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bemusedlybespectacled · 11 months

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re: Jenkins' tweets about how Buttons is a witch and there's no show without Izzy, IMO there are three possible ways to interpret that:

He's being cryptic because he in fact has no intention of resurrecting Izzy (outside of maybe being a guilt ghost, like Nigel) and is trying to mollify the fans.

He's being cryptic because he wants to keep his options open in the event that he does resurrect Izzy somehow.

He does actually plan to resurrect Izzy, via Buttons' sea witch magic or something similar.

I think it's #1, at best #2, because I think him resurrecting Izzy would cause more narrative problems than it solves.

Longer explanation under the cut:

So, okay, Buttons being kinda magic was hinted at throughout season 1 but, importantly, it was never actually confirmed one way or the other.

The fact that he can identify ships on the horizon as Spanish with his naked eye when Izzy needs a telescope could be proof of sea witch powers, or he could just have good eyesight and/or guessing ability.

His ability to talk to birds could be a legitimate skill, or it could be a figment of his imagination, like ghost!Nigel is for Stede.

The hex he puts on Calico Jack could be real, especially since Calico Jack gets hit by the cannonball after Olivia has her standoff with him... or it's a complete coincidence.

Even in season 2, we never actually see him transform: he walks off into the woods, the bowl falls on the ground, and we hear a seagull, but we don't actually KNOW he's turned into a seagull. There's no Swan Princess-esque transformation scene here.

The same ambiguity is present in the curse episode. It's never confirmed one way or the other whether the curse is real, because that ambiguity is part of the point (i.e. "it doesn't matter how you feel about it, Stede, you need to validate your crew's experiences and not be a selfish ass").

So say Jenkins ends up leaning hard into the magic thing, makes it explicit and unambiguous, and ressurects Izzy. That opens up a whole host of new problems for him, like:

If magic is real, what are the rules? How does it work? What can it do? What are its limits?

Who else in this world knows about it? Obviously Auntie does, but it doesn't seem like Zheng or anyone else does: why?

If it is known by other people, how well known is it? Why do so many people (like Stede and Izzy) not believe in it?

Who else in this world is magic? It can't just be Buttons, since he needed the scroll to turn into a bird and that presumably came from some other magic user.

How much of what we've seen is magic and not plot convenience/rule of funny? Are the Loony Toons physics magic? Is the ship staying afloat despite no one knowing how to sail magic? Is the characters' ability to row anywhere they want, including places they do not know or even have a reason to try to find in the first place, magic?

And, the most important one: if magic exists in this universe, and people know about it and believe in it, and if it's been underpinning the story this entire time, why does Izzy need to be resurrected at all?

I'm not saying these are insurmountable questions Jenkins has no way of answering. But they are questions he would start having to answer, which is not only a lot more work but also very easily verging into the ridiculous if not handled well. It's an incredibly difficult needle to thread. Like, even if he's not slapped with (honestly, valid) accusations of trying to do a do-over because of fan pressure, he's going to be veering off in a direction that is way more difficult to write in a way that feels authentic and satisfying and not forced.

And I currently don't trust him to handle it well! Since we just saw how well he handled killing off a main character and navigating the cast's romantic relationships, which are both way less complex in terms of world-building!

Fanfiction can absolutely handle this. The OFMD fandom has already picked up the magical realism ball and ran with it, which is one of the things I like about the show: a lot of tropes that are often kind of jarring to me in certain fandoms (not just magic in a world with no magic, but certain whump and angst tropes that sometimes feel a little overwrought) aren't jarring here, because there's some basis for it in the canon. Like, the fandom has already written a lot of stuff more complex and better understanding of the universe's rules than the S2 finale (even, dare I say, much of the second season in general).

But Jenkins and the writers team right now? Nah.

#our flag means death #izzy hands #ofmd meta #ofmd s2 #ofmd spoilers #ofmd s2 finale complaining #ofmd critical

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lady-divine-writes · 7 months

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Our Flag Means Death - "Metamorphosis - Chapter 3/3"

Summary:

After Edward leaves with Calico Jack, Stede makes a decision that changes the course of their story... Otherwise known as - what if the lighthouse were to become the Kraken?

Read on AO3.

Chapter 3 (3221 words)

"Olly olly oxen free," Izzy calls, swinging a leg over the rail of the burning ship. "Where the fuck do you all be?"

"Yeah...where are they? There are two dinghies down below. Someone should be here." Edward scans the ship for signs of life but only sees fire and smoke. More smoke than this amount of fire justifies. It hangs thick in the air, barely budged by the ocean breeze. It burns Edward's nostrils, makes his eyes water, and obscures his vision. Blackbeard's fingers fumble at his neck as he covers his nose and mouth with the tails of Stede's cravat.

Yes, he still wears the blasted thing. Has this entire time. Each time he thinks he should take it off and be done with it, he finds himself tying it back on.

Tying it tight, like a collar.

Mouths clamped shut for fear of breaking into a fit, Edward's and Izzy's eyes meet, and they silently question their life choices. They've put themselves in the position of prey, waiting for whatever fuckery the Revenge crew may have planned. Edward, for one, only has himself to blame.

But Izzy can blame Edward.

"Do you see anything, Izz?"

"No. Can't see nothing through this." Izzy swats at the smoke, fruitlessly trying to clear a path. "What is this fire? It smells like burning shit. I don't like this."

"They should be here by now," Edward repeats. "Their ship was closer than ours."

"Serves us right, believing that fucker." Izzy spits, clearing ash from his mouth. "Do you think it's a trap?"

"Certainly seems like it." Blackbeard subconsciously sucks too big a breath into his air-starved lungs. Soot sticks to the inside of his throat, and he coughs into his fist. It rattles his chest, making his ribs ache. Clearing the ash from his throat leaves an oily tang behind that he can't identify, but it repulses him.

"Oh, God! This ship smells like a rotting horse's ass! Is the smoke getting thicker?"

Izzy dry-heaves into the crook of his arm. "I think...it might be."

"We've got to find cleaner air!"

"Aye!"

They wait for a stiff breeze to blow their way, then walk against it, searching for a pocket of breathable air. They shuffle from unburnt floorboard to unburnt floorboard, which puts them in a recess of hot and oppressive. Fingers of flame break through cracks beneath them, singing the soles of their boots. They soldier on, holding their breath until their lungs feel fit to burst.

The fire eggs them on, erupting to life every time they stop to catch a breath. They sneak underneath the main sail and end up at the helm. The air here is blessedly smoke-free, but they realize too late that they've painted themselves into a corner.

They turn in the direction they came. A stronger wind blows. A swath of smoke clears, revealing bodies ablaze, littering every inch of ground, except for the path paved to where they both stand.

Ending up here wasn't an accident, Blackbeard realizes. Lucius and his minions used burning corpses to force their way. The crew of the Revenge used the dead to create a smoke screen. A step off the trail would have had them treading on bodies.

They were herded here.

Edward has done similar, but with a different fuel. He'd taught that to Stede.

