#despite ed's ship being close enough to see

[soapbubbles511]

Episode 1 takes place on June 3rd (according to Lucius' journal that was the day they raided the plant). Episode 4 takes place on September 1st. That's three months.

Ed was following the Revenge since some point before the start of episode 2. Ivan said he saw the hostages before they ran aground. In the scenes that end ep 2/begin ep 3, they were following close enough to see the Revenge (Izzy told Ed a few hundred yards).

So that means for potentially a couple months, Blackbeard's ship is just following the Revenge around. Did nobody on the Revenge notice? Did Buttons notice and just decide not to say anything? Blackbeard wasn't bothering them so he figured it was best to just let it be?

Is this why Stede survived as long as he did while being very much incompetent? Other pirates may have heard about the rich guy who ran away to be a pirate. But anyone who actually tracked him down saw Blackbeard's ship following and decided they weren't fucking with that.

[nadsdraws]

Knocking on Heaven's Door [T]

Edward and Izzy find each other at the very end of their lives. This doesn’t stop them from enjoying what little remaining time they have together.

Tags: MCD, angst, modern AU, edizzy, they love each other

“We’re here, Iz. We’ve made it. The ocean,” Ed waves his hand in front of the vast body of water in front of them as if in an introduction. Deep blue all the way to the horizon, rippling in the wind. 

Izzy understands the appeal now, he feels a vague pull towards it himself. An impulse to board the first outgoing ship and sail away.

But he’s not going to, they’re not going to. Both having an expiration date on their bodies; the only question being who will go first. 

“Iz? Are you okay?” Ed’s voice pulls him out of his train of thought. He looks so beautiful and carefree against the backdrop of the setting sun, wind blowing through his curls. “Having regrets?”

“No,” Izzy finds himself saying, and smiling despite stealing a car and breaking at least half a dozen laws. It’s surreal they made it all the way to the beach. 

It feels like a miracle. It is a miracle. Just like meeting Ed at the hopeless hospital ward for teminally ill. Just like drinking rum with Ed from the same bottle, thinking that it’s practically kissing. Like Ed asking “wanna do something weird?” before they ran away from the hospital together. 

Like having Edward all to himself a few days later in a hotel room. 

“I don’t regret a thing.” Izzy repeats, and he means it. “I just wish we had more time.”

“Nah, Iz, don’t.” Ed shakes his head. “It’s better that way. You got to see the best of me. How long do you think it could last Iz, with someone like me? A year? Five years?” 

“You’re not giving yourself enough credit. Ed. At least ten.” 

Edward huffs a laugh at that. “Maybe, maybe. I did not peg you for an optimist, mate.”

Izzy knows Edward enough now to see through his attempts to deflect the difficult conversations.

“I know what you think of yourself, Ed. And it's not true. You are trying so hard to make people like you, but you don’t have to. It’s okay to show the ugly parts, we all have them. You are lovable, not despite them but because of them. Five years or a year—I don't care, I’d take it.”

“I know you would, Iz,” Ed smiles back, and it’s more open now, more genuine. “How long do you think we have left?”

“Oh, who the fuck knows. Till the evening maybe? Tomorrow? The day after that?”

“We can watch the sunset,” Ed offers, sitting down on the sand and opening his arms in an invitation. “Come over here and let me love you till the end of our lives.”

Izzy accepts it easily, cuddling to Edward’s side. Suddenly he feels the full weight of the past days on his  shoulders and he feels incredibly tired. He means to only close his eyes for a little bit, but Edward’s embrace is so warm he loses that battle rather quickly.

But it’s okay. 

Ed will join him soon.

[danieyells]

What are some character you want to see interact like for the dynamics.Haku and Alan

Along with what are your crackships or ships you know will never come true but who cares?Mine is Zenji x Alan no reason just what to see what it will be like.

Thank you have a good day

I hope you had a good day yourself, anon! I had a regular day! Which is good enough!

I mean i wanna see everyone's dynamics!!! I love characters' interpersonal relationships haha. Haku and Alan would be interesting. I feel like they're both kinda mellow, but it depends on what Tohma's told Alan about Haku. . . . Haku's also not much of a fighter so no bonding with sparring, but if he's being honest about having an interest in cars they'd have plenty to talk about! Maybe Haku would apologize for causing Alan problems--Tohma took over for him in Frostheim and that must've been rough, being captain of Vagastrom all by himself. As long as Haku is honest and kind and chill, I think Alan would like him, unless Tohma said not to trust him.

Cut because i got rambly--

I think the dynamic I wanna see most is, understandably, between my favorites. I'd love to know Towa's relationships with everyone and what plant names he's given them. Same with Taiga and that he gives most people nicknames(so far the only one I remember him calling by name is Jin.) Do Yuri and Jiro and Nicolas have any observations or interest in Taiga's odd diet of almost only anomalies? Does Towa dislike doctors and that's why they don't have his blood type? Since it seems like Towa dislikes or is hostile towards anomalies, does he dislike Lyca or would they get along despite the language barrier? What does Leo think of Hyde, did he meet him before he came to Darkwick or did he not meet Sho until after Hyde had already gone? Does Taiga think Moby looks delicious? (I headcanon he bit him first year and Moby's a little scared of him as a result.) What sort of relationships did the third years have when they first arrived compared to now? (For example we know Romeo and Taiga used to be close but they're distant now.) What is the implied preexisting relationship between Sho and Ren? Does Leo know Ren too? Does Taiga eat the campus cats and Cornelius won't send anymore to Sinostra? Romeo hates Frostheim but was it always that way? Does he feel the same about Haku now that he's changed houses? What about Tohma? Did Kaito like Haku when he was in Frostheim? Kaito kind of recognized Leo, since Kaito's big on social media is he interested in him once he realized who he was? Kaito simping for Leo. . . . Is Luca suspicious of Obscuary students for being less human than others and thus possibly closer to demons? Ed uses the internet a lot, does he know about Leo? What does Dante think of the murder suspects? THERE ARE A LOT OF CHARACTERS WHO COULD HAVE INTERESTING RELATIONSHIPS. AND THERE'S ALSO THE FOURTH YEARS OUT IN THE FIELD, ANY OTHER DECEASED GHOULS OR FACULTY FROM DURING THE CLASH, THE DIONYSIA STUDENTS, HELL EVEN THE GENERAL STUDENTS COULD BE OF INTEREST. . . .

Crack ships. . .believe it or not I don't think about ships as much as I used to in fandom lol I still love them but. I feel like I don't think as much about them I guess haha. Zenji and Alan are both third years so they very well could have had previous interactions before Zenji died. You never know! Tbh I wouldn't consider any ships among the ghouls crack ships except Zenji and first years since they'd have no way of meeting atm(Zenji's non-WickHive/non-Wick-Chat accounts are run by Haku so that even rules out Zenji interacting with Leo online lol)--everyone else theoretically and conceivably could have had interactions in their time there.

I feel like Alan wouldn't know what to make of Zenji. He's a totally different kind of person to him or anyone he'd be used to. Loud, artsy, fantastical, pacifistic. . .I can see Zenji worrying over Alan easily, worried he's overdoing it exercising or that he might get hurt sparring or about how he clearly has some self-loathing issues and doesn't trust himself near others. Zenji's so friendly, I don't think Alan would easily be able to deflect him if he decided to try appealing to him and befriending him haha. Zenji is very literary and Alan is so. . .he's not a bookish person by any means, we'll go with that. He wouldn't know anything about poetry or music or stories, but maybe that'd make him find Zenji interesting. Zenji would play a song and Alan wouldn't know what to say to it. . .and Zenji would interpret it as him being stunned to silence or something lol. You don't have to say anything, just feel the music in your soul! I bet no one's told Alan a story since he was a kid, if it happened then. Maybe he'd find it pleasant, who knows. Zenji would find his brutish physique and strength inspiring, and maybe accompany him on camping trips because nature would also be inspiring! I think it could work in an extremely 'opposites attract' way lol. Zenji simply wandered the way of the Vagastrom garage one day in search of inspiration and. . .the rest was history. Alternatively maybe in his first year one of the professors assigned Zenji to help him with classwork? Or they were made to work with other ghouls/members of the class to formulate a way to capture anomalies?

For me. . .everything I can think of I have a basis for or i can make something up lol. I can ship anything but coming up with things is a little hard lolol. Probably Taiga/Ren or Romeo/Ren. Ren ends up borrowing money from one of them to pay for his gacha addiction. With both he tries to sell off Jabberwock anomalies--but, uh, he has to get them to Sinostra first. Which is not easy when they are big or scary or gross. Romeo likes his men dumb, and Ren isn't the brightest guy you'll ever meet. He's probably average. And Taiga likes having playthings who react in fun ways--Ren is a little stilted in his emotions but also gives strong reactions to things and I think Taiga would like messing with him. Oh and when they learn Ren's stigma cleans stuff. . .i mean every good organized crime group needs cleaners. Ren doesn't know why he starts getting excited around them eventually it just happens and it doesn't make sense what is this some sort of awful booktok dark romance????? This is embarrassing. He doesn't know how he ended up in this situation. He's not sure if this is better or worse than the animals.

