#that also means the crew has to stop seeing him as blackbeard and start seeing him as edward like they started doing in e10

[dragonlands]

There's so much negativity around Izzy's death so I wanted to address some of the points I keep seeing thrown around.

"Izzy's death was pointless"

No, he just had his big speech about how basically they can kill him but they cannot kill the movement. That is a clear paraller to a lot of real life protestors of unjustice. He died protecting the community, he died so the community could go on.

"Izzy's death made his healing pointless"

No it didn't. Healing is always good, feeling happiness and belonging are ALWAYS worth it. We never know how long we've got, doesn't mean we gotta stop trying to be better or happier. His healing was still real. It still mattered.

"Izzy's character arc was left unfinished, it's bad writing"

Oh my god. If you open any writing guide about how to write impactful deaths, and the first thing that comes up is to leave some part of their arc unfinished. And his arc did go through quite a beautiful line, sure there could've been more but his story didn't end like, mid arc. As a writer, of course you want to make the audience sad when a character dies. It's good storytelling. Good stories are supposed to make us feel.

"Izzy died on the arms of his abuser"

Where the hell did this idea come from? Ed and Izzy have been in a toxic codependent relationship way before this show started. You could argue that Izzy was Ed's abuser, but that is not the argument I want to make here. Yes, we saw Ed driven to madness shoot Izzy on screen, but we know Izzy's the one that forced him to be Blackbeart when he didn't want it anymore. There's turmoil all around them. But the final moment is them finally meeting as people, not as components of Blackbeard.

"Izzy's death was unnecessarily awful"

His death was sad, yes, but it was quite beautiful as far as deaths go. He was surrounded by family who cared for him. He was loved, and accepted as he is. He knew his legacy will be carried on.

"They killed off the only character that showed us healing is never too late"

Did we watch the same show? That begins with then unhappy 40+ year old Stede deciding it's finally time to reach for his dreams? Where we see Blackbeard slowly gaining back his humanity? Where Black Pete starts off as toxically masculine dude but ends up in a soft gay marriage? Where most of the crew wanted to mutiny but then they realized being soft is good, actually. Jim's whole purpose in life being revenge but them learning to let that go and instead concentrate on love and fun and family. And so on. Izzy's arc is beautiful, but he's not the only person healing who thought it was too late already.

"Izzy's death was bury your gays trope"

No, what, no. In a pirate show where everyobody is queer some queer people will die. Bury your gays is about only having one or few queer characters and killing them off while the straights get their happily ever afters. This is so far from that.

Also, I want people to be aware of the phenomenon, where creators of diverse shows are subjected to more critism than those of non diverse shows. If this intrests you, Sarah Z on Youtube made a great video on it called Double standards and diverse media. Our flag means death has given us so much, queer love story with a happily ever after, finding community, nonbinary character. And the creators have always been so kind to fans, so let's show them tht kindness back. Because critizicing this one aspect can easily turn to seeming like the whole story is just unwanted. That stories like Ed and Stede's aren't worth telling. And I'm so aftraid that will happen, when just now for the first time in years we are finally getting queer stories.

Also, I understand people are sad. I am sad too - Izzy was an amazing character and his death was sad but that's just. Good writing. You can grieve, but trying to turn it into a moral or dramaturgy issue is just not a good look. And attacking the creators of this wonderful show is just horrible.

Remember - this fandom is a safe space ship 🏴‍☠️🏳️‍🌈

[maximwtf]

Request for izzy hands x reader where they were like together while in the navy. They kept their relationship hidden ofc and liked to take risks by giving pda when no one was looking. To keep up appearances with the others, they act like they hate each other. This gets extremely hard for Izzy after reader gets shot in the leg

Izzy Hands x Reader

Words: 3500

Google doc pages: 5,1

Warnings: mentions of smoking and drinking, mentions of blood

Opening: Izzy has asked you to tone down the displays of affection whenever there were other crew members around. This went on for a long time, mostly unnoticed until you got stabbed, and keeping the secret becomes a little too difficult. 

AN// Reader can be any gender! I put these two requests together since I thought they were pretty similar, and changed the shooting to a stabbing, since I didn’t want to make this too angsty (But yall know I live for a bit of drama, always!) I’m also making this a little longer than normally for the sake of there being 2 requests!

“Prove it.”

Ever since you joined the crew, you’d been drawn to Izzy. There was something about him that you liked, even though he seemed to distance himself from the crew quite often. You supposed that had been what caught your eye in the first place, seeing him just watch the others if they were doing something other than working. And you’d only noticed that because you found yourself doing the exact same most of the time. So after observing him for some time, you’d begun to talk to the snappish first mate from time to time. At first he seemed like he’d rather be talking to the seagulls than you, but bothering him long enough proved to be the right thing to do, since he’d started to warm up slowly. Soon he’d even complain to you, which was the most common thing you started hearing from him. By the way he described his job on the ship, it sounded like he saw the rest of the crew as morons. Had he thought of you in the same way and avoided talking to you because of that? Was a common thought you tried not to think of, since at the end of the day, Izzy was quite nice to be around. He’d sometimes share cigarettes with you, and on a good day share a bottle of rum. But even then, after getting this far he still seemed like he was pushing you away. Like his focus was elsewhere, or on someone else. But you tried to put it off as him just being the first mate and having to do a lot of Blackbeard’s work, so he didn’t have time for making buddies. 

When Stede had come along, Izzy started to change. His attitude changed, like his mind had changed course. You didn’t know if it had something to do with Blackbeard and Stede, since you weren’t much educated on their previous relationship. Though, as time passed you started to notice him talking to you a little more than usual. More than usual in this case meaning the normal amount, since the man had practically stopped talking to you when Stede had come along. Like he’d been busy doing something else. So it seemed as if his mind had changed on something. Though, you didn’t mind. You’d started to like him, quite a long time ago actually but it had taken you more time than necessary to admit that to yourself. But by now it was clear in your mind, but you kept telling yourself that there was no point in confessing to him as he hadn’t ever shown any signs of caring for you in that way. In your mind, he saw you as a good drinking buddy at best. 

So you said nothing about it for a while, only talked to him like you had always done. Only, sometimes it seemed like Izzy was awkwardly trying to hit on you. You only noticed this because of the bad, but notably sweet, his attempts were. Like the shield that the title of first mate had given him was preventing him from actually opening up to you. Because of this, you took it upon yourself to try and figure this mess out. You liked him, but didn’t dare to tell him because of the mixed signals written all across the poor man. 

Yet another night, and yet another trip you were making to check if Izzy had  taken the night shift and was on the main deck. It had become somewhat of a habit to meet him there, just like the other habits you had together. You never thought of how much you’d started spending time with him. But like almost always, the owl of a man was there. He had a cigarette between his fingers, almost burnt out. Due to the dark you couldn’t quite tell much, but he seemed to be leaning against a mast. As much as he mocked the crew for being totally useless, idiots and so on, he was definitely not being the best look-out there was. Could he even see what was going on at the front? You shrugged, amused by the first mate’s antics. “We got a proper look-out here!” You said, loud enough for him to hear in the slight wind and through the sound of the waves gently splashing against the hull of the ship. Izzy lowered the cigarette, turning to look at you. The man didn’t seem frightened, far from it. Like he’d known you’d come eventually, just as you had. “Sod off, I’m on a break.” He said, a slight hint of amusement in his tone. As you got closer you found out why. His breath smelled of rum, a familiar smell that stuck all around the ship no matter how much it was cleaned. “Tell that to the next crew that attacks us.” You hummed, offering out a hand as a sign to ask for the cigarette. And like it was automatic, he handed it to you without even giving a look your way. “Like they’d even see us in this fog.” Izzy replied, leaning back against the mast. You stood next to him, taking a drag from the cigarette. You hadn’t even noticed the fog, a little embarrassed by your earlier comment now, you didn’t say anything for a moment. Using the smoke as a way to make the silence from your end more acceptable. “You know, Stede’s men really hit an all time low today. Truly bottom of the barrel kind of crew, I mean-” He started, as always when the perfect silence gave the opportunity. You handed the rest of the cigarette back to him, walking up to the railing and peering down at the water. Knowing him the man could go on about this for hours if you let him, and as much as you liked talking to him the complaining got a little tiring after some time. “They didn’t listen?” You asked, keeping your gaze on the murky water. “Of course fuckin’ not.” He groaned, the sound of his boots hitting the deck indicating that he was following after you. Izzy leaned his weight on his arms after placing his hands on the wooden railing. You chuckled at his comment, clear annoyance in his voice. “Have you tried not yelling at them?” You smirked, knowing it would set him off. “Quite clear that’s what Eddie wants.” Izzy shook his head after saying that, messing up the combed back hair ever so slightly. A few strands of hair falling over his eyes, which he tried to push back. His reply had been calmer than you would’ve expected, making you turn your eyes to him. “Are you okay?” You asked, gaining an instant groan from him. “Oh, fuck off with that.” He pushed away from the railing. You knew he wasn’t one to talk about feelings, even if he’d taken a little bit of rum to his system. “Quite clear yer upset about somethin’?” You asked basically the same thing again, worded differently to maybe trick him. You weren’t sure if that had actually worked, or if he’d just given up trying to shoo you away, but this time he answered. “It’s that fucking Stede Bonnet.” Of course, you probably should have guessed in all honesty. You weren’t even going to ask what he thought was wrong with the man. Listening to him rant about Stede and his crew had been enough information on that topic. “Is it him and Eddie?” You asked carefully, almost like poking a wasp nest. “Sure. But I don’t care about that anymore.” He replied, pushing away from the topic yet again. “Then prove it. To me it seems an awful lot like you still care.” You tilted your head, leaning away from the railing. Izzy’s mouth opened slightly, brows furrowing a little. Overall he seemed confused as to how he was meant to do to prove it.

You took a deep breath, this was the moment and you weren’t sure if there’d ever come another. “Kiss me?” You said rather openly, stepping closer to the man. If he’d looked confused before, he looked so even more now. Though he didn’t step away from you either, not even when you pulled him towards you. So you took that as a yes, and kissed him. A very short kiss, but you could have sworn he’s kissed you back.

Izzy pulled away first, seemingly at a loss for words but you understood why. The man seemingly hadn’t had any sort of actually loving physical affection in decades. So you saw it best to make your leave, not forgetting to trail your hand on his shoulder as you walked past the shaken man. You gave him space to think. His eyes followed you keenly as you walked away, up until your form disappeared into the faint light of the lower decks.

The days that followed, not a mention of the kiss was said. You told yourself that Izzy acted a little differently around you, but you began to doubt that when he hadn’t made any moves on you. Thought that maybe you were just imagining things. You kept telling yourself that up until one evening when Izzy had invited you to have a drink with him, as he sometimes did when he didn’t feel like drinking alone but wasn’t going to tell you that. So you joined him. 

He had a specific spot near the galley where he liked to sit and spend time. A spot where there weren’t many people around since there weren’t many places to sit. A perfect place for him to drink but also to observe what the people walking by were doing. 

He opened a bottle, taking a swig from it before handing it to you. You listened to him talk most of the time, not bothering to stop him when he spotted someone from the Revenge’s crew and started listing all the reasons why he thought they were useless. Better let him rant to you than make him go all out on the men, since he wasn’t annoyed with you just looking to tell someone.

