side blog

they/he, 27, tired

[izzypaws]

izzy was always doomed by the narrative, but consider that if the narrative could be changed through the power of love it would probably be a more satisfying outcome in a silly pirate romcom

[mundayme]

the unicorn is alive

[beansprean]

(ID in alt and under cut)

ID: 1a. Close up of Ed against a blue sky facing right, beard just stubble, grinning happy and hopeful as he shouts out, “Stede!” 1b. Close up of Stede against the same blue sky facing left, grinning with equal joy and relief, tear in his eye as he shouts back, “Ed!” 1c. Ed begins to run towards him, shouting “Stede!” again. 1d. Stede starts to run to him as well, echoing, “Ed!”

2a. Ed slows, his smile beginning to drop, brow furrowing slightly as he thinks. He says, a bit less joyously, “Stede…” 2b. Noticing the change, Stede slows his run as well, smile a bit more hesitant as he echoes, “Ed?” 2c. Ed leans forward, breaking into a sudden sprint as his lip curls up in an angry scowl, growling, “Stede!!” 2d. Stede’s face turns to fear and he skids to a stop, windmilling his arms as he tries to turn around, squeaking, “Oh, shit!”

3a. Zoom out, Ed is sprinting down the beach after Stede, who is fleeing frantically in his impractical shoes. Ed shouts, “Stede, you son of a bitch, you kept me waiting!” Stede shouts back, “I can explain, Ed, please! I’m sorry!!” 3b. Close up of Jim and Olu, arms around each other in their own reunion as they stare out at their captains. Jim has a small smile on their face and says, totally sincere, “Nice to see them making up.” Olu doesn’t respond, watching with concern as Ed and Stede continue to shout off screen: “Get back here!!” “Darling, please, I’m not a good runner!” /end ID

[bougiebutchbinch]

oh, take me back to the days when all we talked about was Izzy's tits

[plantsjustwannahavefun]

I used to think that the reason I wasn't satisfied with Izzy's death was because I was too attached to his perspective as a character and couldn't focus on the big picture of the season and the main Gentlebeard relationship enough. I mean, I was still convinced that his death and the way it was carried out was a shit writing decision, but everyone else outside the Izzy Canyon circles seemed fine with it, so I was starting to think that maybe they were right.

So I looked back on the rest of the season and rewatched the finale... And realised something that I'd been trying to ignore because it was too painful to admit. A huge part of why Izzy's death hit so hard (in a bad way, not that delicious masochistic pain of having a beloved character die a good, narratively satisfying death) was because throughout this season he was the only character who actually had a satisfying arc and development. Practically no one else did. I didn't actually care for Gentlebeard this season, not the way I cared in S1. From episode 1 to 8 and a half, Izzy's arc was crafted with more care, kindness, subtlety and narrative weight than the main Gentlebeard arc which, in comparison, felt like a string of choppy beads badly tied together in an approximate shape of an arc, but collapsed as soon as you looked at it too closely.

Yes, we all know this season suffered for being 2 episodes too short, but I don't think that's all there is to it. This is starting to feel like GoT season 8 all over again. Would it have been better if it wasn't so rushed? Maybe. Or maybe it would have been even worse because this season just didn't seem to know what to do with itself or the characters. The themes and symbolism are all over the place and completely inconsistent. Ed and Stede's characters are practically back at the same place they left in S1. All they did was bounce off the walls back and forth with no real growth. As soon as they took a step towards fixing their relationship or growing as people, they either tool three steps back or it just got dropped. Stede letting fame get to his head? Interesting and realistic development. And how was it resolved? It wasn't. Stede and Ed being whim prone? I'm glad they brought it up. And then they just fell for another whim and it was presented as a satisfying ending.

Ed went from the Kraken, to taking the first steps towards being Ed, then suddenly all the way to being Ed by way of a Night of Magical Healing Sex that he he didn't actually want to happen because he wasn't ready. And then all of a sudden he pivoted to abandoning Stede and piracy and becoming a fisherman... for 5 min. And then back to Blackbeard again because two fishermen were mean to him for 5 minutes. And then abandoning it again to open an inn. How was any of this even remotely coherent or satisfying? They didn't even have a single conversation about any of it. Ed had more proper closure and communication with Izzy during his dying scene than with Stede and the rest of the crew put together. Izzy's arc got sacrificed to do the heavy lifting for Ed's arc and became nothing more than a shortcut to speed run his character growth. Except it didn't even lead anywhere. "Ed, they're your family, they love you" no they don't, he didn't even have a single positive conversation with any of them except Fang. Of course this could have been the point, and Ed could have seen Izzy's death, his own discovery of found family and his dying words as a pretext to repair his relationship with the crew. But he just left them and stayed with Stede instead.

