#stede's offscreen 'for love!' gets me

[usermeggy]

#stede's offscreen 'for love!' gets me #ofmdedit #our flag means death #ofmd #ofmd spoilers #blackbonnet #gentlebeard #meggygifs

[internerdionality]

And just to be clear, it wasn't just Izzy's death or the way it happened that I found incredibly disappointing about that finale. For that matter, while there were some great moments, the entire season felt rushed and incomplete, with a lot of decisions that just baffled me.

The Olu/Zheng/Jim/Archie polycule got no resolution whatsoever and just felt crappily done. It felt like Jim and Olu transitioned from romantic to platonic between seasons and then got shoved at new love interests, instead of actually grappling with the interesting poly dynamics, jealousy, NRE, insecurity, etc., that they could have engaged with. And to be clear I LOVED every moment of Olu/Zheng and Jim/Archie! But it felt like the show didn't believe you can have meaningful romantic relationships with multiple people at the same time, so they had to make it as if Jim and Olu's romantic sexual encounter at the end of last season didn't mean anything and that the two of them are perfectly happy being chosen siblings. This after Oluwande is explicitly described as in love with Jim in the first season! WTF?

It also felt like they just abandoned Lucius and Pete being poly in favor of having a cutesy wedding? Like don’t get me wrong, yay for weddings, but honestly it felt very mononormative and forced instead of queer and affirming. Even if Lucius had like, kissed Fang on the lips right after, or if they'd had more affection shown between the whole crew during the wedding, that would have been something. It just felt off.

Zheng felt like a wasted character by the end. Her just letting Ricky know where all her ships were was unbelievable for how competent and badass they made her out to be, and literally her only impact on the plot was serving as a vehicle to drive Stede from place to place. Also just killing off her entire crew other than Auntie? Hundreds of mostly Asian women? Yeah, that's not a good look.

Why did they feel the need to destroy the Republic of Pirates, for that matter? What actual plot or emotional growth did it create? At the end of Episode 7, I expected Stede to have to grapple with how he's managed to not just bring down Blackbeard but the *entire Republic of Pirates* and *the Pirate Queen of China* to add to his whole "I ruin beautiful things" trauma and instead he just doesn't seem to care at all. Like how did he get from all of his trauma and grief about being inadequate in the first season—the actual trauma that led him to leave Ed in the first place—to "oh, it's not so bad being a failure once you get used to it"?!?! Throughout the season I kept thinking that he was repressing and it would come back up to bite him in the ass but no, apparently he just fixed that issue offscreen? What the hell?

And it was the same with Ed! After all that build up in the first season about how Ed doesn’t like to kill people directly—and maintaining that through the first two episodes, even, which was hard! We never see him directly kill anyone! The guy he shot had already been run through!—he’s literally joking while surrounded by corpses he killed and the show barely addressed the trauma that the character we knew would have experienced. Just a completely dropped note. What happened to Ed's self-hatred that they spent an entire dream sequence episode establishing?

Ed and Stede’s actual conflicts and problems just basically disappeared at the end, with a “oh I actually do love you, babe” glossing over Ed’s very legit reasons for leaving and then Stede (apparently?!?) being convinced to give up piracy without a second of screen time spent discussing it. If felt like they were actually setting them up to just be the toxic lesbians from episode four, how is that a satisfying finale? I honestly would have rather had them end the season apart again, but this time knowing they love each other and they have to do some work to get back to each other. Like, Stede sailing into the sunset after kissing Ed and promising to come back and Ed going "i trust that you will, thank you for giving me the space I need to heal"—that would have been a satisfying place to leave them.

And then Izzy's death... don't get me fucking started on what a complete waste of screen time and acting that was. Wow.

#our flag means death #ofmd s2 spoilers #izzy hands #ofmd #gentlebeard #blackbeard ofmd #boatmance #lupete

[jaskierx]

re the whole s2 izzy stuff i completely get what a lot of people are saying about how he’s just not important enough to the narrative to bother giving him a proper redemption arc

but i really don’t think that’s it. he’s clearly important to david jenkins. he’s got a ton of screentime. he’s everywhere, woven throughout really key ed/stede moments. he’s had traits mapped onto him that used to belong to other crew members in s1

he’s been elevated to ‘important crew member you’re supposed to like’ with no arc at all and i think could be Because the writers view him as important. as in they view him as too important to waste time on an arc when they could just develop him offscreen. and it’s worked bc it’s been received really well by folks who aren’t me and my small beloved support group of unhappy mutuals and anons lmao

i really do think it’s just a big messy combination of budget cuts, sloppier writing, fanservice, budget cuts, djenks’ love for con o’neill, budget cuts, a lack of recognition that a significant number of fans would feel hurt by seeing his s1 homophobia be not just handwaved but almost erased entirely by inserting him so clearly into key scenes of ed and stede’s relationship, and budget cuts

in conclusion fuck you hbo give your shows a better budget x

#i am. ruminating #maybe this is all leading to his s2 finale death in which case i’ll stop complaining forever or at least for a while #ofmd #ofmd s2 spoilers #izzy critical #the izcourse #lyse.jpg

[canonizzyhours]

please help me out here:

the part of izzy's redemption arc that's about the crew embracing him, that part totally works for me and i actually really like it. the part about him changing his opinion on stede feels a little more rushed and handwavey, but i get it.

but the part about his relationship with ed, i don't understand that, can somebody explain it to me? where and why does he realize that his obsession with manipulating ed into staying blackbeard at the expensive of his personal needs and relationships was toxic and abusive and he needs to let go?

i know the canyon answer would be that izzy was never toxic or abusive toward ed but that's obviously not what the show's suggesting because he apologized for it and said it had been going on for years. the answer that seems implied in david jenkins' interviews is that ed rejected his love confession and that made izzy realize he needed to get over his stalkery crush, but that doesn't seem to explain what made him realize his own culpability and move into an actual healthy relationship with ed. the answer i get from con's interviews is that he saw that ed was miserable and that made him change his mind because he actually cares about ed, but that doesn't really work as a read of his dialogue at the start of the season for me, plus if it were true it would seem like really bad writing because it would mean this huge shift in the single most central issue izzy had to wrestle with just happened offscreen between seasons.

am i missing something here? like this is not a rhetorical question, i really want to know if anyone here feels like they have a good answer. this really bothers me because i thought watching izzy wrestle with his view of edward's identity was like THE crucial issue he had set up in season 2 and i was excited for it and it seems like the one that was most handwaved?

#116.

#ofmd #izzy hands #edward teach #fandom critical #canonizzyhours

[fallenrocket]

#PirateOmens Watch Party - Season 2, Episode 3

(crossposted from my twitter)

FYI, I would die for Inspector Constable.

***

I love how Aziraphale interacts with Muriel as they're investigating him, gently advising them and giving them encouragement. It's so sweet!

***

I like that Aziraphale's moral arguments in Edinburgh are so enmeshed with his obtuseness about class. It reminds me of Stede not quite getting that, for his crew, piracy isn't just some cool thing they do because they want to.

***

I'm so here for Crowley randomly carrying armloads of books just so he can toss the whole stack offscreen when he gets distracted.

