#abd was challenging a FUCKING TRAIN

[kc5rings]

Now that she’s playable I have a humble request for fic writers and artists regarding Viviana

She is a moose.

Moose are fucking massive.

Please picture with me the humor of Viviana seeming average sized until you get close and suddenly she’s towering

[torc87]

I'm not sure if Izzy sees his crew as a community or coworkers, but he does see them as valuable. He was upset that his crew died rescuing Stede. It may be bc they were crew, or it may be bc they were good at their jobs and training new people is effort and time. Could be bc they didn't actually get anything of value in the exchange. Could even be bc losing people is being 'bad at pirating'. But Izzy absolutely sees them as valuable and doesn't want to waste them when they could be doing safe raids against merchants who surrender. He Values the safety and ease and protection that the Blackbeard reputation offers. He isn't in this for fun - he wants maximum gain for minimum loss. If they can do a raid w no danger, no need to fight, and gain rich loot from it? That's a win in his book. If the crew has to fight and gets injured or killed it's a loss. They may be crew, they may be his subordinates, or they may even be necessary tools ( he Knows it takes a crew to run a ship, competent skilled crew make it safer), but either way, the people he works with are both a danger and a very necessary component of pirating and a valuable resource.

Ed does not. Ed could care less for the gold or loot. His cabin is stuffed full, but he's not using it to get pleasures he clearly enjoys like fine fabrics. He is more interested in not being bored. He wants a challenge, he wants excitement, and if that means risk to him and his crew? He doesn't care.

Yes he yells at Stede about the pressure. After 3 days of doing nothing about the danger they found themselves in. The danger his orders Placed them in. The danger they got nothing out of. No loot. Crew or coworkers, their job is not to follow Ed's every whim for the honor of doing so. That's reputation and it'll get Ed a lot, sure, but those men joined up w Blackbeard bc he is Good at Raiding. They accept the risk and danger bc they will get money out of it. It's Ed's job to maximize the money and minimize the risk. He didn't do that - he made them fight the Spanish for zero gain to his own crew.

He played games w the three day waiting period for his own ego. If he actually prioritized his crew? He would have told Izzy his plan. Gotten a second opinion. A third. Had a back up plan.

But that would be less fun. Less theatrical. Get less applause.

To Ed, crew are either tools, disposable ones at that, an audience to bolster his ego, or at best subordinates who better not dare question him abd better obey his every whim.

Izzy may push his own crew around and yell at them but he does them no real harm. He doesn't pull his knife at the slightest provocation. Ed is the one that pulls his knife on Izzy threateningly when Izzy is reasonably freaking the fuck out at their predicament and at Ed's seeming nonchalance about it. Ed is the one that punishes words w choking. Izzy is a watered down version of that.

I don't think it's fair to blame Izzy for being violent w his own crew without acknowledging that workplace or community, it's the leaders that set the tone. Ever had one bad manager? They'll set the tone for the entire workplace. If they don't care about safety? There'll be tons of safety issues way lower down the chain. If the community leader could care less about consent? Better expect the same in their circle. Ed sets the tone. He responds to words w violence. W intimidation. W the expectation of not being questioned. Izzy follows his lead.

Also, Ivan did the same thing to Pete after they took over the Revenge but before Ed announced they were friends.

That does not, in my opinion, mean Izzy has the same attitude towards crew. He may follow the lead of no questions, but his inclination is to talk to the crew and Ed. He starts to talk to Fang and Ivan about the orders. He's just as confused as they, he starts to commiserate. And then he remembers the rule - no questioning the captain. And over makes up for it by pulling Fangs beard. But he doesn't pull a knife. Doesn't threaten his life. Does no lingering injury. His inclination is not violence for it's own sake. He chooses non violence when able, and if it's not worth the reward? He doesn't risk his crew.

But the cops! What about calling the cops!

Well, you guys do recall he was fired not that long before that, right? And his crew ( Fang and Ivan) rather conspicuously placed themselves together with the side of Stede's crew. Who Izzy does not value or care about - first bc they are not competent or disciplined, not good sailors or good fighters ( Jim aside), so not useful resources. And they don't care about him or follow his orders so they aren't useful coworkers. And aside from all that - he is no longer on their crew! He owes them no loyalty - everyone is in the process of fucking each other over and as far as he's concerned, they did fuck him over. So why should he value their safety more than his goal of "rescuing" ( jealously getting back) Ed?

As far as he's concerned, Stede's crew aren't his community, they are tourists playing dress up. They aren't his coworkers. They are mild enemies, potential dangers who dislike him. His own crew chose to side w them ( as in leave the community).

How much loyalty is he supposed to owe to people who have none for him? How much care should he have for their lives when he is certain they would have zero care for his?

