#it can't be only stede that's not healthy

[silk-and-oranges]

"I'm not a good person, Stede. That's why I don't have any friends." i know it's a romance and the main plot is Ed and Stede but please please please i need Ed to have friends. To be friend with Fang and Frenchie and Wee John and Roach and Black Pete and Lucius and all of them. to share jokes and drinks and not always be in a hierarchical position as captains like we see Stede with Lucius and Olu and all. i need it, he needs it, we all need it.

[leatherbookmark]

"ed shot izzy in the leg because izzy blamed the poisonous atmosphere on the ship on ed's love for stede, as if it was something bad, when it was in fact good and made ed happy"

god help me. literally what are those people watching the show with because it sure as hell can't be their eyes. ed shot izzy for talking shit about his pure and restorative love for stede. ed "fuck you, stede bonnet" teach. ed "freezes when izzy mentions a part of stede's catchphrase and goes to threaten the crew with a gun as izzy follows him stammering that he did not mean to mention The Previous Owner Of This Vessel" teach. this ed. the same guy who literally went krakenmode after stede abandoned him and had all of his things tossed off the ship -- along with the crew, "his playthings". ed "you're not a fucking mermaid >:(" teach.

THIS ED. shooting izzy to say "you're wrong and you're fired, loving stede was GOOD actually". ??????????????

[spenglernot]

STORIES TELLING: ED TEACH’S JOURNEY FROM ARMOR TO AUTHENTICITY

One of the joys of watching season 2 of Our Flag Means Death is discovering the visual parallels with season 1 that add so much meaning and richness to the story. With affecting, extraordinary economy of visual storytelling, we can see the progression of Ed’s journey from choosing armor in season 1, episode 10 – Wherever You Go, There You Are, to choosing authenticity in season 2, episode 7 – Man on Fire.

[I have to point out the gorgeous cinematography here. Panning down on the left, panning up on the right. The clear resolve of S2 E7 Ed turning to ascend to the deck. I also love the timing of both shots. S2 E7 Ed is turning toward the red silk that S1 E10 Ed will release.]

S1 E10 Ed considers the red silk. The symbol of his tenderness, softness, and vulnerability.

S2 E7 Ed hoists his leathers and his firearm - his literal and symbolic armor and protection - to the edge of the deck.

S1 E10 Ed releases his tenderness, softness, and vulnerability to the sea.

S2 E7 Ed releases his armor and protection to the sea.

S1 E10 Ed throws the person who understands what he’s going through and is in a position to help him work through it in a healthy way, into the sea.

S2 E7 Ed makes breakfast-in-bed for the person with whom he shares emotional and physical intimacy. An act of care and service that strengthens his bond with Stede.

Show, don't tell doesn't seem adequate to describe these two sequences. They are masterful and say so, so much.

The double-edged sword of self-awareness

You’ve really got to give it to Ed. He’s making huge progress. Making a better choice for himself. Moving forward.

Change can be terrifying. For Ed to release that which protected him for decades is, well… it’s courageous and demonstrates hard-won self-awareness and integrity.

Of course, choosing to be authentic to yourself doesn’t translate into automatic relationship building. Understanding and communicating with other people, particularly the person you are in love with, is a related but different skill set. It is also true that, once you know that you can’t perform a persona to please other people, no matter how much you love them, you risk losing them.

Ed in the second frame, above, kills me. He knows that piracy might be the wedge that drives Stede and him apart. He is trying to share how he feels. But Stede is so enamored with finally being a successful pirate (and glowing from the best (and only) love-sex of his life) that he can't hear Ed.

I love that OFMD takes no shortcuts in matters of the heart. If these lads are going to be together for reals, they are going to have to work for it, and there is still much work to be done.

I'm looking forward to likely being simultaneously emotionally fulfilled and mentally devastated by the season 2 finale in about 30 hours.

This meta was written before OFMD season 2 has fully aired. No idea what’s going to happen in the finale (and I’ve generally fled social media to avoid spoilers). I’ll be back, looking at everyone’s fascinating posts after episode 8 airs.

[cushfuddled]

I wish I didn't hate Ed and Stede but here we are I guess

I didn't have time to put a section about this in my review (since it would add another ten minutes onto a fifty minute video hhhhh) but I just gotta take a second and vent about how much I dislike Stede and Ed in season two.

When I watched season two for the first time, I assumed I didn't ship Gentlebeard anymore because I'd...I dunno...gotten bored of the ship or whatever. But when I went back to rewatch season one, I was immediately sucked back into the Ed/Stede jet engine. I loved them through the finale, up until around the middle of season two...at which point I became totally disinterested again.

Even going back through season one clips for this review...the chemistry is soooo strong for me. The only time I got that feeling from season two was like, from the mermaid scene and the finger-stacking scene.

And I honestly think my disinterest stems from the fact that I can't stand Ed and Stede as characters anymore. They're dicks in season one, but ANNOYING dicks in season two, and I guess I just...don't ship characters who make me want to tear my hair out.

In season two, Ed behaves like a petulant five year old with a gun. It's so "say sorry to your friend right now!" "I don't wanna! :(" followed by a stint in the time out chair and a mumbled non-apology. For all of season two, Ed behaves like a spoiled brat, and I really can't stand it.

My friend pointed out that Ed is in a position where he needs to reparent himself. His emotional development likely stopped around the time he killed his dad (when he was still a kid). No one modeled healthy behavior and emotional regulation for Ed past the age of...maybe fifteen? So of course he's gonna behave like a kid. It's gonna be a long road for Ed to learn these regulating strategies as an adult, and I guess...hhhhhh.

