cₑcᵢₗ ⱼₐcₒbₛ ᵢₛ ₐ bᵢg wₑₜ ₕₑₙ @jeezlouisefinch - Tumblr Blog

This is Money Snake. She only appears every 312 years.

If you reblog her picture within the next twenty-five seconds you will have good luck and fortune for the rest of your life.

thingsamylikes

I reblogged her late last year and my 2024 has been very satisfying work-wise and (secure enough to not stress out) money-wise so far. Money Snake is wise and good.

carpecake

Not worth taking the risk

30-rats-in-a-trenchcoat

ao3 writers will be like "sorry if its out of character i wrote this for myself when i was half asleep" and then its the most beautiful well thought out character analysis youve ever read

yenvengerberg

#edward teach has adhd pass it on

artyphex

I am floored I am flabbergasted I cannot believe it

In the game, Bill and Frank were almost nothing. Bill was a joke character, he shows up, he’s a doomsday prepper, he helps you fight zombies, gives you a truck battery, and you leave. Ellie steals some comics and a gay porno magazine from him, and he’s never seen again.

Frank WAS nothing. You never see him. You find his BODY, he got bit and hung himself, and he got bit trying to escape Bill because he hated him so much and the note says he’s happier dead than living another day with Bill

And then the show. The show took that shallow, mean storyline, and made it beautiful.

Now Bill and Frank are real characters. We know them. Really KNOW them. And they don’t hate each other. In fact they’re in love. They’re really IN LOVE. And yes they argue and disagree sometimes but they’re a real couple who really love each other while still being two people so sometimes they fight. That doesn’t change that they’re in love

And they GET TO BE IN LOVE, the whole time, they’re doing things for each other. They’re living in their little gated paradise and it’s beautiful. They make it pretty. They grow food. They’re eating gourmet meals. They’re not just surviving. They’re thriving. They’re living

They took that mean spirited game story, and they made it the point, the heart, the example of what people are still fighting for. The proof that yes, even in the middle of the apocalypse, you can still live a good life. Not an easy life, you will still have bad days, you’ll have bad days with the ones you love, but you will still love them, and they will still love you. And then, with all these grizzly, horrific deaths we see two deaths that are peaceful. Painless. Two men who die old, satisfied, and in the arms of their purpose.

Don’t you see? It’s about hope

Bill and Frank are hope

saintbadwolf

so this episode huh

midnightepiphany

I love him, your honor

f1cked

say it with me:

ABORTION IS HEALTHCARE.

ABORTION IS A HUMAN RIGHT.

ALL GENDERS CAN GET AN ABORTION.

four-am-fanfiction

a very low effort meme to demonstrate the entirety of my thought process throughout this show

whatevererr

mikimeiko

I haven't seen this scene discussed much, and it's weird because it sent chills down my spine when I first watched it.

Of course it's because it's straight after the confrontation with Izzie, but I don't think it's just that. Maybe it's the "Eddie" that is a bit too much. Maybe it's the chanting. But this is the sound of men who don't have an ounce of fear left of you, and MAYBE you thought they were caring and happy but WHAT IF they're actually just moking you? Are you a joke now? Are you ok with being a joke?

Maybe being the monster made of smoke with burning eyes, the ferocious pirate with nine guns on him, wasn't so bad after all.

mikimeiko

@ubergeekmalfoy Yes! I saw that gif of "no one laughs at me" ready to go and kill everyone and I wanted to post it as a comment but Tumblr decided to make it impossible for me to find it and so in the end I gave up but YES.

There's a connection there, with him not being able to read the situation correctly when he was out of his element and probably now thinking "is this the same?"

malvolios-yellow-stockings

stele3

Ed is performing every second of his life. He performs Blackbeard when he shows up; the crew applauds as he simply walks across the deck. He performs as Jeff at the fancy dinner party and that works until it doesn’t. He sings for the crew post-breakup and Izzy threatens him. I think for maybe a brief gasp of a moment with Stede in the privateers barracks he is just himself or the start of what might be himself — and Stede leaves him.

I think in this scene Ed hears the crew calling for another song and he realizes it’s just another being demanded of him. Without Stede there — the heart of him is gone. It’s just another act and it’s gotten a bad (and dangerous) review. The only performance he’s ever given is as Blackbeard so he chooses to return to that role.

lunaescribe

Haven't seen a lot of people discuss this, but I think this is where identity and race come into play HUGELY on the show. I think it's really significant on the show's part when we see Edward's childhood flashback, we got confirmation he's biracial from his parentage.

And as a mixed race person, I can confirm how it fractures your identity and you so constantly feel this need of performing for both sides of yourself. And it's so clearly shown in Edward's character.

He can pander to the white perceptions of him (the French aristocrats) and be humorous so he isn't scary-since in their heads he will always be an 'other'. Or perform that monstrosity which at least keeps the scorn of white people away and keeps you safe.

