#it's what he told calico jack

[batsarebetterthanpeople]

Imagine you’re Geraldo. You are vibing being one of the malewives ever. And then one day one of the most cringefail men you have ever seen walks into your wife’s establishment, introduces himself Like That, tells Blackbeard’s first mate to tell his boss to go suck eggs in hell, breaks your wife’s nose jar, and then doesn’t seem to take the hint when your wife kicks him out and tries to do some sort of dramatic exit. You trick him into getting stabbed by the Spanish Navy and you figure he’s as good as dead, because if he survives the navy somehow, then Blackbeard’s gonna kill him and you think nothing more of it.

Then two weeks later Izzy hands walks into your wife’s bar and tells you that that cringefail guy in the white suit has not only survived, but he seduced and fucked Blackbeard.

[octoagentmiles]

salut. *picrews your agents too*

[laceratedlamiaceae]

The only reason I'm writing Jack as cis is because he'd be too powerful if he had a pussy. The world just isn't ready to handle that

[celluloidbroomcloset]

"The atmosphere on this ship is fucked. Everyone knows why."

"I don't. Enlighten me."

"Your feelings for Stede—"

This scene has been picked over a lot, but this is the first time I noted the speed with which it happens, including how clearly Ed himself knows what Izzy will say, and has from the moment he walks on deck. It's the culmination of an emotional violence that has been there since the start of Season 1 and that focuses on how and where Ed is allowed to express his feelings.

It's Ed who decides to make the discussion public, and Ed who challenges Izzy to say, out loud, in front of the crew, exactly why Izzy thinks the atmosphere is fucked.

Ed's acting unhinged a moment before, but as soon as Izzy speaks, he's very present—because he's been pushing for this to happen. The tone of voice he uses when he says, "Enlighten me," is similar to the sarcasm in his voice back in "Discomfort," when he says, "Sounds stressful, Izzy." He's not daring Izzy to say it's about his feelings; he's waiting for him to.

Izzy barely even gets Stede's name out before Ed is nodding and pulling the trigger. It's not at all what Izzy later says—"He took my leg because I dared to mention your fucking name." The exact words are "your feelings for Stede."

In Season 1, Izzy has insisted that his words to Ed about Stede be spoken in private. He never discusses it with anyone in the crew. The only time other people are present for those discussions is when Izzy insists that Ed send Stede to "doggy heaven," and then Fang has an emotional breakdown (and for a good bit of Season 1, Izzy treats Ivan and Fang as an extension of himself). The crew know that Ed is in love with Stede, but Izzy does not speak about that in front of them. Izzy's verbal violence about Stede, and his attacks on Ed about Ed's feelings for Stede, are always out of sight and hearing of the crew.

But he does speak to Stede's enemies about it, and Ed knows it. Izzy has told Calico Jack that Ed is "shacking up" with Stede. Spanish Jackie also knows, and so do the English, because that's how and why Izzy sold Stede out. Ed is aware, from the moment that Jack uses the term "shacking up," that Izzy has been speaking publicly about Ed's relationship with Stede.

Ed himself does not talk about his romantic or sexual relationships. Other people do—Calico Jack, Anne and Mary, Izzy—but Ed is not public with that information, even saying that “our private lives are our private lives” (echoing Stede’s statement to Jack: “Ed’s past is Ed’s business and I respect that.”). The times when Ed makes his feelings toward Stede known, even implicitly, are private—the “fine things” scene, the kiss on the beach, even the stabbing scene, all are between Ed and Stede. No one else is meant to witness those. After Stede has left him, Ed’s grief and the reasons behind it are clear, but he still conceals it with a song “about someone else.”

Ed keeps his softer emotions hidden and private, or tries to, because he’s been conditioned to believe that they’re dangerous to have. And they are—Jack makes them the subject of derision, and Ed is explicitly threatened when he makes his love for Stede too publicly visible. Izzy invades his private spaces (his cabin, his personal space) to berate and expose his emotions, mockingly calling Stede Ed’s boyfriend. The discussion of emotions that Ed tries to keep private are always initiated by Izzy, and the discussions are always violent and derisive.

The crew themselves do not know what has led to Ed shooting Izzy. They haven’t seen the escalation of violence and violation, going from emotional violence to physical—and the initial toe-cutting scene is very much Ed invading Izzy’s safe space to enact violence on him, just as Izzy did to him. They haven’t been witness to the threats and the danger that Ed has increasingly experienced and that in part led him to putting on Kraken in the first place.

The shift that happens in “Impossible Birds” is Izzy once again invading Ed’s space, where he’s caressing and then concealing the groom figurine, to prompt the discussion of emotions. What Izzy thinks is a result of him speaking Stede's name and ethos is actually a result of him invoking, again, Ed's emotions about Stede as a way of manipulating him. But this time, Ed is going to make him do it in front of the crew.

It is, in a sense, an expansion of "the love that dare not speak its name.” If “everyone knows why,” then Izzy is going to have to say it. So the moment on deck is Ed forcing Izzy to publicly expose the things that have been concealed: Ed's private emotions that Izzy has broadcast to his enemies but never to his friends, and the violence that has been attached to those emotions. They're going to "talk it through," but Izzy has made talking it through violent and unsafe. Now what had been private violence is going to be public.

[piratecaptainscaptainpirates]

One of the things that always destroys me about Ed is that he never stops hoping that people might treat him just a little better.

He's never surprised when they don't. With Calico Jack and Anne and Mary, he's thrilled to see them but unsurprised when they don't treat him like friends should (because they're not friends!). He tries to set clear boundaries when people start upsetting him and treating him like shit, every single time ("What's that supposed to mean?" to the racist captain; reminding Izzy "I'm still Blackbeard" even after Izzy told him he was better off dead, asking Hornigold why he was being a dick when Hornigold wasn't playing along with their game, etc.).

He just keeps trying, even though the only thing we've ever seen him get from others in response to him setting boundaries is stepping all over his boundaries, screaming at him, and generally treating him like shit. He is so used to even such basic boundaries as "I want to be in charge of telling others what name to call me" and "I want to choose for myself how I'd like to dress" being used to mock him and then turned into ammo to reinforce his fundamental belief he's unlovable when he reacts emotionally.

It's tragic. But there's always a tiny part of him that seems to know he deserves to be treated better, and he's always half-hoping that maybe someone will listen.

And when Stede tries to deepen their kiss in the moonlight? Ed's boundary is so hesitant. It's not a firm one. "Can we take it slow?" Not even something as firm as "I want to take this slow." He is so obviously prepared for Stede to shoot him down. But Stede doesn't! Stede is respectful! And what a wonderful change, for Ed to see that there was never anything wrong with him, that it was never his fault that so many other people in his life have treated him so terribly. If Stede can do it, then they could've, too, and it's not Ed's fault they didn't.

[amuseoffyre]

"I don't even know who I am"

What I have loved about the show from day one is that it has been an unflinching examination of identity and what makes it: the things that shape people into who they are and how that impacts on how they act and react to the world around them.

The exploration of Ed’s sense of self has been so beautifully handled and I know that if/when we get a third season, they’re going to do even more with it.

This is a character who has been raised with violence and cruelty his whole life, who was told “we’re just not those kind of people” when he yearns for something better, who killed to protect his mother, who ended up under the heel of a brutal tyrant of a captain who used sadistic punishments and death to keep his crew in line.