Sure, you could say this was only the second act of the story, and S3 will resolve everything. But the second act is still meant to move the story and the characters forward in some way. Yes, of course if we get S3, I imagine Stede and Ed's life as innkeepers won't exactly be idyllic. But the problem is that the conflicts they'd have will only be a rehash and repeat of the same conflicts they've already have, or were supposed to have, this season. Multiple times, even. We already know that Ed is simply unable to live with himself no matter what life he chooses. The title of S1 was literally "wherever you go, there you are". We already know Stede's love isn't enough to fix him. We already know their goals in life are completely opposite. Maybe they could have shown Stede realising, after his humiliating in S7, that piracy wasn't all it was cracked up to be or he isn't suited for it, and that's why he chose to leave it behind and open an inn, but that's not the explanation we were given. It was just another whim. They literally didn't learn anything this season. They had two baby conversations in E4 and E5 and didn't take anything from it, just kept doing the complete opposite of anything. "We're both prone to whims, let's take things slow" became "let's take things extremely fast by moving in together permanently and becoming entrepreneurs". They never talked about the actual, deepseated, longstanding trauma issues they needed to resolve before they could even begin to have a proper relationship. They literally got a heavy-handed glimpse in what their life would become if they just stuck together without addressing their own personal issues, and chose to do that very thing. It that's what S3 is going to address, then why were Anne and Mary part of this season instead of the next one?

I remember everyone saying they wanted Ed and Stede to reunite as quickly as possible in S2, and I get why. They have great chemistry together. The season is about them. But for it to work, spending more time apart is exactly what they needed. They needed to learn how to live with themselves and others, first. Romantic love alone can't fix you as a person. You have to fix yourself first. Community can help (as with Izzy's case), but you still have to put in the work. In retrospect, I'm glad that Izzy didn't get a love interest this season - because he wasn't ready yet, and had to learn how to have normal relationships and friendships with other people before attempting an intimate romantic relationship, lest he ended up falling head first unit another toxic mutually dependent relationship. That's what Stede and Ed should have tried too. Instead the show just ended up using Izzy's death as a quick surgical fix, robbing Ed of his agency and having to do the hard work repairing himself and his relationships with other people. There's a sad irony in getting exactly one character's arc just this, and then using it as a sacrificial lamb to patch over the main character's arc.

[commander-diomika]

Every one rightfully ragging on Izzy's death for being rushed, narratively unsatisfying and just dumb within the rules of their own universe, but I would also like to make a brief shout out to the disappointment that came from introducing a bad ass Chinese woman, set her up as the big bad, only to have her empire completely crumble out from beneath her, utterly defang her before she gets to do anything cool and have the new big bad be another pathetic white boy.

Taking a break from being mad about Izzy to be mad about Zheng.

[alex51324]

Another round of thoughts on the "Izzy died like a queer-coded character from a pre-gay-lib era" theme:

Every time I check into the Izzy tag or the main OFMD tag, I see people talking about how they liked/weren't shocked by the finale because it always kinda seemed like Izzy was going to die:

The reason it seems that way is because Izzy is the kind of gay character that has, historically, gotten buried.

He's the queer-coded sidekick that has to die to make way for the straight romance, and the queer-coded villain that has to be vanquished to make room for the happy ending (which includes a straight romance).

This time, he died to make way for a gay romance. Diversity win!!! I guess????

And it isn't that anyone thinks--well, probably someone somewhere does think it, but it isn't that I think that DJenks did this because he secretly loves homophobic tropes.

I think--I mean, he's pretty much said, in the interviews--that he did it because he just kinda felt like Izzy had to die to complete his arc. And he's also said he didn't intend to write a homophobic show, what I conclude from that is that he didn't fucking notice that the reason he, IDK, just kinda always felt like Izzy had to die was because of this trope.

That's why, as of the actual filming of the fucking episode, he convinced himself he was doing the "mentor dies" trope, even though he'd never done anything to establish that kind of relationship between the two characters. Because he didn't fucking know why it just kinda seemed right for Izzy to die.

And that, my friends, means that this show is just not as smart as we built it up in our minds to be.

I wasn't even expecting it to be the show where That Character finally gets a happy ending of his own. But I was--because it is a fucking sitcom--expecting it to be one where he ended up somewhere we could imagine a happy ending for him, rather than leaving him bleeding out on the fucking pavement.