None of Ed's trauma excuses Ed from torturing and traumatizing his crew. It feels shitty to find a deeply traumatized character's behavior "annoying," but...I mean. I say this as someone who's experienced suicide ideation myself: Ed isn't real, and I'm not Ed's friend, and so I don't really feel obligated to extend patience and understanding to a fictional construct when that construct spends 90% of his screen time behaving like a stuck up, self-obsessed, capricious, whiny, murderous asshole.

Add season-two-Stede to the mix and CHRIST...Stede—like Ed—was always a dick, but the way he encouraged Lucius to divulge his trauma only to react with cartoonish disgust, cower like a cornered animal, and then flee while begging Lucius to be quiet...

Then Stede decides to veto the crew's decision to ban Ed—their abuser—from the ship ("talk it through as a crew" my ass)...? Oh, and gotta love how Stede-"I've been the cause of death. It changes you"-Bonnet sets a guy on fucking fire and laughs, then kills a bunch of English soldiers with nary a backward glance. Okay. Would've loved some kind of exploration re: that major heel turn, but fine. And then Ed and Stede stand over Izzy's grave—the (mutilated) body of their dear friend and crewmate—and their combined eulogy amounts to "He was tense. Very tense." "Yeah, he was a fucking nightmare. What a guy." How endearing. Season two turned these two bastards (affectionate) into bastards (derogatory) for me and I'm still salty about it. God DAMMIT.

[sarucane]

Why did Ed headbutt Stede?

This one is fairly straightforward in the show but also fun to rant about so here goes!

I think the short version of this answer is "because Ed had no other way to communicate FUCK OFF at that moment." Ed can't talk, doesn't seem able to move, and is very unclear on exactly what's going on and what he's doing (even a while later he has a deeply revealing conversation with a confused rabbit--he's definitely not all there in this moment). Still, Stede's wrong when he suggests it was an accident: Ed owns the action later when he yells "I'm glad it hurt, that's the point of head butts!"

That being said, it's worth taking in the context for a sec, because Ed does love Stede and there is a theoretical potential for this to go to a very dark place. Balancing the violence of the pirate world with portraying healthy relationships is quite a challenge for these writers, as it'd be easy to tip over from healthy to very unhealthy.

In the same episode, Mary gets stabbed in the back quite deeply (it's knocking on bones) and it barely bleeds, let alone hurts once it's out. Ed and Stede have both been run through with swords but since "the important bits" didn't get hit, they needed no recovery time. Hell, Ed got shot in the arm and hit in the face with a cannonball in S2E2 and he's fine by halfway through E3. A headbutt is nothing on this show, it's like a kid elbowing another kid on the bus.

Ed head butts Stede because he's angry and in emotional pain, he's a pirate and pirates (not to mention many humans) express emotions through violence, and Ed can't break a chair or smash something--so the headbutt is the only available option.

And in terms of walking that line between health and unhealthy/violent relationship: the headbutt not only does not take place while Ed and Stede are in a relationship, it is itself a way of Ed saying "WE ARE NOT IN A RELATIONSHIP 'CAUSE YOU DUMPED ME FUCK OFF." When Ed is in possession of his faculties, he is still using violence to externalize emotions, but Stede is emphatically not a target of that violence.

Ed doesn't even look at Stede from the moment the anger starts rising, and he turns his back on Stede and moves to another part of the room entirely to smash shit. Not the most mature response, but consistent with Ed's character and history while also pointedly sidestepping that dangerous territory.

And Ed's anger fueling the headbutt is completely justified.

Stede and Ed are often in different emotional places within their relationship, but they're rarely as far apart as at the beginning of episode 3. Stede is acting (in fairness understandably given the near death thing) absolutely no differently than he would if they were, at that moment, in a romantic relationship (which fits with his whole "I didn't dump him, we're on a break" schtick). But Stede quite brutally broke Ed's heart, triggering a crisis that led to Ed being so convinced he's "not loveable" that he despaired of living at all.

Stede says "I thought I lost you," and the only appropriate response to that is "YOU DID," and that needs to be made clear to Stede, because there's a difference between "being on different pages in a relationship" and "being on different pages about a relationship existing." Ed is hurt, badly, and Stede's total lack of acknowledgement of that is absolutely infuriating. Like Ed says, hurt is the point of head butts: Ed was hurting and Stede wasn't, and that distance in experiences demanded a response, so Ed seized on the only one available to him.

[gameerica]

Hot take: I like what they did with Izzy

First of, this is all my own opinion and if you think they did Izzy dirty, you do you babez. But please don't come after me for what I think about Izzy and his character arc.

Tbh I don't really know if there could've been a direction for Izzy to go without Ed. Like he said, they were Blackbeard. In season 1 he saw Ed wanting to move on from Blackbeard, so he became desperate enough to give them up to the English so that Stede would be killed and they could stay as Blackbeard. But Ed really loved Stede, so he brought up the Act Of Grace just to save him. Then when he returned alone and became Blackbeard again, Izzy thought he got what he wanted. But it wasn't what he wanted after all.

In season 2, Ed was Blackbeard alone, leaving Izzy to feel isolated and hurt over and over again by something he thought he wanted. But that loneliness and separation from wanting/needing Blackbeard opened him up for the rest of the crew. It allowed him to accept their help and their love. So when that bullet he fired missed, he decided to go help his family instead. With Stede coming back, he allowed himself to finally have even the tiniest of friendship with him because he recognized the love Ed had for Stede. It wasn't mean and twisted like the love he thought he wanted from Blackbeard, but nice. By episode 6 he had enough courage to join the party the crew was having instead of brushing it off, even joining in with his iconic singing and look. He looked at the crew as family now, something he would fight and die for gladly. And eventually, he did.

