nobeansforyou

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I know it’s not hard to point out reactionaries hypocrisy when it comes to like safe spaces or hug boxes or whatever but genuinely how much of an echo chamber do you have to exist in for you to think this is a reasonable thing to say

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For the sake of Mental Health™, I have decided to view the finale as not canon. To me, the season ended at Ep 7. That's all, folks.

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Before I back away from this subject entirely, I just wanna know.

People who staunchly defend the finale from any and all criticism -

Do you really think disabled fans are being 'ridiculous' for feeling hurt that one of the only canonically disabled central characters (Ed's fanon 'knee brace' does not count lol) and the most severely disabled character and the only character whose arc revolved around accepting and loving his disabled body and prosthetic was killed off? And that he said he wanted to die? And that his prosthetic was used as a grave marker rather than buried with him? Do you think we are 'harrassing' the showrunners by wanting to know just how many disabled people were consulted about Izzy's arc, and whether physically disabled people and amputees were in the writing room when these choices were made?

Do you really think queer fans are being 'dramatic' and 'misunderstanding bury your gays' because they're upset that a character who had a 'coming out' arc (complete with a beautiful drag performance) was immediately killed after finding queer joy, in a show that claimed to be a 'kind' queer romantic comedy? Or for pointing out that every polyamorous character wound up in a monogamous relationship?

Do you really think suicide survivors are being 'too emotional' for feeling let down by a character who attempts suicide and survives, then goes through a beautiful healing arc, only to state that he still wants to die? In a comedy?

Do you really think abuse & domestic violence survivors are 'overreacting' by being disgusted that Izzy, who was violently, repeatedly physically mutilated by his captain, a man who is explicitly shown to have power over him, spent his last words reassuring that same man that he brought this abuse on himself by :checks notes: being jealous of Ed's shiny new boyfriend and briefly causing them to break up last season? Or that the crew apparently 'love Ed' now, despite them being shown to be traumatised by his actions in Ep 1-3?

Do you really think writers and authors are 'misunderstanding a three act structure' or 'defending their blorbo' for pointing out that, if this is the Dark Night Of The Soul, it shouldn't be painted with a weird happy veneer that glosses over Ed's abuse of the crew and Stede's sudden 180 to wanting to retire? Or for being fine with Izzy's death as a concept, but wanting it to have more dramatic impact and to feel meaningful?

To be clear: this is not directed at people who enjoyed the finale. You are fine. Enjoy whatever you like! However, please don't act like your favourite show is above criticism - especially from marginalised groups. That's just shitty, and against the entire ethos that OFMD (allegedly lol) promotes.

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I was going to accept all this eventually but everyone was right...fandoms are toxic.

I feel like it's literally interlopers that are invalidating our feelings because they're too shallow to have invested themselves deeper in something than the cute story. They missed the whole message we were holding on to. They didn't care that we were promised safety in the first place, let alone that it was betrayed. It's literally just a story with characters to them, to us, it's the principal that we were lied to yet again. "You should have known better, it's just a story." bruh we were literally told we were safe. Why didn't he correct us long ago?

Only shallow people think we're mad because our ships didn't kiss. I don't think they were the same audience as we were. Wish I could float through life like that. If someone tells you you're being toxic or a baby because they're not on the same invested level as you, feel happy for them I guess? They'd probably be really mad if that roof collapsed and killed Stede and Ed tho. But hey, at least their arcs were complete and they were happy, right? It's how they would have wanted to go? Buttons can also resurrect them too!

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i can’t with people saying “that was a happy ending for izzy” do you hear yourselves? him dying in the same way he always believed he would, a hard death, a painful death, when he was just learning to want more? when he was just starting to live for himself and not for ed, a death for the very same person he lived his whole life for? that’s a happy ending, to you? are you hearing yourself?

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"the crew loves you." ive never seen ed teach genuinely hang out with the crew throughout the season aside from traumatizing them in the first 3 eps

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I don't know did we make this show up in our heads? Queer joy and representation and freedom and redemption from our mistakes? It's possible for all of us? Healing and optimism in the face of trauma? That's what I thought this was. And it's not just that I really like Izzy (and Con), it's also like, when you kill off this queer character after completing the redemption arc, you show me that you're willing to do that in the first place. You show that you don't understand why that's bad and ugly and old and tired. The show David Jenkins has been writing is clearly not the one I thought I was watching.