(also less crack because, again, both third years but. . .Romeo/Alan. Romeo even admits to liking dumb men. And Alan is not very bright.

I'm just imagining Romeo watching Alan struggle during class, resisting a dumb grin. Taiga can I? Can I please? I know you don't actually care, but I care I want you to say it's okay please I just wanna flirt with him I don't think he'd even notice he's so dumb--)

Also consider, Towa x the tree on the hill. Not really crack because he clearly loves that tree and it's sentient enough to speak to him but still lmao.

[izzyshandz]

"You hate me, don’t you."

Izzy didn’t know how he felt about Stede anymore, so when he asked the question his mind went blank and his hands curled into fists.

"Well I wouldn’t say I like you."

He replied curtly, attempting to keep any and all formalities out of his gruff voice. Leave it up to Stede to bombard him first thing in the morning, this was common after Blackbeard- Ed. After Ed had begun his recovery of the mutiny; that thought causing a forlorn jab to pierce through his gut almost vicious enough to keel over-- but Izzy didn’t outwardly budge. Stede would approach him and ask him about his sleep, and his leg, oh he hated when Stede asked about his leg. The little squeezing finger movements he would make when he requested to massage it all better, the harsh string of beratement from Izzy’s lips had put a stop to that on day one. They would stand on the deck and Izzy would grunt orders at the crew who dutifully obliged, despite being demoted by Blackbeard the Gentleman pirate practically demanded he help him instead.

At first he profusely refused, until Frenchie made eyes at him; damn Frenchies eyes- claiming to be unable and unfit to really lead (Which Izzy sincerely doubted, but accepted as fact regardless.). His loyalty lies to that crew and no one else, so if directing them beneath the helm of the great Stede Bonnet was helping he would do it. It has roughly been a week with Stede back on the ship and Izzy was restless, he would hear the irritable creak and growl of Ed in the chambers of Stedes room followed by marital-like spatting. He wouldn’t deny when he saw the formerly-disliked pirate leaning over that desk talking about Ed burning everything around him, he saw himself in Stede and over the time he was beginning to realize how alike they were.

Not just their attachment to Blackbeard, the love; as it were past or present but the ability to place unwavering loyalties. Stede stepped up to him in ways that got him shot and Edward listened. Perhaps he was jealous, no he was absolutely jealous. Though the time he spent alone with Stede like this made that ebb away little by little, the sunny training sessions and the almost comical way they carried themselves around each other. Stede was a more well put together version of him, how he managed it he didn’t know but Izzy was determined to find that path on his own; he wasn’t the only teacher on the ship anymore.

"-But hates a strong word, Bonnet."

Izzy spoke up again, earning a wide-eyed stare which he spotted out of his peripheral. There’s that feeling in his stomach again, Stede is smiling. "I seem to recall you liked the word hate last time we saw each other."

"Last time we saw each other I sold you out."

"Oh yes- I remember very well. I still haven’t forgiven you for that, by the way."

Izzy grinned, Stede caught it but didn’t say a word; seeing Izzy smile was a rare occurrence and oddly he didn’t wish to startle it away from his expression.

"Yeah don’t worry you’re not the only one. I’ve not forgiven myself either."

Those words struck the other pirate with a pang of sadness, this poor… small man. He’s got so many issues. To be fair, they all do.

"Well that’s just sad, doubting your own choices like that." He offered unhelpfully, making Izzy steel his expression once more. It was true he had been through a lot this past year, the past ten… no twenty even; he’s had little to no time to stop. The first hand leaned forward and for once, relaxed his upper half against the ledge of the ship- staring out at the waves crashing against its hull. He could feel Stede close beside him, corralling to try and take a look at what Izzy found so interesting.

"I was a scared man, Bonnet." He began truthfully, the other wading into a silence and getting comfortable to listen; an encouraging smile on his face the whole time. "Scared of the future, scared of the ship, scared of you."

"Of me!" The incredulous gasp met his ears, earning a short glare from the shorter male which briskly shut him up.

"I kept running into you." He admitted, "It was stupid, I suppose looking back. The instant Ed heard about you I felt-" Stede held his breath for the words he was about to hear.

"Useless."

The gentleman pirate deflated. "I had no idea you felt that way Izzy. If you had said something-" He began, immediately being cut off by a growl. "-nothing would’ve changed. Ed would still be head over heels flailing at you in a silk dressing gown and you would’ve broken him all the same." The pair stared at each other in unabashed silence for a moment before Izzy looked away briskly. "Maybe if I hadn’t have tried to speak against him I would’ve been fine." He sounded remorseful, that made Stede settle into silence.

"We’ve both fucked up quite a lot, haven’t we?"

Stede asked softly, earning another grin from Izzy. "We have, in some ways. We’ve all done something wrong, Bonnet." He turned to him again, this time a bit less gruff. "At least you haven’t lost a leg, Yet."

The man paled with horror at the thought, "Well at least you look absolutely fantastic with that leg Pete helped whittle for you!" He’d blush at the compliment if he realized it was for him and not Pete, chin coming to rest on his arm.

"Izzy-"

"Israel."

They both stilled, and he almost felt fucking timid. Stomaching that down he stood, attempting to ride off the briefly vulnerable moment shared between them. "You’re my captain, so you get to call me Israel." His chest felt absolutely sick as that cursed smile met him, it was so sickly sweet he feared he would hurl.

"Israel." Stede started fondly, a genuine note of true happiness to his lips as he nudged his hand against the others resting on the ship. "I’m quite honored to have your wisdom and experience aboard my ship. If you ever need to talk more-"

Yep. That’s it. "Say another word and I’ll chop your balls off." He said suddenly, sharply. Staring away with a visible tint to his features that did not go unnoticed by Stede, earning a gentle: "Noted." In his wake as he strode off to make sure Fang wasn’t slacking off. Didn’t matter if he was, he just needed to hide before the embarrassment crept up to his ears.

[xviiper-rents-houses]

Prologue: Floating Particles

Prologue. Floating particles.

The low hum of the ship lulled (Name) to a state of drowsiness. It was an uncomfortable temperature aboard, not to mention the lingering sense of dread.

It hung over (Name) like a cloud, chiding (pronoun) about (pronoun) first mission. (Eye shape/ed) irises flitted about the low lit room, observing each member of the KorTac task force.

Each one looked so calm and so collected. So professional. Could they be afraid as well? (Name) could only wonder as (pronoun) took notice of a dust particle floating near (pronoun) folded legs.

Fixated on such a mundane thing, (Name) wondered if the particle felt fear as well. Be it fear of (pronoun)self or the impending fear of being forgotten.

Abandonment at its finest. No one ever really thought about dust particles as being a person. As important as human life.

(Name) felt like an outsider in a group of insiders, only another body bound for the grave. Sure, (pronoun) had intimate connections to people in (pronoun) life but, it was only for a short while.

These bonds would mean nothing to a world full of problems. (Name) wondered about (pronoun) coworkers inside the plane.

Did they feel the sense of dread like (pronoun) did? Just how many missions had each person been on? How many bodies were sent in bags from (pronoun) group?

(Name) took the spare time to observe the multiple figures inside the room. Almost all of them had the usual tactical gear needed for a mission such as this.

Strong bodies and cladded in green; it would be difficult to see these warriors coming. Looking at the last figure in the room, (Name) took note of the sniper’s hood.

Despite not knowing what he was called by, (Name) had heard of his many successful missions. And failures.

(Name) couldn’t help but bring (pronoun)self to wonder how such a skilled marksman could fail. But, then again, due to his tall stature, the insertion specialist could never be a sniper.

Pity.

(Name) felt sympathy for such a predicament. A cold glance from the stranger was enough for (Name) to snap out of (pronoun) thoughts.

Staring was often seen as rude. Guilt buzzed in (Name)’s stomach, mind swarming with thoughts of voicing an apology. No, not a good idea.

That would only make the situation even more awkward. So to speak. Leaning (pronoun) head against an uncomfortable beam, (Name) closed (pronoun) eyes and listened to the low humming of the aircraft.

The spot (Name) had chosen to sit in was small, barely fitting (Name)'s frame. It was cramped and corned, a claustrophobic’s nightmare. But, anything was better than sitting next to a bunch of strangers.

With efficacious thoughts running in (pronoun) mind, (Name) tried to relax. The low hum, the scent of sweat and the warm air.

What a good start to the morning.

Chapter One

[izzy-b-hands]

Stoned, working myself up to do my T shot (where's Roach to do it for me when I need him?), and instead of getting that done I wrote this thing* instead.

