#yes this is about Izzy Hands

[sky-fire-forever]

I feel like a lot of the time, people forget that fiction is not real life. And I don't mean that in a "you can portray bad things in fiction and that's okay" way (though that is true too)

What I mean is that fiction has different rules than in real life. There is a level of suspension of disbelief that is necessary for fiction. But also... just because something would realistically happen in real life doesn't make it satisfying when it happens in fiction. In real life, people use the bathroom, they get sick randomly, they die pointlessly. That isn't the case in fiction a majority of the time unless it's making a point about those things

A character dying in fiction should fit the story in which it happens. If someone in a kid's cartoon suddenly gets graphically murdered by an anvil falling on their head, it isn't satisfying just because that's what would happen in real life. Realism is not always better

And if the tone suddenly changes without reason or impact and the rules of your fictional world change for an unsatisfying narrative beat, that's still going to be unsatisfying no matter how "realistic" it is

#yes this is about izzy hands #izzy hands #our flag means death #ofmd #our flags means death critical #ofmd critical #writing #queue-no steel

[slightly-depressed-sloth]

Gentle reminder;

Burying your gays as a trope doesn't apply to media where literally every character is queer and only one of them dies

That's just called regular character death

#yes this is about izzy hands #sometimes things you dont like in media happen or theres bad writing and it isnt homophobic #ofmd s2 #ofmd spoilers #izzy hands #ofmd #slightlyslothspeaks #personally i think him dying makes sense #he was always gonna die a pirates death and hed completed his arc (as shown in his speech about belonging and then apologising to ed) #the shows going into its last season if he was gonna be in it theyd have to set up and complete a whole new character arc for him #which would detract time away from the remaining characters with unfinished arcs that will get the focus in s3 like izzy did this season #not least of which being the protagonists of the show who are also late coming out middle aged gay men

[khruschevshoe]

It's kinda weird to me that there are some people that insist that their interpretation of a character MUST BE CANON and that all other interpretations ARE JUST FANON AND COMPLETELY WRONG. Like, I love interpretation and analysis and I consider most interpretations based on textual evidence completely valid interpretations of canon, but you cannot tell me that any one interpretation is the Holy Grail of Canon, and it's really strange to me that people will go on and on about how they view [insert character here] is completely Canon, no matter what, and that everyone else is just deluding themselves to the point where they name their blog "canon[InsertNameHere]" and spend their time making fun of other people's interpretations and insist that the writers of the show were wrong to take a character in a certain direction and that character development isn't a thing like...the whole point of fandom is that everyone is engaging with a certain degree of fanon/canon mix in their interpretations. No one is special. I'm not special. You’re not special. Like, did you forget the point of fandom is that we're all just forming our own takes/fanon/interpretations in conversation with the original canon, not supplanting it in any way?

#yes this is about izzy hands #god the people that ignore all s2 evidence of his character annoy me so much #ofmd #ofmd critical #just so people can filter out #fandom critical #izzy hands #i support your right to have a different take than me #but don't pretend that yours is the Ultimate Truth #bc it's not #ofmd season 2 #ofmd s2

[blow-me-a-kis]

Once your hatred of a fictional character you believe is racist has you spitting vitriol to real PoC, you need to back up and re-evaluate your busted praxis, because you have lost the plot entirely. The character is Not Real, dude. WE are. Its not some hard math problem

A lot of folks need to focus on treating others with basic respect despite difference of opinion, because it is ALWAYS marginalized people who get the shaft when you treat social justice like its a competition to figure out who its okay to treat as subhuman

#said this on twt #sayin it here too #some of yall are just mean #and instead of identifying why you are so fucking angry #you project those feelings out into the world #and social justice just becomes an excuse for you to be as nasty as you feel inside #social justice just becomes the avenue for you to try and make others feel as shitty as you do #yes this is about Izzy Hands #because you allow this fictional white man to activate all the ugliness you have inside you #thats embarrassing #he is an ant #get it together

[youwearlavenderwell]

this was way worse than the S1 finale. i’m actually so depressed right now. i need fix-it’s asap.