And so the night went on, a couple bottles down and a half empty one on the small table. He had a better head for alcohol than you did, but neither of you were sober. Your attention was brought back to him fully when you heard the man start talking about the kiss you’d shared. “Tell me, why’d you do it, kiss me?” You bit your inner lip. You might have been buzzed, but it sounded like he’d thought about this for a while. He just hadn’t dared to ask. “What do you mean?” You asked, tone a little more playful than you had intended but to be fair with yourself, you’d wanted to discuss it with him for some time now. “Did you do it only to see if I was lying?” He asked, a hint of worry now in his voice. It worried you, just a little. Did he think you’d done it on a whim, that you didn’t actually care? You took a moment to collect yourself before speaking again. “Partly, yes.” The sound of hesitation in your voice was clear and you knew he wasn’t one to miss out on it. Though to that he didn’t say anything, giving you time to explain further. “And maybe I just wanted to kiss you.” Your gaze wandered away from him on its own. Yet another silence followed. You could feel his eyes on you, but you didn’t dare to look at him, not wanting to start guessing what he was thinking. “Prove it.” Izzy said, the words just slightly slurred but you understood him loud and clear. “What.” Your gaze rose back up, convinced you’d just imagined him speaking. But he knew you’d heard him, so he didn’t repeat himself. 

The silence he was giving you was unbearable, and the only way to escape this situation was laid in front of you. So you leaned in, kissed him again to prove something, just like the first time. Only, this time you were sure he’d kissed you back. You were about to lean in further, but the sound of someone walking towards the galley made the first mate pull away. his eyes scanned the area of the noise and watched as Roach came by but seemingly didn’t notice the two of you. “Right-” You wobbled slightly as you tried to get up, the waves moving the ship just enough to make you stumble back on your ass. “Suppose it’s about time to sleep…” You mumble while trying to get back on your feet for the second time. Izzy watched the desperate attempts you made to get towards the crew’s sleeping quarters. He watched until he was convinced you weren’t going to make it. “Come on…” He said rather silently as he hooked an arm around yours, hoisting you up a little and with some wobbly steps made his way to his quarters, leading you along. 

The rest of the night was a bit of a blur. You came to again when the noises from outside the small room were becoming a little too loud to be able to sleep anymore. With a long breath your eyes opened, having to take a second to recognise where you were. The slight snore from next to you returned a faint memory of Izzy helping you here, but from the sound of it he was thankfully still asleep. 

You wiggled to the edge of the bed and sat up, brushing the loose strands of hair back. While sliding your shoes back on, Izzy turned around on the bed and by the sound of it he was awake. That also meant he must have heard the noises outside, and if anyone saw you leave his cabin at this hour when neither of you hadn’t been seen earlier, it would raise suspicion. “Go after me.” Came from him before the first mate got up and located his belongings on the floor. He suited up, placing his cutlass on his belt and dusted his clothes. You wanted to ask him about the previous night, but now you felt like the one who didn’t dare to do so. 

So instead you waited until he left, heard him command the crew as he always did and soon the noises got further away. He must have gotten something to do for everyone so you could sneak out without anyone seeing. You pushed the door open, and without a second look stepped out. Which you shouldn’t have, since a gasp rang into your ear, and the form of Lucius hit your gaze. You took a couple of fast steps up to the man and covered his mouth. Not only would he alert someone to come down but if Izzy found out someone had seen you, you assumed he’d be upset. He was exactly the kind of person to think he’d lose respect from the crew if they found anything out. “I knew it!” Lucius spoke against your palm before you could remove it. “Shut up!” You hissed, keeping him against the wall you’d pinned him at before realising that Izzy must have gone with the rest of the crew. You should have probably realised Lucius would have been here, he was the type of person to find ways to avoid Izzy’s commands. “You don’t tell anyone, okay?” You said to the man, voice serious enough to make him nod. “I don’t know if I have to, if you’re going to be this open about it.” The man said as you let him go. Your eyes followed him for a while before you were comfortable enough to move again. That had started well. 

So there began the complicated part of this relationship. Izzy had asked you later that day to keep any physical touches to a minimum when there were crew members around, which you had expected. And it wasn’t all that hard either. You could easily blend any kisses or hand holdings to the usual routines that the two of you had formed, but some days you liked to mess with him. Not enough to stress him out, but enough to give him a little scare. You were rather glad Lucius had seen you from the start, since now he was the only one you could talk to about Izzy. And he undoubtedly was usually the one to suggest you try to openly hug or kiss the first mate. Though, usually you were met with an, “Sod off…” or the common “fuck off”, which you found rather amusing. Sometimes he would pretty harshly shoo you away, and treat you with the same respect he used for Stede's crew, if someone was around. You had to admit it hurt sometimes, but seeing him every night healed those cracks.

You and Lucius were sitting together one night. You’d planned to tell Izzy today that the other man knew, but you couldn’t just tell him that. You wanted to show him. So you waited for the first mate to walk past, as he usually did before going to rest. It took him a little longer than usual, but he arrived eventually. Lucius stayed away, close but hidden enough that he wasn’t easily seen unless someone was purposely looking for him. 

You stood up and walked up to the first mate, with a quick look making sure that Lucius got a little close, now visible. “Have a drink with me?” You suggested, leaning to kiss him. Which he was about to respond to, before Lucius caught his eye. He took a firm hold of your shoulders, pushing you away gently. “Oo, Izzy!” Lucius smirked and you could almost feel the blood boiling in the man in front of you. “Oh, fuck off Lucius.” He murmured, accepting the fact that someone had seen him. Though, the laugh that followed surprised the annoyed man. “Izzy, he knows. Has known. I just thought you should know.” You smiled, trying to wipe the grin off your face before giving him a quick kiss as an apology for the joke. “I saw them exit your room in the morning.” Lucius hummed, amused as he left. 

So for long this secret was only shared with the three of you. You weren’t actually that certain of the fact that Lucius hadn’t told anyone. He’d told you many times how bad he was at keeping secrets. But so far no one had questioned you or Izzy. Not until the day it all became rather public. 

You got into a little accident, to say. You’d gotten into a little tussle, a tight spot with someone from another crew. You’d survived but they’d struck you in the shoulder with a knife before you were able to get the upper hand in the fight. You thought you’d just pour some rum on the wound and wrap it up for it to hopefully heal, but you hadn’t had the time to do that. As everyone had made it back on the Revenge, Izzy came looking for you. Not actively or in a way someone would notice, but his gaze was bouncing around trying to spot you. As soon as he did and noticed the red spot spreading from your shoulder it didn’t take the man longer than a few seconds to be by your side. He rather openly hoisted you up, noticing the slump you had eased into to escape the stinging pain. The man’s knife must have been fucked and rusted for the wound to hurt this badly. “My God, what happened?” Izzy asked, voice a little shaken as he sat down with you leaned against him. “Let me take a look at it.” The man said before you were even able to reply. “Come on now, help me a little.” He added while trying to lower the fabric around your shoulder to see the damage. You looked up at Izzy, a rather amused expression on your face even though any movement from your shoulder sent waves of pain all around your body. Izzy furrowed his brows at this, his gaze rising up from you, allowing him to see the crew looking at him. His eyes widened. “H-How did you manage to get stabbed! You- moron, I mean-” Was his desperate attempt to save his face. “I knew it!” Came from the crew, and you could have sworn that through all the noise you heard the relieved sigh of Lucius’, not having to keep the secret anymore. 

Later that night, laying against Izzy as he treated the wound, you couldn’t miss the extra rum he was pouring on it, the action almost feeling like a revenge for the earlier events. You groaned at that, curling up a little. “Fuck you.” You chuckled, gritting your teeth as you saw him look away, seemingly innocent. 

AN// This was proof read at 3am after writing the whole thing, so I'm sorry if there are any mistakes :"D Requests for Izzy are open still <3

[one-idea]

Spades in Thriller Bark part 1

This is part of my idea that Masked Deuce, Mihar, and Skull follow Ace in his quest to

Meeting Brook

The day starts out fairly normal. Well as normal as things can be on the sunny with 2 members of the ASL brotherhood on board.

That is until a they find a sea offering. Both Robin (archeologist and most experienced of both crews) and Skull (pirate enthusiast) explain what the sea offering is and what the crew should do if they want to open the crate up.

Luffy offers a quick prayer of “god we’re stealing your stuff.” Which gets a roll of the eyes from Ace, and a chuckle from the other Spades. Until Zoro responds with “now your praying to god? Didn’t you beat up god on sky island? Don’t pray to god he’s a jerk.” And now Ace and the spades have so many questions, because what do you mean Luffy fought god?

But they aren’t going to have the opportunity to ask any of those questions because the barrel explodes sending Luffy flying as a giant red orb appears over the ship. Everyone tenses up, waiting for an attack. Ace is super stressed because what if Blackbeard saw that?

But they can’t worry for long because Nami is yelling about a storm and the Spades are looking around at the Strawhats like they are crazy as they run around prepping for a storm that isn’t visible. Yes the Grandline is knows for quick weather but no one predicts it that far in advance. Except Nami is right. Luffy laughs at their shock, “my navigator is the best! Nami always knows when a storms going to hit.

They survive the storm but end up in the Florian Triangle, where they come upon a ghost ship.

Luffy is ready to jump aboard. But the cowards trio is freaking out, until they realize everyone else is ready to leave them behind on the ship and go to the ghost ship. Even all of the Spades are ready to go. This is great for Deuces book, Mihar and Ace want an adventure, and Skull is #1 pirate enthusiasts, a ghost boat is a dream for him.

Zoro steps in as the responsible person. He knows he can’t stop Luffy or Ace seeing as both brothers are ready to jump ship. But he can send some responsible people with them while also defending the ship. They draw straws and the party jumping to the ship is Luffy, Ace, Nami, Sanji, and Skull.

When they get over there and meet Brook, Ace is not the least bit surprised that Luffy asks him to join his crew. Zoro tries to shame the four of them when they return to the Sunny for letting Luffy bring back a “pet skeleton” but Ace looks at him and says “do you really think anyone can stop Luffy once he’s picked out a Namaka?” No the answer is no.

They sit down with Brook and get to know him. Deuce is furiously writing down notes about the skeleton’s life while the others listen to his sad tale.

That is until they run into a wall. When they realize they are trapped Ace is relieved, It’s not Blackbeard, but it is an unknown threat. And he’s been inching to fight something for a while. He hasn’t had a good fight since Blackbeard (and that wasn’t a good fight) the silly ice skating bounty hunters do not count as a good fight either.

The first split up.

Nami Usopp, Chopper, and Skull go to the island.

When Franky shows them the Mini Merry, Nami, Usopp, Chopper and Skull take it for a joy ride. They end up trapped on the island.

Most to their adventure is the same except there is no creeping on Namin in the bathroom. Skull has a weird array of knowledge and he has a bad feeling about this place. When Nami says she’s going to take a bath, skull argues that their could be ghost, or moving painting that could be watching her and talks her out of going.

Basically skull prevents a lot Nami’s problems. The creepy dude is still there but he’s got to get through skull to get to Nami. And it’s not that skulls over protective, he’s just got a weird patchwork of knowledge. He’s just lucking out that it’s all applicable in this situation

Luffy Ace, Franky Mihar, Robin, Zoro, Sanji, and Deuce follow

They chase after the four who went on the mini merry.

Creepy dude messes with them on the boat. But when he grabs Robin, the multiple arms she puts up to hold him back gives Ace a pretty good idea of where the creep is and he’s able to fire fist the man off the Sunny.

