#lucius’s situation literally could not be more different!!

[picture-ofnectar]

sorry but I love the Izzy “dangling my legs over the side of the ship” scene because like. he’s literally right. it DOES serve him right.

Ed was deeply heartbroken but coping healthily until Izzy got in his head & made him feel like all he deserved was destruction. Ed TRUSTED Izzy, and this person who he felt knew him & saw him & cared about him essentially confirming in his view that he doesn’t deserve good things and only has worth as a monster— that being soft was worse for him than being dead— made him feel that he truly was unloveable and shoved him over the edge into the Kraken persona. plus Izzy ASKED him to be violent! he grinned when he cut off his toe! the beginning of s2 is Izzy realizing that a. Ed is not actually happy as Blackbeard and is in fact destroying himself and b. Izzy himself has grown to care for this crew in a way he didn’t realize he had and maybe actually has some human empathy. and doesn’t want them to be brutalized. which I honestly don’t think he had a handle on before it was too late & he’d already set them up for this level of violence. and also clearly he did NOT know Ed in the way he thought he did! he didn’t realize he cared about the crew like that, but he also didn’t think Kraken-Ed would be that intense. he thought that horrible pep talk was what Ed needed to get back to being pre-Stede Blackbeard, not realizing that pre-Stede Blackbeard was a facade Ed was already deeply unhappy and insecure underneath, but also failing to comprehend (or even notice) the extent of Ed’s trauma and lack of self-worth and the fairly obvious (to anyone who actually knew or understood Ed) fact that telling him those things would shatter his very fragile belief that he deserved these tenuous but brave attempts at taking care of himself and trying to become who he wanted to be. Kraken-Ed was not who Izzy thought he would trigger when he gave him the talk, because he didn’t actually know or understand him like he thought he did. & that’s what he’s coming to terms with in s2 and it is a wonderful arc! lots of people have written fantastic metas about Izzy & his motivations and the complexity of his realization that he didn’t know Ed like he though he did & wasn’t close to him like he thought he was so I won’t bother to fully go into that here as interesting as it is. but like.. he asked for violence & he got it. he didn’t have a good handle on his own feelings about the crew/piracy and he evidently had zero handle on Ed’s (he is masterful at suppression but isn’t emotionally intelligent enough to be able to tell Ed is too), and while yeah it was Ed’s trauma and whole brutal career as a pirate and this glimpse at a different future and Stede’s betrayal all coming together to cause Ed’s eventual breakdown, Izzy’s talk is what made him give up and pushed him overboard into the Kraken era. he convinced him he was worthless if he wasn’t a monster, & in doing so unleashed that monster onto himself and the crew. he taunted the shark and lost a leg. I don’t think there’s anything unhealthy about him framing it like that— he isn’t suppressing his feelings about it or pretending it didn’t happen— he’s just processing & accepting the truth of the matter. when Lucius says Blackbeard cut off his leg and Izzy says “a shark did this”, he’s acknowledging it wasn’t really Ed who shot him, but a violent, hopeless, actively suicidal caricature of Blackbeard, a monster Izzy helped create. Izzy isn’t Ed’s victim— they’re an eye for an eye now. and I’m glad he acknowledged it like that

[brigdh]

I want to talk about Izzy's rant to Ed in episode 10, the one that brings out the Kraken. I've seen a lot of different descriptions of what is going on in this scene – death threat, homophobic slurs, etc – and I don't think either of those are what's actually what's happening.

Let's look at it closely, line by line, and the way Ed reacts, from the very beginning of the scene.

Ed: Well, feels nice to tidy up a little. Can't believe I was living like this. Can you, Iz? Izzy? Izzy: I'm going to speak plainly. Ed: Wonderful. You know we share our thoughts on this ship.

Izzy, cont: This, whatever it is that you've become... is a fate worse than death.

Okay. So there we've got what some have interpreted as a death threat. But does Ed seem threatened? He's startled, certainly, put on his back foot – literally – but he doesn't look afraid or alarmed to me. He draws in a slow breath, assessing the situation, but overall seems more confused than frightened.

In fact he laughs it off with his next line:

Izzy then escalates the level of aggression in the conversation:

But Ed, again, looks more confused than anything. Check out that furrowed brow, that head tilt! This is a man going "what is your deal?", not a man thinking "uh-oh, you might kill me!".

Extremely noticeably, even when Izzy storms right up into his face, Ed holds steady. He doesn't run, doesn't lean back, doesn't hunch his shoulders or drop eye contact – there is no vulnerability or defensiveness in Ed's body language at all. Ed is in supreme control of this confrontation – look at the slow way he deigns to turn back to the paper Izzy's holding! As though he's making the point that he chooses when to turn, not Izzy:

Then we have the "homophobic slur". But watch closely:

Ed does not react to "namby-pamby", "silk gown", or "pining" at all. He doesn't even blink. He barely seems like he's hearing Izzy. His entire attention is on the picture.

Ed's body language and behavior changes at one word and one word only, and that is "boyfriend". As soon as Izzy says it, Ed's furious:

(It's even easier to notice when you actually watch the scene instead of using gifs, because Izzy really draws out 'piiiiiiining', putting a lot of time between the first half of the sentence and 'boyfriend'.)

Why is the use of the word 'boyfriend' so important?

Well, what has Ed been doing all episode? He's been crying in a blanket fort and singing sad songs, yes, but he's been keeping a careful level of mystique about why he's doing it. Ed often uses distanced circumlocutions instead of directly acknowledging his emotions, but he's doing it in this episode even more so than usual:

Here are the lyrics to his song:

(Version one, with Lucius) Hanging on By a thread Hanging on Shouldn't let go If I let go, all will fall Fingers bleeding down to the bone now Can't let go Nothing makes sense Hold on Hold on Hold... on

(Version two, performed for the whole crew) Just let go Make yourself let go Make it go away Away, away today Life's a hard sad death And then you're Deaaad

Notice something? There is no mention of Stede, or love, or break-ups, or abandonments, or relationships in general. All Ed discusses is a vague life-sucks attitude, which could apply to basically anyone under any circumstances. He seems pretty okay with people knowing that Blackbeard is having some sort of weird emotional breakdown as long as he convinces himself that no one knows it's specifically from having his heart broken

This is true of everything Ed says and does for this entire episode. He never once even mentions Stede's name, unless "Farewell, Bonnet's playthings" at the very end counts. The only thing Ed openly admits to feeling bad about is a fictional character who's having a hard time "holding on" (holding on to what? he never says). There are no allusions to heartbreak or romance anywhere in his dialogue.

Now, Ed's not stupid. I'm sure he knows Izzy and Lucius and the rest of the crew can connect the dots and realize that something bad happened with Stede, even if Ed doesn't fill them in on the details. But Ed is also traumatized, and has a whole host of coping mechanisms set up to help him avoiding thinking about things that he doesn't want to think about. If he's not a murderer because "technically the fire killed those guys", then no one knows he's heartbroken because technically he hasn't acknowledged it.

Until Izzy says the word 'boyfriend'. Suddenly the secret is out, and Ed can't handle it. Izzy knows his weakness. That's why this word effects Ed more than anything else Izzy says in the whole scene.

At the end of the confrontation, he hears the crew calling for another song. Look at Ed here. He looks as haunted, as disturbed, in this moment as he does at any point in Izzy's rant.

This is an important part of the scene, not just a closing note. Because if Izzy (the Caribbean's most emotionally constipated man) can see through him, obviously the whole crew can too.

Obviously Lucius – who advised Ed on his and Stede's relationship, who played along with Ed's 'fictional character' claim, who wrote down Ed's lyrics – can do so most of all.

There's a direct emotional logic to Ed killing Lucius because he had a fight with Izzy, and it doesn't involve Ed having been threatened or hate crime'd at all. Ed doesn't deal well with his own feelings (from Stede), so he chooses to become Blackbeard/the Kraken and gets rid of all the witnesses who saw otherwise.

[maxdibert]

Actually yes if you'd call someone a misogynistic slur, even while experiencing trauma, you would be misogynistic. Because that comes from your subconcious. Severus was a victim and the reason he joined the death eaters was due to his social and economic victimization, however he was not a complete mindless idiot who didn't understand anything. He was clearly anti muggle (and although yes his prejudice was influenced by his horrible father and home he still encountered normal muggles so he didn't only have negative experiences with muggles, he could clearly see that some of them are not violent. He was an intelligent man I believe his brain could work this out.) And even when he's a big victim it doesn't mean he is entirely blameless of his words and actions and what they say about his morals. Him calling Lily a mudblood is a clear indication that he doesn't view muggleborns the same way he does other wizards and has clear prejudice. He did not only use that word once but many times - according to Lily. I'm not denying your other claims, you just seem to talk about Severus as if he wasn't an asshole who held bad views, because he was victimized. Do you think he was a good person in a bad situation? Not at all. It is fine to criticize his actions and morals while still taking into consideration that he was a victim and a lot of his decisions were a result of that.

