces of acting - micro expressions, body language, non-fluencies (uhms, ahhs, sighs) - we can glean SO MUCH about the acting choices and storytelling. If I ever get around to a Part 3, I’ll do the intro section on Spicy Breath and Vocal Work, I promise. That’s a whole thing. But for now let’s get to the kiss scene. I looked at the whole scene, not just the kiss itself, because the story demanded it.

THE SCENE BEFORE

Ok, in order to talk about this scene we have to go back to where we last saw Stede. Everything starts going wrong right here in this gif. The music that plays at the top of the kiss scene starts 5 minutes earlier in this moment. The second Stede learns that Mary reported him as dead, the smile falls off his face and this delicate piano music comes in (I quit music school to study theater but I can tell you it’s in a minor key).

That leads us into the bunk bed scene - that music is still playing - where he’s wondering aloud whether Mary really thinks he’s dead or just reported him dead out of spite. He’s flashing back to his family, the worry for his children starts creeping in. Mary is still coded like an antagonist at this point, but the phrasing “do they really think I’m dead”, tells us he’s worried about his children mourning his death while he’s off being happy and falling in love. The music cuts out the second Ed appears. Ed clears away Stede’s troubled thoughts. Awww. But oh no, it’s doesn’t last. This conversation with Ed doesn’t make him feel any better, it makes him feel worse. Look at his face when Ed says “It’s time to accept our fate”

Stede is so upset he literally runs away. He darts out of the dormitory out toward the water leaving Ed sitting on his bed. And Ed is not oblivious to this, he’s worried. His mouth is tight, his brow is furrowed, and his eyes are casting down and around as if looking for an explanation. He’s upset, why?

Now, Ed isn’t stupid, he can think of a bunch of reasons why Stede might be upset, they’ve been captured and are losing their freedom. Of course, Ed has missed the key element here, which is Stede’s bottomless pit of worthless self-image. So what does Ed gather from this - Ed is ok with his adventurous life being over, but Stede is not. This is a good theory from Ed’s perspective, he is ready to stop being Blackbeard but Stede just got started as the Gentleman Pirate, it makes sense for him to be not find joy in moving on from that life.

SO. The beach. We start with the same melancholy piano music picking back up. More flashbacks to playing with his children. Look at his body language, he’s curled up staring out at the sea. His knees are pulled up like they were when Ed left him for Calico Jack. His hands are on his knees holding himself together, and his thumbs are gently sweeping back and forth across his kneecaps - trying to sooth himself. Honestly he looks like he’s about to cry, his lips press together and he breathes in deep. There’s no one for him to speak to, he’s alone, the breath is to either tamp down the wave of emotion or let it out. But whatever he’s about to do, Ed immediately derails that plan.

And this takes us into the kiss scene. Stede is wallowing in guilt over his family, and guilt over dragging Edward into all this with him. Ed is looking to convince him to look on the bright side. Now you can “look on the bright side” of loss especially if you’re gaining something else. “Hey you can’t be a fancy pirate, but maybe you can have me” Excellent proposition Ed, well done. Tragically, that’s not the problem. You can’t cheer someone up from guilt and feelings of worthlessness, it will in fact make them feel worse. “Hey you feel bad for being happy while your family is in trouble, what if, we had even more happiness together?”

THE SCENE

“There you are” implying he’s been looking all over for him. And look how close he sits. They don’t appear to be touching, but it’s a couple inches at best between them. Now it’s Ed’s turn to let out a breath. He settles himself with it. It’s not clear whether it’s relaxing, now that he knows Stede is ok, or if it’s a determined breath because he has an idea of how to fix Stede’s sadness and he’s come looking for him to do just that.

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He starts with a joke, but this isn’t his boisterous joking voice, it’s not even his normal speaking voice, it’s soft, gentle, and from the throat (check part 1 for what that means) it’s very similar to the way Stede speaks to Ed in the moonlight, or in the bathtub scene. It’s soothing and intimate. Given the sudden breath in and out before he starts, I’m guessing the intention was to start with a “tell me what’s wrong” sort of approach and he chickened out and went for a joke. But his voice is still in the soft “tell me what’s wrong” tone and volume. Adorable. But Stede brushes it off, “Oh come on, stupid idea”. It’s even softer in vocal quality than Ed. But somehow it’s not increasing the intimacy, it’s creating distance. How? Because the lack of volume and vocal support isn’t to draw Ed closer, it’s because Stede isn’t really talking to him, he’s talking to himself. As soon as he says it, Ed looks down and stops smiling. It’s hard to catch because he’s blurry in the foreground, but you can see the concern immediately rush back in oh this isn’t something easily fixed. Here’s where I get sad already. Stede looks at Ed to gauge his reaction before doubling down on the negative self-talk. By the time Stede looks at Ed, Ed is no longer smiling gently at Stede. All Stede sees is a concerned frown. He’s concerned for Stede, but Stede’s never gonna see it that way. The “Oh shut up” response is so quick, it’s reflexive. I’d bet anything it’s a #1 (Speaking before you breathe in) but I can’t tell where he is in his natural breath cycle to say for sure. But instead of engaging with his own emotions, Stede pivots to Ed’s emotional state instead. This is a recurrence in their relationship where Ed is emotionally vulnerable and Stede provides comfort and support. Stede is much less willing to share his own feelings - so much for his “talk it through as a crew” motto. Ed unfortunately (fortunately?) takes the bait.

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Stede’s at a normal breath placement (either a #2 or #4), but listen to his emphasis “how are you handling this so well” - compared to Stede handling it very poorly. But again, we’re not saying that outloud.

Listen to Edward’s speech here, this is a great example of using breath to pace a speech where your character is discovering each piece of what he’s saying as he’s saying it. He’s taking small breaths in between each new idea. I’ve added tally marks here to visualize it. “I don’t know [///] It’s kinda nice just to take a load off [//] Just to [/] Just to be [/] Edward [//] I don’t know if I wanna go back to the old days [/] just drinking all day and [/] biting the heads off turtles or [/] making some poor bloke eat his own toes as a laugh [//]”

Notice how the word “Edward” is completely isolated by breath. It’s HUGE for him to acknowledge Edward’s desires are different from Blackbeard’s. It’s something Izzy seems to have been aware of from the beginning, but Edward really only realized once Stede came into his life. Stede, bless his refined little heart. Takes a full breath in to not respond to the “eat his own toes” comment. Because he’s polite, and loves Ed, and doesn’t want to derail the emotional sharing by over-reacting. But you can see it in the immediate and deep furrow of his brow.

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When Ed starts speaking again, he’s a little more hurried to get the thought out. The biggest note is the separation of the word “Ed” again, it’s revelatory to not just recognize the parts of him have different desires but that he should prioritize Edward’s desires and needs over Blackbeard’s. And BOY OH BOY does he act on that realization immediately. Because what Ed wants is 1,000% clear to this man.

BUT STEDE MISSES THIS DISTINCTION.

Listen to his emphasis. He matches the structure but he puts the emphasis on happy not on Ed.