***

This is the face of an angel who'd love to dress up with Stede for theatrics or treasure hunting.

***

Aziraphale: "You haven't actually been selling any of the books, have you?"

Crowley: "Not a one."

They're not even actively a couple right now, but they're so married.

#pirate omens #adopt our crew #save ofmd #fallenrocket #good omens #our flag means death #ofmd #stede bonnet #edward teach #aziraphale #crowley

[boylikeanangel]

sort of copy and pasted from the tags on my last post but I cannot articulate just how much I love that bit rhys and samba did to open the standup the other night??? it's so cool how rhys is aware that most of his fans right now have come from seeing him in ofmd and not only does he appreciate the newfound popularity but he's going out of his way to 1) use his preexisting fame to help other people in the show (samba) give their own comedy careers a boost and 2) do fun stuff like that bit that caters specifically to the fans that came from the show. idk it really speaks volumes about him as a person I think that hes so enthusiastic and respectful about how most of the people going to these standups like him for one specific thing and he's just having fun making us all go a bit crazy by doing a stede voice or whatever. like at this point this tour is literally just for his ofmd fans and not only does he know that he's having a great time getting all its worth out of that. not to be parasocial or anything but seeing that kind of genuine appreciation and respect for fans in such a specific way is kind of really rare these days, it means the world to me how rhys not only sees us but responds with the exact same level of love for the show and his character??? idk i'm rambling now but it just makes me really really happy :') and samba calling him captain and stuff is sooooooo....like god this show is just as precious to them as it is to us they feel exactly what we feel and love working together like genuinely they are besties ,, the love poured into ofmd and the constant reinforcement of just how much everyone who was involved enjoyed being a part of it and wants to keep that energy going even offscreen never fails to get me emotional UGH I cannot wait to see them onscreen together again <3 this show has created something so special i'm not kidding i've never seen a community surrounding a show quite like this one before

#this is so long for no reason im sorry but i had to get some thoughts out there #OOUGHH im so happy. it makes me so happy #im so used to being into shows where the ppl invovled are just there to do their jobs or get annoyed by fans being enthusiastic #and so seeing this kind of response from the cast and crew is so heartwarming #they love it just as much as we do and they want to share that with us!!!! help girl!!!!!! #our flag means death #rhys darby #samba schutte

[nanoland]

ofmd s2 incoherent rambling ahoy: about tealoranges

ok so.

i get it.

i get why jim and oluwande didn't leap back into one another's arms upon reuniting.

see. at the end of s1, the show did what i in hindsight think was kind of a stupid thing. it had THREE couples. and it separated ALL of them.

and i suspect the thinking went 'well we can't have all three couples reunite at the same time when the crews meet up again! that'll be repetitive and boring!'

and that's fair. it would be.

(which is why separating all three couples was stupid)

so they decided to have three DIFFERENT reunions:

Ed and Stede, a troubled, stormy, hugely passionate reunion, epic romance, merman etc

Lucius and Peter, a rocky but much less volatile 'oh thank god you're alive! marry me!' reunion

and Jim and Oluwande, a super chill 'oh hey, missed you' type reunion, where the separation ended up undoing the relationship

if you're going to have 3 similar story events occur at the same time (which.... you shouldn't, but if that's the corner you've written yourself into), then you want those 3 events to be as dissimilar as possible.

i get it.

here's what i would have done instead:

swap J+O with L+P

because J+O are the more interesting relationship; the one s1 spent more time getting us invested in. it makes sense that it should continue, or at LEAST get a big, heartbreaking ending, instead of them basically breaking up offscreen. imo THEY should have been the couple that got married in s2! that seems obvious to me!

and L+P..... well, i like em, they're cute, but like, a. the audience is naturally less invested in them because we didn't see them get together, b. 'we don't own each other' but suddenly they're monogamously married eh?? and c. lucius on the whole didn't work in s2.

see

it really

reallllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllly

wasn't a good idea to have Lucius be horribly abused in his time separated from the crew and then profoundly traumatised. it wasn't, i'm sorry. it wasn't treated seriously or respectfully, it had no lasting ramifications, and it doesn't fit his character's core comedic role which is to be a chill lazy cute lil bitch who sucks at pirating

s2 lucius is not fun to watch. he's angsty and despondent. which would be fine if his story was going to be treated properly as a story of overcoming trauma, but it's not, at all. so watching him just makes me sad and grumpy.

but JIM?

Jim's core comedic role has, from the start, been The Serious One with the Big Dramatic Quest!

give JIM the rocky, passionate reunion! let Oluwande leap into Jim's arms! let Jim be angsty and recover! let Jim propose marriage!

doesn't that fit much better? and Jim's already gone through the trauma of Blackbeard so, like, we can have J+O be The Overcoming Recent Trauma Couple to E+S's Overcoming Old Trauma Couple, and then we can have L+P just being easygoing once-lovers like 'oh hey it's you! <3 still wanna date? nah? ok, cool, love u <3'

and it'll be fine because Lucius doesn't need a wedding to fix his psychological wounds because - BECAUSE - because because because ACTUALLY this is all actually a sneaky way for me to suggest that we COMPLETELY CUT the shit Lucius went through!

all of it!

completely!

hand puppet joke? hand puppet nope! didn't happen!

he fell overboard, he was picked up by Zheng's ship, he's been chilling with Auntie this entire time! yay!

...... yeah so i guess this has now kinda turned into me rambling about how i'd rewrite the whole season huh :/

(but like, again, the ease with which the story could have just had Lucius go from 'thrown overboard' to 'chilling with Auntie'?? IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO EASY? why include The Horrors at all? what do they add??? all they amount to in the end is one more reason for Lucius and the crew to hate Ed, which, a. THEY ALREADY HAVE TEN MILLION REASONS TO HATE ED and b. if you want them to be Ed's FAMILY by the end of the season maybe you want to start CUTTING BACK on reasons to hate him!)

#lour flag means death #spoilers #ofmd critical

[jaimehwatson]

20 Questions for Writers

tagged by: @sybilius thank you! <3

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I'm currently sitting at 99! I'll have to do something a little special for my 100th :)

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

214,959

3. What fandoms do you write for?

The ones I've written for the most are Our Flag Means Death, Warhammer 40K (mostly the Ciaphas Cain series, my favourite boy), Snowpiercer (the TV show), and Sharpe! But there are quite a few more I've written at least a one-shot for - I get inspired by a lot of different things, and I also love exchanges like Yuletide!

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Restless Nights (OFMD)

You're the sun that makes me shine (OFMD)

Want to do something weird? (OFMD)

The Hidden Places Where The Fire Burns Hot And Bright (Stranger Things)

Sounds kind of dumb when I say it, but it's true: I would do anything for you (OFMD)

5. Do you respond to comments?

Almost always! I really appreciate nice comments so I make sure at least say thanks :)

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

The first one that came to mind was one of my Sherlock Holmes fics, Some things you do just to see how bad they make you feel, which deals with Holmes's depression and drug use negatively affecting his relationship with Watson. It's a really sad one that I didn't come back to add a happier sequel to until a year later!