#the downside of your special interest being out of your control womp womp #yes this is about izzy hands #ofmd #mine #izzy hands #our flag means death

[sistersavelorn]

You know the brainrot is bad when you see a three-legged dog and think to yourself without hesitation "wow that's just like *insert character here*"

#not art #shitpost #yes this is about izzy hands #izzy hands #ofmd #ofmd season 2 #our flag means death

[sidewalk-scrawls]

I get that fictional characters are not real, but you can often tell an awful lot about people based on how they talk about characters. Like the sheer lack of compassion in some of the fandom discourse right now is... unsettling

#yes this is about izzy hands #i have no off switch =/

[odannygirl7]

I so need people to actually think about what toxic masculinity involves. It's not just stuff a man does that you don't personally like.

#yes this is about Izzy Hands #like maybe I can give you aggression or whatever #maybe .. cause like so much of it is 'i don't like people who yell/are mean in this specific way' #most of the other stuff is either made up or poor media literacy or an exception cause it's Izzy

[morrch]

blessing for the crew

and the reference:

#yes I keep doing iasip based content what you gonna do about it #redraw #ofmd spoilers #ofmd s2 #our flag means death #our flag means fanart #ofmd fanart #ofmd season 2 #ofmd s2 spoilers #stede bonnet #izzy hands #edward teach #lucius spriggs

[sunnibits]

#yes I’m still feeling fucking ill over this and I think I’m going to feel ill about it for the rest of time #I’m fucking screaming and going crazy you don’t understand how much this line means to #me rn i think I literally want it tattooed on my body #I feel so fucking sick and insane #my chest is fucking aching but in a ‘full of so much love’ way #god god god god god god god god god. god!!!!! #ofmd #our flag means death #izzy hands

[tardisslayer]

People on twitter being like "the writers made a complete 360 on izzys character and how the crew treats him just because hes a fan favourite" MAYBE what actually happened is that you conjured a fake image of him in your head because you like to be a hater and now you think that YOUR idea of the character is actually canon (spoiler: it's not)

#yes I'm talking about a specific person #I wanted to have a conversation with her but she blocked me soooo #ofmd season 2 #ofmd s2 #ofmd #ofmd spoilers #ofmd s2 spoilers #our flag means death #izzy hands

[bookshelfdreams]

Saw a Take earlier today like "Ed stans have only 1 argument and it's accusing everyone who likes Izzy of being problematic" or something to that effect

and it made me think "Nah babe, you're not problematic. You're just wrong."

And then I thought. Huh. Why do I think that?

It's a perfectly respectable thing to read a text in a way it wasn't intended to be read. In fact, "reading against the grain", doing critical readings, shifting perspectives when engaging with a text - all of thee are important skills! You can, and should, do feminist, antiracist, postcolonial, queer, etc readings of texts that were never intended to be read that way. Hell, all fandom (often) is, is doing queer readings! Ask the text uncomfortable questions it doesn't want to answer!

However. It's pretty difficult to do a queer reading when the text already is a queer narrative. The questions you would ask the text if you did a queer reading, or a reading focused on gender roles, or similar things - those are questions the text is already actively exploring.

If you want to do a subversive reading of a text that is already quite subversive - what do you end up with?

"What's the story like from Izzy's perspective?" is a question ofmd deliberately doesn't focus too much on because Izzy's perspective is the default and ofmd wants to challenge that. There's a reason the angry white man is the antagonist in this show, and if you ask "Okay, but could he be right though?" you're missing the point.

Or rather, you're turning everything that's interesting about ofmd back around. You're asking "Okay, but why don't we focus on a white perspective that strictly adheres to oppressive power structures?" of a narrative who already asked itself this question and gave the answer "Because that's been done enough and there are other stories worth telling."

And I think people are aware of that, which is how we end up with completely bizarre takes like "Izzy has the only queer character arc". He hasn't, but he has the only arc that a queer reading can be done on - for everyone else it's text, plain and simple. Refusing to engage with that text in favour of centering Izzy is basically doing a heteronormative reading without being willing to admit it to yourself.

And no, interpreting Izzy as a queer man doesn't change that.

#its not about your headcanon its about the questions you ask the text!!! #'do the people who abuse and bully stede have a point?' #no says the text. NEVER. theres nothing wrong with being a gnc weirdo. #if you want to answer yes - okay why? why do you think the text is wrong in answering no? #'is ed changing how he acts and presents himself behaviour that needs to be corrected?' #no says the text. a lot what we are taught about being a man is wrong. #again. if your answer is yes. ask yourself why. #and so on. like im not saying youre committing a thought crime just. be honest about what your interpretation is actually asking yk #our flag means death #izzy hands #thoughts #the izcourse

[carrymelikeimcute]

Lets talk about Izzy and why being in drag is (potentially) huge for his arc.

