#but as far as the actual show goes I have a good feeling about izzy’s character arc

[fanishjuli]

have I watched the fucking gay pirates show yet? nope. have I spent most of the day reading ofmd fics anyways? yea lol

#ofmd #me #our flag means death #ive been mostly reading short fluffy stede/ed fics or stede/ed/izzy #im not sure ill actually like canon izzy but i feel like he has so much potential as a character to play with stede #and of course ed has to be there too #also im not sure about canon ed?? i feel like he was a dick for a bit there. but again i domt know i haven't actually watched the show yet #same goes for stede btw noone is perfect and he was a bit of an idiot a xouple times as far as i can tale #tell #but anyways uhh i have ti wake up in five hours so good night

[celluloidbroomcloset]

A good bit has been made of Ed saying that "last night was a mistake" and I get the sense that a lot of people are interpreting things through a lens that he means they shouldn't have slept together, they should have waited, Stede was pushing things too far too fast, etc. So I want to go into some detail on why I don't agree with that, and what I think is happening in the aftermath of Calypso's Birthday, as well as in the love scene itself.

(This is kinda long, because I am not witty and cannot be brief. These are just my thoughts, so of course I'm not trying to tell anyone how to understand what happens in these scenes.)

Them having sex and what happens after is very much related to the things that they've both gone through, and especially Ed's fears and trauma after his depressive spiral. When we first meet Ed in Season 1, he's already borderline suicidal. Stede gives him a new view of life by showing him things that he's never seen before, and emotions he's never experienced before. He falls in love and anchors himself to Stede. Then his anchor breaks and lets him float off. He's alone and heartbroken and quite literally goes insane with grief and self-loathing (spurred on by Izzy) on a ship filled with people and things that keep reminding him of how he wasn't enough.

In Season 2, he knows that if he goes back to being Blackbeard, again, after everything, he might very well never be able to come back. He's still terrified of Stede abandoning him, and I think the fact that he did consent to the sex, that he did want to have sex, that he did feel loved and desired and happy, is a huge part of that. He says it was a mistake because he wanted it so much and got exactly what he wanted and is afraid that, again, he's going to lose the person who made him feel like he was enough. So he's doing exactly what Stede says he's doing - panicking and trying to run this time, so that he's not the one who gets hurt again. That's not the same as truly regretting the night before; it actually says that them sleeping together meant so much that it's frightened him because now he stands to lose even more. (If losing Stede once ripped him apart, after they had just barely kissed and admitted they care for each other, what would losing Stede now do to him?)

Should they have waited? Doesn't really matter. They didn't. Are they overwhelmed with emotion? Well, yeah. There have been other posts floating around discussing the relationship between sex and death and the concept of funeral sex, which are quite accurate IMO.

But...I'd say the moment when Stede first grabs Ed at the door is the "overwhelmed with emotion" part. Remember that Stede has killed before, accidentally, and is absolutely wracked with guilt by it. The guilt is also associated with Ed and with his masculinity/sexuality - "you defile beautiful things" - and Ned's words earlier poked those wounds. The last thing that Ed said to Stede before he killed Ned was not to do it because "you can't come back from that." So Stede does what he did before - he runs and hides. But he's not alone anymore. Ed shows up. He's not angry, he's not rejecting Stede or lecturing Stede; nothing has fundamentally changed in their relationship because Stede killed Ned. He's there to say, "Hey, it's OK, it's hard, I know, I've been there." Stede is overwhelmed with emotion - guilt at what he's done and all its associations with his past, fear that he's ruined something in his relationship (defiled a beautiful thing), uncertainty about what this means about him as a person. And there's Ed, standing there and saying "Are you OK?" Nothing has been defiled.

It's not Ed who crosses the threshold - maybe Stede needs his space and really doesn't need his sympathy right now, so he waits there and doesn't invade the space - but Stede who grabs him and drags him across. That's the impulsive moment, not the sex. Ed is surprised by it, as we can see on his face, and Stede is in pain and almost crying. He seems incapable of speech at that moment, which says a lot about his state of mind since this is a man who cannot shut up. He's not behaving rationally or thinking things through deliberately; he's coming apart and Ed's there and Ed holds him together.

Now, the next cut could've been to Stede throwing Ed down on the bed or kissing him aggressively (as, indeed, has happened in plenty of shows and films with these kinds of scenes). But that's not what happens. The next cut is to the end of the impulsive moment, Stede backing Ed up against the wall. Then there's a pause. Both of them are recalibrating. Stede in fact keeps his distance (wish we could actually see their expressions up close), and he waits. He's done something he likely shouldn't have in grabbing Ed; he's stopping himself from doing anything else he shouldn't. He's making a choice and it's an important one, just like when he stopped the kiss when Ed told him to, when he stopped saying "I love you" because Ed couldn't hear it, or when he asked if it was OK to hold Ed's hand. He didn't do anything wrong in being impulsive, and he's waiting for his partner to help him know what to do next.

Could Ed say no at that point? Yes, absolutely, and we know from the moonlight scene that Stede would not try to go farther. Would Ed say no at that point, with the knowledge of how much this man needs him? Yes, I think he would. I don't think this is a case of Ed going "well, he needs this, so I'll sleep with him." That interpretation I think undermines Ed's autonomy and misunderstands his character - he's not going to do something that he doesn't want to, not even for Stede, and he's not going to damage their relationship by having their first time be a result of pity or sympathy. It's going to be about mutual desire, or it's not going to happen at all.

That pause is where they look at each other (again, wish we could see expressions better) and Ed nods. And even then, when Stede leans in to kiss him, it's not Stede who increases the intensity. I think we could even read this as Stede not consciously planning for the kiss to lead to sex. It's Ed who grabs Stede, pulls him up against him, lets his body support Stede's, who's practically collapsing. It's Ed who snatches Stede's waist and wraps his arm around his shoulders and caresses his neck.

I think it's really important that Ed is the one who ups the intensity. His actions are pretty much the definition of enthusiastic consent. That's needed for the scene, just like all the other scenes where Stede stops when Ed tells him to. It's Ed who wanted to take it slow and so now his choice to go ahead is necessary. There's no indication that this is rushed or only a result of passion and pain.

The next scene, Stede is closing the curtains, and he's shirtless, but Ed is still mostly dressed (and no, that is not the face of a man having second thoughts or being pressured into sex. That's the face of a man who's so in love he can't see anything but fireworks). What's happening is very deliberate on both their parts, and the entire scene is a culmination of their desires and - very importantly - their love for each other. It's not Stede needing comfort or validation and Ed rewarding him with sex. It's them both needing, wanting, and loving each other.

It's really tempting to make this all more angst-y than it is, especially with Ed's later "last night was a mistake!" But once more, this silly gay pirate show gets at something that a lot of less silly films and TV shows don't - that human relationships are messy and complex, and messiness and complexity are not inherently Problematic. Just human.

Tl;dr: seems like neither of them regretted having sex, and not just because it was definitely good sex.

#ofmd season 2 #ofmd s2 #ofmd spoilers #ofmd meta #stede bonnet #ed teach #blackbonnet #gentlebeard #yes i have feelings about the silly gay pirate show #and must write essays about them #our flag means death

[bougiebutchbinch]

updated This Post-Coital Convo in Lady of Shalott because I love idiots who suck at talking about their feelings

"Hey,” says Ed.

And Stede... tenses. It's a 'hey' he's heard before - if not the precise word, than the tone. Louis, curled small in his bed, asking "Dad, do you really love us?" as Stede ducked to blow out the light. Mary, murmuring "Darling, we need to talk."

"Hey yourself," he says, far too cheery and a whole octave too high.

Ed squints at him. "So," he says, "about Izzy..."

"What about him?"

Another squint. "Alright, mate. No need to get defensive - "

"I'm not getting defensive! Who's getting defensive? Why, accusing me of such a thing - if anything, Ed, that goes to show that it is you who is being the defensive one!" Stede leans back, puffing proudly, arms folded. "So there!"

"Right," says Ed, after a pause. "Not defensive at all. Look. I  just wanna know." He rakes a hand through his hair, catching on several knots. "Do you... like... think he's hot?"

Stede cock - treacherous fiend! - gives a twitch. "Of course not! Hot? Pssh! Izzy Hands? Hot? Me? Think that? About him?"

"Because," says Ed, cutting in, "just... like... it'd be okay, y'know? If you did. Think that. Hypothetically."

Stede deflates, just a little. "It... it would?"

"Yeah. So. Do you?"

Stede tugs at his collar - only to remember that he isn't actually wearing a shirt, and transitions to rubbing sweat off his nape. "Objectively speaking, I suppose I can see... ahem. The appeal."

"Good," says Ed. "Good." They sit with that a moment, stewing in the smell of their sex, then both speak at once -

"Me - "

"You see - "

Ed raises his hands. "Sorry, mate. You first."

Of course, Stede's gentlemanly upbringing insists that he reply "Oh, no. After you."

Ed, having no such propriety, nods. "Cool. Was just saying, y'know... Me too. I see the appeal. Objectively speaking. Or like, I did, in the past. So, y'know, I couldn't judge you, or anything."

#gentlebeard #blackbonnet #steddyhands #ed teach #stede bonnet #ofmd edward teach #ofmd stede #ofmd #our flag means death #my fic #my art #bbb creates #THE MORTIFYING ORDEAL OF WANTING TO FUCK IZZY HANDS

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

ofmd s2e2 rewatch where i pause to jot down my thoughts and other random shit

not quite a reaction post, not quite a liveblog. this post is gonna be unpolished and messy bc this is the only way i know to process my emotions abt these episodes enough that i can actually start talking coherently about them.

s2e1, s2e2, s2e3, s2e4, s2e5, s2e6, s2e7, s2e8

did not notice the first time around that buttons is sleeping with his legs sticking up resting against the side of the ship. king.