The go to shore and Ace isn’t even surprised when Luffy takes the fake Cerberus. Mihar, Deuce and Franky are but no one else. If anything it makes walking to the castle easier as they are all taking turns riding the thing.

Ace makes getting to the castle a lot easier as he’s just torching his way through the zombies. They run from him in terror.

When they get to the castle, they do start losing crew members. The spiders are still able to pick people off

Sanji and Mihar get taken at the same time

Zoro gets nabbed

Deuce

Luffy

They can’t get Ace, he would burns through the webs. Moria originally wanted Ace’s shadow for Ora but Luffy was easier to catch.

They are fighting through the herd of zombie generals and Ace is already furious. They are missing so many people. He just lost Deuce and he and Luffy just got separated. He sees Robin and yells to her to get Luffy and Franky out and he torches the room. He runs out to meet up with them only to find Luffy missing. His heart stops for a moment until he hears Luffy yelling. He loooks up to see the coffin holding Luffy being pulled across the the castle. He’s about to go after it but is stopped by the spider monkey.

Franky destroys the bridge, him and Robin working together to avoid falling to their death. Ace uses his devil fruit to fly up. He gives them a hand, so Robin doesn’t step on Franky’s face to save herself, instead being caught by Ace, while Franky is able to pull himself to the ledge.

Brook purifies the spider monkey

Ace, Franky and Robin meet with Brook. When they learn what has happened to their friends, that Moria has stolen their shadows, Ace is furious. But he’s also so worried. If they don’t defeat Moria he’ll lose Luffy and Deuce! (As well as Zoro, Sanji, and Mihar)

They return to the ship, picking up Usopp, Chopper, and Skull on the way. Once they get there and find their friends safe and sound they debrief and plan their next move.

Ace wants to rush Moria and deep fry that man. How dare he take Luffy, Deuce and the other’s shadows. How dare he endanger Ace’s loved ones.

Deuce stops him. “Remember what happened the last time you ran off without a plan?” He’s not trying to rub salt in the wound, but he wants Ace to think things through, and depend on the people around him.

“Come on Ace I want to kick Moria’s ass!” Luffy calls. And Ace remembers just who he’s with. He can trust these people. He’s still scared. If they don’t succeed by sunrise he could lose his little brother, their crewmates and Deuce. But he’s…no they aren’t going to fail.

Attack formation

Luffy and Ace are going after Moria

Ussop, Chopper, Robin, Skull, and Mirah are going after Nami

Zoro, Deuce, Franky, are going to help Brook.

Ora’s breaks the building sending Sanji, Skull and Usopp down.

Robin, Chopper and Mihar

fight against Dr. Hogback. Mihar trying to snipe the salt into Zoro, Deuce, Mihar, and Sanji’s zombies while Robin and Chopper try to set him up. (Part of me wants to put Deuce here because of Chopper’s rage at Dr. Hogback as a doctor. It might be fun to have the other doctor there as well, still making decisions)

Luffy and Ace

run ahead to fight Moria. And the fight really freaks Ace out, when Moria’s shadow appears all he can think of is the last fight he was in when a dark shape was throwing him around. He knows it’s not Teach but so a second he’s thrown off, it’s enough for Moria’s shadow to get a cheep shot in and for Luffy to step in to protect him. And now Ace is angry, at himself for having Luffy protect him, and at this creep for taking Luffy and the other’s shadows. (To be fair he was already mad about that)

The two of them are tied up trying to fight Moria.

Usopp

still fight Perona on his own. As he is the only one in the group that her powers don’t work on.

Sanji

still separates to go save Nami (but we’re going to cut his creep dream for the clear clear fruit.

Zoro, Franky, Brook, Deuce, and Skull

Zoro still fights Shimotsuki Ryuma. Franky and Deuce are moving Brook away from the fight. Deuce came along as a doctor to make sure the skeleton was okay. He’s not sure how he would treat Brook if he was hurt but he wanted the option. Skull is with them too and he’s having the best time watching Zoro fight.

Ora arrives

Luffy’s shadow finally combines with Ora and he returned to Moria.

And isn’t it disturbing for Ace to hear his baby brother’s voice, distorted as it is, coming from that monster.

Moria attached not just the Strawhat’s bounty posters but also Ace and the Spade’s.

Ace and Luffy still chase after Moria but everyone else get attacked by Ora.

Fighting Ora

They are all fighting Ora but they are struggling. Franky decides to try out his “Docking” plan. Usopp and Chopper know what’s going on but no one else does. Zoro and Sanji get roped in, but Robin refuses. Deuce and Mirah can’t believe what they are looking at. Franky, Chopper and Usopp call out for Robin to join them, but she refuses. Skull is very excited to take her place, but Ora punch’s Franky before he can.

Zoro’s embarrassed that he just didn’t ‘that’ leads the charge to actually attack Ora. And while the Spades are helping they are also blown away by just how strong this crew is as they knock Ora’s down.

But the giant gets back up. Franky decides to dock again. This time with only Usopp, Chopper, and an enthusiastic Skull. With Sanji’s help they get on top of the beast and start…. Kicking it? Deuce, Robin, Mihar, Zoro, and Sanji are embarrassed that these are their crew mates. But the four are able to get the beast to punch itself in the head so a win a win.

They realize that the thing still acts like Luffy at times and the Strawhats use that to their advantage while the spades follow their lead.

Zoro makes the decision to fight Ora alone. He wants to win, while Usopp argues they should just trust in Luffy and Ace. Zoro does trust Luffy and Ace, but he knows Luffy is gullible. He looks to Deuce and asks if Ace is the same. Deuce says not nearly as bad as Luffy but he is a hot head who rushes in without thinking. Zoro nods and explains that they have to beat Ora. They only have half an hour until sunrise. Beating Ora will give Luffy more time to fight Moria. Even if the sun rise kills Zoro, Sanji, Mihar, and Deuce they will at least have give Luffy the opportunity to win. (Zoro’s idea)

The realization that they are going to burn to death hits Deuce, Mihar, and Sanji like a truck but they all agree to keep fighting. Zoro and Sanji won’t lose their captain. Deuce and Mihar won’t let Ace lose his little brother.

Kuma’s arrival.

He still runs into Nami at the Sunny, sending Perona away.

He asked Nami if it’s true that Stawhat Luffy has a brother, to which she responds and asks if he means Ace.

Now here’s where I need some ideas. How does Teach get to warlord status?

He didn’t. But he told them about Ace’s relationship with to Luffy

He got it by revealing Ace’s heritage and relation to Luffy making both their bounties sky rocket as Teach told the government that Luffy was Ace’s biological brother

Marcos came after him after Ace and the Spades checked in with the Whitebeard. He and teach battled and Marcos lost.

Or a different idea all together (please send me ideas)

[dragon-kazansky]

Spirit of the sea

Izzy Hands x Reader (GN)

You were a member of Blackbeard's crew long ago. Then you became a ghost story. Izzy Hands only sees you in his dreams these days, until he sees you for real when investigating Stede Bonnet. This sets him on a rollercoaster of emotions between you and what his captain is doing.

{Masterlist}

{Previous Chapter} - {Next Chapter}

Warnings: Swearing. Mostly Izzy, sometimes you, but mostly Izzy. Angst too.

Chapter Five - Rocky waters

♡♡♡

We've been almost a fortnight aboard the Revenge... and I'm beginning to suspect that Edward nas no intention of ending Stede Bonnet's life.

If I didn't know better... I'd say he's somehow become seduced by this imbecile.

You catch Izzy writing in his journal as you walk past his cabin. He had been rather quiet the past couple days, at least as far as you were concerned anyway. He hasn't noticed you in the doorway. You smile at the sight of the wooden sparrow on his desk. You knew he would like it.

You know that the longer Izzy is aboard this ship, the worse it gets for him. You've kind of adapted to the way the crew do things round here. It's a change of pace from your days on Blackbeard's crew.

As Izzy scribbles away, you decide to interrupt gently. With a soft knock to his already open door, you smile as he lifts his head to look at you. He snaps his journal shut and drops it beside him on his cot.

"What do you want?" He asks, trying to look annoyed by your interruption, but you can see through him.

"Thought I'd come check on you. Everything good?"

"Just peachy," he let's out an exasperated sigh. You chuckles softly as step into the room with one foot.

"We'll be off this ship soon. Sailing back aboard the Queen Anne leaving ruin in our wake. Doing things we used to do."

Izzy stares silently into space at the thought.

You step a little closer to his bed and take a seat. You can see how tired he is. The man never seems to stop: always working, never resting.

"When was the last time you slept?" You ask him.

"Last night."

"All night?"

He eyes flicker up to meet yours. He looks less than impressed, but he also can't hide anything from you. The sigh that escapes his nose tells you enough.

"I know you hate it here, and that you want Blackbeard back so we can return to our ship and our life, but you also need to give it time, Izzy."

"It's been a fucking weeks."

"I know, but surely he has a plan. He's our Blackbeard."

"That's the problem," Izzy starts. "I don't think he's our Blackbeard anymore. I think he's been seduced by Bonnet."

"Seduced?"

"Last night... last night I was up on deck. I could hear them. They were... I'm pretty sure they were fucking."

"Out in the open?" You ask, wide eyed.

"Sounded like it."

"Ew, Izzy, why were you listening to them?"

"It wasn't on purpose!" He groans. "I think Edward might be... in love with this guy."

You fall silent as you think about it. It made sense in a way. Edward was always where Stede was. They kept in the same cabin. They talked constantly. They were always looking art each other.

"Well shit..."

"Exactly!" Izzy huffs.

"I mean... Is it that bad if he is?" You ask him.

Izzy stares at you. "Bad? It's a fucking disaster."

You gaze down at your lap. "He's the happiest I've seen him in ages."

"It's pathetic."

You glance up at Izzy. "Love? Or the fact you're losing Blackbeard to Bonnet?"

Izzy glares at you.

You stand up from his bed and move over to the door. You glance back at Izzy. "I would be so lucky to have what they do."

Izzy watches you leave. He stares confused at the space you occupied only moments ago. Your words and the expression on your face, it felt strange to him. What did you mean by that? Were you jealous of Edward? No, that was nonsense. Izzy knows you better than that.

Izzy thinks he knows you better than that.

♡♡♡

One of the crew's favourite things to do was tell stories. If it wasn't Stede reading them a fairytale, it was telling ghost stories.

It was entertaining, even if they didn't always make sense.

You were sat on the steps near where Izzy stood with Ivan and Fang. You could hear them talking behind you. You were watching Ed where he sat by Stede. The latter was telling one of his ghost stories.

"So, is the plan off?" Ivan asks.

"Yeah, I reckon we're not killing this guy now." Fang chimes in.

"The plan is very much alive." Izzy says. "He promised me."

You listen to them.

"It just seems that he's having an awfully nice time," Fang says, looking at Izzy. "I mean, look at him. He's telling ghost stories."

"This is the most open and available I've ever seen him." Ivan states.

You sigh and get up, walking last the crew and heading below deck. Izzy watches you go, not once looking away until you were out of sight.

♡♡♡

You're sitting in your dark little corner when you head footsteps coming toward you then stopping. You don't have to look up to know it's Izzy.

"You alright?" He asks.

"Yeah."

He sees the way you're sitting with your knees up, arms draped over them. You're not even looking at him. He sighs quietly.

"You're not. What is it?"

"Nothing, Izzy."

"You can talk to me, ya know."

