#i don’t think that’s the attention Izzy *wants* from Ed at all (if his getting distracted by Ed’s lips in the midst of threatening him is

[squealing-santa]

A few self discoveries

Author: @abihasablog

A/N: My Squealing Santa submission for @ticklish-scribbler, hope you enjoy!

Izzy doesn't think he's ticklish, and can't really understand why Ed seems to like it so much. He's very glad to be proven wrong.

Steddyhands, ler!Stede and ler!Ed with lee!Izzy (plus an extra lee!Ed sprinkling, as a treat.

Word count: 1660

---

It had been a long and horrid day, and all Izzy was looking forward to was falling into bed and sleeping off his bad mood. He pushed open their front door, calling out a tired greeting to whoever made it home before him. Instead of the usual reply, a high pitched squeal came from the living room. Suddenly wide awake, Izzy dropped his bag and dashed towards the sound. When he sees the cause of the noise, he slumps back against the wall with a groan.

“Iz! Help!” Ed shrieks, wiggling in Stede’s grasp as another raspberry is blown against his neck. “Ew, that’s gross!”

“Hello darling,” Stede ignores Ed’s giggly protests as he digs his fingers into his hips. “Did you have a lovely day?”

“Thought you were being fucking murdered, Ed, you cannot possibly be that ticklish.” 

Ed flushes pink and he tries to scowl.. “Nohohohot!” 

“Not ticklish, hmm? Then why are you laughing?” Stede’s fingers slide up to curl against Ed’s belly and spider across the softness there. “You should have heard the noises he made when I gave his tummy a good raspberry! I would recreate it for you, but I promised to ease off once the tears started. Maybe next time, hmm Edward?” 

“No next time!” 

“Oh, we both know you don’t want that.” 

Izzy rolled his eyes and shrugged off his coat. “It’s like living with a child.” 

“Like you’re any better!” Ed cried indignantly. “Let’s see - aha - how you stand up against torture!” 

“I’m an adult, Edward. Adults aren’t ticklish.” 

Stede halts his fingers. 

“I beg to differ,” he says. He holds out his hand towards Izzy, and very slowly and deliberately crooks his finger. “Care to prove me wrong?” 

Between them, still nestled underneath Stede, Ed shivers. 

“Why would I do that?” 

“Because you love to be right, and if you’re not ticklish then there’s nothing to be scared of.” 

“It’s fun, Iz,” Ed chimes in, looking a little embarrassed at the admission. “Stede’s good at it and he knows when to stop.” 

Izzy grits his teeth. He hadn’t been tickled since he was a child, and didn’t really fancy being poked with clumsy fingers in an attempt to prove himself right. But Stede was looking at him like he was a meal, and Ed was flashing his big baby cow eyes - two things he could never resist. Sighing in defeat, he holds his arms out to the side awkwardly. 

“Where do you want me?” 

Ed jumps up immediately, grabbing cushions from the sofa and chucking them on the carpet. “More room on the floor.” 

“If I get on the floor I’ll never get up again,” Izzy gripes. Stede tuts, sliding from the sofa to kneel next to the cushion pile. 

“I’ll help you up darling, fear not!” He pats the space next to him. “Ed’s right, more room down here for exploration!”

“Explor-?” Izzy startles as Ed grabs his hands and tugs him down, nudging him until he submits to being moulded into position. “I can manage!” 

“Manhandling is all part of the experience, just shush and let it happen.” 

“You’re such a pest, you know?” 

“Boys,” Stede interrupts with a soft laugh. “Edward, clearly I need to spend some more time on you if you still have the energy to be a brat.” 

Ed clears his throat, blushing. “Well, if you think it’s best.” 

“I do,” Stede grins. He turns his attention to Izzy, then, and taps his elbows where they rest at his sides. “I’ll need you to put these up over your head, try and keep them out the way if you can.”

Izzy rolls his eyes, but does as he’s told. 

“Standard safeword rules apply here, and yours is…?” 

“Red,” Izzy recites dutifully. 

“Excellent. I’ll ignore all other assorted pleading and or begging, and - oh don’t give me that look, just you wait - unless you say your safeword. Agreed?”

“Fine.”

“Excellent!” Stede claps his hands together. “Now, I think I’ll begin right… here.” 

His hands descend slowly to rest against Izzy’s sides. His tee shirt is tucked into his jeans, stretched across his torso with his arms held over his head. If it were Izzy doing the tickling, he’d pull the shirt up and go right in for the kill. Instead, Stede lets his palms lay stationery, and starts a gentle wiggle of his fingertips against the soft fabric. It startles a gasp from him, and his arms twitch to move back down to his side. He holds firm, though. Surely it was just the surprise of it? 

Stede watches him with a gentle smile, slowly moving his hands upward, his fingertips creeping along Izzy’s ribs. He feels the urge to snap his hands down and push Stede away, but he holds out, gritting his teeth and allowing his body a tiny wiggle as consolation. So perhaps he’d been wrong about not being ticklish. 

“Ooo, I saw that!” Ed chimes gleefully. “Knew you were the ticklish ribs sort, mate. Bet you’re ticklish all over, aren’t you?” 

“No,” Izzy grits out. 

“Yes you are,” Ed continues, wiggling his fingers menacingly. “Now the seal’s broken, I bet we could tickle you anywhere.”

Izzy opens his mouth to tell Ed to fuck off but is cut off when the fingers on his ribs move suddenly down again, to spider across his belly. The suddenness of it startles him enough that he chuckles, his arms snapping down instinctively to grab at Stede’s hands. 

“Aha,” Stede grins. “It seems I was right, after all!” 

“Fucking fluke,” Izzy says quickly, returning his arms to their position. Stede raises his eyebrows, meets Ed’s ecstatic expression, and goes back to it. Izzy’s hands grip a cushion as the teasing fingers explore his belly, finding all the spots that make him squirm. It’s soft enough that he’s not laughing properly, just the odd huff accompanied by a wide grin. Stede’s kind enough to keep quiet, but Ed has no such manners. 

“Oho, seems like someone is finding out some stuff about themselves today!” He wriggles his fingers along Izzy’s neck, making him scrunch his shoulders with a snort. “Is that nice, Iz? You like it when we tickle you?”

Izzy abandons the pillow with his right hand in favour of smacking at Ed’s legs, but his wrist is quickly caught and treated to a flurry of kisses up his arm, something that had never tickled before, but made a giggle build in his throat now. 

“Edward,” Stede admonishes. “It’s not nice to tease. It’s also very rich coming from you!” 

“But it’s fun,” Ed winks down at Izzy as he progresses his little tickly line of kisses up his arm until he reaches his inner elbow. 

“You know what’s fun, Izzy? Getting Ed all flustered and begging for more after spending such a long time teasing him.” 

Ed pouts, his cheeks turning sweetly pink. Izzy’s own face flushes at the teasing, even though it’s not directed at him. Stede’s words combined with the swirling patterns of his fingers against his belly were making butterflies take flight from every inch of his body. 

“I like to tickle him gently, just like this, all up and down from his hips to his neck. He’s especially ticklish just here,” he tugs Izzy’s top from his jeans and lifts it up over his belly. He wriggles the tip of his index finger into the space just under his belly button, and all the teasing bursts out of him in a loud train of giggles. “Yes, just like that.” 

“Nohohoho!” His free arm shoots down to push him away half heartedly, but Ed is quick to snatch it up and pepper that one with kisses too. “Ehehehed!” 

“Yeeees?” 

Izzy doesn’t reply, can’t reply, because Stede’s hands are suddenly under his shirt and in his armpits and all he can do is kick his heels into the floor and cackle. 

“Oh, you are just the most precious thing!” Stede coos, avoiding Izzy’s kicking legs by sliding over him in a straddle.  “Are you enjoying yourself, darling?” 

“No, fuck off!” 

“Hmm, that doesn’t sound anything like a safeword,” Stede slows a little, letting him catch his breath and regain control of his mouth. Ed gives his hands a gentle, reassuring squeeze. Despite the teasing, Izzy knew Ed was on cloud nine to discover that Izzy was finding this fun too. 

“It’s not,” Izzy says after a moment. “Think I was wrong before.”

“Oh? You mean you are ticklish?” Stede prompts. The word makes Izzy squirm, and suddenly he has a lot of sympathy for Ed and all the times Stede’s made him admit he liked it. 

“I guess,” he manages, as if he wasn’t all pink cheeked and panting. “Not as bad as Eddie, though.”

“But you both seem to love it equally,” Stede chuckles, ignoring Ed’s petulant whine. “But we’ve only scratched the surface with you! Perhaps you’d let me give you a thorough going over, to find out all your favourite spots? Perhaps I’ll have you with your legs over my lap, see if you can keep still while I give the backs of your legs a good tickling. Or maybe you’d let me give your pretty belly some raspberries, but I expect we might need Ed to hold you down for those, my darling.”

Izzy’s going to implode with the amount of self discoveries he was going through since getting home. Yes, he wants to say, please fucking do that. The gentle attention felt lovely, like when Stede played with his hair, or Ed mindlessly used his fingers as a fidget. He could see why Ed always seemed to beg for it. He has a plan hatching in his mind, a game to play with them both another time. He wonders if Ed would be up for some giggly revenge on Stede.  

He blinks sweetly up at them both, smiling with only a touch of leftover shyness. 

“Do your worst.”

#ss2k23 #squealing santa 2k23 #tickle fic #steddyhands #lee!izzy #ler!ed #lee!ed #ler!stede #submission #author: abihasablog #ofmd tickling #our flag means death tickling

[neurosiscocktail]

OFMD finale spoilers ahead-

I’m on my third rewatch because I read the Vanity Fair article, and I’ve heard some really interesting opinions that differed from my own, and so I rewatched it with all of that in mind. unfortunately I still just think the last episode was not great. Some stuff I really enjoyed, but a lot that I didn’t.

1) no one searched the hostage for weapons? You’re telling me not one of the people who have been pirates most of their lives thought to search the hostage.

2) Izzy might have insisted, but putting the most notable and visibly recognizable pirate on your crew front and center feels like a very stupid move. A large part of this season was about Stede learning to be a pirate, and it feels like they slashed his character development and Ed, Izzy, Fang, Roach, and several other crew members critical thinking skills because they wanted to kill Izzy.

3) they did a good job foreshadowing his death. I kind of always knew it was coming, but wasn’t paying much attention because I didn’t want to. I really dig the fairytale themes. Someone else mentioned this and once I was looking for it I really loved it!

4) now that I’m looking for it, I see a lot of places where Izzy was a mentor and I get what he was going for and don’t mind it, really like it in some ways. however, the docking joke made me very uncomfortable now that he’s said Ed sees Izzy as a father figure. (I think I was a little delayed on seeing this because I was busy making jokes about how they were cowards for not hiring a child to play Izzy, since in real life he was estimated 15 years old when ~38 year old Ed and Stede met)

5) now that I’ve rewatched it with the writers intent in mind, I still think the “killing your redeemed antagonists” and the “killing your mentors because they have nothing left to teach” troupes are bad and lazy. Knowing that that’s what he was going for didn’t make it less so. I thought it might. If you love this troupe, more power to you, they did a good job with it and this finale was probably right up your alley. I unfortunately find it to be lazy writing and the troupe stopped being good 40 years ago.

6) Lucius was AMAZING this season. I thought his arc dealing with his trauma was very good and very realistic. I love that they didn’t just hand wave off his experience, but had him deal with things in a tangible way.

7) again, I still don’t understand why cartoon rules apply to everyone but Izzy and this gunshot wound.

8) I really loved the relationships between Izzy and the crew this season but especially him and Jim, Frenchie, and Lucius. I thought the casual intimacy really showed how their relationships developed.