A new nightmare strikes when a resounding bark echoes through the flames, filling Edward with a fear so primal it almost compels him over the side, leaving Izzy to fend for himself. He's confident Izzy would follow, but abandoning ship would make Edward a laughing stock.

He digs his heels in and wills himself not to move.

Footsteps approach, nails scraping the planks with every step, shredding the wood beneath them as if their owner is clawing the ship apart.

Or being restrained from charging.

What variety of beast would be tromping around in this wreckage? Through the smoke and fire, unafraid? And in the middle of the ocean?

Did Lucius send them there to face it?

Maybe that was the angle all along.

Perhaps the captain of the Revenge devised this plan to trap him and Izzy aboard this flaming graveyard, knowing there was some murderous fiend afoot - an oddity from distant lands being brought to England for auction that managed to escape its trammel during the melee.

Izzy and Edward stand their ground and reach for their pistols.

"Should we retreat, Captain? Make for the water?" Izzy asks, teeth locked together as he awaits their fate. He half turns in the direction of the rail. Should Edward give the word, Izzy won't need to be told twice.

Edward has to admit that would be the wisest plan, but he can't do it. He can't leave without answers. His questions haunt him and will continue to haunt him every night for the rest of his life.

Slow boot heels follow the scrape, scrape, scrape. Human-shaped silhouettes emerge, putting Edward at ease. These humans could still mean to kill them, but it's a danger Edward knows.

The delegation from the Revenge breaks through the haze. "Hidee ho, neighbors and foes!"

Edward smirks.

Izzy groans.

That voice again. It means to torment Edward and Izzy for the entirety of this exchange. In retrospect, he should have expected as much.

"What the fawk did we do in life to be plagued by this pain in the arse?"

Edward chuckles. "Do you want the list?"

Izzy blinks in response. "I see your point."

But maybe, Edward thinks, regret wrapping around his heart like a fist and clenching, it's not a plague. Maybe this is the rub.

Is Lucius captain of the Revenge?

It would make sense. Under Stede's charge, she had a competent crew. A handful of them were more than capable of taking the helm in Stede's absence. But he probably trusted Lucius the most.

Aside from himself, once upon a time.

The fist around his heart twists, digging nails in.

Edward's thoughts derail as three familiar faces come into view: Oluwande, Ivan, and Fang. Fang pays them no mind, meandering through the carnage and looting bodies led by the stockiest hound Edward has ever seen.

Edward wondered where Ivan and Fang had gone off to. Part of him believed Stede had dropped them off at Republic of Pirates at their request. Stede wasn't the sort to maroon them without a boat and provisions. From there, he figured his men would search him out, beg to be members of his crew again.

Apparently, they got a better offer.

"Traitorous snakes," Izzy hisses.

"Traitor to who?" Ivan asks. "Captain left us on the Revenge. Or did you not remember we were there while you went paddling off with Calico Jack?" He shakes his head, genuinely heartbroken. "We were rooting for you, too."

"I'm sorry, lads," Blackbeard starts, "but I..."

"Save it." Fang reaches into his pocket and hands his dog a bone that looks suspiciously like a human finger. "Besides, we don't see it as us being traitors. We see it as a strategic career change."

"How's that?"

"We leveled up," Ivan says. "We get three squares a day and two desserts, our own private quarters, generous pay, vacation time, and incentives."

"And he lets us have pets," Fang adds. "Oh..." He gives the beast at his feet, tail wagging hard enough to shake the boards, an apologetic look. "I mean, companion animals."

"That's right. Plus, captain ain't a self-centered dick."

"Where is your captain?" Izzy asks. He hasn't come to the same conclusion Edward has. But he's had enough of this tea-party chatter. If he doesn't run someone through soon, he's going to gut himself.

"On his ship. We're to bring you over."

Blackbeard and Izzy bristle. They don't like that. The change of plans and being brought aboard an enemy vessel? That sounds an awful lot like capture. "But I thought we were to meet here."

"That was a test," Oluwande explains. "To see if it would only be the pair of you. If you'd come over with more men, we would have sunk your ship."

"Right." Izzy snorts. "If memory serves, you only have a diplomatic handful of cannons."

Lucius's smile coils into the diabolical. "We've upgraded. You'll see when we get over."

"And if we don't?" Izzy asks.

Lucius shrugs. "Sinking your ship is still an option. But at least you have a spare." He opens his arms wide. "We'll let you have her. On the house. For old time's sake." He backs away toward the rail, gesturing to the simmering vessel they're standing on. "Have fun captaining this floating fireplace before it sinks."

Izzy and Blackbeard share a skeptical glance, but realizing they have no choice, they reluctantly follow, retreating down the ladder and climbing into Lucius's dinghy just as the wood above them catches flame. It flares up so brightly that, for a flash, the night above them turns into day.

"That was a close one, wasn't it?" Lucius says sarcastically, betraying the fact that he knows something, maybe even a whole host of somethings, that Edward and Izzy don't. Blackbeard is desperate to discover the secret behind Revenge and her captain (who he is still convinced is Lucius), but the stakes climb higher every second.

***

Blackbeard has never heard the term 'upgrade' before. If it means 'armed to the teeth', then that's what the Revenge is, her hull lined with additional cannon ports, the wooden slats open, ready to fire. She looks like a deadly skeleton of her former self. Edward has no idea how they managed to add so many and keep the ship from leaking during every storm.

"That's new," Edward says under his breath.

"It is," Lucius condescends. "I thought it was a little much when Captain first commissioned them. But they've made life much more comfortable."

"How's that?" Izzy asks. "You can't fuck ' em."

"That sounds like quitter talk." Lucius leans down to pinch Izzy's cheek. If looks could kill, Lucius would have been eviscerated. But Lucius no longer struck Izzy as a man who could be cut easily. And neither does he wither. "Nah. With our new accessories, no one is stupid enough to fuck with us."

***

Deja vu slices Edward like a saber to the flank as he climbs the ladder of the Revenge. He instantly recalls happier times he had here. Times he and Stede spent together.

Times he spent with her crew.

As he finally begins to accept that there is no Stede anymore, that's the thing that hurts the most.

He has estranged himself from people he began to think of as friends.

Specters of the past flood his sight as he steps on deck: him teaching Stede to swordfight; them sharing marmalade and biscuits in the crow's nest; him, Stede, and the crew eating dinner under the moonlight, singing, laughing, and, in general, acting merry.

Stede telling Edward he wears fine things well before Edward threw caution to the wind and kissed him.

Well...almost.

He couldn't that night. But in his memories, he does. And it's the most glorious kiss of his life.

Amidst the merry, Edward thinks on that horrible night when he chose Jack, and whoever the fuck Edward thought he was, over Stede.

Revenge, like most ships, keeps her shadows close, carries them with her wherever she goes, especially where her captain is concerned.

There isn't a plank of the Revenge that wasn't touched by a memory of Stede Bonnet.