WHY DID THEY USE A DIFFERENT TAKE OF THE YOU WEAR FINE THINGS WELL SCENE WHAT PURPOSE DOES THIS SERVE. THIS HAS BEEN BOTHERING ME FOR DAYS.

oh god the face stede makes after he breathes out all wistfully is so pained... ogughuhg heartbreak......

why is the groom cake topper dirty ed were you kissing it. ed. edward.

hNNNG ed pushing the painted bride figurine closer..... im gonna throw up

ed!! rolling over and crying!!! TAIKA HOW ARE YOU SO GOOD AT LOOKING SO FUCKING SAD THIS SHIT HURTS ME

like i can literally feel the tears burning in his eyes. the way his chest starts shaking with sobs but he's managing to keep the sobs in for like one more second. he's trying so hard to hold it in and i've cried like this before and it physically HURTS

also oughg the song. run from me baby... run my good wife... run from me baby..... you better run for your life........ ED THINKS THAT'S WHAT STEDE DID!!! RAN AWAY FROM HIM!!!!! and he thinks that was stede running for his life bc like, he thinks he's inherently monstrous and unlovable and hnnnnnnnnngggg. ed teach go to therapy challenge.

the crew responding to zheng's wake-up bell is so relatable. me when my alarm goes off at 6am

ok so the running bit where stede's crew has never heard of China before. is kinda weird to me. and honestly it kinda runs back to what zheng said in the last episode "one thing i've learned in my time here: you people know so little" about nobody knowing how valuable indigo is. like the show is portraying your average caribbean pirate as really ignorant and only like, ed stede and fucking ricky are on par with zheng yi sao. and i mean knowledge doesnt equate to intelligence so like the indigo thing i didnt really bat an eye at but when it was played for comedy with olu not knowing how to pronounce china i was like... hm. but the season's just started so maybe im reading too much into it but idk. it's a weird writing choice to me.

loving how at the start of last season the crew almost mutinied bc stede was a soft captain but now roach is out here embracing how all of them are "tender as hell."

love how lucius and pete have their romantic reunion chat just. fully in front of an audience

stede looks. so upset. watching lupete kiss. this man misses his boyfriend so fucking bad

lucius not even trying to hide how much he Does Not want to be stuck with stede in towels

also hi the sky in this scene is so pink. it was blue when buttons was doing tai chi so i guess this is sunset. day one complete.

buttons confirmed sea witch one of the best scenes in s2 so far. intrigued by auntie saying "i have looked for you far and wide" like are there other sea witches and auntie only wanted buttons?? or is buttons literally the only sea witch in the world. i want the lore.

ed. eddie eddie edward. ed my beloved babygirl. i would fuckinggg die for you

ok but also there is literally no way frenchie didnt see ed when he walked in like ed is standing Right There. i love when directors do stuff like this tho it's so funny to me. "ok joel just walk in there and pretend like you dont see taika standing literally right in front of you"

just noticed ed was polishing the handle to the wardrobe (the main wardrobe) right there. he's tidying up. getting his affairs in order before he— *i break down into inconsolable sobbing*

i wont like tho it was very funny to me when we finally got this full scene and ed's "and no more stede" turned out to be "no more izzy." very fun for me

god i LOVE when we get pirate code shit. none of these rules ever make sense it's always just whatever works for the plot's sake. "that's the code of the sea: the new first mate always kills the old first mate. it's always been like that" i don't think it was literally ever like that i think the writers decided that making up this bullshit rule would add drama to the situation. it's like how pirates can win duels by rendering their opponent's sword inoperable (as if pirates ever had like ritualistic duels). or next episode when zheng yi sao is gonna kill them for mutinying against ed. i love how all the logistics of the plot are always some handwavy-bullshit bc the show just Does Not Care about this shit. this is the ed and stede show and everything else is just superfluous set dressing

we were all fixated on lucius living in the walls none of us predicted that it could be izzy living in the walls

"start with his leg see where it goes" frenchie what does this MEAN

archie thinking jim was asking which leg to cut off and just. answering the question genuinely. is so fucking real lmao me too girl

JIM PUTTING THEIR HAND OVER ARCHIE'S TO BRACE THEMSELF BEFORE THEY START CUTTING INTO IZZY'S LEG... the romances on this show are unparalleled

archie when izzy's leg starts gushing: aye yai yai!

stede telling everyone in laundry abt his whole romance with blackbeard. and stede telling zheng and auntie abt blackbeard when he thought they were just soup sellers. you KNOW stede's been telling literally everyone he meets abt how he's looking for his beloved ed.

lol ok but cuba was not written on the map in the one shot and then stede says "oh, hang on, he might be in cuba!" and it cuts back to the map and he underlines the word "cuba" which somehow mysteriously appeared on the map while stede was chatting. 10/10 no notes

also GOD do i relate to stede so hard sometimes. it did not even occur to stede to ask lucius how he's been until lucius points it out and then he's like "oh! right! how are you??" and he does genuinely care but he was just so absorbed in his own shit it did not occur to him to ask. like. ohhhh baby does that hit home

LUCIUS DRAMATICALLY PAUSING IN THE DOORWAY WHEN STEDE TELLS HIM TO WAIT. HIS HANDS ON EITHER SIDE OF THE DOOR AND HIS HEAD BENT. THIS FUCKING DRAMA QUEEN I LOVE HIM!!!!

LLOOKING OVER HIS SHOULDER "oh, yeah. now you care?" AND THNE SHAKING HIS HEAD AS HE WALKS AWAY god i LOVE this soap opera

ok but buttons looks very confused when auntie says "i see you've adopted the humble form of a man" and then she hands him the book abt shapeshifting. like did she know that he doesnt know how to change form or what.

auntie asks buttons to bless their travels. anyway this is how stede somehow didnt get everyone killed in e1 despite the fact that they were at sea for a few months and he had no idea what the fuck he was doing.

LOVE auntie's little... yell? whimper?? before shuffling away nervously. incredible performance.

also the spellbook thing is in chinese. pretty cool how buttons knows how to read chinese.

ed jumpscare 2!

frenchie's "fire away. not literally, i hope" I MISSED THAT THE FIRST TIME KJSGHKFJDGHJHK WHAT A GREAT FUCKING LINE

love how irl frenchie using the wrong hand for that throat-slitting pantomime would be unimportant but the show acts like that's something that could actually give frenchie away bc they need to really nail home the fact that Ed Is A Fucking Genius

another thing ed is: INCREDIBLY HOT. he is being intimidating and evil to frenchie rn and i am very very into it.

obsessed with archie casually picking some random gore off her hand

also obsessed with how jim is just poking at izzy's leg. they learned how to butcher animals as a kid tho so i guess they're not really grossed out by severed body parts lmaoo

also also obsessed with how izzy would absolutely have not survived this at all. i love this show

list part 2:

ok im sorry but "he's our dick" does not feel earned to me. like they use that fantastic shot of the whole crew in episode 6 last season but what's crucial abt that shot is izzy isn't hanging out with the crew. he's sitting away in the corner monologuing abt how he thinks maybe ed might not want to kill stede.

i do think it's significant tho that jim wasn't there for izzy at his worst aka threatening to withhold rations for laughing at him. like they weren't part of the vote to mutiny against izzy. but frenchie was and frenchie was like "start with his leg see where it goes" which does not seem like he's really that invested in keeping izzy alive.

also it's weird how we don't see fang at all for this bit with hiding izzy in the walls. like he would be the one i'd expect to have the strongest connection to izzy bc he knew izzy before the show started and he was hugging and comforting izzy last episode.

anyway imo jim keeping izzy alive is more abt them missing when they were on the ship with olu and the whole crew and the ship was like a family, not necessarily abt feeling loyalty to izzy specifically. i could be wrong tho who knows.

one thing i do know is that it is VERY important to point out how jim is struggling really hard with everything, archie is not. she wasnt there for the co-captaining era at all and she seems to be rolling with everything like it's all expected. this includes the wedding raid and ed pointing a gun at her last season and stuff. even now she's mostly just confused by why jim is bothering to try and keep izzy alive. but she acts like the amputation and the violence are all what she expected.

yay kissing!! with the shit stuffed up their nose and covered in blood and jim still holding the leg GOD I LOVE THIS SHOW

hnng when archie says "you have... hope" jim's jaw tenses and they visibly swallow after the word "hope." god jim is going through it

"the wooden demon boy that thirsted for life" god i love this game of telephone that the show is playing with pinocchio it's so fucking funny

archie definitely still says a few syllables after "no i was cleaning up blood" while jim was leaning in for another kiss but none of it forms a coherent word. relatable.

ed's "ohhhhohoho. ohoho" is so funny to me. this man is so jealous that other people are getting to kiss ppl they like but not him.

hm archie and jim are not actually kissing when we cut to the shot of ed standing in the stairwell. i imagine this is an editing goof or something

jim and archie pulling away like two kids who got caught kissing under the bleachers during gym class or something. incredible. one of jim's nose plug rags is mysteriously missing now. i think archie ate it.

ed shushing frenchie. nothing to say here but "i need him carnally"

"take the fuckin leg" ed does NOT like mess!!!

"he was your friend" well jim. he might have been ed's friend. but he had a very strange way of showing it.

why does it sound like ed has spurs on his boots

OLU IS SO CUTE I CANT BLAME ZHENG FOR BEING LIKE "you're doing so good at filing thanks so much!!" WHEN HE'S ACTIVELY FUCKING EVERYTHING UP

also. i want to know about auntie's filing system. ahead of it's time, you say?? tell me more. hi my name is jess and i love sorting things

ah yeah olu mispronouncing china moment

olu and zheng are cute tho ngl

roach is having an orgasmic experience drinking soup. very relatable.

love that stede called the broth "insane" like fics so often get stede's voice wrong bc he will randomly say casual slang in a way that contradicts his general s1 vibe of stuffy frilly rich guy. but he's more like your average dad whose general grammar when speaking is pretty outdated but he's also trying to use slang to fit in with his kids

oh god stede is trying so hard with lucius it is giving SUCH awkward dad vibes. "when i was young and edgy" and "mr. cool" STEEEEDE

"my spicy little rat boy" im so sad that lucius hates that pet name bc this is the funniest thing black pete's ever said

aw nooooo the way pete jumps when lucius yells at him :(:(:(

yo wee john has like a wristband with all these sewing needles and shit stuck on it that's such a cool costume detail

the first thing izzy says after waking up is "my leg" and in my head im hearing it in the spongebob meme voice

first: very funny how ed responds "yeah!" like, laughing about the whole. amputation thing. and then secondly i am obsessed with "up in Leg Heaven" he is so fucking quirky. i love him.

