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New Izzy pic via Deb Watson's insta story

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just the fact that this is a show where people get stabbed in the gut multiple times with no long-term health problems and not even real pain, someone gets tossed overboard in the middle of the night and manages to get onto another ship without drowning, an entire island of people gets found and rescued by a dude in a rowboat who doesn’t even know they’ve been marooned, someone lives despite being in a coma and beaten with a cannonball, and A GUY TURNS INTO A FUCKING SEAGULL but oh no THIS time this guy is dead after getting shot even when he didn’t die from blood loss or infection or a fucking gun to his head earlier like ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME

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PSA for any writers who need to hear this, having a character finally remove themselves from a toxic relationship that naerly drove them to suicide, letting them learn how to enjoy life again and love and be love outside of the narrow world they had been living in for so long, and then killing them anyway to further the emotional arc of the person they were in a toxic relationship in is not, in fact, narratively satisfying at all

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izzy’s “i have one more song!” after going through the lowest of lows at the start of the season is such an expression of queer joy and resilience. like yes, i went through hell but now ive developed the courage to express myself and am loved and encouraged by the people i surround myself with and goddammit i have more to give to the world. i have one more fucking song.

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rip to izzy hands, so wife coded he even got killed off for a man’s development <3

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I realized the biggest issue with Izzy's death: it was part of Ed's character arc, not Izzy's. It's not like Izzy redeemed himself in some heroic way, not that he needed to. It wasn't a culmination of his arc. He just died to...absolve Ed of his guilt, give him permission to be Ed instead of Blackbeard, and add some cheap drama.

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Ed never apologised to him. Just a shitty muttered sorryaboutyourleg without even LOOKING at him, and a bullshit "i should apologise" without any follow through.

Izzy in the arms of the man who repeatedly and deliberately mutilated him at least three times before causing him to lose a fucking limb, saying he's sorry for encouraging Ed to be Blackbeard, and Ed couldn't even muster up the balls to say that perhaps he shouldn't have purposefully physically chopped bits from izzy's body on multiple occasions??

And then for Ed to just shrug and say "what a guy" and move on with his life with Stede without a backwards glance? Where's the fucking responsibility, Ed? Where's the reflection? Where are the fucking consequences for Ed?

This is absolute bullshit and i am so numb with shock that the writers could do this to us.

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Taking someone's cigarette out of their mouth: Multiple meanings - used a lot in media to convey control, power play, very masculine, I'm your boss and this is mine now, get over it. Mildly flirty, look at me, all in your space and shit, seductive. You're not allowed to smoke, because I say so.

Putting the cigarette back in their mouth afterwards: Ground-breaking. Would be less erotic to just fuck honestly. Who does this?

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izzy hands' double d's,,,,, dead and dadzoned

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episode 8 fix it where izzy does get shot, but it doesnt kill him- its on the left side after all! a gunshot does more damage than a sword, so he has a longer healing time ahead, and with him still learning how to live missing a leg, they all agree that its best he doesn't sail away with them, that itd be better if he stayed on land while he recovers

conveniently, he just so happens to know two men who are looking to start an inn on land! he can stay with them, help them complete repairs (god knows neither of them knows what theyre doing themselves) he can whittle little souvenirs on his sick bed; he can help moderate their ideas ("theres no point picking drapes yet stede, we don't have a fucking window") he can heal in peace.

maybe he could try being someone else other than the great izzy hands, maybe he could make something new here. no captains, no first mates, just izzy and ed and stede

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I’d like to clarify that the ending is good. The ending is GREAT! I would have let a certain somebody NOT fucking die. Especially NOT in the arms of a sobbing Ed. (But also Ed looked fucking good in that white blouse with the gold accents lbr) but I love that The Swede is back. I love that Jackie is on board! I love that Stede learned that piracy was never the goal but family and love were. “What’s that smell?” Was a call back to “the rotting first mate” line and I cackled. Buttons coming back to chill with Iz was impeccable. It was objectively beautiful.