The verdict on Izzy in S1 seems to be either 1. he's an angry, repressed queer guy with internalised homophobia or 2. he's an angry guy with homophobia. I would like to present to you - secret option number 3. Neither of the above (but a bit of 1).

I think he's an angry queer guy, who's terrified of the danger that lurks outside of appearing constantly masc and strong, and seeing other people apparently not realise or care how vulnerable they are, drives him absolutely spare. It's more complicated than simply internalising homophobia, it's misogyny and self-loathing and a response to being at sea for his entire life and struggling to survive - and we see what just a few months of that does to Lucius.

This is reflected in his talks with Ed in S1 - Ed's whimsy in the face of the approaching Spanish ship might get them all killed. Ed's public breakdown, if it got out, would destroy the reputation that protects Ed, Izzy and their entire crew. Stede is a pet, he's a weakness, and so he needs to be eliminated. That's how Izzy functions - he has like two bits of exposed skin, one outward emotion and he's lived for a long time like that - it works. It's the kind of strength he understands. He's convinced that him reining Ed in is what's keeping them alive.

BUT in S1 he sees that being open, being yourself, isn't a death sentence - and he HATES it. Because if that's true, look how much time he's wasted.

Ed and Stede's very whimsical lighthouse fuckery WORKS. Stede, in his frilly suits with his rec room and his fucking library, skates past death over and over again like he's scotch guarded from consequences. Ed and Stede make moon-eyes at each other and no one uses that against them - until Izzy does, because it's going to happen sometime (he thinks) so it's better it's him, because at least then Ed will survive.

Lucius is just hooking up with Pete in the galley while Wee John is right there - this is something that's an unspoken part of ship life, a shameful thing, and Izzy's the only one it bothers. Lucius uses flirtation to get out of scraping barnacles under armed guard, and uses it again to shut Izzy down. Lucius isn't ashamed of being flirtatious, seductive and femme - and Izzy loses to that tactic. He can't beat it with yelling and anger. It's a sort of strength he doesn't expect or understand - the strength that comes from knowing who you are. Of 'carrying yourself like you're cute' - because if you're confident, it'll work.

But he still has a huge amount of resentment for anyone who is allowed to be themselves - because he can't be. Especially in Ed's case - one of them has to be 'the strong one' and he thinks that's him.

Then, Season 2 happens.

In the space of a few episodes, Izzy learned that sharing your feelings is fucking difficult, painful and takes a lot of courage. He's had no choice but to be weak, spilling out all these ugly emotions and being physically dependant on others and in that weakness he wasn't destroyed - he was rebuilt. A little bit of that guard comes down and it doesn't kill him. So, he takes his shirt off and no one stabs him in the back. He's got a gold unicorn leg and he still absolutely wrecks shit up on a raid. He does something a little arty, opens up a tiny bit to Lucius, and he still doesn't die. It doesn't make things worse, it makes them better.

Enter, the drag episode. Suddenly, we've got Izzy in drag. A masculine style of drag, but still, drag. All that internal change, the shifting meaning of strength and masculinity, is externalised, but he's still himself - his face tattoo is redrawn as part of the makeup because it's still his face, if anything, it's MORE his than ever - AND THEN THE SHIP GETS ATTACKED, his worst nightmare - he's as far from hyper-masc as he can be, and now he's in danger.

BUT

In the teaser, we see Izzy telling people who are, presumably there to torture him and the crew, that it's just going to turn him on. He's using Lucius' technique of disarming people with flirty banter. I can't see S1 Izzy being able to do that.

He gets to dress in drag, be sassy and still win a fight because he's strong as shit and that doesn't go away just because he allows himself to be other things too.