I don't see it that way, but this is a matter of perspective. I might have internalized misogyny or internalized racism, but literally everyone has this, absolutely everyone. It's not the same as, at some point, saying a misogynistic slur to a friend in a moment when I'm about to lose my mind, versus constantly doing it. There's a difference between having a generalized attitude and letting something slip at a specific moment. And if we’re going to start categorizing people or characters based on something they say at a particular moment, then I’m sorry, but we should accuse everyone because there’s no one, absolutely no one in this society, who, even if they are very conscious and deconstructed, hasn’t made problematic comments or used harmful adjectives at some point.

I don’t deny that Severus had prejudices against Muggles, but his prejudices stem from a completely different basis than the prejudices Lucius, for example, might have had. Severus’ prejudices come from his own negative experiences with Muggles, from the fact that the Muggles he’s known were literally awful. Is it wrong for him to have prejudices against an entire population because of that? Yes, but it’s also understandable that he has them. I mean, I spend my life insulting cis-hetero men because they’re the types I have sex-affective relationships with, and I’ve had countless bad experiences with them. Could I be labeled as misandrist? Probably. Am I a bad person? I don’t think so. The problem with these issues is that people tend to see things in black and white, but real life is very diverse. You shouldn’t focus on the tree but on the forest. But well, that’s just my personal opinion.

Deep down, I’m very critical of Snape, even though it might not seem like it. What I don’t like is when people make arguments without considering the context and criminalize him without exploring the reasons for his actions. Was it wrong for him to call Lily a Mudblood? Yes, but we must take into account the context of when he did it, and the fact that it was an isolated incident, not a constant. It’s likely that what he wanted was to hurt her, just like when I call my friend a slut, and sometimes you say things to people because you know it will hurt them, not because you genuinely think that way. Anyway, I would be more critical if it were someone else, but in Lily’s case, it’s hard for me to be completely impartial because she ended up marrying an unpleasant, bullying, abusive person, and honestly, I think Severus fell short. If I had seen my supposed best friend half-smiling at my bully, I would have punched her in the face. I swear, I would have destroyed her and then publicly humiliated her, making her wish she had never been born. But as I’ve said before, I’m a very resentfully aggressive person xD.

[joka13]

Hiya feel free to ignore this if you’re not doing requests but i was wandering if you could do a george weasley x reader where they’re in a secret relationship and maybe one of George’s siblings outs that the reader has a crush on George in front of them both then george kind of teases the reader for it afterwards ?

Thank you :)

Hello, I do take requests! And thank you for requesting; this was so fun to write! I hope you won't mind that I added just a few more background details to what you specified😁 Enjoy!❤️❤️❤️

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Dear Reader,

As you may or may not know, I post extensive, multiple part fanfiction stories. I must remind you or clarify that I do not consider any requests I write as parts of those stories. Thank you for reading❤️

FANFICTION (REQUEST): George Weasley x y/n Malfoy

WARNINGS: passionate kissing

It had been a long while since you began your concealed, romantic relationship with George Weasley. It was a rather difficult situation to maintain, but it definitely had its advantages. You're a member of the Malfoy family and wouldn't be caught dead associating yourself with a Weasley, for if you were indeed caught associating yourself with a Weasley, it'd be the end of you. Your father, the infamous Lucius Malfoy, viewed every one of them as nothing but muggle-loving blood traitors. You once considered briefly the possibility of your father accepting George as your boyfriend because George was, still, technically a pureblood. But, in the end, you decided to play it safe, to stay quiet about the whole thing. Your father wasn't the only person you worried wouldn't take it well. You greatly admired your older brother, Draco, and feared you would lose his respect forever if he ever learned of your feelings for George. And so, when George Weasley expressed his similar feelings for you and you couldn't bring yourself to reject him, you promised to be George's girl as long as he did his best to keep it a secret.

George was entirely willing to pay the price. He'd been aching to have you for so long; there was nothing he wouldn't do for you. You enjoyed it immensely as well. Butterflies came to life in your stomach every time he took your hand and led you away to some new corner of the Hogwarts castle when no one else was watching. You'd kept secrets before, but this one was different. It was shared, special, personal, and intimate. But there are just some people you can't keep secrets from forever.

You and George played a silly game you called "Straight Face" while lounging on the couch in the Gryffindor common room (this would have been self-sabotage if it weren't for George "borrowing" Harry's invisibility cloak, under which you both sat; it was also late at night when everyone, including the two of you, should've been in bed, so there wasn't much risk of getting accidentally sat on). The goal of the game was to simply get the other person to smile and keep yourself from smiling when it was their turn to try and get you to smile. George almost won every time you played against him, though it didn't really matter to you. The end always resulted in at least one person smiling while the other won the game. It was, almost literally, a win-win situation.

It was your turn, so you pulled a funny facial expression. The corner of George's mouth twitched slightly, but he did not smile. For his turn, George performed for you a rather accurate voice impression of Professor Snape that easily broke you.

"Oh, bugger!" you laughed as George grinned smugly. "You're too good at this game!"

"Alright, alright, it's your turn. Show me what you've got," George chuckled.

George returned to his blank stare while you thought of something to do to make him smile. You then shook your head with a knowing smirk as an idea formed in your mind.

"You've left me no other choice," you sighed, looking up at him through your lashes. George raised a red eyebrow curiously, but otherwise didn't budge. You glanced down at his lips.

You, very slowly, leaned forward towards George as if you planned to kiss him. Then, just before your lips could touch his, you froze in place. When you observed no reaction from him, you looked up to find George staring coolly down at you.

"Come on. Where's that handsome smile of yours?" you encouraged quietly, giving him your own best smile. You slid your hands gradually up his arms, feeling his muscles flex in anticipation. Touching was actually against the rules of the game, but George wasn't complaining, so you proceeded to wrap your arms around his neck.

"He's a little shy," George replied. His face might have been blank, but you could tell he was enjoying himself.

You chuckled. "Well, then what's it going to take to have him show?"

You pretended not to realize how fast your heart was beating when you moved your body ever nearer, still holding your face so very close to his. As you settled, George exhaled heavily before placing his hands around your waist. He didn't verbally reply to your question, but looked at you in a way that said, "You know what."

And so you kissed him. You kissed George and was taken to cloud nine when you felt his lips smile against yours. He chuckled, then began to kiss you back earnestly.

George's hands cradled your body, laying you down on the couch cushions behind. You giggled helplessly when he moved his face away from yours to nuzzle his nose affectionately against your neck.

"I love you, y/n," George breathed, and his words meant the world to you.

Suddenly, something sort of like a gasp sounded from the stairs to the Gryffindor girls' dormitories, causing your stomach to drop with dread. You couldn't see what was happening from your position, so you watched George's face as he slowly propped himself up higher above you to get a look at the intruder.

His eyes widened, and George glanced down at you. "It's Ginny," he mouthed silently, then looked back up. You and him both remained quiet and unmoving, hoping Ginny would eventually go away.

You heard some shuffling footsteps, and then Ginny spoke. "George? Fred? Who's there?" her voice sounded closer now, much too close for comfort. You gripped the fabric of George's sleeves absentmindedly in fearful suspense.

"Aha!" Ginny exclaimed, and you knew you'd been caught. "You're using Harry's invisibility cloak! And you've left your foot uncovered." You saw a small hand reach over the couch's arm rest, over your face and grasp a fistful of Harry's cloak. George's expression was more annoyed than fearful as Ginny yanked the cloak off of the two of you and gasped in alarm once more.

"Malfoy?!"

George moved off as you quickly sat up. "Er, hello, Ginny," you chuckled sheepishly.

Ginny looked back and forth between you and George in shock. You thought for sure she was going to faint or scream, but an ecstatic grin quickly filled her freckled face.

"My brother and y/n Malfoy!" Ginny squealed, clapping her hands together cheerfully.

George shushed her. "Pipe down!"

Ginny lowered her voice. "Sorry, sorry. Merlin's beard, I can hardly believe my eyes! Well, now I can." She giggled and waved the invisibility cloak about. "I was beginning to think you'd die alone, Georgie! How long has this been going on?" You and George looked at each other uncertainly, but before either of you could answer, Ginny continued to spout.

"I'm guessing it all began three months ago. That's about the time I started noticing Fred standing all by his lonesome. It must not have been much of a bother to him, though. He's had his fair share of slinking off with that Johnson girl. Am I right? It doesn't matter. I'm just so happy that you found someone... even if she is a Slytherin, let alone a Malfoy..."

"Ginny!" George scolded. You merely shrugged. You had expected a much worse reaction.

"I'm only joking," Ginny laughed. She sat down on a nearby ottoman. "Honestly, I think it's the perfect match!" Ginny turned to you. "I've always thought that if Fred and George weren't sorted into Gryffindor, they would have been put in Slytherin," she chortled.

You laughed, "I've said the same thing!"

Ginny laughed with you while George rolled his eyes, smiling.

"I know I probably don't need to say it," George said. "But if you wouldn't mind keeping quiet about y/n and I..."

"Of course!" Ginny scoffed. "Anything for you, George." She stared at you and George contently.

After a moment, George cleared his throat. "It's 'bout time you got back to bed, Ginny."

"Oh, if you say so," Ginny sighed, standing up reluctantly. "I know that you two will just go on snogging again."

George snorted.

"What'd you come down here for anyway?" you asked quickly to change the subject.