9) His death speech and funeral were worse on the second and third watch when I was really paying attention and not bawling my eyes out. Ed has really… not been forgiven by the crew. A lot of them did, but Lucius sure didn’t, and it seems like they accepted his ‘apology’ but they still don’t trust him. So to have his death speech, one, include him taking more accountability for Blackbeard, which Ed hasn’t done at all yet, and then follow it up with the crew being his family who love him felt weird. It felt like that speech was written when we had 2 more episodes of character growth that got cut. Because that did not seem like how they felt. There really wasn’t much happening with the crew during his death or funeral which felt weird. Except Roach at the funeral. That was excellent.

- addendum: I know that death speeches in shows are for the protagonist but I feel like some of it should have been about him, and not an apology? The whole thing just felt awkward. And we have heard from creators that Izzy is a deeply sentimental man, not burying him with his ring and using it as a grave marker where anyone could steal it felt bad.

10) I felt when they first introduced the prince that he was supposed to be a wake up call for Stede. It seemed like he was meant to represent what Stede could have been. A spoiled rich brat with no common sense or thoughts about how his actions effect others. Someone who views themself as a main character and everyone else is a supporting role. When he was first introduced it felt like that was supposed to be a wake up call for Stede- “this is what you could have been if you didn’t want to be better. If you weren’t kinder and more empathetic” and I thought that started off really well, but then it felt like they took back some of Stede’s character development and it didn’t pack as big of a punch.

11) I really feel like Stede and Ed have not been put in a good position to be successful in the very intense relationship they have just started. They have just decided to completely isolate themselves, when we just had a whole episode foreboding doing that. I LOVE Mary and Anne, but I do feel like the finale had Ed and Stede just ignore every warning they got and I feel like that’s been disappointing- feeling like their characters were making progress but ended somewhere where they didn’t actually make any progress. It was all very romantic but lends itself to 0 longevity.

12) Ed especially felt stunted this season. Stede made some great progress, but Ed just kept running away from his problems, figuratively and literally and not taking accountability. I love Ed, but I think if I didn’t already love him before watching this season, this season wouldn’t have convinced me to. I’m not sure where that leaves us for season 3- I think maybe that season will be about him having to actually face himself, and I look forward to it.

Overall I feel like I could have really loved this season if the writers were given more budget and time, and they weren’t, and that’s not their fault. However, I’m really not thrilled about the product we were left with. Which is unfortunately kind of what MAX wants because it has really seemed like they’ve been trying to cut this wildly successful show.

Again, dissatisfaction with a season is not a reason to harass other fans, writers, or actors. I’d love to hear how other people are feeling about things

#ofmd 2 #ofmd season 2 #ofmd spoilers #ofmd izzy #izzy hands #isreal hands #lucius spriggs #critical

[doks-aux]

Okay, so thinking about this idea still (thanks @arborescentarecaceae) and trying to figure out how the central conflict would come about because I don’t feel like Izzy would come up with that lie on his own. Or anyone buying it if he did. He’s not very creative when put on the spot (or at all, bless), he might not want to lie about a dead friend, and he’s so divorced from his own emotions he it probably wouldn’t occur to him to put “Sam” and “husband” in the same conscious thought.

I think Ed actually gets the ball rolling on it. Maybe the crew’s been on a mostly well-intentioned mission to help Izzy get over Ed and are going about it in the most annoying and wrongfooted way possible. They won’t get out of their own way long enough to realize that Izzy isn’t interested in their sort of matchmaking, and Izzy of course isn’t going to stop and spell out why he doesn’t like it because he thinks it should be obvious and anyway he shouldn’t have to, “Fuck off and get back to work” is a full sentence. They just see him being angry and resistant and in trying to figure out why (by doing everything but actually ask him, of course), they start to wonder about the ring and all the black he always wears. So someone tries to ask Ed about it since they know they won’t get an answer from Izzy, and Ed, maybe half paying attention to the conversation, says, “Oh, yeah, Sam gave him that. Iz was real torn up when he died. Been wearing it ever since.”

And that changes things! Pushing someone still in mourning for their husband to go out and get laid isn’t maybe the most sensitive way to handle things. They should maybe rethink their approach. And when Ed tunes back into what’s going on, well, he does love a good fuckery. And Izzy’s been complaining about all their pestering, and Ed owes him a solid or twenty for the whole toe thing, so maybe he can help get them off his back. And Izzy’s still terrible at not just going along with Ed’s ideas. But, hey, at least this one’s bought him some relative peace and quiet, and all he really has to do is get quiet and say he doesn’t want to talk about it if any of them try to ask about Sam.

And then Sam comes back. :)

#BellHands #Izzy Hands #Israel Hands #first mate of my heart #Sam Bellamy #Edward Teach #Blackbeard #pirates #Our Flag Means Death #writing prompts #tropes #fake relationship #doc's stories #doc's AUs #doc posts pirates

[something-about-sunflowers]

Alright! Poll's over! I'm gonna be annoying about the responses now!

First thing's first: Thank you to the 247 of you that understood the assignment! Those of you that picked 'straight' will need to take remedial courses to save yourself from a failing grade.

Now I'm gonna talk tags (and the one reply):

Category 1 (Understood the assignment and went for extra credit):

Not only are yall SO correct, you were also funny about it! 10 extra points to you all!

Category 2 (There's only 10 answer options guys. . .):

This was as nuanced as I could get with the amount of options I had while still being inclusive of other sexuality options. I'm not gonna do a whole bracket for this; It was just supposed to be a funny little vague at the piratepolls person who turned out to be an asshole trying to stir the pot.

(I don't care what their intentions were or might have been. It got picked up and passed around by The Usual Suspects, the answer choices they gave were biased and had LESS nuance, and with a DRAMATIC lead on the option that's a significant point of contention in the fandom they made a 'joke' about the winning option being canon despite it only being an interpretation and a poor one at that. I'm not fighting anyone on the 'Izzy is homophobic' interpretation anymore. You're wrong. Argue with the wall.)

I thought emotional repression was implied in all of the 'sexually repressed' options, if I'm being honest. The reason I made a distinction in the 'and proud' group is because I think he can be proud of his sexuality but still be emotionally repressed but I also think there's emotional repression inherent in sexual repression.

The 'just kind of a dick' option isn't meant to imply that he's not being a dick when he's emotionally/sexually repressed, either, just that those aren't necessarily the reason for him being a dick.

Category 3 (Failed the assignment):

(There's more I disagree with from this response but this bit is the part I have an actual problem with.)

Define 'toxic masculinity'. Now do it in a way that doesn't include behaviors and attitudes that nearly everyone in the show has had at some point.

Show me David, or ANY of the cast/crew talking about toxic masculinity and calling attention to Izzy, specifically. Or to the concept of piracy which Izzy (and Ed and Fang and Ivan and Spanish Jackie and the crew of the Revenge, until Stede comes along) adheres to.

I'm not gonna argue here. I'm tired. I've got some pretty gnarly brain fog going on. I just don't want to. I just want you to think about what kind of show this would be if the main character is trying to escape to a world where Izzy's ideals (and worse, he doesn't act nearly as bad towards the crew as it's implied Benjamin Hornigold did) are the norm, but those ideals are, allegedly, inherently bad and toxic. What a show where the main love interest (and potential main character of the second season) wanted out of that life, because he was BORED of it, would imply about those supposed ideals.

The great thing about this show is that none of the characters are JUST narrative devices. They're CHARACTERS. They have an interior to them that informs their choices. We can argue til the sun comes up about why, specifically, Izzy hates Stede, but there's no way to make the reason be 'because Stede is gay' that doesn't diminish who STEDE is as a character, let alone Izzy as a queer man himself (he's queer, argue with the wall).

#the dork is being a dork #izzy hands #the izcourse #it is interesting to see the different responses though #the good faith ones at least #i had honestly expected more votes for the aroace options #i'm not gonna @ or link the people the tags (or reply) came from #mostly because this is really just me commenting on them and not really wanting a discussion #but also because idk if people might be Weird at them #i don't want that #even for the person i vehemently disagreed with #i was gonna just reblog the original post so this wouldn't show up in the tags except on my blog #but tumblr didn't want to let me reblog it for some reason? #'functional website' 😒

[karuvapatta]

ok. ok. here goes:

the reason why I want Izzy Hands to get a redemption arc / happy ending is because I think it would be good for both him *and* Ed. hear me out.

Izzy’s easy. He wants the peace, safety, and stability of their life under the Blackbeard flag; but he needs to learn to put Ed’s well-being ahead of his own self-interest. A fairly simple character arch.

Ed’s slightly more complicated.

Smarter people than me have already pointed out that Ed always adjusts his behaviour to fit the expectations of whoever he’s talking to. He has a conflicted relationship with his Blackbeard identity - tired of it, willing to abandon it, and yet fiercely protective of “the brand” and the way it is misinterpreted and exaggerated by others. His most prized possession - the piece of red silk - is a reminder of his own mother telling him he isn’t adequate, isn’t worthy of certain things. And when he tries to reach for these things, this other sort of life - he is constantly shot down. First by the captured captain, then the aristocrats at the party and then, finally, by Stede himself.

Ed’s post-breakup spiral seems to be going well enough - but why would he expect it to last? How long until the crew begin to mock him, until Izzy abandons him too? I don’t think it’s fair to say that Ed felt physically threatened by Izzy, but he certainly didn’t want to be rejected and abandoned again. So he built up this new persona, new mask to hide behind, finally letting go of his hopes of this other life he could have. Where he could be happy, and enjoy fine things.

My point is: Ed made that choice. He chose to jump off the slippery slope. I think it’s doing his character a disservice to pretend that he was forced into becoming the Kraken, or that he is descending into madness.

One could argue that Ed should just stop caring about what people think about him, and live his best life. Stede had no problem doing just that - he is told that he’s inadequate, too soft, not a proper pirate, but he doesn’t compromise his own identity in response. No, he stands his ground and creates his own brand of piracy, following his own values and beliefs. But Stede is validated for his choices! During the climactic trial, he finally gets what he never had - social acceptance. His crew (his chosen family) embraces his identity, even though it doesn’t conform to any norms, and it’s a beautiful moment.

...of course he then has to confront how his choices affect those around him, but that’s a different matter entirely...

So. If Stede got accepted, why shouldn’t Ed get the same? I am personally glad they didn’t run away to China together, and hope their story doesn’t end with them all alone, no matter how seemingly happy they may be. Ed deserves a chosen family too, and he deserves to believe that he won’t get abandoned/rejected by them eventually.

...he also needs to make amends for the atrocities he committed. But I digress.

The point is: Izzy is important to Ed. Aside from Stede, that’s who he’s closest to within the show. During episode 3? 4? they spend the whole time throwing out bids for attention, that somehow pass unnoticed. They both lash out against the other - Izzy throws a fit and threatens to resign, Ed fucks with him by withholding crucial information, dismissing his fears and showing off. “See? You should have trusted me.” But it’s not a triumphant moment for Ed, is it? He made a fatal mistake - and Izzy’s the one who points it out. It’s a really nice bit, because it shows how great they used to be when they were a team. It would be nice if they got to be that again.

If Izzy dies as his pathetic evil self, Ed will never get closure on that relationship. He won’t get acceptance from someone who is this important to him. He won’t get an apology until Izzy learns the error of his ways. And while you could argue that Ed shouldn’t need any of these things, well - he isn’t wrong to want them.

#izzy hands #edward teach #ofmd meta #blackhands #that's my point. it'd just be nice.

[nonpracticinghumanbeing]

A Fellow Masochist's Perspective on Izzy

(I wasn’t going to write about Izzy anymore. But then of course I did, because I’m me. We just gotta do what we gotta do. FUCK.)