It’s the only life he knew and it’s the only option he sees himself as having. He has no concept of any other alternative until along comes Stede “there’s always another way” Bonnet and he’s fascinated. He even tells Stede as much the first time they met – “do you have any idea how hard it is to find someone doing something original out here? It’s impossible, man.”

Ned Lowe cements that fact in 2x06, describing Ed as a generic pirate and Ed immediately calls him out on the fact that he’s as messy as the rest of them even if he’s trying to act like he’s not, observing “It’s usually family stuff”. Stede even observes “A lot of your friends are troubled” and Ed fully admits “Yeah. Well. They’re pirates.”

There’s so much juicy meta to be had about the fact that Stede wants to desperately be a pirate and Ed doesn’t even catch that not only is Stede fully troubled but that it’s got Family Stuff etched all over it. He even says “you’ve got it all figured out”, but the Stede meta is for another day.

In S1, Ed’s in a pretty depressed space and finds a bit of a respite from it in Stede’s company. It lets him try out new things, things he didn’t think he was allowed/able to do, but he still follows a lot of the patterns of behaviour and actions that are standard in the pirate lifestyle that has been 80% of his lived experience.

He can switch violence on and off when he needs it (“next one goes through your fucking eye”), he doesn’t see anything wrong in talking about the violence he’s inflicted (“Well, this one time I was gouging an eye out of this lad’s skull”), he has a deep well of punishments that he can draw from (force-feeding body parts, mutilation, skinning, maiming) and all of these things are just so normalised for him that he’s desensitised to how horrific they are.

He’s still doing all those things while also telling stories, having fun, teaching people about fuckeries and generally being “more open and available than I’ve ever seen him”. He hasn’t wanted or needed to shed that side of his life because he’s getting the best of both worlds.

Only then Calico Jack pays a visit and ramps Ed’s behaviour up to 11 and this is the first time Stede – who is dealing with his own issues at the same time – says that there’s something wrong with the way he’s behaving.

Ed says to Stede, confused and stung, “This is who I am. This is me” when Stede points out all the behaviour he isn’t enjoying. And for him, at this point, this is him. This is what he’s grown up knowing and being. This is his lifestyle and part of the culture of the pirate community. We see it repeatedly when we see Ed encountering people from his past or in the Republic. It’s the frog-in-the-pot scenario. He’s been in the pot so long, he doesn’t know it’s been boiling the whole time.

Only the very next episode, at the academy, pared back to just be Edward Teach, born on a beach, he admits “I don’t know if I want to go back to the old days, drinking all day and forcing some bloke to eat his own toes for a laugh”. He’s been played and double-crossed by people who trusted him and he sees an alternative in Stede – “I’m your friend” Stede told him, and he wants that. He wants a friend he can trust. They can go off together, away from all that and everything’ll be fixed, right? That’ll make it all good.

And then…

And then we all know how that goes.

Briefly, very briefly he thinks he might be able to hold on to that different kind of thing, that softer, brighter world, but Izzy reminds him of the reality of their situation. That people he considers allies and friends can and will warn him to “watch his fucking step” and that this is not a world where he can let his guard down.

Either you’re part of that world or you die. Izzy said it as far back as episode 4. The only retirement they get is death. And so that’s the option Ed takes: either watch the world burn or die trying. Not like he can have anything else. For ever and ever, trapped in his life and world he has come to hate.

He sinks him into the worst of it to try and end things faster. He’s crueller. Relentless. Brutal. And no one seems to care that he’s shattering under the weight of it, until he forces their hand and goads them into killing him or letting him kill all of them.

Izzy says “we did this to him” to Stede, but neither of them seem to realise how much deeper Ed’s hurts go. Yes, they both had an impact on Ed, knocking away his sense of place and self and acceptance, but the wounds are far older and far deeper than they know.

It’s only when Ed is first forced to confront himself in the unsettling not-reality of the gravy basket that he takes the first step in understanding himself better. He’s forced to face the stuff he’s done and the worst parts of himself. He even tries to kill them, over and over again, until he realises.

I find it especially interesting that Buttons describes getting out of purgatory as “escaping”. That this is a place where you’re flayed down to the bones and forced to face the worst parts of yourself.

It’s so vital that he – and Stede – have the encounter with Anne and Mary. He’s reminded of the world that he was part of and the casual brutality that came with it. He’s shown that he and Stede could easily fall into those patterns, but instead Stede offers him honesty, comfort and the assurance that he is loved.

“A lot of your friends are troubled” Stede observes after and Ed admits that yeah, they’re pirates. He recognises that this is part of the social culture he grew up in and that it’s still impacting on him now.

But what happens next is so sweet and important. Buttons talks to him of learning to change, that nothing is fixed and that if you want to, you can change your path. And then Buttons shows him it’s possible and Ed’s face just lights up. Yes, brother. Fly. You can change things. You can choose another way.

Only it’s not simple. It’s not straightforward. With the probation period, Ed looks for quick fixes – offers to let Lucius push him overboard to get it over with and the like – but part of him still doesn’t quite get why some of the stuff he did was wrong because it was so normalised to him.

It takes Fang saying “I was terrified” to make him see it and coming from someone who has been with him for 20 years, realising someone else from within his own world was terrorised by him brings things into focus for him. That the things he thought were games weren’t. That the stuff he told himself was normal in context absolutely wasn’t normal.

And this is where Ed’s entire world view pivots. Fang shows him how to sit with himself, how to reflect. Ed takes this lesson to heart and he’s still working through it, gazing out to sea and thinking about it at the beginning of episode 6. He goes from never apologising for anything as a captain to telling both Fang and Izzy quiet, but meaningfully, “I’m sorry”.

He’s known for a long time that he’s tired of piracy, but the Ned Lowe situation is the thing to put the final nail in the coffin: this man hunted him down because of his pirating. This man hurt them all because of it. And worst of all, Ned took the man Ed loves and pushed and provoked him until Stede killed him. This was Ed’s “you defile beautiful things” moment. His face in those scenes, when he said “don’t do it, you can’t come back from this” is a call from his own experience. Stede is taking that step onto a path that Ed desperately wants to get off.

That night makes the decision for him.

The next morning, his leathers go overboard, a symbolic end to Blackbeard (and I will yell another day about him putting the proverbial beast back under the waves. Ed and his sea metaphors are gnawing me alive) and he’s happy about it, humming and hurrying back down to join Stede in their bed.

Stede doesn’t notice, though. Stede never would notice something like that being important because for him, Ed is Ed. Whatever he wears, whatever he does, he is Ed. A change of clothes doesn’t change him in Stede’s eyes.

But other people notice. Hell other people not noticing Blackbeard and only seeing some hobo dude is such a change. There’s something so significant that the people he chooses to talk to about it are the old guard in his field. He tells Jackie “it’s not a phase” and Izzy that it felt “fucking great” and both of them get it. Both of them have been there, seen it, experienced it.

Only it happens as he’s seeing Stede become what he used to be, stepping into the space he’s willingly leaving, and Stede is so happy about it. And he’s happy for Stede to have his moment and be appreciated, but it just throws into stark relief that this is absolutely not what he wants or needs right now. He still has a lot of figuring out to do and unfortunately, they’re both highly-emotional people and when they’re emotional, their communication goes down the toilet.