“What makes Ed happy” vs “What makes Ed happy?” It’s a subtle difference but extremely important. Because Stede thinks he’s saying

“Pirating has made me happy until now, but I guess, since there is no escape, no way back to that life, I want to be as happy as I can…” But in reality he’s saying “Pirating made Blackbeard happy, but for the first time, I want to focus on what makes Ed happy, because I enjoy being Edward…” But let’s finish that thought and really cry. More breath tally marks, because they’re important.

“[//] These past [/] few weeks [//] have been [//] the most fun I’ve had in ages [/] years [/] maybe ever. [///] so [//] so uh [/] I reckon [/] what makes Ed happy [//] is [///] you.” Again, we’re getting breath in between each new thought, or each moment where he needs to gather strength to get these words out. This time instead of “Ed” being isolated by breath, the word is “you”. Stab me in the heart. Confessing your love for someone is hard, oh wow it’s scary, and Ed needs all the breath support he can get. He’s also not speaking very loud. They’re so close to each other, these breaths are tiny little snatches of air. That last phrase though. “What makes Ed happy is you” Why does it sound so breathless if he’s taking so much time to breathe? Let’s Map It Out! (THIS IS THE GOOD SHIT)

Ed getting that last word out with the last bit of air in his body is EVERYTHING. It’s desperate. It’s vulnerable. It’s so unsure of what happens next or if he should be saying it at all. It’s taking a huge chance because this is the moment things between them go from subtext to text. This isn’t just saying “Hey, let’s bang” it’s saying “I have soft squishy feelings for you, and maybe that makes me weak but I don’t care because you make me happy”. And Stede is FLOORED. The Gnossienne No 5 comes in, and everything is good. His whole face lifts up like the simple act of making another person happy is the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to him. Especially since he started out this scene dwelling on how much he’d disappointed his family, his parents, how he’d made this difficult for his crew and Ed, and everyone in his life. For Ed - glorious, wonderful, legendary Ed - to say that Stede is what makes him happy. Holy Shit. That’s groundbreaking for Stede. This is the first and only real smile we get from him in the whole scene. You can see the worries lift off him for a second. And before he can say something stupid: the kiss.

THE KISS

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Ed reaches around to anchor Stede’s opposite shoulder as he presses in - both to angle him properly and to stop him from startling away. Not in a forced manner, his touch is gentle, moreso he’s aware that Stede’s not experienced at this and he’s guiding the moment. So thoughtful. Also, so soft, my god.

Stede responds to the kiss immediately, he’s not just passively being kissed. Eyes closed and lips pressed forward, he’s about it. And he moves his lips on Ed’s to find a better position. As Ed shifts forward more and brings his left hand up to Stede’s shoulder he’s turning his whole body into the kiss, gently stroking his right hand down Stede’s back. The rustle sound you hear is Ed pulling his leg up in the sand to get better leverage turning to Stede. Stede meanwhile sweeps his arm forward toward Ed. I can’t see where his hand lands, but it looks like it’s going for Ed’s knee.

Ed breathes in before he kisses Stede, (part one call back) but it’s hard to catch because he doesn’t do it until he starts moving. I LOVE this because it implies he didn’t decide to kiss Stede until he was already doing it. It’s a small catch breath, not much air, and certainly not enough for a big romantic kiss. So we hear Ed breath in bigger through his nose as they kiss - breathing is not important enough to stop kissing Stede - right before he starts shifting his body. After he shifts you hear him breathe out, again through his nose because he’s not stopping this kiss for any single reason. But it comes out slow like he’s sighing into the kiss.

They are both pressing forward, despite the shifting bodies and sweeping hands, their lips don’t part. After they reposition their bodies, Ed turns his head to deepen the kiss just a little and we get that tiny tiny whimper noise from Stede and all my braincells explode into gay glitter.

I’m not sure Stede is breathing at all here. He might breathe in a bit when they shift, but I’m not sure. I think it’s just internet start-up noises in there. Which might add to his dazed expression and whispered response post-kiss. When Stede opens his eyes he’s looking at Ed’s lips, briefly, before his glance goes back to Ed’s eyes. This moment is pure joy. Even if the guilt comes rushing back in, this moment is golden.

POST KISS

Stede’s line “You make Stede happy” is in the softest whisper. And they stay at this intimate whispered level until Ed’s plan starts to form. We really hear Ed’s voice come back on “There’s always an escape” while Stede responds in a whisper, not yet bought into this plan.

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It’s not until “China” that things start to go wrong. As soon as Stede says China, his glance skitters away and down. He hedges, “That’s quite far away.” Ed interprets this as “Can we get that far” when really Stede means “Maybe we shouldn’t go that far.” But alas, Ed doubles down on the thing Stede is most worried about “Our old lives will be gone, never were.”

Stede looks down again, to the same spot, and the cut away tells us he’s thinking of Mary. And the clip is significant here. It’s both a refutation of Ed’s point “We can start a new life” vs “We only have one life.” And the bits about “We never would have chosen each other.” relay strongly to themes of found family. Because Stede wouldn’t just be abandoning his family in Barbados by running away to China, he’d also be abandoning his Found Family on the Revenge. I genuinely wonder if we would have gotten this anxious guilt reaction if Ed had simply proposed going back to The Revenge. It would have felt less like an abandonment to Stede, and “now or never” in getting closure with Mary and the kids. But. We’ll never know. SO. We’d looked at Ed’s breath in his decision moment, now let’s look at Stede’s. Right before this cut away to Mary, Ed asks “What do you say?” Stede breathes deeply in and out. We come back from the cut away to see him finishing that exhale as he looks out to the ocean. He doesn’t breathe in. He presses his lips into a thin line. He doesn’t breathe in. He swallows nervously and looks back at Ed. He STILL doesn’t breathe in. “Yeah.”

https://youtu.be/cQC_7HAMza4

He’s 100% speaking with no air. He desperately needs to breathe in and feel steady, get support for his words, and think clearly, but no. The word just escapes him in this desperate whisper. It sounds like somebody punched it out of him. I think Ed misses it because he assumes Stede is nervous for the dangerous escape, or just flustered from the kiss. But folks, if you’re asking someone something really important and they say Yes in that tone, and then make THIS face.

Stop and clarify that they’re ok, and that they actually want whatever it is. Because wow, this is a cry for help. Also, listen to the music at this exact moment, it does this discordant little minor trip that just SOUNDS uneasy. Brilliant music design here folks. It trills up when Ed realizes Stede is saying yes, and then comes jarring back down when Stede makes this face. OUCH.

I love the mirroring of breath between Ed’s “...you” and Stede’s “...yeah” - one is so full of hope while the other is so full of despair and yet they are physically executed in the same way. Brilliant, so painful, thank you David Jenkins. It’s also further proof that Stede’s breakdown was not just from Chauncy, but a crash and burn that he was headed to from the moment they got to the island. Ed’s phrasing here also mirror’s the bathtub scene “I was suppose to kill…. you” as many people have pointed out. But here’s the thing, that scene brings them closer together because Ed is being vulnerable and Stede is providing support. Stede is comfortable with that role, because he doesn’t have to examine any of his own feelings and desires. This scene is the opposite. Despite Ed making the love confession, this scene is about providing Stede emotional support. Stede is ZERO percent ok with openly acknowledging what he wants or needs, which again leads to this face.