But I've written some pretty angsty Our Flag Means Death ones too, particularly I hope it stays dark forever, I hope the worst isn't over and It isn't that much fun, staring down a loaded gun

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I think a lot of my fics are pretty happy! If I'm not writing something fucked-up and sad I'm usually writing a happy couple having good sex and a generally nice time. But if I had to try to pick one, maybe my little trilogy What makes Ed happy?, which gets a sweet Ed/Stede reunion at the end

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I've fortunately avoided that so far! The comments I get are 99% lovely and maybe like 1% something kinda weird that maybe comes across a little bit negative but just makes me shrug my shoulders and say oh well

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Often! If there's any particular kind I gravitate towards it's probably characters slightly awkwardly but excitedly exploring a bit of light BDSM for the first time

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

One of the first fics I posted on Ao3 was a crossover between Death Note and The X-Files called The エクス-Files! (Translator's note: エクス means X) It was a really fun writing experience, and if that idea sounds fun to you at all, you should definitely check it out

But my craziest crossover (and maybe my only other one so far unless I'm forgetting something) is definitely my 2023 Yuletide fic Danger and Dance, in which Remington Steele and Laura Holt investigate a mystery involving DJ Crazy Times of "Planet of the Bass"!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of, is that a thing people do?

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I don't think so but I'd be honoured if someone did!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have not yet co-written anything that's published anywhere, but a good friend and I once put quite a bit of effort into a story taking place in the universe of The Dark Crystal like a decade ago - now I want to dig that up again and see if it was any good, I remember we had fun with it!

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Ciaphas Cain/Amberley Vail! The Ciaphas Cain books and Warhammer 40K in general were what really got me into writing fic regularly and participating in fandom more. Part of what made the ship so initially appealing to me, beyond just how much I like the characters, was that they're 100% canon but their relationship isn't the focus of the canon - you just get little hints and references to the fact that they're definitely fucking offscreen while the main thing going on is fighting aliens and shit. So it provides a great opportunity to speculate about what goes on when they're alone together and you don't see it, and how it might tie into their character development and the events of the canon storylines.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I mostly write a lot of shorter fic, so I don't really have any longer WIPs that gradually fizzled out the way I know some other writers struggle with. That being said, I do have plenty of sparse drafts that I started writing or outlining a little bit of and then never sat down and finished because I got distracted by some other idea. One that comes to mind was a Warhammer 40K fic that would have involved Cain and Yarrick meeting and getting involved in a Wild-West-style saloon shootout in space - fun idea but it never really went anywhere

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm pretty good at character voices, especially when I write fic for books I love and I can imitate the style of the narration

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I don't think my description is as good as my dialogue. A lot of my writing experience before I got into fic was in theatre and video games, two mediums where you're much less likely to have a narrator, so I don't have as much practice at it. I find it difficult sometimes to really get across the image in my head in a way that makes sense and flows naturally. But I do think I'm getting better at it all the time!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I've never really done that beyond the occasional word here and there! If I was going to, I'd want it to be a language I can actually speak, and/or have a friend who speaks it look over it. Maybe one day I'll get to use my French skills in a fic but it hasn't happened yet!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

In the sense of actually deciding "I am going to write fanfic and put it on the internet for other fans," it was the Pathologic games! But in a more general sense, I've been making up stories about my favourite characters since I was a little kid. A while back my mom found something I wrote in high school based on Lord of the Flies that was really cute

20. Favorite fic you've written?

My proudest accomplishment is my OFMD wrestling AU, Tonight on Ring of Revenge!

Tagging @augustmourn @grandmastattoo @the-girl-with-the-algebra-book @scyllas-revenge if you feel like it!

#tag games #fanfic #my writing #our flag means death #ciaphas cain

[casa-delle-galline]

Okay, so because I just love being a mean bitch to myself and the people around me, I have another angsty prediction for season 2 in my brain, which is inspired by a scene from the game The Last Of Us (the scene where Ellie kills David).

CW: attempted noncon

So, a little while after Stede and Ed reunite, Stede sees a lot of things have changed, but after finding out all the information about what Ed has done from Jim, Frenchie and the rest of the crew, Stede has to confront Ed about it and ask why he threw Lucius overboard and left the crew (save Jim and Frenchie) to die on a sandbar. Ed then counters with asking why Stede left, and after some poking and prodding, Stede explains his situation which prompts Ed to do the same (possibly offscreen since we all know what happened). Afterwards, Ed is still apprehensive about keeping Stede on the ship with Izzy in his ear all the time and tells Stede:

“I’ve had to do so much to keep you alive and by my side. If you really want to make this right, you have to start putting as much effort into us as I have.”

Later on, they might make port and go to a tavern, but Stede and Ed are separated when someone brings him to a table in a dark corner and ask him who ‘that guy’ (Stede) is to him. Ed of course tries to avoid the question and then says that he’s nobody, but that just makes the person think that it wouldn’t matter if he just takes Blackbeard to a dark and quiet place to “have a little fun”. Ed tries to get away, but the man is bigger and stronger than him and drags him outside to an alleyway. Izzy tries to go out to help Ed but the bigger man knocks him out.

Just as Ed is about to get permanent mental scarring, Stede comes out of nowhere with a cutlass in hand and incapacitates the fucker with it. Stede drops the weapon, but Ed takes it and brings the sword down on his attacker over and over again until the man is just a big pile of butchered meat. Stede then wrenches the cutlass out of Ed’s grasp and holds his love’s face in his hands as Ed comes back to reality. He then holds Ed close as Ed breaks down in sobs, mumbling “He tried to- he tried to-“ over and over.

After a while, they head back to the ship, and yeah, they leave Izzy to wake up on his own and then come running to the ship just before they leave port. Stede stays by Ed’s side for a good long while.

#ofmd #our flag means death #blackbonnet #stede bonnet #edward teach #izzy hands #ofmd s2 #ofmd s2 predictions #last of us inspired #cw attempted noncon

[aimlessglee]

OFMD Transcript: 1.04 Discomfort in a Married State

This transcript was created by the folks at tvshowtranscripts.ourboard.org.  The original can be found at Our Flag Means Death Season 1, Episode 4 Discomfort In a Married State.  I added the dialogue tags and some scene notes because I found that useful.  Let me know if this is helpful to anyone else and I’ll do the rest.  Again, I did not create the original transcript and no infringement is intended.  I just wanted to create the resource I needed.

Split scene: Mary and her mother in a living room, Stede and Father Bonnet in a carriage.

Mary:  So, I have to marry a complete stranger?  Mary's Mother: Well, yes. He's not some derelict. He has money.  Stede: I just... I thought that when I did marry it could be for love.  Father Bonnet: Peasants marry for love. Mary has acreage. 

In a salon,  having a portrait painted.  

( both sigh )  Stede: I'm Stede, by the way. Mary:  I know. Mary.  Stede: Oh, yes. I know. 

Stede, Mary, and their families are standing on a beach.  It's their wedding.  

Priest: Consider... the humble lighthouse. A beacon, an unwavering light that guides. And you shall be that for each other. ( horn blows ) For eternity. ( light applause )  Mother Bonnet: Oh, congratulations! We've purchased something for your big day. A gift!  Mary: Oh! Graves.  Stede: Huh.  Mother Bonnet: Yes! Wow. 