It's extremely significant his Father is white and he has to kill his Father. It's more or less a stand in to me to the constant oppression and lack of belonging he has to contend with as a person of color, and one who feels they don't fit in either world.

And the French party really signifies that experience of being mixed-and mixed and light too. He's not so dark skinned he's immediately regulated to belonging with the servants-or some extraordinary outlier like Frenchie and Olu's rich prince personas (which the factor of wealth is the only reason they aren't mistreated).

He's allowed IN the room with the white rich people-but he will never be accepted as an equal. He is outside of both worlds, an outlier. And the french read him like that too-a mixed person attempting to perform some of that whiteness they were told they SHOULD aspire to-but never will be able to fully achieve. No matter how well he remembers all the spoons-he will still be seen as someone trying their damndest to fit in.

It's a moment of intersectionality how Stede's overt queerness and failing at traditional masculinity make him, like Ed, someone who is on the fringe of rightfully fitting int-but still unable to due to a significant piece of his identity.

Ed's whole life is a performance though. Do you make yourself laughable and idiotic to appease white people like at the party? "See I am more white than POC, I am non-threatening" Or do you lean into their frightened perceptions "Yes I am the monster you think I am-so stop laughing." When any attempts of showcasing 'normalcy' are met with mockery, of course you quickly find it is better to be feared and therefore given a degree of respect that comes with it-than be a non-threatening jester who is constantly dehumanized as a joke.

Being feared is dehumanizing-but people are more cautious with you-they leave you be. As a mixed person Ed understands this absolutely.

lunaescribe

A Biracial Reading of BlackBeard

It came to my shock-a lot of white fans of OFMD seem to have not caught up on the fact we’re explicitly shown Edward Teach is a man of color from biracial origins in Our Flag Means Death. And that identity, goes so much into how his character is written and reacts to situations. I would argue Episode 4 and 5 are extremely deliberate in their showcasing of how his identity has informed his choices and the way he behaves around others. I want to highlight just a few moments, that stood out to me as a someone who is also biracial and light skinned-that I don’t think some people have picked up have a deeper meaning.

From the get-go we’re introduced to two sides of Blackbeard. Either as ‘the terror of the seas’ or an extremely clever-but at times irritatingly eccentric man. There’s an element of duality, multiple faces, and most aptly code-switching to him the moment he is introduced. This post really wonderfully goes into all the elements of performance and multiple identities Ed seems to juggle. Code switching is something many POC learn though-which is learning to behave one way with white people-and another with people of your own race-or other races, and so on.

We see from flashbacks Ed is biracial, with a white Father and Maori mother (the same biracial make up with genders swapped, of Taika himself). The framing of this shot above is so significant. He and his mother cowering from his white Father (patriarchy, colonialism against indigenous peoples like himself and his mother), and Ed is positioned slightly closer to his mother in the middle of them-another demonstration he is closer to his indigenous/POC side than his white side.

It’s wildly significant the first murder he has to commit is his Father, very much showing that attempt to resist colonialism-as an institution and the side of him descended from it. And it leads to those fracturing identities.

Being biracial puts one in a position-you are not as excluded as darker skinned people of color who have very limited access to white spaces in this time period-but nor are you ever seen as belonging in those white spaces either. We know he grew up in proximity to whiteness hence having access to even see things like the red silk in the first place-but he never felt allowed to be part of it. It puts Edward in a place where he is both an outsider with other POC and in white spaces. So how do you cope with that? Do you soften yourself as much as possible to be non-threatening enough to pass in a white space? Or do you lean into white perceptions of your 'otherness’ and play it so you can’t be further mocked or excluded-you are choosing your own isolation and denying them the chance to do it to you. Hence Edward’s need to make himself a larger than life fearful 'monster like’ figure like the Kraken. However it’s the fact he is light skinned-that privilege that has probably lended himself to be able to become as successful he is-capable of earning respect from white pirates (Calico Jack, Izzy) and those of color (Ivan, Fang, and many on his crew).

Which doesn’t mean he enjoys that image at all. Becoming “The Kraken” began as an attempt to fight off white violence and has continued so long into life. Especially where we meet Edward in the series-he’s grown weary of being so stereotyped as the 'beastly POC’.

When Edwards’ shown this image-he gets especially upset. It’s worth noting he’s referred to as a “Devil” in the image too. And while yes it is a scene of him exhausted of the weight of reputation of “Blackbeard” it’s also an image of a man of color being shown a racial stereotype of himself.