"have you come to take the other one" yeah you'd probably enjoy that huh izzy.

love ed's dangly earring. gender.

smthng abt how izzy is instantly exhausted and dismissive when ed tells izzy to take the gun vs how ed was also bored and dismissive when izzy said "i have love for you." idk if there's anything there im just making tenuous connections in my head rn

help. ed clenching his fists when he's standing with his back to izzy. he really wants izzy to do it but also even deeper than that he really doesn't he wants to live

izzy starts to laugh the same way he started to cry last episode with like a really loud sudden gasp of air. also he laughs so weirdly jesus christ

also jesus this is so fucking dark. i mean obviously but im fucking reeling right now from ed trying to get izzy to kill him and izzy's response is just "do it yourself you fucking pussy." fuck.

more thoughts on this scene here

"i loved you... best i could" i actually dont have a lot of thoughts abt this at all aside from it just seems like a weird thing for ed to say. idk. i have a few metas abt this saved that ive been meaning to read so maybe that will help me deconstruct this but i think i'd need more time to figure out why this line feels weird to me. it could literally just be that i dont like blackhands at all but idk. probably not gonna unpack my feelings for a while tho bc in terms of everything i want to dig into from these 3 episodes alone this is at the bottom of that list lol

love how ed tells frenchie "go live" right before he steers them into a storm and tries to doom everyone on the ship.

"two messed-up kids probably" i know this is one of those things that some viewers are just always gonna have a problem with but it's so fucking funny to me how stede is like. never seeing his children again. and is like "yeah they're probably traumatized by how i was a bad father. well that's for mary and doug to deal with!"

lucius winking when he calls stede quite the fuck-up. i love this snarky gay

anyway for how fucked up the vibe is on ed's ship at least they weren't playing human puppet or making people catch rats with their teeth

shit this is longer than the last post. anyway list part 3:

ok i completely forgot abt this scene where the crew back on the Revenge is talking in the hallway before they go confront ed but i think it's rlly interesting how jim is the only one who says anything abt how ed's sudden cheery mood is NOT a good thing. fang is like "do we think he's better?" and jim's like "fuck no!" and frenchie's like "idk he seemed pretty calm to me." like this is so fucking juicy to me. jim knew this wasn't "better." i think this is because jim kinda gets it. they know what it's like to be told you're only meant for violence. and they know what it's like to want something softer. last season i probably wouldnt have said jim understood ed's suicidal tendencies but the way jim KNOWS that this isnt better makes me wonder if they understand this, too.

altho when they go outside and ed is like "it's a bad storm! and i took the wheel! and im gonna fire into the mast! we're all gonna die!!" jim yells "what do you want, you piece of shit!" (in spanish) so maybe they dont get the suicide bit of it. but they did understand that ed wasn't better.

oh ed's voice in "what do i want?" is so whiny and sad. babygirl is fucking going through it. good thing the rain is hiding his tears ahaha. ha.

"all love dies im just hastening the process" objectively this is fucked up but also it is so funny to me that he's like "i got dumped so now nobody else is allowed to be happy and in love." he broke up all the couples at the end of s1 and he raided a fucking wedding. babygirl i love you. you are so unwell

VERY RANDOM THOUGHT and i would have to go back to last episode double check but i dont think any of the background crew are women?? it's just archie??? which kinda bums me out a bit like i dont only want female rep in the main cast i want to see random background women too. i could be entirely wrong abt this tho just in this scene i only see dudes in the background

anyway archie being like "alright i guess we're fighting" bc this is archie's normal. archie is just kinda resigned to her life being shit.

stede crossing out "dead" and circling "alive" is so fucking funny to me hfjkhdjvgdfjk like. manifesting.

but also he does kinda manifest that in the next episode doesnt he?? he loves ed back to life ahaha oh god oh fuck *starts sobbing*

"looks like he's gotten back into arson" okay and??? wee john's an arson enthusiast also, cmon lucius dont judge a man for his hobbies

stede's fucking face when he considers what lucius said abt "maybe his time with you is the best it's gonna get for him" like i think he tries to think abt it and just. cant. he cant fucking accept that. god im gonna throw up.

HNNNNG THE RUN FROM ME SONG COMING BACK IM GONNA LOSE MY SHIT

i cant get over how archie is like. yeah bro it's fine. it's cool just kill me im not gonna hold it against you.

jim's like "YOU WERE GONNA DO IT ANYWAY!!" and ed's like "teehee yeah :3 u got me"

oh bro some of the random background crew people just fully go overboard huh. damn. rip those guys.

ok so im choosing to believe that izzy fired a lucky shot there bc the man couldn't even shoot himself point blank in the skull but im supposed to believe that he got ed right in the arm from the other side of the deck in the middle of a crazy storm and the ship rocking like crazy and izzy's probably suffering from like, insane amounts of blood loss?? i dont buy it. i mean it doesnt matter at all but i think he was trying to hit ed's general torso area and if ed didnt have his arm held out izzy would've missed. like i said tho this makes no fucking difference. it's just a fun little headcanon hehe

love how ed laughs like an absolute maniac here. babygirl u are so unhinged.

wait it's fucking wild how in the middle of all this we to cut to auntie putting the map back together and then we see that zheng is bringing her fleet over land. anyway this is foreshadowing obviously but like considering the song choice and cutting this between ed's suicide attempt and then the crew mutinying. is a choice. and idk why they made that choice yet.

it is a pretty dramatic reveal tho. i didnt appreciate that the first time but holy shit. she's just pulling her ships all the way to the caribbean. girlboss.

and then the mutiny. the relief on ed's face hurts me so fucking much

other thoughs about this scene here

HOLY SHIT THIS POST CREDITS SCENE AHHHHHH

so first of all. auntie saying olu can be allowed to clean up random hairs around the desk and zheng being like "there's not that much hair" girl you know you're lying. her hair is so long and so gorgeous and you KNOW random strands end up making scary-ass hair spiders if somebody doesn't regularly sweep things up

second of all: olu pretending there's a carrier bird with a messege for zeng to give her a break is SO CUTE. OLU. OLU YOU ARE SUCH A SWEETHEART.

#ofmd s2 spoilers #our flag means death #ofmd #ofmd s2 #ofmd season 2 #edward teach #stede bonnet #crew of the revenge #archie #zheng yi sao #izzy hands #izzy critical #s2e02 #txt #mine #og #gentlebeard #ofmds2rwwiptjdmtaors

[heckyeahponyscans]

G5 Make Your Mark, Chapter 4 Ep 4: Sunny Side Up

So I've been watching one episode a week (I highly recommend this, so much more satisfying than binging) and man, this episode gave me sooo much of what I crave!

In this episode Opaline goes out on her own to seek an immensely powerful crystal (the Dragonstone) while leaving Misty "grounded" for failing to capture Sparky. Meanwhile the pressure is on for Sunny and Hitch to produce a captivating cooking show despite the lack of communication between the hosts and interference from Pipp. This episode was well-balanced, aside from the cooking segments dragging a little at the end. But in general it had good momentum,. (Also the cooking show was HELLA long, but if it's meant to mimic a Twitch stream then it's not totally implausible.)

There's so much in this episode, and I guess I'll start chronologically. At the start of the episode Opaline is hamming it up (and "wasting the last of [her] magic showing off her cool plan") with Misty. Opaline has been rifling through Misty's personal belongings, like the toxic parent-figure that she is, and found the photo of Misty and the Mane 5, which Sparky gave to Misty in the previous episode.

(Incidentally in the last episode the photo didn't have the sparkle effect, but I get why . . . they wanted the audience to immediately understand that Misty was affected by seeing herself happy and surrounded with friends. With the sparkles, it might seem like she was feeling wowed or jealous of other ponies' cutie marks.)

From the photo, Opaline has deduced that the ponies' cutie marks are the source of "evolved magic" powering the Prisbeam. The cutie mark magic is actually something Misty noticed as far back as "Izzy Does It" (Ch. 2, Ep.1), but when she tried to tell Opaline about it she was shot down.

Anyway, now that it's "her own" idea, Opaline is on board. She states her plan to steal the ponies' cutie marks, and laughs maniacally. But instead of joining in Misty timidly suggests they not do that.

Opaline is annoyed, then angry when Misty confesses that she failed to capture Sparky. To motivate Misty, she reveals some of her backstory . . .

Which is that she GREW UP with Celestia and Luna in Skyros.

Celestia, Luna, and widdle baby Opaline are all shown to be alicorns at this young age. So they were probably naturally born like that, like Flurry Heart. Maybe Skyros was all alicorns?

Speaking of widdle baby Opaline, she tried to make friends with Celestia and Luna and was snubbed. "They thought they were so great 'cause they had the whole 'sun and moon' thing."

I'm curious if this was a misunderstanding or if Celestia and Luna actually were stuck up little kids . . . Regardless, from Opaline's perspective this is the truth and she's still bitter about it. It's literally her villain origin story.

As for widdle baby Opaline's abilities, she was "an alicorn of fire. Of power! Of strength! And because of that, I had to prove I was not to be underestimated."

I postulated that Skyros was an all-alicorn country, but what if it wasn't? What if it was just freak chance that three alicorns were born there? That would definitely explain why Opaline felt overshadowed. Like imagine Opaline lighting a campfire in a bid to impress other ponies while Luna casually tosses the moon around in the background.

(How vindicated do you think Opaline felt when Luna turned into Nightmare Moon? Do you think she sent Celestia a gloating sympathy card?)

Opaline also says she will "live up to her elemental duty", which is a very interesting way for the villain to view her powers. And again . . . this leaves me wondering if there were many fire alicorns or if she was the only one. And does that also imply the existence of earth, wind, and water alicorns? (Gimme gimme!)