*thing here meaning a more passiveish voice from Ed's POV mini fix it, focusing on Ed's feelings and thoughts and grief and regret in the immediate Izzy being saved but still in early recovery period. Blackhands with the vaguest hint of potential steddyhands.

Please forgive any formatting errors; I'm publishing this on mobile (and will get this up on AO3 too at some point.) I'll try to check later on desktop and address any errors though.

He hasn't washed his hair yet. 

He will, eventually. 

But as long as Izzy's blood is in his hair, there's proof that it's all real. That it happened, and that Izzy is still there and breathing.

It was a very, scarily close call, per Roach. 

But Izzy is alive. Wounded, hurting, but thus far seemingly on the mend. He spends most of the days resting on the ship (anchored near the little island that holds the rundown house they want to make into an inn. As soon as Izzy is better, at least.) The nights, as Jim, Archie, and Frenchie relay it, are harder. They take turns staying up with Izzy, apparently, when he can't sleep. 

He offers to take a turn, be added to the rotation. He means it in genuine goodwill, and out of fear that Izzy might still slip away in the night, somehow. 

Jim's knife is at his throat before he can blink, and that's answer enough. 

There's a lot of blame. Fair blame, but no easier to bear. On himself and Stede for not checking Ricky over for weapons, for having Izzy and others more or less lead the charge when it should have been them. 

On himself, for not moving from Izzy's right away, to let Roach in to work to save him. It hadn't been a conscious choice, though he can't seem to get any of them to understand it. 

Roach had shoved him aside just as he'd caught the glimmer of the ring around Izzy's scarf. And it had made him pause, still in the way, as he had realised he wasn't sure where his matching ring was (with a tiny but pretty amethyst stone.) Rings they'd exchanged years ago now, despite never clearly labeling what they had.

Stede's used the term ‘husbands’ when they've talked in the nights since the escape. To clarify and make sure they're settled on the same page about each other and Izzy and how they're going to proceed. It feels the most fitting word, but it hurts the worst. 

The ring, he thinks, is still somewhere among what little loot they didn't toss or sell. He wouldn't have gotten rid of it, no matter what. He thinks he knows at least that much about himself for sure. 

If he finds it; when he finds it; it might be thin enough to thread into a braid in his hair, or fit over the fabric when he wears Stede's scarf. 

He wants to be wearing it when he sees Izzy again. Not when Izzy is sleeping and unaware of his visits during the day, but awake and maybe willing to talk. 

To let him apologise, practice in action, because if anyone would let him treat their apology as ‘practice’ it would be Izzy. Just so long as he knows it's real this time. 

He fidgets in the wooden chair near Izzy's cot, threading his fingers together, knowing they're clean, but still seeing only Izzy's blood on them. 

[backhurtyy]

okay hear me out… gentlebeard enchanted au

stede lives in the real world, working a corporate job as a manager or lawyer or something like that. he and mary are divorced amicably after being shoved together because their parents were old family friends, and he takes care of alma and louis on the weekends. all things considered he has a pretty good life, but he’s just… lonely and unhappy and disenchanted with life. he wants companionship, magic, love… the stuff of fairytales.

ed lives in the fairytale world, where he’s still a pirate, still blackbeard, still feared across the seas. but he’s getting tired of that life, of constantly being on the go. his knee gets a little worse with each day, he doesn’t heal as fast as he used to, he doesn’t get any joy from it anymore. he’s bored and tired and lonely, because despite being the most famous pirate, no one really gets close to him out of fear. he wants a quiet life with a partner, someone that he can sit down next to and call home. the closest thing he has to a friend is izzy, but he’s half the reason why ed hasn’t been able to find that— whenever he mentions it, izzy starts going on about how “you’re fucking blackbeard, you can’t fucking retire.”

and then, through some means— a cyclone created by a witch, a spell cast by a rival pirate, whatever— ed is transported to the real world. it’s loud and dizzying and confusing and izzy is nowhere to be found, and ed doesn’t know what to do. he spends the night trudging through the rain and dark, trying to find his way to the ship even though he knows he won’t find it. stede, meanwhile, is picking up alma and louis from mary’s for their weekend at their house, when he finds ed, standing by the billboard of a ship that stands by the mini golf circuit. before he can stop them, alma and louis are rushing out to talk to him, this man in leather with a gun strapped to his thigh.

anyways stede takes him in, because he’s cold and wet and limping and yeah okay maybe he’s a little handsome. but he’s still on edge because he has his kids to look after, and the stories ed tells are definitely not suitable for children to hear and the way he talks about this izzy guy makes stede worry about their safety should he show up, the way ed seems so sure he will. so he takes ed to work with him to try and get him help, but he has no money or ID or passport or anything, so they’re stuck together. they spend the next few days together, eating food and walking around the city, and despite all his worries stede is just so helplessly enchanted by ed and his reactions and his stories and how much alma and louis love him already.

ed, meanwhile, is having the best time he’s had in ages. he’s laughing more than he ever has, his knee has gotten a break due to stede’s heating pad, he’s excited by the prospect of waking up and seeing what this strange world has to offer. but it’s bittersweet, too, because he knows izzy will be looking for him. and when he finds him— he always finds ed, that’s why he’s such a good first mate— he’ll drag him back to their world. away from happiness. away from stede.

sure enough izzy shows up and they get in a big fight, one involving lots of sword fighting and shouting and the vicious sort of bickering that comes with a decades long friendship. finally though ed manages to get izzy pinned down, and he tells him that izzy can go back and take up the mantle of blackbeard, but ed is done. he doesn’t want to leave stede or the life he’s found, because he’s finally happy for once. he’s finally in love with something again.

so izzy leaves and ed stays with stede and his family, and he gets that sense of home and excitement that he’d been craving while stede gets all the love and magic of a fairytale, and they find their happily ever after together.

[kiss-my-freckle]

3x8: Ordinary People

It's because episodes generally end opposite how they start that I'm not gonna tell you with this one. I'm just gonna show you.

"Go ahead. Kick, yell, scream. Sure you've been planning your rant all day."

While I'm here… I know some fans have an issue watching Elena train with Stefan in 4x4. I just want those same fans to imagine just how "stuck" Elena must be... because she's training with the very reason she started training in the first place. I view 4x4 as a centerpiece scene. Every bit what it would look like had vampirism actually changed Elena into a completely different person. But it didn't change Elena into a completely different person. That's why she's going to college with Damon. She "should be" training with Damon. They follow it up in 4x5 as she straddles Damon with a crossbow because that's what the real Elena looks like.

She doesn't push Damon out of her bed. She's comfortable enough with him now that I wouldn't be surprised if he spent the night with her. The conversation Alaric, Damon, and Elena were having at the open… became pillow talk for Damon and Elena at the close.

"I've got this, Damon." "I've got this, Elena."

Damon's "See, I told you I had it" is the reason Elena has to be the one to stab Rebekah in the back in 3x9. Note how Damon is walking down stairs as Elena is walking up stairs in that first gif. They're literally written side-by-side in that scene. You'll also notice that Stefan is drinking blood while Damon is drinking alcohol. You get the same concept with Rebekah and Elena. That's why Rebekah cracks open a bottle of alcohol, and at times, threatens to rip into Elena. The "blood and alcohol" of it all that webs into their 3x14 soundtrack, Give Me Love by Ed Sheeran. See it and feel it.

It's best to view Stefan and Rebekah side-by-side while you view Damon and Elena side-by-side because that's how the episode is written. Damon is written with Stefan and Elena is written with Rebekah. Just in looking at this episode and how it's written, you can see everything that should happen - and everything that Stefan manipulates in 3x14. So when you see Damon in bed with Elena only to then see Damon in bed with Rebekah, know that's all Stefan's doing. I have a specific post in mind once I finish these 14 episodes, and that post will show how Stefan manipulates the situation.

As I said before, "Ordinary People" is their term for humans, so that's what this episode focuses on. It's best to consider Damon and Stefan while Rebekah tells her story. It's the story of humans being turned into predators. Not just the Originals, but every vampire that was created in the bloodline of these Originals. All vampires are predators, that's why I consider all vampire relationships toxic. Predators are toxic, period. In real life, no relationship with a predator is beautiful. They're only beautiful on The Vampire Diaries because they're written to be. It's because fans refuse to accept this reality that they look like idiots when they debate ships. To put it bluntly… Stefan doesn't hate Damon as fans hate Damon. It is the love of a brother that saves him. So while fans can hate Damon/Elena/Delena to the level of obsession, they should know how idiotic it really is.