I don’t think he was planning on ditching Edward the way he did though. Not based on this physicality. This SCREAMS “maybe if I just keep pushing these bad feelings down they’ll go away.” Thank you Mary Bonnet for shaking that out of him with a well-placed skewer to the ear hole. Therapy for everyone in Season 2!

Part 3??

Someday I’ll make a part 3, I’m not making any promises of when this time - I’ve learned! But I really want to look at Ed’s physicality around Calico Jack vs his physicality around Stede because it’s fucking fascinating. As I said at the top the intro lesson will be on intimacy work because SPICY.

Anyway I’ve written like 3,000 words at this point and I have to stop. Likes and comments really make my day - thank you all for the interaction from part one (which is here if you need it:

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/not-she-which-burns-in-it/686892030208638976?source=share

) And come follow me on Twitter @/shewhich that’s where most of my brainrot content lives these days.

#our flag means death #ofmd #ofmd meta #blackbonnet #kiss scene #This lived in my brain for too long #useless skills from working in theater #watching actors is my day job #Taika waititi and rhys darby live in brain completely rent free #taika waititi #rhys darby #this is a cry for help #shewhich stuff

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batsarebetterthanpeople · 1 year

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Not to keep harping on this but I accidentally saw a post that pissed me off a little bit so I'm gonna talk about it. Originally I was gonna put this at the end of the post but I've decided to move it to the top because I know some people are determined to take me out of context so I'll sacrifice the formatting of this post and some of the impact of this sentence in a vain hope that my point will not be misconstrued. I fully anticipate people skipping over this first paragraph anyway but at least I did my due diligence. You can like Izzy, I like Lestat (AMC IWTV), I like the Joker, It's fine to have an evil blorbo. It's the apologia that gets me tho. You're fake villain fuckers and you can't admit that your blorbo is fucked up in some deeply uncomfortable ways.

That said on to my angry meta: Either Izzy is homophobic, or he's an abuser. He could be both, but he can't be neither otherwise the literal climax of the first season doesn't make any fucking sense. Like he calls in a swat on Stede and the crew because Stede has, quote, "done something to his boss's brain" and he wants Stede dead because of it. homosexuality as a corrupting influence is textbook homophobia. He thinks Stede has made Ed soft and he thinks he's using his limp wristed wiles to do it.

If you don't want to read it as homophobia (which would be a weird reading because it fails to explain that line and misses the whole message about toxic masculinity, but I've heard it's the reading that some people go with so, let's look at it) and you think that he's doing all of this because he's in love with Ed and he's jealous, I hate to tell you but that brings us back around to the abuser reading.

Like, the reading that this subset of the fandom seems to want me to believe is Izzy is in tragic gay love with Ed. But that doesn't make a single damn thing that he did ok. In fact it kind of makes it worse. Like trying to kill the loved ones of your beloved is text book abuser behavior. You're telling me that Izzy feels so entitled to Ed that he cannot take "Fuck off you're banished from the ship" For an answer, and he has to kill the guy that he blames for turning Ed against him? And I'm supposed to sympathize with that? Get real. That's text book abuser behavior. If that's the reading, then Izzy can't handle Ed having someone in his life that isn't Izzy, he can't handle Ed making decisions that Izzy doesn't approve of, and he can't handle Ed breaking off their relationship (which was Izzy's fault by the way he agreed to duel Stede sorry you can't handle the consequences honey). Those first two things you have to be able to handle if you want to have friends or even professional relationships, and the third thing is something that you're allowed to be upset about but that you're gonna have to move on from. Instead Izzy comes up with a hair brained scheme that risks the crews lives, Calico Jack's life, and, most importantly, risks Ed's life in order to... what? Undermine Ed's own autonomous choice to pursue a relationship with Stede? Get rid of a guy that he thinks is driving him and Ed apart so that Ed will maybe take him back? That's abuser shit my guy.

If there's another explanation for Izzy calling the fucking cops I'd love to hear it but as far as I can tell the options are "He hates Stede because Stede is frilly and camp and thinks Stede is making Ed weak" aka Textbook hate crime and "He's in deeply dysfunctional love and is therefore trying to force Ed to be in a relationship with him despite the fact that Ed has made it clear he doesn't want that" aka Textbook abuser.

To be clear I wouldn't have Izzy any other way. The roll he plays in the narrative is important to the story. I don't like him, per se, but I like stories about overcoming toxic masculinity, and those stories have to have a villain, and I was deeply emotionally ruined by the consequences of his actions, (i.e. the domino effect that caused Stede to abandon Ed on the dock) so I want him around for as long as they decide to keep him around. Just, like, fucking pretending he's never done anything wrong ever? Come on now.

#izzy critical #ofmd meta

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obsidiancreates · 3 months

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One Undead To Another (Chapter 4)

(Trigger warning for Shawn Corpse, blood, and lots of ghost-vs-vampire fighting.)

“What the hell is going on.” Jules’s gun is still steady- to the untrained eye. If Shawn was there he’d notice the slight tremble, the tightened grip, the shudder going up her spine.

Shawn isn’t there. He’s somewhere past the ghost, standing and staring at the group, looking quite frankly more lively than he ever did while actually alive. Well, he would be- if he wasn’t see-through. Mary’s body flickers in and out of existence at a faster pace than the lights do, his form transparent enough to make out the pattern of the wallpaper at the end of the hall behind him.

Gus screams again.

“He’s in the basement, but I think you guessed that.” Mary looks Lassiter in the eyes. “You need to get moving. He’s having a bad time down there.”

The screaming pitches up, worse, for a moment. There’s too many voices- it’s impossible to tell if Shawn is among them.

Lassiter wants to get moving. Someone is dying down there- but he’s frozen. He saw Mary Lightly die. He saw Spencer hold Mary’s corpse and it’s the closest he’s ever seen Spencer come to crying and it’s burned into his brain forever so he can’t be looking at Mary Lightly right now.

Mary looks at someone over Lassiter’s shoulder. “They need a push.”

Lassiter and Jules whip around.

Mike McMillian and Zoe Sharp push all three forward into the hall.

Gus stumbles through Mary. Mary disappears. Gus passes out.

He wakes up as soon as he hits the ground, springs to life, and bolts. Bolts deeper into the house, and Lassiter and Jules follow because what else can they do? They don’t even remember the way to the basement, and Gus is a civilian and there are ghosts and they don’t know what’s going on-

“Wrong way!” a voice barks at them from the end of the hall Gus is blindly running down. He shrieks and reels back from the new ghost- this one wears an FBI jacket, and Jules vaguely regonizes him from a picture during her brief reunion with Scott Seaver- the dead agent who Shawn realized was killed by his own partner.

“He’s right.” Mary’s ghostly voice calls out to them from the opposite end- they turn to see him pointing. “Down this way.”