I think even before they got to the boat, Izzy knew he didn't have much time. As much as the people around him wanted to help, it would only be a waste of time and resources. He apologizes for what he has done in the past even though they have BOTH been terrible to each other. Blackbeard was not healthy for either of the parties involved and both of them have grown to the point that they can see it now. Izzy thought he'd be nothing without Blackbeard, so he fought hard to keep Blackbeard as it was, only to see that without Blackbeard, he was so much more. When he says "I wanna go", I took it as him accepting death rather than just wanting to die in general. Because he crawled from his death bed to help his family, and seeing that his family was safe Ed included (Eddie, NOT Blackbeard). He has grown over the season to embrace Ed, to try and love him like he loved the idea of Blackbeard. So in his final moments, he tells Ed to just be Ed. Even giving us a mirroring scene with that "There he is" line. The difference is that s1 Izzy wanted Ed to become his image Blackbeard. s2 Izzy got to know Ed and just wanted him to be himself. And him dying was like the final nail in Blackbeard's. Ed killed his part of Blackbeard by embracing Edward and following his dream of opening an inn. Izzy killed his part of Blackbeard by learning to be his own being and being a part of something else: the crew, his new family. And though he unfortunately didn't survive to see them thrive, he died knowing his family was safe. With the "brains of the operation" being gone, Blackbeard is truly... dead.

Also, I've seen a couple people say that they didn't like how Izzy was buried on land near the inn. Like,, sure, again you can have your opinions, but you can't exactly bury him in the local cemetery. And if he was just dropped in the sea, it would've felt like just another joke like "welp, that's dealt with". I like to think that having Izzy's grave near the inn allows Ed to go and talk to him but that's just a headcanon lol.

So TLDR: I think they did Izzy's character arc justice by having him learn that his desire of needing to be a part of Blackbeard was not healthy, learning to open himself up to his new family and eventually learning to love Eddie for Ed, not Blackbeard.

Of course it would've been nice to see Izzy thrive in season 3, but his character arc is done (dead and buried lmao). Yes, it was rushed, but I blame HBO max entirely, this show deserved 10 episodes.

[ladyluscinia]

I have rewatched the mean lesbians episode in hopes I would like them more the second time, but I'm afraid I'm still not vibing with it. Credit that they tried to undercut the "lesbians who drop in to give our main couple therapy" with the whole reveal it was game and Mary's little rant about their relationship "losing the magic", but like... did they really? Do Anne and Mary not successfully tee up the really touching BlackBonnet airing of grievances and reconciliation? Laughing at them a bit for being dorky doesn't change that they really didn't do much sabotaging, overall, so it's not like they weren't pushing them back together.

I mean, even Mary's whole rant happens after Anne leaves the room. By the time they really start telling us how this couple has their own foundation cracks and issues (vs the veneer of just keeping it interesting) and aren't a longstanding example of a healthy relationship, Anne is literally offscreen making a grand romantic gesture that will solve Mary's discontent. I know they are fitting a miscommunication arc into half an episode instead of 2-3 seasons, but the end result just feels like speedrunning a knock off of BlackBonnet's issues.

And that along with the fact they function as BlackBonnet mirrors first and characters second, it all just feels very... underwhelming (?) to me.

Like why do I care about Anne and Mary? Is the face stealing gimmick supposed to have hooked me? They also, imo, really fucked up by ending on a hug - it just spotlights the fact that, for all the sex jokes, they don't really bother to sell physical intimacy between the two. They maybe bump shoulders at the shop, sit in separate chairs in every scene in the house... honestly the best they do is the offscreen knife flicking. Which funny metaphor but like. Why can't the lesbians be into each other without the metaphor? Or am I supposed to think that Anne "burn the whole house down the second her wife admits she doesn't like swamp life" Bonny didn't pick up that Mary was maybe unhappy when they entirely stopped touching each other and replaced it with murder attempts.

Even a repeat of the offscreen joke but this time imply they are hardcore making out as Stede and Edward slip away would have probably hit better? (I'm assuming for some reason kissing was off the table, otherwise even more wtf why not just kiss?)

(Can you tell I've been thinking about the sorry state of femslash?)

Also I'd be remiss not to tie my dissatisfaction with Anne and Mary to my dissatisfaction with OFMD's prevailing approach to female characters. Spanish Jackie's entire thing is being so awesome and desirable that she has 20 husbands that all work for her, which is super fun. Mary Bonnet became a widowed girlboss with a Doug, which was also fun. Then suddenly we're meeting Zheng Yi Sao who is a girlboss Pirate Queen better than any man, and her right-hand woman that seems like a more stable and competent Edward/Izzy parallel, and her crew of only hyper-competent women... do you see how this is getting a bit repetitive?

Now we add Anne and Mary speedrunning BlackBonnet parallels to teach them a grand gesture romantic lesson? So... doing Stede and Edward but Better™?

Zheng Yi Sao still has time to get more interiority that could offset the whole "girlboss" gimmick which would help, but until that happens the only real female character standout to me is Archie - a woman who has something deeply wrong with her but has so far just kind of slotted in as a equal crewmember instead of the Competent Woman Character.