Rebekah is extremely gorgeous in this episode. Clear to me just in reading her body language that she actually hates being a vampire. She misses being human, and is pained by the fact that her parents did this to her. Her mother did this to her. Her scene with Elena at the end of the episode is so raw and real that you can feel it with her. It's such a betrayal... this very girl that stood by her brother through everything, and it was a lie. Klaus was the one who killed their mother. "And when it's all said and done, there's nothing more important than the bond of family." Elena's comment to Damon is the reason she stabs Rebekah in the back. Despite knowing Rebekah is on their side, she's not stupid to believe Rebekah will continue to be. Futile to understand familial relationships. If anyone is going to kill Klaus, it'll be family. That's why I tell people it's best to stay out of family feuds because they will "kiss and make up" lol. Elena can't expect to kill Klaus so long as Rebekah is standing. She has no choice but to dagger her, period.

The truth of this scene right here is quite beautiful, and it works as a triple. This moment right here is everything as it pertains to Elena in 4x1. I'm basically saying that it works in combination with her second Damon compulsion, and is every reason Elena survives Rebekah a second time.

What some fans tend to get wrong is the very parallel. Damon and Elena both are written in parallel with Rebekah, that's why both respond to Elena's comment the way they do. When Elena describes Rebekah, fans actually have to look at Rebekah to see it. This is the truth of Stelena and Datherine in a one-shot comment. Elena loved Stefan blindly and recklessly. Damon loved Katherine blindly and recklessly. Any fan can take this comment and pull a triple parallel gif post of Rebekah with Klaus, Elena with Stefan, and Damon with Katherine. The point of Damon saying Katherine "ruined" him. She "consumed" him. The point of Stefan ripping into Elena in 3x5. He "consumed" her.

There's another paralel in this episode, but I'm gonna save it for the episode post it belongs in lol

As I said in my 3x8 post, it's the Elena of it all. She won't die in 3x22 because it's Damon's necklace. I've coupled this with a gif of them in the Lockwood tunnel because as I said in my 3x8 post, Damon is the one that actually puts Elena's death in motion while he makes her unbreakable. It's the white oak of it all.

I'm saying that these two gifs are Klaus and Elena in 3x22, and it's all Delena. The only thing Stefan does is ensure that Elena becomes a vampire rather than remaining human. That's the sum of his choices going forward.

[wolfnight2012]

You know what, Stede was right in 1x07 too, actually. I know I already talked about how Stede didnt deserve the full blame for getting boarded by the English (1x01), running aground & losing the hostages (1x02) or getting captured by the Spanish via Spanish Jackie's trap (1x03) in this post here buuuut, there's a fifth & final thing I must insist is not 100% his fault, and that folks, is

The Oranges!

Yeap! Stede's response does not help his case at all here (like, I'm 89% certain he's trying to avoid blame when he "throws Roach under the carriage") and he mostly likely doesn't even believe his own excuses.

Stede (in order to shift blame off himself) calls Roach out for "bad meal planning." It certainly sounds like an excuse, but the thing is, he's right!

Roach is the cook (and surgeon) on board the Revenge. As such it is his job to keep track of their rations.

Like sure, a 50 orange cake is very extravagant. I don't doubt Stede asked for it specifically to treat Ed to fanciful desserts. But decadence is in no short supply on the Revenge. Stede's jars of marmalade, Ed's 7-sugar tea, the breakfast spread of 1x08, the frankly obscene mountain of food Jim heaps on their plate in 1x04, the tapas of 1x03

(like, I don't doubt they were at least in part Roach's idea, he seemed so fucking HAPPY telling Geraldo about them + I'm convinced he came aboard the Spanish ship just so he could watch actual Spaniard's try his dishes--Stede had no need for back-up/protection, he fully trusted Geraldo. He only needed to bring himself, his remaining hostage & Lucius to take notes/sketch the transaction. Geraldo requested Jim come along (since the trap was for them) but there's no need for Roach to be there, unless he invited himself so he could see his proud creations enjoyed as they should be)

I digress. My point is, enjoyable food, satisfying food, food cooked for the pleasure of it (either the pleasure of cooking it, or the pleasure of eating it) seems common place on Stede's ship.

So much so that a cake requiring 50 oranges wouldn't be such an "out there" request for Stede to make. He's not hogging supplies that are already so freely given to anyone aboard.

That leaves the cards in Roach's hands. If Stede's request wasn't a feasible one, it was up to Roach, as the person in charge of their food supplies, to either say "We dont have enough oranges for that" or (more likely) "okay, but we have to set course to buy more oranges, because we'll be out then"

But Roach does neither of these things (we know he doesn't, because when Stede starts to point fingers Roach points right back saying "Hey, there was that cake you had me make!" Rather than an "I told you so")

Stede trusts his crew pretty explicitly. When Izzy asks about the ship's speed & ammunitions, Stede responds that that's "more the crews' thing", because he does trust them to know how to run the ship.

When Roach brings up the oranges, despite being so distracted by the threat of Ed leaving, Stede still calls a crew meeting so they can discuss the problem as a group, he listens & sets course for St. Augustine after Frenchie(?) suggests it, he signs off on the expedition (led by Jim) when Black Pete & Oluwande mention it.

Distracted as he is he still helps line up the dominoes that allow Black Pete & Co to acquire the much needed oranges. Had Roach mentioned something earlier, Swede might not have gotten scuvy at all, because Stede would have set course to buy more oranges once it was brought to his attention.

Stede should have maybe realized 50 oranges were a lot of oranges to waste while trapped at sea, with no immediate way to get more once you run out.

But! Roach should have also known how close they'd be to running out once he made that cake & requested a supply run before they fully ran out.

[caught-in-the-infinite]

I posted 1,145 times in 2022

That's 462 more posts than 2021!

12 posts created (1%)

1,133 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@boasamishipper

@unwise-augur

@madmaudlingoes

@hacash

@randomfandomss

I tagged 247 of my posts in 2022

#our flag means death - 74 posts

#oh tumblr - 36 posts

#izzy hands - 16 posts

#goncharov - 12 posts

#stranger things - 12 posts

#art - 11 posts

#uk politics - 11 posts

#black sails - 11 posts

#unreality - 10 posts

#supernatural - 7 posts

Longest Tag: 106 characters

#is this like the personality test where everyone got the same answer but thougth t applied direct to them?

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Goncharov, tumblr, twitter and the things that were lost along the way

I have become obsessed with the idea that the tumblr meme of Goncharov is more about the destruction of Twitter than anything else. Tumblr itself has sailed so close to the wind of being shut down and gone forever and now we are watching across the river as the library of alexandria burns. If Twitter goes there will be an unimaginably huge amount of data and connections lost. History that can no longer be eaily referenced and referred to.

What better metephor could there be than a 1973 movie that we are told by everyone that is incredible, that has had a huge impact - still felt today - on every gangster movie since, that is a formative work of at the very start of the careers of some of the biggest names in the business...and you cannot see it. No one can see it. This piece of art can only be view through someone else describing it to you. It can be seen in gifs and quotes sandwiched between other asthetic images.

If you didn't see Goncharov at the cinema in 1973 then you are never going to be able to watch it. If you are not on Twitter now then, chances are, you never will be.

No wonder the tag line is about time running out.

11 notes - Posted November 21, 2022

#4

I've been having ideas about how season 2 Our Flag Means Death is going to handle Ed finding out about Stedes "death" and while there probably is time within the 10 episodes for Ed to grieve his relationship, find out Stede is dead, greive Stede and then find out Stede is still alive before/at the reunion it feels like a lot for the minimal run time. Also, because I'm obsessed with Izzy Hands so this is also about him.

###

So about episode 3 Izzy decideds that the Kraken has become too much and much to his eternal disgust that the only way to get things back on an even keel is to fetch back the captains sweetheart.

Assuming that Stede is a moron and will have simply returned home after dumping Ed that's where he starts. Only to find the gravestone. He is very pissed off at this revelation and is seen by some local in the process of wishing he had been the one to do the deed.

He returns to the ship and doesn't say anything. Alternatively telling Ed that Stede returned home to his wife and will never leave there again.

5 Episodes (and several months pass), during which there are increasingly close calls where Ed and Stede keep missing each other.

Blackbeard and crew are raiding a ship where someone on board is very excited to meet the captain whom his good friend Stede sailed with, for just a little bit. Here is where Ed finds out Stede is dead. Ed also finds out that there was a pirate that turned up at the gravestones. But there has now been enough time pass that these two events are now much more closely related and perhaps that pirate was turning up to make sure "his enemy" was dead, that perhaps the story had been embosed such that the pirate had been driving the carridge that ran over Stede.

And who was he, Ed might ask.

Didn't get a name but he was all in black, with a beard and had an X tattoo'd right here, he points underneath his eye.

Such a fury has never been seen on the Kraken before.

Despite protestations he fully believes that Izzy has killed Stede and Ed wont kill him but he'll certaily leave him in a position which very shortly he will definitely die a very painful death.

Ed leaves to go get a drink at a bar.

And Stede sits down opposite him "You're a hard man to catch up with."