"Oh, yeah! Thanks for reminding me." Ginny went over to the side table, opened its single drawer, and pulled out a tattered, black book. She tucked it under her arm. "Goodnight, you lovebirds!" Ginny said, then headed back up the stairs to the girls' dormitories.

You and George sat in silence for a short moment before he began to chuckle.

You blinked in confusion. "What?"

"I just can't believe how scared you were," he snickered. You shoved George playfully, causing him to laugh harder. "Terrifying, little Ginny!"

"I didn't want to be discovered, same as you!" you giggled, slightly embarrassed. Your smile drifted away as concern filled your mind once again. George stopped laughing when he noticed your mood faltering. "You really... you really don't think she'll tell anyone?" you asked timidly. You had a suspicion that Ginny might be one to gossip.

George smiled caringly, lovingly, and pulled you closer into a warm embrace. "Yeah. I trust her. And..." He stroked your hair as he carefully chose his words. "I've been meaning to... this was good timing. I think it's about time you met my family anyway."

You pulled away slightly so you could look George in the eye. "Do you really mean it? Even if you don't meet mine... just yet?"

"I do," George replied, then sweetly kissed the top of your head.

[l00rem]

Gibeon & Amethio are related, but they are not father and son.

So, ep45 had me applying my clown makeup as I was a firm Gibeon is related to Amethio denier and that has uh clearly been proven true by that final scene… but I still don’t think they’re father and son like most people seem to be saying. First, let’s start with Gibeon’s physical condition.

It seems clear by his position in the reveal that he suffers with functioning properly, this is further demonstrated with Hamber’s ‘Gibeon is awake’ comment. Considering he’s at least over 100, this is probably him abusing his mortality coming to bite him in the ass or some injury he sustained when Lucius kicked him out of the Rakua gc. And while pokemon never acknowledges topics like sex for obvious reasons, I doubt the writers would ignore the fact that Gibeon is clearly not in any condition to be breeding (dude only holds like 3 min meetings before going back to bed, he could never last that long in a physical activity such as that)

Now, this brings me to another theory i’ve been seeing: Amethio is some sort of clone/ artificial human being. I can see why some people think this, but i don’t think it’s going to happen. I just think it goes against the themes horizons has been setting up about generations (ex: ep34 where Hamber and Diana both pass things down to Liko and Amethio) i think it would be weird to have all this stuff about ancestry and then just throw in ‘oh and amethio’s not human btw’. It’s also just a really dark existential topic for pokemon, i know they can go dark and have done artificial creation before but that’s always been strictly for pokemon at least to my knowledge. I think people who believe in clone theory are getting too caught up in their Amethio and Hunter from ToH comparisons- ofc your free to theorise what you want but I just don’t see this happening.

To give some more solid proof that Amethio isn’t Gibeon’s son, let’s look at Liko’s ancestry.

As we can see, hair does seem to matter when it comes to being directly descended from someone. All three have the same hair pattern, even if we can’t see the brighter blue for Lucca’s. Compare this to Lucius’s hair:

It’s been made very clear that Liko is a descendant of his somehow, but this isn’t as direct as a great grandfather because then Diana could’ve literally just asked her mom who the man in the photo was to learn they’re related. Lucius resembles them somewhat but there are very clear differences.

Likewise, this seems to be the case with Gibeon and Amethio’s hair differences. They have the same colour scheme of white and black, but the way the two colours are separated are completely different. Just as Lucius and Liko’s family both have that sticky outy bit of their hair, Amethio and Gibeon both share that little white antenna although Gibeon’s is positioned differently.

So here’s my proposition: Amethio is related to Gibeon the same way Liko is related to Lucius.

Perhaps then Amethio is some distant relative to Gibeon who he located at some point- likely he didn’t have any family and so when Gibeon pulls up with his ‘oh hey we’re related’ spiel Amethio jumps at the chance for any form of connection. It’s not clear how much Amethio knows regarding Gibeon (he didn’t even know why he wanted the pendant after all) but perhaps Gibeon uses his condition as a further way of manipulating Amethio: not only does Amethio work for explorers to get Gibeon’s approval but also to find whatever he needs to not die so he won’t lose his last chance at family?

I also believe this is supported by all the Amethio-Liko parallels the show has been building up. It’s likely that Amethio’s backstory could be a dark mirror of Liko’s where the Explorers are to him what RVT is to Liko. Although, Amethio’s situation takes the ‘found family’ part more literally and instead of experiencing happiness he gets moulded into a child soldier…. yaaaay…

So then why does Gibeon actually need Amethio? Aside from the obvious meta reason, it’s likely Gibeon speculated someone with his blood could function as a Lucius detector (the pendant only stopped being dormant after amethio came into close contact) and this is also one of the reasons Amethio gets booted off the mission as he’d already performed his purpose of confirming the pendant was related to Lucius. Perhaps there’s something about Amethio’s ancestry which doesn’t apply to Gibeon that’s important? Or maybe Gibeon just put an easily exploitable child to good use.

Either way, there really isn’t a happy explanation for Amethio’s circumstances. Poor guy :(

I’ll potentially be eating my own words in a few months when we learn more about Gibeon and Amethio’s relationship but hey it never hurts to theorise. Hopefully we learn more stuff soon and that Amethio doesn’t get locked into off screen jail for another 11 weeks 💀💀

[hollowed-theory-hall]

so in your fic there's Sirius/Barty Jr ship. i reread your analytics of their character and pretty understand the connection. but i would still like to read opinion about their ship 👀

Glad you enjoy my various writing!

Yeah, okay, so Sirius/Barty Jr is a little rare pair my beta reader and I came up with for a different fic that never really got written, but we liked it so much it made it into my current fic, A Matter of Chance.

I'll note that it's gonna take quite some time in A Matter of Chance until Sirius and Barty actually meet and even longer until they get together in any meaningful way (but also my writing plans are super vague, so I don't really know). So there's some waiting until that tag is gonna be relevant. That being said, why I ship them and my thoughts on the ship:

So, I wrote a bunch about Sirius, and a bit less about Barty, but they have, like, a lot in common:

They're both incredibly loyal.

They both suffered Azkaban.

The way Sirius described Barty's father always struck me as him being familiar with the situation: "should've spent more time at home" and might've been showing the bitterness towards Orion.

They both have reason to hate Crouch Sr for sending them to the dementors.

They both care about Harry (pretty shocking on Barty's part, but it truly seems like he does) and are as involved as they can be.

both of them are hands-on in their approach, of, well, literally anything.

I feel Sirius and Barty would get each other's sense of humor that's a bit on the crueler side too. They won't make the other feel guilty over stupid shit.

They also communicate in a similarly straightforward way. They say what they think pretty damn clearly when they're free to do so.

So, as you can see, they have a surprising amount of things in common. As for Barty being a Death Eater, well, I illustrated in my posts about him that I don't think he was that much of a loyal Death Eater and I don't think he tortured the Longbottoms (it's outright stated in the books he wasn't caught with the Lestranges, but with a different group of Death Eaters that walked free!). I think Barty was a Death Eater more as a teenage rebellion than truly believing in everything (though he likely isn't a fan of Muggles). Like, the way Sirius went all in on Dumbledore and the Order as rebellion, Barty did in the opposite direction.

I don't think Barty really killed and tortured many people, but unlike Draco or Regulus I think he could if he felt he needed to, he isn't as sadistic as Bellatrix (or Sirius, honestly). He's tamer but still colder and more willing to respond with violence than Draco or Lucius.

The main quote I'm basing this ship on is the entire conversation in which Sirius talks about Barty in GoF:

Sirius smiled grimly. “Crouch’s own son was caught with a group of Death Eaters who’d managed to talk their way out of Azkaban. Apparently they were trying to find Voldemort and return him to power.” “Crouch’s son was caught?” gasped Hermione. “Yep,” said Sirius, throwing his chicken bone to Buckbeak, flinging himself back down on the ground beside the loaf of bread, and tearing it in half. “Nasty little shock for old Barty, I’d imagine. Should have spent a bit more time at home with his family, shouldn’t he? Ought to have left the office early once in a while . . . gotten to know his own son.” He began to wolf down large pieces of bread. “Was his son a Death Eater?” said Harry. “No idea,” said Sirius, still stuffing down bread. “I was in Azkaban myself when he was brought in. This is mostly stuff I’ve found out since I got out. The boy was definitely caught in the company of people I’d bet my life were Death Eaters — but he might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like the house-elf.” “Did Crouch try and get his son off?” Hermione whispered. Sirius let out a laugh that was much more like a bark. [...] Crouch’s fatherly affection stretched just far enough to give his son a trial, and by all accounts, it wasn’t much more than an excuse for Crouch to show how much he hated the boy . . . then he sent him straight to Azkaban.” “He gave his own son to the dementors?” asked Harry quietly. “That’s right,” said Sirius, and he didn’t look remotely amused now. “I saw the dementors bringing him in, watched them through the bars in my cell door. He can’t have been more than nineteen. They took him into a cell near mine. He was screaming for his mother by nightfall. He went quiet after a few days, though . . . they all went quiet in the end . . . except when they shrieked in their sleep. . . .” For a moment, the deadened look in Sirius’s eyes became more pronounced than ever, as though shutters had closed behind them. “So he’s still in Azkaban?” Harry said. “No,” said Sirius dully. “No, he’s not in there anymore. He died about a year after they brought him in.” “He died?” “He wasn’t the only one,” said Sirius bitterly. “Most go mad in there, and plenty stop eating in the end. They lose the will to live. You could always tell when a death was coming, because the dementors could sense it, they got excited. That boy looked pretty sickly when he arrived. [...] Wasted away just like the boy. Crouch never came for his son’s body. The dementors buried him outside the fortress; I watched them do it.”

