#it doen't feel like me but idk if that's because i'm just not used to it yet

[chemicalarospec]

I think I need to give the name William a proper try. Because I think I have for a long time been fond of it -- I especially like that my real middle initial is W - I used to try to think of a theoretical pen name and I would sort of "repurpose" that as William -- but I mentally barricaded it as "off-limits" because it's the deadname of one of my friends and so refused to explore it more. (Which now this is reminding me "what if you want to trans your name to a friend's deadname" started as a theoretical question. um did I like. induce this in myself like my 'crushes'.) But that brief fascination with William Beckett broke that weird internal rule + we'll be moving apart soon, so like William is Surfacing in me.

[dumbkiwi]

to clarify: i love blackbonnet as the endgame for the show.

but i really dont like a lot of blackbonnet fanon bc i think so many ppl miss the mark on stede. forget "darling" "my love" etc. what happened to "Ed, do you know this guy? He's being a complete asshole!" <3 let him be a bitch!!

moreover - stede is consistently shown to be so incredibly selfish. as his #1 character trait. swede has scurvy? cake wasnt that good anyways. Mary hates the fucking ocean? wasn't listening. remorse only comes when he's having a ~spooky mormon hell dream~ and he feels bad, more out of a fear of retribution than anything. Ed seems antsy and riled up? time to solve this with an adventure that makes him obviously miserable! even if he's saying he's doing it for someone else, he's doing it to ease his own conscience or bc it's what he would have wanted to do anyways.

basically, i think that stede doen't necessarily have blinding self-confidence, but in spite of his insecurities he remains just. so not self-aware and entitled. he's ridiculously bold in demanding things so people tend to give into what he wants, so he's never really told no. whenever he is, this is viewed as an obstacle to overcome/win. (see: the fuckery) he's truly shocked when he's disliked, never questions his own judgement or ideas, and expects everyone in a space to mold themselves around him. he doesn't listen to what most people say unless it'll have a direct effect on him ("that's a bit advanced for you mate" from his favorite person, or "i think he's more than up to the challenge" from his least favorite person?) and only feels remorse or guilt because he feels bad for himself -- never because of what hes put the other person through. stede bonnet lives in a world where he is the main character and everyone else (the people he loves included) are NPCs; he never once thinks that he affects other people in the way that they affect him.

and that makes him a fantastic pair for ed, because Ed *loves* selfish people. 1) it gives him something to play off of bc he's a social chameleon with adhd cant relate wym ; 2) everyone treats him with such reverence, putting him on a pedestal, and it's gotta be so refreshing to be around people who treat him like Just Some Guy. so then when ed in turn is bitchy or bratty or what have you, theyll treat him like a person and not like Blackbeard Hates Me; 3) Ed wants to be wanted, and selfish people want. it's the praise kink thing lol. being treated as blackbeard is incredibly isolating, and most people view him as a threat or unattainable ((or probably expect ed as pursuer)). but in front of izzy and stede and jack, who make their desires SO clear, ed can show off and preen. he is the object of desire, and that's just fun

not saying that stede jack or izzy dont respect ed, but their self interests will always come before eds well being. izzy expects so much from ed -- and if eds not stacking up, especially if izzy perceives his life hanging in the balance, he'll jump ship! jack doesn't give a shit that ed cares about stede. obvs you can say that he was on a mission, but he doesnt show any remorse for fucking with ed's happiness. and stede is completely unafraid to demand things of ed, too. i'm not even talking about going back to mary. the fuckery, questioning izzy's authority (instead of thinking that there might be a reason this seasoned sailor is taking issue with his judgement), not listening to what ed is saying about wanting to retire/just fold socks.

so idk i think what im trying to say is. the blackbonnet dynamic has so much potential to be bizarre and cool and interesting. but so many ppl only acknowledge this side of stede when izzy's thrown into the mix cause hes so hurtable. even when they want angst, use kraken!ed, which i think is such wasted potential. instead of forgiving stede for his actions, why not take his self-imposed ignorance as a form of malice!! he hurts people because he does not actually care about them! he's weirdly paternalistic and condescending to EVERYONE unless he sees himself as the victim. There are 33 works tagged 'Stede Bonnet has Issues' on AO3. 33!!! there are 300+ fics tagged 'Israel Hands has issues'. there is SO MUCH UNTAPPED POTENTIAL HERE.

some blackbonnet ideas below the cut, both sfw and nsfw, to get the ball rolling (maybe me @ myslf idk)

in general: ed taking on izzy's arm candy with a gun/queen of hell role as stede kinda takes over the captaincy. conflict between stede and kraken!ed when stede returns, but stede is pissed that ed doen't immediately accept his apology. play stede wanting one aspect of ed so fiercely against ed's fear of rejection. possessive stede in general, but also ed not immediately buckling

for nfsw! stede inflicting overstim torture. dubcon with stede not understanding/willfully ignoring boundaries and ed realizing that like izzy his boundaries are also malleable, and stede taking advantage of that. pillow princess or power bottom stede and service top ed. so many mind games. ed and stede both trying to out-dom each other fjeialfj.