[canonizzyhours]

183 is exactly right and it's something I was worried about all along. I'm a jar guy who loved actual canon Izzy from the start and back during summer 2022 when the Izzy woobification took off I started getting really worried about all the demands for a redemption arc, because I knew the only two possibilities for Izzy were that he'd stay a villain and stick around until the end of the show or he'd get a redemption arc and have to die at the end of it, and I didn't want him to die.

The thing the canyon types thought they were asking for was an arc where Izzy redeemed himself and stayed a happy friendly member of the crew but that was absolutely never on the table as something that could make sense as a follow-up from the story established in season 1. Redeeming Izzy that thoroughly and convincingly would have taken more focus on him than we were ever going to get - honestly, I can't imagine how staying on the ship long-term could possibly even be a good thing FOR IZZY, he'd have needed to get away from Ed in order to find himself, and he wouldn't have done that voluntarily. He couldn't have really fulfilled any narrative role in the show once he became a good guy either, because just like 183 said, season one established no personality traits that he didn't have to discard in order to be fully redeemed - even his "loyalty" wasn't a positive or healthy kind - and after giving him so much focus he was too prominent to just fade into the background as a crew member.

But this just sort of circles back to the reason this blog exists, the reason the canyon thought they wanted Izzy redeemed was because they thought Fanon Izzy - the version of him that was actually a really nice guy who loved the crew all along and sincerely cared about Ed in a healthy positive way and had never really done anything all that bad anyway, and was always destined to be a main character on the same level as Ed & Stede - was a real character in the show. That guy could have had the kind of redemption arc they were imagining. But that guy was never actually in the show, and it would have been a narrative betrayal of what was actually set up in season 1 - and of those of us who actually liked the character Izzy was in season 1 - to suddenly pretend he was.

And it just makes me mad, because I DID love the character Izzy was in season 1, and I didn't want him to die, and I knew if the canyon got what they were asking for it would mean he had to die. And now they did get what they demanded and they're angry about it. It's not David Jenkins' fault that he thought you understood what you were asking for.

#186.

related posts: #183

[queenofthearchipelago]

on the ofmd finale

I watched the ofmd finale for the first time last night and I thought that it would be so much worse than it was. Fandom reaction made me think that it was rushed and that it didn't make sense. That Izzy's death was a betrayal that didn't need to happen. That the ending wasn't satisfying.

But now that I've watched it... it wasn't the horrible, slapped-together finale that everyone made it out to be.

I'll start out with my negative notes:

It WAS rushed. Absolutely. This episode should have been an hour long.

Stede and Eddie don't actually have enough screen time. Eddie has a compact arc about figuring out just how much he WANTS Stede in his life and can't live without him (in no small part because he's NOT a fisherman). And Stede has... absolutely no arc at all. Stede, the main character by all accounts, is just kinda here badly wielding a sword.

This show has too many characters and this finale definitely suffers for it.

Positive notes:

I LOVED everything about Izzy in this episode. Yes, even his death. Though, I DO understand people's hurt. We played so strongly with the idea in the first few episodes that he might die and then he didn't. So, WHY does he need to die now? I feel like this would have made clearer sense if the show had leaned into the whole idea of this being the golden age of piracy and it ends with Blackbeards death. This show pulled one of my favorite twists, which is where I find out at the last minute that the guy I THOUGHT was the main character, isn't actually the main character. It's not Stede. It's Izzy.

(I'm taking a break from writing the list so that I can explain this. Izzy, admits when he's dying that Blackbeard was both him and Ed. Ed was called Blackbeard, but it was always Izzy fueling the darkness. And he kept fueling it long after Ed out grew it. Izzy was the one who needed it. And now it's over. Izzy doesn't much need it either, it's over. The pirate and pirate life he spent his whole life encouraging, wasn't good. Not for Ed, nor for the crew. He watched how the crew suffered for HIS kind of piracy. And in watching the new healthy version of it that Stede encouraged, and that Ed took so well to, he began to admire the bare bones of what piracy ACTUALLY means to him.

Izzy's speech to that Noseless Man (I forgot his name lmao) is a speech that I fully believe he could have made in his first episode if only he had been more intune with himself back then. He ALWAYS admired the crew's ability to be family. He was always willing to die for it. But THAT wasn't the piracy he encouraged.

The emotional backbone of Blackbeard was always Izzy. And the golden age of piracy ends with Blackbeard's death. Izzy's death symbolizes this version of piracy that wasn't healthy for the crew being put to rest, and now they can all move on with that healthier version of piracy that Stede tried to encourage.

And listen, I'm NOT saying that as if Izzy was holding them back from healthier lives. He was not. But piracy as he knew it was ending.

His death meant something to the characters, it meant something to Izzy (he even said he wanted to go, he knew he was at the end), and it meant something to the narrative. It meant something to the audience.

But again, having said that, I DO think they could have handled it better and made all of this more clear by leaning into the idea of the golden age of piracy (and it's end) more throughout the show. There's so many more ways they could have foreshadowed this and they didn't take those opportunities. And so I'm not surprised that with Izzy's death came feelings of betrayal. Because to those people, it wasn't clear what his death was actually FOR.

I did like the romance with Ed and Stede, I thought the moments they had were nicely handled AND I absolutely adored how Stede loves Ed so much that he's just willing to do whatever the hell Ed wants to do. We own an inn now lol

I loved the montage over the crew and the boat. Frenchie being captain. Everyone together, sailing on

I loved the last shot. It felt right, I felt satisfied. The story complete. I'm not even mad about not getting a season 3. It wouldn't feel right to keep going after that.