“We’re not following the ghosts,” Gus half demands, half begs.

“They said they know where Shawn is.” Jules looks at her partner. “We have to believe them.”

“... Dammit, O’Hara, why do you have to be right all the time?”

Jules grabs Gus by the elbow, and they follow.

Mary disappears as they walk through him- the lights are still barely clinging to life, and they get turned around more than once. Every time they are quickly redirected, and every time it’s a different spirit.

Nelson Poe, who gives Lassie a nod of recognition as they pass by him. Bianca the college co-ed, who cheers for them as they rush past her. Annie the scare-camp counsler, who quite literally pushes them in the right direction. At one point they hear a loud honk-bark, and turn to find Shabby The Sea Lion using his nose to point them in the right direction. Shabby even nuzzles Gus’s hand as he runs by.

As soon as they make it to the basement door the buzzing emptiness of the building intensifies by a million. Lassiter is shaking as he pushes it open, the rotting door literally falling off it’s hinges. It leads to a short hallway, and then a staircase so steep and thin and rickety it’s really more of a glorified wooden ladder.

The screaming is all coming from below them.

Jules is the first down. It’s a maze, a labyrinth of old dust-caked boxes and knick-knacks and abandoned belongings. Gloria the actress points the way first, and then Howie Tolkin, then Fire Chief Dan. Gus feels sicker and sicker with each spirit he sees because how and why and is Shawn okay or not?

Jules is the first to enter into the open space, and whatever she sees makes her scream. As soon as Lassiter comes within reach she grabs onto his arm, and then clings to him, and sobs.

At first, when Gus stumbles out of the boxes, he can’t see why. There’s too much to see why. The room is filled, packed to the brim with jeering and shouting and screaming spirits, angry spirits. Five real, physical beings try to push their way out of a ring of candles, but the spirits won’t let them out.

Gus sees Vlad the football player, reunited with his severed foot in death, kick an account-looking woman back into the ring. She hisses at him, and Gus sees red eyes and fangs and feels faint again. It’s too much, it’s too much, it’s ghosts and spirits and now vampires and it’s real and it’s happening and- and every spirit who guided them is here, sleeping and kicking and pushing and doing everything they can to keep those five figures- hissing, spitting, vampiric figures- from getting out of the circle because it looks like the spirits can’t get in and-

And-

Oh, god.

That’s why Juliet is sobbing.

Through the transparent feet and tumbling vampires and flickering ring of candle he sees Shawn.

Shawn, lying on the ground, still and pale and with blood all over his neck.

Gus stumbles back- he throws up. He leans against an old bookshelf for support, and looks back, and Shawn is lifeless on the ground and when one of the vampires kicks him he doesn’t react and he’s-

He’s-

Someone is rubbing Gus’s back.

“He’s not gone.” Gus thinks he’s heard this voice before, maybe, but so long ago it’s not even really a memory anymore. He looks into the face of an old-ish woman who has Shawn’s eyes. She smiles at him- she has Shawn’s smile too. It doesn’t make him feel better. Shawn won’t smile anymore. He throws up again.

“Well? You’re here to help Shawn, aren’t you?” Mary stands between Gus and Lassie, and Jules who’s stopped sobbing and has instead become pissed.

“He’s dead.” Lassiter’s voice is almost hollow.

“So am I, and I still don’t enjoy being left alone in dirty places with people I hate.”

There’s a shout, a roar really, and Gus has to jump away from the bookcase as the spirit of Private Starks shoves the bookcase and it falls and splinters apart and Starks looks at Gus with a grin, gives him a salute, and then moves to punch one of the vampires back into the circle so hard that he loses a fang.

“We’re keeping them in one place for you, detectives.” Mary gestures at the broken bookcase. “And now we’ve got you some stakes.”

“Can-” Jules looks Mary in the eyes as much as she can. “Can we save him? Shawn?”

“Depends on your definition but yes.”

“And they did this? To him?”

“They did- the one in the black pantsuit did the actual biting but they all played an essential part. … We’ll make sure they can’t come close to biting any of you too, if that’s why you’re hesitating.”

Jules sets her jaw, and grabs a shard of wood.

“O’Hara-”

“Carlton. In the last not even hour we have just learned that ghosts are real, that vampires are too, and that they hurt one of our own. And he’s here because we didn’t believe in him. I know this isn’t how we normally do things but- but Shawn is-”

“O’Hara. Pass me a stake.”

Jules only lets shock take her for a second before she grabs one, hands it to Lassiter, and they dive in.

Gus sinks to the floor, watching Lassie and Jules and spirits of people who’s murders he’s helped solve fight vampires- vampire who he’d met and talked with and told Shawn he didn’t suspect. Who Shawn met, who Shawn knew were bad news, who Shawn tried to warn them about and now he’s-

And he’s just laying there. Shawn is just laying there, in the middle of that circle, and Gus can’t stop staring and now he sees that Shawn’s hands are tied together and there’s blood around his mouth and staining the collar of his shirt and the holes are so big and Shawn is so pale and quiet and still-

“Someone has to pull him out of there.” The old-ish woman is back. She puts her hand on Gus’s. It feels like a lingering puff of air, the absence of a presence. “I’m sorry, Gus. But they won’t even notice you while they’re busy with Lassie and Jules.”

“I can’t go in there.” Gus’s voice breaks. The dam breaks, the tears start. “I can’t- he’s- I can’t-”

“You can. He’s not lost. He’s right there, and you know he’d never leave you like this. He needs you, Gus.”

“He’s-”

“Waiting. You have to get him out of there. Get him out of this house. Now! Go!”

Gus can’t see it, can’t see this possibility the old-ish lady is trying to make him see, all he sees is Shawn isn’t breathing and he’s still and quiet and it’s not right!

“So fix it.” She stands and pulls Gus up with her. “Grab a stake if you need it to feel brave, and fix it!”

Shawn-

His eyes flutter open for a second.

Gus has his hand around a shard of wood and is diving into the fray before he has a chance to even think about hesitating. “Shawn! SHAWN!”

Someone grabs the back of his shirt and he hears snarling, but as he turns around with what’s definitely a battle scream and not a panicked one, he sees Diddle push the vampire away andarm-swing-dance a blow right to their gut.

“Get your boy!” Diddle pushes Gus with his elbow. “And let him know ‘m glad you’ve got a friend like him when he wakes up!”

Gus swallows, and turns, and gets low to the ground to crawl. He drags himself across the disgusting floor, smudging whatever symbols are painted onto the ground, and up to Shawn.

He grabs both of Shawn’s arms and pulls. He pulls and pulls and he’s probably throwing his back out and he knows he’s going to need a gallon of icy-hot gel for his arms but he pulls Shawn out of that horrible circle. Just barely outside of it, Shawn’s foot brushing against one of the candles that hasn’t gotten snuffed and tipped over yet, but out of it.