While they were his crew he did show care. He didn't stab anyone for disrespect, he didn't order floggings. He was a dick captain but it's not like Ed didn't expect his whims followed w out question. And he would have done way more than order rations cut for the same type of remark. Izzy said flat out. Do the work necessary to run the ship, show his some obedience and respect ( basics for a captain) and there won't be any problems. He isn't looking to brutalize them ( some captains in history absolutely do that). He wants a stable safe environment. He sucks at creating it, and sucks way more at leading, but he isn't cruel. Unkind and unsympathetic and way too demanding and definitely insecure as fuck and doesn't know how to make friends but he isn't cruel or violent.

He is just so much more a dick than Stede people tend to forget that.

But Stede was the one to replace life saving gunpowder w marmalade ( still have no idea if his crew ate it too), Stede was the one who didn't notice or care that his crew ran the risk of scurvy ( his whim of a cake mattered more), Stede was the one who wasn't exactly caring about Swedes scurvy - it was an inconvenience at best. Stede who has a library - weight and space that's limited on a ship - that only two people can read.

Stede says pretty words but his actions disprove them. Izzy says mean things and acts way tougher than he really is, and is a complete jerk, but prioritizes the well being of the whole crew over his own whims. Ed says what people want to hear but doesn't value the people around him except for what he can get from them and has zero problem forcing them to do his bidding w violence.

All three are horrible community leaders honestly, and would be horrible bosses to have.

Okay, one more thing re: Izzy being a protector of what he sees as his community.

Yes, he called the cops on Stede and it was a terrible thing to do. He betrayed Edward and got Jack killed in the process. He is fiercely loyal but he’s not very bright, we know that.

The thing is, he just didn’t see Stede and his crew as belonging to his community and deserving a place in his safe space. They were outsiders to him and I can understand being weary of outsiders.

Meanwhile Ed doesn’t care that members of HIS OWN CREW died in the raid to rescue Stede from the Spanish. He considers members of HIS OWN "family" disposable and their deaths unworthy of discussion as long as he gets his prize.

And yet the fandom conveniently forgets about this becasue he's the protagonist. I'm not really surprised Izzy gets terrified Ed is changing becasue his reputation was always a great tool to protect their safe space and yet here he is giving exactly zero fucks about losing people.

Please make this make sense because I am truly perplexed.

[tumblunni]

AGH IM SO OVERWHELMED WITH LOVE FOR MY GYARADOS

His name is Allegro and he's a shiny i got on pokemon go abd i just got SO ATTATCHED to him cos of the way evolution works in the app. I feel like this is the first time i ever actually experienced the intended experience of magikarp, yknow? Like its supposed to be weak and take a lot of effort to evolve. But in later games simply levelling it up has become much easier and honestly it wasnt even very hard in the original. Just boring,cos you had to keep it in slot one and keep switching it out. Like its exactly the same as just training other pokemon but with a boring thing added. It feels like this poor magikarp doesnt have a part in its own evolution! But in pokemon go you have to catch 400 magikarps to evolve it and its a way more difficult challenge that takes potentially months of real time and encourages you to go out and explore more places to find them. And you can put the magikarp as your buddy pokemon and have it follow behind you to earn bonus evolution candies, so its really like youre earning it together!!!

So thats why im SO PROUD of allegro and i love him so much!! Also i was doing all this running around for magikarps back when i was in a very low mental health state and working on making progress. So i seehim as a personification of my recovery and a big kind happy friend who helped me through it! Going on more frequent walks each week did help a lot, and having this game as a goal was a great way to distract myself from feeling all anxious and awful and staying inside instead of following the doctors orders. And now im more able to go outside on long journeys without the game's help so i think maybe its time to transfer Allegro to the console games? Cos i can see him in full 3D and ride on his back through the ocean!!! Its a shame the latest game doesnt let you cuddle all of your pokemon though, only pikachu. But i can have him follow me everywhere on happy ocean trips and chat to him and just have a grand old time! And find out what his stats would even be in a regular game, lol. I mean even if i get unlucky in the transfer and he turns out to be the weakest gyarados ever i dont give a fuck cos I LOVE HIM! Oh oh oh and he could follow me around in real life again in a different better way! I got the pokeball plus controller so i can upload him into that and do the pedometer minigame exvept this time this one gives him levels instead of evolution. He's gonna be so damn powerful from my love!!!!