Once upon a time Ed said “this is who I am, this is me” to Stede, when he was acting exactly like Stede is now: raucous, drinking, chaotic and loud. Only time and reflection has let him see that wasn’t necessarily him but the environment and his circumstances shaping him to be like that, just as it's now making Stede act that way.

“I don’t even know who I am,” he admits in this argument. “I’m not ready for whatever this is”. He knows he has a lot more to figure out and because he’s latched on so hard to fishing as a place to be quiet and contemplate, that’s why he runs there. He wants to work himself out without the weight and pressure of the pirate world breathing down his neck.

Only he doesn’t talk about it, he doesn’t explain, he just tells Stede he’s leaving and Stede immediately sees it as something he’s said/done, rather than something that Ed is trying to figure out. They both hurt each other because Ed has always worried that Ed isn’t enough – the loss of the beard still weighs on them both – and that Stede is only humouring him to get Blackbeard, while Stede is so convinced that being a great pirate will mean he and Ed can be together as equals instead of him being a bumbling amateur who isn’t worthy of the man he loves, only to see it slip through his fingers.

They both need to talk to each other, but they don’t know how. Ed’s made quick, rash decisions, but they’ve come on the back of a lot of reflection and he just didn’t explain it. He’s right that he doesn’t know who he is himself. He’s never had the chance to just… take the time and figure it out. He needs that time, but they just don’t have it right now and they end up hurting each other more because of it.

I’ve said from the beginning that both of them are coming from opposite ends of the spectrum and that they’re destined to meet somewhere in the middle. Ed got his fantasies of a fancy life shattered in season one and now, Stede is seeing the impact of his pirate fantasies on the life he made for himself in season two.

Both of them are on the edge of a catastrophe curve, misunderstanding each other’s motivations and totally at odds with who they are versus who they have been told they need to be. They will get there, but two little lost boys finally taking off the rose-tinted glasses and dealing with the mess that they have carried with them their entire lives isn’t easy.

And I will fully admit I am loving it.

[marcell-arts]

fire emblem three pirates: pirates of fodlan 

(headcanon notes under the cut)

Black Eagle Pirates

Captain Edelgard ‘The Emperor’ Hresvelg’s outfit is mostly appropriated from the royal navy which drives the Church insane. 

Their flag is a skull looking towards the future, with three swords behind it spread like eagle wings

Edelgard’s first mate Hubert keeps a flock of messenger eagles which Edelgard borrows from regularly so she can have a menacing black parrot eagle on her shoulder when she needs to make a public appearance

The Adrestian Empire is the British Empire in this context. They are the largest pirate fleet in the Adrestian sea.

The Black Eagle pirates are known for employing and promoting pirates despite their previous status in society, so slaves, commoners, nobility, military and destitute men/women have an equal chance to be given high ranks and even ships in Edelgard’s fleet. A popular idea amongst pirates.

Blue Lion Pirates

Captain Dimitri ‘Le Sanglier’ (The Mad Boar) Blaiddyd has a bloodthirsty reputation that precedes him. His outfit is heavily inspired by Barbossa from PotC because he’s a dramatic goth pirate

Dimitri’s eyepatch is just so good here. My bro told me to give him a peg-leg too and a hook hand but I don’t think I can just lop off half his limbs like that.

Their flag is a skull baring lion’s teeth. The crossbones behind the skull represent revenge for the dead. 

The Kingdom of Faerghus are the French in this context. They are not the wealthiest pirates but are hardy and difficult to catch.

The Blue Lion Pirates are not looking for gold in particular, but out for revenge and justice. They are notably more patriotic than other pirates, and strategically target certain ships and ports when plundering, while leaving others completely unharmed. Those who cross them at sea never know whether they will face the Mad Boar’s wrath, or his mercy.

Golden Deer Pirates

Captain Claude ‘The Schemer’ Riegan is an enigmatic pirate with unknown origins. His outfit is inspired by real life pirate Calico Jack Rackham, who was known for wearing flashy gaudy clothing. 

Their flag is a skull with two crossed swords behind it, whose hilts are often mistaken for horns. 

The Leicester Alliance are the Spanish in this context, and Almyra is the Moghul Empire. 

No one knows what the Golden Deer pirates are here for exactly, but they know how to have a good time. They are famous for accepting any man from any nationality, and are the most racially diverse and multilingual pirates of the region. They are also famous for throwing the wildest parties and feasts after a good raid, and are often spotted running away from angry locals after having too much fun in town.

[bailey-dreamfoot]

‼️‼️THE GRAMPA SQUAD COMIC IS DONE‼️‼️

Ok so, wee explanation + headcannons under the cut.

Ok so assuming you've stuck around for my insane ramblings, heres the gist:

This comic is very much inspired by Factual Fantasy's Comics about Marsh, Natquick, and Calico Jack. And while my personal head cannon does share in the idea of the group working together- I thought it would be hilariously fun to include Inkling, and tbh it focuses more on him than the others anyway.

In the show, inkling doesn't really get out much. There are really only a few episodes where he has a significant role, and even less when he actually participates in missions outside of *insert knowledgeable insight*.

I believe this is for 2 reasons:

He just prefers the comfortable vibe of his library. The book-worm role fits his personality well - enjoying studying or cataloging species alongside Shellington - and he likes spending time with the Vegimals.

His Mobility issues. While he can very easily traverse the watery environments in the base show- in a&b, he doesn't really show much interest in exploring the land until he's told an old friend was the one in need of help. He has the ability, its just difficult- and he knows his limitations.

Inkling has his hover chair, that allows him to move around the octopod relatively easily. However - in the Min episode - they make it a point that he cant take it with him on land, or use it over rough terrain.

My version of Inkling uses an actual wheelchair, so I thought it'd be a neat idea that after that adventure- he'd want to try joining missions more often. And to deal with said mobility issues and limitations- say they got specialized tires for his wheelchair- so he could go join up on land missions more often.

After going on a few more missions with the other Octonauts, he hears about Octoagents Calico Jack, and Professor Natquick joining up with Ranger Marsh to help out in the Everglades- you best bet he jumped at the opportunity to tag along. Think of all the species he could ad to his personal catalogue. They might even discover a few new ones! Leaving the Octopod for so long after being basically the one constant to the place was a bit scary sure - and the other Octonauts were certainly emotional ab him leaving (especially Barnacles) - but maybe a change of scenery would do him good.

Sooo He does that! Professor Inkling meets up with the others on a dock near Marsh's Ranger station and get to work! One of the coolest things they did was collecting egg samples and catching an adult specimen of a newly discovered trapdoor spider! the Pine Rockland Trapdoor. Marsh Has a nursery where he cares for tons of snakes, lizards, insects and birds to make sure they have the best chance for survival. Thats where these eggs are going- to hatch in safety and then be released back into the ecosystem. On top of that, they take samples of the adults venom for study, and inkling is sure to make a detailed report of the arachnid in his many journals brought along with him!

As you may expect, Kwazzi takes after his grandad in his fear of spiders. Jack has seen worse, but It doesnt make it any easier to be close to them. Natquick on the other hand- In all his time in the arctic hes never seen anything as freaky as a spider bigger than a quarter.