There were a million other things that I loved, little moments that really made my heart happy.

But. BUT. The pace was a mess. There was no pay off cus there wasn’t enough time for actual tension. I know it wasn’t their fault cus MAX was the worst about their budget, but that was a premature ejaculation for sure. Like it was really truly a mess for pacing. We got more time with Pop Pop and his kid than we did with Stede and Ed at the end. Sigh.

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i don’t even know how i feel- it was absolutely rushed and how DARE they kill off izzy without even an OUNCE of the respect he deserves AND!!!!!!!!!! pete and lucius deserve a better wedding!! it should have been longer!! more emotional!! cuter outfits!! come ON!!!

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OKAY LISTEN. LISTEN. HEAR ME OUT. THE SEAGULL THAT LANDED ON THE GRAVE MARKER WAS ACTUALLY BUTTONS AND HE'S GONNA DO SOME WITCHY NECROMANCY SHIT AND THEN BOOM. IZZY'S BACK. HAHAHAHA IM NOT CRAZY YOU'RE CRAZY 😤

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OFMD season 2 feels like watching someone bowl a perfect game, strike after strike, then on their final frame miss so badly they spin right round and kill a passing child.

All that growth and hope and finding a sense of belonging and community. Nope. Still tucked up safe and sound in his grave before the final credits.

Not even just buried now. Coddled like sacrificial lambs first.

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what does suck is that izzy's death and that big shot across the revenge of everyone in pairs means that there is a sort of "no polyamory allowed" vibe coming from hbo max that i am kinda sad about. even jackie seems to be down to one husband. think the bits we have gotten is the crew making the most of it.

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MAJOR SPOILERS

Ok just finished the season here are my thoughts:

@/djenks fuck you man

No seriously, I love like 99% of what you do but killing Izzy? Fuck you man

I know it’s entirely possible he won’t turn out to actually be dead and season two will start with Izzy being like “you fuckers buried me alive without even checking?! I hate you all!”

I’m always afraid of stuff like this happening when characters are given so much development and love but really it feels so unnecessary I can’t accept it as a plot point like I don’t even feel sad now because I’m so numb

Certainly seems like we’re getting a third season or at least the set up is there

Ricky can fuck right off. I do kind of wish he had remained and become a sort of protégée for Stede from the beginning and someone else became the villain because the whole thing with him was clearly that he was meant to be a metaphor for queer people feeling safe to live their truth when they see other queer people do so and playing out that metaphor against the plotline of the season gets pretty negative

Not a fan of us not seeing if the rest of Zheng’s crew were ok

Not a fan of them just fleeing without acknowledging that the port is probably overrun by soldiers who are holding pirate captives still. In general I wanted a better idea of how many British soldiers were really there so I’d get a better understanding of how the plan worked

This is turning into a rant about the things I didn’t like but I’m gonna keep going, I’ll put the neutral and good thoughts at the end

Yeah Zheng’s ships got blown up but they seemed to still be on the water. Did they even try to fix them up and make them seaworthy again? Healing people?

During the fight where Stede and Ed reunite and Zheng is there I got a bad feeling that she was starting to replace Izzy as the “swordsman” character and I thought of how Auntie is acting an awful lot like how Izzy was developing when she was trying to be more encouraging to Zheng to be herself

If they were gonna have Izzy get gut shot I wanted more significance to it, maybe it’s over the only wound he has from being stabbed “in the right bits” and it was from Ed? Or smtg like that

Izzy’s death scene was way too short and no one was sad enough for me

Genuinely ridiculous for Ricky’s character to be faster on the draw than Izzy with a literal knife against his back

We never found out what happened to Ed’s red silk scrap and that was a bummer

Did the only person to acknowledge Izzy’s infamy really have to be Ricky? Give Izzy more respect from more people

Idk if this was on purpose, probably was, but the way Ricky was treating Jackie felt racially motivated to me. It’s rare the show gets explicit about that, mostly just in season one when that one officer called Roach a slave and got killed for it. It felt, like Izzy’s death, unnecessary, considering how much of this show is about joy and seems to dance nimbly around the discrimination that would have existed in that time period. Pick a lane. Is the world gonna have racism and discrimination or not? Because having just tiny moments feels out of place.

