#If Izzy in the duel is Ed's father in a rage then Stede is Ed's mother being attacked
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With respect, I disagree that the answer to proposition 2 is unambiguously yes. What's missing from your analysis is that our co-tagonists & deuteroagonist are ALL narrative parallels for one another, & all on v. similar arcs in S1. Ed, Stede, & Jim are all trying to escape from a past they no longer want to be part of & unbearable expectations toward a life where they can be accepted & loved as their authentic selves. Each has a source of friction from their old lives that embodies the restrictive values they're trying to distance themselves from, & which ultimately shames them into returning to their old lives. For Ed, this is Izzy; for Jim, this is Nana; for Stede, the Badmintons. Jim & Stede, after being drawn back into their old lives, receive council from a feminine figure with more emotional maturity than they (Jackie & Mary, respectively), & in so doing come to the conclusion the old life doesn't want them any more than they want it, make peace with laying the old life to rest, & joyously return to their authentic lives. Ed doesn't have that - or, rather, he's got Lucius, but the order of operations is wrong - Lucius gave Ed council BEFORE Izzy comes in with the steel chair to shame & threaten him back into his old life, & in this narrative, it's the last influence that bears the most weight. So before Lucius has a chance to give him additional council, Ed banishes the Voice of Reason from his life when he pushes Lucius overboard, & he is therefore stuck in the Old Life that he reviles. I hope that we can all agree that the Badmintons, while they embody the same colonialist & repressive, upper-class expectations for the correct performance of masculinity as Stede's father are NOT meant to be seen as a father-figure for Stede? And, that, when you add this into the whole tangle of influences/motivators being enacted on our heroes, that just because SOME of those influences are parental figures does not mean that parental status can therefore be conferred on ALL? With regard to the intentionality of the writers including signifiers that were meant to clue us in to Izzy position as a narrative parallel for Ed's father, I again have to disagree. DJenks said in multiple interviews that Izzy being a father-figure to Ed is not only something that didn't occur to them until they were breaking the last episode of the S2, but that the father-figure relationship is something that exists only AFTER Ed shoots Izzy. "He went from a troubled & downtrodden employee to a jilted lover to a discarded employee, to someone that is just trying to find his footing again—no pun intended—to actually becoming this guy’s parental figure on some level." "on the other side of the ego deaths, weirdly, Izzy is a father figure to Ed... The character is kind of a jilted lover who then becomes a maimed & discarded employee & emerges from that into being a father figure" "There is a nice parallel to have Ed treat him so badly at the beginning of the season & then come all the way around to where Izzy is this sort of father figure" Which is not to say this isn't something the writers weren't SUBCONSCIOUSLY including, the same way they didn't PURPOSEFULLY write Izzy to be a racist, but there are so many repeated instances of him displaying racist behavior, I wouldn't be surprised if "is racist" is one of those qualities that the writers subconsciously ascribes to the prototypical "bad boss" archetype. Ultimately, I'm not trying to talk anyone out of embracing Father Figure Izzy if they see evidence for it & found it meaningful. I'm just trying to explain why people like me do NOT accept it as a given, & why it has been alienating to be lumped in with blackhands shippers & izzy apologists, or told we are reading against the text, don't understand how narratives work, or are too dense to see the subtle hints that were clearly there all along.
i guess this is just another way of saying something i've tried to get at before, but when people say they don't think the father figure angle on izzy was set up in s1, i think they are actually conflating two different questions:
did s1 of ofmd portray ed as viewing or treating izzy as a father figure, even subconsciously?
did s1 of ofmd portray izzy's role in ed's life as a narrative parallel for ed's father?
i do think the answer to #1 is quite likely no, at least in terms of authorial intent. you CAN make a case for yes, but at best it would be extremely speculative. honestly the writing in s1 mostly strikes me as just not really very concerned about the question of how exactly ed sees izzy or why ed puts up with izzy's behavior. ed lets izzy get away with all that shit in s1 mostly for the same reason jim's able to teleport back onto the revenge in 1x10: because if he didn't the plot couldn't happen. his motivations for it i'm sure were discussed at some point in the writers' room but at the end of the day they don't really matter to the story s1 was trying to tell so they're left kind of handwavey. watching the ed-izzy scenes in s1 through the lens of izzy reminding ed of his father doesn't feel like actively reading against the text, but it does feel like you're just kind of making up a plausible answer to a question that doesn't actually have a canonical answer.