###

I don't think this is how it will go. Too much is put on Izzy here - just cause he's blorbo from my shows doesn't make him a main character. But I like the idea of Izzy being so profoundly greatful that Stede is still alive. Even possibly being happy to see him.

Also I don't really see Season2 Izzy taking it upon himself to go fetch Stede back. Or Ed sending him off to see what happened to Stede. I like the idea of him being confused for Blackbeard in town though - especially for when Ed does turn up later to "meet the family".

Izzy is saved in the end. Maybe just kicked off the ship for good.

11 notes - Posted April 18, 2022

#3

13 notes - Posted March 29, 2022

#2

Izzy the spewer, let him look...Captain left him in charge once, and we were in choppy seas, and he spewed everywhere and he shit himself too. Lots of shit.

Fang

OK, time for some baseless speculation because I’ve got Izzy Hands brain rot.

Facts: Fang is not afraid of Izzy, he is afraid of Blackbeard.

Assumptions: The rest of Blackbeards crew feels the same way.  And Izzys time in charge of Blackbeards crew went about as well as his time in charge of Stede’s crew.

Hypothesis: Someone tried to poison Izzy and send him off to doggy heaven while the boss wasn’t around. Probably throw him overboard during the choppy seas for good measure.

But Izzy’s a cockroach and survived however much rat poison they tried to feed him. The crew aren’t going to tell Blackbeard they tried to kill his second in command and Izzy certainly isn’t going to offer up this humiliating story of his time in charge.

59 notes - Posted April 22, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

See the full post

192 notes - Posted August 19, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[sixstepsaway]

two small samples of the ring fic (blackhands chapter and gentlehands chapter - overall it's a steddyhands fic)

blackhands:

“Edward,” Izzy says, relenting. He puts the notes down, even though Edward can’t read them for himself. That’s what he has Izzy for. “I’ve made a list of everything except what’s in here. What are you keeping?”

Edward glances around the cabin and shrugs. “Bed’s nice,” he says. “Might move it over there.” He points. “Found some old clothes I can hang up over the windows instead of whatever the fuck that is.” He gestures at the pink chiffon curtains. Izzy thinks they’re excessive and disgusting, but he thinks Edward probably just dislikes the style. “Bunch of shit too, jewelry and crap like that. We can sell most of it. Help yourself, I’ll move whatever I don’t want onto the desk. I’m keeping that, too.”

Izzy casts the desk a glance. It’s bolted down, at least, though he thinks it’s a misuse of the space. “I’ll get right on that.”

He spends the next couple of hours sharing a companionable silence with Edward that’s occasionally broken by Edward scampering over, holding up something cool he found and showing Izzy, who makes a valid attempt to be interested in the snobby, poncey items in the cabin. He enjoys the maps Edward brings to him, and even agrees to keep them at Edward’s insistence, and Edward brings him a few blank, neatly-bound journals to add to his collection as well. He ends up with a small collection of items slated for his own use, and Edward informs him, “You can keep them in your room now!”

He’s never had his own room before. They didn’t have enough space on the other ship, and so he and Edward, despite having commandeered the whole thing, often ended up crushed into the same small space. It made getting off together in the night easier, but it was often sweaty and unpleasant, especially on hot nights.

His stomach twists at the thought of not sleeping close to Edward anymore regardless of the downsides, but he shoves the feeling aside. “My room?”

“Yeah, Iz. You’re my First Mate, you get your own cabin. You even get to pick which one you want!”

He wants this one, but only if Edward is in it. He almost, almost says so, almost tells Edward that he wants to keep sleeping with his body pressed close to Edward’s, that his warmth helps him rest, that his touch helps him feel alive. In the end he says, “I’ll pick one.”

“Great!” Edward bounces off again and Izzy goes back to his inventory.

gentlehands:

Izzy reaches out a hand. “Give me my fucking ring back.”

Stede scowls, but he hands it over. “I’m hardly going to steal it from you.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time you stole shit from me,” Izzy snaps.

Stede can’t help the laugh that escapes. “Well, I stole you as well, I suppose I’m not a terrible pirate after all.”

Izzy looks stricken for a moment as he realizes that yes, he too was stolen by Fucking Stede Bonnet in his own way. Stede laughs some more.

“Ed never mentioned it to me,” he muses once Izzy has fingered the ring and then set it and the cravat aside on the table.

“We don’t talk about it,” Izzy says, tone icy now. Stede knows from experience that if he’s actually angry at him he’ll leave their bed, slink back to what Stede calls his ‘backup bed’, his cabin where he can shut the door and shut them both out and pretend he’s not a human being wih feelings. He usually returns before dawn, these days at least. When Stede waits for elaboration on we don’t talk about it, Izzy glares and obliges, “He handed me the ring, I put it on this fucking thing once I found time, and he never said anything. We don’t talk about it. You’re so fucking obsessed with talking it through as a crew, well fuck you. Edward and I don’t talk about it and you can’t make us.”

Stede sees that as a challenge but decides to set it aside, at least for a few minutes. “I see,” he says. “Well! We will see about that.”

“If you’re not going to fuck me again or let me sleep, I’m gonna fucking leave,” Izzy says flatly.

Stede smirks. “Well, I never said I wasn’t going to fuck you again!”

i may end up adding a third, steddyhands chapter if i cant quite close the fic itself. but.

[august-anon]

It’s one of those stories Stede doesn’t really like, gruesome and graphic, but Ed’s gotten very close while telling it, and what started as a raucous retelling has simmered into a low, rumbling recounting with Ed’s expressive eyes mere inches away, and to be quite honest Stede has lost the thread of who died how. At least, until Ed growls “and then I ripped his guts out” with a demonstrative claw-grab at Stede’s abdomen. The shriek that flies out is three-quarters surprise, but Ed’s eyes twitch wider in the recognition of a man well-versed in finding an edge, and then he does it again—

--and honestly Stede knows he’s doomed before Ed has even really started. He doesn’t remember how he knew he was ticklish, he isn’t even sure if he remembered where, but he he does know that he is deathly so, and he wouldn’t be escaping his fate so easily.

When the second grab illicits another squeal, though not one quite so loud, Ed doesn’t even bother to hide his smirk, all teeth. Or maybe he thinks the beard does a well enough job of hiding it for him. Stede cowers back in the crows nest, with nowhere to go, feeling the heat of a blush creep up his neck and into his face.

Truly, Stede is just waiting for the mockery to start. It’s not that he thinks so lowly of Ed, it’s just that... Stede knows who he is. Little Baby Bonnet, who never grew out of things like picking flowers and being ticklish. And Ed is backing him into the corner and Stede’s heart is beating fast, probably from fear or nerves, because what else would make it do that, and then Ed’s hands are upon him, for real this time, and it all bursts forth in a bubble of laughter. Stede slaps his hands over his mouth, because the crew is still close below them and while the wind steals away much of their voices, it can’t whisk away everything.

Ed starts laughing too, despite him not being at the mercy of ten mischievous fingers, but the thing is... it doesn’t sound taunting. If Stede didn’t know better, he’d almost call it fond. And Ed leans forward, close enough so that his long curtain of hair lends them their own little pocket of privacy, and he grins at Stede in the way he always has, open and attentive and not the least bit cruel.

“This is fucking adorable,” Ed says in the scant air between them, and Stede’s heart picks up even more for reasons he doesn’t know. “Are you this ticklish everywhere?”

Stede’s eyes go wide and Ed’s fingers start to wander away from his belly and Stede’s arms start to wobble like jelly, desperate to come down for protection and--

“Captain!”

Stede inhales sharply. Ed freezes, eyebrows raised. His fingers twitch playfully over the thin fabric of Stede’s shirt when he takes a moment too long to answer.

“Y-Yes?” Stede manages, his voice nearly an octave too high.

Oluwande doesn’t reply for a moment, the pause stretching out into an uncomfortable silence. Then, with a suspicion in his tone Stede doesn’t want to explore right now, Olu continues, “Yeah, Buttons thinks he sees another ship on the horizon. We wanted to know what you think we should do.”

Stede clears his throat. Then clears it again for good measure. He deliberately does not look at Ed, because he can feel that piercing gaze and damned smirk taking him apart already and he does not need to give it more power.

“Right,” Stede calls. “Right, we’ll be down in just a moment!”

Olu hesitates, but in the end he only calls out, “Alright,” and Stede hears his chatter start back up with Jim moments later.

“Duty calls,” Ed says, his voice still low and rumbling, and this close, Stede swears he can feel it vibrating through his own chest.

And then, with one last squeeze to draw out one last shriek, Ed pulls away with a wink and starts clambering out of the nest. Stede himself takes a moment to breath, hoping the red stains fade from his face before he reaches the deck, and deliberately does not think about the fact that he’s almost disappointed that Ed didn’t get the chance to pick him apart, piece by piece.