[This is like half meta about my views on Izzy as a masochist and half my attempt to explain why him being shown the way he is is so important to me on a personal level. I just can’t separate these two issues even though I know I’m getting way too emotional over this. I guess there’s not a lot of people who would be a target audience for this, but I need to get it out of my system.]

Soooooo... So. So so so so. I made this comment on Facebook about how Izzy being a sad little masochistic boy gave me feelings no other fandom has been able to give me in about a decade. Which was a joke, of course, we all laugh at Izzy’s pain kink. Ha ha. But then I realized it’s also very much not a joke. Because I can indeed remember the last time I felt like this and it was when I first watched Lawrence of Arabia. And that movie turns SIXTY this year.

-------------------------------------------------------

Let’s be clear. Izzy IS a masochist, plain and simple. I’ve already written about how I think he’s more into power play than pain itself, but then I do realize how often these seem too similar to be simply labeled as one or the other. These things are way too complex to be simply analyzed and quantified as often pain becomes a tool of power. And I don’t necessarily mean “power” as in a relationship between two people, it may also mean (and often does) power over one’s own body, and in a larger perspective, one’s life.

In episode 3 there’s this scene with Izzy back on the ship, giving Blackbeard a report on Stede. He comes into Edward’s cabin and tells him how Stede isn’t interested in meeting. And while doing that, he burns his hand on a candle. Edward has his back to him, so he’s probably unaware that Izzy is even doing it. So he’s not doing it for Ed (I’ve written about the power exchange dynamics between them here), he’s doing it for himself. Is he punishing himself for lying to Edward (’cause he didn’t tell Stede he was working for Blackbeard because he didn't want them to meet)? Is it a way of proving to himself that he’s strong - unlike Stede - and therefore worthy of Edward’s attention? Does he even know why he’s doing it? I really don’t think he does, I think it might be something that he just does instinctivenly and without any deeper thought (especially seeing that he does the same thing in episode 7 while talking to Spanish Jackie and accounting for the fact that he’s not the type of person to analyze his feelings in general). And I absolutely adore it to bits.

It’s shown from a few different angles, so we’re being made aware that it’s important. But at the same time he’s talking to Ed about Stede, like him doing it wasn’t all THAT important. Like it’s just a thing that he happens to do while carrying on with his responsibilities as Blackbeard’s second-in-command. And yet the camera shows him burning his hand with nothing else happening visually. It goes on for about ten seconds, which is A LOT when it comes to movie editing. They’re coding it as something that is BOTH a crucial part of his identity AND just one of his many traits. (And it’s not just here that they’ve done this, the scene when Ed cuts off his toe with Avalanche playing in the background with its lyrics about conquering pain is just pure damn genius.) And honestly, when did that ever happen before?

-------------------------------------------------------

Now, I know there’s been a considerable and overall very positive move to normalize BDSM lifestyle and practices. (And I’m certainly NOT talking about the horrible abusive garbage like 50 Shades of Grey or 365 Days.) But it always seems to go one of two ways, neither of which makes me feel the way OFMD makes me feel.

So, on one hand we have the media meant to educate vanilla peope about the issue, while at the same time trying to build their capital on being somewhat naughty, with Netflix’s Bonding being the prime example. I’ll be the first person to say that the show was important in disspelling a number of popular misconceptions and trying to broker some deeper understanding between kinksters and the rest of the populace. Hell, I LOVED the talk about trust and boundaries Tiff is given by her boss in the second season. But its characters - those who are truly into the lifestyle and not just in it for the money - don’t really come off as fully fleshed characters. They are mostly just Tiff’s clients and are often characterised solely by their kinks. And that makes it impossible to relate to them.

Then we get the shows with well rounded characters who just happen to be more or less tangentially connected to BDSM, for whatever reason. Irene Adler being a dominatrix on BBC's Sherlock. Kat doing the video dominatrix stuff in the first season of Euphoria. Joanna and Tyrell doing bondage on Mr. Robot. That whole fake-kidnapping-actual-s&m-roleplay thing on Cucumber. It happens more and more which is great. But it never really felt all that important to who any of these characters really are. It’s usually about money or just a simple way of quickly allievating boredom in the bedroom (which are both totally valid, to each their own, it just doesn’t feel like it’s something that is crucial to the core identity of any of these characters). Or worst of all, it’s just an embarrasing eccentricity intended as a pun. So of course I can’t really relate to any of it, even if I do appreciate it being shown in mainstream media at all.

If hard pressed for an answer about any representation I found compelling, I’d have to say that Transparent hit the closest to home with Sarah’s experiments with BDSM, but even that felt more like a three-episode-long subplot rather than an attempt to really make it an integral part of her character. And then I’m given Izzy. Izzy for whom his masochistic tendencies seem so deeply ingrained that they are crucial to who he is. And yet he isn’t at all reduced to being just the sad little masochistic boy, because there’s also so much more to him. No wonder I’m so drawn to him, because the only other piece of mainstream media that made me feel so seen is sixty years old. 

-------------------------------------------------------

I’m not at all saying that what Izzy is doing is in any way healthy. His relationship with Edward - the only meaningful relationship in his life - is very toxic and right out mutually abusive. He’s so fixated on the balance of power which makes him feel safe that he’s willing to suffer a great deal to keep that balance - and willing to hurt Edward as well, even though he’s the closest thing to a friend Izzy has. A point has been made (here) about how he feels that he only deserves physical closeness when it’s justified by his own defeat. He clearly craves submission and yet he has to be forced into it - and I don't mean "forced" in a fun, playful, BDSM-like way, I mean he literally needs things to be done to him without his consent. He doesn’t just need pain (which is fine), he needs abuse (which most definitely isn’t). Because Edward making this decision for him means he doesn't have to acknowledge this need. Because acknowledging that he wants to submit to another man would shatter his self-image and make him feel weak, which he can't afford. None of this is healthy.

But. Let's imagine for a moment that he was to learn to let his guard down and let go of the toxic masculinity he's so dedicated to - which would also very much help him stop seeing his need for submission as shameful (because it's toxic masculinity, with its inherent homophobia, that tells him that no real man would be willing to submit to another). I’m not saying that it’s going to happen, I’m not even sure if I want it to happen. But let’s just imagine it. That wouldn't stop him being a masochist. These needs don't just go away, but you can learn to fulfill them in a safe and healthy (both physically and mentally) way. To find a healthy outlet for them. The feeling OFMD gives me is that everybody around Izzy would be 100% fine with him being like that. And THAT feeling is so very difficult to come by.

Why exactly does the Kraken cut off Izzy’s toe? Sure, it’s a punishment for threatening him and being disrespectful in general, Edward is full of rage and acting out. But I don’t believe he would necessarily do that if Izzy wasn’t the way he is. Blackbeard recognizes that in order to trust him again, Izzy NEEDS that punishment. It is fucked up for sure, because their whole relationship is fucked up, but there IS the act of recognition that this man needs pain (and humiliation of being made to eat the toe) to feel safe in the world. Edward ACKNOWLEDGES that Izzy needs this even though Izzy himself isn’t capable of acknowledging it. What Ed is doing here is that in his own twisted fucked up way he is actually showing respect for who Izzy is. (Then there is the confrontation between Jim and Spanish Jackie’s husband. Jim spits him in the face and he quite matter-of-factly tells them that he’s into that. And everyone around just accepts that, and I didn’t get any feeling that they judged him for that in any way.)

What OFMD was able to do that no other TV show has done for me before is to create a safe space for pretty much everyone (I do get the criticism of it glossing over the implications of Stede being a slave owner, but that’s quite a different conversation). We get multiple queer couples on the show, we get a non-binary representation, we get a huge and diverse POC representation, we get a wonderful discussion of toxic masculinity and a brilliant deconstruction of the stereotypical top/bottom dynamics in gay couples (in the fencing lesson scene, with Edward being the more experienced one and still being the one who gets penetrated by the virgin Stede). And for the first time in oh-so-many years (or maybe ever?) we get a world where I feel being an out masochist would be fully accepted by everyone and yet it wouldn't get you reduced to just this one aspect of your identity in their eyes. 

-------------------------------------------------------

As someone whose policy has always been total openness, over the years I’ve had people approach me and ask what the appeal was. Why did I enjoy getting hurt. And I really DO get the curiosity, because it’s very counter-intuitive for most people. It’s just that it’s so hard to explain it to someone who isn’t like that. Either you feel this way or you don’t, and if you don’t, understanding may be quite difficult.

So I’ve always used one of two things to try to explain how I feel about it: Bob Flanagan’s poem Why? or the opening scene from Lawrence of Arabia (the trick, William Potter, is NOT MINDING that it hurts), because these were the only pieces of media I could truly relate to. But then, one of these is just a short poem by a man who’s best known for being that guy from the music video for Happiness in Slavery by Nine Inch Nails, so it’s hardly mainstream media. And the other is a sixty-year-old movie - based on a ninetysomething-year-old book - which is deeply problematic in more than one way (from glossing over just how dishonest Lawrence was with the Arabs concerning their chances for actual independence to Alec Guinness playing an Arab prince which is just totally off-putting).

And then I’m given Izzy. Yes, he is a horrible and toxic man who’s both abusive towards everyone around him and dealing with his own needs in an extremely unealthy way that borders on being self-destructive. BUT. He’s being acknowledged for what he is, both by the characters within the show and the creators who make sure the viewers won’t miss it. And yet he’s not just that, he’s his own person, with his own motivations and feelings that go way beyond his proclivities. AND he exists in a world where him being like that would most probably be completely fine with people around him. No wonder I’m losing my mind over it. Because I was given a piece of modern mainstream media that makes me feel more seen and more validated than I even thought possible. And it’s a feeling I will treasure FOREVER.

#our flag means death #our flag means gay #ofmd #ofmd meta #izzy hands #is this really meta? #or is it just me having a meltdown? #i don't really care i just need this out there #i'm honestly losing my mind over it

[littleoddwriter]

You write for ofmd?😳😳😳 hot person behavior.

I‘m in dire need of a Blackbeard x ftm!reader smut fanfic or I’ll die. I don’t even have a plot I’m so sorry. Maybe the reader is part of Blackbeard‘s crew and tries to lay low because of his situation.

Blackbeard seems to have grown infatuated with him and calls him to his private room (study?? Office??) one day to discuss something.

Ed basically acts all "weird", openly flirts with the reader and gets super touchy. Reader actually did fantasize about Ed before but can’t believe this is actually happening and just blurts out he’s trans. He says he understands if that disgusts Ed and he wants him gone off the ship or something but Ed is just like; "I don’t care?? I‘m literally obsessed with you wtf"

And then they go at it all night (obviously) :3

Want | Edward Teach/Blackbeard x Trans!Male!Reader | N/SFW (18+)

Hello there! Ok, I'm loving this and I sure hope you like what I've done with your request, thank you so much for it! :')

summary; See above. Minors DNI.

notes; Trans!Male!Reader; Gender Dysphoria and Light Euphoria; Oral Sex (Blowjob); Fingering; Penetrative Sex; Unsafe Sex; Kissing; Cuddling; Fluff and Smut.

Ever since you’ve made it onto Blackbeard’s ship and into his crew, you’ve been trying so hard to not let any of them know that you weren’t a ‘real’ man. Especially not Edward himself. If he knew, he was surely going to be disgusted and throw you overboard. And you didn’t exactly fancy dying at his hands (or at all), nor did you want to have to deal with his rejection. Because you really liked Ed. 

He was rough around the edges and a menace, but he had a heart. Besides that he was also gorgeous and the leather clothing had your mind reeling. You fantasized about him quite a bit. You knew he was into men. He didn’t make that a secret. The entire crew knew. Some of them have even slept with him. You wished you were one of those lucky few.