[izzyhandsyouaglassofwine]

seen a couple people running to that "is it bad writing or do you not understand genre" post in regards to the ofmd upset. and let me remind people that this show was marketed as a romantic comedy, ESPECIALLY this season!

In that regard, I found an article/blog post that directly addresses the question "can you have character death in a romantic comedy?" And it really hits the nail on the head.

Even if you were to make the argument "well it's a dark comedy!" or "its a pirate show!" there's still a balance that needs to be met if you don't want to alienate your audience.

People are going to argue that the death was earned because they spent the entire season building up his character and "completing his arc". Well, I'll argue that they DIDN'T complete his arc. In fact they took about twelve steps back in his death scene by seemingly ret conning his progress and having him center Ed's feelings on his literal deathbed. So it really feels a lot like fridging, because that's exactly what it was. Izzy's death was for Ed's arc, not his own. And they spent so much time focusing on Izzy all season, focusing on his growth and giving him such a specific arc about queerness and recovery, that yeah, his death feels like a slap to the face and not a tragic story beat that makes the story all the richer.

[cuculine-nelipot]

I would also like to add that yes, understanding the tropes and mechanics of a genre is helpful in knowing what to expect, so you can calibrate your engagement with the piece accordingly, but they are by no means law, or the deciding factor for quality.

For instance; we have all seen the over abundance of YA dystopian books. Almost every single of the them contains:

A society split into factions

A protagonist with unusual skill or ability.

A love triangle, in which the two romantic interests have diametrically opposed political views and/or interests and/or perogatives. Often times there is a blond and a brunette.

The death (or near death) of someone close to the protagonist.

A big civil unrest type thing.

However, I’m sure we all agree that checking those boxes doesn’t necessarily mean that the book is well written, and by the same token, a YA dystopian fantasy could be missing any number or all of these and still be excellent.

So much of the discussion around not only Izzy’s death, but the whole of season 2, has been rooted in ideas of genre or trope; “It can’t be bury-your-gays if there are other gays” “It’s a rom-com, of course they got back together” etc etc. But the technicalities aren’t the point. The point is that it was poorly written. If they were adamant that Stede and Ed needed to end up together this season, they should have written them actually working through their issues, not just listing them. If they needed Izzy to die, it should have been framed better - it should have been about him, and it should have had an impact on what followed. If they wanted this to also be a pirate adventure with an ensemble cast, they should have scaled back the Stede, Ed, and Izzy of it all and committed to developing Zheng and Ricky’s activities, and the whole Revenge gang should have been more consistently involved.

The problem with this season isn’t a matter of who among us is winning or losing based on our faves, the problem is that it was just a failure of writing on every front. It failed as a drama, as a romantic comedy, as an adventure; it failed to create something new like season 1 did, and it failed every single character and relationship. Honestly, it would be impressive if it wasn’t so… sad.

[our-flag-means-gay]

You know what, I'm not done ranting about the season 2 finale.

(Apart from the wedding being given approximately 0.5 seconds, which made it feel like it was just thrown in there it's an afterthought--)

I am done with having love interests or close friends die just so that the main character can realize something profound about themselves. What Ed realized about himself, he could have realized very easily without Izzy dying.

And, arguably, if Izzy hadn't died, they could have had a scenario where Ed and Stede decide to stay and run the inn (for however long that would last, because let's be real Ed has the attention span of an ADHD goldfish) and Izzy could have gone with the crew and kept protecting them and developed further as a character, because the crew were now his community. Apparently it's a controversial take, but I think that having Izzy live and actively having him choose to stay with the crew would have sent a more powerful message than any of this "let go of blackbeard he wasn't real bullshit".

And I know that some people found this to be a perfectly good ending because "not everyone lives to complete their character development in real life, some people die prematurely", but the thing is, this isn't real life. This is supposed to be fiction. And this show in particular has a tenuous connection to reality at best. I expected an ending that was, if not satisfying then at least cathartic, and I did not find that cathartic. And no amount of people telling me that I clearly just haven't analyzed it enough because it's a "good death" with it will stop that visceral knot of betrayal.

[ramblingruminations]

Half the takes i've seen makes it feel like OFMD fans want the gravitas of Black Sails without having to deal with the trauma of it..

Not that it is a bad thing to want. But the thing is you can't do it in a world where the ugly realities of the real world were meant to be ignored. You cant build an anti colonial narrative without acknowledging the purpose of that colonialism with any seriousness. (And by extension Stede's background)

I was perfectly ok with the Season 1 attitude of "these aspects are trauma we do not want in our world." Keeping this true, every conflict in OFMD so far had been interpersonal. For all that they wielded the might of the empire, the Badmintons were primarily bullies in conflict with Stede. Rick-y conflict is with Jackie and Stede to some extent. As much as themes of race and class existed in Season 1 in subtext their presence felt even more reduced in season 2. Suddenly escalating theminto text by jumping into the piracy vs empire stakes, without confronting their season 1 blind eye to colonial realities absolutely not earned.

