He successfully commands a group of seafarers himself. It’s efficient, slick, a well-oiled machine; but there’s a lack of something. There’s a lack of a lot, actually…it’s quite anonymous, all a bit ‘faceless’. And not just his crew. Blackbeard is an unknown quantity despite his notoriety. The mystique is of course part of his success; but as Ed states, ‘I’m a ghost’. Who is Ed? a faultline running through the show’s core.
Izzy calls the Revenge crew ‘completely useless…bottom of the barrel’. But what Ed finds aboard the ship is a unique rawness. The use of ‘wild characters’ is apt. There’s idiosyncrasy. Peculiarity. Someone has a bird on their head. Everyone’s grubby, wearing rope. He’s charmed by the lack of pretension. These nobodies are themselves in a way Ed has never been allowed to be.
Whilst they are led by a rather theatrical Captain, the crew (with perhaps the exception of Lucius on occasion) are not placed under an imposed identity. They’re not made in their Captain’s image. No dress code. No corporate culture to uphold. They’re unbranded. They are a collective, but a collective of individuals. Like their assortment of esoteric flags. The ties that bind on the Revenge are somewhat indefinable. It’s all rather clumsy, but it…works. And Stede attempts to get down and grubby with his crew. Evenings of shirt-tails-no-jacket, on-deck-story-time. It’s horizontal leadership, and found family. It’s all about love, actually.
It could be partly why the ‘uszh’ doesn’t happen to this crew
Ed’s bewitched
Almost as much as he is by their blond, fever-dreaming Captain.
ArtFight is upon us once again! This year I'm fighting for team Stardust and I've already made my first attack against @lahmajun who has the coolest ocs!
Follow me if you dare because i WILL attack >:3
https://artfight.net/~OctayTheArtist