And yeah, I'm angry. I'm furious, I'll likely be furious about this for years to come. But I also feel strangely indifferent. Like, this wasn't what I thought it was. It's not going to become what I wanted it to be. Bye, I guess? I'm really not interested in this tired, overdone, depressing way of writing queer characters. Whether the creator understands what they're doing or not. I've wasted enough time on that sort of stuff and I'm not interested.

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broken but not destroyed

WHAT A DISAPPOINTING AND HEARTBREAKING FINALE? To have the man who was abused, mutilated, and disabled for protecting the crew, to have a suicide attempt survivor who crawled on the ground, to have someone who battled depression and alcoholism, to cement his role as the 'Ship's Unicorn" (the figurehead that protected the crew) only to reduce him as someone who "had to die" because he had no more narrative feeling, what a slap to the face. DJenkins said he didn't want to fall back into old tropes and burying your gays, but there's an elder disabled queer man you just buried for what, to absolve Ed of his abuse? Izzy died thinking he DESERVED the torture done upon him. What a disgrace. Izzy fans rallied and kickstarted a S3 renewal Campaign. And many of us are heartbroken and grieving for a show who promised kindness but only justified the abuse we've gotten the past months? We stayed and hoped better because of kindness and belonging. "This show is kind" has never rang more hollow. I'll still love and create art for him, but I don't think I can trust any other queer show again. I thought this would be different. Do you want a queer show full of kindness and found family, for all queers, the disabled and survivors and the rough around the edges ones? It's not Our Flag Means Death.

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Just watched S2 Ep 6 of Our Flag Means Death. I am quite literally sobbing my eyes out from how beautiful that entire party scene was. The unashamed joy of everyone on board, Ed and Stede doing it, and Izzy. FUCKING IZZY SINGING FUCKING LA VIE EN ROSE IN DRAG BEING THE MOST OPEN AND CONFIDENT WE HAVE SEEN HIM THIS ENTIRE TIME AND EVERYONE ACCEPTING HIM WTAF??????

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I fell in love with Izzy's voice he is wonderful

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Okay...

So, I've liked Izzy Hands from the beginning. Not because I condone his actions in the first season (I agree, they were a bit fucked up, especially the "namby pamby" scene), but because he's an interesting, very complex character. I don't think that he didn't like Stede because Ed is in love with him, although that definitely plays a part, but because Izzy and Stede just didn't like each other. From their first interaction, where Ed wasn't even a part of the story yet, they didn't like each other. Honestly, I don't really like Stede either (a hot take, I know, but he just gets on my nerves a lot).

As the season progresses, we see this emotionally immature, repressed dude watch the person he's in love with fall in love with a person he hates. I also don't think that Izzy even has internalized homophobia. He knows that he loves Ed, he just doesn't have the words to express it, and the whole thing with him disliking Stede is, in my mind, because he views Stede as incompetent (which he sort of is) and as a threat to Ed. It's less of an "I don't want two guys to kiss >:((" and more of a "oh my goodness, this clueless person is gonna get us all killed."

Imagine you have lived your entire life doing something one way, only for someone else to come along and do it completely opposite, but not only is everything working out for them, the person you have loved and based your entire identity off of is suddenly in loved with them. It would be unnerving and uncomfortable, right?

And another thing. Izzy is essentially Ed's executive function in the first season. We see him following Ed around, trying to remind him that they have things to do, but Ed is not doing well. He literally says to Izzy that he would be interested in dying. So Izzy has to deal with that on top of a crew that doesn't listen (l love them, don't get me wrong, but come on guys), and now interacting on a daily basis with Stede. Bro's literally doing everything he can to keep the ship running. Of course he's gonna feel fed up when Ed shows up in Stede's clothes, goofing off, and not really being a captain.

This is getting long, so I'm probably gonna make another part, but I kinda want to go episode by episode and just analyze Izzy because I love him and yeah.

Also, also, this is in no way hate towards the Izzy haters, I (kinda) understand where you're coming from; he's not for everyone, I get it. But please don't come after me for saying I don't like Stede...

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No because the fucking Pinocchio story is a metaphor for Stede's journey, and how he wants to be seen as a "real pirate"

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My toxic trait is thinking that my thalassophobic ass would make a great pirate

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