Sirius talks about Crouch Sr and Barty's relationship. He knows a surprising lot about Barty's backstory and childhood for someone who didn't even know for sure if he was a Death Eater and only found these things out after he escaped. Like, where did he learn all this from (sure, he likely read old newspapers, but how much of this information is actually likely to be there?). He also talks about both Bartys with a certain familiarity "ol' Barty". He's dull and bitter over Barty's death, he watched the only "funeral" Barty got, probably the only "attendant" besides the dementors. And he talks about hearing Barty screaming until he died in Azkaban... Yeah, I like that angst, I'm so here for an Azkaban romance (and post-Azkaban romance).

And, like, Barty was in Regulus' year, they probably joined the Death Eaters around the same time, maybe even together. And Sirius probably didn't talk to Barty at all his own when they were in school, he had no reason to, but he knew his little brother hung out with him occasionally. And from the quote above it's clear Sirius felt sorry for him, felt sympathy for someone else he thought might've been innocent. Someone in the same situation as he is that he might've felt protective over, like he could succeded in saving Regulus this time. And Barty has no one, basically, no friends, no family, just haunting memories, a situation Sirius is so familiar with. And Sirius is like a sorta friend, he's basically Regulus if you squint (not at all but at first), they share an experience (and hatred for Crouch Sr) that could feel so isolating when speaking to someone who doesn't know. He's someone Barty could potentially trust since neither of them trusts the ministry, or Voldemort, or Dumbledore. They can be in their own little corner where they have no one (well, Harry is there, but no other adults. Remus has way more faith in Dumbledore than Sirius does)

So, imagine this: Sirius lost everyone, he lost James, he lost his brother, he and Barty are in the same boat. So, like, imagine them talking quietly through the bars, each treating the other as a Regulus stand-in even if their personalities are more similar to each other than to Regulus. This grows into somewhat getting to know each other, something that's almost friendship. A cold comfort in the coldness of Azkaban. Then, Barty seemingly stops talking to Sirius and dies soon after, and Sirius doesn't know what to make of it. After Barry dies, he starts staying in Padfoot form more and more.

And then, post-Azkaban, they gonna meet again and bond over escaping Azkaban and caring about Harry.

There'll be healing. There'll be bad coping mechanisms. There'll be a desperation for any familiar connection and a lot of dark humor. They're on the run from both Voldemort and the ministry. And, like, if anyone thinks Sirius Orion Black won't be willing to help get away from Crouch Sr's body, they don't know Sirius Black.

Like, I think they'd just get each other, but also keep making incorrect assumptions about each other at the same time all the while being desperate for what the other represents — people they lost, time they lost. I think it's a fun concept with angst potential.

They're also both incredibly intelligent and skilled wizards (Barty tricked the Goblet of Fire, which is no easy feat). I think they could see each other, eventually after they get over the initial mess of shared losses, as equals and partners in crime. They just have such a vibe, idk. Like, I imagine them pseudo-parenting Harry together, and all I can come up with would be hilarious, but also, like, surprisingly good for Harry. Harry needs more people in his life who would appreciate him for him, more people that'll raise his ridiculously low self-esteem.

Do you know who's the first character to tell Harry he has talents? Barty Jr.

“Well, I’m not going to tell you,” said Moody gruffly. “I don’t show favoritism, me. I’m just going to give you some good, general advice. And the first bit is — play to your strengths.” “I haven’t got any,” said Harry, before he could stop himself. “Excuse me,” growled Moody, “you’ve got strengths if I say you’ve got them. Think now. What are you best at?”

(GoF, 344)

Basically, I think they'd be messed up, but also make it work under their specific circumstances.

(Can you tell I love trauma bonding ships?)

[changetheprophecy81]

Uk, on look back, i think class and social standing have such a profound effect on muggle born and half blood students without impressive sir names who enter the wizarding world for the first time. With Hermione, the reason she never felt any lesser than the purebloods is probably because she's not disadvantaged compared to them in any major way. In the books her parents r both dentists, so she's financially well off, also she takes at least one international trip to France during the holidays(I was pretty young when I read these books and my country is much poorer than Britain, so i'd just assumed tht was what regular British PPL do lol). Wizards like the Weasleys show her how it's possible to live a happy (if poor) life without having those political connections and influence. There's already been a huge war against the guy and his followers discriminating against ppl like her. Also there weren't really ppl to make her feel inferior; Draco and pansy r such annoying idiots, literally no one took them seriously apart from their little clique. (HOWEVER, idk y Rowling never went deep into how a killer snake roaming around the castle trying to kill ppl lyk her would affect a fucking 12 yr old, probably coz she doesn't exactly know what being discriminated against feels lyk; which ofc I m glad for, no one should, but tht doesn't excuse shallow writing)

Things couldn't have been more different with lily tho. We don't exactly know what her financial situation was lyk, but it's also pretty clear that she doesn't exactly come from money. Sure, slughorn took notice of her, but he's surprised tht she could be smart despite being muggleborn even 15 yrs after her death (none of the teachers in Harry's time discriminate this way). Also she went to school with PPL who became actual death eaters: Avery, muliciber, rosier, wilkies, regulus, barty Crouch jr, Lucius (early on) and ofc, Snape, her childhood friend. Not to mention the war was going on when she was in school (progressed as the yrs passed), ppl were scared and u couldn't trust anyone(so sympathizing with the purebloods probably wasn't that much of an unpopular opinion as it was during Harry's time), and it seemed like the death eaters were winning. Her chances of financial security and employment were almost non existent, given that half of the wizarding world was out there trying to murder PPL like her. Seriously, things couldn't hv been worse tbh

[ladyluscinia]

In an ideal world, DJenks could build on Lucius’s poly ideas in “we don’t own each other.” and Stede and Izzy’s (super limited) abilities to compromise with each other (via hostages) and they could both be with Ed and everyone in the love triangle is happy, but that seems super delusional at this point, even if it’d be so cool. So, what do you think a realistic happy ending for Izzy would look like?

I think I pulled up a link I wanted to include to answer this like a day or two after it was sent, and then I promptly got distracted and didn't actually type anything. Oops.

Anyway... happy endings.

So here's a post where I kinda speculated on this before that's worth reading. It brings up some tropes that I think are in the mix of possibilities and how I personally feel about them.

For an answer to your question... The way I kind of see the "compromise" situation coming out of S1 is that all the characters are falling on a sliding scale between two not-ideal extremes of piracy philosophy. One end has Izzy firmly planted as the extreme of Edward's default approach - iron fist, emotionally closed off, total focus on skill and discipline, ruling things through a balance of fear and awe that makes them really good at piracy but emotionally and interpersonally a disaster. The other end is probably Lucius as the extreme of Stede's approach - all focus on interpersonal relationships and emotional fulfillment, wanting to have fun and do no work, flaunting hierarchy, and generally failing piracy in favor of self expression.

(Note it's important that Edward and Stede can't truly hit their extremes - Edward is too seeking of attachment and frivolity even as he bristles at vulnerability, and Stede is too emotionally locked up like a clam to practice what he preaches and now has no money to fund a permanent enforced vacation. They don't really want what they perceive as their culture goal, which is good because both their goals kind of suck in different ways. The Kraken is doomed to collapse because it's further out than Izzy.)

The whole crew, Izzy included, needs to make their way toward the midpoint (which, given this is a romcom, is probably not a true middle but skewed a bit toward Stede and silly hijinks) in order to be successful AND emotionally fulfilled. And I think they can do it!

Like Stede's whole vacation boat and enforcing his own unskilled, atypical piracy in the early eps has already caused friction with his crew. They want to be badasses, face challenges, complete raids, etc. The fact they've grown to like him doesn't mean they've decided Stede's hobbies are better than theirs now, it just means they are more open to doing something silly with him and enjoying it than they were in 1x01. I don't think the show is going to end with "retirement" because I don't think any of the characters really want to retire (including bored-as-hell Edward). And if they are still being pirates - in fact, trying to be good pirates - then it's not unrealistic to think Izzy can chill out a bit via character development and get in on the fun.

This is a guy who met Stede and sliced his shirt up as a hello, and then did literally everything he did in 1x06. He's not an inherent buzzkill of a person lol. He's just stressed.

Izzy and Edward working out their shit is probably going to be a extended part of Edward's general character arc, but once they get through that I feel like Izzy's happy ending will be just moving from lurking on the stairs to being in the circle. Give the man a friend, a knife game, probably a boyfriend for the middle aged love parallels... and throw in a real, much scarier antagonist for S3 just to cement him on the Revenge side (*crossing fingers* please be Hornigold).

He'll do just fine.