#ofmd meta #ofmd spoilers #izzy hands #yes I'm still writing essays about mah boys #ofmd s2 #our flag means death #ofmd

[akantorrr]

That's all right

That's all right

That's all right

It gon be all right

Since my soul got a seat up in the kingdom

That's all right

Sorry not sorry, I'm still not over the finale :>

Also yes I know the flags are on the wrong mast and yes I know the whole thing is floating in the void but I had no idea what to do with the bg so uhhhhh cloudy void it is

Some details cause aughhhh I love how this came out

Speedpaint:

#ofmd #ofmd s2 #our flag means death #ofmd fanart #izzy hands #I saw a post going “imagine if the crew painted “Izzy's” in front of the Revenge's name” and it totally did not make me cry #I wouldn't consider this a spoiler tbf- the season ended a week ago anyways lmao #I am so normal about this #dear people who follow me for Ultrakill art: Woe- OFMD be upon ye #Youtube

[arsenicflame]

absolutely delicious flavour of edizzy is where theyre Actually Married but neither of them know it, while also being acutely aware of everything-

they celebrated 25 years of their matelotage. they are having sex on the regular. both of them think the other thinks their contract is purely for financial reasons and the sex is just fun + convenience.

#'hes just having sex with /me/ because he knows im not going to stab him in the back (literally)' #meanwhile theyre having the most tender schmoopy sex known to man because theyre both so fucking in love #(not 2 say anything abt the actual sex theyre having they can be as rough as they want itll still be tender because theyre having FEELINGS) #'of course we have a matlotage it'd be silly to not have a financial agreement when our lives are so entwined. whats mine is his' #and at the same time theyre celebrating anniversaries with blowout bashes and gifts and shit and just #theyre so fucking aware of their marriage but theyre SO STUPID about it #'but what if he doesnt like me like that' about the man whos slept next to him for decades #nyxtalks #ofmd #izzy hands #israel hands #edizzy #blackhands #anyway it ends when someone else finally points it out #classic steddyhands set up. eds talking about his relationship with izzy and stedes like 'youre married' 'yeah but not like that' #'absolutely yes like that edward- am i the other woman?????' and it takes a few days and a lot of convincing but they talk about it #and realise oh theyve been real actual married all their lives huh #que more fucking schmoopy sex. hand holding and tears and shit and maybe its a little cringe but its their wedding night ok ????????

[thetardigrape]

Most of my meta so far has dealt with Ed and Stede. As it should, they're the stars of OFMD.

But now I wanna talk about Lucius and Izzy. Because I've been dying over "Have you ever been sketched" for weeks and I need to talk about it. This is less of a meta and more of me just picking this scene apart because I love it so much.

The scene starts with Izzy naming a long list of chores Lucius will have to do. At this point, Lucius knows about Izzy the Spewer. He knows Izzy doesn't actually have the authority to make him do anything, and he knows a secret that Izzy definitely doesn't want spread around. So with his response to Izzy's demand that he does these chores, Lucius readies for his first blow.

Lucius has already used this line before. Crucially, back in the galley, he had nothing else to use against Izzy, and Izzy won that fight. But now, Lucius is armed. And Izzy's about to give him yet another weapon.

Izzy makes two mistakes here. First, he steps into Lucius's space. He's trying to use this as an intimidation tactic, and it might have almost worked, if not for his second mistake. He drops his gaze to Lucius's mouth. At this point, Lucius knows he's won.

Lucius purses his lips to the side and then licks them. Now he's just toying with Izzy. He goes on to shatter Izzy's offense, telling Pete himself that he drew Fang naked. Pete has a totally positive reaction, backing Lucius up. So Lucius counterattacks. He deploys the weapon Fang gave him.

Lucius has won the fight, no question. You can see it in the way Izzy's smirk falls. But this is just a single battle. Lucius means to win the war. He makes it so that Izzy will never try this shit again. He goes for the killing blow.

He was able to put together Izzy's "oo daddy" nonsense in the galley plus the way he kept stepping into Lucius's personal space plus that slightly-too-lingering look he gave Lucius's mouth and came up with the truth: Lucius wields a sexual power that they both know will break Izzy completely.

And it works! It works perfectly! Izzy never goes after him again, never calls him names or assigns him chores. Even when Blackbeard asks for Lucius specifically, Izzy refuses to look him in the eye to deliver the message.

The incredible power of Lucius's blatant sexuality. I love it. I just love it. This man uses gay as a weapon and he wins. Good for him. Good for him.

#it would NOT have worked so well if izzy weren't so tightly wound he was about to pop #nor if izzy were just accepting of his own and other people's sexuality #but he is how he is and lucius sees right through him #yes this DID provide the basis for an entire fic series i wrote #what of it #lucius spriggs #izzy hands #ofmd #our flag means death