Anyway, Opaline finishes up this story by reminding us that she's the villain; she uses magic to drag Misty (who's screaming in terror) back to her room and magically fasten her hooves to the floor.

So from here let's look at the plotlines one by one, starting with Opaline. Opaline heads out to parts unknown, disproving my previous theory that she can't physically leave her castle. However, she is very worn down and she doesn't even have the energy to fly. She also coughs a LOT in this episode . . . six separate times. Maybe she's getting sick?

Anyway, even on her own she has zinger after zinger.

"Why does every magical item have to be precariously perched on a hill with stuff in the way? Here's an idea: bury your magic things within hooves' reach!"

The magic item in question is the Dragonstone, "the most powerful crystal in all of Equestria." Previously inert, it has been reactivated by the return of magic. However, messing with it "has a high chance of wiping out all of the pony magic in Equestria forever."

Opaline is not worried by this outcome, presumably because she doesn't really consider herself to be a pony . . . more like a pony-shaped goddess. (In the "Unicorn Sleepover" episode Misty describes Opaline as "not a pony at all, but an alicorn queen.")

Rather than acquiring the Dragonstone, however, she accidentally knocks it into a crevice. She returns to the castle.

Subplot #2: The Cooking Show. Sunny and Hitch agree to do a cooking show, despite Hitch's stage fright, but Hitch's by-the-book attitude doesn't mesh well with Sunny's easy-breezy style. They lighten the mood with a food fight, and when Pipp sees the viewer engagement skyrocket, she interferes and tries to encourage more wacky shenanigans.

This doesn't fit Sunny's vision for the show and she speaks passionately about why she loves cooking, how it can be a way to exert control when you feel powerless, and about the importance of staying true to yourself instead of pleasing everyone else. She and Hitch finish their show, losing viewers but producing the show they want.

The final plot thread is Misty having a crisis of conscience.

She (unknowingly) uses unicorn magic to free herself from the floor and decides to go steal Sparky, thus proving her loyalty to Opaline. She draws her fake cutie mark on her flank and tries to head out. But alas, Opaline has magically sealed the door shut too.

So instead Misty watches Sunny's cooking show and is blown away by her speech. She realizes that she's been failing to steal Sparky because deep down she doesn't want to; she realizes the other ponies have been nothing but kind to her, while Opaline has been nothing but cruel. And she decides to leave. But before she can figure out how, Opaline returns.

Opaline hits Misty with the ol' "I'm only so hard on you because I care about you" line, and I can't tell if Misty falls for it or not. She tells Misty that tomorrow they will retrieve the Dragonstone . . . but as Misty leaves, Opaline notices the cutie mark Misty drew on her flank. Dun dun duuuun!

Ranodm thoughts:

Opaline always says to "our plan, our ticket to taking over", not "my plan." Clearly she doesn't see Misty as an equal, but I did think it was interesting, as most villains don't talk to their sidekicks in those terms.

Opaline's temperamental nature really hinders her. First she uses her last bit of magic to seal Misty in her room, then when her magic replenishes a bit she blasts through piles of rock at full force. As a result she is tapped out when the Dragonstone falls into a deep crevice.

Hitch mentions him and Sunny having food fights in Grandma Figgy's kitchen when they were kids, which makes me wonder if his Grandma raised him.

Sunny's speech about how cooking can help you when you're stuck or feeling powerless makes me think that it helped her after her dad's death.

I like how lying is treated with nuance in this show. Misty is correct to pretend that she was stuck to the floor for twelve hours . . . because she is living with someone who can, and tried to, stick her to the floor for twelve hours.

When Misty decides to leave Opaline, she packs her most treasured possessions: a game piece from "Dare the Mare" (as seen at "Traditional Unicorn Sleepover"), a craft paper unicorn horn (also from the sleepover), a feather (from Zipp?), her sunglasses from "Ali-Conned", and a cactus.

#g5 #Make Your Mark #spoilers #Sunny Side Up #Misty Brightdawn #Opaline #Sunny Starscout #Hitch Trailblazer #Pipp Petals #Zipp Storm #Sparky Sparkeroni #Izzy Moonbow #long post

[chuplayswithfire]

okay here it is my true toxic ofmd opinion:

i just think calico jack is neat. i don't love him (have you seen him????) but he is narratively just so fucking neat, and also as a character so fucking neat, because every time you look at him after watching episode eight you have to wonder: how much of this is an act? how much of this is calico jack, performer, in much the same way that edward teach is a natural performer?

because in episode eight we see ed performing the role of 'blackie', wild young pirate extraordinaire, and i've talked about his social chameleoning and how ed plays the roles that he needs to play at any given time, this is a man who is almost never being his most genuine self at any one time but the thing is: we meet calico jack when he is *also* performing a role. he is performing the role of calico jack, wild young pirate extraordinaire. he is very explicitly not being his most genuine self, because he is being the version of himself that can most aggravate stede AND most reassure ed that absolutely nothing about him has changed since the last time they saw each other.

so in much the same way that we don't really ever get to meet edward teach, whole person (though we see a very honest version of him for like a minute in episode 10 before everything goes horribly wrong), we never actually meet calico jack being just calico jack.

and this fascinates me, because the man that we see in calico jack is the wildest version of a pirate frat boy, hazing and laughing and all testosterone and rum fueled wild antics, all the while cleverly manipulating his old shipmate/good friend buddy pal person who he would risk his life for but who he absolutely doesn't have an emotional attachment to because those are gross and weak and weird (aka a fucking friend jack) as well as stede and the entire crew, all the for the explicit sake of saving ed's life.

the entire reason calico jack is out there on that ship causing havoc and being a big dick is because izzy hands got in touch with him to say that ed teach is out there in the direct path of the british fucking navy and he's going to go down if calico jack can't lure him away. and calico jack, a famous pirate in his own right, wanted by the british navy in his own right, goes. we don't ever hear that izzy offered up payment, so for all we know calico jack went out in a dinghy to pull ed from the line of danger for nothing more than the reward of his old shipmate not getting killed by the english.

and he calls izzy sentimental. izzy is at least going to get something out of this - izzy is going to get the revenge, and izzy is going to get stede dead. calico jack, as far as we can tell, is getting absolutely nothing out of this aside from ed's safety...

it's just fucking fascinating. he's such a dick. he's such a fucking dick, passive aggressive, callous with people's feelings and safety, manipulative, and literally dying because he's mad about his friend risking his life for some guy he thinks is a hack.

like, i genuinely think there's a chance he'll come back, just because there's so much potential for him to shed light on ed's past (and he has connections to other pirates that they might want to bring in, like anne bonny and mary read) but even if he doesn't, what we see in him shows is a man who's very much like ed - calculating, working the angles, performative, but the heart in him is hidden by the fact that he's a dick to characters we care about, particularly stede and killing karl - and yet, he's being a dick because he wants to make sure they get the hell out of there, him and blackbeard both, before the english come down on stede and his crew like the fist of god.

and its so interesting. it's fascinating. i don't like jack, but i see in him so much potential, and i'm not like. saying i think fandom needs to obsess over yet another white man, but i do think he's so interestingly twisted, in a way that's at once super toxic and yet utterly distinct from the other toxic mess of piracy in this show, whatever is going on with izzy hands.

#ofmd #our flag means death #calico jack ofmd #ofmd meta #i am SO fascinated by this fucked up funky white man like izzy is one level but izzy is so fucking brutal about it #while calico jack is is such a dick and yet he's obfuscating so hard #the entire time #a complete mystery of a man

[bbyteach]

Kind of sad that a lot of the discourse seems to be ed vs. Izzy and who is who’s abuser. To me? They seem to be coded something like decades-old drinking buddies more than anything else. It’s a comparison I draw from being someone in recovery, anyway, but it rhymes with situations Ive heard over & over again in recovery spaces. That kind of sustained toxic, codependent relationship that blurs lines through healthy/abusive in a more mutually destructive lifestyle that just goes way too far. It can entail a wide spectrum of feelings: romantic love, familial love, resentment, disgust, respect, ect. Hurting each other in some fucked up cycle that repeats and gets worse over time until someone might end up dead. All of that.

Not to mention Ed has seemed to have a history of sinking deeper into his worst self & refuse to confront that he is not only capable of softness, but deserving of it. ‘I cant make it better but I can make it worse’ logic. And stede coming along to show him that it’s all possible before leaving and Ed coming back to this conclusion and embracing the nihilism of it all in tenfold. Of course he has free will and had a chance to embrace healing with Stedes leftover crew. But it crumbles with Izzy’s push to not be some soft ‘namby pamby in a silk gown pining for his boyfriend’ being a ‘fate worse than death’. Izzy buys into the toxic version of piracy as a badge of honor but possibly also sees it as a protective cloak. And that’s Ed’s family, for better or worse. Ed has also had to use the skill set of being a bloodthirsty pirate to protect his family & himself all his life. He has not had the privilege to see the power of tenderness actually work for him in his personal life or his work. Also therapy just does not exist in this universe. This is part of why the story being about some of the most bananas midlife crises imaginable.

Like this is a universe set in the crime world of piracy. Jim and Lucius becomes good friends even after they lock him in a chest bc he helps Jim get the knife. Zheng was probably going to have Olus family (Jim) killed before escaping and at the end they are all? Together maybe?? They all have a tumultuous relationship with Spanish Jackie. She tries to kill them and then accepts them over & over again. She poison trains them without their knowledge. They all try to kill and hurt each other several times. I’m willing to bet Ed & Izzy have done so a million times before until they just realize they’re both talented pirates and are better in this world as the Blackbeard persona. But they all come together in this world with hilarious muppet charms and accept each other as a community. A found family. of pirates! These are all ppl living outside like… all of the laws except their own pirate code. Idk! I guess I want to see more interesting discussions of the nuances of all of that. Like I personally would hope in season 3 we’d see more of a healthy amends process and confronting trauma more effectively when you’re able to be more yourself. This “old love” life DJ hinted at. & maybe everyone learning a healthier way to be in community with each other in the long term as well. I think that’d be fucking amazing actually?