So, when he started paying more attention to you - seemingly to you, at least - you wondered if maybe he was simply trying to find out if he was right about you having been born with a female body. Your wishful thinking was trying to convince you that he liked you, too, though. But why would he? You were usually quite in the background. Other crew members often even forgot your name, or at least pretended that they did. Why would he ask you questions and spend time with you and look you over so closely if not for the sole reason of exposing you soon, then?

One night, though, Edward ordered you into his room. You were terrified. Had he finally found out?

You sat next to him on the little sofa he had in his room, which surprised you, considering it put you on an equal level and physically close with him. 

“I just wanted to say that I think you’re doing a great job, mate,” Ed told you kindly, putting a friendly hand on your shoulder. His touch lingered, drawing out, until you realised that he wasn’t taking his hand away at all. “You haven’t been here for long, but you’ve certainly proven to be worthy to stay on my ship.”

Swallowing thickly, you turned to get a better look at him. His eyes shone and he was smiling at you.

“Uh, thank you, Captain,” you said softly, completely dumbfounded. Why was he being so nice to you?

His hand slowly travelled down your arm and onto your thigh, near your crotch. Oh. Was he… flirting with you?

“Call me Ed,” he stated before continuing, “I was actually calling you in here because I thought we could up your position, eh? I think you deserve it. You’re doing better than some of the other crew members. But don’t tell’em that, okay, mate?”

“I won’t tell a soul, Ed, sir,” you nodded for emphasis, “And, uh, thank you. Really. But what kind of position did you have in mind for me?”

“Hm, not sure yet. Maybe you’ll be my third, eh? ‘Cause I can’t remove Izzy from being my second, but I’d like to keep you close, make you my third.” Ed’s hand rubbed your thigh, shortly touching you very close to your crotch and making you jump slightly. “What do ya say?”

Stunned, you looked at him for a long moment. Was he fucking with you? No. He was completely serious by the looks of it. 

“I’d love that, Captain, uh, Ed!” you exclaimed with a grin on your face. You couldn’t believe it!

Ed smiled and nodded in approval. Then, he leaned in, seemingly to kiss you. 

That was when you realised that there was one issue with his advances, no matter how much you liked them and how aroused you were getting because of his hand on your thigh.

“I’m not fully a man!” you blurted out suddenly. Edward leaned back in surprise, looking you over questioningly. 

“What do you mean?” he inquired, but kept his hand on you.

“Uh, I- I was born with a female body. I’m… I am a man. I know I am. But- uh- you know. And I understand if you’re disgusted and want me off the ship-”

“Oh! No, I don’t care,” Edward said easily, shrugging before leaning back in. He whispered against your lips, “I’m fuckin’ obsessed with you.”

Then, he captured your lips in a passionate kiss.

Your mind was still reeling with what he’s just told you. He was obsessed with you? Why?

Despite that, you reciprocated, opening your mouth slightly to let him lick into your mouth. Moaning softly, you moved your tongue against his, enjoying the proximity and how filthy it all was now, when seconds ago he was practically sweet-talking you.

Breaking the kiss, you were panting, breathing each other’s air as neither of you really moved out of the other one’s personal space. 

“I wanna fuck you,” Blackbeard murmured, bringing his free hand up to your face and caressing it with his fingers.

“Okay. I’d like that,” you whispered in response. 

Smiling, Edward ran his digits over your lips. Obediently, you opened your mouth for him and let him slide his index and middle fingers inside, rubbing against your tongue and pushing in as far as he could without making you gag. You closed your lips around the two fingers and sucked on them, keeping eye contact with Ed.

“Oh, fuck,” he groaned before removing his digits from you mouth. 

Then, he started to unbutton his pants and pulled out his semi-hard cock. 

“Show me what else you can do with your mouth,” Ed commanded hoarsely.

Sliding down from the sofa and onto your knees, you took his cock into your hands and engulfed its head with your mouth, suckling on it, swirling your tongue around it and licking into his slit. You could feel him growing harder in your hands and mouth. It gave you quite the confidence boost. And so you used one hand to hold onto the base and grabbed his leather-clad thigh with the other one before sliding his cock further into your mouth. You started bobbing your head, sucking whenever you reached his cock head and going as far down as you could after.

Eventually, Ed grabbed you by your hair and pulled you off of him.

“I don’t wanna come just yet. Wanna do that in you. Okay, Y/N?” Hearing him say your name in that raspy voice he had from being so aroused had your stomach turn into little butterflies that fluttered inside of you. 

“Yeah- yes, please,” you nodded enthusiastically.

Standing up from the couch, Ed loomed over you. Then he held out his hand to you. You took it and he helped you get up from the floor, guiding you over to his bed. Before he let you lie down, though, he started pulling off your shirt and took off your pants right after, leaving you in nothing but your underwear. You felt exposed. You didn’t bind your chest since the shirt usually hid it well enough, but now it was out in the open. It felt strange to let someone see; especially with that someone being Blackbeard.

Seconds later, your underwear was gone as well. 

You had never been completely naked in front of anybody else.

You tried to resist the urge to cover yourself up. You didn’t want to embarrass yourself in front of Ed. He said he didn’t care. You just had to believe him now.

“Fuck, you’re so fuckin’ hot!” Edward exclaimed, grinning at you, as he looked you up and down with that glint in his eyes that you couldn’t quite decipher.

You almost wanted to say ‘really?’, but decided against it. If he said so, then that was true for him and you had to accept that now. It was no use beating yourself up any further when you were about to have sex with this man.

Instead, you just smiled shyly at him and thanked him politely. 

In response, Ed pushed you on the bed and followed you down, lying on top of you and between your legs. His erection pressed against your crotch. You could feel how wet you were for him already. You wanted to feel him inside you so badly.

Propping himself up with one arm, Ed put his hands between your thighs and pushed a finger into your wet heat. Sighing, you pushed back. He thrust it in and out of you a bit before adding a second finger, repeating the process, until he had four fingers inside of you and you were moaning loudly and unashamedly. He told you to be as loud as you needed to be and you were. With him making you feel so good, all your shame and embarrassment was suddenly gone.

At last, he pulled out his fingers and stroked his cock to spread your wetness on it.

“Ready?” he asked, looking you in the eye.

“Yes,” you responded immediately, smiling at him.

He smiled back shortly. Then, he guided his cock to your entrance and slowly pushed inside. Once he bottomed out, you both moaned. He leaned his forehead against yours and just breathed with you.

“You feel so fucking good around me, mate,” Ed rasped.

“And you feel even better inside of me, Ed,” you moaned, pushing back against him.

Pulling out until just his cock head stayed inside of you, Ed thrust back in hard, making the bed shake. He repeated that again and again, until he found a rhythm that suited you both. As he fucked you, Edward leaned down and licked into your mouth, capturing you in a filthy kiss. 

When you felt yourself getting close, you snaked a hand between the two of you and your thighs, rubbing your dick. Ed leaned back, admired the sight and continued to fuck you in earnest. 

At last, you were coming, moaning loudly, throwing your head back and arching your back, as you could feel your muscles contract around Ed, squeezing him tight. It elicited a surprised-sounding groan from him. And then, he was already coming inside of you as well, burying his face in your neck, muffling his moans.

Panting, Ed pulled out of you and laid down beside you, wrapping his arms around you. 

“That was amazing,” Edward breathed, laughing shortly, “Fuck! You’re amazing, Y/N. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

You looked at him in wonder. This was the notorious Blackbeard. And he was telling you something so kind? You knew he had a heart, yes, but this was a lot more than that to you. 

“Thank you so much. For everything just now. I’m actually quite speechless,” you said, unable to keep the stupid grin off of your face.

In response, Ed kissed your cheek, along your jaw, your chin and then your lips.

And really, that was enough of a response for you. This was everything you had ever dreamed of and so much more.

#just imagine that ed asked for round 2 right after please xD #also yes ed stayed in his clothes during sex jfhdjhdkl i should have described that i realise but alas - anyway! #nsft fic #trans male reader #trans male reader insert #male reader #edward teach #ed teach #edward blackbeard #blackbeard our flag means death #blackbeard ofmd #edward teach x reader #ed teach x reader #blackbeard x reader #taika waititi #our flag means death #ofmd #ofmd fanfic #ofmd fic #fanfiction #fanfic

[queenmeredith13-blog]

Stede had been thinking a lot about it lately, about how maybe he wasn’t treating everyone in the same way on this ship. Especially giving too much attention to Ed, which he didn’t mind doing and enjoyed their times together. Then again it was a ship, their ship, all of them played a part in where they were now and being a co-captain that he was, Stede decided to change what he was doing. He planned to give everyone more attention, maybe compliments about how much of a great work they were doing for the ship. It didn’t sound difficult, maybe except one person could make it harder for him.

Izzy. Izzy who looked a bit- oh, more than a bit grumpy and distant. Stede had a feeling that Izzy was acting like this for a reason, and he wanted to learn why and get closer with him like everyone else. Stede didn’t want to comment on someone who he didn’t entirely know but he couldn’t help agreeing with Izzy on most of the things. Maybe Iz’s words were painful for people to hear but they were still the truth. There could be something down there in Izzy, or maybe not even that deep down, and Stede wanted to explore that side of him so he wanted to talk to Ed about it, which sounded a little grumpy at first, just like everyone else but asking for the second time was enough already. 

‘‘Yeah- actually a nice idea. Do you have an idea to where to start from though, mate?’‘ Ed blinked as he looked at Stede, didn’t sound too bad to get closer with Iz again. ‘‘We can- we can- oh shit- actually, it’s Izzy’s birthday today. Why don’t we start from there?’‘

‘‘It’s Izzy’s birthday? Why didn’t you tell me before, Ed? But that’s okay- go find everyone and tell them to prepare, whatever they can find. We should make this a really nice surprise party. Make sure that Lucius keeps Iz busy, too.’‘ Stede said, he spent no time walking over to the kitchen and talk to Roach about how he should cook all the best food he had, especially an orange flavoured cake since he didn’t know what else to make it from and if they had any other ingredients that could fit. Ed was trying to convince everyone to hold anything they could find, some lamp and plant and flowers, whatever that could look pretty since they didn’t have the greatest decoration items after all, preparing the deck and putting a big table there for all the food and the cake. 

Stede was also glad to see everyone was holding something in their hands, even if it was a simple orange or apple or a... was that a bootlace in Ed’s hands? Still was something and looked nice, he kept his own gift in his pocket and grabbed Ed by the arm to drag him to Iz’s door, knocking on the door, letting Ed do the talk.

Ed nodded, clearing his throat. ‘’Izzy! Mate, hurry up. There’s something on this ship that looks extremely dangerous. I myself am terrified and we need you out here, mate.’’ Ed went back up with Stede, now only waiting for Iz to come up with bootlaces in his hand, wondering if Stede prepared any gifts.

#izzyeffinhands #izzy x blackbeard #izzy x ed #yes this is me starting

[tasteofdeathao3]

Izzy: if I do everything I can to get Ed’s attention, then he won’t have time for anyone else!

Ed: wow Izzy’s having a little phase, good thing Stede is here to help work through it, it’s so much better having another grown up nearby when things get rough

I don’t even think, as a toddler, Izzy could be bought so he wouldn’t be impressed by nice fabrics or baths with fancy oils and expensive soap or a collection of storybooks that are NOT as good as the stories that Ed tells him. Okay, maybe he likes the sweets, the toys, the coconut milk that doesn’t hurt his tummy, the way the fire is always going at night so he falls asleep cosy and comfortable but. Still. He doesn’t like Stede.