[characterworkshoppe]

In Pokemon Horizons, a lot revolves around Lucius and his 6 heroes...which I thought was a fun legend/myth/thing! So it made me wonder if I could possibly make a human mythological hero for the world as like...idk my own myth...I don't want to call it an oc but like a figure an oc of mine looks up to!? Imagine Friede asking you to join the crew and you learn about many different heroes like Lucius! And once you get a strong connection with a hero, then Friede and the rest will happily aid you in pursuing it!

Here's mine that I came up with!

(Sorry I can't do a long format story like I wanted!)

Once upon a time there was a girl named Alisoun. She lived in a poor village, where many children raised themselves.

They often told tales of frightening ghost pokemon, angry psychics, dark pokemon, dragons, and even fae that came from the moon.

A day didn't go by where she heard "I guess another one held onto a Driftloon too long" or "Stantler put someone into a magical never ending sleep" or something of the sort.

Kids are always distrustful of what they can't explain, the result of this means it ends in false rumors like the evils of these types of pokemon.

Grass was simple, it grew from the ground, it was part of life! As was water, and fire with the weather. Rock, normal, fighting, even poison had an explanation.

But what where these types exactly and how could they be understood?

Alisoun decided to study these special types of pokemon and learn what puts the magic in the world. She had notes on everything! Abra to Zygarde with everything in between.

The distrustful kids started to mutter and gossip amongst eachother. "Beldam" they called her. Evil. Destroyer of the peace.

She didn't mind because she learned a lot about the magic in the world.

And one day as she fell into a deep sleep, she encountered a pokemon in the dream world.

"Cresselia" it called itself.

Although it looked nothing like the tales of old.

This Cresselia had shimmering blue rings and purple fur. Alisoun happily greeted the pokemon.

It enjoyed the girl's enthusiasm and stayed to listen to Alisoun's love of magic and her hopes to share it's joys with the young kids. Cresselia couldn't help but be touched with her love and devotion. Despite the merciless slanderous name they gave her, "Beldam" as if she were to bring evil and misfortunes to them.

She looked up to Cresselia, and asked if she could share this love through a dream to the rest of the village.

And Cresselia agreed.

It had an interesting idea! To swap the dreams of the children and pokemon. To live a while in eachother's shoes.

Soon the kids came to love magic and the name shifted. "Beldam of Benevolence."

She liked it, it felt like a paradox.

Alisoun was happy that the village came to love magic like she did, however, she didn't feel fulfilled yet, she felt that there was more to the world.

"Cresselia, you turned the living nightmares of these kids into joy, I want to continue doing that! Whenever someone finds themselves in a nightmare situation where all hope seems lost, let's turn it into joy!" She said.

Cresselia agreed.

It felt immense joy being with Alisoun.

Together they traveled as they bid the village goodbye.

Together with Cresselia they made new companions on the way. Sinistcha, Jirachi, and Meowscarada.

Alisoun along with her partners became known as "The Beldam's Seidhr Coven" each of them being a beacon to one of Alisoun's wishes.

"Spreading Joy"

"Making a hospitable Home"

"Giving everyone a gift"

"A guiding wishing star to whomever is lost"

The beacons are : Cresselia the beacon of Joy, Sinistcha the beacon of Hospitality, Meowscarada the beacon of Generosity, and Jirachi the beacon of Guidance.

...

(Should I elaborate on how she met the rest of her team and what happened after the met them all? 🤔)

Also, I got so into having my own mythologic figure in the pokemon universe I literally did everything I could to get a shiny Cresselia with the pretty blue rings and purple fur!!!

I saw one on gts for a Korean Koraidon...so...I made a whole new file, played through the entire game in Korean, which is a language I cannot speak or even remotely understand.

It look me from 7 am that morning to 2:05 am the next day XD

The hardest part was Rika's interview! Geez, I used the weirdest translator for it!

Warning for weird bs and the use of a word that can occasionally have sexual connotation when used in a sentence :

Look at what I had to decipher with the weird translator XD

I used some of the English playthrough for context for the interview so I'm assuming it meant something "out of every gym you fought, which stood out to you the most/was your favorite" or something like that.

I actually failed the interview the first time and nailed it the second! XD

Surprised it didn't take me longer with such a bad translator!

But still! I was glad to get my Cresselia! :D

Now I have a playthrough entirely in Korean...I guess I'll get a Korean Ogerpon next???

Anyways! I'd love to hear other people's thoughts on making a mythic hero in the pokemon universe! If you have any ideas or already have one you made please reblog and tell me about it!!! I'd love to hear it!!!

[visumper]

Endline snippets but its Kaemory and im crying also Pretty Face by PUBLIC is literally the kaemory song ever,,, UE UE UE… also kae pov

I’m holding her hand. Oh. That’s kind of embarrassing. I can feel my face start to heat up when I realize and try to pull my hand away. It’s weird, because I can’t feel anything. My limbs— they’re all numb. When I try to move my hand, I can’t tell if it even moves or not. I try looking around, but all I see is a bunch of stupidly bright red and Em’s pretty face. Ugh. Why can’t I open them more? It feels like my eyes are only half open. Maybe they are. My vision’s blurry too, but I can still see her clearly. She’s the only clear thing I see, as if she’s the only person my eyes focus on.

She’s crying. There’s other people too, I think. I can’t hear them well since my hearing feels all muffled too. I can’t tell who they are, since they’re nothing but colored blobs. Haha. This kind of feels like I got Sporis bombed by Mari. This is a little different though. Ah… I don’t think this is just a mushroom this time.

Where’s Aza? I feel like I’m drunk and high at the same time. I hate Aza’s stupid medicines because they taste like shit like Mari’s cooking, but they work pretty damn well. I force myself to focus, because Em’s definitely crying. I should probably comfort her, right? That’s what girls like, right? In the end I end up asking about Aza. Were he and Rowan still dealing with Aid? I still need to beat Rowan at table tennis. I still need to beat Aza at darts.

It’s hard not to be jealous of those two. Haha. They’re so talented. They remind me a lot of my siblings…

“Wh…” I manage to get out. Em’s grasp on my hand gets tighter. My hand is the only thing I can feel on my body. It’s almost like my brain shut off everything else. Kinda like “hey, make sure to only focus on Em totally holding your hand! You love-drunk hot hunk!”

… why am I thinking about this, anyways? I’m not hot nor a hunk.

“Aza?” I gasp out. Why is it so hard to talk? This is bad. This reminds me of when I couldn’t speak at all. Couldn’t defend myself from being accused of that stupid fucking…

Em starts sobbing even harder. Did I do that? It’s like the cries get louder and louder, as if the other unknown blobby people are crying to. Why? What happened? Did something happen to Aza? Where is he? If the blob people are crying, then they must be from Score, too, right? Rowan maybe… Mari? Lucius? No. Lucius is missing, probably dead. Verdict got to him… Rowan or Mari, then? Are they all here? Where’s Aza?

Em is wailing still, and I don’t know why. Somehow I get my fingers to clasp onto hers a little more. I can’t tell if I’m in pain or not. Everything’s numb and I can’t feel anything, but this situation’s just way too weird. Why can I barely move? Why can’t I talk? I have so many questions. My eyes involuntary start to close even more, and I yell at them in my head because I want to look at Em longer. I want my hand to move, to cup her cheek and my mouth to comfort her. But my body won’t move at all. It’s like my legs are nonexistent, too.

And then I start to think.

Am I dying?

“Em?” I croak. My voice sounds all wrong. It’s all broken up and quiet. Lucius would’ve made fun of me for it. You know, he was a scheming slimy bastard, but I do kind of miss him. Just kind of. Only kind of.

“Lo…ve… you,” I say, without thinking at all. Because what if I really am dying? I don’t even realize I’ve just confessed to the absolute love of my life. This could just be some weird circumstance, right? A minor injury I’m being overdramatic about, right? Even still, everything about this feels wrong.

I’d rather die a hundred Verdict executions before I die before confessing to her. Any execution but the Wall, of course. Because then Em and Mari and Rowan and Aza and Lucius would die too. Also Lucius is probably dead. So maybe he doesn’t count.

When I was accused, I couldn’t speak at all. After that, I became afraid of being quiet. But then I found Mari and Score. And through Score I found Em and the others. So to hell with the accusations, to hell with the rumors. To fucking hell with the life I had before, because this is better.

I like this. I like these people.

I like you. A lot. I love you.

Her pretty eyes widen at around the same time I realize what I’ve said. I laugh like a goofy man, the laugh coming out sounding like a dying run-over hedgehog on drugs and steroids with mega bass boost.

Weird simile, Mari would probably say.

Rowan taught me that one, I’d like to reply.

And then she smiles. Her eyes are still sad and teary, but she’s smiling and her hand is so warm.

I don’t know what’s happening at all, but I really do hope I wake up again. I hope I’m not dying, because I still need to beat the twins at their respective games. I hope I’m not dying, because I mainly want to be able to hug Em and confess again and again.

I can’t see her anymore, but I can hear her.

“I love you, Kae.”

That’s enough for me.

[lightning-macrine]

There’s a huge difference between vilifying a character and admitting that they have their flaws and have done/are doing wrong. Admitting and accepting that in his grief and heartbreak, Ed is lashing out at others and at Izzy isn’t vilifying him. We KNOW how he got there, and we KNOW that during the course of the season he will come back from it. It’s quite literally simple storytelling to see a character hit their rock bottom and then come back from it.