Just. Idk all these interesting morally grey characters learning to be with each other and have found family to love and trust is just an infinitely more interesting than pointing out “x-person is x-persons” abuser bc I think it’s all wayyyy more complicated than that in this story and the world they all live in.

#nuance & compassion for survivors of childhood domestic violence I think is way more considerate than labeling who is the abuser #/ abuse /// #ask to tag #alcoholism ///

[cityandking]

3, 7, 12, 19, 27 for the first two ships that come to mind!

thanks tabby! I'll do the girls and dairef // development questions for couples

3. By contrast, what was the moment that first made their ~heart~ Soft for the other person? Not necessarily a conscious realization of “I love this person,” but a moment that had them like “Oh...I adore them...”

BRAN/SABINE — it was absolutely sabine getting into a fight. doesn't matter which au; bran saw sabine get into it with a guy at least half a foot taller than her and was like. oh. I want her to come home with me. huh. (I have no idea what swayed sabine but I'd imagine it involved bran being at least a little bit of a cocky sonuvabitch) DAI/ZAREF — some moment of watching zaref with izzy and seeing him like, 80% more chill than normal. the trust was there already, and the admiration, but there was that small and strange period of time in selto where everything was quiet and they could all settle in and daichi saw him without all his armor (metaphorically and also literally) and was like. oh. oh. (word of DM says for zaref it was shortly after they arrived in wiztopia, after they had their talk about zaref hiding the truth of the void from them but daichi being willing to trust him and trust that they'd have each other's backs)

7. Do they (or would they) pursue the other character’s affection, and if so, how? Do they tell the other character how they feel? Try to earn their admiration? Woo them with romantic gestures? Flirt with them, skillfully or otherwise?

BRAN/SABINE — yeah, absolutely. bran loves flirting and putting on a show and grand gestures, and she also likes being liked, which means a lot of wooing. it starts out kind of teasing and fun—bran likes sabine's exasperation and likes it even more when she's honestly surprised or pleased about something—but the longer it goes on, the more it's clear that this isn't just a temporary thing, the more heartfelt and intimate it becomes (I don't think there's actually much feelings talk, but actions speak louder and all that) DAI/ZAREF — there's pretty much no pursuing going on there, tbh. daichi really doesn't flirt, isn't one for grand gestures, and doesn't feel the need to earn anyone's admiration. he's a pretty straightforward person and not interested in chasing after people or imposing himself on anyone (unless he's having a gods talk with ozy I guess), so he was truly willing to let things lie. even their first kiss wasn't really a planned thing, it was just. sometimes you give a boy back months of memories and they're all colored by your admiration and affection and trust in him and then you kiss about it a little, maybe. (they did have a proper talk about it, though. dai is big on talking things out; he needs to know how things lie.) (if there's any kind of pursuing happening, it's dai trying to get zaref to talk to him about his past. which has gone sooooo well so far (jk))

12. How much independence do they prefer in a relationship—do they want to share their lives as much as possible with their partner, or do they prefer to mostly do their own thing and let their partner do their own thing?

BRAN/SABINE — I think they're both good at doing their own thing and coming back together after. bran definitely travels a lot, whether or not sabine comes with. not that either of them would mind sharing things, they're just both pretty independent as people, and I think sometimes they need their space. DAI/ZAREF — dai actively enjoys sharing stuff with zaref and is kind of constantly interested in making space for him. that said, I think they're both pretty content to go off and do their own things, then come back together later—they're both pretty private.

19. Are they okay with public displays of affection? Do they like them?

BRAN/SABINE — bran is pro PDA. that's her wife! everyone should know it! check out her favorite person who she loves!! (I think she probably tones it down a little, especially if sabine isn't into it, but generally speaking yeah, bran will be affectionate anywhere.) DAI/ZAREF — daichi doesn't particularly enjoy public displays of affection. the affection is fine, he just doesn't like the attention. plus the first time he and zaref kissed in public it started a domino effect that led to a horrible blowup fight with his best friend, which was never resolved, so. he's a little PDA shy. (I have no idea what zaref's feelings on PDA are but I'd imagine he's a little less picky about it than daichi, given their past discussions.)

27. They have to apologize to their partner. Is this difficult for them? How do they approach it?

BRAN/SABINE — bran's really good at apologizing, actually. part of her life experience has been fostering good communication skills (can't be captain if you don't know how to work with people!) so she's quite adept at talking about stuff after a fight or misstep. she might need some time to process first, but she'll make sure a conversation happens. DAI/ZAREF — haha wow. this is so relevant. yeah. great. I mean on the one hand, he's good at it; daichi has an enormous responsibility complex and is very good at owning up to things he's done and apologizing for them. he doesn't like to let stuff linger. on the other hand, sometimes you explode yourself right in front of your boyfriend, try to sway him to join your demon army by telling him he'd do well as a soulless soldier of the abyss, and then try to kill him when he turns down your offer, so. maybe sorry doesn't exactly cover that? and you aren't sure how you're going to fix that or make up for any of it? because he's really mad at you (and rightfully so in your opinion)? but you still have to try? (he's gonna go with the straightforward and honest approach and then, uh. see how that goes.)

#wow get a load of all these good kids #memery #r: sea and salt #r: light through stained glass #ty!!

[ladyluscinia]

speaking as someone who reads a lot of ed/stede fic i think you're exactly right re: woobification of ed. if the fic in question touches on e10 his actions are usually given far less weight than stede's, and imo i think it's because a lot of fans don't know how to deal with the gravity of what he did. something i've seen often is that ed will get some grief from the crew and they may be somewhat cautious around him, but mostly it's stede who has to work to win back ed's trust and affection. which, yes, obviously he should have to do that, he fucked up, but ed not having to do the same with the crew & izzy if the author even bothers to write him in has always seemed idk unfair to me? obviously, people can write what they want, but i do feel like this attitude is prevalent in fandom meta as well. it goes on a wavelength of something like: all of ed's actions towards izzy, the crew, and stede are largely excused, stede's behavior towards izzy receives the same treatment, and izzy is simply not around for any variety of reasons and no one cares that he got his toe cut off. the reason i have accidentally read so much fic like this is because every time i open something that piques my interest thinking maybe it will be different and almost always it is not. i wouldn't be so bothered by this if it didn't contribute to the pipeline of me seeing with my own eyes posts made by people on this very website attempting to justify bodily mutilation as some fucked up form of punitive justice.

Hi, yes, all of this.

Like, I will confess that I'm already very lukewarm on BlackBonnet as a ship (just not my preferred dynamic), but I have been avoiding the tag on tumblr and AO3 like it's radioactive because I know I will risk losing all positive feelings for it in a matter of hours (which... probably not a great idea seeing as it's endgame 🤣). I'm sticking to SteddyHands where nitpicks about characterization are easier to spot in advance and often actual nitpicks, not slam the back button levels of drastic.

Anyway, the part of this ask that really grabbed my attention was...

...it's because a lot of fans don't know how to deal with the gravity of what he did.

...because that is a major part of the problem and also kinda interesting to talk about. And I have thoughts on it, both on how the show is potentially equipped to handle it and why so many fans struggle.

So preface: here's a link to my followup woobification thoughts post, which links the original woobification thoughts response right at the top.

Now... Why is reckoning with and forgiving Edward's actions (that are obviously going to be forgiven) proving so difficult that it makes sidestepping the problem entirely such a common fandom response instead?

---

There's two main factors that I think are the most important at the moment. (Well, three, but the third is anti culture declaring that faves must not be "problematic" or "bad people" or you aren't allowed to like them, and that's way bigger than this specific OFMD problem. Those antis just need to be ignored. So two actually interesting to discuss main factors.)

The genre of the show is hitting a very nice spot in handwaviness around violence that is crucial to getting past this in canon.

Edward's character arc spent pretty much all of S1 in the setup phase, while Stede actually progressed through his.

Genre, I'm almost positive, is going to be the show's saving grace in this matter, because they have played some really clever games with it. I talked a lot in this post about how handwaving narrative consequences at a certain point can be a really good thing, but it's also deceptively hard to set up because if you fail to be consistent then it only highlights your issues.

Edward's actions in a more serious show would be pretty hard to come back from, and even in this show, they aren't currently being treated as funny or no big deal. That's why just handwaving them from here doesn't work. Stede fixing the Kraken with a swashbuckler entrance and a kiss is a funny joke and a great fanart, but not a satisfying story for Edward. At the same time, OFMD's humor is actually really dark for a show that is best described as a romcom. Meaning even as Edward does awful things you can keep a running thread of humor to kind of lighten the gravity - like Jim's "What did you do to your face?" comment.

I still maintain that the big three four events of the Kraken turn - Izzy lashing out at Edward, Edward "killing" Lucius, Edward maiming Izzy, and Stede's abandonment overshadowing it all - have to be dealt with roughly equivalently and at the same time. Leave a hurt out (like Izzy's toe) and you mess up the whole balance, so there's one problem for people who don't like Izzy very much. But so long as all the characters get to acknowledge how they fucked up and how they won't do it again (requiring some character growth and communication from them all), then the genre tone will let them collectively move on without unpleasant hurdles (like Lucius feeling unsafe on a ship with Edward for the rest of his life).

This helps the show, but it doesn't necessarily help fans and fanfic, because a lot of fanfic writers are not working in this genre.

Angst people are writing angst, fluff writers are in slice of life romance, plot heavy fics might be adventures... all very fun, but possibly lacking the required tools to satisfactorily resolve these problems the way the show is likely going to. They have to adapt it or discard the need for a solution entirely, and adapting it might be trickier both because it's more work and there's a lot more open questions around Edward than around Stede.

We're back to character arcs.

It's so easy for fans to focus on how Stede needs to fix what he's done because, yeah, it wasn't that terrible in comparison, but also the show has already built and explored the whole framework for him to do so. We know exactly what was going through his head, we know what he wants now, we know the direction his character is going in... He's most of the way there already. For Izzy enjoyers, too, a lot of his character arc was covered this season. We have lots of evidence for his motivations and wants and plausible ways he could grow as a character, even if it's a bit more open to interpretation than Stede.