[tsuritama10th]

Tsuritama Short Films #3: Scared Night Walking

For those not aware, the 'Short Films' are actually a collection of written Tsuritama short stories! Two of them have been translated properly, but the others were unavailable to the English-speaking fandom so far. I want to change that at least a little!

My Japanese is far from good enough to offer a real translation, but I have scanned and OCR-ed my copy of the stories and ran it through several translators in order to at least be able to provide a fairly detailed summary of what is happening in the stories.

You'll have to take it all with a grain of salt, but I think it is better than having no info available at all!

Without further ado, here is Scared Night Walking!

The story is set during summer vacation, as Yuki is getting used to his part time job at the store. On the Seishunmaru, Haru is questioning an object in the wheelhouse and Ayumi explains that it is a good luck charm for sailors. It wards off Funayuurei. Ayumi is not going to let them sink the Seishunmaru, he laughs about that with full confidence.

Yuki looks up Funayuurei on his smartphone. Funayuurei as a Japanese type of ghost that tries to sink ships. It is made from the spirits of those who died at sea.

The talisman is a little laddle without a bottom. Handing it over to the Funayuurei is said to make them spare the ship, as Natsuki (who has joined the conversation) explains.

Haru is dissatisfied that nobody seems to have a good explanation for why this pacifies the ghost.

Both Haru and Ayumi are confident that they will be able to defeat a Funayuurei if it appears though. They cheerily bond over it.

Yuki asks Natsuki if he doesn't think it's interesting that such legends spawned all over Japan seemingly independent from one another. There are also theories that these legends are made up deliberately in order to keep people away from dangerous waters.

Yuki, Haru and Natsuki return to fishing. Akira is on board also fishing and he's been silent so far, but he seems amused now. When questioned by Natsuki he says that he thinks it's quite amusing for an alien to be talking about ghosts.

Natsuki is annoyed to hear Haru referred to as such and just retorts "Are you stupid? Haru is our friend."

Meanwhile Haru excitely tells Yuki that he wants to go see a ghost. Ayumu taught him that there are a lot of them at the school!! When Yuki looks over to Ayumu, he just sees him make an apologetic gesture...

Haru has also heard that there are seven mysteries at the school, but Yuki who is a recent transfer hasn't heard about them. Haru rushes over to ask Natsuki instead but when a wave shakes the boat he almost falls.

Akira, who hasn't moved at all despite the waves, asks if he's okay. Haru replies "y-yeah."

Yuki and Natsuki discuss what to do about Haru's ghost hunting plans. Neither of them want to. If Haru wants to go, he can go alone!!

...but of course, at 10pm in the evening, the two of them find themselves in front of the school gates anyway, a smiling Haru at their side.

Natsuki has brought a camera. Apparently Haru told Sakura that the three of them would go ghost hunting and Sakura asked Natsuki to take a ghost picture when they go. Natsuki is powerless to defy his little sister...

Yuki meanwhile just came because he was worried, which makes Natsuki tease him for being soft on Haru. Yuki corrects that he's just worried Haru will be too noisy at school...

... and woops, while they were talking, Haru disappeared somewhere behind the school gates and is gone! So the two have no choice but to also climb the gate. They find Haru at the entrance. There is a window which hasn't been closed properly so the three of them can go inside.

Yuki finds the school at night rather creepy, but Haru is loud and cheerful about everything as always. He demands Natsuki show them the seven mysteries, though Natsuki isn't at all interested in them. He says they should probably just check the classics.

Yuki doesn't even know those kinds of rumors. He's never had the experience of getting excited with friends about this stuff, so he he's clueless about how widespread these myths are.

Just when Yuki is about to just google it, Natsuki suggests they check out the music room. Yuki is shocked and Natsuki retorts: "Why are you so surprised? A piano that plays by itself or a Beethoven bust that moves its eyes and stuff... it's a classic."

"Oh? Like an automatic playing function?" Haru chimes in.

"You came here to look for ghosts, don't suddenly say something so realistic!"

"Ghosts aren't realistic?"

"Of course not! They're not real!"

"Then, why are you acting scared? Why did the Captain have a talisman to drive them away?"

"Because they might exist."

"Natsuki, you're saying something weird! You say they're not real, but they might be! That's what you call a contradiction, Kate taught me the other day."

After this little argument, Natsuki tells Yuki to turn on the flashlight. After all, he has to take a picture still. The three of them head onwards.

As they are almost at the music room, Natsuki suddenly pauses. He remembered one of the seven mysteries. It's the story of the "friend in the middle of the night". Once upon a time a group of friends broke into the school at night, much like they are doing now. They explored the school building over and over, but nothing happened. They went home. The next day, one of the guys who was supposed to be with them said something strange. He claims he was home all night last night. But the others did meet him in front of the school and explore with him... The friend claims he sent an email about it, he couldn't come because relatives came over. They check their phones and realize it is true.

Then who was with them that night...? They call it the friend in the middle of the night, a being that imitates humans and mingles with them unnoticed. So everyone should always count their numbers before going to school at night...

Suddenly there is a flashing light! Natsuki has taken a picture of Yuki, proud to have gotten a funny face on camera. He thinks its interesting that Yuki really got scared. Yuki wants him to delete the picture, but Natsuki refuses. He won't get a ghost picture, so he has to take this one back to Sakura for insurance.

Natsuki tries to show the picture to Haru as well, but Haru has gone ahead and is totally out of sight now. As they are in front of the music room, there is still no sign of Haru... but there is a piano sound!

They suspect it is Haru trying to play a trick on them, but when they open the door and shine the flashlight onto the piano seat, nobody is there! Instead... there is a duck hopping over the keyboard.

It runs out of the room, the boys follow, but suddenly the flashlight falls onto a dark face... so they run back towards the music room! The face follows, announcing itself with "how rude", and despite the fear they feel Natsuki bravely presses the shutter of his camera!

Naturally, the mysterious face turns out to be none other than Akira, now holding Tapioca in his arms. He asks what they're doing here and they ask if he's seen Haru, perchance. He hasn't and he refuses to search together. He insists he himself is just here to walk Tapioca.

Yuki and Natsuki go searching on their own. Natsuki presses the shutter of his camera every once in a while. He doesn't think he'll really get a ghost photo or anything, but Sakura might be happy if there's just an odd reflection somewhere or something. Natsuki still thinks Yuki's scared face is the best ghost picture though.

On the third floor, they find Haru who was hiding in terror from Tapioca. He was running from her and then he met a bone man, and they had a little chat.

A bone man?!

Scared by Haru's insistence that sure, the bone man lives here, Yuki grabs his cheeks and pulls them to confirm he's real. He is indeed real.

The bone man meanwhile turns out to be the skeleton in the science room. Haru insists he spoke to him and that the skeleton was surprised when he said he was an alien.

When they turn to look at the skeleton it... raises its hand in greeting!

A moment of silence.

Screaming.

And Natsuki and Yuki run away full speed.

But when Yuki arrives at the door (which is closed because they came through a window), Natsuki isn't with him anymore. Yuki is absolutely terrified, but if Natsuki somehow fell and can't walk anymore... he just can't abandon him!

As Yuki returns into the school building, he sees Haru... and with Haru is the bone man! Yuki, too scared to speak, tries to convey to Haru that he needs to get away using gestures, but Haru misinterprets. He does the Enoshima dance! And so does the bone man!

They dance down the stairs towards Yuki, whom Haru asks to dance with them. When Yuki calls the bone man a ghost, Haru denies. Actually, the bone man is like him! Yuki is not pacified by this.

"The bone man," Haru says, "is scared of your face, Yuki."

The bone man steps back from Yuki... To disperse the tension, Haru suggests a tea party.

A dialogue follows that is structured after manzai comedy structure and that is entirely beyond me to recount here....

This comedy skit is interrupted by Natsuki dropping a curtain on the skeleton from above, so he, Yuki and a reluctant Haru can run away.

They run out of the school and all the way to the train station.

When Natsuki and Yuki got separated, Natsuki had run into Akira, who told him to consider tonight simply a dream and forget about it. The rest can be left to him. Natsuki asked Akira if this was all his doing, since he was already so suspicious walking his duck here at night.

Akira did say that yeah, the skeleton ones are his specialty. Natsuki insists that the bone man was a disguised curry shop colleague of Akira's, though Yuki is skeptical of that.

Natsuki insists that the colleague wore a dark suit with glow in the dark painted on bones and all of this was an elaborate deception of Akira's.

They missed the last train, so the three of them have to walk back to Enoshima by foot. Walking by the dark sea, they make plans to go and do nighttime fishing sometime.

Yuki gets embarrassed by how clear it is that he wants to try night fishing really badly and really likes fishing. Natsuki takes a picture of him and Yuki as a souvenir. Their banter over this turns to all of them chasing each other and happily running towards Enoshima together.