The fact he calls himself a 'vampire clown’ and is frustrated at the amount of guns he’s shown to carry-he’s showing outrage over how he is stereotyped as an othered monstrous and hyper-violent caricature- something men of color are often forced to deal with. The fact he is a man of color-is probably what has allowed his reputation to become so fearsome. White people will automatically assume he is more violent because he is brown. All the more significant his bathtub confession that he personally dislikes the act of murder-and rarely personally ends a person’s life. It’s only because of this racial stereotype that rumor has been able to grow so large that he is killed HUNDREDs like Black Pete says in episode 2.

It makes all the more sense in the next episode he is very anxious for an attempt to join a white upper-class party. Especially after being called a “donkey” when attempting to learn about dinner party etiquette. Another example of white people excluding him due to his mixed race status.

The fact he is mixed is part of the reason he’s even able to get into the room with the rich aristocrats rather than be confined to the servant’s quarters-or immediately othered like Frenchie and Olu are ('you’re so much better than my african servant!’)

However it’s extremely significant he only becomes popular and gains the attention of the white aristocrats (and he is the only person of color in the entire party) when he makes a joke about violence. From the get-go they’re laughing and amused because he is again (Not realizing it this time) playing into their stereotype of him. A violent man of color-but presenting it in playful manner they feel un-threatened, much like white people watching minstrelsy shows in the 1800s-but still being so afraid of black men they had numerous laws to keep them separate.

And immediately, when Edward catches on they’re not amused by him as a person-but by the caricature they see of him he’s humiliated and leaves the party. It’s an example of a lesson he learned long ago. He has to be either extremely non-threatening-a joker-if he wants to be tolerated in a white space, or he can be extremely threatening, play into their stereotype-and use their fear to avoid being further hurt. We see a touch of that in episode 4 when he dodges Izzy’s questions by being especially eccentric and difficult to read-making jokes and random statements than give sincere straightforward answers that can be mocked. It’s very deliberate he takes out his knife when answering Izzy’s threat/demand he needs to make choice-it’s a refusal to be openly intimate-and a reminder not to tread too closely.

Edward’s not stupid/or socially inept for not realizing he was being mocked from the start-he had really believed Stede’s lessons and clothes had given him practice to blend into a white space. So the first thing he does when realizing he’s being mocked is code switch back into violence-pull out his pistol. Stede talks him down-but it only works because he knows he’s outnumbered in this scene. If he showcases any violence or anger as a man of color he would be jumped upon immediately and thrown in that ships holding cell.

It’s all the more significant Stede is a white man too-when he leaves Edward in the end of episode 9. It’s not just a break up, it’s an example of Ed once again feeling not good enough-and excluded from the society Stede chose to return to. Part of the reason Ed fell in love with Stede is Stede was willing to see Ed as a whole person-he admired his anger AND sensitivity-and as a person who has also been an outsider due to his very overt queerness-Stede can form a kinship with Ed due to their mutual ostracizes from society.

While there’s been multiple good readings about Izzy pining for Ed, and Izzy’s frustration against Stede being driven because he is a rich person invading a working class space-as this post pointed out, Izzy is still a white man asking Ed to behave as that hyper-violent caricature that has been carved out for him. That is where he sees Edward’s worth. The fact Izzy immediately begins mocking him for missing Stede-it reminds Ed so clearly, he can not drop his act around white people. Or he will be harassed, mocked, and threatened.

Edward has to become the Kraken to survive in his mind. Hence why he uses a caricature image of himself as inspiration. To survive heartbreak, to survive the white people who would rip him apart if he isn’t threatening, to maintain control of his life. There’s a reason he has to kill Lucius-who he revealed too much of his heart to, vulnerability is not an option for him. When you’re biracial-the closer you are to whiteness, the more acutely you will be held up for failing at it. It is much easier for him to be guarded, threatening, and give into the perception of him-rather than have his heart broken over and over-told how he is not good enough-too sensitive,

Which is why this Kraken image-Blackbeard-it’s all a tragedy. Edward knows-as much as being Blackbeard makes him safe-it makes him painfully lonely. And it’s an identity he has only fallen into because it was assigned to him-and because he feels convinced at the end of this season there is no space for him, as a queer man of color to have life full of love, softness, and emotional availability.

I certainly hope this reading is enlightening for folks who never read Edward or the show this way! I think it may cause people to rethink how they characterize Edward in their own writings or artwork, since the amount of people who seem to love leaning into an element of making him monstrous, well that’s exactly why he is suffering in the show. He doesn’t think a man of his identities has any other choice.

elliottdoesntexist

i may have made something

theteapotofdoom

I love the popular headcanon/theory of Ed hearing about Stede’s "death" in season 2 and being completely broken over it, because:

1) the angst is absolutely delicious

2) I love the implication of Ed hearing "it appears that Stede Bonnet fought with a leopard and then got run over by a carriage and then a piano fell over him" and immediately falling for it. He just hears about this absolute looney toon of a death, this absolute muppet tragedy and goes "yeah that tracks"