Aaand that's it! I'm hoping to do some more comics with the lads in the future, although probably not as detailed as this one. It took more than 2 weeks- please.

Also, I find it kinda goofy that the panels get more detailed as you go along. Thats what happens when the first and last panel were made almost a month apart from each other. 💚

Also also- yes I did do actual research for the animals in the last comic. It was going to be a funnel web spider they're researching, but then I looked it up and found out Funnelwebs don't live in the Everglades. :']

[factual-fantasy]

26 ASKS!! THANK YOU!! :}}} 🥪

(Post in question)

WAAHAHAAG THANK YOU SO MUHC!!! :DDDD As for your questions-

Spider crab's name is just a place holder for now, much like a lot of the crew has.. I want to give them all proper names at some point. Like Ellie and Louis have.. But I'm just really bad at coming up with names for stuff- <XD 💔💔

For Luigi- no one in particular! I just wanted to draw him with that expression <XD And don't worry, Mario cheered him up in the end :}}

As for the FNAF doodle, thats Foxy, Roxy and Mangle! I get that its hard to recognize her by her side profile and without color though-- <XD I had experimented with some ideas of a pirate themed Glamrock Mangle being added to one of the AUs. Though that sketch was the only one I really liked. :/

I have seen Encanto! :D It was alright, I liked the living house aspect of it :00

As for Red, I thiiink he might be too young to understand fusion or how to do it.. I pictured him being.. like what, five? Or something? That's like half the age of when Steven first learned to fuse-

That, and it felt a little odd for him to fuse with any of the crew, since they're all so much older than him. :/

@astaherussy (Post in question)

XD Sure were! Convenient aren't they?🤣🤣

I've definitely heard of it, and I've seen some gifs/posts about it here and there.. but truth be told I have no idea what its about. :( I think I've seen two Mario's and one wears a black suit...?

(Link/video in question)

XDD I imagine Ellie would shut that down real quick. But in the off chance that they get away with it.. I feel like Louis would come out on top.

He could block any oncoming attacks with his unbreakable claw arm, then whip around and launch whole watermelons and pies with the other XDD He would probably think it was fun too!

Does the game have large birds like that?? :0 I had no idea! They gotta be on the look out for those then--

Oof, I suppose they could.. though I don't intend for either party to experience that. It just sounds miserable! D:>

(Link/video in question)

XDD Oh man, that's hilarious! Poor Red--

@yourstrulylightstar283 (Referencing this post)

Thank you! I hope I get better soon too.. I hope to have some answers by next week.. <:) 🙏

:DD Thank you! I'm so glad you like my Freddy! :))

I always kind'a felt like a certain.. gloomy-ness, would be fitting for him. He already has some of that in the game. But with everything my Freddy's been through.. just.. having this weight to his tone. This lingering exhaustion.. I felt like it would suit him. :(

Hmm... I imagine that Seam and Jevil would be options.. Maybe in bad cases Calico Jack would.. Almost everyone in FNAF is an option <XD

No.. in a sad twist of fate, no one ever heard his cries in the dungeon. Imagine how much more lonely he felt becuase of that..

I don't know if he gets phantom pains from getting beat up.. but I imagine his horn stumps give him some aches and soreness that can be attributed to phantom pain.. :(

Who's gingerbrave? That's the main character right..? I have no idea if he'd come across my crew.. I don't know what kind of shenanigans he gets up to.. wait "gang"? He travels in a group with other people??

@chickenmilk120

fank uu! :}}}

@couchwow

Yeah,, I'm aware.. 😔🙄 ya hate to see it. But hey the watermark is right there saying "this art is stolen." so it could be worse I guess.

@littlelightfish

Tuna:

He is not being normal about it XDD You've totally flattered him!

@potatocryptid

Thank you!! :DD Yeah,, I think I WILL work on what ever I want!! XDD

Off the top of my head, there's an AWESOME Mario artist by the name of @katlyntheartist! I love her work, I highly recommend you stop by her blog! :D

I've also seen some jaw-dropping Mario artwork by @suedoodle! Both blogs are worth a visit! :}}

(Post in question)

Ah yes! The idea behind that was to show the initial divide between Grillby and Spamton.

You see, Spamton hails Jevil as his savior of sorts. He was at his lowest low, and in unimaginable pain.. then Jevil just swoops in and offers his hand. Bringing him outside of his AU. Away from the pain, away from the torment.. Jevil is awesome!!

But then you've got Grillby.. Jevil saved him from his AU right before it collapsed in on itself. He "saved" his life, but at what cost? Grillby lost everything. And he cant help but be angry at Jevil for it. Thinking that if Jevil hadn't been there, he could have just peacefully disappeared along with his family and everyone else in his AU..

So Spamton is endlessly respectful towards Jevil, and Grillby cant help but roll his eyes and spit sass at him all the time. Those two opposing views are bound to cause problems someday..

I imagine one day the whole group is tired and cranky. Jevil did something that Grillby didn't agree with. Some bitter remarks there, Spamton defending Jevil's decision here.. some back and fourth and next thing you know a fight breaks out. :x

@im-nice-but-i-dont-like-you

XDD idk!! Why are YOU into almost every single fandom I'M into?? Also than you so much!! :}}

Thank you! I'm glad you like my sona! But aaa sorry, no can do.. I don't want fanart at all, of anything. Just comments/asks/reblogs. <:}

@canonickero (Sent after this post)

XD Thank you! I'm glad you like him :}}

I pictured Yendo being another one of Funtime Foxy's nightmare-ish visions. Though I should consider passing that onto Bon Bon.. 👀

The story goes that Funtime Freddy is a frequent flyer in parts and service. The employees groan that there's always something wrong with Freddy that needs fixing. Nobody really knows why..

Now at some point Freddy was shut down and in parts and service. As per usual.. Foxy was nearby, and heard a sudden thud/crash coming from that room. He rushes inside to see what happened and finds Funtime Freddy on the floor, what ever he was propped up on had broken, causing him to fall.

He looked at Freddy's face.. and.. his face plates were wide open..

Foxy. freaked. out. If I remember correctly, he was supposed to start shouting and panicking. Trying to help Freddy, thinking he was hurt. When he couldn't move Freddy and he wouldn't wake up, Foxy ran out of the room to get help. He runs into some employees and tried to tell them what happened. They end up just forcibly shutting him down because he cant stop freaking out..

Later on he's reactivated and the rest of the gang is with him. Including Freddy. He uncharacteristically runs to Freddy all worried and frantically inspects his face for injuries. They ask him what he saw but he just.. doesn't have the words to describe it.

Part of the horror is Foxy's inability to understand what he saw. Therefore being terrified of it and being unable to describe it..

After that Foxy began to develop these hallucinations of sorts. Overtime the image of Freddy's skinned face kind'a turns in to its own nightmare. Yendo.. overtime it feels more like "Yendo" is an entity separate from Freddy. Foxy begins to imagine this skinned bear like creature that is out there somewhere.. wanting to hurt Freddy and take his face.. its not fun :(

This idea is still in development. Well, the whole AU is. But this was my initial idea for Yendo :)

Now old man consequences is tricky.. I had intentions of him being this weird vison that Foxy sees now and again. But with recent developments to the AU.. I might need to scrap the old gator. Or at least re-write his role and function in the AU-

@stripetkattelalala54 (Post linked in question)

No problem! I'm always up for Mario questions! :DD

And as for the question, I pictured that Mario never really liked the ice flower to begin with. I imagined Mario loving the heat and the sun. Always enjoyed being warm/hot and functions the best in it.. You know like a maniac-

So the Fire flower was naturally his favorite powerup. And that experience did leave Mario with some kind of trauma, which just added to his dislike of it..