When something like “we get poison training in this family” exists why kill Izzy

Really I’m just pissed about that, he means a ton to me and to a lot of other people too. Con was the first celebrity I got to meet in person and hug and talk to. Ok the numbness is wearing off now I’m sad

Still waiting on Sam Bellamy to show up in this show

Not sure I love Izzy calling Ricky a cunt. I mean, I know I’m somewhat prescribing American sensibilities onto British language and that it seems like splitting hairs when Izzy has been calling everyone twat from the beginning but while I know this show is mostly about men being queer I wouldn’t mind less gendered insults against women

Izzy still never got a proper apology from Ed and that’s bugging me

Did Zheng not say she’d need Ed and Stede? How did they go from that to the two of them being inn keepers? Just odd and jolting

When did Ed and Stede take possession of that house where they buried Izzy?

Did the bird landing on Izzy’s grave symbolize Olivia or Buttons and are they implying that sea witch magic is gonna bring him back? Confusion symbols

The Happy/Neutral stuff:

“Finding family to kill for” - fuck me up Izzy that’s so sweet

“Being a part of something bigger than yourself” “the crew” “you have family all around you and they love you” dammit Izzy this is supposed to be the happy section

Auntie is my love she’s so good

This episode had all the slow motion badassery of my dreams

I totally knew Ed was gonna dive for his leathers, idk how I knew but I totally did

Ed reverting to a violent version of himself on the rejection of “pop-pop” is totally analogous to Ed turning to a life of piracy after killing his father and the fact that Stede’s letter/Stede’s love has always brought him out of that killing phase is beautiful to me

I had forgotten about the messages in bottles and that genuinely cracked me up

Finally we get to see the characters be really really cool. Like we’ve seen them be silly and incompetent but it’s refreshing and exciting to see them be genuinely awesome, makes me feel an odd sort of pride

Love that Zheng remained relevant for the whole season and wasn’t a one-off

I could literally feel the passion in Con’s voice talking about how the pirate spirit will survive I guarantee he was picturing himself giving a speech about queerness because the wording and delivery was very reminiscent of his commentary during conventions and especially the “vote the fuckers out” speech

Archie/Jim kiss wahoo we love to see it

Jim should wear a tricorn hat forever they looked so good

I am genuinely having difficulty remembering so many of the good parts because I’m so sad

I’m glad Ed said I love you first, it was beautifully delivered, that frigging Star Wars reference Stede you fucker

Lucius/Pete marriage fuck yeah

Wedding questions asked by the crew? Beautiful

Mateys - yeah Matelotage is a little clunky of a word to say without a french accent this is a good medium

Ok I legit can’t think of anything else I’m gonna see if I can get in a good cry before work in the morning sorry guys

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OFMD S02E08 SPOILERS

NO BUT IT IS THAT, it makes no sense that they killed him.

It's so cheap and disgusting to kill the abused, recently disable, older queer man that way just to move the story forward. Why make him survive a suicide attempt if they were going to kill him in the most anticlimactic way later? Why did they try to give him a development and make him change if they were going to do that???? Easily Ed and he could have had that conversation and Izzy could've gone with the revenge crew while Stede and Ed retire.

And the worst part is that it's not like with Calico Jack who could easily come back, they explicitly killed him off on screen AND CHANGED THE TONE OF THE SERIES TO A TRAGEDY I DON'T KNOW HOW THEY'RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO RETURN TO A ROMANTIC COMEDY WITHOUT IT FEELING FORCED.

ANYWAYS, this doesnt feel very kind at all….