#Kraken Era

[derekstilinski]

something something frenchie's jimi hendrix mcr welcome to the black parade emo goth marching band breakup boat kraken era dark days fit will always be famous

bonus:

#our flag means death #ofmd s2 #frenchie ofmd #kraken era #kraken crew #my gifs

[izzyhandslightofmylife]

Punching bag! Izzy is the best type of Izzy I'm so sorry. Like on one hand there's Ed, and Ed is trying so hard to be good, because the Kraken's gone, he's gone, and he doesn't want to take the blame for it so he takes it out on Izzy. Because if there's one thing he knows about Izzy it's that Izzy is loyal, if there's one thing he knows about Izzy it's that Iz loves him. And this is just the way it is. Izzy needs it, or Ed thinks he does, so he takes whatever Ed gives because being hit is better than being ignored.

On the other hand, you have Stede, who's always preaching about kindness and forgiveness on his ship but who still makes fun of Izzy. who still ignores Izzy. who still makes fun of Izzy. Stede who wants so desperately to be seen as a 'real pirate' that he'll do anything to prove it. Stede who also knows that Izzy is loyal to a fault, Stede who loves (or claims to love) his crew and doesn't want to hurt them. Stede who sees Izzy as the one thing he's allowed to hurt because everyone is good and Izzy is always there and Izzy just isn't.

Ed and Stede who refuse to admit that their love isn't the same that it once was. That the separation changed them and that these grand acts of romance won't just fix it. Ed and Stede who don't actually want to talk, don't want to fight because it'd bring up all the pain they caused each other. Ed and Stede who have Izzy, always standing next to them or at their feet, Izzy who's right there and so easy to get mad at when they don't want to get mad at each other.

Izzy who's starving for love and will do anything to get it. Izzy who's so fundamentally convinced that he's unlovable, any scrap of love is accepted even if it comes with unimaginable violence. Izzy trying to protect the crew because the crew are good and he isn't, and they're all so happy with their captains, and he doesn't want to shatter the "family" again.

please, I'm begging you guys, write more of this. Just. Izzy as a punching bag.

#izzy hands apologist #izzy canyon #ofmd #izzy hands #ofmd critical #steddyhands fic idea #steddyhands #kraken era #izzy deserved better #izzyposting #ofmd canyon #ofmd headcanon #ofmd fic ideas #dark stede bonnet #dark ed teach #Izzy baby they could never make me hate you #whump #izzy hands fic #izzy hands meta #izzy hands my beloved

[b4g3lbit3s]

i know that she was crazy and insane and not okay at all but kraken era ed was gorgeous and i love her

#i can fix him #(no i cant) #ofmd #our flag means death #edward teach #kraken era

[ladyluscinia]

I have been turning over the question of how I would "fix" S2 - more conceptually than with intention at the moment - and more and more my conclusion is just scrap it entirely and go a different direction.

Like as much as I enjoyed 2x01 - 2x03 (maybe even 2x04 and 2x05, too) from an audience perspective (specifically as someone who enjoys darker content, toxic relationships, black humor, and the potential of generally fucked up plot beats) it kinda hinged a lot on my expectation that they were doing it with intent to deliver a satisfying story resolution in the end. I couldn't guess exactly how on the spot, but that's not really my problem as an audience member - I can just enjoy guessing along the journey until we get there.

Whereas looking back as a writer, struggling with the lack of resolution (successfully executed or even just projected), those episodes are just too many problems built into the foundation. I very rarely say this but I will agree with the antis that watching Edward go on a multi-phase apology tour to try and make amends to each character would be tonally a disaster to deal with and not particularly satisfying on a character level, either. I mean, I like Edward? I don't want his primary plotline being him getting kicked repeatedly and wallowing in guilt? But I also don't see a clean way to wrap up all that with perfunctory apologies and then behaving better in the future AND to sell any kind of found family, "these people will be celebrating at your wedding"-energy between Edward and the breakup boat crew. Not while treating any of them as mentally ok, at least.

Handwaving Frenchie's box is not actually funny at all if it's explicitly full of unaddressed traumatizing memories of a guy he works for / hangs out with on a daily basis?