I know it's been said before, but what a miracle this show was. I know it meant so much to so many people. Even if it didn't go the way everyone hoped, I genuinely wish for everyone else in the audience that the genuine miracle of this story is still felt.

Like, we could be living in a worse timeline where this show didn't exist at all.

But no, this show is REAL and we witnessed it together. What a miracle. What an honor to have temporarily been on this crew with you.

[brwnicons]

bro, i miss you so much🥹 but on your last posts, i decide to send a request and my apologise if i did the wrong way of sending request !!!11!!1! 🫶🏼

😡💔🫂📖 with Stede Bonnet !!11!! anyways have great day/night, sweetie (´ω`) you can do other request or ignore this!!

-🦈

☆ You sent it perfectly, thank you! I'm so sorry for stopping writing so suddenly. I abused too much of my hyperfocus states I grew so tired I couldn't write anything. However this time I'll be taking things easy and healthy! Btw I love sharks!! 🦈💛 ☆

😡💔🫂📖 + Stede Bonnet

1k followers event: Send me 3/4 emojis and a character and I'll try to write something <3

-> Resume: Stede and Reader have a fight and Lucius steps in to solve everything before either of you dumbasses throw yourselves off to the sea because it seems like you two can't be apart for more than 5 minutes. 1.8k words (~7 min)

-> Tags: GN!Reader, First Mate Reader, Stede Bonnet x reader, Blackbeard didn't arrive at the Revenge here, Angst?? It doesn't feel like it, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Lucius should be paid for his therapy service. Talk it through my ass, Mr Bonnet.

-> Warnings: None

Please tell me if you see any mistake!

The atmosphere is uncomfortable and the tension surrounding the galley could be cut with a knife. Nobody talked and everyone would slightly flinch at the sound of cluttering.

The fight you had previously had with captain Stede was heard in every bit of the ship and it had been so strange to see you both shouting at each other that everyone else were left petrified. And now? You were eating with the crew for the first time in months, with a frown on your face and handling the cutlery roughly, as if instead of stabbing some steak you were stabbing Stede.

Lunch went abnormally peacefully and without any argument and when everyone was finished you headed to were Roach was cleaning up the dishes and remains.

—Let me help you— You offered Roach as you took a plate and a sponge and started scrubbing. Roach only shrugged in response and stepped aside to give you more space.

As you were both working in silence, you were able to notice his ocasional side glances on your head and his sometimes hesitating breaths, as if he were deciding whether your situation actually was or was not none of his business. After a couple of minutes he sighed and decided to ask.

— Uh... you OK? That seemed like a pretty much intense argument. We expected you two to take out your swords and all.— He tried to brush it off with a bit of humor and a indifferent pitch but you caught that he wanted something. Maybe it was comforting you (something kind of odd knowing Roach's personality) or he was trying to get fuel for the crew's gossip. Your current mood didn't let you think of his intentions as friendly and so you glared at him and left the dishes in complete silence, leaving through the door right after.

What you didn't know was that a certain scribe had been intently watching the scene.

————

As the day progressed the deck's atmosphere began losing its previous tension and recovered its usually cheerfulness. You grabbed a broom and decided to busy yourself with some sweeping.

— Now, spit it. What the hell happened with you both before?—

You rose your head to meet Lucius' eyes next to you. He was sitting on the deck's stairs with his hands supporting his head.

— It's none of your business, Lucius— you turned to leave when you heard him stand up.

—None of- None of my business?! Dear, you've been nothing like yourself since that fight. You both never even fight!— he approached you and put his hands on your shoulders to make you look at him.

—Remeber when you helped me when Pete and I fought? About all the corny things you told me?— You looked down at the memory of asking Lucius to recall every time he and Pete cuddled or how happy he made him —Let me help you this time—.

You accepted your fate and sat down with him in the stairs, where you hugged him tightly.

— I was just worried about the raids... Last time he got hurt and I was so scared and— You could already feel the tears building up and you hid your face in your hands. You could feel Lucius' hand on your back, doing soothing circles —I don't want to lose him, Luce! He gets so carried away he forgets about taking care of himself!—

— And... That's why you told him you would left and resign as his First Mate if he didn't stop raiding without thinking? —

—Yeah...— You sniffed and wiped off your tears with the back of your hand when you felt a thin object being put on your knee. You accepted the handkerchief with a sad smile and wiped your eyes properly.

Seeing your current state, Lucius abruptly stood up and offered you his hand.

— I'll go talk with him — He had a stern look that said that his opinion couldn't be changed because the decision had been already made.

You sighed in defeat and, accepting his hand, you stood up and shook off your clothes.

— Alright... But don't be too harsh, please—

Lucius smiled at your words and gave you a few pats in the back

— Definetly you're not the same y/n that was trying to stab a piece of meat during lunch — You looked at him tiredly, he hadn't answer your question. — Alright, I promise. I won't be too harsh with him. —

You smiled and he gave you one final hug before walking towards the Captain's cabin.

————

Lucius didn't even bother to knock and bursted open the door to the cabin. Any pirate captain would response to that disrespectful behaviour with the amputation of a finger at least. Instead, captain Bonnet seemed so busy weeping and sobbing in his bed, in a nest made of blankets and cushions, that he didn't hear neither Lucius bursting the door open nor his next approach.

When he was right next to his captain blanket-cocoon and Stede was still unaware of his presence, he cleaned his throat to call for his attention.

— Uh... Captain? I need to talk to you —

Stede gave a visible and violent full body flinch at Lucius' words. He turned his head to the boy next to his bed and quickly tried to act as if he wasn't crying just a second ago, his face still all piffy and red.