At Blackbeard's arrival, the vultures gather, flooding the deck to see the show. Newcomers to the crew make way for the old timers. They walk beneath Edward's nose to make their presence known, some spitting on his boots as they march past. It amazes Ed that the Revenge managed to not lose a single member of her original troupe. That alone is a feat. There they stand, lined up on the deck like the last time he saw them. Except this time, they're dressed to the nines. They're stronger, vastly more capable, mostly grit and less shine.

And not a single one of them looks happy to see him.

Blackbeard's crew has changed several times over in as many years. Many of them were dead - people whose names he'd never bothered to learn for that reason.

The life of a pirate is brutal...and short.

Edward takes in the new faces, wonders who hired them.

What Stede would think of them.

Whoever hired them knows their stuff.

"Captain on deck!"

The booming voice of Buttons calling everyone to attention sends a chill up Edward's spine. Anxiety rips through his core, wraps its thorny arms around his torso and squeezes hard. There was a time when he could see the Revenge as his home, the flagship of a new and different fleet, with Stede by his side at the helm.

Now, Edward feels like he no longer belongs.

And the Revenge without Stede is just a ship.

The sound of uneven steps behind them causes Ed and Izzy to turn.

Let's get this over with, Edward thinks, ready to face whatever comes his way.

Or so he thought.

Edward and Izzy have the same reaction when they spot the person walking up to them.

"The fuck...?"

Because, like Revenge on the high seas, it can't be. It just...it can't be.

Shrewd eyes gaze back at them, eyes that Edward remembers being soft and kind. But they look like eyes he's seen in the mirror.

The eyes of a killer.

Edward's lips tremble. "St---Stede?"

Stede crosses his arms and grins. It's a clever grin, albeit slightly unhinged. "Well, well, well." His eyes bounce from captive to captive in a manner calculated and cold. "Who do we have here? Izzy Hands?" Stede scoffs. "How on earth are you still alive? And you..." He stops in front of Edward, close enough for Edward to reach a hand out and touch him. And God, does Edward want to touch him, if for no other reason than to prove he's real. "Is it Blackbeard? Or Edward Teach?"

"What's the difference, Captain?" Lucius asks, talking about Ed as if he isn't standing right there in front of him.

"Well, Lucius, one has balls. The other..." Stede pulls a face "...not so much."

Laughter rises up from the crew. Izzy, standing to his captain's right, seethes. Edward gives Stede a brazen once-over, less concerned with being mocked than his first mate. Stede, like every member of his crew, is dressed in a rich suit of mourning black. The only accessory out of place is the belt slung low around his hips. Hanging from it are a knife and three guns.

Three guns? Really? That's just overkill!

Though, at the moment, Blackbeard wouldn't kick a second gun out of bed if offered, not to mention a third.

"What the hell happened to you, Stede?"

A hefty object wallops Edward in the belly, doubling him over. "They call him The Gentleman Pirate!" a newer member of Stede's crew growls. "You would do well to do the same!"

Izzy moves to attack the person who struck Edward, but three swords pointing at his neck put him in his place. He would give his life for his captain, but getting his throat slit doesn't guarantee Edward's safety.

Ed doesn't stand upright straight away, too overwhelmed by his current circumstances. There doesn't seem to be one person on Stede's crew awestruck by Blackbeard's presence, no signs that they would consider surrender.

Is there even a white flag onboard Stede's ship?

Where were these people ten years ago? Maybe life would have been different if Blackbeard had found more sailors who weren't afraid of him.

Edward doesn't address the pirate who hit him. He looks straight at Stede, eyes steely with disillusionment. "You're no gentleman. Not anymore."

"Says who? You?" Stede huffs. "I don't think you have the authority to judge."

"Wait...if you're here, who did they hang?"

Stede holds out a hand to Ivan and makes a 'give me' motion with his fingers. Ivan obediently hands something over, but Edward doesn't see it till it's tossed at his feet.

A whip.

Edward's eyes nearly pop from his skull.

"You really don't keep tabs on old friends, do you? But, then again, pirates don't have friends."

"That's...that's impossible," Edward says as Ivan collects the whip, obviously his now.

Stede cocks a brow. "Why? Why is it impossible?"

"They would have known he wasn't you," Blackbeard says, choosing his words carefully. "Calico Jack was infamous. People knew him from a mile off."

"Probably from the stench of alcohol and failure," Olu suggests. Those who remember the man snicker. The remaining crew joins in when they realize this could be a sore spot for Blackbeard.

"Yes, well, it may have been difficult to discern his features with his face burned beyond recognition..." Stede grins as he watches Edward go pale beneath his beard. "And his tongue cut out," he adds, sealing the shock. "By the by, I did that myself. I didn't source it out."

"Jesus fuck," Edward mutters.

"Oh, you're right about his notoriety," Stede continues, not caring a lick about Edward's disgust. Regretfully, it doesn't fill him with the pride he thought it would. "If I had handed him in for being Calico Jack, I would have received a much larger bounty than I did for turning him in as little old me. But the new life, the anonymity, are worth so much more."

Edward shakes his head. What the fuck happened? They'd only been apart what? Three years? Five? "This isn't you, Stede! You know that!"

And like the snuffing of a flame, Stede's expression goes dark. "How the fuck would you know? I wasn't even human to you! I was your pet, remember?"

A lump forms in Ed's throat. "Wh-where did you hear that?" It's not a question that needs answering. Edward knows where Stede heard it. But if Stede is going to test Edward, he'll test Stede right back. He needs to know there's a smidge of the old Stede Bonnet left in him somewhere. The honor.

The loyalty.

Stede passes the test.

He doesn't sell out a single member of his crew.

"You had no faith in me, no faith in my abilities. Not really," Stede says, unblinking. "You said you'd teach me to be a bloodthirsty pirate. Apparently, the first thing pirates do is run. So that's what we did. You left us, so we left you. Of course, I didn't need you to teach me that." Those words halt him, eyes drifting down to his hands and the dagger he'd been fidgeting between them. "I'd had loads of practice. I left my life, my family, everything I owned to become a pirate. To become like you. This isn't who I was..." He gestures down his body, fingertips skimming the fine fabric of his coat. "It's who I became. Thank you for helping me see the truth." Stede sidles up to Edward, to Blackbeard, with none of the naive charisma Edward loved about him. Stede leans forward, his mouth as close to Edward's ear as he can get without touching him, and whispers in a voice Ed has dreamed about every night since they parted - "Can you see me now?"

#ofmd #our flag means death #gentlebeard #blackbonnet

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sarucane · 11 months

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OFMD Spiral Parallels 5: The Unicorn

Intro: What I love most about how season 2 builds on season 1 of OFMD is the spiral narrative structure. Ground is repeatedly and explicitly re-trod from season 1 to season 2, but in season 2 everything goes deeper than season 1. Meanings are shuffled, emotions are stronger and truer, and transformation is showcased above everything. The first season plucks certain notes, then the second season plucks the same ones--but louder, and then it weaves them together to create a symphony.

---

In the first season of OFMD, the unicorn figurehead on the Revenge is associated with failure. Like Izzy says in season 2, it just doesn't do its job in season 1: it doesn't keep an eye out for danger on the horizon, it doesn't act as a guardian of the crew. It's a failure.