Akira, watching them through binoculars, is feeling a sense of confusion in his heart. To Tapioca, he insists that what he's feeling isn't jealousy.

Then he records a report on an alien from a different star system from JF1, who could disguise themself as various things. Currently they were pretending to be a science skeleton at the high school.

Akira pauses for a moment to ponder the alien. Most aliens are smallfry tourist aliens who will hopefully just return to their own planet.

He further reports that the conversation betwen this alien and JF1 wasn't of interest and the two did not appear affiliated.

Akira had only ran into the skeleton alien by coincidence as he was tailing Haru. Since Natsuki and Yuki ended up being in contact with it, he had to convince them it was all a trick and get them out of the school. He then called in his subordinates for a capture.

There are no ghosts.

To Akira, such a thing is only a misunderstanding or a superstition.

Aliens are real though.

"Say Tapioca, what were you doing in the music room earlier anyway? I was worried."

"Quack!"

"No, really, you were playing the piano in the music room."

"Quack."

"Don't joke around. An alien couldn't transform into someone of your physique no matter what!"

"Quack."

"You're kidding, right?"

Tapioca turns away...

"Tapioca? Hey, Tapioca? Don't joke about something like this! Then who was I holding? No, no, don't joke about something like that in a place like this! Hey, Tapioca! Wait! Wait, please!"

But Tapioca jumps off his arms and runs...

"Tapioooca! Say it's a joke!! I'm gonna get scared if you donnn't--!!"

[gothwizardmagic]

I promised myself I’d make something myself for each OFMP prompt and idk how well I’ll stick to that but here are my “entries” for day 1!  A small collection of character pieces  - I bashed together the first two in the middle of the night after taking my evening meds so they are.  not my most coherent writing ever lol & then I wrote the rest in a frenzy this morning before the second set of prompts dropped - Jim’s was inspired by a quote from a recent panel Vico did where they said they get their strength from their femininity & their softness from their masculinity and they took that energy into Jim, which I think is very cool.

CW: Show-typical violence in Izzy’s section.

Read on Ao3

Prompt 1: Team Mascots

Blackbeard/Ed

Edward Teach started building a shield the day he killed his father, and it was one he never intended to let down.  He constructed Blackbeard like a suit of armour, one he grew to wear so comfortably he forgot he could take it off.  Blackbeard was leather and blades, and Edward folded himself away with the scrap of silk he had carried all these years, folded himself so small that he almost wasn’t sure he was there anymore.

And then Stede had reached in between the cracks in his armour as though it never even existed and held the silk, held him so delicately, seeing a precious thing in Edward where he had ceased to even exist to others anymore.  Though he hadn’t truly processed it at the time, Blackbeard had died for good in that instant.  He had shed the armour without a second thought, and for the first time in his life, Edward walked lightly through the world.

It was a lightness that had become a curse, the bitter sea air lashing his bare face as a painful, cruel reminder that his armour was gone for good, whether he liked it or not.  Blackbeard had died so that Edward could live, and there was no other way to live than to do what he had always done.  With the flutter of old fabric so lovingly carried and preserved, Edward cast away his own softness and allowed himself to harden to the core, to become the armour he had always worn.

And if despite it all he could do nothing but weep all night, that was something no-one would ever have to know.

Stede

Soft.  All his life, it had been thrown at him as an insult, and though he knew no other way to be, Stede cringed at the word.  Whatever he did it seemed to never be enough - the world acted as though everything his childhood bullies had thought him to be was true and awful, a problem buried deep at his core, and that was that.

The sea was a perfectly acceptable escape, he thought.  One could hardly be considered soft at sea, after all.  The sea was for hardy men, and piracy even moreso.  Merely by the act of being called a pirate one would be seen as dashing and tough, all the things Stede had never managed to be on land.  He would find his people, a worthy crew to help him live a tough man’s life, and softness wouldn’t chase him any longer.

And then he had seen the silk Blackbeard wore so close to his heart.

Blackbeard, the pirate to end all pirates, so they said.  The man feared across the seas, carried something so soft at his core, held it so dear, cherished it so lovingly.  A man who yearned for softness, for comfort, the kind of life Stede had been running from for as long as he could remember.  The kind of man Stede had run from being.

Seeing the tenderness in Ed’s face, he couldn’t help but think perhaps it wasn’t so bad to be soft after all.

Jim

It was only ever supposed to be a disguise, the easiest way they could think to stay hidden from Spanish Jackie.  She was looking for a girl, all sharp edges and ruthlessness.  Oluwande had been the one to actually figure it out, hands delicate as he attached the beard he had bought, as he figured out how to fit the sculpted nose onto Jim’s, every touch filled with nothing but care.  Bonifacia was no more, and now it was time to learn to live as Jim.

It seemed the next logical step to find places on a ship no-one would be looking on.  An unknown pirate was a good start, and the bizarrest and least effective one either of them had ever met only made things better.  No-one would even think to look for them here. 

Jim had thought that being treated differently by men would be the strangest part of this, and while it was certainly new it wasn’t the thing that took the most adjusting to.  No, that was how right it felt, to be Jim.  Jim hadn’t been shaped to be a weapon of war - he carried those skills, certainly, but he had been shaped instead by Olu’s soft hands, built out of care and warmth.  With Olu being Jim’s voice, they could no longer move through the world like a dagger thrown with precision.  Though the rest of the crew found Jim intimidating, he was never as much of a danger as Bonifacia had been.

It was a surprise, then, that when the beard came off Bonifacia didn’t return.  Jim took everything she had given them and curled Jim around it, weaving the two of them together into a new person, a person who could be both and neither at once, soft with Olu and sharp with a blade.  A person who felt right and real and alive.  

Lucius

Pirating was easy enough, when you made it that way.  A wink here, a blow job there, and it wasn’t all that hard to get out of doing any actual work.  Of course, life would be far more comfortable on land, but that had stopped being an option a long time ago.  And it wasn’t like he hated it, far from it.  It was freeing, sharing company with whoever he pleased and living a life unfettered by responsibility or expectations.  After all, nobody needed a wife at sea.

Joining the crew of the Revenge had been a no-brainer, though Lucius doubted this situation would last all that long.  A captain who paid wages meant even less work, no pillaging necessary to fill the coffers when they were already being filled with the spoils of privilege.  Duties were few and far between, and the crew themselves were really rather nice for the most part, though being dragged around as the captain’s scribe could get mind-numbingly dull.

And then Izzy Hands had happened, and for the first time in the longest time, Lucius had been given work, a job he hadn’t been able to talk or flirt his way out of.  And a horrible one, at that.  Though he quickly learned not all of Blackbeard’s crew were so hard to crack Izzy Hands remained a tough little nut, and for the first time in his life, Lucius felt like a challenge.

Izzy

Cold sea air, ropes bound bitingly tight, a knife pressed to a throat almost hard enough to draw blood - these were the things that made a man who he was.  A man could withstand everything the world had to give and more, could feel the grind of life’s heel on his back and rise to stand another day.

That was what a man was.  What any man should want - a servant and a rival all wrapped in one, ready to take anything dished out and even prod for more.  No real man wanted nice or soft.  Those were things to conquer, to show the real ways of the world as you were grinding them into dust.  Stede Bonnet should have been another rich little weakling in their way, to chew up and spit out.  Instead he had chewed up Edward, and whatever he had spat out was unrecognisable as the Blackbeard feared across the seas.  Bonnet was an infection, and the problem was much deeper than his weak-willed crew, maybe even deeper than whatever he had made of Blackbeard.

The biggest danger, one Izzy would never admit even to himself, was the few moments he had found himself wanting to sink into the embrace of Bonnet’s soft armchairs, to wrap himself in fine silk and never leave.  It was poison to everything he was, everything he had built himself to be, and Izzy would have to work harder than ever to stomp it out, to destroy those parts of himself that should have died long ago.

The brutal, beautiful agony of his toe being severed from his body was almost a relief.  Bonnet hadn’t managed to poison everything.

[loupettes]

Hi! Here I am again, since I loved your insights on Doomsday. ;-)

So, let's continue talking about Ten's behaviour, this time in Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel.

In my opinion, Ten is rather distant and almost assholey towards Rose in this two-parter, especially when compared to Nine's incredible tenderness in Father's Day (and this despite the whole end-of-the-world + mutual-insults situation!). I totally understand what he says to her (that Parallel Pete is not her father, that her father died when she was 6 months old...) but... would it hurt you to also take her hand, hug her, say something about how you are sorry for what she must be feeling? So, I wonder[ed] why Ten behaves like this.

In this case, I had tried to answer myself by considering two hypotheses:

- "GitF is canon/it fits into S2" --> then I would sort of explain Ten's behaviour with keeping in line with his distancing from Rose and pushing her back towards Mickey after School Reunion and GitF;

- "GitF was originally planned as an episode at the beginning of S1, therefore is not to be considered canon" --> Yeah, Ten still is worried about his relationship with Rose, as of School Reunion, but then... is Mickey being aboard (and once again close to Rose) enough to justify Ten's distance?