@beryl-shade

OOO I like Tendrilfoam! :00 Hmm, Captain Tendrilfoam.. I'll have to consider that one! :D

[shoshiwrites]

"gamble" or "quiet"? kissing out where nobody can catch them? - for Jo & Egan, of course, because I live the life of an enabler handing you another juicebox 🧃

You are the best, Killy, and thank you to you and @mercurygray for helping me break my little sick-time writer's block ♡ Bucky Egan/War correspondent OC, also on Ao3!

close to you

She’d gone with Kay back to London for a few days. Enough time to catch herself up, wire the stories she hadn’t already, knock her head against the wall a few more times over what did and didn’t go through. The damn blue slashes. Black ones too. Hell, a woman at the corner newsstand had showed Jo a letter from a boyfriend, cut into the RAF’s version of a paper snowflake. It fluttered strangely in the humid breeze, in the young woman’s hand. 

She’d seen Bill March’s broken arm, sustained in some manner during an air raid, though the correspondent still had his usual cheerful smile for her, and the pallbearers carrying a distant cousin of Kay’s out of the church in Marylebone, all of twenty when his ship had been torpedoed off the coast of Italy.

She’d gotten back to Thorpe Abbotts on a Friday afternoon, the air still soupy, her suitcase with a half-broken latch and her bitten nails, a growing hole in her last pair of stockings.

It wasn’t raining. Maybe that counted for something.

Trousers then, and maybe she was optimistic, thinking she felt the air cooling a bit around her. There were small scraps of blue sky, like she’d found them in the bottom of her mother’s rag bin. Calico up in the firmament.

The coffee’s warm, if bitter, she hardly pays attention to that now. A few Clubmobile women cleaning trays in the kitchen take pity on her and sneak her a donut. She dips, sloshes, remembers the good old days of milk and cream, and wanders back outside, wondering if she’d made a mistake in coming here straight from London. Her room is still hers in Norwich. Mrs. Fitzgerald had made sure she knew that. It’s a kindness she doesn’t quite have the words for. 

She’ll stay in the Clubmobile quarters tonight, on the extra cot. She’d left a book in Crosby’s care last week and he’d returned it to Tatty Spaatz, a piece of stationery stuck in the middle with neat, if hurried, observations. His handwriting reminds her of Evie’s, the block print of a planner.

“Major Egan will be happy to hear you’re back,” Tatty says, and there’s almost a smile playing at the corner of her mouth, her lipstick the color of red wine.

Jo hardly keeps stone-faced, a little scrunch somewhere between a question and an acknowledgement, distaste and curiosity. “I haven’t seen him,” she says.

They yawn, the seconds between the conversation outside and when he’s walking, seeing her, redirecting his path. His eyes look like he’s been squinting in low light, the mask-marks raw across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. He’d come out of his office. Post-mission administration, she thinks. Letters home. He writes them longhand, someone had told her. He’s never spoken about it. She’s never asked him.

And she’s not sure happy is the word she’d use, right now. But Tatty knows what she said. Happy is on the ground. A girl smiling at you. The smell of her hair, clean. 

The question comes on an exhale, the tie loosened around his neck. “You wanna go for a walk?”

It feels faintly ridiculous, the way she’s not used to being asked. And it’s faintly ridiculous too, the way propriety and a respectful difference between his boots and her lace-up shoes becomes a sneak-around, a glancing journey to the far edge of the airfield, the side of an outbuilding backed by trees. 

Maybe he wants something else, she thinks. Another jigger of whiskey, playing cards on the table, chips or dice or jacks. Someone else. Someone who lets him forget.

He kisses her before they’ve even stopped moving, as she rounds the corner in the half-tall grass. 

She hasn’t snuck around like this in — god — she can’t remember. Years. 

She can’t remember the last time she’s been kissed like this. A sunlit kitchen, softer. Before the leather interiors of fancy cars and class rings. She never thought it could be dressed like this, callused hands and muscle. The flutter of tiny wings falls still. A fly buzzes around their ankles; she can hear it between the sounds of his mouth, breath hot between them.

She can feel that little swatch of damp at the small of her back, the feeling of her hipbones beneath the wool of her trousers. He breaks away to kiss the side of her mouth, the short hairs of his mustache brushing her upper lip. 

John, she wants to say, but maybe she can help it, the desperate act of naming him. It all sticks in her throat, like a glob of too-soft caramel. Hardening. John, John, John. “Afternoon, Major.” 

He looks like he’s trying to decide something, kisses her again by her nose while he does. She’ll do the same if he’ll let her, the cuts of the oxygen mask and the freckles she can see in the light. “Afternoon, Captain.”

[mermaidlighthouse]

Ok so I’m gonna recenter the “indestructible little fucker” moment around Ed…yes it’s obviously directed at Izzy and in a literal sense about Izzy but it’s also about what Izzy represents in Ed’s life, Blackbeard, it’s just further confirmation that the only escape for Ed from the persona of Blackbeard, the darkness, is his own death

Even when he thinks it’s gone, when he believes it’s dead, it’s comes back and hurts him…

From Ed’s perspective, he’s tried allowing himself to find the fun in pirating again when he’s teaching Stede and found that when he’s exposed to the darker elements (Calico Jack) he’ll fall right back into the old patterns, he tried doing what just makes Ed happy and it left him broken, he’s tried accepting that even if his dream of running away with Stede and leaving the past behind didn’t work he can still be Ed and while still dealing with his heartbreak is told Ed’s not good enough

He’s exhausted and depressed and he just wants to be Ed but past experience says that’s never gonna happen, even when he’s imagining his idealized versions of himself (the rich fancy man, the innkeeper) he uses the cover of Jeff because Ed’s not good enough for those things…

Ed’s also offered the outside iteration of Blackbeard (Izzy) the opportunity to kill him and even that escape from the pain, suffering, and darkness wasn’t given

So when Izzy appears and shoots him, it proves that Blackbeard is a looming spectre he can’t evade or outmaneuver, it’s indestructible. And it’s further justification for his decision to remove himself from the equation.

[chaotic-neutral-knitter]

Let's do soup.

A lot of people have been talking about how soup is doing some symbolic lifting in this season, but I've gotten really stuck on this scene in particular. Ed doesn't know that Hornigold is his own subconscious yet, but he confronts him about a time that Hornigold killed a member of his own crew (hey Ed are you maybe feeling bad about something?) and Hornigold gives him three options for dealing with all the horrible shit he's seen, done, or been unable to stop.

The first option is just "move on, you gotta move on." Or, in other words "toughen up, who cares that you feel bad about it, just lock that shit up and get over it." Ed got this advice a lot in season one. Izzy told him "the love of a pet makes a man weak" and Calico Jack told him "what kind of pirate has a friend, we're all in various stages of fucking each other over." It seems like this is just what pirates do. Frenchie starts out this season talking about how he bottles it all up. It's a stand in for all the toxic masculinity and repression that the show enjoys unpacking - in Hornigold's mind, if feelings can't rebuild an abdominal wall, they're useless.