More specifically, the unicorn is Ed's failure. Ed who tried to be this larger-than-life figure in Blackbeard--a mythical monster, a kraken, a unicorn--but just couldn't cut it because he's a person, not a myth.

When Ed first appears on deck of the Revenge, he's clearly lined up as a parallel to the unicorn. What he's doing fits with that visual parallel too: he's looking out at the horizon for what's coming, and he's making a plan to protect the ship accordingly. Except, that plan fails because he's literally ahead, thinking it's a day earlier. The unicorn fails.

The unicorn also fails in episode 7, when the English shoot its head off. Calico Jack lured them in because of Ed, and it's Ed who failed to spot Jack's treachery (to Jack's own surprise).

The thing is, Ed's not as good of a pirate as he used to be. The first time, this is because he's not paying enough attention to the world. He's introduced as completely isolated from everyone but Izzy--of course he didn't notice it was a leap year. The second time, he fails because he's changed. He's become more trusting than he was before, and it makes him a worse pirate. He doesn't belong as captain anymore. It's not good for him or anyone else, as gets played out at the beginning of season 1.

But out of the wreckage of Blackbeard, a new unicorn emerges.

Izzy's association with the unicorn, and with Ed's failures as Blackbeard, is visible even in season 1. He's there when Ed is paralleled with the figurehead, and the unicorn head is blown off because Izzy sold them out to the English. And underneath that is Izzy's failure to understand Ed. He resists engaging with Ed on the "frankfurters" business, even refusing to use the same word to describe the clouds. Then he completely misjudges the situation that resulted in selling Stede out to the English. Ed would rather accept anything than watch Stede die, and Izzy just does not get this. In his own way, he's failed as a figurehead too: he hasn't anticipated what's coming, or protected what's important to him.

In season two, Izzy's fixation on the unicorn is a clear externalization of the self-hatred that drove his earlier suicide attempt. The unicorn didn't do its job, so it lost its head. Izzy didn't do his job, he failed the crew along with both Blackbeard and Edward (he couldn't make Ed be only Blackbeard, he couldn't make Blackbeard be more like Ed, he fed and perpetuated that duality until the paradox nearly destroyed everyone) and now he can barely get around.

Izzy's removal of the unicorn's legs is a form of self-punishment, like his refusal to let anyone help him after he falls and his insistence that "you're born alone, you die alone."

Except then, the crew transform the symbol from failure to rebirth. After all, a unicorn is a mythical creature. It's a story, and in the world of OFMD, stories can damn the unwary--but they can also offer salvation.

The unicorn is transformed from a symbol of forced obligation (the unicorn attached to the ship, Ed trapped in his life as Blackbeard) to decision (the unicorn transformed by collective action, a person choosing who he'll be to the people around him). They repaint it to shine in the dark, and it becomes a physical incarnation of Izzy's second chance--to "do his job," for his crew and his friends. And he doesn't stray from that. He doesn't fail them.

Izzy's out front when he's shot in episode 8, leading the way for the crew just like the unicorn led the way for the ship. Richie (being The Worst) tries to use the unicorn foot against Izzy, tries to transform the symbol back into one of failure. But it doesn't make a difference, because that's not what gets him shot: it's Richie himself who shoots Izzy. And Izzy dies having done his job, that he chose, out of love rather than obligation.

And in the final moments of the episode, the Revenge sets out with a limbless and headless figurehead. Without a unicorn. It doesn't need one: they're going to look out for each other.

And on Stede and Ed's island, the unicorn leg remains as a reminder of the potential for transformation, even from the deepest depths of failure and brokenness.

#ofmd #ofmd s2 spoilers #our flag means death #ofmd s2 #ofmd spoilers #omfd meta

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elapsed-spiral · 2 years

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OFMD fic recs (2022)

I've been thinking about compiling a fic recs list for a while but I have this slight problem where I never bookmark anything, I just assume I'll remember the titles of things I like and mostly I don't, because my memory is bad. It's not a great system tbh.

So, here's a very incomplete list of Flag fics I enjoyed in 2022. Everything is Ed/Stede save where I’ve stated otherwise.

baby, would you find that so odd? by @eluciferate (T): I think about the last paragraph of this fic often, it's beautiful.

but that's none of my business by @chaotic-neutral-knitter (T): I wish I'd had this idea, it's so simple but so funny and well executed.

teeth marks by morian (M): my weakness is Ed POV angst fics and this may be my favourite. It's a reunion fic with a great premise, packs a massive emotional punch and their eventual forgiveness of one another feels earned. I really enjoy how Stede is written in this.

all you left me was a pearl by JustStandingHere (M): there's dialogue and ideas in this fic which I am confident will be better than those that actually make it into season two - sorry Mr Jenkins. The best reunion fic I've read, really in keeping with the show, which I appreciate.

late night talking (Stede/Lucius) / played it so nonchalant (Stede/Lucius/Ed) by ephemeralgrime (both E): possibly my absolute favourite fic(s) in the fandom. So funny, well written and convincing. Stede apologising for how strong he is during sex by explaining that he got into cycling after his divorce… unparalleled characterisation.

love me by the hour by getmean (E): love the rich, sensual writing style and how the pair of them are absolutely obsessed with one another.

Transformative Work by @mia-ugly, @pinehutch (E) (variations on Olu/Frenchie/Jim): I don’t understand how anyone can write anything this clever, to be honest. It feels like a well earned victory lap of a fic. The most interesting Frenchie characterisation I’ve come across.

caught in a waking dream by whatkindofman (E): I love this look at how class issues have shaped Ed. I am always coming back to the heart wrenching part where Stede asks what fantasies of romance Ed had when he was young and Ed thinks about how he and his mother would lie in bed at night, waiting for “her husband” to return.

Wayfaring by JustKeepTrekking (E): one of the first longer Flag fics I read and really enjoyed. Who doesn’t love a well written desert island fic?

Haunt You Down by @yeats-infection (E): I normally need a happy ending to my Flag fics but I make an exception for fics this good. Brilliant premise, OCs you care about, great humour mixed with devastating angst. This should have ten times the reads.

we were the same by @focusfixated (E) (Ed/Jack, Ed/Izzy, Ed/Stede): another in the handful of devastating fics I've really enjoyed. The Ed/Jack chapter is absolutely my favourite flavour for that pairing. The Ed/Stede is especially affecting, with a unique take on their reunion.

damage ensued and tabloid news by @eluciferate (E) (Mary/Ed): Mary and Ed have hot sex where they play around with gender while waiting for that Steve guy to show up or whatever. Brilliant, ten more of these please.

to his bones by wrizard (E): it's between me and god, how many times I've read this. Heed the tags, this won't be for everyone.

#what I'm taking from this is if you give your fic a lowercase title it's one of those box propped up with a stick style traps for me #Ofmd #Our flag means death

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brigdh · 1 year

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Absolutely obsessed with the wording on Ed's cringe break-up* tattoo, because I've been saying for AGES that it's all about trust for Ed.