In the Bonnets' house.  Mary and Stede are at the dining room.  ( light classical music plays under clattering and children laughing ) 

Mary: Stede? ( laughter continues )  Mary: Stede? ( Alma screams )  Stede: Mm-hm?  Mary: Will you please play with your children?  Stede: Mm-hm. ( playful screaming, laughter continue )  Mary: (sounding frustrated) And don't play pirates with them. They'll have nightmares again.  Stede: (to children) Rawr! ( screaming ) Ha, ha! I'm the greatest pirate that ever lived. Ah! Please! ( children laughing )  Alma: Any last words, dog?  Stede: Spare me! I have a family.  Alma: Sorry, boy-o. Scoundrels spare no one!  (she pretends to stab Stede, overlaid by the Spanish stabbing Stede) Alma: And that's how we treat pirates. 

In Stede's cabin.  Blackbeard is smoking a pipe and watching Stede sleep.  He puts his feet up on the edge of Stede's bed.  

Stede: (weakly in his sleep)  Mary, we were just playing pirates. ( somber music playing over children laughing ) 

On the foredeck of the Revenge.  (lively classical music plays over waves roaring ) 

Izzy: Been lookin' for you everywhere. We need to move quickly, before the Spanish realize we've massacred all their men. Blackbeard: Oh, the Spanish. They die quite dramatically, don't they? The Spaniards? Lots of blubbering for their God.  Izzy: Yeah, agreed. Now, we really should discuss...  Blackbeard: Izzy, Izzy, Izzy, Izzy, Izzy. Look out there. Those clouds. Do they look like frankfurters to you?  Izzy: They look like clouds, boss. Can we just focus on... Blackbeard: Yes, yes, they look like clouds because they are indeed clouds, but if you just put some fucking imagination into it, man.  Izzy: I suppose they look like sausages.  Blackbeard: Frankfurters, yes. Exactly. It's like pulling teeth with you sometimes, man. Let's get to it. What've we got here?  Izzy: Well, the ship sustained some damage in the crossfire, and the crew's completely useless, bottom of the barrel.  Blackbeard: Mm-hm. What's the plan for them? The uszh (usual) - make 'em repair the ship, execute 'em.  Blackbeard: Right... the uszh. Hm.  Black Pete: I bet he's saying something genius. He's history's most brilliant tactician. I wonder if he'll recognize me.  Lucius: You know, I thought he'd be taller.  Ivan: (hitting Black Pete) Shush.  Black Pete: Ah! Fuck! Fang:  Back to work.  Blackbeard: Boys, boys, boys, hey. Let's not brutalize our guests like that. (Black Pete wheezing as Blackbeard swings down to the main deck on a rope)  Frenchie? (offscreen): Fuck, yeah! Whoo! ( cheers and applause )  Blackbeard: Hello, everyone. I'm Blackbeard.  Roach: Huge fan, sir. Huge.  Blackbeard: Well, that's lovely, but you don't need to say sir, all right? It's just Blackbeard.  Roach: Yes sir, Blackbeard, sir! Nice to meet you. Hello. The Swede: Hi.  Blackbeard: Nice to meet you. Hi, how are ya? Hey. I love all the rope. Everyone's wearing rope. Everyone's grubby, as well. Filthy. Look at this bunch! Wild characters on the high seas. ( laughs ) Izzy... ( bird squawking ) Izzy, come here. They've got a bird guy. Look at this thing. Hello.  Buttons: Karl conveys his warm regards, Captain.  Blackbeard: And Karl's the bird, yeah?  Buttons: Karl's the bird.  Blackbeard: Karl's the bird.  Frenchie: Sorry, sir, Blackbeard, sir. I was just wonderin' if we're gonna be able to live or die...  Izzy: ( shouts ): Right, come on! Blackbeard has business to attend to! Fang!  Fang: (hisses) Back to work!  Black Pete: (being punched in the stomach by Ivan) Oh! Jesus!  Blackbeard: Izzy, why don't we have a bird guy? 

In the Bonnets' house.  ( light harpsichord playing ) 

Mary: Ready? Happy anniversary, darling.  Stede: ( gasps ) Oh... look at that. What is it?  Mary: It's a painting of the lighthouse.  Stede: Mm-hm.  Mary: From our wedding.  Stede: ( gasps )  Mary: Yes! We are to be lighthouses for each other, remember?  Stede: That's right. Mary: Yes.  Stede: Yeah, yeah. And the children did that? Oh gosh, they're good.  Mary: I painted it.  Stede: But they... Hm? You did?  Mary: Yep.  Stede: Yes, absol... Oh, you can tell. Wait! Et voilà! What do ya think? Mary: It's a toy?  Stede: It's a model of a ship. What would you say to living on something like that? You, me, the kids... at sea.  Mary: Why on Earth would we do that? Stede:  I don't know. Break the monotony. Mary: Our life feels monotonous to you?  Stede: No! No, it doesn't, does it? Um... I just think that ( sighs ) why waste our time here, day after day, doing the same old thing when we could be doing this! We could be on a ship having adventures.  Mary: Do you know I hate the ocean? I said so just the other day. Stede: What? When?  Mary: When we were standing by the fucking ocean! I don't want a boat, Stede! And I don't hate our lives! At least, not so much that I would wanna do this!  Stede: I'll get it stopped.  Mary: Get what stopped? I mean... Get what stopped?! Stede: Nothing.  Mary: You're not having this built, are you?  Stede: No... No, th-this is just an idea. This is it. I'm sorry. That's it. 

In Stede's cabin.

Blackbeard: This place is amazing. Izzy, look, look at this shit. ( giggles ) Look at that! It's a teeny-tiny version of this ship. Izzy: It appears so, yeah. So, Edward...  Blackbeard: He's got all sorts of knick-knacks and trinkets.  Izzy: Edward?  Blackbeard: This guy's fucking fascinating.  Izzy: Edward, focus. We need a plan. Blackbeard: I'm focusing. I'm focusing on all of this brilliant stuff.  Izzy: Edward, we really need a plan.  Blackbeard: Crazy little trinkets. Izzy: Come on, a plan.  Blackbeard: Yes! We always need a fuckin' plan, all right?! And then what? Then we fuckin' execute the plan, then we get another plan, then what do we do? We execute that, and so on, and so on, and again, and again, and again, and again. It's all so fucking boring! ( heavy sigh ) I'm bored out of my skull, man. Is this all there is? I shouldn't be bored. I'm fucking Blackbeard.  Izzy: Well, as bored as you might be, if you don't make a decision soon, we're gonna fuckin' die.  Blackbeard: ( contemplative music plays ) Ooh, now, there's an idea. I haven't done that yet.  I haven't died yet, have I? Maybe we should try that.  Izzy: Do, do wh-what? ( door closes ) Yeah, 'cause that makes sense. 

The crew are on the deck of the Revenge.

Oluwande: So, we're thinkin' they're gonna kill us, yeah? Jim:  I would if I were them. Look at us. Ugh... God. Que te pasa, huh? You've been lookin' at me all day.  The Swede: So, this whole time you were a woman? Jim:  Yeah... I guess. I don't know.  The Swede: And you're not a mute?  Jim: No, I'm not a mute.  The Swede: I did not see that coming at all. 