(Zheng Yi Sao's presence and her fleet which did nothing narratively except get destroyed just confuses the whole thing more. The underlying implication that they probably would have survived better as individual pirates, that it was bein in Zheng Yi Sao's fleet that caused the mass distruction is something I don't want to confront yet. I need more time to get my thoughts in order there)

Izzy's speech, at least the first part about what it means to be a pirate, works with Ricky in the context of Ricky wanted to be a pirate and Izzy's opinion on what it means to be one..It doesn't work as a universal Declaration of the pirate ethos. (Not for pretty much any other pirate we have met so far)

And Izzy's kill us and we'll live in spirit declaration (as amazing as it sounds. Thanks Con) comes out of nowhere.

End of the day, Izzy is an individual, victim and perpetuator in a harmful ethos who was given a chance to learn and grow and heal (partially).

What is is absolutely NOT is Charles Vane. He is not the herald of the end of piracy. He is not the spokesperson of a revolution. His death can not be burdened by all those symbolism he hasn't earned.

Izzy is just a kinda messed up, kinda growing, kinda loved human.

He is not a icon or a martyr.

The show hadn't earned the right to make him one.

[ramblingruminations]

I suddenly remembered this and had to laugh

[izzyhandsyouaglassofwine]

seen a couple people running to that "is it bad writing or do you not understand genre" post in regards to the ofmd upset. and let me remind people that this show was marketed as a romantic comedy, ESPECIALLY this season!

In that regard, I found an article/blog post that directly addresses the question "can you have character death in a romantic comedy?" And it really hits the nail on the head.

Even if you were to make the argument "well it's a dark comedy!" or "its a pirate show!" there's still a balance that needs to be met if you don't want to alienate your audience.

People are going to argue that the death was earned because they spent the entire season building up his character and "completing his arc". Well, I'll argue that they DIDN'T complete his arc. In fact they took about twelve steps back in his death scene by seemingly ret conning his progress and having him center Ed's feelings on his literal deathbed. So it really feels a lot like fridging, because that's exactly what it was. Izzy's death was for Ed's arc, not his own. And they spent so much time focusing on Izzy all season, focusing on his growth and giving him such a specific arc about queerness and recovery, that yeah, his death feels like a slap to the face and not a tragic story beat that makes the story all the richer.

[bougiebutchbinch]

Seriously tho.

Did they have any physically disabled people in the writers room. Did they consult about the decision to kill off a character whose arc centred on accepting and understanding his disability and how it affected him. Did they consult about the choice to have Izzy say he wanted to die after his whole recovery and self-acceptance arc as a disabled queer man. Did they consult about the decision to use his fucking prosthetic leg as a grave marker rather than burying it with him. Did they know that the choices they were making would read as profoundly disrespectful to the disabled community. Or did they just not even consider it.

I want to know.

(as always, able-bodied people are welcome to reblog, but don't say a word unless it's in support)

[bougiebutchbinch]

I am not the ableism thought police

(in gentle response to an ask that I won't be publishing, as I don't want the tumblr user to get any blowback, and I think they were asking in good faith)

It is not inherently ableist to enjoy the OFMD finale, despite the fact that myself and many other physically disabled people are Really Fucking Uncomfortable with certain choices that were made.

You can like whatever you like. There will never be perfect media, and OFMD is better than... many shows in terms of its representation of queers and characters of colour, at least. Go forth and enjoy it! I'm not trying to take that away from you!

Here, however, is a handy list of things that ARE actual ableismsTM:

pretending the finale of your fave show is beyond reproach from physically disabled critics

dismissing the concerns and hurt of so many disabled fans who felt incredibly let down by the finale (and who want to know whether the writers consulted with disabled people before writing that whole scene (especially putting the words 'I want to go' in Izzy's mouth. jfc.))

mocking disabled people who are upset about how his self-acceptance arc as a disabled queer man ended - in a show that is trying to be progressive, no less!

making gross statements like "saying Izzy is disabled removes his character agency". Just. Wtf. I don't know how to explain to you that disabled people have agency, and that 'disability' isn't a Bad Scary Word.

claiming that just because you are physically disabled and you don't mind the finale, other physically disabled people shouldn't raise their concerns

expecting disabled people to hold your hand and reassure you that it's okay to like a show even if it Committed A Big Ol' Ableism

All of those things are ableist, and you should avoid them.