*it's actually irrelevant to my theory if it's new or if he's had it for decades, I just love the idea of the tattoo being one of his ill-advised choices in the wake of Stede.

Because Ed very much has been looking for someone to trust, has been wanting to trust, and has not been letting himself trust anyone. Until Stede. (As a side-note, I don't think Stede actually did anything in particular to prove himself trustworthy; I think Ed has a fetish for rich people where he assumes their relationships are all fine things good and healthy and that got projected onto Stede.)(Okay, I guess Stede did do some things – he sees Ed vulnerable at the rich nobs party in ep 5, he sees Ed vulnerable in the bathtub in ep 6, and both times he doesn't take advantage but instead protects Ed. But we're still left with the question of whether Ed has really never once met someone who would do the same, or whether Ed has just never let himself be vulnerable in front of someone before, and Stede gets that opportunity because he's the gentleman pirate.)

When he's crying in the bathtub, Ed says he doesn't have any friends, and 'friend' seems to be a loaded term in pirate-world: Calico Jack laughs at the possibility. Specifically, Calico Jack says pirates don't have friends because they're always fucking each other over. I do think Ed and Izzy have a level of intimacy, but Izzy doesn't hesitate to sell Stede out to the British, and Ed doesn't seem particularly surprised or angry over it. There's one punch and then the next time he sees Izzy it's just 'make me tea' and 'check out my blanket fort'. The whole betrayal blows over like it's just another Thursday.

And I think it basically is business-as-usual, in pirate society. That's just how the game is played, and that's fine, Ed can play better than anyone. But nonetheless I think Ed wants someone who he can count on not to betray him.

And he thinks he has that with Stede. Ed puts his walls down. He stops constantly protecting himself. And when Stede abandons him it hits him harder not just because he's never been open enough to be hurt before, but because it's a shock. Stede was supposed to be Ed's one safe, trustworthy friend. Instead it turns out the world really is just full of bastards.

Trust no one.

#ofmd S2 spoilers #our flag means death #meta

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finethingswellworn · 11 months

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Stede's arc is hitting me so hard.

Because of course. Of fucking course this would happen. It was almost inevitable and the inevitability is crushing me.

Stede has spent his whole life being mocked for being soft or being written off completely. Never, not once, before he found his crew and Ed, did he receive love, care, or validation from anyone.

We see in Stede's perfect fantasy dream at the beginning of the season what he thinks he needs to do to win Ed's heart, to be a "man." That being your typical macho dudebro shit. Vanquishing Izzy, fighting, impressing Ed with his newfound pirate skills.

Then, he actually manages to get Ed back and he thinks the way to keep him is to be someone he isn't, really, because he still, after all this time, doesn't realize that Ed wants him as he is. Soft, kind, gentle.

As Ed says, Stede appeared to Ed as a sparkly fucking merperson and it was that Stede who saved Ed's life. Not as some great champion but as a weird, ethereal creature of the fucking deep. If Ed wanted someone to fight for him, he could have had his choice years and years and years ago.

But father Bonnet's words are still ringing in Stede's ears, even now. "Soft-handed, lily-livered little rich boy." So when Ed and his crew are threatened, Stede finally has the chance to do something about it. He kills Ned.

Just like when he got rid of Nigel, he's rewarded for it. Except, this time, it's not only by his crew. It's by the whole pirate community. A community that had once laughed at him, thrown drinks on him, humiliated him in every possible way. A community that he'd wanted so desperately to impress for so long.

It might be simple to say that Stede did all this just to impress Ed, and that's certainly a factor in it, but it goes a waaaaay deeper than that. There's a huge part of Stede that wants this, wants to be feared and respected, admired and valued in the way that Blackbeard used to be. He's said it from the first: "If I could only be... like Blackbeard... I'd give all of this away." It's a not-so-secret craving of his, the craving of a man who has been systematically disrespected and ignored his entire life.

"NOTICE ME!"

"SEE ME!"

"Can't YOU TELL I'M DIFFERENT NOW, (even if I've turned my back on everything I am, wrecked all my previous relationships to chase after this new, shiny thing,) SO FINALLY YOU'LL WANT ME, YOU'LL LET ME INTO YOUR CIRCLE."

And they do, for a time. The other pirates actually fucking do.

Oh, the thrill. Oh, the exhilaration. The wave of euphoria of that... it's like a drug. It sweeps everything else aside, everyone else who might love you enough to tell you this isn't who you are or what you should be doing. It whispers sweet, sweet nothings in your ear. Makes you act like a total jackass and everybody's loving it, loving you.

You start thinking: "I can do this. I can really do this. This is the new me. I don't have to be my lame old self who people have always looked down on in disgust or pity or both anymore. What a relief! I can be this cool guy who everyone likes."

Stede doesn't understand that he's doing the exact same thing Ed did with Calico Jack. No, the thrill is too overwhelming for that. He doesn't understand that, if Ed had bothered to stick around longer to talk, he probably would have said: "I don't like who you are around these guys."

It's not that Ed doesn't want Stede to be successful, it's that he doesn't want it like this. He doesn't want to be a pirate at all. He wants to do something simple like run an inn. But Stede's still too high on that recently acquired infamy and validation to notice Ed's discomfort with the situation. Or his own.

Until, all at once, he's in way over his head. He realizes, "Oh shit, I can't do this." He's beaten and battered, rendered pathetic yet again, and the only people who still care for him are the people he started out with. His crew, begging him to plead mercy. Because everyone else has died or left him as soon as he wasn't the toughest one in the room.

And here we leave him, having made a laundry list of mistakes, with everything up in flames and Ed gone. A new low. A hard lesson. But a necessary one.

This fucking show!

#stede bonnet #i’ve only watched the episodes once so forgive me if this is choppy and incoherent #OFMD S2 ep6 spoilers #OFMD S2 ep7 spoilers #OFMD S2 spoilers #our flag means death season two spoilers #our flag means death #our flag means death spoilers #Edward teach

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thelighthouseandthekraken · 1 year

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My thoughts on The Kisses™

a OFMD/Good Omens crossover post

context: @msblueberrybi posted about how some people find the kisses from each show awkward and I responded from my main blog that I have at least 4 thoughts about it, to which msblueberrybi asked me to elaborate

this got long 😅 apparently I had more than 4 thoughts

Although people compare the two shows often, I find them extremely different in many ways so my thoughts will be separated by show. I've also watched OFMD more than GO so my thoughts will be more fleshed out for OFMD.

OFMD

So. First of all, I was so surprised when I found out people didn't like Ed and Stede's kiss. That kiss rocked my world. When I first saw that kiss, I started stimming and smiling and I rewatched it at least 5 times before finishing the episode. It was perfect to me.

I did notice it felt a bit "awkward" but that awkwardness felt like it came from the fact that Stede wasn't expecting the kiss, their mindsets at the time, and they were sitting beside each other on a rock.

