"Bit gay innit?" @faffounette - Tumblr Blog

Is it me, or there really was a lot of unclear scenes in s2? The Ned Low one: was it good or was it bad that Stede killed him? Was it him becoming worse or was it him fighting for his people for the first time (even tho until now he was proud of being able to do just that without any killing?) ? But then he was traumatized? But then they didn't talk? And suddenly they have sex? And I've seen like 4 different interpretations of why they had sex, from Stede wanting to prove something to Stede wanting to feel human again so I'm completely confused and the fact that those scenes have only a few seconds doesn't help. Why did Ed throw away Blackbeard in e7? Because he felt it was a kind of piracy Stede hated? Because he realized piracy could kill Stede and that's why he wanted to settle? Am I an idiot or is the writing unclear? Was Ed's fisherman idea about him finding himself or was it him running away like a coward? Was it a self care decision or a stupid impulsive one? Was him getting his Blackbeard clothes back him regressing or progressing? Because at first it looks like regressing, but after Stede's letter it's all fine?? Is killing in e8 fine because the English are evil and violence sometimes is good? I'm a bit confused, because I thought Stede's soft management in s1 was a good idea, but maybe I didn't get something?? Like, Ed and Stede didn't kill people personally, but they did to protect each other? That's what you're saying? But Ned Low wasn't a real threat, the guy at Spanish Jackie obv too, and when the English were, I don't know if Stede had to be there or why was Ed so unbothered? Help (seriously)

#yep #a messsss

soapbubbles511

Ed repeatedly trying to kill the literal embodiment of his self-hatred. But the self-hatred just won't stay dead.

#one of the best scenes of s2 #taika killed it #and I loved hornigold

I hate how Stede didn't have any reaction to what had happened in his absence. Was that realistic? was Stede that indifferent?

No word to Ed about his crew that got marooned, lucius that was tossed over board, his ship that was trashed and his clothes, his books that got thrown away and Ed maniac and unhinged episode!!

He was in character not to be mad and to accept what had happened and to blame himself but I would have liked to see them talk about some of it.

I also wanted to see Ed asking about Stede's time away too. Like did he have closure? what does he feel about all of it?

So much to talk about and they showed too little! it was all left as subtext and it created so much ambiguity.

#they did find the time to write an elaborate arc for izzy though #davis forgot what the show is about #ofmd

Unpopular opinion : but the morning after with izzy barging in on them and making that comment and looking at Ed in that way was creepy af..

#I hate it #not funny #I fast forwad every time #ofmd

demuredimensions

Frenchie appreciation guaranteed to make Friday come faster.

darkshrimpemotions

The way Ed looks st Stede after he says "I'm not about to" like he's checking to see if Stede's still there, only to find Stede has moved closer and is looking at him with so much affection and adjusting what he wants to say to something Ed might be more ready to hear. The way Stede looks at Ed with that devastated expression after he says he's not ready for whatever this is, and then this sort of resolve comes over his face before he says this can be whatever they want it to be.

This man is not prone to whims, dammit. When he decides something, he decides. He will move Heaven and Earth for it. He will ask for less than what he really wants and sacrifice his own desires to it. Whim-proned my ass.

wolviestars

my babygirls

#I love them

I'm disappointed that S2 has become Izzy discourse.

He should have mallowed a bit but stayed an antagonist and killed in s3 not for Ed but in a big battle against the british. His death This season was lame.

Izzy betrayed Ed and told him being himself was a fate worse than death and drove Ed to insanity.

Ed didn't care Izzy was banished from the ship after the duel and abused and shot him and Made him a cripple in s2.

Their relationship was so toxic and I don't get how we went from that to Izzy doing drag, dying in the finale like martyr, Ed calling him his only family and david describing izzy as a father figure.

The show was supppsed to be about the journey of the gentleman pirate and his relationship with the crew and blackbeard. But we got little of that.

A little was left of the gentleman pirate. No talk of books, fine things and the revenge. Stede had no depth this season. Ed and Stede barely talked about anything the whole season. Stede moved on so fast after killing two people. The crew was sidelined. Stede retiring was not discussed on screen.

I honestly throught they would be driven to retirement after destruction of the revenge in a big battle and after a fuckery ( no talk of fuckeries This season) in s3.

It pains me to see the whole crew with zheng and spanish Jackie sailing on the revenge as big family without Ed and Stede.

How can writers fuck up this bad. And I don't care wvat anyone says but S2 was a mess for every character involved.

#ofmd #the show lost its mojo #and it's the writers fault for not knowing how to respect continuity and proper characteristation #I'm so sad #the show is 32 on demand and for a reason

littleizzytrashmouth

There he is.

Our Flag Means Death

Our Flag Means Life

Our Flag Means Character Arcs

Fucking thank you, Con O'Neill 🖤🏴‍☠️🖤

#izzy wished he was dead in s1 #ed shot him and cost him his leg in s2 #their relationship was so toxic #but let's pretend it's not and kill izzy and erase all that #and call him a father figure #like what the actual fu*k

It would have been perfect if the finale ended with ed and stede in the crew's nest talking about a possible retirement in the near future!

more open and it fits stede's arc more

#ofmd

I feel like izzy arc this season made less sense than his death!

He died doing what he loves. He died as a pirate!

But also this show was never serious so why go there?

#no but dj fu*ked izzy fans over #was it done right or necessary? NO #it should have happened in s3 #ofmd

I don't get it!

Did they retire?

Did Stede leave his crew and give up the revenge so easily so he can retire with Ed?

Running a inn is final and that seems rushed and abrupt especially for stede?

what was that all about!!