Edward, meanwhile, has just started. We can try and interpret his behavior this season for hints as to what's driving him, but there have been no recent backstory flashbacks or goals he was openly chasing beyond the general idea of Stede, and clearly the Kraken is not about getting Stede back. His flaws haven't been starkly established, much less the intended solutions. Like, I think that greed for both lives he's been sampling is a major part of it, and the resolution will involve compromising to a life he's satisfied with, but that's just informed speculation at this point.

Edward is so hard to figure out in a fic because first you have to decide what you think the problem and solution is, and then how to adapt it to whatever genre you are working in so that it actually fixes the whole attempted murder of 7 people + maiming and abduction. Not very easy if said genre is, say, the ever popular fluffy romance. Good fucking luck conveying even the idea of a whole arc in a oneshot. It can be done, but not easily. Meta, too, can have a sort of "genre" that causes a similar struggle. I feel like my meta probably isn't overly concerned with how characters are mentally affected by violence committed against them, for example, simply because it rarely interests me long term and I watch so many shows where violence is omnipresent, which probably helps me here.

Anyway, for a lot of fans it's much easier to just focus on what has been clearly established - that Edward has childhood trauma and was hurting - and a solution that conveniently can play out in almost every genre - make Edward feel better. Even if, as I will continue to complain, that's not really an arc and therefore boring. Also pretty woobifying to suggest a guy who committed 7 attempted murders had no underlying issues that are on him to address. Just really hurt feelings and the need to believe in love again.

So yeah. Interesting factors. I think considering both makes impressive strides to explain where the problem is coming from, even if it doesn't really prevent it. Just back to waiting for season 2, I guess.

...also I just realized that this is finally my version of the "only BlackHands shippers get Edward as a character" post 🤣🤣🤣 Because they are actually pretty good at navigating the Edward/Izzy part of this. Sometimes. I have way more faith in them out of the gate, at least.

(EDIT: Follow up response where I make a Helen of Troy joke)

#our flag means death #blackbeard ofmd #edward teach #izzy hands ofmd #stede bonnet ofmd #character arcs #genre fuckery #ofmd meta #my meta #ofmd 1x10 #ladyluscinia #ask #anon #blackbonnet #fandom culture

[diamondcitydarlin]

far be it from me to interrupt the unnecessary character hate train some folks in this fandom insist on having but I have to say, what seemed a little unnecessary but still somewhat understandable from a separate POV in season 1 just doesn't make any sense now- that is, of course, a time-honored fandom pasttime of trying to force a character into the role of villain against the actual narrative. it's nothing new ofc I've seen it happen in just about every fandom I've been in and I've learned that there usually isn't a point in trying to debate with people that have made up their minds this way and with the way I've tagged this I'm probably just preaching to the choir but like...it seems to me this whole season is ALL about being flawed, the ways in which every character in the cast (beloved or otherwise) has flaws and issues that have hurt others, but most significant, the ways in which a person can grow and learn and mend and still deserve to be loved despite everything. this isn't really a story where you can pick out the 'good ones' with completely clean moral slates from those you've decided are irredeemable unless you're choosing to ignore the actual themes being presented (which like, fine, but that's a choice of interpretation that goes directly against what's actually there). Everyone has been victim of someone else. Everyone at this point has inflicted some kind of hurt on someone else. Stede hurt Ed, Ed hurt Stede, Ed hurts Izzy, Izzy hurt Ed, Ed hurt Lucius, Lucius hurt Black Pete and so on and so on and so on. There's really no one here who is just a completely blameless uwu victim and that's actually a good thing because most of us just fucking aren't either, as much as we may want to believe that or think of ourselves as morally superior to others bc of fictional characters we like or don't or whatever, as much as we may be caught up in our own victimhood (which I absolutely get I've found myself there many times too) we're all flawed, we've all hurt people, there's no getting through life without doing it at some point. it's not really about having or trying to manufacture the image of a clean moral slate, it's about learning and growing and trying to do better the next day and accepting those flaws with a gentle grace. the sooner some of yall wrap your minds around that truth the better off you're going to be, and maybe a good start is learning from these flawed, imperfect, sometimes hurtful characters that we've grown to love because we see ourselves in their actions.

some poignant takeaways from the last couple of eps I think are 1) when Fang suggests to Ed he should try sitting with himself for a bit instead of trying to talk through and shallowly justify everything. I think everyone can benefit from doing this, as so often we think of things from an external perspective rather than internal. It can be hard to introspect rather than blame the world or others and construct little superficial rituals that make us feel momentarily superior (like, idk, deciding one character in a show is the 'bad guy' and anyone who likes him is bad but not you you're not bad bc you don't like him so you must be a better person even though this involves you picking fights and harassing people trying to enjoy themselves, idk, just a random example). It's so much harder to ask yourself why you feel a certain way in the first place, to ask yourself if it's possible that you see aspects of yourself in a character you despise that you're not willing to face within, things about yourself you've buried deep and pretend don't exist at the cost of being 'morally superior'. It's possible, isn't it? Would it hurt to be still for a moment and think about that? I mean, maybe it would, quite possibly it would hurt a lot at first, but I think it's worth it in the end, far more than the effort to put up a morally superior front that no one even has.

the other one that I think the people I'm actually addressing won't appreciate because of who it involves- when Izzy gives Lucius the carved shark and explains that not moving on is worse than doing what is necessary to actually move on. Not necessarily advocating for lying to oneself (tho if I were a more reckless person I might say this can be a genuine bandaid tactic when you're in survival mode and just need to get to the next day, I get that too) but I do think there's a good point here about learning to let go of the things that only gnaw away at us inside. holding on to anger and spite can feel like a form of justice in the short term, but over time it only corrodes the host. at some point, at some time, to truly heal we have to figure out how to let go of certain things, if only so it won't poison us further. Lucius threw Ed overboard the same way he did to him, but ultimately it didn't help, did it? What changed was seeing the way his obsession with his hatred hurt the man he loved, what changed was introspection.

So, idk, really good show, very educational and emotionally aware and I think some of us could benefit from paying more attention to what's actually there than what we want to believe. Idk, it's a thought.

#ofmd #the izcourse #i had thoughts #this season is really speaking to my personal journey as well #so idk will this help someone? will it give them a brainworm to think about for awhile? maybe #ofmd spoilers

[ramblingdisaster73]

Episode 4x07 “Tommy Dearest” thoughts

-This Owen/Paul scene is great – I love this Owen

Most people planning a wedding are rookies

-That centerpiece is actually really tame compared to what I would have expected from Owen

-This is actually good relationship advice from Owen – If someone lights you up like that – make it happen.

This upside-down thing is nuts & a nightmare situation for me

Dude your wife keeps dying – just say you were having sex when she started dying

I am glad it was a pacemaker thing and not a neurological one  

Why does everyone look so good this episode? (not that they don’t in every episode – but this episode was particularly full of adorable hotness)

That would be a firetruck ride that would be hard to forget

Tommy in particular is trying to kill me with her looks

Tommy and Trevor are cute & their chemistry is amazing

So, is Melody older than Evie & Izzy or are they the same age?

A little lasagna baby – lol

The “What about Julius” was just as hilarious the second time as it was the 1st.

This kid – she is one devious tween

“Inside there lurks a heart of darkness” – man I love Judd Ryder

I figured that the issue Melody had was because of it being the first relationship for her parent’s divorce – I think this is something that is fairly normal for a kid that age – but she is a bit hardcore in her efforts.

I love Mateo – “Oh great the HR lady again.”

Their attempt to blackmail was ridiculous to begin with

Paul has zero chill

I love the way Nancy & TK just pick up on it & Mateo is like “Huh?” “Do HR ladies actually date?”

So many quotable moments in this episode

I agree with Nancy & TK

“You should totally take her out for some nut-free coffee.” Mateo Chavez

I love all the callbacks they make in this show – more than any other show I can think of

I can’t believe that the delivery drivers don’t have to dress in medieval clothing (like the knight & maiden from season 3)

This call is a bit of a callback to 1x08 with 2 calls from the same house.

An online CPR class? I thought you needed some hands on for that.

TNT is far too cute this episode

Mushroom & Fennel?

It’s totally cool you jolted me – I don’t care. I love you anyways

Damn that dress

Like really

Babysitter Grace – who is watching the twins? I am just so confused on why a 12-year-old needs a babysitter.

I think that dress was a great idea

“YOU LIED!” another season 1 callback

This episode has so much humor

But – Asha – not a yearbook from Chicago

Brian really killed this episode – you could feel his feelings

This kid is so hardcore in her efforts to break up her father & Tommy

But Tommy is just as hardcore

That is the most disgusting drink possible – and this kid just takes it (props to her for fully committing to her game)

“You’re a lunatic” Melody Parks

Tommy talking out of her ass about the nasty drink is just so funny

I say all the time that this cast has the best facial expressions – and once again they proved it. Grace’s faces while Melody drinks that thing are hilarious

TK in the sweats & Nancy in the leggings are equally hot

This is the best Owen – the one that is a Captain, a leader. Someone that genuinely cares about his crew/family

I love this storyline for Paul & that they aren’t rushing it. I love that they are giving him a chance to show us what life is like for him – that we are getting more insight to what goes on in his head.

I hadn’t thought about how Asha knew him in the past/had seen behind the doors – but, wow that makes so much sense to why he is struggling.

I love the Judd/Tommy friendship just as much as I do the Grace/Tommy friendship

I mean – I don’t blame her for not wanting another drink from Tommy, but at least she recognizes that she was not playing against a novice

Uncle Julius – I kinda love how this kid manipulates Tommy into admitting about Julius – I knew it would come up again – they like parallels & callbacks way too much not to take advantage of it.

“Why am I picturing a prison yard” Tommy Vega

“Brother-in-law” Tommy Vega yells throughout the firehouse

Grace’s face over the Julius confession

Tommy & Judd both have this way of answering a question without answering a question.