Buttons stands at the rail of the Revenge.

Buttons: Found somethin' youse might wanna look at. These wee black dots look about Spanish to me. What do you think? Right. Izzy: (looks through a telescope) Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck...  Buttons: Hola. 

In Stede's cabin.  Stede is in his bunk with Blackbeard sitting next to him

Stede: Mary? ( whimpers )  Blackbeard: Who's this Mary then?  Lucius: Hey, Stede, I really hope you're not dead 'cause things have taken a very... Oh, u-um... S-Sorry, uh, didn't mean to bother you.  Blackbeard: No bother. Tell me, can you count?  Lucius: Y-Yes. ( Scoffs nervously ) Blackbeard: Backwards. Lucius:  Um... Sh... Yes.  Blackbeard: I want you to start counting back from one hour forty-seven minutes, and I want you to start... Now.  Lucius: Sixty, 59 58... 57 56...  Blackbeard: Good, keep going. Come find me when you're done. Lucius: 52, 53... Oh god, shit. 50...  Blackbeard: And fetch us a cold rag, would you?  Lucius: Absol... Yes! Whatever you want, sir. Fif... Uh, 49, 48...  Stede: (in his sleep) Coward. I was a coward. 

In the Bonnets' bedroom.

Mary: Stede? I know you're unhappy. I'm unhappy, too.  Stede: I'm not unhappy.  Mary: No? Sometimes, I think I... I've heard you crying. By yourself?  Stede: Uh... no. It's probably the wind you're hearing, or an owl. Might be an owl. Mary:  I know we never would've chosen each other, not in a million years, but... all we have is this one life. We have to try, don't we? Otherwise, what's the point?  Stede: ( fake snoring, then sitting up and whispering ) Mary? Mary?

Stede in voiceover, reading a letter: Dearest Mary... You deserve happiness, as do I. My hope is that the vast wealth and property I leave behind for you and the children will suffice. I've sold an acre or two for my own needs, but the rest is yours. You're quite right. We only have this one life. Fond regards, Stede. 

Stede is in his bunk in his cabin.  He is seeing visions.

Hallucination!Mary: You are such... a disappointment.  Stede: Mary?!  Hallucination!Mary: Did you really think a letter was enough?  Stede: Oh, Mary. I've been stabbed.  Hallucination!Mary: Yes... Congrats. I mean, piracy? You left me to be... a pirate?  Stede: It's not you. It was me. I was just uncomfortable in a married state.  Hallucination!Father Bonnet: A pirate? Ah! He was scared of geese, for Christ's sake. ( Laughs over geese honking )  Hallucination!Mary: Goodbye, Stede. Enjoy hell. ( dramatic music plays as they burn up )  Stede: Ah! Ah!  Hallucination!Alma: Scoundrels spare no one.  Stede: Ah! Ahh! Ahhh! ♪ ♪

In Stede's cabin.  Stede is in his bunk with Blackbeard next to him.

Blackbeard: Hey. That was a close call, wasn't it? Got yourself pretty stabbed up there by some Spaniards.  Stede: My crew!  Blackbeard: Shh, shh, shh! Stede: Ah! ( winces in pain )  Blackbeard: Crew's okay. They're fine. You need to relax. You gotta take it easy. Otherwise, your guts will start poppin' out all over the place.  Stede: What?  Do you work for Blackbeard?  Blackbeard: Do... Never thought about it like that, yeah. I suppose I do work for Blackbeard. Hmm... I'm Ed.  Stede: Hey... Stede. 

The crew are on deck, repairing the Revenge.  ( hammering )

Roach:  Psst... Hey. Are you still Jim? You know, on account of you being a... ( whispers ) A lady now. Jim:  Haven't really thought about it.  Wee John Feeney: Course she's not Jim. What kind of a name is Jim for a lady?Roach: My uncle's name is Margaret.  Wee John: Margaret's kind of an either/or name. I think Jim's strictly for dudes. The Swede: If you're not going to be Jim anymore, can I be Jim? 

In the auxiliary wardrobe in Stede's cabin.

Stede: (sighs ) He probably thinks I'm a fool, that Blackbeard. I'm a terrible pirate.  Blackbeard: Oh, come on. You know, most of the pirates I know, they're dead. So you're doing a hell of a lot better than them.  Stede: ( scoffs ) You're a good man, Ed. How long have you been on his crew? Blackbeard: Oh, long enough. Too long, maybe. To be honest, I'm thinking about packing it all in. It can be a bit of a grind. Is this silk?  Stede: Oh, no. That's actually a rather exquisite cashmere.  Blackbeard: Rather exquisite cashmere.  Stede: Oh! Do you fancy a fine fabric?  Blackbeard: I think maybe I do. Yeah.  Stede: Can you keep a secret? ( he pulls a secret lever and a door creaks )Blackbeard: Fuck off.  Stede: I've had a few secret passages built into the ship. You know, just for fun. Blackbeard: Fucking mental!  Stede: This is my auxiliary wardrobe. It's a back-up to my actual wardrobe.  Blackbeard: Okay.  Stede: Winter jackets. Autumn vibe. Summer linen.  Blackbeard: ( exhales ) All of this is yours?  Stede: Afraid so. I'm a bit of a clotheshorse. Oh, I've been lookin' for these. Fab. Izzy: Ed? Ed? Edward, you in here? We don't have all day Stede: ( softly ) Is that Blackbeard?  Blackbeard: Hm? No, uh, I'm Blackbeard. Shh.

The crew are in the galley, eating a meal together.

Wee John Feeney: We have a serious question to ask you. Are you a mermaid? Oluwande: ( chuckles ) I told you.  Jim: ( mouth full ) I'm not a mermaid.  Frenchie: Right, okay.  Wee John: No, but the way you said that was definitely kinda mermaid-y.  Roach: Yeah, I heard it.  Frenchie: That's what I was thinking.  Jim: I'm not a fucking mermaid!  Frenchie: All right.  Izzy: Has anyone seen Blackbeard? What're you doing? Oluwande: Eating.  Izzy: You don't get food when you've been invaded. You live at my pleasure! Back to work! Useless fuckin' fuckers! ( door shuts )  Black Pete: Alls I know is women are bad luck on ships. ( all agree ) Historically.  Jim: That's a myth.  Frenchie: Well, no, actually, science, because women have crystals in their body, and the crystals attract demons.  Roach: Yeah. Frenchie: And the demons attract misfortune. You know, the French call it... Hey! Hey, hey, hey. Jim:  I'm only gonna say this once.  Frenchie: Once is fine.  Jim: Mm-hm. So, listen up.  Frenchie: Yeah.  Jim: I've been on this ship for weeks now, and we haven't crashed. Hm?  Roach: We were attacked by the Spanish. But...  Jim: Ay, bendito. Look, everyone... I'm gonna keep this very simple. You all know me as Jim, sí?  Frenchie: Yeah, good ol' Jim.  Jim: So just... keep calling me Jim. Huh, nothing's changed. Except, I don't have the beard, and my, my nose is different, and I can speak now, yes. Anyone got a problem with that? ( all muttering "no" )  Frenchie: Certainly not.  The Swede: It makes sense. Always liked Jim.  Frenchie: Yeah, good guy. You know, he's great.  The Swede: Yeah. 