You glance up at him. You can't read him for his blank expression. You're not sure what he is trying to do.

"What happens if Edward doesn't kill him?"

"Then I'll take matters into my own hands."

"Will Edward even let you?" You ask.

"Does it matter? We'll get our captain back and we can go back to our lives. We... we can be a crew again."

"We're not a crew now?" You gaze up at him.

"Not with this lot."

You turn your eyes away from him and Izzy exhales through his nose in a sound of slight desperation. He doesn't want you to turn away from him.

He says your name softly. "This isn't our home."

When you say nothing he clenches his jaw and walks away. You listen to his footsteps fade. When you're sure he's gone you sigh.

♡♡♡

You stand on deck the next morning as the ship is shrouded in fog. The crew of the Revenge have no idea what's going on, but you sailed with Blackbeard long enough to know.

A Fuckery, as he liked to call it.

You lean against the railing of the ship as you wait. Once Stede arrives, dressed in pretty pyjamas and gown, Edward demonstrates the art of "Fuckery", which leads to the Swede jumping over the side of the ship.

Ed promptly stops his theatrics so someone can get the Swede back onboard.

Izzy promptly comes out, looking up at Ed who is still hanging from the mast. "May I have a word?" He asks, grabbing at Blackbeard's boot.

"It's a bit like theatre, isn't it, Ed? Theatre of fear!"

"Ha, theatre of fear, love that!" Ed grins back at Stede.

"His name is Blackbeard, dog!"

"Well, I'll leave you to it. It looks like there's trouble in paradise." Stede walks off.

You stick around just long enough to see Izzy try and help Ed, but he gets fed up after being caught between his legs. Izzy storms off leaving Edward hanging.

Ed looks at you.

"Help?"

You shake your head and walk off too. He can get out of his own mess.

You follow Izzy to find him with Fang and Ivan. He looks at you as you get closer to him. There is something about the way he is looking at you that sends your heart thumping.

"Where's Blackbeard?" He asks.

"Hanging out."

Izzy doesn't react, but Fang giggles and Ivan grins.

"You with us?" Izzy asks.

"Izzy..."

"No. It's important that I know you're with us," he says. "You don't want to stay with this lot, do ya? You're so much more than they are. You're wasted on a crew like this." Izzy speaks softly, almost gentle. This isn't like him at all.

"Why is this suddenly about me?"

"I-"

Izzy is cut off by Edward entering. You turn around to see him looking less than impressed.

"You left me hanging." He looks at you with a flat expression. You don't even react. "What the fuck's all this?"

"Do you remember your policy about let's aboard your vessel?" Izzy asks.

"Pets? Yeah. No pets. They befoul the ship."

"You know what else you said?" Ivan asks. "You said the love of a pet makes a man weak."

"I said that?"

"Yeah, when I joined your crew, you made me put my dog down." Fang tells him.

"Yeah, OK. Well, yeah, vaguely... remember that."

"So, here's the rub. Me and the boys, we think you've begun to view Bonnet as a sort of a pet." Izzy says. "You're in too deep, Edward. Beat thing to do, end it quick."

"The longer you wait, the harder it gets..." Fang says, getting upset. Ivan holds Fang as he cries.

You stand between Izzy and Edward, not sure what to do. Edward walks off, making it a bit easier on you.

Izzy turns his eyes to you and then follows Edward out.

You look at Fang and step closer.

"There there, Fang. It's okay."

"He's in doggy heaven, Fangy," Ivan says, trying to comfort him.

"But we go to different heavens!" He cries some more. You pat him on the shoulder. Fang turns and pulls you into a hug.

You stay there awhile.

♡♡♡

You sit on Izzy's bed and wait for him. He takes a while to return, but when he does, he seems surprised to see you there.

"I was looking for you," he says.

You're sat on his bed with the wooden sparrow in your hand. You notice some detail has been added to it in ink, meaning Izzy is giving it some character. It made you happy to think this meant something to him.

"I've been in here."

Izzy watches the way you handle the gift you made him. You're being very careful with it, your finger tracing over the ink lines on the wing.

"You know I'm right," he says.

"Do I?"

Izzy closes the door to his cabin and stands in front of you, gazing down at you with his dark eyes.

"Bonnet has to go."

"Do you hate Edward being happy?" You ask

"No, I-"

"Because it seems like it," you cut him off. "Edward has found someone new. He's trying new things and kind of just enjoying life."

"We're pirates, we're not meant to enjoy life." Izzy hisses out.

"You didn't enjoy being on Blackbeard's crew?" You ask.

"Well, yeah."

"You don't enjoy sailing the seas?"

"Course I do-"

"You don't enjoy life?"

He falls quiet.

"Are you jealous that all of Edward's attention is on someone else, or are you jealous that he has something you don't?"

Izzy stares at you silently.

You put the bird back on the desk and stand up, looking Izzy in the eye. You want to say more, but you're not sure what. Izzy seems to read your mind.

"It will be over soon," he tells you. "Tomorrow night."

"Oh. So, that's it then?" You ask.

"Thought you'd be happy."

"Happy?" You huff. "You're the one who will be happy, Izzy."

"Don't tell me you're soft for Bonnet too," Izzy almost begs.

"I don't hate the guy like you do. He's actually kind of nice. He's kind, polite, funny if even unintentionally so."

"See, that's my point. He ain't a pirate."

"Izzy. Let the man live. He's doing his thing and he's still alive."

"Not on my watch," he says in a low voice.

You see the look in his eyes and you walk away. You're done trying to change his mind. This thing with Stede was between Izzy and Edward.

You weren't going to get involved.

♡♡♡

You walk into the kitchen to find Fang holding an unconscious Lucius down. Roach is sharpening a kitchen knife.

"The fuck?"

Fang looks up. "His finger is infected."

You lean over Lucius to see the state of his hand. His finger was horribly swollen. "Ouch."

"Seems to me the best move here is... amputation," Roach says, looking closely at the finger.

"Oh, for God's sake! He's a visual artist." Fang cries out. "You can't cut the boy's little fingies."

"Level with us, man." Pete grabs Roach. "There's no better option?"

"Not in my professional opinion."

You pull a face.

"Hold him down."

You sigh and help Fang hold the poor lad down. Just as Roach is about to cut the finger off, Lucius gains consciousness again. As soon as he realises what's happening he pushes both you and Fang away and runs off.

"It's only going to get worse!" You call. He's already too far gone.

You can't help but chuckle as Pete and Fang go after him.

This crew isn't so bad.

♡♡♡

The Fuckery goes about as expected. Except for the fact that the crew of the Revenge didn't raid the ship. They let themselves get boarded by the Dutch merchants and basically put on some kind of Shakespeare play.

It ended with Edward freaking out and hiding in Stede's bathtub.

Stede did not die.

Izzy was fuming. You stand beside the man seeing the way he was clenching his jaw. His fist was balled up and it took everything in you not to reach out and calm the man.

Edward was complimenting the crew on their performance.

Edward was enjoying himself.

Not anymore.

"Stede Bonnet."

You turn to look at Izzy. You curse under your breath. Yet, you shouldn't be surprised. Izzy did tell you he would take matters into his own hands.

"Draw your weapon."

"No, Izzy, we're not doing this." Ed points at him.

"No, YOU'RE not doin' this. So I must." Izzy steps down and grabs 2 swords. "Stede fuckin' Bonnet... I fuckin' challenge you to a fuckin' duel."

He tosses Stede a sword.you step in front of Izzy.

"Izzy, please."

"Move." He says your name softly.

"I accept your challenge," Stede says from behind you. You turn around.

"Stede, no."

"Stede, be careful. He does know his shit," Edward warns him.

Izzy uses his arm to move you out of the way. You glare at him as he steps closer to Stede.

"As do I. You've taught me well," Stede replies to Ed.

"Not that well," Ed admits.

Stede watches Izzy. "I assume standard duel rules apply. What are those exactly?" He asks.

"Let's make it interesting, shall we?" Izzy says. "The loser is banished from the ship, if they're not dead."

"Izzy, no!" You call out, but he ignores you. Instead he instantly swings his sword at Stede.

Stede manages to block his attacks

"Come on. Give a man a warning." Stede says as Izzy holds his sword up to his neck.

"That was your warning."

They start swinging their swords at each other. You stand there anxiously, watching. There is no way for Stede to beat Izzy. Israel Hands was the best man you knew with a sword.

Izzy gets a hit into Stede which stumbles the man backward. Izzy's swings become a little more furious. Stede falls onto the ground. Izzy stands over him with sword pointed down at him.

"Yield or die."

"I choose... this." Stede throws powder into Izzy's face, temporarily blinding the man. Izzy covers his face and stumbles backward. The crew cheer for Stede, but all you can think about is if you should step in or not.

Stede gets to his feet, he gives Izzy a smack on the backside with his sword. Izzy straightens up again and continues the fight.

Izzy disarmed Stede with ease. The gentleman pirate backs up against the mast.

"So, it looks like we've arrived, Bonnet. The end of the road." Izzy holds his sword up to Stede again.

"Alright. Let's call it a draw," Stede says, breathless.

"Nah, I'm good."

"Izzy, stop!" You try once more in vain, but it feels like he's ignoring you completely.

With a firm stab, Izzy's sword goes right through Stede's abdomen and into the mast, pinning him there.

You inhale sharply at Stede's scream.

"Did I do it right?" Stede asks Ed, looking at the other man. "He missed all the important bits..."

Izzy tries to pull the sword out, but to no avail. He pulls hard, grunting. You stare at him, mild confusion painting across your face.

"This mast... is made from the finest cherry wood in Brazil. It's rather strong, actually." Stede manages to say as Izzy continues to attempt to pull the sword out.

Edward looks flabbergasted.

You can't quite believe what you're seeing yourself.

"Shut up!" Izzy yells at Stede. "Don't you ever shut up?! You rancid rat!"

The sword breaks in Izzy's hand. The blade still pinning Stede to the mast. You feel a gasp escape last your lips.

Buttons laughs. "Well, now, Mr Hands. Reckon he's rendered your sword inoperable."

Izzy stands there with realisation on his face.

"By duelling tradition, that means..."

"Stede wins!" Frenchie yells. The crew all cheer. "In your face, Jizzy!"

Edward shrugs as Izzy looks at him.

You watch Izzy with concern. He walks off. You watch him. You don't care for what everyone else is doing. You take off after Izzy.

He disappears into his cabin, you follow him inside, not even knocking. He doesn't say anything to you about it as he faces away from you, shoulders tense.

"Izzy..."

"No." He speaks with a firmness, but not in an angry way. Just a firm 'no.'

"Izzy, please. That whole thing was stupid."

"You're telling me..."

You take a step closer to him hoping he will turn around and look at you. He remains facing the wall of his cabin.

"Just forget the duel! Forget everything."

"No. Rules are rules."

"Izzy..."

He turns around and looks at you, but only briefly. He looks like he struggles to look you in the eye.

"He promised me. I was fucking right all along. Edward's gone soft for that twat. Any trace of Blackbeard is gone and it's all because of fuckin' Bonnet."

Your arm twitches as if you were going to reach out and touch him, but you catch yourself. However, Izzy noticed the slight reaction in your hand. He kind of wished you would.

"Don't be stupid, Izzy. Stay. We'll figure all this out. Maybe there's another solution."

"No." He shakes his head, his Adam's apple bobs as he swallows thickly. He's angry. Silently angry.

"It was a stupid fucking duel. Are you seriously going to leave?"