— Good lords, Lucius, you startled me! —

He took off the blankets and stood up with a quick jump. — Well, what do you need? I hope it's important, boy! I'm quite busy at this moment —.

Lucius huffed and approached the sofa. He sat on one edge and patted the spot next to him. — I'm here to talk about your fight with your partner. Now, move your ass here because I'm going to set some things clear —. Lucius' tone didn't admit rejection and after hearing a loud gulp from Stede, he had his captain sitting next to him, fidgeting with the edges of his robe.

— What do you mean you want to talk about y/n...? Have you talked to them? — Stede was no longer able to hide his nervousness. Yeah, he had gotten angry because his dear y/n had threatened with leaving if he didn't take care. But, still, he loved them and thinking about them being sad because of the fight made his heart break. He hadn't wanted to get so angry.

— Yes, I've been talking to them — Lucius took a deep breath and interrupted his thoughts. — I can't believe it! — He pointed at his chest — You're the one that always presses the whole "talk it trough" on us but then, you transform into a sad dog after a misunderstanding with your partner! It's ridiculous! —

— Well, I'm aware that I certainly haven't behaved‐ —

— No! — Lucius grabbed one cushion that was laying around on the couch and shoved it into his captain's face — Look! I've got the cushion so it's my turn to talk. Now, listen to me. You have fought with someone who was worrying about your health and well-being, because you're the only one able to lead a raid after having been stabbed in your damn stomach! They take care of you, they worry about you and you get mad at them because of an obvious lie?! —

Stede felt silent. He knew he had made a mistake the moment he saw you running under the ship after that fight. He had felt horribly after and as the coward he was, the only thing he did was sleep. And drink. Both to forget that he hurt you.

Lucius dropped the pillow on Stede's knees and crossed his arms.

— You may speak now –.

— Lucius... — Stede hugged the pillow tightly. His glassy eyes didn't allow him to see Lucius clearly — I'm so sorry we fought- I don't want them to leave! I mean- not because of my mistakes. — Lucius gave a hum of approval as he inquired him to keep going. Stede sighed.

— I love them so much, Lucius. When the possibility of them leaving crossed my mind I got so scared I could only shout at them... I certainly wasn't acting rationally... I let myself get carried by the heat of the moment —

— Keep going — Stede sighed again and decided to maintain his eyes in a loose thread of the pillow instead of holding Lucius hard gaze.

— Neither shouldn't I have been so reckless. We don't need the raids at this moment in time and I understand y/n is as worried as my well-being as I am about theirs. I should have had their feelings into account. —

Lucius grinned in success and clapped excitedly.

— That's good! Yes, sir! Now, how do you feel —

— Miserable —.

— Well, lucky you! I'm sure a certain someone has been happy to hear all this lament of yours — Lucius gave Stede a light punch in his shoulder that Stede answered with a instant "ow". He turned towards the cabin door and waved.

— I know you're there, y/n. You can come out now! —

You peeked out from behind the door and the moment Stede saw you he stood up a headed towards you.

— Oh, dear... — He dropped the cushion at the sight of your glassy eyes, not caring if he was already crying, and took hold of both of your hands.

— I am so sorry, y/n. I mean it. I am so sorry I hurt you. Please, I can't bear being apart from you knowing it was me who hurt you. Please, forgive me. I- —. You cut his spiraling of guilt with a tight embrace.

— Of course I forgive you, you silly —. You pulled apart to take his face in your hands — I shouldn't have said that I would leave. You know I wouldn't, I love you —

— Oh, dear. I love you too —. He hugged you again and you could smell the vanilla scent of his hair.

— Well, then. I'll let you two lovebirds to it. No need to thank me I see! — You heard Lucius' fake offended tone but before either of you could thank him, he dissapeared behind the door.

— He's quite a mediator... —. You giggled at Stede's thoughtful expression and hugged him again.

————

That night you picked out the book for the night reading. You fell asleep quickly, leaned on Stede's side. A soft blanket covered you both and although tiredness didn't allow you to distinguish his words, you could feel the deep rumbling of his chest while he talked.

And next morning, you woke up next to him in the captain's cabin. He had his head on your chest and his arms encircled you. He snored softly as the golden light from the morning sun made his hair glow.

How could you leave?

[sapphicsigh]

🌈🙏🏻💖🫡I can't stop thinking about the symbolism of the "you wear fine things well" scene. Ed grew up poor and struggling, his dad was abusive, and his mom told him they just weren't meant to have nice things. Here comes this blonde bimbo (he's only a himbo in the beginning of s1, Stede learns & grows pretty quickly) gentlemen telling him he wears fine things well...like, somebody SEDATE ME. Stede tells him, with that single line of dialogue, that he deserves softness, comfort, and love. He tells Ed that he deserves healthy relationships, bodily/emotional safety, and hope.