Now I think Ed and Stede have kissed people before. Unless Calico Jack was completely lying (possible but I think unlikely), Ed and Jack had some sort of sexual relationship and I expect there was at least some sexy kissing involved.

Stede would have at least kissed Mary. They probably didn't kiss often, but as they had children together and both tried to make the marriage work in their own ways throughout their time, I imagine some uncomfortable kisses were exchanged in their marriage.

The beach kiss would have been the first time they kissed someone that they actually loved. WHICH brings me to my next thought, Stede hadn't accepted that he was in love with Ed yet and his guilt about his family was catching up with him. Ed makes Stede happy, but Stede hadn't accepted that he was even allowed to be happy. Stede gave up his whole life to be happy as a pirate and that got swept away, and his co-captain seems to have accepted defeat, his family thinks he's dead, and his found family is away at sea. Stede has a lot going on in his head when Ed finds him at the beach.

Then his co-captain softly declares that Stede makes Ed happy and kisses him just to be sure his meaning is felt.

Then there’s Ed. Ed says in episode 4 that he's tired of it all. He was so bored and sick of it all that when we first spend quality time with him as an audience, he's okay with dying because at least it's something new. That coupled with his PTSD and being trapped in these cycles of violence, he doesn't see a way out besides killing Stede and stealing his identity or dying himself. In episode 7, he declares that he's not the type to lay idle and he needs a new adventure. The loss of Izzy hit him hard, I think. He feels restless. Lucius calls him out on the fact that he likes Stede and that Stede likes him and if he doesn’t do something about it, he’ll die alone. Edward has been shown to be deeply lonely and yearning for closeness. He is devastated that he doesn’t have friends, he blames himself for it, and he has been shown to cling to closeness through his codependent relationship with Izzy (on full display in episode 10) and his relationship with Calico Jack. (and fair enough, the man’s been through significant trauma. I totally understand why he can’t disconnect from those relationships easily.)

Throughout the show, Ed sees another way in Stede, just as Stede sees another way within Ed. Ed's found a man who wants to do things in a gentler way but will also burn down a ship of assholes for him, and although Stede doesn't always understand the realities of being a pirate, he's shown he can handle himself on the sea in his own ways. (the lighthouse fuckery, burning down the party boat, knowing how to get stabbed, unhand me or bleed)

But in episode 8, he goes with Jack because he’s afraid Stede is “seeing him for who he is” and Edward thinks “who he is” is a monster. When they are reunited, Stede is so happy to see him and be with him, even in the face of death, it shifts something in their relationship, imo.

Once he finds a way to save Stede, he finally has a way out. He had been Blackbeard for so long. Them being somewhere relatively safe, where they are fed and clothed, is a new chance for Ed. He doesn’t have to worry about being mutinied, or Izzy’s opinions, or pirate culture (“we’re all at various stages of fucking each other over”) getting in the way. They don’t have appearances to keep up anymore or crews to manage. And to top it off, he's with Stede. Together. When Ed kisses Stede, he wants it to be clear that he is in love with him. The kiss is a film staple of romantic intention within the romcom/romance genre, so Ed kissing him was him unequivocally showing his love. But Ed is insecure. He doesn’t know 100% how Stede is feeling, so the kiss for Ed is a risk. He was probably nervous as all hell. Stede is the only person (in his mind, I have Further Thoughts about his possible connections with the Revenge crew but that’s for another post) who accepts him for who he is. Stede is his only friend, and that’s a heavy thing for Ed.

I think people are so used to Hollywood perfection in everything that seeing a more realistic first kiss, one that doesn't look as polished as they would expect, makes some people genuinely uncomfortable. They'll see these two middle aged men, who have never had a real friend or been in love with someone who sees them for who they are underneath their facades, kiss each other for the first time, and get uncomfortable with the awkwardness that those experiences could bring.

Good Omens

Now this kiss is different because it is a different genre, different story, different characters. I think the intention behind the kiss is similar from a character perspective. In part, Crowley wants to let Aziraphale know that what he is experiencing is love.

I think Crowley realized over the course of this season that(and how) he loves Aziraphale, and I think the show is making space for that to be another earthly pleasure that the two indulge in that Heaven and Hell don’t understand. There are no canon married couples or romantic partners in Heaven or Hell to my memory. (Gabriel and Beelzebub don’t count because they ran away). This could be another thing that Heaven or Hell could wield against them. Not just loving someone on the opposite side, but loving at all.

To rewind, Crowley is coming from a place of believing that Heaven cannot be changed. There is strong evidence in the show that Crowley has had his memory erased, and its unclear how much he has been able to recover. We know he remembers that he was only cast out for “asking a few questions” but we don’t know if he remembers where in the Holy Hierarchy he sat. I believe he was extremely high up, the Prince of Heaven that The Metatron mentions during Gabrial’s trial. I can’t imagine them telling us that for any other reason, and he was creating the Universe at the start of season 2 so he was obviously high up.

Aziraphale believes that he can fix it from the inside and he knows they can never outrun Heaven. They will always be on guard, and he thinks The Metatron is giving him a way out. I don’t know if Aziraphale actually trusts The Metatron, but Aziraphale is smart. He sees an opportunity, so he takes it.

During their fight, they both are trying to make the other see their side without actually explaining themselves. They are rushed, both of them are panicking, and they are talking past each other. Aziraphale wants to create a Heaven where they can be safe and happy, and yes, he has A Lot to unpack in regards to his attitudes towards angels and demons (Good Guys and Bad Guys). He also wants to avoid a war that will kill humanity, because isn’t that what they fought so hard to avoid in season 1?

Crowley knows Heaven can’t be fixed. (I tend to agree with him but I don’t blame Aziraphale for wanting to try, especially because I doubt they’ll be able to thwart Heaven without their time apart, but I digress) Crowley sees Aziraphale wanting to go to Heaven as a rejection of him and of them. Aziraphale sees Crowley not wanting to come with him the same way.

I think Crowley kissed Aziraphale in an act of desperation but also to ground his feelings in the Earthly realities of their lives. Our ineffable spouses spent much of their existence on Earth, falling in love with it and its inhabitants, they’ve sort culturally assimilated in ways. They both love doing some things “the human way”, Crowley drives his Bentley, they both eat food and drink, Aziraphale learns stage magic and language, and reads books.

Crowley has heard Aziraphale talk about books often, but I think Crowley watches more films than they show us. I may be extrapolating too much, but when Crowley wants to drive Nina and Maggie together, he uses a trope from popular romance movies that he says he saw in “a Richard Curtis film". I am not super educated on his movies, but I’m pretty sure Richard Curtis has made multiple movies where people get rained on and then kiss. I am choosing to believe that Crowley has watched more than one romance film and the big “kiss-to-show-your-love-grand-gesture-at-the-end” is very very common across the board. And he uses it to express feelings he can't seem to get across in a physical way.