"I'm not a coward."

"I didn't say you were," your voice is almost pleading. "Don't go."

"Rules are rules," he says again. For a brief second his eyes meet yours and you can see all the emotion bottled up inside. You want to reach out and hold the man, caress him, get him to open up and talk to you.

But he won't.

Your breathing becomes uneven as you try to fight off any emotion. You will not cry in front of him.

"So that's it then? You're going to fuck off and... and what? Leave me behind? I only just found you again and you're leaving me?"

"You could come with me."

"And do what? Izzy, what would be the point? I only just found my way back home," you tell him.

"No. This isn't home. This is a lie. A facade. Home was back on our ship, back with Blackbeard's crew. Home is... is where we belonged. It's where we lived together."

A tear escapes and runs down your cheek. This was your breaking point.

"Fuck you," you whisper.

Izzy stares at you.

"Fuck you and this whole fucking thing." You take a couple slow steps back toward the door. "Fuck off then, Izzy. Leave me behind. Maybe... maybe I should have stayed a ghost story."

You don't hang around. You turn on your heel and leave.

Izzy catches his breath as he stares at his empty doorway.

"Fuck," he whispers.

♡♡♡

@grippleback-galaxy - @askmarinaandothers - @godlikegallagher - @for-fuck-sake-im-alive - @whiskeyswriting - @lxsm2 - @bloody-bunni666 - @the-chocoholic-writer -

[tizzyizzy]

OFMD S2 Rewrite Part 1 (???)

I probably should write out a whole, finished plot outline, but I instead I'm starting with my attempts at replacements of the first two episodes.

Episode 1:

On the Revenge, we see that Ed is on a downward spiral. He is drinking to numb his emotional pain, cares little about his own safety or the crew's, and keeps taking risks in an attempt to feel anything. This includes stealing a prize from right under Ned's nose.

Throughout, we see how much this is wearing out the crew, especially Izzy. His toe is infected, but whenever he suggests a break, or going to shore to resupply, Ed is dismissive and uncaring. It isn't until Izzy collapses from infection Ed realizes what's going on.

Meanwhile, Archie has been picked up at some point to join the crew, and her relationship with Jim is developing.

Meanwhile meanwhile, Stede is learning that he has to regain the loyalty of his crew. Without money, they aren't inclined to follow him.

But with the help of the mysterious Ricky, Stede comes up with a brilliant plan to steal a ship. Turns out Ricky actually planned to capture Stede and use him as bait to capture Blackbeard.

But whoops, Stede and co. captured the lead ship of the Pirate Queen, and she's still on it! Now they've got Zheng's fleet on their tail, and a traitor in their midst!

Episode 2:

Izzy, delirious, refuses to accept an amputation, saying he'd better take his chances with the infection than become useless and be discarded by Blackbeard. Ed shoots Izzy in the leg to make amputation the only option. Overcome by guilt and despair, he locks himself in the brig to drink himself to death.

Between Izzy and Ed's delirious dreams, we get flashbacks of their relationship, where it is clarified for the audience. We see how close, productive, and joyful their relationship used to be. Then Ed becomes depressed, lose interest in piracy, and stop taking his role as captain seriously. We see how this puts an unfair burden on Izzy who tries to keep everything afloat while taking care of Ed, but also how Izzy misunderstands the situation and makes things worse by nagging Ed and trying to force him to do something he doesn't care about anymore.

Meanwhile, a storm is coming. Ed is too depressed to care. The crew on the Revenge are struggling to keep Izzy and themselves alive in the gale. Jim and Archie kiss, believing they might not survive.

Meanwhile meanwhile, Stede is having a crisis of his own. As they sail into the storm, his incompetence is becoming clearer and clearer...but he just managed to regain his confidence with his splendid plan. Zheng says she can lead them through the storm, but that would mean letting her out of the brig. Ricky tells Stede not to go through the storm, that it's better to wait it out than trust in someone as dangerous as Zheng.

In the end, Stede is man enough to give up power and trust in the crew and Zheng. Zheng takes charge and Stede, unlike Ricky, willingly submits to her orders, doing every bit of necessary manual labor with the rest of his crew. They get through the storm, and reach Revenge.

On the Revenge, Edward, finally, takes charge to get them through the storm. After his dark night of the soul, he has overcome his despair to save Izzy and the crew. He's wet and miserable with streams of dark makeup down his cheeks, but he's done it.

The storm fades. There are the slightest hints of a rainbow as Stede and Ed stare across at one another.

Authors Notes:

So I would consider this Act I. Here are some advantages of this setup.

No Evil Ed: Ed went full on bonkers in S2, complete horrific torture, murder-suicide, and PTSD inducing behaviors. In TizzyIzzy S2, Ed's atrocities are toned way down. While he's still a brutal pirate, he's more careless than intentionally cruel. This means he's more sympathetic as a character, keeping more of the audience on board. It also makes redemption much less of an issue for him, which mean we don't need to dedicate too much of later episodes to it. Speaking of which...

Ed's Redemption & Agency: In S2, Ed ends e2 being "killed" after nearly killing the entire crew, is unconscious in ep3 and spends all of e4 with Stede. He doesn't start trying to make things up to the crew until 5, and his attempts are woefully inadequate considering the impact. In TI S2, Ed is starting to work toward righting his mistakes as early as the end of ep2. By shooting Izzy's leg and forcing him to agree to the amputation, he's already acting in Izzy's best interest to make up for his previous negligence, even if it is in a fucked up way. Having him overcome his despair and guilt to save the crew in the storm shows growth, because he isn't letting his despair allow him to neglect the crew again. Development! It is also triumphant moment that gives Ed agency, conquering both a metaphorical storm and a literal one.

Stede as Captain: A big question that doesn't really get addressed in S2 is "why Stede?" Sure, he's got a pleasant attitude compared to most other pirate captain's, but he's fundamentally incompetent. Without his money, what is he? In S2, he goes from getting the crew hired by Spanish Jackie, to trying and failing to steal indigo at Ricky's suggestion, to being rescued by Zheng because luck. While Ricky still helps here, Stede still takes the lead in this unspecified brilliant plan. Sure, he messes up because he ends up taking Zheng's ship, but the fact that they actually succeeded goes to show his potential.

Stede as Crew: Another of Stede's flaws is that he can be arrogant. He wants the crew to do what he wants, even if he does genuinely care about them. He still wants to be the guy on top, and he's still naturally insecure about his pirating abilities. In TI S2 e2, he gets to overcome this flaw. He even gets to apply what he learned with Ed: just because Zheng is a fearsome Pirate Queen doesn't mean she can't be trusted. While we do get some of this in S2, I feel we could do with some more Stede bonding with the crew instead of lording over them.

Getting Stede and Ed Together: Before s2, I wanted Ed and Stede to grow a lot before finally reuniting. S2 made me lose my taste for that. Now we're getting Ed and Stede together an episode earlier. With less time needed to redeem Ed and them together an episode earlier, their relationship can be more thoroughly developed.

Clarifying the Edizzy Situation: Are they they world's most divorced couple? Mentor and mentee? Friends with benefits? Idol and worshipper? I don't know, and neither does David Jenkins! This flashback picks a relationship, clarifies it, and sticks to it. We get to be sympathetic to Izzy, by seeing how Ed has taken him for granted, and sympathetic to Ed by seeing unhappy he's been. Maybe we even see that Ed feels compelled to keep being pirate lest he disappoint Izzy.

[lonely-business]

I believe that we have all come to the consensus that Ed has ADHD, right? It fits his mannerisms and moods perfectly. He’s always fidgeting with something, moving quickly from one thing to the next, he openly says that he doesn’t fear anything and many ADHD peeps have a scaled down sense of danger. An aspect of his ADHD that I haven’t seen explored is the possibility of him having Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD). RSD is when the mind interprets rejection or criticism from a respected outside source or when the person with ADHD fails to reach their own, or other’s, high standards as severe mental and/or emotional pain. And BOY HOWDY do we see Ed react in RSD fashion throughout the show.

When Ed and his crew first get on the Revenge and Ed is looking through all of Stede’s things thinking, “LOOK AT THIS TINY BOAT OF THIS BOAT WERE ON. RAD.” Izzy is trying to get Ed to think of plan so they don’t die. Ed yells back that he’s bored out of his skull, is this all there is? (Boredom can be physically/mentally painful for individuals with ADHD). But Ed has a light bulb moment. Death! That’s new. Haven’t tried that yet. It has been reported that people with RSD have higher rates of suicidal ideation than individuals without RSD.

The scene where Ed got the date wrong and it wasn’t the full moon, he immediately gives up and grabs a bottle of booze. This is also very typical of RSD. He failed to meet his own (exceedingly high) standards in front of everyone. This would be the emotional equivalent of standing on a cliff to being dashed upon the rocks below in seconds.

Some people with RSD try to become people pleasers, the more you do for someone the less likely they are to leave, right? I think when Ed was rising up the ranks, pirate wise, he would do whatever he could to avoid criticism from the higher ranking crew members. He doesn’t kill, but he loves a good maim. Tactically minded. Able to do dangerous stunts with little regard for his life, so the other lads in the crew could have a laugh and he would fit in.

Eventually, he started making a name for himself. Dangerous, fierce, eyes that glow red and a head made of smoke. He has his own crew, his own boat, and a new name, Blackbeard. Izzy is there the whole time and Ed has an emotional connection to him. You can see how Izzy is Ed’s confidant, his first mate. Izzy’s words mean something to Ed. But Izzy always criticizes Ed, “I work for Blackbeard. Blackbeard needs to make Bonnet go to doggy heaven. Blackbeard Blackbeard Blackbeard.” Ed with RSD would want the negative feelings that Izzy keeps bringing up to stop. So, he does actually try to kill Stede to make Izzy (and Ivan and fang) happy.

 Izzy is very emotionally manipulative of Ed. He talks down to him, makes it seem like Izzy does all the work and that Ed contributes nothing, speaks to him in ways to deliberately rile him up. Izzy is intentionally using Ed’s RSD against him.

[rotatedaxis]

Izzy Hands: a not particularly well-organised essay (Season 2 spoilers ahead)

I love seeing Izzy accept Stede as a captain, maybe not as his captain yet, but definitely a captain, by the end of episode 5. He's moved on from all this talented guys ending up dead but this utter buffoon is still standing by whatever luck and starts seeing him for his behaviour when the guy gets up to come stab him (and screams, my guy that's not how you sneak up on someone) and he fires a warning shot and threatens him to not try him again. Part of it feels like it's because Izzy has started to see himself as part of the crew and not an outsider or last proof of Blackbeard's crew. Since the leg was left by the door (for the new unicorn), he's come off the alcohol and started to act alongside the crew instead of against them or just being a bystander - he coaches Stede to respect that the crew sees the suit as cursed, a threat, and gets him to apologise to them, see it from their perspective, and get rid of it with the crew in a way they deem fit. The gift of the leg to Izzy shows him that this crew, as angry as he made them and how much he's pushed them around and been cruel, ultimately are willing to respect him and invite him in to be one of them and by calling him the 'new unicorn' and using what remains of the ship's figurehead, he is part and parcel of the ship now, essential to it. This is furthered by Jim saying that “He’s our dick” about Izzy, when they talk about life on the ship meaning something because, as much as he wasn’t nice to them and isolated himself, he was already part of the crew even if he didn’t want to be or act like it. As mentioned above, this becoming one with the ship through the leg, may be part of why he's more willing to treat Stede as a captain and put trust in him to lead without immediately taking over because he is, too, part of the ship where Stede is the captain and trusted to lead the crew. When he's speaking to Lucius, Izzy says that it's a shark that took his leg when he was sitting on the edge of the ship and that he got what he deserved. This feels like a way of saying that he put himself in danger, standing up to Blackbeard when he was more volatile than ever, and that getting himself hurt was an inevitability. He put himself out to protect the crew, ultimately, and it got him shot. He lost his leg to Blackbeard, as much as he didn't personally amputate it, the crew did. Sitting on the edge of a ship isn't the safest thing to do as is standing up to a heartbroken, angry, volatile man with a history of violence that you are also a victim of. Izzy diced with a shark and got himself hurt. He uses the fiction of a shark taking his leg to distance himself from what really happened. This also displays the dichotomy between Blackbeard and Edward that comes up so much in season 1. Now that the crew have Ed again (as much as they clearly aren't all that happy about it), Izzy doesn't see the same man who took his leg - he sees a happy Edward who would've never done that to him - and so Blackbeard becomes Izzy's 'shark', a figure of violence and cruelty as he can no longer reconcile Edward and Blackbeard as one person since having seen what he really can become if pushed too far. So, it's a shark that hurt him, not his captain because his captain wouldn't hurt his first mate so severely.