The second option is "blow your brains out." It's become pretty clear at this point that Ed is trying his best to get someone angry enough to kill him. In season one, Ed is told repeatedly that dying is what happens when you fail to do option one. When Izzy says, "the only retirement we get is death," that's what he means. Ed can't retire, can't stop being a pirate, can't do things differently. He has to tread water until he drowns. When Izzy says "Blackbeard is my captain. I serve Blackbeard, not Edward. Edward better watch his fucking step," he is telling Ed to toughen up or die. At this point Ed, unimpressed, asks "Those are the options?" Hornigold does his little bup-bup-bup thing where he weighs them in his hands and says "Or, we could just make some soup."

Ed says "Yeah, soup. Let's do soup."

The third option is "soup." Soup can mean a lot of things - it's warm, it's nourishing, it's what you eat when you're sick. The show has been tying it to the crew of the Revenge by having them continually eat soup and talk about how great it is (Notably, in the scene above, Olu asks Yi Sao if she's really a soup seller and she says "Not exactly.")

What does "make some soup" mean for Ed? I think, above all, it's a third option in what has been an inescapable dichotomy of "be tough or die." The first person to break this dichotomy in the show is Stede, when he refers to piracy's culture of abuse and says "And my thought is, 'Why? And also, what if it weren't like that?'" before encouraging his crew to talk through their feelings. To the surprise of literally everyone, that works. The crew of The Revenge took the space that Stede gave them and built a family inside of it. They gave Ed the idea that maybe "tough it out or die" aren't the only two options, and he's still thinking about it even now.

Making soup is also work - Ed's going to have to deal with the fact that he tried to torture his crew into killing him - but it's good, useful work. It could be a metaphor for the kind of work you have to do to repair relationships with people you've hurt. The first thing Ed does in this episode is refuse the soup that Hornigold is giving him. It's poison, he doesn't want it.

So, I'm wondering if there's going to be a moment later in the season where Ed either literally makes soup or accepts it from someone else, and whether that will be Important To His Arc in some way.

Also, I'm really craving soup, so.

[xoxoemynn]

Get off my ship. Now. 

Just want to talk for a hot second about what a critical moment this was for Stede as a captain.

Now, obviously by this point the crew is fond of Stede. The dynamics have significantly improved from when the show first started and they were plotting mutiny. But still, when Calico Jack showed up, they reverted a bit too their old ways. Because just when they were starting to get comfortable with having the legendary Blackbeard on their ship, his ole bestie had to show up and remind them all again HOLY SHIT WHAT LEGENDS. THIS is the life of a pirate they signed up for -- rum all day, flying coconuts, devil-may-care stunts on the ship that may end in death but WHO CARES, it’s an ADVENTURE, what a STORY! And when Stede attempts to raise Jack’s constant acts of massive passive aggression, resulting in him sharing a sob story of being mutinied (again), the crew is quick to comfort him by throwing Stede under the ship, letting Jack know they were going to mutiny against Stede and probably would again some day.

But then Calico Jack kills Karl. And listen, everyone knows Buttons is a bit of an odd bird, but he’s their odd bird. There’s a lot of obvious respect for him, and by extension his bird friend, Karl.

When Karl is killed, all the laughter dies as well. Nobody is amused by Jack’s “oops.” He might as well have killed a member of the crew. And then when Buttons responds by placing a hex upon him and Jack laughs?? With utter scorn and derision and mockery???

There’s this suffocating tension because the crew is obviously on the side of Buttons and the dearly departed Karl, but how do you rise up against Blackbeard’s best friend? Sure, they’ve all become somewhat of friends in the past few weeks, but it’s still Blackbeard. It’s like Ed and Jack were the too cool for school seniors, and the crew were the gangly group of misfit freshmen, and they were all having a great time hanging out together over the summer, but now they’ve returned to school and all the old power dynamics are back and it’s scary and uncomfortable and they’ve lost any kind of even footing they had.

But then who emerges? CAPTAIN STEDE. And he IMMEDIATELY tells Jack to get off his ship. 

It’s the firmest we’ve ever heard him speak, leaving absolutely no room for questions or debate. Jack is GONE.

The crew has seen Stede and Jack interact. They may not know the full story, and they may not grasp all the nuances at play, but it’s pretty clear Stede isn’t a big fan of Jack. But he put up with his insults, put up with the changes to his routine, put up with behaviors he found juvenile and cruel...but he would not put up with anyone harming his crew. And by kicking Jack out, Stede was fulfilling his role as captain: to ensure his ship, and his crew, was safe.

And the crew recognizes this. The next day, when Stede tells them Blackbeard will no longer be sailing with them, they’re all disappointed, yes, but they also understand why and that Stede’s upset about it so they’re not going to press the issue...except for Black Pete, who lacks a bit of tact, but he’s roundly told to read the room and not be a dick. Now’s not the time to whine about how they wish Blackbeard were still on board. Now’s the time to respect their captain, who’s hurting. 

Anyway this turned out to be way longer than I thought it would, but it just struck me what a meaningful moment that was, with Stede truly stepping into his role as captain and his crew recognizing it. Such growth in a relatively short amount of time, both with him as a leader and with the crew as a bonded unit.

[sarucane]

Fragile Stories, Strong Stories in "We Gull Way Back": OFMD Meta Analysis

By episode 8 of S1, the stories on the Revenge have nearly fallen apart again and again. The crew plotted mutiny in the first episode; Ed planned to kill Stede in ep 4, changed his mind in ep 6--but still stood by while Izzy tried to go through with the plan--and was considering leaving in ep 7; Stede's actual skills as a pirate captain haven't exactly improved; Jim left in ep 7, leaving the Revenge without its most skilled fighter. And all this begs the question: how strong are the stories that bind these characters, anyway?

Calico Jack sets out to test exactly this. Jack uses stories as a weapons. He manipulates people's emotions,

he sidles in and tricks people into wanting to tell a certain story with him

and uses stories to separate people from each other.

And Jack's good at it. He's charming and fun. He fits into the pirate world in a way that Stede never will. Everyone wants to play his games with them, and no one wants to tell him "no."

Since Stede is the pillar at the center of the Revenge's story, it makes sense that just about everything Jack does is designed to undermine him. He immediately senses Stede's weak spot--he's not 'masculine' enough for the pirate world--and attacks it, calling Stede "the big gal." He repeatedly gets Stede's name wrong on purpose, he pretends fragility when called out on his bullshit, he wraps people up in games and booze so they don't notice just how toxic he is until it's too late.

And he does all this indirectly, by building a story around Stede and manipulating others to fill in the gaps.

Jack has actual conversations with Stede only twice. Both of those conversations have the same goal: drive a wedge between Stede and Ed by showing just how fragile the story Ed's told Stede--and by extension, the story Ed and Stede are telling together--really is.

When Jack tells the story of Ed setting the ship on fire, even he doesn't realize what he's exposing.

Ed's story to Stede about not having killed a man since is father? It's just a story. It's semantics, a split hair that lets Ed tell himself a certain story about himself. Ed's constantly telling stories about himself or acting out stories told by others about him, and even he doesn't really know which of these stories are true and which are false. He barely understands who he is, let alone what stories he wants to be telling. So, extending that logic, is the story he told Stede about not killing anyone as fragile as the story he and Stede have been telling together?

