#not tagging edward teach

[something-about-sunflowers]

I REALLY want Ed to try to hurt/fight Izzy, Izzy to not fight back, and Stede to not just cut in with his own weapon but to fully GRAB Ed's arm to physically stop him. Pop that 'I know what I've been told about him but I still think he's infallible and everyone else is wrong' bubble of Stede's and put someone in Izzy's corner explicitly. Also lets Ed see how bad things have gotten, maybe he pushes past all of Stede's pleading for a moment to talk but he stops and LISTENS at the 'stand down, NOW' voice and actually LOOKS at Izzy/himself/everything he's done.

But I also want a repeat of the 'I'm not a good person' with a response of 'neither am I' from Izzy and maybe Stede too. Cause like. None of them really. Are. Good people. But that doesn't mean they're unworthy of love and care. So maybe Stede comes in with the 'that doesn't make us stop loving you/each other' (lowkey outing Izzy before he gets the chance, maybe Ed notices or maybe he doesn't, either is good tbh).

Idk I just need them to be messy and human but to CARE for each other.

[mayhasopinions]

i will never shut up about how one of the most brilliant and beautiful lines in all of fiction is 'you are a monster. a plauge. you defile beautiful things.' and how the entirety of OFMD is a response and rebuttle to that. queer people do not defile beautiful things. we only want them, and we deserve them. we are beautiful things. we can wear fine things well.

[whats-mine-is-hers]

s3ep1 leaked footage (real)

[elleniemae]

Finally gave in. Watched the gay pirate show.

I freaking love it to DEATH holy SMOKES why didn’t you people tell me to watch this??? I binged it in like 2 DAYS???

Anyway, I wanted to draw the gays, but unfortunately I cannot draw middle-aged men for the life of me. I’ll figure it out one day.

HOWEVER I can draw children! So, I drew the children meeting, because they both need a hug. Really bad.

Enjoy!

[casebasket]

don't know when we went from queerbaiting to

whatever the fuck this is

but i am so emotionally drained this "getting dumped by my idiot blonde boyfriend" year my dudes

like it's leaps better than before but jesus christ. at what cost.

[blakbonnet]

his earnest whimsy is everything

[lunar-system]

Edward Teach: The Star.

Adapted from the traditional Ride-Waite-Smith tarot, this version of the Star shows Ed kneeling down serenely by the spring of life, bare to the world, ready to heal after tumultuous events.

Stede as the Sun to follow, Izzy as the Moon can be found here.

Longer exploration of the card's symbolism under the cut.

***

The Star: Hope, openness, especially after a crisis. Renewal, healing, restoration.

Rachel Pollack writes: "This is the calm after a great change, whether it comes after a drastic planetary shift or a personal upheaval. There are still difficult times ahead, but the Star tells us to trust."

In the card Ed is depicted with a short, growing beard. Multiple personal upheavals and great changes have already happened, and he is settling into a new reality. Who is he when he is stripped from titles, uniforms and roles? In the space of the Star, he has enough trust to try and find out.

Pollack continues: "In Star, we find our inner strength and belief. The Star teaches us to accept whatever it is, to drop all our shields, to believe. The water poured out signifies healing, emotional and physical."

Ed as the Star is learning to shine his own light after witnessing Stede shine as the Sun. Trust and belief don't come easy, but as the Star he can be vulnerable enough to try again. The water flows from an infinite source, letting the emotions come and go.

Even though the Star opens up towards a bright future, Ed carries his history with him. His tattoos, pictures from other tarot cards, tell about his past:

Chest: Three of Swords, the infamous card of heartbreak. "Trust no one."

Left side thigh: the face of the Devil from the Devil card. One of the largest tattoos he has, projecting his self-image. "I'm the devil."

Right side thigh: Lobster from the Moon card, a beast that lurks under the surface, in the unconscious. "I'm the Kraken."

Right side: wolf from the Moon card. In my depiction of the Moon, Izzy stands for the wolf. Here the loyal wolf is cast to the side, left howling after the broken heart.

Belly: Ram from the throne of the Emperor, a symbol of masculine power. The placement on the lower belly suggest a trans reading of the character.

Chest, around the heart: birds from Ace of Cups, suggesting new beginnings even for a broken heart.

With his past carved to his skin, Ed is kneeling at the edge of land. One of his feet is planted firmly on the ground while the other graces the water. In Tarot, earth is often connected to the material, such as the body, and the conscious mind. Water is the element of emotions and the subconscious. At the edge of the water, Ed is in balance, grounded both in his body and in his emotions, the conscious and the subconscious. The water he pours rejuvenates them both.

TL;DR: After great personal upheavals, Ed as the Star is ready to heal and trust. He carries his past with him, but is ready to shine his own light and have faith in himself and for the future. He is vulnerable and at peace, and he is connected both to the ground and the water, nourishing them both with the water he pours.