This kiss would look terribly awkward, because not only is it coming from a place of anger and desperation, I am firmly of the opinion that neither of them have ever kissed anyone before. Iirc, there is no canon evidence of them having any sort of physical or romantic relationship with anyone, so this kiss would have been their first. Aziraphale is totally overwhelmed because he loves Crowley just as much as Crowley loves him, but he was no way expecting this sort of direct and jarring act. I don’t even think this kiss was fully about love so much as it was about Crowley’s need to express something he couldn’t find the words to express. (Not to mention the storytelling aspect of it, which is making us an an audience sad and uncomfortable so we can inhabit a similar emotional space as the characters are.)

Human life is messy and complicated and not always pleasant. The kiss was an extension of their human-like experiences and life on Earth. A life Crowley wanted to continue but Aziraphale knew was impossible to maintain, with Heaven and Hell keeping such a close watch on them.

I think there was more I could have said but I’ve been writing this post for like 5 hours and I think I’m done now. In short, both kisses were perfect for what they were showcasing within the characters journeys and I will not stand for slander of them thank you goodnight.

#ofmd #our flag means death #ed x stede #good omens #good omens season 2 #good omens spoilers #the kiss

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gayer-things · 1 year

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a conversation i'd love to see more of here is that at the end of S1, when Stede was gone, Izzy tried to push Ed back into being Blackbeard. but it's really important to note that Ed didn't start disappointing Izzy's ideals about Blackbeard when he met Stede. Izzy is really candid with the fact that Ed's been on a downward trend for a while now. He brings it up multiple times and he sees Stede as the death knell, not the beginning of the decline, he's watched Ed deteriorate and he's terrified of the change. He can't recognise that the change Stede brings is better than the decline Ed is having, because he's not ready to accept that change is inevitable. and like, fair enough, right? how many pirates live long enough to change? to *retire*? if you stop being a pirate or become a bad pirate, you die, and his whole life is dedicated to keeping Ed alive.

so when Stede disappears Izzy sees this as an opportunity to try and get Ed back into being *Blackbeard*, who we, the audience, have never actually met. We get snatches of it through Calico Jack and Ed's crew, and we see a burst of it when they trick the Spanish ship and when Ed teaches Stede how to pirate, but we - the audience - don't know Blackbeard in what Izzy sees as his prime.

the Blackbeard we see in S2 is *NOT* the Blackbeard Izzy tried to call back. Izzy acknowledges to Stede that between their actions they pushed Ed into an entirely new space - one that is definitely informed by the Blackbeard of Yore - but one that is fundamentally fucked. from what Izzy says in S1, we know that Ed really likes the showmanship. He likes the fuckeries! he likes doing weird and wild and exciting things and he's really GOOD at them! he's amazing at the plan and the execution, and he's rubbish at the clean up and the day to day - that's where Izzy excels. but this new Blackbeard is not doing fuckeries. there's no panache and fireworks and showmanship, not really. he turns up, he fucks shit up, he takes the stuff, he throws it overboard, he turns up, he fucks shit up-- etc etc.

izzy *doesn't want that*. he can take a bit of the maiming and cruelty, he expects it, that's how it should be in his mind. Izzy has *seen* Blackbeard happy with him, he's seen their roles working out, he wants Blackbeard *to be happy again*. with *him*. and in S2 Izzy knows that neither Ed nor Blackbeard are happy. He takes the punishments, he takes the violence, he protects the crew from this new Blackbeard's cruelty as best he can, and finally - FINALLY - he says it.

"you're miserable. you're making us all miserable. this is wrong."

and he clearly fully understands his part in it. he tries to say to Ed "I know Stede doesn't love you, and you need to be loved to function, but *I* love you, why isn't that enough?" and he tries to say "we can fix this, talk to me, let me help you", and then when he realises that Ed is going to kill himself and the crew in the storm, he says "enough."

and everything - EVERYTHING - he says to Stede after is an "I'm sorry for my part in this, take it out on me not them". he even tries to shield Stede from the realities of what happened. of course Izzy didn't stab up the painting. of course he doesn't expect to be rescued along with the crew.

izzy has come to terms with his part in the breaking of Ed, and he wants Stede to acknowledge his part, too.

and i think izzy has fully accepted that the Blackbeard he knew and loved is long, long gone.

#ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd s2 #suicide tw #our flag means death s2 #ofmd spoilers

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ask-stede-bonnet · 6 months

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ooc: would you ever consider dialing back on Stede's engagement with CJ? he takes up so much oxygen and you interact with him more than with Ed even. it's kind of weird that he's allowed to insert himself into their inkeeper era so much, especially given how Stede responds to people who make Ed feel bad. shouldn't this kind of head canon saved for fic instead?

ooc: no. me and the jack mod are friends and this fun for us. I'm sorry you don't like it (and to some extent I get it... sometimes the threads get wayyyyy too long and lowkey annoying to scroll thru... oops). the ed mod isn't as active so that's why stede interacts with him less on tumblr. off tumblr it's all about that gentlebeard tho babey!! when stede turns off his magic box with tumblr in it, jack ceases to exist for him, do not worry.

this rp just has a gentler take on jack with a slow burn character development arc. ed and jack have already had an arc where jack crossed ed's boundaries, which upset him, and then they worked it out and are now trying to be real friends instead of pirate pseudo backstabby friends.

and isn't this a kind of fic? it's just interactive. there's the different blogs acting as the characters in the story, with y'all sending in asks to prompt things. it's improv fic.

while I am so, so glad to have brought a lot of joy and fun to so many people in this fandom, especially after the news of the cancellation, and then the news of the renewal campaign failure, this is my blog and I'm going to have fun with it as I see fit. I really do try my best to keep stede close to his canon characterization, and I'm sure I've probably done so poorly from time to time. I can even see why the whole jack thing would be ooc for him, but my thoughts behind that is 1) stede's attitudes and beliefs makes people's lives better, and on occasion make people better (izzy), and he sees jack as a challenge, and 2) stede does have a bit of a fuckboy party side a la 2x07, and he can get sucked into things. he's never had a Guy Friendship before, and he 100% felt left out as a kid when all the other boys were fucking around and he was just being relentlessly tormented.

if you don't like this blog, you can unfollow or block it. I don't mind. I'm a big believer in DLDR. you shouldn't sit through posts you don't like. or annoy you or make you unhappy.

I hope this has been a satisfactory answer!