It’s all Gus can stand doing before he pulls Shawn’s head into his lap. Shawn’s skin is colder than ice, and he’s ashen, and when Gus pries his eyes open they’re- they’re not the right color and they’re starting to look-

“Don’t you dare leave me here, Shawn.” Gus’s voice shakes with sobs. “Don’t you dare leave me alone out here! You-you owe me, Shawn! Not just money or-or snacks, you owe me more time! Wake up! Wake up, Shawn! Wake up!”

Shawn isn’t breathing. His heart isn’t beating. He is cold, and limp, and lifeless. He can’t wake up.

“I’ll buy you whatever stupid thing you want for the office,” Gus sobs. “I need you, Shawn. You can’t leave me alone! Wake UP!”

Shawn is still.

And then, his eyelids… move.

Gus sucks in a breath, tears still spilling.Shawn’s eyelids twitch again, and then flutter, and then open.

#psych #psychusa #psych usa #psych 2006 #fanfic #my attempts at fanfic #I wrote this in a FIT of sleep deprived inspiration so if there's any typos No There's Not

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softsnzstuff · 8 months

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OF/MD - Kraken!Ed with a Cold

Based on this post thread. Have a snippet of what myself and @snzsnchillz-afterdark think menacing Kraken!Ed would be like when he’s got the worst cold and is trying to still be threatening. This one goes out to my OFMD buddies - @friv0lite @peach-plumb-pear2 @sniffles-and-tickles @softersteve

Based on the new promo pictures because Taika could choke me and I’d thank him Ed looks so good 🫡😍

Set between seasons 1 and 2 (before canon S2 has come out if anyone finds this post 10/05/23)

CW: intentional contagion

The crew of the Revenge were well used to Ed’s overnight personality changes at this point. At first he’d been all weepy and switched to being one with the Earth and musical and personifying his soul…whatever that meant.

The second switch happened a few days later. Over night. When he had reached the point in his breakup that condoned anger and violence. He’d cut off Izzy’s toe and fed it to him in the night, also tossing plenty of Stede’s things overboard - partial crew included.

He’d been in full swing as Blackbeard for a couple of weeks now - ravaging ships, looting them, and leaving men for dead in ways more unimaginable than skinning them with the snail fork.

This third personality shift happened when he came down with the cold from Hell… or rather - tried to convince everyone that he hadn’t.

Ed had been up Izzy’s ass the the last day, quite literally screaming orders in his ear, pausing occasionally to cough wetly. Izzy would just close his eyes and force a smile before responding with, “Yes, Captain.”

This morning, Izzy had awoken the crew early - somehow managing to be both yelling at them and quiet as not to wake Ed.

“Alright listen up, dogs! Blackbeard is… under the weather… and is more irritable than usual.” Izzy started. “I want you lot to just do what he says and try not to fucking upset him.”

“Why is that our job? He’s the one being a dick.” Jim muttered, twirling their knife.

Izzy sighed, having known Ed the longest. “Because the sooner he is well again, the sooner he stops being a cunt.”

“Yeah, that’s a good enough answer for me I feel.” Frenchie looked around for agreement. Everyone stayed silent, but Fang gave a single nod in solidarity.

“I want you all to keep your heads down and stay out of his fucking way. If he asks anything, you say ‘yes captain’ and fucking do it. And you-” Izzy points to Frenchie, “I want you find what’s left of any medicine that Bonnet left on board. Is that understood?”

There were some silent nods.

“I SAID IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?!?” Izzy screamed.

“Yes, fucking Christ.” Jim grumbled, bringing some hands up towards their ears.

“H’iszzzSCHEW! K’tCHuh!”

Just as they were finishing up, Ed kicked the door in, sniffling thickly against his gloved hand.

“What the fuck are you all doing down here???”

Izzy quickly came up with a lie, “I was just telling these fucking idiots that it shouldn’t take this long to clean the floor!”

Izzy shot Frenchie a glance and he immediately dropped to his knees, using a piece of his shirt to scrub at the floor.

“I’m sorry captain Blackbeard sir, it’s just hard to clean the floor without any.. water?” He tried to play along with the charade.

“Hmm. You’re right.” Ed hummed thoughtfully before spitting on the floor right in front of the younger man. “There. Now you’ve got something.”

Frenchie held back a gag as Ed stormed out the other door to the deck of the ship, Izzy and crew following behind. Jim have Frenchie a hand up and he scurried off to go find Stede’s medicine stash.

*****

One thing about the gentleman pirate is that he was bound to have loads of the unnecessary - books, fine fabrics, and medicine. It only took a few minutes for Frenchie to find the bottles in the Captains’ chambers bathroom, but seeing as he couldn’t read, he just grabbed everything and shoved it into a crate to bring to Izzy on the upper deck.

Hands full of different bottles and vials, he turned on his heels to leave the Captain’s chambers. Slamming into the chest of the captain…

“The fuck are you doing in my room?!” Ed hissed, looking the man up and down.

“I uh… you see Mr.Blackbeard sir… I just.. I was…”

Ed’s scowl gave way momentarily to something more relaxed. He turned to the side out of habit, sneezing openly at the air.

“Eh’tSZzZiew! Snlrff”

“Shut up! You’re fucking taking too long.” Ed held up a hand, making Frenchie stop.

The crew member was frozen, staring wide eyed, his eyes locked on the small trail of mess leaking down Ed’s upper lip.

Ed had him pinned against the wall. “The fuck are you staring at?”

“You’ve just…. You’ve got a little…on your face…” Frenchie stammered, gesturing towards Ed’s nose.

He watched in horror as Ed’s nostrils flared once again right in front of him. He squeezed his eyes and hoped for the best.

“H’ekTSZZZuhew!”

Frenchie scrunched his face as he felt droplets hit his cheek.

“Well now you’ve got a little something on your face too.” Ed released his grip on the man, throwing him against the wall and rubbing his own nose again.

“This is so unsanitary.” Frenchie whined quietly.

“What was that???”

“I said uh… sanctuary! Thank you for providing us with such a great… sanctuary….” The fake enthusiasm trailed off at the end before he scurried away to the upper deck.

When he arrived topside, he looked like he’d seen a ghost. Jim was standing at Izzy’s side.

“Jeez what the fuck happened to you?” They asked.

“Here’s your fucking medicine.” Frenchie aggressively dropped the crate of medicine on the barrel in front of Izzy, pausing to wipe at his face and swiping one of the bottles, “this one’s for me now.”

Izzy huffed a knowing sigh and rubbed at his temple. “He sneeze on you?”

Jim made a face of disgust as Frenchie nodded. “Yup…”

“He’s worse than I thought.” Izzy groaned. “Never thought I’d say this but we need Stede back.”

#of/md #sickfic #sneezefic #snzblr #snz kink #kb writes #t/aika w/aititi #I/zzy H/ands #s/tede b/onnet #f/renchie #e/dward t/each #kraken!ed

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fluffydisneyprincess · 9 months

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Spoilers for Kaeya's Hangout under the cut

So I just finished the theater route of his Hangout. I was a little surprised it didn't branch off but can we talk for a second about how subtly POINTED this storyline is???