***

Sources

Image source: Pamela Colman Smith, 1909, republished as Tarot of A. E. Waite, 2016, AGM-Urania, Germany

Text source: Rachel Pollack, A Journey of 78 Steps, 2011, as cited in the booklet for instruction and guidance of Tarot of A. E. Waite, 2016, AGM-Urania, Germany

[izzymalec]

You're still here. I forgot about you.

[captainsvscaptains]

Battle of the Captains

Round 3 Part 4 Poll 2

Propaganda

Ed's a master tactician! He's a terrible flirt! He's got the eyes, the beard, the fit, and the sexy lil voice! Tummy and arm! He's gay and has daddy issues! What more could you want from a man???

Jonny's the self-proclaimed captain of the starship Aurora (though everyone else calls him the first mate), and one of the lead singers in The Mechanisms, a spacefaring cabaret of immortal pirates with lovely voices and extremely gray morals. He hails from New Texas, he's got a heart made of metal, and he likes to play the harmonica and shoot things.

[diesel-punk]

I never posted these over here cause I'm bad at upkeeping my tumblr page, but today seems like a good day for sharing some fruity pirate brainrot. I love them all.

[something-about-sunflowers]

On symbolism in OFMD (And like. Understanding what is LITERALLY spelled out for us?)

Stede - The Lighthouse (textual - explicit)

Mary - The Lighthouse (textual - implicit/by association)

Ed - The Kraken (textual - explicit)

Izzy - The Anchor (interpretive - implicit)

Stede (and Mary, by association) is represented by The Lighthouse. From his wedding, to his impending death, to his return to sea. 'We are to be lighthouses to each other', 'It's a lighthouse, I should have been one for my family [. . .] We need to be a lighthouse', [arm up like a signal to his marooned crew]. These are textually explicit instances of symbolism. He is helping guide his crew towards better lives, he is doing the same for Ed, and he is also the thing that causes them all to crack up on the rocks and sink to the depths that The Kraken inhabits.

Ed is represented by The Kraken. From the implicit fear/respect of everyone who knows of him, to his murdering his father, to his 'murdering' Lucius/maiming Izzy/marooning and kidnapping Stede's crew. 'The kraken didn't kill my dad, I did, I'm the kraken', 'I am the kraken' [self affirmingly before he goes to maim Izzy]. These are textually explicit instances of symbolism. The kraken was often drawn on maps/charts to represent dangerous waters. It is a warning against danger but it is also a form of protection. Ed embodies the kraken when he is hurt. He kills his father to protect himself/his mother. He 'kills' Lucius and maims Izzy and maroons most of the crew to protect himself from the hurt that Stede caused when he left and from the consequences of what continuing to show his vulnerability might lead to if Izzy is right (which he is, outside of The Revenge at least) and if he doesn't have Izzy in his corner anymore. He is hurt and he brings everyone he can down into the depths with him.

Izzy is the anchor. From his desire for stability, his aversion to change, his desire to protect what is important to him (himself, Ed, and HIS crew through the reputation of Blackbeard). 'Bored as you might be, if we don't come up with a plan soon, we're all gonna fucking die', 'Your lot's days of lying around doing fuck all are through. Starting today you're all going to be getting specific duties', 'Bonnet's done something to my bosses brain', '[mid resignation rant] losing several of our crew', 'I'm not dying. Not for him and not for you', 'loyalty to your captain, above all else [. . .] I couldn't sit by and let you ruin yourself for that twat', [is tied to an anchor by a crew that don't like him as captain because of the way he enforces the norm that he inhabited as a pirate (which Fang and Ivan ALSO inhabited before The Revenge, and which Fang returns to once Blackbeard/The Kraken is the one enforcing it again)]. These are interpretive instances of symbolism. Anchors keep a ship safe but they also keep it unmoving. Izzy wants the normalcy and security of Ed's Blackbeard (who people surrender to on sight, which means no danger) but Ed finds that life boring because there is no challenge and there is no change. He goes down with the ship when it cracks up on the rocks and he is content in the depths because that is what is familiar to him. He does not know that iron rusts.

And nobody is a molotov cocktail.

Except for Wee John. Wee John can be a molotov cocktail.

[soapbubbles511]

Stede is acting like he and Ed are exchanging love letters.

Every day he writes to Ed and tosses it in the ocean. Then he goes and checks for a new love letter from his beloved (wanted poster) so he can read what Ed's been doing since he last wrote (committed horrible crimes that warranted a new poster).

I love this ridiculous man 🥰

[whats-mine-is-hers]

*proceeds to create the most discombobulating crossover the human mind could possibly imagine*

[kori-senpai]

I have never played smash bros in my life

(Edit: I did a part two ayeee ✨ you guys are persuasive (affectionate))

[artsyhamster]

The Curse of the Seafaring Life

+ some more scene redraws with my usual character bias

[the-patrex]