The crew didn't know what kind of captain they were dealing with once Blackbeard was that gone - making them fight because he didn't want to see people in love, steering them into a storm that could kill them and getting rid of the wheel only to threaten to take out the sails which would've killed them all and who stopped it? Who allowed the crew the chance to mutiny and save themselves? Izzy. In shooting Blackbeard, Izzy gave the crew the opportunity to save themselves and put a stop to the man making their lives hell. “We cannot let this crew suffer anymore for our mistakes.” is what Izzy says to Stede when they meet again. Izzy watched the whole crew suffer under Blackbeard because of how he kept trying to get back the Blackbeard he was used to before he met Stede, and long before Stede broke his heart. Izzy himself suffered under an angry and heartbroken Blackbeard. Izzy sees dragging back up all of Blackbeard’s original behaviours, when magnified by heartbreak, as a mistake caused by him and Stede and has led the crew to suffer extensive trauma from raids, and fights, and surviving at sea instead of living like they had before everything went wrong. Izzy seeing what happened as a mistake supports the idea that he is truly a part of the crew and cares about them and what happens to them. Izzy is not innocent, of course, as he, initially, did try to follow Blackbeard as a first mate should. However, the cracks in this show early on, where the crew have to comfort him and talk to him about how Blackbeard has been awful to him as well and that it’s an unhealthy relationship and this leads to him standing up to Blackbeard about the state of the atmosphere on the ship and how it’s “fucked”. He actively took a stand to the man he wanted to be his captain to support what remained of Blackbeard and Stede’s original crews despite knowing how dangerous Edward was in his state which resulted in him losing his leg.

He lost his leg for the crew, and in return they gave him a new one and solidified his place onboard The Revenge and as a part of the crew.

[crimson-phantom-designs]

Um...

Well I have been writing a series of notes for a potential Francis in OFMD universe(Eb is in this universe too but it is after they separated leaving Francis extremely bitter about it and bent more toward his brutality. A parallel to Blackbeard post Stede). I didn't mean to do anything with all this but I have a story where Francis met Ned Low in a one shot just to see what happened and they... hit it off really well which suprised me. (More on Francis end, Ned was a flustered mess just excited to meet someone with similar taste in music and... other facinations...)

Then I read this...

Fuck. The real Ned Low had a friend named Francis and they were close for awhile. Now I have to do something with these notes eventually- shit, its hauntingly accurate.

Did I mention Francis signature is setting ships on fire with its crew held aboard? What similar to Ned's blend of music and torment, Francis plays a violin in exchange of his pianoforte to the screams off it as the ship sinks...

I'm not sure I will write it entirely(I have too many AUs dammit!) but the idea keeps returning to me. I have set art ideas for it but I can share a short plotline that started from a one shot in my drafts where Francis and Ned meet while on dock one night at the Republic of pirates. Ned is drawn to the beautiful music of a violin along the pier coming from a beautiful ship. A tune so well played and unfamiliar in quality normally found around pirates. Ned grabs his violin and rushes flustered to join this stranger which he is welcomes to and they continue the song. They play well and even share a conversation, all where it leads to why Francis is there having to clean up what his crew could not. He's looking for someone as Ned remarks the same thing. Ned goes pale; however, as he discovers its the same man as a wanted poster is thrown at his feet to see its Blackbeard. Same man but different reasons that intertwine, Ned for revenge of his record being broken and Francis for his 30 freight ships under his corsair contract Blackbeard seiged in order to break it. Francis is also looking for Stede Bonnet, someone Ned doesn't recognize or really care to but he obliges for the assistance in tracking Ed down.

Then months later, as the story direction is changed for this, Francis finds Stede adrift in his dingy lost at sea and rescues him- or so Stede thinks...

Against Stede's ruse of a fake name, Francis on approach, knows exactly who Stede really is; however, alike how when he met Ned low, Francis is using Stede just as much as he is using Ned to find the Revenge. Ned, who Francis treats much like a pet ironically, happily goes along with whatever Francis tells him because he feels he weilds more influence than he truly does in this arrangement, all whilst Francis picks at Stede's mind to pull information about himself, his ship, everything that fascinates him about this odd bird at sea. What Francis uses all his skills at his disposal to retrieve, including his knowledge of mixing custom pharmaceuticals blends to fit his needs from his days as a refined surgeon.

When he's not using concoctions, Francis, being a man masterful at manipulation, one seethingly charming and well cultured from his wonderous explorations that streched far beyond his days permanently at sea, works like a charm on Stede. Stede who is immediently drawn to that comfort zone of aristocraic behavior while being more so put at ease with how kind and generous Francis is to him. Since Stede was rescued, Francis has provided him the nice cloths he longed for and treats him to fine dining, whatever Stede wants essentially... except to leave. Not that Francis has openly stopped him, more an alluded persuasion if Stede gets restless; "Why would you want to muck it out there isolated and all alone? You could run into anyone out there... Someone that could seriously hurt you if you crossed them... Just think what could have happened had I not found you first barely clinging to your dear sweet life... There's alot of dangerous men out there..."

While Stede truly believe Francis is trying to help him reunite with his crew, Stede isn't completely daft. He is wary and picks up somerhijgs not quite right as he tries to be careful what he shares, at least about Ed. He's mainly worried where all this generosity could lead and remains guarded but polite because... he's also despirate with no other options. He pacifies Francis as much as he can for now yet Stede doesn't realize just what he's gotten himself into and with who... What will all come to a head when Francis meets back up with Ned one night to celebrate their crews reunion with own twisted version of Calypso's birthday that make Francis intentions become abit more clear to Stede when the ruse is dropped completely.

Meanwhile with Ned back, Ned sees all this and knows the plan, but he's too jealous and spiteful by how Francis fawns over Stede. How Francis always keeping Stese so close. Ned wanted that to be him. Them... Ned has finally found someone who 'understands him' and will be damned if some minor rich boy playing pirate takes that from him while Stede would love to actively assure him how incorrect he is and how badly he wants to leave.

While all this happening, Ed learns what is going on and who Stede has been seen with as they have monitored the ship from the security of distance in night travels. What, thanks to Izzy, who knows all too well what the dread Black King Osman is capable of, knows just how much danger Stede is in. Ed now sets his bitter resentment from Stede leaving him aside and sails to London. He is heavily outmatched in means to attack Francis on his own, but with a well placed raid along the Thames River, he plans to level that playing field with a counteraction of his own capture.

[300iqprower]

Hypothetical Summer Singularity: Male-Swimsuit Spectacular on the Stygian Shores!

I'm just gonna format this like a point by point outline/narration of how it'd play out. See previous list for the full casting. With that said:

Good news, everyone! A hell portal has opened up! Also Rider Caesar finally materialized, and he's so powerful he broke the male swimsuit curse! Finally we’ll have- er, hey wait a sec, isn’t this TOO many swimsuits?!

Heading through said hell portal into the singularity to investigate the source of grail-like summonings, they find themselves somewhere in Hades, though it feels awfully warm and summer like.

The villain of our story appears to be Chiron! Or rather, Chiron Alter, a disgruntled and bored Charon who took matters into his own hands and possessed Chiron for a beach body and potential summer fling!

Now a mysterious figure revealing himself as Brutus has come to help, loyal as ever to Rider Caesar and determined to restore the emperor to his full power, who with an elated Cleopatra, and now Saber Mandricardo (something about equivalent exchange?), must traverse the transformed "River Styx Resort" and figure out what the hell is even going on, before Chaldea’s systems (and budget) are completely overwhelmed by the numbers of alts, costumes, and chain summons being released!

Recruiting d’Eon, Mephistopheles, and Fergus, as well as the new Gundrun alongside her husband Erik, after the usual misadventures and enjoying of what vacation we can get, it’s time to put a stop to Charon!

…Until, upon defeating Charon, it turns out the real cause is Pretender Blackbeard, alongside his “boyfriend” Berserker Achilles and a mysterious shielder (Who really did try to stop them, honest…). After so many years of being stuck as some weird 2 star pervert, Teach got sick of it and after realizing his bisexuality last Summer, set out to fix things! Starting with reuniting his new bestie Achilles with their long lost boyfriend Patroclus! Rally your mistreated, your underpowered, your constantly referenced but never actually given, for Blackbeard is here to unite us against the tyranny of heteronormative gacha oppression! …well, that was the plan anyways, except didn’t Grand Carnival already do this joke?!

Regardless, we don't't stand a chance against a roided out Achilles! Falling back, Hektor and a now adult Paris are the only option to turn to, though is it just Hektor or are things getting a bit chilly around here? Whatever. Hektor’s certain we’re gonna need Bedivere and the round table knights, as well as a powerful curse user to take down an enraged Achilles. That’s one sorceress already taken care of, a bunch of himbo knights to go. Off to recruit them!

After a good walloping, as well as a bit of calming down from an understanding d’Eon and Fergus, a defeated Achilles and Blackbeard relent, and we can find out where the grail causing all this mess is- waddya mean Blackbeard doesn’t know? Waddya mean someone else told him how to kick off a male summer event?! AND WHY IS IT SO FREAKIN COLD AROUND HERE?!

Suddenly, a ghostly crew of ice shades seem to answer that question! A lot of them! How is this event still not over?! Well Hektor seems certain Charon knows. And he does. The servants of Cocytus, the riverbank those who could not pay Charon, seek those who cannot move on from their own lamentation and drag them back to their master. A sick melding of Hades and Inferno, Cocytus is more like the monstrous Charybdis than an actual body of water, devouring those who cannot escape their own sins and refuse to pay for them.

Brutus’s work was done, and his bargained time up. He had returned Caesar to his glory in the Grand Order, even if he had to throw all of Styx into a mess of overflowing swimsuit servants to do it. Now he was to throw himself into the depths of Cocytus for good. Not as Assassin Marcus Junius Brutus, but as Pretender Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, the true and much less noble architect of Caesar’s death, who could never forgive his own cowardice.