TL;DR: Love the show as much as you like. Just don't talk down to disabled fans who are raising very valid points about the ableism surrounding Izzy's death and burial. And don't demand that we emotionally coddle you and assure you that you are a good person if you liked the ending of S2.

As always, able-bodied people are encouraged to reblog - but don't join the conversation unless you are offering support.

[mottlemoth]

Seeing a few "those MEDIA ILLITERATE CHILDREN still INSIST that the finale was BURY YOUR GAYS" floating around.

I'm happy to break down my reasoning:

David Jenkin's post-finale interviews all make clear that Izzy's death was decided upon - even if only by David himself - at a very early stage.

Having established that Izzy would die, the writing team then chose to give him an explicitly queer narrative arc of self-discovery and joy, one they knew was going to end in a painful death.

They gave no other characters that strikingly queer arc of self-acceptance and expression - just the one they'd already decided to bury by the end. There were other queer characters, in queer relationships, but they didn't get queer arcs. (A character arc is the transformation or inner journey of a character over the course of a story. Being queer is not itself an arc; for example, Lucius's arc was about overcoming trauma. A character can be queer without a queer arc.)

The only character who did get a queer arc also got a grave.

You should be concerned by this choice from a writing team, especially if you are queer.

You should not be belittling the people who are voicing their concern.

As a side note, I was born in the 1980s. I grew up in the UK under Section 28. For what it's worth, I also have a first in English Literature. I've been suffering terrible media representation of gay people my whole life, and when I see it in a show which made a point of encouraging gay fans to feel safe and seen and respected, I'm going to point at it and scream very loudly.

[huffle-ego]

Pete: So has any of you actually seen a mermaid?

Ed: I thought I did once, but I was stranded on an island and really drunk and the heat of the sun got to me. When I woke up it was just a sea cow.

Frenchie: Truth is no one's ever seen a mermaid and lived to tell the tale because they snatch you up from your ship and drag you to the bottom of one ocean to eat ya. They also can't be on land for too long or they'll turn into sea foam.

Wee John: And how would you know that if Ya haven't seen one?

Frenchie: It's just facts.

Izzy: *Stopping his woodcarving* There is no such thing as fucking mermaids.

Roach: Oh what if they can take human form and walk on land without anyone being suspicious of them?

Lucius: Hey remember that time we thought Jim was a mermaid?

Jim: *Sighs* Here we go.

Roach: Hey if the walking land theory turned out to be true, who's to say that they aren't actually one?

Jim: Uh me actually because it's not fucking true!

Stede: Alright! Alright, settle down! No one on this ship is a mermaid!

Roach: *Suspiciously looking at Stede* Wait, didn't Blackbeard call you a mermaid once?

The crew: *Backing away from Stede slightly*

Stede: Oh, come on!

Izzy: *Sighing going back to wood carving* The captain is not a mermaid.

The crew: *Still suspicious*

Pete: I mean if Blackbeard thought he was one-

Stede: I am not a mermaid!!

Frenchie: Technically the right term would be Mer-man.

Ed: Alright! Enough crew. Stede is not a mermaid! It was just a silly dream I had.

Stede: Thank you, Ed. See? Take this as proof that your captain is not a mermaid.

Frenchie: *Under his breath* Mer-Man.

Pete: Well that's not good proof! Blackbeard is in love with you of course he's gonna be on your side!

Stede: Well, I'm sure if I were a *Eyes Frenchie* Mer-Man... Ed wouldn't love me very much-

Ed: *Grabs Stede's shoulders* Yes I would. Hundred percent would love you, fins, scales, gills, and all.

Stede:...

The crew:...

Pete:... So is he a mermaid?

Izzy: ALRIGHT BACK TO WORK!

[izzyhandsyouaglassofwine]

people critizing those of us upest about the finale and claiming that people dont have media literacy are conveniently forgetting the fact that the creators have been pedaling this show as groundbreaking for the queer community since day one (and it WAS). so when youre attempting to pioneer a genre/theme (in this case, queer love) it's perfectly reasonable for people to have critique of how things are handled. hell, i happen to think there are plenty of ways Izzy could have had a gratifying death in the show. But thats not what happened. Let people have their feelings about. Just block people if you dont like their take, it's not that hard. But maybe take a moment to think about why people are upset.

[izzyhandsyouaglassofwine]

gotta say. of all the batshit wild takes ive seen today, this one is undeniably the funniest. were we on the same website ten years ago? cause this is revisionist history if ive ever fuckin heard it 😹