Ed's affirmed in his wanting nice things from someone who grew up with wealth/luxury. Ed's already starting to fall in love with Stede while he's sitting at his bedside in s1, but in the scene after the party, is when it really takes hold. Taika does such a phenomenal job of showing that, and it's just SO GOOD 🫡💖🙏🏻🌈

[little-fandom-dump]

going to try so hard to cohesively express all of my feelings about Thee israel basilica hands, so bear with me as i write a fuckin novella about this wet cat lad

(obvi spoilers for s2, e 1-7)

i am first and foremost. just incredibly impressed with his growth this season. last year, we had "he's done something to my boss's brain" and "this, whatever you've become...is a fate worse than death". last season, he had nothing but malice and spite for stede (for helping ed discover he can be soft and gentle) and ed (for letting himself change around stede) both. we know canonically now that it was all fueled by love- albeit a possessive and jealous love that hinged on his ideal perception of who ed was as blackbeard.

for years, he subjected himself to a cruel and unfulfilling affection. he allowed himself to be abused just to feel needed, to receive table scraps of attention and praise.

by all rights, he should fucking hate stede this season. after all, didn't he ruin blackbeard's pirating prowess, tarnish the version of the man he has fallen in love with? the crying in a soft velvet robe, the blanket fort and amateur poetry- these are coping mechanisms ed would never have indulged in before meeting stede.

but izzy doesn't hate stede, not really. like he says in episode 7, he understands that stede makes ed a better person- someone more loving to himself and those around him. how could he truly hate someone who does what he could not, who helps the man he loves grow into the best version of himself?

no, who izzy really hates is himself. in izzy's eyes, he's the one who pushed ed into becoming the kraken again after the breakup- he thinks he's responsible for all of the abuse and torture ed puts the crew through in the resulting weeks. the gun to jim's head, the apathy at ivan's death, the extreme psychological and physical abuse that ed inflicts onto the crew- izzy puts a lot of that blame on himself. we see this in his interaction with lucius about moving on- he dangled his leg above the shark, wasn't it really his fault when his leg was bitten off? he drinks himself half to death, begs for the crew to just kill him already, drives all of his pain inwards and inwards and inwards.

the thing about that, though? when a person engages in such self-destruction, they're bound to hurt those closest to them (ask me how i know). and he does. izzy's pain and guilt and self-hatred bleed into the lives of the crew, and it's only after he puts ed's gun to his temple and misses that he realizes it. so, what does he do? ever the unkillable bastard, izzy climbs his ragged way out onto the deck and turns the same gun back on ed. he may be a fucked-up self-loathing twat, but he can't allow (what he views as) his mistakes to hurt the crew-- or ed--anymore.

it is a testament to both the brilliant writing (and con's acting), however, that he doesn't suddenly heal after that. it wouldn't be a realistic expectation to have of him- after all, he's gone through incredible physical, emotional, and mental trauma for years now. izzy, he's not a functioning or emotionally healthy person. instead of suddenly being better and well-adjusted, he's angry and bitter and still so self-destructive. but he still tries to thank stede for the rescue. still tries to convince stede that ed didn't hate their breakup and do horrendous things to the crew and himself, still tries to keep him from knowing they (seemingly) killed him.

and when ed wakes up and stede finds himself the captain of their motley crew again, izzy is still hurting but izzy still tries. among so much hurt and devastation, he tries! and then the crew makes him a new leg, a literal embodiment of the trust and love they have for him- and he realizes that he deserves better! he deserves better for himself than to drink alone and spit venomous insults at his reflection. sure, he still drinks before noon and insults the crew-- but he also teaches stede new pirating skills, helps lucius out of his own traumatic funk, navigates the new ship dynamic as best he can. the insults are still there but there's no longer poisonous intent behind them. (the poison replaced with positivity)

the amount of grace and emotional maturity izzy is displaying in later episodes is incredible, considering what storms he's just weathered. his effort is admirable, especially towards ed and stede. he has every right to hate the two of them, to disavow them and leave the Revenge, but he doesn't. Instead, he takes time to reclaim parts of himself that were long hidden or never developed at all. chrissake, he lets himself be tender! he lets wee john help him with his makeup, sings a lilting love song to the crew, openly admits to stede that he loves ed, supports stede on the republic of pirates, allows himself to be more vulnerable than he's ever been before.

izzy sees now how good ed and stede are for each other, and he congratulates them on their, *ahem*, docking even while harboring his own jealousy and hurt. even if it's a bit of a joke, the sincerity is still there- he's willing to grin and tell stede he balances ed out, the two of them are good for each other. it's not even remotely hinted at, but i'm willing to bet izzy knew what the two of them were doing in the cabin while he was singing his soft and sweet requiem for the love he harbors for ed. and yet he still chooses to be kind and supportive to them both. to himself.

i know this post was a million paces long, but i'm just having so many feelings about izzy hands. and i'm so, so proud of him for admitting to himself that he deserves better, he deserves vulnerability, comfort, support, and the fullness of his identity as a queer person. it's a major change this season (one i honestly did not expect!), but one i love love love. great storytelling and great acting. i'm so looking forward to the future of izzy's character development.

TLDR: izzy's commitment to doing better for himself and others makes me emotional. i'm incredibly proud of him for trying to do/be better each passing moment.

[didntwanderstillgotlost]

One of my favorite things in media is characters who are two different people. Ed is NOT Blackbeard. Blackbeard is the world's most terrifying pirate. Blackbeard is a myth. He's a legend. He's a ghost. He was created as a way for Ed to survive at sea, first on Hornigold's ship and then on his own. Ed is a middle-aged man who just wants to be loved. He wants friends and fine silk and lavender soap. He's soft and caring and he wants people to like him for who he is.

I think that's why he went completely off the rails when Stede left. He was actually coping in a semi-healthy way at first. He wrote a song. He was encouraging the crew to express themselves the way he did if they wanted to. He wanted everyone to call him Ed. Then Izzy told him that he served Blackbeard, not Edward and that Edward better watch his step. Ed fell back into the person he created to survive. Blackbeard was reborn, but underneath Ed was still grieving and he didn't have an outlet for it anymore. He did increasingly fucked up shit to the crew hoping they would kill him because he thought death was the only way to stop the pain, but he couldn't do it himself.