But when did Caesar ask for such “justice”? No, he did not permit it, let alone ask for it. As Mephistopheles and Bedivere attest, cowardice is not an absence of love, and to live eternally believing such is a fate none deserve. Brutus may not forgive himself, but Caesar does, and if only through arrogance is certain that is all that matters. Thus, with Blackbeard’s ship at full power from the number of servants gathered, at Caesar’s command they take to the waves, and bring down the leviathan-like Cocytus to protect Chaldea’s newest member.

[canonizzyhours]

Re: #49, #53, and probably a lot more.

Making Izzys Development Less of a Shock:

Izzy is protective of his crew and he doesn't see the Revenge crew as his until season 2. When Jim and Frenchie are crew, he protects them as well. I dont think he had a redemption arc, that shift mixed with the "bottle it up" logic of characters like Frenchie and the "we dont get apologies" logic of characters like Archie means they were comfortable enough with him to trauma bond.

Revenge Crew: when asked in s1 ep 4, Izzy tells Ed the plan is to treat the Revenge crew like every other ship they have taken by making them fix the ship and then killing them. He also tells the crew they dont get food when they have been invaded. So from his pov this is a normal day with normal-ish captives. We are never given reason to believe Ed ever tells him otherwise.

Blackbeard Crew: Our only look into how the Blackbeard crew see him comes from Fang and Ivan. In s1 ep2, we hear Ivan tell Fang he should tell Izzy he doesnt like it when Izzy pulls his beard, implying Ivan at least thinks that would be safe to do and maybe even result in it not happening again. In ep 4, Izzy is yelling at Ed about the 7 men they lost saving Stede. In ep5, we see Fang panic when he thinks Ed is about to catch him slacking off and letting Lucius sketch him, but when he finds out its Izzy he relaxes. In ep6, they both go to Izzy to question why they havent followed protocol and killed everyone yet. This shows a fairly open relationship with their first mate. From what we see, they are comfortable being honest with him and trust him enough to question plans.

He is a dick when he takes over as captain, but the tasks he has the Revenge crew doing seem to be sailing related and we dont see him punish anyone until Wee John disrespects him. Was it good and was he right? No. But the punishment isnt violent, he seems to be trying to force them into being "proper" pirates. Then he strands them on that island, but they were rescued and after seeing the trauma crew I'm guessing they were less angry about being stranded. It's also possible they blame Ed for that.

In season 2, Izzy is back to being the go between for Ed and the BB crew. Jim and Frenchie are part of his crew now and he isnt pretending to be captain, so hes less of a dick and more of a buffer from Blackbeard. They have noticed that Ed is taking his toes, but they all seem relatively unharmed physically, creating the beginnings of a trauma bond. They also feel comfortable enough with him to question orders. Then when Ed starts pointing a gun at them, Izzy says something to get the gun pointed at himself instead of them or Ed himself. Jim's "hes our dick" explanation also implies they know everything is better when the crew cares about eachother.

As soon as Izzy is seemingly out of the picture, Ed does everything he can to ensure they will all die in that storm. And tries to make Jim and Archie to fight to the death. But Izzy steps in again and stops Ed. This would strengthen the trauma bond even more.

From what I can tell, Jim, Frenchie, Archie, and Fang and also Lucius have been through to much to be bothered by someone being a dick. Lucius can still be snarky, but he has bigger problems. The BB crew watched Izzy take a bullet and get toes cut off voluntarily and continue to stand between them and Blackbeard.

The rest of the Revenge crew either have someone they love on that ship or, frankly, dont really care about Izzy. And Izzy hits rock bottom and accepts that this is his new crew, theoretically resulting in him treating them a bit better.

I assume the New Unicorn note is the BB crews idea. The rest just want the trauma group to calm down a bit so I can see them agreeing to any team building activity if it helps the others build trust again. When we see the leg being made Jim is covered in gold paint, Fang and Frenchie are putting the last nail in.

TLDR: you dont see a redemption arc because he didnt get one. It's just the perfect storm of him being slightly less of a dick, a few key characters trauma bonding with him, and the rest not really caring about him or getting screen time. From his side they are crew now so hes less of a dick.

I'm sorry if this reads like headcanons, I tried to put episodes in to explain but it's all from my memory and it is very late. I hope it helps make the beginning of s2 less of a shock for someone.

#59.

related posts: #53, #49

[kermitttttt]

let me explain why the ending of that damned yet beautiful show feels off, even if it should be the right one.

the build up for stede’s character in this season is clear: he’s trying. trying to find ed, trying to keep his crew together, trying to be a good and respectable pirate. after the reunion, it becomes even more obvious, with izzy teaching him sword play and all the “captain” thing with ed, that stede wants to grow as a pirate and learn how to protect others, and not to be the one who always needs protection. this parable reaches its peak when he kills the psychopath with the violin (i cant remember his name i hate him he doesn’t deserve that i call him by name), and resolves in the consequences we see in episode 7, in which he becomes a sort of celebrity and starts to be very annoying (i love you stede and i know there’s a lot of analysis and meta on this behaviour of yours but. it’s starting to be irritating. as we say in italy anche meno).

what does all of this say to us, the public? that stede has started his path of transforming into a real pirate (like pinocchio!), but it doesn’t come all in one and it’s not that if he’s not dead, he’s the bestest pirate. he’s still an amateur, but has potential.

while what does all this mean to stede? that he deserves more recognition and he’s a great pirate now. i mean, he’s buddy with blackbeard and won a duel against izzy hands, he should be at their level (this is what he thinks). so, he’s one of the best ones now, and can grow even more.

now. what stede thinks and the reality are two very different things, BUT they have a point in common: stede wants, and can (with some help) be a pirate. let’s get to that ending. edward’s whole character development revolves around his personal identity, i won’t analyse that too (this needs an entire different post) but what we got in the end was that he’s left his rotten side behind, can live free and relaxed, tho this doesn’t mean his “pirate self” is something unworthy and buried forever (buried…haha…). this finale, for him, is perfect! but for stede? it’s the opposite of where the story was going for him. stop being a pirate? now that he was starting to understand how? it feels odd. i don’t doubt he did that for ed, because he loves him, but will he be happy with this new life? i’m not sure (also, i feel like anne bonny and mary were foreshadowing something…). stede is trapped in a mundane life, again. this time he’s with somebody he loves, yes, but it doesn’t mean there won’t be problems. however, this is s3 material, so we can imagine where the story will go.

[thiswomanshouldbewriting]

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I miei post migliori nel 2022:

#5

I don't usually want to get my hopes up, but it Rhys "great at physical comedy" Darby and Taika "these are two innocent fully erect eggplants" Waititi don't get to play an over-the-top, ridiculous fight that quickly becomes a sex scene in S2 what was even the point.

901 note - Postate 1 giugno 2022

#4

Absolutely devastated at the idea that, for most of human history, for you to hear music there had to be someone physically playing/singing in your vicinity. I would have gone rabid over a good musician.

989 note - Postate 25 novembre 2022

#3

Ok but episode 5 is such a turning point and I feel the need to ramble about this a little.

When I first saw the almost kiss at the end of the episode, I was kind of surprised. I knew from tumblr that the relationship between Ed and Stede was going to develop into a romance, I just didn't expect it to happen so quickly and so explicitly (the damage queerbaiting does to a mf). That scene signed a tone shift that I wasn't expecting, and the more I think about it the more absurd it feels that I didn't see it coming.

While Edward and Stede have lots in common and get along from the moment they meet, they are not on equal footing at first.

Stede treads Blackbeard as a friend, but he is also in a kind of hero-worship situation. He's known about him for a long time, he just had his life and crew saved by him, he is learning crucial skills from him.

And Ed, well, Ed also liked Stede from the moment he heard about him but, as lovable as he thinks that Stede is, Ed is still going along with his own plans. He decides to contact Stede because he's bored. He's learning about upper class because he wants to be one of them. As much as he likes Stede, he does not need Stede, while Stede pretty much needs him to survive.

What changes this dynamic? Well, the way Stede reacts to Ed's vulnerability.

In episode 4 we see Blackbeard in complete control of the situation while Stede panicks, until we learn that Blackbeard was wrong about the day. At that point Ed just... gives up, and retreats to drink himself into a stupor, and is joined by Stede. While they don't exactly bond in this moment, they are for once on equal footing, both musing on their own failings, and come up with the same plan at the same time. They work together, and while Ed still does not need Stede in his life at this point, he has learned that, at the very least, Stede is not the kind of person that would stab him (physically or emotionally) the moment he shows weakness.

Then episode 5 comes along and, despite Blackbeard's attempts, Stede starts to see more through the facade. Stede sees how the "rich donkey" comment got to him, and offers a support that Ed is not yet ready to accept. But later, when the party gets ugly, Stede "soft boy" Bonnet tells motherfucking Blackbeard to stand down, with so much authority that Ed actually does listen to him. Stede not only sees how much those comments got into Ed's head, not only stops him from doing something extremely rush and stupid in response, but actively takes the matter in his hands, punishing a boat full of people for the crime of hurting someone he cares about.

Ed has grown up in a world where every man has to fend for himself, where pirates don't have friends, where weakness means your crew will mutiny, and suddenly he is faced with someone who not only doesn't shame him for his moment of weakness, but tells him don't worry, I can deal with this so you don't have to. The look that Ed gives Stede as the boat burns is, I believe, both because he didn't think Stede had it in him, and because he definitely didn't expect Stede to do this for him.

Cut to the moonlight scene. Ed is still processing everything that just happened, when Stede approaches him and offers, once again, support for what he just went through. He gently takes (after asking!) something that Ed cares about, a symbol of his softness, and treats it with such care and respect, showing Ed how to display that to the world. Ed knows, in this moment, that he can trust Stede, that it's safe to be vulnerable with him, something that he probably hasn't felt with anyone in years. Of course he takes that step forward, of course he is tempted to kiss him.

And this fully progresses in epsiode 6. The episode opens with a montage of the two of them enjoying each other's company, finally on equal footing, because Ed has realized that he does need Stede, not for his plan, but as a person he wants to spend time with, someone cares about (much to Izzy's chagrin). Not only that, but the hilarious/flirty "stab me" scene is all about physical trust. Ed trusts Stede enough that he's willing to be physically vulnerable when he's around. But this isn't the highest level of trust for Ed. Ed would probably rather be stabbed than talk about his feelings, but by the end of the episode he's ready to show Stede what, by pirate standards, is the worst part of him. He's crying, he's scared, he's showing all of his emotional vulnerability, and once again Stede only shows him care. Stede reassures him that he's not a monster, that they're friends, and that their friendship won't change because Ed planned to kil him or because he was too soft to go through with the plan (there's a wonderful post about this, I can't find it right now).

It's not a coincidence that from episode 7 onward these two are clearly and openly head over heels for each other (still screaming about Ed trusting Stede to take something out of his beard), so much so that other characters start to fully acnowledge theirs as a relationship. The progression of their romance - from the instant chemistry to the weird tension to the full flirting - is dictated by how vulnerable Ed is willing to be with Stede, and how gently Stede treats him in response. And it breaks my heart because when Ed finally brought down his final defenses, when he was ready to leave it all behind for Stede, he had his heart broken in the worst possible way.

1.093 note - Postate 16 aprile 2022

#2

Stede Bonnet is literally THE Unkillable Gay™.

Stabbed in the guts and hanged? He is fine by the end of the next day. Blackbeard plans to kill him? Too late, Blackbeard has already fallen in love with him. Run through with a sword and impaled until (at least) the following morning? It's fine, there are no important organs on the left side of the body anyway. A guy tries to shoot him? He accidentally trips and shoots himself in the head instead. His wife plans to murder him? They have a nice heart-to-heart and end up hugging.