(david jenkins has said a lot of izzy's arc in s2 is about answering the question "who is he to blackbeard" and i think it's not just izzy himself figuring that out, it's the audience finding out for the first time over the course of the season as well, because s1 didn't tell us.)
the answer to #2 however is absolutely unambiguously yes. multiple people called this long before s2 dropped. i can think of at least six different specific people right here on tumblr who called out parallels between izzy and ed's dad explicitly during the hiatus after s1. a whole bunch more called out that the jim-nana relationship was very clearly paralleling ed-izzy, and obviously nana is not jim's literal parent but is nonetheless a parental figure in their life. these parallels are all very obviously intentional; jim's storyline, for instance, clearly had to be deliberately conceived from the ground up to parallel ed's (as well as stede's). the intentionality is especially clear when you look at the visuals - there are a bunch of visual callbacks to the flashbacks to ed's childhood in both the namby-pamby scene and izzy's duel against stede, and those callbacks are much too specific to be accidental, and they all very consistently place izzy in the role of ed's dad. there's a reason the line "i'm the kraken" appears exactly twice, once right after we see ed strangle his dad in front of a lighthouse and once right after we see ed choke izzy in front of a lighthouse. we also know ed's dad had a cut line "you're making my son soft," which, i don't know how you'd deny it if that was left in there. and yeah the line was cut (albeit based on what we know probably just for pacing) but somebody had to write it in the first place! they obviously knew what they were doing there.
djenks had this interview after s2 where he said something that surprised him as they storybroke the season was the idea of izzy as a father figure to blackbeard, and i believe him about that being a surprise, but i think fandom is doing something fans do a lot with creator interviews and interpreting that statement in a much more rigidly absolute and literal way than he seemed to mean it. i think what he's talking about there is question #1 - the idea of ed being aware on any level at all (even if only a subconscious one!) of izzy acting like his dad, of that being the motivation for ed relating to izzy the way he does, of izzy being one of a long line of angry white men ed has spent his adult life seeking out because of his daddy issues - that was a new idea that wasn't present in s1, that was probably a surprise. but that doesn't mean question #2 - the idea of izzy being positioned in the narrative as a parallel for ed's dad - was a new idea, it obviously wasn't. and in fact that already having been present in s1 is what led to the new idea of ed seeing izzy that way in s2. you're breaking the season trying to figure out what are the most important things to focus on for izzy's redemption and the role he plays in ed's arc, you realize izzy's role as a narrative echo of ed's dad is going to have to become much more centrally important than it was in s1, so you have to find ways to bring out that theme and emphasize it. and one of the ways to do that is to introduce this running motif throughout the season of ed seeking out angry white patriarchs who treat him a lot like izzy does and make it clearly an expression of his daddy issues. because that way when ed breaks down at izzy's apology and death it's a lot more clear to the viewer not just how he feels about izzy but exactly what deeper issue is being resolved for him in that moment.
#tumblr deciding I've used enough characters in homophobic actually#what is this the bird ap?#saying Izzy is Ed's father figure based on parallels with his flashbacks isn't satisfactory to me because one might just as easily say#Stede is Ed's mother-figure. Because the parallels are there for THAT interpretation too.#If Izzy in the duel is Ed's father in a rage then Stede is Ed's mother being attacked#Both Stede and Ed's mom have scenes with Ed where they confer meaning upon the red silk that stands in for Ed's relationship to High Societ#and his worthiness to possess fine things#Both Stede and Ed's mom are put in positions where their lives are in danger unless Ed intervenes#and in so doing he has to leave home and submit himself to a different kind of tyrannical authority that grinds him down#and robs him of his identity substituting their own.#Do I think these parallels are intentional or this is how we're meant to think about Stede and Ed's relationship? No - but they are THERE#Similarly I don't think Izzy as a father figure is a useful tool for understanding their relationship to me#'Behaves in ways similar to his father' isn't sufficient criteria for me to confer father figure status. That's not what a father figure IS#A father figure is a man in a position of power who elicits the kind of emotions one has or should have toward a father#Izzy in and of himself doesn't have power over Ed - he has to borrow it from others to force Ed to do what he wants#(e.g. - getting Fang & Ivan to back him up in the doggy heaven scene & calling in the Navy)#and Ed treats him like a subordinate - because that's what he is. At best he maybe tries to mentor Izzy like with the clouds#or share his enthusiasm about Stede's neat stuff like he's engaging a peer#But when push comes to shove - Ed WILL pull rank or exert his power over Izzy to get him to fall in line.#Compare this to how he interacts with Hornigold - a representation of an actual father figure.#How - even though he's an externalization of Ed's critical voice and manifestation of his subconscious - he exercises direct power over Ed#Not just physically like dragging him bodily along the beach & forcing him to eat - but also emotional power over him.#Like when Ed is trying so hard to impress him with his totally not run-of-the-mill mutiny.#And Hornigold is uniformly emotionally withholding of the praise and approbation Ed so clearly craves.#It's sufficient for me that Izzy is like a piece of equipment or software that doesn't QUITE work how it's supposed to#but you have a work-around that is good enough to get the job done & you're familiar enough with its quirks that you can deal with it#& it's not actually broken enough to justify the hassle of getting a new thing and having to figure out how to make it work#Again - not trying to change anyone's mind here. Just trying to explain where I'm coming from.#ofmd#our flag means death
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What’s the Appeal of Izzy Hands? Part IV: Tragedy
One of the most common ways to get an audience to sympathize with a character is to give them a tragic backstory. Give us a flashback about parents dying or abuse or whatever and even the most most successful of mass-murders can become someone’s blorbo.