“How was it?” Grace “Kind of mind blowing” Tommy – these two are hilarious

Grace just keeps giving Tommy her very tried and true “what the actual fuck” face when Tommy is telling her about her TikTok blackmail. Just like in the 4x02 surprise double date

Cramps are a bitch

I love how Trevor is trying to piece it all together

“I can’t believe this is going to be the rest of my life” – yeah – it really fucking sucks

“Maybe undump him?”

I love the basketball scene – it was something that Paul needed & something that Owen could give him.

Owen acknowledging his failings during TK’s childhood gives me hope for the conversation between him and TK in 4x08 that Ronen keeps talking about

Do they have a new probie or are they just still referring to Mateo as probie?

I agree with Melody & Trevor about the Mango & Cookies and cream – not a mix for me

I wonder how much of next week will be Marjan or if her stuff will come closer to the end to lead into 4x09 “Road Kill”

THAT FUCKING DRESS

#911 lone star season 4 #911 lone star spoilers #episode 4x07 “Tommy Dearest” #paul strickland #tommy vega

[celluloidbroomcloset]

(tw for rape/rape mentions!)

just witnessed the most actually deranged post i've ever seen in my life:

"I feel like if Izzy had made Stede stab him for his own (sexual?) gratification, at gunpoint, we'd be seeing posts calling him a rapist, is all I'm saying"

?????? this shit is getting ridiculous 😭 i've never seen fandom infighting going so far and get so dramatic i feel like everyone really, really needs to take a couple steps back here. as an actual rape and abuse survivor myself seeing people using it as a pawn in their stupid game about fictional characters is so fucking maddening. the roundabout way they're not directly saying people could consider this act ed performed sexual assault is actually sickening (like this concept is a weapon they're CHOOSING not to wield, not a serious thing that they shouldn't just be flinging around like it means nothing) and using it as a way to further how izzy is the real Good Guy with no thought to how the things they're saying affect real world victims is insane, beyond tone deaf and compassion void. goes double for all the abuse apologism people happily fling about obviously as well as if abuse survivors just aren't in fandom and can see the shit they go around saying.

this is the most abnormal fandom environment i've ever witnessed in my life and i've been in some BAD ones. the victimising complexes of certain izzy fans are bizarre...

this isn't like a plea for everyone to just Get Along because i do think people should be aware of certain sociopolitical and intracommunity issues like this and willing to call out and expel abhorrent behaviour including abuse apologism, racism, homophobia/transphobia and transmisogyny, and of course harassment, but it's really on another level... i really wish everyone would just really utilise the block button or even just old fashioned DNI's and address things as they come up and communicate if necessary without waiting around like a spider in a web to jump down people's throats/start conversations that will just end in argument 😭 i understand that it's warranted and people on "both sides" are acting in similar ways but it's starting to feel less like occasional normal amounts of discourse and more like a really uncomfortable environment and it can't be healthy for anyone involved. sorry i kind of went on a tangent there lol all of that is generalising and directed at this fandom as a whole fwiw.

....that's....WHAT?! I mean, yeah, if Izzy did that, it would be not great, because of who the characters are, but that is one fucking weird hypothetical.

I am still new here, but coming in from the outside and wading into the tags was and continues to be fucking weird. Because 9/10s of the posts are fine, and then there's this strange, distressing faction that is very small but so vocal as to make it hard on everyone else. I've seen a lot of posts that are just explicitly dismissive of emotional and psychological abuse, or are attempting to justify those things as Not Really Abuse. Yes, this is a fictional show; no, it is not perfect in its representation, and there's stuff that I wish they had done differently or better. But there are also real-world things in there, and one of the things that I've liked about it is how it upends a lot of the problematic tropes and expectations of the genre.

I've said before that I'm troubled by anyone who looked at Izzy in Season 1 and went "that's my guy, he's never done anything wrong" and MEANT IT and continue to mean it.

Most of the folks I've interacted with have been lovely. There's this small group who just...are not, but who very badly want everyone else to conform to their particular brand of not-okayness. It's fucking dangerous.

I strongly recommend blocking immediately. The more you block, the better tailored your experience will be to you and the less you have to deal with the assholes.

#reply #ofmd

[sixstepsaway]

My rant may have gotten a little unhinged there, so pardon the caps and and wild swerves in topic. You've got a great point in how their interactions show that they know Izzy is mostly talk. And Fang really is worried about poor Izzy's foot, isn't he? Also, in regards to that scene, when injured angry Izzy comes in snarling about the books not being thrown overboard, Ivan looks kinda taken aback. "It's a lot of books, Izzy." Not only is he comfortable talking back, Ivan seems surprised that Izzy would say something like that. I get the sense that while Izzy might be on everyone's ass about work, he isn't generally the type to push people to work harder if they're already doing their job. (I also think this suggests Izzy is afraid of Ed now in a way he wasn't before. They need to move fast, or who knows what Ed might do?) No one's had to deal with forced autocannibalism from Izzy on that crew. And I do know what you mean about the spat and pushing away with Stede. Ed tends to flee when rejected or feeling rejected. But my visions of the future have made me realize something so important. Point 1: We've established poor behavior on both Izzy and Fang's parts in regards to each other, and the need for communication. That means there's a good chance character development stuff might involve them communicating to one another. I have Reasons to believe the Izzy the Spewer incident might come up again as a topic for discussion. Point 2: Confirmed babygirl kinkster who is only capable of expressing physical affection toward men in violently charged interactions frequently pulls large, daddy-shaped man's beard. -dd anon

nonny. nonny. nonny. nonny of my heart. i've been staring at this fucking message since you sent it nonny and i havent gotten any less feral over my brain suddenly opening up and the skies parting and all i can see is izzy/fang. nonny. i had to sit here for this long before i could come up with a reply to the rest, nonny.

Okay, the rest:

I think maybe something that we're not really adding to our thoughts is that we've actually only really seen Izzy as attempting-to-be-first-mate of the Revenge? Not of Ed's ship?

So, as a brief rundown of the Revenge from what we've been shown so far: they are a crew who were scooped up from god knows where, on a ship that's pristine because it was literally built all of a month ago, the crew are being paid wages rather than having to work for their dinner, no one ever actually seems to do ship things except maybe Buttons who seems to have a clue what he's doing but I don't think I've seen him actually work either, and no matter how much some may argue they're real pirates, they all hide behind the ship in 1x01 when the English show up, just like Stede.

Furthermore, the ship's surgeon is actually the cook (and although he's sewed up his shoulder in the past and makes a bangin' orange cake and goes in to amputate Lucius' finger, we don't know that he's actually qualified to be the surgeon), Stede had no idea Jim was "really a woman" (I mean, they're not, but you get my drift for the early episodes), and in 1x02 they forgot to steer the ship, which is why they ran aground.

So when Izzy comes around in 1x05 and is trying to do his job, which is basically to oversee and wrangle the crew into doing their jobs, what he finds is that there are two functional crew members (Ivan and Fang, who they brought along from their ship), and a bunch of folks that... don't do their jobs.

Literally in 1x05 you have Frenchie who went off and put on nice clothes he found from their raid (which is not working, though he did look dapper), Stede and Ed very distracted by the invitation, Lucius and Stede swinging their legs watching Ivan do all the work of going through the bodies for loot, Fang who is--

Wait, hold on. What is Fang doing?

I mean the general, main answer is "attending Ed", which makes sense because they're on someone else's ship and it makes perfect sense to have Fang nearby while Ed and Stede are distracted, just in case something bad happens.

But what is he actively doing in this scene? Is he knitting? Sewing? What? What? WHAT IS HE DOING WITH HIS HANDS? You literally only see him in this shot and I am losing my mind because I want to know what he's doing???? fuck!

Anyway, Fang is off skinning a guy for Ed after this, Lucius and Pete are fucking in the storeroom amongst the food while Wee John takes a nap, Frenchie and Oluwande go over to the ship with Ed and Stede, and when you get wide shots you can see literally no one is working on that ship.

Izzy is losing his shit and yelling at Lucius because every time he turns his head, no one is doing anything. It's a ship! It needs a crew because the crew keep it moving and functioning and clean.

Like, I understand if cleaning barnacles isn't Lucius' job, but someone has to do it?

So Izzy is presented with a ship whose crew is just, not doing their jobs, and all we really get to see is Izzy yelling at them and trying his darndest to actually get them to work, while they're just like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ meh it practically sails itself.

What we don't see is how Ed's ship runs. We don't see how his crew work, we don't see whether Izzy has to yell at everyone on that ship or if all he has to do is hand out a chore roster and everyone does their jobs.

If everyone is doing their jobs and pulling their weight, it's likely that they're treated with the respect they've earned and deserve as working and functioning members of the crew, and that their needs are also seen to, and who would be in charge of seeing to their needs?

Izzy.

Extra points: in the books scene, Ivan calls Izzy by his first name, Fang calls him 'boss', but the tone he uses makes it sound less like a mandatory title like when Izzy tells Lucius he expects sir or first mate hands or god or whatever, and more like he's showing him respect in return, the respect he's earned from that crew.

I get the sense that while Izzy might be on everyone's ass about work, he isn't generally the type to push people to work harder if they're already doing their job. (I also think this suggests Izzy is afraid of Ed now in a way he wasn't before. They need to move fast, or who knows what Ed might do?) No one's had to deal with forced autocannibalism from Izzy on that crew.

This, too. There's "expects the crew to do their jobs" and there's "is unreasonable about it", and there's no actual demonstration that Izzy is ever unreasonable about it. He just wants them to do their jobs and pull their weight!

#izzy's dd anon #ask #izzy hands #izzy hands meta #ofmd #ofmd meta #our flag means death

[tasteofdeathao3]

Some little hcs I have since I still don't have anything to post yet (sorry) (also this is for my mod au)

Reasons why Stede is Izzy's favourite:

He always says 'I love you". Ed loves him too, obviously, but Stede is a much more vocal person. Izzy understands that Ed shows his love through different ways, but he really likes the way Stede goes on and on about all his happy lovey feelings for Izzy

He gets Izzy all sorts of things. Izzy isn't very materialistic, but when he's small he loves having all different kinds of things, a soother for every situation, clothes for his toys, new fun games for the tv, and Stede loves to spoil his baby

Stede loves to entertain Izzy. Reading Izzy a bedtime story is his favourite nightly activity, and he's often rather sad when Izzy isn't staying over and his story books so untouched. He loves to turn on Izzy's favourite shows and ask him how it is; 'Are you liking this?' 'Does she sound nice?' 'Would you ever do that?' 'Are you smart like them?'