And really, in what way was Ed ever truly shown as “non-threatening”? Yes, he doesn’t kill. But he has admitted to setting ships alight, chopping off other people’s toes to feed to them, gouging eyes and more. And we’ve SEEN him order a man skinned with a snail fork, push Lucius into the sea, and kidnap and threaten both Jim and Frenchie with a pistol. In your eagerness to decry the woobification of one character, you’re quite literally out here woobifying another.

The tone of the show means that yes, they do shy away from making things too angsty, but it’s clear when the writers want you to see a character as being in the wrong. (See almost all of Stede’s interactions with Mary, yeah it’s funny, haha he’s annoying, but very clearly he is the asshole in that situation).

The sneak peek clip might have seemed comedic in tone to you but the message of it is still very much establishing that what Ed has done to Izzy is considered wrong in-universe. Look at the context of it! The crew (Frenchie, Jim, Fang) that by all means should hate Izzy are instead out here comforting him, telling him that what’s been done to him is wrong. It’s not misinterpretation or woobification to recognise that message.

You say Izzy is the antagonist, when it’s very obvious that he is an antagonist. One of many, and very clearly not even the main one. If you haven’t realised it by now, then I don’t know how because so much of what the writers and the actors have said and what the trailers/clips have shown us is that he will go through a ‘redemption arc’ and experience the character growth that was clearly set up in s1. We even know who (one of) our new main antagonists is! And it ain’t Izzy.

Furthermore, the show has ALWAYS had its moments of darkness. Ed and Stede recounting their abusive fathers, Jim’s entire backstory, Badminton confronting Stede in the forest, Stede threatening Doug at the showing, again, Ed kidnapping and threatening Jim and Frenchie, I could go on. It’s YOU who’s wilfully ignoring these moments to blind yourself to the fact that YOUR poor little darling is actually a grown man who’s very morally grey.

And really who in the show isn’t morally grey?? They’re PIRATES. Yes they’re all our little guys but at the end of the day they’re still criminals who live lives rife with violence and crime. The sooner you understand that the better for your experience of this show, because it’s very clear that season 2 will explore that idea a whole lot more.

aside from - everything else

they did their utmost to show Ed at his most babygirl in the trailer. messy eyeliner, ugly crying, effortlessly gorgeous hair. laughing manically in the rain. wistfully gazing at the horizon. "you know blackbeard's gonna murder you" *cut to Ed playing with his little Depression Wedding Cake Toppers*

he's as non-threatening as it's possible to be for a legendary pirate. already was in s1, but this is on a whole new level. do you think this was on accident? (general you btw)

not to assign too much significance to a few seconds of out of context footage but don't you think maybe - just maybe! - if Ed were actually unhinged and super dark and dangerous now, that might have been indicated in some way.

don't you think it's a little bit of a stretch to imagine they're gonna break with the whole tone of the show just to woobify your most special little guy.

who is the antagonist.

but no, I am sure Jim (of all people!) saying a therapy buzzword in a scene that's clearly comedic in tone means that Izzy is the most mistreated poor little darling ever

some of y'all are just super eager to villify Ed & it's not a good look tbh

[stiltfox]

okay so this is in part @avelera‘s fault because I never talk fandom theory and ideas and I ended up binge watching this all in one go and had WAY more thoughts coming out of it than I would have in the first place, and I can almost guarantee someone else has already said this better and more succinctly BUT HERE WE GO. (Also disclaimer for the fact that it’s 1:30 AM and I have felt VERY off all day and barely eaten because of it so WORDS HARD) Spoilers ahead for Episode 10 of Our Flag Means Death

It feels to me like the removal of Stede’s crew from the Revenge felt very very purposeful in regards to who was kept aboard and who wasn't. Lucius had to go first, sudden and with no warning. Not only was he the one who made sure Ed and Stede actually got time with each other, he was the one who saw them both at their most vulnerable ABOUT each other. He drew Ed back out of himself not even that soon before he got unceremoniously yote. Lucius also is a known stickler against Izzy, and it was only going to be so long before Izzy killed Lucius. Protection for that one, if a bit rough. It also needed to happen first so that way step 2 could happen: Most of the crew marooned, because they can take care of themselves. They're well meaning, but also can't keep a secret to save their asses. Safer away from the ship, out of danger. Save as many lives as he can, even with the real chance of them dying. At least it won’t be actively at his hands, but we saw how weak of an excuse that was with Calico Jack and Stede’s response there, yeah?

Which leads us to...why Jim and Frenchie got left aboard? Not because they’re the least able to protect themselves. Far from it. Personally? I think it’s because they’re fantastic con artists. Maybe it’s because I’ve pulled this kind of clever con at LARP before, but I immediately felt the excuse of Frenchie being able to sew was a cover. Jim knows how to pull off being a whole other person that no one knows about, and can take care of themself. Frenchie literally conned an entire ship of nobility out of all their monetary wealth they had ON THEM. Ed watched these both first hand. They can survive as part of the crew by knowing how to adapt to their surroundings quickly. As much as Ed made a show of removing Stede’s things from the captain’s quarters, we see this wild back and forth of this mask in place followed by this heartwrenching lonely sorrow. To me, it feels Very VERY important to note that the two members of the crew who were kept on the Revenge were two people who knew how to throw off suspicion and hide who they are in different ways: openly in social situations as well as among closer, quieter environments.

[valentinaonthemoon]

10 Characters, 10 Fandoms, 10 Tags

Coming back from my accidental hiatus (because I forgot to update my queue and now there are hundreds of posts sitting in my likes waiting to be reblogged) to do this lovely game that @captain-fflewddurfflam tagged me in! Thank you <3

Share ten different favorite characters from ten different pieces of media, in no particular order, then tag/send to ten people (anon or not)

In no particular order:

Wall-E ___ Pixar // I'm in the middle of a megarewatch of all Pixar movies, because there's nothing to watch on tv in the summer and I haven't seen some of these features in so long! What's not to love about this cute polite robot, who cleans the Earth and generally wants the best for everyone?

Gil Ra-Im ___ Secret Garden // It's that time of the year where I go back to rewatch my fave comfort kdrama, so I have to mention the Only Girlboss Ever. She is literally never wrong, goodbye.

The Captain ___ BBC Ghosts // Ghosts is coming back soon, so I have to mention it. It genuinely makes me happy, and it's definitely the best comfort show ever. It's hard to choose a favourite character, but Cap is just fun, and I have a soft spot for characters who need a hug. (which brings me to...)

Stede Bonnet ___ Our Flag Means Death // To be fair, a lot of people in this show need a hug -Jim, Lucius and Blackbeard included- but Stede spends most of season one in very hugless situations and when Mary gives him a hug and shows him that she understands near the end, it's just very lovely and satisfying. I can't wait to see how his story will continue in season 2.

Yoon Jin-Myung ___ Age of Youth // I'm finally catching up with this kdrama, always thanks to @not-the-face, and I love the relationship that these friends have. The first season was so good I watched a good eight or nine episodes in one day, but I'm liking the second one as well. Jin-Myung is the oldest, shyest, and -as usual- feels like she needs a hug, although all of them need a hug, at the end of the day.

Frodo Baggins ___ The Lord of the Rings // Before starting my Pixar rewatch, I rewatched LOTR, and let me tell you: these hobbits made me cry. Again. Of course I love Sam, Pippin and Merry, and all the other fellows of the Fellowship, but Frodo had my heart this time more than the others. He had to make a journey he didn't choose to do, had to carry a weight that was imposed unto him, something that could change him forever. He was ready to do it alone if it could save the world, even though he could have lost all his hope in the process. But most importantly, he accepted help and finished his quest, well, not alone. (Also he, too, falls in the "character desperately needs a hug" category, so I guess this list has definitely a theme)

Ted Lasso ___ Ted Lasso // Here's a tv show I finally caught up with, this year, after seeing so many gifsets and not understanding anything about it! I absolutely love the character of Ted: optimistic, cheerful, and ready to help you in any way, and yet, maybe he needs some help too. All in all, all these characters are beautifully written and I hope they'll make their development justice next season!

Nadia Vulvokov ___ Russian Doll // She just wants to have a normal day home with her cat, but has to fight with the space-time continuum. I think she deserves a spot on this list. Also she has amazing hair.

Jessie ___ Starstruck // If Nadia's hair counts as a reason to be on this list, Rose Matafeo should have a perennial spot, but I also love her character in this show: she's quite relatable, even though the situations she's put in don't seem as such.

Polly Perks ___ Discworld // The Monstrous Regiment was one of just two books I've read of Discworld so far, but I loved it. I got to read it thanks to our Agents of Movies Discord server's book club, and I really enjoyed its themes and developments to the story. Terry Pratchett is always an awesome writer, so I could trust him with anything. Polly was an amusing main character, and it was fun to see the world from her perspective, even though she did take quite a long time to find out that The World Is Female, I guess.

Since it's been a while, I'm going to tag some of you to keep in touch, even though I do keep in touch with some other of you through other social networks 😁 Feel free to ignore the tag if you don't want to do this!