Ed maybe a fearsome, terrifying murder pirate, but he was poor with an abusive alcoholic dad. As the main character, Stede gets plenty of tragic backstory, though it’s not quite as heavy: bullying, a forced marriage to someone he had never met, a mean and supportive father.
Izzy may be a dick, but it’s not like he as a tragic backstory to make us feel bad about it, right?
Part the Fourth: The Show is Izzy’s Tragic Backstory
Sure, Izzy is responsible for a good portion of the bullshit he ends up dealing with, but that doesn’t make it less tragic.
Let’s look at The Tragic Tale of Izzy Hands.
Once, Izzy was the First Mate the skilled and infamous pirate Blackbeard, who he was also secretly in love with. He sailed with Blackbeard for many years, and things were great, pining and unrequited love aside.
Then Blackbeard went downhill. He was no longer the man Izzy knew. The pair were not on the same page, and began fighting more and more. Worst of all, Ed made decisions that were putting himself and the rest of the crew in danger.
Enter the Gentleman Pirate. Ed is infatuated, and all of his (seemingly) worst habits escalate. He keeps putting off his plan to murder Stede and steal his identity. Izzy confronts Ed about it, who agrees again to kill Stede again. After all, the love of a pet makes a man weak, and Izzy wants Ed safe.
But Ed balks at the last minute. In a last ditch effort to put things right, Izzy duels Stede. He’ll get rid of this problem and things can get back to normal.
But, despite all the odds, Izzy suffers (a second!) humiliating loss to that inexperienced ponce of a pirate. Ed doesn’t step in when Izzy’s banished from the ship. Izzy paddles off in a rage.
But Izzy is, above all, loyal to his captain, and knows him well. He hatches a plan to gently pull Ed away from Stede’s dangerous influence and back into his metaphorical arms.
Unfortunately, the plan goes to shit. Ed gets caught. He takes the act of grace, along with Stede, signing himself away to servitude to the King. Izzy’s beloved Blackbeard’s wings have been clipped. He’s chosen Stede over everything they built together (over Izzy).
But...at least Izzy is a captain now. He can spread his own wings, do things his way.
Oh, wait, no... Turns out he’s actually a shit captain. The crew mutiny almost immediately. Yet another humiliation.
But, at the last minute: Ed! He’s back! Without Stede! Izzy is saved! Things will finally get back to norm—
Izzy’s worst fears have been realized. This is why pirates aren’t supposed to love! Ed is a nonfunctioning mess. Izzy desperately tries to hide this from the crew; who knows what will happen if they don’t respect Blackbeard anymore?
Then, Ed sings a song about his feelings. In front of the crew. He doesn’t want to be called Blackbeard anymore. He doesn’t even want to be a pirate!
It’s all over. Whatever man Ed used to be, someone strong and confident and frightening, exists only in Izzy’s memory. And whatever life Ed is trying to build for himself, if it can be called a life, Izzy has no place in it. Izzy’s a pirate, and his loyalty is to his captain.
So Izzy says his piece, what might have been meant to be a final piece. He isn’t nice about it, but he tells the truth: this Ed? Whatever Ed is doing, this whole, “why are we even pirates” and talent show thing? It isn’t Blackbeard. Sure, Ed may have built up the Blackbeard name with sweat and blood over many years, but it’s just a name without anything to back it up.
Ed says “I’m still Blackbeard” and his First Mate throws that picture back in his face. “No, this is Blackbeard.”
Ed strikes at Izzy in anger, and Izzy sees the flash of the old Blackbeard in his eyes. That fearsome man isn’t truly gone.
Sparked by a sudden, unexpected hope, Izzy reaches out to touch the face of the man he loves—the man he has sailed besides for so many years. His hand is knocked aside, as if Ed can’t bare for Izzy to touch him.
Maybe this is actually worse, knowing Blackbeard isn’t completely gone. Leaving might be easier if there was nothing of Blackbeard left. No worries about what might have been.
Izzy draws a line he probably thought he’d never have to draw. He serves Blackbeard. This version of Ed, whatever he is? He isn’t Izzy’s captain. He’s just Some Guy who’d better watch his fucking step.
Izzy now has no one. He has neither the respect or friendship of a crew. The man he loves is gone, broken to pieces by an aristocrat and discarded. Ed can’t even stand Izzy’s touch. Izzy isn’t young anymore. Giving up on Ed and Blackbeard is giving up on many years of his life.