The way Stede cuddles him. Stede has experience with children, and knows what makes them feel safe and protected (and in this case, what makes them feel smaller). He'll lay down with Izzy and pull him up onto his chest, holding him and patting his hair, rubbing his back as he nestles into Stede's chest.

Reasons why Ed is Izzy's favourite:

He gives Izzy more juice - literally. Stede always fills his sippy cups with watered down juice (20% juice 80% water), but Ed always just gives him the full juice, wrangling a hyper izzy in secret so that stede doesn't find out he gave their baby more juice than he could handle

He plays with izzy - Stede likes to play with Izzy, definitely, but Ed is by far the best at it. He loves to build towers for Izzy to knock down, loves figuring out whatever story Izzy has going with his teddies and joining in, loves sitting Izzy up on his lap and playing some 'child friendly' games on his PC (I feel like Izzy would like tamagotchi type games, like where you look after a dog, or just likes sitting in Ed's lap while he plays Minecraft and makes baby commentary)

The way Ed cuddles him. Ed, who slips himself, knows the importance of a good squish. He'll slide into Izzy's bed and wrap him up in arms, holding him tight to his chest and squishing Izzy with his cheek as he squeezes him from all sides. The squishing isn't limited to sleepy time though, Ed will scoop Izzy up from wherever he may be and hold him tight, squeezing tighter around his sides to hear his squeaky giggles

Ed can read him. Ed's known Izzy for more than half of his life, it would be odd if he couldn't read him well by now. He's good at understanding Izzy's nonverbal cues, knows when he's actually angry or just cranky because he didn't sleep well, knows when he needs space versus whether he's just too warm for a cuddle at the moment

#ofmd #fandom agere #age regression #little izzy hands #cg stede bonnet #cg Edward Teach

[heckyeahponyscans]

The Jinxie Games

Thoughts on G5 MLP Make Your Mark Ch. 4, Episode 3

This episode has three subplots: Hitch competing in the Forest Critter Field Day event, Pipp and Zipp discovering their mom is dating Alphabittle, and Misty attempting to find something in the Brighthouse that she can take home to appease Opaline.

The latter two plotlines are pretty good, the first one drags and I think they should've moved it into the background more. Maybe have Pipp and Zipp find out about Queen Haven's date earlier and try to scuttle it, but then see that their mom is truly happy and have a change of heart?

Anyway, I feel very vindicated in having shipped Queen Haven and Alphabittle as far back as the original G5 movie. They just had that vibe.

Even though Misty spent most of the episode in one place, rifling through the Mane 5's belongings, this was a really good episode for her, first exhibiting her bitterness and jealousy at the main cast ("Ohhh, we're so HAPPY, we all have cutie marks and we get to live with our best friends!"), which helps the audience understand why a fundamentally nice pony keeps spying on / trying to steal from the other ponies, and then coming to a turning point when Misty finds that Sunny has included a picture of her, Misty, in her journal.

Misty's VA is so good; the gasp she gives when Misty finds the picture tells you everything you need to know. The foundations of her world have been shaken.

Later, Misty has a chance to kidnap Sparky--Opaline's main objective--and instead she leaves him at the Brighthouse, purposely disobeying Opaline's orders even though she knows she'll be in trouble.

Here's Misty, nervous because Opaline just called bellowed for her, metaphorically stuck between the two pictures: a childhood picture of Opaline and the photo of herself with the Mane 5.

Even though I do think this episode, and some others, have parts that drag, I do think Misty's story being spread out across the entire season is genius. It lets us really see what Misty's going through, the toxic push-and-pull of serving Opaline. There's no way her story would be as impactful if it was condensed into one or two episodes; we would get an info-dump of facts, but we wouldn't feel the weight of her burden

Random notes on this episode:

Queen Haven sending Zipp a text that just said "Don't" was extremely funny

the Forest Critter Field Day occurs every 4th purple moon

there's reference to bits as currency (Hitch mentions "flipping a bit" to see who goes first in a game)

When Hitch and Izzy initially explain what Forest Critter Field Day is, Pipp is zoning out on her phone

Queen Haven postponing brunch to "a time that's more inconvenient to you both" is the funniest bit of the episode

"Unicorns didn't have access to their magic for many thousands of moons." As previously noted, a moon seems to be the equivalent of a year. How many thousands is "many"? It's got to be 3000 minimum, right? Assuming Skye Silver is correct about this information, that is.

Speaking of Sky Silver and Dazzle (the reporters), one thing G5 does much better than G4 is parody. G4 is leaning towards Looney Tunes in its style of humor (slapstick, pianos dropping on people, Pinkie Pie leaping out of mirrors, etc) and whenever they tried to do parody on top of that already exaggerated humor it was juuust terrible. With Sky and Dazzle, they don't do anything specifically "comedic" but their performances are just over-the-top enough to be funny. Like the way they do scripted lines to "each other", but they're turned towards the camera because it's actually for the TV audience's benefit . . . Man, that is the kind of humor G5 should harness more.

I assume this ZBS special is based on a real life show about the British Royal family or something, because the ponies look so dour . . . lmk if this is the case, I don't watch TV anymore except cartoons based on Hasbro properties.

literally a wedding ring chilling in the background there, nice touch

Nice to see Hitch isn't the only non-unicorn contestant, Windy is there too. The purple unicorn, Elderflower, was mentioned in a previous episode as being the oldest and wisest unicorn in Bridlewood.

Once again Sparky shows some kind of earth or plant magic

"This is what every sport looks like to me." Same Pipp, same.

#My Little Pony #G5 #Make Your Mark #spoilers #The Jinxie Games #Hitch Trailblazer #Pipp Petals #Queen Haven #Alphabittle #Misty Brightdawn #Zipp Storm #Sparky Sparkeroni

[littlepaperboatyo]

Izzy Hands is Not a good fighter.

I've been writing a paper on Izzy's codependency in my own time that will never see the light of day on account of it would be far too boring to anyone but me, but in doing so I have realised just how bad Izzy is at fighting and why people think he's good at it.

I'm not saying he's not skilled in swordsmanship btw, I think he has good form and is well practiced. I'm also not saying that he fucks it up all the time and fails to win his battles. I am very specifically saying he's a Bad Fighter. Because he really is! If he were a good fighter he wouldn't have lost to Stede. That wasn't a matter of Stede getting lucky or a rich man simply winning by being rich or the plot preaching the lesson it wants to preach. Stede would beat Izzy again and again given the chance. Why? Well...

Izzy Hands is an incredibly codependent character. That's a word I feel gets thrown around as though context clues define it when they don't, so I'm going to actually define it here.

A codependent person is so obsessed with controlling someone or something outside themselves that they lose control of themselves.

Izzy is super obsessed with controlling others, and not all that about controlling himself. He's particularly obsessed with controlling Ed, which is his side of why their relationship is so incredibly toxic. But we're not worrying about that now, we want to understand how he fights.

Codependency creates several more defining qualities in a person, one of which being that codependent people are highly reactive. If you're obsessed with controlling others then you become constantly vigilant of their actions. When you react to them you are no longer acting for yourself; the speed with which you're moving leaves no time to think about what your next move should be. Izzy actually understands this well, and prays on it when he fights. He's skilled enough that he can best another pirate who's also reactive. He just can't do shit to Stede on account of Stede being a pretty exceptionally nonreactive person.

Izzy starts the duel moving rapidly into form hoping to throw Stede off his rhythm. He's showing off his skill in hopes of making Stede nervous. Stede does falter when he loses his sword, and finds himself prone on the deck with things looking grim. He's not really reacting to this situation the way most pirates would though. He looks around, sees a creative solution, and pocket sands throws gunpowder at Izzy. This is where things get fun, because now Izzy is off his rhythm. He gets mad here and panics a bit. As much as Olu may have been dissapointed, Stede slapping Izzy's ass with his dick sword works to his advantage here, because again Stede is not acting how Izzy would expect. Izzy is worked up at this point. Even winning will leave him humiliated. He's mad. He clears his eyes and he's determined to finish this, tries to back Stede into a corner and continues pushing his regular fighting style. He's mad he's mad he's so ready to be done with this horrible strange little man he can't control. So ready, so certain of himself that he doesn't take a moment to consider why Stede might be offering a draw. He assumes he knows despite Stede defying his assumptions at every turn. He goes for the kill. And he's wrong.

Of course he's wrong.

Stede won out in their first interaction too. It's not so much that an ambush is "completely unprofessional" as it is that Izzy couldn't think up a way to get out of it. He sat there with a knife to his face and time to think and just couldn't really manage. He was surprised, and he got flustered, and he lost.

Izzy may know all the cool moves and be real good at waving his blade around, but he's too dependent on the other fighter's emotional state to actually be a good fighter.

Codependents tend to come from backgrounds of instability. Abusive childhoods and careers in crisis fields both, any environment that continually requires more than a person can give. I think it's fair to argue that codependency might be common among pirates. I also think it's fair to argue that Izzy looks to be a better fighter than he is because his average opponent is some pirate who sleeps on the deck with too little to eat who might very well be codependent themself. It's not that he's exceptional, it's that his enemies aren't.

Izzy Hands is Not a good fighter.

#ofmd #meta #ofmd meta #Izzy Hands #I've been working on that longer analysis for so long and I went back and read it today and just went 'oh' #'I would not have the patience to read this if it came across my dash' #so here's the section that was actually fun #and the rest may or may not go to scrap which is fine #it helped me figure shit out to write it and that's really what it was for anyway #Yall know that one post that's like #'this guys so fucked up i'm gonna observe him under a microscope'? #well I actually did that enough it helped with therapy so that's fun #anyway i can't stand Izzy Hands and I love analyzing him #it's a curse