There is war coming. We all know it. Khanri'ah is not as dead and gone as most would think and Kaeya knows that too. He's a living embodiment of Khanri'ah's roots stretching through the centuries. Our sibling claims to be working on behalf of Khanri'ah.

But when Kaeya decided in the last Dainsleif quest that his lineage wasn't important, he drew a line. He was possibly put in Mondstadt to benefit Khanri'ah, but Mondstadt is his home. Given the choice he would always choose Mondstadt.

Even if there is enough left of Khanri'ah to return to, he wouldn't go back. I don't even think he'd return if his father *cough*pierro *coughcough* were to personally ask him to come home. He will spend the rest of his days somewhere else. Where HE feels at home.

I have two theories here.

And here Kaeya seems subtly acknowledge the parallels between his story and the character. I think it's really interesting though that he's criticizing an inept god (though not in a literal sense) that would do these things when that's what Khanri'ans were known for. It's what got them in trouble.

"Who turns fathers against sons and is bent on endless warmongering"

1) Somewhere later down the line we are going to meet Kaeya's father and his father is going to be in the same mind as our sibling. (This will break my fuckin heart. Double if Diluc chooses that moment to drop his pride and back Kaeya up like "You are not his father. A father doesn't abandon his young son.")

2) if you applied his figure of speech a little more literally rather than just interpreting it as the clumsiness of fate, the 'inept god' responsible would, arguably, be our sibling

I feel like in the future as the plot thickens we're going to start seeing more of Kaeya and his connections to all of this. If his father is alive or any other Khanri'ans find out, they may very well work to bring him back.

We might also see some more of Diluc given his past with the Fatui.

This is the only route I got to do bc it's 2am here and the corporeal form needs something called sleep 🙄 But I'm trying to do the hangout before I get spoiled like I did for Kaveh's.

Yes I'm saving all the snapshots from his hangout shhh

Last thought:

Either Kaeya is a poetic genius who came up with this on his own or this implies that some version of Shakespeare exists/ed in the Genshin Universe. Do with that what you will.

#genshin impact #blue's rambles #genshin kaeya #kaeya alberich #Kaeyas hangout #genshin spoilers #Genshin impact spoilers #genshin impact theories #genshin hangout #genshin hangout spoilers #Kaeya should just be in that outfit all the time when hes in Sumeru #Just wear it anyway #I hc that he keeps the braid for awhile after wearing that outfit #or even just braids it anyway for convienience

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yuri-is-online · 1 day

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Popping in with another Tokyo Debunker theory, so sorry you have to deal with me but I literally have nowhere else to go with this ;;;

This theory really is more of a shot in the dark on vibes alone but I just saw the Janitor in ch3 and idk if it's same face syndrome but I felt he looked strangely similar to Dante? I don't know if it's just me, but anyways, for some reason I feel like he's the Ed that Rui keeps talking about (accidentally killing) and was wondering what if he's the one Alan killed and not Dante? Maybe Alan mistook him in the heat of the moment, could explain why he wasn't dead since Rui's dialogue implies they're able to bring him back to life somehow. There really isn't enough info on this but couldn't help but think about it.

Also how is Haru such a mom to the anomalous creatures and yet so shady at the same time (casually putting trackers on Ren? Picking locks? Hello??) and seeing that I have to agree I do think he might've transferred from Sinostra, it'd be a way to connect Jabberwock to the next arc possibly too

My dearest friend, I am not "putting up with you" I am receiving your lovely thoughts and adding some of my own. You can come here and chat, we can keep filling up the Tokyo Debunker tag together. I do apologize to my twsties though, I promise I am not abandoning you.

Rui seems fully convinced that his curse will kill anyone who touches him, especially MC but he is much more casual about how he talks about "Ed" to the point I am almost curious if he is talking about a person or a dog. I lean towards person because he complains about him leaving his socks everywhere and not him constantly stealing his, but him being the janitor is a good guess. Now as for Alan having mistaken him for Dante:

While they do look similar to me personally it is closer to the similarity between Hyde and Sho than it is them being identical:

Who are of course related, so it could just be that Dante and the Janitor are also related. It would add to the friendship between Dante and Hyde if they both have brothers enrolled in the school, Hyde really seems proud of Sho and clearly has bragged to Dante a lot. It would be funny if he does that because Dante is in the same boat. What I personally think is that, based off of the Janitor's hair color and cut, he is likely the dorm captain of Obscuary as pictured here in the loading screen:

The dorm leader has lighter tips to his hair just like the janitor and is familiar/comfortable enough to talk casually with Haru who is another dorm captain. If that's true then I do not think Alan, who would be very familiar with Ed, would have mistaken him for Dante. We also need to consider that Dante is in a wheelchair, I don't think someone who tries as hard to be respectful and accommodating as Alan would mix up someone who can walk and someone who is in a wheelchair, unless that is something new for Dante this year and he was able to function without it last year σ(￣、￣=)

When Haru declared lock picking as one of his special talents I almost died laughing he is SO SKETCHY. He is also trying to run a business, something that Sinostra also does and since Hyde is the advisor for both dorms I think transferring between them would be relatively easier than say, transferring from Hotarubi or Frostheim. Come to think of it both cases of transfers we have seen so far have been (potentially anyway, we don't have confirmation about Haru yet) between dorms who have the same advisor. Something that could explain why it seems easier in Tokyo Debunker than in Twisted Wonderland.

Oh back to Ed/the Janitor for a moment. Obscuary seems to be themed around death, and seems to run a bar that might be themed around vampires? Or just super goth in general. Either way I think his ability to come back to life might have something to do with his stigma and the way it interacts with Rui's curse, but we don't know enough about him to make a specific call just yet. I'll keep my eye out for more information and you are more than free to come here and talk about more of your theories, my anon friend.

#<3 asks #tokyo debunker #tdb #rui mizuki

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micronopher · 5 months

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UNPOPULAR HOT TAKE - YEAH, ABOUT THAT...

Source

Oooo, like... get the toxic Blackbeard off the ship and move onto a new project? Maybe someone like...

Izzy has just gotten a new family, after all. The big problem is Ed, right? Izzy has spent so much time working on the Blackbeard project, pushing him into it all throughout season one and since before. In season one, Izzy seems like he thrives as a *manager type, someone who fits in best with being at someone's side. He clearly sucks at being captain once he's put in charge of The Revenge, but he is a first-rate first-mate (delegating tasks, covering for Ed's mood swings, etc) albeit just plain shit at the personal stuff since he lets his emotions get the better of him.

Speaking of his emotions... He didn't let Blackbeard go -- despite how much pain and suffering went through under the reign of The Kraken 2.0 Completely Unhinged Edition -- until he was literally almost destroyed by him in season 2, episodes 1&2 (and even 3).

He's still gives Ed shit about his feelings for Stede even when he's reverted to Blackbeard persona (albeit overblown) cuz yeah, Stede Fuckin Bonnet is still responsible for Ed acting like a different version of a twat to the crew. You view Bonnet as a pet, you're becoming weak. I'm not going to let you destroy yourself for Bonnet. The atmosphere in this crew is fucked because of your feelings for Bonnet. Izzy doesn't kill Ed -- either because he still can't let go or he refuses to enable him anymore -- and Izzy refuses to die until he just lets someone else kill Ed, to stop the terror and erase the monster he helped to create.