For Stede, the answer to this is actually no. Stede trusts Ed and Ed's 'strength,' rather more than he should sometimes. And Stede's opinion of Ed doesn't actually change after the story of the burned ship.

Jack's ideal outcome would probably have been for Stede to be the one who broke up with Ed. But although he does hone in on a failure of communication between Stede and Ed (one of MANY...and for that manner, a failure of Ed's self-awareness), he doesn't actually succeed in disrupting their relationship over breakfast.

But the second time Jack has a conversation with Stede, he does succeed. He rattles Stede with his talk of "dalliances," of careless sexual relationships, directly implying that any bond Stede thinks he's developed with Ed is fleeting. And then he says the quiet part out loud: Ed isn't who you think he is.

Stede doesn't really get what's going on here, but he knows he doesn't like it. So, he retreats. He tries to go back to the ship without talking to Ed at all. When he does try to explain why he's leaving, he plays into Ed's narrative that Stede and he don't belong in each other's lives.

Stede does well telling Ed how he feels, but he makes a mistake when he tells Ed he doesn't like who Ed is right now. He's openly doing the same thing Jack's been subtly doing: telling Ed "this is who you are." Stede means it as "this is who you are in this situation," but Ed isn't aware of the fragility of his own identity. Or of how much he's changed since his time with Jack.

So here Ed is again, with the idea that he's "a certain kind of person," and there's nothing to be done about it.

And then, everyone gets tested. A point of fragility is exposed, a vulnerability is attacked and destroyed.

And then everyone has to decide how they'll react. Whether they'll tell Jack's story, or their own.

Most of the crew gets through the test. Buttons holds to his truth, keeping glaring at Jack until he's off the ship. Stede gives Jack the boot, to the protest of absolutely no one. The crew don't even think about taking Jack's bait of mutiny when he asks them to come along.

Not so long ago, Stede wouldn't have been able to be this assertive. He would have bullshitted and made a speech, he would have wavered under Jack's glare. And the crew who first got on the Revenge wouldn't have been upset by the killing of a bird. They've changed. Their stories are strong enough to get them through this test.

But Ed fails.

For Ed, Jack's stories have given him a simple, easy, and narrative to regress into: he's a certain kind of person, who doesn't belong on the Revenge. His and Stede's relationship was always fragile and doomed. After all, it was based on pretense and lies.

And at the same time, another fragile story is being exposed. Back at Jackie's, Jim is facing the fact that the monsters of their childhood weren't exactly 'monsters.' those men were dumbass bastards, and if they keep chasing each murderer down they'll wind up as worn down as Jackie. And Jim doesn't really even want to be telling this story, either.

Back at Blind Man's Cover, Ed is faced with a bit of whiplash. He thinks he's here because this is the 'strong' story, this is who he really is. But he only went with Jack after an emotional appeal!

The next morning, Ed's clearly unhappy with what's happened. Because like Jim, Ed doesn't want to tell this story. And after an episode of yes-anding Jack, of protesting an then complying, he finally finds his limit when Jack suggests killing Lucius to steal his stuff.

Ed doesn't want to drink his breakfast, engage in careless murder, or treat his relationship with Stede as just another 'dalliance.' So it's not all that big of a surprise when Ed turns against Jack. Because the most important thing turns out not to be whether a story is strong or fragile. It's whether the tellers want to keep telling it.

And Ed finds that he wants to keep telling his story with Stede. That makes their story strong--and it makes Ed strong. Strong enough to face the biggest risk of his life, and go back to the ship without a clue what'll happen next.

And Ed's not the only one with an unexpectedly strong story. Button's madness turns out to have been truth. And his hex is stronger than anyone expected.

It's Jack's stories that turned out to be fragile. The ones that were true were shallow, and the ones that seemed 'strong' were lies that fell quickly away.

The episode ends with the crew captured, the English triumphant. But for now, at least, the chain isn't broken. And that means the stories are still being told.

[celluloidbroomcloset]

(This leads on from these two posts, in order: here and here )

To go back briefly to Stede's masculine presentation - his outward performance of queerness mirrors his inward experience (I'd argue that in Season 1 he's not aware of this, but that's another post). From what we see of his childhood and his treatment by the Badmintons, his difference has been a source of torment, both at the hands of others and of himself. He's not "manly" enough, and he's internalized that feeling without fully comprehending why. This could easily get warped into toxicity, with him attempting to prove that he is manly enough by forcing himself into the "real man" role insisted on by his father and the Badmintons. And maybe he has done that, at some point, and been ridiculed for it, much as he's initially ridiculed about his attempts at piracy. Regardless, when we meet him we meet a closeted gay man, so repressed he's likely unaware of his own repression, who is also both unwilling and incapable of suppressing at least his outward expression.

Stede's queerness almost immediately affects those around him. He embraces and encourages emotional expression in others, perhaps in part as a result of being told that his own emotional expression was unacceptable. His care for his crew manifests in encouraging them to be creative - he brings them together with the flag making competition, and throughout the show he treats them with kindness and support, in all their idiosyncrasies. He encourages them to talk about their feelings and what they want to do, and gives them space to do it in. As a result, they feel safe enough to express themselves in increasingly open ways - as Jim removes their beard and nose, Wee John begins to knit, Lucius draws his crewmates naked, etc.

Stede not only doesn't insist on his crew performing categorical gender or sexual roles, he doesn't seem to even think of those roles as relevant beyond the individual. It doesn't matter that Buttons is in love with the sea; he's a good first mate, and his love is a part of who he is. It doesn't matter whether Jim is male, female, or nonbinary; they are a total badass, and a valued member of the crew, and their gender identification is a part of that. A man whose self-presentation has been ridiculed and derided his entire life doesn't even think about deriding others. It doesn't occur to him as a thing he could or should do.

It's very important that this is not about Stede being oblivious to gender or sexuality (or race or class), but quite simply not considering hierarchies and power structures something he needs to police or enforce. He creates a safe space for his crew, and he's aware and defensive of it when that space is violated - by the English, by Izzy, and by Calico Jack. The result is a crew who love him deeply - who shock Chauncey by their loyalty - and who miss him when he's gone. They want to protect him; the one time Lucius lashes out at Ed in Season 1, it's because he sees how hard Stede is trying and is furious that Ed is being a dick about it. Stede is flawed and complicated, and as Lucius says, a bizarre little man, but he's loved in part because even his flaws come from a place of emotional vulnerability and openness.

This is extraordinarily important for what happens in Season 2 with Izzy. Following the events on the Revenge and the "murder" of Ed, Izzy is completely unmoored. He's lost his leg, but he's also lost his identity, at one point staring at himself in the mirror and asking what he even is. He staggers around the ship drunk, shouting at the headless unicorn, swearing at the crew, his leg literally breaking under the weight of his anger. He does not expect sympathy or love; he even wants Stede to lash out at him when Stede discovers Ed's death. He's lost all power. If Blackbeard no longer exists, what does that make Izzy?