He gets a small bed in the captains’ quarters for particularly rough days or if he falls asleep while he’s being changed and that’s only okay because Ed is there too, but the one night he’s up with Buttons through the night is also when Izzy has a little nightmare and wakes up groggy and so sad - not realising it’s Stede who’s comforting him and keeping him safe until he stops crying for long enough to notice that he’s got his face buried in a heavy robe and is being carried over to cuddle on the sofa and talk rather than held in bed quietly until he falls back asleep, like Ed normally did.

(Hope you’re okay <3)

(thank you <3 im getting there)

the entire toddler izzy + ed + stepdad stede situation is Izzy is doing everything he can to get Ed's attention and Ed seeing it as an amazing opportunity for him to get a second pair of hands when it comes to looking after Izzy

Izzy, as always, absolutely hates Stede. One hundred percent, whenever his sights are set on him Izzy's just scowling and nothing but Ed blocking his view of Stede can fix it.

He gets so wriggly and fussy whenever Stede tries to put him in something other than Ed's cotton shirts for bedtime that Ed has to get out of bed half the time just to cam him down, and on the odd occasion it's Stede changing him he scowls and huffs as Stede rubs scented oils into his skin after he'd gotten a bath with Stede's fancy fruit flavoured soaps and his creamy shampoo.

He has the comprehension skills to understand that Stede does give him some of the nice things he likes, like boiled lollies and full sugar cubes and little slivers of chocolate that are so incredibly rare out at sea, but under no circumstances will he ever let Stede give him those things without Ed as a buffer. When it's Ed feeding him strawberry flavoured sweets he has so problem grinning and giggles and bashfully mashing his face into Ed's thigh, and when Ed is the one helping Izzy drink coconut milk out of a grown up cup, not Stede, he's content to lean back against Ed's chest and be bounced on his knee when he's all finished.

He loves his bed the the captains cabin, even if he throws a mini tantrum every time Ed tries to get him to sleep there. Half the time he's half asleep when they tuck him up there anyway, so he doesn't have to lie too much about how much he likes it.

He's prone to nightmares, after watching Ed battle through a few bad stabs to the wrong side and seeing some pretty significant violence take place right in front of him, and it happens often enough that he doesn't question when someone comes to help untangle him from the very sweaty blankets, murmuring quietly to him the whole time.

Izzy cries louder once he's picked up and held against their chest - he knows that the louder he cries the more Ed will want to hold him close and calm him down, so he does just that. He doesn't realise anything's off until he realises his scalp isn't getting scratched like it usually is when Ed comes to help him calm down, and instead there's a hand patting his bottom and soft lips against his temple.

Slowly, he realises the fabric his hand his fisted in and that he's drooling onto is much thicker and smoother than Ed's sleep shirts, and that the voice cooing at him is a lot higher than Ed's.

He pulls his little head away from the chest he's been resting on and, once he's blinked most of the tears from his eyes, he can make out Stede staring down at him, eyebrows pulled taught with worry, and he can't help but cry even more.

He doesn't want to be held by Stede, he doesn't want to be cooed at and bounced and pet, but he's so disoriented and scared that it doesn't matter who's holding him, he just needs the comfort.

He scowls between sobs that he wails as loud as he can just because he knows Stede won't like it (that's not true at all, he's scared and it's dark and he's still a bit disoriented), and cries so hard he ends up retching loudly and choking on the feeling while Stede pats his back.

It's a little odd when it's been almost five minutes spent crying into the front of Stede's robe and he still hasn't been tucked back into bed - whenever Ed finds him like this he holds Izzy close to his chest and pets his hair until the tears give way to sniffles and he can finally sleep again, but Stede is still bouncing him cooing quietly.

By the time Izzy stops crying enough to take a proper breath in, he finds himself sitting in Stede's lap, who'd sat down in his armchair across the room.

"Oh dear," he tuts when Izzy pulls his face out of his robe, eyes red and raw and his nose running profusely, "Poor darling."

Izzy tries to scowl as Stede raises a hanky to wipe off his face, but he does feel a lot better once his face is less sticky, and when Stede tells him to blow his nose he only does it because he can barely breathe through it.

He wipes his face on Stede's robe just to annoy him, even if there's barely any snot and tears left on his face. He wants to bite Stede when he starts to comb his fingers through his hair, but he decides not to (totally not because it feels nice or anything, definitely not).

"Did you have a bad dream?" Stede murmurs, and Izzy stares him down in lieu of a response. There's no way he's going to let Stede talk it through with him. Yuck.

While Stede tries countless and times and in countless ways to try and get Izzy to reveal what had happened in his dream, Izzy scowls where he sits on his knee, refusing to let Stede even cuddle him (he curls up on Stede's chest, eyes and nose positively dripping onto Stede's robe, shaking and nodding his head to Stede's questions while he's patting his back).

Izzy asks for Ed more times than he sniffles, which is quite a few times, and each time Stede tells him that Ed is busy up on the deck and won't be back for a bit.

Of course, Izzy doesn't exactly want to hear that, but when he tries to bite Stede through his robe he's met instead with a little linen pouch tucked in between his teeth that tastes very sweet and yummy when he bites down on it for a bit.

He tries to suckle as much of the sweetness as he can through the linen, but before he can get his fix it's being pulled out of his mouth (even after he digs what few teeth he has yet into the little pouch, it still gets taken away).

Before he can squeal like he usually does when Stede pisses him off, Stede's holding a cup (a grown up cup, a special porcelain one that he's usually not allowed to touch) up to his lips and tipping it up for him to get a sip.

Izzy, even when he's tired and scared and upset, will always have a first instinct to protest against anything Stede does, and refuses to open his mouth until he finally catches the smell of the special coconut milk Stede makes the Revenge dock to make just for him and suddenly his mouth his open as wide as it will go while Stede helps him take little mouthfuls of the sweet tasting milk that doesn't make his tummy hurt.

Usually Ed makes him drink from his own cup, and his little sippy cup has been making less and less of an appearance lately since he mostly learned to pick up the little tin cups they got just for him, but Stede let's him drink without needing to use his hands, holding a hanky up to the corners of his mouth where some of the milk slips down.

The fire is crackling and warm and Izzy's tummy is full and he's so tired, and he doesn't like Stede, of course not, but he's so sleepy and his eyes are closing before he's even finished drinking.

He whines when the cup is taken away from his mouth, but then he's being rolled over to lay on his tummy and his back is being patted and even if it is Stede holding him he's a little too tired to stay awake, even if he isn't all that happy about falling asleep on his 'arch nemesis' (stepfather).

(The next morning, when Ed returns, Izzy will blabber and whine about Stede and how his tummy hurts and how he needs kisses absolutely everywhere and absolutely must be carried around in the baby sling that Ed tried to retire months ago, and Ed will roll his eyes but indulge him anyway. Stede will flutter around and fuss about how the little sling fits Izzy, and Izzy will fuss and wriggle but ultimately won't bite Stede's fingers when they get too close, like he usually does.)

#sorry it took so long ive been distracted #thank you anon <3 #mail 💌 #ofmd au #ofmd #Izzy hands #Stede Bonnet #Edward Tweach #toddler Iz

[knowlesian]

stede and ed and communication and e8 breaks my fucking heart, the short version.

so: from stede’s end, he’s in an ever-more wildly spinning nightmare. he woke up to chaos and his shit getting blown up, jack is an ASSHOLE, he’s monopolizing all ed’s attention and ed is going along with it as well as not picking up on the array of hint flares stede throws at him and then understanding what they mean and reacting accordingly, the crew keeps siding with the frat pirate from hell, the pained smiles he starts throwing out this episode pain me— this sucks for him. this suuuuucks.

but from ed’s end, his bro from back in the day just rolled up and he’s excited to try and merge his old life and his new one. shades of jim and nana, but calico jack is no nana. he’s not factoring izzy’s fucking insane embrace of a bootlicking plan into things, so he thinks stede and jack are giving each other a shot, not that stede is trying his damnedest despite poor communication to give jack a chance and jack is just here to fuck shit up for eeeeeveryone. 

(because if nothing was Afoot, ed would probably be right! i get the sense jack would just say ‘fuck your nerd fetish, no chances shall i give ed this guy is weeeeeeeiiiiiird and super gay as in uncool, now let’s stab shit or fuck, unlike izzy i am a gross toxic pirate who actually fucks’ if he wasn’t here to be the world’s most arrested development flavored honeytrap. jack using tactics from stede’s world while wearing the aesthetic of ed’s world: veeeeery narratively cool.)

anyway. stede and ed both have no idea what’s actually going on there, re: The Plan, but here’s where things get really interesting— i think if two very small moments of communication go better, jack can’t work his grody magic and the episode unfolds very much another way.

moment one: when ed comes to check in with the... admittedly seemingly somewhat obvious if you think about stede for point five seconds ‘hey, should we like... not blow up your stuff???’ question. ed’s ready to hear he fucked up, he’s not going to take it hard or be mad at stede. he introduces the idea and assumes yeah: shit. look at him. i fucked up.

and then stede, having been trained in the ways of Never Being A Bother (OR FUCKIN ELSE) is like no! i love it when people blow up my things! this was something i would have done anyway.

he is obviously not telling the truth, ed is like ...well. that seems untrue but you said it, so... okay? either i believe this or you’re lying to me in a way i need to be wary of, because three episodes ago you explained passive-aggression to me and i don’t see it as a social nicety as well as a weapon, i’m only seeing it as a mode of attack.

which: in a way, this helps shove ed harder at jack. stede thinks he’s making this easier on them both by not acknowledging that YEAH, ed, that’s not cool? i AM annoyed? because honestly, if you’d been thinking about my feelings at all when you did it, this conversation would not even be happening. what actually happens is that now ed is aware stede’s unhappy but cannot be entirely sure why. that sets him off-balance again in a way they had been working past since e7′s breakthrough, fuuuuck i love this team.

so. if stede says there, because ed clearly is ready to hear it: yeah, you fucked up, that changes how ed approaches the situation going forward in terms of not just diving headlong into the thrill of seeing an old buddy and falling back into your old patterns together.

second moment: the breakfast table. if stede says in that moment something along the lines of ‘sure, jack can eat with us! why don’t we grab another plate. i don’t mind waiting to start until he has some food, too’, the gameboard switches up again. 

one moment of setting a gentle boundary and reminding ed that understandable nostalgic impulses aside, stede does not like being left out and is having a particularly rough time with this version of it, and jack’s shit loses power.

because ed doesn’t want to hurt stede. not even a little. he wants to have fun with jack, and i imagine is telling himself that if stede and jack can get along, this means stede can accept him but maybe even more: that ed can accept these changes in himself. (since izzy, the other avatar of ed’s past, was like literally the fuck i hate this man more than i’ve ever hated anyone and edward. edward. i RUN ON THAT SHIT.)

ed’s pushing on this so hard and needs it to work for reasons that are all about his own internal process, stede’s holding back for the exact same internal reasons, it’s all understandable.

and if two itttttty bitty moments go slightly different: nigh on entirely avoidable.