He literally cannot be stopped.

1.554 note - Postate 13 aprile 2022

Il mio post numero 1 del 2022

Currently screaming about Stede instinctively saying that Blackbeard is lovely and then immediately realizing that this is not the answer that people wanted and, crucially, it is not an answer he can give them.

He spent weeks at sea, on the naval equivalent of a gay pride parade, surrounded by people who were welcoming, if not of his pirate style, at least of his quirks. He read them stories, he saw them being queer with no guilt, he showed them all of his heartbreak about Ed leaving and was only met with support.

He has forgotten what hiding feels like. Or, rather, he has forgotten that he's supposed to hide. He's not on the Revenge anymore, where he could have donned his silk robe and talked with Lucius and Olu about his feelings. He once again has to hide who he is and, he realizes, he has to hide who Ed is as well.

There are so many layers on which this is true. He has to lie about Ed's vulnerabilities because they are something Ed himself keeps secret, and Stede can't breach that trust. He has to hide Ed's softer side because it won't be accepted, just like Stede's own softness isn't. He has to keep up the Blackbeard persona because that is keeping Ed safe through the fear people have of him. And yes, he also has to hide their relationship because, as far as I can tell from Wikipedia, that was a crime punishable by death.

Stede has, in the span of two seconds, to take all of this in and quickly shift back into his old mask, profoundly aware that as friendly as these men are right now, he can never be honest with them. Which is only highlighted by the fact that they openly cheer after his speech about death, despite it being clearly traumatising for him.

Idk maybe I am projecting, but I truly felt what Stede felt, the need to smile and lie through a family dinner on order to avoid outing yourself or someone else you know. Brb I'm gonna cry now.

4.264 note - Postate 18 maggio 2022

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Adding a few comments to this:

I can't believe (but actually yes I can) that ofmd completely monopilzed my tags and top posts. Awesome.

I posted on average 1.6 posts a day. I'm on this website too much (no, I actually use it just the right amount)

@omarfor-mp3 I'll take the cookies.

[izzyspussy]

hey there it's ya boy the jizzy anon back again bc I've only just realised you replied to my ask I'm so dumb 😭 you've probably forgotten what you wrote sorry but uhhhhh this is my reply anyway lmao u don't have to reply to this obvs 😅

1) thank u it's an honour 🥰

2) ooooo I like it. I feel like Fang and Ivan should also be like yeah that's just Normal Izzy Behaviour so everyone just kinda gets on with things (I feel like we deserve to see Izzy in a dress thoooooo)

3) mmmmm it's so good, I'm afab genderqueer and I have so much goddam respect for amab genderqueers

4) honestly your blog has changed my opinion of Jack so much, I'm now fully on board with the mean, horny and undernegotiatedly kinky Jack shipping train it's my new favourite thing. when I had the feminisation thought I felt literally so galaxy brain because OF COURSE Jack would be Like That................... and yes he totally would start feminising Izzy outside of sex like he's poking at a bruise. To see Izzy's reaction (and potentially the rest of the crew's reaction and the crew's reaction to Izzy's reaction and so on etc etc etc.) "hehe another toy for me to play with" is exactly right ily I love Jack being a joyfully manipulative lil bitch because that's exactly what we see of him in S1!!! He knows exactly what to say to get under Stede's skin and sway Blackbeard and the rest of the crew and he just has so much fun with it!! I feel like Jack fucking with Izzy (in every sense) would just be a match made in heaven with both of them getting off on the other being mean (Jack gives massive switch energy but in a way that he's always ultimately in control if that makes sense? because he has zero shame about it so even when it's him getting off on Izzy being mean to him, Izzy still comes out looking/feeling weaker)

5) I HAVE and I LOVE IT. Jim Izzy solidarity is just. Everything. I am Craving Jim Izzy scenes in S2. especially because Vico deserves it.

Okay and now I've started thinking about trans dude Calico Jack and I can't stop. Basically I just want more diverse trans man rep AND THAT MEANS WE NEED MORE GROSS TRANS GUYS. I'm so sick of a) people thinking trans guys are innocent soft boys and b) people saying trans women fetishise women's bodies, so I think Jack should be just so much the opposite, a dickhead trans dude fetishising women's bodies???? no idea if this makes any sort of sense I'm writing this while like........ super high 😭

Okay, I do like vaguely remember what this is in response to, but only vaguely. I have no idea why I kept it in the inbox for so long though alskfks. Anyway, jizzy anon I hope you're still here and please feel free to send any other horny and/or trans jizzy thoughts you may have. And everyone else, uh, here's this. You're welcome.

[silk-and-oranges]

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

[chuplayswithfire]

Edward Teach knows who he is. i think this might be a bit controversial in the analysis perspective, because the idea of Edward teach, fractured identity, doesn't know who he is, is pretty prevalent, but i think this comes from a fundamental lack of familiarity with the experience of being non-white in white society.

what Ed struggles with is the ability to find a landing zone where he can stop code switching. sure, Ed is a social chameleon and changes things up depending on who he's with, but this is a common strategy for people of color in survival mode - managing expectations, experiences, and presentation are essential for not just surviving but thriving in a white world, and that's what we see with Ed -

he's Blackbeard the charismatic celebrity pirate when he first meets the crew because he's putting on the job. he's Jeff the Accountant when he's trying out finer things and high society. he's Blackie with Calico Jack, his oldest living tie to the past, a man who went through hell with him in their youth and a man who clearly thrives on high adrenaline high aggression masculinity. at the end of season 1, he's the Kraken for Izzy, pouring on the danger to keep a known liability at bay (Izzy has betrayed him twice, now. Izzy is a liability) and this isn't a sign of fractured identity, this is a sign of a man who has never been able to show all of himself to anyone and be accepted, and a man who knows he must be in community with others to survive.

no pirate stands alone. you're in a crew, you're a captain, you're a first mate, you're something to someone at all times. Ed can't be on his own if he wants to survive as a pirate, which is all he knows, but he also can't find peace as a pirate, because he isn't known. its not that he doesn't know who he is. he's all of these identities.

it's that it isn't until he meets Stede that he finds a place where he can show all of himself. That's why they bond so closely - they're able to connect because they have common interests. Because Stede isn't scared of Ed, and when he learns more about him he's curious, he asks questions, he shares. Ed is able to relax and share more of himself, to the point that when he panics, he shares too much. He gets nervous. That's why he wants to leave in episode 7 - he has shown too much and they haven't talked about and Ed hasn't been that vulnerable with anyone in a long time.

But then Lucius helps him see that Stede likes him, that Stede is doing this whole outing for him, that everything is good, and he's settled again. And then in episode 8, he's nervous again, because he codeswitched to hang out with Calico Jack, to enjoy some of the old bygone times, and without the context of the conversation Stede and Calico Jack had and the context of Stede's background, he's left to assume that Stede has seen that Ed isn't classy and doesn't like him anymore. So he backs off.

But he comes back, and knowing himself and what he wants is why Ed can walk away from his whole life to be with Stede. Because he knows himself and what he wants. He starts the season knowing himself and what he wants and how he feels - Ed's arc in the first season is not about finding himself but about opening up, settling into his skin, and understanding where he wants to go next. Stede's arc is coming to terms with what he's done, and then finally gaining base knowledge of himself. Stede and Ed are on totally different levels throughout the season, because Ed knows who he is. He just doesn't know how to navigate to where and who he wants to be next.

So all of this said? At the end of the finale, Ed loses sight of who he is. He regresses and falls back because it's easier to be feared than laughed at, and because Stede has broken his heart and Izzy has made it clear that no one will ever stand by all of him, so he might as well be the self that still has people.

But Stede didn't reject Ed. Stede ran for his own reasons. Which means when he comes back to Ed, when he fights his way back to Ed, he's not going to be all, oh darling I can help you sort out your identity. He'll be like oh my fearsome darling, you really are beautiful as he looks at Ed's frankly terrifying visage (or exhausted visage, who knows how long it will have been since this man took a nap) and he's going to be fully accepting of who Ed is. Because Stede knows and loves Ed for who he is. He's seen him violent. He's seen him aggressive. He's seen him vulnerable, soft, sweet, sorrowful, overjoyed. He knows Ed.

When Stede comes, he won't be fixing Ed. It's not Stede's place to fix Ed. It's Stede's job to walk beside Ed, and be at his side, (and apologize) and navigate with him the pitfalls and ups for their relationship, and continue to be the first person that Ed Teach could ever be all of himself with.

[amuseoffyre]

Having feelings about the fact that the two times we see Ed lose his temper and get seriously violent and aggressive with anyone, it's when he’s been repeatedly verbally provoked about subjects that are very painful for him. I would also argue for the case of his father, but that was more premeditated than reactive.

The first time is with the French captain, when Stede is giving Ed a dining lesson and critiques the lack of utensils. The Captain angrily snaps "I did not imagine we would be hosting your kind", a blatantly racist Othering of Ed. (And don't even start me on the fact that the flashback shows his mother diminishes herself compared to her white employers by saying "we not that kind of people")

For a moment, Ed goes very still, calmly and quietly asking "my kind? what's that supposed to mean?" and the French captain sneers "it means a rich donkey is still a donkey". Historically, donkey was frequently used as an offensive slur towards Polynesian people by white British people and given what we later learn about Ed's family and how he was taught to view himself by his mother, it's no surprise that it's an emotional trigger point. 

“A donkey,” he repeats, breathing hard, “a fucking donkey”

The fact that he defensively lashes out, shouting "Do you know where I'm from? You know fucking nothing about me!" highlights just how distressing and offensive the whole interaction is. (Also worth mentioning that David Fane - Fang - is also from NZ and of Samoan descent, so having him and Taika do this scene with this particular insult is incredibly loaded)

The second time we see him lash out it's in episode 10 and what makes it even worse is the fact that it comes after he's been receiving the support and acceptance of Stede's crew. He's puttering around, humming, tidying up his living area and laughingly saying "can you believe I lived like this?" - he's still sad about everything that happened with Stede, but there's a light at the end of the tunnel and he's starting to pick up the pieces.

Then Izzy forking Hands, the living incarnation of internalised homophobia and toxic masculinity intervenes.

And it's not when he tells Ed that he should have let the English kill him. It's not when he describes him as "this thing that you've become" (and hooboy, that gender identity stuff is just begging me to write it). It's not even when he yells in Ed's face that "this is Blackbeard" while waving a piece of propaganda.

Ed's clearly hurt and tired and saddened by it, but the thing that pushes him over the edge is when Izzy dares to bring up Stede, mocking him for "pining for his boyfriend", when Ed's cracked and broken heart is still raw and fragile. The fact he does it to make him stop talking makes my heart hurt.

And Izzy doesn't care about that. All he cares about is reawakening the violent, physical, aggressive man that he wants and when he shows his approval, Ed immediately recoils, backing away in distress. The damage is done. Izzy has proved his point by jabbing his fingers straight into an open wound and laughing when Ed reacted to make him shut up.

Ed is not by nature an explosively violent person and the fact it takes people repeatedly slamming on his emotional vulnerable places with a verbal hammer to make him react in an aggressive way speaks measures for him.

Don’t get me wrong, he’s very good at doing a violence as part of the job - he loves a good maim and all that - but violence as an emotional reaction? It takes a lot to get that out of him and often when he’s already feeling off-balance.