What do you think?

TIA!

Hey! Firstly, I am so so sorry this has taken me nearly two weeks to reply to - life got in the way, deadlines and ridiculously unjust work demands, and then I lost all my DW files and have slowly had to re-download them 😂 but I'm here now! And I’m glad to see you in my inbox - hello lovely! Ah, yes. Rise of the Cyberman. Post-GITF Ten. I can’t believe I’m about to agree with your hypothesis that GITF is canon but... here we are! And you're right, ten is an absolute arsehole to Rose in this episode, just as he is in GITF, and just as he is in SR. Honesty, its a wonder why we ship them??

Stuck with you, that's not so bad. If I believe in one thing, just one thing, I believe in her. How long are you going to stay with me? Forever. I made my choice a long time ago and I'm never going to leave you. Rose Tyler, defender of the Earth! Does it need saying? Rose, her name was, Rose, and we were together. Tonight's a night for lost things being found. Who's gonna hold his hand now?

ah right yes, that's why 😭 ANYWAY I digress. Ten's behaviour in ROTC is very... Ten. And his reaction, compared to Nine's, when Rose meets her dad is very different. But... understandable. Not condoning Ten's behaviour!! But, for a moment let's forget GITF exists (I mean, if you've not already): Nine almost lost her to her dad. She's the one man she was happy to be stuck with ('stuck with you that's not so bad' FEELINGS 😭), and Nine initially shrugs it off. 'Fine, see if I care' sort of attitude (which, we all know he does, he's just frustrated that he's let himself fall for a girl he shouldn't really have). Ten adopts the complete opposite: he panics. He's desperate to keep her with him now, regardless of what's gone on in the last few episodes. But see, the previous episodes did happen. This line is such a throw away line that we don't really notice it all that much, but he's addressing what happened between him and Reinette here:

He's saying this, because he's damn sure she's never trusted him less at that moment. He broke her trust by leaving, and it might look a lot like neither of them spoke about what happened, but he knows, and Ten's dumb enough that he doesn't just know when he messed up, he's told.

And so he's keeping hold of her at the beginning, too — body angled towards hers and his arm lazily reaching behind her to physically keep her close to him because he almost lost her.

Ten is incredibly selfish, and it's unbearable at the start of series 2. Nine regnerated into Ten literally for Rose, because he loved her and the last act of the Time War was a sacrifice for love. She came back for him, she absorbed the time vortex for him, so, as much as he finds it hard to believe, he knows somewhere that she loves him. He acts instinctively, he's so in love with her and she's about to die. Ten's born out of this unbearable love Nine held for her in this moment, to the point where Ten literally only exists to love Rose. He's so sure of his love for her, that he takes it for granted. Rose took the time vortex for him, and that's it then. She's in love with him, he's in love with her, so just go for it. But then comes actually... going for it, and he realises he can't. He's going to lose her, and he needs to bring them both back to reality because this is real. It's like when you fancy someone and you know, realistically, you can't have a future with them for whatever reason - different religion, one wants children while the other doesn't. You still go for it, because it gets to a certain point where you have to act on your feelings, but one day you will have to face those conflicts and you will always have to end things. Ten puts a stop to them, and the only way he can put a stop to them for her is by slapping her in the face with reality. Again, Ten's an arsehole. But then he slaps her in the face with reality so hard that he nearly loses her. He doesn't want that, but he can't exactly... declare his love for her after what he did.

"Rose, I know I've made you feel awful for being human and for leaving me behind by dying, and I know I did exactly that to you the very next day, but I love you and I don't want you to leave me behind."

Rose would rightfully bollock him. So he tries his best to rationalise, making this less about him telling her what to do and what he wants, and more about reminding her why she's living in a fairytale world where her dad never died and he's still alive. That is her dream come true, but, just as its impossible that they could have their happily ever after, it's impossible that her dad's still alive.

And you can see Mickey in the background getting pissed off, wincing at how bloody harsh he's being... but, he's right. He could have snapped at Ten for being an arse, telling him to go easy on her, but he doesn't, because somebody had to say it.

On Mickey, he's not convinced in any way that somethings going to happen to Rose to change her mind. He knows she's going to be alright, but the Doctor doesn't. He's panicking massively, and the fact that he's still being aggressive even here, without Rose, just goes to show how furious he is with himself for giving her a reason to leave him.

Imagine him, in the TARDIS and before Mickey arrives, cursing himself for what he did. Rightly so, because he was a dick, and this is almost satisfying to watch. But we don't get to see it explicitly, we only get the idea that, behind closed doors, he knows he fucked up big. He even admits that he's worrying about what's going to happen.

So bloody satisfying.

But then there's the other thing: she never existed in this world. Look at how he drops his facade for just a moment,

He doesn't say "well, of course not — why would you?", or point out that it's even more proof that this world isn't right for her, his hearts break for her. It's as bad as it gets for Rose - knowing that her mum and dad are happy in this world without her. She's not needed, literally anywhere. And that's when he shifts his tone.

He protects Pete, brings him with them because he knows how much he means to Rose,

but most of all, he reminds her that she's something, she's worth so much more than the lies she's telling herself, the lies he made her believe when he left her behind, that she's important and this world's got it wrong by not having her in it.

All these different worlds, not one of them gets it right.

Ten would go above and beyond to not admit his feelings for Rose — well, that's not true, he wouldn't admit his feelings for Rose to Rose — but ROTC/AOS marks a turning point for him. He got cocky, he took her feelings for granted, he took them for granted, and he nearly paid the price. He's not getting that close again, and, contrary to ROTC, he does declare his love for her from then on. He's unafraid to show it from the Idiot's Lantern onwards — he's terrified, because he knows he's going to lose her — but he lets his guard down because she deserves to know. She deserves to feel wanted, to feel important. He doesn't do that by telling her, he does it by showing her. By believing in her to defeat the devil, by fighting tooth and claw to get her back after her face — she — was stolen, by constantly putting his faith in her to save the day and save him, by telling her she's his hand to hold, she's his home, that, by the time he's giving her the option to live with her dad and be safe with her dad, she's empowered enough for make her own decision about what she really does want. And that's him. His anger in this episode is completely directed towards himself. He's harsh with her, but it's in character, because Ten loathes himself so much that he's just filled with fury and rage. Tentoo's exactly the same, filled with blood and anger. He's not afraid to show it, but he also doesn't really know how to show anything else. He's either giddy and flirtatious, or tearing down his enemies — which is often himself. He doesn't deal with emotions at all, so when he feels things that terrifies him, he gets snappy. He gets impatient, things are rapidly falling out of his control and she he does anything to get them back. Ten/Rose coming from GITF to ROTC is similar to Ten/Rose going from AOS to TIL. By the time 2.07 rolls round, they're madly in love. And it's why I think they spent a little bit of time at the Powell Estate mid-series 2, where he finally calms down and realises she's safe with him, and he takes the time to console her. She's lost Pete, she's lost Mickey, and now that he's not going to lose her, he loves her instead. WOW this one got away from me — not sure I even answered your question?? 😂😂 But I hope you enjoyed either way!

[uncontinuous]

sdfghjkl I have the funniest (and cliche too but fuck that) idea for a reverse Calico Jack scenario (aka Stede’s “ex” pops up and Ed is jealous) post quasi-reunion in season 2 and I cannot stop cackling to myself about. I fucking woke up laughing thinking about it.

Stede has a half sibling - gender yet to be determined. Because daddy Bonnet couldn’t keep it in his pants. Maybe it’s with one of the Bonnet servants. And sure it’s a secret because of scandal and all, but Stede and them are very close despite all the noble upper crust bullshitery. So the reunited Revenge raid a passenger vessel and this person randomly sees Stede amongst the raiding pirates and makes a bee-line for him to chokehold hug because Stede is alive, thank fuck.

(Like of course when said half sibling heard that their brother died (again) tragically just a short week after returning they’re like already en route to Barbados posthaste. Fuck they were en route to Barbados the moment they got news Stede is back, because their dumb brother who they love is back, and fuck scandals and the Bonnet family honour, they need to hug their brother.)

So naturally, they follow Stede back to the Revenge and just fuss over Stede, who equally fusses back over them, all ‘why are you sailing you get seasick’. They sit together most of the time. They’re in each other’s spaces all the time because Stede has to console the sheer fucking rollercoaster he’s put his poor sibling through what with disappearing and being assumed dead, coming back, and then faking his death. The crew gets to hear them talk about growing up together but enough that the penny of them being siblings never drops.

Meanwhile Ed (who’s like still totally not forgiven Stede) is fuming with jealousy, stalking around the ship like an emo kraken, because he thinks they’re banging.