@not-the-face (visto che ti ho già taggata nel post, adesso ti taggo anche qui sotto, sorry), @2minutes2midnight, @agentofship, @apathbacktoyou, @clementinewhy, @englishmagic, @the-astro-ambassadors, @giorgiaink, @woofety, and @todayesterday.

Have a lovely day, everyone! Thanks for reading until here, if you did, and even if you didn't, I hope you're all safe and having a somewhat nice and comfortable day! 🌻

[something-about-sunflowers]

Hi, sorry, it's definitely the toe.

The thing about infections is that there are multiple types of infections. Izzy's likely got some form of gangrene which tends to happen as a result of surgical complications and can take weeks to months to develop. It would have spread from the toe to his foot to his calf and if he wasn't taken out by the illness that'd result from leaving it to that point it would have likely taken some of his thigh as well.

I'm not sure what you mean about him seeming better at the end of season 1?

The last shots we see of him he's:

Hobbling around with the cane.

Standing still on the dinghy, holding the cane, with his bandaged foot on display.

Standing still at the railing when Ed walks up to stand next to him. We don't see below his waist to know if he's still keeping his boot off and he's not moving and he's got the railing to lean on so he doesn't need the cane.

If he left an infected wound untreated there IS a possibility that it could heal on it's own but that's incredibly unlikely by today's standards let alone in the 1700s. What's more likely is the infection spreads, as mentioned before, to more of his leg.

The most likely explanation for him foregoing the cane and wearing his regular boots again in the season 2 shots is really just that he's trying to hide it. He's not unaffected either, he's favoring his left leg and he LOOKS ill. He's a pirate though so he's used to the lifestyle enough to be able to work through the pain.

As for his practicality not letting it get as far as necessitating an amputation I'd argue that, on a ship with nobody he trusts, it's MORE practical for him to hide his perceived weakness. Frenchie and Jim are part of Stede's crew no matter how well they acclimate to Blackbeard's. Fang threw his lot in with them when he mutinied on Izzy (before that, really, the 'Izzy the spewer' story was honestly such a breach of trust). The new-so-far-nameless crew are likely just there to fill out their ranks, they could have come from anywhere. Ed DID this to him. He has nobody he can turn to and feel safe asking for help.

It's not boring for him to lose the leg from losing the toe, it's the narrative pay-off. The toe was to set up the loss of the leg. It wasn't 'punishment' (in the narrative sense at least, Izzy and/or Ed might view it as a punishment but if it's meant to NARRATIVELY be a punishment then that is genuinely vile because disability should never be a punishment), it was the set up to the pay-off of him NEEDING to open up and accept help being OFFERED to him. Obviously we don't know the specifics of the situation but I'd venture a fair guess that he is not going to WANT the amputation but it will be done to save his life. He's not going to ask for the help, he's going to be given it regardless. It's the catalyst for his character development.

It's maybe a difference in perspective but I think the amputation isn't intended to be viewed as an act of violence like the toe cutting was but as an act of healing. It doesn't diminish the violence of the toe cutting because it emphasizes how dangerous it WAS. If, as a lot of us suspect, the amputation IS in response to a dangerous infection from the existing injury then it is LITERALLY saving his life to do it. There are a million metaphors in 'cutting away the rot so new things can grow'.

Lucius' finger is a different story because none of it was intentional. His infection came on much quicker because it came from the BITE (bite wounds from humans nearly always get infected, our mouths have SO much bacteria in them) rather than it being an untreated/improperly treated wound. Lucius' finger also establishes, albeit in a comedic way, that there ARE consequences to certain actions in the world they occupy, which is important because we've seen both Ed and Stede shrug off stab wounds that would - in reality - be very dangerous regardless of what 'side' you take the blade on. It sets a precedent for the necessity of amputation and actually establishes the possibility for it to happen again with a more serious tone.

It also provides a contrast as to why Izzy doesn't ask for help. Lucius wouldn't have felt the need to hide his infection until it got to the point of needing to take his arm. Lucius has FRIENDS. People he can rely on to offer him help before he needs to ask. Izzy doesn't.

Genuinely I think it would be reductive and narratively lazy for the amputation to come from anything else. It also perfectly sets up Stede and Izzy's newfound semi-camaraderie if Stede is the one to, if not do it himself, then at least provide the environment for the amputation to happen and as a result the HEALING to happen.

No hate if you disagree of course, just trying to explain why it DOES make sense and hopefully mitigate any annoyance when/if it IS the reason for it.

Theories on how Izzy lost his leg

Okay so we're all very interested in Izzy's leg, obviously, but so far everyone else seems to assume it was caused by his toe getting infected. I don't buy it, though, for several reasons.

For one thing, I'm not a doctor but is this really how infections work? How would a toe infection spread so far and so quickly that they had to cut his entire lower leg off? Yes, we know Izzy isn't inclined to accept help or allow himself to appear weak or sick, but he's not stupid either. He's an experienced pirate, he must have seen enough amputation or deaths from infections to know what's at stake. He's much too practical to let it get this far without seeking medical help or at least getting it amputated sooner so that he only had to lose a foot and not his entire calf or even his knee (can't tell from those few frames in the trailer yet).

And besides, we already saw his foot get better at the end of S1, it seemed like several weeks had passed and he was walking just fine, wasn't even using his cane anymore. From what I know, if a wound gets infected, it typically happens within the first few days of an injury. In several weeks it would either have got infected already or healed enough not to be a problem anymore. For much of the S2 trailer Izzy is seen taking part in attacks, with his leg still whole, so it seems like he only lost his leg in the second half of the season. We don't yet know what sort of timeline the season follows, but it's safe to say it's going to take place over a period of at least 3 weeks. So that's several more weeks. That makes it even more unlikely for Izzy's toe to suddenly get infected towards the end of the season after all this time.

And secondly... it would just be a bit boring from the narrative perspective. Losing the toe was already punishment enough. Even if it had healed fully with no physical consequences at all, the whole experience of being woken up in the middle of the night to the pain of having it sheared off and then forced to chew and swallow it is was definitely traumatising enough not to be forgotten that quickly... This show doesn't shy away from graphic injury and violence, but it's never gratuitous. That's why that toe cutting scene was so powerful - it already stood out as one of the most seriously violent moments in the show. Adding more to it would only diminish its impact rather than strengthen it.

Now you might want to mention Lucius losing his finger, and the way it didn't happen immediately and went from a minor injury played for laughs to a serious infection with a significant time gap, but that's a very different case. There was a comedic contrast here, a very minor injury that happened in comical circumstances (Buttons accidentally biting Lucius's finger) unexpectedly turning into something serious. But Izzy losing his toe was taken seriously from the very start, there was nothing comical about it. There already was an expectation that it could turn into something worse... but it didn't. And Lucius having his finger cut off wasn't portrayed as a punishment, just bad luck, a realistic moment on a 17th century pirate ship. It led to a cute and significant moment between Lucius and Black Pete, but other than that it could have happened to anyone. And he only lost that one finger. If he got a finger bite and ended up losing his whole forearm, that would have been way too cruel and out of character for this show.

So, what's my take then, you ask? Well, I don't really have anything concrete. Except, we know that the real Blackbeard shot Izzy in the knee. I know OFMD isn't trying to be historically accurate, not when it comes to the characters at least, but they could still use that bit for inspiration. Maybe Ed does shoot at Izzy. Or maybe Ed tries to shoot at Stede, but Izzy gets in the way. Or maybe Stede does something really stupid and Izzy gets shot or injured trying to protect him - no really, think about it, they're practically glued at the hip in the trailer. They're having a friendly banter. They're gonna be friends. Getting himself injured while trying to protect Stede would be a major milestone in Izzy's redemption arc. It would even explain that bit in the trailer where an already peg-legged Izzy punched Stede in the gut. It wasn't a hateful punch, you could tell he wasn't really trying to hurt Stede. It looked more like punching your buddy out of anger when they did something really, really stupid that got both of you in trouble.

Honestly, I'm open to pretty much any theory, except the toe infection because it's boring af and makes no sense.

[lonelyyinchicago]

the word promise (pt9)

wedged firmly between the bodies of lucius malfoy and severus snape, regulus pushed florets of gravy-soaked broccoli around his plate uninterestedly. his chin was resting in the palm of his hand and he looked up from his plate when he felt an elbow in his rib.

“why is mcgonagall looking at you?” lucius asked, a single eyebrow raised.

regulus shrugged, turning his face towards the teachers’ table at the far end of the hall. he held eye contact with her for only a second before stabbing the piece of broccoli before him with unnecessary aggression. 

“don’t know.”

despite the food still on his plate, regulus pushed it away and stood up, extracting himself from the slytherin table delicately. he stumbled as a firm hand grabbed his wrist, forcing him to stop. when bellatrix released him, he rubbed the skin her hand been tightly wrapped around.

“where are you going?”

“library” regulus replied, the word falling so often from his lips that it was impossible to tell that this time it was a lie.

with most students still eating, the corridors were quiet as regulus made his way to mcgonagall’s office. he knocked cautiously.

the reply was immediate: “come in.”

a chessboard had already been set up and a tray of biscuits was by its side. regulus perched precariously on the edge of the seat opposite the transfiguration teacher who was eyeing him over the top of her glasses carefully. 