Izzy has existed within a masculine hierarchy in which his power is dependent on his maintaining his place within it. He is Blackbeard's first mate, he knows his job, and he will do it even if Ed doesn't want him to. Stede threatens that position by his fluidity and his soft masculinity, and not playing by the rules that Izzy has been governed by (likely his entire life). Izzy initially wants to control Stede's emotions too - he tells him not to cry, then asks him to "do your worst." But Stede still declines to play the game - he's not going to burst into tears. He's not going to fly into a rage. He won't fill the role Izzy wants him to. Now Izzy has "lost" according to his own rules - he's been rendered impotent and nameless, without even Stede's anger to push back against.

But Izzy is not therefore abandoned, and Stede's ethos has so permeated the crew that they set aside their own trauma to help someone in greater need. Their project of making Izzy's new leg takes an object that he had expressed identification with - the unicorn - and applies their collective love and creativity to refashioning it for him, as a support. It's a near repeat of the first episode's flag making competition, though this time Stede himself is physically absent as a driving force.

The crew's collective effort isn't an imposition of love, but an offering of it - it's up to Izzy whether to accept it or to continue to descend into the horrors of his "broken" masculinity. Izzy first identifies himself with the broken unicorn (an "impossible" animal that has historical and cultural resonance for the LGBTQ+ community) and then accepts the crew's offer and voluntarily makes it a part of himself. It is an acceptance not just of the love of the crew, but an integration of queerness - the ethos that he tried so hard to belittle and reject as "unmasculine" - into his masculine presentation. No one else sees his brokenness as shameful, and he takes the first steps into breaking free of the shame he and the broader hierarchy of masculinity has imposed on him. This may be the first time that we see Izzy give a genuine smile and cry tears not associated with pain.

Izzy doesn't suddenly stop being the person he is. He still swears, he still insults the crew (with a loving "cocksuckers"), he still mocks Stede, he still wears leather and prides himself on his physical skills. But he begins to open up, to step outside the hierarchy he has so intensely and painfully tried to adhere to, to break the rules that toxic masculinity has imposed on him.

(I'll go into the final point of the arc and Izzy's acceptance of Ed and Stede's relationship later.)

[cacartoon]

Ok I had to write this out before I forgot because I was rewatching the Octonauts episode where Calico Jack is in the Amazon and it’s super cute and sweet and I almost cry every time Kwazii and Jack have their sweet grandfather and grandson moment and something just went off in my head.

Calico Jack, legendary pirate, is the grandfather of Kwazii.

GRANDFATHER

This means that sometime in the past, Calico Jack had a family. He met someone, had a child of his own, then that child had Kwazii.

Now what I think would be a fun headcanon idea is this: Who were Kwazii’s parents?

Basically explaining and theorizing who was the child of Calico Jack (aka this child would be Kwazii’s mom or dad) and what exactly happened to them.

Because it’s funny to think about how close Calico Jack and Kwazii are in the Octonauts universe #bestgrandpagrandsonbond and yet neither of them talk about that one generation of their family that separates them. Not once to my knowledge did Calico Jack ask about Kwazii’s parents and Kwazii never brings them up or even asks Calico Jack about them.

So, who are they? Where are they now? Why don’t Kwazii and Calico Jack talk about them?

My personal thought/ headcanon is this:

Many years ago before the Octonauts and the Amazon Adventure; there was a young swashbuckling pirate cat who sailed the seas. His name was Calico Jack. He had begun to get quite the name for himself among other pirates that sailed the sea. One day, when he was at port gathering supplies for his next great pirate adventure, he met someone. It was another cat who was working at the port. Calico Jack was amazed by the beauty of this cat. This cat would help other sailors and pirates with their supplies while hearing the epic tales of treasure hunts and battles on the open water. Calico Jack decided to share his own tales of adventures one day and his fantastical tales left this lady in awe. She asked more about his pirate adventures and soon the two began to form a bond. She’d wait at the docks for Jack, ready to hear more stories and talk before he set sail once again. Soon, the two cats fell in love. (Whether they married or not isn’t too important but for simplicity I’ll say they did) Eventually Calico Jack invited the girl to join him on his adventures and she happily agreed, ready to sail by his side as they hunted down treasures.

As time passed the two lived happily, and now had a new member part of their pirate crew. (I don’t think it matters too much whether he had a son or a daughter so I’ll keep it neutral). Calico Jack was very happy. He had a beautiful lass, a wonder kid, and the entire world to explore with them. As they traveled, Calico Jack taught his kid all the pirate ways of life. His child was very invested in their father’s tales of monsters and treasure and loved the pirate lessons, but as they grew up they began to drift away from pirate life. Not long after so did the lady Calico Jack loved. She wanted to truly settle down and spend her life with her family. Calico Jack, wanting to make his family happy, helped them get settled in a place where they could spend their lives together. While his family was happy and content with this, Calico Jack still longed for the sea and continued his adventures. He always made sure to return home for some time and told his family of his adventures. While not the most ideal, it made him happy and his lady only wanted him to be happy.

Time passed and soon Calico Jack’s kid grew up and found someone of their own. Not long after, Kwazii was born. Calico Jack was thrilled by his first grandchild and enjoyed being a grandpa. He began adventuring less to stay back and be there for his family. He would help out with baby Kwazii and would tell him stories as well about the pirate adventures he’d have. Kwazii loved these stories and the pirate life. As Kwazii grew, Calico Jack kept little treasures of his family adventurer and was reminded of his love for adventures. He longed for his pirate days again. He also wanted Kwazii to be proud of the pirate he was made out to be, and there was one treasure he hadn’t found that he was sure Kwazii would love; the Hidden City. One one of his adventures Calico Jack found half of a medallion that had a map to this hidden city. While of course he couldn’t take a literal kitten on a dangerous adventure to the Amazon, he wanted to find the city and tell Kwazii all about it. So with a final goodbye, Calico Jack sailed off with his parrot Pete to find the city. Unfortunately, the rainy season caused this adventure to turn sour, and Calico Jack was stranded in the Amazon.

Time passed and Calico Jack was presumed to be lost forever. This hurt Calico Jack’s lady and child very much; they were not happy with him leaving like that and now he was gone. But a little Kwazii was barely old enough to remember his grandfather, and he began to miss him. Seeing how much he cared for his grandpa, Calico Jack’s child would continue to tell the tales of their father and kept the pirate spirit alive within Kwazii.

Time passed on. Calico Jack’s lady and child were long gone (whether they eventually moved away or passed is up to interpretation) and a grown Kwazii held onto the stories and faded memory of his lost grandfather. Kwazii had his own pirate adventures, wanting to be just like his grandpa, and eventually would join the Octonauts. Now Kwazii has great sea adventures all the time. In the Amazon, Calico Jack fought to survive. He wanted to find the hidden city, but more importantly he wanted to see his family. He knew what mattered more than treasure in the moment, was that we stayed alive so he could see his family again. And fate would be on his side as his only grandchild would find the other half of the medallion and would help him find the hidden city, allowing Calico Jack’s mission to be complete and for his adventures to continue. Only now, he has the grandson he loved dearly.

Of course Calico Jack would’ve learned his lady and child were gone (again up to interpretation how) and was very disheartened. But having Kwazii definitely was a moment of happiness and he never let that love go. Now Kwazii and Calico Jack travel to world together and have adventures while checking islands in case any disappeared.

Ok ima go to bed now