#ooc post

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observethewalrus · 11 months

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finally watching both seasons consecutively and trying to look at Ed’s arc throughout the entire series. Specifically thinking about his feelings about piracy. We all know throughout s2 he’s tired of being a pirate, tired of being Blackbeard, even tried to kill himself because he thinks there’s no way out, no other life for him (there’s a lot more to say about Ed’s attempted suicide and his mental state but I’m just talking about piracy here)

At the start of s1 he’s bored out of his mind, tired of the same old patterns, his reputation is so notorious that there isn’t anything or anyone to challenge him anymore. He comes up with the plan to kill stede and retire, but over the next few episodes I think he’s willing to give pirating another chance as long as he can do it with stede, because stede has made things interesting again. Jack comes along and reminds him of his days of careless, reckless fun before the Blackbeard persona completely took over his life. It’s clearly not all that healthy, but that was his frat boy era, it was a time when being a pirate came with less responsibility that it does now

It’s not until he’s taken completely out of that life and off the ship that he has the chance to step back and think about what he really wants. He’s away from that influence and responsibility and comes to find he sort of likes the routine of folding things, of doing what he’s told. The conclusion he comes to is that he’s happy as long as he’s with stede, they don’t have to go back to pirating, that can have whatever life they want

Even when he’s back on the revenge he doesn’t want to be a pirate anymore. The only thing that made it even a little bit fun anymore was stede and he’s gone, so may as well have a talent show instead! Hard to say what the crew would’ve done in the long term because Izzy came along and convinced Ed that piracy is all he has, it’s the only thing he’s good for, that no matter how badly he wants to be Edward, he’s only meant to be a monster. So he drowns himself in that. He’s going to do it until it kills him. Piracy isn’t about surviving anymore, it’s his punishment for daring to try and be soft and happy, and eventually it’ll be a death sentence

Post-kraken era Ed’s even more tired than he was at the start. He’s got a whole new fresh set of horrible memories to associate with pirating, but stede’s back, maybe pirating can be fun again? Nope! Part of why he panics in ep 7 is because he’s realized he can’t recapture those feelings from when he and stede first met. He’s done with it all, but stede’s career is just getting started. It’s only when he thinks stede’s either already dead or in danger that he falls back on the thing he knows how to be better than anything else. He’s still learning how to let himself be Ed, but being Blackbeard is easy (a lot easier to slip into that persona than it probably was to slip back into wet leathers)

Ed finds it easiest to be himself when he’s physically removed from piracy and everything associated with it, so I’m super interested in peoples’ opinions about the whole innkeeper idea

(I’m not the best as these kinds of posts and I’ve got the show running in the background so I keep getting distracted, I just wanted to lay everything out in a timeline)

#just finished the innkeeper I’ll be crying in the corner if anyone needs me #ofmd #ed teach #just rambling but it helps me mentally sort out how things have progressed #it’s the first time im watching everything all #at once and it’s making a lot of sense

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tasteofdeathao3 · 1 year

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I definitely HC Izzy as teeny-tiny babie boy and looking back after Stede and his crew of little ones become part of Ed’s life Ed can recognize times where Izzy was clearly small and he didn’t treat him well and spends lots of time trying to make it up to Little Iz and trying to rebuild his big and little confidence. Every time Izzy shows emotion or lets himself be small without a fight it’s a victory for Mama and Baba and then one day Izzy is small and Mama has to go read bedtime story to the crew but Izzy just follows and curls up in Stede’s lap sucking his thumb and stays for group story and Ed finally feels like things are right.

I think that living on the Anne would have been entirely different to the Revenge, mostly because Ed and Izzy wouldn't have had the words to name a lot of their thoughts and feelings and wants and needs, let alone the skill to recognise them and do something about it, so Izzy 'regressing' wouldn't really have been a thing.

I think to Ed it would just be that weird way Izzy gets sometimes and to Izzy it would just be the weird times he wants to curl up as small as possible and curl up somewhere warm and safe (definitely not in someone's lap and definitely not with Edward or anywhere near him) and that would just be that.

He definitely did regress, though neither he or Ed really new what it was and didn't really know how to indulge it. Being unable to recognise or understand what was happening, one hundred percent baby izzy went through some messed up stuff. having to deal some serious damage on a raid and not understanding why his eyes are blurring and why his chest his hurting and why he feels so panicked and scared, or even worse, having Ed drunk and yelling at him, not realising he was effectively scaring the shit out of a very little boy.

Once they've been on the Revenge a while, Ed starts hanging around some of the little ones with Stede and starts to click together in his head that Izzy.... also gets like that, and it's not just some weird way Izzy gets sometimes.

Then he realises all the times Izzy was acting weird, all the times Izzy came to sit in his cabin at some point in the night, when Izzy would find him in the belly of a ship they were raiding with his knees all wobbly and his breath coming fast, when he would find Izzy tucked up in the Captain's cabin and would yell at him to get out until he stopped showing up all together (a development during one of his worst benders, where even Jack look worried for him during his visit).

He feels awful, of course he does, and tries desperately to make up with Izzy, who had just assumed that he was just weird and abnormal and that Ed's previous reactions to him were perfectly justified.

Izzy's hesitant to even try regressing, let alone admitting that he likes it and he wants to do it far more than he lets on, but anything Ed wants to do, Izzy will do it - which works wonders for actually getting him to regress, once he realises that Ed is itching to look after him.

slowly, he starts to enjoy it.

he drops younger and younger and then older and older, content to be vulnerable as a young infant or to play complex games invented by Ed when he's feeling a bit older.

He gets used to help, to having his food cut up and his face wiped and being helped washing in the bath and being dressed and helped with toileting and walking until he doesn't feel embarrassed or worried when he needs help or even if he just wants it.

Getting him comfortable being with the other little ones takes little more work, and a lot of patience, but they get there. The odd weekend where both Ed and Stede come down with a terribly contagious cold, Izzy is just fine hanging out on the deck with the little ones and their grown ups, forgetting to be upset in all of five minutes.

Each time Izzy manages to go down without a fight Ed and Stede are beyond elated, and once they get Izzy used to physical affection, every bath without a tantrum and change without kicking whoever's cleaning ends with kisses, from Mama and Baba, all over his cheeks and hair and arms and hands until he's wriggling and laughing so much that they have to help him wind down.

finding things that Izzy enjoys is something Ed prides himself on - finding out that yawning on command makes Izzy giggle like crazy gives Ed a hundred ideas for how to make his little one happy - is something Ed enjoys greatly.

It's pretty early on, in Izzy time, when Izzy takes the initiative to be tiny on deck, tucked up in bed beside Baba and already drowsy when Mama explains he has to go and read a bedtime story on deck. He whines and grumbles as Stede extricates himself from Izzy's tangled arms and legs, and then tugs himself out of Ed's embrace to climb shakily out of bed and latch onto Stede's arm as he leaves the cabin.

Some people look, which Stede had initially been worried about, but the idea of Izzy being a regressor had floated around the ship for a while now and had generally been well accepted, and most of the crew let it be.

Izzy insists on sitting in Stede's lap, meaning Stede has to sit on the floor instead of on his preferred barrel, but Izzy seats himself on Stede's lap and curls against his chest fast enough that Stede doesn't even get a chance to reconsider.

The sight of Izzy - regressed, snuggled into Stede's chest, clinging to a raggedy soft toy, dressed in a flowing oversized nightgown, and suckling on his thumb - is enough to almost bring tears to Ed's eyes as he sits beside them, resting his hand on Izzy's back.

Izzy falls asleep, as he usually does when he's in a position that inconveniences someone else, but Ed doesn't feel the slightest bit put out as he slings Izzy into his arms and carries him to the cabin.

#anon you're so smart I love you #fandom agere #agere #sfw #age regression #ofmd agere #little izzy hands #ofmd regression #cg edward teach #mail 💌

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