Oh oh oh and i think his personality is cute! I know gyarados's personality is supposed to be 'angry all the time' but i just picture allegro as a super calm and peaceful one. He's maybe not too outwardly affectionate but he loves you a lot, yknow? Like a kind of quiet and solitary cat whose way of showing love is just to hang out in the same room together and roll over on its belly to show its not scared of you. I think theres probably a communication difference like that with gyaradoses, theyre a mon whose way of being happy isnt as similar to humans as stuff like dogs or pikachus.so they get a bad rep of being evil and scary and always grumpy when theyre just trying to show you how they feel and theyre sad you dont understand. Like, maybe they boop each other with headbutts as affection and dont realise humans are so much weaker than them so it takes a while to learn how to boop their new friend softly. But when they just hear RARR RARR I AM PUNISHING YOU FOR BEING NICE theyre like ??? and learn to be scared of showing their affection. And then you call them emotionless for it!! And maybe theyre also like a mix of dogs and lizards? Like they lay around a lot being "lazy and bored" when really its just that they need to regulate body temperature when outside of the water by sleeping more hours a day than a human does. And they get yelled at for wrecking stuff arpund the house cos theyre trying to curl up in a shady spot and their bigness means they knock over the sofa. And they move around a lot during their naps cos they need to find cold/damp spot to go to sleep and then lay down half awake for a little while in a sunbeam to get energized to start the day. So of course theyre gonna be a bit fidgety if they dont have their own room with a specialized bed, and of cpurse theyre gonna sleep even longer if they get so exhausted finding a sleeping spot! And then i think theyre very hyper and playful when theyre awake and thats the real cause of their reputation as angry evilness. They just wanna play and they dont understand a lot of the human world and its all so small and fragile. Theyre not doing it on purpose!! Oh and i think maybe similar to scorpions theyre not actually dangerous because theyre aggressive but because theyre scared? Most venomous animals only sting you when they think theyre in danger of dying,cos they only have a limited amount of venom and wouldnt wanna waste it unless its necessary. But scorpions are easily scared of humans so they think we're murderous fiends if we just stand near them, lol! Its understandable cos i mean all they can see is a massive foot and some towering infinate shadow and feel all the quakes it makes in the sand as it approaches. People are spooky! So i think maybe gyarados are very curious critters and tend to get spooked by the stuff they stumble into, like that vid of emus poking the ball toy and running away screaming when it moves. And also gyaradoses can only investigate stuff by forehead bumps, taste and sniffing by wiggling their lil mustache antennae. All things that tend to look like OMG SCARY THING IS ATTACKING ME from a human perspective. Also theyre very big and evolve from something very small so they dont know their own strength! And everything looks so new and fun!

GYARADOS DEFENDER FOREVER they are just big fishie babies and i lovv they

Anyway anyway for Allegro i was thinking of a headcanon of my pokemon trainer sona going through the same stuff i did IRL? Like, an anxious adult who used to be a trainer as a kid but went through a lot of abusive parent stuff and lost their confidence and also lost all their belongings in the process of running away. So that led to trainer-me being all depressed and living in a small crowded town having a boring life and feeling like id never be good enough to start my trainer career all over again. But i find a sparkly fishie of cuteness in the pond and i keep him as more of a pet than a battler but through the power of his love i start taking him out on walkies and training myself to be worthy of being the trainer he needs, yknow? Like 'i hate myself but i cant stand anyone else hating themself'. Cos magikarp is the weak pokemon and maybe he heard humans all talking about that and he felt he'd never get a human friend because of it. Also maybe magikarps are like koi fish and they dont get their full colours until teenagerish age, so shiny ones are just regular orange for the first few years and he didnt even know he was special. And his specialness shined through as we were training together but i loved him even before i knew he was special, just cos he was such a kind lil guy!! And then he earned his big fancy sparkly evolution and now we fly majestically thru the skies on the power of self confidence~! Also similarly to how i got my baby photos back from finding my sister after all these years, trainer-me eventually got reunited with their childhood pokemon and now has eighty bazillion powerfulnesses again. And they all met allegro and they love thier lil bro and now we're going on a revisiting kanto adventure together and everything is great.

And i just think allegro is very kind and soft and peaceful and curls around everyone in a big hug when he goes to sleep and I LOVE HIM and he flies majestically and he really loves it after dreaming of it for so long. I named him a music word cos i was thinking of 'what would you call Splash if it was actually a powerful move?' Splash = jumping = ballet? So he is a graceful squiggly weird wind kite snake worm dragon koifish and i love him and i cherish him and HE IS THE REASON HE IS SPECIAL NOT THAT HE'S LITERALLY A RARE POKEMON. cos the rare coloured gyarados is a gyarados thats the same colour as a.magikarp! Its such a good symbol for the same thing you were self concious about being what everyone appreciates about you, yknow? I love him and he is peaceful and happy and shy and i bet if you hugged him it would be so weird cos its not like you often get to hug a fish that isnt wet. And i mean he's like a half fish half dragon? So it must be like a.lizard but with very prominant scale texture and a leathery whale blubber body or something. And big pointy elephant tusk teeth and the forehead horn thingie! I wanna cuddle him so much aaaaa

SO IN SUMMARY I LIKE MY BIG GRUMPLEFEESH