I think I was right in my pre-S2 thinking that Kraken era needs to be predominantly violence directed toward people outside the crew, and while the remaining crew can be unhappy they probably shouldn't feel abused. I'm still not sure if Izzy's leg could be made to work with some context changes, but the offscreen additional toes lines definitely need to be struck out. Like, fucked up Kraken era could be interesting in more trauma focused fics that explored it as whump or darker adventure stories, but I don't think canon benefits from the harsh genre shift. Especially not if we want to keep forward movement for BlackBonnet as the main arc of the show.

There's just too much setup baggage on the route they chose, and I can't figure out a satisfying answer for what to do with it that doesn't require temporarily dropping the romance, the comedy, or both from this romcom 🤷‍♀️

Better to remove the problem at its source and just reimagine Kraken era entirely.

#our flag means death #ofmd s2 #ofmd critical #ladyluscinia #kraken era

[follows-the-bees]

Negative space in 1x10 Wherever You Go, There You Are shows Ed's isolation after shuffling on the Blackbeard/Kraken role.

Continuing my negative space series, this one will also focus on Ed and I guess it would be 2.5.5.

I discussed the meaning of how the negative space in center-framed Ed scenes shows his emotions and mindset: both negative (isolation) and positive (hopeful future).

Let's look at how the end of 1x10 makes Ed small on the screen as the Kraken/BB. (It is also a foil to the larger-than-life framing of Ed. )

These three shots all show Ed's changing mindset. After Izzy invalidates Ed's feelings and threatens him, he metaphorically shuffles on the dark demeanor here.

Ed becomes increasingly smaller in the frame as the camera changes angles, finally ending with the ship itself as the central focus of the shot. Ed is hidden behind the railing, like bars in a jail cell; he is locked back into the role that was slowly killing him.

He is then hidden in shadows just like when we first meet Blackbeard on his ship. We only get to see a glance of him as he performs an act of violence — first one we've seen him do on camera. His mindset is as shadowed for the audience as it is for Ed. The left side of the frame is empty, no distinguishable shapes, which adds to the disoriented feeling in this moment.

The orangish-red lighting is also a stark contrast to how we've seen Ed lit the rest of the series. It is reminiscent of his intro and during his wedding toppers overnight breakdown in season two.

When Blackbeard starts to cull the crew, recruiting Jim and Frenchie but marooning the others, the shot puts Ed in shadow and small on screen again. Not only is he hidden behind a desk, but there is a huge gap between him and the rest of the crew. This is the beginning of him completely isolating from everyone, not letting them close physically or emotionally.

This camera choice of making Ed small in the frame, tons of space around him, and if there is any crew they are far away from him, really drives home how much Ed has to disassociate from everyone in order to put on the persona of Blackbeard. It shows how his mental state has turned dark, he is isolating himself since 1) he feels unlovable and 2) not let anyone close enough to him to hurt him like Stede did.

Changing the angle, this overhead shot makes most of Ed's body hidden. The most prominent parts we see are the gun and the bottle of alcohol, vices for his negative isolation and dark headspace.

We've seen Ed drink before but (besides the time with CJ) it is done in celebration or neutral: with the crew, during the co-captains scene. This drinking is about drowning his feelings.

There can also be a parallel to his father being a drunkard. Ed having to take on the toxic vices of his abusers in order to become Blackbeard is a whole other essay, especially when the show has established time and time again that Ed is soft, and tries to state his boundaries when someone is about to cross them, but then they do and he has to react.

The last shot of Ed in the season one finale is devastating. He has emptied out the captain's quarters of most of Stede's things, the only items we can make out are the tiny piano, the desk, and a knife stuck in the desk (perfect foreshadowing for the knife bit in the next season). Ed is tiny in frame, scrunched up in a ball, on a bed, something that should offer comfort, but it only offers isolation and pain.

Every shot of Ed after he becomes Blackbeard again shows how isolated Ed is, his bed headspace, and how emotionally vulnerable he is only in private.

#ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd edward teach #ofmd meta #blackbeard #kraken era #cinematography #our flag means death filmmaking analysis #meta analysis

[wolf-in-a-trenchcoat]

Did a little something with some buddies for a trend (3 artists 1 base on TikTok) and decided "why not do Izzy during the Kraken Era?" I spent 7 HOURS on this fucker and I am actually proud of it- probably the better Izzy pieces I've done and will most likely ever do. I'd love some feedback, if any are willing 🫶

#art #ofmd #izzy hands #our flag means death #blackbeard ofmd #edward teach #ofmd izzy #kraken era #israel hands #ofmd fanart #ofmd art #our flag means fanart

[disabledpirate]

Do you think they had a sea burial for Ivan? Do you think Ed was too high to realize what was happening and they smuggled his body back, just so he had the respect of a memorial?

Or do you think Izzy had to drag Fang away from Ivan’s body, desperately trying to keep his one remaining friend from his past alive?

Do you think Fang sobbed, held by Jim, as he spoke Ivan’s name into the night?

Do you think Izzy thought of Ivan before he tried to off himself?

Do you think Ed did?

#sorry not sorry #ofmd #ofmd ivan #ofmd fang #izzy hands #kraken crew #kraken ed #kraken era

[a-map-of-gays]

Kraken Ed, Our Flag Means Death /// Hot Chocolate by Bears in Trees

#Someone with video editing skills get on this #Right now all I can offer is my terrible photo editing skills #our flag means death #ofmd #ofmd s2 #ofmd season 2 #ed teach #kraken ed #kraken era #izzy hands #israel hands #fang ofmd #jim jimenez #jim ofmd #archie ofmd #frenchie ofmd #stede bonnet #gentlebeard #blackbonnet #hot chocolate #hot chocolate bears in trees #bears in trees #how to build an ocean: instructions #bears in trees edit #ofmd edit #fan edit #ship edit

[sky-fire-forever]

This came to me last night while I was trying to sleep. But have some Edward Teach becoming the man he never wanted to be

Content Warning for Domestic Abuse

Edward Teach is fourteen years old and he's watching through a crack between door and the wall as his father beats his mother. She falls to the floor and even from his position, Ed can see the way her eyes fill with tears. Pain. Anger. Shame. “What the hell is wrong with you, huh?” His father shouts. He's always shouting. “Why do ya always gotta fight back?” Edward Teach is fourteen years old and he hates his father. Edward Teach is forty-six years old and he's standing in the middle of the captain's cabin when he backhands Izzy across the face. He watches Izzy crumple like a puppet with cut strings and it feels good to have been the one to cut them. He watches the mark turn red, ignoring the tears that spring into Izzy’s eyes from the pain. The anger. The shame. “You could make this so easy, Iz,” he says. “Why do you keep fighting back?”

Edward Teach is forty-six years old and he hates himself, but he might hate Izzy more. Or maybe he loves him too much to hate him. Or it could be that he hates himself too much to love anyone.

#blackhands #edizzy #edward teach #izzy hands #kraken era #kraken era ed #ofmd #our flag means death #dennis writes #blackbeard

[izzyeffinhands]

“try and get some sleep. i’ll stay right here- i won’t let anything happen to you, i swear.” (Frenchie, elyrianinspo. Sorry if this is too many sent! You definitely don’t have to answer it if you’re not feeling it. Hope you feel better ❤️‍🩹 I’m a slut for frenchie protecting Izzy during The Bad Times (kraken era))

“ I don’t want to sleep, Frenchie. “

Izzy was tired. He was so tired, so fucking drained and so very sore after everything he was going through. Never in his days had he truly thought he might hate Edward Teach, but as of right now.. well. Pathetically, Israel still straddled the border on love. What would it take for the first-mate to have enough? What would Ed have to do for this codependent bastard to stop trying to love him? Well.. he’d find out eventually. Soon, was more like it.

Why was it that this old sea dog was at his most beautiful when he wept? Izzy’s eyes were glossed but he hadn’t permitted a tear to fall. Fuck, he’d wanted to save Ed. That was HIS mate, then that blonde came along and ruined everything. .. but he couldn’t really hate Bonnet either. Izzy was just so numb in the depths of sadness he wasn’t sure he’d crawl out from. So many feelings swirled in his mind. Izzy loved Ed, even now as he threw knives at him, as he cursed, as he mutilated him over and over. .. how many toes has he lost now? He isn’t even sure in this moment, he’s so fucking tired.