#truly i get mad at how good these writers are #because ed tries and stede is like no no no it's fine #and so ed goes... okay then. in an inverse of stede's whole thing where after being shut down once he shuts up forever #so if stede had been honest about the blowing shit up maybe ED is the one who says to jack hey asshole #that's his chair you can have my plate #i will wait stede you go ahead #because it's not all on stede OR ed #we can't always be great at saying what we mean and we can't always be great at remembering to ask #so the actual answer is a blend #somebody who never asks: are you cool with this? is not holding up their end #somebody who never says: i am not cool with this is also not holding up theirs #UGH SO HUMAN SO GOOD

[stedes-incredible-library]

hey there! thank you so much for this gem of a blog. I look forward to your posts. my fav type of fic is really tropey dubcon (think sex pollen / something made them do it / non con drug use, etc) where they both actually do want it so, even tho one always feel guilty, there’s a happy ending. do you have any recs along those lines? Thank you 💕

Hi Nonnie! You didn't specify a ship so we've included a variety. We're also not sure if you have read these before, because we started our hunt in some predictable tags (sex pollen, fuck or die, bad guys made them do it, etc). You didn't include omegaverse in your trope list, but some has been included here because heats provide a lot of fodder for this type of dubcon. The dubious-ness of the consent varies in the fics listed here so please read with care and attention to ships, summary, and tags for content. There is also our previous dub con rec list to review from back in August!

Pollen Season by Dracothelizard [E], 8k

An exploration mission Stede goes on with Roach and Lucius goes terrible wrong.

Or terribly right.

The Fucking Tea by Dracothelizard [E], 21k

Calico Jack gives Stede some aphrodisiac tea and leaves to shore with the rest of the Revenge crew, whoever can possibly help Stede with his unbridled horniness?

(It's Ed.)

Unnamed mutual noncon (Ed/Stede) by Dracothelizard [E], 686

This is a ficlet that ends before anything explicit occurs, and therefore before there's any chance to discuss and come to a true happy ending. There are a few other dubcon ficlets in this collection - sift through and proceed with attention to the chapter titles.

We Do Not Follow Maps to Buried Treasure by CartoonMayor (aka @zombee) [E], 5.6k

Stede is taking Ed on another treasure hunt to some supposed sea god's cave.

Things do not go as planned.

Let your yes be yes by emzash [E], 3.9k

Can’t we talk about this?” Stede asks, like there are any words that exist to solve this problem.

“What the fuck, no we can’t talk about it,” Ed says. “I need you. You’re here. Can we just get on with it?”

“You need me now,” Stede tells him. “But what about when your heat is over? What then?”

“You can leave me again straight after,” Ed says, refusing to let the hurt surface over the desperate need in his body. “Don’t worry Stede. I don’t expect anything else."

Do You Need Anybody by sinuous_curve [E], 4.6k

Heat catches Ed by surprise as a cramp that cuts him deep down in the pit of his belly.

Ed does not need a helping hand. Stede's offering anyway.

lord, my body has been a good friend by mtothedestiel [E], 4.6k

Stede is like a walking nest.

A Push, A Shove by LeatherCropTop [E], 25k

Stede was never particularly good at being an alpha. He thinks of himself as others always have, a worthless, incapable excuse for an alpha. After he meets Ed, that starts to change. The two of them fall in love, circling each other for days on end, but neither of them makes a move. Then Stede's behavior begins to change in a way like never before, unbeknownst to himself. The alpha instincts begin to trickle out until, like the flick of a switch, he suddenly goes feral.

Even for an alpha like Stede, turning feral is ravenous and being anywhere near them is dangerous, but the only way for a feral alpha to go back to normal is for them to mate and if the alpha doesn't mate in time, they will die. Ed isn't going to let Stede die.

who would trade that hum of night by CyborgShepard [E], 8.8k NOTE: not quite a fully happy ending, but not not

He’d thought the boy dead. Was glad for it, for a time, too. Murdering is one thing, but this — what’s happened to Spriggs now — it doesn’t sit right with Izzy.

He can imagine how he’d spluttered his thanks, wheezing up half the Atlantic like he was wringing a cloth, when Calabran’s lot fished him out of the water. He can imagine how Spriggs would’ve said it all, in that lilting, dour way. He might’ve demanded a blanket, or a berth, or water. Can imagine that he didn’t stay thankful for all too long after. 

It’s not sentiment, Izzy tells himself. 

release in sodomy (one sweet moment) by calicojackofficial [E], 3.3k NOTE: happy ending somewhat author's note reliant

The crew of the Revenge gets captured and during an interrogation attempt, Edward gets dosed with a sex pollen serum. That's not what they meant to do, so the guards lock Ed up with a bound and helpless Izzy. Izzy gets something he's always wanted but could never ask for. For as long as it lasts.

soft spot (for hard stuff) by bitethehands [E], 1.9k

“He’s much sweeter like this,” Stede is saying, even though Ed’s clearly not listening, “isn’t he?”

Ed has given him no indication of anything even marginally close to recognition in several minutes, now, because he’s been busy staring. Staring at Izzy, who so far doesn’t seem necessarily aware that Ed’s even here. It’d almost be normal, the strangeness of his being in Stede’s cabin aside. Except he’s naked and blushing from head to toe.

the promise of the joker and the fool by @thesoulundone [E], 7.1k

He's here, in a shitty little tavern, in a shitty little corner, drinking liquor that burns all the way down, stoking the fire he's already got burning in his belly. He's sitting on the other side of the table to Jack - Jack, who's got his arm slung casually around Izzy's shoulders. All Ed can think about, the persistent thudding pulse of his brain, is getting in between them.

Izzy. Izzy who's a fucking omega, revelation of the fucking year. Izzy, whose second heat aboard ship had been just as unpleasant as the first, who'd barely come out of it when they made port, whose dark-ringed eyes and stiff movement made Ed's fingers itch with the need to tear someone's throat out about it. Izzy, who's wearing a fucking collar now; shiny, good quality leather, wide and thick and cleverly made, though the craftsmanship doesn't do anything to disguise the fact that it's locked shut.

Let us know if you enjoyed this list! Did we skip your favorite tropey happily-ever-after dubcon? Chime in!

As always, please let the authors know that you enjoyed their fics with kudos and comments.

~Mod A

#ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd fic #our flag means death fic #ofmd fanfic #our flag means death fanfic #captain stede bonnet #blackbeard | edward teach #blackbonnet #gentlebeard #izzy hands #israel hands #lucius spriggs #spriggy hands #blackhands #steddy hands #steddyhands #calico jack rackham #jacked hands

[slutstrand]

cjizzy secret relationship hs!au oneshot

Izzy is sitting at a table at the edge of the lunchroom reading a book but not really paying attention to what’s going on around him. Cj spots him sitting by himself and meanders over.

“Hey Iz” he says. 

Izzy snaps his head up and gives a small smile, “Mmm hey Cj.”  

Cj says not sitting down across from Izzy but leaning a hip against the table next to Izzy’s seat. “Where are your friends? You’re kinda just sitting over here by yourself.”

“Oh they all had something going on today. And I think Roach ran back to his locker to grab something.” 

“Don’t you usually eat with Ed? Where has he run off to?”

Izzy scoffed, used to the ever present absence of his alleged best friend. Cj should be too. “Who knows, detention probably. Or making out with that idiot in the library.” 

“Still? I thought he told you he’d be around more - or at least tell you if he won’t.”

“Yeah, well you know what it’s like to be hung up on someone, no one else matters. Unless you’re blonde with a cardigan collection and a trust fund.” Izzy says, very purposefully, not making eye contact with Cj. Izzy usually steers clear of discussing anything dating or romance related at all with Cj, especially when other people are around. 

“But he still shouldn’t have left you here all by your lonesome, sweet thing. Who could ever trade you in?” 

Izzy really hates when Cj gets flirty in public. He knows just how to push Izzy’s buttons to get him to blush while trying to keep everything under wraps. 

“Oh... um. I never said he was the one… I mean yeah he’s seeing that Bonnet kid. But he wasn’t the reason…ya know. He wasn’t the one hung up on someone.”

Frozen, and almost jealous, Cj whispers, “...You?”

Izzy’s face turns scarlet in a blush and he looks down at his lap and gives a shrug, not sure what to say. Reassured that they’re on the same page, Cj decides to go through with the reason he came over here. He’s really tired of pretending. 

“Hey.”

Izzy looks up at him and gives a hum of acknowledgement. 

“I wanna kiss you.”

Izzy rolls his eyes and blushes even more, “What, you wanna sneak away behind the building or something?”

“No like, if you don’t say no in the next 10 seconds I am going to kiss you right here.”

Izzy, frozen. “...what?”

“Is that a no?” Cj smirks, enjoying seeing Iz flustered and off kilter. He really has never liked surprises. 

“But people would see us?”

Cj gives a small self deprecating smile. He knows he’s the reason Iz is so hesitant but is determined to fix it. Starting now. He takes a small step forward. “Yeah, that's kinda the point.”

“But… I mean, I don’t… Are you…?” Izzy continues to stutter through the reasons he’s been told in the past why it’s better to stay in the dark. They feel as devastating as the first time he heard them. 

Cj takes another small step forward, “Do you want me to stop?”

Izzy looks up into his eyes. He has that smile. The one that he’s only ever seen behind a closed door, in the dark, and away from the eyes of others. But this time Cj’s eyes are clear and he’s smiling at him in a room full of people. He shakes his head no and Cj’s smile grows. 

Cj cups the side of his face and kisses him long enough to make sure everyone can see. 

#ofmd #our flag means death #izzy hands #calico jack #cjizzy #no idea how this happened it just happened idk enjoy

[aith-art]

Yeehawgust 2023 - Day 8

'Patrolling the Mojave'

Word Count - 736

Leroy dragged me with him on a supply run, leaving Izzy, Arcade, Boone and ED-E at the makeshift camp in what had once been Feind territory. Leroy insisted that we talk. I wasn’t sure if, ‘We need to talk’ translated to ‘I’m gonna find a darkened corner to shoot you round’. I didn’t trust him, how could I? As far as I knew, he had killed the alternate me. For all I knew his story that it was someone else, an NCR official, was bullshit to lure me into a false sense of security. Izzy seemed to think as much. I wasn’t going to jump head-first into that conclusion. I’d had experience with the NCR. Their men could do it. Though the idea that no one said anything besides Leroy and his friends, that seemed unusual.  I wanted to see the best in him. We shared a scar, and I was beginning to think, shared a story.

He stopped. We’d reached the gunrunners. Mentally I did an inventory check. I left the Anti-Material Rifle at camp, I still had my pistol, strapped to my thigh beneath my coat, and the grenade rifle on my back. I had ammo enough for both of them. If he went for an attack I was ready. His hand landed on my shoulder. 

“Let me do the talking, I know these guys.”  He stepped forward, turning his attention to the Vendortron. 

Turning, I survey the horizon. Watching the tumbleweeds as they venture across the Mojave. The lights of Vegas shone just the other side of the wall. A world so similar to my own that it left me totally disoriented. The only difference was the increased NCR presence. 

One the subject of the increased NCR presence, a small contingent of troops came to a stop beside me. They were waiting in the line for some new ammo. Not regulation, but no one cared. Only a few of the men were actually buying ammo, the rest filled the ruins on a smoke break. One of them, seeing someone who looked vaguely feminine, came up to me. Wanting to start a conversation. 

“Hey beautiful, what's someone like you doing in a place like this?”

I turned to him, holding onto my 9mm, “Sir, I have neither the time nor patience to hold whatever fascinating conversation it is you want to have with me.”

“But Sweetheart,” He stepped closer. “You never know when you might find the one.” 

“I definitely haven’t found them yet.” 

I stepped back, biting my tongue and looking over at Leroy, suddenly remembering the bounty on his head. 

“Now sweetheart, why don’t we start again, small talk.” 

I watched Leroy, walking over with boxes of ammo in his hands and placing them into my bag. “Hey,” He placed his left arm around my waist. I wanted to hit him, prove that I could deal with my own problems. “How you doing, dear?” My want to hit him increased. 