I'm absolutely not absolving him of his responsibility. He needs to have a conversation with everyone the way he did with Fang and give sincere apologies to all of them. I also don't think that Izzy deserved anything that happened to him and I'm living for this character growth, but I do think that what happened was partially his fault. He should've let Ed cope the way he was instead of threatening him into becoming the worst version of himself.

Anyway, just my thoughts on season 2 so far. Feel free to disagree and if anyone wants to talk more about this don't hesitate to message me. My best friend just starting watching the show so I can't scream about this with her just yet.

[eeb-rody]

I need Izzy and Ed to get trapped in an elevator or something

It's the only way to get them to talk about it, Ed doesn't think he needs to make amends and Mr. "a shark did it" isn't gonna talk about it voluntarily (nor should he have to, good for him trying to move on). But like?? I, the viewer, want to like Ed and I Really can't unless he fucking internalizes what he did to Izzy the way he was able to with fang.

Like, maybe Stede and Izzy will bond more and Stede will make one of them talk about it. They cannot leave it at "I love you gunshot kill me kill yourself I love you gunshot". I wanna see that shit get PROCESSED.

Also, I just don't think it's good for Ed to just kinda get away with everything. Everyone else moving on is good, but Ed needs to do some fucking work on himself and there's no reason for him to do that if he's not sorry. I think learning how to form a healthy relationship with Stede is good and I like how they're going about it so far, but there also should be some kind of indication that he understands what he did to everyone else and won't do it again the next time something emotionally unbalances him.

TLDR gimme gimme gimme I'm hungry for emotional development yum yum

[areyoudoingthis]

I can't believe I was right about this thing I said the other day:

So after 1x10 we were left with two big questions the show had to answer going into s2: will Ed and Stede be able to find their way back to each other and mature enough as individuals to develop a healthy, sustainable relationship in the future? (The answer was always yes, of course, because they're our main characters and the show is the relationship. The interesting part was getting to watch it happen in a believable, fulfilling way, and I personally think they've done a great job of this so far in spite of having two less episodes to work with.)

The second question was: how will the fallout of izzy's actions be resolved? This was important not so much because of Izzy himself, but because he was the catalyst for Ed's kraken spiral and represents the forces that have been keeping Ed's head underwater his whole life (toxic white masculinity.)

I get that most people have assumed the show simply decided to handwave all of this by never having Izzy own up to the consequences of his own actions and just speedrun his way into being forgiven, but, whatever personal reactions I've had to his arc this season so far, I don't think the show forgot about this at all. I want to have more faith in them than that.

So what if Izzy's death has always been the inevitable answer they decided to come up with. I honestly believed that's what was going to happen to him going into this season, but then everything happened and I thought to myself "okay, i guess that's not what ofmd has decided to focus on, community and grace it is." But what if it's both? What if instead of an empty, purely cartoonish death like Nigel's and Chauncey's, they wanted to give a death that was a little more meaningful, with an arc that allowed him to recognize his mistakes and how his actions impacted Ed and Stede?

What if Izzy's "piracy is about belonging to something" is his exit speech, and what if everything that happened to him this season was a way of allowing him to be able to realize that, and realize that forcing Ed to perform a certain kind of masculinity just because he wanted him to was extremely fucked up, so he could acknowledge it to ed in the end? We wanted him punished, but we wanted Ed to hear an apology, too, and I'm genuinely convinced that that was impossible with the state of Izzy's development at the end of s1. How would he even have known what to apologize for???

So what if the thing that everyone thought was never going to be acknowledged could only ever really be acknowledged by the end of everyone's arcs this season? I am, once again, on the edge of my fucking seat.

[xdelouloux]

so im a steddyhands endgame truther and the s2 trailer has given me so much hope that stizzy will be the first click in the relationship to finally work out

i rlly think that stizzy is so vital for them all getting together because stede and izzy need to get over their issues and mutual bitchiness in order for ed to be happy. he needs both of them, and izzy and stede being against each other constantly has turned ed into someone neither of them recognize anymore. they both love him for ed, not for the kraken, but he's devolved into the kraken because of their refusal to work out their problems instead of accepting that ed loves the both of them for who they are

i would love an izzy redemption arc where izzy comes to terms with everything he did by accidentally falling in love with stede (whom he starts helping because he realizes that stede is healthier for edward than he is) and finally coming around to understand ed better in that way and protecting stede. i do not want him to stop being a grumpy asshole about everything, i love that about him, but i want that multidimensional character development yk

and i think that stede needs to get over himself and recognize that he is not the only important person in ed's life!! ed needs more than just him, he needs more than just ed, their codependency is not healthy actually and izzy is here to stay.

ALSO something i love about stizzy is that they actually communicate. like yes its mutual pettiness and bitchiness and very toxic but they are open and honest to each others faces in a way that ed and stede and izzy and ed never were!! you can't have a relationship if there's no communication and i think that if they can bridge the gap and start talking to each other that stizzy being the first clink in the steddyhands chain makes sense to me

i think that stede can help izzy come to terms with the fact that being soft and silly is okay sometimes and that izzy can help stede learn the tools of the trade and they have so much to offer each other i just think they should also kiss in the meantime and then go get their man together because i don't think either one of them can do it on his own at this point

they both fucked up and hurt ed, and while i support kraken wrongs wholeheartedly, i think it's gonna take both of them together for ed to realize he is lovable on his own and he doesn't need the kraken to be happy