All of this abuse truly proved his worth as first-mate and quartermaster. This crew, minus Ivan and Fang, the bilge dogs that had thrown him off The Revenge? He was protecting. It was his duty, or what he told himself was his duty. Izzy had found out about Lucius sometime ago. Maybe this was his penance for not being able to save that boy. Maybe he was protecting the rest, despite things they’d done to him, in order to make up for it and every wicked thing that …

“ If I sleep the nightmares ‘ll come. “ That was when his voice choked, letting his head fall to the side so he could cast his eyes up at him as he sat in his bunk. He hadn’t even turned his head, he’d simply let it fall. He didn’t even know how he had the energy to keep going, but he was. He sniffed. “ And I can’t tell anymore if I’m asleep in the nightmare or if I’m awake.. it’s all just the same now.. “

Izzy often burned his flesh in a candle prior to The Kraken. He wasn’t beyond self harm and he was a bit of a masochist anyhow. But now the pirate took effort to lift his palm and raise it over the solitary pillar candle on the table at the bedside. He didn’t even flinch as his hand moved within the flame. Izzy had burned himself so much he had callouses, but this was his palm, and he had it cutting through the middle of the dancing light.

Eyes were on Frenchie as flesh sizzled and finally those welled tears began to drip down his cheeks. “ .. am I even alive? “

#elyrianinspo #there you go! #I told you this was going to be heartbreaking #Kraken Era

[skrifores]

love is embarrassing

#ed/stede #gentlebeard #our flag means death #edward teach #fanvid #fan edit #ofmd fanvid #ofmd fan edit #olivia rodrigo #love is embarrassing #break-up era #kraken era #happy valentine's day

[meimeiherokitten]

How triggery do we want to get today?

Basically my past trauma poured out in words. I feel I should start apologizing now. Don't comment if you're going to be mean or angry about it. And heed the tags, for the love of Jenkins.

#ofmd #our flag means death #izzy hands #ofmd izzy #ao3 #ofmd edward teach #trigger fest #trigger warning #tw abuse #writing as therapy #kraken era #ofmd kraken #tw sex assault #wrote to exorcise some demons #heed the tags #heed the warnings #izzy in pain #ed hurts izzy really frickin' bad #i wrote it for me

[izzyhandslightofmylife]

if you like to see the people's princess (Izzy Hands) get tortured, this is for you!

#whump writing #izzy hands #izzy hands fic #izzy canyon #edizzy #ofmd season 1 #ofmd #ofmd fic #izzy deserved better #ofmd whump #izzy hands whump #uhh #kraken era #i miss that man #and because i miss him #im going to torture him #as one does

[cryptic-science]

i need to remind everyone that this song is SO kraken!ed

#clowns around evilly #our flag means death #ofmd #kraken!ed #kraken era #edward teach #Spotify

[ladyluscinia]

I just read this fantastic Izzy / Frenchie fic by @fool-for-luv and now I've got to recommend it because I know some of you are going to want to read it too. It's got drama. It's got tension. It's got slow burn. It's got great Jim and Ivan, which I love.

Post-S1 Kraken Era, so none of the S2 stuff. Also it actually pulls off platonic Edward & Izzy but with all the right levels of fucked up codependency which - as a BlackHands lover - I can attest is really difficult to land correctly. So like. Read it for that and the Frenchie/Izzy amazingness!

#our flag means death #fanfic #fic rec #frenchizzy #ouizzy #izzy hands ofmd #frenchie ofmd #blackbeard ofmd #jim jimenez ofmd #ivan ofmd #kraken era #ladyluscinia

[krsonmar]

I hope OP is okay with me reposting this here and if not I'll absolutely take it down but omg I just found this on YouTube and HOWWWW does someone pack that much emotion into a story that takes all of 1 minute and 17 seconds to tell?!?!?!? Genius!😭

OP's YouTube handle is @septemberist and I am on my phone so my attempts to tag them so, you beautiful artiste with skillz for days and days (or anyone here who knows them and can pass word along), if you'd like me to credit you differently or take this down, please let me know!

#ofmd #ofmd fanart #ofmd s2 speculation #ofmd fanvid #ofmd animatic #kraken era #ofmd jim #angst #Youtube