The trooper looked Leroy up and down, gauging if it was worth it to continue his useless pursuit of me, unaware that if he continued Leroy wouldn’t be the issue. I came to his conclusion, “I’m sorry, we were just discussing how awful patrolling the Mojave is,” He laughed slightly, “almost makes you wish for a nuclear-” 

Leroy’s gun was up, pointing at the troops head already cocked. “You really wanna finish that sentence?” 

The troop stepped back in fear. I turned into Leroy’s grip, “Mild overreaction much?”

“They won’t stop saying it.” He whispered. 

“I’m not denying that. Just, I think pulling a gun out when you're a known and wanted man isn't the smartest move.” 

“I never claimed to be smart.”

I laughed. He might not have been smart, but he was charming. Knew how to command the space better than anyone.

As he released me from his grip, I gave him a gentle nudge to the shoulder. “Come on, we need to get back to the others, before they send out a search party.”

“I suppose it is time to be off.” he turned to say goodbye to the soldier, but he’d already gone. We began to walk into fiend territory. 

“What was it you’d wanted to talk to me about?”

He looked over at me, in a way very few did, smiled, then said. “Nothing,” He paused, took a breath and watched the horizon, “It was nothing.”

#fallout #fallout new vegas #courier six #jules courier 6 #fallout nv #new vegas #self insert #fallout oc #leroy clayton ncr courier #aith art writing

[samuelroukin]

screenshotting the ask so i can have a readmore break cause this got kinda long, sorry

okay i wanna head this off by saying i'm not good at Interpretations and like. reading people or stuff and this is just my onion (do ppl still say that..)

but i truly do think izzy knows about his feelings for men but specifically for blackbeard. with his line about how he's honored to work for the legend you could def argue that it is just that but for all his interactions with ed, the way he feels only he is allowed to call him by his name, the way he's so so mad at stede for the hold he has on ed and the way it's changing him. the "your my captain" when they're being judged (don't forget he also signed away ten years in exchange for service to the crown, to keep ed safe)

i think he's devoted to the extreme but it's not to ed it's to the blackbeard persona. and i think what people interpret as homophobia is more to do with his feeling of wanting that claim. like with lucius when lucius says "see, we don't own each other" i don't think izzy is mad so much about the fact that they're all gay (or at least open/fine with lucius being gay) but the fact that they get to be so free with it when allll he wants is to Belong to ed like he feels ed does to him, in a way. here he is, willing to take scraps of scraps of edward's attention and lucius is kind of holding a mirror up showing him it's not like this for everyone.

also i made that gifset of their touches and note that almost all the violent ones are directed at him and not coming from him (i mean. those are deserved but still, it’s interesting to me especially in this context)

in essence i think what people read as repressed/homophobic gay man is just his completely unrequited love for a man that doesn't see him and in reality doesn't exist (anymore) and i may be wrong about that but with david jenkins saying izzy feels like a jilted (ex)spouse i don't think i'm far off

i'm not saying he doesn't have some internalized homophobia since he's very concerned with both his own and others' tough guy image but i don't think that's like. the major reason he is the way he is (and i would give my left arm for Actual Backstory)

anyway i have more thoughts but i don’t think they make more sense/are related enough to the topic so this will have to do dkjfhkjfhgs

#sorry if this is completely incomprehensible i'm not good at putting thoughts into words lmao #also it's fine if you disagree! i know this is just one take and probably not a very good one #izzy hands #anon #asks

[prettybard]

So I’ve watched a ton of reactions to ofmd (indulging the ones mentioned in your post) because I was really curious to see how people responded to a show like this and I’ve observed some THINGS

• People generally don’t like/aren’t sold by ep 1 (crazy to me since it’s one of my faves and I was hooked instantly but it). Even people that liked it don’t seem to get the tone just from one ep.

• People always end up having a favorite crew member. Very fun to see who they end up gravitating towards

• Most people believe Black Pete’s stories at first/think they will be proven right later

•Most people don’t pay attention to Jim’s pronouns unless they are already aware that they are nb/are told by commenter that they are nb

• A lot of the little jokes and clever moments and line deliveries kinda go over a lot of peoples heads

• Queer people love Stede, straight people have to warm up to him

• Most people credit Taika for this show/most straight people heard about it because of his connection to it

• I’ve only seen one person previously unfamiliar with the foot touch in ep 8 notice it

• Everyone loves Lucius

• Hardly anyone notices how romantic the moonlight scene in ep 5 is (and of course the ones who pick up on it are the gays)

• This show reads much better for gay people. Like of course, but it’s interesting to actually watch the differences in reaction to a lot of moments. I mostly like to watch people who aren’t familiar with the show at all and I like to keep the mix of people (straight, queer, poc, white etc.) diverse so that I can see how people with different backgrounds respond. Queer people 100% of the time are feeling those themes and narratives.

• Everyone always loses their shit when Karl dies

• No one ever talks about how fun Geraldo is and that’s wild to me. Loved his character so much.

• End of ep 3/ep 4 is what usually hooks people

• Most people, including the straights, actually do see the kiss coming but there are a few who are still shocked

• People want to fuck Blackbeard and Jim but what else is new

• A surprising amount of people “predict” that Ed isn’t going to kill Stede because they’re going to end up friends. Like…..yeah. He’s the main character. Idk. They kinda set that up for you.

• A lot of Ed’s vulnerable moments go overlooked

• Most people can’t believe Ed leaves the dock and freak the hell out when he goes back to being Blackbeard. Very fun reactions to those things.

• Not many people point out Izzy’s attraction to Blackbeard

All this information may be completely useless but it’s really fun to observe how people respond to this show. OFMD is UNDOUBTEDLY a show for the gays but I love that by the end most straight people also highly praise and recommend the show.

omg anon i love you and im gonna try to respond to most of the points bc im v happy i got this message.

it genuinely made me so sad when ppl weren't that into the first episode, its so perfect and very easily shows the found family shit thats about to happen.

ik a lot of new people dont know about jims pronouns but by fucking god does it make me uncomfortable when ppl immediately use she/her pronouns for them,, but im glad that ppl start using it when commenters tell them abt jim.

OMG YEAH SO MANY LITTLE JOKES GO OVER PPLS HEADS AND IM JUST SCREAMING AT MY SCREEN TELLING THEM TO APPRECIATE IT ASKFJS,,, the scene where stedes like "no this is it,, thats it." THE FUCJING LINE DELIVERY ON THAT IS PERFECT BUT LIKE NO ONE MENTIONED IT

stede is for the gays,, only we can fully understand that little fucker

no bc it made me so mad that not many people credited david jenkins properly,, like its his show?!?!?!

everyone should love lucius,, hes perfect in every way

GOD I WOULD GET SO SAD WHEN MOST PPL JUST SKIMMED BY THE MOONLIGHT SCENE,, AND I DON'T THINK ILL EVER FORGET "nice , theyre friends now" HUH?!??!??!?!

i think alot of straight people just dont care, like most of the youtubers ive seen react to the show, mostly just care about the comedy and if its entertaining. it kinda shocking to me seeing ppl just act normally about the show and not completely dissect it and every single theme they can find

ahhh omg yeah idk how ppl can look at the bathtub scene with ed and just go "aww thats sad" and just dismiss it?!?! that scene changed my brain chemistry and ruined me,, ed vulnerable moments were my favorite and i really wanted more people to talk about that

oh man i feel like i can go on a whole ass rant about ed becoming the kraken,, like people say it doesn't make sense but if you just think about it for 2 fucking seconds you can see that it v much makes complete sense to his character,, hes just trying to protect himself

i like pointing out izzy's atrraction for blackbeard bc its fucking hilarious how pathetic he is for a man that barely even cared abt him and doesn't even exist (hes in love with the idea of blackbeard and but not ed)

anyways this was incredibly fun to respond to, anon!! pls send me more shit if you want <33

#i hope my responses make sense bc im working on 0 hours of sleep 3 coffees and my phone #and god i hope the toxic izzy stans don't come and fucking kill me for the last point.. ive had to deal with too many of them already😭😭 #ofmd #our flag means death #stede bonnet #blackbonnet #edward teach #gentlebeard

[corysmiles]

A Tiny Reunion

Our Flag Means Death

Notes: I know this is not my usual mcyt g/t content but I just finished our flag means death and now I crave g/t content of it so here you go. Also if you don’t know this is a g/t fic so there are tiny people involved

CW: language

(Spoilers for our flag means death finale)

It was almost a year later when Ed heard Bonnet’s name again. He’d forbidden it on the ship, threatening anyone who dared to utter the bastard’s name. After his first few weeks of suffering, he was able to pull himself together enough to become himself again- to become fierce again. The few of Bonnet’s old crew who remained had taken his new style of leadership poorly, but Izzy helped enforce his rule. Any sign of Bonnet was thrown overboard and with it any utterance of the past captain’s name. It hurt too much to talk about him anyway.

Ed was in his cabin drinking bottle after bottle of sour wine when shouting from the deck drew his attention. He rubbed his face and glanced at the black ink now covering the back of his hand. While it did make him look scarier (in his opinion) the makeup might have been a bit overkill. If he wanted he could redo the ink and wait to see if the crew could solve the problem themselves. Izzy could probably handle it and give him a little bit of a break.

However, he never was that lucky.

“Captain!” His door flew open, “Uh-Kraken sir, we need you on deck.”

Ed tilted his head towards the open door and let his eyes sweep over the shaking man in front of him, “Can’t you deal with it yourselves?”

“Uh well-” Frenchie paused as more shouting echoed throughout the room.

“God damn it,” Ed shot up, “You’re all useless.”

He grunted and slammed his half-empty bottle down on the desk. They’d already gone through one skirmish, and it wasn’t even noon so he wasn’t too keen on another fight. As fearsome as the Kraken was he was getting up in age and the frankly uncalled for shattering of his heart wasn’t any help. As he threw on his coat he shoved Frenchie out of the way, only beaming a bit at the sound of the breath leaving his chest.

When he stomped up to the deck he expected to see massive British ships or perhaps a hole causing the ship to sink. What he didn’t expect to see was a dingy little trade vessel, barely staying upright in the waves. Red peeling paint covered some of the hull giving it the impression that the ship itself was bleeding out, and its masts looked like they were about to come apart at the seam.

“You called me up for this?” Ed growled back at Frenchie, “Couldn’t you have dealt with this yourselves?”

“No its-”

Frenchie couldn’t finish before a loud shout came from the front of the ship. Ed turned his head towards where all the crew was gathered and standing there with the most expression he’d ever seen on their face was Jim. Half of their body was hanging over the side as the rest of the crew tried to wrestle them back overboard.

“Olu!”

Ed glanced at the shop only to see a similar situation on the other deck. Immediately his heart froze at the sight of Bonnet’s old crew. Oluwande grinned at Jim and the happiness in his eyes made Ed want to rip them out of his skull. He couldn’t believe they weren’t dead. The living memories of Bonnet stood right in front of him even after he’d abandoned them. 

“Ready the cannons!” The words left his mouth before he could even stop to think.

The stunned faces of his crew made the rage building in his stomach grow even hotter. He was the Kraken, how dare they disobey.

“You heard me!” he bellowed, “Ready the bloody cannons!”

“But they’ve raised a white flag,” Fang retorted.

Ed marched over and slammed his foot down, his hand going to Fang’s neck, “Does it look like I fucking care?”

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Jim hissed as they drew their blade. A more stable Ed would have had the brain to not mess with Jim, but with the red that covered his sight he simply matched their stance- drawing his sword. He would not allow his crew to disobey him now.

“Captain, get a hold of yourself,” Izzy's gravelly voice grabbed his attention, “They're sending a dinghy over. Would you like me to shoot them?”

Ed froze and turned his attention back down to the waves below where surely enough a small row boat was drifting next to the ship. Sitting in the two flimsy seats were Buttons and Oluwande.

