#can’t believe you all hated Izzy in s1 for thinking that Ed was having another identity crisis when he literally behaves like this in canon

[chibi-scone]

Remember when the whole ordeal with s2 was that Ed was so heartbroken that Stede left him that he tried to get himself and the whole crew killed and then they got reunited within like 2 episodes and never spoke about anything of interest together and then that same Ed decided to ditch Stede after a couple of days because he wanted to catch fishes and that lasted half an episode before they got reunited again and the show ended on them leaving everyone to live in a simultaneously doomed to fail/happy ending inn and everyone was like wow good writing I can’t believe this could get canceled $10k billboard in times square

[dead-loch]

Probably nobody but me is gonna be interested in this but I was thinking about rewatching OFMD S1+2 and compiling every shitty/problematic/abusive thing characters do, and whether or not I think (from context and my own experience) the person was doing the thing intentionally and maliciously or if I believe it falls under the “hurt people hurting people” umbrella.

I’m neurodivergent and have experienced both abuse within my family and abuse within a romantic relationship. Being nd means I don’t always read people correctly so obviously this foray would not be infallible but it’d be an interesting way to watch (particularly as it would force me to actually fully watch the episodes rather than have them playing while I do other things) AND my primary motivation is that in a lot of discourse people seem to think that every character (except their fav) is doing these shitty things completely intentionally (so like there’s a specific goal they want to reach and they’re pushing people around them in that direction no matter what) and I honestly don’t believe that’s fully true in every situation.

As an example, I don’t believe Izzy was only looking out for himself or that he was being malicious specifically towards Ed in S1 when he’s holding onto the Blackbeard persona at the expense of the real person underneath. I think he genuinely was doing what he thought was best, informed by several years with Ed. It’s been established that Ed can jump from one interest to another in the blink of an eye, and from the crew’s attitude, I think Izzy learned how to keep him focused— the issue was that Ed was very serious about wanting/needing a change, and so Izzy holding on tighter and tighter this time causes them to fracture.

As another example, when Ed is cutting off toes and torturing the crew, obviously a lot of that is because of what happened with Stede but I think it’s also Ed going “isn’t this what you wanted? Isn’t this what you asked for?” because it literally is what Izzy asked for. In this world, they’re made (in)famous for being violent (we see this at the end of S2 with Stede too) and no one speaks up against it because a) scary Blackbeard but also b) it’s seen as normal/necessary. I think we can all basically agree that most situations where one person is cutting off another’s toes is pretty fucked. But again, this has been established as a “normal” form of punishment. It doesn’t make it okay but it does mean that I can’t say “Ed did this because he hates Izzy specifically and wants to abuse him, therefore Ed is a monster”.

Idk I just feel like I’m losing my gd mind as read these very simplistic takes that one or the other is the ultimate abuser and all-around monster when it’s simply just not fucking true. If you guys need characters to hate I’d say go watch Rick and Morty but even there I can see the nuance and the humanity amongst the … everything else lmao. Oh, maybe watch The Boys? That one dude is so abhorrent it almost makes me hate the actor (except I don’t because it’s, yknow, a tv show. Not real. Fiction.)