In Stede's cabin.  ( lively harpsichord playing ) 

Stede: And this is my pride and joy.  Blackbeard: Incredible. You've read all of these? Stede:  Many times. These are just my favorites.  Blackbeard: ( scoffs in wonder )  Stede: Ooh, here's one you might appreciate. Where is it? Oh. Yeah. Blackbeard:  Oh god. Is this what they think I look like? Hm? fucking viking vampire clown with... Look at that. There's one, two, three, four nine guns all over him. Nine guns?! It's... too many. I have... I, I have one gun and one knife. Just like everyone else.  Stede: I didn't mean to upset you.  Blackbeard: No, it's not you. It's... ( winces ) It's just fucking hard sometimes, you know? You ever feel trapped? Like you're just treading water? Waiting to drown?  Stede: Yes. I have... I very much have felt that way...  Blackbeard: Blackbeard always wins. That's the thing. He can't fail. It's not even a challenge anymore. People just see the flag and they freak out. "Blackbeard!" And they basically just give up. They surrender. What's the point? I don't even need to be on the boat. I'm a ghost. There's no chaos. There's no drama. There's no fuckin' life!  Stede: Look... I can't believe I'm saying this, but... have you ever considered retirement?  Blackbeard: What the fuck is that?  Stede: Oh! Oh well, it's when you stop working by choice to pursue a life of leisure.  Blackbeard: That's a thing? Hmm. ( sighs ) Retirement. You got it all sussed out, don't you? You know how hard it is to find someone doing something original out here? It's impossible, man. And here you come with your library, and your fancy quarters, and your secret little closet full of, full of frilly shirts and, and summer linens. ( exhales ) fuck. Look it. There's two chandeliers. That's overkill. An open fire on a wooden vessel surrounded by bits of paper. You're a fuckin' lunatic, and I like it.  Stede: ( scoffs ) I know it all seems great, but, really, if I could just be like Blackbeard, even just for a moment... ( Blackbeard scoffs ) Honestly, I would give all of this away. Blackbeard: Hey... Do you want to do something weird?

On deck with the crew.  Blackbeard exits Stede's quarters wearing Stede's clothes. ( cheery music playing over hammering, sawing ) 

Blackbeard: Crew of "The Revenge," please put your hands together, and welcome your brave, brave Captain... Blackbeard. (Stede enters wearing Blackbeard's clothes) Clap. ( slow applause ) Stede: Hello, everybody! Yes, I am the legendary Blackbeard. Hello, everyone! Ooh, ooh, and this is my new pal, Stede.  Blackbeard: Ooh, well, how do you do?  Black Pete: What is even happening right now?  Blackbeard: I know. Come on, you lot. Come on. Come on. Line up. Line, line up. Line up...  Stede: I'm back!  Blackbeard: And greet your Captain. He escaped the jaws of death.  Crews: ( confused muttering )  Frenchie: Glad you're not dead, Captain.  Stede: Good to see you.  Blackbeard: Did you see that? This is amazing!  Izzy: A word, Cap'n? (leads Blackbeard into the ship) Blackbeard: You can be a real bummer sometimes. You know that?  Izzy: When you tasked me with trackin' that absolute idiot, I did that, no questions asked. And when we traced him to a Spanish warship, I attacked that ship, losin' several of our men, by the way.  Blackbeard: Mm, kinda the job. They're pirates.  Izzy: For years, I've followed your every whim, I've managed your increasingly erratic moods, I've massaged this crew when they were worried about your judgment.  Blackbeard: Mm, sounds stressful, Izzy.  Izzy: It is, but I did all that because I was honored to work for the legendary Blackbeard, the most brilliant sailor I had ever met. But now, you're just an... insane, unpleasant shell of a man who's merely posing as Blackbeard.  Blackbeard: That's Blackbeard. ( Captain Stede winces ) I'm Stede, remember?  Izzy: I'm not dying. Not for that ponce and not for you. So, I'm gonna devise a plan, and when we, once again, barely eke by to fight another day, I will very willingly offer you this: My fuckin' resignation, you absolute twat!  Black Pete: ( grunts as Izzy pushes him out of the way and takes Stede by the lapels )  Stede: Oh, it's you. ( grunts and winces )  Izzy: How quickly can we move this vessel?  Stede: I'm not sure. That's really the crew's thing. Ah!  Izzy: How are you stocked for munitions?  Stede: Ed! Do you know this guy? He's a complete asshоlе! Ooh!  Izzy: Ivan! Fang! Prepare the guns. Execute anyone who won't fight.  Stede: What?  Blackbeard: Well, Blackbeard what do you think? Do you concur?  Stede: Me? Blackbeard: I mean, you wanted to be Blackbeard, this is what it's like.  Stede: We could just talk to them.  Blackbeard: Okay, yes, and do you speak Spanish?  Stede: No.  Blackbeard: Mmm.  Stede: Maybe they understand ecclesiastical Latin.  Lucius: Twenty, 19, 18, 17, 16...  Blackbeard: Uh-oh, time's almost up. What're you gonna do?  Stede: What?!  Blackbeard: They're on us now. Time for a new idea, Stede.  Stede: W-W-We talk.  Blackbeard: The crew's gonna die. Stede:  I don't... have an idea!  Blackbeard: Hurry, you're gonna lose all your men. It's all gonna be your fault.  Lucius: Six, five...  Blackbeard: All of the men who trusted you.  Stede:I don't know!  Blackbeard: All their blood's gonna be on your hands. It's going to be your fault!  Stede:I don't know!  Lucius: Time's up!  Stede:I don't what to do!  Blackbeard: Death it is. But, wait...  Black Pete: You're a genius, Blackbeard! I knew you'd save us.  Stede: What? 

On deck.  It's very foggy.  ( ethereal music playing ) 

Izzy: I don't believe it.  Fang: This fog's as thick as stew. No one'll see us in this.  Ivan: This is why you do not doubt Captain Blackbeard! Genius on the ship! ( cheers and applause )  Crew offscreen: Alright! Bravo.  Stede: You knew this would happen? How?  Blackbeard: Quite simple, really. The color of this morning's sky coupled with the... brisk westerly wind made me think we'd be safe. And then, the shape of the clouds confirmed it.  Izzy: Frankfurters.  Blackbeard: Yeah. Izzy: Fuck me.  Blackbeard: ( laughs) Izzy, I figured the fog would set in once the sea cooled around dusk.  Crew: ( all impressed )  Buttons: 'Cept we're right in their path. They'll run smack into us.  Blackbeard: Correct! On any other day. For it is September 2nd, and tonight's a full moon. So lift anchor, and let the ocean current drift us into the warm embrace of safety. Crew: ( cheers and applause )  Izzy: Ed, it's... Ed, Ed, it's September 1st, boss.  Blackbeard: What's that, mate?  Izzy: It's September the 1st.  Blackbeard: Dickfuck, no, it's not.  Lucius: He's right. It's the 1st. The full moon's tomorrow.  Blackbeard: It's a leap year.  Stede: Leap year? Does that change things much?  Blackbeard: Yeah. We're goners. ( somber music playing ) Those of you who can swim would be wise to do it now.  Stede: Wait, what are you gonna do?  Blackbeard: I'm sorry.  Stede: Where are you going?  Blackbeard: The Captain goes down with the ship. I'm gonna get pissed. Fang?: Blackbeard!  Stede: Wait... Ed.  Lucius: I never got to see the world.  Frenchie: Ah, it's a bit of a letdown to be honest, mate. It's just kind of rocky and flat, and rocky and flat. 