“your move first” she said, nodding down at the board.

as regulus reached out to move his first piece, he relaxed into the chair more, leaning against its back, no longer literally on edge.

“what did sirius tell you?” he asked nervously, afraid of the judgement that was bound to come.

“that your parents have plans for the pair of you to take the dark mark” mcgonagall began, faltering slightly she realised what she was saying. “sirius has made it clear that that is not something he wants; something he doesn’t believe in, but he is unsure of your stance. he says you don’t believe in what the dark mark represents or what your parents stand for, but you also can’t see another option for yourself other than to accept the situation you find yourself in. would that be accurate, regulus?” she asked gently.

regulus paused, his hand hovering above one of his bishops, a shadow being throw over the entire board.

“yes” he breathed out. “i don’t know ho-”

“i have an alternative” mcgonagall interrupted. “a different option for you. the potters are more than willing to take you in like they have your brother. i’m not saying it will be easy, but there are people who care for you, and your brother is at the top of that list.”

“professor, my parents also had a large issue with my brother’s relationship status a-and i’m concerned that i feel the same way and i-”

“the same way as your parents?”

as regulus shook his head, dark curls fell out from behind his ear and he was grateful for the way they hid his face. 

“the same way as sirius” regulus whispered.

the door burst open. 

“sorry it’s late minnie but i was trying this new tactic an- oh shit you’re busy; i’ll just leave this on your desk and go.”

“if you’d knocked, potter,” regulus looked up, embarrassed. “you would have known i had company. and as much i want to win, you cannot keep prioritising quidditch over your schoolwork; especially not over transfiguration” she finished with a smile.

“right. of course. well” james ran a hand through his hair as he became flustered. “see you in tomorrow’s lesson. goodnight baby black.”

regulus felt his cheeks burn at the nickname and he struggled to raise his chin from his chest once the door had closed behind the gryffindor chaser.

“i have to go, professor. i need to talk to sirius before james does.”

“would you like to resume this game another time?” mcgonagall asked.

regulus looked down at the pieces that were dotted around the board. his collection of black pieces was considerably smaller than the amount of pieces mcgonagall had taken from him.

“next time, could we just start a new game instead?”

mcgonagall smiled softly as she watched the younger black brother make his way to her classroom door.

“of course. goodnight mr black.”

“goodnight professor.”

just outside the doorway, regulus paused before starting to sprint through the corridors. taking the stairs two at a time, regulus quickly caught with and overtook james on his way to gryffindor tower.

“HEY! no running in the corridors.”

regulus stopped and turned around.

“when have you ever paid attention to that rule?”

james pulled a face and pointed to his headboy badge.

“i am an extremely sensible person, i’ll have you know.”

regulus rolled his eyes at the formality with which james was speaking. he’d put on an accent, although where it was supposed to be from regulus was unsure. 

“don’t disrespect your headboy like that” james scolded teasingly. “how come you’re coming up to the tower?” 

looking into the softness of james’ eyes, regulus found himself unable to tell the truth. the look of interrogation was overwhelming. 

“it’s unimportant, sir” regulus said, bowing mockingly.

james pushed him, making him lose his balance.

“if you bow again, i’ll give you detention.”

regulus stood up straight.

“i’ll bear it mind” regulus murmured, starting down the stairs to his right. 

“where are you going?” james questioned. “your common room isn’t that way.”

“did it occur to you that i know that, and i’m not going to the common room?” regulus asked, shouting back up the stairs.

he smirked as he turned away, hearing james’ heavy footsteps on the stairs behind him. 

“okay.” james breathed out heavily as he caught up with regulus. “where are you going then?”

“the library.”

“can i come?”

“if you want” regulus said, not stopping as james fell behind to look at him curiously.

james watched the way regulus’ hands slipped easily into his trouser pockets, his walk confident yet his steps were small, like he wanted to make sure he was never too far from the safety of what he’d left behind; like he could always turn back and retreat. he cleared his throat as regulus turned around to look at him, his pale hand hovering above the library door handle. moonlight had broken through the clouds and was entering the corridor the two boys stood in, the bright light reflecting off the silver of regulus’ rings. 

“you coming, then?”

“yeah” james mumbled, his voice slightly stuck in his throat.

regulus pushed the door open, stepping to the side as james’ much broader body passed his own. the smell of ginger lingered in the air and regulus found the corners of his lips starting to tilt upwards as he made his way towards the gryffindor chaser who had stopped awkwardly a couple of steps into the room.

“not familiar with your location?” regulus asked with a smirk as he walked straight past james. “this is the school library” regulus explained, intentionally slow and patronising, making james roll his eyes.

james followed regulus who quickly turned down one of the aisles. by the time james got there, the slytherin was already sat on the floor, a book positioned delicately between his slender fingers. james craned his neck to try and read the title on the front cover. 

as regulus’ fingers moved to turn the page, james’ mouth opened slightly in surprise as he saw the title - “the myth of blood purity”. james sat down opposite regulus, eyeing him carefully.

“didn’t think that would be something you read” james commented.

regulus finished his sentence before looking up. his eyes flicked between james’ face and the pages. 

“if i’m being told something that i don’t understand, i want to understand.”.

“what are you saying?” 

regulus folded the corner of the page and put the book down on the floor next to him.

“i’m saying that i don’t understand the origins of the theory of blood purity. and why it makes a difference when clearly muggleborns and half-bloods are equally capable of performing magic.”

“so you don’t believe in blood supremacy?” james asked softly, hoping for a very specific answer.

“no” regulus replied quickly. “but i want to understand why others do.”

“it doesn’t matter why they do it; they’re wrong.”

“i know, but i want to know why.”

“but why?”

“why what?”

“why does it matter to you why other people believe bullshit?”  

regulus sighed and james moved closer, still keeping an eye on the slytherin. regulus stayed still as james’ shoulder brushed his own. a heavy silence fell over them as the clouds moved to block the moon. the shadows of the bookcases became elongated, disappearing away into the dark expanse of hogwarts’ library. 

“can i ask you a question?” james asked suddenly, his voice breaking through the darkness. 

“i- err sure” regulus said, twisting his neck to try and find james’ dark eyes.

“what did you mean when you said you feel the same way as sirius?”

regulus snapped his head back so fast his neck clicked audibly. 

he answered with another question.

“were you listening through the door?”

regulus heard the older boy exhale uncomfortably.

“i only heard a little bit.”

“you were eavesdropping?” regulus asked loudly, standing up and sending the book that was in his lap flying.

“no! i-i opened the door pretty much straight away. it was an accident” james finished defiantly.

“okay well yes fine; there’s a chance i” regulus cursed internally, staring up at the ceiling. “i don’t ever want to be with a girl.” 

“so” james began tentatively, standing up. “you’d want to be with a boy?”

in the darkness regulus felt the distance between him and the gryffindor close. the clouds had parted again and regulus could see james stood in front of him, the cold, bright moonlight reflecting in his warm eyes. 

“maybe” regulus whispered.

“can i take that maybe?” james asked, his hand moving to cup regulus’ cheek. 

james felt regulus nod against the palm of his hand and standing up on his tiptoes, regulus let his lips meet james’. 

[sixstepsaway]

So, on Izzy seemingly enjoying the violence Ed does to him. I've been thinking if an explanation if it is that it's the Fawn response to trauma/abuse/fear? Responding to fear by trying to appease the person making them afraid.

Once the situation turns violent against Izzy, his demeanor changes (his face going from tense to slack when Stede has the knife in his face, his smile when Ed chokes him, making himself smile during the toe scene) and he attempts to deescalate the situation ("What are your demands?" when Stede has the knife in his face, "What can I do differently, huh? I'm open to suggestions!" when getting mutinied, stroking Ed's face and saying "there he is" while being choked, asking Edward if he should fetch Lucius after the toe incident) often by trying to appeal to the person threatening him (literally 3/4 of the previous examples and in the fourth example I'm not including in that 3/4 he's literally stroking Ed's face so...?) which seems to me like fawning.

So I don't think Izzy does actually enjoy these things, I think that's simply how he responds to being threatened in an attempt to stay safe.

Hmmm. Yeah, I can see that. I'm not positive I agree - mostly because I like reading him as masochistic, and his attraction to Ed would make anything like that seemingly sexy to him, but I don't think "fawn response" and "masochistic and into Ed slamdunking him like a basketball" is necessarily mutually exclusive, now I'm typing this, so hmmmm.

I think with Ed I tie it in with enjoying being thrown around by sexy man and Ed is the sexy man for Izzy

but Stede, the crew, and asking if he wants him to fetch Lucius? Yeah I can totally see that. Especially since fawn responses (in my experience from the outside) are often deeply psychological in that the person fawning actually believes what they're saying (that the person yelling/hurting them is in the right actually and they deserve it).

On the other hand, I'm not sure someone with a fawn response that strong could survive the pirate life for as long as Izzy surely has? Not without being used as a punching bag way more than I know how to consider.

Then again, if Ed scooped him out of constant punching bag and put him in a position of authority and power and took care of him until he could stand on his own two feet, it would explain a lot about the depths of Izzy's loyalty.