Izzy continues with the crew as best he can, which is really desperate if they're at the point of eating an albatross raw, until Stede Fuckin Bonnest arrives on the ship of the pirate queen.

Like it or not, Stede is Izzy's only chance to save the crew that saved him, apparently executing mutineers being a part of a general pirate code rather than Zheng's own rule. Then it's revealed that, guess what? Izzy kept Ed's body on the ship. Izzy still can't just let him the fuck go, and he creates a story perhaps to delude himself that he didn't allow him to get killed but left on him a some beach. Later, Izzy and the crew are saved by Bonnet. Fucking Stede Bonnet, who should be spiteful at them for killing Ed but saves them anyway, and he has an actual a good plan? Well, then... thank you, sir.

In episode 5, Izzy wants the apparently still living Ed banished, needing a hell of a lot of alcohol to admit that. "The leg has got to come off." Then he yells at the unicorn figurehead, criticizing it for its uselessness (like it can't serve its captain properly). The crew has their captain Bonnet back, what use is Izzy Hands now? Izzy crawls away muttering about being born alone and dying alone and it makes him feel like crap.

But the crew support him. That same crew that were ready to toss him overboard with an anchor, the one he almost got killed because if Ed hadn't swam back to them in Blind Man's Cove they would have been dead from Stede's incompetence, the one of which many of them get over their own trauma super quickly/abruptly because of seeing him suffer like this. They create a new leg from the unicorn to help support himself, and a new view point that like the figurehead, he needs to continue protecting the crew since they've chosen him. An albatross (crewmate) even flies above him, which is just a boatload of more symbolism.

But in episode 5, Edward, that toxicity Izzy helped to create (though it got WAY overblown), is still on the ship. The leg wasn't cut off completely, but it needs time to heal. And Izzy's still not got a firm place, having to practice using his new leg. He's a part of the crew but yet no real place as he's not at the side of any captain.

Then, while rehoning his skills to compensate for his new condition, in walks the reason for why there is such a loving, supportive crew asking him for help in becoming a better pirate-

My, my... a pirate captain already with a title and reputation who still needs a lot some training....

Izzy made some major mistakes with Ed, this time he'll do better. The Gentleman Pirate with first-mate Izzy Hands at his side...

Now Izzy can continue to move on. He won't dwell on what he did and what happened to him. A shark took his leg, a leg he dangled over the water when he knew there was a shark there. Despite his initial intentions, Izzy was wrong to continually force-feed Ed the Blackbeard ideal, nudging him into becoming a shark. Ed should be Ed. And now Izzy can enjoy being part of a crew. The beginning of episode 6 sees a much freer, more relaxed Izzy Hands willing to branch out into other activities.

Hooray! Yes! Be free. Make yourself up, sing your heart out! ...yep, sing that timeless, gorgeous love song... And when the crew is attacked, Captain Stede Bonnet, the Gentleman Pirate, protects them and exacts his vengeance on the perpetrator like a good pirate captain.

Now maybe just leave him alone for a bit, Ed? Let him process it, let's not take risks and get into anything we may regret later... ...or okay, no, do the exact opposite of what Izzy just said and get yourself in a situation where you and Stede both react more to impulse than rationality. Well, congrats. It's about time anyway, and maybe you've worked off some frustration? Go on then. Be happy. But why not go be really happy and figure yourself out? In episode 7, Izzy suggests that Ed follow that impulse of throwing away his leathers. Toss away the Blackbeard persona, Ed. Now you have a family and a boyfriend who balances you out... ...oh, whom you promptly leave because you're not happy sticking to piracy. Unlike Izzy who's content with being a pirate and living on a pirate ship with a pirate crew and a pirate captain. He's good with it *blows out cigarette smoke.* And now he has the Gentleman Pirate.

Izzy had made it a point to refer to Stede as captain when he reported that the ship -- among other things -- was docked. Stede still needs work, but Izzy'll get him there. Izzy goes to talk to Stede, to connect with him over their feelings for the lost Edward.

He doesn't encourage Stede to go back to Ed, he doesn't intend to let Stede stop being their captain. Izzy might not have love for Stede in the same way he did for Ed, but Stede is his new captain of his new family, and he's on his way to a thriving pirate life.

Ed on the other hand might be content to not being a pirate; if he wants a non-pirate life, then who are they to stand in the way of that? Not that he's necesarily trying sabotage anything, this is just how shit is playing out.

Izzy puts his hand on Stede's knee as he says "Let's get you back on the ship." He doesn't want Stede to get hurt in that place when he's such a vulnerable state, doesn't want to get him killed off before he has time to fully bloom.

Remember - we're doing better this time. But his Gentleman Pirate captain is still a silly pirate captain who gets a little too cocky.

Izzy fights best he can in defense of his new captain and crew against the resulting brawlers, but Stede gets his ass handed to him just as the Republic of Pirates goes to hell in a handbasket. In episode 8, Izzy's imprisoned, Stede's fate is unknown to him, and he's confronted with an asshole who is everything he thought Stede was, but isn't.

He reveals to said asshole (who tries to win him over with flattery and the offer of glory) what he himself what he lost sight of in his jealous rage - that the crew is the most important thing. Izzy has always shown little signs of this, commenting to Ed in the first season how they lost several men during their rescue of Stede Fucking Bonnet.

But then perhaps at that time it was more about preserving resources, rather than actually creating bonds. The bond Izzy was obsessed with was the one he had with Blackbeard, trying harder and harder to hang onto it as Blackbeard slipped farther away from him.

Then who would Izzy be left with?

The crew, he realizes. This crew, who protected, cared for, and trusted him. He's found the perfect position with this crew - not quite like a captain who should retain some distance (because really, friendship with one's top boss could be fine, but causes a hella lotta personal/professional strains), but one of them, yet in a leadership position where he can care/advocate for them. And so he does.

Then Stede and Ed arrive to the rescue together, and Izzy is once again with an Edward who isn't going off to do his own thing -- whatever the hell that was -- so he's still going to be there, following Stede around to live Stede's pirate dream even if it isn't what Ed wants.

Ed goes back into his leathers. He's on his way to returning to the Blackbeard persona. Izzy has finally acknowledged Stede as the one who balances Ed out, and he's seen now what happens when they lose each other. Stede might behave like an idiot, but he at least becomes protective of his crew, like when he rescued them from Zheng executing them and laster tried to keep them from joining Zheng.

But what would happen if Ed lost Stede for good? The scale becomes tipped, and he becomes depressed and destructive.

Anyway, Izzy agrees to his captain's plan and follows his crew into battle. He is the one to hold onto the prisoner, to do his part and his duty as first-mate. And he gets shot - unexpectedly, quickly, at point blank, and (maybe unknowingly but it's there) standing between Ed and the line of fire.