In Stede's cabin.  Blackbeard is lying on the couch drinking.

Blackbeard: You know, I thought I'd have a cooler death than this. Something like being eaten, eaten by a tiger, or massaged to death by mermaids, or... belly-flopping into a volcano.  Stede: ( sighs as he sits down.  He's holding the lighthouse painting.  children laughing )  Blackbeard: What's that painting? What is it? A grain tower?  Stede: Oh, it's a lighthouse. I should've been one for my family. And guide them. Blackbeard: Hmm. Well, technically, you're supposed to avoid lighthouses, so you don't crack up on the rocks.  Stede: I never really thought about it that way.  Blackbeard: Mm, no one does.  Both in unison: We need to be a lighthouse!

In the crow's nest.  Stede and Blackbeard are still wearing each other's clothes. ( buoyant music playing over quiet chatter and noises of exertion ) 

Stede: All right, lads! I'm here! ( grunting )  Blackbeard: All right, that should do it. All right.  Stede: Is this gonna throw enough light?  Blackbeard: Should do, yeah. Here. Take a swig. Yeah? Don't swallow it.  Stede: Mm.  Blackbeard: Okay, would you blow into those flames there? Careful of your face.  Stede: Mm!  Blackbeard: Do it, man! Give it a go now! Go! Yeah, that's it. That's it! Take another swig. Give it another go. In three, two, one, blow! Oh, yes. And again! Keep going. You there, do it! Now! Wee John Feeney: ( imitates foghorn )  Blackbeard: And stop! ( foghorn stops )

On the Spanish ship.

Spanish crew: Mirá! Spanish Captain:  No puedo ser.  Un faro?  

On the Revenge.

Wee John Feeney: ( foghorn sound )  Blackbeard: Again!  Wee John Feeney: ( imitates foghorn ) ( stops ) ( flames whoosh )

On the Spanish ship.

Spanish crew:  Es un faro.  Cambia el rumbo! Spanish captain:  El vuelto ganar (not sure here) Barba Negra!

On the Revenge. ( cheery music playing ) 

Blackbeard: ( gives a thumbs up) Frenchie: ( quietly ): We did it? We did it!  Wee John Feeney: ( quiet laughter )  Frenchie: Hey, guys. Crew: ( cheering  quietly)  Black Pete: Fuck, yes!  Crew: ( shushing )  Blackbeard: Yes! We fucking did it! 

On the deck of the Revenge the next morning.

Oluwande: Looks like we're gonna live after all. Jim: For a little while longer, at least. Do you think... I can go back to being mute? 

In the crow's nest.  Stede and Blackbeard are still wearing each other's clothes.  

Stede: Hey. Try this.  Blackbeard: ( Blackbeard sniffs ) Oh... that's some damn good marmalade.  Stede: It's the best. Ship's stores are loaded with it. Had to get rid of some gunpowder, but I think it was the right move.  Blackbeard: "The Gentleman Pirate." I should take a leaf out of your book. And then we'll live the high life.  Blackbeard: I could take one out of yours. Maybe I'll live a little longer.  Blackbeard: Could be arranged. If you were to show me the ways of an aristocrat... I could probably show you a thing or two about being a blood-thirsty pirate. Stede: ( chuckles ) Wouldn't that be something? ( chuckles ) ( birds cawing ) You're serious?  Blackbeard: It's the most fun I've had at sea in ages.  Stede: Okay... Agreed. ( Blackbeard laughing ) Whoa. Okay.  ( clattering from on deck - Izzy is throwing things into a dinghy)  Blackbeard: Ah... Oh, I should deal with this. ( ropes creaking )

On the deck of the Revenge.

Blackbeard:  Izzy?  Izzy: I said some things I regret last night. I don't think you're a shell of a man, or a twat.  Blackbeard: ( sighs ) You were right, man. About all of it. Have you ever heard of "retirement"?  Izzy: Mm. That's not much of an option in this line of work. The only retirement we get is... death.  Blackbeard: What if Blackbeard turned up dead? ( ominous music playing ) His corpse disfigured beyond recognition, of course. Izzy: But still identifiable as Blackbeard.  Blackbeard: Well, he's wearing Blackbeard's clothes, he's on Blackbeard's ship.  Izzy: What happens to you?  Blackbeard: I'm not even here. My name's Stede Bonnet. I'm a wealthy landowner. Of course, the crew would need a new captain. Someone who really knows the ropes.  Izzy: You mean me. I suppose it could be me, yeah.  Blackbeard: I need you here.  Izzy: Edward? You still got it.  Blackbeard: I know. 

( "The Empty Boat" by Caetano Veloso playing ) 

♪ From the stern to the bow ♪ ♪ Oh, my boat is empty ♪ ♪ Yes, my heart is empty ♪ ♪ From the hole to the how ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ From the rudder to the sail ♪ ♪ Oh, my boat is empty ♪ ♪ Yes, my hand is empty ♪ ♪ From the wrist to the nail ♪ ♪ From the ocean to the bay ♪ ♪ Oh, the sand is clean ♪ ♪ Oh, my mind is clean ♪ ♪ From the night to the day ♪ ♪ ♪ 

Our Flag Means Death Season 1 Episode Name: "Discomfort In a Married State"  Episode Number(s)4S01E0401x04  Original Airdate 03/09/2022  First Published on tvshowtranscripts.ourboard.org 03/10/22 19:48

#our flag means death #ofmd transcript #ofmd 1.04 #our flag means death transcripts

[ladyluscinia]

Throwing my hat in on what we should get from OFMD S2 speculations with "Izzy Hands needs a murder bestie"

Fundamentally Izzy's problem is that no one else seems to have noticed that the whole world is now wacky romcom hijinks and it's causing him to a) stress himself out until he practically vibrates with need to stab something, and b) fixate on getting Blackbeard back to normal because he's hoping the world will right itself when Edward does. Edward is his only available connection to his previous, far more enjoyable life, and hell yes he is going to latch onto that and reject any attempt at character growth Ed shows now that the genre shift (that Izzy hates) has unearthed his romcom core.

(Part of this is on Edward for trying to just shed his past - and Izzy - overnight without any consequences, and I do hope his character arc is focused on balancing "Blackbeard" and "Ed" to account for this, but we have to do something to chill Izzy out or he won't have the breathing room.)

I think it would help Izzy a lot if someone else showed up who also noticed the genre shift and was at least disinterested in it, if not as actively hostile. Calico Jack proved it's possible, and frankly an offscreen field trip to murder a bunch of people would do wonders for Izzy's mood. So would just having someone he respects to bitch about Stede's crew with.