But then, that night, a monster arrives in Izzy’s bedroom. It’s Blackbeard. He cuts off Izzy’s toe and forces it down his throat, cruel and viscous and dominating as the Blackbeard Izzy hasn’t seen in years. Izzy cleans himself up, and spends the rest of the day helping purge the Revenge of everything Stede, from the books to the crew.
But, perhaps this is a version of Blackbeard he didn’t quite bargain for?
Things are looking up for Izzy. Maybe, just maybe, he thinks, the old days have returned. But whatever is being built here is destined to topple. This isn’t what Ed wants. And poor Izzy, even though he means well, doesn’t know how to give Ed what he needs.
Worst of all? This isn’t Izzy’s story. No matter how far Ed falls, no matter how dark things look for Stede, they’ll get their happy ending.
For Izzy, there are no guarantees, except that his biggest fears will come to fruition. Ed will change, perhaps into some more balanced form that incorporates the strengths of both the soft Ed and fierce Blackbeard. He will partner up with Stede, who will return to his side.
Izzy only gets his happy ending if he changes. He might; the show seems sympathetic to him, and OFMD is, at its heart, a romantic comedy. But he’s still and antagonist. This may end with him alone, unloved, or at the bottom of the ocean.
And damned if that doesn’t make my heart break for that poor, loyal, angry little man.
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@izzyhnds // IZZY
Stede has felt muffled bouts of pain for his entire life. It's worrying, knwoing his soulmate is out there somewhere, either suffering from some terrible disease or otherwise simply getting hurt - and badly if the pain he's feeling is any clue. Most people barely even feel anything at all until they meet their soulmate, but for Stede, barely a month can go by before there's a telltale aching in his stomach, his chest, his side, anywhere and everywhere, notable enough that he's sure his soulmate must be suffering.
It makes him feel terrible, knowing he isn't there to help.
He himself has not had many terrible injuries over the years. A few slaps or punches from bullies and his father that might have processed as a gentle tingle for his soulmate. That one time that he cut his finger fairly badly might have transferred over.
When he is stabbed and hanged, he can't help but feel anything but sorry. He is well familiar with how it fees to be on the other end, a pain that's enough to make you wince, and a knowledge that is far worse. To know the one you are meant to love is hurting.
He can't even imagine how pained they will be when they feel him die.
He doesn't, though - he is cut loose and saved, and nursed back to health, and his soulmate, who is the most ridiculous and wonderful person on this Earth, decides to prove who he is by having Stede stab him.
Ed is a terrible wonderful man, and Stede should be angry. In truth, he's only glad he got to help nurse him back to health this time, and a little bit sad again for every time he wasn't there. He does not think this is the end of the story. He thinks it is the beginning of a beautiful one, but in truth, there is another book yet to be opened.
He is called to duel with Ed's first mate, Israel Hands, a pain in his arse, and honestly, really just a bit of a sad story. Stede has seen how he had loved Ed, but he cannot be held responsible for where Ed's heart decides to lie. So of course he accepts. And of course he is clever enough to get out of it, and when he knows how he must do it, he mentally apologizes to his love for the pain is so much harsher when you have met your soulmate, not muffled or distant but the blinding pain of a true stab wound, like you had been stabbed yourself.
In all honesty, he's mostly just confused when he watches two men bend over at the waist, stubling at the pain of his wound instead of just the one, moreso that one of them is the one who bloody stabbed him.
" Well, talk about karma, " Is all Stede can think to say in the moment, and hopefully the pain is enough to keep Izzy - his soulmate? Ed's soulmate? - from stabbing him again, because that might have been a bit of a low blow. In all fairness, he is in pain, particularly as Izzy tries to pull out the sword, bending the blade a bit in the process, watches Izzy's face twitch as his does, knows that they are sharing in this, and Ed is sharing in this, and it’s all three of them.
" This mast . . . is made from the finest cherry wood in Brazil. It's rather strong, actually - " He starts to explain, but of course Izzy isn't listening, and as Stede hears the sword crack, hears Ed almost let Izzy go, he just knows that it's him. It isn't some echo that had gone through Ed that Izzy had felt, it's him. Stede could swear he could hear the fluttering of pages over the cheering of his crew as something new begins. He wants to catch the words before they fly away.
" Why don't you stay? " Stede offers, and of course his crew doesn't notice, too distracted celebrating, but Izzy does, that's what's important. Still thinking fast from the duel, he knows that if it’s magnamonius, if it’s kind Izzy will most likely push it away in all of his rage, so Stede doesn’t make it as kind as it should be. He’ll let it be kind later. “ Stay. I want you to stay. Ed, I want him to stay. “
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