“You will not shoot them,” Jim argued, but Ed was hardly paying attention. 

Behind him he heard Izzy and Jim go back and forth and the dull sound of a cocking gun, but his eyes were glued to Oluwande. Every time the man’s arms pushed the oars forward a small glimpse of something shiny and red laying in his pocket caught the light of the sun. Ed had thrown it away months before…but it was almost unmistakably his kerchief. 

“-you. Captain!” 

The sound of Izzy’s raised voice snapped him out of his thoughts as he turned back to look at his first mate. His gun was ready and his finger laid on the trigger. In any other situation Edward would have been fine with watching him shoot the two fools that were trying to board his ship, but the sight of the red linen was burnt into his mind like a brand.

“No,” he paused, unsure of his own voice, “Let them come up. You can kill them after.”

Izzy’s face hardened like he wanted to argue, but thankfully his gun returned to his hip. After their first few arguments he’d gotten better about listening to what Ed had to say.

Ed leaned over the rail and watched as the measly little dinghy floated to their ship. The Kraken part of him wanted to change his mind and just let Izzy shoot them, but the Edward part of him was intrigued. 

He didn’t move a muscle as the crew frantically threw down runged ladders so the two pirates could board. Jim especially was at the head of the efforts, holding the ladder down for the men. 

“Thank you captain,” Frenchie said tilting his head away.

“For what?” Ed humphed, “Taking a breather before I kill them?”

Frenchie cringed at his words, pulling even farther into himself. For a split second his face contorted like he wanted to stand up for his old crew before any fight died on his lips. It wouldn’t matter anyway, whatever the Kraken said went onboard the Revenge.

“Olu!” 

Ed turned towards the commotion to see that one of the men had made it up. His arms wrapped around Jim like he was afraid they’d disappear if he let go. An uncommon smile grew on Jim’s lips moments before Olu planted a kiss on their forehead. And as Ed stared, he felt the phantom memory of soft lips on his own. 

A few moments later the rest of his crew dragged Buttons onto the deck, and awaited Ed’s word. However, as their eyes fell upon him he felt his throat go dry. He’d worked so hard to remove all memories of Stede from the ship only for his old crew to return. It was hard enough even having two of Stede’s old crew mates on board no matter how helpful they were.

“Why are you here?” Ed started, trying to put on his scariest face possible.

“We need to talk to you,” Olu said as he pulled away from Jim, “Something happened and we thought-”

Before he could step forward Izzy had a knife at his neck, “Not one step on this ship without permission from the captain.”

“Let him continue,” Ed shrugged, “I want to hear why you came before I kill you.”

A visible shudder ran through Olu’s body before he reached into his pocket to grab the handkerchief. The sight of the glistening red made Ed feel sick, and the Kraken inside of him wanted to tear the man in front of him to pieces for laying his hands on it.

“Where the fuck- give me that,” he reached forward but Olu quickly jumped back.

Ed tried once more, but again wasn’t able to grab it, “Hey you-”

“No no, you can have it just-” Olu swallowed nervously, “Can we please talk first…privately.”

Izzy jolted forward, but Ed stopped him with a raised hand. He wouldn’t lie, he was curious about whatever plan Olu had, and he also wasn’t too fond of actually hurting them either. After killing Lucius he didn’t know if he had it in him to hurt anyone else connected to Stede.

“Follow me,” Ed huffed, “But don’t plan on pulling any shit.”

“I dont think I could,” Olu said as he continued to hold the fucking handkerchief to his chest.

Ed considered him for a moment before nodding for the man to follow him. Jim gave him a hard look as he passed, but he kept his head straight. If he couldn’t be the Kraken he could at least be a stable captain. And as much as Jim’s abilities frightened him he wouldn’t let them know that.

When they both were in his cabin with the doors shut and locked, Ed felt nervousness start to coil up in his stomach. Olu was ringing his hands awkwardly in the center of the room like he’d rather be anywhere else, and Ed couldn’t help but agree. 

“So,” Ed started, “What do you need to tell me?”

Lazily he fell back into one of Stede’s plush chairs and crossed one leg over the other. Even though he hated that most of the furniture was still Stede’s he couldn’t bring himself to throw it out. And a part of him still loved the velvety texture and lavender smell. Perhaps that was why he chose to sit when his anxiety became too much.

“It’s well,” Olu paused uncomfortably, “It’s about how we found you.”

Ed nodded absentmindedly, and let his eyes focus on the man in the middle of his cabin.

“A few days after we were uh…stranded, Stede showed up in a dinghy. We argued pretty hard against it, obviously, but he was set on finding you. Having so many people in that boat for days was terrible but eventually we made it to land,” Olu said slowly, like he was worried every word would be his last.

Edward cringed at the sound of Stede’s name, but for some reason, hearing he was okay made something inside him soften. As much as the Kraken hated Stede’s guts Ed could never bring himself to. Whenever he thought of the numerous ways he’d kill or maim Stede if he showed up again he’d always end up in tears. 

“When we got there Stede found this fucking fortune teller lady. We told him it was probably a scam, but he went anyway. We really didn’t think much of it, but well, she was better than we thought, I guess. In exchange for your location Stede gave up something…pretty big.”

Ed raised his brows in question, ignoring the fact that his heart felt like lead, “And what would that be exactly?”

Olu’s eyes fell to the ground as he slowly drew out the handkerchief again, “Okay…dont freak out.”

“Hmm, you’re doing a great job of making me feel calm,” Ed scoffed.

Slowly Olu extended his hands outward and let the cloth open. And there, sitting in Olu’s palm with wide nervous eyes was Stede fucking Bonnet.

“What the fuck!” Ed hissed as he jerked away from his definitely not-real tiny ex-lover.

“Dumbass got cursed to find you,” Olu scoffed, “So before you do anything to fucking drastic maybe try talking shit out.”

Olu shifted his hands forward and with a shock Ed realized he was trying to hand him the kerchief with Stede inside. Part of him was terrified to accept it, he was certain the Kraken would find some way to hurt him. He had enough trouble not causing harm to people of a normal height. How was he expected to keep someone barely the size of his finger safe?

After a few seconds of dreadful silence Ed carefully scooped the handkerchief into his hands. As soon as Stede was settled in his palm, the small weight overwhelmed him. He barely even noticed as Olu exited the room, leaving him and Stede alone. His eyes stayed glued to the tiny man that fit between his fingers like a doll. 

“Ed?” Stede said in a much softer voice than Ed remembered, “God I’m… I’m so sorry.”

Ed cringed at the pain laced in Stede’s voice even though he’d done nothing but dream about this apology for months, about how he’d hurt Stede and make him feel the same pain he’d felt when he left. 

“Why the fuck did you leave?”

“I didn’t want to,” Stede’s shoulders fell, “That night I was woken up by a gun to my head…It’s not an excuse, but he said I’d ruined you.”

“You ruined me by leaving,” Ed swallowed uncomfortably.

“I know that now…But I didn’t want to feel like I was the one to ruin the mighty Blackbeard.”

Ed stared down at the tiny man sitting in his hands and sighed. He wanted to forgive him, god he did, but his heart still ached at the memory of waiting on a dock for hours. He could crush if he really wanted to, it wouldn’t even be hard, but still the idea of actually hurting Stede made him feel ill.

“Was any of it true then?” Ed asked, “Or was everything just so ‘the Blackbeard’ wouldn’t kill you?”

The few moments of silence after his question felt poisonous. Somehow silence was even worse than any answer he could have imagined. Again the rage that had been present in his souls for the past few months built up inside him until something warm and wet landed on his hands. He glanced down and his breath caught in his throat at the sight of tears running down Stede’s cheeks.

“It was all real,” Stede said, “I promise on my life Ed. I really didn’t…I was stupid. I shouldn’t have left, and I don’t expect you to forgive me.”

“I don’t,” Ed shrugged as he tried to ignore the uncomfortable weight on his heart.

“I know…You don’t have to. Do whatever you want. Throw me out to sea, crush me- I know I deserve it. I’m just glad I got to apologize first,” Stede nodded.

Ed had to repress his tears as Stede leaned over and pressed a kiss to his thumb, “I love you Edward Teach.”

And as much as Ed didn’t want to give in, the words felt like heaven. The anger and pain from the past few months were outweighed by the promise of love from Stede Bonnet. It didn’t matter that he had left- he was back, and Ed would be damned if he ever let Stede leave his sight again. If he really did deserve nice things, maybe he deserved to keep Stede in his life. 

“God Stede,” Ed shook his head, “I love you too you idiot. And if you ever fucking leave me again I’ll kill you a million times over.”

Stede laughed and god was the sound of it delightful. Ed would do anything to hear it every day.

“I have no plans on it, captain.”

Ed wanted to kiss him, but the elephant in the room drew his attention. His partner being smaller than his finger was much less than ideal, no matter how cute he was. And as much as Ed loved the idea of being able to take Stede wherever he wanted he worried about keeping him safe at his new stature.

“So you made a deal with a witch?” Ed frowned.

“Uh not exactly,” Stede shrugged, “More of a fortune teller really.”

“And your fortune was…” Ed paused, “Becoming small?”

Stede opened his mouth to argue, but seemed to think better of it. Instead he leaned his weight against Ed’s fingers.

“I guess,” he hummed, “She said she’d give me a map that could locate you wherever you went but I’d have to give up something of equal value. I’d say it was a pretty beneficial exchange.”

“I can’t fucking believe you,” Ed sighed, “You really wanted to find me that bad huh?”

“Of course. Being a bit shorter isn’t too big of a deal if I can be with you, is it?”

Ed couldn’t help but laugh at Stede’s usual charm, even though he didn’t agree. His laughter shook Stede a bit, and the power he had over the tiny man scared him once again. He knew he wasn’t a gentle man, and as careful as he tried to be around Stede he worried that the Kraken would strike once again. He would never be able to forgive himself if something happened to Stede after losing him the first time.

“You know usually I’d agree with you but you’re the size of fish food right now mate,” Ed sighed, “We’ll find a way to fix this okay?”

“Of course.”

“And for now you're staying with me,” Ed said, letting his protectiveness wash over him, “As much as I love our crew, if anyone lays a hand on you like this I think I’ll have to do some maiming.”

“You do love a good maiming,” Stede laughed.

“That's right.”

Carefully, Ed pulled his hands up to his face so he was eye to eye with Stede. Even after months the gentleman pirate looked at him like he was made of something gold and beautiful rather than the monster he was. The feeling of love was unfamiliar but oh so nice. Slowly, Ed bent his head down until his lips touched the top of Stede’s head. It was barely a kiss, but he hoped it would get the point across. He pulled away, but Stede reached back for him holding his hands out above him. 

“What?” Ed laughed as Stede made grabby hands at his face.

“Come back,” Stede whined, “I can’t exactly do it myself.”

Ed rolled his eyes and carefully leaned back down to Stede. This time though before he could plant another kiss on Stede’s head the tiny man leaned up and pressed his face to Ed’s bottom lip. It wasn’t really a kiss, but still Ed felt like his heart was going to explode. They’d kissed before, but it still made his stomach churn with warmth.

“God I love you,” Ed whispered like a prayer against Stede’s head. His whole heart was put into his words, and still it didn’t feel like enough.

“I love you too,” Stede promised, “You’re my favorite nice thing.”

And while Ed didn’t know if he could believe it he let himself indulge in Stede’s far too kind words. They sunk into his skin like honey and he felt trapped in Stede’s love. They’d find a way to fix this and until then Ed would do his damn best to keep him safe.

#our flag means death g/t #g/t #gt #corywrites #not mcyt sorry #this dumb gay pirate show has taken over my life #blackbonnet #edward teach #stede bonnet #t!stede