I think it's important this person have absolutely no sexual tension with Izzy - he doesn't need the complicating factor - so my vote is for a murder-loving lesbian with a lot of knives. And I like the idea of introducing Anne Bonny for me, as a treat 😘

#anne bonny could have an off and on again relationship with mary read (who keeps getting back together with rackham) #it's all coming together #i haven't decided where i stand on izzy redemption options or how to go about them #but i don't think he can get from his current state to any form of chill without *someone* validating that he isn't crazy #also the parallels where stede had to deal with up and abandoning his wife and station so they could both be happy #guess what? the position of blackbeard was ed's station and izzy is the wife in this scenario. only izzy is here and ed wasn't miserable #just give him a stabby friend. he needs one #our flag means death #blackbeard ofmd #izzy hands ofmd #give me anne bonny #character arcs #ladyluscinia #my meta #ofmd meta

[fallowsthorn]

listen i wanna talk about the bit in the (3rd? 4th?) episode of ofmd when the bartender guy whose name i didn't catch takes off jim's disguise for spanish jackie's nose jar after selling them out to, uh, some stabby people (look, i had no subtitles and i can't understand speech for shit)

because it very easily could have been the sort of spiteful gender reveal we see all the time, from twelfth night to mulan to mrs doubtfire. character dresses up as another gender for plot reasons, shenanigans happen and the disguise is revealed, other characters' reactions are played for drama or comedy accordingly. the revelation is always about the character's "real" gender and usually about how shocking and/or hilarious it was that they weren't performing it correctly.

but bartender guy doesn't give a shit about that. he unmasks jim, yes, but it's to illustrate that jim is the person they've been looking for. it's stede who's stunned that "jim's a woman???" and only that because he obviously doesn't have the vocabulary for anything else (and was just stabbed, iirc). bartender guy taunts jim about seeing through the disguise, but it's "i know what you did last summer time you were here," not "lol u thought u could pass? what an idiot." jim's gender or lack thereof is a nonfactor until the next episode when the crew want to know what was up with the disguise, and even then it rates the same as questions like "if you're not jim anymore, can i be jim?"

(side note, i love the "women's bodies have crystals" bit both because it's hilarious and as a jab at gender essentialism/transmedicalism/that fucking thing where cis people are like "ooooohhhhhh nooooooo it's science!!1!!!1" blah blah shut the fuck up and google it, horatio, your philosophies are for twelve-year-olds aNYWAY)

and then NO ONE BRINGS IT UP AGAIN. that's what fucking flattens me when i think about this, that there's no Very Special Episode (or, well, Very Special Two and a Half Minutes, these episodes are packed) where all the cis people suddenly have to relearn basic grammar and there has to be a whole investigation and Trans 101 handholding session and it's just sooooo haaaaard to rememberrrrrrrrr!!!!

no. none of that. jim's pronouns are they/them and not a single person slips once.* even the nun who raised them and hasn't seen them in [an indeterminate amount of time implied to be on the scale of years] gets it right! (she does call them by their birth name, but jim seems to be using the name jim mostly out of convenience anyway, not as a "new identity" kind of thing.) even black pete, who's the character i was expecting to be a dick about it (obnoxious, openly derisive of stede (previously the most visibly gender-non-conforming character), snarky), just. uses the right pronouns for jim. every time. no questions. no eye rolling. no scoffing or sighing or checking if jim is in earshot or pretending he's forgotten how to conjugate verbs. i can't remember if izzy ever refers to jim in the third person but i definitely** would've remembered if he misgendered them so even this feral repressed trash fire of toxic masculinity and internalized homophobia can do it!

so i think what we can conclude from this is that i need to start stabbing more people? it seemed to work for jim. i don't see any flaws in this plan. it's perfect and i need to make dinner good night.

*(presumably someone updated stede about this offscreen, since at the time he was, uh [checks notes] berating himself via gut-wound-and/or-sepsis-induced hallucination)

**probably, see above re no subtitles

#ofmd #ofmd spoilers #our flag means death #jim jimenez #had to look up that spelling #don't even have the subtitle excuse it's written on the knife #fuck i forget my non-fanfic tags #whatever 80% of this blog is me saying 'i'll fix that later' and forgetting about it #what's one more #someone more eloquent and knowledgeable than me pls elaborate

[jaskierx]

After being subjected to the canyons utter dismissal of anything Izzy did in s1 I honestly started to feel like I’d been misinterpreting the show. The confrontation between Izzy and Ed in s1ep10 is boiled down to Izzy just “saying some mean things”. Izzy’s controlling and shitty behavior is just him being protective and in love with Ed and it’s actually so tragic that Ed would dismiss Iz like that, guys. Take after take, I began to wonder if maybe I’d blown things out of proportion. Maybe he wasn’t that bad.

But then the gears in the logical part of my brain start turning and I remember why framing Izzy in that light is so frustratingly shitty. Like, okay. We all get that Ed isn’t an evil monster for killing his dad. It was a direct response to feeling threatened after suffering and witnessing his fathers abuse. We can all agree on that. So why is it different when Ed has a similar reaction to Izzy threatening him? Why is it okay for Izzy to berate and mock and tell Ed he was better off dead? Izzy displayed controlling and honestly abusive behavior in season 1. Ed was fighting back against his abuser when he killed Father Teach, and we got that. But suddenly that isn’t the case when he fights back against Izzy? I’m so tired of people acting like mental abuse isn’t as valid as physical. That it was only mean words, and that Izzy did everything out of love.

Homophobic parents can be controlling and abusive “out of love”. They think they’re protecting you. That doesn’t absolve them of their shitty behavior. That doesn’t change the fact that their actions are harmful. The same should be said for Izzy. Ed was mentally tormented by that man‼️ For people to dismiss that and act like abuse can only ever be physical is so disheartening. I’ve suffered both. One is not necessarily worse than the other. It feels so invalidating…I want to engage with fans and talk about this because I feel like it’s important, but if I had anyone argue with me about it I think I’d explode into a pile of silly string. It sucks that this is the state of the fandom 😭

yep people will absolutely bend over backwards to view all of izzy's actions in the best possible light. they give him the benefit of the doubt, they full on make shit up that 'must have' happened offscreen, they rationalise his abuse of ed in a hundred different ways. 'it was for ed's own good' 'he was trying to protect the crew' 'ed was going to get everybody killed' etc

(and often when they post about this it's really telling about their attitudes to stede being femme/gnc - i've seen too many posts along the lines of 'izzy needed to stage an intervention for ed, the talent show was the last in a long line of batshit things he'd been doing because he was obsessed with some ponce')

as many people in this fandom have already pointed out, it's like the canyon thinks that a white guy can say whatever the fuck he wants regardless of how threatening or abusive it is, but the moment the brown guy he's saying it to dares to retaliate to protect himself, he's an abuser and he's completely unjustified and etc etc

i resent being called an abuse apologist by the same people on this website who will unironically post takes like 'izzy wasn't abusive to ed because he wasn't trying to hurt him, he was acting in ed's best interests, ed forced his hand' (sound familiar?) or 'if izzy is so abusive then how come he tried to get ed out before the navy got there' (idk bestie maybe he could've tried not selling the crew out at all? maybe if he really did care about ed he wouldn't try to get his partner killed?)

#the izcourse #asks #anon #cw abuse #izzy critical