He doesn't say a word about it until he can be sure the crew is safe on the ship. He rushes over the hill and the bumpy, sandy beach carrying a bullet in his body, heart racing and blood pumping, and supported by his family when they figure out he's struggling. He's taken to the ship in a rocking dinghy, and has to be hefted over the side. **He's bleeding profusely, internally and externally, fighting against being shot in the abdomen, which could have so many outcomes. Then Ed is above him. Not his new captain, whom he takes a final, affectionate dig at, but Ed.

Ed's crying. Ed cares. Izzy remembers how the crew got him to open up, and this is his last chance to apologize for making so many mistakes with Ed by egging on his Blackbeard side. He realizes he did need Blackbeard; that could be who Izzy Hands is- a first-class first-mate finding his sense of connection to a pirate captain he can be proud of, like Blackbeard, and later like the Gentleman Pirate. But this wasn't just out of his need to be connected to a pirate captain. He'd become selfish because it was his bond with Edward, what he thought defined him (as Ricky even emphasized), and he panicked when Ed started to drift away. But this was possibly a journey he took because he wanted Ed to thrive in a cruel world. Maybe that's what Izzy was doing for Stede all along, and this crew that he's learned to appreciate will always be connected to Stede, and Stede will always be connected to Ed... Izzy needs Ed to trust his crew, so he tells him. He remembers how much the crew adored his ideas of a talent show, and how they cheered his name before Izzy helped to ***fuck it up - warning that Edward better watch his step, claiming that Ed was better off killed by the English rather than not matching that page of who Blackbeard was supposed to be, pushing Ed just over the edge.

The persona of Blackbeard was a demon; the man Ed is the one who cared for his crew and they him. He now needs Ed to know to just be himself, and so he tells him, the last thing he can do for him before he dies.

For the first time (in a long while?), Izzy has had a true, heartfelt connection not with the pirate he created or the version of what he thought he wanted, but with the man Ed should have been allowed to grow into a long time ago.

So... so much for not dying for [that ponce and/or] for Ed. Hopefully, Ed can finally leave pirating if that's what makes him happy. Ed should find what makes Ed happy. As for Stede -- that ridiculous man whom Blackbeard was so insistent on meeting/keeping alive and whose influence has made a such a difference in Izzy's life -- hopefully he'll get to a place where can can be happy, too. Izzy led the pirate life he wanted, dying in his leathers, surrounded by a faithful crew, at the side of the man who helped to define his pirate career - both before and after Stede.

Maybe the crew will put Izzy in a place where he can rest peacefully, rather than tossing him into the sea? That sometimes happens to pirates - buried at sea when they die at sea so they don't stink up the rest of the ship with their rotting corpse if they're not close enough to a speck of land. And maybe it would be nice if they could put up some kind of symbol of their love for him to mark his grave, with clear identifying markers? Maybe at least let him keep his possessions instead of a possibility that the captain would auction them to the rest of the crew? Or perhaps a crewmate at least takes a momento. Unless, of course, Izzy gave them any kind of instructions to this crew (who are simply trying to do their best at showing respect for their fallen comrade) for how he wanted to be buried... Maybe it would even be nice to haunt near where Ed sleeps, as a reminder or possibly to keep ghost-badgering him to not slip back into Blackbeard when he looses someone important to him...

...ok yeah, main point being, Izzy definitely competed for their hearts. Blackbeard and first-mate Izzy Hands

The Gentleman Pirate and first-mate Izzy Hands

This was it. Most of the images

*Personality types are bull, this is a thin reference more than a rule. It doesn't mean one's life is defined by or consummately subordinate to another, just that different people are more comfortable in different positions. **Even in a tv show where the survival of detrimental injuries is possible, it goes without saying that death is not an unreasonable outcome of suffering a bullet wound when you've been moving around. Otherwise, a lot of those naval soldiers would still be walking about ok. ***In season one, Izzy influenced so much of Blackbeard and later became the reason in season two that Ed could let him go. Ed didn't need permission from Izzy to abandon Blackbeard, but he didn't need Izzy to influence him so much into becoming Blackbeard either, and Izzy didn't need to push him like that. Whatever Izzy's reasoning for wanting Blackbeard to stay Blackbeard, it doesn't justify acting like that kind of asshole (betraying them to the enemy, striking when Ed's emotionally vulnerable, etc), especially against someone you claim to care for. Izzy acted like a jealous jerk in season one who bit off more than he could chew and suffered horrifically for it, but later got embraced by the very community he hurt without ever even apologizing for shit. Again, that crew was dealing with their own major trauma and most of them managed to get over it super fast for Izzy's sake. In reality, it takes a lot more work than that. Was Izzy ever given that kind of chance to continue making amends/healing after the finale? He didn't need to, he'd already accomplished it. There was no indication from any of the crew that they held a grudge against him. And it was beautiful to see. ALSO: losing interest in the show because of Izzy's death is anyone's right and prerogative. It's always painful to lose a character you love/have projected onto/made into you blorbo/sympathize-empathize with/ and especially think was done dirty by the creators. The reason doesn't even particularly matter -- the pain is still real, and that's what matters. Maybe with that hint that Jenkins wants Con still involved, there is a bit of hope? Just please take into consideration about how you'd feel if your own narrative work didn't go the way someone wanted and you're sent hateful messages. ALSO: I know most of us are tired of seeing the 'Redemption Equals Death' trope or 'Death of the Mentor' trope. But... All. These. Tropes have been done before many times. This one especially makes the prick Ricky look really bad, the kind of person who wants to destroy the loving community they've built. ALSO: Con O'Neill is fine as hell and a man of many talents. Would personally love more of him, so still holding out for cameos in season three if we get it. Everyone has seen by now how Con O'Neill hopes we get it..

Source ...and how he at least seems to be at peace with Izzy's death:

Source ...unless 'Con, luv. You ok? Blink twice if you need help.' LAST THING: Like I said in another post - nothing is perfect, but for a season of eight, twenty-five minute episodes of a dark comedy (or in fact many forms of comedy) that has no guarantee of a third season and suffered from major budget cuts, the creators did an amazing job giving us things like epic parties, weddings, mythological creatures, ghostly apparitions, magic, sword fighting, as well as Izzy's arc, gorgeous Gentlebeard moments, hilarious crew escapades, clever guest cameos, badass allies/frenemies, and intriguing antagonists. Plus, the effects, the costumes, the makeup, the sounds and sights were simply glorious. Just because the last bite might have left an unpleasant taste doesn't inherently mean the chefs (scrambling for ingredients, time, and rearranging the recipe so it could make some semblance of sense within a deadline pressured by the restaurant owners and hungry customers) were trying to sabotage the entire meal or that it was a culinary disgrace.

It's cilantro, if ya know the reputation of cilantro, without the genetic factor. Some love it, others hate it. Nothing wrong with not liking cilantro. Cuz yeah, it fuckin tastes like soap.

Written before The Collider interview, but wanted to post it anyway.

#ofmd #our flag means death #izzy hands #ofmd s2

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