#The only thing I didn't like about the finale #didn't make sense really #I thought Ed realized piracy was his thing??#ofmd #our flag means death

belovedknowyourmaster

i have so many things to say but one in particular:

izzy hands is having the rest he needed. he was a pirate and he would die like one. not like ed or stede who are walking through a grey line of it, but a real pirate. he was more blackbeard than ed ever was probably, so as that he was going to die on the ship with his crew after butchering british. and he loved that fucking life with all it meant.

this is not a 'bury your gays' trope y'all, catch some breath.

and do not harass writers and directors, be grown up, for god's sake.

naranjapetrificada

I'm exhausted but we need to talk about

how creepy this is:

(gif by @chrrispine)

when you remember (and are still waiting in vain for the narrative of season 2 to acknowledge) this moment, much less the entire fucked up scene it's part of:

(gif by @figmentof)

That Izzy was the one to intrude on their moment was violation enough, but I was legitimately physically uncomfortable with his eyes raking over Ed like that AND Ed's complete lack of reaction to it. I understand that there was meant to be some subtextal discomfort around this new level of intimacy for Ed and Stede but coupled with literally everything else about Izzy's fumbled arc this season, it was even worse than it needed to be. Add it to the pile of inexplicable* decisions they've made around Izzy as a character this season.

*well there are some potential explanations but they're all bummers

tizzyizzy

Dude Izzy has known Ed for the majority of both of their lives, and probably had to endure dealing with Calico Jack at the same time. They are on a pirate ship with limited privacy. Izzy's probably had to drag Ed's hungover ass out of a pile of naked bodies more than once during their professional relationship. And Ed fed Izzy his own toes?

I think Ed is probably not experiencing trauma from his metaphorical ex pirate wife giving him shit about getting laid, especially when the guy sang a romantic French song to set the mood.

Izzy isn't some creepy old man leering at some random guy. They are old friends who love each other. Canonically. If you don't like Izzy, fine, but don't project that onto other characters.

naranjapetrificada

Although I hadn't accounted for the inevitable messiness that would have been Ed's relationship with Calico Jack, I think my point about the narrative not quite earning this is still fair. Not just because of the unresolved issues from last season's finale, but also because it's still kind of debatable how Ed defines the word "friend" and what kind of timeline we're talking here. Although that's not even a productive argument to have because it kind of feels beside the point to me.

I could list the info we've been able to learn about their relationship but the point is that much like the narrative beats for Izzy's story arc, few of those details are strongly defined enough to do the heavy lifting to make this moment land well for everyone. There aren't a lot of reliable narrators aboard the Revenge under the best circumstances, but given the shortened season there's even less room to explore all of that and it sucks.

How long has Izzy worked for Ed (besides "a long time" or "all my fucking life" which could mean literally anything)? What, in the infinite shades of meaning around the word "love", did Ed mean by "I loved you"? How did the betrayal to the English and later the haranguing in s1e10 change their relationship, whatever that relationship even was at this point in their lives? These are the kinds of questions I would actually love answers for because I think they would make Izzy's arc this season a home run instead of just walking the bases. But there was no time.

Because there wasn't time, or because other things were prioritized in the production, Izzy's journey this season and the status of his relationship with Ed remain vague and in that absence, there's room for story beats to hit people in weird ways, emotionally speaking. I know saying anything bad about Izzy is like a fucking bat signal for some people but here's the thing: I wasn't even referring specifically to your special boy when I called this creepy.

"How creepy this is" was referring to the situation, because for me (and others like me) the narrative had not done enough to answer the open questions about their relationship to make it feel alright. I don't think it's unfair that some people might find this off-putting, especially when there are so many other cues that this scene isn't meant to be a comfortable one (the greenish lighting, the faces in shadow, the distance and total absence of contact between Ed and Stede on the bed, Ed's adorable but disastrous attempt at breakfast).

I've had a lot to say about Izzy's arc this season and very little of it has been positive, but I figured I had done enough to make it clear that I've almost exclusively been talking about narrative, not the man himself. Might be time to add a boilerplate disclaimer to any post I make about him to save us all the time and energy we've wasted here. Not everyone personalizes Izzy the way some of his more ardent admirers seem to, so you don't need to take a critique of your little guy's story arc as a critique of your little guy. Who's the one projecting here?

izzy-anti-archive

It's a fucking comedy. You know what else is creepy by this argument? Lucius barging in on Jim and Olu and not immediately leaving. Anne and Mary joking about Ed and Stede's sex life. Spanish Jackie talking about his husband in bed to someone who hasn't consented to hearing it.

The writers did not write the scene to be creepy. If they had, we would have had clear cues of Ed and Stede being uncomfortable with it.

Get over yourself. You're just looking for reasons to be mad.

izzy-anti-archive

@faffounette Are you fucking okay?? They're HIS characters. He's not "messing with" the characterization, he's writing. Sorry you wildly misinterpreted the way Izzy's character was always going to go and are struggling to cope.

faffounette

Writers can fuck up if you didn't know.

And What do you mean he was always going to go that way?? Please give me scenes from S1 that forshadow or explain this change.

If you told anyone a year ago that izzy will do drag, sing in french, go to stede and be happy to see him the moment he comes back they would have laughed!!

This is the same guy who told Ed being himself is a fate worse than death, mocked him for pining, hated Stede's guts and hated the talent show and scorned Ed singing.

I'm not going to sit here and pretend ignoring all of s1 narrative and Izzy doing a 180 overnight is good storytelling!

Stede and Ed still haven't gotten their shit together and it's episode 7. Lucius is yet to recover from the trauma. That makes sense. Izzy's rushed arc doesn't.